The Financial Impact of an Employee Wellness Program Focused on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction.

Background: Evidence for the effectiveness and cost-savings of workplace wellness programs (WWPs) is varied, likely due to the variability in program design, as not all WWPs meet the five-point criteria of a "comprehensive WWP" set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Notification of bacterial strains made available by the United Kingdom National Collection of Type Cultures in 2022.

Here, we report on the one hundred and twenty-five bacterial strains made available by the National Collection of Type Cultures in 2022 alongside a commentary on the strains, their provenance and significance.

Highest ocean heat in four centuries places Great Barrier Reef in danger.

Mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in Australia between 2016 and 2024 was driven by high sea surface temperatures (SST). The likelihood of temperature-induced bleaching is a key determinant for the future threat status of the GBR, but the long-term context of recent temperatures in the region is unclear. Here we show that the January-March Coral Sea heat extremes in 2024, 2017 and 2020 (in order of descending mean SST anomalies) were the warmest in 400 years, exceeding the 95th-percentile uncertainty limit of our reconstructed pre-1900 maximum.

Qualitative Assessment of the Experiences of Transgender Individuals Assigned Female at Birth Undergoing Gender-Affirming Mastectomy for the Treatment of Gender Dysphoria.

Purpose: Evaluation and comparison of outcomes following gender-affirming mastectomy have been hindered by the lack of a validated population- and surgery-specific patient-reported outcome measure (PROM). The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of transgender individuals assigned female at birth (AFAB) from before-to-after gender-affirming mastectomy to identify key qualitative themes that might inform the creation of a quantitative PROM in the future.

Methods: Identified candidates were transgender men AFAB, 18-65 years of age (mean±standard deviation: 30.

Daily artificial gravity partially mitigates vestibular processing changes associated with head-down tilt bedrest.

Microgravity alters vestibular signaling and reduces body loading, driving sensory reweighting. The unloading effects can be modelled using head-down tilt bedrest (HDT). Artificial gravity (AG) has been hypothesized to serve as an integrated countermeasure for the declines associated with HDT and spaceflight.

Developing online communication training to request donation for vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA): improving performance to match new US organ donation targets.

Background: Approaching families of dying or newly deceased patients to donate organs requires specialized knowledge and a mastery of relational communication. As the transplantation field has progressed, Donation Professionals (DPs) are also leading conversations with family decision makers (FDMs) about the donation of uncommon anatomical gifts, such as face, hands, genitalia, referred to as Vascularized Composite Allotransplants (VCA) without much training or experience. To address the need for training, we adapted and beta tested an evidenced-based communication training program for donation discussions to VCA requests.

Parental Distress and Parenting Behavior in Families of Preschool Children with and Without ASD: Spillover and Buffering.

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) report increased distress relative to parents of children with neurotypical development. Parent well-being is generally considered a key determinant of parenting behavior, thus increased distress may spill over into less optimal parenting in families of children with ASD. However, evidence is mixed regarding the degree to which parenting is actually compromised in this population, suggesting the possibility of buffering, wherein the parenting of children with ASD may be robust against spillover from increased parental distress.

Sibling Support and Perceived Daily Hassles in Latino and Non-Latino Families of Children with DD.

Parents of children with developmental delay (DD) report significantly higher levels of parenting stress compared to parents of children with typical development. There is a heightened need for social support among families of children with DD. Siblings play an important role in these contexts as a supportive resource and primary stress buffer.

Measurement of the Tumor-to-Normal Ratio for Radioembolization of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Prospective Study Comparing 2-Dimensional Perfusion Angiography, Technetium-99m Macroaggregated Albumin, and Yttrium-90 SPECT/CT.

Purpose: To calculate the preradioembolic tumor-to-normal (T:N) ratio in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using 2-dimensional (2D) perfusion angiography and compare it with that calculated using technetium-99m macroaggregated albumin (Tc MAA) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/computed tomography (CT).

Materials And Methods: This prospective single-arm study enrolled 15 participants with HCC who underwent 2D perfusion angiography immediately before the enrollment and with the microcatheter located at the same location as Tc MAA injection, after which SPECT/CT was performed. Quantitative digital subtraction angiography was used to calculate the area under the curve for the tumor and normal hepatic parenchyma and subsequently calculate the T:N ratio.

Daily Artificial Gravity Partially Mitigates Vestibular Processing Changes Associated with Head-down Tilt Bedrest.

Microgravity alters vestibular signaling and reduces body loading, driving sensory reweighting and adaptation. The unloading effects can be modelled using head down tilt bedrest (HDT). Artificial gravity (AG) has been hypothesized to serve as an integrated countermeasure for the physiological declines associated with HDT and spaceflight.

Impacts of spaceflight experience on human brain structure.

Spaceflight induces widespread changes in human brain morphology. It is unclear if these brain changes differ with varying mission duration or spaceflight experience history (i.e.

NCTC3000: a century of bacterial strain collecting leads to a rich genomic data resource.

The National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC) was founded on 1 January 1920 in order to fulfil a recognized need for a centralized repository for bacterial and fungal strains within the UK. It is among the longest-established collections of its kind anywhere in the world and today holds approximately 6000 type and reference bacterial strains - many of medical, scientific and veterinary importance - available to academic, health, food and veterinary institutions worldwide. Recently, a collaboration between NCTC, Pacific Biosciences and the Wellcome Sanger Institute established the NCTC3000 project to long-read sequence and assemble the genomes of up to 3000 NCTC strains.

Daily artificial gravity is associated with greater neural efficiency during sensorimotor adaptation.

Altered vestibular signaling and body unloading in microgravity results in sensory reweighting and adaptation. Microgravity effects are well-replicated in head-down tilt bed rest (HDBR). Artificial gravity (AG) is a potential countermeasure to mitigate the effects of microgravity on human physiology and performance.

Prior ablation and progression of disease correlate with higher tumor-to-normal liver Tc-MAA uptake ratio in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Purpose: Factors affecting tumor-to-normal tissue ratio (T:N) have implications for patient selection, dosimetry, and outcomes when considering radioembolization for HCC. This study sought to evaluate patient, disease specific, and technical parameters that predict T:N as measured on planning pre-Y radioembolization Tc-MAA scintigraphy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Tc-MAA hepatic angiography procedures with SPECT/CT over a 4-year period were reviewed.

Sensory system-specific associations between brain structure and balance.

Nearly 75% of older adults in the US report balance problems. Although it is known that aging results in widespread brain atrophy, less is known about how brain structure relates to balance in aging. We collected T- and diffusion-weighted MRI scans and measured postural sway of 36 young (18-34 years) and 22 older (66-84 years) adults during eyes open, eyes closed, eyes open-foam, and eyes closed-foam conditions.

Radiofrequency Hyperthermia Enhances Locally Delivered Oncolytic Immuno-Virotherapy for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of radiofrequency hyperthermia (RFH)-enhanced oncolytic immuno-virotherapy on in vitro pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell line and in vivo rat pancreatic cancer model.

Materials And Methods: Rat pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell line and 24 Lewis rats with orthotopic pancreatic adenocarcinomas underwent treatment with either (1) oncolytic virotherapy (talimogene laherparepvec [T-VEC]) plus RFH at 42 °C for 30 min; (2) oncolytic virotherapy-only; (3) RFH-only; or (4) saline (control). MTS assays and flow cytometry were used to analyze tumor cell viability and apoptosis levels 24 h after treatment.

Emerging biological archives can reveal ecological and climatic change in Antarctica.

Anthropogenic climate change is causing observable changes in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean including increased air and ocean temperatures, glacial melt leading to sea-level rise and a reduction in salinity, and changes to freshwater water availability on land. These changes impact local Antarctic ecosystems and the Earth's climate system. The Antarctic has experienced significant past environmental change, including cycles of glaciation over the Quaternary Period (the past ~2.

Notification List of Bacterial Strains Made Available by the United Kingdom National Collection of Type Cultures in 2021.

Here, we report on the 47 bacterial strains made available by the National Collection of Type Cultures in 2021, alongside a commentary on these strains and their significance.

Changes in working memory brain activity and task-based connectivity after long-duration spaceflight.

We studied the longitudinal effects of approximately 6 months of spaceflight on brain activity and task-based connectivity during a spatial working memory (SWM) task. We further investigated whether any brain changes correlated with changes in SWM performance from pre- to post-flight. Brain activity was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging while astronauts (n = 15) performed a SWM task.

Evaluation of an eLearning System to Train Health Professionals to Communicate about Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation with Donor Families.

Vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) donation relies on obtaining surrogate authorization. Yet, many donor professionals have limited experience discussing composite allograft donation. Using virtual and interactive elements, the eLearning program, Communicating Effectively about Donation for Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation (CEaD-VCA), was developed to enhance the quality of donor professionals' communication approach.

Percutaneous Radiofrequency Ablation to Occlude the Thoracic Duct: Preclinical Studies in Swine for a Potential Alternative to Embolization.

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of percutaneous radiofrequency (RF) ablation to occlude the thoracic duct (TD) in a swine model with imaging and histologic correlation.

Materials And Methods: Six swine underwent TD RF ablation. Two terminal (4 hours, 1 open and 1 percutaneous) and 4 survival (30 days, all percutaneous) studies were performed.