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.     

Association between insurance status and in‐hospital outcomes in patients with out‐of‐hospital ventricular fibrillation arrest

BackgroundLack of health insurance is associated with adverse clinical outcomes; however, the association between health insurance status and in‐hospital outcomes after out‐of‐hospital ventricular fibrillation (OHVFA) arrest is unclear.HypothesisLack of health insurance is associated with worse in‐hospital outcomes after out‐of‐hospital ventricular fibrillation arrest.MethodsFrom January 2003 to December 2014, hospitalizations with a primary diagnosis of OHVFA in patients ≥18 years of age were extracted from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample. Patients were categorized into insured and uninsured groups based on their documented health insurance status. Study outcome measures were in‐hospital mortality, utilization of implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), and cost of hospitalization. Inverse probability weighting adjusted binary logistic regression was performed to identify independent predictors of in‐hospital mortality and ICD utilization and linear regression was performed to identify independent predictors of cost of hospitalization.ResultsOf 188 946 patients included in the final analyses, 178 005 (94.2%) patients were insured and 10 941 (5.8%) patients were uninsured. Unadjusted in‐hospital mortality was higher (61.7% vs. 54.7%, p < .001) and ICD utilization was lower (15.3% vs. 18.3%, p < .001) in the uninsured patients. Lack of health insurance was independently associated with higher in‐hospital mortality (O.R = 1.53, 95% C.I. [1.46–1.61]; p < .001) and lower utilization of ICD (O.R = 0.84, 95% C.I [0.79–0.90], p < .001). Cost of hospitalization was significantly higher in uninsured patients (median [interquartile range], p‐value) ($) (39 650 [18 034‐93 399] vs. 35 965 [14 568.50‐96 163], p < .001).ConclusionLack of health insurance is associated with higher in‐hospital mortality, lower utilization of ICD and higher cost of hospitalization after OHVFA.     

Diurnal salivary cortisol and urinary catecholamines are associated with diabetes mellitus: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

The objective was to examine the cross-sectional association of diurnal salivary cortisol curve components and urinary catecholamines with diabetes status. Up to 18 salivary cortisol samples over 3 days and overnight urinary catecholamines were collected from 1002 participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Diabetes was defined as a fasting blood glucose of at least 126 mg/dL or medication use. Cortisol curve measures included awakening cortisol, cortisol awakening response, early decline, late decline, and cortisol area under the curve (AUC). Urinary catecholamines included epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Participants with diabetes had significantly lower cortisol awakening response (β = -0.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.34 to -0.04) than those without diabetes in multivariable models. Whereas men with diabetes had a nonsignificant trend toward lower total AUC (β = -1.56; 95% CI, -3.93 to 0.80), women with diabetes had significantly higher total AUC (β = 2.62; 95% CI, 0.72 to 4.51) (P = .02 for interaction) compared with those without diabetes. Men but not women with diabetes had significantly lower urinary catecholamines compared with those without diabetes (P < .05). Diabetes is associated with neuroendocrine dysregulation, which may differ by sex. Further studies are needed to determine the role of the neuroendocrine system in the pathophysiology of diabetes.     

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.     

Molecular detection and quantification of pertussis and correlation with clinical outcomes in children

Pertussis is an under-recognized serious infection. Conventional cultures are insensitive and of limited utility after antibiotic exposure. We corroborated the utility of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as a diagnostic tool in pertussis and investigated its role as a prognostic tool by evaluating its benefit in the quantification of pertussis bacterial load. All pertussis-positive PCR tests (n = 104) submitted over 5 years were collected for retrospective study. PCR cycle threshold was compared to quantitative culture in 43. Compared to PCR, the sensitivity of culture was 41%. Our PCR assay reliably quantified bacterial load and was quantitatively reproducible. Higher bacterial load correlated with longer duration of hospitalization (P = 0.0003), and multivariate logistic regression models demonstrated this association to be independent. The study confirmed PCR as a superior diagnostic tool in pertussis. PCR quantification of bacterial load at initial diagnosis predicts later clinical disease severity, suggesting a potential benefit of PCR as a prognostic tool in pertussis.     

Substratum as Determining Factor for the Distribution of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Fauna in a River Ecosystem

Present study was focused on the Ken river for determination of the distribution of benthic macroinvertebrate fauna with respect to substrate variation. The invertebrate samples were collected during December 2003 to March 2004 at four different stations by lifting of stones and sieving of clay–silt substratum from 0.09 m² area. The collected samples were preserved in 5 % formalin and identified at family level. The count data was used to determine the density and composition of benthic macroinvertebrate fauna. Total mean density decreased from station S1 to S3 but increased at S4 and differed significantly among the stations. The maximum density was found in the stony substratum (boulder and cobble) as compared to small particle size (pebble, gravel and sand). The fauna was predominated by insects at stations S1 (84 %), S2 (90 %) and S3 (93 %), while reduced at S4 (48 %). Neoephemeridae and Caenidae were abundant taxa in boulder–cobble and cobble–pebble substrate, respectively. Leptophlebiidae, Baetidae and Hydropsychidae were abundant at pebble–gravel substrate and Thiaridae–Chironomidae–Nephthydae were abundant in silt–clay substrate. Principal component analysis also indicated the above observation. Canonical correspondence analysis at each station indicated that substratum (abiotic and biotic) was responsible for the distribution of benthic macroinvertebrate fauna in the Ken. Functionally, the collector insects dominate the fauna, at all the four stations because of substratum as well as the continuous source of particulate organic matter in the river.