Scaling-up and scaling-out the Systems Analysis and Improvement Approach to optimize the hypertension diagnosis and care cascade for HIV infected individuals (SCALE SAIA-HTN): a stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial.

Background: Undiagnosed and untreated hypertension is a main driver of cardiovascular disease and disproportionately affects persons living with HIV (PLHIV) in low- and middle-income countries. Across sub-Saharan Africa, guideline application to screen and manage hypertension among PLHIV is inconsistent due to poor service readiness, low health worker motivation, and limited integration of hypertension screening and management within HIV care services. In Mozambique, where the adult HIV prevalence is over 13%, an estimated 39% of adults have hypertension.

Medical Trainees' Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Electronic Cigarettes and Hookah: A Multinational Survey Study.

Background: The rising prevalence of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) and hookah use among youth raises questions about medical trainees' views of these products. We aimed to investigate medical trainees' knowledge and attitudes toward e-cigarette and hookah use.

Methods: We used data from a large cross-sectional survey of medical trainees in Brazil, the United States, and India.

Research opportunities for the primary prevention and management of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease: a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute workshop report.

Primary prevention of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) encompasses the timely diagnosis and adequate treatment of the superficial group A (GAS) infections pharyngitis and impetigo. GAS is the only known inciting agent in the pathophysiology of the disease. However, sufficient evidence indicates that the uptake and delivery of primary prevention approaches in RHD-endemic regions are significantly suboptimal.

Breaking bad news in neurology: assessing training, perceptions, and preparedness among residency programs in Brazil.

Objective: • Neurology trainees and program directors recognized a lack of structured breaking bad news training. • Program directors reported that many factors hinder the implementation of breaking bad news education. • Trainees felt capable of breaking bad news, but most did not have lectures, simulations, nor feedback.

Pulmonary Metastasectomy in Pediatric Patients: A Comparison of Open and Thoracoscopic Approaches.

Although the use of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for resection of lung metastases has increased, surgeons still advocate for open resection as it permits palpation of lesions that may be missed on imaging. This study aimed to compare the utilization of open thoracotomy versus VATS over time and determine if the use of VATS changes perioperative outcomes. Using the Kids' Inpatient Database (2006, 2009, 2012, 2016), we identified children (age ≤20) with a diagnosis of secondary lung cancer with either lobectomy or sublobar resection coded during the same admission.

Outcomes of acute respiratory distress syndrome in COVID-19 patients compared to the general population: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) often leads to mortality. Outcomes of patients with COVID-19-related ARDS compared to ARDS unrelated to COVID-19 is not well characterized.

Areas Covered: We performed a systematic review of PubMed, Scopus, and MedRxiv 11/1/2019 to 3/1/2021, including studies comparing outcomes in COVID-19-related ARDS (COVID-19 group) and ARDS unrelated to COVID-19 (ARDS group).

Endothelin-1 Mediates Brain Microvascular Dysfunction Leading to Long-Term Cognitive Impairment in a Model of Experimental Cerebral Malaria.

Plasmodium falciparum infection causes a wide spectrum of diseases, including cerebral malaria, a potentially life-threatening encephalopathy. Vasculopathy is thought to contribute to cerebral malaria pathogenesis. The vasoactive compound endothelin-1, a key participant in many inflammatory processes, likely mediates vascular and cognitive dysfunctions in cerebral malaria.

Altered regulation of Akt signaling with murine cerebral malaria, effects on long-term neuro-cognitive function, restoration with lithium treatment.

Neurological and cognitive impairment persist in more than 20% of cerebral malaria (CM) patients long after successful anti-parasitic treatment. We recently reported that long term memory and motor coordination deficits are also present in our experimental cerebral malaria model (ECM). We also documented, in a murine model, a lack of obvious pathology or inflammation after parasite elimination, suggesting that the long-term negative neurological outcomes result from potentially reversible biochemical and physiological changes in brains of ECM mice, subsequent to acute ischemic and inflammatory processes.

The novel ETA receptor antagonist HJP-272 prevents cerebral microvascular hemorrhage in cerebral malaria and synergistically improves survival in combination with an artemisinin derivative.

Aim: To investigate the association between vasculopathy and survival during experimental cerebral malaria (ECM), and to determine whether targeting the endothelin-1 (ET-1) pathway alone or in combination with the anti-malaria drug artemether (a semi-synthetic derivative of artemisinin) will improve microvascular hemorrhage and survival.

Main Methods: C57BL/6 mice infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA (PbA) were randomly assigned to four groups: no treatment, artemether treated, ET(A) receptor antagonist (HJP-272) treated, or HJP-272 and artemether treated. The uninfected control mice were treated with HJP-272 and artemether.

Treatment with bone marrow mononuclear cells induces functional recovery and decreases neurodegeneration after sensorimotor cortical ischemia in rats.

We evaluated the beneficial effect of treatment with bone marrow mononuclear cells(BMMC) in a rat model of focal ischemia induced by thermocoagulation of the blood vessels in the left sensorimotor cortex. BMMC were obtained from donor rats and injected into the femoral vein one day after ischemia. BMMC-treated animals received approx.