Communities That HEAL Intervention and Mortality Including Polysubstance Overdose Deaths: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: The HEALing Communities Study (HCS) evaluated the effectiveness of the Communities That HEAL (CTH) intervention in preventing fatal overdoses amidst the US opioid epidemic.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of the CTH intervention on total drug overdose deaths and overdose deaths involving combinations of opioids with psychostimulants or benzodiazepines.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This randomized clinical trial was a parallel-arm, multisite, community-randomized, open, and waitlisted controlled comparison trial of communities in 4 US states between 2020 and 2023.

Evaluating fentanyl test strips as a harm reduction strategy in rural and urban counties: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Opioid-related fatalities are a leading cause of death in Ohio and nationally, with an increasing number of overdoses attributable to fentanyl. Rapid fentanyl test strips can identify fentanyl and some fentanyl analogs in urine samples and are increasingly being used to check illicit drugs for fentanyl before they are used. Fentanyl test strips are a promising harm reduction strategy; however, little is known about the real-world acceptability and impact of fentanyl test strip use.

Post-Acute Cardiovascular Outcomes of COVID-19 in Children and Adolescents: An EHR Cohort Study from the RECOVER Project.

Background: The risk of cardiovascular outcomes in the post-acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection has been quantified among adults and children. This paper aimed to assess a multitude of cardiac signs, symptoms, and conditions, as well as focused on patients with and without congenital heart defects (CHDs), to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the post-acute cardiovascular outcomes among children and adolescents after COVID-19.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used data from the RECOVER consortium comprising 19 US children's hospitals and health institutions between March 2020 and September 2023.

Limitations of Noninvasive Tests-Based Population-Level Risk Stratification Strategy for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are highly prevalent but underdiagnosed.

Aims: We used an electronic health record data network to test a population-level risk stratification strategy using noninvasive tests (NITs) of liver fibrosis.

Methods: Data were obtained from PCORnet sites in the East, Midwest, Southwest, and Southeast United States from patients aged [Formula: see text] 18 with or without ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes for NAFLD, NASH, and NASH-cirrhosis between 9/1/2017 and 8/31/2020.

Neutralization escape of Omicron XBB, BR.2, and BA.2.3.20 subvariants.

New Omicron subvariants continue to emerge throughout the world. In particular, the XBB subvariant, which is a recombinant virus between BA.2.

Enhanced evasion of neutralizing antibody response by Omicron XBB.1.5, CH.1.1, and CA.3.1 variants.

Omicron subvariants continuingly challenge current vaccination strategies. Here, we demonstrate nearly complete escape of the XBB.1.

Extraordinary Evasion of Neutralizing Antibody Response by Omicron XBB.1.5, CH.1.1 and CA.3.1 Variants.

Newly emerging Omicron subvariants continue to emerge around the world, presenting potential challenges to current vaccination strategies. This study investigates the extent of neutralizing antibody escape by new subvariants XBB.1.

Enhanced neutralization resistance of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants BQ.1, BQ.1.1, BA.4.6, BF.7, and BA.2.75.2.

The continued evolution of SARS-CoV-2 has led to the emergence of several new Omicron subvariants, including BQ.1, BQ.1.

Distinct Neutralizing Antibody Escape of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Subvariants BQ.1, BQ.1.1, BA.4.6, BF.7 and BA.2.75.2.

Continued evolution of SARS-CoV-2 has led to the emergence of several new Omicron subvariants, including BQ.1, BQ. 1.

Performance of model-based vs. permutation tests in the HEALing (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) Communities Study, a covariate-constrained cluster randomized trial.

Background: The HEALing (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) Communities Study (HCS) is a multi-site parallel group cluster randomized wait-list comparison trial designed to evaluate the effect of the Communities That Heal (CTH) intervention compared to usual care on opioid overdose deaths. Covariate-constrained randomization (CCR) was applied to balance the community-level baseline covariates in the HCS. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the performance of model-based tests and permutation tests in the HCS setting.

Development of a distributed international patient data registry for hairy cell leukemia.

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder, comprising only 2% of all leukemias. The Hairy Cell Leukemia Foundation (HCLF) has developed a patient data registry to enable investigators to better study the clinical features, treatment outcomes, and complications of patients with HCL. This system utilizes a centralized registry architecture.

COVID-19 Booster Uptake among First Responders and Their Household Members May Be Lower than Anticipated.

(1) Background: COVID-19 vaccination status varies widely among law enforcement and emergency medical services professionals. Though at high risk of exposure, these first responders have demonstrated significant vaccine hesitancy, with only 70% reportedly vaccinated. We sought to understand whether similar vaccine hesitancy exists for first responders and their household contacts around COVID-19 boosters.

Midwives' ability during third stage of childbirth to estimate postpartum haemorrhage.

Objective: Correctly assessing the amount of blood loss is crucial in order to adequately treat postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) at an early stage and diminish any related symptoms and/or complications.The aim of our study is to analyse correctness in visually estimated blood loss during labour and to measure the differences between subjectively measured and weighted blood losses (ml).

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Mission, Organization, and Future Direction of the Serological Sciences Network for COVID-19 (SeroNet) Epidemiologic Cohort Studies.

Background: Global efforts are needed to elucidate the epidemiology of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the underlying cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), including seroprevalence, risk factors, and long-term sequelae, as well as immune responses after vaccination across populations and the social dimensions of prevention and treatment strategies.

Methods: In the United States, the National Cancer Institute in partnership with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, established the SARS-CoV-2 Serological Sciences Network (SeroNet) as the nation's largest coordinated effort to study coronavirus disease 2019. The network comprises multidisciplinary researchers bridging gaps and fostering collaborations among immunologists, epidemiologists, virologists, clinicians and clinical laboratories, social and behavioral scientists, policymakers, data scientists, and community members.

Analysis of Urine Drug Test Results From Substance Use Disorder Treatment Practices and Overdose Mortality Rates, 2013-2020.

Importance: Drug overdose deaths in the US are currently the highest ever recorded; data collected from public health surveillance sources can help to identify emerging drug use patterns associated with overdose mortality rates, but the time lag in results often limits utility. Urine drug testing (UDT) is one potentially underused source that could augment surveillance efforts through timely data collection.

Objective: To evaluate the correlation between real-time UDT results from a proprietary national database and overdose mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System.

Stromal p53 Regulates Breast Cancer Development, the Immune Landscape, and Survival in an Oncogene-Specific Manner.

Unlabelled: Coevolution of tumor cells and adjacent stromal elements is a key feature during tumor progression; however, the precise regulatory mechanisms during this process remain unknown. Here, we show stromal p53 loss enhances oncogenic KrasG12D, but not ErbB2, driven tumorigenesis in murine mammary epithelia. Stroma-specific p53 deletion increases both epithelial and fibroblast proliferation in mammary glands bearing the KrasG12D oncogene in epithelia, while concurrently increasing DNA damage and/or DNA replication stress and decreasing apoptosis in the tumor cells proper.

[F] Sodium Fluoride Dose Reduction Enabled by Digital Photon Counting PET/CT for Evaluation of Osteoblastic Activity.

The aim of the study was to assess the quality and reproducibility of reducing the injected [F] sodium fluoride ([F]NaF) dose while maintaining diagnostic imaging quality in bone imaging in a preclinical skeletal model using digital photon counting PET (dPET) detector technology. Beagles ( = 9) were administered three different [F]NaF doses: 111 MBq ( = 5), 20 MBq ( = 5), and 1.9 MBq ( = 9).

Marginal modeling in community randomized trials with rare events: Utilization of the negative binomial regression model.

Background/aims: This work is motivated by the HEALing Communities Study, which is a post-test only cluster randomized trial in which communities are randomized to two different trial arms. The primary interest is in reducing opioid overdose fatalities, which will be collected as a count outcome at the community level. Communities range in size from thousands to over one million residents, and fatalities are expected to be rare.

Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 Maleimide Inhibitors As Potential PET-Tracers for Imaging Alzheimer's Disease: C-Synthesis and Proof of Concept.

Herein we present the evaluation of C-labeled-maleimides as radiotracers for positron emission tomography imaging of GSK-3 associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). 3-Acetyl-4-(1-[C]-methyl-1-indol-3-yl)[1]pyrrole-2,5-dione ([C]-) was obtained by direct methylation using [C]-CHI and CsCO in DMF with a 31 ± 4% radiochemical yield and a radiochemical purity of 97.7 ± 0.

Assessment of Fall-Related Emergency Medical Service Calls and Transports after a Community-Level Fall-Prevention Initiative.

Getting effective fall prevention into the homes of medically and physically vulnerable individuals is a critical public health challenge. Community paramedicine is emerging globally as a new model of care that allows emergency medical service units to evaluate and treat patients in non-emergency contexts for prevention efforts and chronic care management. The promise of community paramedicine as a delivery system for fall prevention that scales to community-level improvements in outcomes is compelling but untested.

Prediction of ethanol self-administration in pre-weanling, adolescent, and young adult rats.

Alcohol (ethanol) use is almost normative by late adolescence, in most western countries. It is important to identify factors that distinguish those who progress from alcohol initiation to sustained use of the drug, from those that keep a controlled pattern of drinking. The factors precipitating this transition may change across development.

Thrombin generation in subjects with lupus anticoagulant without prior thrombosis or gestational morbidities.

Background: Lupus anticoagulant (LA) can be a cause of thrombosis and/or pregnancy morbidities, producing antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). An increase in thrombin generation (TG) is correlated with prothrombotic status. Several changes in TG-derived parameters have been reported in APS patients.

Variance formulae for multiphase stepped wedge cluster randomized trial.

In a multiphase stepped wedge cluster randomized trial (MSW-CRT), more than one intervention will be initiated on each sequence in a fixed order. Hence, with the MSW-CRT design, the effect of the first intervention can be evaluated when compared to control, as well as the added-on effects of the subsequent interventions. Studies that use MSW-CRT have been proposed, but properties of this design have not been explicitly studied.

Power analysis for RNA-Seq differential expression studies using generalized linear mixed effects models.

Background: Power analysis becomes an inevitable step in experimental design of current biomedical research. Complex designs allowing diverse correlation structures are commonly used in RNA-Seq experiments. However, the field currently lacks statistical methods to calculate sample size and estimate power for RNA-Seq differential expression studies using such designs.