Southern Surgical Association: Leadership Pre and Post Flexner's Report.

The Joseph M Donald Endowment for the Archival Collection of the Southern Surgical Association is named for the 73rd President Elect of the Southern Surgical Association (Figure 1), who died in 1961 at age 57 before he had the opportunity to deliver his Presidential Address. Dr Donald's career as a surgeon in Birmingham began in 1931 after the completion of his residency at the Mayo Clinic. He was one of four generations of Donalds to serve Alabama as physicians.

Obesity-associated MRAP2 variants impair multiple MC4R-mediated signaling pathways.

The melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) is a G protein-coupled receptor expressed at hypothalamic neurons that has an important role in appetite suppression and food intake. Mutations in MC4R are the most common cause of monogenic obesity and can affect multiple signaling pathways including Gs-cAMP, Gq, ERK1/2, β-arrestin recruitment, internalization and cell surface expression. The melanocortin-2 receptor accessory protein 2 (MRAP2), is a single-pass transmembrane protein that interacts with and regulates signaling by MC4R.

Acute Effects of Serial and Integrated Concurrent Exercise on Circulating microRNAs -126 and -222 in Sedentary Adults.

The purpose of this study was to compare changes in circulating microRNAs -126 (c-miR-126) and -222 (c-miR-222) following acute serial concurrent exercise (SCE) and integrated concurrent exercise (ICE) sessions among young, sedentary adults. Ten males and 9 females completed the study procedures. For SCE, participants performed resistance exercise (RE) followed by aerobic exercise (AE), without mixing the two.

Prehospital critical care beyond advanced life support for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A systematic review.

Aim: To assess the clinical outcomes of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest attended by prehospital critical care teams compared to non-critical care teams.

Methods: This review was prospectively registered with PROSPERO and the eligibility criteria followed a PICOST framework for ILCOR systematic reviews. Prehospital critical care was defined as any provider with enhanced clinical competencies beyond standard advanced life support algorithms and dedicated dispatch to critically ill patients.

Do national cancer control plans address care and research for children, adolescents, and young adults? A review of status, priorities, and recommendations across 41 European countries.

Paediatric cancers, although rare, are the leading cause of disease-related mortality in European children above one year. A key pillar of the European Health Union, Europe's Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP) puts a spotlight on childhood cancer. National Cancer Control Plans (NCCPs) have a key role but did not address childhood cancers sufficiently previously.

Diagnosing and managing patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: a consensus survey.

Aim: As heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) prevalence increases, it remains frequently underdiagnosed and poorly managed. Recent positive pharmacological trials have increased interest in HFpEF but challenges of diagnosis and management remain. The survey aim was to examine consensus between primary and secondary care providers regarding HFpEF diagnosis and management.

What strategies are used to select patients for direct admission under acute medicine services? A protocol paper for a systematic review of the literature.

Introduction: Despite unprecedented pressures on urgent and emergency care services, there is no clear consensus on how to provide acute medical care delivery in the UK. These pressures can lead to significant delays in care for patients presenting with emergencies when admitted via traditional routes through the emergency department. Historically, a separate pathway has existed where patients are directly admitted to acute medicine services without attending the emergency department.

Development and internal validation of prognostic models for event-free survival in newly diagnosed Ewing sarcoma patients based on routinely collected clinical characteristics from the European randomised controlled trial, EE2012.

Introduction: Ewing sarcoma is a rare paediatric cancer. Currently, there is no way of accurately predicting these patients' survival at diagnosis. Disease type (ie, localised disease, lung/pleuropulmonary metastases and other metastases) is used to guide treatment decisions, with metastatic patients generally having worse outcomes than localised disease patients.

Development of measures to assess listening-related effort and fatigue in daily life among hearing aid users: protocol for a quantitative field trial.

Introduction: Individuals with hearing loss and hearing aid users report higher levels of listening effort and fatigue in daily life compared with those with normal hearing. However, there is a lack of objective measures to evaluate these experiences in real-world settings. Recent studies have found that higher sound pressure levels (SPL) and lower signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) are linked to increased heart rate and decreased heart rate variability, reflecting the greater effort required to process auditory information.

Risk prediction tools for pressure injury occurrence: an umbrella review of systematic reviews reporting model development and validation methods.

Background: Pressure injuries (PIs) place a substantial burden on healthcare systems worldwide. Risk stratification of those who are at risk of developing PIs allows preventive interventions to be focused on patients who are at the highest risk. The considerable number of risk assessment scales and prediction models available underscores the need for a thorough evaluation of their development, validation, and clinical utility.

Development of a nomogram for predicting early visual acuity outcomes and reoperation rate in patients with open globe injury.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the occurrence and factors influencing early visual acuity (VA) outcomes and reoperation rates in patients with open globe injuries (OGI) and develop a nomogram for predicting early visual acuity outcomes and reoperation rate.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of data from 121 patients with treated OGI. Relevant information of all patients with OGI were collected after a 1-month timeframe post-surgery.

Poorer objective but not subjective driving performance in drivers vulnerable to sleep loss effects during extended wake.

Sleepiness-related errors are a leading cause of driving accidents, requiring drivers to effectively monitor sleepiness levels. However, there are inter-individual differences in driving performance after sleep loss, with some showing poor driving performance while others show minimal impairment. This research explored if there are differences in self-reported sleepiness and driving performance in healthy drivers who exhibited vulnerability or resistance to objective driving impairment following extended wakefulness.

Predictive equation derived from 6,497 doubly labelled water measurements enables the detection of erroneous self-reported energy intake.

Nutritional epidemiology aims to link dietary exposures to chronic disease, but the instruments for evaluating dietary intake are inaccurate. One way to identify unreliable data and the sources of errors is to compare estimated intakes with the total energy expenditure (TEE). In this study, we used the International Atomic Energy Agency Doubly Labeled Water Database to derive a predictive equation for TEE using 6,497 measures of TEE in individuals aged 4 to 96 years.

Transforming an ATP-dependent enzyme into a dissipative, self-assembling system.

Nucleoside triphosphate (NTP)-dependent protein assemblies such as microtubules and actin filaments have inspired the development of diverse chemically fueled molecular machines and active materials but their functional sophistication has yet to be matched by design. Given this challenge, we asked whether it is possible to transform a natural adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP)-dependent enzyme into a dissipative self-assembling system, thereby altering the structural and functional mode in which chemical energy is used. Here we report that FtsH (filamentous temperature-sensitive protease H), a hexameric ATPase involved in membrane protein degradation, can be readily engineered to form one-dimensional helical nanotubes.

Using low-cost sensors to assess common air pollution sources across multiple residences.

The rapid development of low-cost sensors provides the opportunity to greatly advance the scope and extent of monitoring of indoor air pollution. In this study, calibrated particle matter (PM) sensors and a non-negative matrix factorisation (NMF) source apportionment technique are used to investigate PM concentrations and source contributions across three households in an urban residential area. The NMF is applied to combined data from all houses to generate source profiles that can be used to understand how PM source characteristics are similar or differ between different households in the same urban area.

The mutational landscape of Staphylococcus aureus during colonisation.

Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen and a commensal of the human nose and skin. Survival and persistence during colonisation are likely major drivers of S. aureus evolution.

Altered Neural Responses to Punishment Learning in Conduct Disorder.

Objective: Conduct disorder (CD) is associated with deficits in the use of punishment for reinforcement learning (RL) and subsequent decision-making, contributing to reckless, antisocial, and aggressive behaviors. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine whether differences in behavioral learning rates derived from computational modeling, particularly for punishment, are reflected in aberrant neural responses in youths with CD compared to typically-developing controls (TDCs).

Methods: 75 youths with CD and 99 TDCs (9-18 years, 47% girls) performed a probabilistic RL task with punishment, reward, and neutral contingencies.

Video versus Direct Laryngoscopy for Tracheal Intubation Following Cardiac Arrest: a Secondary Analysis of the DEVICE Trial.

Background: Airway management is a critical component of the care of patients experiencing cardiac arrest, but data from randomized trials on the use of video vs direct laryngoscopy for intubation in the setting of cardiac arrest are limited. Current AHA guidelines recommend placement of an endotracheal tube either during CPR or shortly after return of spontaneous circulation but do not provide guidance around intubation methods, including the choice of laryngoscope.

Research Question: Does use of video laryngoscopy improve the incidence of successful intubation on the first attempt, compared to use of direct laryngoscopy, among adults undergoing tracheal intubation after experiencing cardiac arrest?

Study Design And Methods: This secondary analysis of the Direct versus Video Laryngoscope (DEVICE) trial compared video laryngoscopy versus direct laryngoscopy in the subgroup of patients who were intubated following cardiac arrest.

Interrogation of the tumor microenvironment by nanoparticles.

The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a pivotal role in cancer progression by fostering intricate multicellular crosstalk among cancer cells, stromal cells, and immune cells. This review explores the emerging paradigm of utilizing nanoparticles to disrupt this crosstalk within the TME as a therapeutic strategy. Nanoparticles are engineered with precise physicochemical properties to target specific cell types and deliver therapeutic payloads, thereby inhibiting critical signaling pathways involved in tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis.

14-3-3θ phosphorylation exacerbates alpha-synuclein aggregation and toxicity.

Aggregation of alpha-synuclein (αsyn) plays an integral role in Parkinson's disease (PD) and Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). 14-3-3θ is a highly expressed brain protein with chaperone-like activity that regulates αsyn folding. 14-3-3θ overexpression reduces αsyn aggregation, transmission between cells, and neuronal loss, while 14-3-3 inhibition promotes αsyn pathology.

Neo-adjuvant FOLFOX with and without panitumumab for patients with KRAS-wt locally advanced colon cancer: results following an extended biomarker panel on the FOxTROT Trial embedded phase II population.

Background: The FOxTROT trial has reported advantages of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in locally advanced colon cancer (LACC). Here we present results of the embedded randomized phase II trial testing the addition of panitumumab to neoadjuvant FOLFOX compared with FOLFOX alone in RAS and BRAF-wild-type patients and with biomarker hyperselction.

Patients And Methods: Patients had operable, CT-predicted stage T3-4, N0-2, M0 colon adenocarcinoma.

Retrospective analysis of the incidence and clinicopathological findings associated with ammonium urate urolithiasis in dogs with congenital portosystemic shunts: 363 cases (2010-2023).

Objectives: To assess the incidence and clinical findings associated with the presence of ammonium urate urolithiasis in dogs with congenital portosystemic shunts.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective review of dogs diagnosed with extrahepatic portosystemic shunts or intrahepatic portosystemic shunts in 15 referral hospitals between 2010 and 2023. Data including signalment, clinical signs, physical examination findings and clinicopathologic test results at the time of the diagnosis were collected, and the presence of ammonium urate urolithiasis was recorded.