Sulfides as environmental stressors in Paracas Bay, Peru.

Paracas Bay, located in the Humboldt Current system, is a highly variable coastal environment where hypoxia (dissolved oxygen concentrations <2 mg L) has been reported as a persistent feature of bottom conditions. In addition to hypoxia, milky water events have been reported in the bay, most likely associated with the presence of sulfides (i.e.

Catastrophic health expenditures for colorectal cancer care: A retrospective analysis of the first private comprehensive cancer center in Lagos, Nigeria.

Background: Nearly a billion people worldwide risk Financial Catastrophe (FC) due to Out-of-Pocket (OOP) health expenditures. With Low-and-Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) disproportionately impacted, and the global burden of colorectal cancer (CRC) expected to increase 60 ​% by 2030, Nigeria is of interest. This study aims to evaluate the cost of treating CRC at Nigeria's first private cancer center.

"The problem is not detection, it is treatment": Exploring Why Women Needing Pre-Cervical Cancer Care are Lost to Follow-Up at the Hospital in Iquitos, Peru.

Background: The objective of this study was to investigate the barriers to follow-up of women with cervical lesions suspicious of cancer who were ineligible for primary-level treatment and needed, but did not receive, hospital-level care in Loreto, Peru.

Methods: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 HPV-positive women requiring hospital-level follow-up care for cervical lesions suspicious of cancer but for whom there was no documentation of completion of treatment. After thematically analyzing these patient interviews, interview findings were presented to seven doctors and five nurse-midwives at both the hospital and the primary levels for comments and suggestions regarding barriers to treatment.

Risk Factors Favoring Plaque Erosion.

Purpose Of Review: Plaque erosion is the second leading cause of coronary thrombosis following plaque rupture and represents a key pathophysiological process underlying acute coronary syndromes that can culminate in sudden coronary death. While the precise mechanisms and risk factors driving plaque rupture are well-established, those for erosion have only recently been explored. This review summarizes current literature on the characteristics and risk factors favoring plaque erosion.

Optimal Frequency of Interrupting Prolonged Sitting for Cardiometabolic Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Crossover Trials.

Increasing evidence highlights the efficacy of interruptions in prolonged sitting (i.e., activity/sedentary breaks) for improving cardiometabolic health, but precise conclusions and recommendations regarding the optimal interruption frequency remain poorly defined.

Reallocations of Time Between Sleep, Sedentary Behavior, and Physical Activity and their Associations with 24-Hour Blood Pressure.

Background: The 24-hour activity cycle (sleep, sedentary behavior, light physical activity, moderate to vigorous physical activity) may have deleterious or beneficial associations with 24-hour blood pressure.

Purpose: Estimate the short-term associated changes in 24H-BP with acutely replacing 30 min/d from one behavior of the 24H-ACT to other behaviors in employed adults.

Methods: Participants (N=659) wore an ambulatory blood pressure monitor and two accelerometers (waist and wrist) to measure 24-hour blood pressure and the 24-hour activity cycle.

The impact of social determinants of health (SDOH) on completing bariatric surgery at a single academic institution.

Background: Underutilization of bariatric surgery is multifactorial. This study aimed to understand the association of SDOH on not achieving surgery.

Methods: 1081 applications for primary MBS from January-December 2021 were stratified into those that completed surgery (COM; n = 415), in progress > 1-year (IP; n = 107), dropped out (DO; n = 379), and never started (NS; n = 180).

Risk of financial catastrophe for breast cancer patients in Nigeria: A retrospective analysis.

Introduction: Cancer imposes significant financial burden on patients in low and middle-income countries like Nigeria, where breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer and has the highest mortality. This study aims to investigate the financial burden of BC care at Lakeshore Cancer Center (LCC) in Nigeria and identify risk factors for financial catastrophe (FC).

Methods: LCC was queried for uninsured patients diagnosed with breast cancers between 2013 and 2023, linked to cost data through chart abstraction of billing data and adjusted to 2023 USD.

Sex differences in autonomic functions and cognitive performance during cold-air exposure and cold-water partial immersion.

Introduction: This study investigated the differences between males and females in autonomic functions and cognitive performance during cold-air exposure and cold-water partial-immersion compared to a room temperature-air environment. Although several studies have investigated the effects of cold-air or cold-water exposures on autonomic function and cognitive performance, biological sex differences are often under-researched.

Methods: Twenty-two males and nineteen females participated in the current study.

Clustering Functional Data With Measurement Errors: A Simulation-Based Approach.

Clustering analysis of functional data, which comprises observations that evolve continuously over time or space, has gained increasing attention across various scientific disciplines. Practical applications often involve functional data that are contaminated with measurement errors arising from imprecise instruments, sampling errors, or other sources. These errors can significantly distort the inherent data structure, resulting in erroneous clustering outcomes.

Comparative genome analysis of cluster EF bacteriophages Ajin and OverHedge isolated from soil in Tennessee.

Bacteriophages Ajin and OverHedge were isolated from soil in Tennessee using the bacterium . Ajin and OverHedge (cluster EF) have a genome of 56,993 bp and 56,559 bp, containing 86 and 81 predicted genes, respectively. The Ajin genome has unique genes, phosphatase and glycosyltransferase, compared to the OverHedge.

Synthesis, Biological Activity, and Molecular-Docking Studies of New Brassinosteroid Analogs.

Much work has been dedicated to the quest to determine the structure-activity relationship in synthetic brassinosteroid (BR) analogs. Recently, it has been reported that analogs with phenyl or benzoate groups in the alkyl chain present activities comparable to those shown by natural BRs, depending on the nature of the substituent in the aromatic ring. However, as it is well known that the activity depends on the structure of the whole molecule, in this work, we have synthesized a series of compounds with the same substituted benzoate in the alkyl chain and a hydroxyl group at C3.

A framework for translating tauopathy therapeutics: Drug discovery to clinical trials.

The tauopathies are defined by pathological tau protein aggregates within a spectrum of clinically heterogeneous neurodegenerative diseases. The primary tauopathies meet the definition of rare diseases in the United States. There is no approved treatment for primary tauopathies.

Multivariate variable selection in N-of-1 observational studies via additive Bayesian networks.

An N-of-1 observational design characterizes associations among several variables over time in a single individual. Traditional statistical models recommended for experimental N-of-1 trials may not adequately model these observational relationships. We propose an additive Bayesian network using a generalized linear mixed-effects model for the local mean as a novel method for modeling each of these relationships in a data-driven manner.

A General Neurologist's Practical Diagnostic Algorithm for Atypical Parkinsonian Disorders: A Consensus Statement.

Purpose Of Review: The most common four neurodegenerative atypical parkinsonian disorders (APDs) are progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), multiple system atrophy (MSA), corticobasal syndrome (CBS), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Their formal diagnostic criteria often require subspecialty experience to implement as designed and all require excluding competing diagnoses without clearly specifying how to do that. Validated diagnostic criteria are not available at all for many of the other common APDs, including normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), vascular parkinsonism (VP), or drug-induced parkinsonism (DIP).

Statin Therapy, Inflammation, and Outcomes in Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19: A Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study.

Background: Statins are lipid-lowering agents with anti-inflammatory effects. Data surrounding the benefits of statins in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are conflicting. We sought to better understand the impact of statins in the context of COVID-19-related inflammation.

Performance During a Task That Simulates Passive Sonar Operator Duties Under Conditions of Varying Workloads.

Introduction: It is critical to develop and implement lab-based computer experiments that simulate real-world tasks in order to characterize operational requirements and challenges or identify potential solutions. Achieving a high degree of laboratory control, operational generalizability, and ease-of-use for a task is challenging, often leading to the development of tasks that can satisfy some facets but not all. This can result in insufficient solutions that leave real-world stakeholders with unsolved problems.

Spontaneous Hydropneumothorax After Pleurodesis in a Patient With Pulmonary Lymphangioleiomyomatosis With Associated Endometrial Cancer.

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare cystic disease that occurs due to the abnormal proliferation of smooth muscle-like cells. It primarily affects the lungs but can also have extrapulmonary manifestations such as lymphangioleiomyoma and angiomyolipomas. It is more common in young women of childbearing age, with female sex hormones contributing to the disease course.

Differences in Exercise Capacity, Ventilatory Efficiency, and Gas Exchange between Patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension Residing at High Altitude.

Background: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) assesses exercise capacity and causes of exercise limitation in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH). At altitude, changes occur in the ventilatory pattern and a decrease in arterial oxygen pressure in healthy; these changes are increased in patients with cardiopulmonary disease. Our objective was to compare the response to exercise and gas exchange between patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) residing at the altitude of Bogotá (2640 m).

Physical Activity Volume, Intensity, and Mortality: Harmonized Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies.

Introduction: It is unclear whether moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is associated with a lower mortality risk, over and above its contribution to total physical activity volume.

Methods: 46,682 adults (mean age: 64 years) were included in a meta-analysis of nine prospective cohort studies. Each cohort generated tertiles of accelerometry-measured physical activity volume and volume-adjusted MVPA.

Novel Brassinosteroid Analogues with 3,6 Dioxo Function, 24-Nor-22()-Hydroxy Side Chain and -Substituted Benzoate Function at C-23-Synthesis and Evaluation of Plant Growth Effects.

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are an important group of polyhydroxylated naturally occurring steroidal phytohormones found in the plant kingdom in extremely low amounts. Due to the low concentrations in which these compounds are found, much effort has been dedicated to synthesizing these compounds or their structural analogs using natural and abundant sterols. In this work, we report the synthesis of new brassinosteroid analogs obtained from hyodeoxycholic acid, with a 3,6 dioxo function, 24-Nor-22()-hydroxy side chain and -substituted benzoate function at C-23.

Atopobium minutum: An uncommon culprit of severe bacteremia and empyema: A case report and literature review.

() has rarely been documented in human infections. However, this report describes a case involving a 52-year-old woman who developed empyema and lung collapse due to . She initially presented to the emergency department with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.