Ringgaardturner2822

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with elevated rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and both CVD and TBI are risk factors for dementia. We investigated whether CVD and its risk factors underlie the association between TBI and dementia.

Cox proportional hazards models among 195,416 Veterans Health Administration patients age 55+with TBI and a non-TBI, age/sex/race-matched comparison sample.

Veterans +TBI were more likely to have any CVD diagnosis (24% vs 36% p =<0.001) or risk factor (83 vs. 90% p <.001) compared to -TBI. During follow-up (mean ~7years), 12.0% of Veterans with TBI only (HR 2.17 95% CI 2.09-2.25), and 10.3% with CVD only developed dementia (HR 1.21 95% CI 1.15-1.28), compared to 6.5% with neither. There was an additive association between TBI and CVD on dementia risk (HR 2.51, 95% CI 2.41-2.61). Among those +TBI (±CVD), risk was minimally attenuated by adjustment for CVD/CVD risk factors (unadjusted HR 2.38, 95% CI 2.31-2.45; adjusted HR 2.17, 95% CI 2.10-2.23).

Older veterans TBI have increased prevalence of CVD/CVD risk factors. TBI and CVD had an additive statistical association, with dementia risk increased by ~2.5-fold. However, CVD accounted for little of the association between TBI and dementia. More research is needed to understand mechanisms of TBI-dementia and inform clinical guidelines post-TBI.

Older veterans TBI have increased prevalence of CVD/CVD risk factors. TBI and CVD had an additive statistical association, with dementia risk increased by ~2.5-fold. However, CVD accounted for little of the association between TBI and dementia. More research is needed to understand mechanisms of TBI-dementia and inform clinical guidelines post-TBI.

Early surgery for acute ligamentous injuries has recently shown good clinical and functional outcomes.

To assess the advantages of early vs delayed surgery in patients undergoing isolated anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) or multiligament-injured knee (MLIK) surgery.

Meta-analyses of Level 1, 2, and 3 studies; Level of evidence, 4.

A systematic search was performed via PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane for studies reporting outcomes of timing of surgery after isolated ACL injury or in the MLIK setting using accelerated rehabilitation protocols. Two analyses were conducted to differentiate early and delayed treatment (3- and 6-week cutoffs). Collected outcomes included meniscal or chondral lesions, failure and reoperation rates, range of motion (ROM) deficits, other complications, muscle strength, instrumented laxity, and functional outcomes. Outcomes were reported in risk ratios (RR) or mean differences with 95% CIs.

For timing of isolated ACL surgery, 16 studies were included with 2093 patients. High-graences in clinical and functional outcomes between early and delayed surgery for isolated ACL injuries. For MLIK injuries, there were also no differences in surgical outcomes between early and delayed surgery.

This systematic review with meta-analysis found no differences in clinical and functional outcomes between early and delayed surgery for isolated ACL injuries. For MLIK injuries, there were also no differences in surgical outcomes between early and delayed surgery.Racial and ethnic disparities in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are not well-studied. Our objective was to examine differences in limited COPD-related outcomes between three minority groups-African Americans (AAs), Hispanics, and American Indians (AIs) versus non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs), as the referent group, in separate cohorts. Separate cross-sectional evaluations were performed of three US-based cohorts of subjects at risk for COPD COPDGene Study with 6,884 NHW and 3,416 AA smokers; Lovelace Smokers' Cohort with 1,598 NHW and 378 Hispanic smokers; and Mining Dust Exposure in the United States Cohort with 2,115 NHW, 2,682 Hispanic, and 2,467 AI miners. Prebronchodilator spirometry tests were performed at baseline visits using standard criteria. The primary outcome was the prevalence of airflow obstruction. Secondary outcomes were self-reported physician diagnosis of COPD, chronic bronchitis, and modified Medical Research Council dyspnea score. All minority groups had a lower prevalence of airflow obstruction than NHWs (adjusted ORs varied from 0.29 in AIs to 0.85 in AAs; p  less then  0.01 for all analyses). AAs had a lower prevalence of chronic bronchitis than NHWs. In our study, all minority groups had a lower prevalence of airflow obstruction but a greater level of self-reported dyspnea than NHWs, and covariates did not explain this association. A better understanding of racial and ethnic differences in smoking-related and occupational airflow obstruction may improve prevention and therapeutic strategies.

Injuries of the acromioclavicular joint (ACJ) are common shoulder injuries that often lead to pain and dysfunction of the affected shoulder. Regardless of operative or nonoperative treatment, a relatively large number of patients remain symptomatic and experience pain. However, the specific source of persistent pain in the ACJ remains ambiguous.

To investigate the presence of sensory nerve fibers or pain-generating neurotransmitters within the intra-articular disk of the ACJ to determine its potential role as an independent pain generator in ACJ disorders.

Descriptive laboratory study.

Twelve paired ACJs from 6 fresh human cadavers (mean age, 56 years; range, 41-82 years) were harvested and freed from surrounding soft tissues, leaving only the ACJ capsule intact. The specimens were placed in 4.5% formaldehyde fixative for a minimum of 48 hours. Coronal plane sections were obtained and demineralized in EDTA for a week, embedded in paraffin for 12 hours, and dehydrated overnight. With a rotation microto fibers within the intra-articular disk of the ACJ.

Confirming the presence of nerve fibers within the intra-articular disk of the ACJ suggests that the disk itself could be an independent source of pain after injury and thus a possible explanation for recalcitrant pain after treatment.

Confirming the presence of nerve fibers within the intra-articular disk of the ACJ suggests that the disk itself could be an independent source of pain after injury and thus a possible explanation for recalcitrant pain after treatment.Packaging materials for microwave application should be generally designed based on products properties and processing conditions such as microwavability, susceptibility, processing condition, barrier properties, mechanical properties, storage condition, sustainability, convenience, and so on. Ready-to-eat products are packed in materials that can sustain thermal processing in an industrial oven and warming process in a household oven. In this context, high barrier polymers are versatile microwave packaging materials due to the microwave transparency (unlike metalized film) and high barrier. Additionally, microwave packaging materials used for ready-to-cook are intended to facilitate the microwave heating of the products in a domestic oven. The introduction of a functional feather to microwave packaging tends to improve the microwaving efficiency such as susceptor and shielding in the household oven or self-venting microwave packaging to safely release the internal steam. Furthermore, microwave-assisted thermal processing intends to control microbial contamination, requiring materials with adequate stability during processing and storage. The features of these materials are addressed in this review along with details on the basic requirements and advanced technologies for microwave packaging, microwave processing of prepackaged food, and migration testing. The prospects of microwave packaging materials in the near future are also discussed.

To evaluate the prognostic effect of pretreatment serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

A total of 498 patients diagnosed with stage III-IVA nasopharyngeal carcinoma between January 2013 and December 2016 were involved in this study. The X-tile program was used to determine the cut-off value of pretreatment serum SOD activity based on disease-free survival. Kaplan-Meier methods and Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the impact of serum SOD levels on survival outcomes. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to compare the prognostic value of clinical stage, pretreatment serum SOD level, and the combination of them regarding disease-free survival.

Based on the X-tile plot, the optimal cutoff value of pretreatment serum SOD activity for disease-free survival was 146.0U/mL. As a dichotomous variable, SOD was significantly higher in non-keratinizing differentiated disease (

 = 0.027) and early T stage (

 = 0.011). Compared with the lower subset, higher SOD activity predicted an inferior 3-year rates of overall survival (84.6 vs. 94.7%,

 < 0.001), distant metastasis-free survival (78.3 vs. 92.8%,

 < 0.001) and disease-free survival (78.2 vs. 92.8%,

 < 0.001). Multivariate analysis verified that the SOD activity was an independent prognostic indicator to predict distant metastasis, disease progression, and death. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the combination was superior to that of clinical stage or SOD alone for disease-free survival (both

 < 0.01).

Serological SOD activity before treatment is an important prognostic indicator for patients with stage III-IV non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma undergoing chemoradiation therapy.

Serological SOD activity before treatment is an important prognostic indicator for patients with stage III-IV non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma undergoing chemoradiation therapy.

The present study conducted a meta-analysis to forecast the risk factors associated with level-VII lymph node metastases in case of thyroid neoplasms, intending to assist in determining the requirement for level-VII lymph node lymphadenectomy during the surgery.

Electronic databases, PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang Data, VIP, and CBM electronic databases were searched for studies focused on level-VII lymph node metastases in thyroid neoplasms, published up to April 2021. Stata 13.1 software was used for analyses.

The literature search identified a total of 997 studies. Among these, 8 studies, involving 1813 patients, were included in the present case. All these studies were case-control studies. Results for meta-analysis showed that male (OR = 1.340, 95% CI 1.018-1.764,

= .037), age < 45years (OR = 4.178, 95% CI 1.601-10.908,

= .003), tumor size ≥ 2.0cm (OR = 1.960, 95% CI 1.079-3.562,

= .027), extrathyroidal extension (OR = 2.037, 95% CI 1.578-2.630,

< .001), distaral metastasis, and bilateral nodal metastasis were identified as risk factors for level-VII lymph node metastases in case of thyroid neoplasms.

The aim was to compare the genetic information of varicose vein patients with that of a healthy population attempting to identify certain significant genetic associations.

Patients' clinical characteristics and demographics were collected, and their genetic samples were examined. The results were compared to the genetic information of one thousand sex-matched healthy controls from Taiwan Biobank database. The Clinical-Etiology-Anatomy-Pathophysiology classification was applied for further subgroup analysis.

After comparison of genetic information of ninety-six patients to that of healthy controls, two significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified. One was in DPYSL2 gene, and the other was in VSTM2L gene. A further comparison between C2-3 patient subgroup and C4-6 subgroup identified another four significant SNPs, which were located in ZNF664-FAM101A, PHF2, ACOT11, and TOM1L1 genes.

Our preliminary result identified six significant SNPs located in six different genes. All of them and their genetic products may warrant further investigations.