The relationship between mental health and risk of active tuberculosis: a systematic review

ObjectivesTuberculosis (TB) and mental illnesses are highly prevalent globally and often coexist. While poor mental health is known to modulate immune function, whether mental disorders play a causal role in TB incidence is unknown. This systematic review examines the association between mental health and TB disease risk to inform clinical and public health measures.DesignSystematic review, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.Search strategy and selection criteriaMEDLINE, PsycINFO and PsycEXTRA databases were searched alongside reference list and citation searching. Inclusion criteria were original research studies published 1 January 1970–11 May 2020 reporting data on the association between mental health and TB risk.Data extraction, appraisal and synthesisData were extracted on study design and setting, sample characteristics, measurement of mental illness and TB, and outcomes including effect size or prevalence. Studies were critically appraised using Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) and Appraisal Tool for Cross-Sectional Studies (AXIS) checklists.Results1546 records published over 50 years were screened, resulting in 10 studies included reporting data from 607 184 individuals. Studies span across Asia, South America and Africa, and include mood and psychotic disorders. There is robust evidence from cohort studies in Asia demonstrating that depression and schizophrenia can increase risk of active TB, with effect estimates ranging from HR=1.15 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.28) to 2.63 (95% CI 1.74 to 3.96) for depression and HR=1.52 (95% CI 1.29 to 1.79) to RR=3.04 for schizophrenia. These data align with evidence from cross-sectional studies, for example, a large survey across low-income and middle-income countries (n=242 952) reports OR=3.68 (95% CI 3.01 to 4.50) for a depressive episode in those with TB symptoms versus those without.ConclusionsIndividuals with mental illnesses including depression and schizophrenia experience increased TB incidence and represent a high-risk population to target for screening and treatment. Integrated care for mental health and TB is needed, and interventions tackling mental illnesses and underlying drivers may help reduce TB incidence globally.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42019158071.

Fiscal issues of entities’ non-financial reporting

The article identifies areas for strengthening the information value of non-financial reporting data, in particular in terms of its fiscal issues. The author substantiates the issues of disclosure of data on the impact of uncertainty on the entities’ activities based on the results of the analysis of scientific publications and generally accepted international documents. It is proved that high-quality non-financial reporting can serve as one of the tools for attracting additional funding for eliminating the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The article highlights the results of the analysis of non-financial reporting of state-owned enterprises to identify data on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their activities and compliance with the list of sustainability reporting indicators defined in the document “Guidance on core indicators for entity reporting on contribution towards implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals”, developed by UNCTAD ISAR. The paper substantiates that non-financial reporting data can serves as one of the information sources for decision-making at the state level in terms of avoiding fiscal risks (management report, report on payments to government). The core research methods used in the article: bibliometric analysis; synthesis; observation.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on European Students’ Negative Emotional Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Considerable changes to higher education approaches, as a response to the global coronavirus pandemic, has increased the stress on university students. The impact of these changes has had an effect on the negative emotional symptoms being experienced, which can lead to more severe mental health issues. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to determine the prevalence of anxiety, depression and stress during the coronavirus lockdown. A systematic review of three electronic databases (Google Scholar, PubMed and Medline) was conducted, with 13 studies from different European countries reporting data on students and their negative emotional symptoms identified. The random-effects model was used to perform the meta-analysis on anxiety, depression and stress. The overall pooled prevalence rate was 55% (95% CI: 45–64%) for anxiety, 63% (95% CI: 52–73%) for depression and 62% (95% CI: 43–79%) for stress. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on negative emotional symptoms has been serious with studies reporting high prevalence rates for these. Isolation, reduced social contact, duration of quarantine and restrictions, which are the characteristics of a lockdown, played an important role in increased negative emotional symptoms for students. Countries have to be aware of this situation and develop mental support strategies to mitigate the impact.

Cancellations and Transfers Related to New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation: An Analysis of Survey and Patient Safety Reporting Data From Ambulatory Surgical Facilities

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a cardiac arrhythmia characterized by an irregular rhythm and often rapid heart rate. People with AF can be symptomatic or asymptomatic and are at increased risk for stroke. In this study, we used two data sources—a survey and Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System (PA-PSRS) reports—to examine new-onset AF in Pennsylvania ambulatory surgical facilities (ASFs). The survey was developed and conducted to learn more about new-onset AF– related cancellations and transfers in Pennsylvania ASFs and to update the Patient Safety Authority ASF Cancellation and Transfer Tracking Tool. The survey response rate was 53.1%, with 50.9% of respondents indicating new-onset AF–related cancellations in the last year. A five-year review of PA-PSRS data revealed an increase in the number of new-onset AF–related cancellation and transfer events that occurred in the last two years. In 70.9% of the reports, patients were 65 years of age and older. A paucity of research on this patient safety issue led us to identify areas for future research.

ANOMALY DETECTION IN VESSEL TRACKING – A BAYESIAN NETWORKS (BNs) APPROACH

The paper describes the supervised method approach to identifying vessel anomaly behaviour. The vessel anomaly behaviour is determined by learning from self-reporting maritime systems based on the Automatic Identification System (AIS). The AIS is a real world vessel reporting data system, which has been recently made compulsory by the International Convention for the Safety of Life and Sea (SOLAS) for vessels over 300 gross tons and most commercial vessels such as cargo ships, passenger vessels, tankers, etc. In this paper, we describe the use of Bayesian networks (BNs) approach to identify the behaviour of the vessel of interest. The BNs is a machine learning technique based on probabilistic theory that represents a set of random variables and their conditional independencies via directed acyclic graph (DAG). Previous studies showed that the BNs have important advantages compared to other machine learning techniques. Among them are that expert knowledge can be included in the BNs model, and that humans can understand and interpret the BNs model more readily. This work proves that the BNs technique is applicable to the identification of vessel anomaly behaviour.

SEDRA: Selective Entry Dynamic Risk Assessment A mathematical model to safely keep the borders open during Covid-19

1.AbstractThe Covid-19 pandemic has brought the World to a near standstill for most of 2020 and 2021, causing chaos in international travel, driving many economies into the ground, particularly those largely based on tourism. The lack of standard tools to assist decision makers in structuring a coherent policy to allow foreign passengers into their county and the resulting panic-mode opening/closing the borders on every “new case” outburst or new variant “of concern”, have led several countries to costly and often meaningless decisions based on fear rather than science or logic. This study aims at providing a universal method to safely keep the borders open and allow conditional immigration to foreign passengers according to a “Risk Group” table that includes all the countries reporting data on their Covid-19 situation to the WHO and other organisms. The RG table is recalculated on a weekly basis according to a mathematical model described in this paper, dynamically assessing the status of the pandemic worldwide through the calculation of a “Safety Index” for each country. A prototype algorithm has been implemented in VBA/EXCEL and its results are published bi-weekly on a Github repository.

Social stratification without genetic differentiation at the site of Kulubnarti in Christian Period Nubia

Relatively little is known about Nubia’s genetic landscape prior to the influence of the Islamic migrations that began in the late 1st millennium CE. Here, we increase the number of ancient individuals with genome-level data from the Nile Valley from three to 69, reporting data for 66 individuals from two cemeteries at the Christian Period (~650–1000 CE) site of Kulubnarti, where multiple lines of evidence suggest social stratification. The Kulubnarti Nubians had ~43% Nilotic-related ancestry (individual variation between ~36–54%) with the remaining ancestry consistent with being introduced through Egypt and ultimately deriving from an ancestry pool like that found in the Bronze and Iron Age Levant. The Kulubnarti gene pool – shaped over a millennium – harbors disproportionately female-associated West Eurasian-related ancestry. Genetic similarity among individuals from the two cemeteries supports a hypothesis of social division without genetic distinction. Seven pairs of inter-cemetery relatives suggest fluidity between cemetery groups. Present-day Nubians are not directly descended from the Kulubnarti Nubians, attesting to additional genetic input since the Christian Period.

Reporting Data on Auditory Brainstem Responses (ABR) in Rats: Recommendations Based on Review of Experimental Protocols and Literature

Research in hearing science is accelerating, and a wealth of data concerning auditory brainstem responses (ABR) in various animal models is published in peer-reviewed journals every year. Recently, we reviewed studies using ABR measurements in tinnitus rat models. We found significant discrepancies in the outcomes of these studies, some due to different research approaches and others due to different methodologies. Thus, the present work aimed to collect comprehensive information on all factors influencing ABR recordings in rats and compile recommendations on ABR data reporting. A questionnaire with queries about animal husbandry, transfer, handling, and the exact test conditions before, during, and after ABR recordings was sent to 125 researchers who published the relevant studies between 2015 and 2021. Eighteen researchers provided detailed answers on factors related to ABR measurements. Based on the analysis of the returned questionnaires, we identified three domains reflecting animal-, equipment-, and experiment-dependent factors that might influence the ABR outcome, thus requiring reporting in published research. The analysis of survey results led to the compilation of recommendations for reporting ABR outcomes supported by a literature review. Following these recommendations should facilitate comparative and meta-analyses of ABR results provided by various research groups.