The Glucocorticoid Receptor Inhibits NRF2-Mediated Expression of SLC7A11.

SLC7A11 encodes the glutamate-cystine exchanger xCT, which is a key regulator of intracellular antioxidant capacity and extracellular glutamate levels. We have identified SLC7A11 as a direct target of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). The GR agonist dexamethasone represses SLC7A11 expression in multiple cell types, from epithelial cells to astrocytes.

A comparative study of patient and provider priorities for cesarean delivery anesthesia care.

Introduction: Patient priorities for anesthesia during a cesarean delivery are not well defined. Previous studies have explored patient preferences for cesarean delivery anesthesia but have not evaluated patient-centered endpoints unrelated to the physical experience which are known to be important to patients' birth experiences, such as being treated with respect, communication, and emotional support. The purpose of this study was to compare patients' and providers' priorities for cesarean delivery anesthesia care.

Healthcare Expenditures Associated With Implementing an External Facilitation Program to Increase the Prescribing of Medications Used for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder Among Veterans.

Background: To address the opioid use disorder (OUD) public health crisis, the ADvancing Pharmacological Treatments for OUD (ADaPT-OUD) external facilitation randomized trial was conducted in 8 intervention and 27 matched control low-performing Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities to increase the prescribing of medications for OUD (MOUD). Facilities were considered low-performers if they were in the bottom quartile of the facility ratio of Veterans with OUD who received MOUD. The objective of this analysis was to evaluate the healthcare expenditures of Veterans with OUD who received care in ADaPT-OUD intervention facilities compared to those receiving care in matched control facilities.

Progesterone for Traumatic Brain Injury, Experimental Clinical Treatment III Trial Revisited: Objective Classification of Traumatic Brain Injury With Brain Imaging Segmentation and Biomarker Levels.

Objective: This post hoc study of the Progesterone for Traumatic Brain Injury, Experimental Clinical Treatment (ProTECT) III trial investigates whether improving traumatic brain injury (TBI) classification, using serum biomarkers (glial fibrillary acidic protein [GFAP] and ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal esterase L1 [UCH-L1]) and algorithmically assessed total lesion volume, could identify a subset of responders to progesterone treatment, beyond broad measures like the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOS-E), which may fail to capture subtle changes in TBI recovery.

Design: Brain lesion volumes on CT scans were quantified using Brain Lesion Analysis and Segmentation Tool for CT. Patients were classified into true-positive and true-negative groups based on an optimization scheme to determine a threshold that maximizes agreement between radiological assessment and objectively measured lesion volume.

Trends In Reported Outcomes For Growth Hormone Therapy In Children With Growth Hormone Deficiency.

Objective: To understand the frequency and trends in reported outcomes of safety and effectiveness for recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) therapy for growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in childhood.

Methods: A systematic review was performed in seven English and Chinese language databases. Eligibility criteria included all studies published between 2003 and 2022, with participants who started rhGH before the age of 16 years for GHD.

Biased allosteric modulator of neurotensin receptor 1 reduces ethanol drinking and responses to ethanol administration in rodents.

Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) impose an enormous societal and financial burden, and world-wide, alcohol misuse is the 7th leading cause of premature death [1]. Despite this, there are currently only 3 FDA approved pharmacological approaches for the treatment of AUDs in the United States. The neurotensin (Nts) system has long been implicated in modulating behaviors associated with alcohol misuse.

Reconstructing Dermatology Education: The Backward Design and Curricular Content Expansion.

Background: Despite the high prevalence of skin conditions, access to dermatologists remains limited, leaving patients to rely on primary care doctors, paediatricians or emergency medicine providers for diagnosis and treatment. Additionally, dermatology education in medical school is often insufficient, with limited hours dedicated to the specialty. The widespread need for dermatologic care and the curricular time devoted to training medical students in dermatology topics are misaligned, which underscores the importance of enhancing dermatology training within the undergraduate medical curriculum.

Outcomes of concomitant laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and cholecystectomy.

Background: The development of cholelithiasis and its subsequent complications are a known risk after vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) due to rapid weight loss. Although controversial, concomitant cholecystectomy (CCY) at the time of bariatric surgery has been proposed, with multiple studies investigating simultaneous CCY with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Despite VSG being the most commonly performed bariatric surgery in the United States (US) and globally, few studies have investigated the simultaneous VSG and CCY.

Time's imprint on the left atrium: aging and atrial myopathy.

Aging is a primary driver of atrial remodeling and dysfunction, and contributes to the increasing prevalence of atrial myopathy in the aging population. Atrial myopathy, characterized by structural, functional, and electrophysiological abnormalities of the atria, is a key pathological process underlying adverse cardiovascular outcomes such as atrial fibrillation (AF), heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), and ischemic stroke. Although these outcomes are often treated as distinct clinical entities, emerging evidence suggests that they may represent symptomatic manifestations of an underlying atrial disease process.

Knowledge and attitudes about lung cancer screening amongst American Indian adults who use commercial tobacco.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related death in the US and the world. In some parts of the US, American Indian adults experience extreme disparities in lung cancer incidence and mortality that mirror commercial tobacco use disparities. Lung cancer screening (LCS) with low-dose chest computed tomography has been underutilized in all groups, including in American Indian communities, although they have the greatest proportion of people who smoke older than 50 years of age eligible for LCS.

Application of Evidence into Practice in Trauma: The Purpose to Practice (P2P) Approach to Consensus Generation.

Introduction: In trauma care, there is a need to increase communication to ensure evidence-informed, best practice care guidelines are easily accessible to all providers to yield continuity of care. Clinical guidance use is one way to address this need while employing a patient-centered team approach.

Methods: During year two of the conference series, participants gathered in person and virtually to further develop the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) created during year one.

Prescription for Play: Implementing a pediatric play promotion intervention in federally qualified health centers.

Prescription for Play (P4P) is a social impact program delivered during 18-36-month well-child checks to promote caregiver-directed play. To understand the impact of P4P on caregiver outcomes and whether it can be feasibly delivered in safety-net settings, this research evaluated P4P's implementation across six federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). The association of P4P on caregiver outcomes was assessed using an interrupted time series design in which two separate caregiver samples completed surveys before and after ) P4P implementation.

Exploiting viral infection/vaccination to focus high-affinity T cell populations into tumors using oncolytic viro-immunotherapy.

Immune tolerance restricts the number of T cells with significant affinity for self-tumor-associated antigens (TAAs), thereby limiting successful cancer immunotherapy through an inability to generate populations of high-affinity anti-tumor T cells. In contrast, viral infection/vaccination primes and expands high-affinity effector and memory T cells against viral antigens. We show here that it is possible to exploit population-wide preexisting, anti-viral memory recall responses against SARS-CoV-2 antigens to focus a high-affinity, immunodominant T cell response into tumors by oncolytic virus (OV)-mediated or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-mediated delivery of viral antigens that are not themselves related to TAAs.

Long-Circulating Nanobody Confers Durable Prophylaxis against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Omicron Infection.

Breakthrough infections in vaccinated population and continuous emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants make it imperative to develop more efficacious medical countermeasures. Previously, an anti-SARS-CoV-2 nanobody, Nanosota-3A, that neutralizes the infection of live Omicron BA.1 with picomolar potency, is identified.

Geographic Disparities by Rural-Urban Status and Drive Time to Care in Tobacco Treatment for COPD.

Importance: Many individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who continue to use tobacco do not receive the key intervention of tobacco dependence treatment (TDT). Rurality and drive time to health care services may affect the provision of TDT.

Objective: To examine associations of rurality and drive time to care with provision of TDT among individuals with COPD.

Social Media Perspectives on Over-The-Counter Hearing Aids: Sentiment and Thematic Analysis of Twitter (X) Data.

Objective: To assess public perspective on over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids through social media data.

Methods: Twitter (X)'s Application Program Interface was utilized to collect English-language tweets mentioning OTC hearing aids between January 2019 and October 2022. Sentiment analysis was conducted using the Valence Aware Dictionary and Sentiment Reasoner, categorizing tweets as positive, neutral, or negative.

Chronic NK cell activation results in a dysfunctional, tissue resident-like state mediated by KLF2 deficiency.

Adoptive transfer of NK cells can induce complete remissions in 30-50% of patients with refractory acute myeloid leukemia and lymphoma. While blood chimerism occurs, attaining functional homing to the site of tumor without exhaustion has been elusive. During chronic infections and tumorigenesis, exposure to activating stimuli weakens the effector activity of NK cells.

Exploring Perceptions and Experiences of Health Needs Among Women Who Sell Sex.

Women who sell sex in street-based settings (WSS) experience overlapping social and structural vulnerabilities, including housing instability, stigma, violence, and interactions with the criminal legal system, which shape their health and risk environments. Overlapping vulnerabilities to factors such as violence and substance use can drive health inequities. We used a syndemics framework to help understand how WSS perceive and manage these overlapping vulnerabilities.

"A Lot of Gray": Ambiguity, Beliefs, and Discretion in Veterans Benefits Administration Military Sexual Trauma-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Disability Claims.

Objectives: Thousands of Veterans file claims for military sexual trauma (MST)-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) disability through the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) annually to receive covered healthcare benefits and monthly nontaxable compensation for MST-related conditions. Although 72% of MST claims in 2021 were granted, prior reporting found other claims had been erroneously denied due to issues around VA staff not ordering disability exams for claims and not gathering necessary evidence on behalf of claimants. The present study explores decision-making processes around evidence-gathering for MST-related disability claims through interviews with VA staff who develop, rate, and evaluate MST disability claims (n = 21).