Plos One
-
Multicenter Study
Combining H-FABP and GFAP increases the capacity to differentiate between CT-positive and CT-negative patients with mild traumatic brain injury.
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) patients may have trauma-induced brain lesions detectable using CT scans. However, most patients will be CT-negative. There is thus a need for an additional tool to detect patients at risk. ⋯ The best-performing two-marker panel for Cohort 1, subsequently validated in Cohort 2, was a combination of H-FABP and GFAP, enhancing specificity to 46% (95% CI 36-55). When adding IL-10 to this panel, specificity reached 52% (95% CI 43-61) with 100% sensitivity. These results showed that proteins combined into panels could be used to efficiently classify CT-positive and CT-negative mTBI patients.
-
Studying soil nutrient variability and its effect on the growth and development of crops under a traditional tillage mode is the foundation for comprehensively implementing precision agriculture policies at the field scale and ensuring excellent crop management. In this paper, a 28.5 hm2 winter wheat field under the traditional cultivation model in Tianzhuang town of Huantai County was selected as the research area. The mesh point method was utilized for sampling (60×60 m), and the characteristics of soil available nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP) and available potassium (AK) variations in the before sowing, reviving, jointing, and filling stages of winter wheat were analyzed using geostatistical and GIS methods. ⋯ The growth of wheat at the jointing stage was mainly influenced by nutrients in the current stage, while the growth of wheat at the filling stage was influenced by the nutrient contents of both the previous and current stages. Thus, the date of fertilizer supplementation should be postponed properly. In this study, the soil nutrient dynamics and their influence on the growth of wheat during the winter wheat growth period under the traditional field model were well described, and these results could provide a theoretical basis for the precision management of soil nutrients in the northern winter wheat area where the planting environment and cultivation management are relatively uniform.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
The analgesic effect of music on cold pressor pain responses: The influence of anxiety and attitude toward pain.
The analgesic effect of music has been recognized for pain relief, but individual differences and adjuvant methods are poorly understood. This study employed a cold-pressor task (CPT) to observe the effects of music (without considering personal preferences) on pain experience and how this is affected by individuals' general (and pain-specific) anxiety symptomology. ⋯ Music appears to influence diminished pain responses relative to the absence of an intervention. However, this was not the case when individuals listened to news stories. These effects were more robust for individuals experiencing normal levels of general and pain-specific anxiety. Thus, music (even outside one's own preferences) was an effective adjuvant method for managing pain, especially among those without significant anxiety symptomology.
-
Studies of colonoscopic fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) in patients with recurrent CDI, indicate that this is a very effective treatment for preventing further relapses. In order to provide this service at Stony Brook University Hospital, we initiated an open-label prospective study of single colonoscopic FMT among patients with ≥ 2 recurrences of CDI, with the intention of monitoring microbial composition in the recipient before and after FMT, as compared with their respective donor. We also initiated a concurrent open label prospective trial of single colonoscopic FMT of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) not responsive to therapy, after obtaining an IND permit (IND 15642). To characterize how FMT alters the fecal microbiota in patients with recurrent Clostridia difficile infections (CDI) and/or UC, we report the results of a pilot microbiome analysis of 11 recipients with a history of 2 or more recurrences of C. difficile infections without inflammatory bowel disease (CDI-only), 3 UC recipients with recurrent C. difficile infections (CDI + UC), and 5 UC recipients without a history of C. difficile infections (UC-only). ⋯ The results from this pilot study suggest that the microbial imbalances in the CDI + UC recipients more closely resemble those of the CDI-only recipients than the UC-only recipients.
-
Observational Study
Relationship of spinal alignment with muscular volume and fat infiltration of lumbar trunk muscles.
Fat infiltration and atrophy of lumbar muscles are related to spinal degenerative conditions and may cause functional deficits. Spinal alignment exerts biomechanical influence on lumbar intervertebral discs and joints. Our objective was to evaluate if spinopelvic parameters correlate with the lumbar muscle volume and fat infiltration. ⋯ Psoas volume correlated with TK (R = 0.21), TL (R = 0.27) and SVA (R = -0.23). The lumbar muscle volumes showed a moderated correlation with T1S1 length (R = 0.55 to 0.62). Spinopelvic parameters showed correlation with lumbar muscle volumes but not with muscle fat infiltration on asymptomatic young adults.