Survey of both hepatitis B virus (HBsAg) and hepatitis C virus (HCV-Ab) coinfection among HIV positive patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HIV, HBVand HCV is major public health concerns. Because of shared routes of transmission, HIV-HCV coinfection and HIV-HBV coinfection are common. HIV-positive individuals are at risk of coinfection with HBV and HCV infections. The prevalence rates of coinfection with HBV and HCV in HIV-patients have been variable worldwide depending on the geographic regions, and the type of exposure.</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>This study aimed to examine HBV and HCV coinfection serologically and determine the shared and significant factors in the coinfection of HIV-positive patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out on 391 HIV-positive patients including 358 males and 33 females in Lorestan province, west Iran, to survey coinfection with HBsAg and anti-HCV. The retrospective demographic data of the subjects was collected and the patients' serums were analyzed by ELISA kits including HBsAg and anti-HCV. The collected data was analyzed with SPSS software (15) and Chi-square. Fisher's exact test with 5% error intervals was used to measure the correlation of variables and infection rates.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results of the study indicated that the prevalence of coinfection in HIV-positive patients with hepatitis viruses was 94.4% (370 in 391), out of whom 57 (14.5%) cases were HBsAg positive, 282 (72%) cases were anti-HCV positive, and 31 (7.9%) cases were both HBsAg and anti-HCV positive.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There was a significant correlation between coinfection with HCV and HBV and/or both among HIV-positive patients depending on different variables including sex, age, occupation, marital status, exposure to risk factors.(p < 0.001).</p

Reproductive health and access to healthcare facilities: risk factors for depression and anxiety in women with an earthquake experience

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The reproductive and mental health of women contributes significantly to their overall well-being. Three of the eight Millennium Development Goals are directly related to reproductive and sexual health while mental disorders make up three of the ten leading causes of disease burden in low and middle-income countries. Among mental disorders, depression and anxiety are two of the most prevalent. In the context of slower progress in achieving Millennium Development Goals in developing countries and the ever-increasing man-made and natural disasters in these areas, it is important to understand the association between reproductive health and mental health among women with post-disaster experiences.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a cross-sectional study with a sample of 387 women of reproductive age (15-49 years) randomly selected from the October 2005 earthquake affected areas of Pakistan. Data on reproductive health was collected using the Centers for Disease Control reproductive health assessment toolkit. Depression and anxiety were measured using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25, while earthquake experiences were captured using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. The association of either depression or anxiety with socio-demographic variables, earthquake experiences, reproductive health and access to health facilities was estimated using multivariate logistic regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Post-earthquake reproductive health events together with economic deprivation, lower family support and poorer access to health care facilities explained a significant proportion of differences in the experiencing of clinical levels of depression and anxiety. For instance, women losing resources for subsistence, separation from family and experiencing reproductive health events such as having a stillbirth, having had an abortion, having had abnormal vaginal discharge or having had genital ulcers, were at significant risk of depression and anxiety.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The relationship between women's post-earthquake mental health and reproductive health, socio-economic status, and health care access is complex and explained largely by the socio-cultural role of women. It is suggested that interventions that consider gender differences and that are culturally appropriate are likely to reduce the incidence.</p

Classification and function of small open reading frames

Small open reading frames (smORFs) of 100 codons or fewer are usually - if arbitrarily - excluded from proteome annotations. Despite this, the genomes of many metazoans, including humans, contain millions of smORFs, some of which fulfil key physiological functions. Recently, the transcriptome of Drosophila melanogaster was shown to contain thousands of smORFs of different classes that actively undergo translation, which produces peptides of mostly unknown function. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of smORFs in flies, mice and humans. We propose the existence of several functional classes of smORFs, ranging from inert DNA sequences to transcribed and translated cis-regulators of translation and peptides with a propensity to function as regulators of membrane-associated proteins, or as components of ancient protein complexes in the cytoplasm. We suggest that the different smORF classes could represent steps in gene, peptide and protein evolution. Our analysis introduces a distinction between different peptide-coding classes of smORFs in animal genomes, and highlights the role of model organisms for the study of small peptide biology in the context of development, physiology and human disease

Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs

Consanguineous marriages have been practiced since the early existence of modern humans. Until now consanguinity is widely practiced in several global communities with variable rates depending on religion, culture, and geography. Arab populations have a long tradition of consanguinity due to socio-cultural factors. Many Arab countries display some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world, and specifically first cousin marriages which may reach 25-30% of all marriages. In some countries like Qatar, Yemen, and UAE, consanguinity rates are increasing in the current generation. Research among Arabs and worldwide has indicated that consanguinity could have an effect on some reproductive health parameters such as postnatal mortality and rates of congenital malformations. The association of consanguinity with other reproductive health parameters, such as fertility and fetal wastage, is controversial. The main impact of consanguinity, however, is an increase in the rate of homozygotes for autosomal recessive genetic disorders. Worldwide, known dominant disorders are more numerous than known recessive disorders. However, data on genetic disorders in Arab populations as extracted from the Catalogue of Transmission Genetics in Arabs (CTGA) database indicate a relative abundance of recessive disorders in the region that is clearly associated with the practice of consanguinity

Breast MRI: guidelines from the European Society of Breast Imaging

The aim of breast MRI is to obtain a reliable evaluation of any lesion within the breast. It is currently always used as an adjunct to the standard diagnostic procedures of the breast, i.e., clinical examination, mammography and ultrasound. Whereas the sensitivity of breast MRI is usually very high, specificity—as in all breast imaging modalities—depends on many factors such as reader expertise, use of adequate techniques and composition of the patient cohorts. Since breast MRI will always yield MR-only visible questionable lesions that require an MR-guided intervention for clarification, MRI should only be offered by institutions that can also offer a MRI-guided breast biopsy or that are in close contact with a site that can perform this type of biopsy for them. Radiologists involved in breast imaging should ensure that they have a thorough knowledge of the MRI techniques that are necessary for breast imaging, that they know how to evaluate a breast MRI using the ACR BI-RADS MRI lexicon, and most important, when to perform breast MRI. This manuscript provides guidelines on the current best practice for the use of breast MRI, and the methods to be used, from the European Society of Breast Imaging (EUSOBI)

Action to protect the independence and integrity of global health research

Storeng KT, Abimbola S, Balabanova D, et al. Action to protect the independence and integrity of global health research. BMJ GLOBAL HEALTH. 2019;4(3): e001746

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Background: Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. // Methods: We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung's disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. // Findings: We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung's disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middle-income countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in low-income countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. // Interpretation: Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Performance of wild-serbian ganoderma lucidum mycelium in treating synthetic sewage loading using batch bioreactor

The fluctuation of domestic wastewater characteristic inhibits the current conventional microbial-based treatment. The bioremediation fungi has received attention and reported to be an effective alternative to treat industrial wastewater. Similar efficient performance is envisaged for domestic wastewater whereby assessed performance of fungi for varying carbon-to-nitrogen ratios in domestic wastewater is crucial. Thus, the performance of pre-grown wild-Serbian Ganoderma lucidum mycelial pellets (GLMPs) was evaluated on four different synthetic domestic wastewaters under different conditions of initial pH (pH 4, 5, and 7) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) to nitrogen (COD/N) ratio of 3.6:1, 7.1:1, 14.2:1, and 17.8:1 (C3.6N1, C7.1N1, C14.2N1, and C17.8N1). The COD/N ratios with a constant concentration of ammonia–nitrogen (NH3–N) were chosen on the basis of the urban domestic wastewater characteristics sampled at the inlet basin of a sewage treatment plant (STP). The parameters of pH, COD, and NH3–N were measured periodically during the experiment. The wild-Serbian GLMPs efficiently removed the pollutants from the synthetic sewage. The COD/N ratio of C17.8N1 wastewater had the best COD and NH3–N removal, as compared to the lower COD/N ratio, and the shortest treatment time was obtained in an acidic environment at pH 4. The highest percentage for COD and NH3–N removal achieved was 96.0% and 93.2%, respectively. The results proved that the mycelium of GLMP has high potential in treating domestic wastewater, particularly at high organic content as a naturally sustainable bioremediation system