A CDC WONDER Study on Disparities in Place of Death Among Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in the United States between 1999 and 2020.

Introduction: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease, more prevalent among African-American women, often associated with severe manifestations such as lupus nephritis and neuropsychiatric lupus. Both conditions contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality, though lupus nephritis is more commonly linked to direct disease-related deaths. Mortality can also result from other severe disease manifestations or treatment-related complications.

Virtual Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting.

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) offers superior long-term survival over percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or medical therapy in patients with complex coronary artery disease (CAD). This prospective proof-of-concept study aims to develop and validate a non-invasive computational platform that integrates coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to predict post-CABG hemodynamics, including virtual grafting and fractional flow reserve (FFR) estimation. Four patients with stable multi-vessel CAD undergoing elective CABG were included.

Online Hydraulic Stiffness Modulation of a Soft Robotic Fish Tail for Improved Thrust and Efficiency.

This paper explores online stiffness modulation within a single tail stroke for swimming soft robots. Despite advances in stiffening mechanisms, little attention has been given to dynamically adjusting stiffness in real-time, presenting a challenge in developing mechanisms with the requisite bandwidth to match tail actuation. Achieving an optimal balance between thrust and efficiency in swimming soft robots remains elusive, and the paper addresses this challenge by proposing a novel mechanism for independent stiffness control, leveraging fluid-driven stiffening within a patterned pouch.

Acute Myocarditis Following COVID-19 Vaccination in a Young Adult.

The mRNA vaccines for coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) have been implemented across the globe for both emergent and non-emergent applications. We present a rare case of myocarditis following the second dosage of COVID-19 vaccine. In this case, myocarditis was suspected by troponin and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) levels prior to echocardiography, which demonstrated mild pericardial effusion, mild tricuspid regurgitation, and mild asymmetric left ventricular hypertrophy.

Trends and Immediate Outcomes of Syncope During Pregnancy: A Narrative Review.

Pregnancy-related syncope presents special difficulties due to the rapid physiological changes that occur throughout gestation. This narrative review provides a thorough summary of the patterns and pregnancy outcomes secondary to syncope during pregnancy. There is an increase in syncope burden during pregnancy, and hence it is critical that medical professionals understand the significance of syncope during pregnancy.

Generation of four gene-edited human induced pluripotent stem cell lines with mutations in the ATM gene to model Ataxia-Telangiectasia.

Ataxia-Telangiectasia (A-T) is an autosomal recessive multi-system disorder caused by mutations in the ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene, resulting, among other symptoms, in neurological dysfunction. ATM is known to be a master controller of signal transduction for DNA damage response, with additional functions that are poorly understood. CRISPR/Cas9 technology was used to introduce biallelic mutations at selected sites of the ATM gene in human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs).

Harnessing the Therapeutic Potential of Stem Cells in the Management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Comprehensive Review.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a prevalent and debilitating respiratory condition with limited treatment options. Stem cell therapy has emerged as a promising approach for COPD management due to its regenerative and immunomodulatory properties. This review article aims to comprehensively explore the therapeutic potential of stem cells in COPD management.

Natural Polymer-Based Thin Film Strategies for Skin Regeneration in Lieu of Regenerative Dentistry.

Wound healing (WH) is a complex and dynamic process that comprises of a series of molecular and cellular events that occur after tissue injury. The injuries of the maxillofacial and oral region caused by trauma or surgery result in undesirable WH such as delayed wound closure and formation of scar tissue. Skin tissue engineering (TE)/regeneration is an emerging approach toward faster, superior, and more effective resolution of clinically significant wounds effectively.

Need, Strategies and Requirements in the Medical System for Bone Banks: A Review Article.

An orthopedic bone bank's creation and management is a challenging procedure where medical organization and legal requirements interact. There are no formal regulations for the management and organization of an orthopedic bone bank in the Netherlands or any other nation in Europe. The recently revised "law of security and quality for utilizing human materials in the Netherlands establishes guidelines for the technical and administrative elements of using human tissue and cells.

Airflow and Particle Transport Prediction through Stenosis Airways.

Airflow and particle transport in the human lung system is influenced by biological and other factors such as breathing pattern, particle properties, and deposition mechanisms. Most of the studies to date have analyzed airflow characterization and aerosol transport in idealized and realistic models. Precise airflow characterization for airway stenosis in a digital reference model is lacking in the literature.

An Exact Model-Based Method for Near-Field Sources Localization with Bistatic MIMO System.

In this paper, we propose an exact model-based method for near-field sources localization with a bistatic multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) radar system, and compare it with an approximated model-based method. The aim of this paper is to propose an efficient way to use the exact model of the received signals of near-field sources in order to eliminate the systematic error introduced by the use of approximated model in most existing near-field sources localization techniques. The proposed method uses parallel factor (PARAFAC) decomposition to deal with the exact model.