Annals of medicine
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The relationship between childhood blood eosinophils and subtypes of allergic diseases remains understudied. This study aimed to examine the associations between childhood blood eosinophils and subtypes of asthma, rhinitis and dermatitis, as well as the modifying effect of age. ⋯ Higher eosinophil counts were associated with the increased risk of allergic subtype symptoms and the decreased risk of non-allergic subtypes in children. Moreover, the associations between eosinophils and allergic asthma/rhinitis were accentuated in the school-aged child. These findings may contribute to providing novel insights for clinical administration relevance of allergic-related symptoms.Key messages:There was a positively nonlinear association between childhood eosinophils and allergic asthma/rhinitis.Age modified the associations between eosinophils and allergy-related outcomes. The associations of eosinophil with allergic asthma/rhinitis accentuated in the school-aged child (6-13, years).
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Pregnancy complicated with tuberculosis is increasingly common. The clinical characteristics of pregnancy complicated with miliary tuberculosis are summarized in this study. ⋯ Miliary tuberculosis can occur in pregnant patients, especially in patients after IVF-ET. Symptoms often appear in the first trimester of pregnancy after IVF-ET and in the second trimester of natural pregnancy. Lacking specificity, the common clinical characteristics include elevated inflammation markers, anaemia, low lymphocyte count, and multiple miliary nodules shown on a chest HRCT scan. Half of patients with miliary tuberculosis may develop respiratory failure, and some may progress to ARDS. Therefore, infertile patients should be required to undergo TB screening before undergoing IVF-ET, and preventive anti-TB treatment should be given to patients with latent TB infections or untreated TB disease.Key MessageMiliary tuberculosis can occur in pregnant patients, especially in pregnant patients after IVF-ET. Symptoms often appear in the first trimester of pregnancy after IVF-ET and in the second trimester of natural pregnancy. Many patients develop respiratory failure or ARDS.
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Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been widely used in locally advanced and inflammatory breast cancer. Generally, complete pathological response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatment predicts survival. Studies have shown that patient-derived organoids can be used in cancer research and drug development. Therefore, we aimed to generate a living organoid biobank from biopsy samples to predict the response of patients to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. ⋯ Our data indicate that patient-derived organoids can be used to predict the clinical response of breast cancer patients to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in vitro and to screen drugs that have different effects on different patients. Key messageComplete pathological response (pCR) after adjuvant chemotherapy can predict, survival, therefore, predicting patient response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy is critical.Patient-derived organoids (PDOs) matched the original tumour in terms of histopathology, hormone receptor levels and HER2 receptor status.Patient-derived organoids can predict the responsiveness of patient to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
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Throughout the years significant progress has been observed in all medical fields. It was possible to achieve thanks to a wide range of scientists, including physician-scientists. However, in recent years their number is significantly declining. Thus we have aimed to explore the attitudes of medical students towards research. ⋯ Many medical students express research interests, are involved in scientific projects, and plan to pursue their careers in this direction. There is a majority of students with lower attitudes towards research. Medical universities should consider adapting their curricula accordingly to accommodate the needs of both groups and respond to the shortage of physicians working in clinics and research.KEY MESSAGESOne-third of medical students plan to pursue career in medical research after graduation.Students who presented higher scientific interests in the high school are more often involved in research projects at the university and show higher interest in pursuing a research career.According to medical students, lack of time, resources and funding and insufficient knowledge how to start a research project are the most important barriers to research activity.
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The COVID-19 pandemic led to exacerbation of mental health symptoms and deterioration in psychological well-being in individuals suffering from schizophrenia. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients suffering from treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) with auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) having undergone virtual reality therapy (VRT) or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) on their symptomatology. The secondary objective is to identify the differences and similarities in relation to the response to the COVID 19 pandemic between these two groups of patients. ⋯ This study offers a first qualitative insight in patients suffering from TRS and the impacts of COVID-19 on them and opens the door to the protective factors of CBT and VRT for this specific population.