SARS-CoV-2 placentitis, stillbirth, and maternal COVID-19 vaccination: clinical-pathologic correlations.

Stillbirth is a recognized complication of COVID-19 in pregnant women that has recently been demonstrated to be caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection of the placenta. Multiple global studies have found that the placental pathology present in cases of stillbirth consists of a combination of concurrent destructive findings that include increased fibrin deposition that typically reaches the level of massive perivillous fibrin deposition, chronic histiocytic intervillositis, and trophoblast necrosis. These 3 pathologic lesions, collectively termed SARS-CoV-2 placentitis, can cause severe and diffuse placental parenchymal destruction that can affect >75% of the placenta, effectively rendering it incapable of performing its function of oxygenating the fetus and leading to stillbirth and neonatal death via malperfusion and placental insufficiency.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on colorectal and gastric cancer diagnosis, disease stage and mortality.

Background: Since the outbreak of COVID-19, a significant decline in endoscopic procedures has been observed.

Aims: We investigated the change of incidence, clinical characteristics, disease stage and mortality of patients with gastric cancer (GC) or colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosed in 2020 compared to the pre-pandemic year 2019.

Methods: Demographic, clinical and laboratory data on all patients diagnosed with GC or CRC at the Soroka University Medical Center were retrospectively collected and compared.

Total cortical interstitial inflammation predicts chronic kidney disease progression in patients with lupus nephritis.

Background: End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) from lupus nephritis (LN) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Kidney biopsy is the gold standard for diagnosis and prognostication of LN. While interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IFTA) predict progression to ESKD, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) classification of interstitial inflammation in unscarred cortical parenchyma is not predictive of chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression.

Protein Desorption Kinetics Depends on the Timescale of Observation.

The presence of so-called reversible and irreversible protein adsorption on solid surfaces is well documented in the literature and represents the basis for the development of nanoparticles and implant materials to control interactions in physiological environments. Here, using a series of complementary single-molecule tracking approaches appropriate for different timescales, we show that protein desorption kinetics is much more complex than the traditional reversible-irreversible binary picture. Instead, we find that the surface residence time distribution of adsorbed proteins transitions from power law to exponential behavior when measured over a large range of timescales (10-10 s).

Endoscopic Evaluation and Management of Perianal Disease.

Perianal Crohn's disease is associated with decreased quality of life, high morbidity, and high health care use. Treatment goals are to provide infection control, stop fistula drainage, and heal fistula tracts while preserving the anorectal sphincter. Treatment includes a combination of medical and surgical intervention, but new techniques are using interventional endoscopy to act as either a bridge to surgery or to decrease the need for surgical intervention.

Seventeenth-Century Scotism and the War Just on Both Sides.

Can a war can be just on both sides? Within the Western just war tradition, Catholic theologians traditionally held wars on both sides to be logically impossible. This view went unchallenged until questioned by two seventeenth-century Irish Franciscan Scotists. These were Aodh Mac Cathmhaoil (Hugo Cavellus) and John Punch.

Defining Radiation Treatment Interruption Rates During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings From an Academic Center in an Underserved Urban Setting.

Purpose: Our purpose was to characterize radiation treatment interruption (RTI) rates and their potential association with sociodemographic variables in an urban population before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods And Materials: Electronic health records were retrospectively reviewed for patients treated between January 1, 2015, and February 28, 2021. Major and minor RTI were defined as ≥5 and 2 to 4 unplanned cancellations, respectively.

Independent Predictors for Hospitalization-Associated Radiation therapy Interruptions.

Purpose: Radiation treatment interruption associated with unplanned hospitalization remains understudied. The intent of this study was to benchmark the frequency of hospitalization-associated radiation therapy interruptions (HARTI), characterize disease processes causing hospitalization during radiation, identify factors predictive for HARTI, and localize neighborhood environments associated with HARTI at our academic referral center.

Methods And Materials: This retrospective review of electronic health records provided descriptive statistics of HARTI event rates at our institutional practice.

Gait Detection from a Wrist-Worn Sensor Using Machine Learning Methods: A Daily Living Study in Older Adults and People with Parkinson's Disease.

Remote assessment of the gait of older adults (OAs) during daily living using wrist-worn sensors has the potential to augment clinical care and mobility research. However, hand movements can degrade gait detection from wrist-sensor recordings. To address this challenge, we developed an anomaly detection algorithm and compared its performance to four previously published gait detection algorithms.

Epithelial Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Enhances the Risk of Muc5b-associated Lung Fibrosis.

The gain-of-function minor allele of the (mucin 5B, oligomeric mucus/gel-forming) promoter (rs35705950) is the strongest risk factor for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a devastating fibrotic lung disease that leads to progressive respiratory failure in adults. We have previously demonstrated that Muc5b overexpression in mice worsens lung fibrosis after bleomycin exposure and have hypothesized that excess Muc5b promotes endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and apoptosis, stimulating fibrotic lung injury. Here, we report that ER stress pathway members ATF4 (activating transcription factor 4) and ATF6 coexpress with in epithelia of the distal IPF airway and honeycomb cyst and that this is more pronounced in carriers of the gain-of-function promoter variant.

Incidence and Progression of Fibrotic Lung Disease in an At-Risk Cohort.

Relatives of patients with familial interstitial pneumonia (FIP) are at increased risk for pulmonary fibrosis and develop preclinical pulmonary fibrosis (PrePF). We defined the incidence and progression of new-onset PrePF and its relationship to survival among first-degree relatives of families with FIP. This is a cohort study of family members with FIP who were initially screened with a health questionnaire and chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan, and approximately 4 years later, the evaluation was repeated.

Deep immune profiling uncovers novel associations with clinical phenotypes of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C).

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) is a systemic inflammatory condition that follows SARS-CoV2 infection or exposure in children. Clinical presentations are highly variable and include fever, gastrointestinal (GI) disease, shock, and Kawasaki Disease-like illness (MIS-C/KD). Compared to patients with acute COVID, patients with MIS-C have a distinct immune signature and expansion of expressing T cells.

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease before Kidney Transplantation Correlates with New Onset Diabetes and Poor Metabolic Outcomes.

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality after kidney transplantation. Metabolic syndrome is common in renal transplant recipients and is associated with increased CVD risk in those patients. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is considered to be the hepatic manifestation of a multi-system disorder, including CVD and metabolic syndrome.

Theta Band-Power Shapes Amyloid-Driven Longitudinal EEG Changes in Elderly Subjective Memory Complainers At-Risk for Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) includes progressive symptoms spread along a continuum of preclinical and clinical stages. Although numerous studies uncovered the neuro-cognitive changes of AD, very little is known on the natural history of brain lesions and modifications of brain networks in elderly cognitively-healthy memory complainers at risk of AD for carrying pathophysiological biomarkers (amyloidopathy and tauopathy).

Objective: We analyzed resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) of 318 cognitively-healthy subjective memory complainers from the INSIGHT-preAD cohort at the time of their first visit (M0) and two-years later (M24).

Venous Collagenosis as Pathogenesis of White Matter Hyperintensity.

Objective: Periventricular white matter hyperintensities (pvWMHs) are commonly observed on MRI in older individuals and are associated with cognitive and motor decline. The etiology of pvWMH remains unknown. Venous collagenosis has been implicated, which may also interfere with perivascular fluid flow leading to dilation of perivascular spaces (PVS).

Molecular networks in atopic mothers impact the risk of infant atopy.

Background: The prevalence of atopic diseases has increased with atopic dermatitis (AD) as the earliest manifestation. We assessed if molecular risk factors in atopic mothers influence their infants' susceptibility to an atopic disease.

Methods: Pregnant women and their infants with (n = 174, high-risk) or without (n = 126, low-risk) parental atopy were enrolled in a prospective birth cohort.

Length of Stay Per Total Body Surface Area Burn: A Validation Study Using the National Burn Registry.

A length of stay (LOS) of one day per percent total body surface area (TBSA) burn has been generally accepted but not validated in current pediatric burn studies. The primary objective of this study is to validate previous Pediatric Injury Quality Improvement Collaboration (PIQIC) findings by using a national burn registry to evaluate LOS per TBSA burn relative to burn mechanism, sociodemographic characteristics, and clinical factors which influence this ratio. We evaluated patients 0-18 years old who sustained a burn injury and whose demographics were submitted to the National Burn Registry (NBR) dataset from July 2008 through June 2018.

Unraveling the Diversity of Co-Colonization by CPE.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and more specifically, carbapenem-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) strains, are increasing worldwide. Despite their growing prevalence, in most high-income countries, the detection of CPE is still considered a low-frequency event. Sporadically, patients co-colonized with distinct CPE strains and/or different carbapenemase enzymes are detected.

Muc5b plays a role in the development of inflammation and fibrosis in hypersensitivity pneumonitis induced by .

Previously we have shown that a gain-of-function promoter variant (rs35705950) is the strongest risk factor for the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. We have also found that Muc5b overexpression reduces mucociliary clearance in mice, potentially leading to recurrent injury to the bronchoalveolar epithelia. Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is induced by inhalation of numerous causative antigens that may be affected by mucociliary clearance.

Interleukin-6-dependent epithelial fluidization initiates fibrotic lung remodeling.

Chronic disease results from the failure of tissues to maintain homeostasis. In the lung, coordinated repair of the epithelium is essential for preserving homeostasis. In animal models and human lung disease, airway epithelial cells mobilize in response to lung injury, resulting in the formation of airway-like cysts with persistent loss of functional cell types and parenchymal architecture.