Tag: pubmed

Wiad Lek. 2022;75(2):494-498.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim: To study the clinical and laboratory characteristics of measles, as well as to compare the course of this disease in vaccinated and unvaccinated children in the Poltava region (Ukraine).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: 104 inpatients with measles were examined: vaccinated (n=27) and unvaccinated (n=77). The patient examination program included: assessment of complaints and anamnestic data obtained by questioning (during admission to hospital treatment, during treatment and after discharge) and detailed analysis of medical records (Form № 003/γ), physical examination, general clinical study of peripheral blood. Statistical processing of the study results was carried out by methods of variation statistics using the program «SPSS 17.0».

RESULTS: Results: The clinical and laboratory picture of measles in the examined patients is typical for this disease. Measles vaccinated children are significantly less likely to have fever (р=0.001) and Koplik’s spots (χ2=3.80, р=0.051), the duration of fever (р=0.001), cough (р=0.000), and the length of hospital stay (р=0.000), as well as 3.0 times less often leukopenia is detected (р=0.043) and 2.0 times less often – acceleration of ESR (р=0.023).

CONCLUSION: Conclusions: The obtained data raise the question of expanding the explanatory work on the importance of a full course of preventive vaccination among children, as well as increasing the volume of public procurement of necessary drugs to increase public access to free vaccination.

PMID:35307683

Wiad Lek. 2022;75(2):499-503.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim: To examine the effect of the developed wellness program on hemodynamic indices and psychological state of perimenopausal women.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: The study involved 27 women aged 39 to 47 years. Inclusion criteria: recorded perimenopause, climacteric syndrome, history of episodic increase in blood pressure up to 140/85 or 150/90 mmHg. Exclusion criteria: primary hypertension, diabetes mellitus, chronic contagious, systemic, oncology diseases, and mental illnesses. Research procedure comprised tracing of the heart rate, blood pressure registration, and pulse pressure calculation. Robinson index, the coefficient of endurance according to A. Kvas formula were calculated. The assessment of psychological state was made using the Spielberger-Khanin Inventory.

RESULTS: Results: Multidisciplinary professionals gave classes upon wellness program at “Women’s Health” school. The program included educational conversations, healthy walking, massage, psycho-corrective exercises. The dynamics of the studied parameters was analyzed after 12 weeks. Based on the anthropometric measures findings the tested women showed improvement of 6,76% weight loss; and their body mass index decreased by 6,77%. Initial numbers of Robinson index and the coefficient of endurance were above normal values. After working under the program statistically significant dynamics was observed (р <0,05), although there were still signs of cardiovascular disorders. There were statistically significant positive changes Spielberger-Khanin Inventory on State Anxiety (-9,09%) and Personal Anxiety Scales (-6,96%) (p <0,05).

CONCLUSION: Conclusions: Early detection of risk factors and physical activity will help to bring a vast improvement to prognosis and quality of life of perimenopausal women with hypertension onset.

PMID:35307684

Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf. 2022 Mar 20. doi: 10.1111/1541-4337.12929. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Human infection with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) causes an estimated 2.8 million cases of acute illness worldwide each year. Serogroup O157 is the most commonly diagnosed STEC in humans, but cases linked to non-O157 STEC serogroups have increased recently due to increased surveillance and improvements to detection methods. Cattle are an important reservoir for STEC O157 and the same may be true for non-O157 STEC; therefore, reducing the occurrence of these pathogens in cattle could mitigate human infection risk. A systematized literature review of articles published within the Scopus database since 2010 (employing a partially systematic approach) was therefore conducted followed by qualitative synthesis of evidence to provide a structured overview of potential risk factors for non-O157 STEC in primary cattle production. Overall, few relevant studies were identified (n = 22), highlighting that more studies are needed. Consistently significant associations were only identified with respect to cattle age (broadly higher rate of isolation from young animals compared to adults) and season of sampling (generally increased isolation of non-O157 STEC in summer). However, wide variation in study designs, including notable differences in laboratory detection methods, means drawing more general conclusions is currently not possible based on the results of this review. However, it is likely that the development of more sensitive methods for non-O157 STEC detection in potential livestock reservoirs and increased standardization across statistically sound epidemiological investigations are required to identify pertinent risk factors.

PMID:35306744 | DOI:10.1111/1541-4337.12929

Transbound Emerg Dis. 2022 Mar 19. doi: 10.1111/tbed.14525. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Biosecurity measures have been introduced to limit economic losses and zoonotic exposures to humans by preventing and controlling animal diseases. However, they are implemented on individual farms with varying frequency.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to evaluate which biosecurity measures were used by farmers to prevent infectious diseases in ruminant livestock and to identify factors that influenced these decisions.

METHOD AND MATERIALS: We conducted a survey in 264 ruminant livestock farmers in a 40000km2 area in the Free State and Northern Cape provinces of South Africa. We used descriptive statistics, to characterize biosecurity measures and farm attributes, then multivariable binomial regression to assess the strength of the association between the attributes and the implementation of biosecurity measures including property fencing, separate equipment use on different species, separate rearing of species, isolation of sick animals, isolation of pregnant animals, quarantine of new animals, animal transport cleaning, vaccination, tick control and insect control.

RESULTS: Ninety-nine percent of farmers reported using at least one of the ten biosecurity measures investigated, (median [M]: 6; range: 0-10). The most frequently used biosecurity measures were tick control (81%, 214/264), vaccination (80%, 211/264) and isolation of sick animals (72%, 190/264). More biosecurity measures were used on farms with 65-282 animals (M:6; odds ratio [OR]:1.52) or farms with 283-12030 animals (M:7; OR:1.87) than on farms with fewer than 65 animals (M:4). Furthermore, farmers who kept two animal species (M:7; OR:1.41) or three or more species (M:7) used more biosecurity measures than single-species operations (M:4). Farmers with privately owned land used more biosecurity measures (M:6; OR:1.51) than those grazing their animals on communal land (M:3.5). Farms that reported previous Rift Valley fever (RVF) outbreaks used more biosecurity measures (M:7; OR:1.25) compared to farms without RVF reports (M:6) and those that purchased animals in the 12 months prior to the survey (M:7; OR:1.19) compared to those that did not (M:6).When introducing new animals into their herds (n = 122), most farmers used fewer biosecurity measures than they did for their existing herd: 34% (41/122) used multiple biosecurity measures like those of vaccination, tick control, quarantine or antibiotic use, whereas 36% (44/122) used only one and 30% (37/122) used none.

DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Certain farm features, primarily those related to size and commercialization were associated with more frequent use of biosecurity measures. Given the variation in the application of biosecurity measures, more awareness and technical assistance are needed to support the implementation of a biosecurity management plan appropriate for the type of farm operation and available resources. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:35306739 | DOI:10.1111/tbed.14525

BJU Int. 2022 Mar 20. doi: 10.1111/bju.15728. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our study is to re-assess the trends in upper urinary tract stone (UUTS) disease burden and management in the United Kingdom during the last five years.

METHODS: The present paper is our third quinquennial analysis of trends in the management of renal stones in England. Data was collected using hospital episode statistics (HES) database for the years 2015-2020 inclusive. It was then analysed, summarized, and presented.

RESULTS: UUTS increased by 2.2% from 86,742 in 2014-15 to 88,632 in 2019-20 but annual prevalence remained static at 0.14%. The number of UUTS episodes in those of a working age has remained static but increased by 9% for patients aged more than 60 (from 27,329 to 29,842).The number of SWL (shockwave lithotripsy) treatments decreased by 6.8%.There was a further increase in the use of URS (ureteroscopy) between 2015-20 of 18.9%. Within this subgroup, flexible ureteroscopy was the most rapid in use with a rise of 20.4% from 7,108 to 8,558 recorded cases. Over the 20-year period from 2000-2020 there was a remarkable 257% increase in URS cases. There was a further decline in open surgery for UUTS by 40%. Stone surgery day case numbers have increased by 14.7% (from 31,014 to 35,566) with a corresponding decline in the number of bed days by 14.3%. Emergency cases increased by 40% while elective cases saw a slight increase of 1.9%.

CONCLUSION: The present study shows a plateauing in the prevalence of UUTS disease in England in the last five years with a move towards day case procedures and an increase in the proportion of emergency work. For the first time in England, URS has overtaken SWL as the most common procedure for treating UUTS which might reflect patients’ or physicians’ preference for a more effective definitive treatment.

PMID:35306719 | DOI:10.1111/bju.15728

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Mar 19. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-19750-6. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The composition and abundance of solid waste and the effect of COVID-19 measures were studied in an inland water ecosystem in Turkey. Solid waste items were collected annually for 5 years from 2017 to 2021 from seven stations located in Borçka Dam Lake (B1-B4) and Murgul Stream (M1-M3) in the Artvin Province. The highest densities by number and weight were recorded at M3 in 2020 (5.72 items/m²) and M1 in 2020 (0.39 kg/m²), respectively. However, no significant difference in density was recorded (p < 0.05) between the years. Plastic was the most abundant waste material by number of items in all the stations with a percentage contribution varying between 25.47 and 88.89%. There was a considerable increase in medical items during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and ANOSIM results revealed visually and statistically significant differences in solid waste composition between the years and stations. The dissimilarity between the years was driven by plastic and medical waste. The main sources of solid waste were river transportation (22.93%), improper disposal (20.74%), aquaculture activities (16.42%), and recreational and tourism activities (14.72%). The results of our study can be a baseline for transportation models, local administrations, and non-governmental organizations. Besides, the current waste management measures in Turkey are not effective in preventing waste accumulation in inland aquatic systems such as the Borçka Dam Lake and Murgul Stream. Furthermore, these findings indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic influenced solid waste composition and increased its abundance in the study area.

PMID:35306657 | DOI:10.1007/s11356-022-19750-6

Int J Health Plann Manage. 2022 Mar 20. doi: 10.1002/hpm.3461. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, understanding its sustained impact on healthcare access and utilization represents a vital task for decision-makers and health systems. This study investigates how three aspects of health care utilization (i.e., consultations for COVID-19 related symptoms, cancelation of previously scheduled care and hospitalisation in the past 30 days) relate to individual and municipal factors in a nationally-representative sample of Brazilians aged 50 and over.

METHODS: Data were obtained for 6584 participants from the second wave of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSI-Brazil in Portuguese) who were administered supplemental telephone interviews between September and October 2020. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis and multivariate analysis using survey-weighted Poisson regression were applied to evaluate all three outcomes of interest (consultation, care cancelation, and hospitalisation). Predicted probabilities were also calculated to understand the overall effect of relevant covariates.

RESULTS: Women were 76% less likely to seek care for COVID-19 symptoms (Odds Ratio [OR] = 0.24, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 0.10, 0.53) and 82% more likely to have healthcare cancelled due to the pandemic (OR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.43, 2.33) than men. Those who live in municipalities with low coverage (<40%) of community-based primary care (the Family Health Strategy) were more likely (OR = 1.80, 95% CI = 1.00, 3.22) to be hospitalised for any reason in the past 30 days and more likely to experience healthcare cancelation (OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.01, 2.02). Living in the Southeast and Midwest regions was associated with 62% and 78%, respectively, lower odds of previously scheduled care being cancelled due to the pandemic, in comparison to the North region (OR = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.21, 0.67, and OR = 0.22, 95% CI = 0.14, 0.36). Living in the Southeast region was associated with over 7.61 higher odds of having sought care for COVID-19-related symptoms, relative to those living in the North (OR = 7.61, 95% CI = 2.16, 26.85).

CONCLUSION: Results highlight the uneven impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care utilization between males and females, and across Brazilian municipalities and regions.

PMID:35306679 | DOI:10.1002/hpm.3461

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Mar 19. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-19713-x. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Carbon emission trading market promotes carbon emission reduction effectively. Accurate carbon price forecasting is crucial for relevant policy makers and investors. However, due to the non-linearity, uncertainty, and complexity of carbon prices, the current predication models fail to predict carbon prices accurately. In this paper, an advanced deep neural network model named TCN-Seq2Seq is proposed to forecast carbon prices. The novelty of the proposed model focuses on the “sequence to sequence” layout to learn temporal data dependencies using only fully convolutional layers. Being provided with parallel training for fewer parameters, TCN-Seq2Seq forecasting model is more suitable for small carbon price dataset in few-shot learning way. Qualitatively and quantitatively, we find that the proposed framework consistently and significantly outperforms traditional statistical forecasting models and state-of-the-art deep learning prediction model with respect to predictive ability and robustness. Particularly, our proposed model achieves forecasting accuracy with the highest DA value (0.9697), the lowest MAPE value (0.0027), and the lowest RMSE value (0.0149), showing superior prediction performance compared with the traditional statistical forecasting models. The accuracy of carbon price forecasting gives insight to policy makers and carbon market investors.

PMID:35306656 | DOI:10.1007/s11356-022-19713-x

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Mar 19. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-19693-y. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In this study, in silico modeling was designed to examine the antagonistic effect of mercuric chloride (HgCl₂) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on the mortality rate of zebrafish (Danio rerio) based on response surface methodology (RSM). Adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) with an average weight of 0.75 ± 0.16 g were used in this study. An interaction between HgCl₂ and AgNPs was evaluated using DLS, TEM, and EDX mapping. In addition, RSM was applied to determine and predict the mortality rate of zebrafish induced by HgCl₂ in the presence of non-lethal concentrations of AgNPs and to optimize dependent and independent variables. Following exposure to HgCl₂, in vitro observations showed an increase in the hydrodynamic size of AgNPs and the formation of irregular nanoparticles. EDX mapping analysis also demonstrated the deposition of Hg ions on the surface of AgNPs, indicating the interaction between HgCl₂ and AgNPs (i.e., the amalgamation of Hg and AgNPs). Moreover, in silico and in vivo findings illustrated that the mortality rate of zebrafish increased significantly in a concentration-dependent manner; however, the mortality rate reduced greatly in the presence of AgNPs during 96-h exposure. Statistically significant correlation and regression were also observed for the mortality rate between the actual and predicted values based on the ANOVA results, showing that the proposed model fits well. The most critical conditions of mortality rate were occurred by HgCl₂ concentration of 0.23 mg L^-1 and AgNP concentration of 0.04 mg L^-1 that yielding maximum fish mortality rate of 96.541%. Additionally, the obtained value for model desirability was equal to 1.000 (i.e., the highest possible value). In conclusion, this statistical model could accurately describe the relationship between independent and dependent variables, and consequently boost substantially the experimental design of ecotoxicological studies by reducing the number of model organisms, toxic and chemical substances, time, and budget.

PMID:35306655 | DOI:10.1007/s11356-022-19693-y

Diabetes Ther. 2022 Mar 20. doi: 10.1007/s13300-022-01240-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) is an important marker for diabetes care management. With the increasing use of new technologies such as continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and point-of-care testing (POCT), patients and their physicians have been able to monitor and continuously check their blood glucose levels in an efficient and timely manner. This study aimed to investigate the level of agreement between the standard laboratory test for HbA1c (Lab-HbA1c) with point-of-care testing (POCT-HbA1c) and glucose monitoring index (GMI) derived by intermittently scanned CGM (isCGM) or estimated average glucose (eAG) derived by conventional self-monitored blood glucose (SMBG) devices.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Diabetes Treatment Center, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Saudi Arabia, between May and December 2020 with 81 patients with diabetes who used the isCGM system (n = 30) or conventional finger-pricking SMBG system (n = 51). At the same visit, venous and capillary blood samples were taken for routine HbA1c analysis by the standard laboratory and POCT methods, respectively. Also, for isCGM users, the GMI data for 28 days (GMI-28) and 90 days (GMI-90) were obtained, while for SMBG users, eAG data for 30 days (eAG-30) and 90 days (eAG-90) were calculated. The limits of agreement in different HbA1c measurements were evaluated using a Bland-Altman analysis. Pearson correlation and multivariate linear regression analyses were also performed.

RESULTS: Based on the Bland-Altman analysis, HbA1c levels for 96.7% and 96.1% of the patients analyzed by the POCT and the standard laboratory methods were within the range of the 95% limit of agreement in both isCGM and conventional SMBG users, respectively. About 93.3% of the GMI measurements were within the 95% limit of agreement. Also, about 94.12% of the eAG-30 and 90.2% of the eAG-90 measurements were within the 95% limit of agreement. Moreover, the correlation analysis revealed a statistically significant positive correlation and linear regression among Lab-HbA1c, POCT-HbA1c, GMI, and eAG in both conventional SMBG and isCGM users (all p < 0.001). These positive results persisted significantly after adjusting for different factors (all p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: GMI derived by isCGM or eAG derived by conventional SMBG systems, as well as the POCT-HbA1c measurements, showed a high level of agreement; therefore, we recommend them as potential methods for diabetes monitoring, especially when a rapid result is needed or with patients with uncontrolled diabetes or on intensive insulin therapy.

PMID:35306640 | DOI:10.1007/s13300-022-01240-0