A comparative analysis of risk stratification tools in systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension: a EUSTAR analysis.

Objectives: The 2022 European Society of Cardiology and European Respiratory Society (ESC/ERS) Guidelines for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) recommend risk stratification to optimize management. However, the performance of generic PAH risk stratification tools in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc)-associated PAH remains unclear. Our objective was to identify the most accurate approach for risk stratification at SSc-PAH diagnosis.

The correlation between blastocyst morphological parameters and chromosomal euploidy, aneuploidy and other chromosomal abnormalities following pre-implantation genetic testing-a single center retrospective study.

Purpose: To examine the association between blastocyst morphology and chromosomal status utilizing pre-implantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A).

Methods: A single-center retrospective cohort study including 169 in-vitro fertilization cycles that underwent PGT-A using Next Generation Sequencing (2017-2022). Blastocysts were morphologically scored based on Gardner and Schoolcraft's criteria.

The ImageGuideEcho Registry: Using Data Science to Understand and Improve Echocardiography.

Purpose Of Review: To provide a contemporary update on the American Society of Echocardiography's ImageGuideEcho Registry and present a case study of an individual institution's experience with enrollment.

Recent Findings: Technical innovation in clinical echocardiography has expanded the impact of echocardiography in cardiovascular care and provides new opportunities to leverage clinical data to inform quality improvement initiatives and research. The ImageGuideEcho Registry is the first echocardiography-specific imaging registry in the United States and provides a data infrastructure for quality improvement and multicenter research.

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.

Prioritizing questions and topics for the development of guidelines and consensus-based recommendations supported by ILAE: A scoping review and proposal of prioritization criteria.

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and consensus-based recommendations (CBRs) require considerable effort, collaboration, and time-all within the constraints of finite resources. Professional societies, such as the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), must prioritize what topics and questions to address. Implementing evidence-based care remains a crucial challenge in clinical practice.

Smoking's Impact on 30-Day Complications in Mesh and Nonmesh Prolapse Surgery.

Importance: Tobacco smoking is linked to poor surgical outcomes, leading many physicians to avoid synthetic implants like mesh in smokers due to concerns about impaired healing. While long-term outcomes for smokers have been studied, the effect of smoking on 30-day postoperative complications, especially related to surgical mesh, is less understood.

Objectives: This study aimed to quantify the association between tobacco smoking and risk of postoperative infection, readmission, and reoperation within 30 days of minimally invasive apical prolapse repair.

Untargeted metabolomics reveals biomarkers for the diagnosis of coronary artery plaques as observed by coronary cardiac computed tomography.

Atherosclerosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide; in Israel, ischemic heart disease is the second leading cause of death for both genders aged 45 and above. Atherosclerosis involves stiffening of the arteries due to the accumulation of lipids and oxidized lipids on the blood vessel walls, triggering the development of artery plaque. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common manifestation of atherosclerosis.

Hereditary Transthyretin Amyloidosis in Israel: Genetic Landscape and Clinical Characteristics.

Background: Hereditary transthyretin (ATTRv) amyloidosis is a rare, adult-onset autosomal-dominant disorder caused by pathogenic variants in the transthyretin (TTR) gene. Data about relevant variants in specific populations and typical initial manifestations may facilitate early diagnosis and treatment. We here describe the genetic landscape of ATTRv amyloidosis in Israel.

Microbial surveillance versus cytokine responsiveness in native and non-native house sparrows.

The success of introduced species often relies on flexible traits, including immune system traits. While theories predict non-natives will have weak defences due to decreased parasite pressure, effective parasite surveillance remains crucial, as infection risk is rarely zero and the evolutionary novelty of infection is elevated in non-native areas. This study examines the relationship between parasite surveillance and cytokine responsiveness in native and non-native house sparrows, hypothesizing that non-natives maintain high pathogen surveillance while avoiding costly inflammation.

Effects of Systematicity on Word Learning in Preschool Children: The Case of Semitic Morpho-Phonology.

This study investigated the role of systematicity in word learning, focusing on Semitic morpho-phonology where words exhibit multiple levels of systematicity. Building upon previous research on phonological templates, we explored how systematicity based on such templates, whether they encode meanings or not, influenced word learning in preschool-age Hebrew-speaking children. We examined form-meaning systematicity, where words share phonological templates and carry similar categorical meanings of manner-of-motion (e.

Misses and Near Misses in Paediatric Appendicitis: An Eight-Year, Single-Centre Retrospective Review.

Aim: Diagnostic error can result in the appendectomy of a normal appendix, commonly known as negative appendectomy (NA). Missed appendicitis (MA) is related to a poor outcome. The aim of this study was to determine whether there are factors in presentation associated with NA or MA.

Nitroimidazoles in Albanian honey samples by LC-MS/MS analysis.

This study employed QuEChERS extraction method combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to analyse honey samples from Albania for nitroimidazole residues. This approach allowed for the detection of trace-level residues, achieving sensitivity in the parts per billion range. Out of the 45 honey samples analysed, 6 exceeded the European Union's safety limit of 1 µg/kg, with metronidazole (MNZ) and dimetridazole (DMZ) being the predominant contaminants.

Prevalence, risk and resilience factors of mental health conditions among female sex workers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Female sex workers are a vulnerable hard-to-reach group. Research in this field is scarce due to several issues, such as methodological difficulties or societal stigmatization. Most of the available literature focuses on sexually transmittable diseases.

A short screen for lifetime sexual victimization experiences: Expanding research on the Sexual Abuse History Questionnaire (SAHQ) across cultures, genders, and sexual identities.

The Sexual Abuse History Questionnaire (SAHQ), a widely used screening tool for childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and adolescent/adult sexual assault (AASA) experiences, has limited examination of its psychometric properties in diverse populations. Our study assessed the SAHQ's psychometric properties (i.e.

Interplay between conformational dynamics and substrate binding regulates enzymatic activity: a single-molecule FRET study.

Proteins often harness extensive motions of domains and subunits to promote their function. Deciphering how these movements impact activity is key for understanding life's molecular machinery. The enzyme adenylate kinase is an intriguing example for this relationship; it ensures efficient catalysis by large-scale domain motions that lead to the enclosure of the bound substrates ATP and AMP.

Effective and Engaging Active Learning in the Medical School Classroom: Lessons from Case-Based Collaborative Learning.

Large group collaborative teaching approaches are rapidly gaining popularity in undergraduate medical education. The case-based collaborative Learning (CBCL) pedagogy was instituted for pre-clerkship teaching at Harvard Medical School in 2015 with subsequent implementation at other medical schools. CBCL emphasizes inductive reasoning, integrates basic and clinical sciences, stimulates curiosity, and fosters teamwork.

Naxos Disease and Related Cardio-Cutaneous Syndromes.

Naxos disease is a rare autosomal recessive condition combining arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, woolly hair, and palmoplantar keratoderma. The first identified causative variant was in the gene encoding the desmosomal protein plakoglobin. Naxos disease exhibits fibro-fatty myocardial replacement with immunohistological abnormalities in cardiac protein and signaling pathways, highlighting the role of inflammation and potential anti-inflammatory treatments.

Distribution patterns of Gaza wine vs. Cilician wine in the eastern Mediterranean in Late Antiquity.

To explore the consumption patterns and demand for famous wines exported in Late Antiquity, such as Gaza wine and Cilician wine, several case studies were analyzed: studies involving excavation results from sites where Late Roman amphorae, such as the LRA 1 and LRA 4 types, were found. Several themes emerged from the analysis. First, Gaza jars used for the transportation of Gaza wine seem to be less frequent than LRA 1 amphorae used to transport Cilician wine.

Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation to Definitive Endoderm As a Model of Heterogeneity Onset During Germ Layer Specification.

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) hold great promise for regenerative medicine thanks to their ability to self-renew and differentiate into somatic cells and the germline. ESCs correspond to pluripotent epiblast - the tissue from which the following three germ layers originate during embryonic gastrulation: the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. Importantly, ESCs can be induced to differentiate toward various cell types by varying culture conditions, which can be exploited for modeling of developmental processes such as gastrulation.

Light alters calling-song characteristics in crickets.

Communication is crucial for mate choice and thus for the survival and fitness of most species. In the cricket, females choose males according to their calling-song attractiveness and, exhibiting positive phonotaxis they approach the chosen male. Light has been widely reported to induce changes in crickets' daily activity patterns, including the males' stridulation behavior.

Can Intravenous Caffeine Citrate Be Used for Severe Asthma Exacerbation in Children? A Retrospective Comparative Study.

Aim: To assess the effectiveness of intravenous caffeine citrate in paediatric asthma exacerbation unresponsive to beta2-agonists and steroids.

Methods: A 10-year retrospective cohort study was conducted on asthmatic children unresponsive to beta2-agonists and steroids, who were treated with either intravenous caffeine citrate or magnesium sulphate. The study outcomes were changes in the Paediatric Respiratory Assessment Measure (PRAM) score, duration of oxygen therapy and paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) length-of-stay.

Practical management of adverse events in patients receiving tarlatamab, a delta-like ligand 3-targeted bispecific T-cell engager immunotherapy, for previously treated small cell lung cancer.

Tarlatamab is a bispecific T-cell engager immunotherapy targeting delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3) and the cluster of differentiation 3 (CD3) molecule. In the phase 2 DeLLphi-301 trial of tarlatamab for patients with previously treated small cell lung cancer, tarlatamab 10 mg every 2 weeks achieved durable responses and encouraging survival outcomes. Analyses of updated safety data from the DeLLphi-301 trial demonstrated that the most common treatment-emergent adverse events were cytokine release syndrome (53%), pyrexia (38%), decreased appetite (36%), dysgeusia (32%), and an emia (30%).

Molecular Profiling of Odontoclasts during Physiological Tooth Replacement.

The odontoclast is a rarely studied cell type that is overly active in many dental pathologies, leading to tooth loss. It is difficult to find diphyodont mammals in which either physiological or pathological root resorption can be studied. Here we use the adult leopard gecko, which has repeated cycles of physiological tooth resorption and shedding.