Effects of Allostatic Load on Long-Term Survival After Stroke.

Background: Allostatic load index (ALI) is often utilized to quantify the physiological response to stress. This study assesses the relationship between ALI and its impact on all-cause, cardiovascular, and stroke mortality in individuals with a self-reported history of stroke and within the general National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey sampled population.

Methods: Using data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (III, 1988-1994) and the 2015 Linked Mortality File, we selected adults aged ≥25 years with self-reported stroke.

Repelling Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with electric fields using insulated conductor wires.

Background: The control and prevention of mosquito-borne diseases is mostly achieved with insecticides. However, their use has led to the rapid development and spread of insecticide resistance worldwide. Health experts have called for intensified efforts to find new approaches to reduce mosquito populations and human-mosquito contact.

Phycocyanin from microalgae: A comprehensive review covering microalgal culture, phycocyanin sources and stability.

As food safety continues to gain prominence, phycocyanin (PC) is increasingly favored by consumers as a natural blue pigment, which is extracted from microalgae and serves the dual function of promoting health and providing coloration. Spirulina-derived PC demonstrates exceptional stability within temperature ranges below 45 °C and under pH conditions between 5.5 and 6.

Changing Stimulation Frequency Improves Implanted Peripheral Nerve Stimulator Effects After Posttraumatic Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Case Report.

Total hip arthroplasty is an effective procedure to improve pain, range of motion, and function for a variety of conditions, including osteoarthritis and posttraumatic arthritis. Up to 28% of patients had persistent pain at the surgical site 12-18 mos after total hip arthroplasty, even in the absence of surgical complications. Currently, there are no widely accepted nonpharmacological treatments for persistent postoperative pain for total hip arthroplasty.

Continuous manufacturing of lentiviral vectors using a stable producer cell line in a fixed-bed bioreactor.

Continuous manufacturing of lentiviral vectors (LVs) using stable producer cell lines could extend production periods, improve batch-to-batch reproducibility, and eliminate costly plasmid DNA and transfection reagents. A continuous process was established by expanding cells constitutively expressing third-generation LVs in the iCELLis Nano fixed-bed bioreactor. Fixed-bed bioreactors provide scalable expansion of adherent cells and enable a straightforward transition from traditional surface-based culture vessels.

Using electric fields to control insects: current applications and future directions.

Chemical-based interventions are mostly used to control insects that are harmful to human health and agriculture or that simply cause a nuisance. An overreliance on these insecticides however raises concerns for the environment, human health, and the development of resistance, not only in the target species. As such, there is a critical need for the development of novel nonchemical technologies to control insects.

Association of Age and Sex at Onset With Glenohumeral Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Objective: The aim of the present systematic review is to synthesize existing evidence (qualitative and quantitative) regarding age- and sex-specific differences with glenohumeral osteoarthritis.

Design: The electronic databases PubMed, MEDLINE, and Web of Science were searched up to March 15, 2023. Articles reporting on the association of risk factors (age and sex) with glenohumeral osteoarthritis were considered.

The role of empagliflozin-induced metabolic changes for cardiac function in patients with type 2 diabetes. A randomized cross-over magnetic resonance imaging study with insulin as comparator.

Background: Metabolic effects of empagliflozin treatment include lowered glucose and insulin concentrations, elevated free fatty acids and ketone bodies and have been suggested to contribute to the cardiovascular benefits of empagliflozin treatment, possibly through an improved cardiac function. We aimed to evaluate the influence of these metabolic changes on cardiac function in patients with T2D.

Methods: In a randomized cross-over design, the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin (E) was compared with insulin (I) treatment titrated to the same level of glycemic control in 17 patients with type 2 diabetes, BMI of > 28 kg/m, C-peptide > 500 pM.

vascularized immunocompetent patient-derived model to test cancer therapies.

This work describes a patient-derived tumoroid model (PDTs) to support precision medicine in lung oncology. The use of human adipose tissue-derived microvasculature and patient-derived peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) permits to achieve a physiologically relevant tumor microenvironment. This study involved ten patients at various stages of tumor progression.

Primary weight loss failure after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is characterized by impaired gut-hormone mediated regulation of food intake.

Background/objectives: After Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) a subset of patients never obtain excess BMI loss (EBMIL) > 50% and are categorized as having primary weight loss (WL) failure. We hypothesized that postprandial concentrations of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and peptide YY (PYY) would be lower in patients with primary WL failure compared with patients with successfully maintained WL. Furthermore, that inhibition of gut hormone secretions would increase ad libitum food intake less in patients with primary WL failure.

Gate-Tunable Critical Current of the Three-Dimensional Niobium Nanobridge Josephson Junction.

Recent studies have shown that the critical currents of several metallic superconducting nanowires and Dayem bridges can be locally tuned by using a gate voltage (). Here, we report a gate-tunable Josephson junction structure constructed from a three-dimensional (3D) niobium nanobridge junction (NBJ) with a voltage gate on top. Measurements up to 6 K showed that the critical current of this structure can be tuned to zero by increasing .

Geometric Scaling of the Current-Phase Relation of Niobium Nanobridge Junctions.

The nanobridge junction (NBJ) is a type of Josephson junction that is advantageous for the miniaturization of superconducting circuits. However, the current-phase relation (CPR) of the NBJ usually deviates from a sinusoidal function, which has been explained by a simplified model with correlation only to its effective length. Here, we investigated both measured and calculated CPRs of niobium NBJs of a cuboidal shape with a three-dimensional bank structure.

Papillary and reticular fibroblasts generate distinct microenvironments that differentially impact angiogenesis.

Papillary and reticular dermis show distinct extracellular matrix (ECM) and vascularization corresponding to their specific functions. These characteristics are associated with gene expression patterns of fibroblasts freshly isolated from their native microenvironment. In order to assess the relevance of these fibroblast subpopulations in a tissue engineering context, we investigated their contribution to matrix production and vascularization using cell sheet culture conditions.

Effect on cardiac function among patients with type 2 diabetes following high-dose mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist using echocardiography; data from the MIRAD randomized clinical trial.

Background: Early heart failure prevention is central in patients with type 2 diabetes, and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) have shown to improve prognosis. We investigated the effect of high-dose MRA, eplerenone, on cardiac function and structure in patients with type 2 diabetes and established or increased risk of cardiovascular disease but without heart failure.

Methods: In the current randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, 140 patients with high-risk type 2 diabetes were randomized to high-dose eplerenone (100-200 mg daily) or placebo as add-on to standard care for 26 weeks.

EURO-MUSCULUS/USPRM Dynamic Ultrasound Protocols for Knee.

In this dynamic scanning protocol, ultrasound examination of the knee is described using various maneuvers to assess different conditions. Real-time patient examination and scanning videos are used for better simulation of the daily clinical practice. The protocol is prepared by several/international experts in the field of musculoskeletal ultrasound and within the umbrella of European Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Study Group in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine/Ultrasound Study Group of the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine.

Probiotic supplementation and systemic inflammation in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex inflammatory disease in which demyelination occurs in the central nervous system affecting approximately 2.5 million people worldwide. Intestinal microbiome changes play an important role in the etiology of chronic diseases.

Investigating the roles of hyperglycaemia, hyperinsulinaemia and elevated free fatty acids in cardiac function in patients with type 2 diabetes via treatment with insulin compared with empagliflozin: protocol for the HyperCarD2 randomised, crossover trial.

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is characterised by elevated plasma glucose, free fatty acid (FFA) and insulin concentrations, and this metabolic profile is linked to diabetic cardiomyopathy, a diastolic dysfunction at first and increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Shifting cardiac metabolism towards glucose utilisation has been suggested to improve cardiovascular function and CVD risk, but insulin treatment increases overall glucose oxidation and lowers lipid oxidation, without reducing CVD risk, whereas SGLT2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) increase FFA, ketone body concentrations and lipid oxidation, while decreasing insulin concentrations and CVD risk. The aim of the present study is to elucidate the importance of different metabolic profiles obtained during treatment with a SGLT2i versus insulin for myocardial function in patients with T2D.

EURO-MUSCULUS/USPRM Dynamic Ultrasound Protocols for (Adult) Hip.

In this dynamic scanning protocol, ultrasound assessment of the adult hip is described using different maneuvers for various conditions. Real-time patient examination and ultrasound scanning videos are coupled for convenience as well as for better insight. The text covers the common conditions around the hip where especially dynamic ultrasound scanning provides valuable information in addition to static imaging.