Publications by authors named "Borowiec K"

Article Synopsis
  • Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a genetic condition leading to heart muscle deterioration, mainly in the right ventricle, which can cause serious heart problems and arrhythmias, making diagnosis complex due to varying symptoms.
  • The study aimed to investigate the connection between the epsilon wave (EW) seen on ECG and late ventricular potentials (LPs) in ARVC patients, and how these relate to right ventricular (RV) changes.
  • The findings revealed that EW was significantly more frequent in ARVC patients with positive LPs, indicating a strong link between the presence of these signals and physical changes in the heart, with specific measurements of RV size and function further correlating with LPs presence.
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Aims: The long-term effects of COVID-19 (Long COVID) include 19 symptoms ranging from mild to debilitating. We examined multidimensional correlates of Long COVID symptom burden.

Methods: This study focused on participants who reported having had COVID in Spring 2023 (n = 656; 85% female, mean age = 55, 59% college).

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Background: People who were disabled from working reported substantially worse depression in recent research [1] despite adjustment for demographic covariates, cognitive-appraisal processes, and COVID-specific stressors, thus motivating the present work.

Objective: This study sought to "drill down" to understand employment-group differences (employed, retired, unemployed, disabled) in cognitive factors, and how these factors played into paths to depression during COVID early in the pandemic and depression trajectories over 15.5 months of follow-up.

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Purpose: The present study examines how the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) experience affected values and priorities.

Methods: This cross-sectional study collected data between January and April 2023, from 1,197 individuals who are chronically ill or part of a general population sample. Using open-ended prompts and closed-ended questions, we investigated individuals' perceptions about COVID-19-induced changes in what quality of life means to them, what and who are important, life focus, and changes in norms and stressors.

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Scope: Bilberry, bananas, and apples are used for smoothie production because the health-promoting activities and to prevent human diseases including neurodegenerative disorders. The smoothie is prepared to promote a promising practice for increasing the intake of fruit in the diet.

Methods And Results: The smoothie is packed into dark glass jars, pasteurized, and stored for up to 4 months at 4 or 22 °C.

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A common symptom of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is fatigue, which in some patients can be severe. Eculizumab (Ecu) has proven efficacy in controlling intravascular hemolysis, but commonly results in persistent anemia and fatigue. Pegcetacoplan's (Peg) efficacy was documented in the PEGASUS phase III clinical trial, showing improved hemoglobin (Hb) and patient-reported fatigue.

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Spine surgery generally yields a notable improvement in patients' health state, and there is variability in measured patient outcomes after spine surgery. The present work aimed to describe for clinicians how appraisal underlies their patients' experience of healthcare interventions. This prospective longitudinal cohort study (n = 156) included adults undergoing spine surgery for degenerative spinal conditions.

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Background: Hemorrhoid disease (HD) affects 10 million people in the US at any given time, and 50% of the US population will develop symptomatic hemorrhoids during their lifetime. Approximately 60% of people with hemorrhoids experience symptoms. Despite its prevalence and impact on quality of life, the existing patient-reported outcome measures of HD have not been validated using standard psychometric methods.

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Background Context: A not uncommon finding following spine surgery is that many patients do not achieve mental health improvement up to population norms for their age cohort, despite improvement in pain and functioning.

Purpose: This study examined how patients who were categorized as depressed versus not depressed think about health-related quality of life as assessed by cognitive-appraisal processes. It examined cross-sectional and longitudinal differences over 12 months postsurgery.

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Article Synopsis
  • - This paper questions the belief that item-response theory (IRT) always provides a better measurement for clinical constructs, highlighting potential drawbacks in content loss that may affect conceptual validity.
  • - Two studies are summarized that demonstrate how IRT analyses overlooked essential aspects of the conceptual models used in quality of life (QOL) measurement.
  • - The findings suggest that effective measurement should combine the quantitative benefits of IRT with a recognition of the significance of conceptual validity and practical clinical application.
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Aims: This study examined whether reserve-building activities are associated with attenuated reported depression among people who were disabled from work due to a medical condition as compared to employed, retired, and unemployed participants.

Methods: This secondary analysis included 771 individuals who provided data at three time points: baseline (late Spring 2020), follow-up 1 (Spring 2021), and follow-up 2 (Fall 2021). The DeltaQuest Reserve-Building Measure assessed current activities related to brain health.

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Background And Aims: Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are critical for preventing sudden cardiac death (SCD) in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). This study aims to identify cross-continental differences in utilization of primary prevention ICDs and survival free from sustained ventricular arrhythmia (VA) in ARVC.

Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of ARVC patients without prior VA enrolled in clinical registries from 11 countries throughout Europe and North America.

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Purpose: Understanding people's response to the pandemic needs to consider individual differences in priorities and concerns. The present study sought to understand how individual differences in cognitive-appraisal processes might moderate the impact of three COVID-specific factors-hardship, worry, and social support-on reported depression.

Methods: This longitudinal study of the psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic included 771 people with data at three timepoints over 15.

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Purpose: This study characterized depression trajectories during the COVID pandemic and investigated how appraisal and changes in appraisal over time related to these depression trajectories.

Methods: This longitudinal study of the psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic included 771 people with data at three timepoints over 15.5 months.

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Introduction: Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a progressive disease leading to ventricular arrhythmias and heart failure. Determining optimal time for heart transplantation (HTx) is challenging; therefore, it is necessary to identify risk factors for disease progression.

Objectives: The study aimed to identify predictors of end‑stage heart failure and to evaluate the role of biomarkers in predicting adverse outcomes in ARVC.

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This paper focuses on a novel application of personalized medicine: the ways one thinks about health (i.e., appraisal processes) as relevant predictors of spine-surgery response.

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Background: The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID) is worse among those with fewer financial resources, in jobs not amenable to remote work, and in denser living conditions. People of color are more likely to be among these vulnerable groups. Although race itself is a social construction and not based on underlying genetic/biological differences, this study investigated race/ethnicity differences in the negative repercussions of COVID and in the benefits of psychological and social resources.

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The health-promoting activities of fruits are in the limelight in view of the growing risks posed by civilisational diseases and are connected with polyphenols. The present study examined bilberry, blueberry, blackcurrant, redcurrant, cherry and plum for their polyphenolic content and biological activities. The contents of total polyphenolic compounds and their subclasses were determined.

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Background: In our companion paper, we addressed the interplay between caregiver impact, out-of-pocket expenditures, and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) disability. We found that DMD caregiver impact could be characterized by four Latent Profile Analysis impact profiles: lowest, lower middle, upper middle, and highest impact. The impact on caregivers was often but not always worse with greater out-of-pocket expenditures.

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