Nutritional Status Modifies the Association Between Hemoglobin Level and Mortality in Older Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis: A Nationwide Dialysis Registry in Japan.

Objective: Anemia is a common complication associated with adverse outcomes in older patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). They also tend to experience malnutrition, which can affect the course of anemia. We hypothesized that the optimal hemoglobin (Hb) level varies depending on nutritional status in older patients undergoing HD and aimed to investigate the association between Hb levels and mortality according to nutritional status.

Prescription Stimulant Dispensing to US Children: 2017-2023.

Objective: To evaluate changes in prescription stimulant dispensing to children aged 5 to 17 years associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the shortage of immediate-release mixed amphetamine salts (Adderall), which was announced in October 2022.

Methods: We analyzed the 2017 to 2023 IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Database, which captures 92% of US prescriptions. Using an interrupted time series design, we evaluated level and slope changes in the monthly stimulant-dispensing rate (number of children with stimulant dispensing per 100 000 children) in March 2020 and October 2022.

Family functioning in adolescents and young adults with differences of sex development.

Objective: Family functioning influences various psychosocial outcomes for individuals with pediatric chronic health conditions (e.g., Leeman, J.

The association of medical cannabis use with quality of life in Illinois' opioid alternative pilot program.

Background: In Illinois, the Opioid Alternative Pilot Program (OAPP) was launched to expand access to medical cannabis to use as a direct substitute for opioids. Although therapeutic benefits have been reported in reducing opioid use, there is an absence of literature that examines how medical cannabis use impacts an individual's quality of life (QoL). This study examines the association of medical cannabis use with QoL among the first enrollees in OAPP.

Exploring brain health awareness and dementia risk in young adults: A focus group study.

Objective: The topic of brain health across the life-course is currently receiving exponential attention. Alongside this, exposure to lifestyle-related risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias accumulates across the life-course. This study aimed to explore young adults' (18-39 years) perceptions and understanding of brain health and dementia risk.

Project Synapse: Efficacy of a Youth Outreach Program to Increase Diversity in Neurosurgery.

Background: There is a lack of diversity within neurosurgery; in 2019, only 12%, 4%, and 5% of neurosurgeons identify as female, black, and Latinx respectively. Project Synapse, a youth outreach initiative, aims to diversify the neurosurgical workforce by exposing youth from underrepresented minority (URM) backgrounds to neurosurgery. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe the outcomes of the first 2 years of Project Synapse.

Chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder: conclusions from a Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Controversies Conference.

In 2017, Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) published a Clinical Practice Guideline Update for the Diagnosis, Evaluation, Prevention, and Treatment of Chronic Kidney Disease-Mineral and Bone Disorder (CKD-MBD). Since then, new lines of evidence have been published related to evaluating disordered mineral metabolism and bone quality and turnover, identifying and inhibiting vascular calcification, targeting vitamin D levels, and regulating parathyroid hormone. For an in-depth consideration of the new insights, in October 2023, KDIGO held a Controversies Conference on CKD-MBD: Progress and Knowledge Gaps Toward Personalizing Care.

Consumer-grade wearable devices in arrhythmia diagnostics for clinicians: where we are and where we are going.

Atrial arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation (AF), are a major contributor to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Early detection and effective management are critical to mitigating adverse outcomes such as stroke, heart failure, and overall mortality. Wearable devices have emerged as promising tools for monitoring, detecting, and managing atrial arrhythmias near-continuously.

Analysis of quantitative OCT and SS-OCTA metrics three months after initiation of intravitreal faricimab for treatment-recalcitrant neovascular AMD.

Purpose: To utilize optical coherence tomography (OCT) and SS-OCT angiography (SS-OCTA) for quantifying morphological changes seen in eyes with recalcitrant neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) transitioned to intravitreal faricimab injections during the manufacturer's recommended induction phase of treatment.

Methods: Fifty-four treatment-recalcitrant patients (60 eyes) were recruited. OCT and SS-OCTA images were obtained at 0 and 3 months.

Role of Cardiovascular MR Imaging and MR Angiography in Patients with Pulmonary Vascular Disease.

Cardiac MR imaging and pulmonary MR angiography (MRA) are important clinical tools for the assessment of pulmonary vascular diseases. There are evolving noncontrast and contrast-enhanced techniques to evaluate pulmonary vasculature. Pulmonary MRA is a feasible imaging alternative to CTA in pulmonary embolism detection.

Pharmacological Characterization of the Novel Selective Kappa Opioid Receptor Agonists 10-Iodo-Akuammicine and 10-Bromo-Akuammicine in Mice.

Akuammicine (AKC), an indole alkaloid, is a kappa opioid receptor (KOR) full agonist with a moderate affinity. 10-Iodo-akuammicine (I-AKC) and 10-Bromo-akuammicine (Br-AKC) showed higher affinities for the KOR with K values of 2.4 and 5.

Development of a Patient Reported Outcome Measure of Side Effects for Patients Taking Calcineurin Inhibitors: The FACIT-CNI-Ntx.

Rationale & Objective: Valid measures of side effects are important to inform clinical use of calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs). This study sought to develop and establish the content validity of a PRO measure to capture side effects among kidney transplant recipients taking CNIs.

Study Design: Qualitative interviews for concept elicitation and cognitive debriefing.

Rotating Hinge Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty With and Without Porous Cone Adjunct Fixation.

Introduction: As the number of revision total knee arthroplasties (rTKA) continues to rise, there is increasing interest in the use of contemporary rotating hinge prostheses. These devices often incorporate porous cones to fill bone defects and enhance long-term fixation. This study evaluated the clinical and functional outcomes and survivorship in rTKA patients utilizing a rotating hinge prosthesis with flexible titanium (FT) cones, porous tantalum (PT) cones, or no cones.

Crossing the blood-brain barrier: emerging therapeutic strategies for neurological disease.

The blood-brain barrier is a physiological barrier that can prevent both small and complex drugs from reaching the brain to exert a pharmacological effect. For treatment of neurological diseases, drug concentrations at the target site are a fundamental parameter for therapeutic effect; thus, the blood-brain barrier is a major obstacle to overcome. Novel strategies have been developed to circumvent the blood-brain barrier, including CSF delivery, intracranial delivery, ultrasound-based methods, membrane transporters, receptor-mediated transcytosis, and nanotherapeutics.

Promoting longus colli muscle activation: Force direction in sitting matters.

Background: There is limited evidence to inform exercise prescription for deep neck flexor activation out of supine.

Objective: To compare activation of longus colli (LC) and sternocleidomastoid (SCM) from supine to sitting, and to compare the effect of craniocervical flexion (CCF) exercises in sitting on activation.

Methods: Twenty-four individuals without neck pain (mean age 28.

Association of malnutrition with surgical outcomes after spine surgery for spinal epidural abscess.

Background: Malnutrition is a predictor of poor surgical outcomes, but its specific effects in spinal epidural abscess (SEA) are understudied. This study aims to assess the association between nutritional status and post-operative outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the 2011-2022 American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database to identify adult SEA patients who underwent spinal surgery.

Detecting noncredible symptomology in ADHD evaluations using machine learning.

Introduction: Diagnostic evaluations for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are becoming increasingly complicated by the number of adults who fabricate or exaggerate symptoms. Novel methods are needed to improve the assessment process required to detect these noncredible symptoms. The present study investigated whether unsupervised machine learning (ML) could serve as one such method, and detect noncredible symptom reporting in adults undergoing ADHD evaluations.

Evaluation of the Pediatric Regional Anesthesia Time-Out Checklist: A Simulation Study.

Introduction: The Society for Pediatric Anesthesia Quality and Safety Committee developed the Pediatric Regional Anesthesia Time-Out Checklist, consisting of 14 safety items intended to be reviewed by an anesthesia team prior to a regional anesthetic. Primarily, we hypothesized that use of this Checklist would increase the number of safety items performed compared with no checklist, evaluating the usefulness of this tool. Secondarily, we hypothesized that, after checklist training, subjects would show better clinical judgment by electing to perform a regional anesthetic in scenarios in which no programmed error existed and electing to not perform a regional anesthetic in scenarios in which a programmed error did exist.

Migraine Genetic Susceptibility Does Not Strongly Influence Migraine Characteristics and Outcomes in a Treated, Real-World, Community Cohort.

: Migraine is a common neurological disorder with highly variable characteristics. While genome-wide association studies have identified genetic risk factors that implicate underlying pathways, the influence of genetic susceptibility on disease characteristics or treatment response is incompletely understood. We examined the relationships between a previously developed standardized integrative migraine polygenic genetic risk score (PRS) and migraine characteristics in a real-world, treated patient cohort.

Neuroinflammation: A Driving Force in the Onset and Progression of Alzheimer's Disease.

: The goal of this commentary is to highlight several key components of the inflammatory process as it relates to amyloid toxicity in Alzheimer's disease (AD), including the role of neuroinflammatory factors and peripheral inflammatory events. : Google Scholar and PubMed were used to find articles with the following keywords: Alzheimer's disease, amyloids, neuroinflammation, peripheral inflammation, microglia, cytokines, and treatments. Sources that were case reports, not peer-reviewed, or older than 30 years were excluded.

Associations of Voice Metrics with Postural Function in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: This study aimed to explore the potential associations between voice metrics of patients with PD and their motor symptoms.

Methods: Motor and vocal data including the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part III (UPDRS-III), Harmonic-Noise Ratio (HNR), jitter, shimmer, and smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS) were analyzed through exploratory correlations followed by univariate linear regression analyses. We employed these four voice metrics as independent variables and the total and sub-scores of the UPDRS-III as dependent variables.

Dysregulation of FURIN and Other Proprotein Convertase Genes in the Progression from HPV Infection to Cancer.

Productive infections of oncogenic human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are closely linked to the differentiation of host epithelial cells, a process that the virus manipulates to create conditions favorable to produce virion progeny. This viral interference involves altering the expression of numerous host genes. Among these, proprotein convertases (PCs) have emerged as potential oncogenes due to their central role in cellular functions.

Leadless Pacing: Current Status and Ongoing Developments.

Although significant strides have been made in cardiac pacing, the field is still evolving. While transvenous permanent pacing is highly effective in the management of bradyarrhythmias, it is not risk free and may result in significant morbidity and, rarely, mortality. Transvenous leads are often the weakest link in a pacing system.