RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: All suspected ADEs associated with tocilizumab between April to August 2020 were analyzed based on COVID-19 patients' demographic and clinical variables, and severity of involvement of organ system.
RESULTS: A total of 1005 ADEs were reported among 513 recipients. The majority of the ADEs (46.26%) were reported from 18-64 years, were males and reported spontaneously. Around 80%, 20%, and 64% were serious, fatal, and administered intravenously, respectively. 'Injury, Poisoning, and Procedural Complications' remain as highest (35%) among categorized ADEs. Neutropenia, hypofibrinogenemia were common hematological ADEs. The above 64 years was found to have significantly lower odds than of below 45 years. In comparison, those in the European Region have substantially higher odds compared to the Region of Americas.
CONCLUSION: Neutropenia, superinfections, reactivation of latent infections, hepatitis, and cardiac abnormalities were common ADEs observed that necessitate proper monitoring and reporting.
METHODS: One hundred computed tomography scans of disease-free knees were analyzed. A 3-dimensional reconstructed image of the tibia was generated and aligned to its anatomic axis in the coronal and sagittal planes. The tibia was then rotationally aligned to the tibial plateau (tibial centroid axis) and PTS was measured from best-fit planes on the surface of the proximal tibia and individually for the medial and lateral plateaus. This was then repeated with the tibia rotationally aligned to the ankle (transmalleolar axis).
RESULTS: When rotationally aligned to the tibial plateau, the mean PTS, medial PTS, and lateral PTS were 11.2° ± 3.0 (range, 4.7°-17.7°), 11.3° ± 3.2 (range, 2.7°-19.7°), and 10.9° ± 3.7 (range, 3.5°-19.4°), respectively. When rotationally aligned to the ankle, the mean PTS, medial PTS, and lateral PTS were 11.4° ± 3.0 (range, 5.3°-19.3°), 13.9° ± 3.7 (range, 3.1°-24.4°), and 9.7° ± 3.6 (range, 0.8°-17.7°), respectively.
CONCLUSION: The PTS in the normal Asian knee is on average 11° (mean) with a reference range of 5°-17° (mean ± 2 standard deviation). This has implications to surgery and implant design.
Methods: NPC cases that were diagnosed between 2012 and 2017 in two referral hospitals in Pahang were traced. The crude incidence rate (CR) and age-standardised rate (ASR) were calculated to investigate the NPC incidence.
Results: There were 143 new cases of NPC reported from the two hospitals. The mean age at diagnosis was 52.0 ± 13.7 years old. The majority of cases involved males (74.1%) with a male to female ratio of 2.9:1. Chinese males were found to have the highest incidence with a mean ASR of 4.7 per 100,000 population. Overall, the mean ASR for Pahang was 2.4 per 100,000 population for males and 0.9 per 100,000 population for females.
Conclusion: The total number of NPC cases reveals an increasing trend from 2012 to 2014 and then a slightly decreasing trend from 2015 to 2017. The incidence of NPC in Pahang was intermediate in males and low in females.
METHODS: MTT assay was used to determine the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50), while the combination index (CI) value was utilized to analyze the interaction within each combination. The antiproliferative effect of the treatment was evaluated by trypan blue exclusion assay. The morphological changes of cells were observed under a phase-contrast inverted microscope. The nuclear morphology and percentage of apoptosis cells were evaluated by using the Hoechst 33258 staining and annexin V/PI assay, respectively.
RESULTS: The U2OS cells showed cytotoxic effect when treated with TA and cisplatin, with IC50 at 4.47 µg/mL and 16.25 µg/mL, respectively. The TA demonstrated no significant inhibition effect on the normal human fetal osteoblast cells (hFOB 1.19); yet, interestingly, a potent proliferative effect was indicated. Synergistic interaction was triggered when TA was combined with cisplatin at percentage ratios of 90:10 and 85:15. Meanwhile, antagonistic interaction was induced in the combination at percentage ratios of 75:25 and 50:50. On the other hand, a significant antiproliferative effect with prominent morphological alteration was detected in the cells treated with a combination of TA and cisplatin at the percentage ratio of 90:10. Additionally, combination-treated cells demonstrated the highest percentage of apoptosis cells, with distinct chromosomal condensation, nuclear fragmentation, reduction of nuclear volume, and notable apoptotic body.
CONCLUSION: Therefore, there is a high potential for the inclusion of TA in the cisplatin-based chemotherapeutic regimen of osteosarcoma.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The study, set in Malaysia and the Philippines, builds on two systematic reviews of barriers to effective hypertension management. People with hypertension (pre-existing and newly diagnosed) will be identified in poor households in 24-30 communities per country. Quantitative and qualitative methods will be used to examine their experiences of and pathways into seeking and obtaining care. These include two waves of household surveys of 20-25 participants per community 12-18 months apart, microcosting exercises to assess the cost of illness (including costs due to health seeking activities and inability to work (5 per community)), preliminary and follow-up in-depth interviews and digital diaries with hypertensive adults over the course of a year (40 per country, employing an innovative mobile phone technology), focus group discussions with study participants and structured assessments of health facilities (including formal and informal providers).
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval has been granted by the Observational Research Ethics Committee at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Research Ethics Boards at the Universiti Putra Malaysia and the University of the Philippines Manila. The project team will disseminate findings and engage with a wide range of stakeholders to promote uptake and impact. Alongside publications in high-impact journals, dissemination activities include a comprehensive stakeholder analysis, engagement with traditional and social media and 'digital stories' coproduced with research participants.