Supporting individuals with a visible difference: A UK survey of needs and preferences.

Individuals with visible differences, resulting from injuries, health conditions, or treatment, can face varied and lasting psychosocial effects. Existing psychosocial interventions are limited, with inconsistent support noted by specialists. Improved provision and accessibility are crucial; yet, the self-perceived needs remain underreported.

Cardiac Papillary Fibroelastoma and Cerebrovascular Events: A Systematic Review.

Background: Cardiac papillary fibroelastomas (CPFs) are benign endocardial tumours with embolic potential. This article is a systematic review to identify the clinical profile, diagnosis, tumour characteristics, and treatment modalities in patients with CPF presenting with stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA).

Methods: This systematic review was conducted using the PubMed and Embase databases, including case reports and/or series and observational studies (for a search period of up until April 2022).

PrEP your step: Implementing an online crowdsourcing contest to engage young people in HIV prevention in Washington DC, USA.

HIV incidence among young people (Black and Latinx women and men who have sex with men ages 16-24 years), in the United States is high. Traditional top-down approaches for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) social marketing are not effectively reaching this population. Crowdsourcing is a promising approach to engaging young people in the development of innovative solutions to raise awareness and use of PrEP among those at highest risk of HIV.

Patient-Reported Outcomes Among Adults With Congenital Heart Disease in the Congenital Heart Initiative Registry.

Importance: In the US, there are more than 1.5 million adults living with congenital heart disease (CHD). The Congenital Heart Initiative (CHI) is a digital, online, patient-empowered registry that was created to advance multicenter research and improve clinical care by gathering patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in adults with CHD.

Rationale and design of CHD PULSE: Congenital Heart Disease Project to Understand Lifelong Survivor Experience.

Background: With improved survival of adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) comes a need to understand the lifelong outcomes of this population. The aim of this paper is to describe the rationale and design of Congenital Heart Disease Project to Understand Lifelong Survivor Experience (CHD PULSE), a study to determine long-term medical, neurocognitive, and psychosocial outcomes among adults with a history of intervention for CHD and to identify factors associated with those outcomes.

Methods: CHD PULSE is a cross-sectional survey conducted from September 2021 to April 2023 among adults aged 18 and older with a history of at least 1 intervention for CHD at 1 of 11 participating U.

Perceptions of HIV self-testing promotion in black barbershop businesses: implications for equitable engagement of black-owned small businesses for public health programs.

Background: HIV self-testing (HIVST) offers an innovative and promising approach to increasing HIV testing among Black men in the United States, a population disproportionately affected by HIV. However, engaging Black men in traditional HIV prevention programs has been challenging due to stigma, medical mistrust, and limited access to preventive health services. This formative qualitative study aimed to explore the potential of utilizing barbershops as an example of a nontraditional healthcare venue to promote and distribute HIVST.

Behavioral Frameworks and Translational Applications of Culinary Medicine and Culinary Nutrition.

Culinary medicine and culinary nutrition programs have emerged as innovative approaches to influencing dietary and lifestyle behavior change. These models vary in reported use of behavioral frameworks for planning purposes and attributing efficacy to current inconsistencies in format and delivery. This report aims to review current practice of behavior change theories in culinary medicine/culinary nutrition, delineate constructs that support positive outcomes, and describe future directions for translational applications in integrating the skills of chefs, nutrition educators, and medical professionals.

Finerenone and diabetic renal disease: a narrative review.

Overactivation of mineralocorticoid receptors occurs in cardiorenal diseases. Many patients with type 2 diabetes often progress to chronic kidney disease (CKD) and require dialysis. Finerenone is the first oral non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) antagonist used in patients with diabetic kidney disease and heart failure.

Optimizing tracking and completion of follow-up colonoscopy after abnormal stool tests at health systems participating in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Colorectal Cancer Control Program.

Purpose: We present findings from an assessment of award recipients' partners from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP). We describe partners' processes of identifying and tracking patients undergoing stool-based screening.

Methods: We analyzed data from eight CRCCP award recipients purposively sampled and their partner health systems from 2019 to 2023.

Recipe for Heart Health: A Randomized Crossover Trial on Cardiometabolic Effects of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Within a Whole-Food Plant-Based Vegan Diet.

Background: Whole-food, plant-based vegan diets, low in oils, and Mediterranean diets, rich in extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors. Optimal quantity of dietary fat, particularly EVOO, is unclear.

Methods And Results: In a randomized crossover trial with weekly cooking classes, adults with ≥5% cardiovascular disease risk followed a high (4 tablespoons/day) to low (<1 teaspoon/day) or low to high EVOO whole-food, plant-based diet for 4 weeks each, separated by a 1-week washout.

Impact of probiotic supplementation on exercise endurance among nonelite athletes: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, clinical trial.

This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel trial investigated whether generally healthy adult, nonelite runners would have a greater time-to-exhaustion during submaximal treadmill running with probiotic versus placebo supplementation. It was hypothesized that the probiotic would impact training progression by reducing gastrointestinal (GI) and cold/flu symptoms. Participants who typically ran ≥24 km/week, ran or cross-trained 3-5 days per week, and had a maximal oxygen intake (V̇O max) in the 60-85th percentile were enrolled.

Incorporating Halal Into Healthy and Equitable Dietary Patterns to Address Food and Nutrition Security Among K-12 and University Students: A Perspective.

Food and nutrition insecurity exist at an alarming rate in the US educational system, ranging from 17% among K-12 students up to 58.8% among university students. Many Muslim American students face food and nutrition insecurity due, in part, to a lack of acknowledgment of student adherence to halal dietary guidelines and the availability of certified halal options at school.

Cardiovascular complications during pregnancy: Advancing cardio-obstetrics.

As the incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) continues to rise among women of childbearing age, the pregnant population with pre-existing heart conditions presents a complex and heterogeneous profile. These women face varying degrees of risk concerning maternal cardiovascular, obstetric, and fetal complications. Effectively managing adverse cardiovascular events during pregnancy presents substantial clinical challenges.

Disposable Nitrile Glove Resistance to Limonene: Dextrous Robot Hand Versus ASTM F739 Comparison.

The current technique to assess glove resistance to chemicals for worker protection relies on challenging a flat, 2.54 cm diameter glove piece at or near room temperature. This does not simulate a donned whole glove near the skin temperature subjected to work activity forces.

More than my appearance: a pilot evaluation of the expand your Horizon Online functionality-based writing programme for adults with visible differences.

Background: Adults with conditions that affect their appearance, known as visible differences, can experience appearance concerns, social anxiety, and depression. Interventions have been developed for this population to facilitate adjustment and coping skills; however, they have limited evidence of efficacy. The Expand Your Horizon [Alleva, J.

Bioprinting in cardiovascular medicine: possibilities, challenges, and future perspectives for low and middle-income countries.

Cardiovascular diseases stemming from various factors significantly impact the quality of life and are prevalent with high mortality rates in both developed and developing countries. In cases where pharmacotherapy proves insufficient and end-stage disease ensues, a heart transplant/surgical repair becomes the only feasible treatment option. However, challenges such as a limited supply of heart donors, complications associated with rejection, and issues related to medication compliance introduce an additional burden to the healthcare system and adversely affect patient outcomes.

Dual-functional nano-photosensitizers: Eosin-Y decorated gold nanorods for plasmon-enhanced fluorescence and singlet oxygen generation.

Photosensitizer (PS) with enhanced fluorescence is attractive for image-guided photodynamic therapy (PDT) due to its dual functional role in Singlet Oxygen Generation (SOG) and producing high fluorescence signals. Here, Eosin-Y (Ey) decorated polymer coated gold nanorods (GNRs) of different aspect ratios are synthesized and introduced as novel plasmon-enhanced nano-photosensitizers for this purpose. We show, upon excitation at 519 nm, simultaneous enhancement in fluorescence and SOG was achieved for the hybrid nanostructure.

A rare case of atypical intradural extramedullary glioblastoma diagnosed utilizing next-generation sequencing and methylation profiling: illustrative case.

Background: Primary spinal cord tumors, especially primary spinal cord glioblastoma multiforme (PSC-GBM), are exceptionally rare, accounting for less than 1.5% of all spinal tumors. Their infrequency and aggressive yet atypical presentation make diagnosis challenging.

Conclusive demonstration of iatrogenic Alzheimer's disease transmission in a model of stem cell transplantation.

The risk of iatrogenic disease is often underestimated as a concern in contemporary medical procedures, encompassing tissue and organ transplantation, stem cell therapies, blood transfusions, and the administration of blood-derived products. In this context, despite the prevailing belief that Alzheimer's disease (AD) manifests primarily in familial and sporadic forms, our investigation reveals an unexpected transplantable variant of AD in a preclinical context, potentially indicating iatrogenic transmission in AD patients. Through adoptive transplantation of donor bone marrow stem cells carrying a mutant human amyloid precursor protein (APP) transgene into either APP-deficient knockout or normal recipient animals, we observed rapid development of AD pathological hallmarks.

Characteristics and outcomes of prehospital and emergency department surgical airways.

Objectives: The surgical airway is a high acuity, low occurrence procedure. Data on the complications and outcomes of surgical airways are limited. Our primary objective was to describe immediate complications, late complications, and clinical outcomes of patients who underwent a surgical airway procedure in the prehospital or emergency department (ED) setting.

Wildfires as legacies of agropastoral abandonment: Gendered litter raking and managed burning as historic fire prevention practices in the Monte Pisano of Italy.

Agropastoral practices that historically reduced the flammability of Mediterranean landscapes are poorly understood due to state prohibitions and lack of scientific interest. Oral histories, analysis of agronomical writings, transect walks, and ethnographic study of fire managers and community members in the Monte Pisano of Italy, find legacies of traditional agropastoral practices in present-day landscapes. Forest leaf litter raking, largely carried out by women, combined with fire wood cutting and burning to greatly reduce fire risk.