Dysregulation of FURIN and Other Proprotein Convertase Genes in the Progression from HPV Infection to Cancer.

Productive infections of oncogenic human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are closely linked to the differentiation of host epithelial cells, a process that the virus manipulates to create conditions favorable to produce virion progeny. This viral interference involves altering the expression of numerous host genes. Among these, proprotein convertases (PCs) have emerged as potential oncogenes due to their central role in cellular functions.

The Role of Butirprost as an Adjuvant in Enhancing the Effect of Antibiotics in Patients Affected by Chronic Bacterial Prostatitis: A Randomized Prospective Trial.

Bacterial prostatitis (BP) is a common prostatic infection characterized by pain and urinary symptoms, often with negative bacterial cultures from prostatic secretions. It affects young and older men bimodally and impacts quality of life (QoL) significantly. : Treatment typically involves antibiotics, but a multimodal approach with additional nutraceuticals may enhance outcomes.

Prevalence of IMPG1 and IMPG2 Mutations Leading to Retinitis Pigmentosa or Vitelliform Macular Dystrophy in a Cohort of Patients with Inherited Retinal Dystrophies.

Background/objectives: The interphotoreceptor matrix proteoglycans 1 and 2 (IMPG1 and IMPG2) are two interdependent proteoglycans of the interphotoreceptor matrix (IPM). Mutations in IMPG1 or IMPG2 are linked to retinal diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and vitelliform macular dystrophy (VMD), yet the specific mutations responsible for each condition remain undefined. This study identifies mutations in IMPG1 and IMPG2 linked to either RP or VMD.

iNOS-Produced Nitric Oxide from Cancer Cells as an Intermediate of Stemness Regulation by PARP-1 in Colorectal Cancer.

PARP-1 has been linked to the progression of several types of cancer. We have recently reported that PARP-1 influences tumor progression in CRC through the regulation of CSCs in a p53-dependent manner. In this study, we propose that nitric oxide (NO) produced by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) could act as a mediator.

An Evaluation of Rare Cancer Policies in Europe: A Survey Among Healthcare Providers.

Rare cancers, defined as those with an annual incidence of fewer than six cases per 100,000 individuals, are associated with significant health inequalities. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of healthcare providers with expertise in rare cancers regarding the effectiveness of enacted or planned rare cancer policies across Europe. Between 25 March 2023 and 5 March 2024, we conducted an online survey targeting 738 healthcare providers affiliated with the European Reference Networks and the Organization of European Cancer Institutes, yielding 92 complete responses from 28 European countries (response rate: 12.

A Pilot Study on the Freelisting Method Among Adolescents with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: Feasibility, Acceptability and Study Findings.

: To assess the feasibility and acceptability of freelisting for adolescents with chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) and use freelisting to identify how adolescents with CMP cope with pain. : This was a mixed-methods cross-sectional single-center study of patients 12-18 years old, diagnosed with CMP. Twenty-seven subjects participated in an interview which included the freelisting exercise, probing questions, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 10-item, and semi-structured interview.

Influence of Sex and Body Composition on Aerobic Capacity in Normal Weight Lean, Normal Weight Obese, and Obese Phenotypes.

Normal weight obesity (NWO) is a body composition phenotype that is associated with increased cardiometabolic risk and is characterized by a normal weight body mass index but elevated body fat. The purpose of this study was to determine sex differences in aerobic capacity across body composition phenotypes, including normal weight lean (NWL), NWO, and traditional obesity (OB). We recruited 60 participants according to three body composition phenotypes: NWL (n = 10 females, n = 10 males), NWO (n = 10 females, n = 10 males), and OB (n = 10 females, n = 10 males).

Using a Hand-Held Icterometer to Screen for Neonatal Jaundice: Validation, Feasibility, and Acceptability of the Bili-Ruler in Kumasi, Ghana.

Background: Neonatal jaundice (NNJ) remains a leading cause of newborn mortality in much of sub-Saharan Africa. We sought to examine the validity of using a hand-held icterometer as a screening tool to determine which newborns need further assessment. Additionally, we sought to assess the feasibility of its use among mothers.

Sedentary Behaviour and Its Correlates Among Older Adults in Malaysia.

Sedentary behaviors (SBs), which are low-energy, wakeful activities performed in a sitting, reclining, or lying posture, are independently associated with numerous adverse health outcomes, including mental health disorders, non-communicable diseases, and an increased risk of mortality. This study investigated associations between sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, mental health, nutritional status, social support, functional limitations, and SB among older persons in Malaysia. Data from 3977 individuals aged 60 years and above, extracted from the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2018, were analyzed using complex samples logistic regression.

Feasibility pilot of a novel coaching intervention to optimize cannabis use for chronic pain management among Veterans.

Introduction: Chronic pain is common among Veterans, some of whom use cannabis for pain. We conducted a feasibility pilot study of a novel coaching intervention to help Veterans optimize use of medical cannabis products for pain management (NCT06320470).

Methods: The intervention drew from scientific literature, consultation with cannabis experts, Veteran input via a Community Advisory Board, and tenets of motivational interviewing.

Surgery impairs glymphatic activity and cognitive function in aged mice.

Delirium is a common complication in elderly surgical patients and is associated with an increased risk of dementia. Although advanced age is a major risk factor, the mechanisms underlying postoperative delirium remain poorly understood. The glymphatic system, a brain-wide network of perivascular pathways, facilitates cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow and supports the clearance of metabolic waste.

LLT1 overexpression renders allogeneic-NK resistance and facilitates the generation of enhanced universal CAR-T cells.

Background: The benefit of universal CAR-T cells over autologous CAR-T cell therapy is that they are a treatment that is ready to use. However, the prevention of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and host-versus-graft reaction (HVGR) remains challenging. Deleting class I of human leukocyte antigen (HLA-I) and class II of human leukocyte antigen (HLA-II) can prevent rejection by allogeneic T cells; however, natural killer (NK) cell rejection due to the loss of self-recognition remains unresolved.

A randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial of ketamine in Rett syndrome.

Background: Preclinical studies and anecdotal case reports support the potential therapeutic benefit of low-dose oral ketamine as a treatment of clinical symptoms in Rett syndrome (RTT); however, no controlled studies have been conducted in RTT to evaluate safety, tolerability and efficacy.

Design: This was a sequentially initiated, dose-escalating cohort, placebo-controlled, double blind, randomized sequence, cross-over study of oral ketamine in 6-12-year-old girls with RTT to evaluate short-term safety and tolerability and explore efficacy.

Methods: Participants were randomized to either five days treatment with oral ketamine or matched placebo, followed by a nine-day wash-out period and then crossed-over to the opposite treatment.

Elevated Fecal Lipocalin-2 Levels During Early Life Are Associated with Maternal Inflammatory Bowel Disease Diagnosis.

Background: Fecal lipocalin-2 (LCN2) is a biomarker of neutrophil activation, which is elevated in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); however, its dynamic changes during pregnancy and early life are largely unknown. We characterized LCN2 levels by maternal IBD diagnosis, offspring feeding behavior, and gut microbiota composition.

Methods: In the prospective MECONIUM (Exploring Mechanisms of Disease Transmission In Utero through the Microbiome) study, we analyzed 559 fecal samples from 91 pregnant women with IBD, 78 healthy controls, and their 147 offspring for LCN2 levels at each trimester of pregnancy and multiple time points during early life using linear mixed-effects model and multiple logistic regression analyses.

E-Cigarette Use and Depression Among American Indian Adults Who Smoke.

Objective: This study examined the association of e-cigarette use status and history of depression among American Indian (AI) adults who smoke.

Method: We conducted a secondary data analysis using survey data from 375 AI adult smokers collected in 2016 at a tribally operated healthcare facility in northeast Oklahoma. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the association between e-cigarette use and self-reported history of depression while adjusting for potential confounders.

Defining Hyperphagia for Improved Diagnosis and Management of MC4R Pathway-Associated Disease: A Roundtable Summary.

Purpose Of Review: Hyperphagia is a condition associated with rare obesity-related diseases, presenting as a pathologic, insatiable hunger accompanied by abnormal food-seeking behaviors. In October 2023, a group of researchers and clinicians with expert knowledge on hyperphagia convened at the annual ObesityWeek meeting to discuss the need for a unified definition of hyperphagia and key items necessary to improve the identification, assessment, and treatment of hyperphagia in patients with melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) pathway-associated diseases.

Recent Findings: The definition of hyperphagia proposed by this group is a pathologic, insatiable hunger accompanied by abnormal food-seeking behaviors.

Functional genomics pipeline identifies CRL4 inhibition for the treatment of ovarian cancer.

Background: The goal of precision oncology is to find effective therapeutics for every patient. Through the inclusion of emerging therapeutics in a high-throughput drug screening platform, our functional genomics pipeline inverts the common paradigm to identify patient populations that are likely to benefit from novel therapeutic strategies.

Approach: Utilizing drug screening data across a panel of 46 cancer cell lines from 11 tumor lineages, we identified an ovarian cancer-specific sensitivity to the first-in-class CRL4 inhibitors KH-4-43 and 33-11.

Increased use of damage control laparotomy for emergency small bowel or colon surgery: does it affect patient outcomes?

Purpose: Evidence to guide the application of damage control laparotomy (DCL) in emergency surgery patients is limited. We assessed whether DCL use for emergent small bowel or colon surgery increased over time and its impact on outcomes. We hypothesized that DCL would be utilized more often in patients with significant comorbidities or septic shock with improved outcomes.

NONAN GaitPrint: An IMU gait database of healthy older adults.

The continued effort to study gait kinematics and the increased interest in identifying individuals based on their gait patterns could be strengthened by the inclusion of data from older groups. To address this need and complement our previous database on healthy young adults, we present an addition to the Nonlinear Analysis Core (NONAN) GaitPrint database. We offer full-body inertial measurement data during self-paced overground walking on a 200 m indoor track of 41 older adults (56 + years old; 20 men and 21 women; age: 64.

NKp46 enhances type 1 innate lymphoid cell proliferation and function and anti-acute myeloid leukemia activity.

NKp46 is a critical regulator of natural killer (NK) cell immunity, but its function in non-NK innate immune cells remains unclear. Here, we show that NKp46 is indispensable for expressing IL-2 receptor-α (IL-2Rα) by non-NK liver-resident type-1 innate lymphoid cells (ILC1s). Deletion of NKp46 reduces IL-2Rα on ILC1s by downregulating NF-κB signaling, thus impairing ILC1 proliferation and cytotoxicity in vitro and in vivo.

Patient-reported outcomes in sarcopenia: An ICFSR task force report.

The International Conference on Frailty and Sarcopenia Research (ICFSR) Task Force convened in March 2024 to address patient-reported outcomes measures (PROMs) in the field of sarcopenia. PROMs are crucial to enhance healthcare services at both individual and societal levels. PROMs complement objective outcome measures by capturing insights that patients are best suited to judge.

Detection of Amblyomma maculatum and Rickettsia parkeri in prairies of Central Missouri.

The destruction and decline of prairie habitats due to landscape repurposing have profoundly impacted the diversity of plant, animal, and insect life. In the Central United States, the reconstruction of prairie habitats from farmland is a widely applied strategy to raise diversity and recreate a healthy, complex ecosystem. In Central Missouri, we examine the consequences of reconstruction efforts on the prevalence of zoonotic diseases and their associated pathogens by performing tick-flagging at two prairie sites.

Characteristics of children and adolescents with multidrug-resistant and rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis and their association with treatment outcomes: a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis.

Background: There are few data on the treatment of children and adolescents with multidrug-resistant (MDR) or rifampicin-resistant (RR) tuberculosis, especially with more recently available drugs and regimens. We aimed to describe the clinical and treatment characteristics and their associations with treatment outcomes in this susceptible population.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis.

Tenzing Assisted Delivery of Aspiration (TADA) technique for thrombectomy of medium vessel occlusions using the Freeclimb 54 catheter: multicenter experience.

Background: Medium vessel occlusions (MeVOs) account for 25-40% of acute ischemic stroke. The Tenzing 5 (Route 92 Medical, San Mateo, California, USA) and FreeClimb 54 (Route 92 Medical, San Mateo, California, USA) catheter is a novel delivery-aspiration catheter combination designed to facilitate aspiration thrombectomy (AT) of MeVOs. We report our clinical experience using the Tenzing assisted delivery of aspiration (TADA) technique with FreeClimb 54 for first-line AT of MeVO.