JURNAL AGROTEKNOLOGI
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Correlates of health-related quality of life in primary caregivers of perinatally HIV infected and HIV exposed uninfected adolescents at the Kenyan Coast
No full textBackground
Mothers and other primary caregivers play a crucial role in looking after perinatally HIV infected, and HIV exposed uninfected adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Day- to-day caregiving in the context of limited instrumental support and added biomedical risk (HIV seropositivity) may expose these caregivers to adverse states of health. Unfortunately, very few studies have examined their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Our study documents the HRQoL profile, and associated factors in primary caregivers of perinatally HIV infected, perinatally HIV exposed but uninfected and HIV unexposed/uninfected adolescents aged 12–17 years at the Kenyan Coast.
Methods
This was a cross-sectional analysis of 485 primary caregivers: 195 of perinatally HIV infected adolescents, 128 of perinatally HIV exposed but uninfected adolescents and 162 of HIV unexposed/uninfected adolescents. All caregivers completed a self-report measure of HRQoL (having 8 subscales), depressive symptoms, and parenting stress. They also provided their sociodemographic information and that of the care recipients. We used one-way analysis of variance to assess statistical differences among the groups. Linear regression analyses were used to identify correlates of HRQoL.
Results
Overall, caregivers of HIV unexposed/uninfected adolescents reported significantly higher mean HRQoL scores than the other caregivers in the overall HRQoL domain and majority of the subscales. There were no statistical differences in the overall HRQoL scores and most subscales between caregivers of HIV exposed adolescents. Linear regression analyses across the sample indicated that depressive symptoms, increasing age of caregiver, and caring for an adolescent perinatally exposed to HIV were significantly associated with reduced HRQoL at both the overall and sub-scale level. Having a professional job relative to subsistence farming was the only factor associated with improved overall HRQoL. At subscale level, higher socioeconomic status correlated positively with HRQoL while being a grandparent, level of education, parenting stress were negatively associated with HRQoL.
Conclusions
Caregivers in this sample, especially those who are ageing, at risk of mental ill-health, and taking care of adolescents perinatally exposed to HIV, appear to be vulnerable to poor quality of life. Inclusive and multi-component interventions tailored to the caregivers' psychosocial and mental needs will potentially enhance their quality of life
Jig-assisted modified Harrington reconstruction for metastatic bone destruction of the acetabulum
No full textIntroduction
We developed a technique using an indigenously designed jig to assist pin placement in producing a stable and long-lasting construct to augment the acetabulum combined with a cemented hip replacement in cases of metastatic destruction of the acetabulum. We describe our novel modified Harrington technique and retrospectively assess our cohort’s clinical outcomes and complications.
Methods
Between 2006 and 2019, 27 patients with a median age of 69 (49–81) years and a median ASA grade of III (II–IV) were managed using our modified ‘Harrington’ technique. We assessed outcomes on the following criteria: mechanical complications, post-surgery mobility, and functional outcome using Musculoskeletal Tumour Society Score (MSTS).
Results
At the last follow-up, ten patients were alive with disease [median follow-up of 26 months (12–74)], and 17 patients died of their oncological disease [median follow-up of 15 months (9–22)]. There were no perioperative deaths or intra-operative complications in our series. In total, ten complications were noted in nine patients (33%). Mobility-wise, 13 patients (48%) mobilised unaided, ten patients (37%) required a stick or crutch, two patients (7%) required a frame and two patients (7%) were wheel chair–dependent. The median MSTS score of all patients during their latest follow-up was 18 (8–26).
Conclusion
Our jig-aided modified Harrington reconstruction technique assists in safe placement of antegrade pins in acetabulum during surgery and offers a long-lasting solution to these high-risk patients. The use of large diameter pins, appropriate patient selection, and cage used during construction in the acetabulum demonstrated relief of pain, improved mobility, and favorable functional outcomes with minimal complication rates
Pure pairs VI. Excluding an ordered tree
No full textA pure pair in a graph is a pair of disjoint sets of vertices such that either every vertex in is adjacent to every vertex in , or there are no edges between and . With Maria Chudnovsky, we recently proved that, for every forest , every graph with at least two vertices that does not contain or its complement as an induced subgraph has a pure pair with linear in . Here we investigate what we can say about pure pairs in an ordered graph , when we exclude an ordered forest and its complement as induced subgraphs. Fox showed that there need not be a linear pure pair; but Pach and Tomon showed that if is a monotone path, then there is a pure pair of size . We generalize this to all ordered forests, at the cost of a slightly worse bound: we prove that, for every ordered forest , every ordered graph with at least two vertices that does not contain or its complement as an induced subgraph has a pure pair of size
Cryptic SARS-CoV2-spike-with-sugar interactions revealed by ‘universal-STA’
No full textRaw STD NMR data for mixtures of ligands and a variety of proteins, including the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Data specific information is included in the README.txt file
Methodological challenges surrounding QALY estimation for paediatric economic evaluation
No full textCost-utility analysis remains the preferred form of economic evaluation for health technology assessment, pricing and reimbursement authorities in several countries. The results of cost-utility analyses are commonly expressed in terms of incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained where the QALY combines length of life and health-related quality of life in a single metric. This commentary provides an overview of key methodological challenges surrounding QALY estimation for paediatric economic evaluation. These challenges include issues surrounding the relevant attributes to incorporate into measurement instruments, appropriate respondents for the measurement and valuation tasks, perspectives adopted when completing valuation tasks, potential sources of bias in the description and valuation processes, and the paucity of psychometric evidence for existing measures. In addition, the commentary considers methodological challenges raised by research aimed at assessing whether a QALY gain by a child should be valued equally to a QALY gain by an adult
Signs indicative of central sensitization are present but not associated with the central sensitization inventory in patients with focal nerve injury
No full textObjective: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common focal nerve injury. People with CTS may show alterations in central processing of nociceptive information. It remains unclear whether the central sensitization inventory (CSI) is capable of detecting such altered central pain processing.
Methods: Thirty healthy volunteers were matched with 30 people with unilateral CTS from the orthopaedic waitlist. Changes to central pain processing were established through psychophysical sensory testing (bilateral pressure pain thresholds (PPT), conditioned pain modulation, temporal summation) and pain distribution on body charts. Patients also completed pain severity and function questionnaires, psychological questionnaires and the CSI.
Results: Compared to healthy volunteers, patients with CTS have lower PPTs over the carpal tunnel bilaterally (t = −4.06, p < 0.0001 ipsilateral and t = −4.58, p < 0.0001 contralateral) and reduced conditioned pain modulation efficacy (t = −7.31, p <0.0001) but no differences in temporal summation (t = 0.52, p = 0.60). The CSI was not associated with psychophysical measures or pain distributions indicative of altered central pain processing. However, there was a correlation of the CSI with the Beck Depression Inventory (r = 0.426; p = 0.019).
Conclusion: Patients with CTS show signs of altered central pain mechanisms. The CSI seems unsuitable to detect changes in central pain processing but is rather associated with psychological factors in people with focal nerve injuries
A spin glass model for the loss surfaces of generative adversarial networks
No full textWe present a novel mathematical model that seeks to capture the key design feature of generative adversarial networks (GANs). Our model consists of two interacting spin glasses, and we conduct an extensive theoretical analysis of the complexity of the model’s critical points using techniques from Random Matrix Theory. The result is insights into the loss surfaces of large GANs that build upon prior insights for simpler networks, but also reveal new structure unique to this setting which explains the greater difficulty of training GANs
A sub-micron resolution, bunch-by-bunch beam trajectory feedback system and its application to reducing wakefield effects in single-pass beamline
No full textA high-precision intra-bunch-train beam orbit feedback correction system has been developed and tested in the ATF2 beamline of the Accelerator Test Facility at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization in Japan. The system uses the vertical position of the bunch measured at two beam position monitors (BPMs) to calculate a pair of kicks which are applied to the next bunch using two upstream kickers, thereby correcting both the vertical position and trajectory angle. Using trains of two electron bunches separated in time by 187.6 ns, the system was optimised so as to stabilize the beam offset at the feedback BPMs to better than 350 nm, yielding a local trajectory angle correction to within 250 nrad. The quality of the correction was verified using three downstream witness BPMs and the results were found to be in agreement with the predictions of a linear lattice model used to propagate the beam trajectory from the feedback region. This same model predicts a corrected beam jitter of c. 1 nm at the focal point of the accelerator. Measurements with a beam size monitor at this location demonstrate that reducing the trajectory jitter of the beam by a factor of 4 also reduces the increase in the measured beam size as a function of beam charge by a factor of c. 1.6
Education of unaccompanied refugee minors in high-income countries: risk and resilience factors
No full textRecord numbers of unaccompanied refugee minors continue to arrive in high-income countries seeking asylum and protection. Despite receiving educational support, unaccompanied refugee minors continue to be vulnerable to negative educational experiences and outcomes. The review investigates what resilience factors enable unaccompanied refugee minors in high-income countries to have positive educational experiences and outcomes. It aims to inform the literature on risk and resilience factors and the development of future interventions. Eighteen articles met the eligibility criteria for the review. Twenty-six factors were identified as risk and resilience factors related to five socio-ecological levels: child, microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. The findings revealed significant heterogeneity. Microsystemic and mesosystemic factors were found to play the most important role in educational resilience. Meanwhile, young mothers, minors who experienced immigration detention, and minors whose immigration statuses are unknown or pending are sub-groups of unaccompanied refugee minors who are particularly vulnerable to risk. Findings are discussed with implications for future research, policy, and practice. Future studies need to elaborate whether their findings are particular to the condition of being unaccompanied or being refugee
Aplikasi Citra Drone untuk Klasifikasi Vegetasi di Cagar Alam Curah Manis Sempolan 1 Menggunakan Metode Manual, Object Base Image Analysis (OBIA), dan K-Means
Full text linkNowadays, vegetation classification can be used to find out the latest information about the characteristics and distribution of vegetation in an area. However, a conservative process to differentiate vegetation was ineffective. Some of those limitations are poor accessibility that does work less safety, time-consuming, and needs a lot of human resources. On the other hand, remote sensing offers solutions that cannot be done by the simple method, such as how to take the data, time-consuming are less, and human resource needs are less as well. The purpose of this study was to classify, measured the area of each vegetation, and compared the effectiveness of the unsupervised used K-Means algorithm and supervised used Object Base Image Analysis algorithm methods vegetation classification. For accuracy calculation with confusion matrix, the classification results of the two methods were compared with the manual digitization method. Data was taken using drones in the area of the Curah Manis Sempolan Nature Reserve 1. Classification of vegetation consists of 5 vegetation types, which was apak, bush, pine, bendo, and dadap. The total area of the study area was 1.633 ha, and area vegetation of each classification was apak 0.224 ha; bush 0.748 ha; pine 0.394 ha; bendo 0.222 ha; and dadap 0.045 ha. The results of the calculation of accuracy showed that the unsupervised method had a value for overall accuracy of 80% and kappa accuracy of 73.58%. Then, in the supervised for overall accuracy is 68% and kappa accuracy of 58.72%.
Keywords: classification, drone, remote sensing, satellit