Pre-validation of a novel reconstructed skin equivalent model for skin irritation and nanoparticle risk assessment.

In alignment with the global movement toward reducing animal testing, several reconstructed human epidermis (RHE) models have been created for conducting skin irritation tests. These models have undergone development, verification, validation, and integration into OECD TG 439. Our team has introduced a novel in-house RHE named GB-RHE, and we adhere to OECD TG 439 to pre-validate the model and test its potential employment for nanoparticle irritation studies.

Hospital-based health technology assessment (HTA) in Latin America and the Caribbean: a scoping review.

Objective: To provide an overview of hospital-based health technology assessment (HB-HTA) activities in Latin America and the Caribbean, including the technologies assessed, resources utilized, evaluation methods employed, and challenges encountered.

Methods: A scoping review focused on HB-HTA using frameworks from the Joanna Briggs Institute was conducted across databases and gray literature.

Results: Seventeen studies were identified, and another two documents were retrieved manually at a conference, totaling 19 files.

Sustaining measles and rubella elimination through the Regional Monitoring and Re-Verification Commission in the Americas.

The elimination of endemic rubella and measles transmission in the Region of the Americas was verified by the Pan American Health Organization's (PAHO) Regional Verification Commission in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Upon achieving this success, this Commission was disbanded. Shortly afterwards, the Region faced challenges in the post-elimination era, notably responding to and stopping transmission of imported measles cases.

2024 European Heart Rhythm Association/Heart Rhythm Society/Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society/Latin American Heart Rhythm Society expert consensus statement on catheter and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation.

In the last three decades, ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) has become an evidence-based safe and efficacious treatment for managing the most common cardiac arrhythmia. In 2007, the first joint expert consensus document was issued, guiding healthcare professionals involved in catheter or surgical AF ablation. Mounting research evidence and technological advances have resulted in a rapidly changing landscape in the field of catheter and surgical AF ablation, thus stressing the need for regularly updated versions of this partnership which were issued in 2012 and 2017.

Is waiting for rewards good for you? No association between impulsive choice, psychopathology, and functional outcomes in a large cohort sample.

Background: A stronger preference for immediate rewards has been reported in individuals with ADHD and other disorders. However, the consistency of the associations between this preference and psychiatric conditions as well as functional outcomes have been questioned. Research on its association with longitudinal outcomes is scarce.

Effect of Body Weight on Response to Nasal Glucocorticoid Treatment in Allergic Rhinitis.

Allergic rhinitis is among the most common chronic diseases in the world. Obesity can lead to a chronic systemic inflammatory process. In this study, we evaluated the effects of body weight on the response to treatment of allergic rhinitis with nasal corticosteroids.

Incidental cerebral aneurysm after takotsubo cardiomyopathy: A case report.

Takotsubo syndrome (TS) is an acute heart disease that mimics the typical features of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). TS is generally reported after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) due to a ruptured aneurysm, and has an incidence rate of 0.8 (17%).

Biomarkers and Echocardiographic Predictors of Cardiovascular Outcome in Patients With Chronic Chagas Disease.

Background Chagas disease (CD) presents an ominous prognosis. The predictive value of biomarkers and new echocardiogram parameters in adjusted models have not been well studied. Methods and Results There were 361 patients with chronic CD (57.

Evaluation of Glomerular Filtration Rate Trends in People Living With HIV Corrected by the Baseline Glomerular Filtration Rate.

Background: Chronic kidney disease, for which estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) trajectories are early markers, is frequent in people living with HIV.

Setting: Identify eGFR trajectory patterns according to kidney function and assess associated factors over a 13-year follow-up period.

Methods: We evaluated longitudinal changes and its associated factors in eGFR of 3366 participants according to kidney function with a 2-level, linear, mixed model.

Serum testosterone and prostate cancer in men with germline pathogenic variants.

Objectives: The relation of serum androgens and the development of prostate cancer (PCa) is subject of debate. Lower total testosterone (TT) levels have been associated with increased PCa detection and worse pathological features after treatment. However, data from the Reduction by Dutasteride of Prostate Cancer Events (REDUCE) and Prostate Cancer Prevention (PCPT) trial groups indicate no association.

Promoting diversity and overcoming publication barriers in Latin American neuroscience and Alzheimer's disease research: A call to action.

Unlabelled: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a global health issue. Because AD is a condition demanding effective management, its socioeconomic burden is immense and threatens the health systems of both low- and middle-income (LMIC) and high-income (HIC) countries. However, while most of the HICs are increasing their budget for AD research, the situation is different in LMICs, and resources are scarce.

Rating Scales for Medication Adherence in Parkinson's Disease: A Systematic Review for Critique and Recommendations.

Background: Behaviors interfering with medication adherence (MA) are common and often complex in Parkinson's disease (PD), negatively affecting quality of life and undermining the value of clinical trials. The Clinical Outcome Assessments (COA) Scientific Evaluation Committee of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS) commissioned the assessment of MA rating scales to recommend the use in PD.

Objective: Critically review the measurement properties of rating scales used to assess MA in PD and to issue recommendations.

Results from the second WHO external quality assessment for the molecular detection of respiratory syncytial virus, 2019-2020.

Background: External quality assessments (EQAs) for the molecular detection of human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are necessary to ensure the standardisation of reliable results. The Phase II, 2019-2020 World Health Organization (WHO) RSV EQA included 28 laboratories in 26 countries. The EQA panel evaluated performance in the molecular detection and subtyping of RSV-A and RSV-B.

Long-term respiratory outcomes after COVID-19: a Brazilian cohort study.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and risk factors for persistent symptoms up to 12 months after hospital discharge in COVID-19 survivors.

Methods: This prospective cohort study included patients with COVID-19 discharged from a university hospital in Brazil. Follow-up was performed 2, 6, and 12 months after discharge.

Consumption of probiotic yogurt and vitamin D-fortified yogurt increases fasting level of GLP-1 in obese adults undergoing low-calorie diet: A double-blind randomized controlled trial.

Energy restriction and manipulation of macronutrient composition of the diet are the main approaches that are used by people who aim to lose weight. When such strategies are employed, appetite and endocrine regulators of satiety, such as gut peptides, all are deeply affected. The gut microbiota-brain axis controls energy homeostasis in humans by affecting central satiety and gut peptides.

Wellens syndrome as an independent predictor of in-hospital cardiovascular complications.

Introduction: Wellens Syndrome was described for the first time in the eighties, as an equivalent pattern of a critical lesion of the anterior descending artery. Different risk factors have been associated with a worse prognosis during hospitalisation in patients with non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndrome. However, it is unknown whether the presence of Wellens Syndrome alone contributes to an increase in in-hospital cardiovascular complications.

System-Level Capacity of High-Dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy for Management of Cervical Cancer in an Upper-Middle Income Country: A Case Study From Brazil.

Purpose: Ensuring optimal access to radiation therapy (RT) facilities is challenging for many countries. External beam RT and brachytherapy (BCT) are required to treat advanced cervical cancer. In this analysis, we evaluated the system-level capacity of BCT in Brazil and its relationship with access to complete cervix cancer radiation treatment with both external beam RT and BCT.

Altered innate immune profile in blood of systemic mastocytosis patients.

Background: Mast cells (MC) from systemic mastocytosis (SM) patients release MC mediators that lead to an altered microenvironment with potential consequences on innate immune cells, such as monocytes and dendritic cells (DC). Here we investigated the distribution and functional behaviour of different populations of blood monocytes and DC among distinct diagnostic subtypes of SM.

Methods: Overall, we studied 115 SM patients - 45 bone marrow mastocytosis (BMM), 61 indolent SM (ISM), 9 aggressive SM (ASM)- and 32 healthy donors (HD).

Characterization of cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers associated with neurodegenerative diseases in healthy cynomolgus and rhesus macaque monkeys.

Monkeys are becoming important translational models of neurodegenerative disease. To facilitate model development, we measured cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of key biomarkers in healthy male and female cynomolgus and rhesus macaques. Amyloid beta (Aβ40, Aβ42), tau (total tau [t-tau], phosphorylated tau [pThr181]), and neurofilament light (NfL) concentrations were measured in CSF of 82 laboratory-housed, experimentally naïve cynomolgus (n = 33) and rhesus (n = 49) macaques.

Correlation of sleep quality and cardiac autonomic modulation in hemodialysis patients.

Objectives: Sleep disorders in patients on hemodialysis are frequent, but few studies correlate these disorders with autonomic dysfunction in these patients. This study aimed to verify whether clinical and laboratory variables and heart rate variability are associated with worse sleep quality verified by the Pittsburg subjective scale in patients on hemodialysis.

Material And Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on forty-eight patients.