Notes

Influence on particulate matters within India's many polluted urban centers due to long-term constraint in anthropogenic activities.
The primary outcome of the review is the proportion of men diagnosed with clinically significant prostate cancer in each arm (Gleason ≥ 3+4 = 7). IPD and study-level data and characteristics will be sought from eligible studies. Analyses will be done primarily using an intention-to-treat approach, and a one-step IPD meta-analysis will be performed using generalised linear mixed models. A non-inferiority margin of 5 percentage points will be used. Heterogeneity will be quantified using the variance parameters from the mixed model. If there is sufficient data, we will investigate heterogeneity by exploring the effect of the different conducts of MRIs, learning curves of MRI reporting and MRI targeted biopsies.

This systematic review is registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021249263).
This systematic review is registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021249263).
Ethiopia is one of the high burden countries for extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB); however, the prompt diagnosis of EPTB remains challenging. This study is aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of Xpert MTB/RIF and DetermineTM TB-LAM Ag (TB-LAM) for the prompt diagnosis of EPTB in Ethiopia.

A total of 147 presumptive EPTB patients, including 23 HIV- positive participants were enrolled. Extra-pulmonary samples were collected from all presumptive EPTB cases and tested for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) using fluorescent microscopy, Xpert MTB/RIF, and culture. XL092 nmr Additionally, urine samples were also collected from 126 participants and were tested by DetermineTM TB-LAM Ag (Alere Inc, Waltham, USA). The Sensitivity and specificity of Xpert and TB- LAM tests were calculated by comparing with a composite reference standard (CRS), which comprises smear microscopy, culture and response to empirical anti-TB treatment.

Of 147 patients, 23 (15.6%) were confirmed EPTB cases (culture-positive), 14 (ivity for EPTB diagnosis; however, the combination of TB-LAM and Xpert MTB/RIF improves the diagnosis of EPTB particularly for countries with high EPTB and HIV cases.Since July 2019, Gyaros island in the central Aegean Sea, enjoys the status of a partial Marine Protected Area (MPA), allowing for exploitation by small-scale fishers following specific spatio-temporal restrictions. The need for assessing the effectiveness of the MPA in the future, led MAVA Foundation to fund a knowledge survey project aiming to serve as a baseline for future reference. A series of experimental fishing surveys took place with static nets, the outcomes of which are presented herein. From June 2018 to September 2020, a series of 8 fishing excursions with a total of 40 experimental fishing sets with bottom static nets were realized in 5 set locations around Gyaros island, inside the MPA protection zone. A total of 75 species were identified; the most abundant species, in terms of biomass, being parrotfish-Sparisoma cretense, red scorpionfish-Scorpaena scrofa, common spiny lobster-Palinurus elephas, red porgy-Pagrus pagrus, little tunny--Euthynnus alletteratus, Mediterranean moray-Muraena helena, lesser spotted dogfish -Scyliorhinus canicula, forkbeard-Phycis phycis, surmullet-Mullus surmuletus, common cuttlefish-Sepia officinalis and common Pandora-Pagellus erythrinus. A comparison with similar data in adjacent areas outside the MPA allowed for assessing the effectiveness of the MPA based on four indicators species diversity index, species relative biomass index, key predator species abundance, and alien fish abundance. Based solely on the experimental fishing trials, the MPA seems to be functioning, since both species diversity and abundance were higher within the protected area. However, its performance may still not be considered as optimal, as this is indicated by the large proportion of undersized key predators (e.g. groupers), although more abundant and larger than the ones residing outside the MPA.In order to advance models of human oral mucosa towards routine use, these models must faithfully mimic the native tissue structure while also being scalable and cost efficient. The goal of this study was to develop a low-cost, keratinized human gingival model with high fidelity to human attached gingiva and demonstrate its utility for studying the implant-tissue interface. Primary human gingival fibroblasts (HGF) and keratinocytes (HGK) were isolated from clinically healthy gingival biopsies. Four matrices, electrospun collagen (ES), decellularized dermis (DD), type I collagen gels (Gel) and released type I collagen gels (Gel-R)) were tested to engineer lamina propria and gingiva. HGF viability was similar in all matrices except for Gel-R, which was significantly decreased. Cell penetration was largely limited to the top layers of all matrices. Histomorphometrically, engineered human gingiva was found to have similar appearance to the native normal human gingiva except absence of rete pegs. Immunohistochemical staining for cell phenotype, differentiation and extracellular matrix composition and organization within 3D engineered gingiva made with electrospun collagen was mostly in agreement with normal gingival tissue staining. Additionally, five types of dental material posts (5-mm diameter x 3-mm height) with different surface characteristics were used [machined titanium, SLA (sandblasted-acid etched) titanium, TiN-coated (titanium nitride-coated) titanium, ceramic, and PEEK (Polyetheretherketone) to investigate peri-implant soft tissue attachment studied by histology and SEM. Engineered epithelial and stromal tissue migration to the implant-gingival tissue interface was observed in machined, SLA, ceramic, and PEEK groups, while TiN was lacking attachment. Taken together, the results suggest that electrospun collagen scaffolds provide a scalable, reproducible and cost-effective lamina propria and 3D engineered gingiva that can be used to explore biomaterial-soft tissue interface.Religious responses to COVID-19 as portrayed in a major news source raise the issue of conflict or cooperation between religious bodies and public health authorities. We compared articles in the New York Times relating to religion and COVID-19 with the COVID-19 statements posted on 63 faith-based organizations' web sites, and with the guidance documents published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) specifically for religious bodies. We used computational text analysis to identify and compare sentiments and topics in the three bodies of text. Sentiment analysis showed consistent positive values for faith-based organizations' texts throughout the period. The initial negative sentiment of religion-COVID-19 coverage in the New York Times rose over the period and eventually converged with the consistently positive sentiment of faith-based documents. In our topic modelling analysis, rank order and regression analysis showed that topic prevalence was similar in the faith-based and public health sources, and both showed statistically significant differences from the New York Times. We conclude that there is evidence of both narratives and counter-narratives, and that these showed demonstrable shifts over time. Text analysis of public documents shows alignment of the interests of public health and religious bodies, which can be discerned for the benefit of communities if parties are trusted and religious messages are consistent with public health communications.Adolescence is a period of increased risk-taking behavior, thought to be driven, in part, by heightened reward sensitivity. One challenge of studying reward processing in the field of developmental neuroscience is finding a task that activates reward circuitry, and is short, not too complex, and engaging for youth of a wide variety of ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. In the present study, we tested a brief child-friendly reward task for activating reward circuitry in two independent samples of youth ages 7-19 years old enriched for poverty (study 1 n = 464; study 2 n = 27). The reward task robustly activated the ventral striatum, with activation decreasing from early to mid-adolescence and increasing from mid- to late adolescence in response to reward. This response did not vary by gender, pubertal development, or income-to-needs ratio, making the task applicable for a wide variety of populations. Additionally, ventral striatum activation to the task did not differ between youth who did and did not expect to receive a prize at the end of the task, indicating that an outcome of points alone may be enough to engage reward circuitry. Thus, this reward task is effective for studying reward processing in youth from different socioeconomic backgrounds.Causes for employee absenteeism vary. The commonest cause of work absenteeism is "illness-related." Mongolia's capital city, Ulaanbaatar, experiences high employee absenteeism during the winter than during other seasons due to the combination of extreme cold and extreme air pollution. We identified direct and indirect costs of absenteeism attributed to air pollution among private-sector employees in Ulaanbaatar. Using a purposive sampling design, we obtained questionnaire data for 1,330 employees working for private-sector companies spanning six economic sectors. We conducted 26 employee focus groups and 20 individual employer in-depth interviews. We used both quantitative and qualitative instruments to characterize the direct and indirect costs of absence due to illnesses attributed to severe air pollution during wintertime. Female employees and employees with a young child at home were more likely to be absent. Respiratory diseases accounted for the majority of reported air pollution-related illnesses. All participants perceived that air pollution adversely affected their health. Individual employee direct costs related to absence totaled 875,000 MNT ($307.10) for an average of three instances of three-day illness-related absences during the winter. This sum included diagnostic and doctor visit-related, medication costs and hospitalization costs. Non-healthcare-related direct cost (transportation) per absence was 50,000₮ ($17.60). Individual indirect costs included the value of lost wages for the typical 3-day absence, amounting to 120,000₮ ($42.10). These total costs to employees, therefore, may amount to as much as 10% of annual income. The majority of sick absences were unpaid. Overall, the cost of wintertime absences is substantial and fell disproportionately on female employees with young children.Cotton being the major fiber crop across the world is exposed to numerous biotic and abiotic stresses. Genetic transformation of cotton is vital to meet the world's food, feed and fiber demands. Genetic manipulation by randomly transferring the genes emanate variable gene expression. Targeted gene insertion by latest genome editing tools results in predictable expression of genes at a specified location. Gene stacking technology emerged as an adaptive strategy to combat biotic and abiotic stresses by integrating 2-3 genes simultaneously and at a specific site to avoid variable gene expression at diverse locations. This study explains the development of cotton's founder transformants to be used as a base line for multiple gene stacking projects. We introduced Cre and PhiC31 mediated recombination sites to specify the locus of incoming genes. CRISPR-Cas9 gene was integrated for developing CRISPR based founder lines of cotton. Cas9 gene along with gRNA was integrated to target Rep (replication) region of cotton leaf curl virus.
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