Using Population Survey Data to Model Determinants of HIV Status and Sexual Risk Behaviours

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continues to be disproportionately burdened by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In 2011, the region saw 1.8 million new infections, contributing to a prevalence of 4.9% among adults, or 23.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS. This thesis uses data collected by the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) to answer questions about risk factors and behaviours associated with HIV acquisition. I use logistic regression models to assess the impact of purported risk factors on sexual behaviours and HIV status. In Chapter One, I evaluate the association between respondents' condom use and their awareness of their own \local" epidemic. In Chapter Two, the association between hormonal contraceptives and risk of HIV infection is examined. The purpose of these analyses is to contribute to the body of literature that identifes factors that mitigate or contribute to risk for HIV infection, and help to inform public health policy.Master of Science (MSc

A prospective, multicentre study to investigate the efficacy,

Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2007 Jun;66(6):859-68. Epub 2007 Apr 25. A prospective, multicentre study to investigate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of octreotide LAR (long-acting repeatable octreotide) in the primary therapy of patients with acromegaly. Mercado M, Borges F, Bouterfa H, Chang TC, Chervin A, Farrall AJ, Patocs A, Petersenn S, Podoba J, Safari M, Wardlaw J; SMS995B2401 Study Group. SourceHospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, IMSS, Mexico City, Mexico. [email protected] Abstract OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of octreotide LAR (long-acting repeatable octreotide) in the primary therapy of acromegaly. DESIGN AND PATIENTS: Ninety-eight previously untreated acromegalics were recruited into this prospective multicentre study. A total of 68 patients successfully completed 48 weeks of the study period, received 12 doses of octreotide LAR 10-30 mg every 4 weeks, and constituted the population used for this analysis. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: A clinically relevant reduction (i.e. to 2.5 microg/l and 20%) tumour volume reduction was reported in 63% and 75% of patients, respectively. A reduction in the severity of symptoms of acromegaly was observed early in treatment and was maintained throughout the study period. CONCLUSION: Octreotide LAR represents a viable alternative to surgery for primary treatment of acromegaly leading to a progressive regression of tumour volume, a sustained control of biochemical abnormalities and an adequate relief of symptoms of the disease

A SHOX géndeletio előfordulása idiopathiás alacsonynövésben

INTRODUCTION: The isolated haploinsufficiency of the SHOX gene is one of the most common cause of short stature determined by monogenic mutations. The heterozygous deviation of the gene can be detected in 2-15% of patients with idiopathic short stature (ISS), in 50-90% of patients with Leri-Weill dyschondrosteosis syndrome (LWS), and in almost 100% of patients with Turner syndrome. AIM: The aim of our study was to evaluate the frequency of SHOX gene haploinsufficiency in children with ISS, LWS and in patients having Turner syndrome phenotype (TF), but normal karyotype, and to identify the dysmorphic signs characteristic for SHOX gene deficiency. METHOD: A total of 144 patients were included in the study. Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) method was used to identify the SHOX gene haploinsufficiency. The relationships between clinical data (axiological parameters, skeletal disorders, dysmorphic signs) and genotype were analyzed by statistical methods. RESULTS: 11 (7.6%) of the 144 patients showed SHOX gene deficiency with female dominance (8/11, 81% female). The SHOX positive patients had a significantly higher BMI (in 5/11 vs. 20/133 cases, p<0.02) and presented more frequent dysmorphic signs (9/11vs 62/133, p = 0.02). Madelung deformity of the upper limbs was also significantly more frequent among the SHOX positive patients (4/11, i.e. 36%, vs. 14/133, i.e. 10%, p = 0.0066). There were no statistically significant differences between the mean age, mean height and auxological measurements (sitting height/height, arm span/height) between the two groups of patients. CONCLUSIONS: The occurrence of SHOX gene haploinsufficiency observed in our population corresponds to the literature data. In SHOX positive patients, in addition to short stature, the dysmorphic signs have a positive predictive value for SHOX gene alterations. However, the SHOX deletion detected in a patient with idiopathic short stature without dysmorphic signs suggest that SHOX deletion analysis can be recommended in patients with ISS. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(34): 1351-1356

Aging research and design thinking: How interdisciplinary collaboration and stakeholder engagement can drive trainees' research impact

Aging research is increasingly seeking to solve complex challenges in a context where discovery to implementation and impact may take decades. Design thinking is an approach to problem solving that can accelerate impact by incorporating multiple perspectives, including those of interdisciplinary colleagues, stakeholders and end-users (including older adults), into research development and implementation. The objective of this study was to measure the research impact for 26 trainees (graduate students and postdoctoral fellows) who received funding and in-kind support from a central aging research institute for at least one year over the course of a five-year period (2017-2021). Trainees had varying uptake of these approaches to their aging research. Trainee respondents completed a survey that asked about interdisciplinary collaboration and design thinking approaches, including engagement with older adults, caregivers, and other stakeholders. Here we describe how these approaches were related to patterns in trainee success; trainees whose funded research involved more new collaborators - both within and outside of their discipline – reported more publications, conference presentations and invited talks associated with their research. Further, qualitative responses to survey questions regarding the impact of interdisciplinary and stakeholder interactions describe how trainees were able to make adaptive changes to methods, variables included for analysis, knowledge translation and implementation strategies. We conclude that, in this sample, trainees who engaged in greater interdisciplinary and stakeholder engagement had greater research impact, as measured via traditional academic metrics and more nuanced assessment of knowledge mobilization and implementationye

Co-design for interdisciplinary research communities

Complex research challenges facing society today require an integrative approach, therefore, interdisciplinary research is now required more often. By creating interdisciplinary research communities, we facilitate communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing between researchers from different fields. It can however be difficult to create interdisciplinary communities within universities, but co-design methods have been seen as being beneficial in doing so. Reporting and reflecting on three case studies (including N=130 participants), this paper aims to explore the use of co-design methods in creating interdisciplinary research communities In this paper, we focus on two main characteristics of co-design workshops. 1. Design/ Scheduling and Planning and 2. Workshop Formats, specifically co-design canvases. In doing so it seeks to 1. Offer a report and reflection on the three different co-design workshop approaches informing future co-design research and practice. 2. Understand how different formats of co-design help enhance interdisciplinary research communities in universities. It found that there were trade-offs in selecting approaches. Structured co-design approaches offer clear expectations and organisation but may limit creativity, while semi-structured approaches provide flexibility but may lead to reduced focus. Similar trade-offs were seen in the differing fidelities of canvas design. Low-fidelity canvases are inclusive but may lack detail, while high-fidelity canvases may limit creativity. Medium-fidelity canvases strike a balance between visual appeal and detail. It was found the best approach depends on the specific context and goals of participants; therefore, it is important to prepare in advance to tailor workshops to the needs and preferences of the participants involved.ye

Chromogranina A i jej rola w patogenezie cukrzycy

Chromogranin A is a member of the granin glycoprotein family that is expressed by the endocrine and neuroendocrine cells of different organs. Intracellularly, chromogranin A contributes to the regulation of secretion and gives several cleavage products after secretion. Some of its cleavage products modify the hormone functions in autocrine and paracrine ways, while the functions of others have not been fully understood yet. Serum chromogranin A level is most prominently used in neuroendocrine tumour diagnostics. In addition, recent studies have suggested that chromogranin A and some of its cleavage products (pancreastatin and WE-14) also play important roles in the pathogenesis of the various forms of diabetes mellitus, but their exact mechanisms still need to be clarified. Higher chromogranin A, pancreastatin, and WE-14 levels have been reported in type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetic patients compared to healthy controls. A notable connection has been inferred through the observation that type 1 diabetes mellitus is not at all or rarely developed in chromogranin A gene-knockout, non-obese diabetic model mice compared to non-knockout, non-obese diabetic mice. Pancreastatin inhibits insulin release in various cell and animal models, and WE-14 serves as an autoantigen for both CD4+ and CD8+ beta cell-destructive diabetogenic T-cell clones in type 1 diabetes. Chromogranin A contributes to the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus according to the available literature. The current findings facilitate further investigation to unravel the deeper relationships between this glycoprotein and diabetes

Fibroblast heterogeneity in the cancer wound

Fibroblasts regulate the structure and function of healthy tissues, participate transiently in tissue repair after acute inflammation, and assume an aberrant stimulatory role during chronic inflammatory states including cancer. Such cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) modulate the tumor microenvironment and influence the behavior of neoplastic cells in either a tumor-promoting or tumor-inhibiting manner. These pleiotropic functions highlight the inherent plasticity of fibroblasts and may provide new avenues to understand and therapeutically intervene in malignancies. We discuss the emerging themes of CAF biology in the context of tumorigenesis and therapy

Common Genetic Variants of the Human Steroid 21-Hydroxylase Gene (CYP21A2) Are Related to Differences in Circulating Hormone Levels

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA, PD100648 (AP)) Technology Innovation Fund, National Developmental Agency (KTIA-AIK-2012-12-1-0010). AP is the recipient of a “Lendület” grant from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Deep Learning Approaches Applied to Image Classification of Renal Tumors: A Systematic Review

Renal cancer is one of the ten most common cancers in the population that affects 65,000 new patients a year. Nowadays, to predict pathologies or classify tumors, deep learning (DL) methods are effective in addition to extracting high-performance features and dealing with segmentation tasks. This review has focused on the different studies related to the application of DL techniques for the detection or segmentation of renal tumors in patients. From the bibliographic search carried out, a total of 33 records were identified in Scopus, PubMed and Web of Science. The results derived from the systematic review give a detailed description of the research objectives, the types of images used for analysis, the data sets used, whether the database used is public or private, and the number of patients involved in the studies. The first paper where DL is applied compared to other types of tumors was in 2019 which is relatively recent. Public collection and sharing of data sets are of utmost importance to increase research in this field as many studies use private databases. We can conclude that future research will identify many benefits, such as unnecessary incisions for patients and more accurate diagnoses. As research in this field grows, the amount of open data is expected to increase.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This article is based upon work from COST Action HARMONISATION (CA20122). This research has been partially funded by the Spanish Government by the project PID2021-127275OB-I00, FEDER “Una manera de hacer Europa”