Repetitive Calf-Raise Pulse Provocative Test for Popliteal Artery Entrapment Syndrome.

Popliteal artery entrapment syndrome (PAES) is a rare cause of exertional leg pain in young adults, which is caused by compression of the popliteal artery by the surrounding muscular structure. Due to significant overlap in symptoms with other conditions, limitations of diagnostic imaging, and lack of awareness, PAES is frequently misdiagnosed, resulting in late complications and poor prognosis. Clinical assessment is crucial in making the initial diagnosis and referring for relevant investigations for PAES.

The Christie score for post-treatment response assessment PET/CT in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: a safe and simple scoring system.

Background: Radiotherapy with or without concurrent chemotherapy is a standard of care treatment for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Upon completion, patients are referred for a post-treatment F-FDG PET/CT (Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography) scan to help guide ongoing management by assessing for the presence or absence of residual or recurrent disease and differentiating this from post-treatment inflammation. To improve objective reporting of response, we developed the Christie score.

Stakeholder Perspectives on Retention Strategies for Rehabilitation Professionals: A Qualitative Study.

There is a scarcity of health human resources worldwide. In occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and speech-language pathology (S-LP), attrition and retention issues amplify this situation and contribute to the precarity of health systems. Therefore, we aimed to investigate retention strategies for rehabilitation professionals in Quebec.

Bisphosphonate therapy for persistent hyperparathyroidism after kidney transplantation-A case report.

Post-transplant hyperparathyroidism (PT-HPT) is common in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) and can cause nephrocalcinosis and graft dysfunction. Cinacalcet is commonly used for treating PT-HPT but may induce calciuria and exacerbate nephrocalcinosis. The concurrent use of bisphosphonates with cinacalcet to prevent this complication has not been reported.

High Extracellular K Skews T-Cell Differentiation Towards Tumour Promoting Th2 and T Subsets.

Potassium ions (K) released from dying necrotic tumour cells accumulate in the tumour microenvironment (TME) and increase the local K concentration to 50 mM (high-[K]). Here, we demonstrate that high-[K] decreases expression of the T-cell receptor subunits CD3ε and CD3ζ and co-stimulatory receptor CD28 and thereby dysregulates intracellular signal transduction cascades. High-[K] also alters the metabolic profiles of T-cells, limiting the metabolism of glucose and glutamine, consistent with functional exhaustion.

Sympathetic Response to 1-Leg Cycling Exercise Predicts Exercise Capacity in Patients With Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction.

Background: In heart failure, sympathetic excess and exercise intolerance impair quality of life. In heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, exercise stimulates a reflex increase in muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) that relates inversely to peak oxygen uptake (V̇O). Whether similar sympathoexcitatory responses are present in heart failure with preserved EF (HFpEF) and relate to V̇O are unknown.

Prognostic relevance of exercise pulmonary hypertension: results of the multicentre PEX-NET Clinical Research Collaboration.

Background: Exercise pulmonary hypertension (PH) was defined by a mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP)/cardiac output (CO) slope >3 mmHg·min·L between rest and exercise in the 2022 European Society of Cardiology/European Respiratory Society PH guidelines. However, large, multicentre studies on the prognostic relevance of exercise haemodynamics and its added value to resting haemodynamics are missing.

Patients And Methods: The PEX-NET (Pulmonary Haemodynamics during Exercise Network) registry enrolled patients who underwent clinically indicated right heart catheterisations both at rest and ergometer exercise from 23 PH centres worldwide.

International Comparison of Quality Indicators for Adults Hospitalized for Heart Failure: A Systematic Review.

Background: There is limited international agreement on defining care quality for the millions of people hospitalized with heart failure worldwide. Our objective was to compare and measure agreement across existing internationally published quality indicators (QIs) for the care of adults hospitalized for heart failure.

Methods: Systematic review and evidence gap map of internationally published articles reporting on QIs for adults hospitalized for heart failure, using PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and TRIP from inception to July 18, 2022.

A New Combined Urogynecology and Colorectal Surgery Pelvic Floor Clinic-1 Year On.

Introduction And Hypothesis: This study is aimed at characterizing patients seen at a new combined pelvic floor clinic (CPFC) established at a tertiary women's hospital in Singapore. Study goals include identifying patterns of symptom clusters and reviewing management strategies compared with international care standards, improving understanding of complex female pelvic floor dysfunction, and guiding future development of clinical and ancillary support.

Methods: This is a single-center, retrospective cohort study of medical case record review for all patients seen at the CPFC between 1 September 2020 and 31 August 2021.

Unveiling the Impact of Respiratory Event-Related Hypoxia on Heart Sound Intensity During Sleep Using Novel Wearable Technology.

Purpose: Cardiovascular disorders are the leading cause of mortality worldwide with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as the independent risk factor. Heart sounds are strong modalities to obtain clinically relevant information regarding the functioning of the heart valves and blood flow. The objective of this study was to use a small wearable device to record and investigate the changes in heart sounds during respiratory events (reduction and cessation of breathings) and their association with oxyhemoglobin desaturation (hypoxemia).

A chromosome phased diploid genome assembly of African hunting dog (Lycaon pictus).

The African hunting dog (Lycaon pictus, 2n = 78) once ranged over most sub-Saharan ecosystems except its deserts and rainforests. However, as a result of (still ongoing) population declines, today they remain only as small fragmented populations. Furthermore, the future of the species remains unclear, due to both anthropogenic pressure and interactions with domestic dogs, thus their preservation is a conservation priority.

p53-dependent crosstalk between DNA replication integrity and redox metabolism mediated through a NRF2-PARP1 axis.

Mechanisms underlying p53-mediated protection of the replicating genome remain elusive, despite the quintessential role of p53 in maintaining genomic stability. Here, we uncover an unexpected function of p53 in curbing replication stress by limiting PARP1 activity and preventing the unscheduled degradation of deprotected stalled forks. We searched for p53-dependent factors and elucidated RRM2B as a prime factor.

A machine-learning model of academic resilience in the times of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence drawn from 79 countries/economies in the PISA 2022 mathematics study.

Background: Given that students from socio-economically disadvantaged family backgrounds are more likely to suffer from low academic performance, there is an interest in identifying features of academic resilience, which may mitigate the relationship between disadvantaged socio-economic status and academic performance.

Aims: This study sought to combine machine learning and explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) technique to identify key features of academic resilience in mathematics learning during COVID-19.

Materials And Methods: Based on PISA 2022 data in 79 countries/economies, the random forest model coupled with Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) value technique not only uncovered the key features of academic resilience but also examined the contributions of each key feature.

Cinnamic Acid Derivatives: Recent Discoveries and Development Strategies for Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that leads to cognitive decline and memory impairment. It is characterized by the accumulation of Amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques, the abnormal phosphorylation of tau protein forming neurofibrillary tangles, and is often accompanied by neuroinflammation and oxidative stress, which contribute to neuronal loss and brain atrophy. At present, clinical anti-AD drugs are mostly single-target, improving the cognitive ability of AD patients, but failing to effectively slow down the progression of AD.

A Virtual Functional Medicine-Based Interdisciplinary and Integrative Intervention for Gulf War Illness.

Introduction: The War-Related Illness and Injury Study Center at the VA New Jersey Health Care System (WRIISC-VANJ) serves as one of the three tertiary referral centers for combat deployed Veterans of all eras with medically unexplained or difficult-to-diagnose conditions that may be related to deployment-related exposures. Many of the Veterans seen at the WRIISC experience chronic multisymptom illness (CMI), also known as Gulf War Illness (GWI). Given the complexity and interconnectedness of symptoms, Veterans with GWI are often unlikely to produce meaningful results when addressing single symptoms.

The mediating role of SARS-CoV-2 variants between income and hospitalisation due to COVID-19: A period-based mediation analysis.

The mechanisms facilitating the relationship between low income and COVID-19 severity have not been partitioned in the presence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC). To address this, we used causal mediation analysis to quantify the possible mediating role infection with VOC has on the relationship between neighbourhood income (exposure) and hospitalisation due to COVID-19 among cases (outcome). A population-based cohort of 65,629 individuals residing in British Columbia, Canada, was divided into three periods of VOC co-circulation in the 2021 calendar year whereby each period included co-circulation of an emerging and an established VOC.

Mapping and Habitat Suitability Under Current and Mid-Century Climate in the Pacific Northwest (BC and WA).

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States and Canada. The primary vector for the causative agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, in the Pacific Northwest is the western blacklegged tick, Ixodes pacificus. Using active tick surveillance data from British Columbia, Canada, and Washington State, USA, habitat suitability models using MaxEnt (maximum entropy) were developed for to predict its current and mid-century geographic distributions.

Use of Massage Therapy for Pain, 2018-2023: A Systematic Review.

Importance: Massage therapy is a popular treatment that has been advocated for dozens of painful adult health conditions and has a large evidence base.

Objective: To map systematic reviews, conclusions, and certainty or quality of evidence for outcomes of massage therapy for painful adult health conditions.

Evidence Review: In this systematic review, a computerized search was conducted of PubMed, the Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, the Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Web of Science from 2018 to 2023.

Three-dimensional genome architecture persists in a 52,000-year-old woolly mammoth skin sample.

Analyses of ancient DNA typically involve sequencing the surviving short oligonucleotides and aligning to genome assemblies from related, modern species. Here, we report that skin from a female woolly mammoth (†Mammuthus primigenius) that died 52,000 years ago retained its ancient genome architecture. We use PaleoHi-C to map chromatin contacts and assemble its genome, yielding 28 chromosome-length scaffolds.

Antibody glycan quality predicted from CHO cell culture media markers and machine learning.

N-glycosylation can have a profound effect on the quality of mAb therapeutics. In biomanufacturing, one of the ways to influence N-glycosylation patterns is by altering the media used to grow mAb cell expression systems. Here, we explore the potential of machine learning (ML) to forecast the abundances of N-glycan types based on variables related to the growth media.