Recent studies project that temperature-related mortality will be the largest source of damage from climate change, with particular concern for the elderly whom it is believed bear the largest heat-related mortality risk. We study heat and mortality in Mexico, a country that exhibits a unique combination of universal mortality microdata and among the most extreme levels of humid heat. Combining detailed measurements of wet-bulb temperature with age-specific mortality data, we find that younger people who are particularly vulnerable to heat: People under 35 years old account for 75% of recent heat-related deaths and 87% of heat-related lost life years, while those 50 and older account for 96% of cold-related deaths and 80% of cold-related lost life years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are predominantly located in barrier tissues where they rapidly respond to pathogens and commensals by recognizing microbial derivatives of riboflavin synthesis. Early-life exposure to these metabolites imprints the abundance of MAIT cells within tissues, so we hypothesized that antibiotic use during this period may abrogate their development. We identified antibiotics that deplete riboflavin-synthesizing commensals and revealed an early period of susceptibility during which antibiotic administration impaired MAIT cell development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHerpes simplex virus (HSV) infections are one of the most common and stigmatized infections of humankind, affecting more than 4 billion people around the world and more than 100 million Americans. Yet, most people do not know their infection status, and antibody testing is not recommended, partly due to poor test performance. Here, we compared the test performance of the Roche Elecsys HSV-1 IgG and HSV-2 IgG, DiaSorin LIAISON HSV-1/2 IgG, and Bio-Rad BioPlex 2200 HSV-1 and HSV-2 IgG assays with the gold-standard HSV western blot in 1,994 persons, including 1,017 persons with PCR or culture-confirmed HSV-1 and/or HSV-2 infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence technology, has the potential to be a useful patient aid, though the accuracy and appropriateness of its responses and recommendations on common hand surgical pathologies and procedures must be understood. Comparing the sources referenced and characteristics of responses from ChatGPT and an established search engine (Google) on carpal tunnel surgery will allow for an understanding of the utility of ChatGPT for patient education.
Methods: A Google search of "carpal tunnel release surgery" was performed and "frequently asked questions (FAQs)" were recorded with their answer and source.
Intramedullary fixation has long been popular for fracture fixation in the upper extremity from the shoulder through the carpus. Recently, intramedullary fixation in the hand has gained increasing interest, specifically in the metacarpals and phalanges, corresponding with the development of improved cannulated headless screw technology. Along with the advantages of increased operative speed and less surgical dissection, which can promote rapid healing, many benefits exist, supporting their use despite some drawbacks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
August 2023
Most current climate models predict that the equatorial Pacific will evolve under greenhouse gas-induced warming to a more El Niño-like state over the next several decades, with a reduced zonal sea surface temperature gradient and weakened atmospheric Walker circulation. Yet, observations over the last 50 y show the opposite trend, toward a more La Niña-like state. Recent research provides evidence that the discrepancy cannot be dismissed as due to internal variability but rather that the models are incorrectly simulating the equatorial Pacific response to greenhouse gas warming.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Orthop Surg Traumatol
December 2023
Purpose: Fixation failure following open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of humeral shaft fractures can be a challenging complication. We aimed to identify the modes of failure and characteristics of failed fixation constructs.
Methods: We queried our institutional database for patients > 18 years old with fixation failure after ORIF with single plate and screw constructs of humeral shaft fractures from 2006 to 2017.
Unlabelled: Female physicians have been historically underrepresented in orthopaedic surgery residencies. The purpose of this study was to determine whether sex diversity among orthopaedic residency programs and faculty is associated with an increased number of female residents matriculating into that program. In addition, we sought to analyze female resident matriculation trends in the past 5 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: In orthopaedic surgery, there are fewer Black or African American (4%) and Hispanic or Latino (4%) residents compared with general surgery, internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics (5%-7% Black residents and 7%-9% Hispanic/Latino residents, respectively). There are also fewer underrepresented in medicine minority (URiM) faculty in orthopaedic surgery (6.1%) compared with general surgery (8.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Women residents are underrepresented in orthopaedic surgery. The causes of the deficit of women in orthopaedic surgery are multifactorial, but by identifying the perceptions of women in orthopaedic residency training and comparing them with the perceptions of men, we can improve our understanding of ways to enhance the recruitment of qualified and diverse candidates.
Questions/purposes: (1) What differences exist in the perceived experiences of residents identifying as women and men regarding professional, social, and personal interactions during residency training? (2) Are there differences in the percentage of women and men residents who have experienced harassment or discrimination in preresidency interviews, and are there differences in the type of harassment or discrimination experienced?
Methods: A survey was generated using Academy of Critical Care: Development, Evaluation, and Methodology guidelines.
The next-generation global climate model from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, GISS-E3, contains many improvements to resolution and physics that allow for improved representation of tropical cyclones (TCs) in the model. This study examines the properties of TCs in two different versions of E3 at different points in its development cycle, run for 20 years at 0.5° resolution, and compares these TCs with observations, the previous generation GISS model, E2, and other climate models.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAllergy Asthma Clin Immunol
April 2022
Background: Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is associated with a heavy burden of illness.
Objective: To evaluate use of lanadelumab in a French Authorization for Temporary Use (ATU) program.
Methods: ATU requests were made between October 12, 2018, and March 13, 2019; patients were followed through September 23, 2019.
Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg
August 2022
Purpose: This study compares orthopedic injuries, procedures, and hospital outcomes of patients presenting to trauma centers in Pennsylvania before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: A retrospective review of adult patients presenting to hospitals with Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation (PTSF) designations was performed. All patients 18 years of age and older who presented with orthopedic injuries were included.
J Am Acad Orthop Surg Glob Res Rev
February 2022
Introduction: Stay-at-home orders and other social distancing restrictions had a profound effect on the lives of children during the pandemic. This study characterizes pediatric orthopaedic injuries and in-hospital outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic and compares them with pre-COVID patterns.
Methods: A retrospective review of pediatric patients presenting to hospitals with Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation designations was performed.
Purpose: Comminuted olecranon fractures are commonly fixed with posterior locking plates (PLPs). Though biomechanically validated, this method comes with risks of symptomatic implant prominence and wound breakdown. Dual locking plates (DLPs) placed on the medial and lateral surfaces of the olecranon theoretically avoid these risks and allow for fixation of proximal fracture fragments in multiple planes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: We aimed to test the utility of screening for depressive symptoms in the hand surgical office focusing on chances of heightened depressive symptoms in patients with no history of diagnosed depression and by quantifying ongoing depressive symptoms among patients diagnosed with depression accounting for antidepressant use. The clinical importance of this study was predicated on the documented negative association between depressive symptoms and hand surgical outcomes.
Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed 351 patients presenting to a tertiary hand center between April 21, 2016, and November 22, 2017.
The protection of forests is crucial to providing important ecosystem services, such as supplying clean air and water, safeguarding critical habitats for biodiversity, and reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. Despite this importance, global forest loss has steadily increased in recent decades. Protected Areas (PAs) currently account for almost 15% of Earth's terrestrial surface and protect 5% of global tree cover and were developed as a principal approach to limit the impact of anthropogenic activities on natural, intact ecosystems and habitats.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe concept of implementation of environmental health protection and sustainment in aerospace environments by definition implies a One Health systems approach. One Health indicates an inherently complex, contextually interrelated system with consideration of human, animal, plant, systems engineering, and environmental health, their interrelationships, and networks. One Health implies seamless integration of subsystem co-dependencies to achieve an outcome of overall health protection for the individual.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons has adopted the strategic goal of evolving its culture and governance to become more strategic, innovative, and diverse. Given the charge to increase diversity, a focus on assessing and increasing diversity at the faculty level may help this cause. However, an analysis of gender and racial diversity among orthopaedic faculty has not been performed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the research presented at the annual meetings of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) and the American Association for Hand Surgery (AAHS). Podium presentation data were extracted from the abstract books of the annual meetings of the ASSH and AAHS from 2007 to 2012. Corresponding publications were identified using searchable online publication databases and an algorithm linking authorship and content.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere has been a recent shift within the orthopedic literature to publish articles with higher levels of evidence. In this investigation, the trends in question taxonomy and the levels of evidence of the references for sports medicine questions on the Orthopaedic In-Training Examination (OITE) during a 12-year period were evaluated. Sports medicine questions were obtained from the OITEs administered between 2005 and 2007 and between 2014 and 2016.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe gut microbiome is a malleable microbial community that can remodel in response to various factors, including diet, and contribute to the development of several chronic diseases, including atherosclerosis. We devised an in vitro screening protocol of the mouse gut microbiome to discover molecules that can selectively modify bacterial growth. This approach was used to identify cyclic D,L-α-peptides that remodeled the Western diet (WD) gut microbiome toward the low-fat-diet microbiome state.
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