Tag: nevin manimala

J Clin Oncol. 2022 Nov 3:JCO2200975. doi: 10.1200/JCO.22.00975. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The open-label, phase III POSEIDON study evaluated tremelimumab plus durvalumab and chemotherapy (T + D + CT) and durvalumab plus chemotherapy (D + CT) versus chemotherapy alone (CT) in first-line metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (mNSCLC).

METHODS: Patients (n = 1,013) with EGFR/ALK wild-type mNSCLC were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to tremelimumab 75 mg plus durvalumab 1,500 mg and platinum-based chemotherapy for up to four 21-day cycles, followed by durvalumab once every 4 weeks until progression and one additional tremelimumab dose; durvalumab plus chemotherapy for up to four 21-day cycles, followed by durvalumab once every 4 weeks until progression; or chemotherapy for up to six 21-day cycles (with or without maintenance pemetrexed; all arms). Primary end points were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) for D + CT versus CT. Key alpha-controlled secondary end points were PFS and OS for T + D + CT versus CT.

RESULTS: PFS was significantly improved with D + CT versus CT (hazard ratio [HR], 0.74; 95% CI, 0.62 to 0.89; P = .0009; median, 5.5 v 4.8 months); a trend for improved OS did not reach statistical significance (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.72 to 1.02; P = .0758; median, 13.3 v 11.7 months; 24-month OS, 29.6% v 22.1%). PFS (HR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.60 to 0.86; P = .0003; median, 6.2 v 4.8 months) and OS (HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.65 to 0.92; P = .0030; median, 14.0 v 11.7 months; 24-month OS, 32.9% v 22.1%) were significantly improved with T + D + CT versus CT. Treatment-related adverse events were maximum grade 3/4 in 51.8%, 44.6%, and 44.4% of patients receiving T + D + CT, D + CT, and CT, respectively; 15.5%, 14.1%, and 9.9%, respectively, discontinued treatment because of treatment-related adverse events.

CONCLUSION: D + CT significantly improved PFS versus CT. A limited course of tremelimumab added to durvalumab and chemotherapy significantly improved OS and PFS versus CT, without meaningful additional tolerability burden, representing a potential new option in first-line mNSCLC.

PMID:36327426 | DOI:10.1200/JCO.22.00975

Acta Cir Bras. 2022 Oct 28;37(7):e370705. doi: 10.1590/acb370705. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To explore the mechanism of jatrorrhizine on apoptosis and fibrosis induced by myocardial infarction (MI) in an animal model.

METHODS: The left anterior descending branch of coronary artery was surgically ligated to duplicate the mouse model of MI. The sham and infarcted mice were treated with normal saline once a day, while mice in experimental groups received low-dose (LD) and high-dose (HD) jatrorrhizine once a day respectively. Two weeks later, cardiac function was detected by echocardiography, and histopathological examination was performed using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Masson staining. The expressions of p53, TGF-β1, Smad/2/3, Bax, Bcl-2, collagen I and collagen III were quantified using qRT-PCR and western blot assays.

RESULTS: Jatrorrhizine significantly improved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and left ventricle end-systolic (LVES) in mice. Histopathological, administration of jatrorrhizine weakened infiltration of inflammatory cells and cardiac fibrosis in myocardium of mice caused by MI. Additionally, jatrorrhizine suppressed cardiomyocyte apoptosis exhibited as its capability to reverse changes of Bax and Bcl-2 levels in myocardium caused by MI. Jatrorrhizine statistically significantly downregulated expression of collagen I and collagen III, as well as TGF-β1, Smad2/3 and p53.

CONCLUSIONS: Jatrorrhizine reduce cardiomyocyte apoptosis and fibrosis through inhibiting p53/Bax/Bcl-2 and TGF-β1/Smad2/3 signaling pathways.

PMID:36327404 | DOI:10.1590/acb370705

Acta Cir Bras. 2022 Oct 28;37(8):e370804. doi: 10.1590/acb370804. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Various postoperative protocols have been proposed to improve outcomes and accelerate nerve regeneration. Recently, the use of physical exercise in a post-surgical neurorraphy procedure has shown good results when started early. We experimentally investigated the hypothesis that post-operative exercise speeds up results and improves clinical and morphologic parameters.

METHODS: Isogenic rats were randomly divided into four groups: 1 SHAM; 2 SHAM submitted to the exercise protocol (EP); 3 Grafting of the sciatic nerve; and 4 Grafting of the sciatic nerve associated with the EP. The EP was based on aerobic activities with a treadmill, with a progressive increase in time and intensity during 6 weeks. The results were evaluated by the sciatic functional index (SFI), morphometric and morphologic analysis of nerve distal to the lesion, and the number of spinal cord motor neurons, positive to the marker Fluoro-Gold (FG), captured retrogradely through neurorraphy.

RESULTS: Functional analysis (SFI) did not show a statistical difference between the group grafted with (-50.94) and without exercise (-65.79) after 90 days. The motoneurons count (Spinal cord histology) also showed no diference between these groups (834.5 × 833 respectively). Although functionally there is no difference between these groups, morphometric study showed a greater density (53.62) and larger fibers (7.762) in GRAFT group. When comparing both operated groups with both SHAM groups, all values were much lower.

CONCLUSIONS: The experimental model that this aerobic treadmill exercises protocol did not modify nerve regeneration after sciatic nerve injury and repair with nerve graft.

PMID:36327398 | DOI:10.1590/acb370804

Acta Cir Bras. 2022 Oct 28;37(8):e370803. doi: 10.1590/acb370803. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To describe the microsurgical anatomical aspects of the extratemporal facial nerve of Wistar rats under a high-definition video system.

METHODS: Ten male Wistar rats (12-15 weeks old), without veterinary diseases, weighing 220-280 g, were used in this study. All animals in this study were submitted to the same protocol and by the same surgeon. A 10-mm incision was made below the bony prominence of the right or left ear, and extended towards the angle of the mandible. The dissection was performed and the main branches of the facial nerve were dissected.

RESULTS: The main trunk of the facial nerve has a length of 0.88 ± 0.10 mm and a length of 3.81 ± 1.03 mm, measured from its emergence from the stylomastoid foramen to its bifurcation. Seven branches originating from the facial nerve were identified: posterior auricular, posterior cervical, cervical, mandibular, buccal, temporal, and zygomatic.

CONCLUSIONS: The anatomy of the facial nerve is comparable to that of humans, with some variations. The most observed anatomical division was the distribution in posterior auricular, posterior cervical, cervical, mandibular, buccal, temporal, and zygomatic branches. There is no statistical difference between the thickness and distance of the structures compared to the contralateral side.

PMID:36327397 | DOI:10.1590/acb370803

PLoS One. 2022 Nov 3;17(11):e0277125. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277125. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Functional disability is a common public health problem that affects the health and quality of life of older adults. This causes them to be highly dependent on other members of their family, receive home care, or to be institutionalized. Although functional disability has been widely studied in developed country settings, very limited studies have focused on age-related functional disability in sub-Saharan Africa, and in particular Ghana. The purpose of this study is to assess various factors associated with the difficulties in performing basic and instrumental activities of daily living among older adults in Ghana.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study used data on 1610 older adults aged 50 years and above from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) survey Wave II conducted in Ghana. Nine standard functioning difficulty tools of WHODAS II was used for the analysis. The WHODAS II offers continuous summary scores with higher scores showing higher disability, and vice versa. A multi-level regression model was used to identify individual and household level risk factors linked to the functional disability of older adults.

RESULTS: Female older adults (53.7%) reported having functional disability. The mean functional disability among older adults aged 50 years and above was 5.2 (± 5.9). Results indicated that older adults who are females, aged 70 years and above, and had three or more chronic conditions had a higher functional disability. Also, older adults who have adequate fruit intake and belong to wealthier households were found to have a lower functional disability.

CONCLUSIONS: The study reveals that functional disability among older adults is frequent in Ghana and is associated with having three or more chronic conditions and being overweight/obese. Prevention of functional disability in old age in Ghana is therefore a matter of great social and economic concern, which calls for coordinate efforts across the board to mitigate this public health challenge.

PMID:36327337 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0277125

PLoS One. 2022 Nov 3;17(11):e0277221. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277221. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Although many studies have reported the effectiveness of nursing interventions on the sexual quality of life of patients with breast cancer, the results have not been synthesized. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of nursing interventions on the sexual quality of life of patients with breast cancer.

REVIEW METHODS: A comprehensive search was conducted in 11 databases from inception to October 7, 2021. Studies evaluating the effects of nursing interventions on sexual quality of life were included. Study selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment were performed by two independent reviewers.

RESULTS: This review pooled 38 studies with 3,664 participants. Meta-analysis results showed that nursing interventions significantly improved sexual quality of life, including sexual function (standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.98, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.60-1.37], P < 0.001) and sexual satisfaction (SMD = 0.99, 95% CI = [0.41-1.57], P < 0.001). In addition, depression (SMD = -1.16, 95% CI = [-2.08–0.24], P = 0.01) and general quality of life (SMD = 0.20, 95% CI = [0.08-0.33], P = 0.002) were significantly improved, but body image (SMD = 0.17, 95% CI = [-0.08-0.41], P = 0.19) and anxiety (SMD = -0.45, 95% CI = [-0.93-0.02], P = 0.06) did not significantly improve. Subgroup analysis showed that nursing interventions had a stronger long-term effect on sexual function (SMD = 1.15, 95% CI = [0.51-1.80], P = P < 0.001) and was more effective in younger patients (SMD = 1.43, 95% CI = [0.63-2.23], P = P < 0.001). Nursing interventions showed a statistically significant short-term effect on sexual satisfaction (SMD = 1.32, 95% CI = [0.44-2.20], P = 0.003) and a significant effect in older patients (SMD = 1.27, 95% CI = [0.46-2.08], P = 0.002).

CONCLUSIONS: Nursing intervention may be an effective way to improve the sexual quality of life of patients with breast cancer. Nursing interventions had a stronger long-term effect on sexual function, and the group with the strongest effect is the younger patients. Nursing interventions showed a significant short-term effect on sexual satisfaction, and older patients had significant improvement in sexual satisfaction.

PMID:36327334 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0277221

PLoS One. 2022 Nov 3;17(11):e0257788. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257788. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

We examined whether dogs show emotional response to social stimuli played on videos. Secondary, we hypothesized that if dogs recognize themselves in videos, they will show a different emotional response to videos of self and other dogs. We compared heart rate variability among four video stimuli: a video of the owner ignoring another dog (OW-A-IGN), a video of a non-owner interacting with another dog (NOW-A-INT), a video of the owner interacting with another dog (OW-A-INT), and a video of the owner interacting with the dog subject (OW-S-INT). The results showed that root mean square of the difference between adjacent R-R Intervals (RMSSD) and standard deviation of the R-R Interval (SDNN) were lower in NOW-A-INT and OW-S-INT than in OW-A-IGN. There was no statistical difference in the responses to OW-S-INT and OW-A-INT, suggesting that dogs did not distinguish themselves and other dogs in videos. On the other hand, the difference in mean R-R Interval between OW-S-INT and OW-A-INT showed positive correlation with the score of attachment or attention-seeking behavior. Therefore, this study does not completely rule out self-recognition in dogs and there remains the possibility that the more attached a dog to its owner, the more distinct the dog’s emotional response to the difference between the self-video stimulus and the video stimulus of another dog. Further studies are needed to clarify this possibility.

PMID:36327316 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0257788

PLoS One. 2022 Nov 3;17(11):e0277046. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277046. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Research on the increasing incidence of allergic diseases evidenced the role of diet as a potential key factor. Diet can modulate the low-grade systemic inflammation related to obesity and several diseases. There are no published data on drug allergy.

AIM: To investigate a potential association between diet, including dietary inflammatory index (DII), and drug allergy. Also, to evaluate correlations between diet and obesity, inflammatory and metabolic parameters in patients with drug allergy.

METHODS: Ninety consecutive patients studied for suspected drug allergy were evaluated in terms of dietary parameters, anthropometric measurements, bioimpedance and biochemical analysis. DII was calculated based on information collected from a food frequency questionnaire.

RESULTS: After diagnostic work-up, 39 patients had confirmed drug allergy and 45 excluded, representing the study group and the control group, respectively. The majority (79%) were female, with mean age of 39.58±13.3 years. The 84 subjects revealed an anti-inflammatory diet pattern. No significative difference was found in DII scores between drug allergic patients and controls (-3.37±0.95 vs -3.39±0.86, p = 0.985). However, the patients with drug allergy revealed higher obesity and inflammatory parameters. A significative negative correlation was found between DII and adiponectin levels, in the control group (r = -0.311, p = 0.040). In the patient group, a significative positive correlation was observed between DII and triglycerides (r = 0.359, p = 0.032). No other correlations were found between DII and the assessed parameters. Patients with drug allergy presented a significative higher intake of mono-unsaturated fatty-acids comparing to controls (19.8±3.7 vs 17.8 ± 4.0, p = 0.021). No other statistically significant differences were achieved in dietary parameters, between patients and controls.

CONCLUSION: The population assessed in this study revealed an anti-inflammatory diet profile. Although we have found in a previous work that the same patients with drug allergy revealed higher obesity and inflammatory parameters, the DII did not allow to distinguish between patients with drug allergy or controls. The DII scores correlated with triglycerides levels in the drug allergy patients and inversely with adiponectin levels in the control group. Larger studies are needed to clarify the potential role of the diet in drug allergy and its outcomes.

PMID:36327304 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0277046

PLoS One. 2022 Nov 3;17(11):e0276365. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276365. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

People of all ages and genders utilize herbal medicine to treat varieties of problems all around the world. The accumulation of Cd and Cr in therapeutic herbs (Adansonia digitata, Psidium guajava, and Carica papaya) can lead to a variety of health complications. These leaf extracts are used to treat varieties of ailments, including cancer, in the northern Nigerian states of Borno, Jigawa, and Kano. The researchers employed high-resolution continuous source atomic absorption spectrometry. The statistical parameters such as mean, range, minimum and maximum were computed along with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to assess activity concentrations of Major Chemical Carcinogens (MCCs) in the herb extracts from the three states. The result demonstrated substantial statistical variation in the concentration of Chromium between groups with C. papaya (F = 190.683, p = 0.000), P. guajava (F = 5.698, p = 0.006), A. digitata (F = 243.154, p = 0.000). The post hoc test revealed that the C. papaya and A. digitata observed concentrations were statistically significant across the three states (p = 0.000). It was observed that there is no statistically significant difference between concentrations of the extracts between Kano and Borno states for P. guajava (p = 0.686). For Cd, the one-way ANOVA showed significant statistically variation in the concentration between groups with C. papaya (F = 77.393, p = 0.000), P. guajava (F = 4.496, p = 0.017), A. digitata (F = 69.042, p = 0.000). The post hoc test with multiple comparisons revealed that the activity concentration of all extracts was statistically significant across the three states (p<0.05). The target risk quotient (THQ) for Cd was more than unity in A. digitata and C. papaya, except for P. guajava from Borno State. The probable cancer risk was observed for consumption of plant extracts as a result of Cr and Cd.

PMID:36327284 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0276365

PLoS One. 2022 Nov 3;17(11):e0277079. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277079. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

Atmospheric air temperature is the most crucial metrological parameter. Despite its influence on multiple fields such as hydrology, the environment, irrigation, and agriculture, this parameter describes climate change and global warming quite well. Thus, accurate and timely air temperature forecasting is essential because it provides more important information that can be relied on for future planning. In this study, four Data-Driven Approaches, Support Vector Regression (SVR), Regression Tree (RT), Quantile Regression Tree (QRT), ARIMA, Random Forest (RF), and Gradient Boosting Regression (GBR), have been applied to forecast short-, and mid-term air temperature (daily, and weekly) over North America under continental climatic conditions. The time-series data is relatively long (2000 to 2021), 70% of the data are used for model calibration (2000 to 2015), and the rest are used for validation. The autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation functions have been used to select the best input combination for the forecasting models. The quality of predicting models is evaluated using several statistical measures and graphical comparisons. For daily scale, the SVR has generated more accurate estimates than other models, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE = 3.592°C), Correlation Coefficient (R = 0.964), Mean Absolute Error (MAE = 2.745°C), and Thiels’ U-statistics (U = 0.127). Besides, the study found that both RT and SVR performed very well in predicting weekly temperature. This study discovered that the duration of the employed data and its dispersion and volatility from month to month substantially influence the predictive models’ efficacy. Furthermore, the second scenario is conducted using the randomization method to divide the data into training and testing phases. The study found the performance of the models in the second scenario to be much better than the first one, indicating that climate change affects the temperature pattern of the studied station. The findings offered technical support for generating high-resolution daily and weekly temperature forecasts using Data-Driven Methodologies.

PMID:36327280 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0277079