Scientific Medical Journals Research Articles

Comment on "Raman spectroscopy combined with multivariate statistical algorithms for the simultaneous screening of cervical and breast cancers".

This article discusses current research on the detection of cervical and breast cancer using in vitro Raman spectral analysis of human serum by Cao et al. (2024) which was published in the Lasers in Medical Science journal. Despite the high accuracy of the suggested approach (93%), the demonstrated findings could be treated unclear due to possible overestimation of the classification models.

Postmarketing Surveillance: Review of Open Sources of Drug Safety Data

INTRODUCTION. Postmarketing surveillance is the main mechanism to monitor and evaluate the safety of drugs approved for widespread clinical use. This mechanism provides up-to-date information on adverse drug reactions and facilitates the implementation of necessary measures to prevent or minimize the risks associated with pharmacotherapy. Marketing authorization holders should regularly conduct searches for and analyses of drug safety data from all available sources. The lack of practical recommendations for selecting relevant information sources complicates the development of an optimal strategy for collecting drug safety data necessary for timely detection of changes in the safety profile of a drug that may affect the benefit–risk ratio.AIM. This study aimed to select the most appropriate methods for collecting drug safety information from the open sources used to monitor the safety profiles of approved drugs and assess their benefit–risk ratios.DISCUSSION. The main sources of new information on the safety of drugs include pharmacovigilance databases, websites of regulatory authorities, publications in medical scientific journals, and real-world clinical practice. According to the analysis results, the most widely used databases are the World Health Organization (WHO) VigiBase database, the European Union (EU) EudraVigilance database, and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). This article also discusses the capabilities and interfaces of various applications for working with safety data, as well as the conditions for accessing databases. Additionally, the article provides detailed instructions on how to search for safety information on the websites of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and FDA, which are considered to be the most reliable sources of information. Further, the article provides an overview of reputable medical journals most likely to publish articles on adverse drug reactions. In addition, the article covers bibliographic databases and search engines, which can simplify the search for scientific publications. Systematic monitoring of these sources can help marketing authorization holders to effectively assess the safety profiles and benefit–risk ratios of approved drugs.CONCLUSIONS. The use of recommended data sources can optimize the process of safety monitoring, significantly increase the identification rate for potential risks of pharmacotherapy, and facilitate the timely development of measures to prevent these risks. This, in turn, can contribute to improving the safety of patients and the quality of medical care.

Effects of interacting with a large language model compared with a human coach on the clinical diagnostic process and outcomes among fourth-year medical students: study protocol for a prospective, randomised experiment using patient vignettes

IntroductionVersatile large language models (LLMs) have the potential to augment diagnostic decision-making by assisting diagnosticians, thanks to their ability to engage in open-ended, natural conversations and their comprehensive knowledge access....

Scientific Medical Journal Reading Habits in Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study at AMC/PGMI, Lahore, 2023

Objective: Scientific medical journals are peer reviewed and have revolutionized the world of learning for medical students. They can significantly contribute to better learning of the medical students. To assess the scientific journal reading habits in relation to the place of residence, gender, and monthly family income of medical students at Ameer ud Din Medical College. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Settings: The study was conducted at Ameer-Ud-Din Medical College, Lahore Pakistan. Duration: 6 months from 20th March 23 to 20th September 23. Methods: Informed verbal consent was taken from 227 students selected through simple random sampling. Analysis was done using SPSS version 25. Results: The average age of the participants was 21.85±1.35 years.142/227(62.6%) of the participants, including 78/142(54.93%) females and 64/142(45.07%) males were reading scientific medical journals regularly. Only 19/227(8.4%) preferred printed journals. 122/142(85.92%) regular journal readers were urban residents while 20/142(14.08%) of the regular journal readers had a permanent residence in rural areas. Conclusion: Online journals were the preferred medium for 62.6% students compared to printed journals. A greater number of female students read scientific medical journals compared to male students.

Real-world data studies in oncology: analysis of the Russian publications

Background. Real-world data studies are an important source of knowledge on malignant tumors and their treatment. This knowledge is a tool for making decisions by health care professionals and patients. Regarding this, authors conducted literature search to identify real-world data studies published in the Russian scientific journals.Objective. The study aim was finding and analyzing publications on real-world evidence studies in oncology therapeutic area.Materials and methods. Full-text articles published in the Russian peer-reviewed medical scientific journals of 2022 and 2023 were systematically relieved and analyzed.Results. 119 publications were selected. The following types of study data were identified: 1) data on patients management practice; 2) survival and other oncology outcomes regardless of treatment approach; 3) survival and other oncology outcomes depending on treatment approach; 4) efficacy of a concrete therapy; 5) treatment safety (toxicity) data; 6) clinical and demographic prognostic factors; 7) tumor (morphological, molecular and genetic) prognostic factors; 8) tumor characteristics (morphological, molecular and genetic) regardless of their prognostic significance; 9) oncology disease characteristic (e. g., comorbidities) regardless of its prognostic significance. The most common types of study data were the following: clinical and demographic prognostic factors — 24 studies; tumor (morphological, molecular and genetic) prognostic factors — 36 studies; tumor characteristics (morphological, molecular and genetic) regardless of their prognostic significance — 38 studies.Conclusion. The modern real-world data studies in oncology therapeutic area are a very important source of knowledge on malignant tumors and their treatment.

The use of systematic reviews for conducting new studies in physiotherapy research: a meta-research study comparing author guidelines of physiotherapy-related journals

BackgroundRequiring authors to base their research on a systematic review of the existing literature prevents the generation of redundant scientific studies, thereby avoiding the deprivation of effective therapies for trial participants and the waste of research funds. Scientific medical journals could require this in their author guidelines. While this applies to all areas of research, it is also relevant to physiotherapy and rehabilitation research, which predominantly involve interventional trials in patients.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the extent to which the use of systematic reviews to justify a new trial is already being requested by physiotherapy-related scientific medical journals (PTJs). In addition, a comparison was made between PTJs and scientific medical journals with the highest impact factor in the Science Citation Index Extended (SCIE).MethodsThis meta-research study is based on a systematic examination of the author guidelines of 149 PTJs. The journals were identified and included based on the number of publications with physiotherapy as a keyword in the databases PEDro, and Medline (Pubmed). The included author guidelines were analysed for the extent to which they specified that a new trial should be justified by a systematic review of the literature. Additionally, they were compared with 14 scientific medical journals with the highest impact factor in the SCIE (LJs).ResultsIn their author guidelines, none of the included PTJs required or recommended the use of a systematic review to justify a new trial. Among LJs, four journals (28.57%), all associated with the Lancet group, required the study justification through a systematic review of the literature.ConclusionNeither PTJs nor LJs require or recommend the use of a systematic review to justify a new trial in their author guidelines. This potentially leaves room for unethical scientific practices and should be critically considered in future research.

Research and publication ethics: pillars of integrity in the scientific medical journal

Research has been the foundation upon which human development has always been built. For sustainable growth, this foundation needs to be based on trustworthy knowledge, which cannot be achieved without following ethical standards at the highest possible level. Research has been conducted in various forms at different levels across all fraternities. There is no small or big research, there is only reliable or unreliable research. Research at different levels yields different levels of evidence which often builds up enough material to define a course of action, leading to the formation of guidelines or protocols.

Clinical investigations to evaluate high-risk orthopaedic devices: a systematic review of the peer-reviewed medical literature

Purpose The objective of this systematic review was to give an overview of clinical investigations regarding hip and knee arthroplasty implants published in peer-reviewed scientific medical journals before entry into force of the EU Medical Device Regulation in May 2021. Methods We systematically reviewed the medical literature for a random selection of hip and knee implants to identify all peer-reviewed clinical investigations published within 10 years before and up to 20 years after regulatory approval. We report study characteristics, methodologies, outcomes, measures to prevent bias, and timing of clinical investigations of 30 current implants. The review process was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Results We identified 2912 publications and finally included 151 papers published between 1995 and 2021 (63 on hip stems, 34 on hip cups, and 54 on knee systems). We identified no clinical studies published before Conformité Européene (CE)-marking for any selected device, and no studies even up to 20 years after CE-marking in one-quarter of devices. There were very few randomized controlled trials, and registry-based studies generally had larger sample sizes and better methodology. Conclusion The peer-reviewed literature alone is insufficient as a source of clinical investigations of these high-risk devices intended for life-long use. A more systematic, efficient, and faster way to evaluate safety and performance is necessary. Using a phased introduction approach, nesting comparative studies of observational and experimental design in existing registries, increasing the use of benefit measures, and accelerating surrogate outcomes research will help to minimize risks and maximize benefits.

Sergey Vladimirovich Sazonov — to the 60-th anniversary of the birth

The article is dedicated to the prominent Russian morphologist, Head of the Department of Histology of the Ural State Medical University, Honoured Worker of Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Sergey Vladimirovich Sazonov. On 17 May 2023 he turned 60 years old. Sergey Vladimirovich devoted his whole life to science, teaching, and his alma mater Ural State Medical University. He opened a number of research and diagnostic laboratories in the Ural Federal District, continuously created and mastered new methods and new research technologies, introduced them into clinical medicine and education.
 Sergey Vladimirovich was one of the organisers of the first scientific medical journal in our region the Bulletin of the Ural State Medical Academy (now the Bulletin of Ural State Medical University). Sergey Vladimirovich successfully carried out material and technical re-equipment of the Department of Histology at Ural State Medical University, created a completely new in content multimedia course of lectures, and now he actively carries out digital transformation of his discipline, skilfully manages the creation of electronic educational resources in histology.
 The article reflects the stages of life and creativity of Professor S. V. Sazonov, his main scientific achievements, professional and personal qualities.

Writing in the European Annals of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Diseases. Dos and Don’ts!

Too many articles are still rejected by scientific medical journals due to lack of preparation of the manuscript and of knowledge of the modern editorial rules that govern scientific medical writing. Therefore, the editorial board of the European Annals of Otorhinolaryngology Heads & Neck Diseases summarized studies published by its members since 2020 in the columns of the scientific journal of the French Society of Otorhinolaryngology and the International Francophone Society of Otorhinolaryngology and data from the PubMed indexed literature dedicated to scientific medical writing in otolaryngology in the 21st century. The authors hope that this review, in the form of a list of “Dos and Don’ts”, will provide authors with a practical guide facilitating publication of rigorous, reproducible and transparent scientific studies, in accordance with the movement toward better science that society as a whole has been fighting for since the beginning of this century.

Bibliometric analysis of the global scientific production on machine learning applied to different cancer types

Cancer disease is one of the main causes of death in the world, with million annual cases in the last decades. The need to find a cure has stimulated the search for efficient treatments and diagnostic procedures. One of the most promising tools that has emerged against cancer in recent years is machine learning (ML), which has raised a huge number of scientific papers published in a relatively short period of time. The present study analyzes global scientific production on ML applied to the most relevant cancer types through various bibliometric indicators. We find that over 30,000 studies have been published so far and observe that cancers with the highest number of published studies using ML (breast, lung, and colon cancer) are those with the highest incidence, being the USA and China the main scientific producers on the subject. Interestingly, the role of China and Japan in stomach cancer is correlated with the number of cases of this cancer type in Asia (78% of the worldwide cases). Knowing the countries and institutions that most study each area can be of great help for improving international collaborations between research groups and countries. Our analysis shows that medical and computer science journals lead the number of publications on the subject and could be useful for researchers in the field. Finally, keyword co-occurrence analysis suggests that ML-cancer research trends are focused not only on the use of ML as an effective diagnostic method, but also for the improvement of radiotherapy- and chemotherapy-based treatments.

Научная деятельность Хабаровского филиала «НМИЦ «МНТК «Микрохирургия глаза» им. акад. С.Н. Фёдорова» за 35-летний период

The article assesses the scientific activities of the Khabarovsk branch of the S. Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery Federal State Institution (Branch) for the period from 1988 to 2023. Over the past 35-year period, the ophthalmologists of the Branch defended 20 dissertations: 16 – for the degree of Candidate of Medical Sciences, 4 – for the degree of Doctor of Medical Sciences. The branch is successfully developing a direction devoted to the study of patterns of changes in the organ of vision during normal and complicated pregnancy, to prevent the development of ocular complications. Within the framework of this scientific problem, two dissertations were defended (doctor of medical sciences O.V. Kolenko). Currently, a study of the patterns of changes in the retina in pregnant women with diabetes mellitus is being carried out (candidate of medical sciences N.V. Pomytkina). For 1988–2023 more than 2,100 scientific publications were made by the doctors of the Branch, including 480 articles in scientific peer-reviewed journals recommended by the Higher Attestation Commission of the Russian Federation with an impact factor of over 0.3 («Ophthalmosurgery», «Bulletin of Ophthalmology», «Siberian Scientific Medical Journal», «National Journal glaucoma», «BC. Clinical ophthalmology», etc.), more than 1600 articles and abstracts have been published in collections of scientific papers of leading ophthalmological scientific and practical conferences held in various subjects of the Russian Federation. 17 monographs have been published, 47 teaching aids for ophthalmologists have been created, including 15 manuals labeled EMA, 182 patents of the Russian Federation for inventions have been received, about 500 rationalization proposals have been registered. More than 1000 reports were presented at scientific conferences of various levels (with international participation, all-Russian, regional). We presented 127 reports at congresses outside the Russian Federation. Ophthalmologists of the Branch actively participate in the work of the annual ophthalmological congresses in Europe and the USA, where they present their innovative developments. Over the past period, significant results have been achieved in scientific activity, the own scientific school of ophthalmological personnel is actively developing in the Far East region of the Russian Federation. Active scientific activity encourages the doctors of the Branch to constant professional growth in order to increase the possibilities of timely detection and effective treatment of vision pathology among residents of the Far East region. Keywords: scientific activity, S. Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery Federal State Institution, dissertations, articles

Sleep duration and cardiovascular outcomes

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death worldwide, causing approximately 17.9 deaths annually. Their risk factors are mainly related to an inappropriate lifestyle and include, among others, low physical activity, obesity, hypertension or type 2 diabetes. Nowadays, there is an increase in the incidence of CVD as well as sleeping disorders, so many studies have focused on finding the connection between these phenomena.
 The impact of sleep duration on the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors was analyzed based on a systematic analysis of the literature. The review was carried out using keywords, based on data contained in the Google Scholar search engine database, in the PubMed scientific database and medical electronic journals.
 The analyzed studies indicate that sleep duration, its both excessive shortening and lengthening, as well as poor quality, may be associated with CVD, their risk factors and increased overall mortality. Researchers point to the connection between sleep duration and development of hypertension, obesity and type 2 diabetes, with short sleep identified as a stronger risk factor. In addition long sleep was associated with poor health and overall worse results of the subjects more often than short sleep. This suggests that long sleep may not be the cause, but a consequence of yet undiagnosed, coexisting chronic diseases.
 The results indicate the need to assess sleep disorders as a goal for primary and secondary prevention of CVD and reduction of their risk factors. The importance of long sleep remains ambiguous, whether it is the reason for health deterioration or results from it and requires further research. Large intervention studies are also still needed to assess whether improvements in sleep duration and its quality can reduce cardiovascular risk and improve long-term health outcomes.

C reactive protein-guided prescription of antibiotics for children under 12 years with respiratory symptoms in Kyrgyzstan: protocol for a randomised controlled clinical trial with 14 days follow-up

IntroductionWhile lower respiratory tract infections are the main cause of death for children under 5 globally, only a small proportion of children with respiratory tract infections need antibiotics. Overuse of...

Scientific medical journals in Mexico.

This symposium describes the main characteristics of six Mexican scientific journals indexed in Journal Citation Reports: Archives of Medical Research, Revista de Investigación Clínica-Clinical and Translational Investigation, Gaceta Médica de México, Salud Pública de México, Cirugía y Cirujanos and Salud Mental. Particular emphasis is given to their historical and organizational aspects, as well as to their main achievements recognized by the national and international scientific community.En este simposio se describen las principales características de seis revistas científicas mexicanas reconocidas por el. Journal Citation Reports: Archives of Medical Research, Revista de Investigación Clínica-Clinical and Translational Investigation, Gaceta Médica de México, Salud Pública de México, Cirugía y Cirujanos y Salud Mental. Se hace énfasis en sus aspectos históricos y organizacionales, así como en sus logros principales ante la comunidad científica nacional e internacional.

ВНЕДРЕНИЕ ВИЧ УСЛУГ В УЧРЕЖДЕНИЯ ПЕРВИЧНОЙ МЕДИКО-САНИТАРНОЙ ПОМОЩИ ТАДЖИКИСТАНА НА ПРИМЕРЕ Г. ДУШАНБЕ: ТЕКУЩИЕ РЕЗУЛЬТАТЫ И ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ ДАЛЬНЕЙШЕГО РАЗВИТИЯ

Objective: To assess the current results of the integration of HIV services into primary health care (PHC) facilities in Tajikistan in the example of Dushanbe Methods: A comparative analysis of the official statistical data on human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV) of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Tajikistan (MHSP RT) was carried out in dynamics. The data of electronic records of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the system of electronic tracking of HIV cases, including patients receiving integrated HIV services in PHC facilities, were analyzed. The materials of local and foreign scientific medical journals were studied. The method of descriptive statistics was used in the work. Results: In 2021, 922 new cases of HIV were detected in Tajikistan, including 1) people with sexual transmission – 83.7%; 2) labor migrants (LM) and those tested for clinical indications – 49.2%; 3) people over 50 years of age – 12.3%. The share of LM during HIV testing was 3% of the total population tested for HIV in 2021. The number of PLHIV in the country as of December 31, 2021, was 10,077; 8740 of them (86.7%) received antiretroviral therapy (ART), of which 14.2% were above 50 years of age. As of December 31, 2021, 1,155 (11.5% of all PLHIV in the country) received HIV service at the PHC facilities, 21.2% of them were children (<18 years old), and 78.8% – were adults (18+). Among adult patients, 34.7% were from key population groups (KPs); 1146 (99.2%) PLHIV received ART, of which 97.6% showed viral load (VL) suppression. Coverage of PLHIV with ART in the regions of the country varied from 81.8% to 90.1%. Conclusion: According to the research data, the HIV epidemic continues in the country with increasing infection circulation in the general population and “aging” of HIV. So far, the integration of HIV services into PHC facilities of the country was carried out only in the City Health Centers (CHCs) of Dushanbe, where every third adult PLHIV was from KPs. Almost all PLHIV received ART at the CHCs, and VL suppression was observed in most of them. In the CHCs, it is necessary to expand HIV testing at the initiative of health workers. It is recommended to start implementing the integration of HIV services in the CHCs of other large cities of the country. Keywords: HIV infection, people living with HIV, antiretroviral therapy, viral load suppression, integration of HIV services, primary health care.

A Critical Review of the Drug Promotional Literature Published in Scientific Medical Journals and Available at Outpatient Departments: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study.

Background A vital method used by pharmaceutical companies to make physicians aware of new drugs and increase the prescription and sale of the same is through drug promotion literature (DPL) published in scientific journals and distributed in outpatient departments (OPDs). It is important that drug promotion is done ethically to avoid the spread of false information for which guidelines are available at the international level by the World Health Organization (WHO) and at the national level by the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI). In this study, we aim to review the DPLs used for promotion by market authorization holders (pharmaceutical businessentities) in scientific healthcare journals and OPDs for their compliance with the "Ethical criteria for medicinal drug promotion" of the WHO and OPPI Code of Ethics Practice. In addition, we compare the ethical standard of the DPL available in scientific journals and OPDs with respect to existing norms and guidelines. Methodology A cross-sectional, observational study was conducted at a tertiary care teaching institute in Navi Mumbai, India. DPLs were collected from journals available at the institute library nearby published from January-June 2022 and from the outpatient departments of our hospital and other clinics nearby during the same time duration.Analysis was done according to the criteria given in WHO and OPPI guidelines. Each point in the criteria was scored as 1 or 0 based on whether the DPL was compliant or not respectively. DPLs were graded into 3 categories based on percentage compliance: Grade A (>70%), Grade B (35-70%), and Grade C (<35%). Results A total of 370 DPLs were collected, of which 191 (51.6%) were collected from scientific journals and 179 (48.4%) from OPDs. DPLs collected from journals showed that only 7.85% belonged to Grade A (WHO guidelines). According to the OPPI guidelines, 57.59% of the same DPLs belonged to Grade A. DPLs from OPDs showed similar results by both guidelines with >90% belonging to Grade B. Approximately less than 5% of the DPLs belonged to Grade C from both scientific journals and OPDs. Conclusions None of the DPLs were found to be entirely compliant with either of the guidelines. Most of the DPLs from both sources belong to Grade B, withinformation about adjuvants, adverse drug reactions, contraindications, drug interaction, and references to scientific literature missing from them. DPLs belonging to Grade C even had information about active ingredients missing from them which can lead to serious harm due to the wrong prescription of drugs.

Medical perspective of reproductive health education in Indonesian schoolbooks.

The current provision for equipping young Indonesians with a comprehensive knowledge of reproductive health is inadequate. In Indonesian primary and secondary schools, reproductive health education is integrated into various subjects, including Science, Biology, Sport, and Health Education. In this paper, we compared the accuracy of the material related to reproductive health education to scientific evidence published in medical scientific journals or medical textbooks. Even though the schoolbooks were used in Indonesia's 2006 minimum standard requirements of subject matter (KTSP) curriculum, we found much inaccurate information that is not based on the scientific literature and unnecessarily detailed information on therapy and technology. Schoolbooks should emphasize promoting a healthy lifestyle, preventing high-risk sexual behaviors, encouraging openness and discussion about reproductive health in the family, improving self-confidence to refuse and avoid sexual harassment, encouraging positive sexual behaviors, and increasing awareness for treatment-seeking behavior.

Trust/untrust is not the same as true/false. Lessons learned and ethical questions on the application of untrustworthiness scales to judge individuals.

This special paper reflects on trustworthiness and its implications for scientific medical journals and all the communities they serve: health professionals, policymakers, the public, and a specific discipline, in our case, Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine. We start from a recent episode: a paper claimed the untrustworthiness of two randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published in the European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine based on a newly developed trustworthiness scale, used until now only in systematic reviews. This likely represents the first case of applying such a scale focusing on a single leading author. Developing a proper answer to this case led us to present some insights from the perspective of a Journal editor. We discuss the impact of false research results, why trust is needed in science and medicine, the difference between untrust and false results, the problems in judging trustworthiness, the unfortunately weak capacity of the peer review system in preventing these issues, the problems of "post-hoc" judgements and the emerging ethical issues. We conclude with some suggestions for the future based on prevention at the system level.

Commentary: Laser Tattoo Removal: Laser Principles and an Updated Guide for Clinicians

In their recent review article in the Lasers in Medical Science Journal, Hernandez et al. (2022) present a comprehensive summary of laser fundamentals, the cutaneous response to tattoos, and recent developments in the field of laser tattoo removal