Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Based on our recent studies the prevalence of polyclonal infection in tuberculosis clinical specimens is more than 50% in Tehran, Iran. With this background, Spoligotyping was performed on clinical specimens and their respective cultures, and we examined whether mixed infections interfere with the results or not. Based on the Spoligotyping pattern, among the fourteen patients, 57.1% had different genotypes in clinical samples and their respective cultures. These discrepant patterns were suggestive of polyclonal infections in clinical samples with possible overlapping Spoligotype patterns. We propose that in societies with high mixed infections (e.g. Iran), direct Spoligotyping on clinical samples can be controversial.

This project will provide a comprehensive investigation into the prevalence of alcohol-related harms and community attitudes in the context of community-based interventions being implemented to reduce harm in two regional centres of Australia. While considerable experimentation and innovation to address these harms has occurred in both Geelong and Newcastle, only limited ad-hoc documentation and analysis has been conducted on changes in the prevalence of harm as a consequence, leaving a considerable gap in terms of a systematic, evidence-based analysis of changes in harm over time and the need for further intervention. Similarly, little evidence has been reported regarding the views of key stakeholder groups, industry, government agencies, patrons or community regarding the need for, and the acceptability of, interventions to reduce harms. This project will aim to provide evidence regarding the impact and acceptability of local initiatives aimed at reducing alcohol-related harms. This study will gather existing police data (assault, property damage and drink driving offences), Emergency Department presentations and Ambulance attendance data. Further, the research team will conduct interviews with licensed venue patrons and collect observational data of licensed venues. Key informant interviews will assess expert knowledge from key industry and government stakeholders, and a community survey will assess community experiences and attitudes towards alcohol-related harm and harm-reduction strategies. Overall, the project will assess: the extent of alcohol-related harm in the context of harm-reduction interventions, and the need for and acceptability of further intervention. These findings will be used to improve evidence-based practice both nationally and internationally. This project has been approved by Deakin University HREC.

Bạo lực sản khoa là một rào cản thường bị bỏ qua trong việc sử dụng dịch vụ chăm sóc sức khỏe mẹ và bé chất lượng. Trong môi trường nghiên cứu, có bằng chứng hạn chế về bạo lực sản khoa. Do đó, nghiên cứu này nhằm đánh giá tỷ lệ và các yếu tố liên quan đến bạo lực sản khoa ở những phụ nữ sinh con tại Bệnh viện Đặc biệt Toàn diện Gondar, Tây Bắc Ethiopia. Tổng cộng có 409 phụ nữ tham gia nghiên cứu với tỷ lệ phản hồi đạt 100%. Ba phần tư (75,1%) phụ nữ báo cáo rằng họ đã bị chịu ít nhất một hình thức bạo lực sản khoa trong quá trình chuyển dạ và sinh nở với khoảng tin cậy 95% (70,9–79,0). Các hình thức bạo lực sản khoa được báo cáo bao gồm chăm sóc không theo sự đồng ý—260 (63,6%), chăm sóc không tôn trọng—226 (55,3%), hành vi lạm dụng thể chất—192 (46,9%), chăm sóc không bảo mật—132 (32,3%), chăm sóc bị bỏ mặc—52 (12,7%) và chăm sóc phân biệt—38 (9,3%). Ngược lại, không có người trả lời nào báo cáo về việc bị giam giữ do không thanh toán tại bệnh viện. Phân tích hồi quy logistic đa biến cho thấy rằng cư dân thành phố (AOR = 1,89; 95% CI 1,11, 3,22) và những người chỉ học tiểu học (AOR = 0,49; 95% CI 0,27, 0,91) có mối liên quan đáng kể với việc trải nghiệm bạo lực sản khoa. Nghiên cứu này chỉ ra tỷ lệ cao về bạo lực sản khoa. Do đó, cần có các can thiệp bằng cách xem xét các hình thức bạo lực sản khoa đã được báo cáo cũng như tình trạng xã hội-dân cư của những người tham gia.

Breast cancer (BC) is the most significant and lethal type of cancer in women. Although there are many newly develop chemotherapy drugs for patients with BC treating at various stages, drug resistance is the most important obstacle in their effectiveness for BC treatment. On the other hand, microRNAs are considered key regulators of genes involved in carcinogenesis and chemoresistance in cancers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of miR-152-3p and miR-185 in intrinsic chemoresistance and proliferation of BC. In addition, the potential role of these miRNAs during chemoresistance was evaluated through possible signaling pathways. Here, miR-152-3p was significantly downregulated in tumor tissues compared to the corresponding margin tissues in patients with BC (p-value ≥ 0.04407 and fold change = − 2.0552). In contrast, no statistically significant difference was observed in the miR-185 expression between the two groups. Furthermore, no significant correlation was found between the expression of these two miRNAs and subfactors, including cancer family history, abortion, and age. Downregulation of miR-152-3p could be considered a promising regulator of BC chemoresistance.

Maternal mortality rates in Ethiopia remain highest in the world. Information with respect to factors that influence preference of institutional delivery among pregnant women are of relevance for designing intervention programs to reduce these deaths. This study aimed to determine level and factors affecting preference of institutional delivery among pregnant woman in Debretabor, North West Ethiopia, 2017. Out of 399 respondents 394 were included in the analysis and making a response rate 98.7%. From a total of 279 (70.8%) respondents prefer health institution as their place of birth. Educational level of unable to read and write (AOR = 0.18, 95% CI 0.06–0.51), Primaryeducation (AOR = 0.25, 95% CI 0.09–0.68), monthly income category of 600–1000 ETB (AOR = 0.24, 95% CI 0.11–0.50), Gravida of more than five (AOR = 0.23, 95% CI 0.08–0.61) and lack of ANC follow up (AOR = 8.33, 95% CI 4–16.6) were significantly affect preference of health institution as place of delivery. Therefore, it is better to give more attention and emphasis on continues education about benefit of institutional delivery, strengthening ANC services and work to improve economic status of women.

This study was aimed to assess the magnitude of maternal near misses and the role of delays including other risk factors. A Hospital based cross sectional study was conducted at three referral hospitals of Amhara region on 572 mothers who came to obtain obstetrics care services from February 01 to July 30, 2018. The magnitude of maternal near miss was 26.6% (95% CI 23, 30). With regards to delays, 83 (14.5%), 226 (39.5%), and 154 (26.9%) of women delayed in the decision to seek care, in reaching care, and in receiving care respectively. Women who had no antenatal care [AOR = 3.16; CI (1.96, 5.10)], who stayed in hospital 7 days or more [AOR = 2.20; CI (1.33, 3.63)] and those who had delay in reaching health facility [AOR = 1.99; CI (1.10, 3.61)] were more likely to be near miss. While, women whose husband was able to read and write [AOR = 0.29; CI (0.09, 0.96)] and those with monthly household income between 2001 and 3000 ETB [AOR = 0.35; CI (0.18, 0.70)] were 71% and 65% less likely to be near misses respectively. Promoting antenatal care and increasing maternal health care access could have significant impact in reducing maternal near misses.

Delayed umbilical cord clamping (DCC) (≥ 60 s) is recognized to improve iron status and neurodevelopment compared to early umbilical cord clamping. The aim of this study is to identify current umbilical cord clamping practice and factors determining the timing of clamping in a low-resource setting where prevalence of anemia in infants is high. A cross-sectional study design including 128 observations of clinical practice in a tertiary-level maternity hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal. Overall 48% of infants received DCC. The mean and median cord clamping times were 61 ± 33 and 57 (38–79) s, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that infants born during the night shift were five times more likely to receive DCC (OR 5.6, 95% CI 1.4–38.0). Additionally, infants born after an obstetric complication were 2.5 times more likely to receive DCC (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.2–5.3), and babies requiring ventilation had a 65% lower likelihood of receiving DCC (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.13–0.88). Despite the existence of standard protocols for cord clamping and its proven benefit, the lack of uniformity in the timing of cord clamping reveals poor translation of clinical guidelines into clinical practice. Clinical trial registration ISRCTN97846009

High-throughput sequencing enables high-resolution genotyping of extremely duplicated genes. 454 amplicon sequencing (454) has become the standard technique for genotyping the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes in non-model organisms. However, illumina MiSeq amplicon sequencing (MiSeq), which offers a much higher read depth, is now superseding 454. The aim of this study was to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the performance of MiSeq in relation to 454 for genotyping MHC class I alleles using a house sparrow (Passer domesticus) dataset with pedigree information. House sparrows provide a good study system for this comparison as their MHC class I genes have been studied previously and, consequently, we had prior expectations concerning the number of alleles per individual. We found that 454 and MiSeq performed equally well in genotyping amplicons with low diversity, i.e. amplicons from individuals that had fewer than 6 alleles. Although there was a higher rate of failure in the 454 dataset in resolving amplicons with higher diversity (6–9 alleles), the same genotypes were identified by both 454 and MiSeq in 98% of cases. We conclude that low diversity amplicons are equally well genotyped using either 454 or MiSeq, but the higher coverage afforded by MiSeq can lead to this approach outperforming 454 in amplicons with higher diversity.

Pleural tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis often requires invasive procedures such as pleural biopsy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the IS 6110 sequence of M. tuberculosis in pleural fluid specimens as a rapid and non-invasive test for pleural TB diagnosis. For this cross-sectional study, 150 consecutive patients with pleural effusion diagnosed by chest radiography, who were referred for diagnostic thoracocentesis and pleural biopsy and met eligibility criteria, had a pleural fluid specimen submitted for real-time PCR testing. Overall, 98 patients had pleural TB and 52 had pleural effusion secondary to other disease. TB diagnosis was obtained using acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear or culture for mycobacteria and/or histopathologic examination in 94 cases and by clinical findings in 4 cases. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of PCR testing for pleural TB diagnosis were 42.8% (95% CI 38.4 - 44.8), 94.2% (95% CI 85.8 - 98.0), 93.3% (95% CI 83.6 - 97.7), and 48.5% (95% CI 44.2 - 50.4), respectively. The real-time PCR test improved TB detection from 30.6% to 42.9% when compared to AFB smear and culture methods performed on pleural fluid specimens, although the best sensitivity was achieved by combining the results of culture and histopathology of pleural tissue specimens. The real-time PCR test of pleural fluid specimens is a useful and non-invasive additional assay for fast diagnosis of pleural TB.