Propensity score matched analysis for the safety and effectiveness of remdesivir in COVID-19 patients with renal impairment

Backgrounds Remdesivir (RDV) is an antiviral agent approved for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); however, is not recommended for patients with renal impairment. Due to limitations associated with prospective clinical trials, real-world data on the safety and efficacy of RDV in patients with renal impairment are necessary. Methods Propensity score-matched (PSM) retrospective analysis was conducted between March 2020 and September 2022 in COVID-19 patients with an eGFR < 30 mL/min in four Korean hospitals. The RDV treatment group was matched to the untreated control group. The safety and clinical outcomes in patients who received RDV were analyzed. Results A total of 564 patients were enrolled; 229 patients received RDV either for treatment or prophylaxis. On day 5, no difference in nephrotoxicity was observed between the two groups, and liver enzyme levels were within the normal range. In multivariate analysis for new dialysis, RDV treatment was not a risk factor for new dialysis. Among the 564 patients, 417 were indicated for a 5-day course of RDV treatment and 211 patients were treated with RDV. After PSM, no differences in the clinical outcomes were observed between the two groups. Conclusion RDV use in COVID-19 patients with renal impairment did not result in significant nephrotoxicity or hepatotoxicity.This work was supported by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases; and National Institute of Health Research Projects (#2022-ER1903-01)

A Secure NFC-Based Mobile Printing Service Using Recognition Robot

With the rapid growth of internet technologies, there have been many recent innovations in printing methods and mobile printing service has become important part of our daily life. In this paper, we design and implement a secure mobile printing service using NFC tag to protect our personal information from the technical vulnerability and physical accident such as a robbery. To protect the personal information, the user has to scan the NFC information at the NFC reader using recognition robot to confirm the authentication. In addition, we propose a secure NFC-based authentication protocol that provides printer authorization method and document access control in accordance with user's authority. Lastly, to prove validity and efficiency of the proposed system, the experimental test was confirmed and provided the results

Increased incidence of teicoplanin-non-susceptible Staphylococcus epidermidis strains: a 6-year retrospective study

Abstract Glycopeptide antibiotics (vancomycin and teicoplanin) are usually used for the treatment of Staphylococcus epidermidis infections owing to their increased oxacillin resistance. However, S. epidermidis strains with decreased susceptibility to teicoplanin have become increasingly incident in recent years. We aimed to identify the characteristics of teicoplanin-non-susceptible (Teico-NS) S. epidermidis isolated at our hospital and analyze its relationship with teicoplanin usage. We retrospectively evaluated 328 S. epidermidis strains isolated from clinical isolates between January 2016 and December 2021. All strains were susceptible to vancomycin (minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) ≤ 4 mg/L). The annual incidence for S. epidermidis strains with an elevated teicoplanin MIC of 8 mg/L ranged from 22.2 to 28.9%. In addition, in 2021, the number of S. epidermidis strains with teicoplanin MIC ≥ 16 mg/L rapidly increased (n = 13, 32.5%). Furthermore, teicoplanin use increased annually until 2019; however, in 2020, it decreased abruptly due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Thus, we could not confirm the existence of a clear correlation between teicoplanin usage and increased incidence of S. epidermidis with reduced teicoplanin-susceptibility. We showed the increased incidence of Teico-NS S. epidermidis in recent years. Further studies are needed to identify the mechanisms and risk factors for teicoplanin-resistance in S. epidermidis

The Effects of the Maternal Health Improvement Project in the Louga Region of Senegal

Maternal mortality remains a major global health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. Senegal is one of the countries in the region that lagged behind in reaching the Millennium Development Goal 5, the deadline of which passed in 2015. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of information, education, and communication (IEC) activities conducted in Louga, Senegal. Community groups and facilitators conducted IEC campaigns, home visits, and various awareness-raising activities. This study used secondary data as part of the baseline and mid-term evaluations. Participants included women and men who had one or more children under five years of age. It was found that the level of awareness of at least three danger signs of pregnancy recognised by men significantly increased, and husbands/partners more frequently accompanied their wives during antenatal care in 2019 than in 2018. Women&rsquo;s empowerment improved significantly in terms of women making their own health decisions, joining community decision-making associations or groups, and using contraception. This project indicates that policies and programs are needed to increase men&rsquo;s involvement and empower women to further women&rsquo;s reproductive health to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 3 and reduce maternal mortality in Senegal

Direct Real-Time Power Measurement of a High-Power Electron Cyclotron Maser by a Simple One-Point Schottky Detector Signal

Measurements of the absolute power of high-power millimeter/THz wave generators have been considered to be highly variable and to occasionally produce faulty results owing to experimental difficulty. In this study, we propose a calibration-free method for real-time power measurement of an electron cyclotron maser system, a so-called gyrotron. We demonstrate the feasibility of the method by using a recently developed W-band gyrotron with a peak power of tens of kilowatts. The technique is based on transmitter antenna power measurement by using the Friis transmission equation with a defined gyrotron antenna gain. The new technique will allow extremely simple and accurate real-time measurement of output power over a wide dynamic range (&gt;50 dB) for continuous wave sources to high-power millimeter/THz wave sources with nanosecond pulse lengthsclose0