Ovine and Caprine Brucellosis (Brucella melitensis) in Aborted Animals in Jordanian Sheep and Goat Flocks

Two hundred and fifty five biological samples were collected from 188 animals (81 sheep and 107 goats) during the lambing season from September 2009 to April 2010 from the Mafraq region of Jordan. Sampled animals belonged to 93 sheep and goat flocks that had abortion cases in the region. One hundred and seven (41.9%) biological samples were positive for the omp2 primers that were able to identify all Brucella species in the collected samples which were obtained from 86 aborted animals (86/188 = 45.7%). Using the B. melitensis insertion sequence 711 (IS711) primers on the 107 omp2 positive samples, only 61 confirmed to be positive for B. melitensis. These positive samples were obtained from 28 sheep and 33 goats. The prevalence rate of B. melitensis was 27.1% (51/188) among aborted animals. For differentiation between vaccine strain and field strain infection, polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method using PstI endonuclease enzyme was used. Vaccination with Rev-1 in the last year (OR = 2.92, CI: 1.1–7.7) and grazing at common pasture (OR = 2.78, CI: 1.05–7.36) were statistically significant (P ≤ .05) risk factors positively associated with the occurrence of brucellosis in sheep and goat flocks

Twelve-month observational study of children with cancer in 41 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction Childhood cancer is a leading cause of death. It is unclear whether the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted childhood cancer mortality. In this study, we aimed to establish all-cause mortality rates for childhood cancers during the COVID-19 pandemic and determine the factors associated with mortality. Methods Prospective cohort study in 109 institutions in 41 countries. Inclusion criteria: children <18 years who were newly diagnosed with or undergoing active treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, retinoblastoma, Wilms tumour, glioma, osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma. Of 2327 cases, 2118 patients were included in the study. The primary outcome measure was all-cause mortality at 30 days, 90 days and 12 months. Results All-cause mortality was 3.4% (n=71/2084) at 30-day follow-up, 5.7% (n=113/1969) at 90-day follow-up and 13.0% (n=206/1581) at 12-month follow-up. The median time from diagnosis to multidisciplinary team (MDT) plan was longest in low-income countries (7 days, IQR 3-11). Multivariable analysis revealed several factors associated with 12-month mortality, including low-income (OR 6.99 (95% CI 2.49 to 19.68); p<0.001), lower middle income (OR 3.32 (95% CI 1.96 to 5.61); p<0.001) and upper middle income (OR 3.49 (95% CI 2.02 to 6.03); p<0.001) country status and chemotherapy (OR 0.55 (95% CI 0.36 to 0.86); p=0.008) and immunotherapy (OR 0.27 (95% CI 0.08 to 0.91); p=0.035) within 30 days from MDT plan. Multivariable analysis revealed laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (OR 5.33 (95% CI 1.19 to 23.84); p=0.029) was associated with 30-day mortality. Conclusions Children with cancer are more likely to die within 30 days if infected with SARS-CoV-2. However, timely treatment reduced odds of death. This report provides crucial information to balance the benefits of providing anticancer therapy against the risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children with cancer

Pooled analysis of WHO Surgical Safety Checklist use and mortality after emergency laparotomy

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist has fostered safe practice for 10 years, yet its place in emergency surgery has not been assessed on a global scale. The aim of this study was to evaluate reported checklist use in emergency settings and examine the relationship with perioperative mortality in patients who had emergency laparotomy. Methods In two multinational cohort studies, adults undergoing emergency laparotomy were compared with those having elective gastrointestinal surgery. Relationships between reported checklist use and mortality were determined using multivariable logistic regression and bootstrapped simulation. Results Of 12 296 patients included from 76 countries, 4843 underwent emergency laparotomy. After adjusting for patient and disease factors, checklist use before emergency laparotomy was more common in countries with a high Human Development Index (HDI) (2455 of 2741, 89.6 per cent) compared with that in countries with a middle (753 of 1242, 60.6 per cent; odds ratio (OR) 0.17, 95 per cent c.i. 0.14 to 0.21, P <0001) or low (363 of 860, 422 per cent; OR 008, 007 to 010, P <0.001) HDI. Checklist use was less common in elective surgery than for emergency laparotomy in high-HDI countries (risk difference -94 (95 per cent c.i. -11.9 to -6.9) per cent; P <0001), but the relationship was reversed in low-HDI countries (+121 (+7.0 to +173) per cent; P <0001). In multivariable models, checklist use was associated with a lower 30-day perioperative mortality (OR 0.60, 0.50 to 073; P <0.001). The greatest absolute benefit was seen for emergency surgery in low- and middle-HDI countries. Conclusion Checklist use in emergency laparotomy was associated with a significantly lower perioperative mortality rate. Checklist use in low-HDI countries was half that in high-HDI countries.Peer reviewe

Global variation in anastomosis and end colostomy formation following left-sided colorectal resection

Background End colostomy rates following colorectal resection vary across institutions in high-income settings, being influenced by patient, disease, surgeon and system factors. This study aimed to assess global variation in end colostomy rates after left-sided colorectal resection. Methods This study comprised an analysis of GlobalSurg-1 and -2 international, prospective, observational cohort studies (2014, 2016), including consecutive adult patients undergoing elective or emergency left-sided colorectal resection within discrete 2-week windows. Countries were grouped into high-, middle- and low-income tertiles according to the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). Factors associated with colostomy formation versus primary anastomosis were explored using a multilevel, multivariable logistic regression model. Results In total, 1635 patients from 242 hospitals in 57 countries undergoing left-sided colorectal resection were included: 113 (6·9 per cent) from low-HDI, 254 (15·5 per cent) from middle-HDI and 1268 (77·6 per cent) from high-HDI countries. There was a higher proportion of patients with perforated disease (57·5, 40·9 and 35·4 per cent; P < 0·001) and subsequent use of end colostomy (52·2, 24·8 and 18·9 per cent; P < 0·001) in low- compared with middle- and high-HDI settings. The association with colostomy use in low-HDI settings persisted (odds ratio (OR) 3·20, 95 per cent c.i. 1·35 to 7·57; P = 0·008) after risk adjustment for malignant disease (OR 2·34, 1·65 to 3·32; P < 0·001), emergency surgery (OR 4·08, 2·73 to 6·10; P < 0·001), time to operation at least 48 h (OR 1·99, 1·28 to 3·09; P = 0·002) and disease perforation (OR 4·00, 2·81 to 5·69; P < 0·001). Conclusion Global differences existed in the proportion of patients receiving end stomas after left-sided colorectal resection based on income, which went beyond case mix alone

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Two hundred and fifty five biological samples were collected from 188 animals (81 sheep and 107 goats) during the lambing season from September 2009 to April 2010 from the Mafraq region of Jordan. Sampled animals belonged to 93 sheep and goat flocks that had abortion cases in the region. One hundred and seven (41.9%) biological samples were positive for the omp2 primers that were able to identify all Brucella species in the collected samples which were obtained from 86 aborted animals (86/188 = 45.7%). Using the B. melitensis insertion sequence 711 (IS711) primers on the 107 omp2 positive samples, only 61 confirmed to be positive for B. melitensis. These positive samples were obtained from 28 sheep and 33 goats. The prevalence rate of B. melitensis was 27.1% (51/188) among aborted animals. For differentiation between vaccine strain and field strain infection, polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method using PstI endonuclease enzyme was used. Vaccination with Rev-1 in the last year (OR = 2.92, CI: 1.1-7.7) and grazing at common pasture (OR = 2.78, CI: 1.05-7.36) were statistically significant (P ≤ .05) risk factors positively associated with the occurrence of brucellosis in sheep and goat flocks

CMMSE-2019 mean-based iterative methods for solving nonlinear chemistry problems

[EN] The third-order iterative method designed by Weerakoon and Fernando includes the arithmetic mean of two functional evaluations in its expression. Replacing this arithmetic mean with different means, other iterative methods have been proposed in the literature. The evolution of these methods in terms of order of convergence implies the inclusion of a weight function for each case, showing an optimal fourth-order convergence, in the sense of Kung-Traub's conjecture. The analysis of these new schemes is performed by means of complex dynamics. These methods are applied on the solution of the nonlinear Colebrook-White equation and the nonlinear system of the equilibrium conversion, both frequently used in Chemistry.This research was partially supported by PGC2018-095896-B-C22 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER/UE) and Generalitat Valenciana PROMETEO/2016/089.Chicharro, FI.; Cordero Barbero, A.; Martínez, TH.; Torregrosa Sánchez, JR. (2020). CMMSE-2019 mean-based iterative methods for solving nonlinear chemistry problems. Journal of Mathematical Chemistry. 58(3):555-572. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10910-019-01085-2S555572583O. Ababneh, New Newton’s method with third order convergence for solving nonlinear equations. World Acad. Sci. Eng. Technol. 61, 1071–1073 (2012)S. Amat, S. Busquier, Advances in iterative methods for nonlinear equations, chapter 5. SEMA SIMAI Springer Series. (Springer, Berlin, 2016), vol. 10, pp. 79–111R. Behl, Í. Sarría, R. González, Á.A. Magreñán, Highly efficient family of iterative methods for solving nonlinear models. J. Comput. Appl. Math. 346, 110–132 (2019)B. Campos, J. Canela, P. Vindel, Convergence regions for the Chebyshev-Halley family. Commun. Nonlinear Sci. Numer. Simul. 56, 508–525 (2018)F.I. Chicharro, A. Cordero, J.R. Torregrosa, Drawing dynamical and parameters planes of iterative families and methods. Sci. World J. 780513, 1–11 (2013)F.I. Chicharro, A. Cordero, J.R. Torregrosa, Dynamics of iterative families with memory based on weight functions procedure. J. Comput. Appl. Math. 354, 286–298 (2019)C.F. Colebrook, C.M. White, Experiments with fluid friction in roughened pipes. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 161, 367–381 (1937)A. Constantinides, N. Mostoufi, Numerical Methods for Chemical Engineers with MATLAB Applications (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1999)A. Cordero, J. Franceschi, J.R. Torregrosa, A.C. Zagati, A convex combination approach for mean-based variants of Newton’s method. Symmetry 11, 1062 (2019)A. Cordero, J.R. Torregrosa, Variants of Newton’s method using fifth order quadrature formulas. Appl. Math. Comput. 190, 686–698 (2007)H.T. Kung, J.F. Traub, Optimal order of one-point and multipoint iteration. J. Assoc. Comput. Math. 21, 643–651 (1974)T. Lukić, N. Ralević, Geometric mean Newton’s method for simple and multiple roots. Appl. Math. Lett. 21, 30–36 (2008)A. Özban, Some new variants of Newton’s method. Appl. Math. Lett. 17, 677–682 (2004)M. Petković, B. Neta, L. Petković, J. Dz̆unić, Multipoint Methods for Solving Nonlinear Equations (Academic Press, Cambridge, 2013)E. Shashi, Transmission Pipeline Calculations and Simulations Manual, Fluid Flow in Pipes (Elsevier, London, 2015), pp. 149–234M.K. Singh, A.K. Singh, A new-mean type variant of Newton’s method for simple and multiple roots. Int. J. Math. Trends Technol. 49, 174–177 (2017)K. Verma, On the centroidal mean Newton’s method for simple and multiple roots of nonlinear equations. Int. J. Comput. Sci. Math. 7, 126–143 (2016)S. Weerakoon, T.G.I. Fernando, A variant of Newton’s method with third-order convergence. Appl. Math. Lett. 13, 87–93 (2000)Z. Xiaojian, A class of Newton’s methods with third-order convergence. Appl. Math. Lett. 20, 1026–1030 (2007