Valvular Heart Disease-Related Mortality Between Middle- and High-Income Countries During 2000 to 2019.

Background: Valvular heart disease (VHD) management has evolved rapidly in recent decades, but disparities in health care access persist among countries with varying socioeconomic backgrounds.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate global mortality trends from VHD and assess the difference between middle- and high-income countries.

Methods: We obtained mortality data from the World Health Organization Mortality Database for VHD and its subgroups (rheumatic valvular disease [RVD], infective endocarditis [IE], aortic stenosis [AS], and mitral regurgitation [MR]) from 2000 to 2019.

Global Disparities in Outcomes of Pregnant Individuals With Rheumatic Heart Disease: A Scoping Review.

Background: Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains as 1 of the major contributors to indirect pregnancy-related mortality and morbidity worldwide and disproportionately affects marginalized populations.

Objectives: In this scoping review, the authors sought to explore the socioeconomic, cultural, and health care access-related causes of global disparities in outcomes of pregnancy among individuals with RHD.

Methods: We performed a literature search of all studies published between January 1, 1990, and January 1, 2022, that investigated causes for disparate outcomes in pregnant individuals with RHD.

Systemic Sirolimus Therapy Is Associated With Reduced Intervention Frequency in Pulmonary Vein Stenosis.

Background: Early clinical outcomes data for adjunctive systemic sirolimus therapy (SST) for moderate to severe pediatric pulmonary vein stenosis (PVS) are promising but limited.

Objectives: The authors aimed to characterize a cohort of patients treated with SST to determine if SST was associated with a reduction in frequency of PVS interventions.

Methods: Medical records of 45 patients with PVS treated with SST for ≥1 month from 2015 to 2022 were retrospectively reviewed.

Promotion of Cardiovascular Health in Africa: The Alliance for Medical Research in Africa (AMedRA) Expert Panel.

This proposed scientific statement is focused on providing new insights regarding challenges and opportunities for cardiovascular health (CVH) promotion in Africa. The statement includes an overview of the current state of CVH in Africa, with a particular interest in the cardiometabolic risk factors and their evaluation through metrics. The statement also explains the main principles of primordial prevention, its relevance in reducing noncommunicable disease and the different strategies that have been effective worldwide.

Metal Mobilization from Thawing Permafrost Is an Emergent Risk to Water Resources.

Metals are ubiquitous in Earth's Critical Zone and play key roles in ecosystem function, human health, and water security. They are essential nutrients at low concentrations, yet some metals are toxic at a high dose. Permafrost thaw substantially alters all the physical and chemical processes governing metal mobility, including water movement and solute transport and (bio)geochemical interactions involving water, organic matter, minerals, and microbes.

Gravity-Driven Membrane Filtration with Passive Hydraulic Fouling Control for Drinking Water Treatment: Demonstration of Long-Term Performance at Full Scale.

The present study evaluated the performance of a full-scale gravity-driven membrane filtration system with passive hydraulic fouling control (PGDMF) for drinking water treatment in a small community over a 3-year period. The PGDMF system consistently met the design flow and regulated water quality/performance parameters (i.e.

Safety and Efficacy of Metformin for Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension. A U.S-Based Real-World Data Retrospective Multicenter Cohort Study.

Introduction: Managing idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is challenging due to limited treatment options. This study evaluates metformin as a potential therapy for IIH, examining its impact on disease outcomes and safety.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study using the TriNetX database, covering data from 2009 to August 2024.

Role of neck dissections in the management of carotid body tumors.

Objective: Carotid body tumors (CBTs) are rare neoplasms of the paraganglia at the carotid bifurcation. While typically benign, CBTs occasionally exhibit malignancy, metastasizing to nearby lymph nodes. Histopathologic analysis alone is insufficient to confirm malignancy, requiring metastases to non-neuroendocrine tissue for a definitive diagnosis.

Mapping the 3D genome architecture.

The spatial organization of the genome plays a critical role in regulating gene expression, cellular differentiation, and genome stability. This review provides an in-depth examination of the methodologies, computational tools, and frameworks developed to map the three-dimensional (3D) architecture of the genome, focusing on both ligation-based and ligation-free techniques. We also explore the limitations of these methods, including biases introduced by restriction enzyme digestion and ligation inefficiencies, and compare them to more recent ligation-free approaches such as Genome Architecture Mapping (GAM) and Split-Pool Recognition of Interactions by Tag Extension (SPRITE).

Fibromyalgia syndrome-a bodily distress disorder/somatic symptom disorder?

Introduction: The debate addressing the classification of chronic widespread pain as a physical disorder (fibromyalgia syndrome) [FMS] or a somatoform disorder according to psychiatric classification systems has continued for decades.

Objectives: The review aims to line out the new perspectives introduced by the 11th version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD 11) of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Methods: Critical review of the classification criteria of fibromyalgia syndrome and bodily distress disorder in ICD 11.

Manipulation of mitochondrial poly(A) polymerase family proteins in impacts mRNA termini processing.

RNA-specific nucleotidyltransferases (rNTrs) add nontemplated nucleotides to the 3 end of RNA. Two noncanonical rNTRs that are thought to be poly(A) polymerases (PAPs) have been identified in the mitochondria of trypanosomes - KPAP1 and KPAP2. KPAP1 is the primary polymerase that adds adenines (As) to trypanosome mitochondrial mRNA 3 tails, while KPAP2 is a non-essential putative polymerase whose role in the mitochondria is ambiguous.

Pathogen presence, prevalence, and diversity in and mammal hosts at their expanding northern range limits.

With climate and land use changes, tick-borne pathogens are expected to become more widely distributed in Canada. Pathogen spread and transmission in this region is modulated by changes in the abundance and distribution of tick and host populations. Here, we assessed the relationships between pathogens detected in and mammal hosts at sites of different levels of disease risk using data from summer field surveys in Ontario and Quebec, Canada.

Augmenting efficient real-time surgical instrument segmentation in video with point tracking and Segment Anything.

The Segment Anything model (SAM) is a powerful vision foundation model that is revolutionizing the traditional paradigm of segmentation. Despite this, a reliance on prompting each frame and large computational cost limit its usage in robotically assisted surgery. Applications, such as augmented reality guidance, require little user intervention along with efficient inference to be usable clinically.

iSurgARy: A mobile augmented reality solution for ventriculostomy in resource-limited settings.

Global disparities in neurosurgical care necessitate innovations addressing affordability and accuracy, particularly for critical procedures like ventriculostomy. This intervention, vital for managing life-threatening intracranial pressure increases, is associated with catheter misplacement rates exceeding 30% when using a freehand technique. Such misplacements hold severe consequences including haemorrhage, infection, prolonged hospital stays, and even morbidity and mortality.

Focusing on antimicrobial resistant infections -are we missing the forest for the trees and the patients for pathogens?

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a challenge because it is associated with worse patient outcomes. To solve the problem will take development of interventions and policies which improve patient outcomes by prolonging survival, improving patient symptoms, function and quality of life. Logically, we should look to focusing resources in areas that would have the greatest impact on public health.

Relational peer victimization and depression symptoms in young adults: longitudinal evidence from before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Some targets of relational peer victimization become depressed because of their poor treatment. These associations are well documented in youth but are rarely studied in adults.

Methods: The longitudinal pathways between relational peer victimization (being excluded, stonewalled, etc.

Meaning making and fostering radical hope: applying positive psychology to eco-anxiety research in youth.

The consequences of human activity on climate change are increasingly apparent. For example, they are causing ecological degradation and affecting human and animal health. Rightly so, it is considered as the most important challenge of this century.

Findings from an expert focus group on psychotropic medication deprescribing practices for children and youth with complex needs.

Introduction: Psychotropic medication can be effective at stabilizing emotional and behavioural disturbances associated with physiological processes in children and youth. When medication benefits, indication or adverse effects are queried, deprescribing should be considered. Current guidelines for deprescribing are mainly for adults/elderly and largely theoretical, not practical, especially for polypharmacy.

Parental use of routines, setting limits, and child screen use during COVID-19: findings from a large Canadian cohort study.

Background: An increase in child screen time has been observed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Home environment and parenting practices have been associated with child screen time. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between parental use of routines, limit setting, and child screen time during the (COVID-19) pandemic to inform harm-reducing strategies to limit the potential harms ensued by excessive screen use.

Cure for tantrums? Longitudinal associations between parental digital emotion regulation and children's self-regulatory skills.

Introduction: Parents often use digital devices to regulate their children's negative emotions, e.g., to stop tantrums.

How adverse childhood experiences impact the professional quality of life of residential care workers: resilience as a mediator for burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction.

Introduction: The well-being of trauma-affected children and youth in residential care settings is contingent upon the well-being of the workers who care for them, who are increasingly expected to provide care in a trauma-informed manner. The well-being of residential care workers (RCWs) may be impacted by their own histories of adversity, their capacity individually and collectively to navigate to resources that sustain their well-being (resilience), and current perceptions of their professional quality of life.

Objective: This study aimed to fill a research gap by canvassing the perspectives of RCWs to determine what and how they need to be supported in their work.

Factors associated with therapy non-completion for children with problematic sexual behaviors.

Introduction: Children with problematic sexual behaviors (PSBs) can benefit, along with their parents or caregivers, from specialized therapeutic services to limit the manifestation of these behaviors. However, for some families, mobilization for therapy represents a significant challenge since a considerable proportion do not complete the therapy intended for them. The present study aims to identify the factors associated with therapy completion, thus allowing a deeper understanding of how to support children and more broadly families to complete their therapeutic process.