Bilateral hippocampal toxicity in a patient using kratom.

As an emerging toxic recreational drug, kratom use has been associated with a range of adverse effects, but reports of structural changes in the central nervous system are rare. We report a case of a young man in his 20s with a history of anxiety and depression who presented with an altered mental status and anterograde and retrograde amnesia following kratom use. His labs showed elevated alanine aminotransferase and ammonia levels, and his MRI revealed bilateral hippocampal T2 hyperintensity signal changes.

Cardiovascular, cancer, and infection risks of Janus kinase inhibitors in rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis: A nationwide cohort study.

Background: Evolving evidence suggests that patients undergoing treatment with Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi) may face an increased risk of cardiovascular events, malignancies, and serious infections.

Objectives: We assessed cardiovascular, malignancy, and serious infection risks associated with JAKi use compared to tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) use, which served as the active comparator, in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or ulcerative colitis (UC).

Methods: This study emulated a target trial using South Korea's nationwide claims database (2013-2023).

Association of depression dimensions with cognitive functioning in community-dwelling oldest old adults: The LifeAfter90 study.

Objectives: The oldest old adults (90+) constitute the fastest growing demographic at highest dementia risk among older adults. Depression, a common risk factor, inherently presents with heterogeneous clinical manifestations. Here, we explored the associations of the predominant depression dimensions with cognition in the LifeAfter90 study.

A multi-cohort study of longitudinal and cross-sectional Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in cognitively unimpaired older adults.

Introduction: The generalizability of neuroimaging and cognitive biomarkers in their sensitivity to detect preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) and power to predict progression in large, multisite cohorts remains unclear.

Method: Longitudinal demographics, T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and cognitive scores of 3036 cognitively unimpaired (CU) older adults (amyloid beta [Aβ]-negative/positive [A-/A+]: 1270/1558) were included. Cross-sectional and longitudinal cognition and medial temporal lobe (MTL) structural measures were extracted.

Small Nucleolar RNAs and the Brain: Growing Evidence Supporting Their Role in Psychiatric Disorders.

Noncoding RNAs comprise most of the transcriptome and represent an emerging area of research. Among them, small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) have emerged as a promising target because they have been associated with the development and evolution of several diseases, including psychiatric disorders. snoRNAs are expressed in the brain, with some showing brain-specific expression that indicates specific roles in brain development, function, and dysfunction.

AI-assisted exposure-response data analysis: Quantifying heterogeneous causal effects of exposures on survival times.

AI-assisted data analysis can help risk analysts better understand exposure-response relationships by making it relatively easy to apply advanced statistical and machine learning methods, check their assumptions, and interpret their results. This paper demonstrates the potential of large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, to facilitate statistical analyses, including survival data analyses, for health risk assessments. Through AI-guided analyses using relatively recent and advanced methods such as Individual Conditional Expectation (ICE) plots using Random Survival Forests and Heterogeneous Treatment Effects (HTEs) estimated using Causal Survival Forests, population-level exposure-response functions can be disaggregated into individual-level exposure-response functions.

Cost-Effectiveness of Serum Pepsinogen as a Gastric Cancer Targeted Screening Strategy in the United States.

Background And Aims: Current gastric cancer (GC) screening modalities are invasive and expensive. Noninvasive screening for GC precursors with serum pepsinogen (PG) may improve early detection and prevention. Test characteristics of PG based on US prospective data was recently reported and used to study the cost-effectiveness of PG screening vs no screening in the US.

Recycling of Post-Consumer Waste Polystyrene Using Commercial Plastic Additives.

Photothermal conversion can promote plastic depolymerization (chemical recycling to a monomer) through light-to-heat conversion. The highly localized temperature gradient near the photothermal agent surface allows selective heating with spatial control not observed with bulk pyrolysis. However, identifying and incorporating practical photothermal agents into plastics for end-of-life depolymerization have not been realized.

Characterizing Wellness Initiatives in Academic Radiation Oncology Departments.

Purpose: Burnout is prevalent in radiation oncology (RO), and an increased focus on promoting physician wellness and formalizing wellness-directed efforts has transpired in recent years. We aimed to characterize current wellness leadership positions and efforts within academic RO departments.

Methods And Materials: Academic RO department chairs were contacted to inquire whether they had a departmental wellness leader with a request for leader contact information, if applicable.

Medical malpractice litigation following humeral fractures in the United States.

Background: The purpose of this study is to characterize malpractice claims against orthopedic surgeons treating humeral fractures and determine factors associated with plaintiff verdicts and settlements.

Methods: The Westlaw legal database was queried for all cases involving humeral fractures. Patient demographics, causes cited for litigation, case outcomes, and indemnity payments were collected to determine common factors that lead plaintiffs to pursue legal action.

Meningioma in the fourth ventricle in 2 cats.

Feline meningiomas typically arise on the surface of the brain but can occur in the third ventricle. Meningiomas in the fourth ventricle have not been reported in cats, to our knowledge. Here, we describe the clinical and pathologic findings of meningioma in the fourth ventricle in 2 cats.

Evaluation of the Effect of Loperamide on the Cardiac Repolarization Interval Using Exposure-Response Analysis.

This analysis assessed the relationship between the plasma concentrations of loperamide and its N-desmethyl loperamide meta- bolite (M1) and the potential QT interval prolongation at therapeutic and supratherapeutic doses. The exposure-response analysis was performed using the data from healthy adults participating in a randomized, double-blind, single-dose, four-way (placebo; loperamide 8 mg [therapeutic]; loperamide 48 mg [supratherapeutic]; moxifloxacin 400 mg [positive control]) crossover study. The electrocardiographic measurements extracted from 12-lead digital Holter recordings were time-matched to pharmacokinetic sampling of loperamide/M1.

Erenumab in a patient with persistent headaches after subarachnoid hemorrhage: A case report of an effective treatment.

A patient with persistent refractory headaches from aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage was treated with monthly erenumab injections, a monoclonal antibody to the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor. These injections decreased the frequency and severity of the patient's debilitating headaches from daily to once or twice per month with positive improvement in function and quality of life. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case in the literature of a patient with persistent post-subarachnoid hemorrhage headache that was successfully treated with an antibody against the CGRP receptor.

Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex: An Anatomical and Medical Illustration Study.

Recent advances in small-joint arthroscopy and cutting-edge magnetic resonance imaging systems have enabled orthopedic surgeons to perform more complex repairs of the wrist. Such repairs can include those of the triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) of the wrist that necessitates a reappraisal of its morphometry with special emphasis on the relationship between its articular disc (AD) and surrounding tissues. The TFCC AD is a fibrocartilaginous, biconcave structure located between the ulnar styloid process and the carpal bones of the wrist.

A Qualitative Analysis of Immigrant Latinx Housecleaners' Experiences of How Power Relations With "Employers" Influence Working Conditions in New York City: The Safe and Just Cleaners Study.

Background: Housecleaning work has been characterized as precarious employment with unstable work hours, arbitrary and low pay and benefits, and exposures to chemical, physical, and psychosocial stressors. Understanding how interpersonal power dynamics between workers and clients, a component of precarious work, contributes to work exposures can inform and improve prevention programs.

Methods: We used reflexive thematic analysis of data from seven focus groups with Latinx immigrant housecleaners in New York City to explore workers' experience of interpersonal power dynamics with their clients-whom they referred to as their "employers"-and its influences on working conditions.

The efficacy of pulsed radiofrequency ablation of the dorsal root ganglion in the setting of failed spinal neuromodulation: A case report.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is an interventional procedure that has been used to treat chronic back pain for over 50 years; this unique case report demonstrates the effectiveness of pulsed radiofrequency ablation (PRFA) on the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) in the treatment of chronic radicular pain (Russo et al., 2021, J Pain Res, 14, 3897). The RFA provides pain relief by using thermal energy to disrupt peripheral nerves carrying nociceptive signals back to the central nervous system (Abd-Elsayed et al.

Precision in Liver Diagnosis: Varied Accuracy Across Subgroups and the Need for Variable Thresholds in Diagnosis of MASLD.

Background And Aims: The performance of non-invasive liver tests (NITs) is known to vary across settings and subgroups. We systematically evaluated whether the performance of three NITs in detecting advanced fibrosis in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) varies with age, sex, body mass index (BMI), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) status or liver enzymes.

Methods: Data from 586 adult LITMUS Metacohort participants with histologically characterised MASLD were included.

Likes and Hashtags: Exploring the Potential Relationship Between Social Media use and the Emotional Wellbeing of Oncology Professionals.

Purpose: To explore the potential relationship between social media (SoMe) and burnout or overall wellbeing within the field of oncology.

Design: A cross-sectional study of adult and pediatric oncology professionals conducted using an anonymous electronic survey. The survey was disseminated through the Children's Oncology Group (COG) and the SWOG Cancer Research Network (SWOG) member listservs.