Tag: pubmed

Klin Monbl Augenheilkd. 2022 Mar 23. doi: 10.1055/a-1743-3067. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To conduct an evaluation of the effects of irregular astigmatism on the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and the retinal layers observed using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in patients who had keratoconus (KC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 255 eyes from 255 individuals, comprising 72 eyes of KC patients, 70 eyes of patients with astigmia, and 113 eyes of healthy controls were included in the analysis. RNFL scan maps (comprising global, temporal, superotemporal, inferotemporal, nasal, inferonasal, and superonasal maps) and macular thickness (MT) maps of a standard from the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) grid were assessed. The measurements were segmented automatically using Spectralis software, and included the RNFL, inner and outer plexiform layers (IPL, OPL), inner and outer nuclear layers (INL, ONL), ganglion cell layer, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in the central 6-mm ETDRS subfield.

RESULTS: The RNFL thickness in the KC group was lower when compared with the other two groups; however, statistically significant differences were noted in the global, temporal, superotemporal, and inferotemporal sectors (p < 0.05 for all). All of the central MT parameters showed significant variation among the groups, while a statistically significant decrease was noted in the KC group, except in the inferior outer sector (p = 0.741). In the segmentation analysis, the KC group had the significantly lowest IPL, ONL, RPE, and outer retinal layer (ORL) thickness among the groups (p < 0.05 for each). The astigmatic group was similar to the control group with regard to these parameters (p > 0.05 for each).

CONCLUSION: The eyes in the KC group appeared to have a thinner RNFL and MT when compared to those in the astigmatic and control groups. The ORLs, especially the ONL and RPE, were the most affected component of the macula in the KC group.

PMID:35320863 | DOI:10.1055/a-1743-3067

Parasitol Res. 2022 Mar 23. doi: 10.1007/s00436-022-07494-8. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Rock pigeons are synanthropic birds and live in close association within human settlements. Synanthropic birds are considered potential carriers of diseases and pose a subsequent risk of their transmission to humans. Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii are intracellular protozoans infecting a wide range of hosts, as well as birds. Data related to the incidence of these protozoans in rock pigeons in Pakistan are scant. The aims of the study were to detect T. gondii and N. caninum DNA in tissue samples from rock pigeons (Columba livia) and to identify possible risk factors associated with infection. To accomplish this, pectoral muscle and brain samples were carefully collected from rock pigeons (n = 120) belonging to three zones located in ten districts of Punjab during a 4-month sampling span (July 2018 to October 2018). Data related to sex, age, sampling site, districts, seasonality, and ecological zones were recorded. DNA from brain and pectoral muscle samples was screened for both T. gondii and N. caninum by PCR assays. Chi-square analysis was used to check the association between positive samples and risk factors. The level of significance was p ≤ 0.05. T. gondii was detected in 46 (38.3%) brain samples, while 24 pectoral muscle samples (20%) were positive for N. caninum. Agroecological zones were statistically associated with the detection of N. caninum DNA. The outcomes of this study provide an understanding of the epidemiological pattern of N. caninum and T. gondii infection in rock pigeons in different regions of Punjab, Pakistan.

PMID:35320837 | DOI:10.1007/s00436-022-07494-8

Urol Int. 2022 Mar 23:1-8. doi: 10.1159/000522646. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Knowledge gaps regarding available treatment and social stigmatization are barriers to care in patients with overactive bladder (OAB). We assessed the feasibility of an OAB education program targeting older community-dwelling females.

METHODS: Community-dwelling women over 55 years old were recruited. Eligible participants underwent an education program covering continence-promotion strategies. The Overactive Bladder Questionnaire-Short Form and Short Form-12 were completed at baseline, 1 week, 3 months, and 6 months post-intervention to measure symptom bother and condition-specific and general quality of life (QoL). Data were analyzed using a linear mixed-effects model for repeated measures.

RESULTS: Thirty-seven female patients with OAB symptoms at baseline were assessed with the majority from Latino/Hispanic or Black/African American ethnic/racial backgrounds. For our youngest subgroup (≤68 years old), significant improvements were observed at 3 and 6 months compared to 1 week post-intervention for symptom bother (3 months, -22.75, p = 0.006; 6 months, -25.76; p = 0.001) and condition-specific and health-related QoL subscale scores for concern (3 months, +23.76, p = 0.006; 6 months, +22.15, p = 0.011) and social interaction (3 months, +21.11, p = 0.017; 6 months, +20.51; p = 0.021). For all age subgroups, improvements in general QoL measures for mental health were seen at 3 and 6 months compared to baseline (3 months, +7.57, p = 0.02; 6 months, +6.70; p = 0.048).

CONCLUSIONS: Statistically significant improvements in symptom bother, condition-specific, and general QoL measures were observed following an OAB education program pilot study in a predominantly minority female population. Further studies are needed to support efficacy and optimize program design.

PMID:35320799 | DOI:10.1159/000522646

Audiol Neurootol. 2022 Mar 23:1-7. doi: 10.1159/000522281. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: All surgeons should inform the patients about complications and also their clinic’s complication rates of cochlear implantation (CI). We aimed to review the complications of CI in 1,148 pediatric and adult patients.

METHODS: It is a retrospective case review study enrolled in a tertiary referral center in Istanbul where CI was mostly performed. A total of 1,148 pediatric and adult CIs (unilateral or bilateral CI and revision surgery) performed by the same experienced surgeon in our institution were examined. Complications were noted as major and minor.

RESULTS: The mean age of first CI of 702 children and 157 adult patients was 10.2 years (1-75 years). The overall complication rate was 13.68%, comprising 8.28% of minor and 5.4% of major complications. Swelling (wound seroma or hematoma) was the most common minor complication. The most common cause of major complications was related to implanted devices. Despite the high rates of minor complications in children, there was no statistically significant difference between children and adults (p = 0,194).

CONCLUSIONS: Our clinic has a low major complication rate. Surgeons should be aware of postoperative complications, apply appropriate procedures, and inform patients about their surgical complication rates.

PMID:35320809 | DOI:10.1159/000522281

J Biomech. 2022 Mar 11;135:111036. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2022.111036. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Tissue-level brain responses to sport-related head impacts may be stronger predictors of brain injury risk than head kinematics alone. Despite the importance of accurate impact response estimation, the influence of head morphological variations has not been properly considered due to the limited sizes and shapes of existing computational head models. In this study, we developed 101 subject-specific finite element (FE) head-brain models based on CT scans and a parametric modeling approach to estimate tissue-level brain impact responses (maximal principal strain, MPS) under three head impact conditions. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to quantify the geometric variations, with statistically significant PCs then selected to predict MPS using a stepwise linear regression model. High adjusted R² values (0.6-0.9) were achieved in the regression model, suggesting a good model predictability. Brain volume explained the largest variance of 51.3%, and it was highly correlated with MPS, indicating a significant size effect on brain impact responses. This is the first modeling study to systematically consider the influence of morphological variations in the inner skull and scalp on brain tissue impact response.

PMID:35320756 | DOI:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2022.111036

Comput Methods Programs Biomed. 2022 Mar 12;219:106756. doi: 10.1016/j.cmpb.2022.106756. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Atherosclerosis is a leading cause of potentially serious cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack, stroke, and peripheral artery disease. Due to the prolonged and non-reversible process of thickening arteries walls, atherosclerosis plaques in the blood vessels are formed that restrict the blood flow. Early detection plays a vital role in minimizing the risk as there is no reliable method to detect the early stage of the disease. This paper proposes a novel atherosclerosis detection method based on the emerging paradigm of molecular communications. The work could pave the way to implement a low-cost and straightforward early detection method of atherosclerosis in the future.

METHODS: We used COMSOL to model the physical field, coupled the fluid module and the fluid particle tracking module, and mapped the contrast agent into nanoparticles (NPs). The NPs are released at the entrance of the blood vessel and received at the exit of the blood vessel, while NPs are propagating through different arterial stenosis. The arrival probability of NPs is defined as the ratio of the number of NPs that reach the outlet to the total number of released NPs. As a result of atherosclerosis, the arrival probability of Nps is affected by the dynamic flow nature changes, thereby reflecting the arterial stenosis degree. Furthermore, we introduce the multi-release method in this study, which has a similar concept of Inter-symbol interference in traditional communication. This multi-release method leads the overlapping concentrations of NPs remaining in the vessels and enhances the differences of arrival probability in different degrees of stenosis, which increases the chance of more observable results.

RESULTS: The assessment of arterial stenosis degree can be from the early stage to the late stage of the disease. To evaluate the arterial stenosis degree, we analyzed the Poincaré maps, representing the arrival probability of NPs at different arterial stenosis. Moreover, we could directly use data to quantify the pathological process at various stages. The difference between the data results obtained through multiple release methods is more prominent than a single-released method.

CONCLUSIONS: This research proposes a new atherosclerosis detection method based on molecular communication, that is, to evaluate the arterial stenosis degree by modelling and using statistical data of NPs emission and reception in blood vessels. This method can not only use a simple method to detect the early stage of the disease. In addition, we can directly use data to quantify the pathological process of each stage, which is straightforward to assist doctors and may reduce the labour cost of traditional detection.

PMID:35320741 | DOI:10.1016/j.cmpb.2022.106756

Neurobiol Aging. 2022 Feb 23;113:73-83. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.12.015. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

SimulAD is a computational disease progression model (DPM) originally developed on the ADNI database to simulate the evolution of clinical and imaging markers characteristic of AD, and to quantify the disease severity (DS) of a subject. In this work, we assessed the validity of this estimated DS, as well as the generalization of the DPM., by applying SimulAD on a new cohort from the Geneva Memory Center (GMC). The differences between the estimated DS of healthy, mild cognitive impairment and AD dementia groups were statistically significant (p-values < 0.05; d ≥ 0.8). DS correlated with MMSE (ρ = -0.55), hippocampal atrophy (ρ = -0.62), glucose hypometabolism (ρ = -0.67), amyloid burden (ρ = 0.31) and tau deposition (ρ = 0.62) (p-values < 0.01). Based on the dynamics estimated on the ADNI cohort, we simulated a DPM for the subjects of the GMC cohort. The difference between the temporal evolution of similar biomarkers simulated on the ADNI and GMC cohorts remained below 10%. This study illustrates the robustness and good generalization of SimulAD, highlighting its potential for clinical and pharmaceutical studies.

PMID:35320737 | DOI:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.12.015

Cell Rep. 2022 Mar 22;38(12):110544. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110544.

ABSTRACT

Ebola virus (EBOV) critically depends on the viral polymerase to replicate and transcribe the viral RNA genome in the cytoplasm of host cells, where cellular factors can antagonize or facilitate the virus life cycle. Here we leverage proximity proteomics and conduct a small interfering RNA (siRNA) screen to define the functional interactome of EBOV polymerase. As a proof of principle, we validate two cellular mRNA decay factors from 35 identified host factors: eukaryotic peptide chain release factor subunit 3a (eRF3a/GSPT1) and up-frameshift protein 1 (UPF1). Our data suggest that EBOV can subvert restrictions of cellular mRNA decay and repurpose GSPT1 and UPF1 to promote viral replication. Treating EBOV-infected human hepatocytes with a drug candidate that targets GSPT1 for degradation significantly reduces viral RNA load and particle production. Our work demonstrates the utility of proximity proteomics to capture the functional host interactome of the EBOV polymerase and to illuminate host-dependent regulation of viral RNA synthesis.

PMID:35320713 | DOI:10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110544

J Agric Food Chem. 2022 Mar 23. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.1c08050. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Scientific information is not yet available to provide insight into how individual metabolome might be affected by the presence of pesticides in regular diets. This study aimed to evaluate the perturbation of metabolomic pathways in children who switched their diets from conventional foods to mostly organic foods for five consecutive days. We selected 46 child-matched spot urine samples with distinct differences of urinary pesticide metabolite levels between the conventional and organic eating days and then analyzed those urine samples on three analytical platforms to perform global metabolomics analysis. We found statistically significant perturbations of metabolic pathways relevant to inflammation, oxidative stress, and the demands of xenobiotic detoxification when children switched their conventional diets to mostly organic foods. The outcomes of this study allow us to extend the current understanding beyond organophosphate pesticides’ acute toxicity of cholinesterase inhibition to the perturbation of metabolic pathways at dietary intake levels.

PMID:35320672 | DOI:10.1021/acs.jafc.1c08050

Food Addit Contam Part B Surveill. 2022 Mar 23:1-13. doi: 10.1080/19393210.2022.2053591. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Medicinal plants are widely used in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to treat various ailments in the form of folk medicine. Forty four such medicinal plant samples were collected from local markets and evaluated for the presence of 14 elements (Mn, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Mo, Al, Pb, Ba, Zn, Ag, Hg, Bi, Cd). Microwave-assisted digestion with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was applied to determine the elemental composition in these medicinal plants. Widespread occurrence of these elements was observed in all plant samples, except for Bi and Co where the lowest mean values of 0.03 ± 0.04 and 0.03 ± 0.15 were observed, respectively. The descending order for mean (μg/g) elemental occurrence observed was as follows: Ba > Al > Zn > Ni > Mn > Ba > Hg > Mo > Cu > Cr > Ag > Cd > Co > Bi, whereas the range for these elements in the 44-medicinal plants was as follows: Pb > Al > Zn > Ni > Mn > Cu > Mo > Ag > Ba > Hg > Co > Cd > Cr > Bi. Pb, Hg and Cd were found beyond the maximum limits in these medicinal plants, while the remaining elements were found well within the range of maximum limits. A number of medicinal plants showed high amounts of these elements. Some plants contained more than one element, such as Foeniculum vulgare Mill (Pb, Hg, Cd), Ricinus communis (Pb, Cd), Vigna radiata (Pb, Cd) and Sesamum indicum (Pb, Hg). The data matrix was validated through the statistical tools of principal component analysis (X²= 160.44, P = .00), Pearson’s correlation (P = .01 and 0.05), and K-mean cluster analysis (F = 104.55, P = .00). The findings of the study provide baseline data for the comparative analysis of these medicinal plants, which may help select safe medicinal plants in terms of consumer-based use and its utilisation for the treatment of various ailments.

PMID:35320694 | DOI:10.1080/19393210.2022.2053591