Medicine
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Lumbar muscle strain (LMS) is the most common orthopedic syndrome, with high incidence globally and lingering disease, which seriously affects patients' work efficiency and quality of life. Warm needle acupuncture (WNA) is a treatment method combining acupuncture technology with warm and medicinal effect of moxibustion. It has outstanding curative effect and wide range of treatment, especially in the treatment of pain diseases. We aim to collect clinical evidence and demonstrate the efficacy and safety of WNA on LMS. ⋯ The conclusion of this study will provide evidence to judge the effectiveness and safety of WNA on LMS.
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Observational Study
Differences in gut microbiota between allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, and skin urticaria: A pilot study.
Several forms of allergy have been clinically presented, including, among others, atopic dermatitis (eczema), urticaria (hives), and allergic rhinitis (rhinitis). As their detailed pathogenesis continues to be researched, we aimed in the current study to compare gut microbiota differences between eczema, hives, and rhinitis patients. ⋯ All clinical data were similar between the subgroups. The microbiota results indicated that Bacteroidales species were found in skin allergies, both urticaria and eczema, when compared to rhinitis. The microbiota differs substantially between those patients with atopic dermatitis (eczema), chronic urticaria (hives), and allergic rhinitis (rhinitis), thus indicating that the gut-skin and gut-nose axes exist. Gut flora colonies differ significantly between skin allergy and nose allergy. Bacteroidales species could be a clinical link between gut flora and skin allergy; of those, Bacteroids Plebeius DSM 17135 is significantly associated with the urticaria (hives) subgroup.Conclusion. Our results demonstrated high intra-group homogeneous and high inter-group heterogeneous microbiota. The clinical symptoms of eczema, hives, and rhinitis can all be linked to specific microbiota in the current study. In this pilot study, the Ruminococcaceae and Bacteroidales species are associated with allergic disease, in line with several previous published articles, and the abundance of Firmicutes Phylum is representative of intestinal dysbiosis. In the future, a larger cohort and thorough biochemical studies are needed for confirmation.
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Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients complicated with infections experience severe vitamin D deficiency. High-dose vitamin D is applied to the treatment of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by some researchers, and good results have been achieved. However, the efficacy of vitamin D in the treatment of infections in COVID-19 patients with diabetes remains unclarified. This study aims to explore the effect of oral high-dose vitamin D in the treatment of diabetic patients with COVID-19. ⋯ CRD42020214284.
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Observational Study
The role of trans-thoracic echocardiography in the assessment of aortic annular diameter.
We aimed to compare two-dimension transthoracic echocardiogram (2D-TTE) and three-dimension transthoracic echocardiogram (3D-TTE) measurements of the aortic annular diameter using multi-detector CT (MDCT) as a gold standard. This prospective observational study included 50 consecutive patients who came to the cardiology department, Al-Azhar University Hospital, New Damietta, for MDCT coronary angiography. The study was carried out in the period from July 2016 until February 2017. ⋯ Accuracy of aortic annular diameter measurement by 3D-TTE was superior to that by 2D-TTE. Three-D TTE and MDCT revealed that the shape of the aortic annulus was elliptical in 28% to 30% respectively of study subjects. There is a strong concordance between the minimum and the maximum diameter determine by 3D-TTE and MDCT.
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An increasing number of studies focus on the effectiveness of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC)-based blended learning, whereas none have yet studied using it for teaching fundamental nursing skills at an undergraduate level. To evaluate the effectiveness of MOOC-based blended learning versus face-to-face classroom teaching techniques within the fundamental nursing course at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Xiang Nan, China. This cluster randomized controlled trial enrolled 181 students and assigned them into either an MOOC-based blended or a face-to-face classroom teaching group, both involving the Fundamental Nursing course for undergraduate nursing students. ⋯ Moreover, the mean change in the participants' critical thinking ability items between groups were, mostly, statistically significant. The items focusing on the feedback from the students demonstrated significant differences between the groups in terms of their satisfaction with the teaching they received (P < .001) and the overall learning effects (P = .030). This study confirmed that receiving MOOC-based blended learning was superior when compared against face-to-face classroom teaching techniques for learning within the Fundamental Nursing course.