Outcomes and drivers of inappropriate dosing of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) in patients with atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: There has been limited systematic evaluation of outcomes and drivers of inappropriate non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) dosing among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). This review identified and systematically evaluated literature on clinical and economic outcomes of inappropriate NOAC dosing and associated patient characteristics.

Methods: MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Econlit, PubMed and NHS EEDs databases were searched for English language observational studies from all geographies published between 2008 and 2020, examining outcomes of, or factors associated with, inappropriate NOAC dosing in adult patients with AF.

LC-ICP-MS method for the determination of "extractable copper" in serum.

Copper is an essential element for biological functions within humans and animals. There are several known diseases associated with Cu deficiency or overload, such as Menkes disease and Wilson disease, respectively. A common clinical method for determining extractable Cu levels in serum, which is thought to be potentially dangerous if in excess, is to subtract the value of tightly incorporated Cu in ceruloplasmin from total serum Cu.

The hemispheric contrast in cloud microphysical properties constrains aerosol forcing.

The change in planetary albedo due to aerosol-cloud interactions during the industrial era is the leading source of uncertainty in inferring Earth's climate sensitivity to increased greenhouse gases from the historical record. The variable that controls aerosol-cloud interactions in warm clouds is droplet number concentration. Global climate models demonstrate that the present-day hemispheric contrast in cloud droplet number concentration between the pristine Southern Hemisphere and the polluted Northern Hemisphere oceans can be used as a proxy for anthropogenically driven change in cloud droplet number concentration.

Automation of boron chromatographic purification for δ B analysis of coral aragonite.

Rationale: To detect the small changes in past pH the boron isotope ratio of coral carbonates, expressed as the δ B value, needs to be both precise and accurate (2sd <<1‰). Boron measurements by Multi-Collector Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (MC-ICPMS) require the boron to be carefully purified before analysis, which is time consuming, and requires specialist training. Here, we use the prepFAST-MC method that enables the automatic extraction of B (up to 25 ng load) from a CaCO matrix.

Publisher Correction: Critical Southern Ocean climate model biases traced to atmospheric model cloud errors.

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Critical Southern Ocean climate model biases traced to atmospheric model cloud errors.

The Southern Ocean is a pivotal component of the global climate system yet it is poorly represented in climate models, with significant biases in upper-ocean temperatures, clouds and winds. Combining Atmospheric and Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project (AMIP5/CMIP5) simulations, with observations and equilibrium heat budget theory, we show that across the CMIP5 ensemble variations in sea surface temperature biases in the 40-60°S Southern Ocean are primarily caused by AMIP5 atmospheric model net surface flux bias variations, linked to cloud-related short-wave errors. Equilibration of the biases involves local coupled sea surface temperature bias feedbacks onto the surface heat flux components.

Strong control of Southern Ocean cloud reflectivity by ice-nucleating particles.

Large biases in climate model simulations of cloud radiative properties over the Southern Ocean cause large errors in modeled sea surface temperatures, atmospheric circulation, and climate sensitivity. Here, we combine cloud-resolving model simulations with estimates of the concentration of ice-nucleating particles in this region to show that our simulated Southern Ocean clouds reflect far more radiation than predicted by global models, in agreement with satellite observations. Specifically, we show that the clouds that are most sensitive to the concentration of ice-nucleating particles are low-level mixed-phase clouds in the cold sectors of extratropical cyclones, which have previously been identified as a main contributor to the Southern Ocean radiation bias.

Vitamin D supplementation and calcium absorption during caloric restriction: a randomized double-blind trial.

Background: Weight loss (WL) is associated with a decrease in calcium absorption and may be one mechanism that induces bone loss with weight reduction.

Objective: Because vitamin D supplementation has been shown to increase true fractional calcium absorption (TFCA), the goal of this study was to examine the effect of vitamin D during WL or weight maintenance (WM).

Design: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind 6-wk study was conducted in 82 postmenopausal women [BMI (in kg/m(2); ±SD): 30.

Effect of alendronate and vitamin D₃ on fractional calcium absorption in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in postmenopausal osteoporotic women.

Menopause and increasing age are associated with a decrease in calcium absorption that can contribute to the pathogenesis of osteoporosis. We hypothesized that alendronate plus vitamin D(3) (ALN + D) would increase fractional calcium absorption (FCA). In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter clinical trial, 56 postmenopausal women with 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations of 25 ng/mL or less and low bone mineral density (BMD) received 5 weekly doses of placebo or alendronate 70 mg plus vitamin D(3) 2800 IU (ALN + D).

Trace elements in ships' ballast water as tracers of mid-ocean exchange.

Recent regulation mandates that ships conduct mid-ocean ballast water exchange (BWE) prior to discharging foreign ballast in U.S. territorial waters.

Relationships between personal, indoor, and outdoor exposures to trace elements in PM(2.5).

Twenty-four hour average fine particle concentrations of 23 trace elements (TEs) were measured concurrently in (a) ambient air in three urban neighborhoods (Battle Creek-BCK; East St. Paul-ESP; and Phillips-PHI), (b) air inside residences of participants, and (c) personal air near the breathing zone of healthy, non-smoking adults. The outdoor (O), indoor (I), and personal (P) samples were collected in the Minneapolis/St.

Premenopausal overweight women do not lose bone during moderate weight loss with adequate or higher calcium intake.

Background: Weight loss is associated with bone loss, but this has not been examined in overweight premenopausal women.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess whether overweight premenopausal women lose bone with moderate weight loss at recommended or higher than recommended calcium intakes.

Design: Overweight premenopausal women [n = 44; x (+/-SD) age: 38 +/- 6.

True fractional calcium absorption is decreased after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery.

Objective: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is considered to be the gold standard alternative treatment for severe obesity. Weight loss after RYGB results primarily from decreased food intake. Inadequate calcium (Ca) intake and metabolic bone disease can occur after gastric bypass.

Weight loss and calcium intake influence calcium absorption in overweight postmenopausal women.

Background: Weight loss (WL) reduces bone mass and increases fracture risk. Mechanisms regulating calcium metabolism during WL are unclear.

Objective: The objective was to assess the effect of 6 wk of WL at 2 different amounts of calcium intake [normal (NlCa): 1 g/d; high (HiCa): 1.

Verification of mid-ocean ballast water exchange using naturally occurring coastal tracers.

We examined methods for verifying whether or not ships have performed mid-ocean ballast water exchange (BWE) on four commercial vessels operating in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. During BWE, a ship replaces the coastal water in its ballast tanks with water drawn from the open ocean, which is considered to harbor fewer organisms capable of establishing in coastal environments. We measured concentrations of several naturally occurring chemical tracers (salinity, six trace elements, colored dissolved organic matter fluorescence and radium isotopes) along ocean transects and in ballast tanks subjected to varying degrees of BWE (0-99%).