Controlling the Spatiotemporal Self-Organization of Stimuli-Responsive Nanocrystals under Out-of-Equilibrium Conditions.

Self-organization under out-of-equilibrium conditions is ubiquitous in natural systems for the generation of hierarchical solid-state patterns of complex structures with intricate properties. Efforts in applying this strategy to synthetic materials that mimic biological function have resulted in remarkable demonstrations of programmable self-healing and adaptive materials. However, the extension of these efforts to multifunctional stimuli-responsive solid-state materials across defined spatial distributions remains an unrealized technological opportunity.

Dissipative Landau-Zener tunneling in the crossover regime from weak to strong environment coupling.

Landau-Zener tunneling, which describes the transition in a two-level system during a sweep through an anti-crossing, is a model applicable to a wide range of physical phenomena. Realistic quantum systems are affected by dissipation due to coupling to their environments. An important aspect of understanding such open quantum systems is the relative energy scales of the system itself and the system-environment coupling, which distinguishes the weak- and strong-coupling regimes.

Distributed cortical regions for the recall of people, places and objects.

Human medial parietal cortex (MPC) is recruited during multiple cognitive processes. Previously, we demonstrated regions specific to recall of people or places and proposed that the functional organization of MPC mirrors the category selectivity defining the medial-lateral axis of ventral temporal cortex (VTC). However, prior work considered recall of people and places only and VTC also shows object-selectivity sandwiched between face- and scene-selective regions.

Considerations for Social Networks and Health Data Sharing: An Overview.

The use of network analysis as a tool has increased exponentially as more clinical researchers see the benefits of network data for modeling of infectious disease transmission or translational activities in a variety of areas, including patient-caregiving teams, provider networks, patient-support networks, and adoption of health behaviors or treatments, to name a few. Yet, relational data such as network data carry a higher risk of deductive disclosure. Cases of reidentification have occurred and this is expected to become more common as computational ability increases.

Hypoxia-induced increase in sphingomyelin synthase 2 aggravates ischemic skeletal muscle inflammation.

Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is the most advanced stage of peripheral arterial disease, posing a high risk of mortality. Sphingomyelin, a sphingolipid synthesized by sphingomyelin synthases (SMSs) 1 and 2, plays an essential role in signal transduction as a component of lipid rafts. However, the role of sphingomyelin in the inflammation of ischemic skeletal muscles remains unclear.

Community Synchrony in Seed Production is Associated With Trait Similarity and Climate Across North America.

Mast seeding, the synchronous and highly variable production of seed crops by perennial plants, is a population-level phenomenon and has cascading effects in ecosystems. Mast seeding studies are typically conducted at the population/species level. Much less is known about synchrony in mast seeding between species because the necessary long-term data are rarely available.

Cancer-specific innate and adaptive immune rewiring drives resistance to PD-1 blockade in classic Hodgkin lymphoma.

Hodgkin Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells of classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), like many solid tumors, elicit ineffective immune responses. However, patients with cHL are highly responsive to PD-1 blockade, which largely depends on HRS cell-specific retention of MHC class II and implicates CD4 T cells and additional MHC class I-independent immune effectors. Here, we utilize single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial analysis to define shared circulating and microenvironmental features of the immune response to PD-1 blockade in cHL.

Territory Sizes and Patterns of Habitat Use by Forest Birds Over Five Decades: Ideal Free or Ideal Despotic?

Relations among territoriality, abundance and habitat suitability are fundamental to the ecology of many animal populations. Theory suggests two classes of possible responses to increasing abundance in territorial species: (1) the ideal free distribution (IFD), which predicts smaller territory sizes and decreased fitness as individuals adaptively pack into suitable habitats, and (2) the ideal despotic distribution (IDD), which predicts stable territory sizes and fitness in preferred habitats for dominant individuals and increased use of marginal habitats, reduced fitness and changes in territory sizes for subordinate individuals. We analysed the territory sizes and locations of seven migratory songbird species occupying a 10-ha plot in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, USA over a 52-year period.

Estimation of Ligand Binding Free Energy Using Multi-eGO.

The computational study of ligand binding to a target protein provides mechanistic insight into the molecular determinants of this process and can improve the success rate of drug design. All-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can be used to evaluate the binding free energy, typically by thermodynamic integration, and to probe binding mechanisms, including the description of protein conformational dynamics. The advantages of MD come at a high computational cost, which limits its use.

The impact of functional correlations on task information coding.

State-dependent neural correlations can be understood from a neural coding framework. Noise correlations-trial-to-trial or moment-to-moment covariability-can be interpreted only if the underlying signal correlation-similarity of task selectivity between pairs of neural units-is known. Despite many investigations in local spiking circuits, it remains unclear how this coding framework applies to large-scale brain networks.

Biopsy Quotas: Ethical Implications of Financial Incentives and Penalties on Dermatologic Care Providers.

The evolution of healthcare payment models has profoundly influenced clinical practices and physician decision-making. While fee-for-service (FFS) models incentivize procedural volume, systems based on Relative Value Units (RVUs) have introduced standardized metrics to compensate physicians based on care complexity and workload. As corporations increasingly own healthcare, financial incentives such as RVUs and procedural quotas raise ethical concerns.

A novel concept of an acoustic ultrasound wearable for early detection of implant failure.

Mechanical failure of medical implants, especially in orthopedic poses a significant burden to the patients and healthcare system. The majority of the implant failures are diagnosed at very late stages and are of mechanical causes. This makes the diagnosis and screening of implant failure very challenging.

A descriptive examination of rurality in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Cohort: Implications, illustrations, and future directions.

Purpose: The Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort has enrolled over 60,000 children to examine how early environmental factors (broadly defined) are associated with key child health outcomes. The ECHO Cohort may be well-positioned to contribute to our understanding of rural environments and contexts, which has implications for rural health disparities research. The present study examined the outcome of child obesity to not only illustrate the suitability of ECHO Cohort data for these purposes but also determine how various definitions of rural and urban populations impact the presentation of findings and their interpretation.

Shared Decision-Making in Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty: Understanding Surgeon and Patient Perspectives Regarding When It Is Time for Surgery.

Background: Although total hip and total knee arthroplasty are highly successful operations, the decision of whether and when to undergo surgery is highly subjective and discretionary, and specific guidelines regarding readiness for surgery remain elusive. The nature of these decisions underscores the importance of shared decision-making, which is founded on the concept that patients substantially contribute to determining their own readiness for surgery. The OPTION survey was developed as a conversation aid to facilitate shared decision-making in the context of total joint arthroplasty.

The Reproducibility and Reliability of Insulin Sensitivity and Secretion Indices in Children and Adolescents.

Context: Insulin sensitivity and secretion indices can be useful tools in understanding insulin homeostasis in children at risk for diabetes. There have been few studies examining the reproducibility of these measures in pediatrics.

Objective: To determine whether fasting or oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)-derived insulin measures would be more reproducible and whether there would be differences based on weight, sex, race, and pubertal status.

Bacterial growth temperature as a horizontally acquired polygenic trait.

Evolutionary events leading to organismal preference for a specific growth temperature, as well as genes whose products are needed for a proper function at that temperature, are poorly understood. Using 64 bacteria from phylum Thermotogota as a model system, we examined how optimal growth temperature changed throughout Thermotogota history. We inferred that Thermotogota's last common ancestor was a thermophile and that some Thermotogota evolved the mesophilic and hyperthermophilic lifestyles secondarily.

Cross-sectional analysis of soft drinks consumption patterns post-taxation in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Sweetened soft drinks consumption contributes to the increasing prevalence of obesity in Saudi Arabia. In 2017, Saudi Arabia began imposing tax on sugar-sweetened drinks to combat obesity.

Aim: To investigate the determinants of soft drinks consumption patterns among adults in Saudi Arabia 5 years after consumer tax implementation.

Identification of key factors related to digital health observational study adherence and retention by data-driven approaches: an exploratory secondary analysis of two prospective longitudinal studies.

Background: Longitudinal digital health studies combine passively collected information from digital devices, such as commercial wearable devices, and actively contributed data, such as surveys, from participants. Although the use of smartphones and access to the internet supports the development of these studies, challenges exist in collecting representative data due to low adherence and retention. We aimed to identify key factors related to adherence and retention in digital health studies and develop a methodology to identify factors that are associated with and might affect study participant engagement.

Patterns of initial treatment and subsequent care escalation among medicare beneficiaries with neck pain: a retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: To compare long-term care escalation encounters among three care patterns for new episodes of neck pain among Medicare beneficiaries.

Methods: We examined Medicare claims spanning a four-year period for beneficiaries with new episodes of neck pain beginning in 2019. All patients were continuously enrolled under Medicare parts A, B, and D and aged 65-99 years.

Mechanistic Insight into the Formation and Deposition of Conductive, Layered Metal-Organic Framework Nanocrystals.

This paper describes the use of the layered conductive metal-organic framework (MOF) (nickel)-(hexahydroxytriphenylene) [Ni(HHTP)] as a model system for understanding the process of self-assembly within this class of materials. We confirm and quantify experimentally the role of the oxidant in the synthetic process. Monitoring the deposition of Ni(HHTP) with infrared spectroscopy revealed that MOF formation is characterized by an initial induction period, followed by linear growth with respect to time.

Humoral correlate of vaccine-mediated protection from tuberculosis identified in humans and non-human primates.

Development of an effective tuberculosis (TB) vaccine has been challenged by incomplete understanding of specific factors that provide protection against (Mtb) and the lack of a known correlate of protection (CoP). Using a combination of samples from a vaccine showing efficacy (DarDar [NCT00052195]) and Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-immunized humans and nonhuman primates (NHP), we identify a humoral CoP that translates across species and vaccine regimens. Antibodies specific to the DarDar vaccine strain () sonicate (MOS) correlate with protection from the efficacy endpoint of definite TB.