Empowerment in Adolescent Patients with a Disability/Chronic Condition: A Scoping Review.

Background/objectives: Empowerment has been associated with several positive outcomes in healthcare; however, there is limited insight on empowerment levels within the adolescent population of those with a chronic condition/disability. The aim of this scoping review was to identify gaps in the existing literature on empowerment levels within this population.

Methods: Five databases (MEDLINE [Ovid], EMBASE [Ovid], PsycINFO [Ebsco], CINHAL [Ebsco] and Web of Science [UBC]) and grey literature were searched.

A Veteran Presenting With Fatigue and Weakness.

: A 65-year-old male veteran presented to the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System (VABHS) emergency department with progressive fatigue, dyspnea on exertion, lightheadedness, and falls over the last month. New bilateral lower extremity numbness up to his knees developed in the week prior to admission and prompted him to seek care. Additional history included 2 episodes of transient loss of consciousness resulting in falls and a week of diarrhea, which had resolved.

Older adults and prepared meals: The influence of comfort, nostalgia, and texture preferences on acceptance.

This study's objective was to develop desirable, safe, and nutritious dairy-rich breakfasts and desserts for older adults while identifying the influence of comfort, nostalgia, and texture preferences. Participants (n = 81, mean age = 71 ± 7.3 years) evaluated two breakfast meals (meat-containing, vegetarian) and two desserts (chocolate, vanilla puddings) for acceptance; they also answered inquiries concerning texture preferences and reported their feelings of comfort and nostalgia experienced during evaluation.

ROMP of Macromonomers Prepared by ROMP: Expanding Access to Complex, Functional Bottlebrush Polymers.

Graft-through ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of norbornene-terminated macromonomers (MMs) prepared using various polymerization methods has been extensively used for the synthesis of bottlebrush (co)polymers, yet the potential of ROMP for the synthesis of MMs that can subsequently be polymerized by graft-through ROMP to produce new bottlebrush compositions remains untapped. Here, we report an efficient "ROMP-of-ROMP" method that involves the synthesis of norbornene-terminated poly(norbornene imide) (PNI)-based MMs that, following ROMP, provide new families of bottlebrush (co)polymers and "brush-on-brush" hierarchical architectures. In the bulk state, the organization of the PNI pendants drives bottlebrush backbone extension to enable rapid assembly of asymmetric lamellar morphologies with large asymmetry factors.

Huntingtin interactome reveals huntingtin role in regulation of double strand break DNA damage response (DSB/DDR), chromatin remodeling and RNA processing pathways.

Huntington's Disease (HD), a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with no disease-modifying therapies, is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the HD gene encoding polyglutamine-expanded huntingtin (HTT) protein. Mechanisms of HD cellular pathogenesis and cellular functions of the normal and mutant HTT proteins are still not completely understood. HTT protein has numerous interaction partners, and it likely provides a scaffold for assembly of multiprotein complexes many of which may be altered in HD.

Mortality in Haemophilia Patients in India: A National Cohort Study.

Introduction: Mortality and morbidity in persons with haemophilia (PWH) have decreased due to improved diagnosis and treatment along with comprehensive population outreach efforts, but the impact is not uniform in different countries.

Aim: The study aims to assess all-cause and intracranial haemorrhage (ICH)-specific mortality of PWH in India.

Methods: This is a retrospective, observational, multi-centric cohort study of 1020 haemophilia patients from three centres in India.

Transfection Potency of Lipid Nanoparticles Containing mRNA Depends on Relative Loading Levels.

When formulating mRNA into lipid nanoparticles (LNP), various copy numbers of mRNA are encapsulated, leading to a distribution of mRNA loading levels within the LNPs. It is unclear whether the mRNA loading level affects the functional delivery of the message. Here we show that depending on the mRNA loading level, LNPs exhibit distinct mass densities and can be fractionated via ultracentrifugation.

The Health Benefits of Extended Union Membership among Women: A Family Status Perspective.

Workers in labor unions have better access to high quality health insurance plans, better pensions, and higher wages leading to increased lifetime earnings likely leading to better health. Additionally, much of the gendered hiring, promotion, and wage discrimination faced by women in the workplace is dependent on social characteristics (marital status and/or their status as a mother). While many of the benefits associated with union membership can potentially buffer the gendered workplace inequalities that lead to poorer health outcomes, unions have been largely ignored in health disparities literature.

In vivo self-assembled siRNAs within small extracellular vesicles attenuate LRRK2-induced neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease models.

Rationale: Mutations in the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene play an important role in Parkinson's disease (PD) pathogenesis, and downregulation of LRRK2 has become a promising therapy for PD. Here, we developed a synthetic biology strategy for the self-assembly and delivery of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) of LRRK2 into the substantia nigra via small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) using a genetic circuit (in the form of naked DNA plasmid) to attenuate PD-like phenotypes in mouse model.

Methods: We generated the genetic circuit encoding both a neuron-targeting rabies virus glycoprotein (RVG) tag and a LRRK2 siRNA under the control of a cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, and assessed its therapeutic effects using LRRK2 mouse models of PD.

Little evidence that nonmonogamous family structures are detrimental to children's well-being in Mpimbwe, Tanzania.

Nuclear family structures are often thought to be essential for the well-being of children. Divorce, the loss of either biological parent, the presence of step-parents, and the practice of polygynous marriage have all been claimed to negatively impact child well-being. However, empirical research on these topics has been limited by the routine use of cross-regional and cross-sectional databases.

Rare-Earth Iron Garnet Superlattices with Sub-unit Cell Composition Modulation.

Oxide superlattices reveal a rich array of emergent properties derived from the composition modulation and the resulting lattice distortion, charge transfer, and symmetry reduction that occur at the interfaces between the layers. The great majority of studies have focused on perovskite oxide superlattices, revealing, for example, the appearance of an interfacial 2D electron gas, magnetic moment, or improper ferroelectric polarization that is not present in the parent phases. Garnets possess greater structural complexity than perovskites: the cubic garnet unit cell contains 160 atoms with the cations distributed between three different coordination sites, and garnets exhibit a wide range of useful properties, including ferrimagnetism and ion transport.

Retrospective observational study of safety, performance, and duration of use of battery-powered intraosseous access device in pediatric patients.

Background: To demonstrate the safety and performance of the Arrow EZ-IO Intraosseous Vascular Access System, particularly in the pediatric patient population, a retrospective observational study was conducted in 2021 and 2022.

Methods: Following study design, IRB approval, and investigator selection, data were collected for all patients needing intraosseous access-adult and pediatric. The primary endpoint was the success rate for achieving intraosseous access; the secondary endpoint was the rate of adverse events.

Human body donation programs best practices and recommended standards: A task force report from the American Association for Anatomy.

The American Association for Anatomy recently charged a task force with updating and expanding upon best practices and recommendations for human body donation programs. The task force comprised American Association for Anatomy members with specific and detailed knowledge about the legal, ethical, and procedural operations of body donation programs in the United States. The task force developed both foundational and aspirational recommendations.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone II and its receptor regulate motility, morphology, and kinematics of porcine spermatozoa in vitro.

The second form of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH-II) and its receptor (GnRHR-II) are abundantly produced within the porcine testis and immunolocalize within the seminiferous tubules, suggesting a role in spermatogenesis and/or sperm function. The objective of this study was to quantify GnRH-II and GnRHR-II abundance within boar reproductive tract tissues and examine their role in porcine sperm function. Immunoblotting revealed GnRHR-II abundance was 12-fold greater (P < 0.

The Influence of Pharmacogenetic Factors on the Pharmacokinetics of Morphine and Its Metabolites in Pediatric Patients: A Systematic Review.

Morphine is a potent analgesic used for treating surgical and cancer pain. Despite being the drug of choice for the management of severe pain in children, the high interindividual variability in morphine pharmacokinetics limits its clinical utility to effectively relieve pain without adverse effects. This review was conducted to identify and describe all studies that have assessed the effect of genetic factors on the pharmacokinetics of morphine and its main metabolites in children.

Why physicians use sodium bicarbonate during cardiac arrest: A cross-sectional survey study of adult and pediatric clinicians.

Background: Despite recommendations against routine use, sodium bicarbonate (SB) is administered in approximately 50% of adult and pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA).

Methods: Cross-sectional electronic survey of adult and pediatric attending physicians at two academic hospitals in Boston, Massachusetts. The survey included two IHCA vignettes.

Comparative lifespan and healthspan of nonhuman primate species common to biomedical research.

There is a critical need to generate age- and sex-specific survival curves to characterize chronological aging consistently across nonhuman primates (NHP) used in biomedical research. Sex-specific Kaplan-Meier survival curves were computed in 12 translational aging models: baboon, bonnet macaque, chimpanzee, common marmoset, coppery titi monkey, cotton-top tamarin, cynomolgus macaque, Japanese macaque, pigtail macaque, rhesus macaque, squirrel monkey, and vervet/African green. After employing strict inclusion criteria, primary results are based on 12,269 NHPs that survived to adulthood and died of natural/health-related causes.

Opinion on the Importance of Sharing Toxicologic Pathology Data for Educational and/or Scientific Purposes.

Sharing pathology data is critical for educational and scientific purposes. Since most pharmaceutical or (agro)chemical companies outsource nonclinical safety assessment studies to contract research organizations (CROs), the pathology data of those studies are not owned by the investigator but is the legal property of the respective company sponsoring the work. Although some companies have installed policies that govern sharing of pathology data, many companies generally do not allow the external use of data by either the CRO-based study pathologist or the sponsor pathologist.

Fellow Eye Risk of Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment in the United States: IRIS Registry (Intelligent Research in Sight) Analysis.

Background And Objective: This study aimed to investigate the rate of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) in the fellow eye of patients after developing an RRD in one eye.

Patients And Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of patients with a new RRD diagnosis in the American Academy of Ophthalmology IRIS Registry (Intelligent Research in Sight) from 2016 to 2020. The association between risk factors of RRD and fellow-eye RRD was evaluated using Cox regression.

Genomic variations associated with risk and protection against vincristine-induced peripheral neuropathy in pediatric cancer patients.

Vincristine-induced peripheral neuropathy is a common and highly debilitating toxicity from vincristine treatment that affects quality of life and often requires dose reduction, potentially affecting survival. Although previous studies demonstrated genetic factors are associated with vincristine neuropathy risk, the clinical relevance of most identified variants is limited by small sample sizes and unclear clinical phenotypes. A genome-wide association study was conducted in 1100 cases and controls matched by vincristine dose and genetic ancestry, uncovering a statistically significant (p < 5.

Jaw-muscle fiber architecture and skull form facilitate relatively wide jaw gapes in male cercopithecoid monkeys.

In primates and other mammals, the capacity to generate a wide maximum jaw gape is an important performance variable related to both feeding and nonfeeding oral behaviors, such as canine gape display and clearing the canines for use as weapons during aggressive encounters. Across sexually dimorphic catarrhine primates, gape is significantly correlated with canine height and with musculoskeletal features that facilitate wide gapes. Given the importance of canine gape behaviors in males as part of intrasexual competition for females, functional relationships between gape, canine height, and musculoskeletal morphology can be predicted to differ between the sexes.