FGF12 Positively Regulates Keratinocyte Proliferation by Stabilizing MDM2 and Inhibiting p53 Activity in Psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease characterized by abnormal proliferation and inflammation of epidermal keratinocytes. Fibroblast growth factor 12 (FGF12) is implicated in the regulation of diverse cellular signals; however, its precise mechanism in psoriasis requires further investigation. In this study, high expression of FGF12 is observed in the epidermis of skin lesion in psoriasis patients and imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis like-dermatitis.

Longitudinal Molecular and Serological Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 Infections and Vaccination Status: Community-Based Surveillance Study (CONTACT).

Introduction: This prospective, longitudinal, community-based study, EpidemiologiCal POpulatioN STudy of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Lake CounTy, Illinois (CONTACT), investigated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) immunity, occupational risks related to SARS-CoV-2 exposure, and long-term immunoglobulin G (IgG) seroconversion kinetics.

Methods: At baseline and follow up (3, 6, and 9 months), non-hospitalized adult participants provided nasal and blood serum specimens for molecular [reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)] and serological (IgG) testing (4 November 2020-30 October 2021).

Results: At baseline, 6.

Endovascular repair combined with in situ fenestration for new-onset or residual arch dissection in patients underwent aortic replacement.

Introduction: Ascending aorta or hemi-arch replacement is a frequently used treatment for patients with acute type A thoracic aortic dissection, particularly those who are elderly or have multiple comorbidities. However, in cases where there are secondary entry tears in the aortic arch or descending aorta, this procedure may not fully resolve the issue. The true lumen may remain compressed due to perfusion of the false lumen and usually require reoperation.

Factors Associated with Severe COVID-19 Among Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Large, Nationwide Electronic Health Record Cohort Study in the United States.

Introduction: To evaluate factors associated with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the US.

Methods: Adults with RA who had a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, based on molecular or antigen test or clinical diagnosis, were identified from the Optum COVID-19 Electronic Health Record dataset (March 1, 2020-April 28, 2021). The primary outcome was the occurrence of severe COVID-19 (hospitalization or death) within 30 days from SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Effects of preoperative screening and targeted decolonization bundle protocols in cardiac surgery: a nine-year review of a regional cardiovascular center in China.

Background: Nosocomial infection (NI) prolongs hospital stay and heightens mortality among patients who underwent cardiac surgery. We constructed a retrospective study to explore the prevalence of and methicillin-resistant (SA/MRSA) nasal colonization, as well as the effects of SA/MRSA decolonization bundle measures on SA/MRSA-related infection among Chinese cardiac patients.

Methods: After reviewing the medical records, we divided cardiovascular surgery patients treated at our central campus into two groups: the baseline group (treated between January 2012 and December 2013) and the intervention group (treated between May 2014 and December 2020).

Risk of Severe COVID-19 Outcomes Among Patients with Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases or Malignancies: A Retrospective Analysis of Real-World Data in the United States.

Introduction: There are concerns that patients in an immunocompromised state may be at risk for increased coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity. The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of patients with COVID-19 and immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) or malignancies and evaluate their risk of developing severe COVID-19.

Methods: Cases of COVID-19 (ICD-10 code U07.

Construction of ultrasound-responsive urokinase precise controlled-release nanoliposome applied for thrombolysis.

Urokinase is widely used in the dissolution of an acute pulmonary embolism due to its high biocatalytic effect. However, how to precisely regulate its dose, avoid the side effects of hemolysis or ineffective thrombolysis caused by too high or too low a dose, and seize the golden time of acute pulmonary embolism are the key factors for its clinical promotion. Therefore, based on the precise design of a molecular structure, an ultrasonic-responsive nanoliposome capsule was prepared in this paper.

Machine learning for improving high-dimensional proxy confounder adjustment in healthcare database studies: An overview of the current literature.

Purpose: Supplementing investigator-specified variables with large numbers of empirically identified features that collectively serve as 'proxies' for unspecified or unmeasured factors can often improve confounding control in studies utilizing administrative healthcare databases. Consequently, there has been a recent focus on the development of data-driven methods for high-dimensional proxy confounder adjustment in pharmacoepidemiologic research. In this paper, we survey current approaches and recent advancements for high-dimensional proxy confounder adjustment in healthcare database studies.

Effect of Wind-Induced Vibration on Measurement Range of Microcantiflever Anemometer.

In this paper, the effect of wind-induced vibration on measurement range of microcantilever anemometer is investigated for the first time. The microcantilever anemometer is composed of a flexible substrate and a piezoresistor. The wind speed can be detected through the airflow-induced deformation in the flexible substrate.

ISPE-Endorsed Guidance in Using Electronic Health Records for Comparative Effectiveness Research in COVID-19: Opportunities and Trade-Offs.

As the scientific research community along with healthcare professionals and decision makers around the world fight tirelessly against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the need for comparative effectiveness research (CER) on preventive and therapeutic interventions for COVID-19 is immense. Randomized controlled trials markedly under-represent the frail and complex patients seen in routine care, and they do not typically have data on long-term treatment effects. The increasing availability of electronic health records (EHRs) for clinical research offers the opportunity to generate timely real-world evidence reflective of routine care for optimal management of COVID-19.

EpidemiologiCal POpulatioN STudy of SARS-CoV-2 in Lake CounTy, Illinois (CONTACT): Methodology and Baseline Characteristics of a Community-Based Surveillance Study.

Introduction: EpidemiologiCal POpulatioN STudy of SARS-CoV-2 in Lake CounTy, Illinois (CONTACT) is an observational, epidemiological study with a 9-month longitudinal follow-up of nonhospitalized persons aged 18 years or older currently living or employed in Lake County, IL. We describe the study design and report baseline characteristics of the study participants, including the proportion of participants with acute or previous SARS-CoV-2 infection at enrollment.

Methods: At enrollment and subsequent timepoints, participants recruited through digital and paper-based advertising campaigns reported their occupational and school-based exposure, risk factors, and behaviors, and provided nasal and serum specimens.

A Retrospective Statistical Validation Approach for Panel of Normal-Based Single-Nucleotide Variant Detection in Tumor Sequencing.

An important step of somatic variant calling algorithms for deep sequencing data is quantifying the errors. For targeted sequencing in which hotspot mutations are of interest, site-specific error estimation allows more accurate calling. The site-specific error rates are often estimated from a panel of normal samples, which has limited size and is subject to sampling bias and variance.

Epidemiology, Etiology, and Treatment of Gastroparesis: Real-World Evidence From a Large US National Claims Database.

Background & Aims: Although gastroparesis carries a considerable health care and patient burden, associated epidemiological data are limited. To provide new real-world evidence for gastroparesis, we estimated disease prevalence, and investigated patient demographics and disease etiology in a large US claims database.

Methods: This retrospective, cross-sectional analysis used de-identified, longitudinal patient-level enrollment and billing data for adults from the Optum Clinformatics Data Mart database, a large US national administrative health insurance claims database.

Dual-scale categorization based deep learning to evaluate programmed cell death ligand 1 expression in non-small cell lung cancer.

In precision oncology, immune check point blockade therapy has quickly emerged as novel strategy by its efficacy, where programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression is used as a clinically validated predictive biomarker of response for the therapy. Automating pathological image analysis and accelerating pathology evaluation is becoming an unmet need. Artificial Intelligence and deep learning tools in digital pathology have been studied in order to evaluate PD-L1 expression in PD-L1 immunohistochemistry image.

Benchmarking the Human Leukocyte Antigen Typing Performance of Three Assays and Seven Next-Generation Sequencing-Based Algorithms.

With the great progress made recently in next generation sequencing (NGS) technology, sequencing accuracy and throughput have increased, while the cost for data has decreased. Various human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing algorithms and assays have been developed and have begun to be used in clinical practice. In this study, we compared the HLA typing performance of three HLA assays and seven NGS-based HLA algorithms and assessed the impact of sequencing depth and length on HLA typing accuracy based on 24 benchmarked samples.

Functional analysis of ecdysteroid biosynthetic enzymes of the rice planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens.

Ecdysteroids, insect steroid hormones, play key roles in regulating insect development and reproduction. Hemipteran insects require ecdysteroids for egg production; however, ecdysteroid synthesis (ecdysteroidogenesis) details have not been elucidated. We identified all known genes encoding ecdysteroidogenic enzymes in Nilaparvata lugens and clarified their necessity during nymphal and ovarian development.

Epidemiology and outcomes of gastroparesis, as documented in general practice records, in the United Kingdom.

Objective: To generate real-world evidence for the epidemiology of gastroparesis in the UK, we evaluated the prevalence, incidence, patient characteristics and outcomes of gastroparesis in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) database.

Design: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study. Prevalence and incidence of gastroparesis were evaluated in the CPRD database, with linkage to Hospital Episodes Statistics Admitted Patient Care and Office for National Statistics mortality data.

Identifying Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Diseases in an Administrative Health Claims Database: Do Algorithms Generate Similar Findings?

Application of selective algorithms to administrative health claims databases allows detection of specific patients and disease or treatment outcomes. This study identified and applied different algorithms to a single data set to compare the numbers of patients with different inflammatory bowel disease classifications identified by each algorithm. A literature review was performed to identify algorithms developed to define inflammatory bowel disease patients, including ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, and inflammatory bowel disease unspecified in routinely collected administrative claims databases.

Prevalence of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Pediatric and Adult Populations: Recent Estimates From Large National Databases in the United States, 2007-2016.

Background: The latest estimate of the prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the United States was based on 2009 data, which indicates a need for an up-to-date re-estimation. The objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence of all forms of IBD including ulcerative colitis (UC), Crohn's disease (CD), and IBD unspecified (IBDU).

Methods: Pediatric (age 2-17) and adult (age ≥18) IBD patients were identified from 2 large claims databases.

Pioglitazone use and risk of bladder cancer: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of observational studies.

Background: Studies investigating bladder cancer risk in pioglitazone-treated type 2 diabetes mellitus patients report conflicting results. Previous meta-analyses on this topic utilized publications prior to 2013. More long-term observational studies have been published since then.

Developmental Exposure to Psychostimulant Primes Activity-dependent Gene Induction in Frontal Cortex.

Perinatal neurodevelopment involves extensive formation of neural connections and onset of activity-dependent gene expression for synaptic function and plasticity. Exposure to psychostimulants at this stage imposes significant risks for developing cognitive and affective disorders later in life. However, how developmental exposure to psychostimulants may induce long-lasting molecular changes relevant to neural circuit function remains incompletely understood.

Algorithms used to identify ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in retrospective studies: a systematic literature review.

Drug-induced QT interval prolongation may increase the risk of sudden cardiac death or ventricular arrhythmias (SCD/VA), and therefore affects the safety profile of medications. Administrative databases can be used to inform pharmacoepidemiologic drug safety studies for such rare events. In order to compare event rates between studies, validated operational definitions of these events are needed.