Tongue Swab Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra Testing for Tuberculosis Using a Revised Consensus Protocol: A multi-country diagnostic accuracy study.

Background: Tongue swabs are a promising specimen for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis. In a previous study using a consensus protocol, tongue swabs tested with Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra (Xpert Ultra, Cepheid, USA) outperformed sputum smear microscopy, but a substantial proportion (6.1%) of results were non-actionable (e.

Hepatitis B prevalence and risk factors among adults living with HIV in South Africa: a clinic-based cohort study.

Background: People living with HIV (PLHIV) may have concurrent Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection, and certain antiretroviral therapies are recommended for HBV-HIV co-infected individuals. Routine screening for Hepatitis B virus may influence management of antiretroviral therapy for PLHIV, but risk factors for co-infection have not been well defined. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors for HBV infection among PLHIV in South Africa.

Excess Child Mortality Associated With Colombia's Armed Conflict, 1998-2019.

Importance: Armed conflicts are directly and indirectly associated with morbidity and mortality due to destruction of health infrastructure and diversion of resources, forced displacement, environmental damage, and erosion of social and economic security. Colombia's conflict began in the 1940s and has been uniquely long-lasting and geographically dynamic.

Objective: To estimate the proportion of infant and child mortality associated with armed conflict exposure from 1998 to 2019 in Colombia.

Symbolic and anticipated HIV stigma are associated with mental health and education in South Africa.

HIV stigma continues to act as a barrier to HIV care in South Africa, necessitating further research on the intersections of socioeconomic factors and the anticipation and expression of stigma surrounding HIV. We measured the prevalence of HIV-related stigma and evaluated factors associated with symbolic and anticipated stigma in Umlazi Township, South Africa from 2013 to 2019, using a validated HIV stigma scale, before undergoing HIV testing. Among 7,724 people evaluated, 1,318 (16.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Frequency-Doubling Technology and the Moorfields Motion Displacement Test for Glaucoma.

Purpose: Portable perimetric testing could be useful for community-based glaucoma screening programs. Frequency-doubling technology (FDT) and the Moorfields motion displacement test (MDT) are portable perimeters that have shown promise as potential screening tools for glaucoma. This study's goal was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of FDT and MDT for visual field defects and glaucoma.

Cumulative Payments Through the Earned Income Tax Credit Program in Childhood and Criminal Conviction During Adolescence in the US.

Importance: Childhood poverty is associated with poor health and behavioral outcomes. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), first implemented in 1975, is the largest cash transfer program for working families with low income in the US.

Objective: To assess whether cumulative EITC payments received during childhood are associated with the risk of criminal conviction during adolescence.

Diagnostic accuracy of an iPad application for detection of visual field defects.

Background/objectives: Tablet-based perimetry could be used to test for glaucomatous visual field defects in settings without easy access to perimeters, although few studies have assessed diagnostic accuracy of tablet-based tests. The goal of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of iPad perimetry using the visualFields Easy application.

Subjects/methods: This was a prospective, cross-sectional study of patients undergoing their first Humphrey Field Analyser (HFA) visual field test at a glaucoma clinic in India.

Earned Income Tax Credit and Youth Violence: Findings from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System.

Family- and neighborhood-level poverty are associated with youth violence. Economic policies may address this risk factor by reducing parental stress and increasing opportunities. The federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is the largest cash transfer program in the US providing support to low-income working families.

Income support policies and firearm violence prevention: A scoping review.

Firearm violence is a major threat to global public health and safety. Several individual, family, peer, community, and societal risk and protective factors determine or modify the risk of firearm violence. Specifically, there is a strong relationship between poverty, income inequality, and firearm violence; as such, interventions that influence upstream determinants of health by providing income support may hold much promise in affecting multiple domains of risk that are on the causal pathway to firearm violence.

Outcomes of amoebic, fungal, and bacterial keratitis: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: Acanthamoeba keratitis is challenging to treat and thought to result in poor outcomes, but very few comparative studies exist to assess whether ulcers caused by Acanthamoeba are worse than those caused by bacteria or fungus.

Methods: In a retrospective cohort study, all cases of smear- or culture-proven Acanthamoeba keratitis diagnosed from January 2006 to June 2011 at an eye hospital in South India were identified from the microbiology database. Random samples of the same number of cases of bacterial and fungal keratitis, matched by year, were identified from the same database in order to compare outcomes between the three types of organism.

Self-harming behavior in relation to exposure to inter-personal violence among youth and young adults in Colombia.

The effects of violence exposure on the risk of self-harming behaviors of youth in low- and middle-income countries is not well-understood. Using household survey data from one nationally representative sample and one sample from conflict-affected areas, we examined violence exposure and self-harm among Colombian youth aged 13-24. Survey-weighted prevalence ratios comparing self-harming behaviors by exposure to violence were estimated with Poisson log-linear models, controlling for age, sex, education and food insecurity.

Comparison of Structural, Functional, Tonometric, and Visual Acuity Testing for Glaucoma: A Prospective Diagnostic Accuracy Study.

Purpose: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of potential screening tests for moderate to advanced glaucoma.

Design: Prospective diagnostic test accuracy study.

Participants: The study enrolled a consecutive series of patients aged ≥50 years who presented to a glaucoma clinic in South India without ever having received automated visual field testing.

Accuracy of autorefraction in an adult Indian population.

Purpose: Autorefractors allow non-specialists to quickly assess refractive error, and thus could be a useful component of large-scale vision screening programs. In order to better characterize the role of autorefraction for public health outreach programs in resource-limited settings, the diagnostic accuracy of two autorefractors was assessed relative to subjective refraction in an adult Indian population.

Methods: An optometrist refracted a series of patients aged ≥50 years at an eye clinic in Bangalore, India using the Nidek ARK-900 autorefractor first, followed by the 3nethra Royal autorefractor, and then subjective refraction.

The Earned Income Tax Credit and Intimate Partner Violence.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health problem in the United States with adverse consequences for affected individuals and families. Recent reviews of the literature suggest that economic policies should be further investigated as part of comprehensive strategies to address IPV. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is the nation's largest anti-poverty program for working parents, and especially benefits low-income women with children, who experience an elevated risk of IPV.

Nonfatal use of firearms in intimate partner violence: Results of a national survey.

Research on intimate partner violence (IPV) and firearms has typically focused on homicide, so there is limited information on how firearms are used in nonfatal ways, particularly in community samples. We sought to estimate the prevalence of nonfatal firearm abuse in the context of IPV, understand how and against whom firearms are used, and examine consequences of this abuse. Using a national web-based survey of US adults who experienced IPV (n = 958), we asked respondents about experiences with nonfatal firearm abuse, including the frequency of firearm behaviors and consequences.

Cutaneous melanin and glaucoma: a case control study.

: Previous studies have used subjective assessments to implicate darker skin color as a risk factor for glaucoma. This study used objective measurements to determine whether skin melanin is a risk factor for glaucoma. In a case-control study conducted at a tertiary eye hospital in Nepal, patients aged 40 years or older from the glaucoma clinic were enrolled as cases and age-matched patients without glaucoma from other clinics at the eye hospital were enrolled as controls.

The Relationship Between Melanin and Glaucoma: A Case-control Study.

Unlabelled: PRéCIS:: In a case-control study, skin pigmentation was not statistically significantly different when comparing glaucoma patients to those without glaucoma.

Purpose: Darker skin color has been implicated as a risk factor for glaucoma based on previous studies' subjective assessments of skin pigmentation. This study used objective measurements to determine whether cutaneous pigmentation is a risk factor for glaucoma.

Association of Minimum Age Laws for Handgun Purchase and Possession With Homicides Perpetrated by Young Adults Aged 18 to 20 Years.

Importance: Laws mandating a minimum age to purchase or possess firearms are viewed as a potentially effective policy tool to reduce homicide by decreasing young adults' access to firearms.

Objective: To evaluate whether state laws that raised the minimum age to purchase and/or possess a handgun to 21 years were associated with lower rates of firearm homicide perpetrated by young adults aged 18 to 20 years.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this difference-in-differences analysis of a national cohort, young adult-perpetrated homicide rates were compared between states that did and did not implement stricter minimum age laws than the 1994 federal statute, adjusting for state-level factors.

State Earned Income Tax Credit policies and intimate partner homicide in the USA, 1990-2016.

Economic insecurity is a risk factor for intimate partner homicide (IPH). The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is the largest cash transfer programme to low-income working families in the USA. We hypothesised that EITCs could provide financial means for potential IPH victims to exit abusive relationships and establish self-sufficiency.

The Impact of Different Types of Violence on Ebola Virus Transmission During the 2018-2020 Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Background: Our understanding of the different effects of targeted versus nontargeted violence on Ebola virus (EBOV) transmission in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is limited.

Methods: We used time-series data of case counts to compare individuals in Ebola-affected health zones in DRC, April 2018-August 2019. Exposure was number of violent events per health zone, categorized into Ebola-targeted or Ebola-untargeted, and into civilian-induced, (para)military/political, or protests.

Accuracy of computer-assisted vertical cup-to-disk ratio grading for glaucoma screening.

Purpose: Glaucoma screening can be performed by assessing the vertical-cup-to-disk ratio (VCDR) of the optic nerve head from fundus photography, but VCDR grading is inherently subjective. This study investigated whether computer software could improve the accuracy and repeatability of VCDR assessment.

Methods: In this cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study, 5 ophthalmologists independently assessed the VCDR from a set of 200 optic disk images, with the median grade used as the reference standard for subsequent analyses.

Reproducibility of 5 Methods of Ocular Tonometry.

Purpose: To evaluate the agreement between Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT; Haag-Streit, Bern, Switzerland) and several portable tonometers that could be used for glaucoma screening programs.

Design: Evaluation of a diagnostic test.

Participants: Three hundred twenty-one eyes of 168 participants seeking treatment at the glaucoma clinic of a tertiary eye hospital in India.

Expert practice patterns and opinions on corneal cross-linking for infectious keratitis.

Objective: To assess the current opinion and practice patterns from cornea experts regarding the benefit of corneal cross-linking (CXL) for infectious keratitis (IK).

Methods And Analysis: An international survey was distributed to corneal specialists via an internet survey. The survey data collected were analysed with descriptive statistics.