Nevin Manimala

J Toxicol Sci. 2024;49(8):359-383. doi: 10.2131/jts.49.359.

ABSTRACT

To investigate the carcinogenicity of anatase-type nano-titanium dioxide (aNTiO₂), F344/DuCrlCrlj rats were exposed to aNTiO₂ aerosol at concentrations of 0, 0.5, 2, and 8 mg/m³. The rats were divided into 2 groups: carcinogenicity study groups were exposed for two years, and satellite study groups were exposed for one year followed by recovery for 1 day, 26 weeks, and 52 weeks after the end of exposure. In the carcinogenicity groups, bronchiolo-alveolar carcinomas were observed in two 8 mg/m³-exposed males, showing an increasing trend by Peto’s test. However, this incidence was at the upper limit of JBRC’s historical control data. Bronchiolo-alveolar adenomas were observed in 1, 2, 3, and 4 rats of the 0, 0.5, 2, and 8 mg/m³-exposed females and were not statistically significant. However, the incidence in the 8 mg/m³-exposed females exceeded JBRC’s historical control data. Therefore, we conclude there is equivocal evidence for the carcinogenicity of aNTiO₂ in rats. No lung tumors were observed in the satellite groups. Particle-induced non-neoplastic lesions (alveolar epithelial hyperplasia and focal fibrosis) were observed in exposed males and females in both the carcinogenicity and satellite groups. Increased lung weight and neutrophils of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were observed in the 8 mg/m³-exposed carcinogenicity groups. The aNTiO₂ deposited in the lungs of the satellite group rats was decreased at 26 weeks after the end of exposure compared to 1 day after the end of exposure. At 52 weeks after the end of exposure, the decreased level was the same at 26 weeks after the end of exposure.

PMID:39098045 | DOI:10.2131/jts.49.359

J Sleep Res. 2024 Aug 4:e14305. doi: 10.1111/jsr.14305. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Insomnia is a highly prevalent sleep disorder. It is the most frequent sleep complaint among Higher Education students. The Sleep Condition Indicator is a self-report tool aimed at assessing insomnia based on the DSM-5 criteria. The principal goal of this study was to establish preliminary psychometric properties of the European Portuguese version of the Sleep Condition Indicator in a sample of Higher Education students. Data from a diverse pool of Higher Education students (N = 537) were collected online over a month. Most participants were women (75%) and aged approximately 27 years. The Sleep Condition Indicator demonstrated good internal consistency (α = 0.85), with all the items accounting significantly for the scale reliability. The most appropriate factor structure considering the ordinal nature of the items was unidimensional, with all items explaining 64% of the total variance. However, a two-factor structure (sleep pattern and sleep-related impact) was also plausible when other statistical estimators were used. The Sleep Condition Indicator correlated significantly with insomnia severity, vulnerability to stress-related sleep disturbance, and self-reported daytime sleepiness. The optimal cut-off point established based on the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was ≤ 16. A short version comprising only two items was also viable as suggested by the literature. The Sleep Condition Indicator is a reliable and valid tool for screening for insomnia. More studies with other groups are now required, specifically with clinical samples.

PMID:39098042 | DOI:10.1111/jsr.14305

J Epidemiol. 2024 Aug 3. doi: 10.2188/jea.JE20240034. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BackgroundHepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a systemic disease. However, the relative contribution of intrahepatic and extrahepatic diseases to mediating HCV-induced mortality is unclear, albeit critical in resource allocation for reducing preventable deaths. To this end, this study comprehensively quantified the extent to which intrahepatic and extrahepatic diseases mediate HCV-induced mortality.MethodsA community-based cohort study with >25 years of follow-up was conducted in Taiwan. HCV infection was profiled by antibodies against HCV and HCV RNA in participants’ serum samples. The cohort data were linked to Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database to determine the incidences of potential mediating diseases and mortality. We employed causal mediation analyses to estimate the mediation effects of HCV on mortality in relation to the incidences of 34 candidate diseases.ResultsIn 18,972 participants with 934 HCV infection, we observed that 54.1% of HCV-induced mortality was mediated by intrahepatic diseases, such as liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, and 45.9% of mortality was mediated by extrahepatic diseases. The major extrahepatic mediating diseases included septicemia (estimated proportion of HCV-induced mortality mediated through the disease: 25.2%), renal disease (16.7%), blood/immune diseases (12.2%), gallbladder diseases (9.7%), and endocrine diseases (9.6%). In women, hypertension (20.0%), metabolic syndrome (18.9%), and type 2 diabetes (17.0%) also mediated HCV-induced mortality. A dose-response relationship of HCV viral load was further demonstrated for the mediation effect.ConclusionBoth intrahepatic and extrahepatic manifestations mediated approximately a half of HCV-induced mortality. The mediation mechanisms are supported by a dose-response relationship of HCV viral load.

PMID:39098040 | DOI:10.2188/jea.JE20240034

J Epidemiol. 2024 Aug 3. doi: 10.2188/jea.JE20240056. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: To date simple assessment tool to evaluate early low nutrition risk in general older population has not been available. This study aimed to create such tool and examined its reliability and criterion-related validity.

METHODS: 1,192 community elderly with a mean age of 74.7(5.8) years responded to a questionnaire consisting of 48 (Hatoyama) or 34 items (Kusatsu), which have been reported to be associated with nutritional state in older people. Item analysis was conducted on the 34 common items, and items were selected based on the following criteria: adequate pass rates and discriminative power, no gender and regional differences, and a certain level of commonality based on factor analysis. Next, the factor structure of the candidate items was examined through exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted as the final scale structure. Furthermore, Spearman’s partial rank correlation coefficients (sex- and age-adjusted) between the created index and important health indicators were examined to determine the criterion-related validity.

RESULTS: Finally, we obtained a semantic coherence of 4 factors (named health beliefs, dietary status, physical activity, and food-related quality of life) totaling 13 items; confirmatory factor analysis of the 4-factor solution yielded good model fit values, χ² (59) =275.4 (p<0.001), CFI=0.930, and RMSEA=0.056. The factor loadings for each factor ranged from 0.43 to 0.82, indicating adequate loadings. The reliability of the index was shown to be high by Good-Poor analysis and Cronbach’s α. The index showed statistically significant correlations with all health indicators.

CONCLUSIONS: We have developed a simple assessment tool to evaluate early low nutrition risk in general older population.

PMID:39098039 | DOI:10.2188/jea.JE20240056

Environ Health Prev Med. 2024;29:39. doi: 10.1265/ehpm.23-00372.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In recent years, there has been a diversification of working styles. The concept of workers’ well-being is no longer limited to material wealth, such as how satisfied they are with their wages. Psychological enrichment, encompassing factors like motivation and interpersonal relationships, is also important. This study was established to develop a scale to evaluate the well-being of workers, named the Abundance Index for Workers (AIW). This new concept proposed by the authors comprehensively considers both job-related resources and personal and societal resources.

METHODS: This study was carried out as part of the Tsukuba Salutogenic Occupational Cohort Study (T-SOCS). We utilized data from a survey targeting workers affiliated with institutions under the Tsukuba Science City Network, examining aspects of their daily life, work, and mental health. The deviation scores for each survey item were averaged to calculate an overall score. The correlations of the comprehensive score with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) index for depression and the Single-item Presenteeism Question (SPQ) index for presenteeism were analyzed to determine criterion-related validity.

RESULTS: The number of participants analyzed was 2,745. Factor analysis categorized the data into three factors: workplace mental health, societal resources, and lifestyle habits. Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.688. There were correlations of -0.363 (p < 0.001) between the total score and SPQ, and -0.558 (p < 0.001) between the total score and PHQ-9, suggesting a degree of criterion-related validity.

CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we designed a test battery that assesses workers’ well-being based on job-related resources and the richness of societal resources. The internal consistency of this battery was not as high as expected due to the broad scope of well-being. Although it is difficult to evaluate workers’ well-being on a single scale, we believe that the AIW functions well as a test battery by combining scales with different attributes, which enables well-being to be captured from as many different perspectives as possible. This tool is designed to assist individuals in evaluating their own well-being and recognizing factors that can enhance it.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not applicable; this study is not an intervention trial.

PMID:39098026 | DOI:10.1265/ehpm.23-00372

Infect Chemother. 2024 Jul 4. doi: 10.3947/ic.2024.0026. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic Stewardship Programs (ASP) have improved empirical and directed antibiotic treatment in Gram-negative bloodstream infections. A decrease in mortality, readmission, and length of hospitalization has been reported.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A pre-post-quasi-experimental study was conducted between November and April 2015-2016 (pre-intervention period), 2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019 (post-intervention periods), to analyse the impact of ASP on empirical, directed, and entire treatment optimization, as well as mortality, readmission, and length of hospitalization, in hospitalized patients with Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) bloodstream infections.

RESULTS: One hundred seventy-four patients were included (41 in the pre-intervention group, 38 in the first-year post-intervention group, 50 in the second-year post-intervention group, and 45 in the third-year post-intervention group). There was a significant improvement in directed treatment optimization (43.9% in the pre-intervention group, 68.4% in the first-year post-intervention group, 74% in the second-year post-intervention group, and 88.9% in the third-year post-intervention group, P <0.001), as well as in entire treatment optimization (19.5%, 34.2%, 40.0%, and 46.7%, respectively, P=0.013), with increased optimal directed (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 3.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.60-8.58) and entire treatment (aOR, 3.31; 95% CI, 1.27-8.58). Although a tendency toward improvement was observed in empirical treatment after ASP implementation, it did not reach statistical significance (41.5% vs. 57.9%, P=0.065). No changes in mortality, readmission, or length of hospitalization were detected.

CONCLUSION: ASP implementation improved both directed and entire treatment optimization in patients with GNB bloodstream infections over time. Nevertheless, no improvement was found in clinical outcomes such as mortality, readmission, or length of hospitalization.

PMID:39098002 | DOI:10.3947/ic.2024.0026

Phys Act Nutr. 2024 Jun;28(2):1-6. doi: 10.20463/pan.2024.0009. Epub 2024 Jun 30.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Obesity is characterized by a progressive increase in body fat accompanied by insulin resistance (IR) and elevated blood pressure (BP), and presents significant health risks, particularly in aged individuals. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of physical activity (PA) on free fatty acid (FFA) levels, IR, and BP in obese older women.

METHODS: Twenty-three participants were randomly assigned to either the control group (CON, n = 11) or the physical activity group (PA, n = 12). The PA group was provided with a target of achieving &gt;7,000 steps/day for 5 days each week. Body composition, FFA levels, IR, and BP were measured at pre- and post- of the 12-week intervention.

RESULTS: The analysis revealed a statistically significant interaction between FFA (p &lt; 0.01), IR (p &lt; 0.01), and SBP (p &lt; 0.001). FFA (p &lt; 0.5), IR (p &lt; 0.5), and systolic blood pressure (SBP) (p &lt; 0.01) were significantly decreased in the PA group compared to those in the CON group, which showed no significant changes in FFA, IR, and SBP.

CONCLUSION: PA significantly decreased FFA, IR, and SBP in older women with obesity. Therefore, PA is an effective intervention for the prevention and management of obesity and cardiovascular diseases in obese older women.

PMID:39097991 | DOI:10.20463/pan.2024.0009

Bone Joint Res. 2024 Aug 5;13(8):392-400. doi: 10.1302/2046-3758.138.BJR-2023-0412.R1.

ABSTRACT

AIMS: The Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS) is a 12-item measure commonly used for the assessment of shoulder surgeries. This study explores whether computerized adaptive testing (CAT) provides a shortened, individually tailored questionnaire while maintaining test accuracy.

METHODS: A total of 16,238 preoperative OSS were available in the National Joint Registry (NJR) for England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the States of Guernsey dataset (April 2012 to April 2022). Prior to CAT, the foundational item response theory (IRT) assumptions of unidimensionality, monotonicity, and local independence were established. CAT compared sequential item selection with stopping criteria set at standard error (SE) < 0.32 and SE < 0.45 (equivalent to reliability coefficients of 0.90 and 0.80) to full-length patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) precision.

RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for unidimensionality exhibited satisfactory fit with root mean square standardized residual (RSMSR) of 0.06 (cut-off ≤ 0.08) but not with comparative fit index (CFI) of 0.85 or Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) of 0.82 (cut-off > 0.90). Monotonicity, measured by H value, yielded 0.482, signifying good monotonic trends. Local independence was generally met, with Yen’s Q3 statistic > 0.2 for most items. The median item count for completing the CAT simulation with a SE of 0.32 was 3 (IQR 3 to 12), while for a SE of 0.45 it was 2 (IQR 2 to 6). This constituted only 25% and 16%, respectively, when compared to the 12-item full-length questionnaire.

CONCLUSION: Calibrating IRT for the OSS has resulted in the development of an efficient and shortened CAT while maintaining accuracy and reliability. Through the reduction of redundant items and implementation of a standardized measurement scale, our study highlights a promising approach to alleviate time burden and potentially enhance compliance with these widely used outcome measures.

PMID:39097982 | DOI:10.1302/2046-3758.138.BJR-2023-0412.R1

NMR Biomed. 2024 Aug 4:e5230. doi: 10.1002/nbm.5230. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Native T1 mapping is a non-invasive technique used for early detection of diffused myocardial abnormalities, and it provides baseline tissue characterization. Post-contrast T1 mapping enhances tissue differentiation, enables extracellular volume (ECV) calculation, and improves myocardial viability assessment. Accurate and precise segmenting of the left ventricular (LV) myocardium on T1 maps is crucial for assessing myocardial tissue characteristics and diagnosing cardiovascular diseases (CVD). This study presents a deep learning (DL)-based pipeline for automatically segmenting LV myocardium on T1 maps and automatic computation of radial T1 and ECV values. The study employs a multicentric dataset consisting of retrospective multiparametric MRI data of 332 subjects to develop and assess the performance of the proposed method. The study compared DL architectures U-Net and Deep Res U-Net for LV myocardium segmentation, which achieved a dice similarity coefficient of 0.84 ± 0.43 and 0.85 ± 0.03, respectively. The dice similarity coefficients computed for radial sub-segmentation of the LV myocardium on basal, mid-cavity, and apical slices were 0.77 ± 0.21, 0.81 ± 0.17, and 0.61 ± 0.14, respectively. The t-test performed between ground truth vs. predicted values of native T1, post-contrast T1, and ECV showed no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) for any of the radial sub-segments. The proposed DL method leverages the use of quantitative T1 maps for automatic LV myocardium segmentation and accurately computing radial T1 and ECV values, highlighting its potential for assisting radiologists in objective cardiac assessment and, hence, in CVD diagnostics.

PMID:39097976 | DOI:10.1002/nbm.5230

Afr J Reprod Health. 2024 Jul 31;28(7):47-53. doi: 10.29063/ajrh2024/v28i7.5.

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to analyze factors associated with obstetric fistula care-seeking behavior in Guinea, based on data from the 2018 Demographic and Health Survey. Women aged 15-49 years who reported having obstetric fistula constituted the study population, statistical analysis was using Stata 16.0 software. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the factors associated with fistula care-seeking behavior. Among women with obstetric fistula, 78.9% sought care; 21.1% of those who sought care underwent repair. Factors associated with care-seeking behavior were being divorced (AOR =8.08; 95% CI:1.56-41.84), having a job (AOR =3.23; 95% CI: 1.11-9.44), being a member of a poor household (AOR =6.49; 95% CI:1.21-34.82) and whose fistula had appeared 6 days or more after the occurrence of the causal circumstance (AOR =3.63 95% CI: 1.28-10.28). This study suggests that the foundations on which fistula prevention and treatment programs are built should be reviewed, taking into account the factors highlighted by this study.

PMID:39097972 | DOI:10.29063/ajrh2024/v28i7.5