Combined Thermoneutral Housing and Raloxifene Treatment Improves Trabecular Bone Microarchitecture and Strength in Growing Female Mice.

Thermoneutral housing and Raloxifene (RAL) treatment both have potential for improving mechanical and architectural properties of bone. Housing mice within a 30 to 32 °C range improves bone quality by reducing the consequences of cold stress, such as shivering and metabolic energy consumption (Chevalier et al. in Cell Metab 32(4):575-590.

Identification of Heme Oxygenase-1 as a Putative DNA-Binding Protein.

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a rate-limiting enzyme in degrading heme into biliverdin and iron. HO-1 can also enter the nucleus and regulate gene transcription independent of its enzymatic activity. Whether HO-1 can alter gene expression through direct binding to target DNA remains unclear.

Examining racial and ethnic disparities in adult emergency department patient visits for concussion in the United States.

Background: Racial and ethnic differences in emergency department (ED) visits have been reported among adolescent patients but are unsubstantiated among adults. Therefore, our purpose in this study was to examine the relationship between race/ethnicity and adult ED visits for concussions, their injury mechanisms, and computed tomography (CT) scan use among a nationally representative sample.

Methods: We used the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey database from 2010-2015 to examine 63,725 adult (20-45 years old) patient visits, representing an estimated 310.

A cluster randomized controlled trial of a modified vaccination clinical reminder for primary care providers.

Objective: Adult vaccination rates in the United States fall short of national goals, and rates are particularly low for Black Americans. We tested a provider-focused vaccination uptake intervention: a modified electronic health record clinical reminder that bundled together three adult vaccination reminders, presented patient vaccination history, and included talking points for providers to address vaccine hesitancy.

Method: Primary care teams at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, who saw 28,941 patients during this period, were randomly assigned to receive either the modified clinical reminder ( = 44 teams) or the status quo ( = 40 teams).

Consequences of Sport-Related Concussion on Health-Related Quality of Life in Adolescents: A Critically Appraised Topic.

Clinical Scenario: Sport-related concussions (SRCs) are a prevalent and problematic injury occurring among adolescents participating in sports. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has been shown to be affected in a portion of adolescents recovering from SRCs, though the exact nature of the relationship has yet to be firmly established for this age group through the duration and completion of recovery. HRQoL can be a nebulous construct but is often described as multifaceted and demonstrates effects of an illness, injury, or condition on one's overall well-being, encompassing satisfaction and comfortability of physical, psychosocial, sleep, and cognitive attributes.

Association Between Medicaid Managed Care Coverage of Substance Use Services and Treatment Utilization.

Importance: Medicaid insures a disproportionate share of adults with substance use disorder (SUD) and is thus uniquely positioned to facilitate access to care. Many enrollees receive coverage through Medicaid managed care (MMC) plans, which receive capitated payments in exchange for coverage of a defined set of benefits. Historically, coverage of substance use services has been carved out of MMC plans and financed fee-for-service (FFS) by state Medicaid programs, but in recent years, many states have opted to carve in this benefit.

Women with hepatitis B: how mothers with chronic hepatitis B understand and experience the prevention of mother-to-child transmission interventions in Victoria, Australia.

Background: Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of hepatitis B can be prevented with targeted interventions; however, MTCT continues to occur in Australia and globally. This qualitative research investigated how mothers with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) understand and experience interventions for the prevention of MTCT of CHB (PMTCT-CHB) in Victoria, Australia.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with women with CHB.

Stress during pregnancy: An ecological momentary assessment of stressors among Black and White women with implications for maternal health.

Background: Stress can lead to adverse physiological and psychological outcomes. Therefore, understanding stress during pregnancy provides insight into racial disparities in maternal health, particularly Black maternal health.

Objectives: This study aimed to describe (1) daily exposure to self-reported stress levels during pregnancy, and (2) sources of stress among participants that identified as Black or White using data collected via ecological momentary assessment.

Impaired Neurovascular Function Underlies Poor Neurocognitive Outcomes and Is Associated with Nitric Oxide Bioavailability in Congenital Heart Disease.

We use a non-invasive MRI proxy of neurovascular function (pnvf) to assess the ability of the vasculature to supply baseline metabolic demand, to compare pediatric and young adult congenital heart disease (CHD) patients to normal referents and relate the proxy to neurocognitive outcomes and nitric oxide bioavailability. In a prospective single-center study, resting-state blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) and arterial spin labeling (ASL) MRI scans were successfully obtained from 24 CHD patients (age = 15.4 ± 4.

A novel murine model of combined insulin-dependent diabetes and chronic kidney disease has greater skeletal detriments than either disease individually.

Diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD) consistently rank among the top ten conditions in prevalence and mortality in the United States. Insulin-dependent diabetes (IDD) and CKD each increase the risk of skeletal fractures and fracture-related mortality. However, it remains unknown whether these conditions have interactive end-organ effects on the skeleton.

Prolonged COVID-19 symptom duration in people with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases: results from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Vaccine Survey.

Objective: We investigated prolonged COVID-19 symptom duration, defined as lasting 28 days or longer, among people with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs).

Methods: We analysed data from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Vaccine Survey (2 April 2021-15 October 2021) to identify people with SARDs reporting test-confirmed COVID-19. Participants reported COVID-19 severity and symptom duration, sociodemographics and clinical characteristics.

Oral health for healthy ageing.

Over the past 70 years, the global population and age structure have been changing rapidly. Analyses from the 2017 Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study forecasted a continuation of global ageing throughout the remainder of the 21st century, creating major challenges for health-care systems to ensure healthy longevity for ageing societies. Oral health is an intrinsic constituent of general health and wellbeing; however, oral health is largely overlooked on the global health agenda.

Identification of small effect quantitative trait loci of plant architectural, flowering, and early maturity traits in reciprocal interspecific introgression population in cotton.

Plant architecture, flowering time and maturity traits are important determinants of yield and fiber quality of cotton. Genetic dissection of loci determining these yield and quality components is complicated by numerous loci with alleles conferring small differences. Therefore, mapping populations segregating for smaller numbers and sizes of introgressed segments is expected to facilitate dissection of these complex quantitative traits.

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Substance Use Treatment in Medicaid Managed Care in New York City: The Role of Plan and Geography.

Objective: The aim was to assess the magnitude of health care disparities in treatment for substance use disorder (SUD) and the role of health plan membership and place of residence in observed disparities in Medicaid Managed Care (MMC) plans in New York City (NYC).

Data Source: Medicaid claims and managed care plan enrollment files for 2015-2017 in NYC.

Research Design: We studied Medicaid enrollees with a SUD diagnosis during their first 6 months of enrollment in a managed care plan in 2015-2017.

Raloxifene Stimulates Estrogen Signaling to Protect Against Age- and Sex-Related Intervertebral Disc Degeneration in Mice.

Estrogen agonist raloxifene is an FDA-approved treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, which may also be a promising prophylactic for painful intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. Here, we hypothesized that 1) aging and biological sex contribute to IVD degeneration by reducing estrogen signaling and that 2) raloxifene stimulates estrogen signaling to protect against age- and sex-related IVD degeneration in mice. 2.

Immune dysregulation caused by homozygous mutations in CBLB.

CBL-B is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that ubiquitinates proteins downstream of immune receptors to downregulate positive signaling cascades. Distinct homozygous mutations in CBLB were identified in 3 unrelated children with early-onset autoimmunity, one of whom also had chronic urticaria. Patient T cells exhibited hyperproliferation in response to anti-CD3 cross-linking.

Professional perspectives on serodiscordant family service provision in the context of blood-borne viruses.

In recognition of the broader relational aspects of viral infections, family support is considered important when someone is diagnosed with a blood-borne virus (BBV), such as HIV, hepatitis C (HCV) and hepatitis B (HBV). However, families' own support needs are often not a priority in service provision within the BBV sector. In this article, we draw on qualitative interviews with 20 key informants working in various professional capacities in health, social policy, care and advocacy sectors in Australia, and explore their experiences and perspectives on family inclusivity in their services.

Disparities in Health Care Spending and Utilization Among Black and White Medicaid Enrollees.

Importance: Administrative records indicate that more than half of the 80 million Medicaid enrollees identify as belonging to a racial and ethnic minority group. Despite this, disparities within the Medicaid program remain understudied. For example, we know of no studies examining racial differences in Medicaid spending, a potential measure of how equitably state resources are allocated.

Performance Metrics of Substance Use Disorder Care Among Medicaid Enrollees in New York, New York.

Importance: There is limited evaluation of the performance of Medicaid managed care (MMC) private plans in covering substance use disorder (SUD) treatment.

Objective: To compare the performance of MMC plans across 19 indicators of access, quality, and outcomes of SUD treatment.

Design Setting And Participants: This cross-sectional study used administrative claims and mandatory assignment to plans of up to 159 016 adult Medicaid recipients residing in 1 of the 5 counties (boroughs) of New York, New York, from January 2009 to December 2017 to identify differences in SUD treatment access, patterns, and outcomes among different types of MMC plans.

Evaluation of the Association Between Medicare Eligibility and Excess Deaths During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the US.

This cross-sectional regression discontinuity analysis compares deaths slightly younger and older than 65 years to examine the relationship between access to health insurance coverage and COVID-19 mortality.

Telehealth to Improve Perinatal Care Access.

The United States has the worst maternal mortality rate of peer countries. Since 1935, the maternal mortality risk among Black women has remained three to four times higher than that of White women. Perinatal health care is not available in all areas, which limits the access for certain groups.

Examining maternal morbidity across a spectrum of delivery locations: An analysis of the Global Network's Maternal and Neonatal Health Registry.

Objective: To better understand maternal morbidity, using quality data from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including out-of-hospital deliveries. Additionally, to compare to the WHO estimate that maternal morbidity occurs in 15% of pregnancies, which is based largely on hospital-level data.

Methods: The Global Network for Women's and Children's Health Research Maternal Newborn Health Registry collected data on all pregnancies from seven sites in six LMICs between 2015 and 2020.