The recent rise in homicide: An analysis of weekly mortality data, United States, 2018-2022.

Background: From 2019 to 2020, homicide showed its largest single-year increase in modern US history. While many have cited the COVID-19 pandemic or police killing of George Floyd as initiating the rise, there has been limited systematic investigation of how the timing of the increase corresponded with these key events. We investigated trends in firearm and non-firearm homicide across sociodemographic and geographic groups to clarify the timing and nature of the recent increase.

America's Military and Veteran Caregivers: Hidden Heroes Emerging from the Shadows.

The authors produced new estimates of the number of adults caregiving in the United States today; investigated how those caring for wounded, ill, and injured service members and veterans compare with those caring for civilians and with non-caregivers; and share insights on the potential consequences of caregiving on caregiversapos health, their economic security, and their families' well-being. They also propose recommendations to strengthen caregiver support. The information in this study is derived from two sources.

Microplastic burial potential and ecological risks in mangrove forests of the Amazon River delta.

Coastal mangrove ecosystems have been shown to be important microplastic (MP) sinks. Yet, information regarding their MP sequestration capacity is scant. Here, we characterized the spatial and vertical distribution of MPs in mangrove ecosystems of the Amazon River delta and quantified, for the first time, their MP burial and potential economic value related to their surface water filtering capacity.

Distinct brain and lung endothelial miRNA/mRNA profiles after exposure to infected red blood cells.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) control 60% of genes expressed in the human body, but their role in malaria pathogenesis is incompletely understood. Here, we demonstrate cell type-specific alterations to the miRNA profiles during the early response to malaria infection in brain and lung endothelial cells (ECs). In brain ECs, incubation with -infected red blood cells in the ring stage (iRBCs) most significantly affected endocytosis-related miRNAs and mRNAs.

Haplotype-resolved genome and population genomics of the threatened garden dormouse in Europe.

Genomic resources are important for evaluating genetic diversity and supporting conservation efforts. The garden dormouse () is a small rodent that has experienced one of the most severe modern population declines in Europe. We present a high-quality haplotype-resolved reference genome for the garden dormouse, and combine comprehensive short and long-read transcriptomics data sets with homology-based methods to generate a highly complete gene annotation.

Tumor Heterogeneity Shapes Survival Dynamics in Drug-Treated Cells, Revealing Size-Drifting Subpopulations.

The goal of this project was to demonstrate that subpopulations of cells in tumors can uniquely fluctuate in size in response to environmental conditions created during drug treatment, thereby acting as a dynamic "rheostat" to create a favorable tumor environment for growth. The cancer modeling used for these studies was subpopulations of melanoma cells existing in cultured and tumor systems that differed in aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity. However, similar observations were found in other cancer types in addition to melanoma, making them applicable broadly across cancer.

Emerging Role of the p53 Pathway in Modulating Natural Killer Cell Mediated Immunity.

The p53 pathway plays an important role in role in cancer immunity. Mutation or downregulation of the proteins in the p53 pathway are prevalent in many cancers, contributing to tumor progression and immune dysregulation. Recent findings suggest that the activity of p53 within tumor cells, immune cells, and the tumor microenvironment can play an important role modulating natural killer (NK) cell-mediated immunity.

Optogenetically engineered Septin-7 enhances immune cell infiltration of tumor spheroids.

Chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapies have achieved great success in eradicating some liquid tumors, whereas the preclinical results in treating solid tumors have proven less decisive. One of the principal challenges in solid tumor treatment is the physical barrier composed of a dense extracellular matrix, which prevents immune cells from penetrating the tissue to attack intratumoral cancer cells. Here, we improve immune cell infiltration into solid tumors by manipulating septin-7 functions in cells.

Jumping through hoops: Structural rearrangements and accelerated mutation rates on Dendrodorididae (Mollusca: Nudibranchia) mitogenomes rumble their evolution.

The systematics of the family Dendrodorididae, with only three valid genera, is a challenge for integrative taxonomists. Its members lack hard structures for morphological comparisons and their mitochondrial and nuclear markers provide contradictory phylogenetic signals, making phylogenetic reconstructions difficult. This molecular discordance has been hypothesized to be the result of nuclear pseudogenes or exogenous contamination.

Long-read sequencing and genome assembly of natural history collection samples and challenging specimens.

Museum collections harbor millions of samples, largely unutilized for long-read sequencing. Here, we use ethanol-preserved samples containing kilobase-sized DNA to show that amplification-free protocols can yield contiguous genome assemblies. Additionally, using a modified amplification-based protocol, employing an alternative polymerase to overcome PCR bias, we assembled the 3.

State Policies Regulating Firearms and Changes in Firearm Mortality.

Importance: Despite high social and public health costs of firearm violence in the United States, the effects of many policies designed to reduce firearm mortality remain uncertain.

Objective: To estimate the individual and joint effect sizes of state firearm policies on firearm-related mortality.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this comparative effectiveness study, bayesian methods were used to model panel data of annual, state-level mortality rates (1979-2019) for all US firearm decedents, with analyses conducted in October 2023.

Identification of Novel Isatin Derivative Bearing a Nitrofuran Moiety as Potent Multi-Isoform Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Inhibitor.

Aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) are a family of enzymes that aid in detoxification and are overexpressed in several different malignancies. There is a correlation between increased expression of ALDH and a poor prognosis, stemness, and resistance to several drugs. Several ALDH inhibitors have been generated due to the crucial role that ALDH plays in cancer stem cells.

Targeting Tyro3, Axl, and MerTK Receptor Tyrosine Kinases Significantly Sensitizes Triple-Negative Breast Cancer to CDK4/6 Inhibition.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive subtype with high metastasis and mortality rates. Given the lack of actionable targets such as ER and HER2, TNBC still remains an unmet therapeutic challenge. Despite harboring high CDK4/6 expression levels, the efficacy of CDK4/6 inhibition in TNBC has been limited due to the emergence of resistance.

Early Liver Transplant for Alcohol-associated Liver Disease Has Excellent Survival but Higher Rates of Harmful Alcohol Use.

Background & Aims: Early liver transplantation (LT) for alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) has increased worldwide. Short-term outcomes have been favorable, but data on longer-term outcomes are lacking.

Methods: Single-center retrospective study of primary LT recipients between 2010 and 2020, with follow-up through July 1, 2022.

Pharmacological agents targeting drug-tolerant persister cells in cancer.

Current cancer therapy can be effective, but the development of drug resistant disease is the usual outcome. These drugs can eliminate most of the tumor burden but often fail to eliminate the rare, "Drug Tolerant Persister" (DTP) cell subpopulations in residual tumors, which can be referred to as "Persister" cells. Therefore, novel therapeutic agents specifically targeting or preventing the development of drug-resistant tumors mediated by the remaining persister cells subpopulations are needed.

Geographic and Demographic Differences in the Proportion of Individuals Living in Households With a Firearm, 1990-2018.

Importance: Measures of the proportion of individuals living in households with a firearm (HFR), over time, across states, and by demographic groups are needed to evaluate disparities in firearm violence and the effects of firearm policies.

Objective: To estimate HFR across states, years, and demographic groups in the US.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this survey study, substate HFR totals from 1990 to 2018 were estimated using bayesian multilevel regression with poststratification to analyze survey data on HFR from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the General Social Survey.

A Practical Update on COVID-19 and Inflammatory Bowel Disease: COVID-19 Disease Risk and Vaccine Safety and Efficacy.

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced significant uncertainty regarding the care of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Substantial research efforts have made progress in answering many of the questions that arose, but the constantly shifting paradigm of COVID-19-related research and recommendations has made it challenging for IBD clinicians to remain up-to-date. The goal of this article is to provide a concise and practical summary of the literature evaluating COVID-19 disease risk in addition to COVID-19 vaccine safety, immunogenicity, real-world effectiveness, and uptake among patients with IBD.

Higher and Sustained Cell-Mediated Immune Responses After 3 Doses of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease on Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor Therapy.

Introduction: Studies suggest that the generation of durable T-cell immunity following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination protects against severe disease. The aim of this study was to measure cell-mediated immune response (CMIR) 1-2 months and 6 months after a third dose of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.

Methods: This prospective study (HumoRal and CellULar initial and Sustained immunogenicity in patients with inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]) evaluated CMIR at 28-65 days (t 1 ) after dose 2, 28-65 days (t 2 ) (n = 183) and 6 months (±45 days) (t 3 ) (n = 167) after a third dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.