Surgical Bailout in Patients Undergoing Transfemoral Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: Incidence, Trends, and Clinical Outcomes.

Background: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) harbors the risk of periprocedural complications that require emergent cardiac surgery, or "surgical bailout." Surgical bailout intends to be lifesaving but is associated with high mortality. This has given rise to discussion on the necessity of surgical backup during TAVR.

Initial Decline in Glomerular Filtration Rate With Finerenone in HFmrEF/HFpEF: A Prespecified Analysis of FINEARTS-HF.

Background: An initial decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) often leads to reluctance to continue life-saving therapies in patients with heart failure (HF).

Objectives: The goal of this study was to describe the association between initial decline in eGFR and subsequent clinical outcomes in patients randomized to placebo or finerenone.

Methods: In this prespecified analysis of FINEARTS-HF (Finerenone Trial to Investigate Efficacy and Safety Superior to Placebo in Patients with Heart Failure), we examined the association between initial decline in eGFR (≥15%) from randomization to 1 month and subsequent outcomes in patients assigned to finerenone or placebo.

Dorsal raphe nucleus receives retinal projections of morphologically distinct fibers in the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus): A subunit B cholera labeling.

Non-image forming (NIF) pathways, a specialized branch of retinal circuitry, play a crucial role supporting physiological and behavioral processes, including circadian rhythmicity. Among the NIF regions, the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), a midbrain serotonergic cluster of neurons, is also devoted to circadian functions. Despite indirectly send photic inputs to circadian centers and modulating their activities, little is known about the organization of retina-DRN circuits in primate species.

Intestinal flow and digestive parameters of Lutzomyia longipalpis larvae.

Lutzomyia longipalpis Lutz & Neiva, 1912 (Diptera, Psychodidae), is the primary vector of Leishmania infantum Nicole, 1908, the etiological agent of American visceral leishmaniasis. During their development, sandfly larvae pass through four instars, consuming soil particles enriched with microorganisms and decomposing organic material. In numerous insect species, the intestinal epithelium not only secretes digestive enzymes and absorbs digested nutrients but also carries out additional functions, such as regulating luminal pH and facilitating the absorption or secretion of ions and water.

Physiological accumulation of lipid droplets in newborn liver during breastfeeding is driven by TLR4 ligands.

Background: The liver plays a central role in fat storage, but little is known about physiological fat accumulation during early development. Here we investigated a transient surge in hepatic lipid droplets observed in newborn mice immediately after birth.

Methods: We developed a novel model to quantify liver fat content without tissue processing.

A review of recent progress in alginate-based nanocomposite materials for tissue engineering applications.

Integrating nanotechnology with tissue engineering has revolutionized biomedical sciences, enabling the development of advanced therapeutic strategies. Tissue engineering applications widely utilize alginate due to its biocompatibility, mild gelation conditions, and ease of modification. Combining different nanomaterials with alginate matrices enhances the resulting nanocomposites' physicochemical properties, such as mechanical, electrical, and biological properties, as well as their surface area-to-volume ratio, offering significant potential for tissue engineering applications.

Insecticidal effects of Sargassum vulgare and Caulerpa racemosa extracts on Aedes aegypti.

Dengue is a viral disease present in many regions of the world. Aedes aegypti transmits it, and the most effective way to eliminate the mosquito is during the larval stage. Seaweeds possess metabolites with insecticidal properties, making them potential sources of new larvicides and viable alternatives to synthetic products used to control insect vectors of diseases.

Call to action for Clinicians in the South-East Asian Regions on Primary Prevention of Diabetes in people with Prediabetes- A Consensus statement.

Primary prevention of diabetes still remains as an unmet challenge in a real world setting. While, translational programmes have been successful in the developed nations, the prevailing social and economic inequities in the low and middle income countries, fail to integrate diabetes prevention into their public health systems. The resulting exponential increase in the prevalence of diabetes and the cost of treatment has put primary prevention in the back seat.

G protein-coupled purinergic P2Y receptors in infectious diseases.

The purinergic P2Y receptors comprise eight G-coupled receptor (GPCR) subtypes already identified (P2Y, P2Y, P2Y, P2Y, P2Y, P2Y). P2Y receptor physiological agonists are extracellular purine and pyrimidine nucleotides such as ATP (Adenosine triphosphate), ADP (Adenosine diphosphate), UTP (Uridine triphosphate), UDP (Uridine diphosphate), and UDP-glucose. These receptors are expressed in almost all cells.

Early and Long-Term Adverse Outcomes of In Utero Zika Exposure.

Background: Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy can lead to congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) and may result in neurodevelopmental alterations in exposed children, with and without CZS. This study aimed to evaluate ZIKV infection during pregnancy as a risk factor for early and long-term adverse outcomes.

Methods: This retrospective-prospective, matched cohort study was conducted in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

Neurology pioneers in Japan.

The pioneers of neurology in Japan were professors Hiroshi Kawahara and Kinnosuke Miura. Kawahara published the first description of progressive bulbar palsy and wrote the first neurology textbook in Japan. Miura, on the other hand, published studies about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in addition to participating in the founding of the Japanese Society of Neurology.

Dosage of botulinum toxin in patients undergoing treatment for hemifacial spasm: is there modification during follow-up?

Background:  The movement disorder known as hemifacial spasm is characterized by involuntary contractions of the muscles that are innervated by the facial nerve. The treatment of choice for this condition is botulinum toxin injections.

Objective:  To analyze the botulinum toxin dosage in patients undergoing treatment for hemifacial spasm during a 14-year period.

Real-world tafamidis experience in hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis with peripheral neuropathy in Brazil.

Background:  Tafamidis is a kinetic stabilizer that binds to the transthyretin (TTR) gene, inhibiting its dissociation. It is the only disease-modifying treatment for hereditary TTR amyloidosis with peripheral neuropathy (ATTRv-PN) available in the National Therapeutic Form (Formulário Terapêutico Nacional, FTN, in Portuguese) of the Brazilian Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde, SUS, in Portuguese).

Objective:  To assess if the efficacy and safety of tafamidis in the Brazilian real-world experience are comparable to the results of clinical trials.

Active vaccine safety surveillance in low- and middle-income countries: Challenges for vaccine manufacturers from emerging countries.

Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) is an alliance of vaccine developers, manufacturers, and marketing authorization holders (MAHs) from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that plays a vital role in ensuring equitable, inclusive, accountable, and timely access to affordable, high-quality vaccines in these countries. Besides research and development, this network promotes manufacturing and global supply chains for effective strengthening of regulatory and pharmacovigilance activities. Traditionally, vaccine safety surveillance systems in LMICs rely on spontaneous reporting.

Effect of the support alkyl chain nature in the functional properties of the immobilized lipases.

Supports coated with amino-hexyl and amino octyl have been prepared from glyoxyl agarose beads and compared in their performance with octyl-agarose to immobilize lipases A and B from Candida antarctica (CALA and CALB). Immobilization courses were similar using all supports, but enzyme release was more difficult using the amino-alkyl supports suggesting a mixed interfacial activation/ionic exchange immobilization. The enzyme activity and specificity (using p-nitrophenyl propionate, triacetin and both isomers of methyl mandelate) greatly depended on the support.

Mineral and trace element analysis of non-conventional food plants using ICP OES and chemometric techniques.

Non-conventional food plants (or non-conventional edible plants) have the potential to serve as an excellent nutritional alternative while promoting the circular economy. Given the nutritional potential of non-conventional food plants, this study aimed to investigate and determine the composition of these plants using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP OES) combined with chemometric techniques. In this context, the following non-conventional food plant species were evaluated: serralha (Sonchus oleraceus), two species of ora-pro-nóbis, Pereskia grandifolia and Pereskia aculeata, peixinho (Nematanthus gregarius), alfavaca (Ocimum basilicum), taioba (Xanthosoma sagittifolium), capeba (Pothomorphe umbellata), tranchagem (Plantago major), and bardana (Arctium lappa).

Large-sized trees and altitude drive aboveground carbon stock in Brazilian Atlantic Cloud Forests: An approach based on carbon hyperdominant taxa.

Research about patterns of aboveground carbon stock (AGC) across different tropical forest types is central to climate change mitigation efforts. However, the aboveground carbon stock (AGC) quantification for Brazilian cloud forest ecosystems along the altitudinal gradient is still scarce. We aimed to evaluate the effects of abiotic and biotic on AGC and the AGC distribution between species and families of tree communities along an altitudinal Brazilian Atlantic cloud forest gradient of the Mantiqueira Mountain Range, Southeastern Brazil.

Effects of ionizing radiation on osteoblastic cells: In vitro insights into the etiopathogenesis of osteoradionecrosis.

Objective: This in vitro study aimed to analyze the effects of ionizing radiation on immortalized human osteoblast-like cells (SaOS-2) and further assess their cellular response in co-culture with fibroblasts. These analyses, conducted in both monoculture and co-culture, are based on two theoretical models of osteoradionecrosis - the theory of hypoxia and cellular necrosis and the theory of the radiation-induced fibroatrophic process.

Design: SaOS-2 cells were exposed to ionizing radiation and evaluated for cell viability, nitric oxide (NO) production, cellular morphology, wound healing, and gene expression related to the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway.

Efficacy and safety of intravenous tirofiban in patients with acute ischemic stroke due to large artery atherosclerosis undergoing endovascular thrombectomy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Intravenous tirofiban (IT) is shown to be potentially effective in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients submitted to mechanical thrombectomy, despite its safety and efficacy are not well established. However, there is a lack of evidence on the effects of IT on endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) in patients with AIS due to large artery atherosclerosis (LAA).

Objectives: To assess the safety and efficacy of IT in AIS patients due to LAA submitted to EVT.

Exploring Denosumab in the Treatment of Giant Cell Tumors: Clinical Evidence and Controversies.

Giant cell tumors (GCTs) are benign but locally aggressive bone neoplasms that primarily affect skeletally mature individuals. They are characterized by a tendency for recurrence and being associated with significant morbidity. Traditional treatment has focused on surgical resection; however, the role of medical therapies, such as Denosumab, a bone anti-resorptive drug, which has been Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved for unresectable GCTs since 2013, recently has gained prominence.

Transgender people and travestis experiencing homelessness in Salvador: a descriptive study on sociodemographic profile and access to social assistance and health services, Brazil, 2021 and 2022.

Objective: To describe the sociodemographic profile and access to social assistance and health services among trans people and travestis experiencing homelessness in Salvador, the capital city of Bahia state.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 24 (4.5%) participants who identified as trans people or travestis out of a total of 529 people, aged 18 or older, living in public spaces or institutional shelters included in the survey.

Acceptability and completeness of vaccination schedules recommended for transgender women and travestis in the city of São Paulo, Brazil: a cross-sectional study, 2019-2020.

Objective: To assess adherence to and completeness of vaccination schedules against human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis A and B among transgender women and travestis in São Paulo, capital city of São Paulo state.

Methods: This was a secondary data analysis of the multicenter TransOdara study. Data were collected from 403 transgender women and travestis aged 18 years or older, recruited through respondent-driven sampling between December 2019 and October 2020.