A Prospective Study of Role of Functional MRI in Suspects of Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome, characterized by daytime impairment, affects approximately 1 in 20 adults and can lead to a range of behavioral and cardiovascular abnormalities. Understanding the underlying causes and identifying the specific obstructions within the upper airway is crucial for effective management of this condition. Sleep MRI has emerged as a valuable tool in accurately diagnosing OSA by providing detailed insights into the level, magnitude, and type of obstruction present in affected individuals. One of the key observations made through sleep MRI studies is the increased collapsibility of the velopharynx in apneic patients, particularly during sleep. This heightened collapsibility predisposes the airway to occlusion, contributing to the repetitive breathing pauses characteristic of OSA. By visualizing the dimensions and configurations of the upper airway during both wakefulness and sleep, sleep MRI enables clinicians to pinpoint structural and dynamic factors that play a role in the development and progression of OSA. Moreover, the information gleaned from sleep MRI scans can inform the development of personalized treatment strategies for OSA patients. By identifying specific anatomical abnormalities and dynamic changes in the upper airway, clinicians can tailor interventions such as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), oral appliances, or surgical procedures to address the underlying causes of obstruction more effectively. Sleep MRI serves as a powerful diagnostic tool in the management of OSA, offering detailed anatomical and functional insights that guide treatment planning and optimization. Its ability to uncover structural and dynamic factors contributing to airway obstruction enhances our understanding of OSA pathophysiology and facilitates targeted therapeutic interventions aimed at improving patient outcomes and quality of life.

Nicotine replacement therapy 'gift cards' for hospital inpatients who smoke: a prospective before-and-after controlled pilot evaluation.

INTRODUCTION: A common barrier identified by individuals trying to quit smoking is the cost of cessation pharmacotherapies. The purpose of this evaluation was to: (1) Assess the feasibility of offering nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) 'gift cards' to hospitalised smokers for use posthospitalisation; and, (2) Estimate the effect of providing NRT gift cards on 6-month smoking abstinence. METHODS: A prospective, quasi-experimental, before-and-after controlled cohort design with random sampling was used to compare patients who had received the Ottawa Model for Smoking Cessation (OMSC) intervention ('control') with patients who received the OMSC plus a $C300 Quit Card ('QCI'), which they could use to purchase any brand or form of NRT from any Canadian pharmacy. RESULTS: 750 Quit Cards were distributed to the three participating hospitals of which 707 (94.3%) were distributed to patients. Of the cards received by patients, 532 (75.2%) were used to purchase NRT. A total of 272 participants completed evaluation surveys (148 control; 124 QCI).Point prevalence abstinence rates adjusted for misreporting among survey responders were 15.3% higher in the QCI group, compared with controls (44.4% vs 29.1%; OR 1.95, 1.18-3.21; p=0.009). Satisfaction was high among participants in both groups, and among staff delivering the QCI. QCI participants rated the intervention as high in terms of motivation, ease of use and helpfulness. CONCLUSIONS: The NRT gift card appears to be a feasible and effective smoking cessation tool that removes a primary barrier to the use of evidence-based smoking cessation pharmacotherapies, while motivating both patients and health providers.

Auricle Schwannoma: Presentation of a Rare Case and Review of Existing Literature.

Schwannomas are extremely rare over auricle. Despite the extensive somatogenic neural innervations of the pinna, schwannomas are never amongst the differentials for a benign auricular mass. Previously published articles have all agreed on the rarity of this lesion occurring over the auricle. However, none of the articles have tackled and extensively reviewed the auricle schwannomas (AS) as an individual entity. The article aim to review previously published cases of AS along with an illustrative case, and provide a better insight regarding demographic, clinicopathological and immunohistochemical features of this neural tumor in a rare site. A systemic review of English literature was performed after using a sensitive search strategy involving three different databases (PubMed, Google Scholar and Embase). A total of nine cases were included. They mostly presented in young adults as a slow growing tumor (mean duration: 3.17 years) and showed a slightly higher male predominance (male/female ratio 1.25:1). They were mostly located over lateral surface (66.67%) with a predilection for left ear (77.78%). Conventional histological variant has only been reported. Complete surgical excision was performed for all the cases without any reports of recurrence or malignant transformation. AS present as a solitary, painless, firm and well-encapsulated lesion, mostly over the lateral auricle surface. Preoperative clinical diagnosis is difficult and radiological investigations do not hold much importance. FNAC is inconclusive and diagnosis mandates histopathologic examination. The nerve of tumor origin is difficult to precisely identify. Complete surgical excision is the treatment of choice. Post-operative prognosis is excellent.

The INITIATE trial protocol: a randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of a "quit card" intervention on long-term abstinence among tobacco smokers presenting to the emergency department.

BACKGROUND: Smoking cessation interventions implemented in emergency department (ED) settings have resulted in limited success, owing to factors such as lack of time, motivation, and incentives. A dynamic yet simple and effective approach that addresses the fast-paced nature of acute-care ED settings is needed. This study proposes a multi-center randomized controlled trial (RCT) to compare the effectiveness of an easy to deliver proactive, multi-component tobacco treatment intervention to usual care in the ED setting. METHODS: This will be a prospective four-site, single-blind, blinded-endpoint (PROBE) RCT. Participants will be recruited directly in the ED and will be approached strictly in order of arrival time. Those randomized to the Quit Card Intervention (QCI) group will receive a "quit kit" which will include: a "Quit Card" worth $300 that can be used at any Canadian pharmacy to purchase any form of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT); a self-help booklet; and proactive enrolment in 6 months of telephone follow-up counseling. The usual care (UC) group will receive a "quit kit" which will include a brochure for a local smoking cessation program. Quit kits for both groups will be delivered in opaque, sealed envelopes, and identical in size and weight so to conceal group allocation from the blinded research coordinator. Randomization will be stratified by site and by the Canadian Triage Acuity Scale (CTAS), a value assigned to each ED patient based on the severity of the condition. An equal number of quit kits will be prepared for each CTAS level. The primary outcome will be bio-chemically verified smoking abstinence at 26 weeks. Secondary outcomes include smoking behavior at weeks 4, 52, and 104 as well as mortality and health care utilization outcomes. Investigators, outcome assessors, and data analysts will be blinded to group allocation until after primary analyses are completed. It is hypothesized that the QCI group will have higher a abstinence rate, improved health outcomes, and decreased healthcare utilization. DISCUSSION: There are few examples of hospital EDs in Canada that systematically initiate tobacco cessation interventions for patients who smoke. Given the high smoking prevalence among ED patients and the relation of tobacco smoking to the majority of ambulatory care sensitive conditions, EDs are a missed opportunity in the initiation of tobacco treatment interventions. We have designed and will test an evidence-based tobacco treatment intervention that is simple and highly scalable. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04163081 . Registered on November 14, 2019.

Assessing the performance of in silico methods for predicting the pathogenicity of variants in the gene CHEK2, among Hispanic females with breast cancer.

The availability of disease-specific genomic data is critical for developing new computational methods that predict the pathogenicity of human variants and advance the field of precision medicine. However, the lack of gold standards to properly train and benchmark such methods is one of the greatest challenges in the field. In response to this challenge, the scientific community is invited to participate in the Critical Assessment for Genome Interpretation (CAGI), where unpublished disease variants are available for classification by in silico methods. As part of the CAGI-5 challenge, we evaluated the performance of 18 submissions and three additional methods in predicting the pathogenicity of single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in checkpoint kinase 2 (CHEK2) for cases of breast cancer in Hispanic females. As part of the assessment, the efficacy of the analysis method and the setup of the challenge were also considered. The results indicated that though the challenge could benefit from additional participant data, the combined generalized linear model analysis and odds of pathogenicity analysis provided a framework to evaluate the methods submitted for SNV pathogenicity identification and for comparison to other available methods. The outcome of this challenge and the approaches used can help guide further advancements in identifying SNV-disease relationships.

Evaluating the predictions of the protein stability change upon single amino acid substitutions for the FXN CAGI5 challenge.

Frataxin (FXN) is a highly conserved protein found in prokaryotes and eukaryotes that is required for efficient regulation of cellular iron homeostasis. Experimental evidence associates amino acid substitutions of the FXN to Friedreich Ataxia, a neurodegenerative disorder. Recently, new thermodynamic experiments have been performed to study the impact of somatic variations identified in cancer tissues on protein stability. The Critical Assessment of Genome Interpretation (CAGI) data provider at the University of Rome measured the unfolding free energy of a set of variants (FXN challenge data set) with far-UV circular dichroism and intrinsic fluorescence spectra. These values have been used to calculate the change in unfolding free energy between the variant and wild-type proteins at zero concentration of denaturant (ΔΔGH2O) . The FXN challenge data set, composed of eight amino acid substitutions, was used to evaluate the performance of the current computational methods for predicting the ΔΔGH2O value associated with the variants and to classify them as destabilizing and not destabilizing. For the fifth edition of CAGI, six independent research groups from Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America submitted 12 sets of predictions from different approaches. In this paper, we report the results of our assessment and discuss the limitations of the tested algorithms.

Prosthodontic rehabilitation of completely edentulous patient with partial glossectomy.

Oral cancer accounts for about 40% of all cancers inflicting the human beings. Those involving the tongue results in mild to severe deficiencies of phonation, deglutition, mastication, and taste depending upon the degree and extent tissues involved. Often rehabilitation of such patient is a challenge for the prosthodontist and involves a careful observation and evaluation of the residual oral function and ways to restore them. This article presents a case report of prosthodontic rehabilitation completely edentulous patient, who underwent partial glossectomy following surgical resection of the squamous cell carcinoma involving left lateral borders of the tongue. An attempt was made to restore the comfort and function of the patient with the help of palatal augmentation prosthesis, with additional assistance through speech therapy and simple oral exercises.