scholarly journals Risk Factors for Crop Health Under Global Change and Agricultural Shifts: A Framework of Analyses Using Rice in Tropical and Subtropical Asia as a Model

2011 ◽  
Vol 101 (6) ◽  
pp. 696-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Savary ◽  
A. Mila ◽  
L. Willocquet ◽  
P. D. Esker ◽  
O. Carisse ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Agricultural Change ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Crop Health

Plant disease epidemiology requires expansion of its current methodological and theoretical underpinnings in order to produce full contributions to global food security and global changes. Here, we outline a framework which we applied to farmers' field survey data set on rice diseases in the tropical and subtropical lowlands of Asia. Crop health risks arise from individual diseases, as well as their combinations in syndromes. Four key drivers of agricultural change were examined: labor, water, fertilizer, and land availability that translate into crop establishment method, water shortage, fertilizer input, and fallow period duration, respectively, as well as their combinations in production situations. Various statistical approaches, within a hierarchical structure, proceeding from higher levels of hierarchy (production situations and disease syndromes) to lower ones (individual components of production situations and individual diseases) were used. These analyses showed that (i) production situations, as wholes, represent very large risk factors (positive or negative) for occurrence of disease syndromes; (ii) production situations are strong risk factors for individual diseases; (iii) drivers of agricultural change represent strong risk factors of disease syndromes; and (iv) drivers of change, taken individually, represent small but significant risk factors for individual diseases. The latter analysis indicates that different diseases are positively or negatively associated with shifts in these drivers. We also report scenario analyses, in which drivers of agricultural change are varied in response to possible climate and global changes, generating predictions of shifts in rice health risks. The overall set of analyses emphasizes the need for large-scale ground data to define research priorities for plant protection in rapidly evolving contexts. They illustrate how a structured theoretical framework can be used to analyze emergent features of agronomic and socioecological systems. We suggest that the concept of “disease syndrome” can be borrowed in botanical epidemiology from public health to emphasize a holistic view of disease in shifting production situations in combination with the conventional, individual disease-centered perspective.

scholarly journals Vaping and subsequent comorbidities potentially associated with increased mortality and more severe illness in COVID-19: a narrative review

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Cigarette Smoking ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Older Patients ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Severe Illness ◽  
Protective Effects ◽  
Cigarette Use

Introduction: COVID-19 (or COVID) is a highly virulent viral disease which more frequently presents severe infection in specific populations, such as the elderly, patients with hypertension, patients with respiratory disease, and patients who smoke. The effects vaping (i.e., an electronic cigarette or JUUL device) has on COVID progression remains unclear, because there is an information paucity correlating e-cigarette use and COVID. This review sought to identify links between vape use and COVID severity via literature review. Additionally, because there is more widespread information about cigarette smoking than about vaping, this review sought to illustrate commonalities between smoking and vaping. If smoking and vaping are deemed near-identical practices, then it is possible the effects of smoking on human health and on COVID disease could be comparable in vaping. Methods: Several searches were performed on PubMed with MeSH headings and JSTOR between 17 December 2020 and 22 December 2020. Search results were excluded if they were not trials or controlled clinical trials, if the articles were not about COVID, if the articles were about smoking behaviors or habits, or if the articles were not related to vaping or smoking. Key findings were summarized and tabled based on relevance, substantiability, and applicability to COVID. Results: Multiple sources viewed smoking and vaping as equal risk factors for COVID disease, whereas other sources viewed the two as unique risk factors. Because of this controversy, it is challenging to view the two practices as similar enough to pose equivalent risks for COVID. Both practices pose significant health risks to its users, but these health risks are unique to each practice. Discussion: There are several limitations which exacerbate ambiguity—(1) it is unclear how harmful smoking is for COVID patients, because several publications found smoking may have protective effects; (2) few older patients vape, but yet most severe COVID cases occur in older populations; (3) older patients and impoverished patients show a statistically significant risk for severe COVID disease independent of other factors; (4) vaping is a relatively new practice, and there are few patients who self-report long-term e-cigarette use or long-term adverse effects as a result thereof. Conclusion: Although vaping may present serious health risks, clinically, it is uncertain how significantly vaping affects COVID disease, especially when compared against cigarette smoking. More research is needed on both the effects of vaping on COVID and the likeness of vaping versus smoking.

scholarly journals Parascaris spp. eggs in horses of Italy: a large-scale epidemiological analysis of the egg excretion and conditioning factors

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Scala ◽  
Claudia Tamponi ◽  
Giuliana Sanna ◽  
Giulio Predieri ◽  
Luisa Meloni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Anthelmintic Resistance ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Treatment Protocols ◽  
Conditioning Factors ◽  
Epidemiological Surveys ◽  
Young Horses

Abstract Background Equine ascariosis, caused by Parascaris spp., is a worldwide endoparasitic disease affecting young horses in particular. Despite the great number of horses reared in Italy, large-scale epidemiological surveys dealing with ascariosis prevalence in the country are not reported in the current literature. For this reason, the present survey aims to describe, for the first time, the spread and infestation of Parascaris spp. in a large population of Italian horses (6896 animals) using faecal egg counts, and further to identify risk factors associated with ascarid egg shedding. Methods Individual rectal faecal samples collected during routine veterinary examinations were used and Parascaris spp. prevalence was tested against the animal’s age, sex, housing conditions, geographic provenance as well as the respective sampling season. Results Among the examined stables, 35.8% showed at least one horse to be positive for Parascaris spp. eggs and an overall prevalence of 6.3% was found. Ascariosis rates tended to decrease significantly with age and, proportionally, 80.0% of the recorded Parascaris spp. eggs were found in 0.7% of the examined animals. Statistically significant differences among prevalence rates were found between the different geographic areas of provenance and prevalence was found to be higher in horses reared outdoors compared to those raised indoors. Analysis of data based on sex and season did not show any significant differences. Despite the lower prevalence found compared to other European countries, ascariosis was concluded to represent a significant health challenge for horses reared in Italy, especially foals. Age (foals and yearlings) and outdoor rearing were identified to be significant risk factors for Parascaris spp. egg shedding. Furthermore, the relevance of the infected horses over 6 years of age should not be underestimated as these represent a significant source of contamination for younger animals. Conclusions The development of improved treatment protocols based on regular faecal examination combined with follow-up assessment of the efficacy of integrated action plans would prove beneficial in regard to animal health and anthelmintic resistance reduction in the field. Graphic Abstract

scholarly journals Visualizing Sustainability Research in Business and Management (1990–2019) and Emerging Topics: A Large-Scale Bibliometric Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiong Jia ◽  
Liyuan Wei ◽  
Xiaotong Li
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Sustainability Research ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Clear Shift ◽  
Business And Management

While researchers from many disciplines are increasingly interested in studying issues related to sustainability, few studies have presented a holistic view of sustainability from the perspectives of business and management. This bibliometric study quantitatively analyzed a big data set of 30 years of sustainability research (1990–2019), consisting of 37,322 publications and 1,199,398 cited references, visualizing major topics, dynamic evolution, and emerging development. The decade-by-decade in-depth analysis shows a clear shift from a nearly exclusive focus on economic growth and consumption to all three pillars of sustainability, i.e., economic growth, social development, and environmental protection. Highlighting the differences between United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the popular research topics from academia, our analysis uncovers research gaps and suggests future research directions for sustainability researchers and practitioners.

scholarly journals Development and Validation of a Simple-to-Use Nomogram to Predict Early Death in Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhong Zhang ◽  
Juan Pu ◽  
Haijun Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma ◽  
Validation Cohort ◽  
External Validation ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Early Death ◽  
Seer Database ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Internal Validation ◽  
Chinese Cohort

BackgroundPancreatic adenocarcinoma (PCa) is a highly aggressive malignancy with high risk of early death (survival time ≤3 months). The present study aimed to identify associated risk factors and develop a simple-to-use nomogram to predict early death in metastatic PCa patients.MethodsPatients diagnosed with metastatic PCa between 2010 and 2015 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database were collected for model construction and internal validation. An independent data set was obtained from China for external validation. Independent risk variables contributed to early death were identified by logistic regression models, which were then used to construct a nomogram. Internal and external validation was performed to evaluate the nomogram using calibration curves and the receiver operating characteristic curves.ResultsA total of 19,464 patients in the SEER cohort and 67 patients in the Chinese cohort were included. Patients from the SEER database were randomly divided into the training cohort (n = 13,040) and internal validation cohort (n = 6,424). Patients in the Chinese cohort were selected for the external validation cohort. Overall, 10,484 patients experienced early death in the SEER cohort and 35 in the Chinese cohort. A reliable nomogram was constructed on the basis of 11 significant risk factors. Internal validation and external validation of the nomogram showed high accuracy in predicting early death. Decision curve analysis demonstrated that this predictive nomogram had excellent and potential clinical applicability.ConclusionThe nomogram provided a simple-to-use tool to distinguish early death in patients with metastatic PCa, assisting clinicians in implementing individualized treatment regimens.

An actuarial investigation into maternal out-of-hospital cost risk factors

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-35
Author(s):  
Jananie William ◽  
Catherine Chojenta ◽  
Michael A. Martin ◽  
Deborah Loxton
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Hospital Costs ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
In Vitro Fertilisation ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Cost Risk

AbstractThis paper adopts an actuarial approach to identify the risk factors of government-funded maternal out-of-hospital costs in Australia, with a focus on women who experience adverse birth outcomes. We use a two-phase modelling methodology incorporating both classification and regression trees and generalised linear models on a data set that links administrative and longitudinal survey data from a large sample of women, to address maternal out-of-hospital costs. We find that adverse births are a statistically significant risk factor of out-of-hospital costs in both the delivery and postnatal periods. Furthermore, other significant cost risk factors are in-vitro fertilisation, specialist use, general practitioner use, area of residence and mental health factors (including anxiety, intense anxiety, postnatal depression and stress about own health) and the results vary by perinatal sub-period and the patient’s private health insurance status. We highlight these differences and use the results as an evidence base to inform public policy. Mental health policy is identified as a priority area for further investigation due to the dominance of these factors in many of the fitted models.

An actuarial investigation into maternal hospital cost risk factors for public patients

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jananie William ◽  
Michael A. Martin ◽  
Catherine Chojenta ◽  
Deborah Loxton
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Smoking Status ◽  
Mode Of Delivery ◽  
Hospital Costs ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Significant Risk Factor ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Health Insurance Status ◽  
Cost Risk

AbstractWe investigate an actuarial approach to identifying the factors impacting government-funded maternal hospital costs in Australia, with a focus on women who experience adverse birth outcomes. We propose a two-phase modelling methodology that adopts actuarial methods from typical insurance claim cost modelling and extends to other statistical techniques to account for the large volume of covariates available for modelling. Specifically, Classification and Regression Trees and generalised linear mixed models are employed to analyse a data set that links longitudinal survey and administrative data from a large sample of women. The results show that adverse births are a statistically significant risk factor affecting maternal hospital costs in the antenatal and delivery periods. Other significant cost risk factors in the delivery period include mode of delivery, private health insurance status, diabetes, smoking status, area of residence and onset of labour. We demonstrate the efficacy of using actuarial techniques in non-traditional areas and highlight how the results can be used to inform public policy.

scholarly journals A multi-institutional analysis of the untreated course of cerebral dural arteriovenous fistulas

2018 ◽  
Vol 129 (5) ◽  
pp. 1114-1119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley A. Gross ◽  
Felipe C. Albuquerque ◽  
Cameron G. McDougall ◽  
Brian T. Jankowitz ◽  
Ashutosh P. Jadhav ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Venous Drainage ◽  
Considerable Proportion ◽  
Type I ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Arteriovenous Fistulas ◽  
Dural Arteriovenous Fistulas

OBJECTIVEThe rarity of cerebral dural arteriovenous fistulas (dAVFs) has precluded analysis of their natural history across large cohorts. Investigators from a considerable proportion of the few reports that do exist have evaluated heterogeneous groups of untreated and partially treated lesions. In the present study, the authors exclusively evaluated the untreated course of dAVFs across a multi-institutional data set to delineate demographic, angiographic, and natural history data.METHODSA multi-institutional database of dAVFs was queried for demographic and angiographic data as well as untreated disease course. After dAVFs were stratified by Djindjian type, annual nonhemorrhagic neurological deficit (NHND) and hemorrhage rates were derived, as were risk factors for each. A multivariable Cox proportional-hazards regression model was used to calculate hazard ratios.RESULTSTwo hundred ninety-five dAVFs had at least 1 month of untreated follow-up. For 126 Type I dAVFs, there were no episodes of NHND or hemorrhage over 177 lesion-years. Respective annualized NHND and hemorrhage rates were 4.5% and 3.4% for Type II, 6.0% and 4.0% for Type III, and 4.5% and 9.1% for Type IV dAVFs. The respective annualized NHND and hemorrhage rates were 2.3% and 2.9% for asymptomatic Type II–IV dAVFs, 23.1% and 3.3% for dAVFs presenting with NHND, and 0% and 46.2% for lesions presenting with hemorrhage. On multivariate analysis, NHND presentation (HR 11.49, 95% CI 3.19–63) and leptomeningeal venous drainage (HR 5.03, 95% CI 0.42–694) were significant risk factors for NHND; hemorrhagic presentation (HR 17.67, 95% CI 2.99–117) and leptomeningeal venous drainage (HR 10.39, 95% CI 1.11–1384) were significant risk factors for hemorrhage.CONCLUSIONSAll Type II–IV dAVFs should be considered for treatment. Given the high risk of rebleeding, lesions presenting with NHND and/or hemorrhage should be treated expediently.

scholarly journals Prevalence and correlates of neurodevelopmental disorders among children in India: a narrative review

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 200
Author(s):  
Leena Gaikwad ◽  
Sravani Lagala
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorders ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
English Language ◽  
Perinatal Asphyxia ◽  
National Level ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Diagnostic Tools

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) are seen disproportionately affecting the low-income communities. Paucity of consistent and large-scale studies in India and variations in assessment and diagnostic tools reduce the scope for generalization of prevalence estimates to national level. This review tried to consolidate the existing community-based evidence of the prevalence of NDDs, risk factors and comorbidities among children in India. We searched studies related to the review objectives on search engines PubMed and Google Scholar. The community or school-based studies in India, published in English language were included. The prevalence of each of these NDDs differed in different locations and age groups. The prevalence appeared to be increasing with increase in age. Non-institutional delivery, perinatal asphyxia or delayed crying, low birth weight or prematurity, neonatal illness or neurological infections were significantly associated with the NDDs. Most of the significant risk factors are modifiable with the help of effective programs to improve maternal and child healthcare and nutrition. Further large-scale, good-quality epidemiological studies in community settings are needed to develop and prioritize the delivery of the prevention and rehabilitation interventions.

scholarly journals Harmonized Z-scores calculated from the large scale normal MRI database to evaluate brain atrophy for neurodegenerative disorder

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norihide Maikusa
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Disorders ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Neurodegenerative Disorder ◽  
Brain Mri ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Significant Risk Factor ◽  
High Accuracy ◽  
Normal Database ◽  
Z Score ◽  
Data Set

AbstractAlzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common type of dementia in elderly individuals, slowly and progressively diminishes cognitive function. Mild cognitive impairment is also a significant risk factor to the onset of AD. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images have become widely used to detection and understand the natural progression not only AD but also neurodegenerative disorders. For this purpose, construct a reliable cognitive normal database is important. However, difference in magnetic field strength, sex and age between normal database and evaluation data-set can be affect the accuracy of detection and evaluation of AD and other neurodegenerative disorders.To solve this problem, we suggest a harmonized Z-score considering differences filed strength, sex and age derived from large cognitive normal subjects dataset ((1235 subjects)) including 1.5 T and 3T T1 brain MRI. And we evaluate our harmonized Z-score of discriminative power of AD, and classification accuracy between stable MCI and progressive MCI.The harmonized Z-score of hippocampus achieved high accuracy (AUC=0.96) for detection AD and moderate accuracy (AUC=0.70) for classification stable MCI and progressive MCI. Theses results shows that our method not only can detect AD with high accuracy and high generalization capability, but also can be valid to classify stable MCI and progressive MCI.

scholarly journals Factors Associated with the Death of Preterm Babies Admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Units in Ethiopia: A Prospective, Cross-sectional, and Observational Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 2333794X2097000
Author(s):  
Amha Mekasha ◽  
Zelalem Tazu ◽  
Lulu Muhe ◽  
Mahlet Abayneh ◽  
Goitom Gebreyesus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Gestational Age ◽  
Neonatal Intensive Care ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Preterm Neonates ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Tertiary Hospitals

Aim. To determine the risk factors for death among preterm neonates. Methods and materials. The data set used was derived from a prospective, multi-center, observational clinical study conducted in 5 tertiary hospitals in Ethiopia from July, 2016 to May, 2018. Subjects were infants admitted into neonatal intensive care unit. Results. Risk factors were determined using statistical model developed for this study. The mean gestational age was 32.87 (SD ± 2.42) weeks with a range of 20 to 36 weeks. There were 2667 (70.69%) survivors and 1106 (29.31%) deaths. The significant risk factors for preterm death were low gestational age, low birth weight, being female, feeding problem, no antenatal care visits and vaginal delivery among mothers with higher educational level. Conclusions. The study identified several risk factors for death among preterm neonates. Most of the risk factors are preventable. Thus, it is important to address neonatal and maternal factors identified in this study through appropriate ANC and optimum infant medical care and feeding practices to decrease the high rate of preterm death.

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