Re-evaluating the gender gap: a cross-sectional analysis of accepted American Academy of Neurology annual meeting abstracts in 2020 and 2021.

Background And Objective: Prior studies reveal that invited speaker panels, editorial boards, authors of practice guidelines, and senior authors of published articles are disproportionately male in the neurology field. We aimed to analyze a gender gap in authorship of accepted abstracts to the American Academy of Neurology annual meetings in 2020 and 2021.

Design/methods: This is a cross-sectional study evaluating the proportions of female first and senior abstract authors in 2020 and 2021.

Learning by Exposure in the Visual System.

It is increasingly being understood that perceptual learning involves different types of plasticity. Thus, whereas the practice-based improvement in the ability to perform specific tasks is believed to rely on top-down plasticity, the capacity of sensory systems to passively adapt to the stimuli they are exposed to is believed to rely on bottom-up plasticity. However, top-down and bottom-up plasticity have never been investigated concurrently, and hence their relationship is not well understood.

ML355 Modulates Platelet Activation and Prevents ABT-737 Induced Apoptosis in Platelets.

12-lipoxigenase (12-LOX) is implicated in regulation of platelet activation processes and can be a new promising target for antiplatelet therapy. However, investigations of 12-LOX were restricted by the lack of specific and potent 12-LOX inhibitors and by controversial data concerning the role of 12-LOX metabolites in platelet functions. A novel specific 12-LOX inhibitor ML355 was shown to inhibit platelet aggregation without adverse side effects on hemostasis; however, the molecular mechanisms of its action on platelets are poorly understood.

High diagnostic performance of independent alpha-synuclein seed amplification assays for detection of early Parkinson's disease.

Alpha-synuclein seed amplification assays (αSyn-SAAs) are promising diagnostic tools for Parkinson's disease (PD) and related synucleinopathies. They enable detection of seeding-competent alpha-synuclein aggregates in living patients and have shown high diagnostic accuracy in several PD and other synucleinopathy patient cohorts. However, there has been confusion about αSyn-SAAs for their methodology, nomenclature, and relative accuracies when performed by various laboratories.

High resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta procedural volume is associated with improved outcomes: An analysis of the AORTA registry.

Background: The use of resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) is controversial. We hypothesize that REBOA outcomes are improved in centers with high REBOA utilization.

Methods: We examined the Aortic Occlusion in Resuscitation for Trauma and Acute Care Surgery registry over a 5-year period (2014-2018).

Adaptive selection of a prion strain conformer corresponding to established North American CWD during propagation of novel emergent Norwegian strains in mice expressing elk or deer prion protein.

Prions are infectious proteins causing fatal, transmissible neurodegenerative diseases of animals and humans. Replication involves template-directed refolding of host encoded prion protein, PrPC, by its infectious conformation, PrPSc. Following its discovery in captive Colorado deer in 1967, uncontrollable contagious transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) led to an expanded geographic range in increasing numbers of free-ranging and captive North American (NA) cervids.

Mitochondrial transplant to replenish damaged mitochondria: A novel therapeutic strategy for neurodegenerative diseases?

Neurodegenerative diseases are currently some of the most debilitating and incurable illness, including highly prevalent disorders, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Despite impressive advances in understanding the molecular basis of neurodegenerative diseases, several clinical trials have failed in identifying drugs that successfully delay or stop disease progression. New targets are likely necessary to successfully combat these devastating diseases.

Safety and tolerability of nintedanib in patients with systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease: data from the SENSCIS trial.

Objectives: To characterise the safety and tolerability of nintedanib and the dose adjustments used to manage adverse events in patients with systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD).

Methods: In the SENSCIS trial, patients with SSc-ILD were randomised to receive nintedanib 150 mg two times per day or placebo. To manage adverse events, treatment could be interrupted or the dose reduced to 100 mg two times per day.

Blockade of equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1/2 protects against Pseudomonas aeruginosa-induced acute lung injury and NLRP3 inflammasome activation.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections are increasingly multidrug resistant and cause healthcare-associated pneumonia, a major risk factor for acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Adenosine is a signaling nucleoside with potential opposing effects; adenosine can either protect against acute lung injury via adenosine receptors or cause lung injury via adenosine receptors or equilibrative nucleoside transporter (ENT)-dependent intracellular adenosine uptake. We hypothesized that blockade of intracellular adenosine uptake by inhibition of ENT1/2 would increase adenosine receptor signaling and protect against P.

Seeking mTORC1 Inhibitors Through Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Arginine Analogs Inhibiting CASTOR1.

Background: Hyperactivity of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is implicated in a variety of diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Treatment may benefit from effective mTORC1 inhibition, which can be achieved by preventing arginine from disrupting the cytosolic arginine sensor for mTORC1 subunit 1 (CASTOR1)-GTPase-activating proteins toward RAGS subcomplex 2 (GATOR2) complex through binding with CASTOR1. An attractive idea is to determine analogues of arginine that are as competent as arginine in binding with CASTOR1, but without disrupting the CASTOR1-GATOR2 interaction.

Mechanical Left Ventricular Unloading to Reduce Infarct Size During Acute Myocardial Infarction: Insight from Preclinical and Clinical Studies.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Pioneering preclinical work reported by Peter Maroko and Eugene Braunwald in 1971 identified oxygen supply and demand are primary determinants of myocardial infarct size in the setting of a heart attack. Since the 1950s, advances in mechanical engineering led to the development of short-term circulatory support devices that range from pulsatile to continuous flow pumps.

Comparative study of cerebrospinal fluid α-synuclein seeding aggregation assays for diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.

Background: PD diagnosis is based primarily on clinical criteria and can be inaccurate. Biological markers, such as α-synuclein aggregation, that reflect ongoing pathogenic processes may increase diagnosis accuracy and allow disease progression monitoring. Though α-synuclein aggregation assays have been published, reproducibility, standardization, and validation are key challenges for their development as clinical biomarkers.

Detection of Misfolded α-Synuclein Aggregates in Cerebrospinal Fluid by the Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification Platform.

Here, we describe a detailed protocol to set up the αS-PMCA assay using αS synthetic aggregates in buffer and to accurately detect endogenous αS aggregates from human CSF samples. Given the amplificative nature of the technique, minute amounts of misfolded protein aggregates circulating in human bodily fluids can be multiplied and thereafter detected by more conventional methods, such as immune assays or fluorescence. Following these principles, αS-PMCA was standardized for the highly sensitive and specific detection of αS misfolded aggregates in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with synucleinopathies.

Human Herpesvirus 6 and Malignancy: A Review.

In order to determine the role of human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) in human disease, several confounding factors, including methods of detection, types of controls, and the ubiquitous nature of the virus, must be considered. This is particularly problematic in the case of cancer, in which rates of detection vary greatly among studies. To determine what part, if any, HHV-6 plays in oncogenesis, a review of the literature was performed.

Suppressing Li Metal Dendrites Through a Solid Li-Ion Backup Layer.

The growing demand for sustainable and off-grid energy storage is reviving the attempts to use Li metal as the anode in the next generation of batteries. However, the use of Li anodes is hampered due to the growth of Li dendrites upon charging and discharging, which compromises the life and safety of the battery. Here, it is shown that lithiated multiwall carbon nanotubes (Li-MWCNTs) act as a controlled Li diffusion interface that suppresses the growth of Li dendrites by regulating the Li ion flux during charge/discharge cycling at current densities between 2 and 4 mA cm .

Tinea Capitis Masquerading as Basal Cell Carcinoma.

A 52-year-old white man with alcoholic cirrhosis presented to the Mohs surgery clinic with a 1-month history of tender "bumps" located diffusely on his scalp. Two biopsies performed at an outside institution were read as "basal cell carcinoma" and "actinic keratosis." The patient was scheduled for a large excision of the scalp for presumed multiple nodules of basal cell carcinoma and desired a second opinion from our Mohs surgery clinic.

Quantitative assessment of changes in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics along the courses of the cortico-ponto-cerebellar tracts secondary to supratentorial human brain glial tumors.

Background: The cortico-ponto-cerebellar tract (CPCT) is the largest projection pathway, which synapses at the pons. Remote effects of supratentorial brain tumors have not been evaluated along the infratentorial course of the CPCT.

Aim: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the possible lateralization of the diffusion tensor metrics of the affected CPCT in patients with supratentorial brain tumor.

3.3-Å resolution cryo-EM structure of human ribonucleotide reductase with substrate and allosteric regulators bound.

Ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs) convert ribonucleotides into deoxyribonucleotides, a reaction essential for DNA replication and repair. Human RNR requires two subunits for activity, the α subunit contains the active site, and the β subunit houses the radical cofactor. Here, we present a 3.

Efficient prion disease transmission through common environmental materials.

Prion diseases are a group of fatal neurodegenerative diseases associated with a protein-based infectious agent, termed prion. Compelling evidence suggests that natural transmission of prion diseases is mediated by environmental contamination with infectious prions. We hypothesized that several natural and man-made materials, commonly found in the environments of wild and captive animals, can bind prions and may act as vectors for disease transmission.

Imaging of Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma.

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is fatal if unresectable. However, improved survival has been reported after gross total resection and multimodality therapy. In this report, we describe the contrast-enhanced high-resolution CT characteristics of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma in 57 patients.

Brain Responses to Cigarette-Related and Emotional Images in Smokers During Smoking Cessation: No Effect of Varenicline or Bupropion on the Late Positive Potential.

Introduction: Varenicline and bupropion are two effective smoking cessation pharmacotherapies. Researchers have hypothesized that they might be effective, in part, because they reduce cue reactivity and cue-induced cravings. Here, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to directly measure brain responses to cigarette-related and other motivationally relevant images during a pharmacologically aided quit attempt.

Neutrophil transfer of to lung epithelial cells dampens acute lung injury in mice.

Intercellular transfer of microRNAs can mediate communication between critical effector cells. We hypothesized that transfer of neutrophil-derived microRNAs to pulmonary epithelial cells could alter mucosal gene expression during acute lung injury. Pulmonary-epithelial microRNA profiling during coculture of alveolar epithelial cells with polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) revealed a selective increase in lung epithelial cell expression of microRNA-223 ().

Human herpesvirus 6-induced inflammatory cardiomyopathy in immunocompetent children.

Over the last decade, human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) has been implicated in the etiology of pediatric myocarditis and subsequent dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). This review provides an overview of recent literature investigating the pathophysiological relevance of HHV-6 in inflammatory cardiomyopathy. We examined 11 cases of previously published pediatric myocarditis and/or DCM associated with HHV-6 and also our experience of detection of virus particles in vascular endothelium of HHV-6 positive endomyocardial biopsy tissue by electron microscopy.