Testing a Web-Based Interactive Comic Tool to Decrease Obesity Risk Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Preadolescents: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Childhood obesity prevalence remains high, especially in racial and ethnic minority populations with low incomes. This epidemic is attributed to various dietary behaviors, including increased consumption of energy-dense foods and sugary beverages and decreased intake of fruits and vegetables. Interactive, technology-based approaches are emerging as promising tools to support health behavior changes.

Nondestructive Mechanical Characterization of Bioengineered Tissues by Digital Holography.

Mechanical properties of engineered connective tissues are critical for their success, yet modern sensors that measure physical qualities of tissues for quality control are invasive and destructive. The goal of this work was to develop a noncontact, nondestructive method to measure mechanical attributes of engineered skin substitutes during production without disturbing the sterile culture packaging. We optimized a digital holographic vibrometry (DHV) system to measure the mechanical behavior of Apligraf living cellular skin substitute through the clear packaging in multiple conditions: resting on solid agar as when the tissue is shipped, on liquid media in which it is grown, and freely suspended in air as occurs when the media is removed for feeding.

Novel Anti-Microbial/Anti-Inflammatory Combination Improves Clinical Outcome of Bacillus cereus Endophthalmitis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the therapeutic potential of the novel combination of Bacillus bacteriophage lysin (PlyB) and a synthetic TLR2/4 inhibitor (oxidized 1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, OxPAPC) in the treatment of experimental Bacillus cereus endophthalmitis.

Methods: C57BL/6J mice were injected with 100 colony forming units (CFUs) Bacillus cereus to induce endophthalmitis. Two hours postinfection, groups of mice were treated with either PlyB, PlyB with OxPAPC, or the groups were left untreated to serve as a control.

Amide Internucleoside Linkages Suppress the MicroRNA-like Off-Target Activity of Short Interfering RNA.

RNA interference (RNAi) has rapidly matured as a novel therapeutic approach. In this field, chemical modifications have been critical to the clinical success of short interfering RNAs (siRNAs). Notwithstanding the significant advances, achieving robust durability and gene silencing in extrahepatic tissues, as well as reducing off-target effects of siRNA, are areas where chemical modifications can still improve siRNA performance.

Blood Culture Use in Medical and Surgical Intensive Care Units and Wards.

Importance: Blood culture (BC) use benchmarks in US hospitals have not been defined.

Objective: To characterize BC use in adult intensive care units (ICUs) and wards in US hospitals.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A retrospective cross-sectional study of BC use in adult medical ICUs, medical-surgical ICUs, medical wards, and medical-surgical wards from acute care hospitals from the 4 US geographic regions was conducted.

A Retrospective, Single-Center Assessment of Changes in Pain, Agitation, and Delirium Management Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Importance: Recent studies have found an association between COVID-19 infection and deeper sedation in mechanically ventilated patients, raising concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pain, agitation, and delirium (PAD) management practices overall.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess differences in PAD management in patients without COVID-19 infection in pre- and peri-COVID-19 pandemic timeframes.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This was a single-center, retrospective, pre-/post-cohort analysis of mechanically ventilated adult patients without COVID-19 infection admitted to an ICU in Boston, MA.

Interactions of Chronic Stress Exposure and Stress Appraisal on Vascular Endothelial Function Among Young Adults.

We investigated the associations of ongoing, chronic stress exposure and stress appraisal on vascular endothelial function (VEF) in young adults. In 72 healthy young adults (74% female; age = 25±1 y), we assessed chronic stress exposure and appraisal with a measure that quantified chronic stress exposure and chronic stress appraisal related to 8 specific stressors over the last year. Participants completed the perceived stress scale (PSS) as a measure of global, proximal stress appraisal.

Current applications and research trends of ultrasound examination in acute kidney injury assessment: a bibliometric analysis.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a significant clinical condition, and ultrasound examination has emerged as a crucial non-invasive imaging method for assessing kidney status, especially in its diagnosis and management. This study aims to perform a bibliometric analysis to clarify current research trends in ultrasound assessment of AKI.

Methods: We conducted a literature search in the Web of Science database using keywords related to ultrasound examinations of acute kidney injury, up to November 15, 2023.

HIV Prevention in Syringe Service Programs Since the Start of COVID-19: Where Do We Go From Here?

Purpose: This narrative review addresses post-2020, specific, complex challenges for use of and adherence to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention among out-of-treatment people who use drugs (PWUD) at syringe services programs (SSPs).

Recent Findings: The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated changes to the provision of healthcare have significantly impacted HIV prevention, especially for PWUD. Through a synthesis of literature and clinical experience, we (1) characterize the operational changes imposed by the pandemic on SSPs that shaped the current HIV prevention landscape; (2) describe three levels of current challenges for PWUD, including consumer attitudes, non-medical and medical provider attitudes, and structural and scalability barriers; (3) characterize current models for PrEP in SSPs; and (4) offer practical recommendations for HIV prevention in harm reduction programs.

Quantification of Particle-Associated Viruses in Secondary Treated Wastewater Effluent.

Viruses can interact with a broad range of inorganic and organic particles in water and wastewater. These associations can protect viruses from inactivation by quenching chemical disinfectants or blocking ultraviolet light transmission, and a much higher dosage of disinfectants is required to inactivate particle-associated viruses than free viruses. There have been only few studies of the association of viruses with particles in wastewater, particularly in secondary treated effluent.

Primary Graft Dysfunction after Heart Transplantation: Current Evidence and Implications for Clinical Practice.

Purpose Of Review: This review summarizes the current literature on primary graft dysfunction highlighting the current definition, reviewing epidemiology, and describing donor, recipient, and perioperative risk factors in the contemporary era.

Recent Findings: PGD, in its most severe form, complicates 8% of heart transplants and portends a 1-year mortality of close to 40%. PGD is multifactorial and heterogeneous with contributions from donor and recipient risk as well as organ recovery and preservation modalities.

Improving rupture status prediction for intracranial aneurysms using wall shear stress informatics.

Background: Wall shear stress (WSS) plays a crucial role in the natural history of intracranial aneurysms (IA). However, spatial variations among WSS have rarely been utilized to correlate with IAs' natural history. This study aims to establish the feasibility of using spatial patterns of WSS data to predict IAs' rupture status (i.

MOG antibody-associated disease epidemiology in Olmsted County, USA, and Martinique.

Objectives: To report myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) epidemiology in two American regions using 2023 diagnostic criteria.

Patients And Methods: We compared age- and sex-adjusted incidence and prevalence of MOGAD per 2023 diagnostic criteria in Olmsted County (Minnesota [USA]) and Martinique (Caribbean [FR]) (01/01/2003-12/31/2018, prevalence day) using Poisson regression. Archived sera in 68-85% were available for MOG-IgG testing by live cell-based assay at Mayo Clinic.

Improvement in vision-related quality-of-life using the NEI-VFQ-9 over 1-year in the Manhattan Vision Screening and Follow-up Study (NYC-SIGHT).

Purpose: To examine the nine-item National Eye Institute Vision Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-9) scores at baseline and 12 months in participants enrolled in the Manhattan Vision Screening and Follow-up Study (NYC-SIGHT) and determine factors associated with improvements in vision-related quality-of-life (VRQOL).

Methods: Retrospective review of NEI-VFQ-9 scores at baseline and 12-month follow-up in a community-based eye health screening study conducted in Upper Manhattan, New York. Participants were age ≥ 40 years and older, living independently in public/affordable housing developments and able to provide informed consent.

Time-restricted feeding reduces cardiovascular disease risk in obese mice.

Disrupted feeding and fasting cycles as well as chronic high fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity are associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors. We designed studies that determined whether two weeks of time-restricted feeding (TRF) intervention in mice fed a chronic HFD would reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors. Mice were fed a normal diet (ND; 10% fat) ad libitum or HFD (45% fat) for 18 weeks ad libitum to establish diet-induced obesity.

Development and evaluation of a 4M taxonomy from nursing home staff text messages using a fine-tuned generative language model.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the utilization of a fine-tuned language model to extract expressions related to the Age-Friendly Health Systems 4M Framework (What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility) from nursing home worker text messages, deploy automated mapping of these expressions to a taxonomy, and explore the created expressions and relationships.

Materials And Methods: The dataset included 21 357 text messages from healthcare workers in 12 Missouri nursing homes. A sample of 860 messages was annotated by clinical experts to form a "Gold Standard" dataset.

Improving large language model applications in biomedicine with retrieval-augmented generation: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and clinical development guidelines.

Objective: The objectives of this study are to synthesize findings from recent research of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and large language models (LLMs) in biomedicine and provide clinical development guidelines to improve effectiveness.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review and a meta-analysis. The report was created in adherence to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 analysis.

Sociodemographic Variables Associated with Self-reported Access to Mental Healthcare Among Brazilian Immigrant Women in the U.S.

Brazilians are a rapidly growing immigrant population in the United States (U.S.), yet little is known about their mental health and access to mental healthcare.

Civil Disobedience in Democratic Education.

The study's goal was to examine the tension between democratic school governance, requiring its participants to obey school rules, even though they might disagree with those rules, and personal responsibility, requiring the participants to act morally, in accordance with their conscience and their sense of what is right and makes sense for them, regardless of the democratic nature of the imposed school rules. This examination was based on three sources: 1) three Open Symposia with American and Russian democratic educationalists, 2) my review of the existing literature on civil disobedience and democratic education, and 3) my empirical study based on the interviews of participants of an American private democratic school, known as The Circle School, regarding their instances of civil disobedience. The three Open Symposia allowed me to develop a working definition of civil disobedience as a particular principled disobedience.

Content Validity of the Friedreich Ataxia Rating Scale in Patients with Spinocerebellar Ataxia.

Introduction: The Friedreich Ataxia Rating Scale-Activities of Daily Living (FARS-ADL) is a validated and highly utilized measure for evaluating patients with Friedreich Ataxia. While construct validity of FARS-ADL has been shown for spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA), content validity has not been established.

Methods: Individuals with SCA1 or SCA3 (n = 7) and healthcare professionals (HCPs) with SCA expertise (n = 8) participated in qualitative interviews evaluating the relevance, clarity, and clinical meaningfulness of FARS-ADL for assessment of individuals with SCA.

Association Between Nail Type and Aseptic Revision Risk After Cephalomedullary Nailing for Hip Fracture.

Background: Although the majority of intertrochanteric femoral fractures in the United States are now treated with cephalomedullary nailing, it remains uncertain whether differences in clinical performance by nail type exist. The purpose of this study was to compare the aseptic revision rates associated with the 3 most commonly utilized cephalomedullary nails in the United States today: the Gamma nail (Stryker), the INTERTAN (Smith+Nephew), and the Trochanteric Fixation Nail/Trochanteric Fixation Nail Advanced (TFN/TFNA; DePuy Synthes).

Methods: Using an integrated health-care system's hip fracture registry, patients ≥60 years of age who were treated with 1 of these 3 commonly used cephalomedullary nail devices were identified.

Classical cell cycle kinase limits tubulin polyglutamylation and cilium stability.

Tubulin polyglutamylation is essential for maintaining cilium stability and function, and defective tubulin polyglutamylation is associated with ciliopathies. However, the regulatory mechanism underlying proper axonemal polyglutamylation remains unclear. He et al.

Pharmacodynamic characterization and evaluation of oxidative stress effects of digitoxigenin derivatives on HeLa cells.

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and its treatment is hampered by the lack of specificity and side effects of current drugs. Cardiotonic steroids (CTS) interact with Na/K-ATPase (NKA) and induce antineoplastic effects, but their narrow therapeutic window is key limiting factor. The synthesis of digitoxigenin derivatives with glycosidic unit modifications is a promising approach to develop more selective and effective antitumor agents.