Novel Helical Trp- and Arg-Rich Antimicrobial Peptides Locate Near Membrane Surfaces and Rigidify Lipid Model Membranes.

Antibiotics are losing effectiveness as bacteria become resistant to conventional drugs. To find new alternatives, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are rationally designed with different lengths, charges, hydrophobicities (), and hydrophobic moments (), containing only three types of amino acids: arginine, tryptophan, and valine. Six AMPs with low minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and <25% toxicity to mammalian cells are selected for biophysical studies.

Functional Family Therapy for families of youth (age 11-18) with behaviour problems: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Functional Family Therapy (FFT) is a short-term family-based intervention for youth with behaviour problems. FFT has been widely implemented in the USA and other high-income countries. It is often described as an evidence-based program with consistent, positive effects.

The role of anxiety and gender in anticipation and avoidance of naturalistic anxiety-provoking experiences during adolescence: An ecological momentary assessment study.

Objective: Anxiety symptoms often increase in late childhood/early adolescence, particularly among girls. However, few studies examine anxiety-relevant gender differences during anticipation and avoidance of naturalistic experiences during adolescence. The current study uses ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine associations among clinical anxiety, gender, anticipation, and attempted avoidance of person-specific anxiety-provoking experiences in youth ages 8-18.

CenTauR: Toward a universal scale and masks for standardizing tau imaging studies.

Introduction: Recently, an increasing number of tau tracers have become available. There is a need to standardize quantitative tau measures across tracers, supporting a universal scale. We developed several cortical tau masks and applied them to generate a tau imaging universal scale.

Therapeutic potential of EGFR/mTOR/Nf-kb targeting small molecule for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

Despite the therapeutic advancement with chemotherapy and targeted therapy against non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), most patients ultimately develop resistance to these drugs, exhibiting disease progression, metastasis, and worse prognosis. There is, therefore, a need for the development of novel multi-targeted therapies that can offer a high therapeutic index with lesser chances of drug resistance against NSCLC. In the present study, we evaluated the therapeutic potential of a novel multi-target small molecule NLOC-015A for targeted treatment of NSCLC.

Factors associated with COVID-19 length of hospitalization and mortality during four epidemic waves, March 2020-November 2021, Suriname.

Objectives: To determine the sociodemographic risk factors associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mortality in Suriname.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. All registered deaths from COVID-19 in Suriname (=1112) between March 13, 2020 and November 11, 2021 were included.

Correlated missing linker defects increase thermal conductivity in metal-organic framework UiO-66.

Thermal transport in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is an essential but frequently overlooked property. Among the small number of existing studies on thermal transport in MOFs, even fewer have considered explicitly the influence of defects. However, defects naturally exist in MOF crystals and are known to influence many of their material properties.

Impact of the Dopamine System on Long-Term Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson Disease: An Exploratory Study.

Background: Little is known about the impact of the dopamine system on development of cognitive impairment (CI) in Parkinson disease (PD).

Objectives: We used data from a multi-site, international, prospective cohort study to explore the impact of dopamine system-related biomarkers on CI in PD.

Methods: PD participants were assessed annually from disease onset out to 7 years, and CI determined by applying cut-offs to four measures: (1) Montreal Cognitive Assessment; (2) detailed neuropsychological test battery; (3) Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) cognition score; and (4) site investigator diagnosis of CI (mild cognitive impairment or dementia).

Course of Impulse Control Disorder Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease: Deep Brain Stimulation Versus Medications.

Background: The effect of surgery on impulse control disorders (ICDs) remains unclear in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS).

Objective: To examine changes in ICD symptoms in PD patients undergoing DBS compared to a medication-only control group.

Methods: The study was a 2-center, 12-month, prospective, observational investigation of PD patients undergoing DBS and a control group matched on age, sex, dopamine agonist use, and baseline presence of ICDs.

Antioxidant activity and total phenolic compounds of extracts obtained by ultrasonic-assisted extraction, with monitoring antiaging and cytotoxicity activities.

() has been identified and linked with various health benefits and pharmaceutical potential for its phytochemical activities and chemical constituents. This study aimed to evaluate ultrasonic-assisted extraction (USE) technique for total phenols content from leaf compared to the hydrodistillation extraction (HDE). Our results showed that the USE operating conditions were identified as: MeOH·HO solvent-to-fresh sample ratio of 80:20 (v/v); ultrasonic power/frequency at 150 W/20 kHz; and a temperature of 40 ± 1°C; subjected to acoustic waves intermittently for a calculated time (5 min) during the total programmed time of 12 min.

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and subsequent risk of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

Introduction: Women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Whether HDP is also associated with later-life dementia has not been fully explored.

Methods: Using the Utah Population Database, we performed an 80-year retrospective cohort study of 59,668 parous women.

Does large volume of distribution of lidocaine masks its systemic uptake from bladder?

Purpose: To assess whether therapeutic and toxic effects of intravesical lidocaine are determined by coincident serum levels.

Material And Methods: Published clinical trials and case studies on instilled lidocaine 1-2% that reported serum lidocaine levels were analyzed using model independent pharmacokinetic equations to compute the absorbed dose fraction (F) for linear regression with the respective dwell times.

Results: Rapid absorption of intravesical lidocaine is evinced by the serum levels of 0.

Circulating Ectonucleotidases Signal Impaired Myocardial Perfusion at Rest and Stress.

Background Ectonucleotidases maintain vascular homeostasis by metabolizing extracellular nucleotides, modulating inflammation and thrombosis, and potentially, myocardial flow through adenosine generation. Evidence implicates dysfunction or deficiency of ectonucleotidases CD39 or CD73 in human disease; the utility of measuring levels of circulating ectonucleotidases as plasma biomarkers of coronary artery dysfunction or disease has not been previously reported. Methods and Results A total of 529 individuals undergoing clinically indicated positron emission tomography stress testing between 2015 and 2019 were enrolled in this single-center retrospective analysis.

Survey and Evaluation of Hypertension Machine Learning Research.

Background Machine learning (ML) is pervasive in all fields of research, from automating tasks to complex decision-making. However, applications in different specialities are variable and generally limited. Like other conditions, the number of studies employing ML in hypertension research is growing rapidly.

Gender distribution and women leadership in German Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery.

Objective: To determine the distribution of female physicians throughout the rank from resident to leadership positions in German Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) departments.

Methods: This cross-sectional study collected data about the physician workforce in the German OHNS.The primary outcome was the proportion of female physicians.

Family processes and structure: Longitudinal influences on adolescent disruptive and internalizing behaviors.

Objective: The present study revisits the assumption in American culture, based in "family privilege," that children fare better in two-parent households by longitudinally examining associations between family structure, process, and adolescent behavior.

Background: Societal assumptions and cross-sectional research suggest that there is a difference in child adjustment across varying family structures. Relatedly, the family process literature emphasizes the importance of parent-child relationship quality in addition to family structure on child adjustment.

repurposing of midostaurin as a therapeutic candidate for head and neck cancer via targeting SPARC/MMP9/CD44 Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) oncogenic signature.

Head and neck squamous carcinoma (HNSCC) affects more than half a million individuals and ranks the ninth leading cause of death globally each year. Many patients develop treatment resistance leading to poor clinical outcomes. The poor treatment responses are in part due to the heterogeneity of HNSCC tumor and tumor microenvironment (TME).

Harmonization and standardization of nucleus pulposus cell extraction and culture methods.

Background: In vitro studies using nucleus pulposus (NP) cells are commonly used to investigate disc cell biology and pathogenesis, or to aid in the development of new therapies. However, lab-to-lab variability jeopardizes the much-needed progress in the field. Here, an international group of spine scientists collaborated to standardize extraction and expansion techniques for NP cells to reduce variability, improve comparability between labs and improve utilization of funding and resources.

Brain atrophy and white matter hyperintensities are independently associated with plasma neurofilament light chain in an Asian cohort of cognitively impaired patients with concomitant cerebral small vessel disease.

Introduction: Plasma neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a potential biomarker for neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD), ischemic stroke, and non-dementia cohorts with cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). However, studies of AD in populations with high prevalence of concomitant CSVD to evaluate associations of brain atrophy, CSVD, and amyloid beta (Aβ) burden on plasma NfL are lacking.

Methods: Associations were tested between plasma NfL and brain Aβ, medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) as well as neuroimaging features of CSVD, including white matter hyperintensities (WMH), lacunes, and cerebral microbleeds.

Race-related population attributable fraction of preventable risk factors of dementia: A Latino population-based study.

Background: Risk factors for dementia have distinct frequency and impact in relation to race. Our aim was to identify differences in modifiable risk factors of dementia related to races and estimate their population attributable fraction (PAF).

Methods: An epidemiological cohort was used to estimate the prevalence of 10 modifiable risk factors for dementia among five races-White, Black, Brown, Asian, and Indigenous.

Locking the Revolving Door: Racial Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease.

Racial disparities in cardiovascular disease are unjust, systematic, and preventable. Social determinants are a primary cause of health disparities, and these include factors such as structural and overt racism. Despite a number of efforts implemented over the past several decades, disparities in cardiovascular disease care and outcomes persist, pervading more the outpatient rather than the inpatient setting, thus putting racial and ethnic minority groups at risk for hospital readmissions.