Base rates of failure on various performance validity tests as a function of age in adults referred for neuropsychological assessment.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between age and base rates of failure (BR) on various performance validity tests (PVTs) administered in medical-legal settings. Archival data were analyzed from 3,297 adults (M = 42.3 years; M = 11.

-Mutant Cardiomyocyte Model of Multifocal Atrial Tachycardia.

Background: Germline gain-of-function pathogenic variants cause Costello syndrome (CS). During early childhood, 50% of patients develop multifocal atrial tachycardia, a treatment-resistant tachyarrhythmia of unknown pathogenesis. This study investigated how overactive HRAS activity triggers arrhythmogenesis in atrial-like cardiomyocytes (ACMs) derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells bearing CS-associated variants.

First National Consensus on the Safe Practice of Medical Tourism for Bariatric Surgery in Mexico.

Background: Medical tourism is increasing every year, especially in fields such as bariatric surgery. Global concerns rely on the fact of its safety, mainly because of a lack of standardization, unknown number of cases, and the type of specialists performing such procedures. Mexico continues to be among the top countries receiving patients from abroad, but there is no national consensus, guidelines, or recommendations about the practice in such fields.

National Network of Depression Centers' Recommendations on Harmonizing Clinical Documentation of Electroconvulsive Therapy.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a highly therapeutic and cost-effective treatment for severe and/or treatment-resistant major depression. However, because of the varied clinical practices, there is a great deal of heterogeneity in how ECT is delivered and documented. This represents both an opportunity to study how differences in implementation influence clinical outcomes and a challenge for carrying out coordinated quality improvement and research efforts across multiple ECT centers.

Evaluation of the In-Vitro Dissolution Permeation Systems 1 (IDAS1) as a potential tool to monitor for unexpected changes in generic medicaments in poorly regulated markets.

Panama, like most Latin American countries, has insufficient regulatory safeguards to ensure the safety and efficacy of all pharmaceutical products in the market, a situation that results in a two-tier system, where affluent citizens can afford innovator products while poor citizens must consume 'generics' of uncertain quality. Given that one lot of each drug product is analyzed every five years during registration while commercial lots are not, and since most products are not bioequivalent but simply copies or similars, there is a concern that commercial and registration lots of these 'generics' may not be of the same quality. The objective of this study was to assess the ability of various in vitro quality control tests to detect difference among five amlodipine products available in the Panamanian market: four 'generics', made in various countries, and the innovator, made in Germany and used as reference listed drug in Panama (Pan-RLD).

Bariatric surgery in Mexico: training, practice and surgical trends.

Bariatric surgery is extremely safe and effective, but several factors need to be addressed to obtain such results. Patient selection, type of training, accreditation, type of practice, and surgical trends and technique are involved in this process. Local and global standardization are ill-advised, especially in countries with high obesity prevalence, and where the bariatric practice is fast growing.

The first modified Delphi consensus statement on sleeve gastrectomy.

Introduction: Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) is the commonest bariatric procedure worldwide. Yet there is significant variation in practice concerning its various aspects. This paper report results from the first modified Delphi consensus-building exercise on SG.

A Global Survey by the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO) on Perceptions of Bariatric Medical Tourism (BMT) by Health Professionals: Guidelines from IFSO for BMT.

Background: Bariatric medical tourism (BMT) is a rapidly expanding industry, with over 650 million people with obesity worldwide and total number rising by over 300% between 2003 and 2014. The overall health tourism industry is worth over $400 billion/year.

Methods: International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO) conducted a global survey to analyze the details of BMT and the perceptions of bariatric health care professionals (HCP) regarding BMT.

COVID-19: IFSO LAC Recommendations for the Resumption of Elective Bariatric Surgery.

Background: COVID-19 pandemic varies greatly and has different dynamics in every country, city, and hospital in Latin America. Obesity increases the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and it is one of the independent risk factors for the most severe cases of COVID-19. Currently, the most effective treatment against obesity available is bariatric and metabolic surgery (BMS), which further resolves or improves other independent risk factors like diabetes and hypertension.

Social media, advertising, and internet use among general and bariatric surgeons.

Introduction: The use of the internet and technology has increased, and its implication with medicine is inevitable. Along with these technologies, social media platforms have changed the interaction between peers, forcing an evolution on medical activities and patient relationship. There is no clear information on how surgeons interact with these platforms within their daily practice.

Effect of oral calcium administration on the cure and reproductive performance of Holstein cows diagnosed with puerperal metritis.

Our objective was to evaluate the effect of oral calcium administration on clinical cure, survival, subsequent presentation of peripartal health disorders, and reproductive performance of Holstein cows diagnosed with puerperal metritis (PM) under certified organic management. A second objective was to evaluate the metabolic status at calving and at the time of PM diagnosis (d 0) in affected and matched healthy cows. Cows diagnosed with PM (n = 200) were assigned randomly to receive 1 of 2 treatments: (1) control received 3.

Comparative Study of Ultrasonication-Induced and Naturally Self-Assembled Silk Fibroin-Wool Keratin Hydrogel Biomaterials.

This study reports the formation of biocompatible hydrogels using protein polymers from natural silk cocoon fibroins and sheep wool keratins. Silk fibroin protein contains β-sheet secondary structures, allowing for the formation of physical cross-linkers in the hydrogels. Comparative studies were performed on two groups of samples.

Autonomous and Non-autonomous Defects Underlie Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in BRAF-Mutant hiPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes.

Germline mutations in BRAF cause cardio-facio-cutaneous syndrome (CFCS), whereby 40% of patients develop hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). As the role of the RAS/MAPK pathway in HCM pathogenesis is unclear, we generated a human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) model for CFCS from three patients with activating BRAF mutations. By cell sorting for SIRPα and CD90, we generated a method to examine hiPSC-derived cell type-specific phenotypes and cellular interactions underpinning HCM.

Myeloid Dysregulation in a Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Model of PTPN11-Associated Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia.

Somatic PTPN11 mutations cause juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML). Germline PTPN11 defects cause Noonan syndrome (NS), and specific inherited mutations cause NS/JMML. Here, we report that hematopoietic cells differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) harboring NS/JMML-causing PTPN11 mutations recapitulated JMML features.

Ocular surface frostbite secondary to ethyl chloride spray.

Context: Ethyl chloride (EC) is a fast-acting vapo-coolant spray that provides rapid, transient, local analgesia for minor invasive procedures. Although the application of EC has decreased, it can be used as a cryoanalgesic agent in minor surgical procedures.

Objective: Despite the widespread use of EC as a local anesthetic, there are few reported cases of serious adverse side effects.

Convergent evolution in the antennae of a cerambycid beetle, Onychocerus albitarsis, and the sting of a scorpion.

Venom-injecting structures have arisen independently in unrelated arthropods including scorpions, spiders, centipedes, larval owlflies and antlions, and Hymenoptera (wasps, ants, and bees). Most arthropods use venom primarily as an offensive weapon to subdue prey, and only secondarily in defense against enemies. Venom is injected by biting with fangs or stinging with a specialized hypodermic structure used exclusively for the delivery of venom (usually modified terminal abdominal segments).

Cytotoxic and antimicrobial benzophenones from the leaves of Tovomita longifolia.

Bioassay-guided fractionation of the chloroform and ethanol extracts of Tovomita longifolia leaves using cytotoxic and antimicrobial assays resulted in the isolation of four new benzophenones, (E)-3-(2-hydroxy-7-methyl-3-methyleneoct-6-enyl)-2,4,6-trihydroxybenzophenone (1), (E)-3-(6-hydroxy-3,7-dimethylocta-2,7-dienyl)-2,4,6-trihydroxybenzophenone (2), 8-benzoyl-2-(4-methylpenten-3-yl)chromane-3,5,7-triol (3), and 5-benzoyl-1,1,4a-trimethyl-2,3,4,4a,9,9a-hexahydro-1H-xanthene-6,8-diol (4), and two known benzophenones, 4-geranyloxy-2,6-dihydroxybenzophenone (5) and 3-geranyl-2,4,6-trihydroxybenzophenone (6). The structures of 1-4 were established by spectroscopic means and by molecular modeling calculations. Compounds 1 and 3-5 demonstrated cytotoxic activities against breast (MCF-7), central nervous system (SF-268), and lung (H-460) human cancer cell lines, while compounds 3-6 showed antimicrobial activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae, Mycobacterium smegmatis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella gallinarum, and Staphylococcus aureus.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 pharmacogenomics in clinical practice: relevance of HIV-1 drug resistance testing (Part 2).

Throughout most of the past century, physicians could offer patients no treatments for infections caused by viruses. The experience with treatment of infection by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has changed the way healthcare workers deal with viral infections and has triggered a growing rate of discovery and use of antiviral agents, the first fruits of the expanding genomics revolution. HIV treatment also provides an informative paradigm for pharmacogenomics because control of infection and its consequences is limited by the development of viral drug resistance and by host factors.

Cytotoxic cucurbitacin constituents from Sloanea zuliaensis.

A new cucurbitacin D analogue, 2-deoxycucurbitacin D (1), as well as cucurbitacin D (2) and 25-acetylcucurbitacin F (3) were isolated from Sloanea zuliaensis. Compound 1 was found only in the young leaves of the plant and not in the mature leaves, and its structure was established using spectroscopic means. Compounds 1-3 demonstrated potent cytotoxic activity against breast (MCF-7), lung (H-460), and central nervous system (SF-268) human cancer cell lines.