Neuroimmune mechanisms of a mouse model of chronic back pain.

Unlabelled: Chronic back pain (CBP) is the leading cause of disability affecting 1 in 10 people worldwide. Symptoms are marked by persistent lower back pain, reduced mobility, and heightened cold sensitivity. Here, we utilize a mouse model of CBP induced by injecting urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), a proinflammatory agent in the fibrinolytic pathway, between the L2/L3 lumbar vertebrae.

Range of Motion and Muscle Stiffness Differences in Junior Tennis Players with and without a History of Shoulder Pain.

Background: Due to its significant unilateral predominance, tennis can provoke functional and morphological asymmetries that develop over time and may result in undesired morphological alterations.

Hypothesis/purpose: The goals of this study were a) to assess glenohumeral range of motion and muscular stiffness in young tennis players with and without a history of shoulder pain and b) to examine interlimb asymmetries in these variables in both groups. It was hypothesized that players with a history of shoulder pain would show a reduced glenohumeral internal rotation (IR) and total arc of motion (TAM) and increased stiffness in internal rotator muscles compared to those without shoulder pain.

Early Therapeutic Plasma Exchange in Pediatric Transverse Myelitis: A Case Report and Scoping Review.

Background/objectives: Transverse myelitis (TM) is a rare, acute inflammatory disorder affecting the spinal cord, with severe potential consequences, particularly in pediatric patients. Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) has emerged as a possible intervention for children unresponsive to high-dose corticosteroids. This study explores the efficacy of early TPE in pediatric TM through a case report and scoping review aiming to clarify the therapeutic benefits of TPE when used in conjunction with corticosteroids in children.

Multi-modal analysis reveals tumor and immune features distinguishing EBV-positive and EBV-negative post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders.

The oncogenic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) can drive tumorigenesis with disrupted host immunity, causing malignancies including post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLDs). PTLD can also arise in the absence of EBV, but the biological differences underlying EBV(+) and EBV(-) B cell PTLD and the associated host-EBV-tumor interactions remain poorly understood. Here, we reveal the core differences between EBV(+) and EBV(-) PTLD, characterized by increased expression of genes related to immune processes or DNA interactions, respectively, and the augmented ability of EBV(+) PTLD B cells to modulate the tumor microenvironment through elaboration of monocyte-attracting cytokines/chemokines.

Efficacy and Safety of Sotatercept Across Ranges of Cardiac Index in Patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: A Pooled Analysis of PULSAR and STELLAR.

Background: This analysis compared effects of the activin signaling inhibitor, sotatercept, across pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) subgroups stratified by baseline cardiac index (CI).

Methods: Pooled data from PULSAR (N=106; NCT03496207) and STELLAR (N=323; NCT04576988) were analyzed using two different CI thresholds, < and ≥ 2.0 L/min/m or 2.

Estradiol impacts Müller glia and endothelial cell responses in hyperglycemic microenvironments with advanced glycation end products.

Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of vision loss in working adults, with disproportionate impact on women with lowered estrogen. Sex hormones and their receptors are significant to neuroprotection of the inner blood-retinal barrier (iBRB), a tissue that regulates transport across the neuroretina and vasculature. Moreover, high glucose levels in diabetes lead to the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which promote inflammation and iBRB breakdown to result in vision loss.

Using Digital Art and Attachment Priming in a Web-Based Serious Game to Reduce Pain and Social Disconnection in Individuals With Chronic Pain and Loneliness: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Arts engagement using virtual reality and serious games represent promising nonpharmacological self-management treatment approaches to chronic pain. This study is the first randomized controlled trial to explore the impact of a web-based serious game that simulated a visit to an art museum on pain and social disconnection among individuals living with chronic pain and loneliness.

Objective: This study aimed to test the joint and separate effects of exposure to digital art and attachment figure priming on pain and social disconnection among individuals living with chronic pain and loneliness.

Antibiotic Resistance and Presence of Persister Cells in the Biofilm-like Environments in .

This study investigated antibiotic resistance and presence of persister cells in strains belonging to capsular types Ia/ST-103, III/ST-17, and V/ST-26 in biofilm-like environments. strains were susceptible to penicillin, clindamycin, and erythromycin. Resistance genes were associated with M (80%), O (20%), B (80%), and B (40%).

Müller Glia Co-Regulate Barrier Permeability with Endothelial Cells in an Vitro Model of Hyperglycemia.

Diabetic retinopathy is a complex, microvascular disease that impacts millions of working adults each year. High blood glucose levels from Diabetes Mellitus lead to the accumulation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), which promote inflammation and the breakdown of the inner blood retinal barrier (iBRB), resulting in vision loss. This study used an in vitro model of hyperglycemia to examine how endothelial cells (ECs) and Müller glia (MG) collectively regulate molecular transport.

Sufficiency of ITD for (biased) human auditory azimuthal perception.

Experiments on human auditory perception have shown that interaural time difference (ITD) is sufficient to generate spatial percepts, even though stimuli containing only the ITD cue are perceived as being emitted from inside the head instead of from external locations at specific azimuths. These experiments are thus interpreted as "lateralization" instead of "localization" tasks. In fact, lateralized spatial perception has been quantified using tasks in which participants have to report their estimates by selecting a putative location inside the head, or matching the perceived position to sounds with a given interaural level difference.

PET Imaging in Alzheimer Disease: Pathology and Research Insights for Technologists.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and is projected to affect over 13 million people by the year 2060. Although there is currently no cure for AD, disease-modifying treatments that target amyloid plaques have recently been approved for use. The advent of PET tracers that can reliably detect the presence of cortical amyloid plaques and tau pathologies has allowed researchers and clinicians to identify individuals who have pathologic markers of AD before the onset of cognitive decline.

Auditory Competition and Stimulus Selection across Spatial Locations from Midbrain to Forebrain in Barn Owls.

Barn owls enable investigation of neural mechanisms underlying stimulus selection of concurrent stimuli. The audiovisual space map in the optic tectum (OT), avian homolog of the superior colliculus, encodes relative strength of concurrent auditory stimuli through spike response rate and interneuronal spike train synchrony (STS). Open questions remain regarding stimulus selection in downstream forebrain regions lacking topographic coding of auditory space, including the functional consequences of interneuronal STS on interregional signaling.

[Social Security Profile of Cardiovascular Surgical Treated Patients of a Public Hospital in the Macro-Northern Zone, Analysis of a Decade].

Unlabelled: Cardiovascular pathology is the leading cause of death in Chile, with an inverse relationship between socioeconomic status and morbidity/ mortality. Currently, there is a lack of information regarding the Macro North Zone of Chile. Our aim is to describe the profile of patients undergoing interventions in a public hospital over a decade.

Long-Term Reproducibility of BMD-Measurements with Clinical QCT Using Simultaneous and Asynchronous Calibration Methods and Different Measurement and Reconstruction Protocols.

Osteoporosis is underdiagnosed and undertreated. To improve timely fracture risk assessment optimized densitometry methods are required such as opportunistic spinal quantitative computed tomography (QCT). However, it is unclear how to best calibrate these scans and correct for potential scanner drift of QCT when used for monitoring bone mineral density (BMD) changes.

The pace of life for forest trees.

Tree growth and longevity trade-offs fundamentally shape the terrestrial carbon balance. Yet, we lack a unified understanding of how such trade-offs vary across the world's forests. By mapping life history traits for a wide range of species across the Americas, we reveal considerable variation in life expectancies from 10 centimeters in diameter (ranging from 1.

The biogeography of the Amazonian tree flora.

We describe the geographical variation in tree species composition across Amazonian forests and show how environmental conditions are associated with species turnover. Our analyses are based on 2023 forest inventory plots (1 ha) that provide abundance data for a total of 5188 tree species. Within-plot species composition reflected both local environmental conditions (especially soil nutrients and hydrology) and geographical regions.

Mexican Clinical Practice Guidelines for Adult Overweight and Obesity Management.

Purpose: To develop Mexico's first methodologically rigorous clinical practice guideline for the management of adult overweight and obesity. The target audiences are interdisciplinary healthcare professionals across healthcare systems who are the first point of contact for patients with obesity in Mexico, patients, and health system decision makers.

Recent Findings: A review of recent international obesity clinical practice guidelines and an expert consensus process identified: i) common recommendations appropriate for implementation in Mexico and ii) knowledge gaps requiring the formulation of new recommendations.

Do institutions evolve like material technologies?

Norms and institutions enable large-scale human cooperation by creating shared expectations and changing individuals' incentives via monitoring or sanctioning. Like material technologies, these social technologies satisfy instrumental ends and solve difficult problems. However, the similarities and differences between the evolution of material technologies and the evolution of social technologies remain unresolved.

Latent profiles of global electrical heterogeneity: the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos.

Aims: Despite the highest prevalence of stroke, obesity, and diabetes across races/ethnicities, paradoxically, Hispanic/Latino populations have the lowest prevalence of atrial fibrillation and major Minnesota code-defined ECG abnormalities. We aimed to use Latent Profile Analysis in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) population to obtain insight into epidemiological discrepancies.

Methods And Results: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of baseline HCHS/SOL visit.

Identification of pharmacological inducers of a reversible hypometabolic state for whole organ preservation.

Drugs that induce reversible slowing of metabolic and physiological processes would have great value for organ preservation, especially for organs with high susceptibility to hypoxia-reperfusion injury, such as the heart. Using whole-organism screening of metabolism, mobility, and development in , we identified an existing drug, SNC80, that rapidly and reversibly slows biochemical and metabolic activities while preserving cell and tissue viability. Although SNC80 was developed as a delta opioid receptor activator, we discovered that its ability to slow metabolism is independent of its opioid modulating activity as a novel SNC80 analog (WB3) with almost 1000 times less delta opioid receptor binding activity is equally active.

Brazilian Guideline for Exercise Testing in Children and Adolescents - 2024.

Classes Of Recommendation: Conditions for which there is conclusive evidence and, failing that, general agreement that a given procedure is safe and useful/effective. Conditions for which there is conflicting evidence and/or a divergence of opinion about the safety and usefulness/efficacy of a procedure. Weight or evidence/opinion in favor of the procedure.

Predictors of Postoperative Morphine Milligram Equivalents in Cardiac Surgery.

Objectives: Given both the short- and long-term deleterious effects of opioids, there has been an increased focused on reducing the use of postoperative opioid analgesia. As patients undergoing cardiac surgery often require high levels opioids postoperatively, understanding risk factors for increased postoperative opioid use may be helpful for the development of patient-specific opioid-sparing pain regimens for this patient population.

Design: A retrospective analysis of data from our electronic medical records and the Society of Thoracic Surgeon's database.