scholarly journals A basic dynamic transmission model of Staphylococcus aureus in the US population

2013 ◽  
Vol 142 (3) ◽  
pp. 468-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. HOGEA ◽  
T. VAN EFFELTERRE ◽  
C. J. ACOSTA

SUMMARYWe present a basic mathematical model of Staphylococcus aureus transmission in the USA based on natural history of infection and nationally representative data. We employed a Susceptible-Colonized-Infected-Recovered-Susceptible compartmental modelling framework with two different phenotypes of S. aureus: methicillin-susceptible (MSSA) and methicillin-resistant (MRSA). The model is dynamic and accounts for the US population growth. For model calibration/validation, we used published 1999–2005 S. aureus infection data in conjunction with the 2001–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey colonization data. Baseline model projections illustrated how MRSA might continue to expand and gradually replace MSSA over time, in the absence of intervention, if there is strong competition for colonization. The model-based estimate of the basic reproduction number (R0) highlights the need for infection control. We illustrate the potential population-level impact of intervention with a hypothetical S. aureus vaccination component.

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 632-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
William C. Baer

Purpose This paper aims to relate early history of housing conceptualizations and market analysis in the Anglosphere (Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand). Historians are ignorant of them but clear market analyses had early beginnings in every urban society for developing and accommodating growing populations. Design/methodology/approach Historiography. Findings Aspects of market analysis, especially appraisal and rudimentary approaches to the housing market in the Anglosphere, can be traced back to ancient Rome, housing market conceptualizations to Dr Nicholas Barbon and seventeenth-century London’s first population and housing boom and market analysis techniques in the USA at its founding, when Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand Perigor was the first to refine them and write them up in 1794-1796. The US next made major advances in the 1930s. The overall trend has been from inferred analyses to fundamental (derived) analyses, emphasizing “quantifiable data.” Practical implications This paper elicits researcher’s professional awareness that each nation has an implicit history of its early development practices and techniques. Originality/value The time frame of most housing market analysts is the recent past, the present and the future. But how enduring are their concerns? Do operational values in a housing market reflect historical epochs, or are there some universalities? Furthermore, most urban historians are ignorant of urban market dynamics. It does not occur to them that some of the dynamics that analysts attempt to capture today might always have been inherent in the urban built environment, regardless of era or urbanized part of the globe under consideration.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (01) ◽  
pp. 171-181
Author(s):  
Muhammad Naveed Ul Hasan Shah ◽  
Muhammad Irfan Mahsud ◽  
Azadar Ali Hamza

Pakistan, since 1947 remains under the umbrella of US, as a result, relations of Pakistan were not smooth with anti US states including USSR. The US was to increase its role in the region in order to make secure the largest petroleum reserves in the Persian Gulf. Pakistan’s alignment with the western world was mainly to counter possible Indian aggression, not to lessen the Soviet influence in the region, but the approach was more or less thwarting Soviet interests in the region. Over 3 million Afghan refugees had travelled to Pakistan in the 1st year of Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. The main objective of the USA during the initial stages of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was primarily to ensure that the Soviet exercise would be a costly one. The United States of America supported Afghan militants with the help of Pakistan to organize them against the USSR. A general perception is that US did not want to be directly involved to thwart the Soviet invasion; rather USA handed over the operational aspect of the program to the Pakistan. The Pakistan was in charge of providing the funds and weapons to the mujahedin and setting up training camps. The US remained indecisive over the next course of action in Afghanistan and the Pakistan took the opportunity to carry out its own agenda in Afghanistan to promote their national interests.


Stroke ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adnan I Qureshi ◽  
Sher Afgan ◽  
Muhammad A Saleem

Background: A common question among men who are stroke survivors is whether stroke occurrence will interfere with sexual performance. The question continues to have major significance in resumption of normal activities and reintegration into society for stroke survivors. Methods: Using a standard questionnaire, we examined trends and prevalence of erectile dysfunction in regards to moderate (sometimes) to severe (always) disability to get and keep an erection adequate for satisfactory intercourse in a nationally representative sample of the United States population. We analyzed data from 4929 men who participated in National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001 to 2004. Stroke was defined based on self-report of physician diagnosis. Results: Moderate to severe disability to get and keep an erection adequate for satisfactory intercourse was reported by 13 (6.4%) men with history of stroke and 276 (5.8%) without stroke, respectively (p=0.65). After adjustment for differences in age, men with history of stroke did not have any increase in risk of moderate to severe disability to get and keep an erection adequate for satisfactory intercourse (odds ratio [OR] 0.8; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.4 to1.7). Conclusions: Erectile dysfunction was relatively infrequent among men with history of stroke and no higher than in men without stroke.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 27-49
Author(s):  
Włodzimierz Okrasa

Censuses of population and housing in the United States are of particular interest to experts in many disciplines – in addition to statisticians, also to demographers, political scientists, sociologists, historians, and even psychologists and anthropologists. This is so not only because of the long history of US censuses (the first census in the US was carried out in 1790) or methodological innovations, but due to immigration responsible for the dynamic population growth, and to the specific purpose of the census, which is ensuring the proportional (according to the numer of inhabitants) distribution of seats in the lower chamber of Congress and federal funds (apportionment), guaranteed by the US Constitution. The heterogeneity of the American society, both in the racial-ethnic and religious-cultural sense, in addition to the above considerations, raise questions about the purposes of those changes and directions for improvement in subsequent censuses. The aim of the article is to present the problems and challenges related to censuses in the USA. The paper focuses on methodological and operational solutions that can be implemented thanks to several improvements, including the progress in the fields of statistics and technology. The paper also discusses the issues of credibility of the census data, based on the example of immigration from Poland and the Polish diaspora in the USA.


Rheumatology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (12) ◽  
pp. 2177-2180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gurkirpal Singh ◽  
Bharathi Lingala ◽  
Alka Mithal

Abstract Objectives Several recent observations have suggested that the prevalence of gout may be increasing worldwide, but there are no recent data from the USA. We analysed the prevalence of hyperuricaemia and gout in the US population from 2007–08 to 2015–16. Methods We studied adults ⩾20 years of age from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2007–08 to 2015–16. Persons with gout were identified from the home interview question ‘Has a doctor or other health professional ever told you that you had gout?’ Hyperuricaemia was defined as a serum urate level >0.40 mmol/l (6.8 mg/dl) (supersaturation levels at physiological temperatures and pH). Results In 2015–16, the overall prevalence of gout among US adults was 3.9%, corresponding to a total affected population of 9.2 million. Hyperuricaemia (>0.40 mmol/l or 6.8 mg/dl) was seen in 14.6% of the US population (estimated 32.5 million individuals). No significant trends were identified in the age-adjusted prevalence of gout and hyperuricaemia. Statistical comparisons between 2007–08 and 2015–16 age-adjusted rates were not significant. Conclusion While the age-adjusted prevalence of gout and hyperuricaemia has remained unchanged in the most recent decade from 2007–08 to 2015–16, the estimated total number of persons with self-reported gout has increased from 8.3 million to 9.2 million. The age-adjusted prevalence of hyperuricaemia has declined slightly, but the total number of affected individuals is virtually identical (32.5 million in 2015–16 compared with 32.1 million in 2007–08).


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (155) ◽  
pp. 20190080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sasikiran Kandula ◽  
Sen Pei ◽  
Jeffrey Shaman

Reliable forecasts of influenza-associated hospitalizations during seasonal outbreaks can help health systems better prepare for patient surges. Within the USA, public health surveillance systems collect and distribute near real-time weekly hospitalization rates, a key observational metric that makes real-time forecast of this outcome possible. In this paper, we describe a method to forecast hospitalization rates using a population level transmission model in combination with a data assimilation technique. Using this method, we generated retrospective forecasts of hospitalization rates for five age groups and the overall population during five seasons in the USA and quantified forecast accuracy for both near-term and seasonal targets. Additionally, we describe methods to correct for under-reporting of hospitalization rates (backcast) and to estimate hospitalization rates from publicly available online search trends data (nowcast). Forecasts based on surveillance rates alone were reasonably accurate in predicting peak hospitalization rates (within ± 25% of the actual peak rate, three weeks before peak). The error in predicting rates one to four weeks ahead, remained constant for the duration of the seasons, even during periods of increased influenza incidence. An improvement in forecast quality across all age groups, seasons and targets was observed when backcasts and nowcasts supplemented surveillance data. These results suggest that the model-inference framework can provide reasonably accurate real-time forecasts of influenza hospitalizations; backcasts and nowcasts offer a way to improve system tolerance to observational errors.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Christopher J Cifelli ◽  
Nancy Auestad ◽  
Victor L Fulgoni

Abstract Objective: The US Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends increased consumption of the dairy group to three daily servings for ages 9+ years to help achieve adequate intakes of prominent shortfall nutrients. Identifying affordable, consumer-acceptable foods to replace dairy’s shortfall nutrients is important especially for people who avoid dairy. Design: Linear programming identified food combinations to replace dairy’s protein and shortfall nutrients. We examined cost, energy and dietary implications of replacing dairy with food combinations optimised for lowest cost, fewest kJ or the smallest amount of food by weight. Setting: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2011–2014). Participants: Nationally representative sample of US population; 2 years and older (n 15 830). Results: Phase 1 (only dairy foods excluded): when optimised for lowest cost or fewest kJ, all non-dairy food replacements required large amounts (2·5–10 cups) of bottled/tap water. Phase 2 (dairy and unreasonable non-dairy foods excluded (e.g. baby foods; tap/bottled water): when intake of non-dairy foods was constrained to <90th percentile of current intake, the lowest cost food combination replacements for dairy cost 0·5 times more and provide 5·7 times more energy; the lowest energy food combinations cost 5·9 times more, provide 2·5 times more energy and require twice the amount of food by weight; and food combinations providing the smallest amount of food by weight cost 3·5 times more and provide five times more energy than dairy. Conclusions: Identifying affordable, consumer-acceptable foods that can replace dairy’s shortfall nutrients at both current and recommended dairy intakes remains a challenge.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S450-S451
Author(s):  
R Bornheimer ◽  
S Hass ◽  
A NAG ◽  
G Oster

Abstract Background Treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD: Crohn’s disease [CD] and ulcerative colitis [UC]) has shifted from symptom management using corticosteroids to targeted therapies such as tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors. An increase in therapeutic options warrants a better understanding of current treatment pathways. This study reports on the pharmacotherapy history of patients with CD and UC prior to initiation of an IBD-targeted biologic. Methods Using the US IQVIA™ Real-World Data Adjudicated Claims Database, we identified adults (≥18 years) with CD or UC who initiated biologics indicated for these diseases from 1 January 2016 to 30 June 2017. Patients were stratified based on the most recent biologic received; the date of initiation was designated the index date. Patients with &lt; 12 months of continuous medical coverage prior to the index date were excluded. Patterns of prior IBD-related pharmacotherapy, in terms of the number and type of biologics, and time spent receiving the biologic, were examined in relation to the index biologic for the study period 1 January 2011 to 30 June 2017. Results In total, 3010 patients with UC and 5210 with CD were identified. Among patients with UC, 1285, 977, 587 and 161 initiated treatment with adalimumab, infliximab, vedolizumab and golimumab, respectively. Among patients with CD, 2634, 1436, 737, 241 and 162 began treatment with adalimumab, infliximab, vedolizumab, certolizumab and ustekinumab, respectively. Most patients beginning treatment with infliximab or adalimumab were biologic-naïve (UC: 79.9%, 89.3%, respectively; CD: 77.8%, 84.6%, respectively). Patients starting treatment with other biologics, however, had typically received at least one IBD-related biologic previously (Figure 1). Among patients who were not biologic-naïve at initiation of therapy, the mean total duration of prior biologic exposure was 17.8 months and 26.6 months for patients with UC and CD, respectively. Conclusion During the study period, anti-TNFs were the most commonly initiated biologics in both groups of patients. Although newer IBD-related biologics (i.e. vedolizumab and ustekinumab) are typically preceded by treatment with other biologics, most patients receiving an anti-TNF are biologic-naïve.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. s147-s154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassandra A Stanton ◽  
Eva Sharma ◽  
Kathryn C Edwards ◽  
Michael J Halenar ◽  
Kristie A Taylor ◽  
...  

ObjectiveElectronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS; including e-cigarettes) are rapidly evolving in the US marketplace. This study reports cross-sectional prevalence and longitudinal pathways of ENDS use across 3 years, among US youth (12–17 years), young adults (18–24 years) and adults 25+ (25 years and older).DesignData were from the first three waves (2013–2016) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study, a nationally representative, longitudinal cohort study of US youth and adults. Respondents with data at all three waves (youth, n=11 046; young adults, n=6478; adults 25+, n=17 188) were included in longitudinal analyses.ResultsWeighted cross-sectional ever use of ENDS increased at each wave. Across all three waves, young adults had the highest percentages of past 12-month, past 30-day (P30D) and daily P30D ENDS use compared with youth and adults 25+. Only about a quarter of users had persistent P30D ENDS use at each wave. Most ENDS users were polytobacco users. Exclusive Wave 1 ENDS users had a higher proportion of subsequent discontinued any tobacco use compared with polytobacco ENDS users who also used cigarettes.ConclusionsENDS use is most common among young adults compared with youth and adults 25+. However, continued use of ENDS over 2 years is not common for any age group. Health education efforts to reduce the appeal and availability of ENDS products might focus on reducing ENDS experimentation, and on reaching the smaller subgroups of daily ENDS users to better understand their reasons for use.


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