Sero-prevalence and risk factors for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 infection in women and children in a rural district of Bangladesh: A cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Bangladesh reported its first COVID-19 case on March 8, 2020. Despite lockdowns and promoting behavioural interventions, as of December 31, 2021, Bangladesh reported 1.5 million confirmed cases and 27 904 COVID-19-related deaths. To understand the course of the pandemic and identify risk factors for SARs-Cov-2 infection, we conducted a cohort study from November 2020 to December 2021 in rural Bangladesh. METHODS: After obtaining informed consent and collecting baseline data on COVID-19 knowledge, comorbidities, socioeconomic status, and lifestyle, we collected data on COVID-like illness and care-seeking weekly for 54 weeks for women (n = 2683) and their children (n = 2433). Between March and July 2021, we tested all participants for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using ROCHE's Elecsys® test kit. We calculated seropositivity rates and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) separately for women and children. In addition, we calculated unadjusted and adjusted relative risk (RR) and 95% CI of seropositivity for different age and risk groups using log-binomial regression models. RESULTS: Overall, about one-third of women (35.8%, 95% CI = 33.7-37.9) and one-fifth of children (21.3%, 95% CI = 19.2-23.6) were seropositive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The seroprevalence rate doubled for women and tripled for children between March 2021 and July 2021. Compared to women and children with the highest household wealth (HHW) tertile, both women and children from poorer households had a lower risk of infection (RR, 95% CI for lowest HHW tertile women (0.83 (0.71-0.97)) and children (0.75 (0.57-0.98)). Most infections were asymptomatic or mild. In addition, the risk of infection among women was higher if she reported chewing tobacco (RR = 1.19,95% CI = 1.03-1.38) and if her husband had an occupation requiring him to work indoors (RR = 1.16,  95% CI = 1.02-1.32). The risk of infection was higher among children if paternal education was >5 years (RR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.10-1.71) than in children with a paternal education of ≤5 years. CONCLUSIONS: We provided prospectively collected population-based data, which could contribute to designing feasible strategies against COVID-19 tailored to high-risk groups. The most feasible strategy may be promoting preventive care practices; however, collecting data on reported practices is inadequate. More in-depth understanding of the factors related to adoption and adherence to the practices is essential

AI‐based intra‐tumor heterogeneity score of Ki67 expression as a prognostic marker for early‐stage ER+/HER2− breast cancer

arly-stage estrogen receptor positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor negative (ER+/HER2−) luminal breast cancer (BC) is quite heterogeneous and accounts for about 70% of all BCs. Ki67 is a proliferation marker that has a significant prognostic value in luminal BC despite the challenges in its assessment. There is increasing evidence that spatial colocalization, which measures the evenness of different types of cells, is clinically important in several types of cancer. However, reproducible quantification of intra-tumor spatial heterogeneity remains largely unexplored. We propose an automated pipeline for prognostication of luminal BC based on the analysis of spatial distribution of Ki67 expression in tumor cells using a large well-characterized cohort (n = 2,081). The proposed Ki67 colocalization (Ki67CL) score can stratify ER+/HER2− BC patients with high significance in terms of BC-specific survival (p < 0.00001) and distant metastasis-free survival (p = 0.0048). Ki67CL score is shown to be highly significant compared with the standard Ki67 index. In addition, we show that the proposed Ki67CL score can help identify luminal BC patients who can potentially benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy

AI-enabled routine H&E image based prognostic marker for early-stage luminal breast cancer

Breast cancer (BC) grade is a well-established subjective prognostic indicator of tumour aggressiveness. Tumour heterogeneity and subjective assessment result in high degree of variability among observers in BC grading. Here we propose an objective Haematoxylin & Eosin (H&E) image-based prognostic marker for early-stage luminal/Her2-negative BReAst CancEr that we term as the BRACE marker. The proposed BRACE marker is derived from AI based assessment of heterogeneity in BC at a detailed level using the power of deep learning. The prognostic ability of the marker is validated in two well-annotated cohorts (Cohort-A/Nottingham: n = 2122 and Cohort-B/Coventry: n = 311) on early-stage luminal/HER2-negative BC patients treated with endocrine therapy and with long-term follow-up. The BRACE marker is able to stratify patients for both distant metastasis free survival (p = 0.001, C-index: 0.73) and BC specific survival (p < 0.0001, C-index: 0.84) showing comparable prediction accuracy to Nottingham Prognostic Index and Magee scores, which are both derived from manual histopathological assessment, to identify luminal BC patients that may be likely to benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10&nbsp;years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37&nbsp;years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

PANC Study (Pancreatitis: A National Cohort Study): national cohort study examining the first 30 days from presentation of acute pancreatitis in the UK

Abstract Background Acute pancreatitis is a common, yet complex, emergency surgical presentation. Multiple guidelines exist and management can vary significantly. The aim of this first UK, multicentre, prospective cohort study was to assess the variation in management of acute pancreatitis to guide resource planning and optimize treatment. Methods All patients aged greater than or equal to 18 years presenting with acute pancreatitis, as per the Atlanta criteria, from March to April 2021 were eligible for inclusion and followed up for 30 days. Anonymized data were uploaded to a secure electronic database in line with local governance approvals. Results A total of 113 hospitals contributed data on 2580 patients, with an equal sex distribution and a mean age of 57 years. The aetiology was gallstones in 50.6 per cent, with idiopathic the next most common (22.4 per cent). In addition to the 7.6 per cent with a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis, 20.1 per cent of patients had a previous episode of acute pancreatitis. One in 20 patients were classed as having severe pancreatitis, as per the Atlanta criteria. The overall mortality rate was 2.3 per cent at 30 days, but rose to one in three in the severe group. Predictors of death included male sex, increased age, and frailty; previous acute pancreatitis and gallstones as aetiologies were protective. Smoking status and body mass index did not affect death. Conclusion Most patients presenting with acute pancreatitis have a mild, self-limiting disease. Rates of patients with idiopathic pancreatitis are high. Recurrent attacks of pancreatitis are common, but are likely to have reduced risk of death on subsequent admissions. </jats:sec

Factors Influencing Students’ Decision Making in Selecting University in Bangladesh

This study investigates the factors that influence students’ decisions when choosing a university for higher education in Bangladesh. The study was conducted among students of two private universities in the country. A multi-method approach was adopted in collecting and analyzing data. The responses of the 153 participating students to the questionnaire are primarily described using descriptive statistics, e.g., frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, and rankings. Statistical tools like chi-square and ANOVA test are also applied where necessary. Results of the study indicate that the distance of the university from the students’ home plays an influential role in university choice process in the country. It is also found that there is a significant association between the level of education at which students first consider studying university and their choice about the university. Several other factors: university’s location, cost of tuition, availability of scholarship, students’ mother, friend and visits to campus play an influential role in university choice process

Optical chemosensors for environmental monitoring of toxic metals related to Alzheimer\u27s disease

Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia and progresses from mild memory loss to severe decline in thinking, behavioral and social skills, which dramatically impairs a person\u27s ability to function independently. Genetics, some health disorders and lifestyle have all been connected to AD. Also, environmental factors are reported as contributors to this illness. The presence of heavy metals in air, water, food, soil and commercial products has increased tremendously. Accumulation of heavy metals in the body leads to serious malfunctioning of bodily organs, specifically the brain. For AD, a wide range of heavy metals have been reported to contribute to its onset and progression and the manifestation of its hallmarks. In this review, we focus on detection of highly toxic heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, lead and arsenic in water. The presence of heavy metals in water is very troubling and regular monitoring is warranted. Optical chemosensors were designed and fabricated for determination of ultra-trace quantities of heavy metals in water. They have shown advantages when compared to other sensors, such as selectivity, low-detection limit, fast response time, and wide-range determination under optimal sensing conditions. Therefore, implementing optical chemosensors for monitoring levels of toxic metals in water represents an important contribution in fighting AD

On the Precipitation Trends in Global Major Metropolitan Cities under Extreme Climatic Conditions: An Analysis of Shifting Patterns

On a local and regional level, climate change has had a significant impact on precipitation in the global climatic state. The purpose of this research is to examine the trend and character of urban precipitation in the world&rsquo;s most densely inhabited metropolis. From 1981 to 2020, 40 years of monthly and annual precipitation data from 50 major metropolitan cities throughout the world, based on population statistics, were analysed. The monthly and annual precipitation analysis was done using a homogeneity test, shifting point test, non-parametric Modified Mann Kendall test, and also through computing the magnitude of the trend using Sen&rsquo;s slope estimate. According to the findings of the study, the most homogeneous data was obtained in May (90 %) and the least in September (74%). In 2002, the highest number of breakpoints were found in July (9 cities) and August (8 cities). The month of January has the largest significant positive trend (10 cities) whereas annually it has 20 cities. The monthly maximum of the significant negative trend was discovered in February (4 cities) and annually in 2 main cities. In November, the maximum positive and minimum positive Sen&rsquo;s slope values were found to be 82% and 56%, respectively. The findings of this study are important for future water resource projections, flood or drought predictions, and engineering, scientific, industrial, agricultural, and social studies. The goal of this research is to come up with a good plan for dealing with urban flash floods and droughts as precipitation acts as the key parameter of the hydrological cycle

Geothermal Atlas for Africa Project (GAA): steps to outline the maps of engineering and social sustainability of geothermal resources

Geothermal Atlas for Africa (GAA) is one of the LEAP-RE projects aimed at developing a geothermal atlas for Africa on different scales, dealing with all topics related to geothermal energy, thanks to the cooperation of many expert partners from different scientific sectors. The main aspects are those concerning geoscientific, engineering, and sociology. The geoscientific aspects, quite prevalent in the first year of GAA, are treated by Jolie et al. (2022) in a separate manuscript. In this work, the local scale engineering and socio-economic aspects related to the sustainable use of the available geothermal resources are discussed. The first relevant achievement of Engineering science (Task 9.2) is a simulation tool to assess the optimal technologies based on geothermal resource type. The potential utilization of medium and high enthalpy resources for power generation has been assessed. To do this, a calculation model was developed on the basis of the characteristics of the geothermal resource and provides a selection of the most suitable power plant technologies and related preliminary sizing. The model is able to incorporate not only the optimized thermodynamic performance of flash and/or ORC binary cycles, but also the minimization of economic (LCOE) and environmental costs (LCA-single score). With regards to the social aspects (Task 9.3), a desk research was performed on the African context in order to address the main challenges related to the economic, social, and environmental of geothermal stand alone plants, looking for the ones managed by or with an high involvement of local communities. The desk research will allow identification of variables used by the communities to maximize the economic, environmental, and social benefits. Data for these variables can be gathered from scientific and grey literature, which allow a sufficient triangulation of information. Such a multi-approach methodology can provide the scientific community with data to ensure sufficient comparability of geothermal case studies. Both qualitative and quantitative primary and secondary data comprising demographics, social, economic, and institutional drivers of geothermal energy utilization were obtained in this way. The long-term expectation is to identify and classify factors in order to build the basis for further research and to help practitioners who are willing to replicate similar studies for different sites in Africa, in potential combination with other renewable energies plants. Presented by Chris Rochell