Category: Nevin Manimala

PLoS One. 2023 Feb 9;18(2):e0271666. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271666. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Prisoners generally have a higher prevalence of HIV infection compared to the general population from which they come. Whether this higher prevalence reflects a higher HIV prevalence in those entering prisons or intramural transmission of HIV within prisons or both is unclear. Any of these possibilities would increase the prevalence found in resident prisoners above that in the general population. Moreover, comparisons of HIV prevalence in entrants and residents and in men and women in African prisons are not well documented. The purpose of this study was to estimate and compare the prevalence and risk factors for HIV infection amongst both male as well as female and entrant and resident prisoners in a large Ethiopian Federal Prison.

METHODS: We studied consenting prisoners cross-sectionally from August 2014 through November 2016. Prison entrants were screened continuously for HIV infection and its associated risk factors and residents were screened in two waves one year apart. HIV was diagnosed at the prison hospital laboratory based on the Ethiopian national HIV rapid antibody testing protocol. An external, internationally-accredited reference laboratory confirmed results. Agreement of results between the laboratories were assessed.

RESULTS: A total of 10,778 participants were screened for HIV. Most participants were young (median age of 26 years, IQR: 21-33), male (84%), single (61%), literate (89%), and urban residents (91%) without prior incarceration (96%). Prevalence of HIV was 3.4% overall. Rates of HIV (p = 0.80) were similar in residents and entrants in wave 1 and in entrants in both waves, but were 1.9-fold higher (5.4% vs 2.8%) in residents than entrants in wave 2 (both p<0.001). At entrance to the prison women were more likely to be HIV+ than men (5.5% in women vs 2.5% in men, p< 0.001). In contrast resident women were less likely to be HIV+, but this difference was not statistically significant (3.2% in women vs 4.3% in men, p = 0.125). Other risk factors associated with HIV infection were increasing age (p<0.001), female gender (p<0.001), marital status (never vs other categories, p = 0.016), smaller number of rooms in their houses pre-imprisonment (p = 0.031), TB diagnosis ever (p<0.001), number of lifetime sex partners (especially having 2-10, p<0.001), and genital ulcer (p = 0.037).

CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of HIV in the residents at this large, central Ethiopian prison was higher than that estimated for the general population and lower than in many other studies from other smaller Ethiopian prisons. A higher prevalence in residents than in entrants were found only in our second wave of screening after one year of continuous screening and treatment, possibly representing increased willingness of residents at increased risk of HIV to participate in the second wave. Thus, this findings did not clearly support intramural transmission of HIV or the effectiveness of screening to reduce prevalence. Finally, the higher HIV prevalence in women than men requires that they be similarly screened and treated for HIV infection.

PMID:36758059 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0271666

PLoS One. 2023 Feb 9;18(2):e0281576. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281576. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is the most cost-effective intervention to reduce infant morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is crucial since human milk contains nutrients, living cells, and defensive factors which enable infants to have better immunity, physical and mental development. Therefore, this study aimed at identifying the predictors of exclusive breastfeeding practices among mothers in Ethiopia using Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) 2016 data.

METHODS: EDHS 2016 data were used for the analysis. A total of 1,066 mothers were included in the analysis. The binary logistic regression model was used to identify the determinants of EBF practice among mothers. The result presented using adjusted odd ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval.

RESULTS: The prevalence of EBF was 58% of infants under age 6 months. Mothers age 25-34 (AOR = 1.74; 95% CI 1.31-2.32), child age 4-5 months (AOR = 0.74; 95% CI 0.66-0.84), married marital status (AOR = 1.26; 95% CI 1.06-1.50), mothers attained secondary education or higher (AOR = 2.00; 95% CI 1.54-2.58), husband attained secondary education or higher (AOR = 1.70; 1.39-2.13), richer wealth index (AOR = 0.35; 95% CI 0.18-0.69), accessed to the media (AOR = 1.77; 95% CI 1.38-2.27), number of living children 3-4 (AOR = 0.49; 95% CI 0.25-0.95), health facility (AOR = 1.87; 95% CI 1.09-3.20), rural residence (AOR = 0.66; 95% CI 0.49-0.89) and mothers living in Afar (AOR = 100.2; 95% CI 15.68-640.61), Somali (AOR = 52.65; 95% CI 8.48-326.77), SNNPR (AOR = 6.94; 95% CI 1.05-45.79), Harari (AOR = 61.94; 95% CI 9.75-393.44), Addis Ababa (AOR = 13.07; 95% CI 2.06-82.99), and Dire Dawa (AOR = 28.91; 95% CI 4.38-190.86) were associated with EBF practice.

CONCLUSIONS: The practice of exclusive breastfeeding remains low in Ethiopia. Therefore, the stakeholders should be taken into consideration those determinant factors identified in this study in policies and programmes to increase EBF practice among mothers. Moreover, designing and implementing specific strategies to enhance the rate of exclusive breastfeeding practices through community-based education is recommended.

PMID:36758057 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0281576

PLoS One. 2023 Feb 9;18(2):e0274690. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274690. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

In estimation theory, the use of auxiliary information significantly improves precision while estimating population parameters. In this paper, an efficient class of ratio cum median estimators of the population median is suggested using simple random sampling without replacement. The expressions for bias and mean square error of the proposed class are derived theoretically. The condition for the asymptotic optimum estimator is obtained with its bias and mean square error expressions. Under certain realistic conditions, the asymptotic optimum estimator is more proficient, based on analytical and numerical comparisons with some existing estimators that are members of the suggested class of estimators. The superiority of the proposed ratio cum median estimators is shown through real data applications. Such a new proposed estimator will be useful in the future for data analysis and making decisions.

PMID:36758051 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0274690

PLoS One. 2023 Feb 9;18(2):e0281397. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281397. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

Aiming at the problems of low accuracy of coal gangue recognition and difficult recognition of mixed gangue rate, a coal rock recognition method based on modal fusion of RGB and infrared is proposed. A fully mechanized coal gangue transportation test bed is built, RGB images are obtained by camera, and infrared images are obtained by industrial microwave heating system and infrared thermal imager. the image data of the whole coal, whole gangue, and coal gangue with different gangue mixing as training and test samples, identify the released coal gangue and its mixing rate. The AlexNet, VGG-16, ResNet-18 classification networks and their convolutional neural networks with modal feature fusion are constructed. results: The classification accuracy of ResNet networks on RGB and infrared image data is higher than AlexNet and VGG-16 networks. The early convergence network performance of ResNet is verified through the convergence of different models. The recognition rate of the network is 97.92 the confusion matrix statistics, which verifies the feasibility of the application of modal fusion method in the field of coal gangue recognition. The fusion of modal features and early models of ResNet coal gangue, which is the basic premise for realizing intelligent coal caving.

PMID:36758046 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0281397

J Chem Inf Model. 2023 Feb 9. doi: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c01366. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In this application note, we describe a tool which we developed to help structural biologists who study the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein. There are more than 500 structures of this protein available in the Protein Data Bank. These structures are available in different flavors: wild type spike, different variants, 2P substitutions, structures with bound antibodies, structures with Receptor Binding Domains (RBD) in closed or open conformation, etc. Understanding differences between these structures could provide insight into how the spike structure changes in different variants or upon interaction with different molecules such as receptors or antibodies. However, inconsistencies among deposited structures, such as different chain or sequence numbering, hamper a straightforward comparison of all structures. The tool described in this note fixes those chain inconsistencies and calculates the distribution of the requested distance between any two atoms across all SARS-CoV-2 spike structures available in the Protein Data Bank (excluding PDB files with only spike fragments such as the RBD), with the option to filter by various selections. The tool provides a histogram and cumulative frequency of the calculated distribution, as the ability to download the results and corresponding PDB IDs.

PMID:36758040 | DOI:10.1021/acs.jcim.2c01366

PLoS One. 2023 Feb 9;18(2):e0279114. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279114. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Building on a distinguished history of community medicine training, public health programs have been expanding in India in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought additional attention to the importance of public health programs and the need for a strong workforce. This paper aims to assess the current capacity for public health education and training in India and provide recommendations for improved approaches to meet current and future public health needs.

METHODS: We conducted a desk review of public health training programs via extensive internet searches, literature reviews, and expert faculty consultations. Among those programs, we purposively selected faculty members to participate in in-depth interviews. We developed summary statistics based on the desk review. For qualitative analysis, we utilized a combination of deductive and inductive coding to identify key themes and systematically reviewed the strengths and weaknesses of each theme.

RESULTS: The desk review captured 59 institutions offering public health training across India. The majority of training programs were graduate level degrees including Master of Public Health and Master of Science degrees. Key factors impacting these programs included collaborations, mentorship, curriculum standardization, tuition and funding, and student demand for public health education and careers. Collaborations and mentorship were highly valued but varied in quality across institutions. Curricula lacked standardization but also contained substantial flexibility and innovation as a result. Public sector programs were perceived to be affordable though fees and stipends varied across institutions. Further development of career opportunities in public health is needed.

CONCLUSION: Public health education and training in India have a strong foothold. There are numerous opportunities for continued expansion and strengthening of this field, to support a robust multi-disciplinary public health workforce that will contribute towards achieving the sustainable development goals.

PMID:36758036 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0279114

PLoS One. 2023 Feb 9;18(2):e0281641. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281641. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Prior research has found that experiences with violence in the U.S. differ across individual demographic characteristics, including race, gender, and sexual orientation. However, peer reviewed studies have yet to examine the relationship between the intersections of race, gender, and sexual orientation, victimization risk, and characteristics of victimization.

METHODS: We use data from three years (2017-2019) of the National Crime Victimization Survey, the primary source of information on criminal victimization in the United States, to examine victimization at the intersection of sexual orientation, gender, and race/ethnicity. We test whether non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White sexual and gender minority (SGM) persons aged 16 or over are victimized at greater rates than their non-SGM counterparts and assess whether there are differences between sexual minority females and males of each racial group. We further document characteristics of victimization such as reporting to the police by SGM status and race or ethnicity.

RESULTS: We find that SGMs are disproportionately more likely to be victims of violent crime than non-SGM people, and these disparities are present across the assessed racial and ethnic groups (non-Hispanic Black odds ratio [OR] = 3.3, 90% CI [CI] = 1.36, 5.16; Hispanic OR = 4.5, CI = 2.25, 6.71; non-Hispanic White OR = 4.8, CI = 2.25, 6.71). However, sexual orientation disparities are statistically distinguishable for lesbian or bisexual (LB) non-Hispanic White and Hispanic females but not for non-Hispanic Black LB females. Among LB females, the overall differences in victimization were primarily driven by bisexual respondents. We further find racial and ethnic differences among SGM victims in the likelihood of having the victimization reported to the police, in the utilization of community (non-police) resources, and in other aspects of victimization experiences, such as whether arrests occurred or in the suspicion that the violent incident was a hate crime.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings raise indicate a complex picture of how sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, and race and ethnicity interact in victimizations and their characteristics that should be further explored.

PMID:36758033 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0281641

J Pediatr Orthop B. 2023 Feb 8. doi: 10.1097/BPB.0000000000001061. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The objective is to document the rate of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency among children with low-energy fractures and compare it to fracture-free control group. We included all children under 15 years presenting to the emergency department with low-energy fractures; controls were children without history of fractures from the outpatient department. Conventional X-ray and laboratory blood tests were performed. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as serum level ≤20 ng/ml, and the mean values were compared through two-sample t-tests. The influence of vitamin D on the fractures was defined using Chi-square test, significance with P-value < 0.05. The relationships between variables and odds of fracture occurrence were examined using logistic regression models. The final sample included 37 cases (30 males, 7 females, 7.4 ± 3.7 years) and 70 control individuals (42 males, 28 females, 7.8 ± 4.6 years) without significant differences regarding age, sex, and month of inclusion. Children with fractures had lower levels of vitamin D (21.87 ± 8.40 ng/ml vs. 25.89 ± 7.62 ng/ml) (P = 0.01). Vitamin D played a protective role against low-energy fractures (OR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.01-1.14; P = 0.02), boys showed three times greater fracture risk than girls (OR, 3.00; 95% CI, 1.12-8.07; P = 0.03). Finally, vitamin D deficiency correlated with almost five times increased risk of pediatric low-energy fractures (OR, 4.63; 95% CI, 1.92-11.18; P = 0.001). This is the first MENA study establishing a relation between vitamin D deficiency and low-energy fractures among children and adolescents. The findings show the protective role of vitamin D on the pediatric bone and may help physicians preventing morbidity on children and costs on their families and the socioeconomic health system.

PMID:36756947 | DOI:10.1097/BPB.0000000000001061

Rev Esp Salud Publica. 2023 Feb 9;97:e202302011.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) in 153 patients who had suffered a stroke in the province of Ourense and where the stroke code had been activated.Its realization is part of the purpose of the authors to influence chronic pathology to prevent this specific event.

METHODS: A longitudinal, retrospective and observational study was applied to 153 patients with a mean age of 76±12 years who had presented some type of stroke. The independent variables were classified as quantitative (international normalized ratio [INR], blood pressure and glycemia) and in qualitative (atrial fibrillation [AF], consumption of anticoagulants [ACO], smoking and blood lipid levels). The dependent variables were the type of stroke, the affected artery, and patient mortality after thirty days, six months, and one year. For the qualitative variables, the non-parametric verification method of Kruskal-Wallis (K-W) and Mann-Whitney (M-W) was used for comparison of means and for Chi-square association.

RESULTS: INR was associated with the type of event and mortality at six and twelve months (p<0,001). Glycemia was related in a statistically significant way both with the type of event, the affected artery and with mortality in the three periods. Both AF and OACs were associated with the type of event and the artery affected, the latter also with one-year mortality. Age was related to mortality in the three periods without becoming significant at thirty days. Being a man could be a risk factor for thirty -day mortality (OR>1) and being a woman for one-year mortality. Regarding the type of intervention performed, undergoing fibrinolysis or thrombectomy increased the risk of mortality compared to combined treatment, the relationship between thrombectomy and increased mortality being statistically significant exclusively in the six-month period.

CONCLUSIONS: According to the results obtained, the prevention of cerebrovascular events and secondary mortality should focus mainly on high blood glucose levels, the consumption of anticoagulants, INR, and the presence of AF as cardiovascular risk factors. Studies with a larger sample size are needed to establish if there really is an impact on mortality based on sex, as well as to determine with greater certainty if habits such as smoking, poor diet and other factors play a relevant role.

PMID:36756943

ChemMedChem. 2023 Feb 9. doi: 10.1002/cmdc.202300047. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In this work, we extend the concept of 5-fluorouracil/heme oxygenase 1 (5-FU/HO-1) inhibitor hybrid as an effective strategy for enhancing 5-FU-based anticancer therapies. For this purpose, we designed and synthesized new mutual prodrugs, named SI 1/20 and SI 1/22, in which the two active parent drugs (i.e., 5-FU and an imidazole-based HO-1 inhibitor) were connected through an easily cleavable succinic linker. Experimental hydrolysis rate, and in silico ADMET predictions were indicative of good drug-likeness and pharmacokinetic properties. Novel hybrids significantly reduced the viability of prostate DU145 cancer cells compared to the parent compounds 5-FU and HO-1 inhibitor administered alone or in combination. Interestingly, both compounds showed statistically significant lower toxicity, than 5-FU at the same dose, against non-tumorigenic human benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH-1) cell lines. Moreover, the newly synthesized mutual prodrugs inhibited the HO-1 activity both in a cell-free model and in vitro, as well as downregulated the HO-1 expression and increased the ROS levels.

PMID:36756924 | DOI:10.1002/cmdc.202300047