Early versus delayed initiation of antiretroviral therapy for Indian HIV-Infected individuals with tuberculosis on antituberculosis treatment

BACKGROUND: For antiretroviral therapy (ART) naive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected adults suffering from tuberculosis (TB), there is uncertainty about the optimal time to initiate highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) after starting antituberculosis treatment (ATT), in order to minimize mortality, HIV disease progression, and adverse events. METHODS: In a randomized, open label trial at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, eligible HIV positive individuals with a diagnosis of TB were randomly assigned to receive HAART after 2-4 or 8-12 weeks of starting ATT, and were followed for 12 months after HAART initiation. Participants received directly observed therapy short course (DOTS) for TB, and an antiretroviral regimen comprising stavudine or zidovudine, lamivudine, and efavirenz. Primary end points were death from any cause, and progression of HIV disease marked by failure of ART. FINDINGS: A total of 150 patients with HIV and TB were initiated on HAART: 88 received it after 2-4 weeks (early ART) and 62 after 8-12 weeks (delayed ART) of starting ATT. There was no significant difference in mortality between the groups after the introduction of HAART. However, incidence of ART failure was 31% in delayed versus 16% in early ART arm (p = 0.045). Kaplan Meier disease progression free survival at 12 months was 79% for early versus 64% for the delayed ART arm (p = 0.05). Rates of adverse events were similar. INTERPRETATION: Early initiation of HAART for patients with HIV and TB significantly decreases incidence of HIV disease progression and has good tolerability. TRIAL REGISTRATION: CTRI/2011/12/00226

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017

Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations

Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1–70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6–70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8–38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0% (55.5 (44.8–67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic

Información Investigador: Sinha, Surendra Prasad

http://www.faces.ula.ve/~sinha/Resumen Curricular Bachelor in Science (Agriculture) 1958, Universidad de Bihar, India. M.S. y Ph. D. (Major: Estadística Genética, Minor: Statistics) 1962,Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, U.S.A. Profesor Titular del Instituto de Estadística Aplicada y Computación (IEAC), Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela.DoctoradoDiciembre de 2003+58 274 2401115;+58 274 2401116Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y [email protected], [email protected]

Agreement measure in two faculty classifications.

Presentación.Maldonado V., Fabio E.ArtículosLa iniciativa privada zuliana: motor del empresariado azucarero nacional (1910-1936).The private initiative in Zulia state: engine of the national sugar business (1910-1936).Rodríguez Arrieta, Marisol y Bermúdez Briñez, NildaEl proyecto bolivariano: la restitución del ciclo andino y del ciclo octubrista.The bolivarian project: the restitution of both the andean and the october cycles.Rivas Aguilar, RamónIdeas y creencias en la política económica (1989-1993): un enfoque teórico y epistemológico.Ideas and beliefs in the economic policy (1989-1993): a theoretical and methodological approach.Hernández, RossanaThe compensating differential principle in the public and private sector: a multivariate statistical analysis approach.El principio de diferenciales salariales compensatorios en el sector público y privado: un análisis estadístico mulivariante.Ramoni P., JosefaMedida de acuerdo entre dos clasificaciones de los docentes universitarios.Agreement measure in two faculty classifications.Nava P., Luis A. y Sinha, Surendra P.Estimación de los precios latentes de los macronutrientes en un modelo de seguridad alimentaria.Estimating procedure for the macronutrients latent prices in food security models.Agostinelli M., Milena N.VariosÍndice [email protected]@ula.ve; [email protected] analíticosemestra

Agreement measure in two faculty classifications

The objective of this investigation is to evaluate the agreement level in the classification of the university faculty according to the components: study (CICP1) and promotion (CICP2) proposed by Sinha, Ramoni, Orlandoni, Torres y Figueroa (2007). Two categorization schemes are used, with three and four classification categories, respectively. We propose the use of the conditional adjusted kappa coefficient to measure the agreement level for each classification category. This coefficient fulfills the additivity property. It is demonstrated that the coefficient kappa of Cohen can be applied in non classic situations. Results obtained for Sinha, et. al. (2007), is confirmed complementary form in this investigation.Faculty capability index, Kappa coefficient, conditional Kappa coefficient, conditional adjusted Kappa coefficient, correspondent analysis.

Measures of agreement between indicators of poverty in Venezuela

Para establecer y lograr el cálculo y comparación de las medidas de acuerdo, entre los indicadores de pobreza utilizados en Venezuela, se calcularon índices de pobreza, usando el de la línea de pobreza relativa y no relativa, así como el de las Necesidades Básicas Insatisfechas (NBI); todas estos indicadores fueron obtenidos usando la base de datos de la III Encuesta Nacional de Presupuestos Familiares para el año 2005. Se calcularon índices de acuerdo tales como los coeficientes Kappa de Cohen y Acuerdo Puro para medir el acuerdo general entre las NBI y las líneas de pobreza, mientras que para evaluar el acuerdo por celda el coeficiente Kappa Condicional Ajustado y Acuerdo Específico. Los términos medir acuerdo se refieren a establecer comparaciones dos a dos entre los resultados obtenidos con las líneas de pobreza y las NBI para ver el grado de coincidencia entre ambos indicadores de clasificar a un hogar como pobre o no pobre. Según la escala de valoración propuesta por Landis y Koch, la concordancia alcanzada en todos los casos, fue baja. Esto indica que estas medidas de pobreza (NBI y las líneas de pobreza) clasifican en forma muy diferente a los hogares como pobres relativos, pobres extremos y no pobres, confirmando así la inconveniencia de usar dos métodos diferentes para medir pobreza ya que las NBI miden pobreza desde un punto de vista muy distinto debido a que esté está basado en la carencia de necesidades básicas por hogar mientras que la línea de pobreza solo toma como variable los ingresos totales por hogar; lo que nos indica que al concluir que un hogar es pobre o no, se debe indicar desde que punto de vista y perspectiva lo [email protected]@[email protected] set and achieve the calculation and comparison of measures of agreement between the poverty indicators used in Venezuela, poverty rates were calculated, using the relative poverty line and not relative, and the Unsatisfied Basic Needs (NBI), all these indicators were obtained using the database of the Third National Survey of Family Budgets for 2005. Agreement rates were calculated coefficients such as Cohen's Kappa and Agreement to measure pure general agreement between the NBI and the poverty line, while to evaluate the agreement by Kappa coefficient Conditional cell Adjusted and Specific Agreement. The terms refer to measure agreement two to two comparisons between the results obtained with the poverty lines and the NBI to see the degree of overlap between the two indicators to classify a household as poor or not poor. According to the rating scale proposed by Landis and Koch, the agreement reached in all cases was low. This indicates that these poverty measures (UBN and poverty lines) very differently classified households as relatively poor, extremely poor and not poor, thus confirming the inconvenience of using two different methods to measure poverty as the NBI measure poverty from a very different point of view because this is based on the lack of basic needs for home while the poverty line as a variable only takes total household income, which indicates that at the conclusion that a household is poor or not, indicate from what point of view and perspective is

Estimated admissions test score using the regular model in two stages: Case UNET

Se presenta un modelo en dos etapas regular como método para la estimación de la calificación obtenida en el examen de admisión de la Universidad Nacional Experimental de Táchira (U.N.E.T.) por un aspirante a ingresar a esta casa de estudios que haya cursado previamente el curso propedéutico en esta misma institución. La novedad de este tipo de modelado es que permite incorporar datos históricos provenientes de estudios previos en los cuales el común denominador es que en cada uno de ellos el interés se centra en la misma variable respuesta. Se obtienen muestras de las calificaciones de los exámenes de admisión para los períodos 2009-1 y 2010-1; así como de los cursos propedéuticos para los mismos períodos y sobre la base de ellas se realiza el ajuste del modelo. Finalmente, se obtienen intervalos de confianza para los parámetros del modelo [email protected]@[email protected] present a regular two-stage model as a method for estimating the grade obtained in the entrance examination of the National Experimental University of Tachira (UNET) by an applicant to enter this university who has completed the preparatory course prior to the same institution. The novelty of this type of modeling is that it allows incorporating historical data from previous studies in which the common denominator is that each one of them the focus is on the same response variable. Samples are obtained test scores for admission to 2009- 1 and 2010-1 periods, as well as the preparatory courses for the same periods and based on them making the adjustment of the model. Finally, we obtain confidence intervals for the fitted model parameters

Value prediction of the academical period k-esimo in the FACES – ULA students' performance

Se presenta un modelo de regresión logística (el modelo de posibilidad proporcional). El mismo permite establecer si factores como Edad y promedio en los k=1,..,4 períodos académicos de la carrera explican el rendimiento en el resto de la carrera y de igual manera interpretar los resultados en términos de posibilidad. El rendimiento se mide en base al promedio de calificaciones. La muestra consta de 985 estudiantes de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales (FACES) de la Universidad de Los Andes (ULA), con ingreso a partir del año 2003. Se probó estadísticamente que el período académico que mejor pronostica el rendimiento estudiantil en cada una de las carreras es el primero. La Edad contribuye a explicar el rendimiento estudiantil sólo en la carrera de Contaduría no siendo así para las otras carreras. Se encontró que hay diferencias significativas en el rendimiento para cada una de las carreras de dicha [email protected]@[email protected]@hotmail.comA logistic regression model (the proportional odds model) is presented. It enables to determine whether factors such as Age and the grade point average in the k=1,…,4 career academic periods explain the performance in the rest of the career and similarly to interpret the results in terms of possibility. The performance is measured based on the average grades. The sample consists of 985 students from the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences (FACES) of the University of Los Andes (ULA), with admission since the year 2003. It is statistically established that the academic period that best predicted the student achievement in each of the career is the first. The Age helps explain student achievement only in the career of Accountancy but not in the other ones. It was found that there are significant differences in the performance for each of the careers in that Faculty

Professional capacity index modelling of university professors by quantile regression: case of the Universidad de Los Andes

Este estudio utiliza regresión cuantil para analizar los factores que inciden en el Índice de Capacidad Profesional (ICP) y el Riesgo Académico Institucional (RAI) a partir de datos de la Universidad de Los Andes (Mérida, Venezuela). Los resultados muestran que el efecto de las covariables varía según el cuantil y que los principales factores que determinan el RAI son la condición de jubilable, el escalafón y el nivel de estudio del profesor, pudiendo incluso “medirse” la magnitud en que se reduce el ICP según sea el perfil del profesor que se jubila. Se hace perentoria la creación de programas que permitan elevar el ICP de los Profesores Universitarios y reducir así el riesgo de pérdida progresiva de recurso humano [email protected]@ula.vesemestralThis study uses quantile regression to analyze the factors affecting the Professional Capacity Index and the Institutional Academic Risk based on data from the University of Los Andes (Mérida, Venezuela). Empirical results show that the effects of the covariables considered vary upon the specified quantiles. The main factors affecting the Institutional Academic Risk are the condition of being retired, the category or rank, and the level of education of the professor. It is even possible to measure the magnitude of the reduction of the ICP given the characteristics of the professor who is about to retire. It is necessary to promote programs that allow such an Index to increase as well as to reduce the risk of a progressive loss of highly qualified human capital