Tag: pubmed

J Am Chem Soc. 2022 May 25. doi: 10.1021/jacs.2c02836. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In this work, we synthesized an acrylamide-based terpolymer that is a block copolymer composed of an AB alternating copolymer and a C homopolymer. The key to the unprecedented achievement is rational design of an acrylate-acrylamide divinyl monomer carrying CF₃-substituted salicylic acid ester bonds (AAm-CF₃) to realize the efficient and selective cyclopolymerization as well as the quantitative transformation of the resultant cyclorepeating units. The selectivity in the cyclopolymerization and the pendant transformation ability were evaluated through reactivity ratios of the corresponding model monomers and quantitative aminolysis reactions of the model compound. The cyclopolymerization via the photoinduced electron transfer-reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (PET-RAFT) process with a macrochain-transfer agent and subsequent aminolysis reaction afforded the homopolymer-block-alternating copolymer. The sequence-controlled terpolymer exhibited a very unique thermal response behavior in water that was strikingly different from the corresponding sequence-uncontrolled terpolymers, such as homopolymer-block-statistical copolymers and all statistical terpolymers, despite the fact that the structure cannot be distinguished by ¹H NMR.

PMID:35613460 | DOI:10.1021/jacs.2c02836

Sud Med Ekspert. 2022;65(3):5-9. doi: 10.17116/sudmed2022650315.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study is to study the prevalence and frequency of sudden death (SD) from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in the structure of non-violent death, taking into account the socio-economic development of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. We analyzed the frequency of this indicator, compared it with the data of the Federal State Statistics Service, and determined the overall dynamics. We conducted a non-parametric analysis of the initial data, carried out clustering and visualization based on the following parameters of the initial sample: «CVD mortality in the structure of non-violent death», «morbidity» and «per capita income level». Correlation dependences of the level of mortality from CVD according to the form 42 on the indicated indicators of the socio-economic condition of the subject were determined. Identified subjects of the Russian Federation with an increase in mortality from CVD; established the dependence of the level of VS on CVD and a number of medical and economic indicators.

PMID:35613439 | DOI:10.17116/sudmed2022650315

JMIR Form Res. 2022 May 9. doi: 10.2196/35717. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: To provide effective care for COVID-19 inpatients, clinical practitioners need systems that monitor patient health and subsequently allow for risk scoring. Existing approaches for risk scoring in COVID-19 patients focus primarily on intensive care units with specialized medical measurement devices, but not on hospital general wards.

OBJECTIVE: In this paper, we aim to develop a risk score for COVID-19 inpatients in general wards based on consumer-grade wearables (smartwatches).

METHODS: Patients wore consumer-grade wearables to record physiological measurements such as heart rate, heart rate variability, and respiration frequency. Based on Bayesian survival analysis, we validate the association between these measurements and the patient outcomes (i.e., discharge or intensive care unit admission). To build our risk score, we generate a low-dimensional representation of the physiological features. Subsequently, a pooled ordinal regression with time-dependent covariates infers the probability of either hospital discharge or intensive care unit (ICU) admission.

RESULTS: We evaluate the predictive performance of our developed system for risk scoring in a single-center, prospective study based on N = 40 inpatients with COVID-19 in a general ward of a tertiary referral center in Switzerland. First, the Bayesian survival analysis shows that physiological measurements from consumer-grade wearables are significantly associated with the patient outcomes (i.e., discharge or intensive care unit admission). Second, our risk score achieves a time-dependent area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.73 to 0.90 based on leave-one-subject-out cross-validation.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of consumer-grade wearables for risk scoring in COVID-19 inpatients. Due to their low cost and ease of use, consumer-grade wearables could enable a scalable monitoring system.

CLINICALTRIAL: The study Wearable-based COVID-19 Markers for Prediction of Clinical Trajectories (WAVE) is registered at https://clinicaltrials.gov (Identifier: NCT04357834). The study followed the Declaration of Helsinki, the guidelines of good clinical practice, the Swiss health laws, and the ordinance on clinical research. The study was approved by the local ethics committee Bern, Switzerland (ID 2020-00874). Each patient gave informed written consent before any study-related procedure.

PMID:35613417 | DOI:10.2196/35717

J Clin Oncol. 2022 May 25:JCO2102558. doi: 10.1200/JCO.21.02558. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The approval of tisagenlecleucel and axicabtagene ciloleucel in 2017 marked a milestone in the development of oncology therapies. Since 2017, the breakthrough in treatment or even cure of previously intractable diseases represented by this new class of cancer treatments has continued with subsequent chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR T)-cell approvals. To date, the US Food and Drug Administration has approved five autologous CAR T-cell products for seven indications. A feature of autologous CAR T-cell products that differentiates them from traditional oncology drugs is that they need to be manufactured specifically for each patient. This feature has implications in study design, statistical analyses, and interpretation of study results. In this article, we share our experiences in the statistical review of CAR T-cell products and provide considerations for the design and statistical analyses of CAR T-cell trials. We also describe how the newly adopted estimand framework for clinical trials can help clarify nuanced issues in CAR T-cell trial design.

PMID:35613410 | DOI:10.1200/JCO.21.02558

Breastfeed Med. 2022 May 25. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2021.0371. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Background: The etiology of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is controversially discussed. One of the most recently proposed causes of NEC is an allergy to cow’s milk protein. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of a maternal diet without bovine protein on the incidence of any NEC in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. Materials and Methods: A pilot randomized controlled clinical trial was performed at Akbarabadi Hospital, Tehran, Iran, from December 2019 to July 2020, in women with VLBW infants. One hundred twenty mothers with VLBW neonates were randomly assigned to the intervention or the control group (60 in each). In the intervention group, mothers were given a dairy-free diet during the first 14 days after the newborn’s onset of feeding. No special diet was given to the control group. The primary outcome of the study was the rate of any NEC in neonates, which was compared between groups. Any NEC was defined as Bell stage I or greater. Results: The minimum and maximum gestational ages were 26 and 33 weeks, respectively. The minimum birth weight of neonates was 700 g. The two groups did not differ significantly in terms of demographic and preinterventional clinical characteristics. Any NEC was reported in 0% and 10% (5/52) of neonates in the intervention and control groups, respectively; the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.028). The NEC symptoms began ∼34 days after birth. Four cases of NEC were classified as Bell stage I, and one was classified as Bell stage II. No statistical association was registered between sex, gestational age, birth weight, and the onset of feeding with the incidence of any NEC. Conclusion: The use of a cow’s milk protein-free diet in mothers and exclusive breastfeeding in preterm VLBW infants may reduce the incidence of NEC. We recommend further studies with larger sample sizes in a multicenter setting. The study was registered at the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT20200415047086N1).

PMID:35613385 | DOI:10.1089/bfm.2021.0371

Nano Lett. 2022 May 25. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c00395. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Emerging twistronics based on van der Waals (vdWs) materials has attracted great interest in condensed matter physics. Recently, more neoteric three-dimensional (3D) architectures with interlayer twist are realized in germanium sulfide (GeS) crystals. Here, we further demonstrate a convenient way for tailoring the twist rate of helical GeS crystals via tuning of the growth temperature. Under higher growth temperatures, the twist angles between successive nanoplates of the GeS mesowires (MWs) are statistically smaller, which can be understood by the dynamics of the catalyst during the growth. Moreover, we fabricate self-assembled helical heterostructures by introducing germanium selenide (GeSe) onto helical GeS crystals via edge epitaxy. Besides the helical architecture, the moiré superlattices at the twisted interfaces are also inherited. Compared with GeS MWs, helical GeSe/GeS heterostructures exhibit improved electrical conductivity and photoresponse. These results manifest new opportunities in future electronics and optoelectronics by harnessing 3D twistronics based on vdWs materials.

PMID:35613359 | DOI:10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c00395

Klin Lab Diagn. 2022 May 21;67(5):301-308. doi: 10.51620/0869-2084-2022-67-5-301-308.

ABSTRACT

A research objective – to study tumor tissues of primary and recurrent patients with cancer of the oropharyngeal region for the frequency of occurrence of four types of anaerobic periodontogens and their associations by two methods: real-time PCR and cultural. There is speculation that bacteria can influence the pathogenesis of cancer. A comparative assessment of the content of four anaerobic periodontogens (Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Tannerella forsythensis, Treponema denticola) in the tumor tissue and in the healthy tissue of the oral mucosa of patients with oropharyngeal cancer was carried out. It was found that the identification of odontopathogens by the real-time PCR method is much more informative than the traditional culture method, with the exception of P. intermedia, for the identification of which the traditional culture method was more effective. In 33.3% of patients, both primary and secondary, the composition of microorganisms was the same in both healthy and tumor tissue. In 20% of primary patients and in 13.3% of repeat patients, no associations of microorganisms included in the study were found in healthy tissue. Associations of 4 bacteria were recorded only in tumor tissue in both primary and repeated patients, and in repeated patients – statistically significantly more often. In 53.3% of repeat patients, associations of 4 bacteria were recorded in tumor tissue, whereas in primary patients, only in one case. P. gingivalis from tumor tissue in repeat patients was statistically significantly more often than in primary patients. T. forsythensis in primary patients was found statistically significantly more often in healthy tissues than in repeat patients, in which T. forsythensis was found statistically significantly more often from tumor tissue than in healthy tissue). T. denticola in healthy tissue was detected in both primary and repeated patients in isolated cases. T. denticola in tumor tissue was found statistically significantly more frequently in both primary and repeated patients compared to healthy tissue. P. gingivalis, T. forsythensis, and T. denticola should perhaps be considered risk indicators indicating the level of significance of their associations with oropharyngeal cancer.

PMID:35613350 | DOI:10.51620/0869-2084-2022-67-5-301-308

Endocr Relat Cancer. 2022 May 1:ERC-22-0038. doi: 10.1530/ERC-22-0038. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Radioiodine (RAI) is selectively recommended for intermediate-risk differentiated thyroid carcinomas (DTC). The information gleaned from pretherapy stimulated thyroglobulin levels (sTg) and diagnostic 131I whole body scans (DxWBS) to guide therapy remains controversial. The present study aimed at evaluating the impact of preablation sTg and DxWBS in the management of intermediate-risk DTC. A retrospective analysis of 301 intermediate-risk DTC patients submitted to total thyroidectomy and RAI therapy was performed. Pretherapy sTg and DxWBS and post-therapy WBS (RxWBS) findings were analyzed and compared to outcomes. Fifty-two patients (17.3%) had metastases diagnosed by DxWBS and/or RxWBS. The DxWBS identified 10.6% of patients with functioning metastases, including unexpected distant metastases. If combined with SPECT-CT, DxWBS detected RAI-avid metastases more frequently, particularly lymph node metastases (13.1% vs. 4.2% planar WBS, p=0.015). The DxWBS findings modified patient management in 8.3%. A pretherapy sTg <1 ng/mL was associated with a low false-negative rate for the presence of metastases (5.2%), and its performance in excluding metastasis was improved by a negative DxWBS (2.7%) of patients with both negative exams had metastases in RxWBS). A sTg <1 ng/mL predicted statistically significant lower rates of recurrent/persistent disease and biochemical/structural incomplete responses. In conclusion, preablation sTg and DxWBS contribute to the detection of unknown or persistent metastatic disease in intermediate-risk DTC patients. A sTg <1 ng/mL in combination with a negative DxWBS is highly suggestive of the absence of remaining malignant disease, and one may consider deferring RAI ablation if both exams are negative. A stunning effect is rarely observed and it does not impair proper treatment of metastases.

PMID:35613335 | DOI:10.1530/ERC-22-0038

Am J Hum Biol. 2022 May 25:e23771. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.23771. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: A Smedley hand dynamometer is one of the standard devices for measuring handgrip strength (HGS) for children and adults. The aim was to compare the HGS values using two different types of dynamometers (Grip-A or Grip-D) in young children. To enable comparison between the two devices, we have redesigned the Grip-D (i.e., modified Grip-D).

METHODS: Twenty-five preschool children (10 girls and 15 boys) performed maximal voluntary HGS in the right hand using two different types of dynamometers. We ran a paired sample t-test on the difference in HGS between the two devices.

RESULTS: The measured values of HGS were 9.95 kg for Grip-A and 8.56 kg for modified Grip-D, and the difference between the two devices [1.39 (SD 0.65) kg] was greater than we expected (95% limits of agreement: 0.11, 2.6 kg). Thus, we then calibrated both dynamometers ourselves using known weights. The measured values were corrected if there was an error between the known weight and each dynamometer. Following adjustment, there was still a statistical difference (p < 0.001) in HGS between Grip-A [10.65 (SD 1.52) kg] and modified Grip-D [9.98 (SD 1.85) kg]. However, the difference between the two devices was 0.67 (SD 0.69) kg with the 95% limits of agreement between -0.68 and 2.0 kg.

CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the HGS values of children measured with the company-calibrated new Grip-A and modified Grip-D could provide reasonably close estimates.

PMID:35613332 | DOI:10.1002/ajhb.23771

Rev Lat Am Enfermagem. 2022;30:e3565. doi: 10.1590/1518-8345.5653.3565.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: as a health care profession focused on caring for people, Nursing requires sound communication skills. Based on an international expert consensus, a proposal on learning outcomes in clinical communication for undergraduate Nursing education curricula in Spanish speaking countries is presented.

METHOD: a steering committee, consisting of 5 nurses and experts in communication in health care sciences, drew up the first list of communication skills specific to the Nursing degree. Their proposal was reviewed and improved by a committee of 7 international scientific advisers. 70 experts from 14 countries were selected using a snowball sampling procedure and invited to participate in a distance modified Delphi consensus process in two survey rounds. Statistical analysis was carried out to establish the final consensus level for each item.

RESULTS: a questionnaire with 68 learning outcomes in clinical communications was submitted for panel assessment. In the first Delphi round, the panel reached a statistical consensus on all the items assessed. There was no need for a second round to reconcile positions.

CONCLUSION: an academic proposal, approved by a high level of international consensus, is presented to guide and unify the learning outcomes on the clinical communication curriculum for undergraduate Nursing studies in Spanish speaking countries.

PMID:35613251 | DOI:10.1590/1518-8345.5653.3565