Liberal or Restrictive Transfusion Strategy in Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

Background: The effect of a liberal red-cell transfusion strategy as compared with a restrictive strategy in patients during the critical care period after an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage is unclear.

Methods: We randomly assigned critically ill adults with acute aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and anemia to a liberal strategy (mandatory transfusion at a hemoglobin level of ≤10 g per deciliter) or a restrictive strategy (optional transfusion at a hemoglobin level of ≤8 g per deciliter). The primary outcome was an unfavorable neurologic outcome, defined as a score of 4 or higher on the modified Rankin scale (range, 0 to 6, with higher scores indicating greater disability) at 12 months.

Ultrasonic Cigarettes: Chemicals and Cytotoxicity are Similar to Heated-Coil Pod-Style Electronic Cigarettes.

Our purpose was to test the hypothesis that ultrasonic cigarettes (u-cigarettes), which operate at relatively low temperatures, produce aerosols that are less harmful than heated-coil pod-style electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). The major chemicals in SURGE u-cigarette fluids and aerosols were quantified, their cytotoxicity and cellular effects were assessed, and a Margin of Exposure risk assessment was performed on chemicals in SURGE fluids. Four SURGE u-cigarette flavor variants ("Blueberry Ice," "Watermelon Ice," "Green Mint," and "Polar Mint") were evaluated.

Ethnicity and deprivation negatively impact the access to disease-modifying therapy for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a retrospective, single-centre study.

Background: A growing body of evidence suggests inequitable access to disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for multiple sclerosis (MS) in publicly funded healthcare systems. This retrospective study examined the impact of ethnicity and deprivation on the access to DMTs.

Methods: All adults diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS between 2010 and 2020 were included.

Does vaping increase the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 infection? Paradoxically yes and no.

Data on the relationship between electronic cigarettes (ECs) and SARS-CoV-2 infection are limited and contradictory. Our objectives were to investigate the impact of EC aerosols on SARS-CoV-2 infection of human bronchial epithelial cells and identify the causative chemical(s). Fully differentiated human bronchial epithelial tissues (hBETs) were exposed at the air-liquid interface (ALI) to aerosols produced from JUUL "Virginia Tobacco" and BLU ECs, as well as nicotine, propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG), and benzoic acid, and infection was then evaluated with SARS-CoV-2 pseudoparticles.

Endocytosis inhibitors block SARS-CoV-2 pseudoparticle infection of mink lung epithelium.

Introduction: Both spill over and spill back of SARS-CoV-2 virus have been reported on mink farms in Europe and the United States. Zoonosis is a public health concern as dangerous mutated forms of the virus could be introduced into the human population through spillback.

Methods: The purpose of our study was to determine the SARS-CoV-2 entry mechanism using the mink lung epithelial cell line (Mv1Lu) and to block entry with drug inhibitors.

A synthetic coolant (WS-23) in disposable electronic cigarettes impairs cytoskeletal function in EpiAirway microtissues exposed at the air liquid interface.

The design of popular disposable electronic cigarettes (ECs) was analyzed, and the concentrations of WS-23, a synthetic coolant, in EC fluids were determined for 22 devices from 4 different brands. All products contained WS-23 in concentrations that ranged from 1.0 to 40.

Policy-relevant differences between secondhand and thirdhand smoke: strengthening protections from involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke pollutants.

Starting in the 1970s, individuals, businesses and the public have increasingly benefited from policies prohibiting smoking indoors, saving thousands of lives and billions of dollars in healthcare expenditures. Smokefree policies to protect against secondhand smoke exposure, however, do not fully protect the public from the persistent and toxic chemical residues from tobacco smoke (also known as thirdhand smoke) that linger in indoor environments for years after smoking stops. Nor do these policies address the economic costs that individuals, businesses and the public bear in their attempts to remediate this toxic residue.

Establishing a Disease-in-a-Dish Model to Study SARS-CoV-2 Infection During Prenatal Development.

Mother-to-fetus transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus via the placenta has been reported but cannot readily be studied in pregnant women. This protocol describes an in vitro method to investigate SARS-CoV-2 infection of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), which are similar to epiblast cells in young postimplantation embryos. First, SARS-CoV-2 viral pseudoparticles, which contain the spike protein and a fluorescent reporter, are incorporated into a lentivirus backbone that is expanded in HEK 293T cells.

New insights into how popular electronic cigarette aerosols and aerosol constituents affect SARS-CoV-2 infection of human bronchial epithelial cells.

The relationship between the use of tobacco products and SARS-CoV-2 infection is poorly understood and controversial. Few studies have examined the effect of electronic cigarettes (ECs) on SARS-CoV-2 infection. We tested the hypothesis that EC fluids and aerosols with nicotine promote SARS-COV-2 infection by increasing viral entry into human respiratory epithelial cells.

An automatic analysis framework for FDOPA PET neuroimaging.

In this study we evaluate the performance of a fully automated analytical framework for FDOPA PET neuroimaging data, and its sensitivity to demographic and experimental variables and processing parameters. An instance of XNAT imaging platform was used to store the King's College London institutional brain FDOPA PET imaging archive, alongside individual demographics and clinical information. By re-engineering the historical Matlab-based scripts for FDOPA PET analysis, a fully automated analysis pipeline for imaging processing and data quantification was implemented in Python and integrated in XNAT.

Exposure, Retention, Exhalation, Symptoms, and Environmental Accumulation of Chemicals During JUUL Vaping.

Little is known about the chemical exposures that electronic cigarette (EC) users receive and emit during JUUL vaping and if exposures produce symptoms dose dependently. This study examined chemical exposure (dose), retention, symptoms during vaping, and the environmental accumulation of exhaled propylene glycol (PG), glycerol (G), nicotine, and menthol in a cohort of human participants who vaped JUUL "Menthol" ECs. We refer to this environmental accumulation as "EC exhaled aerosol residue" (ECEAR).

Chemical Elements, Flavor Chemicals, and Nicotine in Unused and Used Electronic Cigarettes Aged 5-10 Years and Effects of pH.

The concentrations of elements/metals, nicotine, flavor chemicals and acids were compared in the e-liquids of unused and used first-generation electronic cigarettes (ECs) that were stored for 5-10 years. Metal analysis was performed using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy; nicotine and flavor chemical analyses were performed using gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy. Of the 22 elements analyzed, 10 (aluminum, chromium, copper, iron, lead, nickel, selenium, silicon, tin, zinc) were often found in the e-liquids.

Prioritizing outcome measures after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: A q-sort survey of patients, health care providers and researchers.

Objective: To understand which outcome measures patients and their families, health care providers, and researchers prioritize after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH).

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional q-sort survey with participants from three key stakeholder groups. Potential outcomes were identified from interviews and focus groups.

Associations between psoriatic arthritis and mental health among patients with psoriasis: A replication and extension study using the British Association of Dermatologists Biologics and Immunomodulators Register (BADBIR).

Background: Despite some evidence that psoriatic arthritis (PsA) may increase psychological burden in psoriasis, the mental health of this subpopulation is under-investigated.

Objectives: To investigate whether PsA is associated with higher depression and anxiety in moderate-to-severe psoriasis; explore whether pain mediates these associations; and estimate the prevalence of undiagnosed and untreated depression.

Methods: Baseline data from British Association of Dermatologists Biologic and Immunomodulators Register (BADBIR) participants completing the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were analysed.

Brain structure and connectivity in psoriasis and associations with depression and inflammation; findings from the UK biobank.

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic systemic inflammatory skin disease, coexisting with depression in up to 25% of patients. Little is known about the drivers of comorbidity, including shared neurobiology and depression brain imaging patterns in patients. An immune-mediated crosstalk between the brain and skin has been hypothesized in psoriasis.

Ethyl maltol, vanillin, corylone and other conventional confectionery-related flavour chemicals dominate in some e-cigarette liquids labelled 'tobacco' flavoured.

Background: The increased popularity of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has been linked to the abundance of flavoured products that are attractive to adolescents and young adults. In the last decade, e-cigarette designs have evolved through four generations that include modifications in battery power, e-cigarette liquid (e-liquid) reservoirs and atomiser units. E-liquids have likewise evolved in terms of solvent use/ratios, concentration and number of flavour chemicals, use of nicotine salts and acids, the recent increased use of synthetic cooling agents and the introduction of synthetic nicotine.

Dermal thirdhand smoke exposure induces oxidative damage, initiates skin inflammatory markers, and adversely alters the human plasma proteome.

Background: Thirdhand smoke (THS) exposure correlated with significant metabolism of carcinogenic chemicals and the potential to cause detrimental health effects. Human harm research of THS exposure is limited to one other study and overall, there is a general lack of knowledge of the human health responses to THS exposure.

Methods: This was a clinical investigation to evaluate the health effects of 3-h dermal THS exposure from urine and plasma.

[From common colds to COVID-19: potential neurological consequences of a coronavirus infection].

For a large proportion of mankind, the word coronavirus only became a reality in the year 2020, as it was the cause of one of the worst pandemics of the last two centuries. Nevertheless, well before this ominous moment, human coronaviruses (HCoV) were well characterized respiratory pathogens since the 1960s. The most recent discovery of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV showed that coronaviruses have a pandemic potential with important consequences.

The effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on illness perceptions of psoriasis and the role of depression: Findings from a cross-sectional study.

Background: Illness perceptions in psoriasis have an impact on adherence and disability. Changes in dermatological healthcare provision during the Covid-19 pandemic and distress may have affected illness perceptions in psoriasis patients.

Objectives: To test whether illness perceptions about psoriasis changed during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic compared to pre-pandemic in a tertiary population with psoriasis and whether pandemic effects differed depending on depressive burden, given this population's high depression prevalence.

Compositional and structural control in LLZO solid electrolytes.

Garnet-based solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) represent a promising class of materials for next-generation batteries with improved safety and performance. However, lack of control over the composition and crystal structure of the well-known LiLaZrO (LLZO) garnet material has led to poor reproducibility with a wide range of ionic conductivities reported in the literature. In this study, the role of precursor homogeneity in controlling the compositional and structural evolution of Al-doped LLZO is explored.

New Insights into How JUUL™ Electronic Cigarette Aerosols and Aerosol Constituents Affect SARS-CoV-2 Infection of Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells.

Background: The relationship between the use of tobacco products and SARS-CoV-2 infection is poorly understood and controversial. Most studies have been done with tobacco cigarettes, while few have examined the effect of electronic cigarettes (ECs) on SARS-CoV-2 infection. We tested the hypothesis that EC fluids and aerosols with high concentrations of nicotine promote SARS-COV-2 infection by increasing viral entry into human respiratory epithelial cells.