Biggest Health Research Articles

Social Media Big Data: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (Un)truths.

Social Media Big Data: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (Un)truths.

RETRACTED ARTICLE:Coastline land use planning and big data health sports management based on virtual reality technology

RETRACTED ARTICLE:Coastline land use planning and big data health sports management based on virtual reality technology

Expanding Dengue Vectors Through the Border of Dhaka City: Vector Breeding Grounds in Gazipur City Corporation, Bangladesh

With global expansion of vector borne diseases, dengue has emerged as a big health crisis and social problem in recent years in Bangladesh. Despite its endemicity since 2000, very few studies were conducted outside of the Capital Dhaka city regarding vector breeding status. Within this dark situation, the year 2019 reported the ever highest number of dengue cases of 101,354. Of them about 50% were from out of Dhaka. To reduce this burden, keeping the vector population density under threshold level is must. In the present entomological study, 100 houses were checked randomly from five areas of Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) during the month of September in 2019. Both of the Aedes vectors were found in all areas, but Aedes aegypti population was dominant. Rooftop garden and under construction site were identified as the most important vector breeding sites. Highly urbanized area (SA2) produced the highest and suburban area (SA4) produced the lowest Breteau Index (BI) of 110 and 15 respectively. The overall House Index (HI) and Breteau Index (BI) of the study areas were 16 and 49 respectively. Four kinds of containers, namely; cemented tank, drum, big earthen pot (chari) and buckets contained about 80 percent of immature Aedes and identified as key container among the positive containers. The Said study has identified comparatively higher number of Ae. aegypti breeding, which is potential for triggering any major outbreak. Further, large-scale surveillance in all administrative wards with a larger sample may indicate the real picture of vector infestation situation throughout the municipality. Bangladesh J. Zool. 49(1): 69-82, 2021

Correlation between atopy and Covid-19: A cross sectional study

The whole world is facing one of the biggest health related disasters of the century. As a novel disease, Covid-19 has so many parameters yet to explore. Objectives: To explore any correlation between atopy and Covid-19 among residents of Gujrat and Kharian, Punjab, Pakistan. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Methodology: This study with enrolled subjects (n=206) was carried out after ethical review committee’s (ERC) approval at Life Diabetes Centre, Gujrat and CMH Kharian Medical College (CKMC), over a period of 3 months, Kharian-Pakistan. Both male and female medical subjects were enrolled. Statistical analysis: Data was analyzed by SPSS software, version 17. Parameters like gender, allergy and treatment taken were presented as frequency and percentage. Chi square was applied to see the correlation with p-value <0.05 as significant. Results: Total 206 patients were randomly selected, 89 male and 117 females. Among 206, only 13 patients had allergy from different allergens. Only 2 patients required hospitalization and injectable treatment. Conclusion: We concluded that there is strong affiliation between atopy and Covid-19 presentations. Key Words: Covid-19, Atopy, Treatment and Gender.

Expanding Medicare to Adults at Age 60 Years-Medicare-for-More?

During the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, the big health care debate among candidates was over creating a universal “Medicare-for-all” system or a public option health plan available on a voluntary basis to anyone.

A Comprehensive Study on COVID-19 Epidemiology, Anatomical Assemblage and Its Mechanism

The COVID-19, or also called SARS-CoV-2, which is causative agent of probably inevitable disease which is of big global public health problem. COVID-19 is a positive stranded RNA virus that is majorly found in wildlife & humans. And the outbreak of Novel Coronavirus is unleashing chaos across the world due to inadequate risk assessment with reference to insistence of problem. The COVID-19 pandemic has enrolled in a critical novel phase. When compared to MERS & SARS, SARS-CoV-2 has transmitted more rapidly, because of increased globalization and adaptation of Novel coronavirus. However, the recent outbreak of COVID-19 showing an immediate requirement for therapeutics targeting SARS-CoV-2. Here, we have discussed the different symptoms in COVID-19, SARS, MERS & common flu as well as structure of virus regarding its immune response and we are providing a brief about the Indian traditional plants as conceivable novel therapeutic pathways.

Knockdown of ZFAS1 improved the cardiac function of myocardial infarction rats via regulating Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a big health threat in the world, and it is characterized by high morbidity and mortality. However, current treatments are not effective enough, and novel therapeutic strategies need to be explored. ZFAS1 has been proved to be involved in the regulation of MI, but the specific mechanism remains unclear. MI rats were constructed through left anterior descending artery ligation, and hypoxia cell model was also established. The proliferation, invasion, and migration of cells were detected via CCK8, traswell, and wound healing methods. Immunohistochemistry staining, western blotting, and qRT-PCR were used to detect the levels of molecules. Knockdown of ZFAS1 significantly increased the proliferation, migration, and invasion of cardiac fibroblasts. Knockdown of ZFAS1 remarkably improved cardiac function via decreasing infarction ratio and increasing vWF expression, left ventricular ejection fraction, and left ventricular fractional shortening compared with group MI. Knockdown of ZFAS1 also suppressed Wnt/β-catenin pathway in vivo. The inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin remarkably reversed the influence of shZFAS1 on cardiac function and cardiac fibroblasts viability. Therefore, Knockdown of ZFAS1 could improve the cardiac function of myocardial infarction rats via regulating Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. The present study might provide new thoughts for the prevention and treatment of MI damage.

Antimycotic potential of Kawayang tinik against pathogenic fungal species

The importance of discovering and obtaining new, natural and sustainable sources of potential drugs have been the focus of scientific communities due to the emergence of increasing cases of microbial resistance, one of the biggest health threats in our society today. This study aimed to determine the antimycotic potential of Bambusa blumeana (kawayang tinik) specifically its leaf, rhizome, root, inner culm and outer culm extracts using the agar well diffusion assay. Results of the study revealed that all kawayang tinik extracts produced statistically equal size zone of inhibition (ZOI) against Aspergillus niger at 1 mg/ ml concentration while the ethanolic root and leaf extracts showed larger ZOI against Penicillium chrysogenum compared to other kawayang tinik extracts. Furthermore, the results of the antifungal assay showed comparable activity of kawayang tinik extracts to Fluconazole, a pharmaceutically approved antifungal drug, at 1 mg/ml concentration. Phytochemical studies further revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, phenols, sterols, triterpenes and flavonoids in its different parts which may support its potential antimycotic properties.

THE PATH OF HUMANITY IN THE PANDEMIC OF COVID-19: THE CHOICE OF THE REALISTIC, OPTIMIST OR PESSIMIST SCENARIO

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), characterized as a pandemic, has been causing a global recession in the economic and health systems1-3. Brazil faces the biggest health and hospital crisis in its history. On the night of 26/03/2021, 3,158 lives were lost in just twenty-four hours. The gloomy record reflects the country's lack of control of the pandemic, with almost 300,000 fatalities from Covid-19. Nineteen states and the Federal District are high in lethality and mortality indicators.

A Burden of Physical Inactivity in School-Age Students: The Early Beginning of Cardiometabolic Risk

It is well-known that sedentarism has a close association with the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. The physical inactivity lifestyle contributes to the prevalence of obesity and hypertension in children, highlighting a big health problem since most individuals who were hypertensive and obese in childhood/adolescence become hypertensive and obese adults. On the other hand, physical exercise is a frontline non-pharmacological strategy to control and treat hypertension, as well as to prevent obesity, which should be encouraged among children/adolescents to [...]

Are older people with disabilities neglected in the COVID-19 pandemic?

Are older people with disabilities neglected in the COVID-19 pandemic?

The Right Not to Be Subject to Automated Individual Decision-Making/Profiling Concerning Big Health Data. Developing an Algorithmic Culture

Τhis paper explores the legal issues that arise from the collection and processing of Big Health Data in the light of the EU legislation on Data Protection, placing particular emphasis on the General Data Protection Regulation. Whether Big Health Data can be characterised as “personal data” or not is really the crux of the matter. The legal ambiguity is compounded by the fact that, even though the processing of Big Health Data is premised on the de-identification of the data subject, the possibility of a combination of Big Health Data with other data circulating freely on the web or from other data files cannot be excluded. Moreover, data subject’s rights, e.g., the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, are heavily impacted by the use of AI, algorithms and technologies that reclaim health data for further use, resulting in sometimes ambiguous results that have substantial impact on individuals. On the other hand, as the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed, Big Data analytics can offer crucial source of information. In this respect, this paper identifies and systematises the legal provisions concerned, offering interpretative solutions that tackle dangers concerning data subjects’ rights while embracing the opportunities that Big Health Data have to offer.

Research on the application of big data in regional industrial supply chain

Taking Artemisia industry, the pillar industry of Qichun County as an example, this paper studies the role of big data in the construction of regional industrial supply chain, and uses big data technology to analyze the application of modern information technology in the industry, such as the system of county industrial supply chain, product structure and e-commerce. The main problems of the industrial supply chain in Qichun County are: insufficient application of big data technology in the whole supply chain, low application of big data technology in the traditional manufacturing industry, low application of big data in the tourism and health industry, and low intelligence of the logistics system. It is proposed to use big data and other information technology to optimise the supply chain upgrade of the county industry and establish a complete industrial chain of smart manufacturing, smart logistics, smart tourism and artificial intelligence + big health.

COVID-19 and dental aerosols: The infection connection.

The present global COVID-19 outbreak really constituted a big public health emergency.[1] This novel human coronavirus, now named severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been first detected in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in late 2019.[2] Increased deaths in humans have been reported because of the infection of either SARS-CoV-2 or the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).[3],[4],[5]

Individual risk management strategy for SARS-CoV-2 infection: A step toward personalized healthcare

Lethal or critical COVID-19 occurs most in infected hosts with certain risk factors such as advanced age or pre-existing disease. Host metabolic status significantly affects the clinical presentations of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Individual risk management is thus crucial for preventing severe COVID-19. Such susceptibility is individual, depending on a multitude of factors. Personalized risk assessment requires the inclusive analysis of big health data to stratify individual risk and derive a customized action plan. Personalized medicine requires shifting from the virology aspect per se to the whole individual's consideration, including dietary pattern, nutritional status, supporting lifestyle, co-existing diseases, and environmental factors. In this short communication, we discuss the individual management strategy for SARS-CoV2 infection as a step towards future personalized healthcare.

PREVALENCE OF MICROALBUMINURIA AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH GLYCEMIC CONTROL IN TYPE 2 DIABETIC PATIENTS: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY AT KATHMANDU MEDICAL COLLEGE

Background: Diabetes mellitus has become one of the biggest health problems of this era. The resultant microvascular and macrovascular complications add to significant amount of morbidity and mortality. Urine microalbumin is considered as an early marker for microvascular compli­cations among diabetic patients. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of microalbuminuria among type 2 diabetic patients attending Kathmandu Medical College and its relation with glycemic control, age, sex, duration of diabetes.
 Methods: A total of 208 previously diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients at­tending medical outpatient department of Kathmandu Medical College, Sinamangal were included in the study over a period of 1 year (October 2017 - September 2018). Fasting and 2-hour postprandial venous blood for blood glucose and HbA1c measurement and early morning urine sam­ple (after overnight fast) was collected for detection of microalbuminuria. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 23.
 Results: The prevalence of microalbuminuria among the study population (mean age: 54.22 ± 11.76 years, mean HbA1c: 7.62 ± 1.53 %) was 42.8%. Microalbuminuria had significant correlation with HbA1c and duration of diabetes (p<0.001), but not with age, sex and type of medication. There was positive correlation between urine microalbumin and fasting and post-prandial blood glucose.
 Conclusions: Our present study found high prevalence of microalbumin­uria among diabetic patients with poor glycemic control. It is suggested that tighter glycemic control with regular urine microalbumin testing should be integral part of diabetic management plan to prevent long term complications such as diabetic nephropathy

Does Perceived Social Support Prevent Delayed-Onset Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A Nested Case-Control Study after the Wenchuan Earthquake

Background: Delayed-onset post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a catastrophe is a big public health problem. However, good designs for revealing the PTSD among earthquake survivors are rare. This study was the first nested case-control study to explore the relationship between perceived social support and delayed-onset PTSD. Methods: A nested case-control study was conducted. Baseline (year 2011) and follow-up (year 2018) surveys were carried out to collect data. Those survivors met the criteria of positive symptoms of PTSD from the hardest-hit area were identified as the case group and PTSD-free survivors from the same area matched for age were defined as the control group, with a ratio of one to four. A conditional logistic regression was applied to evaluate the odds ratio (OR) of variables used in the study. Results: The unemployed quake survivors had a higher risk of developing delayed-onset PTSD (OR= 4·731, 95% confidence interval = 1·408 to 15·901), while higher perceived social support was a protective factor for suffering from delayed-onset PTSD (OR = 0·172, 95% confidence interval = 0·052 to 0·568). Interpretation: Delayed-onset PTSD after the disaster could not be ignored. Active social support and the provision of stable job would contribute to maintaining the health of earthquake survivors. Funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 71874115). Declaration of Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work. Ethics Approval Statement: This research was authorized by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of West China Hospital of Sichuan University.

The Smartphone Pandemic: How Big Tech and public health authorities partner in the digital response to Covid-19

ABSTRACT Digital technologies harnessed through smartphones have been deployed widely to support the response to Covid-19 internationally, often through partnerships between ‘Big tech’ and telecoms corporations and public health authorities. This paper provides an overview and critical analysis of the rapid rise of such new forms of public-private cooperation, focusing on their manifestation in the European region in the first phase of the pandemic. Drawing on a review of international media and documents, we discuss three main domains of public health action in which private technology companies and public health authorities have converged: contact-tracing, epidemic modelling and public health communication to manage the ‘infodemic’ of misinformation about the new coronavirus. Critics have raised concerns about how the digital response to Covid-19 may threaten privacy and enable greater state surveillance and control, and the possibility that semi-automated decision-making may exacerbate existing discrimination and inequalities. Our analysis extends such critiques by considering what the digital response to Covid-19 reveals about tech corporations' growing power to influence public health agendas. We discuss how they promote technical solutions to public health challenges that are politically seductive, but that have uncertain effectiveness and societal implications that warrant critical scrutiny.

“Fake News- A Pandemic within a Pandemic”

INTRODUCTION-
 Misinformation. Hoaxes. Rumours. Fake news- so many terms for the same phenomenon. It is something which is not new and has been going on since as early as any of us can remember. Although recently, it has seen a sudden boom with the advent of the digital world and suddenly everyone seems to have an opinion on everything going on in the world, however ill formed it maybe.
 SUMMARY-
 In such a situation, how could the single biggest event of 2020- the corona virus or COVID 19 pandemic, be an exception to this trend. All of us have come across some piece of “information” regarding this microscopic being which while staying invisible to the naked eye has proved to be mankind’s worst nemesis till date and has brought the world down on its knees. It proved to be an evil which could exist in any form- pictures, videos, text messages, audio messages, news headlines or a simply misconstrued interpretation of something said by a public figure.
 There are various reasons responsible for this surge of fake news, primarily the multitude of information available today at one’s fingertips coupled with lack of scientific attitude and awareness. The proliferation of social media has democratized access to all types of information and at the same time blurred the line between truth and falsehood. Although there is evidence that social media was used as a channel to disseminate useful information such as common symptoms of COVID infection, need for social distancing etc, the consequences of false information masquerading as verifiable truth were apparent during the peak of the pandemic crisis, with false parallels being drawn between scientific evidence and uninformed opinion.
 CONCLUSION-
 Fake news needs to be scrutinised harder than ever with the world facing its biggest health crisis in centuries.

Magnitude and Associated Factors of Metabolic Syndrome Among Adult Urban Dwellers of Northern Ethiopia.

BackgroundMetabolic Syndrome (MetS) is becoming a big public health problem in developing countries like Ethiopia. Developing countries have an almost two-fold higher risk of death due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) compared to high-income countries. This study aimed to assess the magnitude and factors associated with MetS among adult residents of Mekelle city.MethodsA population-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 266 randomly selected adults from July to September 2019. Data were collected on socio-demographic, clinical, anthropometric, and lifestyle characteristics using a structured questionnaire adapted from the WHO STEPs survey tool. Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG) and lipid profiles were tested using a blood sample. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with MetS and variables were considered statistically significant at p ≤0.05.ResultsThe findings of this study showed the magnitude of MetS was 21.8%. The proportion of MetS was relatively higher among women (24.6%) than men (18.5%). Raised blood pressure was the most prominent (42.5%) component of MetS followed by central obesity (41.7%). The magnitude of the other components of MetS was 38.0%, 21.4%, and 14.3% for elevated triglyceride, raised FBG, and low HDL-C, respectively. Advanced age, medium and high monthly income, walking less than 10 minutes per day, raised Body Mass Index (BMI), higher waist to hip ratio, and elevated total cholesterol were significantly associated with a higher risk of metabolic syndrome.ConclusionIn this study, we found a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its components, which highlights an urgent need for a public health strategy for its prevention, early diagnosis, and management.