Nevin Manimala

PLoS One. 2022 Mar 4;17(3):e0264187. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264187. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

Globally, and in Ghana, a lot of people do practice open defecation as well as share toilet facilities with other households. Meanwhile, open defecation in particular, is associated with numerous negative health and economic effects. To this end, a number of empirical studies have been conducted on the determinants of access to sanitation facilities among households in Ghana. Nonetheless, while financial inclusion (sustainable ways of ensuring easier accessibility to cheap and useful financial products and services among individuals/firms) can enhance the ability of households or individuals to afford toilet facilities, hence, could help in curbing open defecation and sharing of toilet facilities among households, the previous studies on Ghana did not pay attention to it. This study therefore uses data from the 7th round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS7) to examine the association of financial inclusion with open defecation and sharing of toilet facilities among households in Ghana. The binary logit regression is used as the empirical estimation technique. The results show that, financial inclusion in general is associated with lesser likelihood of open defecation and sharing of toilet facilities among households in Ghana after controlling for welfare quintile, urban or rural residence and other covariates. Moreover, while informal financial inclusion is statistically insignificant, formal financial inclusion is found to be associated with reduced open defecation and sharing of toilet facilities among households. Thus, in the attempt to eliminate open defecation as well as reduce the sharing of toilet facilities among households in Ghana, conscious efforts should be devoted towards enhancing formal financial inclusion.

PMID:35245300 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0264187

PLoS One. 2022 Mar 4;17(3):e0264435. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264435. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To assess differences in socio-demographics, HIV testing and healthcare seeking behavior between individuals diagnosed late and those diagnosed early after HIV-acquisition.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study among recently HIV-diagnosed migrant and non-migrant individuals living in the Netherlands.

METHODS: Participants self-completed a questionnaire on socio-demographics, HIV-testing and healthcare seeking behavior preceding HIV diagnosis between 2013-2015. Using multivariable logistic regression, socio-demographic determinants of late diagnosis were explored. Variables on HIV-infection, testing and access to care preceding HIV diagnosis were compared between those diagnosed early and those diagnosed late using descriptive statistics.

RESULTS: We included 143 individuals with early and 101 with late diagnosis, of whom respectively 59/143 (41%) and 54/101 (53%) were migrants. Late diagnosis was significantly associated with older age and being heterosexual. Before HIV diagnosis, 89% of those with early and 62% of those with late diagnosis had ever been tested for HIV-infection (p<0.001), and respectively 99% and 97% reported healthcare usage in the Netherlands in the two years preceding HIV diagnosis (p = 0.79). Individuals diagnosed late most frequently visited a general practitioner (72%) or dentist (62%), and 20% had been hospitalized preceding diagnosis. In these settings, only in respectively 20%, 2%, and 6% HIV-testing was discussed.

CONCLUSION: A large proportion of people diagnosed late had previously tested for HIV and had high levels of healthcare usage. For earlier-case finding of HIV it therefore seems feasible to successfully roll out interventions within the existing healthcare system. Simultaneously, efforts should be made to encourage future repeated or routine HIV testing among individuals whenever they undergo an HIV test.

PMID:35245293 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0264435

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022 Mar 4;16(3):e0010228. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010228. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Colombia announced the first case of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 on March 6, 2020. Since then, the country has reported a total of 5,002,387 cases and 127,258 deaths as of October 31, 2021. The aggressive transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 motivate an investigation of COVID-19 at the national and regional levels in Colombia. We utilize the case incidence and mortality data to estimate the transmission potential and generate short-term forecasts of the COVID-19 pandemic to inform the public health policies using previously validated mathematical models. The analysis is augmented by the examination of geographic heterogeneity of COVID-19 at the departmental level along with the investigation of mobility and social media trends. Overall, the national and regional reproduction numbers show sustained disease transmission during the early phase of the pandemic, exhibiting sub-exponential growth dynamics. Whereas the most recent estimates of reproduction number indicate disease containment, with Rt<1.0 as of October 31, 2021. On the forecasting front, the sub-epidemic model performs best at capturing the 30-day ahead COVID-19 trajectory compared to the Richards and generalized logistic growth model. Nevertheless, the spatial variability in the incidence rate patterns across different departments can be grouped into four distinct clusters. As the case incidence surged in July 2020, an increase in mobility patterns was also observed. On the contrary, a spike in the number of tweets indicating the stay-at-home orders was observed in November 2020 when the case incidence had already plateaued, indicating the pandemic fatigue in the country.

PMID:35245285 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pntd.0010228

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022 Mar 4;16(3):e0010135. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010135. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Following earlier trials indicating that their potential in dengue vector control was constrained by housing structure, a large-scale cluster-randomized trial of insecticide treated curtains (ITCs) and water jar covers (ITJCs) was undertaken in Venezuela.

METHODS: In Trujillo, Venezuela, 60 clusters (6223 houses total) were randomized so that 15 clusters each received either PermaNet insecticide-treated window curtains (ITCs), permanent insecticide-treated water storage jar covers (ITJCs), a combination of both ITCs and ITJCs, or no insecticide treated materials (ITMs). A further 15 clusters located at least 5km from the edge of the study site were selected to act as an external control. Entomological surveys were carried out immediately before and after intervention, and then at 6-month intervals over the following 27 months. The Breteau and House indices were used as primary outcome measures and ovitrap indices as secondary. Negative binomial regression models were used to compare cluster-level values of these indices between the trial arms.

RESULTS: Reductions in entomological indices followed deployment of all ITMs and throughout the trial, indices in the external control arm remained substantially higher than in the ITM study arms including the internal control. Comparing the ratios of between-arm means to summarise the entomological indices throughout the study, the combined ITC+ITJC intervention had the greatest impact on the indices, with a 63% difference in the pupae per person indices between the ITC+ITJC arm and the internal control. However, coverage had fallen below 60% by 14-months post-intervention and remained below 40% for most of the remaining study period.

CONCLUSIONS: ITMs can impact dengue vector populations in the long term, particularly when ITCs and ITJCs are deployed in combination.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov ISRCTN08474420; www.isrctn.com.

PMID:35245284 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pntd.0010135

PLoS Comput Biol. 2022 Mar 4;18(3):e1009887. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009887. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Synchronization of neural oscillations is thought to facilitate communication in the brain. Neurodegenerative pathologies such as Parkinson’s disease (PD) can result in synaptic reorganization of the motor circuit, leading to altered neuronal dynamics and impaired neural communication. Treatments for PD aim to restore network function via pharmacological means such as dopamine replacement, or by suppressing pathological oscillations with deep brain stimulation. We tested the hypothesis that brain stimulation can operate beyond a simple “reversible lesion” effect to augment network communication. Specifically, we examined the modulation of beta band (14-30 Hz) activity, a known biomarker of motor deficits and potential control signal for stimulation in Parkinson’s. To do this we setup a neural mass model of population activity within the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic (CBGT) circuit with parameters that were constrained to yield spectral features comparable to those in experimental Parkinsonism. We modulated the connectivity of two major pathways known to be disrupted in PD and constructed statistical summaries of the spectra and functional connectivity of the resulting spontaneous activity. These were then used to assess the network-wide outcomes of closed-loop stimulation delivered to motor cortex and phase locked to subthalamic beta activity. Our results demonstrate that the spatial pattern of beta synchrony is dependent upon the strength of inputs to the STN. Precisely timed stimulation has the capacity to recover network states, with stimulation phase inducing activity with distinct spectral and spatial properties. These results provide a theoretical basis for the design of the next-generation brain stimulators that aim to restore neural communication in disease.

PMID:35245281 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009887

Plast Reconstr Surg. 2022 Mar 2. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000008983. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Mastectomy skin flap necrosis following breast reconstruction may lead to wound dehiscence, infection, implant exposure, and reconstructive failure. The absence of a standardized definition for it has led to variation in estimated incidence, from as low as 2 percent to greater than 40 percent. The authors systematically reviewed the literature on mastectomy skin flap necrosis to characterize existing definitions and provide a framework for future classification.

METHODS: A systematic review of the PubMed and Cochrane databases identified studies reporting a discrete definition of mastectomy skin flap necrosis and corresponding outcomes in breast reconstruction. Provided definitions were extracted, categorized, and comparatively analyzed.

RESULTS: Fifty-nine studies met inclusion criteria, with a combined total of 14,368 patients and 18,920 breasts. Thirty-four studies (57.6 percent) reported mastectomy skin flap necrosis solely as a function of total breasts, and 11 (18.6 percent) reported mastectomy skin flap necrosis solely as a function of total patients. Only 14 studies (23.7 percent) provided two separate rates. The overall rate of mastectomy skin flap necrosis was 10.4 percent (range, 2.3 to 41.2 percent) and 15.3 percent (range, 4.7 to 39.0 percent), when reported per breast or per patient, respectively. Studies were categorized by mastectomy skin flap necrosis definition, including intervention (n = 33), depth (n = 20), area (n = 4), and timing (n = 2). Mastectomy skin flap necrosis rates were highest in studies defining necrosis by depth (15.1 percent), followed by intervention (9.6 percent), timing (6.4 percent), and area (6.3 percent). Necrosis rates among studies defining mastectomy skin flap necrosis by intervention, depth, and area were found to be statistically different (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Reported mastectomy skin flap necrosis definitions and outcomes vary significantly in the existing literature. For accurate characterization and quantification, a clear, simplified, consensus definition must be adopted.

PMID:35245258 | DOI:10.1097/PRS.0000000000008983

J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2022 Mar 2. doi: 10.5435/JAAOS-D-21-00977. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Limited literature is available about the effects of extended (>24 hours) antibiotic use after primary and aseptic revision total joint arthroplasty (TJA) on rates of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). The purpose of this study was to systematically review the outcomes of extended prophylactic antibiotic use.

METHODS: A systematic search on PubMed and EMBASE databases was done in August 2021 following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Articles that met inclusion criteria were screened by two separate authors. Basic patient demographics, route of delivery, type, dose, frequency of the antibiotic, rates of PJI, and length of stay were extracted.

RESULTS: A total of 11 articles published from 1979 to 2021 were included in the final analysis. Two studies evaluated aseptic revisions, seven evaluated primary TJA, and two studies evaluated both. Five studies were randomized controlled trials, one multicenter nonrandomized trial, and five retrospective cohort studies. All 11 studies used a cephalosporin or a penicillin antibiotic in both the control and cohort groups. Five studies used intravenous (IV) antibiotics, one study used oral (PO) antibiotics, and the other five studies used both IV and PO antibiotics. Length of stay was reported in three studies, all using IV antibiotics. All 11 studies evaluated rates of PJI, while four studies evaluated included rates of superficial surgical site infections. Four studies showed a statistically significant decrease in PJI when compared with a control group, while seven studies showed no statistically significant difference.

CONCLUSION: There is conflicting evidence regarding the benefit of extended (>24 hours) antibiotics, IV or PO, after TJA. As of now, current guidelines do not support the use of extended antibiotics; future prospective clinical trials are needed to help support these claims.

PMID:35245256 | DOI:10.5435/JAAOS-D-21-00977

J Am Acad Orthop Surg Glob Res Rev. 2022 Mar 2;6(3). doi: 10.5435/JAAOSGlobal-D-21-00322.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Cephalomedullary nail (CMN) length for intertrochanteric femur fractures without subtrochanteric extension has been an ongoing debate. The authors hypothesize that increasing nail length would result in increasing surgical time, greater incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI), postoperative anemia, and blood loss requiring transfusion due to increased intramedullary reaming and pressurization of the canal with nail insertion.

METHODS: A retrospective chart review of patients aged 65 years or older who underwent CMN for low-energy intertrochanteric femur fractures from 2010 to 2018 was undertaken. Patient demographic data, comorbidities, case duration, postoperative hospital length of stay (LOS), and laboratory data, including serum creatinine, hemoglobin, and hematocrit, were collected for analysis. The following outcome measures were compared: postoperative pneumonia, cardiac complications, sepsis, reintubation/intensive care unit stay, pulmonary embolism, stroke, postoperative AKI, 30-day hospital readmission, 30-day return to operating room, 30-day mortality, 1-year mortality, postoperative anemia (hemoglobin <7 g/dL), and blood transfusion.

RESULTS: A total of 247 patients were analyzed (short = 48, intermediate = 39, and long = 160). No notable difference was observed in postoperative pneumonia, cardiac complications, sepsis, reintubation/intensive care unit stay, pulmonary embolism, stroke, mean total hospital LOS, mean postoperative hospital LOS, rate of postoperative AKI, 30-day readmission, 30-day return to operating room, 30-day mortality, or 1-year mortality. Patients receiving long nails had significantly higher rates of postoperative anemia (P = 0.0491), blood transfusion (P = 0.0126), and mean procedure length (P = 0.0044) compared with the two other groups.

DISCUSSION: Patients receiving long nails had markedly higher rates of postoperative anemia and blood loss requiring blood transfusion with markedly longer mean procedure length than patients receiving short and intermediate CMNs. Long nails did not result in an increase in other complications evaluated.

PMID:35245250 | DOI:10.5435/JAAOSGlobal-D-21-00322

Fa Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2021 Dec 25;37(6):825-831. doi: 10.12116/j.issn.1004-5619.2020.500701.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of different pretreatment methods and preservation time on RNA quality of peripheral blood samples, and to optimize the preservation method of peripheral blood samples.

METHODS: Eight pretreatment methods were used to preprocess the peripheral blood from 3 healthy unrelated individuals and the treated samples were stored at -80 ℃. Total RNA of samples was extracted using Quick-RNA^TM Miniprep Plus kit. DNA/RNA Shield^TM was added to peripheral blood and total RNA was extracted after preservation at -80 ℃ for 0, 5, 10, 15, 30 and 60 days, respectively. The concentration, purity and integrity of RNA were determined. Statistical analyses were performed by SPSS 22.0 software to compare the differences in RNA yield, purity and integrity among the eight pretreatment methods.

RESULTS: In terms of purity, leukocyte pretreated with RNAlater^TM and directly cryopreservation peripheral blood showed the worst purity. The other six methods showed better purity. In terms of yield, blood cells with DNA/RNA Shield^TM came out with the highest yield, followed by peripheral blood with DNA/RNA Shield^TM. In terms of integrity, peripheral blood preserved in PAXgene Blood RNA tube method had the best integrity. Except for peripheral blood pretreated with DNA/RNA Shield^TM and blood cells pretreated with DNA/RNA shield^TM, the other five methods had statistical differences when compared to the method by keeping peripheral blood in PAXgene Blood RNA tube. The purity of RNA stored at six-time gradients ranged from 1.815 to 1.952. With the increase of storage time, RNA yield decreased from 4.516 ng to 1.039 ng, and RNA integrity decreased from 8.533 to 7.150.

CONCLUSIONS: According to the results of total RNA’s yield, purity and integrity, peripheral blood pretreated with DNA/RNA Shield^TM was the best pretreatment method. After the pretreatment, samples can be preserved for up to 60 days in low temperature.

PMID:35243848 | DOI:10.12116/j.issn.1004-5619.2020.500701

Fa Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2021 Dec 25;37(6):813-816. doi: 10.12116/j.issn.1004-5619.2020.200913.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To explore the relationship between the frequency characteristics and response threshold of auditory steady-state response (ASSR), auditory brainstem response (ABR) and 40 Hz auditory event related potential (40 Hz AERP), and their application values in forensic medicine.

METHODS: Thirty volunteers with normal hearing (60 ears) were selected to perform pure tone audiometry (PTA) threshold and ASSR, ABR and 40 Hz AERP response threshold tests in the standard sound insulation shielding room, and the results were statistically analyzed by SPSS 22.0 software.

RESULTS: At 0.5 kHz and 1.0 kHz frequencies, the correlation between 40 Hz AERP response threshold and PTA threshold was good, which was better than that of ASSR and ABR response threshold. At 2.0 kHz and 4.0 kHz frequencies, the correlation between ASSR and ABR response thresholds and PTA threshold was good, which was better than that of 40 Hz AERP response threshold.

CONCLUSIONS: To evaluate the hearing at 0.5 kHz and 1.0 kHz frequencies, it is recommended to use 40 Hz AERP and ASSR to comprehensively assess the PTA threshold of the subjects. To evaluate the hearing at 2.0 kHz and 4.0 kHz frequencies, ABR and ASSR are recommended to assess the PTA threshold of subjects comprehensively. The combination of ASSR, ABR and 40 Hz AERP can improve the accuracy of hearing function evaluation.

PMID:35243846 | DOI:10.12116/j.issn.1004-5619.2020.200913