Imaging chronic active lesions in multiple sclerosis: a consensus statement.

Chronic active lesions (CAL) are an important manifestation of chronic inflammation in multiple sclerosis and have implications for non-relapsing biological progression. In recent years, the discovery of innovative MRI and PET-derived biomarkers has made it possible to detect CAL, and to some extent quantify them, in the brain of persons with multiple sclerosis, in vivo. Paramagnetic rim lesions on susceptibility-sensitive MRI sequences, MRI-defined slowly expanding lesions on T1-weighted and T2-weighted scans, and 18-kDa translocator protein-positive lesions on PET are promising candidate biomarkers of CAL.

Reprograming of transcriptional profile of colonic organoids from patients with high blood pressure by minocycline.

Minocycline, an anti-inflammatory antibiotic drug, rebalances impaired gut microbiota, attenuates neuroinflammation and lowers high blood pressure in animal models of hypertension and in hypertensive patients. Our objective in this study was to investigate if antihypertensive effects of minocycline involve the expression of gut epithelial genes relevant to blood pressure homeostasis using human colonic 3-dimensional organoid culture and high-throughput RNA sequencing. The data demonstrates that minocycline could restore impaired expression of functional genes linked to viral and bacterial immunity, inflammation, protein trafficking and autophagy in human hypertensive organoids.

Mepolizumab improves sense of smell in severe chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps: SYNAPSE.

Background: Loss of smell is one of the most bothersome and difficult-to-treat symptoms in patients with severe chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP).

Methodology: SYNAPSE was a 52-week Phase III study of 4-weekly mepolizumab (100 mg subcutaneously) plus standard of care in adults with severe bilateral CRSwNP. This post hoc analysis assessed changes from baseline to study end in loss of smell visual analogue scale (VAS) symptom score, in patients stratified by several baseline clinical characteristics.

Metacognitive Exam Preparation Assignments in an Introductory Biology Course Improve Exam Scores for Lower ACT Students Compared with Assignments that Focus on Terms.

Preparing for exams in introductory biology classrooms is a complex metacognitive task. Focusing on lower achieving students (those with entering ACT scores below the median at our institution), we compared the effect of two different assignments distributed ahead of exams by dividing classes in half to receive either terms to define or open-ended metacognitive questions. Completing metacognitive assignments resulted in moderately higher exam scores for students on the second and third exams.

Age-Based Incidence of Dens Fracture Has Unimodal Distribution Rather Than Commonly Claimed Bimodal Distribution.

Background: Type-II dens fractures have long been described in the literature as occurring in a bimodal distribution, peaking in young adulthood as well as in older adulthood; however, the origin of this claim is unclear. The primary goal of this study was to examine the incidence of type-II dens fractures and assess for bimodality.

Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional review of the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) records on traumatic type-II dens fractures between October 2015 and December 2016.

Mammalian orthoreovirus can exit cells in extracellular vesicles.

Several egress pathways have been defined for many viruses. Among these pathways, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been shown to function as vehicles of non-lytic viral egress. EVs are heterogenous populations of membrane-bound structures released from cells as a form of intercellular communication.

Validating the Reliability and Clinical Relevance of a Nasolabial Fold Photonumeric Scale.

Background: The use of tissue fillers to treat age-related deepening of the nasolabial fold (NLF) has increased and become the standard clinical approach, creating a need for evidence-based, objective evaluation for pre- and post-procedure assessment of the NLF.

Methods: A 5-point rating scale was developed to assess the NLF, specifically the presence of depression and shadowing. Live validation of the scale was performed with a total of 73 participants representing the full range of NLF severities.

Identification of a marker of infection in the breath using a porcine pneumonia model.

Objective: Pneumonia, both in the community and the hospital setting, represents a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the cardiothoracic patient population. Diagnosis of pneumonia can be masked by other disease processes and is often diagnosed after the patient is already experiencing the disease. A noninvasive, sensitive test for pneumonia could decrease hospitalizations and length of stay for patients.

An Atlas of Promoter Chromatin Modifications and HiChIP Regulatory Interactions in Human Subcutaneous Adipose-Derived Stem Cells.

The genome of human adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) from abdominal and gluteofemoral adipose tissue depots are maintained in depot-specific stable epigenetic conformations that influence cell-autonomous gene expression patterns and drive unique depot-specific functions. The traditional approach to explore tissue-specific transcriptional regulation has been to correlate differential gene expression to the nearest-neighbor linear-distance regulatory region defined by associated chromatin features including open chromatin status, histone modifications, and DNA methylation. This has provided important information; nonetheless, the approach is limited because of the known organization of eukaryotic chromatin into a topologically constrained three-dimensional network.

Transcriptional Control of Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue by the Transcription Factor CTCF Modulates Heterogeneity in Fat Distribution in Women.

Determining the mechanism driving body fat distribution will provide insights into obesity-related health risks. We used functional genomics tools to profile the epigenomic landscape to help infer the differential transcriptional potential of apple- and pear-shaped women's subcutaneous adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs). We found that CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) expression and its chromatin binding were increased in ADSCs from pear donors compared to those from apple donors.

Do Concerns About Police Reporting Vary by Assault Characteristics? Understanding the Nonreporting Decisions of Sexual Assault Victims Who Utilize Alternative Reporting Options.

Introduction: Forensic nurses routinely provide services to sexual assault victims who are uncertain about reporting their assault to police. The purpose of this study was to determine whether assault characteristics are related to the concerns about police reporting expressed by sexual assault victims who have forensic evidence collected but do not report their assault to police at that time.

Methods: We analyzed medical records of patients who received services at a hospital-based forensic nursing program between 2010 and 2021.

An HTLV-1 envelope mRNA vaccine is immunogenic and protective in New Zealand rabbits.

Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is a retrovirus responsible for adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, a severe and fatal CD4+ T-cell malignancy. Additionally, HTLV-1 can lead to a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disease known as HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis. Unfortunately, the prognosis for HTLV-1-related diseases is generally poor, and effective treatment options are limited.

The human pupil and face encode sound affect and provide objective signatures of tinnitus and auditory hypersensitivity disorders.

Sound is jointly processed along acoustic and emotional dimensions. These dimensions can become distorted and entangled in persons with sensory disorders, producing a spectrum of loudness hypersensitivity, phantom percepts, and - in some cases - debilitating sound aversion. Here, we looked for objective signatures of disordered hearing (DH) in the human face.

Groebke Blackburn Bienaymé-mediated multi-component synthesis of selective HDAC6 inhibitors with anti-inflammatory properties.

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are a class of enzymes that cleave acyl groups from lysine residues of histone and non-histone proteins. There are 18 human HDAC isoforms with different cellular targets and functions. Among them, HDAC6 was found to be overexpressed in different types of cancer.

Cancer Survivorship at Stanford Cancer Institute.

The Stanford Cancer Survivorship Program is a key initiative of Stanford Cancer Institute. The program's mission is to improve the experience and outcomes of patients and family caregivers throughout all phases of the cancer trajectory by advancing survivorship research, clinical care, and education. The four pillars of the program include clinical care delivery with a focus on primary care-survivorship collaboration and expanding specialty services, education and training of healthcare professionals, transdisciplinary patient-oriented research, and community engagement.

Precision engineering for localization, validation, and modification of allergenic epitopes.

The allergen-IgE interaction is essential for the genesis of allergic responses, yet investigation of the molecular basis of these interactions is in its infancy. Precision engineering has unveiled the molecular features of allergen-antibody interactions at the atomic level. High-resolution technologies, including x-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and cryo-electron microscopy, determine allergen-antibody structures.

Rolling the evolutionary dice: commensals as proxies for elucidating the underpinnings of antibiotic resistance mechanisms and evolution in human pathogens.

Species within the genus are adept at sharing adaptive allelic variation, with commensal species repeatedly transferring resistance to their pathogenic relative . However, resistance in commensals is infrequently characterized, limiting our ability to predict novel and potentially transferable resistance mechanisms that ultimately may become important clinically. Unique evolutionary starting places of each species will have distinct genomic backgrounds, which may ultimately control the fate of evolving populations in response to selection as epistatic and additive interactions coerce lineages along divergent evolutionary trajectories.

Geo-temporal patterns to design cost-effective interventions for zoonotic diseases -the case of brucellosis in the country of Georgia.

Introduction: Control of zoonosis can benefit from geo-referenced procedures. Focusing on brucellosis, here the ability of two methods to distinguish disease dissemination patterns and promote cost-effective interventions was compared.

Method: Geographical data on bovine, ovine and human brucellosis reported in the country of Georgia between 2014 and 2019 were investigated with (i) the Hot Spot (HS) analysis and (ii) a bio-geographical (BG) alternative.

Influence of the bile acid/microbiota axis in ileal surgery: a systematic review.

Aim: The gastrointestinal bile acid (BA)/microbiota axis has emerged as a potential mediator of health and disease, particularly in relation to pathologies such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer. Whilst it presents an exciting new avenue for therapies, it has not yet been characterized in surgical resection of the ileum, where BA reabsorption occurs. The identification of BA/microbiota signatures may provide future therapies with perioperative personalized medicine.

Polymorphisms in the choline transporter SLC44A1 are associated with reduced cognitive performance in normotypic but not prenatal alcohol-exposed children.

Background: Choline is essential for healthy cognitive development. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; rs3199966(G), rs2771040(G)) within the choline transporter SLC44A1 increase risk for choline deficiency. In a choline intervention trial of children who experienced prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), these alleles are associated with improved cognition.

Second Nationwide Tuberculosis Outbreak Caused by Bone Allografts Containing Live Cells - United States, 2023.

During July 7-11, 2023, CDC received reports of two patients in different states with a tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis following spinal surgical procedures that used bone allografts containing live cells from the same deceased donor. An outbreak associated with a similar product manufactured by the same tissue establishment (i.e.

Lymphedema self-assessment among endometrial cancer survivors.

Purpose: Lower extremity lymphedema (LEL), which causes ankle, leg, and feet swelling, poses a significant challenge for endometrial cancer survivors, impacting physical functioning and psychological well-being. Inconsistent LEL diagnostic methods result in wide-ranging LEL incidence estimates.

Methods: We calculated the cumulative incidence of LEL based on survivor-reported Gynecologic Cancer Lymphedema Questionnaire (GCLQ) responses in addition to survivor- and nurse-reported leg circumference measurements among a pilot sample of 50 endometrial cancer survivors (27 White, 23 Black) enrolled in the ongoing population-based Carolina Endometrial Cancer Study.

Utilization of Vertebroplasty/Kyphoplasty in the Management of Compression Fractures: National Trends and Predictors of Vertebroplasty/Kyphoplasty.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the utilization of kyphoplasty/vertebroplasty procedures in the management of compression fractures. With the growing elderly population and the associated increase in rates of osteoporosis, vertebral compression fractures have become a daily encounter for spine surgeons. However, there remains a lack of consensus on the optimal management of this patient population.