Does the outcome of acupuncture differ according to the location of sham needling points in acupuncture trials for migraine? A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Various acupuncture clinical trials have been conducted on migraine; however, the conclusions remain controversial especially when acupuncture was compared with sham acupuncture. Sham acupuncture is sometimes performed at the same acupuncture points used for verum acupuncture despite the evidence on acupuncture point specificity. Four databases were searched for sham acupuncture or waiting list-controlled acupuncture trials for migraine on December 25, 2023.

Retrobulbar Hematoma: Presentation, Management, and Visual Outcomes.

Retrobulbar hematoma (RH) is a diagnostic and therapeutic emergency that may cause permanent vision loss. Lateral canthotomy and cantholysis (LCC) is typically performed when IOP is elevated or vision is compromised. The authors describe the outcomes of the largest cohort of patients with RH to date.

Progressive Multicomponent Intervention for Older Adults in Home Health Settings Following Hospitalization: Randomized Clinical Trial.

Objectives: Reduced physical function following hospitalization places older adults at risk of adverse health events. Many older adults receive home health physical therapy to reverse their deconditioning; however, optimal approaches to improve physical function are currently not known. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a home health care approach comprised of high-intensity exercise, enhanced care transition, and protein supplementation.

Cup-to-disc ratio measured clinically and via OCT in pediatric patients being monitored as glaucoma suspects for suspicious optic discs.

Purpose: Compare cup-to-disc ratio (CDR) measured by clinical assessment and optical coherence tomography (OCT) in pediatric eyes being monitored as glaucoma suspects for suspicious optic disc appearance.

Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study.

Methods: An institutional study following 221 eyes from 122 unique pediatric glaucoma suspects being monitored due to increased or asymmetric appearance of CDR.

Mixed-methods multicenter assessment of healthcare workers' knowledge, perceptions, and practices related to blood culture utilization in hospitalized adults.

Objective: To understand healthcare workers' (HCWs) beliefs and practices toward blood culture (BCx) use.

Design: Cross-sectional electronic survey and semi-structured interviews.

Setting: Academic hospitals in the United States.

Aeromedical evacuation-relevant hypobaria following traumatic brain injury in rats contributes to cerebral blood flow depression, altered neurochemistry, and increased neuroinflammation.

Aircraft cabins are routinely pressurized to the equivalent of 8000 ft altitude. Exposure of lab animals to aeromedical evacuation relevant hypobaria after traumatic brain injury worsens neurological outcomes, which is paradoxically exacerbated by hyperoxia. This study tested the hypothesis that exposure of rats to hypobaria following cortical impact reduces cerebral blood flow, increases neuroinflammation, and alters brain neurochemistry.

Tubulin-Based Microtentacles Aid in Heterotypic Clustering of Neutrophil-Differentiated HL-60 Cells and Breast Tumor Cells.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) travel through the vasculature to seed secondary sites and serve as direct precursors of metastatic outgrowth for many solid tumors. Heterotypic cell clusters form between CTCs and white blood cells (WBCs) and recent studies report that a majority of these WBCs are neutrophils in patient and mouse models. The lab discovered that CTCs produce tubulin-based protrusions, microtentacles (McTNs), which promote reattachment, retention in distant sites during metastasis and formation of tumor cell clusters.

Assessment of the vaginal microbiota before and after use of hyperosmolal lubricant during transvaginal ultrasound.

Background: Vaginal lubricants are commonly used during sexual activity and clinical procedures such as transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS). Epidemiologic and laboratory studies indicate hyperosmolal water-based lubricants may disrupt the vaginal microbiota, particularly the beneficial Lactobacillus spp. These bacteria play a critical role in protecting against sexually transmitted infection acquisition and other adverse gynecologic and obstetric outcomes.

Neutral Lipid Storage Disease With Myopathy and Infiltrative Cardiomyopathy Initially Presenting as Right Arm Weakness.

Neutral lipid storage disease with myopathy is a rare genetic syndrome of abnormal intracellular lipolysis leading to lipid droplet accumulation in skeletal and cardiac muscle. Because of variability in clinical presentations, a multidisciplinary approach is essential for diagnosis and treatment.

Obesity in Hidradenitis Suppurativa: Are GLP-1 Receptor Agonists the New Frontier?

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is an inflammatory skin disorder presenting with painful and draining nodules in intertriginous areas that may progress to sinus tracts. There is an increased prevalence of obesity in HS, and obesity may predispose patients to HS. Weight loss has been associated with improvement of HS symptoms.

Epidemiology, treatment and outcomes of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms.

To investigate incidence, treatment patterns and outcomes of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NEN) in the United States. The 2019 National Cancer Database was searched for adult GEP-NEN patients. Main outcomes included overall and site-specific incidence, treatment patterns, and overall survival (OS).

Enhanced surface hydrophilicity improves osseointegration of titanium implants integrin-mediated osteoimmunomodulation.

Titanium (Ti) implants have become widespread especially in dentistry and orthopedics, where macrophage-driven osteoimmunomodulation is crucial to their success. Hydrophilic modification of Ti represents a promising strategy to enhance its immune and osteogenic responses. Herein, the osteoimmunomodulatory performance and integrin-mediated mechanism of novel non-thermal atmospheric plasma (NTAP) treatment to induce a hydrophilic Ti were investigated for the first time.

Augmented reality-assisted microvascular decompression for glossopharyngeal neuralgia: a case report.

Glossopharyngeal neuralgia is a rare condition characterized by pain along the distribution of the glossopharyngeal nerve. Surgical approaches via microvascular decompression represent a common treatment strategy. For this procedure, an understanding of the location of the cranial nerve and the offending vasculature is critically important.

Calaspargase-Pegol-Mknl Combined with BCL-2 and MCL-1 Inhibition for Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Our previous studies have demonstrated that pegcrisantaspase (PegC), a long-acting asparaginase, synergizes with the BCL-2 inhibitor Venetoclax (Ven) in vitro and in vivo; however, the anti-leukemic activity of -derived asparaginases in combination with BCL-2 inhibition, and potential synergy with inhibitors of MCL-1, a key resistance factor of BCL-2 inhibition, has yet to be determined. Using a combination of human AML cells lines, primary samples, and in vivo xenograft mouse models, we established the anti-leukemic activity of the BCL-2 inhibitor S55746 and the MCL-1 inhibitor S63845, alone and in combination with the long-acting asparaginase calaspargase pegol-mknl (CalPegA). We report that CalPegA enhances the anti-leukemic effect of S55746 but does not impact the activity of S63845.

A Facile and Promising Delivery Platform for siRNA to Solid Tumors.

Over 20 years have passed since siRNA was brought to the public's attention. Silencing genes with siRNA has been used for various purposes, from creating pest-resistant plants to treating human diseases. In the last six years, several siRNA therapies have been approved by the FDA, which solely target disease-inducing proteins in the liver.

Plant-Based Diets and Their Associations with Physical Performance in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

Background: Plant-based diets are associated with various health benefits; however, their impact on physical performance in aging populations remains unclear.

Objectives: To investigate the associations between adherence to plant-based diets and physical performance, focusing on their potential protective effects against age-related declines in function.

Methods: Data were obtained from men and women aged 40 years or older in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) (mean ± SD age: 68 ± 13 years at the first dietary visit; n = 1389).

Class B Scavenger Receptor CD36 as a Potential Therapeutic Target in Inflammation Induced by Danger-Associated Molecular Patterns.

The class B scavenger receptor CD36 is known to bind and mediate the transport of lipid-related ligands and it functions as a pattern recognition receptor (PRR) for a variety of pathogens, including bacteria and viruses. In this study, we assessed CD36's role as a PRR mediating pro-inflammatory effects of several known Danger-Associated Molecular Patterns (DAMPs) used either as a single preparation or as a combination of DAMPs in the form of total cell/skeletal muscle tissue lysates. Our data demonstrated that multiple DAMPs, including HMGB1, HSPs, histone H3, SAA, and oxPAPC, as well as cell/tissue lysate preparations, induced substantially higher (~7-10-fold) IL-8 cytokine responses in HEK293 cells overexpressing CD36 compared to control WT cells.

Incidence of Pulmonary Hypertension in the Echocardiography Referral Population.

Rationale: Incidence rates for pulmonary hypertension using diagnostic data in patients with cardiopulmonary disease are not known.

Objectives: To determine incidence rates of, risk factors for, and mortality hazard associated with pulmonary hypertension among patients referred for transthoracic echocardiography.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study using data from the Veterans Health Administration (1999-2020) and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (1994-2020).

Refining Flash Visual Evoked Potential Analysis in Rats: A Novel Approach Using Bilateral Epidural Electrodes.

Purpose: Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) are electrical signals generated at the visual cortex following visual stimulation. Flash VEPs (fVEPs) are produced by global retinal stimulation and are considered an objective measure of the integrity of the entire visual pathway. However, fVEP measurements are highly sensitive to external variables, making relative comparisons of the fVEP waveforms between the two eyes in the same individual challenging.

Unlocking Therapeutic Potential: Camphorquinone's Role in Alleviating Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease via SIRT1/LKB1/AMPK Pathway Activation.

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a pathological condition that increase the risk of simple steatosis to hepatocellular carcinoma. This study aimed to investigate the biological effects of camphorquinone (CQ) in a high-fat diet (HFD)-fed and low dose streptozotocin (STZ)-induced mouse model, widely used to mimic the concurrent development of NAFLD pathological conditions in vivo, and a free fatty acid-induced hepatic steatosis cell model in vitro.

Methods: CQ (10 or 30 mg/kg/day; i.

Inferring stability and persistence in the vaginal microbiome: A stochastic model of ecological dynamics.

The interplay of stochastic and ecological processes that govern the establishment and persistence of host-associated microbial communities is not well understood. Here we illustrate the conceptual and practical advantages of fitting stochastic population dynamics models to multi-species bacterial time series data. We show how the stability properties, fluctuation regimes and persistence probabilities of human vaginal microbial communities can be better understood by explicitly accommodating three sources of variability in ecological stochastic models of multi-species abundances: 1) stochastic biotic and abiotic forces, 2) ecological feedback and 3) sampling error.