Ionic liquid-coated lipid nanoparticles increase siRNA uptake into CNS targets.

Lipidoid nanoparticles (LNPs) have transformed the field of drug delivery and are clinically used for the delivery of nucleic acids to liver and muscle targets. Post-intravenous administration, LNPs are naturally directed to the liver due to the adsorption of plasma proteins like apolipoprotein E. In the present work, we have re-engineered LNPs with ionic liquids (ILs) to reduce plasma protein adsorption and potentially increase the accumulation of LNPs in hard-to-deliver central nervous system (CNS) targets such as brain endothelial cells (BECs) and neurons.

Quantifying walking speeds in relation to ankle biomechanics on a real-time interactive gait platform: a musculoskeletal modeling approach in healthy adults.

Given the inherent variability in walking speeds encountered in day-to-day activities, understanding the corresponding alterations in ankle biomechanics would provide valuable clinical insights. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the influence of different walking speeds on biomechanical parameters, utilizing gait analysis and musculoskeletal modelling. Twenty healthy volunteers without any lower limb medical history were included in this study.

Lymphatic distribution considerations for subunit vaccine design and development.

Subunit vaccines are an important platform for controlling current and emerging infectious diseases. The lymph nodes are the primary site generating the humoral response and delivery of antigens to these sites is critical to effective immunization. Indeed, the duration of antigen exposure within the lymph node is correlated with the antibody response.

An evaluation of the cannabinoid content of the liquid and thermal degradation analysis of cannabis-labeled vape liquids.

Cannabidiol (CBD) vape pen usage has been on the rise given the changing political and scientific climate as well as the promotion of these delivery systems as a more accessible and lower-risk option for consumers. Despite being marketed as a safer way to use cannabis, CBD vape liquids are sold without restrictions or meticulous quality control procedures such as toxicological and clinical assessment, standards for product preservation, or investigative degradation analyses. Nine CBD-labeled vape liquid samples purchased and manufactured in the United States were evaluated and assessed for cannabinoid content.

Empirical antimicrobial prescribing for pyelonephritis in patients discharged from 15 US Emergency Departments: an opportunity for improvement.

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are commonly treated in the emergency department (ED), and unfortunately, resistance to first-line agents is increasing.

Objectives: To characterize treatment of pyelonephritis in a nationally representative sample of ED patients and to identify patient- and treatment-specific factors associated with receiving initial inactive antibiotics.

Methods: We conducted a multicentre, observational cohort study utilizing the Emergency Medicine PHARMacotherapy Research NETwork (EMPHARM-NET), comprising 15 geographically diverse US EDs.

Dental caries in living and extinct strepsirrhines with insights into diet.

Dental caries is one of the most common diseases afflicting modern humans and occurs in both living and extinct non-human primates, as well as other mammalian species. Compared to other primates, less is known about the etiology or frequency of caries among the Strepsirrhini. Given the link between caries and diet, caries frequency may be informative about the dietary ecology of a given animal.

Developing and validating the Unhurried Conversations Assessment Tool (UCAT).

Objective: Given the importance of unhurried conversations for providing careful and kind care, we sought to create, test, and validate the Unhurried Conversations Assessment Tool (UCAT) for assessing the unhurriedness of patient-clinician consultations.

Methods: In the first two phases, the unhurried conversation dimensions were identified and transformed into an assessment tool. In the third phase, two independent raters used UCAT to evaluate the unhurriedness of 100 randomly selected consultations from 184 videos recorded for a large research trial.

Platelet Function Testing to Guide Cangrelor Dosing in Patients with Temporary Mechanical Circulatory Support or as a Bridge to Procedure.

Cangrelor is a rapid-acting, intravenous P2Y12 inhibitor that can be used in patients after percutaneous coronary intervention who require mechanical circulatory support or as a bridge to procedure. We retrospectively reviewed adult patients who received platelet function testing (PFT) with the VerifyNow P2Y12 assay while on cangrelor from March 2021 through November 2022. All patients were initiated on 0.

Endothelial peroxiredoxin-4 is indispensable for blood-brain barrier integrity and long-term functional recovery after ischemic stroke.

The endothelial lining of cerebral microvessels is damaged relatively early after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury and mediates blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption, neurovascular injury, and long-term neurological deficits. I/R induces BBB leakage within 1 h due to subtle structural alterations in endothelial cells (ECs), including reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton and subcellular redistribution of junctional proteins. Herein, we show that the protein peroxiredoxin-4 (Prx4) is an endogenous protectant against endothelial dysfunction and BBB damage in a murine I/R model.

Understanding Health Professionals' Experiences of Interprofessional Mentored Research During Clinical Training: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.

Background: Interprofessional education is recognized as an important part of the training of future health professionals. Limited investigation has been done on the experiences of students who have completed interprofessional mentored research during their clinical training.

Purpose: To explore if this experience provided meaningful training in key areas of interprofessional education.

Gas-phase synthesis of [OU-X] (X = Cl, Br and I) from a UO precursor using ion-molecule reactions and an [OUCH] intermediate.

Difficulty in the preparation of gas-phase ions that include U in middle oxidation states(III,IV) have hampered efforts to investigate intrinsic structure, bonding and reactivity of model species. Our group has used preparative tandem mass spectrometry (PTMS) to synthesize a gas-phase U-methylidyne species, [OUCH], by elimination of CO from [UO(CCH)] [M. J.

Something in the water: aquatic microbial communities influence the larval amphibian gut microbiota, neurodevelopment and behaviour.

Microorganisms colonize the gastrointestinal tract of animals and establish symbiotic host-associated microbial communities that influence vertebrate physiology. More specifically, these gut microbial communities influence neurodevelopment through the microbiota-gut-brain (MGB) axis. We tested the hypothesis that larval amphibian neurodevelopment is affected by the aquatic microbial community present in their housing water.

Music therapy for supporting informal carers of adults with life-threatening illness pre- and post-bereavement; a mixed-methods systematic review.

Background: Music therapy interventions with informal carers of individuals with life-threatening illness at pre- and post-bereavement is an increasingly important clinical area. This systematic review is the first to synthesise and critically evaluate the international evidence associated with music therapy with adult informal carers pre- and post-bereavement. Specifically, the objectives were: i) to describe the characteristics and effectiveness of music therapy interventions which aim to improve health-related outcomes for adult informal carers of adults with life-threatening illness (pre- and post-bereavement), and ii) to describe the experience of music therapy for adult informal carers of adults with life-threatening illness (pre- and post-bereavement).

Empirical legal analysis simplified: reducing complexity through automatic identification and evaluation of legally relevant factors.

This paper investigates the potential for reducing the complexity of AI and Law and empirical legal studies projects through a novel annotation methodology that relies on GPT Family Models to assist human annotators. Improving the speed, cost and quality of annotation could greatly benefit such projects. In modelling types of legal claims, researchers in the fields of empirical legal studies and AI and Law have long relied on manually annotating factors in case texts.

Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex in Human Lactation: An Integrative Literature Review.

Background: Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex is an understudied condition of lactation involving emotional dysregulation during letdown or milk ejection. Affected individuals may experience transient feelings of helplessness, melancholy, and general unhappiness.

Research Aim: To evaluate the scope of published literature on Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex.

A virtual recruitment protocol promotes enrollment of underrepresented groups in a diabetes prevention trial.

Strategies are needed to ensure greater participation of underrepresented groups in diabetes research. We examined the impact of a remote study protocol on enrollment in diabetes research, specifically the Pre-NDPP clinical trial. Recruitment was conducted among 2807 diverse patients in a safety-net healthcare system.

An Analysis of Mental Health Representation in the Technical Standards of Physician Assistant Programs.

The purpose of this descriptive research project was to examine the technical standards of physician assistant (PA) programs for mental health keywords, phrases, and themes. Each program's standards were analyzed, and keywords, phrases, and major themes were extracted and compared. The results demonstrate that most US PA programs include language related to mental health in their technical standards including theme areas of emotional health, emotional stability, mental health, emotional well-being, and stress management.

Mitochondrial and Cytosolic One-Carbon Metabolism Is a Targetable Metabolic Vulnerability in Cisplatin-Resistant Ovarian Cancer.

One-carbon (C1) metabolism is compartmentalized between the cytosol and mitochondria with the mitochondrial C1 pathway as the major source of glycine and C1 units for cellular biosynthesis. Expression of mitochondrial C1 genes including SLC25A32, serine hydroxymethyl transferase (SHMT) 2, 5,10-methylene tetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 2, and 5,10-methylene tetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 1-like was significantly elevated in primary epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) specimens compared with normal ovaries. 5-Substituted pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine antifolates (AGF347, AGF359, AGF362) inhibited proliferation of cisplatin-sensitive (A2780, CaOV3, IGROV1) and cisplatin-resistant (A2780-E80, SKOV3) EOC cells.

Post-Pandemic Aftermath: A Two-Year Follow-Up of the Effect of COVID-19 on Oncological Outcomes after Radical Prostatectomy for Prostate Cancer.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the indirect effect of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the surgical outcomes and oncological results of patients who underwent surgery during the lockdown period.

Methods: We analysed data from 423 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy between 2016 and 2022, with a cut-off date of March 16, 2020. Patients were categorised into two groups, namely, pre-lockdown (n = 289) and during lockdown (n = 134).

Upcycling Romaine lettuce outer leaves by infrared blanching and hot air drying.

Romaine lettuce outer leaves, as opposed to the more commonly marketed heart, are typically discarded and present an opportunity for upcycling as dried powders. Duquesne Romaine lettuce was evaluated to quantify and compare quality attributes of fresh outer and heart leaves, dried powders following hot air drying, and dried powders following an infrared (IR) blanching pretreatment before drying. Attributes measured for fresh leaves included moisture, water activity (A), color, total soluble phenolics (TSP), and antioxidant capacity (AC).

COVID-19 vaccine perspectives and uptake among university students three years into the pandemic.

Background: University students have been uniquely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic for the past three years (2020-2023). Understanding their COVID-19 perspectives, beliefs, and vaccine uptake may help to improve future vaccine initiatives and education.

Methods: A cross sectional, confidential, online survey was conducted at four universities in Pennsylvania in spring 2023 to assess undergraduate, graduate, and professional students' perspectives regarding their knowledge of COVID-19 vaccines, importance of COVID-19 vaccines and mandates, number of doses of COVID-19 vaccine received including the recent BA.