We hypothesised that single-cell whole-genome sequencing has the potential to detect mutational differences in the genomes of the cells that are irradiated with different doses of radiation and we set out to test our hypothesis using in silico and in vitro experiments. In this manuscript, we present our findings from a Monte Carlo single-cell irradiation simulation performed in TOPAS-nBio using a custom-built geometric nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) model, which predicts a significant dose dependence of the number of cluster damages per cell as a function of radiation dose. We also present preliminary experimental results, obtained from single-cell whole-genome DNA sequencing analysis performed on cells irradiated with different doses of radiation, showing promising agreement with the simulation results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) has been reported as a neurological manifestation in 0.1% of COVID-19 patients. This systematic review investigated the outcomes and predictive factors of SAH in patients with COVID-19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWith the COVID-19 pandemic still raging and the vaccination program still rolling out, there continues to be an immediate need for public health officials to better understand the mechanisms behind the deep and perpetual divide over face masks in America. Using a random sample of Americans (N = 615), following a pre-registered experimental design and analysis plan, we first demonstrated that mask wearers were not innately more cooperative as individuals than non-mask wearers in the Prisoners' Dilemma (PD) game when information about their own and the other person's mask usage was not salient. However, we found strong evidence of in-group favouritism among both mask and non-mask wearers when information about the other partner's mask usage was known.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObservation units (OU) are being increasingly used within the Emergency Department (ED) to optimize care and reduce costs, but their use for management of overdose patients is unclear. The present study examined demographics, disposition and outcomes for ED overdose patients managed in an OU. This was a secondary analysis of a prospective consecutive cohort of adult overdose patients managed in an OU in a single ED from March 2015 to September 2018.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudies on observation unit (OU) use to avoid a hospital admission from the emergency department (ED) have found variable effects on health care resource utilization, and these effects have not been studied in acute exacerbation of chronic obstruction pulmonary disease (AECOPD). We retrospectively collected data for all AECOPD-related ED visits (age > 40) to an urban, academic medical center between February 2013 and April 2017. We examined the total proportion of visits admitted to the hospital before and after availability of an OU and the proportion of visits discharged directly from the ED using segmented regression analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In view of the current upsurge of interest in, practice of, and research into, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) worldwide and locally, a survey was conducted to gauge the understanding, interest and knowledge of CAM amongst medical students in a local university.
Methods: A total of 555 first to fifth year medical students completed a questionnaire (54% response rate) designed to assess their knowledge, beliefs and attitudes to CAM in general and 16 common CAM therapies.
Results: Acupuncture was the best known therapy, with 57% claiming to know at least something about it.