Endogenous Testosterone Levels and the Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Events in Elderly Men: The MrOS Prospective Study.

Context: Observational studies show discordant links between endogenous testosterone levels and cardiovascular diseases (CVD).

Objective: We assessed whether sex hormones and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) are associated with CVD in community-dwelling elderly men.

Design Setting And Participants: Prospective study of incident CVD among 552 men ≥ 65 years in the MrOS Sleep Study without prevalent CVD and no testosterone therapy at baseline.

Engineered Nanomaterials and Type I Allergic Hypersensitivity Reactions.

Type I allergic hypersensitivity disorders (atopy) including asthma, atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, and food allergy are on the rise in developed and developing countries. Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) span a large spectrum of material compositions including carbonic, metals, polymers, lipid-based, proteins, and peptides and are being utilized in a wide range of industries including healthcare and pharmaceuticals, electronics, construction, and food industry, and yet, regulations for the use of ENMs in consumer products are largely lacking. Prior evidence has demonstrated the potential of ENMs to induce and/or aggravate type I allergic hypersensitivity responses.

Validation of the Timberlawn Couple and Family Evaluation Scales-Self-Report in Veterans with PTSD.

A modified version of the the Timberlawn Couple and Family Evaluation Scales was validated to assess intimate partner relationship functioning among veterans who suffer from PTSD.

Multispecialty Opioid Risk Reduction Program Targeting Chronic Pain and Addiction Management in Veterans.

A primary care pain clinic and telehealth program manages veterans at high-risk for noncancer chronic pain and addiction, offering education and support to multidisciplinary health care providers to reduce dependence on high-level opioids.

Exposure to silver nanoparticles primes mast cells for enhanced activation through the high-affinity IgE receptor.

Mast cells are a key effector cell in type I allergic reactions. It has been shown that environmental exposures such as diesel exhaust and heavy metals exacerbate mast cell degranulation and activation. Today, the use of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) is rapidly expanding and silver nanoparticles (AgNP) are one of the mostly widely utilized ENMs, primarily for their antimicrobial properties, and are being incorporated into many consumer and biomedical products.

Best Practices in Videoconferencing-Based Telemental Health April 2018.

Telemental health, in the form of interactive videoconferencing, has become a critical tool in the delivery of mental health care. It has demonstrated the ability to increase access to and quality of care, and in some settings to do so more effectively than treatment delivered in-person. This article updates and consolidates previous guidance developed by The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) and The American Psychiatric Association (APA) on the development, implementation, administration, and provision of telemental health services.

Immune responses to engineered nanomaterials: current understanding and challenges.

Engineered nanomaterials (ENM) are utilized in many applications due to their unique physicochemical properties. The increasing use of ENMs in consumer products raises concerns of potential adverse effects in humans and the environment. A common outcome of exposure (intentional, environmental or occupational) to ENMs is altered immune responses including inflammation, hypersensitivity, and immunosuppression.

Clinical Outcomes After Cardiac Stress Testing Among US Patients Younger Than 65 Years.

Background: Scientific statements have championed the measurement of clinical outcomes after cardiac stress testing to better define their value. Using contemporary national data, we sought to describe the characteristics of patients who experience outcomes after stress testing.

Methods And Results: Using administrative claims from a large national private insurer, we conducted an observational cohort study of patients without cardiovascular disease aged 25 to 64 years who underwent stress testing from 2006 to 2011 and had at least 1 year of membership in the insurance company before and after testing.

Contribution of bladder cancer pathology assessment in planning clinical trials.

Bladder cancer is a heterogeneous disease that demonstrates a wide spectrum of histologic features. The modern classification of bladder cancer is largely based on pathologic analysis, which assesses tumor grade, stage, type, size, and other features that are essential for understanding the biological behavior of bladder cancer. Bladder cancers with similar histologic features are likely to show comparable responses to a new therapeutic agent in clinical trial.

The Impact of Altitude on Sleep-Disordered Breathing in Children Dwelling at High Altitude: A Crossover Study.

Study Objectives: Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is prevalent among children and is associated with adverse health outcomes. Worldwide, approximately 250 million individuals reside at altitudes higher than 2000 meters above sea level (masl). The effect of chronic high-altitude exposure on children with SDB is unknown.

Variations in biocorona formation related to defects in the structure of single walled carbon nanotubes and the hyperlipidemic disease state.

Ball-milling utilizes mechanical stress to modify properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) including size, capping, and functionalization. Ball-milling, however, may introduce structural defects resulting in altered CNT-biomolecule interactions. Nanomaterial-biomolecule interactions result in the formation of the biocorona (BC), which alters nanomaterial properties, function, and biological responses.

Minimal clinically important difference of the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale in Parkinson's disease.

Objective: Fatigue is a common and debilitating symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD) with no evidence-based treatments. While several fatigue scales are partially validated in PD the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) is unknown for any scale but is an important psychometric value to design and interpret therapeutic trials. We thus sought to determine the MCID for the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS).

The Androgen Receptor Supports Tumor Progression After the Loss of Ovarian Function in a Preclinical Model of Obesity and Breast Cancer.

The androgen receptor (AR) has context-dependent roles in breast cancer growth and progression. Overall, high tumor AR levels predict a favorable patient outcome, but several studies have established a tumor promotional role for AR, particularly in supporting the growth of estrogen receptor positive (ER-positive) breast cancers after endocrine therapy. Our previous studies have demonstrated that obesity promotes mammary tumor progression after ovariectomy (OVX) in a rat model of postmenopausal breast cancer.

Diagnostic Performance of SRU and ATA Thyroid Nodule Classification Algorithms as Tested With a 1 Million Virtual Thyroid Nodule Model.

Purpose: The Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound (SRU 2005) and American Thyroid Association (ATA 2009 and ATA 2015) have published algorithms regarding thyroid nodule management. Kwak et al. and other groups have described models that estimate thyroid nodules' malignancy risk.

CD40-mediated signalling influences trafficking, T-cell receptor expression, and T-cell pathogenesis, in the NOD model of type 1 diabetes.

CD40 plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes (T1D). The mechanism of action, however, is undetermined, probably because CD40 expression has been grossly underestimated. CD40 is expressed on numerous cell types that now include T cells and pancreatic β cells.

Silver Nanoparticle-Directed Mast Cell Degranulation Is Mediated through Calcium and PI3K Signaling Independent of the High Affinity IgE Receptor.

Engineered nanomaterial (ENM)-mediated toxicity often involves triggering immune responses. Mast cells can regulate both innate and adaptive immune responses and are key effectors in allergic diseases and inflammation. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are one of the most prevalent nanomaterials used in consumer products due to their antimicrobial properties.

Kmt2a cooperates with menin to suppress tumorigenesis in mouse pancreatic islets.

The reported incidence of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs) has increased, due in large part to improvements in detection and awareness. However, therapeutic options are limited and a critical need exists for understanding a more thorough characterization of the molecular pathology underlying this disease. The Men1 knockout mouse model recapitulates the early stage of human PanNET development and can serve as a foundation for the development of advanced mouse models that are necessary for preclinical testing.

Biomolecular Interactions and Biological Responses of Emerging Two-Dimensional Materials and Aromatic Amino Acid Complexes.

The present work experimentally investigates the interaction of aromatic amino acids viz., tyrosine, tryptophan, and phenylalnine with novel two-dimensional (2D) materials including graphene, graphene oxide (GO), and boron nitride (BN). Photoluminescence, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry were employed to investigate the nature of interactions and possible charge transfer between 2D materials and amino acids.

From the Cover: Disease-Induced Disparities in Formation of the Nanoparticle-Biocorona and the Toxicological Consequences.

Nanoparticle (NP) association with macromolecules in a physiological environment forms a biocorona (BC), which alters NP distribution, activity, and toxicity. While BC formation is dependent on NP physicochemical properties, little information exists on the influence of the physiological environment. Obese individuals and those with cardiovascular disease exist with altered serum chemistry, which is expected to influence BC formation and NP toxicity.

NMR-Based Metabolomic Analysis of Normal and Inflamed Gut.

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, the two major forms of idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), are thought to occur through a loss of intestinal barrier leading to an inappropriate immune response toward intestinal microbiota. While genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have provided much information about susceptibility loci associated with these diseases, the etiology of IBD is still unknown. Metabolomic analysis allows for the comprehensive measurement of multiple small molecule metabolites in biological samples.