Tag: pubmed

Chin Med J (Engl). 2021 Dec 21. doi: 10.1097/CM9.0000000000001864. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) beyond the Milan criteria is shown to be beneficial. However, a high rate of post-operative HCC recurrence hinders the long-term survival of the patients. This study aimed to investigate and compare the impacts of tenofovir (TDF) and entecavir (ETV) on the recurrence of hepatitis B viral (HBV)-related HCC beyond the Milan criteria.

METHODS: Data pertaining to 1532 patients who underwent hepatectomy and received antiviral therapy between January 2014 and January 2019 were collected from five centers. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was performed to determine prognostic factors for HCC recurrence.

RESULTS: The analysis incorporates 595 HBV-related HCC patients. The overall 5-year RFS was 21.3%. Among them, 533 and 62 patients received ETV and TDF treatment, respectively. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year RFS rates were 46.3%, 27.4%, and 19.6%, respectively, in the ETV group compared with 65.1%, 41.8%, and 37.2%, respectively, in the TDF group (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that TDF treatment (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.604, P = 0.005), cirrhosis (HR: 1.557, P = 0.004), tumor size (HR: 1.037, P = 0.008), microvascular invasion (MVI) (HR: 1.403, P = 0.002), portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) (HR: 1.358, P = 0.012), capsular invasion (HR: 1.228, P = 0.040), and creatinine levels (CREA) (HR: 0.993, P = 0.031) were statistically significant prognostic factors associated with RFS.

CONCLUSIONS: Patients with HCC beyond the Milan criteria exhibited a high rate of HCC recurrence after hepatectomy. Compared to the ETV therapy, TDF administration significantly lowered the risk of HCC recurrence.

PMID:34958539 | DOI:10.1097/CM9.0000000000001864

J Phys Chem Lett. 2021 Dec 27:91-97. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c03813. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

We apply chirped-pulse uniform flow millimeterwave (CPUF-mmW) spectroscopy to study the complex multichannel reaction dynamics in the reaction between the propargyl and amino radicals (C₃H₃ + NH₂/ND₂), a radical-radical reaction of importance in the gas-phase chemistry of astrochemical environments and combustion systems. The photolytically generated radicals are allowed to react in a well-characterized quasi-uniform supersonic flow, and mmW rotational spectroscopy (70-93 GHz) is used for simultaneous detection of the reaction products: HCN, HNC, HC₃N, DCN, DNC, and DC₃N, while spectral intensities of the measured pure-rotational lines allow product branching to be quantified. High-level electronic structure calculations were used for theoretical prediction of the reaction pathways and branching. Experimentally deduced product branching fractions were compared with the results from statistical simulations based on the RRKM theory. Product branching was found to be strongly dependent on the excess internal energy of the C₃H₃ and NH₂/ND₂ reactants.

PMID:34958581 | DOI:10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c03813

J Environ Qual. 2021 Dec 27. doi: 10.1002/jeq2.20318. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Variability of dairy process wastewater (PWW) nitrogen (PWW-N) content makes precise fertilizing of forage challenging. Our objective was to improve measurement accuracy of PWW-N. We characterized PWW-N and quantified its variability using over 1000 PWW samples from 91 lagoons on commercial California dairies. We used statistical modeling and stochastic simulations to compare the accuracy of various protocols for measuring PWW-N applied to forage crops. Electrical Conductivity (EC) was positively correlated with N concentration within a lagoon (conditional R² = 69%, mixed model). Simulations compared the accuracy of N application rates when lagoon samples for N analyses were collected more frequently and from more homogenous lagoons. When sampled quarterly, the N application measurement error was ±50%. Homogenizing PWW and sampling weekly reduced measurement error to ±42% and ±30%, respectively. Simulations using EC as an N concentration proxy within an automated irrigation system reduced N application measurement error to ±5%. More accurate automated N concentration measurements allow for precision N management that meets yield goals and reduces environmental impacts. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:34958489 | DOI:10.1002/jeq2.20318

Int Endod J. 2021 Dec 27. doi: 10.1111/iej.13676. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To identify factors that are predictive of short-term professional and societal impact of research within the specialty of Endodontology, and to identify the top-10 articles that achieved the greatest societal impact and describe their characteristics.

METHODOLOGY: Research articles in the field of Endodontology published in 2019 were eligible for inclusion, with the sample identified using Medline. Following screening of titles and abstracts, bibliometric data of the identified articles were exported into a spreadsheet, where further data related to continental origin, type of article, type of journal (endodontic or non-endodontic) and grant-funding were collated, with additional data concerning presence of journal impact factor, citations, news mentions and Altmetric-tracked-mentions and scores compiled using Clarivate, Scopus, ProQuest and Altmetric Explorer, respectively. Data analysis comprised descriptive statistics, frequency distributions, cross-tabulations and un/adjusted negative binomial regression models (P<0.05).

RESULTS: The search retrieved 30,443 articles; 951 were included for analysis. Most articles originated from Asia (43.2%) with over 51.5% of articles published in endodontic journals and 80% published in a journal with an impact factor. Over three-quarters of articles were primary research, 141 were grant-funded, 165 had a news mention, 338 achieved an Altmetric Attention Score and 808 were cited. The five-highest ranked articles were mentioned in general news bulletins, five of the top-10 articles were primary research and six of the top-10 were published in endodontic journals. The highest Altmetric Attention Score and citation count were 100 and 87, respectively. Adjusted models demonstrated that the type of article, publication in a journal with an impact factor, absence of grant-funding and coverage within general news bulletins predicted the Altmetric Attention Scores (P<0.001). Article type, publication in an impact-factor journal and presence of an Altmetric Attention Score were predictive of citations (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Article type and publication in a journal with an impact factor were significant predictors of both societal and professional impact of research articles within Endodontology in the short-term. Non grant-funded research and coverage in general news bulletins achieved greater societal impact, whereas an article achieving an Altmetric Attention Score was also strongly related to professional impact.

PMID:34958490 | DOI:10.1111/iej.13676

Abdom Radiol (NY). 2021 Dec 27. doi: 10.1007/s00261-021-03387-z. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Reports on the future liver remnant (FLR) hypertrophy rate in patients undergoing portal vein embolization (PVE) before left trisectionectomy are sparse. This study aimed to assess the FLR hypertrophy rate in patients undergoing PVE before left trisectionectomy.

METHODS: Between January 2010 and June 2021, 30 patients (22 men and eight women; mean age, 65.7 years) underwent PVE, mainly using gelatin sponge, before left trisectionectomy. The preoperative diagnosis was cholangiocarcinoma in 28 patients and colorectal liver metastases in two patients. The FLR hypertrophy rate, increase in the FLR volume (FLRV) ratio (the ratio of the FLRV to the total liver volume), and complications were evaluated. The patients were further divided into two groups: one group of patients with left portal vein stenosis or occlusion before PVE (n = 12) and another without left portal vein stenosis or occlusion before PVE (n = 18). The FLR hypertrophy rate and increase in the FLRV ratio were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS: The FLR hypertrophy rate and increase in the FLRV ratio were 31.3% and 6.9%, respectively. One major complication, cholangitis, developed; however, its association with PVE was unclear. The difference in the FLR hypertrophy rate and the increase in the FLRV ratio between the two groups of patients was statistically insignificant.

CONCLUSION: PVE before left trisectionectomy is effective in achieving FLR hypertrophy. PVE before left trisectionectomy was equally effective in patients with left portal vein stenosis or occlusion as compared to those without. The complication rates were acceptable.

PMID:34958405 | DOI:10.1007/s00261-021-03387-z

BJS Open. 2021 Nov 9;5(6):zrab107. doi: 10.1093/bjsopen/zrab107.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Anorectal melanoma is a rare neoplasm with a poor prognosis. The surgical approaches for anorectal melanoma can be categorized into local excision (procedures without lymph node removal and preservation of the rectum) and extensive resection (procedures with rectum and pararectal lymph node removal). The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to compare the survival of patients who underwent extensive resection with that of patients who underwent local excision, stratifying patients according to tumour stage.

METHODS: A literature review was performed according to PRISMA guidelines by searching MEDLINE/PubMed for manuscripts published until March 2021. Studies comparing survival outcomes in patients with anorectal melanoma who underwent local excision versus extensive resection were screened for eligibility. Meta-analysis was performed for overall survival after the different surgical approaches, stratified by tumour stage.

RESULTS: There were 347 studiesidentified of which 34 were included for meta-analysis with a total of 1858 patients. There was no significant difference in overall survival between the surgical approaches in patients per stage (stage I odds ratio 1.30 (95 per cent c.i. 0.62 to 2.72, P = 0.49); stage II odds ratio 1.61 (95 per cent c.i. 0.62 to 4.18, P = 0.33); stage I-III odds ratio 1.19 (95 per cent c.i. 0.83 to 1.70, P = 0.35). Subgroup analyses were conducted for the time intervals (<2000, 2001-2010 and 2011-2021) and for continent of study origin. Subgroup analysis for time interval and continent of origin also showed no statistically significant differences in overall survival.

CONCLUSION: No significant survival benefit exists for patients with anorectal melanoma treated with local excision or extensive resection, independent of tumour stage.

PMID:34958352 | DOI:10.1093/bjsopen/zrab107

J Nutr. 2021 Dec 27:nxab431. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxab431. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Diet quality indexes, including the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), assess diets based on usual dietary intakes and a scoring function. Nearly all diet quality indexes use scoring functions that have floors and ceilings, thereby truncating the scores and losing information about intakes outside the scoring range. This score truncation has two important impacts: 1) the index does not reflect all intakes; and 2) the assumption that measurement error in intake reporting has a neutral impact on the diet quality score cannot be upheld.

OBJECTIVE: The main objective was to devise new diet quality scoring functions that eliminate truncation and its attendant problems.

METHODS: Seven desirable properties of a new scoring function were identified: 1) avoid truncations in component scoring to prevent information loss and to provide scoring sensitivity in the currently truncated regions; 2) reduce dependency on the accuracy of dietary standards; 3) minimize measurement error bias and subsequent misclassification; 4) relate plausibly to biological processes; 5) possess desirable mathematical and statistical properties; 6) have simple representations which are easy to calculate and add minimum artifacts of their own; and 7) otherwise closely mimic existing scoring functions.

RESULTS: The recommended replacement for piecewise-linear scoring is a family of scoring functions based on exponentials. For components where higher intakes are better, the function is a single exponential. For components where lower intakes are better, the function is a concave-convex mirrored pair of exponentials. The proposed exponential scoring functions have all seven desired properties.

CONCLUSIONS: The proposed exponential scoring functions will improve the usefulness of dietary scoring indexes by eliminating truncations. Compared to existing scoring functions, the use of exponentials makes the scores more inclusive of very high and very low intakes, reduces measurement error bias, and is less sensitive to the exact placement of the scoring standards.

PMID:34958391 | DOI:10.1093/jn/nxab431

Clin Linguist Phon. 2021 Dec 27:1-22. doi: 10.1080/02699206.2021.2007286. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Word learning difficulties are often found in children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Lexical patterns of difficulties appear to be well described in the context of DLD but very little research focuses on their underlying causes. Word learning is known to be an inference-based process, constrained by categorization, which helps the extension of new words to unfamiliar referents and situations. These processes appear integrated in Bayesian models of cognition, which supposes that learning relies on an inductive inference process that recruits prior knowledge and principles of statistical learning (detection of regularities). Taken together, these mechanisms remain underexplored in DLD. Our study aims to define whether children with DLD can draw inductive inferences in a word learning context using categorization. Twenty children with DLD (between 6;0 and 12;6), and 20 language-matched and 16 age-matched controls were exposed to a word learning task where they were given exemplars of objects associated with pseudo-words. The objects belonged to six categories spread across three hierarchical levels. For each item, the children chose which one(s), among a set of test objects from the same categories, could be labelled the same way (word extension). Results showed that school-aged children with DLD could extend new words to broader categories as well as their typically developing (TD) peers. Nevertheless, none of the DLD or TD children showed a specification of their categorization of familiar instances that referred to more restricted instances. Our study suggests preserved abilities in using conceptual knowledge in order to learn new words, which could be used as a compensative strategy in the context of therapy. Further studies are needed to investigate this ability in more complex learning contexts.

PMID:34958296 | DOI:10.1080/02699206.2021.2007286

Anesth Analg. 2021 Dec 24. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000005844. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Serious mental health conditions (eg, anxiety and depression) are common in surgical patients, yet likely underassessed due to the time-consuming and cumbersome traditional screening process. A recently developed computerized adaptive mental health assessment tool (computerized adaptive test-mental health [CAT-MH]) allows rapid, precise, and accurate assessment of numerous mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression, without the need for a trained interviewer. The goal of this investigation was to determine the feasibility of administering CAT-MH for anxiety and depression in the preoperative setting and to obtain preliminary evidence of the prevalence of anxiety and depression in preoperative patients.

METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, 100 adult patients scheduled for elective surgery were enrolled and asked to complete the CAT-MH in the preoperative clinic. Urgent and emergency surgeries were excluded as were pregnant patients. Primary feasibility outcomes were completion rate and time to completion. Secondary outcomes were prevalence estimates of anxiety and depression.

RESULTS: All 100 enrolled patients completed the study. All patients were able to complete the mental health assessment (mean time: 3.6 ± 1.8 minutes standard deviation). Sixteen patients (16%) screened positive for anxiety (severity: mild, n = 7 [7%]; moderate, n = 7 [7%]); severe, n = 2 [2%]); 12 of 16 (75%) did not have a previous diagnosis of anxiety disorder. Twenty-eight (28%) patients screened positive for depression (severity: mild, n = 26 [26%]; moderate and severe, n = 1 each [1%]); 23 of 28 (82%) had no previous diagnosis of depressive disorder. Nineteen patients (19%) met the screening criteria for major depressive disorder; 14 of 19 (74%) of which had no previous diagnosis of major depressive disorder.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of this pilot study support the feasibility of using CAT-MH in a preoperative evaluation and indicate that there is a substantial prevalence of undiagnosed anxiety and depression in surgical patients.

PMID:34958316 | DOI:10.1213/ANE.0000000000005844

Subst Use Misuse. 2021 Dec 27:1-4. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2021.2019786. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have become increasingly popular in the United States, including among cancer survivors, and the majority of users also endorse conventional cigarette usage. There has been little research on racial disparities of e-cigarette usage among this population.

METHODS: Using data from the National Health Interview Survey (2014-2018), trends in e-cigarette usage by smoking status was estimated among cancer survivors reporting a history of conventional cigarette use. Multivariable logistic regression analyses defined adjusted odds of e-cigarette usage including an interaction term between race*smoking status to assess whether the association between race and e-cigarette usage depended on smoking status.

RESULTS: Among 8,199 cancer survivors with history of conventional e-cigarette usage, 1,422 (17.3%) also reported using of e-cigarettes. The majority (71.3%) of e-cigarette users were current (versus former) conventional cigarette smoking individuals. White race was associated with higher odds of e-cigarette usage (AOR 2.17, 95% CI 2.00-2.33, p < 0.001), however there was a statistically significant race*smoking status interaction term (p < 0.001) such that this association was only seen among current conventional smoking patients (AOR 1.96, 95% 1.67-2.70, p < 0.001; 50.6% vs. 33.7%).

CONCLUSIONS: Among the oncology population, the majority of e-cigarette users also endorsed active conventional cigarette smoking. In particular, dual usage was highest among White cancer survivors suggesting that e-cigarettes may not be an efficacious tool for smoking cessation among this population. Our findings can can help inform targeted screening and counseling efforts among cancer survivors.

PMID:34958287 | DOI:10.1080/10826084.2021.2019786