36 research outputs found
Hanging-related injury in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
BACKGROUND: Hanging is a common form of self-harm, and emergency care physicians will not infrequently be called upon to manage a survivor.Despite the relative frequency of the injury, there is a paucity of literature on the topic and the spectrum and incidence of associated injuries are poorly described.
OBJECTIVES: To review experience with management of victims of hanging at a major trauma centre in South Africa.
METHODS:
All patients treated by the Pietermaritzburg Metropolitan Trauma Service following a hanging incident between December 2012 and December 2018 were identified from the Hybrid Electronic Medical Registry. Basic demographics were recorded, and the management and outcome of each patient were noted.
RESULTS: During the 6-year period under review, a total of 154 patients were seen following a hanging incident. The mean age was 29.4 years. There were 24 females (15.6%) and 130 males (84.4%). The vast majority (n=150; 97.5%) had attempted suicide, and only 4 hangings (2.5%) were accidental. A total of 92 patients (60.9%) had consumed alcohol prior to the incident. There were 23 patients with a Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) 12 (mild TBI). A total of 7 patients (4.5%) required intensive care unit admission, and 25 (16.2%) required intubation. The following extracranial injuries were documented on computed tomography scans: hyoid bone fractures (n=2), cervical spine fracture (n=10), mandible fracture (n=4) and oesophageal injury (n=1). Intracranial pathology was evident on 27.0% of scans, with the most common finding being global cerebral ischaemia. The mortality rate was 2.5% (4/154).
CONCLUSIONS: Hanging is a common mechanism of self-harm. It is associated with significant injuries and mortality. The acute management of hanging should focus on airway protection followed by detailed imaging of the head and neck. Further work must attempt to include mortuary data on hanging
Sharing Detailed Research Data Is Associated with Increased Citation Rate
BACKGROUND: Sharing research data provides benefit to the general scientific community, but the benefit is less obvious for the investigator who makes his or her data available. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We examined the citation history of 85 cancer microarray clinical trial publications with respect to the availability of their data. The 48% of trials with publicly available microarray data received 85% of the aggregate citations. Publicly available data was significantly (p = 0.006) associated with a 69% increase in citations, independently of journal impact factor, date of publication, and author country of origin using linear regression. SIGNIFICANCE: This correlation between publicly available data and increased literature impact may further motivate investigators to share their detailed research data
Inferring the joint demographic history of multiple populations from multidimensional SNP frequency data
Demographic models built from genetic data play important roles in
illuminating prehistorical events and serving as null models in genome scans
for selection. We introduce an inference method based on the joint frequency
spectrum of genetic variants within and between populations. For candidate
models we numerically compute the expected spectrum using a diffusion
approximation to the one-locus two-allele Wright-Fisher process, involving up
to three simultaneous populations. Our approach is a composite likelihood
scheme, since linkage between neutral loci alters the variance but not the
expectation of the frequency spectrum. We thus use bootstraps incorporating
linkage to estimate uncertainties for parameters and significance values for
hypothesis tests. Our method can also incorporate selection on single sites,
predicting the joint distribution of selected alleles among populations
experiencing a bevy of evolutionary forces, including expansions, contractions,
migrations, and admixture. As applications, we model human expansion out of
Africa and the settlement of the New World, using 5 Mb of noncoding DNA
resequenced in 68 individuals from 4 populations (YRI, CHB, CEU, and MXL) by
the Environmental Genome Project. We also combine our demographic model with a
previously estimated distribution of selective effects among newly arising
amino acid mutations to accurately predict the frequency spectrum of
nonsynonymous variants across three continental populations (YRI, CHB, CEU).Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, supporting information included with sourc
Carotid Plaque Age Is a Feature of Plaque Stability Inversely Related to Levels of Plasma Insulin
C-declination curve (a result of the atomic bomb tests in the
1950s and 1960s) to determine the average biological age of carotid
plaques.C
content by accelerator mass spectrometry. The average plaque age (i.e.
formation time) was 9.6±3.3 years. All but two plaques had formed
within 5–15 years before surgery. Plaque age was not associated with
the chronological ages of the patients but was inversely related to plasma
insulin levels (p = 0.0014). Most plaques were
echo-lucent rather than echo-rich (2.24±0.97, range 1–5).
However, plaques in the lowest tercile of plaque age (most recently formed)
were characterized by further instability with a higher content of lipids
and macrophages (67.8±12.4 vs. 50.4±6.2,
p = 0.00005; 57.6±26.1 vs. 39.8±25.7,
p<0.0005, respectively), less collagen (45.3±6.1 vs.
51.1±9.8, p<0.05), and fewer smooth muscle cells (130±31
vs. 141±21, p<0.05) than plaques in the highest tercile.
Microarray analysis of plaques in the lowest tercile also showed increased
activity of genes involved in immune responses and oxidative
phosphorylation.C, can improve our understanding of carotid
plaque stability and therefore risk for clinical complications. Our results
also suggest that levels of plasma insulin might be involved in determining
carotid plaque age
The Origins of Lactase Persistence in Europe
Lactase persistence (LP) is common among people of European ancestry, but with the exception of some African, Middle Eastern and southern Asian groups, is rare or absent elsewhere in the world. Lactase gene haplotype conservation around a polymorphism strongly associated with LP in Europeans (−13,910 C/T) indicates that the derived allele is recent in origin and has been subject to strong positive selection. Furthermore, ancient DNA work has shown that the −13,910*T (derived) allele was very rare or absent in early Neolithic central Europeans. It is unlikely that LP would provide a selective advantage without a supply of fresh milk, and this has lead to a gene-culture coevolutionary model where lactase persistence is only favoured in cultures practicing dairying, and dairying is more favoured in lactase persistent populations. We have developed a flexible demic computer simulation model to explore the spread of lactase persistence, dairying, other subsistence practices and unlinked genetic markers in Europe and western Asia's geographic space. Using data on −13,910*T allele frequency and farming arrival dates across Europe, and approximate Bayesian computation to estimate parameters of interest, we infer that the −13,910*T allele first underwent selection among dairying farmers around 7,500 years ago in a region between the central Balkans and central Europe, possibly in association with the dissemination of the Neolithic Linearbandkeramik culture over Central Europe. Furthermore, our results suggest that natural selection favouring a lactase persistence allele was not higher in northern latitudes through an increased requirement for dietary vitamin D. Our results provide a coherent and spatially explicit picture of the coevolution of lactase persistence and dairying in Europe
A Three-Stage Colonization Model for the Peopling of the Americas
Background: We evaluate the process by which the Americas were originally colonized and propose a three-stage model that integrates current genetic, archaeological, geological, and paleoecological data. Specifically, we analyze mitochondrial and nuclear genetic data by using complementary coalescent models of demographic history and incorporating nongenetic data to enhance the anthropological relevance of the analysis. Methodology/Findings: Bayesian skyline plots, which provide dynamic representations of population size changes over time, indicate that Amerinds went through two stages of growth <40,000 and <15,000 years ago separated by a long period of population stability. Isolation-with-migration coalescent analyses, which utilize data from sister populations to estimate a divergence date and founder population sizes, suggest an Amerind population expansion starting <15,000 years ago. Conclusions/Significance: These results support a model for the peopling of the New World in which Amerind ancestors diverged from the Asian gene pool prior to 40,000 years ago and experienced a gradual population expansion as they moved into Beringia. After a long period of little change in population size in greater Beringia, Amerinds rapidly expanded into the Americas <15,000 years ago either through an interior ice-free corridor or along the coast. This rapid colonization of the New World was achieved by a founder group with an effective population size of <1,000–5,400 individuals. Our model presents a detailed scenario for the timing and scale of the initial migration to the Americas, substantially refines th
A raised serum lactate level is an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality in patients with isolated cerebral gunshot wounds
Background Cerebral gunshot wounds (CGSWs) represent a highly lethal form of traumatic brain injury, and triaging these patients is difficult. The prognostic significance of the serum lactate level in the setting of CGSWs is largely unknown.
Objectives To examine the relationship between elevated serum lactate levels and mortality in patients with isolated CGSWs.
Methods A retrospective review of the regional trauma registry was undertaken at the Pietermaritzburg Metropolitan Trauma Service, South Africa, over a 5-year period from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2014. All patients with an isolated CGSW were included.
Results A total of 102 patients with isolated CGSWs were identified. Of these, 92.2% (94/102) were male. The mean age (standard deviation) was 29 (8) years, and the in-hospital mortality rate was 21.6% (22/102). The mean serum lactate level was significantly higher among non-survivors than among survivors (6.1 mmol/L v. 1.3 mmol/L; p<0.001). Lactate levels among non-survivors were <2 mmol/L in 4.5%, 2 - 3.99 mmol/L in 9.1%, 4 - 5.99 mmol/L in 36.4% and ≥6 mmol/L in 50.0%. The odds ratio for mortality with a lactate level of 4 - 5.99 mmol/L was 67 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7 - 2 674.2), while for a lactate level of ≥6 mmol/L it was 1 787 (95% CI 9.0 - 354 116.1). The serum lactate level accurately predicted mortality even after adjustment for other variables. Based on a receiver operating curve analysis, an optimal cut-off of 3.3 mmol/L for serum lactate as a predictor for mortality was identified (area under the curve = 0.957).
Conclusions CGSWs are associated with significant mortality, and a raised serum lactate level appears to be an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality. It is a potentially useful adjunct in the resuscitation room for identifying patients with a very poor prognosis