scholarly journals Alteration in Nasopharyngeal Microbiota Profile in Aged Patients with COVID-19

Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1622
Author(s):  
Ravindra Kolhe ◽  
Nikhil Shri Sahajpal ◽  
Sagar Vyavahare ◽  
Akhilesh S. Dhanani ◽  
Satish Adusumilli ◽  
...  

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) is an infectious virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmitted mainly through droplets and aerosol affecting the respiratory tract and lungs. Little is known regarding why some individuals are more susceptible than others and develop severe symptoms. In this study, we analyzed the nasopharyngeal microbiota profile of aged patients with COVID-19 (asymptomatic vs. symptomatic) vs. healthy individuals. We examined the nasopharynx swab of 84 aged-matched patients, out of which 27 were negative asymptomatic (NegA), 30 were positive asymptomatic (PA), and 27 patients were positive symptomatic (PSY). Our analysis revealed the presence of abundant Cyanobacterial taxa at phylum level in PA (p-value = 0.0016) and PSY (p-value = 0.00038) patients along with an upward trend in the population of Litoricola, Amylibacter, Balneola, and Aeromonas at the genus level. Furthermore, to know the relationship between the nasal microbiota composition and severity of COVID-19, we compared PA and PSY groups. Our data show that the nasal microbiota of PSY patients was significantly enriched with the signatures of two bacterial taxa: Cutibacterium (p-value = 0.045) and Lentimonas (p-value = 0.007). Furthermore, we also found a significantly lower abundance of five bacterial taxa, namely: Prevotellaceae (p-value = 7 × 10−6), Luminiphilus (p-value = 0.027), Flectobacillus (p-value = 0.027), Comamonas (p-value = 0.048), and Jannaschia (p-value = 0.012) in PSY patients. The dysbiosis of the nasal microbiota in COVID-19 positive patients might have a role in contributing to the severity of COVID-19. The findings of our study show that there is a strong correlation between the composition of the nasal microbiota and COVID-19 severity. Further studies are needed to validate our finding in large-scale samples and to correlate immune response (cytokine Strome) and nasal microbiota to identify underlying mechanisms and develop therapeutic strategies against COVID-19.

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiri Melumad ◽  
Michel Tuan Pham

Abstract In light of consumers’ growing dependence on their smartphones, this article investigates the nature of the relationship that consumers form with their smartphone and its underlying mechanisms. We propose that in addition to obvious functional benefits, consumers in fact derive emotional benefits from their smartphone—in particular, feelings of psychological comfort and, if needed, actual stress relief. In other words, in a sense, smartphones are not unlike adult pacifiers. This psychological comfort arises from a unique combination of properties that turn smartphones into a reassuring presence for their owners: the portability of the device, its personal nature, the subjective sense of privacy experienced while on the device, and the haptic gratification it affords. Results from one large-scale field study and three laboratory experiments support the proposed underlying mechanisms and document downstream consequences of the psychological comfort that smartphones provide. The findings show, for example, that (a) in moments of stress, consumers exhibit a greater tendency to seek out their smartphone (study 2); and (b) engaging with one’s smartphone provides greater stress relief than engaging in the same activity with a comparable device such as one’s laptop (study 3) or a similar smartphone belonging to someone else (study 4).


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Sri Hesthi Sonyorini ◽  
Sulastri Sulastri

At this time there is a health problem that is in the spotlight and attention of the world, namely the Covid-19 disease. This disease is caused by a virus called Corona Virus Disease – 19 or more popularly known as Covid-19. In response to this, the government has issued a policy or regulation to prevent the increase in the number of cases, namely in the form of a health protocol for handling Covid-19. The government has issued health protocols for handling Covid-19, including health protocols, borders, communications, education areas, and public and transportation areas, including policies in the form of implementing Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) in several areas in Indonesia. This study aims to determine the relationship between community         characteristics and the incidence of covid 19 in Payung Village, Weleri District.              Research design is descriptive correlation with sampling technique using simple random sampling with a sample of 58 respondents. Statistical analysis using chi square. From the results of the study, it was found that there was a relationship between age, gender, education and occupation with the incidence of Covid-19 in Payung Village, Weleri District with a p value <0.05.


2020 ◽  
pp. 174702182096851
Author(s):  
Ineke JM van der Ham ◽  
H Chris Dijkerman ◽  
Haike E van Stralen

The ability to distinguish left from right has been shown to vary substantially within healthy individuals, yet its characteristics and mechanisms are poorly understood. In three experiments, we focused on a detailed description of the ability to distinguish left from right and the role of individual differences, and further explored the potential underlying mechanisms. In Experiment 1, a questionnaire concerning self-reported left–right identification (LRI) and strategy use was administered. Objective assessment was used in Experiment 2 by means of vocal responses to line drawings of a figure, with the participants’ hands in a spatially neutral position. In Experiment 3, the arm positions and visibility of the hands were manipulated to assess whether bodily posture influences left–right decisions. Results indicate that 14.6% of the general population reported insufficient LRI and that 42.9% of individuals use a hand-related strategy. Furthermore, we found that spatial alignment of the participants’ arms with the stimuli increased performance, in particular with a hand-related strategy and females. Performance was affected only by the layout of the stimuli, not by the position of the participant during the experiment. Taken together, confusion about left and right occurs within healthy population to a limited extent, and a hand-related strategy affects LRI. Moreover, the process involved appears to make use of a stored body representation and not bottom-up sensory input. Therefore, we suggest a top-down body representation is the key mechanism in determining left and right, even when this is not explicitly part of the task.


Blood ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 114 (22) ◽  
pp. 3183-3183
Author(s):  
Prabhu Viswanathan ◽  
Upasna Goswami ◽  
Lakshmanan Krishnamurti

Abstract Abstract 3183 Poster Board III-120 Background Over the past 15 years, increased awareness and advances in management such as the widespread adoption of low molecular weight heparins and new anticoagulants have had a dramatic impact on practice; there are no large scale studies to determine the impact of these changes on the health care utilization and outcomes of DVT. We examined national statistics of the trends in hospital utilization for Deep Vein Thrombosis in the United States. Methods The Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) is one in a family of databases and software tools developed as part of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. For 2007 NIS contains all discharge data from 1,044 hospitals located in 40 States, approximating a 20-percent stratified sample of U.S. community hospitals. We examined trends for hospital utilization available through the NIS dataset. All descriptive statistics have been reported for DVT as ‘primary discharge diagnosis’ as well as ‘All discharge diagnoses’. Presence of ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes 453.0-453.9 were used to define DVT related hospitalizations. Results From 1993 to 2007 the number of annual diagnosis of DVT as one of “All Diagnoses' of DVT annually increased from 224,739 to 526,105 while the number of DVT as ‘Principal Diagnosis’ increased from 110,445 to 146,612. The average length of hospital stay has decreased from 7.6 days to 5 days (p-value <0.01). The average annual proportion of in-hospital deaths from DVT decreased during his period from 1.6% vs. 0.8% (p-value <0.01). FIG 1 For DVT as one of all diagnoses, the trends show a polynomial upward trend and the rate of increase is increasing every year (p value using T Test: 0.007). For annual number of discharges with DVT as primary diagnosis, there is a polynomial upward trend, with an index less than 1 and the curve is flattening out and the rate of increase is decreasing year over year (p value using T Test=0.0028). These findings suggest that the increase in DVT as primary diagnosis is not keeping pace with rapid increase in DVT as one of all diagnosis. For DVT as primary diagnosis, mortality rate was 1.6% and 0.3% respectively among those who underwent a procedure vs. those who did not undergo a procedure. Mortality for DVT as one of all diagnoses was 8.9% and 3.3% respectively among those who underwent a procedure vs. those did not undergo a procedure. Notably, a death in patients with DVT as one of all diagnosis was attributed to a variety of diagnoses, such as malignancies, infections and complications of implantation device. Rate of postoperative pulmonary embolism or thrombosis per 1000 surgical patients age 18 and over as a marker of Hospital-level Patient Safety Indicators age 18 and over adjusted for age, gender, comorbidities and DRG clusters, has increased from 6.3 in 1994 to 11.2 in 2006 FIG 2. From 1997 to 2006, the proportion of male patients increased from 43.1% to 45% while female patients decreased from 57% to 54.9%. (p-value <0.01) For the year 2007, with DVT as the primary or one of all diagnoses, OR procedures on vessels other than head and neck is the main principal procedure. DVT of extremities as primary diagnosis is associated with hypertension and hyperlipidemia as most important secondary diagnoses and for all DVT of the extremities as secondary diagnosis the most common primary diagnosis is pulmonary heart disease. Conclusions Survival for patients with DVT has improved and patients are likely to be discharged from acute care hospital earlier. We speculate that this could be the result of improved diagnosis and management including the use of low molecular weight heparins. Some of the changes in annual incidence may be attributed to earlier diagnosis and changes in ICD coding. However, the sustained increase in annual incidences of DVT as a secondary diagnosis and that of postoperative pulmonary embolism and thrombosis is a cause for concern and should prompt a review of strategies to prevent DVT among sick hospitalized patients. These data are subject to the well known limitations of administrative datasets, and underscore the need for large scale prospective study of the factors contributing to health care utilization and outcomes of DVT. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1152-1156
Author(s):  
Laxmi Sanjana Gadde ◽  
Srilatha Bashetti ◽  
Harika Maddisetty ◽  
Harshita Rao Balguri ◽  
Kumar Sai Sailesh

The present study was undertaken to observe the association between stress and eating behaviour with premenstrual syndrome. Thirty cases of premenstrual syndrome and thirty healthy, age-matched controls, were included in the study after obtaining written informed consent. Premenstrual syndrome questionnaire was used to identify participants with PMS. Stress perception was measured by using the perceived stress scale. PSS is a standard questionnaire, a global measure of perceived stress. The vulnerability of the eating disorder was assessed by using EAT-26. The value of R for the association of stress and eating behavior in participants with the premenstrual syndrome is 0.0981. Although technically a positive correlation, the relationship between your variables is weak. The value of R2, the coefficient of determination, is 0.0096. The value of R for the association of stress and eating behavior in healthy participants is 0.0077. Although technically a positive correlation, the relationship between your variables is weak. The value of R2, the coefficient of determination, is 0.0001. There were significantly high levels of stress score (P=0.0003) in the cases when compared to controls. However, the EAT-26 score is not significant (P=0.7288). A positive correlation was observed between the stress and eating behaviour in both healthy and premenstrual syndrome individuals. The study recommends further studies on a large scale to understand the association and underlying mechanisms to plan better management techniques and also to increase awareness in the student population.


Drones ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Jannette Quino ◽  
Joe Mari Maja ◽  
James Robbins ◽  
James Owen ◽  
Matthew Chappell ◽  
...  

Accurate inventory allows for more precise forecasting, including profit projections, easier monitoring, shorter outages, and fewer delivery interruptions. Moreover, the long hours of physical labor involved over such a broad area and the effect of inefficiencies could lead to less accurate inventory. Unreliable data and predictions, unannounced stoppages in operations, production delays and delivery, and a considerable loss of profit can all arise from inaccurate inventory. This paper extends our previous work with drones and RFID by evaluating: the number of flights needed to read all tags deployed in the field, the number of scans per pass, and the optimum drone speed for reading tags. The drone flight plan was divided into eight passes from southwest to northwest and back at a horizontal speed of 2.2, 1.7, and 1.1 m per second (m/s) at a vertically fixed altitude. The results showed that speed did not affect the number of new tags scanned (p-value > 0.05). Results showed that 90% of the tags were scanned in less than four trips (eight passes) at 1.7 m/s. Based on these results, the system can be used for large-scale nursery inventory and other industries that use RFID tags in outdoor environments. We presented two novel measurements on evaluating RFID reader efficiency by measuring how fast the reader can read and the shortest distance traveled by the RFID reader over tag.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Rika Hirano ◽  
Hideto Shirasawa ◽  
Shin Kurihara

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the latest information on the various aspects of polyamines and their health benefits. In recent years, attempts to treat cancer by reducing elevated polyamines levels in cancer cells have been made, with some advancing to clinical trials. However, it has been reported since 2009 that polyamines extend the healthy life span of animals by inducing autophagy, protecting the kidneys and liver, improving cognitive function, and inhibiting the progression of heart diseases. As such, there is conflicting information regarding the relationship between polyamines and health. However, attempts to treat cancer by decreasing intracellular polyamines levels are a coping strategy to suppress the proliferation-promoting effects of polyamines, and a consensus is being reached that polyamine intake does not induce cancer in healthy individuals. To provide further scientific evidence for the health-promoting effects of polyamines, large-scale clinical studies involving multiple groups are expected in the future. It is also important to promote basic research on polyamine intake in animals, including elucidation of the polyamine balance between food, intestinal bacteria, and biosynthesis.


VASA ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Hanji Zhang ◽  
Dexin Yin ◽  
Yue Zhao ◽  
Yezhou Li ◽  
Dejiang Yao ◽  
...  

Summary: Our meta-analysis focused on the relationship between homocysteine (Hcy) level and the incidence of aneurysms and looked at the relationship between smoking, hypertension and aneurysms. A systematic literature search of Pubmed, Web of Science, and Embase databases (up to March 31, 2020) resulted in the identification of 19 studies, including 2,629 aneurysm patients and 6,497 healthy participants. Combined analysis of the included studies showed that number of smoking, hypertension and hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) in aneurysm patients was higher than that in the control groups, and the total plasma Hcy level in aneurysm patients was also higher. These findings suggest that smoking, hypertension and HHcy may be risk factors for the development and progression of aneurysms. Although the heterogeneity of meta-analysis was significant, it was found that the heterogeneity might come from the difference between race and disease species through subgroup analysis. Large-scale randomized controlled studies of single species and single disease species are needed in the future to supplement the accuracy of the results.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-420
Author(s):  
Amella Gusty ◽  
Dachriyanus Dachriyanus ◽  
Leni Merdawati

Kinerja perawat merupakan hasil yang dicapai dalam melaksanakan asuhan keperawatan di rumah sakit. Terciptanya asuhan keperawatan yang optimal sangat diperlukan dukungan dari pihak rumah sakit salah satunya adalah menciptakan kualitas kehidupan kerja baik bagi perawat. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui hubungan antara kualitas kehidupan kerja terhadap kinerja perawat pelaksana di RSUD Teluk Kuantan. Jenis penelitian kuantitatif dengan pendekatan cross sectional. Jumlah sampel 120 responden yang diperoleh melalui proportionate simple random sampling. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan kualitas kehidupan kerja perawat RSUD Teluk Kuantan berada pada kategori sedang, kinerja perawat berada pada kategori kurang baik. Berdasarkan analisis kedua variabel teridentifikasi bahwa tidak ada hubungan antara kualitas kehidupan kerja dengan kinerja perawat pelaksana dengan  p value 0,817. Dimensi work context merupakan komponen yang memiliki hubungan dengan kinerja perawat pelaksana dengan p value 0,008, dimensi work life  tidak berhubungan secara signifikan dengan kinerja perawat. Kesimpulan penelitian diketahui tidak ada hubungan antara kualitas kehidupan kerja dengan kinerja perawat pelaksana. Ada hubungan dimensi work context dengan kinerja perawat pelaksana. Tidak ada hubungan dimensi work life dengan kinerja perawat.   Kata kunci: kualitas kehidupan kerja, kinerja, perawat pelaksana   THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE QUALITY OF WORK LIFE AND THE PERFORMANCE OF IMPLEMENTERS NURSES   ABSTRACT Nurse performance is the result achieved in implementing nursing care in a hospital. The creation of optimal nursing care is very much needed support from the hospital, one of which is to create a good quality of work life for nurses. This study aims to determine the relationship between the quality of work life and the performance of nurses at the Kuantan District Hospital. This type of quantitative research with cross sectional approach. The number of samples of 120 respondents obtained through proportionate simple random sampling. The results showed that the quality of work life of nurses at the Kuantan District Hospital was in the medium category, the nurses' performance was in the unfavorable category. Based on the analysis of the two variables, it was identified that there was no relationship between the quality of work life with the performance of implementing nurses with a p value of 0.817. The work context dimension is a component that has a relationship with the performance of nurses implementing with p value 0.008, the dimension of work life does not significantly correlate with nurse performance. The conclusion of the research is that there is no relationship between the quality of work life and the performance of the implementing nurses. There is a relationship between the dimensions of the work context and the performance of the nurses. There is no relationship between the dimensions of work life and nurse performance.   Keywords: quality of work life, performance, implementers nurse


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-140
Author(s):  
Qurrotul Aeni ◽  
Andriyani Mustika Nurwijayanti ◽  
Muhammad Khabib Burhanuddin Iqomh

Introduction: anxiety is a condition that will be experienced by children who experience hospitalization and must get attention and management. Anxiety during hospitalization that is not properly addressed will hinder treatment and affect child development. The purpose of the study: to determine the relationship between therapeutic communication nurses and the anxiety of preschool children due to hospitalizationMethod: The study design used descriptive correlation with a cross-sectional approach. The number of samples is 31 with purposive sampling. Collecting research data using a questionnaire.Results: The results showed a majority of therapeutic communication was 61.3%, anxiety in children due to hospitalization of 100% with severe anxiety was 58.1%, there was a relationship between therapeutic communication and children's anxiety (p = 0.001). Suggestions need to be carried out further research on the factors that influence the low therapeutic communication in nurses.Discussion: The results of the statistical analysis using the Spearman's Rho test got p value 0.001 (p <0.05) the relationship between therapeutic communication and the anxiety of pre-school age children who experienced hospitalization, therapeutic communication can be used as an action to prevent anxiety due to hospitalization in pre-school age children.Suggestion: need to do further research on the factors that influence the low therapeutic communication in nurses Keywords: therapeutic communication, anxiety, hospitalization.  


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