Global Study of Viral Meningitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Meningitis can quickly become a life-threatening sickness and therefore is considered a medical emergency. Viruses, after bacteria, are known as main pathogens involved in meningitis; therefore, we investigated the prevalence of viral meningitis worldwide and evaluated the clinical and preclinical features for rapid detection of viral meningitis. The results showed that the most prevalent viruses in viral meningitis are Enterovirus, Coxaci, Tick-borne encephalitis virus, Herpesviridae family; and the most prevalent viruses in aseptic meningitis are Echovirus, Enterovirus, Coxaci and HSV. The findings revealed differences in the prevalence of various viruses in these two types of meningitis, even though there was no significant difference in clinical manifestations between viral and bacterial meningitis. This indicates the importance of laboratory diagnostic methods for discriminating between these two types of meningitis

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010-19 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk-outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. Findings Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4.45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4.01-4.94) deaths and 105 million (95.0-116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44.4% (41.3-48.4) of all cancer deaths and 42.0% (39.1-45.6) of all DALYs. There were 2.88 million (2.60-3.18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50.6% [47.8-54.1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1.58 million (1.36-1.84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36.3% [32.5-41.3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20.4% (12.6-28.4) and DALYs by 16.8% (8.8-25.0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34.7% [27.9-42.8] and 33.3% [25.8-42.0]). Interpretation The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe

Global investments in pandemic preparedness and COVID-19: development assistance and domestic spending on health between 1990 and 2026

Background The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted gaps in health surveillance systems, disease prevention, and treatment globally. Among the many factors that might have led to these gaps is the issue of the financing of national health systems, especially in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), as well as a robust global system for pandemic preparedness. We aimed to provide a comparative assessment of global health spending at the onset of the pandemic; characterise the amount of development assistance for pandemic preparedness and response disbursed in the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic; and examine expectations for future health spending and put into context the expected need for investment in pandemic preparedness. Methods In this analysis of global health spending between 1990 and 2021, and prediction from 2021 to 2026, we estimated four sources of health spending: development assistance for health (DAH), government spending, out-of-pocket spending, and prepaid private spending across 204 countries and territories. We used the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)'s Creditor Reporting System (CRS) and the WHO Global Health Expenditure Database (GHED) to estimate spending. We estimated development assistance for general health, COVID-19 response, and pandemic preparedness and response using a keyword search. Health spending estimates were combined with estimates of resources needed for pandemic prevention and preparedness to analyse future health spending patterns, relative to need. Findings In 2019, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, US$9·2 trillion (95$7·3 trillion (95% UI 7·2–7·4) in 2019; 293·7 times the $24·8 billion (95$43·1 billion in development assistance was provided to maintain or improve health. The pandemic led to an unprecedented increase in development assistance targeted towards health; in 2020 and 2021, $1·8 billion in DAH contributions was provided towards pandemic preparedness in LMICs, and$37·8 billion was provided for the health-related COVID-19 response. Although the support for pandemic preparedness is 12·2% of the recommended target by the High-Level Independent Panel (HLIP), the support provided for the health-related COVID-19 response is 252·2% of the recommended target. Additionally, projected spending estimates suggest that between 2022 and 2026, governments in 17 (95% UI 11–21) of the 137 LMICs will observe an increase in national government health spending equivalent to an addition of 1% of GDP, as recommended by the HLIP. Interpretation There was an unprecedented scale-up in DAH in 2020 and 2021. We have a unique opportunity at this time to sustain funding for crucial global health functions, including pandemic preparedness. However, historical patterns of underfunding of pandemic preparedness suggest that deliberate effort must be made to ensure funding is maintained

A Novel Earned Value Management Model Using Z-Number

The earned value management (EVM) model is an essential technique for managing and forecasting project features such as scheduling and cost performances indexes. This paper presents a novel fuzzy earned-value model based on Z-number theory incorporating both the impreciseness of real life conditions and a degree of reliability through considering an expert judgment process. The latter factor has not been used by other researchers in the field. The proposed model provides a reliable assessment for the progress performance of a project and its \u27at completion\u27 cost in an uncertain environment. Finally, an illustrative case demonstrates the applicability of the proposed model in real life projects

Minimizing the total weighted late work in scheduling of identical parallel processors with communication delays

This paper addresses a certain type of scheduling problem that arises when a parallel computation is to be executed on a set of identical parallel processors. It is assumed that if two precedence-related tasks are processed on two different processors, due to the information transferring, there will be a task-dependent communication delay between them. For each task, a processing time, a due date and a weight is given while the goal is to minimize the total weighted late work. An integer linear mathematical programming model and a branch-and-bound algorithm have been developed for the proposed problem. Comparing the results obtained by the proposed branch-and-bound algorithm with those obtained by CPLEX, indicates the effectiveness of the method.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Minimizing the total weighted late work in scheduling of identical parallel processors with communication delays journaltitle: Applied Mathematical Modelling articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apm.2014.01.006 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.status: publishe

Temporary Self-Deprivation Can Impair Cognitive Control: Evidence From the Ramadan Fast

During Ramadan, people of Muslim faith fast by not eating or drinking between sunrise and sunset. This is likely to have physiological and psychological consequences for fasters, and societal and economic impacts on the wider population. We investigate whether, during this voluntary and temporally limited fast, reminders of food can impair the fasters' reaction time and accuracy on a non-food-related test of cognitive control. Using a repeated measures design in a sample of Ramadan fasters (N = 190), we find that when food is made salient, fasters are slower and less accurate during Ramadan compared with after Ramadan. Control participants perform similarly across time. Furthermore, during Ramadan performances vary by how recently people had their last meal. Potential mechanisms are suggested, grounded in research on resource scarcity, commitment, and thought suppression, as well as the psychology of rituals and self-regulation, and implications for people who fast for religious or health reasons are discussed

Enhanced Authentication Protocol EAP-TTLS using encrypted ECDSA

Abstract The growing trend of wireless networks and risks associated with them has led to the development of authentication and application of stronger cryptographic methods to maintain a more robust security. This article examined and compared two types of developed authentication protocols to provide an alternative method using strong cryptographic methods. The common EAP-TTLS method uses RSA algorithm for encryption and SHA-1 hash algorithm. In this article, the new method called alternative EAP-TTLS method uses Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) and the secure hash algorithm (SHA-256) to provide stronger security and higher efficiency. This alternative method and the mechanism used in it is fully explained and compared with the common EAP-TTLS method. Results obtained indicate that the alternative algorithm provides strong security, high speed, and more applicability with the same level of memory usage compared to the common EAP-TTLS

Incorporation of Fuzzy Sets and Earned Value Management into a Cost-Time Trade-off Model

Time-cost trade-off (TCT) problem is a well-known subject in the project scheduling contexts. None of previous studies in this area of research emphasize on the incorporation of the TCT problem into the started project’s performance in order to present a comprehensive model for scheduling and controlling the project in its whole life. The aim of this paper is to provide a novel control mechanism which includes scheduling the project prior to start date, monitoring the project’s performance through the execution, predicting future performance of the project, determining the necessity for re-scheduling, and providing an approach for re-scheduling of the project. In the proposed model, several options with specific time and cost have been considered for the initiation of each activity. These options make different paths for the construction of the project. Due to vagueness and imprecision presented in real case projects, the time and cost behavior for each option has been presumed as fuzzy numbers. Earned Value Management (EVM) has been then utilized for measuring project performance and ultimately, statistical modeling has been also employed in predicting the future trend of EVM’s indices. The model has resulted in selection of the best path for implementation purpose among all available paths. Moreover, the proposed model provides the advantage of assessing the possibility of rescheduling process. An illustrative case has been studied to analyze the application of the proposed model

Experimental study and calculation of confinement relationships for prestressed steel tube-confined compressed concrete stub columns

The current paper aims to present the results of an experimental investigation into the compressive strength of pre-stressed steel tube-confined compressed concrete (PSTC) stub columns. Here, to prestress the confined concrete, an innovative technique is utilized, in which the fresh concrete is subjected to compression while the steel tube is simultaneously preten-sioned laterally by applying external pressure to the fresh concrete. A total of 135 confined specimens were tested under axial compressive loading to determine the confinement strength of the specimens. Moreover, new confinement relationships for the load-carrying capacity of the PSTC columns were proposed in terms of the prestressing ratio ( r P ), reference concrete strength ( c f), and tube outer diameter to wall thickness ratio ( / Dt ). Finally, a parametric study was conducted to evaluate the effect that the parameters r P, c f , and / Dt have on the compressive strength of the prestressed confined concrete. The results indi-cate that the confined concrete prestressed by the present technique demonstrates significantly enhanced load-carrying capacity; however, increasing the prestressing level slightly affects it

Small litter size impairs spatial memory and increases anxiety-like behavior in a strain-dependent manner in male mice

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