Publications by authors named "Augustine M"

The rise of various diseases demands the development of new agents with antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, enzyme-inhibiting, and cytotoxic properties. In this study, heterocyclic Schiff base complexes of Cu(II) featuring a benzo[]thiophene moiety were synthesized and their biological activities evaluated. The complexes were characterized using FT-IR, UV-Vis, and EPR spectroscopy, TG-DTG analysis, magnetic moment measurements, molar conductivity measurements, and elemental analyses.

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Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental illness associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Antipsychotics primarily rely on direct dopamine blockade, leading to potential life-interfering adverse events. The purpose of this review is to describe the safety and efficacy of xanomeline-trospium (Cobenfy), a Food and Drug Administration approved treatment for schizophrenia in adults.

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers evaluated a digital sleep-alcohol intervention called Call it a Night (CIAN) using natural language processing with young adults who drink heavily (N=120).
  • Most participants preferred coaching from CIAN over control interventions, and while control groups found advice more helpful, overall satisfaction and adherence levels were high across all groups.
  • The study showed that sleep was a bigger motivator for participants than alcohol use, suggesting that improving sleep and wellness could be key factors for young adults in such interventions.
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Tumor-infiltrating B cells play a significant role in tumor development, progression, and prognosis, yet a comprehensive classification system is lacking. To address this gap, we present a pan-cancer single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) atlas of tumor-infiltrating B and plasma cells across a large sample cohort. We identify key B cell subset signatures, revealing distinct subpopulations and highlighting the heterogeneity and functional diversity of these cells in the tumor microenvironment.

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Despite inherent sensitivity constraints, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) plays an indispensable role in probing molecular structures and dynamics across scientific disciplines. Remarkably, while extensive efforts have targeted instrumental and experimental sensitivity improvements, comparatively little focus has been dedicated to sensitivity enhancement through signal analysis. Amidst this present gap, the matrix pencil method (MPM) has emerged as a versatile algorithm that offers tunable filtering and phasing capabilities.

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Patients admitted with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are at high risk for morbidity and rehospitalizations. Pharmacists can play a vital role in secondary prevention by providing services such as medication reconciliation and patient education upon discharge. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a pharmacist-led transitions of care (TOC) service on readmissions in patients hospitalized with AMI.

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Excess fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23) causes renal phosphorous wasting and impaired activation of vitamin D leading to osteomalacia. Tumor-induced osteomalacia (TIO) is a rare cause of FGF23-mediated hypophosphatemia. We present 2 patients with FGF23-mediated hypophosphatemia who had low bone mineral density (BMD) at diagnosis and remarkable improvements in BMD with treatment.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates multiple synchronous lung cancers (MSLCs) by analyzing samples from 8 patients using advanced sequencing methods to understand their genetic and immune differences across various stages.
  • - Findings reveal that the tumors are clonally independent with shared driver mutations, but exhibit few common mutations between tumors from the same patient, indicating they developed independently.
  • - The research highlights a shift in T cell profiles from pre-invasive to invasive adenocarcinoma, with an increase in regulatory T cells and exhausted CD8 T cells, as well as greater neoantigen diversity, emphasizing the unique genomic and immune traits of MSLCs.
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Background: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) implemented the Clinical Resource Hub (CRH) program to fill staffing gaps in primary care (PC) clinics via telemedicine and maintain veterans' healthcare access.

Objective: To evaluate PC wait times before and after CRH implementation.

Design: Comparative interrupted time series analysis among a retrospective observational cohort of PC clinics who did and did not use CRH during pre-implementation (October 2018-September 2019) and post-implementation (October 2019-February 2020) periods.

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Background: Methotrexate is a widely used immunosuppressant with good efficacy and cost-effectiveness. However, one of the drawbacks of methotrexate has been toxicity due to accidental overdose. During the COVID pandemic, there was an alarming increase in the number of patients with methotrexate toxicity which prompted us to do this study.

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Evaluating user experiences with digital interventions is critical to increase uptake and adherence, but traditional methods have limitations. We incorporated natural language processing (NLP) with convergent mixed methods to evaluate a personalized feedback and coaching digital sleep intervention for alcohol risk reduction: 'Call it a Night' ( = 120). In this randomized clinical trial with young adults with heavy drinking, control conditions were + : web-based advice + active and passive monitoring; and : advice + passive monitoring.

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Background: Minor ABO-incompatible apheresis platelet transfusion poses a risk of hemolytic transfusion reactions in non-Group O recipients when donor's plasma possesses unusual high titers for anti-A and anti-B. The aim was to determine whether the hemolysin test can be used as a screening tool to predict high-titer Group O platelet apheresis donors.

Methods: A prospective study, with Group O platelet donor's samples, was tested for hemolysin test and antibody titration test in parallel.

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic encouraged telemedicine expansion. Research regarding follow-up healthcare utilization and primary care (PC) telemedicine is lacking.

Objective: To evaluate whether healthcare utilization differed across PC populations using telemedicine.

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Background: The left atrial septal pouch (LASP) is a small anatomical septal recess in the heart that has been linked with cardioembolic events. A systematic appraisal of the existing literature is necessary to establish a better understanding of the risk as studies continue to indicate a correlation between LASPs and cryptogenic strokes.

Objectives: To determine the level of association between the presence of LASP and the risk of developing cryptogenic stroke.

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The life expectancy of people living with HIV (PLWH) has greatly increased due to advancements in combination antiretroviral treatment (cART). However, this longer life has also increased the prevalence of age-related comorbidities, such as frailty, which now manifest sooner in this group. Frailty, a term coined by the insurance industry, has been broadened to include physical, cognitive, and emotional elements and has been recognized as a critical predictor of negative health outcomes.

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The asymmetry of peak integrals in 2D relaxation maps of exchange between three sites indicates circular flow between the relaxation sites. This disagrees with the detailed balance according to which the exchange between any pair of sites must be balanced in terms of thermodynamic equilibrium. Confined diffusion of particles jumping randomly on a 2D checkerboard grid to any of their eight neighbor positions and confined gas diffusion were modeled in Monte Carlo simulations to explore the impact of topological constraints on particle exchange between three pools.

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Background: We aimed to describe the financial implications of cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS/HIPEC) in the USA.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a retrospective cost analysis of 100 CRS/HIPEC procedures to examine the impact of patient and procedural factors on hospital costs and reimbursement. A comparison of surgeons' work relative value units (wRVUs) between CRS/HIPEC and a representative sample of complex surgical oncology procedures was made to assess the physicians' compensation rate.

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The aim of this study was to assess whether high sensitivity troponin (hs-cTnI) is associated with 1 year mortality in critical care (CC). One year mortality data were obtained from NHS Digital for a consecutive cohort of patients admitted to general CC unit (GCCU) and neuroscience CC unit (NCCU) who had hs-cTnI tests performed throughout their CC admission, regardless of whether the test was clinically indicated. Cox proportional hazards were used to estimate the risk of 1-year mortality.

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Artificial intelligence (AI) has opened new medical avenues and revolutionized diagnostic and therapeutic practices, allowing healthcare providers to overcome significant challenges associated with cost, disease management, accessibility, and treatment optimization. Prominent AI technologies such as machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) have immensely influenced diagnostics, patient monitoring, novel pharmaceutical discoveries, drug development, and telemedicine. Significant innovations and improvements in disease identification and early intervention have been made using AI-generated algorithms for clinical decision support systems and disease prediction models.

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Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Rehabilitation-at-Home (RaH), which provides high-frequency, multidisciplinary post-acute rehabilitative services in patients' homes.

Design: Comparative effectiveness analysis.

Setting And Participants: Medicare Fee-For-Service patients who received RaH in a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Center Demonstration during 2016-2017 (N=173) or who received Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) care in 2016-2017 within the same geographic service area with similar inclusion and exclusion criteria (N=5535).

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During lactation, changes in maternal calcium metabolism are necessary to provide adequate calcium for newborn skeletal development. The calcium in milk is derived from the maternal skeleton through a process thought to be mediated by the actions of parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) in combination with decreased circulating estrogen concentrations. After weaning, bone lost during lactation is rapidly regained.

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Ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) drives the DNA damage response via modulation of multiple signal transduction and DNA repair pathways. Previously, ATM activity was implicated in promoting the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway to repair a subset of DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs), but how ATM performs this function is still unclear. In this study, we identified that ATM phosphorylates the DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs), a core NHEJ factor, at its extreme C-terminus at threonine 4102 (T4102) in response to DSBs.

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Background: Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) are some of the less common cutaneous adverse drug reactions with significant mortality.

Objectives: This study was undertaken with the objective of studying the demographics and clinical profile of SJS/TEN and identifying parameters associated with mortality.

Materials And Methods: All patients with SJS/TEN over 10 years (2010-2020) were included in the study.

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