A community-engaged qualitative study of factors affecting sleep among Hispanic/Latinos with short sleep duration.

Background: Despite having high prevalence of short sleep duration, poor sleep quality, and sleep disorders in adult Hispanics living in the US, there is limited understanding of the underlying barriers to sleep and effective interventions in these groups. This study aimed to increase understanding of sleep duration and attitudes toward sleep interventions among Hispanic adults.

Methods: We conducted 5 online focus group discussions with male and female participants aged 18-65 recruited from the Hispanic community who reported sleeping <7 hours per night.

Oncologic Brugada.

Structural abnormalities within the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) can present similarly to Brugada syndrome. A 34-year-old woman with no medical history presented with polymorphic ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest and initial electrocardiogram showed type I Brugada pattern. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging revealed prominent tissue thickening at the RVOT with late gadolinium enhancement.

iSIM-sigma: efficient standard deviation calculation for molecular similarity.

The average and variance of the molecular similarities in a set is high-value and useful information for cheminformatics tasks like chemical space exploration and subset selection. However, the calculation of the variance of the complete similarity matrix has a quadratic complexity, ( ). As the sizes of molecular libraries constantly increase, this pairwise approach is unfeasible.

Factors predictive of severe thrombocytopenia and its impact on poor outcomes in Latin American patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: Data from a multiethnic Latin American cohort.

Objective: To examine the predictors of the occurrence of severe thrombocytopenia and its impact on damage accrual and mortality in SLE patients.

Methods: Factors associated with time to severe thrombocytopenia (platelet count ≤20,000/mm) occurring from the onset of SLE symptoms were assessed by Cox proportional hazards regressions. The association of severe thrombocytopenia with mortality was evaluated by logistic regression analyses while its impact on damage was by negative binomial regression.

Socioeconomic factors and COVID-19 mortality in immune-mediated rheumatic diseases patients: regional analysis from Argentina, Mexico and Brazil.

Background: SARS-CoV-2 infection has become a major international issue, not only from a medical point of view, but also social, economic and political. Most of the available information comes from the United States, Europe, and China, where the population and the socioeconomic status are very different from Latin American countries. This study evaluates the effect of regional socioeconomic characteristics on mortality due SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with immune-mediated rheumatic diseases (IMRD) from Argentina, Mexico and Brazil.

Treatment Patterns and Health Care Resource Utilization of Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in Puerto Rico: The TREATLINES-ONCOLUNG Study.

Purpose: Lung cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. It is the third cause of death among patients with cancer in Puerto Rico (PR) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most prevalent. This study aims to describe the first-line treatment (1LT) and health care resource utilization (HCRU) among patients with NSCLC in PR.

The hidden epidemic: Hypertension-related mortality surges amongst younger adults in the United States.

Background: The prevalence of hypertension (HTN) has significantly increased among younger adults (15-45 yrs) in the U.S. Despite this, there is limited data on trends of HTN-related mortality within this population.

Predictors of first hospitalization due to disease activity and infections in systemic lupus erythematosus patients.

Objectives: To identify the predictive factors of first hospitalization and associated variables to the main causes of hospitalizations in lupus patients from a Latin American cohort.

Methods: The first hospitalization after entry into the cohort during these patients' follow-up due to either lupus disease activity and/or infection was examined. Clinical and therapeutic variables were those occurring prior to the first hospitalization.

Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaque Burden Assessment by Computed Tomography and Its Clinical Implications.

Recent studies have demonstrated that coronary plaque burden carries greater prognostic value in predicting adverse atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease outcomes than myocardial ischemia, thereby challenging the existing paradigm. Advances in plaque quantification through both noncontrast and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) methods have led to earlier and more cost-effective detection of coronary disease compared with traditional stress testing. The 2 principal techniques of noninvasive coronary plaque quantification assessment are coronary artery calcium scoring by noncontrast CT and coronary CT angiography, both of which correlate with disease burden on invasive angiography.

Intra- and inter-reader reproducibility in quantitative coronary plaque analysis on coronary computed tomography angiography.

Purpose: Coronary artery plaque burden, low attenuation non-calcified plaque (LAP), and pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT) on coronary CT angiography (CCTA), have been linked to future cardiac events. The purpose of this study was to evaluate intra- and inter reader reproducibility in the quantification of coronary plaque burden and its characteristics using an artificial intelligence-enhanced semi-automated software.

Materials And Methods: A total of 10 women and 6 men, aged 52 (IQR 49-58) underwent CCTA using a Siemens Somatom Force, Somatom Definition AS and Somatom Definition Flash scanners.

Establishing Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation (QCM-D) Coupled with Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE) as an Advantageous Technique for the Characterization of Ultra-Thin Film Hydrogels.

Despite the considerable significance of utilizing ultra-thin film (utf) hydrogels as multipurpose platforms for biomedical applications, there is still an important lack of adequate characterization techniques suitable for such materials. In this Perspective, the use of quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) coupled with spectral ellipsometry (SE) is presented as a potential tool for the complete characterization of utf-hydrogels due to its nanometric sensitivity and high versatility. Herein, the fundaments for utf-hydrogel characterization are settled down as far as the QCM-D/SE response is explored under a wide range of different in operando wet working conditions measurements such as temperature or liquid media, among others.

Unravelling the influence of cattle stocking rate on the macroinvertebrate community of freshwater wetlands subjected to hydrological modifications in three hydroclimatic periods.

The Paraná River Delta in South America, a large wetlands macromosaic, faces threats from climate change, human activities like livestock intensification, and hydrological modifications driven by the construction of water management infrastructure to prevent flooding in productive lands. Macroinvertebrates, essential for wetland health, are affected by cattle-induced changes in water quality, nutrient enrichment, and trampling, posing challenges to the ecosystem's ecological balance and long-term survival of these organisms. In this study, we analyzed the impact of two categories of cattle stocking rates (low and high) on the taxonomic and functional structure of the aquatic macroinvertebrate community in freshwater marshes.

Updates in the management of cancer therapy-related hypertension.

Purpose Of Review: To provide a comprehensive review of hypertension among patients with cancer. Several cancer therapies cause hypertension which has resulted in a growing and vulnerable population of patients with difficult to control hypertension which has significant downstream effects.

Recent Findings: Hypertension affects up to 50% of cancer patients and higher comorbidity when compared to the general population.

Does aPDT reduce bacterial load in endodontic infected teeth? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

This systematic review investigated whether antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) after chemomechanical root canal disinfection (CD) yields a greater microbial load reduction than only CD. An electronic literature search was conducted on four databases up to November 2022, with no language or publication date restrictions. Randomized and non-randomized clinical trials were included if participants had a primary endodontic infection in permanent teeth, and if microbial loads before and after using aPDT were compared.

Active lupus in Argentina: Results of a multicenter and national registry.

Objective: To evaluate the association between patients' characteristics and disease activity in an Argentine lupus registry.

Methods: Cross-sectional study. Disease activity was stratified into: Remission off-treatment: SLEDAI = 0, without prednisone and immunosuppressive drugs.

Diagnostic Delay in Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases: A Global Health Problem.

In this issue of , Xiang et al describe the experience and influencing factors of symptom appraisal and help-seeking among patients with various autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs) in a multiethnic urban Asian population.The authors guided the interpretation of this qualitative study based on the social cognitive theory framework to enhance the appraisal of symptoms and help-seeking.

Clinical considerations and pathophysiological associations among obesity, weight loss, heart failure, and hypertension.

Purpose Of Review: To describe the relationship between three pandemics: hypertension, obesity, and heart failure. From pathophysiology to treatment, understanding how these disease entities are linked can lead to breakthroughs in their prevention and treatment. The relevance of this review lies in its discussion of novel pharmacological and surgical treatment strategies for obesity and hypertension, and their role in the prevention and treatment of heart failure.

Effect of different disinfection protocols in bacterial viability of an intraradicular biofilm formed in situ.

The present study aimed to evaluate bacterial viability after the use of different disinfection protocols in root canals infected with a multispecies biofilm (MB) formed in situ. Palatal roots with a single canal were obtained from extracted maxillary molars and sterilized before being inserted into the mouth. The roots were contaminated with a MB in an intraoral appliance worn by ten volunteers.