Statin use and its association with all-cause mortality and incident diabetes/prediabetes in African Americans: Findings from the jackson heart study.

Objectives: This study investigates the association between statin use and all-cause mortality, as well as the association between statin use and incident diabetes or prediabetes among African Americans.

Methods: This study is based on the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), a community-based cohort study of African Americans (AAs). The baseline period for JHS was 9/26/2000 to 3/31/2004.

The Association Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Diabetes in Adult African Americans and Whites: An NHANES Study.

Objective: The primary objective of this cross-sectional study is to investigate the association between vitamin D deficiency (VDD) and diabetes and see if this association is the same for adult (age ≥ 20) African Americans (AAs) and Whites. The secondary objective is to examine the distribution of the 25-hydroxyvitamin D test among AAs and Whites and to evaluate the appropriateness of using the same cut-off point for both groups to diagnose VDD.

Methods: Our analysis is based on the 2011-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES).

Neonatal Seizure Pattern, Outcome, and its Predictors Among Neonates Admitted to NICU of Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia.

Background: Seizure is the most frequently observed symptom of neurological disorders and an important determinant of outcome during neonatal period. In clinical practice, it is prevalent and observed in neonates admitted to hospital in low-resources countries, but due to the paucity of studies in these regions, little is known about its pattern, clinical outcomes of hospitalization, and its predictors. Therefore, aims to evaluate seizure patterns, clinical outcomes, and its predictors among neonates admitted to the NICU of ACSH, Mekelle, and Tigray.

Prevalence, Clinical Profile and Risk Factors of Nosocomial Infection in Ayder Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Tigray, Ethiopia.

Background: Hospital-acquired infection (HAI) is a significant cause of increased morbidity and mortality amongst hospitalized patients and represents a considerable health and economic burden worldwide. However, evidence about HAI in pediatric ICU is limited.

Objective: To identify the prevalence of hospital-acquired infection (HAI), clinical profile, and its risk factors for nosocomial infection in patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

A silent epidemic of major congenital malformations in Tigray, northern Ethiopia: hospital-based study.

Congenital malformations are defects of the morphogenesis of organs or body during the pregnancy period and are identifiable at pre- or postnatal. They are identified as the major cause of child mortality worldwide. There is a need to understand the prevalence of congenital malformations in Tigray and Ethiopia in general as surveillance data are lacking.

Major Causes of Calf and Lamb Mortality and Morbidity and Associated Risk Factors in the Mixed Crop-Livestock Production System in Jamma District, South Wollo, Ethiopia.

Lamb and calf preweaning mortality and morbidity account for serious losses in sheep and cattle production and are, thus, a major factor in reducing profitability and adversely affecting the sheep and cattle farming. Thus, a prospective cohort study was conducted in Jamma district, Amhara Regional State, to determine the major cause of calf and lamb morbidity and mortality and associated risk factors. A semi-structured questionnaire and clinical assessment of the animals were conducted from 150 households to assess the potential risk factors.

Small and sick newborn care during the COVID-19 pandemic: global survey and thematic analysis of healthcare providers' voices and experiences.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting health systems globally. Maternity care disruptions have been surveyed, but not those related to vulnerable small newborns. We aimed to survey reported disruptions to small and sick newborn care worldwide and undertake thematic analysis of healthcare providers' experiences and proposed mitigation strategies.

The effect of vitamin C supplementation on lipid profile of type 2 diabetic patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials.

Background And Aims: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials evaluating the role of vitamin C supplementation on lipid profiles among diabetic patients to summarize the available findings.

Methods: A comprehensive search of PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library databases was performed. Clinical trials conducted on adult type 2 diabetic patients evaluating the effect of vitamin C supplementation and reported lipid profiles (cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL)) were included.

Prenatal vitamin D supplementation and child respiratory health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Systematic review and meta-analyses of observational studies on maternal vitamin D status and risk of respiratory allergic conditions indicated that mothers who had supplementation during pregnancy could decrease the risk of recurrent wheeze or asthma in their offspring.

Objectives: We conducted this meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials with the primary intention of detecting the effect of prenatal vitamin D supplementation on the offspring's asthma. Secondary outcomes under respiratory health include eczema, lower respiratory tract infections, Immunoglobulin E positive test, upper respiratory tract infections, and allergic rhinitis.

Neonatal septicemia at intensive care unit, Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Tigray, North Ethiopia: Bacteriological profile, drug susceptibility pattern, and associated factors.

Background: Neonatal septicemia is a life threatening medical emergency that requires timely detection of pathogens with urgent rational antibiotics therapy.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between March 2017 to September 2018 among 317 septicemia suspected neonates at neonatal intensive care unit, Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Mekelle, Tigray, North Ethiopia. A 3 mL of blood was collected from each participant.

High urban tuberculosis case notification rates can be misleading: evidence from an urban setting in Ethiopia.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem. Its magnitude the required interventions are affected by changes in socioeconomic condition and urbanization. Ethiopia is among the thirty high burden countries with increasing effort to end TB.

Does chronic high-intensity endurance training have an effect on cardiovascular markers of active populations and athletes? Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: The objective of this study was to ascertain the effects of high-intensity chronic endurance training on cardiovascular markers of active populations and athletes.

Methods: This review was conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. We used databases of PubMed, Science Direct, SPORTDiscus, Google Scholar and grey literatures with Mesh and free-text search as well as manual searches to identify relevant studies from June 2017 to September 2019.

Seasonal patterns of tuberculosis case notification in the tropics of Africa: A six-year trend analysis in Ethiopia.

Objective: Seasonal variations affect the health system's functioning, including tuberculosis (TB) services, but there is little evidence about seasonal variations in TB case notification in tropical countries, including Ethiopia. This study sought to fill this gap in knowledge using TB data reported from 10 zones, 5 each from Amhara and Oromia regions.

Methods: Notified TB cases for 2010-2016 were analyzed using SPSS version 20.

Bias due to composite reference standards in diagnostic accuracy studies.

Composite reference standards (CRSs) have been advocated in diagnostic accuracy studies in the absence of a perfect reference standard. The rationale is that combining results of multiple imperfect tests leads to a more accurate reference than any one test in isolation. Focusing on a CRS that classifies subjects as disease positive if at least one component test is positive, we derive algebraic expressions for sensitivity and specificity of this CRS, sensitivity and specificity of a new (index) test compared with this CRS, as well as the CRS-based prevalence.

Evaluation of screening tests for detecting Chlamydia trachomatis: bias associated with the patient-infected-status algorithm.

In recent years, the evaluation of nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) for detecting Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhea is based on a methodology called the patient-infected-status algorithm (PISA). In the simplest version of PISA, 4 test-specimen combinations (comparator tests) are used to define the gold standard. If a person shows a positive result by any 2 or more of these 4 comparator tests, the person is classified as infected; otherwise, the person is considered to be uninfected.

Primary pulmonary choriocarcinoma in a male.

The authors report a case of a 48-year-old male smoker who presented with respiratory distress and constitutional symptoms along with gynaecomastia and multiple pulmonary nodules. Based on normal physical and ultrasound findings of the testes, presence of markedly elevated serum β human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) and biopsy findings of the lung a diagnosis of primary pulmonary choriocarcinoma was made.

Modeling conditional dependence between diagnostic tests: a multiple latent variable model.

Applications of latent class analysis in diagnostic test studies have assumed that all tests are measuring a common binary latent variable, the true disease status. In this article we describe a new approach that recognizes that tests based on different biological phenomena measure different latent variables, which in turn measure the latent true disease status. This allows for adjustment of conditional dependence between tests within disease categories.

Reproducibility and specificity concerns associated with nucleic acid amplification tests for detecting Chlamydia trachomatis.

Commercial nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) have become one of the most frequently used tests for detecting Chalmydia trachomatis. However, published studies have raised important concerns regarding the NAAT evaluation process in general and their reproducibility and clinical specificity in particular. This is because for many infectious diseases including chlamydia, a true gold standard simply does not exist and, as a result, estimation of test performance parameters in the absence of a gold standard is a difficult and challenging task.

WITHDRAWN: Problems associated with reproducibility, validity and confirmation of nucleic acid amplification tests for detecting Chlamydia trachomatis.

This article has been withdrawn.

Evaluation of nucleic acid amplification tests in the absence of a perfect gold-standard test: a review of the statistical and epidemiologic issues.

During the past 10 years, medical diagnostic testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) has changed markedly as a result of the rapid expansion and marketing of nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs). Among such new DNA/RNA-amplification techniques are the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the ligase chain reaction (LCR), and the transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) tests. Regrettably, the test evaluation process undergone by these tests has not always been rigorous or scientifically sound.