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When considering the coronary plaque patterns, subjects with shorter sitting time (<5 hours/d) tended to have more calcified plaque and subjects with longer sitting time (≥10 hours/d) had more mixed plaque (p for trend = 0.018). After adjusting for age, gender, comorbidities, body mass index, and lipid profiles, increased sitting time was independently associated with the presence of mixed plaque, suggesting longer sitting time may be associated with higher risk of the formation of vulnerable plaque.

Longer sitting time was linked to the severity of subclinical atherosclerosis and the presence of high-risk vulnerable plaque in the general population.

Longer sitting time was linked to the severity of subclinical atherosclerosis and the presence of high-risk vulnerable plaque in the general population.

The aim of this project was to promote evidence-based best practice regarding hand hygiene among nurses in a pediatric blood and marrow transplantation (BMT) setting.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) represent important complications of healthcare with potentially major impact on patient outcomes. Most HAI are transmitted through the hands of healthcare professionals (HCP) and therefore hand hygiene is the simplest, most effective and proven method for preventing HAI. However, the overall compliance rate of HCP with hand hygiene remains at a very low level. In this case, it is necessary to implement strategies to improve the compliance with hand hygiene of the HCP with the purpose of reducing HAI rates, mortality and costs, all the more so as it is known that patients with BMT have an increased risk of HAI.

This best practice implementation project was based on the JBI methodological approach and included three phases of activity a baseline audit, implementation of strategies and a follow-up auditred to sustain changes in practice and improvements made.

Atherosclerosis is a cardiovascular disease that affects a majority of people around the world at old age. Atherosclerosis is slow to develop and challenging to treat. Endothelial dysfunction caused by oxidative stress, inflammation, and other pathological factors drives the process of atherogenesis. LOX-1 is one of the main scavenging receptors for ox-LDL and contributes to atherogenesis by inducing overproduction of ROS, increased expression of proinflammatory cytokines, and secretion of cellular adhesion molecules. Additionally, activation of LOX-1 inhibits the expression of KLF2, a key protective factor against atherosclerosis. In this study, we investigated the effects of pinitol, and naturally occurring cyclic polyol, on endothelial dysfunction induced by ox-LDL. Our findings show that pinitol revealed a good safety profile, as evidenced by reducing LDH release in human aortic endothelial cells. In our experiments, pinitol reduced the production of ROS and expression of IL-6 and MCP-1 induced by ox-LDof KLF2, a key protective factor against atherosclerosis. In this study, we investigated the effects of pinitol, and naturally occurring cyclic polyol, on endothelial dysfunction induced by ox-LDL. selleck chemicals llc Our findings show that pinitol revealed a good safety profile, as evidenced by reducing LDH release in human aortic endothelial cells. In our experiments, pinitol reduced the production of ROS and expression of IL-6 and MCP-1 induced by ox-LDL. Pinitol also significantly reduced the attachment of THP-1 monocytes to endothelial cells via downregulation of VCAM-1 and E-selectin. link2 Importantly, we found that pinitol reduced the expression of LOX-1 induced by ox-LDL and rescued the expression of KLF2, which is dependent on ERK5 expression. Together, our findings provide notable evidence that pinitol may have potential implication in the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.Early during the Covid-19 pandemic, concerns were raised regarding potential adverse outcomes in patients taking ACEIs/ARBs. These concerns were based on animal studies showing increased ACE-2 expression in mice treated with ACEI/ARB. This is a single-center retrospective cohort study of 289 patients diagnosed with 2019 Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) hospitalized between March of 2020 and June of 2020. The study was intended to investigate the impact of ACEIs and/or ARBs on in-hospital mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, post-admission hemodialysis requirement and the need for mechanical ventilation in patients with COVID-19. This cohort of 289 patients included 139/289 (48%) women with a mean age of 61 ± 19 years. Patients using ACEIs/ARBs were older (69.68 vs 57.9 years; p less then 0.0001), more likely to have a history of hypertension 97% vs 36% (p less then 0.0001), diabetes mellitus 48% vs 20.9% (p less then 0.0001), chronic heart failure 11.39% vs 4.29% (p less then 0.0512), coronary artery disease 20.25% vs 7.14% ( p less then 0.0025), stroke/TIA 7.59% vs 2.38% (p less then 0.0761), chronic kidney disease 11.39% vs 3.33% (p less then 0.0167), atrial fibrillation/ flutter 18.99% vs 7.14% (p less then 0.0080), and dementia 22.7% vs 11.4% (p less then 0.0233) compared to the non-user group. There was significantly higher in-hospital mortality in patients using ACEIs/ARBs than non-users respectively (32.9% vs 15.2%, p less then 0.0015). However, a multivariate logistics regression analysis performed to adjust for common confounders demonstrated no significant difference in all-cause in-patient mortality (p 0.7141). Admission to ICU, post-admission hemodialysis requirement, and mechanical ventilation showed no significant differences between the two groups (p= NS). This study suggests that the use of ACEIs and ARBs in patients with COVID-19 was not found to significantly increase all-cause in-hospital mortality, ICU admissions, and hemodialysis and mechanical ventilation requirements.

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of double fluence photodynamic therapy (PDT) for the treatment of circumscribed choroidal hemangioma (CCH).

Retrospective observational study including patients affected by CCH and treated with double fluence PDT. The PDT was performed with verteporfin infusion intravenously (dose of 6 mg/m2 body surface area over 10 minutes), followed by application of two consecutive spots of 50 J/cm2 light at 689 nm for 83 seconds.

23 eyes of 23 patients were included. The mean BCVA increased from 20/45 to 20/28, the mean tumor thickness decreased from 2758±530 µm to 722±314 µm (p<0.05) and the mean central retinal thickness decreased from 404±209 µm to 188±56 µm (p<0.05) in 12 months, respectively. A total reabsorption of macular subretinal fluid (SRF), cystoid macular edema and SRF associated to the tumor was obtained within 6 months in all cases, with persistence of tumor-associated intraretinal fluid up to 12 months only in 2 patients. No cases of side effects or need for re-treatment were reported during the follow-up (average time of 25 months).

Double fluence PDT is a safe and effective treatment for CCHs and should be considered as the first line of treatment for these lesions.

Double fluence PDT is a safe and effective treatment for CCHs and should be considered as the first line of treatment for these lesions.

Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) risk factors largely coincide with cardiovascular risk factors. Endothelin-1 (ET-1), the most potent vasoconstrictor with pro-inflammatory properties, is a known cardiovascular risk factor. In this study, we explore the role of serum ET-1 as a potential risk factor for RVO.

ET-1 serum levels were measured in patients with RVO and control subjects. Samples were measured using the sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the quantitative determination of human big endothelin-1 (Biomedica Group, Austria).

The study consisted of 147 RVO patients and 150 control subjects. Median serum ET-1 was significantly higher in RVO patients (0.26 pmol/L, ranging 0.19-0.37) compared to controls (0.10 pmol/L, ranging 0.05-0.22) (p<0.0001) independent of the occlusion site. The difference remained significant after adjusting for arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, history of stroke, history of myocardial infarction, history of venous thromboembolism, glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and c-reactive protein (CRP).

In conclusion our results suggest that ET-1 is a potential risk factor for all types of RVO.

In conclusion our results suggest that ET-1 is a potential risk factor for all types of RVO.

Widefield swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging was used to characterize choroidal thickness and vascularity at baseline in proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and longitudinally after panretinal photocoagulation (PRP).

Patients with treatment-naive PDR were imaged at baseline and at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after PRP. Previously validated algorithms were used to calculate the mean choroidal thickness (MCT) and choroidal vascularity index (CVI) in 5 regions of 12 mm × 12 mm scans.

Fourteen PDR eyes were included. Baseline MCT in PDR eyes did not differ significantly from normal eyes, but CVI measurements in PDR eyes were lower in all regions (P < 0.001-0.008). link3 After PRP, MCT measurements in PDR eyes were significantly lower at 1 month and 3 months in all regions (P < 0.001-0.005) except the fovea (P = 0.074). However, CVI measurements did not change over time in any region after PRP.

The choroid in PDR eyes has a smaller CVI than that in normal eyes. After PRP, the choroidal thickness decreases outside the fovea, but the CVI remains constant, which suggests that a relative decrease in choroidal vascularity persists. These widefield swept-source OCT results are consistent with choroidal alterations found in histopathological reports of diabetic choroidopathy.

The choroid in PDR eyes has a smaller CVI than that in normal eyes. After PRP, the choroidal thickness decreases outside the fovea, but the CVI remains constant, which suggests that a relative decrease in choroidal vascularity persists. These widefield swept-source OCT results are consistent with choroidal alterations found in histopathological reports of diabetic choroidopathy.

Artificial intelligence and its division machine learning are emerging technologies that are increasingly applied in medicine. Artificial intelligence facilitates automatization of analytical modelling and contributes to prediction, diagnostics and treatment of diseases. This article presents an overview of the application of artificial intelligence in dementia research.

Machine learning and its branch Deep Learning are widely used in research to support in diagnosis and prediction of dementia. Deep Learning models in certain tasks often result in better accuracy of detection and prediction of dementia than traditional machine learning methods, but they are more costly in terms of run times and hardware requirements. Both machine learning and Deep Learning models have their own strengths and limitations. Currently, there are few datasets with limited data available to train machine learning models. There are very few commercial applications of machine learning in medical practice to date, mostly represented by mobile applications, which include questionnaires and psychometric assessments with limited machine learning data processing.

Application of machine learning technologies in detection and prediction of dementia may provide an advantage to psychiatry and neurology by promoting a better understanding of the nature of the disease and more accurate evidence-based processes that are reproducible and standardized.

Application of machine learning technologies in detection and prediction of dementia may provide an advantage to psychiatry and neurology by promoting a better understanding of the nature of the disease and more accurate evidence-based processes that are reproducible and standardized.