Category: Nevin Manimala

Dermatol Ther. 2021 Jun 27:e15044. doi: 10.1111/dth.15044. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To verify and compare the therapeutic efficacy and safety of superficial cryotherapy using dimethyl ether and propane (DMEP) mixture versus microneedling in the treatment of mild scalp AA.

METHODS: In a prospective randomized single-blinded clinical trial, 80 patients of with clinically evident scalp mild AA were randomly assigned into two groups of 40 patients each. Group (1) was treated by superficial cryotherapy using DMEP in 3 freeze-thaw cycles of 5 seconds each. Group (2) was treated by microneedling. Both groups were treated every 2 weeks for 6 sessions and followed up for 3 months after the last session. Patients were assessed by photographic documentation, trichoscopic evaluations, severity of alopecia tool (SALT) score and alopecia areata symptom impact scale (AASIS).

RESULTS: An excellent response was achieved in 15 (37.5%) of group 1 compared with 14 (35%) of group (2) patients, while a good response was achieved in 23 (57.5%) of group (1) compared with 21 (52.5%) of group (1) patients, with a statistically insignificant difference. The mean SALT score change percentage was statistically significantly higher in group (2) patients. The mean AASIS change percentage was higher in group (1) patients, but this was statistically insignificant. In both groups, the mean numbers of trichoscopic signs of AA significantly decreased from baseline to the end of follow-up period. Both therapeutic modalities were well-tolerated, with no recurrence after the follow-up period.

CONCLUSION: Both superficial cryotherapy using DMEP mixture, and microneedling are simple, effective, and safe therapeutic options for mild scalp AA, however, microneedling showed higher efficacy. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:34176196 | DOI:10.1111/dth.15044

Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2021 Jun 27. doi: 10.1111/camh.12489. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Jigsaw is a primary care youth mental health service designed to increase access to and utilisation of mental health supports for 12- to 25-year-olds. Effectiveness in community youth mental health services is typically assessed using standardised instruments. The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of Jigsaw’s brief intervention model of support using an idiographic tool, the goal-based outcome (GBO) measure. The study also aimed to explore the type of goals set by young people engaging with this service.

METHOD: The study sample consisted of a secondary dataset of 4839 young people aged 12-25 years (63.5% female, 36.5% male) who engaged with one of Jigsaw’s 13 brief intervention services. Overall, 7366 goals set using the GBO were examined. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted to examine the type of goals set by young people, and inferential analyses were used to examine statistical and reliable changes in goal progress.

RESULTS: The goals young people set focused on developing coping mechanisms and personal growth and managing interpersonal difficulties. Mean scores for progress towards goals improved significantly from pre- to postintervention. The reliable change index (RCI) indicated that change greater than 2.82 points represents reliable change on the GBO, with 78.6% of young people showing reliable improvement. Demographic characteristics did not impact goal progress.

CONCLUSION: These findings suggest Jigsaw’s brief intervention model of support is effective in assisting young people reach their goals and that the GBO is a suitable measure for young people attending a community-based youth mental health service.

PMID:34176209 | DOI:10.1111/camh.12489

Prenat Diagn. 2021 Jun 27. doi: 10.1002/pd.6003. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) affects livebirth (LB) prevalence of Down syndrome (DS) in the Netherlands.

METHOD: Data from clinical genetics laboratories and the Working Party on Prenatal Diagnosis and Therapy (2014 – 2018) and previous published data (1991-2013) were used to assess trends for DS LB prevalence and reduction percentage (the net decrease in DS LBs resulting from selective termination of pregnancies). Statistics Netherlands provided general population data.

RESULTS: DS LB prevalence increased from 11.6 per 10,000 in 1991 to 15.9 per 10,000 in 2002 (regression coefficient 0.246 (95% CI: 0.105 to 0.388; p=0.003)). After 2002, LB prevalence decreased to 11.3 per 10,000 in 2014 and further to 9.9 per 10,000 in 2018 (regression coefficient 0.234 (95% CI: -0.338 to -0.131; p<0.001). The reduction percentage increased from 26% in 1991 to 55.2% in 2018 (regression coefficient 0.012 (95%CI: 0.010 to 0.013; p<0.001)). There were no trend changes after introducing NIPT as second-tier (2014) and first-tier test (2017).

CONCLUSIONS: Introducing NIPT did not change the decreasing trend in DS LB prevalence and increasing trend in reduction percentage. These trends may be caused by a broader development of more prenatal testing that had already started before introducing NIPT. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:34176145 | DOI:10.1002/pd.6003

Australas J Dermatol. 2021 Jun 27. doi: 10.1111/ajd.13658. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The scalp is a special anatomical area and dermoscopic findings of this region may significantly differ from other body parts.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate and compare the clinical and dermoscopic patterns of scalp melanocytic nevi in patients ≤15 years of age and above, and to analyse their relevance to demographic features, atypical mole syndrome (AMS) and total body nevus count (TBNC).

METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, the clinical data and dermoscopic images of patients with scalp melanocytic nevi were retrieved, reviewed and analysed. Demographic, clinical and dermoscopic features were compared in patients ≤15 years of age and above.

RESULTS: A total of 196 scalp melanocytic nevi in 126 patients (female/male:64/62; ≤15/>15 years of age: 49/77) with a median age of 18.5 years (range 0-72) were evaluated. Statistically, the globular pattern was significantly higher in all age groups, and the papillomatous pattern was significantly lower in patients ≤15 years of age (P = 0.008 and P = 0.005, respectively). The eclipse pattern was significantly higher, and the homogenous pattern was significantly lower in patients ≤15 years of age with AMS (P = 0.003 and P = 0.014, respectively). Finally, patients ≤15 years of age with 50 to 100 TBNC had a higher eclipse pattern than those with 0 to 25 TBNC.

CONCLUSION: The findings of this retrospective study might implicate that children with eclipse pattern of scalp melanocytic nevi might be ‘moley’ in the future with an impending risk of AMS. This hypothesis requires confirmation in future prospective studies on a larger cohort of patients.

PMID:34176119 | DOI:10.1111/ajd.13658

Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2021 Jun 26. doi: 10.1007/s13555-021-00566-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Hyaluronic acid (HA) acts as a biologic humectant, thus retaining water in the skin, making HA useful as a topical moisturizing ingredient. The goal of the research was to evaluate the ability of a HA facial serum to deliver skin benefits.

METHODS: Forty females 30-65 years of age with Fitzpatrick skin types I-VI who exhibited photoaging used the HA facial serum twice daily with sunscreen. The dermatologist investigator evaluated smoothness, plumping, hydration, fine lines/wrinkles, and global appearance issues on a 5-point ordinal scale. The subjects assessed product tolerability in terms of stinging, itching, and burning. Corneometry was undertaken, with assessments performed at baseline, immediately after application, and at weeks 2, 4, and 6. Facial swabbing and photography were performed at the same intervals on a subset of 15 subjects.

RESULTS: The HA serum demonstrated excellent tolerability and produced an increase in skin hydration (as measured by corneometry) immediately after application of 134% (p < 0.001), with a sustained increase of 55% (p < 0.001) at week 6. At week 6, there was also improvement (p ≤ 0.001) in all evaluated attributes: smoothness (64%), plumping (60%), hydration (63%), fine lines (31%), wrinkles (14%), and overall global assessment (43%). Facial swabbing confirmed an increase in topical HA at week 6 (p = 0.04), accounting for the enhanced skin appearance, but there was no statistically significant increase in IL-1a, indicating no product irritation.

CONCLUSION: Topical HA in a serum formulation provides excellent skin hydration, as demonstrated through clinical, photographic, chemical, and instrumental assessments.

PMID:34176098 | DOI:10.1007/s13555-021-00566-0

J Cancer Educ. 2021 Jun 27. doi: 10.1007/s13187-021-02059-2. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Through a decision tree analysis, this study aimed to determine the characteristics of Asian American breast cancer survivors who had higher decreases in their need for information by a technology-based information and coaching/support program compared with their counterparts. This is a part of a larger randomized controlled trial; only the data from 99 Asian American breast cancer survivors were used for this analysis. The measurement scales included the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale-Short Form, the Cancer Behavior Inventory, the Questions on Attitudes, Subjective Norm, Perceived Behavioral Control and Behavioral Intention, and the Supportive Care Needs Survey-Short Form 34. The data analysis was done using t-tests, chi-square tests, repeated measurement analyses, and a decision tree analysis. The information needs scores of all the participants decreased during the 3-month intervention period (p < .005). However, only the intervention group had statistically significant decreases in the information needs scores during the 3 months (dif. = – 8.545; p < .005). Those with low social influence scores and high self-efficacy scores had significantly larger decreases in their information needs scores compared with the average change scores (100%, p < 01). Asian American breast cancer survivors with low social influences and high self-efficacy would highly benefit from a technology-based intervention for their need for information.

PMID:34176104 | DOI:10.1007/s13187-021-02059-2

Protein J. 2021 Jun 27. doi: 10.1007/s10930-021-10011-y. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

DNA-binding proteins play a vital role in cellular processes. It is an extremely urgent to develop a high-throughput method for efficiently identifying DNA-binding proteins. According to the current research situation, some methods in machine learning and deep learning show excellent computational speed and accuracy, which are worthy of application. In this work, a novel predictor was proposed to predict DNA binding proteins called UMAP-DBP. Firstly, the feature extraction of primary protein sequence was realized based on physicochemical distance transformation, Profile-based auto-cross covariance and General series correlation pseudo amino acid composition. Secondly, uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP) and feature importance score methods were used for feature selection; there is a progressive relationship between them. Finally, the Adaboost operation engine with jackknife test were adopted for predicting DNA-binding proteins. For the jackknife test on the BP1075 and BP594, we obtained an overall accuracy of 82.97% and 82.14%, Cohen’s kappa (CK) of 0.66 and 0.64, respectively. The results illustrate that a feasible method has been developed for predicting DNA-binding proteins by UMAP and Adaboost. This is the first study in which UMAP has been successfully applied to identify DNA-binding proteins. All the datasets and codes are accessible at https://github.com/Wang-Jinyue/UMAP-DBP .

PMID:34176069 | DOI:10.1007/s10930-021-10011-y

Aging Clin Exp Res. 2021 Jun 27. doi: 10.1007/s40520-021-01919-7. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a poorly understood disorder, very common even after total hip arthroplasty (THA). It is widely considered that inflammation response play a role in the pathogenesis of POCD.

AIMS: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether inflammation cytokine concentrations could serve as biomarkers for POCD in patients undergoing THA.

METHODS: A systematic search of databases was conducted to retrieve publications measuring circulating inflammatory markers of patients with and without POCD after THA. Inflammatory markers identified in more than two studies were pooled. The standardized mean difference (SMD) and the 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated for each outcome. Fail-safe N statistics was calculated to estimate possible publication bias.

RESULTS: The pooled incidence rate of POCD after THA by combining 11 cohort studies was 31%. A total of five inflammatory markers, CRP, S-100B, IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α, were assessed. Significantly higher pre-operative CRP (P = 0.012) and S-100B (P < 0.0001) as well as post-operative CPR (P = 0.005) and IL-6 (P < 0.0001) at 6 h were found in POCD compared with non-POCD patients undergoing THA. Fail-safe N statistics revealed that these results are robust.

DISCUSSION: The current evidence suggests that some of the inflammatory markers, including CRP, S-100B, and IL-6, were correlated with the occurrence of POCD after THA.

CONCLUSION: Monitor of inflammatory markers might help early diagnosis of POCD after THA and development of preventive strategies.

PMID:34176086 | DOI:10.1007/s40520-021-01919-7

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021 Jun 26. doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-15089-6. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Concentrations of eight trace elements (V, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb) were investigated in Posidonia oceanica leaf blades and sediments sampled from 23 stations along the Turkish-Mediterranean Sea coast. Trace element (TE) concentration in both sediment and P. oceanica showed a statistically significant distribution among sampling stations. Most of the TE concentration in samples varied remarkably among stations without a consistent trend. Concentrations of Zn, Cd, Cu, and Pb in the sediment of all of the sampling stations were determined as non-polluted based on the comparison with the sediment quality guideline index. More than a quarter of the sampling stations were found as moderately or heavily polluted for Cr, Ni, and As. The mean TE concentrations found in the sediment sample in the present study were similar to the concentrations reported from the different parts of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. TE concentrations in P. oceanica were generally lower compared to the concentrations in the sediment except for Cd, Zn, and Cu. While a positive correlation was found for Ni concentrations between sediment and P. oceanica samples, negative correlation was detected for V, Cr, Zn, Cu, As, and Cd concentrations between sediment and P. oceanica. The highest bioaccumulation factor in P. oceanica was calculated for Cd. The study area of the present study, especially the western sites (provinces of Antalya and Muğla), hosts millions of tourists annually and under the influence of intensive human activities in summer. Thus, coastal waters are heavily exposed to TEs and significantly positive correlations were detected between the anthropogenic TE pollutants (As, Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb, and V) and natural sourced TE (Ni and Cr). Based on our data, the Mediterranean Sea coast of Turkey does not present significant levels of Zd, Cd, Cu, and Pb pollution, whereas 65% of the stations were heavily polluted with As. Since As categorized as carcinogenic to humans, seafood sources should be monitored in terms of As concentrations. The current data might be useful in further TE-monitoring studies and TE discharge management strategies.

PMID:34176047 | DOI:10.1007/s11356-021-15089-6

Radiol Med. 2021 Jun 26. doi: 10.1007/s11547-021-01386-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Thyroid ultrasonography (US) is the first-step noninvasive and easily accessible diagnostic method widely used in the detection and characterization of nodular thyroid disease. We aimed to develop a TI-RADS, which is easy to apply and only relies on the counting of suspicious criteria. In order to measure the reliability of the system, we investigated its correlation with fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) and post-surgery histological results.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospective study, 242 patients who had undergone FNAB with simultaneous cytopathologist in the radiology department between April and August 2016 were analyzed. Before FNAB, the thyroid gland was re-evaluated with US, and TI-RADS classification was made. Demographic characteristics, family thyroid cancer history and radiotherapy history to the neck region were noted.

RESULTS: Of the 242 patients, 17.3% were male (42 males/200 females). US-guided FNAB was applied to all patients. Mean age was 50 ± 13 years (min: 19, max: 82). Both FNAB and final post-surgery histology results showed that sex and age were not statistically significantly associated with malignancy (p = 0.193) TI-RADS criteria and FNAB results revealed a statistically significant association between irregular contours, the state of anteroposterior diameter being longer than transverse diameter, microcalcifications, marked hypoechogenicity, and malignancy (p < 0,05). Thirty patients were TI-RADS ≥ 4, 206 patients were TI-RADS ≤ 3 and there was a significant correlation between TI-RADS and Bethesda classification (p = 0.001). In addition, statistically significant associations were found between malignancy and family history of thyroid cancer (p = 0.035) and radiotherapy history to the neck region (p = 0.01).

CONCLUSION: TI-RADS system after nodule identification is based only on the counting of suspicious criteria. It will be safe and effective to recommend follow-up with low score TI-RADS, benign characters and insufficient FNAB results, and thus, unnecessary thyroidectomy operations will be prevented. It will be easier for surgeons to recommend surgery and persuade the patients for it when patients have high TI-RADS scores. TI-RADS has high power in detecting malignancy by recommending biopsy of suspicious nodules.

PMID:34176050 | DOI:10.1007/s11547-021-01386-0