374 research outputs found
Causes of reproductive age mortality in low socioeconomic settlements of Karachi
The Maternal and Infant Mortality Survey (MIMS) was conducted in eight squatter settlements of Karachi. The female mortality rate was 151.0 per 100,000 women aged 10-49 years and the maternal mortality ratio was 281 per 100,000 livebirths. The leading causes of deaths among women were complications of pregnancy (28.1%), infectious diseases (24.8%), cardiovascular diseases (20.7%), neoplasia (10.7%) and trauma (10.7%). Hemorrhage (47.1% of all maternal deaths), tuberculosis (40.0% of all infectious disease deaths), oropharyngeal cancer (23.1% of all neoplastic deaths), and burns (61.5% of all trauma deaths) were among the major causes identified. Maternal deaths were associated with young age and nulliparity (p-value \u3c 0.01), and a higher proportion occurred in the hospital or on the way to the hospital as compared to non-maternal deaths
Technical design and commissioning of the KATRIN large-volume air coil system
The KATRIN experiment is a next-generation direct neutrino mass experiment
with a sensitivity of 0.2 eV (90% C.L.) to the effective mass of the electron
neutrino. It measures the tritium -decay spectrum close to its endpoint
with a spectrometer based on the MAC-E filter technique. The -decay
electrons are guided by a magnetic field that operates in the mT range in the
central spectrometer volume; it is fine-tuned by a large-volume air coil system
surrounding the spectrometer vessel. The purpose of the system is to provide
optimal transmission properties for signal electrons and to achieve efficient
magnetic shielding against background. In this paper we describe the technical
design of the air coil system, including its mechanical and electrical
properties. We outline the importance of its versatile operation modes in
background investigation and suppression techniques. We compare magnetic field
measurements in the inner spectrometer volume during system commissioning with
corresponding simulations, which allows to verify the system's functionality in
fine-tuning the magnetic field configuration. This is of major importance for a
successful neutrino mass measurement at KATRIN.Comment: 32 pages, 16 figure
The Quality of Medical Care in Low-Income Countries: From Providers to Markets
Jishnu Das provides a perspective on a research article by Paul Garner and colleagues that reports a systematic review of 80 studies comparing the quality of private versus public ambulatory health care in low and middle income countries
Risk for Fomite-Mediated Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Child Daycares, Schools, Nursing Homes, and Offices.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 can persist on surfaces, suggesting possible surface-mediated transmission of this pathogen. We found that fomites might be a substantial source of transmission risk, particularly in schools and child daycares. Combining surface cleaning and decontamination with mask wearing can help mitigate this risk
A novel ppm-precise absolute calibration method for precision high-voltage dividers
The most common method to measure direct current high voltage (HV) down to the ppm-level is to use resistive high-voltage dividers. Such devices scale the HV into a range where it can be compared with precision digital voltmeters to reference voltages sources, which can be traced back to Josephson voltage standards. So far the calibration of the scale factors of HV dividers for voltages above 1 kV could only be done at metrology institutes and sometimes involves round-robin tests among several institutions to get reliable results. Here we present a novel absolute calibration method based on the measurement of a differential scale factor, which can be performed with commercial equipment and outside metrology institutes. We demonstrate that reproducible measurements up to 35 kV can be performed with relative uncertainties below
1 · 10. This method is not restricted to metrology institutes and offers the possibility to determine the linearity of high-voltage dividers for a wide range of applications
Quality of private and public ambulatory health care in low and middle income countries: systematic review of comparative studies
Paul Garner and colleagues conducted a systematic review of 80 studies to compare
the quality of private versus public ambulatory health care in low- and
middle-income countries
Diagnostic Infectious Diseases Testing Outside Clinics: A Global Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
BACKGROUND: Most people around the world do not have access to facility-based diagnostic testing, and the gap in availability of diagnostic tests is a major public health challenge. Self-testing, self-sampling, and institutional testing outside conventional clinical settings are transforming infectious disease diagnostic testing in a wide range of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We examined the delivery models of infectious disease diagnostic testing outside clinics to assess the impact on test uptake and linkage to care. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis, searching 6 databases and including original research manuscripts comparing testing outside clinics with conventional testing. The main outcomes were test uptake and linkage to care, delivery models, and adverse outcomes. Data from studies with similar interventions and outcomes within thematic areas of interest were pooled, and the quality of evidence was assessed using GRADE. This study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42019140828).We identified 10 386 de-duplicated citations, and 76 studies were included. Data from 18 studies were pooled in meta-analyses. Studies focused on HIV (48 studies), chlamydia (8 studies), and multiple diseases (20 studies). HIV self-testing increased test uptake compared with facility-based testing (9 studies: pooled odds ratio [OR], 2.59; 95% CI, 1.06-6.29; moderate quality). Self-sampling for sexually transmitted infections increased test uptake compared with facility-based testing (7 studies: pooled OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 0.97-3.12; moderate quality). Conclusions. Testing outside of clinics increased test uptake without significant adverse outcomes. These testing approaches provide an opportunity to expand access and empower patients. Further implementation research, scale-up of effective service delivery models, and policies in LMIC settings are needed
Challenges in QCD matter physics - The Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment at FAIR
Substantial experimental and theoretical efforts worldwide are devoted to
explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter. At LHC and top RHIC
energies, QCD matter is studied at very high temperatures and nearly vanishing
net-baryon densities. There is evidence that a Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP) was
created at experiments at RHIC and LHC. The transition from the QGP back to the
hadron gas is found to be a smooth cross over. For larger net-baryon densities
and lower temperatures, it is expected that the QCD phase diagram exhibits a
rich structure, such as a first-order phase transition between hadronic and
partonic matter which terminates in a critical point, or exotic phases like
quarkyonic matter. The discovery of these landmarks would be a breakthrough in
our understanding of the strong interaction and is therefore in the focus of
various high-energy heavy-ion research programs. The Compressed Baryonic Matter
(CBM) experiment at FAIR will play a unique role in the exploration of the QCD
phase diagram in the region of high net-baryon densities, because it is
designed to run at unprecedented interaction rates. High-rate operation is the
key prerequisite for high-precision measurements of multi-differential
observables and of rare diagnostic probes which are sensitive to the dense
phase of the nuclear fireball. The goal of the CBM experiment at SIS100
(sqrt(s_NN) = 2.7 - 4.9 GeV) is to discover fundamental properties of QCD
matter: the phase structure at large baryon-chemical potentials (mu_B > 500
MeV), effects of chiral symmetry, and the equation-of-state at high density as
it is expected to occur in the core of neutron stars. In this article, we
review the motivation for and the physics programme of CBM, including
activities before the start of data taking in 2022, in the context of the
worldwide efforts to explore high-density QCD matter.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Published in European Physical Journal
An unusual cause of granulomatous disease
BACKGROUND: Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is an inherited disorder of phagocytic cells caused by an inability to generate active microbicidal oxygen species required kill certain types of fungi and bacteria. This leads to recurrent life-threatening bacterial and fungal infections with tissue granuloma formation. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe a case of X-linked Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) diagnosed in an 18-year-old male. He initially presented with granulomatous disease mimicking sarcoidosis and was treated with corticosteroids. He subsequently developed Burkholderia cepacia complex pneumonia and further investigation confirmed a diagnosis of CGD. CONCLUSION: Milder phenotypes of CGD are now being recognised. CGD should be considered in patients of any age with granulomatous diseases, especially if there is a history of recurrent or atypical infection
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