306 research outputs found
Prevalence and treatment of hypertension, diabetes and asthma in Kenya: A representative household survey in eight counties in 2016
Objectives: In 2014, 27% of total deaths in Kenya were due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The objectives of this study were: 1) To report on the prevalence of households with members diagnosed and treated for hypertension, diabetes, and asthma in eight counties in Kenya, and 2) To explore possible reasons for the variation in prevalence of these three NCDs in the different counties. Design, Setting andSubjects: A total of 7,870 households in a representative sample in eight Kenyan counties were screened for the presence of any non-communicable disease. Diagnosis and treatment data on these NCDs was collected and compared using county specific independent data from the 2014 Kenyan Demographic Health Survey (DHS).Main Outcome Measures: Over all the eight surveyed counties, 10.7% of households reported having one or more individuals with an NCD. The county specific prevalence varied from 3% to 30.2%. Of the 7,870 households surveyed, 6.9% reported having a diagnosis of hypertension, 3.2% of asthma, and 2.3% of diabetes.Results: The strongest explanatory variables for the variation in overall prevalence of NCDs related to access to health services and lifestyle risk factors. Conclusion: The prevalence of reported NCDs varies considerably between counties in Kenya. Reasons may relate to a lack of access to diagnostic facilities or ifferences in lifestyle risk factors. We recommend a comprehensive field survey of biometric, health access, and lifestyle risk factors to determine the true prevalence and related risk factors for NCDs in Kenya
How do patient characteristics influence informal payments for inpatient and outpatient health care in Albania: Results of logit and OLS models using Albanian LSMS 2005
Abstract Background Informal payments for health care are common in most former communist countries. This paper explores the demand side of these payments in Albania. By using data from the Living Standard Measurement Survey 2005 we control for individual determinants of informal payments in inpatient and outpatient health care. We use these results to explain the main factors contributing to the occurrence and extent of informal payments in Albania. Methods Using multivariate methods (logit and OLS) we test three models to explain informal payments: the cultural, economic and governance model. The results of logit models are presented here as odds ratios (OR) and results from OLS models as regression coefficients (RC). Results Our findings suggest differences in determinants of informal payments in inpatient and outpatient care. Generally our results show that informal payments are dependent on certain characteristics of patients, including age, area of residence, education, health status and health insurance. However, they are less dependent on income, suggesting homogeneity of payments across income categories. Conclusions We have found more evidence for the validity of governance and economic models than for the cultural model.</p
Wilson loops in the adjoint representation and multiple vacua in two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory
with fermions in the adjoint representation is invariant under
and thereby is endowed with a non-trivial vacuum structure
(k-sectors). The static potential between adjoint charges, in the limit of
infinite mass, can be therefore obtained by computing Wilson loops in the pure
Yang-Mills theory with the same non-trivial structure. When the (Euclidean)
space-time is compactified on a sphere , Wilson loops can be exactly
expressed in terms of an infinite series of topological excitations
(instantons). The presence of k-sectors modifies the energy spectrum of the
theory and its instanton content. For the exact solution, in the limit in which
the sphere is decompactified, a k-sector can be mimicked by the presence of
k-fundamental charges at , according to a Witten's suggestion. However
this property neither holds before decompactification nor for the genuine
perturbative solution which corresponds to the zero-instanton contribution on
.Comment: RevTeX, 46 pages, 1 eps-figur
Chiral gauge theories and anomalies in the Wilson renormalization group approach
We extend the Wilson renormalization group (RG) formulation to chiral gauge
theories and show that local gauge symmetry can be implemented by a suitable
choice of the RG flow boundary conditions. Since the space-time dimension is
four, there is no ambiguity in handling the matrix \g_5 and left and right
fermions are not coupled. As a result the ultraviolet action contains all
possible globally chiral invariant interactions. Nevertheless, the correct
chiral anomaly is reproduced.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, LaTex, uses epsfig, amssym
Effectiveness of community outreach HIV prevention programs in Vietnam: A mixed methods evaluation
Background
In 2014, Vietnam was the first Southeast Asian country to commit to achieving the World Health Organizationâs 90â90-90 global HIV targets (90% know their HIV status, 90% on sustained treatment, and 90% virally suppressed) by 2020. This pledge represented further confirmation of Vietnamâs efforts to respond to the HIV epidemic, one feature of which has been close collaboration with the U.S. Presidentâs Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Starting in 2004, PEPFAR supported community outreach programs targeting high-risk populations (people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, and sex workers). To provide early evidence on program impact, in 2007â2008 we conducted a nationwide evaluation of PEPFAR-supported outreach programs in Vietnam. The evaluation focused on assessing program effect on HIV knowledge, high-risk behaviors, and HIV testing among high-risk populationsâresults relevant to Vietnamâs push to meet global HIV goals. Methods
We used a mixed-methods cross-sectional evaluation design. Data collection encompassed a quantitative survey of 2199 individuals, supplemented by 125 in-depth interviews. Participants were members of high-risk populations who reported recent contact with an outreach worker (intervention group) or no recent contact (comparison group). We assessed differences in HIV knowledge, risky behaviors, and HIV testing between groups, and between high-risk populations. Results
Intervention participants knew significantly more about transmission, prevention, and treatment than comparison participants. We found low levels of injection drug-use-related risk behaviors and little evidence of program impact on such behaviors. In contrast, a significantly smaller proportion of intervention than comparison participants reported risky sexual behaviors generally and within each high-risk population. Intervention participants were also more likely to have undergone HIV testing (76.1% vs. 47.0%, pâ\u3câ0.0001) and to have received pre-test (78.0% vs. 33.7%, pâ\u3câ0.0001) and post-test counseling (80.9% vs. 60.5%, pâ\u3câ0.0001). Interviews supported evidence of high impact of outreach among all high-risk populations. Conclusions
Outreach programs appear to have reduced risky sexual behaviors and increased use of HIV testing services among high-risk populations in Vietnam. These programs can play a key role in reducing gaps in the HIV care cascade, achieving the global 90â90-90 goals, and creating an AIDS-free generation
Cold atom Clocks and Applications
This paper describes advances in microwave frequency standards using
laser-cooled atoms at BNM-SYRTE. First, recent improvements of the Cs
and Rb atomic fountains are described. Thanks to the routine use of a
cryogenic sapphire oscillator as an ultra-stable local frequency reference, a
fountain frequency instability of where
is the measurement time in seconds is measured. The second advance is a
powerful method to control the frequency shift due to cold collisions. These
two advances lead to a frequency stability of at 7\times 10^{-16}^{87}^{133}$Cs fountains.
Finally we give an update on the cold atom space clock PHARAO developed in
collaboration with CNES. This clock is one of the main instruments of the
ACES/ESA mission which is scheduled to fly on board the International Space
Station in 2008, enabling a new generation of relativity tests.Comment: 30 pages, 11 figure
The mesolimbic dopaminergic dysfunction in psychosis: a review of the literature
Introdução: Desde hå algumas décadas que
se pensa que uma hiperactividade dopaminérgica
da via mesolĂmbica esteja implicada na
génese dos sintomas positivos da esquizofrenia.
Objectivos: Nesta revisĂŁo da literatura procurĂĄmos
interligar as vĂĄrias ĂĄreas do conhecimento
actual, procurando fazer a ponte com
a prĂĄtica clĂnica.
MĂ©todos: Foi efectuada uma pesquisa sistemĂĄtica
da literatura em inglĂȘs, atĂ© Abril de
2014 através da PUBMED utilizando como
termos MeSH (medical subject headings)
âmesolimbicâ e âpsychosisâ, tendo-se incluĂdo
revisÔes da literatura.
Resultados e ConclusÔes: Foram encontrados
111 artigos, tendo-se excluĂdo 56 por,
apĂłs leitura do resumo, se concluir que nĂŁo
estavam relacionados com o tema. Dos restantes
55 foram seleccionados 14 artigos tendo
sido mantidas as abreviaturas em inglĂȘs
para facilitar a sua consulta posterior. SĂŁo
apresentadas evidĂȘncias sobre o papel desempenhado
por vĂĄrios sistemas reguladores
no desenvolvimento dos sintomas positivos
associados não apenas a esta doença mas à s
vårias perturbaçÔes em que ocorrem, assim
como a possĂvel relação entre esses vĂĄrios
factores. Entre os vĂĄrios sistemas discutidos
conta-se a influĂȘncia do neurodesenvolvimento,
da regulação pelos receptores nicotĂ-
nicos da acetilcolina, a influĂȘncia dos canais
de potåssio KCNQ, a regulação por péptidos
neurotransmissores, pela adenosina e pela
fosfodiesterase 10A, assim como avanços na
compreensĂŁo da etiologia da esquizofrenia.
Trata-se, portanto, de um enunciado do substrato
neurobiolĂłgico dos sintomas positivos.Background: For several decades now it is
thought that dopamine hyperactivity on the
mesolimbic pathway is implied on the genesis
of schizophrenic psychotic symptoms.
Aims: In this review we sought to interconnect
the various areas of current knowledge,
seeking to relate them to clinical practice.
Methods: A systematic English language PUBMED
search was done, using MeSH (medical
subject headings) terms âmesolimbicâ
and âpsychosisâ, until April 2014, including
reviews.
Results and Conclusions: We found 111
papers, and excluded 56 after an abstract
review. We selected 14 papers of the remaining
55. We present evidence on the
part played by the neurodevelopment, acetylcholine
nicotinic receptor regulation,
influence of KCNQ potassium channels,
neurotransmitter peptides, adenosine and
phosphodiesterase 10A, as well as advances
on understanding the etiology of schizophrenia
on the development of psychotic
symptoms associated not only with this disease
but also with several disturbances on
which they can occur, as well as a possible
relation between these various influences,
where it has been possible to do so. It
is, therefore, an enunciation of the neurobiological
substrate underlying psychotic
symptoms
JAK inhibition differentially affects NK cell and ILC1 homeostasis
Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors are widely used in the treatment of multiple autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Immunologic and transcriptomic profiling have revealed major alterations on natural killer (NK) cell homeostasis associated with JAK inhibitions, while information on other innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) is still lacking. Herein, we observed that, in mice, the homeostatic pool of liver ILC1 was less affected by JAK inhibitors compared to the pool of NK cells present in the liver, spleen and bone marrow. JAK inhibition had overlapping effects on the transcriptome of both subsets, mainly affecting genes regulating cell cycle and apoptosis. However, the differential impact of JAK inhibition was linked to the high levels of the antiapoptotic gene Bcl2 expressed by ILC1. Our findings provide mechanistic explanations for the effects of JAK inhibitors on NK cells and ILC1 which could be of major clinically relevance
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