A systemic evaluation of COVID-19 vaccination drives in LICs, LMICs, UMICs, and HICs: Preparedness for future pandemics.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted global healthcare systems. Vaccination is an effective strategy to battle the disease. Policies and distribution frameworks have varied widely across countries.

Risk Factors for Extraocular Relapse in Retinoblastoma.

Background: Metastatic retinoblastoma remains a significant challenge in pediatric oncology, with stark disparities in survival outcomes between high-income countries (HICs) and low-income countries (LICs). Delayed diagnosis and treatment, driven by socioeconomic factors and limitations in healthcare systems, contribute to poorer outcomes in LICs. Histopathological characteristics, including high-risk pathology factors (HRPFs) and the extent of ocular tumor invasion, are critical for predicting metastatic risk and guiding treatment strategies.

Effect of Screen Time and Sugar Consumption Reduction on Sleep Bruxism in Children: A Randomised Clinical Trial.

Objective: Sleep bruxism (SB) is associated with alterations in dopamine and serotonin, which are related to increased consumption of added sugar and overuse of screens. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of the interventions 'Food, Fun and Family' (FFF) and Counselling and Education (CE) on the frequency of SB in children.

Methods: A randomised clinical trial was conducted.

Improving Real-Time Feedback During Cochlear Implantation: The Auditory Nerve Neurophonic/Cochlear Microphonic Ratio.

Objectives: Real-time monitoring of cochlear function to predict the loss of residual hearing after cochlear implantation is now possible. Current approaches monitor the cochlear microphonic (CM) during implantation from the electrode at the tip of the implant. A drop in CM response of >30% is associated with poorer hearing outcomes.

Hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia.

Hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is a vascular dysplasia inherited as an autosomal dominant trait and caused by loss-of-function pathogenic variants in genes encoding proteins of the BMP signalling pathway. Up to 90% of disease-causal variants are observed in ENG and ACVRL1, with SMAD4 and GDF2 less frequently responsible for HHT. In adults, the most frequent HHT manifestations relate to iron deficiency and anaemia owing to recurrent epistaxis (nosebleeds) or bleeding from gastrointestinal telangiectases.

Prebiotic RNA self-assembling and the origin of life: Mechanistic and molecular modeling rationale for explaining the prebiotic origin and replication of RNA.

In recent years, a great interest has been focused on the prebiotic origin of nucleic acids and life on Earth. An attractive idea is that life was initially based on an autocatalytic and autoreplicative RNA (the RNA-world). RNA duplexes are right-handed helical chains with antiparallel orientation, but the rationale for these features is not yet known.

Do coping mechanisms moderate the effect of stressful life events on depression and anxiety in young people? A case-control study from Latin America.

Background: Stressful life events (SLEs) are associated with increased risk of depression or anxiety. Coping mechanisms may moderate this relationship but little is known on this topic in young people or in Latin America.

Aim: To investigate whether coping strategies predict odds of depression and/or anxiety and moderate the relationship between SLEs and depression and/or anxiety in young people in Peru, Lima and Bogotá.

Feasible band boundaries computation in bilinear matrix decomposition using essential data.

Background: Multivariate curve resolution methods are usually confronted with non-unique pure component factors. This rotational ambiguity can be represented by ranges of feasible profiles, which are equally compatible with the imposed constraints. Sensor-wise N-BANDS is an effective algorithm for the calculation of the bounds of feasible profiles in the presence of noise, but suffers from high computational cost.

Surpassing protein specificity in biomimetics of bacterial amyloids.

In nature, nontoxic protein amyloids serve as dynamic, protein-specific depots, exemplified by both bacterial inclusion bodies and secretory granules from the endocrine system. Inspired by these systems, chemically defined and regulatory-compliant artificial protein microgranules have been developed for clinical applications as endocrine-like protein repositories. This has been achieved by exploiting the reversible coordination between histidine residues and divalent cations such as Zn, that promotes protein-protein interactions.

Equipmentless point-of-care testing of dengue antibodies using ELISA and smartphones.

Infections with the dengue virus affect more than 100 million people every year. The infected can present a mild form of the disease or a severe form, which can, eventually, lead to death. Dengue prevails in tropical and subtropical regions, although increased incidence has been observed in the last years in tempered climates.

PFAS contamination in tap water: Target and suspect screening of zwitterionic, cationic, and anionic species across Canada and beyond.

This study investigated the occurrence of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including anionic, cationic, and zwitterionic compounds, in drinking water. Between 2021-2023, an expanded list of 76 target PFAS was screened in tap water samples mainly from Canada, but also including tap water samples from the Eastern United States, Mexico, South America (Argentina), the Caribbean (Dominican Republic, Cuba), Africa (Algeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Morocco, Rwanda, Tunisia), Europe (France, Greece, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom) and Asia (Japan, Vietnam, Iran, and Türkiye). An additional ∼ 200 suspect-target PFAS were screened using high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry.

Genetic identification of zoonotic parasite Anisakis pegreffii (Nematoda: Anisakidae) parasitizing the shortfin squid Illex argentinus under commercial exploitation in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean.

Despite the shortfin squid, Illex argentinus, is one of the most important commercial species for the Argentine fisheries, being the third frozen product exported to Europe, the occurrence and distribution of zoonotic anisakid nematodes is scarcely reported. A total of 712 I. argentinus distributed in 17 samples, corresponding to its three main commercial stocks, caught along its distribution range in Argentine waters were examined for anisakid parasites.

Simultaneous Lefort 2 Distraction and Fronto-Orbito-Malar Advancement: Correcting Severe Upper and Midface Retrusion in a Patient With Crouzon Syndrome.

Craniofacial syndromes present with exorbitism and airway obstruction as a result of upper and middle facial hypoplasia. Classical subcranial Lefort III (LF III) or monobloc distraction osteogenesis (DO) using an external craniofacial device is used to treat these deformities. These procedures are done during mixed dentition, in most cases, advancing an abnormal face, to a more normal position.

Recruitment, follow-up and survival in an 11-country cohort study of patients at the end of life and their relatives.

Background: Large, international cohort studies generate high-level evidence, but are resource intense. In end-of-life care such studies are scarce. Hence, planning for future studies in terms of data on screening, recruitment, retention and survival remains a challenge.

Listening to placebos: the contested lessons of antidepressants debates.

The goal of this paper is to explore a set of epistemological and ontological issues regarding the historical and philosophical role of placebos in the contested history of antidepressants. Starting from an account of the dual nature of the placebo as both an epistemic and a therapeutic tool, and against the background of the heated debates on the efficacy of second-generation antidepressants, I propose two related arguments. First, I argue that placebos as controls played a crucial but paradoxical role in the rise of so-called evidence-based approaches to depression.

Chlamydia in farms located in the Argentine-Brazilian-Paraguay tri-border.

Chlamydias are zoonotic pathogens, broadly present in several bird species and responsible for economic losses in animal production. Our study focused on assessing the prevalence of Chlamydial species posing zoonotic risks in farm animals within the highly biodiverse Argentine, Brazil, and Paraguay tri-border area, characterized by significant human interaction. We surveyed nine farms in an area and nasally swabbed a total of 62 animals, that included cattle, horses and pigs.

Targeted Enrichment Sequencing Utilizing a Respiratory Pathogen Panel for Genomic Wastewater-Based Viral Epidemiology in Uruguay.

Human respiratory and enteric viruses are responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide. Wastewater-based epidemiology utilizing next-generation sequencing serves as an effective tool for monitoring viral circulation dynamics at the community level. However, these complex environmental samples are often laden with other microorganisms and host genomic material, which can hinder the sensitivity of viral detection.

Biomarkers.

Background: Beyond dementia syndromes, cognitive symptoms are highly prevalent in Parkinson's disease (PD), often manifesting as mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Yet, their detection and characterization remain suboptimal because standard approaches rely on subjective impressions derived from lengthy, univariate tests. Here we introduce a novel approach to detect cognitive symptom severity and identify MCI in PD using fully automated word property analyses on brief verbal fluency tasks.

Biomarkers.

Background: Down Syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic form of intellectual disability. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the life expectancy of individuals with DS, currently reaching the age of 60 or over. However, it has been observed that as of age 40, these individuals experience higher risk of developing dementia, and almost all of them exhibit histopathological characteristics of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in their brains.

Biomarkers.

Background: Chronic exposition to stressor factors has been postulated as a cause of structural changes in the brain in the context of dementia. One of these changes can be the fiber integrity loss, that can be measured by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). We obtained DTI whole brain metrics to relate them with allostatic load in subjects of a chilean cohort of cognitive complaint subjects.

Biomarkers.

Background: Dementia impacts the way individuals perceive and describe everyday events. Alzheimer's disease (AD) notably affects processing of entities manifested by nouns, while behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) often presents a detached, third-person perspective. Yet, the potential of natural language processing tools (NLP) to detect these variations in spontaneous speech remains explored.

Biomarkers.

Background: Chronic exposure to stress, quantified by allostatic load (AL), has been postulated as a cause of structural brain changes in the context of dementia. White matter hyperintensities (WMH), detected in MRI FLAIR, are a common brain abnormality representing small vessel disease or degenerative changes in the brain. Here, we studied differences in tract-specific WMH volume across three risk levels of AL in Chilean subjects with cognitive complaint, to explore links between chronic stress exposure and prodromal steps of dementia.

Biomarkers.

Background: The Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum is composed of the stages of Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's Disease Dementia (ADD). The decrease in gray matter volume (GMV) secondary to cortical atrophy, commonly seen in this continuum, is related to cognitive and activities of daily living (ADL) impairment. Additionally, White Matter Hyperintensities (WMH), MRI abnormalities frequently observed in older adults and patients with dementia, are also associated with cognitive and ADL performance.