Sex-Based Disparities in Heart Transplantation in Teenagers.

Background: Heart transplantation in teenagers has not been well studied. Teenage recipients have unique considerations that influence outcomes-complexity of cardiac disease, wide range of donor sizing and age, mechanical support options, and medication nonadherence. We sought to analyze the outcomes of heart transplantation in teenagers, focusing on sex-based disparities.

Alveolar macrophages from persons with HIV mount impaired TNF signaling networks to M. tuberculosis infection.

People living with HIV (PLWH) have an increased risk for developing tuberculosis after M. tuberculosis infection, despite anti-retroviral therapy (ART). To delineate the underlying mechanisms, we conducted single cell transcriptomics on bronchoalveolar lavage cells from PLWH on ART and HIV uninfected healthy controls infected with M.

Inflammation and metabolic dysfunction underly anhedonia-like behavior in antidepressant resistant male rats.

Inflammation and metabolic dysfunction impair dopamine neurotransmission, which is thought to serve as a critical mechanism underpinning motivational deficits such as anhedonia across a range of psychiatric and neurological disorders. This difficult-to-treat transdiagnostic symptom has important implications for treatment resistant depression (TRD), and may warrant more targeted therapeutic approaches that address the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. Using the adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) model of antidepressant treatment resistance we characterized the relationship between antidepressant-like and anhedonia-like behavioral responses to bupropion, mesocortical tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expression, chronic low-grade inflammation, and metabolic changes in male rats.

Genomic Characterization of High-Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinoma Reveals Distinct Somatic Features in Black Individuals.

Black individuals experience worse survival after a diagnosis of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSC) than White individuals and are underrepresented in ovarian cancer research. To date, the understanding of the molecular and genomic heterogeneity of HGSC is based primarily on the evaluation of tumors from White individuals. In the present study, we performed whole exome sequencing on HGSC samples from 211 Black patients to identify significantly mutated genes and characterize mutational signatures, assessing their distributions by gene expression subtypes.

Association of blood biomarkers for neural injury with recent, frequent exposure to partnered sexual strangulation in young adult women.

Background: "Choking" or partnered strangulation is an emerging and popular sexual behavior that is more often experienced by young women, yet the neurobiological consequences of partnered sexual strangulation remain unclear.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to assess differences in 5 brain-injury blood biomarkers in young adult women who frequently engaged in sexual strangulation.

Methods: Young adult women were recruited from a large Midwestern university and assigned to groups based on sexual strangulation experience: (1) at least 4 instances of being strangled by a partner during sexual activities in the past 30 days or (2) no prior experience being strangled by a sexual partner.

DeVa (Decay Variance): A Novel Score Calculated via Postprocessing the Changes in Signal Intensity of an Intervertebral Disc in a T2* Multi-Echo Magnetic Resonance Image Can Quantify Painful and Degenerate Lumbar Vertebral Discs.

Introduction: Low back pain (LBP), a global disability leader, is often linked to intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. Traditional diagnostics like T2-weighted MRI provide qualitative but imprecise evaluations. A novel post-processing MRI technique, Decay Variance (DeVa), has shown promise in differentiating degenerate from healthy discs in animal studies.

Protective biomechanical and histological changes in the false lumen wall in chronic type B aortic dissection.

Objective: The outer false lumen wall (FLW) changes from thin/compliant to thick/rigid as aortic dissection transitions from the acute to chronic phase. This study investigates biomechanical stiffness and histological changes of the FLW as the dissected aorta ages.

Methods: The free outer FLW from human tissue was analyzed from chronic type B dissection (chronic-FLW) n = 10, acute type A dissection (acute-FLW) n = 10, and transplant donor descending aorta that was manually peeled into 2 layers (control-FLW) n = 17.

Novel Mechanical Aspiration Thrombectomy in Patients With Acute Pulmonary Embolism: Results From the Prospective APEX-AV Trial.

Background: There is a need for additional data to assess procedural efficacy and risks associated with mechanical thrombectomy for treating pulmonary embolism (PE) due to its increased utilization and diversity of patient populations presenting with PE. This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of percutaneous mechanical aspiration thrombectomy with the AlphaVac F18 System (AngioDynamics) in patients with acute intermediate-risk PE.

Methods: Patients with acute intermediate-risk PE and a right ventricular (RV)/left ventricular (LV) diameter ratio of ≥0.

Combined fluorescent hybridization and F--EdU staining on whole mount .

is a parasitic tapeworm that utilizes rats as hosts and offers advantages over human parasitic tapeworms and free-living flatworms as a model system to study the biology and pathology of helminth infections. is minimally infectious to humans, easy to maintain in the lab, demonstrates impressive growth, regeneration, and reproductive capabilities, and is amenable to loss-of-function manipulations. As an emerging model, tool development is critical to increasing the utility of this system.

Aligning prediction models with clinical information needs: infant sepsis case study.

Objective: Sepsis recognition among infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is challenging and delays in recognition can result in devastating consequences. Although predictive models may improve sepsis outcomes, clinical adoption has been limited. Our focus was to align model behavior with clinician information needs by developing a machine learning (ML) pipeline with two components: (1) a model to predict baseline sepsis risk and (2) a model to detect evolving (dynamic) sepsis risk due to physiologic changes.

Altered inflammatory mucosal signatures within their spatial and cellular context during active ileal Crohn's disease.

Crohn's disease (CD) involves a complex intestinal microenvironment driven by chronic inflammation. While single-cell RNA sequencing has provided valuable insights into this biology, the spatial context is lost during single-cell preparation of mucosal biopsies. To deepen our understanding of the distinct inflammatory signatures of CD and overcome the limitations of single-cell RNA sequencing, we combined spatial transcriptomics of frozen CD surgical tissue sections with single-cell transcriptomics of ileal CD mucosa.

Assessing Tobacco Harm Perceptions among Transgender and Nonbinary Adults: Results from a Community Informed State-wide Survey.

Introduction: Epidemiologic data has documented elevated levels of smoking and vaping among transgender and nonbinary (trans) adults. Yet, knowledge about nicotine and tobacco harm perceptions are not well understood within this population.

Methods: Utilizing data from a community-informed study conducted among transgender adults in Washington state from March-April 2023, we explored gender differences in the distribution of tobacco harm perceptions (knowledge, addiction, and harm perceptions).

Investigating the role of cytomegalovirus as a cause of stillbirths and child deaths in low and middle-income countries through postmortem minimally invasive tissue sampling.

Background: There is paucity of information on the role of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection as a cause of stillbirths or childhood deaths in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). We investigated attribution of CMV-disease in the causal pathway to stillbirths and deaths in children <5 years of age in seven LMICs participating in the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) network.

Methods: We analyzed stillbirths and decedents enrolled between December 2016 and July 2023.

Post-Transcriptional Regulation of Gene Expression and the Intricate Life of Eukaryotic mRNAs.

In recent years, there has been a growing appreciation for how regulatory events that occur either co- or post-transcriptionally contribute to the control of gene expression. Messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are extensively regulated throughout their metabolism in a precise spatiotemporal manner that requires sophisticated molecular mechanisms for cell-type-specific gene expression, which dictates cell function. Moreover, dysfunction at any of these steps can result in a variety of human diseases, including cancers, muscular atrophies, and neurological diseases.

Increasing Private Equity Investments in Plastic Surgery Practices in the United States: Analysis of Trends and Consolidation.

Background: Private equity (PE) investment in healthcare has expanded rapidly, particularly in plastic surgery, where rising demand for aesthetic procedures presents attractive financial opportunities. While PE backing may enhance operational efficiencies, concerns exist regarding its potential impact on care quality, patient outcomes, and healthcare costs.

Objectives: This study examines PE acquisitions of U.

Real-world insights from a cohort of approximately 2000 individuals who were analysed using a freely available next-generation sequencing anaemia screening programme.

Data from a large cohort of individuals referred for NGS testing evaluate the utility of next-generation sequencing in clinical practice for diagnosing hereditary haemolytic anaemias.

Skin Microbiome, Inflammation, and Skin Toxicities in Women with Breast Cancer Receiving Moderately Hypofractionated Radiation Therapy.

Purpose: Up to 95% of women during and after radiation therapy (RT) for breast cancer have reported cutaneous toxicity. However, the biologic link between skin microbiome and skin toxicities from RT remains largely unknown. This study aimed to assess the associations of skin microbiome with clinician- and patient-reported skin toxicities and inflammatory markers in women with breast cancer receiving RT.

Proceedings of the Alzheimer's Diagnosis in Older Adults with Chronic Conditions (ADACC) Network Inaugural Annual Conference.

The Alzheimer's Disease in Older Adults with Chronic Conditions (ADACC) Network is funded by the National Institute on Aging as a U24 cooperative agreement. ADACC is an inclusive, multidisciplinary group across multiple institutions that is charged with the task of developing evidence-based strategies for the use and implementation of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) biomarkers among older adults with cognitive impairment and multiple chronic conditions (MCCs). This report summarizes highlights of the First Annual Symposium of ADACC, which was held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in April 2024.

Stereopsis in the Infant Aphakia Treatment Study: outcome at 10½ years.

Parts of material previously presented at Annual Meetings of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and the American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00212134.

Uncovering the rewired IAP-JAK regulatory axis as an immune-dependent vulnerability of LKB1-mutant lung cancer.

Harnessing the power of immune system to treat cancer has become a core clinical approach. However, rewiring of intrinsic circuitry by genomic alterations enables tumor cells to escape immune surveillance, leading to therapeutic failure. Uncovering the molecular basis of how tumor mutations induce therapeutic resistance may guide the development of intervention approaches to advance precision immunotherapy.

Prenatal PFAS exposures and cardiometabolic health in middle childhood in the MIREC cohort.

Studies on prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and cardiometabolic health in childhood have produced inconsistent results. In this study, we evaluated associations between prenatal PFAS exposures, individually and as a mixture, and cardiometabolic outcomes including insulin resistance, beta cell function, blood lipids, blood pressure and central adiposity during middle childhood (7-9 years of age) in a Canadian maternal-child cohort (n = 281). We also explored effect measure modification based on child sex and physical activity.