A New Perspective on Drugs for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Proposals for Better Respiratory Outcomes and Improved Regulatory Pathways.

New drugs for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) are emerging rapidly. However, we and others believe these drugs are achieving regulatory approval prematurely. It is the cardiorespiratory complications of DMD that cause the disease's major morbidities and that determine survival.

An international survey on the knowledge, attitudes and clinical patterns of use of medical cannabis for cancer care: The TASMAN study.

Background: Medical cannabis (MC) has gained traction in oncology for managing cancer-related symptoms, but its integration faces challenges due to limited evidence, inconsistent guidelines, and varied legal frameworks.

Methods: The TASMAN study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of oncologists and palliative care providers globally regarding MC use in cancer care. A survey of healthcare providers from diverse regions and income levels was conducted.

Parkinsonism disrupts neuronal modulation in the pre-supplementary motor area during movement preparation.

Multiple studies suggest that Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with changes in neuronal activity throughout the basal ganglia-thalamocortical motor circuit. There are limited electrophysiological data, however, describing how parkinsonism impacts neuronal activity in the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), an area in medial frontal cortex involved in movement planning and motor control. In this study, single unit activity was recorded in the pre-SMA of two non-human primates during a visually cued reaching task in both the naive and parkinsonian state using the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) model of parkinsonism.

"Semen-oma": Sequestered Semen Collection From Urethral Stricture and Bladder Neck Closure in Exstrophy Reconstruction.

Ejaculatory dysfunction in adult males with bladder exstrophy-epispadias complex can occur from associated genitourinary anomalies, surgical iatrogenic scarring, infection, obstruction, and neurologic and functional causes. This case presents a 30-year-old male patient with a history of bladder exstrophy reconstruction (bladder neck closure and appendicovesicostomy) who presented with a nine-year history of intermittent perineal scrotal pain, swelling, and intermittent urethral discharge. He presented with a tender palpable perineal mass ("semen-oma").

Supporting Infants with Multicystic Dysplastic Kidney Disease: A Comprehensive Approach.

Multicystic dysplastic kidney (MCDK) is a congenital renal disease characterized by variable-sized noncommunicative cysts, impeding parenchymal development and functionality. Renal capabilities are relative to the functionality of the contralateral kidney and response to management. Unilateral and isolated cases are often asymptomatic with more positive outcomes, while severe bilateral derangements have a high mortality rate.

Is Anyone Ready to Save a Life? An Examination of Cardiac Emergency Preparedness in Schools.

Background: This study explored the cardiac emergency preparedness of school employees in Illinois, as well as their attitudes toward cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) training.

Methods: One thousand two hundred seventy-six school employees completed an online survey regarding their school's cardiac emergency preparedness, as well as their access to CPR/AED training, confidence and willingness to perform CPR/AED, and attitudes toward CPR policies and mandates.

Results: In total, results from 1273 school employees were analyzed.

Health Insurance Type and Access to the Indian Health Service Before, During, and After Childbirth Among American Indian and Alaska Native People in the United States.

Background: American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people in the United States face elevated childbirth-related risks when compared with non-Hispanic white people. Access to health care is a treaty right of many AI/AN people, often facilitated through the Indian Health Service (IHS), but many AI/AN people do not qualify for or cannot access IHS care and rely on health insurance coverage to access care in other facilities. Our goal was to describe health insurance coverage and access to IHS care before, during, and after childbirth for AI/AN birthing people in the United States.

Mediating effects of inequitable gender norms on intimate partner violence and contraceptive use in a cluster randomized control trial in Niger.

Previous research has demonstrated that the Reaching Married Adolescents intervention (RMA) was associated with changes in inequitable gender norms, intimate partner violence (IPV), and modern contraceptive use. This study seeks to understand if changes in inequitable gender norms mediate the RMA intervention's effects on contraceptive use and intimate partner violence (IPV). A four-arm cluster randomized control trial was conducted to evaluate effects of the RMA intervention (household visits, small groups, combination, control) on married adolescent girls and their husbands in Dosso, Niger (baseline: 1042 dyads; 24m follow-up: 737 dyads; 2016-2019).

The ballistic articular structure injury classification (BASIC) system: clarifying ballistic articular injuries.

Purpose: This study aims to (1) devise a classification system to categorize and manage ballistic fractures of the knee, hip, and shoulder; (2) assess the reliability of this classification compared to current classification schemas; and (3) determine the association of this classification with surgical management.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of a prospectively collected trauma database at an urban level 1 trauma centre. The study included 147 patients with 169 articular fractures caused by ballistic trauma to the knee, hip, and shoulder.

The nurse-led equitable learning framework for training programs: A framework to grow, bolster and diversify the nursing and public health workforce.

Background: Addressing threats to the nursing and public health workforce, while also strengthening the skills of current and future workers, requires programmatic solutions. Training programs should be guided by frameworks, which leverage nursing expertise and leadership, partnerships, and integrate ongoing evaluation.

Purpose Statement: This article provides a replicable framework to grow, bolster, and diversify the nursing and public health workforces, known as the Nurse-led Equitable Learning (NEL) Framework for Training Programs.

A Systematic Review of Tablet-Based Interactive Distraction as a Preoperative Anxiolytic in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Same-Day Procedures.

Evidence shows tablet-based interactive distraction (TBID) is effective as a preoperative anxiolytic in pediatric patients. TBID involves age-appropriate video games that have been preloaded onto a tablet (TAB) and subsequently given to a pediatric patient before the administration of anesthesia. The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of previous studies that have investigated the use of TBID to minimize preoperative anxiety.

Stretch Causes cffDNA and HMGB1-Mediated Inflammation and Cellular Stress in Human Fetal Membranes.

Danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) are elevated within the amniotic cavity, and their increases correlate with advancing gestational age, chorioamnionitis, and labor. Although the specific triggers for their release in utero remain unclear, it is thought that they may contribute to the initiation of parturition by influencing cellular stress mechanisms that make the fetal membranes (FMs) more susceptible to rupture. DAMPs induce inflammation in many different tissue types.

Environmental Surveillance of Flood Control Infrastructure Impacted by Unsheltered Individuals Leads to the Detection of SARS-CoV-2 and Novel Mutations in the Spike Gene.

In the United States, the growing number of people experiencing homelessness has become a socioeconomic crisis with public health ramifications, recently exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized that the environmental surveillance of flood control infrastructure may be an effective approach to understand the prevalence of infectious disease. From December 2021 through July 2022, we tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA from two flood control channels known to be impacted by unsheltered individuals residing in upstream tunnels.

Methodological issues of retrospective surveys for measuring mortality of highly clustered diseases: case study of the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak in Bo District, Sierra Leone.

Background: There is a lack of empirical data on design effects (DEFF) for mortality rate for highly clustered data such as with Ebola virus disease (EVD), along with a lack of documentation of methodological limitations and operational utility of mortality estimated from cluster-sampled studies when the DEFF is high.

Objectives: The objectives of this paper are to report EVD mortality rate and DEFF estimates, and discuss the methodological limitations of cluster surveys when data are highly clustered such as during an EVD outbreak.

Methods: We analysed the outputs of two independent population-based surveys conducted at the end of the 2014-2016 EVD outbreak in Bo District, Sierra Leone, in urban and rural areas.

Biologic Augmentation of Isolated Meniscal Repair.

Purpose Of Review: The limited blood supply and intrinsic healing capacity of the meniscus contributes to suboptimal tissue regeneration following injury and surgical repair. Biologic augmentation techniques have been utilized in combination with isolated meniscal repair to improve tissue regeneration. Several innovative strategies such as Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP), fibrin clots, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), bone marrow stimulation, meniscal scaffolds, and meniscal wrapping, are being explored to enhance repair outcomes.

Science Education for the Youth (SEFTY): A Neuroscience Outreach Program for High School Students in Southern Nevada during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Laboratory outreach programs for K-12 students in the United States from 2020 to 2022 were suspended or delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions. While Southern Nevada also observed similar closures for onsite programs, we and others hypothesized that in-person laboratory activities could be prioritized after increasing vaccine doses were available to the public and masking was encouraged. Here, we describe how the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Precision Medicine at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) collaborated with administrators from a local school district to conduct training activities for high school students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lactic acid levels are associated with morbidity, length of stay, and total treatment costs in urban trauma patients with lower extremity long bone fractures.

Introduction: Lactic acid is well studied in the trauma population and is frequently used as a laboratory indicator that correlates with resuscitation status and has thus been associated with patient outcomes. There is limited literature that assesses the association of initial lactic acid with post-operative morbidity and hospitalization costs in the orthopedic literature. The purpose of this study was to assess the association of lactic acid levels and alcohol levels post-operative morbidity, length of stay and admission costs in a cohort of operative lower extremity long bone fractures, and to compare these effects in the ballistic and blunt trauma sub-population.