Publications by authors named "Bala M"

Background: During the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, there has been a surge in cases of acute cholecystitis. The ChoCO-W global prospective study reported a higher incidence of gangrenous cholecystitis and adverse outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Through this secondary analysis of the ChoCO-W study data, we aim to identify significant risk factors for mortality in patients with acute cholecystitis during the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the role of COVID-19 infection in patient outcomes and treatment efficacy.

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Antitubercular drug discovery progress in the last decade, especially research on the biological function, target inhibition and diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis has considerably advanced. The application of target-based drug discovery techniques have become a more powerful tool for medicinal chemists in developing new therapeutic strategies, such as its application in the identification/validation of new targets, new leads, and drug candidates with optimized efficacy. This has been further evidenced by the recent approval of delamanid and bedaquiline for the treatment of MDR-TB and XDR-TB, respectively.

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Due to the challenges of conducting randomised controlled trials (randomised trials) of dietary interventions, evidence in nutrition often comes from non-randomised (observational) studies of nutritional exposures-called nutritional epidemiology studies. When using systematic reviews of such studies to advise patients or populations on optimal dietary habits, users of the evidence (eg, healthcare professionals such as clinicians, health service and policy workers) should first evaluate the rigour (validity) and utility (applicability) of the systematic review. Issues in making this judgement include whether the review addressed a sensible question; included an exhaustive literature search; was scrupulous in the selection of studies and the collection of data; and presented results in a useful manner.

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This article continues from a prior commentary on evaluating the risk of bias in randomised controlled trials addressing nutritional interventions. Having provided a synopsis of the risk of bias issues, we now address how to understand trial results, including the interpretation of best estimates of effect and the corresponding precision (eg, 95% CIs), as well as the applicability of the evidence to patients based on their unique circumstances (eg, patients' values and preferences when trading off potential desirable and undesirable health outcomes and indicators (eg, cholesterol), and the potential burden and cost of an intervention). Authors can express the estimates of effect for health outcomes and indicators in relative terms (relative risks, relative risk reductions, OR or HRs)-measures that are generally consistent across populations-and absolute terms (risk differences)-measures that are more intuitive to clinicians and patients.

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The purpose of this article, part 1 of 2 on randomised controlled trials (RCTs), is to provide readers (eg, clinicians, patients, health service and policy decision-makers) of the nutrition literature structured guidance on interpreting RCTs. Evaluation of a given RCT involves several considerations, including the potential for risk of bias, the assessment of estimates of effect and their corresponding precision, and the applicability of the evidence to one's patient. Risk of bias refers to flaws in the design or conduct of a study that may lead to a deviation from measuring the underlying true effect of an intervention.

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A new series of quinoline-Schiff bases was designed and synthesized using a straightforward and efficient methodology involving the condensation of 2-chloroquinoline-3-carbaldehyde with substituted aromatic amines. A total of 17 quinoline-Schiff bases were synthesized with 56%-86% yields and characterized by using H NMR, C NMR, and high-resolution mass spectra (HRMS) as potent anti-mycobacterial agents with Mtb DNA gyrase inhibitory activity. Among all, compound 7f displayed a significantly potent broad-spectrum antitubercular and antimicrobial activity against most of the tested strains of bacteria and fungi, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values in the range of 1.

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Background: Total-body (TB) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is one of the most promising medical diagnostics modalities, opening new perspectives for personalized medicine, low-dose imaging, multi-organ dynamic imaging or kinetic modeling. The high sensitivity provided by total-body technology can be advantageous for novel tomography methods like positronium imaging, demanding the registration of triple coincidences. Currently, state-of-the-art PET scanners use inorganic scintillators.

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The cation of the title salt, CHNO ·Br, has a dihedral angle of 24.26 (6)° between its fused imidazole and 4-nitro-phenyl rings and the N-C-C-O torsion angle associated with the hy-droxy-ethyl substituent is 60.15 (17)°.

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Tor putitora is an endangered cyprinid fish constrained to cold water and is also considered an indicator of a healthy aquatic ecosystem. The present study aimed to examine the haplotypic diversity, genetic variation and population structure of T. putitora isolates using COI and Cyt b gene sequences submitted in GenBank.

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Introduction And Objective: Considering the complexity of medical discourse, the enormous amount of information, including fake news, it becomes increasingly challenging to develop health literacy among the general population and to ensure efficient communication of scientific findings on the effects of health interventions to various types of recipients. We aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of how the various types of audiences perceive various formats for presenting data from Cochrane systematic reviews (SRs).

Material And Methods: We conducted focus group interviews with university employees, students, pharmacists, patients, caregivers, physicians, and nurses.

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Malaria vector surveillance is required to determine disease transmission dynamics, vector insecticide susceptibility status, suitable control strategies and impact of control interventions. However, capacity and resources for vector surveillance and insecticide resistance monitoring is often inadequate in most countries at risk of vector-borne diseases. Collaborations and linkages between malaria control policy makers and existing research institutions generating vector surveillance research data are often weak, thereby hindering the availability of data for decision-making.

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The scarring stage of noma disease often presents with composite tissue loss involving hard and soft tissues with resultant fibrosis making reconstruction a challenge. Microvascular reconstruction option is associated with good outcomes when the expertise is available. Trismus, which is caused by either soft tissue fibrosis or the union of the coronoid to the zygomatic complex, is also a common presentation.

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Background: Metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) is considered the most effective treatment for people with severe obesity, and certain interventions could enhance its long-term results. The complete reporting of interventions' details is necessary for their replication in clinical settings.

Objectives: To investigate the completeness of reporting of lifestyle and nutritional interventions applied in immediate perioperative period (30-days preoperatively and postoperatively) in patients undergoing MBS using the 12-item Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist, and to explore factors associated with compliant reporting.

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The advent of long-read (LR) sequencing technologies has provided a direct opportunity to determine the structure of transcripts with potential for end-to-end sequencing of full-length RNAs. LR methods that have been described to date include commercial offerings from Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) and Pacific Biosciences. These kits are based on selection of polyadenylated (polyA+) RNAs and/or oligo-dT priming of reverse transcription.

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Background: There are no clinical or laboratory markers that can diagnose acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) accurately. This study aimed to find differences in clinical and laboratory markers between arterial occlusive AMI and other acute abdominal diseases where AMI was initially suspected.

Methods: This was a post hoc study of an international prospective multicenter study where data on patients with suspected AMI were collected.

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The mol-ecular structure of the title salt, CHNO ·Br, reveals near co-planarity between the the imidazole and 4-nitro-benzene moieties with a dihedral angle of 8.99 (14)° between their planes. A prominent feature in the mol-ecular packing is the bromide anion acting as a double acceptor for O-H⋯Br and C-H⋯Br hydrogen-bonds, leading to a linear chain propagating along [110].

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Study Design: This was a retrospective study at Noma Children Hospital, Sokoto, Nigeria, from January 2018 to December 2021.

Objective: The main objective of this appraisal was to present Braimah-Taiwo et al's new classification system for mandibulo-maxillary synostosis secondary to noma and also to provide a guide to their treatment.

Methods: Noma with mandibulo-maxillary synostosis was the main inclusion criteria.

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Article Synopsis
  • A large number of systematic reviews and meta-analyses have examined the impact of sodium intake on cardiovascular health, but the overall quality and consistency of these studies haven't been clearly summarized.
  • An umbrella review was conducted to evaluate the strength of the evidence linking lower sodium intake to better cardiovascular outcomes, using rigorous quality assessment tools.
  • The findings indicated that reducing sodium intake can significantly lower blood pressure and might reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events, especially in individuals with lower cardiovascular risk, with some benefits noted from using salt substitutes.
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Background: Acute mesenteric venous thrombosis (MVT) is rarely suspected as primary diagnosis in emergency departments and still carries an in-hospital mortality rate of above 20%.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to find differences in clinical and laboratory markers between patients with acute MVT and a control group of suspected but confirmed as not having any type of acute mesenteric ischaemia (AMI).

Design: Data was retrieved from the AMESI (Acute MESenteric Ischaemia) study.

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Objectives: The objective of this best practice implementation project was to improve dieticians' professional practice and dietary care through the use of counseling strategies.

Introduction: Improving the design and implementation of evidence-based practice depends on successful behavior change interventions. This requires an appropriate method for designing the interventions and then analyzing the targeted behavior.

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Introduction: Hepatic angioembolization is highly effective for hemorrhage control in hemodynamically stable patients with traumatic liver injuries and contrast extravasation. However, there is a paucity of data regarding the specific location of angioembolization within the hepatic arterial vasculature and its implications on patient outcomes.

Methods: A post-hoc analysis of a multicenter prospective observational study across 23 centers was performed.

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Aims: This project aimed to improve physicians' adherence to evidence-based practices regarding the selection and administration of intra-articular knee injections for patients with osteoarthritis. The project also aimed to empower patients by increasing their awareness of these evidence-based practices.

Introduction: In the management of knee osteoarthritis, intra-articular injections are commonly used when initial treatments prove inadequate.

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Article Synopsis
  • Feature selection in histopathology image analysis remains a challenge, with most current methods treating it as a single-objective problem.
  • This research introduces an improved multi-objective whale optimisation algorithm for more efficient feature selection.
  • The new technique was tested against benchmark functions and compared with existing methods, showing superior performance in accuracy, the number of features selected, and calculation time.
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Background: Prior studies evaluating observation versus angioembolization (AE) for blunt liver injuries (BLT) with contrast extravasation (CE) on computed tomography imaging have yielded inconsistent conclusions, primarily due to limitations in single-center and/or retrospective study design. Therefore, this multicenter study aims to compare an observation versus AE-first approach for BLT, hypothesizing decreased liver-related complications (LRCs) with observation.

Methods: We conducted a post hoc analysis of a multicenter, prospective observational study (2019-2021) across 23 centers.

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Objectives: This exploratory study was conducted to find out how well the concept of evidence-based research (EBR) is known among European health researchers with substantial clinical research experience, and which barriers affect the use of an EBR approach. The concept of EBR implies that researchers use evidence synthesis to justify new studies and to inform their design.

Design: A cross-sectional exploratory survey study.

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