Plos One
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Recent molecular diagnostic methods have significantly improved the diagnosis of viral pneumonia in intensive care units (ICUs). It has been observed that 222G/N changes in the HA gene of H1N1pdm09 are associated with increased lower respiratory tract (LRT) replication and worse clinical outcome. In the present study, the frequency of respiratory viruses was assessed in respiratory samples from 88 patients admitted to 16 ICUs during the 2014-2015 winter-spring season in Lombardy. ⋯ Overall, a greater number of H1N1pdm09 virus variants were observed using next generation sequencing on partial HA sequences (codons 180-286) in clinical samples from the LRT as compared to URT. In addition, 222G/N/A mutations were observed in 30% of LRT samples from ICU patients. Finally, intra-host evolution analysis showed the presence of different dynamics of viral population in LRT of patients hospitalized in ICU with a severe influenza infection.
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To evaluate the accuracy and precision of HemoCue 201 (HemoCue) and Masimo Pronto 7 (Masimo) devices for measuring hemoglobin (Hb) in epidemiological studies, having venous blood samples as a gold standard. ⋯ HemoCue and Masimo measure lower Hb concentrations than the gold standard. Their accuracy and precision levels are comparable. It is essential to ensure proper use of devices through enhanced training of field workers.
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Globally 2.5 million children under five years of age die every year due to vaccine preventable diseases. In Tigray Region in Northern Ethiopia, full vaccination coverage in children is low. However, the determinants of defaulting from completion of immunization have not been studied in depth. This study aimed to identify the determinants of defaulting from child immunization completion among children aged 9-23 months in the Laelay Adiabo District, North Ethiopia. ⋯ Postnatal care follow-up, household visits by health extension workers and maternal participation in women's development groups are important mediums for disseminating information and increasing knowledge to mothers about child immunization. To reduce the rate of defaulters, health providers should motivate and counsel mothers to attend postnatal care. Health extension workers should visit households at least once per month and strengthen mothers' participation in the women's development groups.
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Deceptive behavior is common in human social interactions. Researchers have been trying to uncover the cognitive process and neural basis underlying deception due to its theoretical and practical significance. We used Event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the neural correlates of deception when the participants completed a hazard judgment task. ⋯ In addition, hazardous information evoked larger N1 and P300 than safe information, reflecting an early processing bias and a later evaluative categorization process based on motivational significance, respectively. Finally, the interaction between honesty (truthful/deceptive) and safety (safe/hazardous) on accuracy and LPP indicated that deceptive responses towards safe information required more effort than deceptive responses towards hazardous information. Overall, these results demonstrate the neurocognitive substrates underlying deception about hazard information.
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Adequate diet is of crucial importance for healthy child development. In food insecure areas of the world, the provision of adequate child diet is threatened in the many households that sometimes experience having no food at all to eat (household food insecurity). In the context of food insecure northern Ghana, this study investigated the relationship between level of household food security and achievement of recommended child diet as measured by WHO Infant and Young Child Feeding Indicators. ⋯ Children living in food secure households were more likely than others to receive a minimum acceptable diet. Yet living in a food secure household was no guarantee of child dietary adequacy, since eight of 10 children in food secure households received less than a minimum acceptable diet. The results call for research into factors besides household food security in the search for determinants of child diet adequacy. In this study at least, household food security was a very weak marker of child diet adequacy. This finding is of significance to public health practice, since it calls into question any assumption that having enough food in a household necessarily results in adequately fed children.