DESIGN: Multi-national, multi-center collaborative network.
METHODS: The Research Standing Committee of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology and the Asia-Pacific Society of Eye Genetics fostered this research collaboration, which brings together renowned institutions and experts for inherited eye diseases in the Asia-Pacific region. The immediate priority of the network will be inherited retinal diseases (IRDs), where there is a lack of detailed characterization of these conditions and in the number of established registries.
RESULTS: The network comprises 55 members from 35 centers, spanning 12 countries and regions, including Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. The steering committee comprises ophthalmologists with experience in consortia for eye diseases in the Asia-Pacific region, leading ophthalmologists and vision scientists in the field of IRDs internationally, and ophthalmic geneticists.
CONCLUSIONS: The Asia Pacific Inherited Eye Disease (APIED) network aims to (1) improve genotyping capabilities and expertise to increase early and accurate genetic diagnosis of IRDs, (2) harmonise deep phenotyping practices and utilization of ontological terms, and (3) establish high-quality, multi-user, federated disease registries that will facilitate patient care, genetic counseling, and research of IRDs regionally and internationally.
METHODS: The specific PIO questions were as follows: Population: Patients with periapical periodontitis either before or after non-surgical endodontic therapy.
INTERVENTION: IR performed with retrograde preparation and retrograde filling.
OUTCOMES: the healing, treatment complications, and the factors influencing these outcomes after IR. Electronic and hand searches were performed in the Web of Science, PubMed, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library databases. Two authors independently screened the titles and abstracts for eligibility. The risk of bias was performed using the NIH Quality Assessment Tool, and each study was rated as "Good", "Fair" or "Poor". The analyses were performed on the treatment outcome (healing and complications), and the factors influencing the outcome of the procedure.
RESULTS: Fourteen articles were included in the qualitative and quantitative syntheses. One was a prospective cohort study, and the other 13 were retrospective cohort studies. Overall, the evidence of this review was of poor-to-fair quality. The pooled healing rate was 80.2%, and there was a 21.7% of complication rate. Longer follow-up period, the presence of perio-endo disease, the use of non-bioceramic material as retrograde filling, longer extraoral time, and maxillary molar were found to be associated with lower healing rates. However, the differences between the subgroups were not statistically significant.
CONCLUSIONS: The present review showed IR yielded a good overall healing rate with a low complication rate. Taking the quality of evidence into account, more high-quality studies are required to evaluate the validity of the factors that may influence the treatment outcome of IR.
DESIGN: A prospective interventional and observational study.
METHODOLOGY: We formed a quality improvement (QI) team in our SNCU consisting of doctors, nurses, auxiliary staff and parents (a floating member) to improve proper use of AHR. To identify the barriers to the problem, we used fishbone analysis tool. The barriers which were not allowing the health providers to use AHR properly identified were amount of AHR in millilitres to be used per day per baby, how much and when the amount of AHR to be indented from the main store and what is the proper site to place the bottle. We used plan-do-study-act cycles to test and adapt solutions to these problems. Within 5-6 weeks of starting our project, AHR use increased from 44 mL to 92 mL per baby per day and this is sustained around 100 mL per baby per day for over 2 years now.
RESULTS: Significant decrease in neonatal mortality was observed (reduced from median of 41.0 between August 2016 and April 2018 to 24.0 between May 2018 and December 2019). The neonates discharged alive improved from 41.2 to 52.3 as a median percentage value. The percentage of babies who were referred out and went Left Against Medical Advice (LAMA) deceased too.
CONCLUSION: Multiple factors can lead to neonatal deaths, but the important factors are always contextual to facilities. QI methodology provides health workers with the skills to identify the major factors contributing to mortality and develop strategies to deal with them. Improving processes of care can lead to improved hand hygiene and saves lives.
OBJECTIVE: In the current scenario, the development of safe and effective drug delivery systems is the utmost concern of formulation development scientists as well as clinicians.
METHODS: Google, Web of Science, and PubMed portals have been searched for potentially relevant literature to get the latest developments and updated information related to different aspects of green synthesized AgNPs along with their biomedical applications, especially in the treatment of different types of cancers.
RESULTS: The present review highlights the latest published research regarding the different green approaches for the synthesis of AgNPs, their characterization techniques as well as various biomedical applications, particularly in cancer treatment. In this context, environment-friendly AgNPs are proving themselves as better candidates in terms of size, drug loading and release efficiency, targeting efficiency, minimal drug-associated side effects, pharmacokinetic profiling, and biocompatibility issues.
CONCLUSION: With continuous efforts by multidisciplinary team approaches, nanotechnology-based AgNPs will shed new light on diagnostics and therapeutics in various disease treatments. However, the toxicity issues of AgNPs need greater attention as unanticipated toxic effects must be ruled out for their diversified applications.
METHODS: Electronic searches were performed in Web of Science, PubMed, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), and Cochrane Library databases. Two authors independently screened the titles and abstracts for eligibility. The analyses were performed on the clinical outcomes (ie, survival, healing, and root development) of the procedure.
RESULTS: Eleven articles were included in the qualitative and quantitative syntheses. Three studies were randomized controlled trials, 6 were prospective cohort studies, and 2 were retrospective cohort studies. The pooled survival and healing rates were 97.3% and 93.0%, respectively. The pooled rates of root lengthening, root thickening, and apical closure were 77.3%, 90.6%, and 79.1%, respectively. However, if 20% radiographic changes were used as a cutoff point, there were only 16.1% root lengthening and 39.8% root thickening.
CONCLUSIONS: Within the limitations of the present study, it can be concluded that RET yielded high survival and healing rates with a good root development rate. However, clinical meaningful root development after RET was unpredictable.
OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were: (1) to identify the trustworthiness indicators that are suitable for a breast self-examination system, (2) design and propose a breast self-examination system, and (3) evaluate the multifaceted trustworthiness interaction between patients and physicians.
METHODS: We used a qualitative study design based on open-ended interviews with 32 participants (16 outpatients and 16 physicians). The interview started with an introduction to the research objective and an explanation of the steps on how to use the proposed breast self-examination system. The breast self-examination system was then evaluated by asking the patient to rate their trustworthiness with the physician after the consultation. The evaluation was also based on monitoring the activity in the chat room (interactions between physicians and patients) during daily meetings, weekly meetings, and the articles posted by the physician in the forum.
RESULTS: Based on the interview sessions with 16 physicians and 16 patients on using the breast self-examination system, honesty had a strong positive correlation (r=0.91) with trustworthiness, followed by credibility (r=0.85), confidence (r=0.79), and faith (r=0.79). In addition, belief (r=0.75), competency (r=0.73), and reliability (r=0.73) were strongly correlated with trustworthiness, with the lowest correlation found for reputation (r=0.72). The correlation among trustworthiness indicators was significant (P