scholarly journals A High Index of Malaria Suspicion is Necessary for Febrile Episodes in Travellers and Migrants Coming from Endemic Areas

Author(s):  
Alejandro Garcia-Ruiz de Morales ◽  
Covadonga Morcate ◽  
Elena Isaba-Ares ◽  
Ramon Perez-Tanoira ◽  
Jose A. Perez-Molina

Abstract Objectives: We aimed to analyse the likelihood of imported malaria in people with a suggestive clinical picture and its distinctive characteristics in a hospital in the south of Madrid, Spain.Methods: This retrospective study consisted of a review of all medical files of patients with any malaria test registered at Móstoles University Hospital between April 2013 and April 2018. All suspected malaria cases were confirmed by Plasmodium spp. polymerase chain reaction (PCR).Results: Of the 328 patients with suspected malaria (53.7% migrant-travellers; 38.7% visitors; 7.6% travellers), 108 cases were confirmed (101 by P. falciparum), accounting for a 33% positive sample rate. Sixteen cases were diagnosed only by PCR. Patients with malaria, compared to those without, presented predominantly with fever (84% vs 65%), were older (34 vs 24 years), sought medical attention earlier (17d vs 32d), had a greater number of previous malaria episodes (74% vs 60%), lower levels of platelets (110,500µL vs 250,000µL), and higher of bilirubin (0.6mg/dL vs 0.5mg/dL). Severe malaria was present in 13 cases; no deaths were recorded. Malaria diagnosis showed a bimodal distribution with two peaks: June to September and November to January. Conclusion: Malaria is still a common diagnosis among febrile patients coming from the tropics specially among migrant travellers. Fever, thrombocytopenia, and/or high bilirubin levels should raise suspicion for this parasitosis. Prompt diagnosis is crucial to avoid severe cases and deaths. We suggest a proportion around 30% of positive samples as a potential adequate index of suspicion for malaria diagnosis.

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Garcia-Ruiz de Morales ◽  
Covadonga Morcate ◽  
Elena Isaba-Ares ◽  
Ramon Perez-Tanoira ◽  
Jose A. Perez-Molina

Abstract Background The study aimed to analyse the likelihood of imported malaria in people with a suggestive clinical picture and its distinctive characteristics in a hospital in the south of Madrid, Spain. Methods Observational retrospective study that consisted of a review of all medical files of patients with any malaria test registered at Móstoles University Hospital between April 2013 and April 2018. All suspected malaria cases were confirmed by Plasmodium spp. polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results Of the 328 patients with suspected malaria (53.7% migrant-travellers; 38.7% visitors; 7.6% travellers), 108 cases were confirmed (101 by Plasmodium falciparum), accounting for a 33% positive sample rate. Sixteen cases were diagnosed only by PCR. Patients with malaria, compared to those without, presented predominantly with fever (84% vs. 65%), were older (34 vs. 24 years), sought medical attention earlier (17d vs. 32d), had a greater number of previous malaria episodes (74% vs. 60%), lower levels of platelets (110,500µL vs. 250,000µL), and higher of bilirubin (0.6 mg/dL vs. 0.5 mg/dL). Severe malaria was present in 13 cases; no deaths were recorded. Malaria diagnosis showed a bimodal distribution with two peaks: June to September and November to January. Conclusions Malaria is still a common diagnosis among febrile patients coming from the tropics specially among migrant travellers. Fever, thrombocytopenia, and/or high bilirubin levels should raise suspicion for this parasitic infection. Prompt diagnosis is crucial to avoid severe cases and deaths.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey Chetverikov ◽  
Gianluca Campana ◽  
Arni Kristjansson

Our interactions with the visual world are guided by attention and visual working memory. Things that we look for and those we ignore are stored as templates that reflect our goals and the tasks at hand. The nature of such templates has been widely debated. A recent proposal is that these templates can be thought of as probabilistic representations of task-relevant features. Crucially, such probabilistic templates should accurately reflect feature probabilities in the environment. Here we ask whether observers can quickly form a correct internal model of a complex (bimodal) distribution of distractor features. We assessed observers’ representations by measuring the slowing of visual search when target features unexpectedly match a distractor template. Distractor stimuli were heterogeneous, randomly drawn on each trial from a bimodal probability distribution. Using two targets on each trial, we tested whether observers encode the full distribution, only one peak of it, or the average of the two peaks. Search was slower when the two targets corresponded to the two modes of a previous distractor distribution than when one target was at one of the modes and another between them or outside the distribution range. Furthermore, targets on the modes were reported later than targets between the modes that, in turn, were reported later than targets outside this range. This shows that observers use a correct internal model, representing both distribution modes using templates based on the full probability distribution rather than just one peak or simple summary statistics. The findings further confirm that performance in odd-one out search with repeated distractors cannot be described by a simple decision rule. Our findings indicate that probabilistic visual working memory templates guiding attention, dynamically adapt to task requirements, accurately reflecting the probabilistic nature of the input.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Borhanpour ◽  
Seyed Saeed Sekhavatizadeh ◽  
Saeid Hosseinzadeh ◽  
Mahboobeh Hasanzadeh ◽  
Mohammad-Taghi Golmakani ◽  
...  

Abstract Chavil (Ferulago angulata) extract (CE) and microencapsulated chavil extract (MCE) were added to UF- Feta-type Cheese. The aim of this study was to comprising CE and MCE on physicochemical and microbiological properties in cheese. The scanning electron microscope images demonstrate the MCE had elliptical shape. The average size diameter curve of the MCE revealed bimodal distribution with two peaks (1541 and 2222 nm) separately. The hardness value of MCE cheese (212.83 ± 17.63 g) was lower than that of CE (343.67 ± 25.53 g) because of canola oil used in the microencapsulation process. The MCE-cheese showed lower values of acidity (1.67%) in comparison with CE-cheese (1.87%). The viable numbers of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactococcus lactis were equal among the samples (4.6–4.9 log10 CFU/g respectively). The acid degree value of MCE (2.07 ± 0.21%) and CE (1.83 ± 0.25%) cheese were nearly equal at the end of storage time.


2018 ◽  
Vol 148 (8) ◽  
pp. 1300-1308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Szimonetta Lohner ◽  
Viktória Jakobik ◽  
Krisztina Mihályi ◽  
Sara Soldi ◽  
Sotirios Vasileiadis ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (supp01) ◽  
pp. 203-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
RODOLFO VALENTIM ◽  
JORGE E. HORVATH ◽  
ERALDO M. RANGEL

The distribution of masses for neutron stars is analyzed using the Bayesian statistical inference, evaluating the likelihood of two a priori gaussian peaks distribution by using fifty-five measured points obtained in a variety of systems. The results strongly suggest the existence of a bimodal distribution of the masses, with the first peak around 1.35M⊙ ± 0.06 M ⊙ and a much wider second peak at 1.73M⊙ ± 0.36 M ⊙. We compared the two gaussian's model centered at 1.35M⊙ and 1.55M⊙ against a "single gaussian" model with 1.50M⊙ ± 0.11 M ⊙ using 3σ that provided a wide peak covering objects the full range of observed of masses. In order to compare models, BIC (Baysesian Information Criterion) can be used and a strong evidence for two distributions model against one peak model was found. The results support earlier views related to the different evolutionary histories of the members for the first two peaks, which produces a natural separation (in spite that no attempt to "label" the systems has been made). However, the recently claimed low-mass group, possibly related to O - Mg - Ne core collapse events, has a monotonically decreasing likelihood and has not been identified within this sample.


BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S294-S294
Author(s):  
Kaj Svedberg ◽  
William Hancox ◽  
Hugh Grant-Peterkin

AimsWith the advent of the COVID-19 Pandemic the NHS long term Plan commitments of January 2019 to improve crisis care nationwide became all the more pressing. The aim of this study was to thematically investigate what mental health crisis presentations might be diverted from the Emergency department to external crisis hubs in order to reduce the COVID-19 contamination risks.MethodAll referrals made to the Homerton University Hospital (HUH) mental health liaison service were looked at between 1/3/20-11/6/20 (n = 846), coinciding with the first peak of the COVID-19 Pandemic.Referral data was anonymised and sorted independently into naturally emerging thematic classes by two junior liaison doctors.Cases that did not clearly fit any of the 14 themes generated were further looked into to determine outcome of referral and discussed to try and match to an appropriate class.Result14 frequent themes for mental health crisis referrals were identified. The distribution of these ranged from most common (suicidality) to neurocognitive presentation and identified shifts in themes over the course of the pandemic peak such as increases of low mood, anxiety and intoxication requiring medical attention over the three month period.ConclusionAlthough themes for presentations may be identified in acute referrals to mental health liaison services it is problematic determining how these may be parsed safely to crisis hubs without risking overlooking cases that may require medical attention. The most common theme that was identified and remained throughout the first wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic was acute suicidal presentation. The remaining themes would require careful consideration around risk thresholds for what a service may wish to accept in devolving the emergency department liaison and balance these against future risks of repeat COVID-19 waves.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. e191-e191
Author(s):  
Mohammed S. Al-Rashdi ◽  
Bakathir Abdulaziz ◽  
Khalid A. Al Balushi

Objectives: We sought to assess medications prescribed to patients attending the Dental and Maxillofacial Surgery (DMS) clinic at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH), Oman. Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study covering a six-month period from January to June 2018 including a sample of patients attending the DMS clinic. Drug utilization data like drug name, type, administration route, dosage frequency, and anatomical and therapeutic class were assessed. Results: The study included 400 patients, of which 190 (47.5%) were males and 210 (52.5%) were females. A total of 88 different drugs were prescribed. Only 140 (35.0%) patients were prescribed drugs for their dental conditions or other comorbidities per visit, and the rest 260 (65.0%) were not prescribed any drugs. The dentists prescribed drugs only in 116 (29.0%) patients. The most common diagnosis was dental caries (n = 177, 44.3%) followed by chronic gingivitis (n = 15, 3.8%). The most common comorbidities in patients were anemia (n = 45, 11.3%) and diabetes (n = 21, 5.3%). The most common drugs prescribed were chlorhexidine mouthwash (n = 43, 37.1%) and paracetamol (n = 36, 31.0%) followed by ibuprofen (n = 10, 8.6%) and amoxicillin/clavulanate (n = 5, 4.3%). Conclusions: Drugs prescribing pattern was within the international norms. Sixty-five percent of the patients were not prescribed any drug by the dentist. Oral antiseptics, analgesics, and antibiotics were the most common drugs prescribed by dentists.


el–Hayah ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eko Budi Minarno

<p class="Default"><em>Carica  pubescens Lenne &amp; K. Koch is one of the species in the tropics, which adapt to the plateau environment and low temperatures. In Indonesia, this plant is found at Cangar, Bromo, and Dieng Plateau. This study aims to determine the results of phytochemical screening and total flavonoids in fruit samples were taken from the third place. Qualitative and quantitative tests carried out in the Laboratory of Department of Biology and Chemistry, </em><em>Faculty of </em><em>Science and Technology</em><em>, </em><em>Maulana Malik Ibrahim State Islamic University, Malang</em><em>. Analysis of total flavonoids using a spectrophotometer at λ = 510 nm. The results of qualitative phytochemical screening tests on samples of C. pubescens fruits at Cangar, Bromo, and Dieng Plateau shows that the positive sample contains flavonoids, polyphenols, tannins, and triterpenoids. Quantitative test results show that the C. pubescens at Cangar contains  total flavonoids quercetin equivalent with value 800 mg / L, Bromo with value 816.65 mg / L, and Dieng Plateau with value 633.35 mg / L, respectively.</em></p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-60
Author(s):  
Polina Lemenkova

AbstractCartographic visualisation is a central concept in geoinformatics, and Generic Mapping Tools (GMT) functionality provides a variety of modules for effective mapping. However, due to its specific scripting approach, there is not enough reported experience of GMT mapping, comparing to traditional GIS. This contribution introduces steps that can be taken to perform cartographic mapping and modelling using GMT. Geographically, this paper investigates the Izu-Bonin Trench in the Pacific Ocean. The aim was to compare its geomorphology in two segments, and each was modelled by a series of profiles. The comparative analysis shows that the southern segment is deeper and is a more precisely V-shaped form with a steeper gradient slope. The northern part has an asymmetric slope with submarine terraces to the west and a straight shape to the east. The northern profile is based on 407 samples (13.5%) at depths of −5,600 to −5,800 m, followed by 304 samples at −5,800 to −6,000 m (10%). The southern histogram has a bimodal distribution with two peaks: 523 samples (20%) with depths of −5,800 to −6,000 m. The second peak (10%) is on the Bonin Ridge. The GMT proved to be an effective instrument for marine geological mapping, 3D and 2D modelling, statistical analysis and graphical plotting.


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