Risk of surgical site infection in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery

This study aimed to identify risk factors associated with surgical site infections in orthopedic surgical patients at a public hospital in Minas Gerais, Brazil, between 2005 and 2007. A historical cohort of 3,543 patients submitted to orthopedic surgical procedures. A descriptive analysis was conducted and surgical site infection incidence rates were estimated. To verify the association between infection and risk factors, the Chi-square Test was used. The strength of association of the event with the independent variables was estimated using Relative Risk, with a 95% confidence interval and pEstudio para identificar factores de riesgo asociados a infecciones de sitio quirúrgico en pacientes quirúrgicos ortopédicos de un hospital público de Minas Gerais, Brasil, entre 2005 y 2007. Cohorte histórica de 3.543 pacientes sometidos a cirugías ortopédicas. Un análisis descriptivo fue realizado y la tasa de incidencia de infección fue estimada. Para verificar la asociación entre la infección y los factores de riesgo se usó el test chi-cuadrado. La fuerza de la asociación del evento con las variables independientes fue estimada por el Riesgo Relativo, con un intervalo de confianza de 95% y p Objetivou-se, neste estudo, identificar fatores de risco associados às infecções de sítio cirúrgico, em pacientes cirúrgicos ortopédicos, de um hospital público de Minas Gerais, Brasil, entre 2005 e 2007. Como método usou-se coorte histórica em 3.543 pacientes submetidos a cirurgias ortopédicas. Análise descritiva e taxa de incidência de infecção foram estimadas. Para verificar a associação entre a infecção e os fatores de risco usou-se o teste qui-quadrado. A força da associação do evento com as variáveis independentes foi estimada pelo risco relativo, intervalo de confiança de 95% e p<0,05. A incidência de infecção de sítio cirúrgico foi de 1,8%. Potencial de contaminação da ferida cirúrgica, condições clínicas do paciente, tempo cirúrgico e tipo de procedimento ortopédico foram estatisticamente associados à infecção. A identificação de associação de infecção de sítio cirúrgico aos fatores de risco mencionados é importante e contribui para a prática clínica do enfermeiro

Perception, knowledge and education for drowning prevention in adolescent

Objective: Drowning is a major problem of public health in Spain, with a high number of deaths. The main strategy to address it is prevention, going through knowledge and education. The aim of this study was to analyze from a public health perspective a) the knowledge of young participants from 14 to 16 years old about drowning prevention, swimming skills and risks on the beach and b) to evaluate a pilot program with educational video for drowning prevention due to rip currents. Methods: For this purpose, a three-phase study was carried out: (1) application of a questionnaire to identify bath habits, risk perception in relation to rip currents and swimming level, (2) evaluation of a video for the identification of rip current risk and (3) evaluation of the assimilation of the visualized content one month after the intervention. 120 adolescents participated in this study during march, april and may, 2019. A descriptive analysis and comparisons with Chi-Square were performed in SPSS. Results: 120 adolescents participated in this study during March, April and May, 2019. 96.7% knew how to swim, but 44.1% had a basic level. More than half of the participants did not know rip currents or did not identify them in swimming areas. The video achieves the assimilation of concepts related to rip currents and drowning prevention. Conclusions: These findings suggest that adolescents have a lack of knowledge about rip currents and are not able to identify safe swimming areas. The use of health communication strategies based on the interests and profiles of young people have shown an improvement in the perception of risks at beaches on the sample studied

The extraordinary evolutionary history of the reticuloendotheliosis viruses

The reticuloendotheliosis viruses (REVs) comprise several closely related amphotropic retroviruses isolated from birds. These viruses exhibit several highly unusual characteristics that have not so far been adequately explained, including their extremely close relationship to mammalian retroviruses, and their presence as endogenous sequences within the genomes of certain large DNA viruses. We present evidence for an iatrogenic origin of REVs that accounts for these phenomena. Firstly, we identify endogenous retroviral fossils in mammalian genomes that share a unique recombinant structure with REVs—unequivocally demonstrating that REVs derive directly from mammalian retroviruses. Secondly, through sequencing of archived REV isolates, we confirm that contaminated Plasmodium lophurae stocks have been the source of multiple REV outbreaks in experimentally infected birds. Finally, we show that both phylogenetic and historical evidence support a scenario wherein REVs originated as mammalian retroviruses that were accidentally introduced into avian hosts in the late 1930s, during experimental studies of P. lophurae, and subsequently integrated into the fowlpox virus (FWPV) and gallid herpesvirus type 2 (GHV-2) genomes, generating recombinant DNA viruses that now circulate in wild birds and poultry. Our findings provide a novel perspective on the origin and evolution of REV, and indicate that horizontal gene transfer between virus families can expand the impact of iatrogenic transmission events

A polymorphic microsatellite from the Squalius alburnoides complex (Osteichthyes, Cyprinidae) cloned by serendipity can be useful in genetic analysis of polyploids

A new microsatellite locus (SAS1) for Squalius alburnoides was obtained through cloning by serendipity. The possible usefulness of this new species-specific microsatellite in genetic studies of this hybrid-species complex, was explored. The polymorphism exhibited by SAS1 microsatellite is an important addition to the set of microsatellites previously used in genetic studies in S. alburnoides complex, that mostly relied in markers described for other species. Moreover, the SAS1 microsatellite could be used to identify the parental genomes of the complex, complementing other methods recently described for the same purpose.

From KIDSCREEN-10 to CHU9D: creating a unique mapping algorithm for application in economic evaluation

Background: The KIDSCREEN-10 index and the Child Health Utility 9D (CHU9D) are two recently developed generic instruments for the measurement of health-related quality of life in children and adolescents. Whilst the CHU9D is a preference based instrument developed specifically for application in cost-utility analyses, the KIDSCREEN-10 is not currently suitable for application in this context. This paper provides an algorithm for mapping the KIDSCREEN-10 index onto the CHU9D utility scores. Methods: A sample of 590 Australian adolescents (aged 11–17) completed both the KIDSCREEN-10 and the CHU9D. Several econometric models were estimated, including ordinary least squares estimator, censored least absolute deviations estimator, robust MM-estimator and generalised linear model, using a range of explanatory variables with KIDSCREEN-10 items scores as key predictors. The predictive performance of each model was judged using mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean squared error (RMSE). Results: The MM-estimator with stepwise-selected KIDSCREEN-10 items scores as explanatory variables had the best predictive accuracy using MAE, whilst the equivalent ordinary least squares model had the best predictive accuracy using RMSE. Conclusions: The preferred mapping algorithm (i.e. the MM-estimate with stepwise selected KIDSCREEN-10 item scores as the predictors) can be used to predict CHU9D utility from KIDSCREEN-10 index with a high degree of accuracy. The algorithm may be usefully applied within cost-utility analyses to generate cost per quality adjusted life year estimates where KIDSCREEN-10 data only are available

Effect of a primary health-care-based controlled trial for cardiorespiratory fitness in refugee women

BACKGROUND: Refugee women have a high risk of coronary heart disease with low physical activity as one possible mediator. Furthermore, cultural and environmental barriers to increasing physical activity have been demonstrated. The aim of the study was to evaluate the combined effect of an approximate 6-month primary health care- and community-based exercise intervention versus an individual written prescription for exercise on objectively assessed cardiorespiratory fitness in low-active refugee women. METHODS: A controlled clinical trial, named "Support for Increased Physical Activity", was executed among 243 refugee women recruited between November 2006 and April 2008 from two deprived geographic areas in southern Stockholm, Sweden. One geographic area provided the intervention group and the other area the control group. The control group was on a higher activity level at both baseline and follow-up, which was taken into consideration in the analysis by applying statistical models that accounted for this. Relative aerobic capacity and fitness level were assessed as the two main outcome measures. RESULTS: The intervention group increased their relative aerobic capacity and the percentage with an acceptable fitness level (relative aerobic capacity > 23 O2 mlxkgxmin-1) to a greater extent than the control group between baseline and the 6-month follow-up, after adjusting for possible confounders (P = 0.020). CONCLUSIONS: A combined primary health-care and community-based exercise programme (involving non-profit organizations) can be an effective strategy to increase cardiorespiratory fitness among low-active refugee women. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT00747942

The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems

We review the formation and evolution of compact binary stars consisting of white dwarfs (WDs), neutron stars (NSs), and black holes (BHs). Binary NSs and BHs are thought to be the primary astrophysical sources of gravitational waves (GWs) within the frequency band of ground-based detectors, while compact binaries of WDs are important sources of GWs at lower frequencies to be covered by space interferometers (LISA). Major uncertainties in the current understanding of properties of NSs and BHs most relevant to the GW studies are discussed, including the treatment of the natal kicks which compact stellar remnants acquire during the core collapse of massive stars and the common envelope phase of binary evolution. We discuss the coalescence rates of binary NSs and BHs and prospects for their detections, the formation and evolution of binary WDs and their observational manifestations. Special attention is given to AM CVn-stars -- compact binaries in which the Roche lobe is filled by another WD or a low-mass partially degenerate helium-star, as these stars are thought to be the best LISA verification binary GW sources.Comment: 105 pages, 18 figure

Longer and less overlapping food webs in anthropogenically disturbed marine ecosystems: confirmations from the past

The human exploitation of marine resources is characterised by the preferential removal of the largest species. Although this is expected to modify the structure of food webs, we have a relatively poor understanding of the potential consequences of such alteration. Here, we take advantage of a collection of ancient consumer tissues, using stable isotope analysis and SIBER to assess changes in the structure of coastal marine food webs in the South-western Atlantic through the second half of the Holocene as a result of the sequential exploitation of marine resources by hunter-gatherers, western sealers and modern fishermen. Samples were collected from shell middens and museums. Shells of both modern and archaeological intertidal herbivorous molluscs were used to reconstruct changes in the stable isotopic baseline, while modern and archaeological bones of the South American sea lion Otaria flavescens, South American fur seal Arctocephalus australis and Magellanic penguin Spheniscus magellanicus were used to analyse changes in the structure of the community of top predators. We found that ancient food webs were shorter, more redundant and more overlapping than current ones, both in northern-central Patagonia and southern Patagonia. These surprising results may be best explained by the huge impact of western sealing on pinnipeds during the fur trade period, rather than the impact of fishing on fish populations. As a consequence, the populations of pinnipeds at the end of the sealing period were likely well below the ecosystem's carrying capacity, which resulted in a release of intraspecific competition and a shift towards larger and higher trophic level prey. This in turn led to longer and less overlapping food webs

Training compliance control yields improvements in drawing as a function of beery scores

Many children have difficulty producing movements well enough to improve in sensori-motor learning. Previously, we developed a training method that supports active movement generation to allow improvement at a 3D tracing task requiring good compliance control. Here, we tested 7–8 year old children from several 2nd grade classrooms to determine whether 3D tracing performance could be predicted using the Beery VMI. We also examined whether 3D tracing training lead to improvements in drawing. Baseline testing included Beery, a drawing task on a tablet computer, and 3D tracing. We found that baseline performance in 3D tracing and drawing co-varied with the visual perception (VP) component of the Beery. Differences in 3D tracing between children scoring low versus high on the Beery VP replicated differences previously found between children with and without motor impairments, as did post-training performance that eliminated these differences. Drawing improved as a result of training in the 3D tracing task. The training method improved drawing and reduced differences predicted by Beery scores