Socioeconomic disparities in treatment and survival in patients with hypopharyngeal malignancy.

BACKGROUND: This retrospective study utilizes The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database to investigate socioeconomic factors leading to treatment disparities in hypopharyngeal malignancy. METHODS: Treatment was compared to National Cancer Care Network guidelines. Novel analyses, including logistic modeling, allowed survival analysis and identification of socioeconomic variables not previously considered in staging and management guidelines. RESULTS: Black and older patients, and residence in low-income areas predict lower likelihood of standard therapy (p < 0.05). Early-stage disease and standard therapy correlate with improved survival (p < 0.001). Medicaid, advanced age, advanced disease, and treatment outside of consensus guidelines correlated with lower survival (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: There are clear socioeconomic factors impacting treatment and survival in hypopharyngeal malignancies. Standard therapy affords superior survival rate. Black, low socioeconomic status, and older patients are less likely to receive standard therapy. Education and language isolation do not predict treatment or survival. Understanding these discrepancies is paramount to palliating disparities in healthcare.

Low particle concentrations of nanoplastics impair the gut health of medaka.

The environmental occurrence of nanoplastics (NPs) is now evident but their long-term impacts on organisms are unclear, limiting ecological and health risk assessment. We hypothesized that chronic exposure to low particle concentrations of NPs can result in gut-associated toxicity, and subsequently affect survival of fish. Japanese medaka Oryzias latipes were exposed to polystyrene NPs (diameter 100 nm; 0, 10, 104, and 106 items/L) for 3 months, and histopathology, digestive and antioxidant enzymes, immunity, intestinal permeability, gut microbiota, and mortality were assessed. NP exposures caused intestinal lesions, and increased intestinal permeability of the gut. The trypsin, lipase, and chymotrypsin activities were increased, but the amylase activity was decreased. Oxidative damage was reflected by the decreased superoxide dismutase and alkaline phosphatase and increased malondialdehyde, catalase, and lysozyme. The integrated biomarkers response index values of all NP-exposed medaka were significantly increased compared to the control group. Moreover, NP exposures resulted in a decrease of diversity and changed the intestinal microbiota composition. Our results provide new evidence that long-term NPs exposure impaired the health of fish at extremely low particle concentrations, suggesting the need for long-term toxicological studies resembling environmental particle concentrations when assessing the risk of NPs.

Chronic nanoplastic exposure induced oxidative and immune stress in medaka gonad.

Nanoplastic (NP) pollution is a global issue because of its widespread occurrence and potential toxicity. Many studies have investigated the impacts of the short-term toxicity of NPs on organisms. Until now, only a few studies have assessed the toxicological effects of prolonged exposure to NPs at low concentrations in fish. In this study, the effects of NPs (nano-polystyrene microspheres, diameter: 100 nm) on immune and oxidative stress response, histopathology, and survival in medaka were evaluated. The effects of different concentrations (0, 10, 104, and 106 particles/L) of nanoplastics were studied in medaka Oryzias latipes after 3 months of exposure. Lysozyme enzyme activity, oxidative stress-related biomarkers (i.e., superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase), and malondialdehyde levels were decreased under NP exposure. The gonadal histology showed that high NP exposure (106 particles/L) inhibited the process of spermatogenesis and oogenesis processes, implying delayed maturation of the gonad. Furthermore, the IBR and PCA analysis revealed the potential biotoxicity of NPs and the total survival rate of medaka was significantly reduced due to the long-term exposure to NPs. Overall, prolonged exposure to low concentrations of NPs is harmful to the health of medaka gonads. In the long run, this may threaten the fish reproduction and population, suggesting the need for long-term toxicological studies to predict the aquatic animal health in nature.

[Application of hand-use ProTaper instruments in endodontic treatment of molar canals].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the application of hand-use ProTaper instruments in endodontic treatment of molar canals. METHODS: A total of 203 permanent molars were randomly divided into the experimental group (99 molars) and control group (104 molars) prepared by hand-use ProTaper instruments and standard stainless steel K-file, respectively. The molars in the two groups were obturated by cold lateral condensation technique. The root canal preparation and obturation were evaluated by radiograph, and the working time of preparation and post-operative emergencies were analyzed. RESULTS: The preparation time in the experimental group was obviously shorter than that in the control group (P<0.01). The rate of satisfactory effect was significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group (P<0.01), and the rate of post-operative emergencies was significantly lower in the experimental group (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: The application of hand-use ProTaper instruments may improve the effect of root canal treatment of the molars and shorten the working time and reduce the post-operative emergencies.