Optimal spare parts management for vessel maintenance scheduling.

Condition-based monitoring is used as part of predictive maintenance to collect real-time information on the healthy status of a vessel engine, which allows for a more accurate estimation of the remaining life of an engine or its parts, as well as providing a warning for a potential failure of an engine part. An engine failure results in delays and down-times in the voyage of a vessel, which translates into additional cost and penalties. This paper studies a spare part management problem for maintenance scheduling of a vessel operating on a given route that is defined by a sequence of port visits.

Constructing care cascades for active tuberculosis: A strategy for program monitoring and identifying gaps in quality of care.

The cascade of care is a model for evaluating patient retention across sequential stages of care required to achieve a successful treatment outcome. This approach was first used to evaluate HIV care and has since been applied to other diseases. The tuberculosis (TB) community has only recently started using care cascade analyses to quantify gaps in quality of care.

Household contact investigation for the detection of tuberculosis in Vietnam: economic evaluation of a cluster-randomised trial.

Background: Active case finding is recommended as an important strategy to control tuberculosis, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries with a high prevalence of the disease. However, the costs and cost-effectiveness of active case finding are unclear due to the absence of evidence from randomised trials. We assessed the costs and cost-effectiveness of an active case finding strategy in Vietnam, where there is a high prevalence of tuberculosis.

Sputum smear-positive, Xpert MTB/RIF-negative results: magnitude and treatment outcomes of patients in Myanmar.

Myanmar's National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP) uses the Xpert MTB/RIF assay to diagnose rifampicin (RMP) resistance in sputum smear-positive (Sm+) pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients. The Xpert test may occasionally yield negative results (Xpert-) for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, indicating a false-positive sputum smear result, false-negative Xpert result or infection with non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Patients with NTM may respond poorly to first-line anti-tuberculosis treatment.

Enhanced adherence counselling and viral load suppression in HIV seropositive patients with an initial high viral load in Harare, Zimbabwe: Operational issues.

Background: In people living with HIV (PLHIV) who are on anti-retroviral therapy (ART), it is essential to identify persons with high blood viral loads (VLs) (≥1000 copies/ml), provide enhanced adherence counselling (EAC) for 3 months and assess for VL suppression (<1000 copies/ml).

Objective: Our study objectives were to determine the proportion who had a high viral load in those people who underwent viral load testing between 1 August 2016-31 July 2017 at Wilkins Hospital, Harare, Zimbabwe. Of those with high viral load to assess; a) the proportion who enrolled for EAC, the demographic and clinical characteristics associated with enrolment for EAC and, b) the proportion who achieved viral load suppression and demographic, clinical characteristics associated with viral load suppression.

Preference for Private Sector for Vaccination of Under-Five Children in India and Its Associated Factors: Findings from a Nationally Representative Sample.

Background: Understanding the factors associated with private sector preference for vaccination will help in understanding the barriers in seeking public facility and also the steps to improve public-private partnership (PPP) model.

Methods: We analysed the recent National Family Health Survey-4 data (NFHS-4; 2015-16) gathered from Demographic Health Survey programme. Stratification and clustering in the sample design was accounted using svyset command.

Prevalence and associated factors of diabetes mellitus among tuberculosis patients in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is recognized as an important comorbidity for the development of tuberculosis (TB). With the increase of DM burden globally, concerns have been raised about the emerging co-epidemics of DM and TB, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Methods: A facility-based, cross-sectional study was carried out in all 30 district TB units in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Catastrophic health expenditure among industrial workers in a large-scale industry in Nepal, 2017: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: The study aimed at estimating out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure, catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) and distress financing due to hospitalisation and outpatient care among industrial workers in Eastern Nepal.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study involving industrial workers employed in a large-scale industry in Eastern Nepal. Those who were hospitalised in the last 1 year or availed outpatient care within the last 30 days were administered a structured questionnaire to estimate the cost of illness.

Treatment outcome of tuberculosis patients detected using accelerated vs. passive case finding in Myanmar.

Setting: Several projects involving accelerated or active case finding (ACF) of tuberculosis (TB) cases are being implemented in Myanmar. However, there is a concern that patients detected using ACF have poorer TB treatment outcomes than those detected using passive case finding (PCF).

Objective: To assess differences in the demographics, clinical profile and treatment outcomes of patients detected using ACF and PCF.

Post-treatment Mortality Among Patients With Tuberculosis: A Prospective Cohort Study of 10 964 Patients in Vietnam.

Background: Tuberculosis is the leading infectious cause of death. Steep reductions in tuberculosis-related mortality are required to realize the World Health Organization's "End Tuberculosis Strategy." However, accurate mortality estimates are lacking in many countries, particularly following discharge from care.

Socio-demographic factors affecting the choice of place of childbirth among migrant and native women - A case control study from Chandigarh, India.

Objective: India is one of the countries with high maternal mortality ratio. Home deliveries persist despite various initiatives, including cash incentives, to promote hospital birth. This study aims to compare the profile of women who deliver at home and those who deliver at institutions with a special focus on migration status.

Active case finding among marginalised and vulnerable populations reduces catastrophic costs due to tuberculosis diagnosis.

Background: There is limited evidence on whether active case finding (ACF) among marginalised and vulnerable populations mitigates the financial burden during tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis.

Objectives: To determine the effect of ACF among marginalised and vulnerable populations on prevalence and inequity of catastrophic costs due to TB diagnosis among TB-affected households when compared with passive case finding (PCF).

Methods: In 18 randomly sampled ACF districts in India, during March 2016 to February 2017, we enrolled all new sputum-smear-positive TB patients detected through ACF and an equal number of randomly selected patients detected through PCF.

Delay before drug susceptibility testing among patients with presumptive multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Gujarat, India.

Background: Reducing delay in the diagnosis of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) by performing genotypic drug susceptibility testing (DST) among eligible patients as early as possible can improve clinical presentation and treatment outcomes and reduce transmission. We aimed to determine the delay from being eligible for DST to performing DST and factors associated with the delay.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study involving record review among presumptive MDR-TB patients who underwent genotypic DST from five selected districts in the state of Gujarat, India (2014).

Measuring catastrophic costs due to tuberculosis in Viet Nam.

Introduction: Progress towards ending tuberculosis (TB) in Viet Nam includes monitoring the costs borne by patients through periodic facility-based surveys.

Objective: To document the magnitude of costs incurred by TB-affected households and establish a baseline for the top End TB indicator in Viet Nam.

Methods: A national survey with retrospective data collection and projection among 735 participants in 20 stratified clusters was conducted in 2016.

Stress Hyperglycemia in Patients with Tuberculosis Disease: Epidemiology and Clinical Implications.

Purpose Of Review: The intersection of tuberculosis (TB) disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus is severely hindering global efforts to reduce TB burdens. Diabetes increases the risk of developing TB disease and negatively impacts TB treatment outcomes including culture conversion time, mortality risk, and TB relapse. Recent evidence also indicates plausible mechanisms by which TB disease may influence the pathogenesis and incidence of diabetes.

Screening for active pulmonary tuberculosis: Development and applicability of artificial neural network models.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant public health challenge, motivated by the diversity of healthcare epidemiological settings, as other factors. Cost-effective screening has substantial importance for TB control, demanding new diagnostic tools. This paper proposes a decision support tool (DST) for screening pulmonary TB (PTB) patients at a secondary clinic.

Recurrence of tuberculosis among patients following treatment completion in eight provinces of Vietnam: A nested case-control study.

Background: Patients completing treatment for tuberculosis (TB) in high-prevalence settings face a risk of developing recurrent disease. This has important consequences for public health, given its association with drug resistance and a poor prognosis. Previous research has implicated individual factors such as smoking, alcohol use, HIV, poor treatment adherence, and drug resistant disease as risk factors for recurrence.

Omission of quality assurance during data entry in public health research from India: Is there an elephant in the room?

As the adage, "Garbage in, Garbage out" goes, data entry errors may lead to erroneous results and conclusions. Quality assurance during data entry is one of the most neglected components of research and is conspicuously missing in most of the reporting standards. In this study, we reviewed research studies published in Indian Journal of Public Health and Indian Journal of Community Medicine during 2014-2016 and determined the proportion of papers reporting on quality assurance during data entry.

Failure to achieve goal blood pressure and its associated factors among hypertensive patients registered in a primary health centre in South India.

Introduction: Uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) among hypertensive patients leads to life-threatening complications, hospitalization, and premature mortality. Knowledge on the burden of uncontrolled BP and its correlates will help in devising strategies to achieve goal BP. We aimed to determine the proportion who have not achieved goal BP and its associated factors among hypertensive patients in a Primary Health Centre (PHC).

Screening, Diagnosis, and Management of Patients With Alcohol Use Disorders at Bwindi Community Hospital, Uganda.

The harmful use of alcohol is a growing global public health concern, with Sub-Saharan Africa at particular risk. A large proportion of adults in Uganda consume alcohol and the country has a high prevalence of alcohol use disorders (AUD), almost double that for the African region as a whole. Bwindi Community Hospital, in rural western Uganda, recently introduced a program of screening, diagnosis and management of AUD and we assessed how this worked.

Drug prescription behavior: A cross-sectional study in public health facilities in two states of North India.

Background: Poor prescription practices result in increased side effects, adverse drug reactions, and high cost of treatment. The present study was undertaken to describe the drug-prescribing patterns in two North Indian states through prescription auditing.

Materials And Methods: The study was carried out in 80 public health facilities across 12 districts in two states of Haryana and Punjab (6 in each) covering all levels of care.

Operational research within a Global Fund supported tuberculosis project in India: why, how and its contribution towards change in policy and practice.

Background: The Global Fund encourages operational research (OR) in all its grants; however very few reports describe this aspect. In India, Project Axshya was supported by a Global Fund grant to improve the reach and visibility of the government Tuberculosis (TB) services among marginalised and vulnerable communities. OR was incorporated to build research capacity of professionals working with the national TB programme and to generate evidence to inform policies and practices.

'M-TRACK' (mobile phone reminders and electronic tracking tool) cuts the risk of pre-treatment loss to follow-up by 80% among people living with HIV under programme settings: a mixed-methods study from Gujarat, India.

Background: In 2016, the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) in Gujarat, India implemented an innovative intervention called 'M-TRACK' (mobile phone reminders once every week for four weeks after diagnosis and electronic patient tracking tool) to reduce pre-treatment loss to follow-up (LFU) among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Vadodara district while other districts received standard of care.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of M-TRACK in reducing pre-treatment LFU (proportion of diagnosed PLHIV not registering for HIV care by four weeks after diagnosis) and to explore the implementation enablers and challenges from health care providers' and PLHIV perspective.

Methods: An explanatory mixed-methods study design was used wherein the quantitative phase (cohort study with two groups: Vadodara district exposed to M-TRACK and Rajkot district as unexposed) was followed by a qualitative phase (descriptive study involving group interview with 16 health care providers, personal interviews with two programme managers and telephonic interviews with 16 PLHIV).

Prevalence of latent tuberculous infection among adults in the general population of Ca Mau, Viet Nam.

Setting: The study was conducted in a randomly selected sample of persons aged 15 years living in Ca Mau Province, southern Viet Nam.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of latent tuberculous infection (LTBI) in the general adult population of this province of Viet Nam. The secondary objective was to examine age and sex differences in prevalence.