Association Between Early Immunosuppression Center Variability and One-Year Outcomes After Pediatric Liver Transplant.

Background: Despite the existence of institutional protocols, liver transplant centers often have variability in early immunosuppression practices. We aimed to measure within-center variability in early immunosuppression after pediatric liver transplant (LT) and examine its association with one-year outcomes.

Methods: We analyzed pediatric LTs from 2013 to 2018 in the United Network for Organ Sharing registry, with data aggregated by center.

Prevention of Infections Among Pediatric Solid Organ Transplant Recipients With Asplenia or Hyposplenism.

Pediatric solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients with splenic dysfunction are at increased risk for infections, and tailored guidance on the management of asplenia/hyposplenism among SOT recipients is often lacking. The purpose of this article is to provide practice recommendations via a frequently asked questions (FAQs) format that focuses on three main domains: the identification of asplenia/hyposplenism among SOT recipients/candidates, prophylactic strategies for mitigating the risk of invasive disease associated with splenic dysfunction in the context of transplantation, and the provision of appropriate patient counseling on the risks associated with asplenia/hyposplenism. Answers to the FAQs are based on international expert opinion informed by practices for managing splenic dysfunction and associated data in other populations with asplenia.

Genetic Test Utilization and Cost among Families of Children Evaluated for Genetic Conditions: An Analysis of USA Commercial Claims Data.

Introduction: Healthcare payers in the USA increasingly cover genetic testing, including exome sequencing (ES), for pediatric indications. Analysis of claims data enables understanding of utilization and costs in real-world settings. The objective of this study was to describe genetic test utilization, diagnostic outcomes, and costs for children who received ES as well as for those who received less comprehensive forms of genetic testing, along with their families.

Interim Clinical Trial Data: Who Can See What, and When?

It has long been a basic principle of randomized clinical trials addressing serious outcomes and/or major public health issues that interim data should be inaccessible to investigators and to industry sponsors, with interim data reviewed on a regular basis by an independent data monitoring committee (DMC). Challenges to this principle may arise when sponsors and/or regulators perceive a need to review interim data while the trial remains ongoing-for example, when a trial is being considered for accelerated approval. In this paper we propose approaches that could minimize the extent of interim data that is made available to others while the trial continues.

Plant Cell Wall-Like Soft Materials: Micro- and Nanoengineering, Properties, and Applications.

Plant cell wall (CW)-like soft materials, referred to as artificial CWs, are composites of assembled polymers containing micro-/nanoparticles or fibers/fibrils that are designed to mimic the composition, structure, and mechanics of plant CWs. CW-like materials have recently emerged to test hypotheses pertaining to the intricate structure-property relationships of native plant CWs or to fabricate functional materials. Here, research on plant CWs and CW-like materials is reviewed by distilling key studies on biomimetic composites primarily composed of plant polysaccharides, including cellulose, pectin, and hemicellulose, as well as organic polymers like lignin.

Skeletal muscle ribosome analysis: A comparison of common assay methods and utilization of a novel RiboAb antibody cocktail.

While total RNA concentrations putatively represent ribosome content, there is a need to homologize various quantification approaches. Thus, total RNA concentrations ([RNA]) provided through UV-Vis spectroscopy (UV), fluorometry-only (Fluor), and fluorometry-based microfluidic chip electrophoresis (MFGE) were examined in C2C12 myotubes and mouse skeletal muscle to determine if values aligned with [18S + 28S rRNA] (i.e.

Widespread release of translational repression across Plasmodium's host-to-vector transmission event.

Malaria parasites must respond quickly to environmental changes, including during their transmission between mammalian and mosquito hosts. Therefore, female gametocytes proactively produce and translationally repress mRNAs that encode essential proteins that the zygote requires to establish a new infection. While the release of translational repression of individual mRNAs has been documented, the details of the global release of translational repression have not.

Neurosurgery for mental conditions and pain: An historical perspective on the limits of biological determinism.

Neurosurgical operations treat involuntary movement disorders (MvDs), spasticity, cranial neuralgias, cancer pain, and other selected disorders, and implantable neurostimulation or drug delivery devices relieve MvDs, epilepsy, cancer pain, and spasticity. In contrast, studies of surgery or device implantations to treat chronic noncancer pain or mental conditions have not shown consistent evidence of efficacy and safety in formal, randomized, controlled trials. The success of particular operations in a finite set of disorders remains at odds with disconfirming results in others.

A novel approach to identify optimal metabotypes of elongase and desaturase activities in prevention of acute coronary syndrome.

Both metabolomic and genomic approaches are valuable for risk analysis, however typical approaches evaluating differences in means do not model the changes well. Gene polymorphisms that alter function would appear as distinct populations, or metabotypes, from the predominant one, in which case risk is revealed as changed mixing proportions between control and case samples. Here we validate a model accounting for mixed populations using biomarkers of fatty acid metabolism derived from a case/control study of acute coronary syndrome subjects in which both metabolomic and genomic approaches have been used previously.

Development of a Japanese version of the patient perceptions of deprescribing - Short form.

Background: Deprescribing is a critical component of clinical practice, especially in geriatric medicine. Nevertheless, the attributes of patients who are prepared for, interested in, and could potentially benefit from deprescribing have not been well examined. The Patient Perceptions of Deprescribing (PPoD) evaluates patients' overall readiness for deprescribing and is complemented by an 11-item validated short form (SF-PPoD).

Best holdout assessment is sufficient for cancer transcriptomic model selection.

Guidelines in statistical modeling for genomics hold that simpler models have advantages over more complex ones. Potential advantages include cost, interpretability, and improved generalization across datasets or biological contexts. We directly tested the assumption that small gene signatures generalize better by examining the generalization of mutation status prediction models across datasets (from cell lines to human tumors and vice versa) and biological contexts (holding out entire cancer types from pan-cancer data).

Cross-modal contrastive learning for unified placenta analysis using photographs.

The placenta is vital to maternal and child health but often overlooked in pregnancy studies. Addressing the need for a more accessible and cost-effective method of placental assessment, our study introduces a computational tool designed for the analysis of placental photographs. Leveraging images and pathology reports collected from sites in the United States and Uganda over a 12-year period, we developed a cross-modal contrastive learning algorithm consisting of pre-alignment, distillation, and retrieval modules.

Pulse Oximetry: 50 Years of Inventions & Discoveries in Biomedical Optics.

The editorial introduces the JBO Special Issue on Pulse Oximetry.

Pediatric Snowboarding-Related Concussions and Musculoskeletal Injuries Decreased From 2012 to 2022.

Purpose: To analyze mechanisms, diagnoses, and incidence of youth snowboarding-related injuries presenting to US emergency departments.

Methods: Data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System were analyzed for pediatric snowboarding injuries (≤18 years old) from 2012 to 2022. Data were collected for mechanism of injury, diagnosis, location of injury, and disposition.

Cumulative Impact Loading and Cartilage Synthesis Biomarkers May Be Associated With Injury Risk in Female Collegiate Basketball Players.

Purpose: To evaluate whether cumulative impact load and serum biomarkers are related to lower-extremity injury and to determine any impact load and cartilage biomarker relationships in collegiate female basketball athletes.

Methods: This was a prospective longitudinal study evaluating lower-extremity impact load, serum cartilage biomarkers, and injury incidence over the course of a single collegiate women's basketball season. Data were collected from August 2022 to April 2023; no other follow-up after the cessation of the season was conducted in this cohort.

Enhancing mass vaccination programs with queueing theory and spatial optimization.

Background: Mass vaccination is a cornerstone of public health emergency preparedness and response. However, injudicious placement of vaccination sites can lead to the formation of long waiting lines or , which discourages individuals from waiting to be vaccinated and may thus jeopardize the achievement of public health targets. Queueing theory offers a framework for modeling queue formation at vaccination sites and its effect on vaccine uptake.

Translation of a longitudinal survey of veterans' well-being into action by a research-practice-policy partnership.

Introduction: Research-practice-policy partnerships are shifting the academic research paradigm toward collaboration and research-informed action at community and policy levels. In this case study, researchers partnered with philanthropic foundations to actualize data findings from a rigorous, longitudinal study.

Context: In 2016, a survey of post-9/11 military veterans began assessing veterans' well-being in key domains: health, vocation (education and employment), finances, and social relationships.

Microaggressions and Cultural Ruptures in Psychiatry: Extending Multicultural Counseling Orientation to Psychiatric Services.

Racial microaggressions and cultural ruptures have a significant impact on mental health care for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities. This article reviews the application of the multicultural counseling orientation framework in psychiatry to address these challenges and improve therapeutic outcomes. The authors outline strategies to integrate cultural humility into psychiatric practice, with an emphasis on self-reflection, feedback, and the recognition of microaggressions.

Artificial Intelligence Scribes in Psychiatry.

Artificial intelligence (AI) scribes for clinical documentation are likely to be among the first AI tools to affect the day-to-day practice of psychiatry, yet many psychiatrists are unfamiliar with them. This article introduces psychiatrists to AI scribes, including their potential benefits and risks. AI scribes may enhance efficiency, reduce physician burnout, and improve patient-physician rapport by automating documentation processes.

Pediatric Bilateral Vestibular Hypofunction: A Review of 26 Cases.

Objective: Peripheral bilateral vestibular hypofunction (BVH) is a rare condition that is well-studied in the adult population, whereas characterization in children has been limited. We report a pediatric cohort of patients with BVH at a multidisciplinary, tertiary care pediatric vestibular clinic.

Methods: A record review of 832 patients with balance-related complaints in our center was conducted.

Capturing human response to Winter Storm Frankie based on X (formerly known as Twitter) data.

This study delves into how people responded to Winter Storm Frankie in the United States based on X (formerly known as Twitter®) data according to a multitude of regions, periods, sociodemographic characteristics, census regions, and geographical scales. This study finds that people actively respond to natural disasters on X during the winter storm week. Specifically, the highest number of keywords during the winter storm week is 1.

Updated appropriate use criteria for amyloid and tau PET: A report from the Alzheimer's Association and Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Workgroup.

Introduction: The Alzheimer's Association and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging convened a multidisciplinary workgroup to update appropriate use criteria (AUC) for amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) and to develop AUC for tau PET.

Methods: The workgroup identified key research questions that guided a systematic literature review on clinical amyloid/tau PET. Building on this review, the workgroup developed 17 clinical scenarios in which amyloid or tau PET may be considered.

Enterovirus and Parechovirus Neurologic Infections in Children: Clinical Presentations and Neuropathogenesis.

Enteroviruses (EVs) and parechoviruses (PeVs) are common pathogens of childhood. Enteroviral infections cause a range of clinical syndromes from mild illness to neurologic manifestations of meningitis, encephalitis, and acute flaccid myelitis. Disease manifestations are driven by a combination of viral replication and host immune response.

Perspectives on Conducting Behavioral Intervention With Adolescents Using a Virtual Platform-A Thematic Analysis From the Viewpoint of Study Coordinators.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread adoption of virtual communication platforms. Virtual study visits were implemented in the pilot cluster randomized trial (CRT) stage of Teen Adherence in KidnEy transplant Improving Tracking To Optimize Outcomes (TAKE-IT TOO). The present study aimed to understand study coordinators' perspectives on conducting a behavioral intervention with adolescent kidney transplant recipients using virtual conferencing platforms.