Reviews of Religion, Spirituality and Health.

This issue of JORH presents numerous literature reviews focusing on religious and spiritual wellbeing, a variety of lifespan health conditions, and topics relating to public health. It also presents a range of specialist research from Türkiye exploring chronic conditions, the role of nursing, the victims and survivors of earthquakes, and finally, coping with the prospect of death.

Lumbopelvic-hip Control, Upper Extremity Joint Moments, and Drive Leg Ground Reaction Force in Adolescent Baseball Pitchers.

Background: Poor lumbopelvic-hip control has been linked to higher shoulder and elbow joint moments and injury risk in collegiate and professional baseball pitchers. The purpose of this study was to investigate if lumbopelvic-hip control was correlated with shoulder and elbow joint moments and drive leg ground reaction force (GRF) in high school baseball pitchers. The hypothesis was that poorer lumbopelvic-hip control would be correlated with higher joint moments and lower drive leg GRF.

Disease and non-battle injury incidence rate trends in the US military, 2010-2021.

Introduction: This study's purpose was to analyse disease and non-battle injury (DNBI) incidence trends in US military personnel from 2010 to 2021 to understand implications for medical readiness.

Methods: A retrospective cohort of deidentified DNBI cases was developed from the person-event data environment for all military personnel between 2010 and 2021. Chronic and acute conditions were identified using the clinical classification software for categorising International Classification of Disease-9-Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes and clinical classification software refined for categorising ICD-10-CM codes.

Cell Partitioning Design for Microfluidic ATPS Devices: A Dynamic Energy Strategy and Calculation Using Chondrocytes and Model Microparticles.

Sorting and isolating specific cells from heterogeneous populations are crucial for many biomedical applications, including drug discovery and medical diagnostics. Conventional methods such as Fluorescent Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) and Magnetic Activated Cell Sorting (MACS) face limitations in throughput, cost, and the ability to separate subtly different cells. Cell partitioning in Aqueous Two-Phase Systems (ATPSs) offers a biocompatible and cost-effective alternative, particularly when combined with continuous-flow microfluidics.

Analysis of Food Extracts with Thin Layer Chromatography: A STEM Outreach Activity.

An outreach activity was developed and performed where familiar food items (e.g., beverages, leaves, vegetables, and citrus peels) were extracted with ethanol or ethyl acetate, and the extracts were analyzed through thin-layer chromatography (TLC).

: Addressing Community Needs to Implement Firearm Prohibitions for Domestic Violence Protective Order Respondents.

Prohibiting domestic violence protective order (DVPO) respondents from firearms is an effective strategy to prevent intimate partner homicide. However, DVPO gun laws vary considerably across states, and the implementation of such laws is inconsistent across localities. Local context, such as resource availability, priorities, and politics, differs across types of communities and impacts the implementation of laws.

Insights into Persian Gulf Beach Sand Mycobiomes: Promises and Challenges in Fungal Diversity.

Beach Sand Mycobiome is currently among the most important health challenges for viticulture in the world. Remarkably, the study of fungal communities in coastal beach sand and recreational waters remains underexplored despite their potential implications for human health. This research aimed to assess the prevalence of fungal species and the antifungal susceptibility profiles of fungi recovered from the beaches of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.

Antiparasitic Effect of Polyphenols and Terpenes from Natural Products Against and .

: Worldwide, the number of cases of parasitic diseases has been increasing; however, available treatments have variable adverse effects and low efficacy, mainly in Neglected Tropical Diseases such as Chagas disease and Leishmaniasis. Therefore, the development of new and more effective antiparasitic drugs is important. Natural products are the source of secondary metabolites with different biological activities, such as antibacterial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antiparasitic.

Allothetic and idiothetic spatial cues control the multiplexed theta phase coding of place cells.

Theta oscillation is considered a temporal scaffold for hippocampal computations that organizes the activity of spatially tuned cells known as place cells. Late phases of theta support prospective spatial representation via phase 'precession'. In contrast, some studies have hypothesized that early phases of theta may subserve both retrospective spatial representation via phase 'procession' and the encoding of new associations.

Stuffed Epimerase Domains of Pyochelin Biosynthesis are Defunct Methyltransferases.

Bacteria and fungi use nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) to generate secondary metabolites called nonribosomal peptides (NRPs). A common feature of NRPs is the incorporation of D-stereocenter amino acids, which enhance chemical functionality and confer resistance to proteolytic degradation. Typically, these stereochemical inversions arise from dedicated epimerase domains, which are well-characterized.

Non-enzymatic glucose detection via ordered 2D arrays of nickel and nickel chitosan nanowires.

Glucose sensors play a vital role in the everyday healthcare needs of diabetic patients. However, glucose sensor cost and reliability, particularly regarding their standard functionalization with expensive and environmentally sensitive enzymes, remains a challenge. A method for the fabrication of nickel nanowire arrays (NWAs) coated with a thin layer of chitosan for the non-enzymatic detection of glucose is herein reported.

Relationship between child opportunity index and body mass index -score: a mixed-effects analysis with data from a lifestyle intervention with Hispanic children.

Background: The Childhood Opportunity Index (COI) is a relatively new measure for assessing opportunity across education, health and environment, and socioeconomic context. Research indicates that higher COI is associated with lower obesity risk; however, existing research offers no evidence for differences, or lack thereof, across racial/ethnic groups. The larger body of research on the relationship between neighborhood environments and obesity risk among Hispanic children with low-income between 5 and 11-year-olds is limited.

Resisted Sprint Training Improves Overground Sprint, Jump, and Isometric Mid-Thigh Pull Kinetics and Kinematics in Male Youth Ice Hockey Players: A Randomized Control Trial.

This study investigated the effects of an on-ice resisted sprint training (RST) intervention, an overground RST intervention and a traditional training control condition on measures associated with ice skating completion time. The vertical jump, the broad jump, the isometric mid-thigh pull, and overground sprint completion times, along wth sprint kinetics and kinematics were obtained prior and at the conclusion of the 8-week training intervention. There was a 7% increase in jump height (p < 0.

strains elicit distinct inflammatory responses in human macrophages.

, the causative agent of human Q fever, subverts macrophage antimicrobial functions to establish an intracellular replicative niche. To better understand the host-pathogen interactions, we investigated the transcriptional responses of human alveolar macrophages (hAMs) infected with virulent (NMI, G), attenuated (NMII), and avirulent (Dugway) strains of . RNA sequencing analysis revealed that all strains activated proinflammatory pathways, particularly IL-17 signaling, though the magnitude and nature of the response varied by strain.

The Impact of Protein Content and Fouling on Enzymatic Degradation of Polyethylene Terephthalate.

Enzymatic and microbial depolymerization of plastic is emerging as a promising method for recycling plastics. This paper looks into the effects of household and laboratory contamination on waste plastic and the implications these have on the enzymatic degradation of PET. Specifically, we find that exogenous protein, whether initially contaminating the surface of the plastic substrate or present in the enzymatic hydrolysis reaction buffer, can substantially inhibit the degradation of PET.

RNA-Seq dataset of wild type and PRC2 mutant mouse embryonic stem cells undergoing ground state conversion.

Mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) represent an exceptional model for understanding how transcriptional responses are regulated by signalling pathways during development. Treatment with a cocktail of MEK and GSK3β inhibitors ("2i") induces ground state pluripotency, characterized by increased self-renewal, reduced DNA methylation, and uniformly high expression of pluripotency markers. Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) is a key developmental regulator controlling stem cell self-renewal and differentiation decisions, and altered expression of PRC2 target genes is a signature of 2i-mediated ground state conversion.

Aere perennius: how chromatin fidelity is maintained and lost in disease.

Multicellular organisms arise from a single genome template in the zygote, necessitating the cells of the developing embryo to up- and downregulate specific genes to establish and maintain their identity. This template is maintained, propagated, and interpreted as chromatin, a polymer of nucleic acids and associated structural and regulatory proteins. Recent genome-wide surveys documented a wealth of disease-associated mutations in chromatin factors, indicating their fundamental significance and potential for therapeutic targeting.

Optimizing Cold Food Supply Chains for Enhanced Food Availability Under Climate Variability.

Produce supply chains play a critical role in ensuring fruits and vegetables reach consumers efficiently, affordably, and at optimal freshness. In recent decades, hub-and-spoke network models have emerged as valuable tools for optimizing sustainable cold food supply chains. Traditional optimization efforts typically focus on removing inefficiencies, minimizing lead times, refining inventory management, strengthening supplier relationships, and leveraging technological advancements for better visibility and control.

Language Attitudes and Stereotypes Condition the Processing of Contact-Induced Linguistic Variants.

This study examines the effect of language attitudes and stereotypes on vowel perceptions by two groups of listeners from Asturias, Spain that differ in their relationship with the languages present in their communities: Spanish, the national majority language, and Asturian, the regional minority language. The responses of 165 participants from the Nalón Valley (a mining area in the region) were compared with those of 156 listeners from Gijón (the largest urban area) as they categorized words containing synthesized productions of Spanish [o] and Asturian [u] in a task that combined binary forced-choice identification and visual priming. The results of a mixed-effects regression model reveal that, for the Nalón Valley group, positive attitudes toward Asturian result in higher rates of /u/ selection, while, for the Gijón group, positive attitudes toward Asturian intersect with negative stereotypes about urban Asturians who avoid the regional language.

Diabetes, Hemodialysis, Clergy, Women, Children and Measurement Scales.

This issue of JORH provides the latest research about a number of well-known health care topics. Commencing with research related to diabetes and hemodialysis, it then revisits the role of clergy and religious communities, and the health of women and children. This issue also considers a variety of existing and newly validated quantitative scales measuring religiosity and spirituality.

A spatiotemporal analysis of opioid prescriptions in Indiana from 2015 to 2019.

People living in rural communities are more likely to receive opioid prescriptions, partly due to job-related injuries. State-level interventions have reduced opioid prescribing; however, rural/urban disparities persist due to differences in demographics and prescribing practices, particularly in states with large rural populations like Indiana. While spatiotemporal analyses have explored aspects of the opioid crisis, spatiotemporal patterns of opioid prescribing have not been sufficiently studied.

Low impact development sand filter media replacement: Costs and effect on pollutant removal efficiencies.

Sand filter basins are widely utilized as a Best Management Practice (BMP) in Texas and other regions for stormwater mitigation. Efficient operation of these systems depends on routine inspections and maintenance. The performance of the sand filter's contaminant removal before and after media maintenance was evaluated along with cost variations for the maintenance activities.

Local administration of lipid-silica nanohybrid-carried forskolin modulates thermogenesis in human adipocytes and impedes weight gain in mice.

Despite encouraging outcomes of the eight FDA approved drugs in lessening obesity burden, they have been associated with side effects caused by the lack of direct action on the adipose tissue. Therefore, we report a nanomedicine that promotes the transformation of local fat-storage white adipocytes, associated with obesity, into thermogenic adipocytes, indicative of enhanced metabolism, to both human cells and mice. Our nanomedicine consisting of a lipid-silica nanohybrid that allows accommodation of the natural supplement forskolin has resulted in successful browning of mature human adipocytes in vitro through upregulating thermogenesis biomarkers on mature human adipocytes and in vivo in mice tissue (achieving 400- and 80-fold increases in UCP1 and Cox7A1, respectively), while significantly enhancing glucose uptake and lipolysis in an acute fashion and significantly preventing weight gain in high fat diet (60% HFD) mice compared to other treatments including liposomal medicine.

Family social support during incarceration: implications for health upon release.

Incarceration is associated with adverse physical and mental health that are often brought to light during reentry into the community, particularly in the immediate period following release. Social support, specifically from family members, has been identified as a key protective factor that may promote health and reintegration success among formerly incarcerated individuals. However, less is known about how specific types of family support-emotional and instrumental-relate to health outcomes following release from incarceration.