Tradeoffs in bacterial physiology determine the efficiency of antibiotic killing.

Antibiotic effectiveness depends on a variety of factors. While many mechanistic details of antibiotic action are known, the connection between death rate and bacterial physiology is poorly understood. A common observation is that death rate in antibiotics rises linearly with growth rate; however, it remains unclear how other factors, such as environmental conditions and whole-cell physiological properties, affect bactericidal activity. To address this, we developed a high-throughput assay to precisely measure antibiotic-mediated death. We found that death rate is linear in growth rate, but the slope depends on environmental conditions. Growth under stress lowers death rate compared to nonstressed environments with similar growth rate. To understand stress's role, we developed a mathematical model of bacterial death based on resource allocation that includes a stress-response sector; we identify this sector using RNA-seq. Our model accurately predicts the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) with zero free parameters across a wide range of growth conditions. The model also quantitatively predicts death and MIC when sectors are experimentally modulated using cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), including protection from death at very low cAMP levels. The present study shows that different conditions with equal growth rate can have different death rates and establishes a quantitative relation between growth, death, and MIC that suggests approaches to improve antibiotic efficacy.

Examining the influence of global smoking prevalence on stroke mortality: insights from 27 countries across income strata.

BACKGROUND: This study investigates the influence of Global Smoking Prevalence (GSP) on Stroke Death Rates (SDR) across 27 countries categorized into High-Income Countries (HIC), Upper Middle-Income Countries (UMIC), Lower Middle-Income Countries (LMIC), and Low-Income Countries (LIC). METHODS: Analysing data from two distinct periods (1990-1999 and 2010-2019), countries exhibiting an increased SDR were selected. The study uses a polynomial regression model, treating income groups as cross-sectional and years as time series data. RESULTS: Results from the regression model reveal that 17 countries observed a significant impact of GSP on SDR, with only Turkey, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste resulting in negative values. However, the study emphasises that out of all 27 countries, the highest occurrence of the impact of GSP on SDR has been reported in the LMIC stratum for the period under review. CONCLUSION: It is evident that GSP affects the risk of incidence of stroke death, specifically in the LMIC stratum. Furthermore, it has been identified that GSP is a major preventable risk factor affecting global mortality. To mitigate the risk of stroke death attributable to smoking prevalence, necessary preventive steps should be adopted to encourage smoking cessation, and essential policies should be implemented to reduce the burden of SDR.

The significance of shooting angle in seal shooting.

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between shooting angle to the head and animal welfare outcomes in the hunt of young harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus). The study population consisted of young harp seals belonging to the Greenland Sea harp seal population. A sample of 171, 2-7 weeks old, weaned harp seals of both sexes were included. The study was conducted as an open, randomised parallel group designed trial during the regular hunt. The animals were allocated into four groups, A-D, according to the observed shooting angle to the head, defined as the angle between the direction of the shot and the longitudinal axis of the animal's head: (A) directly from the front; (B) obliquely from the front; (C) directly from the side; and (D) obliquely or directly from behind. Instantaneous death rate (IDR) and time to death (TTD) were the main variables. The mean IDR differed significantly between groups and was highest in group B (96.8%) and lowest in group C (66.7%). For all groups combined it was 84.2%. The mean TTD for seals not rendered instantaneously unconscious or dead (n = 27) differed significantly between groups and was shortest in group A (16 s) and longest in group C (85 s). However, the number of animals included in the TTD analysis was limited. In conclusion, based on the significantly higher IDR, the shooting angle obliquely from the front is recommended to help achieve the best animal welfare outcomes during the hunt of young harp seals.

COVID-19 vaccination and decreased death rates: A county-level study in Pennsylvania.

In this paper we examine the relationship between vaccination against COVID-19 and both the death rate from COVID-19 and the rate of COVID-19 spread. Our goal is determine if vaccination is associated with reduced death and/or spread of disease at the local level. This analysis was conducted at the county level in the state of Pennsylvania, United States of America, with data that were collected during the first half of 2022 from the state of Pennsylvania's Covid Dashboard (COVID-19 Data for Pennsylvania (pa.gov). This study finds the vaccines to be highly effective in preventing death from Corona virus, even at a time when there was a mismatch between the vaccines and the prevalent variants. Specifically, a 1% increase in vaccination rate was found to correspond to a 0.751% decrease in death rate (95% confidence interval [0.236%, 1.266%]). Given that, during this time period, the vaccines being used were not geared specifically toward the common variants at that time, we found no statistically significant relationship between disease spread and vaccination rate at the county level. These results support previous findings from across the world that Covid vaccination is highly efficacious in preventing death from the disease. Even during a time when vaccine design was not optimally matched with the prevailing strains, vaccination was found to reduce death rate. Hence, improving global vaccine availability is vitally important, to achieve necessary outcomes.

Trend of gastric cancer incidence and death rate in adolescents and young adults: A retrospective cohort study based on the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Less attentions are paid into the adolescents and young adults (AYAs) diagnosed with gastric cancer (GC). Our study aims to explore incidence rate trend, death rate trend, and prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in AYAs with GC. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study based on the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was performed. Joinpoint regression analysis was used to calculate average annual percent change (AAPC) with 95% confidence interval (CI) for incidence and death rate trends. Prognostic factors for OS and CSS were investigated using Cox proportional hazard model and gray test, respectively, with results shown as hazard ratio (HR) with 95% CI. RESULTS: Although no statistical significance, incidence rate trend showed a tendency to an increase in AYAs (AAPC = 0.2, 95% CI: -0.2-0.6). All-cause death rate trends were declined both in AYAs and middle-aged and elderly people (MAEP), with AAPC value of -0.6 (95% CI: -0.8 to -0.5) and -0.5 (95% CI: -0.6 to -0.4), respectively. AYAs had a lower risk of all-cause death (HR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.84-0.90) but a higher risk of GC-specific death (HR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.07-1.15) than MAEP. Chemotherapy (HR: 1.27, 95% CI: 1.16-1.40) and intraoperative radiation (HR: 2.89, 95% CI: 1.13-7.37) were, respectively, identified as risk factors for worse OS and CSS in AYAs. CONCLUSIONS: AYAs had a higher risk of GC-specific death, indicating more attention should be paid into AYAs with GC.

Indian food habit & food ingredients may have a role in lowering the severity & high death rate from COVID-19 in Indians: findings from the first nutrigenomic analysis.

Background & objectives: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the death rate was reportedly 5-8 fold lower in India which is densely populated as compared to less populated western countries. The aim of this study was to investigate whether dietary habits were associated with the variations in COVID-19 severity and deaths between western and Indian population at the nutrigenomics level. Methods: In this study nutrigenomics approach was applied. Blood transcriptome of severe COVID-19 patients from three western countries (showing high fatality) and two datasets from Indian patients were used. Gene set enrichment analyses were performed for pathways, metabolites, nutrients, etc., and compared for western and Indian samples to identify the food- and nutrient-related factors, which may be associated with COVID-19 severity. Data on the daily consumption of twelve key food components across four countries were collected and a correlation between nutrigenomics analyses and per capita daily dietary intake was investigated. Results: Distinct dietary habits of Indians were observed, which may be associated with low death rate from COVID-19. Increased consumption of red meat, dairy products and processed foods by western populations may increase the severity and death rate by activating cytokine storm-related pathways, intussusceptive angiogenesis, hypercapnia and enhancing blood glucose levels due to high contents of sphingolipids, palmitic acid and byproducts such as CO2 and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Palmitic acid also induces ACE2 expression and increases the infection rate. Coffee and alcohol that are highly consumed in western countries may increase the severity and death rates from COVID-19 by deregulating blood iron, zinc and triglyceride levels. The components of Indian diets maintain high iron and zinc concentrations in blood and rich fibre in their foods may prevent CO2 and LPS-mediated COVID-19 severity. Regular consumption of tea by Indians maintains high high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low triglyceride in blood as catechins in tea act as natural atorvastatin. Importantly, regular consumption of turmeric in daily food by Indians maintains strong immunity and curcumin in turmeric may prevent pathways and mechanisms associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity and lowered the death rate. Interpretation & conclusions: Our results suggest that Indian food components suppress cytokine storm and various other severity related pathways of COVID-19 and may have a role in lowering severity and death rates from COVID-19 in India as compared to western populations. However, large multi-centered case-control studies are required to support our current findings.

Effects of remittances on life expectancy and under-five mortality in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence using Generalized Method of Moments analysis

The study examined the relationship between financial remittances and health outcomes in 45 sub-Saharan African countries (SSA) using data obtained from the World Development Indicator (WDI) over the period 1990 to 2021. Because of the issue of endogeneity, the System Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM) was adopted to analyze the impact of remittances on life expectancy and infant mortality respectively. The results showed that contrary to expectations, remittances did not significantly improve life expectancy and infant mortality rate in SSA. The life expectancy in the previous year, has a statically significant impact on life expectancy at birth for the current year. Also, the lagged value of infant mortality rate significantly increased under five mortality. Therefore, the study recommends that governments in SSA sub-region should evolve policies aimed at guiding recipients of remittances towards effective utilization with a view to improving social welfare and health outcomes.

L'étude a examiné la relation entre les envois de fonds et les résultats de santé dans 45 pays d'Afrique subsaharienne (ASS) à l'aide des données obtenues à partir de l'indicateur du développement mondial (WDI) sur la période 1990 à 2021. En raison de la question de l'endogénéité, la méthode généralisée du système of Moments (SGMM) a été adopté pour analyser l'impact des envois de fonds sur l'espérance de vie et la mortalité infantile respectivement. Les résultats ont montré que contrairement aux attentes, les envois de fonds n'ont pas amélioré de manière significative l'espérance de vie et le taux de mortalité infantile en ASS. L'espérance de vie de l'année précédente a un impact statiquement significatif sur l'espérance de vie à la naissance de l'année en cours. En outre, la valeur décalée du taux de mortalité infantile a considérablement augmenté chez les enfants de moins de cinq ans. Par conséquent, l'étude recommande que les gouvernements de la sous-région d'ASS élaborent des politiques visant à guider les destinataires des envois de fonds vers une utilisation efficace en vue d'améliorer le bien-être social et les résultats en matière de santé.

The Association of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Risk Perception, County Death Rates, and Voluntary Health Behaviors Among United States Adult Population.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to adversely impact the United States socially, culturally, and economically. The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between COVID-19 county death rates, risk perception, and US adults' voluntary behaviors-particularly physical distancing. METHODS: Data were collected from CloudResearch/Qualtrics, Johns Hopkins University, the American Community Survey, and SafeGraph. RESULTS: Our results indicated that higher COVID-19 county death rates were associated with higher risk perceptions, leading to greater time spent at home. CONCLUSIONS: These findings will help public health officials identify strategies that best encourage voluntary health behaviors to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, part 1: National cancer statistics.

BACKGROUND: The American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries collaborate to provide annual updates on cancer occurrence and trends in the United States. METHODS: Data on new cancer diagnoses during 2001-2018 were obtained from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries' Cancer in North America Incidence file, which is comprised of data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded and National Cancer Institute-funded, population-based cancer registry programs. Data on cancer deaths during 2001-2019 were obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics' National Vital Statistics System. Five-year average incidence and death rates along with trends for all cancers combined and for the leading cancer types are reported by sex, racial/ethnic group, and age. RESULTS: Overall cancer incidence rates were 497 per 100,000 among males (ranging from 306 among Asian/Pacific Islander males to 544 among Black males) and 431 per 100,000 among females (ranging from 309 among Asian/Pacific Islander females to 473 among American Indian/Alaska Native females) during 2014-2018. The trend during the corresponding period was stable among males and increased 0.2% on average per year among females, with differing trends by sex, racial/ethnic group, and cancer type. Among males, incidence rates increased for three cancers (including pancreas and kidney), were stable for seven cancers (including prostate), and decreased for eight (including lung and larynx) of the 18 most common cancers considered in this analysis. Among females, incidence rates increased for seven cancers (including melanoma, liver, and breast), were stable for four cancers (including uterus), and decreased for seven (including thyroid and ovary) of the 18 most common cancers. Overall cancer death rates decreased by 2.3% per year among males and by 1.9% per year among females during 2015-2019, with the sex-specific declining trend reflected in every major racial/ethnic group. During 2015-2019, death rates decreased for 11 of the 19 most common cancers among males and for 14 of the 20 most common cancers among females, with the steepest declines (>4% per year) reported for lung cancer and melanoma. Five-year survival for adenocarcinoma and neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer improved between 2001 and 2018; however, overall incidence (2001-2018) and mortality (2001-2019) continued to increase for this site. Among children (younger than 15 years), recent trends were stable for incidence and decreased for mortality; and among, adolescents and young adults (aged 15-39 years), recent trends increased for incidence and declined for mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Cancer death rates continued to decline overall, for children, and for adolescents and young adults, and treatment advances have led to accelerated declines in death rates for several sites, such as lung and melanoma. The increases in incidence rates for several common cancers in part reflect changes in risk factors, screening test use, and diagnostic practice. Racial/ethnic differences exist in cancer incidence and mortality, highlighting the need to understand and address inequities. Population-based incidence and mortality data inform prevention, early detection, and treatment efforts to help reduce the cancer burden in the United States.

The potential use of acylglycerols on the thermal inactivation of lactic acid bacteria for the manufacture of long-life fermented products.

The effect of acylglycerols on the thermal inactivation of lactic acid bacteria used in the production of fermented products was studied. The starting point was the observation of an increase in thermal sensitivity in the presence of an emulsifier based on mono- and diacylglycerols in the culture medium. Analysis of the emulsifier showed that monoacylglycerols were the compounds responsible for this effect, with monopalmitin being the main contributor. Monostearin, on the other hand, showed significantly less potentiating effect. Interestingly, monoacylglycerols showed a greater bactericidal effect when used individually than when used in combination. On the other hand, the rate of thermal inactivation observed in reconstituted skim milk emulsions was lower than in peptone water emulsions, showing that the presence of proteins and colloidal particles increased the resistance of bacteria to heat treatment. With respect to pH values, a reduction in pH from 6.6 to 5.5 promoted an increase in the rate of thermal death. However, at pH = 5.5, the enhancing bactericidal effect was only detectable when the heat treatment was performed at low temperatures but not at high temperatures. This finding is of interest, since it will allow the design of moderate heat treatments, combining the use of temperature with the addition of acylglycerols, to prolong the shelf life of products fermented with lactic acid bacteria, and minimizing the destruction of desirable compounds that were obtained by the fermentation process.

Cancer Mortality in People Receiving Dialysis for Kidney Failure: An Australian and New Zealand Cohort Study, 1980-2013.

RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE: Cancer is a significant cause of morbidity in the population with kidney failure; however, cancer mortality in people undergoing dialysis has not been well described. We sought to compare cancer mortality in people on dialysis for kidney failure with cancer mortality in the general population. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study using linked health-administrative and dialysis registry data. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: All people receiving dialysis represented in the Australian and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplantation Registry, 1980-2013. EXPOSURE: Dialysis; hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD). OUTCOME: Death and underlying cause of death ascertained using health administrative data and classified using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) codes. ANALYTICAL APPROACH: Indirect standardization on age at death, sex, year, and country to estimate standardized mortality ratios (SMR). RESULTS: Over 269,598 person years of observation, 34,100 deaths occurred among 59,648 people on dialysis, including 3,677 cancer deaths. The relative risk of all-site cancer death in dialysis was twice (SMR, 2.4 [95% CI, 2.33-2.49]) that of the general population and highest for oral and pharynx cancers (SMR, 24.3 [95% CI, 18.0-31.5]) and multiple myeloma (SMR, 22.5 [95% CI, 20.3-23.9]). Women on dialysis had a significantly higher risk of all-site cancer mortality (SMR, 2.7 [95% CI, 2.59-2.89]) compared with men (SMR, 2.3 [95% CI, 2.17-2.36]) (P < 0.001). People on HD (SMR, 2.2 [95% CI, 2.11-2.30]) experienced greater excess deaths from all-site cancer compared with people on PD (SMR, 1.3 [95% CI, 1.23-1.44]). Excess deaths have gradually decreased over time for all-site, multiple myeloma, and kidney cancers (P < 0.001) but have not kept up with improvements in the general population. By contrast, among people receiving dialysis, excess deaths increased for colorectal and lung cancers (P < 0.001). LIMITATIONS: Confirmation of cancer diagnoses and population incidence data were not available; inability to exclude pre-existing cancers. CONCLUSIONS: People on dialysis experience excess all-site and site-specific cancer mortality compared with the general population. Mortality differs by modality type, age, and sex. Understanding the role of kidney failure and other morbidities in the treatment of cancer is important for shared decision-making regarding cancer treatments and identifying potential approaches to improve outcomes.

A method for small-area estimation of population mortality in settings affected by crises.

BACKGROUND: Populations affected by crises (armed conflict, food insecurity, natural disasters) are poorly covered by demographic surveillance. As such, crisis-wide estimation of population mortality is extremely challenging, resulting in a lack of evidence to inform humanitarian response and conflict resolution. METHODS: We describe here a 'small-area estimation' method to circumvent these data gaps and quantify both total and excess (i.e. crisis-attributable) death rates and tolls, both overall and for granular geographic (e.g. district) and time (e.g. month) strata. The method is based on analysis of data previously collected by national and humanitarian actors, including ground survey observations of mortality, displacement-adjusted population denominators and datasets of variables that may predict the death rate. We describe the six sequential steps required for the method's implementation and illustrate its recent application in Somalia, South Sudan and northeast Nigeria, based on a generic set of analysis scripts. RESULTS: Descriptive analysis of ground survey data reveals informative patterns, e.g. concerning the contribution of injuries to overall mortality, or household net migration. Despite some data sparsity, for each crisis that we have applied the method to thus far, available predictor data allow the specification of reasonably predictive mixed effects models of crude and under 5 years death rate, validated using cross-validation. Assumptions about values of the predictors in the absence of a crisis provide counterfactual and excess mortality estimates. CONCLUSIONS: The method enables retrospective estimation of crisis-attributable mortality with considerable geographic and period stratification, and can therefore contribute to better understanding and historical memorialisation of the public health effects of crises. We discuss key limitations and areas for further development.

Estimation of myocardial infarction death in Iran: artificial neural network.

BACKGROUND: Examining past trends and predicting the future helps policymakers to design effective interventions to deal with myocardial infarction (MI) with a clear understanding of the current and future situation. The aim of this study was to estimate the death rate due to MI in Iran by artificial neural network (ANN). METHODS: In this ecological study, the prevalence of diabetes, hypercholesterolemia over 200, hypertension, overweight and obesity were estimated for the years 2017-2025. ANN and Linear regression model were used. Also, Specialists were also asked to predict the death rate due to MI by considering the conditions of 3 conditions (optimistic, pessimistic, and probable), and the predicted process was compared with the modeling process. RESULTS: Death rate due to MI in Iran is expected to decrease on average, while there will be a significant decrease in the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia 1.031 (- 24.81, 26.88). Also, the trend of diabetes 10.48 (111.45, - 132.42), blood pressure - 110.48 (- 174.04, - 46.91) and obesity and overweight - 35.84 (- 18.66, - 5.02) are slowly increasing. MI death rate in Iran is higher in men but is decreasing on average. Experts' forecasts are different and have predicted a completely upward trend. CONCLUSION: The trend predicted by the modeling shows that the death rate due to MI will decrease in the future with a low slope. Improving the infrastructure for providing preventive services to reduce the risk factors for cardiovascular disease in the community is one of the priority measures in the current situation.

Urban-rural differences in China's crude death rate changes.

BACKGROUND: From 1982 to 2010, the country's crude death rate (CDR) dropped sharply, fluctuated, and finally slightly declined. There is a big difference in CDR between urban and rural areas. From 1982 to 1990, the CDR in the country and the countryside declined, and the CDR in cities and towns rose. After 1990, the CDR in cities gradually decreased, the CDR in towns first fell and then rose, and the CDR in the countryside steadily increased. The CDR is affected by changes in the age-specific death rate (ASDR) and age structure. METHODS: This paper decomposes CDR changes into the influence of declines in ASDR and the impact of age structure changes based on 1982, 1990, 2000, and 2010 census data. RESULTS: The decline in ASDR reduces the CDR, and the aging population increases the CDR (including cities, towns, and the countryside). At the same time, decomposing the difference between the countryside and cities (or the countryside and towns) CDRs found that after 1990, the influence of ASDR differences and age structure differences increased with time. Our results revealed a more significant effect of ASDR differences. The combined effect of two factors (ASDR and age structure) makes the 0, 1-14, 15-64 age groups reduce the CDR, and the 65+ age group increases the CDR. In addition, the 0-year-old group has a not negligible impact on the changes in CDR, although it accounts for a small proportion of the total population. CONCLUSIONS: The influence of ASDR and age structure differs over time (1982 to 1990, 1990 to 2000, and 2000 to 2010) and across regions (cities, towns, the countryside). Considering the slow decline in ASDR and the accelerated aging population, we can infer that the CDR in 2020 will stabilize or even rise slightly instead of dropping significantly (compared with the CDR in 2010). This study provides a basis for the formulation of relevant public health policies.

Worldwide cancer statistics of adults over 75 years old in 2019: a systematic analysis of the global burden of disease study 2019.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cancer has become one of the major killers of humanity due to the number of people over the age of 75 increasing with population ageing. The aim of this study was to analyse the incidence and mortality rates in people over 75 of 29 cancer types in 204 countries and regions, as well as the trends from 1990 to 2019. METHODS: Twenty-nine cancer types were collected from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019 database( https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-results/ ). We collected global cancer data for 2019 in terms of sex, age, sociodemographic index (SDI), region, etc. The estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) was calculated to assess the trend of the cancer incidence and mortality rate from 1990 to 2019. RESULTS: In 2019, the number of new cancer cases and deaths among people 75 and older was almost 3 and 4.5 times that of 1990, respectively. From 1990 to 2019, there was a slow rise in incidence and a slight decline in mortality. There were significant differences in the cancer burden based on sex, age, region, and SDI. The cancer burden in men was higher than in women. In addition, the cancer burden varied from region to region. The highest cancer burden occurred in high-income North America. In addition, the higher the SDI was, the greater the burden of cancer. The incidence of cancer in high SDI was approximately seven times that of low SDI, and the trend of increase in high SDI was obvious. However, the trend of mortality in high SDI was decreasing, while it was increasing in low SDI. CONCLUSIONS: The present study focused on the cancer burden in adults over 75 years old. The findings in the study could serve as the basis for an analysis of the types of cancers that are most prevalent in different regions. This is beneficial for strategies of prevention and treatment according to the characteristics of different countries and regions to reduce the burden of cancer in older adults.

Generalized Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered model and its contributing factors for analysing the death and recovery rates of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease that has infected over 136 million people worldwide with over 2.9 million deaths as of 11 April 2021. In March 2020, the WHO declared COVID-19 as a pandemic and countries began to implement measures to control the spread of the virus. The spread and the death rates of the virus displayed dramatic differences among countries globally, showing that there are several factors affecting its spread and mortality. By utilizing the cumulative number of cases from John Hopkins University, the recovery rate, death rate, and the number of active, recovered, and death cases were simulated to analyse the trends and patterns within the chosen countries. 10 countries from 3 different case severity categories (high cases, medium cases, and low cases) and 5 continents (Asia, North America, South America, Europe, and Oceania) were studied. A generalized SEIR model which considers control measures such as isolation, and preventive measures such as vaccination is applied in this study. This model is able to capture not only the dynamics between the states, but also the time evolution of the states by using the fourth-order-Runge-Kutta process. This study found no significant patterns in the countries under the same case severity category, suggesting that there are other factors contributing to the pattern in these countries. One of the factors influencing the pattern in each country is the population's age. COVID-19 related deaths were found to be notably higher among older people, indicating that countries comprising of a larger proportion of older age groups have an increased risk of experiencing higher death rates. Tighter governmental control measures led to fewer infections and eventually reduced the number of death cases, while increasing the recovery rate, and early implementations were found to be far more effective in controlling the spread of the virus and produced better outcomes.

Women's political leadership and efficiency in reducing COVID-19 death rate: An application of technical inefficiency effects model across Indian states.

Evidence from earlier studies on COVID-19 suggests that the countries led by female leaders were more successful in handling the COVID-19. India being a patrilocal society evident that women's political autonomy in the Gram Panchayat does miracles concerning development. With this backdrop, the present paper aims to explore the role of women's political participation and leadership on the efficiency in reducing the COVID-19 death rate for Indian states. This predominantly empirical paper is entirely based on secondary data compiled from different sources. The empirical analysis of the paper is facilitated by the utilization of the Technical Inefficiency Effects model within the framework of Stochastic Production Frontier. The empirical results accredit us to conclude that the efficiency of the Indian states in reducing the COVID-19 death rate is highly influenced by female political participation and leadership, digitalization, urbanization, and literacy rate. The study ends with suitable policy prescriptions.

First wave of SARS-COV2 in Europe: Study and typology of the 15 worst affected European countries.

Since 11 March 2020 when officially declared a global pandemic, Covid-19 (or SARS-COV2) has turned out to be a multifaceted disease differently affecting countries and individuals. What makes certain countries more vulnerable than others has attracted the interest of scientists from various disciplines. This paper intends to compare the impact of demographic parameters, population health conditions and policy actions on prevalence and fatality levels of Covid-19 during the first 3 months since its declaration of global pandemic. A country-level exploratory analysis has been conducted in order to assess how demography, national health conditions and measures taken interact and condition the disease outcomes. Analysis relies on publicly available data on Covid-19 reported cases, deaths and number of persons tested. Those data are combined with demographic parameters (sex ratio, mean age, population density and life expectancy), health data (cardiovascular death rate, diabetes prevalence, share of smokers among males and females and number of hospital beds) and information about relative national policies aiming the management of the pandemic (lockdown timing and duration). Our analysis confirms the diversity of factors and the complexity of their interaction in explaining the propagation and fatality of the disease across Europe. Our findings question some well-established attitudes concerning the role of demographic variables and public health conditions in the spread of the disease.

[Analysis of the dynamics of mortality from respiratory diseases in the Russian Federation for 2019-2020].

AIM: To study the dynamics and contribution of mortality from Diseases of the respiratory system (DRS) in 2019 and 2020 to mortality from all causes with and without deaths from COVID-19 in 82 regions of the Russian Federation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data provided by Rosstat for 2019 and 2020 on the average annual population and the number of deaths due to causes of DRS (class J00J99) were used the standardised death rate (SDR) were calculated, the regional average value, standard deviation and coefficient of variation. RESULTS: The average increase in the SDR from DRS in 2020 was 22.1913.22 per 100 thousand population (66.4489.6% higher than in 2019). The average regional SDR from DRS + COVID-19 in 2020 was higher than the SDR from DRS in 2019 by 87.6530.1 per 100 thousand population. The average regional share of SDR in the structure of mortality excluding COVID-19 increased from 3.661.44 to 5.062.49%; taking into account COVID-19, it increased to 10.963.13%. In 16 regions, the SDR from DRS + COVID-19 exceeded the increase in mortality from all causes. No correlation was found between SDR (2020) from all causes and SDR from COVID-19 (r=0.09; p=0.39); an inverse correlation was found between SDR from DRS and SDR from COVID-19 in 2020 (r=-0.42; p0.0001). CONCLUSION: Against the background of high interregional variability of SDR from DRS in most regions, an increase in the mortality rate from DRS and the contribution of DRS to total mortality in 2020 was registered.

[Forensic medical characteristics of the rate and structure of sudden death due to cardiovascular diseases in young residents of the Tula region]. / Sudebno-meditsinskaya kharakteristika rasprostranennosti i struktury vnezapnoi smerti ot serdechno-sosudistykh zabolevanii sredi lits molodogo vozrasta v Tul'skoi oblasti.

The objective is to study the prevalence and rate of sudden death from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in the structure of non-violent death in people under 35 in the Tula region as a representative of a small region of the Russian Federation. A comparison with the data of the Federal State Statistics Service was made. The overall trend was determined. A non-parametric analysis of the initial data, clustering and visualization were performed based on the following parameters of the initial sample: «mortality rate from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in the structure of non-violent death,¼ «morbidity,¼ and «number of doctors in the region.¼ The correlation of mortality from CVD according to Form 42 and the specified indicators of the medical and social status of the region was determined. The relationship between the rate of CVD-related sudden death and specified medical and social indicators was established.