Category: Nevin Manimala

Homeopathy. 2021 Mar 25. doi: 10.1055/s-0041-1725038. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND AIM: This preliminary study aimed to evaluate whether a homeopathic preparation (Traumeel S) might be a good option to control post-operative outcomes (pain, edema and trismus) associated with surgical removal of mandibular third molar teeth. The null hypothesis was that Traumeel S is not different from dexamethasone (gold standard) in controlling these post-operative inflammatory complications.

METHODS: A randomized, “split-mouth”, triple-blind clinical trial was conducted. Seventeen healthy patients with a mean age of 20.94 ( ± 5.83) years had their lower asymptomatic bilateral third molars removed. Patients were randomized to receive Traumeel S or dexamethasone pre-operatively by injection into the masseter muscle; each patient acted as his/her own control. At 24, 48, 72 hours and 7 days after the surgery, the pain was evaluated according to a visual analog scale, edema through linear measurements of the face, and trismus through the maximum buccal opening. Wilcoxon statistics or paired t-test were used, and a significance level of 95% was adopted.

RESULTS: For pain, the results for Traumeel S were not different (p > 0.05) from those of dexamethasone after 24 hours, 72 hours, and 7 days. For edema, the results for Traumeel S were not different (p > 0.05) from those of dexamethasone at all post-operative evaluations. For mouth opening, the results for Traumeel S were not different (p > 0.05) from those of dexamethasone at 72 hours and 7 days after third molar extraction.

CONCLUSION: With the exception of some early post-operative findings, the null hypothesis is not rejected. Traumeel S might be a good alternative approach to dexamethasone for controlling pain, edema and trismus after third molar removal.

PMID:33765688 | DOI:10.1055/s-0041-1725038

J Obstet Gynaecol Res. 2021 Mar 25. doi: 10.1111/jog.14767. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To clarify the association of serum kisspeptin levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) by meta-analysis.

METHODS: Two English databases and two Chinese databases were searched for the relationship between kisspeptin and PCOS published from 2009. After the studies screening according to specific principles, we used STATA 12.0 for meta-analysis. Standardized mean difference (SMD) and its 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were used as the effect size and STATA 12.0 software was performed by this meta-analysis.

RESULTS: Nine articles were included in the end, with a total of 1282 participants (699 patients and 583 controls). Heterogeneity between studies was statistically significant. Therefore, the random effects model was used to combine the effects. Meta-analysis showed statistically significant differences in serum kisspeptin levels between the PCOS patients and controls (SMD = 0.57, 95% CI [0.32, 0.82]), which indicated that there is a strong association between serum kisspeptin levels and PCOS. The source of high heterogeneity between the inclusion studies (I² = 73.2%) might be due to the small sample size. The larger variation of kisspeptin concentration might be caused by different diagnosis criteria of PCOS and short half-time period of kisspeptin combined with nonstandard testing process.

CONCLUSION: Serum kisspeptin levels in PCOS patients were higher than non-PCOS patients. It is a hint to indicate us that kisspeptin might be an independent biomarker of PCOS patients.

PMID:33765692 | DOI:10.1111/jog.14767

Behav Res Ther. 2021 Feb 20;140:103832. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2021.103832. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

It has been suggested that mental habits may underpin a heightened disposition to engage in rumination in response to negative mood. The aim of the current study was to assess the role of habit in the dynamic interplay between affect and ruminative thinking in the flow of daily life experiences. Using mobile ecological momentary assessment, 97 participants recorded affect and rumination ten times daily over six days, after completing measures of trait ruminative brooding and habitual characteristics of negative thinking (e.g. automaticity, lack of conscious awareness, intent and control). Momentary fluctuations in negative (increased) and positive (decreased) affect was prospectively associated with greater rumination-levels at the next sampling occasion. The degree to which affect triggered a subsequent ruminative response was moderated by habitual characteristics of negative thinking in a theoretically consistent way. Stronger temporal pairing of negative affect and rumination was also associated with greater emotional inertia but less carry-over of rumination from one moment to the next. Depression vulnerability may be in the form of rumination being habitually triggered in response to momentary fluctuations in affect, with deleterious effect on mood. The findings may have clinical implications, as targeting the habitual nature of rumination might help reduce depression vulnerability.

PMID:33765651 | DOI:10.1016/j.brat.2021.103832

J Breath Res. 2021 Mar 25. doi: 10.1088/1752-7163/abf209. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The oral malodor reduction efficacy of dentifrices containing stannous fluoride (SnF2) or zinc plus arginine (Zn/Arg) was evaluated using a halimeter to measure volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) in two randomized, controlled, single-blind, cross-over pilot clinical trials. Study 1 (N=16) had five 1100 ppm F dentifrices and five treatment periods: Negative Control (NC): 0.243% sodium fluoride (NaF); SnF2 A: 0.454% SnF2+pyrophosphate; SnF2 B: 0.454% SnF2+sodium hexametaphosphate; SnF2 C: 0.454% SnF2+citrate; and SnF2 D: experimental 0.454% SnF2 with increased bioavailable Sn. Study 2 (N=16) had four 1450 ppm F dentifrices and four treatment periods: NC: 0.1% NaF+0.76% sodium monofluorophosphate; Zn/Arg: NaF+zinc+arginine; SnF2 E: 0.454% SnF2+0.078% NaF +sodium hexametaphosphate; SnF2 F: 0.454% SnF2+0.078% NaF+citrate. Each period took 96 hours; Baseline (Day 0) morning to Day 4 morning. Subjects brushed 2x/day with the treatment dentifrice. VSC levels were measured in the morning, prior to morning brushing, on Days 0 and 4. Changes in VSC scores from Day 0 to Day 4 were assessed using a mixed-model analysis of covariance for cross-over studies. In Study 1, SnF2 dentifrices B, C and D showed statistically significant reductions (31.3%, 24.8%, 34%, respectively) in VSC scores versus baseline (p <0.001); the benefits of these treatments versus NC and SnF2 dentifrice A were statistically significant (p ≤0.001). In Study 2, SnF2 dentifrices E and F showed statistically significant reductions (31.2%, 22.1%, respectively) in VSC scores versus baseline (p ≤0.010); the benefits of these treatments versus NC and the Zn/Arg dentifrice were statistically significant (p< 0.035). The Zn/Arg dentifrice showed a significant increase of 35.2% (p<0.001) in VSC scores versus baseline. These studies demonstrated that SnF2 dentifrices can provide significant oral malodor reductions, but the benefit is formulation dependent. The presence of SnF2 is not sufficient to ensure efficacy. The Zn/Arg dentifrice increased VSC levels, indicating greater malodor.

PMID:33765667 | DOI:10.1088/1752-7163/abf209

Phys Med Biol. 2021 Mar 25. doi: 10.1088/1361-6560/abf1ff. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Ion CT promises to mitigate range uncertainties inherent in the conversion of x-ray Hounseld units into ion relative stopping power (RSP) for ion beam therapy treatment planning. To improve accuracy and spatial resolution of ion CT by accounting for statistical multiple Coulomb scattering defection of the ion trajectories from a straight line path (SLP), the most likely path (MLP) and the cubic spline path (CSP) have been proposed. In this work, we use FLUKA Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the impact of these path estimates in iterative tomographic reconstruction algorithms for proton, helium and carbon ions. To this end the ordered subset simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique was used and coupled with a total variation superiorization (TVS). We evaluate the image quality and dose calculation accuracy in proton therapy treatment planning of cranial patient anatomies. CSP and MLP generally yielded nearly equal image quality with an average RSP relative error improvement over the SLP of 0.6%, 0.3% and 0.3% for proton, helium and carbon ion CT, respectively. Bone and low density materials have been identied as regions of largest enhancement in RSP accuracy. Nevertheless, only minor dierences in dose calculation results were observed between the different models and relative range errors of better than 0.5% were obtained in all cases. Largest improvements were found for proton CT in complex scenarios with strong heterogeneities along the beam path. The additional TVS had substantially reduced image noise, resulting in improved image quality in particular for soft tissue regions. Employing the CSP and MLP for iterative ion CT reconstructions enabled improved image quality over the SLP even in realistic and heterogeneous patient anatomy. However, only limited benet in dose calculation accuracy was obtained even though an ideal detector system was simulated.

PMID:33765672 | DOI:10.1088/1361-6560/abf1ff

Phys Med Biol. 2021 Mar 25. doi: 10.1088/1361-6560/abf1fd. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

A Machine Learning approach to the problem of calculating the proton paths inside a scanned object in proton Computed Tomography is presented. The method is developed in order to mitigate the loss in both spatial resolution and quantitative integrity of the reconstructed images caused by multiple Coulomb scattering of protons traversing the matter. Two Machine Learning models were used: a forward neural network and the XGBoost method. A heuristic approach, based on track averaging was also implemented in order to evaluate the accuracy limits on track calculation, imposed by the statistical nature of the scattering. Synthetic data from anthropomorphic voxelized phantoms, generated by the Monte Carlo Geant4 code, were utilised to train the models and evaluate their accuracy, in comparison to a widely used analytical method that is based on likelihood maximization and Fermi-Eyges scattering model. Both neural network and XGBoost model were found to perform very close or at the accuracy limit, further improving the accuracy of the analytical method (by 12% in the typical case of 200MeV protons on 20 cm of water object), especially for protons scattered at large angles. Inclusion of the material information along the path in terms of radiation length did not show improvement in accuracy, for the phantoms simulated in the study. A neural network was also constructed to predict the error in path calculation, thus enabling a criterion to filter out proton events that may have a negative effect on the quality of the reconstructed image. By parametrizing a large set of synthetic data, the Machine Learning models were proved capable to bring – in an indirect and time efficient way – the accuracy of the Monte Carlo method into the problem of proton tracking.

PMID:33765674 | DOI:10.1088/1361-6560/abf1fd

Int J Food Microbiol. 2021 Mar 16;346:109160. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2021.109160. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The resistance of Salmonella to the harsh conditions occurring in shelf-stable dry fermented sausages (DFS) poses a food safety challenge for producers. The present study aimed to model the behaviour of Salmonella in acid (with starter culture) and low-acid (without starter culture) DFS as a function of a_w and storage temperature in order to build a decision supporting tool supporting the design of a corrective storage strategy to enhance the safety of DFS. Salmonella spp. were inoculated in the raw meat batter at ca. 6 Log cfu/g with a cocktail of 3 strains (CTC1003, CTC1022 and CTC1754) just before mixing with the other ingredients and additives. After stuffing, sausages were fermented and ripened following industrial processing conditions. Different drying-times were applied to obtain three batches with different a_w (0.88, 0.90 and 0.93). Afterwards, DFS were stored at 4, 8, 15 and 25 °C for a maximum of three months and Salmonella spp. were periodically enumerated. The Weibull model was fitted to Log counts data to estimate inactivation kinetic parameters. The impact of temperature and a_w on the primary inactivation parameters was evaluated using a polynomial equation. The results of the challenge tests showed that Salmonella spp. levels decreased during storage at all the assayed conditions, from 0.8 Log (in low-acid DFS at 4 °C) up to 6.5 Log (in acid DFS at 25 °C). The effect of both a_w and temperature was statistically significant. Delta (δ) parameter decreased by decreasing a_w and increasing temperature, while the shape (p) parameter ranged from above 1 (concave) at 10 °C to below 1 at 25 °C (convex). A common secondary model for the p parameter was obtained for each type of DFS, acid and low-acid, indicating that acidification during the production of DFS affected the time for the first Log reduction (δ) during the subsequent storage, but not the overall shape (p parameter) of the inactivation. The developed models covered representative of real conditions, such as Salmonella contamination in the raw materials and its adaptation to the harsh processing conditions. The good predictive performance shown when applying the models to independent data (i.e. up to 80% of the predictions within the ‘Acceptable Simulation Zone’ for acid sausages) makes them a suitable and reliable risk management tool to support manufacturers to assess and design a lethality treatment (i.e. corrective storage) to enhance the Salmonella inactivation in the product before DFS are released to the market.

PMID:33765642 | DOI:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2021.109160

Clin Imaging. 2021 Feb 24;78:51-59. doi: 10.1016/j.clinimag.2021.02.030. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To determine the differential diagnosis of dermal and sub-dermal soft tissue masses which do not extend to the deep fascia that are referred to a specialist musculoskeletal oncology service.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Review of all patients referred to a specialist musculoskeletal oncology service over a 13-month period with a dermal or sub-dermal soft tissue mass which did not extend to the deep fascia based on MRI appearances. Data collected included age, gender, site and maximal lesion size, and final histological diagnosis for biopsied and/or excised lesions.

RESULTS: 56 patients were included, 21 (37.5%) males and 35 (62.5%) females with mean age 49.75 years (range 5-86 years). 3 patients had 2 lesions making a total of 59 lesions, 11 (18.6%) dermal and 48 (81.4%) sub-dermal. Histological diagnosis was available in 44 (74.6%) cases, of which 11 (25%) were non-neoplastic, 23 (52.3%) were benign neoplasms, and 10 (22.7%) were malignant neoplasms. Although older age at presentation and greater mean maximal tumour dimension were seen with malignant lesions, these did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.154 and 0.102 respectively). There was also no relationship between skin involvement from sub-dermal lesions and malignancy, but 5 of 6 dermal lesions which showed an exophytic growth pattern were malignant.

CONCLUSIONS: The differential diagnosis of dermal and sub-dermal lesions which do not reach the deep fascia is wide with a malignant lesion being the cause in almost one-quarter of cases.

PMID:33765643 | DOI:10.1016/j.clinimag.2021.02.030

Biomed Pharmacother. 2021 Mar 22;138:111414. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2021.111414. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common condition in adult men. Especially in Europe, increasing attention has been focused on E. angustifolium extracts (EAEs), which are widely used for their positive effects on the symptoms of BPH, although human clinical trials are limited. The aim of this monocentric, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial is to evaluate if a daily intake of hard, gastric-resistant capsules containing a chemically characterized EAE (500 mg) for 6 months may allow a significant improvement in symptoms in subjects with BPH. This study was conducted in 128 adult men, randomly assigned to receive either EAE food supplement (N = 70) or placebo (N = 58), who underwent four visits (baseline = t0, after 15 days = t1, after 2 months = t2 and after 6 months = t3) in an outpatient setting to evaluate post-void residual (PVR) and prostate volume (PV) by means of prostate ultrasound, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and neutrofile/lymphocyte ratio (N/L), nocturia before the clinical visits and International Prostate Specific Score (IPSS) registered by the physicians. EAE food supplement induced a significant decrease in the PVR and consequently nocturia improving the quality of life as suggested by the decrease of IPSS. No subjects reported adverse effects related to oral intake of EAE food supplement. Moreover, EAE food supplement did not show hepatic or renal toxicity. In conclusion, EAE food supplements can be used in subjects with BPH, to improve their quality of life and general renal function.

PMID:33765581 | DOI:10.1016/j.biopha.2021.111414

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2021 Mar 22;215:112055. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112055. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The present manuscript elucidated the ameliorative potential of nano-maghemite (FeNPs) against the hazardous effects of fluoride toxicity in the sensitive rice cultivar, IR-64. Fluoride pollution triggered bioaccumulation in root, shoot and spikelets which inhibited reproduction, agronomic development and mineral uptake. Suppressed activity of enzymatic antioxidants and excessive cobalt translocation manifested severe ROS-induced oxidative injuries. Seedling priming with FeNPs reduced fluoride bioaccumulation and promoted efficient uptake of macroelements and micronutrients like potassium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, nickel, manganese, selenium and vanadium and reduced the translocation of cobalt in mature seedlings during stress. This altogether triggered growth and activated the enzymes like SOD, CAT, APX and GPOX. High accumulation of non-enzymatic antioxidants like proline, anthocyanins, flavonoids, phenolics along with stimulated GSH synthesis (determined from high GR, GST and GPX activity) and glyoxalase activity enabled FeNP-pulsed plants to efficiently scavenge ROS, O₂^–, H₂O₂ and methylglyoxal, and mitigate oxidative injuries. The ROS production was also lowered due to suppressed NADPH oxidase activity. This ensured subsequent revitalization of Hill activity and the level of photosynthetic pigments. Due to reduced fluoride partitioning and improved nutritional sink, the grain and panicle development in FeNP-primed, stressed seedlings were more stimulated than even control sets. Overall, our findings supported by statistical modelling established the potential of iron-nanotechnology in promoting safe rice cultivation even in fluoride-polluted environments.

PMID:33765592 | DOI:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112055