scholarly journals A Comparative Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load Across Different Altitudes

Author(s):  
Esteban Ortiz-Prado ◽  
Raul Fernandez-Naranjo ◽  
Jorge Eduardo Vásconez ◽  
Alexander Paolo Vallejo-Janeta ◽  
Ismar A Rivera-Olivero ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: SARS-CoV-2 has spread throughout the world, including areas located at high or very high altitudes. There is a debate about the role of high altitude hypoxia on viral transmission, incidence, and COVID-19 related mortality. This is the first comparison of SARS-CoV-2 viral load across elevations ranging from 0 to 4,300 m.Objective: To describe the SARS-CoV-2 viral load across samples coming from 62 cities located at low, moderate, high, and very high altitudes in Ecuador.Methodology: An observational analysis of viral loads among nasopharyngeal swap samples coming from a cohort of 4,929 patients with a RT-qPCR test positive for SARS-CoV-2.Results: The relationship between high and low altitude only considering our sample of 4,929 persons is equal in both cases and not significative (p-value 0.19). In the case of low altitude, adding the gender variable to the analysis, it was possible to find a significative difference between female and male gender (p-value 0.068). Considering initially gender and then altitude, it was possible to find a significative difference between high and low altitude for male gender (p-value 0.065). There is not enough evidence to state that viral load is affected directly by altitude range but adding a new variable as sex in the analysis shows that the presence of new variables influences the relationship of altitude range and viral load.Conclusions: There is no evidence that viral load differs at altitude level when we consider only one measure. Using as reference the variable gender is possible to note that at low altitude there is a difference between female and male gender. There is not difference between gender at high altitude level. In the case of considering gender as reference variable, it was possible to find that high and low altitude are different for male gender an equal for female gender. Viral load not only depends on altitude range; it also is affected by other variables like sex.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esteban Ortiz-Prado ◽  
Gonzalo Mendieta ◽  
Katherine Simbaña-Rivera ◽  
Lenin Gomez-Barreno ◽  
Samanta Landazuri ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Anthropometric measures have been classically used to understand the impact of environmental factors on the living conditions of individuals and populations. Most reference studies on development and growth in which anthropometric measures were used were carried out in populations that are located at sea level but there are few studies carried out in high altitude populationsObjective: The objective of this study is to evaluate anthropometric and body composition in autochthonous Kiwchas permanently living at low and high-altitude.Methodology: A cross-sectional study of anthropometric and body composition between genetically matched lowland Kiwchas from Limoncocha (230 m) at Amazonian basin and high-altitude Kiwchas from Oyacachi (3,180 m) in Andean highlands. Student’s t-test was used to analyze differences between continue variables and Chi square test was performed to check the association or independence of categorical variables. Fisher´s exact test or Spearman test were used when the variable had evident asymmetries with histograms prior to the selection of the test. Results: Our study shows that low altitude women are shorter and heavier, but these differences are not statistically significant (p value 0.333) on the other hand high altitude men are shorter than their counterparts who live at low altitude with a p value 0.019. In relation to body muscle %, women at high altitudes have less body muscle % (-24.8%) while men at high altitudes have significantly more muscle body mass % (+ 13.5%) than their lowland counterpart. Body fat % is lower among low altitude women (-15.5%) and no differences were found among men.Conclusions: This is the first study to be performed in two genotyped controlled matching populations located at different altitudes. The anthropometric differences vary according to sex, demonstrating that high altitude population are in general lighter and shorter than their low altitude controls. Men at high altitude have more muscled bodies than their lowland counterpart but their body age was older than their real age.


Author(s):  
Evi Rosita ◽  
Siti Nurnaningrum

There are about 2.8 million incident of perineal rupture in maternal physiological labor. In 2050,it is estimated that the incidence of perineal rupture can be 6.3 million if it is not accompanied by a good midwifery care. In 2016, in Trawas, there was (89%) perineal rupture in primiparas and (57%) perineal rupture in multiparas. Perineal rupture incidences due to parity were still very high. This study aims to analyze the relationship between parity and the incidence of perineal rupture . It is quantitative studyusing a cross sectional approach, by using analysis of physiological maternity women  medical record data from January to April 2017 of 130 peoplein Trawas Public Health Center, Mojokerto Regency.The dataanalysis used was Chi - Square , indicated by p value = 0,000 with ɑ = 0,05. It means that the value of p <ɑ, so H1 is accepted. It can be concluded that there is a relationship between parity and the incidence of perineal rupture on physiological maternity women in Trawas Public Health Center,Mojokerto Regency. Midwives can apply collaboration with patients and their families to have physical and psychologicalpreparation with an alternative of hypnobirthing methods.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Xinyan Wang ◽  
Wu Bo ◽  
Weihua Yang ◽  
Suping Cui ◽  
Pengzi Chu

This study aims to analyze the effect of high-altitude environment on drivers’ mental workload (MW), situation awareness (SA), and driving behaviour (DB), and to explore the relationship among those driving performances. Based on a survey, the data of 356 lowlanders engaging in driving activities at Tibetan Plateau (high-altitude group) and 341 lowlanders engaging in driving activities at low altitudes (low-altitude group) were compared and analyzed. The results suggest that the differences between the two groups are noteworthy. Mental workload of high-altitude group is significantly higher than that of low-altitude group, and their situation awareness is lower significantly. The possibility of risky driving behaviours for high-altitude group, especially aggressive violations, is higher. For the high-altitude group, the increase of mental workload can lead to an increase on aggressive violations, and the situation understanding plays a full mediating effect between mental workload and aggressive violations. Measures aiming at the improvement of situation awareness and the reduction of mental workload can effectively reduce the driving risk from high-altitude environment for lowlanders.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor K. O’Brien ◽  
Megan Higgie ◽  
Alan Reynolds ◽  
Ary A. Hoffmann ◽  
Jon R. Bridle

ABSTRACTPredicting how species will respond to the rapid climatic changes predicted this century is an urgent task. Species Distribution Models (SDMs) use the current relationship between environmental variation and species’ abundances to predict the effect of future environmental change on their distributions. However, two common assumptions of SDMs are likely to be violated in many cases: (1) that the relationship of environment with abundance or fitness is constant throughout a species’ range and will remain so in future, and (2) that abiotic factors (e.g. temperature, humidity) determine species’ distributions. We test these assumptions by relating field abundance of the rainforest fruit fly Drosophila birchii to ecological change across gradients that include its low and high altitudinal limits. We then test how such ecological variation affects the fitness of 35 D. birchii families transplanted in 591 cages to sites along two altitudinal gradients, to determine whether genetic variation in fitness responses could facilitate future adaptation to environmental change. Overall, field abundance was highest at cooler, high altitude sites, and declined towards warmer, low altitude sites. By contrast, cage fitness (productivity) increased towards warmer, lower altitude sites, suggesting that biotic interactions (absent from cages) drive ecological limits at warmer margins. In addition, the relationship between environmental variation and abundance varied significantly among gradients, indicating divergence in ecological niche across the species’ range. However, there was no evidence for local adaptation within gradients, despite greater productivity of high altitude than low altitude populations when families were reared under laboratory conditions. Families also responded similarly to transplantation along gradients, providing no evidence for fitness trade-offs that would favour local adaptation. These findings highlight the importance of (1) measuring genetic variation of key traits under ecologically relevant conditions, and (2) considering the effect of biotic interactions when predicting species’ responses to environmental change.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Annida Nur Shalihah ◽  
Kurniawan Yudianto ◽  
Nur Oktavia Hidayati

A competitive job market is a challenge that needs to be faced by every university graduate. It is expected that every graduate has capability to keep face with expansion in job sectors. To be able to adapt to the job situation, a specific intelligence to face in facing every challenge and obstacle namely adversity quotient, is required. This study aimed to identify the correlation between adversity quotient (AQ) and career adaptability of internship nursing students. This study was descriptive correlational. Samples were recruited using a total sampling tecnique (n=142). Data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of a demographic survey, an Adversity Response Profile (ARP) Quick TakeTM and a Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Rank Spearman correlation test. The result of this study indicated that no students were in quitter category, only 0,7% of them were in quitter to camper transition, 76,8% of them were campers, 21,8% of the students were in camper to climber transition, 0,7% of all respondents were climbers. No students had a very low career adaptability, only 1,4% of them had a low career adaptability, while the proportions of students with a high and very high career adaptability were 75,4% and 23,2 % respectively. No significant correlation was found between AQ and career adaptability (p value >0,05; Spearman’s ρ +0,122). It can be concluded that most of internship nursing students at Faculty of Nursing Universitas Padjadjaran were campers and had a high level of career adaptability. There was also no significant correlation between AQ and career adaptability. Further research needs to explore about contributing factors related to career adaptability in internship nursing students.Keywords: Adversity quotient, career adaptability, internship nursing student. Hubungan Adversity Quotient dan Adaptabilitas Karier pada Mahasiswa Profesi NersAbstrakDalam menghadapi pasar kerja yang semakin ketat, setiap lulusan universitas diharapkan memiliki kemampuan untuk menghadapi tantangan dan beradaptasi dengan perkembangan pada dunia kerja. Untuk mengatasi hal tersebut diperlukan adanya kecerdasan dalam menghadapi setiap tantangan dan hambatan yang disebut adversity quotient (AQ). Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui hubungan AQ dan adaptabilitas karier pada mahasiswa profesi ners. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif korelatif. Responden penelitian berjumlah 181orang mahasiswa program profesi ners angkatan 32 dan 33 di Fakultas Keperawatan Universitas Padjadjaran yang di ambil dengan teknik total sampling dengan response rate 78,45%. Instrumen yang digunakan pada penelitian ini yaitu Adversity Response Profile (ARP) Quick TakeTM dan Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS). Teknik analisis data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini menggunakan skoring ARP QuickTakeTM, skoring CAAS, serta uji korelasi Rank Spearman. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa tidak seorangpun responden yang berada pada kategori quitter, sebanyak 0,7% dari responden berada pada kategori transisi quitter ke camper, pada kategori camper sebanyak 76,8%, pada kategori transisi camper ke climber sebanyak 21,8%, dan pada kategori climber sebanyak 0,7%. Tidak ada mahasiswa dengan adaptabilitas karier sangat rendah, hanya 1,4% mahasiswa dengan adaptabilitas karier rendah, sedangkan mahasiswa dengan adaptabilitas karier tinggi dan sangat tinggi masing-masing proporsinya sebanyak 75,4% dan 23,2%. Tidak terdapat hubungan bermakna antara AQ dan adaptabilitas karier (p value >0,05; Spearman’s ρ +0,122). Simpulan dari penelitian ini yaitu sebagian besar mahasiswa profesi ners Fakultas Keperawatan Universitas Padjadjaran memiliki AQ dengan kategori camper dan memiliki adaptabilitas karier tinggi. Meskipun demikian, tidak terdapat hubungan bermakna antara AQ dan adaptabilitas karier. Bagi peneliti selanjutnya diharapkan untuk melakukan penelitian terkait faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi adaptabilitas karier pada mahasiswa profesi ners.Kata kunci: Adversity quotient, adaptabilitas karier, mahasiswa profesi ners.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Lopez ◽  
Reinaldo Aravena ◽  
Daniel Soza ◽  
Alicia Morales ◽  
Silvia Riquelme ◽  
...  

The Chilean workforce has over 200,000 people that are intermittently exposed to altitudes over 4,000 m. In 2012, the Ministry of Health provided a technical guide for high-altitude workers that included a series of actions to mitigate the effects of hypoxia. Previous studies have shown the positive effect of oxygen enrichment at high altitudes. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radiotelescope operates at 5,050 m [Array Operations Site (AOS)] and is the only place in the world where pressure swing adsorption (PSA) and liquid oxygen technologies have been installed at a large scale. These technologies reduce the equivalent altitude by increasing oxygen availability. This study aims to perform a retrospective comparison between the use of both technologies during operation in ALMA at 5,050 m. In each condition, variables such as oxygen (O2), temperature, and humidity were continuously recorded in each AOS rooms, and cardiorespiratory variables were registered. In addition, we compared portable O2 by using continuous or demand flow during outdoor activities at very high altitudes. The outcomes showed no differences between production procedures (PSA or liquid oxygen) in regulating oxygen availability at AOS facilities. As a result, big-scale installations have difficulties reaching the appropriate O2 concentration due to leaks in high mobility areas. In addition, the PSA plant requires adequacy and maintenance to operate at a very high altitude. A continuous flow of 2–3 l/min of portable O2 is recommended at 5,050 m.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 370-376
Author(s):  
Shou Liu ◽  
Ines H. I. Chow ◽  
Li Lu ◽  
Yan-Ming Ren ◽  
Hui-Lian Yang ◽  
...  

Background and Objective: This study compared sleep disturbances between older adults living in nursing home located in high- and low-altitude areas and explored the association between sleep disturbances and quality of life (QoL). Method: In total, 207 participants living in a high-altitude area and 437 participants in a low-altitude area were included. Sleep disturbances (ie, difficulty in initiating sleep, difficulty in maintaining sleep, and early morning awakening) were measured using standardized questions. The independent demographic and clinical correlates of sleep disturbances in high-altitude area were examined using multiple logistic regression analyses. Each type of sleep disturbance was entered as the dependent variable separately, while those with significant group differences in the univariate analyses (ie, male gender, married status, age and depressive symptoms) were entered as independent variables. Results: The prevalence of any type of sleep disturbances in the whole sample was 26.09%, with 41.54% in the high-altitude area and 18.76% in the low-altitude area. Physical, psychological, social, and environmental QoL domains were negatively associated with sleep disturbances in high-altitude area. Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that male gender and married status were less likely to have sleep disturbances, while those with more severe depressive symptoms were more likely to have sleep disturbances in high-altitude area. Conclusion: Sleep disturbance is common among older nursing home residents in high-altitude areas. Considering the negative impact of sleep disturbance on QoL, regular screening and treatment strategies need to be developed directly for this population.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-126
Author(s):  
Zawiah Mat ◽  
Nooraini Sulaiman ◽  
Sazelin Arif ◽  
Safiah Sidek ◽  
Norain Ismail ◽  
...  

Purpose: The aim of this study is to identify the relationship between professional and universal ethics of engineers. Methodology:This study used quantitative methods to distribute the questionnaire by using random sampling to get data from 248 respondents of engineers from government and private sectors in Melaka. Respondents were required to valuate agreement to statement about work ethics that used a five-point Likert scale. Meanwhile, the scales used for measuring correlation were given as 0.000-0.2000 “negligible”, 0.201-0.400 “low”, 0.401-0.600, “moderate”, 0.601-0.800 “high”, and 0.801-1.000 “very high”. The Pearson correlation analysis was used to obtain these correlation results. In this research, we analysed the data collected using SPSS Ver.22 to identify the relationship between professional and universal ethics of engineers in Melaka. Main Findings:The findings showed that all variables of professional of engineers correlated significantly with universal ethics. The significant level (p-value) was found to be less than 0.05, the study findings indicate a significant relationship between independent variables and dependent variable. Results obtained in this study confirmed that there were significant positive relationships between all variables that could influence professional and universal ethics. Implications:This study contributes towards the improvement of Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM’S) existing policy. Based on the study’s findings, the policy implication of this study includes: responsible bodies such as the governing institutions of engineers need to ensure that ethical practices are made as the main core in their profession by increasing knowledge and awareness about ethical practices in the engineering profession. Originality:This study only focus on the relationship between professional and universal ethics of engineers and the results will be useful towards the improvement of Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM’S) existing policy.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nipa Basak ◽  
Tsering Norboo ◽  
Mohammed S. Mustak ◽  
Kumarasamy Thangaraj

AbstractHigh altitude hypoxia is believed to be experienced at elevations more than 2500 meters. A few studies have shed light on the biochemical aspects of high altitude acclimatization that profoundly included the subjects sojourning to the high altitude from low altitude and observation of the transient changes. However, information regarding the difference between the adapted people in high altitude and their counterpart, who reside in the low altitude are lacking. To address that issue, we have measured various hematological parameters and level of serum erythropoietin (EPO) in Tibetan population, who are residing in both high and low altitudes. We observed significant difference (p value < 0.0001) between high and low altitude Tibetan, in various hematological parameters, including red blood cells (RBC) count, hematocrit (HCT) or packed cell volume (PCV), and hemoglobin concentration (Hb). In case of mean corpuscular volume (MCV), significant difference was observed only in females (p value < 0.0001). Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) was significantly different between both males and females, but age was a potential confounder. There was no significant difference in serum EPO level between these two groups, either in males or females, which might be due to blunted erythropoietin response in the Tibetan population. We have also analyzed correlation between serum EPO with Hb and serum EPO with HCT and found no significant correlation. In multiple regression analysis, low altitude and male-gender showed significant impact on both Hb and HCT. In conclusion, our study suggests significant perturbation of hematological parameters, when native high altitude populations migrated to low altitude and inhabited for a long period.


Physiology ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
CC Monge ◽  
F Leon-Velarde ◽  
G Gomez de la Torre

The hypoxic and dry environment of the high mountains seems to select eggshells with porosities appropriate for the altitudinal level. At moderate altitudes, the conservation of water takes precedence over the oxygen-supply gradient. At very high altitudes there is a compromise between reducing water loss on the one hand and the defense of the oxygen supply to the embryo on the other.


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