Effect of Masking Secondary to the COVID-19 Pandemic on Functional Capacity Improvement in Cardiac Rehabilitation.

Purpose: Given the difficulty to perform exercise training wearing a mask, we examined differences in functional capacity improvement between masking during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and non-masking prior to the pandemic for patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation (CR).

Methods: Records of 660 patients who underwent and completed ≥ 18 sessions of CR in 2018 (n = 318, non-masking) and in 2022 (n = 342, masking) at an academic health system were analyzed. The primary outcome was post-CR change in functional capacity in metabolic equivalents (MET) measured by exercise stress test.

Management of patients at risk of adrenal crisis in the dental setting: a review of current practice in UK dental teaching hospitals.

Introduction Patients with impaired corticosteroid response due to Addison's disease or systemic glucocorticoid use are at risk of adrenal crisis when undergoing dental treatment. There is a lack of conclusive evidence to support dental teams in identifying patients at risk and their management to prevent an adrenal crisis.Aim To review the current practice in UK dental teaching hospitals regarding the management of patients at risk of adrenal crisis in the dental setting.

The National Dose Registry-Canadian occupational exposure to ionising radiation, 1998-2018.

The National Dose Registry (NDR) is owned and operated independently by Health Canada. This paper provides an overview of how the registry operates within the Canadian regulatory structure, followed by an analysis of annual effective dose trends in nine job classes with relatively higher mean annual effective doses, i.e.

Cardiac rehabilitation in women; comparison of enrollment, adherence and outcomes between heart failure and coronary artery disease.

Background: There is paucity of data on cardiac rehabilitation (CR) enrollment and outcomes in women with heart failure (HF).

Methods: In this retrospective analysis, we compared enrollment, adherence and outcomes between women with HF versus coronary artery disease (CAD)-related indications referred to a university-affiliated CR program from June 2014-July 2018. A multivariate regression analysis was performed to adjust for imbalanced variables at baseline and baseline value of each outcome to compare change in outcomes between HF and CAD groups RESULTS: A total of 538 women (HF=63 vs CAD=475) were included in the study.

Affirmative Care Across Cultures: Broadening Application.

Affirmative practice is an approach to health and behavioral health care that validates and supports the identities stated or expressed by those served. Affirmative care requires the practitioner to actively honor and celebrate identity while at the same time validating the oppression felt by individuals seeking services. Validation and empathy fundamentally result from increased understanding of individuals' history, cultural context, and lived experiences.

Religious Belief at the Level of the Brain: Neural Correlates and Influence of Culture.

This article summarizes key functional magnetic resonance imaging studies that correlate the neural substrate of religious belief and the influence of culture. I searched and updated PubMed (http://www.ncbi.

Is there a role for the adverse outcome pathway framework to support radiation protection?

Purpose: In 2012, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) formally launched the Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) Programme. The AOP framework has the potential for predictive utility in identifying early biological endpoints linked to adverse effects. It uses the weight of correlative evidence to identify a minimal set of measurable key events that link molecular initiating events to an adverse outcome.

Influence of Ethnicity on Parental Preference for Pediatric Dental Behavioral Management Techniques.

The purpose of this study was to determine how ethnicity influences parental acceptability of behavior management techniques (BMTs) used during dental treatment of children. This is the first known study to compare ethnic differences in acceptance levels of the BMTs. Parental acceptance of 10 BMTs (tell-show-do, voice control, non-verbal communication, positive reinforcement, distraction, parental presence/absence, nitrous oxide, protective stabilization, sedation, and general anesthesia) was rated using a visual analogue scale (VAS) after watching vignettes of each technique.

Comparison of phase 2 cardiac rehabilitation outcomes between patients after transcatheter versus surgical aortic valve replacement.

Background Referral rates and outcomes of cardiac rehabilitation have not been evaluated in patients with transcatheter aortic valve replacement or compared with surgical aortic valve replacement. Method A retrospective cohort study was conducted in 488 patients who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement ( n = 199) and surgical aortic valve replacement ( n = 289) from a university-based statewide transcatheter aortic valve replacement/surgical aortic valve replacement program during 2015-2017. Cardiac rehabilitation consisted of supervised exercise, diet education, and stress and depression management.

Safety and Outcomes of Cardiac Rehabilitation for Patients with Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and outcomes of aerobic and resistance training in patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation after spontaneous coronary artery dissection.

Methods: Eleven patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection at 2 academic centres were studied retrospectively during cardiac rehabilitation from July 2013 to September 2017. Patients underwent maximal effort exercise testing at enrollment and discharge per institutional protocol.

'The principles of a future pharmacology': Johann Christian Reil (1759-1813) and his role in the development of clinical pharmacology.

Aim: Johann Christian Reil was an eighteenth-century German physician and clinical academic with wide interests. These included building the scientific foundations of modern medical practice. In 1799, he published a work specifically calling for a scientific approach to pharmacology in medical practice.

Pharmacological characterization of AZD5069, a slowly reversible CXC chemokine receptor 2 antagonist.

In normal physiologic responses to injury and infection, inflammatory cells enter tissue and sites of inflammation through a chemotactic process regulated by several families of proteins, including inflammatory chemokines, a family of small inducible cytokines. In neutrophils, chemokines chemokine (CXC motif) ligand 1 (CXCL1) and CXCL8 are potent chemoattractants and activate G protein-coupled receptors CXC chemokine receptor 1 (CXCR1) and CXCR2. Several small-molecule antagonists of CXCR2 have been developed to inhibit the inflammatory responses mediated by this receptor.

Discovery and evaluation of a novel monocyclic series of CXCR2 antagonists.

Antagonism of the chemokine receptor CXCR2 has been proposed as a strategy for the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. Earlier series of bicyclic CXCR2 antagonists discovered at AstraZeneca were shown to have low solubility and poor oral bioavailability. In this Letter we describe the design, synthesis and characterisation of a new series of monocyclic CXCR2 antagonists with improved solubility and good pharmacokinetic profiles.

Ethics in research: practice and respect.

Nursing practice is informed by research, and all nurses, midwives and care staff should be research aware even if they do not consider themselves research active. The principles of research ethics, based on respect for individuals, should not be confined to research. All nurses must be aware of these principles, and practise in accordance with them.

Are routinely collected NHS administrative records suitable for endpoint identification in clinical trials? Evidence from the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study.

Background: Routinely collected electronic patient records are already widely used in epidemiological research. In this work we investigated the potential for using them to identify endpoints in clinical trials.

Methods: The events recorded in the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study (WOSCOPS), a large clinical trial of pravastatin in middle-aged hypercholesterolaemic men in the 1990s, were compared with those in the record-linked deaths and hospitalisations records routinely collected in Scotland.

Implementing a centralised pharmacovigilance service in a non-commercial setting in the United Kingdom.

The implementation of a pharmacovigilance service compliant with the legal and regulatory responsibilities of clinical trial sponsors presents particular challenges for sponsors in a non-commercial setting.In this paper we examine these challenges in detail. We identify and discuss the key steps in the development of a pharmacovigilance service within a public health service and university setting in the United Kingdom.

The COPD Biomarker Qualification Consortium (CBQC).

Knowledge about the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has advanced dramatically over the last 30 years. Unfortunately, this has had little impact in terms of new treatments. Over the same time frame, only one new class of medication for COPD has been introduced.

When death is imminent - documenting end-of-life decisions.

Background: There has been widespread promotion of advance care planning in recent years, which is consistent with an ageing population and a greater awareness of patient self determination.

Methods: A review of medical records relating to hospital patient deaths and a separate review of emergency department admissions of patients aged 75 years or more in the same hospital.

Results: In the patient deaths sample, 77% of patients (median age 79 years), had their first documented end-of-life discussion 3 days before death.

Unraveling the Enigma of Bangungut: Is Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS) in the Philippines a Disease Allelic to the Brugada Syndrome?

BACKGROUND: Sudden unexplained nocturnal death syndrome (SUNDS) has been reported worldwide. SUNDS is endemic in Southeast Asia and is colloquially known as Bangungut in the Philippines, Lai Tai in Thailand, and Pokkuri in Japan. Although SUNDS in Thailand and Japan have been determined to be phenotypically, genetically and functionally identical to the Brugada syndrome, the relationship between Bangungut/SUNDS in the Philippines and the Brugada syndrome has not been clarified.