122 research outputs found
Renal failure deaths and their risk factors in India 2001â13: nationally representative estimates from the Million Death Study
Background
Renal failure represents a growing but mostly undocumented cause of premature mortality in low-income and middle-income countries. We investigated changes in adult renal failure mortality and its key risk factors in India using the nationally representative Million Death Study.
Methods
In this cross-sectional analysis of population-based data, two trained physicians independently assigned underlying causes to 150â018 deaths at ages 15â69 years from a nationally-representative mortality survey in India for 2001â03 and 2010â13, using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th version (ICD-10). We applied the age-specific proportion of renal failure deaths for the 2010â13 period to the 2015 UN estimates of total deaths in India and calculated age-standardised death rates for renal failure by rural or urban residence, state, and age group. We used proportional mortality of renal deaths (cases) to injuries (controls) to calculate the odds of renal death in the presence of different comorbidities and stratified risks by decade of birth.
Findings
In 2001â03, 2¡1% of total deaths among 15â69 year olds were from renal failure (1266 [2¡2%] of 58â871; unweighted). By 2010â13, the proportion of deaths from renal failure had risen to 2¡9% (2943 [3¡2%] of 91â147; unweighted) of total deaths and corresponding to 136â000 renal failure deaths (range 108â000â150â000) of 4â688â000 total deaths nationally in 2015. Age-standardised renal death rates were highest in the southern and eastern states, particularly among adults aged 45â69 years in 2010â13. Diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease were all significantly associated with increased renal failure deaths, with diabetes the strongest predictorâodds ratio (OR) vs control 9¡2 (95% CI 6¡7â12¡7) in 2001â03, rising to 15¡1 (12¡6â18¡1) in 2010â13. In the 2010â13 study population, the diabetes to non-diabetes OR was twice as large in adults born in the 1970s (25¡5, 95% CI 17¡6â37¡1) as in those individuals born during or before the 1950s (11¡7, 9¡1â14¡9).
Interpretation
Renal failure is a growing cause of premature death in India. Poorly treated diabetes is the most probable reason for this increase. Strategies aimed at diabetes prevention, and early detection and treatment are urgently needed in India, as well as greater access to renal replacement therapy
Development of an objective, standardized tool for surgical assessment of deceased donor kidneys: the Cambridge Kidney Assessment Tool
Quality assessment in kidney transplantation involves inspection to identify negative markers of organ quality. However, there is a paucity of evidence guiding surgical appraisal, and currently there is no evidence to differentiate important features from those that can be safely ignored. We propose a method to standardize surgical assessment and derived a simple rule to rapidly identify kidneys suitable for transplantation. Donor and recipient data were recorded alongside clinical outcomes in a prospectively maintained database. We developed a proforma (Cambridge Kidney Assessment Tool, CKAT) and used it to assess deceased donor kidney transplants. Factors predictive of utilization were identified by multivariate and univariate logistic regression analysis of CKAT-assessment scores, and test performance was evaluated using standard 2 Ă 2 contingency tables. Ninety-seven kidneys were included at a single center (2013-2014), and 184 CKAT assessments were performed. A CKAT threshold of âCarrell + Perfusion >3â was highly specific (99%) and performed favorably to consultant opinion (specificity 95%). 96% of the kidneys implanted in accordance with the rule survived to 1 year (mean eGFR 45.3 mL/min/1.73 m2). To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to objectively define macroscopic features that are relevant to kidney utilization. Common language could support training in organ assessment and ultimately help address unnecessary discard of donor kidneys
The display makes a difference: A mobile eye tracking study on the perception of art before and after a museumâs rearrangement
There is increasing awareness that the perception of art is affected by the way it is presented. In 2018, the Austrian Gallery Belvedere redisplayed its permanent collection. Our multi-disciplinary team seized this opportunity to investigate the viewing behavior of specific artworks both before and after the museumâs rearrangement. In contrast to previous mobile eye tracking (MET) studies in museums, this study benefits from the comparison of two realistic display conditions (without any research interference), an unconstrained study design (working with regular museum visitors), and a large data sample (comprising 259 participants). We employed a mixed-method approach that combined mobile eye tracking, subjective mapping (a drawing task in conjunction with an open interview), and a questionnaire in order to relate gaze patterns to processes of meaning-making. Our results show that the new display made a difference in that it 1) generally increased the viewing times of the artworks; 2) clearly extended the reading times of labels; and 3) deepened visitorsâ engagement with the artworks in their exhibition reflections. In contrast, interest in specific artworks and art form preferences proved to be robust and independent of presentation modes
External injuries, trauma and avoidable deaths in Agincourt, South Africa : a retrospective observational and qualitative study
Acknowledgments We thank Chodziwadziwa Kabudula (MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research UnitâSchool of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg/Acornhoek, South Africa) for his assistance with assembling the Agincourt HDSS data set for our use. The research presented in this paper was in part funded by the Health Systems Research Initiative from the Department for International Development (DFID)/ Medical Research Council (MRC)/Wellcome Trust/Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (MR/P014844/1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Deaths from acute abdominal conditions and geographical access to surgical care in India: a nationally representative spatial analysis
Background Few population-based studies quantify mortality from surgical conditions and relate mortality to access
to surgical care in low-income and middle-income countries.
Methods We linked deaths from acute abdominal conditions within a nationally representative, population-based
mortality survey of 1¡1 million households in India to nationally representative facility data. We calculated total and
age-standardised death rates for acute abdominal conditions. Using 4064 postal codes, we undertook a spatial
clustering analysis to compare geographical access to well-resourced government district hospitals (24 h surgical and
anaesthesia services, blood bank, critical care beds, basic laboratory, and radiology) in high-mortality or low-mortality
clusters from acute abdominal conditions.
Findings 923 (1¡1%) of 86 806 study deaths at ages 0â69 years were identifi ed as deaths from acute abdominal
conditions, corresponding to 72 000 deaths nationally in 2010 in India. Most deaths occurred at home (71%) and in
rural areas (87%). Compared with 567 low-mortality geographical clusters, the 393 high-mortality clusters had a nine
times higher age-standardised acute abdominal mortality rate and signifi cantly greater distance to a well-resourced
hospital. The odds ratio (OR) of being a high-mortality cluster was 4¡4 (99% CI 3¡2â6¡0) for living 50 km or more
from well-resourced district hospitals (rising to an OR of 16¡1 [95% CI 7¡9â32¡8] for >100 km). No such relation was
seen for deaths from non-acute surgical conditions (ie, oral, breast, and uterine cancer).
Interpretation Improvements in human and physical resources at existing government hospitals are needed to reduce
deaths from acute abdominal conditions in India. Full access to well-resourced hospitals within 50 km by all of Indiaâs
population could have avoided about 50 000 deaths from acute abdominal conditions, and probably more from other
emergency surgical conditions
Using exomarkers to assess mitochondrial reactive species in vivo
Background:
The ability to measure the concentrations of small damaging and signalling molecules such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) in vivo is essential to understanding their biological roles. While a range of methods can be applied to in vitro systems, measuring the levels and relative changes in reactive species in vivo is challenging.
Scope of review:
One approach towards achieving this goal is the use of exomarkers. In this, exogenous probe compounds are administered to the intact organism and are then transformed by the reactive molecules in vivo to produce a diagnostic exomarker. The exomarker and the precursor probe can be analysed ex vivo to infer the identity and amounts of the reactive species present in vivo. This is akin to the measurement of biomarkers produced by the interaction of reactive species with endogenous biomolecules.
Major conclusions and general significance:
Our laboratories have developed mitochondria-targeted probes that generate exomarkers that can be analysed ex vivo by mass spectrometry to assess levels of reactive species within mitochondria in vivo. We have used one of these compounds, MitoB, to infer the levels of mitochondrial hydrogen peroxide within flies and mice. Here we describe the development of MitoB and expand on this example to discuss how better probes and exomarkers can be developed. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Current methods to study reactive oxygen species - pros and cons and biophysics of membrane proteins. Guest Editor: Christine Winterbourn.
Abbreviations:
EPR, electron paramagnetic resonance; GFP, green fluorescent protein; 4-HNE, 4-hydroxynonenal; MitoB, 3-(dihydroxyboronyl)benzyltriphenylphosphonium bromide; MitoP, (3-hydroxybenzyl)triphenylphosphonium bromide; ROS, reactive oxygen species; SOD, superoxide dismutase; TPMP, methyltriphenylphosphonium; TPP, triphenylphosphonium catio
Quantifying sources of variability in infancy research using the infant-directed-speech preference
Psychological scientists have become increasingly concerned with issues related to methodology and replicability, and infancy researchers in particular face specific challenges related to replicability: For example, high-powered studies are difficult to conduct, testing conditions vary across labs, and different labs have access to different infant populations.
Addressing these concerns, we report on a large-scale, multisite study aimed at (a) assessing the overall replicability of a single theoretically important phenomenon and (b) examining methodological, cultural, and developmental
moderators. We focus on infantsâ preference for infant-directed speech (IDS) over adult-directed speech (ADS). Stimuli of mothers speaking to their infants and to an adult in North American English were created using seminaturalistic
laboratory-based audio recordings. Infantsâ relative preference for IDS and ADS was assessed across 67 laboratories in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia using the three common methods for measuring infantsâ discrimination
(head-turn preference, central fixation, and eye tracking). The overall meta-analytic effect size (Cohenâs d) was 0.35, 95% confidence interval = [0.29, 0.42], which was reliably above zero but smaller than the meta-analytic mean computed from previous literature (0.67). The IDS preference was significantly stronger in older children, in those children for whom the stimuli matched their native language and dialect, and in data from labs using the head-turn preference procedure. Together, these findings replicate the IDS preference but suggest that its magnitude is modulated by development, native-language experience, and testing procedure. (This project has received funding from the European Unionâs Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie SkĹodowska-Curie grant agreement No 798658.
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