AIMS: To explore the effect of gender, stimuli type and PD status and their interactions on the O-DDK rates among Malaysian-Malay speakers.
METHODS & PROCEDURES: O-DDK performance of 62 participants (29 individuals with PD and 33 healthy elderly) using a non-word ('pataka'), a Malay real-word ('patahkan') and an English real-word ('buttercake') was audio recorded. The number of syllables produced in 8 s was counted. A hierarchical linear modelling was performed to investigate the effects of stimuli type (non-word, Malay real-word, English real-word), PD status (yes, no), gender (male, female) and their interactions on the O-DDK rate. The model accounted for participants' age as well as the nesting of repeated measurements within participants, thereby providing unbiased estimates of the effects.
OUTCOMES & RESULTS: The stimuli effect was significant (p < 0.0001). Malay real-word showed the lowest O-DDK rate (5.03 ± 0.11 syllables/s), followed by English real-word (5.25 ± 0.11 syllables/s) and non-word (5.42 ± 0.11 syllables/s). Individuals with PD showed a significantly lower O-DDK rate compared to healthy elderly (4.73 ± 0.15 syllables/s vs. 5.74 ± 0.14 syllables/s, adjusted p < 0.001). A subsequent analysis indicated that the O-DDK rate declined in a quadratic pattern. However, neither gender nor age effects were observed. Additionally, no significant two-way interactions were found between stimuli type, PD status and gender (all p > 0.05). Therefore, the choice of stimuli type has no or only limited effect considering the use of O-DDK tests in clinical practice for diagnostic purposes.
CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: The observed slowness in O-DDK among individuals with PD can be attributed to the impact of the movement disorder, specifically bradykinesia, on the physiological aspects of speech production. Speech-language pathologists can gain insights into the impact of PD on speech production and tailor appropriate intervention strategies to address the specific needs of individuals with PD according to disease stages.
WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on this subject The observed slowness in O-DDK rates among individuals with PD may stem from the movement disorder's effects on the physiological aspects of speech production, particularly bradykinesia. However, there is a lack of consistent evidence regarding the influence of real-word repetition and how O-DDK rates vary across different PD stages. What this study adds to existing knowledge The O-DDK rates decline in a quadratic pattern as the PD progresses. The research provides insights into the advantage of real-word repetition in assessing O-DDK rates, with Malay real-word showing the lowest O-DDK rate, followed by English real-word and non-word. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Speech-language pathologists can better understand the evolving nature of speech motor impairments as PD progresses. This insight enables them to design targeted intervention strategies that are sensitive to the specific needs and challenges associated with each PD stage. This finding can guide clinicians in selecting appropriate assessment tools for evaluating speech motor function in PD patients.
STUDY DESIGN: Observational, cross-sectional study.
PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Orthodontic Department of Baqai Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan, from August to October 2013.
METHODOLOGY: Atotal of 209 pre-treatment lateral cephalometric radiographs of orthodontic patients were selected from departmental records, comprised of 92 males and 117 females. Radiographs were traced for measurements of ANB, Wits appraisal, Beta-angle, W-angle and Yen-angle. Patients were categorized into skeletal classes I, II, and III on the basis of performed measurements, incisor classification, and profile recorded from their records. Descriptive analysis was used to obtain median interquartile range in both the genders and Mann-Whitney U-test was used to observe gender dimorphism.
RESULTS: Skeletal class II was the most prevalent type of malocclusion. There were no difference in the obtained measurements between males and females except the Wits appraisal and Beta-angle in class II patients, which showed significant difference in values (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSION: Pakistani population has no significant different difference in the craniofacial morphology of males and females, with the exception of Wits-appraisal and Beta-angle in class II cases.
RESULTS: An RNAi construct targeting the RNA recognition motif of the Aedes aegypti transformer-2 (tra-2) gene does not trigger female-to-male sex conversion as commonly observed among dipterous insects. Instead, homozygous insects show greater mortality among m-chromosome-bearing sperm and mm zygotes, yielding up to 100% males in the subsequent generations. The performance of transgenic males was not significantly different to wild-type males in narrow-cage competitive mating experiments.
CONCLUSION: Our data provide preliminary evidence that the knockdown of Ae. aegypti tra-2 gene expression causes segregation distortion acting at the level of gametic function, which is reinforced by sex-specific zygotic lethality. This finding could promote the development of new synthetic sex distorter systems for the production of genetic sexing mosquito strains.
Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science for studies published from their starting dates to Aug 7, 2018. The sex-specific hazard ratios (HRs) and their pooled ratio (women vs men) of all-cause and CHD mortality associated with type 2 diabetes were obtained through an inverse variance-weighted random-effects meta-analysis. Subgroup analyses were used to explore the potential sources of heterogeneity.
Results: The 35 analyzed prospective cohort studies included 2 314 292 individuals, among whom 254 038 all-cause deaths occurred. The pooled women vs men ratio of the HRs for all-cause and CHD mortality were 1.17 (95% CI: 1.12-1.23, I2 = 81.6%) and 1.97 (95% CI: 1.49-2.61, I2 = 86.4%), respectively. The pooled estimate of the HR for all-cause mortality was approximately 1.30 in articles in which the duration of follow-up was longer than 10 years and 1.10 in articles in which the duration of follow-up was less than 10 years. The pooled HRs for all-cause mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes was 2.33 (95% CI: 2.02-2.69) in women and 1.91 (95% CI: 1.72-2.12) in men, compared with their healthy counterparts.
Conclusions: The effect of diabetes on all-cause and CHD mortality is approximately 17 and 97% greater, respectively, for women than for men.
METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 600 students from higher education institutions in Melaka aged between 18 to 30 years old. Multistage sampling of the institutions was performed. Valid and reliable self-administered questionnaire in the national language, Bahasa Malaysia, was used as to collect data on sociodemographic, personal background, knowledge on STIs and sources of information for STIs. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS software version 25.
RESULTS: The response rate for this study was 88%. The mean knowledge score was 24.1 ±5.1 out of 38. HIV was the most known STIs while gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis and chlamydial infections were among the least known STIs. Oral intercourse was the least known sexual activity that could transmit STIs. Higher proportion of respondents had correct knowledge on control and preventive measures of STIs (between 78% and 95%) compared to correct knowledge on sign and symptoms of STIs (between 8.5% and 67.8%). More than 90% of the respondents were unaware that a person infected with STIs could be symptom free. Four variables were identified as the determinants of the knowledge on STIs, which were level of education, place of stay, history of sexual and reproductive health education and involvement in STIs awareness programs (F (4,445) = 11.405, p <0.001, R2 = 0.093).
CONCLUSIONS: The knowledge on STIs among students in higher education institutions was unsatisfactory. The existing sexual education programs can be strengthened by delivering more information on other STIs rather than focusing on HIV only. The future program should focus on students of diploma and/or skill certificate and staying off-campus.
OBJECTIVE: To estimate mortality, incidence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for 28 cancers in 188 countries by sex from 1990 to 2013.
EVIDENCE REVIEW: The general methodology of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2013 study was used. Cancer registries were the source for cancer incidence data as well as mortality incidence (MI) ratios. Sources for cause of death data include vital registration system data, verbal autopsy studies, and other sources. The MI ratios were used to transform incidence data to mortality estimates and cause of death estimates to incidence estimates. Cancer prevalence was estimated using MI ratios as surrogates for survival data; YLDs were calculated by multiplying prevalence estimates with disability weights, which were derived from population-based surveys; YLLs were computed by multiplying the number of estimated cancer deaths at each age with a reference life expectancy; and DALYs were calculated as the sum of YLDs and YLLs.
FINDINGS: In 2013 there were 14.9 million incident cancer cases, 8.2 million deaths, and 196.3 million DALYs. Prostate cancer was the leading cause for cancer incidence (1.4 million) for men and breast cancer for women (1.8 million). Tracheal, bronchus, and lung (TBL) cancer was the leading cause for cancer death in men and women, with 1.6 million deaths. For men, TBL cancer was the leading cause of DALYs (24.9 million). For women, breast cancer was the leading cause of DALYs (13.1 million). Age-standardized incidence rates (ASIRs) per 100 000 and age-standardized death rates (ASDRs) per 100 000 for both sexes in 2013 were higher in developing vs developed countries for stomach cancer (ASIR, 17 vs 14; ASDR, 15 vs 11), liver cancer (ASIR, 15 vs 7; ASDR, 16 vs 7), esophageal cancer (ASIR, 9 vs 4; ASDR, 9 vs 4), cervical cancer (ASIR, 8 vs 5; ASDR, 4 vs 2), lip and oral cavity cancer (ASIR, 7 vs 6; ASDR, 2 vs 2), and nasopharyngeal cancer (ASIR, 1.5 vs 0.4; ASDR, 1.2 vs 0.3). Between 1990 and 2013, ASIRs for all cancers combined (except nonmelanoma skin cancer and Kaposi sarcoma) increased by more than 10% in 113 countries and decreased by more than 10% in 12 of 188 countries.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Cancer poses a major threat to public health worldwide, and incidence rates have increased in most countries since 1990. The trend is a particular threat to developing nations with health systems that are ill-equipped to deal with complex and expensive cancer treatments. The annual update on the Global Burden of Cancer will provide all stakeholders with timely estimates to guide policy efforts in cancer prevention, screening, treatment, and palliation.