Plos One
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Knowledge, attitudes and preventive practices of primary health care professionals towards alcohol use: A national, cross-sectional study.
Primary care (PC) professionals' knowledge about alcohol use has been identified as one of the barriers PC providers face in their clinic. Both PC professionals' level of training and attitude are crucial in the clinical practice regarding alcohol use. ⋯ PC providers' knowledge and preventive practices regarding alcohol use are scarce, hence specific training strategies to increase their knowledge and improve their attitude and skills with regard to this health problem should be considered a healthcare policy priority.
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The use of labor epidural analgesia has been associated with intrapartum fever, known as labor epidural associated fever (LEAF). LEAF is most commonly non-infectious in origin and associated with elevated inflammatory cytokines. ⋯ The predictive value of maternal inflammatory biomarkers measured during early- and mid-pregnancy for the risk of developing LEAF cannot be excluded.
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Multicenter Study
An interactive nomogram to predict healthcare-associated infections in ICU patients: A multicenter study in GuiZhou Province, China.
To develop and validate an interactive nomogram to predict healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) in the intensive care unit (ICU). ⋯ The developed interactive nomogram is a simple and practical instrument for quantifying the individual risk of HCAI and promptly identifying high-risk patients.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
High-pitch, 120 kVp/30 mAs, low-dose dual-source chest CT with iterative reconstruction: Prospective evaluation of radiation dose reduction and image quality compared with those of standard-pitch low-dose chest CT in healthy adult volunteers.
Objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the iterative reconstruction of high-pitch dual-source chest CT (IR-HP-CT) scanned with low radiation exposure compared with low dose chest CT (LDCT). ⋯ IR-HP-CT with 120 kVp and 30 mAs tube setting in addition to an iterative reconstruction reduced cardiac motion artifact and radiation exposure while representing similar image quality compared with LDCT.
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
The use of initial dosing of gentamicin in the management of pyelonephritis/urosepsis: A retrospective study.
The primary objective was to determine if initial empirical intravenous dosing of gentamicin improved patient's outcomes in pyelonephritis/urosepsis compared with alternative IV antibiotic management. ⋯ Neither time to resolution of abnormal symptoms nor length of stay were significantly influenced by an initial dose of gentamicin when the data were subjected to multivariable analysis. The age of the patient and pattern of gentamicin treatment were the dominant factors associated with duration of IV antibiotics. Piperacillin/tazobactam is not recommended in treatment guidelines for pyelonephritis/urosepsis but was the most commonly prescribed IV antibiotic. This requires review by the appropriate hospital clinicians.