Transcriptomic Profiling Reveals 17β-Estradiol Treatment Represses Ubiquitin-Proteasomal Mediators in Skeletal Muscle of Ovariectomized Mice.

Background: With a decline of 17β-estradiol (E2) at menopause, E2 has been implicated in the accompanied loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength. We aimed at characterizing transcriptomic responses of skeletal muscle to E2 in female mice, testing the hypothesis that genes and pathways related to contraction and maintenance of mass are differentially expressed in ovariectomized mice with and without E2 treatment.

Methods: Soleus and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles from C57BL/6 ovariectomized mice treated with placebo (OVX) or E2 (OVX + E2) for 60 days, or from skeletal muscle-specific ERα knockout (skmERαKO) mice and wild-type littermates (skmERαWT), were used for genome-wide expression profiling, quantitative real-time PCR and immunoblotting.

Precision in Liver Diagnosis: Varied Accuracy Across Subgroups and the Need for Variable Thresholds in Diagnosis of MASLD.

Background And Aims: The performance of non-invasive liver tests (NITs) is known to vary across settings and subgroups. We systematically evaluated whether the performance of three NITs in detecting advanced fibrosis in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) varies with age, sex, body mass index (BMI), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) status or liver enzymes.

Methods: Data from 586 adult LITMUS Metacohort participants with histologically characterised MASLD were included.

Likes and Hashtags: Exploring the Potential Relationship Between Social Media use and the Emotional Wellbeing of Oncology Professionals.

Purpose: To explore the potential relationship between social media (SoMe) and burnout or overall wellbeing within the field of oncology.

Design: A cross-sectional study of adult and pediatric oncology professionals conducted using an anonymous electronic survey. The survey was disseminated through the Children's Oncology Group (COG) and the SWOG Cancer Research Network (SWOG) member listservs.

Trends and disparities in atrial fibrillation-related mortality among adults with co-morbid diabetes mellitus in the United States.

From 1999 to 2020, age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMR) for atrial fibrillation-related deaths among U.S. adults (age ≥25) with comorbid diabetes mellitus increased significantly with an annual percent change of 6.

Radiotherapeutics, clonal hematopoiesis, and risk of hematologic malignancies: The good, the bad, the ugly.

While radiotherapeutics have demonstrated significant clinical benefit across multiple cancer types including thyroid cancer, neuroendocrine tumors, and prostate cancer, hematological toxicities can be frequent and challenging. It remains unknown to what extent the hematologic toxicity is driven by clonal processes that preexist and are selected for by treatment induced selection pressures. In this review, we discuss the background leading to the adoption of radiotherapeutics in the treatment of solid tumor malignancies, the risk of hematologic toxicities and myeloid neoplasms and the evidence pointing to potential precursor lesions that may predispose patients to hematologic toxicities.

Ethical Challenges in Pediatric Medical Complexity: A Survey of Parents.

Objective: To understand parents' experiences of ethical challenges in the care of children with chronic and serious medical conditions and what resources they access for support.

Study Design: We recruited English-speaking parents of children with complex and serious medical conditions via family advocacy groups to complete an electronic survey from October 2022 through February 2023. We queried respondents' experiences with specific ethical challenges in the care of their child, whether their concerns persisted, and what resources they accessed.

Influence of feeding thermally peroxidized lipids on the performance of growing pigs.

Feeding pigs lipids containing high levels of lipid oxidation products (LOP) has been shown to reduce growth performance, but data is lacking on quantitative relationships between LOP and pig growth, feed intake and feed efficiency. Four experiments (EXP) were conducted using soybean oil (SO) in EXP 1, 2, and 3, as well as SO, choice white grease (CWG) and palm oil (PO) in EXP 4, to evaluate the impact of feeding diets containing different amounts of LOP on pig performance. Lipid peroxidation was carried out using variable heating temperatures and durations to generate lipids with a broad range of peroxide (PV, mEq) and anisidine value (AnV, unitless).

Spin-Orbit Coupling and Admixture Coefficients in SA-CASSCF and MS-CASPT2, and Triplet Excitation Yield Simulated via Trajectory Surface Hopping and Calibrated SA-CASSCF in 1,2-Dioxetane Derivatives.

The energy gaps, spin-orbit coupling (SOC), and admixture coefficients over a series of the configurations are evaluated by the SA-CASSCF/6-31G, SA-CASSCF/6-31G*, SA-CASSCF/ANO-RCC-VDZP, and MS-CASPT2/ANO-RCC-VDZP to reveal the extent of the inaccuracy of the SA-CASSCF. By comparing the mean absolute errors for the energy gaps and the admixture coefficient magnitudes (ACMs) measured between the SA-CASSCF/6-31G, SA-CASSCF/6-31G*, or SA-CASSCF/ANO-RCC-VDZP and the MS-CASPT2/ANO-RCC-VDZP, the SA-CASSCF/6-31G is selected as the electronic structure method in the nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulation. The major components of the ACMs of the SA-CASSCF/6-31G and MS-CASPT2/ANO-RCC-VDZP are identified and compared; we find that the ACMs are underestimated by the SA-CASSCF/6-31G, which is verified by the reasonable triplet quantum yield simulated by the trajectory surface hopping and the calibrated SA-CASSCF/6-31G.

Fecal microbiota transplantation to prevent acute graft-versus-host disease: pre-planned interim analysis of donor effect.

Gut microbiota disruptions after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT) are associated with increased risk of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD). We designed a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial to test whether healthy-donor fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) early after alloHCT reduces the incidence of severe aGVHD. Here, we report the results from the single-arm run-in phase which identified the best of 3 stool donors for the randomized phase.

Allergen-induced activation of epithelial P2Y receptors promotes ATP exocytosis and type 2 immunity in airways.

Background: Environmental allergens induce the release of danger signals from the airway epithelium that trigger type 2 immune responses and promote airway inflammation.

Objective: To investigate the role of allergen-stimulated P2Y receptor activation in regulating ATP, IL-33 and DNA release by human bronchial epithelial (hBE) cells and mouse airways.

Methods: hBE cells were exposed to Alternaria alternata extract and secretion of ATP, IL-33 and DNA were studied in vitro.

Improving MRI turbulence quantification by addressing the measurement errors caused by the derivatives of the turbulent velocity field - Sequence development and in-vitro validation.

Purpose: To improve the current method for MRI turbulence quantification which is the intravoxel phase dispersion (IVPD) method. Turbulence is commonly characterized by the Reynolds stress tensor (RST) which describes the velocity covariance matrix. A major source for systematic errors in MRI is the sequence's sensitivity to the variance of the derivatives of velocity, such as the acceleration variance, which can lead to a substantial measurement bias.

Mapping the aging brain: Insights into microstructural changes from free water-corrected fractional anisotropy.

Aging has a significant impact on brain structure, demonstrated by numerous MRI studies using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). While these studies reveal changes in fractional anisotropy (FA) across different brain regions, they tend to focus on white matter tracts and cognitive regions, often overlooking gray matter and motor areas. Additionally, traditional DTI metrics can be affected by partial volume effects.

The Landscape of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Pediatric Kidney Transplantation.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is increasing in prevalence due to the growing opioid epidemic; however, its impact on pediatric kidney transplantation is unknown. This study compared kidney transplant outcomes between HCV-positive and propensity-score-weighted HCV-negative pediatric recipients. It also examined HCV-positive kidney utilization for pediatric transplantation in the United States.

A forward genetic screen identifies potassium channel essentiality in SHH medulloblastoma maintenance.

Distinguishing tumor maintenance genes from initiation, progression, and passenger genes is critical for developing effective therapies. We employed a functional genomic approach using the Lazy Piggy transposon to identify tumor maintenance genes in vivo and applied this to sonic hedgehog (SHH) medulloblastoma (MB). Combining Lazy Piggy screening in mice and transcriptomic profiling of human MB, we identified the voltage-gated potassium channel KCNB2 as a candidate maintenance driver.

Are AI chatbots concordant with evidence-based cancer screening recommendations?

Objective: This study aimed to assess whether information from AI chatbots on benefits and harms of breast and prostate cancer screening were concordant with evidence-based cancer screening recommendations.

Methods: Seven unique prompts (four breast cancer; three prostate cancer) were presented to ChatGPT in March 2024. A total of 60 criteria (30 breast; 30 prostate) were used to assess the concordance of information.

The silent pandemic of stress: impact on menstrual cycle and ovulation.

In the current age of technological advancement, stress has emerged as a silent pandemic affecting individuals, especially young generations, globally. Factors such as increased competition, social pressures fueled by social media and smartphones, and a sense of diminished control in the face of modern challenges contribute to rising stress levels. In addition to the negative implications on mental well-being, stress affects physiological processes such as the menstrual cycle.

Contribution of Nuclear Fragmentation to Dose and RBE in Carbon-Ion Radiotherapy.

Variable relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of carbon radiotherapy may be calculated using several models, including the microdosimetric kinetic model (MKM), stochastic MKM (SMKM), repair-misrepair-fixation (RMF) model, and local effect model I (LEM), which have not been thoroughly compared. In this work, we compared how these four models handle carbon beam fragmentation, providing insight into where model differences arise. Monoenergetic and spread-out Bragg peak carbon beams incident on a water phantom were simulated using Monte Carlo.

Comparative Adsorption of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus Strains to Minnesota Soils.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is an endemic disease affecting the swine industry. The disease is caused by the PRRS virus (PRRSV). Despite extensive biosecurity and control measures, the persistence and seasonality of the virus have raised questions about the virus's environmental dynamics during the fall season when the yearly epidemic onset begins and when crop harvesting and manure incorporation into the field occur.

Alginate Hydrogel Beads with a Leakproof Gold Shell for Ultrasound-Triggered Release.

Focused ultrasound has advantages as an external stimulus for drug delivery as it is non-invasive, has high precision and can penetrate deep into tissues. Here, we report a gold-plated alginate (ALG) hydrogel system that retains highly water-soluble small-molecule fluorescein for sharp off/on release after ultrasound exposure. The ALG is crosslinked into beads with calcium chloride and layered with a polycation to adjust the surface charge for the adsorption of catalytic platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs).

Impact of a Novel Two-Phase Natural Deep Eutectic Solvent-Assisted Extraction on the Structural, Functional, and Flavor Properties of Hemp Protein Isolates.

Defatting dehulled hemp seeds is a crucial step prior to protein extraction. However, conventional methods rely on flammable solvents, posing significant health, safety, and environmental concerns. Additionally, hemp protein has poor extractability, challenging functionality, and flavor limitations, restricting its broader application in foods.

p97 Inhibitors Possessing Antiviral Activity Against SARS-CoV-2 and Low Cytotoxicity.

p97 (also known as valosin-containing protein, VCP) is a member of the AAA+ ATPase family and is intimately associated with protein quality control and homeostasis regulation. Therefore, pharmaceutical inhibition of p97 has been actively pursued as an anticancer strategy. Recently, p97 has emerged as an important pro-viral host factor and p97 inhibitors are being evaluated as potential antiviral agents.

Relatedness of White-Tailed Deer from Culling Efforts Within Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zones in Minnesota.

In white-tailed deer (), closely related females form social groups, avoiding other social groups. Consequently, females infected with chronic wasting disease (CWD) are more likely to infect social group members. Culling has been used to reduce CWD transmission in high-risk areas; however, its effectiveness in removing related individuals has not been assessed.

Machine Learning Models for the Early Real-Time Prediction of Deterioration in Intensive Care Units-A Novel Approach to the Early Identification of High-Risk Patients.

Predictive machine learning models have made use of a variety of scoring systems to identify clinical deterioration in ICU patients. However, most of these scores include variables that are dependent on medical staff examining the patient. We present the development of a real-time prediction model using clinical variables that are digital and automatically generated for the early detection of patients at risk of deterioration.

Environmental Applications of Mass Spectrometry for Emerging Contaminants.

Emerging contaminants (ECs), encompassing pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides, and industrial chemicals, represent a growing threat to ecosystems and human health due to their persistence, bioaccumulation potential, and often-unknown toxicological profiles. Addressing these challenges necessitates advanced analytical tools capable of detecting and quantifying trace levels of ECs in complex environmental matrices. This review highlights the pivotal role of mass spectrometry (MS) in monitoring ECs, emphasizing its high sensitivity, specificity, and versatility across various techniques such as Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS), and High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HR-MS).