The gap between surgeon goal and achieved sagittal alignment in adult cervical spine deformity surgery.

Objective: Malalignment following cervical spine deformity (CSD) surgery can negatively impact outcomes and increase complications. Despite the growing ability to plan alignment, it remains unclear whether preoperative goals are achieved with surgery. The objective of this study was to assess how good surgeons are at achieving their preoperative goal alignment following CSD surgery.

Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Background: Vascular Dementia (VaD) is the second most prevalent cause of dementia, arising from the blockage of blood vessels in the brain. One event responsible for the blockage or narrowing of small blood vessels is transient ischemic attack (TIA), and these changes resolve within 24 hours in humans. The molecular mechanism underlying these changes in recovery in small vessels still needs to be investigated.

Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Background: Vascular pathology is often seen in cases of mixed dementia affecting elderly population including Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD is generally characterized by the presence of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques and tau deposits. However, many factors influence the onset and progression of AD pathology.

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP)overexpression in the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus alters motivated and affective behavior in female rats.

Background: Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) has been found to be involved in a wide range of motivated and affective behaviors. While the PACAP-38 isoform is more densely expressed than PACAP-27 in most of the brain, PACAP-27 is more highly expressed in the rodent paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT), where females also have greater expression than males. Notably, the role of PACAP-27 expression in cells of the PVT has not been explored.

Impact of COVID-19, lockdowns and vaccination on immune responses in a HIV cohort in the Netherlands.

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, major events with immune-modulating effects at population-level included COVID-19 infection, lockdowns, and mass vaccinations campaigns. As immune responses influence many immune-mediated diseases, population scale immunological changes may have broad consequences.

Methods: We investigated the impact of lockdowns, COVID-19 infection and vaccinations on immune responses in the 2000HIV study including 1895 asymptomatic virally-suppressed people living with HIV recruited between October 2019 and October 2021.