Socioeconomic and Demographic Disparities in Keratoconus Treatment.

Purpose: To investigate healthcare disparities associated with keratoconus (KCN) patients receiving treatment (corneal cross-linking [CXL] and keratoplasty), as well as comorbidities associated with KCN.

Design: Retrospective clinical cohort study.

Methods: A total of 3224 patients from the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System (UI-Health) database from 2020 to 2024 were examined, including 1612 patients with an International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision diagnosis of KCN, and 1612 ophthalmology patients as a control group.

Brain-phenotype predictions of language and executive function can survive across diverse real-world data: Dataset shifts in developmental populations.

Predictive modeling potentially increases the reproducibility and generalizability of neuroimaging brain-phenotype associations. Yet, the evaluation of a model in another dataset is underutilized. Among studies that undertake external validation, there is a notable lack of attention to generalization across dataset-specific idiosyncrasies (i.

Target specification and therapeutic potential of extracellular vesicles for regulating corneal angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, and nerve repair.

Extracellular vesicles, including exosomes, are small extracellular vesicles that range in size from 30 nm to 10 μm in diameter and have specific membrane markers. They are naturally secreted and are present in various bodily fluids, including blood, urine, and saliva, and through the variety of their internal cargo, they contribute to both normal physiological and pathological processes. These processes include immune modulation, neuronal synapse formation, cell differentiation, cancer metastasis, angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, progression of infectious disease, and neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

Comparison of analgesic efficacy of continuous perineural catheter, liposomal bupivacaine, and dexamethasone as an adjuvant for interscalene block in total shoulder arthroplasty: a triple-blinded randomized controlled trial.

Background: Interscalene catheters (ISC) are considered as the gold standard for perioperative pain control after total shoulder arthroplasty. Liposomal bupivacaine (LB) for interscalene blocks (ISBs) and the addition of dexamethasone to ISBs have both presented as additional options for extended analgesia. We aimed to compare the efficacy of LB to a single-shot ISB (SISB) with added dexamethasone to an ISC.

Power and reproducibility in the external validation of brain-phenotype predictions.

Brain-phenotype predictive models seek to identify reproducible and generalizable brain-phenotype associations. External validation, or the evaluation of a model in external datasets, is the gold standard in evaluating the generalizability of models in neuroimaging. Unlike typical studies, external validation involves two sample sizes: the training and the external sample sizes.

Efficacy of a Standardized Process in Optimizing Appropriate Use of Progressive Care Unit Beds in a Tertiary Care Facility.

Background: Poor patient progression from the progressive care unit (PCU) beds has been recognized as a bottleneck, limiting the hospital's ability to optimize capacity for the sickest patients. Improving nurse management on PCU admission and discharge criteria could avoid PCU bottlenecks.

Local Problem: Our institution lacked a standard process to identify clinically appropriate patients ready for transfer out of the PCU, causing delays in vacating PCU beds.

The brain structure, inflammatory, and genetic mechanisms mediate the association between physical frailty and depression.

Cross-sectional studies have demonstrated strong associations between physical frailty and depression. However, the evidence from prospective studies is limited. Here, we analyze data of 352,277 participants from UK Biobank with 12.

Neurotrophic keratopathy: General features and new therapies.

Neurotrophic keratopathy is an uncommon degenerative corneal disorder characterized by compromised corneal sensory innervation resulting in the formation of epithelial defects and nonhealing corneal ulcers. Various treatment modalities are available to stabilize disease progression, improve patient well-being, and prevent vision loss. For eligible patients, medical and surgical reinnervation have emerged as pioneering therapies, holding promise for better management.

Cell Type-Specific Extracellular Vesicles and Their Impact on Health and Disease.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), a diverse group of cell-derived exocytosed particles, are pivotal in mediating intercellular communication due to their ability to selectively transfer biomolecules to specific cell types. EVs, composed of proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids, are taken up by cells to affect a variety of signaling cascades. Research in the field has primarily focused on stem cell-derived EVs, with a particular focus on mesenchymal stem cells, for their potential therapeutic benefits.

Data leakage inflates prediction performance in connectome-based machine learning models.

Predictive modeling is a central technique in neuroimaging to identify brain-behavior relationships and test their generalizability to unseen data. However, data leakage undermines the validity of predictive models by breaching the separation between training and test data. Leakage is always an incorrect practice but still pervasive in machine learning.

Brain-phenotype predictions can survive across diverse real-world data.

Recent work suggests that machine learning models predicting psychiatric treatment outcomes based on clinical data may fail when applied to unharmonized samples. Neuroimaging predictive models offer the opportunity to incorporate neurobiological information, which may be more robust to dataset shifts. Yet, among the minority of neuroimaging studies that undertake any form of external validation, there is a notable lack of attention to generalization across dataset-specific idiosyncrasies.

The effects of data leakage on connectome-based machine learning models.

Predictive modeling has now become a central technique in neuroimaging to identify complex brain-behavior relationships and test their generalizability to unseen data. However, data leakage, which unintentionally breaches the separation between data used to train and test the model, undermines the validity of predictive models. Previous literature suggests that leakage is generally pervasive in machine learning, but few studies have empirically evaluated the effects of leakage in neuroimaging data.

Design of a Biohybrid Materials Circuit with Binary Decoder Functionality.

Synthetic biology applies concepts from electrical engineering and information processing to endow cells with computational functionality. Transferring the underlying molecular components into materials and wiring them according to topologies inspired by electronic circuit boards has yielded materials systems that perform selected computational operations. However, the limited functionality of available building blocks is restricting the implementation of advanced information-processing circuits into materials.

Power and reproducibility in the external validation of brain-phenotype predictions.

Identifying reproducible and generalizable brain-phenotype associations is a central goal of neuroimaging. Consistent with this goal, prediction frameworks evaluate brain-phenotype models in unseen data. Most prediction studies train and evaluate a model in the same dataset.

End binding-3 inhibitor activates regenerative program in age-related macular degeneration.

Wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), characterized by leaky neovessels emanating from the choroid, is a main cause of blindness. As current treatments for wet AMD require regular intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) biologics, there is a need for the development of less invasive treatments. Here, we designed an allosteric inhibitor of end binding-3 (EB3) protein, termed EBIN, which reduces the effects of environmental stresses on endothelial cells by limiting pathological calcium signaling.

Activator-blocker model of transcriptional regulation by pioneer-like factors.

Zygotic genome activation (ZGA) in the development of flies, fish, frogs and mammals depends on pioneer-like transcription factors (TFs). Those TFs create open chromatin regions, promote histone acetylation on enhancers, and activate transcription. Here, we use the panel of single, double and triple mutants for zebrafish genome activators Pou5f3, Sox19b and Nanog, multi-omics and mathematical modeling to investigate the combinatorial mechanisms of genome activation.

Uncovering specific mechanisms across cell types in dynamical models.

Ordinary differential equations are frequently employed for mathematical modeling of biological systems. The identification of mechanisms that are specific to certain cell types is crucial for building useful models and to gain insights into the underlying biological processes. Regularization techniques have been proposed and applied to identify mechanisms specific to two cell types, e.

Connectome-based machine learning models are vulnerable to subtle data manipulations.

Neuroimaging-based predictive models continue to improve in performance, yet a widely overlooked aspect of these models is "trustworthiness," or robustness to data manipulations. High trustworthiness is imperative for researchers to have confidence in their findings and interpretations. In this work, we used functional connectomes to explore how minor data manipulations influence machine learning predictions.

Postoperative Rebound Pain: Our Current Understanding About the Role of Regional Anesthesia and Multimodal Approaches in Prevention and Treatment.

Purpose Of Review: Rebound pain (RP) is a common occurrence after peripheral nerve block placement, especially when blocks are used for orthopedic surgery. This literature review focuses on the incidence and risk factors for RP as well as preventative and treatment strategies.

Recent Findings: The addition of adjuvants to a block, when appropriate, and starting patients on oral analgesics prior to sensory resolution are reasonable approaches.

Cross Atlas Remapping via Optimal Transport (CAROT): Creating connectomes for different atlases when raw data is not available.

Open-source, publicly available neuroimaging datasets - whether from large-scale data collection efforts or pooled from multiple smaller studies - offer unprecedented sample sizes and promote generalization efforts. Releasing data can democratize science, increase the replicability of findings, and lead to discoveries. Partly due to patient privacy, computational, and data storage concerns, researchers typically release preprocessed data with the voxelwise time series parcellated into a map of predefined regions, known as an atlas.

Extracellular-Vesicle-Based Therapeutics in Neuro-Ophthalmic Disorders.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been recognized as promising candidates for developing novel therapeutics for a wide range of pathologies, including ocular disorders, due to their ability to deliver a diverse array of bioactive molecules, including proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids, to recipient cells. Recent studies have shown that EVs derived from various cell types, including mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), retinal pigment epithelium cells, and endothelial cells, have therapeutic potential in ocular disorders, such as corneal injury and diabetic retinopathy. EVs exert their effects through various mechanisms, including promoting cell survival, reducing inflammation, and inducing tissue regeneration.

The effect of decellularization protocols on characterizations of thermoresponsive and light-curable corneal extracellular matrix hydrogels.

To compare the effects of two decellularization protocols on the characteristics of fabricated COrnea Matrix (COMatrix) hydrogels. Porcine corneas were decellularized with Detergent (De) or Freeze-Thaw (FT)-based protocols. DNA remnant, tissue composition and α-Gal epitope content were measured.

Associations of physical frailty with health outcomes and brain structure in 483 033 middle-aged and older adults: a population-based study from the UK Biobank.

Background: Physical frailty is a state of increased vulnerability to stressors and is associated with serious health issues. However, how frailty affects and is affected by numerous other factors, including mental health and brain structure, remains underexplored. We aimed to investigate the mutual effects of frailty and health using large, multidimensional data.

Altered Brain Dynamics Across Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia During Rest and Task Switching Revealed by Overlapping Brain States.

Background: Individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) show aberrant brain dynamics (i.e., altered recruitment or traversal through different brain states over time).