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Psychiatric disorders are reported to be associated with systemic inflammatory conditions and autoimmune diseases. Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a rare condition with poorly understood prevalence and incidence in the general population. Case reports have described co-occurrences of psychiatric conditions and APS. Previous case reports have indicated that patients with APS can have comorbid psychosis, anxiety, depression, and other psychiatric conditions. The association between APS and psychiatric illness, however, remains under-investigated in longitudinal studies. In this report, we present the case of a woman in her 40s who was voluntarily admitted to the psychiatric inpatient unit for treatment of auditory hallucinations within the context of borderline personality disorder. She reported a rather extensive medical and psychiatric history of several previous illnesses, musculoskeletal injuries, and hospitalizations. Due to the significant social stress and multiple comorbidities, she may be at increased vulnerability to acute exacerbations of both APS and brief psychotic episodes. In this case report, the patient had a history of three hypercoagulability incidents that were shortly followed by psychiatric admissions. This report highlights the importance of considering systemic conditions such as APS in patients presenting with psychiatric illness. Patients with APS and concomitant psychosis may benefit from screening for APS flares in the case of a psychotic break., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Borchert et al.)

Background: Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a major source of mortality and is the first manifestation of heart disease for most cases. Thus, there is a definite need to identify risk factors for SCD that can be modified on the population level. Short-term exposures to temperature have been implicated as a potential risk factor. Our objective was to determine if short-term temperature exposures were associated with increased risk of SCD in a US-based time-stratified case-crossover study., Methods: A total of 465 cases of SCD were identified among participants of the prospective Nurses' Health Study (NHS). Control days were selected from all other matching days of the week within the same month as the case day. Average ambient temperature on the current day (Lag 0 ) and preceding 27 days (Lags 1-27 ) was determined at the residence level using 800-m resolution estimates. Conditional logistic distributed lag nonlinear models (DLNMs) were used to assess the relative risk (RR) of the full range of temperature exposures over the lag period., Results: Warmer exposures in the days before event and colder temperatures 21-28 days prior were associated with increased risks of SCD. These results were driven by associations in regions other than the Northeast and among married women., Conclusions: Both warm and cold ambient temperatures are suggestively associated with risks of SCD among middle-aged and older women living across the United States., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with regard to the content of this report., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The Environmental Epidemiology. All rights reserved.)

Purpose of Review: Environmental exposures have been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular mortality and acute coronary events, but their relationship with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and sudden cardiac death (SCD) remains unclear. SCD is an important contributor to the global burden of cardiovascular disease worldwide., Recent Findings: Current literature suggests a relationship between environmental exposures and cardiovascular disease, but their relationship with OHCA/SCD remains unclear. A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Global Health. Of 5138 studies identified by our literature search, this review included 30 studies on air pollution, 42 studies on temperature, 6 studies on both air pollution and temperature, and 1 study on altitude exposure and OHCA/SCD. Particulate matter air pollution, ozone, and both hot and cold temperatures are associated with increased risk of OHCA/SCD. Pollution and other exposures related to climate change play an important role in OHCA/SCD incidence., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Globally, more people die from cardiovascular disease than any other cause. Climate change, through amplified environmental exposures, will promote and contribute to many noncommunicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Air pollution, too, is responsible for millions of deaths from cardiovascular disease each year. Although they may appear to be independent, interchangeable relationships and bidirectional cause-and-effect arrows between climate change and air pollution can eventually lead to poor cardiovascular health. In this topical review, we show that climate change and air pollution worsen each other, leading to several ecosystem-mediated effects. We highlight how increases in hot climates as a result of climate change have increased the risk of major air pollution events such as severe wildfires and dust storms. In addition, we show how altered atmospheric chemistry and changing patterns of weather conditions can promote the formation and accumulation of air pollutants: a phenomenon known as the climate penalty. We demonstrate these amplified environmental exposures and their associations to adverse cardiovascular health outcomes. The community of health professionals-and cardiologists, in particular-cannot afford to overlook the risks that climate change and air pollution bring to the public's health., (Copyright © 2023 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Microbes in the dark ocean are exposed to hydrostatic pressure increasing with depth. Activity rate measurements and biomass production of dark ocean microbes are, however, almost exclusively performed under atmospheric pressure conditions due to technical constraints of sampling equipment maintaining in situ pressure conditions. To evaluate the microbial activity under in situ hydrostatic pressure, we designed and thoroughly tested an in situ microbial incubator (ISMI). The ISMI allows autonomously collecting and incubating seawater at depth, injection of substrate and fixation of the samples after a preprogramed incubation time. The performance of the ISMI was tested in a high-pressure tank and in several field campaigns under ambient hydrostatic pressure by measuring prokaryotic bulk 3 H-leucine incorporation rates. Overall, prokaryotic leucine incorporation rates were lower at in situ pressure conditions than under to depressurized conditions reaching only about 50% of the heterotrophic microbial activity measured under depressurized conditions in bathypelagic waters in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwestern Iberian Peninsula. Our results show that the ISMI is a valuable tool to reliably determine the metabolic activity of deep-sea microbes at in situ hydrostatic pressure conditions. Hence, we advocate that deep-sea biogeochemical and microbial rate measurements should be performed under in situ pressure conditions to obtain a more realistic view on deep-sea biotic processes., (© 2022 The Authors. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography.)

A method to assess heparin kinetics and individualize dosages was examined in 27 patients during chronic hemodialysis. Pretreatment heparin sensitivities were determined to establish the relationship between heparin concentration and activated clotting times (ACTs). Distribution volume was calculated by dividing the heparin loading dose by the 5-min heparin concentration. Assessments were made during three different dialysis periods. There was a 10-fold range in pretreatment heparin sensitivities. Intrapatient heparin sensitivity remained relatively consistent between dialysis periods. The degree of heparin sensitivity was significantly correlated to baseline ACT. Patients post-splenectomy were more sensitive to heparin. Large intra- and interpatient variation in distribution volume was also observed. Men, patients less than 60 years old, and patients post-splenectomy represented variables that contributed to higher heparin dose requirements.