Spina bifida as a multifactorial birth defect: Risk factors and genetic underpinnings.

Spina bifida is a birth defect resulting from abnormal embryonic development of the neural tube. Though spina bifida is divided into several subtypes, myelomeningocele-the most severe form of spina bifida often associated with a markedly diminished quality of life-accounts for a significant portion of cases. A broad range of genetic and environmental factors, many of which are still unknown, influence spina bifida, making it difficult to provide a comprehensive etiology for the disorder.

Quantifying the Pro-Environmental Impacts of Telehealth Tobacco Treatment.

Introduction: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trap in heat responsible for global warming. Stanford Tobacco Treatment Service uses telehealth for patient care.

Methods: To quantify the environmental benefits of the clinic, data were abstracted from the electronic health record between March 17, 2020, and September 20, 2022.

Sympathetic activation of white adipose tissue recruits neutrophils to limit energy expenditure.

Adipose tissue maintains energy homeostasis by storing lipids during nutrient surplus and releasing them through lipolysis in times of energy demand. While lipolysis is essential for short term metabolic adaptation, prolonged metabolic stress requires adaptive changes that preserve energy reserves. Here, we report that β-adrenergic activation of adipocytes induces a transient and depot-specific infiltration of neutrophils into white adipose tissue (WAT), particularly in lipid-rich visceral WAT.

Psychiatric Emergency Service Use Trends: Adults Experiencing Homelessness in Massachusetts from 2005-2020.

Adults experiencing homelessness (AEH) have high rates of psychiatric conditions, face barriers to accessing psychiatric care, and are high emergency department (ED) utilizers, a setting often unable to address their complex health needs. This study assesses time trends and high frequency utilization by AEH in one psychiatric emergency services (PES) program. A retrospective review of electronic health records from 2005 to 2020 was conducted at an urban PES program serving uninsured and publicly insured adults.

Prolonged length of stay among individuals presenting to the emergency department with psychosis: Associations with sociodemographic and visit-level characteristics.

Introduction: Individuals experiencing psychosis commonly initiate and engage in treatment within an emergency department (ED) setting. Understanding factors contributing to adverse ED experiences is critical for improving psychosis-related treatment. Prolonged ED length of stay (LOS), which can be conversely associated with treatment quality, is not well explored among individuals experiencing psychosis.

Adding Virtual Reality Mindful Exposure Therapy to a Cancer Center's Tobacco Treatment Offerings: Feasibility and Acceptability Single-Group Pilot Study.

Background: Smoking contributes to 1 in 3 cancer deaths. At the Stanford Cancer Center, tobacco cessation medication management and counseling are provided as a covered benefit. Patients charted as using tobacco are contacted by a tobacco treatment specialist and offered cessation services.

Comparative proteomic analysis of tail regeneration in the green anole lizard, .

As amniote vertebrates, lizards are the most closely related organisms to humans capable of appendage regeneration. Lizards can autotomize, or release their tails as a means of predator evasion, and subsequently regenerate a functional replacement. Green anoles () can regenerate their tails through a process that involves differential expression of hundreds of genes, which has previously been analyzed by transcriptomic and microRNA analysis.

Infigratinib in Patients with Recurrent Gliomas and FGFR Alterations: A Multicenter Phase II Study.

Purpose: FGFR genomic alterations (amplification, mutations, and/or fusions) occur in ∼8% of gliomas, particularly FGFR1 and FGFR3. We conducted a multicenter open-label, single-arm, phase II study of a selective FGFR1-3 inhibitor, infigratinib (BGJ398), in patients with FGFR-altered recurrent gliomas.

Patients And Methods: Adults with recurrent/progressive gliomas harboring FGFR alterations received oral infigratinib 125 mg on days 1 to 21 of 28-day cycles.

Infigratinib in Early-Line and Salvage Therapy for FGFR3-Altered Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma.

Introduction: To describe the efficacy of infigratinib, a potent, selective fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) 1-3 tyrosine kinase inhibitor, across lines of therapy (LOT) in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC).

Patients And Methods: Eligible patients had mUC and prior platinum-based chemotherapy, unless contraindicated, and activating FGFR3 mutation/fusion. Patients received infigratinib 125 mg orally daily (3 weeks on/1 week off) in a single-arm, open-label study.

Brain transcriptomic responses of Yarrow's spiny lizard, Sceloporus jarrovii, to conspecific visual or chemical signals.

Species with multimodal communication integrate information from social cues in different modalities into behavioral responses that are mediated by changes in gene expression in the brain. Differences in patterns of gene expression between signal modalities may shed light on the neuromolecular mechanisms underlying multisensory processing. Here, we use RNA-Seq to analyze brain transcriptome responses to either chemical or visual social signals in a territorial lizard with multimodal communication.

Safety and benefits of automated red cell depletion-exchange compared to standard exchange in patients with sickle cell disease undergoing chronic transfusion.

Background: The Spectra Optia allows automated performance of red blood cell reduction and isovolemic hemodilution (IHD) prior to standard red cell exchange (RCE), and is primarily intended for patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) undergoing chronic RCE. Data on the safety of inducing transient further anemia and the benefits of IHD-RCE is limited and occasionally contradictory.

Study Design And Methods: In this retrospective crossover analysis of six patients with SCD who underwent chronic exchange with standard RCE (Cobe Spectra) followed by IHD-RCE (Spectra Optia), we compared safety and benefit outcomes with IHD-RCE vs standard RCE.

Anatomical and histological analyses reveal that tail repair is coupled with regrowth in wild-caught, juvenile American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis).

Reptiles are the only amniotes that maintain the capacity to regenerate appendages. This study presents the first anatomical and histological evidence of tail repair with regrowth in an archosaur, the American alligator. The regrown alligator tails constituted approximately 6-18% of the total body length and were morphologically distinct from original tail segments.

Immune and sex-biased gene expression in the threatened Mojave desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii.

The immune system of ectotherms, particularly non-avian reptiles, remains poorly characterized regarding the genes involved in immune function, and their function in wild populations. We used RNA-Seq to explore the systemic response of Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) gene expression to three levels of Mycoplasma infection to better understand the host response to this bacterial pathogen. We found over an order of magnitude more genes differentially expressed between male and female tortoises (1,037 genes) than differentially expressed among immune groups (40 genes).

The Quality Assessment of Commercial Lycium Berries Using LC-ESI-MS/MS and Chemometrics.

(also known as Goji berry) is used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with claimed benefits, including eye and liver protection, immune system fortification and blood glucose control. The commercially available product comes from either the or species, with the former dominating the marketplace due to its better taste profile. The main objective of this study was to develop a validated LC-ESI-MS/MS method to quantify multiple key bio-active analytes in commercially available berries and to qualitatively assess these samples using a principal component analysis (PCA).

Quality Control and Variability Assessment of an Eight-Herb Formulation for Hypertension Using Method Validation and Statistical Analysis.

Background-The quality control (QC) for commercial herbal formulations is sparse due to a lack of well-developed HPLC-ESI-MS/MS methods. Objective-This study reports the quantification of nine selected analytes for a commercial eight-herb formulation known as Qi Ju Di Huang Wan (QJDHW) used to relieve hypertension. Methods-An HPLC-ESI/MS method for the quantitation of analytes selected using the Herbal Chemical Marker Ranking System (Herb MaRS) was developed.

Developmental and adult-specific processes contribute to de novo neuromuscular regeneration in the lizard tail.

Peripheral nerves exhibit robust regenerative capabilities in response to selective injury among amniotes, but the regeneration of entire muscle groups following volumetric muscle loss is limited in birds and mammals. In contrast, lizards possess the remarkable ability to regenerate extensive de novo muscle after tail loss. However, the mechanisms underlying reformation of the entire neuromuscular system in the regenerating lizard tail are not completely understood.

Somitogenesis and Axial Development in Reptiles.

Among amniote vertebrates, reptiles display the greatest variation in axial skeleton morphology. Only recently have they been used in gene expression studies of somitogenesis , challenging previous assumptions about the segmentation clock and axial patterning. An increasing number of reptile genomes and transcriptomes are becoming available as next-generation sequencing becomes more affordable.