Strengthening women's empowerment and gender equality in fragile contexts towards peaceful and inclusive societies: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Across the globe, gender disparities still exist with regard to equitable access to resources, participation in decision-making processes, and gender and sexual-based violence. This is particularly true in fragile and conflict-affected settings, where women and girls are affected by both fragility and conflict in unique ways. While women have been acknowledged as key actors in peace processes and post-conflict reconstruction (e.

PROTOCOL: Strengthening women's empowerment and gender equality in fragile contexts towards peaceful and inclusive societies: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

This review builds on 3ie's (international initiative for impact evaluation) evidence gap map (EGM) of the impact evaluation and systematic review (SR) evidence base of interventions aiming to promote peaceful and inclusive societies in fragile contexts. The EGM identified a cluster of studies evaluating gender equality-focused behaviour change communication programmes and raised interest in investigating the evidence base for understanding the role of women more broadly as agents of change in developing peaceful and inclusive societies. Building on the cluster of evidence identified in the EGM, our review will increase generalisability of findings from single studies and focus on interventions across a broad range of geographical locations, settings and populations, types of implementations and outcomes.

Acute Spinal Cord Injury Is Associated With Prevalent Cardiometabolic Risk Factors.

Objectives: To (1) describe the prevalence of cardiometabolic disease (CMD) at spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation discharge; (2) compare this with controls without SCI; and (3) identify factors associated with increased CMD.

Design: Multicenter, prospective observational study.

Setting: Five National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research Model SCI Rehabilitation Centers.

Timing and pattern of readmission in individuals with spinal cord injury in the setting of a specialized medical home.

Background: The rate of readmission in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) is known to be high (28% to 45%) during the first year post-injury and post-rehabilitation. However, there are several critical gaps in our knowledge including the timing pattern of medical complications and the pattern of health complications associated with readmissions.

Objective: To identify the timing and pattern of complications associated with hospital readmissions in individuals with traumatic SCI and non-traumatic spinal cord disorders (SCI) post-discharge from an inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF).

In Situ Expansion, Differentiation, and Electromechanical Coupling of Human Cardiac Muscle in a 3D Bioprinted, Chambered Organoid.

Rationale: One goal of cardiac tissue engineering is the generation of a living, human pump in vitro that could replace animal models and eventually serve as an in vivo therapeutic. Models that replicate the geometrically complex structure of the heart, harboring chambers and large vessels with soft biomaterials, can be achieved using 3-dimensional bioprinting. Yet, inclusion of contiguous, living muscle to support pump function has not been achieved.

Non-opioid pharmacologic treatment of chronic spinal cord injury-related pain.

Spinal cord injury-related pain is often a severe debilitating condition that adversely affects the patient's physical health, psychological wellbeing and quality of life. Opioid medications have historically been prescribed to this population with great frequency. As opioid abuse disorder becomes an ever-worsening public health issue, more attention must be placed upon non-opioid options.

Decreasing re-hospitalizations and emergency department visits in persons with recent spinal cord injuries using a specialized medical home.

To determine whether a specialized medical home can reduce re-hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits as compared to reports in the literature for persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) in the first year post-discharge from acute inpatient rehabilitation. A three-year prospective cohort study. An academic free standing inpatient rehabilitation hospital (IRF), participating in the SCI Model Systems network, serving urban, rural and suburban settings in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States of America.

Persons With Chronic Spinal Cord Injuries in the Emergency Department: a Review of a Unique Population.

Background: Persons with spinal cord injuries (SCIs) are frequent utilizers of emergency medical services but are a poorly understood and medically complex population. As the treatment of acute spinal cord injuries improves, there is a growing population of patients suffering from the chronic neurological deficits and altered homeostasis resulting from those injuries.

Objectives: We sought to highlight the unique diagnostic challenges of treating persons with SCIs and to review ailments uncommon in the general population but often encountered in this population.

Myocardial Tissue Engineering With Cells Derived From Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and a Native-Like, High-Resolution, 3-Dimensionally Printed Scaffold.

Rationale: Conventional 3-dimensional (3D) printing techniques cannot produce structures of the size at which individual cells interact.

Objective: Here, we used multiphoton-excited 3D printing to generate a native-like extracellular matrix scaffold with submicron resolution and then seeded the scaffold with cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells that had been differentiated from human-induced pluripotent stem cells to generate a human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiac muscle patch (hCMP), which was subsequently evaluated in a murine model of myocardial infarction.

Methods And Results: The scaffold was seeded with ≈50 000 human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells (in a 2:1:1 ratio) to generate the hCMP, which began generating calcium transients and beating synchronously within 1 day of seeding; the speeds of contraction and relaxation and the peak amplitudes of the calcium transients increased significantly over the next 7 days.

Gorham's Disease in a Patient with Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Gorham's disease is a rare entity that has been sparsely covered in the medical literature, and its pathophysiology remains poorly understood. We present the case of a 22-year-old man who sustained a traumatic T6 American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale B paraplegic injury complicated by a complaint of shoulder pain during his acute rehabilitation stay. He was found to have osteolysis of the distal right clavicle (Gorham's disease).

Advanced imaging approaches for regenerative medicine: Emerging technologies for monitoring stem cell fate in vitro and in vivo.

The future of regenerative medicine relies on our ability to control stem cell fate in order to produce functional tissues. Stem cells are the preferred cell source for tissue engineering endeavors and regenerative medicine therapies due to their high potency and capacity for expansion. However, their potency also makes them very difficult to control, as they are in a constant state of flux.

MRSA in a large German University Hospital: Male gender is a significant risk factor for MRSA acquisition.

Background: The continually rising number of hospital acquired infections and particularly MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) colonization poses a major challenge from both clinical and epidemiological perspectives. The assessment of risk factors is vital in determining the best prevention, diagnosis and treatment strategies.

Materials And Methods: We analyzed 798 cases of MRSA in a large German University Hospital over a 7-year period.

Assessment of the radiographic visibility of the periodontal ligament in the lower third molars for the purpose of forensic age estimation in living individuals.

The main criterion for dental age estimation in living individuals is the mineralisation of third molars. However, the mineralisation of third molars can be completed before the forensically relevant age of 18 years has been attained. In a material of 1,198 orthopantomograms from 629 females and 569 males aged between 15 and 40 years, the radiographic visibility of the periodontal membrane of fully mineralised third molars was assessed according to stages 0, 1, 2 and 3.

Evaluation of the radiographic visibility of the root pulp in the lower third molars for the purpose of forensic age estimation in living individuals.

The question of whether an individual has reached the age of 18 is of crucial importance in forensic age estimation practice. In some countries, the age threshold of 21 years is relevant as well. A completed mineralization of third molars is not a sufficient criterion for a diagnosis of a minimum age of 18 years with the required probability.

Stability of alemtuzumab in infusion-bags.

To determine the physical and chemical stability of alemtuzumab a high-performance-liquid-chromatography-method was developed. The antibody was stored over 14 days at 6 degrees C, at room temperature and on a vibrating plate and tested by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) using a phosphate buffer (0.1 M, pH 7) with 0.

Aeromonas tecta sp. nov., isolated from clinical and environmental sources.

Five Aeromonas strains, isolated from both clinical and environmental sources and characterized by a polyphasic approach, including phylogenetic analysis derived from gyrB, rpoD, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing, as well as DNA-DNA hybridization, extensive biochemical and antibiotic susceptibility tests, were recognized as members of an unknown, or undescribed, Aeromonas species. These "Aeromonas eucrenophila-like" strains were closely related to the species A. eucrenophila and Aeromonas encheleia, but they were negative for indole and acid from glycerol tests.

Genetic relationships of Aeromonas strains inferred from 16S rRNA, gyrB and rpoB gene sequences.

Genetic relationships among bacterial strains belonging to the genus Aeromonas were inferred from 16S rRNA, gyrB and rpoB gene sequences. Twenty-eight type or collection strains of the recognized species or subspecies and 33 Aeromonas strains isolated from human and animal specimens as well as from environmental samples were included in the study. As reported previously, the 16S rRNA gene sequence is highly conserved within the genus Aeromonas, having only limited resolution for this very tight group of species.

Effusion of the hips in a patient with tetraplegia.

Background: Patients with spinal cord injury are at risk for knee effusion, most likely as a result of repetitive microtrauma. Patients with paralysis are susceptible to effusions of the hip similar to those seen in documented cases regarding the knee. The etiology is likely similar and is related to repetitive microtrauma, such as that experienced when aggressive range of motion exercises are applied.

Retroperitoneal false aneurysm presenting as anterior thigh pain and weakness: a case report.

This case highlights the importance of considering retroperitoneal pathology in the differential diagnosis of anterior thigh pain and weakness. We describe a woman in her mid seventies with a history of a left total hip arthroplasty and lumbar decompression who presented with left anterior thigh pain and left lower-extremity weakness. A computed tomography scan of the retroperitoneum revealed a mass along the left iliopsoas muscle.

Expression of hemin receptor molecule ChuA is influenced by RfaH in uropathogenic Escherichia coli strain 536.

The outer membrane protein ChuA responsible for hemin utilization has been recently identified in several pathogenic Escherichia coli strains. We report that the regulatory protein RfaH influences ChuA expression in the uropathogenic E. coli strain 536.

Transvaginal sonographic evaluation of multiple peripherally distributed echogenic foci of the ovary: prevalence and histologic correlation.

Objective: Our aim was to determine the prevalence, histopathologic correlation, and clinical significance of multiple peripherally distributed echogenic foci seen within ovaries on transvaginal sonography.

Subjects And Methods: Transvaginal sonograms of 264 ovaries in 135 patients were prospectively analyzed for the presence of peripheral echogenic foci that were then characterized as linear, punctate, or globular. Previous examinations, when available, were reviewed for this sonographic feature, and the time interval between studies was recorded as a measure of stability.

Effect of long-term angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition on vascular function in patients with chronic congestive heart failure.

The present study demonstrates that peripheral vasodilatory capacity is impaired in patients with chronic congestive heart failure not treated with aspirin, but preserved in patients taking aspirin. This decreased peripheral vasodilatory capacity can be restored by chronic angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition, indicating that locally acting cyclooxygenase-dependent factors contribute to peripheral vasoconstriction in chronic congestive heart failure.

Transvaginal sonographic evaluation of endometrial polyps.

The purpose of this study was to correlate the sonographic and histologic findings of focal lesions of the endometrium as depicted by transvaginal sonography. Sixteen focal endometrial masses were encountered during an 8 month period. The transvaginal sonographic appearance was correlated with findings at surgery or hysteroscopy.

Transvaginal sonographic appearance of endometriomata: spectrum of findings.

The spectrum of transvaginal sonographic findings was evaluated in 37 surgically proved endometriomas. Sonographic features assessed included lesion size, acoustic enhancement, wall thickness, wall contour, presence of a fluid-fluid level, and presence of internal echoes. A very characteristic finding seen in 31 (82%) cases is the presence of a homogeneous hypoechoic "carpet" of low-level echoes.