Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Value Health Reg Issues 2021 Apr 9;24:199-213. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Scientist-E, ICMR-National Institute of Medical Statistics, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India.

Objectives: This article explores the consequences of hospitalization expenditure on noncommunicable diseases (NCD) and its impact on out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE), catastrophic health expenditure, impoverishment, and hardship financing of households in India.

Methods: Data on hospitalized cases of NCDs from the 3 rounds of National Sample Surveys (NSS) (2004, 2014, 2018) were used. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to investigate the socioeconomic differentials of the impact of OOPE on catastrophic health expenditure, impoverishment, and exposure to hardship financing. Read More

J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis 2021 Apr 9;30(6):105753. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Department of Cardiology, Dijon University Hospital, 21000 Dijon, France. Electronic address:

Introduction: Elevated troponin levels are found in a significant number of patients who are diagnosed with acute embolic stroke (AES) after first diagnosed atrial fibrillation (AF). These myocardial injuries, which are known as cardiocerebral infarction (CCI), are potentially caused by coronary embolism and correspond to simultaneous cardiac and cerebral embolisms. However, this severe condition remains poorly understood. Read More

Ocul Surf 2021 Apr 9. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Epidemiology and Prevention Group, Center for Public Health Sciences, National Cancer Center, Tokyo, Japan.

Purpose: To investigate whether and how unhealthy sleep habits (i.e., the frequency of difficulty falling or staying asleep, and the frequency of waking up tired) and the duration of sleep are related to the prevalence of dry eye disease (DED) in a general population. Read More

J Glob Antimicrob Resist 2021 Apr 9. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Department of intensive care unit, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address:

Background: Effective antifungal therapy is important for reducing the mortality of patients with invasive fungal diseases. Numerous factors affect the pharmacokinetic (PK)/pharmacodynamic (PD) parameters in critically ill patients. To guide the individualized administration of the antifungal drug caspofungin in critically ill patients, it is of great significance to investigate the population pharmacokinetics of caspofungin. Read More

Diabetes Res Clin Pract 2021 Apr 9:108797. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Naples, Italy; Unit of Diabetes, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Naples, Italy. Electronic address:

Aim: To investigate the rate of antibiotic resistance and its main risk factors in a population of patients with diabetic foot infection (DFI) during the COVID-19 pandemic, in comparison with the population of 2019.

Methods: Two hundred and twenty-five patients with DFI were admitted in a tertiary care center from January 2019 to December 2020. Antibiotic resistance was evaluated by microbiological examination of soft tissues' or bone's biopsy. Read More

Environ Health Perspect 2021 Apr 12;129(4):47009. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.

Background: Inconsistent associations between long-term exposure to particles with an aerodynamic diameter [fine particulate matter ()] components and mortality have been reported, partly related to challenges in exposure assessment.

Objectives: We investigated the associations between long-term exposure to elemental components and mortality in a large pooled European cohort; to compare health effects of components estimated with two exposure modeling approaches, namely, supervised linear regression (SLR) and random forest (RF) algorithms.

Methods: We pooled data from eight European cohorts with 323,782 participants, average age 49 y at baseline (1985-2005). Read More

Intern Med J 2021 Apr 12. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Rheumatology Department, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Objectives: to investigate prevalence of COVID-19 cases and seroprevalence among rheumatologic patients and the risk factors for infection.

Methods: a cross sectional study in a rheumatologic population .An online questionnaire was sent on 31 April 2020. Read More

Evolution 2021 Apr 12. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, United Kingdom.

Androdioecy (the coexistence of males and hermaphrodites) is a rare mating system for which the evolutionary dynamics are poorly understood. Here we investigate the cottony cushion scale, Icerya purchasi, one of only three reported cases of androdioecy in insects. In this species, female-like hermaphrodites have been shown to produce sperm and self-fertilize. Read More

Eur Arch Paediatr Dent 2021 Apr 12. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Department of Conservative Dentistry, Periodontology, Endodontology and Paediatric Dentistry, Centre of Dentistry, Oral Medicine, and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Tübingen, Germany.

Purpose: Molar-Incisor Hypomineralisation (MIH) remains a widespread developmental disorder of the teeth with a still largely unknown etiology. Perinatal events were blamed in previous studies for the development of MIH. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of perinatal hypoxia-determined by the pH value of the umbilical cord blood-and to investigate its correlation with severe MIH retrospectively. Read More

Eat Weight Disord 2021 Apr 12. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Division of Nephrology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Disease, State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Guangdong Provincial Institute of Nephrology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Renal Failure Research, Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Kidney Disease, Guangzhou, 510515, China.

Purpose: Visceral adiposity index (VAI) is a reliable indicator for the distribution and function of adipose tissue in the body. The relation of VAI with new-onset type 2 diabetes and new-onset impaired fasting glucose (IFG) remains uncertain. We aimed to investigate the prospective relation of VAI with new-onset type 2 diabetes and new-onset IFG in Chinese hypertensive adults. Read More

JAMA Netw Open 2021 Apr 1;4(4):e215262. Epub 2021 Apr 1.

Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts.

Importance: Time trends and population disparities in nutritional quality of foods from major US sources, including grocery stores, restaurants, schools, worksites, and other sources, are not well established.

Objective: To investigate patterns and trends in diet quality by food sources among US children and adults overall and in sociodemographic subgroups.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This serial, cross-sectional survey study included respondents from 8 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey cycles (2003-2018) with valid dietary recalls. Read More

JMIR Res Protoc 2021 Apr 12;10(4):e22008. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Clinical Psychology, Department of Clinical, Neuro- and Developmental Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Background: Aviophobia (the fear of flying) can greatly impact the daily life functioning of people with the condition. Traditional exposure-based treatment is hampered by the limited availability of airplane practice situations, which is a result of economical and practical concerns. Easily accessible and low-cost virtual reality exposure therapy may address these challenges. Read More

Int J Occup Saf Ergon 2021 Apr 12:1-28. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Medicine, Quran and Hadith Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

IntroductionDepression is known to be associated with a variety of occupational factors. The aim of this study was to Meta-analyze the prevalence of depressive disorder in industrial workers.MethodsThree databases that indexing abstracts of articles were selected and searched until August 2020, those databases were PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Read More

Tissue Eng Part B Rev 2021 Apr 11. Epub 2021 Apr 11.

Connecticut Children's Medical Center, 20425, Hartford, Connecticut, United States;

Treatment for children born with vaginal agenesis remains difficult, without a clear gold standard for tissue replacement. An autologous engineered vaginal replacement would significantly improve quality of life for women born with this condition. The aim of this study was to critically review literature on the current state of tissue engineering for vaginal reconstruction in a pediatric population. Read More

Ann Transl Med 2021 Mar;9(5):372

Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Heath & China State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease & National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China.

Background: An increasing number and proportion of younger lung cancer patients have been observed worldwide, raising concerns on the optimal age to begin screening. This study aimed to investigate the association between age and findings in initial CT scans.

Methods: We searched for low-dose CT screening cohorts from electronic databases. Read More

Front Vet Sci 2021 26;8:629627. Epub 2021 Mar 26.

Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, United States.

Septic synovitis is a critical orthopedic condition in horses. Early intervention is key, with antibiotic therapy typically initiated prior to culture and susceptibility reports becoming available. The pharmacokinetics of several antibiotics have been studied in horses for use in intravenous regional limb perfusion (IVRLP) for septic synovitis, including the carbapenem antibiotic, meropenem. Read More

Front Med (Lausanne) 2021 26;8:649392. Epub 2021 Mar 26.

Department of Dermatology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China.

To investigate the trichoscopic features of female pattern hair loss (FPHL) in Chinese Han patients and analyze the difference between male and female patients with FPHL. Trichoscopic images were taken in four different scalp areas, including right frontal hairline, vertex, right parietal and occipital areas. Hair density, hair shaft diameter, vellus hair ratio and single hair follicle unit ratio were counted manually and analyzed. Read More

J Adv Res 2021 Mar 29;29:191-205. Epub 2020 Oct 29.

Joint Center for Single Cell Biology, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.

Introduction: Environmental stress is both a major force of natural selection and a prime factor affecting crop qualities and yields. The impact of the GRAS [gibberellic acid-insensitive (GAI), repressor of GA1-3 mutant (RGA), and scarecrow (SCR)] family on plant development and the potential to resist environmental stress needs much emphasis.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the evolution, expansion, and adaptive mechanisms of of important representative plants during polyploidization. Read More

J Thorac Dis 2021 Mar;13(3):1822-1832

Department of Radiation Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital Tongji University, Shanghai, China.

Background: To investigate the comparative effectiveness of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) and sublobar resection (SLR) in patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) considered to be high-risk lobectomy patients.

Methods: From January 2012 to December 2015, patients who underwent SBRT or SLR for clinical stage I NSCLC were examined retrospectively. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to reduce selection bias in SBRT and SLR patients. Read More

Ecol Evol 2021 Apr 21;11(7):3407-3421. Epub 2021 Feb 21.

Hokkaido Institute of Public Health Sapporo Japan.

Population densities of the gray-sided vole fluctuate greatly within and across years in Japan. Here, to investigate the role of individual dispersal in maintaining population genetic diversity, we examined how genetic diversity varied during fluctuations in density by analyzing eight microsatellite loci in voles sampled three times per year for 5 years, using two fixed trapping grids (approximately 0.5 ha each). Read More

Ecol Evol 2021 Apr 25;11(7):3148-3158. Epub 2021 Feb 25.

Department of Animal and Environmental Biology University of Port Harcourt Choba Nigeria.

Seed recruitment is a major driver of mangrove restoration globally. It is hypothesized that soil condition and channel hydrology can accelerate seedling recruitment and regeneration after a major disturbance. Species abundance, diversity indices, microbial and chemical concentrations in sand-filled mangrove forest was studied. Read More

Nutr Res Pract 2021 Apr 8;15(2):225-234. Epub 2021 Mar 8.

Department of Food and Nutrition, Myongji University, Yongin 17058, Korea.

Background/objectives: The study was performed to investigate the degree of perceived stress by sex in middle-aged people, and to provide basic data for appropriate nutrition education and interventional measures for middle-aged subjects through comparative analysis of association between stress and dietary habits, emotional eating behavior, and insomnia.

Subjects/methods: A survey was conducted in 670 middle-aged subjects (320 men and 350 women) aged 40-64 years, resided in Seoul and Gyeonggi area. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS WIN 25. Read More

Front Genet 2021 23;12:584355. Epub 2021 Mar 23.

Centre for Genetic Analysis and Applications, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia.

Several studies have evaluated computational methods that infer the haplotypes from population genotype data in European cattle populations. However, little is known about how well they perform in African indigenous and crossbred populations. This study investigates: (1) global and local ancestry inference; (2) heterozygosity proportion estimation; and (3) genotype imputation in West African indigenous and crossbred cattle populations. Read More

Front Physiol 2021 24;12:637617. Epub 2021 Mar 24.

Department of Chemical Ecology, Faculty of Biology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.

Larvae of the turnip sawfly are a pest of Brassicacae plants, as their feeding can cause defoliation of various crops of economic importance. The larvae and the adults of this sawfly species are known to take up different classes of chemical compounds from their respective host plants, with potentially deterrent functions against predators. In addition, compounds taken up by the adults, the clerodanoids, are known for their antimicrobial activity. Read More

Nonlinear Dyn 2021 Apr 5:1-12. Epub 2021 Apr 5.

Science, Mathematics and Technology Cluster, Singapore University of Technology and Design, 8 Somapah Road, Singapore, 487372 Singapore.

In this paper, we discuss three different response strategies to a disease outbreak and their economic implications in an age-structured population. We have utilized the classical age structured SIR-model, thus assuming that recovered people will not be infected again. Available resource dynamics is governed by the well-known logistic growth model, in which the reproduction coefficient depends on the disease outbreak spreading dynamics. Read More

J ECT 2021 Apr 9. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

From the Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute Geriatric Psychiatry Academic Center for ECT and Neuromodulation (AcCENT), University Psychiatric Center, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

Objective: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is provided in real-world clinical settings for patients lacking capacity for consent. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics and clinical effectiveness of ECT in this population.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted to collect data from patients who received ECT to treat their depressive episodes between April 2012 and March 2019. Read More

Chin Med J (Engl) 2021 Apr 7. Epub 2021 Apr 7.

Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Laboratory of Genetics, Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Beijing 100142, China Hua County People's Hospital, Anyang, Henan 456400, China Anyang Cancer Hospital, Anyang, Henan 455000, China.

Background: The association of lipids and cancer has varied greatly among different cancer types, lipid components and study populations. This study is aimed to investigate the association of serum lipids and the risk of malignant lesions in esophageal squamous epithelium.

Methods: In the "Endoscopic Screening for Esophageal Cancer in China" (ESECC) trial, serum samples were collected and tested for total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol at the time of subject enrollment. Read More

Health Policy 2021 Mar 24. Epub 2021 Mar 24.

University of Turin, Department of Public Health Sciences and Paediatrics, Turin, Italy; AOU City of Health and Science of Turin, Turin, Italy.

With COVID-19, populations are facing unmet health needs due to fear of contagion, lockdown measures and overload of Healthcare services (HCS). The COCOS study aimed to investigate reduced healthcare access among Italian citizens, additionally looking for specific subgroups that will primarily need health services in the next future. A cross-sectional online survey was performed during the Italian lockdown between April and May 2020. Read More

Zhongguo Dang Dai Er Ke Za Zhi 2021 Apr;23(4):420-424

Department of Pediatrics, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children, Ministry of Education, Chengdu 610041, China.

Compared with adults, children tend to have lower incidence rate, hospitalization rate, and mortality rate of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), while the cause of such age-based differences in disease severity remains unclear. An investigation of pathogenesis in children may help to analyze the therapies for the high-risk population. Human angiotensin-converting enzyme Ⅱ is the main receptor of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and can limit pulmonary capillary leakage and inflammation mediated by angiotensin 2 and exert a protective effect against acute lung injury. Read More

J Cutan Med Surg 2021 Apr 11:12034754211008164. Epub 2021 Apr 11.

Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Background: Limited data is available on the burden of dermatologic disease including disease distribution and providers of care. Research is needed to facilitate health care planning and improve patient care.

Objectives: To investigate the demographics and economics of the provision of dermatologic care in a universal health care system from fiscal year 2000 to 2016. Read More