Tag: pubmed

Epilepsy Res. 2021 May 12;174:106670. doi: 10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2021.106670. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To determine the 30-day readmission rate after Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) discharge in a nationally representative sample, as well as patient, clinical, and hospital characteristics associated with readmission.

METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study of adults discharged from an elective hospitalization with continuous video electroencephalography (vEEG) monitoring, sampled from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project’s 2014 Nationwide Readmissions Database. Descriptive statistics were used to quantify and characterize readmission within 30 days and logistic regression models were built to examine factors associated with readmission.

RESULTS: 6869 admissions met inclusion criteria, with 292 people (4.2 %) readmitted within 30 days. 79.5 % (n = 232/292) of all readmissions were non-elective. Patient characteristics associated with readmission included a higher Elixhauser comorbidity score [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.03, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.02-1.04 per 1 point increase in Elixhauser score], a longer length of stay [AOR 1.05, 95 % CI 1.02-1.09 per one day increase in length], non-routine discharge [AOR 1.85, 95 %CI 102-3.38], and comorbid brain tumor diagnosis [AOR 2.55, 95 %CI 1.46-4.46]. Female sex was inversely associated with 30-day readmission [AOR 0.68, 95 % CI 0.54-0.85]. The most common reason for readmission was epilepsy or convulsion (27.6 %), followed by sepsis (5.8 %) and complications of surgical procedures or medical care (5.5 %).

CONCLUSIONS: Patients electively admitted for continuous vEEG monitoring are infrequently readmitted. These data provide a preliminary national readmission benchmark for patients with elective admissions for vEEG monitoring.

PMID:34051574 | DOI:10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2021.106670

Sci Total Environ. 2021 May 21;789:147876. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147876. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Governments may relax physical distancing interventions for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) containment in warm seasons/areas to prevent economic contractions. However, it is not clear whether higher temperature may offset the transmission risk posed by this relaxation. This study aims to investigate the associations of the effective reproductive number (R_t) of Covid-19 with ambient temperature and the implementation of physical distancing interventions in the United States (US). This study included 50 states and one territory of the US with 4,532,650 confirmed cases between 29 January and 31 July 2020. We used an interrupted time-series model with a state-level random intercept for data analysis. An interaction term of ‘physical distancing×temperature’ was included to examine their interactions. Stratified analyses by temperature and physical distancing implementation were also performed to analyse the modifying effects. The overall median (interquartile range) R_t was 1.2 (1.0-2.3). The implementation of physical distancing was associated with a 12% decrease in the risk of R_t (relative risk [RR]: 0.88, 95% confident interval [CI]: 0.86-0.89), and each 5 °C increase in temperature was associated with a 2% decrease (RR: 0.98, 95%CI: 0.97-0.98). We observed a statistically significant interaction between temperature and physical distancing implementation, but all the RRs were small (close to one). The containing effects of high temperature were attenuated by 5.1% when physical distancing was implemented. The association of COVID-19 R_t with physical distancing implementation was more stable (0.88 vs. 0.89 in days when temperature was low and high, respectively). Increased temperature did not offset the risk of Covid-19 R_t posed by the relaxation of physical distancing implementation. Our study does not recommend relaxing the implementation of physical distancing interventions in warm seasons/areas.

PMID:34051508 | DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147876

J Psychosom Res. 2021 May 20;147:110511. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2021.110511. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Vascular surgery can be common among people with serious mental illness (SMI) given the high prevalence of cardiovascular disease. However, post-operative outcomes following vascular surgery have received little investigation, particularly in a subpopulation of SMI.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective observational study using data from the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) via its Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) platform and linkage with Hospital Episode Statistic (HES). Vascular surgery recipients were identified using OPCS version 4 codes. Length of stay (LOS) was modelled using Incidence Rate Ratios (IRRs), and 30-day emergency hospital readmissions using Odds Ratios (ORs) for people with SMI compared with the general population.

RESULTS: Vascular surgery was received by 152 patients with SMI diagnoses (schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder) and 8821 catchment residents without any mental health conditions. People with active SMI symptoms more likely to be admitted to hospital via emergency route OR: 1.80 (95% CI: 1.06, 3.07) and more likely to stay longer in the hospital for vascular surgery IRR: 1.35 (1.01, 1.80) and more likely to be readmitted to hospital via emergency route within 30 days OR: 1.53 (1.02, 2.67). People with SMI who had major open vascular surgery and peripheral endovascular surgery more likely to have worse post-operative outcomes.

CONCLUSION: Our study highlights the risks faced by people with SMI following vascular surgery. These suggest tailored guidelines and policies are needed, based on the identification of pre-operative risk factors, allowing for focused post-vascular surgery care to minimise adverse outcomes.

PMID:34051514 | DOI:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2021.110511

Mar Pollut Bull. 2021 May 26;169:112494. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112494. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Catchment impacts on downstream ecosystems are difficult to quantify, but important for setting management targets. Here we compared 12 years of monitoring data of seagrass area and biomass in Cleveland Bay, northeast Australia, with discharge and associated sediment loads from nearby rivers. Seagrass biomass and area exhibited different trajectories in response to river inputs. River discharge was a slightly better predictor of seagrass indicators than total suspended solid (TSS) loads, indicating that catchment effects on seagrass are not restricted to sediment. Linear relationships between Burdekin River TSS loads delivered over 1-4 years and seagrass condition in Cleveland Bay generated Ecologically Relevant Targets (ERT) for catchment sediment inputs. Our predicted ERTs were comparable to those previously estimated using mechanistic models. This study highlights the challenges of linking catchment inputs to condition of downstream ecosystems, and the importance of integrating a variety of metrics and approaches to increase confidence in ERTs.

PMID:34051518 | DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112494

Sci Total Environ. 2021 May 23;789:147962. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147962. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The research aimed to find out physiochemical properties, metal concentration, sources of metals using statistical analyses, and positive matrix factorization (PMF) model using 315 soil and 250 foodstuff samples (25 species) in Jhenidah as well as Kushtia district, Bangladesh. The range of Pb, Cd, As, Cu, Ni and Cr contents (mg/kg) in soils were found to be 0.97-114.72, 0.11-7.51, 1.07-23.38, 0.89-122.91, 0.91-77.32 and 0.7-23.03 mg/kg, respectively, whereas those in foodstuff samples were found to be 0.46-11.48, 0.30-11.54, 0.47-9.21, 0.20-3.59, 0.001-1.76, and 0.27-5.93 mg/kg, respectively. PMF model revealed that Cu (81.4%) in the study area soils were predominantly contributed by vehicular fuel combustion, Cr (84.9%) was primarily of natural origin, Pb (73%) resulted from traffic emissions, Cd (74.3%), and As (63.4%) mainly came from agricultural practices while Ni (70.9%) was dominated as industrial pollution. EF > 1.5 of Cu, As, and Pb suggesting mild contamination; however, soils from all the studied sites revealed moderate potential ecological risk. Cr recorded BCF values of >1 in the majority of the examined crops, suggesting higher uptake of Cr than other metals. Cr, Ni, As, and Pb showed cancer risks from food intake and risk values were greater than the threshold range (10^-4), suggesting potential cancer risks.

PMID:34051494 | DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147962

Sci Total Environ. 2021 May 23;789:147945. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147945. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Soil microbial communities act on important environmental processes, being sensitive to the application of wastes, mainly those potential contaminants, such as tannery sludge. Due to the microbiome complexity, graph-theoretical approaches have been applied to represent model microbial communities interactions and identify important taxa, mainly in contaminated soils. Herein, we performed network and statistical analyses into microbial 16S rRNA gene sequencing data from soil samples with the application of different levels of composted tannery sludge (CTS) to assess the most connected nodes and the nodes that act as bridges to identify key microbes within each community. The network analysis revealed hubs belonging to Proteobacteria in soil with lower CTS rates, while active degraders of recalcitrant and pollutant chemical hubs belonging to Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were found in soils under the highest CTS rates. The majority of classified connectors belonged to Actinobacteria, but similarly to hubs taxa, they shifted from metabolic functional profile to taxa with abilities to degrade toxic compounds, revealing a soil perturbation with the CTS application on community organization, which also impacted the community modularity. Members of Actinobacteria and Acidobacteria were identified as both hub and connector suggesting their role as keystone groups. Thus, these results offered us interesting insights about crucial taxa, their response to environmental alterations, and possible implications for the ecosystem.

PMID:34051496 | DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147945

Gynecol Obstet Fertil Senol. 2021 May 26:S2468-7189(21)00152-5. doi: 10.1016/j.gofs.2021.05.004. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Para-aortic lymphadenectomy plays a fundamental role in the surgical management of pelvic gynecological cancers. Two laparoscopic approaches exist: the transperitoneal (TP) and the extraperitoneal (EP). The aim of this study was to compare these 2 approaches in terms of surgical outcomes, specially the number of removed lymph nodes according to the surgical technique, and morbidity.

MATERIALS AND METHOD: A single-center retrospective study was carried out at the Lariboisiere University Hospital between January 2011 and March 2020 including all patients who underwent para-aortic lymphadenectomy for the management of a pelvic gynecological cancer (cervix, endometrium, ovary). Univariate and multivariate analysis (logistic regression) were performed to compare the TP and the EP groups.

RESULTS: 143 patients were included: 74 in the TP group and 69 in the RP group. The total duration of surgery was 220.8 minutes in the TP group and 166.4 minutes in the EP group (p<0.001 in multivariate analysis). No significant difference between groups were found in the average total number of lymph nodes removed but there was a statistically significant difference in the average latero-aortic number of lymph nodes removed: 8.5 lymph nodes in the TP group and 11.3 lymph nodes in the group RP (p<0.001 in multivariate analysis). There was no difference between groups in peri and postoperative morbidity.

CONCLUSION: EP para-aortic lymphadenectomy reduces duration of surgery and increases the average latero-aortic number of lymph nodes removed with same morbidity compared to TP para-aortic lymphadenectomy, this confirming its preferred indication in endometrial and in cervical cancers.

PMID:34051427 | DOI:10.1016/j.gofs.2021.05.004

Joint Bone Spine. 2021 May 26:105226. doi: 10.1016/j.jbspin.2021.105226. Online ahead of print.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:34051385 | DOI:10.1016/j.jbspin.2021.105226

Conscious Cogn. 2021 May 25;93:103150. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2021.103150. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The present study investigates how the brain automatically discriminates emotional schematic faces, as indicated by the mismatch responses, and how reliable these brain responses are. Thirty-three healthy volunteers participated in the vMMN EEG experiment with four experimental sets differing from each other by the type of standard (object with scrambled face features) and the type of deviants (Angry, Happy and Neutral schematic faces) presented. Conscious subjective evaluations of valence, arousal and attention catching of the same stimuli showed clear differentiation of emotional expressions. Deviant faces elicited rather similar vMMN at frontal and occipital sites. Bayesian analyses suggest that vMMN does not differ between angry and happy faces. Neutral faces, however, did not yield statistically significant vMMN at occipital leads. Pearson’s correlation and intra-class correlation analyses showed that the brain’s reactions to the stimuli were highly stable within individuals across the experimental sets, whereas the mismatch responses were much more variable.

PMID:34051391 | DOI:10.1016/j.concog.2021.103150

J Card Fail. 2021 May 26:S1071-9164(21)00197-4. doi: 10.1016/j.cardfail.2021.05.007. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: The role of oral vasodilators in the management of acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) is not clearly defined. We evaluated the use of captopril vs. hydralazine-isosorbide dinitrate (H-ISDN) in the transition from sodium nitroprussside (SNP) in ADHF patients.

METHODS AND RESULTS: A retrospective chart review of 369 consecutive adult ICU patients with ADHF and reduced ejection fraction who received either a captopril or H-ISDN protocol to transition from SNP was performed. Captopril patients were matched 1:2 to H-ISDN patients, based on serum creatinine (SCr) andrace (black vs non-black). Baseline demographics, serum chemistry, and use of ACE-I/ARB were similar between groups. Time to SNP discontinuation (46.9 vs 40.4 hours, p=0.11) and hospital LOS (9.86 vs 7.99 days, p=0.064) were similar between groups. ICU LOS was statistically shorter in the H-ISDN group (4.11 vs 3.96 days, p=0.038). Fewer H-ISDN patients were discharged on an ACEi/ARB (82.9 % vs 69.9%, p=0.003) despite similar kidney function at time of discharge (SCr 1.1 vs 1.2, p=0.113). No difference was observed in rates of readmission (40.7% vs 50%, p=0.09) or mortality (16.3% vs 17.5 %, p=0.77) at one year post discharge.

CONCLUSION: Similar in-patient and one-year outcomes were observed between patients using H-ISDN versus ACEi when transitioning from SNP, even though fewer H-ISDN patients were discharged on ACEi/ ARB despite similar kidney function.

PMID:34051349 | DOI:10.1016/j.cardfail.2021.05.007