Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

Response to the first awake prone positioning relates with intubation rate in SARS-CoV-2 patients suffering from acute respiratory failure with moderate to severe hypoxaemia: a retrospective study

Swiss Med Wkly. 2022 Sep 7;152:w30212. doi: 10.4414/smw.2022.w30212. eCollection 2022 Aug 29.

ABSTRACT

AIMS OF THE STUDY: Awake prone positioning (aPP) in non-intubated patients with severe SARS-CoV-2-related pneumonia improves oxygenation and reduces the intubation rate, but no early predictors for success or failure of the strategy have been described. The main objective of this study was to assess whether response to the first aPP in terms of PaO2/FiO2, alveolar-arterial gradient (Aa-O2), respiratory rate and PaCO2 could predict the need for intubation. As secondary objective, we assessed the effects of aPP on the same parameters for all the sessions considered together.

METHODS: Retrospective analysis of consecutive SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia patients suffering from acute respiratory failure with moderate to severe hypoxaemia for whom aPP was performed for at least 45 minutes based on the prescription of the clinician in charge according to predefined criteria. Respiratory rate, blood gases and oxygenation parameters (PaO2/FiO2 and Aa-O2), before and after the first aPP were compared between patients who were subsequently intubated or not. Effects of all the aPP sessions together were also analysed.

RESULTS: One hundred and sixty-six patients were admitted for SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia during the study period. Among them, 50 received aPP lasting at least 45 minutes. Because 17 denied consent for data analysis and 2 were excluded because of a “do not intubate order”, 31 patients (for a total of 116 aPP sessions without any severe adverse events reported) were included. Among them, 10 (32.3%) were intubated. Mean age ± standard deviation (SD) was 60 ± 12 years. At ICU admission, respiratory rate was 26 ± 7/minute, median PaO2/FiO2 94 (interquartile range [IQR] 74-116) mm Hg and median Aa-O2 412 (IQR 286-427) mm Hg (markedly increased). Baseline characteristics did not statistically differ between patients who subsequently needed intubation or not. During the first aPP, PaO2/FiO2 increased and Aa-O2 decreased. When comparing patients who later where intubated or not, we observed, in the non intubated group only, a clinically significant decrease in median Aa-O2, from 294 (280-414) to 204 (107-281) mm Hg, corresponding to a 40% (26-56%) reduction, and a PaO2/FiO2 increase, from 103 (84-116) to 162 (138-195), corresponding to an increase of 48% (11-93%). The p value is <0.005 for both. When all the aPP sessions (n = 80) were considered together, aPP was associated with a significant increase in PaO2/FiO2 from 112 (80-132) to 156 (86-183) mm Hg (p <0.001) and Aa-O2 decrease from 304 (244-418) to 224 (148-361) mm Hg (p = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Awake pronation in spontaneously breathing patients is feasible, and improves PaO2/FiO2 and Aa-O2. Response to the first session seems to be associated with lower intubation rate.

PMID:36102065 | DOI:10.4414/smw.2022.w30212

Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

A 12-week exercise programme has a positive effect on everyday executive function in young people with Down syndrome: a pilot non-randomised controlled trial

J Intellect Disabil Res. 2022 Sep 13. doi: 10.1111/jir.12979. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Exercise has the potential to reduce cognitive decline in people with Down syndrome by maximising their cognitive function. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of regular exercise on cognitive functioning in young people with Down syndrome.

METHOD: People with Down syndrome were eligible if aged between 13 and 35 years and enrolled to participate in an exercise programme (called FitSkills). The intervention was a 12-week community-based exercise programme completed with a student mentor. Outcomes were assessed before (week 0) and immediately after (week 13) the intervention. Executive functioning (planning, response inhibition, attention shifting) was assessed using Tower of London, Sustained Attention to Response Task, CANTAB Intra-extra Dimensional Set Shift Test, Cognitive Scale for Down Syndrome, and Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). Working memory was assessed using the CANTAB Paired Associates Learning task, and information processing speed was assessed using the Motor Screening Task. Outcomes were analysed using ANCOVA with the baseline measure as the covariate.

RESULTS: Twenty participants (9 women; mean age 23.6 ± 6.6 years) enrolled. Between-group differences, in favour of the experimental group, were found for the global executive composite score of the BRIEF (mean difference -4.77 units, 95% CI -9.30 to -0.25). There were no between group differences for any other outcome measured.

CONCLUSION: Participation in a 12-week exercise programme was effective in improving everyday executive functions in young people with Down syndrome. These preliminary findings need to be confirmed in future randomised controlled trials of community-based exercise with larger sample sizes.

PMID:36101998 | DOI:10.1111/jir.12979

Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

Significant radiologic factors related to clinical outcomes after arthroscopic rotator cuff retear repair

Clin Shoulder Elb. 2022 Sep;25(3):173-181. doi: 10.5397/cise.2022.01046. Epub 2022 Aug 26.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Healing of the tendon itself is not always related to successful clinical outcomes after rotator cuff repair. It was hypothesized that certain radiologic factors affecting clinical outcomes could exist in case of the retear after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR) and the radiologic factors could help predict clinical process. The purpose of this study was to identify the radiologic factors associated with clinical outcomes of the retear after ARCR.

METHODS: Between January 2012 and December 2019, among patients with sufficient footprint coverage for ARCR, 96 patients with Sugaya classification 4 or higher retear on follow-up magnetic resonance imaging were included. The association between clinical outcomes such as American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, Constant score and range of motion and radiologic variables such as initial tear dimension, retear dimension, variance of tear dimension, critical shoulder angle, acromial index, and acromiohumeral distance was analyzed.

RESULTS: Preoperatively, the ASES and Constant scores were 59.81±17.02 and 64.30±15.27, respectively. And at the last follow-up, they improved to 81.56±16.29 and 78.62±14.16, respectively (p&lt;0.01 and p&lt;0.01). In multiple linear regression analysis, the variance of the mediolateral dimension of tear had statistically significant association with the ASES and Constant scores (p&lt;0.01 and p=0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: In patients with the retear after ARCR, the variance in the mediolateral dimension of tear had significantly negative association with the clinical outcomes. This could be considered to be reference as relative criteria and needed more sample and mechanical study.

PMID:36102050 | DOI:10.5397/cise.2022.01046

Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

Influence of rehabilitation on mental state in patients with lumbar intervertebral disc damage

Eur J Transl Myol. 2022 Sep 13. doi: 10.4081/ejtm.2022.10666. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The present study aims to investigate the mental state changes in patients with lumbar intervertebral disc damage after rehabilitation program using a self-administered questionnaire IRES-3. The study was conducted in the Specialized Hospitals for Rehabilitation – National Complex EAD, branches Hissar and Banite, Bulgaria. It included 124 patients – 34 men and 90 women, aged from 35 to 85 years. The questionnaire IRES-3, validated by the authors for the Bulgarian population, was used for measurement of the subjective evaluation of the rehabilitation effect. Measurements were performed at the beginning, end and three months after rehabilitation (RH). The subjective evaluation of the patients’ mental state included the following scales: depression, fear, exhaustion of vitality, self-confidence and symptom: cognitive functioning. We found a statistically significant improvement of the scores three months after rehabilitation compared to the beginning of rehabilitation for all scales. The only exceptions are the scales exhaustion of vitality and symptom: cognitive functioning. We found a statistically significant improvement of the self-rated mental state after performed rehabilitation in patients with chronic diseases.

PMID:36101995 | DOI:10.4081/ejtm.2022.10666

Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

Dual-responsive nanovaccine for cytosolic delivery of antigens to boost cellular immune responses and cancer immunotherapy

Asian J Pharm Sci. 2022 Jul;17(4):583-595. doi: 10.1016/j.ajps.2022.05.004. Epub 2022 Jul 13.

ABSTRACT

Cancer vaccine contributing to the success of the treatment and prevention of tumors has attracted a huge attention as a strategy for tumor immunotherapy in recent years. A major challenge of cancer vaccine is to target cytosols of dendritic cells (DCs) in the lymph nodes (LNs) to enhance efficiency of antigen cross-presentation, which elicits high levels of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes to destruct tumor cells. Here, we address this issue by conjugating ovalbumin (OVA) to PEG-PCL using disulfide bond (-ss-), and the degradable pH-responsive polymer-PEI-PCL as delivery carrier. In addition, the mol ratio of PEG-PCL to PEI-PCL in the mixed micelles was tailored to deliver the OVA to LNs. Subsequently, CpG ODN1826, a TLR-9 agonist, was further introduced into a mixed micelle of 30 nm or less as a unique tumor vaccine. Importantly, the results demonstrated the mixed micelles with 1:1 mol of PCL-PEG and PCL-PEI can effectively migrate to distal LNs where antigen were efficiently captured by DCs, meanwhile, OVA was modified to the surface of mixed micelles via disulfide bonds (-ss-) for promotion efficiency of antigen cross-presentation. More surprisingly, combination of tumor vaccine with anti-PD-1, the therapy of ectopic melanoma (B16-OVA) and lung metastasis melanoma (B16-OVA) is excellent therapeutic effect. Taken together, our works offers a novel strategy for the cytosol delivery of antigens to achieve potent cancer immunotherapy.

PMID:36101894 | PMC:PMC9459061 | DOI:10.1016/j.ajps.2022.05.004

Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

Method for reproducible automated bacterial cell culture and measurement

Synth Biol (Oxf). 2022 Aug 10;7(1):ysac013. doi: 10.1093/synbio/ysac013. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

Microbial cell culture is one of the most commonly performed protocols for synthetic biology, and laboratories are increasingly using 96-well plates and laboratory automation systems for cell culture. Here, we describe a method for reproducible microbial culture using laboratory automation systems, including automated liquid handling, automated plate sealing and de-sealing, automated incubation and measurement of growing cultures. We discuss the key considerations that, in our experience, are important for reproducibility and present statistical analyses of data from 150 automated microbial growth experiments performed over 27 months using our automated method.

PMID:36101862 | PMC:PMC9462466 | DOI:10.1093/synbio/ysac013

Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

The outcome measure of proximal humerus fracture treated by open reduction and internal fixation with proximal humerus internal locking system based on oxford shoulder score

Int J Health Sci (Qassim). 2022 Sep-Oct;16(5):49-57.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Proximal humerus fractures became one of the most prevalent upper extremity fractures during recent decades. The use of scoring systems has been taken under consideration to estimate the surveillance, prognosis, and post-operative outcomes. During this study, we investigated the outcome measure of proximal humerus fracture treated by open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) with plate based on oxford shoulder score (OSS). Furthermore, we tried to propose a new classification system for OSS that could be of prognostic value.

METHODS: Patients with proximal humerus fracture treated by open reduction enrolled in the study. Persian version of the OSS was completed by the patients. Data were analyzed using SPSS-22.

RESULTS: Forty-four patients including 24 women and 20 men were assessed. The mean age was 54.61 (SD ± 19.371) years. The use of a spoon and fork at the same time had the best score and hanging the clothes up in a wardrobe with the operated hand had the worst score in the questionnaire. Comparison of OSS and number of physiotherapy session showed that patients with best outcome had least number of physiotherapy’s session, but it was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSION: OSS is useful to evaluate the function of the traumatized shoulder. We suggest classifying the OSS score into three range groups, good (total score 12-28), moderate (total score 29-44), and bad (total scores 45-60).

PMID:36101849 | PMC:PMC9441643

Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

Healthcare researchers must be wary of misusing AI

A commentary advocates the proper application of artificial intelligence in healthcare and warns of the dangers when machine learning algorithms are misused.
Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

New method to identify symmetries in data using Bayesian statistics

Scientists have developed a method to identify symmetries in multi-dimensional data using Bayesian statistical techniques. Bayesian statistics has been in the spotlight in recent years due to improvements in computer performance and its potential applications in artificial intelligence. However, this statistical approach requires complex calculations of integrals, which are often considered approximations only. In their new study, the research team successfully derived new exact integral formulas. Their findings contribute to improving the accuracy of methods to identify data symmetries, possibly extending their applications to wider areas of interest, such as genetic analysis.
Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

Population Dynamics of Abundant Three Terrestrial Snail Species in Horticultural Fields at Beheira and Giza Governorate, Egypt

Pak J Biol Sci. 2022 Jan;25(8):765-775. doi: 10.3923/pjbs.2022.765.775.

ABSTRACT

&lt;b&gt;Background and Objective:&lt;/b&gt; Studying the population dynamic of the invasive terrestrial snails as agricultural pests, is essential for designing pest control program to reduce the economic losses to commercial field crops, vegetables and fruits. The population dynamic had been estimated for the three terrestrial snails &lt;i&gt;Theba pisana &lt;/i&gt;(Müller, 1774) (Helicidae), &lt;i&gt;Eobania vermiculata &lt;/i&gt;(Müller, 1774) (Helicidae) and &lt;i&gt;Monacha obstructa&lt;/i&gt; (Pfeiffer, 1842) (Hygromiidae) on orange, apple and mango trees in horticultural fields in two locations. These locations are Nobaria City, Beheira Governorate and Mansouria Village, Giza Governorate. This study carried out during the two consecutive activity seasons September, 2018/August, 2019 and September, 2019/August, 2020. &lt;b&gt;Materials and Methods:&lt;/b&gt; The population dynamic, incidence and infestation level of terrestrial snails had been recorded on economic host plants such as fruit trees and other field crops and vegetables. The correlations between climatic factors and the population density of land snails were interpreted by statistical analysis for the two seasons. &lt;b&gt;Results:&lt;/b&gt; The population density of terrestrial snails increased gradually after winter to reach its maximum density during spring, while the lowest density was recorded in August. The incidence and infestation level of terrestrial snails varied according to the host plant, climatic factors and locality. &lt;i&gt;Eobania vermiculata&lt;/i&gt; were the dominant land snail species in Beheira, while &lt;i&gt;Monacha obstructa&lt;/i&gt; infested the majority of the examined fruit trees in Giza. &lt;b&gt;Conclusion:&lt;/b&gt; Determining the activity and inactivity periods of land snails through the two seasons and their population dynamic will assist in designing effective control management program to decrease the number of pest and the economic losses of agricultural products.

PMID:36098203 | DOI:10.3923/pjbs.2022.765.775