Tag: nevin manimala

PLoS One. 2022 Jan 20;17(1):e0262724. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262724. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients are at increased risk of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) persistent infection and disease. This study aimed to evaluate HPV seroprevalence, cervical HPV prevalence, genotype distribution, and frequency of HPV-related cervical lesions in SOT recipients in comparison to immunocompetent women.

METHODS: Cross-sectional study including SOT and immunocompetent women aged 18 to 45 years who denied previous HPV-related lesions. Cervical samples were screened for HPV-DNA by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based DNA microarray system (PapilloCheck®) and squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) by liquid-based cytology. A multiplexed pseudovirion-based serology assay (PsV-Luminex) was used to measure HPV serum antibodies.

RESULTS: 125 SOT and 132 immunocompetent women were enrolled. Cervical samples were collected from 113 SOT and 127 immunocompetent women who had initiated sexual activity. HPV-DNA prevalence was higher in SOT than in immunocompetent women (29.6% vs. 20.2%, p = 0.112), but this difference was not statistically significant. High-risk (HR)-HPV was significantly more frequent in SOT than in immunocompetent women (19.4% vs. 7.9%, p = 0.014). Simultaneous infection with ≥2 HR-HPV types was found in 3.1% of SOT and 0.9% of immunocompetent women. HPV seropositivity for at least one HPV type was high in both groups: 63.8% of 105 SOT and 69.7% of 119 immunocompetent women (p = 0.524). Low-grade (LSIL) and high-grade SIL (HSIL) were significantly more frequent in SOT (9.7% and 5.3%, respectively) than in immunocompetent women (1.6% and 0.8%, respectively) (p = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: These results may reflect the increased risk of HPV persistent infection and disease progression in SOT women due to chronic immunosuppression.

PMID:35051227 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0262724

PLoS One. 2022 Jan 20;17(1):e0262763. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262763. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

The mouse has dichromatic color vision based on two different types of opsins: short (S)- and middle (M)-wavelength-sensitive opsins with peak sensitivity to ultraviolet (UV; 360 nm) and green light (508 nm), respectively. In the mouse retina, cone photoreceptors that predominantly express the S-opsin are more sensitive to contrasts and denser towards the ventral retina, preferentially sampling the upper part of the visual field. In contrast, the expression of the M-opsin gradually increases towards the dorsal retina that encodes the lower visual field. Such a distinctive retinal organization is assumed to arise from a selective pressure in evolution to efficiently encode the natural scenes. However, natural image statistics of UV light remain largely unexplored. Here we developed a multi-spectral camera to acquire high-quality UV and green images of the same natural scenes, and examined the optimality of the mouse retina to the image statistics. We found that the local contrast and the spatial correlation were both higher in UV than in green for images above the horizon, but lower in UV than in green for those below the horizon. This suggests that the dorsoventral functional division of the mouse retina is not optimal for maximizing the bandwidth of information transmission. Factors besides the coding efficiency, such as visual behavioral requirements, will thus need to be considered to fully explain the characteristic organization of the mouse retina.

PMID:35051230 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0262763

PLoS One. 2022 Jan 20;17(1):e0262656. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262656. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19, requires reliable diagnostic methods to track the circulation of this virus. Following the development of RT-qPCR methods to meet this diagnostic need in January 2020, it became clear from interlaboratory studies that the reported Ct values obtained for the different laboratories showed high variability. Despite this the Ct values were explored as a quantitative cut off to aid clinical decisions based on viral load. Consequently, there was a need to introduce standards to support estimation of SARS-CoV-2 viral load in diagnostic specimens. In a collaborative study, INSTAND established two reference materials (RMs) containing heat-inactivated SARS-CoV-2 with SARS-CoV-2 RNA loads of ~107 copies/mL (RM 1) and ~106 copies/mL (RM 2), respectively. Quantification was performed by RT-qPCR using synthetic SARS-CoV-2 RNA standards and digital PCR. Between November 2020 and February 2021, German laboratories were invited to use the two RMs to anchor their Ct values measured in routine diagnostic specimens, with the Ct values of the two RMs. A total of 305 laboratories in Germany were supplied with RM 1 and RM 2. The laboratories were requested to report their measured Ct values together with details on the PCR method they used to INSTAND. This resultant 1,109 data sets were differentiated by test system and targeted gene region. Our findings demonstrate that an indispensable prerequisite for linking Ct values to SARS-CoV-2 viral loads is that they are treated as being unique to an individual laboratory. For this reason, clinical guidance based on viral loads should not cite Ct values. The RMs described were a suitable tool to determine the specific laboratory Ct for a given viral load. Furthermore, as Ct values can also vary between runs when using the same instrument, such RMs could be used as run controls to ensure reproducibility of the quantitative measurements.

PMID:35051208 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0262656

PLoS One. 2022 Jan 20;17(1):e0260916. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260916. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

Temperature is a key factor influencing plant growth and productivity, but its sudden rise can cause severe consequences on crop performances. Early sowing and application of growth promoting agents as a foliar spray can be a sustainable approach to cope with high temperature stress at grain filling stage of cereal crops. Therefore, a test was designed to explore the potential of different growth helping agents including sorghum water extract (SWE, 10 ml L-1), moringa leaf extract (MLE, 3%), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, 2 μM), salicylic acid (SA, 50 mg L-1) and ascorbic acid (ASA, 50 mg L-1) as foliar agents at different sowing dates (early and optimum) to cope with temperature stress in maize. The results stated that foliar application of growth promoting substances successfully persuaded high temperature tolerance at reproductive phase of maize in early and optimum sowings when compared to control. However, SWE + ASA, MLE + H2O2 and SWE + ASA + SA + H2O2 were the best combinations for improving growth, development, and physiological variables under both sowing dates even under suboptimal temperature. All foliar applications significantly increased maize grain and biological yields while maximum was observed in SWE + ASA followed by SWE + ASA + SA + H2O2 or MLE + H2O2 that were statistically at par with ASA + SA + H2O2 but plants without spray or distilled water application did not improve grain and biological yields. Overall, the foliar applications of growth promoting substances enable the plant to enhance its growth, development, morphology, yield and biochemical variables.

PMID:35051214 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0260916

PLoS One. 2022 Jan 20;17(1):e0262483. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262483. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) is currently widely used for research and clinical purposes in many countries. However, its applicability and validity have not been evaluated in the Ethiopian context so far. Therefore, we designed this study to assess the reliability and validity of Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale to detect major neurocognitive disorder among older people in Ethiopia.

METHODS: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among selected older people residing in Macedonia institutional care center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The gold standard diagnosis was determined using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for major neurocognitive disorders. Stata v16 statistical software was used for data analysis. Receivers operating curve analysis, correlations, linear regression, and independent t-test were performed with statistically significant associations declared at a p-value of <0.05. Inter-rater, internal consistency reliabilities, content, criterion and construct validities were also determined.

RESULTS: A total of 116 individuals participated in the study with a 100% response rate. Most (52.7%) of the participants were male and the mean age in years was 69.9± 8. The Cronbach’s alpha for RUDAS was 0.7 with an intra-class correlation coefficient value of 0.9. RUDAS has an area under the receivers operating curve of 0.87 with an optimal cutoff value of ≤ 22. At this cutoff point, RUDAS has sensitivity and specificity of 92.3 and 75.3 with positive and negative likelihood ratios as well as positive and negative predictive values of 3.7, 0.1, 65.5%, and 91.5%, respectively. There has also been a significant difference in the mean scores of RUDAS among the two diagnostic groups showing good construct validity.

CONCLUSION: The Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale has been demonstrated to be a valid and reliable tool to detect major neurocognitive disorder. Policy makers and professionals can incorporate the tool in clinical and research practices in developing countries.

PMID:35051198 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0262483

PLoS One. 2022 Jan 20;17(1):e0260579. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260579. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

With the advancement in machine learning, researchers continue to devise and implement effective intelligent methods for fraud detection in the financial sector. Indeed, credit card fraud leads to billions of dollars in losses for merchants every year. In this paper, a multi-classifier framework is designed to address the challenges of credit card fraud detections. An ensemble model with multiple machine learning classification algorithms is designed, in which the Behavior-Knowledge Space (BKS) is leveraged to combine the predictions from multiple classifiers. To ascertain the effectiveness of the developed ensemble model, publicly available data sets as well as real financial records are employed for performance evaluations. Through statistical tests, the results positively indicate the effectiveness of the developed model as compared with the commonly used majority voting method for combination of predictions from multiple classifiers in tackling noisy data classification as well as credit card fraud detection problems.

PMID:35051184 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0260579

PLoS One. 2022 Jan 20;17(1):e0261162. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261162. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In resource-limited settings, underlying causes of death (UCOD) often are not ascertained systematically, leading to unreliable mortality statistics. We reviewed medical charts to establish UCOD for decedents at two high volume mortuaries in Kisumu County, Kenya, and compared ascertained UCOD to those notified to the civil registry.

METHODS: Medical experts trained in COD certification examined medical charts and ascertained causes of death for 456 decedents admitted to the mortuaries from April 16 through July 12, 2019. Decedents with unknown HIV status or who had tested HIV-negative >90 days before the date of death were tested for HIV. We calculated annualized all-cause and cause-specific mortality rates grouped according to global burden of disease (GBD) categories and separately for deaths due to HIV/AIDS and expressed estimated deaths per 100,000 population. We compared notified to ascertained UCOD using Cohen’s Kappa (κ) and assessed for the independence of proportions using Pearson’s chi-squared test.

FINDINGS: The four leading UCOD were HIV/AIDS (102/442 [23.1%]), hypertensive disease (41/442 [9.3%]), other cardiovascular diseases (23/442 [5.2%]), and cancer (20/442 [4.5%]). The all-cause mortality rate was 1,086/100,000 population. The highest cause-specific mortality was in GBD category II (noncommunicable diseases; 516/100,000), followed by GBD I (communicable, perinatal, maternal, and nutritional; 513/100,000), and III (injuries; 56/100,000). The HIV/AIDS mortality rate was 251/100,000 population. The proportion of deaths due to GBD II causes was higher among females (51.9%) than male decedents (42.1%; p = 0.039). Conversely, more men/boys (8.6%) than women/girls (2.1%) died of GBD III causes (p = 0.002). Most of the records with available recorded and ascertained UCOD (n = 236), 167 (70.8%) had incorrectly recorded UCOD, and agreement between notified and ascertained UCOD was poor (29.2%; κ = 0.26).

CONCLUSIONS: Mortality from infectious diseases, especially HIV/AIDS, is high in Kisumu County, but there is a shift toward higher mortality from noncommunicable diseases, possibly reflecting an epidemiologic transition and improving HIV outcomes. The epidemiologic transition suggests the need for increased focus on controlling noncommunicable conditions despite the high communicable disease burden. The weak agreement between notified and ascertained UCOD could lead to substantial inaccuracies in mortality statistics, which wholly depend on death notifications.

PMID:35051186 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0261162

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022 Jan 20;16(1):e0010087. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010087. eCollection 2022 Jan.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Globally, traditional medicine is widely used to treat a variety of injuries and illnesses, including dog bites, and exposures that are risky for rabies. However, efficacy of most traditional remedies used for rabies prevention or treatment has not been demonstrated in controlled trials or proven in community-based surveys.

METHODS: Six databases were searched including the terms rabies, traditional treatment, traditional remedy, traditional therapy, traditional medicine, and medicinal treatment to review traditional remedies used in the prevention and treatment of rabies. In addition, published literature of rabies transmission dynamics was used to estimate statistical likelihood of dog bite victims developing rabies to provide clarity as to why traditional healers have a high apparent success rate when preventing death from rabies in victims bitten by suspected rabid dogs.

RESULTS: Literature review yielded 50 articles, including three controlled experiments, that described use of traditional remedies for rabies prevention and treatment. Traditional remedies for rabies ranged from plant- or animal-based products to spiritual rituals; however, only a few controlled mice trials were conducted, and none of these trials demonstrated efficacy in preventing or treating rabies. Risk of dying from rabies after a bite from a dog with unknown rabies status is low, 1.90% (0.05%-29.60%). Therefore, traditional healers had a 98.10% (70.40%-99.95%) apparent success rate in preventing death from suspected rabid dog bites despite inefficaciousness of herbal remedies.

CONCLUSION: There was no universal plant species or route of administration that was consistently used for rabies prevention or treatment across countries. No traditional remedy was efficacious in the prevention or treatment of rabies in randomized controlled experiments. Understanding the cultural context under which traditional remedies are used may facilitate collaboration of traditional healers with the modern medical system to ensure timely and appropriate use of proven therapies for prevention and clinical management of rabies.

PMID:35051178 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pntd.0010087

Pain Physician. 2022 Jan;25(1):E73-E86.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF) and percutaneous endoscopic TLIF (PE-TILF) have been widely used in spine surgery. The use of a robot-guided technique provided several advantages; however, few studies have investigated the clinical outcomes of robot-assisted PE-TLIF (PE RA-TLIF).

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this prospective cohort study was to compare the clinical outcomes of PE RA-TLIF with MIS-TLIF for the treatment of lumbar 4-5 (L4-5) spondylolisthesis.

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study.

SETTING: Qilu Hospital of Shandong University.

METHODS: Fifty-eight cases diagnosed with L4-5 spinal stenosis with instability and Meyerding grade I spondylolisthesis (degenerative spondylolisthesis or isthmic spondylolisthesis) were included in this study. Twenty-six patients (group A) were treated with PE RA-TLIF, and the others (group B) underwent MIS-TLIF. The surgical procedures for PE RA-TLIF included the percutaneous implantation of pedicle screws (PS) under robot guidance, percutaneous fully endoscopic transforaminal decompression, and interbody fusion. The Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score, the visual analog scale (VAS) for low back pain (LBP), the VAS for leg pain/numbness, and the Oswestry disability index (ODI) were used as follow-up clinical outcomes, and the lumbar interbody fusion rate was evaluated by CT. All statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 22.0, and the results were presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD).

RESULTS: There were 4 cases of spinal stenosis with instability, 17 cases of degenerative spondylolisthesis, and 5 cases of isthmic spondylolisthesis in group A. For group B, there were 6 cases of spinal stenosis with instability, 19 cases of degenerative spondylolisthesis, and 7 cases of isthmic spondylolisthesis. The preoperative scores for the JOA, ODI, VAS for LBP, and VAS for leg pain were not statistically comparable between the 2 groups (P > 0.05). The incision length for decompression and interbody fusion, estimated blood loss (EBL), and 1-day and 3-day incision pain were significantly higher in group B than in group A (P < 0.05). The mean operative time was longer in group A than in group B (P < 0.05). The operation time of the first 10 cases (251 ± 24 min) was much longer than that of the last 16 cases (200 ± 17 min) in group A. The misplacement rate of percutaneous pedicle screw placement was higher in group B (P < 0.05). No infections of incisions and interbody or nerve root or dural injuries were found in either group A or B. No differences were found between the 2 groups in the JOA scores, ODI, leg pain VAS score, or lumbar interbody fusion rate at the 2-year follow-up. The VAS for back pain was better in group A than in group B (P < 0.05).

LIMITATIONS: The PE RA -TLIF procedure is technically challenging and has a steep learning curve, and the study was not strictly randomized.

CONCLUSION: PE RA-TLIF is a safe and effective procedure that can significantly improve the accuracy of pedicle screw placement, reduce surgical trauma, and facilitate rapid postoperative recovery. However, this technique has a steep and long learning curve and requires long-term follow-ups.

PMID:35051154

Pain Physician. 2022 Jan;25(1):E121-E126.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Since its adoption as a treatment for neuropathic pain in the 1960s, radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has continued to gain popularity for the management of various pain etiologies. Although RFA is considered to be a safe procedure, post-neurotomy neuritis (PNN), a neuropathic-type pain, is one of the most common side effects. Due to the increasing recognition of PNN, some providers have attempted to mitigate the risk of PNN by injecting local corticosteroids at the site of RFA following the procedure. Recent studies have generally concluded that corticosteroids do not protect against the development of PNN, however, they have been limited by their retrospective study designs and the low incidence of PNN.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to add to the growing literature regarding the role of post-RFA corticosteroid administration in preventing the development of PNN.

STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a prospective study evaluating the incidence of PNN as well as the efficacy of post-RFA corticosteroid administration in preventing the development of PNN.

SETTING: All RFAs were performed by the same board-certified, pain medicine fellowship-trained, attending physician at the University of Wisconsin who performed the initial patient evaluation at the pain medicine clinic.

METHODS: Thirty-nine patients (47 RFAs) were included in the study. All patients were between the ages of 30 and 81; 23 (59.0%) patients were women comprising 28 (59.6%) of the RFAs performed. RFA was performed for a variety of conditions, including facet joint pain, osteoarthritic knee pain, and occipital nerve pain. The 19 patients (25 RFAs) completed prior to February 2020 received post-RFA corticosteroids; the remaining 21 patients (22 RFAs) completed after this date did not receive corticosteroids. The Numeric Rating Scale (NRS-11) and Douleur Neuropathique 4 Questions (DN4) questionnaire scores were collected before and after completion of an RFA. After their procedure, patients were either called or seen in clinic for re-evaluation of their symptoms, at which time NRS-11 and DN4 scores were collected again.

RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between groups when comparing post-RFA DN4 scores. Additionally, the incidence of PNN in our study population was 0% for both treatment groups. The NRS-11 scores were similar between groups prior to completing an RFA. When comparing the post-RFA pain scores, the average NRS-11 scores in the steroid group decreased from 5.8 to 3.4, while the average NRS-11 scores in the nonsteroid group decreased from 5.4 to 3.8. However, the average NRS-11 reductions were similar between groups.

LIMITATIONS: The primary limitation of this study is small sample size, which likely limited our ability to diagnose PNN. Additionally, we utilized the 7-item DN4 and required a DN4 score of ? 4 to diagnose PNN, and therefore, it is likely that our protocol significantly reduced our sensitivity for diagnosing PNN.

CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our study is in agreement with prior studies that RFA is effective for the treatment of facet and osteoarthritic knee pain and that the incidence of PNN is likely small.

PMID:35051159