[Acute airway obstruction from a retropharyngeal hemorrhage].

A case is reported of a man in his 70s that presented to the emergency department due to difficulty swallowing after a fall. He was found to have a large retropharyngeal hematoma, which led to complete airway obstruction about an hour after the injury. As oral endotracheal intubation was impossible due to the bleeding, an emergency cricothyrotomy was performed in an ambulance by an emergency medicine trainee.

Quality of care delivery in patients with acute heart failure: insights from the international REPORT-HF registry.

Background: Heart Failure (HF) quality of care (QoC) is associated with clinical outcomes. Therefore, we investigated differences in HF QoC across worldwide regions (with differing national income) and the association of quality indicators with outcomes.

Methods: We examined the quality of care (QoC) in acute heart failure (HF) patients across different regions using quality indicators (QIs) from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) to evaluate QoC.

A safe-enhanced fully closed-loop artificial pancreas controller based on deep reinforcement learning.

Patients with type 1 diabetes and their physicians have long desired a fully closed-loop artificial pancreas (AP) system that can alleviate the burden of blood glucose regulation. Although deep reinforcement learning (DRL) methods theoretically enable adaptive insulin dosing control, they face numerous challenges, including safety and training efficiency, which have hindered their clinical application. This paper proposes a safe and efficient adaptive insulin delivery controller based on DRL.

Hidradenitis Suppurativa.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by the formation of nodules, abscesses, and fistulae at intertriginous sites. Pain, pruritus, malodor, and suppuration have a significant impact on quality of life for HS patients. Prevalence figures vary greatly in the literature from 0.

External Validation of an AI mHealth Tool for Gingivitis Detection among Older Adults at Daycare Centers: A Pilot Study.

Objectives: Periodontal disease is a significant public health concern among older adults due to its relationship with tooth loss and systemic health disease. However, there are numerous barriers that prevent older adults from receiving routine dental care, highlighting the need for innovative screening tools at the community level. This pilot study aimed first, to evaluate the accuracy of GumAI, a new mHealth tool that uses AI and smartphones to detect gingivitis, and the user acceptance of personalized oral hygiene instructions provided through the new tool, among older adults in day-care community centers.

Global impact of 10- and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines on pneumococcal meningitis in all ages: the PSERENADE project.

Background: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) introduced in childhood national immunization programs lowered vaccine-type invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), but replacement with non-vaccine-types persisted throughout the PCV10/13 follow-up period. We assessed PCV10/13 impact on pneumococcal meningitis incidence globally.

Methods: The number of cases with serotyped pneumococci detected in cerebrospinal fluid and population denominators were obtained from surveillance sites globally.

Controlling the energies of the single-rotor large wind turbine system using a new controller.

In wind energy generation systems, ensuring high energy quality is critical but is often compromised due to the limited performance and durability of conventional regulators. To address this, this work presents a novel controller for managing the machine-side inverter of a single-rotor large wind turbine system using an induction machine-type generator. The proposed controller is designed using proportional, integral, and derivative error-based mechanisms, which fundamentally differ from traditional proportional-integral (PI) regulators.

Long-term exposure to air pollution and greenness in association with respiratory emergency room visits and hospitalizations: The Life-GAP project.

Background: Air pollution has been linked to respiratory diseases, while the effects of greenness remain inconclusive.

Objective: We investigated the associations between exposure to particulate matter (PM and PM), black carbon (BC), nitrogen dioxide (NO), ozone (O), and greenness (normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI) with respiratory emergency room visits and hospitalizations across seven Northern European centers in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) study.

Methods: We used modified mixed-effects Poisson regression to analyze associations of exposure in 1990, 2000 and mean exposure 1990-2000 with respiratory outcomes recorded duing ECRHS phases II and III.

L. Herb Extracts: Phytochemical Composition and Pharmacological Activity Screening.

The genus (Lamiaceae family) comprises approximately 300 species, which are widely used in traditional medicine for their diaphoretic, antiseptic, hemostatic, and anti-inflammatory properties, but scarcely in official ones. Therefore, the study of holds promise for developing new medicinal products. In aqueous and aqueous-alcoholic soft extracts of the herb, 16 amino acids, 20 phenolics, and 10 volatile substances were identified by HPLC and GC/MS.

Adding Semi Elemental Enteral Nutrition Formula Improves Tolerance Without Compromising Bowel Preparation Quality for Colonoscopy: A Non-Inferiority Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Aims conventional bowel preparation restricts dietary intake up to 72 h prior to colonoscopy. Bowel preparation process is often perceived as unpleasant leading to poor compliance and subsequent poor bowel preparation. The aim of this trial is to compare the efficacy of low-residue semi-elemental enteral formula (LREF) incorporated diet versus the standard diet in polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based bowel preparation in the aim of creating a more tolerable bowel preparation regimen without compromising bowel cleanliness.

Stillbirth rate trends across 25 European countries between 2010 and 2021: the contribution of maternal age and multiplicity.

Stillbirth rates have stalled or increased in some European countries during the last decade. We investigate to what extent time-trends and between-country differences in stillbirth rates are explained by the changing prevalence of advanced maternal age and teenage pregnancies or multiple births. We analysed data on stillbirths and live births by maternal age and multiplicity from 2010 to 2021 in 25 European countries using Kitagawa decomposition to separate rate differences into compositional and rate components.

Search filters for systematic reviews and meta-analyses in sleep medicine.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are increasingly common in sleep research, although the methodological quality level has been a matter of concern. Efforts towards methodological standardization are needed to ensure the reliability of sleep-related systematic reviews. The development of search strategies is a critical step in a systematic review, which often lead to methodological biases.

A time series analysis of Medicare-reimbursed telepsychiatry consultations across Australian states and territories before and after telehealth item expansion: Enabling policy can improve access to care.

Objective: We aimed to examine the associations of telepsychiatry consultations with the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) telehealth policy changes (pandemic-related expansion and subsequent consolidation).

Methods: We performed a time series analysis of MBS telepsychiatry usage (January 2016-December 2023) using state/territory-level Medicare panel data. Linear regression analyses with panel-corrected standard error and autocorrelation were performed for telepsychiatry consultations (overall and age and sex subgroups).

Chitosan-based hydrogels: A comprehensive review of transdermal drug delivery.

This article provides a comprehensive review of chitosan-based hydrogels for transdermal drug delivery. It covers various aspects including the chemical structure of chitosan and its derivatives, crosslinking agents, hydrogel morphology, and drug loading and release behaviors. The review draws on 16 studies sourced from Scopus, focusing on how the composition and structure of hydrogels influence drug release.

Online interest in ADHD predicts ADHD medication prescriptions in Australia from 2004 to 2023: A time-series analysis revealing COVID-19-related acceleration.

Objective: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication prescriptions in Australia have grown sharply in recent years. We examined the association between online interest in ADHD and prescriptions.

Methods: Monthly Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Repatriation PBS (RPBS) Item Reports of ADHD prescriptions and Australian ADHD-related Google Trends (GT) data (2004-2023) were sourced.

Effect of music therapy on emotional resilience, well-being, and employability: a quantitative investigation of mediation and moderation.

This study explores the impact of music therapy on emotional resilience, well-being, and employability. Through an 8-week music therapy intervention involving 256 participants, the results demonstrated that music therapy significantly enhanced participants' emotional resilience, which in turn improved their well-being and employability. A significant positive correlation was found between emotional resilience, well-being, and employability, with well-being mediating the relationship between emotional resilience and employability.

A synthesis method for zero-sum mean-payoff asynchronous probabilistic games.

The traditional synthesis problem aims to automatically construct a reactive system (if it exists) satisfying a given Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) specifications, and is often referred to as a qualitative problem. There is also a class of synthesis problems aiming at quantitative properties, such as mean-payoff values, and this type of problem is called a quantitative problem. For the two types of synthesis problems, the research on the former has been relatively mature, and the latter also has received huge amounts of attention.

Drug-Loaded Hydrogel Microneedles for Sustainable Transdermal Delivery of Macromolecular Proteins.

Introduction: Poly(methyl vinyl ether co-maleic acid) (PMVE/MA) hydrogel microneedles (HMN) are investigated for transdermal delivery of macromolecular drugs owing to their biocompatibility and super-swelling properties. However, the drug delivery efficacy reduces with increasing molecular weight due to the entrapment within the HMN matrices. Furthermore, integrating external drug reservoirs extends the drug diffusion path and reduces the efficiency of drug permeation.

Definition and developmental goals for Nordic emergency medicine.

Although Emergency Medicine is now globally an established specialty, the Nordic countries have been relatively slow to implement it into their health care systems. To facilitate the development of EM in the Nordic area, a working group was formed with representation from all national EM societies; DASEM (Danish Society for Emergency Medicine), FiSEM (Finnish Society of Emergency Medicine), ISEM (Icelandic Society for Emergency Medicine), NCEM (Norwegian College of Emergency Medicine), and SWESEM (Swedish Society for Emergency Medicine). This group was tasked with creating a Nordic EM manifesto-to create a definition and developmental goals for Nordic Emergency Medicine.

The Association Between COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake and Information-Seeking Behaviors Using the Internet: Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic, declared in March 2020, profoundly affected global health, societal, and economic frameworks. Vaccination became a crucial tactic in combating the virus. Simultaneously, the pandemic likely underscored the internet's role as a vital resource for seeking health information.

Sr and Cs distribution in Chornobyl forests: 30 years after the nuclear accident.

The primary aim of this study was to quantify patterns in the distribution of Sr and Cs activity in pine (Pinus sylvestris L.: 18 sites) and birch (Betula pendula Roth.: 2 sites) forests within the Chornobyl exclusion zone, 30 years after the Chornobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) accident (1986).

Onabotulinum toxin a treatment for posttraumatic trigeminal neuropathic pain: case series and literature review.

This case series aimed to assess the treatment outcomes of onabotulinum toxin A (BTX-A) in patients with refractory posttraumatic trigeminal neuropathic pain (PTNP) and to conduct a narrative review of the evidence for BTX-A in PTNP. Thirteen patients were treated with BTX-A infiltrations. Patient demographic and pain characteristics, BTX-A administration, and treatment outcomes were retrospectively analyzed.

Sex-specific risk factors for new-onset heart failure: the PREVEND study at 25 years.

Background And Aims: Current estimates for the lifetime risk to develop heart failure with either a reduced (HFrEF) or preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and their associated risk factors are derived from two studies from the USA. The sex-specific lifetime risk and population attributable fraction of potentially modifiable risk factors for incident HFpEF and HFrEF are described in a large European community-based cohort with 25 years of follow-up.

Methods: A total of 8558 participants from the PREVEND cohort were studied at baseline from 1997 onwards and followed until 2022 for cases of new-onset HFrEF (ejection fraction < 50%) and HFpEF (ejection fraction ≥ 50%) by assessment of hospital records.

A posterior pericardial chest tube is associated with reduced incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery: A propensity score-matched study.

Objective: Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is a common complication after cardiac surgery that is associated with other adverse outcomes. Recent studies have shown that drainage of pericardial effusion by a posterior pericardial incision reduces the incidence of POAF. An alternative approach is a chest tube placed posteriorly in the pericardium.