Glycemic efficacy and safety of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist on top of sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitor treatment compared to sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitor alone: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Objective: Sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2i) and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are now considered as key players in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The purpose of this meta-analysis was to provide precise effect estimates regarding the safety and efficacy of the addition of a GLP-1RA on top of SGLT-2i treatment.

Research Design And Methods: PubMed and CENTRAL, along with grey literature sources, were searched from their inception to May 2019 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with a duration ≥ 12 weeks, evaluating the safety and efficacy of addition of a GLP-1RA on a SGLT-2i compared to SGLT-2i alone in patients with T2DM.

Lung Ultrasound-Guided Dry Weight Assessment and Echocardiographic Measures in Hypertensive Hemodialysis Patients: A Randomized Controlled Study.

Rationale & Objective: Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and dysfunction are associated with adverse outcomes in hemodialysis patients. Hypertension and hypervolemia play important roles in these cardiac abnormalities. We report on the prespecified secondary outcome, echocardiographic indexes of LV function, from a previously reported study of the effect of lung ultrasound (US)-guided dry weight reduction on systolic blood pressure.

Incidence and predictors of total mortality in 267 adults presenting with mitochondrial diseases.

Assessing long-term mortality and identifying predictors of death in adults with mitochondrial diseases. We retrospectively included adult patients with genetically proven mitochondrial diseases referred to our centre between January 2000 and June 2016, and collected information relative to their genetic testing, clinical assessments, and vital status. We performed single and multiple variable analyses in search of predictors of total mortality, and calculated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Acute Exercise and Academic Achievement in Middle School Students.

(1) The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, and non-exercise on measures of academic achievement and cognition in pre-adolescent students. (2) In a randomized crossover design, sixty-three participants with a mean age of 13.7 ± 0.

Repair or Lysophagy: Dealing with Damaged Lysosomes.

Lysosomal membrane permeabilization or full rupture of lysosomes is a common and severe stress condition that is relevant for degenerative disease, infection and cancer. If damage is limited, cells can repair lysosomes by means of the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) machinery. Presumably, if repair fails, lysosomes are tagged with ubiquitin to initiate clearance by selective macroautophagy, termed lysophagy.

The ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme UBE2QL1 coordinates lysophagy in response to endolysosomal damage.

The autophagic clearance of damaged lysosomes by lysophagy involves extensive modification of the organelle with ubiquitin, but the underlying ubiquitination machinery is still poorly characterized. Here, we use an siRNA screening approach and identify human UBE2QL1 as a major regulator of lysosomal ubiquitination, lysophagy, and cell survival after lysosomal damage. UBE2QL1 translocates to permeabilized lysosomes where it associates with damage sensors, ubiquitination targets, and lysophagy effectors.

Eight-year survival study of first-line tumour necrosis factor α inhibitors in rheumatoid arthritis: real-world data from a university centre registry.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the efficacy, safety and survival of TNF-α inhibitors in patients with RA.

Methods: A total of 178 patients >18 years of age were treated with TNF-α inhibitors. A total of 74 patients were treated with infliximab, 75 with adalimumab and 29 with etanercept.

Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among Libyan Men and Women.

Libya is following the trend observed in developing countries of steadily becoming more obese, such that obesity in Libya has reached epidemic proportions in the twenty-first century. The prevalence of obesity in Libya has more than doubled in the last three decades, with the numbers of overweight and obese adults being continuing to grow. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate and describe the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Libyan men and women.

Facio-scapulo-humeral muscular dystrophy with early joint contractures and rigid spine.

Early joint contractures in childhood or adolescence irrespective of muscle weakness are usually found in Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy and collagen-VI related diseases and only rarely in the early stages of other progressive muscular dystrophies. We report a patient presenting severe elbow contractures and a rigid-spine since his early childhood without any evident muscle weakness, who was diagnosed with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy later in life. This case is interesting since there has been no report, to date, of patients with a phenotype resembling facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy also in association with early and prominent elbow contractures and spinal rigidity, since childhood, resembling Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy.

Changes in Muscle Power and Muscle Morphology with Different Volumes of Fast Eccentric Half-Squats.

The aim of the study was to evaluate power performance and muscle morphology adaptations in response to 5 weeks of fast-eccentric squat training (FEST) performed twice per week, with three different training volumes. Twenty-five moderately trained females were assigned into three groups performing eight repetitions of FEST of either four sets (4 × 8 group; N = 9), 6 sets (6 × 8 group; N = 8) or eight sets (8 × 8 group, N = 8). Before and after the intervention, countermovement jumping height (CMJh) and power (CMJp), half squat maximal strength (1-RM), quadriceps cross-sectional area (QCSA) and vastus lateralis (VL) architecture and fiber type composition were evaluated.

Carbon Nanotube Assembly and Integration for Applications.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted significant interest due to their unique combination of properties including high mechanical strength, large aspect ratios, high surface area, distinct optical characteristics, high thermal and electrical conductivity, which make them suitable for a wide range of applications in areas from electronics (transistors, energy production and storage) to biotechnology (imaging, sensors, actuators and drug delivery) and other applications (displays, photonics, composites and multi-functional coatings/films). Controlled growth, assembly and integration of CNTs is essential for the practical realization of current and future nanotube applications. This review focuses on progress to date in the field of CNT assembly and integration for various applications.

Iron deficiency as therapeutic target in heart failure: a translational approach.

Heart failure (HF) is a potentially debilitating condition, with a prognosis comparable to many forms of cancer. It is often complicated by anemia and iron deficiency (ID), which have been shown to even further harm patients' functional status and hospitalization risk. Iron is a cellular micronutrient that is essential for oxygen uptake and transportation, as well as mitochondrial energy production.

Right Ventricular Function and Sexual Function: Exploring Shadows in Male and Female Patients With Heart Failure.

Introduction: Sexual health plays an important role in heart failure (HF) patients, and the relationship between HF and sexual dysfunction is well established; however, the role of right ventricular function in sexual dysfunction has not been investigated sufficiently.

Aim: To investigate the potential association between right ventricular dysfunction and sexual dysfunction in both male and female patients with HF.

Methods: Patients with a clinical diagnosis of HF were evaluated in a cross-sectional study.

Management of iron deficiency in chronic heart failure: Practical considerations for clinical use and future directions.

Heart Failure (HF) is a global pandemic with rapidly increasing prevalence. In an attempt to maintain patients well being, the therapeutic interest has expanded to the vicious cycles that confer to HF mortality and morbidity and a number of comorbidities have been targeted. Iron deficiency represents a common comorbid condition that affects outcomes in HF.

Polymyositis with mitochondrial pathology or atypical form of sporadic inclusion body myositis: case series and review of the literature.

Polymyositis with mitochondrial pathology (PM-Mito) is a rare form of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy with no definite diagnostic criteria and similarities to both PM and sporadic inclusion body myositis (s-IBM). The aim of this study is to address the dilemma of whether PM-Mito is a subtype of inflammatory myopathy or represents a disease falling into the spectrum of s-IBM. Herein, we report four female patients diagnosed with PM-Mito, highlighting their rather atypical clinical and histopathological characteristics that seem to indicate a diagnosis away from s-IBM.

The effect of dry-weight reduction guided by lung ultrasound on ambulatory blood pressure in hemodialysis patients: a randomized controlled trial.

Approximately 85% of hemodialysis patients are hypertensive, but less than 30% achieve adequate blood pressure (BP) control. Reduction of volume overload is fundamental for BP control, but clinical criteria to estimate dry-weight are inaccurate. In the present study we examined the effect of dry-weight reduction with a lung-ultrasound-guided strategy on ambulatory BP in 71 clinically euvolemic hemodialysis patients with hypertension.

Effect of Concurrent Power Training and High-Intensity Interval Cycling on Muscle Morphology and Performance.

Spiliopoulou, P, Zaras, N, Methenitis, S, Papadimas, G, Papadopoulos, C, Bogdanis, GC, and Terzis, G. Effect of concurrent power training and high-intensity interval cycling on muscle morphology and performance. J Strength Cond Res 35(9): 2464-2471, 2021-The aim of the study was to examine the effect of performing high-intensity interval cycling on muscle morphology and performance immediately after power training (PT).

Pharmacological Management of Diabetic Nephropathy.

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most common diseases worldwide. Its adverse effects on several body organs, have made treatment of DM a priority. One of the most serious complications of DM is diabetic nephropathy (DN).

Breast Radiotherapy and Early Adverse Cardiac Effects. The Role of Serum Biomarkers and Strain Echocardiography.

Breast cancer radiotherapy has a clear benefit for both long-term survival and local recurrence rate. However, there is still much concern about the early radiation-induced heart toxicity. This article aimed to clarify the impact of certain cardiac biomarkers and strain echocardiographic imaging on the detection of early cardiac dysfunction.

Toward understanding tissue-specific symptoms in dolichol-phosphate-mannose synthesis disorders; insight from DPM3-CDG.

The congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG) are inborn errors of metabolism with a great genetic heterogeneity. Most CDG are caused by defects in the N-glycan biosynthesis, leading to multisystem phenotypes. However, the occurrence of tissue-restricted clinical symptoms in the various defects in dolichol-phosphate-mannose (DPM) synthesis remains unexplained.

Stigma of living as an autism carer: a brief psycho-social support intervention (SOLACE). Study protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility study.

Background: Stigma is prominent in the lives of autistic individuals and their families and contributes significantly to the challenges faced by families raising an autistic child. Parents and carers can feel blamed for their child's behaviour, feel socially excluded and isolated and suffer from low self-esteem and poor psychological well-being. This increases the risk of experiencing self-stigma which further exacerbates these and other negative consequences.