Assessing Links Between Alcohol Exposure and Firearm Violence: A Scoping Review Update.

Background: Firearm violence remains a leading cause of death and injury in the United States. Prior research supports that alcohol exposures, including individual-level alcohol use and alcohol control policies, are modifiable risk factors for firearm violence, yet additional research is needed to support prevention efforts.

Objectives: This scoping review aims to update a prior 2016 systematic review on the links between alcohol exposure and firearm violence to examine whether current studies indicate causal links between alcohol use, alcohol interventions, and firearm violence-related outcomes.

Considerations and recommendations for collaborative research networks in epidemiology: Lessons learned from the diabetes LEAD Network.

Multi-site and multi-organizational teams are increasingly common in epidemiologic research; however, there is a lack of standards or best practices for achieving success in collaborative research networks in epidemiology. We summarize our experiences and lessons learned from the Diabetes Location, Environmental Attributes, and Disparities (LEAD) Network, a collaborative agreement between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and research teams at Drexel University, New York University, Johns Hopkins University and Geisinger, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. We present a roadmap for success in collaborative epidemiologic research, with recommendations focused on the following areas to maximize efficiency and success in collaborative research agreements: 1) operational and administrative considerations; 2) data access and sharing of sensitive data; 3) aligning network research aims; 4) harmonization of methods and measures; and 5) dissemination of findings.

Impact of Pediatric Palliative Care on Goal Concordant Care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Context: Little is known about the prevalence of goal-concordant care (GCC) in the NICU and whether it can be measured from chart data.

Objectives: To determine if GCC can be evaluated using chart data, to identify factors associated with GCC, and to evaluate the impact of pediatric palliative care (PPC) consultation on GCC.

Methods: Retrospective review of infants who died in a level IV NICU over a 10-year period (2014-2024).

Metabolic dysfunction in mice with adipocyte specific ablation of the adenosine A2A receptor.

It has been well established that adenosine plays a key role in the control of inflammation through G protein coupled receptors and recently shown that it can regulate thermogenesis. Here we investigated the specific requirements of the adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) in mature adipocytes for thermogenic functionality and metabolic homeostasis. We generated fat tissue specific adenosine A2A receptor knock-out mice to assess the influence of signaling through this receptor on brown and beige fat functionality, obesity, insulin sensitivity, inflammation and liver function.

Neutralizing antibody immune correlates in COVAIL trial recipients of an mRNA second COVID-19 vaccine boost.

Neutralizing antibody titer has been a surrogate endpoint for guiding COVID-19 vaccine approval and use, although the pandemic's evolution and the introduction of variant-adapted vaccine boosters raise questions as to this surrogate's contemporary performance. For 985 recipients of an mRNA second bivalent or monovalent booster containing various Spike inserts [Prototype (Ancestral), Beta, Delta, and/or Omicron BA.1 or BA.

Racial disparities in lung transplantation for cystic fibrosis in the era of highly effective modulator therapy.

Background: Highly effective modulator therapies (HEMT) including ivacaftor (IVA) and elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor (ETI) have transformed treatment for people with cystic fibrosis (pwCF). However, non-HEMT-responsive mutations are more common in pwCF of non-White race/ethnicity; introduction of HEMT might have exacerbated racial/ethnic disparities in CF care.

Methods: Using the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, we identified all lung transplant candidates and recipients 05/2005-12/2022 and categorized them by diagnosis (CF/non-CF), race/ethnicity (non-Hispanic White/Black/Hispanic) and era [Pre-HEMT (2005-1/30/2012), IVA (1/31/2012-10/30/2019), ETI (10/31/2019-12/31/2022)].

Advances in the understanding and therapeutic manipulation of cancer immune responsiveness: a Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) review.

Cancer immunotherapy-including immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) and adoptive cell therapy (ACT)-has become a standard, potentially curative treatment for a subset of advanced solid and liquid tumors. However, most patients with cancer do not benefit from the rapidly evolving improvements in the understanding of principal mechanisms determining cancer immune responsiveness (CIR); including patient-specific genetically determined and acquired factors, as well as intrinsic cancer cell biology. Though CIR is multifactorial, fundamental concepts are emerging that should be considered for the design of novel therapeutic strategies and related clinical studies.

Measuring Talker Age Estimates Through Crowdsourced Listeners' Ratings: A Pilot Study for Voice Research.

Purpose: Most auditory-perceptual voice research utilizes the judgments of trained listeners rather than everyday listeners with no previous training in speech pathology. Online crowdsourcing of behavioral data from untrained participants is rapidly increasing in popularity but has yet to be a common procedure for auditory-perceptual studies of the voice. The objective of this pilot study was to assess the functionality of this model for judgments of voice by using an online experiment platform to replicate a lab-based, voice-specific age estimation study.

The risks of pityriasis rosea in pregnancy: a review.

Objective: This review aims to consolidate available evidence, identify research gaps, and advocate for a more informed approach to the management of pityriasis rosea in pregnant individuals.

Data Sources: PubMed, Web of Science, and Directory of Open Access Journals were systematically searched based on the keywords "pityriasis rosea," "pityriasis circinate," "roseola annulate," "herpes tonsurans maculosus," "herald patch," and "pregnancy" on January 25, 2024 for publications between 1950 to 2024.

Study Selection: Studies containing outcomes data for pregnant patients with established PR were included.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss - A Comorbidity Lens.

Objective: To determine the outcomes of patients receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy for sudden sensorineural hearing loss and the impact of patient comorbidities on outcomes.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Spontaneous slow cortical potentials and brain oscillations independently influence conscious visual perception.

Perceptual awareness results from an intricate interaction between external sensory input and the brain's spontaneous activity. Pre-stimulus ongoing activity influencing conscious perception includes both brain oscillations in the alpha (7 to 14 Hz) and beta (14 to 30 Hz) frequency ranges and aperiodic activity in the slow cortical potential (SCP, <5 Hz) range. However, whether brain oscillations and SCPs independently influence conscious perception or do so through shared mechanisms remains unknown.

Anti-Amyloid Therapies for Alzheimer's Disease and Amyloid-Related Imaging Abnormalities: Implications for the Emergency Medicine Clinician.

Alzheimer's disease is the neurodegenerative disorder responsible for approximately 60% to 70% of all cases of dementia and is expected to affect 152 million by 2050. Recently, anti-amyloid therapies have been developed and approved by the Food and Drug Administration as disease-modifying treatments given as infusions every 2 to 5 weeks for Alzheimer's disease. Although this is an important milestone in mitigating Alzheimer's disease progression, it is critical for emergency medicine clinicians to understand what anti-amyloid therapies are and how they work to recognize, treat, and mitigate their adverse effects.

Material Goods Provided in Pediatric Primary Care Clinics: A Landscape Analysis.

Objectives: To characterize the 1) types of material goods (non-medical items) offered in pediatric residency continuity clinics, 2) consistency of good availability, 3) funding sources used to support supply, 4) whether goods are provided in response to social needs screening, and 5) common challenges with provision. To assess the extent to which provision of goods varied by clinic size and proportion of publicly insured patients.

Methods: Faculty and staff members from clinics in the Academic Pediatric Association's Continuity Research Network (APA CORNET) completed an online survey about material goods provided in their clinic in the preceding 12 months.

Malnutrition in Spine Oncology: Where Are We and What Are We Measuring?

Study Design: Scoping review.

Objective: To identify which markers are used as surrogates for malnutrition in metastatic spine disease and which are the most studied outcomes associated with it.

Methods: A scoping review was performed by searching the PubMed/Medline, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases up to July 2022.

Towards a comprehensive definition of the human fascial system.

The absence of a clear consensus on the definition and significance of fascia and the indiscriminate use of the term throughout the clinical and scientific literature has led to skepticism regarding its importance in the human body. To address this challenge, we propose that: (1) fasciae, and the fascial interstitia within them, constitute an anatomical system, defined as a layered body-wide multiscale network of connective tissue that allows tensional loading and shearing mobility along its interfaces; (2) the fascial system comprises four anatomical organs: the superficial fascia, musculoskeletal (deep) fascia, visceral fascia, and neural fascia; (3) these organs are further composed of anatomical structures, some of which are eponymous; (4) all these fascial organs and their structural components contain variable combinations and arrangements of the four classically defined tissues: epithelial, connective, muscle, and neural; (5) the overarching functions of the fascial system arise from the contrasting biomechanical properties of the two basic types of layers distributed throughout the system: one predominantly collagenous and relatively stiff, the other rich in hyaluronic acid and viscous, allowing for the free flow of fluid; (6) the topographical organization of these layers in different locations is related to local variations in function (e.g.

Assessing Clinical Improvement of Infants Hospitalized for Respiratory Syncytial Virus-Related Critical Illness.

Background: Pediatric respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-related acute lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) commonly requires hospitalization. The Clinical Progression Scale Pediatrics (CPS-Ped) measures level of respiratory support and degree of hypoxia across a range of disease severity, but it has not been applied in infants hospitalized with severe RSV-LRTI.

Methods: We analyzed data from a prospective surveillance registry of infants hospitalized for RSV-related complications across 39 U.

Social Network Barriers to Extended-Release Naltrexone Within Rural Appalachia: Perspectives from Justice-Involved Clients and Clinicians.

Background: Extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX, Vivitrol) is an effective, but underutilized, evidence-based treatment for people with opioid use disorder (POUD) who are incarcerated. Networks of family, friends, and clinicians serve as social influencers of health behaviors, including XR-NTX initiation, and are especially salient in Appalachia.

Objectives: Using a triangulation of perspectives, this study examined concordance between the social network themes that emerged from qualitative interviews with clinicians and POUD social network findings.

Relationship between community characteristics and impact of calorie labeling on fast-food purchases.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate potential sources of heterogeneity in the effect of calorie labeling on fast-food purchases among restaurants located in areas with different neighborhood characteristics.

Methods: In a quasi-experimental design, using transaction data from 2329 Taco Bell restaurants across the United States between 2008 and 2014, we estimated the relationships of census tract-level income, racial and ethnic composition, and urbanicity with the impacts of calorie labeling on calories purchased per transaction.

Results: Calorie labeling led to small, absolute reductions in calories purchased across all population subgroups, ranging between -9.

Lifetime risk and projected burden of dementia.

Understanding the lifetime risk of dementia can inform public health planning and improve patient engagement in prevention. Using data from a community-based, prospective cohort study (n = 15,043; 26.9% Black race, 55.

The change of alanine aminotransferase distributions among US youths, NHANES 1988-2020.

Objectives: The trend of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), a biomarker of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD, formerly known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease), remains poorly described for the pediatric population because no widely accepted cutoffs are available to categorize ALT value. We described the nuanced changes in the distribution of ALT continuous values.

Study Design: We analyzed the data from 15,702 adolescents aged 12-19 who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys between 1988 and 2020.