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The impact of diabetes on the relationship of coronary artery disease and outcome: a study using multimodality imaging
No full textBackgroundPatients with prediabetes or diabetes are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease and adverse outcomes. First-line coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) followed by selective use of positron emission tomography (PET) myocardial perfusion imaging is a feasible strategy to diagnose and risk-stratify patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of the present study was to study whether diabetes changes the relationship of CAD and long-term outcome.MethodsWe retrospectively identified consecutive symptomatic patients who underwent coronary CTA for suspected CAD. In patients with suspected obstructive CAD on CTA, myocardial ischemia was evaluated by 15O-water PET myocardial perfusion imaging. The relationship of the phenotype of CAD and long-term outcome in patients with no diabetes, prediabetes, or type 2 diabetes was investigated. A composite endpoint included all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), and unstable angina pectoris (UAP).ResultsA total of 1743 patients were included: 1214 (70%) non-diabetic, 259 (15%) prediabetic, and 270 (16%) type 2 diabetic patients. During 6.43 years of median follow-up, 164 adverse events occurred (106 deaths, 41 MIs, 17 UAPs). The prevalence of normal coronary arteries on CTA was highest in the non-diabetic patients (39%). The prevalence of hemodynamically significant CAD (abnormal perfusion) increased from 14% in non-diabetic patients to 20% in prediabetic and 27% in diabetic patients. The event rate was lowest in patients with normal coronary arteries and highest in patients with concomitant type 2 diabetes and hemodynamically significant CAD (annual event rate 0.2% vs. 4.7%). However, neither prediabetes nor diabetes were independent predictors of the composite adverse outcome after adjustment for the clinical risk factors and imaging findings.ConclusionsCoronary CTA followed by selective downstream use of PET myocardial perfusion imaging predicts long-term outcome similarly in non-diabetic and diabetic patients.</p
Simple gene assembly as a rewriting of directed overlap-inclusion graphs
No full textThe simple intramolecular model for gene assembly in ciliates consists of three molecular operations, simple Id, simple hi and simple dlad. Mathematical models in terms of signed permutations and signed strings proved limited in capturing some of the combinatorial details of the simple gene assembly process. Brijder and Hoogeboom introduced a new model in terms of overlap-inclusion graphs which could describe two of the three operations of the model and their combinatorial properties. To capture the third operation, we extended their framework to directed overlap-inclusion (DOI) graphs in Azimi et al. (2011) [1]. In this paper we introduce DOI graph-based rewriting rules that capture all three operations of the simple gene assembly model and prove that they are equivalent to the string-based formalization of the model. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Performance analysis of English hospitals during the first and second waves of the coronavirus pandemic
No full text The coronavirus infection COVID-19 killed millions of people around the world in 2019-2022. Hospitals were in the forefront in the battle against the pandemic. This paper proposes a novel approach to assess the effectiveness of hospitals in saving lives. We empirically estimate the production function of COVID-19 deaths among hospital inpatients, applying Heckman’s two-stage approach to correct for the bias caused by a large number of zero-valued observations. We subsequently assess performance of hospitals based on regression residuals, incorporating contextual variables to convex quantile regression. Data of 187 hospitals in England over a 35-week period from April to December 2020 is divided in two sub-periods to compare the structural differences between the first and second waves of the pandemic. The results indicate significant performance improvement during the first wave, however, learning by doing was offset by the new mutated virus straits during the second wave. While the elderly patients were at significantly higher risk during the first wave, their expected mortality rate did not significantly differ from that of the general population during the second wave. Our most important empirical finding concerns large and systematic performance differences between individual hospitals: larger units proved more effective in saving lives, and hospitals in London had a lower mortality rate than the national average. </p
Integrative taxonomy of Central European Planetella (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) indicates high species diversity, intraspecific variation and low host specificity
No full textA first attempt is made to revise the European species of the gall midge genus Planetella Westwood, 1840 (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), with a focus on the fauna of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Denmark. A total of 19 species are recognized based on unique DNA sequences, of which 13 are described as new to science: Planetella adami Ševčík & Hippa sp. nov., P. aestivalis Ševčík & Hippa sp. nov., P. antennata Ševčík & Hippa sp. nov., P. atrobrunnea Ševčík & Hippa sp. nov., P. attilai Ševčík & Hippa sp. nov., P. csabai Ševčík & Hippa sp. nov., P. davidi Ševčík & Hippa sp. nov., P. galiciensis Ševčík & Hippa sp. nov., P. hlisnikovskyi Ševčík & Hippa sp. nov., P. muranica Ševčík & Hippa sp. nov., P. riparia Ševčík & Hippa sp. nov., P. submontana Ševčík & Hippa sp. nov., and P. thermophila Ševčík & Hippa sp. nov. Four previously described species are recognized in the collected material: Planetella arenariae (Rübsaamen, 1899b), P. fasciata (Meigen, 1818) sp. restit., P. gallarum (Rübsaamen, 1899a), and P. granifex (Kieffer, 1898). For each of these species, DNA sequences are provided, as well as detailed illustrations of the male terminalia and male flagellomeres. Four additional species are represented only with larva, female or incomplete specimens. The phylogeny of European Planetella is tentatively reconstructed based on the combined analysis of three gene markers (28S, 16S, COI), but without providing any new infrageneric classification. The phylogenetic placement of the genus Planetella within the subfamily Cecidomyiinae is reconstructed based on four gene markers (18S, 28S, 16S, COI). The monophyly of Planetella is well supported, as well as its placement in the supertribe Cecidomyiidi. The genera Acodiplosis Kieffer, 1895 and Putoniella Kieffer, 1896 appear as the closest relatives of Planetella. The delimitation of the tribe Hormomyiini is discussed.</p
Discours rapporté et agentivité en traduction dans un corpus littéraire bidirectionnel français-finnois
No full textWe examine the expression of agentivity in reported speech in a bidirectionalFrench-Finnish literary corpus. The study focuses on syntactic subject change intranslation by comparing systematically the subject of the source text with thesubject of the target text. The analysis of the subject change in translation willallow us to show that this change goes hand in hand with a change in the degreeof agentivity of the subject between the source and the target text. Furthermore,this change often results in an increase in subject agentivity in translation.This contribution also shows that this increase in agentivity corresponds to theadoption of a different point of view in the translated text compared to the originaltext. Two types of subject corresponding to two distinct points of view seem to beprivileged in translation in the reported speech of the corpus studied: that of the speaker-narrator and that of the character who acts in the process described in thereported speech.</p
Health screening and its association with emergency department visits and related costs among home-dwelling older adults
No full textBackgroundThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the health screening procedure for home-dwelling older adults in reducing emergency department visits and associated costs.MethodsData were derived from health screenings from 2020 to 2021 for 75-year-old home-dwelling residents of Western Finland. The study compared emergency department visits and associated costs between older adults who participated in the health screening (intervention group) and those who did not (non-intervention group). For each older adult, three non-intervention controls were matched according to age, sex, health screening year and wellbeing service county. Emergency department visits and International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 codes from one year before to two years after health screening were analyzed.ResultsIn the non-intervention group, a 19% increase in emergency visit rates was seen (457-564 per 1000 person-years), while the intervention group showed a 67% decrease (165-23). Annual costs for the non-intervention group increased from 148 euros () to 183, a mean ratio increase of 1.24 per person-year (range 1.08-1.40). In contrast, the intervention group's costs decreased from 53 to 8, a mean reduction ratio of 0.15 per person-year (range 0.10-0.71). The intervention group had lower frequency of visits for respiratory and circulatory diseases but higher for digestive and metabolic diseases, unlike the non-intervention group.ConclusionsThe implementation of the health screening is an effective strategy for reducing both the frequency of emergency department visits and associated costs in home-dwelling older adults in good condition.</p
Examining problem gambling, substance use disorders and cluster B personality traits among incarcerated individuals
No full textPrison populations face heightened rates of addictive behaviors and significant stressors, including health challenges and social disparities. Although problem gambling is prevalent in criminal justice settings, its distinctiveness compared to other addictions among incarcerated individuals remains uncertain. This study examines risk factors associated with problem gambling in Finnish prisoners and explores differences compared to other forms of addiction. Covariates from a questionnaire (N = 527) included gender, age, education, offender status, involvement in theft or property crime, Trauma Screening Questionnaire (TSQ), Depression Scale (DEPS), and lifetime abuse experiences. Of the 527 participants, 330 were interviewed using the Structured Clinical Interview (SCID-II) to assess personality disorders. Multiple logistic regression models were utilized, with separate models for problem gambling (PG), lifetime substance use disorder, and lifetime alcohol disorder. Crime type was not significantly associated with alcohol or substance use problems, but PG was associated with property crime or theft convictions. Borderline personality traits were linked to probable PG, while antisocial traits were linked to drug use, and both traits predicted alcohol misuse. Age and gender were significant only in relation to alcohol use problems, with older age and male gender indicating higher risk. The association between problem gambling and criminal behavior underscores the vulnerability of incarcerated individuals across various domains. Detailed assessments, considering the nature of criminal activity and personality disorders, especially borderline traits and comorbid conditions, are crucial for tailoring rehabilitation and treatment strategies to prevent recidivism. These findings provide valuable insights for clinicians managing addiction and mental health issues within correctional settings
Levels of persistent organic pollutants in breast milk samples representing Finnish and Danish boys with and without hypospadias
No full textHypospadias is a congenital malformation of penile urethra with unknown etiology in most cases. Persistent organic pollutant (POP) exposure may disrupt endocrine function during a critical window of development of male genitalia. In animal studies, POPs have been associated with male reproductive disorders, including hypospadias, but only few studies have assessed this relationship in humans. The aim of this study is to inves-tigate the association between hypospadias and POP concentration levels in breast milk, as a proxy for prenatal exposure. This is a nested case-control study of Danish and Finnish mother-son pairs. Maternal breast milk samples were collected between 1997 and 2002, and they represent infant boys born with hypospadias [n = 33 (n = 22 Danish and n = 11 Finnish)] and their 1:1 matched controls. Breast milk samples were analyzed for six classes of POPs [including dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, flame retardants and perfluorinated alkylated substances (PFAS)]. We estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for each chemical class using conditional logistic regression. In addition, a composite exposure score system was used to explore the effect of a POP mixture (four chemical classes): The composite score was categorized as low, moderate, or high exposure, and differences between cases and controls were tested with conditional logistic regression. No sta-tistically significant associations were observed between the sums of the chemical classes and hypospadias in either country. The composite score was unable to detect differences in the risk of hypospadias between the tertiles of POP exposure. Levels of PFAS were significantly higher in Danish than in Finnish breast milk samples. This small study does not provide evidence for an association between hypospadias and exposure to POPs but adds information on quantitative exposures. Further development of multi-exposure models is needed for assessing the potential mixture effect associated with multiple chemical exposures
Emerging ctDNA detection strategies in clinical cancer theranostics
No full textCirculating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is naked DNA molecules shed from the tumor cells into the peripheral blood circulation. They contain tumor-specific gene mutations and other valuable information. ctDNA is considered to be one of the most significant analytes in liquid biopsies. Over the past decades, numerous researchers have developed various detection strategies to perform quantitative or qualitative ctDNA analysis, including PCR-based detection and sequencing-based detection. More and more studies have illustrated the great value of ctDNA as a biomarker in the diagnosis, prognosis and heterogeneity of tumor. In this review, we first outlined the development of digital PCR (dPCR)-based and next generation sequencing (NGS)-based ctDNA detection systems. Besides, we presented the introduction of the emerging ctDNA analysis strategies based on various biosensors, such as electrochemical biosensors, fluorescent biosensors, surface plasmon resonance and Raman spectroscopy, as well as their applications in the field of biomedicine. Finally, we summarized the essentials of the preceding discussions, and the existing challenges and prospects for the future are also involved.Overview of ctDNA detection strategies in clinical cancer theranostics. In this review, the recent development of ctDNA detection systems based on digital PCR (dPCR), next generation sequencing (NGS) and various biosensors was introduced. The essentials of the preceding discussions are summarized, and the existing challenges and prospects for the future are also involved. imageOutline the development of ctDNA detection strategies based on digital PCR (dPCR)-based and next generation sequencing (NGS). Emerging ctDNA analysis systems based on various biosensors are emphatically introduced. Summarize the challenges and the future perspectives for ctDNA detection.</p