Correction: Consequences of gamma-ray irradiation on structural and electronic properties of PEDOT:PSS polymer in air and vacuum environments

Correction for ‘Consequences of gamma-ray irradiation on structural and electronic properties of PEDOT:PSS polymer in air and vacuum environments’ by Aswin kumar Anbalagan et al., RSC Adv., 2021, 11, 20752–20759, DOI: 10.1039/D1RA03463D.

The authors regret that incorrect details were given for ref. 18. The correct version of ref. 18 is given here as ref. 1.The Royal Society of Chemistry apologises for these errors and any consequent inconvenience to authors and readers.     

Incobotulinum Toxin-A Improves Post-Surgical and Post-Radiation Pain in Cancer Patients

Cancer patients who undergo surgery or radiation can develop persistent focal pain at the site of radiation or surgery. Twelve patients who had surgery or radiation for local cancer and failed at least two analgesic medications for pain control were prospectively enrolled in a research protocol. Patients were injected up to 100 units of incobotulinum toxin A (IncoA) intramuscularly or subcutaneously depending on the type and location of pain (muscle cramp or neuropathic pain). Two patients passed away, one dropped out due to a skin reaction and another patient could not return for the follow up due to his poor general condition. All remaining 8 subjects (Age 31–70, 4 female) demonstrated significant improvement of Visual Analog Scale (VAS) (3 to 9 degrees, average 3.9 degrees) and reported significant satisfaction in Patients’ Global Impression of Change scale (PGIC) (7 out of 8 reported the pain as much improved). Three of the 8 patients reported significant improvement of quality of life.     

Prevalence of Monosymptomatic Nocturnal Enuresis and its Correlates in School Going Children of Lucknow

Objectives

To determine the prevalence of primary monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis (PMNE) and its correlates in school going children of Lucknow.

Methods

It is a cross-sectional school based study conducted in a random sample of 1212 school going children of Lucknow belonging to the middle socioeconomic strata. Data was collected via questionnaire designed for parents. Detailed urological history was obtained and physical examination done in the children whose parents answered the questionnaire. The chi-square test was used to compare the categorical/dichotomous indicators and backward logistic regression was used to find out the significant risk factors for monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis.

Results

Study reports the prevalence of PMNE to be 12.6 % (95 % CI?=?10.9–14.3 %) and significant association of enuresis with the presence of home conflicts(adjusted OR?=?38.37, 95 % CI?=?20.04–73.47), stress in children due to enuresis(adjusted OR?=?10.86, 95%CI?=?5.73–20.57), scolding(adjusted OR?=?6.78,95%CI?=?3.69–12.44), parental history of enuresis(adjusted OR?=?3.57, 95%CI?=?1.96–6.50), poor scholastic performance(adjusted OR?=?2.88,95 %?=?1.49–5.56), age 6–8 y (adjusted OR?=?13.80,95%CI?=?4.38–43.45) and living with single parent (adjusted OR?=?0.34, 95%CI?=?0.17–0.68). Prevalence of monosymptmatic nocturnal enuresis MNE was 17.9 % (p?=?0.001) among children who were not exclusively breastfed till 6 mo of age in the index study.

Conclusions

Enuresis is a pediatric health problem with high prevalence . Parental awareness needs to be created about this condition.     

Novel predictive risk factor for Erectile Dysfunction: Serum folic acid

The purpose of this study was to compare the serum Folic Acid (FA) levels in patients with Erectile Dysfunction (ED) and healthy controls and whether levels vary with its severity. The study was carried out on 77 sexually active individuals, out of which 41 complained of ED and 36 were apparently normal. Patients were excluded if they had any diseases known to cause ED. The severity was further categorised based on IIEF-5 scores. Blood serum levels of testosterone, lipid profile, random blood sugar, liver function test, renal function test and FA levels were obtained in each patient. Independent-samples t test of significance was used when comparing between two means. Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) test was used for correlating data. All clinical and biochemical parameters except FA were comparable in both the groups. FA levels were significantly decreased in ED group (5.29 vs. 10.8; p value = .004). Smoking habits were comparable between the groups, and FA levels did not vary among smokers and nonsmokers (p value = .46). Serum FA levels significantly declined with increasing severity of ED (8.28 vs. 5.56 vs. 4.37 vs. 3.5; p value < .001). Thus, decreased FA might possibly be one of the novel risk factors for ED.     

Patterns-of-care disparities among uninsured versus insured patients with anorectal carcinoma referred for radiotherapy at an Urban Safety-Net Hospital

BackgroundTo compare patterns-of-care and clinical outcomes among uninsured versus insured patients (IPs) with anorectal malignancies referred for radiotherapy at an urban safety-net hospital. This topic is important because uninsured patients (UPs) in the US often have limited access to health care, which can result in worse health outcomes.MethodsWe reviewed the medical records of 59 patients with biopsy-proven, non-metastatic anal and rectal cancers who received curative-intent primary or neoadjuvant/adjuvant radiotherapy between May 2002 and August 2012. Data regarding patient and disease characteristics, weight loss, insurance status at symptom onset, date of first therapeutic intervention, and survival status at last follow-up, were collected and analyzed.ResultsThe percentage of IPs presenting with T4 tumors was 7% versus 40% among the uninsured (P=0.005). The median interval between first symptom onset and diagnosis date was 89 (range, 0–1,428) days for IPs and 221 (range, 0–1,576) days for UPs (P=0.01). The median interval between first symptom onset and treatment initiation was 172 (range, 9–1,498) days for IPs and 302 (range, 35–1,624 days) days for UPs (P=0.01). The 5-year overall survival rate was 59% for the entire cohort, 62% for the insured patients, and 55% for the uninsured patients (P=0.76)ConclusionsDifferences in health insurance status demonstrated various disparities in patterns-of-care, including significant delay in diagnosis, more advanced-stage disease at presentation, and treatment initiation delays among UPs. Nevertheless, overall survival at 5 years was not statistically significant between the insured and the uninsured.