Patient Insights on Integrating Sleep Apnea Testing into Routine Stroke and TIA Care.

AHA/ASA guidelines recommend patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) be considered for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) evaluation, given the high prevalence of OSA and improved outcomes for cerebrovascular disease when OSA is treated. However, OSA testing has not been incorporated into routine cerebrovascular management. We interviewed 30 patients hospitalized for acute stroke/TIA at six Veterans Affairs facilities participating in a stepped-wedge implementation trial to improve timely OSA testing after stroke/TIA.

An expert consensus statement on biomarkers of ageing for use in intervention studies.

Biomarkers of ageing serve as important outcome measures in longevity-promoting interventions. However, there is limited consensus on which specific biomarkers are most appropriate for human intervention studies. This work aimed to address this need by establishing an expert consensus on biomarkers of ageing for use in intervention studies via the Delphi method.

Beneficial modulation of the gut microbiome by leachates of Penicillium purpurogenum in the presence of clays: A model for the preparation and efficacy of historical Lemnian Earth.

The experiments presented here are based on the reconfiguration of an ancient medicine, Lemnian Earth (LE) (terra sigillata, stamped earth, sphragis), an acclaimed therapeutic clay with a 2500-year history of use. Based on our hypothesis that LE was not a natural material but an artificially modified one involving a clay-fungus interaction, we present results from experiments involving the co-culture of a common fungus, Penicillium purpurogenum (Pp), with two separate clay slurries, smectite and kaolin, which are the principal constituents of LE. Our results show: (a) the leachate of the Pp+smectite co-culture is antibacterial in vitro, inhibiting the growth of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria; (b) in vivo, supplementation of regular mouse diet with leachates of Pp+smectite increases intestinal microbial diversity; (c) Pp+kaolin does not produce similar results; (d) untargeted metabolomics and analysis of bacterial functional pathways indicates that the Pp+smectite-induced microbiome amplifies production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and amino acid biosynthesis, known to modulate intestinal and systemic inflammation.

Frailty and the Survival Outcomes of Patients With Laryngeal Squamous Cell Cancer.

Background: Frailty increases the risk of mortality in the head and neck cancer population. This study examines the association between frailty and survival outcomes in patients with laryngeal squamous cell cancer (LSCC).

Method: Retrospective data collection from patients in the West of Scotland diagnosed with LSCC between 2014 and 2020.

Spatial lipidomic profiles of atherosclerotic plaques: A mass spectrometry imaging study.

Lipids contribute to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease but their roles are not fully understood. Spatial lipid composition of atherosclerotic plaques was compared between species focusing on aortic plaques from New Zealand White rabbits and carotid plaques from humans (n = 3), using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging. Histologically discriminant lipids within plaque features (neointima and media in rabbits, and lipid-necrotic core and fibrous cap/tissue in humans) included sphingomyelins, phosphatidylcholines, and cholesteryl esters.

Charting the metabolic biogeography of the colorectum in cancer: challenging the right sided versus left sided classification.

Objective: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is conventionally classified as right sided, left sided, and rectal cancer. Clinicopathological, molecular features and risk factors do not change abruptly along the colorectum, and variations exist even within the refined subsites, which may contribute to inconsistencies in the identification of clinically relevant CRC biomarkers. We generated a CRC metabolome map to describe the association between metabolites, diagnostic and survival heterogeneity in cancers of different subsites of the colorectum.

Recounting the untold stories of breast cancer patient experiences: lessons learned from a patient-public involvement and engagement storytelling event.

Objectives: Breast cancer remains a prevalent disease in women worldwide. Though advancements in breast cancer care have improved patient survival, a breast cancer diagnosis, and subsequent interventions have a lasting impact on patients' lived experiences during the pandemic.

Methods: We present the collaborative learning process from this patient engagement workshop series as a community-academic partnership.

Accuracy, thoroughness, and quality of outpatient primary care documentation in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Background: Electronic health records (EHRs) can accelerate documentation and may enhance details of notes, or complicate documentation and introduce errors. Comprehensive assessment of documentation quality requires comparing documentation to what transpires during the clinical encounter itself. We assessed outpatient primary care notes and corresponding recorded encounters to determine accuracy, thoroughness, and several additional key measures of documentation quality.

Mothers' Internet Journeys Through Social, Health Care, and Virtual Systems When Congenital Anomalies Are Diagnosed In Utero.

Objective: To examine mothers' internet usage, in conjunction with social, health care, and virtual peer support navigations, when congenital anomalies were diagnosed in utero.

Design: Qualitative descriptive, consisting of semistructured interviews.

Setting: Interview data were collected over Zoom; mothers participated from locations of their choosing.

Cytotoxicity and toxicoproteomics analysis of thiazolidinedione exposure in human-derived cardiomyocytes.

Thiazolidinediones (TZDs) (e.g. pioglitazone and rosiglitazone), known insulin sensitiser agents for type II diabetes mellitus, exhibit controversial effects on cardiac tissue.

Fostering Alignment and the Catalytic Potential of Community-Engaged Research With US Military Veterans and Advocates.

This paper explores the concept of "community-engaged research" (CEnR) within the context of Veteran health care delivery and reintegration programs. A multi-sector expert panel (msExP) was formed to evaluate and make recommendations on Veteran community reintegration research and programs. The panel consisted of Veterans, care partners, clinical providers, researchers, community stakeholders, and subject matter experts.

Conceptualizing care partners' burden, stress, and support for reintegrating Veterans: a mixed methods study.

Background: People who support Veterans as they transition from their military service into civilian life may be at an increased risk of psychological distress. Existing studies focus primarily on paid family caregivers, but few studies include spouses and informal non-family "care partners." We sought to identify key challenges faced by care partners of Veterans with invisible injuries.

Toxicometabolomics-based cardiotoxicity evaluation of Thiazolidinedione exposure in human-derived cardiomyocytes.

Introduction: Thiazolidinediones (TZDs), represented by pioglitazone and rosiglitazone, are a class of cost-effective oral antidiabetic agents posing a marginal hypoglycaemia risk. Nevertheless, observations of heart failure have hindered the clinical use of both therapies.

Objective: Since the mechanism of TZD-induced heart failure remains largely uncharacterised, this study aimed to explore the as-yet-unidentified mechanisms underpinning TZD cardiotoxicity using a toxicometabolomics approach.

Assessing the acceptability and feasibility of remote spirometric monitoring for rural patients with interstitial lung disease: a multimethod approach.

Introduction: Interstitial lung disease encompasses a group of rare lung conditions causing inflammation and scarring of lung tissue. The typical method of monitoring disease activity is through pulmonary function tests performed in a hospital setting. However, accessing care can be difficult for rural patients due to numerous barriers.

Nanoparticle Isolation from Biological Media for Protein Corona Analysis: The Impact of Incubation and Recovery Protocols on Nanoparticle Properties.

Nanoparticles are increasingly implemented in biomedical applications, including the diagnosis and treatment of disease. When exposed to complex biological media, nanoparticles spontaneously interact with their surrounding environment, leading to the surface-adsorption of small and bio- macromolecules- termed the "corona". Corona composition is governed by nanoparticle properties and incubation parameters.

OMICmAge: An integrative multi-omics approach to quantify biological age with electronic medical records.

Biological aging is a multifactorial process involving complex interactions of cellular and biochemical processes that is reflected in omic profiles. Using common clinical laboratory measures in ~30,000 individuals from the MGB-Biobank, we developed a robust, predictive biological aging phenotype, , that balances clinical biomarkers with overall mortality risk and can be broadly recapitulated across EMRs. We then applied elastic-net regression to model with DNA-methylation (DNAm) and multiple omics, generating and respectively.

Urinary Paraben Concentrations and Associations with the Periconceptional Urinary Metabolome: Untargeted and Targeted Metabolomics Analyses of Participants from the Early Pregnancy Study.

Background: Parabens, found in everyday items from personal care products to foods, are chemicals with endocrine-disrupting activity, which has been shown to influence reproductive function.

Objectives: This study investigated whether urinary concentrations of methylparaben, propylparaben, or butylparaben were associated with the urinary metabolome during the periconceptional period, a critical window for female reproductive function. Changes to the periconceptional urinary metabolome could provide insights into the mechanisms by which parabens could impact fertility.

A developmental formative evaluation of a pilot participatory music program for veterans with housing insecurity.

Background: Interventions are needed to improve well-being and promote community reintegration among Veterans with housing insecurity. The objective was to conduct a developmental formative evaluation of a participatory music program.

Methods: This single-site, pilot study implemented a participatory music program at a U.

Global serum profiling: an opportunity for earlier cancer detection.

The advances in cancer research achieved in the last 50 years have been remarkable and have provided a deeper knowledge of this disease in many of its conceptual and biochemical aspects. From viewing a tumor as a 'simple' aggregate of mutant cells and focusing on detecting key cell changes leading to the tumorigenesis, the understanding of cancer has broadened to consider it as a complex organ interacting with its close and far surroundings through tumor and non-tumor cells, metabolic mechanisms, and immune processes. Metabolism and the immune system have been linked to tumorigenesis and malignancy progression along with cancer-specific genetic mutations.

Investigation of frailty markers including a novel biomarker panel in emergency laparotomy: protocol of a prospective cohort study.

Background: Emergency laparotomy (EmLAP) is one of the commonest emergency operations performed in the United Kingdom (approximately 30, 000 laparotomies annually). These potentially high-risk procedures can be life changing with frail patients and/ or older adults (≥ 65 years) having the poorest outcomes, including mortality. There is no gold standard of frailty assessment and no clinical chemical biomarkers existing in practice.

Long-Term Care Administrator Perspectives on an Essential Family Caregiver Policy.

Objectives: Characterize the implementation, benefits, and challenges of an Essential Family Caregiver (EFC) program, a novel policy implemented in long-term care (LTC) settings during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana. Characterize LTC administrator perspectives on family/caregiver involvement in the LTC setting.

Design: Semi-structured qualitative interviews.

Distinct ecological fitness factors coordinated by a conserved regulator during systemic bloodstream infection.

The ability of bacterial pathogens to adapt to host niches is driven by the carriage and regulation of genes that benefit pathogenic lifestyles. Genes that encode virulence or fitness-enhancing factors must be regulated in response to changing host environments to allow rapid response to challenges presented by the host. Furthermore, this process can be controlled by preexisting transcription factors (TFs) that acquire new roles in tailoring regulatory networks, specifically in pathogens.