Global Disparities in Access to Vaccine Clinical Trials: A Review of the Literature.

Vaccines are an effective tool to reduce the disease burden from infectious diseases on a population, infrastructural, and individual level. Before vaccines can be administered to populations at large, they must go through rigorous testing in the form of clinical trials. While vaccine trials can be used to assess the efficacy of interventions on a local populace as well as target local endemic diseases, most clinical trials are sponsored and conducted by companies in high-income countries (HICs).

Unusual presentation of intraductal papilloma on the nipple: A case report.

Introduction And Significance: Intraductal papilloma (IDP) is a benign breast lesion characterized by a small, delicate wart-like growth found within the milk ducts. Typically located centrally behind the nipple, IDP often presents with a serous, serosanguinous, or bloody discharge from the nipple, making it a common cause of abnormal nipple discharge. Differential diagnosis is crucial as it can be mistaken for other conditions such as pigmented Paget's disease and pigmented basal cell carcinoma.

Efficacy and design requirements of UV light cabinets for disinfection of exchangeable non-sterilizable "dental objects".

Non-sterilizable items such as prosthodontics items constitute a high risk of transmitting dangerous pathogens, including Coronavirus, between patients and healthcare personnel. Although UV rays are recognized for their germicidal efficacy, large and expensive UV devices previously hindered their adoption in dental offices. During the COVID-19 pandemic, small UV devices became available for domestic use, albeit with varying designs and effectiveness.

High-Level Reverse Intersystem Crossing and Molecular Rigidity Improve Spin Statistics for Triplet-Triplet Annihilation Upconversion.

The structural factors affecting triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) at the molecular level are not well-understood. Here, our steady-state photoluminescence and transient absorption results demonstrate that the spin statistical factor, η, decreases from 0.60 to 0.

Knowledge and attitudes towards herbal and dietary products use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background And Aim: The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) has made a global public health disaster. Little information is known about how to combat this infection. Therefore, preventive health measures that can reduce the severity and progression of this disease are needed.

Delivery of costimulatory blockade to lymph nodes promotes transplant acceptance in mice.

The lymph node (LN) is the primary site of alloimmunity activation and regulation during transplantation. Here, we investigated how fibroblastic reticular cells (FRCs) facilitate the tolerance induced by anti-CD40L in a murine model of heart transplantation. We found that both the absence of LNs and FRC depletion abrogated the effect of anti-CD40L in prolonging murine heart allograft survival.

Medication errors in Jordan: A systematic review.

Medication errors (MEs) present a significant issue in health care area, as they pose a threat to patient safety and could occur at any stage of the medication use process. The objective of this systematic review was to review studies reporting the rates, prevalence, and/or incidence of various MEs in different health care clinical settings in Jordan. We searched PubMed, HINARI, Google, and SCOPUS for relevant published studies.

Investigation of Nonlinear Optical Processes in Mercury Sulfide Quantum Dots.

The authors report the third-harmonic generation, nonlinear refraction, and nonlinear absorption in HgS quantum dot (QD) suspensions and films using the nanosecond and femtosecond pulses. High conversion efficiency (7 × 10) towards the third harmonic (TH) of the 900-1700 nm, 150 fs laser in the thin (70 nm) films containing HgS QDs deposited on the glass substrates is obtained. The authors analyze spectral dependencies of the TH, nonlinear refractive indices, and nonlinear absorption coefficients of QDs in the 500-1700 nm range and discuss the relation between the TH process and the low-order nonlinear optical properties of these quantum dots.

Management of a severe abdominal compartment complicating fulminant cardiogenic-septic shock: An abdominal arterio-venous single-tube ECMO bypass saved a young patient's life after OHCA.

Introduction: In severe cardiogenic shock, for example, following cardiac arrest, the implantation of an extracorporeal hemodynamic assist device often seems to be the last option to save a patient's life. However, even though our guidelines provide a class-IIa-recommendation to implant a veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (vaECMO) device in these patients, the accompanying disease- and device-associated complications and their consequences remain challenging to handle.

Case Presentation: A 43-year-old patient presented with severe cardiogenic-septic shock with a complicating abdominal compartment due to a prolonged out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).

Nonlinear Absorption and Refraction of Picosecond and Femtosecond Pulses in HgTe Quantum Dot Films.

We report measurements of the saturated intensities, saturable absorption, and nonlinear refraction in 70-nm thick films containing 4 nm HgTe quantum dots. We demonstrate strong nonlinear refraction and saturable absorption in the thin films using tunable picosecond and femtosecond pulses. Studies were carried out using tunable laser pulses in the range of 400-1100 nm.

Waterpipe tobacco smoke and health: What we have learned from rodent models?

Aims: Waterpipe smoking (WPS) is a popular form of tobacco smoking. This is due to the misperception that WPS is less detrimental than cigarette smoking. This review aimed to present the adverse effects of WPS on health outcomes through utilizing animal models.

Incidence of Atrial Fibrillation in Postmenopausal Women with Endometrial Cancer.

Endometrial cancer (EC) has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including atrial fibrillation (AF). We performed a prospective, case-controlled analysis among 310 Bulgarian women with new-onset, histologically confirmed EC, free of AF at the baseline survey, and women with normal (senile) endometrium/endometrial hyperplasia as a control group ( = 205). The risk of AF as well as relationship of adiponectin (APN) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels with AF in women with EC were calculated by Cox proportional hazards models.

Factor VII Activating Protease Expression in Human Platelets and Accumulation in Symptomatic Carotid Plaque.

Background Factor VII activating protease (FSAP) is of interest as a marker for vascular inflammation and plaque destabilization. The aim of this study was to analyze the expression profile of FSAP in endarterectomy specimens that were taken from patients with asymptomatic and symptomatic carotid atherosclerotic plaques and to compare them with circulating FSAP levels. Methods and Results Plasma FSAP concentration, activity, and mRNA expression were measured in endarterectomy specimens and in monocytes and platelets.

Thirty-Day Outcomes of Bariatric Surgery in Adolescents: a First Look at the MBSAQIP Database.

Introduction: Bariatric surgery is the only effective treatment of severe obesity. The number of adolescents undergoing bariatric surgery is increasing. However, bariatric surgery in adolescents is controversial.

The effect of cilostazol on hippocampal memory and oxidative stress biomarkers in rat model of diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes is a global public health crisis worldwide, particularly in developing countries. Diabetes is characterized by a consistent elevation in blood glucose level which leads to several complications including cognitive impairment. Hippocampus, a brain structure responsible for memory, is vulnerable to damage caused by hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress.

Publisher Correction: Identification of microRNAs as potential cellular monocytic biomarkers in the early phase of myocardial infarction: a pilot study.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.

Pathological significance of lipoprotein(a) in aortic valve stenosis.

Background And Aims: Aortic valve stenosis (AVS) affects a significant percentage of our elderly population and younger subjects with familial hypercholesterolemia. Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] has been associated with AVS in recent genetic studies. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of Lp(a) on human aortic valve interstitial cells (HAVICs), and to identify apolipoproteins and phospholipids in diseased human aortic valves.

Identification of microRNAs as potential cellular monocytic biomarkers in the early phase of myocardial infarction: a pilot study.

MicroRNA has been increasingly suggested to be involved in vascular inflammation. The aim of this study was to assess the expression profile of miRs as possible novel cellular biomarkers in circulating monocytes in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Microarray techniques and TaqMan polymerase chain reaction were used to analyse the global expression of 352 miRNAs in peripheral blood monocytes from healthy donors (n = 20) and patients (n = 24) with acute STEMI.

Analysis of Polymorphism rs1042522 in TP53 Gene in the Mothers of Twins and of Singletons: A Population-Based Study in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Although the birth of twins has always attracted attention, there are no known genetic or environmental factors that can determine the birth of monozygotic (MZ) twins. And even for dizygotic (DZ) twins, genetic influences are not completely understood. A previous study from our group has shown that the C allele of polymorphism rs1042522 in the TP53 gene was more frequent in the mothers of twins than in the mothers of singletons in a small village in South Brazil.

Genetic diagnosis in recently transfused patients.

Analysis of recently transfused patients is usually postponed to avoid spurious results because of contamination with donor's cells. However, little is known about the extent of this influence in routine molecular diagnostic tests. To elucidate this question, we tested a mix of blood samples from 2 α-1-antitrypsin-deficient patients diagnosed as Pi*Z homozygous with 1 normal donor at 1:1, 1:10, 1:20, and 1:30 proportions.

Fall of platelet count in children with traumatic brain injury: is it of value?

Objective: Trauma is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity among young age groups in Saudi Arabia and developed countries. This study aimed to evaluate the fall of platelet count in children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a potential predictor for clinical severity and outcome.

Methods: Totally 74 patients with TBI were admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of our hospital from the beginning of January 2008 to the end of March 2010 (27 months).

Mutation rate estimates for 13 STR loci in a large population from Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil.

Short tandem repeat (STR) polymorphisms have been extensively used in forensic genetics analysis. Knowledge about the locus-specific mutation rates of STRs improves forensic probability calculations and interpretations of diversity data. To incorporate single-locus diversity information into autosomal STR mutation rate estimations, 13 STR loci were studied during 2007-2009 in 10,959 paternity investigation cases from Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil, covering an overall number of 284,934 allelic transfers.

Traumatic brain injury in pediatric age group; predictors of outcome in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Objective: To determine predictors for outcomes of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in infants and children younger than twelve years admitted to our pediatric intensive care units (PICU).

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study from 2004-5, done at the PICU of King Fahad Hofuf Hospital, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. One hundred and six patients with TBI; 65 boys and 41 girls ages 12 or under, with a mean age of 5.