The spread of medical fake news in social media – The pilot quantitative study

Objectives

Fake news: misinformation and falsehood of health news in social media constitute a potential threat to the public health, but the scope of this issue remains unclear. Our pilot study is an initial attempt to measure a number of the top shared health misinformation stories in the Polish language social media.

Management of Locally Recurrent Retroperitoneal Sarcoma in the Adult: An Updated Consensus Approach from the Transatlantic Australasian Retroperitoneal Sarcoma Working Group

Annals of Surgical Oncology - Surgery is the mainstay of treatment for retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS), but local recurrence is common. Biologic behavior and recurrence patterns differ significantly...     

Renal anaemia treatment in haemodialysis patients in the Central and Eastern European countries in everyday clinical practice follow-up

Background

Chronic kidney disease is almost always accompanied by anaemia. Erythropoietin-stimulating agents (ESA) can increase haemoglobin concentration and thus reduce the frequency of anaemia-related complications including the cardiovascular events.

Aim

The aim of the study was to collect prospective data on 12-month standard ESA therapy used in haemodialyzed patients in selected CEE countries as well as on cardiovascular complications, iron status and anaemia treatment.

Patients and methods

Fifty centres in 3 countries participated in the study. A group of 398 haemodialysed stable patients (M-231, F-167) aged 19–90 years (57.5 ± 14.7) on standard ESA therapy for chronic renal anaemia were recruited. Twelve-month prospective data on iron parameters, ESA therapy and cardiovascular events were collected. The use of iron, folic acid and blood transfusions were also assessed. Patient were divided into three groups according to ESA therapy start: group A—patients who received ESA after start of haemodialysis, group B—patients who received ESA within 3 months from the day of first haemodialysis and group C—patients who had received ESA more than 3 months before haemodialysis. Chi² test for qualitative data and Kruskall–Wallis test for quantitative data with p < 0.05 were used in statistical analysis.

Results

At prestudy period, the mean weekly dose of ESA in group C was statistically lower than in the remaining two groups (3,823 ± 3,169 vs. 5,276 ± 2,915 and 6,427 ± 3,441 units/week, p < 0.001), but during prospective phase of the study the doses did not differ among groups A, B and C. No major fluctuation of ESA administration schedule was observed during the study in the groups; however, at majority of visits, the mean frequency of ESA administration in group C was statistically higher than in groups A and B. At baseline visit, the haemoglobin concentration in group A patients (10.86 ± 1.34 g/dL) was slightly lower than in group B (11.26 ± 1.43 g/dL) and group C (10.98 ± 1.35 g/dL) (p = 0.025), but at subsequent visits these differences disappeared and mean haemoglobin concentration was stable around 11 g/dL. Ferritin concentration increased from 280 ± 241 at baseline to 506 ± 405 at month 12, and no important differences in the groups were observed. The other haematological parameters (haematocrit, iron concentration) remained stable during the entire study. The frequency of blood transfusion and total volume of blood in group C were lower than in groups A and B. During the prospective 12-month follow-up, 23 (5.8 %) of the patients died and 35 (8.8 %) were transplanted. No differences in death or transplantation rate were observed among groups A, B and C. The number of patients with adverse events, serious adverse events or drug-related adverse events in all groups was similar. In conclusion, ESA therapy increased haemoglobin concentration and no major differences in haematological parameters among the groups were observed during the entire study irrespective of early versus late start. Mortality, cardiovascular events or other adverse events were similar among the groups during the observation period; however, the limitation of the study is the sample size.     

Effect of Co Substitution and Thermo-Magnetic Treatment on the Structure and Induced Magnetic Anisotropy of Fe84.5−xCoxNb5B8.5P2 Nanocrystalline Alloys

In the present work, we investigated in detail the thermal/crystallization behavior and magnetic properties of materials with Fe_84.5-xCo_xNb₅B_8.5P₂ (x = 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 at.%) composition. The amorphous ribbons were manufactured on a semi-industrial scale by the melt-spinning technique. The subsequent nanocrystallization processes were carried out under different conditions (with/without magnetic field). The comprehensive studies have been carried out using differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffractometry, transmission electron microscopy, hysteresis loop analyses, vibrating sample magnetometry and Mössbauer spectroscopy. Moreover, the frequency (up to 300 kHz) dependence of power losses and permeability at a magnetic induction up to 0.9 T was investigated. On the basis of some of the results obtained, we calculated the values of the activation energies and the induced magnetic anisotropies. The X-ray diffraction results confirm the surface crystallization effect previously observed for phosphorous-containing alloys. The in situ microscopic observations of crystallization describe this process in detail in accordance with the calorimetry results. Furthermore, the effect of Co content on the phase composition and the influence of annealing in an external magnetic field on magnetic properties, including the orientation of the magnetic spins, have been studied using various magnetic techniques. Finally, nanocrystalline Fe_64.5Co₂₀Nb₅B_8.5P₂ cores were prepared after transverse thermo-magnetic heat treatment and installed in industrially available portable heating equipment.     

The effect of therapy with small doses of mega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid on renal reserve and metabolic disturbances in patients with primary IGA glomerulopathy

Renal reserve is believed to be diagnostic dynamic method for accessing both early renal failure and renal vascular reactivity. The aim of our study was to follow renal reserve during 12 month therapy with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Omega-3 was given orally of a: 540 mg of eicosapentaenic acid and 810 mg of docosaheksenic acid daily. Before and after 12 month of therapy renal reserve (expressed as % change of basal creatinine clearance) was estimated during i.v. dopamine infusion in dose 2 ug/min/b.w. Twelve month therapy was associated with increase of renal reserve (respectively 14.86 +/- 16.35 vs 30.25 +/- 14.27%), HDL cholesterol (respectively 47.55 +/- 11.49 vs 58.05 +/- 7.89 mg/dl) and decrease 24 hrs proteinuria (respectively 3.31 +/- 2.01 vs 1.31 +/- 1.37 g/24 h), total cholesterol TCH (respectively 251.15 +/- 50.91 vs 214.15 +/- 24.09 mg/dl), LDL cholesterol (respectively 170.0 +/- 47.22 vs 124.15 +/- 17.93 mg/dl), serum uric acid (respectively 7.53 +/- 1.01 vs 5.59 +/- 0.88 mg/dl), fasting insulinemia (respectively 11.27 +/- 5.28 vs 9.20 +/- 4.80 U/ml) for p < 0.05. The statistically significant correlation coefficient were found only between following parameters: % renal reserve vs insulin (r = -0.55, p < 0.05), delta 24 h proteinuria vs delta TCH (r = 0.69, p < 0.05), delta 24 h proteinuria vs delta LDL (r = 0.51, p < 0.05). Our study suggest that omega-3 therapy improves renal reserve and its effect is to some extend related to improvement of some metabolic disturbances. Also this therapy ameliorate proteinuria which is linked with lipid lowering effect of omega-3.     

Immersive training: breaking the bubble and measuring the heat

Background

Minimal access surgery and, lately, single-incision laparoscopic procedures are challenging and demanding with regard to the skills of the surgeon performing the procedures. This article presents the results of an investigation of the performance and attention focus of 21 medical interns and surgical residents training in an immersive context. That is, training ‘in situation’, representing more realistically the demands imposed on the surgeons during minimal access surgery.

Methods

Twenty-one medical interns and surgical residents participated in simulation trainings in an integrated operating room for laparoscopic surgery. Various physiological measures of body heat expenditure were gathered as indicators of mental strain and attention focus.

Results

The results of the Mann–Whitney test indicated that participants with a poor performance in the two laparoscopic cholecystectomy cases had a significantly (U = 3, p = 0.038) higher heat flux at the start of the procedure (mean 107.08, standard deviation [SD] 24.34) than those who excelled in the two cases (mean 62.64, SD 23.41). Also, the average frontal head temperature of the participants who failed at the task was significantly lower (mean 33.27, SD 0.52) than those who performed well (mean 33.92, SD 0.27).

Conclusions

Surgeons cannot operate in a bubble; thus, they should not be trained in one. Combining heat flux and frontal head temperature could be a good measure of deep involvement and attentional focus during performance of simulated surgical tasks.