COVID-19 in Baghdad, Iraq: adaptive and emotional findings in a household cluster survey.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 infection on households in Baghdad, Iraq.

Methods: A cross-sectional household survey was conducted in early 2022; 41 clusters were selected proportional to population size from the districts of the Baghdad governorate. Households were randomly selected for inclusion.

Critical care delivery across health care systems in low-income and low-middle-income country settings: A systematic review.

Background: Prior research has demonstrated that low- and low-middle-income countries (LLMICs) bear a higher burden of critical illness and have a higher rate of mortality from critical illness than high-income countries (HICs). There is a pressing need for improved critical care delivery in LLMICs to reduce this inequity. This systematic review aimed to characterise the range of critical care interventions and services delivered within LLMIC health care systems as reported in the literature.

Thermal and pigment characterization of environmental fungi in the urban heat island of Baltimore City.

One of the major barriers of fungal infections of mammals is the inability to grow and/or survive at mammalian body temperature, typically around 37°C. This has provided mammals an advantage over fungi. However, environmental fungi may soon adapt to persist at higher temperatures, consistent with mammalian body temperature, due to thermal selection pressures imposed by climate change, global warming, and increased frequency of extreme heat events.

TV005 dengue vaccine protects against dengue serotypes 2 and 3 in two controlled human infection studies.

BACKGROUNDDisease due to dengue viruses is a growing global health threat, causing 100-400 million cases annually. An ideal dengue vaccine should demonstrate durable protection against all 4 serotypes in phase III efficacy trials, however the lack of circulating serotypes may lead to incomplete efficacy data. Controlled human infection models help downselect vaccine candidates and supply critical data to supplement efficacy trials.

A statistical framework for differential pseudotime analysis with multiple single-cell RNA-seq samples.

Pseudotime analysis with single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) data has been widely used to study dynamic gene regulatory programs along continuous biological processes. While many methods have been developed to infer the pseudotemporal trajectories of cells within a biological sample, it remains a challenge to compare pseudotemporal patterns with multiple samples (or replicates) across different experimental conditions. Here, we introduce Lamian, a comprehensive and statistically-rigorous computational framework for differential multi-sample pseudotime analysis.

Cardioprotective O-GlcNAc signaling is elevated in murine female hearts via enhanced O-GlcNAc transferase activity.

The post-translational modification of intracellular proteins by O-linked β-GlcNAc (O-GlcNAc) has emerged as a critical regulator of cardiac function. Enhanced O-GlcNAcylation activates cytoprotective pathways in cardiac models of ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury; however, the mechanisms underpinning O-GlcNAc cycling in response to I/R injury have not been comprehensively assessed. The cycling of O-GlcNAc is regulated by the collective efforts of two enzymes: O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) and O-GlcNAcase (OGA), which catalyze the addition and hydrolysis of O-GlcNAc, respectively.

Burden and risk factors of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Sub-Saharan African countries, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of disease study 2019.

Background: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has experienced a surge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) over the past two decades. Using data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD), in this study we have estimated the burden and attributable risk factors of COPD across SSA countries between 1990 and 2019.

Methods: COPD burden and its attributable risk factors were estimated using data from the 2019 GBD.

The physician gender pay gap in Maryland: current state and future directions.

Background: Over the last few decades, more attention has been paid to the physician gender pay gap and more interventions have been attempted. This paper discusses the physician gender pay gap between 2017 and 2021 in Maryland.

Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was distributed to over 10,000 physicians in the Maryland Medical Society, featuring questions regarding employment characteristics, compensation, impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and educational debt.

Ethics of Adaptive Designs for Randomized Controlled Trials.

Over recent decades, adaptive trial designs have been used more and more often for clinical trials, including randomized controlled trials (RCTs). This rise in the use of adaptive RCTs has been accompanied by debates about whether such trials offer ethical and methodological advantages over traditional, fixed RCTs. This study examined how experts on clinical trial methods and ethics believe that adaptive RCTs, compared to fixed ones, affect the ethical character of clinical research.

Disparities in Timeliness of Endometrial Cancer Care: A Scoping Review.

Objective: We use the person-centered Pathway to Treatment framework to assess the scope of evidence on disparities in endometrial cancer stage at diagnosis. This report is intended to facilitate interventions, research, and advocacy that reduce disparities.

Data Sources: We completed a structured search of electronic databases: PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, ClinicalTrials.

Chronotype is Associated with Sleep Quality in Older Adults.

Introduction: Disrupted sleep is common in individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and may be a marker for AD risk. The timing of sleep or chronotype affects sleep-wake activity and is also associated with AD, but little is known about links between sleep and chronotype in older adults. In this study, we tested if different measures of sleep and chronotype are associated among older adults even after adjusting for multiple potentially confounding variables.

Sex-Differential and Non-specific Effects of Vaccines Over the Life Course.

Biological sex and age have profound effects on immune responses throughout the lifespan and impact vaccine acceptance, responses, and outcomes. Mounting evidence from epidemiological, clinical, and animal model studies show that males and females respond differentially to vaccination throughout the lifespan. Within age groups, females tend to produce greater vaccine-induced immune responses than males, with sex differences apparent across all age groups, but are most pronounced among reproductive aged individuals.

Fatty acid composition but not quantity is an important indicator of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a systematic review.

Background: There is still paucity on the effects of dietary and supplemental fatty acid on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The aim of this review is to systematically review and summarise the effect of fatty acids intake on liver-related outcomes in adult patients with NAFLD.

Methods: The review was conducted using Cochrane CENTRAL Library, Scopus, Embase, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Web of Science.

Prevalence and Outcomes of Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke and Concomitant Non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (Results from the National Inpatient Sample 2016 to 2019).

Acute myocardial infarction (MI) may concomitantly occur with acute ischemic stroke. The incidence and outcomes of acute non-ST-elevation MI (NSTEMI) in acute ischemic stroke are not well studied. We examined hospitalized patients with acute ischemic stroke and a concomitant NSTEMI diagnosis who were included in the National Inpatient Sample 2016 to 2019.

Adverse outcomes in SARS-CoV-2-infected pregnant mice are gestational age-dependent and resolve with antiviral treatment.

SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy is associated with severe COVID-19 and adverse fetal outcomes, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Moreover, clinical studies assessing therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 in pregnancy are limited. To address these gaps, we developed a mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy.

Growth media affects susceptibility of air-lifted human nasal epithelial cell cultures to SARS-CoV2, but not Influenza A, virus infection.

Primary differentiated human epithelial cell cultures have been widely used by researchers to study viral fitness and virus-host interactions, especially during the COVID19 pandemic. These cultures recapitulate important characteristics of the respiratory epithelium such as diverse cell type composition, polarization, and innate immune responses. However, standardization and validation of these cultures remains an open issue.