Veteran and healthcare team perspectives on the TeleWound Practice Program within the Veterans Health Administration.

Objective: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) recently piloted the implementation of the TeleWound Practice Program (TWP), which provides interprofessional wound care to Veterans remotely. We assessed the perceptions of Veterans and healthcare team members (HCTMs), and their experiences with the TWP.

Method: We surveyed Veterans from four VHA medical centres who had received at least one TWP visit between 1 May 2020 and 31 May 2021, and HCTMs associated with any TWP encounter between 1 September 2019 and 31 March 2021.

Synthetic rational design of live-attenuated Zika viruses based on a computational model.

Many viruses of the Flaviviridae family, including the Zika virus (ZIKV), are human pathogens of significant public health concerns. Despite extensive research, there are currently no approved vaccines available for ZIKV and specifically no live-attenuated Zika vaccine. In this current study, we suggest a novel computational algorithm for generating live-attenuated vaccines via the introduction of silent mutation into regions that undergo selection for strong or weak local RNA folding or into regions that exhibit medium levels of sequence conservation.

"Listening to understand," exploring postpartum women's perceptions of their social networks and social support in relation to their health behaviors and weight: A qualitative exploratory study.

Background: Postpartum is a critical period to interrupt weight gain across the lifespan, decrease weight-related risk in future pregnancies, promote healthy behaviors that are often adopted during pregnancy, and improve long-term health. Because the postpartum period is marked by unique challenges to a person's ability to prioritize healthy behaviors, a multi-level/domain approach to intervention beyond the individual-level factors of diet and activity is needed.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to understand postpartum people's perceptions about the relationship between their social networks and support, and their health behaviors and weight.

Injectable Estradiol Use in Transgender and Gender-Diverse Individuals in the U.S.: A Multicenter Retrospective Study.

Context: Guidelines for use of injectable estradiol esters (valerate [EV] and cypionate [EC]) among transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals designated male at birth vary considerably, with many providers noting supraphysiologic serum estradiol concentrations based on current dosing recommendations.

Objectives: 1. Determine dose of injectable estradiol (subcutaneous [SC] and intramuscular [IM]) needed to reach guideline-recommended estradiol concentrations for TGD adults using EC/EV.

The Impact of Critical Speed and Lean Body Mass on Load Carriage Performance for Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps Cadets.

Introduction: Load carriage is an inherent part of tactical operations. Critical speed (CS) has been associated with technical and combat-specific performance measures (e.g.

Battlefield Acupuncture Does Not Provide Additional Improvement in Pain When Combined With Standard Physical Therapy After Shoulder Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Introduction: Shoulder stabilization surgery is common among military personnel, causing severe acute postoperative pain that may contribute to the development of chronic pain, thereby reducing military readiness. Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA) has shown promise as a non-pharmaceutical intervention for acute postoperative pain. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of BFA combined with standard physical therapy on pain, self-reported mood, self-reported improvement, and medication use in patients after shoulder stabilization surgery.

Effects of Combined Periodontal, Endodontic, and Dentoalveolar Surgical Treatments on Laboratory Parameters in Patients with Hyperlipidemia-A Clinical Interventional Study.

Patients with hyperlipidemia are of interest because of the possible interplay between chronic local dental infections and hyperlipidemia. This interventional clinical study aimed to evaluate the oral health status of hyperlipidemic patients receiving lipid-lowering therapy for at least 6 months and the effects of non-surgical and surgical dental treatments on serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and lipid markers. Twenty-eight patients with controlled hyperlipidemia and 18 healthy controls were enrolled in the study.

Vision Sensor for Automatic Recognition of Human Activities via Hybrid Features and Multi-Class Support Vector Machine.

Over recent years, automated Human Activity Recognition (HAR) has been an area of concern for many researchers due to its widespread application in surveillance systems, healthcare environments, and many more. This has led researchers to develop coherent and robust systems that efficiently perform HAR. Although there have been many efficient systems developed to date, still, there are many issues to be addressed.

Collegiate Marching Band Artists Self-Report Previous Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH) is commonly observed in endurance athletes, where prolonged physical exertion combined with being unaware of personal hydration needs can lead to excessive water consumption or inadequate sodium intake. Marching band (MB) is an emerging setting for sports medicine professionals. However, there is little research on non-musculoskeletal illnesses among these performing artists.

Impacts of Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support Programs in Hispanic Church Settings: A Cluster-Randomized Trial Comparing Faith-Based and Faith-Placed Approaches.

This study aimed to adapt evidence-based diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) into a faith-based (FB) context for Hispanic communities and compare its effectiveness to a faith-placed (FP) approach using the church as a venue for DSMES delivery. A cluster-randomized trial was conducted among adults with type 2 diabetes from predominantly Hispanic churches. The churches were assigned to either the FB Group (nine churches, n = 146) or the FP Group (seven churches, n = 125).

Comparison of Three Chimeric Zika Vaccine Prototypes Developed on the Genetic Background of the Clinically Proven Live-Attenuated Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine SA-14-2.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a medically important mosquito-borne orthoflavivirus, but no vaccines are currently available to prevent ZIKV-associated disease. In this study, we compared three recombinant chimeric viruses developed as candidate vaccine prototypes (rJEV/ZIKV, rJEV/ZIKV, and rJEV/ZIKV), in which the two neutralizing antibody-inducing prM and E genes from each of three genetically distinct ZIKV strains were used to replace the corresponding genes of the clinically proven live-attenuated Japanese encephalitis virus vaccine SA-14-2 (rJEV). In WHO-certified Vero cells (a cell line suitable for vaccine production), rJEV/ZIKV exhibited the slowest viral growth, formed the smallest plaques, and displayed a unique protein expression profile with the highest ratio of prM to cleaved M when compared to the other two chimeric viruses, rJEV/ZIKV and rJEV/ZIKV, as well as their vector, rJEV.

Newly Initiated Statin Treatment Is Associated with Decreased Plasma Coenzyme Q10 Level After Acute ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction.

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) plays a crucial role in facilitating electron transport during oxidative phosphorylation, thus contributing to cellular energy production. Statin treatment causes a decrease in CoQ10 levels in muscle tissue as well as in serum, which may contribute to the musculoskeletal side effects. Therefore, we aimed to assess the effect of newly initiated statin treatment on serum CoQ10 levels after acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and the correlation of CoQ10 levels with key biomarkers of subclinical or clinically overt myopathy.

Dynamic Prediction of Physical Exertion: Leveraging AI Models and Wearable Sensor Data During Cycling Exercise.

: This study aimed to explore machine learning approaches for predicting physical exertion using physiological signals collected from wearable devices. : Both traditional machine learning and deep learning methods for classification and regression were assessed. The research involved 27 healthy participants engaged in controlled cycling exercises.

Comparative Evaluation of Different Mint Species Based on Their In Vitro Antioxidant and Antibacterial Effect.

In our research six different mint species (peppermint, spearmint (five different chemotypes), Horse mint, mojito mint, apple mint (two different chemotypes), bergamot mint) have been evaluated by referring to their chemical (essential oil (EO) content and composition) and in vitro biological (antibacterial, antioxidant effect) characteristics. The EO amount of the analyzed mint populations varied between 1.99 and 3.

Recent Advances in the Tunable Optoelectromagnetic Properties of PEDOTs.

Conducting polymers represent a crucial class of functional materials with widespread applications in diverse fields. Among these, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and its derivatives have garnered significant attention due to their distinctive optical, electronic, and magnetic properties, as well as their exceptional tunability. These properties often exhibit intricate interdependencies, manifesting as synergistic, concomitant, or antagonistic relationships.

Near-Complete Avipoxvirus Genome Assembled from Skin Lesions of Dead Eurasian Crane ().

Avian pox is a globally spread viral disease affecting a wide spectrum of wild and domesticated bird species. The disease is caused by a diverse group of large DNA viruses, namely, avipoxviruses (genus , family ). In this study, gross pathological examination and histopathological examination of skin lesions and several organs suggested acute poxvirus infection of a Eurasian crane (, Linnaeus, 1758).

Human-centered design of a health recommender system for orthopaedic shoulder treatment.

Background: Rich data on diverse patients and their treatments and outcomes within Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems can be used to generate real world evidence. A health recommender system (HRS) framework can be applied to a decision support system application to generate data summaries for similar patients during the clinical encounter to assist physicians and patients in making evidence-based shared treatment decisions.

Objective: A human-centered design (HCD) process was used to develop a HRS for treatment decision support in orthopaedic medicine, the Informatics Consult for Individualized Treatment (I-C-IT).

Disposition of emergency department patients presenting with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor-induced angioedema.

Background: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) are the most common cause of drug-induced angioedema in the United States. Our primary objective was to provide descriptive evidence regarding emergency department (ED) disposition of ACEI-induced angioedema patients. Our secondary objective was to evaluate unique patterns in those with ACEI-induced angioedema at a tertiary referral center, including demographics, details of those requiring intubation, length of inpatient stay, and allergy documentation.

CRISPR/Cas9 System as a Promising Therapy in Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Disease: A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials.

Clustered, regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) system is a new gene editing tool that represents a revolution in gene therapy. This study aimed to review the clinical trials conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in treating thalassemia and sickle cell disease (SCD). We searched relevant literature using "CRISPR Cas", "thalassemia", "sickle cell" and "clinical trial" as subject terms in PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Google Scholar up to December 3rd, 2023.

Advanced therapies in US veterans with rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease: a retrospective, active-comparator, new-user, cohort study.

Background: Uncertainty exists regarding patient outcomes when using TNF inhibitors versus other biological and targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (ILD). We compared survival and respiratory hospitalisation outcomes following initiation of TNF-inhibitor or non-TNF inhibitor biological or targeted synthetic DMARDs for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis-associated ILD.

Methods: We did a retrospective, active-comparator, new-user, observational cohort study with propensity score matching following the target trial emulation framework using US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) electronic and administrative health records.

Social and Legal Needs in Patients and Families With Cancer: Interaction With Patient-Level Financial Toxicity.

Adverse financial burden and its effect on patients resulting from the costs associated with cancer care, both direct and indirect, is known as financial toxicity. This review explores the interplay between financial toxicity and key social and legal needs in cancer care. Drawing from the WHO's framework and the ASCO's policy statement on social determinants of health, we propose a conceptual model that discusses five key needs-housing insecurity, food insecurity, transportation and access barriers, employment disruptions, and psychosocial needs-which interact with, and are affected by financial toxicity, and adversely influence patients' well-being and adherence to treatment.

Mid-life anti-inflammatory metabolites are inversely associated with long-term cardiovascular disease events.

Background: Preclinical data have shown that low levels of metabolites with anti-inflammatory properties may impact metabolic disease processes. However, the association between mid-life levels of such metabolites and long-term ASCVD risk is not known.

Methods: We characterised the plasma metabolomic profile (1228 metabolites) of 1852 participants (58.

Metagenomic exploration and computational prediction of novel enzymes for polyethylene terephthalate degradation.

As a global environmental challenge, plastic pollution raises serious ecological and health concerns owing to the excessive accumulation of plastic waste, which disrupts ecosystems, harms wildlife, and threatens human health. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the most commonly used plastics, has contributed significantly to this growing crisis. This study offers a solution for plastic pollution by identifying novel PET-degrading enzymes.

Activity of Platinum Chemotherapy in Men With Prostate Cancer With and Without DNA Damage Repair Mutations.

Introduction: Alterations in homologous recombination repair (HRR) genes occur in 20%-30% of men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) which may increase sensitivity to platinum chemotherapy. Specifically, exceptional responses to platinum chemotherapy have been reported among patients with BRCA mutations. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of platinum chemotherapy in patients with mCRPC with and without HRR.