Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

Emotional abuse mediated by negative automatic thoughts impacts functional connectivity during adolescence

Neurobiol Stress. 2024 Mar 19;30:100623. doi: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2024.100623. eCollection 2024 May.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Emotional abuse during childhood and adolescence is thought to be associated with the brain; however, the neural mechanism underlying the cognitive process remains unknown. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the mediating effect of negative automatic thoughts on the relationship between emotional abuse and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) during adolescence.

METHOD: Our community sample included 54 adolescents aged 13-17 years in the statistical analysis. Resting-state functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed, while emotional abuse and negative automatic thoughts were assessed using self-reported scales. A mediation analysis was used to assess the contributions of early traumatic events and negative automatic thoughts to resting functional connectivity.

RESULT: Higher negative automatic thoughts were associated with lower connectivity in the context of greater emotional abuse (i.e., suppression effect). Thus, the relationships between emotional abuse and connectivity in the precuneus (pCun)-medial prefrontal cortex, parahippocampal cortex-extrastriate cortex, and temporal cortex-temporal pole were decreased by negative automatic thoughts. In contrast, functional connections in the pCun-pCun, pCun-precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex, and nucleus accumbens-somatomotor areas were strongly mediated when emotionally abused adolescents reported a high tendency for negative automatic thoughts.

CONCLUSION: Negative automatic thoughts strengthened the relationship between emotional abuse and rsFC. These findings highlight the underlying cognitive processing of the traumatic event-neural system, supporting the use of cognitive therapy for post-traumatic symptoms.

PMID:38572483 | PMC:PMC10987907 | DOI:10.1016/j.ynstr.2024.100623

Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

Lifestyle and fertility-specific quality of life affect reproductive outcomes in couples undergoing in vitro fertilization

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2024 Mar 20;15:1346084. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1346084. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: A Mediterranean dietary pattern, sleeping habits, physical activity, and lifestyle appear to affect reproductive health. There are few reports about whether fertility-specific quality of life (QOL) is linked to infertility treatment outcomes. The aim of this study is to investigate when lifestyle factors and fertility-specific QOL are comprehensively considered, which factors influence assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes.

METHODS: This prospective cohort includes 291 women undergoing a first ART treatment at multiple centers in Japan and was designed to evaluate the influence of diet, physical activity, sleeping pattern, computer use duration, and fertility-specific quality of life tool (FertiQoL) score on ART treatment outcomes using a questionnaire. The primary endpoint was the good-quality blastocyst rate per oocyte retrieval and the secondary endpoints were a positive pregnancy test and gestational sac (GS) detection.

RESULTS: The good-quality blastocyst rate per oocyte retrieval tended to be negatively associated with frequent fish consumption. After all embryo transfer (ET) cycles, a positive pregnancy test tended to be positively associated with longer sleep and longer computer use (OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 0.9-2.7 and OR = 1.7, CI = 1.0-2.8, respectively) and negatively associated with a smoking partner (OR = 0.6, CI = 0.3-1.0). GS detection was positively and significantly associated with frequent olive oil intake and longer computer use (OR = 1.7, CI = 1.0-3.0 and OR = 1.7, CI = 1.0-3.0, respectively). After ET cycles with a single blastocyst, a positive pregnancy test was positively and significantly associated with longer computer use (OR = 2.0, CI = 1.1-3.7), while GS detection was significantly more likely in women with longer computer use (OR = 2.1, CI = 1.1-3.8) and tended to be more likely in women with a higher FertiQoL Total scaled treatment score (OR = 1.8, CI = 1.0-3.3). p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant and 0.05 ≤ p <0.01 as tendency.

CONCLUSIONS: Olive oil may be an important factor in dietary habits. Fertility-specific QOL and smoking cessation guidance for partners are important for infertile couples.

PMID:38572478 | PMC:PMC10987689 | DOI:10.3389/fendo.2024.1346084

Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

METS-IR and all-cause mortality in Korean over 60 years old: Korean genome and epidemiology study-health examinees (KoGES-HEXA) cohorts

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2024 Mar 20;15:1346158. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1346158. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The metabolic score for insulin resistance index (METS-IR) is a novel non insulin-based marker that indicates the risk for metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, METS-IR has not been investigated in relation to all-cause mortality. We investigated the longitudinal effect of METS-IR on all-cause mortality in a significantly large cohort of Korean adults over 60 years old.

METHODS: Data were assessed from 30,164 Korean participants over 60 years of age from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study-Health Examinees (KoGES-HEXA) cohort data, linked with the death certificate database of the National Statistical Office. The participants were grouped into three according to METS-IR tertiles. We used multivariate Cox proportional-hazard regression models to prospectively assess hazard ratios (HRs) for all-cause mortality with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) over an 11-year postbaseline period.

RESULTS: During the mean 11.7 years of follow-up, 2,821 individuals expired. The HRs of mortality for METS-IR tertiles were 1.16 (95% CI, 1.01-1.34) in T3 after adjustment for metabolic parameters, but the T2 did not show statistical significance towards increases for incident mortality respectively. In subgroup analysis depending on the cause of mortality, higher METS-IR was associated with cancer mortality (HR, 1.23, 95% CI, 1.01-1.51) but not with cardiovascular mortality (HR, 1.14, 95% CI, 0.83-1.57) after adjustment for the same confounding variables.

CONCLUSION: The METS-IR may be a useful predictive marker for all-cause mortality and cancer mortality, but not for cardiovascular mortality in subjects over 60 years of age. This implies that early detection and intervention strategies for metabolic syndrome could potentially benefit this identified group.

PMID:38572476 | PMC:PMC10987815 | DOI:10.3389/fendo.2024.1346158

Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

Multi-Sensory Stimuli Improve Relaxation and Sleep Quality in Rotating Shift Workers: A Randomized Controlled Trial

J Multidiscip Healthc. 2024 Mar 29;17:1435-1445. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S456800. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To compare the effects of multi-sensory stimuli on relaxation and sleep quality in 2 periods.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: This experimental research used a sample group of 60 individuals, divided into three groups, with each group consisting of 20 participants. The test period was divided into two equal periods of 4 days each. The collected data included measurements of relaxation (visually calibrated scale, percentage stress, and heart rate) and sleep quality (percentage sleep, total sleep duration, and duration of deep sleep). Quantitative statistics were employed to analyze the data and compare average differences.

RESULTS: Regarding relaxation, the results from the second period test indicated that Group 2, which received both fragrance and natural sound treatment, outperformed the other groups based on the visually calibrated scale. This group also exhibited lower levels of percentage stress and heart rate as compared to Group 1 and the control group, with a confidence level of p < 0.05. In terms of sleep quality, during the second period test, Group 2 achieved more superior results compared to the other groups in terms of percentage sleep, total sleep duration, and duration of deep sleep, with a confidence level of p < 0.05.

CONCLUSION: It can be inferred that multi-sensory stimuli enhanced relaxation and sleep quality.

PMID:38572471 | PMC:PMC10987787 | DOI:10.2147/JMDH.S456800

Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

Discrepancies in recommendations for return to regular activities after cervical spine surgery: A survey study

N Am Spine Soc J. 2024 Feb 23;18:100316. doi: 10.1016/j.xnsj.2024.100316. eCollection 2024 Jun.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The recommended timing for returning to common activities after cervical spine surgery varies widely among physicians based on training background and personal opinion, without clear guidelines or consensus. The purpose of this study was to analyze spine surgeons’ responses about the recommended timing for returning to common activities after different cervical spine procedures.

METHODS: This was a survey study including 91 spine surgeons. The participants were asked to complete an anonymous online survey. Questions regarding their recommended time for returning to regular activities (showering, driving, biking, running, swimming, sedentary work, and nonsedentary work) after anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF), cervical disc replacement (CDR), posterior cervical decompression and fusion (PCDF), and laminoplasty were included. Comparisons of recommended times for return to activities after each surgical procedure were made based on surgeons’ years in practice.

RESULTS: For ACDF and PCDF, there were no statistically significant differences in recommended times for return to any activity when stratified by years in practice. When considering CDR, return to non-sedentary work differed between surgeons in practice for 10 to 15 years, who recommended return at 3 months, and all other groups of surgeons, who recommended 6 weeks. Laminoplasty surgery yielded the most variability in activity recommendations, with earlier recommended return (6 weeks) to biking, non-sedentary work, and sedentary work in the most experienced surgeon group (>15 years in practice) than in all other surgeon experience groups (3 months).

CONCLUSIONS: We observed significant variability in surgeon recommendations for return to regular activities after cervical spine surgery.

PMID:38572467 | PMC:PMC10987327 | DOI:10.1016/j.xnsj.2024.100316

Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

Pathogenetic justification of digestive tract dysfunction correction to reduce the risk of ventricular extrasystoles after coronary bypass grafting

Prz Gastroenterol. 2023;18(4):421-429. doi: 10.5114/pg.2023.133223. Epub 2023 Nov 27.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: In heart pathology, abdominal pathology is often detected, but due attention has not been paid to this issue, and algorithms for predicting, preventing, and correcting the coefficient of endothelial dysfunction (CED) after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with the use of artificial circulation (AC) have not been developed.

AIM: To substantiate the pathogenetic expediency of correction of postoperative intestinal paresis after coronary artery bypass grafting for the prevention of functional cardiac complications.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: 147 men were divided into 2 groups. Statistical processing of the obtained data was performed using Windows Microsoft Excel software and parametric methods of variational statistics, and the reliability of differences was determined using Student’s formula and table.

RESULTS: It was found that in group II, after coronary artery bypass grafting, the clinical symptoms of intestinal dysfunction were significantly less (p = 0.019), and the recovery of defecation was significantly faster (p = 0.033) than in group I. After coronary artery bypass grafting, the frequency of high-grade extrasystoles in group II was significantly lower than in group I (p = 0.033).

CONCLUSIONS: The application of the digestive tract dysfunction correction program is pathogenetically justified because it provides a reduction in the frequency of intestinal paresis and hence a reduction in the frequency of development of ventricular extrasystoles of high gradations after coronary artery bypass grafting.

PMID:38572465 | PMC:PMC10985738 | DOI:10.5114/pg.2023.133223

Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

Reduced Viral Shedding Time in High-Risk COVID-19 Patients Infected by Omicron and Treated with Paxlovid: A Real-World Study from China

Infect Drug Resist. 2024 Mar 29;17:1267-1279. doi: 10.2147/IDR.S443574. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to compare the viral shedding time in patients infected with the Omicron variant during Paxlovid therapy and conventional therapy and to analyze the effects of Paxlovid on patients infected with COVID-19.

METHODS: In this study, the demographic and clinical characteristics and laboratory data of 3159 patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant treated at Jilin Province People’s Hospital were collected and analyzed. A total of 362 patients received Paxlovid therapy, and 2797 patients received conventional therapy. After propensity score matching (PSM), 1086 patients were obtained.

RESULTS: The difference in platelet (PLT) count between the two groups was statistically significant but within the normal range (P < 0.05). CT value revealed that the nucleic acid test results became negative more quickly in the Paxlovid therapy group. Analysis of the Paxlovid therapy group showed that IgG and IgM levels were increased after Paxlovid therapy administration.

CONCLUSION: The CT value of the Paxlovid therapy group became negative more quickly. This finding suggests that Paxlovid treatment after early diagnosis of the Omicron variant may achieve good therapeutic efficacy.

PMID:38572421 | PMC:PMC10987972 | DOI:10.2147/IDR.S443574

Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

Efficacy and safety of GH treatment in Japanese children with short stature due to SHOX deficiency: a randomized phase 3 study

Clin Pediatr Endocrinol. 2024;33(2):43-49. doi: 10.1297/cpe.2023-0070. Epub 2024 Jan 28.

ABSTRACT

We conducted a randomized phase 3 study to investigate the efficacy and safety of GH treatment in prepubertal Japanese patients with short stature due to SHOX deficiency. The patients were randomly allocated to the GH-GH group (n = 10), in which the patients were treated with GH (0.35 mg/kg/wk) subcutaneously once daily for 24 mo, or the no-treatment (NT)-GH group (n = 9), in which the patients were untreated for the first 12 mo and then administered the same dosage of GH for the next 12 mo. At month 12, the ∆height standard deviation score (SDS) for chronological age (CA) and serum IGF-1 level were significantly higher in the GH-GH group than those in the NT-GH group. In contrast, bone age (BA) and ΔBA/ΔCA were numerically higher in the GH-GH group but were not statistically significant. At month 24, these parameters were comparable between the two groups. The height velocity was significantly larger in the GH-GH group during the first year and in the NT-GH group during the second year. No serious adverse drug reactions were observed; however, one patient in the GH-GH group exhibited increased insulin resistance at month 24. These results indicated that GH is a promising treatment option for short stature in patients with SHOX deficiency.

PMID:38572386 | PMC:PMC10985015 | DOI:10.1297/cpe.2023-0070

Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

Comparing pharmacy practice in health facilities with and without pharmaceutically trained dispensers: a post intervention study in Tanzania

J Pharm Policy Pract. 2024 Apr 2;17(1):2323091. doi: 10.1080/20523211.2024.2323091. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The critical shortage of comprehensively trained healthcare staff in Tanzania affects the capacity to deliver essential health services, attain universal health coverage and compromises health outcomes. There is a specific lack of suitably trained pharmaceutical professionals, thus, an increase in the use of unqualified or poorly trained staff. Following the introduction of a one-year pharmacy dispenser course intervention, this study explored the impact that the new cadre of graduates had on pharmacy practice compared to healthcare facilities with non-pharmacy trained dispensers (NPTDs).

METHODS: A post intervention assessment was conducted in 2021 using questionnaires formulated to measure indicators of Good Pharmacy Practice, comparing 29 public health facilities employing pharmacy-trained dispensers (PTD) with 32 public health facilities with NPTDs in Dodoma, Shinyanga and Morogoro regions of Tanzania. Data were collected by experienced pharmacists or pharmaceutical technicians and subsequently aggregated and statistically analysed.

RESULTS: The dispensing times for medicines were found to be the same for PTDs and the NPTDs (2 min). There were no statistically significant differences in the adequacy of labelling elements between PTDs and NPTDs. Patients’ level of knowledge of the medicines dispensed to them, from both PTDs and NPTDs, showed no difference. Moreover, no differences were observed in storage practice and documentation performance, records of dispensed medicines, handling of medicines and the dispensing area cleanliness between both groups. Overall, facilities with PTDs averaged a higher availability of tracer medicines (77%) than those with NPTDs (70%), however, availability of health commodities in all health facilities in the three regions was low and there was no statistically significant difference between both groups.

CONCLUSION: The study showed no significant difference in performance of pharmacy practice between PTDs and NPTDs despite the former undertaking a one-year training course intended to improve knowledge and skills. Practice application not only depends on effective training but on the working environment. Clear job descriptions, appropriate tools and references to guide, Standard Operating Procedures, acceptance by management of the training undertaken to actively encourage recruits to apply these new skills could improve PTDs performance. Training and knowledge alone do not seem to lead to better practice and performance.

PMID:38572378 | PMC:PMC10989198 | DOI:10.1080/20523211.2024.2323091

Categories
Nevin Manimala Statistics

Novel indices reveal that pollinator exposure to pesticides varies across biological compartments and crop surroundings

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Apr 1:172118. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172118. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Declines in insect pollinators have been linked to a range of causative factors such as disease, loss of habitats, the quality and availability of food, and exposure to pesticides. Here, we analysed an extensive dataset generated from pesticide screening of foraging insects, pollen-nectar stores/beebread, pollen and ingested nectar across three species of bees collected at 128 European sites set in two types of crop. In this paper, we aimed to (i) derive a new index to summarise key aspects of complex pesticide exposure data and (ii) understand the links between pesticide exposures depicted by the different matrices, bee species and apple orchards versus oilseed rape crops. We found that summary indices were highly correlated with the number of pesticides detected in the related matrix but not with which pesticides were present. Matrices collected from apple orchards generally contained a higher number of pesticides (7.6 pesticides per site) than matrices from sites collected from oilseed rape crops (3.5 pesticides), with fungicides being highly represented in apple crops. A greater number of pesticides were found in pollen-nectar stores/beebread and pollen matrices compared with nectar and bee body matrices. Our results show that for a complete assessment of pollinator pesticide exposure, it is necessary to consider several different exposure routes and multiple species of bees across different agricultural systems.

PMID:38569959 | DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172118