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Aims Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is associated with endothelial dysfunction. We aimed to determine the effects of prior coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the coronary microvasculature accounting for time from COVID-19, disease severity, SARS-CoV-2 variants, and in subgroups of patients with diabetes and those with no known coronary artery disease. Methods and results Cases consisted of patients with previous COVID-19 who had clinically indicated positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and were matched 1:3 on clinical and cardiovascular risk factors to controls having no prior infection. Myocardial flow reserve (MFR) was calculated as the ratio of stress to rest myocardial blood flow (MBF) in mL/min/g of the left ventricle. Comparisons between cases and controls were made for the odds and prevalence of impaired MFR (MFR < 2). We included 271 cases matched to 815 controls (mean ± SD age 65 ± 12 years, 52% men). The median (inter-quartile range) number of days between COVID-19 infection and PET imaging was 174 (58–338) days. Patients with prior COVID-19 had a statistically significant higher odds of MFR <2 (adjusted odds ratio 3.1, 95% confidence interval 2.8–4.25 P < 0.001). Results were similar in clinically meaningful subgroups. The proportion of cases with MFR <2 peaked 6–9 months from imaging with a statistically non-significant downtrend afterwards and was comparable across SARS-CoV-2 variants but increased with increasing severity of infection. Conclusion The prevalence of impaired MFR is similar by duration of time from infection up to 1 year and SARS-CoV-2 variants, but significantly differs by severity of infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the importance of judicial ethics to the public's confidence in the judiciary, educating judges about ethics is a high and continuing priority in the federal courts. People appointed as federal judges typically have strong records of integrity and are motivated to act ethically, but inadvertent mistakes sometimes occur, and they harm the reputation of the judge and the judiciary. The Federal Judicial Center, the education agency for the federal courts, works closely with the Judicial Conference committees responsible for administering and interpreting the sources of ethical rules: statutes and the Code of Conduct for United States Judges. Together they have developed curricula for in-person programs and resources in hard-copy and online formats, as well as television programs. Ethics is included in orientation programs for new judges and in annual continuing education programs for judges. These sessions are usually interactive discussions, often using real or hypothetical problems. By regularly covering ethics, the goal is to heighten judges' sensitivity to ethical issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a speech by John P. Cooke, president of the Society for Vascular Medicine and Biology, delivered at the 18th Annual Meeting of the Society for Vascular Medicine in the U.S. He discusses the developments driving the emergence of vascular medicine, which will fund five new training programs in vascular medicine in the country. He believes that radical changes in training are necessary to reduce the excessive prolongation of training.

The article presents a speech by Dr Michael Bacharach, president of the Society for Vascular Medicine and Biology (SVMB), delivered at the 17th Annual Scientific Session of the society on June 2-3, 2006. Depicting the growth of the society, he discusses SVMB's contribution to the field of vascular medicine. He also outlines the original mission of the society and considers American Board of vascular Medicine as an important development in professional education for internists.

Examines the tax assessment law passed by the state of Florida. Preferential assessment; Limits to preferential assessment; Options to preferential assessment.

Advances in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with vascular disorders have led to the emergence of a new kind of internist with special skills in vascular medicine. The growth of this field will accelerate as recent major advances in vascular biology attain clinical application. In recognition of these developments, programs for vascular medicine are in place or in development across the country. Proliferation of these programs will be facilitated by multidisciplinary collaboration among cardiologists, radiologists, vascular surgeons, and other physicians with special expertise in the wide range of vascular disorders. Internists trained in these programs fill major needs; they will advance the field of vascular medicine by forming a bridge with vascular biologists to bring research advances to clinical fruition; they will apply the latest therapeutic and diagnostic tools to give optimum care to patients suffering from vascular disease and associated medical disorders such as hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and hypercoagulopathy; and they will appropriately refer these patients for invasive interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The completion of the Human Genome Project has unleashed a wealth of human genomics information, but it remains unclear how best to implement this information for the benefit of patients. The standard approach of biomedical research, with researchers pursuing advances in knowledge in the laboratory and, separately, clinicians translating research findings into the clinic as much as decades later, will need to give way to new interdisciplinary models for research in genomic medicine. These models should include scientists and clinicians actively working as teams to study patients and populations recruited in clinical settings and communities to make genomics discoveries-through the combined efforts of data scientists, clinical researchers, epidemiologists, and basic scientists-and to rapidly apply these discoveries in the clinic for the prediction, prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. The highly publicized US Precision Medicine Initiative, also known as All of Us, is a large-scale program funded by the US National Institutes of Health that will energize these efforts, but several ongoing studies such as the UK Biobank Initiative; the Million Veteran Program; the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics Network; the Kaiser Permanente Research Program on Genes, Environment and Health; and the DiscovEHR collaboration are already providing exemplary models of this kind of interdisciplinary work. In this statement, we outline the opportunities and challenges in broadly implementing new interdisciplinary models in academic medical centers and community settings and bringing the promise of genomics to fruition., Competing Interests: The American Heart Association makes every effort to avoid any actual or potential conflicts of interest that may arise as a result of an outside relationship or a personal, professional, or business interest of a member of the writing panel. Specifically, all members of the writing group are required to complete and submit a Disclosure Questionnaire showing all such relationships that might be perceived as real or potential conflicts of interest., (© 2018 American Heart Association, Inc.)

Limitation of walking due to claudication is the hallmark of peripheral arterial disease. The purpose of this secondary analysis was to identify biobehavioral predictors of physical function in peripheral arterial disease patients that included walking ability, gender, age, disease severity, environmental factors (social support), and medical comorbidity (arthritis). All subjects performed an exercise treadmill test to determine initial and absolute claudication distance. The sample consisted of 97 peripheral arterial disease patients, 71 (73%) men and 26 (27%) women, with a mean age of 73+/-8 years (range 52-90 years). Initial claudication distance occurred at 171.88+/-136.35 m. Absolute claudication distance was 421.03+/-286.37 m. A simultaneous multiple regression analysis was performed to determine predictors of physical function. The model accounted for 35% of the variance (p<0.001) and included personal characteristics (age, gender, years of education), severity of disease by ankle-brachial index, environmental factors of social support (marital status), absolute claudication distance, and arthritis. Education (p=0.011), absolute claudication distance (p=0.014), social support (p=0.026), arthritis (p=0.028), and age (p=0.033) were the strongest predictors of physical function. This study identifies biobehavioral factors that place peripheral arterial disease patients at greater risk for reduced physical function and provides a rationale for interventions that improve walking ability.