Tag: pubmed

J Dent Hyg. 2024 Aug;98(4):20-27.

ABSTRACT

Purpose Empathetic engagement is considered a vital component in forming respect-based relationships between patients and clinicians, leading to more optimal patient care. The purpose of this study was to explore whether there was a relationship between dental hygiene students’ levels of empathy and student demographics including age, gender, year in school, and the degree type of dental hygiene program attending.Methods This was a cross-sectional observation study conducted among dental hygiene undergraduate students attending three dental hygiene programs in the Midwestern United States. Two programs offered associate degrees and one offered a baccalaureate degree. Participants completed the 20-item Jefferson Scale of Empathy^©, student edition (JSE-S) along with demographic questions including age, gender, year in dental hygiene program, and degree type of dental hygiene program. Descriptive statistics and comparisons of the empathy scores were conducted using t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Regressions were conducted to determine whether the students’ year in dental hygiene program and the type of degree program were predictors of empathy.Results Forty-one participants completed the questionnaire for a 65% response rate. The mean empathy score was 83.05 ± 10.04 among the participants. There were no statistically significant differences between levels of empathy of first- and second-year students or those attending a two-year institution versus a four-year university. Age, year in program, and type of degree were not shown to be predictors of empathy.Conclusion Results from this study did not show relationships or predictors of empathy with dental hygiene students’ demographics or type of degree program. Future research should expand beyond a small homogenous convenience sample and include a longitudinal gauge to assess potential fluctuations in empathy as students progress throughout the curriculum and as practicing clinicians.

PMID:39137992

J Dent Hyg. 2024 Aug;98(4):28-36.

ABSTRACT

Purpose Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 (HSV-1) is a highly contagious virus that manifests as a painful lesion and recurrences can be distressing to patients. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if the use of a 70% ethanol alcohol hand sanitizer alters the duration, size of the lesion, level of pain upon administering treatment, and overall daily discomfort during outbreak.Methods This study was a double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) using 70% ethanol alcohol hand sanitizer for the experiment and medical grade mineral oil for the control group. The treatment and the control were dispensed in lip gloss applicators for applying medicament. Data was collected through the initial examination, a daily journal, photographs, and a reexamination day. Descriptive statistics and the independent sample t-test were used to analyze data (p=0.05).Results A total of 20 individuals completed the research study: ten in the experimental group and ten in the control group. The mean duration of HSV-1 lesions for the control group was 10.3 days while the mean duration of the HSV-1 lesions for the experimental group was 7.6 days. The mean size of lesions for the control group was 4.87 mm; the mean size for the experimental group was 4.25 mm. The mean pain score for the control group was 1.08 and the mean pain score for the experimental group was 2.74. The mean discomfort score for the control group was 1.33 while the mean discomfort score for the experimental group was 1.72. There was no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of duration, size of lesions, pain, and discomfort.Conclusion Based on the results of this pilot study, 70% ethanol alcohol hand sanitizer did not demonstrate statistical significance in the treatment and management of HSV-1 lesions. Additional research is needed with a larger sample size to determine if statistical differences can be measured.

PMID:39137990

J Nucl Med Technol. 2024 Aug 13:jnmt.124.267965. doi: 10.2967/jnmt.124.267965. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) provides physiologic and functional information about the heart muscle and its blood flow. Extracardiac radioactivity can interfere with visualization of the inferior wall of the myocardium, leading to poor-quality images, difficulties in interpretation, and delays in routine practice. This study aimed to identify the efficiency of having the patient consume a carbonated lemon drink to minimize the extracardiac radioactivity of ^99mTc-sestamibi in comparison to ^99mTc-tetrofosmin during MPI. Methods: This was a retrospective study that recruited 158 patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease referred to undergo ^99mTc-sestamibi or ^99mTc-tetrofosmin rest/stress single-day MPI. The patients were divided into 2 groups of mixed sexes and different ages. The first group comprised 78 patients injected with ^99mTc-sestamibi, and the second group comprised 80 patients injected with ^99mTc-tetrofosmin. For both groups, the patients drank 30 mL of fresh lemon juice diluted with 150 mL of soda water, and then we gave the patients about 100 mL of straight soda water, before imaging for both the rest and the stress phases. Results: Generally, in both groups, the ^99mTc-tetrofosmin produced a good-quality image in comparison with the ^99mTc-sestamibi. The mean rank of the total score for ^99mTc-tetrofosmin (62.75) was less than that for ^99mTc-sestamibi (96.68), and this difference was highly statistically significant (P = 0.000). There were statistically significant differences in the ratios and mean ranks for both groups in favor of ^99mTc-tetrofosmin in patients having coronary artery disease. Conclusion: The use of a carbonated lemon drink minimizes extracardiac activity from both ^99mTc-labeled MPI radiopharmaceuticals. This finding was more statistically significant for ^99mTc-tetrofosmin MPI, providing better image quality and earlier imaging in both the rest and the stress phases because of faster hepatobiliary clearance.

PMID:39137982 | DOI:10.2967/jnmt.124.267965

J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2024 Aug 13:jnnp-2024-333465. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2024-333465. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Calorie restriction (CR) ameliorates preclinical models of multiple sclerosis (MS) via multiple mechanisms. These include decreased leptin, a proinflammatory adipokine, but mechanistic studies in humans are lacking. Tests of daily and intermittent CR (iCR) in people with MS (pwMS) showed improvements in fatigue and well-being measures. This trial studied the effects of 12-week iCR on metabolic, immunological, and clinical outcomes in pwMS.

METHOD: Relapsing-remitting MS participants were randomised to iCR or a control group. Study visits were conducted at baseline, 6 and 12 weeks. The primary outcome was reduction in serum leptin levels at 12 weeks. Feasibility and safety were assessed by diet adherence and adverse events (AEs). Secondary outcomes included changes in anthropometric and body composition measures, metabolic and immunologic profiling, and clinical measures. Mixed effects linear regression models were used to evaluate outcome differences between and within groups over time.

RESULTS: Forty-two pwMS were randomised, 34 completed the study (17/group). Leptin serum levels at 12 weeks were significantly lower in the iCR versus the control group (mean decrease -6.98 µg/dL, 95% CI: -28.02 to 14.06; p=0.03). Adherence to iCR was 99.5% and 97.2% at 6 and 12 weeks, respectively, and no serious AEs were reported. An increase in blood CD45RO⁺ regulatory T-cell numbers was seen after 6 weeks of iCR. Exploratory cognitive testing demonstrated a significant improvement in the Symbol Digit Modality Test Score in the iCR group at 12 weeks.

CONCLUSIONS: iCR has the potential to benefit metabolic and immunologic profiles and is safe and feasible in pwMS.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03539094 .

PMID:39137977 | DOI:10.1136/jnnp-2024-333465

Genome Res. 2024 Aug 13:gr.279274.124. doi: 10.1101/gr.279274.124. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Chromatin loop identification plays an important role in molecular biology and 3D genomics research, as it constitutes a fundamental process in transcription and gene regulation. Such precise chromatin structures can be identified across genome-wide interaction matrices via Hi-C data analysis, which is essential for unraveling the intricacies of transcriptional regulation. Given the increasing number of genome-wide contact maps, derived from both in situ Hi-C and single-cell Hi-C experiments, there is a pressing need for efficient and resilient algorithms capable of processing data from diverse experiments rapidly and adaptively. Here, we propose YOLOOP, a novel detection-based framework that is different from the conventional paradigm. YOLOOP stands out for its speed, surpassing the performance of previous state-of-the-art (SOTA) chromatin loop detection methods. It achieves a 30-fold acceleration compared to classification-based methods, up to 20-fold acceleration compared to the SOTA kernel-based framework, and a 5-fold acceleration compared to statistical algorithms. Furthermore, our proposed framework exhibits exceptional generalization capabilities across various cell types, multi-resolution Hi-C maps, and diverse experimental protocols. Compared with the existing paradigms, YOLOOP shows up to a 10% increase in recall and a 15% increase in F1-score, particularly noteworthy in the GM12878 cell line. YOLOOP also offers fast adaptability with straightforward fine-tuning, making it readily applicable to extremely sparse single-cell Hi-C contact maps. It maintains its exceptional speed, completing genome-wide detection at a 10 kb resolution for one single-cell contact map within 1 minute, and for 900-cells-superimposed contact map within 3 minutes, enabling fast analysis on massive amounts of single-cell data.

PMID:39137961 | DOI:10.1101/gr.279274.124

BMJ Glob Health. 2024 Aug 13;9(8):e015475. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2024-015475.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Despite the progress in reducing child mortality, the rate remains high, particularly in sub-Saharan African countries. Limited data exist on child survival and other birth outcomes by sex. This study compared survival rates and birth outcomes by sex among neonates and children under 2 in Ethiopia.

METHODS: Women who gave birth after 28 weeks of gestation and their newborns were included in the analysis. Survival probabilities were estimated for males and females in the neonatal period as well as the 2-year period following birth using Kaplan-Meier curves. HRs and 95% CIs were compared between males and females under 2. Descriptive statistics and χ² tests were used to determine the sex-disaggregated variation in the birth outcomes of preterm birth, low birth weight (LBW), stillbirth, small for gestational age (SGA) and large for gestational age (LGA).

RESULTS: The study included a total of 3904 women and child pairs. The neonatal mortality rate for males (3.4%, 95% CI 2.6% to 4.2%) was higher compared with females (1.7%, 95% CI 1.1% to 2.3%). The hazard of death during the first 28 days of life was approximately two times higher for males compared with females (HR 1.99, 95% CI 1.30 to 3.06) but was not significantly different after this period. While there was a non-significant difference between males and females in the proportion of preterm, LBW and LGA births, we found a significantly higher proportion of stillbirth (2.7% vs 1.3%, p=0.003) and SGA (20.5% vs 15.6%, p<0.001) for males compared with females.

CONCLUSIONS: This study identified a significant sex difference in mortality and birth outcomes. We recommend focusing future research on the mechanisms of these sex differences in order to better design intervention programmes to reduce disparities and improve outcomes for neonates.

PMID:39137954 | DOI:10.1136/bmjgh-2024-015475

BMJ. 2024 Aug 13;386:e079694. doi: 10.1136/bmj-2024-079694.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:39137944 | DOI:10.1136/bmj-2024-079694

Health Informatics J. 2024 Jul-Sep;30(3):14604582241275824. doi: 10.1177/14604582241275824.

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study aimed to assess the quality of the information in WeChat and TikTok videos related to hypertension and diabetes treatment. Methods: A sample of 120 Chinese videos was collected based on specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. The quality was evaluated using DISCERN, JAMA and the latest edition of Chinese guidelines for hypertension and diabetes prevention and treatment, and two observers independently scored each video using the three assessment tools. Results: Among all 120 videos, only 10 scored above 38 points in DISCERN, with 45 videos rated as “very poor”. None of the video met all JAMA criteria simultaneously, and there were gaps in accuracy and completeness compared to the two guidelines. Furthermore, there was no significant correlation between information quality and the number of likes and comments. Conclusion: The current quality of information on the treatment of hypertension and diabetes on WeChat and TikTok was unsatisfactory. Consequently, the government should strengthen oversight of information quality, and social media platforms should actively review health-related content to prevent inaccurate information dissemination. Individuals should enhance their digital and health literacy.

PMID:39137943 | DOI:10.1177/14604582241275824

Vascular. 2024 Aug 13:17085381241273255. doi: 10.1177/17085381241273255. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects 13% of the global population and requires renal replacement therapy due to ESRD. Hemodialysis (HD) is the most common dialysis modality for ESRD patients, but establishing vascular access is challenging due to high morbidity and mortality rates. Arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) are the gold standard for vascular access, but many fail due to anastomotic hemodynamics, vein diameter, and anastomatic suture technique. A prospective study was conducted to evaluate the impact of two continuous suturing techniques, the anchor technique and the parachute technique, on AVFs’ initial outcomes.

METHODS: This randomized, controlled study involved adult patients who presented for AVF creation at our center. We divided the patients into two groups: anchors and parachutes. Four skilled vascular access surgeons performed the procedures. The primary goal was functional maturation of the AVF, defined as an AVF fistula ready to be cannulated with a cannulating vein length of at least 10 cm, a diameter of more than 6 mm, a depth of less than 6 mm, and a flow rate of 600 mL/min. Secondary goals included patency and complications such as bleeding, infection, steal syndrome, and aneurysmal dilatation at the anastomosis site. AVFs were evaluated immediately after surgery and during follow-up visits at the outpatient clinic. A duplex scan was performed to measure flow at various intervals. All patients provided appropriate written consent.

RESULT: The study involved 186 patients, with 86 excluded. 100 were randomized, with 5 cases losing follow-up and 3 deaths within 12 months. The follow-up continued until January 2024, with a mean of 8.6 months. The Parachute technique shows higher technical success (p value = 0.046) and primary patency at 30 days (p value = 0.014) compared to Anchor, but there is no statistical significance between both groups regarding functional maturation at 6 weeks (p value = 0.352). The parachute technique has a higher hematoma rate than the anchor technique (p value = 0.025), while other complications like intra-operative bleeding, postoperative bleeding, pseudoaneurysm formation, thrombosis, steal syndrome, and seroma formation show no significant differences. Nine patients, five of whom were diabetic and underwent conservative management, exhibited mild to moderate steal syndrome. This suggests an increased risk of steal syndrome among diabetic patients.

CONCLUSION: The parachute technique for AVF creation offers better technical success and short-term primary patency outcomes, while both parachute and anchor techniques are equally effective for long-term functional maturation and overall complication rates.

PMID:39137929 | DOI:10.1177/17085381241273255

Methods Inf Med. 2024 Aug 13. doi: 10.1055/a-2385-1355. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Synthetic data has been proposed as a solution for sharing anonymized versions of sensitive biomedical datasets. Ideally, synthetic data should preserve the structure and statistical properties of the original data, while protecting the privacy of the individual subjects. Differential privacy (DP) is currently considered the gold standard approach for balancing this trade-off.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to investigate how trustworthy are group differences discovered by independent sample tests from DP-synthetic data. The evaluation is carried out in terms of the tests’ Type I and Type II errors. With the former, we can quantify the tests’ validity i.e. whether the probability of false discoveries is indeed below the significance level, and the latter indicates the tests’ power in making real discoveries.

METHODS: We evaluate the Mann-Whitney U test, Student’s t-test, chi-squared test and median test on DP-synthetic data. The private synthetic datasets are generated from real-world data, including a prostate cancer dataset (n=500) and a cardiovascular dataset (n=70 000), as well as on bivariate and multivariate simulated data. Five different DP-synthetic data generation methods are evaluated, including two basic DP histogram release methods and MWEM, Private-PGM, and DP GAN algorithms.

CONCLUSION: A large portion of the evaluation results expressed dramatically inflated Type I errors, especially at levels of ϵ≤1. This result calls for caution when releasing and analyzing DP-synthetic data: low p-values may be obtained in statistical tests simply as a byproduct of the noise added to protect privacy. A DP smoothed histogram-based synthetic data generation method was shown to produce valid Type I error for all privacy levels tested but required a large original dataset size and a modest privacy budget (ϵ≥ 5) in order to have reasonable Type II error levels.

PMID:39137913 | DOI:10.1055/a-2385-1355