Creating a Framework for Minimizing Opioid Consumption after Office Based Surgery.

Purpose Of Review: Herein we review recent trends in opioid prescribing, the rise in office-based surgeries, and propose a framework to minimize opioid consumption following such procedures.

Recent Findings: Outpatient surgical procedures are increasing year over year in the United States. This observed increase is expected to continue due to the financial incentives to perform outpatient procedures.

Burden of mild and moderate atopic dermatitis in adults: results from a real-world study in the United States.

Few studies explore the burden of mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis (AD). We aimed to investigate disease burden in mild-to-moderate AD using real-world data from adults with AD and their physicians in the United States. Data were drawn from the Adelphi Real World AD Disease Specific Programme™, a cross-sectional survey of physicians and their patients with AD in real-world clinical practice in the US from November 2014 to February 2015.

Carbapenem-Resistant, Virulence Plasmid-Harboring Klebsiella pneumoniae, United States.

Carbapenem-resistant and virulence plasmid-harboring Klebsiella pneumoniae (pVir-CRKP) has emerged and spread globally, yet clinical investigations from the United States remain limited. We conducted a genomic analysis of 884 unique carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae isolates from a multicenter US cohort and identified 6 pVir-CRKP isolates, including 2 sequence type (ST) 23, 2 ST893, and 2 ST11 isolates.

Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition of Hybrid Perovskites.

Semiconductor devices often rely on high-purity materials and interfaces achieved through vapor- and vacuum-based fabrication methods, which can enable precise compositional control down to single atomic layers. Compared to groups IV and III-V semiconductors, hybrid perovskites (HPs) are an emergent class of semiconductor materials with remarkable solution processability and compositional variability that have facilitated rapid experimentation to achieve new properties and progress toward efficient devices, particularly for solar cells. Surprisingly, vapor deposition techniques for HPs are substantially less developed, despite the complementary benefits that have secured vapor methods as workhorse tools for semiconductor fabrication.

Overlooked Role of Photogenerated Holes in Persistent Free Radical Formation on Hematite.

Persistent free radicals (PFRs) have garnered considerable attention due to their long lifetime and high reactivity. However, the roles of photogenerated carriers in PFR formation remain underexplored. We compared and analyzed the PFR formation on hematite-SiO loaded catechol, combining experimental and theoretical investigations.

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus Stability in Irradiated Raw Milk and Wastewater and on Surfaces, United States.

We measured stability of infectious influenza A(H5N1) virus in irradiated raw milk and wastewater and on surfaces. We found a relatively slow decay in milk, indicating that contaminated milk and fomites pose transmission risks. Although the risk is low, our results call for caution in milk handling and disposal from infected cattle.

Gastric Cancer Screening in the United States: A Review of Current Evidence, Challenges, and Future Perspectives.

Gastric cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. In the United States, gastric cancer incidence and mortality are substantially higher among non-White racial and ethnic groups and new immigrants from high-incidence countries. This is in large part related to the higher prevalence of Helicobacter pylori-associated gastric premalignant changes in these populations.

ACG Clinical Guideline: Diagnosis and Management of Gastric Premalignant Conditions.

Gastric premalignant conditions (GPMC) are common and include atrophic gastritis, gastric intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia, and certain gastric epithelial polyps. GPMC have an increased risk of progression to gastric adenocarcinoma. Gastric cancer (GC) in the United States represents an important cancer disparity because incidence rates are 2- to 13-fold greater in non-White individuals, particularly early-generation immigrants from regions of high GC incidence.

Sparse Bernoulli mixture modeling with negative-unlabeled data: an approach to identify and characterize long COVID.

SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals have reported a diverse collection of persistent and often debilitating symptoms commonly referred to as long COVID or post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC). Identifying PASC and its subphenotypes is challenging because available data are "negative-unlabeled" as uninfected individuals must be PASC negative, but those with prior infection have unknown PASC status. Moreover, feature selection among many potentially informative characteristics can facilitate reaching a concise and easily interpretable PASC definition.

IL-15 complex enhances agonistic anti-CD40 + anti-PDL1 by correcting the T-bet to Tox ratio in CD8+ T cells infiltrating pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Agonistic anti-CD40 with anti-PD-1 can elicit objective responses in a small number of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA). Better understanding of their individual effects on the PDA tumor microenvironment will help inform new strategies to further improve outcomes. Herein, we map tumor-specific CD8+ T-cell differentiation following agonistic anti-CD40 and/or anti-PDL1 in PDA.

Corneal Keratocytes, Fibroblasts, and Myofibroblasts Exhibit Distinct Transcriptional Profiles In Vitro.

Purpose: After stromal injury to the cornea, the release of growth factors and pro-inflammatory cytokines promotes the activation of quiescent keratocytes into a migratory fibroblast and/or fibrotic myofibroblast phenotype. Persistence of the myofibroblast phenotype can lead to corneal fibrosis and scarring, which are leading causes of blindness worldwide. This study aims to establish comprehensive transcriptional profiles for cultured corneal keratocytes, fibroblasts, and myofibroblasts to gain insights into the mechanisms through which these phenotypic changes occur.

A Novel Model for Cornea Power Shift in Eyes Wearing Orthokeratology Lenses With Different Back Optic Zone Diameters for Myopia Control.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to quantify the corneal power changes after wearing orthokeratology lenses of different back optic zone diameters (BOZDs) and to propose a novel 4-parameter model capable of revealing the associations between each parameter and axial length growth (ALG).

Methods: A prospective self-controlled study was conducted between June 2022 and December 2023. One eye in each subject (N = 33) was randomly assigned to wear a lens with a BOZD of either 5 mm (5 oz) or 6 mm (6 oz).

Nicotine Exposure From Smoking Tobacco and Vaping Among Adolescents.

Importance: It remains unknown whether nicotine intake among youths who vape is lower, comparable, or higher than among youths who smoke.

Objective: To examine potential differences in biomarkers of exposure to nicotine (1) between adolescents who smoke tobacco, vape, both vape and smoke (dual use), or do not use; (2) between adolescents in 3 countries; and (3) by nicotine content and form in the vaping product last used among adolescents who exclusively vaped.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This population-based, observational cross-sectional study invited adolescents aged 16 to 19 years in Canada, England, and the US who had previously completed national surveys to participate in a biomarker study based on their vaping and smoking status.

Estimated Cancer Risk in Females Who Meet the Criteria to Exit Cervical Cancer Screening.

Importance: Cervical screening guidelines in the US recommend that most females can exit routine screening at age 65 years following 2 recent consecutive negative cotest results (concurrent human papillomavirus and cytology tests). However, empirical data on the subsequent risks of cancer and cancer death in this subgroup of females are limited.

Objective: To estimate the risks of cervical cancer and cervical cancer death among females who meet the cotesting criteria to exit screening.

Polygenic Scores of Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in American Indian Adults.

Importance: Numerous efforts have been made to include diverse populations in genetic studies, but American Indian populations are still severely underrepresented. Polygenic scores derived from genetic data have been proposed in clinical care, but how polygenic scores perform in American Indian individuals and whether they can predict disease risk in this population remains unknown.

Objective: To study the performance of polygenic scores for cardiometabolic risk factors of lipid traits and C-reactive protein in American Indian adults and to determine whether such scores are helpful in clinical prediction for cardiometabolic diseases.

Frailty Trajectories Following Adjuvant Chemotherapy and Mortality in Older Women With Breast Cancer.

Importance: Frailty assessed at a single time point is associated with mortality in older women with breast cancer. Little is known about how changes in frailty following cancer treatment initiation affect mortality.

Objective: To evaluate the association between claims-based frailty trajectories following adjuvant chemotherapy initiation and 5-year mortality in older women with stage I to III breast cancer.

Estimation and Hypothesis Testing of Strain-Specific Vaccine Efficacy With Missing Strain Types With Application to a COVID-19 Vaccine Trial.

Based on data from a randomized, controlled vaccine efficacy trial, this article develops statistical methods for assessing vaccine efficacy (VE) to prevent COVID-19 infections by a discrete set of genetic strains of SARS-CoV-2. Strain-specific VE adjusting for possibly time-varying covariates is estimated using augmented inverse probability weighting to address missing viral genotypes under a competing risks model that allows separate baseline hazards for different risk groups. Hypothesis tests are developed to assess whether the vaccine provides at least a specified level of VE against some viral genotypes and whether VE varies across genotypes.

Airborne particulate matter exposure in male sugarcane workers at risk for chronic kidney disease in Guatemala.

Background: There is an international epidemic of chronic kidney disease of unknown cause (CKDu) in agricultural working populations. Particulate air pollution is a likely contributing factor in populations at risk for CKDu, but there is little personal breathing zone data for these workers.

Methods: We collected 1 to 3 personal breathing zone particulate matter <5 microns (PM5) gravimetric measurements in 143 male sugarcane harvesters over 2 seasons and concurrent ambient samples using personal sampling pumps and cyclone inlets as a sampling train.

Characterization of Three Resistance-Breaking Isolates of Sugarcane Mosaic Virus from Rwanda and Implications for Maize Lethal Necrosis.

Maize lethal necrosis (MLN) is a devastating disease of maize caused by synergy between two viruses: maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and a potyvirus, often sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV). Throughout the 2010s, severe MLN outbreaks occurred in East Africa including Kenya, Rwanda, and Ethiopia. Previous studies have shown extensive sequence diversity among SCMV isolates collected from this region.

Pressure-Induced Phase Transitions in Bismutotantalite (BiTaO): Insights from Single-Crystal Diffraction and Raman Spectroscopy.

In situ high-pressure single-crystal X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy analyses were performed on a natural bismutotantalite with an α-BiTaO structure. The results indicate that α-BiTaO transforms into an orthorhombic phase (HP γ-BiTaO), likely through an intermediate orthorhombic phase (HP β-BiTaO). The transition pressures are 11.

Novel Non-Destructive Detection Methods for in Northern Red Oak and Chestnut.

Oak wilt, caused by the fungal pathogen , spreads via root grafts and insect vectors, threating oaks ( spp.) and chestnuts ( spp.) in the United States.

KLF family members control expression of genes required for tissue macrophage identities.

Tissue-resident macrophages adopt distinct gene expression profiles and exhibit functional specialization based on their tissue of residence. Recent studies have begun to define the signals and transcription factors that induce these identities. Here we describe an unexpected and specific role for the broadly expressed transcription factor Krüppel-like factor 2 (KLF2) in the development of embryonically derived large cavity macrophages (LCMs) in the serous cavities.

Iridium Nanocrystals Enriched with Defects and Atomic Steps to Enhance Oxygen Evolution Reaction Performance.

The presence of defects can significantly improve catalytic activity and stability, as they influence the binding of the reactants, intermediates, and products to the catalyst. Controlling defects in the structures of nanocrystal catalysts is synthetically challenging. In this study, we demonstrate the ability to control the growth of Ir nanocrystals, enabling the tuning of both structural and surface defects.

Biological Regulation Studied and with Modified Proteins.

ConspectusProteins and peptides occur ubiquitously in organisms and play key functional roles, as structural elements and catalysts. Their major natural source is ribosomal synthesis, which produces polypeptides from 20 amino acid building blocks. Peptides containing noncanonical amino acids have long been prepared by chemical synthesis, which has provided a wealth of physiologically active compounds.

Leukemogenic Kras mutation reprograms multipotent progenitors to facilitate its spread through the hematopoietic system.

Leukemia-driving mutations are thought to arise in hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), yet the natural history of their spread is poorly understood. We genetically induced mutations within endogenous murine HSC and traced them in unmanipulated animals. In contrast to mutations associated with clonal hematopoiesis (such as Tet2 deletion), the leukemogenic KrasG12D mutation dramatically accelerated HSC contribution to all hematopoietic lineages.