Annals of medicine
-
Thrombocytopenia is commonly observed in patients with sepsis and is an independent risk factor for poor prognosis. However, the changes of platelet count caused by different pathogens can vary significantly. Our study aims to evaluate the quantitative changes in platelet count in response to various pathogens. ⋯ Our present findings indicate a pathogen-specific effect on platelet count, highlighting the importance of monitoring thrombocytopenia in patients infected with above microorganisms. Clinicians need to consider pathogen-specific thresholds when intervene on platelet count.
-
Hip osteoarthritis is a common cause of disability and surgery is often unavoidable. Patient satisfaction is high and functional ability improves after surgery. However, residual impairment and pain are common. Degenerative changes in tendons and muscles are probable causes. The aim of this study is to investigate gluteus medius (GMED) tendon degeneration in relation to muscle strength, physical function and walking distance before and one year after total hip replacement. ⋯ Our results indicate a correlation between tendon degeneration and the muscle strength of the hip and knee in patients with hip OA and one year after THR. To minimise post-operative residual discomfort, rehabilitation programs should probably be modified over time to match the pre- and post-operative needs. Further studies are needed.This study was registered at https://www.researchweb.org/is/vgr/project/279039 (in Swedish).
-
Although normal acute phase reactants (APRs) play an important role in assessing disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), some studies pointed out the discordance between disease activity and APR level. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratios (NLRs), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratios (PLRs) and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratios (LMRs) have been reported to be sensitive measures of inflammatory reaction. This study aims to explore the value of these haematological makers in assessment of APR-negative RA patients. ⋯ Our findings suggested that PLR might be a reliable and cost-effective marker for identifying moderate-to-severe synovitis in RA patients with normal APR.
-
Gastrointestinal cancer is a significant cause of cancer incidence and mortality. Nevertheless, the epidemiology of the burden among adolescents and young adults (AYAs, aged 15-39 years) remains limited in the Asia-Pacific region, despite the region's significant population. This study aims to explore the gastrointestinal cancer burden among AYAs in the Asia-Pacific region for the year 2019, while also analysing trends from 1990 to 2019 and projecting future trends up to 2044. ⋯ Gastrointestinal cancers among AYAs in the Asia-Pacific region have posed a significant burden over the past 30 years and are expected to persist in the coming years.
-
Investigation of explainable deep learning methods for graph neural networks to predict HIV infections with social network information and performing domain adaptation to evaluate model transferability across different datasets. ⋯ GAT models can be used to address the data sparsity issue in HIV study populations. They are powerful tools for predicting individual risk of HIV that can be further explored for better understanding of HIV transmission.