Understanding the Effectiveness of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Interventions: A Counterfactual Simulation Approach to Generalizing the Outcomes of Intervention Trials.

Background: While water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions can reduce diarrheal disease, many large-scale trials have not found the expected health gains for young children in low-resource settings. Evidence-based guidance is needed to improve interventions and remove barriers to diarrheal disease reduction.

Objectives: We aimed to estimate how sensitive WASH intervention effectiveness was to underlying contextual and intervention factors in the WASH Benefits (WASH-B) Bangladesh cluster-randomized controlled trial.

The Challenge of External Generalisability: Insights from the Bicentric Validation of a [Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET Based Radiomics Signature for Primary Prostate Cancer Characterisation Using Histopathology as Reference.

: PSMA PET radiomics is a promising tool for primary prostate cancer (PCa) characterisation. However, small single-centre studies and lack of external validation hinder definitive conclusions on the potential of PSMA PET radiomics in the initial workup of PCa. We aimed to validate a radiomics signature in a larger internal cohort and in an external cohort from a separate centre.

Pathogens and Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Household Environments: A Study of Soil Floors and Cow Dung in Rural Bangladesh.

In low- and middle-income countries, living in homes with soil floors and animal cohabitation may expose children to fecal organisms, increasing risk of enteric and antimicrobial-resistant infections. Our objective was to understand whether cow cohabitation in homes with soil floors in rural Bangladesh contributed to the presence and diversity of potential pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in the home. In 10 randomly selected households in rural Sirajganj District, we sampled floor soil and cow dung, which is commonly used as sealant in soil floors.

Associations between weather and malaria in an elimination setting in Peru: a distributed lag analysis.

Background: () is the predominant malaria species in countries approaching elimination. In the context of climate change, understanding environmental drivers of transmission can guide interventions, yet evidence is limited, particularly in Latin America.

Objectives: We estimated the association between temperature and precipitation and malaria incidence in a malaria elimination setting in Peru.

Flooding and elevated prenatal depression in a climate-sensitive community in rural Bangladesh: a mixed methods study.

Background: Prenatal depression can have lasting adverse impacts on child health. Little is known about the impact of floods on prenatal depression in low- and middle-income countries.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 881 pregnant women from September 24, 2023 to July 19, 2024 in riverine communities in rural Bangladesh.

Longitudinal Trends of Comorbidities and Survival Among Kidney Cancer Patients in Asian Population.

Background: Comorbidity could influence cancer diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, or survival. Although comorbidity burden in kidney cancer patients is high, limited evidence exists on the longitudinal patterns of individual comorbidity prevalence and its impact on overall survival among kidney cancer patients, particularly in Asian populations.

Methods: We included adults diagnosed with kidney cancer between 2010 and 2021 using the Korean nationwide health insurance database.

Calcium Channel Blocker Versus Renin-Angiotensin System Inhibitor in Risk of Kidney Cancer Among Patients With Hypertension: A Propensity Score-Matched Cohort Study.

Background: Use of antihypertensive medications could be associated with an increased risk of kidney cancer. Despite their various mechanisms of action, whether this association differs between different classes of medications remains unclear.

Objective: The objective of this study is to compare the risk of kidney cancer between first-line treatment options of antihypertensive medications in a hypertensive population.

Pesticides and prostate cancer incidence and mortality: An environment-wide association study.

Background: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United States, yet modifiable risk factors remain elusive. In this study, the authors investigated the potential role of agricultural pesticide exposure in prostate cancer incidence and mortality.

Methods: For this environment-wide association study (EWAS), linear regression was used to analyze county-level associations between the annual use of 295 distinct pesticides (measured in kg per county) and prostate cancer incidence and mortality rates in the contiguous United States.

Pathways through which water, sanitation, hygiene, and nutrition interventions reduce antibiotic use in young children: a mediation analysis of a cluster-randomized trial.

Background: Low-cost, household-level water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and nutrition interventions can reduce pediatric antibiotic use, but the mechanism through which interventions reduce antibiotic use has not been investigated.

Methods: We conducted a causal mediation analysis using data from the WASH Benefits Bangladesh cluster-randomized trial (NCT01590095). Among a subsample of children within the WSH, nutrition, nutrition+WSH, and controls arms (N=1,409), we recorded caregiver-reported antibiotic use at ages 14 and 28 months and collected stool at age 14 months.

From the Ground Up: Stakeholder Perspectives on Housing Interventions to Reduce Environmentally Mediated Infections.

Background: Housing conditions are intrinsically linked to human health, with inadequate housing potentially increasing exposure to environmentally mediated pathogens. Housing interventions that aim to improve housing and reduce environmentally mediated infections, such as finished floors and housing upgrades for vector-borne diseases, remain relatively under-explored as health interventions. This study explored facilitators of and barriers to funding, implementing, and scaling up housing improvements as health interventions to reduce environmentally mediated infectious diseases.

Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in pregnancy and infant growth: a mediation analysis of a randomised trial.

Background: Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in pregnancy (IPTp) can improve birth outcomes, but whether it confers benefits to postnatal growth is unclear. We investigated the effect of IPTp on infant growth in Uganda and its pathways of effects using causal mediation analyses.

Methods: We analysed data from 633 infants born to mothers enrolled in a randomised trial of monthly IPTp with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) vs.

From the Ground Up: Stakeholder Perspectives on Housing Interventions to Reduce Environmentally Mediated Infections.

Background: Housing conditions are intrinsically linked to human health, with inadequate housing potentially increasing exposure to environmentally mediated pathogens. Housing interventions that aim to improve housing and reduce environmentally mediated infections, such as finished floors and housing upgrades for vector-borne diseases, remain relatively under-explored as health interventions. This study explored facilitators of and barriers to funding, implementing, and scaling up housing improvements as health interventions to reduce environmentally mediated infectious diseases.

Primary pyeloplasty for uretero-pelvic obstruction in the USA adult population with or without double-J indwelling ureteral stents. Insurance claims data on contemporary time to removal trends, perioperative complications, health care costs, and re-intervention rates.

Background: Using a large population-based dataset, we primarily sought to compare postoperative complications, health-care expenditures, and re-intervention rates between patients diagnosed with ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) undergoing stented vs. non-stented pyeloplasty. The secondary objective was to investigate factors that influence the timing of DJ stent removal.

Estimating community-wide indirect effects of influenza vaccination: triangulation using mathematical models and bias analysis.

Understanding whether influenza vaccine promotion strategies produce community-wide indirect effects is important for establishing vaccine coverage targets and optimizing vaccine delivery. Empirical epidemiologic studies and mathematical models have been used to estimate indirect effects of vaccines but rarely for the same estimand in the same dataset. Using these approaches together could be a powerful tool for triangulation in infectious disease epidemiology because each approach is subject to distinct sources of bias.

Double-opposing negative pressure dressing-a useful method for splinting skin grafts on the penile shaft.

The care of skin grafts in the penile shaft is challenging because of its cylindrical shape and constantly changing length and lie, which makes it difficult to apply uniform compression and ensure immobilization during the critical period of skin graft take. These challenges are difficult to overcome with conventional dressings. The authors describe a technique of applying a double-opposing negative pressure dressing to sandwich the penile shaft following reconstruction with a skin graft, which is simple to apply and addresses these issues.

Assessing sociodemographic and regional disparities in Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score uptake.

Background: The Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score (ODX-GPS) is a gene expression assay that predicts disease aggressiveness. The objective of this study was to identify sociodemographic and regional factors associated with ODX-GPS uptake.

Methods: Data from Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results registries on men with localized prostate cancer with a Gleason score of 3 + 3 or 3 + 4, PSA ≤20 ng/mL, and stage T1c to T2c disease from 2013 through 2017 were linked with ODX-GPS data.

Polygenic score for body mass index in relation to mortality among patients with renal cell cancer.

Background: The association between body mass index (BMI) and mortality among individuals with renal cell cancer (RCC) is debated, with some observational studies suggesting a lower mortality associated with higher BMI. However, methodological issues such as confounding and reverse causation may bias these findings. Using BMI-associated genetic variants can avoid these biases and generate more valid estimates.

Partial nephrectomy in elderly patients: a systematic review and analysis of comparative outcomes.

Purpose: The management of renal masses in the elderly population is particularly challenging, as these patients are often more frail and potentially more susceptible to surgical morbidity. This review aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the outcomes of partial nephrectomy (PN) for treating renal masses in elderly individuals.

Methods: A systematic electronic literature search was conducted in May 2024 using the Medline (via PubMed) database by searching publications up to April 2024.

Increased risk of cardiovascular disease among kidney cancer survivors: a nationwide population-based cohort study.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major concern of morbidity and mortality among cancer survivors. However, few evidence exists on the short- and long-term risk of CVD in kidney cancer (KCa) survivors.

Methods: In this nationwide, large population-based retrospective cohort study, we used the Korean national health insurance and medical checkup survey linkage database (2007-2021), drawn from the entire Korean population.

Extension of efficacy range for targeted malaria-elimination interventions due to spillover effects.

Malaria-elimination interventions aim to extinguish hotspots and prevent transmission to nearby areas. Here, we re-analyzed a cluster-randomized trial of reactive, focal interventions (chemoprevention using artemether-lumefantrine and/or indoor residual spraying with pirimiphos-methyl) delivered within 500 m of confirmed malaria index cases in Namibia to measure direct effects (among intervention recipients within 500 m) and spillover effects (among non-intervention recipients within 3 km) on incidence, prevalence and seroprevalence. There was no or weak evidence of direct effects, but the sample size of intervention recipients was small, limiting statistical power.