Widow and Widower Mortality in India: A Research Note.

Widowhood is associated with elevated mortality risk in many social contexts. This research note is the first study to quantify and contextualize the mortality risk of widowhood for men (widowers) and women (widows) in India. We do so by using data from the first wave of the India Human Development Survey (2004-2005) on individuals whose survival status was observed seven years later in the second wave of the survey.

Externalities of polluting cooking fuels, gender, and adult cognitive health in Low- and Middle-Income countries.

Scientific understanding of the relationship between environmental hazards and cognitive health at older ages in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is poor. Using data from the Longitudinal Aging Study of India and the World Health Organization's Survey on Global AGEing and adult health for four LMICs, we examine the association of direct and local exposure to polluting cooking fuels with cognitive health at older ages. We document the negative influence of both: cognitive health is poorer among members of households that use polluting fuels and among residents of neighborhoods where the use of polluting fuels is more common.

Uncertainty-guided pancreatic tumor auto-segmentation with Tversky ensemble.

Background And Purpose: Pancreatic gross tumor volume (GTV) delineation is challenging due to their variable morphology and uncertain ground truth. Previous deep learning-based auto-segmentation methods have struggled to handle tasks with uncertain ground truth and have not accommodated stylistic customizations. We aim to develop a human-in-the-loop pancreatic GTV segmentation tool using Tversky ensembles by leveraging uncertainty estimation techniques.

Uropathogens and Their Antimicrobial Resistance Profile at a Pediatric Tertiary Care Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are treated based on local antimicrobial susceptibility patterns; however, growing antimicrobial resistance necessitates continuous monitoring. This retrospective study examined the prevalence of pediatric UTIs, identified causative pathogens, and evaluated their antibiograms and resistance patterns. We examined the demographic data, microbiological profiles, and antimicrobial susceptibility results (September 2019-August 2021) of pediatric patients (neonates to 14 years) with positive urine culture results at Kanti Children's Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal, using SPSS version 17.

Recurrent drug eluting stent, in-stent restenosis (DES-ISR): Epidemiology, pathophysiology & treatment.

Coronary artery in-stent restenosis (ISR) is driven by neointimal hyperplasia and neo-atherosclerosis in previously placed stents. Drug eluting stents (DES) have been adopted as first line therapy for the initial episode of ISR. However, recurrent ISR has limited durable salvage options.

Indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cause-of-death analysis of life expectancy changes in 24 countries, 2015 to 2022.

Worldwide, mortality was strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, both directly through COVID-19 deaths and indirectly through changes in other causes of death. Here, we examine the impact of the pandemic on COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 mortality in 24 countries: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, England and Wales, Hungary, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Poland, Russia, Scotland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. Using demographic decomposition methods, we compare age- and cause-specific contributions to changes in female and male life expectancy at birth in 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 with those before the COVID-19 pandemic (2015-2019).

Outstretching challenges for rehabilitation of a mucormycotic case-a digitally designed patient-specific implant approach in the recent era.

Background: Reconstruction of maxillofacial defects is challenging due to the region's complex anatomy. During the COVID-19 era, many patients lost their maxilla and chewing efficiency as a result of Mucormycosis. In such cases, custom-designed implants offer a graftless solution for seemingly hopeless situations.

Clinical Dilemma: Flabby Ridges and the Quest for Aesthetic Denture Fit.

A flabby ridge is a hyperplastic and movable soft tissue that affects both maxillary and mandibular ridges most commonly the maxillary anterior region. This tissue that supports the denture is dynamic and can be dislodged by masticatory pressures, which affects denture stability and causes a loss of peripheral seal. The mobile tissue may be distorted as a result of forces applied during the impression-making process.

Large and unequal life expectancy declines during the COVID-19 pandemic in India in 2020.

Global population health during the COVID-19 pandemic is poorly understood because of weak mortality monitoring in low- and middle-income countries. High-quality survey data on 765,180 individuals, representative of one-fourth of India's population, uncover patterns missed by incomplete vital statistics and disease surveillance. Compared to 2019, life expectancy at birth was 2.

Basal Implant Placement in the Anterior Aesthetic Zone: A Case Report.

Aesthetics are one of the primary goals of restorative care. Teeth that are traumatized in the anterior maxilla usually avulse or require extraction due to fractures. Rehabilitation is challenging in such a therapeutic state since it presents several anatomical and aesthetic issues.

Fully automated deep learning based auto-contouring of liver segments and spleen on contrast-enhanced CT images.

Manual delineation of liver segments on computed tomography (CT) images for primary/secondary liver cancer (LC) patients is time-intensive and prone to inter/intra-observer variability. Therefore, we developed a deep-learning-based model to auto-contour liver segments and spleen on contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) images. We trained two models using 3d patch-based attention U-Net ([Formula: see text] and 3d full resolution of nnU-Net ([Formula: see text] to determine the best architecture ([Formula: see text].

Analysis and prediction of liver volume change maps derived from computational tomography scans acquired pre- and post-radiation therapy.

External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) of liver cancers can cause local liver atrophy as a result of tissue damage or hypertrophy as a result of liver regeneration. Predicting those volumetric changes would enable new strategies for liver function preservation during treatment planning. However, understanding of the spatial dose/volume relationship is still limited.

A Novel Technique for Performing Transfemoral Transcatheter Self-Expanding Aortic Valve Replacement With No Contrast Which Minimizes Acute Kidney Injury.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) treats severe aortic stenosis. However, patients with limited renal function may be ineligible for contrast use during valve deployment. We evaluate TAVR via transfemoral approach using 2-wire technique and no contrast injection.

Changing socioeconomic and geographic gradients in cardiovascular disease risk factors among Indians aged 15-49 years - evidence from nationally representative household surveys.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). CVDs and their metabolic risk factors have historically been concentrated among urban residents with higher socioeconomic status (SES) in LMICs such as India. However, as India develops, it is unclear whether these socioeconomic and geographic gradients will persist or change.

Estimates of pandemic excess mortality in India based on civil registration data.

The population health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are less well understood in low and middle-income countries, where mortality surveillance before the pandemic was patchy. Interpreting the limited all-cause mortality data available in India is challenging. We use existing data on all-cause mortality from civil registration systems of twelve Indian states comprising around 60% of the national population to understand the scale and timing of excess deaths in India during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Automated Contouring and Planning in Radiation Therapy: What Is 'Clinically Acceptable'?

Developers and users of artificial-intelligence-based tools for automatic contouring and treatment planning in radiotherapy are expected to assess clinical acceptability of these tools. However, what is 'clinical acceptability'? Quantitative and qualitative approaches have been used to assess this ill-defined concept, all of which have advantages and disadvantages or limitations. The approach chosen may depend on the goal of the study as well as on available resources.

Changes in Child Undernutrition and Overweight in India From 2006 to 2021: An Ecological Analysis of 36 States.

Objectives: We evaluated changes in priority indicators of child growth from 2006 to 2021 and examined the role of human development measures in these changes.

Methods: We estimated cumulative and annualized changes in state- and district-level child growth indicators using 3 rounds of National Family Health Surveys (2005-2006, 2015-2016, 2019-2021) in 36 states. Outcomes included stunting, underweight, wasting, and overweight.

Seasonal variation in infant mortality in India.

Investigating seasonal variation in health helps us understand interactions between population, environment, and disease. Using information on birth month and year, survival status within the first year of life, and age at death (if applicable) of more than 330,000 children observed in four rounds of India's Demographic and Health Surveys, I estimate period mortality rates between birth and age one (m) by calendar month. Relative to spring months, infant mortality is higher in the summer, monsoon, and winter months.

Development and validation of a population-based anatomical colorectal model for radiation dosimetry in late effects studies of survivors of childhood cancer.

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to develop and integrate a colorectal model that incorporates anatomical variations of pediatric patients into the age-scalable MD Anderson Late Effects (MDA-LE) computational phantom, and validate the model for pediatric radiation therapy (RT) dose reconstructions.

Methods: Colorectal contours were manually derived from whole-body non-contrast computed tomography (CT) scans of 114 pediatric patients (age range: 2.1-21.

Peripheral arterial disease and hypertension.

Purpose Of Review: Hypertension (HTN) is a well known risk factor for atherosclerosis and peripheral arterial disease (PAD). PAD affects more than 250 million people globally and is associated with worse clinical outcomes. Although multiple studies have been performed to evaluate treatment of HTN in patients with PAD, blood pressure management in this high-risk cohort remains poor.

Can administrative health data be used to estimate population level birth and child mortality estimates? A comparison of India's Health Information Management System data with nationally representative survey data.

•HMIS covers a large proportion of births, but a smaller fraction of child deaths compared to estimates from surveys.•Birth and death coverage in HMIS, while incomplete, has been improving nationally and for many states.•States that have improved HMIS reporting, should be studied for replicating best practices.

To Anticoagulate or Not to Anticoagulate in COVID-19: Lessons after 2 Years.

A hypercoagulable state associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been well documented and is believed to be strongly supported by a proinflammatory state. The hypercoagulable state in turn results in increased incidence of arterial and venous thromboembolism (VTE) seen in hospitalized COVID-19 when compared with hospitalized non-COVID-19 patient cohorts. Moreover, patients with arterial or VTE and COVID-19 have higher mortality compared with COVID-19 patients without arterial or VTE.

Endovascular Management of Chronic Mesenteric Ischemia in a Patient With Left Ventricular Assist Device.

Classical symptoms of chronic mesenteric ischemia include postprandial pain referred to as "intestinal angina", food fear and weight loss. Here we present a case of chronic mesenteric ischemia treated by endovascular stenting in a patient with chronic heart failure and left ventricular assist device.

Social disadvantage, economic inequality, and life expectancy in nine Indian states.

SignificanceIndia is one of the most hierarchical societies in the world. Because vital statistics are incomplete, mortality disparities are not quantified. Using survey data on more than 20 million individuals from nine Indian states representing about half of India's population, we estimate and decompose life expectancy differences between higher-caste Hindus, comprising other backward classes and high castes, and three marginalized social groups: Adivasis (indigenous peoples), Dalits (oppressed castes), and Muslims.