A Survey of Forensic Pathologists Regarding Medicolegal Investigation of Perinatal and Stillborn Deaths.

Stillborn and perinatal deaths may be referred to medical examiners and coroners for investigation and determination of cause and/or manner of death. One of the key questions is determining a live birth from a stillbirth. We surveyed 147 forensic pathologists to assess their investigative practices for these deaths and for their ability to diagnose a live birth and a stillbirth.

Treatment Patterns and Costs Among Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma in the United States: A Real-World Study Using Integrated Claims and Clinical Data.

Purpose: The treatment landscape for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) has evolved in recent years with the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and immuno-oncology (IO) therapies. This study examined patient characteristics, treatment patterns, health care resource utilization (HCRU), costs, and survival for individuals with mRCC who received either IO + IO or IO + TKI combinations as first-line (1L) regimens.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used integrated claims and clinical data from a commercial health plan to study adults with mRCC who began 1L treatment between April 1, 2018, and January 31, 2023.

Impaired network organization in mild age-related hearing loss.

Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is considered one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders in the elderly; however, how it contributes to cognitive decline is poorly understood. With resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging from 66 individuals with ARHL and 54 healthy controls, group spatial independent component analyses, sliding window analyses, graph-theory methods, multilayer networks, and correlation analyses were used to identify ARHL-induced disturbances in static and dynamic functional network connectivity (sFNC/dFNC), alterations in global network switching and their links to cognitive performances. ARHL was associated with decreased sFNC/dFNC within the default mode network (DMN) and increased sFNC/dFNC between the DMN and central executive, salience (SN), and visual networks.

Imagine, Discover, Inspire: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference of the Trisomy 21 Research Society.

Down syndrome (DS) or trisomy 21 (T21) is present in a significant number of children and adults around the world and is associated with cognitive and medical challenges. Through research, the T21 Research Society (T21RS), established in 2014, unites a worldwide community dedicated to understanding the impact of T21 on biological systems and improving the quality of life of people with DS across the lifespan. T21RS hosts an international conference every two years to support collaboration, dissemination, and information sharing for this goal.

Biologically targeted discovery-replication scan identifies G×G interaction in relation to risk of Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma.

Inherited genetics represents an important contributor to risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), and its precursor Barrett's esophagus (BE). Genome-wide association studies have identified ∼30 susceptibility variants for BE/EAC, yet genetic interactions remain unexamined. To address challenges in large-scale G×G scans, we combined knowledge-guided filtering and machine learning approaches, focusing on genes with (1) known/plausible links to BE/EAC pathogenesis (n = 493) or (2) prior evidence of biological interactions (n = 4,196).

Evaluating the impact of performance status in elderly patients with glioblastoma.

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is a common brain tumor with a poor prognosis. There is a paucity of knowledge regarding optimal treatment approaches for elderly patients with GBM who have a relatively good Karnofsky (KPS) or Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status. This study compared treatment outcomes in older patients (≥65) with GBM based on their performance status, either high (KPS ≥ 70 and ECOG < 2) or low (KPS < 70 and ECOG ≥ 2), who underwent hypofractionated radiotherapy (HFRT) (40 Gy in 15 fractions) versus conventional fractionation (60 Gy in 30 fractions).

Results of a patient-level pooled analysis of three studies of trastuzumab deruxtecan in HER2-positive breast cancer with active brain metastasis.

Background: Brain metastases (BMs) are common in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive advanced breast cancer, increasing morbidity and mortality. Systemic therapy for BMs can be effective, with the triple combination of trastuzumab, capecitabine, and tucatinib being a potential standard. More recently, intracranial activity of antibody-drug conjugates has been reported, but the size of individual studies has been small.

A bipartite bacterial virulence factor targets the complement system and neutrophil activation.

The complement system and neutrophils constitute the two main pillars of the host innate immune defense against infection by bacterial pathogens. Here, we identify T-Mac, a novel virulence factor of the periodontal pathogen Treponema denticola that allows bacteria to evade both defense systems. We show that T-Mac is expressed as a pre-protein that is cleaved into two functional units.

Refining breast cancer genetic risk and biology through multi-ancestry fine-mapping analyses of 192 risk regions.

Genome-wide association studies have identified approximately 200 genetic risk loci for breast cancer, but the causal variants and target genes are mostly unknown. We sought to fine-map all known breast cancer risk loci using genome-wide association study data from 172,737 female breast cancer cases and 242,009 controls of African, Asian and European ancestry. We identified 332 independent association signals for breast cancer risk, including 131 signals not reported previously, and for 50 of them, we narrowed the credible causal variants down to a single variant.

Improved Patient-Reported Outcomes With Post-Transplant Cyclophosphamide: A Quality-of-Life Evaluation and 2-Year Outcomes of BMT CTN 1703.

The BMT CTN 1703 phase III trial confirmed that graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis with post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy), tacrolimus (Tac), and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) results in superior GVHD-free, relapse-free survival (GRFS) compared with Tac/methotrexate (MTX) prophylaxis. This companion study assesses the effect of these regimens on patient-reported outcomes (PROs). Using the Lee Chronic GVHD Symptom Score and PROMIS subscales (physical function, GI symptoms, social role satisfaction) as primary end points and hemorrhagic cystitis symptoms and Lee subscales as secondary end points, responses from English and Spanish speakers were analyzed at baseline and days 100, 180, and 365 after transplant.

Correction: Relieving immunosuppression during long-term anti-angiogenesis therapy using photodynamic therapy and oxygen delivery.

Correction for 'Relieving immunosuppression during long-term anti-angiogenesis therapy using photodynamic therapy and oxygen delivery' by Qianyuan He , , 2020, , 14788-14800, https://doi.org/10.1039/D0NR02750B.

Individualized Dosing of Efgartigimod in Patients With Generalized Myasthenia Gravis: Clinical Experience at a Single Center.

Introduction/aims: Neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) inhibitors represent a promising treatment option for patients with generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG); however, data on clinical use are limited. The aim of this report is to describe one center's approach to efgartigimod dosing in patients with gMG.

Methods: Medical records of patients with acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive (AChR-Ab+) gMG whose symptoms were not adequately controlled by oral medications and/or intravenous immunoglobulin who received efgartigimod between January 2022 and January 2024 were retrospectively evaluated.

Treatment Strategies for Intermediate Spinal Instability Neoplastic Score Patients: A Systematic Review.

Background: The Spinal Instability Neoplastic Score (SINS) is used in determining instability in patients with spinal metastases. Intermediate scores of 7 to 12 suggest possible instability, but there are no clear guidelines to address patients with these scores.

Methods: We searched in PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases for studies that included patient demographics, tumor histology, surgical or radiotherapy management, and outcomes of patients with intermediate SINS.

Proton Pump Inhibitor Use and Incident Cardiovascular Disease in Older Postmenopausal Women.

Background: Epidemiological studies have been inconsistent regarding an association between proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use and risk of primary cardiovascular disease (CVD) events.

Methods: We studied 85,189 postmenopausal women (mean age 63 years at baseline) without known CVD at enrollment into the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study (1993-1998). PPI use was determined from medication inventories at baseline and Year-3.

Bilateral Semicircular Canal Dehiscence Analyzed Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) Framework: Case Report.

A severe case of bilateral superior semicircular dehiscence was presented in Instituto de Neurorrehabilitación y Balance, Chile. The patient reports hearing and vestibular problems in certain situations; a complete analysis is carried out from the clinical history to neurological laboratory studies and imaging to diagnose bilateral semicircular canal dehiscence finally. Health condition management is under the ICF model, which will allow for determining and classifying the problems and possible interventions for this interesting clinical case.

Differences in smoking cessation behaviors and vaping status among adult daily smokers with and without depression, anxiety, and alcohol use: Findings from the 2018 and 2020 International Tobacco Control Four Country Smoking and Vaping (ITC 4CV) Surveys.

This study examined differences in quit attempts, 1-month quit success, and vaping status at follow-up among a cohort of 3709 daily smokers with and without depression, anxiety, and regular alcohol use who participated in both the 2018 and 2020 International Tobacco Control Four Country Smoking and Vaping (ITC 4CV) Surveys. At baseline, a survey with validated screening tools was used to classify respondents as having no, or one or more of the following: 1) depression, 2) anxiety, and 3) regular alcohol use. Multivariable adjusted regression analyses were used to examine whether baseline (2018) self-report conditions were associated with quit attempts; quit success; and vaping status by follow-up (2020).

- a large-scale dataset of 3D medical shapes for computer vision.

Objectives: The shape is commonly used to describe the objects. State-of-the-art algorithms in medical imaging are predominantly diverging from computer vision, where voxel grids, meshes, point clouds, and implicit surface models are used. This is seen from the growing popularity of ShapeNet (51,300 models) and Princeton ModelNet (127,915 models).

Iron-sulfur cluster redox chemistry and dimer dissociation in the outer mitochondrial membrane protein, mitoNEET.

The outer mitochondrial membrane protein known as mitoNEET was discovered when it was labeled by a photoaffinity derivative of the anti-diabetes medication, pioglitazone. The biological role for mitoNEET and its specific mechanism for achieving this remains an active subject for research. There is accumulating evidence suggesting that mitoNEET could be a component of mitochondrial FeS cofactor biogenesis.

Aging-induced changes in lymphatic muscle cell transcriptomes are associated with reduced pumping of peripheral collecting lymphatic vessels in mice.

Lymphatic muscle cells (LMCs) within the wall of collecting lymphatic vessels exhibit tonic and autonomous phasic contractions, which drive active lymph transport to maintain tissue-fluid homeostasis and support immune surveillance. Damage to LMCs disrupts lymphatic function and is related to various diseases. Despite their importance, knowledge of the gene transcriptional signatures in LMCs and how they relate to lymphatic function in normal and disease contexts is largely missing.

Optimizing Ewing Sarcoma and Osteosarcoma Biopsy Acquisition: A Children's Oncology Group Bone Tumor Committee Consensus Statement.

Trends in diagnostic biopsy sample collection approaches for primary bone sarcomas have shifted in the past 2 decades. Although open/incisional biopsies used to be the predominant approach to obtain diagnostic material for Ewing sarcoma and osteosarcoma, image-guided core needle biopsies have increased in frequency and are safe for patients. These procedures are less invasive and reduce recovery times but have potential limitations.

The Impact of E-Cigarettes on Oral Health-A Narrative Review.

: Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are commonly used by former smokers as an alternative product to conventional cigarettes and also by young adults and adolescents to deliver nicotine. E-cigarettes are thought to be a less harmful and more socially acceptable alternative to tobacco smoking; however, their long-term effects on health, including oral health, are currently unknown. : A literature search for relevant papers indexed in the literature from 2016 to 2023 was conducted using the PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases.

CD38 Coordinates with NF-κB to Promote Cochlear Inflammation in Noise-Induced Hearing Loss: the Protective Effect of Apigenin.

Noise exposure is one of the most common causes of sensorineural hearing loss. Although many studies considered inflammation to be a major contributor to noise-induced hearing loss, the process of cochlear inflammation is still unclear. Studies have found that activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway results in the accumulation of macrophages in the inner ear plays an important role in hair cell damage.

Availability of Lactation Policies and Facilities for ACGME-Accredited Surgical Residency Training Programs.

Objective: We aimed to investigate availability of lactation policy and facility information among surgical residency programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Design: Between March 1, 2023 and October 31, 2023, websites of surgical residency training programs on the ACGME Accreditation System List of Programs by Specialty were reviewed for department lactation policies, links to institutional graduate medical education (GME) websites with lactation policies, lists of lactation facilities, and links to institutional GME websites listing lactation facilities. Scatter plots were generated and Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to assess relationships of the percentages of female residents, fellows, and faculty in each surgical specialty with the percentage of residency program websites with available lactation information.

Infection survey, molecular, pathogenicity, and morphological characteristics of Sarcocystis species naturally infected water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) in Egypt.

Background: Sarcocystosis is a parasitic disease found worldwide, resulting from various Sarcocystis species. The current research was carried out in three significant economic areas in Egypt: Greater Cairo, the Nile Delta, and Upper Egypt. It aimed to investigate the occurrence of Sarcocystis spp.