Oral SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Risk for Long Covid.

SARS-CoV-2 is an oral pathogen that infects and replicates in mucosal and salivary epithelial cells, contributing to oral post-acute sequelae COVID-19 (PASC) and other oral and non-oral pathologies. While pre-existing inflammatory oral diseases provides a conducive environment for the virus, acute infection and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 can also results in oral microbiome dysbiosis that further worsens poor oral mucosal health. Indeed, oral PASC includes periodontal diseases, dysgeusia, xerostomia, pharyngitis, oral keratoses, and pulpitis suggesting significant bacterial contributions to SARS-CoV-2 and oral tissue tropism.

Early-pregnancy per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and maternal post-pregnancy weight trajectory.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate associations of early-pregnancy plasma per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) with maternal post-pregnancy weight trajectory parameters.

Methods: We studied 1106 Project Viva participants with measures of early-pregnancy plasma concentrations of eight PFAS. We measured weight at in-person visits at 6 months and 3, 7, and 12 years after pregnancy and collected self-reported weight via annual questionnaires up to 17 years after pregnancy.

Phosphorylation-Induced Self-Coacervation versus RNA-Assisted Complex Coacervation of Tau Proteins.

In this study, the role of phosphorylation in the liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of tau, the underlying driving forces, and the potential implications of this separation on protein conformation and subsequent protein aggregation were investigated. We compared in vivo-produced phosphorylated tau (p-tau) and nonphosphorylated tau under different coacervation conditions without adding crowding agents. Our findings revealed that spontaneous phase separation occurs exclusively in p-tau, triggered by a temperature shift from 4 °C to room temperature, and is driven by electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions.

Addressing inequities in cryptorchidism care: The impact of social determinants on timely & true undescended testis referrals - A six-year study from a high-volume referral center.

Introduction: The American Urological Association (AUA) recommends urology referral and surgery for undescended testicle (UDT) before 18 months of age, but it has been shown that many referrals occur later, influenced by social factors.

Objective: This study aims to identify key social factors that impact UDT referral timing and appropriateness.

Study Design: Pediatric patients referred to our institution for UDT management from 2018 to 2023 were analyzed.

The links between soil and water pollution and cardiovascular disease.

Soil and water pollution represent significant threats to global health, ecosystems, and biodiversity. Healthy soils underpin terrestrial ecosystems, supporting food production, biodiversity, water retention, and carbon sequestration. However, soil degradation jeopardizes the health of 3.

Racial and ethnic disparities in the perceived neighborhood walking environment and self-reported sleep health: A nationally representative sample of the United States.

Objectives: To identify associations between perceived neighborhood walkability and sleep across racial and ethnic groups of US adults.

Methods: Data from the 2020 National Health Interview Survey (N=27,521) were used to assess self-reported measures of walkability (pedestrian access, accessible amenities, unsafe walking conditions) and sleep (short and long duration; frequency of waking up unrested, trouble falling and staying asleep, sleep medication use). Stratified by racial and ethnic group, we calculated the age-adjusted prevalence of neighborhood walkability features and sleep measures and estimated prevalence ratios assessing associations between neighborhood walkability and sleep while adjusting for sociodemographic and health covariates.

Role of Electron Correlation beyond the Active Space in Achieving Quantitative Predictions of Spin-Phonon Relaxation.

Single-molecule magnets (SMMs) are promising candidates for molecular-scale data storage and processing due to their strong magnetic anisotropy and long spin relaxation times. However, as the temperature rises, interactions between electronic states and lattice vibrations accelerate spin relaxation, significantly limiting their practical applications. Recently, ab initio simulations have made it possible to advance our understanding of phonon-induced magnetic relaxation, but significant deviations from the experiments have often been observed.

Neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions in 600 Swedish children with the avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder phenotype.

Background: Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a feeding and eating disorder characterized by extremely restricted dietary variety and/or quantity resulting in serious consequences for physical health and psychosocial functioning. ARFID often co-occurs with neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs) and psychiatric conditions, but previous data are mostly limited to small clinical samples examining a narrow range of conditions. Here, we examined NDCs and psychiatric conditions in a large, population-based group of children with ARFID.

Analyte heterogeneity analysis as a possible potency parameter for MSC.

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSC) have been transplanted for therapeutic purposes with inconsistent results. MSC preparations are heterogeneous, and this person-to-person heterogeneity may account for the variable clinical outcomes. Additionally, the mechanisms of therapeutic action for MSC are unclear which confounds attempts to understand and identify factors that may account for variable clinical results.

Telomeric RNA quadruplexes as targets for cancer prevention: The therapeutic potential of agonodepsides.

Background: Cancer remains an awful challenge, despite years of targeting proteins to control its relentless growth and spread. Fungal metabolites, a treasure of natural chemicals, offer a glimmer of hope. Telomeres, the cellular "caps," are a focal point in cancer research.

Seeing and visualizing across the hemispheres.

Despite our subjective experience of a largely symmetric visual world, the human brain exhibits varying patterns and degrees of hemispheric asymmetry in distinct processes of visual cognition. This chapter reviews behavioral and neuroimaging evidence from neurotypical individuals and neurological patients, concerning functional asymmetries between the right hemisphere (RH) and the left hemisphere (LH) in visual object processing and mental imagery. Hierarchical perception shows RH preference for global processing and LH preference for local processing.

Hemispheric asymmetries in face recognition in health and dysfunction.

A defining characteristic of the human brain is that, notwithstanding the clear anatomic similarities, the two cerebral hemispheres have several different functional superiorities. The focus of this chapter is on the hemispheric asymmetry associated with the function of face identity processing, a finely tuned and expert behavior for almost all humans that is acquired incidentally from birth and continues to be refined through early adulthood. The first section lays out the well-accepted doctrine that face perception is a product of the right hemisphere, a finding based on longstanding behavioral data from healthy adult human observers.

The arts and hemispheric specialization.

Art was initially thought of as a single function linked mainly to spatial perception and right hemisphere functional specialization. Art was also considered to be diametrically opposed to language, further solidifying the right hemisphere specialization model. This view remained dominant for many decades.

Handedness and brain asymmetries in nonhuman primates.

A majority of humans are right-handed and exhibit left hemisphere specialization for the comprehension and production of language. To what extent population-level behavioral and brain asymmetries are unique to humans remains a topic of interest across a wide range of scientific disciplines. In this chapter, we present current findings on the expression of population-level behavioral and brain asymmetries in nonhuman primates.

Development of handedness and other lateralized functions during infancy and early childhood.

Using a historical or "development from" approach to study the development of hand-use preferences in infants and children, we show how various sensorimotor experiential events shape the cascade from initial to subsequent hand-use preferences. That cascade represents, creates, and shapes the lateralized asymmetry of neural circuits in the cerebral hemispheres. The control of the preferred hand requires neural circuits in the contralateral hemisphere that are capable of processing the organization of finely timed, sequentially organized movements and detecting haptic information derived from high-frequency transitions in the stimulus.

Hemispheric organization of the brain and its prevailing impact on the neuropsychology of aging.

Age differences in brain hemispheric asymmetry have figured prominently in the neuropsychology of aging. Here, a broad overview of these empirical and theoretical approaches is provided that dates back to the 1970s and continues to the present day. Methodological advances often brought new evidence to bear on older ideas and promoted the development of new ones.

Split-brain patients: A clinical vs experimental perspective.

For more than 80 years, the clinical perspective on the behavioral outcome of split-brain surgery suggested that it "may be carried out without any untoward effect on the patient," despite some initial and transient disconnection effects. The last 60 years of experimental studies, however, have shown quite the opposite. Using lateralized testing procedures, split-brain patients have demonstrated profound disconnection effects that can last a lifetime.

Black nursing faculty: Overcoming challenges on the road to earning tenure and promotion.

Background: Approximately 9 % of nursing faculty are Black (National League for Nursing, 2020). Black faculty seldom seek tenure and promotion. Tenure and promotion represent a professional and academic accomplishment, reflecting a scholar's ability to achieve success in research, teaching, and service.

Integrating generative artificial intelligence in a writing intensive course for undergraduate nursing students.

While generative artificial intelligence (AI) has been around for many years, it has only recently become available for use by the public. This powerful resource has changed the landscape for higher education and many instructors fear the negative effects it can have on academic integrity and student creativity in the writing process. However, it is certain that AI is here to stay, and it is crucial that educators embrace this technology and teach students to use this resource carefully and wisely.

The importance, challenges, and proposed solutions for preceptors to educate the nursing workforce.

Preceptors are essential in the clinical education of prelicensure registered nursing and advanced practice registered nursing students. However, there is a growing scarcity of preceptors available to provide clinical education. Additionally, preceptors have not uniformly received professional development in the practice of teaching that is essential in delivering high quality clinical education, and clinical education in nursing is an unfunded mandate.

A measure of wellness among nursing faculty.

Background: Nurse faculty play a critical role in sustaining the nursing workforce and meeting the nation's healthcare needs. Given the ongoing concerns about faculty supply, ensuring the well-being of nurse educators is critical concern for academic institutions and the larger nursing profession.

Purpose: This study was conducted to assess the level of well-being among nursing faculty in undergraduate and graduate programs.

Holistic admissions review in BSN programs: A literature review.

Background: Holistic admission review has been promoted as a strategy to increase the diversity of the nursing student body by considering an applicant's unique experiences and attributes along with traditional academic measures. Diversifying the student body is intended to lead to a more diverse nursing workforce where nurses resemble the people and populations being cared for.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to present the methods and results of a scoping review on the holistic admission review process in Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs in the United States as a means of understanding the review processes' impact on workforce diversity.

Standardizing nurse practitioner clinical education: The Cognitive Preceptorship Model.

Background: Though preparing autonomous advanced nursing providers who are ready to care for complex clients in a variety of settings after graduation is necessary to achieve clinical competence, NP clinical education activities used to achieve competencies are greatly variable and hard to measure. The quality of students' clinical experiences impacts students' achievement of clinical competence (CC) and achieving CC is important for the NPs to successfully transition to practice after graduation.

Aim: The purpose of this project is to apply the Cognitive Preceptorship Model (CPM) to design, describe, and explain the clinical activities that are NP role-specific, that scaffold from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), and National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) competencies and that help NP students achieve competencies.