Oxytocin neurons in the paraventricular and supraoptic hypothalamic nuclei bidirectionally modulate food intake.

Oxytocin (OT) is a neuropeptide produced in the paraventricular (PVH) and supraoptic (SON) nuclei of the hypothalamus. Either peripheral or central administration of OT suppresses food intake through reductions in meal size. However, pharmacological approaches do not differentiate whether observed effects are mediated by OT neurons located in the PVH or in the SON.

Association between measures of resuscitation in the critical care resuscitation unit and in-hospital mortality among patients with sepsis.

Objectives: We hypothesized that lactate clearance and reduction of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score during patients' critical care resuscitation unit (CCRU) stay would be associated with lower in-hospital mortality.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of adult patients who had sepsis diagnoses and were admitted to the CCRU in 2018. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association of clinical factors, lactate clearance, and SOFA reduction with hospital mortality.

Hippocampus Oxytocin Signaling Promotes Prosocial Eating in Rats.

Background: Oxytocin (OT) is a hypothalamic neuropeptide involved in diverse physiological and behavioral functions, including social-based behavior and food intake control. The extent to which OT's role in regulating these 2 fundamental behaviors is interconnected is unknown, which is a critical gap in knowledge given that social factors have a strong influence on eating behavior in mammals. Here, we focus on OT signaling in the dorsal hippocampus (HPCd), a brain region recently linked to eating and social memory, as a candidate system where these functions overlap.

Western diet consumption impairs memory function via dysregulated hippocampus acetylcholine signaling.

Western diet (WD) consumption during early life developmental periods is associated with impaired memory function, particularly for hippocampus (HPC)-dependent processes. We developed an early life WD rodent model associated with long-lasting HPC dysfunction to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms mediating these effects. Rats received either a cafeteria-style WD (ad libitum access to various high-fat/high-sugar foods; CAF) or standard healthy chow (CTL) during the juvenile and adolescent stages (postnatal days 26-56).

Stability of ranibizumab during continuous delivery from the Port Delivery Platform.

The Port Delivery System with ranibizumab (PDS) is an innovative intraocular drug delivery system that has the potential to reduce treatment burden in patients with retinovascular diseases. The Port Delivery Platform (PD-P) implant is a permanent, indwelling device that can be refilled in situ through a self-sealing septum and is designed to continuously deliver ranibizumab by passive diffusion through a porous titanium release control element. We present results for the studies carried out to characterize the stability of ranibizumab for use with the PD-P.

Early- but not late-adolescent Western diet consumption programs for long-lasting memory impairments in male but not female rats.

Early life Western diet (WD) consumption leads to impaired memory function, particularly for processes mediated by the hippocampus. However, the precise critical developmental window(s) during which WD exposure negatively impacts hippocampal function are unknown. Here, we exposed male and female rats to a WD model involving free access to a variety of high-fat and/or high-sugar food and drink items during either the early-adolescent period (postnatal days [PN] 26-41; WD-EA) or late-adolescent period (PN 41-56; WD-LA).

Early- but not late-adolescent Western diet consumption programs for long-lasting memory impairments in male but not female rats.

Early life Western diet (WD) consumption leads to impaired memory function, particularly for processes mediated by the hippocampus. However, the precise critical developmental window(s) during which WD exposure negatively impacts hippocampal function are unknown. Here, we exposed male and female rats to a WD model involving free access to a variety of high-fat and/or high-sugar food and drink items during either the early-adolescent period (postnatal days [PN] 26-41; WD-EA) or late-adolescent period (PN 41-56; WD-LA).

The Current State of Health Inequities in COPD.

An understanding of the health inequities that surround the treatment and prevention of COPD is required to address the barriers that hinder improvement of care for underserved populations. This scoping review was conducted to identify the existing evidence of social factors that affect the health, health-care access, and health-care quality of patients with COPD within the United States, and to identify gaps in knowledge to help direct future research. We followed the guidelines from the Joanna Briggs Institute and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews.

Western diet consumption impairs memory function via dysregulated hippocampus acetylcholine signaling.

Western diet (WD) consumption during development yields long-lasting memory impairments, yet the underlying neurobiological mechanisms remain elusive. Here we developed an early life WD rodent model to evaluate whether dysregulated hippocampus (HPC) acetylcholine (ACh) signaling, a pathology associated with memory impairment in human dementia, is causally-related to WD-induced cognitive impairment. Rats received a cafeteria-style WD (access to various high-fat/high-sugar foods; CAF) or healthy chow (CTL) during the juvenile and adolescent periods (postnatal days 26-56).

Race and Street-Level Firework Legalization as Primary Determinants of July 4th Air Pollution across Southern California.

Air pollution is a major public health threat that is associated with asthma, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and all-cause mortality. Among the most important acute air pollution events occurring each year are celebrations involving fireworks, such as the 4th of July holiday in the United States. In this community-engaged study, academic partners and residents collaborated to collect indoor and outdoor PM concentration measurements in the disadvantaged city of Santa Ana, California, using low-cost AtmoTube sensor devices before, during and after the July 4th firework celebration, while also examining July 4th data extracted from the PurpleAir sensor network across over a hundred other cities in southern California.

Community-Engaged Use of Low-Cost Sensors to Assess the Spatial Distribution of PM Concentrations across Disadvantaged Communities: Results from a Pilot Study in Santa Ana, CA.

PM is an air pollutant that is widely associated with adverse health effects, and which tends to be disproportionately located near low-income communities and communities of color. We applied a community-engaged research approach to assess the distribution of PM concentrations in the context of community concerns and urban features within and around the city of Santa Ana, CA. Approximately 183 h of one-minute average PM measurements, along with high-resolution geographic coordinate measurements, were collected by volunteer community participants using roughly two dozen low-cost AtmoTube Pro air pollution sensors paired with real-time GPS tracking devices.

Is the Critical Care Resuscitation Unit Sustainable: A 5-Year Experience of a Beneficial and Novel Model.

Background: The 6-bed critical care resuscitation unit (CCRU) is a unique and specialized intensive care unit (ICU) that streamlines the interhospital transfer (IHT-transfer between different hospitals) process for a wide range of patients with critical illness or time-sensitive disease. Previous studies showed the unit successfully increased the number of ICU admissions while reducing the time of transfer in the first year of its establishment. However, its sustainability is unknown.

Insights Into Sibling Relationships and Longevity From Genetics of Healthy Ageing Nonagenarians: The Importance of Optimisation, Resilience and Social Networks.

Understanding how to "Age Longer and Age Well" is a priority for people personally, for populations and for government policy. Approximately ten percent of nonagenarians reach 90 years and beyond in good condition and seem to have a combination of both age-span and health-span. However, the factors which contribute to human longevity remain challenging.

The Port Delivery System with ranibizumab: a new paradigm for long-acting retinal drug delivery.

The Port Delivery System with ranibizumab (PDS) is an innovative intraocular drug delivery system designed for the continuous delivery of ranibizumab into the vitreous for 6 months and beyond. The PDS includes an ocular implant, a customized formulation of ranibizumab, and four dedicated ancillary devices for initial fill, surgical implantation, refill-exchange, and explantation, if clinically indicated. Ranibizumab is an ideal candidate for the PDS on account of its unique physicochemical stability and high solubility.

Patterns of opioid prescribing in emergency departments during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic was superimposed upon an ongoing epidemic of opioid use disorder and overdose deaths. Although the trend of opioid prescription patterns (OPP) had decreased in response to public health efforts before the pandemic, little is known about the OPP from emergency department (ED) clinicians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We conducted a pre-post study of adult patients who were discharged from 13 EDs and one urgent care within our academic medical system between 01/01/2019 and 09/30/2020 using an interrupted time series (ITS) approach.

In-vitro characterization of ranibizumab release from the Port Delivery System.

The Port Delivery System with ranibizumab (PDS) consists of an implant that is a permanent, indwelling drug delivery device that can be refilled through a self-sealing septum and is designed to continuously release a customized formulation of ranibizumab into the vitreous by passive diffusion through a porous titanium release control element. Target release rates of ranibizumab via the implant used in studies of the PDS in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration were selected based on clinical and pharmacokinetic (PK) data from previously conducted intravitreal ranibizumab injection studies. In-vitro testing was performed to verify release rates with a range of ranibizumab concentrations before the phase II Ladder (NCT02510794) and phase III Archway (NCT03677934) trials of the PDS.

Oxytocin and Food Intake Control: Neural, Behavioral, and Signaling Mechanisms.

The neuropeptide oxytocin is produced in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus and the supraoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus. In addition to its extensively studied influence on social behavior and reproductive function, central oxytocin signaling potently reduces food intake in both humans and animal models and has potential therapeutic use for obesity treatment. In this review, we highlight rodent model research that illuminates various neural, behavioral, and signaling mechanisms through which oxytocin's anorexigenic effects occur.

Problem-Based Learning About Problem-Based Learning: Lessons Learned from a Student-Led Initiative to Improve Tutor Group Interaction.

This article summarizes a student-led effort to improve tutor group interactions among second-year medical students in a hybrid problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. Dissatisfaction with PBL had led to superficial tutorial discussions that students escaped to study for board certification exams. Following the PBL principle of using intrinsically motivating problems, the student investigators created board-style questions with accompanying facilitation guides for tutors to present as 'mini-problems' to stimulate case-related discussion.

Identification and Functional Characterization of Novel MYC-Regulated Long Noncoding RNAs in Group 3 Medulloblastoma.

The impact of protein-coding genes on cancer onset and progression is a well-established paradigm in molecular oncology. Nevertheless, unveiling the contribution of the noncoding genes-including long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs)-to tumorigenesis represents a great challenge for personalized medicine, since they (i) constitute the majority of the human genome, (ii) are essential and flexible regulators of gene expression and (iii) present all types of genomic alterations described for protein-coding genes. LncRNAs have been increasingly associated with cancer, their highly tissue- and cancer type-specific expression making them attractive candidates as both biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Clinical Nurse Specialist Impact on COVID-19 Preparation at a Military Treatment Facility.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly challenged healthcare organizations across the globe, forcing innovation, resourcefulness, and flexibility. The purpose of this article is to describe the impact of clinical nurse specialist practice on COVID-19 preparation at a military hospital.

Environment Of Care Changes: The pandemic required facilities to develop expansion plans to facilitate a potential surge of COVID-19 patients.