Plos One
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Multicenter Study
Biomarker profiles of Alzheimer's disease and dynamic of the association between cerebrospinal fluid levels of β-amyloid peptide and tau.
To investigate the relationship between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) β-amyloid peptide (Aβ42) and CSF Tau in a large population of patients referred to memory clinics for investigation of cognitive dysfunction. ⋯ The nature of the association between CSF Aβ42 and CFS Tau depends on the A/N profiles of patients. These results suggest an increase in CSF Aβ42 early in the disease before its decline while tau pathology progresses, this pattern is particularly observed in non-APOE4 subjects. This phenomenon may explain why some patients with neurodegeneration only markers convert to an AD profile (A+N+) over time.
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Trial registration is widely endorsed as it is considered not only to enhance transparency and quality of reporting but also to help safeguard against outcome reporting bias and probably spin, known as specific reporting that could distort the interpretation of results thus mislead readers. We planned to investigate the current registration status of recently published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture, outcome reporting bias in the prospectively registered trials, and the association between trial registration and presence of spin and methodological factors in acupuncture RCTs. ⋯ While trial registration seemed to have improved over time, primary outcomes in registered records and publications were often inconsistent, tending to favor statistically significant findings and spin was common in studies with statistically nonsignificant primary outcomes. Journal editors and researchers in this field should be alerted to still prevalent reporting bias and spin.
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Observational Study
Patterns of multimorbidity and polypharmacy in young and adult population: Systematic associations among chronic diseases and drugs using factor analysis.
The objective was to identify the systematic associations among chronic diseases and drugs in the form of patterns and to describe and clinically interpret the constituted patterns with a focus on exploring the existence of potential drug-drug and drug-disease interactions and prescribing cascades. ⋯ The six clinically sound multimorbidity-polypharmacy patterns described in this non-elderly population confirmed the existence of systematic associations among chronic diseases and medications, and revealed some unexpected associations suggesting the prescribing cascade phenomenon as a potential underlying factor. These findings may help to broaden the focus and orient the early identification of potential interactions when caring for multimorbid patients at high risk of adverse health outcomes due to polypharmacy.
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Comparative Study
Development of a risk prediction model (Hangang) and comparison with clinical severity scores in burn patients.
The purpose of this study was to develop a new prediction model to reflect the risk of mortality and severity of disease and to evaluate the ability of the developed model to predict mortality among adult burn patients. ⋯ This model reflects the current risk factors of mortality among adult burn patients. Furthermore, it was a highly discriminatory and well-calibrated model for the prediction of mortality in this cohort.
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Honeycombing on high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) images is a key finding in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). In IPF, honeycombing area determined by quantitative CT analysis is correlated with pulmonary function test findings. We hypothesized that quantitative CT-derived honeycombing area (HA) might predict mortality in patients with IPF. ⋯ Quantitative CT-derived HA might be an important and independent predictor of mortality in IPF patients with definite UIP pattern.