MRI-assessed Dynamic Hyperinflation Induced by Tachypnea in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: The SPIROMICS-HF Study.

Purpose To assess the repeatability of real-time cine pulmonary MRI measures of metronome-paced tachypnea (MPT)-induced dynamic hyperinflation and its relationship with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) severity. Materials and Methods SubPopulations and InteRmediate Outcome Measures In COPD Study (SPIROMICS) (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier no.

A real-world analysis of antidepressant medications in US veterans aged 60 years and older: a comparative analysis.

To compare the safety and efficacy of antidepressants (AD) among older adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) by assessing treatment change, augmentation and hospitalization rates. This retrospective study analyzed data from the Veterans Affairs (VA) database, including 142,138 patients aged ≥60 years diagnosed with MDD. Patients prescribed bupropion, citalopram, duloxetine, escitalopram, fluoxetine, mirtazapine, paroxetine, sertraline, or venlafaxine were included.

Team-Based Learning in Physician Assistant/Associate Education: A Mixed Scoping Review.

Introduction: Team-based learning (TBL) is a type of active learning. While TBL was first used in medical instruction at the start of the 2000s, its efficacy within the physician assistant (PA) education has yet to be demonstrated. The objective of this study was to determine existing information about TBL in PA education and to demonstrate the need for further study.

Optimized machine learning approaches to combine surface-enhanced Raman scattering and infrared data for trace detection of xylazine in illicit opioids.

Infrared absorption spectroscopy and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy were integrated into three data fusion strategies-hybrid (concatenated spectra), mid-level (extracted features from both datasets) and high-level (fusion of predictions from both models)-to enhance the predictive accuracy for xylazine detection in illicit opioid samples. Three chemometric approaches-random forest, support vector machine, and -nearest neighbor algorithms-were employed and optimized using a 5-fold cross-validation grid search for all fusion strategies. Validation results identified the random forest classifier as the optimal model for all fusion strategies, achieving high sensitivity (88% for hybrid, 92% for mid-level, and 96% for high-level) and specificity (88% for hybrid, mid-level, and high-level).

C-Reactive Protein Changes in Adult and Pediatric People With Cystic Fibrosis During Treatment of Pulmonary Exacerbations.

Objective: Although studies have examined changes in C-reactive protein (CRP) during pulmonary exacerbations (PEX) in people with cystic fibrosis (PwCF), few have evaluated CRP profiles across age groups. Here, we characterize age-related CRP responses to PEX treatment.

Methods: We measured CRP concentrations at the beginning and end of intravenous (IV) antibiotic therapy for PEX in 100 pediatric and 147 adult PwCF at 10 US CF Centers.

Sensitivity of Lung Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) to Predict Oxygen Requirements in Emerging Viral Infections.

Objectives: The prognostic characteristics of lung point-of-care ultrasound (L-POCUS) to predict respiratory decompensation in patients with emerging infections remains unstudied. Our objective was to examine whether scored lung ultrasounds predict hypoxia among a nonhypoxic, ambulatory population of patients with COVID-19.

Methods: This was a diagnostic case-control study.

Shared selection and genetic architecture drive strikingly repeatable evolution in long-term experimental hybrid populations.

The degree to which evolution repeats itself has implications regarding the major forces driving evolution and the potential for evolutionary biology to be a predictive (versus solely historical) science. To understand the factors that control evolutionary repeatability, we experimentally evolved four replicate hybrid populations of sunflowers at natural sites for up to 14 years and tracked ancestry across the genome. We found that there was very strong negative selection against introgressed ancestry in several chromosomes, but positive selection for introgressed ancestry in one chromosome.

A Mixed Method Study of Nursing Students' Experiences of Discrimination Within Their Programs.

Aim: This research aimed to explore nursing students' experiences and perspectives on discrimination within nursing programs across classroom and clinical contexts, as well as structural discrimination through institutional policies and processes.

Design: Convergent mixed methods.

Methods: Survey and individual interviews to capture students' experiences and perspectives on discrimination within nursing programs.

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio at diagnosis predicts colonoscopic activity in pediatric inflammatory bowel diseases (pIBD).

Background: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a novel biomarker studied in several autoimmune diseases including inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in adults, but poorly characterized in pediatric IBD (pIBD). We aimed to primarily investigate the relationship between NLR and pIBD endoscopic disease severity. We also examined whether NLR predicted hospitalization, surgery, and therapy response by 52 weeks.

Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists in Patients With Durable Left Ventricular Assist Devices.

Background: GLP-1 RAs improve cardiometabolic outcomes in obese, diabetic, and heart failure patients. Data on the safety and efficacy of GLP-1 RA in advanced heart failure with durable LVAD is limited.

Objectives: To assess the safety and efficacy of GLP-1 RA in durable LVAD patients.

A Multicentre Evaluation of a Ceramide-Containing Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser and Facial Moisturizing Lotion for Improving Topical Treatment Tolerability in Facial Acne.

Acne vulgaris (AV) is a common skin condition that can cause substantial psychosocial impact. Treatments of AV target clearing and prevention of lesions and reducing scarring and dyspigmentation. Numerous medications are used to target one or more of the pathogenetic factors contributing to AV.

Prospective Fumarate Hydratase Tumor Predisposition Syndrome Screening in Patients With Uterine Smooth Muscle Tumors: Age, Morphology, Fumarate Hydratase/S-(2-succino) Cysteine Immunohistochemistry, and Germline Testing.

Fumarate hydratase tumor predisposition syndrome (FHTPS) is caused by germline fumarate hydratase (FH) pathogenic variants (PVs). Most women with FHTPS develop FH-deficient (FHD) uterine leiomyomas (ULs), which arise 10 to 15 years earlier than aggressive FHD-renal cell carcinoma. We evaluate a previously proposed FHTPS screening strategy for women with ULs.

panniculitis in a cat from northern California.

Case Summary: A 9-year-old male castrated domestic shorthair cat from northern California was evaluated for a 12-month history of dermal and subcutaneous dermatitis in the inguinal region. Histopathologic examination of a biopsy revealed severe, chronic, multifocal to coalescing pyogranulomatous dermatitis and panniculitis, accompanied by ulceration and central necrosis. Aerobic bacterial culture of lesions yielded mycobacterial growth.

Comparing quantitative imaging biomarker alliance volumetric CT classifications with RECIST response categories.

Purpose: To assess agreement between CT volumetry change classifications derived from Quantitative Imaging Biomarker Alliance Profile cut-points (ie, QIBA CTvol classifications) and the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) categories.

Materials And Methods: Target lesions in lung, liver, and lymph nodes were randomly chosen from patients in 10 historical clinical trials for various cancers, ensuring a balanced representation of lesion types, diameter ranges described in the QIBA Profile, and variations in change magnitudes. Three radiologists independently segmented these lesions at baseline and follow-up scans using 2 software tools.

Exposure to lower temperature during early development decreases hypoxia tolerance in juvenile Fundulus heteroclitus.

Cross-protection occurs when exposure to one stressor confers heightened tolerance against a different stressor. Alternatively, exposure to one stressor could result in reduced tolerance against other stressors. Although cross-protection has been documented in a wide range of taxa at juvenile and adult life stages, whether early developmental exposure to a stressor confers cross-protection or reduced tolerance to other stressors later in life through developmental plasticity remains largely unexplored.

The Vulvodynia Primary Care Toolkit: results of a mixed-method evaluation with community-based family physicians in British Columbia.

Background: Healthcare providers often lack awareness, knowledge, and confidence in managing vulvodynia, which can lead to difficulties with diagnosis and treatment for individuals with the condition.

Objective: To develop and test an educational online toolkit tailored to supporting community-based primary care providers with diagnosis, treatment, and patient support for vulvodynia.

Methods: A sample of 19 community-based family physicians completed online surveys before and after testing the Vulvodynia Primary Care Toolkit (the toolkit hereafter) in their practice for 6 months.

Barriers to Adherence with Clinic Visits in Patients with Uveitis.

Purpose: To assess the patient barriers to adherence with appointment follow-up in patients with ocular inflammatory disorders across the United States.

Methods: This was a multicenter study of adult and pediatric patients at the Wilmer Eye Institute, University of Texas at Austin, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Veterans Administration Hospital, and Washington University of St. Louis.

Dosimetry of Continuous Random Motion in High Dose Rate Strontium-90 Plesiotherapy.

Strontium-90 plesiotherapy delivers high doses of radiation to superficial lesions (<3 mm depth) with excellent sparing of deeper tissues. The sealed-source applicator tip is circular and 8-10 mm in diameter. Larger treatment fields are treated with multiple overlapping fields.

"Where There's a Will There's a Way": The Impact of State Variations in the Implementation of Continuous Coverage on Access to Postpartum Care During the Pandemic Emergency.

Objectives: To explore how the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement and unwinding process was implemented in three states with diverse existing policy environments and implications for the implementation of post-emergency 12-month postpartum extensions.

Data Sources: State data on unwinding performance and qualitative in-depth interviews with 48 stakeholders and patient-facing healthcare workers in Texas, New York and New Jersey.

Study Design: State Medicaid stakeholders and patient-facing healthcare workers in each state were interviewed with the goal of gaining insights into: (1) How the continuous coverage requirement was implemented; (2) What effects continuous coverage had on access to care for postpartum mothers; (3) How states are implementing the pandemic unwinding and postpartum extensions.

A randomized controlled, trial on effects of mobile phone text messaging in combination with motivational interviewing versus standard infant feeding counselling on breastfeeding and child health outcomes, among women living with HIV.

Background: Despite efforts to promote optimal breastfeeding practices, the practice of exclusive breastfeeding is low in South Africa. We conducted a trial to determine whether text messaging plus motivational interviewing prolonged exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life and improved child health outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a randomized parallel group-controlled trial between July 2022 and May 2024, at a secondary-level healthcare facility.