Patients and Methods: Twenty-five children with ASD (mean age = 59.3 ± 8.1 months) and 28 children with TD (mean age = 63.1 ± 8.6 months) were recruited. The Actigraph accelerometer, Movement Assessment Battery for Children-second edition, and Assessment of Preschool Children's Participation were used.
Results: Young children with ASD spent significantly less time in moderate and light physical activity and exhibited more sedentary behavior than did children with TD. Those children with ASD also had greater motor difficulties and engaged less frequently in physical recreation activities compared to their TD peers. Motor performance was significantly correlated with physical activity in all children.
Conclusion: This study highlighted the specificity of the levels of physical activity, motor difficulties, and participation diversity in children with ASD comparing performances on children with TD. Additional research is needed to provide valuable information for early interventions.
Methods: The sociodemographic data of 3325 TB cases from January 2013 to December 2017 in Gombak district were collected from the MyTB web and TB Information System database. Environmental data were obtained from the Department of Environment, Malaysia; Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Malaysia; and Malaysian Metrological Department from July 2012 to December 2017. Multiple linear regression (MLR) and artificial neural network (ANN) were used to develop the prediction model of TB cases. The models that used sociodemographic variables as the input datasets were referred as MLR1 and ANN1, whereas environmental variables were represented as MLR2 and ANN2 and both sociodemographic and environmental variables together were indicated as MLR3 and ANN3.
Results: The ANN was found to be superior to MLR with higher adjusted coefficient of determination (R2) values in predicting TB cases; the ranges were from 0.35 to 0.47 compared to 0.07 to 0.14, respectively. The best TB prediction model, that is, ANN3 was derived from nationality, residency, income status, CO, NO2, SO2, PM10, rainfall, temperature, and atmospheric pressure, with the highest adjusted R2 value of 0.47, errors below 6, and accuracies above 96%.
Conclusions: It is envisaged that the application of the ANN algorithm based on both sociodemographic and environmental factors may enable a more accurate modeling for predicting TB cases.
METHODS: In this prospective study, 48 patients scheduled for elective laparotomy were randomized to two groups of preemptive analgesia, namely, group K-P, in which anestheologists administered a combination of 0.3 mg/kg IV ketamine and 40.0 mg IV parecoxib, or group K, in which ones gave 0.3 mg/kg IV ketamine alone. Patients from both groups underwent surgery under general anesthesia, and total intraoperative opioid requirement was recorded. After surgery, morphine administered by automated patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) infusion device was initiated in all patients. Pain score was assessed using the visual analogue scale (VAS), and postoperative opioid requirement was recorded at 1 and 4 hours, and subsequently from 4-hour intervals up to 24 hours after surgery.
RESULTS: Compared to group K, group K-P required significantly lower rescue IV fentanyl in the recovery bay (0.10 ± 0.28 vs. 0.35 ± 0.46 μg/kg; P = 0.031), showing prolonged time-to-first analgesic request recorded by PCA device (70.8 ± 40.0 vs. 22.2 ± 15.8 mins; P ＜ 0.001), lower total morphine requirement delivered by PCA device (8.0 ± 4.6 vs. 16.8 ± 6.5 mg; P ＜ 0.001), and lower VAS values measured at all time points. There was no significant difference in intraoperative total opioid requirement between the groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Among laparotomy patients, multimodal preemptive analgesia by the use of a combination of low-dose IV ketamine and IV parecoxib was more effective than IV ketamine alone in reducing pain scores and postoperative analgesia requirement (e.g., PCA-administered morphine).
METHODS: Cells were incubated with Rebaudioside A at several concentrations (0-10 µM) to determine the cytotoxicity by the MTT assay. Cells were treated with selected dosage (1 and 5 µM) in further experiments. Total cellular lipid was extracted by Bligh and Dyer method and subjected to quantitative colorimetric assay. To illustrate the effect of Rebaudioside A on cellular lipid droplets and low-density lipoprotein receptors, treated cells were subjected to immunofluorescence microscopy. Finally, we investigated the expression of experimental gene patterns of cells in response to treatment.
RESULTS: In this study, cytotoxicity of Rebaudioside A was determined at 27.72 µM. Treatment of cells with a higher concentration of Rebaudioside A promotes better hepatocellular cholesterol internalization and ameliorates cholesterol-regulating genes such as HMGCR, LDLR, and ACAT2.
CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our data demonstrated that Rebaudioside A is capable to regulate cholesterol levels in HepG2 cells. Hence, we proposed that Rebaudioside A offers a potential alternative to statins for atherosclerosis therapy.
METHODS: In this case-control study, HSC were isolated from umbilical cord blood (UCB) procured at delivery from 63 mothers with GDM and 67 healthy mothers. Total nucleated cells (TNC) and CD34+ cells were quantified using BD FACSCalibur flow cytometer. The quantity and quality of stem cells were determined.
RESULTS: The GDM group had lower total cord blood volume and lower number of nucleated HSC compared with healthy mothers. Regarding stem cell quantity parameters, they had significantly lower UCB volume (P=0.041), TNC count (P=0.022), total viable NC count (P=0.014), and CD34+ percentage (P=0.014). Regarding the quality of stem cells, they had significantly lower viable TNC percentage (P=0.015). The predictors for total TNC count were longer labor duration (adjusted B coefficient [p]: 0.031 [0.046]), greater estimated blood loss (0.089 [0.005]), female neonates (12.322 [0.049]), and higher placenta weight (0.080 [0.033]). The predictors of total viable NC count were greater estimated blood loss (0.092 [0.003]), female neonates (13.16 [0.035]), and greater placenta weight (0.083 [0.026]).
CONCLUSION: The GDM group had much lower quantity and quality of UCB stem cells. Our results should be taken into consideration when drawing cord blood for unrelated stem cell banking in an obstetric unit to ensure the obtaining of optimal cord blood samples and to avoid unnecessary expenses.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic search of the literature was conducted on electronic databases of PubMed/MEDLINE, EBSCO, Cochrane library, Google, and Google Scholar from January 2011 to April 2021 to determine studies that reported warfarin adherence on patients with atrial fibrillation.
RESULTS: Out of 1429 titles and abstracts were retrieved, 12 studies fulfilled and met the inclusion criteria. From the included studies, two were carried out in Brazil and one from the following nations: Libya, Jordan, Iran, KSA, Canada, Malaysia, Bahrain, UAE, Singapore, and the USA. The study designs identified were cross-section, retrospective, and prospective studies. Warfarin adherence was influenced by multiple causes, including pharmaceutical services, the number of medications, and warfarin knowledge regarding anticoagulation control. Warfarin adherence illustrates its positive association with TTR and INR as a measure of anticoagulation control.
CONCLUSIONS: While the available evidence is limited, this systematic review demonstrated a positive finding of the association between warfarin adherence and anticoagulation control in patients with AF.
METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Koshi Hospital, Nepal, from January to March 2020. All women who met the inclusion criteria of age ≥18 years of age, Morang residents of Nepalese nationality, had received routine antenatal care, and given birth at Koshi Hospital were recruited consecutively. The World Health Organization criteria were used to identify the women with SMM. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed. Overall, 346 women were recruited.
FINDINGS: The prevalence of SMM was 6.6%. Among the SMM cases, the most frequently occurring SMM conditions were hypertensive disorders (12, 56.5%), hemorrhagic disorders (6, 26.1%), and severe management indicators (8, 34.8%). Women with no or primary education (adjusted odds ratio: 0.10, 95% confidence interval: 0.01, 0.76) decreased the odds of SMM compared to secondary education.
CONCLUSION: The approximately 7% prevalence of SMM correlated with global studies. Maternal education was significantly associated with SMM. If referral hospitals were aware of the expected prevalence of potentially life-threatening maternal conditions, they could plan to avert future reproductive complications.
RESULTS: Participants in the RPG and CG reported a statistically significant reduction in knee pain and stiffness (p ≤ 0.05) within the group. The reduction in the scores of knee pain was higher in participants in the RPG than that in participants in the CG (p=0.001). Additionally, participants in the RPG reported greater satisfaction (p=0.001) and higher self-reported exercise adherence (p=0.010) and coordinator-reported exercise adherence (p=0.046) than the participants in the CG.
CONCLUSION: Short-term effects of the LLRP appear to reduce knee pain and stiffness only, but not physical function and BMI.