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Self-working card tricks have been a staple for budding magicians and entire books have been written about them, e.g. Fulves [1]. Lately selfworking card tricks have become common fodder for social media. In this note, we generalise two such card tricks (from [2] and [3]) that are based on the Australian shuffle.
Dementia affects millions globally, with a subset of cases potentially reversible. This study evaluates the incidence, clinical markers and treatment outcomes of reversible dementias (ReDem).
Method:
This retrospective study included 370 ReDem cases from 1810 dementia patients. The ReDem cohort was split into potentially reversible dementias (PRD) and dual etiology (DE) groups. PRD encompassed secondary, potentially treatable dementia conditions, while DE included primary degenerative dementia (DD) with ≥1 uncontrolled comorbidity or new disease that worsened symptoms.
Results:
ReDem cases comprised 20.4% (n = 370 out of 1810) of dementia patients, with ReDem patients being younger (mean 56.2 vs. 61.9 years, p < 0.001) and exhibiting shorter illness durations than DD patients (p < 0.001). Key red flags, including young age (<45 years) at onset (DD = 8.6% vs. ReDem = 18.1%), fluctuation in symptoms (DD = 3.4% vs. ReDem = 11.6%), rapid cognitive decline (DD = 6.9% vs. ReDem = 18.4), high-risk exposures (DD = 0.1% vs. ReDem = 0.8%), high-risk behavior (DD = 0.1% vs. ReDem = 2.4%) and incongruent neuropsychological findings(DD = 1.0% vs. 12.7%), were significantly more frequent in ReDem cases (p < 0.05). Odds increased with each red flag present (≥1: OR = 5.94; ≥2: OR = 20.69; ≥3: OR = 25.14, p < 0.05). Reversible etiologies included immune (20.0%), neuroinfectious (6.6%), psychiatric (7.6%), nutritional/metabolic (10.5%), neurosurgical (14.6%) and other causes (12.2%). Of the 41% (152/370) followed, 19 expired, 63.9% (85/133) reported subjective improvement, and 31.6% (42/133) showed clinical dementia rating improvement.
Discussion and Conclusion:
This large-scale study underscores the importance of comprehensive diagnostic evaluations for ReDem. Identifying and treating reversible conditions and comorbidities in DD can improve patient outcomes, emphasizing the need for thorough evaluations in memory clinics and targeted interventions in dementia care.
Objectives/Goals: To explore the caregivers’ lived experiences related to facilitators of and barriers to effective primary care or neurology follow-up for children discharged from the pediatric emergency department (PED) with headaches. Methods/Study Population: We used the descriptive phenomenology qualitative study design to ascertain caregivers’ lived experiences with making follow-up appointments after their child’s PED visit. We conducted semi-structured interviews with caregivers of children with headaches from 4 large urban PEDs over HIPAA-compliant Zoom conferencing platform. A facilitator/co-facilitator team (JH and SL) guided all interviews, and the audio of which was transcribed using the TRINT software. Conventional content analysis was performed by two coders (JH and AS) to generate new themes, and coding disputes were resolved by team members using Atlas TI (version 24). Results/Anticipated Results: We interviewed a total of 11 caregivers (9 mothers, 1 grandmother, and 1 father). Among interviewees, 45% identified as White non-Hispanic, 45% Hispanic, 9% as African-American, and 37% were publicly insured. Participants described similar experiences in obtaining follow-up care that included long waits to obtain neurology appointments. Participants also described opportunities to overcome wait times that included offering alternative healthcare provider types as well as telehealth options. Last, participants described desired action while awaiting neurology appointments such as obtaining testing and setting treatment plans. Discussion/Significance of Impact: Caregivers perceived time to appointment as too long and identified practical solutions to ease frustrations while waiting. Future research should explore sharing caregiver experiences with primary care providers, PED physicians, and neurologists while developing plans to implement caregiver-informed interventions.
Multiple herbicide classes–resistant (MHCR) kochia poses a serious concern for producers in the Central Great Plains, including western Kansas. Greenhouse and field experiments were conducted at Kansas State University Research and Extension Centers near Hays and Garden City, KS, to evaluate pyridate-based postemergence herbicide mixtures for controlling MHCR kochia. One previously confirmed MHCR population (resistant to atrazine, glyphosate, dicamba, and fluroxypyr) and a susceptible (SUS) kochia population were tested in a greenhouse study. The kochia population at Hays field site was resistant to atrazine, dicamba, and glyphosate, whereas the kochia population at the Garden City site was resistant to atrazine and glyphosate. Colby’s analysis revealed synergistic interactions when pyridate was mixed with atrazine, dicamba, dichlorprop-p, fluroxypyr, glyphosate, or halauxifen/fluroxypyr and resulted in ≥94% control and shoot dry-biomass reduction of MHCR kochia in a greenhouse study. Similarly, synergistic interactions were observed for MHCR kochia control in fallow field studies at both sites when pyridate was mixed with glyphosate or atrazine. Kochia control was increased from 26% to 90% with the application of glyphosate + pyridate and from 28% to 95% with atrazine + pyridate at both sites as compared to separate applications of glyphosate or atrazine. This is the first report for such a strong synergistic effect for both glyphosate and atrazine mixtures with pyridate on a weed resistant to both. All other pyridate-based herbicide mixtures showed an additive interaction and resulted in better control of MHCR kochia (87% to 100%) as compared to their individual applications (23% to 92%) across both sites except 2,4-D. These results suggest that pyridate can play a crucial role in various postemergence herbicide mixtures for effective control of MHCR kochia.
The clinical course of major depressive disorder (MDD) is heterogeneous, and early-onset MDD often has a more severe and complex clinical course. Our goal was to determine whether polygenic scores (PGSs) for psychiatric disorders are associated with treatment trajectories in early-onset MDD treated in secondary care.
Methods
Data were drawn from the iPSYCH2015 sample, which includes all individuals born in Denmark between 1981 and 2008 who were treated in secondary care for depression between 1995 and 2015. We selected unrelated individuals of European ancestry with an MDD diagnosis between ages 10–25 (N = 10577). Seven-year trajectories of hospital contacts for depression were modeled using Latent Class Growth Analysis. Associations between PGS for MDD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD, and anorexia and trajectories of MDD contacts were modeled using multinomial logistic regressions.
Results
We identified four trajectory patterns: brief contact (65%), prolonged initial contact (20%), later re-entry (8%), and persistent contact (7%). Relative to the brief contact trajectory, higher PGS for ADHD was associated with a decreased odds of membership in the prolonged initial contact (odds ratio = 1.06, 95% confidence interval = 1.01–1.11) and persistent contact (1.12, 1.03–1.21) trajectories, while PGS-AN was associated with increased odds of membership in the persistent contact trajectory (1.12, 1.03–1.21).
Conclusions
We found significant associations between polygenic liabilities for psychiatric disorders and treatment trajectories in patients with secondary-treated early-onset MDD. These findings help elucidate the relationship between a patient's genetics and their clinical course; however, the effect sizes are small and therefore unlikely to have predictive value in clinical settings.
The 7th edition of the Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations (CSBPR) is a comprehensive summary of current evidence-based recommendations, appropriate for use by healthcare providers and system planners, and intended to drive healthcare excellence, improved outcomes and more integrated health systems. This edition includes a new module on the management of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT). Cerebral venous thrombosis is defined as thrombosis of the veins of the brain, including the dural venous sinuses and/or cortical or deep veins. Cerebral venous thrombosis is a rare but potentially life-threatening type of stroke, representing 0.5–1.0% of all stroke admissions. The reported rates of CVT are approximately 10–20 per million and appear to be increasing over time. The risk of CVT is higher in women and often associated with oral contraceptive use and with pregnancy and the puerperium. This guideline addresses care for adult individuals who present to the healthcare system with current or recent symptoms of CVT. The recommendations cover the continuum of care from diagnosis and initial clinical assessment of symptomatic CVT, to acute treatment of symptomatic CVT, post-acute management, person-centered care, special considerations in the long-term management of CVT, including pregnancy and considerations related to CVT in special circumstances such as trauma and vaccination. This module also includes supporting materials such as implementation resources to facilitate the adoption of evidence into practice and performance measures to enable monitoring of uptake and effectiveness of recommendations.
Emotion is vital part of our routine communication. The facial feedback hypothesis is the theory of how internal emotion is modulated by the external facial movements used to express it. Botulinum toxin injection is the most common aesthetic procedure in the United States. It has been studied extensively for its cosmetic use in wrinkle reduction, but its secondary psychological effects have only been elucidated gradually over the last two decades. Although neurotoxin is considered safe and effective, it may also potentially affect our facial expressions and communications. Similar to neurotoxin, another example that affects our social interactions is the facial mask, after the COVID-19 pandemic. In this chapter, we hereby discuss how neurotoxin affects our emotions and nonverbal communications.
Dengue, chikungunya, and Zika are arboviruses that cause 390 million infections annually. Risk factors for hospitalization are poorly understood. Communities affected by these diseases have an escalating prevalence of allergies and obesity, which are linked to immune dysfunction. We assessed the association of allergies or body mass with hospitalization for an arbovirus infection. From 2014 to 2017, we recruited participants with a clinical diagnosis of arbovirus infection. Arbovirus infections were laboratory-confirmed and allergies were self-reported. Mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), weight, and height were measured. We used two logistic regression models to assess the relationships between hospitalization and allergies and between hospitalization and body mass (MUAC for participants <20 years old and body mass index (BMI) for adults ≥20 years old). Models were stratified by age group and adjusted for confounders. For allergies, 41 of 265 were hospitalized. There was no association between allergies and hospitalization. For body mass, 34 of 251 were hospitalized. There was a 43% decrease in hospitalization odds for each additional centimetre MUAC among children (aOR 0.566, 95% CI 0.252–1.019) and a 12% decrease in hospitalization odds for each additional BMI unit among adults (aOR 0.877, 95% CI 0.752–0.998). Our work encourages the exploration of the underlying mechanisms.
The Eighth World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery (WCPCCS) will be held in Washington DC, USA, from Saturday, 26 August, 2023 to Friday, 1 September, 2023, inclusive. The Eighth World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery will be the largest and most comprehensive scientific meeting dedicated to paediatric and congenital cardiac care ever held. At the time of the writing of this manuscript, The Eighth World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery has 5,037 registered attendees (and rising) from 117 countries, a truly diverse and international faculty of over 925 individuals from 89 countries, over 2,000 individual abstracts and poster presenters from 101 countries, and a Best Abstract Competition featuring 153 oral abstracts from 34 countries. For information about the Eighth World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, please visit the following website: [www.WCPCCS2023.org]. The purpose of this manuscript is to review the activities related to global health and advocacy that will occur at the Eighth World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery.
Acknowledging the need for urgent change, we wanted to take the opportunity to bring a common voice to the global community and issue the Washington DC WCPCCS Call to Action on Addressing the Global Burden of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Diseases. A copy of this Washington DC WCPCCS Call to Action is provided in the Appendix of this manuscript. This Washington DC WCPCCS Call to Action is an initiative aimed at increasing awareness of the global burden, promoting the development of sustainable care systems, and improving access to high quality and equitable healthcare for children with heart disease as well as adults with congenital heart disease worldwide.
Multiple herbicide-resistant (MHR) kochia is a serious concern in the U.S. Great Plains and warrants alternative herbicide mixtures for its control. Greenhouse and field experiments were conducted at Kansas State University research and extension centers near Hays and Garden City, KS, to investigate the interactions of 2,4-D, dichlorprop-p, dicamba, and halauxifen/fluroxypyr premix in various combinations for MHR kochia control. Two previously confirmed MHR (resistant to glyphosate, dicamba, and fluroxypyr) populations and a susceptible population were tested in a greenhouse study. Kochia at the Hays field site was resistant to glyphosate and chlorsulfuron, whereas the population at Garden City was resistant to glyphosate, dicamba, and fluroxypyr. Results from a greenhouse study indicated that 2,4-D, dicamba, dichlorprop-p, and a halauxifen/fluroxypyr premix provided 26% to 69% control of both MHR populations at 28 d after treatment (DAT). However, the control increased to 85% to 97% when these herbicides were applied in three-way mixtures. Synergistic interactions were observed when dicamba was mixed with dichlorprop-p, 2,4-D, dichlorprop-p + 2,4-D, and halauxifen/fluroxypyr + 2,4-D for shoot dry weight reductions (86% to 92%) of both MHR populations. Results from a field study also indicated synergistic interactions when dicamba was mixed with dichlorprop-p + 2,4-D, halauxifen/fluroxypyr + dichlorprop-p, and halauxifen/fluroxypyr + 2,4-D, resulting in 84% to 95% control of MHR kochia at 28 DAT across both sites. These results indicate that synergistic effects of mixing dicamba with other auxinic herbicides in two- or three-way mixtures can help control MHR kochia.
Potato is the third most important staple food crop globally following rice and wheat. In the United States, potato is grown on approximately 410,000 ha with a farm-gate value of US$1,032 million. In Canada, potato is grown on approximately 134,000 ha with a farm-gate value of US$235 million. The objective of this manuscript, compiled by the Weed Science Society of America Weed Loss Committee, was to estimate potato yield loss caused by weed interference. Potato yield data from weedy and weed-free plots (or plots with >95% weed control) was obtained from researchers working on weed management in potato in the United States and Canada or from published manuscripts from 2000 to 2018. Potato yield loss from weed interference was 12% to 61% when no weed management tactics were implemented. The average yield loss for all states/provinces (where data was obtained) due to weed interference was 44%. Weed interference would cause a farm-gate loss of approximately US$465 million and US$61 in the United States and Canada, respectively, if weeds are not controlled. These results indicate that weed management is critical for successful potato production, and that an ongoing need for research exists on weed management in this crop.
Current psychiatric diagnoses, although heritable, have not been clearly mapped onto distinct underlying pathogenic processes. The same symptoms often occur in multiple disorders, and a substantial proportion of both genetic and environmental risk factors are shared across disorders. However, the relationship between shared symptoms and shared genetic liability is still poorly understood.
Aims
Well-characterised, cross-disorder samples are needed to investigate this matter, but few currently exist. Our aim is to develop procedures to purposely curate and aggregate genotypic and phenotypic data in psychiatric research.
Method
As part of the Cardiff MRC Mental Health Data Pathfinder initiative, we have curated and harmonised phenotypic and genetic information from 15 studies to create a new data repository, DRAGON-Data. To date, DRAGON-Data includes over 45 000 individuals: adults and children with neurodevelopmental or psychiatric diagnoses, affected probands within collected families and individuals who carry a known neurodevelopmental risk copy number variant.
Results
We have processed the available phenotype information to derive core variables that can be reliably analysed across groups. In addition, all data-sets with genotype information have undergone rigorous quality control, imputation, copy number variant calling and polygenic score generation.
Conclusions
DRAGON-Data combines genetic and non-genetic information, and is available as a resource for research across traditional psychiatric diagnostic categories. Algorithms and pipelines used for data harmonisation are currently publicly available for the scientific community, and an appropriate data-sharing protocol will be developed as part of ongoing projects (DATAMIND) in partnership with Health Data Research UK.
Pulmonary arterial compliance, the dynamic component of pulmonary vasculature, remains inadequately studied in patients with left to right shunts. We sought to study the pulmonary arterial compliance in patients with left to right shunt lesions and its utility in clinical decision-making.
Materials and methods:
In this single-centre retrospective study, we reviewed cardiac catheterisation data of consecutive patients of left to right shunt lesions catheterised over one year. In addition to the various other parameters, pulmonary arterial compliance was calculated, as indexed pulmonary flow (Qpi) / (Heart rate × pulse pressure in the pulmonary artery). RC time was also calculated, as the product of pulmonary arterial compliance and pulmonary vascular resistance index. Patients were divided into “operable,” “borderline,” and “inoperable” based on the decision of the treating team, and the pulmonary arterial compliance values were evaluated in these groups to study if it can be utilised to refine the operability decision.
Results:
298 patients (Median age 16 years, 56% <18 years) with various acyanotic shunt lesions were included. Overall, the pulmonary arterial compliance varied with Qpi, pulmonary artery mean pressure, and pulmonary vascular resistance index, but did not vary with age, type of lesion, or transpulmonary gradients. The median pulmonary arterial compliance in patients with normal pulmonary artery pressure (Mean pulmonary artery pressure less than 20 mmHg) was 4.1 ml/mmHg/m2 (IQR 3.2). The median pulmonary arterial compliance for operable patients was 2.67 ml/mmHg/m2 (IQR 2.2). Median pulmonary arterial compliance was significantly lower in both inoperable (0.52 ml/mmHg/m2, IQR 0.34) and borderline (0.80 ml/mmHg/m2, IQR 0.36) groups when compared to operable patients (p < 0.001). A pulmonary arterial compliance value lower than 1.18 ml/mmHg/m2 identified inoperable patients with high sensitivity and specificity (95%, AUC 0.99). However, in borderline cases, assessment by this value did not agree with empirical clinical assessment.
The median RC time for the entire study population was 0.47 S (IQR 0.30). RC time in operable patients was significantly lower than that in the inoperable patients (Median 0.40 IQR 0.23 in operable, 0.73 0.25 in inoperable patients (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
Addition of pulmonary arterial compliance to the routine haemodynamic assessment of patients with shunt lesions may improve our understanding of the pulmonary circulation and may have clinical utility.
To examine the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on CLABSI rate and characterize the patients who developed a CLABSI. We also examined the impact of a CLABSI-reduction quality-improvement project in patients with and without COVID-19.
Design:
Retrospective cohort analysis.
Setting:
Academic 889-bed tertiary-care teaching hospital in urban Los Angeles.
Patients or participants:
Inpatients 18 years and older with CLABSI as defined by the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).
Intervention(s):
CLABSI rate and patient characteristics were analyzed for 2 cohorts during the pandemic era (March 2020–August 2021): COVID-19 CLABSI patients and non–COVID-19 CLABSI patients, based on diagnosis of COVID-19 during admission. Secondary analyses were non–COVID-19 CLABSI rate versus a historical control period (2019), ICU CLABSI rate in COVID-19 versus non–COVID-19 patients, and CLABSI rates before and after a quality- improvement initiative.
Results:
The rate of COVID-19 CLABSI was significantly higher than non–COVID-19 CLABSI. We did not detect a difference between the non–COVID-19 CLABSI rate and the historical control. COVID-19 CLABSIs occurred predominantly in the ICU, and the ICU COVID-19 CLABSI rate was significantly higher than the ICU non–COVID-19 CLABSI rate. A hospital-wide quality-improvement initiative reduced the rate of non–COVID-19 CLABSI but not COVID-19 CLABSI.
Conclusions:
Patients hospitalized for COVID-19 have a significantly higher CLABSI rate, particularly in the ICU setting. Reasons for this increase are likely multifactorial, including both patient-specific and process-related issues. Focused quality-improvement efforts were effective in reducing CLABSI rates in non–COVID-19 patients but were less effective in COVID-19 patients.
Based on an analysis of relevant laws and policies, regulator data portals, and information requests, we find that clinical data, including clinical study reports, submitted to the European Medicines Agency and Health Canada to support approval of medicines are routinely made publicly available.
The aim of the current study was to explore the effect of gender, age at onset, and duration on the long-term course of schizophrenia.
Methods
Twenty-nine centers from 25 countries representing all continents participated in the study that included 2358 patients aged 37.21 ± 11.87 years with a DSM-IV or DSM-5 diagnosis of schizophrenia; the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale as well as relevant clinicodemographic data were gathered. Analysis of variance and analysis of covariance were used, and the methodology corrected for the presence of potentially confounding effects.
Results
There was a 3-year later age at onset for females (P < .001) and lower rates of negative symptoms (P < .01) and higher depression/anxiety measures (P < .05) at some stages. The age at onset manifested a distribution with a single peak for both genders with a tendency of patients with younger onset having slower advancement through illness stages (P = .001). No significant effects were found concerning duration of illness.
Discussion
Our results confirmed a later onset and a possibly more benign course and outcome in females. Age at onset manifested a single peak in both genders, and surprisingly, earlier onset was related to a slower progression of the illness. No effect of duration has been detected. These results are partially in accord with the literature, but they also differ as a consequence of the different starting point of our methodology (a novel staging model), which in our opinion precluded the impact of confounding effects. Future research should focus on the therapeutic policy and implications of these results in more representative samples.
A novel paediatric disease, multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children, has emerged during the 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic.
Objectives:
To describe the short-term evolution of cardiac complications and associated risk factors in patients with multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children.
Methods:
Retrospective single-centre study of confirmed multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children treated from 29 March, 2020 to 1 September, 2020. Cardiac complications during the acute phase were defined as decreased systolic function, coronary artery abnormalities, pericardial effusion, or mitral and/or tricuspid valve regurgitation. Patients with or without cardiac complications were compared with chi-square, Fisher’s exact, and Wilcoxon rank sum.
Results:
Thirty-nine children with median (interquartile range) age 7.8 (3.6–12.7) years were included. Nineteen (49%) patients developed cardiac complications including systolic dysfunction (33%), valvular regurgitation (31%), coronary artery abnormalities (18%), and pericardial effusion (5%). At the time of the most recent follow-up, at a median (interquartile range) of 49 (26–61) days, cardiac complications resolved in 16/19 (84%) patients. Two patients had persistent mild systolic dysfunction and one patient had persistent coronary artery abnormality. Children with cardiac complications were more likely to have higher N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide (p = 0.01), higher white blood cell count (p = 0.01), higher neutrophil count (p = 0.02), severe lymphopenia (p = 0.05), use of milrinone (p = 0.03), and intensive care requirement (p = 0.04).
Conclusion:
Patients with multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children had a high rate of cardiac complications in the acute phase, with associated inflammatory markers. Although cardiac complications resolved in 84% of patients, further long-term studies are needed to assess if the cardiac abnormalities (transient or persistent) are associated with major cardiac events.
We sought to examine the influence of clinically severe lower respiratory tract infection on pulmonary artery pressure in children having CHD with post-tricuspid left-to-right shunt, as it may have physiological and clinical implications. In a prospective single-centre observational study, 45 children with post-tricuspid left-to-right shunt and clinically severe lower respiratory tract infection were evaluated during the illness and 2 weeks after its resolution. Pulmonary artery systolic pressure was estimated non-invasively using shunt gradient by echocardiography and systolic blood pressure measured non-invasively.
Median pulmonary artery systolic pressure during lower respiratory tract infection was only mildly (although statistically significantly) elevated during lower respiratory tract infection [60 (42–74) versus 53 (40–73) mmHg, (p < 0.0001)]. However, clinically significant change in pulmonary artery systolic pressure defined as the increase of >10 mmHg was present in only 9 (20%) patients. In the absence of hypoxia or acidosis, only a small minority (9%, n = 4) showed significant pulmonary artery systolic pressure rise >10 mmHg. In the absence of hypoxia or acidosis, severe lower respiratory tract infection in patients with acyanotic CHD results in only mild elevation of pulmonary artery systolic pressure in most of the patients.