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Emily Ames, Maggie Sanders,* Marley Jacobs,* Thomas A Vida Department of Medical Education, Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, Las Vegas, NV, USA*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Thomas A Vida, Department of Medical Education, Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, 625 Shadow Ln, Las Vegas, NV, 89106, USA, Email thomas.vida@unlv.eduAbstract: Inflammatory skin diseases impose a significant burden on patients and healthcare systems worldwide. Among these, hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is particularly notable for its chronic and recurrent nature. Recurrent nodules, abscesses, and scarring in apocrine gland-rich areas characterize the disease, including the groin, axillae, and perianal regions. Despite its considerable physical and psychological impact, the precise mechanisms driving HS remain elusive. Recent advancements in understanding the inflammatory processes involved in HS have highlighted the TNF-alpha, IL-1β, and IL-17/IL-23 pathways, which play crucial roles in initiating and perpetuating the disease. Moreover, specific microRNAs (miRNAs), such as miR-24-1-5p, miR146a-5p, mirR-26a-5p, miR-206, miR-338-3p, and miR-338-5p, are involved in these inflammatory processes. Dysregulation of these miRNAs contributes to aberrant cytokine expression and persistent inflammation, foreseeably exacerbating HS disease progression. This narrative review hypothesizes that miRNA dysregulation triggers aberrant expression in specific inflammatory pathways, contributing to HS’s clinical manifestations and progression. We explore the implicated miRNAs’ potential as biomarkers for earlier disease detection and as novel therapeutic targets. Identifying miRNA dysregulation offers new opportunities for earlier and more accurate diagnosis, potentially allowing clinicians to intervene before severe disease manifestations occur. Furthermore, therapeutic strategies to modulate miRNA expression could target the inflammatory pathways driving HS, leading to more personalized and effective treatments. This review also discusses future research directions to enhance the clinical management of HS. A better understanding of miRNA involvement in HS offers new avenues for research and management, ultimately improving patient outcomes and quality of life.Keywords: chronic inflammation, sebaceous glands, inflammatory pathways, immunosuppressant drugs, miRNA dysregulation

Objective: Exposure to 60% high fat diet (HFD) leads to a robust consummatory preference over well-balanced chow standard diet (SD) when mice are presented with a choice. This passive HFD-induced SD devaluation following HFD challenge and withdrawal is highlighted by the significant reduction in SD food intake even in states of caloric deprivation. The elements of HFD that lead to this SD depreciation remains unclear. Possibly important factors include the amount and type of fat contained in a diet as well as past eating experiences dependent on sensory properties including taste and post ingestive feedback. We aimed to explore the role of these components to HFD-induced SD devaluation. Methods: Wildtype mice were longitudinally presented discrete HFDs in conjunction with SD and feeding and metabolic parameters were analyzed. A separate cohort of animals were assessed for acute HFD preference in 3 conditions: 1) ad libitum fed (sated), 2) overnight fasted (physiologically hungry), and 3) ad libitum fed (artificially hungry), elicited through chemogenetic Agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neuron activation. Population dynamics of AgRP neurons were recorded to distinct inaccessible and accessible diets both before and after consummatory experience. Transient receptor potential channel type M5 (TRPM5) knockout mice were used to investigate the role of fat taste perception and preference to HFD-induced SD devaluation. The clinically approved lipase inhibitor orlistat was used to test the contribution of fat absorption to HFD-induced SD devaluation. Results: HFD-induced SD devaluation is dependent on fat content, composition, and preference. This effect scaled both in strength and latency with higher percentages of animal fat. 60% HFD was preferred and almost exclusively consumed in preference to other diets across hours and days, but this was not as evident upon initial introduction over seconds and minutes, suggesting ingestive experience is critical. Optical fiber photometry recordings of AgRP activity supported this notion as neuronal suppression by the different diets was contingent on prior intake. While taste transduced via TRPM5 influenced HFD-evoked weight gain, it failed to impact either HFD preference or HFD-induced SD devaluation. Perturbation of post ingestive feedback through orlistat-mediated diminishment of fat absorption prevented HFD-evoked weight gain and abolished HFD-induced SD devaluation. Conclusions: Post ingestive feedback via fat digestion is vital for expression of HFD-induced SD devaluation.

IntroductionOur study set out to identify the benefits for veterinary workers of structured daily well-being practices on compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. Suggested origins of high rates of psychological stress and burnout are significant occupational concerns for veterinary workers. Many professional helpers experience an extreme state of tension and preoccupation from exposure to the suffering of those being helped. Veterinary workers are further impacted by negative associations and moral distress experienced due to limitations in the provision of quality medical care for veterinary patients. These negative experiences exist despite veterinary professionals’ work being worthwhile and highly valued.MethodsA randomized controlled study was performed over 6 months. Volunteer participants were members of a team of veterinary workers at a 24-h emergency and specialty hospital. Study participants were asked to incorporate daily well-being practice(s) into existing routines whereas control participants were not. Measures of well-being and the negative impacts of serving as veterinary helpers were assessed by having participants complete the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) self-assessment at baseline and at 1, 3 and 6 months. Composite scores for compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress were calculated.ResultsBaseline ProQOL scores were similar between study participants and controls. Baseline compassion satisfaction (CS), burnout scores (BS), and secondary traumatic stress (STS) scores for those instituting well-being practices were 37.6 (+/− 3.6), 26 (+/− 5.3), and 26.6 (+/− 5.2). Study participants had higher compassion satisfaction scores at 6 months with mean CS scores (n = 15) of 40.1 (+/− 6.8) and adjusted scores that were on average 3.0 (95% CI 0–6.1) higher than the control group (p = 0.048). Significant differences in BS or STS scores were not seen.DiscussionImprovements were seen in CS but not BO/STS for those caregivers who implemented well-being practices into their daily routines. Factors that likely contributed to successful implementation of well-being practices include educational resources, supportive leadership, accessibility, and consistent acknowledgement and positive rewards. Proposed supportive elements and resources for maintenance of well-being practices within a team of veterinary workers include provision of a psychologically safe community and team support (including formal or informal “buddy systems”).

The vulnerability of research participants is a critical topic for the 2024 revision of the Declaration of Helsinki, with the proposal to include “social value. ” However, this proposal has been withdrawn and the relationship between the two concepts has not been clarified. This paper attempts to clarify: (1) the recent reform for the ethical inclusion of vulnerable study participants to promote diversity; (2) the social value, prerequisite for everyone, especially for those who are vulnerable and the most in need; (3) the requirements for promoting the inclusion of vulnerable participants, in particular the review of the norms for placebo-controlled trials and post-trial access; (4) finally, the direction of research ethics reform to achieve social value and equitable global health.

Abstract Attaining high crop yields and increasing carbon storage in agricultural soils, while avoiding negative environmental impacts on water quality, soil erosion, and biodiversity, requires accurate and precise management of crop inputs and management practices. The long-term analysis of spatial and temporal patterns of crop yields provides insights on how yields vary in a field, with parts of field constantly producing either high yields or low yields and other parts that fluctuate from one year to the next. The concept of yield stability has shown to be informative on how plants translate the effects of environmental conditions (e.g., soil, climate, topography) across the field and over the years in the final yield, and as a valuable layer in developing prescription maps of variable fertilizer rate inputs. Using known relationships between soil health and crop yields, we hypothesize that areas with measured constantly low yield will return low carbon to the soil affecting its heath. On this premises, yield stability zones (YSZ) provide an effective and practical integrative measure of the small-scale variability of soil health on a field relative basis. We tested this hypothesis by measuring various metrics of soil health from commercial farmers’ fields in the north central Midwest of the USA in samples replicated across YSZ, using a soil test suite commonly used by producers and stakeholders active in agricultural carbon credits markets. We found that the use of YSZ allowed us to successfully partition field-relative soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil health metrics into statistically distinct regions. Low and stable (LS) yield zones were statistically lower in normalized SOC when compared to high and stable (HS) and unstable (US) yield zones. The drivers of the yield differences within a field are a series of factors ranging from climate, topography and soil. LS zones occur in areas of compacted soil layers or shallow soils (edge of the field) on steeper slopes. The US zones occurring with high water flow accumulation, were more dependent on topography and rainfall. The differences in the components of the overall soil health score (SHS) between these YSZ increased with sample depth suggesting a deeper topsoil in the US and HS zones, driven by the accumulation of water, nutrients, and carbon downslope. Comparison of the field management provided initial evidence that zero tillage reduces the magnitude of the variance in SOC and soil health metrics between the YSZ.

Abstract Agricultural soils can act as a sink for large quantities of soil organic carbon (SOC) but can also be sources of carbon to the atmosphere. The international standard for assessing SOC stock and measuring stock change stipulates fixed depth sampling to at least 30 cm. The tendency of bulk density (BD) to decrease with decreasing disturbance and increasing SOC concentration and the assumption of constant SOC and BD within this depth profile promotes error in the estimates of SOC stock. A hypothetical but realistic change in BD from 1.5 to 1.1 g cm−3 from successive fixed depth sampling to 30 cm underestimates SOC stock change by 17%. Significant effort has been made to evaluate and reduce this fixed depth error by using the equivalent soil mass (ESM) approach, but with limited adoption. We evaluate the error in SOC stock assessment and change generated from fixed depth measurements over time relative to the ESM approach and propose a correction that can be readily adopted under current sampling and analytical methods. Our approach provides a more accurate estimate of SOC stock accumulation or loss that will help incentivize management practice changes that reduce the environmental impacts of agriculture and further legitimize the accounting practices used by the emerging carbon market and organizations that have pledged to reduce their supply chain greenhouse gas (GHG) footprints.