Lung-kidney axis in cystic fibrosis: Early urinary markers of kidney injury correlate with neutrophil activation and worse lung function.

Background: Adult people with cystic fibrosis (PwCF) have a higher risk of end-stage kidney disease than the general population. The nature and mechanism of kidney disease in CF are unknown. This study quantifies urinary kidney injury markers and examines the hypothesis that neutrophil activation and lung infection are associated with early kidney injury in CF.

Trends in Screening for Social Risk in US Physician Practices.

Importance: A wealth of research on screening for social risks in health care has emerged, but evidence is lacking on how social risk screening among physician practices has changed over time.

Objectives: To evaluate trends in screening for social risks among US physician practices and examine practice characteristics associated with adoption of social risk screening.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The main analysis used a repeated cross-sectional design to analyze results from US physician practices that completed the National Survey of Healthcare Organizations and Systems, a nationally representative survey of physician practices, in 2017 and 2022.

Therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells on cholesterol homeostasis-associated genes in AD-like rats.

Cholesterol is vital for nerve processes. Changes in cholesterol homeostasis lead to neurodegeneration and Alzheimer's disease (AD). In recent years, extensive research has confirmed the influential role of adipose tissue mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in managing AD.

Surface remodeling and inversion of cell-matrix interactions underlie community recognition and dispersal in Vibrio cholerae biofilms.

Biofilms are ubiquitous surface-associated bacterial communities embedded in an extracellular matrix. It is commonly assumed that biofilm cells are glued together by the matrix; however, how the specific biochemistry of matrix components affects the cell-matrix interactions and how these interactions vary during biofilm growth remain unclear. Here, we investigate cell-matrix interactions in Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera.

Perspectives of Older Patients on Speaking With an Anesthesia Provider Before the Day of Surgery: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Evaluations performed before the day of surgery at perioperative clinics have been shown to reduce patient mortality and hospital lengths of stay. These clinics are becoming increasingly adopted worldwide. As the number of older patients undergoing surgery continues to increase, understanding the perspectives of this patient population regarding the preoperative evaluation process is essential to tailor care to their needs and preferences.

Belzutifan as the Primary Treatment of Bilateral Juxtapapillary Retinal Hemangioblastoma in a Patient With Von Hippel-Lindau Disease.

To describe the efficacy of belzutifan as a treatment for juxtapapillary retinal hemangioblastomas in patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease. A case and its findings were analyzed, and a systematic literature review was conducted using PubMed and Ovid MEDLINE. At a routine follow-up, a 63-year-old woman with a history of von Hippel-Lindau disease and slowly progressive bilateral juxtapapillary retinal hemangioblastomas presented with decreased visual acuity (VA) in the right eye resulting from significant lesion growth and an increase in central macular edema and exudate.

Developing and Comparing Four Families of Bayesian Network Autocorrelation Models for Binary Outcomes: Estimating Peer Effects Involving Adoption of Medical Technologies.

Despite the extensive use of network autocorrelation models in social network analysis, network autocorrelation models for binary dependent variables have received surprisingly scant attention. In this paper, we develop four network autocorrelation models for a binary random variable defined by whether the peer effect (also termed social influence or contagion) acts on latent continuous outcomes leading to an indirect effect under a normal or a logistic distribution or on the probability of the observed outcome itself under a probit or a logit link function defining a direct effect to account for interdependence between outcomes. For all models, we use a Bayesian approach for model estimation under a uniform prior on a transformed peer effect parameter ( ) designed to enhance model computation and compare results to those under the uniform prior for .

Phage-Encoded Virulence Factor, Gp05, Alters Membrane Phospholipids and Reduces Antimicrobial Susceptibility in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a leading pathogen causing severe endovascular infections. The prophage-encoded protein Gp05 has been identified as a critical virulence factor that contributes to MRSA persistence during vancomycin (VAN) treatment in an experimental endocarditis model. However, the underlining mechanisms driving this persistence phenotype remain poorly understood.

Hypoxia-induced increase in sphingomyelin synthase 2 aggravates ischemic skeletal muscle inflammation.

Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is the most advanced stage of peripheral arterial disease, posing a high risk of mortality. Sphingomyelin, a sphingolipid synthesized by sphingomyelin synthases (SMSs) 1 and 2, plays an essential role in signal transduction as a component of lipid rafts. However, the role of sphingomyelin in the inflammation of ischemic skeletal muscles remains unclear.

Anticoagulation therapy for the prevention of subclinical leaflet thrombosis after transcatheter aortic valve replacement: A comprehensive literature review and future directions.

Leaflet thrombosis after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) presents a significant challenge, leading to adverse clinical outcomes. Subclinical leaflet thrombosis (SLT) is increasingly recognized, and there is a growing concern about its role in clinical events and hemodynamic valve deterioration. Current recommendations for prophylactic anticoagulation or antiplatelet therapy following TAVR are primarily based on expert consensus rather than definitive evidence from randomized trials, resulting in a variety of antithrombotic strategies in clinical practice.

Biopsy Quotas: Ethical Implications of Financial Incentives and Penalties on Dermatologic Care Providers.

The evolution of healthcare payment models has profoundly influenced clinical practices and physician decision-making. While fee-for-service (FFS) models incentivize procedural volume, systems based on Relative Value Units (RVUs) have introduced standardized metrics to compensate physicians based on care complexity and workload. As corporations increasingly own healthcare, financial incentives such as RVUs and procedural quotas raise ethical concerns.

A descriptive examination of rurality in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Cohort: Implications, illustrations, and future directions.

Purpose: The Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort has enrolled over 60,000 children to examine how early environmental factors (broadly defined) are associated with key child health outcomes. The ECHO Cohort may be well-positioned to contribute to our understanding of rural environments and contexts, which has implications for rural health disparities research. The present study examined the outcome of child obesity to not only illustrate the suitability of ECHO Cohort data for these purposes but also determine how various definitions of rural and urban populations impact the presentation of findings and their interpretation.

Shared Decision-Making in Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty: Understanding Surgeon and Patient Perspectives Regarding When It Is Time for Surgery.

Background: Although total hip and total knee arthroplasty are highly successful operations, the decision of whether and when to undergo surgery is highly subjective and discretionary, and specific guidelines regarding readiness for surgery remain elusive. The nature of these decisions underscores the importance of shared decision-making, which is founded on the concept that patients substantially contribute to determining their own readiness for surgery. The OPTION survey was developed as a conversation aid to facilitate shared decision-making in the context of total joint arthroplasty.

The Reproducibility and Reliability of Insulin Sensitivity and Secretion Indices in Children and Adolescents.

Context: Insulin sensitivity and secretion indices can be useful tools in understanding insulin homeostasis in children at risk for diabetes. There have been few studies examining the reproducibility of these measures in pediatrics.

Objective: To determine whether fasting or oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)-derived insulin measures would be more reproducible and whether there would be differences based on weight, sex, race, and pubertal status.

Patterns of initial treatment and subsequent care escalation among medicare beneficiaries with neck pain: a retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: To compare long-term care escalation encounters among three care patterns for new episodes of neck pain among Medicare beneficiaries.

Methods: We examined Medicare claims spanning a four-year period for beneficiaries with new episodes of neck pain beginning in 2019. All patients were continuously enrolled under Medicare parts A, B, and D and aged 65-99 years.

Keeping up with Recent Developments in Immunodeficiency.

Inborn Errors of Immunity are a rapidly expanding group of monogenetic disorders affecting the immune system. Advancements in genetic testing and functional validation studies have accelerated the pace of IEI gene discovery and mechanism of disease, particularly in the past five years. To keep up with this rapid expansion, the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS) Expert Committee has periodically, since 1999, released updated IEI classifications with corresponding genotypic and phenotypic catalogues with its most recent update in 2022.

Humoral correlate of vaccine-mediated protection from tuberculosis identified in humans and non-human primates.

Development of an effective tuberculosis (TB) vaccine has been challenged by incomplete understanding of specific factors that provide protection against (Mtb) and the lack of a known correlate of protection (CoP). Using a combination of samples from a vaccine showing efficacy (DarDar [NCT00052195]) and Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-immunized humans and nonhuman primates (NHP), we identify a humoral CoP that translates across species and vaccine regimens. Antibodies specific to the DarDar vaccine strain () sonicate (MOS) correlate with protection from the efficacy endpoint of definite TB.

Factors associated with care-resistant behavior in the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center's Uniform Data Set.

Introduction: Little is known about the factors associated with care-resistant behavior in community-dwelling persons living with dementia.

Methods: Regression modeling was performed on 41,143 responses to a standardized questionnaire from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center's Uniform Data Set.

Results: In the fully adjusted mixed-effects regression model, collinearity was low, with no variance inflation factor above 1.

Just the Tip of the Iceberg: a Brief Report of the Tip-of-the-Tongue Score as an Embedded Validity Indicator for the Children's Auditory and Visual Naming Tests.

Objective: Explore the tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) scores from the Children's Auditory and Visual Naming Tests (cANT, cVNT) as embedded validity indicators (EVIs).

Method: A retrospective design of 98 consecutively referred youth aged 6-15 years (M = 11.28, SD = 2.

Synergic Integration of the miRNome, Machine Learning and Bioinformatics for the Identification of Potential Disease-Modifying Agents in Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Introduction: Understanding the diverse pathogenetic pathways in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is crucial for improving outcomes. microRNA (miRNA) profiling is a promising strategy for elucidating these mechanisms.

Objective: To characterize the pathogenetic pathways linked to OSA through the integration of miRNA profiles, machine learning (ML) and bioinformatics.

Evolving Food Allergy Clinical Trials to Become More Patient-Centered.

The current FDA paradigm may not fully capture important patient-centered outcomes or measure a primary outcome that is truly meaningful to patients. Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) are standardized tools measuring the patient's experience in food allergy clinical trials, which can help support shared decision-making (SDM) and further our understanding of treatment impact. Food allergy PROMs include quality of life (QoL), health state utility (HSU), severity, and self-efficacy measures.

Frailty as an independent risk factor for prolonged postoperative length of stay: A retrospective analysis of 2015-2019 ACS NSQIP data.

Background: Frailty, a syndrome of decreased resilience to physiologic stress, has been associated with increased postoperative length of stay (LOS) for specific procedures. Yet, the literature lacks large-scale analyses examining the relationship between frailty and LOS across surgical procedure.

Study Design: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients aged 65+ undergoing inpatient surgery including emergency procedures between 2015 and 2019 using American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP®) data.