Structural and Magnetic Properties of Carbon-Based Nanocomposites Containing Iron Oxides: Effect of Thermal Treatment Atmosphere.

Carbon-based nanocomposites coated with iron oxides were synthesized using a wet impregnation method with thermally annealed coal and an iron nitrate precursor. The influence of the thermal treatment atmosphere (air, vacuum, or nitrogen) on the morphology, structure, and magnetic properties of the nanocomposites was examined by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the vacuum thermal treatment produced carbon-based nanocomposite containing iron oxide with the highest crystallinity, according to XRD analysis, while also inducing the greatest degree of structural defects in the carbon matrix, as evidenced by Raman analysis.

Chronic Stress and Cardiovascular Health: The MESA and MASALA Studies.

Introduction: Research suggests chronic stress is associated with individual cardiovascular health (CVH) metrics (e.g., physical activity and diet quality); however, the association between chronic stress and overall CVH is less well understood.

Proceedings from the Fourth Mesoamerican Symposium "Dr. Roberto Navarro López" on Emerging Zoonotic Disease and Arboviruses: Commenting Insights and Research Findings.

Zoonotic pathogens such as arboviruses, arenaviruses, filoviruses, coronaviruses, highly pathogenic Avian Influenza A (H5N1) viruses, vesiculoviruses, and many others are emerging and reemerging worldwide, jeopardizing global veterinary and public health. Parasitic diseases such as visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis (), myiasis, and river blindness () are also paramount for public health in the Americas and elsewhere. In the fall 2024, a group of experts convened in Chiapas, Mexico, for the Fourth Mesoamerican Symposium "Dr.

Clinical and Demographic Characteristics Associated With Diabetes Remission in Six Integrated Health Care Systems: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objective: To assess the real-world frequency and characteristics associated with type 2 diabetes remission in a large and diverse cohort of U.S. adults.

Application of multivariate geostatistical methods and risk indexes to identify dump sites and assess risks in historical mining areas.

Historical mining areas can lead to long-term soil and water contamination, necessitating their delineation, characterization, and environmental risk assessment. This study utilized a combination of environmental forensic tools (geospatial and statistical analysis techniques) along with a fairly set of standardized risk indices to find the exact location of the old mining waste dumps existing in a historical Pb/Ag mining area and to assess the current environmental risk derived from it. The results indicated that Pb is the most prevalent potentially toxic element, with concentrations significantly exceeding regional background levels.

REGULATORY T CELLS PROTECT AGAINST ABERRANT REMODELING IN A MOUSE MODEL OF PULMONARY FIBROSIS.

Regulatory T (Treg) cells are well recognized for their role in immune regulation; however, their role in tissue regeneration is not fully understood. This study demonstrates such a role of Tregs in a published preclinical murine model of spontaneous pulmonary fibrosis (PF) expressing a human PF related mutation in the Surfactant Protein-C (SP-C) gene ( ). Genetic crosses of SP-C mice with Foxp3 and Foxp3 lines were utilized to study Treg behavior during PF development.

Impaired AMPK control of alveolar epithelial cell metabolism promotes pulmonary fibrosis.

Alveolar epithelial type II (AT2) cell dysfunction is implicated in the pathogenesis of familial and sporadic idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). We previously demonstrated that expression of an AT2 cell-exclusive disease-associated protein isoform (SP-CI73T) in murine and patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cell-derived (iPSC-derived) AT2 cells leads to a block in late macroautophagy and promotes time-dependent mitochondrial impairments; however, how a metabolically dysfunctional AT2 cell results in fibrosis remains elusive. Here, using murine and human iPSC-derived AT2 cell models expressing SP-CI73T, we characterize the molecular mechanisms governing alterations in AT2 cell metabolism that lead to increased glycolysis, decreased mitochondrial biogenesis, disrupted fatty acid oxidation, accumulation of impaired mitochondria, and diminished AT2 cell progenitor capacity manifesting as reduced AT2 cell self-renewal and accumulation of transitional epithelial cells.

High Prevalence of Prediabetes Among Asian and Pacific Islander Adolescents With Overweight or Obesity in a Primary Care Population.

Objective: To compare prediabetes prevalence among disaggregated U.S. Asian and Pacific Islander (Asian/PI) adolescents with non-Hispanic White (NHW) adolescents with overweight or obesity in a primary care population.

Clade II Mpox Infections Among Cruise Ship Passengers and Crew Members - United States, 2024.

During the global clade II mpox outbreak, cases have disproportionately affected gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM). Cruise ship travel-associated mpox infections have not been previously described. During January 25-April 18, 2024, CDC was notified of eight mpox cases among cruise travelers on four ships: four among crew members and four among passengers.

Combinability of epcoritamab CD20-targeting T-cell engager and CD20 antibody-targeted therapies in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Epcoritamab, a subcutaneous CD3xCD20 bispecific antibody approved for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and follicular lymphoma, is being evaluated in regimens containing CD20-targeted monoclonal antibodies (e.g. rituximab plus cylophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone [R-CHOP]).

Initial Experience of Orthotopic Tricuspid Valve Replacement in Spain: TRI-SPA Replace Registry.

Background: Transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR) is a novel technique for the treatment of symptomatic tricuspid regurgitation (TR).

Aims: This study aims to present the initial experience in Spain and report short-term outcomes of this therapy.

Methods: This was a multicenter, retrospective registry including 48 patients who underwent percutaneous tricuspid valve replacement between April 2022 and September 2024.

Discrepancy in Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Prevalence in a Large Northern California Cohort.

Background And Aims: The estimated prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in US adults is 31.3%. However, little is known about MASLD diagnosis rates in clinical practice.

Subclinical infection and localization of foot-and-mouth disease viral RNA/antigens in apparently healthy Asiatic buffalo under natural condition.

The present study aimed to identify the subclinical infection and tissue-specific localization of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus RNA and/or antigen in Asiatic-buffaloes as their possible involvement in starting new outbreaks is still up for debate. Serum, oropharyngeal fluid (OPF), and 11 distinct tissue-samples were taken from the slaughterhouses from Asiatic-buffaloes (n = 70) and processed for 3AB3-non-structural protein (NSP) antibody titre estimation, virus isolation and genome detection, haematoxylin and eosin (HE) examinations, and indirect immunofluorescence assays, respectively. Of these, it was found that 04 (serum), 14 (OPF), and 18 (tissue) samples tested positive for NSP Ab, and FMD Viral genomic RNA/Ag, respectively.

Changes in diabetes screening and exercise during the COVID-19 pandemic in adults with prediabetes.

Aims: To evaluate changes in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) screening and exercise during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place, and whether Medicaid patients and racial/ethnic minoritized groups were disproportionally affected.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 578,585 adults with prediabetes aged ≥ 18-89 years with BMI ≥ 25 (≥23 if Asian) at Kaiser Permanente Northern California from January 2019 to December 2021. We used separate interrupted time-series analyses of aggregated weekly T2DM screening rates, or mean exercise minutes, to evaluate any decrease associated with the shelter-in-place (March 19, 2020, to June 1, 2020).

Unusual Etiologies of Pulmonary Artery Aneurysms.

Pulmonary artery aneurysms (PAAs) are uncommon and are associated with diverse mechanisms. The optimal timing of operative management remains ill-defined and must be guided by individualized consideration of the origin and progression of the disease. This case series presents 3 patients with PAAs with unusual causes and reviews PAA management.

Left atrial strain by vendor-neutral echocardiography software in healthy subjects: vendor comparisons and associated factors.

Aims: Left atrial strains [reservoir (LASr), conduit (LAScd), and contractile (LASct)] are increasingly utilized, primarily in the areas of heart failure and valvulopathy. Commercially available software to measure strain are marketed as imaging machine vendor independent, although the normal ranges of their performance and external validation studies are lacking. We evaluated and compared LAS values, reference ranges, and associated factors using contemporary strain software.

Near-full-length vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus genome sequences representative of endemic strains circulating in Mexico.

Two near full-length sequences of vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus (VSIV), representing endemic VSIV lineages circulating in cattle in Mexico, are reported. These sequences will allow us to gain more insight into the genetic relationship between endemic viruses in Mexico and the emergence of epizootic lineages in the United States.

Systematic study of the role of dissipative environment in regulating entanglement and exciton delocalization in the Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex.

In this article, we perform a systematic study of the global entanglement and exciton coherence length dynamics in natural light-harvesting system Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) complex across various parameters of a dissipative environment from low to high temperatures, weak to strong system-environment coupling, and non-Markovian environments. A nonperturbative numerically exact hierarchical equations of motions method is employed to obtain the dynamics of the system. We found that entanglement is driven primarily by the strength of interaction between the system and environment, and it is modulated by the interplay between temperature and non-Markovianity.

Standardizing postoperative pain control for decompression of pediatric Chiari type I malformation by limiting narcotic usage.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a postoperative multimodal pain control protocol on perioperative pain scores in children undergoing decompression for Chiari type I malformation (CM-I).

Methods: This retrospective matched cohort study included patients < 21 years of age who underwent elective suboccipital craniectomy and C1 laminectomy for CM-I with or without duraplasty at a single center from January 2020 to July 2023. A standardized, multimodal postoperative pain protocol was implemented in August 2021 that did not use narcotic patient-controlled analgesia.

Autoimmunity against cytokines: Double strike in autoimmune disease, a historical perspective.

Autoimmune responses are characterized by the development of antibodies and the activation of T lymphocytes against self-antigens. This leads to an effector immune response against tissues expressing antigens, which are later recognized by the host immune system. Host antigens attacked by antibodies are called "autoantigens" and are of different kinds, including receptors, enzymes, and channel proteins.

Torsion-Induced Traumatic Optic Neuropathy (TITON): A physiologically relevant animal model of traumatic optic neuropathy.

Traumatic optic neuropathy (TON) is a common cause of irreversible blindness following head injury. TON is characterized by axon damage in the optic nerve followed by retinal ganglion cell death in the days and weeks following injury. At present, no therapeutic or surgical approach has been found to offer any benefit beyond observation alone.

Identifying pre-diabetes 'hotspots' in Northern California using geospatial analysis: opportunities to target diabetes prevention strategies and improve health equity.

Objectives: The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening of adults aged 35-70 with a body mass index ≥25 kg/m for type 2 diabetes and referral of individuals who screen positive for pre-diabetes to evidence-based prevention strategies. The diabetes burden in the USA is predicted to triple by 2060 necessitating strategic diabetes prevention efforts, particularly in areas of highest need. This study aimed to identify pre-diabetes hotspots using geospatial mapping to inform targeted diabetes prevention strategies.

Phenotypic Differences Between the Epidemic Strains of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Serotype Indiana 98COE and IN0919WYB2 Using an In-Vivo Pig () Model.

During the past 25 years, vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) has produced multiple outbreaks in the US, resulting in the emergence of different viral lineages. Currently, very little is known about the pathogenesis of many of these lineages, thus limiting our understanding of the potential biological factors favoring each lineage in these outbreaks. In this study, we aimed to determine the potential phenotypic differences between two VSV Indiana (VSIV) serotype epidemic strains using a pig model.

Near full-length genome sequence of a vesicular stomatitis New Jersey virus isolate collected from a naturally infected cow in the endemic state of Chiapas, Mexico.

Here, we report the near full-length genome sequence of a isolate obtained from a naturally infected cow () in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. This sequence will support future efforts to improve our understanding of the evolutionary dynamics of this pathogen in endemic regions of Mexico.

An injury-induced mesenchymal-epithelial cell niche coordinates regenerative responses in the lung.

Severe lung injury causes airway basal stem cells to migrate and outcompete alveolar stem cells, resulting in dysplastic repair. We found that this "stem cell collision" generates an injury-induced tissue niche containing keratin 5 epithelial cells and plastic Pdgfra mesenchymal cells. Single-cell analysis revealed that the injury-induced niche is governed by mesenchymal proliferation and Notch signaling, which suppressed Wnt/Fgf signaling in the injured niche.