חדשות המחקר
Doron Sagi, Sivan Spitzer-Shohat, Ligat Daudi, Mary Catharine Joy Rudolf: Teaching plain language to medical students: improving communication with disadvantaged patients (BMC Med Educ .)
Low health literacy underpins health inequality and leads to poor adherence to medical care and higher risk of adverse events and rehospitalization. Communication in plain language, therefore, is an essential skill for health professionals to acquire. Most medical education communication skill programs focus on verbal communication, while written communication training is scarce. ETGAR is a student delivered service for vulnerable patients after hospital discharge in which, amongst other duties, students 'translate' the medical discharge letters into plain language and share them with patients at a home visit. This study ascertains how this plain language training impacted on students' written communication skills using a tool designed for purpose.
Sondra Turjerman, Omry Koren: Pathophysiology of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in the Upper Respiratory Tract and Its Relation to Breath Volatile Organic Compounds (mSystems .)
Among the many products of metabolic processes are volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In the airways, these volatile metabolites are emitted through breathing and thus are easily sampled for analysis. Recent work has connected the functions and structure of the human microbiome with health and disease. Alteration in microbial function in this context can result in differences in metabolite composition, including that of VOCs, presenting the possibility of a new noninvasive method for clinical diagnosis. Screening methods that assess VOCs arising from changes in the airway microbiome could be highly useful in diagnosing viral upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), e.g., COVID-19, which are highly contagious and have an enormous public health impact worldwide. A rapid noninvasive screening test for URTIs would pose major advantages in containing the disease. As early evidence shows that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection alters the human microbiome (both in the gut and the respiratory tract), we propose that detection of a VOC signature of an altered nasal microbiome could be fruitful as a rapid noninvasive measure of URTI in general and of SARS-CoV-2 in particular.
Orly Weissberg, Evan Elliott: The Mechanisms of CHD8 in Neurodevelopment and Autism Spectrum Disorders (Genes (Basel) . )
Chromodomain-helicase-DNA-binding protein 8 (CHD8) has been identified as one of the genes with the strongest association with autism. The CHD8 protein is a transcriptional regulator that is expressed in nearly all cell types and has been implicated in multiple cellular processes, including cell cycle, cell adhesion, neuronal development, myelination, and synaptogenesis. Considering the central role of CHD8 in the genetics of autism, a deeper understanding of the physiological functions of CHD8 is important to understand the development of the autism phenotype and potential therapeutic targets. Different CHD8 mutant mouse models were developed to determine autism-like phenotypes and to fully understand their mechanisms. Here, we review the current knowledge on CHD8, with an emphasis on mechanistic lessons gained from animal models that have been studied.
Amiel A Dror, Asaf Zigron, Mona Shehadeh, Eyal Sela, Samer Srouji: Unified platform for genetic and serological detection of COVID-19 with single-molecule technology (PLoS One .)
The COVID-19 pandemic raises the need for diverse diagnostic approaches to rapidly detect different stages of viral infection. The flexible and quantitative nature of single-molecule imaging technology renders it optimal for development of new diagnostic tools. Here we present a proof-of-concept for a single-molecule based, enzyme-free assay for detection of SARS-CoV-2.
Wisam Sbeit, Anas Kadah, Amir Shahin, Tawfik Khoury: Same day endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography immediately after endoscopic ultrasound for choledocholithiasis is feasible, safe and cost-effective (Scand J Gastroenterol . )
Patients with suspected choledocholithiasis should undergo further confirmatory imaging test by endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) or magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) before performing definite extraction by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Usually, those procedures are performed at a separate session. The aim of our study is to report the safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of same day EUS and ERCP.
Tal Brosh-Nissimov, Avi Peretz: Dynamics of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in Israel in Children and Adults in the PCV13 Era: A Nationwide Prospective Surveillance (Clin Infect Dis . )
Following 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) implementation in infants worldwide, overall and vaccine-type invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) rates declined in children, with variable indirect impact on adults.
Jonathan Solomon, Hava Gil-Henn: Are We Ready for Migrastatics? (Cells . )
Metastasis accounts for the highest mortality rates in solid tumor cancer patients. However, research and development have neglected this most lethal characteristic and, instead, have concentrated on the hallmarks of cancer that make tumor cells highly proliferative and distinctive from nonmalignant cells. The concentration on invasion and metastasis can be one of the most meaningful advancements in cancer investigation. Importantly, metastasis-free survival (MFS) was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a novel primary endpoint in clinical trials and has been used to evaluate the prognosis of patients with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and soft tissue sarcoma. This new definition enables to shift the focus of research and development in cancer therapeutics toward metastasis and to change the emphasis from using tumor shrinkage as a benchmark for indicating the efficacy of treatment to using MFS as a more representative endpoint for antimetastatic drugs.
I Abu El-Naaj: The impact of lymph node density as a predictive factor for survival and recurrence of tongue squamous cell carcinoma (Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg .)
The oral tongue is considered the most frequently involved site in cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Lymph node (LN) density, defined as the number of positive LNs divided by the total number of resected LNs, is considered an important prognostic factor in OSCC; however the cut-off point remains uncertain. A retrospective study was performed involving 104 patients who underwent a glossectomy procedure for oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) between the years 2008 and 2018.
Wisam Sbeit, Anas Kadah, Amir Shahin, Tawfik Khoury: The Yield of String Sign in Differentiating Mucinous from Non-Mucinous Pancreatic Cysts: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study (Medicina (Kaunas) .)
The diagnosis of pancreatic cysts is mostly based on a combination of morphological appearance and fluid analysis of amylase and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). We aimed to assess the capability of the string sign in differentiating mucinous from non-mucinous pancreatic cysts.
Guy Journo, Anuj Ahuja, Yonatan Eran, Meir Shamay: Global CpG DNA Methylation Footprint in Kaposi's Sarcoma (Front Cell Infect Microbiol . )
Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), also familiar as human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), is one of the well-known human cancer-causing viruses. KSHV was originally discovered by its association with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), a common AIDS-related neoplasia. Additionally, KSHV is associated with two B-lymphocyte disorders; primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) and Multicentric Castlemans Disease (MCD). DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that is essential for a properly functioning human genome through its roles in chromatin structure maintenance, chromosome stability and transcription regulation. Genomic studies show that expressed promoters tend to be un-methylated whereas methylated promoters tend to be inactive. We have previously revealed the global methylation footprint in PEL cells and found that many cellular gene promoters become differentially methylated and hence differentially expressed in KSHV chronically infected PEL cell lines. Here we present the cellular CpG DNA methylation footprint in KS, the most common malignancy associated with KSHV.
Amir Mari, Tawfik Khoury, Wisam Sbeit: Post-Diverticulitis Colonoscopy Was Not Associated with Higher Colonic Adenoma and Carcinoma: A Multicenter Case-Control Study (Medicina (Kaunas) .)
Colonoscopy following an episode of acute diverticulitis is currently recommended to rule out underlying colon cancer. However, a number of studies have debated this recommendation. We aimed to explore whether patients with colonic diverticulosis who experienced an episode of acute diverticulitis had higher prevalence colonic pathologies, essentially colonic adenomas and colorectal carcinoma (CRC) on a follow-up colonoscopy.
Khaled Khazim, Fedaa Ghanem: The Role of Vascular Lesions in Diabetes Across a Spectrum of Clinical Kidney Disease (Kidney Int Rep .)
The clinical-histologic correlation in diabetic nephropathy is not completely known. We analyzed nephrectomy specimens from 90 patients with diabetes and diverse degrees of proteinuria and glomerular filtration rate (GFR).
Elon Glassberg: Data Empowerment of Decision Makers in an Era of Pandemic 'Classic' and Artificial Intelligence Intersection In the Service of Medicine (J Med Internet Res .)
The COVID-19 outbreak required prompt actions by health authorities around the world, in response to a novel threat. With enormous amounts of information originating in sources with uncertain degree of validation and accuracy, it is essential to provide executive level decision makers with the most actionable, pertinent and updated data analysis to enable them to adapt their strategy swiftly and competently. We report here the origination of a COVID-19 dedicated response in the Israel Defense Force (IDF) with the assembly of an operational Data Center for the Campaign against Coronavirus (ID3C).
Amjad Shalabi, Erez Kachel, Liza Grosman-Rimon, Wadi Kinany, Offer Amir, Eylon Ram: Unusual complications following left ventricular assisted device implantation: case series (J Cardiothorac Surg . )
While left ventricular assisted devices (LVAD) have revolutionized the treatment of advanced heart failure, they are associated with a wide range of complications, including bleeding and infection which are the most common complications reported in the literature. Our case series report four unusual complications not related to gastrointestinal bleeding and infections and their management.
NOTE: Erratum published September 6, 2021, here.
Khalaf Kridin: Epidemiology of Pemphigus (JID Innov .)
Pemphigus is an epidemiologically heterogeneous group of autoimmune bullous diseases comprising pemphigus vulgaris (PV), pemphigus foliaceus, paraneoplastic pemphigus, IgA pemphigus, and pemphigus herpetiformis. Recently, our knowledge about the frequency of pemphigus, which is highly variable between different populations, has considerably expanded, and the first non-HLA genes associated with PV have been identified. In addition, a variety of comorbidities, including other autoimmune diseases, hematological malignancies, and psoriasis, have been described in this variant. Here, initial data about the impact of COVID-19 on this fragile patient population are discussed and perspectives for future epidemiological studies are outlined.