Tag: pubmed

Rev Med Virol. 2023 Jun 23:e2469. doi: 10.1002/rmv.2469. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic linked to the virus SARS-CoV-2, which began in China, affected ∼765 million people as of 30 April 2023. The widespread use of corticosteroids for the symptomatic treatment of COVID-19 could lead to the reactivation of infections of opportunistic pathogens, including Strongyloides. We sought to determine the clinical symptoms and demographic characteristics of SARS-CoV-2-Strongyloides co-infection, particularly in patients with severe disease and being treated with immunosuppressive drugs. To do this, we undertook a systematic review of the literature, and searched public accessible scientific databases-the Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed/Medline and Embase -for eligible studies (1 December 2019 to 30 August 2022). The review protocol is registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022377062). Descriptive statistical analyses were used to present the clinical and laboratory parameters of the co-infection; for this, we calculated prevalence using the following formula: positive cases/total number of cases × 100. Of a total of 593 studies identified, 17 studies reporting 26 co-infected patients met the criteria for inclusion in this review. The median age of these patients was 55.14 years. Most of cases (53.8%) were treated with dexamethasone, followed by methylprednisolone (26.9%). Eighteen of 26 patients were immigrants living in European countries or the USA; most of these immigrants originated from Latin America (58%) and South-East Asia (11%). The commonest symptoms of co-infection were abdominal pain (50%), fever (46.1%), dyspnoea (30.7%) and cough (30.7%), and frequently reported laboratory findings were high absolute eosinophil count (38.4%), high white blood cell count (30.7%), high C-reactive protein (23.0%) and high neutrophil count (19.2%). Two of the 26 patients (7.7%) had fatal outcomes. Most of the SARS-CoV-2-Strongyloides coinfected cases were immigrants living in developed countries, emphasising the need for clinicians in these countries to be aware of clinical and laboratory parameters associated with such co-infections, as well as the key importance of rapid and accurate diagnostic tests for timely and effective diagnosis and patient management.

PMID:37353858 | DOI:10.1002/rmv.2469

Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2023 Jun 23;18(1):161. doi: 10.1186/s13023-023-02681-x.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The notion of “burden” has taken a key place in the evaluation of care, particularly in the case of rare diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the burden of neurofibromatosis 1 questionnaire (BoN) and to determine the perceived disease burden.

RESULTS: The 15-item BoN was translated into Persian, and no items were removed based on content validity. The adequacy of the sample was acceptable (KMO = 0.902), and Bartlett’s test of sphericity revealed statistically significant results (P < 0.001). Exploratory factor analysis revealed three factors. The reliability of the scale was good (Cronbach’s alpha: 0.90), and the intraclass coefficient was 0.85. The severity of the burden of neurofibromatosis was moderate, and the total mean burden score was 33.12 ± 16.12.

CONCLUSIONS: The Persian version of the BoN is an acceptable tool in terms of structure and content, and it specifically assesses the practical aspects of daily activities for patients with neurofibromatosis.

PMID:37353850 | DOI:10.1186/s13023-023-02681-x

Plant Methods. 2023 Jun 23;19(1):60. doi: 10.1186/s13007-023-01031-z.

ABSTRACT

Computer vision technology is moving more and more towards a three-dimensional approach, and plant phenotyping is following this trend. However, despite its potential, the complexity of the analysis of 3D representations has been the main bottleneck hindering the wider deployment of 3D plant phenotyping. In this review we provide an overview of typical steps for the processing and analysis of 3D representations of plants, to offer potential users of 3D phenotyping a first gateway into its application, and to stimulate its further development. We focus on plant phenotyping applications where the goal is to measure characteristics of single plants or crop canopies on a small scale in research settings, as opposed to large scale crop monitoring in the field.

PMID:37353846 | DOI:10.1186/s13007-023-01031-z

Crit Care. 2023 Jun 23;27(1):248. doi: 10.1186/s13054-023-04530-6.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The significance of detecting human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7) in the lower respiratory tract of patients with severe pneumonia is unclear. This study aims to evaluate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of detecting HHV-7 in the lower respiratory tract of patients with severe pneumonia.

METHODS: Patients with severe pneumonia requiring invasive mechanical ventilation and underwent commercial metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) testing of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from January 2019 to March 2023 were enrolled in 12 medical centers. Clinical data of patients were collected retrospectively, and propensity score matching was used for subgroup analysis and mortality assessment.

RESULTS: In a total number of 721 patients, 45 cases (6.24%) were identified with HHV-7 positive in lower respiratory tract. HHV-7 positive patients were younger (59.2 vs 64.4, p = 0.032) and had a higher rate of co-detection with Cytomegalovirus (42.2% vs 20.7%, p = 0.001) and Epstein-Barr virus (35.6% vs 18.2%, p = 0.008). After propensity score matching for gender, age, SOFA score at ICU admission, and days from ICU admission to mNGS assay, there was no statistically significant difference in the 28-day mortality rate between HHV-7 positive and negative patients (46.2% vs 36.0%, p = 0.395). Multivariate Cox regression analysis adjusting for gender, age, and SOFA score showed that HHV-7 positive was not an independent risk factor for 28-day mortality (HR 1.783, 95%CI 0.936-3.400, p = 0.079).

CONCLUSION: HHV-7 was detected in the lungs of 6.24% of patients with severe pneumonia. The presence of HHV-7 in patients with severe pneumonia requiring invasive mechanical ventilation is associated with a younger age and co-detected of Cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus. While HHV-7 positivity was not found to be an independent risk factor for mortality in this cohort, this result may have been influenced by the relatively small sample size of the study.

PMID:37353839 | DOI:10.1186/s13054-023-04530-6

Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2023 Jun 23;20(1):76. doi: 10.1186/s12966-023-01469-3.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Pictorial health warnings on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are a promising policy for preventing diet-related disease in children. A recent study found that pictorial warnings reduced parents’ purchases of SSBs for their children by 17%. However, the psychological mechanisms through which warnings affect parental behavior remain unknown. We aimed to identify the mechanisms that explain how pictorial warnings affect parents’ SSB purchasing behavior for their children using secondary data from a randomized trial.

METHODS: In 2020-2021, parents of children ages 2 to 12 years (n = 325) completed a shopping task in a convenience store laboratory in North Carolina, USA. Participants were randomly assigned to a pictorial warnings arm (SSBs displayed pictorial health warnings about type 2 diabetes and heart damage) or a control arm (SSBs displayed a barcode label). Parents then bought a beverage for their child and took a survey measuring 11 potential psychological mediators, selected based on health behavior theories and a model explaining the impact of tobacco warnings. We conducted simple mediation analyses to identify which of the 11 mechanisms mediated the impact of exposure to pictorial warnings on purchasing any SSBs for their children.

RESULTS: Two of the 11 constructs were statistically significant mediators. First, the impact of pictorial warnings on the likelihood of purchasing any SSB was mediated by parents’ perceptions that SSBs were healthier for their child (mediated effect= -0.17; 95% CI = – 0.33, – 0.05). Second, parents’ intentions to serve SSBs to their children also mediated the effect of warnings on likelihood of purchasing any SSB (mediated effect= -0.07, 95% CI=-0.21, – 0.003).

CONCLUSIONS: Pictorial warnings reduced parents’ purchases of SSBs for their children by making parents think SSBs are less healthful for their children and reducing their intentions to serve SSBs to their children. Communication approaches that target healthfulness perceptions and intentions to serve SSBs may motivate parents to buy fewer SSBs for their children.

PMID:37353823 | DOI:10.1186/s12966-023-01469-3

BMC Health Serv Res. 2023 Jun 23;23(1):685. doi: 10.1186/s12913-023-09667-2.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: There is a serious shortage of clinical pharmacists in Xinjiang, China. A six-month to one-year on-the-job training programme can rapidly transition nonclinical pharmacists into clinical pharmacists to resolve this issue. However, not all nonclinical pharmacists are willing to become clinical pharmacists, and many factors may influence their willingness. This study aims to assess the transformation intention of nonclinical hospital pharmacists and the contributing elements to make recommendations to accelerate the transformation of hospital pharmacists to clinical pharmacists.

METHODS: Cross-sectional survey was conducted in secondary and tertiary hospitals in Xinjiang. Taking 14 prefectures in Xinjiang as a cluster, 34 hospitals were randomly selected. By snowball sampling, the heads of pharmaceutical departments introduced non-clinical pharmacists to participate in an anonymous questionnaire survey, which included 41 questions about basic demographic information, cognition and attitudes towards pharmaceutical care, potential factors and willingness to transform, and it took an average of 10 min to complete. Using multifactor logistic regression, the contributing elements of transformation intention were analysed.

RESULTS: The survey was conducted from May to October 2022. 338 valid responses were obtained, with a response rate of 91.85% and a willingness to transform rate of 81.67%. There were significant differences in the willingness to transform among nonclinical pharmacists of different ages (P < 0.05), marital statuses (P < 0.05), years of employment (P < 0.05), and technical titles (P < 0.05). There were significant differences between the two groups in the following four aspects: whether the setting of human resources in the pharmaceutical department was reasonable (P < 0.05), the educational level of clinical pharmacists (P < 0.05), the higher salary level of clinical pharmacists (P < 0.05), and whether they had experience in pharmaceutical care (P < 0.05). There was a significant difference in the total score of the pharmaceutical care attitude scale (P < 0.05) between the willing and unwilling groups. The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the experience of providing pharmaceutical care (OR = 4.601, 95% CI: 1.13-18.69, P < 0.05) and attitude towards pharmaceutical care (OR = 3.302, 95% CI: 1.19-9.19, P < 0.05) had a statistically significant influence on the transformation intention of nonclinical pharmacists.

CONCLUSIONS: One-fifth of nonclinical pharmacists were unwilling to transition to clinical pharmacists. The attitude towards and experience of pharmaceutical care affected pharmacists’ transformation intention, so the suggestion is proposed to promote the transformation of nonclinical pharmacists into clinical pharmacists.

PMID:37353822 | DOI:10.1186/s12913-023-09667-2

Forensic Sci Int. 2023 Jun 14;349:111764. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111764. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: Zopiclone is a widely used hypnotic drug which is frequently detected in apprehended drivers. For assessments in forensic cases, the elimination half-life (t_1/2) of a drug is sometimes important. A t_1/2 of 3.5-6.5 h for zopiclone is previously reported in healthy individuals, but different factors like age and drug-interactions can affect the t_1/2 of zopiclone. The aim of this study was to describe concentrations of zopiclone and co-ingestion of additional drugs in apprehended drivers, and to investigate the t_1/2 of zopiclone based on two consecutive blood samples.

METHODS: Data was collected from apprehended drivers in Norway between 2003 and 2021. All cases where zopiclone was detected were included. In a subset of the material, two consecutive whole blood samples were collected ≥ 20 and < 60 min apart. Concentrations of zopiclone in blood were determined by LC-MS or UHPLC-MS/MS. The elimination and t_1/2 of zopiclone was estimated from the concentration change of zopiclone and the time interval between the two consecutive blood samples, under the assumption of first order kinetics.

RESULTS: The median concentration among all zopiclone positive cases was 0.044 mg/L (IQR 0.070 mg/L) (n = 2401). The most frequent additional drugs detected were ethanol (36%), diazepam (22%), amphetamine (14%) and THC (14%). In zopiclone-only cases (n = 364), the median concentration of zopiclone was 0.066 mg/L (IQR 0.115 mg/L). In 112 cases, two consecutive blood samples were collected. Of these, 28 cases showed increasing concentrations of zopiclone between the two sampling time points. Among the cases in which the concentration decreased (n = 84), the median C1 was 0.048 mg/L (IQR 0.062 mg/L) and the median C2 was 0.043 mg/L (IQR 0.056 mg/L). A Bayesian statistical model was used to obtain the posterior distribution of t_1/2. The posterior median of t_1/2 was estimated to 3.1 h (IQR=0.39 h) when including only the cases showing decreasing concentrations, and this increased to 3.8 h (IQR=0.52 h) when also including samples showing non outlying increase in concentrations. There was no statistically significant gender difference in the calculated half-lives (two-sided Mann-Whitney U test, p = .525).

CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that zopiclone is frequently detected in apprehended drivers in supra therapeutic concentrations and poly drug cases. The elimination of zopiclone in blood from two consecutive blood samples indicated an apparent t_1/2 of between 3.1 and 3.8 h, which is within the lower range of what previous experimental studies on healthy individuals have reported.

PMID:37352736 | DOI:10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111764

Epilepsy Res. 2023 Jun 15;194:107180. doi: 10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2023.107180. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The current conclusions of molecular genetics still cannot satisfactorily explain the pathogenesis of focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) and the reason for drug resistance. The interneurons of GABA deserve attention. To observe the distribution and changes of GABAergic neurons and to explore the expression of cation chloride cotransporter NKCC1/KCC2 in focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) type II lesions is a highly significant job.

METHODS: The expressions of GAD67(a marker of active GABAergic neuron), NKCC1 and KCC2 were detected by immunohistochemistry and immunohistochemistry double staining in 10 cases of FCD Ⅱa and 10 cases of FCD Ⅱb. The number of GAD67 positive neurons was counted, and the average absorbance (IA) of NKCC1 positive expression was measured, using Image Pro-Plus7.0 software. The data were statistically analyzed.

RESULTS: The density of GABAergic neuron in focal dysplastic regions was significantly lower than that in the histologically “normal” cerebral cortex, regions from the same specimen (p < 0.0001, t-test). Compared to the NKCC1 staining intensity of neurons in the control group (measuring 1000 cells each), the IA value of dysmorphic neurons was significantly increased (p < 0.05, t’-test Cochran & Cox method). Intracytoplasmic concentration of KCC2 was evident in dysmorphic neurons but not in the other mature neurons. Most of the balloon cells were negative for NKCC1, except for few balloon cells showing sparse colored particles. The expression of KCC2 was negative in all balloon cells.

CONCLUSIONS: The changes in the expression of NKCC1 and KCC2 may indicate that dysmorphic neurons were in a state similar to that of immature neurons. This state may be related to the abnormal electrophysiology of epilepsy. The difference between the number of GAD67 positive cells in the lesion site and the remote site of the same case may be an evaluation index of the effectiveness of surgery.

PMID:37352729 | DOI:10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2023.107180

J Health Econ. 2023 Jun 21;90:102779. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2023.102779. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the effect of scientific information from randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) on the demand for off-label uses of cancer drugs. This is a unique setting where demand for a drug for a specific use is observable both before and after the first RCT results are released. Using variation in the timing of RCTs across off-label uses of drugs, I find that demand responds asymmetrically to the trial results based on the statistical significance of the clinically relevant endpoint. When this endpoint is statistically significant, there is a large and immediate increase in demand. When this end point is not statistically significant, physicians are relatively slow to abandon use of the drug.

PMID:37352724 | DOI:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2023.102779

Am J Cardiol. 2023 Jun 21;201:58-61. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2023.05.037. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Sex-based disparities in outcomes are reported for various cardiovascular procedures. This study aimed to assess the difference in outcomes in patients who underwent WATCHMAN device implant based on sex. Patients who underwent WATCHMAN device placement, from 2016 to 2018, were identified from the National Inpatient Sample database. The primary outcome was inpatient mortality, and the secondary outcomes were the length of stay (LOS), hospitalization cost (HOC), and periprocedural complications. A logistic regression model was built to perform an adjusted analysis for the outcomes. A total of 12,327 patients underwent WATCHMAN device placement. Female patients were older and more likely to have hypertension (p <0.01) and less likely to have peripheral arterial disease (5.6 vs 7.2, p <0.01), chronic kidney disease (21% vs 26%, p <0.01), and diabetes (18% vs 20%, p = 0.03) and were also at a higher risk for certain periprocedural complications, including pericardiocentesis and anemia requiring blood transfusion (p <0.01 for all). In the unadjusted analysis, the female sex was associated with longer LOS (1.5 vs 1.3 days, p <0.01) and inpatient mortality (0.23 vs 0.10, p = 0.05). The HOC was numerically higher in women but statistically nonsignificant ($120,791 vs $118,554, p = 0.1). In the stepwise, backward, multivariate regression analysis, the female sex was an independent risk factor for higher LOS (1.5 vs 1.3 days, p <0.01, 95% confidence interval 1.3 to 1.4) after adjusting for potential confounders. The inpatient mortality and HOC were similar between 2 groups after adjusting for potential cofounders in the multivariate regression analysis. Our study suggests that the female sex is an independent risk factor for longer LOS among patients hospitalized for WATCHMAN device placement.

PMID:37352665 | DOI:10.1016/j.amjcard.2023.05.037