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The efficacy of sampling strategies for estimating scabies prevalence.

BackgroundEstimating community level scabies prevalence is crucial for targeting interventions to areas of greatest need. The World Health Organisation recommends sampling at the unit of households or schools, but there is presently no standardised approach to scabies prevalence assessment. Consequently, a wide range of sampling sizes and methods have been used. As both prevalence and drivers of transmission vary across populations, there is a need to understand how sampling strategies for estimating scabies prevalence interact with local epidemiology to affect the accuracy of prevalence estimates.MethodsWe used a simulation-based approach to compare the efficacy of different scabies sampling strategies. First, we generated synthetic populations broadly representative of remote Australian Indigenous communities and assigned a scabies status to individuals to achieve a specified prevalence using different assumptions about scabies epidemiology. Second, we calculated an observed prevalence for different sampling methods and sizes.ResultsThe distribution of prevalence in subpopulation groups can vary substantially when the underlying scabies assignment method changes. Across all of the scabies assignment methods combined, the simple random sampling method produces the narrowest 95% confidence interval for all sample sizes. The household sampling method introduces higher variance compared to simple random sampling when the assignment of scabies includes a household-specific component. The school sampling method overestimates community prevalence when the assignment of scabies includes an age-specific component.DiscussionOur results indicate that there are interactions between transmission assumptions and surveillance strategies, emphasizing the need for understanding scabies transmission dynamics. We suggest using the simple random sampling method for estimating scabies prevalence. Our approach can be adapted to various populations and diseases

The effect of carnitine on random-pattern flap survival in rats

YILMAZ, TANER/0000-0001-8999-3237WOS: 000170901100021PubMed: 11547153Carnitine is an endogenous cofactor involved in the transport of long-chain fatty acids into the mitochondria where they undergo P-oxidation. Through another reaction, carnitine produces free coenzyme A and reduces the ratio of acetyl-coenzyme A to coenzyme A, thereby enhancing oxidative use of glucose, augmenting adenosine triphosphate synthesis, and reducing lactate production and acidosis. Because of its regulatory action on the energy flow from the different oxidative sources, especially under ischemic conditions, carnitine has been used in cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and chronic renal diseases with satisfactory results. A flap is also a relatively ischemic tissue and may obtain benefit from carnitine. To investigate this, 30 rats were divided into three groups of 10 animals: a control group and two carnitine-treated groups. Random dorsal skin flaps were elevated on the rats. In the control group, no pharmacologic agents were used. Of the two treated groups, group I was treated with 50 mg/kg/day carnitine for I week and group 2 was treated with 100 mg/kg/day carnitine for I week. The areas of flap necrosis were measured in each group. The median areas of flap necrosis of the groups were 12.55, 9.23, and 4.9 cm(2), respectively. There was a statistically significant improvement of flap necrosis in carnitine-treated groups compared with the control group (group 2, p = 0.001; group 3, p = 0.000). Furthermore, there was less necrosis in the high-dose carnitine-treated group than the low-dose carnitine-treated group. As a conclusion, carnitine may have a dose-dependent effect to increase flap survival in random skin flaps

Psychiatric Features in Neurotic Excoriation Patients: The Role of Childhood Trauma

Introduction: Neurotic excoriation is a psychodermatological disease of primary psychological/psychiatric genesis, responsible for self-induced dermatological disorders. Childhood traumatic events are closely related with self-injurious behaviors. The aim of this study is to evaluate the psychiatric features of neurotic excoriation and to investigate the effect of childhood traumatic events on the disease

Organisational Overview: Institute for Design and Assessment of Technology, Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien)

International audienceThe Institute for Design & Assessment of Technology (IGW) is part of the Faculty of Informatics at the Vienna University of Technology and is historically comprised of two groups: Multidisciplinary Design and Human Computer Interaction, which also includes the Centre for Applied Assistive Technology. The institute is highly interdisciplinary, within a traditional computer science faculty. Members come from various backgrounds, enabling us to merge technical engineering and social sciences research with people-centred design. The Institute includes 35 employed faculty/researchers/students and over 10 associated PhD students, engaged in 30 projects funded by the EU and national funding agencies, and supported by administrative staff