Category: Nevin Manimala

Can Prosthet Orthot J. 2021 Jun 29;4(1):35297. doi: 10.33137/cpoj.v4i1.35297. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Clinical outcome assessments provide important input for the rehabilitation of individuals with transfemoral amputation. Differences in prosthetic knee designs may influence clinical outcomes.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare functional mobility, balance, prosthetic satisfaction and quality of life in individuals with unilateral transfemoral amputation with microprocessor-controlled (MPK) and non-microprocessor knee designs (Non-MPK).

METHODOLOGY: The study included ten experienced MPK (Rheo Knee) users (Group 1) and ten experienced Non-MPK (Total Knee^® 2000) users (Group 2). For mobility; the 6 Minute Walk Test (6MWT), for balance; the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Single Leg Stand Test (SLST) and Four Square Step Test (FSST), for quality of life; the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) and for prosthetic satisfaction; the Satisfaction with Prosthesis Questionnaire (SATPRO) were administered.

FINDINGS: 6MWT results of the MPK group were significantly higher than Non-MPK group (p<0.05). In the MPK group a strong negative correlation was found between the FSST and the 6MWT (r=-0.661, p=0.038). No statistically significant differences were found between the groups (p>0.05) comparing balance, prosthesis satisfaction and quality of life values.

CONCLUSION: The findings will inform about the patient’s prognosis and the expected clinical outcomes when prescribing an MPK or an Non-MPK. Individuals with unilateral transfemoral amputation covered longer distances using an MPK compared to Non-MPK.

PMID:37614931 | PMC:PMC10443503 | DOI:10.33137/cpoj.v4i1.35297

Can Prosthet Orthot J. 2021 Aug 16;4(1):36833. doi: 10.33137/cpoj.v4i1.36833. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of lower-limb amputations (LLA) in older adults is increasing. Due to the substantial resources required for rehabilitation, there is growing interest in exploring prosthesis use as well as the factors that impact use for individuals with LLA.

OBJECTIVES: To examine how older adults, those over 50 years old, with a new LLA use their prostheses following rehabilitation and to identify factors that increase or decrease prosthesis use after discharge from a rehabilitation hospital.

METHODS: The StepWatch Activity Monitor, the Prosthetic Profile of the Amputee Questionnaire, and a semi-structured interview were used to measure prosthesis use and factors affecting use at 12 weeks post-discharge from a rehabilitation hospital. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the quantitative data and the qualitative interviews were analyzed using the International Classification of Functioning and Disability.

RESULTS: Two user profiles emerged from the 11 participants’ use patterns. The Regular Users integrated their prosthesis into their lives, using it for various types of activities, while the Strategic Users wore their prosthesis to perform specific activities of daily and instrumental activities of daily living tasks. Body functions (e.g., pain), personal (e.g., feeling of independence), and environmental factors (e.g., home adaptations or social support) impacted prosthesis use.

CONCLUSIONS: The emergence of profiles suggests variability in how older adults with LLA use their prosthesis after rehabilitation. However, the factors affecting prosthesis use were similar between the profiles. Therefore, while it is important for rehabilitation teams to consider patients’ individual needs when setting goals for prosthetic training, they must also consider common factors affecting prosthesis use.

PMID:37614929 | PMC:PMC10443515 | DOI:10.33137/cpoj.v4i1.36833

Curr Zool. 2022 Jul 16;69(4):456-474. doi: 10.1093/cz/zoac055. eCollection 2023 Aug.

ABSTRACT

Morphological analyses are critical to quantify phenotypic variation, identify taxa, inform phylogenetic relationships, and shed light on evolutionary patterns. This work is particularly important in groups that display great morphological disparity. Such is the case in geomyoid rodents, a group that includes 2 of the most species-rich families of rodents in North America: the Geomyidae (pocket gophers) and the Heteromyidae (kangaroo rats, pocket mice, and their relatives). We assessed variation in skull morphology (including both shape and size) among geomyoids to test the hypothesis that there are statistically significant differences in skull measurements at the family, genus, and species levels. Our sample includes 886 specimens representing all geomyoid genera and 39 species. We used the geometric mean to compare size across taxa. We used 14 measurements of the cranium and lower jaw normalized for size to compare shape among and within taxa. Our results show that skull measurements enable the distinction of geomyoids at the family, genus, and species levels. There is a larger amount of size variation within Geomyidae than within Heteromyidae. Our phylomorphospace analysis shows that the skull shape of the common ancestor of all geomyoids was more similar to the common ancestor of heteromyids than that of geomyids. Geomyid skulls display negative allometry whereas heteromyid skulls display positive allometry. Within heteromyids, dipodomyines, and non-dipodomyines show significantly different allometric patterns. Future analyses including fossils will be necessary to test our evolutionary hypotheses.

PMID:37614926 | PMC:PMC10443661 | DOI:10.1093/cz/zoac055

Front Pediatr. 2023 Aug 8;11:1237074. doi: 10.3389/fped.2023.1237074. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Human Adenovirus (HAdV), responsible for 5%-10% of children’s ARIs, is one of the most prevalent pathogens. Our study aimed to analyze the epidemiology and phylogenesis of HAdV in pediatric patients with ARIs in Hangzhou during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHOD: Between November 2020 and March 2021, we collected 1,442 nasopharyngeal swabs from children with ARIs at Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Epidemiological statistics, phylogenetic and amino acid (AA) mutation analysis were conducted.

RESULTS: Our findings revealed that 386 (26.77%) samples tested positive for HAdV, with the highest rate in children aged 6-18 years and the lowest in children aged 0-1 year, indicating a different age preference of HAdV compared with pre-pandemic period. Outpatients had a significantly higher positive rate than inpatients. Moreover, patients with HAdV-coinfection exhibited more severe clinical symptoms than those with HAdV-single infection. Our phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that species HAdV-C (type 1, 2, 6) were the predominant circulating strains in Hangzhou during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further AA mutation analysis identified seventeen mutations of particular concern for biological characterization.

CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our study provides valuable epidemiological and molecular data that will aid in epidemiological surveillance, antiviral therapies and the development of specific vaccine types, leading to improve public health.

PMID:37614906 | PMC:PMC10442704 | DOI:10.3389/fped.2023.1237074

Front Pediatr. 2023 Aug 8;11:1204171. doi: 10.3389/fped.2023.1204171. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Since the COVID-19 pandemic, several studies have reported a decrease in adolescents’ well-being. We aim to describe life satisfaction over the last decade and examine the factors associated with its variations between 2020 and 2021 among French students in their last year of middle school (around 14-15 years old).

METHODS: Data were drawn from a repeated biennial cross-sectional national survey conducted in French schools over the last decade (EnCLASS study), using a self-administered questionnaire. After describing life satisfaction trends between 2012 and 2021 using the Cantril ladder, we examined individual changes in life satisfaction between 2020 and 2021 and their associations with housing and studying conditions during the COVID-19 lockdown, using multinomial logistic regression analysis (decrease, increase, no change as reference).

RESULTS: Among the 17,686 survey respondents, an overall slight decrease in the prevalence of adolescents reporting high life satisfaction (i.e., Cantril score ≥6) was observed since 2012 with the lowest proportion reported in 2021 (77.4%). Between 2020 and 2021, 16.3% of French adolescents experienced an improvement in life satisfaction, while 17.7% experienced the opposite. Decrease in life satisfaction between 2020 and 2021 was more likely experienced by adolescents living in reconstructed families [aOR 2.09 (95%CI, 1.58-2.77)], those who did not have their own room [aOR 1.58 (1.16-2.15)], nor access to the Internet to interact with their friends during the lockdown [aOR 1.47 (1.09-1.98)]. Interestingly, more girls than boys were represented in both those reporting increase and decrease in life satisfaction [aOR 1.82 (1.40-2.37) and 1.43 (1.14-1.79), respectively].

CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that the way adolescents experienced the first 2020 lockdown in France was not uniform, and that one must consider sex as well as housing and studying conditions when interpreting adolescents’ life satisfaction decrease during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PMID:37614904 | PMC:PMC10443644 | DOI:10.3389/fped.2023.1204171

Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2023 Jul 5;36(5):582-585. doi: 10.1080/08998280.2023.2230541. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The primary aim of our study was to determine the attendance of postpartum visits stratified by race and if the COVID-19 pandemic affected racial disparities in postpartum visit attendance.

METHODS: We searched our labor and delivery records from July 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 and from July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 and included patients who delivered liveborn infants. The final analysis was restricted to patients who identified as White or Caucasian only, Black or African American only, or Hispanic. We then performed joint tests on the logistic regression with an interaction term of race and year of delivery to determine the final model.

RESULTS: The odds ratio of Black or African American and Hispanic patients attending a postpartum visit was 0.589 (95% CI 0.456, 0.760; P < .001) and 0.836 (95% CI 0.676, 1.034; P = 0.099), respectively, compared to White or Caucasian patients. The interaction term of race and year of delivery was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSION: Black or African American patients at our hospital had a clinically and statistically significant lower utilization of postpartum visits compared to White or Caucasian patients and this disparity was not exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

PMID:37614862 | PMC:PMC10443978 | DOI:10.1080/08998280.2023.2230541

Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2023 Jul 6;36(5):592-599. doi: 10.1080/08998280.2023.2228180. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG) has emerged as an effective endoscopic bariatric procedure over the past decade. Data comparing short-term outcomes of ESG based on operator specialty is scarce. We aimed to assess the impact of operator specialization on patient outcomes using a large bariatric-specific database.

METHODS: We identified a retrospective cohort of patients who underwent ESG by gastroenterologists using the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation Quality Improvement Program database (2020-2021). A matched comparison cohort of patients who underwent ESG by surgeons was identified and underwent 1:1 propensity score matching based on age, race, gender, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification, and preoperative body mass index.

RESULTS: After matching, 154 patients were included in the final analysis. Of these, 77 patients underwent ESG by surgeons and 77 by gastroenterologists. In the matched cohort, the median operation time was lower in ESG by surgeons compared to gastroenterologists (P < 0.001). The median percent body mass index decrease was higher in the gastroenterologist cohort compared to the surgeon cohort (4.9% vs 3.8%, P = 0.04). The median percent weight loss after ESG was 4.8% in the surgeon cohort and 5.9% in the gastroenterologist cohort (P = 0.09). There was no statistically significant difference in postoperative emergency department visits (P = 0.65), reoperations (P = 0.15), or reinterventions within 30 days (P = 0.87) between the cohorts. There was no difference in major adverse effects between the groups (0% each).

CONCLUSIONS: Operator choice does not affect ESG-related adverse events or 30-day outcomes in patients undergoing ESG.

PMID:37614858 | PMC:PMC10443959 | DOI:10.1080/08998280.2023.2228180

Int J Appl Basic Med Res. 2023 Apr-Jun;13(2):83-88. doi: 10.4103/ijabmr.ijabmr_637_22. Epub 2023 Jul 17.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Despite the high prevalence of Vitamin-D insufficiency and high susceptibility to dry eye disease (DED) in postmenopausal women (PMW), correlation between DED and Vitamin D has not been explored in PMW in any Indian study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore the correlation between serum Vitamin D levels in PMW with and without DED, in a hospital-based population in rural Haryana.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Subjective (ocular surface disease index [OSDI] questionnaire) and objective clinical tests were undertaken for DED diagnosis. 25(OH) Vitamin D was measured in serum using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; insufficient (10-30 ng/ml) and deficient (<10 ng/ml). Descriptive statistics were analyzed by mean ± standard deviation for continuous and frequencies for the categorical variables; Student’s t-test used to find out mean difference in Vitamin D levels; P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS: One hundred and forty PMW (60.1 ± 5.32 years) were included; Group-A (Controls; no DED; n: 70); Group-B (Cases; DED diagnosed by OSDI scores; n: 70); Subgroup-B1 (clinical tests negative; n: 30) and B2 (clinical tests positive; n: 40). There was no statistically significant difference in OSDI scores between B1 and B2. Significantly lower mean Vitamin D levels were found in cases (14.36 ± 4.08 ng/ml) as compared to controls (19.19 ± 6.4 ng/ml) (P = 0.001) and in B2 (13.15 ± 3.51 ng/ml) as compared to B1 (15.57 ± 4.66 ng/ml) (P = 0.01).

CONCLUSION: There were significantly low levels of Vitamin-D in clinically established DED. Evaluating Vitamin D levels as a part of the dry eye workup in PMW is recommended. OSDI scores were not aligned with the clinical test scores; questionnaire-based tests alone may not be sufficient for diagnosing DED.

PMID:37614839 | PMC:PMC10443445 | DOI:10.4103/ijabmr.ijabmr_637_22

Int J Appl Basic Med Res. 2023 Apr-Jun;13(2):89-94. doi: 10.4103/ijabmr.ijabmr_639_22. Epub 2023 Jul 17.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Bronchogenic carcinoma is a leading cause of cancer-related death in men and women. Early diagnosis and treatment in these cases are essential for a better prognosis. Serum biomarkers such as serum amyloid A (SAA) and CYFRA 21-1 have generated encouraging results regarding their use in the diagnosis of these cases but data on their role in the Indian scenario are still lacking.

AIM: The study aims to measure the levels of SAA and CYFRA 21-1 in various types of lung cancer and compare them with patients without lung cancer. It also aims to compare the values of these biomarkers before and after chemotherapy and correlate them with response to treatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a prospective, case-control study conducted in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Government Medical College, Chandigarh. All histologically and/or cytologically proven lung cancer cases were included in the study group while patients with diseases other than lung cancer formed the control group. All patients were evaluated through a complete history and thorough clinical examination. Measurement of SAA and CYFRA 21-1 in blood was done by sandwich ELISA method. The patients in the study group were followed up regularly and the biomarkers were measured again after four cycles of chemotherapy. The response of tumors to chemotherapy was evaluated as per modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors criteria. The statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 19.0.

RESULTS: The study group and control group included 20 patients each. Hoarseness of voice and hemoptysis were significantly associated with lung cancer patients (P = 0.001 and P = 0.025, respectively). Serum levels above 8745 ng/ml for SAA and 2.55 ng/ml for serum CYFRA 21-1 were used as diagnostic biomarker in lung cancer. The serum levels of CYFRA 21-1 were found to be significantly raised in nonsmall cell carcinoma (NSCLC) in comparison to SCLC of lung. There was a statistically significant decrease in the serum levels of CYFRA 21-1 in lung cancer patients on C4 cycle of chemotherapy in comparison to C1 cycle (P = 0.014).

CONCLUSION: SAA and CYFRA 21-1 could be valuable diagnostic biomarkers in lung cancer. CYFRA 21-1, in addition, could also be used as prognostic biomarker in lung cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy as it showed significant decrease after C4-cycle of chemotherapy. It can also be a potential biomarker to differentiate small cell and NSCLC.

PMID:37614836 | PMC:PMC10443456 | DOI:10.4103/ijabmr.ijabmr_639_22

Allergy Asthma Clin Immunol. 2023 Aug 23;19(1):73. doi: 10.1186/s13223-023-00833-z.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a chronic airway inflammatory disease that affects millions of Canadians and often contributes to higher levels of anxiety among patients. Since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was a time of increased anxiety and fear among the Canadian population, it was thought that those with asthma may experience heightened anxiety levels due to uncertain access to care, the potential to misinterpret asthma symptoms for symptoms of COVID-19 (or vice versa), and the concern about being treated differently by those around them when experiencing asthma symptoms. Therefore, this study sought to perform a cross-sectional analysis of the asthma-anxiety relationship in adults with and without asthma in the unique context of the COVID-19 pandemic from a Canadian perspective.

METHODS: This study employed the COVID-19 Associated Anxiety in Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma patients Experiencing Symptoms (CAAARES) survey, consisting of COVID-19-specific questions, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment-7 (GAD-7) and the Asthma Control Questionnaire-6 (ACQ-6). Data collection occurred through the Qualtrics XM platform and data analyses were conducted with the IBM SPSS Statistics 28 software.

RESULTS: A total of 741 valid responses were collected (asthma group, n = 244; control group, n = 497). 31.6% and 26.2% of respondents in the asthma and control groups, respectively, met the diagnostic criteria for GAD. There was no significant difference (p = .067) in mean GAD-7 scores between the two groups. A Hierarchal Multiple Regression (HMR) model was developed, and neither asthma status nor ACQ-6 score had a significant predictive effect on the GAD-7 score. There was a statistically significant (p < .001) weak positive correlation (r = .22) between GAD-7 and ACQ-6 scores. In a simple mediation (SMM) model, perceived COVID-19 stress of others was not identified as a significant mediator of the relationship between ACQ-6 and GAD-7 (indirect effect β = 0.014).

CONCLUSION: Our study of a Canadian cohort demonstrates elevated levels of anxiety overall, amongst both asthma and control groups. While AR status was significantly greater in the asthma group, it was not a significant predictive variable of GAD-7 score. Our data suggests that COVID-19-specific factors appear to have a greater contribution to anxiety than asthma status or control.

PMID:37612771 | DOI:10.1186/s13223-023-00833-z