Background Screening of cardiovascular risk is essential in preventing cardiac events and quantifying asymptomatic risk. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores are a well-established in predicting cardiovascular risk, but require specialized computed tomography (CT) scans. Given the relationship of aortic calcification with cardiovascular risk, we sought to determine whether aortic calcification measures from incidental CT scans may approximate CAC. Study design Retrospective CT scans and corresponding volumetric CAC scores were obtained from patients at the University of Michigan. Aortic calcifications were measured in 166 scans. Correlations between a novel morphomic calcium (MC) percent score and CAC score were evaluated using Kendall’s correlation coefficients. Comparison of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves based on MC at different vertebral levels showed the highest predictive values for measures taken at L4. Results MC at L4 shows promise in predicting CAC (AUC 0.90 in non-contrast scans, 0.70 in post-contrast scans). Proposed MC threshold are (4.21% for best sensitivity, B 12.93% for balance, C = 19.26% for specificity) in scans without contrast enhancement and (D = 7.31 for sensitivity, E 8.06 for specificity) in scans with contrast enhancement. Conclusion The MC score demonstrates promising potential in approximating CAC, particularly at the L4 level. The utilization of MC from incidental CT scans may be useful for assessment of cardiovascular risk. The ability to extract MC from contrast scans makes it especially valuable to patients receiving additional medical or surgical care. Recognition of high-risk patients would allow the use of indicated preventative strategies to avoid hard cardiovascular events in at risk patients.Ear malformations represent 50% of ear, nose and throat malformations. Ear malformations cause conductive hearing loss (CHL) and/or sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) with a significant childhood disability worldwide. Early accurate diagnosis and treatment are mandatory to enhance language and speech development. Understanding the embryology of the ear explains the outcome of ototoxic prenatal insult according to the affected gestational age and the incidence of association among inner, middle, and external ear malformations. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations of the temporal bone are used in the evaluation of ear malformations. In this review article, the spectrum of ear malformations is discussed in detail with hints on the ear embryology, the ear radiological anatomy, and radiological determinant factors of operative reconstruction of ear anomalies.Volatile fingerprints of a lager beer were carried out throughout five brewing steps to characterize the changes encompassing this process. Overall, 60 volatile organic metabolites (VOMs) were identified by headspace solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS). Specific profiles were observed at different brewing steps – aldehydes and furans dominate in wort, whereas the aliphatic esters and alcohols predominate in the following steps. Such variations can be assigned to specific VOMs, as 3-methylbutanal (wort), ethyl alcohol and ethyl octanoate (fermentation, maturation and filtration), or ethyl alcohol and isoamyl acetate (final product). These VOMs can influence the beer final flavour. Ethyl alcohol contributes to its strong and pungent smell and taste, while isoamyl acetate adds intense ‘fruity’ and ‘banana’ odours. These beer volatile fingerprints constitute a valuable tool to obtain insights on the impact of each brewing step on the final product, being also very useful for certification purposes.Heavy alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of heart failure. We sought to investigate whether levels of NT-proBNP differ by alcohol consumption profiles, both current drinking as well as cumulative exposure to drinking over several decades in a general population sample. Methods Data on 2054 participants (49% male) were taken from the UK Medical Research Council National Survey for Health and Development, a longitudinal cohort study based on a nationally representative sample of births in 1946. Categories of long-term alcohol consumption were created based on consumption over 25 years of observations and compared with levels of NT-proBNP measured at mean age 63. Results We found that those who drank heavily (both currently and long-term) had higher levels of NT-proBNP than moderate drinkers, after adjusting for major confounders (age, sex, socio-economic position and smoking). As NT-proBNP has attracted attention as a biomarker for heart failure, this suggests a critical pathway through which heavy drinking may increase risk of this cardiovascular disease. When we looked at heavy drinkers who varied their intake over the decades, it was only the recently heavy group that had higher levels of NT-proBNP. Further work is needed to demonstrate whether effects are reversible upon cessation of heavy drinking, but this finding highlights the need to have repeated data to unpack dynamics over time. Conclusion Our findings suggest heavy drinkers could be screened for NT-proBNP levels in order to identify those at high risk earlier in the clinical stages of heart failure and targeted for risk reduction strategies.Background The recent use of LSD to treat severe psychological disorders in several clinical applications has proven effective in reducing symptoms and distressing events. Trend analyses are warranted to provide the most current data for clinical and health interventions. The purpose of this study was to examine trends in LSD use among adults in the United States. Methods A secondary analysis of the 2015-2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health was conducted on 168, 562 adults ages 18 and older. Results Past-year LSD use increased 56.4% (P less then .0001) from 2015 to 2018. The proportion of LSD users ages 26-34 increased from 19.6% to 31.1% (P less then .0001), ages 35-49 increased from 2.73% to 8.82% (P less then .0001) and 50 years or older increased from 1.83% to 2.66% (P less then .0001). selleck kinase inhibitor LSD use among bisexual individuals increased from 11.2% to 13.0% (P less then .0001). LSD use among individuals with a college degree or more increased from 18.2% to 31.1% (P less then .0001). Significant decreases in LSD use were present in individuals who were multi-racial (P less then .