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Evidence from previous coronavirus outbreaks has shown that infected patients are at risk for developing psychiatric and mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances. To construct a comprehensive picture of the mental health status in COVID‐19 patients, we conducted a systematic review and random‐effects meta‐analysis to assess the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances in this population. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, Wanfang Data, Wangfang Med Online, CNKI, and CQVIP for relevant articles, and we included 31 studies (n = 5153) in our analyses. We found that the pooled prevalence of depression was 45% (95% CI: 37–54%, I2 = 96%), the pooled prevalence of anxiety was 47% (95% CI: 37–57%, I2 = 97%), and the pooled prevalence of sleeping disturbances was 34% (95% CI: 19–50%, I2 = 98%). We did not find any significant differences in the prevalence estimates between different genders; however, the depression and anxiety prevalence estimates varied based on different screening tools. More observational studies assessing the mental wellness of COVID‐19 outpatients and COVID‐19 patients from countries other than China are needed to further examine the psychological implications of COVID‐19 infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To perform a network meta-analysis (NMA) on the efficacy of antiosteoporotic interventions in the prevention of vertebral and non-vertebral fractures in adult patients taking glucocorticoids (GCs). Methods We performed NMAs based on a prospectively developed protocol. A librarian-assisted database search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and Chinese databases was conducted for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing antiosteoporotic interventions in adult patients taking GCs. Outcomes were vertebral and non-vertebral fracture incidences. Results We included 56 RCTs containing 6479 eligible patients in our analysis. We found that alendronate and teriparatide were associated with decreased odds of both vertebral and non-vertebral fractures. Denosumab and risedronate were associated with decreased odds of vertebral fractures, while etidronate, ibandronate and alfacalcidol were associated with decreased odds of non-vertebral fractures. We observed low network heterogeneity as indicated by the I 2 statistic, and we did not detect evidence of publication bias. All outcomes were based on a moderate quality of evidence according to GRADE. Conclusion Bisphosphonates, teriparatide and denosumab are associated with decreased odds of fracture in patients undergoing GC therapy. Vitamin D metabolites and analogues (e.g. alfacalcidol) may have greater anti-fracture efficacy compared with plain vitamin D. Systematic Review Registration The International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO)—CRD42019127073 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, stable super-hydrophobic lauryl methacrylate (LMA) film on the surface of cotton fabrics was fabricated by a simple process of pulsed plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) with different duty cycles. The influence of duty cycles on the surface structure and properties of cotton fabrics was analyzed after a series of measurements. The results showed that water contact angles (WCAs) of samples were inversely proportional to the duty cycle values and exhibited the highest WCA (162°) at a duty cycle of 2%. The optimized washing durability of samples was obtained under the treatment of duty cycle of 25% and the WCA could still reach 127° after 15 laundering cycles. The formation of a micro-nano-composite structure and evenness of film could be observed by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Nevertheless, the sample, which was treated by plasma with a 25% duty cycle, had the best uniformity of film deposition. The results of attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy illustrated that the LMA monomer was grafted and deposited on the surface of cotton fabrics successfully in covalent binding after PECVD treatment, and this was supposed to be the cause of the washing stability of the films. The results indicated that cotton fabrics modified with the proposed method can exhibit excellent super-hydrophobicity and washing durability, while the duty cycle was an appreciable effect factor in the modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a super-hydrophobic cotton fabric was fabricated by low-pressure plasma-enhanced chemical vapor enhanced deposition (LP-PECVD) with lauryl methacrylate (LMA) as the functional monomer. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to analyze the changes of surface morphology and chemical composition of the cotton fabrics surface, respectively. A randomly wrinkled morphology was exhibited by SEM and AFM. The combination of the low surface energy film of LMA and micro-nano-scale structure resulted in the super-hydrophobicity of modified cotton fabrics. The reactive species in LMA/Ar plasma were studied by optical emission spectroscopy, and based on the results of the test, the reaction principle in the plasma reaction chamber was discussed. It was proved that the LMA film is polymerized by chemical bonds on the surface of cotton fibers. The water repellency, washing stability, water-vapor transmission, air permeability and tensile property of fabrics were also discussed. We found that a washing-stable and breathable super-hydrophobic cotton fabric can be achieved after treatment without decreasing the tensile property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rapid diagnosis of microbes in the burn wound is a big challenge in the medical field. Traditional biochemical detection techniques take hours or days to identify the species of contaminating and drug-resistant microbes. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is evaluated to address the need for a fast and sensitive method for the detection of bacterial contamination in liquids.Methods: Herin, we developed a novel technique which by using NIRS together with supporting vector machine (SVM), to identify the microbial species and drug-resistant microbes in LB medium, and to diagnose the wound colonization and wound infection models of pigs.Results: The device could recognize 100% of seven kinds of microbes and 99.47% of the multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), with a concentration of 109 cfu ml-1 in LB medium. The accuracy of the microbial identification in colonized and infected wounds in-situ was 100%. The detection limit of NIRS with SVM for the detection of S. aureus and Escherichia coli (E. coli) was 101 cfu ml-1 in LB medium. Identification time was less than 5 s.Conclusion: Our findings validate for the first time a novel technique aimed at the rapid, noncontacted, highly sensitive, and specific recognition of several microbial species including drug-resistant ones. This technique could represent a promising approach to identify diverse microbial species and a potential bedside device to rapidly diagnose infected wounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Propofol is one of the first-line sedative-hypnotic agents for critically ill adults requiring mechanical ventilation. While propofol can elevate triglyceride levels, and the latter is a risk factor for pancreatitis, the association between propofol and acute pancreatitis is unclear., Objectives: To determine the clinical impact and potential associations between propofol infusion, hypertriglyceridemia and acute pancreatitis., Methods: This is an observational multicenter study of adults (≥18 years old) admitted to an intensive care unit. requiring mechanical ventilation and receiving continuous propofol infusion for at least 24 hours. The primary outcomes were the frequency of hypertriglyceridemia and acute pancreatitis. Further analyses were done to determine the clinical impact of elevated triglyceride levels (i.e. sedation changes) and risk factors for pancreatitis development., Measurements and Main Results: Of 11,828 patients included, 33.2% (N=3922) had triglyceride levels measured, of whom 21.7% (N=851) had hypertriglyceridemia at 4.5 (SD 6.8) days after propofol initiation. Of those still requiring sedation, 70.4% (N=576/818) received alternative sedatives following hypertriglyceridemia. Pancreatitis occurred in 1.2% (N=47/3922) and was more frequent in those with hypertriglyceridemia (3.2%, 27/851 versus 0.7%, 20/3071; P<0.001). Following adjustment for potential confounding variables, each 100 mg/dL increase in triglyceride levels was associated with an 11% increase in risk of pancreatitis. Propofol dose was not associated with pancreatitis development., Conclusions: Acute pancreatitis is uncommon in patients receiving propofol infusion, and occurs over a wide range of triglyceride levels, indicating a multifactorial pathophysiology. Hypertriglyceridemia frequently prompts the use of alternative sedatives. Further study is needed to determine how to best monitor and treat hypertriglyceridemia in critically ill patients receiving propofol infusion.

Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of corticosteroids for the management of pediatric sepsis and septic shock., Data Sources: Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, CENTRAL, Web of Science (Core Collection) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure were systematically searched up to September 2023. Preprint servers, clinical trial registries and the reference sections of previous reviews were hand-searched., Study Selection: Randomized controlled trials that enrolled pediatric sepsis, septic shock or systemic inflammatory response syndrome patients, compared the use of corticosteroid regimens against standard sepsis care and reported eligible outcomes were included. Title/abstract and full-text screening were conducted in-duplicate., Data Extraction: Eligible articles were extracted using a standardized form in-duplicate. Outcomes extracted include mortality incidence, hospital and pediatric intensive care unit length of stay, duration of shock, incidence of adverse events and serious adverse events and incidence of corticosteroid-related adverse events. The risk of bias was assessed using the Revised Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for Assessing Randomized Trials., Data Synthesis: Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted, and the quality of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations approach. Sixteen randomized controlled trials (N = 973) were included. Corticosteroid use may be associated with reduced mortality risks (risk ratio: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.50-0.85), shorter length of hospital stay (MD: -3.76 days, 95% CI: -6.66 to -0.86), and shorter pediatric intensive care unit length of stay (MD -2.34 days, 95% CI: -3.14 to -1.53 days). Corticosteroid use may be associated with gastrointestinal bleeding but not a higher risk of secondary infection. No studies reported on serious adverse events. All findings were based on low to very low quality of evidence., Conclusions: While corticosteroids show promise for managing pediatric sepsis and septic shock, the question of how to select the best candidate and the most optimal regimen remains unanswered. Future trials need to focus on assessing corticosteroid-related adverse events and stratifying patient inclusion by sepsis subphenotypes., Competing Interests: The authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Oncological resection and reconstruction involving the lower extremities commonly lead to reoperations that impact patient outcomes and healthcare resources. This study aimed to develop a machine learning (ML) model to predict this reoperation risk., Methods: This study was conducted according to TRIPOD + AI. Data from the PARITY trial was used to develop ML models to predict the 1-year reoperation risk following lower extremity oncological resection and reconstruction. Six ML algorithms were tuned and calibrated based on fivefold cross-validation. The best-performing model was identified using classification and calibration metrics., Results: The polynomial support vector machine (SVM) model was chosen as the best-performing model. During internal validation, the SVM exhibited an AUC-ROC of 0.73 and a Brier score of 0.17. Using an optimal threshold that balances all quadrants of the confusion matrix, the SVM exhibited a sensitivity of 0.45 and a specificity of 0.81. Using a high-sensitivity threshold, the SVM exhibited a sensitivity of 0.68 and a specificity of 0.68. Total operative time was the most important feature for reoperation risk prediction., Conclusion: The models may facilitate reoperation risk stratification, allowing for better patient counseling and for physicians to implement measures that reduce surgical risks., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Surgical Oncology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objectives: A narrative expert review aiming to summarize the clinical epidemiology and management of critically ill patients with malignant hyperthermia (MH)., Data Sources: Medline searches were conducted to identify relevant articles describing the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and management of MH. Guidelines from key MH organizations were also incorporated into this review., Study Selection: Relevant studies regarding MH in both ICU and perioperative settings were reviewed., Data Extraction: Data from relevant studies were summarized and qualitatively assessed., Data Synthesis: MH is a severe reaction triggered by inhalational volatile anesthetics and succinylcholine in genetically susceptible patients. The condition is characterized by an early onset (min to hr) rise in temperature, hypercarbia, and muscular rigidity following exposure to triggering medications with potential complications of coagulopathy, rhabdomyolysis, and acute kidney injury. Acute management necessitates a coordinated multidisciplinary team approach with specific management using dantrolene, active cooling, and hyperventilation. A suspected MH reaction has important implications for future anesthetic exposure for both the patient and their family. All suspected reactions should be followed up at a specialized MH testing center using muscle contracture and genetic testing., Conclusions: Increasing use of inhalational anesthetics in the ICU underscores the need for enhanced education on the diagnosis and management of MH to ensure optimal patient sedation care and safety., Competing Interests: Drs. Riazi, Cuthbertson, and Jerath received support for article research from the University of Toronto; they received the Merit Award from the University of Toronto. Dr. Riazi is a board member of the Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the United States (MHAUS) and chair of the Professional Advisory Council (PAC) on Malignant Hyperthermia (MH). Dr. Pinyavat is the Medical Director of the MHAUS MH Hotline and member of the PAC. Drs. Slessarev, Cuthbertson, and Jerath are conducting research on the use of inhalation anesthetics in ICU settings (NCT04415060); they received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Ontario Government. Dr. Jerath disclosed off-label use of inhalational anesthetics. The remaining authors have disclosed that they do not have any potential conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Introduction Propofol is a widely used sedative-hypnotic agent for critically-ill patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). Despite its clinical benefits, propofol is associated with increased risks of hypertriglyceridemia. Early identification of patients at risk for propofol-associated hypertriglyceridemia is crucial for optimizing sedation strategies and preventing adverse outcomes. Machine learning (ML) models offer a promising approach to predict individualized patient risks of propofol-associated hypertriglyceridemia. Methods and analysis We propose the development of a ML model aimed at predicting the risk of propofol-associated hypertriglyceridemia in ICU patients receiving IMV. The study will utilize retrospective data from four Mayo Clinic sites. Nested cross-validation (CV) will be employed, with a 10-fold inner CV loop for model tuning and selection as well as an outer loop using leave-one-site-out CV for external validation. Feature selection will be conducted using Boruta and LASSO-penalized logistic regression. Data preprocessing steps include missing data imputation, feature scaling, and dimensionality reduction techniques. Six ML algorithms will be tuned and evaluated. Bayesian optimization will be used for hyperparameter selection. Global model explainability will be assessed using permutation importance, and local model explainability will be assessed using SHAP. Ethics and dissemination The proposed ML model aims to provide a reliable and interpretable tool for clinicians to predict the risk of propofol-associated hypertriglyceridemia in ICU patients. The final model will be deployed in a web-based clinical risk calculator. The model development process and performance measures obtained during nested cross-validation will be described in a study publication to be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal. The proposed study has received ethics approval from the Mayo Clinic Institutional Review Board (IRB #23-007416).

Objectives: To evaluate whether a focused, expert medication management intervention is feasible and potentially effective in preventing anticoagulation-related adverse events for patients transitioning from hospital to home., Design: Randomised, parallel design., Setting: Medical wards at six hospital sites in southern Ontario, Canada., Participants: Adults 18 years of age or older being discharged to home on an oral anticoagulant (OAC) to be taken for at least 4 weeks., Interventions: Clinical pharmacologist-led intervention, including a detailed discharge medication management plan, a circle of care handover and early postdischarge virtual check-up visits to 1 month with 3-month follow-up. The control group received the usual care., Outcomes Measures: Primary outcomes were study feasibility outcomes (recruitment, retention and cost per patient). Secondary outcomes included adverse anticoagulant safety events composite, quality of transitional care, quality of life, anticoagulant knowledge, satisfaction with care, problems with medications and health resource utilisation., Results: Extensive periods of restriction of recruitment plus difficulties accessing patients at the time of discharge negatively impacted feasibility, especially cost per patient recruited. Of 845 patients screened, 167 were eligible and 56 were randomised. The mean age (±SD) was 71.2±12.5 years, 42.9% females, with two lost to follow-up. Intervention patients were more likely to rate their ability to manage their OAC as improved (17/27 (63.0%) vs 7/22 (31.8%), OR 3.6 (95% CI 1.1 to 12.0)) and their continuity of care as improved (21/27 (77.8%) vs 2/22 (9.1%), OR 35.0 (95% CI 6.3 to 194.2)). Fewer intervention patients were taking one or more inappropriate medications (7 (22.5%) vs 15 (60%), OR 0.19 (95% CI 0.06 to 0.62))., Conclusion: This pilot randomised controlled trial suggests that a transitional care intervention at hospital discharge for older adults taking OACs was well received and potentially effective for some surrogate outcomes, but overly costly to proceed to a definitive large trial., Trial Registration Number: NCT02777047., Competing Interests: Competing interests: DMS has received honoraria paid indirectly to her research institute from AstraZeneca, BMS-Pfizer, Roche and Servier. DMS is supported by a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Anticoagulant Management of Cardiovascular Disease. The other authors declare no competing interests., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: The systematic review of clinical research papers is a labor-intensive and time-consuming process that often involves the screening of thousands of titles and abstracts. The accuracy and efficiency of this process are critical for the quality of the review and subsequent health care decisions. Traditional methods rely heavily on human reviewers, often requiring a significant investment of time and resources., Objective: This study aims to assess the performance of the OpenAI generative pretrained transformer (GPT) and GPT-4 application programming interfaces (APIs) in accurately and efficiently identifying relevant titles and abstracts from real-world clinical review data sets and comparing their performance against ground truth labeling by 2 independent human reviewers., Methods: We introduce a novel workflow using the Chat GPT and GPT-4 APIs for screening titles and abstracts in clinical reviews. A Python script was created to make calls to the API with the screening criteria in natural language and a corpus of title and abstract data sets filtered by a minimum of 2 human reviewers. We compared the performance of our model against human-reviewed papers across 6 review papers, screening over 24,000 titles and abstracts., Results: Our results show an accuracy of 0.91, a macro F 1 -score of 0.60, a sensitivity of excluded papers of 0.91, and a sensitivity of included papers of 0.76. The interrater variability between 2 independent human screeners was κ=0.46, and the prevalence and bias-adjusted κ between our proposed methods and the consensus-based human decisions was κ=0.96. On a randomly selected subset of papers, the GPT models demonstrated the ability to provide reasoning for their decisions and corrected their initial decisions upon being asked to explain their reasoning for incorrect classifications., Conclusions: Large language models have the potential to streamline the clinical review process, save valuable time and effort for researchers, and contribute to the overall quality of clinical reviews. By prioritizing the workflow and acting as an aid rather than a replacement for researchers and reviewers, models such as GPT-4 can enhance efficiency and lead to more accurate and reliable conclusions in medical research., (©Eddie Guo, Mehul Gupta, Jiawen Deng, Ye-Jean Park, Michael Paget, Christopher Naugler. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 12.01.2024.)

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of lopinavir-ritonavir (LPV/r) therapy in treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Materials & methods: Data from randomized and observational studies were included in meta-analyses. Primary outcomes were length of stay, time for SARS-CoV-2 test conversion, mortality, incidence of mechanical ventilation, time to body temperature normalization and incidence of adverse events. Results: Twenty-four studies (n = 10,718) were included. LPV/r demonstrated no significant benefit over the control groups in all efficacy outcomes. The use of LPV/r was associated with a significant increase in the odds of adverse events. Conclusion: Given the lack of efficacy and increased incidence of adverse events, the clinical use of LPV/r in hospitalized COVID-19 patients is not recommended., (© 2022 Future Medicine Ltd.)

Aims: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine, with or without azithromycin, in treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Materials & methods: Data from randomized and observational studies were included in a random-effects meta-analysis. Primary outcomes included time to negative conversion of SARS-CoV-2 tests, length of stay, mortality, incidence of mechanical ventilation, time to normalization of body temperature, incidence of adverse events and incidence of QT prolongations. Results: Fifty-one studies (n = 61,221) were included. Hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine showed no efficacy in all primary efficacy outcomes, but was associated with increased odds of QT prolongations. Conclusion: Due to a lack of efficacy and increased odds of cardiac adverse events, hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine should not be used for treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients., (© 2021 Future Medicine Ltd.)

The COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying infection control measures introduced significant disruptions to the routines of many higher education students around the world. It also deprived them of in-person counselling services and social support. These changes have put students at a greater risk of developing mental illness. The objective of this review is to assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and sleep disturbances in higher education students during the pandemic. A systematic search of English and Chinese databases was conducted current to January 1 st , 2021. The quality of included studies was evaluated using a modified Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Prevalence of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and sleep disturbances were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. Eighty-nine studies (n=1,441,828) were included. The pooled prevalence of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and sleep disturbances was 34%, 32% and 33%, respectively. The prevalence values differ based on geographical regions, diagnostic criteria, education level, undergraduate year of study, financial situation, living arrangements and gender. Overall, the prevalence of depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms synthesized in this study was higher compared to pre-pandemic prevalence in similar populations. Evidently, mental health screening and intervention should be a top priority for universities and colleges during the pandemic., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction/objectives: The objective of our systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) is to investigate which vitamin D and/or calcium regimen would yield the greatest increase in lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip bone mineral density (BMD) in adult patients undergoing glucocorticoid therapy., Method: We performed NMAs based on a prospectively developed protocol. A database search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, CINAHL, CENTRAL and Chinese databases were conducted for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Outcomes were percentage change in lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip BMD from baseline., Results: We included 16 RCTs containing 1073 eligible patients in our analysis. We found alfacalcidol+calcium to yield the greatest percentage increase in lumbar spine BMD (MD 6.05, 95% credible interval [CrI] - 4.18 to 16.18) compared to no treatment, and calcitriol+calcium to yield the greatest percentage increase in femoral neck BMD (MD 8.46, 95% CrI - 4.74 to 21.51) compared to no treatment. Cholecalciferol+calcium ranked first in terms of its ability to increase total hip BMD; however this finding needs to be interpreted with caution due to low sample sizes in the cholecalciferol+calcium treatment arm. None of the treatment arms ruled out the possibility of no effect for any outcome., Conclusions: Alfacalcidol and calcitriol were the most efficacious treatment arms for increasing lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD, respectively. Our findings need to be validated by further investigations using larger, better-designed RCTs. Key Points •The efficacy of calcium/vitamin D compounds was examined using network meta-analyses. •Alfacalcidol + calcium yielded the greatest increase in lumbar spine BMD, calcitriol + calcium yielded the greatest increase in femoral neck BMD. •Future guidelines should place greater emphasis on the efficacy of different vitamin D compounds.