Johns Hopkins University

Development and Validation of a Coronary Artery Calcium Volume and Density Score

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring is a useful tool for coronary heart disease (CHD) risk prediction. The current standard method, the Agatston score, weights plaque area upward by density. However, higher density is inversely associated with CHD. We aimed to devel...

Near-random behavior in strategic games

Humans struggle to produce random behavior when asked to do so, leading some to suggest that our ability to randomize is attenuated (or even absent). Here, we demonstrate that the capacity for random behavior is much greater than previously acknowledged: Humans can behave in (nea...

From traffic-flow capacity to recovery capacity: An episode-based framework for multi-sector urban resilience

Urban systems experience disruptions that differ in magnitude, duration, and final recovery outcome. Existing resilience measures commonly emphasize performance loss, recovery duration, or trajectory area, but they do not directly represent the peak rate at which a disrupted syst...

Understanding histotripsy ablation safety: a systematic review of pre-clinical and clinical adverse events

Abstract Histotripsy is the first cavitation-based ablation modality. Given limited clinical experience, synthesis of pre-clinical and early clinical data is essential to guide safe adoption. A PubMed and SCOPUS search was performed focused on pre-clinical and clinical adverse ev...

Optimizing HIV testing uptake among pregnant women in Burkina Faso: machine learning prediction and scenario-based intervention simulations using 2021 Demographic and Health Survey data

HIV testing uptake among pregnant women remains a public health priority in Burkina Faso. This study aimed to identify and rank key predictors of HIV testing uptake using machine learning (ML) approaches and to estimate potential gains under scenario-based intervention simulation...

A living systematic review, meta-analysis, and open data resource of trials of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD

Abstract 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has emerged as a potential treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, rapidly changing evidence in a fast-moving field can be challenging to integrate. Here, we present a living systematic review and open-data m...

Distinct acute and chronic brain health phenotypes among people living with HIV in a Ugandan clinical cohort: a comorbidity network analysis

Background: Individual brain health conditions among people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are increasingly well documented, but the co-occurrence of comorbidity and multimorbidity across distinct neurological and psychiatric conditions remains poorly characterized in this...

Exploring transcriptomic and genomic latent variable correction approaches in differential expression analysis

Abstract Background Differential expression analysis is a central tool for studying the biological processes altered in human diseases via transcriptomic signatures. However, transcriptomic datasets are systematically confounded by latent variables from two distinct sources: unme...

Associations of Mild or Trace Valvular Abnormalities With Cardiac Remodeling in Older Adults: The ARIC Study

Background The impact of mild/trace valvular abnormalities on cardiac remodeling is not well understood, despite their association with poor cardiovascular outcomes. Methods Using data from 4684 participants in the ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) Study (2011–2013), age...

Executive-Function Networks in Listening and Reading Comprehension: A Comparison of Children With SeLECTS, Children With Reading Difficulties, and Typical Readers

Children with Self-Limited Epilepsy with Centro-Temporal Spikes (SeLECTS) display deficits in both listening and reading comprehension, as well as in executive functions (EFs). The aim of the current study was to investigate differences in EF involvement—operationalized as the co...

Managing growth and puberty concerns in individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy: Updated guidance and future directions

Long-term glucocorticoid therapy is standard of care for individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) but often results in impaired growth and delayed or incomplete puberty, impacting their physical and psychosocial health. Although DMD endocrine care has evolved, leading t...

Institutional characteristics associated with meeting the proficiency benchmark in Brazil’s National Medical Education Assessment (ENAMED): a nationwide Bayesian hierarchical analysis

Brazil’s medical education system has expanded at an unprecedented pace, largely through policies intended to increase physician supply and reduce regional disparities. In 2025, Brazil introduced the National Medical Education Assessment Examination (ENAMED), which assesses gradu...

Self‐Monitoring of Blood Pressure: A Qualitative Study From Iraqi and Syrian Refugees

Background Self‐measured blood pressure (SMBP) monitoring improves long‐term blood pressure (BP) outcomes, but evidence on the acceptability and feasibility of SMBP in refugee populations is limited. Refugees face high cardiovascular risk due to poorly controlled BP. Methods We r...

Brain iron as a surrogate biomarker of pathological TDP-43 identifies brain region-specific signatures in aging, and disease

Abstract Background TDP-43 pathology is a defining feature of several neurodegenerative diseases, but its prevalence and regional distribution in aging and disease are not well characterised. We investigated molecular TDP-43 dysregulation across aging, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a...

Charge-sensitive vibrational modes in BEDT-TTF salts: Signatures of charge ordering and site charge

BEDT-TTF-based organic conductors host a number of ground states, tuned by electron repulsion. Knowledge of the charge distribution on the molecular sites in these materials is key to understanding the origin of different ground states. We survey and discuss the C=C stretching mo...

Self-Reported Dizziness Handicap is Related to Functional Capacity in People with Vestibular Hypofunction

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Individuals with vestibular hypofunction (VH) report low levels of physical activity (PA), corresponding with restrictions when performing activities of daily living. However, a clear association between physical function and self-reported dizziness handic...

Implementing and Scaling Artificial Intelligence in Low-Resourced Radiation Oncology: A Systematic Review of Deployments

Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to address workforce shortages and workflow inefficiencies in radiation oncology, particularly in low-resourced settings where limited specialist capacity constrains access to care. This systematic review evaluated AI deploy...

Developmental Trajectories of Alcohol, Mental Health and Physical Health among American Indian and First Nation Adolescents: Understanding the Role of Land-Based Cultural Engagement, Family, and Peers

We applied the Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK) framework to understand patterns of wellbeing among American Indian and First Nation (AI/FN) adolescents; risks and protective factors associated with alcohol use, mental health, and physical health that can be tra...

Implications of Site-Neutral Rate-Setting Methods for Medicare Spending

Importance Medicare pays more for some procedures in the hospital outpatient department (HOPD) setting than it does for the same procedures in physician offices because of the facility fees paid to HOPDs under Medicare’s Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS). In recent yea...

Obstetric Pharmacomicrobiomics

Pregnancy is characterized by physiologic, metabolic, immunologic, and microbial adaptation. Medication use during pregnancy is common. Yet, therapeutic response often remains unpredictable because obstetric pharmacology has historically focused on pharmacokinetic changes while p...