Decrease In Death Rate Research Articles

Anti-corruption, safety compliance and coal mine deaths: Evidence from China

This study evaluates the impact of the anti-corruption campaign launched by President Xi since 2013 on coal mine mortality in China. Combining several unique provincial-level datasets on coal mines from 2004 to 2017, we find evidence that provinces with stronger exposure to the anti-corruption campaign have experienced a significantly larger decrease in coalmine death rates. This effect survives a vast array of robustness checks and also displays great heterogeneity. Further evidence suggests the campaign has led to fewer safety violations, more fixed investments and a decrease in profits accompanied by an increase in the costs of principal business in the coal mining industry. The above findings are most consistent with the interpretation that the campaign has made coal mining firms less likely to shirk on safety by curbing collusion between coal mines and local officials. We also rule out other channels such as intensified inspection and the change of employment composition in the industry.

Mild hypothermia facilitates mitochondrial transfer from astrocytes to injured neurons during oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation

Mitochondrial dysfunction is now considered an important sign of neuronal death during cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Studies have shown that the transfer of mitochondria from astrocytes to injured neurons contributes to endogenous neuroprotection after stroke. Basic and clinical studies have shown that mild hypothermia exerts a clear protective effect on neurons after cerebral ischemic injury, but the role of mild hypothermia in this endogenous neuroprotective mechanism remains unclear. Here, we established a neuronal cell oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD)/reoxygenation (OGD/R)-induced injury model and explored the effect of mild hypothermia on the transfer of mitochondria from astrocytes to injured neurons. Astrocytes in the hypothermia group (33 °C) released more functional mitochondria into the extracellular medium than those in the normal temperature group (37 °C). Compared with cells in the normal temperature group, OGD-injured neuronal cells in the mild hypothermia group exhibited an increased intracellular ATP content, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and cellular viability and a decreased death rate after the addition of astrocyte-derived conditioned medium. Based on the results of this study, mild hypothermia promotes endogenous neuroprotective effects through a mechanism related to functional mitochondria released from astrocytes into the extracellular space and transferred into injured neurons.

Road to trans-fat free Philippines: An emerging milestone amidst COVID-19 pandemic

Road to trans-fat free Philippines: An emerging milestone amidst COVID-19 pandemic

Galleria mellonella Larvae as an Infection Model to Investigate sRNA-Mediated Pathogenesis in Staphylococcus aureus

Small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) are key players in bacterial regulatory networks. Monitoring their expression inside living colonized or infected organisms is essential for identifying sRNA functions, but few studies have looked at sRNA expression during host infection with bacterial pathogens. Insufficient in vivo studies monitoring sRNA expression attest to the difficulties in collecting such data, we therefore developed a non-mammalian infection model using larval Galleria mellonella to analyze the roles of Staphylococcus aureus sRNAs during larval infection and to quickly determine possible sRNA involvement in staphylococcal virulence before proceeding to more complicated animal testing. We began by using the model to test infected larvae for immunohistochemical evidence of infection as well as host inflammatory responses over time. To monitor sRNA expression during infection, total RNAs were extracted from the larvae and invading bacteria at different time points. The expression profiles of the tested sRNAs were distinct and they fluctuated over time, with expression of both sprD and sprC increased during infection and associated with mortality, while rnaIII expression remained barely detectable over time. A strong correlation was observed between sprD expression and the mortality. To confirm these results, we used sRNA-knockout mutants to investigate sRNA involvement in Staphylococcus aureus pathogenesis, finding that the decrease in death rates is delayed when either sprD or sprC was lacking. These results demonstrate the relevance of this G. mellonella model for investigating the role of sRNAs as transcriptional regulators involved in staphylococcal virulence. This insect model provides a fast and easy method for monitoring sRNA (and mRNA) participation in S. aureus pathogenesis, and can also be used for other human bacterial pathogens.

Suicide among Polish Adolescents-A 20 Year Analysis.

Background: The study aimed to analyze the burden and territorial diversification of adolescent suicide and the link between suicide attempts and selected socioeconomic variables in Poland. Methods: Rates of suicide by voivodeships for years 1999–2019 were obtained from the General Police Headquarters of Poland database. The burden of premature death was expressed in years of life lost (YLL) and costs of lost productivity, which were estimated using the human capital approach. The link between suicide rates and socioeconomic determinants has been analyzed with Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: Over the analyzed period, an increase in suicide attempt rates and a decrease in suicide death rates have been observed. Mean YLL and costs of lost productivity per year amounted to 11,982 and 153,172,415 PLN, respectively. Territorial diversification in suicide attempt rates corresponds to the living condition, poverty, association-based capital, and satisfaction with family situation in individual voivodeships. The number of deaths due to suicide is negatively correlated with an indicator of good living conditions. Conclusions: Our findings provide quantitative evidence of the national impact of suicide and suggest that addressing social capital and poverty may have a role in preventing adolescent mortality due to suicide.

In-Silico analysis reveals lower transcription efficiency of C241T variant of SARS-CoV-2 with host replication factors MADP1 and hnRNP-1.

Novel severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has claimed more than 3.3 million lives worldwide and still counting. As per the GISAID database, the genomics of SARS-CoV-2 has been extensively studied, with more than 500 genome submissions per day. Out of several hotspot mutations within the SARS-CoV-2 genome, recent research has focused mainly on the missense variants. Moreover, significantly less attention has been accorded to delineate the role of the untranslated regions (UTRs) of the SARS-CoV-2 genome in the disease progression and etiology. One of the most frequent 5’ UTR variants in the SARS-CoV-2 genome is the C241T, with a global frequency of more than 95 %. In the present study, the effect of the C241T mutation has been studied with respect to the changes in RNA structure and its interaction with the host replication factors MADP1 Zinc finger CCHC-type and RNA-binding motif 1 (hnRNP1). The results obtained from molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation indicated weaker interaction of C241T mutant stem-loops with the host transcription factor MADP1, indicating a reduced replication efficiency. The results are also correlated with increased recovery rates and decreased death rates of global SARS-CoV-2 cases.

Burden of valvular heart disease, 1990-2017: Results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.

BackgroundValvular heart disease (VHD) is expected to cause an increase in public-health problems in the coming years, especially in elderly populations. We aim to estimate the incidence, mortality, and burden of VHD, by age, from 1990 to 2017 in 195 countries and territories.MethodsWe estimated the incidence, mortality, and burden of VHD based on the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. All metrics are presented with their 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). The Socio-demographic Index was used to identify whether developmental status correlates with health outcomes.ResultsThe global incidence of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) decreased by 8.67% between 1990 and 2017, while that of non-rheumatic VHD (NRVHD) increased by 45.10%. There was a 54.00% decrease in age-standardized death rate (ASDR) for RHD, but a small and non-significant decrease (-3.00%) in the ASDR for NRVHD. The global age-standardized disability-adjusted life years (DALY) rate of RHD decreased by 53.52%, while there was a 12.62% reduction in the age-standardized DALY rate of NRVHD.ConclusionsThe burden from different VHDs demonstrated a diverse change at a global level between 1990 and 2017. Although RHD burden has an obvious means of mitigation, a substantially high incidence of NRVHD was observed over this time period, especially in the elderly, which may lead to high health care costs and signify the potential for even higher costs in the future.

The Role of Advertisements in JUUL Consumption: Analyzing the Connections between Different Stimuli on Advertisements and Teenage Vaping

In the last three years, JUUL Company has gained popularity through the media because of its party-themed advertisements and subsequently, its rise in teen vape consumption. While other studies have researched the increase of vaping in the previous years, this paper will draw connections between different stimuli on the JUUL advertisements and its effects on teenage vaping. In order to examine these connections, the author conducted a study to further analyze particular advertising practices used by the JUUL Company to attract the younger generations to their product; specifically, the study has two components that gather quantitative and qualitative data. For the first element of the study, the author created a survey that tests the effectiveness of different stimuli on the advertisements and distributed it to participants ranging from thirty-three years old to eighteen years old. The resulting age gap allowed the author to gather information from subjects with different life experiences and maturity. The findings of this section concluded that the participants within the ages of eighteen and twenty-two are influenced by their involvement in a social media echo-chamber; therefore, the younger generations do not even recognize their association with the echo-chamber but continue to fall into trend cycles since the trends, such as vaping, consume their internet feed. Overall, both adults and teens were able to acknowledge the strong presence of ‘Juuling’ in their communities and the majority labeled the JUUL posters as “party-like”. In the second element of the study, the author conducted group experiments with high school students ranging from fourteen years old to eighteen years of age. The findings of this section proved herd mentality and psychological reactance as the participants began to copy each other’s behavior and became attracted to the advertisements that were presented as ‘unattainable’. This study validates the effectiveness of the stimuli on advertisements when analyzing its connections to teenage vaping. Therefore, as a future solution, corporate lobbying in government for JUUL must be further restricted and minimal so teenagers will not be as exposed to JUUL’s marketing and in return, there will be a decrease in death rates caused by vaping.

Evaluation of Pattern Recognition Techniques in Response to Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT)

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) improves cardiac function in patients with heart failure (HF), and the result of this treatment is decrease in death rate and improving quality of life for patients. This research is aimed at predicting CRT response for the prognosis of patients with heart failure under CRT. According to international instructions, in the case of approval of QRS prolongation and decrease in ejection fraction (EF), the patient is recognized as a candidate of implanting recognition device. However, regarding many intervening and effective factors, decision making can be done based on more variables. Computer-based decision-making systems especially machine learning (ML) are considered as a promising method regarding their significant background in medical prediction. Collective intelligence approaches such as particles swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm are used for determining the priorities of medical decision-making variables. This investigation was done on 209 patients and the data was collected over 12 months. In HESHMAT CRT center, 17.7% of patients did not respond to treatment. Recognizing the dominant parameters through combining machine recognition and physician’s viewpoint, and introducing back-propagation of error neural network algorithm in order to decrease classification error are the most important achievements of this research. In this research, an analytical set of individual, clinical, and laboratory variables, echocardiography, and electrocardiography (ECG) are proposed with patients’ response to CRT. Prediction of the response after CRT becomes possible by the support of a set of tools, algorithms, and variables.

COVID-19: Where we are in Bangladesh

Five hundred premature infants were treated on a randomized double-blind basis with human plasminogen or placebo. We found that in premature infants plasminogen levels are low; thus, defense against intra-alveolar fibrin deposition during birth trauma is reduced. A significant decrease in the incidence of respiratory distress syndrome-hyaline membrane disease and death was seen in the treated infants. Infants with established respiratory distress syndrome were treated with human plasmin or placebo. A significant decrease in death rate was found in the treated infants. Decreased plasminogen and anti-thrombin III (AT-III) levels were found in patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome and/or septic shock. These levels returned to normal within 14 days in survivors, but remained depressed in those who died. It was thought that these parameters may have diagnostic and predictive values. In experimental animals, injection of E. coli endotoxin or oleic acid produced an adult respiratory distress syndrome type phenomenon. This was also accompanied by decreases in plasminogen levels, with recovery in the survivors. It is suggested that plasminogen and anti-thrombin III should be explored as auxiliary therapeutic agents in adult respiratory distress syndrome.

Physical inactivity as a risk factor for all-cause mortality in Brazil (1990\u20132017)

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to estimate the mortality from all causes as a result of physical inactivity in Brazil and in Brazilian states over 28 years (1990–2017).MethodsData from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study for Brazil and states were used. The metrics used were the summary exposure value (SEV), the number of deaths, age-standardized mortality rates, and the fraction of population risk attributable to physical inactivity.ResultsThe Brazilian population presented risk of exposure to physical inactivity of (age-standardized SEV) of 59% (95% U.I. 22–97) in 1990 and 59% in 2017 (95% U.I. 25–99). Physical inactivity contributed a significant number of deaths (1990, 22,537, 95% U.I. 12,157–34,745; 2017, 32,410, 95% U.I. 17,976–49,657) in the analyzed period. These values represented mortality rates standardized by age (per 100,000 inhabitants) of 31 (95% U.I. 17–48) in 1990 and 15 (95% U.I. 8–23) in 2017. From 1990 to 2017, a decrease in standardized death rate from all causes attributable to physical inactivity was observed in Brazil (− 52%, 95% U.I. − 54 to − 49). The Brazilian states with better socioeconomic conditions presented greater reductions in age-standardized mortality (male: rho = 0.80; female: rho 0.84) over the period of 28 years.ConclusionsThese findings support the promotion of physical activity in the Brazilian population for the prevention of early mortality.

The role of the age-friendly cities movement in the framework of active aging policies against the socioeconomic risks of demographic aging

Aging, a common problem in almost all countries, both developed and developing, is expressed in terms of a decrease in global birth and death rates or, from a different perspective, an increase in mean life expectancy. Demographic aging, which may be regarded as both a threat and an opportunity, affects a very broad sphere, including basic health, the economy, social security, the saving-consumption balance, living arrangements, urbanization, and the family structure, and therefore brings different disciplines together. Looked at in greater detail, it is a subject that requires reflection and planning since it affects such areas as change in a country’s population structure, economic growth, labor markets, labor supply and productivity, development policies, public borrowing, health and social security policies, education policies, and urbanization policies. The fact that demographic aging is a common problem of both developed and developing countries raises the question of active and healthy aging policies. These policies are thought to play an important role in measures created or potentially created by aging. Discovery of the importance of individual capital accumulation and wide social capital has prepared the dissemination of active-healthy aging policies out of the idea that investment in individuals’ health, education, and participation opportunities will benefit both the individual and the community. The emergence of the ‘Age-Friendly Cities’ movement initiated by the World Health Organization is one concrete outcome of these policies. The first section of this study will discuss the concept of demographic aging and its relationship with active-healthy aging. The economic and social effects of demographic aging will then be discussed. Another section of the study will discuss the concept of age-friendly cities, their relationship with active aging, and their role against the impacts of demographic aging.

Evaluation of Pattern Recognition Techniques in Response to Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT)

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) improves cardiac function in patients with heart failure (HF), and the result of this treatment is decrease in death rate and improving quality of life for patients. This research is aimed at predicting CRT response for the prognosis of patients with heart failure under CRT. According to international instructions, in the case of approval of QRS prolongation and decrease in ejection fraction (EF), the patient is recognized as a candidate of implanting recognition device. However, regarding many intervening and effective factors, decision making can be done based on more variables. Computer-based decision-making systems especially machine learning (ML) are considered as a promising method regarding their significant background in medical prediction. Collective intelligence approaches such as particles swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm are used for determining the priorities of medical decision-making variables. This investigation was done on 209 patients and the data was collected over 12 months. In HESHMAT CRT center, 17.7% of patients did not respond to treatment. Recognizing the dominant parameters through combining machine recognition and physician’s viewpoint, and introducing back-propagation of error neural network algorithm in order to decrease classification error are the most important achievements of this research. In this research, an analytical set of individual, clinical, and laboratory variables, echocardiography, and electrocardiography (ECG) are proposed with patients’ response to CRT. Prediction of the response after CRT becomes possible by the support of a set of tools, algorithms, and variables.

Evolution of External Health Costs of Electricity Generation in the Baltic States.

Implementation of strict policies for mitigating climate change has a direct impact on public health as far as the external health costs of electricity generation can be reduced, thanks to the reduction of emission of typical pollutants by switching to cleaner low carbon fuels and achieving energy efficiency improvements. Renewables have lower external health costs due to the lower life cycle emission of typical air pollutants linked to electricity generation, such as SO2, NOx, particulate matter, NH3, or NMVOC (Non-methane volatile organic compounds), which all appear to have serious negative effects on human health. Our case study performed in the Baltic States analyzed the dynamics of external health costs in parallel with the dynamics of the main health indicators in these countries: life expectancy at birth, mortality rates, healthy life years, self-perceived health, and illness indicators. We employed the data for external health costs retrieved from the CASES database, as well as the health statistics data compiled from the EUROSTAT database. The time range of the study was 2010–2018 due to the availability of consistent health indicators for the EU Member States. Our results show that the decrease of external health costs had a positive impact on the increase of the self-perceived good health and reduction of long-standing illness as well as the decrease of infant death rate. Our conclusions might be useful for other countries as well as for understanding the additional benefits of climate change mitigation policies and tracking their positive health impacts. The cooperation initiatives on clean energy and climate change mitigation between countries like One Belt One Road initiative by the Chinese government can also yield additional benefits linked to the public health improvements.

Prospective study to explore changes in quality of care and perinatal outcomes after implementation of perinatal death audit in Uganda

ObjectiveTo assess the effects of perinatal death (PND) audit on perinatal outcomes in a tertiary hospital in Kampala.DesignInterrupted time series (ITS) analysis.SettingNsambya Hospital, Uganda.ParticipantsLive births and stillbirths.InterventionsPND audit.Primary and secondary...

Differential Association of HIV Funding With HIV Mortality by Race/Ethnicity, United States, 1999-2017.

Federal funds have been spent to reduce the disproportionate effects of HIV/AIDS on racial/ethnic minority groups in the United States. We investigated the association between federal domestic HIV funding and age-adjusted HIV death rates by race/ethnicity in the United States during 1999-2017. We analyzed HIV funding data from the Kaiser Family Foundation by federal fiscal year (FFY) and US age-adjusted death rates (AADRs) by race/ethnicity (Hispanic, non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native [API+AI/AN]) from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention WONDER detailed mortality files. We fit joinpoint regression models to estimate the annual percentage change (APC), average APC, and changes in AADRs per billion US dollars in HIV funding, with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). For 19 data points, the number of joinpoints ranged from 0 to 4 on the basis of rules set by the program or by the user. A Monte Carlo permutation test indicated significant (P < .05) changes at joinpoints, and 2-sided t tests indicated significant APCs in AADRs. Domestic HIV funding increased from $10.7 billion in FFY 1999 to $26.3 billion in FFY 2017, but AADRs decreased at different rates for each racial/ethnic group. The average rate of change in AADR per US billion dollars was -9.4% (95% CI, -10.9% to -7.8%) for Hispanic residents, -7.8% (95% CI, -9.0% to -6.6%) for non-Hispanic black residents, -6.7% (95% CI, -9.3% to -4.0%) for non-Hispanic white residents, and -5.2% (95% CI, -7.8% to -2.5%) for non-Hispanic API+AI/AN residents. Increased domestic HIV funding was associated with faster decreases in age-adjusted HIV death rates for Hispanic and non-Hispanic black residents than for residents in other racial/ethnic groups. Increasing US HIV funding could be associated with decreasing future racial/ethnic disparities in the rate of HIV-related deaths.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Automatic segmentation and classification of liver tumor from CT image using feature difference and SVM based classifier-soft computing technique

The liver is essential for endurance and to carry out a large number of significant functions, including manufacture of indispensable proteins, and metabolism of fats and carbohydrates. The examination of CT might be employed for planning and managing the treatments for tumor in a proper way and for directing biopsies as well as other simply determined process. The Manual segmentation and Computed Axial Tomography (CT) image classification is a tedious task and time consuming process for large amount of data. Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD) systems take part in a fundamental role in the detection of liver disease in an early stage and therefore decrease death rate of liver cancer. In this paper an automatic CAD system is presented in three stage. In the first step, automatic liver segmentation and lesion’s detection is carried out. Then, the next step is to extract features. At last, liver lesions classification into malignant and benign is done by using the novel contrast based feature-difference method. The extracted features from the lesion area with its surrounding normal liver tissue are based on intensity and texture. The lesion descriptor is obtained by considering the difference between the features of both lesion area and normal tissue of liver. Finally to categorize the liver lesions into malignant or benign a new SVM based machine learning classifier is trained on the new descriptors. The investigational outcome show hopeful improvement. Besides, the projected approach is insensitive to ranges of textures and intensity between demographics, imaging devices, and patients and settings. The classifier discriminates the tumor by comparatively high precision and offers a subsequent view to the radiologist.

Implementing Community-Based Prostate Cancer Education in Rural South Carolina: a Collaborative Approach Through a Statewide Cancer Alliance.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of implementing community-based prostate health education programs in rural communities. Prostate cancer (PrCA) remains one of the most common cancers among men, and a growing body of literature demonstrates that large interracial differences in PrCA incidence and mortality rates consistently disfavor African Americans in comparison to European Americans. It also is evident, despite the overall decrease in cancer death rates in the USA in recent decades, rural areas are experiencing a reduction in death rates much more slowly. In this study, education session content focused on PrCA risk factors, symptoms, screening, healthy diet and exercise, treatment options, and provider communication strategies. Forty individuals participated and completed pre/post-education program surveys to assess changes in PrCA knowledge and cancer decision-making. Participants showed improvements in education and awareness following the session, and overall impressions of the program were consistently positive as exhibited by participants' answers on a satisfaction survey. The findings demonstrate the real need both in terms of research to understand the underlying problem and to provide practical solutions that can be implemented to reverse the current situation. The results obtained support community-based education programs as an effective means of delivering PrCA prevention, screening, and treatment information to rural communities.

Effect of alcohol prohibition on liver cirrhosis mortality rates in Canada from 1901 to 1956: A time-series analysis.

The extent to which alcohol consumption in Canada was affected by alcohol prohibition in the early 20th century remains unclear. Since there is a dearth of data on consumption during this time, we estimated the effect of alcohol prohibition on alcohol consumption, as measured by changes in liver cirrhosis mortality rates in Canada. Annual liver cirrhosis mortality data were obtained for 1901 to 1956 for the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Saskatchewan. Changes in death rates were assessed, by province, using autoregressive integrated moving average models. Results were pooled across provinces using a fixed effects meta-analysis. A secondary fixed effects meta-analysis was performed which only included provinces with data for before, during and after prohibition, and excluded provinces with data only beginning during prohibition. Prohibition was associated with a statistically significant decrease in liver cirrhosis death rates only in Nova Scotia (P = 0.01). Pooling of provincial results indicated that prohibition resulted in 0.39 (95% confidence interval 0.06, 0.72; P = 0.02) fewer liver cirrhosis deaths per 100 000 people. In the restricted meta-analysis, prohibition resulted in 0.65 (95% confidence interval 0.18, 1.12; P < 0.01) fewer liver cirrhosis deaths per 100 000 people. Although alcohol prohibition in Canada did not eliminate alcohol consumption, our findings suggest that prohibition was associated with reduced consumption, as evidenced by a reduction in liver cirrhosis mortality rates. Further, it's important to reflect on alcohol's history in Canada and use those policy lessons to guide the construction of effective cannabis legislation.

Avoidance of Collision using Copy Cat Technology

The project aims to design an android interface Bluetooth controlled robotic car with master-slave configuration involved in it. Robotic car contains arduino microcontroller with basic mobility features. Arduino programs contain instructions mediating between Android controller and Robotic car. An appropriate program in the arduino microprocessor to interact with the android controller has been created. The program has been successfully complied through arduino IDE to the arduino microprocessor &amp; loaded into it after proper checking of logic to decrease any loss/damage of hardware. An android application that would provide a user interface to interact with the arduino powered robotic car was created. This interface is easy to use and provide feedback from the arduino microprocessor through the Bluetooth after giving instruction to arduino for various actions via Bluetooth module. The android application is created with the help of android studio that provides more capability &amp; stability. This project also describes the robots that are configured in master slave technology. In this case the user sends the data from the android device which is received and executed by the master robot and simultaneously the data is broadcasted to the slave robots through the RF transmitter. Slave robots receive the data from the RF receiver, decode it and send the command to Arduino and from then to the motors. Also, there is a provision that any of the robots shall be made the master of the remaining robots. Under any dangerous circumstances (Ex: when the driver is asleep while driving) slave robot uses the path which is followed by master as a navigation and moves in that particular direction. By this technology one shall reduce the number of accidents which leads to decrease of death rate.