The Relationship Between Neighborhood Disadvantage and Markers of Chronic Pain Risk: Findings From the Oklahoma Study of Native American Pain Risk (OK-SNAP).

Socioeconomic disadvantage contributes to health inequities, including chronic pain. Yet, research examining socioeconomic disadvantage and pain risk in Native Americans (NAs) is scant. This exploratory analysis assessed relationships between socioeconomic position (SEP), ethnicity, and neighborhood disadvantage on pronociceptive processes in 272 healthy, chronic pain-free NAs (n = 139) and non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs, n = 133) from the Oklahoma Study of Native American Pain Risk (OK-SNAP).

Increased expression of ER stress, inflammasome activation, and mitochondrial biogenesis-related genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in major depressive disorder.

A subset of major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by immune system dysfunction, but the intracellular origin of these immune changes remains unclear. Here we tested the hypothesis that abnormalities in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, inflammasome activity and mitochondrial biogenesis contribute to the development of systemic inflammation in MDD. RT-qPCR was used to measure mRNA expression of key organellar genes from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from 186 MDD and 67 healthy control (HC) subjects.

Genetic Diversity of Cotton Leafroll Dwarf Virus from the Southwestern United States and Its Implications for the Multi-Introduction Event Hypothesis and Future Evolution.

Cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) is a viral agent recently identified in the United States in 2017 in Alabama. Since its identification, CLRDV has spread to every cotton-growing state east of New Mexico. Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas make up the westernmost border of reported CLRDV incidence, making monitoring of these states vital for proper control.

Machine Learning Assisted Prediction of Porosity and Related Properties Using Digital Rock Images.

Accurately estimating reservoir rock properties is paramount for modeling the storage and flow of fluids (hydrocarbon, carbon dioxide, and groundwater) in porous media. However, existing laboratory techniques to measure rock properties are usually time-consuming, expensive, and computationally intensive. This work proposes an efficient workflow that uses the machine learning algorithm, based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) framework, to predict rock properties from microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) X-ray images.

Relationship between Simulated Fire Suppression Activities and Acute Cardiac and Respiratory Events in Firefighters.

Cardiac deaths account for the largest share of on-duty firefighter deaths. To help ensure duty fitness and minimize injury risk, many fire departments require the passing of an annual physical ability test, consisting of a battery of simulated fire suppression activities (sFSAs). The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship of sFSA performance to acute cardiac and respiratory events (ACREs) and the effect that estimated VOmax has on sFSA performance.

Reimagining the Future of Clinical Nursing Education: A Cohort Partnership Model.

Background: As the demand for registered nurses increases, innovative methods for stabilizing, improving, and ensuring the longevity of quality clinical nursing education should be considered. Traditionally, full-time nursing faculty teach nursing students in clinical settings.

Problem: Considering the impending nurse educator crisis, characterized by increasing demands on a dwindling nursing faculty, traditional approaches to clinical nursing education are no longer feasible.

Troponin C gene mutations on cardiac muscle cell and skeletal Regulation: A comprehensive review.

Background: The troponin complex plays a crucial role in regulating skeletal and cardiac contraction. Congenital myopathies can occur due to several mutations in genes that encode skeletal troponin. Moreover, there is limited information regarding the composition of skeletal troponin.

Principal component analysis as an efficient method for capturing multivariate brain signatures of complex disorders-ENIGMA study in people with bipolar disorders and obesity.

Multivariate techniques better fit the anatomy of complex neuropsychiatric disorders which are characterized not by alterations in a single region, but rather by variations across distributed brain networks. Here, we used principal component analysis (PCA) to identify patterns of covariance across brain regions and relate them to clinical and demographic variables in a large generalizable dataset of individuals with bipolar disorders and controls. We then compared performance of PCA and clustering on identical sample to identify which methodology was better in capturing links between brain and clinical measures.

Functional brain network dynamics of brooding in depression: insights from real-time fMRI neurofeedback.

Background: Brooding is a critical symptom and prognostic factor of major depressive disorder (MDD), which involves passively dwelling on self-referential dysphoria and related abstractions. The neurobiology of brooding remains under characterized. We aimed to elucidate neural dynamics underlying brooding, and explore their responses to neurofeedback intervention in MDD.

Bridging biotremology and chemical ecology: a new terminology.

Living organisms use both chemical and mechanical stimuli to survive in their environment. Substrate-borne vibrations play a significant role in mediating behaviors in animals and inducing physiological responses in plants, leading to the emergence of the discipline of biotremology. Biotremology is experiencing rapid growth both in fundamental research and in applications like pest control, drawing attention from diverse audiences.

C-reactive protein concentrations diverge as a function of substance use disorder: A pre-registered replication in a clinical sample.

Background: Inflammatory biomarkers may differentiate clinical disorders, which could lead to more targeted interventions. Analyses within a clinical sample (May et al., 2021) revealed that females with substance use disorders (SUD) exhibited lower C-reactive protein (CRP) and higher interleukin (IL)-8 and -10 concentrations than females without SUD who met criteria for mood/anxiety disorders.

Leptin's Inverse Association With Brain Morphology and Depressive Symptoms: A Discovery and Confirmatory Study Across 2 Independent Samples.

Background: Major depressive disorder has a complex, bidirectional relationship with metabolic dysfunction, but the neural correlates of this association are not well understood.

Methods: In this cross-sectional investigation, we used a 2-step discovery and confirmatory strategy utilizing 2 independent samples (sample 1: 288 participants, sample 2: 196 participants) to examine the association between circulating indicators of metabolic health (leptin and adiponectin) and brain structures in individuals with major depressive disorder.

Results: We found a replicable inverse correlation between leptin levels and cortical surface area within essential brain areas responsible for emotion regulation, such as the left posterior cingulate cortex, right pars orbitalis, right superior temporal gyrus, and right insula (standardized beta coefficient range: -0.

Evaluating the spike in the symptomatic proportion of SARS-CoV-2 in China in 2022 with variolation effects: a modeling analysis.

Despite most COVID-19 infections being asymptomatic, mainland China had a high increase in symptomatic cases at the end of 2022. In this study, we examine China's sudden COVID-19 symptomatic surge using a conceptual SIR-based model. Our model considers the epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2, particularly variolation from non-pharmaceutical intervention (facial masking and social distance), demography, and disease mortality in mainland China.

Complete genome sequence of plasmid-bearing aerotolerant strain S2-20 isolated from retail chicken meat.

Complete genome sequencing of aerotolerant strain S2-20 revealed the presence of a chromosome of 1,695,449 bp and a plasmid of 49,741 bp that contains predicted antimicrobial resistance and type IV secretion system genes. The chromosome harbored several putative oxidative stress genes with potential roles in aerotolerance.

Construction and Initial Examination of Inter-Rater Reliability of a Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5-TR Sleep Disorders (SCISD) - Kid.

Study Objectives: To construct and evaluate the inter-rater reliability of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5-TR Sleep Disorders - Kid (SCISD-Kid).

Method: The SCISD-Kid was modeled on the adult SCISD-R and accounted for pediatric developmental and sociocultural factors. Fifty sleep-disturbed children ( = 11.

First report of the Horse nettle virus infecting tomato ( L.) in the United States.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), a member of the Solanaceae family, represents one of the most extensively cultivated vegetable species worldwide and traces its origin to western South America (Caruso et al. 2022).

Acute Stress Increases Striatal Connectivity With Cortical Regions Enriched for μ and κ Opioid Receptors.

Background: Understanding the neurobiological effects of stress is critical for addressing the etiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). Using a dimensional approach involving individuals with differing degree of MDD risk, we investigated 1) the effects of acute stress on cortico-cortical and subcortical-cortical functional connectivity (FC) and 2) how such effects are related to gene expression and receptor maps.

Methods: Across 115 participants (37 control, 39 remitted MDD, 39 current MDD), we evaluated the effects of stress on FC during the Montreal Imaging Stress Task.

Optimizing Temporal Summation of Heat Pain Using a Constant Contact Heat Stimulator.

Purpose: Temporal summation (TS) of pain occurs when pain increases over repeated presentations of identical noxious stimuli. TS paradigms can model central sensitization, a state of hyperexcitability in nociceptive pathways that promotes chronic pain onset and maintenance. Many experimenters use painful heat stimuli to measure TS (TS-heat); yet, TS-heat research faces unresolved challenges, including difficulty evoking summation in up to 30-50% of participants.

Opioid Receptor Mu 1 Gene (OPRM1) A118G Polymorphism and Emotional Modulation of Pain.

Purpose: The A118G polymorphism in the opioid receptor mu 1 gene (OPRM1) is associated with decreased opioid receptor availability, altered emotion, and increased pain. Given that emotions modulate pain (positive emotions inhibit pain, negative emotions enhance pain), we predicted that G allele carriers would experience impaired emotional modulation of pain compared to non-G allele carriers.

Patients And Methods: Emotional pictures (ie, erotica, neutral, attack) from the International Affective Picture System were used by permission from the authors to experimentally manipulate emotions in 64 adult participants while painful electrocutaneous stimulations were delivered in a cross-sectional study.

Greater Emotional and Psychological Well-being Are Associated With Reduced Employee Self-report Illness-Related Absenteeism: A Multi-Industry, Cross-sectional Study Conducted During COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship that emotional, psychological, and social well-being has with self-reported illness-related absenteeism.

Methods: This study examines the relationship between three dimensions of well-being (emotional, psychological, and social) and self-report illness-related absenteeism among 133 workers spanning multiple industries across 16 different companies. This secondary, cross-sectional data were analyzed using multiple linear regression.