Trends and Disparities in Parkinson's Disease Mortality in the United States with Predictions Using Machine Learning.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition characterized by the degradation of dopaminergic pathways in the brain. As the population in the United States continues to age, it is essential to understand the trends in mortality related to PD. This analysis of PD's mortality characterizes temporal shifts, examines demographic and regional differences, and provides machine-learning predictions.

Intravesical vancomycin for the treatment of Corynebacterium cystitis and struvite bladder stones: A case report.

Urologic patients with anatomic abnormalities can be particularly susceptible to urinary tract infections (UTI). UTI with urease-producing bacteria can promote struvite urinary calculi and pose unique treatment problems. There is potential for rapid stone growth and bacterial eradication can be difficult secondary to urothelial or stone colonization.

Predicting lower body joint moments and electromyography signals using ground reaction forces during walking and running: An artificial neural network approach.

Background: This study leverages Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to predict lower limb joint moments and electromyography (EMG) signals from Ground Reaction Forces (GRF), providing a novel perspective on human gait analysis. This approach aims to enhance the accessibility and affordability of biomechanical assessments using GRF data, thus eliminating the need for costly motion capture systems.

Research Question: Can ANNs use GRF data to accurately predict joint moments in the lower limbs and EMG signals?

Methods: We employed ANNs to analyze GRF data and to use them to predict joint moments (363-trials; 4-datasets) and EMG signals (63-trials; 2-datasets).

Co-methylation networks associated with cognition and structural brain development during adolescence.

Introduction: Typical adolescent neurodevelopment is marked by decreases in grey matter (GM) volume, increases in myelination, measured by fractional anisotropy (FA), and improvement in cognitive performance.

Methods: To understand how epigenetic changes, methylation (DNAm) in particular, may be involved during this phase of development, we studied cognitive assessments, DNAm from saliva, and neuroimaging data from a longitudinal cohort of normally developing adolescents, aged nine to fourteen. We extracted networks of methylation with patterns of correlated change using a weighted gene correlation network analysis (WCGNA).

Initial clinical experience with [Lu]Lu-PNT2002 radioligand therapy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: dosimetry, safety, and efficacy from the lead-in cohort of the SPLASH trial.

Introduction: SPLASH (NCT04647526) is a multicenter phase III trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of [Lu]Lu-PNT2002 radioligand therapy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). This study leveraged a lead-in phase to assess tissue dosimetry and evaluate preliminary safety and efficacy, prior to expansion into a randomized phase. Here we report those results.

Development and validation of an antibiotic appropriateness metric for urinary tract infections and pyelonephritis in ambulatory settings.

Ambulatory antibiotic stewardship has traditionally focused on acute respiratory infections with few studies evaluating metrics for other commonly encountered ambulatory conditions, including urinary tract infections (UTI). We describe the development and validation of an electronically captured appropriate antibiotic use metric for ambulatory UTIs using coding data.

Fish gut microbiome and its application in aquaculture and biological conservation.

Understanding the diversity and function of fish gut microbiomes has advanced substantially, yet many aspects remain poorly understood, particularly the interplay among microbiota, host species, and environmental factors in the context of conservation. This review explores the composition and abundance of gut bacterial communities in key aquaculture fish groups-cyprinids, ictalurids (catfish), salmonids, and cichlids (tilapia)-alongside the model organism zebrafish, across diverse geographic regions. The findings highlight environmental habitats and host species as primary determinants of gut microbiome structure, offering a global perspective on these microbial communities.

Transformation of brain myeloid cell populations by SIV in rhesus macaques revealed by multiomics.

The primary immune constituents in the brain, microglia and macrophages, are the target for HIV in people and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in nonhuman primates. This infection can lead to neurological dysfunction, known as HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND). Given the gaps in our knowledge on how these cells respond in vivo to CNS infection, we perform single-cell multiomic sequencing, including gene expression and ATAC-seq, on myeloid cells from the brains of rhesus macaques with SIV-induced encephalitis (SIVE) as well as uninfected controls.

ASRA Pain Medicine consensus practice infection control guidelines for regional anesthesia and pain medicine.

Background: To provide recommendations on risk mitigation, diagnosis and treatment of infectious complications associated with the practice of regional anesthesia, acute and chronic pain management.

Methods: Following board approval, in 2020 the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine) commissioned evidence-based guidelines for best practices for infection control. More than 80 research questions were developed and literature searches undertaken by assigned working groups comprising four to five members.

A Novel Fibrinolysis Resistance Capacity Assay Can Detect Fibrinolytic Phenotypes in Trauma Patients.

Background:  To evaluate residual fibrinolysis resistance activity (FRA) in plasma, a detergent-modified plasma clot lysis assay time (dPCLT) was established in which α2-antiplasmin (A2AP) and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) are inactivated without impacting protease activity. We applied this novel assay to severely injured trauma patients' plasma.

Material And Methods:  Tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA)-induced plasma clot lysis assays were conducted after detergents- (dPCLT) or vehicle- (sPCLT) treatment, and time to 50% clot lysis was measured ("transition midpoint", T ).

A Mixed Method Evaluation of Practitioners' Perspectives on Implementation Strategies for Healthy Eating and Active Living Policy, Systems, and Environmental Changes.

Context: The National Cooperative Extension System is a leader in delivering healthy eating and active living (HEAL) policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) changes; however, these interventions are challenging, and technical assistance efforts often misalign with implementation science concepts.

Objective: The study objective was to understand the importance of implementation strategies and tailoring needs to support Louisiana Nutrition and Community Health (NCH) practitioners' delivery of rural HEAL PSE changes.

Design: An explanatory sequential mixed method study design was used, including a survey to rank the importance of implementation strategies for HEAL PSE changes and a follow-up interview.

Epidemiology of Wrestling Injuries in Female Athletes at US Emergency Departments.

Purpose Wrestling injuries in female athletes is an understudied topic. The aim of this study is to characterize the injuries that occur in female wrestlers aged five to 18 who presented to United States (US) emergency departments (ED) from 2014-2023 and compare patterns between youth and adolescent wrestlers. Method This was a retrospective comparative study including female patients aged five to 18 years of age presenting to the ED due to an injury related to their participation in the sport of wrestling.

Hospice Referral Rate Disparities of American Indian/Alaska Native Kidney Transplant Recipients with End-Stage Kidney Disease: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis.

Introduction: American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) persons disproportionately suffer from end-stage kidney disease caused by diabetes (ESKD-D). Kidney transplant is the most desirable option to treating ESKD-D, but remains unattainable for many AI/AN persons, especially in rural South Dakota (SD). Additionally, palliative and hospice care options for AI/AN with any serious illness in SD are largely inaccessible.

Anticipating impending peripheral intravenous catheter failure: A diagnostic accuracy observational study combining ultrasound and artificial intelligence to improve clinical care.

Objective: Peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) failure occurs in approximately 50% of insertions. Unexpected PIVC failure leads to treatment delays, longer hospitalizations, and increased risk of patient harm. In current practice there is no method to predict if PIVC failure will occur until it is too late and a grossly obvious complication has occurred.

SARS-CoV-2 surveillance and detection in wild, captive, and domesticated animals in Nebraska: 2021-2023.

Widespread surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 was conducted across wildlife, captive animals in zoological collections, and domestic cats in Nebraska from 2021 to 2023. The goal of this effort was to determine the prevalence, phylogenetic and spatial distribution characteristics of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants using various diagnostic methodologies that can utilize both antemortem and postmortem samples, which may be required for wildlife such as white-tailed deer. Statewide surveillance testing revealed high variation in SARS-CoV-2 prevalence among species, with white-tailed deer identified as the primary reservoir.

Age and Weight Stratified Outcomes of Single Stage Endorectal Pull-through Procedures for Hirschsprung's Disease in Children: Analysis of NSQIP-P Data.

Background: We aimed to analyze the effect of age and weight on 30-day outcomes of single-stage endorectal pull tthrough (ERPT) procedures for Hirschsprung's Disease (HD) using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-Pediatric (NSQIP-P) database to identify an optimal time for surgery.

Methods: We queried NSQIP-P for children <2 years with HD who underwent ERPT between 2016-2021 and did not have a preoperative stoma. Patients were stratified by age (<3 months, 3-6 months and >6 months) and weight (<4 kg, 4-8 kg, and >8 kg) at the time of surgery.

Functional capacity at rehabilitation discharge predicts physical activity characteristics twenty-four weeks later for people with total knee arthroplasty: a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To determine the association between performance-based and patient-reported functional capacity at the conclusion of 12-week rehabilitation with average daily step counts and peak walking cadence 38 weeks following total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Design: Secondary analysis of an RCT.

Setting: Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Stochastic galvanic vestibular stimulation improves kinetic performance in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis during obstacle negotiation.

Vestibular dysfunction has been reported as a potential cause in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). However, it remained unclear how stochastic galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) affected kinetic performance of patients with AIS. This study aimed to investigate the effect of stochastic GVS on ground reaction forces (GRF) measures during obstacle negotiation among patients with AIS.

High-Value Care Education in the USA: Lessons from a National Value Curriculum for Resident and Fellow Physicians.

Purpose: Physicians are estimated to be responsible for more than 50% of national healthcare costs and hold the greatest potential to improve value by orchestrating quality-driven programs to reduce unnecessary practices and variability. A physician's ability to practice cost-conscious care has been linked to their training, underscoring the importance of integrating cost-conscious practice into training.

Methods: The High Value Practice Academic Alliance was formed to help advance the value-improvement work of individual institutions through a national organization.

Interplay of canonical and LIMK mediated non-canonical BMP signaling is essential for regulating differential thickness and invagination during chick forebrain roof plate morphogenesis.

Telencephalic hemisphere formation is a complex and precisely timed process, which begins in the chick forebrain with an invagination in the middle of the roof plate. However, the factor(s) that determine the position/site of invagination in the roof plate remain to be elucidated. In this study, we have demonstrated that as development proceeds, a region of lower thickness appears in the middle of the roof plate, which marks the position where the invagination begins.

Risks of Autologous Abdominal Free Flap Breast Reconstruction in Patients With Elevated Body Mass Index.

Background: Obesity is widely recognized as a significant risk factor for postoperative complications of breast reconstruction. Despite extensive research, there remains a lack of consensus regarding the specific complications and outcomes experienced by patients with obesity who undergo deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap reconstruction. To provide a clearer understanding of the challenges faced by patients with obesity, we present a single-center outcome analysis of individuals who underwent DIEP flap reconstruction.

Demographic and Geographic Trends in First-Episode Psychosis: A Cross-Sectional Study of Hospital Discharge Data in Adolescents and Young Adults.

This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the demographic and geographic variations in the visit rate for first-episode psychosis (FEP), identify trends and diagnostic patterns, and explore factors associated with FEP visits in Nebraska. Inpatient and emergency department data spanning 2017-2021 were collected by the Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA). The study focused on Nebraska residents aged 14-35 admitted for FEP, identified through specific ICD-10 codes.

Oncogenic potential of truncated-Gli3 via the Gsk3β/Gli3/AR-V7 axis in castration-resistant prostate cancer.

The functional activation of the androgen receptor (AR) and its interplay with the aberrant Hh/Gli cascade are pivotal in the progression of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and resistance to AR-targeted therapies. Our study unveiled a novel role of the truncated form of Gli (t-Gli3) in advancing CRPC. Investigation into Gli3 regulation revealed a Smo-independent mechanism for its activation.

Use of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and risk of multiple myeloma in US Veterans with rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Biologic (b) and targeted synthetic (ts) disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) used in the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) target inflammatory pathways implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple myeloma (MM). It is unknown whether use of b/tsDMARDs affects the incidence of MM.

Methods: In this cohort study using Veterans Health Administration (VHA) data, we identified Veterans newly diagnosed with RA from 1/1/2002 to 12/31/2018 using diagnostic codes and medication fills.