Tag: pubmed

Epidemiol Health. 2021 Sep 8:e2021057. doi: 10.4178/epih.e2021057. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To compare meta-analysis results with and without adjustment for healthy worker effect on the association between working in the semiconductor industry and cancer mortality.

METHODS: A total of six studies that reported standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for cancers were selected for meta-analysis. The SMR results from individual study were combined for all cancers, leukemia and lymphoma to estimate the summary SMRs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) with random-effects model. To adjust for healthy worker effect, the relative SMRs (rSMR=SMRx/SMRnot x) were calculated using observed and expected counts for the specific cause of interest (i.e., all cancers and leukemia) and observed and expected counts for all the other causes of mortality. Then, the rSMR results were combined to estimate the summary rSMRs and 95% confidence intervals.

RESULTS: The SMRs for all causes among semiconductor industry workers ranged from 0.25 to 0.80, which reflects significant healthy worker effects. Remarkable difference was found between the summary SMRs and the summary rSMRs. The summary SMR for all cancers was 0.70 (95% CI=0.63-0.79) whereas the summary rSMR was 1.38 (1.20-1.59). The summary SMR for leukemia was 0.88 (0.72-1.08), and the summary rSMR was 1.38 (1.20-1.59).

CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the adjustment for the healthy worker effect (i.e., rSMR) may be useful in meta-analyses of cohort studies reporting SMRs.

PMID:34525505 | DOI:10.4178/epih.e2021057

J Cosmet Dermatol. 2021 Sep 15. doi: 10.1111/jocd.14440. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Melasma, also known as chloasma or mask of pregnancy, is a common, acquired, hyperpigmentary disorder usually affecting females. Tranexamic acid (TA), a derivative of amino acid lysine, has shown promising results over the past few years when used along with other therapies and when used as a stand-alone therapy.

AIM OF THE WORK: In this study, we aimed to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of topically applied tranexamic acid after microneedling versus topically applied hydroquinone (HQ) 4% alone in patients with melasma.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty selected patients were divided randomly according to the random number allocation method into two groups (25 patients each) of A (topical 4% hydroquinone, nightly application) and B (microneedling + topical 4% TA, every other week).

RESULTS: After eight weeks of treatment, the mean modified MASI score of the HQ treated side changed from 6.604 ± 4.02 to 3.032 ± 1.19 with a mean decrease percentage of 54.8% ± 19.4%. This reduction in modified MASI score was found to be statistically significant, (p < 0.001). MASI score of group B (TA +microneedling) changed from 6.348 ± 3.84 to 3.712 ± 1.19 with mean decrease percentage of 57.4% ± 23.4% which was also statistically significant, (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: We demonstrated safety and efficacy of both used modalities and with minimal side effects. Topical HQ application achieved minimal non-significant higher satisfactory results among raters and subjects.

PMID:34525492 | DOI:10.1111/jocd.14440

Epidemiol Health. 2021 Sep 7:e2021058. doi: 10.4178/epih.e2021058. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: With the rising elderly population subject to chronic disease, pain becomes crucial to understand and design an appropriate approach to it. While pain is a noted mortality risk factor, limited studies exists due to various causes of pain and subjectivity of pain expression. This study aims to examine the relationship between pain and mortality, controlling for other disease and socio-cultural factors.

METHODS: We used 6,258 community-dwelling individuals aged 45 years or older – population with highest prevalence of pain, using the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (2006-2016) data and the Cox proportional-hazards model. Further subgroup analyses were conducted by gender and education level to examine differences in the relationship between pain and mortality.

RESULTS: The adjusted hazard ratios of mortality were 1.16 (95%CI: 1.00-1.34, Model 1) and 1.12 (95%CI: 0.97-1.29, Model 2) for the individuals in pain depending on the models used, where additional socio-cultural factors were accounted for in Model 2. Importantly, for individuals in severe pain, they were significantly higher with 1.23 (95%CI: 1.08-1.41, Model 1) and 1.16 (95%CI: 1.02-1.32, Model 2). Further subgroup analyses showed that while both male and more educated individuals were less likely to report pain, their severe pain were more associated with mortality, for example 1.29 (95%CI: 1.08-1.55, Model 2) for male and 1.62 (95%CI: 1.15-2.28, Model 2) for more educated individuals.

CONCLUSION: Pain showed a statistically significant relationship with the mortality risk. Family members or medical staff need to pay proper attention to it, especially severe pain from male and highly educated individuals.

PMID:34525504 | DOI:10.4178/epih.e2021058

Respiration. 2021 Sep 15:1-11. doi: 10.1159/000518914. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Findings from autopsies have provided evidence on systemic microvascular damage as one of the underlying mechanisms of Coronavirus disease 2019 (CO-VID-19). The aim of this study was to correlate autopsy-based cause of death in SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positive patients with chest imaging and severity grade of pulmonary and systemic morphological vascular pathology.

METHODS: Fifteen SARS-CoV-2 positive autopsies with clinically distinct presentations (age 22-89 years) were retrospectively analyzed with focus on vascular, thromboembolic, and ischemic changes in pulmonary and in extrapulmonary sites. Eight patients died due to COVID-19 associated respiratory failure with diffuse alveolar damage in various stages and/or multi-organ failure, whereas other reasons such as cardiac decompensation, complication of malignant tumors, or septic shock were the cause of death in 7 further patients. The severity of gross and histopathological changes was semi-quantitatively scored as 0 (absent), 1 (mild), and 3 (severe). Severity scores between the 2 groups were correlated with selected clinical parameters, initial chest imaging, autopsy-based cause of death, and compared using Pearson χ2 and Mann-Whitney U tests.

RESULTS: Severe pulmonary endotheliitis (p = 0.031, p = 0.029) and multi-organ involvement (p = 0.026, p = 0.006) correlated significantly with COVID-19 associated death. Pulmonary microthrombi showed limited statistical correlation, while tissue necrosis, gross pulmonary embolism, and bacterial superinfection did not differentiate the 2 study groups. Chest imaging at hospital admission did not differ either.

CONCLUSIONS: Extensive pulmonary endotheliitis and multi-organ involvement are characteristic autopsy features in fatal CO-VID-19 associated deaths. Thromboembolic and ischemic events and bacterial superinfections occur frequently in SARS-CoV-2 infection independently of outcome.

PMID:34525475 | DOI:10.1159/000518914

J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis. 2021 Sep 12;30(11):106100. doi: 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2021.106100. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prognostic value of positive global left atrial strain (LA-GSA+), measured by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) in a population of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients without atrial fibrillation (AF), in the setting of Emergency Department (ED).

METHODS: All consecutive AIS patients with sinus rhythm on ECG and without AF history entered this prospective study. All patients underwent complete blood tests and transthoracic echocardiography implemented with 2D-STE analysis of LA strain parameters within 6-12 h after symptoms onset. At 6-months follow-up, we evaluated the composite endpoint of all-cause mortality plus cardiovascular re-hospitalizations.

RESULTS: A total of 102 AIS patients (76.4 ± 10.8 yrs, 47% males) were prospectively included. LA-GSA+ was markedly reduced in AIS patients (20.8 ± 7.7%), without any statistically significant difference between the stroke subtypes. At 6-months follow-up, 7 deaths and 27 re-hospitalizations occurred. On multivariate Cox regression analysis, variables independently associated with outcome were: LA-GSA+ (per unit) (HR 0.29, 95% CI 0.19-0.39) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (per 0.1 mg/dl) (HR 1.45, 95% CI 1.15-1.75) as continuous variables; statin therapy (HR 0.45, 95%CI 0.28-0.62), and type 2 diabetes (HR 1.65, 95% CI 1.15-2.35) as categorical variables. A LA-GSA+ ≤20.0% predicted the occurrence of the above-mentioned outcome at 6-months follow-up with 94% sensitivity and 81% specificity (AUC=0.84). Interestingly, GSA+ showed a strong inverse correlation with CRP levels (r = -0.86).

CONCLUSIONS: A LA-GSA+ ≤20% reflects a more advanced atrial cardiomyopathy and might provide a rapid and reliable prognostic risk stratification of AIS patients without AF history in the setting of ED.

PMID:34525440 | DOI:10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2021.106100

J Phys Condens Matter. 2021 Sep 15. doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/ac26fa. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The composition of the electrolyte is critical in the electrodeposition of high-purity silicon. In this work, molecular dynamics modeling of the preparation of liquid salt melt KF-KCl-KI and a detailed study of its structure based on the method of statistical geometry have been performed. Partial radial distribution functions reflect the size of the ions under consideration and the averaged structure of the generated ionic subsystems. Halogen subsystems have domed angular distributions of nearest geometric neighbors, a wide range of face types of combined polyhedra, and fifth order rotational symmetry. The shape of the distribution of distances to the nearest neighbors of a given type depends on the amount of these ions in the melt. Small-scale thermal fluctuations in the halogen subsystems are predominantly represented by small triangular faces in combined polyhedra. The electrodeposition of silicon was carried out in a homogeneous salt melt, in which each halogen ion had from one to three close contacts with halogen ions of any other type. The simulations performed provide a fundamental understanding of the structure of the electrolyte molten salts used to produce solar silicon.

PMID:34525454 | DOI:10.1088/1361-648X/ac26fa

Urol Int. 2021 Sep 15:1-7. doi: 10.1159/000517791. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Renal cysts are a frequent incidental finding on cross-sectional radiographic imaging. While most cysts are indolent, individuals with such cysts are frequently monitored for interval growth and potential malignant transformation, which is ultimately rare. In this study, we aimed to assess patients’ values and preferences (believes and attitudes) about renal cysts.

METHODS: We deployed a cross-sectional survey to a random sample of patients with a diagnosis of renal cysts who were identified by billing code and self-identification. We collected data about demographics, insurance status, family history and overall health, and characteristics of patients with renal cysts. We performed a binary regression analysis (adjusted for age, gender, family history of cancer and kidney disease, and treatment plan for renal cysts) to determine anxiety predictors in patients with renal cysts.

RESULTS: We included 301 respondents in whom billing code and self-identification corresponded; of these, 138 had renal cysts and 163 did not. In an adjusted regression analysis, there was a suggestion that a clear management plan (OR = 0.49, 95% CI [0.22-1.11]) (p value 0.08) may be associated with less anxiety and a family history of renal disease may be associated with more anxiety (OR = 1.94 [0.76-4.94]) (p value 0.17). Family history of cancer also did not significantly predict anxiety (OR = 0.54 [0.24-1.19]) (p value 0.13). All these results were not statistically significant and had wide confidence intervals of the effect estimates make the results imprecise.

CONCLUSION: Findings of this pilot study suggest a clear management plan for the renal cyst(s) management may be associated with a lower level of anxiety, thereby by emphasizing the importance of good communication, patient engagement and evidence-based guidance. More definitive, adequately powered studies are needed to evaluate this finding further. In addition, further studies exploring differences in imaging practices, patient symptomatology and patient engagement by different provider types would be insightful. Ultimately, tools to improve shared decision-making are needed to provide more patient-centered care.

PMID:34525470 | DOI:10.1159/000517791

Aquat Toxicol. 2021 Sep 8;239:105962. doi: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2021.105962. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In the present work, QSTR modeling was conducted for microalga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata using a data set of 271 molecules belonging to different types of chemical classes for the prediction of EC₅₀ for 72 hr based assays. The balanced QSTR model encompasses seven easily interpretable molecular descriptors and possesses statistical robustness with high predictive ability. This Genetic Algorithm Multi-linear regression (GA-MLR) model was subjected to internal validation, Y-randomization test, applicability domain analysis, and external validation as per the recommended OECD guidelines. The newly developed model fulfilled the threshold values for more than 20 recommended validation parameters including R² = 0.72, Q²_LOO = 0.70, etc. The developed QSTR model was successful in identifying the type of hybridization or specific type of atoms of previously reported and newer structural alerts. Thus, the model could be useful for data gap filling and expanding mechanistic interpretation of toxicity for different chemicals.

PMID:34525418 | DOI:10.1016/j.aquatox.2021.105962

Seizure. 2021 Aug 31;92:158-165. doi: 10.1016/j.seizure.2021.08.015. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In recent years, studies have examined the relationship between febrile seizures in children and S100B protein with contradictory results. We systematically evaluated the relationship between children’s febrile seizures and S100B protein levels.

METHODS: We used Stata 11.0 software to conduct a meta-analysis of the included studies published in The China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP, Wanfang, Chinese Biology Medicine Disc, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE databases as well as clinical trial registries in China, Europe, and the United States.

RESULTS: Six case-control studies were finally included in the meta-analysis. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the serum S100B protein level of children with febrile seizures was 0.72 higher than the serum S100B protein level of healthy children (Z=6.85, 95% CI 0.52∼0.93, P<0.05). There was no difference in the serum S100B protein level between the children with febrile seizures and children with fever but without seizures (Z=0.70, 95% CI -0.20∼0.41, P>0.05).

CONCLUSION: The level of serum S100B protein in children with febrile seizures was higher than that of healthy children and was statistically significant, whereas the increase in children with higher fever without seizures was not statistically significant. Because there was only a difference in serum S100B protein levels between children with febrile seizures and healthy children but not in febrile children without seizures as the strongest confounding factors for the results, febrile seizures do not elevate the level of S100B protein levels any more than fever.

PMID:34525431 | DOI:10.1016/j.seizure.2021.08.015

Accid Anal Prev. 2021 Sep 4;162:106391. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2021.106391. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The current study aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on road traffic collisions, fatalities, and injuries using time series analyses. To that aim, a database containing road collisions, fatalities, and slight injuries data from Greece were derived from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (HSA) and covered a ten-year timeframe (from January 2010 to August 2020. The chosen time period contained normal operations, as well as the period of the first COVID-19-induced lockdown period in Greece. Three different Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) time series models were implemented in order to compare the observed measurements to forecasted values that were intended to depict assumed conditions; namely, without the appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic. Modelling results revealed that the total number of road collisions, fatalities, and slightly injured were decreased, mainly due to the sharp traffic volume decrease. However, the percentage reduction of the collision variables and traffic volume were found to be disproportionate, which probably indicates that more collisions occurred with regard to the prevailing traffic volume. An additional finding is that fatalities and slightly injured rates were significantly increased during the lockdown period and the subsequent month. Overall, it can be concluded that a worse performance was identified in terms of road safety. Since subsequent waves of COVID-19 cases and other pandemics may reappear in the future, the outcomes of the current study may be exploited for the improvement of road safety from local authorities and policymakers.

PMID:34525414 | DOI:10.1016/j.aap.2021.106391