Work-related Fatigue: Relationship between Perceived and Performance Fatigability in Career Firefighters.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to 1) examine the relationship between perceived work-related fatigue and performance fatigability, and 2) assess the impact of percent body fat (%BF) on perceived fatigue constructs in career firefighters.

Methods: Thirty-nine career firefighters completed body composition testing, the Occupational Fatigue Exhaustion Recovery (OFER15) scale assessing three subscales of work-related fatigue (acute fatigue, chronic fatigue, and inter-shift recovery), and maximal leg extensor isometric strength testing prior to and following an isotonic fatiguing protocol.

Results: Performance fatigability was not associated with any of the OFER15 perceived work-related fatigue variables ( P ≥ 0.

Assessing bioaccumulation with biomagnification factors from dietary bioaccumulation tests.

Despite the fact that the UN Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants specifically acknowledges that Arctic ecosystems and Indigenous communities are particularly at risk due to biomagnification of contaminants in traditional foods, the bioconcentration factor (BCF) of substances in fish remains the preferred metric for identifying the biomagnification potential of organic substances. The BCF measures uptake of substances from water in water-breathing organisms, but not biomagnification of contaminants from food sources. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the biomagnification factor (BMF) can be used in bioaccumulation assessments.

Tenecteplase for the Treatment of Pediatric Arterial Ischemic Stroke: A Safety Surveillance Report.

Objectives: Intravenous tenecteplase (TNK) is increasingly used to treat adult patients with acute arterial ischemic stroke, but the risk profile of TNK in childhood stroke is unknown. This study aims to prospectively gather safety data regarding TNK administration in children.

Methods: Since December 2023, a monthly email survey was sent to participants recruited from the International Pediatric Stroke Study and Pediatric Neurocritical Care Research Group querying recent experience with TNK in childhood stroke.

Comparative glucocorticoid receptor agonism: In silico, in vitro, and in vivo and identification of potential biomarkers for synthetic glucocorticoid exposure.

The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is present in almost every vertebrate cell and is utilized in many biological processes. Despite an abundance of mammalian data, the structural conservation of the receptor and cross-species susceptibility, particularly for aquatic species, has not been well defined. Efforts to reduce, refine, and/or replace animal testing have increased, driving the impetus to advance development of new approach methodologies (NAMs).

Long-term climate establishes functional legacies by altering microbial traits.

Long-term climate history can influence rates of soil carbon cycling but the microbial traits underlying these legacy effects are not well understood. Legacies may result if historical climate differences alter the traits of soil microbial communities, particularly those associated with carbon cycling and stress tolerance. However, it is also possible that contemporary conditions can overcome the influence of historical climate, particularly under extreme conditions.

Incidence and Prevalence of Post-COVID-19 Myalgic Encephalomyelitis: A Report from the Observational RECOVER-Adult Study.

Background: Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) may occur after infection. How often people develop ME/CFS after SARS-CoV-2 infection is unknown.

Objective: To determine the incidence and prevalence of post-COVID-19 ME/CFS among adults enrolled in the Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER-Adult) study.

Back pain disability and PROMIS scores in children with hyperkyphosis are worse than children with idiopathic scoliosis.

Purpose: To compare health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) between children with hyperkyphosis and idiopathic scoliosis using 9-item Oswestry Disability Index (ODI-9) and Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pain Interference, Mobility, and Anxiety.

Methods: Children with hyperkyphosis, idiopathic scoliosis, and controls with no structural diagnosis ages 10-18 years who completed the PROMIS Pediatric Pain Interference, Mobility, and Anxiety domains were retrospectively evaluated from April 2021 to June 2023. Comparisons were made between hyperkyphosis, idiopathic scoliosis, and control groups.

Effect of Fecal Microbiota Transplant on Antibiotic Resistance Genes Among Patients with Chronic Pouchitis.

Background: Pouchitis is common among patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) who have had colectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis. Antibiotics are first-line therapy for pouch inflammation, increasing the potential for gut colonization with multi-drug resistant organisms (MDRO). Fecal microbial transplant (FMT) is being studied in the treatment of pouchitis and in the eradication of MDRO.

Molecular structure characteristic of coals of different rank.

Context: Understanding the structural characteristics of coal at the molecular level is fundamental for its effective utilization. To explore the molecular structure characteristic, the long-flame coal from Daliuta (DLT), coking coal from Yaoqiao (YQ), and anthracite from Taixi (TX) were investigated using various techniques such as elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, solid-state C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Based on the structural parameters, the coal molecular model was constructed and optimized.

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth: from malabsorption to misinterpretation.

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) was originally described as a cause of maldigestion and malabsorption in situations where disruptions of intestinal anatomy or physiology favored the proliferation of bacteria normally confined to the colon. In this context, the pathogenesis of symptoms resulting from SIBO was well described. More recently, the concept of SIBO was extended to explain symptoms such as bloating, altered bowel habit and discomfort among individuals with irritable bowel syndrome and since then a whole host of gastrointestinal and extragastrointestinal disorders have been attributed to SIBO.

Enhancement Of High-Dose Chemotherapy and Autologous SCT with the PARP Inhibitor Olaparib for Refractory Lymphoma.

Purpose: More active high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) regimens are needed for autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) for refractory lymphomas. Seeking HDC enhancement with a poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, we observed marked synergy between olaparib and vorinostat/gemcitabine/busulfan/melphalan (GemBuMel) against lymphoma cell lines, mediated by inhibition of DNA damage repair. Our preclinical work led us to clinically study olaparib/vorinostat/GemBuMel with ASCT.

Impact of co-mutations and transcriptional signatures in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with adagrasib in the KRYSTAL-1 trial.

Background: KRAS inhibitors are revolutionizing the treatment of NSCLC, but clinico-genomic determinants of treatment efficacy warrant continued exploration.

Methods: Patients with advanced KRASG12C-mutant NSCLC treated with adagrasib (KRYSTAL-1-NCT03785249) were included in the analysis. Pre-treatment NGS data were collected per protocol.

Intracellular Retention of Estradiol is Mediated by GRAM Domain-Containing Protein ASTER-B in Breast Cancer Cells.

Elevated blood levels of estrogens are associated with poor prognosis in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers, but the relationship between circulating blood hormone levels and intracellular hormone concentrations are not well characterized. We observed that MCF-7 cells treated acutely with 17β-estradiol (E2) retain a substantial amount of the hormone even upon removal of the hormone from the culture medium. Moreover, global patterns of E2-dependent gene expression are sustained for hours after acute E2 treatment and hormone removal.

Pediatric Borderline Ovarian Tumors: A Retrospective Study of 15 Cases at a Single Institution.

Borderline ovarian tumors (BOTs) are rare in pediatric populations and typically follow an indolent clinical course with few reported recurrences. Consequently, guidelines for pediatric BOT management are minimal. We retrospectively examined the management of 15 adolescent patients who underwent BOT resection at our institution over 14 years, with a specific focus on recurrence.

Phage probes couple to DNA relaxation dynamics to reveal universal behavior across scales and regimes.

Microrheology has become an indispensable tool for measuring the dynamics of macromolecular systems. Yet, its ability to characterize polymer dynamics across spatiotemporal scales, which vary among polymers and concentration regimes, is limited by the selection of probe morphologies and sizes. Here, we introduce semiflexible M13 phage as a powerful microrheological probe able to circumvent these constraints to robustly capture the dynamics of polymeric solutions across decades of concentrations, sizes, and ionic conditions.

Influence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-1077 on the fecal pH, markers of gut permeability, fecal microbiota, and markers of systemic inflammation in sedentary horses fed a high-starch diet.

Thirty mature Quarter Horse geldings were used in a completely randomized 32-d study to test the hypotheses that supplemental live Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-1077 improves apparent digestion, stabilizes the fecal pH, reduces gut permeability, maintains microbial communities, and decreases inflammation in horses fed a high-starch diet. Horses were stratified by body weight, age, and body condition score (BCS) to one of two treatments: concentrate formulated with 2g starch • kg BW-1 • meal-1 (CON; n=15) or the same concentrate top-dressed with 25g/d Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-1077 (SC; n=15; 8×108 CFU). Horses were fed individually in stalls every 12h.

Gut bacterial sphingolipid production modulates dysregulated skin lipid homeostasis.

Sphingolipids are an essential lipid component of the skin barrier with alterations in skin sphingolipid composition associated with multiple skin disorders including psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and ichthyosis. Contributions to skin sphingolipid abundance are not well characterized, thus the main method of modulating skin lipid levels is the topical application of creams rich with sphingolipids at the skin surface. Evidence that diet and gut microbiome function can alter skin biology proposes an intriguing potential for the modulation of skin lipid homeostasis through gut microbial metabolism, but potential mechanisms of action are not well understood.

Clair3-RNA: A deep learning-based small variant caller for long-read RNA sequencing data.

Variant calling using long-read RNA sequencing (lrRNA-seq) can be applied to diverse tasks, such as capturing full-length isoforms and gene expression profiling. It poses challenges, however, due to higher error rates than DNA data, the complexities of transcript diversity, RNA editing events, etc. In this paper, we propose Clair3-RNA, the first deep learning-based variant caller tailored for lrRNA-seq data.

CEBPA repression by MECOM blocks differentiation to drive aggressive leukemias.

Acute myeloid leukemias (AMLs) have an overall poor prognosis with many high-risk cases co-opting stem cell gene regulatory programs, yet the mechanisms through which this occurs remain poorly understood. Increased expression of the stem cell transcription factor, MECOM, underlies one key driver mechanism in largely incurable AMLs. How MECOM results in such aggressive AML phenotypes remains unknown.

Fibroblast growth factor-inducible 14 regulates satellite cell self-renewal and expansion during skeletal muscle repair.

Skeletal muscle regeneration in adults is predominantly driven by satellite cells. Loss of satellite cell pool and function leads to skeletal muscle wasting in many conditions and disease states. Here, we demonstrate that the levels of fibroblast growth factor-inducible 14 (Fn14) are increased in satellite cells after muscle injury.

Hydralazine inhibits cysteamine dioxygenase to treat preeclampsia and senesce glioblastoma.

The vasodilator hydralazine (HYZ) has been used clinically for ~ 70 years and remains on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines as a therapy for preeclampsia. Despite its longstanding use and the concomitant progress toward a general understanding of vasodilation, the target and mechanism of HYZ have remained unknown. We show that HYZ selectively targets 2-aminoethanethiol dioxygenase (ADO) by chelating its metal cofactor and alkylating one of its ligands.

Artificial Intelligence in Nephrology: Clinical Applications and Challenges.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in many medical specialties. However, nephrology has lagged in adopting and incorporating machine learning techniques. Nephrology is well positioned to capitalize on the benefits of AI.

Identification of Candidate Characteristics that Predicted a Successful Anesthesiology Residency Program Match in 2024: An Anonymous, Prospective Survey.

Background: The primary aim of our study was to identify candidate characteristics that predicted a successful outcome for applicants to anesthesiology residency programs in the 2024 Main Residency Match. The secondary aim of our study was to assess the impact of gold and silver signals on the application process.

Methods: The Baylor Scott & White Research Institute institutional review board approved this study.