Prevalence of Blunt and Hemp Wrap Use Among Young Adults in the United States, 2022.

Introduction: Blunt and hemp wraps, as a means of consuming cannabis, have emerged into the retail space where the prevalence has been increasing since 2017. There is limited epidemiological research on the prevalence of use of these products across the U.S.

Patterns of blunt and cigar use in the United States, 2015-2019.

Introduction: The use of cigars for blunts (i.e., cannabis rolled in cigar paper) is well-documented; prevalence of cigar and blunt use and associated characteristics are less studied.

Acute Care, Secondary Prevention, and Outcomes after Ischaemic and Haemorrhagic Stroke in Men and Women: A Data-Linkage Study.

Introduction: There is evidence that sex differences exist in stroke presentation, risk factors, severity, treatment, and outcomes. To further understand this, we explored how sex differences influence acute stroke management, secondary prevention prescribing, and mortality outcomes in a well-characterised cohort of first-ever stroke patients in Scotland.

Methods: This is a retrospective, population-based, data-linkage study of stroke admissions to acute care hospitals in Scotland between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2018.

Widespread Misperceptions Among U.S. Adults About Tobacco Company Engagement in Black and African American Communities.

Introduction: Menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars (MC/FC) bring profits to U.S. tobacco companies at the cost of Black/African American (B/AA) lives.

Patterns of blunt and cigar use in the United States, 2015-2019.

Background: The use of cigars for blunts (i.e., cannabis rolled in cigar paper) is well-documented; proportions of cigar and blunt use and associated characteristics are less studied.

Performance of Claims-Based Algorithms for Adherence to Positive Airway Pressure Therapy in Commercially Insured Patients With OSA.

Background: Positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy is first-line therapy for OSA, but consistent use is required for it to be effective. Previous studies have used Medicare fee-for-service claims data (eg, device, equipment charges) as a proxy for PAP adherence to assess its effects. However, this approach has not been validated in a US commercially insured population, where coverage rules are not standardized.

The role of inflammasomes in human diseases and their potential as therapeutic targets.

Inflammasomes are large protein complexes that play a major role in sensing inflammatory signals and triggering the innate immune response. Each inflammasome complex has three major components: an upstream sensor molecule that is connected to a downstream effector protein such as caspase-1 through the adapter protein ASC. Inflammasome formation typically occurs in response to infectious agents or cellular damage.

Depression and comorbid obstructive sleep apnea: Association between positive airway pressure adherence, occurrence of self-harm events, healthcare resource utilization, and costs.

Objective: Previous studies have shown that treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy in patients with depression may improve depression symptoms and response to antidepressant therapy. We investigated the association between PAP therapy adherence, self-harm events, healthcare resource utilization (HCRU), and costs over 2 years in a national sample of patients with pre-existing depression and newly diagnosed comorbid OSA.

Methods: Administrative claims data were linked to objective PAP therapy usage.

Healthcare resource utilisation and costs in patients with treated obstructive sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a highly prevalent yet underdiagnosed disease that creates a large economic burden on the United States healthcare system. In this retrospective study, we tested the hypothesis that adherence to positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy, the 'gold standard' treatment for OSA, is associated with reduced healthcare resource utilisation and costs. We linked de-identified payer-sourced medical claims and objective PAP usage data for patients newly diagnosed with OSA.

The Portrayal of Premium Cigar Selling Propositions in Lifestyle Magazines: A Content Analysis.

Introduction: Although lifestyle magazines are an important marketing tool for premium cigars, little is known about their recent portrayal of the products. We expand on research conducted for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Committee on Patterns of Use and Health Effects of "Premium Cigars" and Priority Research.

Aims And Methods: A content analysis of magazine covers, articles, and advertisements published in 2021 from Cigar Aficionado and Cigar Snob (five issues each) and Cigar Journal (three issues) assessed magazine themes and mentions of lower harm.

Infection and Vaccine Induced Spike Antibody Responses Against SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern in COVID-19-Naïve Children and Adults.

Although a more efficient adaptive humoral immune response has been proposed to underlie the usually favorable outcome of pediatric COVID-19, the breadth of viral and vaccine cross-reactivity toward the ever-mutating Spike protein among variants of concern (VOCs) has not yet been compared between children and adults. We assessed antibodies to conformational Spike in COVID-19-naïve children and adults vaccinated by BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1, and naturally infected with SARS-CoV-2 Early Clade, Delta, and Omicron. Sera were analyzed against Spike including naturally occurring VOCs Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron BA.

Amyloid β-based therapy for Alzheimer's disease: challenges, successes and future.

Amyloid β protein (Aβ) is the main component of neuritic plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and its accumulation has been considered as the molecular driver of Alzheimer's pathogenesis and progression. Aβ has been the prime target for the development of AD therapy. However, the repeated failures of Aβ-targeted clinical trials have cast considerable doubt on the amyloid cascade hypothesis and whether the development of Alzheimer's drug has followed the correct course.

Exploring Young Adults' Beliefs About Cigar Smoking by Susceptibility: A Belief Elicitation Study.

Introduction: Young adults are at risk for cigar smoking, which is associated with cancers and pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases. Little is known about young adults' beliefs about smoking cigarillos, little filtered cigars, and large cigars, and how these beliefs may vary across cigar types and by cigar susceptibility.

Aims And Methods: The larger study surveyed a U.

Budget impact analysis of a digital monitoring platform for COPD.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive debilitating condition with frequent exacerbations that have a high burden for patients and society. Digital tools may help to reduce the economic burden for patients and payers by improving outcomes. The Propeller platform is a digital self-management tool that facilitates passive monitoring of inhaler medication utilization, potentially assisting the healthcare team to identify patients at risk of a COPD exacerbation who may require further intervention.

PRIMIS: design of a pivotal, randomized, phase 3 study evaluating the safety and efficacy of the nonsteroidal farnesoid X receptor agonist cilofexor in noncirrhotic patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Background: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic progressive liver disease leading to biliary fibrosis and cirrhosis. Cilofexor is a nonsteroidal farnesoid X receptor agonist that demonstrated significant improvements in liver biochemistry and markers of cholestasis in patients with PSC in a phase 2 study. We describe here the rationale, design, and implementation of the phase 3 PRIMIS trial, the largest placebo-controlled trial in PSC.

Precise Estimation for the Age of Initiation of Tobacco Use Among U.S. Youth: Finding from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, 2013-2017.

Context: Youth tobacco use remains a prominent United States public health issue with a high economic and health burden.

Method: We pooled never and ever users at youth's first wave of PATH participation (waves 1-3) to estimate age of initiation for hookah, e-cigarettes, cigarettes, traditional cigars, cigarillos, and smokeless tobacco prospectively (waves 2-4). Age of initiation of each tobacco product was estimated using weighted interval-censored survival analyses.

Dose-Response Relationship between Obstructive Sleep Apnea Therapy Adherence and Healthcare Utilization.

Clear definition of optimal positive airway pressure therapy usage in patients with obstructive sleep apnea is not possible because of scarce data on the relationship between usage hours and major clinical outcomes. To investigate the dose-response relationship between positive airway pressure usage and healthcare resource utilization and determine the minimum device usage required for benefit. A linked data set combined deidentified payer-sourced administrative medical/pharmacy claims data from more than 100 U.

CNTNAP2 Protein Is Degraded by the Ubiquitin-Proteasome System and the Macroautophagy-Lysosome Pathway.

Contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2) gene, located on chromosome 7q35, is one of the largest genes in the human genome. CNTNAP2 protein is a type-I transmembrane protein specifically expressed in the nervous system, with versatile roles in the axonal organization, synaptic functions, neuronal migration, and functional connectivity. CNTNAP2 has been widely investigated as a risk gene for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and recent studies also implicated CNTNAP2 in Alzheimer's disease (AD).