Sub-clustering in skeletal class III malocclusion phenotypes via principal component analysis in a southern European population

The main aim of this study was to generate an adequate sub-phenotypic clustering model of class III skeletal malocclusion in an adult population of southern European origin. The study design was conducted in two phases, a preliminary cross-sectional study and a subsequent discriminatory evaluation by main component and cluster analysis to identify differentiated skeletal sub-groups with differentiated phenotypic characteristics. Radiometric data from 699 adult patients of southern European origin were analyzed in 212 selected subjects affected by class III skeletal malocclusion. The varimax rotation was used with Kaiser normalization, to prevent variables with more explanatory capacity from affecting the rotation. A total of 21,624 radiographic measurements were obtained as part of the cluster model generation, using a total set of 55 skeletal variables for the subsequent analysis of the major component and cluster analyses. Ten main axes were generated representing 92.7% of the total variation. Three main components represented 58.5%, with particular sagittal and vertical variables acting as major descriptors. Post hoc phenotypic clustering retrieved six clusters: C1:9.9%, C2:18.9%, C3:33%, C4:3.77%, C5:16%, and C6:16%. In conclusion, phenotypic variation was found in the southern European skeletal class III population, demonstrating the existence of phenotypic variations between identified clusters in different ethnic groups.

Exponential increase of plastic burial in mangrove sediments as a major plastic sink

Sequestration of plastics in sediments is considered the ultimate sink of marine plastic pollution that would justify unexpectedly low loads found in surface waters. Here, we demonstrate that mangroves, generally supporting high sediment accretion rates, efficiently sequester plastics in their sediments. To this end, we extracted microplastics from dated sediment cores of the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf mangrove (Avicennia marina) forests along the Saudi Arabian coast. We found that microplastics <0.5 mm dominated in mangrove sediments, helping explain their scarcity, in surface waters. We estimate that 50 ± 30 and 110 ± 80 metric tons of plastic may have been buried since the 1930s in mangrove sediments across the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, respectively. We observed an exponential increase in the plastic burial rate (8.5 ± 1.2% year^-1) since the 1950s in line with the global plastic production increase, confirming mangrove sediments as long-term sinks for plastics.

(Dis)concordance of comorbidity data and cancer status across administrative datasets, medical charts, and self-reports

BACKGROUND

Benchmarking outcomes across settings commonly requires risk-adjustment for co-morbidities that must be derived from extant sources that were designed for other purposes. A question arises as to the extent to which differing available sources for health data will be concordant when inferring the type and severity of co-morbidities, how close are these to the "truth". We studied the level of concordance for same-patient comorbidity data extracted from administrative data (coded from International Classification of Diseases, Australian modification,10th edition [ICD-10 AM]), from the medical chart audit, and data self-reported by men with prostate cancer who had undergone a radical prostatectomy.

METHODS

We included six hospitals (5 public and 1 private) contributing to the Prostate Cancer Outcomes Registry-Victoria (PCOR-Vic) in the study. Eligible patients from the PCOR-Vic underwent a radical prostatectomy between January 2017 and April 2018.Health Information Manager's in each hospital, provided each patient's associated administrative ICD-10 AM comorbidity codes. Medical charts were reviewed to extract comorbidity data. The self-reported comorbidity questionnaire (SCQ) was distributed through PCOR-Vic to eligible men.

RESULTS

The percentage agreement between the administrative data, medical charts and self-reports ranged from 92 to 99% in the 122 patients from the 217 eligible participants who responded to the questionnaire. The presence of comorbidities showed a poor level of agreement between data sources.

CONCLUSION

Relying on a single data source to generate comorbidity indices for risk-modelling purposes may fail to capture the reality of a patient's disease profile. There does not appear to be a 'gold-standard' data source for the collection of data on comorbidities.

Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR positivity and seroprevalence among high-risk healthcare workers and hospital staff

Staff working in units that were highly exposed to coronavirus disease 2019 were invited to participate in a 6-month study on the carriage and seroprevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The results from visits on Day 1 and Day 15 show that 41 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection were confirmed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and/or serology in 326 participants (overall infection rate 12.6%). The presence of comorbidities or symptoms at the time of sample collection was a risk factor for infection, but working as a physician/nurse was not a risk factor. Universal screening in high-risk units, irrespective of symptoms, allowed the identification of asymptomatic and potentially contagious infected workers, enabling them to self-isolate for 7 days.

[Prevention of postoperative or associated of care pelvic inflammatory diseases. Is there a need for antibiotic prophylaxis for first trimester surgical-induced abortion to prevent pelvic inflammatory diseases? CNGOF good practice points]

Antibiotic prophylaxis is not recommended during surgical induced abortions. Systematic screening for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrheae infection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on a vaginal sample is recommended before any surgical abortion. Moreover, the bacteriological result should be available before the abortion so that antibiotic treatment effective against the identified bacteria, if any, can be proposed before the procedure. The absence of bacteriological result on the day of the abortion must not, however, delay the procedure. If screening is positive for a sexually transmitted infection (STI), and the bacteriological result is only available after the abortion, it is recommended that antibiotic treatment start as soon as possible. The first-line antibiotic treatment is ceftriaxone 500mg in a single dose by the intramuscular route for N. gonorrheae, doxycycline 200mg per day orally for 7 days for C. trachomatis and azithromycin 500mg the first day (D1) then 250mg per day from D2 to D4 orally if Mycoplasma genitalium is detected by multiplex PCR. In case of positive screening, antibiotic treatment of the woman's partner(s) is recommended, adapted to the STI agent(s).