Visual Improvement With Wavefront-Guided Scleral Lenses for Irregular Corneal Astigmatism.

Purpose: To report interim results of a single center, randomized, double-blind, crossover-controlled clinical trial comparing wavefront-guided (wfg) scleral lenses (SLs) to traditional scleral lenses (tSLs) for patients with a history of irregular corneal astigmatism (ICA).

Methods: Thirty-one ICA eyes of 18 participants were reviewed, 23 with keratoconus, six postcorneal refractive ectasia, and two postpenetrating keratoplasty. Patients with corneal or lens opacities were not excluded from participating.

Precision off-the-shelf natural killer cell therapies for oncology with logic-gated gene circuits.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive disease with a poor prognosis (5-year survival rate of 30.5% in the United States). Designing cell therapies to target AML is challenging because no single tumor-associated antigen (TAA) is highly expressed on all cancer subpopulations.

Defining neutralization and allostery by antibodies against COVID-19 variants.

The changing landscape of SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein is linked to the emergence of variants, immune-escape and reduced efficacy of the existing repertoire of anti-viral antibodies. The functional activity of neutralizing antibodies is linked to their quaternary changes occurring as a result of antibody-Spike trimer interactions. Here, we reveal the conformational dynamics and allosteric perturbations linked to binding of novel human antibodies and the viral Spike protein.

Comparative Effectiveness and Safety Between Apixaban, Dabigatran, Edoxaban, and Rivaroxaban Among Patients With Atrial Fibrillation : A Multinational Population-Based Cohort Study.

Background: Current guidelines recommend using direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) over warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), but head-to-head trial data do not exist to guide the choice of DOAC.

Objective: To do a large-scale comparison between all DOACs (apixaban, dabigatran, edoxaban, and rivaroxaban) in routine clinical practice.

Design: Multinational population-based cohort study.

and Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Markers in Patients With Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Background And Objective: We investigated the associations between the genotype, intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and neuroimaging markers of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA).

Methods: We included patients from a prospective, multicenter UK observational cohort study of patients with ICH and representative UK population controls. First, we assessed the association of the genotype with ICH (compared with controls without ICH).

Impact of COVID-19 on the HIV care continuum in Asia: Insights from people living with HIV, key populations, and HIV healthcare providers.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has threatened continued access to public health services worldwide, including HIV prevention and care. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on HIV service access and delivery in the Asia region.

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional, online study, conducted between October-November 2020, assessed the impact of COVID-19 on HIV prevention and care among people living with HIV (PLHIV), key populations (KPs), and healthcare providers (HCPs).

Prognosis and treatment of atrial fibrillation in Asian cities: 1-year review of the Asia-Pacific Heart Rhythm Society Atrial Fibrillation Registry.

Aims: The aim of this study is to describe the implementation of the current guidance for stroke prevention and treatment option in atrial fibrillation (AF) and to evaluate mortality and morbidity in relation to therapeutic decisions, including persistence with treatment at 1 year in Asia-Pacific regions.

Methods And Results: We recruited 4664 patients consecutive in- and outpatients with AF who presented to cardiologists in five countries under the Asia-Pacific Heart Rhythm Society (APHRS) in whom 1-year follow-up was completed for 4003 (65.5% male; mean age 68.

Associations of Childcare Arrangements with Adiposity Measures in a Multi-Ethnic Asian Cohort: The GUSTO Study.

Childcare arrangements shape behavioural patterns that influence the risk of childhood obesity. However, little is known of its influence on childhood obesity in Singapore. We aim to examine the associations between childcare arrangements at the age of 5 years and childhood adiposity at age 6 years.

Atrial Fibrillation in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.

There is a bidirectional relationship between atrial fibrillation (AF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), with multiple shared risk factors. This article discusses an integrated care approach toward the management of patients with AF, including those with CKD. There is an increasing risk of both ischemic stroke and bleeding with progressive deterioration of renal function, complicating the decision of optimal stroke prevention strategies among patients with AF and CKD.

Chronic Kidney Disease and Cerebrovascular Disease: Consensus and Guidance From a KDIGO Controversies Conference.

The global health burden of chronic kidney disease is rapidly rising, and chronic kidney disease is an important risk factor for cerebrovascular disease. Proposed underlying mechanisms for this relationship include shared traditional risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes, uremia-related nontraditional risk factors, such as oxidative stress and abnormal calcium-phosphorus metabolism, and dialysis-specific factors such as cerebral hypoperfusion and changes in cardiac structure. Chronic kidney disease frequently complicates routine stroke risk prediction, diagnosis, management, and prevention.

Recognition memory and divergent cognitive profiles in prodromal genetic frontotemporal dementia.

Although executive dysfunction is the characteristic cognitive marker of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), episodic memory deficits are relatively common, and may be present even during the prodromal disease phase. In a cohort of mutation carriers with mild behavioral and/or cognitive symptoms consistent with prodromal bvFTD, we aimed to investigate patterns of performance on an abbreviated list learning task, with a particular focus on recognition memory. We further aimed to characterize the cognitive prodromes associated with the three major genetic causes of frontotemporal dementia, as emerging evidence suggests there may be subtle differences in cognitive profiles among carriers of different genetic mutations.

Association Between Treatment With Apixaban, Dabigatran, Rivaroxaban, or Warfarin and Risk for Osteoporotic Fractures Among Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

Background: It is unclear whether anticoagulant type is associated with the risk for osteoporotic fracture, a deleterious complication of anticoagulants among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).

Objective: To compare the risk for osteoporotic fracture between anticoagulants.

Design: Population-based cohort study.

Myeloid-Specific Deletion of Epsins 1 and 2 Reduces Atherosclerosis by Preventing LRP-1 Downregulation.

Rationale: Atherosclerosis is, in part, caused by immune and inflammatory cell infiltration into the vascular wall, leading to enhanced inflammation and lipid accumulation in the aortic endothelium. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying this disease is critical for the development of new therapies. Our recent studies demonstrate that epsins, a family of ubiquitin-binding endocytic adaptors, are critical regulators of atherogenicity.

Maternal hyperglycemia in singleton pregnancies conceived by IVF may be modified by first-trimester BMI.

Study Question: Does IVF independently increase the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and is this increase in risk modified by maternal body mass index?

Summary Answer: IVF appears to be an independent risk factor for GDM and elevated blood glucose levels in overweight women (BMI > 25 kg/m2).

What Is Known Already: IVF has been associated with increased risk of GDM, but most previous studies did not adequately assess confounding or effect modification by other risk factors.

Study Design, Size, Duration: Cross-sectional study using data from 1089 women with singleton pregnancies who participated in a Singaporean birth cohort study (GUSTO) and received a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) at 26-28 weeks gestation.

Rapid and accurate left ventricular surface generation from three-dimensional echocardiography by a catalog based method. Rapid LV surface generation by three-dimensional echo.

Background: Quantitative analysis from three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography requires accurate reconstruction of left ventricular (LV) surfaces. This currently requires time-consuming manual image tracing. We describe and validate an alternative rapid method of generating LV surfaces.

Antigen presenting capacity of brain microvasculature in altered peptide ligand modulation of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis.

Co-immunization with an altered peptide ligand (LR) partially protects SJL mice from proteolipid protein peptide 139-151-induced experimental allergic encephalomyelitis [Kuchroo, V.K., Greer, J.