Tag: pubmed

Plast Reconstr Surg. 2023 Oct 3. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000011116. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Many studies recommend nonsurgical auricular correction during the early postnatal period, when cartilage plasticity is high; however, many patients are not eligible for the procedure. This study compared different timings of nonsurgical auricular correction to investigate benefit after the optimal period for correction.

METHODS: In this prospective study, 53 ears from 35 patients with congenital auricular anomaly were assigned to two groups according to age at correction: the “early-group” with correction within 2 weeks of birth and “late-group” with correction 8 weeks after birth. Aesthetic outcomes, caregiver satisfaction, detachment rates and mean device-wearing periods, were compared.

RESULTS: Thirty-one ears from 20 patients comprised the early-group, and 18 ears from 12 patients comprised the late-group. Mean time to treatment after birth was 9.09 days in the early-group and 134.7 days in the late-group. In the early-group, detachment occurred in 4/31 ears (12.9%), and in the late-group, detachment occurred in 12/18 ears (66.7%), which was statistically significant (p<0.01). The average period of applying devices was 4.7 ± 1.2 weeks in the early-group and 8.5 ± 4.1 weeks in the late-group, with a significantly longer treatment time in the late-group (p=0.001). The early-group had 87.1% “good” results vs. 55.6% in the late-group, with a statistically significant difference.

CONCLUSIONS: The correction period was shorter, detachment rate was lower, and treatment outcome was better in the early-group. However, successful correction was also present in the late-group, showing that the patients who have passed the optimum correction period should proceed after counselling.

PMID:37797221 | DOI:10.1097/PRS.0000000000011116

Breastfeed Med. 2023 Oct 5. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2023.0081. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Background: Breastfeeding has health benefits for both mothers and children. Nipple problems may result in the child being weaned prematurely before the recommended 6 months minimum period of exclusive breastfeeding. Purposes of the Study: The study aimed to compare the effectiveness of topically applying olive oil and breast milk in treating nipple pain and soreness in breastfeeding mothers during the early postpartum period. Methods: A quasi-randomized controlled trial was conducted in a maternity ward of a medical center in northern Taiwan. Eighty breastfeeding mothers were recruited, and randomly assigned to the olive oil or breast milk group. Visual analogue pain scale (intensity of nipple pain) and nipple soreness scores were collected at 24, 48, and 72 hours after delivery. Differences in postintervention outcomes between groups were examined using the Generalized Estimating Equation model. Results: The results indicated that both olive oil and breast milk groups reported a significant increase in the intensity of nipple pain and nipple soreness at 24, 48, and 72 hours after delivery. However, differences in the outcome measurements between olive oil and breast milk groups were statistically insignificant at p-value >0.05. Conclusion: This study found that olive oil had similar effects on nipple pain and soreness to breast milk. In addition, most breastfeeding mothers provided positive feedback on using olive oil. Olive oil can be a safe, accessible, and alternative choice for breastfeeding mothers in treating nipple pain and soreness, especially early in the breastfeeding period. The Clinical Trail Registration Number: NCT03568370.

PMID:37797219 | DOI:10.1089/bfm.2023.0081

J Med Imaging Radiat Oncol. 2023 Oct 5. doi: 10.1111/1754-9485.13591. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: The use of diagnostic imaging services is increasing worldwide. This has important impacts on healthcare resource allocation and potential risks to the population. This study aimed to quantify trends in medical imaging in Australia over the past two decades.

METHODS: Data were extracted from the Australian Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) between 2000 and 2021. Simple linear regression analyses were performed to assess changes in absolute utilisation and utilisation rate per 100,000 population of total imaging services as well as by each imaging modality. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess changes in total imaging services as a proportion of total Medicare services over time. Chi-squared test was used to assess for change in modality composition of imaging services.

RESULTS: There were 436,255,500 imaging studies performed between 2000 and 2021. The absolute utilisation of total imaging services increased annually by an average of 864,404 (95% CI: 808,235-920,573, p < 0.001). For each consecutive year, the proportion of total Medicare services attributed to total imaging services increased by 0.01% (95% CI: 0.01-0.01, p < 0.01). There was also a statistically significant increase in the utilisation rates of imaging services per 100,000 population for each imaging modality. The number of imaging services per radiologist increased on average by 74 (95% CI: 26-122, p < 0.05) annually.

CONCLUSION: The utilisation of diagnostic imaging services has increased in Australia between 2000 and 2021, outpacing the population growth, total healthcare services, and the radiologist workforce.

PMID:37797195 | DOI:10.1111/1754-9485.13591

Ann Work Expo Health. 2023 Oct 5:wxad059. doi: 10.1093/annweh/wxad059. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Exposure to flour dust remains one of the leading causes of occupational asthma in Great Britain (GB). The average annual incidence rate per 100,000 bakers and flour confectioners in GB was 47.8 for the 3 yr period 2017 to 2019 compared with 0.53 for all occupations. There are many processes in commercial bakeries that can cause exposure to flour dust. Exposures are typically controlled by using local exhaust ventilation or respiratory protective equipment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential to reduce exposure to inhalable flour dust in commercial bakeries by modification of the process by use of a conical sieve in place of a round sieve; and substitution of traditional wheat flour (TWF) with ‘low dust’ flours LD1 and LD2 for dusting surfaces. Two simulated commercial bakery tasks were performed in a laboratory whilst dust exposures were measured in the breathing zone of the operator using an Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) sampler, button sampler and a real-time direct reading monitor. Analysis of variance tests were used to assess whether differences in mean exposures were statistically significant with the different control approaches. A qualitative visual exposure assessment was also undertaken using Tyndall illumination. Substituting TWF with LD1 and LD2 reduced exposure to inhalable flour dust by 86% and 53% respectively when sieving and by 78% and 67% respectively when filling a hopper. There was no statistically significant difference between dust emissions for all 3 flours when using the conical sieve instead of the round sieve for flour dusting tasks. This laboratory study has shown that substituting TWF with low-dust flour may reduce inhalable dust exposures when dusting surfaces in bakeries.

PMID:37797190 | DOI:10.1093/annweh/wxad059

PLoS One. 2023 Oct 5;18(10):e0292489. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292489. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Certain cardiovascular health benefits of stair climbing are now widely accepted, but no prior studies have as yet been found linking the quantity of stairs climbed to low back pain (LBP) morbidity. Low back pain is a common musculoskeletal impairment, and research has begun to show an association between LBP and gluteus maximus (GM) weakness. With stair climbing being the activity which most activates GM, the aim of the present research was to assess the relationship between stair ambulation and LBP prevalence. The hypothesis of this cross-sectional study was that individuals with LBP would report a significantly lower numbers of stair flights climbed compared with individuals without LBP.

METHODS: A survey tool was developed and distributed via email to a convenience sample of orthopedic physical therapists. Survey items included information regarding medical history, physical activity, workplace, and LBP factors, using a one-year prevalence period.

RESULTS: A total of 363 respondents took the survey and, after application of exclusion criteria, 248 records remained in our final sample. When analyzing all genders together, non LBP (NLBP) respondents reported a mean of 51.62 flights climbed per week; and LBP respondents reported 37.82 flights climbed per week, with P = 0.077. When males and females were analyzed separately, a statistically significant difference in mean number of flights of stairs climbed was found among female respondents (61.51 flights climbed for NLBP and 35.61 flights climbed for LBP females; P = 0.031). When analyzed based on chronicity of LBP, an even stronger association between stairs climbed and LBP prevalence was found for female respondents with acute LBP (P = 0.009).

CONCLUSIONS: More weekly stairs climbed was associated with a lower LBP prevalence among females, especially with respect to acute LBP. Randomized, longitudinal research is, however, required to confirm a relationship between stair climbing and LBP.

PMID:37797076 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0292489

Ground Water. 2023 Oct 5. doi: 10.1111/gwat.13362. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Water table depth (WTD) has a substantial impact on the connection between groundwater dynamics and land surface processes. Due to the scarcity of WTD observations, physically-based groundwater models are growing in their ability to map WTD at large scales, however, they are still challenged to represent simulated WTD compared to well observations. In this study, we develop a purely data-driven approach to estimating WTD at continental scale. We apply a random forest (RF) model to estimate WTD over most of the contiguous US (CONUS) based on available WTD observations. The estimated WTD are in good agreement with well observations, with a Pearson correlation coefficient (r) of 0.96 (0.81 during testing), a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) of 0.93 (0.65 during testing), and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 6.87 m (15.31m during testing). The location of each grid cell is rated as the most important feature in estimating WTD over most of the CONUS, which might be a surrogate for spatial information. In addition, the uncertainty of the RF model is quantified using quantile regression forests. High uncertainties are generally associated with locations having a shallow WTD. Our study demonstrates that the RF model can produce reasonable WTD estimates over most of the CONUS, providing an alternative to physics-based modeling for modeling large-scale freshwater resources. Since the CONUS covers many different hydrologic regimes, the RF model trained for the CONUS may be transferrable to other regions with a similar hydrologic regime and limited observations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:37797066 | DOI:10.1111/gwat.13362

PLoS One. 2023 Oct 5;18(10):e0291343. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291343. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

Food insecurity is a major concern for the developing world and around 37% of the population of Pakistan is food insecure. This paper utilizes the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) to assess the population prevalence of food insecurity and to identify their risk factors and determinants at the household level in Pakistan. This study employs a multi-level random coefficient model, using the Pakistan Panel Household Survey (PPHS-2010) dataset; representative data from 4,130 households. Factors like; income of the household, gender, education, household size, land ownership, and shocks of food insecurity allow the incidence of idiosyncratic shocks (injuries and/or casualties) at the community level, which affects the food insecurity situation of the community, rather differently were included. The study confirms a statistically significant inverse relationship between household income, household size, and household head education with food insecurity and a positive association of shocks and inflation with food insecurity at the household level. Specifically, with increasing per capita income of the household, food insecurity declines (coefficient: -0.083, statistically significant at 1%) and food insecurity increases with shocks (coefficient: 0.058, statistically significant at 1% significance level). The study also reveals a significant heterogeneity at a one percent significance level in the determinants of food insecurity at the district, community, and household levels. The income of the household, household head gender and education level, household size, household assets, shocks, injuries, and inflationary pressure are important determinants of food insecurity in Pakistan.

PMID:37797055 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0291343

PLoS One. 2023 Oct 5;18(10):e0286626. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0286626. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

Quantification of the histological staining images gives important insights in biomedical research. In wet lab, it is common to have some stains off the target to become unwanted noisy stains during the generation of histological staining images. The current tools designed for quantification of histological staining images do not consider such situations; instead, the stained region is identified based on assumptions that the background is pure and clean. The goal of this study is to develop a light software named Staining Quantification (SQ) tool which could handle the image quantification job with features for removing a large amount of unwanted stains blended or overlaid with Region of Interest (ROI) in complex scenarios. The core algorithm was based on the method of higher order statistics transformation, and local density filtering. Compared with two state-of-art thresholding methods (i.e. Otsu’s method and Triclass thresholding method), the SQ tool outperformed in situations such as (1) images with weak positive signals and experimental caused dirty stains; (2) images with experimental counterstaining by multiple colors; (3) complicated histological structure of target tissues. The algorithm was developed in R4.0.2 with over a thousand in-house histological images containing Alizarin Red (AR) and Von Kossa (VK) staining, and was validated using external images. For the measurements of area and intensity in total and stained region, the average mean of difference in percentage between SQ and ImageJ were all less than 0.05. Using this as a criterion of successful image recognition, the success rate for all measurements in AR, VK and external validation batch were above 0.8. The test of Pearson’s coefficient, difference between SQ and ImageJ, and difference of proportions between SQ and ImageJ were all significant at level of 0.05. Our results indicated that the SQ tool is well established for automatic histological staining image quantification.

PMID:37797053 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0286626

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2023 Oct 5;17(10):e0011686. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0011686. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Podoconiosis (endemic non-filarial elephantiasis) is a chronic disease characterized by the development of persistent swelling of plantar foot initially; which progresses to the dorsal foot and lower leg slowly or in a number of acute episodes to reach the knee. About 4 million people are said to be affected by the disease worldwide and it is deemed a serious public health problem in at least 10 African countries including Ethiopia. Therefore this study aimed to identify the determinants of podoconiosis among residence in Machakel district.

METHOD: Unmatched case control study design was conducted at Machakel district from August 30 to September 30, 2022. The sample size calculated using Epi-info software yielded 211 controls and 106 cases (317 study participants). Simple random sampling technique was used to select the cases using registration books of the district. Data were entered to Epi info version 7 and exported to SPSS version 22 for statistical analysis. Binary logistic regression was used to identify explanatory variables.

RESULT: A total of 312 study participants (104 cases and 208 controls) were included giving a response rate of 98.42%. Bare foot (AOR, 5.83 [95% CI: 2.34-14.50]), female sex (AOR, 4.25 [95% CI: 2.22-8.14]), family history of podoconiosis (AOR 3.01(95% CI: 1.41-6.42) and age group 41-60 (AOR 5.05(95% CI: 2.35-10.83), and 61-80 AOR 15.74 95% CI: (5.56-44.55) were determinants of Podoconiosis.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: Barefoot, sex, family history of podoconiosis and age were determinants of Podoconiosis. District health office should encourage at risk populations especially older people and individuals with family history of podoconiosis about shoe wearing practice all the time and not to expose their skin and feet.

PMID:37797041 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pntd.0011686

PLoS One. 2023 Oct 5;18(10):e0292483. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292483. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men in the United States. Although treatable when detected early, prostate cancer commonly transitions to an aggressive castration-resistant metastatic state. While taxane chemotherapeutics such as docetaxel are mainstay treatment options for prostate cancer, taxane resistance often develops. Fatty acid binding protein 5 (FABP5) is an intracellular lipid chaperone that is upregulated in advanced prostate cancer and is implicated as a key driver of its progression. The recent demonstration that FABP5 inhibitors produce synergistic inhibition of tumor growth when combined with taxane chemotherapeutics highlights the possibility that FABP5 may regulate other features of taxane function, including resistance. Employing taxane-resistant DU145-TXR cells and a combination of cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and cell cycle assays, our findings demonstrate that FABP5 knockdown sensitizes the cells to docetaxel. In contrast, docetaxel potency was unaffected by FABP5 knockdown in taxane-sensitive DU145 cells. Taxane-resistance in DU145-TXR cells stems from upregulation of the P-glycoprotein ATP binding cassette subfamily B member 1 (ABCB1). Expression analyses and functional assays confirmed that FABP5 knockdown in DU145-TXR cells markedly reduced ABCB1 expression and activity, respectively. Our study demonstrates a potential new function for FABP5 in regulating taxane sensitivity and the expression of a major P-glycoprotein efflux pump in prostate cancer cells.

PMID:37796964 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0292483