The effect of STI screening during pregnancy on vertical transmission of HIV and adverse pregnancy outcomes in South Africa: a modelling study.

Introduction: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in pregnancy are associated with an increased risk of vertical HIV transmission and adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes. In South Africa, syndromic management is the standard of care for STI management. We assessed the potential impact of point-of-care (POC) screening for curable STIs (Chlamydia trachomatis [CT], Trichomonas vaginalis [TV] and Neisseria gonorrhoeae [NG]) during pregnancy on vertical HIV transmission and adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes.

An analysis of multilevel factor contributions to breast cancer screening inequities in an academic health system.

Background: Breast cancer screening (BCS) inequities are evident at national and local levels, and many health systems want to address these inequities, but may lack data about contributing factors. The objective of this study was to inform health system interventions through an exploratory analysis of potential multilevel contributors to BCS inequities using health system data.

Methods: The authors conducted a cross-sectional analysis within a large academic health system including 19,774 individuals who identified as Black (n = 1445) or White (n = 18,329) race and were eligible for BCS.

NumSimEX: A method using EXX hydrogen exchange mass spectrometry to map the energetics of protein folding landscapes.

Hydrogen exchange mass spectrometry (HXMS) is a powerful tool to understand protein folding pathways and energetics. However, HXMS experiments to date have used exchange conditions termed EX1 or EX2 which limit the information that can be gained compared to the more general EXX exchange regime. If EXX behavior could be understood and analyzed, a single HXMS timecourse on an intact protein could fully map its folding landscape without requiring denaturation.

Exploring Individual Differences in Interoception Among Athletes Based on a Three-Dimensional Construct of Interoception.

Previous studies demonstrated that sensorimotor training enhances interoceptive abilities. Athletes are highly engaged in performance-driven physical training and often incorporate-to varying degrees-sensorimotor training into their routines. In this study, we investigated the role of individual differences in interoception by comparing professional athletes of different performance levels and both sexes with recreational athletes and controls, applying a three-dimensional model of interoception.

CaML: Chemistry-informed machine learning explains mutual changes between protein conformations and calcium ions in calcium-binding proteins using structural and topological features.

Proteins' flexibility is a feature in communicating changes in cell signaling instigated by binding with secondary messengers, such as calcium ions, associated with the coordination of muscle contraction, neurotransmitter release, and gene expression. When binding with the disordered parts of a protein, calcium ions must balance their charge states with the shape of calcium-binding proteins and their versatile pool of partners depending on the circumstances they transmit. Accurately determining the ionic charges of those ions is essential for understanding their role in such processes.

Likes and Hashtags: Exploring the Potential Relationship Between Social Media use and the Emotional Wellbeing of Oncology Professionals.

Purpose: To explore the potential relationship between social media (SoMe) and burnout or overall wellbeing within the field of oncology.

Design: A cross-sectional study of adult and pediatric oncology professionals conducted using an anonymous electronic survey. The survey was disseminated through the Children's Oncology Group (COG) and the SWOG Cancer Research Network (SWOG) member listservs.

Gene-Air Pollution Interaction and Diversity of Genetic Sampling: The Southern California Children's Health Study.

Gene-environment interactions have been observed for childhood asthma, however few have been assessed in ethnically diverse populations. Thus, we examined how polygenic risk score (PRS) modifies the association between ambient air pollution exposure (nitrogen dioxide [NO], ozone, particulate matter < 2.5 and < 10 μm) and childhood asthma incidence in a diverse cohort.

Noninvasive in vivo imaging of macrophages: understanding tumor microenvironments and delivery of therapeutics.

Macrophages are pivotal in the body's defense and response to inflammation. They are present in significant numbers and are widely implicated in various diseases, including cancer. While molecular and histological techniques have advanced our understanding of macrophage biology, their precise function within the cancerous microenvironments remains underexplored.

Advances in Prenatal Cell-Free DNA Screening for Dominant Monogenic Conditions: A Review of Current Progress and Future Directions in Clinical Implementation.

Prenatal cell-free DNA (cfDNA) screening has advanced significantly, extending beyond detecting aneuploidies to sub-chromosomal copy number variations. However, its application for screening dominant single-gene conditions, often caused by de novo variants, remains underutilized in the general obstetric population. This study reviews recent data and experience on prenatal cfDNA screening for dominant monogenic conditions using multiple-gene panels, highlighting its potential to enhance early detection and management of genetic disorders.

Single-cell transcriptomics identify a novel macrophage population associated with bone invasion in pituitary neuroendocrine tumors.

Background: Bone-invasive Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumors (BI PitNETs) epitomize an aggressive subtype of pituitary tumors characterized by bone invasion, culminating in extensive skull base bone destruction and fragmentation. This infiltration poses a significant surgical risk due to potential damage to vital nerves and arteries. However, the mechanisms underlying bone invasion caused by PitNETs remain elusive, and effective interventions for PitNET-induced bone invasion are lacking in clinical practice.

Development and validation of an EHR-based risk prediction model for geriatric patients undergoing urgent and emergency surgery.

Background: Clinical determination of patients at high risk of poor surgical outcomes is complex and may be supported by clinical tools to summarize the patient's own personalized electronic health record (EHR) history and vitals data through predictive risk models. Since prior models were not readily available for EHR-integration, our objective was to develop and validate a risk stratification tool, named the Assessment of Geriatric Emergency Surgery (AGES) score, predicting risk of 30-day major postoperative complications in geriatric patients under consideration for urgent and emergency surgery using pre-surgical existing electronic health record (EHR) data.

Methods: Patients 65-years and older undergoing urgent or emergency non-cardiac surgery within 21 hospitals 2017-2021 were used to develop the model (randomly split: 80% training, 20% test).

Changes in the treatment and outcomes of different severities of neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy in California: a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: Evaluate the changes in management and outcomes of Californian infants with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).

Study Design: Infants with HIE were identified from a California administrative birth cohort using ICD codes and divided into two epochs, Epoch 1 (2010-2015) and Epoch 2 (2016-2019). Risk ratios (RR) for induced hypothermia (IH) in each epoch and their outcomes were calculated using log-linear regression.

Evaluating solar power plant sites using integrated GIS and MCDM methods: a case study in Kermanshah Province.

This study utilizes an integrated Geographic Information System (GIS)-based Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approach to perform Solar Power Plant Site Selection (SPPSS) in Kermanshah Province, Iran. It introduces a novel group weighting method, the Dempster-based Best-Worst Method (DBWM), which combines weights vectors derived from experts' opinions. The study also conducts a comprehensive sensitivity analysis comparing four GIS-based models for SPPSS.

A low-cost printed circuit board-based centrifugal microfluidic platform for dielectrophoresis.

In recent decades, electrokinetic handling of microparticles and biological cells found many applications ranging from biomedical diagnostics to microscale assembly. The integration of electrokinetic handling such as dielectrophoresis (DEP) greatly benefits microfluidic point-of-care systems as many modern assays require cell handling. Compared to traditional pump-driven microfluidics, typically used for DEP applications, centrifugal CD microfluidics provides the ability to consolidate various liquid handling tasks in self-contained discs under the control of a single motor.

Interpretable Machine Learning Model for Predicting Postpartum Depression: Retrospective Study.

Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a prevalent mental health issue with significant impacts on mothers and families. Exploring reliable predictors is crucial for the early and accurate prediction of PPD, which remains challenging.

Objective: This study aimed to comprehensively collect variables from multiple aspects, develop and validate machine learning models to achieve precise prediction of PPD, and interpret the model to reveal clinical implications.

Galactic cosmic ray environment predictions for the NASA BioSentinel Mission, part 2:Post-mission validation.

The BioSentinel CubeSat was deployed on the Artemis-I mission in November 2022 and has been continuously transmitting physical measurements of the space radiation environment since that time. Just before mission launch, we published computational model predictions of the galactic cosmic ray exposure expected inside BioSentinel for multiple locations and configurations. The predictions utilized models for the ambient galactic cosmic ray environment, radiation physics and transport, and BioSentinel geometry.

Sentiments of Individuals with Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome Toward Pentosan Polysulfate Sodium: Infodemiology Study.

Background: Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is a multifactorial, chronic syndrome involving urinary frequency, urgency, and bladder discomfort. These IC/BPS symptoms can significantly impact individuals' quality of life, affecting their mental, physical, sexual, and financial well-being. Individuals sometimes rely on peer-to-peer support to understand the disease and find methods of alleviating symptoms.

Insurance-Based Disparities in Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy Following Heart Transplantation Are Mediated by Care at High Volume Centers.

Background: Socioeconomic disadvantage and Medicaid insurance have been linked with inferior survival following heart transplantation, yet the contributing mechanisms remain to be elucidated. We evaluated the association of Medicaid with the development of cardiac allograft vasculopathy(CAV).

Methods: We considered heart transplant recipients ≥18years within the 2004-2022 Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.

Lobectomy verses Sublobar Resection in The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Database: Importance of Patient Factors and Lymph Node Evaluation.

Background: Prospective randomized trials have demonstrated noninferior survival between sublobar resection and lobectomy in healthy non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with tumors ≤2cm. However, some patient attributes are not well represented in randomized trials and uncertainty remains in the widespread applicability of randomized trial nodal dissection protocols.

Methods: Patients with ≤2cm, node-negative NSCLC (cT1N0) in the Society of Thoracic Surgeons prospective database were linked to Medicare survival data using a probabilistic matching algorithm.

Quantifying knee-adjacent subcutaneous fat in the entire OAI baseline dataset - Associations with cartilage MRI T, thickness and pain, independent of BMI.

Objective: Knee-adjacent subcutaneous fat (kaSCF) has emerged as a potential biomarker and risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA) progression. This study aims to develop an AI-based tool for the automatic segmentation of kaSCF thickness and evaluate the cross-sectional associations between kaSCF, cartilage thickness, MRI-based cartilage T relaxation time, knee pain, and muscle strength independent of BMI.

Design: Baseline 3.

Consensus recommendations for measuring the impact of contraception on the menstrual cycle in contraceptive clinical trials.

Objective: We sought to develop consensus recommendations for measurement and analysis of data on contraceptive-induced menstrual changes (CIMCs) in contraceptive clinical trials. We built upon previous standardization efforts over the last 50 years and prioritized input from a variety of global experts and current regulatory authority guidance on patient-reported outcomes.

Study Design: We completed a formal consensus-building process with an interdisciplinary group of 57 experts from 30 organizations and 14 countries in five global regions who work across academia, nonprofit research organizations, the pharmaceutical industry, and funding agencies.