Retrospective cross-sectional study on bronchiectasis in adult Aboriginal Australians: disease characteristics and comparison with ethnically diverse global bronchiectasis registry cohorts.

Background: Globally, adult Indigenous people, including Aboriginal Australians, have a high burden of chronic respiratory disorders, and bronchiectasis is no exception. However, literature detailing bronchiectasis disease characteristics among adult Indigenous people is sparse. This study assessed the clinical profile of bronchiectasis among adult Aboriginal Australians and compared against previously published international bronchiectasis registry reports.

The Significance of Information Quality for the Secondary Use of the Information in the National Healthcare Quality Registers in Finland.

Background The aim of the national healthcare quality registers is to monitor, assess, and improve the quality of care. The information utilized in quality registers must be of high quality to ensure that the information produced by the registers is reliable and useful. In Finland, one of the key sources of information for the quality registers is the national Kanta services.

Obstetrical Outcomes in Women With a History of Bladder Augmentation.

Purpose: To evaluate possible problems during pregnancy or delivery in women with pediatric bladder augmentation.

Methods: Eleven of 59 women, who had undergone bladder augmentation in our pediatric hospital during 1990-2019, had given birth in our hospital district afterwards and their obstetrical records were evaluated.

Results: Median age at first delivery was 32 years (range 26-42).

Association of the ascending aortic length with acute type A aortic dissection: A retrospective cohort study.

Background And Aims: To investigate whether, alongside aortic dilatation, ascending aortic (AA) elongation is associated with the increased risk for aortic dissection.

Methods: This retrospective study included patients treated for Stanford type A aortic dissection (n = 102) in Kuopio University Hospital between 2009 and 2022, patients with AA dilatation (maximal diameter > 40 mm) (n = 134), and healthy controls (n = 191). AA length and dimensions were measured from aortic computed tomography angiography (CTA) images.

Magnetic fields from indoor transformer stations and risk of cancer in adults: a cohort study.

Objectives: Studies assessing the association of adult cancers with extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields (MF) have provided inconclusive results, probably affected by limitations such as low exposure levels, confounding and various forms of bias. This study investigated the association between residential ELF MF exposure and adult cancer using a design that avoids the main limitations of previous studies.

Methods: Persons who have lived in buildings with indoor transformer stations during the period 1971-2016 formed the study cohort.

Associations of Cardiovascular Health Metrics in Childhood and Adolescence With Arterial Health Indicators in Adolescence: The PANIC Study.

Background: Our aim was to assess the relationships of cardiovascular health metrics, cardiorespiratory fitness, lean mass, and fat percentage with arterial structure and function from childhood to adolescence.

Methods And Results: Five hundred four children aged 6 to 9 years were examined in the PANIC (Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children) study at baseline, 2 and 8 years later. The associations of adjusted American Heart Association cardiovascular health metrics (smoking status, body mass index-SD score, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, diet quality, plasma total cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, plasma glucose categorized into poor, intermediate, and ideal), the American Heart Association cardiovascular health score, cardiorespiratory fitness measured by maximal oxygen uptake in a bicycle exercise test, lean mass and fat percentage with carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) were analyzed cross-sectionally and longitudinally in 277 participants at age 15 to 17 years.

A follow-up study with a double-blinded, randomized controlled vitamin D supplementation trial in patients with major depressive episode (DepFuD): A study protocol and baseline characteristics.

Promising initial studies on vitamin D (VD) supplementation as an adjunct treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) require rigorously designed randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We aim to investigate the effects of augmenting standard MDD treatment with VD supplementation and examine factors influencing the treatment outcome. This article describes the study design, measures, and baseline characteristics.

Tracking trash to treasure: monitoring of single microbial cell oil biosynthesis from waste cooking oil using Raman spectroscopy and imaging.

Waste cooking oil is a major pollutant that contaminates terrestrial and aquatic bodies which is generated from household kitchens and eateries. The bioremediation of waste cooking oil (WCO) into microbial oil, also known as single microbial cell oil (SMCO), can be accomplished by oleaginous microbes. Conventional methods excel in SMCO analysis but lack efficacy for or lysis-free monitoring of nascent SMCO synthesis and turnover.

Modeling Habitat Suitability for and in Indo-West Pacific Mangroves.

Mangroves provide habitat for a diverse array of marine species, especially snails. We used a MaxEnt model to predict potential global suitable habitat for and in the family Potamididae. A total of 667 occurrence data were obtained from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) with the following sub-data set contribution, "iNaturalist Research Grade Observations" (85%), "International Barcode of Life project (iBOL)" (7%), "FBIP: SeaKeys_SANBI: Marine images iSpot_2013" (1%), "A dataset of marine macroinvertebrate diversity from Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe" (1%), occurrence data of some marine invertebrates and freshwater crabs housed in the natural history collection at the National Museums of Kenya (1%), and Natural History Museum Rotterdam-Specimens (1%).

Improvement proposals and actions in medication error reports: Quality and strength: A cross-sectional study.

Background And Aims: Medication errors (MEs) are a significant source of preventable harm in patient care. Voluntary incident reporting and ME reporting systems are essential for managing medication safety. Analyzing aggregated ME reports instead of individual reports can reveal organizational risks.

Targeting Cyclophilin A in the Cardiac Microenvironment Preserves Heart Function and Structure in Failing Hearts.

Background: Cardiac hypertrophy is characterized by remodeling of the myocardium, which involves alterations in the ECM (extracellular matrix) and cardiomyocyte structure. These alterations critically contribute to impaired contractility and relaxation, ultimately leading to heart failure. Emerging evidence implicates that extracellular signaling molecules are critically involved in the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy and remodeling.

Extension of the theory of adherence to treatment in patients with coronary heart disease.

Background: Increased knowledge of the concept of adherence is needed for development patient-centered care, nursing interventions, and guidelines for patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). The aim of this study was to test and extend the Theory of Adherence to Treatment regarding informational support in patients with CHD.

Methods: The study utilized an explanatory and descriptive survey.

Targeted and untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics in dried blood microsampling: Recent applications and perspectives.

Blood microsampling (BµS) offers an alternative to conventional methods that use plasma or serum for profiling human health, being minimally invasive and cost effective, especially beneficial for vulnerable populations. We present a non-systematic review that offers a synopsis of the analytical methods, applications and perspectives related to dry blood microsampling in targeted and untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics research in the years 2022 and 2023. BµS shows potential in neonatal and paediatric studies, therapeutic drug monitoring, metabolite screening, biomarker research, sports supervision, clinical disorders studies and forensic toxicology.

Homozygosity of a Founder Variant c.1508dupC in Causes Congenital Myasthenia With Variable Severity.

Background And Objectives: Description of 15 patients with the same variant in causing congenital myasthenic syndrome (CMS).

Methods: Nine adult and 6 pediatric patients were studied with molecular genetic and clinical investigations.

Results: All patients were identified with the c.

Accumulating Sedentary Time and Physical Activity From Childhood to Adolescence and Cardiac Function in Adolescence.

Background: Increased physical activity (PA) may mitigate the negative cardiovascular health effects of sedentary behavior in adolescents. However, the relationship of PA and sedentary time from childhood with cardiac function in adolescence remains underexplored. Therefore, we investigated the associations of cumulative sedentary time and PA from childhood to adolescence with cardiac function in adolescence.

Clinical effects of equine-assisted therapeutic exercises in static and dynamic balance of children with cerebral palsy.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of equine-assisted therapy for the static and dynamic balance in the rehabilitation of children and adolescents with cerebral palsy maintaining obtained improvement 8-weeks after the end of the intervention.

Method: The study lasted 28 weeks, of which the intervention lasted 12 weeks. Measurements were taken before, in the middle, after the end of the intervention and follow-up after 12 weeks.

Specimen tomosynthesis provides no additional value to specimen ultrasound in ultrasound-visible malignant breast lesions.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and added value of specimen tomosynthesis (ST) to specimen ultrasound (SUS) in margin assessment of excised breast specimens in breast-conserving therapy for non-palpable US-visible breast lesions.

Materials: Between January 2018 and August 2019, all consecutive patients diagnosed with non-palpable breast cancer visible by ultrasound (US), treated with breast-conserving surgery (BCS) and requiring radiological intraoperative breast specimen assessment, were included in this study. Excised breast specimens were examined with SUS by radiologists blinded to the ST results, and margins smaller than 10 mm were recorded.

The molecular scale mechanism of deposition ice nucleation on silver iodide.

Heterogeneous ice nucleation is a ubiquitous process in the natural and built environment. Deposition ice nucleation, heterogeneous ice nucleation that - according to the traditional view - occurs in a subsaturated water vapor environment and in the absence of supercooled water on the solid, ice-forming surface, is among the most important ice formation processes in high-altitude cirrus and mixed-phase clouds. Despite its importance, very little is known about the mechanism of deposition ice nucleation at the microscopic level.

Acclimation of subarctic vegetation to warming and increased cloudiness.

Subarctic ecosystems are exposed to elevated temperatures and increased cloudiness in a changing climate with potentially important effects on vegetation structure, composition, and ecosystem functioning. We investigated the individual and combined effects of warming and increased cloudiness on vegetation greenness and cover in mesocosms from two tundra and one palsa mire ecosystems kept under strict environmental control in climate chambers. We also investigated leaf anatomical and biochemical traits of four dominant vascular plant species (, , , and ).

X-ray scatter in projection radiography.

Projection radiography is the most common radiological modality, and radiation safety of it concerns both radiation workers and the public. We measured and generated a series of scattered radiation maps for projection radiography and estimated effective doses of the supporting person during exposure. Measured adult patient protocols included chest posterior-anterior, chest lateral, pelvis anterior-posterior (AP), abdomen AP and bedside chest AP.