Long-term growth and nutrition outcomes in children following intestinal transplantation.

Objective: Intestinal transplantation (ITx) has become an accepted option for children with serious complications from intestinal failure and parenteral nutrition (PN) dependence. We aimed to assess long-term growth and nutritional outcomes in these patients. We also assessed factors influencing nutritional status and ability to wean off tube feedings (TFs) after ITx.

Minding the gap: How transplant infectious disease can help close the organ donation gap.

This paper is an educationally focused article discussing how transplant infectious diseases (TID) providers balance the risks of accepting or rejecting an organ and have pushed barriers in organ transplantation. We emphasize the role TID providers play in the transplantation process as critical players on the transplant team. We discuss various donor-derived infections that were previously deemed unacceptable for donation due to concerns for transmission.

Spatial Transcriptomics Analysis: Maternal Obesity Impairs Myogenic Cell Migration and Differentiation during Embryonic Limb Development.

Limb muscle is responsible for physical activities and myogenic cell migration during embryogenesis is indispensable for limb muscle formation. Maternal obesity (MO) impairs prenatal skeletal muscle development, but the effects of MO on myogenic cell migration remain to be examined. C57BL/6 mice embryos were collected at E13.

HLA-A01 and HLA-B27 Supertypes, but Not HLA Homozygocity, Correlate with Clinical Outcome among Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Treated with Pembrolizumab in Combination with Chemotherapy.

Introduction: Maximal heterozygosity on the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) loci has been found to be associated with improved survival and development of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) among NSCLC patients treated with immunotherapy. Here, we investigated the effect of germline HLA-I/-II on clinical outcomes among NSCLC patients treated with first-line pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy.

Method: We prospectively recruited patients with NSCLC who were commencing first-line pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy.

EBV Reactivation and Disease in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) Recipients and Its Impact on HSCT Outcomes.

The acquisition or reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) after allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) can be associated with complications including the development of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD), which is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. A number of risk factors for PTLD have been defined, including T-cell depletion, and approaches to monitoring EBV, especially in high-risk patients, with the use of preemptive therapy upon viral activation have been described. Newer therapies for the preemption or treatment of PTLD, such as EBV-specific cytotoxic T-cells, hold promise.

Minimizing risk while maximizing opportunity: The infectious disease organ offer process survey.

Background: The purpose of this study was to understand how transplant infectious disease (TID) physicians assess a potential donor with known or suspected infection and describe posttransplant management.

Methods: We designed a survey of 10 organ offer scenarios and asked questions pertaining to organ acceptability for transplantation and management posttransplant. The survey was distributed to TID clinicians via transplant society listservs and email.

Early-life nutrition is associated with processing speed at age 5 in children born preterm with very low birth weight.

Objective: Processing speed is suboptimal among preterm-born children which is of concern as it is a foundational skill supporting higher-level cognitive functions. The study objective was to evaluate associations between early-life nutrition and processing speed in childhood.

Methods: Macronutrient and human milk (mother's own, donor) intakes from 137 children born preterm with very low birth weight enrolled in a nutrition feeding trial were included.

Unraveling Temporal Dynamics of Multidimensional Statistical Learning in Implicit and Explicit Systems: An X-Way Hypothesis.

Statistical learning enables humans to involuntarily process and utilize different kinds of patterns from the environment. However, the cognitive mechanisms underlying the simultaneous acquisition of multiple regularities from different perceptual modalities remain unclear. A novel multidimensional serial reaction time task was developed to test 40 participants' ability to learn simple first-order and complex second-order relations between uni-modal visual and cross-modal audio-visual stimuli.

Ophthalmia neonatorum complicated with neonatal orbital cellulitis: A case series.

Orbital cellulitis is an extremely rare but potentially lethal condition in neonates. The clinical presentation of neonatal orbital cellulitis can be non-specific, and minimal signs of periorbital inflammation may go unrecognised by inexperienced parents or primary care medical personnel, leading to delayed treatment. Herein, we present a case series describing ophthalmia neonatorum complicated with neonatal orbital cellulitis owing to delayed treatment.

Core binding factor subunit β plays diverse and essential roles in the male germline.

Much of the foundation for lifelong spermatogenesis is established prior to puberty, and disruptions during this developmental window negatively impact fertility long into adulthood. However, the factors that coordinate prepubertal germline development are incompletely understood. Here, we report that core-binding factor subunit-β (CBFβ) plays critical roles in prepubertal development and the onset of spermatogenesis.

Circulating pre-treatment T-cell receptor repertoire as a predictive biomarker in advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer patients treated with pembrolizumab alone or in combination with chemotherapy.

Background: The circulating T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire is a dynamic representation of overall immune responses in an individual.

Materials And Methods: We prospectively collected baseline blood from patients treated with first-line pembrolizumab monotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy. TCR repertoire metrics were correlated with clinical benefit rate (CBR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and immune-related adverse events (irAEs).

Donor call simulation: A novel medical education tool to evaluate trainees' clinical decision-making in transplant infectious disease.

Background: Evaluating organ suitability for transplantation based on infection risk is a core competency in transplant infectious disease (TID). It is unclear if trainees have opportunities to practice during training. We created a simulation curriculum to develop and evaluate this skill among infectious disease (ID) trainees.

Digital Technology Use and Adolescent Mental Health Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Roles of Internet Addiction and Digital Competence.

This study examined whether Internet addiction (IA) and digital competence (DC) mediated the association between digital technology use and mental health problems in adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, when digital device use increased dramatically. Repeated cross-sectional data from a 3-year cross-cohort study adopting stratified random sampling were analyzed. In 2019, 569 adolescents (female = 312) from 14 secondary schools completed a DC assessment and an online survey on their digital technology use, IA, and mental health.

Effects of a 12-week online Tai Chi intervention on gait and postural stability in individuals with Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) affects gait and postural stability. Tai Chi (TC) is recommended for PD for management of the condition, however biomechanical understanding to its effects on gait and postural stability is limited. This study aimed to examine the effects of an online 12-week biomechanical-based TC intervention on gait and posture in people with PD.

Ultrasound-stimulated microbubbles enhancement of fractionated radiation for tumor treatment.

Background: Radiation therapy (XRT) causes numerous biological changes in tumor microenvironment. Radiation vascular response, due to endothelial disruption, can influence treatment outcomes in a dose-dependent manner. Ultrasound-stimulated microbubbles (USMB) have also been demonstrated to create a vascular response in the tumor microenvironment and enhance tumor response when used in combination with XRT.

Effects of a biomechanical-based Tai Chi program on gait and posture in people with Parkinson's disease: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with changes in gait and posture, which increases the rate of falls and injuries in this population. Tai Chi (TC) training enhances the movement capacity of patients with PD. However, the understanding of the effect of TC training on gait and postural stability in PD is lacking.

Lineage Tracing of Spermatogonial Stem Cells Within the Male Germline.

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are the fundamental units from which continuous spermatogenesis arises. Although our knowledge regarding the basic properties of SSCs has grown, driven primarily through the advancement of techniques and technologies to study SSCs, the mechanisms controlling their fate remain largely unknown. Among the modern strategies to evaluate SSCs, lineage tracing is among the few established approaches that allow for functional assessment of stem cell capacity.

Real world effectiveness of tixagevimab/cilgavimab (Evusheld) in the Omicron era.

Background: Pre-exposure prophylaxis for COVID-19 with tixagevimab/cilgavimab (T/C) received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) based on results of a clinical trial conducted prior to the emergence of the Omicron variant. The clinical effectiveness of T/C has not been well described in the Omicron era. We examined the incidence of symptomatic illness and hospitalizations among T/C recipients when Omicron accounted for virtually all local cases.

ARRDC5 expression is conserved in mammalian testes and required for normal sperm morphogenesis.

In sexual reproduction, sperm contribute half the genomic material required for creation of offspring yet core molecular mechanisms essential for their formation are undefined. Here, the α-arrestin molecule arrestin-domain containing 5 (ARRDC5) is identified as an essential regulator of mammalian spermatogenesis. Multispecies testicular tissue transcriptome profiling indicates that expression of Arrdc5 is testis enriched, if not specific, in mice, pigs, cattle, and humans.

Vaccine response after pneumococcal vaccination in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients.

Current guidelines for vaccination in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) recipients recommend initiation of pneumococcal vaccination series three to six months post-HCT, with most data supporting initiation at six months due to a more robust immune response. This single-center, retrospective, observational chart review aimed to evaluate the impact of initiating the pneumococcal vaccine series at three months post-HCT compared to six months post-HCT. The primary endpoints were defined as a percentage of patients with a serologic response of >1 and >1.