A programmatic assessment of dolutegravir adverse events and discontinuations in Uganda.

Introduction: Dolutegravir is now extensively used in sub-Saharan Africa as a preferred component of antiretroviral therapy (ART). There is a paucity of large studies using routinely collected data from African people living with HIV on dolutegravir-based regimens to inform HIV programmes. We reviewed data in a large programme clinic of people living with HIV on dolutegravir to determine the real-world safety and tolerability of dolutegravir and to describe drivers of treatment discontinuation.

Systemic Mastocytosis: Current Status and Challenges in 2024.

Systemic mastocytosis (SM) is a rare disease and has had significant discoveries in its biology, prognostication, and management in the past two decades. The latest update of the WHO classification and the new ICC classification are current standards in the diagnosis and prognostication of SM. In clinical practice, SM can be divided into two main categories: non-advanced SM (nonAdvSM) and advanced SM (AdvSM).

A Retrospective Analysis of the Impact of Electroconvulsive Therapy on Anxiety Symptoms in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression.

Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective treatment for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). There are limited data on the improvement of anxiety symptoms in patients receiving ECT for TRD.

Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the extent to which anxiety symptom severity improves, relative to improvements in depressive symptoms, in TRD patients receiving an acute course of ECT.

Optimizing Electroconvulsive Therapy With E-Field Modeling: A Narrative Review.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective treatment for severe depression, especially in treatment-resistant cases. However, its potential cognitive side effects necessitate careful dosing to balance therapeutic benefits and cognitive stability. Recent advances in electric field (E-field) modeling offer promising avenues to optimize ECT dosing.

Long-Term Family Needs After a Traumatic Brain Injury: A VA TBI Model Systems Study.

Objective: To describe the self-reported needs of family caregivers of service members and veterans (SMVs) with traumatic brain injury (TBI) at 10 to 15 years post-injury and to identify unique predictors of unmet family needs.

Setting: Five Department of Veterans Affairs Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers.

Participants: A total of 209 family caregivers of SMVs with TBI from the VA TBI Model Systems national database who completed a 10- or 15-year follow-up assessment.

Biomonitoring PhIP, a Potential Prostatic Carcinogen, in the Hair of Healthy Men of African and European Ancestry.

Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs), formed during the cooking of meat, are potential human carcinogens, underscoring the need for long-lived biomarkers to assess exposure and cancer risk. Frequent consumption of well-done meats containing 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-]pyridine (PhIP), a prevalent HAA that is a prostatic carcinogen in rodents and DNA-damaging agent in human prostate cells, has been linked to aggressive prostate cancer (PC) pathology. African American (AA) men face nearly twice the risk for developing and dying from PC compared to White men.

Negative Association of Gulf War Illness Symptomatology with Predicted Binding Affinity of Anthrax Vaccine Antigen to Human Leukocyte (HLA) Class II Molecules.

Background: Anthrax is a serious disease caused by () with a very high mortality when the spores of are inhaled (inhalational anthrax). Aerosolized spores can be used as a deadly bioweapon. Vaccination against anthrax is the only effective preventive measure and, hence, the anthrax vaccine was administered to United States (and other) troops during the 1990-91 Gulf War.

Next-Generation Potentiometric Sensors: A Review of Flexible and Wearable Technologies.

In recent years, the field of wearable sensors has undergone significant evolution, emerging as a pivotal topic of research due to the capacity of such sensors to gather physiological data during various human activities. Transitioning from basic fitness trackers, these sensors are continuously being improved, with the ultimate objective to make compact, sophisticated, highly integrated, and adaptable multi-functional devices that seamlessly connect to clothing or the body, and continuously monitor bodily signals without impeding the wearer's comfort or well-being. Potentiometric sensors, leveraging a range of different solid contact materials, have emerged as a preferred choice for wearable chemical or biological sensors.

The Neural Development of Chinese Lexical Tone Perception: A Mismatch Negativity Study Across Childhood, Adolescence, and Adulthood.

Background/objectives: In a tonal language like Chinese, phonologically contrasting tones signify word meanings at the syllable level. Although the development of lexical tone perception ability has been examined in many behavioral studies, its developmental trajectory from childhood to adulthood at the neural level remains unclear. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the issue by measuring the mismatch negativity (MMN) response to a Chinese lexical tonal contrast in three groups.

Preservation of Bilateral Corticospinal Projections from Injured Hemisphere After Perinatal Stroke.

Background: Perinatal brain injury is a leading cause of developmental disabilities, including cerebral palsy. However, further work is needed to understand early brain development in the presence of brain injury. In this case report, we examine the longitudinal neuromotor development of a term infant following a significant loss of right-hemispheric brain tissue due to a unilateral ischemic stroke.

Characteristics of In Vivo Lesion Formation With a Temperature-Controlled Diamond-Tip Radiofrequency Ablation Catheter in the Ventricle: A Preclinical Model.

Background: Power-controlled radiofrequency ablation with irrigated-tip catheters has been the norm for ventricular ablation for almost 2 decades. New catheter technology has recently integrated more accurate tissue temperature sensing enabling temperature-controlled irrigated ablation. We aimed to investigate the in vivo ablation parameters and lesion formation characteristics in ventricular myocardium using a novel temperature-controlled radiofrequency catheter.

Enhancing engagement in parenting programs: A comparative study of in-person, online, and telehealth formats.

Introduction: Parenting programs are widely used to prevent and ameliorate children's emotional and behavioral problems but low levels of engagement undermine intervention effectiveness and reach within and beyond research settings. Technology can provide flexible and cost-effective alternate service-delivery formats for parenting programs, and studies are needed to assess the extent to which parents are willing to engage with digitally assisted formats.

Methods: After Deployment, Adaptive Parenting Tools (ADAPT) is an evidence-based parenting program for military families.

Glycogen homeostasis and mitochondrial DNA expression require motor neuron to muscle TGF-β/Activin signaling in Drosophila.

Maintaining metabolic homeostasis requires coordinated nutrient utilization between intracellular organelles and across multiple organ systems. Many organs rely heavily on mitochondria to generate (ATP) from glucose, or stored glycogen. Proteins required for ATP generation are encoded in both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).

Enhancing trauma triage in low-resource settings using machine learning: a performance comparison with the Kampala Trauma Score.

Background: Traumatic injuries are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally, with a disproportionate impact on populations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The Kampala Trauma Score (KTS) is frequently used for triage in these settings, though its predictive accuracy remains under debate. This study evaluates the effectiveness of machine learning (ML) models in predicting triage decisions and compares their performance to the KTS.

Value-Based Care: Implications for nursing.

The concept of value-based care (VBC) shifts the focus from volume to quality in healthcare. For nursing, this means focusing on patient outcomes, preventive care, and cost efficiency. This article discusses the critical role of nurses in VBC, particularly in coordinating care, improving patient satisfaction, and driving overall healthcare effectiveness and value.

Propagation of pathologic α-synuclein from kidney to brain may contribute to Parkinson's disease.

The pathogenesis of Lewy body diseases (LBDs), including Parkinson's disease (PD), involves α-synuclein (α-Syn) aggregation that originates in peripheral organs and spreads to the brain. PD incidence is increased in individuals with chronic renal failure, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Here we observed α-Syn deposits in the kidneys of patients with LBDs and in the kidney and central nervous system of individuals with end-stage renal disease without documented LBDs.

Neurochemical Alterations Linked to Persistent COVID-19-Induced Anosmia: Probing Into Orbitofrontal Cortex by Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.

Background: While many COVID-19-induced anosmia patients recover their sense of smell within a few months, a substantial number of them continue to experience olfactory impairment. In our primary study, the metabolic patterns in orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) were observed to exhibit more alterations than other regions. Hence, this study specifically probes into alterations within OFC region in subjects with persistent COVID-19-induced anosmia.

Should digoxin immune fab be administered based solely on reported ingested amount in acute digoxin poisoning?

Acute digoxin poisoning is increasingly uncommon in emergency medicine. Furthermore, controversy exists regarding indications for antidotal digoxin immune fab in acute poisoning. In healthy adults, the fab prescribing information recommends administration based on "known consumption of fatal doses of digoxin: ≥10mg," while many emergency medicine textbooks suggest fab administration be driven by clinical features or potassium concentration.

Nail Unit Melanoma Treated with Mohs Micrographic Surgery: Technique, Local Recurrence Rate, and Surgical Outcomes.

Background: Nail unit melanoma (NUM) is increasingly treated with digit-sparing surgery, but few published case series describe Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) for NUM.

Objective: To describe the surgical technique, local recurrence rates, and reconstruction method for a large series of NUM treated with MMS using MART-1 immunostaining.

Methods: Biopsy-proven NUM treated with MMS-MART-1 were identified from a prospectively maintained database (2008-2023).

Risk of bias assessment tools often addressed items not related to risk of bias and used numerical scores.

Objective: We aimed to determine whether the existing risk of bias assessment tools addressed constructs other than risk of bias or internal validity, and whether they used numerical scores to express quality, which is discouraged and may be a misleading approach.

Methods: We searched Ovid MEDLINE and Embase to identify quality appraisal tools across all disciplines in human health research. Tools designed specifically to evaluate reporting quality were excluded.

Association between bariatric surgery after kidney transplantation and graft and survival outcomes.

Bariatric surgery has been shown to be safe in chronic kidney disease and improves access of patients to transplantation. Whether bariatric surgery after kidney transplantation associates with improved graft or patient survival has not been examined nationally. We included adults with obesity who received a first kidney transplant according to the US Renal Data System between 2003-2019.

Utility of Hybrid Angio-CT in Interventional Radiology: Case-Based Examples.

Although cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is the predominant cross-sectional imaging modality used by interventional radiologists, advancements in hybrid angiography-computed tomography (Angio-CT) technology have demonstrated a strong potential for increased utilization in the angiography suite. The benefits of increased workflow efficiency, decreased relative cost, multipurpose utility, and most importantly improved patient care, may encourage institutions to accept the higher upfront cost of Angio-CT rooms for potential long-term benefits. Hybrid Angio-CT setups are less prone to motion and streak artifacts and may provide superior image quality compared to CBCT.