Nevin Manimala

BMC Oral Health. 2025 Jun 5;25(1):915. doi: 10.1186/s12903-025-06312-8.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Bone mineral density (BMD) is a critical indicator of skeletal health, and its assessment is particularly important in children born premature or with low birth weight (LBW), as these conditions are associated with altered bone development. The aim of this study was to compare the BMD values of premature and LBW children with those of normal term and normal birth weight children via fractal dimension (FD) analysis of panoramic radiographs.

METHODS: This study included a total of 60 panoramic radiography images of children aged 6-15 years. The study group consisted of children born premature (before 37 weeks) and with low birth weight (less than 2500 g). The control group consisted of children born at normal term with normal birth weights. In addition, body mass index (BMI), maternal age at birth, and frequency and duration of incubation were recorded. FD values were measured in three mandibular regions on panoramic images. Independent t-tests and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare FD values between groups. The correlations between parameters were evaluated using Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05.

RESULTS: Comparison of the FD values revealed no significant differences between the study and control groups for ROI1 and ROI2 (p > 0.05). However, a statistically significant difference was detected in ROI3 (p < 0.05), with the study group exhibiting lower mean FD values (1.15 ± 0.14) than the control group (1.22 ± 0.08). There was no statistically significant difference in BMI values between the groups (p > 0.05). The frequency of incubation was significantly higher in the study group (50%) than in the control group (6.7%) (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: Fractal dimension values of the trabecular structure in the dentate region of the mandible were decreased in premature birth and LBW children. Further controlled trials with larger sample sizes are required to validate and expand upon these findings.

CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.

PMID:40474197 | DOI:10.1186/s12903-025-06312-8

Lipids Health Dis. 2025 Jun 5;24(1):201. doi: 10.1186/s12944-025-02616-4.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Low- and non-fat dairy foods have long been recommended over full-fat dairy foods due to the negative effect of saturated fatty acids on blood lipids. Recent research, however, suggests saturated fatty acids from dairy foods may not impart these negative health effects. Our objective was to evaluate changes in blood lipids following a diet with full-fat (3.25%) yogurt compared with a diet with non-fat yogurt.

METHODS: A randomized, double-masked crossover controlled-feeding trial was performed. Participants with prediabetes (n = 13, 7 female and 6 male participants) consumed three daily servings of full-fat or non-fat yogurt for the three weeks of each experimental diet. A one-week run-in diet preceded each experimental diet period. After each experimental diet period and the first run-in diet period, fasting blood and blood drawn at four post-prandial time points during a mixed meal tolerance test were analyzed for lipoprotein concentrations and contents (i.e., the lipid fractions within the lipoproteins). Statistical analyses were performed using linear mixed models, with values from the first run-in diet as the covariate.

RESULTS: Fasting blood triacylglycerol concentrations were 10% lower in response to the full-fat yogurt diet, compared with the non-fat yogurt diet (P < 0.01). While no diet-induced differences were observed in lipoprotein subclass concentrations, the triacylglycerol contents of smaller very low-density, intermediate-density, and low-density lipoproteins were lower in response to the full-fat yogurt diet (P ≤ 0.01). Trends indicated potentially greater high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations and high-density lipoprotein size following the full-fat yogurt diet (P ≤ 0.05). The ratio of triacylglycerols: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations was 17% lower following the full-fat yogurt diet (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: This exploratory analysis demonstrates that short-term full-fat yogurt consumption elicits beneficial effects on the blood lipid profile in individuals with prediabetes and highlights the need for further evaluation of the contribution of dairy fat in yogurt and other dairy food matrices in lipid homeostasis and metabolic health.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03577119).

PMID:40474187 | DOI:10.1186/s12944-025-02616-4

BMC Oral Health. 2025 Jun 5;25(1):926. doi: 10.1186/s12903-025-06224-7.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Dermatoglyphics, the study of fingerprint patterns, is derived from the ectoderm, the same embryological layer responsible for craniofacial development. Its potential as a non-invasive diagnostic tool has been explored in various medical and dental conditions, including skeletal Class II malocclusion.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the correlation between dermatoglyphic patterns and cephalometric angles (SNA and SNB) in Class II skeletal malocclusion to establish a novel diagnostic approach.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 100 participants (aged 18:35 years) diagnosed with skeletal Class II malocclusion were evaluated. The participants were divided into two groups: 50 with increased SNA (> 84°) and 50 with decreased SNB (< 78°). Dermatoglyphic patterns, including Whorls, Loops, Tented Loops, Central Pockets, and Arches, were analyzed for all 10 fingers using the ink-and-stamp method. Cephalometric measurements were conducted using standardized lateral cephalogram. Statistical analyses, including Chi-Square tests and correlation analysis, were performed to identify significant associations.

RESULTS: Whorl patterns were most associated with increased SNA, while Plain Loops correlated significantly with decreased SNB. The middle finger (F3) and Index finger (F7) emerged as the most reliable indicators of skeletal discrepancies. Chi-Square analysis confirmed a statistically significant association between fingerprint patterns and cephalometric measurements (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: Dermatoglyphic patterns, particularly Whorls and Loops, demonstrate strong correlations with SNA and SNB angles in skeletal Class II malocclusion. This study establishes dermatoglyphics as a non-invasive, reliable diagnostic tool for early detection and personalized treatment planning in orthodontics.

PMID:40474182 | DOI:10.1186/s12903-025-06224-7

Am J Occup Ther. 2025 Jul 1;79(4):7904205080. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2025.051064.

ABSTRACT

IMPORTANCE: Veterans with occupational performance (e.g., activities of daily living [ADL]) limitations who are receiving inpatient psychiatric care may benefit from outpatient occupational therapy upon discharge, but access disparities have not been investigated.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether ADL limitations, an indicator of need, are associated with outpatient occupational therapy utilization after inpatient psychiatric hospitalization in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and whether this relationship differs by facility characteristics.

DESIGN: Secondary analysis of VHA medical record data. Modified Poisson regression was used to model outpatient occupational therapy utilization (yes or no) as a function of ADL limitations, facility characteristics, and sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Interactions were used to estimate whether the relationship between ADL limitations and outpatient occupational therapy utilization differs across facility characteristics.

SETTING: VHA outpatient setting.

PARTICIPANTS: Veterans who received VHA inpatient psychiatric care from 2015 to 2020 and lived ≥90 days after discharge (N = 117,679).

INTERVENTION: None.

OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Outpatient occupational therapy utilization ≤90 days of inpatient psychiatric discharge.

RESULTS: Only 13% of Veterans received outpatient occupational therapy services after discharge, and ADL limitations were not associated with receipt of occupational therapy. Veterans receiving care in facilities of lower complexity and those with greater care quality were more likely to receive occupational therapy. Black and Hispanic Veterans were less likely to receive occupational therapy.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Our findings suggest potentially unmet need for outpatient occupational therapy among Veterans discharged from VHA inpatient psychiatric care, laying the foundation for efforts aimed at promoting equitable access. Plain-Language Summary: This is the first study to examine potential disparities in access to outpatient occupational therapy services among Veterans recently discharged from Veterans Health Administration inpatient psychiatric care. The findings suggest a potentially unmet need for these beneficial services in this population. This study lays the foundation for scientific, clinical, and policy efforts aimed at promoting equitable access to outpatient occupational therapy services among Veterans in need, ensuring successful occupational performance and overall well-being among all members of this high-risk population.

PMID:40472377 | DOI:10.5014/ajot.2025.051064

Endocr Relat Cancer. 2025 Jun 1:ERC-25-0045. doi: 10.1530/ERC-25-0045. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The differentiation of benign and malignant adrenocortical tumors is of major clinical relevance. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs), hold promise as blood-borne biomarkers of adrenocortical cancer (ACC). There are, however, many difficulties with their use including technical and biological standardization challenges. Our aim was to evaluate the interchangeability of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and digital PCR (dPCR) for measuring circulating miRNAs and to investigate whether K2- and K3-EDTA as anticoagulant influence the measurements. Blood samples were drawn simultaneously from 20 participants into K2- and K3-EDTA tubes. Three miRNAs shown to be associated with ACC (miR-483-5p, miR-210-3p, miR-21-5p) together with two controls (miR-16-5p, cel-miR-39-3p) were analyzed using RT-qPCR and dPCR. qPCR and dPCR results showed different correlations in K2- and K3-EDTA samples with K2 performing better regarding ΔCt values. Moreover, proportional biases relating to low or high miRNA expression between the two methods were observed. In qPCR measurements, K3-EDTA samples showed larger standard deviations, particularly for cel-miR-39. While raw Ct values differed between K2 and K3 EDTA only for miR-483-5p, ΔCt values showed statistically significant differences across all miRNAs except for miR-483-5p. dPCR results were not affected by the choice of the anticoagulant. In conclusion, this is the first study demonstrating that dPCR and qPCR results are not easily interchangeable for circulating miRNA, particularly for abundant or rare miRNAs, making cross-validation studies challenging. K2 and K3-EDTA could potentially influence qPCR outcomes, underscoring the need for standardized protocols. A consensus-based methodology could improve reproducibility, enhancing miRNA-based biomarker utility in adrenocortical tumor diagnostics.

PMID:40472370 | DOI:10.1530/ERC-25-0045

N Z Med J. 2025 Jun 6;138(1616):69-98. doi: 10.26635/6965.6936.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To identify and synthesise the literature on mental health and wellbeing of Asian and MELAA (Middle Eastern, Latin American and African) women and girls in Aotearoa New Zealand (New Zealand).

METHODS: We searched American Psychological Association (APA) PsycInfo, CINAHL, Embase (Ovid) and MEDLINE (Ovid) for studies published in English up to July 2023 investigating the mental health and wellbeing of Asian and MELAA women and girls living in New Zealand. Studies including other participants were eligible if they provided disaggregated data for Asian and MELAA women/girls in New Zealand. We extracted data on study characteristics and all relevant findings related to their mental wellbeing.

RESULTS: Twenty-four studies provided data on approximately 15,000 Asian and MELAA women and girls aged over 12 years. The studies had heterogeneous population groups and outcomes. Three exclusively focussed on Asian women. Most studies (n=17) did not provide disaggregated data for Asian and MELAA women and girls in relation to all relevant outcomes reported. Investigated outcomes included prevalence data and symptoms of mental health conditions and mental wellbeing (n=18) and associations of socio-demographic factors with mental health (n=9).

CONCLUSION: The limited peer-reviewed data underpin the lack of evidence-based policy planning. Future research focussed on Asian and MELAA women and girls is needed to enhance their wellbeing and achieve equitable health outcomes.

PMID:40472364 | DOI:10.26635/6965.6936

N Z Med J. 2025 Jun 6;138(1616):28-42. doi: 10.26635/6965.6857.

ABSTRACT

AIM: Amid growing concerns surrounding the radiology workforce in New Zealand, our primary aim was to capture the retention rate of recent graduates of the Auckland Regional Training Scheme.

METHODS: In September 2023 we sent a standardised survey to all Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) fellows who commenced their radiology training in Auckland in the year 2000 or later. Additional questions were asked regarding prior subspecialty training, public versus private work mix, future career plans, the key factors influencing our radiologists’ workplace selection and more.

RESULTS: With a response rate of 71.7% (99/138 survey recipients), we found that 75.8% (75/99) of our responders currently work in New Zealand, a greater proportion than perhaps anticipated. A little over half (58.2%) work in a mixture of both public and private settings, and 56.2% are considering, on some level, significantly reducing their hours in the next 1 to 5 years.

CONCLUSION: We hope the insights gained through this survey encourage further efforts to retain our growing number of trainees, while helping to paint the current landscape of our specialty at the consultant level.

PMID:40472360 | DOI:10.26635/6965.6857

Neurology. 2025 Jul;105(1):e213769. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000213769. Epub 2025 Jun 5.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Phosphorylated tau at threonine 217 (p-tau217) is a highly sensitive blood-based biomarker for Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology, showing high diagnostic accuracy. However, its prognostic value across different clinical stages of AD remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic utility of plasma p-tau217, measured using a commercially available immunoassay, regarding clinical and functional decline across the clinical stages of AD in a cohort with up to 10 years of follow-up.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective longitudinal cohort study using data from the Sant Pau Initiative on Neurodegeneration, a research project performed at the Sant Pau Memory Unit between 2011 and 2022. Participants were classified into clinical stages 1-6 based on AD pathology status in CSF, determined by the p-tau181/Aβ1-42 ratio. The primary outcomes were cognitive decline, measured by changes in the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and progression to dementia. Plasma p-tau217 and CSF p-tau181 levels were assessed, and statistical analysis was performed using linear mixed-effects models for longitudinal changes in MMSE scores and Cox proportional hazard regression was used to examine progression to dementia.

RESULTS: A total of 731 participants (mean age 71.5 ± 10.1 years; 60% female) were included. Plasma p-tau217 levels showed a significant increase across advancing AD stages, with all between-group comparisons remaining significant after false discovery rate adjustment (p < 0.05). Longitudinal analysis showed a significant increase in plasma p-tau217 (β = 7.7, 95% CI 3.0-12.5, p = 0.002) and CSF p-tau181 (β = 3.2, 95% CI 1.4-5.0, p = 0.001). Baseline plasma p-tau217 levels were associated with faster MMSE decline (β = -0.08, 95% CI -0.11 to -0.05, p < 0.001) and progression to dementia (hazard ratio 1.03, 95% CI 1.01-1.05, p < 0.001), independent of clinical stage.

DISCUSSION: Plasma p-tau217 was significantly associated with cognitive and functional decline in AD. These findings support the potential use of plasma p-tau217 as a prognostic marker for monitoring AD progression in clinical practice. Future studies should validate these results across diverse cohorts and explore their utility in early-stage detection and monitoring.

PMID:40472304 | DOI:10.1212/WNL.0000000000213769

JCO Oncol Pract. 2025 Jun 5:OP2400936. doi: 10.1200/OP-24-00936. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Newer targeted therapy (NTT), addressing alterations in BRAF, MET, NTRK, ROS1, and RET has become a common therapeutic option for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). To date, only RET inhibitor has been shown in a phase III study to confer a survival advantage when used in the frontline setting. This study investigates timing of NTT and its impact on survival using a large, population-base data set.

METHODS: We searched a nationwide, electronic health record-derived, deidentified database for patients with advanced NSCLC treated with NTT between May 2014 and March 2023. Time to treatment initiation (TTI) was calculated from the diagnosis of advanced NSCLC. Landmark analytic technique was used to address immortal time bias.

RESULTS: Among 857 patients analyzed, the median TTI was 3.8 months. By month 2 or month 3 after diagnosis, patients who already initiated NTT had significantly better survival than those who had not initiated NTT at those time points: Hazard ratio (HR), 0.65 (95% CI, 0.53 to 0.81; P < .001) and HR, 0.69 (95% CI, 0.55 to 0.85; P = .001), respectively. A multivariate analysis indicated that delayed TTI was an independent prognostic factor of decreased survival, along with impaired performance status and squamous cell carcinoma histology. Subgroup analyses excluding RET inhibitor still demonstrated a statistically significant survival advantage in favor of earlier NTT initiation.

CONCLUSION: Among advanced NSCLC patients undergoing NTT, survival was significantly better among those who began treatment within 2 or 3 months after diagnosis than those whose treatment was delayed.

PMID:40472300 | DOI:10.1200/OP-24-00936

Am J Public Health. 2025 Jun 5:e1-e11. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2025.308101. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Objectives. To evaluate trends in AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) utilization among demographic subpopulations. Methods. For 2008 to 2021, we collected US state-level data regarding ADAP client utilization and estimated HIV prevalence data. We used descriptive statistics to describe state ADAP utilization by geography, demographics (age, sex, race), and programmatic characteristics. Results. ADAP utilization proportion increased from 14.0% of all people with HIV (PWH) in 2008 to 22.3% in 2021. The proportion of female PWH supported by ADAP was lower in both 2008 (12.2%) and 2021 (18.3%) compared with the proportion of male PWH supported (2008: 14.5%; 2021: 22.9%). In 2008, the utilization proportion was lower for Black PWH at 11.7% compared with 16.0% for White PWH. In 2021, the utilization proportion for Black PWH was 25.2% compared with 28.4% for White PWH. Conclusions. ADAP enrollment and utilization have increased substantially. Despite equity gains, Black PWH and women were served at lower proportions by ADAP. Public Health Implications. National and state partners of ADAPs should examine ways to ensure that ADAP utilization is equitable in terms of age, sex, race/ethnicity, and other sociodemographic factors. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print June 5, 2025:e1-e11. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2025.308101).

PMID:40472297 | DOI:10.2105/AJPH.2025.308101