Describing knowledge encounters in healthcare: a mixed studies systematic review and development of a classification

This review was self-funded

Review of screening studies for atrial fibrillation in rural populations of 11 countries

© 2017, Taylor and Francis Inc. All rights reserved. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cardiac arrhythmia, and pathological burden can be influenced by environmental factors. The rural environment may influence the burden of AF, although no systematic review studies have been conducted to address this issue. We performed a systematic review of AF screening studies conducted in rural global populations to determine the burden, risk factors, and screening methods surrounding AF in these settings. Out of the 1792 articles gathered from a keyword search of medical databases and reference lists, 18 publications from 11 countries were included in our analysis. The pooled prevalence of AF across the studies was 2.05% (95% confidence interval, 1.97%–2.13%) and ranged from 0.3% to 10.87%. Only one study utilized a handheld electrocardiogram to screen AF, while the rest used the 12-lead electrocardiogram. AF risk factors reported across studies varied and included increasing age, male gender, hypertension, diabetes, prior myocardial infarction or stroke, obesity, hyperlipidemia/hypercholesterolemia, alcohol consumption, and heart failure. However, none of the studies assessed all risk factors. We suggest that future research on AF in rural communities examine a complete checklist of AF risk factors to better understand their influence on AF burden and development. This will aid in understanding rural prevention strategies and the management of detected AF cases specific to rural areas. At present, the burden of AF in rural communities is poorly understood and has been underreported

Proteomic investigation of whole saliva in Wilson's disease

Wilson's disease is a rare inherited disorder of copper metabolism, manifesting hepatic, neurological and psychiatric symptoms. Early diagnosis is often unfeasible and a unique diagnostic test is currently inapplicable. We performed the qualitative/quantitative characterization of the salivary proteome/peptidome of 32 Wilson's disease patients by an integrated top-down/bottom-up approach. Patients exhibited significant higher levels of S100A9 and S100A8 proteoforms, and their oxidized forms with respect to controls. Oxidation occurred on methionine and tryptophan residues, and on the unique cysteine residue, in position 42 in S100A8, and 3 in S100A9, that generated glutathionylated, cysteinylated, sulfinic, sulfonic, and disulfide dimeric forms. Wilson's disease patient saliva showed high levels of two new fragments of the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor, and of α-defensins 2 and 4. Overall, the salivary proteome of Wilson's disease patients reflected oxidative stress and inflammatory conditions characteristic of the pathology, highlighting differences that could be useful clues of disease exacerbation