Intramural hematomas and astrocytic infiltration precede perivascular inflammation in a rat model of repetitive low-level blast injury.

In modern war theaters, exposures to blast overpressures are one of the most common causes of brain injury. These pervasive events result in acute and chronic cerebrovascular degenerative processes. Using a rat model of blast-induced mild traumatic brain injury, we identified intramural periarterial hematomas as early primary acute lesions induced by blast exposures.

Prevalence and risks of sleep bruxism in children and adolescents presenting for orthodontic treatment.

Objectives: This study determined the prevalence and risks of definite sleep bruxism (SB) among children and adolescents presenting for orthodontic treatment.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 7-16-year-old subjects pursuing orthodontic treatment for the first time. The presence or absence of SB was determined using an overnight mandibular movement monitoring inertial measurement sensor, worn by each participant for two consecutive nights.

Are Randomized Trials Better? Comparison of Baseline Covariate Balance of a Propensity Score-Balanced Lumbar Spine IDE Trial and Comparable RCTs.

Study Design: Prospective Observational Propensity Score.

Objectives: Randomization may lead to bias when the treatment is unblinded and there is a strong patient preference for treatment arms (such as in spinal device trials). This report describes the rationale and methods utilized to develop a propensity score (PS) model for an investigational device exemption (IDE) trial (NCT03115983) to evaluate decompression and stabilization with an investigational dynamic sagittal tether (DST) vs decompression and Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (TLIF) for patients with symptomatic grade I lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis with spinal stenosis.

Reviewing and Advocating for Data Disaggregation in Aging-Related Health Research: NIA Grants and Recommendations for Equity.

Federal minimum standards for collecting and reporting race and ethnicity data implicitly categorize diverse individuals into broad, monolithic categories. Despite advancements in policy and practice and calls for inclusive research, data equity remains a significant issue in aging-related health research. Racially and ethnically diverse older adults are underrepresented in health research and rarely disaggregated by ethnicity in data collection, analysis, and reporting of aging-related health outcomes.

Frontline Voice: AO Spine Member Survey Regarding Spine Oncology Knowledge Generation and Translation Needs.

Study Design: cross-sectional survey.

Objectives: To evaluate AO Spine members' practices and comfort in managing metastatic and primary spine tumors, explore the use of decision-support and patient assessment tools, and identify knowledge gaps and future needs in spine oncology.

Methods: An online survey was distributed to AO Spine members to query comfort levels with key decisions in spinal oncology management, utilization of decision frameworks and spine oncology-specific instruments, and educational material preferences.

Cardiovascular Disease Multimorbidity and Decreased Health-Related Quality of Life in Haiti: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Multimorbidity is increasingly prevalent in lower- and middle-income countries. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has been inversely associated with multimorbidity but is understudied in lower- and middle-income countries. We report cardiovascular disease (CVD) multimorbidity in Haiti and its association with HRQOL.

Four targets: an enhanced framework for guiding causal inference from observational data.

Observational studies play an increasingly important role in estimating causal effects of a treatment or an exposure, especially with the growing availability of routinely collected real-world data. To facilitate drawing causal inference from observational data, we introduce a conceptual framework centered around "four targets"-target estimand, target population, target trial, and target validity. We illustrate the utility of our proposed "four targets" framework with the example of buprenorphine dosing for treating opioid use disorder, explaining the rationale and process for employing the framework to guide causal thinking from observational data.

Multi-center benchmarking of cervical spinal cord RF coils for 7 T MRI: A traveling spines study.

Purpose: The depth within the body, small diameter, long length, and varying tissue surrounding the spinal cord impose specific considerations when designing radiofrequency coils. The optimal coil configuration for 7 T cervical spinal cord MRI is unknown and, currently, there are very few coil options. The purpose of this work was (1) to establish a quality control protocol for evaluating 7 T cervical spinal cord coils and (2) to use that protocol to evaluate the performance of 4 different coil designs.

Developmentally cascading structures do not lose evolutionary potential, but compound developmental instability in rat molars.

Increasing variability down serially segmented structures, such as mammalian molar teeth and vertebrate limb segments, is a much-replicated pattern. The same phenotypic pattern has conflicting interpretations at different evolutionary scales. Macroevolutionary patterns are thought to reflect greater evolutionary potential in later-forming segments, but microevolutionary patterns are thought to reflect less evolutionary potential and greater phenotypic plasticity.

Modification of Non-photochemical Quenching Pathways in the C Model Plant Revealed Shared and Unique Photoprotection Mechanisms as Compared to C Plants.

Light is essential for photosynthesis; however, excess light can increase the accumulation of photoinhibitory reactive oxygen species that reduce photosynthetic efficiency. Plants have evolved photoprotective non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) pathways to dissipate excess light energy. In tobacco and soybean (C plants), overexpression of three NPQ genes, e (VDE), (PsbS), and (ZEP), hereafter VPZ, resulted in faster NPQ induction and relaxation kinetics, and increased crop yields in field conditions.

Distinct CD8 T-cell types Associated with COVID-19 Severity in Unvaccinated HLA-A2 Patients.

Although emerging data have revealed the critical role of memory CD8 T cells in preventing and controlling SARS-CoV-2 infection, virus-specific CD8 T-cell responses against SARS-CoV-2 and its memory and innate-like subsets in unvaccinated COVID-19 patients with various disease manifestations in an HLA-restricted fashion remain to be understood. Here, we show the strong association of protective cellular immunity with mild COVID-19 and unique cell types against SARS-CoV-2 virus in an HLA-A2 restricted manner. ELISpot assays reveal that SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8 T-cell responses in mild COVID-19 patients are significantly higher than in severe patients, whereas neutralizing antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 virus significantly correlate with disease severity.

Single-Cell RNA-Seq Reveals Adventitial Fibroblast Alterations during Mouse Atherosclerosis.

Background: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) remains the leading cause of mortality in the western world despite the success of lipid lowering therapies, highlighting the need for novel lipid-independent therapeutic strategies. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous genes associated with ASCVD that function in the vessel wall, suggesting that vascular cells mediate ASCVD, and that the genes and pathways essential for this vascular cell function may be novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of ASCVD. Furthermore, some of these implicated genes appear to function in the adventitial layer of the vasculature, suggesting these cells are able to potentiate ASCVD.

Viral vector-mediated gene replacement reduces cerebellar dysfunction in the rat model of Christianson syndrome.

Background: Christianson syndrome (CS) is an x-linked recessive neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative condition characterized by severe intellectual disability, cerebellar degeneration, ataxia, and epilepsy. Mutations to the gene encoding NHE6 are responsible for CS, and we recently demonstrated that a mutation to the rat gene causes a similar phenotype in the spontaneous rat model, which exhibits cerebellar degeneration with motor dysfunction. In previous work, we used the PhP.

Redefining the spliceosomal introns of the sexually transmitted parasite and its close relatives in columbid birds.

infects the urogenital tract of men and women and causes the sexually transmitted infection trichomoniasis. Since the publication of its draft genome in 2007, the genome has drawn attention for several reasons, including its unusually large size, massive expansion of gene families, and high repeat content. The fragmented nature of the draft assembly made it challenging to obtain accurate metrics of features, such as spliceosomal introns.

Self-organized and self-sustained ensemble activity patterns in simulation of mouse primary motor cortex.

The idea of self-organized signal processing in the cerebral cortex has become a focus of research since Beggs and Plentz reported avalanches in local field potential recordings from organotypic cultures and acute slices of rat somatosensory cortex. How the cortex intrinsically organizes signals remains unknown. A current hypothesis was proposed by the condensed matter physicists Bak, Tang, and Wiesenfeld when they conjectured that if neuronal avalanche activity followed inverse power law distributions, then brain activity may be set around phase transitions within self-organized signals.

From Flies to Humans: Conserved Roles of CEBPZ, NOC2L, and NOC3L in rRNA Processing and Tumorigenesis.

NOC1, NOC2, and NOC3 are conserved nucleolar proteins essential for regulating ribosomal RNA (rRNA) maturation, a process critical for cellular homeostasis. NOC1, in and yeast, enhances nucleolar activity to sustain rRNA processing, whereas its depletion leads to impaired polysome formation, reduced protein synthesis, and apoptosis. These genes have vertebrate homologs called CEBPZ, NOC2L, and NOC3l.

A rare case of pontine tegmental cap dysplasia.

Pontine Tegmental Cap Dysplasia (PTCD) is a rare hindbrain malformation characterized by cranial nerve dysfunction, cerebellar abnormalities, and developmental delays of varying severity. This case report presents a 12-month-old female with significant developmental delays, hypotonia, and cranial nerve abnormalities. The findings underscore the critical role of radiology and neuroimaging in diagnosing and managing PTCD.

Mid-trimester resolution of marked dextroposition of the fetal heart preceding regression of extensive left fetal lung lesion consisting of hybrid congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM) and bronchopulmonary sequestration (BPS).

Extensive congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM) of the left fetal lung and associated marked dextroposition of the fetal heart were noted at 21 weeks' gestation. The right fetal lung appeared compressed with the cardiomediastinal shift angle measuring approximately 20 degrees. Potential subsequent right pulmonary hypoplasia was considered.

Abscess and aneurysm: A case of tuberculous abscess causing an aortic pseudo-aneurysm.

Thoracic aortic pseudoaneurysms are a rare but serious complication of infectious processes, often resulting from mycotic (infectious) aneurysms, occurring when the vessel wall is compromised by an infection, leading to the formation of a pseudoaneurysm [1]. Mycotic aneurysms typically result from bacteremia or fungemia, with common sources being infective endocarditis or other systemic infections. Tuberculosis, though a common infectious disease worldwide, is an unusual cause of aortic pseudoaneurysm formation.

Dual opposing quadrature-PT symmetry.

Our recent research on type-I quadrature parity-time (PT) symmetry, utilizing an open twin-beam system, not only enables observing genuine quantum photonic PT symmetry amid phase-sensitive amplification (PSA) and loss in the presence of Langevin noise but also reveals an additional classical-to-quantum (C2Q) transition in noise fluctuations. In contrast to the previous setup, our exploration of an alternative system assuming no loss involves a type-II PSA-only scheme. This scheme facilitates dual opposing quadrature-PT symmetry, offering a comprehensive and complementary comprehension of C2Q transitions and PT-enhanced quantum sensing with optimal performance in the symmetry unbroken region.

Deep learning uncovers histological patterns of YAP1/TEAD activity related to disease aggressiveness in cancer patients.

Over the last decade, Hippo signaling has emerged as a major tumor-suppressing pathway. Its dysregulation is associated with abnormal expression of and -family genes. Recent works have highlighted the role of YAP1/TEAD activity in several cancers and its potential therapeutic implications.

Interferon activation in bone marrow long-lived plasma cells in systemic lupus erythematosus.

While durable antibody responses from long-lived plasma cell (LLPC) populations are important for protection against pathogens, LLPC may be harmful if they produce antibodies against self-proteins or self-nuclear antigens as occurs in autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Thus, the elimination of autoreactive LLPC may improve the treatment of antibody-driven autoimmune diseases. However, LLPC remain a challenging therapeutic target.

Association of a multiplex immune marker panel with incident cognitive impairment and dementia: The Northern Manhattan Study.

Objective: To determine whether a panel of immune markers adds significant information to known correlates of risk of dementia and cognitive impairment.

Background: The impact of immune mechanisms on dementia risk is incompletely characterized.

Design/methods: A subsample of the Northern Manhattan Study, a prospective cohort study in the racially/ethnically diverse population of New York City, underwent comprehensive neuropsychological testing up to three times, at approximately 5-year intervals.

After-hours, Severity, and Distance are Associated with Non-VHA Emergency Department Use for Older Veterans: Insights from a Regional Health Information Exchange.

Background: Older adults treated in emergency departments (EDs) are at higher risk for adverse outcomes. Using multiple facilities can worsen this issue through service duplication and poor care transitions. Veterans with dual insurance coverage can access both Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and non-VHA EDs.