Complex technology requires cultural innovations for distributing cognition.

Over the last decade, new research has shown how human collectives can develop technologies that no single individual could discover on their own. However, this research often overlooks how technology can become so complex that individuals cannot operate it on their own. At this level of technological complexity, distributing cognition is a necessary process for reducing cognitive load on individuals.

Intraocular pressure changes following vitrectomy with and without phacoemulsification: an American Academy of Ophthalmology IRIS® registry analysis.

Objective: To describe observed intraocular pressure (IOP) changes following vitrectomy (PPV) surgery and PPV combined with phacoemulsification in eyes with and without glaucoma.

Methods: A total of 20,894 patients from the American Academy of Ophthalmology IRIS® Registry (Intelligent Research in Sight) who underwent vitrectomy surgery for epiretinal membrane or vitreous opacities from January 2016 to March 2023 were included. Mean IOPs from postoperative day 1, days 2-10, days 11-30, and then monthly through 6 months were compared to baseline.

The influence of metabolic dysfunction on depressive symptom trajectories: A one-year follow-up study.

This study explored the role of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and health-related behaviors in the progression of depressive symptoms over a one-year naturalistic follow-up in patients with depressive disorder. Using data from 153 participants recruited through the Signature Biobank at a psychiatric emergency setting, we tested whether MetS mediated the relationship between health-related behaviors such as smoking, alcohol and drug use, and sleep, and depressive symptom trajectories. Linear mixed models revealed that while depressive symptoms significantly decreased over time, higher MetS score was associated with a slower improvement in depressive symptoms.

Rationale and Design of the Comparative Effectiveness of ICD Versus Non-ICD Therapy in Contemporary Heart Failure Patients at a Low Risk for Arrhythmic Death (CONTEMP-ICD) trial.

Background: Current recommendations for a prophylactic (primary prevention) implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) in patients with both ischemic and non-ischemic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) originate from clinical trials conducted in selected patients over 20 years ago that showed an overall statistically significant survival benefit associated with a primary prevention ICD in the range of 23%-34%. The recent introduction of angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors [ARNI] and sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors [SGLT2i]) was shown to further reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in patients with HFrEF. Thus, there is an unmet need appropriately designed comparative effectiveness clinical trials aimed to reassess the survival benefit of a primary prevention ICD in contemporary patients with HFrEF.

How much Improvement in Patient Reported Outcomes after Isolated Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Reconstruction is associated with Surgeon-defined Satisfactory Outcomes? A JUPITER study.

Introduction: The extent of change in Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROs) required to meet surgeon-defined satisfactory outcomes after isolated Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Reconstruction (MPFL-R) has not been reported. The primary aim of the study was to define the threshold value of maximal outcome improvement (MOI) in PROs associated with surgeon-defined satisfactory postoperative outcomes. The secondary aim was to identify the most effective PRO in predicting these outcomes and to evaluate the factors associated with it.

WNT7A/B assemble a GPR124-RECK-LRP5/6 co-receptor complex to activate β-catenin signaling in brain endothelial cells.

WNT7A and WNT7B, secreted by neural cells, are essential regulators of developmental brain angiogenesis and blood-brain barrier integrity. In brain endothelial cells, WNT7 proteins activate β-catenin signaling through the ligand-specific receptor complex GPR124-RECK and classical WNT receptors of the FZD and LRP families. Previous studies suggested that WNT7 isoforms assemble a GPR124-RECK-FZD-LRP5/6 multi-receptor complex for signaling.

Perspective: Nutrition Research & Programming in Multicultural Populations:The Fixed-Quality Variable-Type (FQVT) Dietary Intervention.

The sine qua non of intervention studies in general, and randomized controlled trials in particular, is to define and isolate an exposure of interest that defines the intervention and distinguishes between groups. The isolation of a presumptive cause is prerequisite to the confident attribution of given effects. In the context of dietary intervention studies, this has historically translated into a unitary intervention diet type, no matter the diversity of preferences, tastes, upbringings, ethnicities, and cultures represented in a given study cohort.

Vagus nerve stimulation as a novel therapeutic approach for musculoskeletal diseases.

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has gained significant attention as a therapy for various medical conditions due to its ability to modulate chronic diseases, pain, and inflammation. VNS delivered by an implanted device is FDA approved for severe epilepsy and refractory depression. VNS delivered with implantable devices or transcutaneous methods are now being studied in several musculoskeletal diseases including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and fibromyalgia.

ENPP1 inhibitor with ultralong drug-target residence time as an innate immune checkpoint blockade cancer therapy.

Only one in five patients respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors, which primarily target adaptive immunity. Ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phophodiesterase 1 (ENPP1), the dominant hydrolase of 2'3'-cyclic-GMP-AMP (cGAMP) that suppresses downstream stimulator of interferon genes (STING) signaling, has emerged as a promising innate immunotherapy target. However, existing ENPP1 inhibitors have been optimized for prolonged systemic residence time rather than effective target inhibition within tumors.

A mixed-methods study of communication preferences and experiences from diagnosis to death as reported by patients with advanced cancer and their family caregivers.

Objective: To examine how communication needs regarding prognosis, treatment options, and palliative care evolve over time for patients with advanced cancer and their family caregivers, particularly as patients approach the end-of-life.

Methods: This mixed-methods study surveyed 272 patients at a California healthcare system from October 2019-November 2021 at 1, 4, 8, and 12 months after identification of advanced cancer. Additionally, 24 family caregivers were interviewed between March 2021-May 2022.

Refinement of efficient encodings of movement in the dorsolateral striatum throughout learning.

The dorsal striatum plays a critical role in action selection, movement, and sensorimotor learning. While action-specific striatal ensembles have been described, the mechanisms underlying their formation and evolution during motor learning remain poorly understood. Here, we employed longitudinal two-photon Ca imaging of dorsal striatal neurons in head-fixed mice as they learned to self-initiate locomotion.

A single-cell, long-read, isoform-resolved case-control study of FTD reveals cell-type-specific and broad splicing dysregulation in human brain.

Progranulin-deficient frontotemporal dementia (GRN-FTD) is a major cause of familial FTD with TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) pathology, which is linked to exon dysregulation. However, little is known about this dysregulation in glial and neuronal cells. Here, using splice-junction-covering enrichment probes, we introduce single-nuclei long-read RNA sequencing 2 (SnISOr-Seq2), targeting 3,630 high-interest genes without loss of precision, and complete the first single-cell, long-read-resolved case-control study for neurodegeneration.

Characterizing the imaging environment for supine breast MRI.

Purpose: Supine breast MRI has the potential to improve over standard prone breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in terms of efficiency and image quality, image alignment with diagnostic and treatment procedures, and overall accessibility. This study aims to characterize potential technical challenges of imaging in the supine position: (i)  field inhomogeneities, (ii)  variations, (iii) respiratory-induced breast motion, and (iv) supine breast geometry.

Methods: Ten healthy subjects were scanned at 3T in both prone and supine positions to quantify and compare (i) and (ii) between both positions, and to assess (iii) in the supine position.

Duration of Supervised Exercise Necessary for Meaningful Improvement in Peripheral Artery Disease.

Background: Supervised treadmill exercise improves walking performance in people with lower extremity peripheral artery disease, but benefits are not immediate. This study identified the time course of attaining meaningful improvement in 6-minute walk distance and patient-reported outcome measures during a 6-month supervised exercise intervention in people with peripheral artery disease.

Methods: Participants with peripheral artery disease were randomized to supervised treadmill exercise 3 time weekly or a nonexercise control group for 6 months.

An introduction to the Item Response Warehouse (IRW): A resource for enhancing data usage in psychometrics.

The Item Response Warehouse (IRW) is a collection and standardization of a large volume of item response datasets in a free and open-source platform for researchers. We describe key elements of the data standardization process and provide a brief description of the over 900 datasets in the current iteration of the IRW (version 28.2).

A generalist foundation model and database for open-world medical image segmentation.

Vision foundation models have demonstrated vast potential in achieving generalist medical segmentation capability, providing a versatile, task-agnostic solution through a single model. However, current generalist models involve simple pre-training on various medical data containing irrelevant information, often resulting in the negative transfer phenomenon and degenerated performance. Furthermore, the practical applicability of foundation models across diverse open-world scenarios, especially in out-of-distribution (OOD) settings, has not been extensively evaluated.

A phase 2 randomized, placebo-controlled study on the efficacy and safety of AR1001, a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor, in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.

Background: AR1001 is a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor that produces improved cognitive performance and reduces amyloid-β and phosphorylated tau burdens in preclinical models of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Objectives: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of AR1001 in participants with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Design: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial conducted at 21 sites in the United States.

Building effective relationships in global surgery: an exploratory qualitative study.

Background: The rise in malignant hepatopancreatobiliary tumors disproportionately affects low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to systemic challenges. In 2023, the International Hepatopancreatobiliary Association (IHPBA) launched a relationship-building initiative to mitigate outcome disparities by increasing capacity and quality. This study aimed to understand the dynamics and value of such collaborations.

The surgical burden score: a novel continuous metric to predict postoperative complications after hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: No validated model incorporates surgical parameters for complication risk in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) resection. We evaluated a novel Surgical Burden Score (SBS), integrating adjusted blood loss (aBL; mL/kg) and operative time (hours) via a Pythagorean formula, and developed an SBS-based model to predict complications.

Methods: Patients undergoing curative-intent hepatectomy for HCC(2000-2023) were identified from an international database.