Publications by authors named "Rush J"

Air-pollution monitoring is sparse across most of the United States, so geostatistical models are important for reconstructing concentrations of fine particulate air pollution (PM) for use in health studies. We present XGBoost-IDW Synthesis (XIS), a daily high-resolution PM machine-learning model covering the contiguous US from 2003 through 2023. XIS uses aerosol optical depth from satellites and a parsimonious set of additional predictors to make predictions at arbitrary points, capturing near-roadway gradients and allowing the estimation of address-level exposures.

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Streptococcus mutans, the causative agent of human dental caries, expresses a cell wall attached Serotype c-specific Carbohydrate (SCC) that is critical for cell viability. SCC consists of a polyrhamnose backbone of →3)α-Rha(1 → 2)α-Rha(1→ repeats with glucose (Glc) side-chains and glycerol phosphate (GroP) decorations. This study reveals that SCC has one predominant and two more minor Glc modifications.

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The challenge of reconstructing air temperature for environmental applications is to accurately estimate past exposures even where monitoring is sparse. We present XGBoost-IDW Synthesis for air temperature (XIS-Temperature), a high-resolution machine-learning model for daily minimum, mean, and maximum air temperature, covering the contiguous US from 2003 through 2023. XIS uses remote sensing (land surface temperature and vegetation) along with a parsimonious set of additional predictors to make predictions at arbitrary points, allowing the estimation of address-level exposures.

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Background: Stress plays a pivotal role in physical health. Although many studies have linked stress reactivity (daily within-person associations between stress exposure and negative affect) to physical health outcomes, we know surprisingly little about how changes in stress reactivity are related to changes in physical health.

Purpose: The current study examines how change in stress reactivity over 18 years is related to changes in functional health and chronic health conditions.

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Objective: To assess the impact of clopidogrel or rivaroxaban administration on recurrence of arterial thromboembolism (ATE) in cats that have recovered from cardiogenic ATE.

Methods: This multicenter prospective double-masked protocol enrolled 45 cats that had recovered from cardiogenic ATE and were randomized to receive either clopidogrel (18.75 mg/cat, PO; n = 19) or rivaroxaban (2.

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Introduction: Adolescence represents a critical developmental period, with changes in emotional regulation capacities influencing physical and mental health. With less than 6% of Canadian youth currently meeting the 24-hour movement guidelines for physical activity, sleep and sedentary behaviour, there is an urgent need to understand the potential association between movement behaviours, physical literacy, emotional regulation and mental health during adolescence. Additionally, there is a need to better understand these associations among equity-deserving groups.

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The aminopeptidase, endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1 (ERAP1), trims peptides for loading into major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC class I), and loss of this activity has broad effects on the MHC class I peptidome. Here, we investigated the impact of targeting ERAP1 in immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), as MHC class I interactions mediate both activating and inhibitory functions in antitumor immunity. Loss of ERAP sensitized mouse tumor models to ICB, and this sensitivity depended on CD8 T cells and natural killer (NK) cells.

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  • Athletes at risk for ACL injuries often have issues with visual cognitive function and brain connectivity related to motor skills.
  • This study tested a training method called visual perturbation neuromuscular training (VPNT) to see if it could enhance physical and cognitive demands, improve landing safety, and decrease neural activity for knee control.
  • Results showed that VPNT led to better landing mechanics and reduced brain activity in key areas, suggesting it can effectively improve athletic performance and may pave the way for more thorough studies in the future.
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Aim: Evaluation of ultra-low dose chest CT imaging for the assessment of pectus excavatum severity as determined by pediatric radiologists and pediatric surgeons using Haller (HI) and Correction indices (CI).

Methods: A single institution, prospective evaluation of patients being evaluated for pectus excavatum were scanned with a standard low-dose chest CT protocol (CARE) followed by a consecutive ultra-low dose CT scan (ULTRA). 3 surgeons and 4 radiologists were instructed to determine HI and CI in each series.

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Objective: In dogs with diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), we have identified electron microscopic changes suggestive of abnormal lysosomal accumulation of phospholipids and consistent with the appearance of drug-induced phospholipidosis in people and other animals. The objective of this study was to compare concentrations of urine di-docosahexaenoyl (22:6)-bis(monoacylglycerol)phosphate (BMP), a biomarker of drug-induced phospholipidosis, in dogs with DCM eating high-pulse (HP) diets, dogs with DCM eating low-pulse (LP) diets, and healthy controls (control-HP and control-LP).

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, voided urine was collected from client-owned dogs with DCM from September 2018 through March 2020.

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  • Dysfunction in efferent pathways after knee injuries leads to long-term issues with muscle performance and quality of life, highlighting the need for deeper understanding and effective treatment strategies.
  • The review summarizes literature on motor-related changes in individuals with knee issues like ACL injury, anterior knee pain, and osteoarthritis, utilizing various research techniques.
  • Findings indicate specific adaptations in the motor cortex and muscle units that affect muscle function, with unique impairments across different knee conditions, emphasizing the importance of addressing these changes for better rehabilitation outcomes.
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  • - Cardiac lymphoma, which is rare in cats, is often overlooked as a potential cause of congestive heart failure (CHF).
  • - A 10-year-old male cat with several health issues, including feline immunodeficiency virus and diabetes, was euthanized and found to have a large tumor in the heart causing CHF.
  • - The tumor was identified as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and the study suggests that the cat's chronic viral infection may have played a role in the development of this rare heart condition.
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High ambient summertime temperatures are an increasing health concern with climate change. This is a particular concern for minoritized households in the United States, for which differential energy burden may compromise adaptive capacity to high temperatures. Our research question was: Do minoritized groups experience hotter summers than the area average, and do non-Hispanic white people experience cooler summers? Using a fine-scaled spatiotemporal air temperature model and U.

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Sildenafil is a drug used to successfully manage a variety of cardiopulmonary disorders in people and dogs, but there is limited information on its use in cats. The objective was to review the medical records of cats that received sildenafil as part of their clinical management. Medical records and pharmacy databases were searched for cats that received sildenafil for ≥24 h between 2009 and 2021, and data were collected from medical records.

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  • A 10-month-old male cat with cor triatriatum sinister underwent a successful hybrid surgical procedure that utilized transesophageal echocardiography and fluoroscopy for guidance.
  • The surgery involved accessing the left atrial membrane through a minithoracotomy and performing balloon dilations to reduce the mean transmembrane pressure gradient significantly from 16 mmHg to 2.23 mmHg.
  • Four months post-surgery, the cat continued to show a low pressure gradient and has remained symptom-free for nine months following the procedure.
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  • PPM1D is a phosphatase linked to cancer that negatively regulates the DNA damage response and p53, and its inhibition can slow tumor growth and enhance the effectiveness of cancer treatments.
  • * Researchers conducted a high-throughput screen for new allosteric inhibitors of PPM1D, developing various assays to explore its biology and potential as a drug target.
  • * The findings reveal that the effects of inhibiting PPM1D differ from those of existing therapies, suggesting unique therapeutic opportunities for targeting PPM1D in cancer treatment.
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  • The study investigates the biomechanical differences during the take-off phase of the single-leg hop for distance (SLHD) between individuals who have undergone anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) and uninjured controls.
  • It finds that individuals with ACLR have significantly weaker quadriceps and greater strength asymmetry but similar hop distances compared to controls.
  • Important differences were noted in knee flexion, extension moments, and power between involved and uninvolved limbs, indicating a potential strategy of underloading the affected knee during the hop.
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  • The study focuses on the specific carbohydrate (SCC) produced by the bacteria that cause dental caries, which is essential for their survival.
  • SCC features a structure made of a polyrhamnose backbone with glucose side-chains and glycerol phosphate decorations, and the research identifies one major and two minor glucose modifications on this carbohydrate.
  • The major glucose modification is crucial for biofilm formation and is created by specific enzymes, while both major and minor modifications affect the shape of the bacteria.
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Background: Hypercoagulability has been documented in cats with cardiac disease. However, hemostatic parameters, including viscoelastic coagulation monitoring (VCM) have not been reported in cats with arterial thromboembolism (ATE).

Hypothesis/objectives: Compare VCM parameters in cats with acute cardiogenic ATE and in control cats.

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Proteins harboring intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) lacking stable secondary or tertiary structures are abundant across the three domains of life. These regions have not been systematically studied in prokaryotes. Our genome-wide analysis identifies extracytoplasmic serine/threonine-rich IDRs in several biologically important membrane proteins in streptococci.

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Background: In addition to having higher negative affect and lower positive affect overall, depressed individuals exhibit heightened affective reactivity to external stimuli than non-depressed individuals. Sleep may contribute to day-to-day fluctuations in depressed individuals, given that sleep disturbance is a common symptom of depression. Yet, little is known about changes in daily affect as a function of nightly sleep duration in depressed adults and non-depressed adults.

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Background: Apparently healthy dogs of various breeds eating nontraditional, high-pulse diets can have larger left ventricular diameter, lower systolic function, and more ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) compared with dogs eating traditional, low-pulse diets. It is unknown whether Irish Wolfhounds eating high-pulse diets have similar cardiac abnormalities.

Hypothesis/objectives: To compare electrocardiographic and echocardiographic findings between Irish Wolfhounds eating high- or low-pulse diets.

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