Tag: pubmed

PLoS One. 2021 Sep 10;16(9):e0257410. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257410. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Misconception related to coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) have been spread out broadly and the the World Health Organization declared these as a major challenge to fight against the pandemic. This study aimed to assess COVID-19 related misconception among rural people in Bangladesh and associated socio-demographic and media related factors.

METHODS: Multistage sampling method was used to collect data (n = 210) from three unions of Satkhira District, Bangladesh. The dependent variable was the presence of COVID-19 related misconception (Yes, No) which was generated based on respondents’ responses to a set of six questions on various types of misconception. Exposure variables were respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics, mass media and social media exposure. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the characteristics of the respondents. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to determine the factors associated with COVID-19 misconception.

RESULTS: More than half of the study respondents had one or more COVID-19 related misconception. Over 50% of the total respondents considered this disease as a punishment from God. Besides, many of the respondents reported that they do not think the virus causing COVID-19 is dangerous (59%) and it is a disease (19%). Around 7% reported they believe the virus is the part of a virus war (7.2%). The bivariate analysis found the presence of socio-demographic factors of the respondents, as well as the factors related to social and mass media, were significantly associated with the COVID-19’s misconception. However, once all factors considered together in the multivariate model, misconception were found to be lower among secondary (AOR, 0.33, 95% CI: 0.13-0.84) and tertiary (AOR, 0.29, 95% CI: 0.09-0.92) educated respondents compared to the respondents with primary education.

CONCLUSION: This study obtained a very higher percentage of misconception about the COVID-19 among the respondents of Satkhira district in Bangladesh. This could be a potential challenge to fight against this pandemic which is now ongoing. Prioritizing mass and social media to disseminate evidence-based information as well as educate people about this disease are necessary.

PMID:34506614 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0257410

FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 2021 Sep 10:fiab132. doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiab132. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Aphids and their diverse symbionts have become a good model to study bacteria-arthropod symbiosis. The feeding habits of aphids are usually influenced by a variety of symbionts. Most studies on symbiont diversity have focused on polyphagous aphids, while symbiont community patterns for oligophagous aphids remain unclear. Here, we surveyed the bacterial communities in natural populations of two oligophagous aphids, Melanaphis sacchari and Neophyllaphis podocarpi, in natural populations. Seven common symbionts were detected, among which Buchnera aphidicola and Wolbachia were the most prevalent. In addition, an uncommon Sodalis-like symbiont was also detected in these two aphids, and Gilliamella was found in some samples of M. sacchari. We further assessed the significant variation in symbiont communities within the two aphid species, geographical regions and host specialization using statistical and ordination analyses. Geography was an important factor in shaping the symbiont community structure in these oligophagous aphids. Furthermore, the strong geographical influence may be related to specific environmental factors, especially temperature, among different regions. These findings extend our knowledge of the significance of geography and its associated environmental conditions in the symbiont community structure associated with oligophagous aphids.

PMID:34506623 | DOI:10.1093/femsec/fiab132

PLoS One. 2021 Sep 10;16(9):e0257290. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257290. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Syphilis is one of the leading causes of perinatal morbidity and mortality and is one of the most important public health problems. There was no study showing syphilis serostatus and its related factors among pregnant women in the current study area. This study was aimed to assess the magnitude of syphilis serostatus and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care in Jinka town public health facilities.

METHOD: Institution based cross-sectional study design was conducted in Jinka town public health facilities, southern Ethiopia from the 1st July to the 1st September, 2020. A systematic sampling technique was used to select 629 study subjects. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire through face-to-face interviews and records were reviewed to check syphilis test results. Data were coded and entered by using Epi-data version 4.432 and analyzed using SPSS version 25. The binary logistic regression model was used to investigate factors associated with syphilis. A p-value of < 0.05 at multivariable analysis was considered statistically significant.

RESULT: In this study, syphilis sero-prevalence among pregnant women attending antenatal care clinics was 4.8% (95% CI: 3.12, 6.48). Rural residence [AOR: 2.873; 95%CI (1.171, 7.050)], alcohol use [AOR: 3.340; 95% CI (1.354, 8.241)] and having multiple sexual partner [AOR: 5.012; 95% CI (1.929, 13.020)] were statistically significantly associated with syphilis.

CONCLUSION: Sero-prevalence of syphilis was high. Being a rural residence, having multiple sexual partners, alcohol use were factors associated with syphilis. Therefore, substantial efforts have to be made to provide regular health education for pregnant women at the antenatal clinic on the avoidance of risky behaviors and the risk of syphilis on their pregnancy.

PMID:34506600 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0257290

PLoS One. 2021 Sep 10;16(9):e0257419. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257419. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to investigate the prevalence of multidrug resistance and molecular characterization of Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPN) from clinical isolates in the southern region of Bangladesh. Additional analysis of the prevalence of blaNDM-1, blaSHV-11, uge genes of KPN was also carried out among these clinical isolates.

METHOD: The study was carried out using 1000 clinical isolates collected from two different hospitals of Chattogram. A drug susceptibility test was performed by the disk diffusion method to detect KPN’s response to 16 antibiotics. The presence of antibiotic-resistant and (or) virulent genes blaNDM-1, blaSHV-11, uge were investigated using the PCR technique. Isolates having blaNDM-1, blaSHV-11, uge gene were further validated by sequencing followed by phylogenetic analysis. Phylogenetic relationships among these isolates were determined by Clustal omega and MEGA7.

RESULT: A total of 79%, 77%, 74.9%, 71%, 66% and 65% isolates exhibited resistance against cefuroxime, cefixime, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, cefepime and ceftriaxone respectively. The frequency of resistance to other antibiotics varied from 26.5% to 61.8%. PCR analysis showed that 64% of strains harbored blaNDM-1 gene, and 38% strains harbored blaSHV-11 gene. Moreover, 47% of samples were carrying uge gene, and 19% of samples carried blaNDM-1, blaSHV-11, uge genes together.

CONCLUSION: In this study, we’ve analysed the pattern of expression as well as prevalence of blaNDM-1, blaSHV-11, and uge genes in Klebsiella isolates. Upon molecular and statistical analysis, we found a high prevalence of multi-drug resistance KPN strains in the isolates. The Klebsiella isolates were confirmed to harbor multiple ESBL genes and 64% of the isolates were found to be producing NDM-1. As multidrug resistance is an alarming issue, continuous surveillance and routine clinical detection of resistant bacteria and plasmids are necessary to prevent catastrophic public health incidents.

PMID:34506611 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0257419

PLoS One. 2021 Sep 10;16(9):e0257183. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257183. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: While potentially timesaving, there is no program to automatically transform diagnosis codes of the ICD-10 German modification (ICD-10-GM) into the injury severity score (ISS).

OBJECTIVE: To develop a mapping method from ICD-10-GM into ICD-10 clinical modification (ICD-10-CM) to calculate the abbreviated injury scale (AIS) and ISS of each patient using the ICDPIC-R and to compare the manually and automatically calculated scores.

METHODS: Between January 2019 and June 2021, the most severe AIS of each body region and the ISS were manually calculated using medical documentation and radiology reports of all major trauma patients of a German level I trauma centre. The ICD-10-GM codes of these patients were exported from the electronic medical data system SAP, and a Java program was written to transform these into ICD-10-CM codes. Afterwards, the ICDPIC-R was used to automatically generate the most severe AIS of each body region and the ISS. The automatically and manually determined ISS and AIS scores were then tested for equivalence.

RESULTS: Statistical analysis revealed that the manually and automatically calculated ISS were significantly equivalent over the entire patient cohort. Further sub-group analysis, however, showed that equivalence could only be demonstrated for patients with an ISS between 16 and 24. Likewise, the highest AIS scores of each body region were not equal in the manually and automatically calculated group.

CONCLUSION: Though achieving mapping results highly comparable to previous mapping methods of ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes, it is not unrestrictedly possible to automatically calculate the AIS and ISS using ICD-10-GM codes.

PMID:34506562 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0257183

PLoS One. 2021 Sep 10;16(9):e0257232. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257232. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

Peptide microarrays consisting of defined phosphorylation target sites are an effective approach for high throughput analysis of cellular kinase (kinome) activity. Kinome peptide arrays are highly customizable and do not require species-specific reagents to measure kinase activity, making them amenable for kinome analysis in any species. Our group developed software, Platform for Integrated, Intelligent Kinome Analysis (PIIKA), to enable more effective extraction of meaningful biological information from kinome peptide array data. A subsequent version, PIIKA2, unveiled new statistical tools and data visualization options. Here we introduce PIIKA 2.5 to provide two essential quality control metrics and a new background correction technique to increase the accuracy and consistency of kinome results. The first metric alerts users to improper spot size and informs them of the need to perform manual resizing to enhance the quality of the raw intensity data. The second metric uses inter-array comparisons to identify outlier arrays that sometimes emerge as a consequence of technical issues. In addition, a new background correction method, background scaling, can sharply reduce spatial biases within a single array in comparison to background subtraction alone. Collectively, the modifications of PIIKA 2.5 enable identification and correction of technical issues inherent to the technology and better facilitate the extraction of meaningful biological information. We show that these metrics demonstrably enhance kinome analysis by identifying low quality data and reducing batch effects, and ultimately improve clustering of treatment groups and enhance reproducibility. The web-based and stand-alone versions of PIIKA 2.5 are freely accessible at via http://saphire.usask.ca.

PMID:34506584 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0257232

PLoS One. 2021 Sep 10;16(9):e0257141. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257141. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

The pursuit of simple, yet fair, unbiased, and objective measures of researcher performance has occupied bibliometricians and the research community as a whole for decades. However, despite the diversity of available metrics, most are either complex to calculate or not readily applied in the most common assessment exercises (e.g., grant assessment, job applications). The ubiquity of metrics like the h-index (h papers with at least h citations) and its time-corrected variant, the m-quotient (h-index ÷ number of years publishing) therefore reflect the ease of use rather than their capacity to differentiate researchers fairly among disciplines, career stage, or gender. We address this problem here by defining an easily calculated index based on publicly available citation data (Google Scholar) that corrects for most biases and allows assessors to compare researchers at any stage of their career and from any discipline on the same scale. Our ε’-index violates fewer statistical assumptions relative to other metrics when comparing groups of researchers, and can be easily modified to remove inherent gender biases in citation data. We demonstrate the utility of the ε’-index using a sample of 480 researchers with Google Scholar profiles, stratified evenly into eight disciplines (archaeology, chemistry, ecology, evolution and development, geology, microbiology, ophthalmology, palaeontology), three career stages (early, mid-, late-career), and two genders. We advocate the use of the ε’-index whenever assessors must compare research performance among researchers of different backgrounds, but emphasize that no single index should be used exclusively to rank researcher capability.

PMID:34506560 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0257141

PLoS One. 2021 Sep 10;16(9):e0257097. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257097. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

Ceratitis capitata (medfly) is one of the most devastating crop pests worldwide. The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is a control method that is based on the mass rearing of males, their sterilization, and release in the field. However, the effectiveness of the technique depends on the quality of the released males and their fitness. We previously isolated and selected a probiotic bacteria (Enterobacter sp.), from wild-caught medflies, according to criteria that improved biological quality traits of reared medfly males.We firstly evaluated the impact of the irradiation on the expression of different immune and stress genes in the medfly sterile males. Expression was measured at differents time points ranging from 0 to 168 h after irradiation to capture the response of genes with distinct temporal expression patterns. Then, we supplemented the larval diet with previously isolated Enterobacter sp.strain, live and autoclaved at various concentrations to see whether the probiotic treatments affect, through their protective role, the gene expression level, and quality traits. The irradiation had significant effect on the genes attacin, cecropin, PGPR-LC, hsp23, and hsp70 level expression. The expression of attacin and PGPR-LC was up-regulated while that of cecropin was down-regulated. Hsp genes showed decreased levels between 0 and 18 h to peak at 72 h. However, the supplementation of the probiotic strain, either live or autoclaved, was statistically significant only for attacingene. However, significant interaction time x probiotic was noticed for attacin, cecropin, hsp23 and hsp70. The probiotic treatments also improved the quality control parameters like pupal weight. From this work we can conclude that a consortium of parabiotics (autoclaved probiotics) treatment will be recommended in insectaries considering both the beneficial effects on mass reared insects and its general safety for insectary workers and for environment.

PMID:34506561 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0257097

PLoS One. 2021 Sep 10;16(9):e0257104. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257104. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In the Malaysian state of Sabah, P. knowlesi notifications increased from 2% (59/2,741) of total malaria notifications in 2004 to 98% (2030/2,078) in 2017. There was a gap regarding P. knowlesi acquisition risk factors related to practice specifically in working age group. The main objective of this study was to identify the risk factors for acquiring P. knowlesi infection in Sabah among the working age group.

METHODS AND METHODS: This retrospective population-based case-control study was conducted in Ranau district to assess sociodemographic, behavioural and medical history risk factors using a pretested questionnaire. The data were entered and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23. Bivariate analysis was conducted using binary logistic regression whereas multivariate analysis was conducted using multivariable logistic regression. We set a statistical significance at p-value less than or equal to 0.05.

RESULTS: A total of 266 cases and 532 controls were included in the study. Male gender (AOR = 2.71; 95% CI: 1.63-4.50), spending overnight in forest (AOR = 1.92; 95% CI: 1.20-3.06), not using mosquito repellent (AOR = 2.49; 95% CI: 1.36-4.56) and history of previous malaria infection (AOR = 49.34; 95% CI: 39.09-78.32) were found to be independent predictors of P. knowlesi infection.

CONCLUSIONS: This study showed the need to strengthen the strategies in preventing and controlling P. knowlesi infection specifically in changing the practice of spending overnight in forest and increasing the usage of personal mosquito repellent.

PMID:34506556 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0257104

PLoS One. 2021 Sep 10;16(9):e0257209. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257209. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

Globally, millions of animals are rescued and rehabilitated by wildlife carers each year. Information gathered in this process is useful for uncovering threats to native wildlife, particularly those from anthropogenic causes. However, few studies using rehabilitation data include a diverse range of fauna, cover large geographical areas, and consider long-term trends. Furthermore, few studies have statistically modelled causes of why animals come into care, and what are their chances of survival. This study draws on 469,553 rescues reported over six years by wildlife rehabilitators for 688 species of bird, reptile, and mammal from New South Wales, Australia. For birds and mammals, ‘abandoned/orphaned’ and ‘collisions with vehicles’ were the dominant causes for rescue, however for reptiles this was ‘unsuitable environment’. Overall rescue numbers were lowest in winter, and highest in spring, with six-times more ‘abandoned/orphaned’ individuals in spring than winter. Of the 364,461 rescues for which the fate of an animal was known, 92% fell within two categories: ‘dead’, ‘died or euthanased’ (54.8% of rescues with known fate) and animals that recovered and were subsequently released (37.1% of rescues with known fate). Modelling of the fate of animals indicated that the likelihood of animal survival (i.e. chance of: being released, left and observed, or permanent care), was related to the cause for rescue. In general, causes for rescue involving physical trauma (collisions, attacks, etc.) had a much lower likelihood of animals surviving than other causes such as ‘unsuitable environment’, ‘abandoned/orphaned’, and this also showed some dependence upon whether the animal was a bird, reptile, or mammal. This suggests rehabilitation efforts could be focused on particular threats or taxa to maximise success, depending on the desired outcomes. The results illustrate the sheer volume of work undertaken by rehabilitation volunteers and professionals toward both animal welfare and to the improvement of wildlife rehabilitation in the future.

PMID:34506558 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0257209