The Impact of Bariatric Surgery on the Muscle Mass in Patients with Obesity: 2-Year Follow-up.

Purpose: Bariatric surgery (BS) induces a significant and sustained weight loss in patients with severe obesity (SO). Nevertheless, apart from significantly reducing body fat, fat-free mass (FFM) might also be lost. At present, there is little and controversial data in the literature regarding the impact of BS on FFM.

Primary care provider payment models and adherence to anticoagulation in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Oral anticoagulation (OAC) is recommended for the prevention of stroke in atrial fibrillation (AF). However, only 50%-60% of AF patients in the United States are treated with OAC, and 60% of them adhere to OAC therapy over time. To (1) compare adherent use of OAC between AF patients who received primary care from practices involved in shared-savings models and patients who received care from practices not involved in shared savings and (2) examine the trend of adherence to OAC over time.

Racial and Urban-Rural Difference in the Frequency of Ischemic Stroke as Initial Manifestation of Atrial Fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) may remain undiagnosed until the development of complications. We aimed to examine the epidemiology and racial/ethnic and rural/urban differences in the frequency of newly diagnosed AF manifesting as ischemic stroke in a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries. We used a 5% random sample of Medicare claims to identify patients newly diagnosed with AF in 2016.

Granulomatosis with polyangiitis mistaken as a temporomandibular joint disorder: A case report.

Introduction: Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), is a rare systemic disease that if left untreated, it may lead to death within 6-12 months. This case report describes a 15-year-old female with a 14-month history of epiphora, nasal breathing difficulties, headaches, and jaw pain. The patient reported having various medical procedures attempted to address her symptoms.

Dietary palmitic acid promotes a prometastatic memory via Schwann cells.

Fatty acid uptake and altered metabolism constitute hallmarks of metastasis, yet evidence of the underlying biology, as well as whether all dietary fatty acids are prometastatic, is lacking. Here we show that dietary palmitic acid (PA), but not oleic acid or linoleic acid, promotes metastasis in oral carcinomas and melanoma in mice. Tumours from mice that were fed a short-term palm-oil-rich diet (PA), or tumour cells that were briefly exposed to PA in vitro, remained highly metastatic even after being serially transplanted (without further exposure to high levels of PA).

Design and synthesis of naphthylchalcones as novel anti-leukaemia agents.

A series of new hydroxylated chalcone derivatives with different substitution patterns on a phenyl ring A and B, were prepared by Claisen-Schmidt condensation in an aqueous alkaline base. The antiproliferative activity of the studied compounds was evaluated against the human leukaemia cell line U-937. The structure-activity relationship of these naphthylchalcones was investigated by the introduction of one methoxy or two methyl groups on the A ring, the introduction of a methoxy group on the naphthyl ring or by varying the position of the methoxy group on the A ring.

Temporal air quality (NO, O, and PM) changes in urban and rural stations in Catalonia during COVID-19 lockdown: an association with human mobility and satellite data.

In this study, changes in air quality by NO, O, and PM in Barcelona metropolitan area and other parts of Catalonia during the COVID-19 lockdown with respect to pre-lockdown and to previous years (2018 and 2019) were evaluated. Selected air monitoring stations included 3 urban (Gràcia, Vall d'Hebron, and Granollers), 1 control site (Fabra Observatory), 1 semi-urban (Manlleu), and 3 rural (Begur, Bellver de Cerdanya, and Juneda). NO lockdown levels showed a diminution, which in relative terms was maximum in two rural stations (Bellver de Cerdanya, - 63% and Begur, - 61%), presumably due to lower emissions from the ceasing hotel and ski resort activities during eastern holidays.

Cellulose biosynthesis using simple sugars available in residual cacao mucilage exudate.

Worldwide only 8% of the biomass from harvested cacao fruits is used, as cacao beans, in chocolate-based products. Cacao mucilage exudate (CME), a nutrient-rich fluid, is usually lost during cacao beans fermentation. CME's composition and availability suggest a potential carbon source for cellulose production.

Non-persistence to Oral Anticoagulation Treatment in Patients with Non-valvular Atrial Fibrillation in the USA.

Background: Studies have shown that patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) who discontinue oral anticoagulants (OACs) are at higher risk of complications such as stroke.

Objective: This analysis compared the risk of non-persistence with OACs among patients with NVAF.

Methods: Adult patients with NVAF who initiated apixaban, dabigatran, rivaroxaban, or warfarin were identified using 01JAN2013-30JUN2019 data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and four US commercial claims databases.

Homozygous R136S mutation in PRNP gene causes inherited early onset prion disease.

Background: More than 40 pathogenic heterozygous PRNP mutations causing inherited prion diseases have been identified to date. Recessive inherited prion disease has not been described to date.

Methods: We describe the clinical and neuropathological data of inherited early-onset prion disease caused by the rare PRNP homozygous mutation R136S.

Linking cell-surface GRP78 to cancer: From basic research to clinical value of GRP78 antibodies.

Glucose-related protein 78 (GRP78) is a chaperone protein localized primarily in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) lumen, where it helps in proper protein folding by targeting misfolded proteins and facilitating protein assembly. In stressed cells, GRP78 is translocated to the cell surface (csGRP78) where it binds to various ligands and triggers different intracellular pathways. Thus, csGRP78 expression is associated with cancer, involved in the maintenance and progression of the disease.

Pneumococcal Carriage Among Indigenous Kichwa Children From the Ecuadorian Andes After the 10-Valent Pneumococcal Vaccine Introduction.

Background: We assessed nasopharyngeal pneumococcal carriage in Andean Kichwa children, the largest Amerindian indigenous population in the Ecuadorian Andes. All children in our study had been vaccinated with the 10-valent pneumococcal vaccine (PCV10).

Methods: Nasopharyngeal swabs from 63 families, 100 children <10 years old including 38 children under 5 years and 63 adult caregivers, from 5 different communities, were cultivated for Streptococcus pneumoniae and isolates were serotyped and antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed.

Emerging treatments for lupus nephritis: health equity considerations in clinical research and coverage.

No funding was received for the writing of this commentary. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Community Health Workers Connecting Communities During COVID-19: A Case Study From Chicago.

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has adversely impacted vulnerable communities. Community health workers (CHWs) are an evidence-based solution for helping communities navigate challenges and barriers. This case study describes the work of CHWs in a large Hispanic Chicago neighborhood who experienced a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases.

The morphometric acclimation to depth explains the long-term resilience of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa in a shallow tidal lagoon.

Cadiz Bay is a shallow mesotidal lagoon with extensive populations of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa at intertidal and shallow subtidal elevations. This work aims to understand the mechanisms behind the resilience of this species to gradual sea level rise by studying its acclimation capacity to depth along the shallow littoral, and therefore, to gradual variations in the light environment. To address this objective, these populations have been monitored seasonally over a 10 year period, representing the longest seasonal database available in the literature for this species.

[Effect of treatment with benzodiazepines on the hospital prognosis of Coronavirus disease 2019].

Introduction: The consequences of the use of of benzodiazepines in coronavirus disease 2019 have not yet been studied. We compared the hospital prognosis of patients hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019 in benzodiazepine users and non-users.

Patients And Methods: Observational study with a retrospective cohort design.

Two-photon excitation fluorescent spectral and decay properties of retrograde neuronal tracer Fluoro-Gold.

Fluoro-Gold is a fluorescent neuronal tracer suitable for targeted deep imaging of the nervous system. Widefield fluorescence microscopy enables visualization of Fluoro-Gold, but lacks depth discrimination. Though scanning laser confocal microscopy yields volumetric data, imaging depth is limited, and optimal single-photon excitation of Fluoro-Gold requires an unconventional ultraviolet excitation line.

A Statewide Evaluation of the Breastfeeding Resource Nurse Model.

Objective: To evaluate a statewide initiative to increase the provisioning of human milk in NICUs.

Design: A survey of nurses before participation in an educational session, immediately after education, and again 9 months later.

Setting: Nurses from 22 hospitals throughout Florida.

General Spanish population normative data analysis for the EORTC QLQ-C30 by sex, age, and health condition.

Purpose: General population normative data for the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 questionnaire facilitates interpretation of data assessed from cancer patients. This study aims to present normative data of the general Spanish population.

Methods/patients: Data were obtained from a prior larger study collecting EORTC QLQ-C30 norm data across 15 countries.

Curbing curbstoning: Distributional methods to detect survey data fabrication by third-parties.

Curbstoning, the willful fabrication of survey responses by outside data collectors, threatens the integrity of the inferences drawn from data. Researchers who outsource data collection to survey collection panels, field interviewers, or research assistants should validate whether each collection agent actually collected the data. Our review of the survey auditing literature demonstrates a consistent presence of curbstoning, even at professional levels.

Combination of white matter hyperintensities and Aβ burden is related to cognitive composites domain scores in subjective cognitive decline: the FACEHBI cohort.

Background: To explore whether the combination of white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) and amyloid-beta (Aβ) deposition is associated with worse cognitive performance on cognitive composites (CCs) domain scores in individuals with subjective cognitive decline (SCD).

Methods: Two hundred participants from the FACEHBI cohort underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), F-florbetaben positron emission tomography (FBB-PET), and neuropsychological assessment. WMHs were addressed through the Fazekas scale, the Age-Related White Matter Changes (ARWMC) scale, and the FreeSurfer pipeline.

Shrinkage by the third month predicts long-term response of macroprolactinoma after cabergoline.

Objective: Transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) is mainly indicated in prolactinomas when dopamine agonist treatment fails. However, there is no established early predictor of cabergoline (CBG) response. The present study was aimed to identify predictors of CBG resistance in order to select patients who may benefit from early TSS.