Publications by authors named "Montgomery M"

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is characterized by defective lipid metabolism, which causes disease progression. MASH is also linked to various cardiometabolic risk factors, including obesity and type 2 diabetes. The contribution of defective lipid metabolism in MASH to cardiometabolic comorbidities is incompletely understood.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: Upon entry into the upper respiratory tract (URT), (Spn) upregulates neuraminidases (NA) that cleave sialic acid (SA) from host glycans. Because sialylation is thought to contribute to the physical properties that determine mucus function, we posited that Spn directly alters host mucus through NA activity. By directly imaging the colonized URT, we demonstrated NA-mediated alterations to the characteristics and distribution of mucus along the respiratory epithelium, where colonizing bacteria are found.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The invasive mosquito is regarded as a public health threat due to its ability to transmit pathogens such as dengue and chikungunya viruses, its wide range of hosts, and its ecological plasticity. has already invaded parts of the Middle East region and further expansion is expected. Twenty-two sites in three districts of Yemen (Al Ghaydha, Hawf, and Sayhout) were screened for the presence of mosquitoes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Golden Syrian hamster is a well-characterized rodent model for severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)-associated pneumonia. We sought to characterize the pulmonary disease course during SARS-CoV-2 infection (strain USA-WA1/2020) in the hamster model using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and compare radiologic observations with histopathologic findings. We observed a range of radiologic abnormalities, including ground glass opacities (GGOs), consolidations, air bronchograms, and pneumomediastinum.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a key imaging technique used to study drug distribution, receptor activity, and biomarkers, essential for drug development.
  • - Traditional PET biodistribution studies are labor-intensive, prone to variability, and challenging due to inconsistent animal positioning, which can affect results.
  • - To improve accuracy and efficiency, Body Conforming Animal Molds (BCAMs) were introduced for consistent positioning, combined with a cloud-based SaaS platform that offers automated data analysis, demonstrating successful outcomes comparable to manual methods with minimal training required.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Insomnia is common after stroke and is associated with poorer recovery and greater risk of subsequent strokes. Yet, no insomnia measures have been validated in English-speaking individuals affected by stroke.

Aims: This prospective diagnostic validation study investigated the discriminatory validity and optimal diagnostic cut-off of the Sleep Condition Indicator when screening for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-fifth edition (DSM-5) insomnia disorder post-stroke.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Swyer-James-MacLeod syndrome (SJMS) is a rare lung disorder that leads to underdeveloped blood vessels in the lungs, often causing emphysema and sometimes bronchiectasis.
  • The exact cause is unclear, but SJMS is thought to stem from childhood respiratory infections like RSV and tuberculosis, with symptoms that are often vague and can delay diagnosis.
  • A report of a 23-year-old Kenyan woman illustrates the challenges of diagnosing SJMS given her lengthy clinical history of respiratory issues, emphasizing the need for careful evaluation and possibly advanced imaging to identify the condition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Context: Laboratory-based hepatitis C virus (HCV) clearance cascades are an important tool for health departments to track progress toward HCV elimination, but a laboratory-based definition of HCV clearance has not yet been validated.

Objective: To compare agreement between a laboratory-based HCV clearance definition with a clinical cure definition.

Design: Observational.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent form of programmed cell death that is influenced by biological processes such as iron metabolism and senescence. As brain iron levels increase with aging, ferroptosis is also implicated in the development of age-related pathologic conditions such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD). Indeed, inhibitors of ferroptosis have been shown to be protective in models of degenerative brain disorders like AD/ADRD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Metabolic diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes involve insulin resistance, particularly in neurons of the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus that help regulate metabolism.
  • The study highlights how the perineuronal net, an extracellular matrix that surrounds these neurons, becomes altered during metabolic diseases, contributing to insulin resistance.
  • Disrupting this protective net in obese mice improves brain insulin access, reverses insulin resistance in neurons, and boosts metabolic health, revealing extracellular matrix changes as critical to understanding metabolic diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Reactive chlorine species (RCS) like sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) are potent oxidizing agents and widely used biocides in surface disinfection, water treatment, and biofilm elimination. Moreover, RCS are also produced by the human immune system to kill invading pathogens. However, bacteria have developed mechanisms to survive the damage caused by RCS.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

X-ray opacity measurements on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) are in the process of reproducing earlier measurements from the Sandia Z Facility, in particular for oxygen and iron plasmas. These measurements have the potential to revise our understanding of the "solar problem" and of the hot degenerate Q class white dwarf structure by probing plasma conditions near the base of their convection zones. Accurate opacity measurements using soft x-ray Bragg crystal spectrometers require correction for higher-order diffraction effects.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Intraoperative implantation of leadless cardiac pacemakers (LCPs) during valve surgery is a new approach intended for patients at high risk of postoperative heart conduction issues.
  • A study assessing the long-term safety and effectiveness of this method evaluated 100 patients, all of whom underwent successful LCP implantation without any device-related complications during an average follow-up of about 10.6 months.
  • Results showed that 95% of patients had acceptable pacing thresholds at the 12-month follow-up, indicating that this technique is a safe alternative to traditional pacing methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

MicroRNA-1 (miR-1) is the most abundant miRNA in adult skeletal muscle. To determine the function of miR-1 in adult skeletal muscle, we generated an inducible, skeletal muscle-specific miR-1 knockout (KO) mouse. Integration of RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data from miR-1 KO muscle with Argonaute 2 enhanced crosslinking and immunoprecipitation sequencing (AGO2 eCLIP-seq) from human skeletal muscle identified miR-1 target genes involved with glycolysis and pyruvate metabolism.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Teaching medical students the skills required to acquire, interpret, apply, and communicate clinical information is an integral part of medical education. A crucial aspect of this process involves providing students with feedback regarding the quality of their free-text clinical notes.

Objective: The goal of this study was to assess the ability of ChatGPT 3.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Influenza sentinel surveillance in Lao PDR is used to inform seasonal vaccination programs. This analysis reviews epidemiologic and virologic characteristics of influenza virus infection over 8 years, before and after emergence of SARS-CoV-2.

Methods: Data collected for ILI and SARI surveillance during January 2016 through December 2023 were analyzed from nine hospitals.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Thai Ministry of Public Health recommends influenza vaccination for certain risk groups. We evaluated 2023 Southern Hemisphere influenza vaccine effectiveness against medically attended influenza using surveillance data from nine Thai hospitals and a test-negative design. During June 2022-May 2023, influenza vaccine provided moderate protection against seeking care for influenza illness (adjusted vaccine effectiveness 51%; 95% confidence interval 28-67).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The revolution of orthopedic implant manufacturing is being driven by 3D printing of titanium implants for large bony defects such as those caused by diabetic Charcot arthropathy. Unlike traditional subtractive manufacturing of orthopedic implants, 3D printing fuses titanium powder layer-by-layer, creating a unique surface roughness that could potentially enhance osseointegration. However, the metabolic impairments caused by diabetes, including negative alterations of bone metabolism, can lead to nonunion and decreased osseointegration with traditionally manufactured orthopedic implants.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A subgroup of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) experiences recurrent herpes simplex virus infections, known as eczema herpeticum (ADEH), prompting a study of the underlying transcriptional mechanisms.
  • RNA sequencing revealed significant dysregulation in gene expression of the epidermis and dermis in ADEH patients, with a notable increase in genes related to type 2 cytokine and interferon inflammatory pathways.
  • The findings suggest that the unique inflammation and altered epidermal differentiation in ADEH patients contribute to their heightened risk for eczema herpeticum, guiding future research on this condition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCHL1) is a deubiquitinating enzyme originally found in the brain. Our previous work revealed that UCHL1 was also expressed in skeletal muscle and affected myoblast differentiation and metabolism. In this study, we further tested the role of UCHL1 in myogenesis and muscle regeneration following muscle ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Acquired brain injuries (ABIs) can have devastating effects on children and their families. Families living in rural communities experience unique barriers to receiving and coordinating care for complex medical needs, but little research has examined those barriers for rural youth with ABIs.

Materials And Methods: This qualitative study explored the experiences of rural adults caring for children with ABIs through interviews with six caregivers, three school staff members, and three medical professionals who had treated at least one child with an ABI.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Heart failure is a clinical syndrome characterized by the inability of the heart to meet the circulatory demands of the body without requiring an increase in intracardiac pressures at rest or with exertion. Hemodynamic parameters can be measured via right heart catheterization, which has an integral role in the full spectrum of heart failure: from ambulatory patients to those in cardiogenic shock, as well as patients being considered for left ventricular device therapy and heart transplantation. Hemodynamic data are critical for prompt recognition of clinical deterioration, assessment of prognosis, and guidance of treatment decisions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Oxidizing agents are low-molecular-weight molecules that oxidize other substances by accepting electrons from them. They include reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as superoxide anions (O), hydrogen peroxide (HO), and hydroxyl radicals (HO), and reactive chlorine species (RCS) including sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and its active ingredient hypochlorous acid (HOCl), and chloramines. Bacteria encounter oxidizing agents in many different environments and from diverse sources.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * The study found that arginine methylation is not significantly influenced by healthy muscle growth or exercise, though it does change notably in muscle atrophy models, especially in patients with diseases like ALS.
  • * Using mass spectrometry, the researchers identified 793 proteins that are altered in ALS-affected muscles and demonstrated that enhancing PRMT1 and asymmetric dimethylation can improve muscle function and reduce fatigue in mice, suggesting potential therapeutic targets for ALS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

By incompletely understood mechanisms, type 2 (T2) inflammation present in the airways of severe asthmatics drives the formation of pathologic mucus which leads to airway mucus plugging. Here we investigate the molecular role and clinical significance of intelectin-1 (ITLN-1) in the development of pathologic airway mucus in asthma. Through analyses of human airway epithelial cells we find that ITLN1 gene expression is highly induced by interleukin-13 (IL-13) in a subset of metaplastic MUC5AC mucus secretory cells, and that ITLN-1 protein is a secreted component of IL-13-induced mucus.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF