: We evaluated associations between changes in dental anxiety and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in parents of the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. : Two-year dental anxiety trajectories measured with Modified Dental Anxiety Scale from gestational weeks (gw) 14 and 34, and 3 and 24 months after birth were used. OHRQoL was measured with the Oral Health Impact Profile 14-item questionnaire at gw34 and 4 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer immunotherapy represents a promising targeted treatment by leveraging the patient's immune system or adoptive transfer of active immune cells to selectively eliminate cancer cells. Despite notable clinical successes, conventional immunotherapies face significant challenges stemming from the poor infiltration of endogenous or adoptively transferred cytotoxic T cells in tumors, immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and the immune evasion capability of cancer cells, leading to limited efficacy in many types of solid tumors. Overcoming these hurdles is essential to broaden the applicability of immunotherapies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Postpartum depression (PPD) and anxiety (PPA) affect nearly one-quarter (23%) of women in Canada. eHealth is a promising solution for increasing access to postpartum mental healthcare. However, a user-centered approach is not routinely taken in the development of web-enabled resources, leaving postpartum women out of critical decision-making processes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe comparability of endovascular coiling over neurosurgical clipping has not been firmly established in elderly patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH). Data were obtained from all patients with aSAH aged ≥60 across three tertiary hospitals in Singapore from 2014 to 2019. Outcome measures included modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at 3 and at 6 months, and in-hospital mortality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the past decades, advances in the use of adoptive cellular therapy to treat cancer have led to unprecedented responses in patients with relapsed/refractory or late-stage malignancies. However, cellular exhaustion and senescence limit the efficacy of FDA-approved T-cell therapies in patients with hematologic malignancies and the widespread application of this approach in treating patients with solid tumors. Investigators are addressing the current obstacles by focusing on the manufacturing process of effector T cells, including engineering approaches and expansion strategies to regulate T-cell differentiation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically disrupted global healthcare systems. With the higher demand for healthcare and misinformation related to COVID-19, there is a need to explore alternative models to improve communication. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) have emerged as promising solutions to improve healthcare delivery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the highest cervical cancer (CC) burden globally-worsened by its HIV epidemics. In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced a CC elimination strategy with goals for vaccination, screening, and treatment. To benchmark progress, we examined temporal trends in screening coverage, percent screened at least twice by the age of 45, screening coverage among women living with HIV (WLHIV), and pre-cancer treatment coverage in SSA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUpregulation of NADPH oxidases (NOXs) in cancer cells leads to chronic increase in intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and adaptation to a high ROS level for cell survival and, thereby, low sensitivity to radiotherapy. To overcome resistance to radiotherapy, we have developed a bioactive and CD44 targeted hyaluronic acid nanoparticle encapsulated with an NOX inhibitor, GKT831 (HANP/GKT831). We found that HANP/GKT831 had stronger inhibitory effects on ROS generation and cell proliferation than that of GKT831 alone in cancer cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: This manuscript aims to provide a description of an evidence-informed Science of Care practice-based research and innovation framework that may serve as a guiding framework to generate new discoveries and knowledge around fundamental care in a more integrated manner.
Background: New ways of thinking about models of care and implementation strategies in transdisciplinary teams are required to accelerate inquiry and embed new knowledge and innovation into practice settings. A new way of thinking starts with an explicit articulation and commitment to the core business of the healthcare industry which is to provide quality fundamental care.
Background: Although EHR systems have become a critical part of clinical care, nurses are experiencing a growing burden due to documentation requirements, taking time away from other important clinical activities. There is a need to address the inefficiencies and challenges that nurses face when documenting in and using EHRs. The objective of this study is to engage nurses in generating ideas on how organizations can support and optimize nurses' experiences with their EHR systems, thereby improving efficiency and reducing EHR-related burden.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: This manuscript aims to provide a discursive description of how one academic health care centre is enculturating, embedding and investing in the fundamental care framework and lessons learned that can serve as a blueprint for other organizations.
Background: A call to action to focus on fundamental care is not new as the initial Fundamentals of Care (FoC) Framework has been evolving over the last decade through efforts lead by the International Learning Collaborative (ILC). Now more than ever, there is a pressing need for leaders to influence a humane, compassionate evidence-informed approach to the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond by embedding an FoC framework and focusing on fundamental care as part of their academic mandate and daily care practices.
Background: Existing data regarding isolated tricuspid valve replacement for primary tricuspid valve disease such as infective endocarditis (IE) are limited. The aim of this study was to review our experience of isolated tricuspid valve replacement for IE.
Methods: A retrospective review was performed to evaluate the perioperative and long-term outcomes of patients undergoing isolated tricuspid valve replacement for IE at our tertiary referral center between January 2000 and December 2014.
Wiley Interdiscip Rev Nanomed Nanobiotechnol
July 2022
Despite current advances in new approaches for cancer detection and treatment, pancreatic cancer remains one of the most lethal cancer types. Difficult to detect early, aggressive tumor biology, and resistance to chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy result in a poor prognosis of pancreatic cancer patients with a 5-year survival of 10%. With advances in cancer nanotechnology, new imaging and drug delivery approaches that allow the development of multifunctional nanotheranostic agents offer opportunities for improving pancreatic cancer treatment using precision oncology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To investigate the visual outcomes and postoperative stability of IC-8 intraocular lens (AcuFocus, Inc) implantation following femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery.
Methods: In this prospective study, the IC-8 IOL was implanted in the non-dominant eye of 12 patients. Centration and uncorrected and corrected distance, intermediate, and near visual acuities (UDVA, UIVA, UNVA, CDVA, CIVA, CNVA) were evaluated up to postoperative month 3 (POM3).
Noninvasive detection of early-stage liver metastases from different primary cancers is a pressing unmet medical need. The lack of both molecular biomarkers and the sensitive imaging methodology makes the detection challenging. In this study, we observed the elevated expression of chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) in uveal melanoma (UM) patient liver tissues, and high CXCR4 expression in liver metastases of UM murine models, regardless of the expression levels in the primary tumors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetastatic melanoma is characterized by poor prognosis and a low free-survival rate. Thanks to their high plasticity, melanoma cells are able to migrate exploiting different cell motility strategies, such as the rounded/amoeboid-type motility and the elongated/mesenchymal-type motility. In particular, the amoeboid motility strongly contributes to the dissemination of highly invasive melanoma cells and no treatment targeting this process is currently available for clinical application.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLaser refractive surgery is one of the most commonly performed procedures worldwide. In laser refractive surgery, Femtosecond Laser in Situ Keratomileusis and Refractive Lenticule Extraction have emerged as promising alternatives to microkeratome Laser in Situ Keratomileusis and Photorefractive Keratectomy. Following laser refractive surgery, the corneal nerves, epithelial and stromal cells release neuromediators, including neurotrophins, neuropeptides and neurotransmitters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdvanced prostate cancer (PCa) often develops bone metastasis, for which therapies are very limited and the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. We report that bone-borne TGF-β induces the acetylation of transcription factor KLF5 in PCa bone metastases, and acetylated KLF5 (Ac-KLF5) causes osteoclastogenesis and bone metastatic lesions by activating CXCR4, which leads to IL-11 secretion, and stimulating SHH/IL-6 paracrine signaling. While essential for maintaining the mesenchymal phenotype and tumorigenicity, Ac-KLF5 also causes resistance to docetaxel in tumors and bone metastases, which is overcome by targeting CXCR4 with FDA-approved plerixafor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, in vivo animal experiments with 12 nude mice bearing breast-cancer-patient-tissue-derived xenograft (PDX) tumors were performed aiming to verify the imaging capability of a novel miniaturized fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) endoscope, in combination with targeted nanoparticle-near-infrared (NIR) dye conjugates. Tumor-bearing mice were divided into two groups by systematic injection with urokinase plasminogen activator receptor-targeted ( = 7) and nontargeted ( = 5) imaging nanoprobes as a contrast agent, respectively. Each mouse was imaged at 6, 24, and 48 h following the injection of nanoprobes using the FMT endoscope.
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