Multiple Bioenergy-Linked OCT Biomarkers Suggest Greater-Than-Normal Rod Mitochondria Activity Early in Experimental Alzheimer's Disease.

Purpose: In Alzheimer's disease, central brain neurons show evidence for early hyperactivity. It is unclear if this occurs in the retina, another disease target. Here, we tested for imaging biomarker manifestation of prodromal hyperactivity in rod mitochondria in vivo in experimental Alzheimer's disease.

A Comparison of Prehospital Pediatric Analgesic Use of Ketamine and Opioids.

Objective/introduction: Ketamine is an opioid-alternative used for analgesia in the prehospital setting. There are knowledge gaps regarding its use during emergency medical services (EMS) encounters for pediatric patients. Our objective was to compare pain reduction, adverse events, and prehospital deaths between ketamine and opioids when used for analgesia administered by any route among pediatric patients.

Impact of Ambulatory Care Pharmacist-Led Diabetes Mellitus Management on Hemoglobin A1c Values Among Patients With Diabetes in a Primary Care Clinic Over Two Years.

Previous evaluation in the literature of ambulatory care pharmacist management on glycosylated hemoglobin (HgbA1c) has been positive, but often limited to 6 to 12 months of follow up. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of an ambulatory care pharmacist on HgbA1c among patients with diabetes in a primary care clinic over two years. Retrospective chart review was conducted on patients with type 2 diabetes managed by the ambulatory care pharmacist.

Experimental approaches for altering the expression of Abeta-degrading enzymes.

Cerebral clearance of amyloid β-protein (Aβ) is decreased in early-onset and late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD). Aβ is cleared from the brain by enzymatic degradation and by transport out of the brain. More than 20 Aβ-degrading enzymes have been described.

Prehospital Use of Ketamine versus Benzodiazepines for Sedation among Pediatric Patients with Behavioral Emergencies.

Introduction: Ketamine is an emerging alternative sedation agent for prehospital management of agitation, yet research is limited regarding its use for children. Our objective was to compare the effectiveness and safety of ketamine and benzodiazepines when used for emergent prehospital sedation of pediatric patients with behavioral emergencies.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of 9-1-1 EMS records from the 2019-2020 ESO Data Collaborative research datasets.

Dried blood spots are a valid alternative to venipuncture for COVID-19 antibody testing.

Background: Serologic analysis is an important tool towards assessing the humoral response to COVID-19 infection and vaccination. Numerous serologic tests and platforms are currently available to support this line of testing. Two broad antibody testing categories are point-of-care lateral flow immunoassays and semi-quantitative immunoassays performed in clinical laboratories, which typically require blood collected from a finger-stick and a standard venipuncture blood draw, respectively.

Transducin-Deficient Rod Photoreceptors Evaluated With Optical Coherence Tomography and Oxygen Consumption Rate Energy Biomarkers.

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that rod energy biomarkers in light and dark are similar in mice without functional rod transducin (Gnat1rd17).

Methods: Gnat1rd17 and wildtype (WT) mice were studied in canonically low energy demand (light) and high energy demand (dark) conditions. We measured rod inner segment ellipsoid zone (ISez) profile shape, external limiting membrane-retinal pigment epithelium (ELM-RPE) thickness, and magnitude of a hyporeflective band (HB) intensity dip located between photoreceptor tips and apical RPE; antioxidants were given in a subset of mice.

Dementia with Lewy bodies post-mortem brains reveal differentially methylated CpG sites with biomarker potential.

Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a common form of dementia with known genetic and environmental interactions. However, the underlying epigenetic mechanisms which reflect these gene-environment interactions are poorly studied. Herein, we measure genome-wide DNA methylation profiles of post-mortem brain tissue (Broadmann area 7) from 15 pathologically confirmed DLB brains and compare them with 16 cognitively normal controls using Illumina MethylationEPIC arrays.

An electronic medical record-based intervention to improve hepatitis A vaccination rates in the emergency department during a regional outbreak.

Background: In response to the severe hepatitis A outbreak that occurred in Michigan between August 2016 and September 2019, our multihospital health system implemented an electronic medical record (EMR)-based vaccination intervention across its nine emergency departments (EDs). The objectives were to explore the impact of this intervention on increasing vaccination rates among high-risk individuals and to assess the barriers to use of a computerised vaccine reminder system.

Methods: All patients who were 18 years or older were screened using an electronic nursing questionnaire.

Total cost of care associated with opioid use disorder treatment.

The opioid epidemic in the United States disproportionately affects Medicaid beneficiaries than other groups. This results in a significant financial burden on state Medicaid programs. In this analysis, we investigate the association of medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) treatment initiation and linkage to ongoing care on overall healthcare costs of Medicaid Fee-for-Service patients.

Feasibility Study of Caregiver-Provided Life Review: Implementation, Adaptation, and Effects on Care Recipients' Depressive Symptoms.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the feasibility of unpaid, family/friend caregivers conducting life reviews with people with dementia in long-term care and community settings and reported on how we adapted the intervention modality under the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Twenty-one caregiver-care recipient dyads completed 6 weekly life review sessions. The intervention format was modified to accommodate COVID-19 restrictions.

Relationship Between Diabetes-Related Complications and Sleep Complaints in Older Mexican Americans.

Introduction/objective: The prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is increasing in the older American population, especially Mexican Americans. Sleep disorders are common in older adults with T2DM. This study examined the relationship between T2DM-related complications and sleep complaints in older Mexican Americans over 9 years of follow-up.

Cell-free DNA in maternal blood and artificial intelligence: accurate prenatal detection of fetal congenital heart defects.

Background: DNA cytosine nucleotide methylation (epigenomics and epigenetics) is an important mechanism for controlling gene expression in cardiac development. Combined artificial intelligence and whole-genome epigenomic analysis of circulating cell-free DNA in maternal blood has the potential for the detection of fetal congenital heart defects.

Objective: This study aimed to use genome-wide DNA cytosine methylation and artificial intelligence analyses of circulating cell-free DNA for the minimally invasive detection of fetal congenital heart defects.

Functional Changes Within the Rod Inner Segment Ellipsoid in Wildtype Mice: An Optical Coherence Tomography and Electron Microscopy Study.

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that changing energy needs alter mitochondria distribution within the rod inner segment ellipsoid.

Methods: In mice with relatively smaller (C57BL/6J [B6J]) or greater (129S6/ev [S6]) retina mitochondria maximum reserve capacity, the profile shape of the rod inner segment ellipsoid zone (ISez) was measured with optical coherence tomography (OCT) under higher (dark) or lower (light) energy demand conditions. ISez profile shape was characterized using an unbiased ellipse descriptor (minor/major aspect ratio).

Prehospital Ketamine Use in Pediatrics.

Information regarding prehospital ketamine use in the pediatric population is limited as existing literature focuses primarily on critical care and air transport. Our objective was to describe patient characteristics among pediatric EMS patients who received ketamine. Secondarily, we assessed effectiveness, deviation from recommended dosing, and adverse outcomes of pediatric EMS patients who received ketamine.

Artificial Intelligence and Circulating Cell-Free DNA Methylation Profiling: Mechanism and Detection of Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Despite extensive efforts, significant gaps remain in our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathophysiology. Novel approaches using circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) have the potential to revolutionize our understanding of neurodegenerative disorders. Methods: We performed DNA methylation profiling of cfDNA from AD patients and compared them to cognitively normal controls.

Precision Oncology: Artificial Intelligence and DNA Methylation Analysis of Circulating Cell-Free DNA for Lung Cancer Detection.

Background: Lung cancer (LC) is a leading cause of cancer-deaths globally. Its lethality is due in large part to the paucity of accurate screening markers. Precision Medicine includes the use of omics technology and novel analytic approaches for biomarker development.

Role of demographics in noninvasive testing for colorectal cancer screening: do targeted cut-off values improve detection?

Background: Fecal immunochemical test (FIT) is a yearly alternative colorectal screening modality for average risk individuals unwilling or unable to undergo invasive colorectal cancer (CRC) screening due to cost and accessibility. This study aimed to determine whether FIT should be interpreted within the context of patient demographics and medical history.

Methods: Patients >50 years old who had a FIT followed by colonoscopy within 1 year were analyzed based on age, race, BMI, social and medical comorbidities.

Trajectories of concurrent depressive symptoms and cognitive function on health outcomes and mortality among older Mexican Americans.

Background: We sought to identify distinctive concurrent trajectory classes of depressive symptoms (DS) and cognitive function (CF) in Mexican Americans aged 75+ years, and to examine whether these trajectories were associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes.

Methods: We used 4 waves of Hispanic Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (H-EPESE) data from 2004 to 5 to 2013. Latent growth curve analysis was used to identify distinctive concurrent trajectory classes of DS and CF.

Intratumoural haematopoietic stem and progenitor cell differentiation into M2 macrophages facilitates the regrowth of solid tumours after radiation therapy.

Background: Bone-marrow-derived haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) are a prominent part of the highly complex tumour microenvironment (TME) where they localise within tumours and maintain haematopoietic potency. Understanding the role HSPCs play in tumour growth and response to radiation therapy (RT) may lead to improved patient treatments and outcomes.

Methods: We used a mouse model of non-small cell lung carcinoma where tumours were exposed to RT regimens alone or in combination with GW2580, a pharmacological inhibitor of colony stimulating factor (CSF)-1 receptor.

Imputation Procedures for Cognitive Variables in the Mexican Health and Aging Study: Evaluating the Bias from Excluding Participants with Missing Data.

Non-response of cognitive data in cohort studies is a barrier to cognitive aging research. We describe the procedures for the imputation of non-responses for cognitive data in the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS). Data came from the 2001-2015 MHAS waves.

Lipid Profiling of Alzheimer's Disease Brain Highlights Enrichment in Glycerol(phospho)lipid, and Sphingolipid Metabolism.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is reported to be closely linked with abnormal lipid metabolism. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of what causes AD and its subsequent development, we profiled the lipidome of postmortem (PM) human brains (neocortex) of people with a range of AD pathology (Braak 0-6). Using high-resolution mass spectrometry, we employed a semi-targeted, fully quantitative lipidomics profiling method (Lipidyzer) to compare the biochemical profiles of brain tissues from persons with mild AD (n = 15) and severe AD (AD; n = 16), and compared them with age-matched, cognitively normal controls (n = 16).

Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction Assessment by Emergency Physician-Performed Bedside Echocardiography: A Prospective Comparative Evaluation of Multiple Modalities.

Background: Although there is some support for visual estimation (VE) as an accurate method to estimate left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), it is also scrutinized for its subjectivity. Therefore, more objective assessments, such as fractional shortening (FS) or e-point septal separation (EPSS), may be useful in estimating LVEF among patients in the emergency department (ED).

Objective: Our aim was to compare the real-world accuracy of VE, FS, and EPSS using a sample of point-of-care cardiac ultrasound transthoracic echocardiography (POC-TTE) images acquired by emergency physicians (EPs) with the gold standard of Simpson's method of discs, as measured by comprehensive cardiology-performed echocardiography.