A Pilot Trial of Nicotinamide Riboside and Coenzyme Q10 on Inflammation and Oxidative Stress in Chronic Kidney Disease.

Background: Mitochondria-driven oxidative/redox stress and inflammation play a major role in chronic kidney disease (CKD) pathophysiology. Compounds targeting mitochondrial metabolism may improve mitochondrial function, inflammation, and redox stress; however, there is limited evidence of their efficacy in CKD.

Methods: We conducted a pilot randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial comparing the effects of 1200 mg/day of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) or 1000 mg/day of nicotinamide riboside (NR) supplementation to placebo in 25 people with moderate-to-severe CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] <60mL/min/1.

Symmetry facilitated the evolution of heterospecificity and high-order stoichiometry in vertebrate hemoglobin.

Many proteins form paralogous multimers-molecular complexes in which evolutionarily related proteins are arranged into specific quaternary structures. Little is known about the mechanisms by which they acquired their stoichiometry (the number of total subunits in the complex) and heterospecificity (the preference of subunits for their paralogs rather than other copies of the same protein). Here, we use ancestral protein reconstruction and biochemical experiments to study historical increases in stoichiometry and specificity during the evolution of vertebrate hemoglobin (Hb), an αβ heterotetramer that evolved from a homodimeric ancestor after a gene duplication.

Outcomes of chronic limb-threatening ischemia revascularization in patients with chronic kidney disease in the BEST-CLI trial.

Background: Chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) has a high risk of poor outcomes. We aimed to compare the outcomes of lower extremity revascularization in patients with CLTI stratified by CKD severity in patients enrolled in the prospective, randomized Best Endovascular vs Best Surgical Therapy in Patients with CLTI (BEST-CLI) trial.

Methods: The BEST-CLI trial dataset was queried to categorize patients into three groups according to CKD stage.

Atraumatic Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment: Epidemiology and Association with Refractive Error in U.S. Armed Forces Service Members.

Purpose: To evaluate the incidence, refractive error (RE) association, and distribution of atraumatic rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) in U.S. military service members (SMs).

Defining a novel DYRK1A-gp130/IL-6R-pSTAT axis that regulates Th17 differentiation.

Dysregulated differentiation of naïve CD4+ T cells into T helper 17 (Th17) cells is likely a key factor predisposing to many autoimmune diseases. Therefore, better understanding how Th17 differentiation is regulated is essential to identify novel therapeutic targets and strategies to identify individuals at high risk of developing autoimmunity. Here, we extend our prior work using chemical inhibitors to provide mechanistic insight into a novel regulator of Th17 differentiation, the kinase dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A).

A proteogenomic analysis of the adiposity colorectal cancer relationship identifies GREM1 as a probable mediator.

Background: Adiposity is an established risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC). The pathways underlying this relationship, and specifically the role of circulating proteins, are unclear.

Methods: Utilizing two-sample univariable Mendelian randomization (UVMR), multivariable Mendelian randomization (MVMR), and colocalization, based on summary data from large sex-combined and sex-specific genetic studies, we estimated the univariable associations between: (i) body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio (WHR) and overall and site-specific (colon, proximal colon, distal colon, and rectal) CRC risk, (ii) BMI and WHR and circulating proteins, and (iii) adiposity-associated circulating proteins and CRC risk.

Advancing Newborn Screening in Washington State: A Novel Multiplexed LC-MS/MS Proteomic Assay for Wilson Disease and Inborn Errors of Immunity.

For many genetic disorders, there are no specific metabolic biomarkers nor analytical methods suitable for newborn population screening, even where highly effective preemptive treatments are available. The direct measurement of signature peptides as a surrogate marker for the protein in dried blood spots (DBSs) has been shown to successfully identify patients with Wilson Disease (WD) and three life-threatening inborn errors of immunity, X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA), Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS), and adenosine deaminase deficiency (ADAD). A novel proteomic-based multiplex assay to detect these four conditions from DBS using high-throughput LC-MS/MS was developed and validated.

Interest in Injectable and Oral PrEP for HIV Prevention Among Women and Men Who Inject Drugs.

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) are at increased risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Women who inject are a particularly vulnerable group. Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is effective, but access and uptake has been limited.

Gender differences in early posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms: a network analysis.

Despite known gender/sex differences in the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), potential differences in the associations among PTSD symptoms between men and women in the early post-trauma period are not well-characterized. This study utilized network analysis to assess potential differences in the associations among PTSD symptom clusters between men and women during the early post-trauma period. We included  = 475 participants (57.

Practical and economic challenges of implementing group auricular acupuncture treatment for chronic pain in primary care.

Background: Although growing numbers of patients seek acupuncture for pain management, few acupuncturists with insurance credentialing work in the conventional medical settings. This has resulted in increasing frustration among patients wishing to receive acupuncture in primary care settings as part of their insurance benefits.

Methods: A course of eight weekly sessions of group auricular acupuncture (AA) for chronic musculoskeletal pain was implemented in a US primary care clinic and billed to insurance.

Genomic sequencing in diverse and underserved pediatric populations: parent perspectives on understanding, uncertainty, psychosocial impact, and personal utility of results.

Purpose: Limited evidence evaluates parents' perceptions of their child's clinical genomic sequencing (GS) results, particularly among individuals from medically underserved groups. Five Clinical Sequencing Evidence-Generating Research (CSER) consortium studies performed GS in children with suspected genetic conditions with high proportions of individuals from underserved groups to address this evidence gap.

Methods: Parents completed surveys of perceived understanding, personal utility, and test-related distress after GS result disclosure.

Placental Hypoxia-Induced Ferroptosis Drives Vascular Damage in Preeclampsia.

Background: Iron is an essential micronutrient for cell survival and growth; however, excess of this metal drives ferroptosis. Although maternal iron imbalance and placental hypoxia are independent contributors to the pathogenesis of preeclampsia, a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, the mechanisms by which their interaction impinge on maternal and placental health remain elusive.

Methods: We used placentae from normotensive and preeclampsia pregnancy cohorts, human H9 embryonic stem cells differentiated into cytotrophoblast-like cells, and placenta-specific preeclamptic mice.

Classifying Race in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest and Potential Disparities: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Although racial disparities have been described in resuscitation, little is known about potential bias in race classification of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of adults treated by emergency medical services (EMS) for nontraumatic OHCA in King County, WA between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2021. We assessed agreement using κ and evaluated patterns of missingness between EMS-assessed race versus comprehensive race classification from hospital and death records.

Artificial intelligence evaluation of electrocardiographic characteristics and interval changes in transgender patients on gender-affirming hormone therapy.

Aims: Gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) is used by some transgender individuals (TG), who comprise 1.4% of US population. However, the effects of GAHT on electrocardiogram (ECG) remain unknown.

Community acceptance of services and effectiveness of health camps in high-risk areas of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, 2021.

Introduction: Health camps are organized to provide basic health services in underprivileged communities. This study was conducted to determine community acceptance and effectiveness of health camps in the high-risk areas for the polio program in Karachi, Pakistan.

Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted at the health campsites in high-risk union councils (HRUCs) of four districts of Karachi, Sindh.

Vanishing twins, selection , and infant mortality in the United States.

Background And Objectives: Research to identify fetal predictors of infant mortality among singletons born in the United States (US) concludes that poorly understood and unmeasured "confounders" produce a spurious association between fetal size and infant death. We argue that these confounders include Vanishing Twin Syndrome (VTS)-the clinical manifestation of selection against frail male twins . We test our argument in 276 monthly conception cohorts conceived in the US from January 1995 through December 2017.

Discovering topics and trends in biosecurity law research: A machine learning approach.

This study employed machine learning techniques, specifically Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), to analyze 559 articles on biosecurity legislation from 1996 to 2023. The LDA model identified nine key research topics, including Agricultural Management and Production, Biosafety and Environmental Impact, Biological Invasion and Regulation, Biosecurity Legislation and Prevention, Agriculture and Environmental Relations, Virus Infection and Governance, Health Risk Assessment and Detection, Disease Prevention and Biotechnology, and Policy Control and Research. The findings reveal significant trends: an increasing focus on Biosecurity Legislation and Prevention and a declining interest in Agricultural Management and Production.

Cystectomy for bilateral thigh fistulation after salvage radiotherapy for prostate cancer: A case report.

Fistulation following radiotherapy for prostate cancer is a rare occurrence that can have devastating consequences and often occurs after instrumentation. We present a 74-year-old male who underwent cystectomy for bilateral thigh fistulation years after radical prostatectomy and salvage radiotherapy for prostate cancer. MRI and CT cystogram confirmed fistulation from the anterior bladder tracking to bilateral thigh collections.

Achieving reliable patient reported outcomes collection to measure health care improvement in a learning health network: lessons from pediatric rheumatology care and outcomes improvement network.

Introduction: Data from the Pediatric Rheumatology Care and Outcomes Improvement Network (PR-COIN) registry suggests that reliable collection of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) varies across sites. The objective of this study was to better understand the practices of collecting PROs at PR-COIN sites.

Methods: A REDCap survey was sent to the lead representative for each PR-COIN site.

The Importance of Preserving the Posterior Ligament Complex in Elective Lumbar Fusion Surgery: Early Results from a Single-Center Experience.

Background:  Adjacent segment disease (ASD) is a degenerative condition at the segment adjacent to a previously fused segment. Potential risk factors for ASD, such as posterior ligamentous complex (PLC) integrity between the upper instrumented vertebra (UIV) and the first unfused segment (UIV+1), have not been addressed. The objective of this study is to assess the PLC integrity between the UIV and UIV+1 following posterior lumbar decompression and fusion (PLDF).

Bypassing primary antiretroviral therapy centres in Sub-Saharan Africa: An integrative review of the theoretical and empirical literature.

The uptake of antiretroviral therapy (ART) is critical to meeting the global HIV treatment goal of 95-95-95 by 2025. Although a few Sub-Saharan African countries have already achieved this target, the prevalence of bypassing primary ART centres in many countries in the subregion has negative implications for ART uptake and use. This study used the access to health services framework to analyse the evidence and factors contributing to bypassing primary ART centres by individuals in the sub-region seeking HIV care and support.

Accelerating computational fluid dynamics simulation of post-combustion carbon capture modeling with MeshGraphNets.

Packed columns are commonly used in post-combustion processes to capture CO emissions by providing enhanced contact area between a CO-laden gas and CO-absorbing solvent. To study and optimize solvent-based post-combustion carbon capture systems (CCSs), computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can be used to model the liquid-gas countercurrent flow hydrodynamics in these columns and derive key determinants of CO-capture efficiency. However, the large design space of these systems hinders the application of CFD for design optimization due to its high computational cost.

The transcriptional regulation effects of histidine, isoleucine and glutamate on free exopolysaccharide biosynthesis of 937.

Introduction: The free exopolysaccharide (f-EPS) produced by is a natural texture modifier and has a variety of prebiotic activities. Our previous studies showed f-EPS production from 937 was increased 2-fold in the presence of 15 mM of glutamate, isoleucine, and histidine in the chemically defined medium.

Methods: In this study, we used transcriptomics and qPCR to further explore the specific mechanism of the enhanced effect of 3 amino acids on the f-EPS biosynthesis of 937.