Hyaluronan Directs Alveolar Type II Cell Response to Acute Ozone Exposure in Mice.

Becoming more frequent due to climate change, ozone (O) exposures can cause lung injury. Alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells and hyaluronan (HA), a matrix component, are critical to repairing lung injury and restoring homeostasis. Here, we define the impact of HA on AT2 cells following acute O exposure.

Two-Layer Retrieval-Augmented Generation Framework for Low-Resource Medical Question Answering Using Reddit Data: Proof-of-Concept Study.

Background: The increasing use of social media to share lived and living experiences of substance use presents a unique opportunity to obtain information on side effects, use patterns, and opinions on novel psychoactive substances. However, due to the large volume of data, obtaining useful insights through natural language processing technologies such as large language models is challenging.

Objective: This paper aims to develop a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) architecture for medical question answering pertaining to clinicians' queries on emerging issues associated with health-related topics, using user-generated medical information on social media.

Examining the Emotional and Physical Health Impact in Users of Open-Source Automated Insulin Delivery and Sources of Support: Qualitative Analysis of Patient Narratives.

Background: Although commercially developed automated insulin delivery (AID) systems have recently been approved and become available in a limited number of countries, they are not universally available, accessible, or affordable. Therefore, open-source AID systems, cocreated by an online community of people with diabetes and their families behind the hashtag #WeAreNotWaiting, have become increasingly popular.

Objective: This study focused on examining the lived experiences, physical and emotional health implications of people with diabetes following the initiation of open-source AID systems, their perceived challenges, and their sources of support, which have not been explored in the existing literature.

Developing Guidelines for Conducting Stigma Research With Transgender and Nonbinary Individuals: Protocol for Creation of a Trauma-Informed Approach to Research.

Background: Transgender and nonbinary individuals have received increasing attention within HIV research, with studies documenting the pervasive role stigma plays in creating and sustaining health inequities. However, the proliferation of HIV stigma research with this population has also raised concerns about research practices that may unintentionally stigmatize or retraumatize the very communities they are designed to benefit. Conducting stigma research is critical for generating accurate information about HIV epidemiology, risk and protective factors, and intervention strategies for transgender and nonbinary individuals.

Highly Stereo- and Enantioselective Syntheses of δ-Alkyl-Substituted ()-Homoallylic Alcohols.

Highly stereo- and enantioselective synthesis of δ-alkyl-substituted ()-homoallylic alcohols via asymmetric allylation is developed. In the presence of a chiral phosphoric acid catalyst, allylation of aldehydes with α-substituted allylboronates provides δ-alkyl-substituted homoallylic alcohols with excellent ()-selectivities and enantioselectivities.

The Expanding Role of Designated Institutional Officials in Graduate Medical Education.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) plays a pivotal role in ensuring the quality of graduate medical education (GME) training across the United States. Central to the success of this mission are designated institutional officials (DIOs), who usually serve as chief GME officers within the ACGME-accredited sponsoring institutions (SIs). Despite the critical role of DIOs, the qualifications, level of administrative support, and responsibilities of DIOs are not defined and vary significantly among SIs.

Prospective associations of adolescent obesity phenotypes with self-reported polycystic ovary syndrome diagnosis in young adulthood.

Study Question: Are empirically derived adolescent overweight/obesity phenotypes differentially associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in young adulthood?

Summary Answer: Self-reported PCOS diagnosis risk in young adulthood varied by empirically derived adolescent overweight/obesity phenotypes, with the highest risk observed among those in the 'mothers with obesity' and 'early puberty' phenotypes.

What Is Known Already: Overweight and obesity during puberty are postulated to promote the development of PCOS. Much of the prior literature in this area is cross-sectional and defines weight status based solely on BMI, yet emerging research suggests that not all people with overweight/obesity have the same risk for chronic health conditions, including PCOS.

A Sorghum / Homolog Functions in PAMP-Triggered Immunity and Cell Death in Response to Infection.

(L.) Moench is the fifth most important cereal crop and expected to gain prominence due to its versatility, low input requirements, and tolerance to hot and dry conditions. In warm and humid environments the productivity of sorghum is severely limited by the hemibiotrophic fungal pathogen , the causal agent of anthracnose.

Treatment Patterns and Costs Among Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma in the United States: A Real-World Study Using Integrated Claims and Clinical Data.

Purpose: The treatment landscape for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) has evolved in recent years with the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and immuno-oncology (IO) therapies. This study examined patient characteristics, treatment patterns, health care resource utilization (HCRU), costs, and survival for individuals with mRCC who received either IO + IO or IO + TKI combinations as first-line (1L) regimens.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used integrated claims and clinical data from a commercial health plan to study adults with mRCC who began 1L treatment between April 1, 2018, and January 31, 2023.

Tubal Sterilization And Vasectomy Increased Among US Young Adults After The Supreme Court Decision In 2022.

Young adults' access to contraception is shifting after the June 2022 United States Supreme Court decision. This concurrent mixed-methods study measured young adults' use of and perceptions about tubal sterilization and vasectomy after the leaked opinion in May 2022. Using national-level medical claims data from IQVIA, we conducted difference-in-differences analyses of tubal sterilizations and vasectomies by age and state policy; using open-text survey responses from national MyVoice surveys in 2022 and 2023, we thematically analyzed young adults' perspectives.

Diabetes, Subclinical Myocardial Injury or Stress and Risk of Heart Failure Subtypes: The Jackson Heart Study.

Objective: To assess the extent to which the concomitant presence of subclinical myocardial injury or stress and diabetes affects the risk of heart failure (HF) subtypes.

Research Design And Methods: The Jackson Heart Study included Black adults, categorized based on diabetes status, high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI), and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels. Subclinical myocardial injury was defined as hs-cTnI ≥4 ng/L in women and ≥6 ng/L in men, and subclinical myocardial stress as BNP ≥35 pg/mL.

Structure-Activity Relationship Studies of an Autophagy Inhibitor That Targets the ATG14L-Beclin1 Protein-Protein Interaction Reveal Modifications That Improve Potency and Solubility and Maintain Selectivity.

Autophagy, a recycling process in eukaryotes, contributes to tumor growth and metastasis by alleviating cellular stress and facilitating survival and chemoresistance. The development of small molecules that selectively inhibit this pathway has proven challenging and is required to determine if autophagy inhibition can be harnessed as an effective therapeutic strategy in cancer. Compound 19 was previously identified as a selective autophagy inhibitor that targets the ATG14L-Beclin1 protein-protein interaction, which regulates the formation, localization, and function of VPS34 Complex I to initiate autophagy.

Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential in Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis.

Background: Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) is the presence of somatic mutations in myeloid and lymphoid malignancy genes in the blood cells of individuals without a hematologic malignancy. Inflammation is hypothesized to be a key mediator in the progression of CHIP to hematologic malignancy and patients with CHIP have a high prevalence of inflammatory diseases. This study aimed to identify the prevalence and characteristics of CHIP in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Plasma Lipid Metabolites, Clinical Glycemic Predictors, and Incident Type 2 Diabetes.

Objective: Plasma metabolite profiling has uncovered several nonglycemic markers of incident type 2 diabetes (T2D). We investigated whether such biomarkers provide information about specific aspects of T2D etiology, such as impaired fasting glucose and impaired glucose tolerance, and whether their association with T2D risk varies by race.

Research Design And Methods: Untargeted plasma metabolite profiling was performed of participants in the FINRISK 2002 cohort (n = 7,564).

Cell-Penetrating Peptide Like Anti-Programmed Cell Death-Ligand 1 Peptide Conjugate-Based Self-Assembled Nanoparticles for Immunogenic Photodynamic Therapy.

The tumor-specific efficacy of the most current anticancer therapeutic agents, including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), oligonucleotides, and photosensitizers, is constrained by limitations such as poor cell penetration and low drug delivery. In this study, we addressed these challenges by developing, a positively charged, amphiphilic Chlorin e6 (Ce6)-conjugated, cell-penetrating anti-PD-L1 peptide nanomedicine (CPPD1) with enhanced cell and tissue permeability. The CPPD1 molecule, a bioconjugate of a hydrophobic photosensitizer and strongly positively charged programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) binding cell-penetrating peptide (CPP), is capable of self-assembling into nanoparticles with an average size of 199 nm in aqueous solution without the need for any carriers.

Self-Sufficient Electrochromic Solar Cells: Photovoltaic and Color Modulating Smart Windows.

Electronic devices cover a large subset of daily life gadgets which use power to run, hence increasing the load of the energy needs and indirectly impacting greenhouse gas emissions. Smart electrochromic windows provide a solution to this through remarkable energy saving by adjusting optical behavior depending on the environmental conditions. Since the electrochromic windows also need power to run, a self-powered electrochromic panel will be a better solution.

Completion of lunar magma ocean solidification at 4.43 Ga.

Crystallization of the lunar magma ocean yielded a chemically unique liquid residuum named KREEP. This component is expressed as a large patch on the near side of the Moon and a possible smaller patch in the northwest portion of the Moon's South Pole-Aitken basin on the far side. Thermal models estimate that the crystallization of the lunar magma ocean (LMO) could have spanned from 10 and 200 My, while studies of radioactive decay systems have yielded inconsistent ages for the completion of LMO crystallization covering over 160 My.

Utilizing Martian samples for future planetary exploration-Characterizing hazards and resources.

One of the most surprising and important findings of the first human landings on the Moon was the discovery of a very fine layer of lunar dust covering the entire surface of Moon along with the negative impacts of this dust on the well-being and operational effectiveness of the astronauts, their equipment, and instrumentation. The United States is now planning for human missions to Mars, a planet where dust can also be expected to be ubiquitous for many or most landing sites. For these missions, the design and operations of key hardware systems must take this dust into account, especially when related to crew health and safety.

Perspectives on Mars Sample Return: A critical resource for planetary science and exploration.

Mars Sample Return (MSR) has been the highest flagship mission priority in the last two Planetary Decadal Surveys of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (hereafter, "the National Academies") and was the highest priority flagship for Mars in the Decadal Survey that preceded them. This inspirational and challenging campaign, like the Apollo program's returned lunar samples, will potentially revolutionize our understanding of Mars and help inform how other planets are explored. MSR's technological advances will keep the NASA and European Space Agency at the forefront of planetary exploration, and data on returned samples will fill knowledge gaps for future human exploration.

High organofluorine concentrations in municipal wastewater affect downstream drinking water supplies for millions of Americans.

Wastewater receives per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from diverse consumer and industrial sources, and discharges are known to be a concern for drinking water quality. The PFAS family includes thousands of potential chemical structures containing organofluorine moieties. Exposures to a few well-studied PFAS, mainly perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAA), have been associated with increased risk of many adverse health outcomes, prompting federal drinking water regulations for six compounds in 2024.

Bullying Victimization Among Teenagers: United States, July 2021-December 2023.

Introduction: This report describes the percentage of teenagers ages 12â17 who self-reported that they were bullied in the past 12 months, by selected characteristics.

Methods: Data between July 2021 and December 2023 from the National Health Interview SurveyâTeen were used for this analysis. Point estimates and the corresponding confidence intervals were calculated using SAS-callable SUDAAN software to account for the complex sample design of NHISâTeen.

Proton Accumulation Modulated Surface Potential in Proton Conducting Ceramics Revealed by Near-Ambient Pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy.

Proton conducting electrochemical cells (PCECs) are efficient and clean intermediate-temperature energy conversion devices. The proton concentration across the PCECs is often nonuniform, and characterizing the distribution of proton concentration can help to locate the position of rate-limiting reactions. However, the determination of the local proton concentration under operating conditions remains challenging.

Impact of sinus surgery on nasal discharge in chronic rhinosinusitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Nasal discharge is one of the cardinal symptoms of chronic rhinosinusitis, impacting over 50% of patients. For patients with symptoms refractory to standard medical therapy, endoscopic sinus surgery is an option. The objective of this study is to characterize how nasal discharge improves after surgery in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis.