Leadless Pacemaker vs. Transvenous Pacemaker in End Stage Kidney Disease: Insights from the Nationwide Readmission Database.

: Leadless pacemakers offer a safe and effective alternative pacing strategy. However, limited data are available for patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD), a population of significant relevance. Using the Nationwide Readmission Database, we extracted data from all adult patients with ESRD who underwent traditional transvenous or leadless pacemaker implantation between 2016 and 2021.

Accurate Classification of Human CD4+ T, CD8+ T, and CD19+ B Cells Isolated from Splenocytes by Cross-Polarized Diffraction Image Pairs.

Diffraction imaging of cells allows rapid phenotyping by the response of intracellular molecules to coherent illumination. However, its ability to distinguish numerous types of human leukocytes remains to be investigated. Here, we show that accurate classification of three lymphocyte subtypes can be achieved with features extracted from cross-polarized diffraction image (p-DI) pairs.

Takotsubo Syndrome Following Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review and Metasummary of Case Reports/Series.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) catheter ablation is safe and effective, though rare cases of takotsubo syndrome (TTS) have been observed without proven causation. This review synthesizes TTS following AF ablation case reports and series. Until October 2024, PubMed/Medline, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar were searched for AF ablation and TTS case reports and series.

Misalignment of Biostatistics Content Between Licensing Exam Study Aids and Contemporary Medical Research.

Background And Objectives: Medical trainees express difficulty with interpreting statistics in clinical literature. To elucidate educational gaps, we compared statistical methodologies in biomedical literature with biostatistical content in licensing exam study materials.

Methods: In this bibliographic content analysis, we compiled a stratified random sample of articles involving original data analysis published during 2023 in 72 issues of three major medical journals.

FlbB forms a distinctive ring essential for periplasmic flagellar assembly and motility in Borrelia burgdorferi.

Spirochetes are a widespread group of bacteria with a distinct morphology. Some spirochetes are important human pathogens that utilize periplasmic flagella to achieve motility and host infection. The motors that drive the rotation of periplasmic flagella have a unique spirochete-specific feature, termed the collar, crucial for the flat-wave morphology and motility of the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi.

Comparison between WBGT app prototype and WBGT monitor to assess heat stress risk in an eastern North Carolina outdoor setting.

The wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) index is the preferred environmental heat metric for occupational heat-related illness prevention but may not always be readily accessible in the workplace. Thus, there is a need for well-designed WBGT-based tools that are reliable, accessible, and inexpensive. A novel WBGT app prototype was developed to calculate the current and forecasted outdoor WBGT.

Sex-Based Disparities in Treatment and Healthcare Utilization in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

: Sex-related treatment disparities are well-documented across various medical conditions, yet their impact on the management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains underexplored. This study aims to investigate sex-based differences in the management of ulcerative colitis (UC), focusing on both medical and surgical approaches and examining whether biological sex correlates with variations in healthcare utilization. : A systematic search was conducted across multiple databases, including MEDLINE (via PubMed), Google Scholar, the Cochrane Library, and ScienceDirect, to identify studies on sex differences in ulcerative colitis (UC) management up to April 2024.

Social Location and Decision-Making Among Women Living with HIV in the Southern United States: An Intersectional Approach.

HIV care engagement and antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence interventions aimed at decreasing viral suppression disparities for women living with HIV (WLWH) in the Southern United States (i.e., the South) are few and seldom consider diverse social locations.

Common and rare genetic variation intersects with ancestry to influence human skin and plasma carotenoid concentrations.

Carotenoids are dietary bioactive compounds with health effects that are biomarkers of fruit and vegetable intake. Here, we examine genetic associations with plasma and skin carotenoid concentrations in two rigorously phenotyped human cohorts (n=317). Analysis of genome-wide SNPs revealed heritability to vary by genetic ancestry (h=0.

Publication of Medical Student Summer Research: A Multi-institutional Analysis.

Objective: Summer research programs can support medical students' exposure to research and scholarly activity, and strengthen their applications for residency positions, particularly if students are able to generate peer-reviewed publications resulting from their summer experience. We aimed to estimate the rate of publication among medical student summer projects and identify any predictors of projects' progress to publication.

Methods: Projects were identified from abstract books published by five medical schools' summer research programs for rising second-year medical students.

Reduction of N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferase-I Activity Promotes Neuroblastoma Invasiveness and EGF-Stimulated Proliferation In Vitro.

Aberrant N-glycosylation has been associated with progression of the pediatric cancer neuroblastoma (NB) but remains understudied. Here we investigated oligomannose N-glycans in NB by genetic editing of in a human NB cell line, BE(2)-C, called BE(2)-C(MGAT1). Lectin binding studies confirmed that BE(2)-C(MGAT1) had decreased complex and increased oligomannose N-glycans.

Retention of bimanual performance following hand arm bimanual intensive therapy in children with unilateral cerebral palsy: A six-month longitudinal study.

Hand-arm bimanual intensive therapy (HABIT) enhances upper extremity (UE) function and bimanual coordination in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP). Previous studies assessed immediate improvements in UE function using clinical and self-reported measures, which may not accurately reflect real-world UE performance and their long-term retention effects. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the retention of real-world bimanual performance gains over time following HABIT in children with UCP.

Assessing how restoration can facilitate 30×30 goals for climate-resilient coastal ecosystems in the United States.

Ecosystems globally have reached critical tipping points because of climate change, urbanization, unsustainable resource consumption, and pollution. In response, international agreements have set targets for conserving 30% of global ecosystems and restoring 30% of degraded lands and waters by 2030 (30×30). In 2021, the United States set a target to jointly conserve and restore 30% of US lands and waters by 2030, with a specific goal to restore coastal ecosystems, namely wetlands, seagrasses, coral and oyster reefs, and mangrove and kelp forests, to increase resilience to climate change.

Connections among family socioeconomic status, aerobic fitness, executive function, and the positive experiences of childhood physical activity.

A family's socioeconomic status (SES) can be linked to a child's physical and cognitive health, with children from low-SES families often experiencing poor developmental outcomes. Early positive childhood experiences that include structured and unstructured physical activities (SUPAs) offer a potential avenue to promote positive health and cognitive development during early childhood. However, prior to school entry, it is not well-understood whether SES is related to participation in SUPAs or how SUPAs relate to early health and cognitive indicators such as aerobic fitnessand executive function (EF).

A reflection-spectroscopy measured skin carotenoid score strongly correlates with plasma concentrations of all major dietary carotenoid species except for lycopene.

Skin carotenoids can be measured non-invasively using spectroscopy methods to provide a biomarker of total dietary carotenoid and carotenoid-rich fruit and vegetable intake. However, the degree to which skin carotenoid biomarkers reflect intakes of specific carotenoids must be determined for specific devices. Previously, findings were mixed regarding the correlation between reflection spectroscopy (RS)-assessed skin carotenoids and individual plasma carotenoid concentrations.

Sensitivity of contributing factors to heterogeneity corrections in dosimetry of ocular brachytherapy using iodine-125 COMS plaques.

Purpose: To investigate sensitivity of contributing factors to heterogeneity corrections in ocular brachytherapy using iodine-125 (I) Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS) plaques.

Material And Methods: Using egs_brachy, Monte Carlo (MC) simulations were performed for I COMS plaques (model: IsoAid IAI-125A). Homogeneous dose (D) was estimated under the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group-43 assumptions, with 85 Gy prescribed to a 5 mm depth.

Complete annotated genome sequence of phage Evcara, a cluster GI podovirus isolated from compost.

Bacteriophage Evcara is a podovirus isolated on NRRL B-24275. Its genome is 16,285 bp in length and contains 22 predicted protein-coding genes. Evcara, has been assigned to cluster GI with phages PineapplePizza and Curie that share 10 homologues with the well-characterized phage phi29.

Maternal resistance exercise increases infant energy expenditure.

Maternal obesity decreases infant energy expenditure, subsequently predisposing infants to greater adiposity and weight gain. Conversely, some findings suggest that maternal exercise may increase infant energy expenditure; however, the impact of maternal exercise mode (i.e.