Browse publications by year: 2021

  1. Bruce JP, To KF, Lui VWY, Chung GTY, Chan YY, Tsang CM, et al.
    Nat Commun, 2021 07 07;12(1):4193.
    PMID: 34234122 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24348-6
    Interplay between EBV infection and acquired genetic alterations during nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) development remains vague. Here we report a comprehensive genomic analysis of 70 NPCs, combining whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of microdissected tumor cells with EBV oncogene expression to reveal multiple aspects of cellular-viral co-operation in tumorigenesis. Genomic aberrations along with EBV-encoded LMP1 expression underpin constitutive NF-κB activation in 90% of NPCs. A similar spectrum of somatic aberrations and viral gene expression undermine innate immunity in 79% of cases and adaptive immunity in 47% of cases; mechanisms by which NPC may evade immune surveillance despite its pro-inflammatory phenotype. Additionally, genomic changes impairing TGFBR2 promote oncogenesis and stabilize EBV infection in tumor cells. Fine-mapping of CDKN2A/CDKN2B deletion breakpoints reveals homozygous MTAP deletions in 32-34% of NPCs that confer marked sensitivity to MAT2A inhibition. Our work concludes that NPC is a homogeneously NF-κB-driven and immune-protected, yet potentially druggable, cancer.
    MeSH terms: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology; Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use; Herpesvirus 4, Human/genetics*; Herpesvirus 4, Human/immunology; Herpesvirus 4, Human/pathogenicity; Female; Humans; Methionine Adenosyltransferase/antagonists & inhibitors; Methionine Adenosyltransferase/metabolism; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms/genetics; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms/immunology*; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms/therapy; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms/virology; Nasopharynx/immunology; Nasopharynx/pathology; Nasopharynx/surgery; Nasopharynx/virology; Signal Transduction/drug effects; Signal Transduction/genetics; Signal Transduction/immunology; Gene Expression Regulation, Viral/immunology; NF-kappa B/metabolism; Sequence Deletion; Tumor Escape/drug effects; Tumor Escape/genetics*; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16/genetics; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/genetics; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/immunology*; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/therapy; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/virology; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays; Cell Line, Tumor; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p15/genetics; Mice; Host-Pathogen Interactions/genetics; Host-Pathogen Interactions/immunology; Carcinogenesis/drug effects; Carcinogenesis/genetics; Carcinogenesis/immunology
  2. Lee PY, Cheong AT, Ghazali SS, Salim H, Wong J, Hussein N, et al.
    NPJ Prim Care Respir Med, 2021 07 07;31(1):38.
    PMID: 34234145 DOI: 10.1038/s41533-021-00250-y
    Asthma self-management is a crucial component of asthma management. We sought to explore healthcare professionals' (HCPs') perceptions on barriers to asthma self-management implementation in primary care. We recruited 26 HCPs from six public primary care clinics in a semi-urban district of Malaysia in 2019. The analysis was done inductively. HCPs described barriers that resonated with the "COM-B" behaviour change framework. Capability-related issues stemmed from a need for specific self-management skills training. Opportunity-related barriers included the need to balance competing tasks and limited, poorly tailored resources. Motivation-related barriers included lack of awareness about self-management benefits, which was not prioritised in consultations with perceived lack of receptiveness from patients. These were compounded by contextual barriers of the healthcare organisation and multilingual society. The approach to implementation of asthma self-management needs to be comprehensive, addressing systemic, professional, and patient barriers and tailored to the local language, health literacy, and societal context.
    MeSH terms: Attitude of Health Personnel; Health Personnel; Humans; Primary Health Care; Qualitative Research
  3. Ahmad R, Haque M
    Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes, 2021;14:3001-3015.
    PMID: 34234496 DOI: 10.2147/DMSO.S318972
    This article aims to narrate the various oral complications in individuals suffering from diabetes mellitus. Google search for "diabetes mellitus and oral complications" was done. The search was also carried out for "diabetes mellitus" and its oral complications individually. Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder that is a global epidemic and a common cause of morbidity and mortality in the world today. Currently, there are about 422 million cases of diabetes mellitus worldwide. Diabetic patients can develop different complications in the body such as retinopathy, neuropathy, nephropathy, cardiovascular disease. Complications in the oral cavity have been observed in individuals suffering from diabetes mellitus. A study noted that more than 90% of diabetic patients suffered from oral complications. Another research has shown a greater prevalence of oral mucosal disorders in patients with diabetes mellitus than non-diabetic population: 45-88% in patients with type 2 diabetes compared to 38.3-45% in non-diabetic subjects and 44.7% in type 1 diabetic individuals compared to 25% in the non-diabetic population. Oral complications in people with diabetes are periodontal disease, dental caries, oral infections, salivary dysfunction, taste dysfunction, delayed wound healing, tongue abnormalities, halitosis, and lichen planus. The high glucose level in saliva, poor neutrophil function, neuropathy, and small vessel damage contribute to oral complications in individuals with uncontrolled diabetes. Good oral health is imperative for healthy living. Oral complications cause deterioration to the quality of life in diabetic patients. Complications like periodontal disease having a bidirectional relationship with diabetes mellitus even contribute to increased blood glucose levels in people with diabetes. This article intends to promote awareness regarding the oral health of diabetics and to stress the importance of maintaining proper oral hygiene, taking preventive measures, early detection, and appropriate management of oral complications of these patients through a multidisciplinary approach.
  4. Ahmad ZA, Ramly F, Mohd Zahid AZ, Abdullah B, Abdul Hafidz MI
    Int J Womens Health, 2021;13:639-644.
    PMID: 34234575 DOI: 10.2147/IJWH.S304818
    Laparoscopic management in patients on peritoneal dialysis offers good postoperative outcome and early resumption to peritoneal dialysis. This is a report of a 43-year-old woman with end-stage kidney disease on peritoneal dialysis presented with left iliac fossa pain due to a large endometrioma. Emergency diagnostic laparoscopy was performed with careful laparoscopic entry, Tenckhoff catheter care and anti-adhesive application. The patient underwent temporary hemodialysis for two weeks before full resumption to peritoneal dialysis. She was planned for GnRH analogue for three months post-operatively. In conclusion, laparoscopy is a safe and advantageous route of surgery for ovarian endometrioma in patients on peritoneal dialysis. However, mindful surgical strategies are needed to ensure the Tenckhoff catheter's longevity and early resumption to peritoneal dialysis post-operatively.
  5. Saeed BQ, Jairoun AA, Ashraf Khamis A, Hatim Abdelrahim L, Abobakr Aljomhi A, Adrees AO, et al.
    Risk Manag Healthc Policy, 2021;14:2733-2741.
    PMID: 34234589 DOI: 10.2147/RMHP.S308754
    Background: Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) and insufficiency (VDI) is a public health problem worldwide. Low blood levels of vitamin D have been associated with many illnesses, including respiratory tract infections (RTIs). This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of VDD and VDI among university students, assess the correlation with demographic and anthropometric factors, and determine the effect of VDD on the respiratory tract infection (RTI) incidence.

    Methods: A cross-sectional and prospective design was used. Our sample consisted of 287 students aged 18-24 years from the University of Sharjah-UAE. Participants were tested for serum 25(hydroxyvitamin)D levels, Body mass index (BMI) was calculated, and the survey was completed. The association between VDD, VDI with the participant's characteristics, and the incidents of RTIs were examined.

    Results: VDD and VDI were highly prevalent among 85% of the students. The median serum 25(OH) D level was 15.8 ng/dl (19.5±11.6). The mean BMI was (24.32±6.3) kg/m. The results showed a significant positive correlation between VDI and VDD with gender and students who were previously diagnosed with VDD (P 

  6. Zhao J, Qin Y
    Front Psychol, 2021;12:652796.
    PMID: 34234709 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.652796
    The purpose of this research is to test the mediation effect of self-efficacy on college student's perception of teacher autonomy support and students' deep learning, and whether the peer support perceived by students can moderate the relationship between perceived teacher autonomy support and deep learning. A survey of 1,800 college students from a provincial undergraduate normal university in Guizhou Province in China was conducted through the revised Perceived Teacher Autonomy Support Scale, Deep Learning Scale, Self-Efficacy Scale, and Perceived Peer Support Scale (Mean age = 21 years old, SD = 1.34). Data use SPSS23.0, AMOS22.0 for descriptive analysis and correlation analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), moderation effect, and mediation effect analysis. The research results show that after controlling for gender, major, and grade, self-efficacy partially moderates the connection between perceived teacher autonomy support and deep learning of college students. Moreover, perceived peer support mediates the relationship between perceived teacher autonomy support and students' self-efficacy.
  7. Hamzah MH, Mohamad I, Mutalib NSA
    Medeni Med J, 2021;36(2):172-175.
    PMID: 34234985 DOI: 10.5222/MMJ.2021.52460
    Nasopharyngeal tuberculosis is a rare occurrence, and primarily involves the proximal part of the Eustachian tube. Mechanical obstruction of the Eustachian tube will affect the pressure discrepancy between the middle ear and the external atmosphere, leading to aural fullness, unilateral hearing disturbance, and otitis media. These conditions can be overlooked or mistakenly diagnosed as ear pathology. We report a case of unilateral hearing loss and tinnitus in a 31-year-old healthy woman that was later confirmed to be tuberculosis of the Eustachian tube. In cases with indicators suggesting a high index of suspicion, a thorough examination of the head and neck regions is especially very important. Once it has been diagnosed, Eustachian tuberculosis can be successfully treated with anti-tuberculosis medications.
  8. Reshadi MAM, Soleymani Hasani S, Nazaripour M, McKay G, Bazargan A
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2021 Dec;28(47):66556-66574.
    PMID: 34235684 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-14274-x
    Landfilling is one of the most prevalent waste management strategies on a global scale. However, one major drawback of landfills is the production of highly contaminated leachate which can harm ecosystems and pollute water resources which municipalities depend on. Various treatment options have been explored for treating leachate throughout the years. This paper aims to investigate landfill leachate treatment studies through bibliometric and visual analysis of articles collected from the Scopus database from 1975 to 2019. The results show that more than one thousand papers have been published in 159 journals. Nearly 3000 authors have published on the topic, most commonly from China, the USA, Malaysia, and Brazil. The keywords co-occurrence network led to the formation of 5 topical clusters, after which they were closely examined and titled "oxidation processes," "nitrogen removal processes," "constructed wetlands/coagulation," "adsorption," and "membrane-based processes" based on their contents. Finally, the overlay network was used to discern the hottest research trends. The results showed that advanced coagulation-based processes (such as peroxicoagulation) and studies focusing on improving membrane-based processes through reduction of membrane fouling are focal points which will be trending into the future.
  9. Solarin SA, Bello MO
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2021 Dec;28(46):65313-65332.
    PMID: 34235686 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-15113-9
    The energy profile of India is dominated by fossil fuels, which create concerns over resource and environmental sustainability as fossil fuels are non-renewable and high carbon emitting. This scenario has necessitated the call for more renewables to replace fossil fuels to address resource and environmental sustainability concerns. This study, therefore, investigates the possibility of switching the fossil fuels of oil, coal, and natural gas for renewable energy in India. Using annual Indian data spanning more than four decades, a transcendental logarithmic production function based on a second-order Taylor Series approximation is estimated with the ridge regression technique. To achieve robustness, two equations with gross domestic product and adjusted net savings as regressands are estimated to proxy economic growth and sustainable development, respectively. The empirical results show substantial substitution possibilities between the fuels for both gross domestic product and adjusted net savings equations. The empirical findings show that India has the capacity to satisfy its energy needs through renewables to pursue not only economic growth but sustainable development. To actualize this potential, the Indian government should promote investment in renewables as this also promotes economic growth and development.
    MeSH terms: Elasticity; Fossil Fuels; Economic Development*; Renewable Energy; Natural Gas
  10. Kasavan S, Yusoff S, Guan NC, Zaman NSK, Fakri MFR
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2021 Sep;28(33):44780-44794.
    PMID: 34235692 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-15303-5
    Researchers have broadly studied textile waste, but the research topics development and performance trends in this study area are still unclear. A bibliometric analysis was conducted to explore the global scientific literature to determine state of the art on textile waste over the past 16 years. Data of publications output are identified based on the Web of Science (from 2015 to 2020). This study used VOSviewer to analyse collaboration networks among authors, countries, institutions, and author's keywords in identifying five main clusters. A total of 3296 papers in textile waste research were identified. In this study, a total of 10451 authors were involved in textile waste research, and 36 authors among them published more than ten research publications in the period of this study. China has been in a top position in textile waste research moving from 3 output publications in 2005 to 91 output publications in 2020. Indian Institute of Technology System IIT System was ranked first in terms of the total publication number (85 publications, 2.45%). Textile wastewater and adsorption are the most commonly used keywords that reflect the current main research direction in this field and received more attention in recent years. Based on keyword cluster analysis outputs, textile waste research can be categorized into five types of clusters, namely (1) pollutant compositions, (2) component of textile wastewater, (3) treatment methods for textile wastewater, (4) effect mechanism of textile wastewater, and (5) recyclability of textile waste.
    MeSH terms: China; Humans; Technology; Textiles; Bibliometrics*; Waste Water*
  11. Wu X, Sadiq M, Chien F, Ngo QT, Nguyen AT, Trinh TT
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2021 Dec;28(47):66736-66750.
    PMID: 34235703 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-15023-w
    The study estimates the long-run dynamics of a cleaner environment in promoting the gross domestic product of E7 and G7 countries. The recent study intends to estimate the climate change mitigation factor for a cleaner environment with the GDP of E7 countries and G7 countries from 2010 to 2018. For long-run estimation, second-generation panel data techniques including augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF), Phillip-Peron technique and fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) techniques are applied to draw the long-run inference. The results of the study are robust with VECM technique. The outcomes of the study revealed that climate change mitigation indicators significantly affect the GDP of G7 countries than that of E7 countries. The GDP of both E7 and G7 countries is found depleting due to less clean environment. However, green financing techniques helps to clean the environment and reinforce the confidence of policymakers on the elevation of green economic growth in G7 and E7 countries. Furthermore, study results shown that a 1% rise in green financing index improves the environmental quality by 0.375% in G7 countries, while it purifies 0.3920% environment in E7 countries. There is a need to reduce environmental pollution, shift energy generation sources towards alternative, innovative and green sources.The study also provides different policy implications for the stakeholders guiding to actively promote financial hedging for green financing. So that climate change and envoirnmental pollution reduction could be achieved effectively. The novelty of the study lies in study framework.
    MeSH terms: Carbon Dioxide; Energy-Generating Resources; Economic Development; Climate Change*; Renewable Energy*
  12. Huët MAL, Muzahid NH, Lee CZ, Goh CBS, Dwiyanto J, Rahman S, et al.
    Braz J Microbiol, 2021 Dec;52(4):2351-2356.
    PMID: 34235705 DOI: 10.1007/s42770-021-00558-4
    In the past decade, researchers have focused on the emergence of drug resistance in fungal pathogens such as Candida albicans, also considered as pathobionts that occur harmlessly in the human body but could potentially be triggered to cause diseases. The increasing rate of antifungal resistance in commensal gut fungi is alarming and should be further investigated. Here, we report seven novel MLST (Multi Locus Sequence Typing) genotypes of multi-drug resistant C. albicans isolates obtained from participants of a community study in Segamat, a district in the state of Johor, Malaysia. A total of eight C. albicans were isolated from four individuals, which were found to express high resistance against fluconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole and 5-fluorocytosine antifungals. MLST was performed to assess the clonal relatedness of these drug resistant isolates among themselves and against other strains isolated from other geographical regions. The novel MLST C. albicans sequence types suggest significant genetic changes compared to previous genotypes.
  13. Rahman R, Fonseka AD, Sua SC, Ahmad M, Rajendran R, Ambu S, et al.
    J Cell Mol Med, 2021 08;25(15):7181-7189.
    PMID: 34236134 DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.16748
    Breast cancer has a diverse aetiology characterized by the heterogeneous expression of hormone receptors and signalling molecules, resulting in varied sensitivity to chemotherapy. The adverse side effects of chemotherapy coupled with the development of drug resistance have prompted the exploration of natural products to combat cancer. Lactoferricin B (LfcinB) is a natural peptide derived from bovine lactoferrin that exhibits anticancer properties. LfcinB was evaluated in vitro for its inhibitory effects on cell lines representing different categories of breast cancer and in vivo for its suppressive effects on tumour xenografts in NOD-SCID mice. The different breast cancer cell lines exhibited varied levels of sensitivity to apoptosis induced by LfcinB in the order of SKBR3>MDA-MB-231>MDA-MB-468>MCF7, while the normal breast epithelial cells MCF-10A were not sensitive to LfcinB. The peptide also inhibited the invasion of the MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cell lines. In the mouse xenograft model, intratumoural injections of LfcinB significantly reduced tumour growth rate and tumour size, as depicted by live imaging of the mice using in vivo imaging systems (IVIS). Harvested tumour volume and weight were significantly reduced by LfcinB treatment. LfcinB, therefore, is a promising and safe candidate that can be considered for the treatment of breast cancer.
    MeSH terms: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology; Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use*; Cell Line; Female; Humans; Lactoferrin/pharmacology; Lactoferrin/therapeutic use*; Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental/drug therapy*; Mice, SCID; Mice, Inbred NOD; Apoptosis/drug effects*; Mice; MCF-7 Cells
  14. Lee CL, Ng HF, Ngeow YF, Thaw Z
    J Med Microbiol, 2021 Jul;70(7).
    PMID: 34236301 DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.001378
    Introduction. Tigecycline is currently acknowledged to be one of the most effective antibiotics against infections caused by Mycobacteroides abscessus.Gap statement. The genetic determinants of tigecycline resistance in M. abscessus are not well understood.Aim. In this study, we characterized a tigecycline-resistant M. abscessus mutant, designated CL7, to identify the potential resistance mechanism.Methodology. CL7 was characterized using antimicrobial susceptibility testing, whole-genome sequencing, PCR and RT-qPCR. For biological verification, gene overexpression assays were carried out.Results. Whole-genome sequencing and the subsequent gene overexpression assays showed that CL7 harboured a stop-gain mutation in MAB_3543 c, which may be responsible for the tigecycline resistance phenotype. This gene encodes an orthologue of SigH, which is involved in the positive regulation of physiological stress response and is negatively regulated by the RshA anti-sigma factor in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We hypothesized that the MAB_3543 c mutation may disrupt the interaction between SigH and RshA (MAB_3542 c). RT-qPCR analyses revealed the upregulation of MAB_3543 c and other key stress response genes, which has previously been shown to be a hallmark of SigH-RshA bond disruption and tigecycline resistance.Conclusion. The MAB_3543c mutation may represent a novel determinant of tigecycline resistance in M. abscessus. The findings of this study will hopefully contribute to our knowledge of potential tigecycline resistance mechanisms in M. abscessus, which may lead to better diagnostics and treatment modalities in the future.
    MeSH terms: Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology*; Bacterial Proteins/genetics*; Mutation; Sigma Factor/genetics*; Genome, Bacterial; Drug Resistance, Bacterial/genetics*
  15. Chaudhary FA, Ahmad B, Khalid MD, Fazal A, Javaid MM, Butt DQ
    Hum Vaccin Immunother, 2021 Oct 03;17(10):3365-3370.
    PMID: 34236952 DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2021.1944743
    This study examined the factors associated with acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine compared to hesitance in the Pakistani population and specifically focusing on the perceived beliefs, knowledge, concerns, risk, and safety perception relating to the COVID-19 vaccine. A total of 423 subjects were recruited from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan. A 27-item valid and reliable questionnaire was used to assess socio-demographic characteristics, acceptance, and hesitance toward COVID-19 vaccine, perceived beliefs, knowledge, perceived concerns, risk, and safety of COVID-19 vaccines and its source of information. Chi-square tests and logistic regression were used for analysis. About 53% of the participants were planning to get vaccinated and a significantly greater proportion of better educated, higher income, and healthier participants in the vaccine acceptance group (p
    MeSH terms: Humans; Pakistan; Vaccines*
  16. Saeed AQ, Sheikh Abdullah SNH, Che-Hamzah J, Abdul Ghani AT
    J Med Internet Res, 2021 09 21;23(9):e27414.
    PMID: 34236992 DOI: 10.2196/27414
    BACKGROUND: Glaucoma leads to irreversible blindness. Globally, it is the second most common retinal disease that leads to blindness, slightly less common than cataracts. Therefore, there is a great need to avoid the silent growth of this disease using recently developed generative adversarial networks (GANs).

    OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to introduce a GAN technology for the diagnosis of eye disorders, particularly glaucoma. This paper illustrates deep adversarial learning as a potential diagnostic tool and the challenges involved in its implementation. This study describes and analyzes many of the pitfalls and problems that researchers will need to overcome to implement this kind of technology.

    METHODS: To organize this review comprehensively, articles and reviews were collected using the following keywords: ("Glaucoma," "optic disc," "blood vessels") and ("receptive field," "loss function," "GAN," "Generative Adversarial Network," "Deep learning," "CNN," "convolutional neural network" OR encoder). The records were identified from 5 highly reputed databases: IEEE Xplore, Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and PubMed. These libraries broadly cover the technical and medical literature. Publications within the last 5 years, specifically 2015-2020, were included because the target GAN technique was invented only in 2014 and the publishing date of the collected papers was not earlier than 2016. Duplicate records were removed, and irrelevant titles and abstracts were excluded. In addition, we excluded papers that used optical coherence tomography and visual field images, except for those with 2D images. A large-scale systematic analysis was performed, and then a summarized taxonomy was generated. Furthermore, the results of the collected articles were summarized and a visual representation of the results was presented on a T-shaped matrix diagram. This study was conducted between March 2020 and November 2020.

    RESULTS: We found 59 articles after conducting a comprehensive survey of the literature. Among the 59 articles, 30 present actual attempts to synthesize images and provide accurate segmentation/classification using single/multiple landmarks or share certain experiences. The other 29 articles discuss the recent advances in GANs, do practical experiments, and contain analytical studies of retinal disease.

    CONCLUSIONS: Recent deep learning techniques, namely GANs, have shown encouraging performance in retinal disease detection. Although this methodology involves an extensive computing budget and optimization process, it saturates the greedy nature of deep learning techniques by synthesizing images and solves major medical issues. This paper contributes to this research field by offering a thorough analysis of existing works, highlighting current limitations, and suggesting alternatives to support other researchers and participants in further improving and strengthening future work. Finally, new directions for this research have been identified.

    MeSH terms: Humans; Bibliometrics; Neural Networks (Computer)*
  17. Noordin R, Anuar NS, Juri NM, Wongphutorn P, Ruantip S, Kopolrat KY, et al.
    Am J Trop Med Hyg, 2021 07 08;105(3):688-691.
    PMID: 34237022 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.21-0317
    Strongyloides stercoralis affects more than half a billion people worldwide, and hyperinfection in immunocompromised patients can be fatal. Elimination of this neglected tropical disease requires field-applicable diagnostic tools. We conducted a laboratory evaluation of a lateral flow rapid dipstick test (SsRapid™) using sera samples from a Strongyloides-endemic area in northeast Thailand. Group 1 was S. stercoralis-positive and larvae- and/or antibody-positive (according to the IgG ELISA) (N = 100). Group 2 had negative fecal examination and IgG ELISA results (N = 25). Group 3 had other parasitic infections and negative IgG ELISA results (N = 25). The results showed good diagnostic sensitivity (82%) and excellent specificity (96%). Suggested improvements in the SsRapid™ test include increased diagnostic sensitivity and conversion to the more robust cassette format. Field studies should be performed as well.
    MeSH terms: Animals; Antibodies, Helminth/blood; Antibodies, Helminth/immunology*; Feces/parasitology; Humans; Immunoglobulin G/immunology*; Recombinant Proteins; Sensitivity and Specificity; Serologic Tests; Strongyloidiasis/blood; Strongyloidiasis/diagnosis*; Thailand; Helminth Proteins; Strongyloides stercoralis/immunology*
  18. Thompson JJ, Morato RG, Niebuhr BB, Alegre VB, Oshima JEF, de Barros AE, et al.
    Curr Biol, 2021 Aug 09;31(15):3457-3466.e4.
    PMID: 34237270 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.06.029
    Large terrestrial carnivores have undergone some of the largest population declines and range reductions of any species, which is of concern as they can have large effects on ecosystem dynamics and function.1-4 The jaguar (Panthera onca) is the apex predator throughout the majority of the Neotropics; however, its distribution has been reduced by >50% and it survives in increasingly isolated populations.5 Consequently, the range-wide management of the jaguar depends upon maintaining core populations connected through multi-national, transboundary cooperation, which requires understanding the movement ecology and space use of jaguars throughout their range.6-8 Using GPS telemetry data for 111 jaguars from 13 ecoregions within the four biomes that constitute the majority of jaguar habitat, we examined the landscape-level environmental and anthropogenic factors related to jaguar home range size and movement parameters. Home range size decreased with increasing net productivity and forest cover and increased with increasing road density. Speed decreased with increasing forest cover with no sexual differences, while males had more directional movements, but tortuosity in movements was not related to any landscape factors. We demonstrated a synergistic relationship between landscape-scale environmental and anthropogenic factors and jaguars' spatial needs, which has applications to the conservation strategy for the species throughout the Neotropics. Using large-scale collaboration, we overcame limitations from small sample sizes typical in large carnivore research to provide a mechanism to evaluate habitat quality for jaguars and an inferential modeling framework adaptable to the conservation of other large terrestrial carnivores.
  19. Calisher CH, Carroll D, Colwell R, Corley RB, Daszak P, Drosten C, et al.
    Lancet, 2021 Jul 17;398(10296):209-211.
    PMID: 34237296 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01419-7
    MeSH terms: Humans; Science*
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