Nevin Manimala

Clin Rheumatol. 2023 Aug 8. doi: 10.1007/s10067-023-06717-2. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in rapid adoption of telemedicine in rheumatology. We described perspectives of patients with rheumatic diseases related to telemedicine use.

METHODS: An anonymous online survey for people with rheumatic diseases was launched in January 2021. We collected data on reasons for telemedicine use, perceived benefits, disadvantages and obstacles of telemedicine, perceived telemedicine effectiveness for different clinical tasks, level of satisfaction with telemedicine use, and future preferences for telemedicine. We summarized results with descriptive statistics and identified themes in free text responses to describe perspectives of telemedicine qualitatively.

RESULTS: We received 596 complete responses (85% female and 47% 41-60 years old). During the COVID-19 pandemic, 78% (467/596) of respondents used telemedicine, and 61% (283/467) of telemedicine users reported that telemedicine was as effective or more effective than an in-person visit. Younger participants and those in North America reported effectiveness and satisfaction with telemedicine at higher frequencies. Participants reported similar effectiveness to in-person visits for making medication changes and discussing disease symptoms or complications.

CONCLUSION: Most respondents found telemedicine at least as effective as in-person visits. Participants found telemedicine to be effective for specific scenarios, such as making medication changes and discussion of disease activity. Telemedicine may continue to be of importance in the care of patients with rheumatic diseases post pandemic, but likely for specific subsets of patients for specific visit indications. Key Points • Most patients with rheumatic disease found telemedicine as effective as in-person visits, particularly for some indications.

PMID:37552351 | DOI:10.1007/s10067-023-06717-2

J Med Syst. 2023 Aug 8;47(1):85. doi: 10.1007/s10916-023-01976-7.

ABSTRACT

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is vision impairment and a life-threatening condition for diabetic patients. Especially type II diabetic people have higher chances of getting retinal problems. Hence, early prediction of DR is necessary for preventing the diabetic patients from vision impairment. The main aim of this feasibility study is to identify the most critical risk features that could lead to diabetic retinopathy. This study investigated type II diabetic patients’ socio-analytical, diabetes, behavioral, and clinical risk factors. We conducted a self-individual questionnaire session for all participants. Our questionnaire asked about the reliability of results, feeling comfortable during the screening test, willingness to participate in future screenings, overall perspective, and satisfaction with the DR screening test. We proposed a random forest model for predicting the prevalence of DR risk among diabetics. Further explanations of the model were conducted using more robust SHAP eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) tools. The SHAP method makes it possible to understand how input variables interact with their representative output records, as well as how input variables are ranked. In addition, various descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed on the data and evaluated the significant relationship between the factors discussed above via hypothesis testing. This feasibility study involved 172 type II diabetic patients (73 males and 99 females). Therefore, we found that 81 (47.09%) out of 172 participants had referable DR. The average age of the patients was determined as 55.08, with a standard deviation of ± 9.770 (ranging from 40 to 79). Type II patients were affected by mild, moderate, severe, and advanced proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) stages with 23.83%, 13.95%, 5.81%, and 3.48%, respectively, of the total samples. The developed RF model obtained high accuracy of 94.9% using clinical dataset. Our results showed that the formation of tiny microminiature lesions was noticeable in type II diabetic patients with aged people, abnormal blood glucose levels, and prolonged diabetes duration.

PMID:37552340 | DOI:10.1007/s10916-023-01976-7

Metabolomics. 2023 Aug 8;19(8):71. doi: 10.1007/s11306-023-02033-7.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the genetic control of polyphenol accumulation in red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L).

METHODS: The levels of total anthocyanins and 37 individual polyphenol metabolites were measured over three years in a raspberry biparental mapping population. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for these traits were mapped onto a high-density SNP linkage map.

RESULTS: At least one QTL was detected for each trait, with good consistency among the years. On four linkage groups (LG), there were major QTLs affecting several metabolites. On LG1, a QTL had large effects on anthocyanins and flavonols containing a rutinoside or rhamnose group. On LG4, a QTL had large effects on several flavonols and on LG5 and LG6 QTLs had large effects on ellagic acid derivatives. Smaller QTLs were found on LG2 and LG3.

CONCLUSION: The identification of robust QTLs for key polyphenols in raspberry provides great potential for marker-assisted breeding for improved levels of potentially health beneficial components.

PMID:37552331 | DOI:10.1007/s11306-023-02033-7

Dev Genes Evol. 2023 Aug 8. doi: 10.1007/s00427-023-00709-7. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Domestication transforms once wild animals into tamed animals that can be then exploited by humans. The process entails modifications in the body, cognition, and behavior that are essentially driven by differences in gene expression patterns. Although genetic and epigenetic mechanisms were shown to underlie such differences, less is known about the role exerted by trans-regulatory molecules, notably transcription factors (TFs) in domestication. In this paper, we conducted extensive in silico analyses aimed to clarify the TF landscape of mammal domestication. We first searched the literature, so as to establish a large list of genes selected with domestication in mammals. From this list, we selected genes experimentally demonstrated to exhibit TF functions. We also considered TFs displaying a statistically significant number of targets among the entire list of (domestication) selected genes. This workflow allowed us to identify 5 candidate TFs (SOX2, KLF4, MITF, NR3C1, NR3C2) that were further assessed in terms of biochemical and functional properties. We found that such TFs-of-interest related to mammal domestication are all significantly involved in the development of the brain and the craniofacial region, as well as the immune response and lipid metabolism. A ranking strategy, essentially based on a survey of protein-protein interactions datasets, allowed us to identify SOX2 as the main candidate TF involved in domestication-associated evolutionary changes. These findings should help to clarify the molecular mechanics of domestication and are of interest for future studies aimed to understand the behavioral and cognitive changes associated to domestication.

PMID:37552321 | DOI:10.1007/s00427-023-00709-7

Clin Oral Investig. 2023 Aug 8. doi: 10.1007/s00784-023-05197-7. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare osseointegration and osteogenesis after single-stage maxillary sinus augmentation with the lateral window using particulate deproteinized porcine bone mineral (PDPBM) and collagenated block deproteinized porcine bone mineral (BDPBM).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bi-maxillary premolars of six beagle dogs were extracted. Eight weeks later, an implant was placed into each augmented sinus with PDPBM or BDPBM according to a split-mouth design. Eight weeks later, all specimens were harvested. Each specimen was separated into the region of interest with the implant (ROI-I) and region of interest with sinus augmented area (ROI-S) 5 mm away from ROI-I. ROI-I and ROI-S were evaluated through micro-computed tomography and histomorphometry.

RESULTS: Bone substitute insertion took longer for the PDPBM group than for the BDPBM group (P = 0.002). In ROI-I, three-dimensional bone-to-implant contact (BIC) did not show statistically significant differences between the groups. Two-dimensional BIC also showed comparable values for both groups. In ROI-S, the graft material volume/tissue volume, trabecular bone pattern factor, and structural model index were higher in the BDPBM group than in the PDPBM group (P < 0.05). The proportions of new bone, graft material, and connective tissue were not significantly statistically different between groups. Less new bone was found in the apical area than in the coronal or middle areas in the BCPBM group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: BDPBM may save time in inserting bone substitutes and provide comparable osteogenesis and osseointegration to PDPBM.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: When performing sinus augmentation, BDPBM might improve operator’s convenience with comparable biological results compared to PDPBM.

PMID:37552320 | DOI:10.1007/s00784-023-05197-7

Int Orthop. 2023 Aug 8. doi: 10.1007/s00264-023-05923-6. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Meniscal allografts and biodegradable meniscal implants are attractive surgical options for painful subtotal or total meniscectomies. In order to get the best results, these should be as similar as possible to the original meniscus in terms of shape, structure, and volume. Three-dimensional meniscus sizing could be an approach to improve the accuracy of meniscus matching. Therefore, the aims of this study were to perform a comparative morphological and volumetric analysis of the healthy meniscus based on manual tri-planar segmentation and to demonstrate that the menisci from the contralateral knee could be used as a reference in the sizing of a meniscal graft or a scaffold.

METHODS: Three-dimensional meniscal models were created based on 120 MRIs in 60 healthy subjects (bilateral knees). The differences between the pairs of menisci concerning the widths, thicknesses, lateromedial distances, anteroposterior distances, angles of coverage, and meniscal volumes were evaluated. T-Student tests were used to compare the quantitative numerical variables of the different groups. Pearson’s linear regression was used to determine if correlations existed between demographic variables (age, gender, height, weight) and anatomical parameters. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

RESULTS: Comparing the 120 pairs of menisci of each subject, there was no statistically significant difference for all parameters studied for both the medial and lateral meniscus. When the measurements were stratified by gender, statistically significant differences were observed for all parameters except meniscal coverage angles. We observed that anteroposterior and lateromedial distances were positively correlated with height and body mass index both at the level of the medial meniscus (r = 0.68; r = 0.66; r = 0.65; and r = 0.63) and lateral (r = 0.68; r = 0.69; r = 0.61; and r = 0.60).

CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that the intra-individual 3D shapes of the left and right menisci are very similar. Therefore, the contralateral side could be used as a template for the 3D sizing of meniscal allografts or meniscal implants.

PMID:37552318 | DOI:10.1007/s00264-023-05923-6

Support Care Cancer. 2023 Aug 8;31(9):514. doi: 10.1007/s00520-023-07972-4.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Sleep disorders are highly prevalent among breast cancer patients and have a detrimental impact on their quality of life. This study aims to investigate the serial multiple mediating roles of social support and hope in the relationship between anxiety, depression, and sleep quality in breast cancer patients.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in China from October 2021 to February 2022. A total of 315 breast cancer patients were assessed using self-reported questionnaires, including the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS), Herth Hope Index (HHI), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Mediation analysis was performed using the R Statistical Software.

RESULTS: Sleep quality exhibited a negative correlation with hope and medical social support (P < 0.01), and a positive correlation with anxiety and depression (P < 0.01). Anxiety and depression accounted for 18.8% and 12.8% of the variance in sleep quality, respectively. Bootstrap analyses of the anxiety-medical social support-hope-sleep quality pathway indicated the presence of direct effects [B = 0.331, 95%CI (0.215, 0.493)] and indirect effects of anxiety on sleep quality mediated solely by medical social support [B = 0.054, 95%CI (0.015, 0.108)] and hope [B = 0.041, 95%CI (0.018, 0.073)], as well as combined effects [B = 0.012, 95%CI (0.004, 0.025)]. Similarly, the depression-medical social support-hope-sleep quality pathway revealed direct effects [B = 0.235, 95%CI (0.104, 0.372)] and indirect effects of depression on sleep quality mediated solely by medical social support [B = 0.078, 95%CI (0.016, 0.150)] and hope [B = 0.049, 95%CI (0.018, 0.086)], as well as combined effects [B = 0.017, 95%CI (0.004, 0.034)].

CONCLUSIONS: This research validates the hypothesis that medical social support and hope serve as mediators between anxiety, depression, and sleep quality in breast cancer patients. Interventions targeting anxiety, depression, medical social support, and hope have the potential to effectively enhance sleep quality.

PMID:37552286 | DOI:10.1007/s00520-023-07972-4

Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2023 Aug 8. doi: 10.1007/s00405-023-08133-3. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To investigate 2-year post-operative hearing performance, safety, and patient-reported outcomes of hearing-impaired adults treated with the Osia^® 2 System, an active osseointegrated bone-conduction hearing implant that uses piezoelectric technology.

METHODS: A prospective, multicenter, open-label, single-arm, within-subject clinical study conducted at three tertiary referral clinical centers located in Melbourne, Sydney and Hong Kong. Twenty adult recipients of the Osia 2 System were enrolled and followed up between 12 and 24 months post-implantation: 17 with mixed or conductive hearing loss and 3 with single-sided sensorineural deafness. Safety data, audiological thresholds, speech recognition thresholds in noise, and patient-reported outcomes were collected and evaluated. In addition, pre-and 6-month post-implantation data were collected retrospectively for this recipient cohort enrolled into the earlier study (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04041700).

RESULTS: Between 6- and 24-month follow-up, there was no statistically significant change in free-field hearing thresholds or speech reception thresholds in noise (p = > 0.05), indicating that aided improvements were maintained up to 24 months of follow-up. Furthermore, improvements in health-related quality of life and daily hearing ability, as well as clinical and subjective measures of hearing benefit remained stable over the 24-month period. No serious adverse events were reported during extended follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS: These study results provide further evidence to support the longer term clinical safety, hearing performance, and patient-related benefits of the Osia 2 System in patients with either a conductive hearing loss, mixed hearing loss, or single-sided sensorineural deafness.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04754477. First posted: February 15, 2021.

PMID:37552281 | DOI:10.1007/s00405-023-08133-3

Rev Esp Sanid Penit. 2023 May-Aug;25(2):62-69. doi: 10.18176/resp.00069.

ABSTRACT

OBTECTIVES: The number of women in prison is rapidly increasing every year and it is important to establish what factors are related to the probability of presenting STDs in this population to enable health control policies to be established.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: An analysis was carried out on the open database of the national prison population survey conducted in 2016 in all Peruvian prisons. The study was based on the census and all female and male adults in prison were surveyed using a validated questionnaire.

RESULTS: The sample consisted of 4,574 inmates in 67 institutions, covering 98.8% of the inmate population. It was found that presenting tuberculosis (PR: 2.64; CI 95%, 1.32-5.26), HIV/AIDS (PR 6.54, CI 95% 1.52-28.18), hepatitis (PR: 4.01; CI 95%, 1.23-13.11) and drug use (PR: 2.44; CI 95%, 1.32-4.52), are statistically related (P ≤0.05) are factors associated with the presence of STDs in the multivariate model with a P ≤0.05.

DISCUSSION: The inclusion of associated factors (tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and drug use) should be part of the strategy to control and treat STD in women’s prisons in Peru.

PMID:37552275 | DOI:10.18176/resp.00069

Herz. 2023 Aug 8. doi: 10.1007/s00059-023-05202-5. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation has positive benefits for patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), but the choice of exercise intensity has been controversial. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the effects of different exercise intensities on cardiopulmonary function and quality of life (QoL) of patients with CHF.

METHODS: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of different exercise intensities applied to patients with CHF were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and Embase databases from inception to December 2021. Study selection and data extraction were performed simultaneously by two independent reviewers, using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database Scale (PEDro) for quality assessment of the included literature. The weighted mean differences (WMD) or standardized mean difference (SMD) were calculated by employing a fixed or random effects model. Other statistical analyses included subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis. Quality of evidence was evaluated by the Grade of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) method.

RESULTS: Eight RCTs were included. Analyses reported no significant improvement in left ventricular ejection fractions (LVEF; WMD = 0.47, 95% CI [-4.10, 5.03], p = 0.841), peak oxygen uptake (peak VO₂) (SMD = 0.38, 95% CI [-0.03, 0.80], p = 0.069) and 6‑min walking distance (6MWD) (WMD = 14.10, 95% CI [-9.51, 37.72], p = 0.242). Exercise interventions of varying intensity produced small-to-moderate beneficial effects on QoL (WMD = -4.99, 95% CI [-8.29, -1.68], p = 0.003), which appeared to be attenuated at long-term follow-up (WMD = 2.12, 95% CI [-2.91, 7.16], p = 0.409).

CONCLUSION: High-intensity exercise does not have a significant advantage over moderate-intensity exercise in improving cardiopulmonary function and aerobic capacity in patients with CHF. Beneficial changes in QoL from high-intensity exercise also appeared to decrease during long-term follow-up, indicating a cumulative effect of the efficacy of high-intensity exercise.

PMID:37552242 | DOI:10.1007/s00059-023-05202-5