Abdominal aortic calcification, bone mineral density and fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

INTRODUCTION: Abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) is associated with low bone mass and increased fracture risk. Two previous meta-analyses have investigated the association between AAC and fracture. However, these meta-analyses only identified articles until December 2016, undertook limited searches and did not explore potential sources of between-study heterogeneity. We aim to undertake a sensitive and comprehensive assessment of the relationship between AAC, bone mineral density (BMD) as well as prevalent and incident fractures. METHODS: We will search MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science core collection and Google Scholar (top 200 articles sorted by relevance) from their inception to 1 June 2018. Reference lists of included studies and previous systematic reviews will be hand searched for additional eligible studies. Retrospective and prospective cohort studies (cross-sectional, case-control and longitudinal) reporting the association between AAC, BMD and fracture at any site will be included. At least two investigators will independently: (A) evaluate study eligibility and extract data, with a third investigator to adjudicate when discrepancies occur, (B) assess study quality by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for each cohort/study. The meta-analysis will be reported in adherence to the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology criteria. AAC will be grouped as either: (1) AAC present or absent, (2) AAC categorised as \u27low\u27 (referent-lowest reported group) versus \u27high\u27 (all other groups) or (3) dose-response when AAC was assessed in ≥3 groups. Where primary event data were reported in individual studies, pooled risk differences and risk ratios with 95% CI will be calculated, from which, a summary estimate will be determined using DerSimonian-Laird random effects models. For the AAC and BMD pooled analyses, estimates will be expressed as standardised mean difference with 95% CI. We will examine the likelihood of publication bias and where possible, investigate potential reasons for between-study heterogeneity using subgroup analyses and meta-regression. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study will be submitted to a peer- reviewed journal and disseminated via research presentations. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42018088019

Prognostic value of abdominal aortic calcification: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of observational studies

Background The prognostic importance of abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) viewed on noninvasive imaging modalities remains uncertain. Methods and Results We searched electronic databases (MEDLINE and Embase) until March 2018. Multiple reviewers identified prospective studies reporting AAC and incident cardiovascular events or all‐cause mortality. Two independent reviewers assessed eligibility and risk of bias and extracted data. Summary risk ratios (RRs) were estimated using random‐effects models comparing the higher AAC groups combined (any or more advanced AAC) to the lowest reported AAC group. We identified 52 studies (46 cohorts, 36 092 participants); only studies of patients with chronic kidney disease (57%) and the general older‐elderly (median, 68 years; range, 60–80 years) populations (26%) had sufficient data to meta‐analyze. People with any or more advanced AAC had higher risk of cardiovascular events (RR, 1.83; 95% CI, 1.40–2.39), fatal cardiovascular events (RR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.44–2.39), and all‐cause mortality (RR, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.55–2.53). Patients with chronic kidney disease with any or more advanced AAC had a higher risk of cardiovascular events (RR, 3.47; 95% CI, 2.21–5.45), fatal cardiovascular events (RR, 3.68; 95% CI, 2.32–5.84), and all‐cause mortality (RR, 2.40; 95% CI, 1.95–2.97). Conclusions Higher‐risk populations, such as the elderly and those with chronic kidney disease with AAC have substantially greater risk of future cardiovascular events and poorer prognosis. Providing information on AAC may help clinicians understand and manage patients\u27 cardiovascular risk better

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Systematic review and cumulative analysis of oncologic and functional outcomes after robot-assisted radical cystectomy

CONTEXT: Although open radical cystectomy (ORC) is still the standard approach, laparoscopic radical cystectomy (LRC) and robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC) are increasingly performed. OBJECTIVE: To report on a systematic literature review and cumulative analysis of pathologic, oncologic, and functional outcomes of RARC in comparison with ORC and LRC. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched using a free-text protocol including the terms robot-assisted radical cystectomy or da Vinci radical cystectomy or robot* radical cystectomy. RARC case series and studies comparing RARC with either ORC or LRC were collected. A cumulative analysis was conducted. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: The searches retrieved 105 papers, 87 of which reported on pathologic, oncologic, or functional outcomes. Most series were retrospective and had small case numbers, short follow-up, and potential patient selection bias. The lymph node yield during lymph node dissection was 19 (range: 3-55), with half of the series following an extended template (yield range: 11-55). The lymph node-positive rate was 22%. The performance of lymphadenectomy was correlated with surgeon and institutional volume. Cumulative analyses showed no significant difference in lymph node yield between RARC and ORC. Positive surgical margin (PSM) rates were 5.6% (1-1.5% in pT2 disease and 0-25% in pT3 and higher disease). PSM rates did not appear to decrease with sequential case numbers. Cumulative analyses showed no significant difference in rates of surgical margins between RARC and ORC or RARC and LRC. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy use ranged from 0% to 31%, with adjuvant chemotherapy used in 4-29% of patients. Only six series reported a mean follow-up of >36 mo. Three-year disease-free survival (DFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS) rates were 67-76%, 68-83%, and 61-80%, respectively. The 5-yr DFS, CSS, and OS rates were 53-74%, 66-80%, and 39-66%, respectively. Similar to ORC, disease of higher pathologic stage or evidence of lymph node involvement was associated with worse survival. Very limited data were available with respect to functional outcomes. The 12-mo continence rates with continent diversion were 83-100% in men for daytime continence and 66-76% for nighttime continence. In one series, potency was recovered in 63% of patients who were evaluable at 12 mo. CONCLUSIONS: Oncologic and functional data from RARC remain immature, and longer-term prospective studies are needed. Cumulative analyses demonstrated that lymph node yields and PSM rates were similar between RARC and ORC. Conclusive long-term survival outcomes for RARC were limited, although oncologic outcomes up to 5 yr were similar to those reported for ORC. PATIENT SUMMARY: Although open radical cystectomy (RC) is still regarded as the standard treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer, laparoscopic and robot-assisted RCs are becoming more popular. Templates of lymph node dissection, lymph node yields, and positive surgical margin rates are acceptable with robot-assisted RC. Although definitive comparisons with open RC with respect to oncologic or functional outcomes are lacking, early results appear comparable

Systematic review and cumulative analysis of perioperative outcomes and complications after robot-assisted radical cystectomy

CONTEXT: Although open radical cystectomy (ORC) is still the standard approach, laparoscopic radical cystectomy (LRC) and robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC) have gained popularity. OBJECTIVE: To report a systematic literature review and cumulative analysis of perioperative outcomes and complications of RARC in comparison with ORC and LRC. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched using a free-text protocol including the terms robot-assisted radical cystectomy or da Vinci radical cystectomy or robot* radical cystectomy. RARC case series and studies comparing RARC with either ORC or LRC were collected. Cumulative analysis was conducted. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: The searches retrieved 105 papers. According to the different diversion type, overall mean operative time ranged from 360 to 420 min. Similarly, mean blood loss ranged from 260 to 480 ml. Mean in-hospital stay was about 9 d for all diversion types, with consistently high readmission rates. In series reporting on RARC with either extracorporeal or intracorporeal conduit diversion, overall 90-d complication rates were 59% (high-grade complication: 15%). In series reporting RARC with intracorporeal continent diversion, the overall 30-d complication rate was 45.7% (high-grade complication: 28%). Reported mortality rates were ≤3% for all diversion types. Comparing RARC and ORC, cumulative analyses demonstrated shorter operative time for ORC, whereas blood loss and in-hospital stay were better with RARC (all p values <0.003). Moreover, 90-d complication rates of any-grade and 90-d grade 3 complication rates were lower for RARC (all p values <0.04), whereas high-grade complication and mortality rates were similar. CONCLUSIONS: RARC can be performed safely with acceptable perioperative outcome, although complications are common. Cumulative analyses demonstrated that operative time was shorter with ORC, whereas RARC may provide some advantages in terms of blood loss and transfusion rates and, more limitedly, for postoperative complication rates over ORC and LRC. PATIENT SUMMARY: Although open radical cystectomy (RC) is still regarded as a standard treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer, laparoscopic and robot-assisted RC are becoming more popular. Robotic RC can be safely performed with acceptably low risk of blood loss, transfusion, and intraoperative complications; however, as for open RC, the risk of postoperative complications is high, including a substantial risk of major complication and reoperation

Paradigm for product design conceptualization using case based reasoning

With the increase in received competition and slowing down in technological advancement, the shift in manufacturers’ focus on redesigning existing products to reduce lead time to market has put CBR (Case Based Reasoning) in the limelight, thus expanding the demand for its applications. Conventional CBR systems promote the revision of existing idea to satisfy the current design requirements, but often lacks of the collaborative aspect of the existing web-based manufacturing systems. This report describes the concept of a web-based CBR system and its impact on the roles of the typical case based reasoning system in the product design conceptualization. In addition, the integration of the web technology through AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and eXtensible Markup Language) and SQL (Structured Query Language) databases contributed to the new paradigm for the CBR system. Through the implementation of the distributed CBR system, it depicted how the processing capability of the CBR functions transcends geographical boundaries in the context of light fixture design. Despite the domain specific application, the processing capability can be expanded to include other categories of product designs due the flexibility of the system. Improvement to product design quality and reduction in time-to-market are some of the benefits yielded through the utilization of the distributed CBR system, bridging the communication gaps between the designer and engineers. The limitations of this web-based CBR system are discussed and potential research areas such as multimedia data mining, extensive 3D model handlers and clustering of case bases are identified as an improvement to the current CBR system.Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering

Contextualism of Mosque Architecture in the City: Case Study of the Abu Bakar Mosque in Bangsar

This research identifies the issues related to the contextualism of mosque architecture towards its urban setting as well as how it translates into inclusivism into the social structure. The main aims of the research is to evaluate the architectural contextualism from the perspective of form and design against the backdrop of the urban fabric and evaluating the contextualism of social inclusivism in the mosque architecture from the perspective of the non-Muslim society participation with the Muslim society. A case study of the Abu Bakar Mosque in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur was conducted via observation and interviews with the mosque management. The findings shows that through time the visionary management has turned the mosque in terms of its activities and design in context towards its urban setting as well as into inclusivism within the social structure Â

Prevalence and Determinants of Adherence to Oral Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy among Breast Cancer Patients in Singapore.

10.4103/2347-5625.212864Asia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing44283-28

Supplemental material for User acceptance of an app-based adherence intervention: Perspectives from patients taking oral anticancer medications

<p>Supplemental material for User acceptance of an app-based adherence intervention: Perspectives from patients taking oral anticancer medications by Eskinder Eshetu Ali, Sharlene Si Ling Chan, Jo Lene Leow, Lita Chew and Kevin Yi-Lwern Yap in Journal of Oncology Pharmacy Practice</p