Intraoperative botulinum toxin injection in sleeve gastrectomy, a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Background: Botulinum toxin injection of the pylorus (BP) improves gastric transit after esophagectomy (Saeed et al. in Surg Endosc 38(10):6046-52, 2024). At our institution, BP has been used as an adjunct to sleeve gastrectomy (SG) to reduce post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV).

Uncovering patterns of white matter degeneration in normal aging: Links between morphometry and microstructure.

While tract-wise differences in volume and microstructure are common targets of investigation in age-related changes in the white matter (WM), there has been relatively little exploration into other attributes of tract morphometry or its relation to microstructure in vivo, and limited understanding on how they jointly inform the understanding of the WM aging trajectory. This study examines 10 WM tracts for tract-wise differences in morphometry (i.e.

Variations in perfusion detectable in advance of microstructure in white matter aging.

One of the most promising interventional targets for brain health is cerebral perfusion, but its link to white matter (WM) aging remains unclear. Motivated by existing literature demonstrating links between declining cortical perfusion and the development of WM hyperintensities, we posit that regional WM hypoperfusion precedes deteriorating WM integrity. Using the Human Connectome Project Aging (HCP-A) data set, we examine tract-wise associations between WM microstructural integrity (i.

Testing retrogenesis and physiological explanations for tract-wise white matter aging: links to developmental order, fiber calibre, and vascularization.

To understand observed spatial distributions of white-matter (WM) aging, developmentally driven theories termed "retrogenesis" have gained traction, positing that WM tract development order predicts order of declines, with later developing regions expected to deteriorate first, i.e., "last-in-first-out.

Detectability of Surface Biosignatures for Directly Imaged Rocky Exoplanets.

Modeling the detection of life has never been more opportune. With next-generation space telescopes, such as the currently developing Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) concept, we will begin to characterize rocky exoplanets potentially similar to Earth. However, few realistic planetary spectra containing surface biosignatures have been paired with direct imaging telescope instrument models.

Testing retrogenesis and physiological explanations for tract-wise white matter aging: links to developmental order, fibre calibre, and vascularization.

To understand the consistently observed spatial distribution of white-matter (WM) aging, developmentally driven theories termed "retrogenesis" have gained traction, positing that the order of WM tract development predicts the order of declines. Regions that develop first are expected to deteriorate the last, i.e.

Conscious expectancy rather than associative strength elicits brain activity during single-cue fear conditioning.

The neurocognitive processes underlying Pavlovian conditioning in humans are still largely debated. The conventional view is that conditioned responses (CRs) emerge automatically as a function of the contingencies between a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US). As such, the associative strength model asserts that the frequency or amplitude of CRs reflects the strength of the CS-US associations.

Emergent robotic versus laparoscopic surgery for perforated gastrojejunal ulcers: a retrospective cohort study of 44 patients.

Background: Perforated gastrojejunal ulcers are a known complication following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery requiring emergent surgical repair. The robotic approach has not been evaluated for emergency general surgery.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study from 2015 to 2019 was performed identifying all patients who underwent repair of perforated gastrojejunal ulcers after RYGB at a single institution.

Intrapericardial diaphragmatic hernia in a 6-month-old girl: A case report and review of the literature.

Introduction: Intrapericardial congenital diaphragmatic hernia (IPCDH) is extremely rare: only 18 cases in children have been reported in the literature since 1981. We report the 19th case of infantile IPCDH in a 6-month-old girl and compare with previous reports.

Presentation Of Case: Our patient initially presented with four days of dyspnea and was diagnosed with CDH by preoperative radiography.

Exoplanet Biosignatures: A Framework for Their Assessment.

Finding life on exoplanets from telescopic observations is an ultimate goal of exoplanet science. Life produces gases and other substances, such as pigments, which can have distinct spectral or photometric signatures. Whether or not life is found with future data must be expressed with probabilities, requiring a framework of biosignature assessment.

Socially Responsible Surgery: Building Recognition and Coalition.

Importance: Socially responsible surgery (SRS) integrates surgery and public health, providing a framework for research, advocacy, education, and clinical practice to address the social barriers of health that decrease surgical access and worsen surgical outcomes in underserved patient populations. These patients face disparities in both health and in health care, which can be effectively addressed by surgeons in collaboration with allied health professionals.

Objective: We reviewed the current state of surgical access and outcomes of underserved populations in American rural communities, American urban communities, and in low- and middle-income countries.

Factors affecting the United Nations' response to natural disasters: what determines the allocation of the Central Emergency Response Fund?

Natural disasters can overwhelm the domestic response of a country, leaving it dependent on external humanitarian relief. The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) of the United Nations centralises humanitarian funding and thus allows for a rapid response. This study combined data to analyse the factors that affected the allocation of CERF funding to countries that suffered a natural disaster between 2007 and 2013.

Titan solar occultation observations reveal transit spectra of a hazy world.

High-altitude clouds and hazes are integral to understanding exoplanet observations, and are proposed to explain observed featureless transit spectra. However, it is difficult to make inferences from these data because of the need to disentangle effects of gas absorption from haze extinction. Here, we turn to the quintessential hazy world, Titan, to clarify how high-altitude hazes influence transit spectra.

The effect of host star spectral energy distribution and ice-albedo feedback on the climate of extrasolar planets.

Planetary climate can be affected by the interaction of the host star spectral energy distribution with the wavelength-dependent reflectivity of ice and snow. In this study, we explored this effect with a one-dimensional (1-D), line-by-line, radiative transfer model to calculate broadband planetary albedos as input to a seasonally varying, 1-D energy balance climate model. A three-dimensional (3-D) general circulation model was also used to explore the atmosphere's response to changes in incoming stellar radiation, or instellation, and surface albedo.

Properties of an Earth-like planet orbiting a Sun-like star: Earth observed by the EPOXI mission.

NASA's EPOXI mission observed the disc-integrated Earth and Moon to test techniques for reconnoitering extrasolar terrestrial planets, using the Deep Impact flyby spacecraft to observe Earth at the beginning and end of Northern Hemisphere spring, 2008, from a range of ∼1/6 to 1/3 AU. These observations furnish high-precision and high-cadence empirical photometry and spectroscopy of Earth, suitable as "ground truth" for numerically simulating realistic observational scenarios for an Earth-like exoplanet with finite signal-to-noise ratio. Earth was observed at near-equatorial sub-spacecraft latitude on 18-19 March, 28-29 May, and 4-5 June (UT), in the range of 372-4540 nm wavelength with low visible resolving power (λ/Δλ=5-13) and moderate IR resolving power (λ/Δλ=215-730).

Earth as an extrasolar planet: Earth model validation using EPOXI earth observations.

The EPOXI Discovery Mission of Opportunity reused the Deep Impact flyby spacecraft to obtain spatially and temporally resolved visible photometric and moderate resolution near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic observations of Earth. These remote observations provide a rigorous validation of whole-disk Earth model simulations used to better understand remotely detectable extrasolar planet characteristics. We have used these data to upgrade, correct, and validate the NASA Astrobiology Institute's Virtual Planetary Laboratory three-dimensional line-by-line, multiple-scattering spectral Earth model.