Relative Risk Values Research Articles

The Correlation of Gross Motor Skills and the Quality of Life in Children with Cerebral Palsy

The quality of life in children with cerebral palsy is very important to be studied along with the factors that influence it to improve the quality of health services. The Problem of quality of life in children with cerebral palsy is not only influenced by socio-economic aspect, but also health aspect, such as physical health, pain and motor limitation which is experienced by children. This study aims to determine the relationship between gross motor skills and the quality of life of children with cerebral palsy in Makassar. This study used a cross-sectional design with thirty people as the sample (n = 30). They are students who got cerebral palsy at SLB YPAC Makassar, SLB Negeri 1 Pembina at South Sulawesi Province, SLB Laniang and SLB Reskiani Makassar. There are several primary data collected including gross motor skills and quality of life. The data were collected using the PedsQLTM 3.0 questionnaire for the cerebral palsy module and the GMFCS-E & R (Gross Motor Function Classification System Expanded and Resived) measurement guide. Based on the results of the analysis of the relationship test with the fisher exact test, it was found a significance value (p) of 0,037 (p <0.05) with a relative risk value for poor and very bad quality of life, namely 0.714, which means that there is a relationship between gross motor skills and quality of life, with children cerebral palsy who have mild and moderate gross motor skills have a chance to have very poor and poor quality of life 0.714 times less than cerebral palsu children who have severe gross motor skills (N = 30).

The Comparison between Standardized Mortality Ratio, Poisson-Gamma and Stochastic Sic Model for Pneumonia Disease Mapping in Malaysia

Pneumonia is one of the primary causes of death from infectious diseases. Traditionally, its spread has been tracked based on thetotal number of cases reported, with no concern for geographical distribution. Disease mapping is among the ways public health andthe government can monitor diseases as a preventative strategy. Clear pictures of the risk areas can be seen using this method. Relative risk estimation is a significant part of disease mapping that needs to be considered when studying disease occurrence. This paper aimed to estimate the relative risk values for pneumonia based on three models and compare the results. The approaches used in this study were Standardized Morbidity Ratio (SMR), Poisson-gamma, and discrete time-space stochastic Susceptible-Infected-Carriers (SIC) models, which were applied in estimating the relative risk values. Results showed that Kuala Lumpur was classified as a very low-risk area for pneumonia incidence when using the SMR and Poisson-gamma models. In contrast, Selangor was identified as a very low-risk area when using the discrete time-space stochastic SIC model. Putrajaya was categorised as a very high-risk area in the results of all three types of methods. In conclusion, this stochastic SIC model demonstrated better performance than the conventional models.

Short-term effect of ambient temperature and ambient temperature changes on the risk of warts outpatient visits in Hefei, China: a retrospective time-series study.

Concerns are growing about the adverse health effects of ambient temperature and ambient temperature changes. However, the association between ambient temperature and ambient temperature changes on the risk of warts outpatient visits is poorly understood. Our study used the distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) aimed to evaluate the association between ambient temperature, ambient temperature changes (including temperature change between neighboring days (TCN) and diurnal temperature range (DTR)), and warts outpatient visits. We also performed subgroup analyses in order to find susceptible populations by gender and age groups. The maximum relative risk (RR) of low ambient temperature (0°C) for warts outpatient visits was 1.117 (95% CI: 1.041-1.198, lag 04days), and the maximum RR of high ambient temperature (32°C) for warts outpatient visits was 1.318 (95% CI: 1.083-1.605, lag 07days). The large temperature drop (TCN = - 3°C) decreased the risk of warts visits, with the lowest RR value at the cumulative exposure of lag 7days (RR = 0.888, 95% CI: 0.822-0.959), and the large temperature rise (TCN = 2°C) increased the risk of warts visits, with the highest RR value at the cumulative exposure of lag 7days (RR = 1.080, 95% CI: 1.022-1.142). Overall, both low and high ambient temperatures and large temperature rise can increase the risk of warts visits, while large temperature drop is a protective factor for warts visits. However, we did not find any association between DTR and warts visits. Furthermore, subgroup analyses showed that males and the young (0-17years old) were more sensitive to low and high ambient temperatures, and the elderly (≥ 65years old) were more susceptible to TCN. The results may provide valuable evidence for reducing the disease burden of warts in the future.

Denosumab Versus Bisphosphonates for the Prevention of the Vertebral Fractures in Men with Osteoporosis: An Updated Network Meta-Analysis.

The efficacy of the prevention of vertebral fractures in men with osteoporosis by treatment with denosumab is debated. This study aimed to update the comparative effectiveness of denosumab and bisphosphonates for preventing vertebral fractures in men with osteoporosis. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for randomized controlled trials that enrolled men with osteoporosis. Fixed-effects network meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the risk of vertebral fractures, and the relative risk (RR) and 95% confident interval (CI) values were calculated. Sixteen studies were included, and the identified bisphosphonates were risedronate, alendronate, zoledronic acid, and ibandronate. Compared with placebo or control, a significant reduction in vertebral fractures was observed for denosumab (RR 0.30, 95%CI 0.13 0.68), risedronate (RR 0.39, 95%CI 0.19 0.77), and zoledronic acid (RR 0.45, 95%CI 0.21 0.98). According to the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA), denosumab was the most effective one among the included agents for the risk reduction of vertebral fracture. However, compared with each bisphosphonate, the RR values of denosumab were not significant [RR 0.78 (95%CI 0.25 2.43) vs. risedronate, RR 0.55 (95%CI 0.18 1.75) vs. alendronate, RR 0.66 (95%CI 0.19 2.32) vs. zoledronic acid and RR 1.12 (95%CI 0.08 14.83) vs. ibandronate]. Denosumab effectively reduced the risk of vertebral fractures in men with osteoporosis, and this effect was comparable to that of bisphosphonates.

Analysis of the effect of temperature on tuberculosis incidence by distributed lag non-linear model in Kashgar city, China.

The aim of this study was to explore the effect of temperature on tuberculosis (TB) incidence using the distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) from 2017 to 2021 in Kashgar city, the region with higher TB incidence than national levels, and assist public health prevention and control measures. From January 2017 to December 2021, a total of 8730 cases of TB were reported, with the higher incidence of male than that of female. When temperature was below 1 °C, it was significantly correlated with TB incidence compared to the median observed temperature (15 °C) at lag 7, 14, and 21, and lower temperatures showed larger RR (relative risk) values. High temperature produced a protective effect on TB transmission, and higher temperature from 16 to 31 °C has lower RR. In discussion stratified by gender, the maximum RRs were achieved for both male group and female group at − 15 °C with lag 21, reporting 4.28 and 2.02, respectively. At high temperature (higher than 20 °C), the RR value of developing TB for female group was significantly larger than 1. In discussion stratified by age, the maximum RRs were achieved for all age groups (≤ 35, 36–64, ≥ 65) at − 15 °C with lag 21, reporting 3.20, 2.07, and 3.45, respectively. When the temperature was higher than 20 °C, the RR of the 36–64-year-old group and the ≥ 65-year-old group was significantly larger than 1 at lag 21, while significantly smaller than 1 for cumulative RR at lag 21, reporting 0.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.01, 0.83) and 0.06, 95% CI (0.01, 0.44), respectively. In conclusion, low temperature, especially in extreme level, acts as a high-risk factor inducing TB transmission in Kashgar city. Males exhibit a significantly higher RR of developing TB at low temperature than female, as well as the elderly group in contrast to the young or middle-aged groups. High temperature has a protective effect on TB transmission in the total population, but female and middle-aged and elderly groups are also required to be alert to the delayed RR induced by it.

Estimation of health impact using AirQ+ model attributed to surface ozone in sub-regions of Surat city, India

Introduction: Deteriorated air quality in nation like India contributes to the health burden. The AirQ+ is used to estimate short-term and long-term health impact attributable to surface Ozone (O3) in Surat city. Average hourly ozone concentration data and other criteria pollutants retrieved from January 2018 to December 2019 from two monitoring stations (Limbayat and Varachha).
 Materials and methods: In this study, the Respiratory Mortality (RM), Cardiovascular Mortality (CM), Total Mortality (TM), Hospital Admissions with Cardiovascular Disease (HACVD), and Hospital Admissions with Respiratory Disease (HARD), as well as Respiratory Mortality-Long-Term (LT-RM) were quantified. Baseline Incidence (BI) data were obtained from literature and Relative Risk (RR) values were referred from World Health Organization (WHO). An annual Sum of Maximum 8 h Ozone means over 35 ppb (SOMO35), 70 µg/m3, used as a predictor of potential long-term health effects.
 Results: More ozone concentration were observed in winter and pre-monsoon than concentration formed in southwest monsoon and post-monsoon seasons.The average of O3 concentration for Limbayat are 71.61 (±0.39) µg/m3 and 29.76 (±1.86) µg/m3 and for Varachha are 61.17 9 (±6.15) µg/m3, 11.32 (±1.35) µg/m3 during 2018 and 2019, respectively and the obtained cumulative number of cases of death are estimated 136, 45, 172 and 18 persons respectively. Total hospital admission due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases are found 435, 134, 552 and 58 at Limbayat and Varachha during 2018 and 2019. LT- RM is attributed to ozone concentration having the most significant value, 6.8% and 4.62% at Limbayat and Varachha in 2018.
 Conclusion: More hospital admissions are found than mortality rates using AirQ+ tool. It can be used to estimate public health in context of mortality and morbidity rates which helps to develop air quality management programs and policy makers to reduce the impact of air pollution on health.

The role of meteorological factors in suicide mortality in Wuhu, a humid city along the Yangtze River in Eastern China.

As the climate continues to change, suicide is becoming more frequent. In this study, absolute humidity (AH) was included for the first time and Wuhu, a typical subtropical city along the Yangtze River, was taken as the research object to explore the impact of suicide death risk on meteorological factors. The daily meteorological factors and suicide mortality data of Wuhu city from 2014 to 2020 were collected. Guided by structural equation model (SEM), a time series analysis method combining distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) and generalized additive model (GAM) was adopted. To investigate the correlation among different populations, we stratified age and gender at different meteorological levels. A total of 1259 suicide deaths were collected in Wuhu. The results indicated that exceedingly low and low levels of AH short-term exposure increased suicide mortality, with the maximum effect occurring at lag 14 for both levels of exposure, when the relative risk (RR) was 1.131 (95% CI: 1.030, 1.242) and 1.065 (95% CI: 1.006, 1.127), respectively. Exposure to exceedingly high and exceedingly low levels of temperature mean (T mean) also increased suicide mortality, with maximum RR values of 1.132 (lag 14, 95% CI: 1.015, 1.263) and 1.203 (lag 0, 95% CI: 1.079, 1.340), sequentially. As for diurnal temperature range (DTR), low-level exposure decreased the risk of suicide, while high-level exposure increased this risk, with RR values of 0.955 (lag 0, 95% CI: 0.920, 0.991, minimum) and 1.060 (lag 0, 95% CI: 1.018, 1.104, maximum), sequentially. Stratified analysis showed that AH and DTR increased the suicide death risk in male and elderly people, while the risk effect of T mean have no effect on young people only. In summary, male and elderly people appear to be more vulnerable to adverse weather effects.

Long-term effects of ambient air pollution on lung cancer and COPD mortalities in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies

The long-term effects of ambient air pollution on lung cancer (LC) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mortalities in the more polluted regions in the world require a comprehensive analysis. In this study, a systematic literature search and meta-analysis using the updated Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guideline were conducted to examine the association between long-term exposure to ambient air pollution for the LC and COPD mortalities in China. Two databases (PubMed and Scopus) were systematically searched and a total of eight research papers were finally included in this study with the risk of bias assessed by Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). A total of 409,945 participants were included in the analysis based on four individual Chinese cohorts during the follow-up periods between 1991 and 2011. The pooled risk ratios for LC and COPD mortalities were 1.08 (95% CI: 1.02–1.16) and 1.12 (95% CI: 1.11–1.13), respectively, for each 10 μg/m3 increase in the concentrations of PM2.5. Furthermore, the results of the meta-analysis were examined using a case study in the Yangtze River Delta region in 2015. A comparison of the estimated LC and COPD mortality risks between the current study and the previous relative risk model demonstrated that the result of cohort studies could provide more accurate relative risk values and estimated mortalities for the population in China. Although only limited cohort studies have been conducted in China, they provide significant evidence of the long-term effects of ambient air pollution on LC and COPD mortalities in the population of the more polluted regions. It is also recommended to develop a more suitable relative risk model using the results of meta-analysis for the estimation of air pollution-related mortality in the more polluted regions.

Assessment of the Health Impacts of Pm2.5 on the Lungs (COPD, LC)

Abstract: This study involves the human health risk due to exposure to PM2.5 in the State of Uttar Pradesh during the years 2017, 2018, and 2019. Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Portal was used for the values of Burden of Disease for the respective years and location. AIR Q+ Software is used for the calculation of the Relative Risk from which Population Attributable Fraction was estimated. By using the values of Attributable Burden of Disease we got the Mortality. From which we came the results that the values of relative risk (central) for Lung Cancer for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019 are 1.575,1.565, and 1.470 respectively, and the relative risk for COPD is 1.705, 1.696, and 1.601 for the year 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Evaluation of the Health Impacts of PM2.5 (Stroke, IHD, LRI)

Abstract: In this study, an attempt has been made to determine the human health risk due to exposure to PM2.5 in the State of Uttar Pradesh during the years 2017, 2018, and 2019. The values of Burden of Disease for the respective years and location were taken from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Portal. The Relative Risk is calculated using the AIRQ+ software from which Population Attributable Fraction was estimated. We got the Mortality by using the values of Attributable Burden of Disease. From which we came the results that the values of relative risk (central) for Stroke for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019 are 1.436, 1.429, and 1.388 respectively, and the relative risk for Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) is 1.522, 1.528, and 1.646 for the year 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively and the values for relative risk for LRI for the year 2017, 2018, and 2019 is 1.825, 1.815 and 1.701 respectively.

Awareness about depressive conditions, methods of their prevention and correction in adolescents

Background. According to WHO, there is an increase of depressive disorders in all age groups. The risk group of depression is adolescents, the risk factor is the low level of knowledge about it. The aim was to study the prevalence of depressive states, the level of literacy about depression among schoolchildren for improving educational programs. Materials and methods. An anonymous voluntary survey was conducted in two stages with an interval of 4 years in the Moscow region among students in grades 8-11 of educational institutions. At the first stage, three hundred twenty-four respondents were interviewed, at the second stage - 251 one. The severity of depression was assessed using the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS), with the help of the questionnaire the level of depression literacy was studied. Statistical processing was carried out with the calculation of relative risk values, reliability of differences (with a probability degree of more than 0.95) using Microsoft Excel 365. Results. The prevalence of depression in 2014 was 20.4%, in 2018 - 21.1%. During the observation the number of students who believe that nothing should be done in the case of depressive symptoms has significantly decreased, the number of students who are ready to visit a psychologist has significantly increased, the number of schoolchildren who were willing to see a medical doctor and who consider self-treatment possible has not changed. The main source of knowledge remains the Internet, help from the professional community is underused. Discussing mood problems with others and using physical activity turned out to be effective for self-corrected depressive states. Limitations. The study has age (14-17years), regional and educational (students of schools) restrictions. Conclusions. Revealed high prevalence of depressive manifestations among schoolchildren and their insufficient knowledge requires correction of educational programs and regular monitoring of their awareness.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in consumable species and food products.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a group of thousands of manmade chemicals widely used in consumer products and industrial processes. Toxicological studies have suggested that exposure to PFASs may lead to several adverse effects, including infertility and cancer development. In light of their widespread use, the contamination of food products has created health concerns in sites directly influenced by industrial and anthropogenic activity. In the present contribution, the current knowledge of PFAS contamination was systematically reviewed in order to provide with the knowledge gaps and main sources of contamination, as well as critically evaluate estimated dietary intake and relative risk values of the consulted studies. Legacy PFASs remain the most abundant despite their production restrictions. Edible species from freshwater bodies exhibit higher PFAS concentrations than marine species, probably due to low hydrodynamics and dilution in lentic ecosystems. Studies in food products from multiple sources, including aquatic, livestock, and agricultural, agree that the proximity to factories and fluorochemical industries rendered significantly higher and potentially hazardous PFAS contamination. Short-chain PFAS are suggested as chemicals of emerging concern to food security. However, the environmental and toxicological implications of short-chain congeners are not fully understood and, thus, much research is needed in this sense.

Geographical risk pattern and temporal trends in incidence of HPV-related cancers in northern Thailand: A population-based study.

The burden of HPV-related cancers in different regions worldwide varies according to several factors. This study aims to measure inequality in the risk of incidence of HPV-related cancers in term of geographical risk patterns in northern Thailand using a population-based cancer registry data. Trends in age-standardized HPV-related cancer incidence were calculated for the 2008-2017 time period. The Besag-York-Molli´e model was used to explore the spatial distribution of the relative risk (RR) of HPV-related cancers at the district level. A higher RR reflects a larger disparity. The geographical risk pattern of the diseases in two periods, 2008-2012 and 2013-2017 were described and compared. From 2008 to 2017, the incidence of oropharyngeal and anal cancers showed a slightly increased trend in males but remained stable in females, the incidence of vulvar, vaginal and penile cancers were stable while the incidence of cervical cancer decreased. The RR range was closer to 1 in the second period compared to the first period. This suggests a decrease in the disparities of incidence of cervical cancer. However, in some areas near the Thai-Myanmar border, the RR values remained high. The incidence rate of most HPV-related cancers remained low and stable over the study period in northern Thailand. For the most common HPV-related malignancy, cervical cancer, the incidence rate steadily decreased but with marked geographic disparities, possibly reflecting health inequity especially in the border areas.

Relationship between meteorological factors and mortality from respiratory diseases in a subtropical humid region along the Yangtze River in China.

As the health impacts of climate change take on a more serious form, this study for the first time investigates the effect of meteorological factors on the risk of death from respiratory diseases (RD) in Wuhu, a representative city along the Yangtze River in subtropical humid region. Daily meteorological element data and RD deaths in Wuhu City were collected from 2014 to 2020. Time series analysis was conducted using distributed lagged nonlinear model (DLNM) combined with generalized additive model (GAM), and stratified by age and gender. In 7years, a total of 8016 RD death cases were collected in Wuhu, China. The results demonstrated that the maximum impacts of short-term exposure to exceedingly low temperatures mean (Tmean) were at lag 9, with the maximum relative risk (RR) of 1.044 (lag 1, 95% CI: 1.001, 1.098). The risk of exceedingly high Tmean reached its maximum at lag 0 (RR = 1.070, 95% CI: 1.018, 1.125). Low relative humidity (RH) was negatively associated with the risk of RD death, with the lowest RR values occurring at lag 12 (RR = 0.987, 95% CI: 0.975, 0.999). No significant correlation was found for diurnal temperature range (DTR). Stratified analysis showed that Tmean exposure remained statistically significant for male, female and elderly, while RH and DTR only seemed to increase the mortality risk in the young. In a word, short-term exposure to extreme temperatures may increase the RD mortality risk in the population, and young people needed to be aware that exposure to exceedingly high RH and DTR also increased the risk.

Modeling Dengue Fever by using Conditional Autoregressive Bessag-York-Mollie

Dengue fever is a tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. The small proportional of this dengue fever disease can develops into a more severe dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). This research discussed about the model for disease mapping in Ciamis District. The purpose of this research is to characterize relative risk and factors correlated with case DHF. Independent variables used in this research are population density, attitude of region, and the number of health worker. To analysis this data, we used conditional autoregressive Bessag-York-Mollie (CAR-BYM) model. Based on descriptive statistic, the maximum and minimum DHF cases are Ciamis and Sukamantri, respectively. Furthermore, basedon model results, we found that the maximum and minimum relative risk are Cijeungjing and Sukamantri, respectively. Furthermore, there were 7 sub districts which relative risk are greater than one and 20 sub districts which relative risk are less than one. The sub districts which relative risk are greater than one show that DHF cases in these sub districts are greater than expectation. Based on the CAR-BYM model result showed that Each increase the population density by one unit contributes to the addition of DHF cases by 0.0012 units. Each additional health worker one unit, it will reduce the number of DHF cases by 0.0675 units. Each additional altitude of one unit will reduce the number of dengue cases by 0.0011 units. Based on relative risk (RR) value of the CAR-BYM model we found that the Cijengjing and Ciamis Districts have darkest color. The RR values in the two sub-districts are 3,449 and 3,240, respectively. The RR values of the two sub-districts are more than expected values.

Фактори ризику та прогнозування печінкової дисфункції у військовослужбовців з вогнепальними пораненнями

The purpose of the study was to improve the results of treatment of post-traumatic reactive hepatitis in victims of gunshot wounds by improving the prognosis, early diagnosis and treatment. Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of 233 medical records of inpatients of wounded military persons of 2014-2020 hospitalized in medical institutions of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for more than 14 days. All victims were examined in the laboratory using unified methods of laboratory tests. The value of relative risk was calculated. The probability of liver dysfunction was assessed using binary logistic regression with a comprehensive analysis of the values of individual indicators (risk factors). The informativeness of the forecast was determined by sensitivity and specificity, which were calculated on the basis of true and false (positive and negative) forecasts. Additionally, the quality of the binary logistics model was tested by ROC analysis to determine the area under the ROC-curve (AUC). Results and discussion. There was a significant difference in the frequency of detection of most of the analyzed indicators: mine-explosive type of injury; presence of abdominal trauma, including liver trauma, multiple soft tissue trauma, traumatic shock and anemia (p <0.05 according to Fisher's exact test). Skeletal trauma occurred in both subgroups with almost the same frequency, thoracic trauma more often, but not significantly (p >0.05 according to Fisher's exact test). All studied indicators had a significant risk of developing reactive hepatitis (upper and lower limits of 95 % confidence interval greater than 1.0). Anaemia had the greatest impact (relative risk greater than 5.6 with a specificity of 0.951), followed by multiple soft tissue injuries (more than 3.8 with a specificity of 0.833), traumatic shock (more than 3.7 with a specificity of 0.747). Relative risk values of the mine-explosive nature of injuries, abdominal trauma and liver trauma were in the range of 2.0-2.7. Using the method of Wald's exclusion, a model of reactive hepatitis prognosis was created with a prognostic value of a positive result of 78.9 %, a prognostic value of a negative result of 95.1 %, specificity of 87.5 %, and sensitivity of 91.1 %. The results of the ROC analysis were evaluated based on the area under the ROC-curve (AUC), which was 0.879 (95 % CI 0.810-0.929) at a significance level of <0.001. The cut-off value is 0.5. For the convenience of usage of the described model, the mobile application was created. Conclusion. The most significant risk factors for reactive hepatitis after gunshot wounds are anaemia, multiple soft tissue injuries, and traumatic shock. The model for predicting the development of reactive hepatitis after a gunshot wound, made in the form of a mobile application, in which the presence of abdominal trauma, multiple soft tissue trauma, traumatic shock and anaemia are used as predictors, has a specificity of 87.5 % and sensitivity of 91.1 %

Statistical Reliability of a Diet-Disease Association Meta-analysis

Risk ratios or p-values from multiple, independent studies – observational or randomized – can be pooled to address a common research question in meta-analysis. However, reliability of independent studies should not be assumed as claimed risk factor−disease relationships may fail to reproduce. An independent evaluation was undertaken of a published meta-analysis of cohort studies examining diet−disease associations; specifically between red and processed meat and six disease outcomes (all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, all cancer mortality, breast cancer incidence, colorectal cancer incidence, type 2 diabetes incidence). The number of hypotheses examined were counted in 15 random base papers (14%) of 105 used in the meta-analysis. Test statistics (relative risk values with 95% confidence limits) for 125 results used in the meta-analysis were converted to p-values; p-value plots were used to examine the effect heterogeneity of the p-values. The possible number of hypotheses examined in the 15 base papers was large, median = 20,736 (interquartile range = 1,728–331,776). Each p-value plot for selected health effects showed either a random pattern (p-values > 0.05), or a two-component mixture (small p-values < 0.001 while other p-values appeared random). Given potentially large numbers of hypotheses examined in the base studies, questionable research practices cannot be ruled out as explanations for some test statistics with small p-values. Like the original findings of the published meta-analysis, our independent evaluation concludes that base papers used in the meta-analysis do not support evidence for an association between red and processed meat and the six health effects investigated.

The deadliest lung lobe in COVID-19: a retrospective cohort study of elderly patients hospitalized for COVID-19

Introduction The relationship between which lung lobe is affected on the chest X-ray (CXR) performed at the Emergency Department (ED) and mortality from COVID-19 has not been studied. With this in mind, the present study aimed to discern which lung lobe was the one with the highest associated mortality rate in the elderly population. Methods Information was collected from the 2020 hospital admissions records of our hospital. Our cohort consists of 300 admissions. Results The presence of the left lower lobe (RR = 1.6; 95% CI: 1.1-2.4) and right middle lobe involvement (RR =1.8; 95% CI: 1.2-2.7) on CXR at the ED were both predictive factors of in-hospital mortality. Right middle lobe involvement on CXR at the ED was the risk factor with the highest relative risk value (RR = 1.8). Furthermore, right middle lobe involvement on CXR at ED was a predictor for persistent organ failure (RR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.2-2.3), respiratory failure (RR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.2-2.4) and acute kidney injury (RR = 1.5; 95% CI: 1.2-2). The isolated right middle lobe involvement on CXR at ED was a risk factor for in-hospital mortality (RR = 2.6; 95% CI = 1.8 - 3.7). However, the affected right middle lobe along with another/other lobe/s was a null factor. Conclusion Right middle lobe involvement was an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality.

Association of systemic cellullar immunity with the development of cataract

Among the causes of visual impairment, cataract occupies a significant proportion, which indicates a need for studying the causes of its development. Over recent years, an important role has been given to impaired immunoregulatory reactions in its genesis. So far, however, participation of systemic cellular immunity in occurence of different clinical types of cataract remains poorly known. The aim of the present study was to assess association between parameters of systemic cellular immunity and development of mature nuclear cataract. On the basis of IRTC “S.N. Fedorov Eye Microsurgery Center” (Tambov Branch), a study of major immune cells subpopulations in peripheral blood was performed over 2019-2020 in 63 patients aged 60-84 years, suffering from mature nuclear cataract (the study group). The control group consisted of 47 patients aged 60 to 84 years without ocular disorders in the history and at the time of examination. The evaluation of differentiated cell clusters was carried out with BD FACS Canto II flow cytometer. As a result, a statistically significant decrease in the absolute number of CD19+to 0.18±0.003 × 109/L was revealed in the patients from the main group versus 0.42±0.05 × 109/L in controls; the relative number of CD19+was decreased to 8.36±1.1% versus 19.64±1.3%, respectively, along with absolute content of CD3+cells of 0.92±0.08 × 109/L versus 1.57±0.06 × 109/L in controls. On the contrary, the absolute number of CD56+in the patients with mature nuclear cataract was significantly increased to 0.27±0.02×109/L compared to 0.15±0.03 × 109/L in the age control group. The relative risk values are statistically significant, and the highest levels were found for CD19+ and CD3+cell clusters, which were 3.237 and 2.954 for the absolute number, and 1.952 and 2.748, for the relative number, respectively. These findings suggest that development of a mature nuclear cataract is associated primarily with a decrease in absolute and relative contents of B and T lymphocytes at the systemic level, which may be of practical importance when used as immunological markers of nuclear cataract.

The effect of apparent temperature on hospital admissions for cardiovascular diseases in rural areas of Pingliang, China.

There is a well-reported association between temperature and the relative risk (RR) of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in urban areas in China. However, insufficient research has been performed in rural areas. The aim of the study was to analyze the association between apparent temperature (AT) and the RR of CVD hospital admissions in rural areas of Pingliang, northwest China. Daily data and weather conditions were collected in Pingliang from 2014-2015. The median value of AT was selected to estimate the RR of CVD, and the distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) used to examine the relationship between AT and the RR of CVD admissions for up to 21 days. The results showed a nonlinear relationship between AT and the RR of CVD admissions. Regarding the heat effect, there was a protective effect. Meanwhile, the cold effect on the RR of CVD admissions appeared at day 0 and persisted until day 21, resulting in a cumulative RR of 2.304 (95%CI: 1.809-2.936) compared with the median value of AT, and the maximum RR appeared at about -5 °.The cumulative RR values of CVD on men and adults were more sensitive than those on women and elders in the cold effect. AT is associated with the hospitalization of CVD patients. Both gender and age factors were associated with the increase in RR of CVD admissions. More preventive measures should be taken to avoid this adverse effect.