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BMJ Open Respir Res 2022 May;9(1)

Airways Disease Group, Division of Respirology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Introduction: Although cannabis is frequently used worldwide, its impact on respiratory health is characterised by controversy.

Objective: To evaluate the association between cannabis use and respiratory-related emergency room (ER) visits and hospitalisations.

Methods: A retrospective, population-based, cohort study was carried out, linking health survey and health administrative data for residents of Ontario, Canada, aged 12-65 years, between January 2009 and December 2015. Read More

BMJ 2022 Jun 27;377:e069271. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Department of Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.

Objective: To determine the effect of a user centered clinical decision support tool versus usual care on rates of initiation of buprenorphine in the routine emergency care of individuals with opioid use disorder.

Design: Pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial (EMBED).

Setting: 18 emergency department clusters across five healthcare systems in five states representing the north east, south east, and western regions of the US, ranging from community hospitals to tertiary care centers, using either the Epic or Cerner electronic health record platform. Read More

Rev Bras Ginecol Obstet 2022 Jun 27. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

Objective:  To evaluate the acceptance of telemedicine and determine its associated factors in an urogynecology outpatient clinic of a public hospital in Brazil.

Methods:  The present was a cross-sectional study performed between June and November 2020. The included patients had their elective appointments postponed due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Read More

World Neurosurg 2022 Jun 24. Epub 2022 Jun 24.

Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:

Objective: Communicating hydrocephalus is a common condition presented in patients with cerebellopontine angle tumors, but its etiology has not been fully understood. This study aimed to clarify the risk of communicating hydrocephalus in distinct tumor types and treatment modalities, i.e. Read More

Early Hum Dev 2022 Jun 24;171:105618. Epub 2022 Jun 24.

Department of Women and Children's Health, School of Life Course Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; NIHR Biomedical Centre at Guy's and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address:

Background: A small group of extremely preterm infants survive to 36 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA), but die before discharge from neonatal care.

Aims: To investigate which epidemiological and clinical parameters were related to death after 36 weeks PMA in extremely preterm infants.

Study Design: Retrospective whole-population study. Read More

Respir Med 2022 Jun 21;200:106922. Epub 2022 Jun 21.

Center of Medicine and Clinical Research, Division of Respiratory Medicine, Kuopio University Hospital, POB 100, 70029, Kuopio, Finland.

Background: The use of a transbronchial lung cryobiopsy (TBLC) is increasing as a diagnostic method of interstitial lung diseases (ILD). This study aimed to evaluate risk factors associated with clinically significant complications of TBLC in ILD patients.

Methods: Patients referred to Kuopio or Tampere university hospitals, in Finland, for a suspected ILD were included. Read More

J Clin Psychiatry 2022 Jun 20;83(4). Epub 2022 Jun 20.

Health and Behavior Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri.

Stimulant use has substantially increased among people with opioid use disorder (OUD) and is associated with worse treatment outcomes. This study's objective was to compare risk of stimulant-related emergency department (ED) and hospital admissions associated with exposure to bupropion, OUD medication (buprenorphine, naltrexone, and methadone), and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs; active comparator) relative to days without active prescriptions for medication.

This recurrent-event, case-crossover study used insurance claims from 51,084 individuals with OUD enrolled in the IBM MarketScan (2006-2016) Databases who had at least 1 stimulant-related ED or hospital admission. Read More

Female Pelvic Med Reconstr Surg 2022 Jun 18. Epub 2022 Jun 18.

Urology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles.

Importance: This study identifies barriers, including language and insurance status, Latina patients may face in accessing urogynecology care.

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine differences in objective prolapse severity at the time of presentation between Latina and non-Latina patients and the effect socioeconomic disparities may have on these differences.

Study Design: This is a retrospective cohort study of patients visiting urogynecology clinics at 2 academic institutions (1 private, 1 public). Read More

JAMA 2022 Jun 27. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Critical Care Research Group, Wesley Medical Research, St Andrew's War Memorial Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Importance: In children undergoing heart surgery, nitric oxide administered into the gas flow of the cardiopulmonary bypass oxygenator may reduce postoperative low cardiac output syndrome, leading to improved recovery and shorter duration of respiratory support. It remains uncertain whether nitric oxide administered into the cardiopulmonary bypass oxygenator improves ventilator-free days (days alive and free from mechanical ventilation).

Objective: To determine the effect of nitric oxide applied into the cardiopulmonary bypass oxygenator vs standard care on ventilator-free days in children undergoing surgery for congenital heart disease. Read More

Crit Care Med 2022 Jun 20. Epub 2022 Jun 20.

Riverside University Health System-Comparative Effectiveness and Clinical Outcomes Research Center, Moreno Valley, CA.

Objectives: The effectiveness of cryoprecipitate (Cryo) in trauma has not been well established; the benefits of Cryo might have been overestimated in previous studies since the difference in the total amount of administered clotting factors was not considered. We aimed to evaluate the benefits of the concurrent use of Cryo in combination with fresh frozen plasma (FFP) for bleeding trauma patients.

Design: Retrospective cohort study. Read More

PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2022 Jun 27;16(6):e0010536. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Institute of Immunology & Infection Research, University of Edinburgh, Ashworth Laboratories, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Cytokines mediate T-helper (TH) responses that are crucial for determining the course of infection and disease. The expression of cytokines is regulated by transcription factors (TFs). Here we present the frequencies of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in cytokine and TF genes in a Zimbabwean population, and further relate SNPs to susceptibility to schistosomiasis and cytokine levels. Read More

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2022 Jun 27;10(6):e34273. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

See Acknowledgments, .

Background: Tobacco addiction is the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality worldwide, but only 1 in 20 cessation attempts is supervised by a health professional. The potential advantages of mobile health (mHealth) can circumvent this problem and facilitate tobacco cessation interventions for public health systems. Given its easy scalability to large populations and great potential, chatbots are a potentially useful complement to usual treatment. Read More

J Med Internet Res 2022 Jun 27;24(6):e34863. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, Rochester, NY, United States.

Background: Latinos remain disproportionately underrepresented in clinical trials, comprising only 2%-3% of research participants. In order to address health disparities, it is critically important to increase enrollment of Latino smokers in smoking cessation trials. There is limited research examining effective recruitment strategies for this population. Read More

Shock 2022 Jun;57(6):200-210

Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of South China Structural Heart Disease, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China.

Background: Severe microcirculatory disturbance is common in patients with cardiogenic shock necessitating extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), however, biomarkers linked to microcirculation and clinical outcome are scarce. Herein we identified a circular RNA, hsa_circ_0007367, rooted from the ubiquitin-associated protein 2 (UBAP2) gene, namely circUBAP2, and evaluated its biological function and the associations with microcirculation and the prognosis.

Methods: Patients on ECMO with cardiogenic shock were included if qualified sublingual microcirculation parameters could be obtained and were categorized into the survivor group or non-survivor group. Read More

JAMA Neurol 2022 Jun 27. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Boston University Alzheimer's Disease and CTE Centers, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.

Importance: Repetitive head impact (RHI) exposure is the chief risk factor for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). However, the occurrence and severity of CTE varies widely among those with similar RHI exposure. Limited evidence suggests that the APOEε4 allele may confer risk for CTE, but previous studies were small with limited scope. Read More

Angle Orthod 2022 Jun 27. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Objectives: To evaluate the association between malocclusion characteristics in the mixed dentition stage, breastfeeding, and past nonnutritive sucking habits in school-age children.

Materials And Methods: A total of 547 school children in the mixed dentition, in the age range between 7 and 13 years, were evaluated by means of questionnaire and clinical examination. Binomial and multinomial logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations between breastfeeding and finger and pacifier sucking habits, the malocclusion characteristics of posterior crossbite, and excessive or deficient overjet and overbite. Read More

JAMA Netw Open 2022 Jun 1;5(6):e2218753. Epub 2022 Jun 1.

Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.

Importance: Primary care professionals (PCPs) have a central role in screening for diabetic retinopathy (DR), especially in settings where access to specialty eye care is limited. Data on current DR screening practice patterns in primary care are needed to inform screening strategies.

Objectives: To assess the practice patterns of fundoscopic examination for DR screening in a large primary care network and to evaluate the sensitivity and accuracy of PCP fundoscopy for detecting DR. Read More

JAMA Intern Med 2022 Jun 27. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Department of Psychiatry, Division of Human Genetics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.

Importance: Sickle cell trait (SCT), defined as the presence of 1 hemoglobin beta sickle allele (rs334-T) and 1 normal beta allele, is prevalent in millions of people in the US, particularly in individuals of African and Hispanic ancestry. However, the association of SCT with COVID-19 is unclear.

Objective: To assess the association of SCT with the prepandemic health conditions in participants of the Million Veteran Program (MVP) and to assess the severity and sequelae of COVID-19. Read More

J Infect Dis 2022 Jun 27. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine; Department of Medicine; University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94110.

Introduction: People living with HIV experiencing homelessness have low rates of viral suppression, driven by socio-structural barriers and limitations of traditional care systems. Informed by the Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behavior (COM-B) model and patient preference research, we developed "POP-UP", an integrated drop-in (non-appointment-based) HIV clinic with wrap-around services (substance use, mental health, case management, financial incentives) for persons with housing instability and viral-non suppression.

Methods: We report HIV viral suppression (VS; <200 copies/mL), care engagement (≥90 day gaps in care and ≥1 clinical visit each 4-month period) and mortality at 12-months post-enrollment. Read More

Immun Inflamm Dis 2022 Jul;10(7):e666

Department of Hematology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.

Background: Although most adults are infected by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), some patients develop highly lethal diseases associated with EBV infection, including EBV-hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (EBV-HLH), chronic active EBV infections (CAEBV), and lymphoma, the pathogeneses of which remain to be investigated. The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) complex may be associated with the viral infection pathway, and, therefore, HLA alleles may be associated with EBV-related diseases and subpopulations of infected cells, studies related to EBV-associated diseases, and subpopulations of infected cells that were conducted in China are scarce.

Methods: In this study, we analyzed the high-resolution HLA genotypes of 269 patients with EBV-associated diseases and 213 EBV-seronegative hematopoietic stem cell donors using PCR-SBT assay and elucidated the associations of HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, and -DQB1 alleles with EBV-associated diseases in the Chinese population, Benjamini-Hochberg correction to adjust for multiple testing. Read More

Immun Inflamm Dis 2022 Jul;10(7):e623

National Cancer Registry, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Background: The Black population has lower skin cancer incidence compared to White, Indian/Asian, and Mixed-race populations in South Africa; however, skin cancer still exists in the Black population. The aim of this study is to identify risk factors associated with skin cancer among Black South Africans.

Materials And Methods: A case-control study was conducted. Read More

Immun Inflamm Dis 2022 Jul;10(7):e645

Laboratory Microorganismes and Active Biomolecules, Sciences Faculty of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia.

Objectives: Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) is implicated in several cancers and is considered to be an immune checkpoint regulator. We determined the association between polymorphisms in the 3' untranslated region of HLA-G and soluble HLA-G (sHLA-G) expression with gynecological cancers (GCs).

Methods: A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the association between HLA-G14-bp insertion (I)/deletion (D) and +3142C/G polymorphism in GC and to evaluate sHLA-G expression RESULTS: We revealed a significant association between the +3142C/G polymorphism and invasive cervical cancer (ICC) based on the allelic model G versus C (odds ratio [OR] = 0. Read More

J Infect Dis 2022 Jun 27. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Unidad de Infección Viral e Inmunidad, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Spain.

In this case-control study, we evaluated the association between serum antibodies against hepatitis E virus (HEV) and central nervous system (CNS) neurodegenerative disorders (NDs) in older people with dementia. The presence of anti-HEV antibodies was related to a higher adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of having CNS-NDs by neuropathological diagnosis (aOR = 2.13; p = 0. Read More

Oral Maxillofac Surg 2022 Jun 27. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dr. H.S.R.S.M. Dental College, Hingoli, Maharashtra, India.

Introduction: Pediatric dental surgeries are associated with the emotions of fear, anxiety, and other behavioral disturbances of children that need to be managed. Sedation using drugs like dexmedetomidine (DEX) and midazolam (MID) is a common pharmacological behavior managing technique. We conducted this meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of both these drugs in current literature. Read More

Eur Radiol 2022 Jun 27. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Institue of Cancer and Basic Medicine (ICBM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, 310018, China.

Objective: To identify quantitative CT features for distinguishing well-differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) from poorly differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine carcinomas (PNECs).

Materials And Methods: Seventeen patients with PNECs and 131 patients with PNETs confirmed by biopsy or surgery were retrospectively included. General demographic (sex, age) and CT quantitative parameters (arterial/portal absolute enhancement, arterial/portal relative enhancement ratio, arterial/portal enhancement ratio) were collected. Read More

Gastroenterol Nurs 2022 Jun 27. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Hefeng Tian, MD, is Team Coordinator, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.

The quality of bowel preparation is an extremely important determinant of colonoscopy results. However, the efficacy of senna regimens in improving bowel cleanliness is uncertain. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to synthesize data on whether using a senna bowel preparation regimen enhances the bowel cleanliness. Read More

Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2022 Jun;63(6):27

Department of Ophthalmology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Heping District, Tianjin, China.

Objective: To explore the relationship between sports and the prevalence of myopia in young sports-related groups in Tianjin, China.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a cluster sampling method was used to survey professional athletes in Tianjin, students at Tianjin University of Sport, and Tianjin Vocational College of Sports. All participants completed epidemiological questionnaires and ophthalmic examinations. Read More

J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2022 Jun 27. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.

Background: Evidence showed maternal androgen levels in both healthy/general population and populations with hyperandrogenic disorders were inversely associated with offspring's birth weight. We aimed to investigate the causal effect of maternal testosterone levels in general population on offspring's birth weight and preterm delivery risk using two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) method.

Methods: We obtained independent genetic instruments from a sex-specific genome wide association study with up to 230,454 females of European descent from UK biobank. Read More

J Rural Health 2022 Jun 27. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA.

Purpose: Rural communities are among the most underserved and resource-scarce populations in the United States. However, there are limited data on COVID-19 outcomes in rural America. This study aims to compare hospitalization rates and inpatient mortality among SARS-CoV-2-infected persons stratified by residential rurality. Read More