Funding patterns for biomedical research and infectious diseases burden in Gabon

Abstract Background Biomedical research plays an important role in improving health. There seems to exist a negative correlation between the amount of biomedical research funding and disease burden from all Sub-Saharan African countries. In this study, we describe funding patterns for biomedical research, explore the correlation between funding and burden of diseases, and quantify inequalities in funds distribution across diseases in Gabon over the period 2005–2015. Methods Data on medical research funds from 2005 to 2015 were retrieved through a structured questionnaire distributed to Gabonese biomedical research institutions and by consulting online databases. Data on the burden of diseases were gathered from the World Health Organization and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. We used Kendall rank correlation coefficient to explore the correlation between cumulative funds over time and the burden of disease. The inequality distribution of funding across diseases was assessed through Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve. Results Biomedical research funding was characterized by a remarkable growth from 2005 to 2010 and a decline from 2010 to 2014. Funds were mostly from external sources and from partnerships. There was inequality in research funds allocation across diseases and malaria was far the most funded disease. There was a significant negative correlation between cumulative funding and the burden of HIV, tuberculosis, and of Helminthiasis (from 2006 to 2010) suggesting that research may be contributing to the management of such diseases. A positive, although not significant, correlation was found between cumulative funds and malaria burden. Conclusions The negative correlation between HIV and tuberculosis cumulative funding and burden suggests that research may be contributing to the management of such diseases but further research is needed to assess the causal direction of such as relationship. As the burden of non-communicable diseases is increasing, more research funds should be focused on those. While research partnerships have been and will remain fundamental, Gabon should increase the amount of national funds to overcome periods of reduced research funding flows from abroad.

Download Full-text

Hubungan Penggunaan Sumber Informasi Kampanye Dan Partisipasi Politik Pada Kasus Pilpres 2014 Di Kecamatan Cibinong Bogor

Jurnal Komunikasi Pembangunan ◽

10.46937/13201513779 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Layung Paramesti Martha ◽

Amiruddin Saleh ◽

Parlaungan Adil Rangkuti

Keyword(s):

Political Participation ◽

Negative Correlation ◽

Rank Correlation ◽

Information Use ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Significant Negative Correlation ◽

Demographic Characteristics ◽

Sources Of Information ◽

Political Campaign ◽

Source Of Information

Indonesian presidential election campaigns had been held by the candidates and the campaign team respectively from June, 4th-July, 5th 2014. This study was aimed to know the extent of utilization of communication channels both mass media and social media (new media) as source of information, compared with interpersonal communication channel, and how the level of utilization of the information sources by voters during the political campaign influenced the level of political participation in Cibinong. This study had been conducted in September-Oktober 2014 at Sub-District of Cibinong, Bogor Regency. A number of 200 people were chosen as respondents by using purposive sampling technique. The collected data were analyzed with Spearman’s Rank correlation test. Results showed that political participation in the engagement of campaigns as well as the surveillance were poor, while the participation in voting was quite good. In the variable of demographic characteristics, a negative significant correlation was found between political affiliation and the campaign engagement and so between the birthplace and voting engagement. On the contrary, the variable of age, income, and education had no correlation with all dimensions of the campaigns engagement. All dimensions of demographic characteristics including sex, birthplace, and environment had a significant negative correlation with political participation. The indicator of sex and birthplace had a significant negative correlation with the amount of source of information use. The in dicator of birthplace also had a significant negative correlation with the frequent of accessing campaign sources of information. The utilization of campaign sources of information had a significant positive correlation with political participation in the dimension of the engagement in the campaign, voting, and surveillance for the election. Keywords: Political participation, source of information use, political campaign

Download Full-text

Penetrometer tests on 109 pit latrines in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya

Water SA ◽

10.4314/wsa.v44i3.13 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 44 (3 July) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

D Seal ◽

RT Bown ◽

AH Parker

Keyword(s):

Correlation Coefficient ◽

Liquid Layer ◽

Negative Correlation ◽

Rank Correlation ◽

Significant Negative Correlation ◽

Depth Of Penetration ◽

Spearman’S Rank Correlation ◽

Spearman’S Rank Correlation Coefficient ◽

Pit Latrine ◽

Thick Crust

Pit latrine contents can have varying consistencies that make the pits challenging to empty. It has been assumed that solids sink to the bottom of the pit with a more liquid layer above this and a scum on the top. This implies that it would be possible to remove the uppermost layers with a pump. However, recent studies have found alternative sludge profiles, including a thick crust on the top. This paper presents penetrometer data from a large number (109) of pit latrines in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya. The penetrometer consists of a weight, dropped onto an anvil that drives a cone into the pit. The depth of penetration following each impact was measured. This was converted into plots of depth in the pits against penetration. Each pit was analysed using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, and categorised into positive or negative correlation, significant or non-significant. Significant, negative correlation was assumed to correspond to pits where the solids had sunk to the bottom. 38% of pits were classified in this way, which suggested that while it is common that the number of impacts required to penetrate the sludge increases with depth in the pit, this is not always the case. Pit emptiers should be prepared to deal with pits with a variety of sludge profiles, including those with a solids layer at the top.

Download Full-text

Hubungan Kecerdasan Emosional terhadap Tingkat Depresi Mahasiswa Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Tarumanagara

Jurnal Health Sains ◽

10.46799/jhs.v2i8.259 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (8) ◽

pp. 1071-1079

Author(s):

Teddy Tjahyanto ◽

Ni Kanaya ◽

Grace Keren ◽

Eunike Angellina Mulyadi ◽

Kevin Sanjaya Listiono

Keyword(s):

Emotional Intelligence ◽

Negative Correlation ◽

Preventive Measure ◽

Simple Random Sampling ◽

Significant Negative Correlation ◽

World Health ◽

P Value ◽

Chi Square ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognize the COVID-19 pandemic as an imminent global threat. To dampen the spread of the highly-contagious virus, the Indonesian government has imposed several social-distancing and government regulations. Nonetheless, these regulations result in peripheral effects; many people are subject to loneliness, fear, and anxiety—all of which leads to depression. Statistical evidence show that depression is very much prevalent in Indonesians—reaching a staggering 62% as of August 2020. Multiple studies have proven the negative correlation between emotional intelligence—which is the ability to regulate and control emotions—and depression. Consequently, this study aims to determine the relationship between emotional intelligence and depression in medical students of Universitas Tarumanagara batch 2019. Using a descriptive analytic research design with a cross-sectional approach, we obtained data through simple random sampling a total of 154 respondents who answered an emotional intelligence questionnaire used as a proxy in determining the level of emotional intelligence. Statistical analysis using the chi-square test confirmed that there is a significant negative correlation between emotional intelligence and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic, yielding a p-value of 0.003. In conclusion, students can improve their level of emotional intelligence as a preventive measure of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Download Full-text

The Relation between Hair-Cortisol Concentration and Various Welfare Assessments of Dutch Dairy Farms

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11030821 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 821

Author(s):

Frank J. C. M. van Eerdenburg ◽

Tessa Hof ◽

Benthe Doeve ◽

Lars Ravesloot ◽

Elly C. Zeinstra ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Negative Correlation ◽

Rank Correlation ◽

Dairy Farms ◽

Significant Negative Correlation ◽

Strong Positive Correlation ◽

Hair Cortisol ◽

Farm Animal Welfare ◽

Welfare Assessment ◽

Assessment Protocol ◽

Welfare Quality

Many protocols have been developed to assess farm animal welfare. However, the validity of these protocols is still subject to debate. The present study aimed to compare nine welfare assessment protocols, namely: (1) Welfare Quality© (WQ), (2) a modified version of Welfare Quality (WQ Mod), which has a better discriminative power, (3) WelzijnsWijzer (Welfare Indicator; WW), (4) a new Welfare Monitor (WM), (5) Continue Welzijns Monitor (Continuous Welfare Monitor; CWM), (6) KoeKompas (Cow Compass; KK), (7) Cow Comfort Scoring System (CCSS), (8) Stall Standing Index (SSI) and (9) a Welfare Index (WI Tuyttens). In addition, a simple welfare estimation by veterinarians (Estimate vets, EV) was added. Rank correlation coefficients were calculated between each of the welfare assessment protocol scores and mean hair cortisol concentrations from 10 cows at 58 dairy farms spread over the Netherlands. Because it has been suggested that the hair cortisol level is related to stress, experienced over a long period of time, we expected a negative correlation between cortisol and the result of the welfare protocol scores. Only the simple welfare estimation by veterinarians (EV) (ρ = −0.28) had a poor, but significant, negative correlation with hair cortisol. This correlations, however, failed to reach significance after correction of p-values for multiple correlations. Most of the results of the different welfare assessment protocols had a poor, fair or strong positive correlation with each other, supporting the notion that they measure something similar. Additional analyses revealed that the modified Welfare Quality protocol parameters housing (ρ = −0.30), the new Welfare Monitor (WM) parameter health (ρ = −0.33), and milk yield (ρ = −0.33) showed negative correlations with cortisol. We conclude that because only five out of all the parameter scores from the welfare assessment protocols showed a negative, albeit weak, correlation with cortisol, hair cortisol levels may not provide a long term indicator for stress in dairy cattle, or alternatively, that the protocols might not yield valid indices for cow welfare.

Download Full-text

Biomedical Research Funding in Steep Decline Since 2003

Clinical Neurology News ◽

10.1016/s1553-3212(10)70039-x ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 12

Author(s):

MARY ANN MOON

Keyword(s):

Biomedical Research ◽

Research Funding ◽

Steep Decline

Download Full-text

Thrombin generation in paediatric patients with congenital heart disease

Hämostaseologie ◽

10.1055/s-0037-1617119 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 28 (S 01) ◽

pp. S61-S66 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

G. Cvirn ◽

A. Rosenkranz ◽

B. Leschnik ◽

W. Raith ◽

W. Muntean ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Congenital Heart Disease ◽

Heart Disease ◽

Negative Correlation ◽

Congenital Heart ◽

Thrombin Generation ◽

Significant Negative Correlation ◽

Peak Height ◽

Global Test ◽

Paediatric Patients ◽

Age Range

SummaryThrombin generation was studied in paediatric patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) undergoing cardiac surgery using the calibrated automated thrombography (CAT) in terms of the lag time until the onset of thrombin formation, time to thrombin peak maximum (TTP), endogenous thrombin potential (ETP), and thrombin peak height. The suitability to determine the coagulation status of these patients was investigated. Patients, material, methods: CAT data of 40 patients with CHD (age range from newborn to 18 years) were compared to data using standard coagulation parameters such as prothrombin (FII), antithrombin (AT), tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), prothrombin fragment 1.2 (F 1.2), thrombin-antithrombin (TAT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), and prothrombin time (PT). Results: A significant positive correlation was seen between ETP and FII (p < 0.01; r = 0.369), as well as between peak height and F II (p < 0.01; r = 0.483). A significant negative correlation was seen between ETP and TFPI values (p < 0.05; r = –0.225) while no significant correlation was seen between peak height and TFPI. A significant negative correlation was seen between F 1.2 generation and ETP (p < 0.05; r = –0.254) and between F 1.2 generation and peak height (p < 0.05; r = –0.236). No correlation was seen between AT and ETP or peak. Conclusions: CAT is a good global test reflecting procoagulatory and inhibitory factors of the haemostatic system in paediatric patients with CHD.

Download Full-text

Evaluation of the clot burden score (cbs) for acute ischemic stroke (ais) in intent-to-treat patients.

Journal Of Cardiovascular, Neurovascular & Stroke ◽

10.32896/cvns.v1n1.11-15 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 11-15 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sarah Yaziz ◽

Ahmad Sobri Muda ◽

Wan Asyraf Wan Zaidi ◽

Nik Azuan Nik Ismail

Keyword(s):

Ischemic Stroke ◽

Clinical Outcome ◽

Acute Ischemic Stroke ◽

Predictive Value ◽

Area Under The Curve ◽

Rank Correlation ◽

Treatment Decision ◽

Roc Curves ◽

Significant Negative Correlation ◽

Clot Burden

Background : The clot burden score (CBS) is a scoring system used in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) to predict patient outcome and guide treatment decision. However, CBS is not routinely practiced in many institutions. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of CBS as a relevant predictor of good clinical outcome in AIS cases. Methods: A retrospective data collection and review of AIS patients in a teaching hospital was done from June 2010 until June 2015. Patients were selected following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. These patients were followed up after 90 days of discharge. The Modified Rankin scale (mRS) was used to assess their outcome (functional status). Linear regression Spearman Rank correlation was performed between the CBS and mRS. The quality performance of the correlations was evaluated using Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: A total of 89 patients with AIS were analysed, 67.4% (n=60) male and 32.6% (n=29) female. Twenty-nine (29) patients (33.7%) had a CBS ?6, 6 patients (6.7%) had CBS <6, while 53 patients (59.6%) were deemed clot free. Ninety (90) days post insult, clinical assessment showed that 57 (67.6%) patients were functionally independent, 27 (30.3%) patients functionally dependent, and 5 (5.6%) patients were deceased. Data analysis reported a significant negative correlation (r= -0.611, p<0.001). ROC curves analysis showed an area under the curve of 0.81 at the cut-off point of 6.5. This showed that a CBS of more than 6 predicted a good mRS clinical outcome in AIS patients; with sensitivity of 98.2%, specificity of 53.1%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 76%, and negative predictive value (NPV) of 21%. Conclusion: CBS is a useful additional variable for the management of AIS cases, and should be incorporated into the routine radiological reporting for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) cases.

Download Full-text

Negative Correlation Between Serum Levels of Homocysteine and Apolipoprotein M

Current Molecular Medicine ◽

10.2174/1566524019666190308115624 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 120-126

Author(s):

J. Wei ◽

Y. Yu ◽

Y. Feng ◽

J. Zhang ◽

Q. Jiang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Negative Correlation ◽

Hepg2 Cells ◽

Serum Levels ◽

Significant Negative Correlation ◽

Mrna Levels ◽

Rt Pcr ◽

Apolipoprotein M ◽

Protein Mass ◽

Protein Levels ◽

Phosphoinositide 3 Kinase

Background: Homocysteine (Hcy) has been suggested as an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis. Apolipoprotein M (apoM) is a constituent of the HDL particles. The goal of this study was to examine the serum levels of homocysteine and apoM and to determine whether homocysteine influences apoM synthesis. Methods: Serum levels of apoM and Hcy in 17 hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) patients and 19 controls were measured and their correlations were analyzed. Different concentrations of homocysteine (Hcy) and LY294002, a specific phosphoinositide 3- kinase (PI3K) inhibitor, were used to treat HepG2 cells. The mRNA levels were determined by RT-PCR and the apoM protein mass was measured by western blot. Results: We found that decreased serum apoM levels corresponded with serum HDL levels in HHcy patients, while the serum apoM levels showed a statistically significant negative correlation with the serum Hcy levels. Moreover, apoM mRNA and protein levels were significantly decreased after the administration of Hcy in HepG2 cells, and this effect could be abolished by addition of LY294002. Conclusions: resent study demonstrates that Hcy downregulates the expression of apoM by mechanisms involving the PI3K signal pathway.

Download Full-text

Daytime nap and nighttime breastfeeding are associated with toddlers’ nighttime sleep

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-81970-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Machiko Nakagawa ◽

Hidenobu Ohta ◽

Rinshu Shimabukuro ◽

Yoko Asaka ◽

Takayo Nakazawa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sleep Duration ◽

Negative Correlation ◽

Significant Negative Correlation ◽

Sleep Diary ◽

Daytime Nap ◽

Nighttime Sleep

AbstractThe purpose of the present study is to examine the association between toddlers' sleep arrangements and their nighttime sleep duration and other sleep variables. For this investigation, we performed a study in which child activity and sleep levels were recorded using actigraphy. The parents of 1.5-year-old toddlers (n = 106) were asked to attach an actigraphy unit to their child’s waist with an adjustable elastic belt and complete a sleep diary for 7 consecutive days. Questionnaires were used to assess the sleep arrangements of the toddlers. There was a significant negative correlation between nap duration and nighttime sleep duration, suggesting that longer nap sleep induces shorter nighttime sleep duration. Among the sleep arrangements, such as nighttime breastfeeding or co-sleeping, only nighttime breastfeeding predicted shorter nighttime sleep duration. Our findings indicate that shorter naps induce a longer nighttime sleep in 1.5-year-old toddlers while nighttime breastfeeding decreases their nighttime sleep duration.

Download Full-text

Correlates of SARS-CoV-2 Variants on Deaths, Case Incidence and Case Fatality Ratio among the Continents for the Period of 1 December 2020 to 15 March 2021

Genes ◽

10.3390/genes12071061 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 1061

Author(s):

Wajdy J. Al-Awaida ◽

Baker Jawabrah Al Hourani ◽

Samer Swedan ◽

Refat Nimer ◽

Foad Alzoughool ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Negative Correlation ◽

Significant Positive Correlation ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Case Fatality ◽

Significant Negative Correlation ◽

Reference Sequence ◽

Genome Sequences ◽

Positive Correlation ◽

Case Fatality Ratio ◽

Epidemiological Surveys

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has quickly developed into a worldwide pandemic. Mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome may affect various aspects of the disease including fatality ratio. In this study, 553,518 SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences isolated from patients from continents for the period 1 December 2020 to 15 March 2021 were comprehensively analyzed and a total of 82 mutations were identified concerning the reference sequence. In addition, associations between the mutations and the case fatality ratio (CFR), cases per million and deaths per million, were examined. The mutations having the highest frequencies among different continents were Spike_D614G and NSP12_P323L. Among the identified mutations, NSP2_T153M, NSP14_I42V and Spike_L18F mutations showed a positive correlation to CFR. While the NSP13_Y541C, NSP3_T73I and NSP3_Q180H mutations demonstrated a negative correlation to CFR. The Spike_D614G and NSP12_P323L mutations showed a positive correlation to deaths per million. The NSP3_T1198K, NS8_L84S and NSP12_A97V mutations showed a significant negative correlation to deaths per million. The NSP12_P323L and Spike_D614G mutations showed a positive correlation to the number of cases per million. In contrast, NS8_L84S and NSP12_A97V mutations showed a negative correlation to the number of cases per million. In addition, among the identified clades, none showed a significant correlation to CFR. The G, GR, GV, S clades showed a significant positive correlation to deaths per million. The GR and S clades showed a positive correlation to number of cases per million. The clades having the highest frequencies among continents were G, followed by GH and GR. These findings should be taken into consideration during epidemiological surveys of the virus and vaccine development.

Download Full-text