Design and Characterization of a Gene-Encoding DNA Nanoparticle in a Cell-Free Transcription-Translation System.

DNA nanotechnology has made initial progress toward developing gene-encoded DNA origami nanoparticles (NPs) that display potential utility for future gene therapy applications. However, due to the challenges involved with gene delivery into cells including transport through the membrane, intracellular targeting, and inherent expression of nucleases along with interference from other active proteins, it can be difficult to more directly study the effect of DNA NP design on subsequent gene expression. In this work, we demonstrate an approach for studying the expression of gene-encoding DNA origami NPs without the use of cells.

Do delayed responses introduce bias in ecological momentary assessment? Evidence from comparisons between self-reported and objective physical activity.

Introduction: Delayed responses are a common yet often overlooked aspect of participant compliance in ecological momentary assessment (EMA) research. This study investigated whether response delays introduce selection bias in the moments captured by EMA.

Methods: Participants ( = 339) self-reported their physical activity behaviors using EMA five times a day over 7 days while wearing a continuous physical activity monitor.

Black Children's Perceptions of Parental Support and Parenting Practices: 6-Month Weight Loss and Retention in a Pediatric Weight Management Program.

Objective: Black families are less likely to continue in pediatric weight management programs (PWMPs) and have less optimal outcomes. Few studies have examined how parenting practices and perceived support influence Black children's retention and weight loss in PWMPs.

Method: To fill this gap, this study sampled Black children and their parent ( = 49) who were participating in a Midwest PWMP to explore how children's reports of parental support and parenting practices at program initiation associate with early weight loss 3- and 6-month and retention at 6-month in the PWMP.

Improving the Clinical Diagnostic Criteria for Genetically Confirmed Adult-Onset Huntington Disease: Considering Nonmotor Presentations.

Background: Huntington disease (HD) is a genetic neurodegenerative disorder. Given the focus on motor manifestations, nonmotor symptoms are frequently underappreciated in clinical evaluations, despite frequently contributing to primary functional impairment.

Recent Findings: A diagnosis of motor-onset as the definition of manifest symptoms misrepresents the complex nature of HD presentation.

Wood-loving magic mushrooms from Australia are saprotrophic invaders in the Northern Hemisphere.

Magic mushrooms are fungi that produce psilocybin, an entheogen with long-term cultural use and a breakthrough compound for treatment of mental health disorders. Fungal populations separated by geography are candidates for allopatric speciation, yet species connectivity typically persists because there is minimal divergence at functional parts of mating compatibility genes. We studied whether connectivity is maintained across populations of a widespread species complex of magic mushrooms that has infiltrated the Northern Hemisphere from a hypothesised centre of origin in Australasia.

Multi-Omics Analysis for Identifying Cell-Type-Specific Druggable Targets in Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Analyzing disease-linked genetic variants via expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) is important for identifying potential disease-causing genes. Previous research prioritized genes by integrating Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) results with tissue-level eQTLs. Recent studies have explored brain cell type-specific eQTLs, but they lack a systematic analysis across various Alzheimer's disease (AD) GWAS datasets, nor did they compare effects between tissue and cell type levels or across different cell type-specific eQTL datasets.

Subcontinental Genetic Diversity in the Research Program: Implications for Biomedical Research.

The Research Program () seeks to accelerate biomedical research and address the underrepresentation of minorities by recruiting over one million ethnically diverse participants across the United States. A key question is how self-identification with discrete, predefined race and ethnicity categories compares to genetic diversity at continental and subcontinental levels. To contextualize the genetic diversity in , we analyzed ~2 million common variants from 230,016 unrelated whole genomes using classical population genetics methods, alongside reference panels such as the 1000 Genomes Project, Human Genome Diversity Project, and Simons Genome Diversity Project.

Rev-RRE activity modulates HIV-1 replication and latency reactivation: Implications for viral persistence and cure strategies.

The HIV-1 Rev-RRE regulatory axis plays a crucial role in viral replication by facilitating the nucleo-cytoplasmic export and expression of viral mRNAs with retained introns. In this study, we investigated the impact of variation in Rev-RRE functional activity on HIV-1 replication kinetics and reactivation from latency. Using a novel HIV-1 clone with an interchangeable Rev cassette, we engineered viruses with different Rev functional activities and demonstrated that higher Rev-RRE activity confers greater viral replication capacity while maintaining a constant level of Nef expression.

A post-assembly conformational change makes the SARS-CoV-2 polymerase elongation-competent.

Coronaviruses (CoV) encode sixteen non-structural proteins (nsps), most of which form the replication-transcription complex (RTC). The RTC contains a core composed of one nsp12 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), two nsp8s and one nsp7. The core RTC recruits other nsps to synthesize all viral RNAs within the infected cell.

Site-specific DNA demethylation during spermatogenesis presets the sites of nucleosome retention in mouse sperm.

DNA methylation patterns are inherited from the parental germline to the embryo. In mature sperm, the sites of unmethylated DNA are tightly coupled to sites of histone retention at gene regulatory elements that are implicated in paternal epigenetic inheritance. The timing and mechanism of site-specific DNA demethylation in the male germline currently remains unknown.

The Sugar-Coated Truth: The Quality of Diabetes Health Information on TikTok.

This study aimed to assess diabetes health information found on TikTok and quantify misinformation on TikTok. The authors assessed 171 videos through two health literacy tools, DISCERN and the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Materials, to rate the understandability and actionability of online medical content. The findings from this study encourage health care professionals to use social media platforms to provide factual information about diabetes and advise online health care consumers to use reputable sources such as trusted diabetes organizations' social media accounts, which tend to validate content with clinicians.

Comparison of Diabetes Education Content Experienced by Blind and Nonblind People With Diabetes.

This survey sought to examine disparities in diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) to illuminate gaps underlying morbidity and mortality disparities experienced by blind people with diabetes and develop a pathway for improved health care delivery and health outcomes. Blind participants were more likely to report getting DSMES on strategies to promote treatment adherence and noncompliance with medical regimen; yet, blind and nonblind participants did not differ on primary care provider visits or amount of time spent in diabetes education. These findings suggest that DSMES content may differ for blind versus nonblind participants.

Native Point Defects Controlling Piezoelectric Voltage in Strained ZnO Microwires.

Piezovoltages generated by ZnO nano/microwire bending and strain enable electronic biogenerators that harvest human body movement to power-implanted biomedical devices. Currently, low voltages generated by these biogenerators limit their use to replace today's biomedical batteries. Electrically charged native point defects inside ZnO microwires can control these macroscopic piezo voltages, generating transverse electric fields that couple with strained wires' lengthwise piezoelectric fields so they redistribute spatially and change voltage output.

Starting a Prehospital Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Program.

Background: Over 2.7 million people have an opioid use disorder (OUD). Opioid-related deaths have steadily increased over the last decade.

Measurement Invariance on the Nine-Item Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder Screen (NIAS) by Age and Reporter Status: Comparing ARFID Symptoms Among Self-Reporting Adults and Adolescents and Parent Reports of Children and Adolescents.

Objective: Self-report measures of ARFID symptoms (e.g., Nine-Item Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder Screen [NIAS]) are used to assess symptom differences between groups.

Prenatal Care of Parents Who Continued Pregnancies With Down Syndrome, 2003-2022.

Parents of children with Down syndrome have historically reported poor experiences receiving a prenatal diagnosis. In a 2003 survey, mothers reported that their physicians pitied them, emphasized negative aspects of Down syndrome, and encouraged them to terminate the pregnancy. This study assesses whether parents' perceptions have since improved.

Neighborhood Social Processes and Adolescents' Depressive Symptoms: The Intervening Role of Neighborhood Self-Efficacy.

Via observational data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods collected between 1994 and 2001, this study examined the degree to which neighborhood disorder, collective efficacy, and youth-centered institutional resources are directly associated with adolescents' depressive symptoms across time, and the mediating role of adolescents'neighborhood self-efficacy. Latent variable structural equation models were estimated among an unweighted representative sample of 1448 adolescents (59% male, mean age 15.19), across 79 neighborhoods in Chicago, to examine the direct effects of neighborhood disorder, collective efficacy, and availability of youth-centered resources at baseline (measured at timepoint 1; reported by an independent sample of Chicago adults) on adolescents' depressive symptoms (measured a timepoint 3), and the mediating effect of adolescents' neighborhood-anchored self-efficacy (measured at timepoint 2).

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels in morphine-addicted rodents under different exercise protocols: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: Exercise might restore morphine-induced behavioural and molecular changes, but related evidence is inconsistent. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of animal studies to elucidate the contribution of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) to exercise effects on morphine addiction.

Methods: We searched papers published until May 25, 2024, in databases, manually searched related references, screened eligible studies, and extracted relevant data.

Oronasal mucosal melanoma is defined by two transcriptional subtypes in humans and dogs with implications for diagnosis and therapy.

Mucosal melanoma is a rare melanoma subtype associated with a poor prognosis and limited existing therapeutic interventions, in part due to a lack of actionable targets and translational animal models for preclinical trials. Comprehensive data on this tumour type are scarce, and existing data often overlooks the importance of the anatomical site of origin. We evaluated human and canine oronasal mucosal melanoma (OMM) to determine whether the common canine disease could inform the rare human equivalent.

Proteasome inhibition enhances oncolytic reovirus therapy in multiple myeloma independently of its direct cytotoxic effects.

Background: Reovirus (RV) is an oncolytic virus with natural tropism for cancer cells. We previously showed that RV administration in multiple myeloma (MM) patients was safe, but disease control associated with viral replication in the cancer cells was not observed. The combination with proteasome inhibitors (PIs) has shown to enhance RV therapeutic activity, but the mechanisms of action have not been fully elucidated.

Synergistic Adhesion and Shape Deformation in Nanowire-Structured Liquid Crystal Elastomers.

Nature provides many examples of the benefits of nanoscopic surface structures in areas of adhesion and antifouling. Herein, the design, fabrication, and characterization of liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) films are presented with nanowire surface structures that exhibit tunable stimuli-responsive deformations and enhanced adhesion properties. The LCE films are shown to curl toward the side with the nanowires when stimulated by heat or organic solvent vapors.

Recovery trajectories after major abdominal surgery: A retrospective pooled cohort study.

Background: Recovery from major surgery can be difficult to predict given the many factors involved in treating disease and restoring preoperative function. Postoperative recovery metrics such as length of stay, complications, and mortality are typically described. However, large data quantities for patient-reported recovery are scarce.

Proposed resources required for a comprehensive program for CCT CHD imaging.

Background: Cardiac Computed Tomography (CCT) is increasingly used for evaluation of congenital heart disease (CHD) in patients of all ages. Pediatric and adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) surgical programs require high quality CCT imaging as part of the multimodality imaging support expected of comprehensive care centers. Despite these expectations, there are no benchmarks or defined programmatic elements specific to the performance of CCT in patients with CHD.

Functional Radiosurgery in the Management of Cancer Pain: A Comprehensive Review.

Functional radiosurgery is a minimally invasive and highly precise approach to managing refractory cancer pain, offering targeted interventions for both nociceptive and neuropathic pain mechanisms. By focusing on key neuroanatomical targets, such as the thalamus, cingulate cortex, pituitary gland, celiac plexus, and dorsal root ganglia, functional radiosurgery provides effective relief for complex pain syndromes that are often unresponsive to conventional therapies. Advances in imaging and treatment delivery have enhanced the safety and efficacy of these techniques, allowing clinicians to tailor interventions to individual patients.