Nevin Manimala

PLoS One. 2021 Apr 5;16(4):e0248965. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248965. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to assess the safety and glycemic outcomes with the use of a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Hybrid Closed-Loop (HCL) system based on the AndroidAPS application in type 1 diabetes (T1D).

METHODS: Single-center clinical trial, with 3-week run-in and 12-week study period. DIY HCL system consisted of the Dana Diabecare RS insulin pump, Dexcom G5 continuous glucose monitoring system and AndroidAPS application. Primary outcome was safety: incidences of severe hypoglycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, time spent in glycemia <54 mg/dl. Secondary endpoints included percentage of time in range (TIR) 70-180 mg/dl, time below 70 mg/dl, HbA1c, insulin requirements, and body weight.

RESULTS: In total 12 subjects (5 men, 7 women) were enrolled, mean age 31.3±6.7, 95%CI(27.7-34.9) years, mean diabetes duration 16.1±5.7, 95%CI(13.0-19.2) years. No episodes of severe hypoglycemia or ketoacidosis were observed. Percentage of time spent in glycemia below 54mg/dl was not increased. Average sensor glycemia was lower in the study period than baseline (141.1 ± 8.4, 95%CI(136.3-145.9) vs. 153.3 ± 17.9, 95%CI(143.2-163.4), mg/dl p<0.001). TIR 70-180 mg/dl was improved by 11.3%, 95%CI(2.8%-19.8%) (from 68.0 ± 12.7 to 79.3 ± 6.4%, p<0.001), without increasing hypoglycemia time. The HbA1c level decreased by -0.5%, 95%CI(-0.9%–0.1%) (from 6.8 ± 0.5 to 6.3 ± 0.4%, p<0.001). Additionally, in the last 4 weeks of the study period participants significantly improved and showed TIR 70-180 mg/dl 82.1 ± 5.6%, 95%CI(78.9-85.3), time <54 mg/dl 0.30 (0.20-0.55)%, median 95%CI(0.1-0.7) and <70 mg/dl 1.90 (1.10-3.05)%, median 95%CI(0.7-3.2). The insulin requirement and body weight did not change in the study.

CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed safety of the Do-It-Yourself HCL system AndroidAPS in adults with T1D, limited to well-controlled, highly selected and closely monitored patients. The use of AndroidAPS significantly improved HbA1c, time in range and average sensor glycemia without increasing hypoglycemia. As both patients and their medical team are gaining experience using the system over time, they improve glycemic control.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trials Register: no. DRKS00015439; https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00015439.

PMID:33819289 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0248965

PLoS One. 2021 Apr 5;16(4):e0249640. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249640. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Workplace stress is a public health problem worldwide. Studies focusing on work-related stress among vehicle repair workers are scarce in African countries. The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of self-reported workplace stress and associated factors among vehicle repair workers in Hawassa City, South Ethiopia.

METHODS AND FINDINGS: A cross-sectional study design was employed among 347 vehicle repair workers from January 25 to February 22, 2019. Questionnaires were administered using interviews. Additional tools were used for weight and height measurements. The main findings were analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariable, and multivariable logistic regression. The strength of association of variables was presented by odds ratio along with its 95% CI. The statistical assessments were considered significant at p<0.05. A total of 344 workers participated in the study. The prevalence of workplace stress among participants was 41.6% with 95% CI: (36.3-47.1). Factors associated with workplace stress were more than 10 years of work experience [AOR: 2.40; 95% CI (1.29-4.50)], work-related musculoskeletal disorder [AOR: 3.39; 95% CI (1.99-5.78)], squatting and lying work posture [AOR: 4.63; 95% CI (1.61-13.3)] and servicing large vehicles [AOR: 1.96; 95% CI (1.14-3.38)].

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: This study showed that the overall prevalence of work-related stress was substantially high. The independently associated factors were workers’ service years, symptoms of body pain, and the work environment. Preventive measures need to be implemented in vehicle repair workshops by focusing on work environment improvements.

PMID:33819287 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0249640

PLoS One. 2021 Apr 5;16(4):e0249002. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249002. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

Given the ever-increasing amount of high-dimensional and complex omics data becoming available, it is increasingly important to discover simple but effective methods of analysis. Divergence analysis transforms each entry of a high-dimensional omics profile into a digitized (binary or ternary) code based on the deviation of the entry from a given baseline population. This is a novel framework that is significantly different from existing omics data analysis methods: it allows digitization of continuous omics data at the univariate or multivariate level, facilitates sample level analysis, and is applicable on many different omics platforms. The divergence package, available on the R platform through the Bioconductor repository collection, provides easy-to-use functions for carrying out this transformation. Here we demonstrate how to use the package with data from the Cancer Genome Atlas.

PMID:33819273 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0249002

PLoS One. 2021 Apr 5;16(4):e0249199. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249199. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to find the most suitable heat wave definition among 15 different ones and to evaluate its impact on total, age-, and gender-specific mortality for Bandafassi, Senegal.

METHODS: Daily weather station data were obtained from Kedougou situated at 17 km from Bandafassi from 1973 to 2012. Poisson generalized additive model (GAM) and distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) are used to investigate the effect of heat wave on mortality and to evaluate the nonlinear association of heat wave definitions at different lag days, respectively.

RESULTS: Heat wave definitions, based on three or more consecutive days with both daily minimum and maximum temperatures greater than the 90th percentile, provided the best model fit. A statistically significant increase in the relative risk (RRs 1.4 (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.2-1.6), 1.7 (95% CI: 1.5-1.9), 1.21 (95% CI: 1.08-1.3), 1.2 (95% CI: 1.04-1.5), 1.5 (95% CI: 1.3-1.8), 1.4 (95% CI: 1.2-1.5), 1.5 (95% CI: 1.07-1.6), and 1.5 (95% CI: 1.3-1.8)) of total mortality was observed for eight definitions. By using the definition based on the 90th percentile of minimum and maximum temperature with a 3-day duration, we also found that females and people aged ≥ 55 years old were at higher risks than males and other different age groups to heat wave related mortality.

CONCLUSION: The impact of heat waves was associated with total-, age-, gender-mortality. These results are expected to be useful for decision makers who conceive of public health policies in Senegal and elsewhere. Climate parameters, including temperatures and humidity, could be used to forecast heat wave risks as an early warning system in the area where we conduct this research. More broadly, our findings should be highly beneficial to climate services, researchers, clinicians, end-users and decision-makers.

PMID:33819272 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0249199

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2021 Apr 5;15(4):e0009310. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009310. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni infection is usually assessed by the Kato-Katz diagnostic technique. However, Kato-Katz thick smears have low sensitivity, especially for light infections. Egg count models fitted on individual level data can adjust for the infection intensity-dependent sensitivity and estimate the ‘true’ prevalence in a population. However, application of these models is complex and there is need for adjustments that can be done without modelling expertise. This study provides estimates of the ‘true’ S. mansoni prevalence from population summary measures of observed prevalence and infection intensity using extensive simulations parametrized with data from different settings in sub-Saharan Africa.

METHODOLOGY: An individual-level egg count model was applied to Kato-Katz data to determine the S. mansoni infection intensity-dependent sensitivity for various sampling schemes. Observations in populations with varying forces of transmission were simulated, using standard assumptions about the distribution of worms and their mating behavior. Summary measures such as the geometric mean infection, arithmetic mean infection, and the observed prevalence of the simulations were calculated, and parametric statistical models fitted to the summary measures for each sampling scheme. For validation, the simulation-based estimates are compared with an observational dataset not used to inform the simulation.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Overall, the sensitivity of Kato-Katz in a population varies according to the mean infection intensity. Using a parametric model, which takes into account different sampling schemes varying from single Kato-Katy to triplicate slides over three days, both geometric and arithmetic mean infection intensities improve estimation of sensitivity. The relation between observed and ‘true’ prevalence is remarkably linear and triplicate slides per day on three consecutive days ensure close to perfect sensitivity.

CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Estimation of ‘true’ S. mansoni prevalence is improved when taking into account geometric or arithmetic mean infection intensity in a population. We supply parametric functions and corresponding estimates of their parameters to calculate the ‘true’ prevalence for sampling schemes up to 3 days with triplicate Kato-Katz thick smears per day that allow estimation of the ‘true’ prevalence.

PMID:33819266 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pntd.0009310

PLoS One. 2021 Apr 5;16(4):e0249311. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249311. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

Over the past several years, global project management teams have been facing dynamic challenges that continue to grow exponentially with the increasing number of complexities associated with the undertaken tasks. The ever-evolving organizational challenges demand project managers to adapt novel management practices to accomplish organizational goals rather than following traditional management practices. Considering which, the current study aims to explain the effect of agile management practices upon project performance directly as well as while being mediated through project complexity. Furthermore, the aforementioned mediatory relationship is evaluated in terms of the moderating effect of leadership competencies. The current study utilized the survey approach to collect the data from registered I.T firms deployed in the potential metropolitans of each province of Pakistan including, Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Sukkur, and Karachi. A total of 176 responses were utilized for statistical evaluations. As result, it was observed that the negative influence anticipated by project complexity on project performance was compensated by the agile management practices. Further, the leadership competencies played a pivotal role in managing project complexity while implementing agile management practices and therefore enhancing project performance. The current study abridges the potential knowledge gap conceptually by evaluating the direct impact of agile management upon project performance while considering all of its aspects, exploring the mediatory role of project performance and evaluating the moderating role of leadership competencies in attaining optimum project performance. In contextual terms, the current study fills the knowledge gap by gauging the implications of agile management practices within the I.T sector of Pakistan. The results of the current study can be a potential guide for both the academicians and the industry professionals.

PMID:33819262 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0249311

Balkan J Med Genet. 2021 Mar 23;23(2):73-78. doi: 10.2478/bjmg-2020-0029. eCollection 2020 Nov.

ABSTRACT

The Wingless/INT (WNT) signaling network has roles in renal cancer development. It was shown that the tumor-suppressor microRNA-124 (miR-124) is associated with the Wnt pathway. Thus, we aimed to measure miR-124 expression levels to evaluate whether it is a prognostic marker or a potential treatment strategy. Thirty tumor and 30 surrounding healthy kidney tissues from the same subjects diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), were included in the study. The expression levels of miR-124 were measured with real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and determined by the 2^-ΔΔCT method. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22 program was used for statistical analyses and a p value of 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. The expression levels of miR-124 was found to be about 3-fold lower in tumors than in healthy tissues (p 0.001) and decreased expression levels correlated with tumor stage, tumor diameter, body mass index (BMI) and neutrophil values (p 0.05). Our results showed that miR-124 expression levels are associated with RCC. MicroRNA-124 may be assessed as a biomarker in prognosis and the restoration of miR-124 expression might be effective in the treatment of RCC.

PMID:33816075 | PMC:PMC8009564 | DOI:10.2478/bjmg-2020-0029

Balkan J Med Genet. 2021 Mar 23;23(2):49-58. doi: 10.2478/bjmg-2020-0016. eCollection 2020 Nov.

ABSTRACT

Modifying genes play an exclusive role in the genetic regulation of the risk of breast cancer development in women with a pathogenic variation of BRCA1 or BRCA2. Therefore, it has been suggested that TNFRSF11A, which is among those modifying genes present in breast cancer development, may have a significant role in patients with positive BRCA1 or BRCA2 variations. In our study, we investigated the probable effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the TNFRSF11A gene, such as rs4485469, rs9646629, rs34739845, rs17069904, rs 884205, rs4941129 on the risk of breast cancer in patients with BRCA1 or BRCA2 variations. A total of 23 breast cancer patients with pathogenic variations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, 28 patients with no pathogenic variations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, and 55 healthy women as a control group, were included in this study. The SNPs were determined with allelic discrimination analysis through the real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) method. There was no statistically significant difference between the SNPs of the TNFRSF11A gene rs4485469, rs9646629, rs34739845, rs17069904, rs884205, rs4941129 and metastasis, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and CerB2 receptor positivity between patient and control group (p >0.05). However, the rs4485469 SNP was found to be borderline significant between the patient groups with and without BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations (p = 0.059). In patients with BRCA1 or BRCA2 pathogenic variations living in the Trakya region of Turkey, we could not determine the relationship between TNFRSF11 SNPs with breast cancer risk.

PMID:33816072 | PMC:PMC8009568 | DOI:10.2478/bjmg-2020-0016

Balkan J Med Genet. 2021 Mar 23;23(2):41-48. doi: 10.2478/bjmg-2020-0030. eCollection 2020 Nov.

ABSTRACT

Propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol) is the most common intravenous anesthetic used in modern medicine. It is postulated that individual differences in genetic factors [polymorphism of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)] in the genes encoding metabolic enzymes, molecular targets and molecular binding sites of propofol can be responsible for susceptibility to propofol effects. The aim of our study was to investigate the influence of the cytochrome P450 2B6 isozyme CYP2B6 (rs3745274), γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor α1 subunit GABRA1 (rs2279020) and ATP-binding cassette subfamily B member 1 ABCB1 (rs1045642) gene polymorphisms on propofol therapeutic outcomes in the patients undergoing abdominal hysterectomy. Ninety patients aged 29-74 years, with different ethnicities were included in this study. The presence of polymorphisms was analyzed using TaqMan SNP genotype analysis on Stratagene MxPro 3005P real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The distribution of all three genetic variants was within the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. There was no significant difference (p >0.05) in the allelic frequencies of polymorphic variants and genotype distributions between adult and older patients and between patients of different ethnicities. Our study did not detect a statistically significant influence of the CYP2B6 (c.516G>A), GABRA1 (c.1059+15G>A) and ABCB1 (c.3435T>C) variants on the variability of clinical parameters (doses for induction in anesthesia, additional doses, induction time and wake time after anesthesia and side effects of propofol). However, the observed trend on the possible influence of the CYP2B6 (c.516G>A) and GABRA1 (c.1059+15G>A) variants warrant an extension of these studies on a larger number of patients.

PMID:33816071 | PMC:PMC8009561 | DOI:10.2478/bjmg-2020-0030

Balkan J Med Genet. 2021 Mar 23;23(2):35-40. doi: 10.2478/bjmg-2020-0021. eCollection 2020 Nov.

ABSTRACT

Genetic and epigenetic factors have an important role during the development of osteoporosis. Receptor activator of nuclear factor-κ B (NF-κB) (RANK)/receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) pathway is important for the bone remodeling, and NFATC1 and FOS are the downtargets of this pathway. Here, we report methylation status of NFATC1 and FOS genes in post- and premenopausal women. In this study, 30 premenopausal and 35 postmenopausal women were included. Methylation sensitive-high resolution melting (MS-HRM) analysis was used for identification of NFATC1 and FOS genes methylation. The NFATC1 gene was methylated in 11 of the 35 postmenopausal women, and the FOS gene was methylated in six of the postmenopausal women (p >0.005). Here, we found statistically significant association between unmethylation of the NFATC1 gene and postmenopausal status. This result explains the epigenetic regulation of osteoclasts during the menopausal transition, and for the first time, our results can be used for epigenetic explanation of postmenopausal osteoporosis in the literature. However, the limited number of studies in this field makes our results crucial. Our results showed great value of epigenetic profiles of postmenopausal women.

PMID:33816070 | PMC:PMC8009562 | DOI:10.2478/bjmg-2020-0021