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This review aimed to summarize and estimate the TB treatment success rate and factors associated with unsuccessful TB treatment outcomes in Africa. Potentially eligible primary studies were retrieved from PubMed and Google Scholar. The risk of bias and quality of studies was assessed using The Joanna Briggs Institute’s (JBI) appraisal criteria, while heterogeneity across studies was assessed using
Substance use disorders (SUDs) are important risk factors for suicide, yet little is known about how suicide risks vary by specific SUDs. We examined these risks for the first time in a large general population to facilitate comparisons across SUDs. A national cohort study was conducted of all 6,947,191 adults in Sweden. SUDs (opioid, sedative/hypnotic, hallucinogen, cannabis, amphetamine, cocaine
Severe COVID-19 is characterised by immunopathology and epithelial injury. Proteomic studies have identified circulating proteins that are biomarkers of severe COVID-19, but cannot distinguish correlation from causation. To address this, we performed Mendelian randomisation (MR) to identify proteins that mediate severe COVID-19. Using protein quantitative trait loci (pQTL) data from the SCALLOP co
Introduction: Tension band wiring of olecranon fractures has high reported rates of complications and reoperations. We aimed to compare classic tension band wiring to cerclage fixation without K-wires in the treatment of displaced olecranon fractures in elderly patients. The primary outcome was reoperation. Secondary outcomes included complications and patient reported outcomes. Outcomes following
Arctic environmental change induces shifts in high-latitude plant community composition and stature with implications for Arctic carbon cycling and energy exchange. Two major components of change in high-latitude ecosystems are the advancement of trees into tundra and the increased abundance and size of shrubs. How future changes in key climatic and environmental drivers will affect distributions
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The severity of the atherosclerotic burden is hardly quantifiable in subjects at high cardiovascular (CV) risk under intensive pharmacological therapy. Several molecules have been proposed as circulating biomarkers of atherosclerosis, but none has emerged as clinically meaningful.METHODS: Circulating proteins involved in inflammation, plaque remodeling, smooth muscle cell migr
Increased blood lipid levels are heritable risk factors of cardiovascular disease with varied prevalence worldwide owing to different dietary patterns and medication use1. Despite advances in prevention and treatment, in particular through reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels2, heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide3. Genome-wideassociation studies (GWAS) of bloo
OBJECTIVE: This analysis aimed to compare failure to rescue (FTR) after pancreatoduodenectomy across the Atlantic. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: FTR, or mortality after development of a major complication, is a quality metric originally created to compare hospital results. FTR has been studied in North American and Northern European patients undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy (PD). However, a direct comp
BACKGROUND: ECG abnormalities are associated with adverse outcomes in the general population, but their prognostic significance in severe mental illness (SMI) remains unexplored. We investigated associations between no, minor, and major ECG abnormalities and fatal cardiovascular disease (CVD) among patients with SMI compared with controls without mental illness. METHODS AND RESULTS: We cross-linke
Background: Total pancreatectomy has high morbidity and mortality and differences among countries are currently unknown. This study compared the use and postoperative outcomes of total pancreatectomy among 4 Western countries. Methods: Patients who underwent one-stage total pancreatectomy were included from registries in the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden (2014–2018). Use of t
Objective. Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is associated with an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) related to atherosclerosis, preceded by arterial stiffness. We aimed to examine common carotid artery (CCA) biomechanical properties using ultrasound to calculate β stiffness index (indicating arterial stiffness) and, a more recently developed technique, 2-dimensional (2D) speckle tracking st
Water purification is one of the most essential services provided by wetlands. A lot of concerns regarding wetlands subjected to climate change relate to their susceptibility to hydrological change and the increase in temperature as a result of global warming. A warmer condition may accelerate the rate of decomposition and release of nutrients, which can be exported downstream and cause serious ec
Context. Positions and proper motions of Gaia sources are expressed in a reference frame that ideally should be non-rotating relative to distant extragalactic objects, coincident with the International Celestial Reference System (ICRS), and consistent across all magnitudes. For sources fainter than 16th magnitude, this is achieved through Gaia's direct observations of quasars. At brighter magnitud
Background: Presently, 1 in 4 Lebanese adolescents is involved in bullying, with 12% being perpetrators. In Lebanon, around 90% of bullying incidents occur in schools. Given the lack of studies tackling bullying perpetration in Lebanon, this study aims to identify and target risk factors of bullying perpetration among Lebanese adolescents, which would serve future prevention and intervention progr
The response of soil microbial activity to climate warming has been predicted to have a large destabilising effect on the carbon cycle. However, the nature of this feedback remains poorly understood, especially in tropical ecosystems and across annual to decadal timescales. We studied the response of bacterial community growth to 2 and 11 years of altered temperature regimes, by translocating soil
Background and purpose — Meniscal repair may reduce long-term risk of knee osteoarthritis compared with arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM), whereas patient-reported outcomes may be poorer at short term than for APM. We compared patient-reported outcomes in young adults undergoing meniscal repair or APM up to ∼5 years after surgery. Patients and methods — We included 150 patients aged 18–40 ye
BACKGROUND: Emerging data support the use of thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) activity as a prognostic marker and for monitoring of response in breast cancer (BC). The long-term prognostic value of TK1 kinetics during neoadjuvant chemotherapy is unclear, which this study aimed to elucidate. METHODS: Material from patients enrolled to the single-arm prospective PROMIX trial of neoadjuvant epirubicin, docet
PURPOSE: To study practice patterns in European cataract surgery over a 10-year period. SETTING: European clinics affiliated to the European Registry of Quality Outcomes for Cataract and Refractive Surgery (EUREQUO). DESIGN: Registry cohort study. METHODS: The EUREQUO contains preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative parameters reported by surgeons in many European clinics. All data reporte
CONTEXT: Psychiatric symptoms are common in Cushing's disease (CD) and seem only partly reversible following treatment. OBJECTIVE: To investigate drug dispenses associated to psychiatric morbidity in CD patients before treatment and during long-term follow-up. DESIGN: Nationwide longitudinal register-based study. SETTING: University Hospitals in Sweden. SUBJECTS: CD patients diagnosed between 1990
OBJECTIVES: Hypertension and diabetes are common and are both associated with high cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. We aimed to investigate associations between mortality risk and country of birth among hypertensive individuals in primary care with and without concomitant diabetes, which has not been studied previously. In addition, we aimed to study the corresponding risks of myocardial in
