Bioprosthetic heart valve structural degeneration associated with metabolic syndrome: Mitigation with polyoxazoline modification.

Bioprosthetic heart valves (BHV), made from glutaraldehyde-fixed xenografts, are widely used for surgical and transcatheter valve interventions but suffer from limited durability due to structural valve degeneration (SVD). We focused on metabolic syndrome (MetS), a risk factor for SVD and a highly prevalent phenotype in patients affected by valvular heart disease with a well-recognized cluster of comorbidities. Multicenter patient data (N = 251) revealed that patients with MetS were at significantly higher risk of accelerated SVD and required BHV replacement sooner.

Educational inequality in consumption of or minimally processed foods and ultra-processed foods: The intersection between sex and race/skin color in Brazil.

Background: It remains uncertain how the intersection between educational, gender, and race/skin color inequalities influences food consumption in Brazil. In this study, we examined the educational inequality in the consumption of /minimally processed and ultra-processed foods by Brazilians with an intersectional perspective between sex and race/color.

Methods: We used cross-sectional data from the Telephone Surveillance System (VIGITEL 2019), comprising 52,443 participants ≥ 18 years.

Evolutionary divergence in the conformational landscapes of tyrosine vs serine/threonine kinases.

Inactive conformations of protein kinase catalytic domains where the DFG motif has a "DFG-out" orientation and the activation loop is folded present a druggable binding pocket that is targeted by FDA-approved 'type-II inhibitors' in the treatment of cancers. Tyrosine kinases (TKs) typically show strong binding affinity with a wide spectrum of type-II inhibitors while serine/threonine kinases (STKs) usually bind more weakly which we suggest here is due to differences in the folded to extended conformational equilibrium of the activation loop between TKs vs. STKs.

Immunology of pregnancy and reproductive health in autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Update from the 11 International Conference on Reproduction, Pregnancy and Rheumatic Diseases.

Autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARD) can affect women and men during fertile age, therefore reproductive health is a priority issue in rheumatology. Many topics need to be considered during preconception counselling: fertility, the impact of disease-related factors on pregnancy outcomes, the influence of pregnancy on disease activity, the compatibility of medications with pregnancy and breastfeeding. Risk stratification and individualized treatment approach elaborated by a multidisciplinary team minimize the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes (APO).

Inborn errors of OAS-RNase L in SARS-CoV-2-related multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a rare and severe condition that follows benign COVID-19. We report autosomal recessive deficiencies of , , or in five unrelated children with MIS-C. The cytosolic double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-sensing OAS1 and OAS2 generate 2'-5'-linked oligoadenylates (2-5A) that activate the single-stranded RNA-degrading ribonuclease L (RNase L).

Premature Deaths Attributable to the Consumption of Ultraprocessed Foods in Brazil.

Introduction: Ultraprocessed foods have been associated with an increased risk of noncommunicable diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer as well as all-cause mortality. The study aimed to estimate premature deaths attributable to the consumption of ultraprocessed food in Brazil.

Methods: A comparative risk assessment model was developed on the basis of RRs from a recent meta-analysis, national food consumption for 2017-2018, and demographic and mortality data for 2019.

Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Increased Risk of Metabolic Syndrome in Adults: The ELSA-Brasil.

Objective: To investigate the association between ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption and the incidence of metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Research Design And Methods: From 2008 to 2010, we enrolled 15,105 adults, aged 35-74 years, who were employees from six public education and research institutions to assemble the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). We used a food frequency questionnaire to assess UPF consumption (measured in grams per day) at baseline.

Accuracy of best possible medication histories by pharmacy students: an observational study.

Background: Medication reconciliation is an effective strategy to prevent medication errors upon hospital admission and requires obtaining a patient's best possible mediation history (BPMH). However, obtaining a BPMH is time-consuming and pharmacy students may assist pharmacists in this task.

Aim: To evaluate the proportion of patients who have an accurate BPMH from the pharmacy student-obtained BPMH compared to the pharmacist-obtained BPMH.

Food consumption in Brazil: influence of beef on environmental impact and nutritional quality of the diet.

Objective: To estimate beef consumption and its influence on carbon and water footprints, as well as to improve the nutritional quality of the Brazilian diet.

Methods: The amount of beef and other foods consumed was evaluated by two 24-hour food records in a representative sample of the Brazilian population ≥ 10 years of age (n = 32,853) from 2008 to 2009. The environmental impact of the diet considered the coefficients of the carbon footprint (gCO2 and/kg) and the water footprint (liters/kg) of the foods, as well as their nutritional quality considering the nutrient composition of each food associated with the prevention of nutritional deficiencies or the increase/decrease in chronic disease risk.

Outcomes following heart or bilateral-lung transplantation from donors who died of drug toxicity in British Columbia, Canada.

Introduction: The illicit drug toxicity (overdose) crisis has worsened across Canada; between 2016 and 2021, more than 28,000 individuals have died of drug toxicity. Organ donation from persons who experience drug toxicity death (DTD) has increased in recent years. This study examines whether survival after heart or bilateral-lung transplantation differed by donor cause of death.

Symptom management needs of patients with irritable bowel syndrome and concurrent anxiety and/or depression: A qualitative study.

Aims: To understand the experiences and needs of symptom management among individuals with irritable bowel syndrome and concurrent symptoms of anxiety and/or depression.

Design: This study used a qualitative descriptive research design.

Methods: Individuals with a diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome and concurrent symptoms of anxiety and/or depression participated were recruited through an online ResearchMatch and a listserv.

A Novel Pulsed Stimulation Pattern in Spinal Cord Stimulation: Clinical Results and Postulated Mechanisms of Action in the Treatment of Chronic Low Back and Leg Pain.

Objectives: The aim of this article is to discuss the possible mechanisms of action (MOAs) and results of a pilot study of a novel, anatomically placed, and paresthesia-independent, neurostimulation waveform for the management of chronic intractable pain.

Materials And Methods: A novel, multilayered pulsed stimulation pattern (PSP) that comprises three temporal layers, a Pulse Pattern layer, Train layer, and Dosage layer, was developed for the treatment of chronic intractable pain. During preliminary development, the utility was evaluated of anatomical PSP (aPSP) in human subjects with chronic intractable pain of the leg(s) and/or low back, compared with that of traditional spinal cord stimulation (T-SCS) and physiological PSP.

Contingency and Entrenchment of Drug-Resistance Mutations in HIV Viral Proteins.

The ability of HIV-1 to rapidly mutate leads to antiretroviral therapy (ART) failure among infected patients. Drug-resistance mutations (DRMs), which cause a fitness penalty to intrinsic viral fitness, are compensated by accessory mutations with favorable epistatic interactions which cause an evolutionary trapping effect, but the kinetics of this overall process has not been well characterized. Here, using a Potts Hamiltonian model describing epistasis combined with kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of evolutionary trajectories, we explore how epistasis modulates the evolutionary dynamics of HIV DRMs.

Role of Rostral Superior Colliculus in Gaze Stabilization during Visual Fixation.

Visual fixation (i.e., holding gaze on a specific visual object or location of interest) has been shown to be influenced by activity in the rostral pole of the intermediate layers of the superior colliculus (SCi)-a sensory-motor integration nucleus in the midbrain involved in visual fixation and saccadic eye movement generation.

The estimated burden of ultra-processed foods on cardiovascular disease outcomes in Brazil: A modeling study.

Introduction: Ultra-processed foods (UPF) have been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). This study aimed to estimate CVD premature deaths, incident cases, and disability adjusted life-years (DALYs) attributable to the consumption of UPF in Brazilian adults in 2019.

Methods: A validated a comparative risk assessment model was adapted to estimate the burden of major CVD outcomes (coronary heart disease and stroke) attributable to the consumption of UPF in Brazilian adults aged 30 to 69 years.

CELER: A 365-Participant Corpus of Eye Movements in L1 and L2 English Reading.

We present CELER (orpus of ye Movements in 1 and L2 nglish eading), a broad coverage eye-tracking corpus for English. CELER comprises over 320,000 words, and eye-tracking data from 365 participants. Sixty-nine participants are L1 (first language) speakers, and 296 are L2 (second language) speakers from a wide range of English proficiency levels and five different native language backgrounds.

Assessment by ABPM verified the presence of hypertension in patients with self-reported hypertension, pregnant women, as well as differences between ethnicities in women aged 38-39 years in the Ribeirão Preto cohort.

Arterial hypertension is a global health problem and one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and therefore for morbidity and mortality among adult men and women. Factors related to obstetric history, family history, sociodemographic characteristics, and lifestyle habits are known determinants of arterial hypertension. Case-control study of women belonging to the 1978/79 birth cohort conducted in the city of Ribeirão Preto/SP.

A Cross-Sectional Study of the Neuropsychiatric Phenotype of CACNA1C-Related Disorder.

Background: CACNA1C encodes the voltage-gated L-type calcium channel Ca1.2. A specific gain-of-function pathogenic variant in CACNA1C causes Timothy syndrome type 1 (TS1) with cardiac long QT syndrome, syndactyly, and neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Optical Tissue Clearing to Study the Intra-Pulmonary Biodistribution of Intravenously Delivered Mesenchymal Stromal Cells and Their Interactions with Host Lung Cells.

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) injected intravenously are trapped in the capillaries of the lungs and die within the first 24 h. Studying the biodistribution and fate of labelled therapeutic cells in the 3D pulmonary context is important to understand their function in this organ and gain insights into their mechanisms of action. Optical tissue clearing enables volumetric cell tracking at single-cell resolution.

Ultra-processed food consumption deteriorates the profile of micronutrients consumed by Portuguese adults and elderly: the UPPER project.

Purpose: This study aims to describe micronutrient intake according to food processing degree and to investigate the association between the dietary share of ultra-processed foods and micronutrient inadequacies in a representative sample of Portuguese adult and elderly individuals.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from the National Food, Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (2015/2016) were used. Food consumption data were collected through two 24-h food recalls, and food items were classified according to the NOVA system.

Effort avoidance as a core mechanism of apathy in frontotemporal dementia.

Apathy is a core symptom in patients with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). It is defined by the observable reduction in goal-directed behaviour, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. According to decision theory, engagement in goal-directed behaviour depends on a cost-benefit optimization trading off the estimated effort (related to the behaviour) against the expected reward (related to the goal).