Medical principles and practice : international journal of the Kuwait University, Health Science Centre
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Nocardiosis is a neglected tropical disease. It has varied geographical presence and a spectrum of clinical presentations. This review aims to focus on the epidemiology of nocardial infections with a systematic approach to their diagnosis and treatment. ⋯ Unless suspected, diagnosis can be easily missed resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. Thorough knowledge of local epidemiology, demography, clinical course and presentation, diagnostic modalities, and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of the prevalent Nocardia species is essential to curb spread of this infection. This is a systematic review in which internet search has been done for citation indices (Embase, PubMed, Ovid, and other individual journals) till March 2020 utilizing the following key words "Nocardia," "taxonomy," "prevalence," "clinical features," "diagnosis," "treatment," and "susceptibility." We selected a total of 87 review articles, case series, and case reports all in English language.
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Nocardiosis is a neglected tropical disease. It has varied geographical presence and a spectrum of clinical presentations. This review aims to focus on the epidemiology of nocardial infections with a systematic approach to their diagnosis and treatment. ⋯ Unless suspected, diagnosis can be easily missed resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. Thorough knowledge of local epidemiology, demography, clinical course and presentation, diagnostic modalities, and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of the prevalent Nocardia species is essential to curb spread of this infection. This is a systematic review in which internet search has been done for citation indices (Embase, PubMed, Ovid, and other individual journals) till March 2020 utilizing the following key words "Nocardia," "taxonomy," "prevalence," "clinical features," "diagnosis," "treatment," and "susceptibility." We selected a total of 87 review articles, case series, and case reports all in English language.
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The aim of this systematic review was to consolidate studies to determine whether root cause analysis (RCA) is an adequate method to decrease recurrence of avoidable adverse events (AAEs). ⋯ RCA is a useful tool for the identification of the remote and immediate causes of safety incidents, but not for implementing effective measures to prevent their recurrence.
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Unlike DNA fingerprinting, which scores for differences in the genome that are phenotype neutral, epigenetic variations are gaining importance in forensic investigations. Methylation of DNA has a broad range of effects on the lifestyle, health status, and physical appearance of individuals. ⋯ Several techniques have been used for DNA methylation analysis for epigenetic investigations of forensic biological samples. However, novel techniques are needed for multiplex analysis of epigenetic markers as the techniques that are currently available require a large amount of high-quality DNA and are also limited in their multiplexing capacities that are often insufficient to fully resolve a forensic query of interest.
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One of the most important side effects of opioids is their influence on the electrical activity of the heart. This review focusses on the effects of opioids on QT interval prolongation and their arrhythmogenic liability. ⋯ The cardiac arrhythmogenicity of various opioids is different. Methadone has a higher capability to induce long QT interval and dangerous arrhythmias in conventional doses than others. To reduce of arrhythmogenic risk, high doses of opioids must be used cautiously with periodic monitoring of ECG in high-risk consumers such as patients under opioid maintenance treatment.