Sex assigned at birth may modify health-related quality of life in children treated with peanut oral immunotherapy.

Background: The high burden of peanut allergy underscores the need for treatment options that improve patient health-related quality of life (HRQL). However, the modifying effect of sex assigned at birth on treatment-related outcomes remains poorly understood. We sought to investigate whether sex modifies treatment effect on the change in overall and subdomain HRQL during the PPOIT-003 trial.

Pragmatic Low-Dose Oral Immunotherapy for Preschool Children With Peanut Allergy: A Randomised Controlled Trial.

Introduction: Peanut allergy is the most common childhood-onset, persistent food allergy. Peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) is a potential treatment, but few studies prospectively examine the outcome of peanut OIT in young children using parent-measured doses compared to standard care (peanut avoidance).

Objective: To determine the efficacy, safety and tolerability of a pragmatic peanut OIT protocol (parent-measured doses with low maintenance dose) compared to avoidance.

Routine Emollient Therapy with Coconut Oil in Preterm Infants and Allergic Sensitization at 1-Year Corrected Age.

Introduction: Skin care for very and extremely preterm infant is an important and previously underappreciated topic. Coconut oil skin care for preterm infants is a promising option, but several important questions remain including the theoretical potential for allergic sensitization.

Methods: This prospective study conducted skin prick testing and allergy questionnaires in a cohort of very preterm infants who received routine skin care with virgin coconut oil during their neonatal admission.

Immune impacts of infant whole-cell and acellular pertussis vaccination on co-administered vaccines.

Objectives: We compared the effect of a heterologous wP/aP/aP primary series (hereafter mixed wP/aP) versus a homologous aP/aP/aP primary schedule (hereafter aP-only) on antibody responses to co-administered vaccine antigens in infants and toddlers.

Methods: We randomised Australian infants in a 1:1 ratio to receive either a mixed wP/aP schedule (pentavalent diphtheria-tetanus-wP-hepatitis B-Haemophilus influenzae type b; DTwP-HepB-Hib vaccine at 6 weeks old, followed by hexavalent DTaP-inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV)-HepB-Hib vaccine at 4 and 6 months old) or aP-only priming doses of hexavalent DTaP-IPV-HepB-Hib vaccine at the same ages. All infants received 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (13vPCV) at 6 weeks, 4 and 12 months of age and DTaP-IPV and Hib vaccine boosters at 18 months.

Predictors of Discharge Home Versus Inpatient Rehabilitation Following Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty-Cohort Study.

Background: This study aims to identify the prevalence of inpatient rehabilitation (IPR) use in an Australian private total joint arthroplasty (TJA) cohort and to identify factors predictive of IPR discharge, including components of the Risk Assessment and Prediction Tool (RAPT).

Methods: Primary TJA patients at a Sydney private hospital, between 2021 and 2022 were identified from an institutional arthroplasty database. Variables previously deemed as predictive factors for IPR facility discharge in the literature and components of RAPT were assessed utilising multivariable generalised linear model analysis.

Quantitative Analysis of the Supraorbital, Transorbital Microscopic, and Transorbital Neuroendoscopic Approaches to the Anterior Skull Base and Paramedian Vasculature.

 Our objective was to compare transorbital neuroendoscopic surgery (TONES) with open craniotomy and analyze the effect of visualization technology on surgical freedom.  Anatomic dissections included supraorbital craniotomy (SOC), transorbital microscopic surgery (TMS), and TONES.  The study was performed in a neurosurgical anatomy laboratory.

Hic-5 transduces mechanical force that drives a vicious cycle of bronchoconstriction.

Mechanical forces are essential for the function of key organs, including the bladder, bowel, heart, and lung<1/sup>. These organs often encounter excessive or dysregulated mechanical forces, which are associated with pathological conditions. However, the key regulators of mechanotransduction remain poorly understood.

A New Skeletal Maturity Methodology for Children With Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease.

Background: Legg-Calve-Perthes disease (LCPD) outcomes are largely determined by their age and maturity at onset. In LCPD, there is a known association with delayed skeletal maturity of up to 1.9 years in affected children based on maturity assessment with the Greulich and Pyle (GP) maturity atlas.

Accuracy of Joint Center Reconstruction in Total Hip Arthroplasty and Its Effect on Postoperative Femoral Axial Rotation.

Background: Displacement of the native hip center of rotation (COR) following total hip arthroplasty (THA) alters biomechanical load distribution and may adversely affect outcomes. This analysis quantified alterations in the COR following THA and their relationship with postoperative axial femoral rotation.

Methods: There were 938 patients evaluated following staged bilateral THA.

Recent gains in global terrestrial carbon stocks are mostly stored in nonliving pools.

Terrestrial sequestration of carbon has mitigated ≈30% of anthropogenic carbon emissions. However, its distribution across different pools, live or dead biomass and soil and sedimentary organic carbon, remains uncertain. Analyzing global observational datasets of changes in terrestrial carbon pools, we found that ≈35 ± 14 gigatons of carbon (GtC) have been sequestered on land between 1992 and 2019, whereas live biomass changed by ≈1 ± 7 GtC.

Scanogram leg length measurement after total hip arthroplasty: not all landmarks are created equal.

Objective: To compare the magnitude of post-arthroplasty leg length discrepancy (LLD) and incidence of clinically significant LLD measured on CT scanogram using a commonly used measurement method (from the acetabular apex to tibial plafond) to an alternative technique avoiding the use of the acetabular prosthesis as a landmark and to assess inter-observer and intra-rater reliability of the new technique.

Materials And Methods: In this retrospective study, post-arthroplasty LLD measurements were conducted in 100 hips by two interpreters on CT scanogram scout views from the acetabular apex to the tibial plafond (AA-TP) and the inter-teardrop line to the tibial plafond (IT-TP). Aggregate means and proportions of clinically relevant LLD (≥ 10 mm) were compared between methods.

Efficacy and Safety of Epicutaneous Immunotherapy in Peanut-Allergic Toddlers: Open-Label Extension to EPITOPE.

Background: The pivotal phase 3 EPITOPE trial, a 12-month, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of epicutaneous immunotherapy with the VIASKIN patch containing 250 μg of peanut protein (VP250), previously reported significant treatment response versus placebo in peanut-allergic toddlers aged 1 through 3 years.

Objective: To assess the interim efficacy and safety of VP250 from the first year of the EPITOPE open-label extension (OLE) study.

Methods: Eligible participants enrolled in the OLE study for up to 3 years of total treatment with annual double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenges (DBPCFCs) and safety assessments; here we report the first-year OLE (year 2) results.

Biomechanical Principles of Spinal Deformity Correction in the Thoracolumbar Spine.

Thoracolumbar spinal deformities are a pervasive condition affecting the adolescent and adult patient population. These deformities represent three-dimensional alterations in the coronal, sagittal, and transverse planes with implication on the local, regional, and global alignment. With continued studies, the importance of the overall correction on long-term outcomes has been established.

Osteology and functional morphology of a transitional pterosaur Dearc sgiathanach from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of Scotland.

Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve active flight. The lack of many well-preserved pterosaur fossils limits our understanding of the functional anatomy and behavior of these flight pioneers, particularly from their early history (Triassic to Middle Jurassic). Here we describe in detail the osteology of an exceptionally preserved Middle Jurassic pterosaur, the holotype of Dearc sgiathanach from the Isle of Skye, Scotland.

Functional validation of a novel STAT3 'variant of unknown significance' identifies a new case of STAT3 GOF syndrome and reveals broad immune cell defects.

Introduction: Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) orchestrates crucial immune responses through its pleiotropic functions as a transcription factor. Patients with germline monoallelic dominant negative or hypermorphic STAT3 variants, who present with immunodeficiency and/or immune dysregulation, have revealed the importance of balanced STAT3 signaling in lymphocyte differentiation and function, and immune homeostasis. Here, we report a novel missense variant of unknown significance in the DNA-binding domain of STAT3 in a patient who experienced hypogammaglobulinemia, lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, immune thrombocytopenia, eczema, and enteropathy over a 35-year period.

Allergen-Specific IgE is a Stronger Predictor of Remission Following Peanut Oral Immunotherapy Than Age in Children Aged 1-10 Years.

Background: Remission is the desired outcome following OIT as it allows individuals to discontinue treatment and eat the allergen freely. Early initiation of OIT in infants and toddlers has been embraced as an approach to increase the likelihood of remission. However, there is no high-quality evidence supporting younger age as an independent factor driving remission; available studies are limited by small samples of younger subjects and lack of adjustment for confounding covariates, particularly peanut-specific IgE (sIgE) levels which is closely correlated with age.

Low latency carbon budget analysis reveals a large decline of the land carbon sink in 2023.

In 2023, the CO growth rate was 3.37 ± 0.11 ppm at Mauna Loa, which was 86% above that of the previous year and hit a record high since observations began in 1958, while global fossil fuel CO emissions only increased by 0.

Inborn errors of immunity reveal molecular requirements for generation and maintenance of human CD4 IL-9-expressing cells.

Background: CD4 T cells play essential roles in adaptive immunity. Distinct CD4 T-cell subsets-T1, T2, T17, T22, T follicular helper, and regulatory T cells-have been identified, and their contributions to host defense and immune regulation are increasingly well defined. IL-9-producing T9 cells were first described in 2008 and appear to play both protective and pathogenic roles in human immunity.

Motif mapping during chickpea germination reveals a complex sequential activation of different proteolytic activities.

Despite the importance of grains and legumes in the human diet, little is known regarding peptide release and the temporal changes of protease activities during seed germination. LC/MS-MS peptidomic analysis of two cultivars of germinating chickpea followed by computational analyses indicated cleavage dominated by proteases with a single position preference (mainly before (P1) or after cleavage (P1'): L at P2 (cysEP-like); R or K at P1 (vignain-like), N or Q at P1 (legumain-like); and previously unidentified K, R, A and S at P1'; A at P2'). While P1 N cleavages were relatively constant, P1' K/R preferences were high in soaked garbanzo (kabuli) seeds, declined by four days, and returned at six days, but were much rarer in the brown (desi) cultivar.

UK Foot and Ankle Thromboembolism (UK-FATE).

Aims: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a potential complication of foot and ankle surgery. There is a lack of agreement on contributing risk factors and chemical prophylaxis requirements. The primary outcome of this study was to analyze the 90-day incidence of symptomatic VTE and VTE-related mortality in patients undergoing foot and ankle surgery and Achilles tendon (TA) rupture.

Use of a Single-Fiber Optical Probe for the Detection of Tumor Fluorescence in High-Grade Glioma.

Background And Objectives: High-grade glioma (HGG) is the most common primary brain tumor in adults. The overall median survival is between 14 and 16 months. Fluorescence-guided surgery by detection of protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) fluorescence has been shown to improve the extent of resection, translating to improved progression-free survival.