Hedegaardmcdowell5953

The aim of the study was to describe renal pelvis (RP) and ureteral ultrasonographic measurements in a population of cats with confirmed benign ureteral obstruction (UO) by antegrade pyelography. The secondary objective was to further describe clinical findings associated with minimally dilated obstructed kidneys in an attempt to better understand its occurrence.

Retrospective case series of cats diagnosed with benign UO were confirmed by antegrade pyelography. Medical records were reviewed and signalment, diagnostic imaging results, serum creatinine (SCr) concentration and urine culture results were recorded. Each obstructed kidney was categorized into two groups group 1 included all RP measurements ⩽4 mm and group 2 included all RP measurements >4 mm.

A total of 82 cats with 114 obstructed ureters met the inclusion criteria. Fifty (61%) cats had a unilateral UO and 32 (39%) had a bilateral UO. Thirty (26%) kidneys were included in group 1 while 84 (74%) were included in group 2. Nine (8%) kidneys hl RP dilation and the severity of RP and ureteral dilation can be highly variable. Absence of significant RP dilation does not rule out UO in cats.Infants are at risk of developing serious diseases as a consequence of pertussis infection. check details Thus, to protect newborns, many countries, including Italy, have introduced pertussis maternal immunization. However, despite the compelling evidence supporting Tdap vaccinations, the rates of coverage among Italian pregnant women have remained consistently very low. Numerous studies have shown that healthcare providers' recommendations are critical for achieving high maternal vaccination coverages. This study explores Italian gynecologists' knowledge, attitude and practices concerning pertussis maternal immunization. Between July 2018 and September 2018, we performed a national cross-sectional survey administered by e-mail using the mailing list of the Association of Italian Hospital Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AOGOI) the mailing list included more than 3500 members. A total of 451 respondents distributed throughout Italy completed the online survey. Overall, 275 (60.97%) respondents did not routinely recommend pertussis vaccination to pregnant women, mainly for suboptimal knowledge of the maternal pertussis vaccine, protocols, and guidelines furthermore, 15.44% (69/447) of gynecologists were not aware of the pertussis vaccination program for pregnant women. Gynecologists working in the South or in the Islands of Italy were less aware about the need of administering Tdap in expectant mothers, suggesting that there is a potential risk of health inequalities based on differing levels of vaccine knowledge and recommendations across Italy. In order to enable healthcare professionals to provide accurate and timely information on pertussis immunization to pregnant women, targeted educational programs to improve gynecologists' knowledge on pertussis vaccination are needed.Introduction We evaluated knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) related to influenza and influenza vaccination among pregnant women in three selected countries.Methods During 2017, pregnant women seeking antenatal care at hospitals at participating sites were enrolled. We described characteristics and responses to KAP questions. We also evaluated predictors associated with influenza vaccination during pregnancy at sites with substantial influenza vaccine uptake by multivariable logistic regression.Results Overall, 4,648 pregnant women completed the survey. There were substantial differences among the three survey populations; only 8% of the women in Nagpur had heard of influenza, compared to 90% in Lima and 96% in Bangkok (p-value less then 0.01). Despite significant differences in sociodemographic characteristics in the three populations, most participants across sites who were aware of influenza prior to study enrollment believe they and their infants are at risk of influenza and related complications and believe influenza vaccination is safe and effective. Half of women in Lima had verified receipt of influenza vaccine compared to less then 5% in Bangkok and Nagpur (p less then .05). For further analysis conducted among women in Lima only, household income above the poverty line (aOR 1.38; 95%CI 1.01, 1.88), having 8+ antenatal visits, compared to 0-4 (aOR 2.41; 95%CI 1.39, 2.87, respectively), having 0 children, compared to 2+ (aOR 1.96; 95%CIs 1.23, 3.12), and vaccination recommended by a health-care provider (aOR 8.25; 95%CI 6.11, 11.14) were strongly associated with receipt of influenza vaccine during pregnancy.Conclusions Our findings identify opportunities for targeted interventions to improve influenza vaccine uptake among pregnant women in these settings.

This study aimed to compare the Dental Discomfort Questionnaire (DDQ) scores in children with and without intellectual disability (ID) and to measure correlation between the total DDQ and the Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMFT/dmft) scores, as well as the condition of the tooth causing pain.

This cross-sectional study included 81 children with normal intellectual development who attended the Departments of Pediatric Dentistry at two Turkish Universities and 80 children with different levels of intellectual disability who reported dental pain in special education centers. The 12-question DDQ (Turkish version) was applied to the parents of the patients with their consent. The relationship of the DDQ scores with tha of the DMFT/dmft, dental status, and demographic data was evaluated.

When the DDQ scores of children with intellectual disabilities were evaluated, it was found that the majority of the answers given to the questions were statistically similar (p < 0.05) to those of children with normahe presence of dental pain. No correlation was found between DMFT/dmft, dental status and DDQ scores.

This study re-explored the predictive validity of Stroke Prognostication using Age and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (SPAN) index in patients who received different treatments for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and developed machine learning-boosted outcome prediction models.

We evaluated the prognostic relevance of SPAN index in patients with AIS who received intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator (IV-tPA), intra-arterial thrombolysis (IAT) or non-thrombolytic treatments (non-tPA), and applied machine learning algorithms to develop SPAN-based outcome prediction models in a cohort of 2145 hospitalized AIS patients. The performance of the models was assessed and compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs).

SPAN index ≥100 was associated with higher mortality rate and higher modified Rankin Scale at discharge in AIS patients who received the different treatments. Compared to the lower AUCs for the SPAN-alone model across all groups, the AUCs of the lotients with AIS.Background Hepatitis B (HB) is the most serious and common viral hepatitis in China. Previous studies on HB discrimination mainly have focussed on stratified analysis, and there has been no consideration of the impact of geographical-environmental factors on HB discrimination from a spatial perspective.Objective This study conducted a large nationwide village-based survey to test whether there were significant regional differences in HB discrimination, and to explore the relationship between different socio-economic geographical factors and HB discrimination.Methods The sample comprised 22618 rural adults, aged over 18 years old, from villages in seven provinces, representing central, southern, and eastern coastal regions of China. Using face-to-face interviews, we surveyed participants' discrimination against HB patients or carriers. Chi-square tests were used to analyze the effects of the region on differences in proportions between three discrimination levels (low, medium, and high). A geographical detector was used to explore the relationship between different socio-economic and geographical-environmental factors and HB discrimination.Results The distribution of HB discrimination levels across the 42 villages was statistically significant. The level of HB discrimination in the central and southern regions was generally low, and the level of HB discrimination in the eastern coastal regions was higher. Both socio-economic and geographic-environmental factors had a significant relationship with HB discrimination. Most of these relationships were not linear.Conclusions Developing the economy and accelerating urbanization did not automatically eliminate discrimination against HB. We recommend government HB publicity and education campaigns to inform the population of HB causes and effects, and strengthen the education of students so that they can have a clear and correct understanding of HB from a young age, both of which will address HB discrimination.Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are considered as a new regulatory factor in growth, metastasis and therapeutic resistance of human cancers. But the clinical significance and underlying mechanism of circular RNA ITCH (circ-ITCH) in gastric cancer (GC) remain unknown. In the present study, we found that circ-ITCH was down-regulated in GC cell lines, GC tissues and their serum-derived exosomes. The level of circ-ITCH was related to invasion depth. Functional assays showed that circ-ITCH overexpression inhibited the proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) of GC cells, whereas circ-ITCH knockdown appeared an opposite effect. Bioinformatic analysis and luciferase reporter assay confirmed that circ-ITCH acted as miR-199a-5p sponge and increased the level of Klotho. The expression level of miR-199-5p was up-regulated in GC tissues and negatively correlated with that of circ-ITCH. MiR-199a-5p mimics reversed the effects on inhibiting metastasis induced by circ-ITCH overexpression and decreased the level of Klotho in GC cells. Our findings indicate that circ-ITCH suppresses metastasis of GC by acting as the sponge of miR-199a-5p and increasing Klotho expression, which serves as a potential biomarker and targets for the diagnosis and therapy of GC.Abbreviations CircRNAs circular RNAs; GC gastric cancer; circ-ITCH circular RNA Itchy E3 ubiquitin protein ligase; ceRNA competitive endogenous RNA; EMT Epithelial-mesenchymal transition; siRNA Small interfering RNA; TEM transmission electron microscope; NTA nanoparticle tracking analysis.

Spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is an unresolved complication and its mechanisms are still not completely understood. Here, we studied the neuroprotective effects of dexmedetomidine (DEX) postconditioning against spinal cord I/R injury in rats and explored the possible mechanisms.

In the study, rats were randomly divided into five groups sham group, I/R group, DEX0.5 group, DEX2.5 group, and DEX5 group. I/R injury was induced in experimental rats; 0.5 μg/kg, 2.5 μg/kg, 5 μg/kg DEX were intravenously injected upon reperfusion respectively. Neurological function, histological assessment, and the disruption of blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) were evaluated

the BBB scoring, hematoxylin and eosin staining, Evans Blue (EB) extravasation and spinal cord edema, respectively. Neutrophil infiltration was evaluated

Myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity. Microglia activation and reactive gliosis was evaluated

ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule-1(IBA-1) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunofluorescence, respectively.