Loneliness During Adolescence and Subsequent Health and Well-Being in Adulthood: An Outcome-Wide Longitudinal Approach.

Purpose: Intergovernmental organizations, such as the World Health Organization, policymakers, scientists, and the public alike are recognizing the importance of loneliness for health/well-being outcomes. However, it remains unclear if loneliness in adolescence shapes health/well-being in adulthood. We examined if increase in loneliness during adolescence was associated with worse health/well-being in adulthood, across 41 outcomes.

Glucocorticoids Alter Bone Microvascular Barrier via MAPK/Connexin43 Mechanisms.

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are standard-of-care treatments for inflammatory and immune disorders, and their long-term use increases the risk of osteoporosis. Although GCs decrease bone functionality, their role in bone microvasculature is incompletely understood. Herein, the study investigates the mechanisms of bone microvascular barrier function via osteoblast-endothelial interactions in response to GCs.

Multi-omics analysis identified the GmUGT88A1 gene, which coordinately regulates soybean resistance to cyst nematode and isoflavone content.

Soybean cyst nematode (SCN, Heterodera glycines) is a major pathogen harmful to soybean all over the world, causing huge yield loss every year. Soybean resistance to SCN is a complex quantitative trait controlled by a small number of major genes (rhg1 and Rhg4) and multiple micro-effect genes. Therefore, the continuous identification of new resistant lines and genes is needed for the sustainable development of global soybean production.

Biomaterial-based strategies for primary human corneal endothelial cells for therapeutic applications: from cell expansion to transplantable carrier.

The treatment of corneal blindness due to corneal diseases and injuries often requires the transplantation of healthy cadaveric corneal endothelial graft tissue to restore corneal clarity and visual function. However, the limited availability of donor corneas poses a significant challenge in meeting the demand for corneal transplantation. As a result, there is a growing interest in developing strategies alleviate this unmet need, and one of the postulated approaches is to isolate and expand primary human corneal endothelial cells (HCECs) for use in cell therapy.

Extracellular vesicle-mediated VEGF-A mRNA delivery rescues ischaemic injury with low immunogenicity.

Background And Aims: Lackluster results from recently completed gene therapy clinical trials of VEGF-A delivered by viral vectors have heightened the need to develop alternative delivery strategies. This study aims to demonstrate the pre-clinical efficacy and safety of extracellular vesicles (EVs) loaded with VEGF-A mRNA for the treatment of ischaemic vascular disease.

Methods: After encapsulation of full-length VEGF-A mRNA into fibroblast-derived EVs via cellular nanoporation (CNP), collected VEGF-A EVs were delivered into mouse models of ischaemic injury.

First-in-Human clinical trial of a small molecule EBNA1 inhibitor, VK-2019, in patients with Epstein-Barr positive nasopharyngeal cancer, with pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies.

Purpose: A first-in-human phase one study was conducted in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients to assess the safety and tolerability of VK-2019, a small molecule selective inhibitor of Epstein-Barr virus Nuclear Antigen 1 (EBNA1).

Patients And Methods: Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies, including circulating tumor EBV DNA plasma levels, were performed. Twenty-three patients received VK-2019 orally once daily at doses ranging from 60 to 1800 mg using an accelerated titration design, with cohort expansion at 1800 mg.

Improving systemic delivery of oncolytic virus by cellular carriers.

Oncolytic virotherapy (OVT) is a promising option for cancer treatment. OVT involves selective oncolytic virus (OV) replication within cancer cells, which triggers anti-tumor responses and immunostimulation. Despite promising potential, OVT faces critical challenges, including insufficient tumor-specific targeting, which results in limited tumor penetration and variability in therapeutic efficacy.

An X-Linked Ataxia Syndrome in a Family with Hearing Loss Associated with a Novel Variant in the BCAP31 Gene.

Objective: Pathogenic variants in B-cell receptor-associated protein (BCAP31) are associated with X-linked, deafness, dystonia and cerebral hypomyelination (DDCH) syndrome. DDCH is congenital and non-progressive, featuring severe intellectual disability (ID), variable dysmorphism, and sometimes associated with shortened survival. BCAP31 encodes one of the most abundant chaperones, with several functions including acting as a negative regulator of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) calcium ion (Ca) concentration.

Pectin as a functional food ingredient in jelly marmalade.

This study uses a standardised protocol to explore prototype marmalade production using hawthorn fruit puree and sea buckthorn pectin. Hawthorn fruit puree exhibited a rich nutritional profile, prompting sea buckthorn pectin incorporation to enhance gelling capacity. Physicochemical analysis confirmed pectin's suitability.

Impact of Pre-Treatment Comorbidity Burden on Survival in Patients Receiving Venetoclax Plus Hypomethylating Agents.

Expectation of survival of patients receiving HMA + VEN is influenced by pre-treatment comorbidity burden.

Multi-Institutional Analysis of Pancreatoduodenectomy for Nonfamilial Periampullary Adenoma: A Novel Risk Score to Guide Shared Decision-Making.

Introduction: Pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) may occasionally be indicated for complete removal of periampullary (duodenal and ampullary) adenomas (PAs). As compared with malignant indications, PD for benign or pre-malignant disease is often associated with increased morbidity. While the Spigelman classification assesses malignancy risk for familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP)-related duodenal adenomas, no malignancy risk score (MRS) exists for non-FAP related PAs.

Can Islet Transplantation Possibly Reduce Mortality in Type 1 Diabetes.

Islet transplantation (IT) is a successful natural cell therapy. But the benefits are known mostly to individuals with severe type 1 diabetes who undergo IT and the health care professionals that work to make the therapy available, reproducible, and safe. Data linking IT to overall survival in T1D might alter this situation and frame the therapy in a more positive light.

Foundations and Future Directions for Causal Inference in Ecological Research.

Ecology often seeks to answer causal questions, and while ecologists have a rich history of experimental approaches, novel observational data streams and the need to apply insights across naturally occurring conditions pose opportunities and challenges. Other fields have developed causal inference approaches that can enhance and expand our ability to answer ecological causal questions using observational or experimental data. However, the lack of comprehensive resources applying causal inference to ecological settings and jargon from multiple disciplines creates barriers.

In vivo simultaneous proton resonance frequency shift thermometry and single reference variable flip angle T measurements.

Purpose: The single reference variable flip angle sequence with a multi-echo stack of stars acquisition (SR-VFA-SoS) simultaneously measures temperature change using proton resonance frequency (PRF) shift and T-based thermometry methods. This work evaluates SR-VFA-SoS thermometry in MR-guided focused ultrasound in an in vivo rabbit model.

Methods: Simultaneous PRF shift thermometry and T-based thermometry were obtained in a New Zealand white rabbit model (n = 7) during MR-guided focused ultrasound surgery using the SR-VFA-SoS sequence at 3 T.

Composite spin probes with adjustable oxygen sensitivity for pulse electron paramagnetic resonance imaging.

Purpose: Solid crystalline spin probes, such as lithium phthalocyanine (LiPc) and lithium octa-n-butoxynaphthalocyanine (LiNc-BuO), allow repeated oxygen measurement using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Due to their short relaxation times, their use for pulse EPR oxygen imaging is limited. In this study, we developed and tested a new class of solid composite spin probes that modified the relaxation rates R and R of LiPc or LiNc-BuO probes, which allowed pO measurements in the full dynamic (0-760 torr) range.

Effects of 8 Weeks of Moderate- or High-Volume Strength Training on Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Ca Handling in Elite Female and Male Rowers.

While acute exercise affects sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) function, the impact of resistance training remains unclear. The purpose of the present study was to investigate SR Ca handling plasticity in response to moderate- and high-volume strength training in elite rowers. Twenty elite male (n = 12) and female (n = 8) rowers performed three weekly strength training sessions for 8 weeks and were randomly allocated to either perform 3 sets (3-SET) or progressive increase from 5 to 10 sets (10-SET) of 10 repetitions during the training period.

Anticipating impending peripheral intravenous catheter failure: A diagnostic accuracy observational study combining ultrasound and artificial intelligence to improve clinical care.

Objective: Peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) failure occurs in approximately 50% of insertions. Unexpected PIVC failure leads to treatment delays, longer hospitalizations, and increased risk of patient harm. In current practice there is no method to predict if PIVC failure will occur until it is too late and a grossly obvious complication has occurred.

Facilitators and barriers of alcohol goals for Latinx men hospitalized with alcohol use disorder seen by an Addiction Consult Team.

Introduction: Latinx individuals are disproportionately affected by alcohol use disorder (AUD). Understanding Latinx individuals' barriers and facilitators to reach AUD-related goals can help implement culturally and linguistically concordant interventions to improve alcohol-related outcomes.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with Latinx, Spanish-speaking men with AUD within 20 weeks of hospital discharge who were seen by an addiction consult team during hospitalization in an urban, safety-net hospital in San Francisco.

Engineered initiator tRNAs can effectively start translation at non-AUG start codons and diversify N-terminal amino acids for mRNA Display.

mRNA display is an effective tool to identify high-affinity macrocyclic binders for challenging protein targets. The success of an mRNA display selection is dependent on generating highly diverse libraries with trillions of peptides. While translation elongation can canonically accommodate the 61 proteinogenic triplet codons, translation initiation is restricted to the native start codon AUG.

Does the CDC Surgical Wound Classification adequately predict postoperative infection in lower extremity fracture surgery?

Objectives: The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the utility of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Surgical Wound Classification (SWC) in predicting surgical site infection (SSI) after orthopaedic trauma procedures.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Level I academic trauma center.

Surfacic networks.

Surfacic networks are structures built upon a 2D manifold. Many systems, including transportation networks and various urban networks, fall into this category. The fluctuations of node elevations imply significant deviations from typical plane networks and require specific tools to understand their impact.

A modeling study of cool surfaces and outdoor workers productivity at San Francisco International Airport.

Heat exposure in outdoor work environments poses risks to worker health and productivity. Engineering solutions like cool surfaces that increase surface albedo and reduce temperatures may help mitigate these impacts. We conducted detailed micrometeorological modeling to analyze surface characteristics and heat exposure for outdoor workers at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) under current conditions and three hypothetical albedo-increase scenarios.

Access improvement in healthcare: a 12-step framework for operational practice.

Background: Access improvement is a fundamental component of value-based healthcare as it inherently promotes quality by eliminating chokepoints, redundancies, and inefficiencies which could hinder the provisioning of timely care. The purpose of this review is to present a 12-step framework which offers healthcare organizations a practical, thematic-based foundation for thinking about access improvement.

Methods: This study was designed based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) statement.