Postgraduate medical journal
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Based on current research, it is known that the gastrointestinal tract microbiota and its genome play a crucial role in mental illnesses. Studies indicate a direct correlation between gastrointestinal tract microbiota and the onset of dementia, mediated by metabolic diseases and low-grade inflammation. The association between various gastrointestinal symptoms and neurodegenerative diseases has been recently discussed. However, there is a lack of research regarding the comparative effects of different surgical procedures on neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, this study primarily focuses on comparing the association between various gastrointestinal surgeries and dementia, aiming to provide guidance for future clinical practice. ⋯ Our study demonstrates that gastrectomy is associated with an elevated risk of dementia. We aim to uncover more direct evidence in future experiments.
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Williams-Beuren syndrome, Noonan syndrome, and Alagille syndrome are common types of genetic syndromes (GSs) characterized by distinct facial features, pulmonary stenosis, and delayed growth. In clinical practice, differentiating these three GSs remains a challenge. Facial gestalts serve as a diagnostic tool for recognizing Williams-Beuren syndrome, Noonan syndrome, and Alagille syndrome. Pretrained foundation models (PFMs) can be considered the foundation for small-scale tasks. By pretraining with a foundation model, we propose facial recognition models for identifying these syndromes. ⋯ A facial recognition-based model has the potential to improve the identification of three common GSs with pulmonary stenosis. PFMs might be valuable for building screening models for facial recognition. Key messages What is already known on this topic: Early identification of genetic syndromes (GSs) is crucial for the management and prognosis of children with pulmonary stenosis (PS). Facial phenotyping with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) often requires large-scale training data, limiting its usefulness for GSs. What this study adds: We successfully built multi-classification models based on face recognition using a CNN to accurately identify three common PS-associated GSs. ResNet-100 with a pretrained foundation model (PFM) and CosFace loss function achieved the best accuracy (84.8%). Pretrained with the foundation model, the performance of the models significantly improved, although the impact of the type of loss function appeared to be minimal. How this study might affect research, practice, or policy: A facial recognition-based model has the potential to improve the identification of GSs in children with PS. The PFM might be valuable for building identification models for facial detection.
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Osteoporosis (OP) is characterized by a gradual onset and an increased susceptibility to osteoporotic fractures. Previous retrospective studies have suggested that hemoglobin (HGB) levels could be a potential diagnostic marker for OP. However, the relationship between OP and anemia remains uncertain. This prospective study aimed to investigate the association between HGB levels and OP. ⋯ Our findings reveal a significant correlation between HGB levels or anemia and OP, with males demonstrating a greater susceptibility compared to females. The risk of OP decreased with higher HGB concentrations in both sexes, although this effect was more pronounced in males. It is recommended to conduct longitudinal studies to investigate the causality of the observed connections and experimental studies to understand the underlying mechanisms.
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To investigate the effect of first 24-hour (24-h) urine output (UO) on in-hospital and 1-year mortality in patients admitted to intensive care units due to acute myocardial infarction. ⋯ In patients admitted to intensive care units due to acute myocardial infarction, first 24-h UO <800 ml was a strong predictor for higher in-hospital and 1-year mortality, while first 24-h UO over 2500 ml was associated with lower in-hospital mortality but not long-term mortality.
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Medicine is currently confronted with an increase in irrationality, and non-scientific thinking manifesting in semingly more holistic and natural treatment options, especially in cancer therapy. The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated that irrational beliefs are widely spread even among physicians. ⋯ December 9, 2024, will be the 30th death anniversary of Max Bill. The following manuscript describes Max Bill's life and art and tries to offer some suggestions on how his concept of art together with the philosophy of critical rationalism may be excellent instruments to teach medical students and young doctors scientific thinking, and may even be an antidote for irrationality in medicine.