Long-acting growth hormones: innovations in treatment and guidance on patient selection in pediatric growth hormone deficiency.

Long-acting growth hormones (LAGHs) represent a significant advancement in the treatment of pediatric growth hormone deficiency (GHD), offering an alternative to daily recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) therapy. Traditional rhGH treatments, while effective, require daily injections, often leading to poor adherence due to the frequency of dosing, injection pain, and difficulties with storage and travel. In contrast, LAGHs, such as somatrogon, somapacitan, and lonapegsomatropin, are designed for once-weekly administration, improving patient compliance and quality of life.

The interaction of tPA with NMDAR1 drives neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in α-synuclein-mediated neurotoxicity.

The thrombolytic protease tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is expressed in the CNS, where it regulates diverse functions including neuronal plasticity, neuroinflammation, and blood-brain-barrier integrity. However, its role in different brain regions such as the substantia nigra (SN) is largely unexplored. In this study, we characterize tPA expression, activity, and localization in the SN using a combination of retrograde tracing and β-galactosidase tPA reporter mice.

Activation of three targets by a TAL effector confers susceptibility to bacterial blight of cotton.

Bacterial transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) promote pathogenicity by activating host susceptibility (S) genes. To understand the pathogenicity and host adaptation of Xanthomonas citri pv. malvacearum (Xcm), we assemble the genome and the TALE repertoire of three recent Xcm Texas isolates.

Factors Associated With Prolonged Venous Transit in Large Vessel Occlusion Acute Ischemic Strokes.

Background And Purpose: Prolonged venous transit (PVT), derived from computed tomography perfusion (CTP) time-to-maximum (T) maps, reflects compromised venous outflow (VO) in acute ischemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion (AIS-LVO). Poor VO is associated with worse clinical outcomes, but pre-treatment markers predictive of PVT are not well described.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 189 patients with anterior circulation AIS-LVO who underwent baseline CT evaluation, including non-contrast CT, CT angiography, and CTP.

Associations of glycemic status with dynamic disease trajectories of atrial fibrillation and dementia.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) has been associated with elevated dementia risk, while few studies have examined the role of the optimal glycemic status in disease trajectories of AF and dementia.

Objectives: We aim to evaluate associations between glycemic status with disease trajectories of AF and dementia, as well as major dementia subtypes, including Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

Design: Population-based cohort study.

Pretrained Deep Neural Network Kin-SiM for Single-Molecule FRET Trace Idealization.

Single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET) has emerged as a pivotal technique for probing biomolecular dynamics over time at nanometer scales. Quantitative analyses of smFRET time traces remain challenging due to confounding factors such as low signal-to-noise ratios, photophysical effects such as bleaching and blinking, and the complexity of modeling the underlying biomolecular states and kinetics. The dynamic distance information shaping the smFRET trace powerfully uncovers even transient conformational changes in single biomolecules both at or far from equilibrium, relying on trace idealization to identify specific interconverting states.

Conceptualizing and Measuring Systemic Racism.

This article provides a guide for rigorous, theory-driven measurement approaches, proposing best practices for the scientific study of systemic racism in health research. We argue that the analytical crux of measuring systemic racism-a complex, interconnected, and dynamic system-lies in operationalizing the collective logics, properties, and mechanisms that undergird racial inequities. Misalignment between measurement tools and these foundational features undermines research validity, as incongruent measures distort findings and obscure systemic racism's true impacts.

Role of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 inhibition in the antiobesity effect of J2H-1702 on adipocytes and a high-fat diet-induced NASH model.

Obesity due to excessive body fat accumulation remains a global problem. Patients with obesity have high cortisol levels, and its dysregulation is caused by increased 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) levels. The effects and mechanism of J2H-1702, an 11β-HSD1 inhibitor, on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) were explored.

Feasibility of indocyanine green fluorescence imaging to predict biliary complications in living donor liver transplantation: A pilot study.

Backgrounds/aims: Liver transplantation (LT) is now a critical, life-saving treatment for patients with liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. Despite its significant benefits, biliary complications (BCs) continue to be a major cause of postoperative morbidity. This study evaluates the fluorescence intensity (FI) of the common bile duct (CBD) utilizing near-infrared indocyanine green (ICG) imaging, and examines its association with the incidence of BCs within three months post-LT.

Genomic and phenotypic correlates of mosaic loss of chromosome Y in blood.

Mosaic loss of Y (mLOY) is the most common somatic chromosomal alteration detected in human blood. The presence of mLOY is associated with altered blood cell counts and increased risk of Alzheimer disease, solid tumors, and other age-related diseases. We sought to gain a better understanding of genetic drivers and associated phenotypes of mLOY through analyses of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of a large set of genetically diverse males from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program.

High cellular plasticity state of medulloblastoma local recurrence and distant dissemination.

Medulloblastoma (MB), a heterogeneous pediatric brain tumor, poses challenges in the treatment of tumor recurrence and dissemination. To characterize cellular diversity and genetic features, we comprehensively analyzed single-cell/nucleus RNA sequencing (sc/snRNA-seq), single-nucleus assay for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing (snATAC-seq), and spatial transcriptomics profiles and identified distinct cellular populations in SHH (sonic hedgehog) and Group_3 subgroups, with varying proportions in local recurrence or dissemination. Local recurrence showed higher cycling tumor cell enrichment, whereas disseminated lesions had a relatively notable presence of differentiated subsets.

Single-molecule systems for the detection and monitoring of plasma-circulating nucleosomes and oncoproteins in diffuse midline glioma.

The analysis of cell-free tumor DNA (ctDNA) and proteins in the blood of patients with cancer potentiates a new generation of non-invasive diagnostic approaches. However, confident detection of tumor-originating markers is challenging, especially in the context of brain tumors, where these analytes in plasma are extremely scarce. Here, we apply a sensitive single-molecule technology to profile multiple histone modifications on individual nucleosomes from the plasma of patients with diffuse midline glioma (DMG).

Black/White disparities in low birth weight across maternal trajectories of social mobility in South Carolina.

Persistent racial disparities in low birth weight (LBW) in the United States may be better understood through the adoption of a life course perspective that considers differential exposure and vulnerability of Black and White women to socioeconomic position across generations. Using a multigenerational dataset of singleton birth certificates from South Carolina from 1989 to 2020 linked along the maternal line, we constructed intergenerational social mobility trajectories of grandmaternal and maternal education and compared unadjusted and adjusted associations between trajectories and LBW among Black and White women. We found that White women were more likely to be upwardly mobile, and Black women to be downwardly mobile.

Continuous single-ended depth-of-interaction measurement using highly multiplexed signals and artificial neural networks.

This study aims to enhance positron emission tomography (PET) imaging systems by developing a continuous depth-of-interaction (DOI) measurement technique using a single-ended readout. Our primary focus is on reducing the number of readout channels in the scintillation detectors while maintaining accurate DOI estimations, using a high-pass filter-based signal multiplexing technique combined with artificial neural networks (ANNs). Approach: Instead of reading out all 64 signals from an 8×8 silicon photomultiplier array for DOI estimation, the proposed method technique reduces the signals into just four channels by applying high-pass filters with different time constants.

Downstaging of hepatocellular carcinoma before liver transplantation: Results from a national multi-center prospective cohort study.

Background Aims: Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) meeting UNOS-downstaging (DS) criteria have excellent post-liver transplantation (LT) outcomes. Studies on HCC beyond UNOS-DS criteria ("All-comers" (AC)) have been limited by small sample size and short follow-up time, prompting this analysis.

Approach Results: 326 patients meeting UNOS-DS and 190 meeting AC criteria from 9 LT centers across 5 UNOS regions were enrolled from 2015 to 2023 and prospectively followed.

The Contribution of Muscular Fatigue and Shoulder Biomechanics to Shoulder Injury Incidence During the Bench Press Exercise: A Narrative Review.

Motlagh, JG and Lipps, DB. The contribution of muscular fatigue and shoulder biomechanics to shoulder injury incidence during the bench press exercise: A narrative review. J Strength Cond Res 38(12): 2147-2163, 2024-Participation in competitive powerlifting has rapidly grown over the past two decades.

Socioeconomic, Race-Ethnicity, Household, and Infrastructure Disparities of Hematologic Cancer Outcomes in the US.

Although social determinants of health (SDoH) investigations have shown limited analyses of socioeconomic and race-ethnic status on certain hematologic malignancies, the impact of factors beyond those across a fuller scope of hematologic cancers remains unknown. The Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), a tool for assessing varied US-census derived sociodemographic factors, allows the specific quantification of SDoH in dynamic, regional contexts for their associations with hematologic-malignancy inequities. To assess the summative influence of varied SDoH-factors on hematologic malignancy outcomes and discern which SDoH-factors contributed the largest associations towards disparities 796,005 adults with hematologic malignancies between 1975-2017 were identified for this retrospective cohort study.