Tag: pubmed

J Cosmet Dermatol. 2021 Jul 1. doi: 10.1111/jocd.14327. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: There are many endogenous and exogenous factors that cause acne formation. This study aimed to determine whether the acne severity in patients with various age ranges is associated with serum insulin-like growth factor, insulin, and glucose and to identify how much they affect the acne severity.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this case-control prospective study, 44 patients with acne vulgaris and 44 age- and gender-matched control subjects without acne were evaluated. Patients and the control group were divided into two age groups as adolescence and post-adolescence. According to the Global Acne Scoring System (GASS) of the acne group, the acne score grades between 0-44 were calculated. The correlations between the IGF-1, insulin, glucose levels and acne grades were calculated in each group.

RESULTS: In our study, the acne scores and serum IGF-1 levels were found to be significantly higher in patients under the age of 21 than patients over the age of 21. There was a statistically significant difference in acne score between the two groups. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the serum IGF-1, insulin, and glucose levels of the acne group and the control group.

CONCLUSION: In this study, it has been revealed that IGF 1 is effective at the pathogenesis of acne in adolescence.

PMID:34197685 | DOI:10.1111/jocd.14327

Dermatol Ther. 2021 Jul 1:e15049. doi: 10.1111/dth.15049. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Rosacea is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disease, with a high prevalence among adults. Treatment of rosacea is difficult, with high rate of recurrence. Due to the strong anti- inflammatory and antibacterial effects of platelet rich plasma, it was used in the medicine for treating many inflammatory diseases. To evaluate the role of platelet rich plasma injection in treatment of rosacea. The study was carried on 40 patients with rosacea. They were treated by platelet rich plasma injection in right side of the face (group A) and platelet poor plasma injection in left side (group B). They underwent one session every 2 weeks for 3 months (6 sessions). The patients were assessed clinically before and after treatment by the Rosacea grading scale. Skin biopsies were taken to evaluate the clinical results. There was a statistically significant decrease in Rosacea grading scale after treatment with platelet rich plasma injection, 50% of the patients showed excellent improvement and 50% showed good improvement. The improvement was significantly better in group A than B. There was marked decrease in inflammatory cells by haematoxylin and eosin stain, and decrease in expression of nuclear factor kappa βeta after treatment with platelet rich plasma. PRP was effective and safe technique in treatment of rosacea and alternative to other systemic modalities, especially if they are contraindicated. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:34197656 | DOI:10.1111/dth.15049

Transpl Int. 2021 Jul 1. doi: 10.1111/tri.13964. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The interplay between donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies (HLA-DSA), histology of active antibody-mediated rejection (aABMR_h ), transplant glomerulopathy (cg) and graft failure in kidney transplantation remains insufficiently understood. We performed a single-center cohort study (n=1000) including 2761 protocol and 833 indication biopsies. Patients with pre-transplant HLA-DSA were more prone to develop aABMRh (OR 22.7, 95% CI, 11.8 – 43.7, p<0.001), cg (OR 5.76, 95% CI, 1.67 – 19.8, p=0.006) and aABMRh/cg (OR 19.5, 95% CI, 10.6 – 35.9, p<0.001). The negative impact of pre-transplant HLA-DSA on graft survival (HR 2.12, 95% CI, 1.41 – 3.20, p<0.001) was partially mediated through aABMRh and cg occurrence. When adjusted for time-dependent HLA-DSA (HR 4.03, 95% CI, 2.21 – 7.15, p=0.002), graft failure was only affected by aABMR_h when cg was evident. In HLA-DSA negative patients, aABMR_h was associated with impaired graft outcome only when evolving to cg (HR 1.32, 95% CI, 1.07 – 1.61, p=0.008). We conclude that the kinetics of HLA-DSA are important to estimate the rate of graft failure, and that histological follow-up is necessary to discover, often subclinical, ABMR and cg. In the absence of HLA-DSA, patients experience similar histological lesions and the evolution to transplant glomerulopathy associates with impaired graft outcome.

PMID:34197662 | DOI:10.1111/tri.13964

Nucleic Acids Res. 2021 Jul 1:gkab547. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkab547. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

A growing amount of evidence in literature suggests that germline sequence variants and somatic mutations in non-coding distal regulatory elements may be crucial for defining disease risk and prognostic stratification of patients, in genetic disorders as well as in cancer. Their functional interpretation is challenging because genome-wide enhancer-target gene (ETG) pairing is an open problem in genomics. The solutions proposed so far do not account for the hierarchy of structural domains which define chromatin three-dimensional (3D) architecture. Here we introduce a change of perspective based on the definition of multi-scale structural chromatin domains, integrated in a statistical framework to define ETG pairs. In this work (i) we develop a computational and statistical framework to reconstruct a comprehensive map of ETG pairs leveraging functional genomics data; (ii) we demonstrate that the incorporation of chromatin 3D architecture information improves ETG pairing accuracy and (iii) we use multiple experimental datasets to extensively benchmark our method against previous solutions for the genome-wide reconstruction of ETG pairs. This solution will facilitate the annotation and interpretation of sequence variants in distal non-coding regulatory elements. We expect this to be especially helpful in clinically oriented applications of whole genome sequencing in cancer and undiagnosed genetic diseases research.

PMID:34197622 | DOI:10.1093/nar/gkab547

Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2021 Jul 1. doi: 10.1002/ijgo.13807. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To introduce a new handmade device, the double Foley catheter (DFC), and compare it to the Foley catheter (FC) and Cook catheter for its effectiveness in labor induction.

METHODS: This prospective randomised controlled trial included 222 patients with unfavourable cervices. The patients were randomly allocated to the DFC, FC, and Cook catheter groups (n = 74 patients per group). The outcomes were evaluated using IBM SPSS Statistics 23 program.

RESULTS: The Bishop scores successfully increased with all three methods (p = 0.000 for all groups), and the rates of vaginal delivery within 24 h and 48 h were similar (p = 0.101 and p = 0.390, respectively). The pain scores of the DFC and Cook catheter groups were similar, but were lower than those of the FC group (p = 0.011). The overall maternal satisfaction scores of the DFC and Cook group balloons were not significantly different but were higher than those of the FC group (p = 0.014).

CONCLUSION: The maternal safety and success rate of labor induction were comparable between groups. However, the FC group had a higher pain score during catheter insertion and a lower maternal satisfaction rate. Moreover, considering the high cost of the Cook catheter, the DFC has an advantage, especially in low-resource countries.

PMID:34197641 | DOI:10.1002/ijgo.13807

Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2021 Jul 1. doi: 10.1002/ijgo.13810. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics and peripartum outcomes of patients diagnosed with uterine rupture (UR) by an observational cohort retrospective study on 270 patients.

METHODS: Demographic information, surgical history, symptoms, and postoperative outcome of maternal and neonates after UR were collected in a large database. The statistical analysis searched for correlation between UR, previous uterine interventions, fibroids, and the successive perinatal outcomes in patients with previous UR.

RESULTS: UR was significantly associated with previous uterine surgery, occurring, on average, at 36,81 weeks of gestation in patients also without previous uterine surgery. UR did not rise exponentially with an increasing number of uterine operations. Fibroids were related to URs. The earliest UR occurred at 159 days after hysteroscopic myomectomy, followed by laparoscopic myomectomy (251 days) and laparotomic myomectomy (253 days). Fertility preservation was feasible in several patients. Gestational age and birth weight seemed not to be affected in the subsequent pregnancy.

CONCLUSION: data analysis showed that previous laparoscopic and abdominal myomectomy were associated with UR in pregnancy, and hysteroscopic myomectomy was associated at earlier gestational ages. UR did not increase exponentially with an increasing number of previous scars. UR should not be considered a contra-indication to future pregnancies.

PMID:34197642 | DOI:10.1002/ijgo.13810

PLoS One. 2021 Jul 1;16(7):e0253817. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253817. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

Weight-loss is an integral part of Huntington’s disease (HD) that can start before the onset of motor symptoms. Investigating the underlying pathological processes may help in the understanding of this devastating disease as well as contribute to its management. However, the complex behavior and associations of multiple biological factors is impractical to be interpreted by the conventional statistics or human experts. For the first time, we combine a clinical dataset, expert knowledge and machine intelligence to model the multi-dimensional associations between the potentially relevant factors and weight-loss activity in HD, specifically at the premanifest stage. The HD dataset is standardized and transformed into required knowledge base with the help of clinical HD experts, which is then processed by the class rule mining and self-organising maps to identify the significant associations. Statistical results and experts’ report indicate a strong association between severe weight-loss in HD at the premanifest stage and measures of certain cognitive, psychiatric functional ability factors. These results suggest that the mechanism underlying weight-loss in HD is, at least partly related to dysfunction of certain areas of the brain, a finding that may have not been apparent otherwise. These associations will aid the understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease and its progression and may in turn help in HD treatment trials.

PMID:34197537 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0253817

PLoS One. 2021 Jul 1;16(7):e0254098. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254098. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

Many affective computing studies have developed automatic emotion recognition models, mostly using emotional images, audio and videos. In recent years, virtual reality (VR) has been also used as a method to elicit emotions in laboratory environments. However, there is still a need to analyse the validity of VR in order to extrapolate the results it produces and to assess the similarities and differences in physiological responses provoked by real and virtual environments. We investigated the cardiovascular oscillations of 60 participants during a free exploration of a real museum and its virtualisation viewed through a head-mounted display. The differences between the heart rate variability features in the high and low arousal stimuli conditions were analysed through statistical hypothesis testing; and automatic arousal recognition models were developed across the real and the virtual conditions using a support vector machine algorithm with recursive feature selection. The subjects’ self-assessments suggested that both museums elicited low and high arousal levels. In addition, the real museum showed differences in terms of cardiovascular responses, differences in vagal activity, while arousal recognition reached 72.92% accuracy. However, we did not find the same arousal-based autonomic nervous system change pattern during the virtual museum exploration. The results showed that, while the direct virtualisation of a real environment might be self-reported as evoking psychological arousal, it does not necessarily evoke the same cardiovascular changes as a real arousing elicitation. These contribute to the understanding of the use of VR in emotion recognition research; future research is needed to study arousal and emotion elicitation in immersive VR.

PMID:34197553 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0254098

PLoS One. 2021 Jul 1;16(7):e0253892. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253892. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Osteoporosis and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are diseases that have serious public health consequences, reducing the quality of life of patients and increasing morbidity and mortality, with substantial healthcare expenditures.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of MetS on bone mineral density (BMD) and biochemical markers of bone formation and resorption in adolescents with excess weight.

METHOD: A descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study was performed that evaluated 271 adolescents of both sexes (10 to 16 years). From the total sample, 42 adolescents with excess weight and the presence of MetS (14%) were selected. A further 42 adolescents with excess weight and without MetS were chosen, matched for chronological age, bone age, and pubertal developmental criteria to those with MetS, for each sex. Anthropometric measurements, blood pressure collection, and biochemical tests were performed in all adolescents, as well as evaluation of BMD and the bone biomarkers osteocalcin (OC), bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP), and carboxy-terminal telopeptide (S-CTx).

RESULTS: The adolescents with excess weight and MetS exhibited significantly lower transformed BMD and concentrations of BAP, OC, and S-CTx compared to the matched group, except for OC in boys. A negative and significant correlation was observed between total body BMD and BAP (r = -0.55568; p = 0.005), OC (r = -0.81760; p = < .000), and S-CTx (r = -0.53838; p = 0.011) in girls.

CONCLUSION: Metabolic syndrome may be associated with reduced bone mineral density and biochemical markers of bone formation and resorption in adolescents with excess weight.

PMID:34197518 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0253892

PLoS One. 2021 Jul 1;16(7):e0253908. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253908. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

The primary aim of this study is to propose a potential landscape value assessment from different dimensions rather than the traditional approach of a composite indicator. The method used in this study is the combination of data collection from stakeholder survey, score measurement for landscape value dimensions using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), and spatial representation with the support of Geographic Information System (GIS). From a large-scale (n = 400) investigation in the Moc Chau district, the statistical data extracted from the survey provides input data for the score determination process. SEM analysis shows that each landscape site has 11 determinants influencing the landscape value assessment. Using the RMSE comparison (for validation) with different interpolation methods, the ordinary kriging method is chosen to model the aggregation landscape value map of Moc Chau District. About 24.97% total area of the study area has great potential for tourism development, being mainly distributed in the center of a high mountainous area. This approach can be used as a model to advocate local and regional assessment and enhance value-based management in other territories in Vietnam and beyond.

PMID:34197520 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0253908