Modelling Representative Population Mobility for COVID-19 Spatial Transmission in South Africa.

The COVID-19 pandemic starting in the first half of 2020 has changed the lives of everyone across the world. Reduced mobility was essential due to it being the largest impact possible against the spread of the little understood SARS-CoV-2 virus. To understand the spread, a comprehension of human mobility patterns is needed. The use of mobility data in modelling is thus essential to capture the intrinsic spread through the population. It is necessary to determine to what extent mobility data sources convey the same message of mobility within a region. This paper compares different mobility data sources by constructing spatial weight matrices at a variety of spatial resolutions and further compares the results through hierarchical clustering. We consider four methods for constructing spatial weight matrices representing mobility between spatial units, taking into account distance between spatial units as well as spatial covariates. This provides insight for the user into which data provides what type of information and in what situations a particular data source is most useful.

Inverse association for diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease subsequent to both melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers in a large, urban, single-centre, Midwestern US patient population.

BACKGROUND: Although literature demonstrates a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in individuals with various cancers, including squamous cell cancers (SCC) and basal cell cancers (BCC) comprising non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC), there is a paucity of literature to substantiate an association between malignant melanoma (MM) and AD. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine whether an association exists between MM and AD as well as for NMSC and AD. METHODS: A large urban, Midwestern, US, single-centre, medical record (EMR) data repository was searched between January 2001 and December 2015, to identify all patients at age ≥60 and <89 years with a clinic follow-up of at least 1 year and no diagnosis for AD, MM or NMSC at the time of the study entry. Data collected included age, gender, race and duration of follow-up. MM and NMSC were detected by ICD-9 codes and ICD-10 codes. Incident diagnosis of AD was also detected by ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes. Logistic regression analysis was utilized to obtain crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs). RESULTS: Data for a total of 82 925 patients with known race and gender and were detected. After adjusting for confounding factors (race, gender, age, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral vascular disease and diabetes), there was a significant decreased risk of subsequent AD in patients with MM (OR: 0.39; 95% CI: 0.16-0.96; P = 0.042) as well as in patients with BCC (OR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.08-0.45; P < 0.0001) and for patients with SCC (OR: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.01-0.56; P = 0.013). CONCLUSION: These findings add to the growing body of evidence for a decreased risk of AD in patients with various cancers and highlight the need for ongoing research to elucidate both neurologic and biologic mechanisms that may underlie this apparent inverse association.

A review of the treatment methods for cartilage defects.

The purpose of this article is to provide a broad review of the literature related to the treatment of cartilage defects and degenerated cartilage in animals with some inferences to the treatment in humans. Methods range from the insertion of osteochondral tissue or cells to the application of radio frequency or insertion of scaffolds and growth factors alone or in combination. Debridement, microfracture, radio frequency, and chondrocyte implantation are all methods normally utilized when treating smaller articular cartilage defects. Scaffolds and mosaicplasty are examples of methods to treat larger defects. This review will cover all major treatment methods currently used to treat articular cartilage defects.

Mid-term effectiveness of behavioral and psychodynamic inpatient treatments of severe obesity based on a randomized study.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of psychodynamic and behavioral inpatient treatments of severely obese patients regarding weight and distress. METHODS: In a longitudinal study obese patients (body mass index, BMI >or=35) were randomly assigned to behavioral or to psychodynamic inpatient treatment. Mostly female (n = 267; 85%) obese patients with psychiatric and somatic comorbidity (age 20-64 years, BMI 35-74) were examined with standardized self-report scales on distress (SCL-90R), interpersonal problems (Inventory of Interpersonal Problems), eating behavior (Fragebogen zum Essverhalten) and body image (Fragebogen zum Korperbild). RESULTS: During 49 days (mean) of inpatient treatment, patients lost an average of 5.6 kg (4.4%) in the behavioral (n = 130) and 5.7 kg (4.4%) in the psychodynamic setting (n = 137). In both settings, eating behavior, well-being and body image also improved significantly. One year after discharge, return rate was 73%. Forty percent had further reduced their weight (by more than 5% compared to intake), 36% had regained weight, but were still below intake level, and another 24% had increased weight above intake. CONCLUSION: Behavioral and psychodynamic treatments were equally effective reducing weight and distress over 1 year.

[Attention and executive functions in patients with severe obesity. A controlled study using the Attention Network Test]. / Aufmerksamkeit und exekutive Funktionen bei Patienten mit Adipositas per magna. Eine kontrollierte Studie mit dem Aufmerksamkeitsnetzwerktest.

In this paper, attention and temperament are compared between 41 severely obese patients with psychiatric comorbidity and 45 control persons. Networks of attention were assessed by the Attention Network Test: alerting (ability to achieve and maintain an alert state), orienting (ability to orient to a stimulus), and executive attention (ability to resolve conflict). According to hypotheses, obese patients show reduced executive attention, more effortful control, and higher negative affectivity than controls. The concept of attention networks is related to cognitive mechanisms of self-regulation, opening new perspectives for understanding psychiatric disorders.

Effectiveness of behavioral and psychodynamic in-patient treatment of severe obesity--first results from a randomized study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare treatment effectiveness of psychodynamic and behavioral in-patient treatment of patients with severe obesity. DESIGN: : Randomized longitudinal study of obese patients (BMI> or =35 kg/m(2)) randomly assigned to behavioral or to psychodynamic psychosomatic rehabilitation. SUBJECTS: Ninety eight, mostly female (88%), obese patients (age 20-64 y, BMI 36-74 kg/m(2)). MEASUREMENTS: Standardized self-report scales on distress (SCL-90R), eating behavior (FEV), interpersonal problems (IIP), body image (FKB-20), life satisfaction (IRES). RESULTS: During the 6 weeks of in-patient treatment patients lost an average of 5.4 kg (4.3%) in the behavioral (n=46) and 6.2 kg (4.7%) in the psychodynamic setting (n=52). In both settings, a significant improvement was also found for eating behavior, well-being, body image and life satisfaction. Weight reduction was more pronounced for those with a higher weight at onset, more distress in public at admission, and a longer treatment. CONCLUSION: Despite considerable differences in the behavioral vs psychodynamic treatment settings, both were equally effective. However, some common treatment elements were perceived differently by patients in the two settings. Analysis of the follow-up data will hopefully provide evidence as to which patients benefit more from which approach.

Foil bath PUVA in the treatment of prurigo simplex subacuta.

Prurigo simplex subacuta is a chronic pruritic condition of unknown aetiology. The skin lesions respond to topical corticosteroids, UV-A and UV-B therapy only to a limited degree. Ten patients suffering from prurigo simplex subacuta were treated with foil bath PUVA at a concentration of 0.5 mg 8-methoxypsoralen/l. Using the foil bath method the volume of the psoralen/bath-water solution is restricted to 10 l with the aid of polyethylene foil. The group required a median of 13 (95% CI: 9-19) baths for clearance. The total UV-A dose for the whole group was 19 (95% CI:5-30) J/cm2. Bath PUVA is a safe and well-tolerated therapy in the treatment of prurigo simplex subacuta.