Postnatal Brain Trajectories and Maternal Intelligence Predict Childhood Outcomes in Complex CHD.

To determine whether early structural brain trajectories predict early childhood neurodevelopmental deficits in complex CHD patients and to assess relative cumulative risk profiles of clinical, genetic, and demographic risk factors across early development. : Term neonates with complex CHDs were recruited at Texas Children's Hospital from 2005-2011. Ninety-five participants underwent three structural MRI scans and three neurodevelopmental assessments.

Donor-derived regulatory dendritic cell infusion modulates effector CD8 T cell and NK cell responses after liver transplantation.

Immune cell-based therapies are promising strategies to facilitate immunosuppression withdrawal after organ transplantation. Regulatory dendritic cells (DCreg) are innate immune cells that down-regulate alloimmune responses in preclinical models. Here, we performed clinical monitoring and comprehensive assessment of peripheral and allograft tissue immune cell populations in DCreg-infused live-donor liver transplant (LDLT) recipients up to 12 months (M) after transplant.

Design, analysis, and interpretation of treatment response heterogeneity in personalized nutrition and obesity treatment research.

It is increasingly assumed that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to dietary recommendations for the management and treatment of chronic diseases such as obesity. This phenomenon that not all individuals respond uniformly to a given treatment has become an area of research interest given the rise of personalized and precision medicine. To conduct, interpret, and disseminate this research rigorously and with scientific accuracy, however, requires an understanding of treatment response heterogeneity.

Distinct association between chronic Epstein-Barr virus infection and T cell compartments from pediatric heart, kidney, and liver transplant recipients.

Chronic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection after pediatric organ transplantation (Tx) accounts for significant morbidity and mortality. The risk of complications, such as posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorders, in high viral load (HVL) carriers is the highest in heart Tx recipients. However, the immunologic signatures of such a risk have been insufficiently defined.

Liver Transplantation vs Partial Hepatectomy for Stage T2 Multifocal Hepatocellular Carcinoma <3 cm Without Vascular Invasion: A Propensity Score-Matched Survival Analysis.

Background: Multifocal hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) differs biologically and immunologically from single-nodule HCC. Asian and European guidelines consider liver transplantation (LT) and partial hepatectomy (PH) as effective for T2 multifocal HCC, with preference toward LT, but few US studies compare these treatments directly. This propensity score-based observational study uses an established national cancer outcomes registry to compare overall survival in patients undergoing PH and LT for multifocal HCC.

Industry, occupation, and exposure history of mesothelioma patients in the U.S. National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank, 2006-2022.

Background: Malignant mesothelioma is associated with environmental and occupational exposure to certain mineral fibers, especially asbestos. This study aims to examine work histories of mesothelioma patients and their survival time.

Method: Using the NIOSH Industry and Occupation Computerized Coding System, we mapped occupations and industries recorded for 748 of 1444 patients in the U.

Perceived Hospital Stress, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Activity, and Care Process Temporal Variance During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic threatened standard hospital operations. We sought to understand how this stress was perceived and manifested within individual hospitals and in relation to local viral activity.

Design: Prospective weekly hospital stress survey, November 2020-June 2022.

Utility of new image-derived biomarkers for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease prognosis using automated instance cyst segmentation.

New image-derived biomarkers for patients affected by autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease are needed to improve current clinical management. The measurement of total kidney volume (TKV) provides critical information for clinicians to drive care decisions. However, patients with similar TKV may present with very different phenotypes, often requiring subjective decisions based on other factors (e.

Target Trial Emulation: A Design Tool for Cancer Clinical Trials.

Purpose: To apply target trial emulation to explore the potential impact of eligibility criteria on the primary outcome of a randomized controlled trial.

Methods: Simulations of a real-world explanatory trial of transarterial radioembolization for advanced unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein invasion were performed to examine the effects of cohort specification on survival outcomes and patient sample size. Simulations comprised 24 different permutations of the trial varied on three disease nonspecific eligibility parameters.

Angiopoietin-Like4 Is a Novel Marker of COVID-19 Severity.

Unlabelled: Vascular dysfunction and capillary leak are common in critically ill COVID-19 patients, but identification of endothelial pathways involved in COVID-19 pathogenesis has been limited. Angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) is a protein secreted in response to hypoxic and nutrient-poor conditions that has a variety of biological effects including vascular injury and capillary leak.

Objectives: To assess the role of ANGPTL4 in COVID-19-related outcomes.

Poor Outcomes of Patients With NAFLD and Moderate Renal Dysfunction or Short-Term Dialysis Receiving a Liver Transplant Alone.

The outcomes of patients with moderate renal impairment and the impact of liver disease etiology on renal function recovery after liver transplant alone (LTA) are largely unknown. We explored whether NAFLD patients with pre-LTA moderate renal dysfunction (GFR 25-45 ml/min/1.73 m) may be more susceptible to develop post-LTA severe renal dysfunction (GFR<15 ml/min/1.

Severe Acute Respiratory Infection-Preparedness: Protocol for a Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study of Viral Respiratory Infections.

Unlabelled: Respiratory virus infections cause significant morbidity and mortality ranging from mild uncomplicated acute respiratory illness to severe complications, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome, multiple organ failure, and death during epidemics and pandemics. We present a protocol to systematically study patients with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI), including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, due to respiratory viral pathogens to evaluate the natural history, prognostic biomarkers, and characteristics, including hospital stress, associated with clinical outcomes and severity.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

SWEAT ICU-An Observational Study of Physician Workload and the Association of Physician Outcomes in Academic ICUs.

Unlabelled: The optimal staffing model for physicians in the ICU is unknown. Patient-to-intensivist ratios may offer a simple measure of workload and be associated with patient mortality and physician burnout. To evaluate the association of physician workload, as measured by the patient-to-intensivist ratio, with physician burnout and patient mortality.

A Social Media Website (Supporting Our Valued Adolescents) to Support Treatment Uptake for Adolescents With Depression or Anxiety: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Adolescents with depression or anxiety initiate mental health treatment in low numbers. Supporting Our Valued Adolescents (SOVA) is a peer support website intervention for adolescents seen in primary care settings and their parents with the goal of increasing treatment uptake through changing negative health beliefs, enhancing knowledge, offering peer emotional support, and increasing parent-adolescent communication about mental health.

Objective: This pilot study aimed to refine recruitment and retention strategies, refine document intervention fidelity, and explore changes in study outcomes (the primary outcome being treatment uptake).

Utility of Biomarkers for Sepsis-Associated Acute Kidney Injury Staging.

Importance: The 23rd Acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI-23) consensus conference proposed a framework to integrate biomarkers into the staging of acute kidney injury (AKI). It is unknown whether tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 2 (TIMP-2) and insulinlike growth factor binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) could be used for staging.

Objective: To test whether higher levels of urinary [TIMP-2] × [IGFBP7] are associated with lower survival among patients with the same functional stage of AKI.

Volume Progression and Imaging Classification of Polycystic Liver in Early Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease.

Background And Objectives: The progression of polycystic liver disease is not well understood. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the associations of polycystic liver progression with other disease progression variables and classify liver progression on the basis of patient's age, height-adjusted liver cystic volume, and height-adjusted liver volume.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: Prospective longitudinal magnetic resonance images from 670 patients with early autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease for up to 14 years of follow-up were evaluated to measure height-adjusted liver cystic volume and height-adjusted liver volume.

THRIVE Conceptual Framework and Study Protocol: A Community-Partnered Longitudinal Multi-Cohort Study to Promote Child and Youth Thriving, Health Equity, and Community Strength.

Background: Given the profound inequities in maternal and child health along racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines, strength-based, community-partnered research is required to foster thriving children, families, and communities, where thriving is defined as optimal development across physical, mental, cognitive, and social domains. The Pittsburgh Study (TPS) is a community-partnered, multi-cohort study designed to understand and promote child and youth thriving, build health equity, and strengthen communities by integrating community partners in study design, implementation, and dissemination. TPS launched the Tracking Health, Relationships, Identity, EnVironment, and Equity (THRIVE) Study to evaluate children's developmental stages and contexts from birth through completion of high school and to inform a child health data hub accessible to advocates, community members, educators, health professionals, and policymakers.

From Model Organisms to Humans, the Opportunity for More Rigor in Methodologic and Statistical Analysis, Design, and Interpretation of Aging and Senescence Research.

This review identifies frequent design and analysis errors in aging and senescence research and discusses best practices in study design, statistical methods, analyses, and interpretation. Recommendations are offered for how to avoid these problems. The following issues are addressed: (a) errors in randomization, (b) errors related to testing within-group instead of between-group differences, (c) failing to account for clustering, (d) failing to consider interference effects, (e) standardizing metrics of effect size, (f) maximum life-span testing, (g) testing for effects beyond the mean, (h) tests for power and sample size, (i) compression of morbidity versus survival curve squaring, and (j) other hot topics, including modeling high-dimensional data and complex relationships and assessing model assumptions and biases.

Transarterial Radioembolization for Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Major Vascular Invasion: A Nationwide Propensity Score-Matched Analysis with Target Trial Emulation.

Purpose: To examine National Cancer Database (NCDB) data to comparatively evaluate overall survival (OS) between patients undergoing transarterial radioembolization (TARE) and those undergoing systemic therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma with major vascular invasion (HCC-MVI).

Methods: One thousand five hundred fourteen patients with HCC-MVI undergoing first-line TARE or systemic therapy were identified from the NCDB. OS was compared using propensity score-matched Cox regression and landmark analysis.

T-bet+CD27+CD21- B cells poised for plasma cell differentiation during antibody-mediated rejection of kidney transplants.

Alloimmune responses driven by donor-specific antibodies (DSAs) can lead to antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) in organ transplantation. Yet, the cellular states underlying alloreactive B cell responses and the molecular components controlling them remain unclear. Using high-dimensional profiling of B cells in a cohort of 96 kidney transplant recipients, we identified expanded numbers of CD27+CD21- activated memory (AM) B cells that expressed the transcription factor T-bet in patients who developed DSAs and progressed to ABMR.