Fine particulate matter and incidence of metabolic syndrome in non-CVD patients: A nationwide population-based cohort study

Background

It has been reported that particulate matter (PM) is associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) while metabolic syndrome is also an important risk factor for CVD. However, few studies have investigated the epidemiological association between PM and metabolic syndrome.

Innovative Thinking on Endpoint Selection in Clinical Trials

ABSTRACT

In clinical trials, selection of appropriate study endpoints is critical for an accurate and reliable evaluation of safety and effectiveness of a test treatment under investigation. In practice, however, there are usually multiple endpoints available for measurement of disease status and/or therapeutic effect of the test treatment under study. For example, in cancer clinical trials, overall survival, response rate, and/or time to disease progression are usually considered as primary clinical endpoints for evaluation of safety and effectiveness of the test treatment under investigation. Once the study endpoints have been selected, sample size required for achieving a desired power is then determined. It, however, should be noted that different study endpoints may result in different sample sizes. In practice, it is usually not clear which study endpoint can best inform the disease status and measure the treatment effect. Moreover, different study endpoints may not translate one another although they may be highly correlated one another. In this article, we intend to develop an innovative endpoint namely therapeutic index based on a utility function to combine and utilize information collected from all study endpoints. Statistical properties and performances of the proposed therapeutic index are evaluated theoretically. A numerical example concerning a cancer clinical trial is given to illustrate the use of the proposed therapeutic index.     

医养结合型养老机构卫生服务质量指标体系构建研究

目的:构建基于SERVQUAL模型的医养结合型养老机构卫生服务质量评价指标体系。方法:围绕医养结合型养老机构卫生服务的概念、特性、内涵、内容等,采用文献研究法、半结构式访谈法、Delphi—AHP法等定性与定量相结合的研究方法,构建指标体系并确定指标权重。结果:构建了具有7个一级指标,27个二级指标和77个三级指标的养老机构卫生服务质量评价指标体系。指标体系三轮咨询专家权威系数Cr均高于0.84,专家综合权威性系数均高于0.83;总体专家协调系数Kendall W第一、二轮为0.309,第三轮为0.706,且均通过显著性检验;内容效度指数I-CVI介于0.90~1.00之间,S-CVI为0.94,kappa值均高于0.74;信度系数Cronbachα总体为0.972,各维度Cronbachα系数在0.792~0.921之间。评价指标体系具有较好的稳定性、可靠性和一致性。结论:本研究建立的评价指标体系有利于医养结合型养老机构全面建立贴近老年人卫生服务需求的内设医疗机构,改善机构内卫生服务质量。在对指标体系进行应用时,可转化为机构中老年人对各指标项目的感受(P)与期望(E),以两者的差值(P-E)代表机构的卫生服务质量。根据专家赋权结果,应重点加强医养结合养老机构对可靠性、有效性、经济性等指标项目的建设。     

Endoscopy-Related Bleeding and Thromboembolic Events in Patients on Direct Oral Anticoagulants or Vitamin K Antagonists

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Fundamentals about onset and progressive disease character of type 2 diabetes mellitus

ResearchGate is a world wide web for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. As one of the more than 15 million members, the author uploads research output and reads and responds to some of the questions raised, which are related to type 2 diabetes. In that way, he noticed a serious gap of knowledge of this disease among medical professionals over recent decades. The main aim of the current study is to remedy this situation through providing a comprehensive review on recent developments in biochemistry and molecular biology, which can be helpful for the scientific understanding of the molecular nature of type 2 diabetes. To fill up the shortcomings in the curricula of medical education, and to familiarize the medical community with a new concept of the onset of type 2 diabetes, items are discussed like: Insulin resistance, glucose effectiveness, insulin sensitivity, cell membranes, membrane flexibility, unsaturation index (UI; number of carbon-carbon double bonds per 100 acyl chains of membrane phospholipids), slow-down principle, effects of temperature acclimation on phospholipid membrane composition, free fatty acids, energy transport, onset of type 2 diabetes, metformin, and exercise. Based on the reviewed data, a new model is presented with proposed steps in the development of type 2 diabetes, a disease arising as a result of a hypothetical hereditary anomaly, which causes hyperthermia in and around the mitochondria. Hyperthermia is counterbalanced by the slow-down principle, which lowers the amount of carbon-carbon double bonds of membrane phospholipid acyl chains. The accompanying reduction in the UI lowers membrane flexibility, promotes a redistribution of the lateral pressure in cell membranes, and thereby reduces the glucose transporter protein pore diameter of the transmembrane glucose transport channel of all Class I GLUT proteins. These events will set up a reduction in transmembrane glucose transport. So, a new blood glucose regulation system, effective in type 2 diabetes and its prediabetic phase, is based on variations in the acyl composition of phospholipids and operates independent of changes in insulin and glucose concentration. UI assessment is currently arising as a promising analytical technology for a membrane flexibility analysis. An increase in mitochondrial heat production plays a pivotal role in the existence of this regulation system.     

Morphological,Functional, and Tissue Characterization of Silent Myocardial Involvement in Patients With Primary Biliary Cholangitis

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西药联合穴位贴敷中西医结合治疗复治肺结核疗效观察

目的评价西药联合穴位贴敷中西医结合治疗复治肺结核的临床疗效。方法选择本院2017年1月～2018年1月收治的60例复治肺结核患者进行分组研究,全部患者根据治疗方法不同随机分为两组,每组各30例。两组均采取西药进行治疗,采用2HRZE/6HRZ标准化疗方案,实验组同时联合穴位贴敷中西医结合进行治疗,治疗后对比分析两组病灶吸收情况及两组临床症状改善情况。结果实验组病灶恶化9例,其病灶显著吸收率达50.0%,总有效率达70.0%,对照组病灶恶化6例,不变5例,其病灶显著吸收率达33.3%,总有效率达63.3%,两组病灶吸收总有效率组间比较,差异具有显著性(P0.05);实验组的疗效指数治疗6个月后显著高于对照组,组间比较,差异具有显著性(P0.05)。结论西药联合穴位贴敷中西医结合治疗复治肺结核疗效确切,可以显著促进病灶吸收,改善临床症状,安全性好,且还可以扶助人体正气,提高机体免疫力,调节全身状态,以达到治疗目的,是治疗复治肺结核的有效方法之一,值得临床广泛推广和应用。