The association of travel distance and other patient characteristics with breast cancer stage at diagnosis and treatment completion at a rural Rwandan cancer facility.

Background: Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence (BCCOE) was founded to serve Rwanda's rural low-income population, providing subsidized cancer diagnosis and treatment with transport stipends for the lowest-income patients. We examined whether travel distance to BCCOE was associated with advanced-stage diagnoses and treatment completion.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using medical record data from BCCOE patients with pathologically-confirmed breast cancer from 2012-2016.

Nano- and meso-scale aggregation of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) below the lower critical solution temperature: A wide-angle dynamic light scattering study.

Poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAm), a thermorresponsive polymer, highly soluble in water below its lower critical solution temperature (LCST), is widely used in biomedical applications like drug delivery. Being able to measure PNIPAm size and aggregation state in solution quickly, inexpensively, and accurately below the LCST is critical when stoichiometric particle or molecular ratios are required. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) is probably the most widely available, and inexpensive nanoparticle sizing technique, but there are limitations with respect to sample polydispersity.

Geographic Distribution of Vaccinia Virus, Diagnosis and Demographic Aspects of Affected Populations, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2000-2023.

Since its first report in Brazil in 1999, outbreaks of exanthematous diseases caused by vaccinia virus (VACV) have been a recurring concern, particularly impacting rural regions. Minas Gerais (MG) State, Brazil, has emerged as the epicenter of bovine vaccinia (BV) outbreaks. This study presents a comprehensive overview of VACV circulation in MG State over the past two decades, examining the occurrence and distribution of poxvirus cases and outbreaks and the demographic characteristics of affected populations.

Clinical, Analytical, and Echocardiographic Associations of Impaired Cardiorespiratory Fitness After Anthracycline Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer: EPIC Fitness Study.

Purpose: This study explores the effects of anthracycline chemotherapy (AC) on breast cancer patients, focusing on changes in body composition, advanced echocardiographic parameters at rest and during exercise, and biomarkers; and subsequently assesses whether these parameters are associated with impaired cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF).

Methods: In this prospective study, we evaluated women with early-stage breast cancer undergoing AC at three visits: before AC, 1 month after, and 6 months post-AC.

Results: The study included 32 women with breast cancer, with functional disability increasing from 9.

Ghostly intrusion on a frightful Halloween night: a case report of dual valve endocarditis.

Multivalvular endocarditis (MVE) is an uncommon presentation and mostly involves mitral and aortic valves. Here, we present a case of an MVE with an unusual and bizarre presentation on a Halloween night with a massive degree of valve destruction and right- and left-side involvement requiring emergent surgery. A 51-year-old male patient with intravenous drug usage presented with anorexia, fever, and dyspnea, rapidly progressing to septic shock with multiorgan dysfunction.