Literature Review of the Prevalence of Hypertension at Gulu University, Gulu City, Acholi Subregion, Northern Uganda

Hypertension is a big problem worldwide. The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence, knowledge, attitude, and practice about hypertension at Gulu University, Gulu city, Gulu district, Acholi subregion, Northern Uganda. A literature search on hypertension was done. It showed that, in Uganda, a representative number of 17,777 adult patients’ data were analyzed from January 2014 to February 2024. The epidemiological data on awareness of hypertension was found to be at 8%. Of this, 18.3% of the people with hypertension had it under control. The results of the findings were promising. Hypertension is an important public health challenge in Uganda particularly in Northern Uganda where Gulu University falls. In comparison with the two regions of Central Uganda and Northern Uganda, there was a significant number of populations that were not aware of their condition. Those diagnosed were on treatment but the treatment was not adhered to due to stock outs of medicines. Therefore, Measures are required to prevent hypertension, improve awareness, treatment and control within the community, especially at Gulu University where research has never been done.

Sero-Prevalence and Risk factors of Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) in Afgoye District Lower Shabelle Region, Somalia

Contagious bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) is an infectious and highly contagious respiratory disease of cattle and water buffalo, caused by the Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies mycoides. It induces significant economic losses and leads to a severe livestock production problem, negatively influencing people’s livelihoods of affected countries. In Somalia, there is no updated data on the prevalence and distribution of the disease. Hence, a descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2022 to June 2023 in different villages under the Afgoye District of lower Shabelle region, Somalia. The main purpose of this study is to assess the sero-prevalence and identify the associated risk factors for the occurrence of the disease. In this study, villages, age, sex, breed, and body condition were considered as risk factors. A total of 90 blood samples were collected and tested in the laboratory using the Anti-CBPP Elisa kit test. Out of 90 serum samples from herd cattle, 32 were positive, resulting in an overall prevalence of 35.5%. In addition, we found a statistically significant variation between the prevalence of the disease and factors such as sex, age, body condition and breeds. In summary, the overall prevalence of Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia in this study area is worth to be considered because there is a low quality of health care and less awareness of the Contagious bovine Pleuropneumonia effects on herds, which warrants the official authorities to act and follow appropriate preventive and control measures to reduce the incidence of the disease and generate appropriate controlling and prevention measures in all regions of Somalia.

Visual acuity of urban and rural adults in a coastal province of southern China:the Fujian Eye Study

AIM:To evaluate the vision status and sociodemographic associations of visual acuity(VA)in an urban and rural population in a coastal province of southern China.METHODS:The Fujian Eye Study,a population-based cross-sectional study,was performed from May 2018 to October 2019.Totally 10044 participants over 50 years old from all nine cities in Fujian Province were enrolled,and underwent a questionnaire and a series of standard physical and ocular examinations.VA was measured by E Standard Logarithmic Visual Acuity Chart(GB 11533-1989).Data was double entered with Epi Data v3.1 for data collation and Stata/SE statistical software v15.1 was used to analyze the data.RESULTS:Totally 8211(81.8%)participants were finally included and were divided into urban populations(4678 subjects),rural populations(n=3533),coastal residents(n=6434),and inland residents(1777 subjects);4836 participants were female.The mean age was 64.39±8.87 y(median 64 y;range 50-98 y).The mean presenting VA was 0.61±0.30(0.23±0.27 log MAR),and the mean best correctedvisual acuity(BCVA)was 0.82±0.28(0.08±0.19 log MAR).In the multiple regression analysis,BCVA was significantly correlated with several socioeconomic and biologic factors,including age(P<0.001),education level(P<0.001),income(P=0.005),rural residency(P<0.001),inland residency(P=0.001)and refractive error(P<0.001),while sex(P=0.194)was independent with BCVA.CONCLUSION:Accessible services and eye health policies targeting the elderly,people with high myopia and people living in rural or inland areas are needed.

Association of novel and legacy PFAS with reproductive hormones in women of child‑bearing age

Objective:To evaluate the legacy and novel per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances(PFAS)exposure in women of reproductive age,and to explore the effects on female reproductive hormones.Methods:We used cross-sectional data of 433 normal women of reproductive age from 2013 to 2015.Data of age,age at menarche,parity,BMI,education,and income were collected through questionnaires,serum samples were collected for reproductive hormones,and plasma samples for PFAS measurement by ultraperformance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometer(UPLC-MS/MS).Multiple linear regression and quantile g-computation were adopted to analyze the association between PFAS and reproductive hormones.Results:The detection rates of 6:2 Cl-PFESA,8:2 Cl-PFESA and HFPO-DA in the plasma were 100%,99.8%and 99.9%,respectively.The median concentrations of these chemicals were 2.27 ng/mL,0.07 ng/mL and 0.03 ng/mL,respectively.Multiple linear regression analysis showed a positive association between branched PFOS[1m-PFOS(β=0.131,95%CI:0.021,0.242),br-PFOS(β=0.119,95%CI:0.005,0.234)]and progesterone.In addition,mixed exposure model suggested that PFAS had a positive association with progesterone(β=0.549,95%CI:0.323,0.774).Conclusion:In this study,a mixed exposure model was used to evaluate the combined effects of PFAS mixtures,reflecting the association between multiple environmental PFAS exposure and reproductive hormones,and a higher concentration of novel PFAS was found in women of reproductive age,confirming that PFAS exposure may be related to reproductive hormone disorders in women of reproductive age.

Clinical features of multiple gastrointestinal stromal tumors:A pooling analysis combined with evidence and gap map

BACKGROUND Multiple gastrointestinal stromal tumors(MGISTs)are a very rare type of gastrointestinal stromal tumor(GIST)and are usually observed in syndrome.AIM The paper aimed to describe the clinical and oncological features of MGISTs and to offer evidence for the diagnosis and treatment.METHODS Data of consecutive patients with MGISTs who were diagnosed at Peking University People’s Hospital(PKUPH)from 2008 to 2019 were retrospectively evaluated.Further,a literature search was conducted by retrieving data from PubMed,EMBASE,and the Cochrane library databases from inception up to November 30,2019.RESULTS In all,12 patients were diagnosed with MGISTs at PKUPH,and 43 published records were ultimately included following the literature review.Combined analysis of the whole individual patient data showed that female(59.30%),young(14.45%),and syndromic GIST(63.95%)patients comprised a large proportion of the total patient population.Tumors were mainly located in the small intestine(58.92%),and both CD117 and CD34 were generally positive.After a mean 78.32-mo follow-up,the estimated median overall survival duration(11.5 years)was similar to single GISTs,but recurrence-free survival was relatively poorer.CONCLUSION The clinical and oncological features are potentially different between MGISTs and single GIST.Further studies are needed to explore appropriate surgical approach and adjuvant therapy.

Influence of decision makers＇ characteristics on risk analysis in strategic investment decisions

This study empirically examines the influence of decision makers＇ （DMs） characteristics on risk analysis in strategic investment decisions （SIDs） of companies operating automotive industry in India. This study has developed and tested a structural model that linking select demographics, risk propensity and risk analysis in SIDs. The primary data were collected from Senior Finance Professionals （CFOs, GMs, VPs and so on） representing 36 listed automotive companies operating in India. Based on the responses collected from a single cross-sectional mailed survey, this study finds that risk propensity has a significant positive influence on the extent of usage of risk analysis in SIDs.