Predictive analytics for early detection of hospital-acquired complications: An artificial intelligence approach.

Background: Hospital-acquired complications (HACs) have an adverse impact on patient recovery by impeding their path to full recovery and increasing healthcare costs.

Objective: The aim of this study was to create a HAC risk prediction machine learning (ML) framework using hospital administrative data collections within North Metropolitan Health Service (NMHS), Western Australia.

Method: A retrospective cohort study was performed among 64,315 patients between July 2020 to June 2022 to develop an automated ML framework by inputting HAC and the healthcare site to obtain site-specific predictive algorithms for patients admitted to the hospital in NMHS.

Consumption of 2 Green Kiwifruits Daily Improves Constipation and Abdominal Comfort-Results of an International Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.

Introduction: Consumption of green kiwifruit is known to relieve constipation. Previous studies have also reported improvements in gastrointestinal (GI) comfort. We investigated the effect of consuming green kiwifruit on GI function and comfort.

Actinidin in Green and SunGold Kiwifruit Improves Digestion of Alternative Proteins-An In Vitro Investigation.

Both Hayward (green) and SunGold (gold) kiwifruit varieties contain a proteolytic enzyme, actinidin, that has been reported to enhance the upper tract digestion of animal proteins. Unlike the other gold varieties, which do not contain any actinidin, the SunGold variety contains significantly higher actinidin activity, but its activity is still much lower than that present in the green (Hayward) fruit. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of actinidin in Hayward and SunGold kiwifruit in digesting alternative proteins, including pea protein, almonds, tofu, and quinoa.

Assessing the performance of different outcomes for tumor growth studies with animal models.

The consistency of reporting results for patient-derived xenograft (PDX) studies is an area of concern. The PDX method commonly starts by implanting a derivative of a human tumor into a mouse, then comparing the tumor growth under different treatment conditions. Currently, a wide array of statistical methods (e.

Maintaining serum ionized calcium during brisk walking attenuates the increase in bone resorption in older adults.

Background: Endurance exercise can cause a decrease in serum ionized calcium (iCa) and increases in parathyroid hormone (PTH) and bone resorption, reflected by serum carboxy-terminal collagen crosslinks (CTX). We developed a calcium clamp to prevent the decrease in iCa during exercise, which attenuated increases in PTH and CTX during vigorous cycling in young men. The goal was to determine whether this occurs in older adults during brisk walking.

Testing Cancer Immunotherapy in a Human Immune System Mouse Model: Correlating Treatment Responses to Human Chimerism, Therapeutic Variables and Immune Cell Phenotypes.

Over the past decade, immunotherapies have revolutionized the treatment of cancer. Although the success of immunotherapy is remarkable, it is still limited to a subset of patients. More than 1500 clinical trials are currently ongoing with a goal of improving the efficacy of immunotherapy through co-administration of other agents.

Group sequential designs for clinical trials with bivariate endpoints.

Although all clinical trials are designed and monitored using more than one endpoint, methods are needed to assure that decision criteria are chosen to reflect the clinically relevant tradeoffs that assure the trial's scientific integrity. This article presents a framework for the design and monitoring clinical trials in a bivariate outcome space. The framework uses a rectangular hyperbola to define a bivariate null curve that divides outcome space into regions of benefit and lack of benefit.

Sleep duration and bone health measures in older men.

Unlabelled: The associations between objective measures of sleep duration and bone outcomes in older men are unknown. No consistent, significant association was identified between sleep duration and bone mineral density (BMD) in the current analysis. However, future research should determine if vitamin D status modifies this relationship.

Self-Efficacy and Social Support are Associated with Disability for Ambulatory Prosthesis Users After Lower-Limb Amputation.

Background: Interventions targeting psychosocial factors may improve rehabilitation outcomes for prosthesis users after lower-limb amputation (LLA), but there is a need to identify targeted factors for minimizing disability.

Objective: To identify psychosocial factors related to disability for prosthesis users after LLA in middle age or later.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

ileal and caecal fermentation of fibre substrates in the growing pig given a human-type diet.

This study characterised the in vitro ileal fermentability of different substrates in the growing pig, adopted as an animal model for the adult human, and compared in vitro ileal and caecal fermentation in the pig. Substrates (arabinogalactan (AG), cellulose, fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS), inulin, mucin, citrus pectin and resistant starch) were fermented in vitro (ileal 2 h and caecal 24 h) with an ileal or caecal inoculum prepared from ileal or caecal digesta collected from growing pigs (n 5) fed a human-type diet for 15 d. The organic matter (OM) fermentability and production of organic acids were determined.

Decline in endothelial function across the menopause transition in healthy women is related to decreased estradiol and increased oxidative stress.

Endothelial function declines progressively across stages of the menopause transition; however, the mechanisms contributing to this decline are unknown. We hypothesized that differences in endothelial function among pre-, peri, and postmenopausal women are related to differences in estradiol and oxidative stress. Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) was measured in 87 healthy women categorized by menopause stage (24 premenopausal, 17 early and 21 late perimenopausal, and 25 postmenopausal) before and after 3 days of ovarian hormone suppression (gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonist [GnRH]) alone, and an additional 3 days of GnRH with concurrent transdermal estradiol or placebo add-back treatment.

Microbiota Composition of Breast Milk from Women of Different Ethnicity from the Manawatu-Wanganui Region of New Zealand.

Human breastmilk components, the microbiota and immune modulatory proteins have vital roles in infant gut and immune development. In a population of breastfeeding women ( = 78) of different ethnicities (Asian, Māori and Pacific Island, New Zealand European) and their infants living in the Manawatu-Wanganui region of New Zealand, we examined the microbiota and immune modulatory proteins in the breast milk, and the fecal microbiota of mothers and infants. Breast milk and fecal samples were collected over a one-week period during the six to eight weeks postpartum.

Quality of life and the negative impact of comorbidities in long-term colorectal cancer survivors: a population-based comparison.

Purpose: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the USA. The objective of this study was to compare quality of life (QoL) across long-term colorectal cancer survivors and unaffected matched controls while adjusting for comorbidities.

Methods: The National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded Colon Cancer Family Registry (CCFR) was used to randomly select and recruit CRC survivors (≥ 5 years from diagnosis) and matched controls for a cross-sectional survey.

Ileal and hindgut fermentation in the growing pig fed a human-type diet.

Dietary fibre fermentation in humans and monogastric animals is considered to occur in the hindgut, but it may also occur in the lower small intestine. This study aimed to compare ileal and hindgut fermentation in the growing pig fed a human-type diet using a combined in vivo/in vitro methodology. Five pigs (23 (sd 1·6) kg body weight) were fed a human-type diet.

Biobehavioral Intervention Targeting Physical Activity Behavior Change for Older Veterans after Nontraumatic Amputation: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Lower-limb amputation (LLA) due to non-traumatic vascular etiology is linked to extremely low physical activity and high disability.

Objective: To test the feasibility of a biobehavioral intervention designed to promote physical activity.

Design: A randomized, single-blind feasibility trial with a crossover design.

Effects of resveratrol or estradiol on postexercise endothelial function in estrogen-deficient postmenopausal women.

Regular exercise enhances endothelial function in older men, but not consistently in estrogen-deficient postmenopausal women. Estradiol treatment improves basal endothelial function and restores improvements in endothelial function (flow-mediated dilation, FMD) to aerobic exercise training in postmenopausal women; however, estradiol treatment is controversial. Resveratrol, an estrogen receptor ligand, enhances exercise training effects on cardiovascular function and nitric oxide (NO) release in animal models, but impairs exercise training effects in men.

Human faecal collection methods demonstrate a bias in microbiome composition by cell wall structure.

Clinical trial faecal collections present challenges through geographical spread and inexperienced participants. Collection techniques have been developed and tested to overcome these challenges, but previous studies investigating these techniques have demonstrated a highly variable capacity for sample preservation. Furthermore, these studies typically only examine either preservation of genetic content or metabolites, not both.

EPIDEMIOLOGY of NECK INJURIES ACCOMPANYING SPORT CONCUSSIONS in YOUTH OVER a 13-YEAR PERIOD IN a COMMUNITY-BASED HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.

Background: The same trauma that produces concussion may also produce neck injury. The signs of concussion and neck injury are similar, and symptoms after acceleration-deceleration trauma to the head-neck complex do not accurately discriminate between them. Research on the epidemiology of neck injury among sport-concussed youth is sparse.

Dose-Dependent Alterations to Human Microbiota Composition and Butyrate Inhibition by a Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Hops Extract.

Hop cones ( L.) have been used throughout history as an additive in beer brewing and as herbal supplements with medicinal and culinary properties. The objective of this study was to ascertain the effect of a range of concentrations of a supercritical CO extract of hops on the composition and metabolism of human gut bacterial communities using batch culture systems.

A Randomized Phase II Trial of Pioglitazone for Lung Cancer Chemoprevention in High-Risk Current and Former Smokers.

Lung cancer chemoprevention, especially in high-risk former smokers, has great potential to reduce lung cancer incidence and mortality. Thiazolidinediones prevent lung cancer in preclinical studies, and diabetics receiving thiazolidinediones have lower lung cancer rates which led to our double-blind, randomized, phase II placebo-controlled trial of oral pioglitazone in high-risk current or former smokers with sputum cytologic atypia or known endobronchial dysplasia. Bronchoscopy was performed at study entry and after completing 6 months of treatment.

Association between objective sleep duration and bone mineral density in older postmenopausal women from the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF).

Unlabelled: Methodological limitations preclude determination of the association between sleep duration and bone mineral density (BMD) from existing literature. This was the first study to use objective sleep duration to determine its association with BMD. Nocturnal sleep duration, assessed objectively (actigraphy) or subjectively (questionnaire), was not independently associated with BMD in postmenopausal women.