Increased Mortality in a Nationwide Study of Gastrointestinal Hospitalizations in the United States During the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic.

Background The impact of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on patients with acute gastrointestinal (GI) presentations including acute pancreatitis, diverticulitis, and GI bleeding, requiring hospitalization, has not been fully characterized at the population level in the United States. Aims We used the National Inpatient Sample to describe inpatient gastroenterology outcomes in the United States during the first year of the pandemic (2020), using 2018 and 2019 as comparator years. Methods Using the National Inpatient Sample, we explored year-to-year and month-to-month trends in hospitalizations, length of stay, and inpatient mortality for GI presentations, including luminal, biliary, infectious, inflammatory, and pancreatic diseases, with regression modeling.

The Population-Level Prevalence of Exocrine Pancreas Insufficiency and the Subsequent Risk of Pancreatic Cancer.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to study the prevalence of exocrine pancreas insufficiency (EPI) at a population level and the subsequent risk of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Materials And Methods: Using TriNetX (a database of over 79 million US residents), we included patients ≥18 years with EPI (identified via ICD-10 codes) and continuous follow-up from 2016-2022. Patients with prior pancreas resection and PDAC before an EPI diagnosis were excluded.

The role of thyroid function in borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia: a Mendelian Randomisation study.

Background: Genome-wide association studies have reported a genetic overlap between borderline personality disorder (BPD) and schizophrenia (SCZ). Epidemiologically, the direction and causality of the association between thyroid function and risk of BPD and SCZ are unclear. We aim to test whether genetically predicted variations in TSH and FT4 levels or hypothyroidism are associated with the risk of BPD and SCZ.

National frequency, trends, and healthcare burden of care fragmentation in readmissions for end-stage liver disease in the USA.

Background: End-stage liver disease (ESLD) patients have frequent readmissions to the same facility or a different hospital (care fragmentation). Care fragmentation results in care delivery from an unfamiliar clinical team or setting, a potential source of suboptimal clinical outcomes. We examined the occurrence, trends, and association between care fragmentation and outcomes during readmissions for ESLD.

The Impact of Patients' Primary Language on Inpatient Gastrointestinal Bleeding Outcomes.

Background: The impact of English proficiency on gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) outcomes remains unclear. In this analysis, we compare inpatient GIB outcomes between patients with English as their primary language (EPL) and those with a primary language other than English (PLOE).

Methods: Using the 2019 State Inpatient Databases for New Jersey, Maryland, and Michigan, we created an analysis cohort of GIB hospitalizations using International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision codes.

A nationwide study of liver disease hospitalizations during the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.

Background And Aim: The impact of the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on patients with liver disease is not well described at the population level in the United States. We used the largest, nationwide inpatient dataset to describe inpatient liver disease outcomes in the United States during the first year of the pandemic (2020) using 2018 and 2019 as comparator years.

Methods: Using the National Inpatient Sample (2018-2020), we explored year-to-year and 2020 month-to-month trends in hospitalizations, length of stay, and inpatient mortality for liver-related complications including cirrhosis, alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) and alcoholic hepatitis using regression modeling.

Epstein-Barr Virus Hepatitis Masquerading as Painless Jaundice.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection typically presents with pharyngeal symptoms and subclinical transaminitis. We present a case of a 27-year-old woman with no known past medical history who presented with painless jaundice and dark-colored urine for three days. Her review of systems was negative for fever, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, pruritus, or rash.

Clinical characteristics, predictors, and rates of hospitalized acute cholangitis patients in the United States.

Background: Acute cholangitis (AC) is a relatively uncommon condition, with a mortality rate of 50% without prompt treatment. Our study aimed to assess the impact of demographic and social factors on morbidity, mortality and healthcare utilization of patients with AC in the United States (US).

Methods: We used data from the National Inpatient Sample (2016 and 2017).

COVID-19 and acute pancreatitis: A systematic review.

We aimed to systematically review the relationship between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and acute pancreatitis (AP). The global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection causes respiratory symptoms and notably also affects the gastrointestinal (GI) system. A systematic review of the available literature on the topic was performed with a search key using the terms "SARS COV 2," "Pancreatitis," "COVID-19" and synonyms.

Case Report of Acute Pancreatitis Associated With Combination Treatment of Dulaglutide and Glipizide.

The objective of this report is to discuss a case of drug-induced acute pancreatitis in a patient on a combination of dulaglutide and glipizide. The patient was a 61-year-old African American male with a past medical history of diabetes mellitus type 2 and essential hypertension, who was admitted for acute pancreatitis after presenting with upper abdominal pain. He was initially on glipizide but dulaglutide was added to improve control.

Thyroid Function and the Risk of Alzheimer's Disease: A Mendelian Randomization Study.

Observational studies suggest an association between thyroid function and risk of dementia, but the causality and direction of these effects are unclear. We aim to test whether genetically predicted variation within the normal range of thyroid function and hypothyroidism is causally associated with the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses using genetic instruments are associated with normal range thyrotropin (TSH) and free thyroxine (fT4) levels.

Integrating Social Determinants in Decision-Making Processes for Health: Insights from Conceptual Frameworks-the 3-D Commission.

The inclusion of social determinants of health offers a more comprehensive lens to fully appreciate and effectively address health. However, decision-makers across sectors still struggle to appropriately recognise and act upon these determinants, as illustrated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, improving the health of populations remains challenging.

Improving Decision-Making for Population Health in Nonhealth Sectors in Urban Environments: the Example of the Transportation Sector in Three Megacities-the 3-D Commission.

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) represent a significant global public health burden. As more countries experience both epidemiologic transition and increasing urbanization, it is clear that we need approaches to mitigate the growing burden of NCDs. Large and growing urban environments play an important role in shaping risk factors that influence NCDs, pointing to the ineluctable need to engage sectors beyond the health sector in these settings if we are to improve health.

An assessment of geographical access and factors influencing travel time to emergency obstetric care in the urban state of Lagos, Nigeria.

Previous efforts to estimate the travel time to comprehensive emergency obstetric care (CEmOC) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have either been based on spatial models or self-reported travel time, both with known inaccuracies. The study objectives were to estimate more realistic travel times for pregnant women in emergency situations using Google Maps, determine system-level factors that influence travel time and use these estimates to assess CEmOC geographical accessibility and coverage in Lagos state, Nigeria. Data on demographics, obstetric history and travel to CEmOC facilities of pregnant women with an obstetric emergency, who presented between 1st November 2018 and 31st December 2019 at a public CEmOC facility were collected from hospital records.

Energy, Data, and Decision-Making: a Scoping Review-the 3D Commission.

Access to energy is an important social determinant of health, and expanding the availability of affordable, clean energy is one of the Sustainable Development Goals. It has been argued that climate mitigation policies can, if well-designed in response to contextual factors, also achieve environmental, economic, and social progress, but otherwise pose risks to economic inequity generally and health inequity specifically. Decisions around such policies are hampered by data gaps, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and among vulnerable populations in high-income countries (HICs).

Removal of Pharmaceutical Residues from Water and Wastewater Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge Methods-A Review.

Persistent pharmaceutical pollutants (PPPs) have been identified as potential endocrine disruptors that mimic growth hormones when consumed at nanogram per litre to microgram per litre concentrations. Their occurrence in potable water remains a great threat to human health. Different conventional technologies developed for their removal from wastewater have failed to achieve complete mineralisation.

An exploratory assessment of a multidimensional healthcare and economic data on COVID-19 in Nigeria.

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic that is ravaging Nigeria and the world at large. This data article provides a dataset of daily updates of COVID-19 as reported online by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) from February 27, 2020 to September 29, 2020. The data were obtained through web scraping from different sources and it includes some economic variables such as the Nigeria budget for each state in 2020, population estimate, healthcare facilities, and the COVID-19 laboratories in Nigeria.

Review of the methods for determination of reactive oxygen species and suggestion for their application in advanced oxidation induced by dielectric barrier discharges.

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) particularly non-thermal plasmas based on electrical discharges have been widely investigated for water and wastewater treatment. Dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) generate large amounts of selective and non-selective reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as ozone, hydrogen peroxide, atomic oxygen, superoxide molecular anions and hydroxyl radicals, having been proved to be efficient for water decontamination among various forms of electrical discharge systems. The detection and quantification methods of these oxygen species in non-thermal plasmas have been reviewed.

Leaching and antimicrobial properties of silver nanoparticles loaded onto natural zeolite clinoptilolite by ion exchange and wet impregnation.

This study aimed to compare the leaching and antimicrobial properties of silver that was loaded onto the natural zeolite clinoptilolite by ion exchange and wet impregnation. Silver ions were reduced using sodium borohydride (NaBH). The leaching of silver from the prepared silver-clinoptilolite (Ag-EHC) nanocomposite samples and their antimicrobial activity on Escherichia coli Epi 300 were investigated.

Effects of Temperature and pH on the Activities of Catechol 2,3-dioxygenase Obtained from Crude Oil Contaminated Soil in Ilaje, Ondo State, Nigeria.

Enrichment technique was employed for the isolation of the crude oil degrading bacteria. The isolated bacteria were screened for their degradative ability and the best degrading bacteria were selected based on their growth. Specific activities of Catechol-2,3-dioxygenase and effects of temperature and pH and their stabilities on the enzyme relative activities were observed.

Pattern of computed tomography scan findings in children with Wilms' tumor in a tertiary hospital in Lagos, Nigeria.

Context: Abnormal abdominal distension in a child is usually a source of great concern and apprehension in both the parents and the pediatric surgeon. Although Wilms' tumor is the most common malignant abdominal childhood tumor, usually causing abdominal distension, many other less common causes can also result in abdominal distension. Therefore, early diagnosis of Wilms' tumor and distinguishing it from all these other causes is essential.

Flavonols and an oxychromonol from Piliostigma reticulatum.

The leaf extract from the plant Piliostigma reticulatum was found to exhibit antimicrobial activity against some bacteria and fungi such as Staphylococcus aureus (NCTC 6571), Escherichia coli (NCTC 10418), Bacillus subtilis (NCTC 8236), Proteus vulgaris (NCTC 4175), Aspergillus niger (ATCC 10578) and Candida albicans (ATCC 10231). Upon investigation of the chemical constituents present in the leaf extract, a total of seven compounds were isolated and their structures were unambiguously established by spectroscopic methods including HR-MS and NMR spectrometry. Four of the isolated compounds were novel, namely 6-C-methyl-2-p-hydroxyphenyloxychromonol (piliostigmol), 1, 6,8-di-C-methylquercetin-3,3',7-trimethyl ether, 2, 6,8-di-C-methylquercetin-3,3'-dimethyl ether, 3 and 3',6,8,-tri-C-methylquercetin-3,7-dimethyl ether, 4.