Sex differences in clinical profile and outcome after percutaneous coronary intervention for chronic total occlusion.

BACKGROUND: There are limited data around sex differences in the risk profile, treatments and outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in chronic total occlusion (CTO) lesions in contemporary interventional practice. We investigated the impact of sex on clinical and procedural characteristics, complications and clinical outcomes in a national cohort. METHODS & RESULTS: We created a longitudinal cohort (2006-2018, n = 30,605) of patients with stable angina who underwent CTO PCI in the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society (BCIS) database. Clinical, demographic, procedural and outcome data were analysed in two groups stratified by sex: male (n = 24,651), female (n = 5954). Female patients were older (68 vs 64 years, P < 0.001), had higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HTN) and prior stroke. Utilization of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), drug eluting stents (DES), radial or dual access and enabling strategies during CTO PCI were higher in male compared to female patients. Following multivariable analysis, there was no significant difference in in-patient mortality (adjusted odds ratio (OR):1.40, 95 % CI: 0.75-2.61, P = 0.29) and major cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) (adjusted OR: 1.01, 95 % CI: 0.78-1.29, P = 0.96). The crude and adjusted rates of procedural complications (adjusted OR: 1.37, 95 % CI: 1.23-1.52, P < 0.001), coronary artery perforation (adjusted OR: 1.60, 95 % CI: 1.26-2.04, P < 0.001) and major bleeding (adjusted OR: 2.06, 95 % CI: 1.62-2.61, P < 0.001) were higher in women compared with men. CONCLUSION: Female patients treated by CTO PCI were older, underwent lesser complex procedures, but had higher adjusted risk of procedural complications with a similar adjusted risk of mortality and MACCE compared with male patients

Global maps of soil temperature

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km² resolution for 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e., offset) between in-situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km² pixels (summarized from 8500 unique temperature sensors) across all the world’s major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (-0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in-situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications

Recommendations to Leverage the Palliative Nursing Role During COVID-19 and Future Public Health Crises.

With the daily number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and associated deaths rising exponentially, social fabrics on a global scale are being worn by panic, uncertainty, fear, and other consequences of the health care crisis. Comprising more than half of the global health care workforce and the highest proportion of direct patient care time than any other health professional, nurses are at the forefront of this crisis. Throughout the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, palliative nurses will increasingly exercise their expertise in symptom management, ethics, communication, and end-of-life care, among other crucial skills. The literature addressing the palliative care response to COVID-19 has surged, and yet, there is a critical gap regarding the unique contributions of palliative nurses and their essential role in mitigating the sequelae of this crisis. Thus, the primary aim herein is to provide recommendations for palliative nurses and other health care stakeholders to ensure their optimal value is realized and to promote their well-being and resilience during COVID-19 and, by extension, in anticipation of future public health crises