Category: Nevin Manimala

PLoS One. 2021 May 11;16(5):e0251258. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251258. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

Our computational developments and analyses on experimental images are designed to evaluate the effectiveness of chemical spraying via unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Our evaluations are in accord with the two perspectives of color-complexity: color variety within a color system and color distributional geometry on an image. First, by working within RGB and HSV color systems, we develop a new color-identification algorithm relying on highly associative relations among three color-coordinates to lead us to exhaustively identify all targeted color-pixels. A color-dot is then identified as one isolated network of connected color-pixel. All identified color-dots vary in shapes and sizes within each image. Such a pixel-based computing algorithm is shown robustly and efficiently accommodating heterogeneity due to shaded regions and lighting conditions. Secondly, all color-dots with varying sizes are categorized into three categories. Since the number of small color-dot is rather large, we spatially divide the entire image into a 2D lattice of rectangular. As such, each rectangle becomes a collective of color-dots of various sizes and is classified with respect to its color-dots intensity. We progressively construct a series of minimum spanning trees (MST) as multiscale 2D distributional spatial geometries in a decreasing-intensity fashion. We extract the distributions of distances among connected rectangle-nodes in the observed MST and simulated MSTs generated under the spatial uniformness assumption. We devise a new algorithm for testing 2D spatial uniformness based on a Hierarchical clustering tree upon all involving MSTs. This new tree-based p-value evaluation has the capacity to become exact.

PMID:33974657 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0251258

PLoS One. 2021 May 11;16(5):e0251364. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251364. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In resource-limited countries like Ethiopia, where malnutrition is a common problem, incarcerated people’s sentences might be changed into a death sentence if the problems of undernutrition are not well understood and managed properly. There is limited evidence on nutritional status and associated factors among incarcerated people in low- income countries like Ethiopia, including the study area.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the magnitude of undernutrition and associated factors among incarcerated people in Mizan prison institute, southwest Ethiopia.

METHODS: An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 340 incarcerated people in Mizan prison institute from April 1 to 27, 2020, using a stratified sampling technique. An interviewer-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The outcome variable (undernutrition) was assessed by measuring body mass index (BMI). Binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with undernutrition. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to measure the strength of association and a p-value less than 0.05 was used to declare the level of statistical significance.

RESULTS: The magnitude of undernutrition was 18.6% (95%CI: 14.4%, 22.8%). Being in the age category of 18-29 years (AOR = 2.60; 95%CI: 1.22,5.52), history of previous incarceration (AOR = 2.31;95%CI: 1.23,4.34), duration of imprisonment (AOR = 1.19; 95%CI: 1.05,1.34), having depression (AOR = 2.1; 95% CI: 1.10,3.97) and sleeping in group (AOR = 2.17; 95% CI: 1.18,4.01) were factors significantly associated with an increased odds of undernutrition. However, the presence of family support significantly decreased (AOR = 0.29; 95%CI: 0.12, 0.69) the odds of undernutrition.

CONCLUSION: The magnitude of undernutrition in the prison was found to be comparable to that of the general population in Ethiopia. The efforts on the ground to tackle undernutrition in the general population shall be extended to incarcerated people, especially by focusing on vulnerable groups such as those who had longer durations of incarceration, history of previous imprisonment, depression and no support.

PMID:33974638 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0251364

PLoS One. 2021 May 11;16(5):e0250790. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250790. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

In recent years, the trigonometric families of continuous distributions have found a place of choice in the theory and practice of statistics, with the Sin-G family as leader. In this paper, we provide some contributions to the subject by introducing a flexible extension of the Sin-G family, called the transformed Sin-G family. It is constructed from a new polynomial-trigonometric function presenting a desirable “versatile concave/convex” property, among others. The modelling possibilities of the former Sin-G family are thus multiplied. This potential is also highlighted by a complete theoretical work, showing stochastic ordering results, studying the analytical properties of the main functions, deriving several kinds of moments, and discussing the reliability parameter as well. Then, the applied side of the proposed family is investigated, with numerical results and applications on the related models. In particular, the estimation of the unknown model parameters is performed through the use of the maximum likelihood method. Then, two real life data sets are analyzed by a new extended Weibull model derived to the considered trigonometric mechanism. We show that it performs the best among seven comparable models, illustrating the importance of the findings.

PMID:33974643 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0250790

MEDICC Rev. 2021 Apr;23(2):27. doi: 10.37757/MR2021.V23.N2.8. Epub 2021 Apr 30.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: To discern environmental factors that, along with genes influencing susceptibility, drive the occurrence of non-syndromic congenital disorders, it is important to identify clusters of these abnormalities.

OBJECTIVE: Determine the adjusted prevalence of orofacial clefts in Villa Clara Province, Cuba, and identify and describe their spatiotemporal variability during January 2013-December 2018.

METHODS: Cases were selected from a total of 46,007 births that took place in the province’s four maternity hospitals during the study period. Of these, 36 cases of newborns with either prenatal or postnatal non-syndromic orofacial cleft diagnoses were obtained from hospital and community registries. We applied spatial statistical analysis techniques with the aim of identifying areas within the province with the highest prevalence.

RESULTS: Adjusted prevalence was 0.78 per 1000 births. The most common non-syndromic orofacial congenital abnormality was cleft lip with or without cleft palate. Frequency of congenital abnormalities increased during the first two years of the study and decreased during the last two years. A primary spatiotemporal cluster was identified in two contiguous municipalities in 2017 and a secondary one in two other neighboring municipalities between 2014 and 2016.

CONCLUSIONS: Spatiotemporal analysis of non-syndromic orofacial clefts in Villa Clara Province, Cuba, identified two spatiotemporal clusters, constituting an opportunity to better understand the etiology of orofacial clefts.

PMID:33974613 | DOI:10.37757/MR2021.V23.N2.8

Med Sci Monit. 2021 May 11;27:e929714. doi: 10.12659/MSM.929714.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of seawater on nasal congestion and runny nose symptoms in adults with an acute upper respiratory infection (URI). MATERIAL AND METHODS This was a multicenter retrospective cohort trial of patients with acute URI and symptoms of nasal congestion and runny nose. The patients were assigned to 2 groups and were administered regular non-drug supportive treatment or supportive treatment with nasal irrigation with sea salt-derived physiological saline. The primary efficacy endpoint was the effective rate (percentage of patients with ≥30% symptom score reduction from baseline for nasal congestion and runny nose). RESULTS In total, 144 patients were enrolled, including 72 in each group, and 143 patients completed the study. Both groups had similar demographics and vital signs. The effective rates for nasal congestion and runny nose were significantly increased in the seawater group compared with patients in the control group (87.3% vs 59.7% for nasal congestion; 85.9% vs 61.1% for runny nose; both P<0.001). In addition, the 2 groups showed markedly different degrees of patient symptom score improvement in sleep quality and appetite (both P<0.01), but not in cough and fatigue (both P>0.05). There were no adverse events in either group. CONCLUSIONS The sea salt-derived physiological saline nasal spray device satisfactorily improved nasal congestion, runny nose, sleep quality, and appetite in adults with URI, with no adverse effects.

PMID:33974619 | DOI:10.12659/MSM.929714

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2021 May 11;15(5):e0009380. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009380. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The Gambia initiated a control programme for schistosomiasis in 2015. In light of this, recent and comprehensive data on schistosomiasis is required to effectively guide the control programme. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and associated risk factors of schistosomiasis among primary school children in The Gambia.

METHODS: We utilised data from a previous study conducted in 2015 in 4 regions of The Gambia: North Bank Region (NBR), Lower River Region (LRR), Central River Region (CRR) and Upper River Region (URR). In the parent study, ten schools were selected randomly from each region. Urine and stool samples collected from 25 boys and 25 girls (7-14 years) in each school were examined for urinary schistosomiasis (Schistosoma haematobium infection) and intestinal schistosomiasis (Schistosoma mansoni infection) using urine filtration, dipstick and Kato-Katz methods.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Urinary schistosomiasis had an overall prevalence of 10.2% while intestinal schistosomiasis had a prevalence of 0.3% among the sampled school children. Prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis was significantly different among regions (χ 2 = 279.958, df = 3, p < 0.001), with CRR (27.6%) being the most endemic region, followed by URR (12.0%), then LRR (0.6%), and NBR (0.0%). Prevalence of intestinal schistosomiasis was also significantly variable among regions, with 4 of the 5 positive cases detected in CRR and 1 case in URR. Every school sampled in CRR had at least one student infected with S. haematobium, 50% of schools in URR had S. haematobium infection, and just one school in LRR had S. haematobium infection. While S. haematobium infection was significantly higher in boys (χ 2 = 4.440, df = 1, p = 0.035), no significant difference in infection rate was observed among age groups (χ 2 = 0.882, df = 2, p = 0.643). Two of the 5 students infected with S. mansoni are boys and 3 are girls. Four of these 5 students are in the 10-12 years age group and 1 is in the 7-9 years age group. Macrohaematuria and microhaematuria were found to be statistically associated with presence of S. haematobium eggs in urine. Being a male was a risk factor of S. haematobium infection. Bathing, playing and swimming in water bodies were found to pose less risk for S. haematobium infection, indicating that the true water contact behaviour of children was possibly underrepresented.

CONCLUSION: The findings of this study provide invaluable information on the prevalence of schistosomiasis in The Gambia. This was useful for the schistosomiasis control efforts of the country, as it guided mass drug administration campaigns in eligible districts in the study area. More studies on S. mansoni and its intermediate snail hosts are required to establish its true status in The Gambia. As children sometimes tend to provide responses that potentially please the research or their teacher, data collection frameworks and approaches that ensure true responses in studies involving children should be devised and used.

PMID:33974623 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pntd.0009380

Plast Reconstr Surg. 2021 May 10. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000007940. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The objectivity of physical and electrodiagnostic tests are limited in detecting carpal tunnel syndrome and its recurrence. Predicting the median nerve blood supply using superb microvascular imaging will allow exact diagnosis and a good follow-up system. The aims of this study include using superb microvascular imaging to correlate with electromyographic diagnosis, and to determine the impact of surgery on improvement in superb microvascular imaging.

METHODS: Between July of 2019 and January of 2020, 32 wrists of 21 patients were evaluated prospectively. After preoperative electrodiagnostic studies and vascular index measurement with superb microvascular imaging, open carpal tunnel release was performed by a single surgeon, and 3 months later standardized superb microvascular imaging was performed. Preoperative vascular indexes were compared with the mild, moderate, and severe electrodiagnostic study results. Preoperative and postoperative vascular index results were compared.

RESULTS: The average of the preoperative and postoperative superb microvascular imaging groups were 2.77 and 1.48, respectively, and there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p < 0.05). Although no significant difference was found between preoperative and postoperative vascular index values in patients presenting with mild carpal tunnel syndrome (p > 0.05), there was a significant decrease in vascular index values in patients presenting with moderate and severe carpal tunnel syndrome after surgical decompression.

CONCLUSIONS: Superb microvascular imaging is emerging as a groundbreaking, new, and reliable technique. Evaluation of the median nerve blood supply is a reliable method that would be helpful for early diagnosis, planning treatment, determining the severity of carpal tunnel syndrome, and postoperative follow-up.

CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Diagnostic, IV.

PMID:33974590 | DOI:10.1097/PRS.0000000000007940

Sci Rep. 2021 May 10;11(1):9876. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-88609-6.

ABSTRACT

PT150, a novel competitive glucocorticoid receptor (GR) antagonist, has proven safe in animal models, healthy volunteers, and people with depression. Our study is the first to investigate PT150’s safety with alcohol use. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate pharmacodynamic interactions between ethanol and PT150 in healthy subjects. This single-site, Phase I pilot trial consisted of community-recruited, healthy, alcohol-experienced participants aged 21-64 years. Of 32 participants screened, 11 were enrolled and randomized, one of which withdrew before intervention. PT150 (900 mg/day) was administered orally to all participants for five days. All participants received two beverage challenges on Day 1 (before PT150 administration) and Day 5 (after PT150 administration). On challenge days, they received both alcohol (16% ethanol) and placebo (1% ethanol) beverages in random order. Primary outcomes included breath alcohol level, blood pressure, heart rate, adverse events, and electrocardiogram changes. There were no statistically significant differences in vital signs or estimated blood alcohol concentrations between PT150 non-exposed and exposed groups during the ethanol challenge. There were no clinically significant abnormal electrocardiograms or serious adverse events. These data show that administration of PT150 with concurrent alcohol use is safe and well-tolerated. This study supports a future pharmacokinetic interaction study between PT150 and alcohol.Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03548714.

PMID:33972573 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-88609-6

Sci Rep. 2021 May 10;11(1):9830. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-89135-1.

ABSTRACT

The vertebrate fossil record of the Pampean Region of Argentina occupies an important place in South American vertebrate paleontology. An abundance of localities has long been the main basis for constructing the chronostratigraphical/geochronological scale for the late Neogene-Quaternary of South America, as well as for understanding major patterns of vertebrate evolution, including the Great American Biotic Interchange. However, few independently-derived dates are available for constraining this record. In this contribution, we present new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates on escorias (likely the product of meteoric impacts) from the Argentinean Atlantic coast and statistically-based biochronological analyses that help to calibrate Late Miocene-Pliocene Pampean faunal successions. For the type areas of the Montehermosan and Chapadmalalan Ages/Stages, our results delimit their age ranges to 4.7-3.7 Ma and ca. 3.74-3.04 Ma, respectively. Additionally, from Buenos Aires Province, dates of 5.17 Ma and 4.33 Ma were recovered for “Huayquerian” and Montehermosan faunas. This information helps to better calibrate important first appearances of allochthonous taxa in South America, including one of the oldest records for procyonids (7.24-5.95 Ma), cricetids (6.95-5.46 Ma), and tayassuids (> 3.74 Ma, oldest high-confidence record). These results also constrain to ca. 3 Ma the last appearances of the autochthonous sparassodonts, as well as terror birds of large/middle body size in South America. South American faunal turnover during the late Neogene, including Late Pliocene extinctions, is interpreted as a consequence of knock-on effects from global climatic changes and initiation of the icehouse climate regime.

PMID:33972595 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-89135-1

Sci Rep. 2021 May 10;11(1):9897. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-89290-5.

ABSTRACT

Although exposure to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters ≤ 2.5 µm (PM_2.5) influences cardiovascular disease (CVD), its association with CVD-related hospitalizations of super-aged patients in Japan remains uncertain. We investigated the relationship between short-term PM_2.5 exposure and CVD-related hospitalizations, lengths of hospital stays, and medical expenses. We analyzed the Japanese national database of patients with CVD (835,405) admitted to acute-care hospitals between 2012 and 2014. Patients with planned hospitalizations and those with missing PM_2.5 exposure data were excluded. We classified the included patients into five quintiles based on their PM_2.5 exposure: PM-5, -4, -3, -2, and -1 groups, in descending order of concentration. Compared with the PM-1 group, the other groups had higher hospitalization rates. The PM-3, -4, and -5 groups exhibited increased hospitalization durations and medical expenses, compared with the PM-1 group. Interestingly, the hospitalization period was longer for the ≥ 90-year-old group than for the ≤ 64-year-old group, yet the medical expenses were lower for the former group. Short-term PM_2.5 exposure is associated with increased CVD-related hospitalizations, hospitalization durations, and medical expenses. The effects of incident CVDs were more marked in elderly than in younger patients. National PM_2.5 concentrations should be reduced and the public should be aware of the risks.

PMID:33972608 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-89290-5