Hodgemueller6645

OBJECTIVE To identify the impact of moderate-to-severe spasticity on functioning in people living with spinal cord injury. DESIGN Secondary analysis of cross-sectional survey data using graphical modelling. SUBJECTS Individuals (n = 1,436) with spinal cord injury aged over 16 years with reported spasticity problems. METHODS Spasticity and 13 other impairments in body functions were assessed using the spinal cord injury Secondary Conditions Scale. Impairments in mental functions were assessed using the Mental Health subscale of the 36-item Short Form (SF-36). Independence in activities was measured with the Spinal Cord Injury Independence Measure Self-Report. Restrictions in participation were measured with the Utrecht Scale for Evaluation Rehabilitation - Participation. RESULTS Fifty-one percent of participants reported moderate-to-severe spasticity. Graphical modelling showed that Chronic pain, Contractures, Tiredness, Doing housework, and Respiratory functions were associated with Spasticity and were the top 5 potential targets for interventions to improve the experience of spasticity. The associations and intervention targets were dependent on the level and completeness of the lesion. CONCLUSION This is the first application of graphical modelling in studying spasticity in people living with spinal cord injury. The results can be used as a basis for studies aiming to optimize rehabilitation interventions in people with moderate-to-severe spasticity.OBJECTIVE To assess how items relevant for the assessment of the generalizability of findings from randomized controlled trials were recorded in systematic reviews published in leading general medical journals. METHODS All systematic reviews and meta-analyses published in the BMJ, JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association), Lancet and Annals of Internal Medicine from 1 January 2016 to 28 February 2019 were searched via PubMed. Reporting of the characteristics of randomized controlled trials in the systematic reviewswas documented by the benchmarking method. RESULTS A total of 115 systematic reviews were found. Of these, 71% included pharmacological interventions, 35% included other conservative treatments, 13% included surgical interventions, and none included rehabilitation interventions. None of the systematic reviews assessed patient selection, one-third reported disorder-specific clinical features, one-quarter reported comorbid conditions, and one-fifth reported patients' behavioural factors in randomized controlled trials. Functioning, environmental factors and inequity-related factors were recorded in 3%, 0% and 9%, respectively, of the systematic reviews; and adherence to interventions, crossovers, and co-interventions in 7%, 0% and 2%, respectively; follow-up percentages in 8%; and adequacy of statistical analyses in 3%. CONCLUSION In all systematic reviews the recording of characteristics of patients, adherence to interventions, follow-up, and statistical analyses in the RCTs was insufficient. The data did not allow assessment of the clinical homogeneity of the randomized controlled trials, or provide justification for meta-analysis, or generalizability of the findings.BACKGROUND We previously investigated the prevalence of alcohol consumption in early pregnancy in Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, a locality of north-east England. The prevalence was 1.4% based on blood sample biomarker analysis using carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT) and 3.5% for gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT). AIMS To supplement this research by investigating the prevalence of alcohol use using identical methods in a different locality of the same region. METHODS Six-hundred random blood samples taken at the antenatal booking appointment were anonymously analysed for the presence of CDT, a validated marker of chronic alcohol exposure (normalizing 2-3 weeks from abstinence) and GGT, a liver enzyme elevated for up to 8 weeks after alcohol exposure. RESULTS The North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust data revealed a CDT prevalence rate of 1.7% (95% CI 0.7-2.9) and GGT prevalence rate of 4.2% (95% CI 2.6-5.9). However, these measures are not sensitive to low levels of alcohol; and no overlapping cases were identified or a significant correlation demonstrated between CDT or GGT. DISCUSSION These data support our earlier work. Prevalence rates according to CDT and GGT analysis were similar in both areas, suggesting similar patterns of sustained alcohol use in pregnancy across the region. © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.OBJECTIVE To investigate pathway-specific connectivity disrupted in psychosis. METHODS We carried out a case study of a middle-aged patient who presented with new-onset psychosis associated with a space-occupying lesion localized in the right superior colliculus/periaqueductal gray. The study sought to investigate potential connectivity deficits related to the lesion by the use of diffusion tensor imaging and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. To this aim, we generated a functional connectivity map of the patient's brain, centered on the lesion area, and compared this map with the corresponding map of 10 sex- and age-matched control individuals identified from the Max Planck Institute-Leipzig Mind-Brain-Body database. RESULTS Our analysis revealed a discrete area in the right rostral tectum, in the immediate vicinity of the lesion, whose activity is inversely correlated with the activity of left amygdala, whereas left amygdala is functionally associated with select areas of the temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes. Based on a comparative analysis of the patient with 10 control individuals, the lesion has impacted on the connectivity of rostral tectum (superior colliculus/periaqueductal gray) with left amygdala as well as on the connectivity of left amygdala with subcortical and cortical areas. 1-NM-PP1 molecular weight CONCLUSIONS The superior colliculus/periaqueductal gray might play important roles in the initiation and perpetuation of psychosis, at least partially through dysregulation of left amygdala activity. © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center.All rights reserved. For permissions, please email journals.permissions@oup.com.BACKGROUND Efficacy of the live-attenuated herpes zoster (HZ) vaccine (ZVL) wanes substantially over time. We evaluated immunogenicity and safety of the adjuvanted recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) in previous ZVL recipients. METHODS Adults aged ≥65 years previously vaccinated with ZVL ≥5 years before (HZ-PreVac, N=215) were group-matched with ZVL-naïve individuals (HZ-NonVac, N=215) and vaccinated with RZV. Glycoprotein E (gE)-specific humoral and cell-mediated immune (CMI) responses and the correlation between them, polyfunctional gE-specific CD4 T-cell responses, safety, and confirmed HZ cases were assessed. RESULTS Through 12 months post-dose 2, anti-gE antibody concentrations, gE-specific CD4 T-cell frequencies and activation marker profiles were similar between groups. Safety outcomes were also similar. No HZ episodes were confirmed. CONCLUSIONS RZV induced strong humoral and polyfunctional CMI responses that persisted above pre-vaccination levels through 1 year post-dose 2 in adults aged ≥65 years irrespective of previous ZVL vaccination. RZV's safety profile was not impacted either. © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.We presented an artificial intelligence-based model to predict annual effective dose (AED) value of health workers. Potential factors affecting AED and the results of annual blood tests were collected from 91 radiation workers. Filter-based feature selection strategy revealed that the eight factors plate, red cell distribution width (RDW), educational degree, nonacademic course in radiation protection (hour), working hours per month, department and the number of procedures done per year and work in radiology department or not (0,1) were the most important predictors for AED. The prediction model was developed using a multilayer perceptron neural network and these prediction parameters as inputs. The model provided favorable accuracy in predicting AED value while a regression model did not. There was a strong linear relationship between the predicted AED values and the measured doses (R-value =0.89 for training samples and 0.86 for testing samples). These results are promising and show that artificial neural networks can be used to improve/facilitate dose estimation process. © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email journals.permissions@oup.com.Multiple published studies and reviews have advocated the application of psychometric methods to the validation of patient experience measurement. Some such methods depend on measurement assumptions that may not be appropriate for patient experience. Rather than being the default approach for the validation of patient experience measurement, we argue that psychometric methods should be reviewed critically to determine their fit to the measurement application, and alternative approaches explored, so that the most appropriate validation methods can be identified. © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.BACKGROUND Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) occurs in 1-3% of all couples trying to conceive. No consensus exists regarding when to perform testing for risk factors in couples with RPL. Some guidelines recommend testing if a patient has had two pregnancy losses whereas others advise to test after three losses. OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the current evidence on the prevalence of abnormal test results for RPL amongst patients with two versus three or more pregnancy losses. We also aimed to contribute to the debate regarding whether the investigations for RPL should take place after two or three or more pregnancy losses. SEARCH METHODS Relevant studies were identified by a systematic search in OVID Medline and EMBASE from inception to March 2019. A search for RPL was combined with a broad search for terms indicative of number of pregnancy losses, screening/testing for pregnancy loss or the prevalence of known risk factors. Meta-analyses were performed in case of adequly in women with two versus three pregnancy losses. We cannot exclude a difference in prevalence of chromosomal abnormalities, inherited thrombophilia and thyroid disorders following testing after two versus three pregnancy losses. The results of this systematic review may support investigations after two pregnancy losses in couples with RPL, but it should be stressed that additional studies of the prognostic value of test results used in the RPL population are urgently needed. An evidenced-based treatment is not currently available in the majority of cases when abnormal test results are present. © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.