Open Access DOI:10.23937/2572-3243.1510096
A Low Vitamin A Diet Decreases Skeletal Muscle Performance
Alexis Ruiz, Christoph Bachmann, Martina Franchini, Sofia Benucci, Francesco Zorzato and Susan Treves
Article Type: Original Article | First Published: May 19, 2021
Vitamin A (retinol) is an essential lipid-soluble vitamin important for a number of biological functions. In mice, reduction of its dietary content by substituting standard rodent chow with a chow containing 5 times less vitamin A and feeding mice for two generations with this modified diet, results in the depletion of all-trans- retinoic acid. In the present study we investigated if the low vitamin A diet affects skeletal muscle function. Mice fed the low vitamin A diet ran significantly less a...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2474-3658/1510208
A Case Report of COVID-19 Fatality in a Nigerian Child without Apparent Comorbidity
Festus Dele Akeredolu, MBBS,FMCPaed, Sunday Ochapa Onazi, BM,BCh, FWACP(paed), Usman Muhammad Waziri, MBBS,FMCPaed, Alfred Tume, MBBS,FWCS and Kelechi Obi, MBBS
Article Type: Case Report | First Published: May 17, 2021
As community transmission of COVID 19 peaks in our environment, more children are presenting with moderate to severe disease, as against the earlier notion of asymptomatic to mild disease severity in children. Mortality from COVID-19 infection in children with no apparent comorbidity is still rare. Our aim is to describe a fatal case of COVID-19 in a Nigerian girl with no background medical conditions. The 8-year-old girl presented with fever, cough and difficulty with breathing. She was febrile...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2474-3658/1510207
Risk Factors for Surgical Site Infection Following Ventriculoperitoneal Shunting
Fabiana Guerra Pimenta, Roberta Maia de Castro Romanelli, Paulo Henrique Orlandi Mourão, Maria Letícia Barbosa Braga, Soraya Rodrigues de Almeida Sanches, Alexandre Varella Giannetti and Wanessa Trindade Clemente
Article Type: Original Article | First Published: May 17, 2021
Ventriculoperitoneal shunting (VPS) is a neurosurgical procedure used to treat hydrocephalus. However, after this procedure, the surgical site infection rates and associated risk factors remain unclear. Most studies do not apply clear criteria for the definition of surgical site infection (SSI), hindering its clinical applicability. We conducted a retrospective, case-control study to evaluate the risk factors for SSI after VPS. The National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) criteria were used to ...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2474-3690/1510060
Midodrine for Prevention of Intradialytic Hypotension in High Risk Patients at a Tertiary Referral Hospital: A Retrospective Study
Saja AL-Habardi, Maryam AL-Dhaefi, Mohammed AL-Essa, Maha AL-Ammari, Yousef AL-Rajhi and Rami Bustami
Article Type: Original Article | First Published: May 27, 2021
Intradialysis hypotension (IDH) is the most common complication during hemodialysis procedure. Midodrine, an oral α-1 adrenergic agonist, is commonly used to prevent IDH. However, limited data is available to demonstrate midodrine effectiveness in prevention of IDH in high-risk hemodialysis patients. To evaluate the effectiveness of using midodrine in patients receiving hemodialysis concerning the incidence of IDH. Also, we aimed to explore the appropriate dose for midodrine use to prevent IDH....
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5858/1510112
Hospital Induced Deconditioning
Jiya Liz Peter, MBBS
Article Type: Patient Care | First Published: May 24, 2021
Medicine is considered to be one of the most noble as well as premium profession. We love saving lives each day and cherish a deep sense of accomplishment in what we do. However, the experience of being in a hospital is quite different from a patient’s perspective, and I hope to talk more about the impact here. Deconditioning is a lesser known subject that factors the psychological as well as physiological impact on an individual. While deconditioning could occur anywhere, it is quite commonly...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2643-4563/1710029
Epitope Spreading and the Efficacy of Immune Checkpoint Inhibition in Cancer
W. Robert Liu, PhD and David E. Fisher, MD, PhD
Article Type: Commentary | First Published: May 28, 2021
Therapeutic antibodies that target immune checkpoints have revolutionized cancer therapy. While these checkpoints restrain T cell activation in response to antigen engagement, checkpoint inhibitors de-repress such tumor-associated T cells, and have generated major clinical responses in multiple tumor types. Nonetheless, the vast majority of cancers remain resistant to this therapeutic approach as currently deployed, either through intrinsic or acquired resistance mechanisms. One key question inv...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2643-3885/1710055
Contact Mechanics Modeling of the Semmes-Weinstein Monofilament on the Plantar Surface of the Foot
Vitale Kyle Castellano, Robert L Jackson, and Michael E Zabala
Article Type: Prospective, Descriptive Study | First Published: May 27, 2021
Neuropathy is a disease which results in the loss of sensation in the extremities. One method for assessing the degree of neuropathy is with a monofilament evaluator which buckles at a prescribed force depending on the filament diameter. However, as this assessment is conducted by the clinician’s hand, the true force delivered is unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to model the effects of both insertion depth and monofilament diameter on the contact force and normal stress produc...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2377-3634/1410142
The Effects of Vitamin E on Non-proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
En Yng Ng, Yilynn Chiew, Sonia Chew Wen Phang, Yeek Tat Ng, Gerald Chen Jie Tan, Uma D Palanisamy, Badariah Ahmad and Khalid Abdul Kadir
Article Type: Research Article | First Published: May 23, 2021
Vitamin E, which exhibits anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-thrombogenesis properties, has been shown to improve retinal blood flow in diabetic retinopathy. This study aim to investigate the effects of Vitamin E (Tocovid) on retinal microhaemorrhages and diabetic macular edema (DME) in diabetic retinopathy. A total of 30 participants were randomly allocated to the treatment group or placebo group. The participants in the treatment group (n = 19) received 200 mg Tocovid twice daily while ...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2377-3634/1410141
Systematic Review with Meta-analysis: Denosumab in Glucocorticoids Induced Osteoporosis
Mariya M El Akkawi and Ashish Shrestha
Article Type: Meta Analysis | First Published: May 17, 2021
American College of Rheumatology recommends Bisphosphonates as the first choice drug for Glucocorticoids Induced Osteoporosis (GIOP). But denosumab is the promising drug that is recommended as the first choice for post-menopausal osteoporosis. This study was conducted to light up the efficacy and safety of denosumab compared to bisphosphonates in GIOP. Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), retrospective, prospective observational Studies, conference abstracts were searched in PubMed, Web of Scien...