OPTO: Automated Optimization for Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy.

NMR spectroscopy presents boundless opportunities for understanding the structure, dynamics, and function for a broad range of scientific applications. Solid-state NMR (SSNMR), in particular, provides novel insights into biological and material systems that are not amenable to other approaches. However, a major bottleneck is the extent of user training and the difficulty of obtaining reproducible, high-quality experimental results, especially for the sophisticated multidimensional pulse sequences that are essential to provide site-resolved measurements in large biomolecules.

Leveraging descriptor learning and functional map-based shape matching for automated anatomical Landmarking in mouse mandibles.

Geometric morphometrics is used in the biological sciences to quantify morphological traits. However, the need for manual landmark placement hampers scalability, which is both time-consuming, labor-intensive, and open to human error. The selected landmarks embody a specific hypothesis regarding the critical geometry relevant to the biological question.

Prolactin-induced sensitization of trigeminal nociceptors promotes migraine co-morbidity in endometriosis.

Background: Women with endometriosis are more likely to have migraine. The mechanisms underlying this co-morbidity are unknown. Prolactin, a neurohormone secreted and released into circulation from the anterior pituitary, can sensitize sensory neurons from female, but not male, rodents, monkeys and human donors.

Seeking Care for Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms Among African Americans: Findings From the National Survey of American Life.

Although obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is associated with clinically significant distress, many OCD patients do not seek treatment. Studies show that Black Americans with OCD are even less likely to obtain treatment due to differences in access. This study explored demographic and symptom outcomes associated with mental health service use for obsessions and compulsions among a nationally representative sample of African American adults (n = 3,570).

Ex-vivo lung perfusion: National trends and post-transplant outcomes.

Background: Ex-vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) has potential to expand donor lung utilization, evaluate allograft viability, and mitigate ischemia-reperfusion injury. However, trends in EVLP use and recipient outcomes are unknown on a national scale. We examined trends in EVLP use and recipient outcomes in the United States.

Baricitinib dose reduction in patients with rheumatoid arthritis achieving sustained disease control: Final results from the RA-BEYOND study.

Objective: This study examines the impact of dose step-down in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who achieved sustained disease control with baricitinib 4-mg once-daily up to 96-weeks.

Methods: Patients who completed a baricitinib phase 3 study could enter a long-term extension (LTE). In the LTE, patients who received baricitinib 4-mg for ≥15 months and maintained clinical disease activity index (CDAI) low disease activity (LDA) or remission (REM) were blindly randomized to continue 4-mg or taper to 2-mg.

Synergistic Enhancing of Biological Activity and Natural Light Self-Degradation of Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Nano-organometallic Pesticide-Fused Phenylpyrazole Amine Derivatives with Hollow Box TiO by One-pot Microwave Synthesis.

Nano-TiO as an antimicrobial inorganic material, can stimulate cells to produce reactive oxygen species and exhibit effective biochemical properties; however, phenylpyrazole derivatives, as organic pesticides, are widely used in agriculture and food. To find novel pesticides with environmental friendliness, combined with three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) prediction analysis, three types of alkaloidal phenylpyrazole amine derivatives (PA) were synthesized by a one-pot microwave method. Based on the dye sensitization strategy, four nano-organometallic pesticides (PT) were prepared by organic-inorganic hybridization.

Outcomes of surveyed monolithic CAD/CAM zirconia crowns for removable partial denture abutments: A 7-year clinical study.

Purpose: This retrospective clinical study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of surveyed monolithic computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) zirconia crowns for abutment teeth in removable partial dentures (RPDs).

Methods: Patients who received monolithic surveyed zirconia crowns were clinically examined. The crowns were examined according to the modified United States Public Health Service criteria, and Kaplan-Meier survival was determined.

Subcutaneous Pectoral Edema After Arthroscopic Labral Repair Despite Normal Irrigation Fluid Usage and Surgery Duration.

Objectives: Edema after shoulder arthroscopic surgery poses concerns due to its potential complications such as compartment syndrome, nerve damage, and respiratory issues. This study aimed to investigate the acute accumulation of subcutaneous fluid after shoulder arthroscopy.

Methods: A prospective cohort study, providing Level III evidence was conducted on 50 patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery under interscalene block anaesthesia from September to December 2023.

A Live Video Resiliency Dyadic Intervention for Persons With Dementia and Their Care-Partners Early After Diagnosis: Protocol for Open Pilot of Resilient Together for Dementia.

Background: Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRDs) are increasingly common progressive conditions that have a substantial impact on individuals and their primary care partners-together described as a dyad. The stressors experienced by dyad members at around the time of ADRD diagnosis commonly produce clinically elevated emotional distress (ie, depression and anxiety symptoms), which can become chronic and negatively impact health, relationships, and the overall quality of life. Dyads commonly report unmet needs for early support to address these challenges early after diagnosis.

IP-to-MS: An Unbiased Workflow for Antigen Profiling.

Immunoprecipitation is among the most widely utilized methods in biomedical research, with applications that include the identification of antibody targets and associated proteins. The path to identifying these targets is not straightforward, however, and often requires the use of chemical cross-linking and/or gel electrophoresis to separate targets from an overabundance of immunoglobulin protein. Such experiments are labor intensive and often yield long lists of candidate antibody targets.

Cardiometabolic Health Intervention Using Music and Exercise (CHIME) Delivered via Telehealth to Wheelchair Users: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Wheelchair users live predominantly sedentary lifestyles and have a substantially higher risk for cardiometabolic disease and mortality compared to people without disabilities. Exercise training has been found to be effective in improving cardiometabolic health (CMH) outcomes among people without disabilities, but research on wheelchair users is limited and of poor quality.

Objective: The primary aim of this study is to examine the immediate and sustained effects of a 24-week, telehealth, movement-to-music cardiovascular (M2M-C) exercise program on core indicators of CMH among adult wheelchair users compared to an active control group.

Smoking Cessation Smartphone App for Nondaily Smoking With Telephone Onboarding: Proof-of-Concept Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Nondaily smoking is a widespread and increasingly prevalent pattern of use. To date, no effective treatment approach for nondaily smoking has been identified.

Objective: This study aimed to conduct an unblinded randomized controlled trial to evaluate proof-of-concept markers of the Smiling instead of Smoking (SiS) app, a smartphone app for smoking cessation, designed specifically for people who smoke less than daily, within the framework of positive psychology.

Advances in the Development of Microarray Patches in Biomedicine.

Microarray patches (MAPs) have been employed to deliver therapeutic payloads and for detection purposes. Research has been conducted to develop novel designs in material chemistry and the architecture of microarray, which have opened up the possibility for broader applications of MAPs. However, MAPs have yet to be clinically implemented fully.

Skeletal and dental tissue mineralization: The potential role of the endoplasmic reticulum/Golgi complex and the endolysosomal and autophagic transport systems.

This paper presents a review of the potential role of the endoplasmic reticulum/Golgi complex and intracellular vesicles in mediating events leading to or associated with vertebrate tissue mineralization. The possible importance of these organelles in this process is suggested by observations that calcium ions accumulate in the tubules and lacunae of the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi. Similar levels of calcium ions (approaching millimolar) are present in vesicles derived from endosomes, lysosomes and autophagosomes.

Crystal structure of cytochrome P450 NysL and the structural basis for stereo- and regio- selective oxidation of antifungal macrolides.

NysL, a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase from the Gram-positive bacterium Streptomyces noursei, catalyzes the C10 hydroxylation of 10-deoxynystain to nystatin A, a clinically important antifungal. In this study, we present the 2.0 Å resolution crystal structure of NysL bound to nystatin A.

Application of Artificial Intelligence to Analyze Data from Randomized Controlled Trials: An Example from DECAAF-II.

Background: Causal machine learning (ML) provides an efficient way of identifying heterogeneous treatment effect groups from hundreds of possible combinations, especially for randomized trial data.

Objective: The aim of this paper is to illustrate the potential of applying causal ML on the DECAAF II trial data. We proposed a causal ML model to predict the treatment response heterogeneity.

Racial and ethnic disparities on the heart transplant waiting list.

Background: Racial disparities continue to affect countless individuals across the United States and is an ongoing issue in heart transplantation (HTx). Though inequities for post-transplant survival have been heavily studied, there remains conflicting data in waitlist outcome metrics. Our investigation aims to address this by analyzing death on, and transplantation from, the waitlist across multiple racial groups.

Association between the dietary inflammatory index and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Background: Limited research exists on the association between preconception pro-inflammatory diets and adverse pregnancy outcomes, and this relationship remains poorly understood.

Objective: To investigate the association between preconception dietary inflammatory potential, as measured by the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII), and adverse pregnancy outcomes in nulliparous individuals.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the data from the Nulliparous Outcomes Study: Mothers-to-be (nuMoM2b).

Longitudinal changes in psychological, physiological, and nutritional measures and predictors of success in Special Forces training.

The mentally and physically challenging 19-20 day, multi-stressor US Army Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) course selects soldiers for Army Special Forces (SF) training. If selected, candidates enroll for advanced training in the 2-year Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC) to qualify for the SF. This longitudinal study examined physiological, psychological, and nutritional status of soldiers before (pre-SFAS) and after SFAS (post-SFAS), and post-SFQC, to identify predictors of graduation from SFQC.

Adverse Outcomes After Cemented and Cementless Primary Elective Total Hip Arthroplasty in 60,064 Matched Patients: A Study of Data From the Swedish Arthroplasty Register.

Introduction: The choice between cemented and cementless fixation in primary elective total hip arthroplasty (THA) remains a subject of ongoing debate. However, comparisons between the two are subject to limited adjustments for patient characteristics, diagnoses, and surgical factors, as well as by limited outcome time endpoints. Our study aimed to compare the effect of femoral fixation on safety and implant survival outcomes in matched patients.

Pathogenesis of bovine H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b infection in Macaques.

Since early 2022 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus infections have been reported in wild aquatic birds and poultry throughout the United States (US) with spillover into several mammalian species. In March 2024, HPAIV H5N1 clade 2.3.

Rethinking the rise of early onset gastrointestinal cancers: a call to action.

Since the early 1990s, there has been a dramatic rise in gastrointestinal cancers diagnosed in patients under age 50 for reasons that remain poorly understood. The most significant change has been the increase in incidence rates of early-onset colorectal cancer, especially rates of left-sided colon and rectal cancers. Increases in gastric, pancreatic, and other gastrointestinal cancer diagnoses have further contributed to this trend.

Heterogeneous entity representation for medicinal synergy prediction.

Motivation: Forecasting the synergistic effects of drug combinations facilitates drug discovery and development, especially regarding cancer therapeutics. While numerous computational methods have emerged, most of them fall short in fully modeling the relationships among clinical entities including drugs, cell lines, and diseases, which hampers their ability to generalize to drug combinations involving unseen drugs. These relationships are complex and multidimensional, requiring sophisticated modeling to capture nuanced interplay that can significantly influence therapeutic efficacy.

Collective Forgetting of American Vaginal Breech Delivery.

When asked why nearly all doctors refer their breech cases to surgery, despite non-surgical breech birth being permitted throughout the United States, an obstetrician will likely cite the Term Breech Trial (TBT). This study, conducted in 2000, decisively concluded that planned cesarean delivery is safer than vaginal breech delivery. However, a review of the literature suggests that the decline of vaginal breech deliveries was a long time in the making.