A novel anxiety-associated SNP identified in () is associated with decreased protein binding to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.

Introduction: Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental illnesses in the US. An estimated 31.1% of U.

Phenol-Quinone Redox Couples of Natural Organic Matter Promote Mercury Methylation in Paddy Soil.

Methylmercury in paddy soils poses threats to food security and thus human health. Redox-active phenolic and quinone moieties of natural organic matter (NOM) mediate electron transfer between microbes and mercury during mercury reduction. However, their role in mercury methylation remains elusive.

Rapid Amplification and Detection of Single-Stranded Nucleic Acids for Point-of-Care Diagnosis.

Nucleic acid detection plays a crucial role in various applications, including disease diagnostics, research development, food safety, and environmental health monitoring. A rapid, point-of-care (POC) nucleic acid test can greatly benefit healthcare system by providing timely diagnosis for effective treatment and patient management, as well as supporting diseases surveillance for emerging pandemic diseases. Recent advancements in nucleic acids technology have led to rapid assays for single-stranded nucleic acids that can be integrated into simple and miniaturized platforms for ease of use.

Two-Layer Retrieval-Augmented Generation Framework for Low-Resource Medical Question Answering Using Reddit Data: Proof-of-Concept Study.

Background: The increasing use of social media to share lived and living experiences of substance use presents a unique opportunity to obtain information on side effects, use patterns, and opinions on novel psychoactive substances. However, due to the large volume of data, obtaining useful insights through natural language processing technologies such as large language models is challenging.

Objective: This paper aims to develop a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) architecture for medical question answering pertaining to clinicians' queries on emerging issues associated with health-related topics, using user-generated medical information on social media.

Starch-rich plant foods 780,000 y ago: Evidence from Acheulian percussive stone tools.

In contrast to animal foods, wild plants often require long, multistep processing techniques that involve significant cognitive skills and advanced toolkits to perform. These costs are thought to have hindered how hominins used these foods and delayed their adoption into our diets. Through the analysis of starch grains preserved on basalt anvils and percussors, we demonstrate that a wide variety of plants were processed by Middle Pleistocene hominins at the site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov in Israel, at least 780,000 y ago.

Terminology in ecology and evolutionary biology disproportionately harms marginalized groups.

The discipline of ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB) has long grappled with issues of inclusivity and representation, particularly for individuals with systematically excluded and marginalized backgrounds or identities. For example, significant representation disparities still persist that disproportionately affect women and gender minorities; Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC); individuals with disabilities; and people who are LGBTQIA+. Recent calls for action have urged the EEB community to directly address issues of representation, inclusion, justice, and equity.

A Systematic Critical Appraisal of Clinical Practice Guidelines in Barrett's Esophagus Using the AGREE II Tool.

Background: Several clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) exist for managing Barrett's esophagus (BE). However, the methodological quality of these CPGs is not known. To summarize the methodological quality of CPGs, we performed a critical appraisal of all available CPGs for the management of BE published from January 2018 to February 2023.

Efficient Method for Imaging Murine Lungs that Preserves Spatial Dynamics of Fungal Spores in the Airways.

Fungi infect humans when environmental spores are inhaled into the lungs. The lung is a heterogeneous organ. Conducting airways, including bronchi and bronchioles, branch until terminating in the alveolar airspace where gas exchange occurs.

Heightened innate immune state induced by viral vector leads to enhanced response to challenge and prolongs malaria vaccine protection.

Cytomegalovirus is a promising vaccine vector; however, mechanisms promoting CD4 T cell responses to challenge, by CMV as a vector, are unknown. The ability of MCMV to prolong immunity generated by short-lived malaria vaccine was tested. MCMV provided non-specific protection to challenge with and increased interleukin-12 (IL-12) and CD8α dendritic cell (DC) numbers through prolonged MCMV-dependent interferon gamma (IFN-γ) production.

Therapeutic Potential of Dexmedetomidine in Neuropsychiatric Disorders: From the Bench to the Clinic.

Neuropsychiatric disease encompasses a range of conditions resulting from various dysfunctions within the nervous system, manifesting in diverse neurological impairments. These disorders, including depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, and Alzheimer's disease, impose significant economic and psychological burdens on both individuals and society overall. Recent clinical and preclinical studies have highlighted the potential therapy of dexmedetomidine (Dex), a highly selective α2 adrenergic receptor agonist, not only as an effective sedation but also as a neuroprotective agent.

Feruloylacetone and Its Analog Demethoxyferuloylacetone Mitigate Obesity-Related Muscle Atrophy and Insulin Resistance in Mice.

Obesity-induced muscle alterations, such as inflammation, metabolic dysregulation, and myosteatosis, lead to a decline in muscle mass and function, often resulting in sarcopenic obesity. Currently, there are no definitive treatments for sarcopenic obesity beyond lifestyle changes and dietary supplementation. Feruloylacetone (FER), a thermal degradation product of curcumin, and its analog demethoxyferuloylacetone (DFER), derived from the thermal degradation of bisdemethoxycurcumin, have shown potential antiobesity effects in previous studies.

Land Use Change Consistently Reduces α- But Not β- and γ-Diversity of Bees.

Land use change threatens global biodiversity and compromises ecosystem functions, including pollination and food production. Reduced taxonomic α-diversity is often reported under land use change, yet the impacts could be different at larger spatial scales (i.e.

Adverse childhood experiences and defensive gun use: The indirect role of threat sensitivity and depressive symptoms.

Background/purpose: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked to various detrimental life outcomes, including an increase in threat sensitivity and depressive symptoms. Studies have also found an association between ACEs and firearm ownership. To date, no study has assessed whether ACEs have direct or indirect effects on defensive gun use (DGU) through these risk factors.

The community dynamic alterations mechanisms of traveling plastics in the Pearl River estuary with the salinity influence.

Most ocean plastics originate from terrestrial emissions, and the plastisphere on the plastics would alter during the traveling due to the significant differences in biological communities between freshwater and marine ecosystems. Microorganisms are influenced by the increasing salinity during traveling. To understand the contribution of plastic on the alteration in biological communities of plastisphere during traveling, this study investigated the alterations in microbial communities on plastics during the migration from freshwater to brackish water and saltwater.

Antihypertensive Deprescribing and Functional Status in VA Long-Term Care Residents With and Without Dementia.

Background: Deprescribing antihypertensives is of growing interest in geriatric medicine, yet the impact on functional status is unknown. We emulated a target trial of deprescribing antihypertensive medications compared with continued use on functional status measured by activities of daily living (ADL) in a long-term care population.

Methods: We included 12,238 Veteran Affairs long-term care residents age 65+ who had a stay ≥ 12 weeks between 2006 and 2019.

Spinal accessory nerve transfer for shoulder abduction has no benefit over supraclavicular exploration and nerve grafting in brachial plexus birth injury: a systematic review.

Introduction: Brachial plexus birth injury (BPBI) has an incidence of 0.9 per 1,000 live births in the population. Techniques for repair classically include supraclavicular exploration and nerve grafting (SENG) and more recently nerve transfer, namely of the spinal accessory nerve (SAN) to the suprascapular nerve (SSN) to improve functional outcomes such as glenohumeral abduction and external rotation.

Comorbid conditions and survival among Black women with ovarian cancer.

Background: Black women with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) have worse survival and a higher burden of comorbid conditions compared with other racial groups. This study examines the association of comorbid conditions and medication use for these conditions with survival among Black women with EOC.

Methods: In a prospective study of 592 Black women with EOC, the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) based on self-reported data, three cardiometabolic comorbidities (type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia), and medication use for each cardiometabolic comorbidity were evaluated.

Completeness and quality of comprehensive managed care data compared with fee-for-service data in national Medicaid claims from 2001 to 2019.

Objective: To evaluate the completeness and quality of Medicaid comprehensive managed care (CMC) data in national MAX/TAF research files.

Study Setting And Design: This observational study compared CMC with fee-for-service (FFS) enrollee data in 2001-2019 Medicaid MAX/TAF inpatient, outpatient, and pharmacy files. Completeness was assessed as the proportion of enrollees with any claim and mean claims per enrollee with any claim.

A stromal inflammasome Ras safeguard against Myc-driven lymphomagenesis.

The inflammasome plays multifaceted roles in cancer, but less is known about its function during premalignancy upon initial cell transformation. We report a homeostatic function of the inflammasome in suppressing malignant transformation through Ras inhibition. We identified increased hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) proliferation within the bone marrow of inflammasome-deficient mice.

Genomic signatures of adaptation in native lizards exposed to human-introduced fire ants.

Understanding the process of genetic adaptation in response to human-mediated ecological change will help elucidate the eco-evolutionary impacts of human activity. In the 1930s red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) were accidently introduced to the Southeastern USA, where today they are both venomous predators and toxic prey to native eastern fence lizards (Sceloporus undulatus). Here, we investigate potential lizard adaptation to invasive fire ants by generating whole-genome sequences from 420 lizards across three populations: one with long exposure to fire ants, and two unexposed populations.