Stratifying vascular disease patients into homogeneous subgroups using machine learning and FLAIR MRI biomarkers.

This study proposes a framework to stratify vascular disease patients based on brain health and cerebrovascular disease (CVD) risk using regional FLAIR biomarkers. Intensity and texture biomarkers were extracted from FLAIR volumes of 379 atherosclerosis patients. K-Means clustering identified five homogeneous subgroups.

Melanoma toolkit for early detection for primary care clinicians: a 1-year follow-up on outcomes.

Introduction: Primary care providers or clinicians (PCPs) have the potential to assist dermatologists in screening patients at risk for skin cancer, but require training to appropriately identify higher-risk patients, perform skin checks, recognize and biopsy concerning lesions, interpret pathology results, document the exam, and bill for the service. Very few validated dermatology training programs exist for PCPs and those that are available focus primarily on one emphasis area, which results in variable efficacy and single-topic limited scope.

Methods: We have created a free, online, continuing education program (Melanoma Toolkit for Early Detection, MTED) that allows learners to choose from a variety of multimedia tools (image recognition, videos, written material, in-person seminars, self-tests, etc.

segcsvd: A Convolutional Neural Network-Based Tool for Quantifying White Matter Hyperintensities in Heterogeneous Patient Cohorts.

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) of presumed vascular origin are a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based biomarker of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). WMH are associated with cognitive decline and increased risk of stroke and dementia, and are commonly observed in aging, vascular cognitive impairment, and neurodegenerative diseases. The reliable and rapid measurement of WMH in large-scale multisite clinical studies with heterogeneous patient populations remains challenging, where the diversity of imaging characteristics across studies adds additional complexity to this task.

Innovative Dual Combination Cospray-Dried Rock Inhibitor/l-Carnitine Inhalable Dry Powder Aerosols.

This study introduces novel cospray-dried (Co-SD) formulations of simvastatin, a Nrf2 activator ROCK inhibitor, with l-carnitine as molecular mixtures in various molar ratios for targeted pulmonary inhalation aerosol delivery in pulmonary hypertension, optimized for excipient-free dry powder inhalers (DPIs). The two components were spray-dried at various molar ratios by using different starting feed solution concentrations and process parameters. In addition to comprehensive physicochemical characterization, in vitro aerosol dispersion performance as DPIs using two FDA-approved DPI devices with different shear stress properties, in vitro viability as a function of dose on 2D human pulmonary cellular monolayers and on 3D small airway epithelia human primary cultures at the air-liquid interface (ALI), and in vitro transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) at the ALI were conducted.

HIV-1 Tat Protein and Cigarette Smoke Mediated ADAM17 Upregulation Can Lead to Impaired Mucociliary Clearance.

Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) associated comorbidities account for the majority of poor health outcomes in people living with HIV (PLWH) in the era of antiretroviral therapy. Lung-related comorbidities such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and bacterial pneumonia are primarily responsible for increased morbidity and mortality in PLWH, even when compensated for smoking. Smokers and COPD patients demonstrate cilia shortening, attenuated ciliary beat frequency (CBF), dysfunctional ciliated cells along with goblet cell hyperplasia, and mucus hypersecretion.