Screening and Awareness for Blood Pressure in a Non-Medical Setting: The Vienna Hairdresser Initiative.

Arterial hypertension (HTN) is the leading modifiable cardiovascular risk factor for overall mortality worldwide. In Austria, 1.6 million individuals above the age of 15, representing 20% of the total population and 70% of adults aged 65 and older, suffer from HTN.

All-Cause and Pneumococcal Community-Acquired Pneumonia Hospitalizations Among Adults in Tennessee and Georgia.

Importance: Although the use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) has reduced the overall burden of pneumococcal disease, recent measurements of pneumococcal pneumonia incidence are lacking.

Objective: To prospectively quantify the burden of pneumococcal pneumonia and to assess the potential impact of the recently approved adult-specific 21-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (V116).

Design, Settings, And Participants: This cross-sectional study for prospective active surveillance included adults residing in defined catchment areas in Tennessee and Georgia hospitalized with clinical and radiographical evidence of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) at 3 hospitals between 2018 and 2022.

Supercritical Ethanol-CO Mixtures Exhibit Microscopic Immiscibility: A Combined Study Using X-ray Scattering and Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

Supercritical mixtures of ethanol (EtOH) and carbon dioxide (CO) are classified as type-I mixtures, with complete macroscopic miscibility. However, differences in molecular polarity and interactions suggest a distinct phase behavior at the microscopic level. Here, we combine small angle X-ray scattering experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the microscopic structure of EtOH-CO mixtures under supercritical conditions.

Community-acquired pneumonia in hospitalized adults: long-term morbidities and their risk factors.

Background: The long-term morbidity associated with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and the risk factors associated with this long-term morbidity are unclear. In adults hospitalized for CAP, we sought to quantify the impact of CAP on loss of function, cognitive impairment, loss of employment, and quality of life six months after hospitalization for CAP and identify risk factors for these adverse outcomes.

Design: This prospective cohort study is an analysis of the Pneumococcal Pneumonia Epidemiology, Urine serotyping, and Mental Outcomes (PNEUMO) study population conducted at an academic, quaternary care hospital.

Highly tail-asymmetric lipids interdigitate and cause bidirectional ordering.

Phospholipids form structurally and compositionally diverse membranes. A less studied type of compositional diversity involves phospholipid tail variety. Some phospholipids contain two acyl tails which differ in length.

Exceptional Bound States in the Continuum.

Bound states in the continuum and exceptional points are unique singularities of non-Hermitian systems. In optical implementations, the former demonstrate strong enhancement of the electromagnetic field, while the latter exhibit high sensitivity to small perturbations. Hence, exceptional points are being actively investigated as next-generation optical sensors.

The Prevalence and Impact of Atrial Fibrillation on Patients with Chronic Total Occlusions: Insights from the National Inpatient Sample.

The impact of atrial fibrillation (AF) on patients with chronic total occlusions (CTOs) at the national level remains unclear. In this study, we conducted a retrospective analysis of data from the National Inpatient Sample to assess the characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of patients with CTO based on the presence or absence of AF. Multiple logistic and linear regressions examined factors associated with AF and evaluated its impact on length of stay (LoS), cost, and mortality.

Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin Type 9 Induction in Hypercholesterinemic Patients With Primary and Metastatic Liver Tumors.

Background/aim: Serum proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) levels are positively associated with serum cholesterol levels, which contribute to the growth of cancers. PCSK9 levels are low in patients with liver cirrhosis, with a high incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). PCSK9 expression is increased in colorectal cancer (CRC), but serum levels in these patients have not been analyzed.

Complications After Maternal Traumatic Brain Injury During Pregnancy: A Systematic Review.

Importance: General trauma is the leading cause of nonobstetric maternal morbidity and mortality, affecting approximately 8% of all pregnancies. Pregnant women with traumatic brain injury (TBI) face high morbidity and mortality rates, requiring complex management due to physiological changes, teratogenic risks of treatments, and the need for fetal monitoring.

Objectives: To assess the consequences of TBI during pregnancy on maternal and fetal outcomes and to evaluate management strategies to inform clinical decision-making.

Health state utilities associated with invasive pneumococcal disease, pneumonia, and recurrent acute otitis media in young children.

Purpose: Cost-utility analyses examining the value of new vaccines for pneumococcal disease will require health state utilities as inputs. Existing utilities for pneumococcal infections in young children are limited. The purpose of this study was to estimate health state utilities associated with pneumococcal infections in young children.

Knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions towards pneumococcal vaccines among adults in the United States.

Objectives: The attitudes and perceptions of healthcare consumers (HCCs) are increasingly becoming more relevant in decision-making with healthcare providers and incorporated into healthcare decision-making by national immunization technical advisory groups and health technology assessment agencies. With newer pneumococcal vaccine options available, HCCs' attitudes and perceptions play a key role in gauging potential acceptance. The objective of this study was to assess HCCs' knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions toward pneumococcal vaccines for adults.

Incidence of pneumococcal disease in children in Germany, 2014-2019: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Novel, expanded valency pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) are in development to reduce the burden of pneumococcal disease (PD) in children. To understand the potential value of new vaccines in Germany, this study estimated the residual burden of PD in children < 16 years old from 2014 to 2019, using administrative health data from a large German claims database.

Methods: Outpatient and inpatient cases of all-cause pneumonia (ACP), pneumococcal pneumonia (PP) and invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) were identified in the InGef database.

Validated Multimethod Approach for Full Characterization of 2'-Fucosyl-d-lactose as an Industrially Produced Human Milk Oligosaccharide.

Human milk oligosaccharides are of high interest as active ingredients in infant formulas and dietary food supplements. Full characterization of members of this compound class is challenging due to the intrinsic complexity of byproducts during synthesis by fermentation. Moreover, when method validation is targeted for a regulated environment, a robust chromatographic separation of the highly polar oligosaccharides needs to be addressed, including isomers and compounds relevant for potential product adulteration.

Hepatic Bone Morphogenetic Protein and Activin Membrane-Bound Inhibitor Levels Decline in Hepatitis C but Are Not Associated with Progression of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background/objectives: Bone morphogenetic protein and activin membrane-bound inhibitor (BAMBI) is an antagonist of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β type 1 signaling. BAMBI functions as an anti-fibrotic protein and exerts pro- as well as anti-cancerogenic activities. Our study aimed to correlate hepatocyte BAMBI protein levels in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with T stage, lymph node invasion, vessel invasion, grading, tumor size and Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) stage, as well as with liver inflammation and fibrosis stages.

Direct Mapping of Polyclonal Epitopes in Serum by HDX-MS.

Elucidating the interactions that drive antigen recognition is central to understanding antibody-mediated protection and is vital for the rational design of immunogens. Often, structural knowledge of epitopes targeted by antibodies is derived from isolated studies of monoclonal antibodies, for which numerous structural techniques exist. In contrast, there are very few approaches capable of mapping the full scope of antigen surfaces targeted by polyclonal sera through the course of a natural antibody response.

Preferences and attitudes of healthcare providers towards pneumococcal vaccines for adults in the United States.

Objectives: It is important to assess healthcare providers (HCPs) knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and preferences towards new pneumococcal vaccines for adults.

Methods: HCPs who met eligibility criteria completed an online survey between March - May 2024 that included a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to elicit preferences.

Results: Among 340 participating HCPs, the average age was 44.

Role of WISP1 in Stellate Cell Migration and Liver Fibrosis.

The mechanisms underlying the remarkable capacity of the liver to regenerate are still not completely understood. Particularly, the cross-talk between cytokines and cellular components of the process is of utmost importance because they represent potential avenues for diagnostics and therapeutics. WNT1-inducible-signaling pathway protein 1 (WISP1) is a cytokine member of the CCN family, a family of proteins that play many different roles in liver pathophysiology.

A Review of Force Health Protection Aspects of Lyme Disease in the U.S. Military.

Introduction: Lyme disease (LD) is an underrated threat to the military that negatively impacts mission readiness. Lyme disease has traditionally been thought to only be a risk in an operational context, where training or deployments are frequently conducted in heavily wooded environments. However, this view diminishes risks posed by many off-duty outdoor recreational activities.

Extended reality used in the treatment of phantom limb pain: a multicenter, double-blind, randomized controlled trial.

Phantom limb pain (PLP) represents a significant challenge after amputation. This study investigated the use of phantom motor execution (PME) and phantom motor imagery (PMI) facilitated by extended reality (XR) for the treatment of PLP. Both treatments used XR, but PME involved overt execution of phantom movements, relying on the decoding of motor intent using machine learning to enable real-time control in XR.

Hepatic Amyloid Beta-42-Metabolizing Proteins in Liver Steatosis and Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis.

Amyloid beta (Aβ) plays a major role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and, more recently, has been shown to protect against liver fibrosis. Therefore, we studied Aβ-42 levels and the expression of genes involved in the generation, degradation, and transport of Aβ proteins in liver samples from patients at different stages of metabolic dysfunction-associated liver disease (MASLD) and under steatotic conditions in vitro/in vivo. Amyloid precursor protein (APP), key Aβ-metabolizing proteins, and Aβ-42 were analyzed using RT-PCR, Western blotting, Luminex analysis in steatotic in vitro and fatty liver mouse models, and TaqMan qRT-PCR analysis in hepatic samples from patients with MASLD.

Structure-function relationships in pure archaeal bipolar tetraether lipids.

Archaeal bipolar tetraether lipids (BTLs) are among the most unusual lipids occurring in nature because of their presumed ability to span the entire membrane to form a monolayer structure. It is believed that because of their unique structural organization and chemical stability, BTLs offer extraordinary adaptation to archaea to thrive in the most extreme milieus. BTLs have also received considerable attention for development of novel membrane-based materials.