Engaging Peer Mentors for Opportunity, Well-Being, and Equity Realization-A Leadership Intervention for Women in Academic Medicine.

The underrepresentation of women in senior positions persists in academic medicine. Data-driven strategies are needed to catalyze advancement. We designed a novel, National Institutes of Health-funded intervention-Engaging Peer Mentors for Opportunity, Well-Being, and Equity Realization (EMPOWER) to be evaluated in a randomized study.

Adjuvant Cemiplimab or Placebo in High-Risk Cutaneous Squamous-Cell Carcinoma.

Background: Patients who have cutaneous squamous-cell carcinoma with high-risk features are at risk for recurrence after definitive local therapy. The benefit of systemic adjuvant therapy options has not been well established in clinical trials.

Methods: In a phase 3, randomized trial, we enrolled patients with local or regional cutaneous squamous-cell carcinoma, after surgical resection and postoperative radiotherapy, at high risk for recurrence owing to nodal features (extracapsular extension with largest node ≥20 mm in diameter or at least three involved nodes) or nonnodal features (in-transit metastases, T4 lesion [with bone invasion], perineural invasion, or locally recurrent tumor with ≥1 additional risk feature).

Naloxone training programs in corporately-owned versus independently-owned Alabama community pharmacies: A pilot cross-sectional survey.

Introduction: Alabama community pharmacists have the ability to furnish naloxone. The purpose of this study was to identify the differences between naloxone training, policies, procedures, and preferences in corporately-owned (chain) versus independently-owned pharmacies in Alabama.

Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was distributed to Alabama community pharmacists via email.

Simulated Practice Learning Experience in a Virtual Environment: An Innovative Pedagogical Approach to Practice Learning for Nursing Students.

: The use of simulated learning as a teaching approach has been used and embedded in nursing theoretical curriculum for many years. There is a wealth of evidence to support the positive impact simulated learning or simulated-based education can have on the student experience, developing skill competency and enhancing patient outcomes. However, the evidence on the use of simulation as a replacement for clinical practice learning in undergraduate nursing education is limited.

Extended Rhythm Monitoring to Assess for Ventricular Arrhythmias After Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Replacement With the Harmony Valve.

Background: Varying rates of nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT) have been reported early after transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement (TPVR) with the Harmony valve, but data regarding rhythm outcomes beyond hospital discharge are limited. This study aims to characterize ventricular arrhythmias after Harmony TPVR from implant through mid-term follow-up.

Methods: Ventricular arrhythmia data from postimplant telemetry and follow-up extended rhythm monitoring (ERM) were analyzed after Harmony TPVR.

A Novel Mouse Home Cage Lickometer System Reveals Sex- and Housing-Based Influences on Alcohol Drinking.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a significant global health issue. Despite historically higher rates among men, AUD prevalence and negative alcohol-related outcomes in women are rising. Loneliness in humans has been associated with increased alcohol use, and traditional rodent drinking models involve single housing, presenting challenges for studying social enrichment.

Pelvic floor muscle training for female urinary incontinence: development of a programme theory from a longitudinal qualitative case study.

Background: Urinary incontinence (UI) negatively affects the well-being of women globally. Pelvic Floor Muscle Training (PFMT) is a complex intervention that aims to decrease UI symptoms. Information about how the multiple complex components involved in PFMT achieve and maintain the desired effect are rarely studied as a whole.

Thalamocortical mGlu8 Modulates Dorsal Thalamus Excitatory Transmission and Sensorimotor Activity.

Metabotropic glutamate receptor 8 (mGlu8) is a heterogeneously expressed and poorly understood glutamate receptor with potential pharmacological significance. The thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) is a critical inhibitory modulator of the thalamocortical-corticothalamic (TC-CT) network and plays a crucial role in information processing throughout the brain, is implicated in a variety of psychiatric conditions, and is also a site of significant mGlu8 expression. Using both male and female mice, we determined via fluorescent in situ hybridization that parvalbumin-expressing cells in the TRN core and shell matrices (identified by and expression, respectively), as well as the cortical layers involved in CT signaling, express mRNA.

A novel mouse home cage lickometer system reveals sex- and housing-based influences on alcohol drinking.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a significant global health issue. Despite historically higher rates among men, AUD prevalence and negative alcohol-related outcomes in women are rising. Loneliness in humans has been associated with increased alcohol use, and traditional rodent drinking models involve single housing, presenting challenges for studying social enrichment.

Bilateral Ductus Arteriosus With Anomalous Origin of the Right Pulmonary Artery and Coarctation of the Aorta.

We present a full-term neonate with a postnatal diagnosis with a left aortic arch, bilateral ducti, and discontinuous branch pulmonary arteries with right pulmonary artery arising from right duct. Upon left ductal constriction, the patient experienced coarctation of the aorta, illustrating the importance of careful and serial interrogation of rare cardiac anatomy.

From animal testing to systems: advancing standardization in microphysiological systems.

Limitations with cell cultures and experimental animal-based studies have had the scientific and industrial communities searching for new approaches that can provide reliable human models for applications such as drug development, toxicological assessment, and pre-clinical evaluation. This has resulted in the development of microfluidic-based cultures that may better represent organs and organ systems than conventional monolayer cell cultures. Although there is considerable interest from industry and regulatory bodies in this technology, several challenges need to be addressed for it to reach its full potential.

Pregnancy outcomes after implementation of an induction of labor care pathway.

Background: Induction of labor is common; however, the optimum clinical strategy for induction of labor is less clear. Variations in clinical practices related to induction of labor may lead to increased complications and longer induction of labor times.

Objective: This study aimed to analyze whether the implementation of an evidence-based standardized care pathway improves the clinical outcomes associated with induction of labor.

A Noninvasive Circulating Signature of Combined Right Ventricular Pressure and Volume Overload in Tetralogy of Fallot/Pulmonary Atresia/Major Aortopulmonary Collateral Arteries.

Despite surgical advances, children with tetralogy of Fallot/pulmonary atresia/major aortopulmonary collaterals (TOF/PA/MAPCAs) are subject to chronic right ventricular (RV) pressure and volume overload. Current diagnostic tools do not identify adverse myocardial remodeling and cannot predict progression to RV failure. We sought to identify a noninvasive, circulating signature of the systemic response to right heart stress to follow disease progression.

Psychosocial safety climate (PSC) and working conditions, predictors of mental health and antidepressant and opioid use in Australia: a study protocol for longitudinal data linkage.

Introduction: Work-related stress is a social determinant of global health that represents a huge cost to workers' health and reduces work performance. In Australia, mental well-being is a pressing national issue-with one in five Australians experiencing mental disorders. Antidepressants are a first-line medication commonly used to treat mental disorders.

Retrieval of Large Balloon Fragments During Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Implantation Using a Novel Retrieval System.

The removal of balloon fragments from the pulmonary artery without damaging the pulmonary and tricuspid valves can be difficult. Four cases during transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement are described in which a novel retrieval system was used to facilitate safe removal. ().

Neural Circuitries and Alcohol Use Disorder: Cutting Corners in the Cycle.

An implicit tenet of the alcohol use disorder (AUD) research field is that knowledge of how alcohol interacts with the brain is critical to the development of an understanding of vulnerability to AUD and treatment approaches. Gaining this understanding requires the mapping of brain function critical to specific components of this heterogeneous disorder. Early approaches in humans and animal models focused on the determination of specific brain regions sensitive to alcohol action and their participation in AUD-relevant behaviors.

Forced Abstinence from Volitional Ethanol Intake Drives a Vulnerable Period of Hyperexcitability in BNST-Projecting Insular Cortex Neurons.

The insular cortex (IC) integrates sensory and interoceptive cues to inform downstream circuitry executing adaptive behavioral responses. The IC communicates with areas involved canonically in stress and motivation. IC projections govern stress and ethanol recruitment of bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) activity necessary for the emergence of negative affective behaviors during alcohol abstinence.

Acute Hemodynamics in the Fontan Circulation: Open-Label Study of Vasopressin.

Objective: To describe the acute hemodynamic effect of vasopressin on the Fontan circulation, including systemic and pulmonary pressures and resistances, left atrial pressure, and cardiac index.

Design: Prospective, open-label, nonrandomized study (NCT04463394).

Setting: Cardiac catheterization laboratory at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford.

BNST PKCδ neurons are activated by specific aversive conditions to promote anxiety-like behavior.

The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is a critical mediator of stress responses and anxiety-like behaviors. Neurons expressing protein kinase C delta (BNST) are an abundant but understudied subpopulation implicated in inhibiting feeding, but which have conflicting reports about their role in anxiety-like behaviors. We have previously shown that expression of PKCδ is dynamically regulated by stress and that BNST cells are recruited during bouts of active stress coping.

Genesis of a functional astrocyte syncytium in the developing mouse hippocampus.

Astrocytes are increasingly shown to operate as an isopotential syncytium in brain function. Protoplasmic astrocytes acquire this ability to functionally go beyond the single-cell level by evolving into a spongiform morphology, cytoplasmically connecting into a syncytium, and expressing a high density of K conductance. However, none of these cellular/functional features exist in neonatal newborn astrocytes, which imposes a basic question of when a functional syncytium evolves in the developing brain.

Ventricular arrhythmias following transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement with the harmony TPV25 device.

Background: Transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement (TPVR) with the Harmony valve (Medtronic, Inc.) was recently approved to treat postoperative native outflow tract pulmonary regurgitation. While the 22 mm Harmony valve Early Feasibility Study demonstrated ventricular tachycardia (VT) in only 5% of patients, little is known about ventricular arrhythmias after TPVR with the larger 25 mm valve (TPV25).

miR Profile of Chronic Right Ventricular Pacing: a Pilot Study in Children with Congenital Complete Atrioventricular Block.

Chronic ventricular pacing can lead to pacing-induced cardiomyopathy (PICM). Clinical data alone is insufficient to predict who will develop PICM. Our study aimed to evaluate the circulating miR profile associated with chronic right ventricular pacing in children with congenital complete AV block (CCAVB) and to identify candidate miRs for longitudinal monitoring.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors in kidney transplant recipients: a multicentre, single-arm, phase 1 study.

Background: Most kidney transplant recipients with cancer stop or reduce immunosuppressive therapy before starting treatment with an immune checkpoint inhibitor, and approximately 40% of such patients will develop allograft rejection. Isolated immunosuppression reduction might be associated with organ rejection. Whether immunosuppression manipulation, immune checkpoint inhibition, or both, induce organ rejection is difficult to ascertain.

The Functional Biogeography of eDNA Metacommunities in the Post-Fire Landscape of the Angeles National Forest.

Wildfires have continued to increase in frequency and severity in Southern California due in part to climate change. To gain a further understanding of microbial soil communities’ response to fire and functions that may enhance post-wildfire resilience, soil fungal and bacterial microbiomes were studied from different wildfire areas in the Gold Creek Preserve within the Angeles National Forest using 16S, FITS, 18S, 12S, PITS, and COI amplicon sequencing. Sequencing datasets from December 2020 and June 2021 samplings were analyzed using QIIME2, ranacapa, stats, vcd, EZBioCloud, and mixomics.