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Objective:Upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) is a common gastrointestinal disease in the emergency department. Identifying low-risk patients suitable for outpatient treatment is the focus of clinical and research. A simple predictive model was developed to identify patients with UGIB who could safely avoid hospitalization, thus providing a feasible basis for triage by emergency physicians.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted on patients with UGIB treated at Zhongda Hospital Southeast University from January 2015 to December 2020. Baseline demographic data and clinical parameters at the initial presentation were recorded. Multivariate logistic regression model was performed to identify predictors of safe discharge.Results:Six hundred and twelve patients (45.9%) were not safely discharged. There were significant differences in age, Charlson comorbidity index, systolic blood pressure, pulse rate, hemoglobin, albumin, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine and international normalized ratio between the safe discharge group and the non-safe discharge group ( P<0.05). Using multivariate logistic regression analysis, a total of 7 variables were included in the clinical prediction model of UGIB risk stratification: Charlson comorbidity index > 2, systolic blood pressure < 90 mmHg, hemoglobin < 10 g/dL, blood urea nitrogen ≥6.5 mmol/L, albumin <30 g/L, pulse ≥100 beats/min and international normalized ratio ≥1.5. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for predicting unsafe discharge were 98.37%, 24.10%, 52.3%, and 94.6%, respectively, with the best cutoff value ≥1. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve was 0.822, which was significantly higher than Glasgow Blatchford score (GBS) 0.786 (95% CI: 0.752-0.820, P< 0.01) and AIMS65 0.676 (95% CI: 0.638-0.714, P< 0.01). Conclusions:The predictive model has a reliable predictive value, which can provide references for emergency medical staff to triage patients with UGIB, thereby reducing medical expenses and having certain social and economic benefits.
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Early reports raised concern that use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may increase risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease (COVID-19). Users of the COVID Symptom Study smartphone application reported use of aspirin and other NSAIDs between March 24 and May 8, 2020. Users were queried daily about symptoms, COVID-19 testing, and healthcare seeking behavior. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to determine the risk of COVID-19 among according to aspirin or non-aspirin NSAID users. Among 2,736,091 individuals in the U.S., U.K., and Sweden, we documented 8,966 incident reports of a positive COVID-19 test over 60,817,043 person-days of follow-up. Compared to non-users and after stratifying by age, sex, country, day of study entry, and race/ethnicity, non-aspirin NSAID use was associated with a modest risk for testing COVID-19 positive (HR 1.23 [1.09, 1.32]), but no significant association was observed among aspirin users (HR 1.13 [0.92, 1.38]). After adjustment for lifestyle factors, comorbidities and baseline symptoms, any NSAID use was not associated with risk (HR 1.02 [0.94, 1.10]). Results were similar for those seeking healthcare for COVID-19 and were not substantially different according to lifestyle and sociodemographic factors or after accounting for propensity to receive testing. Our results do not support an association of NSAID use, including aspirin, with COVID-19 infection. Previous reports of a potential association may be due to higher rates of comorbidities or use of NSAIDs to treat symptoms associated with COVID-19. One Sentence SummaryNSAID use is not associated with COVID-19 risk.
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Given the continued burden of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2) disease (COVID-19) across the U.S., there is a high unmet need for data to inform decision-making regarding social distancing and universal masking. We examined the association of community-level social distancing measures and individual masking with risk of predicted COVID-19 in a large prospective U.S. cohort study of 198,077 participants. Individuals living in communities with the greatest social distancing had a 31% lower risk of predicted COVID-19 compared with those living in communities with poor social distancing. Self-reported masking was associated with a 63% reduced risk of predicted COVID-19 even among individuals living in a community with poor social distancing. These findings provide support for the efficacy of mask-wearing even in settings of poor social distancing in reducing COVID-19 transmission. In the current environment of relaxed social distancing mandates and practices, universal masking may be particularly important in mitigating risk of infection.
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BackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deteriorates suddenly primarily due to excessive inflammatory injury, and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is implicated in endocrine control of the immune system. However, the effect of IGF-1 levels on COVID-19 prognosis remains unknown. ObjectiveTo investigate the association between circulating IGF-1 concentrations and mortality risk among COVID-19 patients. DesignProspective analysis. SettingUK Biobank. Participants1425 COVID-19 patients who had pre-diagnostic serum IGF-1 measurements at baseline (2006-2010). Main outcome measuresCOVID-19 mortality (available death data updated to 22 May 2020). Unconditional logistic regression was performed to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of mortality across the IGF-1 quartiles. ResultsAmong 1425 COVID-19 patients, 365 deaths occurred due to COVID-19. Compared to the lowest quartile of IGF-1 concentrations, the highest quartile was associated with a 37% lower risk of mortality (OR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.43-0.93, P-trend=0.03). The association was stronger in women and nonsmokers (both P-interaction=0.01). ConclusionsHigher IGF-1 concentrations are associated with a lower risk of COVID-19 mortality. Further studies are required to determine whether and how targeting IGF-1 pathway might improve COVID-19 prognosis.
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BackgroundRacial and ethnic minorities have disproportionately high hospitalization rates and mortality related to the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). There are comparatively scant data on race and ethnicity as determinants of infection risk. MethodsWe used a smartphone application (beginning March 24, 2020 in the United Kingdom [U.K.] and March 29, 2020 in the United States [U.S.]) to recruit 2,414,601 participants who reported their race/ethnicity through May 25, 2020 and employed logistic regression to determine the adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for a positive Covid-19 test among racial and ethnic groups. ResultsWe documented 8,858 self-reported cases of Covid-19 among 2,259,841 non-Hispanic white; 79 among 9,615 Hispanic; 186 among 18,176 Black; 598 among 63,316 Asian; and 347 among 63,653 other racial minority participants. Compared with non-Hispanic white participants, the risk for a positive Covid-19 test was increased across racial minorities (aORs ranging from 1.24 to 3.51). After adjustment for socioeconomic indices and Covid-19 exposure risk factors, the associations (aOR [95% CI]) were attenuated but remained significant for Hispanic (1.58 [1.24-2.02]) and Black participants (2.56 [1.93-3.39]) in the U.S. and South Asian (1.52 [1.38-1.67]) and Middle Eastern participants (1.56 [1.25-1.95]) in the U.K. A higher risk of Covid-19 and seeking or receiving treatment was also observed for several racial/ethnic minority subgroups. ConclusionsOur results demonstrate an increase in Covid-19 risk among racial and ethnic minorities not completely explained by other risk factors for Covid-19, comorbidities, and sociodemographic characteristics. Further research investigating these disparities are needed to inform public health measures.
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BackgroundData for frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) and risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection are limited and whether personal protective equipment (PPE) mitigates this risk is unknown. We evaluated risk for COVID-19 among frontline HCWs compared to the general community and the influence of PPE. MethodsWe performed a prospective cohort study of the general community, including frontline HCWs, who reported information through the COVID Symptom Study smartphone application beginning on March 24 (United Kingdom, U.K.) and March 29 (United States, U.S.) through April 23, 2020. We used Cox proportional hazards modeling to estimate multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) of a positive COVID-19 test. FindingsAmong 2,035,395 community individuals and 99,795 frontline HCWs, we documented 5,545 incident reports of a positive COVID-19 test over 34,435,272 person-days. Compared with the general community, frontline HCWs had an aHR of 11{middle dot}6 (95% CI: 10{middle dot}9 to 12{middle dot}3) for reporting a positive test. The corresponding aHR was 3{middle dot}40 (95% CI: 3{middle dot}37 to 3{middle dot}43) using an inverse probability weighted Cox model adjusting for the likelihood of receiving a test. A symptom-based classifier of predicted COVID-19 yielded similar risk estimates. Compared with HCWs reporting adequate PPE, the aHRs for reporting a positive test were 1{middle dot}46 (95% CI: 1{middle dot}21 to 1{middle dot}76) for those reporting PPE reuse and 1{middle dot}31 (95% CI: 1{middle dot}10 to 1{middle dot}56) for reporting inadequate PPE. Compared with HCWs reporting adequate PPE who did not care for COVID-19 patients, HCWs caring for patients with documented COVID-19 had aHRs for a positive test of 4{middle dot}83 (95% CI: 3{middle dot}99 to 5{middle dot}85) if they had adequate PPE, 5{middle dot}06 (95% CI: 3{middle dot}90 to 6{middle dot}57) for reused PPE, and 5{middle dot}91 (95% CI: 4{middle dot}53 to 7{middle dot}71) for inadequate PPE. InterpretationFrontline HCWs had a significantly increased risk of COVID-19 infection, highest among HCWs who reused PPE or had inadequate access to PPE. However, adequate supplies of PPE did not completely mitigate high-risk exposures. FundingZoe Global Ltd., Wellcome Trust, EPSRC, NIHR, UK Research and Innovation, Alzheimers Society, NIH, NIOSH, Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness RESEARCH IN CONTEXTO_ST_ABSEvidence before this studyC_ST_ABSThe prolonged course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, coupled with sustained challenges supplying adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline healthcare workers (HCW), have strained global healthcare systems in an unprecedented fashion. Despite growing awareness of this problem, there are few data to inform policy makers on the risk of COVID-19 among HCWs and the impact of PPE on their disease burden. Prior reports of HCW infections are based on cross sectional data with limited individual-level information on risk factors for infection. A PubMed search for articles published between January 1, 2020 and May 5, 2020 using the terms "covid-19", "healthcare workers", and "personal protective equipment," yielded no population-scale investigations exploring this topic. Added value of this studyIn a prospective study of 2,135,190 individuals, frontline HCWs may have up to a 12-fold increased risk of reporting a positive COVID-19 test. Compared with those who reported adequate availability of PPE, frontline HCWs with inadequate PPE had a 31% increase in risk. However, adequate availability of PPE did not completely reduce risk among HCWs caring for COVID-19 patients. Implications of all the available evidenceBeyond ensuring adequate availability of PPE, additional efforts to protect HCWs from COVID-19 are needed, particularly as lockdown is lifted in many regions of the world.
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Hypoxic-ischemic brain damage is a serious complication of perinatal asphyxia. Enriched environment is the living condi-tions for the promotion of feeling, cognition and behavior. Enriched environment may promote the repairing of hypoxic-ischemic brain dam-age in term of praxiology, morphology and molecular biology, that enriched environment may regulate the secretion and release of various factors, and enhance synaptic plasticity, induce neuron regeneration, inhibit its apoptosis, and result in ethological and morphological recov-ery.
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Objective To investigate the effect of electro-acupuncture pretreatment on content of interleukin (IL)-1βand IL-6 in serum and ischemic penumbra, and apoptosis in ischemic penumbra in rats after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. Methods Thirty-six male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham group (n=12), model group (n=12), and electro-acupuncture pretreatment group (n=12). The middle cerebral arteries were occluded for 120 minutes and reperfused. Twenty-four hours after reperfusion, the level of IL-1βand IL-6 in serum and brain tissue was detected with enzyme-linked immunosorbent, and apoptosis of ischemic penumbra was detected with TU-NEL. Results The content of IL-1βand IL-6 in the serum and brain tissue, and the number of TUNEL-positive cells decreased in the elec-tro-acupuncture pretreatment group compared with that in the model group (P<0.01). Conclusion Electro-acupuncture pretreatment may in-hibit inflammatory response and apoptosis in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury.
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Objective To study the effect of cluster needling of scalp acupuncture combined with rehabilitation on neurological function and expression of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and angiostatin (AS) in rats after focal cerebral ischemia. Methods 90 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham operation group, model group, acupuncture treatment group, rehabilitation treatment group and acupuncture and rehabilitation treatment group, each group was further divided into 3 days, 7 days and 14 days subgroups (n=6). Permanent cerebral ischemia rat model was established according to Longa's method. The model group and the sham operation group accept-ed no treatment, the acupuncture treatment group was treated by cluster needling of scalp acupuncture, the rehabilitation treatment group re-ceived the treadmill training, the acupuncture and rehabilitation treatment group was treated by acupuncture and rehabilitation therapy. 3 days, 7 days, 14 days after operation, the neural function was evaluated with the modified Neurological Severity Score (mNSS), the expres-sion levels of bFGF and AS proteins were detected by Western blotting. Results Compared with the model group, the acupuncture treatment group and the rehabilitation treatment group, mNSS decreased, the expression of bFGF protein increased, and the expression of AS protein decreased in the acupuncture and rehabilitation treatment group 3 days, 7 days, 14 days after operation (P<0.05). Conclusion Acupuncture and rehabilitation therapy can reduce the neurological function defect in rats with focal cerebral ischemia, which may be related to the up-regulation of bFGF protein expression and down-regulation of AS protein expression.
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@#Objective To study the effect of cluster needling of scalp acupuncture combined with rehabilitation on neurological function and expression of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and angiostatin (AS) in rats after focal cerebral ischemia. Methods 90 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham operation group, model group, acupuncture treatment group, rehabilitation treatment group and acupuncture and rehabilitation treatment group, each group was further divided into 3 days, 7 days and 14 days subgroups (n=6). Permanent cerebral ischemia rat model was established according to Longa's method. The model group and the sham operation group accepted no treatment, the acupuncture treatment group was treated by cluster needling of scalp acupuncture, the rehabilitation treatment group received the treadmill training, the acupuncture and rehabilitation treatment group was treated by acupuncture and rehabilitation therapy. 3 days, 7 days, 14 days after operation, the neural function was evaluated with the modified Neurological Severity Score (mNSS), the expression levels of bFGF and AS proteins were detected by Western blotting. Results Compared with the model group, the acupuncture treatment group and the rehabilitation treatment group, mNSS decreased, the expression of bFGF protein increased, and the expression of AS protein decreased in the acupuncture and rehabilitation treatment group 3 days, 7 days, 14 days after operation (P<0.05). Conclusion Acupuncture and rehabilitation therapy can reduce the neurological function defect in rats with focal cerebral ischemia, which may be related to the upregulation of bFGF protein expression and down-regulation of AS protein expression.
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A novel system is proposed to control the liquid nitrogen cooling and radio frequency heating of tissue to achieve effective thermal ablation in the treatment using fuzzy logic controller and fuzzy logic PID type controller separately. Results of ex-vivo pig liver experiments demonstrate that this system is useful and could p control the desired treatment procedure.