Plos One
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Previous neuroimaging studies have provided evidence of structural and functional reorganization of brain in patients with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). However, it remains unknown whether the spontaneous brain activity changes in acute SCI. In this study, we investigated intrinsic brain activity in acute SCI patients using a regional homogeneity (ReHo) analysis based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. ⋯ Our findings indicate that acute distant neuronal damage has an immediate impact on spontaneous brain activity. In acute SCI patients, the ReHo was prominently altered in brain regions involved in motor execution and cognitive control, default mode network, and which are associated with sensorimotor compensatory reorganization. Abnormal ReHo values in the left thalamus and right insula could serve as potential biomarkers for assessment of neuronal damage and the prediction of clinical outcomes in acute SCI.
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Non-medical prescription opioid use is a growing public health concern. Social media is an emerging tool to understand health attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. ⋯ In a sample of social media messages mentioning opioid medications, the most common theme amongst English users related to various forms of opioid misuse. Social media can provide insights into the types of misuse of opioids that might aid public health efforts to reduce non-medical opioid use.
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midregional proadrenomedullin (MR-proADM) is a prognostic biomarker in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). We sought to confirm whether MR-proADM added to Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) improves the potential prognostic value of PSI alone, and tested to what extent this combination could be useful in predicting poor outcome of patients with CAP in an Emergency Department (ED). ⋯ MR-proADM in combination with PSI may be helpful in individual risk stratification for short-term poor outcome of CAP patients, allowing a better reclassification of patients compared with PSI alone.
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The emergency departments (EDs) of Chinese hospitals are gradually being equipped with blood gas machines. These machines, along with the measurement of biochemical markers by the hospital laboratory, facilitate the care of patients with severe conditions who present to the ED. However, discrepancies have been noted between the Arterial Blood Gas (ABG) analyzers in the ED and the hospital laboratory autoanalyzer in relation to electrolyte and hemoglobin measurements. The present study was performed to determine whether the ABG and laboratory measurements of potassium, sodium, and hemoglobin levels are equivalent, and whether ABG analyzer results can be used to guide clinical care before the laboratory results become available. ⋯ Although there are the statistical difference and acceptable biases between ABG- and laboratory-measured potassium and sodium, the biases do not exceed USCLIA-determined limits. In parallel, there are no statistical differences and biases beyond USCLIA-determined limits between ABG- and laboratory-measured hemoglobin. Therefore, all three variables measured by ABG were reliable.
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Artemisinin-based combination therapies are recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as first-line treatment for Plasmodium falciparum malaria, yet medication must be of good quality for efficacious treatment. A recent meta-analysis reported 35% (796/2,296) of antimalarial drug samples from 21 Sub-Saharan African countries, purchased from outlets predominantly using convenience sampling, failed chemical content analysis. We used three sampling strategies to purchase artemisinin-containing antimalarials (ACAs) in Enugu metropolis, Nigeria, and compared the resulting quality estimates. ⋯ Randomised sampling identified fewer falsified ACAs than previously reported by convenience approaches. Our findings emphasise the need for specific consideration to be given to sampling frame and sampling approach if representative information on drug quality is to be obtained.