BMC Research Notes最新文献

Background: Providing care to trauma patients in pre-hospital emergencies is a vital and life-sustaining factor for individuals. This study was conducted to percept of pre-hospital emergency personnel regarding trauma patient care.

Methods: This qualitative study was done using a conventional content analysis method that employed purposive sampling technique. A total of 12 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 operational staff members of pre-hospital emergency services from May 2021 to September 2022. After recording and transcribing the data, qualitative content analysis, based on Graneheim and Lundman's approach, was performed on the data.

Results: From the data analysis, a total of 478 initial codes were extracted, leading to the identification of two main categories, namely "Stress as an Unavoidable Factor" and "Emotional Impasse". The first category included three sub-categories of work under stress, associating your family in the face of life-threatening conditions, and worrying about the patient's fate. Three sub-categories of a long-term mental occupation of the technician with the encounter scene, the feeling of guilt despite trying as much as possible, and emotional distress in certain groups emerged from the second category.

Conclusions: "Stress as an Unavoidable Factor" and "Emotional Impasse" have been introduced as main categories of perceptions of pre-hospital emergency personnel regarding trauma patient care.

Objectives: Medical school attrition is a complex problem, and improvement can only be achieved through the integrated involvement of all stakeholders. Mental health disorders are perceived to be prevalent among medical students in UAE. This study aimed to explore educators' perspectives on the high rate of early medical school attrition in UAE.

Results: The findings suggest that the early medical school attrition rate is correlated with students' inadequate academic readiness and their inability to cope with the psychological demands of studying medicine in English. To reduce the attrition rate, the educators proposed preparatory courses to enhance students' self-learning skills and academic readiness for university studies, along with provision of targeted academic support throughout their medical studies. Psychological well-being and academic preparedness for studying medicine in English is a prime target for a program to reduce dropout from medical schools.

Objectives: Despite the advances in genomics, repetitive DNAs (repeats) are still difficult to sequence, assemble, and identify. This is due to their high abundance and diversity, with many repeat families being unique to the organisms in which they were described. In sugar beet, repeats make up a significant portion of the genome (at least 53%), with many repeats being restricted to the beet genera, Beta and Patellifolia. Over the course of over 30 years and many repeat-based studies, over a thousand reference repeat sequences for beet genomes have been identified and many experimentally characterized (e.g. physically located on the chromosomes). Here, we present the collection of these reference repeat sequences for beets.

Data description: The BeetRepeats_v1.0 resource is a comprehensive compilation of all characterized repeat families, including satellite DNAs, ribosomal DNAs, transposable elements and endogenous viruses. The genomes covered are those of sugar beet and closely related wild beets (genera Beta and Patellifolia) as well as Chenopodium quinoa and Spinacia oleracea (all belonging to the Amaranthaceae). The reference sequences are in fasta format and comprise well-characterized repeats from both repeat categories (dispersed/mobile as well as tandemly arranged). The database is suitable for the RepeatMasker and RepeatExplorer2 pipelines and can be used directly for any repeat annotation and repeat polymorphism detection purposes.

Objectives: These data enable the development of machine learned models to detect unintended passage of salmonids over in-stream barriers. Such models are key to fully characterizing the effectiveness of selective passage systems, as they detect and quantify fish passage which occurs outside of the intended transit passage and selection mechanism. These data were used to construct custom surveillance tools for FishPass ( https://www.glfc.org/fishpass.php ), a 20-year restoration project to provide selective up- and down-stream passage of desirable fishes while simultaneously blocking or removing undesirable fishes.

Data description: The datasets contain over 2300 annotated images of emerged salmonids collected in a natural riverine environment. The images stem from surveillance video collected during 2022 and 2023 fall runs of several pacific salmonid species introduced to the Laurentian Great Lakes on the Boardman (Ottaway) River in Traverse City, MI, USA. In addition to images of fully emerged salmonids, datasets are provided containing images of partially emerged salmonids, fully submerged fish, and other wildlife present in a riverine environment. The environmental conditions represented by most of the images were clear or partly cloudy. These datasets could be used to develop custom object detection models for emerged fish in riverine environments.

Objective: The African bush apple (Heinsia crinita) is a highly valued orphan shrub that supports the nutritional and natural medicine needs of many sub-Saharan African communities. However, the crop remains poorly conserved and without any known genetic improvement. Accordingly, the current study sought to develop for the first time, an in vitro regeneration system based on direct shoot proliferation from its stem and hypocotyledonary explants using combinations of two cytokinins (benzyl adenine - BA, thidiazuron - TDZ) and the auxin (naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium.

Results: Combinations of BA and NAA effectively induced multiple shoot formation from stem and hypocotyledonary explants of the crop. The most effective treatment (1.0 mg/L BA + 0.1 mg/L NAA) induced an average of 13.77 and 30.32 shoots per responsive hypocotyl and stem explants, respectively. Combinations of TDZ and NAA were less effective in promoting shoot induction in the explants at the concentrations tested compared to BA and NAA combinations. Hypocotyledonary explants achieved complete plant regeneration without multiple shoot formation in a hormone-free MS medium. In vitro shoots regenerated from both stem and hypocotyledonary explants were 100% successfully rooted on a half-strength hormone-free medium, and acclimatized to produce H. crinita plants with over 90.0% efficiency.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of selective laser sintering (SLS) against the traditional casting method in fabricating customized Co-Cr dental posts, employing 3D coordinate metrology for analysis.

Methods: A 10 mm post space was prepared in a transparent acrylic block using a red ParaPost XP drill (1.25 mm diameter). An impression of this cavity was taken with a 1.143 mm diameter ParaPost impression post and auto-polymerizing acrylic resin. The resin patterns obtained were digitized with a Straumann Cares scanner, generating STL files, which were forwarded to Renishaw for the production of 10 Co-Cr posts through SLS. Simultaneously, the original resin patterns underwent investment and casting in Co-Cr alloy. The dimensional accuracy of the posts produced by both methods was evaluated using the triple scan method.

Results: The mean discrepancy was - 0.048 mm when comparing the dimensions of scanned resin posts to those of the conventionally cast posts, and - 0.067 mm between the scanned SLS-produced posts and the original resin patterns. Statistical analysis indicated no significant difference between the two sets of mean values (P = 0.107).

Conclusion: SLS technology is a viable alternative to the conventional casting technique for the manufacture of customized Co-Cr posts. Furthermore, SLS offers advantages in terms of cost and time efficiency without compromising the accuracy of the end product.

Objectives: Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are at increased risk of opportunistic fungal infections. This study aims to identify fungal pathogens among COVID positive and negative patients, assess their antifungal susceptibility and evaluate biofilm forming ability of Candida spp. A cross-sectional study was conducted among sputum samples from 135 COVID positive and 101 COVID negative cases. Fungal pathogens were identified by conventional culture methods. Antifungal susceptibility test of Candida isolates was done by disc diffusion method and biofilm production by microtiter plate method.

Results: The prevalence of fungal pathogens among COVID-positive and negative cases was 6.70% and 22.77% respectively. In COVID positive cases, Candida albicans (33.33%) was predominantly followed by Aspergillus flavus 2(22.22%) and Candida tropicalis, Mucor spp. and Aspergillus fumigatus. In COVID negative cases, Candida albicans (69.60%) prevailed followed by Trichosporon spp., Candida parapsilosis, Mucor and Alternaria. Age and gender were not associated with fungal infection. Most Candida spp. were susceptible to miconazole but resistant to ketoconazole. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the first report from Nepal on critical and high priority fungal pathogens categorized by WHO. With fungal infections on the rise, enhanced clinical vigilanceand antifungal susceptibility testing are warranted.

Objective: This research investigates the potential anti-tumour effects of bromelain, an aqueous extract from pineapple stems and fruits, on nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). While bromelain is known for its medicinal properties in various cancers, its impact on NPC remains unexplored.

Results: Using in silico methods, we studied the predicted interactions between bromelain and key proteins involved in NPC oncogenesis, specifically β-catenin, PIK3CA, mTOR, EGFR, and BCL2. Molecular docking strategies were performed using a myriad of computational tools. A 3D model of bromelain was constructed using SWISS-MODEL, followed by molecular docking simulations performed with ClusPro. The binding affinities of the docked complexes were evaluated using HawkDock, and the interactions were analysed with LigPlot+. The docking scores indicated potential spontaneous interactions, with binding affinities based on being - 103.89 kcal/mol (PIK3CA), -73.16 kcal/mol (EGFR), -71.18 kcal/mol (mTOR), -65.22 kcal/mol (β-catenin), and - 57.48 kcal/mol (BCL2). LigPlot + analysis revealed the presence of hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic interactions, and salt bridges, indicating stable predicted interactions.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that bromelain can target key proteins involved in NPC oncogenesis, with the strongest affinity towards PIK3CA. This suggests a hypothetical insight into bromelain's anticancer effects on NPC through the modulation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) imposes a substantial economic and clinical burden, particularly in developing countries like Iran. This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of anticoagulation options for non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) in Iran.

Methods: We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis comparing warfarin, apixaban, dabigatran 110 mg, dabigatran 150 mg, and rivaroxaban for NVAF patients from the Iranian payer's perspective. A Markov model with a lifetime horizon was used to estimate costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). The model incorporated clinical event rates, case-fatality rates, and utility values. Uncertainty was assessed using deterministic sensitivity analysis and probabilistic sensitivity analysis.

Results: Among the interventions, warfarin had the lowest cost ($1,755) but apixaban resulted in the highest QALYs (7.33). Apixaban was the most cost-effective strategy with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of $2,026 per QALY gained compared to warfarin. Apixaban dominated other treatments, with lower costs and higher QALYs. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis indicated that at Iran's willingness-to-pay threshold of $4,387 per QALY gained, apixaban had a high probability of being cost-effective (88.2%).

Conclusion: Our study provides strong evidence for healthcare decision-makers in Iran, showing that apixaban is a cost-effective treatment for NVAF, potentially enhancing patient outcomes and optimizing healthcare expenditures.

Objective There is evidence that cytokine genes' single nucleotide polymorphisms could be the reasons behind female infertility. This study aimed to identify the role for Interleukin33 rs1048274 (G > A) and rs16924243 (T > C), Interleukin22 rs1397852121 (C > T), rs1295978671 (C > T) and rs2227483 (A > T), Interleukin17A rs2275913 (G > A,C) and Interleukin17F rs763780 (T > C), Interleukin13 1512 (A > C) and IL13 2044 (G > A), and Interleukin4 rs2243250 (C > T) and rs2070874 (C > T) gene polymorphisms in female infertility to gain a richly more detailed understanding of its genetic predisposition. Five distinct groups, each comprising 200 infertile women and 200 age-matched fertile controls, were recruited to each Interleukins (33, 22, 17, 13 and 4) in this case-control study and were genotyped by using an amplification refractory mutation system. Statistical analysis is conducted by SPSS software V. 22 and using Chi-square (χ²) and logistic regression tests. Strength of association was estimated by multiple-comparison correction, population structure test and Haplotype analysis. The study was approved by the Academic Ethics Committee and each enrolled patient signed an informed consent.Results Our statistical results revealed risk alleles in all of the substitution lines for women infertility. Current findings provided evidence that in the presence of Interleukin33 A_{p-value rs1048274 = 0.002} and C_{p-value rs16924243 < 0.0001}, Interleukin 22T_{p-value rs1397852121 < 0.0001} and T_{p-value rs2227483 = 0.000}, Interleukin17A A_{p-value rs2275913 = 0.003} and Interleukin17F C_{p-value rs763780 = 0.000} and Interleukin13 C_{p-value 1512 = 0.000} and A_{p-value 2044 = 0.003}, Interleukin4 T_{p-value rs2243250 = 0.001} and T_{p-value rs2070874 = 0.009} risk alleles, risk genotype also were significantly associated with increased chances of developing infertility. The relationship between risk genotypes and several well-established infertility risk factors including, polycystic ovary syndrome, premature ovarian failure, oophorectomy, diminished ovarian reserve, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, uterine polyps, fallopian tube blockage and thyroid dysfunction, also exhibited. This study suggests the significant role of interleukin gene polymorphisms in human reproductive success.