Category: Nevin Manimala

Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2023 Feb 20. doi: 10.1039/d2cp05523f. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Topological superconductors (TSCs) are an exotic field due to the existence of Majorana zero-modes (MZM) in the edge states that obey non-Abelian statistics and can be used to implement topological quantum computations, especially for two-dimensional (2D) materials. Here we predict manganese diboride (Mn₂B₂) as an intrinsic 2D anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) TSC based on the magnetic and electronic structures of Mn and B atoms. Once Mn₂B₂ ML enters a superconducting state, MZM will be induced by the spin-polarized helical gapless edge states. The Z₂ topological non-trivial properties are confirmed by Wannier charge centers (WCC) and the platform of the spin Hall conductivity near the Fermi level. Phonon-electron coupling (EPC) implies s-wave superconductivity and the critical temperature (T_c) is 6.79 K.

PMID:36807355 | DOI:10.1039/d2cp05523f

Br J Cancer. 2023 Feb 17. doi: 10.1038/s41416-023-02188-z. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is predicated on early diagnosis such that ‘curative therapies’ can be successfully applied. The term ‘curative’ is, however, poorly quantitated. We aimed to complement our previous work by developing a statistical model to predict cure after ablation and to use this analysis to compare the true curative potential of the various ‘curative’ therapies.

METHODS: We accessed data from 1571 HCC patients treated in 5 centres receiving radiofrequency (RFA) or microwave (MWA) ablation and used flexible parametric modelling to determine the curative fraction. The results of this analysis were then combined with our previous estimations to provide a simple calculator applicable to all patients undergoing potentially curative therapies.

RESULTS: The cure fraction was 18.3% rising to about 40% in patients with good liver function and very small tumours.

CONCLUSION: Cure for HCC treated with ablation occurs in the order of 20% to 30%, similar to that achievable by resection but much inferior to transplantation where the analogous figure is >70%. We provide a ‘calculator’ that permits clinicians to estimate the chance of cure for any individual patient, based on readily available clinical features.

PMID:36807338 | DOI:10.1038/s41416-023-02188-z

Genet Epidemiol. 2023 Feb 19. doi: 10.1002/gepi.22519. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The application of causal mediation analysis (CMA) considering the mediation effect of a third variable is increasing in epidemiological studies; however, this requires fitting strong assumptions on confounding bias. To address this limitation, we propose an extension of CMA combining it with Mendelian randomization (MRinCMA). We applied the new approach to analyse the causal effect of obesity and diabetes on pancreatic cancer, considering each factor as potential mediator. To check the performance of MRinCMA under several conditions/scenarios, we used it in different simulated data sets and compared it with structural equation models. For continuous variables, MRinCMA and structural equation models performed similarly, suggesting that both approaches are valid to obtain unbiased estimates. When noncontinuous variables were considered, MRinCMA presented, overall, lower bias than structural equation models. By applying MRinCMA, we did not find any evidence of causality of obesity or diabetes on pancreatic cancer. With this new methodology, researchers would be able to address CMA hypotheses by appropriately accounting for the confounding bias assumption regardless of the conditions used in their studies in different settings.

PMID:36807329 | DOI:10.1002/gepi.22519

Sex Transm Dis. 2023 Feb 20. doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0000000000001783. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is at an all-time high. Direct-to-consumer STI testing services may help alleviate this undue health burden. These products are sold online and rarely require interaction with a healthcare professional (HCP). Vendors offer STI self-collection kits or prescriptions for HCP specimen collection. The objective was to understand the scope of direct-to-consumer STI testing services offered and provide recommendations for consumers and industry.

METHODS: Seven volunteers searched for “STD tests” on Google from February 1 through March 31, 2021 and shared their top three results. The study team extracted data from consumer-facing information on each website. Descriptive statistics and thematic qualitative analyses were performed.

RESULTS: Twenty vendors were identified. Most vendors (95%) used Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-certified or College of American Pathologists (CAP) accredited laboratories. Analyses distinguished between STI self-collection kits (n = 9) using independent laboratories and HCP specimen collection (n = 10) which used commercial laboratories (n = 1 offered both). The STI self-collection kits were cheaper per test and bundle on average (eg, $79.00 vs $106.50 for chlamydia/gonorrhea), and more closely aligned with clinical recommendations compared with the HCP specimen collection options. Websites often contained inaccurate or misleading information (n = 13), often promoting testing outside of the recommendations.

CONCLUSIONS: Direct-to-consumer STI testing services are part of an emerging market lacking regulation. Consumers should select vendors offering prescriptions for HCP specimen collection at CAP accredited and CLIA-certified laboratories. Vendors should provide a screening tool to assess individual patient risk prior to test purchase.

PMID:36807311 | DOI:10.1097/OLQ.0000000000001783

Biometrics. 2023 Feb 17. doi: 10.1111/biom.13843. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Bayesian networks have been widely used to generate causal hypotheses from multivariate data. Despite their popularity, the vast majority of existing causal discovery approaches make the strong assumption of a (partially) homogeneous sampling scheme. However, such assumption can be seriously violated, causing significant biases when the underlying population is inherently heterogeneous. To this end, we propose a novel causal Bayesian network model, termed BN-LTE, that embeds heterogeneous samples onto a low-dimensional manifold and builds Bayesian networks conditional on the embedding. This new framework allows for more precise network inference by improving the estimation resolution from population level to observation level. Moreover, while causal Bayesian networks are in general not identifiable with purely observational, cross-sectional data due to Markov equivalence, with the blessing of causal effect heterogeneity, we prove that the proposed BN-LTE is uniquely identifiable under relatively mild assumptions. Through extensive experiments, we demonstrate the superior performance of BN-LTE in causal structure learning as well as inferring observation-specific gene regulatory networks from observational data. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:36807295 | DOI:10.1111/biom.13843

Nurse Educ. 2023 Feb 17. doi: 10.1097/NNE.0000000000001379. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: An interprofessional clinical education model operating student-led, faculty-guided clinics partnered with rural Midwest American communities lacking health care access.

PURPOSE: To evaluate how an internship, guided by the Theory of Cultural Humility, during the COVID-19 pandemic supported development of cultural humility in interprofessional health profession students.

APPROACH: Nursing, exercise science, public health, and social work participants completed an internship during early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite many experiences being suspended. Quantitative evaluation using pre-/postadministration of Foronda’s Cultural Humility Scale was completed across 3 periods measuring change in cultural humility.

RESULTS: Total scores of Foronda’s Cultural Humility Scale increased for all 3 periods (n = 11, n = 74, and n = 44), demonstrated by aggregate data and statistical analysis. The largest change occurred in the first period.

CONCLUSIONS: Engaging interprofessional students in experiential learning during real-life, real-time public health events creates reflection of complex practice issues while developing cultural humility.

PMID:36807285 | DOI:10.1097/NNE.0000000000001379

Acta Cytol. 2023 Feb 20. doi: 10.1159/000529769. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Cytological samples from cutaneous melanoma (CM) metastases may be the only biomaterial available for diagnostic and predictive purpose in the clinical practice. BRAF evaluation from cytological samples actually implies the loss of one or more diagnostic smears, or the execution of one or more passes to obtain dedicated cytological samples. We tested BRAF molecular evaluation in CM metastases on cell suspension obtained from fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) needle rinses.

METHODS: Forty-two patients with lymph node enlargements and a previous CM were enrolled. Patients were submitted to FNAC, and direct smears and cell-block were prepared for diagnostic purpose. The needle was carefully flushed in a vial containing 350μL of nuclease-free water and a cell suspension was obtained for BRAF molecular evaluation. Molecular evaluation was also performed on histological samples for statistics.

RESULTS: The series included 35 CM metastases and 7 reactive lymphadenopathies. Three cases resulted inadequate and adequacy was 92.9%. BRAF V600E/Ec mutations were found in 7 out of 32 (21.9%) CM metastases cases. BRAF mutations other than V600E/Ec were found in 2 out of 32 (6.25%) cases. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value resulted 100%.

CONCLUSION: BRAF molecular evaluation in CM metastases on cell suspension obtained from FNAC needle rinses is a time-sparing and accurate technique allowing to spare biomaterial in the clinical setting.

PMID:36807248 | DOI:10.1159/000529769

Clin Genet. 2023 Feb 19. doi: 10.1111/cge.14312. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Hereditary deafness and retinal dystrophy are each genetically heterogenous and clinically variable. Three small unrelated families segregating the combination of deafness and retinal dystrophy were studied by exome sequencing (ES). The proband of Family 1 was found to be compound heterozygous for NM_004525.3: LRP2: c.5005A>G, p.(Asn1669Asp) and c.149C>G, p.(Thr50Ser). In Family 2, two sisters were found to be compound heterozygous for LRP2 variants, p.(Tyr3933Cys) and an experimentally confirmed c.7715+3A>T consensus splice-altering variant. In Family 3, the proband is compound heterozygous for a consensus donor splice site variant LRP2: c.8452_8452+1del and p.(Cys3150Tyr). In mouse cochlea, LRP2 is expressed abundantly in the stria vascularis marginal cells demonstrated by smFISH, single-cell and single-nucleus RNAseq, suggesting that a deficiency of LRP2 may compromise the endocochlear potential, which is required for hearing. LRP2 variants have been associated with Donnai-Barrow syndrome and other multisystem pleiotropic phenotypes different from the phenotypes of the four cases reported herein. Our data expand the phenotypic spectrum associated with pathogenic variants in LRP2 warranting their consideration in individuals with a combination of hereditary hearing loss and retinal dystrophy. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:36807241 | DOI:10.1111/cge.14312

Lasers Med Sci. 2023 Feb 20;38(1):76. doi: 10.1007/s10103-023-03736-y.

ABSTRACT

To investigate the effect of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on orthodontic tooth movement during maxillary molar distalization over a 12-week observation period. Twenty patients were enrolled in this clinical trial. On the 0th, 3rd, 7th, 14th, 21st, 42nd, and 63rd days following the initial activation of the distalization appliance, laser therapy was applied in a total of 16 different points of the first and second molars for 10 s per point to the randomly determined molar region of the individuals in the intervention group. The amount of molar distalization was measured using digital scans of the three-dimensional (3D) digital models obtained during the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th weeks. The amount of tooth movement on the laser-applied side of subjects in the intervention group was significantly greater than those in the contralateral and control groups at all time intervals (p < 0.001). The amount of tooth movement between the contralateral side of the intervention group and the control group was determined to be statistically insignificant (p > 0.05) at all time intervals. The laser-treated molars of the subjects in the intervention group moved 1.22 times more than the molars in the contralateral side and in the control group in 12 weeks. The rate of tooth movement in the laser, contralateral, and control groups was 0.033, 0.027, and 0.027 mm/day, respectively. Although LLLT was found to be statistically significant in terms of accelerating tooth movement, the effect of LLLT is not considered to be clinically significant. This trial was retrospectively registered (September 22, 2022) at Clinical-Trials.gov (Ref no: NCT05550168).

PMID:36807215 | DOI:10.1007/s10103-023-03736-y

J Neurosurg. 2023 Feb 17:1-11. doi: 10.3171/2023.1.JNS221452. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study sought to characterize resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) connectivity patterns of the posterior hypothalamus (pHTH) and the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) in surgical patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE), and to investigate potential correlations between functional connectivity of these arousal regions and neurocognitive performance.

METHODS: The study evaluated resting-state fMRI in 60 patients with preoperative mTLE and in 95 healthy controls. The authors first conducted voxel-wise connectivity analyses seeded from the pHTH, combined anterior and tuberal hypothalamus (atHTH; i.e., the rest of the hypothalamus), and the NBM ipsilateral (ipsiNBM) and contralateral (contraNBM) to the epileptogenic zone. Based on these results, the authors included the pHTH, ipsiNBM, and frontoparietal neocortex in a network-based statistic (NBS) analysis to elucidate a network that best distinguishes patients from controls. The connections involving the pHTH and ipsiNBM from this network were included in age-corrected pairwise region of interest (ROI) analysis, along with connections between arousal structures, including the pHTH, ipsiNBM, and brainstem arousal regions. Finally, patient functional connectivity was correlated with clinical neurocognitive testing scores for IQ as well as attention and concentration tests.

RESULTS: The voxel-wise analysis demonstrated that the pHTH, when compared with the atHTH, showed more widespread functional connectivity decreases in surgical mTLE patients when compared with controls. It was also observed that the ipsiNBM, but not the contraNBM, showed decreased functional connectivity in mTLE. The NBS analysis uncovered a perturbed network of frontoparietal regions, the pHTH, and ipsiNBM that distinguishes patients from controls. Age-corrected ROI analysis revealed functional connectivity decreases between the pHTH and bilateral superior frontal gyri, medial orbitofrontal cortices, rostral anterior cingulate cortices, and inferior parietal cortices in mTLE when compared with controls. For the ipsiNBM, there was reduced connectivity with bilateral medial orbitofrontal and rostral anterior cingulate cortices. Age-corrected ROI analysis also demonstrated upstream connectivity decreases from controls between the pHTH and the brainstem arousal regions, cuneiform/subcuneiform (CSC) nuclei, and ventral tegmental area, as well as the ipsiNBM and CSC nuclei. Reduced functional connectivity was also detected between the pHTH and ipsiNBM. Lastly, neurocognitive test scores for attention and concentration were found to be positively correlated with the functional connectivity between the pHTH and ipsiNBM, suggesting worse performance associated with connectivity perturbations.

CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated perturbed resting-state functional connectivity of arousal regions in surgical mTLE and is one of the first investigations to demonstrate decreased functional connectivity of the pHTH with frontoparietal regions and other arousal regions. Connectivity disturbances in arousal regions may contribute to neurocognitive deficits in surgical mTLE patients.

PMID:36807210 | DOI:10.3171/2023.1.JNS221452