Plos One
-
Psychological Assessment can be defined as a complex procedure of information collection, analysis and processing. Formal Psychological Assessment (FPA) tries to improve this procedure by providing a formal framework to build assessment tools. In this paper, FPA is applied to depression. ⋯ FPA allows in-depth analysis of currently used questionnaires based on the presence/absence of clinical elements. FPA allows for going beyond the mere score by differentiating the patients according to symptomatology. Furthermore, it allows for computerized-adaptive assessment.
-
Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is an arrhythmogenic disorder that can lead to sudden death. To date, mutations in 15 LQTS-susceptibility genes have been implicated. However, the genetic cause for approximately 20% of LQTS patients remains elusive. ⋯ Moreover, half of the newly identified candidates directly interact with calmodulin (5 in 11; comparison with all genes; p=0.042). Subsequent variant analysis in the independent set of 138 cases identified 16 variants in the 11 genes, of which 14 were in calmodulin-interacting genes (87.5%). These results suggest an important role of calmodulin and its interacting proteins in the pathogenesis of LQTS.
-
This study aimed to identify what information triggered social media users' responses regarding infectious diseases. Chinese microblogs in 2012 regarding 42 infectious diseases were obtained through a keyword search in the Weiboscope database. Qualitative content analysis was performed for the posts pertinent to each keyword of the day of the year with the highest daily count. ⋯ News unrelated to the specified infectious diseases also led to elevated microblog traffic. Our study showcases the diverse contexts from which increased social media traffic occur. Our results will facilitate better health communication as causes underlying increased social media traffic are revealed.
-
Pre- and/or intra-operative use of diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I) or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB) constitutes a potentially modifiable risk factor for postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI). It has been studied whether use of these drugs predicts AKI after cardiac surgery. The objective of this study was to examine whether administration of these agents was independently associated with AKI after non-cardiac surgery. ⋯ Prescription of diuretics, but not ACE-I/ARB, was independently associated with postoperative AKI after non-cardiac surgery, especially in patients with low propensity for diuretic use. It might be reasonable to withhold preoperative diuretics in these patients.
-
Observational Study
Early oxygen-utilization and brain activity in preterm infants.
The combined monitoring of oxygen supply and delivery using Near-InfraRed spectroscopy (NIRS) and cerebral activity using amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG) could yield new insights into brain metabolism and detect potentially vulnerable conditions soon after birth. The relationship between NIRS and quantitative aEEG/EEG parameters has not yet been investigated. Our aim was to study the association between oxygen utilization during the first 6 h after birth and simultaneously continuously monitored brain activity measured by aEEG/EEG. ⋯ The relation between regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rScO2) and cerebral fractional tissue oxygen extraction (cFTOE), and quantitative measurements of brain activity such as number of spontaneous activity transients (SAT) per minute (SAT rate), the interval in seconds (i.e. time) between SATs (ISI) and the minimum amplitude of the EEG in μV (min aEEG) were evaluated. rScO2 was negatively associated with SAT rate (β=-3.45 [CI=-5.76- -1.15], p=0.004) and positively associated with ISI (β=1.45 [CI=0.44-2.45], p=0.006). cFTOE was positively associated with SAT rate (β=0.034 [CI=0.009-0.059], p=0.008) and negatively associated with ISI (β=-0.015 [CI=-0.026- -0.004], p=0.007). Oxygen delivery and utilization, as indicated by rScO2 and cFTOE, are directly related to functional brain activity, expressed by SAT rate and ISI during the first hours after birth, showing an increase in oxygen extraction in preterm infants with increased early electro-cerebral activity. NIRS monitored oxygenation may be a useful biomarker of brain vulnerability in high-risk infants.