A registry-based approach for estimating county-level race disparities in breast cancer mortality: an analysis in Georgia.

Despite similar incidence rates, nationwide breast cancer mortality is 40% higher among non-Hispanic Black (NHB) than non-Hispanic White (NHW) women. The racial disparity persists even among women with early-stage disease, prognostically favorable subtypes, and indicators of high socioeconomic status and is not evenly distributed throughout the US. Understanding geographic differences may provide additional insight into the drivers of the disparity.

Associations of fire smoke and other pollutants with incident rheumatoid arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease.

Objective: Determine whether pollutants such as fire smoke-related particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns (PM) are associated with incident rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and RA-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD).

Methods: This case-control study used Veterans Affairs data 10/1/2009-12/31/2018.

Genetic predisposition to high circulating levels of interleukin 6 and risk for Alzheimer's disease. Discovery and replication.

Importance: Aging is accompanied by immune dysregulation, which has been implicated in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis. Individuals who are genetically predisposed to elevated levels of proinflammatory mediators might be at increased risk for AD.

Objective: To investigate whether genetic propensity for higher circulating levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6) is associated with AD risk.

Key considerations for combination therapy in Alzheimer's clinical trials: Perspectives from an expert advisory board convened by the Alzheimer's drug discovery foundation.

There is growing consensus in the Alzheimer's community that combination therapy will be needed to maximize therapeutic benefits through the course of the disease. However, combination therapy raises complex questions and decisions for study sponsors, from preclinical research through clinical trial design to regulatory, statistical, and operational considerations. In January 2024, the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation convened an expert advisory board to discuss the key considerations in each of these areas.

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery for patients undergoing radical cystectomy: Surgeons' perspectives and recommendations ten years after its implementation.

Background And Objectives: Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) guidelines for Radical Cystectomy (RC) were published over ten years ago. Aim of this systematic review is to update ERAS recommendations for patients undergoing RC and to give an expert opinion on the relevance of each single ERAS item.

Methods: A systematic review was performed to identify the impact of each single ERAS item on RC outcomes.

Assessment of nutrient storage and translocation in winter harvested Typha latifolia from free-water surface treatment wetland mitigating diffuse agricultural pollution.

Wetland macrophytes play a critical role in the performance of treatment wetlands (TWs), primarily through nutrient uptake. However, this retention is temporary, as nutrients are released back into the water upon the decomposition of plant litter. The removal of stored nutrients from TWs can be efficiently achieved by harvesting plants during the peak of the growing season, albeit with significant ecological disturbance.

Identification of significant SNPs for yield-related salt tolerant traits in rice through genome-wide association analysis.

Rice salt tolerance is highly anticipated to meet global demand in response to decreasing farmland and soil salinization. Therefore, dissecting the genetic loci controlling salt tolerance in rice for improving productivity is of utmost importance. Here, we evaluated six salt-tolerance-related traits of a biparental mapping population comprising 280 F2 rice individuals (Oryza sativa L.

Pharmacognistic, proximate and phytochemical analysis of stem of Cistanche tubulosa (Schenck) Hook. F.

A medicinal plant is any plant that in one or more of its organs contains substances that can be used by it or their constituent for therapeutic purposes. The present work was done to evaluate pharmacognostic, fluorescence, proximate and phytochemical analysis of ethanolic extracts of Cistanche tubulosa (Orobanchaceae) along with antimicrobial activity. Antimicrobial activity against four bacterial strains S.

Intersection of rare pathogenic variants from TCGA in the All of Us Research Program v6.

Using rare cancer predisposition alleles derived from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and high cancer prevalence (14% of participants) in All of Us (version 6), we assessed the impact of these rare alleles on cancer occurrence in six broad groups of genetic similarity provided by All of Us: African/African American (AFR), Admixed American/Latino (AMR), East Asian (EAS), European (EUR), Middle Eastern (MID), or South Asian (SAS). We observed that germline susceptibility to cancer consistently replicates in EUR-like participants but less so in other participants. We found that All of Us participants from the EUR (p = 1.

Improving spleen segmentation in ultrasound images using a hybrid deep learning framework.

This paper introduces a novel method for spleen segmentation in ultrasound images, using a two-phase training approach. In the first phase, the SegFormerB0 network is trained to provide an initial segmentation. In the second phase, the network is further refined using the Pix2Pix structure, which enhances attention to details and corrects any erroneous or additional segments in the output.

Signature-based intrusion detection using machine learning and deep learning approaches empowered with fuzzy clustering.

Network security is crucial in today's digital world, since there are multiple ongoing threats to sensitive data and vital infrastructure. The aim of this study to improve network security by combining methods for instruction detection from machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL). Attackers have tried to breach security systems by accessing networks and obtaining sensitive information.

Association of Palliative Care Timing with End-of-Life Quality in Children with Heart Disease.

Context: Children with heart disease are at risk for early mortality and parents often perceive suffering at end-of-life (EOL). Involvement of pediatric palliative care (PPC) is a proposed quality measure at the EOL in children with cancer, and early PPC involvement is associated with other quality measures. The impact of early PPC involvement on EOL quality is unknown in children with heart disease.

Developmental & Comparative Immunology Lipoxin B and lipocalin play a crucial role in insect immune-priming induced by a gut microbial commensal.

Host cabbage possesses an endophyte, Bacillus subtilis, which induced immune-priming of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella. In contrast, larvae raised under axenic conditions lost the chance to feed the bacteria and were highly susceptible to various pathogens. Addition of B.

Belzutifan for renal cell carcinoma: Balancing regulatory approval with societal and patient impact.

LITESPARK-005 evaluated belzutifan against everolimus in advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), demonstrating significant progression-free survival improvement but failing to meet the overall survival (OS) co-primary endpoint. Despite FDA approval, the trial highlights key obstacles in drug development in RCC, given the absence of OS improvement, lack of biomarker studies, high financial toxicity, and limited accessibility outside the United States.

Factors Associated With Minority Patient Enrollment in a Gastric Cancer Biobank.

Introduction: Human tissue samples are essential for translational cancer research. However, less than 20% of current biobank and genomic samples were obtained from minority patients, which may lead to biased understanding of cancer biology. The objective of this study was to identify factors associated with patient enrollment in our institution's gastric cancer biobank.

Clinical Outcomes With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Patients With FGFR2/3, MTAP or ERBB2 Genomic Alterations in Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma.

Background: FGFR2/3, MTAP and ERBB2 genomic alterations have treatment targets in advanced urothelial carcinoma (aUC). These alterations may affect tumor microenvironment and outcomes with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in aUC.

Patients And Methods: We identified patients with available genomic data in our multi-institution cohort of patients with aUC treated with ICI.

Investigating the inhibitory effect of nettle (Urtica dioica L.) essential oil and Pickering nanoemulsion on some pathogenic bacteria inoculated into pizza cheese.

The aim of the present research was to evaluate the effect of Urtica dioica L. (nettle) essential oil (in the forms of Pickering nanoemulsion (NEO) and free (EO)) on microbial, chemical and sensory changes of pizza cheese stored at 4 °C for 12 days. For this purpose, Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes were inoculated into pizza cheese.

Veteran and healthcare team perspectives on the TeleWound Practice Program within the Veterans Health Administration.

Objective: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) recently piloted the implementation of the TeleWound Practice Program (TWP), which provides interprofessional wound care to Veterans remotely. We assessed the perceptions of Veterans and healthcare team members (HCTMs), and their experiences with the TWP.

Method: We surveyed Veterans from four VHA medical centres who had received at least one TWP visit between 1 May 2020 and 31 May 2021, and HCTMs associated with any TWP encounter between 1 September 2019 and 31 March 2021.

Synthetic rational design of live-attenuated Zika viruses based on a computational model.

Many viruses of the Flaviviridae family, including the Zika virus (ZIKV), are human pathogens of significant public health concerns. Despite extensive research, there are currently no approved vaccines available for ZIKV and specifically no live-attenuated Zika vaccine. In this current study, we suggest a novel computational algorithm for generating live-attenuated vaccines via the introduction of silent mutation into regions that undergo selection for strong or weak local RNA folding or into regions that exhibit medium levels of sequence conservation.

"Listening to understand," exploring postpartum women's perceptions of their social networks and social support in relation to their health behaviors and weight: A qualitative exploratory study.

Background: Postpartum is a critical period to interrupt weight gain across the lifespan, decrease weight-related risk in future pregnancies, promote healthy behaviors that are often adopted during pregnancy, and improve long-term health. Because the postpartum period is marked by unique challenges to a person's ability to prioritize healthy behaviors, a multi-level/domain approach to intervention beyond the individual-level factors of diet and activity is needed.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to understand postpartum people's perceptions about the relationship between their social networks and support, and their health behaviors and weight.

Injectable Estradiol Use in Transgender and Gender-Diverse Individuals in the U.S.: A Multicenter Retrospective Study.

Context: Guidelines for use of injectable estradiol esters (valerate [EV] and cypionate [EC]) among transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals designated male at birth vary considerably, with many providers noting supraphysiologic serum estradiol concentrations based on current dosing recommendations.

Objectives: 1. Determine dose of injectable estradiol (subcutaneous [SC] and intramuscular [IM]) needed to reach guideline-recommended estradiol concentrations for TGD adults using EC/EV.

The Impact of Critical Speed and Lean Body Mass on Load Carriage Performance for Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps Cadets.

Introduction: Load carriage is an inherent part of tactical operations. Critical speed (CS) has been associated with technical and combat-specific performance measures (e.g.