Since the launch of Landsat-1 28 years ago, remotely sensed data have been used to map features on the earth's surface. An increasing number of health studies have used remotely sensed data for ...monitoring, surveillance, or risk mapping, particularly of vector-borne diseases. Nearly all studies used data from Landsat, the French Systeme Pour l'Observation de la Terre, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer. New sensor systems are in orbit, or soon to be launched, whose data may prove useful for characterizing and monitoring the spatial and temporal patterns of infectious diseases. Increased computing power and spatial modeling capabilities of geographic information systems could extend the use of remote sensing beyond the research community into operational disease surveillance and control. This article illustrates how remotely sensed data have been used in health applications and assesses earth-observing satellites that could detect and map environmental variables related to the distribution of vector-borne and other diseases.
Chronic limb‐threatening ischemia (CLTI) is associated with significant morbidity, including major limb amputation, and mortality. Healing ischemic wounds is necessary to optimise vascular outcomes ...and can be facilitated by dedicated appointments at a wound clinic. This study aimed to estimate the association between successful wound care initiation and 6‐month wound healing, with specific attention to differences by race/ethnicity. This retrospective study included 398 patients with CLTI and at least one ischaemic wound who scheduled an appointment at our wound clinic between January 2015 and July 2020. The exposure was the completion status of patients' first scheduled wound care appointment (complete/not complete) and the primary outcome was 6‐month wound healing (healed/not healed). The analysis focused on how this association was modified by race/ethnicity. We used Aalen–Johansen estimators to produce cumulative incidence curves and calculated risk ratios within strata of race/ethnicity. The final adjustment set included age, revascularization, and initial wound size. Patients had a mean age of 67 ± 14 years, were 41% female, 46% non‐White and had 517 total wounds. In the overall cohort, 70% of patients completed their first visit and 34% of wounds healed within 6‐months. There was no significant difference in 6‐month healing based on first visit completion status for White/non‐Hispanic individuals (RR 95% CI = 1.18 0.91, 1.45; p‐value = 0.130), while non‐White individuals were roughly 3 times more likely to heal their wounds if they completed their first appointment (RR 95% CI = 2.89 2.66, 3.11; p‐value < 0.001). In conclusion, non‐White patients were approximately three times more likely to heal their wound in 6 months if they completed their first scheduled wound care appointment while White/non‐Hispanic individuals' risk of healing was similar regardless of first visit completion status. Future efforts should focus on providing additional resources to ensure minority groups with wounds have the support they need to access and successfully initiate wound care.
Summary
Research into causative agents underlying coral disease have focused primarily on bacteria, whereas potential roles of viruses have been largely unaddressed. Bacteriophages may contribute to ...diseases through the lysogenic introduction of virulence genes into bacteria, or prevent diseases through lysis of bacterial pathogens. To identify candidate phages that may influence the pathogenicity of black band disease (BBD), communities of bacteria (16S rRNA) and T4‐bacteriophages (gp23) were simultaneously profiled with amplicon sequencing among BBD‐lesions and healthy‐coral‐tissue of Montipora hispida, as well as seawater (study site: the central Great Barrier Reef). Bacterial community compositions were distinct among BBD‐lesions, healthy coral tissue and seawater samples, as observed in previous studies. Surprisingly, however, viral beta diversities based on both operational taxonomic unit (OTU)‐compositions and overall viral community compositions of assigned taxa did not differ statistically between the BBD‐lesions and healthy coral tissue. Nonetheless, relative abundances of three bacteriophage OTUs, affiliated to Cyanophage PRSM6 and Prochlorococcus phages P‐SSM2, were significantly higher in BBD‐lesions than in healthy tissue. These OTUs associated with BBD samples suggest the presence of bacteriophages that infect members of the cyanobacteria‐dominated BBD community, and thus have potential roles in BBD pathogenicity.
We present a self-consistent three-dimensional Monte-Carlo radiative transfer model of the stellar and dust emission in the Milky-Way, and have computed synthetic observations of the 3.6 to 100 ...μm emission in the Galactic mid-plane. To compare the model to observations, we use the GLIMPSE, MIPSGAL, and IRAS surveys to construct total emission spectra, as well as longitude and latitude profiles for the emission. The distribution of stars and dust is taken from the SKY model, and the dust emissivities include an approximation of the emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in addition to thermal emission. The model emission is in broad agreement with the observations, but a few modifications are needed to obtain a good fit. Firstly, by adjusting the model to include two major and two minor spiral arms rather than four equal spiral arms, the fit to the longitude profiles for |ℓ| > 30° can be improved. Secondly, introducing a deficit in the dust distribution in the inner Galaxy results in a better fit to the shape of the IRAS longitude profiles at 60 and 100 μm. With these modifications, the model fits the observed profiles well, although it systematically under-estimates the 5.8 and 8.0 μm fluxes. One way to resolve this discrepancy is to increase the abundance of PAH molecules by 50% compared to the original model, although we note that changes to the dust distribution or radiation field may provide alternative solutions. Finally, we use the model to quantify which stellar populations contribute the most to the heating of different dust types and which stellar populations and dust types contribute the most to the emission at different wavelengths.
Sickle cell disease is characterized by chronic hemolytic anemia and vascular inflammation, which can diminish the vasodilatory capacity of the small resistance arteries, making them less adept at ...regulating cerebral blood flow. Autoregulation maintains adequate oxygen delivery, but when vasodilation is maximized, the low arterial oxygen content can lead to ischemia and silent cerebral infarcts. We used magnetic resonance imaging of cerebral blood flow to quantify whole-brain cerebrovascular reserve in 36 adult patients with sickle cell disease (mean age, 31.9±11.3 years) and 11 healthy controls (mean age, 37.4±15.4 years), and we used high-resolution 3D FLAIR magnetic resonance imaging to determine the prevalence of silent cerebral infarcts. Cerebrovascular reserve was calculated as the percentage change in cerebral blood flow after a hemodynamic challenge with acetazolamide. Co-registered lesion maps were used to demonstrate prevalent locations for silent cerebral infarcts. Cerebral blood flow was elevated in patients with sickle cell disease compared to controls (median interquartile range: 82.8 20.1
51.3 4.8 mL/100g/min,
<0.001). Cerebral blood flow was inversely associated with age, hemoglobin, and fetal hemoglobin, and correlated positively with bilirubin, and LDH, indicating that cerebral blood flow may reflect surrogates of hemolytic rate. Cerebrovascular reserve in sickle cell disease was decreased by half compared to controls (34.1 33.4
69.5 32.4 %,
<0.001) and was associated with hemoglobin and erythrocyte count indicating anemia-induced hemodynamic adaptations. In total, 29/36 patients (81%) and 5/11 controls (45%) had silent cerebral infarcts (median volume of 0.34
0.02 mL,
=0.03). Lesions were preferentially located in the borderzone. In conclusion, patients with sickle cell disease have a globally reduced cerebrovascular reserve as determined by arterial spin labeling with acetazolamide and reflects anemia-induced impaired vascular function in sickle cell disease. This study was registered at
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Anopheles funestus Giles is one of the major African malaria vectors. It has previously been implicated in a major outbreak of malaria in KwaZulu/Natal, South Africa, during the period 1996 to 2000. ...The re-emergence of this vector was associated with monooxygenase-based resistance to pyrethroid insecticides. We have identified a gene from the monooxygenase CYP6 family, CYP6P9, which is over expressed in a pyrethroid resistant strain originating from Mozambique. Quantitative Real-Time PCR shows that this gene is highly over expressed in the egg and adult stages of the resistant strain relative to the susceptible strain but the larval stages showed almost no difference in expression between strains. This gene is genetically linked to a major locus associated with pyrethroid resistance in this A. funestus population.
Ensembl 2007 Hubbard, T J P; Aken, B L; Beal, K ...
Nucleic acids research,
01/2007, Letnik:
35, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The Ensembl (http://www.ensembl.org/) project provides a comprehensive and integrated source of annotation of chordate genome sequences. Over the past year the number of genomes available from ...Ensembl has increased from 15 to 33, with the addition of sites for the mammalian genomes of elephant, rabbit, armadillo, tenrec, platypus, pig, cat, bush baby, common shrew, microbat and european hedgehog; the fish genomes of stickleback and medaka and the second example of the genomes of the sea squirt (Ciona savignyi) and the mosquito (Aedes aegypti). Some of the major features added during the year include the first complete gene sets for genomes with low-sequence coverage, the introduction of new strain variation data and the introduction of new orthology/paralog annotations based on gene trees.
Objective: Although there has been increased attention to campus interpersonal violence, there is limited information on survivor advocacy services. Participants: We recruited participants from 155 ...U.S. institutions of higher education responsible for advocacy services on their campus. Methods: We used a community participatory action approach in partnership with the Campus Advocacy and Prevention Professionals Association to develop and disseminate a survey regarding campus advocacy services. Results: Participants shared critical insights about (a) advocacy staffing/caseload, (b) program structure, (c) advocacy practices, and (d) connection to services for people who had caused harm. We found that advocacy programs are often providing best practice services for survivors of violence but operating with few staff and unclear privacy protections. Conclusions: This study provided crucial preliminary information about how campuses provide advocacy services, but more researcher-practitioner engagement is needed to build on this study and establish clear practice guidelines.
ObjectiveEstimating weight is essential in order to prepare appropriate sized equipment and doses of resuscitation drugs in cases where children are critically ill or injured. Many methods exist with ...varying degrees of complexity and accuracy. The most recent version of the Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS) course has changed their teaching from an age-based calculation method to the use of a reference table. We aimed to evaluate the potential implications of this change.MethodUsing a bespoke online simulation platform we assessed the ability of acute paediatric staff to apply different methods of weight estimation. Comparing the time taken, rate and magnitude of errors were made using the APLS single and triple age-based formulae, Best Guess and reference table methods. To add urgency and an element of cognitive stress, a time-based competitive component was included.Results57 participants performed a total of 2240 estimates of weight. The reference table was the fastest (25 (22–28) vs 35 (31–38) to 48 (43–51) s) and most preferred, but errors were made using all methods. There was no significant difference in the percentage accuracy between methods (93%–97%) but the magnitude of errors made was significantly smaller using the three APLS formulae 10% (6.5–21) compared with reference table (69% (34–133)) mainly from month/year table confusion.ConclusionIn this exploratory study under psychological stress none of the methods of weight estimation were free from error. Reference tables were the fastest method and also had the largest errors and should be designed to minimise the risk of picking errors.
Summary
Cardiovascular complications due to COVID‐19, such as right ventricular dysfunction, are common. The combination of acute respiratory distress syndrome, invasive mechanical ventilation, ...thromboembolic disease and direct myocardial injury creates conditions where right ventricular dysfunction is likely to occur. We undertook a prospective, multicentre cohort study in 10 Scottish intensive care units of patients with COVID‐19 pneumonitis whose lungs were mechanically ventilated. Right ventricular dysfunction was defined as the presence of severe right ventricular dilation and interventricular septal flattening. To explore the role of myocardial injury, high‐sensitivity troponin and N‐terminal pro B‐type natriuretic peptide plasma levels were measured in all patients. We recruited 121 patients and 118 (98%) underwent imaging. It was possible to determine the primary outcome in 112 (91%). Severe right ventricular dilation was present in 31 (28%), with interventricular septal flattening present in nine (8%). Right ventricular dysfunction (the combination of these two parameters) was present in seven (6%, 95%CI 3–13%). Thirty‐day mortality was 86% in those with right ventricular dysfunction as compared with 45% in those without (p = 0.051). Patients with right ventricular dysfunction were more likely to have: pulmonary thromboembolism (p < 0.001); higher plateau airway pressure (p = 0.048); lower dynamic compliance (p = 0.031); higher plasma N‐terminal pro B‐type natriuretic peptide levels (p = 0.006); and raised plasma troponin levels (p = 0.048). Our results demonstrate a prevalence of right ventricular dysfunction of 6%, which was associated with increased mortality (86%). Associations were also observed between right ventricular dysfunction and aetiological domains of: acute respiratory distress syndrome; ventilation; thromboembolic disease; and direct myocardial injury, implying a complex multifactorial pathophysiology.
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