Bmc Med
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We previously demonstrated that CD34 + cell transplantation in animals healed intractable fractures via osteogenesis and vasculogenesis; we also demonstrated the safety and efficacy of this cell therapy in an earlier phase I/II clinical trial conducted on seven patients with fracture nonunion. Herein, we present the results of a phase III clinical trial conducted to confirm the results of the previous phase studies using a larger cohort of patients. ⋯ Our findings strongly suggest that autologous CD34 + cell transplantation is a novel treatment option for fracture nonunion.
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Few studies have investigated the joint effects of sleep traits on the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). No previous study has used factorial Mendelian randomization (MR) which may reduce confounding, reverse causation, and measurement error. Thus, it is prudent to study joint effects using robust methods to propose sleep-targeted interventions which lower the risk of AMI. ⋯ This study reveals no interaction effects between sleep traits on the risk of AMI, but all combinations of sleep traits increased the risk of AMI except those with long sleep. This indicates that the main effects of sleep traits on AMI are likely to be independent of each other.
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An increased number of resources are allocated on cancer biomarker discovery, but very few of these biomarkers are clinically adopted. To bridge the gap between Biomarker discovery and clinical use, we aim to generate the Biomarker Toolkit, a tool designed to identify clinically promising biomarkers and promote successful biomarker translation. ⋯ This novel study generated a validated checklist with literature-reported attributes linked with successful biomarker implementation. Ultimately, the application of this toolkit can be used to detect biomarkers with the highest clinical potential and shape how biomarker studies are designed/performed.
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Meta Analysis
Impacts of performance-based financing on health system performance: evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Health systems' weakness remains one of the primary obstacles towards achieving universal access to quality healthcare in low-income settings. Performance-based financing (PBF) programs have been increasingly used to increase access to quality care in LMICs. However, evidence on the impacts of these programs remains fragmented and inconclusive. We analyze the health system impacts of the PBF program in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), one of the largest such programs introduced in LMICs to date. ⋯ The results suggest that well-designed PBF programs can lead to improvements in most health systems domains relative to comparable unconditional financing. However, the large persisting gaps suggest that additional changes, such as allocating more resources to the health system and reforming the human resources for health management, will be necessary in DRC to achieve the ambitious global universal health coverage and mortality goals.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effects of a text messaging smoking cessation intervention amongst online help-seekers and primary health care visitors: findings from a randomised controlled trial.
Smoking continues to be a leading risk factor for several diseases globally. We hypothesised that an intervention delivered via text messages could help individuals who were looking to quit. ⋯ Amongst general population help-seekers-who on average had smoked for 25 years-access to a 12-week text messaging intervention produced higher rates of self-reported smoking abstinence in comparison to treatment as usual only. The intervention could be part of the societal response to the burden which smoking causes; however, findings are limited by risk of bias due to attrition, self-reported outcomes, and lack of blinding.