Tag: nevin manimala

PLOS Glob Public Health. 2024 Mar 21;4(3):e0002516. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002516. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

The clinical features of COVID-19 are vary widely, ranging from asymptomatic states or mild upper respiratory tract infections to severe pneumonia. Previous studies have shown that 20.0% of COVID-19 patients are hospitalized, out of which 10.0-20.0% are admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. The present study aims to assess predictors associated with COVID-19 leading to Intensive Care Unit admission among reverse transcriptase- polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) positive patients in Sukraraj Tropical and infectious disease hospital, Nepal. A case-control study was conducted from June 2022 to July 2022 among patients admitted to Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital. A hospital-based age (± 2 years) and sex-matched case-control study design were adopted in which ICU admitted (case group, n = 33) and general ward admitted (control group, n = 66) were included. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire comprising of socio-demographic, clinical, and preventive predictors. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science version 11.5. The Chi-square test and conditional logistic regression to determine the predictors associated with ICU admission. High blood pressure, high C-reactive protein and poor application of preventive practices were found to be the predictors of ICU admission. Conditional logistics regression analyses revealed that independent risk factors associated with ICU admission were elevated blood pressure (AOR = 2.22; 95% CI 1.05-4.71, p = 0.015) and abnormal C-Reactive Protein (AOR = 2.92; 95% CI 1.24-6.84, p = 0.012) at the time of hospital admission were more likely to get admitted to ICU. Likewise, patients with poor preventive practice (AOR = 3.34; 95% CI 1.19-9.31, p = 0.02) more likely to get admitted to ICU than patient with good preventive practices.These research findings hold potential significance for facilitating early triage and risk assessment in COVID-19 patients.

PMID:38512971 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pgph.0002516

PLoS One. 2024 Mar 21;19(3):e0300658. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300658. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

Visual observation data collected by protected species observers (PSOs) is required per regulations stipulated in Notices to Lessees (NTLs) and geophysical survey Permits (Form BOEM-0328) issued to seismic operators in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Here, data collected by certified and trained PSOs during seismic surveys conducted between 2002-2015 were compiled and analyzed to assess utility in assessing marine mammal responses to seismic noise and effectiveness of required mitigation measures. A total of 3,886 agency-required bi-weekly PSO Effort and Sightings reports were analyzed comprising 598,319 hours of PSO visual effort and 15,117 visual sighting records of marine mammals. The observed closest point of approach (CPA) distance was statistically compared across five species groupings for four airgun activity levels (full, minimum source, ramp up, silent). Whale and dolphin detections were significantly farther from airgun array locations during full power operations versus silence, indicating some avoidance response to full-power operations. Dolphin CPA distances were also significantly farther from airguns operating at minimum source than silence. Blackfish were observed significantly farther from the airgun array during ramp up versus both full and minimum source activities. Blackfish were observed significantly closer to the airgun array during silent activities versus at full, minimum source, and ramp up activities. Beaked whales had the largest mean CPA for detection distance compared to all other species groups. Detection distances for beaked whales were not significantly differences between full and silent operations; however, the sample size was very low. Overall results are consistent with other studies indicating that marine mammals may avoid exposure to airgun sounds based on observed distance from the seismic source during specified source activities. There was geographic variability in sighting rates associated with specific areas of interest within the GOM. This study demonstrates that agency required PSO reports provide a robust and useful data set applicable to impact assessments; management, policy and regulatory decision making; and qualitative input for regional scientific, stock assessment and abundance studies. However, several improvements in content and consistency would facilitate finer-scale analysis of some topics (e.g., effort associated with specific activities, observer biases, sound field estimation) and support statistical comparisons that could provide further insight into marine mammal responses and mitigation efficacy.

PMID:38512955 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0300658

PLoS One. 2024 Mar 21;19(3):e0300920. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300920. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

We previously reported that variations in the number and type of bacteria found in public spaces are influenced by environmental factors. However, based on field survey data alone, whether the dynamics of bacteria in the air change as a result of a single environmental factor or multiple factors working together remains unclear. To address this, mathematical modeling may be applied. We therefore conducted a reanalysis of the previously acquired data using principal component analysis (PCA) in conjunction with a generalized linear model (Glm2) and a statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) test employing the χ2 distribution. The data used for the analysis were reused from a previous public environmental survey conducted at 8:00-20:00 on May 2, June 1, and July 5, 2016 (regular sampling) and at 5:50-7:50 and 20:15-24:15 on July 17, 2017 (baseline sampling) in the Sapporo underground walking space, a 520-meter-long underground walkway. The dataset consisted of 60 samples (22 samples for “bacterial flora”), including variables such as “temperature (T),” “humidity (H),” “atmospheric pressure (A),” “traffic pedestrians (TP),” “number of inorganic particles (Δ5: 1-5 μm),” “number of live airborne bacteria,” and “bacterial flora.” Our PCA with these environmental factors (T, H, A, and TP) revealed that the 60 samples could be categorized into four groups (G1 to G4), primarily based on variations in PC1 [Loadings: T(-0.62), H(-0.647), TP(0.399), A(0.196)] and PC2 [Loadings: A(-0.825), TP(0.501), H(0.209), T(-0.155)]. Notably, the number of inorganic particles significantly increased from G4 to G1, but the count of live bacteria was highest in G2, with no other clear pattern. Further analysis with Glm2 indicated that changes in inorganic particles could largely be explained by two variables (H/TP), while live bacteria levels were influenced by all explanatory variables (TP/A/H/T). ANOVA tests confirmed that inorganic particles and live bacteria were influenced by different factors. Moreover, there were minimal changes in bacterial flora observed among the groups (G1-G4). In conclusion, our findings suggest that the dynamics of live bacteria in the underground walkway differ from those of inorganic particles and are regulated in a complex manner by multiple environmental factors. This discovery may contribute to improving public health in urban settings.

PMID:38512950 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0300920

PLoS One. 2024 Mar 21;19(3):e0299981. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299981. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

Agricultural diversification and high-quality products deriving from sustainable crops such as hemp can represent a solution to revitalize marginal areas and reverse land abandonment. This study aimed at comparing four different hemp cultivars (Carmagnola Selezionata, “CS”; Futura 75, “FUT”; Felina 32, “FEL”; Secuieni Jubileu, “JUB”) to provide information to select the best suited cultivar for cultivation in mountain marginal areas and for specific end-use applications. Hemp cultivars were cultivated in a single experimental field to compare their ecological and agronomic behavior (duration of life cycle phases, plant size and biomass allocation, and plant resource-use strategies). Through metabolomic analysis of both vegetative and reproductive parts of the plants we tested the presence of substances of nutraceutical interest and traced seed nutritional profile. The four cultivars had different ecological and agronomic behavior, and nutritional profile. We found several compounds with potential pharmaceutical and nutraceutical values in all parts of the plant (leaves, inflorescences, and stems). JUB resulted the most suitable for seed production while CS showed the highest content of bioactive compounds in flowers and leaves. FUT, showed the best suitability for multi-purpose cultivation, while FEL seemed to be not appropriate for the cultivation in mountain area. The multi-disciplinary approach we adopted was effective in distinguish across hemp cultivars and provided information to farmers for the selection of the best hemp cultivar to select. Hemp had a high potential for cultivation in marginal lands, demonstrating to be an economic resource due to its multi-purpose use and to the possibility to generate high-added values products. Our results could serve as a stimulus for the reintroduction of this culture in the study area and in other similar environments.

PMID:38512945 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0299981

PLoS One. 2024 Mar 21;19(3):e0299918. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299918. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

AIMS: Existing evidence shows that people who report Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are more likely to exhibit health-risk behaviors. However, limited research on this topic pertains to oncology population. We aim to address this knowledge gap by estimating the prevalence of ACEs and investigating their association with self-reported health-risk behaviors among adult cancer survivors living in the U.S.

METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis using cross-sectional data from the 2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System ACE module. We included 4,126 adults, aged ≥18 years, with a history of cancer. The outcome variable was self-reported health-risk behaviors, which included cigarette smoking, e-cigarette use, and binge alcohol drinking. Self-reported ACEs history was the primary independent variable, comprised of 11 questions regarding child abuse and dysfunctional households. We conducted descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression to describe the relationship between the ACE history and health-risk behaviors.

RESULTS: Overall, 84.2% of cancer survivors self-reported as White, 58.4% were women, and 76.6% were aged 65+ years. Nearly two-thirds of the sample (63.2%) self-reported at least one ACE (prior to age 18) and 21.7% engaged in ≥1 health-risk-behaviors, such as cigarette smoking, binge alcohol drinking, or e-cigarette use. Experiencing ≥3 ACEs was associated with 145% increased odds of reporting at least one health-risk behavior (OR = 2.45, 95% CI [1.78-3.38]) when compared to those without a history of ACEs. Besides, survivors who were younger, divorced, less educated, and had low income had higher odds of reporting at least one health-risk behavior.

CONCLUSIONS: Overall, a history of ACEs is associated with health-risk behaviors. These all can negatively impact cancer survivors’ overall well-being. Early screening for ACE during oncologic visits can be a protective measure for preventing health-risk behaviors among cancer survivors.

PMID:38512934 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0299918

PLoS One. 2024 Mar 21;19(3):e0300403. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300403. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

Functional difficulty in children is a crucial public health problem still undervalued in developing countries. This study explored the socio-demographic factors and anthropometry associated with children’s functional difficulty in Bangladesh. Data for 2-4-year-old children, obtained from Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2019, were used in this study. The mixed-effects logistic regression model was used to analyse the data. Children whose mothers had functional difficulty were found to be 2.75 times more likely to have functional difficulty than children whose mothers had no functional difficulty (95% CI 1.63-4.63). Male children were more likely to experience functional difficulty than female children (OR = 1.48). Furthermore, stunting was found to be significantly associated with functional difficulty (OR = 1.50). The study also revealed that division and mother’s education, specifically, children with mothers having higher secondary + education, had significant association with the outcome variable. The findings provided a vital overview of child disability in a developing country.

PMID:38512905 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0300403

PLoS One. 2024 Mar 21;19(3):e0300744. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300744. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Given the health and economic benefits of family planning (FP), Nigeria’s very low demand for FP satisfied by modern methods (mDFPS) of less than 50% is therefore a major public health concern, especially considering the global target aimed at achieving an mDFPS of at least 75% by year 2030 for all countries. In view of this, together with recognising the possible contextual nature of health outcomes, this study aimed to empirically analyse the mDFPS among married or in-union women of reproductive age (WRA) in Nigeria.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A multilevel binomial logistic model with two levels of analysis was used: individual and community levels. Secondary cross-sectional data were obtained from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, and analyses were performed using Stata 15.0. The analytical sample size was 9,122 WRA nested in a total of 1,072 communities.

RESULTS: The mDFPS was approximately 31.0%. The median odds ratio (MOR) estimated from the final multilevel model was 2.245, which was greater than the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for most of the individual-level variables, suggesting that the unexplained/residual between-community variation in terms of the odds of women having their mDFPS was more relevant than the regression effect of most of the individual-level variables. This was with the exception of the regression effects of the following individual-level variables: women’s husbands that had higher education level in comparison to their counterparts who had husbands with no formal education (aOR = 2.539; 95% CI = 1.896 to 3.399; p<0.001); and women from the Yoruba ethnic group in comparison to their counterparts from the Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri ethnic group (aOR = 2.484; 95% CI = 1.654 to 3.731; p value<0.001). However, other individual-level variables with positive statistically significant regression effects on mDFPS were: women who mentioned that money for accessing health care was not a problem; women’s empowerment in relation to the visitation of family and relatives; and women being exposed to FP messages through various media sources, all in comparison to their respective counterparts. On the other hand, at the community level, women in communities where a high percentage of them had at least a secondary education had statistically significant greater odds of having mDFPS than women in communities with lower education levels (aOR = 1.584; 95% CI = 1.259 to 1.991; p<0.001). We found similar findings regarding women residing in communities with exposure to FP messages through various media sources. However, using the 80% interval ORs (80% IORs) as a supplemental statistical measure for further understanding the regression effects of community-level variables showed that all of the 80% IORs had a value of ‘1’, signifying considerable uncertainty in the regression effects of all community-level variables due to the substantial residual variation existing between communities.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that to achieve the dire increase in mDFPS in Nigeria, policy interventions aimed at improving the education level of both females and males, especially beyond the secondary school level, should be implemented. Additionally, all of the various media sources should be extensively utilised, both at the individual and the community level, by the Nigerian government to spread information on the importance of women having their mDFPS.

PMID:38512904 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0300744

PLoS One. 2024 Mar 21;19(3):e0299805. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299805. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

The automatic cutting of coal and rock surface morphology modeling based on the actual geological environment of coal mine underground excavation and mining is of great significance for improving the surface quality of coal and rock after cutting and enhancing the safety and stability of advanced support. To this end, using the principle of coordinate transformation, the kinematic trajectory of the cutting head of the tunneling machine is established, and the contour morphology of the cutting head under variable cutting technology is obtained. Then, based on the regenerative vibration theory of the cutting head, a dynamic model of the cutting head coal wall is established, and the coordinate relationship of the cutting head in the tunnel coordinate system under vibration induction is analyzed. Based on fractal theory and Z-MAP method, a simulation method for the surface morphology of coal and rock after cutting is proposed, which is driven by the cutting trajectory Under the coupling effect of cutting vibration induction and random fragmentation of coal and rock, simulation of the surface morphology of comprehensive excavation tunnels was conducted, and relevant experiments were conducted to verify the results. A 1:3 similarity experimental model of EBZ160 tunneling machine was used to build a cutting head coal and rock system cutting experimental platform for comparative experiments of cutting morphology. Furthermore, statistical methods were used to compare and evaluate the simulated roof with the actual roof. The results show that the relative errors between the maximum range of peaks and valleys, the peak skewness coefficient of height standard deviation, and the kurtosis coefficient of the actual roof are 1.3%, 24.5%, 16%, and 2.9%, respectively. Overall, this indicates that the surface morphology distribution characteristics of the simulated roof and the actual roof are similar, verifying the effectiveness of the modeling and simulation method proposed in this paper, and providing theoretical support for the design and optimization of advanced support in the future.

PMID:38512903 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0299805

PLoS Comput Biol. 2024 Mar 21;20(3):e1011933. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011933. eCollection 2024 Mar.

ABSTRACT

This perspective is part of an international effort to improve epidemiological models with the goal of reducing the unintended consequences of infectious disease interventions. The scenarios in which models are applied often involve difficult trade-offs that are well recognised in public health ethics. Unless these trade-offs are explicitly accounted for, models risk overlooking contested ethical choices and values, leading to an increased risk of unintended consequences. We argue that such risks could be reduced if modellers were more aware of ethical frameworks and had the capacity to explicitly account for the relevant values in their models. We propose that public health ethics can provide a conceptual foundation for developing this capacity. After reviewing relevant concepts in public health and clinical ethics, we discuss examples from the COVID-19 pandemic to illustrate the current separation between public health ethics and infectious disease modelling. We conclude by describing practical steps to build the capacity for ethically aware modelling. Developing this capacity constitutes a critical step towards ethical practice in computational modelling of public health interventions, which will require collaboration with experts on public health ethics, decision support, behavioural interventions, and social determinants of health, as well as direct consultation with communities and policy makers.

PMID:38512898 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011933

PLoS One. 2024 Mar 21;19(3):e0300404. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300404. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

Vaccination is widely considered to be one of the most important prevention measures as a health strategy. This paper examines trends in basic childhood vaccination coverage and which country and time-dependent determinants may have influenced childhood immunization rates (1-dose BCG, 1- and 3-dose DTP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis), 1-dose measles, and 3-dose polio) between 1980 and 2020 across 94 countries. We identify economic, inequality, demographic, health, education, labor market, environmental, and political stability factors of immunization. To do this, we use data from the annual WHO and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) coverage estimates. The empirical analysis consists of generalized estimating equation models to assess relationships between immunization rates and socioeconomic factors. Additionally, we follow the Barro and Sala-i-Martín approach to identify conditional convergence. Our findings show the strongest positive statistically significant association between immunization rates and GDP per capita, as well as births attended by skilled health staff. Moreover, our research demonstrates conditional convergence, indicating that countries converge towards different steady states. The present study brings new insights to investigating the determinants of childhood vaccination coverage and provides significant implications for health policies.

PMID:38512892 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0300404