Breast cancer-related lymphedema: A comprehensive analysis of risk factors.

Background: Breast cancer-related lymphedema is a devastating condition that negatively affects the quality of life of breast cancer survivors. We sought to identify risk factors that predicted the timing and development of lymphedema.

Methods: Women with breast cancer that underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) or axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) at our institution between 2007 and 2022 were identified and sociodemographic and clinical information was extracted.

Transforming Digital Phenotyping Raw Data Into Actionable Biomarkers, Quality Metrics, and Data Visualizations Using Cortex Software Package: Tutorial.

As digital phenotyping, the capture of active and passive data from consumer devices such as smartphones, becomes more common, the need to properly process the data and derive replicable features from it has become paramount. Cortex is an open-source data processing pipeline for digital phenotyping data, optimized for use with the mindLAMP apps, which is used by nearly 100 research teams across the world. Cortex is designed to help teams (1) assess digital phenotyping data quality in real time, (2) derive replicable clinical features from the data, and (3) enable easy-to-share data visualizations.

Disability Moderates Dual Task Walking Performance and Neural Efficiency in Older Adults With Multiple Sclerosis.

Background: Mobility and cognitive impairment are prevalent and co-occurring in older adults with multiple sclerosis (OAMS), yet there is limited research concerning the role of disability status in the cognitive control of gait among OAMS.

Objective: We investigated the levels of prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation, using oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO), during cognitively-demanding tasks in OAMS with lower and higher disability using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to: (1) identify PFC activation differences in single task walk and cognitively-demanding tasks in OAMS with different levels of disability; and (2) evaluate if disability may moderate practice-related changes in neural efficiency in OAMS.

Methods: We gathered data from OAMS with lower (n = 51, age = 65 ± 4 years) or higher disability (n = 48, age = 65 ± 5 years), using a cutoff of 3 or more, in the Patient Determined Disease Steps, for higher disability, under 3 different conditions (single-task walk, Single-Task-Alpha, and Dual-Task-Walk [DTW]) administered over 3 counterbalanced, repeated trials.

Neuromodulators Raising Eyebrows: "Having Is Not so Pleasing, After All, as Wanting".

Level of Evidence IV This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors  www.springer.

Less Is More: The Role of Mesh in Microsurgical Breast Reconstruction with Abdominal Flaps.

Background:  The use of mesh to reinforce the abdominal wall after abdominal flap harvest has been reported to decrease the risk of bulging and herniation. However, the impact of the plane of mesh placement in relation to the anterior rectus sheath (vs. no mesh) on postoperative abdominal complications remains unclear.

The Broad Spectrum of Gallbladder Paraneoplastic Syndromes.

Gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) is a rare gastrointestinal tumor with a reported incidence of 1 in 100,000 in the United States. GBC may present with subtle signs and symptoms that can be missed on routine examination and/or confused with other conditions. Unfortunately, its subtle presentation frequently leads to late diagnosis and, thus, a poor prognosis.

An explainable language model for antibody specificity prediction using curated influenza hemagglutinin antibodies.

Despite decades of antibody research, it remains challenging to predict the specificity of an antibody solely based on its sequence. Two major obstacles are the lack of appropriate models and the inaccessibility of datasets for model training. In this study, we curated >5,000 influenza hemagglutinin (HA) antibodies by mining research publications and patents, which revealed many distinct sequence features between antibodies to HA head and stem domains.

Band importance for speech-in-speech recognition in the presence of extended high-frequency cues.

Band importance functions for speech-in-noise recognition, typically determined in the presence of steady background noise, indicate a negligible role for extended high frequencies (EHFs; 8-20 kHz). However, recent findings indicate that EHF cues support speech recognition in multi-talker environments, particularly when the masker has reduced EHF levels relative to the target. This scenario can occur in natural auditory scenes when the target talker is facing the listener, but the maskers are not.

The law code of ChatGPT and artificial intelligence-how to shield plastic surgeons and reconstructive surgeons against Justitia's sword.

Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT 4 (OpenAI), Claude 2 (Anthropic), and Llama 2 (Meta AI) have emerged as novel technologies to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into everyday work. LLMs in particular, and AI in general, carry infinite potential to streamline clinical workflows, outsource resource-intensive tasks, and disburden the healthcare system. While a plethora of trials is elucidating the untapped capabilities of this technology, the sheer pace of scientific progress also takes its toll.

Neutrophils exposed to a cholesterol metabolite secrete extracellular vesicles that promote epithelial-mesenchymal transition and stemness in breast cancer cells.

Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) are emerging as critical mediators of intercellular communication in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Here, we investigate the mechanisms by which sEVs derived from neutrophils treated with the cholesterol metabolite, 27-hydroxycholesterol (27HC), influence breast cancer progression. sEVs released from 27HC treated neutrophils enhance epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stem-like properties in breast cancer cells, resulting in loss of adherence, increased migratory capacity and resistance to cytotoxic chemotherapy.

Hydrogel crosslinking modulates macrophages, fibroblasts, and their communication, during wound healing.

Biomaterial wound dressings, such as hydrogels, interact with host cells to regulate tissue repair. This study investigates how crosslinking of gelatin-based hydrogels influences immune and stromal cell behavior and wound healing in female mice. We observe that softer, lightly crosslinked hydrogels promote greater cellular infiltration and result in smaller scars compared to stiffer, heavily crosslinked hydrogels.

Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Algorithms Versus Standard Linear Demographic Analysis in Predicting Implant Size of Anatomic and Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty.

Background: Accurate and precise templating is paramount for anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) and reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) to enhance preoperative planning, streamline surgery, and improve implant positioning. We aimed to evaluate the predictive potential of readily available patient demographic data in TSA and RSA implant sizing, independent of implant design.

Methods: A total of 578 consecutive, primary, noncemented shoulder arthroplasty cases were retrospectively reviewed.

Factors influencing the minimum audible change in talker head orientation cues using diotic stimuli.

The perception of a talker's head orientation is an ecologically relevant task. Humans are able to discriminate changes in talker head orientation using acoustic cues. Factors that may influence measures of this ability have not been well characterized.

Texture-based speciation of otitis media-related bacterial biofilms from optical coherence tomography images using supervised classification.

Otitis media (OM), a highly prevalent inflammatory middle-ear disease in children worldwide, is commonly caused by an infection, and can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacterial biofilms in recurrent/chronic OM cases. A biofilm related to OM typically contains one or multiple bacterial species. OCT has been used clinically to visualize the presence of bacterial biofilms in the middle ear.

Point-of-Care Multiplex Detection of Respiratory Viruses.

The COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to the co-occurrence of influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), has emphasized the requirement for efficient and reliable multiplex diagnostic methods for respiratory infections. While existing multiplex detection techniques are based on reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and extraction and purification kits, the need for complex instrumentation and elevated cost limit their scalability and availability. In this study, we have developed a point-of-care (POC) device based on reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) that can simultaneously detect four respiratory viruses (SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A, Influenza B, and RSV) and perform two controls in less than 30 min, while avoiding the use of the RNA extraction kit.

Designing visual hierarchies for the communication of health data.

Objectives: Visual hierarchy underlies all visual design decisions related to information presentation. This manuscript describes the experience of a multidisciplinary health data visualization and software design team in using visual hierarchy to redesign a hereditary colorectal cancer lab report.

Materials And Methods: A series of interviews with representative users were conducted to identify target user groups and determine information hierarchy for each user type.

Maternal-fetal mechanisms underlying adaptation to hypoxia during early pregnancy.

During the process of implantation, the embryo first attaches to the uterine epithelium and then invades the underlying stroma, resulting in the transformation of the stroma into a secretory tissue that surrounds the embryo. An intricate dialogue allows the developing embryo and the maternal tissue to be in constant communication with each other. In many mammals, including humans, embryo implantation and early pregnancy events take place in a low-oxygen environment regulated by hypoxia-inducible transcription factors.

Dried Blood Matrix as a New Material for the Detection of DNA Viruses.

The gold standard for diagnosing viruses such as the Hepatitis B Virus has remained largely unchanged, relying on conventional methods involving extraction, purification, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This approach is hindered by limited availability, as it is time-consuming and requires highly trained personnel. Moreover, it suffers from low recovery rates of the nucleic acid molecules for samples with low copy numbers.

An interdisciplinary framework of youth participatory action research informed by curricula, youth, adults, and researchers.

Rarely are youth voices incorporated into program and policy development. Youth participatory action research (YPAR) is an opportunity for adolescents to develop research skills by completing projects relevant to their lives and allows participation and decision-making at systems and organizational levels. Attention to YPAR implementation detail, especially a curricular focus, is lacking in the literature.

Assessment of LGBTQ+ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Subspecialty Surgery Literature: A Scoping Review.

Objective: To identify LGBTQ+ diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) publications and contextualize the current frequency of the literature across subspecialty surgical fields.

Methods: A PRISMA systematic review using PubMed, MEDLINE, and Web of Science was conducted in April 2024. The main inclusion criterion was intrafield DEI content for defined subspecialties; exclusion criteria were foreign language, poor methodology, and duplicates.