The stroke meta-metric, Defect-Free Care, was maintained year-over-year within the Florida stroke registry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Resource allocation for stroke care was impacted worldwide by the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID19) pandemic. Regionally, worsened stroke outcomes varied, however comparative year-over-year in-hospital performance metrics from the pandemic are unreported. Therefore, within the large Florida Stroke Registry (FSR), we assessed the pandemic's effects upon the American Heart Association (AHA) Get With The Guidelines (GWTG) ischemic stroke metrics and the meta-metric, Defect-Free Care (DFC).

Case Report: IVIG causing bilateral papilledema and increased intracranial hypertension in patients with anti-TIF-1γ antibody-positive JDM.

Juvenile dermatomyositis is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by progressive proximal muscle weakness, pathognomonic rashes, and often the presence of myositis-specific antibodies. Consensus treatment plans for pediatric patients with juvenile dermatomyositis recommend steroids and methotrexate as initial therapy. Patients with anti-transcription intermediary factor 1 gamma (anti-TIF-1γ) antibodies tend to have more refractory disease requiring more aggressive treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin, which is typically well tolerated.

Remote-Controlled Gene Delivery in Coaxial 3D-Bioprinted Constructs using Ultrasound-Responsive Bioinks.

Introduction: Coaxial 3D bioprinting has advanced the formation of tissue constructs that recapitulate key architectures and biophysical parameters for in-vitro disease modeling and tissue-engineered therapies. Controlling gene expression within these structures is critical for modulating cell signaling and probing cell behavior. However, current transfection strategies are limited in spatiotemporal control because dense 3D scaffolds hinder diffusion of traditional vectors.

Defining quality assurance guidance for effective selection of technical grade zero-valent iron production batch for groundwater remediation using permeable reactive barrier.

Zero-valent iron (ZVI) applied to the remediation of contaminated groundwater (GW) in situ, especially using engineered permeable reactive barriers (PRBs), has been proven to be an effective reactive material. However, many of ZVI brands do not represent tailored reagents specifically regarding destroying pollutants in GW. Thus, their reactivity towards certain contaminants in GW may vary significantly in a wide range even with different production batches of the same ZVI brand.

A Linkable, Polycarbonate Gut Microbiome-Distal Tumor Chip Platform for Interrogating Cancer Promoting Mechanisms.

Gut microbiome composition is tied to diseases ranging from arthritis to cancer to depression. However, mechanisms of action are poorly understood, limiting development of relevant therapeutics. Organ-on-chip platforms, which model minimal functional units of tissues and can tightly control communication between them, are ideal platforms to study these relationships.

Autoinflammatory Diseases/Periodic Fevers.

Children with intermittent fevers present to pediatricians and other primary care child health providers for evaluation. Most patients will have self-limited, benign infectious illnesses. However, the possibility of a periodic fever syndrome should be considered if febrile episodes become recurrent over an extended period and are associated with particular signs and symptoms during each attack.

Enhancement of dielectrophoresis-based particle collection from high conducting fluids due to partial electrode insulation.

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is a successful method to recover nanoparticles from different types of fluid. The DEP force acting on these particles is created by an electrode microarray that produces a nonuniform electric field. To apply DEP to a highly conducting biological fluid, a protective hydrogel coating over the metal electrodes is required to create a barrier between the electrode and the fluid.

Quantifying the effect of shoulder size on operation duration: an analysis of stapes surgery outcomes.

Objective: To investigate the effect of body mass index on hearing outcomes, operative time and complication rates following stapes surgery.

Method: This is a five-year retrospective review of 402 charts from a single tertiary otology referral centre from 2015 to 2020.

Results: When the patient's shoulder was adjacent to the surgeon's dominant hand, the average operative time of 40 minutes increased to 70 minutes because of a significant positive association between higher body mass index and longer operative times (normal body mass index group (<25 kg/m) r = 0.

Knockout mouse models as a resource for the study of rare diseases.

Rare diseases (RDs) are a challenge for medicine due to their heterogeneous clinical manifestations and low prevalence. There is a lack of specific treatments and only a few hundred of the approximately 7,000 RDs have an approved regime. Rapid technological development in genome sequencing enables the mass identification of potential candidates that in their mutated form could trigger diseases but are often not confirmed to be causal.

Opportunities and challenges to engineer 3D models of tumor-adaptive immune interactions.

Augmenting adaptive immunity is a critical goal for developing next-generation cancer therapies. T and B cells infiltrating the tumor dramatically influence cancer progression through complex interactions with the local microenvironment. Cancer cells evade and limit these immune responses by hijacking normal immunologic pathways.

CD5 expression by dendritic cells directs T cell immunity and sustains immunotherapy responses.

The induction of proinflammatory T cells by dendritic cell (DC) subtypes is critical for antitumor responses and effective immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy. Here, we show that human CD1cCD5 DCs are reduced in melanoma-affected lymph nodes, with CD5 expression on DCs correlating with patient survival. Activating CD5 on DCs enhanced T cell priming and improved survival after ICB therapy.

A structural model of the profilin-formin pacemaker system for actin filament elongation.

The formins constitute a large class of multi-domain polymerases that catalyze the localization and growth of unbranched actin filaments in cells from yeast to mammals. The conserved FH2 domains form dimers that bind actin at the barbed end of growing filaments and remain attached as new subunits are added. Profilin-actin is recruited and delivered to the barbed end by formin FH1 domains via the binding of profilin to interspersed tracts of poly-L-proline.

Lectin recruits pathogenic bugs.

Colitis is an irritable bowel disorder affecting about 7 million patients worldwide, but the causes are diverse and not fully understood. In this issue, Matute et al. (2022.

Microbubble-Nanoparticle Complexes for Ultrasound-Enhanced Cargo Delivery.

Targeted delivery of therapeutics to specific tissues is critically important for reducing systemic toxicity and optimizing therapeutic efficacy, especially in the case of cytotoxic drugs. Many strategies currently exist for targeting systemically administered drugs, and ultrasound-controlled targeting is a rapidly advancing strategy for externally-stimulated drug delivery. In this non-invasive method, ultrasound waves penetrate through tissue and stimulate gas-filled microbubbles, resulting in bubble rupture and biophysical effects that power delivery of attached cargo to surrounding cells.

Preoperative Evaluation of Otosclerosis: A National Survey of Otologists.

Objective: Describe practice patterns in preoperative assessment for stapedectomy.

Study Design: Survey.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Progression of Hearing Loss in Observed Non-Growing Vestibular Schwannoma.

Objective: To assess hearing outcomes in observed vestibular schwannoma (VS) with focus on non-growing tumors.

Study Design: Retrospective review.

Setting: Two tertiary neurotology centers.

Web Browsing: High-Speed Diagnosis and Treatment of Carotid Artery Web.

Although carotid artery web (CaW) was initially described in 1973 as a potential etiology of ischemic stroke, it still remains underrecognized. Because CaW is a membrane affixed perpendicularly from the carotid wall that projects out into the lumen above the bifurcation, it typically is not stenotic, and hence, utilizing only 1 vessel imaging modality during conventional stroke workup may instead lead to a diagnosis of ESUS: embolic stroke of undetermined source. The term ESUS was created in 2014 by researchers to define a subset of cryptogenic, nonlacunar (embolic-appearing) strokes without clear cardiac or vascular cause.

Audiologic comparison of classification systems of advanced otosclerosis.

Objective: To identify which patients with advanced otosclerosis may have the greatest audiologic improvement with stapedotomy based on different classifications of advanced otosclerosis.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Single tertiary neurotology center.

Control of CRK-RAC1 activity by the miR-1/206/133 miRNA family is essential for neuromuscular junction function.

Formation and maintenance of neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) are essential for skeletal muscle function, allowing voluntary movements and maintenance of the muscle tone, thereby preventing atrophy. Generation of NMJs depends on the interaction of motor neurons with skeletal muscle fibers, which initiates a cascade of regulatory events that is essential for patterning of acetylcholine receptor (AChR) clusters at specific sites of the sarcolemma. Here, we show that muscle-specific miRNAs of the miR-1/206/133 family are crucial regulators of a signaling cascade comprising DOK7-CRK-RAC1, which is critical for stabilization and anchoring of postsynaptic AChRs during NMJ development and maintenance.

Outcomes in primary and revision surgery for pediatric onset stapedial pathology.

Objectives: To analyze audiometric outcomes of surgery for pediatric onset stapedial pathology (POSP).

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Single-institution database.

Outcomes of Stapedotomy in Patients With Concomitant Otosclerosis and Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence: Should a Radiographic Third-Window Be a Contraindication to Stapes Surgery?

Objective: Review surgical outcomes of stapedotomy in patients with concomitant otosclerosis and superior semicircular canal dehiscence.

Study Design: Retrospective case review.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Revision Stapes Surgery: Hearing Symptoms and Associations With Intraoperative Findings and Outcomes.

Objective: Stapes surgery for otosclerosis occasionally requires revision due to recurrent or persistent conductive hearing loss (CHL). This study examines outcomes after revision stapes surgery.

Study Design: Retrospective review.