alternative healthcare

PURPOSE: This study aims to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social determinants of health (SDOH) of marginalized racial/ethnic US population groups, specifically African Americans and Asians, by leveraging natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) techniques on race-related spatiotemporal social media text data. Specifically, this study establishes the extent to which Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and Gibbs Sampling Dirichlet Multinomial Mixture (GSDMM)-based topic modeling determines social determinants of health (SDOH) categories, and how adequately custom named-entity recognition (NER) detects key SDOH factors from a race/ethnicity-related Reddit data corpus...

The rising prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is posing major challenges for the healthcare systems of many countries, particularly in the Asia-Pacific Region, in which T2D can present at younger ages and lower body mass index when compared with Western nations. There is an important role for insulin therapy in the management of T2D in these nations, but available evidence suggests that insulin is under-utilized and often delayed, to the detriment of patient prognosis. The authors of this article gathered as an advisory panel (representative of some of the larger Asia-Pacific nations) to identify their local barriers to insulin use in T2D, and to discuss ways in which to address these barriers, with their outputs summarized herein...

PURPOSE: To develop a multidisciplinary outpatient rehabilitation intervention for people with neuromuscular diseases (NMD) based on the capability approach: capability care for persons with NMD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The development process is described using a framework of actions for intervention development. It has been an iterative process consisting of a design phase based on theoretical insights and project group discussions, and a refine phase involving input from relevant stakeholders...

Non-healing chronic diabetic wound treatment remains an unsolved healthcare challenge and still threatens patients' lives. Recently, hydrogel dressings based on natural biomaterials have been widely investigated to accelerate the healing of diabetic wounds. In this study, we introduce a bioactive hydrogel based on fish gelatin (FG) as a candidate for diabetic wound treatments, which is a recently emerged substitute for mammalian derived gelatin. The composite hydrogel simply fabricated with FG and oxidized hyaluronate (OHy) through Schiff base reaction could successfully accelerate wound healing due to their adequate mechanical stability and self-healing ability...

AIMS: Prediction and early detection of heart failure (HF) is crucial to mitigate its impact on quality of life, survival, and healthcare expenditure. Here, we explored the predictive value of serum metabolomics (168 metabolites detected by proton nuclear magnetic resonance [1 H-NMR] spectroscopy) for incident HF. METHODS AND RESULTS: Leveraging data of 68 311 individuals and >0.8 million person-years of follow-up from the UK Biobank cohort, we (i) fitted per-metabolite Cox proportional hazards models to assess individual metabolite associations, and (ii) trained and validated elastic net models to predict incident HF using the serum metabolome...

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a change in healthcare models. The aim of this study was to evaluate patient acceptance of telehealth as an alternative to physical consultations, and to identify factors predicting higher satisfaction. This was an observational, cross-sectional, multi-center, international study. All consecutive patients for whom telehealth was used in consultations between April and July 2020 were considered for inclusion. The validated Telehealth Usability Questionnaire (TUQ) was used as a model to measure patient acceptance...

BACKGROUND: Neonatal sepsis poses a critical healthcare concern, as multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) infections are on the rise. Understanding the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and underlying resistance mechanism is crucial for effective treatment. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to comprehensively investigate the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of K. pneumoniae strains responsible for neonatal sepsis using in silico tools. We sought to identify trends and explore reasons for varying resistance levels, particularly for β-lactams and fluoroquinolone...

In this study, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were bioreduced from Ajuga bracteosa, a medicinal herb known for its therapeutic properties against various diseases. Different fractions of the plant extract were used, including the methanolic fraction (ABMF), the n-hexane fraction (ABHF), the chloroform fraction (ABCF), and the aqueous extract for AuNPs synthesis. The characterization of AuNPs was performed using UV-Vis spectrophotometry, FT-IR, XRD, EDX, and TEM. UV-Vis spectroscopy confirmed the formation of AuNPs, with peaks observed at 555 nm...

Biofilms are complex communities of microorganisms enclosed in a self-produced extracellular matrix, posing a significant threat to different sectors, including healthcare and industry. This review provides an overview of the challenges faced due to biofilm formation and different novel strategies that can combat biofilm formation. Bacteria inside the biofilm exhibit increased resistance against different antimicrobial agents, including conventional antibiotics, which can lead to severe problems in livestock and animals, including humans...

BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), leading to a global pandemic. The molecular diagnosis of this virus is mostly performed by collecting upper respiratory samples, which has many disadvantages, including patient discomfort and the need for trained healthcare professionals. Although saliva has emerged as a more comfortable sample, the use of additives to preserve viral RNA is expensive and, in some cases, difficult for self-collection...

Non-healing wounds and skin losses constitute significant challenges for modern medicine and pharmacology. Conventional methods of wound treatment are effective in basic healthcare; however, they are insufficient in managing chronic wound and large skin defects, so novel, alternative methods of therapy are sought. Among the potentially innovative procedures, the use of skin substitutes may be a promising therapeutic method. Skin substitutes are a heterogeneous group of materials that are used to heal and close wounds and temporarily or permanently fulfill the functions of the skin...

After COVID-19 emerged, alternative methods to laboratory tests for the individualized prediction of SARS-CoV-2 were developed in several world regions. The objective of this investigation was to develop models for the individualized prediction of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a large municipality of Mexico. The study included data from 36,949 patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection who received a diagnostic tested at health centers of the Alvaro Obregon Jurisdiction in Mexico City registered in the Epidemiological Surveillance System for Viral Respiratory Diseases (SISVER-SINAVE)...

Breast cancer is the most common cause of mortality due to cancer for women both in Lithuania and worldwide. The chances of survival after diagnosis differ significantly depending on the stage of disease at the time of diagnosis and other factors. One way to estimate survival is to construct a Kaplan-Meier estimate for each factor value separately. However, in cases when it is impossible to observe a large number of patients (for example, in the case of countries with lower numbers of inhabitants), dividing the data into subsets, say, by stage at diagnosis, may lead to results where some subsets contain too few data, thus causing the results of a Kaplan-Meier (or any other) method to become statistically incredible...

Despite its positive impact on physical and mental well-being, adults may refrain from performing regular physical activity, due to inadequate time, accessibility, or funds. Yet remote platforms could overcome such obstacles and increase participation. This study evaluated the effectiveness of remote-synchronous group-Pilates classes compared to in-studio classes in healthy sedentary women. In a randomized controlled design, 40 women, aged 20-45, were assigned to a Zoom or studio group-Pilates training. The intervention included twice-weekly 45 min sessions over an eight-week period...

BACKGROUND: Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous neoplasms that arise from the uterus affecting over 75% of women. However, there is a disparity with Black women having an increased prevalence of nearly 80%. Black women also experience increased symptom burden, including younger age at the time of diagnosis and increased number and volume of fibroids. Less is known about other ethnoracially diverse women such as Latinas and the potential cultural impacts on fibroid burden and treatment...

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to understand the experience of iron deficiency anaemia requiring oral iron in pregnancy and the factors affecting compliance with oral iron supplementation. Participants' understanding regarding the possible consequences of anaemia in pregnancy was also explored. Feedback on a proposed randomised controlled trial of daily versus alternate day oral iron in pregnancy was sought. MATERIALS & METHODS: Following ethical approval, fourteen semi-structured one-to-one interviews were carried out using an interview tool with open-ended questions...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) constitutes a significant public health challenge, with delayed diagnosis and underdiagnosis being pervasive issues. The United States Preventive Service Task Force recommends restricting COPD screening to symptomatic smokers, a focus that has exhibited limitations, leading to delayed diagnoses, and imposing a substantial burden on patients, their families, and the healthcare system. This paper explores an alternative approach, highlighting the potential utility of the COPD assessment test (CAT) score as a prescreening tool...

The pervasive employment of antibiotics has engendered the advent of drug-resistant bacteria, imperiling the well-being and health of both humans and animals. Infections precipitated by such multi-resistant bacteria, especially those induced by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, pervade hospital settings, constituting a grave menace to patient vitality. Antimicrobial peptides have garnered considerable attention as a potent countermeasure against multi-drug resistant bacteria. In preceding research endeavors, we identified an insect-derived antimicrobial peptide that, while possessing antimicrobial attributes, manifested suboptimal efficacy against drug-resistant gram-positive bacteria...

Glycosidic osmolytes are widespread natural compounds that protect microorganisms and their macromolecules from the deleterious effects of various environmental stresses. Their protective properties have attracted considerable interest for industrial applications, especially as active ingredients in cosmetics and healthcare products. In that regard, the osmolyte glucosylglycerate is somewhat overlooked. Glucosylglycerate is typically accumulated by certain organisms when they are exposed to high salinity and nitrogen starvation, and its potent stabilizing effects have been demonstrated in vitro...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Augmented reality (AR) has gained popularity in various sectors, including gaming, entertainment, and healthcare. The desire for improved surgical navigation within orthopaedic surgery has led to the evaluation of the feasibility and usability of AR in the operating room (OR). However, the safe and effective use of AR technology in the OR necessitates a proper understanding of its capabilities and limitations. This review aims to describe the fundamental elements of AR, highlight limitations for use within the field of orthopaedic surgery, and discuss potential areas for development...