Sex-based differences in cardiovascular outcomes among patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing left atrial appendage occlusion device placement.

Background: There is a growing body of data to support the presence of sex disparities in outcomes of cardiovascular related hospitalizations. Despite this, there remains a paucity of data on relationships between sex and in-hospital outcomes in patients receiving a left atrial appendage occlusion device (LAAOD).

Methods: We examined the 2016-2020 Nationwide Readmission Database to identify patients with Atrial Fibrillation receiving a LAAOD.

Impact of pulmonary hypertension on short and long-term outcome after mitral transcatheter edge-to-edge repair: A meta-analysis.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (pHTN) has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality after mitral Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair (TEER), but the association remains uncertain. This study aims to evaluate the impact of pHTN on cardiovascular outcomes following TEER.

Methods: We searched PubMed, Scopus, and Medline to identify studies reporting outcomes after TEER in individuals with pHTN.

Plasma brain-related biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets in pediatric ECMO.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a technique used to support severe cardiopulmonary failure. Its potential life-saving benefits are tempered by the significant risk for acute brain injury (ABI), from both primary pathophysiologic factors and ECMO-related complications through central nervous system cellular injury, blood-brain barrier dysfunction (BBB), systemic inflammation and neuroinflammation, and coagulopathy. Plasma biomarkers are an emerging tool used to stratify risk for and diagnose ABI, and prognosticate neurofunctional outcomes.

The utility of renal sonographic measurements in differentiating children with grades 2, 3, and 4 hydronephrosis.

Introduction: Prior analysis of children with grade 3 and 4 congenital hydronephrosis demonstrated that renal medullary pyramidal thickness (PT) is predictive of subsequent pyeloplasty (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.78). The objective of this study was to further analyze the utility of sonographic measurements including PT, anteroposterior pelvic diameter (APD), and renal length with an expansion of the number of infants with hydronephrotic kidneys including grades 2, 3, and 4 hydronephrosis.

Oncological resection and perioperative outcomes of robotic, laparoscopic and open pancreatoduodenectomy for ampullary adenocarcinoma: a propensity score matched international multicenter cohort study.

Background: Ampullary adenocarcinoma (AAC) typically presents at an early stage due to biliary obstruction and therefore might be specifically suitable for minimally invasive pancreatoduodenectomy (MIPD). However, studies assessing MIPD specifically for AAC, including the robotic and laparoscopic approach, are limited. The aim of this study is to compare short- and long-term oncological resection and perioperative outcomes of robotic (RPD), laparoscopic (LPD) and open pancreatoduodenectomy (OPD) performed specifically for AAC.

Implantable Neuromodulation for Neurogenic Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction: A Single-Institution Retrospective Study.

Purpose: Neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD) is highly prevalent among patients with neurologic disorders. Some studies have demonstrated that implantable neuromodulation can improve symptoms of NLUTD. We seek to describe our experience with sacral and pudendal neuromodulation in patients with NLUTD.

Navigating neurologic post-COVID-19 conditions in adults: Management strategies for cognitive dysfunction, headaches and neuropathies.

This review aims to describe the neurologic post-COVID-19 conditions (PCC, also known as "long COVID"), a complex array of diagnoses that can occur following recovery from acute COVID-19. The review also includes clinical considerations for the recognition, diagnosis and management of neurologic manifestations of PCC. Cognitive impairment ("Brain Fog"), headaches, and neuropathies are specifically reviewed.

Chronic cannabis use differentially modulates neural oscillations serving the manipulate versus maintain components of working memory processing.

The legalization of recreational cannabis use has expanded the availability of this psychoactive substance in the United States. Research has shown that chronic cannabis use is associated with altered working memory function, however, the brain areas and neural dynamics underlying these affects remain poorly understood. In this study, we leveraged magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate neurophysiological activity in 45 participants (22 heavy cannabis users) during a numerical WM task, whereby participants were asked to either maintain or manipulate (i.

Neural markers of human aggression and cooperation are influenced by zero-sum or non-zero-sum groups.

Cooperation and competition in social interaction are important to social development. There are many studies examining the neural mechanism underlying these behaviors; however, little is known about the potential role of payoff norms in social interactions. This study introduced two distinct payoff norms: zero-sum (ZS) and non-zero-sum (NZS).

National Trends in Lumbar Degenerative Spondylolisthesis With Stenosis Treated With Fusion Versus Decompression.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to describe utilization, demographics, complications, and revisions for patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis (DS) with stenosis undergoing decompression or decompression with fusion in the United States.

Methods: A national insurance database was used to identify patients who underwent either decompression and fusion or decompression alone for management of DS from 2010-2022. Utilization trends, demographics, and complications for each procedure were compared.

HIV and Inflamm-Aging: How Do We Reach the Summit of Healthy Aging?

People with HIV (PWH) are living longer and experiencing a greater burden of morbidity from non-AIDS-defining conditions. Chronically treated HIV disease is associated with ongoing systemic inflammation that contributes to the development of chronic conditions (eg, cardiovascular disease) and geriatric syndromes (eg, frailty). Apart from HIV disease, a progressive increase in systemic inflammation is a characteristic feature of biologic aging, a process described as "inflammaging.

Weighing In: Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonism for Persons With HIV.

Weight gain among persons with HIV PWH) on contemporary antiretroviral therapy (ART) can extend beyond an initial return-to-health phenomenon and lead to overweight/obesity in the first 1 to 2 years, resulting in enhanced cardiometabolic risk. Factors that may contribute to increased weight gain include specific ART regimens (those initiating dolutegravir and tenofovir alafenamide or withdrawing tenofovir disoproxil and efavirenz), women with HIV, and certain virologic factors including lower baseline CD4 count and higher HIV viral load. Weight reduction starting at 5% body weight confers metabolic protection, such as improved hypertension and dysglycemia.

Managing Stimulant Use Among People With HIV: Harm-Reduction Strategies From Behavior to Medication.

Stimulant use disorder poses substantial challenges to the health and well-being of people with HIV, contributing to increased HIV transmission risk and poor clinical outcomes. This article highlights the cultural significance of stimulant use, its epidemiology, and the latest evidencebased interventions for stimulant use disorder among individuals with HIV. Contingency management has emerged as the most effective treatment, with harm-reduction approaches serving as vital tools for improving the health of individuals unable or unwilling to achieve abstinence.

Protection by natural cholera against later episodes of cholera over 10 years of follow-up in Matlab, Bangladesh: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Patients with cholera have been shown to be protected against subsequent cholera for 3 years after their initial episode. We aimed to assess protection at 10 years of follow-up.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, cohorts of patients treated for cholera (index patients) and contemporaneously selected age-matched individuals without cholera (controls), randomly selected from the population of Matlab, Bangladesh, were assembled between 1990 and 2009 and followed for up to 10 years.

Structures of ATP-binding cassette transporter ABCC1 reveal the molecular basis of cyclic dinucleotide cGAMP export.

Cyclic nucleotide GMP-AMP (cGAMP) plays a critical role in mediating the innate immune response through the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)-stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway. Recent studies showed that ATP-binding cassette subfamily C member 1 (ABCC1) is a cGAMP exporter. The exported cGAMP can be imported into uninfected cells to stimulate a STING-mediated innate immune response.

Lineage tracing senescence in vivo shows not all senescent cells are created equal.

Understanding the impact of senescence on disease is limited by the lack of tools to lineage label senescent cells. In a recent Cell issue, Zhao et al. create mouse models to genetically manipulate and trace p16 cells, identifying contrasting roles for senescent macrophages and endothelial cells (ECs) in liver fibrosis.

Thermoregulation: When cooling cools and heating heats.

Body temperature regulation in endotherms requires warming the body when ambient temperatures are low and cooling the body when they are high. Now, neural circuitry that can achieve the opposite has been identified - a phenomenon called thermoregulatory inversion.

A review of polysorbate quantification and its degradation analysis by liquid chromatography coupled with charged aerosol detection.

Polysorbates (PS), as non-ionic surfactants, contribute significantly to the stability of proteins in formulations. However, their lack of chromophore groups makes them difficult to detect with high sensitivity and simplicity. The charged aerosol detector (CAD) is an emerging and universal detector that can provide highly sensitive response signals to non-volatile or semi-volatile substances, such as esters, acids, oxidized aldehydes, and contaminant ions in PS.

Dietary profiles of wild carnivores and Blastocystis occurrence: The case of the endangered Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) and systematic review.

Recent molecular and metagenomic studies have revealed that the obligate anaerobic protist Blastocystis is found more prevalently and with higher subtype diversities in herbivore species than in carnivore species. However, information on wild carnivore species is scarce. Here, we investigated the presence of Blastocystis by molecular methods in fecal DNA samples of free-ranging and captive Iberian lynxes from Spain (n = 243) and Portugal (n = 30).

Linking tumor immune infiltration to enhanced longevity in recurrence-free breast cancer.

Background: The infiltration of tumor-infiltrating B cells and plasma cells in early-stage breast cancer has been associated with a reduced risk of distant metastasis. However, the influence of B-cell tumor infiltration on overall patient survival remains unclear.

Materials And Methods: This study explored the relationship between an antitumor immune response, measured by a 14-gene B-cell/immunoglobulin (IGG) signature, and mortality risk in 9638 breast cancer patients across three datasets.

A taxonomy of the factors contributing to the overtreatment of cancer patients at the end of life. What is the problem? Why does it happen? How can it be addressed?

Many patients with cancer approaching the end of life (EOL) continue to receive treatments that are unlikely to provide meaningful clinical benefit, potentially causing more harm than good. This is called overtreatment at the EOL. Overtreatment harms patients by causing side-effects, increasing health care costs, delaying important discussions about and preparation for EOL care, and occasionally accelerating death.

Comparing quantity of marine debris to California horn shark sightings and egg appearances in Redondo Beach, California, USA.

Marine debris such as plastic, metal, and rubber, is a significant source of anthropogenic waste pollution in oceanic waters. Debris continues to be found along Southern California's coastlines and poses serious risks to biodiversity and ecosystem health through entrapment, ingestion, and entanglement. One particular species that drops eggs in the South Bay, particularly in the Palos Verdes peninsula, is the California horn shark (Heterodontus francisci).

A systematic review for non-targeted analysis of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

This review follows the PRISMA guidelines to provide a systematic review of 115 peer reviewed articles that used non-targeted analysis (NTA) methods to detect per- and polyfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS). This literature highlights the significant positive impact of NTA in understanding PFAS in the environment. Within the literature a geographical bias exists, with most NTA studies (∼60 %) conducted in the United States and China.

A multi-city COVID-19 categorical forecasting model utilizing wastewater-based epidemiology.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted shortcomings in forecasting models, such as unreliable inputs/outputs and poor performance at critical points. As COVID-19 remains a threat, it is imperative to improve current forecasting approaches by incorporating reliable data and alternative forecasting targets to better inform decision-makers. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has emerged as a viable method to track COVID-19 transmission, offering a more reliable metric than reported cases for forecasting critical outcomes like hospitalizations.