Intraventricular baclofen for the treatment of pediatric spasticity in cerebral palsy: technique and outcomes.

Objective: Intraventricular baclofen (IVB) administration is used for the treatment of secondary dystonia associated with cerebral palsy (CP), but it has not been reported as a first-line infusion technique for spasticity. In this study, the authors report outcomes of patients with mixed or isolated spasticity treated with IVB administration.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed of consecutive patients treated with IVB between 2019 and 2023.

Disentangling Sources of Momentum Fluctuations in Xe+Xe and Pb+Pb Collisions with the ATLAS Detector.

High-energy nuclear collisions create a quark-gluon plasma, whose initial condition and subsequent expansion vary from event to event, impacting the distribution of the eventwise average transverse momentum [P([p_{T}])]. Disentangling the contributions from fluctuations in the nuclear overlap size (geometrical component) and other sources at a fixed size (intrinsic component) remains a challenge. This problem is addressed by measuring the mean, variance, and skewness of P([p_{T}]) in ^{208}Pb+^{208}Pb and ^{129}Xe+^{129}Xe collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.

The gap between surgeon goal and achieved sagittal alignment in adult cervical spine deformity surgery.

Objective: Malalignment following cervical spine deformity (CSD) surgery can negatively impact outcomes and increase complications. Despite the growing ability to plan alignment, it remains unclear whether preoperative goals are achieved with surgery. The objective of this study was to assess how good surgeons are at achieving their preoperative goal alignment following CSD surgery.

Mechanistic Investigation of the Ce(III) Chloride Photoredox Catalysis System: Understanding the Role of Alcohols as Additives.

Photocatalytic C-H activation is an emerging area of research. While cerium chloride photocatalysts have been extensively studied, the role of alcohol additives in these systems remains a subject of ongoing discussion. It was demonstrated that the photocatalyst [NEt][CeCl] () produces •Cl and added alcohols exhibit zero-order kinetics.

Recruitment of Young Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men for a Web-Based Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Intervention: Differences in Participant Characteristics and Study Engagement by Recruitment Source in a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Young gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men have been referred to as a "hard-to-reach" or "hidden" community in terms of recruiting for research studies. With widespread internet use among this group and young adults in general, web-based avenues represent an important approach for reaching and recruiting members of this community. However, little is known about how participants recruited from various web-based sources may differ from one another.

The Pelvic Floor Disorders Network: Evolution Over Two Decades of Female Pelvic Floor Research.

Importance: This review aimed to describe research initiatives, evolution, and processes of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-supported Pelvic Floor Disorders Network (PFDN). This may be of interest and inform researchers wishing to conduct multisite coordinated research initiatives as well as to provide perspective to all urogynecologists regarding how the PFDN has evolved and functions.

Study Design: Principal investigators of several PFDN clinical sites and Data Coordinating Center describe more than 20 years of development and maturation of the PFDN.

Explainable Machine Learning to Predict Treatment Response in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Purpose: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have demonstrated promise in the treatment of various cancers. Single-drug ICI therapy (immuno-oncology [IO] monotherapy) that targets PD-L1 is the standard of care in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with PD-L1 expression ≥50%. We sought to find out if a machine learning (ML) algorithm can perform better as a predictive biomarker than PD-L1 alone.

The American Clinical Neurophysiology Society Guideline on Indications for Continuous Electroencephalography Monitoring in Neonates.

Purpose: Continuous EEG (cEEG) monitoring is increasingly used in the management of neonates with seizures. There remains debate on what clinically relevant information can be gained from cEEG in neonates with suspected seizures, at high risk for seizures, or with definite seizures, as well as the use of cEEG for prognosis in a variety of conditions. In this guideline, we address these questions using American Clinical Neurophysiology Society structured methodology for clinical guideline development.

Molecular scalpels dissect new GluN1 hot spots in anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis.

Patient-derived NMDAR mAbs combined with single-particle cryo-electron microscopy reveal multiple GluN1 epitopes and distinct functional effects.

Mitochondrial DNA lineages determine tumor progression through T cell reactive oxygen signaling.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is highly polymorphic, and host mtDNA variation has been associated with altered cancer severity. To determine the basis of this mtDNA-cancer association, we analyzed conplastic mice with the C57BL/6J (B6) nucleus but two naturally occurring mtDNA lineages, and , where mitochondria generate more oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS)-derived reactive oxygen species (mROS). In a cardiac transplant model, Foxp3+ T regulatory (Treg) cells supported long-term allograft survival, whereas Treg cells failed to suppress host T effector (Teff) cells, leading to acute rejection.

Transcriptional regulation of adipocyte lipolysis by IRF2BP2.

Adipocyte lipolysis controls systemic energy levels and metabolic homeostasis. Lipolysis is regulated by posttranslational modifications of key lipolytic enzymes. However, less is known about the transcriptional mechanisms that regulate lipolysis.

The Utility of Preoperative Phenylephrine Testing in Müller Muscle Conjunctival Resection Surgery for Involutional Ptosis.

Purpose: Phenylephrine testing prior to Müller muscle conjunctival resection has traditionally been used to predict postoperative outcomes. The purpose of this study is to determine if preoperative phenylephrine testing impacts postoperative changes in eyelid position.

Methods: In this multicenter cross-sectional cohort study, 270 eyelids of participants with involutional ptosis and levator function >12 mm who underwent Müller muscle conjunctival resection were divided into 2 comparison groups.

Late-stage changes in the composition of cell walls of maize plants expressing an apoplast targeted, senescence enhanced fungal ferulic acid esterase, and the subsequent effects on tissue saccharification.

Using maize plants expressing an apoplast targeted Aspergillus niger ferulic acid esterase (FAEA), with FAEA driven by a Lolium multiflorum senescence enhanced promoter (LmSee1), we extended measurements of FAEA activity to late-stage senescing plants and measured the stability of FAEA activity following stover storage. The impact of FAEA expression on cell wall hydroxycinnamic acid levels and arabinoxylan (AX) cross-links, and on the levels of cell wall sugars, acetyl bromide lignin and sugar release following saccharification by a cocktail of cellulases and xylanases, was assessed during plant development to full leaf senescence. These were determined in both individual internodes and in combined leaves and combined internodes of FAEA expressing and control partner plants.

Genetically Engineered, Multichromophore Virus-Like Nanoparticles with Ultranarrow Distribution of Emission Intensity.

Variance in the properties of optical mesoscopic probes is often a limiting factor in applications. In the thermodynamic limit, the smaller the probe, the larger the relative variance. However, specific viral protein cages can assemble efficiently outside the bounds of statistical fluctuations at equilibrium through a process that is characterized by intrinsic quality-control and self-limiting capabilities.

Advanced Child Tax Credit Monthly Payments and Substance Use Among US Parents.

Importance: 2021 Advance child tax credit (ACTC) monthly payments were associated with reduced US child poverty rates; however, policymakers have expressed concerns that permanent adoption would increase parental substance use.

Objective: To assess whether 2021 ACTC monthly payments were temporally associated with changes in substance use among parents compared with adults without children.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The primary sample included adults aged 18 to 64 years who responded to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2021.

Racial Trauma and Black Mothers' Mental Health: Does Cognitive Flexibility Buffer the Effects of Racialized Stress?

Racialized stress disproportionately impacts Black individuals and confers increased risk for psychological distress and executive dysfunction. However, there is little evidence on psychological distress' association with cognitive flexibility (CF), an executive function theorized to be a neurocognitive resilience factor, as it is shown to reflect the ability to adapt thoughts/behaviors to changing environmental stimuli. As such, we aimed to examine the relation between racialized stress and psychological distress and the potential buffering effects of CF.

Extrinsic and intrinsic effects setting viscosity in complex fluids and life processes: the role of fundamental physical constants.

Understanding the values and origin of fundamental physical constants, one of the grandest challenges in modern science, has been discussed in particle physics, astronomy and cosmology. More recently, it was realized that fundamental constants have a biofriendly window set by life processes involving motion and flow. This window is related to intrinsic fluid properties such as energy and length scales in condensed matter set by fundamental constants.

Identification of immune suppressor candidates utilizing comparative transcriptional profiling in histiocytic sarcoma.

Histiocytic sarcoma (HS) is a rare yet lethal malignancy with no established standard of care therapies. A lack of pre-clinical models limits our understanding of HS pathogenesis and identification of therapeutic targets. Canine HS shares multiple clinical and genetic similarities with human HS, supporting its use as a unique translational model.

The economic burden of diabetes in spinal fusion surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: This study aimed at comparing the costs of spinal fusion surgery between patients with and without diabetes.

Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search of four databases was conducted. A meta-analysis was performed on comparative studies examining diabetic versus non-diabetic adults undergoing cervical/lumbar fusion in terms of cost.

Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD), characterized by significant brain volume reduction, is influenced by genetic predispositions related to brain volumetric phenotypes. While genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have linked brain imaging-derived phenotypes (IDPs) with AD, existing polygenic risk scores (PRSs) based models inadequately capture this relationship. We develop BrainNetScore, a network-based model enhancing AD risk prediction by integrating genetic associations between multiple brain IDPs and AD incidence.

Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Background: Despite significant advancements in the development of blood biomarkers for AD, challenges persist due to the complex interplay of genetic and environmental risk factors in AD pathogenesis. Epigenetic processes, including non-coding RNAs and especially microRNAs (miRs), have emerged as important players in the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases. MiRs have the ability to fine-tune gene expression and proteostasis, and microRNAome profiling in liquid biopsies is gaining increasing interest since changes in miR levels can indicate the presence of multiple pathologies.

Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Background: Tau is a neuronal microtubule associated protein whose interactions with microtubules are regulated by phosphorylation. Tau has numerous putative phosphorylation sites, but it is unclear which combinations of Tau phosphorylation co-occur in the normal state and precisely how they impact Tau function. Adding further complexity, there are six major Tau isoforms arising from alternative splicing.

Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is recognized as one major, potentially modifiable risk factor for neurodegenerative disease (NDD). Autopsy studies describe a range of neuropathologies in a proportion of individuals surviving late after TBI, most frequently the tau associated pathology, chronic traumatic encephalopathy neuropathologic change (CTE-NC). In addition to tau, other NDD pathologies are described.

Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Background: Several viruses have been linked to Alzheimer disease (AD) by independent lines of evidence.

Method: Whole genome and whole exome sequences (WGS/WES) derived from brain (3,404 AD cases, 894 controls) and blood (15,612 AD cases, 24,544 controls) obtained from European ancestry (EU), African American (AA), Mexican (HMX), South Asian Indian (IND), and Caribbean Hispanic (CH) participants of the Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP) and 276 AD cases 3,584 controls (all EU) from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) that did not align to the human reference genome were aligned to viral reference genomes. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) for viral DNA load was conducted using PLINK software and regression models with covariates for sex, age, ancestry principal components, and tissue source.