Microbial Resistance Movements: An Overview of Global Public Health Threats Posed by Antimicrobial Resistance, and How Best to Counter

alkiviadis.1961 shared this article with you from Inoreader Microbial Resistance Movements: An Overview of Global Public Health Threats Posed by Antimicrobial Resistance, and How Best to Counter Via Frontiers in Public Health | New and Recent Articles Antibiotics changed medical practice by significantly decreasing the morbidity and mortality associated with bacterial infection. However, infectious diseases remain the leading cause of death in the world. There is global concern about the rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which affects both developed and developing countries. AMR is a public health challenge with extensive health, economic, and societal implications. This paper sets AMR in context, starting with the history of antibiotics, including the discovery of penicillin and the golden era of antibiotics, before exploring the problems and challenges we now face due to AMR. Among the factors discussed is the low level of development of new antimicrobials and the irrational prescribing of antibiotics in developed and developing countries. A fundamental problem is the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) regarding antibiotics among medical practitioners, and we explore this aspect in some depth, including a discussion on the KAP among medical students. We conclude with suggestions on how to address this public health threat, including recommendations on training medical students about antibiotics, and strategies to overcome the problems of irrational antibiotic prescribing and AMR. View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Esthetic Evaluation of Facial Soft Tissue Based on Nonrigid Image Deformation

alkiviadis.1961 shared this article with you from Inoreader Esthetic Evaluation of Facial Soft Tissue Based on Nonrigid Image Deformation Via Hindawi Publishing Corporation As the time passes by, orthodontics is paying more and more attention to facial aesthetics. However, related research is mostly in the stage of qualitative evaluation without clinical reference of specific soft tissue data. Therefore, by collecting the pre- and post-treatment photographs of 26 adult female patients, this study used image deformation technology to process the photos of a 23-year-old female patient, and two groups of facial photos were established. Then, 22 males and 27 females were selected to conduct an aesthetic evaluation to the original and processed photos by questionnaire survey. Relevant indicators of the corresponding photos were obtained. Group t-test, paired t-test, and nonparametric test were used in data calculation. For patients with high compliance, deep overbite with low angle o r average angle are more suitable for fixed appliance with the bite plate, while with high angle are not suitable. The nonprofessionals prefer narrower face, more retracted lip position, and fuller chin than in the actual treatment. Among them, female evaluators prefer narrower lower face than male evaluators do. Male evaluators prefer thicker lips and chins, especially thicker lower lips than female evaluators do. Laypeople prefer narrower face, more retracted lip position, and fuller chin. View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

A New Visual Cryptography-Based QR Code System for Medication Administration

alkiviadis.1961 shared this article with you from Inoreader A New Visual Cryptography-Based QR Code System for Medication Administration Via Hindawi Publishing Corporation In health care, medication errors can result in serious health risks to patients, and hospitals require a secure medication administration system to prevent such errors. This paper therefore proposes a secure medication administration method based on threshold sharing technology. When a patient visits a doctor and the doctor prescribes n medications, a photo and the personal information of the patient are encoded into n QR code transparencies that can be decoded by common QR code scanners available for smartphones. The prescription and n QR code transparencies are then stored in a hospital's medication administration system. When the patient receives their medicine, they can scan these n QR code transparencies using a smartphone to ensure that they have all the medicines prescribed by the doctor; this fu nction is accessible even if the patient's phone does not have Internet access. The main purpose of the proposed system is to prevent hospitals from giving medicine to the wrong patient, or giving less than the prescribed dosage of medicine to the patient. The focus is not on the internal medicine packaging process in hospitals but on reducing the probability of counter staff giving medicine to the wrong patient. This function is of considerable importance to non-English-speaking people who are not used to reading medicine names in English. View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Quantitative Analysis of Macular Retina Using Light Reflection Indices Derived from SD-OCT for Pituitary Adenoma

alkiviadis.1961 shared this article with you from Inoreader Quantitative Analysis of Macular Retina Using Light Reflection Indices Derived from SD-OCT for Pituitary Adenoma Via Hindawi Publishing Corporation Purpose. To quantitatively investigate the macular retinal light reflection characteristic using optical property indices derived from spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) scans with depth attenuation compensation for pituitary adenoma. Methods. This study included 38 patients (mean age 44.66 ± 13.77 years old) with diagnosis of pituitary adenoma and 43 age-matched controls. All SD-OCT scans were light attenuation compensated by a depth-resolved model. Attenuation coefficient, the corrected intensity, and the retinal layer thickness were deduced for macular retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell layer combined with inner plexiform layer (GCIPL), as well as comparing between patients and controls by statistical methods. Results. Attenuation coefficients of RNFL and GCIPL am ong patients were significantly lower compared to the controls with values equal to or less than 0.001. The mean values of the corrected optical intensity were decreased in the patients without universally significant differences. Significant decreases in thickness existing in the RNFL of patients, especially in the superonasal (SN) quadrant and inferonasal (IN) quadrant (decrease ratio = 9.64% and 13.02%, both with ). The thickness of RNFL was significantly associated with the attenuation coefficient (standardized beta = 0.335, ). The performances of attenuation coefficient were better than the corrected optical intensity and the thickness (the values of the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves = 0.751 and 0.758, both with ) in discriminating pituitary adenoma patients from controls. Conclusions. The retinal light reflection characteristics were debilitated in patients with pituitary adenoma. The potential of attenuation coefficients of RNFL and GCI PL in distinguishing patients with pituitary adenoma from controls was validated by the comparison of the derived optical property indices. View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Skin Changes Due to Massive Weight Loss: Histological Changes and the Causes of the Limited Results of Contouring Surgeries

alkiviadis.1961 shared this article with you from Inoreader Skin Changes Due to Massive Weight Loss: Histological Changes and the Causes of the Limited Results of Contouring Surgeries Via Latest Results for Obesity Surgery Abstract Purpose Outcomes of body contouring surgeries in patients who previously had obesity are limited because of the loss of skin quality. This study aimed to evaluate the morphometric characteristics of collagen and elastic fibers of the skin in the abdominal epigastric region of patients who had massive weight loss following bariatric surgery and compared such with the skin characteristics of patients with morbid obesity. Methods This observational study compared skin fragments from the epigastric region of 20 patients who had massive weight loss due to bariatric surgery and 20 patients with morbid obesity. The morphometric analysis was performed on the collagen system using the Picrosirius/polarized light method and on the elastic system using the Weigert's resorcin-fuchsin method. Results Reduction of thick collagen fibers (p = 0.048), increased thin collagen fibers (p = 0.0085), and increased elastic fiber density (p < 0.001) were observed in the massive weight loss group. No differences were found between the groups regarding mean age (p = 0.917) and total amount of collagen fibers (p = 0.3619). Structural dermis alterations in the massive weight loss group demonstrated collagenous remodeling, with consequent reduction of thick, organized, structured, and directed fibers in favor of thin, misaligned, and loosely arranged fibers. Weight loss was also associated with increased skin elasticity. Conclusion The morphometric changes in the collagen and elastic system scientifically explained the already established clinical perception of cutaneous alterations in patients who had massive weight loss following bariatric surgeries. View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

The Impact of the Weight of Removed Tissue on the Development of Postoperative Complications in Patients Undergoing Abdominoplasty after Gastric Bypass

alkiviadis.1961 shared this article with you from Inoreader The Impact of the Weight of Removed Tissue on the Development of Postoperative Complications in Patients Undergoing Abdominoplasty after Gastric Bypass Via Latest Results for Obesity Surgery Abstract Background Patients who undergo Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) have significant weight loss, and abdominoplasty is an effective corrective surgery for removing excess skin. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the weight of removed tissue on the development of postoperative complications in patients undergoing abdominoplasty without lipoaspiration after gastric bypass at the Federal District North Wing Regional Hospital, Brasília, Brazil. Methods Data were analyzed from a prospective registry of patients who underwent abdominoplasty without lipoaspiration after gastric bypass from January 2011 to December 2018. The variables examined included body mass index (BMI) before RYGB and before plastic surgery, weight loss, weight of the excised abdominal flap, comorbidities, and medical complications. Analysis of the role of the weight of the removed tissue after abdominoplasty was performed to assess outcome measures. Results One hundred sixty-three patients were included. The mean age of the patients was 42 years. Their BMI at the time of abdominoplasty was 27.49 kg/m2, and the average weight loss before abdominoplasty was 47.13 kg. The preweight loss BMI was 45.27 kg/m2, and the ∆BMI was 17.78 kg/m2. The overall complication rate was 29.4%. An amount of removed tissue from the abdomen ≥ 2000 g significantly increased the rates of postoperative complications (46.7% vs. 19.4%; p = 0.002; OR = 3.13). Conclusions Removal of ≥ 2000 g of tissue from the abdomen led to significantly more complications in patients who underwent abdominoplasty after gastric bypass. In addition, this group of patients was significantly associated with the presence of higher anthropometric variable values (BMI, weight loss, max BMI, and ∆BMI) and not associated with the presence of comorbidities. View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Flow signal change in polyps after anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy

als.fakia shared this article with you from Inoreader Flow signal change in polyps after anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy Via PLOS ONE Alerts: New Articles by Chia-Jui Chang, Yi-Ming Huang, Ming-Hung Hsieh, An-Fei Li, Shih-Jen Chen Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a novel, non-invasive imaging tool used to detect vascular flow. The absence of a flow signal in OCTA in polyps revealed by indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) in patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) may indicate slow or compromised filling of blood flow from choroidal vessels. Naïve patients with PCV treated with intravitreal injections of aflibercept (IVI-A) were enrolled in this study to validate the hypothesis that baseline flow may affect the outcome of polyp regression in ICGA. The flow signal of polyps in OCTA was detected by manual segmentation in the corresponding location by ICGA. Polyps were defined as high-flow if both OCTA and ICGA showed positive findings, and low-flow if OCTA showed a negative flow signal in 3 consecutive horizontal scans at the polyp area shown in ICGA. A total of 24 polyps were identified in 13 PCV patients at baseline. Of these 24 polyps, 22 (91.7%) were high-flow and 2 (8.3%) wer e low-flow. After 3 monthly IVI-A, all low-flow polyps had complete regression in ICGA. Among 17 (77%) high-flow polyps at baseline that had regression after treatment, 10 (58.8%) became low-flow, while 5 (22.7%) persistent polyps remained high-flow. Flow signal of polyps as detected by OCTA could be a predictive factor for treatment response in patients with PCV. Monitoring changes in flow signal after treatment is clinically relevant. View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.