Oocytes with impaired meiotic maturation contain increased mtDNA deletions.

Purpose: Induction of meiotic competence is a major goal of the controlled ovarian stimulation used in ART. Do factors intrinsic to the oocyte contribute to oocyte maturation? Deletions in mtDNA accumulate in long-lived post mitotic tissues and are found in human oocytes. If oogenesis cleanses the germline of deleterious deletions in mtDNA, meiotically competent oocytes should contain lower levels of mtDNA deletions vs.

Model-Assisted Spleen Contouring for Assessing Splenomegaly in Myelofibrosis: A Fast and Reproducible Approach to Evaluate Progression and Treatment Response.

: Accurate and reproducible spleen volume measurements are essential for assessing treatment response and disease progression in myelofibrosis. This study evaluates techniques for measuring spleen volume on abdominal MRI. : In 20 patients with bone marrow biopsy-proven myelofibrosis, 5 observers independently measured spleen volume on 3 abdominal MRI pulse sequences, 3D-spoiled gradient echo T1, axial single-shot fast spin echo (SSFSE) T2, and coronal SSFSE T2, using ellipsoidal approximation, manual contouring, and 3D nnU-Net model-assisted contouring comparing coefficients of variation.

Medicaid managed care network adequacy standards and mental health care access.

Objectives: Medicaid is the largest payer of mental health (MH) services in the US, and more than 80% of its enrollees are covered by Medicaid managed care (MMC). States are required to establish quantitative network adequacy standards (NAS) to regulate MMC plans' MH care access. We examined the association between quantitative NAS and MH care access among Medicaid-enrolled adults and among those with MH conditions.

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Perturbs the Brain-Wide Excitation-Inhibition Balance: Associations with Microcircuit Organization, Clinical Parameters, and Cognitive Dysfunction.

Excitation-inhibition (E/I) imbalance is theorized as a key mechanism in the pathophysiology of epilepsy, with ample research focusing on elucidating its cellular manifestations. However, few studies investigate E/I imbalance at the macroscale, whole-brain level, and its microcircuit-level mechanisms and clinical significance remain incompletely understood. Here, the Hurst exponent, an index of the E/I ratio, is computed from resting-state fMRI time series, and microcircuit parameters are simulated using biophysical models.

Radiosurgery for Intracranial Meningiomas: A Review of Anatomical Challenges and an Update on the Evidence.

Radiation has been used to treat meningiomas since the mid-1970s. Traditionally, radiation was reserved for patients unfit for major surgery or those with surgically inaccessible tumors. With an increased quantity and quality of imaging, and an aging population, there has been a rise in incidentally diagnosed meningiomas with smaller tumors at diagnosis time.

Detecting defects: low initial serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) level may predict future fetal anomalies following frozen embryo transfer (FET).

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between early serum hCG levels after frozen embryo transfer and fetal anomalies.

Methods: This was a case-control study at a single academic fertility center between 1/2010 and 12/2021, including all patients who underwent euploid frozen embryo transfers resulting in any fetal anomaly confirmed at the time of induced abortion > 10 weeks or any anomaly reported at delivery. Controls included patients with healthy live births matched for age and day/grade of embryo after euploid FET.

Feasibility of Backscattering Coefficient Evaluation of Soft Tissue Using High-Frequency Annular Array Probe.

The objective of this work is to address the need for versatile and effective tissue characterization in abdominal ultrasound diagnosis using a simpler system. We evaluated the backscattering coefficient (BSC) of several tissue-mimicking phantoms utilizing three different ultrasonic probes: a single-element transducer, a linear array probe for clinical use, and a laboratory-made annular array probe. The single-element transducer, commonly used in developing fundamental BSC evaluation methods, served as a benchmark.

Experience of Service Questionnaire (ESQ) in children and adolescents: factor structure, reliability, validity, item parameters and interpretability of the parent version for practical use in Greece.

Background: Health systems need tools to assess patient's experience of service, but existing tools lack reliability and validity assessment. Our aim is to investigate the factor structure, reliability, validity, item parameters and interpretability of the parent version of the Experience of Service Questionnaire (ESQ) for practical use in Greece.

Methods: A total of 265 caregivers that were using mental health services in Greece participated in this study as part of the Nationwide cross-sectional survey from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Initiative (CAMHI).

Individual differences in information demand have a low dimensional structure predicted by some curiosity traits.

To understand human learning and progress, it is crucial to understand curiosity. But how consistent is curiosity's conception and assessment across scientific research disciplines? We present the results of a large collaborative project assessing the correspondence between curiosity measures in personality psychology and cognitive science. A total of 820 participants completed 15 personality trait measures and 9 cognitive tasks that tested multiple aspects of information demand.

Utilizing fractional lasers and tirbanibulin ointment to treat squamous and basal cell carcinomas.

Keratinocyte carcinoma is the most common form of cancer in the United States. Often treated by surgical excision, electrodessication and curettage, or Mohs surgery, treatment can frequently leave patients with a scar and can be time consuming and inconvenient for both patients and healthcare providers. Utilizing non-ablative fractional laser therapy followed by tirbanibulin ointment, we treated 30 basal and/or squamous cell carcinomas on 23 patients over the age of 50 with varying skin types.

Healthy live births achieved from embryos diagnosed as non-mosaic segmental aneuploid.

Purpose: To investigate pregnancy outcomes resulting from transfer of embryos with non-mosaic (NM) segmental aneuploid (SA) results following preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A).

Methods: All patients who underwent frozen embryo transfer (FET) of at least one embryo with a NM-SA between March 2021 and April 2024 were retrospectively reviewed. Primary outcomes included live birth rate (LBR) and results of prenatal diagnosis.

Approach to the Patient: Normocalcemic Primary Hyperparathyroidism.

Normocalcemic primary hyperparathyroidism (NPHPT), a phenotype of primary hyperparathyroidism, is characterized by elevated parathyroid hormone levels in the setting of persistently normal serum calcium. Diagnosis of NPHPT can be challenging and requires that secondary causes of hyperparathyroidism be excluded. The natural history of NPHPT remains inconclusive.

The Impact of Melanoma Imaging Biomarker Cues on Detection Sensitivity and Specificity in Melanoma versus Clinically Atypical Nevi.

Incorporation of dermoscopy and artificial intelligence (AI) is improving healthcare professionals' ability to diagnose melanoma earlier, but these algorithms often suffer from a "black box" issue, where decision-making processes are not transparent, limiting their utility for training healthcare providers. To address this, an automated approach for generating melanoma imaging biomarker cues (IBCs), which mimics the screening cues used by expert dermoscopists, was developed. This study created a one-minute learning environment where dermatologists adopted a sensory cue integration algorithm to combine a single IBC with a risk score built on many IBCs, then immediately tested their performance in differentiating melanoma from benign nevi.

Continuing Education for Global Neurosurgery Graduates: Visiting Surgeons, Skills Teaching, Bootcamps, and Twinning Programs.

Neurosurgeons require post-graduate training to deliver safe, effective, and evidence-based care; to continually improve and adapt their methods through assessing the effect of their care and patient outcomes; and to train the future neurosurgeons of tomorrow to surpass current standards of care. We describe methods used by global collaborations to address these training needs on a worldwide scale, their risks, and their perceived benefits.

Effects of Breast Cancer Treatment on Neural Noise: a Longitudinal Design.

Objective: Cognitive dysfunction has been observed consistently in a subset of breast cancer survivors. Yet the precise neurophysiological origins of cancer-related cognitive decline remain unknown. The current study assessed neural noise (1/f activity in electroencephalogram [EEG]) in breast cancer survivors as a potential contributor to observed cognitive dysfunction from pre- to post-treatment.