Semaglutide and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in an adolescent with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase: a case report.

Background: Classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia, primarily due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency, leads to impaired cortisol and aldosterone production and excess adrenal androgens. Lifelong glucocorticoid therapy is required, often necessitating supraphysiological doses in youth to manage androgen excess and growth acceleration. These patients experience higher obesity rates, hypertension, and glucose metabolism issues, complicating long-term health management.

Predicting bullying victimization among adolescents using the risk and protective factor framework: a large-scale machine learning approach.

Background: Bullying, encompassing physical, psychological, social, or educational harm, affects approximately 1 in 20 United States teens aged 12-18. The prevalence and impact of bullying, including online bullying, necessitate a deeper understanding of risk and protective factors to enhance prevention efforts. This study investigated the key risk and protective factors most highly associated with adolescent bullying victimization.

Mechanical Wear of Degraded Articular Cartilage.

Purpose: To evaluate the mechanical wear of cartilage with different types of degradation.

Methods: Bovine osteochondral explants were treated with interleukin-1β (IL-1β) to mimic inflammatory conditions, with chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) to specifically remove glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), or with collagenase to degrade the collagen network during 5 days of culture. Viscoelastic properties of cartilage were characterized via indentation.

Global metabolomic alterations associated with endocrine-disrupting chemicals among pregnant individuals and newborns.

Background: Gestational exposure to non-persistent endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may be associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. While many EDCs affect the endocrine system, their effects on endocrine-related metabolic pathways remain unclear. This study aims to explore the global metabolome changes associated with EDC biomarkers at delivery.

Asymptomatic female softball pitchers have altered hip morphology and cartilage composition.

Few studies have explored hip morphology and cartilage composition in female athletes or the impact of asymmetric repetitive loading, such as occurs during softball pitching. The current cross-sectional study assessed bilateral bony hip morphology on computed tomography imaging in collegiate-level softball pitchers ('Pitch1', n = 25) and cross-country runners ('Run', n = 13). Magnetic resonance imaging was used to assess cartilage relaxation times in a second cohort of pitchers ('Pitch2', n = 10) and non-athletic controls ('Con', n = 4).

Development and characterization of in vitro inducible immortalization of a murine microglia cell line for high throughput studies.

There are few in vitro models available to study microglial physiology in a homeostatic context. Recent approaches include the human induced pluripotent stem cell model, but these can be challenging for large-scale assays and may lead to batch variability. To advance our understanding of microglial biology while enabling scalability for high-throughput assays, we developed an inducible immortalized murine microglial cell line using a tetracycline expression system.

Enhanced optical properties of chitosan polymer doped with orange peel dye investigated via UV-Vis and FTIR analysis.

The current research aims to determine the impact of orange peel dye (OPD), an eco-friendly addition, on the optical properties of biodegradable polymers. This study investigates the enhancement of optical properties in solid electrolytes based on chitosan (CS) and glycerol, with varying OPD concentrations. UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy revealed significantly enhanced UV-visible light absorption in the 200-500 nm region and effective UV light blocking.

Predictors, patterns, and correlates of moderate-severe psychological distress among New York City College Students during Waves 2-4 of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated mental health conditions by introducing and/or modifying stressors, particularly in university populations. We examined longitudinal patterns, time-varying predictors, and contemporaneous correlates of moderate-severe psychological distress (MS-PD) among college students. During 2020-2021, participants completed self-administered questionnaires quarterly (T1 = 562, T2 = 334, T3 = 221, and T4 = 169).

Ultra high density imaging arrays in diffuse optical tomography for human brain mapping improve image quality and decoding performance.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has dramatically advanced non-invasive human brain mapping and decoding. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and high-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT) non-invasively measure blood oxygen fluctuations related to brain activity, like fMRI, at the brain surface, using more-lightweight equipment that circumvents ergonomic and logistical limitations of fMRI. HD-DOT grids have smaller inter-optode spacing (~ 13 mm) than sparse fNIRS (~ 30 mm) and therefore provide higher image quality, with spatial resolution ~ 1/2 that of fMRI, when using the several source-detector distances (13-40 mm) afforded by the HD-DOT grid.

Multidimensional library for the improved identification of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

As the occurrence of human diseases and conditions increase, questions continue to arise about their linkages to chemical exposure, especially for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Currently, many chemicals of concern have limited experimental information available for their use in analytical assessments. Here, we aim to increase this knowledge by providing the scientific community with multidimensional characteristics for 175 PFAS and their resulting 281 ion types.

Fecal microbiota transplantation to prevent acute graft-versus-host disease: pre-planned interim analysis of donor effect.

Gut microbiota disruptions after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT) are associated with increased risk of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD). We designed a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial to test whether healthy-donor fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) early after alloHCT reduces the incidence of severe aGVHD. Here, we report the results from the single-arm run-in phase which identified the best of 3 stool donors for the randomized phase.

What's the bug?: An unusual cause of bacterial meningitis in a patient with history of transsphenoidal surgery.

Bacterial meningitis is an increasingly rare disease that carries significant morbidity and mortality. We describe the case of a 38-year-old male with a past medical history of pituitary macroadenoma with prior endonasal surgeries on prednisone therapy daily for resultant hypopituitarism and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy on lamotrigine daily who was transferred to an academic tertiary emergency department due to concern for developing pituitary apoplexy. At the outside emergency department, the patient presented complaining of sudden onset severe headache.

Stereotactic injection of murine brain tumor cells for neuro-oncology studies.

Glioblastomas (GBMs) are the most common and aggressive brain tumors, with a poor prognosis. Effective preclinical models are crucial to investigate GBM biology and develop novel treatments. Syngeneic models, which consist in injecting murine GBM cells into mice with a similar genetic background, offer reproducibility, cost-effectiveness, and an intact immune system, making them ideal for immunotherapy research.

Stopping of adalimumab in juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis (ADJUST): a multicentre, double-masked, randomised controlled trial.

Background: Adalimumab is an effective treatment for juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis. Data are scarce on the effects of discontinuing adalimumab after control of the disease had been reached. We aimed to assess efficacy and safety of discontinuing treatment in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis.

Determinants of dementia diagnosis in U.S. primary care in the past decade: A scoping review.

Background: Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) are chronically underdiagnosed in the U.S., particularly among minoritized racial and ethnic groups.

The biological intersection between chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia and one of the leading causes of death in elderly patients. The number of patients with AD in the United States is projected to double by 2060. Thus, understanding modifiable risk factors for AD is an urgent public health priority.

Challenges for complement functional assays in the clinical laboratory: From test validation to clinical interpretation.

Complement functional assays are essential first-tier tests for a gamut of disorders spanning from inborn errors of the immune system which lead to recurrent severe infections, to angioedema attacks, presentation of autoimmune disease, thrombotic microangiopathies and rare kidney disorders. These assays evaluate the activity of the three complement pathways and specific complement components, which helps in differential diagnosis and monitoring disease progression. The rising use of complement inhibitors for treating complement-mediated thrombotic microangiopathies has heightened the demand for personalized treatment plans and laboratory assessment of complement blockage.

Osteonecrosis of the Humerus: Trends in Surgical Management of a Nationwide Sample From 2010 to 2021.

Introduction: The humeral head is the second most common site for osteonecrosis but its epidemiology is poorly described. This study aimed to better understand its treatment in the United States by 1) evaluating total operative procedures with rates normalized to the annual surgical volume; 2) determining trends of non-joint preserving (shoulder arthroplasty) vs. joint preserving procedures; and 3) quantifying rates of operative techniques in different aged cohorts (<50 vs.

Feasibility and acceptability of the delivery of a group telehealth intervention for support persons of patients receiving buprenorphine for opioid use disorder.

Background: Opioid-related overdoses increased substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic, eliciting an urgent demand for accessible treatment for individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) and those who support them (support persons). Support persons can improve treatment initiation and retention in their individuals with OUD. Additionally, support persons may have their own mental health needs related to their loved one's OUD.

Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Impact on Chronic Ocular Disease Including Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) have risen exponentially in usage and have been shown to exert neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects across multiple organ systems. This study investigates whether GLP-1RAs influence the risk for age-related ocular diseases.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Improving MRI turbulence quantification by addressing the measurement errors caused by the derivatives of the turbulent velocity field - Sequence development and in-vitro validation.

Purpose: To improve the current method for MRI turbulence quantification which is the intravoxel phase dispersion (IVPD) method. Turbulence is commonly characterized by the Reynolds stress tensor (RST) which describes the velocity covariance matrix. A major source for systematic errors in MRI is the sequence's sensitivity to the variance of the derivatives of velocity, such as the acceleration variance, which can lead to a substantial measurement bias.

TARGETING LUNG HEME IRON BY AEROSOL HEMOPEXIN ADMINSTRATION IN SICKLE CELL DISEASE PULMONARY HYPERTENSION.

Lung tissue from human patients and murine models of sickle cell disease pulmonary hypertension (SCD-PH) show perivascular regions with excessive iron accumulation. The iron accumulation arises from chronic hemolysis and extravasation of hemoglobin (Hb) into the lung adventitial spaces, where it is linked to nitric oxide depletion, oxidative stress, inflammation, and tissue hypoxia, which collectively drive SCD-PH. Here, we tested the hypothesis that intrapulmonary delivery of hemopexin (Hpx) to the deep lung is effective at scavenging heme-iron and attenuating the progression of SCD-PH.

Insights into the use of DNA content in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma as a method for patient stratification and targeted therapy: Revisiting old concepts and exploring new possibilities.

Background: This review aimed to emphasize the implications of DNA content in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), focusing on its predictive value, role in patient stratification, and potential as a therapeutic target for this malignancy.

Methods: A narrative review of the literature was conducted through electronic database searches.

Results: In conventional HNSCC, aneuploid tumors are associated with increased lymph node metastasis, locoregional recurrences, poor response to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and worse prognosis.

Preterm Births Attributable to Criteria Air Pollutant Exposure in Bangladesh During 2015-2019.

Criteria air pollutant exposure impacts human health through various pathways. Preterm birth (PTB) is one of the major adverse birth outcomes (ABO) associated with such exposure. Although numerous global and regional studies have been conducted on this issue, few have recently investigated the impact of major criteria air pollutant exposure on PTBs in Bangladesh, one of the world's most polluted countries with the highest relative PTB rate.