This article presents data from the completed first wave of a multiwave comparative study of crime, danger, and informal social control that focuses on youth living in three high‐crime neighborhoods ...in Philadelphia, PA (N= 147). The study is a purposive sample of delinquent and nondelinquent young men and women in one predominantly African‐American, one predominantly Latino, and one predominantly white neighborhood, and researchers have completed in‐depth interviews and self‐reports with each subject. This article focuses on the narratives that youth living in high‐crime neighborhoods build around their contact with police and the strategies the young people propose for crime reduction in their communities. The data illustrate that most youth in each neighborhood are negatively disposed toward police and that this is grounded in the lived experience of negative encounters with law enforcement. However, when youth expounded on what they thought would reduce crime, they overwhelmingly chose increased and tougher law enforcement. We analyze these findings to determine whether support exists for a subcultural approach or a cultural attenuation/procedural justice argument, and we explore the implications of our findings for community‐based crime control.
-The value of placental examination in investigations of adverse pregnancy outcomes may be compromised by sampling and definition differences between laboratories.
-To establish an agreed-upon ...protocol for sampling the placenta, and for diagnostic criteria for placental lesions. Recommendations would cover reporting placentas in tertiary centers as well as in community hospitals and district general hospitals, and are also relevant to the scientific research community.
-Areas of controversy or uncertainty were explored prior to a 1-day meeting where placental and perinatal pathologists, and maternal-fetal medicine specialists discussed available evidence and subsequently reached consensus where possible.
-The group agreed on sets of uniform sampling criteria, placental gross descriptors, pathologic terminologies, and diagnostic criteria. The terminology and microscopic descriptions for maternal vascular malperfusion, fetal vascular malperfusion, delayed villous maturation, patterns of ascending intrauterine infection, and villitis of unknown etiology were agreed upon. Topics requiring further discussion were highlighted. Ongoing developments in our understanding of the pathology of the placenta, scientific bases of the maternofetoplacental triad, and evolution of the clinical significance of defined lesions may necessitate further refinements of these consensus guidelines. The proposed structure will assist in international comparability of clinicopathologic and scientific studies and assist in refining the significance of lesions associated with adverse pregnancy and later health outcomes.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
Omidubicel is an ex vivo expanded hematopoietic progenitor cell and nonexpanded myeloid and lymphoid cell product derived from a single umbilical cord blood unit. We report results of a phase 3 trial ...to evaluate the efficacy of omidubicel compared with standard umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT). Between January 2017 and January 2020, 125 patients age 13 to 65 years with hematologic malignancies were randomly assigned to omidubicel vs standard UCBT. Patients received myeloablative conditioning and prophylaxis with a calcineurin inhibitor and mycophenolate mofetil for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The primary end point was time to neutrophil engraftment. The treatment arms were well balanced and racially diverse. Median time to neutrophil engraftment was 12 days (95% confidence interval CI, 10-14 days) for the omidubicel arm and 22 days (95% CI, 19-25 days) for the control arm (P < .001). The cumulative incidence of neutrophil engraftment was 96% for patients receiving omidubicel and 89% for patients receiving control transplants. The omidubicel arm had faster platelet recovery (55% vs 35% recovery by 42 days; P = .028), had a lower incidence of first grade 2 to 3 bacterial or invasive fungal infection (37% vs 57%; P = .027), and spent more time out of hospital during the first 100 days after transplant (median, 61 vs 48 days; P = .005) than controls. Differences in GVHD and survival between the 2 arms were not statistically significant. Transplantation with omidubicel results in faster hematopoietic recovery and reduces early transplant-related complications compared with standard UCBT. The results suggest that omidubicel may be considered as a new standard of care for adult patients eligible for UCBT. The trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT02730299.
•Transplantation with omidubicel provides faster neutrophil and platelet recovery compared with a standard umbilical cord blood graft.•Transplantation with omidubicel results in fewer early bacterial and viral infections and less time in hospital.
Display omitted
Currently available screening tests do not deliver the required sensitivity and specificity for accurate diagnosis of ovarian or endometrial cancer. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy of blood plasma or ...serum is a rapid, versatile, and relatively non-invasive approach which could characterize biomolecular alterations due to cancer and has potential to be utilized as a screening or diagnostic tool. In the past, no such approach has been investigated for its applicability in screening and/or diagnosis of gynaecological cancers. We set out to determine whether attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform IR (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy coupled with a proposed classification machine could be applied to IR spectra obtained from plasma and serum for accurate class prediction (cancer vs. normal). Plasma and serum samples were obtained from ovarian cancer cases (n = 30), endometrial cancer cases (n = 30) and non-cancer controls (n = 30), and subjected to ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. Four derived datasets were processed to estimate the real-world diagnosis of ovarian and endometrial cancer. Classification results for ovarian cancer were remarkable (up to 96.7%), whereas endometrial cancer was classified with a relatively high accuracy (up to 81.7%). The results from different combinations of feature extraction and classification methods, and also classifier ensembles, were compared. No single classification system performed best for all different datasets. This demonstrates the need for a framework that can accommodate a diverse set of analytical methods in order to be adaptable to different datasets. This pilot study suggests that ATR-FTIR spectroscopy of blood is a robust tool for accurate diagnosis, and carries the potential to be utilized as a screening test for ovarian cancer in primary care settings. The proposed classification machine is a powerful tool which could be applied to classify the vibrational spectroscopy data of different biological systems (e.g., tissue, urine, saliva), with their potential application in clinical practice.
Robust diagnosis of ovarian cancer is crucial to improve patient outcomes. The lack of a single and accurate diagnostic approach necessitates the advent of novel methods in the field. In the present ...study, two spectroscopic techniques, Raman and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) using silver nanoparticles, have been employed to identify signatures linked to cancer in blood. Blood plasma samples were collected from 27 patients with ovarian cancer and 28 with benign gynecological conditions, the majority of which had a prolapse. Early ovarian cancer cases were also included in the cohort (n = 17). The derived information was processed to account for differences between cancerous and healthy individuals and a support vector machine (SVM) algorithm was applied for classification. A subgroup analysis using CA-125 levels was also conducted to rule out that the observed segregation was due to CA-125 differences between patients and controls. Both techniques provided satisfactory diagnostic accuracy for the detection of ovarian cancer, with spontaneous Raman achieving 94% sensitivity and 96% specificity and SERS 87% sensitivity and 89% specificity. For early ovarian cancer, Raman achieved sensitivity and specificity of 93% and 97%, respectively, while SERS had 80% sensitivity and 94% specificity. Five spectral biomarkers were detected by both techniques and could be utilised as a panel of markers indicating carcinogenesis. CA-125 levels did not seem to undermine the high classification accuracies. This minimally invasive test may provide an alternative diagnostic and screening tool for ovarian cancer that is superior to other established blood-based biomarkers.
Display omitted
•Raman spectroscopy or SERS diagnose ovarian cancer with high accuracy (~90%).•Raman spectroscopy alone performs slightly better than SERS.•Differences in CA− 125 levels do not seem to undermine the diagnostic accuracy.•Spectroscopy provides improved diagnostic accuracy compared to traditional biomarkers.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to changes in the delivery of exercise physiology services. The lived experience of those who continued to provide or receive exercise physiology services during the ...heightened public health restrictions of the inaugural year of the COVID-19 pandemic has received little attention to date. Acquiring this knowledge will be fundamental in addressing whether telehealth is a viable option for service delivery in exercise care, research, and policy. This is especially pertinent in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent global interest in digital health delivery of health care services.
This study aims to explore the clinician and client experiences and perspectives of exercise physiology services delivered in person or via telehealth during the inaugural year of the COVID-19 pandemic (after January 25, 2020; the date of the first confirmed case in Australia).
Eligible participants for this study were adult (aged 18 years or older; capable of understanding and writing in English) clients who received and clinicians who delivered 1 or more exercise physiology sessions in Australia during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (June 2020 to June 2021). The data collection period spanned from January 20, 2021, to September 24, 2021. A total of 18 semistructured individual interviews were conducted with accredited exercise physiologists (n=7) and clients (n=11) who engaged with exercise physiology services during this period. All interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was conducted with themes and subthemes derived using deductive and inductive approaches.
A total of 3 dominant themes, each with 2 subthemes, were identified. The first theme was that telehealth enables access to services but limits the use of some clinical tools. Remote access to services was valued by both clinicians and clients, but the exercise clinical environment could not be replicated over telehealth. This was especially true regarding access to exercise equipment. Second, engagement and the "relational space" are limited by telehealth. Perceived challenges regarding social interactions and a sense of community were a limitation for clients, and difficulties fostering clinician-client report were noted by clinicians. Finally, technological challenges are pervasive in the telehealth delivery of exercise services. Both clinicians and clients noted that systems necessary to facilitate telehealth frequently disrupted delivery, and client-based technical issues were influenced by digital health literacy.
Shared client and accredited exercise physiologist experiences highlight key considerations for the ongoing implementation of telehealth to facilitate the uptake and effectiveness of exercise physiology services. These findings imply that the co-design of solutions to client-perceived limitations of telehealth delivery is warranted.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract Background and Aims Exercise is recommended for the management of metabolic dysfunction‐associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), yet effects on liver histology remain unknown, especially ...without significant weight loss. We aimed to examine changes in surrogate measures of liver histological response with exercise training. Methods We conducted a post hoc pooled analysis of three randomised controlled trials (duration: 12–20 weeks) comparing aerobic exercise interventions with controls. The primary outcome measure was a ≥30% relative reduction in (MRI‐measured) liver fat, as a surrogate measure of liver histological response (the threshold necessary for fibrosis improvement). Secondary outcome measures were changes in other biomarkers of liver fibrosis, anthropometry, body composition and aerobic fitness. Results Eighty‐eight adults (exercise: 54, control: 34; male: 67%) were included with mean (SD) age 51 (11) years and body mass index 33.3 (5.2) kg/m 2 . Following the intervention, exercise had ~5‐fold (OR 95%CI: 4.86 1.72, 13.8, p = .002) greater odds of ≥30% relative reduction in MRI‐measured liver fat compared with control. This paralleled the improvements in anthropometry (waist and hip circumference reduction), body composition (body fat, visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue) and aerobic fitness (V̇O 2 peak, ventilatory threshold and exercise capacity). Importantly, these effects were independent of clinically significant body weight loss (<3% body weight). Conclusion Exercise training led to clinically meaningful improvements in surrogate serum‐ and imaging‐based measures of liver histological change, without clinically meaningful body weight reduction. These data reinforce the weight‐neutral benefit of exercise training and suggest that aerobic training may improve liver fibrosis in patients with MASLD.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the leading cause of infectious complications after organ transplantation and has been implicated as a cause of graft rejection. In renal transplantation, the risk of CMV ...disease is highest in the second month after transplantation and is largely determined by the serologic status of the donor and the recipient for CMV.
1
,
2
Recipients who are CMV-negative and who receive a transplant from a CMV-positive donor are at highest risk for disease (40 to 73 percent), CMV-positive recipients are at moderate risk (6 to 38 percent), and CMV-negative recipients who receive a transplant from a CMV-negative donor are . . .
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic markedly changed how healthcare services are delivered and telehealth delivery has increased worldwide. Whether changes in healthcare delivery borne from the COVID-19 ...pandemic impact effectiveness is unknown. Therefore, we examined the effectiveness of exercise physiology services provided during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
This prospective cohort study included 138 clients who received exercise physiology services during the initial COVID-19 pandemic. Outcome measures of interest were EQ-5D-5L, EQ-VAS, patient-specific functional scale, numeric pain rating scale and goal attainment scaling.
Results
Most (59%,
n
= 82) clients received in-person delivery only, whereas 8% (
n
= 11) received telehealth delivery only and 33% (
n
= 45) received a combination of delivery modes. Mean (SD) treatment duration was 11 (7) weeks and included 12 (6) sessions lasting 48 (9) minutes. The majority (73%,
n
= 101) of clients completed > 80% of exercise sessions. Exercise physiology improved mobility by 14% (
β
= 0.23,
P
= 0.003), capacity to complete usual activities by 18% (
β
= 0.29,
P
< 0.001), capacity to complete important activities that the client was unable to do or having difficulty performing by 54% (
β
= 2.46,
P
< 0.001), current pain intensity by 16% (
β
= − 0.55,
P
= 0.038) and goal attainment scaling t-scores by 50% (
β
= 18.37,
P
< 0.001). Effectiveness did not differ between delivery modes (all:
P
> 0.087).
Conclusions
Exercise physiology services provided during the COVID-19 pandemic improved a range of client-reported outcomes regardless of delivery mode. Further exploration of cost-effectiveness is warranted.
Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a shift in healthcare towards telehealth delivery, which presents challenges for exercise physiology services. We aimed to examine the impact of the ...COVID-19 pandemic on the reach, efficacy, adoption and implementation of telehealth delivery for exercise physiology services by comparing Australian practises before (prior to 25 January 2020) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (after 25 January 2020).
Methods
This retrospective audit included 80 accredited exercise physiology clinicians. We examined relevant dimensions of the RE-AIM framework (reach, effectiveness, adoption and implementation) from the clinician perspective.
Results
During the COVID-19 pandemic, 91% (
n
= 73/80) of surveyed clinicians offered telehealth delivery service, compared to 25% (
n
= 20/80) prior. Mean (SD) telehealth delivery per week doubled from 5 (7) to 10 (8) hours. In-person delivery decreased from 23 (11) to 15 (11) hours per week. Typical reasons for not offering telehealth delivery were client physical/cognitive incapacity (
n
= 33/80, 41%) and safety (
n
= 24/80, 30%). Clinician-reported reasons for typical clients not adopting telehealth delivery were personal preference (
n
= 57/71, 80%), physical capacity (
n
= 35/71, 49%) and access to reliable delivery platforms (
n
= 27/71, 38%). Zoom (
n
= 54/71, 76%) and telephone (
n
= 53/71, 75%) were the most commonly used platforms. Of the reasons contributing to incomplete treatment, lack of confidence in delivery mode was sevenfold higher for telehealth compared to in-person delivery. No serious treatment-related adverse events were reported.
Conclusions
During the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth delivery of exercise physiology services increased and in-person delivery decreased, which suggests the profession was adaptable and agile. However, further research determining comparative efficacy and cost-effectiveness is warranted.