Non-invasive blood glucose monitoring using PPG signals with various deep learning models and implementation using TinyML.

Accurate and continuous blood glucose monitoring is essential for effective diabetes management, yet traditional finger pricking methods are often inconvenient and painful. To address this issue, photoplethysmography (PPG) presents a promising non-invasive alternative for estimating blood glucose levels. In this study, we propose an innovative 1-second signal segmentation method and evaluate the performance of three advanced deep learning models using a novel dataset to estimate blood glucose levels from PPG signals.

The impact of library size and scale of testing on virtual screening.

Virtual ligand libraries for ligand discovery have recently increased 10,000-fold. Whether this has improved hit rates and potencies has not been directly tested. Meanwhile, typically only dozens of docking hits are assayed, clouding hit-rate interpretation.

Synthesis and characterization of innovative GA@Ag-CuO nanocomposite with potent antimicrobial and anticancer properties.

Cancer and microbial infections place a significant burden on the world's health systems and can increase the rate of disease and mortality. In the current study, a novel nanocomposite based on Gum Arabic, silver and copper oxide nanoparticles (GA@Ag-CuO nanocomposite) was synthesized to overcome the problem of microbial infection and in cancer treatment. Characterization using UV-Vis.

Ionizable polymeric micelles (IPMs) for efficient siRNA delivery.

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are widely used for nucleic acid delivery but face challenges like limited targeting and accelerated blood clearance (ABC) effect. We design three ionizable oligomers (IOs) that, with polylactide-polyethylene glycol (PLA-PEG), form a potential siRNA delivery system, named Ionizable Polymeric Micelles (IPMs). The siRNA encapsulated IPMs escape from lysosomes upon cellular uptake, and silence the target gene.

Processes and measurements: a framework for understanding neural oscillations in field potentials.

Various neuroscientific theories maintain that brain oscillations are important for neuronal computation, but opposing views claim that these macroscale dynamics are 'exhaust fumes' of more relevant processes. Here, we approach the question of whether oscillations are functional or epiphenomenal by distinguishing between measurements and processes, and by reviewing whether causal or inferentially useful links exist between field potentials, electric fields, and neurobiological events. We introduce a vocabulary for the role of brain signals and their underlying processes, demarcating oscillations as a distinct entity where both processes and measurements can exhibit periodicity.

Bariatric surgery targeting opioid prescribing: a national model for effectively reducing opioid use after bariatric surgery.

Background: Prescription opioids are responsible for a significant proportion of opioid-related deaths in the United States. Approximately 6% of opioid-naïve patients who receive opioid prescriptions after surgery become chronic opioid users. However, chronic opioid use after bariatric surgery may be twice as common.

Genomic language models: opportunities and challenges.

Large language models (LLMs) are having transformative impacts across a wide range of scientific fields, particularly in the biomedical sciences. Just as the goal of natural language processing is to understand sequences of words, a major objective in biology is to understand biological sequences. Genomic language models (gLMs), which are LLMs trained on DNA sequences, have the potential to significantly advance our understanding of genomes and how DNA elements at various scales interact to give rise to complex functions.

High prevalence of alcohol use disorders in 454 young adult offspring from the San Diego prospective study.

Background: Preliminary evaluations of 212 drinking offspring from the San Diego Prospective Study (SDPD) indicated that over 50% developed alcohol use disorder (AUD) by their mid-20s. The present analysis evaluated if those findings remained robust when the group increased to 454 individuals, a sample size that facilitated a search for potential contributors to the high AUD prevalence.

Methods: Semistructured interviews were used to evaluate lifetime AUD diagnoses in 224 daughters and 230 sons from the SDPS (N = 454) by mean age 26.

Nuclear Cardiology Surrogate Biomarkers in Clinical Trials.

Nuclear cardiology offers a diverse range of imaging tools that provide valuable insights into myocardial perfusion, inflammation, metabolism, neuroregulation, thrombosis, and microcalcification. These techniques are crucial not only for diagnosing and managing cardiovascular conditions but also for gaining pathophysiologic insights. Surrogate biomarkers in nuclear cardiology, represented by detectable imaging changes, correlate with disease processes or therapeutic responses and can serve as endpoints in clinical trials when they demonstrate a clear link with these processes.

Low- and High-Volume Disease in Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer: From CHAARTED to PSMA PET-An International Multicenter Retrospective Study.

High-volume disease (HVD) and low-volume disease (LVD) definitions in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) patients are based on conventional imaging (CI) (CT/MRI with bone scan [BS]) according to CHAARTED criteria. HVD and LVD definitions are associated with overall survival and are used for treatment decisions. It remains unknown how these definitions transfer to prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET imaging.

Historical and political context for Philip Morris International's continuing medical education courses on harm reduction.

In 2024, Philip Morris International's (PMI) website stated they support 'independent' continuing medical education courses on harm reduction for medical and other healthcare professionals. These courses mirrored industry marketing and political strategies by presenting smokeless tobacco products and e-cigarettes as alternatives to smoking, sometimes without mentioning tobacco cessation. The enactment of the US Family Smoking and Tobacco Control Act gave the US Food and Drug Agency jurisdiction over tobacco products and included the industry's 'continuum of risk' frame, and emboldened tobacco companies to make harm reduction claims about these products, which they had previously avoided for fear of triggering restrictive regulation of cigarettes.

Randomized Control Trial Evaluating Different Modalities of Real-Time Surgical Feedback.

Introduction:: Surgical training is a constant exchange between trainers and trainees, and intraoperative surgical feedback is an integral part of learning. New technologies in robotic surgery allow for the delivery of visual aid and verbal feedback intraoperatively, but it has not yet been determined if feedback type affects the trainee learning process.

Methods:: 49 novice participants were recruited and randomized into four feedback groups: , , of verbal/visual, and no feedback ().

Trends in Medical Students' Legal Concerns Regarding Abortion Care in the Wake of the 2022 Decision.

Objectives: The 2022 US Supreme Court decision dramatically shifted the legal landscape in health care, leaving state legislatures to redefine the ethics of medical practice. As gold-standard medical procedures become banned and criminalized, physicians are facing heightened legal uncertainty and grappling with moral dilemmas of where and how to practice. This study aimed to quantitatively assess trends in legal concern among medical students and identify correlations with decision making regarding future medical training.

The impact of risk compensation adaptive behavior on the final epidemic size.

Public health interventions reduce infection risk, while imposing significant costs on both individuals and the society. Interventions can also lead to behavioral changes, as individuals weigh the cost and benefits of avoiding infection. Aggregate epidemiological models typically focus on the population-level consequences of interventions, often not incorporating the mechanisms driving behavioral adaptations associated with interventions compliance.

Participant perspectives related to individual chemical exposure report-back approaches in three environmental health studies.

Returning results to participants of environmental exposure studies has become more common in recent years. Despite evidence of benefits for study participants, there are challenges in communicating results to people with limited resources or capacity to mitigate chemical exposures. We interviewed N=54 participants and compared exposure report-back conducted in 2010-2013 across three susceptible study populations: 1) low-income pregnant individuals in the Chemicals in Our Bodies (CIOB) study; 2) the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) cohort; and 3) early childhood educators (ECE).

Classification of non-TCGA cancer samples to TCGA molecular subtypes using compact feature sets.

Molecular subtypes, such as defined by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), delineate a cancer's underlying biology, bringing hope to inform a patient's prognosis and treatment plan. However, most approaches used in the discovery of subtypes are not suitable for assigning subtype labels to new cancer specimens from other studies or clinical trials. Here, we address this barrier by applying five different machine learning approaches to multi-omic data from 8,791 TCGA tumor samples comprising 106 subtypes from 26 different cancer cohorts to build models based upon small numbers of features that can classify new samples into previously defined TCGA molecular subtypes-a step toward molecular subtype application in the clinic.

Molecular basis of proton sensing by G protein-coupled receptors.

Three proton-sensing G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)-GPR4, GPR65, and GPR68-respond to extracellular pH to regulate diverse physiology. How protons activate these receptors is poorly understood. We determined cryogenic-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of each receptor to understand the spatial arrangement of proton-sensing residues.

Characterizing features affecting local ancestry inference performance in admixed populations.

In recent years, significant efforts have been made to improve methods for genomic studies of admixed populations using local ancestry inference (LAI). Accurate LAI is crucial to ensure that downstream analyses accurately reflect the genetic ancestry of research participants. Here, we test analytic strategies for LAI to provide guidelines for optimal accuracy, focusing on admixed populations reflective of Latin America's primary continental ancestries-African (AFR), Amerindigenous (AMR), and European (EUR).

Effectiveness of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation vs heart rate variability biofeedback interventions for chronic pain conditions: A systematic review.

Objectives: Autonomic regulation has been identified as a potential regulator of pain via vagal nerve mediation, assessed through heart rate variability (HRV). Non-invasive vagal nerve stimulation (nVNS) and heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) have been proposed to modulate pain. A limited number of studies compare nVNS and HRVB in persons with chronic pain conditions.

US state minimum wages and rates of maltreatment-related death among children.

Background: The number of U.S. deaths due to child maltreatment (abuse and neglect) has been increasing over several years.

Integrating crowdsourced data in the built environment studies: A systematic review.

The integration of crowdsourced data has become central to contemporary built environment studies, driven by the rapid growth in digital technologies and participatory approaches that characterize modern urbanism. Despite its potential, a systematic framework for its analysis remains underdeveloped. This review, conducted in accordance with the PRISMA protocol, examines the use of crowdsourced data in shaping the built environment, scrutinizing its applications, crowdsourcing techniques, methodologies, and comparison with other big data forms.

Historic smallpox vaccination and Mpox cross-reactive immunity: Evidence from healthcare workers with childhood and adulthood exposures.

In recent years, human mpox has made multiple resurges, prompting public health professionals to consider factors that lead to the increased risk for the reemergence of other orthopoxviruses. Due to the genetic similarity between orthopoxviruses, vaccinia vaccines used to prevent smallpox transmission are also indicated and have been used for mpox infection prevention and control. In this study, cross-reactive immunity for mpox was observed among individuals with self-reported history of smallpox vaccination.

Meeting summary: Global vaccine and immunization research forum, 2023.

At the 2023 Global Vaccine and Immunization Research Forum (GVIRF), researchers from around the world gathered in the Republic of Korea to discuss advances and opportunities in vaccines and immunization. Many stakeholders are applying the lessons of Covid-19 to future emergencies, by advancing early-stage development of prototype vaccines to accelerate response to the next emerging infectious disease, and by building regional vaccine research, development, and manufacturing capacity to speed equitable access to vaccines in the next emergency. Recent vaccine licensures include: respiratory syncytial virus vaccines, both for the elderly and to protect infants through maternal immunization; a new dengue virus vaccine; and licensure of Covid-19 vaccines previously marketed under emergency use authorizations.