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Effects of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) therapy on the female sexual response cycle of women with major depression

Hatta S, Duni A, Ng CG, Lin N, Marhani M, Das S, et al.

Clin Ter, 2013;164(1):11-5.
PMID: 23455735 DOI: 10.7417/T.2013.1503

Depression and its treatment may influence all aspects of the female sexual function from desire to sexual satisfaction. This study aimed to examine the components of the female sexual response cycle (SRC) of women with major depression treated with Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors.
Fulltext Validation of Brunei's Malay EQ-5D Questionnaire in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Koh D, Abdullah AM, Wang P, Lin N, Luo N

PLoS One, 2016;11(11):e0165555.
PMID: 27835652 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165555

BACKGROUND: The Malay spoken in Brunei a South East Asian country where Malay is the national language is distinctive and different from Malay spoken in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. This study aimed to develop a Brunei Malay version of the 5-level EQ-5D questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L) and to assess its psychometric properties among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
METHODS: The Brunei Malay EQ-5D-5L was developed by culturally adapting two existing Malay versions. A total of 154 Bruneians with T2DM completed the questionnaire in two different points of time with one week apart. Known-groups validity of the utility-based EQ-5D-5L index and visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS) was evaluated by comparing subgroups of patients known to differ in health status. Test-retest reliability was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) or Cohen's kappa.
RESULTS: As hypothesized, patients known to have 'better' health had higher EQ-5D-5L index scores than those having 'worse' health in all 7 known-groups comparisons. The hypothesized difference in the EQ-VAS scores was observed in only 4 of the 7 known-groups comparisons. Kappa values ranged from 0.206 to 0.446 for the EQ-5D-5L items; the ICC value for the EQ-5D-5L index and EQ-VAS was 0.626 and 0.521, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: The utility-based EQ-5D-5L index appears to be valid and reliable for measuring the health of Brunei patients with T2DM. The validity of the EQ-VAS in Brunei requires further investigation.
Fulltext Profile of Microbial Keratitis

Lim Wen Siang J, Wu Zhuan O, Yi Chen N, Sok Lin N

Cureus, 2021 Dec;13(12):e20663.
PMID: 35103213 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.20663

PURPOSE: To study the demographic characteristics, predisposing factors, and latest trends of causative organisms and to analyze the prognostic factors of visual outcome in microbial keratitis.
METHODS: A retrospective study of patients diagnosed with microbial keratitis who required hospital admission in the period between January 2018 and December 2020 in Taiping Hospital, Perak, Malaysia.
RESULTS: A total of 75 eyes of 74 patients who were admitted to the hospital were studied. The male to female ratio was 13.8:1. Seventy percent of patients in this study were within the productive age group between 20 and 59 years old, with a mean age of 48 years old, and 51.4% of them were labourers. Cornea foreign bodies (42, 56%) were the most common predisposing factors and were associated with good visual outcomes (P<0.005). Other significant predictors for the final visual outcome were: presenting visual acuity, size of ulcer, duration of hospitalization, and duration of resolution. The mean duration of hospitalization was seven days. Corneal scrapings were done in all cases where 44 eyes (58.7%) were found to be positive for growth. Ten eyes (13.3%) that ended up with evisceration yielded a positive result. Gram-negative bacteria was the most prevalent causative organism of infective keratitis in the local/this region. Pseudomonas sp (20, 26.7%) being the most common bacterial isolate, was seen in all four contact lens-related cases and was associated with poor visual outcome and a high rate of evisceration. Patients who developed complications such as cornea melting (9, 12%), cornea perforation (11, 14.7%) and endophthalmitis (7, 9.3%) were associated with poor visual outcomes. Likewise, patients who required therapeutic interventions such as corneal gluing, tarsorrhaphy, and penetrating keratoplasty generally had poor visual outcomes (P<0.005; P=0.000008).
CONCLUSION: Microbial keratitis is a major cause of ocular morbidity globally. Understanding the demographic and epidemiological characteristics of microbial keratitis of the region is important in the initial prompt treatment of the patients and may eventually improve the visual outcome.
Fulltext Association between quality of sleep and screen time during the COVID-19 outbreak among adolescents in the United Arab Emirates

Bani-Issa W, Radwan H, Saqan R, Hijazi H, Fakhry R, Alameddine M, et al.

J Sleep Res, 2023 Feb;32(1):e13666.
PMID: 35670277 DOI: 10.1111/jsr.13666

The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on people of all ages. Adolescents' exposure to online learning is linked to excessive screen time on digital devices, which leads to poor sleep quality. This study aimed to investigate the association between screen time on different electronic devices and sleep quality among adolescents in the United Arab Emirates. This study was based on a self-reported questionnaire, which was administered online to school-aged adolescents (aged 12-19 years). The multicomponent questionnaire collected information on sociodemographic characteristics, sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and screen time (minutes) on TV, TV-connected devices, laptops, smartphones, and tablets on weekdays, weeknight, and weekends using the Screen Time Questionnaire (STQ). Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify factors correlated with poor sleep quality. A total of 1720 adolescents were recruited from private and public schools (mean age 14.6 ± 1.97 years). The mean PSQI score was 8.09 ± 3.37, and 74.3% of participants reported poor sleep (cutoff score >5). Mean scores were highest for the sleep latency (1.85 ± 0.97) and sleep disturbance (1.56 ± 0.62) domains. The highest STQ score was observed for smartphones, with a median screen time of 420 min on weekdays and 300 min on weekends. Screen time related to smartphones on weekends (p = 0.003) and increased screen time in bed (p
Fulltext Bioinspired Conductive Enhanced Polyurethane Ionic Skin as Reliable Multifunctional Sensors

Zhao B, Yan J, Long F, Qiu W, Meng G, Zeng Z, et al.

Adv Sci (Weinh), 2023 Jul;10(19):e2300857.
PMID: 37092565 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202300857

Ionogels prepared from ionic liquid (IL) have the characteristics of nonevaporation and stable performance relative to traditional hydrogels. However, the conductivities of commonly used ionogels are at very low relative to traditional hydrogels because the large sizes of the cation and anion in an IL impedes ion migration in polymer networks. In this study, ultradurable ionogels with suitable mechanical properties and high conductivities are prepared by impregnating IL into a safe, environmentally friendly water-based polyurethane (WPU) network by mimicking the ion transport channels in the phospholipid bilayer of the cell membrane. The increase in electrical conductivity is attributed to the introduction of carboxylic acid in the hard segment of WPU; this phenomenon regularly arranges hard segment structural domains by hydrogen bonding, forming ionic conduction channels. The conductivities of their ionogels are >28-39 mS cm-1 . These ionogels have adjustable mechanical properties that make the Young's modulus value (0.1-0.6 MPa) similar to that of natural skin. The strain sensor has an ultrahigh sensitivity that ranges from 0.99 to 1.35, with a wide sensing range of 0.1%-200%. The findings are promising for various ionotronics requiring environmental stability and high conductivity characteristics.
Assessment of global and regional left ventricular function using 64-slice multislice computed tomography and 2D echocardiography: a comparison with cardiac magnetic resonance

Annuar BR, Liew CK, Chin SP, Ong TK, Seyfarth MT, Chan WL, et al.

Eur J Radiol, 2008 Jan;65(1):112-9.
PMID: 17466480

To compare the assessment of global and regional left ventricular (LV) function using 64-slice multislice computed tomography (MSCT), 2D echocardiography (2DE) and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR).
Fulltext 5th ESO-ESMO international consensus guidelines for advanced breast cancer (ABC 5)

Cardoso F, Paluch-Shimon S, Senkus E, Curigliano G, Aapro MS, André F, et al.

Ann Oncol, 2020 Dec;31(12):1623-1649.
PMID: 32979513 DOI: 10.1016/j.annonc.2020.09.010
Fulltext Full Genome Characterization of Human Influenza A/H3N2 Isolates from Asian Countries Reveals a Rare Amantadine Resistance-Conferring Mutation and Novel PB1-F2 Polymorphisms

Zaraket H, Kondo H, Hibino A, Yagami R, Odagiri T, Takemae N, et al.

Front Microbiol, 2016;7:262.
PMID: 27014195 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.00262

Influenza A viruses evolve at a high rate requiring continuous monitoring to maintain the efficacy of vaccines and antiviral drugs. We performed next generation sequencing analysis of 100 influenza A/H3N2 isolates collected in four Asian countries (Japan, Lebanon, Myanmar, and Vietnam) during 2012-2015. Phylogenetic analysis revealed several reassortment events leading to the circulation of multiple clades within the same season. This was particularly evident during the 2013 and 2013/2014 seasons. Importantly, our data showed that certain lineages appeared to be fitter and were able to persist into the following season. The majority of A/H3N2 viruses continued to harbor the M2-S31N mutation conferring amantadine-resistance. In addition, an S31D mutation in the M2-protein, conferring a similar level of resistance as the S31N mutation, was detected in three isolates obtained in Japan during the 2014/2015 season. None of the isolates possessed the NA-H274Y mutation conferring oseltamivir-resistance, though a few isolates were found to contain mutations at the catalytic residue 151 (D151A/G/N or V) of the NA protein. These variations did not alter the susceptibility to neuraminidase inhibitors and were not detected in the original clinical specimens, suggesting that they had been acquired during their passage in MDCK cells. Novel polymorphisms were detected in the PB1-F2 open-reading frame resulting in truncations in the protein of 24-34 aminoacids in length. Thus, this study has demonstrated the utility of monitoring the full genome of influenza viruses to allow the detection of the potentially fittest lineages. This enhances our ability to predict the strain(s) most likely to persist into the following seasons and predict the potential degree of vaccine match or mismatch with the seasonal influenza season for that year. This will enable the public health and clinical teams to prepare for any related healthcare burden, depending on whether the vaccine match is predicted to be good or poor for that season.
Fulltext Pooling and expanding registries of familial hypercholesterolaemia to assess gaps in care and improve disease management and outcomes: Rationale and design of the global EAS Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration

EAS Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration, Vallejo-Vaz AJ, Akram A, Kondapally Seshasai SR, Cole D, Watts GF, et al.

Atheroscler Suppl, 2016 Dec;22:1-32.
PMID: 27939304 DOI: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosissup.2016.10.001

The potential for global collaborations to better inform public health policy regarding major non-communicable diseases has been successfully demonstrated by several large-scale international consortia. However, the true public health impact of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH), a common genetic disorder associated with premature cardiovascular disease, is yet to be reliably ascertained using similar approaches. The European Atherosclerosis Society FH Studies Collaboration (EAS FHSC) is a new initiative of international stakeholders which will help establish a global FH registry to generate large-scale, robust data on the burden of FH worldwide.