Integrative speckle-tracking echocardiography for the early detection and prediction of cancer therapy-related cardiac dysfunction.

Background: The cancer therapy–related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD) induced by anthracycline could involve the whole heart. However, the overall changes of strain parameters, including the atrial and right heart strains, myocardial work, along with the established left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS), during cancer therapy, remain unclear.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 83 women undergoing anthracycline treatment for breast cancer, underwent serial echocardiographic examinations at baseline (pre-chemotherapy, T0), after 1 to 4 cycles (T1-T4) and 3 months after treatment completion (T5).

MEPDB: Database of microExons in plants.

Microexons, ≤ 51-nucleotide (nt), particularly ultra-short ones (1-15 nt), are challenging to identify due to their small size and frequent absence in genome annotations, which limits understanding of their biological roles. Using our developed pipeline, we identified 2398 small internal microexons across 10 diverse plant species, and most of them were not annotated in the reference genomes. These microexons are grouped into 45 conserved microexon clusters based on microexon-tags, which include the coding microexons and portions of flanking exon sequences.

Work Impairment and Financial Outcomes Among Adults With vs Without Long COVID.

Importance: While much of the focus on long COVID (LC; defined as developing new, persistent symptoms lasting 3 months or longer after SARS-CoV-2 infection) has been on health status and quality of life, the impact on individual work productivity and financial distress are less well established.

Objectives: To assess differences in work and financial outcomes among individuals with current, resolved, and no LC up to 3 years after initial infection.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This prospective, multisite, longitudinal cohort study enrolled adult participants (age ≥18 years) with at least 1 reported SARS-CoV-2 infection from December 7, 2020, to August 29, 2022.

Effects of long COVID on healthcare utilization.

Background: While most research on Long COVID (LC) has focused on symptoms and quality of life, there remains a critical need to better understand the effect of LC on resource utilization. This study sought to determine the type and amount of healthcare utilization among participants with versus without LC.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a prospective, longitudinal, multicenter U.

The Effect of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Reinfection on Long-Term Symptoms in the Innovative Support for Patients With SARS-CoV-2 Infections Registry (INSPIRE).

Background: The clinical consequences of repeated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection are not clear, especially as they relate to long-term symptoms after infection. We analyzed data collected for the Innovative Support for Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infections Registry (INSPIRE) to determine whether reinfection changes the likelihood of symptoms 3-6 months after reinfection compared with the likelihood in individuals experiencing a single infection.

Methods: Individuals reporting a single SARS-CoV-2 infection or a single reinfection were included in this analysis.

The CXCL8-CXCR2 axis promotes M2 macrophage polarization in ovarian cancer via RASGRP4-mediated mTOR-STAT3 signaling.

This study aimed to investigate whether CXCL8-CXCR2 axis in regulating M2 macrophage polarization via RASGRP4 related signaling in ovarian cancer. Data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was used to assess the correlation between CXCR2 expression and M2 macrophage infiltration. THP-1 human monocytic cells were utilized to analyze the effects of CXCL8 on RASGRP4 expression and M2 polarization.

Association of SARS-CoV-2 With Health-related Quality of Life 1 Year After Illness Using Latent Transition Analysis.

Background: Long-term sequelae after SARS-CoV-2 infection may impact health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL), yet it is unknown how HRQoL changes during recovery. We compared patient-reported HRQoL among adults with COVID-19-like illness who tested SARS-CoV-2 positive (COVID+) with those who tested negative (COVID-).

Methods: Participants in this prospective, multicenter, longitudinal registry study were enrolled from December 2020 through August 2022 and completed 3-month follow-up assessments until 12 months after enrollment.

FABP4 as a Mediator of Lipid Metabolism and Pregnant Uterine Dysfunction in Obesity.

Obese pregnant women in late pregnancy are more susceptible to uterine smooth muscle dysfunction, but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, elevated levels of fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) in the myometrium of obese pregnant women at term, high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice, and palmitic acid-treated uterine smooth muscle cells (USMCs), are demonstrated. FABP4 plays a critical role in transporting fatty acids from the extracellular to the intracellular compartment.

Low Carbon Residue Growth of Wafer-Scale MoS.

Residues introduced are often underestimated and face challenges in purification during the material synthesis. For wafer-scale 2D transition metal dichalcogenides preparation, the organic-mediated growth route is favorable and optimal due to its precise controllability of source mass. However, the carbon residue generated from organic precursors severely damages the intrinsic electrical properties of the material.

Regional uterine contractility differences during pregnancy: The role of hypoxia and ferroptosis in vitro.

Regional variations in uterine contractility during pregnancy have been well-documented. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these differences remain unclear. To address this, isotonic contraction experiments were conducted on pregnant rat uteri, revealing significantly lower contractility on the placenta-attached side compared to the non-attached side.

Puffed Up Creativity? The Relationship Between Grandiose Narcissism and Creativity: A Study of Chinese High-Tech Companies.

Prior research has yielded inconsistent findings regarding the association between narcissism and creativity, possibly due to the neglect of different narcissism subtypes. The present study aimed to elucidate the relationship between narcissism and creativity by introducing two distinct subtypes of narcissism, namely grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. A total of 571 employees (267 males, 304 females) from high-tech enterprises across 26 provinces in China completed measures of narcissism, creative performance, creative states, and self-esteem, following explicit instructions.

Differences in Long COVID severity by duration of illness, symptom evolution, and vaccination: a longitudinal cohort study from the INSPIRE group.

Background: Although short-term outcomes of Long COVID have been described, longer-term physical and mental health outcomes of Long COVID are less well-established. This study sought to assess differences in long-term physical and mental health outcomes extending up to three years among those with current, resolved, and no Long COVID, as well as duration of Long COVID and vaccination status.

Methods: This was a prospective, multisite, study of participants with SARS-CoV-2 infection from 12/7/2020-8/29/2022, with data collected through 4/2/2024.

Assessment of health conditions from patient electronic health record portals vs self-reported questionnaires: an analysis of the INSPIRE study.

Objectives: Direct electronic access to multiple electronic health record (EHR) systems through patient portals offers a novel avenue for decentralized research. Given the critical value of patient characterization, we sought to compare computable evaluation of health conditions from patient-portal EHR against the traditional self-report.

Materials And Methods: In the nationwide Innovative Support for Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infections Registry (INSPIRE) study, which linked self-reported questionnaires with multiplatform patient-portal EHR data, we compared self-reported health conditions across different clinical domains against computable definitions based on diagnosis codes, medications, vital signs, and laboratory testing.

Unveiling the Genetic and Phenotypic Landscape of a Chinese Cohort With Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Introduction: Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a type of inherited retinal degeneration (IRD) that typically leads to vision loss in individuals of working age. Currently, over 100 genes and loci, as well as over 1000 individual variants, have been identified in relation to RP. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic distribution and characteristics of Chinese patients with RP, as well as to describe and analyze the genetic features of the high-frequency variant from the RPGR gene.

Inflammation-induced PFKFB3-mediated glycolysis promoting myometrium contraction through the PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway in preterm birth mice.

Inflammation is a significant risk factor for preterm birth. Inflammation enhances glycolytic processes in various cell types and contributes to the development of myometrial contractions. However, the potential of inflammation to activate glycolysis in pregnant murine uterine smooth muscle cells (mUSMCs) and its role in promoting inflammatory preterm birth remain unexplored.

Medicare Payment for Calcium Modification Technologies Among Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, 2021-2022.

Background: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) New Technology Add-on Payment (NTAP) program supports adoption of new, costly medical technologies demonstrating substantial clinical improvement. In 2021, CMS waived the "substantial clinical improvement" criterion for devices designated under the FDA Breakthrough Devices Program (BDP). This study characterized risk-standardized payments associated with hospitalizations in which Medicare beneficiaries received calcium modification during PCI for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) following the adoption of the Shockwave C Coronary Intravascular Lithotripsy (IVL) Catheter (Shockwave Medical) with BDP designation.

Two-dimensional Czochralski growth of single-crystal MoS.

Batch production of single-crystal two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides is one prerequisite for the fabrication of next-generation integrated circuits. Contemporary strategies for the wafer-scale high-quality crystallinity of 2D materials centre on merging unidirectionally aligned, differently sized domains. However, an imperfectly merged area with a translational lattice brings about a high defect density and low device uniformity, which restricts the application of the 2D materials.

Effects of Virtual Reality Therapy for Patients With Breast Cancer During Chemotherapy: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Patients with breast cancer endure high levels of psychological and physical pain. Virtual reality (VR) may be an acceptable, safe intervention to alleviate the negative emotions and pain of patients with cancer.

Objective: We aimed to test the long-term effects of VR on psychological distress and quality of life (QOL) with traditional care in Chinese patients with breast cancer.

A 2D Optoelectronic Logic Device with Ultralow Supply Voltage.

Optoelectronic logic devices (OELDs) provide a cure for many visually impaired individuals. However, traditional OELDs have limitations, such as excessive channel resistance and complex structure, leading to high supply voltage and decreased efficiency of signal transmission. We report ultralow-voltage OELDs by seriating two 2D MoTe transistors with sub-10 nm channel lengths.

Conditional Dynamics in Heterodyne Detection of Superradiant Lasing with Incoherently Pumped Atoms.

In this Letter, we use quantum trajectory theory to simulate heterodyne detection of narrow bandwidth superradiant lasing from an incoherently excited atomic ensemble. To this end, we describe the system dynamics and account for stochastic measurement backaction by second-order mean-field theory. Our simulations show how heterodyne measurements break the phase symmetry, and initiate the atomic coherence with a random phase and a long temporal phase coherence.

The association between prolonged SARS-CoV-2 symptoms and work outcomes.

While the early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the United States labor market are well-established, less is known about the long-term impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection and Long COVID on employment. To address this gap, we analyzed self-reported data from a prospective, national cohort study to estimate the effects of SARS-CoV-2 symptoms at three months post-infection on missed workdays and return to work. The analysis included 2,939 adults in the Innovative Support for Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infections Registry (INSPIRE) study who tested positive for their initial SARS-CoV-2 infection at the time of enrollment, were employed before the pandemic, and completed a baseline and three-month electronic survey.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome After SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Importance: Chronic symptoms reported following an infection with SARS-CoV-2, such as cognitive problems, overlap with symptoms included in the definition of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of ME/CFS-like illness subsequent to acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, changes in ME/CFS symptoms through 12 months of follow-up, and the association of ME/CFS symptoms with SARS-CoV-2 test results at the acute infection-like index illness.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This prospective, multisite, longitudinal cohort study (Innovative Support for Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infections Registry [INSPIRE]) enrolled participants from December 11, 2020, to August 29, 2022.