| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
- Ademuyiwa, Adesoji O., et al.
(author)
-
Determinants of morbidity and mortality following emergency abdominal surgery in children in low-income and middle-income countries
- 2016
-
In: BMJ Global Health. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2059-7908. ; 1:4
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Child health is a key priority on the global health agenda, yet the provision of essential and emergency surgery in children is patchy in resource-poor regions. This study was aimed to determine the mortality risk for emergency abdominal paediatric surgery in low-income countries globally.Methods: Multicentre, international, prospective, cohort study. Self-selected surgical units performing emergency abdominal surgery submitted prespecified data for consecutive children aged <16 years during a 2-week period between July and December 2014. The United Nation's Human Development Index (HDI) was used to stratify countries. The main outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality, analysed by multilevel logistic regression.Results: This study included 1409 patients from 253 centres in 43 countries; 282 children were under 2 years of age. Among them, 265 (18.8%) were from low-HDI, 450 (31.9%) from middle-HDI and 694 (49.3%) from high-HDI countries. The most common operations performed were appendectomy, small bowel resection, pyloromyotomy and correction of intussusception. After adjustment for patient and hospital risk factors, child mortality at 30 days was significantly higher in low-HDI (adjusted OR 7.14 (95% CI 2.52 to 20.23), p<0.001) and middle-HDI (4.42 (1.44 to 13.56), p=0.009) countries compared with high-HDI countries, translating to 40 excess deaths per 1000 procedures performed.Conclusions: Adjusted mortality in children following emergency abdominal surgery may be as high as 7 times greater in low-HDI and middle-HDI countries compared with high-HDI countries. Effective provision of emergency essential surgery should be a key priority for global child health agendas.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Thomas, HS, et al.
(author)
-
- 2019
-
swepub:Mat__t
|
|
| 10. |
- El-Seedi, Hesham, et al.
(author)
-
Metal nanoparticles fabricated by green chemistry using natural extracts : biosynthesis, mechanisms, and applications
- 2019
-
In: RSC Advances. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 2046-2069. ; 9:42, s. 24539-24559
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nanoparticles (NPs) are new inspiring clinical targets that have emerged from persistent efforts with unique properties and diverse applications. However, the main methods currently utilized in their production are not environmentally friendly. With the aim of promoting a green approach for the synthesis of NPs, this review describes eco-friendly methods for the preparation of biogenic NPs and the known mechanisms for their biosynthesis. Natural plant extracts contain many different secondary metabolites and biomolecules, including flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, phenolic compounds and enzymes. Secondary metabolites can enable the reduction of metal ions to NPs in eco-friendly one-step synthetic processes. Moreover, the green synthesis of NPs using plant extracts often obviates the need for stabilizing and capping agents and yields biologically active shape- and size-dependent products. Herein, we review the formation of metallic NPs induced by natural extracts and list the plant extracts used in the synthesis of NPs. In addition, the use of bacterial and fungal extracts in the synthesis of NPs is highlighted, and the parameters that influence the rate of particle production, size, and morphology are discussed. Finally, the importance and uniqueness of NP-based products are illustrated, and their commercial applications in various fields are briefly featured.
|
|
| 11. |
|
|
| 12. |
|
|
| 13. |
- Ikuta, K. S., et al.
(author)
-
Global mortality associated with 33 bacterial pathogens in 2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019
- 2022
-
In: Lancet. - : Elsevier BV. - 0140-6736. ; 400:10369, s. 2221-2248
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Reducing the burden of death due to infection is an urgent global public health priority. Previous studies have estimated the number of deaths associated with drug-resistant infections and sepsis and found that infections remain a leading cause of death globally. Understanding the global burden of common bacterial pathogens (both susceptible and resistant to antimicrobials) is essential to identify the greatest threats to public health. To our knowledge, this is the first study to present global comprehensive estimates of deaths associated with 33 bacterial pathogens across 11 major infectious syndromes. Methods We estimated deaths associated with 33 bacterial genera or species across 11 infectious syndromes in 2019 using methods from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019, in addition to a subset of the input data described in the Global Burden of Antimicrobial Resistance 2019 study. This study included 343 million individual records or isolates covering 11 361 study-location-years. We used three modelling steps to estimate the number of deaths associated with each pathogen: deaths in which infection had a role, the fraction of deaths due to infection that are attributable to a given infectious syndrome, and the fraction of deaths due to an infectious syndrome that are attributable to a given pathogen. Estimates were produced for all ages and for males and females across 204 countries and territories in 2019. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) were calculated for final estimates of deaths and infections associated with the 33 bacterial pathogens following standard GBD methods by taking the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles across 1000 posterior draws for each quantity of interest. Findings From an estimated 13.7 million (95% UI 10.9-17.1) infection-related deaths in 2019, there were 7.7 million deaths (5.7-10.2) associated with the 33 bacterial pathogens (both resistant and susceptible to antimicrobials) across the 11 infectious syndromes estimated in this study. We estimated deaths associated with the 33 bacterial pathogens to comprise 13.6% (10.2-18.1) of all global deaths and 56.2% (52.1-60.1) of all sepsis-related deaths in 2019. Five leading pathogens-Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa-were responsible for 54.9% (52.9-56.9) of deaths among the investigated bacteria. The deadliest infectious syndromes and pathogens varied by location and age. The age-standardised mortality rate associated with these bacterial pathogens was highest in the sub-Saharan Africa super-region, with 230 deaths (185-285) per 100 000 population, and lowest in the high-income super-region, with 52.2 deaths (37.4-71.5) per 100 000 population. S aureus was the leading bacterial cause of death in 135 countries and was also associated with the most deaths in individuals older than 15 years, globally. Among children younger than 5 years, S pneumoniae was the pathogen associated with the most deaths. In 2019, more than 6 million deaths occurred as a result of three bacterial infectious syndromes, with lower respiratory infections and bloodstream infections each causing more than 2 million deaths and peritoneal and intra-abdominal infections causing more than 1 million deaths. Interpretation The 33 bacterial pathogens that we investigated in this study are a substantial source of health loss globally, with considerable variation in their distribution across infectious syndromes and locations. Compared with GBD Level 3 underlying causes of death, deaths associated with these bacteria would rank as the second leading cause of death globally in 2019; hence, they should be considered an urgent priority for intervention within the global health community. Strategies to address the burden of bacterial infections include infection prevention, optimised use of antibiotics, improved capacity for microbiological analysis, vaccine development, and improved and more pervasive use of available vaccines. These estimates can be used to help set priorities for vaccine need, demand, and development. Copyright (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
|
|
| 14. |
|
|
| 15. |
|
|
| 16. |
|
|
| 17. |
- Akbar, Nabeela, et al.
(author)
-
Tunning tin-based perovskite as an electrolyte for semiconductor protonic fuel cells
- 2022
-
In: International journal of hydrogen energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0360-3199 .- 1879-3487. ; 47:8, s. 5531-5540
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The use of ceramic semiconductors to serve as an efficient proton conductor is an evolving approach in the novel emerging field of semiconductor protonic fuel cells (SPFCs). One of the most critical challenges in SPFCs is to design a sufficient proton-conductivity of 0.1 S cm(-1) below <600 degrees C. Here we report to tune the perovskite BaSnO3 (BSO), a semi-conductor single-phase material, to be applied as a proton-conducting electrolyte for SPFC. It was found that the oxygen vacancies play a vital role to promote proton transport while the electronic short-circuiting issue of BSO semiconductor has been justified by the Schottky junction mechanism at the anode/electrolyte interface. We have demonstrated a SPFC device to deliver a maximum power density of 843 mW cm(-2) with an ionic conductivity of 0.23 S cm(-1) for BSO at 550 degrees C. The oxygen vacancy formation by increasing the annealing temperature helps to understand the proton transport mechanism in BSO and such novel low-temperature SPFC (LT-SPFC).
|
|
| 18. |
- Flannick, Jason, et al.
(author)
-
Data Descriptor : Sequence data and association statistics from 12,940 type 2 diabetes cases and controls
- 2017
-
In: Scientific Data. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2052-4463. ; 4
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To investigate the genetic basis of type 2 diabetes (T2D) to high resolution, the GoT2D and T2D-GENES consortia catalogued variation from whole-genome sequencing of 2,657 European individuals and exome sequencing of 12,940 individuals of multiple ancestries. Over 27M SNPs, indels, and structural variants were identified, including 99% of low-frequency (minor allele frequency [MAF] 0.1-5%) non-coding variants in the whole-genome sequenced individuals and 99.7% of low-frequency coding variants in the whole-exome sequenced individuals. Each variant was tested for association with T2D in the sequenced individuals, and, to increase power, most were tested in larger numbers of individuals (> 80% of low-frequency coding variants in similar to ~82 K Europeans via the exome chip, and similar to ~90% of low-frequency non-coding variants in similar to ~44 K Europeans via genotype imputation). The variants, genotypes, and association statistics from these analyses provide the largest reference to date of human genetic information relevant to T2D, for use in activities such as T2D-focused genotype imputation, functional characterization of variants or genes, and other novel analyses to detect associations between sequence variation and T2D.
|
|
| 19. |
- Fuchsberger, Christian, et al.
(author)
-
The genetic architecture of type 2 diabetes
- 2016
-
In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 536:7614, s. 41-47
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The genetic architecture of common traits, including the number, frequency, and effect sizes of inherited variants that contribute to individual risk, has been long debated. Genome-wide association studies have identified scores of common variants associated with type 2 diabetes, but in aggregate, these explain only a fraction of the heritability of this disease. Here, to test the hypothesis that lower-frequency variants explain much of the remainder, the GoT2D and T2D-GENES consortia performed whole-genome sequencing in 2,657 European individuals with and without diabetes, and exome sequencing in 12,940 individuals from five ancestry groups. To increase statistical power, we expanded the sample size via genotyping and imputation in a further 111,548 subjects. Variants associated with type 2 diabetes after sequencing were overwhelmingly common and most fell within regions previously identified by genome-wide association studies. Comprehensive enumeration of sequence variation is necessary to identify functional alleles that provide important clues to disease pathophysiology, but large-scale sequencing does not support the idea that lower-frequency variants have a major role in predisposition to type 2 diabetes.
|
|
| 20. |
- Hassan, Mahdi Mohammad, 1977-, et al.
(author)
-
Testability and Software Performance : A Systematic Mapping Study
- 2016
-
In: SAC '16. - New York, NY : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). - 9781450337397 ; , s. 1566-1569
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In most of the research on software testability, functional correctness of the software has been the focus while the evidence regarding testability and non-functional properties such as performance is sporadic. The objective of this study is to present the current state-of-the-art related to issues of importance, types and domains of software under test, types of research, contribution types and design evaluation methods concerning testability and software performance. We find that observability, controllability and testing effort are the main testability issues while timeliness and response time (i.e., time constraints) are the main performance issues in focus. The primary studies in the area use diverse types of software under test within different domains, with realtime systems as being a dominant domain. The researchers have proposed many different methods in the area, however these methods lack implementation in practice.
|
|
| 21. |
- Khan, Shah Nawaz, et al.
(author)
-
Numerical investigation of thermomechanical behavior of Yttrium barium zirconate-coated aluminum alloy piston in an internal combustion engine
- 2024
-
In: Applied Thermal Engineering. - : Elsevier. - 1359-4311 .- 1873-5606. ; 236:part B
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Increasing engine power to volume density is under investigation and being analysed extensively. Turbocharger, which is used to boost volumetric efficiency, also raises cylinder temperature and pressure, thus resulting in thermal distortions and reducing clearances in tribo-contacts, thereby compromising engine life. Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) have shown potential to provide remedies to reduce heat losses, hazardous emissions, and heat flow toward the piston skirt in an internal combustion engine. In this study, a detailed thermo-mechanical analysis was performed for a diesel engine piston with a novel yttrium barium zirconate (YBZ) coating and then compared with other TBCs with varying thicknesses. The results revealed a notable decrease in piston substrate surface temperature when coated with various TBCs, with YBZ coating demonstrating superior performance over others. The 0.2 mm coating of YBZ-coated piston exhibited significant reductions of 15% and 10.3% in temperature and thermal stress respectively, thus enhancing piston durability. The better performance of the novel YBZ coating could be attributed to its stable thermal and elastic properties and lower thermal conductivity than other TBC materials. YBZ coating provides a promising solution to improve engine efficiency while extending engine life, making it an attractive option for the automotive industry.
|
|
| 22. |
- Manning, Alisa, et al.
(author)
-
A Low-Frequency Inactivating AKT2 Variant Enriched in the Finnish Population Is Associated With Fasting Insulin Levels and Type 2 Diabetes Risk
- 2017
-
In: Diabetes. - : AMER DIABETES ASSOC. - 0012-1797 .- 1939-327X. ; 66:7, s. 2019-2032
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To identify novel coding association signals and facilitate characterization of mechanisms influencing glycemic traits and type 2 diabetes risk, we analyzed 109,215 variants derived from exome array genotyping together with an additional 390,225 variants from exome sequence in up to 39,339 normoglycemic individuals from five ancestry groups. We identified a novel association between the coding variant (p.Pro50Thr) in AKT2 and fasting plasma insulin (FI), a gene in which rare fully penetrant mutations are causal for monogenic glycemic disorders. The low-frequency allele is associated with a 12% increase in FI levels. This variant is present at 1.1% frequency in Finns but virtually absent in individuals from other ancestries. Carriers of the FI-increasing allele had increased 2-h insulin values, decreased insulin sensitivity, and increased risk of type 2 diabetes (odds ratio 1.05). In cellular studies, the AKT2-Thr50 protein exhibited a partial loss of function. We extend the allelic spectrum for coding variants in AKT2 associated with disorders of glucose homeostasis and demonstrate bidirectional effects of variants within the pleckstrin homology domain of AKT2.
|
|
| 23. |
- Micah, Angela E., et al.
(author)
-
Tracking development assistance for health and for COVID-19 : a review of development assistance, government, out-of-pocket, and other private spending on health for 204 countries and territories, 1990-2050
- 2021
-
In: The Lancet. - : Elsevier. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 398:10308, s. 1317-1343
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background The rapid spread of COVID-19 renewed the focus on how health systems across the globe are financed, especially during public health emergencies. Development assistance is an important source of health financing in many low-income countries, yet little is known about how much of this funding was disbursed for COVID-19. We aimed to put development assistance for health for COVID-19 in the context of broader trends in global health financing, and to estimate total health spending from 1995 to 2050 and development assistance for COVID-19 in 2020. Methods We estimated domestic health spending and development assistance for health to generate total health-sector spending estimates for 204 countries and territories. We leveraged data from the WHO Global Health Expenditure Database to produce estimates of domestic health spending. To generate estimates for development assistance for health, we relied on project-level disbursement data from the major international development agencies' online databases and annual financial statements and reports for information on income sources. To adjust our estimates for 2020 to include disbursements related to COVID-19, we extracted project data on commitments and disbursements from a broader set of databases (because not all of the data sources used to estimate the historical series extend to 2020), including the UN Office of Humanitarian Assistance Financial Tracking Service and the International Aid Transparency Initiative. We reported all the historic and future spending estimates in inflation-adjusted 2020 US$, 2020 US$ per capita, purchasing-power parity-adjusted US$ per capita, and as a proportion of gross domestic product. We used various models to generate future health spending to 2050. Findings In 2019, health spending globally reached $8. 8 trillion (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 8.7-8.8) or $1132 (1119-1143) per person. Spending on health varied within and across income groups and geographical regions. Of this total, $40.4 billion (0.5%, 95% UI 0.5-0.5) was development assistance for health provided to low-income and middle-income countries, which made up 24.6% (UI 24.0-25.1) of total spending in low-income countries. We estimate that $54.8 billion in development assistance for health was disbursed in 2020. Of this, $13.7 billion was targeted toward the COVID-19 health response. $12.3 billion was newly committed and $1.4 billion was repurposed from existing health projects. $3.1 billion (22.4%) of the funds focused on country-level coordination and $2.4 billion (17.9%) was for supply chain and logistics. Only $714.4 million (7.7%) of COVID-19 development assistance for health went to Latin America, despite this region reporting 34.3% of total recorded COVID-19 deaths in low-income or middle-income countries in 2020. Spending on health is expected to rise to $1519 (1448-1591) per person in 2050, although spending across countries is expected to remain varied. Interpretation Global health spending is expected to continue to grow, but remain unequally distributed between countries. We estimate that development organisations substantially increased the amount of development assistance for health provided in 2020. Continued efforts are needed to raise sufficient resources to mitigate the pandemic for the most vulnerable, and to help curtail the pandemic for all. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.
|
|
| 24. |
- Rasool, Shahzad, et al.
(author)
-
Insight of proton transport phenomena in semiconductor ionic materials
- 2024
-
In: Journal of Power Sources. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-7753 .- 1873-2755. ; 598
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Semiconductor ionic materials (SIM) have recently gained broad attention due to their unique structural and chemical properties that enable efficient proton transport, making them promising materials for advanced fuel cell applications. This mini-review provides an overview of the proton transport phenomena in SIM and discusses their significance and future perspectives. We discuss the different types of SIMs, their proton transport mechanisms, and the factors that affect their performance. Furthermore, we emphasize the correlation between traditional perovskite oxides and SIMs and how this can be leveraged to improve the development of more advanced proton conductors for fuel cells. Also, we have highlighted the Proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) mechanism in SIM. This mini-review provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of this emerging field, including its scientific foundations, future prospects, and applicable materials, technologies, devices, and basics for proton ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs).
|
|
| 25. |
- Tran, K. B., et al.
(author)
-
The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010-19: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019
- 2022
-
In: Lancet. - 0140-6736. ; 400:10352, s. 563-591
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk-outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. Findings Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4.45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4.01-4.94) deaths and 105 million (95.0-116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44.4% (41.3-48.4) of all cancer deaths and 42.0% (39.1-45.6) of all DALYs. There were 2.88 million (2.60-3.18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50.6% [47.8-54.1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1.58 million (1.36-1.84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36.3% [32.5-41.3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20.4% (12.6-28.4) and DALYs by 16.8% (8.8-25.0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34.7% [27.9-42.8] and 33.3% [25.8-42.0]). Interpretation The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
|
|
| 26. |
|
|
| 27. |
- Yousaf, M., et al.
(author)
-
Evaluation of rare earth (Yb, La) doped (Sm3Fe5O12) garnet ferrite membrane for LT-SOFC
- 2020
-
In: International journal of hydrogen energy. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0360-3199 .- 1879-3487.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Rare earth element doping is a popular methodology for improving the electrical and electrochemical properties of materials. Inspired by this ideology, garnet ferrite material Sm3Fe5O12 (SFO) doped by rare earth (Yb, La) metal ions to form Sm3-0.5Yb0.5Fe5O12 (SYFO) and Sm3-0.5La0·5Fe5O12 (SLFO). The samples are synthesized by sol gel auto combustion and have been applied as electrolyte membrane for the first time in low temperature solid oxide fuel cell (LT-SOFC). The results indicate that the as-prepared materials have triple charge transport (H+/O−2/e−) carrier which promotes the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) and oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) in SOFC at triple phase boundary region (TPB). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) reveals that the polarization resistance of SLFO membrane significantly reduces from 0.92 Ω-cm2 to 0.45 Ω-cm2 and the power output improve from 310 mW/cm2 to 650 mW/cm2 at 550 °C temperature in comparison with that of SYFO and SFO electrolyte supported cells. UV-vis diffused spectroscopy explains the semiconducting nature of the prepared materials due to the existence of optical bandgap in the semiconductor region. The further investigation also verifies the protonic conduction of SLFO membrane by constructing oxygen ion blocking fuel cell with configuration of Ni-NCAL/BZCY/SLFO/BZCY/Ni-NCAL having 427.94 mW/Cm2 fuel cell performance with 1.03 OCV at 550 °C temperature.
|
|
