Accounts of Chemical Research最新文献

ObjectiveThymic cysts are rare benign neck masses, accounting for less than 1% of all cervical masses. This study aims to discern different presentations, investigations, and treatment options of thymic cysts in adults by reviewing prior published studies from January 2010 to October 2021 to bridge the knowledge gap since the last review by Michalopoulos in 2011. Moreover, we present a case of a 28-year-old male with a left cervical thymic cyst.Data sourcesData were obtained from a literature search using the ScienceDirect, PubMed, ResearchGate, and Google Scholar databases.Methods and resultsThis study retrospectively analyzes reported cases of adult cervical thymic cysts by collecting demographic data, patient presentation, duration, location, size, type of imaging, fine-needle aspiration, and surgical approach. Eighteen patients were included. Cysts were seen on the left (n = 9), right (n = 5), and midline (n = 4). The age of the patients ranged from 19 to 64 years. Most patients present with painless left-sided neck swelling. Computed tomography (CT) was the preferred imaging modality in most cases. Moreover, surgical excision was essential for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes. This study did not require institutional review board approval.ConclusionAdult cervical thymic cyst is a rare etiology. Nevertheless, a painless left-sided neck mass with no clear lower border should uphold thymic cyst as a differential diagnosis. MRI and CT scans are the preferred imaging modalities for preoperative planning. Surgical excision is mandatory for treatment and histological confirmation. As of October 2021, around 54 cases of adult thymus cysts had been reported to the best of our knowledge and review.

Objective: Our aim was to identify changes in population habits induced by COVID-19 confinement in Argentina.

Methods: An internet-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among adults in Argentina on December 2020, requesting possible changes occurring during the COVID-19 outbreak. It included 26 questions regarding general information (age, gender, location), eating habits, desire/anxiety for food or to eat between meals, weight gain, physical activity, and hours of sleep. We ran a descriptive statistical analysis of changes in habits and lifestyle during the confinement, followed by a logistic regression analysis to explore the relation between these changes and weight gain. Results: Out of 1536 survey participants, 57.1% were female, aged 38.8 ± 13.1 years. Data showed that during the outbreak, people experienced significant changes in food intake, physical activity, nutritional supplement consumption, anxiety, and sleeping disorders. These changes in behavior resulted in an elevated percentage of people (39.7%) that gained weight (average 4.8 ± 2.8 kg). Weight gain was associated with more food consumption (OR: 9.398), increased snacking between meals (OR: 1.536), anxiety about food (OR: 3.180), less practice of physical activity (OR: 0.586) and less consumption of nutritional supplements (OR: 0.762). Conclusions: COVID-19 outbreak was associated with unhealthy lifestyle changes and body weight increase. These adverse side effects could be prevented by active promotion of nutritional advice and physical activity, implementing virtual activities associated with regular mass promotion campaigns.

Background: Ethnography has been used to address a broad range of research questions in health care. With ethnographic research methods it is possible to gain access to the complex realities of health care practice as it occurs, through interpreting the nuances of individual and team behaviours, the roles and dynamics of care provision, and the social impacts and influences of illness. The provision of clinical palliative care is complex, involving multidisciplinary collaboration across different health systems, and is subject to a multitude of personal, cultural and environmental influences. This complexity demands creative methodological approaches to research in palliative care, of which ethnography plays an important, if infrequently utilised, role. Aim: This article aims to explore potential opportunities of ethnographic methods for palliative care research. Findings: Ethnographic methods focuses on behaviour in the 'natural' setting of participants, to create theoretical descriptions of events, cultures, interactions and experiences. In palliative care these methods may provide nuanced understandings of illness, relationships and teams, communication, medical education, complex care provision, and novel or changing health practices. Of particular importance is the potential of these methods to understand complex practices and processes, and engage with under-represented population groups who may be excluded from interview research. Conclusion: Ethnography offers important opportunities for future research in palliative care and should be considered as part of the 'research toolbox' to improve understanding of the complex nature of care provision and the experiences of illness and loss.

The relationship between body weight gain and the onset of obesity is linked to environmental and behavioral factors, and may be dependent on biological predisposing. Artificial neural networks are useful predictive tools in the field of artificial intelligence, and can be used to identify risk factors related to obesity. The aim of this study is to establish, based on artificial neural networks, a predictive model for overweight/obesity in children based on the recognition and selection of patterns associated with birth weight, gestational age, height deficit, food consumption, and the physical activity level, TV time and family context. Sample consisted of 149 children (72 = eutrophic and 77 = overweight/obese). Collected data consisted of anthropometry and demographic characteristics, gestational age, birth weight, food consumption, physical activity level, TV time and family context. The gestational age, daily caloric intake and birth weight were the main determinants of the later appearance of overweight and obesity. In addition, the family context linked to socioeconomic factors, such as the number of residents in the household, had a great impact on excess weight. The physical activity level was the least important variable. Modifiable risk factors, such as the inadequate food consumption, and non-modifiable factors such as gestational age were the main determinants for overweight/obesity in children. Our data indicate that, combating excess weight should also be carried out from a social and preventive perspective during critical periods of development, such as pregnancy, lactation and early childhood, to reach a more effective strategy to combat obesity and its complications in childhood and adult life.

Objective: Limited data exist around the receipt of palliative care (PC) in patients hospitalized with common chronic conditions. We studied the independent predictors, temporal trends in rates of PC utilization in patients hospitalized with acute exacerbation of common chronic diseases. Methods: Population-based cohort study of all hospitalizations with an acute exacerbation of heart disease (HD), cerebrovascular accident (CVA), cancer (CA), and chronic lower respiratory disease (CLRD). Patients aged ≥18 years or older between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2017, referred for inpatient PC were extracted from the National Inpatient Sample. Poisson regression analyses were used to estimate temporal trends. Results: Between 2004 and 2017, of 91,877,531 hospitalizations, 55.2%, 13.9%, 17.2%, and 13.8% hospitalizations were related to HD, CVA, CA, and CLRD, respectively. There was a temporal increase in the uptake of PC across all disease groups. Age-adjusted estimated rates of PC per 100,000 hospitalizations/year were highest for CA (2308 (95% CI 2249-2366) to 10,794 (95% CI 10,652-10,936)), whereas the CLRD cohort had the lowest rates of PC referrals (255 (95% CI 231-278) to 1882 (95% CI 1821-1943)) between 2004 and 2017, respectively. In the subgroup analysis of patients who died during hospitalization, the CVA group had the highest uptake of PC per 100,000 hospitalizations/year (4979 (95% CI 4918-5040)) followed by CA (4241 (95% CI 4189-4292)), HD (3250 (95% CI 3211-3289)) and CLRD (3248 (95% CI 3162-3405)). Conclusion: PC service utilization is increasing but remains disparate, particularly in patients that die during hospital admission from common chronic conditions. These findings highlight the need to develop a multidisciplinary, patient-centered approach to improve access to PC services in these patients.

Background: Unhealthy diets are typical of university students and are often thought to be unrepresentative of the general population. The main aim was to determine the energy and nutrient intakes of a large cohort of undergraduate university students; and to compare to gender-specific dietary reference values (DRVs) and nutrient data from the general population. Methodology: Data was collected from 639 university students aged 18-24 years who completed 4-day diet diaries. The energy and nutrient intake was determined and percentage energy values calculated and compared with dietary reference values (DRVs) and the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) and Family Food Statistics. Logistic regression methods were used to identify micronutrients functioning as predictors of exceeding DRVs. Results: Energy intakes were lower than the DRV. The percentage total energy values for protein, fat, saturated fat and carbohydrate exceeded DRVs but the percentage energy from alcohol was below the maximum 5%. The DRVs were met for vitamin C, thiamin, and sodium/salt. Iron and calcium intakes were met in males but not in females. Intakes for fibre and vitamin A were below the DRV. Student data was comparable to the NDNS, with the exception of alcohol, fibre, vitamin A, calcium and sodium/salt, which were all lower than the NDNS. Conclusions: This study contradicts the stereotypical assumption that students are following a high energy, fat, saturated fat, total sugars, salt and alcohol diet compared with the general population.

ObjectivesDuring recent years, hypertension and related cardiovascular complications have become the leading health challenges of this century. Non-pharmacologic strategies, emphasizing mainly salt restriction and physical activity, are recommended for all patients with hypertension. Our objective was to assess the impact of low salt white bread intake, widely consumed in Western Algeria, on blood pressure values in hypertensive patients with and without comorbidities.Materials and methods134 hypertensive patients (male  =  78, female  =  56) were included. The study population was divided into two groups according to their choice of following a low salt white bread diet or not. Their dietary salt intake and physical activity were surveyed along with their blood pressure measurements and associated comorbidities. Other clinical and anthropometric data were collected.ResultsPatients following low salt bread diet showed decreased systolic and diastolic blood pressure values (119.07/74.63 mmHg) compared to the second group (131.92/79.81) (p < 0.01). These results were observed specifically in patients with adjacent cardiovascular diseases who seem to be less compliant to the diet (41.1% of the whole population, p < 0.05) and show significant increased blood pressure (135.75/81.53 mmHg) compared to compliant patients (116.66/75.33 mmHg) (p < 0.01).ConclusionThe study highlights the impact of low salt bread diet on the treatment of hypertension with and without comorbidities.

ObjectiveBreastmilk is considered an optimal food for infant development especially during the first 6 months of life. However, little evidence exists regarding maternal dietary intake and infant growth. We evaluated how adherence to the DASH diet in lactating women is associated with the infant weight, height and head circumference at birth, 2 and 4 months of age.Study designA cross-sectional study.MethodsThe present study was conducted with 292 lactating mothers and their infants. A validated and reliable 168-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to assess mothers' dietary intakes. To evaluate adherence to the DASH diet among lactating mothers, we scored food items based on the Fung method.ResultLactating mothers in the highest tertile of adherence to the DASH diet consumed significantly lower amounts of fat, cholesterol, salt, red and process meats and higher amounts of vitamin C, B1, B9, whole grains, low-fat dairy, fruits, vegetables and dietary fiber compared to lactating mothers in the lowest tertile (P < 0.05). No significant association was found between mothers' adherence to the DASH dietary pattern and any of the infant growth indices (P > 0.05).ConclusionLactating mothers' adherence to the DASH diet was not associated with growth indices among exclusively breastfed infants.

Background: Excessive consumption of phosphorus (P) impairs renal tubule function; however, the effects of different dietary phosphate salts on chronic kidney disease (CKD) are unclear. Aim: To examine the effects of potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH₂PO₄) and potassium tripolyphosphate (K₅P₃O₁₀) and P concentration on renal function in a rat model of early CKD. Methods: Male sham-operated Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a diet containing KH₂PO₄ with a normal P level. Kidney injury was induced by unilateral nephrectomy (UNx), and the rats were divided into four groups fed dietary KH₂PO₄ or K₅P₃O₁₀ with a normal (UNx-NKH, UNx-NKP) or high (UNx-HKH, UNx-HKP) P concentration, respectively, for 21 days. Results: UNx-NKH rats showed significantly lower creatinine clearance (CCr) and higher albumin (ALB) compared with those of sham rats, confirming UNx-induced kidney injury. The urinary levels of liver-type fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) and ALB were significantly higher in UNx-HKP rats than in UNx-HKH rats. However, other markers of renal tubule function, such as CCr, serum creatinine (CRE), calcium (Ca), and hormones, only differed among groups according to the P concentration and not the dietary phosphate salt form. Histological examination showed higher incidence and severity of tubulointerstitial lesions, tubule regeneration, tubule dilation, and calcification in the high-phosphorus than in the normal-phosphorus UNx groups. These changes were more severe in the UNx-HKP group compared with the UNx-HKH group. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of controlling dietary P intake in terms of both concentration and source to prevent the progression of CKD.