Effects of Maternal and Child Lifetime Traumatic Stress Exposures, Infant Temperament, and Caregiving Quality on Preschoolers' Executive Functioning.

We examined effects of maternal and child lifetime traumatic stress exposures, infant temperament, and caregiving quality on parent ratings of preschoolers' executive functioning (EF). Maternal lifetime trauma was associated with preschoolers' EF problems; this association was mediated by greater child trauma exposure. Infant temperament was associated with EF abilities, particularly among females. Among males, infant extraversion/surgency mediated the association of maternal lifetime trauma with poorer child EF. Caregiving quality was negatively associated with maternal and child trauma exposures but did not predict child EF. Findings have implications for interventions to identify children at risk for poor EF and optimize outcomes.

Analytical Validation and Performance Characteristics of Molecular Serum Biomarkers, miR-371a-3p and miR-372-3p, for Male Germ Cell Tumors, in a Clinical Laboratory Setting.

Detection of serum embryonic miRNAs miR-371a-3p and miR-372-3p has been proposed to aid in diagnosis, prognosis, and management of patients with testicular germ cell tumors (GCTs). This study describes the analytical validation and performance of a laboratory-developed test to detect these miRNA targets by stem loop real-time quantitative RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) in serum from patients with GCTs. The assay was standardized using an exogenous spike-in control of nonhuman miRNA from Caenorhabditis elegans (cel-miR-39-3p) to assess extraction efficiency, and an endogenous housekeeping miRNA, miR-30b-5p, to control for miRNA normalization. miRNA results were expressed as relative expression level, using the comparative threshold cycle method (2ΔΔCT). Analytical sensitivity of miR-371a-3p and miR-372-3p was 12.5 and 1.25 copies/µL, respectively. Clinical accuracy was evaluated using GCT patients with (n = 34) and without (n = 17) active disease. Positive/negative cutoffs and indeterminate findings were established on the basis of results from healthy volunteers (n = 25) and assay precision. miR-371a-3p and miR-372-3p exhibited a sensitivity of 81.8% and 87.5%, respectively, and a specificity of 100% and 94%, respectively, and an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.93 and 0.95, respectively. Taken together, RT-qPCR testing for serum miR-371a-3p and miR-372-3p represents a robust, sensitive, and specific clinical assay to aid in the clinical management of patients with GCT.

Thromboinflammation Supports Complement Activation in Cancer Patients With COVID-19.

Background: COVID-19 pathology is associated with exuberant inflammation, vascular damage, and activation of coagulation. In addition, complement activation has been described and is linked to disease pathology. However, few studies have been conducted in cancer patients. Objective: This study examined complement activation in response to COVID-19 in the setting of cancer associated thromboinflammation. Methods: Markers of complement activation (C3a, C5a, sC5b-9) and complement inhibitors (Factor H, C1-Inhibitor) were evaluated in plasma of cancer patients with (n=43) and without (n=43) COVID-19 and stratified based on elevated plasma D-dimer levels (>1.0 µg/ml FEU). Markers of vascular endothelial cell dysfunction and platelet activation (ICAM-1, thrombomodulin, P-selectin) as well as systemic inflammation (pentraxin-3, serum amyloid A, soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor) were analyzed to further evaluate the inflammatory response. Results: Increases in circulating markers of endothelial cell dysfunction, platelet activation, and systemic inflammation were noted in cancer patients with COVID-19. In contrast, complement activation increased in cancer patients with COVID-19 and elevated D-dimers. This was accompanied by decreased C1-Inhibitor levels in patients with D-dimers > 5 ug/ml FEU. Conclusion: Complement activation in cancer patients with COVID-19 is significantly increased in the setting of thromboinflammation. These findings support a link between coagulation and complement cascades in the setting of inflammation.

Long-range gamma phase synchronization as a compensatory strategy during working memory in high-performing patients with schizophrenia.

Working memory deficits in schizophrenia may be associated with impairments in the integration of neural activity across a distributed network of cortical areas. However, evaluation of the contribution of this integration to working memory impairments in patients is severely confounded by behavioral performance. In the present multidimensional-neuroimaging study, measures of neural oscillations at baseline and during a working memory task, baseline gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) level in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and behavioral performance were obtained. Controlling behavioral performance by recruiting only "high-performing" patients with schizophrenia, we investigated whether the strength of cross-area communications differs between patients with schizophrenia and healthy participants under accurate and equivalent behavioral performance. Results of phase-locking value indicated that these high-performing patients recruited significantly more between frontal and occipital regions in the left hemisphere, t(13) = -2.16, p = .05, Cohen's d = -1.20, and between frontal and temporal regions in the right hemisphere, t(13) = -2.63, p = .02, Cohen's d = -1.46. These cross-area communication patterns may be associated with visuoverbal and visuospatial working memory networks of the left and right hemispheres, respectively. Moreover, correlations of patient's cross-area communication with in vivo GABA levels of the left DLPFC revealed a significant positive relationship (r = .77, p = .04), demonstrating that the critical role of GABA functions in gamma band oscillations may go beyond local neuronal assemblies in the left DLPFC. Altogether, these exploratory findings point to the heterogeneity among schizophrenia patients and highlight the notion that high-performing patients may engage in potential compensatory mechanisms and may represent a subgroup of patients that may be categorically or dimensionally divergent in psychopathology.