The effect of continuous-educational program in interferon therapy on quality of life in patients suffering from Hepatitis B and C.

چکیده: زمینه و هدف: مؤثرترین روش در درمان بیماران مبتلا به هپاتیت های مزمن B و C درمان ترکیبی با اینتروفرون می باشد. این درمان ها به هر حال درجات مختلفی از عوارض جانبی ایجاد می کنند که ممکن است تأثیر منفی بر روی حیات بیمار، تعاملات اجتماعی و توانایی انجام کار و دیگر فعالیت های آنها داشته باشد. هدف از این مطالعه بررسی تأثیر آموزش نحوه مصرف صحیح اینترفرون، کنترل عوارض جانبی و پی گیری بیماران به مدت 28 هفته بر روی کیفیت زندگی بیماران مبتلا به هپاتیت B و C بود. روش بررسی: این پژوهش یک پژوهش نیمه تجربی است که به صورت پیش آزمون- پس آزمون بر روی بیماران مبتلا به هپاتیت مزمن B و C کاندید اینترفرون تراپی در مرکز هپاتیت تهران صورت گرفت. تعداد 60 بیمار به روش نمونه گیری در دسترس با توجه به مشخصات نمونه انتخاب و به طور تصادفی در گروه شاهد و آزمون (30 نفر شاهد، 30 نفر آزمون) قرار گرفتند. ابزار گردآوری داده ها پرسشنامه اطلاعات دموگرافیک و پرسشنامه کیفیت زندگی ویژه بیماران کبدی ( CLDQ=Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire) بود. برای گروه آزمون و همراهان برنامه آموزشی به صورت 4 جلسه 45 دقیقه ای اجرا شد و بیماران به مدت 28 هفته پیگیری شدند. کیفیت زندگی بیماران هپاتیتی در دو مرحله قبل و 28 هفته پس از شروع اینترفرون تراپی و اجرای برنامه آموزشی سنجیده شد و در پایان کیفیت زندگی در دو گروه با استفاده از آزمون های همبستگی و کای دو، من ویتنی و ویلکاکسون مقایسه گردید. یافته ها: قبل از اجرای مداخله متغیرهای دموگرافیک و امتیاز کلی کیفیت زندگی در دو گروه اختلاف معنی داری مشاهده نشد. میانگین امتیاز کلی کیفیت زندگی در گروه آزمون از 4/21±6/158 به 17±4/183 افزایش یافت (001/0p) امتیاز کلی کیفیت زندگی پس از مداخله بین دو گروه دارای تفاوت معنی دار بود (001/0

Učinci šest tjedana treninga dubinskih skokova i skokova s pripremom na pijesku na mišićni zamor i izvedbu

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of six weeks of depth jump (DJ) vs countermovement jump (CMJ) training on sand on muscle soreness, jump, sprint, agility and leg press strength. Thirty healthy men (age 20.4±1.1 years; height 177.4±5.1 cm; and mass 72.8±9.7 kg) volunteered to participate and were randomly assigned to one of three groups: DJ training group (n=10), CMJ training group (n=10) or control group (n=10). The experimental groups performed either DJ or CMJ training two days a week for six weeks. The training program included five sets of 20 repetitions DJ (from the height of a 45-cm box) or CMJ exercise onto 20 cm of dry sand. Assessments of Vertical Jump Test (VJT), Standing Long Jump Test (SLJT), 20 and 40 m sprints, T-Test (TT), Illinois Agility Test (IAT), and one-repetition maximum Leg Press (1RMLP) were performed a week before and following the 6-week training period. Muscle soreness was also measured pre, immediately post, 24 and 48 hours after the first and last training sessions. Significant increases were observed in both the DJ and CMJ groups in VJT (16.2 vs. 13.5%), and SLJT (13.9 vs. 14.4%) (p.05). These observations may have considerable practical relevance for the optimal design of plyometric training programs, given that DJ and CMJ training on sand is effective for improving muscular performance.Cilj je ovog istraživanja bio utvrditi učinke šestotjednog treninga dubinskih skokova u odnosu na skokove s pripremom na pijesku na mišićni zamor, izvedbu skokova, sprinta, agilnost i snagu nožnog potiska. Za sudjelovanje u istraživanju volontiralo je 30 ispitanika (dob: 20,4±1,1 godina; tjelesna visina: 177,4±5,1 cm; tjelesna težina: 72,8±9,7 kg) koji su slučajnim odabirom raspoređeni u jednu od tri grupe: grupu koja je trenirala dubinske skokove (n=10), grupu koja je trenirala skokove s pripremom (n=10) ili kontrolnu grupu (n=10). Ispitanici u eksperimentalnim grupama provodili su trening dubinskih skokova ili trening skokova s pripremom dva puta tjedno tijekom šest tjedana. Program treninga uključivao je pet serija po 20 ponavljanja dubinskih skokova (saskok sa sanduka visine 45 cm) ili skokova s pripremom na suhom pijesku dubine 20 cm. Tjedan dana prije treninga te nakon šest tjedana treninga provedena su mjerenja visine vertikalnog skoka, skoka udalj s mjesta, sprinta na 20 i 40 metara, razine agilnosti pomoću T-testa i Illinois Agility Testa te 1RM u testu nožni potisak. Razina mišićnog zamora također je bila mjerena prije, odmah nakon, 24 i 48 sati nakon prvog i posljednjeg treninga. Značajna povećanja u visini vertikalnog skoka (16,2 vs. 13,5%) i skoku udalj s mjesta (13,9 vs. 14,4%) (p<0,05) zabilježena su u grupi koja je trenirala dubinske skokove, odnosno skokove s pripremom. Značajna smanjenja vremena sprinta na 20 (8,5 vs. 7,4%) i 40 (6,1 vs. 3,8%) metara, T-testu (9,3 vs. 12%) i Illinos Agility Testu (9,2 vs. 10,6%) zabilježena su u obje eksperimentalne grupe. Značajno povećanje 1RM u testu nožni potisak zabilježeno je samo u grupi koja je provodila trening skokova s pripremom. Ista grupa zabilježila je i statistički značajno veći osjećaj mišićnog zamora u mišiću rectus femoris 48 sati nakon prvog treninga nego grupa koja je provodila trening dubinskih skokova i kontrolna grupa. Nisu zabilježene statistički značajne razlike u osjećaju zamora između grupa nakon posljednjeg treninga. Rezultati ovog istraživanja mogu pridonijeti dizajniranju optimalnih programa pliometrijskog treninga, s obzirom na činjenicu da su oba eksperimentalna tipa treninga na pijesku pokazala učinkovitost u poboljšanju mišićnih performansi

The Effect of Education on Quality of Life in Patients under Interferon Therapy

Background and Aims: The main purpose of treating and caring for patients with chronic viral hepatitis is to promote life satisfaction and a feeling of well-being in patients suffering from this disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of education on quality of life in patients with chronic hepatitis who were treated with Interferon alpha. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 60 patients with viral hepatitis. The intervention included teaching them the method of self injection of Interferon alpha 2 b, giving them educational pamphlets and then following their continuing treatment with interferon. Patients were randomly assigned to two 30-patient groups. The data- gathering tool was a demographic characteristics questionnaire and the Quality of Life Questionnaire for Patients with Chronic Liver Disease (CLDQ). The educational program was done in four 45- minute sessions for the case group and their relatives. The follow-up period was 12 weeks. Quality of life in patients with chronic hepatitis was measured before initiating interferon therapy, and after the educational period. Quality of life in the two groups was compared. Results: The total quality of life score in the two groups before therapy did not show any significant difference (P = 0.351); while 12 weeks after education there was a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.001) in three items including abdominal symptoms (P = 0.01), worry (P < 0.001) and emotional factors (P < 0.001). The other three items did not show a significant difference between the two groups. The total quality of life score in the case group was significantly different before and after education (P < 0.001), and improved after education. The total quality of life score in the control group did not differ significantly after 12 weeks (P = 0.143). Conclusions: Planning short and simple educational programs has a significant effect on the patient's control of his/her disease and its side effects; and can improve quality of life, life satisfaction, and mechanisms of coping with treatment in patients with viral hepatitis

Kavosh: a new algorithm for finding network motifs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Complex networks are studied across many fields of science and are particularly important to understand biological processes. Motifs in networks are small connected sub-graphs that occur significantly in higher frequencies than in random networks. They have recently gathered much attention as a useful concept to uncover structural design principles of complex networks. Existing algorithms for finding network motifs are extremely costly in CPU time and memory consumption and have practically restrictions on the size of motifs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present a new algorithm (Kavosh), for finding k-size network motifs with less memory and CPU time in comparison to other existing algorithms. Our algorithm is based on counting all k-size sub-graphs of a given graph (directed or undirected). We evaluated our algorithm on biological networks of <it>E. coli </it>and <it>S. cereviciae</it>, and also on non-biological networks: a social and an electronic network.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The efficiency of our algorithm is demonstrated by comparing the obtained results with three well-known motif finding tools. For comparison, the CPU time, memory usage and the similarities of obtained motifs are considered. Besides, Kavosh can be employed for finding motifs of size greater than eight, while most of the other algorithms have restriction on motifs with size greater than eight. The Kavosh source code and help files are freely available at: <url>http://Lbb.ut.ac.ir/Download/LBBsoft/Kavosh/</url>.</p

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017

Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations

Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1–70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6–70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8–38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0% (55.5 (44.8–67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic

Adolescent transport and unintentional injuries: a systematic analysis using the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: Globally, transport and unintentional injuries persist as leading preventable causes of mortality and morbidity for adolescents. We sought to report comprehensive trends in injury-related mortality and morbidity for adolescents aged 10–24 years during the past three decades. Methods: Using the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors 2019 Study, we analysed mortality and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) attributed to transport and unintentional injuries for adolescents in 204 countries. Burden is reported in absolute numbers and age-standardised rates per 100 000 population by sex, age group (10–14, 15–19, and 20–24 years), and sociodemographic index (SDI) with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). We report percentage changes in deaths and DALYs between 1990 and 2019. Findings: In 2019, 369 061 deaths (of which 214 337 [58%] were transport related) and 31·1 million DALYs (of which 16·2 million [52%] were transport related) among adolescents aged 10–24 years were caused by transport and unintentional injuries combined. If compared with other causes, transport and unintentional injuries combined accounted for 25% of deaths and 14% of DALYs in 2019, and showed little improvement from 1990 when such injuries accounted for 26% of adolescent deaths and 17% of adolescent DALYs. Throughout adolescence, transport and unintentional injury fatality rates increased by age group. The unintentional injury burden was higher among males than females for all injury types, except for injuries related to fire, heat, and hot substances, or to adverse effects of medical treatment. From 1990 to 2019, global mortality rates declined by 34·4% (from 17·5 to 11·5 per 100 000) for transport injuries, and by 47·7% (from 15·9 to 8·3 per 100 000) for unintentional injuries. However, in low-SDI nations the absolute number of deaths increased (by 80·5% to 42 774 for transport injuries and by 39·4% to 31 961 for unintentional injuries). In the high-SDI quintile in 2010–19, the rate per 100 000 of transport injury DALYs was reduced by 16·7%, from 838 in 2010 to 699 in 2019. This was a substantially slower pace of reduction compared with the 48·5% reduction between 1990 and 2010, from 1626 per 100 000 in 1990 to 838 per 100 000 in 2010. Between 2010 and 2019, the rate of unintentional injury DALYs per 100 000 also remained largely unchanged in high-SDI countries (555 in 2010 vs 554 in 2019; 0·2% reduction). The number and rate of adolescent deaths and DALYs owing to environmental heat and cold exposure increased for the high-SDI quintile during 2010–19. Interpretation: As other causes of mortality are addressed, inadequate progress in reducing transport and unintentional injury mortality as a proportion of adolescent deaths becomes apparent. The relative shift in the burden of injury from high-SDI countries to low and low–middle-SDI countries necessitates focused action, including global donor, government, and industry investment in injury prevention. The persisting burden of DALYs related to transport and unintentional injuries indicates a need to prioritise innovative measures for the primary prevention of adolescent injury. Funding: Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation

Measuring universal health coverage based on an index of effective coverage of health services in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019 : A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) involves all people receiving the health services they need, of high quality, without experiencing financial hardship. Making progress towards UHC is a policy priority for both countries and global institutions, as highlighted by the agenda of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and WHO's Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW13). Measuring effective coverage at the health-system level is important for understanding whether health services are aligned with countries' health profiles and are of sufficient quality to produce health gains for populations of all ages. Methods Based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019, we assessed UHC effective coverage for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. Drawing from a measurement framework developed through WHO's GPW13 consultation, we mapped 23 effective coverage indicators to a matrix representing health service types (eg, promotion, prevention, and treatment) and five population-age groups spanning from reproductive and newborn to older adults (≥65 years). Effective coverage indicators were based on intervention coverage or outcome-based measures such as mortality-to-incidence ratios to approximate access to quality care; outcome-based measures were transformed to values on a scale of 0–100 based on the 2·5th and 97·5th percentile of location-year values. We constructed the UHC effective coverage index by weighting each effective coverage indicator relative to its associated potential health gains, as measured by disability-adjusted life-years for each location-year and population-age group. For three tests of validity (content, known-groups, and convergent), UHC effective coverage index performance was generally better than that of other UHC service coverage indices from WHO (ie, the current metric for SDG indicator 3.8.1 on UHC service coverage), the World Bank, and GBD 2017. We quantified frontiers of UHC effective coverage performance on the basis of pooled health spending per capita, representing UHC effective coverage index levels achieved in 2019 relative to country-level government health spending, prepaid private expenditures, and development assistance for health. To assess current trajectories towards the GPW13 UHC billion target—1 billion more people benefiting from UHC by 2023—we estimated additional population equivalents with UHC effective coverage from 2018 to 2023. Findings Globally, performance on the UHC effective coverage index improved from 45·8 (95% uncertainty interval 44·2–47·5) in 1990 to 60·3 (58·7–61·9) in 2019, yet country-level UHC effective coverage in 2019 still spanned from 95 or higher in Japan and Iceland to lower than 25 in Somalia and the Central African Republic. Since 2010, sub-Saharan Africa showed accelerated gains on the UHC effective coverage index (at an average increase of 2·6% [1·9–3·3] per year up to 2019); by contrast, most other GBD super-regions had slowed rates of progress in 2010–2019 relative to 1990–2010. Many countries showed lagging performance on effective coverage indicators for non-communicable diseases relative to those for communicable diseases and maternal and child health, despite non-communicable diseases accounting for a greater proportion of potential health gains in 2019, suggesting that many health systems are not keeping pace with the rising non-communicable disease burden and associated population health needs. In 2019, the UHC effective coverage index was associated with pooled health spending per capita (r=0·79), although countries across the development spectrum had much lower UHC effective coverage than is potentially achievable relative to their health spending. Under maximum efficiency of translating health spending into UHC effective coverage performance, countries would need to reach $1398 pooled health spending per capita (US$ adjusted for purchasing power parity) in order to achieve 80 on the UHC effective coverage index. From 2018 to 2023, an estimated 388·9 million (358·6–421·3) more population equivalents would have UHC effective coverage, falling well short of the GPW13 target of 1 billion more people benefiting from UHC during this time. Current projections point to an estimated 3·1 billion (3·0–3·2) population equivalents still lacking UHC effective coverage in 2023, with nearly a third (968·1 million [903·5–1040·3]) residing in south Asia. Interpretation The present study demonstrates the utility of measuring effective coverage and its role in supporting improved health outcomes for all people—the ultimate goal of UHC and its achievement. Global ambitions to accelerate progress on UHC service coverage are increasingly unlikely unless concerted action on non-communicable diseases occurs and countries can better translate health spending into improved performance. Focusing on effective coverage and accounting for the world's evolving health needs lays the groundwork for better understanding how close—or how far—all populations are in benefiting from UHC

Mapping geographical inequalities in access to drinking water and sanitation facilities in low-income and middle-income countries, 2000-17

Background: Universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities is an essential human right, recognised in the Sustainable Development Goals as crucial for preventing disease and improving human wellbeing. Comprehensive, high-resolution estimates are important to inform progress towards achieving this goal. We aimed to produce high-resolution geospatial estimates of access to drinking water and sanitation facilities. Methods: We used a Bayesian geostatistical model and data from 600 sources across more than 88 low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) to estimate access to drinking water and sanitation facilities on continuous continent-wide surfaces from 2000 to 2017, and aggregated results to policy-relevant administrative units. We estimated mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive subcategories of facilities for drinking water (piped water on or off premises, other improved facilities, unimproved, and surface water) and sanitation facilities (septic or sewer sanitation, other improved, unimproved, and open defecation) with use of ordinal regression. We also estimated the number of diarrhoeal deaths in children younger than 5 years attributed to unsafe facilities and estimated deaths that were averted by increased access to safe facilities in 2017, and analysed geographical inequality in access within LMICs. Findings: Across LMICs, access to both piped water and improved water overall increased between 2000 and 2017, with progress varying spatially. For piped water, the safest water facility type, access increased from 40·0% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 39·4–40·7) to 50·3% (50·0–50·5), but was lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, where access to piped water was mostly concentrated in urban centres. Access to both sewer or septic sanitation and improved sanitation overall also increased across all LMICs during the study period. For sewer or septic sanitation, access was 46·3% (95% UI 46·1–46·5) in 2017, compared with 28·7% (28·5–29·0) in 2000. Although some units improved access to the safest drinking water or sanitation facilities since 2000, a large absolute number of people continued to not have access in several units with high access to such facilities (>80%) in 2017. More than 253 000 people did not have access to sewer or septic sanitation facilities in the city of Harare, Zimbabwe, despite 88·6% (95% UI 87·2–89·7) access overall. Many units were able to transition from the least safe facilities in 2000 to safe facilities by 2017; for units in which populations primarily practised open defecation in 2000, 686 (95% UI 664–711) of the 1830 (1797–1863) units transitioned to the use of improved sanitation. Geographical disparities in access to improved water across units decreased in 76·1% (95% UI 71·6–80·7) of countries from 2000 to 2017, and in 53·9% (50·6–59·6) of countries for access to improved sanitation, but remained evident subnationally in most countries in 2017. Interpretation: Our estimates, combined with geospatial trends in diarrhoeal burden, identify where efforts to increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities are most needed. By highlighting areas with successful approaches or in need of targeted interventions, our estimates can enable precision public health to effectively progress towards universal access to safe water and sanitation