Association between Food Insecurity and Vision Impairment among Older Adults: A Pooled Analysis of Data from Six Low- and Middle-Income Countries

OBJECTIVES

Food insecurity has gained attention as a potential risk factor for vision impairment. However, research on this topic is limited. This objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between food insecurity and visual impairment among adults aged 50 years or older using data from six low-and middle-income countries (LMIC).

DESIGN AND SETTING

Data from the longitudinal Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) were analyzed in a community-based, cross-sectional, and nationally representative sample.

PARTICIPANTS

Adults aged 50 years or older from six low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) including China, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and Ghana.

MEASUREMENTS

Food insecurity was evaluated using a questionnaire comprised of two questions that addressed the frequency of eating inadequately and hunger due to a lack of food in last 12 months. Distance and/or near vision impairment was considered as a visual acuity score of less than 6/18 in the eye with better vision.

RESULTS

The analytical sample consisted of 29,804 adults (mean (SD) for age: 63.2 (9.54) years; 54.3% female). The prevalence of food insecurity, near vision and distance vision impairment in the sample was 16.4%, 36.7%, and 13.9%, respectively. Adjusted pooled analyses across countries revealed a significant association between food insecurity and distance (OR: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.33; P=0.04, significant individually in India and South Africa) and near (OR: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.22; P=0.01, significant individually in South Africa) vision impairment, and a between-country heterogeneity of 46.30% and 25.99%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Food insecurity was associated with both distance and near vision impairment in adults aged 50 years or older across six LMIC. Food policies and intervention programs targeted at decreasing food insecurity in vulnerable households are essential.

Histological evaluation of inferior alveolar nerve injury after osteotomy of mandibular buccal cortex using piezoelectric versus conventional rotary devices: a split-mouth randomised study in rabbits

Up until now, only a limited number of evidence-based studies with different results has evaluated traumatic nerve injury after maxillofacial surgery using piezoelectric devices versus rotary instruments. The present experiment was performed to evaluate damage to the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN), histologically, after osteotomy of the buccal cortex of the mandible using piezoelectric devices versus surgical handpieces. Forty rabbits underwent bilateral osteotomy of the mandibular buccal cortex. For the osteotomy of one side, piezoelectric devices were used, and for the other, conventional rotary handpieces. After cleavage of the osteotomised cortical bone segments, the exposed part of the IAN was excised and examined histologically for nerve injury. IAN damage was scored histologically from Grade 0 (no nerve damage) to Grade 4 (complete nerve transection). It was found that 25% and 17.5% of nerves had Grade 0; 17.5% and 10% had Grade 1; 25% and 20% had Grade 2; 17.5% and 27.5% had Grade 3; and 15% and 25% had Grade 4 injury in piezosurgery and rotary groups, respectively. Statistical analyses revealed no significant difference between groups in damage to the IAN. The present study showed that piezosurgery devices, similar to conventional rotary instruments, have the potential to cause severe nerve damage during surgery and should therefore be used with care.

Predictors of return to work in patients with occupational hand injury

Work-related hand injuries are the primary cause of disability and prolonged time away from work. This prospective cohort study was conducted to determine the predictors of return to work (RTW) after traumatic work-related hand injuries. Our study included 280 patients who were referred to the Plastic and Reconstructive Center for treatment of their occupational hand injuries from July 2017 to February 2018. Several functional questionnaires were completed, and they were followed up at 1, 3 and 8 weeks. Telephone interviews were done 3 months later. Approximately half the subjects had returned to work during the first 3 months after a median time away of 57 days. No relationship was found between age, gender, marital status, hand dominance and RTW time. Nevertheless, there was correlation between RTW time with cigarette smoking, injury severity and disability. Our study findings suggest that injury severity and higher work disability scores are prognostic factors for RTW. Also, smoking was associated with later RTW, which could be the result of poor circulation and delayed healing. Employers should implement injury prevention programs with appropriate rehabilitation that takes into consideration the severity of the hand injury, and health strategies to improve unhealthy lifestyle factors such as smoking.

Predicting In vitro Culture Medium Macro-Nutrients Composition for Pear Rootstocks Using Regression Analysis and Neural Network Models

Two modeling techniques [artificial neural network-genetic algorithm (ANN-GA) and stepwise regression analysis] were used to predict the effect of medium macro-nutrients on in vitro performance of pear rootstocks (OHF and Pyrodwarf). The ANN-GA described associations between investigating eight macronutrients (NO[Formula: see text], NH[Formula: see text], Ca(2+), K(+), Mg(2+), PO[Formula: see text], SO[Formula: see text], and Cl(-)) and explant growth parameters [proliferation rate (PR), shoot length (SL), shoot tip necrosis (STN), chlorosis (Chl), and vitrification (Vitri)]. ANN-GA revealed a substantially higher accuracy of prediction than for regression models. According to the ANN-GA results, among the input variables concentrations (mM), NH[Formula: see text] (301.7), and NO[Formula: see text], NH[Formula: see text] (64), SO[Formula: see text] (54.1), K(+) (40.4), and NO[Formula: see text] (35.1) in OHF and Ca(2+) (23.7), NH[Formula: see text] (10.7), NO[Formula: see text] (9.1), NH[Formula: see text] (317.6), and NH[Formula: see text] (79.6) in Pyrodwarf had the highest values of VSR in data set, respectively, for PR, SL, STN, Chl, and Vitri. The ANN-GA showed that media containing (mM) 62.5 NO[Formula: see text], 5.7 NH[Formula: see text], 2.7 Ca(2+), 31.5 K(+), 3.3 Mg(2+), 2.6 PO[Formula: see text], 5.6 SO[Formula: see text], and 3.5 Cl(-) could lead to optimal PR for OHF and optimal PR for Pyrodwarf may be obtained with media containing 25.6 NO[Formula: see text], 13.1 NH[Formula: see text], 5.5 Ca(2+), 35.7 K(+), 1.5 Mg(2+), 2.1 PO[Formula: see text], 3.6 SO[Formula: see text], and 3 Cl(-).

The Comparative Evaluation of the Performance of Two Phytoremediation Systems for Domestic Wastewater Treatment

The constructed wetlands as well engineered techniques have been used effectively for phytoremediation of wastewater and pollution control during the last decades. In these technologies, the naturally occurring processes of plants alongside micro-organisms present in the bio-film attached to the roots, soil substrate and water column degrade the organic pollutants. The study seeks to compare the potential use of Phragmites sp. reed bed and floating macrophyte water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) system for domestic wastewater treatment. The sewage treatment performance is evaluated as 80% & 76% chemical oxygen demand (COD), 90% & 87% biological oxygen demand (BOD5), 24% & 18% total dissolved solids (TDS), 69% & 67% total suspended solids (TSS), 12% & 5% Chlorides, 73% & 69% ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), 42% & 31% phosphate (PO4-P), 93% & 91% most probable number (MPN) and 95% & 92% total viable count (TVC) reduction at optimum hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 24 & 43 h in Phragmites sp. and water hyacinth systems, respectively. Likewise, the floating macrophyte pond contrary to reed bed process shows insignificant pollutant diminution at 24 h HRT. This paper also highlights the microbial population present through the wetland systems by estimation of total viable count (TVC). The botanical aspect with reference to the plant growth is shown a significant increase in vegetation yield. The overall studies indicate the better treatment efficiency by preferred Phragmites sp. root zone system at low foot print area for domestic wastewater.

Disseminated Leishmaniasis Caused by Leishmania tropica in a Puppy from Karaj, Central Iran

A 5-month old puppy with muco-cutaneous lesions in the chin, around lips and eyes was examined physically and microscopically for leishmaniasis. Muco-cutaneous lesions containing a large number of amastigotes of Leishmania spp. were observed. Amastigotes were also detected in liver and spleen of the puppy. The animal was positive with Dipstick rK39 kit and high level of anti-Leishmania antibodies was detected by direct agglutination test (DAT). DNA, Using PCR-RFLP technique extracted from cultured Leishmania promastigotes and L. tropica was identified. This is the first report of concurrent mucosal and visceral involvement of L. tropica in a puppy from Iran.

Effect of diltiazem on retention and retrieval of memory in young and aged mice

Diltiazem (DTZ) is widely used in the prophylaxis of hypertension and treatment of angina. The effects of DTZ and other calcium channel blockers on memory have been discussed with several procedures and different theories have been suggested. In the present study, the effect of DTZ on retention and retrieval of memory in young and aged mice was investigated by using the passive avoidance apparatus. For this purpose, after weighting, coding and classifying the mice, they were grouped as follow: test group received electric shock plus DTZ (10 and 30 mg kg(-1), i.p.), blank group received electric shock plus normal saline and control group received only electric shock. In all three groups delay time of leaving the platform for both retention and retrieval test of memory was measured. DTZ was administered immediately after receiving electric shock in the retention test, but in retrieval test DTZ was administered 24 h after receiving electric shock. The results indicated that 30 mg kg(-1) of DTZ impaired retention and retrieval of young mice memory. The 30 mg kg(-1) of DTZ enhanced retention while 10 and 30 mg kg(-1) of it improved retrieval of aged mice memory.

Clinical predictors of significant findings on head computed tomographic angiography

BACKGROUND

Although head computed tomographic angiography (CTA) is a sensitive tool for the evaluation of neurological symptoms in the emergency department (ED), little is known about which clinical signs predict significant CTA findings.

OBJECTIVES

To identify clinical factors that predict significant findings on head CTA in patients presenting to the ED with neurological complaints.

METHODS

Retrospective chart review of consecutive adult patients undergoing head CTA over a 6-month period in an urban, tertiary care ED with an annual volume of 76,000. Significant head CTA findings were defined as clinically significant neurological abnormalities undetected by previous imaging studies. Demographics, chief complaint, results of the neurological examinations (NE), and head non-contrast computed tomography (CT) results were used as predictors of significant head CTA. All predictors with a univariate p < 0.2 using Pearson's chi-squared were entered stepwise into a multivariable logistic regression including odds ratios (OR), with inclusion restricted to p < 0.05.

RESULTS

Chart review yielded 456 cases; 215 (47%) were male. Mean age was 62 (SD 20) years. There were 189 patients (41%) with abnormal CTAs. Multivariable logistic regression indicated five variables that predicted a clinically significant CTA: abnormal CT (OR 3.72), chief complaint of subarachnoid hemorrhage-type headache (OR 2.30), and motor deficit (OR 2.23), visual deficit (OR 2.23), and other focal deficit (OR 2.18) on NE. A chief complaint of trauma (OR 0.23) predicted a normal CTA.

CONCLUSIONS

Specific historical and focal neurological findings are useful for predicting clinically significant findings on head CTA.

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in stray and household cats in Tehran

The prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii specific IgG in stray and household cats in Tehran was determined by Indirect Fluorescent Antibody Test (IFAT) on serum samples from 100 cats (50 stray and 50 households). Overall infection rate was 63%. The infection rate in stray cats (90%) was significantly higher (p<0.001) than that of household cats (36%). Last serum positive dilutions varied from 1: 32 to 1: 512 titres in which the highest percentage (27%) was for 1:256 and the least (4.8%) was at 1:32. The rate of infection between male and female cats of both groups was not significantly different; 90.3% versus 89.5% for male and female in stray cats, respectively. Different sexes of household cats were seropositive at the same rate (36%). A high positive correlation (r(2)=0.97) between age and the rate of infection was observed. The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in cats in Tehran was high, especially in stray cats which are probably the main source of Toxoplasma infection in this area.

Vaccine trial against canine visceral leishmaniasis in the Islamic republic of Iran

Sixteen dogs were randomly divided into four groups. Group 1 received autoclaved Leishmania infantum vaccine with BCG. Group 2 received autoclaved L. major vaccine with BCG. Group 3 received BCG alone and Group 4 received normal saline. Dogs received the vaccines intradermally three times each at 30-day intervals. All dogs were tested at 2-month intervals with the leishmanin skin test and anti-Leishmania ELISA. Ninety days after the third dose, each dog received an intraperitoneal challenge of 2.5 X 10 [6] infective promastigotes of L. infantum. Necropsy was performed on all dogs to investigate for parasites. All of the dogs in the unvaccinated groups were infected with L. infantum but of the dogs in the vaccinated groups, only one dog was infected

Computed tomography of an optic chiasm glioma in an elderly patient

A 75-year-old white woman, otherwise healthy, developed progressively reduced visual acuity primarily in her left eye over 2 months. A computed tomography scan of the head demonstrated a moderately large, round, circumscribed, benign-appearing suprasellar mass that was enhanced with infusion of contrast medium. At craniotomy, a glioma of the optic chiasm that extended into the left optic nerve was observed.

Wegener granulomatosis invading the cavernous sinus: a CT demonstration

A case of localized cranial Wegener granulomatosis was imaged with high resolution computed tomography. The mass extended from the infratemporal fossa, through the basal foramina, and into the cavernous sinus, causing complete occlusion of the internal carotid artery. Computed tomography demonstrated absence of bone destruction and a normal parotid gland and nasopharynx. Although uncommon, Wegener granulomatosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a parapharyngeal mass with intracranial extension.

Traumatic posterior atlantoaxial dislocation without neurological deficit: case report

A case is presented in which a patient sustained a closed head injury with subsequent acute subdural hematoma and delayed posterior dislocation of the atlas without fracture of the odontoid process and with an intact C-1 arch. The subdural hematoma was treated operatively. The atlas dislocation was managed with closed reduction without manipulation and subsequent posterior fusion of C-1, C-2, and C-3. The patient was intact neurologically on admission and remained so throughout his hospitalization.

An analysis of reproductive motivation in Shiraz, Iran

In a sample of 260 married men in Shiraz, the relationship is studied of fertility to demographic, socioeconomic and psychosocial variables, the last measuring the perceived economic value of children. The number of children ever born is closely associated with duration of marriage, but socioeconomic variables also exert a significant influence, especially the wife's educational level. Recent fertility is more closely associated with age of wife, but also with ownership of modern goods which is also the major factor in current contraceptive use. The perceived value of children appears unimportant, negligible in recent fertility and contraceptive use, and only showing a slight positive relationship between expected reliance on children for support in old age and the number of children ever born.