Association Between Preterm Birth and Fulfillment of Desired Permanent Contraception.

Objectives: In cases of preterm delivery, the Medicaid sterilization policy mandates a signed consent form at least 72 h before surgery for permanent contraception, which is less than the 30 day minimum waiting period for term births. This study evaluated the association between preterm birth and fulfillment of planned permanent contraception.

Study Design: This was a secondary analysis of a multi-center retrospective cohort study of 3013 patients with a postpartum contraceptive plan of permanent contraception.

Intralesional injection of CpG ODNs complexed with glatiramer acetate mitigates systemic cytokine toxicities and synergistically advances checkpoint blockade efficacy.

PD-L1/PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) are mainstream agents for cancer immunotherapy, but the prognosis is unsatisfactory in solid tumor patients lacking preexisting T-cell reactivity. Adjunct therapy strategies including the intratumoral administration of immunostimulants aim to address this limitation. CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs), TLR9 agonists that can potentiate adaptive immunity, have been widely investigated to tackle PD-L1/PD-1 resistance, but clinical success has been hindered by inconsistent efficacy and immune-related toxicities caused by systemic exposure.

Insights and Opportunities from Multimarker Evaluation of Heart Failure: Lessons from BIOSTAT-HF.

Purpose Of Review: Heart failure is a complex and heterogenous disease state that affects millions worldwide. Over recent decades, advancements in medical therapy and device implementation have significantly transformed the landscape of heart failure outcomes, while improvements in imaging modalities and greater accessibility to genome sequencing have led to increasing recognition of distinct heart failure endotypes. There is rising evidence to suggest all patients do not benefit equally from intensification of guideline directed medical therapy (GDMT).

Bright and Specific Targeting of Metastatic Lymph Nodes in Orthotopic Mouse Models of Gastric Cancer with a Fluorescent Anti-CEA Antibody.

Background: Gastric cancer poses a major diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Improved visualization of tumor margins and lymph node metastases with tumor-specific fluorescent markers could improve outcomes.

Methods: To establish orthotopic models of gastric cancer, one million cells of the human gastric cancer cell line, MKN45, were suspended in 50 μl of equal parts PBS and Matrigel and injected into the nude mouse stomach with a 29-gauge needle.

The ImageGuideEcho Registry: Using Data Science to Understand and Improve Echocardiography.

Purpose Of Review: To provide a contemporary update on the American Society of Echocardiography's ImageGuideEcho Registry and present a case study of an individual institution's experience with enrollment.

Recent Findings: Technical innovation in clinical echocardiography has expanded the impact of echocardiography in cardiovascular care and provides new opportunities to leverage clinical data to inform quality improvement initiatives and research. The ImageGuideEcho Registry is the first echocardiography-specific imaging registry in the United States and provides a data infrastructure for quality improvement and multicenter research.

Oculomotor challenges in macular degeneration impact motion extrapolation.

Macular degeneration (MD), which affects the central visual field including the fovea, has a profound impact on acuity and oculomotor control. We used a motion extrapolation task to investigate the contribution of various factors that potentially impact motion estimation, including the transient disappearance of the target into the scotoma, increased position uncertainty associated with eccentric target positions, and increased oculomotor noise due to the use of a non-foveal locus for fixation and for eye movements. Observers performed a perceptual baseball task where they judged whether the target would intersect or miss a rectangular region (the plate).

Developing an Intervention to Enhance Aging in Place for Older Veterans Living in Permanent Supportive Housing.

Background And Objectives: The Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supported Housing (HUD-VASH) program provides rental subsidies, case management, and supportive services to Veterans who are currently or formerly homeless, 77% of whom are ages ≥50. Few interventions have been developed to address the needs of older Veterans in HUD-VASH.

Research Design And Methods: We conducted a 2-stage study to inform the development of an intervention to promote aging in place in HUD-VASH.

Mechanism of chaperone recruitment and retention on mitochondrial precursors.

Nearly all mitochondrial proteins are imported into mitochondria from the cytosol. How nascent mitochondrial precursors acquire and sustain import-competence in the cytosol under normal and stress conditions is incompletely understood. Here, we show that under normal conditions, the Hsc70 and Hsp90 systems interact with and redundantly minimize precursor degradation.

Hearing care in low-resourced and humanitarian settings: findings from a pilot study in South Sudan.

Objectives: This longitudinal experimental study aimed to profile audiometric hearing loss, explore the feasibility and efficacy of low-cost hearing devices, and examine their social and emotional impact on participants in South Sudan, a low-resource humanitarian setting.

Design: We performed pure tone hearing screenings on adults with self-reported hearing disability, randomly providing eligible participants with one of two inexpensive devices-Asana Pro 800, a non-customizable hearing device fit unilaterally, or the Super Ear SE9000, a hand-held amplifier with headphones given one per individual.

Study Sample: Between October 2022 and January 2023, 142 adults underwent hearing screening at the Juba Teaching Hospital ENT clinic, of whom 19 eligible individuals were provided with hearing devices.

Radiogenomic explainable AI with neural ordinary differential equation for identifying post-SRS brain metastasis radionecrosis.

Background: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is widely used for managing brain metastases (BMs), but an adverse effect, radionecrosis, complicates post-SRS management. Differentiating radionecrosis from tumor recurrence non-invasively remains a major clinical challenge, as conventional imaging techniques often necessitate surgical biopsy for accurate diagnosis. Machine learning and deep learning models have shown potential in distinguishing radionecrosis from tumor recurrence.

The common chemical logic of 'bridged' peroxo species in mononuclear non-heme iron systems.

Mononuclear non-heme iron enzymes catalyze a wide array of important oxidative transformations. They are correspondingly diverse in both structure and mechanism. Despite significant evolutionary distance, it is becoming increasingly apparent that these enzymes nonetheless illustrate a compelling case of mechanistic convergence the formation of peroxo species bridging metal and substrate.

Comparison of in-clinic assessment of 6MWT by conventional method and using wearable sensors for patients with ATTR-CM.

Introduction: The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is used to assess submaximal exercise capacity in clinical trials. Conducting the 6MWT can be challenging when patients cannot visit the clinic due to physical/travel limitations. This pilot study assessed the feasibility of conducting the 6MWT using wearable sensors for patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy.

Pre-Assault Diagnoses Associated with Post-Assault Emergency Department Visits After Recent Sexual Assault.

Characteristics associated with individuals who frequent the emergency department at higher rates have been well established; however, factors associated with greater emergency department visits following a recent sexual assault are largely unknown. The current study evaluated the associations between pre-assault factors such as substance use and physical injuries, assault characteristics such as genital injury, non-genital injury, alcohol or drug use involvement, intimate partner involvement, and emergency department visits one-year after a sexual assault medical forensic exam (SAMFE). The current study included a medical record review of 123 individuals who received a SAMFE at a hospital in the United States.

Body Mass Index Did Not Impact Efficacy and Safety of Etrasimod: A Post Hoc Analysis of the ELEVATE UC Clinical Program.

Objective: High body mass index (BMI) may reduce ulcerative colitis (UC) treatment efficacy. Etrasimod is an oral, once-daily (QD), selective sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P)1,4,5 receptor modulator for the treatment of moderately to severely active UC. This post hoc analysis assessed treatment outcomes according to BMI in ELEVATE UC 52 and ELEVATE UC 12.

"Everything cannot be handled virtually": Understanding intention and use of digital health technologies among rural adults and rural cancer survivors.

Purpose: This qualitative study assessed internet access and use, barriers and facilitators to participating in digital health interventions or programs, and the engagement experience in virtual versus in-person health interventions among rural adults and rural cancer survivors.

Methods: Rural adults (n = 10) and rural cancer survivors (n = 10) were recruited from previous studies to participate in an in-depth interview. The interview guide contained eight open-ended questions related to participation in technology-based programs.

Trends in the incidence and mutational landscape of advanced uterine cancer.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine disparities in 20-year incidence trends and mutations in advanced-stage uterine cancer in the United States, given poor survival rates.

Methods: Data were obtained from the United States Cancer Statistics for patients from 2001 to 2019 with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2009 stage IVA and IVB uterine cancer. SEER∗Stat 8.

Basket study of oral progesterone antagonist onapristone extended-release in combination with anastrozole in progesterone receptor-positive recurrent adult-type granulosa cell tumor of the ovary.

Objective: We sought to determine the safety and efficacy of the oral progesterone antagonist onapristone in combination with anastrozole in patients with recurrent progesterone receptor-positive adult-type granulosa cell tumor of the ovary.

Methods: This was a single-institution phase II study of patients with progesterone receptor-positive adult-type granulosa cell tumor who received at least 1 prior line of chemotherapy. Patients were enrolled from November 2021 to August 2022 and tissue was evaluated for progesterone receptor status via immunohistochemistry.

Cervical cancer stage distribution and survival outcomes in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women, with a disproportionate burden in sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding the cervical cancer stage and outcomes is crucial for developing effective interventions and reducing its burden. We aimed to undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis of cervical cancer stage distribution and survival outcomes in Africa.

Elderly Patients With Aplastic Anemia: Treatment Patterns and Outcomes in the Real World.

We retrospectively analyzed a large international cohort of 1113 patients with aplastic anemia to evaluate treatment choice and outcome in elderly patients as compared with a younger population. Overall, 319 (29%) patients were > 60 years old at diagnosis (60-64 years (n = 85), 106 65-69 years (n = 106), and 128 > 70 years (n = 128)). Elderly patients showed a more severe thrombocytopenia at onset and a significantly lower overall response (complete plus partial) to first-line therapy at 6 months as compared to younger patients (47% vs.

Comparison of Direct Oral Anticoagulants for Treatment of Cerebral Venous Thrombosis - A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Limited available evidence comparing DOACs with warfarin suggests efficacy and safety of DOACs for CVT. We aimed to evaluate whether a specific DOAC is preferred for the treatment of CVT. This retrospective cohort study included adult patients with CVTs between September 2018 and September 2022 treated with a DOAC.

Select microbial metabolites in the small intestinal lumen regulates vagal activity via receptor-mediated signaling.

The vagus nerve is proposed to enable communication between the gut microbiome and the brain, but activity-based evidence is lacking. We find that mice reared germ-free exhibit decreased vagal tone relative to colonized controls, which is reversed via microbiota restoration. Perfusing antibiotics into the small intestines of conventional mice, but not germ-free mice, acutely decreases vagal activity which is restored upon re-perfusion with intestinal filtrates from conventional, but not germ-free, mice.

Noncoding variants and sulcal patterns in congenital heart disease: Machine learning to predict functional impact.

Neurodevelopmental impairments associated with congenital heart disease (CHD) may arise from perturbations in brain developmental pathways, including the formation of sulcal patterns. While genetic factors contribute to sulcal features, the association of noncoding variants (ncDNVs) with sulcal patterns in people with CHD remains poorly understood. Leveraging deep learning models, we examined the predicted impact of ncDNVs on gene regulatory signals.

Association of safer smoking supply distribution with participant encounters and naloxone distribution from syringe services programs: Findings from the National Survey of Syringe Services Programs in the United States.

Background: In response to the recent and growing shift from injecting heroin to smoking fentanyl, an increasing number of syringe services programs (SSPs) in the United States are distributing safer smoking supplies. There is a lack of research on whether safer smoking supply distribution is associated with increased SSP engagement and naloxone distribution from SSPs. Therefore, we aimed to assess predictors of safer smoking supply distribution by SSPs and estimate associations between safer smoking supply distribution and scale of harm reduction services.