Methodological Diversity in Citizen Science Mosquito Surveillance: A Scoping Review

Global concern regarding mosquito-borne disease emergence and re-emergence has driven the development of citizen science mosquito surveillance initiatives. Although these initiatives have shown great potential to assist local health authorities, ensuring outcomes are translatable to improved public health policy and practice remains challenging. Here we present a summary of citizen science mosquito surveillance programs worldwide, their focus, strategies, and outcomes, with a view to how best to apply this approach in their local areas. A scoping review of studies and reports was conducted through systematic search on electronic databases (Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar), grey literature, and other documents listed in the references of selected articles. A total of 33 citizen science studies included in this review described 29 citizen science mosquito surveillance projects operating in 16 countries, besides three programs with wide geographic coverage. The selected programs focused on different strategies and methods according to their local and national contextual needs. The majority of the programs reported being free or low in cost, and amenable to participants. Also, citizen scientists valued the opportunity to actively contribute to a scientific activity in which they saw value. Local and national programs have been successful in involving the broader public and yielding data on mosquito populations. However, to ensure the best public health outcomes, sustainability, and scalability, there is a need to continue engaging with stakeholders, including community members, researchers, public health agents, industry, and policymakers, and to bridge existing collaborations across different sectors

Toward Constructive Change After Making a Medical Error: Recovery From Situations of Error Theory as a Psychosocial Model for Clinician Recovery.

Making a medical error is a uniquely challenging psychosocial experience for clinicians. Feelings of personal responsibility, coupled with distress regarding potential or actual patient harm resulting from a mistake, create a dual burden. Over the past 20 years, experiential accounts of making an error have provided evidence of the associated distress and impacts. However, theory-based psychosocial support interventions to improve both individual outcomes for the involved clinicians and system-level outcomes, such as patient safety and workforce retention, are lacking. There is a need for evidence-based ways to both structure and evaluate interventions to decrease the distress of making a medical error and its impacts. Such interventions play a role within wider programs of health professional support. We sought to address this by developing a testable, psychosocial model of clinician recovery after error based on recent evidence. Methods Systematic review methodology was used to identify studies published between January 2010 and June 2021 reporting experiences of direct involvement in medical errors and/or subsequent recovery. A narrative synthesis was produced from the resulting articles and used as the basis for a team-based qualitative approach to model building. Results We identified 25 studies eligible for inclusion, reporting evidence primarily from experiences of doctors and nurses. The identified evidence indicates that coping approach, conversations (whether they occur and whether they are perceived to be helpful or unhelpful), and learning or development activities (helpful, unhelpful or absent) may influence the relationship between making an error and both individual clinician outcomes of emotional impact and resultant practice change. Our findings led to the development of the Recovery from Situations of Error Theory model, which provides a preliminary theoretical basis for intervention development and testing. Conclusions The Recovery from Situations of Error Theory model is the first testable psychosocial model of clinician recovery after making a medical error. Applying this model provides a basis to both structure and evaluate interventions to decrease the distress of making a medical error and its impacts and to support the replication of interventions that work across services and health systems toward constructive change. Such interventions may be embedded into the growing body of peer support and employee support programs internationally that address a diverse range of stressful workplace experiences

Crohn's Disease and Early Exposure to Domestic Refrigeration

Environmental risk factors playing a causative role in Crohn's Disease (CD) remain largely unknown. Recently, it has been suggested that refrigerated food could be involved in disease development. We thus conducted a pilot case control study to explore the association of CD with the exposure to domestic refrigeration in childhood.Using a standard questionnaire we interviewed 199 CD cases and 207 age-matched patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) as controls. Cases and controls were followed by the same gastroenterologists of tertiary referral clinics in Tehran, Iran. The questionnaire focused on the date of the first acquisition of home refrigerator and freezer. Data were analysed by a multivariate logistic model. The current age was in average 34 years in CD cases and the percentage of females in the case and control groups were respectively 48.3% and 63.7%. Patients were exposed earlier than controls to the refrigerator (X2 = 9.9, df = 3, P = 0.04) and refrigerator exposure at birth was found to be a risk factor for CD (OR = 2.08 (95% CI: 1.01-4.29), P = 0.05). Comparable results were obtained looking for the exposure to freezer at home. Finally, among the other recorded items reflecting the hygiene and comfort at home, we also found personal television, car and washing machine associated with CD.This study supports the opinion that CD is associated with exposure to domestic refrigeration, among other household factors, during childhood

Prevalence of non-communicable diseases in Brazilian children: follow-up at school age of two Brazilian birth cohorts of the 1990's

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Few cohort studies have been conducted in low and middle-income countries to investigate non-communicable diseases among school-aged children. This article aims to describe the methodology of two birth cohorts, started in 1994 in Ribeirão Preto (RP), a more developed city, and in 1997/98 in São Luís (SL), a less developed town.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Prevalences of some non-communicable diseases during the first follow-up of these cohorts were estimated and compared. Data on singleton live births were obtained at birth (2858 in RP and 2443 in SL). The follow-up at school age was conducted in RP in 2004/05, when the children were 9-11 years old and in SL in 2005/06, when the children were 7-9 years old. Follow-up rates were 68.7% in RP (790 included) and 72.7% in SL (673 participants). The groups of low (<2500 g) and high (≥ 4250 g) birthweight were oversampled and estimates were corrected by weighting.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the more developed city there was a higher percentage of non-nutritive sucking habits (69.1% vs 47.9%), lifetime bottle use (89.6% vs 68.3%), higher prevalence of primary headache in the last 15 days (27.9% vs 13.0%), higher positive skin tests for allergens (44.3% vs 25.3%) and higher prevalence of overweight (18.2% vs 3.6%), obesity (9.5% vs 1.8%) and hypertension (10.9% vs 4.6%). In the less developed city there was a larger percentage of children with below average cognitive function (28.9% vs 12.2%), mental health problems (47.4% vs 38.4%), depression (21.6% vs 6.0%) and underweight (5.8% vs 3.6%). There was no difference in the prevalence of bruxism, recurrent abdominal pain, asthma and bronchial hyperresponsiveness between cities.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Some non-communicable diseases were highly prevalent, especially in the more developed city. Some high rates suggest that the burden of non-communicable diseases will be high in the future, especially mental health problems.</p

Congenital exostoses of the cervical vertebrae

Any osseous disease may involve the spinous processes. Since the tips of the spinal processes are palpable, their examination is sometimes of great diagnostic value. This applies not only to percussion pain, but also to other disorders of bone tissue which can be demonstrated by pressure and percussion. The superficial position of the tips readily permits a biopsy and has significance in the localization of vertebral levels. Congenital anomalies of the spinous processes might cause a problem in identification on the roentgenogram and preoperative localization