Impact of astaxanthin supplementation on markers of cardiometabolic health and tactical performance among firefighters.

Rationale: Firefighters are at risk for cardiovascular disease due to occupational-related inflammation, oxidative stress, and lifestyle practices. Astaxanthin (AX) possesses anti-inflammatory/antioxidant and purported ergogenic properties. This study examined the impact of supplementing the diet with 12 mg/d AX for four weeks on markers of inflammation, oxidative stress, cardiometabolic health, exercise capacity, and occupation-related performance in career firefighters.

Fueling the Firefighter and Tactical Athlete with Creatine: A Narrative Review of a Key Nutrient for Public Safety.

Firefighters, tactical police officers, and warriors often engage in periodic, intermittent, high-intensity physical work in austere environmental conditions and have a heightened risk of premature mortality. In addition, tough decision-making challenges, routine sleep deprivation, and trauma exacerbate this risk. Therefore, identifying strategies to bolster these personnel's health and occupational performance is critical.

Cohort profile: Understanding the influence of early life environments and health and social service system contacts over time and across generations through the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey (WAACHS) Linked Data Study.

Purpose: Despite the volume of accumulating knowledge from prospective Aboriginal cohort studies, longitudinal data describing developmental trajectories in health and well-being is limited. The linkage of child and carer cohorts from a historical cross-sectional survey with longitudinal health-service and social-service administrative data has created a unique and powerful data resource that underpins the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey (WAACHS) linked data study. This study aims to provide evidence-based information to Aboriginal communities across Western Australia, governments and non-government agencies on the heterogeneous life trajectories of Aboriginal children and families.

Comparisons of healthcare personnel relating to awareness, concern, motivation, and behaviours of climate and health: A cross-sectional study.

Aim(s): To describe a sample of healthcare professionals' responses to the valid and reliable Climate and Health Tool and compare participant characteristics relating to Climate and Health Tool subscales.

Design: Observational, cross-sectional, multi-site study.

Methods: An electronic survey containing the Climate and Health Tool was administered to healthcare professionals across a large, multi-state health system in the Western United States with a committed effort to reducing carbon emissions.

Does comorbid depression and anxiety portend poor long-term outcomes following surgery for lumbar spondylolisthesis? Five-year analysis of the Quality Outcomes Database.

Objective: Depression and anxiety are associated with poor outcomes following spine surgery. However, the influence of these conditions on achieving a minimal clinically important difference (MCID) following lumbar spine surgery, as well as the potential compounding effects of comorbid depression and anxiety, is not well understood. This study explores the impact of comorbid depression and anxiety on long-term clinical outcomes following surgical treatment for degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis.

Predictors of patient satisfaction after surgery for grade 1 degenerative spondylolisthesis: a 5-year analysis of the Quality Outcomes Database.

Objective: Lumbar decompression and/or fusion surgery is a common operation for symptomatic lumbar spondylolisthesis refractory to conservative management. Multiyear follow-up of patient outcomes can be difficult to obtain but allows for identification of preoperative patient characteristics associated with durable pain relief, improved functional outcome, and higher patient satisfaction.

Methods: A query of the Quality Outcomes Database (QOD) low-grade spondylolisthesis module for patients who underwent surgery for grade 1 lumbar spondylolisthesis (from July 2014 to June 2016 at the 12 highest-enrolling sites) was used to identify patient satisfaction, as measured with the North American Spine Society (NASS) questionnaire, which uses a scale of 1-4.

Cost-effectiveness of posterior lumbar interbody fusion and/or transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion for grade 1 lumbar spondylolisthesis: a 5-year Quality Outcomes Database study.

Objective: Posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) and/or transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF), referred to as "PLIF/TLIF," is a commonly performed operation for lumbar spondylolisthesis. Its long-term cost-effectiveness has not been well described. The aim of this study was to determine the 5-year cost-effectiveness of PLIF/TLIF for grade 1 degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis using prospective data collected from the multicenter Quality Outcomes Database (QOD).

Predictors of patient satisfaction in the surgical treatment of cervical spondylotic myelopathy.

Objective: Patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) experience progressive neurological impairment. Surgical intervention is often pursued to halt neurological symptom progression and allow for recovery of function. In this paper, the authors explore predictors of patient satisfaction following surgical intervention for CSM.

Physiological Stress Responses to a Live-Fire Training Evolution in Career Structural Firefighters.

Objective: This study assessed firefighters' physiological stress response to a live fire training evolution (LFTE).

Methods: Seventy-six ( n = 76) firefighters completed an LFTE. Salivary samples were collected pre-, immediately post, and 30-min post-LFTE and analyzed for α-amylase (AA), cortisol (CORT), and secretory immunoglobulin-A (SIgA).

The relevance of biologically effective dose for pain relief and sensory dysfunction after Gamma Knife radiosurgery for trigeminal neuralgia: an 871-patient multicenter study.

Objective: Recent studies have suggested that biologically effective dose (BED) is an important correlate of pain relief and sensory dysfunction after Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) for trigeminal neuralgia (TN). The goal of this study was to determine if BED is superior to prescription dose in predicting outcomes in TN patients undergoing GKRS as a first procedure.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of 871 patients with type 1 TN from 13 GKRS centers.

Cervical spondylotic myelopathy and driving abilities: defining the prevalence and long-term postoperative outcomes using the Quality Outcomes Database.

Objective: Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) can cause significant difficulty with driving and a subsequent reduction in an individual's quality of life due to neurological deterioration. The positive impact of surgery on postoperative patient-reported driving capabilities has been seldom explored.

Methods: The CSM module of the Quality Outcomes Database was utilized.

Transforming Outcomes of Spine Surgery-Exploring the Power of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Protocol: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses of 15 198 Patients.

Background And Objectives: Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols aim to optimize patient outcomes by reducing the surgical stress response, expediting recovery, and reducing care costs. We aimed to evaluate the impact of implementing ERAS protocols on the perioperative surgical outcomes and financial implications associated with spine surgeries.

Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of peer-reviewed studies directly comparing outcome differences between spine surgeries performed with and without utilization of ERAS pathways was conducted along Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Surgical management of malignant melanotic nerve sheath tumors: an institutional experience and systematic review of the literature.

Objective: Malignant melanotic nerve sheath tumors are rare tumors characterized by neoplastic melanin-producing Schwann cells. In this study, the authors report their institution's experience in treating spinal and peripheral malignant melanotic nerve sheath tumors and compare their results with the literature.

Methods: Data were collected from 8 patients who underwent surgical treatment for malignant melanotic nerve sheath tumors between 1996 and 2023 at Mayo Clinic and 63 patients from the literature.

Intraoperative Surgeon Assessment of Bone: Correlation to Bone Mineral Density, CT Hounsfield Units, and Vertebral Bone Quality.

Study Design: Retrospective observational study of consecutive patients.

Objective: The purpose of the study is to determine if a surgeon's qualitative assessment of bone intraoperatively correlates with radiologic parameters of bone strength.

Summary Of Background Data: Preoperative radiologic assessment of bone can include modalities such as computed tomography (CT) Hounsfield units (HUs), dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) bone mineral density with trabecular bone score (TBS) and magnetic resonance imaging vertebral bone quality (VBQ).

Biotic homogenisation and differentiation as directional change in beta diversity: synthesising driver-response relationships to develop conceptual models across ecosystems.

Biotic homogenisation is defined as decreasing dissimilarity among ecological assemblages sampled within a given spatial area over time. Biotic differentiation, in turn, is defined as increasing dissimilarity over time. Overall, changes in the spatial dissimilarities among assemblages (termed 'beta diversity') is an increasingly recognised feature of broader biodiversity change in the Anthropocene.

Current Applications of Machine Learning for Spinal Cord Tumors.

Spinal cord tumors constitute a diverse group of rare neoplasms associated with significant mortality and morbidity that pose unique clinical and surgical challenges. Diagnostic accuracy and outcome prediction are critical for informed decision making and can promote personalized medicine and facilitate optimal patient management. Machine learning has the ability to analyze and combine vast amounts of data, allowing the identification of patterns and the establishment of clinical associations, which can ultimately enhance patient care.

The effect of cigarette modified risk claims and brand on perceived risk, product appeal, and use intentions.

Objectives: No studies have examined the brand context in which modified risk claims appear on tobacco products. This study examines how marketing products with modified risk claims affects risk perceptions, appeal, and intentions among own-brand, other brand, and novel brand cigarettes.

Methods: This experiment employed a 3 (claim: risk modification [RM], exposure modification [EM], control) x 3 (brand: own, other, novel) between-subjects design.

Shock Tube/Laser Absorption Measurements of Cyclopentadiene Pyrolysis.

High-temperature cyclopentadiene pyrolysis was examined behind reflected shock waves in a heated shock tube using several laser absorption diagnostic schemes. A two-color, online-offline sensor near 3335 cm was used to measure time histories of acetylene, while a three-color scheme of diagnostics at 10.532, 10.