Publications by authors named "Tovar M"

Despite 30 years as a public health emergency, tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the world's deadliest diseases. Most deaths are among persons with TB who are not reached with diagnosis and treatment. Thus, timely screening and accurate detection of TB, particularly using sensitive tools such as chest radiography, is crucial for reducing the global burden of this disease.

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Background: Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB) is a major global health challenge, disproportionately affecting low- and lower-middle-income countries (LLMICs). The World Health Organization (WHO) generates guidance to address the problem. Here, we explore the extent to which guidance and related knowledge are generated by experts living in the most-affected countries and consider the results in the context of the movement to decolonize global health.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study focuses on isolating new lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from Danish flowers to create innovative starter cultures for plant-based fermentation.
  • Researchers collected 46 flower samples and successfully isolated 61 LAB strains, identifying them using advanced sequencing techniques.
  • Findings indicated that these strains not only produce various sugar-based exo-cellular polysaccharides but also effectively acidify almond, oat, and soy milk, with notable texture development primarily in soy milk.
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Background: Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for coronavirus disease (COVID) are used in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to inform treatment decisions. However, to date, it is unclear when this use is cost-effective. Existing analyses are limited to a narrow set of countries and uses.

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Background: Few studies have explored a stepped care model for delivering mental health care to persons with tuberculosis (TB). Here, we evaluated depression screening and remote low-intensity mental health interventions for persons initiating TB treatment in Lima, Peru during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We used the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) to screen participants for depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 ≥ 5).

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Local magnetostructural changes and dynamical spin fluctuations in doubly diluted spinel TiMn(FeCo)Ohas been reported by means of neutron diffraction and magnetization studies. Two distinct sets of compositions (i)(Ti) = 0.20 and(Fe) = 0.

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Colombia has great potential to produce clean energy through the use of residual biomass from the agricultural sector, such as residues obtained from the life cycle of rice production. This document presents a mixed approach methodology study to examine the combustion of rice husks as a possible energy alternative in the Tolima department of Colombia. First, the physicochemical characteristics of the rice husk were analyzed to characterize the raw material.

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Despite the decline in the prevalence of e-cigarette use among youth during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, more than 2.5 million of US high and middle schoolers are still using e-cigarettes. Furthermore, those who use e-cigarettes are starting at a younger age and are using them more intensely, reflecting, at least in part, a high addiction liability of modern e-cigarettes.

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Introduction: The slow descent in TB burden, the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the rise of multidrug-resistant strains of , seriously threaten TB control and the goals of the End TB strategy. To fight back, several vaccine candidates are under development, with some of them undergoing the phases 2B and 3 of the development pipeline. The impact of these vaccines on the general population needs to be addressed using disease-transmission models, and, in a country like China, which last year ranked third in number of cases worldwide, and where the population is aging at a fast pace, the impact of TB vaccination campaigns may depend heavily upon the age of targeted populations, the mechanistic descriptions of the TB vaccines and the coupling between TB dynamics and demographic evolution.

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Adolescents account for an estimated 800,000 incident tuberculosis (TB) cases annually and are at risk for suboptimal adherence to TB treatment. Most studies of adolescent TB treatment adherence have used surveillance data with limited psychosocial information. This prospective cohort study aimed to identify risk factors for suboptimal adherence to rifampicin-susceptible TB treatment among adolescents (10-19 years old) in Lima, Peru.

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Purpose: Cancer survivor cohort studies document the positive impact of health behaviors on cancer survivorship by influencing quality of life, comorbidity burden, and cancer recurrence. Social networks can be instrumental in supporting health behavior changes. This study used qualitative interviews to explore how social networks may impact health and health behaviors of African American Prostate Cancer Survivors (AAPCS) enrolled in Men Moving Forward (MMF), a lifestyle intervention designed with and for AAPCS.

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Background: Rapid diagnostic testing may support improved treatment of COVID patients. Understanding COVID testing and care pathways is important for assessing the impact and cost-effectiveness of testing in the real world, yet there is limited information on these pathways in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). We therefore undertook an expert consultation to better understand testing policies and practices, clinical screening, the profile of patients seeking testing or care, linkage to care after testing, treatment, lessons learnt and expected changes in 2023.

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Background: Rapid diagnostic testing may support improved treatment of COVID patients. Understanding COVID testing and care pathways is important for assessing the impact and cost-effectiveness of testing in the real world, yet there is limited information on these pathways in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). We therefore undertook an expert consultation to better understand testing policies and practices, clinical screening, the profile of patients seeking testing or care, linkage to care after testing, treatment, lessons learnt and expected changes in 2023 in LMICs.

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Background: People with essential tremor (ET) can be subject to stigma, and some adopt avoidance behaviors. Characteristics associated with ET stigma and the relationship between perceived stigma and social dysfunction have not been studied.

Objectives: To discern predictors of perceived stigma and social dysfunction in ET, and to identify potentially treatable psychological factors associated with social dysfunction.

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In tuberculosis (TB) vaccine development, multiple factors hinder the design and interpretation of the clinical trials used to estimate vaccine efficacy. The complex transmission chain of TB includes multiple routes to disease, making it hard to link the vaccine efficacy observed in a trial to specific protective mechanisms. Here, we present a Bayesian framework to evaluate the compatibility of different vaccine descriptions with clinical trial outcomes, unlocking impact forecasting from vaccines whose specific mechanisms of action are unknown.

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Unlabelled: This study sought to provide prevalence data for mental health (MH) diagnoses and psychotropic medication prescriptions among individuals in foster care and to examine their relationships with physical health status, maltreatment type, placement type, and demographic variables. Data were retrieved from electronic health records for 3,067 patients seen at integrated pediatric primary care clinics serving individuals in care. Descriptive and bivariate statistics for presence of MH diagnoses and psychotropic medication prescription were calculated.

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Background: Few studies have examined the burden of postacute sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (PASC) in low- and middle-income countries. We sought to characterize PASC with self-reported questionnaires and clinical examinations of end-organ function in Lima, Peru.

Methods: From January to July 2021, we recruited participants at least 8 weeks after COVID-19 diagnosis from a case registry in Lima, Peru.

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These clinical standards aim to provide guidance for diagnosis, treatment, and management of drug-susceptible TB in children and adolescents. Fifty-two global experts in paediatric TB participated in a Delphi consensus process. After eight rounds of revisions, 51/52 (98%) participants endorsed the final document.

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Chalcohalide mixed-anion crystals have seen a rise in interest as "perovskite-inspired materials" with the goal of combining the ambient stability of metal chalcogenides with the exceptional optoelectronic performance of metal halides. SnSbSI is a promising candidate, having achieved a photovoltaic power conversion efficiency above 4%. However, there is uncertainty over the crystal structure and physical properties of this crystal family.

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•Pelvic SFTs are rare, typically benign soft tissue neoplasms that pose a diagnostic challenge for gynecologists.•Retroperitoneal pelvic SFTs can mimic gynecologic malignancies and should be considered in diagnosis of a solitary pelvic mass.•Pathologic diagnosis is typically confirmed by immunohistochemistry staining positively for CD34 and STAT6.

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For lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries to become competitive, they require high stability and energy density. Organosulfur polymer-based cathodes have recently shown promising performance due to their ability to overcome common limitations of Li-S batteries, such as the insulating nature of sulfur. In this study, we use a multiscale modeling approach to explore the influence of the regiochemistry of a conjugated poly(4-(thiophene-3-yl)benzenethiol) (PTBT) polymer on its aggregation behavior and charge transport.

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Background: Rapid IgM/IgG antibody tests were largely used in lieu of RT-PCR tests as part of COVID-19 public health response activities in Lima, Peru. To assess their utility, we explored the relationship between the time since onset of several COVID-19-related symptoms and the sensitivity of a rapid combined IgM/IgG antibody test.

Methods: We collected data from a community sample of individuals (n = 492) who received concurrent RT-PCR and rapid IgM/IgG antibody testing between May 2020 and March 2021.

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