Professional Development Among African Oncologists: Examining Professional Development Activities, Satisfaction Levels, Barriers, and Enablers.

Africa is currently facing unprecedented growth in its cancer burden. Training an adequate number of skilled physicians is critical to addressing this challenge. We examine African oncology faculty's professional development (PD) activities, associated barriers, enablers, satisfaction levels, and highlight the implications for improving the quality of the oncology faculty workforce in SSA.

The Impact of Longitudinal Substance Use Patterns on the Risk of Opioid Agonist Therapy Discontinuation: A Repeated Measures Latent Class Analysis.

Unlabelled: Polysubstance use is prevalent among individuals on opioid agonist treatment (OAT), yet past studies have focused primarily on distinct substances and their association with OAT retention. Data was collected from two prospective cohorts between 2005 and 2020 in Vancouver, Canada. Among 13,596 visits contributed by 1445 participants receiving OAT, we employed repeated measures latent class analysis using seven indicators and identified four longitudinal substance use classes.

Characterizing people who inject drugs with no history of opioid agonist therapy uptake in Iran: Results from a national bio-behavioural surveillance survey in 2020.

Injection drug use is the primary driver of the human immunodeficiency virus HIV epidemic in Iran. We characterized people who inject drugs (PWID) living in Iran who had never received opioid agonist therapy (OAT) and examined barriers to OAT uptake. We recruited 2,684 PWID with a history of drug injection in the previous 12 months using a respondent-driven sampling approach from 11 geographically dispersed cities in Iran.

A sex- and gender-based analysis of alcohol treatment intervention research involving youth: A methodological systematic review.

Background: While there is widespread consensus that sex- and gender-related factors are important for how interventions are designed, implemented, and evaluated, it is not currently known how alcohol treatment research accounts for sex characteristics and/or gender identities and modalities. This methodological systematic review documents and assesses how sex characteristics, gender identities, and gender modalities are operationalized in alcohol treatment intervention research involving youth.

Methods And Findings: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials, PsycINFO, CINAHL, LGBT Life, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and grey literature from 2008 to 2023.

Effectiveness of mRNA booster doses in preventing infections and hospitalizations due to SARS-CoV-2 and its dominant variant over time in Valencian healthcare workers, Spain.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines in preventing infection and hospitalization among healthcare workers (HCWs) in the Valencian Community (Spain), considering vaccination timing, dose number, and predominant variant.

Methods: A test-negative case-control design estimated vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease and hospitalization due to SARS-CoV-2. HCWs who underwent PCR or antigen testing for SARS-CoV-2 from January 2021 to March 2022 were included.

Factors Impacting Physician Prognostic Accuracy in Heart Failure Patients With Reduced Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction.

Background: A recent study showed that the accuracy of heart failure (HF) cardiologists and family doctors to predict mortality in outpatients with HF proved suboptimal, performing less well than models.

Objectives: The authors sought to evaluate patient and physician factors associated with physician accuracy.

Methods: The authors included outpatients with HF from 11 HF clinics.

Cancer care in Needle Hospital, Hargeisa, Somaliland.

Somaliland is an autonomous region in the northern part of Somalia that declared its independence in 1991. It is a low-income country (LIC) with a population size of 5.7 million with a gross domestic product per capita of $775.

Culture substrate stiffness impacts human myoblast contractility-dependent proliferation and nuclear envelope wrinkling.

Understanding how biophysical and biochemical microenvironmental cues together influence the regenerative activities of muscle stem cells and their progeny is crucial in strategizing remedies for pathological dysregulation of these cues in aging and disease. In this study, we investigated the cell-level influences of extracellular matrix (ECM) ligands and culture substrate stiffness on primary human myoblast contractility and proliferation within 16 h of plating and found that tethered fibronectin led to stronger stiffness-dependent responses compared to laminin and collagen. A proteome-wide analysis further uncovered cell metabolism, cytoskeletal and nuclear component regulation distinctions between cells cultured on soft and stiff substrates.

Disease activity trajectories in juvenile dermatomyositis from childhood to adulthood.

Objectives: To assess whether there are identifiable subgroups of disease activity trajectory in a population of JDM patients-followed throughout childhood and into adulthood-and determine factors that predict those trajectory groupings.

Methods: This is a retrospective, longitudinal inception cohort of patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, largely JDM. We sought to identify baseline factors that predict membership into different groups (latent classes) of disease activity trajectory.

Longitudinal polysubstance use patterns and non-fatal overdose: A repeated measures latent class analysis.

Background: Polysubstance use (PSU) is common among people who use opioids (PWUO) and has been associated with drug-related harms. We aimed to identify latent longitudinal PSU classes among a cohort of PWUO and characterize non-fatal overdose risks among different sub-classes over time.

Methods: We used longitudinal data (2005-2018) from three ongoing prospective cohorts of people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada.

Endoscopic Biliary Drainage in Surgically Altered Anatomy.

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is considered the preferred method for managing biliary obstructions. However, the prevalence of surgically modified anatomies often poses challenges, making the standard side-viewing duodenoscope unable to reach the papilla in most cases. The increasing instances of surgically altered anatomies (SAAs) result from higher rates of bariatric procedures and surgical interventions for pancreatic malignancies.

The Predictive Validity of the Berlin Definition of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome for Patients With COVID-19-Related Respiratory Failure Treated With High-Flow Nasal Oxygen: A Multicenter, Prospective Cohort Study.

Objectives: The Berlin definition of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) was constructed for patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) with consideration given to issues related to reliability, feasibility, and validity. Notwithstanding, patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF) may be treated with high-flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) and may not fall within the scope of the original definition. We aimed to evaluate the predictive validity of the Berlin definition in HFNO-treated patients with COVID-19-related respiratory failure who otherwise met ARDS criteria.

The Long-COVID autonomic syndrome in hospitalized patients: A one-year prospective cohort study.

Long-COVID syndrome is characterized by fatigue, orthostatic intolerance, tachycardia, pain, memory difficulties, and brain fog, which may be associated with autonomic nervous system abnormalities. We aimed to evaluate the short and long-term course of COVID-19 autonomic symptoms and quality of life (QoL) after SARS-CoV-2 infection through a one-year follow-up combined with validated questionnaires. Additionally, we aimed to identify patients with worsening autonomic symptoms at 6 and 12 months by dividing the patient cohort into two sub-groups: the Post-COVID healed Control sub-group (total score<16.

Prodromes in demyelinating disorders, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson disease, and Alzheimer's dementia.

A prodrome is an early set of symptoms, which indicates the onset of a disease; these symptoms are often non-specific. Prodromal phases are now recognized in multiple central nervous system diseases. The depth of understanding of the prodromal phase varies across diseases, being more nascent for multiple sclerosis for example, than for Parkinson disease or Alzheimer's disease.

Predicting 1-Year Mortality in Outpatients With Heart Failure With Reduced Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction: Do Empiric Models Outperform Physician Intuitive Estimates? A Multicenter Cohort Study.

Background: Many studies have demonstrated that physicians often err in estimating patient prognosis. No studies have directly compared physician to model predictive performance in heart failure (HF). We aimed to compare the accuracy of physician versus model predictions of 1-year mortality.

Assessment of 30 Years of Randomized Controlled Trials in 1990-2020.

Background: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) stand atop the evidence-based hierarchy of study designs for their ability to arrive at results with the lowest risk of bias. Even for RCTs, however, critical appraisal is essential before applying results to clinical practice.

Purpose: To analyze the quality of reporting of RCTs published in ( from 1990 to 2020 and to identify trends over time and areas of improvement for future trials.

Augmented Intelligence for Clinical Discovery in Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Using Outlier Analysis.

Objectives Clinical discoveries are heralded by observing unique and unusual clinical cases. The effort of identifying such cases rests on the shoulders of busy clinicians. We assess the feasibility and applicability of an augmented intelligence framework to accelerate the rate of clinical discovery in preeclampsia and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy-an area that has seen little change in its clinical management.

Perfusion Imaging of Traumatic Brain Injury.

The mechanisms for regulating cerebral blood flow (CBF) are highly sensitive to traumatic brain injury (TBI). The perfusion imaging technique may be used to assess CBF and identify perfusion abnormalities following a TBI. Studies have identified CBF disturbances across the injury severity spectrum and correlations with both acute and long-term indices of clinical outcome.

Evaluation of Trends in Treatment of Metastatic Hormone Sensitive Prostate Cancer (mHSPC) Across Canada During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: In metastatic hormone sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC), treatment intensification with either docetaxel or an androgen-receptor-axis targeted therapy (ARAT), added to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is the new standard of care. To better understand patterns of treatment intensification in Canada and specifically how it has been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted a national survey of genitourinary medical oncologists from across Canada.

Methods: Using SurveyMonkey, we conducted an online survey of 119 medical oncologists in Canada from January 15 to January 27, 2021.

[Diagnostic value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in fever of unknown origin].

Fever of unknown origin is a common differential diagnostic problem in medicine. More than 60 years have passed since the first established definition of the disease, and despite constant development and improvement of diagnostic procedures, the differential diagnosis and choosing adequate therapy still remains a challenge in this patient population. The medical literature lists at least 200 diseases that may manifest with fever of unknown origin, and it encompasses a wide clinical spectrum.