Feasibility Assessment of a Novel Isolation Care Tent in Uganda During the 2022 Outbreak.

This case study describes a feasibility assessment of a novel isolation care tent used in health facilities in Uganda during the 2022 outbreak. The Isolation System for Treatment and Agile Response to High-Risk Infections Model 1B (ISTARI 1B) is a single-occupancy, portable, negative-pressure isolation tent designed for the safe delivery of standard care to patients with a communicable disease, including Ebola disease (Sudan). At the request of the Uganda Ministry of Health, the Makerere University Infectious Diseases Institute and University of Nebraska Medical Center partnered to evaluate 7 health facilities across 4 districts in Uganda for infrastructure, case management, and infection prevention and control (IPC) capacity relevant to isolation care and ISTARI 1B use.

Delivering effective, comprehensive, multi-exercise component cardiac rehabilitation (CR) for chronic heart failure patients in low resource settings in sub-Saharan Africa: Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital-(QECH-CR) randomised CR study, Malawi.

Background: The delivery of Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR) and attaining evidence-based treatment goals are challenging in developing countries, such as Malawi. The aims of this study were to (i) assess the effects of exercise training/ CR programme on cardiorespiratory and functional capacity of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), and (ii) examine the effectiveness of a novel, hybrid CR delivery using integrated supervised hospital- and home-based caregiver approaches.

Methods: A pre-registered (UMIN000045380), randomised controlled trial of CR exercise therapy in patients with CHF was conducted between September 2021 and May 2022.

Confirming the attainment of maximal oxygen uptake within special and clinical groups: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cardiopulmonary exercise test and verification phase protocols.

Background And Aim: A plateau in oxygen uptake ([Formula: see text]) during an incremental cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) to volitional exhaustion appears less likely to occur in special and clinical populations. Secondary maximal oxygen uptake ([Formula: see text]) criteria have been shown to commonly underestimate the actual [Formula: see text]. The verification phase protocol might determine the occurrence of 'true' [Formula: see text] in these populations.

Intensive support does not improve positive-airway pressure use in spinal cord injury/disease: a randomized clinical trial.

Study Objective: Treatment of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) with positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy has unique clinical challenges in individuals living with spinal cord injuries and diseases (spinal cord injury [SCI]/D). Interventions focused on increasing PAP use have not been studied in this population. We aimed to evaluate the benefits of a program to increase PAP use among Veterans with SCI/D and SDB.

Food & You: A digital cohort on personalized nutrition.

Nutrition is a key contributor to health. Recently, several studies have identified associations between factors such as microbiota composition and health-related responses to dietary intake, raising the potential of personalized nutritional recommendations. To further our understanding of personalized nutrition, detailed individual data must be collected from participants in their day-to-day lives.

Serum transthyretin and aminotransferases are associated with lean mass in people with coronary heart disease: Further insights from the CARE-CR study.

Background: Low muscle mass disproportionately affects people with coronary heart disease compared to healthy controls but is under-researched and insufficiently treated. Inflammation, poor nutrition, and neural decline might contribute to low muscle mass. This study aimed to assess circulatory biomarkers related to these mechanisms [albumin, transthyretin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and C-terminal agrin fragment] and their relationship with muscle mass in people with coronary heart disease.

Insomnia severity predicts depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder in veterans with spinal cord injury or disease: a cross-sectional observational study.

Study Objectives: To assess the association of insomnia symptoms and psychiatric symptoms in patients with spinal cord injury or disease (SCI/D).

Methods: In this cross-sectional observational study, veterans with SCI/D (n = 72; mean = 59.85 ± 10.

A novel broad spectrum venom metalloproteinase autoinhibitor in the rattlesnake evolved via a shift in paralog function.

The complexity of snake venom composition reflects adaptation to the diversity of prey and may be driven at times by a coevolutionary arms race between snakes and venom-resistant prey. However, many snakes are also resistant to their own venom due to serum-borne inhibitors of venom toxins, which raises the question of how snake autoinhibitors maintain their efficacy as venom proteins evolve. To investigate this potential three-way arms race among venom, prey, and autoinhibitors, we have identified and traced the evolutionary origin of serum inhibitors of snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs) in the Western Diamondback rattlesnake which possesses the largest known battery of SVMP genes among crotalids examined.

Tetraplegia is associated with increased hypoxic ventilatory response during nonrapid eye movement sleep.

People with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) are likely to experience chronic intermittent hypoxia while sleeping. The physiological effects of intermittent hypoxia on the respiratory system during spontaneous sleep in individuals with chronic cervical SCI are unknown. We hypothesized that individuals with cervical SCI would demonstrate higher short- and long-term ventilatory responses to acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH) exposure than individuals with thoracic SCI during sleep.

Intensive hands-on microsurgery course provides a solid foundation for performing clinical microvascular surgery.

Purpose: Microvascular surgery requires highly specialized and individualized training; most surgical residency training programs are not equipped with microsurgery teaching expertise and/or facilities. The aim of this manuscript was to describe the methodology and clinical effectiveness of an international microsurgery course, currently taught year-round in eight countries.

Methods: In the 5-day microsurgery course trainees perform arterial and venous end-to-end, end-to-side, one-way-up, and continuous suture anastomoses and vein graft techniques in live animals, supported by video demonstrations and hands-on guidance by a full-time instructor.

Metabolic risk is associated with sociodemographic characteristics in adolescents from both rural and urban regions from southern Brazil.

Background: The prevalence of several cardiovascular metabolic disorders are increasingly cause for concern in adolescents worldwide. Given the complex interrelations between metabolic risk (MR) and sociodemographic variables, the present study aims to examine the association between the presence of MR with sociodemographic characteristics (sex, skin color, residential area, and parental socioeconomic status) in adolescents from Southern Brazil.

Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted with 1,152 adolescents (507 males) aged between 12 and 17 years.

An extended amygdala-midbrain circuit controlling cocaine withdrawal-induced anxiety and reinstatement.

Although midbrain dopamine (DA) circuits are central to motivated behaviors, our knowledge of how experience modifies these circuits to facilitate subsequent behavioral adaptations is limited. Here we demonstrate the selective role of a ventral tegmental area DA projection to the amygdala (VTA→amygdala) for cocaine-induced anxiety but not cocaine reward or sensitization. Our rabies virus-mediated circuit mapping approach reveals a persistent elevation in spontaneous and task-related activity of inhibitory GABAergic cells from the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and downstream VTA→amygdala cells that can be detected even after a single cocaine exposure.

Moderating Role of Physical Fitness in the Association Between TV Time and Adiposity Parameters in Adolescents.

Purpose: To identify whether physical fitness (PF) components play a moderating role in the relationship between TV time and adiposity levels.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Few studies have examined if different PF levels modify the association between TV time and adiposity in adolescents.

Love is in the hair: arginine methylation of human hair proteins as novel cardiovascular biomarkers.

Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death worldwide. Extensive cardiovascular biomarkers are available using blood tests but very few, if any, investigations have described non-invasive tests for cardiovascular biomarkers based on readily available hair samples. Here we show, first, that human hair proteins are post-translationally modified by arginine methylation (ArgMe).

FTO gene polymorphism and longitudinal changes in nutritional/obesity status in children and adolescents: Schoolchildren's health cohort study.

The fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO) has been extensively reported in the literature related to nutritional status, but there has been limited description of the genetic contribution to obesity risk during childhood and adolescence, especially in Latin Americans. This study aims to associate the rs9939609 polymorphism, of the FTO gene, with changes in nutritional status in Brazilian schoolchildren followed for 3 years. A longitudinal study was conducted with 355 schoolchildren, aged 7-15 years in 2011/2012 and subsequently re-evaluated in 2014/2015.

Outcomes following coronary artery bypass surgery in diabetic treatment sub-groups. A propensity matched analysis of >7000 patients over 18 years.

Background: European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation II incorporates insulin-controlled diabetes whilst omitting tablet-controlled diabetes. Differences in adverse clinical outcomes following coronary artery bypass graft between these groups are poorly established. Therefore, a propensity matched comparison of short and longer term mortality and morbidity in insulin-controlled diabetes, tablet-controlled diabetes and non-diabetic patients was undertaken.

Is a verification phase useful for confirming maximal oxygen uptake in apparently healthy adults? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The 'verification phase' has emerged as a supplementary procedure to traditional maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) criteria to confirm that the highest possible VO2 has been attained during a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET).

Objective: To compare the highest VO2 responses observed in different verification phase procedures with their preceding CPET for confirmation that VO2max was likely attained.

Methods: MEDLINE (accessed through PubMed), Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, and Cochrane (accessed through Wiley) were searched for relevant studies that involved apparently healthy adults, VO2max determination by indirect calorimetry, and a CPET on a cycle ergometer or treadmill that incorporated an appended verification phase.

Ratings of perceived exertion at the ventilatory anaerobic threshold in people with coronary heart disease: A CARE CR study.

Background: Exercise prescription guidelines for individuals undergoing cardiovascular rehabilitation (CR) are often based on heart rate training zones and rating of perceived exertion (RPE). United Kingdom guidelines indicate that patients should exercise at an intensity of RPE 11 to 14.

Objectives: We aimed to determine the accuracy of this approach by comparing this RPE range with an objectively measured marker of exercise intensity, the ventilatory anaerobic threshold (VAT), and examine whether baseline directly determined cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) affects the association between VAT and RPE.

The effects of exercise to promote quality of life in individuals with traumatic brain injuries: a systematic review.

Objective: To systematically review the effects of exercise interventions that may enhance quality of life (QOL) in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Methods: A systematic search was conducted using five databases up to April 2018. Studies were included if QOL was quantified following an exercise programme for people with a TBI.

Considering the Feasibility, Tolerability, and Safety of High-Intensity Interval Training as a Novel Treatment for Patients With Intermittent Claudication.

Purpose: This study assessed the feasibility, tolerability, safety, and potential efficacy of a novel, 6-wk, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) program for patients with intermittent claudication (IC).

Methods: Patients referred to a usual-care supervised exercise program were invited to undertake a HIIT program. All recruited patients performed a baseline cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPX) to inform their exercise prescription.

Powdered activated carbon (PAC) amendment enhances naphthalene biodegradation under strictly sulfate-reducing conditions.

Capping represents an efficient and well-established practice to contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments, reduce mobility, and minimize risks. Exposure to PAHs can encourage biodegradation, which can improve the performance of capping. This study investigates biodegradation of naphthalene (a model PAH) in highly reducing, sediment-like environments with amendment of different capping materials (PAC and sand).