Pre- and postnatal safe sleep knowledge and planned as compared to actual infant sleep practices.

Background: Our objectives were to compare safe sleep knowledge, attitudes and planned vs. actual infant sleep practices among expectant mothers before and after their infant's birth and to determine whether differences (if present) were associated with any demographic variables.

Methods: Study participants were surveyed at their 28-week prenatal and 6-week postpartum obstetric clinic visits from November 2019-February 2021.

Comprehensive analysis of the impact of procedure time and the 'golden hour' in subpopulations of stroke thrombectomy patients.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of procedure time on thrombectomy outcomes in different subpopulations of patients undergoing endovascular thrombectomy (EVT), given the recently expanded indications for EVT.

Methods: This multicenter study included patients undergoing EVT for acute ischemic stroke at 35 centers globally. Procedure time was defined as time from groin puncture to successful recanalization (Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction score ≥2b) or abortion of procedure.

Deep Mutational Scanning in Disease-related Genes with Saturation Mutagenesis-Reinforced Functional Assays (SMuRF).

Interpretation of disease-causing genetic variants remains a challenge in human genetics. Current costs and complexity of deep mutational scanning methods hamper crowd-sourcing approaches toward genome-wide resolution of variants in disease-related genes. Our framework, Saturation Mutagenesis-Reinforced Functional assays (SMuRF), addresses these issues by offering simple and cost-effective saturation mutagenesis, as well as streamlining functional assays to enhance the interpretation of unresolved variants.

Pediatric lawn mower-related injuries and contributing factors for bystander injuries.

Background: Riding lawn mower injuries are the most common cause of major limb loss in young U.S. children.

Adrenergic modulation of melanocortin pathway by hunger signals.

Norepinephrine (NE) is a well-known appetite regulator, and the nor/adrenergic system is targeted by several anti-obesity drugs. To better understand the circuitry underlying adrenergic appetite control, here we investigated the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVN), a key brain region that integrates energy signals and receives dense nor/adrenergic input, using a mouse model. We found that PVN NE level increases with signals of energy deficit and decreases with food access.

Prophylactic use of cardiac medications for delay of left ventricular dysfunction in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Background: Epidemiological support for prophylactic treatment of left ventricular dysfunction (LVD) in Duchenne muscular dystrophy is limited. We used retrospective, population-based surveillance data from the Muscular Dystrophy Surveillance, Tracking and Research Network to evaluate whether prophylaxis delays LVD onset.

Methods: We analyzed 455 males born during 1982-2009.

GDF15 is required for cold-induced thermogenesis and contributes to improved systemic metabolic health following loss of OPA1 in brown adipocytes.

We previously reported that mice lacking the protein optic atrophy 1 (OPA1 BKO) in brown adipose tissue (BAT) display induction of the activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), which promotes fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) secretion as a batokine. FGF21 increases metabolic rates under baseline conditions but is dispensable for the resistance to diet-induced obesity (DIO) reported in OPA1 BKO mice (Pereira et al., 2021).

The roles of FGF21 and GDF15 in mediating the mitochondrial integrated stress response.

Various models of mitochondrial stress result in induction of the stress-responsive cytokines fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) and growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15). This is an adaptive mechanism downstream of the mitochondrial integrated stress response frequently associated with improvements in systemic metabolic health. Both FGF21 and GDF15 have been shown to modulate energy balance and glucose homeostasis, and their pharmacological administration leads to promising beneficial effects against obesity and associated metabolic diseases in pre-clinical models.

Exposure in Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy Increases Risk of Preterm Delivery.

Background: Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), a severe form of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP), is a leading indication for hospitalization in the first trimester. NVP and HG are associated with (HP) infection in non-United States cohorts. How HP exposure and NVP interact to affect metabolic disturbance and pregnancy outcomes is not known.

Malaria and Pregnancy.

Recent identification of local mosquito-borne transmission of malaria in Florida, Texas, and Maryland and increasing travel to malaria-endemic countries raise the likelihood that U.S. obstetricians might encounter a pregnant patient with malaria.

Functional Distinctions of Endometrial Cancer-Associated Mutations in the Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 2 Gene.

Functional analysis of somatic mutations in tumorigenesis facilitates the development and optimization of personalized therapy for cancer patients. The () gene is frequently mutated in endometrial cancer (EC), but the functional implications of mutations in cancer development remain largely unexplored. In this study, we introduced a reliable and readily deployable screening method to investigate the effects of mutations.

Identification of Matriglycan by Dual Exoglycosidase Digestion of α-Dystroglycan.

n that is uniquely synthesized on α-dystroglycan (α-DG) and is essential for neuromuscular function and brain development. It binds several extracellular matrix proteins that contain laminin-globular domains and is a receptor for Old World arenaviruses such as Lassa Fever virus. Monoclonal antibodies such as IIH6 are commonly used to detect matriglycan on α-DG.

A core outcome set for appendicitis: A consensus approach utilizing modified Delphi methodology.

Background: Appendicitis is one of the most common pathologies encountered by general and acute care surgeons. The current literature is inconsistent, as it is fraught with outcome heterogeneity, especially in the area of nonoperative management. We sought to develop a core outcome set (COS) for future appendicitis studies to facilitate outcome standardization and future data pooling.

Differential response to neoadjuvant endocrine therapy for Black/African American and White women in NCDB.

Purpose: Compared to White women, there are higher mortality rates in Black/African American (BAA) women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer (HR + BC) which may be partially due to differences in treatment resistance. We assessed factors associated with response to neoadjuvant endocrine therapy (NET).

Methods: The National Cancer Database (NCDB) was queried for women with clinical stage I-III HR + BC diagnosed 2006-2017 and treated with NET.

Amelioration of Paget Disease of Bone After Denosumab for Osteopenia.

Background/objective: Denosumab is a monoclonal antibody that inhibits bone resorption and is indicated for the treatment of osteoporosis, bone metastases, and giant cell tumor of bone. We describe a woman with symptomatic Paget disease of the skull whose headaches and monostotic disease of the skull improved after receiving denosumab for concomitant low bone density.

Case Report: A 75-year-old woman presented with unremitting headache of 1 month.

Project Strengthen: An STEMM-focused career development workshop to prepare underrepresented minority students for graduate school.

Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) programs are aimed to increase diversity in science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine (STEMM) fields. However, limited programs and eligibility requirements limit the students who may apply to similar programs. At Winston-Salem State University, we piloted a series of workshops, collectively termed to emulate some of the key aspects of MARC programs.

Healthcare educational debt in the united states: unequal economic impact within interprofessional team members.

Background: Advancing healthcare access and quality for underserved populations requires a diverse, culturally competent interprofessional workforce. However, high educational debt may influence career choice of healthcare professionals. In the United States, health professions lack insight into the maximum educational debt that can be supported by current entry-level salaries.

Mechanotransduction: Forcing a change in metabolism.

Epithelial and endothelial cells experience numerous mechanical cues throughout their lifetimes. Cells resist these forces by fortifying their cytoskeletal networks and adhesions. This reinforcement is energetically costly.

Predictors of tissue infarction from distal emboli after mechanical thrombectomy.

Background: Distal embolization after endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) is common. We aimed to determine factors associated with tissue infarction in the territories of distal emboli.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of consecutive patients with anterior circulation large vessel occlusions who underwent EVT from 2015 to 2021.

Efferocytosis of viable versus heat-inactivated MSC induces human monocytes to distinct immunosuppressive phenotypes.

Background: Immunomodulation by mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) can occur through trophic factor mechanisms, however, intravenously infused MSCs are rapidly cleared from the body yet a potent immunotherapeutic response is still observed. Recent work suggests that monocytes contribute to the clearance of MSCs via efferocytosis, the body's natural mechanism for clearing dead and dying cells in a non-inflammatory manner. This begs the questions of how variations in MSC quality affect monocyte phenotype and if viable MSCs are even needed to elicit an immunosuppressive response.

CFTR-rich ionocytes mediate chloride absorption across airway epithelia.

The volume and composition of a thin layer of liquid covering the airway surface defend the lung from inhaled pathogens and debris. Airway epithelia secrete Cl- into the airway surface liquid through cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) channels, thereby increasing the volume of airway surface liquid. The discovery that pulmonary ionocytes contain high levels of CFTR led us to predict that ionocytes drive secretion.

Alzheimer's Disease Genetic Influences Impact the Associations between Diet and Resting-State Functional Connectivity: A Study from the UK Biobank.

Background: Red wine and dairy products have been staples in human diets for a long period. However, the impact of red wine and dairy intake on brain network activity remains ambiguous and requires further investigation.

Methods: This study investigated the associations between dairy and red wine consumption and seven neural networks' connectivity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from a sub-cohort of the UK Biobank database.

Adiposity and insulin resistance moderate the links between neuroelectrophysiology and working and episodic memory functions in young adult males but not females.

Introduction: Obesity and insulin resistance negatively influence neural activity and cognitive function, but electrophysiological mechanisms underlying these interrelationships remain unclear. This study investigated whether adiposity and insulin resistance moderated neural activity and underlying cognitive functions in young adults.

Methods: Real-time electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded in 38 lean (n = 12) and obese (n = 26) young adults with (n = 15) and without (n = 23) insulin resistance (18-38 years, 55.

The Future of Nuclear Medicine in the United States.

Nuclear medicine (NM) in the United States is experiencing a manpower shortage that is steadily getting worse. It largely derives from inadequate production of well-trained NM physicians. It is different in the rest of the world, where NM is an independent specialty and training is more rigorous.