University of Pennsylvania

Oral health and systemic health outcomes: A call for interdisciplinary action

Abstract Objectives To make the case, from periodontology and dental public health, for interdisciplinary action on oral and systemic health, and to set out recommendations for practice, policy, education, and research. Materials and Methods A joint working group of the European...

Impact of Highly Effective Modulator Therapy on Olfactory‐Specific Gene Expression in People With Cystic Fibrosis

ABSTRACT Background Chronic rhinosinusitis is common in people with cystic fibrosis (PwCF). Highly effective modulator therapy (HEMT) has been shown to improve sinonasal outcomes. However, prior studies failed to show improvement in objective olfaction with HEMT, and the impact o...

Exploring the mediating role of working alliance in a peer support intervention for late-life depression

Objective: Peer support is an evidence-based intervention for depression, yet the mechanisms underlying its effectiveness remain understudied, particularly in randomized clinical trials. This study examined the mediating role of working alliance components (task, bond, and goal)...

Persistent chromatin alterations and gene expression reprogramming follow widespread DNA damage in glioblastoma

Abstract DNA damage from routine cellular processes or exogenous insults can have a lasting impact on gene regulation beyond genetic mutations. The prevailing paradigm for the consequences of DNA damage repair revolves around restoration of the original genetic sequence, but long...

The PMADS project: a longitudinal multimodal cohort study to understand risk for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders

Abstract Background Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) are among the most common and consequential complications of pregnancy. The perinatal period is also characterized by profound hormonal fluctuations and large-scale brain plasticity. However, the mechanisms linking...

Effect of Aficamten on Cardiac Structure and Function in Patients with Symptomatic Nonobstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

BACKGROUND: Aficamten significantly improved both functional capacity and patient-reported health status in patients with symptomatic nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in the phase 3 randomized, placebo-controlled ACACIA-HCM trial (Assessment Comparing Aficamten to Place...

Balancing privacy and performance: the impact of facial defacing on AI in medical imaging

Background Recent NIH Data Management and Sharing (DMS) policy updates and NIH controlled-access data security requirements have increased attention to facial anonymization and controlled-access handling of shared head imaging data. This is particularly relevant for datasets subm...

Aficamten for Symptomatic Nonobstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

BACKGROUND: Nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a common condition that is associated with substantial morbidity and no proven medical therapy. Whether treatment with aficamten, a cardiac myosin inhibitor, can benefit patients with this condition is unknown. METHO...

Mega or Micro? Which Influencer to Select for Your Campaign

There is an ongoing debate over whether mega- or micro-influencers are more effective. Zijun Tian, Ryan Dew, and Raghu Iyengar have developed a causal machine learning framework to evaluate the impact of an influencer’s follower count on how many times their videos are viewed. Th...

Enhanced molecular diagnosis of Onchocerca lupi using droplet digital PCR in clinically suspected companion animals

Abstract Background Onchocerca lupi , a zoonotic filarial nematode documented in southwestern North America and the Old World, is associated with ocular onchocerciosis in dogs and cats. Clinical signs range from ocular discharge and conjunctivitis to chronic nodular lesions invol...

Global Efficacy of Aficamten in Nonobstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Results From ACACIA-HCM

BACKGROUND: Nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (nHCM) is associated with significant morbidity with no approved treatment. Aficamten is a cardiac myosin inhibitor targeting excess contractility and diastolic impairment, the predominant mechanism responsible for adverse ou...

Public Employee Pensions and Municipal Insolvency

Abstract This paper studies how municipal governments jointly manage spending, credit market borrowing, and a public employee pension system. I model governments as levered investors who must meet non-defaultable pension obligations and may value government spending more than cit...

Programmable protein degraders enable selective knockdown of pathogenic β-catenin subpopulations in vitro and in vivo

Aberrant activation of Wnt signaling results in unregulated accumulation of cytosolic β-catenin, which subsequently enters the nucleus and promotes transcription of genes that contribute to cellular proliferation and malignancy. Here, we sought to eliminate pathogenic β-catenin f...

Edge universality of random regular graphs of growing degrees

We consider the statistics of extreme eigenvalues of random d-regular graphs, with Nc≤d≤N1/3−c for arbitrarily small c>0. We prove that in this regime, the fluctuations of extreme eigenvalues are given by the Tracy–Widom distribution. As a consequence, about 69% of d-regular grap...

Rationing by Race

We document how deepening resource scarcity results in rationing on the basis of race in a high-stakes setting: health care. Using detailed, time stamped data on 107,000 inpatient admissions to a large health system, we find that in-hospital mortality increases for Black but not...

Patient Portal Use and Care Utilization Among Hospitalized Children

OBJECTIVE: Patient portals allow patients and caregivers to better engage with health care. Disparities in portal use among high-risk populations, like hospitalized children, could limit their benefits. Additionally, little is known about the association between pediatric portal...

SGLT2 inhibitors activate pantothenate kinase in the human heart

Abstract Inhibitors of sodium glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2i) demonstrate strong symptomatic and mortality benefits in the treatment of heart failure but appear to do so independently of SGLT2. The relevant pharmacologic target of SGLT2i remains unclear. We show here that SGLT2i...

Forest Kernel Balancing Weights: Outcome‐Guided Features for Causal Inference

While balancing covariates between groups is central for observational causal inference, selecting which features to balance remains a challenging problem. Kernel balancing is a promising approach that first estimates a kernel that captures similarity across units and then balanc...

Tisa-cel and axi-cel CAR structure influences the development of resistance to CD19-CAR-T therapy

CD19-CAR-T cells are a major therapy for relapsed/refractory B-cell malignancies, yet ~50% of patients relapse after infusion. Clinical data suggest that tisa-cel treatment is associated with higher rates of CD19 mutation than axi-cel, though direct comparisons have been lacking....

Pediatric Mycosis Fungoides and Hydroa Vacciniforme Lymphoproliferative Disorder

Patients most often present with hypopigmented patches, though folliculotropic disease is also common. Prognosis is usually excellent. Most patients are diagnosed with early-stage disease, and less than 5% of cases progress to late-stage disease. Pediatric MF can be difficult to...