| 1. |
- Ademuyiwa, Adesoji O., et al.
(författare)
-
Determinants of morbidity and mortality following emergency abdominal surgery in children in low-income and middle-income countries
- 2016
-
Ingår i: BMJ Global Health. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2059-7908. ; 1:4
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)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.
|
|
| 2. |
- Álvarez-Asencio, Rubén, et al.
(författare)
-
Nanomechanical properties of human skin and introduction of a novel hair indenter
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Journal of The Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials. - : Elsevier. - 1751-6161 .- 1878-0180. ; 54, s. 185-193
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The mechanical resistance of the stratum corneum, the outermost layer of skin, to deformation has been evaluated at different length scales using Atomic Force Microscopy. Nanomechanical surface mapping was first conducted using a sharp silicon tip and revealed that Young’s modulus of the stratum corneum varied over the surface with a mean value of about 0.4 GPa. Force indentation measurements showed permanent deformation of the skin surface only at high applied loads (above 4 μN). The latter effect was further demonstrated using nanomechanical imaging in which the obtained depth profiles clearly illustrate the effects of increased normal force on the elastic/plastic surface deformation. Force measurements utilizing the single hair fiber probe supported the nanoindentation results of the stratum corneum being highly elastic at the nanoscale, but revealed that the lateral scale of the deformation determines the effective elastic modulus.This result resolves the fact that the reported values in the literature vary greatly and will help to understand the biophysics of the interaction of razor cut hairs that curl back during growth and interact with the skin.
|
|
| 3. |
- Guillén, Yolanda, et al.
(författare)
-
Genomics of ecological adaptation in cactophilic Drosophila.
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Genome Biology and Evolution. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1759-6653. ; 7:1, s. 349-66
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cactophilic Drosophila species provide a valuable model to study gene-environment interactions and ecological adaptation. Drosophila buzzatii and Drosophila mojavensis are two cactophilic species that belong to the repleta group, but have very different geographical distributions and primary host plants. To investigate the genomic basis of ecological adaptation, we sequenced the genome and developmental transcriptome of D. buzzatii and compared its gene content with that of D. mojavensis and two other noncactophilic Drosophila species in the same subgenus. The newly sequenced D. buzzatii genome (161.5 Mb) comprises 826 scaffolds (>3 kb) and contains 13,657 annotated protein-coding genes. Using RNA sequencing data of five life-stages we found expression of 15,026 genes, 80% protein-coding genes, and 20% noncoding RNA genes. In total, we detected 1,294 genes putatively under positive selection. Interestingly, among genes under positive selection in the D. mojavensis lineage, there is an excess of genes involved in metabolism of heterocyclic compounds that are abundant in Stenocereus cacti and toxic to nonresident Drosophila species. We found 117 orphan genes in the shared D. buzzatii-D. mojavensis lineage. In addition, gene duplication analysis identified lineage-specific expanded families with functional annotations associated with proteolysis, zinc ion binding, chitin binding, sensory perception, ethanol tolerance, immunity, physiology, and reproduction. In summary, we identified genetic signatures of adaptation in the shared D. buzzatii-D. mojavensis lineage, and in the two separate D. buzzatii and D. mojavensis lineages. Many of the novel lineage-specific genomic features are promising candidates for explaining the adaptation of these species to their distinct ecological niches.
|
|
| 4. |
- Inserillo, Daniel R., et al.
(författare)
-
Transient Swainson's Thrush (Catharus Ustulatus) Wintering In The Andean Foothills of Ecuador are Almost Exclusively Young Males
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Ornitologia Neotropical. - : Neotropical Ornithological Society. - 1075-4377. ; 31, s. 98-105
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We know relatively little about the non-breeding period of most migratory birds. Decades of research on Swainson’s Thrush (Catharus ustulatus) has focused on their breeding ecology, whereas their non-breeding ecology is limited to broad patterns of distribution and migratory stop-over ecology. For the nearly 50 years, the US Breeding Bird Survey recorded declines of 0.7% per year for the Russet-backed Swainson’s Thrush (C. u. swainsonii) subspecies, which spends the non-breeding period in South America. However, there is an insufficient understanding of the constraints across their annual cycle to determine reasons for the sustained decline. In 2013 and 2014, we examined their little studied non-breeding period on the Andean slopes of Ecuador where prior experience showed that they were seasonally abundant. Here rapid deforestation threatens primary forest. We used point counts and radio telemetry to evaluate whether primary forest was used preferentially to recently regenerated second-growth forest. From point counts, 76% of detections and almost all captured individuals occurred in secondary forest. Of 86 birds captured in mist nets, 85 were males and 83 young of the year, indicating a highly skewed ratio in favor of young males. Radio telemetry demonstrated preference for secondary forest, especially for fruiting Cecropia spp. trees, with no apparent territorial behavior by those tracked and with short residency times. A marked decrease in density over the course of the field season suggests an itinerant population possibly tracking the ephemeral use of fruit resources. Alternatively, these temporal and spatial patterns could suggest that this population undergoes a mid-winter intratropical migration or at least landscape-level movements. However, we observed thrushes throughout our extended sampling period suggesting transiency with high turnover. Together, this study documents demographic separation during the non-breeding period with preference for of secondary forest and high transiency, important findings in informing management across the annual cycle.
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
