Urgency Prediction for Medical Laboratory Tests Through Optimal Sparse Decision Tree: Case Study With Echocardiograms.

Background: In the contemporary realm of health care, laboratory tests stand as cornerstone components, driving the advancement of precision medicine. These tests offer intricate insights into a variety of medical conditions, thereby facilitating diagnosis, prognosis, and treatments. However, the accessibility of certain tests is hindered by factors such as high costs, a shortage of specialized personnel, or geographic disparities, posing obstacles to achieving equitable health care.

Treatment Strategies to Control Blood Pressure in People With Hypertension in Tanzania and Lesotho: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Hypertension is the primary cardiovascular risk factor in Africa. Recently revised World Health Organization guidelines recommend starting antihypertensive dual therapy; clinical efficacy and tolerability of low-dose triple combination remain unclear.

Objectives: To compare the effect of 3 treatment strategies on blood pressure control among persons with untreated hypertension in Africa.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Pediatric Counseling on Nutrition, Lifestyle, and Weight: A Secondary Analysis of the BP-CATCH Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Pediatric obesity and hypertension are highly correlated. To mitigate both conditions, provision of counseling on nutrition, lifestyle, and weight to children with high blood pressure (BP) measurements is recommended.

Objective: To examine racial and ethnic disparities in receipt of nutrition, lifestyle, and weight counseling among patients with high BP at pediatric primary care visits stratified by patients' weight status.

Use of Body Armor by EMS Clinicians, Workplace Violence, and Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Care.

Importance: There is a clear benefit to body armor against firearms; however, it remains unclear how these vests may influence day-to-day patient encounters when worn by emergency medical services (EMS).

Objective: To determine the association of ballistic vests worn by EMS clinicians with workplace violence (WPV) and disparities in care among racial and/or ethnic minority patients.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Prospective cohort study of a volunteer-based sample of EMS clinicians at a large, multistate EMS agency encompassing 15 ground sites across the Midwest from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024.

Improved Outcomes and Resource Use With Normothermic Machine Perfusion in Liver Transplantation.

Importance: Normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) has been shown to reduce peritransplant complications. Despite increasing NMP use in liver transplant (LT), there is a scarcity of real-world clinical experience data.

Objective: To compare LT outcomes between donation after brain death (DBD) and donation after circulatory death (DCD) allografts preserved with NMP or static cold storage (SCS).

Prediction of gene expression using histone modification patterns extracted by Particle Swarm Optimization.

Motivation: Histone modifications play an important role in transcription regulation. Although the general importance of some histone modifications for transcription regulation has been previously established, the relevance of others and their interaction is subject to ongoing research. By training Machine Learning models to predict a gene's expression and explaining their decision making process, we can get hints on how histone modifications affect transcription.

Comparative Efficacy and Acceptability of Non-surgical Treatments with or without Exercise for Diastasis Recti Abdominis in Postpartum Women: A Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: Diastasis recti abdominis (DRA), commonly occurring in postpartum women, is not only an aesthetic issue but is also highly associated with functional impairments. Various conservative treatment modalities have been employed in clinical practice to alleviate DRA. However, the comparative efficacy of these non-surgical treatments for improving the inter-recti distance (IRD) remains to be determined.

Impact of impaired renal function on kinetics of high-sensitive cardiac troponin following cardiac surgery.

Background: Impaired renal function can increase cardiac troponin levels due to reduced elimination, potentially affecting its diagnostic utility. Limited data exist on high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) kinetics after cardiac surgery relative to renal function. This study evaluates how impaired renal function influences hs-cTnI kinetics following cardiac surgery, distinguishing between patients with and without postoperative myocardial infarction (PMI).

Ejaculation-sparing enucleation of the prostate with Thulium: Yag laser (ES-ThuLEP) versus Thulium Fiber laser (ES-ThuFLEP): outcomes on sexual function.

Purpose: To compare the effect on sexual function of ejaculation-sparing enucleation of the prostate using Thulium: YAG laser (ES-ThuLEP) versus continuous-wave Thulium Fiber Laser (ES-ThuFLEP).

Methods: 112 patients with lower urinary tract symptoms secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia who wished to preserve ejaculation were treated. 58 patients underwent ES-ThuLEP (Group A) using the Cyber TM generator.

Is There a Need to Reassess Protein Intake Recommendations Following Metabolic Bariatric Surgery?

Purpose Of Review: Protein intake is recognized as a key nutritional factor crucial for optimizing Metabolic Bariatric Surgery (MBS) outcomes by preventing protein malnutrition, preserving fat-free mass, and inducing satiety. This paper discusses the current evidence regarding protein intake and its impact on clinical outcomes following MBS.

Recent Findings: There are considerable gaps in the understanding of protein requirements following MBS, as existing guidelines are based on limited and inconsistent reports.

Racial Differences in Discrepancies Between Subjective Ratings and Objective Assessments of Hearing Impairment.

Background And Objectives: To better understand racial/ethnic disparities in hearing aid use, we examined racial differences in discrepancies between subjective hearing ratings and objective hearing tests as a potential source of this disparity.

Research Design And Methods: A cross-sectional assessment was conducted using the data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Our analytic sample included 2,568 participants aged 50 and older: 1,814 non-Hispanic White Americans and 754 non-Hispanic Black Americans.

Performance of Optic Disc Optical Coherence Tomography Normative Database in a Large, Diverse, Real-World Cohort.

Precis: Current optical coherence tomography normative sample data may not represent diverse human optic nerve anatomy to accurately classify all individuals with true glaucomatous optic neuropathy.

Purpose: To compare optic nerve head (ONH) measurements between published values from an optical coherence tomography (OCT) normative database and a more diverse cohort of healthy individuals.

Patients And Methods: ONH parameters from healthy participants of the Michigan Screening and Intervention for Glaucoma and Eye Health through Telemedicine (MI-SIGHT) program and the Topcon Maestro-1 normative cohort were compared.

VopX, a novel T3SS effector, modulates host actin dynamics.

Unlabelled: Pathogenic strains cause cholera using different mechanisms. O1 and O139 serogroup strains use the toxin-co-regulated pilus (TCP) and cholera toxin (CT) for intestinal colonization and to promote secretory diarrhea, while non-O1/non-O139 serogroup strains are typically non-toxigenic and use alternate virulence factors to cause a clinically similar disease. An O39 serogroup, TCP/CT-negative strain, named AM-19226, uses a type III secretion system (T3SS) to translocate more than 10 effector proteins into the host cell cytosol.

LONG-TERM PROGNOSIS OF NON-CELIAC ENTEROPATHIES AND A SCORE TO IDENTIFY PATIENTS WITH POOR OUTCOMES: A 30-YEAR MULTICENTER LONGITUDINAL STUDY.

Introduction: Long-term prognosis of non-celiac enteropathies (NCEs) is poorly understood. We aimed to evaluate long-term outcomes and develop a prognostic score for NCEs.

Methods: NCEs patients from an international multicenter cohort (4 Italian centers,1 UK, 1 French,1 Norwegian,1 USA,1 Indian) followed-up over 30 years were enrolled.

Habitual snoring in adolescents and its relationship to inhibitory control and attention.

Introduction. Sleep-disordered breathing (RBD), from habitual snoring to obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), can influence brain functioning by affecting executive functions such as attention and inhibitory control. Objective.

Inadequate Therapy Response on Advanced Therapy in Ulcerative Colitis Adult Patients: A Retrospective Analysis of German Health Claims Data.

Background: The treatment landscape for active ulcerative colitis is rapidly evolving and current real-world evidence on response to advanced therapy is limited. This study aimed to determine indicators of inadequate therapeutic response among patients with ulcerative colitis in Germany initiating advanced therapy.

Methods: This retrospective analysis used German claims data (2015-2022) from adult patients (≥ 18 years).

Refractory Psychosis as a Red Flag for End of Life in Individuals With Dementia With Lewy Bodies: A Case Series and Re-analysis of Prior Qualitative Data.

Objectives: Many individuals with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) die of disease-related complications, but predicting the end of life can be challenging. We identified a phenotype associated with approaching end of life.

Methods: We present 4 exemplar cases where individuals with DLB experienced refractory psychosis before death.

Risk factors for the involvement of sentinel lymph nodes in endometrial cancer (TRSGO-SLN-010).

Objective: This research was undertaken to identify risk factors for the involvement of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) in cases of endometrial cancer.

Methods: From February 2016 to April 2021, the cases of 874 women with endometrial cancer treated with the SLN algorithm at 11 institutions were analyzed in this retrospective study. Clinical and pathologic data were reviewed, and logistic regression was applied to identify predictive factors for SLN involvement.