Tag: pubmed

Cardiovasc J Afr. 2021 Apr 15;32:1-6. doi: 10.5830/CVJA-2021-011. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Hypertension has long been recognised as a major risk factor for coronary artery disease, stroke and kidney disease. Despite a multitude of new pharmacological agents, in the Sudan, a significant proportion of hypertensive patients’ blood pressure remains uncontrolled. An important, often underutilised treatment approach is therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLC). This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of patients with regard to TLC in the management of hypertension in a Khartoum locality in 2016.

METHODS: The study was cross sectional and descriptive. Data were collected via structured interviews using a questionnaire. Full coverage of patients attending Ahmed Gasim and Al-Shaab hospitals for follow up during August and September 2016 was carried out. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilised for data analysis.

RESULTS: We identified 112 patients for participation in this study. There was a slight preponderance of females (54.5%) and older age, with 58% in the 55- to 70-year age group. When assessed for knowledge on lifestyle and habits that affect blood pressure, respondents were most familiar with the fact that salt consumption affects blood pressure, 93.8% answering correctly. After knowledge scores were calculated, only 31.3% of participants had above-average knowledge on blood pressure and TLC. The lifestyle change the respondents were least adherent to was regular exercise, with 59.8% of participants struggling with this. Participants’ most-cited obstacle was lack of motivation, the same answer being most frequent for each lifestyle change.

CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that although the hypertensive patients were generally aware of the importance of TLC in its management, they struggled to implement this. The researcher believes that novel approaches are needed to help motivate patients who are diagnosed with hypertension in a third-world country such as Sudan, and apply their knowledge regarding TLC.

PMID:33950069 | DOI:10.5830/CVJA-2021-011

Menopause. 2021 May 3. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000001789. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of vitamin D levels on early clinical function outcomes and the potential risk factors of moderate-to-severe pain prevalence in postmenopausal women after primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

METHODS: From April 2017 to December 2019, 226 women were retrospectively recruited. The women were divided into two groups based on their preoperative serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels: (1) vitamin D-sufficient group (≥30 ng/mL); (2) vitamin D-deficient group (<30 ng/mL). The visual analog scale, Western Ontario and McMaster Arthritis Index score, and Knee Society Score were used to evaluate clinical outcomes. Risk factors for developing postoperative moderate-to-severe knee pain were studied using multivariate binary logistic regression analyses.

RESULTS: There was no significant difference in preoperative clinical function assessment between the two groups. The difference in postoperative Western Ontario and McMaster Arthritis Index score between the two groups was statistically significant (15.3 ± 0.7 vs 15.6 ± 0.7: P = 0.02). However, the differences in postoperative visual analog scale and Knee Society Score scores between the two groups were not significant (P > 0.05). The incidence of postoperative moderate-to-severe pain was 16.4% (95% CI 11.8%-21.9%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that vitamin D deficiency, smoking, and high body mass index were potential risk factors for moderate-to-severe knee pain in postmenopausal women early after TKA (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: Preoperative vitamin D deficiency may adversely affect early functional outcomes in postmenopausal women after TKA. In addition, vitamin D deficiency, smoking, and high body mass index were independent risk factors for moderate-to-severe knee pain after surgery.

PMID:33950032 | DOI:10.1097/GME.0000000000001789

Rev Esp Salud Publica. 2021 May 5;95:e202105063.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: In college students, higher risk alcohol consumption (drunkenness and binge drinking-BD) has negative consequences on their development and and probably facilitates risk sexual behaviors. The objective was to study if risky sexual behaviors when consuming alcohol (RSBA) are associated with higher risk consumption.

METHODS: Cross-sectional multicenter study with UniHcos Project, 1^st year university students from 11 universities in Spain, academic years 2011-2012 to 2017-2018 data. This data were collected by self-administered questionnaire. A uni and bivariate analysis was performed, evaluated the statistical significance of the differences in prevalence with chi-square. Mean and standard deviation were used for quantitative variables and Student’s t test statistic was used.

RESULTS: 9,862 subjects (72.2% women). 90.3% reported having consumed alcohol and 60.9% had drunk the last year, 49% BD in last month. It was deteded in men, significantly higher consumption in the last month and drunkenness. Last month consumption and drunkenness were significantly higher in men and in <21 years. The RSBA were significantly higher among who were drunk (15.7% unprotected sex, 1.9% sexual abuse and 0.7% taking sexual advantage) and had BD (17.1%, 1.9% and 0.7 %). Women with both risk consumptions had more sexual abuse (2.2%), and men had greater behaviors of taking sexual advantage of someone (drunk: 1.2%; BD: 1.3%).

CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol consumption was above similar groups. BD consumption was similar by gender and age. Risk sexual behaviors appear mainly in problematic consumption. Gender differences are not detected in alcohol consumers in unprotected sex but deteded in the rest.

PMID:33950045

Sci Rep. 2021 May 4;11(1):9502. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-88924-y.

ABSTRACT

The E2F family of transcription factors is important for many cellular processes, from their canonical role in cell cycle regulation to other roles in angiogenesis and metastasis. Alteration of the Rb/E2F pathway occurs in various forms of cancer, including breast cancer. E2F1 ablation has been shown to decrease metastasis in MMTV-Neu and MMTV-PyMT transgenic mouse models of breast cancer. Here we take a bioinformatic approach to determine the E2F1 regulated genomic alterations involved in the metastatic cascade, in both Neu and PyMT models. Through gene expression analysis, we reveal few transcriptome changes in non-metastatic E2F1^-/- tumors relative to transgenic tumor controls. However investigation of these models through whole genome sequencing found numerous differences between the models, including differences in the proposed tumor etiology between E2F1^-/- and E2F1^+/+ tumors induced by Neu or PyMT. For example, loss of E2F1 within the Neu model led to an increased contribution of the inefficient double stranded break repair signature to the proposed etiology of the tumors. While the SNV mutation burden was higher in PyMT mouse tumors than Neu mouse tumors, there was no statistically significant differences between E2F WT and E2F1 KO mice. Investigating mutated genes through gene set analysis also found a significant number of genes mutated in the cell adhesion pathway in E2F1^-/- tumors, indicating this may be a route for disruption of metastasis in E2F1^-/- tumors. Overall, these findings illustrate the complicated nature of uncovering drivers of the metastatic process.

PMID:33947907 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-88924-y

Sci Rep. 2021 May 4;11(1):9525. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-89046-1.

ABSTRACT

Currently, there is no clear consensus in cataract surgery if low compared to high energy femto-lasers may enable better capsulotomy quality and induce lower inflammatory response. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the intra-operative outcomes achieved with high and low pulse energy femtosecond laser systems for cataract surgery. The charts of 200 eyes of 200 patients aged 68.3 ± 10.3 years who had undergone femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery using either group 1 high pulse energy: LenSx (Alcon Laboratories) (N = 100) or group 2 low pulse energy: FEMTO LDV Z8 (Ziemer) (N = 100) laser were reviewed retrospectively. Integrity of anterior capsulotomy, classified as (1) complete (free-floating or with minor microadhesions), (2) incomplete and (3) with capsular tears, intraoperative completeness of the clear corneal incisions (CCI, main incision and side port), incidences of intraoperative miosis and incidence of subconjunctival hemorrhage were evaluated and compared between the two groups. The proportion of complete capsulotomies was significantly higher in the group 2 than the group 1 (100% vs 94%; p = 0.03). The incidences of intraoperative miosis (0% vs 19%) and subconjunctival hemorrhage (1% vs 63%) were significantly lower in the group 2 than the group 1 (p < 0.001). Completeness of the main incision was comparable (97% vs 95%; p = 0.721) between the two groups. Although not statistically significant, the completeness of side-port incision was slightly better in the group 2 than the group 1 (91% vs 86%). Low energy laser system performed significantly better in terms of completeness of capsulotomy, intraoperative miosis and sub-conjunctival hemorrhage, compared with high energy laser; the CCI outcomes were comparable.

PMID:33947910 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-89046-1

Sci Rep. 2021 May 4;11(1):9868. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-89721-3.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:33947947 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-89721-3

Sci Rep. 2021 May 4;11(1):9491. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-88927-9.

ABSTRACT

Obesity increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and other metabolic diseases. We intended to compare three different anthropometric indicators of obesity, in predicting the incidence of cardiovascular events in Chinese type 2 diabetes. Beijing Community Diabetes Study was a prospective multi-center study conducted in Beijing community health centers. Type 2 diabetes patients from fourteen community health centers were enrolled at baseline. The primary endpoint was cardiovascular events. The upper quartile of neck circumference (NC) was set as greater NC. A total of 3299 diabetes patients were enrolled. In which, 941 (28.52%) had cardiovascular disease at baseline. Logistic analysis showed that central obesity (waist circumference (WC) above 90 cm in men and 85 cm in women) and greater NC were all related to baseline cardiovascular disease (adjusted OR = 1.49, and 1.55). After 10-year follow-up, 340 (10.31%) had cardiovascular events. Compared with patients without cardiovascular events, those having cardiovascular events had higher BMI, larger WC and NC. Cox regression analysis showed that greater WC and NC were all associated with the occurrence of cardiovascular events (adjusted HR = 1.41, and 1.38). A higher NC and WC might increase the risk of cardiovascular events by about 40% in type 2 diabetes patients in Beijing communities.

PMID:33947884 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-88927-9

Sci Rep. 2021 May 4;11(1):9455. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-88931-z.

ABSTRACT

Of all the characteristics of a violin, those that concern its shape are probably the most important ones, as the violin maker has complete control over them. Contemporary violin making, however, is still based more on tradition than understanding, and a definitive scientific study of the specific relations that exist between shape and vibrational properties is yet to come and sorely missed. In this article, using standard statistical learning tools, we show that the modal frequencies of violin tops can, in fact, be predicted from geometric parameters, and that artificial intelligence can be successfully applied to traditional violin making. We also study how modal frequencies vary with the thicknesses of the plate (a process often referred to as plate tuning) and discuss the complexity of this dependency. Finally, we propose a predictive tool for plate tuning, which takes into account material and geometric parameters.

PMID:33947897 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-88931-z

Sci Rep. 2021 May 4;11(1):9501. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-88581-1.

ABSTRACT

In this study, we aimed to develop and validate a machine learning-based mortality prediction model for hospitalized heat-related illness patients. After 2393 hospitalized patients were extracted from a multicentered heat-related illness registry in Japan, subjects were divided into the training set for development (n = 1516, data from 2014, 2017-2019) and the test set (n = 877, data from 2020) for validation. Twenty-four variables including characteristics of patients, vital signs, and laboratory test data at hospital arrival were trained as predictor features for machine learning. The outcome was death during hospital stay. In validation, the developed machine learning models (logistic regression, support vector machine, random forest, XGBoost) demonstrated favorable performance for outcome prediction with significantly increased values of the area under the precision-recall curve (AUPR) of 0.415 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.336-0.494], 0.395 [CI 0.318-0.472], 0.426 [CI 0.346-0.506], and 0.528 [CI 0.442-0.614], respectively, compared to that of the conventional acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE)-II score of 0.287 [CI 0.222-0.351] as a reference standard. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) values were also high over 0.92 in all models, although there were no statistical differences compared to APACHE-II. This is the first demonstration of the potential of machine learning-based mortality prediction models for heat-related illnesses.

PMID:33947902 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-88581-1

NPJ Sci Food. 2021 May 4;5(1):9. doi: 10.1038/s41538-021-00091-6.

ABSTRACT

Achieving food security is a critical challenge of the Anthropocene that may conflict with environmental and societal goals such as increased energy access. The “fuel versus food” debate coupled with climate mitigation efforts has given rise to next-generation biofuels. Findings of this systematic review indicate just over half of the studies (56% of 224 publications) reported a negative impact of bioenergy production on food security. However, no relationship was found between bioenergy feedstocks that are edible versus inedible and food security (P value = 0.15). A strong relationship was found between bioenergy and type of food security parameter (P value < 0.001), sociodemographic index of study location (P value = 0.001), spatial scale (P value < 0.001), and temporal scale (P value = 0.017). Programs and policies focused on bioenergy and climate mitigation should monitor multiple food security parameters at various scales over the long term toward achieving diverse sustainability goals.

PMID:33947871 | DOI:10.1038/s41538-021-00091-6