Projected impact of fast-tracking of anti-retroviral treatment coverage on vertical transmission of HIV in India.

One of the five high-level goals under Phase V of the National AIDS and STD Control Programme (NACP) of the Government of India is the elimination of vertical transmission of HIV. In this paper, we estimate the potential impact of maintaining and enhancing the anti-retroviral treatment under the NACP in terms of averting new infections and vertical transmission rates vis-à-vis no intervention scenario. We used India's HIV Estimates 2022 models to create treatment coverage scenarios of no interventions, status quo, business as usual, on-track and fast-track scenarios from 2023 to 2030.

Measuring the esthetic outcome using a three-dimensional facial scanner after parotidectomy and application of vascularized fat flaps.

Background: Parotidectomy can affect facial symmetry. Our study evaluated the symmetry of different facial areas and upper neck after total parotidectomy and filling the area with vascularized fat flap (VFF).

Methods: Facial symmetry was evaluated in eight patients and a control group matched in terms of gender and age, using a three-dimensional (3D) facial scanner.

Body mass index and risk of over 100 cancer forms and subtypes in 4.1 million individuals in Sweden: the Obesity and Disease Development Sweden (ODDS) pooled cohort study.

Background: Obesity, assessed by body mass index (BMI), is an established risk factor for 13 cancers. We aimed to identify further potential obesity-related cancers and to quantify their association with BMI relative to that of established obesity-related cancers.

Methods: Using Cox regression models on 4,142,349 individuals in Sweden (mean age 27.

Evaluation of the Fill-it-up-design to use historical control data in randomized clinical trials with two arm parallel group design.

Purpose: In the context of clinical research, there is an increasing need for new study designs that help to incorporate already available data. With the help of historical controls, the existing information can be utilized to support the new study design, but of course, inclusion also carries the risk of bias in the study results.

Methods: To combine historical and randomized controls we investigate the Fill-it-up-design, which in the first step checks the comparability of the historical and randomized controls performing an equivalence pre-test.

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells in cancer: Current knowledge and future perspectives.

MDSCs (myeloid-derived suppressor cells) are crucial for immune system evasion in cancer. They accumulate in peripheral blood and tumor microenvironment, suppressing immune cells like T-cells, natural killer cells and dendritic cells. They promote tumor angiogenesis and metastasis by secreting cytokines and growth factors and contribute to a tumor-promoting environment.

Registration accuracy comparing different rendering techniques on local vs external virtual 3D liver model reconstruction for vascular landmark setting by intraoperative ultrasound in augmented reality navigated liver resection.

Purpose: Augmented reality navigation in liver surgery still faces technical challenges like insufficient registration accuracy. This study compared registration accuracy between local and external virtual 3D liver models (vir3DLivers) generated with different rendering techniques and the use of the left vs right main portal vein branch (LPV vs RPV) for landmark setting. The study should further examine how registration accuracy behaves with increasing distance from the ROI.

Transcript analysis of uterus transplant cervical biopsies using the Banff Human Organ Transplant panel.

Uterus transplantation is being more widely implemented in clinical practice. Monitoring of rejection is routinely done for cervical biopsies and is dependent on histopathological assessment, as rejections are clinically silent and nonhistological biomarkers are missing. Until this gap is filled, it is important to corroborate the histopathological diagnosis of rejection through independent methods such as gene expression analysis.

Anticoagulation Monitoring Using Activated Clotting Time in Patients Receiving Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: A Meta-Analysis of Correlation Coefficients.

Objective: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) requires systemic anticoagulation to maintain the circuit patency. However, the use of anticoagulation carries a risk of severe hemorrhage, necessitating rigorous monitoring. Activated clotting time (ACT) is a widely used monitoring tool; however, the evidence of its correlation with unfractionated heparin (UFH) infusion dose is limited.

Inhibition of myeloperoxidase to treat left ventricular dysfunction in non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy.

Aims: Non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy (NICMP), an incurable disease terminating in systolic heart failure (heart failure with reduced ejection fraction [HFrEF]), causes immune activation, however anti-inflammatory treatment strategies so far have failed to alter the course of this disease. Myeloperoxidase (MPO), the principal enzyme in neutrophils, has cytotoxic, pro-fibrotic and nitric oxide oxidizing effects. Whether MPO inhibition ameliorates the phenotype in NICMP remains elusive.

Influence of stage and age on survival of patients with vulvar cancer in Germany: a retrospective study.

Objectives: To evaluate the 5-year survival rate of patients with vulvar cancer, taking into account prognostic factors (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage and age) and the influence of lymph node involvement and tumour size as well as the correlation between FIGO stage and age at onset.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: German cancer registries.

Clinically Relevant Characterization and Comparison of Ryaltris and Other Anti-Allergic Nasal Sprays.

The deposition, residence time, and dissolution profile of nasal suspensions containing corticosteroids play a key role in their in vivo efficacy after administration. However, the conventional methods available to characterize nasal products appear to be unsuitable to exhaustively cover these aspects. The work aims to investigate technological aspects of Ryaltris (mometasone furoate and olopatadine hydrochloride nasal spray) compared to other commercial anti-allergic nasal products, namely, Dymista (azelastine hydrochloride and fluticasone propionate), Nasonex (mometasone furoate), and Avamys (fluticasone furoate).

Higher Accuracy of Arthroscopy Compared to MRI in the Diagnosis of Chondral Lesions in Acute Ankle Fractures: A Prospective Study.

Even after successful surgery for acute ankle fractures, many patients continue having complaints. A possible explanation is the presence of concomitant chondral lesions. The aim of this study is to investigate the accuracy of MRI compared to that of arthroscopy in the assessment of chondral lesions in acute ankle fractures.

Testing for similarity of multivariate mixed outcomes using generalized joint regression models with application to efficacy-toxicity responses.

A common problem in clinical trials is to test whether the effect of an explanatory variable on a response of interest is similar between two groups, for example, patient or treatment groups. In this regard, similarity is defined as equivalence up to a pre-specified threshold that denotes an acceptable deviation between the two groups. This issue is typically tackled by assessing if the explanatory variable's effect on the response is similar.

The double awareness of the wish to hasten death and the will to live: A secondary analysis of outlier patients from a mixed-methods study.

Background: Patients with serious illness frequently report (temporary) wishes to hasten death. Even until the end-of-life, many patients also harbor a will to live. Although both phenomena are negatively correlated according to some studies, they can also co-exist.

A real-world analysis of pharmacotherapy adherence and the factors influencing it in Serbia: a nationwide, population-based, cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Monitoring the pharmacotherapy adherence in society is crucial for identifying occurance and causes of potential inadequate use of drugs and inform providers about the need for better customer counceling. It is necessary component of the strategic planning of the quality of healthcare services. This population- based study aimed to assess the medication intake adherence in the Republic of Serbia and the individual factors and health system variables influencing its pattern.

-Acetylcysteine and a Specialized Preventive Intervention for Individuals at High Risk for Psychosis: A Randomized Double-Blind Multicenter Trial.

Background And Hypothesis: Clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR-P) offers a window of opportunity for early intervention and recent trials have shown promising results for the use of -acetylcysteine (NAC) in schizophrenia. Moreover, integrated preventive psychological intervention (IPPI), applies social-cognitive remediation to aid in preventing the transition to the psychosis of CHR-P patients.

Study Design: In this double-blind, randomized, controlled multicenter trial, a 2 × 2 factorial design was applied to investigate the effects of NAC compared to placebo (PLC) and IPPI compared to psychological stress management (PSM).

The effectiveness of coronary computed tomography angiography and functional testing for the diagnosis of obstructive coronary artery disease: results from the individual patient data Collaborative Meta-Analysis of Cardiac CT (COME-CCT).

Aim: To determine the effectiveness of functional stress testing and computed tomography angiography (CTA) for diagnosis of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods And Results: Two-thousand nine-hundred twenty symptomatic stable chest pain patients were included in the international Collaborative Meta-Analysis of Cardiac CT consortium to compare CTA with exercise electrocardiography (exercise-ECG) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for diagnosis of CAD defined as ≥ 50% diameter stenosis by invasive coronary angiography (ICA) as reference standard. Generalised linear mixed models were used for calculating the diagnostic accuracy of each diagnostic test including non-diagnostic results as dependent variables in a logistic regression model with random intercepts and slopes.

Can pharmacogenetics impact the therapeutic effect of cytarabine and anthracyclines in adult acute myeloid leukaemia patients?: A Serbian experience.

Background: Cytarabine-anthracycline-based induction chemotherapy remains the standard of care for remission induction among patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). There are remarkable differences in therapy response among AML patients. This fact could be partly explained by the patients' genetic variability related to the metabolic paths of cytarabine and anthracyclines.

Low Dietary Flavonoid Consumption Is Associated to Severe Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background And Aims: Associations between diet habits and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been widely described. Flavonoids are taken with vegetables, fruits, and green tea. Because of barrier-protective and anti-inflammatory effects, flavonoid consumption (FC) may influence the severity of IBD.

Desflurane versus sevoflurane anesthesia and postoperative recovery in older adults undergoing minor- to moderate-risk noncardiac surgery - A prospective, randomized, observer-blinded, clinical trial.

Study Objective: The effect of volatile anesthetics on postoperative recovery in older adults is still not entirely clear. Thus, we evaluated the effect of desflurane versus sevoflurane anesthesia on speed of postoperative recovery in older adults eligible for same-day discharge. We further evaluated the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), bispectral index (BIS) values, and S100B concentrations.

Factors Associated with Hospital Length of Stay among VTE Cases: Insights from the i-RegVed Registry.

Introduction: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a multifactorial condition and one of the leading causes of mortality and disability. The present study explores the factors associated with hospitalization duration among different types of venous thromboembolism diagnoses, such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), and other forms of thrombosis.

Methods: The data included participants with VTE admitted to 13 hospitals within pan-India from June 2022 to December 2023 to the i-RegVed registry, where socio-demographic data, clinical history, and various factors associated with hospital length of stay (LOS) were included for analyses.

Rifampin-resistant periprosthetic joint infections are associated with worse functional outcome in both acute and chronic infection types.

Periprosthetic joint infections (PJI) pose a significant challenge in orthopaedic surgery, often requiring extensive surgical debridement and prolonged antibiotic treatment to eliminate the causative pathogens. Rifampin, known for its potent activity against biofilms, has been crucial in managing PJI by penetrating and disrupting these formations, thereby improving treatment efficacy. In this sense, antibiotic protocols lacking rifampin have shown increased failure rates.

Is intraoperative parathyroid monitoring during minimally invasive parathyroidectomy still justified?

Introduction: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is the third most common endocrine disease. With parathyroidectomy, a cure rate of over 95% at initial surgery is reported. Localization of the abnormal parathyroid gland is critical for the operation to be successful.