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There is an increasing global burden from chikungunya virus (CHIKV). Bangladesh reported a major epidemic in 2017, but it was unclear whether there had been prior widespread transmission. We conducted a nationally representative seroprevalence survey in 70 randomly selected communities immediately before the epidemic. We found that 69 of 2938 sampled individuals (2.4%) were seropositive to CHIKV. Seropositivity to dengue virus (adjusted odds ratio, 3.13 [95% confidence interval, 1.86-5.27]), male sex (0.59 [.36-.99]), and community presence of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes (1.80 [1.05-3.0]7) were significantly associated with CHIKV seropositivity. Using a spatial prediction model, we estimated that across the country, 4.99 (95% confidence interval, 4.89-5.08) million people had been previously infected. These findings highlight high population susceptibility before the major outbreak and that previous outbreaks must have been spatially isolated., Competing Interests: Potential conflicts of interest. All authors: No reported conflicts. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America.)

Background: Erectile dysfunction and lower urinary tract symptoms, from benign prostatic hyperplasia and bladder neck obstructions, are prevalent in men and associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitors, such as tadalafil and sildenafil, are used to treat erectile dysfunction and may also offer cardiovascular benefits due to their vasodilatory effects. This study evaluates the impact of these PDE-5 inhibitors on all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and dementia in middle-aged men with erectile dysfunction and lower urinary tract symptoms over a 3 year follow-up period., Methods: This longitudinal study analyzed data from 50 million US men using the TriNetX database. Men at least 40 years of age prescribed tadalafil or sildenafil after an erectile dysfunction diagnosis, or tadalafil after lower urinary tract symptom diagnoses, from 2004 to 2021 were included. Three-year outcomes assessed included all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and dementia, comparing men on PDE-5 inhibitors to those not on these medications. Propensity matching was performed for demographics and eight pre-existing conditions., Results: The final cohort included 509,788 men with erectile dysfunction and 1,075,908 with lower urinary tract symptoms. Tadalafil and sildenafil were associated with significantly reduced risks of all-cause mortality (RR 0.66/0.76), myocardial infarction (0.73/0.83), stroke (0.66/0.78), venous thromboembolism (0.79/0.80), and dementia (0.68/0.75) in erectile dysfunction patients, with tadalafil showing more significant benefits. In lower urinary tract symptom patients, tadalafil was similarly associated with reduced mortality, cardiovascular disease, and dementia., Conclusions: In conclusion, tadalafil and sildenafil use in erectile dysfunction patients reduced mortality, cardiovascular disease, and dementia risks, with tadalafil providing more benefits. Tadalafil also conferred similar benefits to patients with lower urinary tract symptoms., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: COVID-19 and seasonal influenza are endemic causes of morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to compare the epidemiology of severe illness and risk of death among patients following emergency department (ED) presentation with either infection., Methods: De-identified, population-based, emergency department records in New South Wales, Australia, were probabilistically linked to population-level health outcome databases for the period 1 January 2015 to 28 February 2023. Included were patients allocated an ED diagnosis consistent with an acute respiratory infection. Logistic regression was used to examine the association of infecting virus with risk of a severe outcome (intensive care unit admission or death)., Results: Influenza infection was notified in 2335 and COVID-19 in 5053 patients with a severe outcome. The age distribution was similar for both viruses, except in <15-year-olds, where severe influenza was nearly three times more frequent. Overall, the odds of death among patients with COVID-19 was 1.65 (95% CI 1.43, 1.89) times higher than among those with influenza. This declined to 1.49 (95% CI 1.08, 2.06) times during the COVID-19 Omicron variant period., Conclusions: The Omicron variant arrived when background population COVID-19 vaccination coverage was >90%. Despite that, death was more frequent for COVID-19 than influenza., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Introduction The outcome of a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) without any interventions is close to uniformly fatal. The Society for Vascular Surgery suggests a door-to-intervention time of less than 90 minutes in a patient with a ruptured AAA. Admission factors associated with poor outcomes in ruptured AAAs include hypotension, renal insufficiency, severe anemia, advanced age, and cardiac arrest. Patients who are particularly at high risk for open AAA repair may be candidates for endovascular repair, which may decrease mortality. This study aimed to assess the relationship between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and serum bicarbonate levels in predicting mortality in patients with ruptured AAAs. Methods This retrospective study was performed using the United States Collaborative Network of 57 academic medical centers/healthcare organizations in the TriNetX database. A total of 4,226 patients with ruptured AAAs were identified. Patients were categorized based on SBP of ≤90 mmHg, any SBP, or >90 mmHg and further stratified by bicarbonate levels. Rounded cutoffs of the bicarbonate ranges (<10, 10.01-15; 15.01-20, >20.01) were chosen for interpretative purposes. Mortality outcome was assessed within 90 days after presentation for the ruptured AAA. Results After exclusions, 4,174 patients presented with ruptured AAA between September 30, 2003, and September 30, 2023, in the database. Overall, 90-day mortality in any SPB cohort was 28%. Patients who presented with a ruptured AAA with an SBP ≤ 90 had a 46.3% mortality. Those who presented with a SBP > 90 had a 20.1% mortality. Additionally, as bicarbonate levels decreased, mortality increased within each SBP group. Conclusions Early recognition and intervention are critical for survival in patients with ruptured AAAs. Metabolic acidosis is an important marker of the severity of hemorrhage in these patients. In this large cohort study of ruptured AAAs, mortality increases significantly with hypotension and metabolic acidosis, represented by lower bicarbonate levels. Abnormalities in the serum bicarbonate may be seen before severe changes in vital signs in hemorrhaging patients. Early recognition of metabolic acidosis may lead to earlier life-saving interventions in patients with ruptured AAAs., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: This study was supported by the Institute for Translational Sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch, partly through a Clinical and Translational Science Award (UL1 TR001439) from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the authors' responsibility and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Jehle et al.)

Introduction: Prostate cancer (PC) is the second most common cancer among men around the world. Several smaller studies have explored the relationship between elevated PSA and mortality, but results have been conflicting. Additionally, studies have shown that Black men are more likely to be diagnosed with PC at late-stages and may have a twofold increase in mortality risk. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between PSA levels and mortality in patients with PC and differences between Black versus White patients., Methods: In this retrospective study, the TriNetX database, was used to extract de-identified EMRs of 198,083 patients. Patients were included if they were diagnosed with PC and had obtained a PSA level (measured in ng/mL) within 6 months prior to diagnosis. Cohorts were separated into 7 groups based on intervals of PSA, ranging from < 2 to ≥ 500 and compared to a control cohort with a PSA of 4 to 20 for differing 2-year mortality rates. A subgroup analysis was performed to compare mortality differences between Black and White patients. A posthoc analysis evaluated 5- and 10-year mortality amongst all patients with PC., Results: After propensity matching, mortality risk was significantly lower for patients with PSA < 2 (5.9% vs. 7.5%; RR 0.784; P < .001) when compared to the control cohort. Mortality was significantly higher for all other subsequent PSA intervals > 20, with the lowest risk ratios at PSA 20-100 (24.1% vs. 10.0%; RR 2.419; P < .001) and highest at PSA 200 to 500 (50.4% vs. 10.8%; RR 4.673; P < .001). The sub-group analysis showed that when compared to White patients, Black patients with PSA < 20 had similar mortalities, but had significantly lower 2-year mortality rates at PSA levels ≥ 20. The posthoc analysis of PSA levels and 5- and 10-year mortality of all patients with PC showed similar trends to the 2-year outcomes., Conclusion: This study found that prostate cancer patients with significantly elevated PSA levels have a greater mortality, and Black patients have lower 2-year mortality rates than their White counterparts when matched for PSA levels greater than 20., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Patients with long bone fractures often present to the emergency department (ED) with severe pain and are typically treated with opioid and non-opioid analgesics. Historical data reveals racial disparities in analgesic administration, with White patients more likely to receive analgesics. With the diversifying US population, health equity is increasingly crucial. In this study we aimed to evaluate the early administration of opioid and non-opioid analgesia among Black and White patients with long bone and femur fractures in EDs over different time frames using a substantial database., Methods: We retrospectively extracted Information from 57 US healthcare organizations within the TriNetX database, encompassing 95 million patients. The ED records from 2003-2023 were subjected to propensity score matching for age and gender. We focused on four cohorts: two comprising Black and White patients diagnosed with long bone fractures, and another two with Black and White patients diagnosed solely with femur fractures. We examined analgesic administration rates over 20 years (2003-2023) at five-year intervals (2003-2008; 2008-2013; 2013-2018; 2018-2023), and further analyzed the rates for the most recent two-year period (2021-2023)., Results: Disparities in analgesic administration significantly diminished over the study period. For patients with long bone fractures (1,095,052), the opioid administration gap narrowed from 6.3% to 1.1%, while non-opioid administration disparities reduced from 4.4% to 0.3%. Similar trends were noted for femur fractures (265,181). By 2021-2023, no significant differences in analgesic administration were observed between racial groups., Conclusion: Over the past 20 years, the gap in early administration of opioid and non-opioid analgesics for Black and White patients presenting with long bone fractures or femur fractures has been disappearing., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: By the WestJEM article submission agreement, all authors are required to disclose all affiliations, funding sources and financial or management relationships that could be perceived as potential sources of bias. This study was conducted with the support of the Institute for Translational Sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch, supported in part by a Clinical and Translational Science Award (UL1 TR001439) from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. There are no other conflicts of interest or sources of funding to declare.

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a major threat to human health. Bangladesh is considering introducing a JEV vaccine; however, the investment case is hampered by a limited understanding of key aspects of JEV ecology. We conducted a seroprevalence study in a high-incidence region using an assay that limits cross-reactivity with dengue virus. We also trapped mosquitoes and collected information about potential host species. We used mathematical models to recover risk factors for infection and underlying probabilities of severe disease and death. We observed 19.0% [95% confidence interval (CI):17.1 to 21.1] of JEV antibodies. On average, 0.7% (95% CI: 0.2 to 2.0) of the susceptible population gets infected yearly, with pig proximity being the main human infection risk factor. Our traps captured 10 different mosquito species that have been linked with JEV transmission. We estimated that 1 in 1000 infections results in severe disease, 1 in 10,000 results in death, and 76% of severe cases are missed by surveillance.

Background: Occupational lung diseases (OLDs) contribute a significant proportion to the global burden of pulmonary morbidities but are grossly misdiagnosed due to the relative lack of attribution given to occupational exposures. Obstructive lung diseases are known to be associated with long-lasting disability and loss of earning capacity (LOEC) among workers in industrial setups, thus reducing nationwide productivity., Objective: In this context, the study aimed to find out the pattern of OLD and factors associated with the severity of it among patients in a tertiary care hospital., Materials and Methods: The study was a record-based secondary data analysis conducted in the Medical Records Department of a Medical College in Kolkata. A computerized database of patients attending Special Medical Board (SMB) examinations from the Department of Medical Records was utilized for data collection. A data abstraction format was constructed to collect information on pulmonary morbidity, occupational exposure, and sociodemographic and behavioral variables. Extracted data were analyzed in Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software., Results: After a review of records, it was shown that 62.3% (66 out of 106 people) of the study subjects had an obstructive type of OLD, the most common being Jute Byssinosis. A negative correlation (Spearman's ρ = -0.136) was found between pulmonary function (FEV1/FVC) and LOEC (%) in the study subjects. In the multivariable logistic regression, exposure to organic dust was found to be significantly associated with worsened lung function {adjusted-Odd's Ratio (95% Confidence Interval) =3.11 (1.1-8.8), P value = 0.03}., Conclusion: OLD is an understated health issue, especially in an industrial diaspora of developing countries, like India. Healthcare facilities should utilize their resources properly for the advancement of medical surveillance in industries where organic dust is produced. Health education of the stakeholders regarding the consequences of OLDs and the benefits of preventive primary approaches will go a long way in alleviating the burden of disease., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2024 Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.)

Introduction: Severe trauma-induced blood loss can lead to metabolic acidosis, shock, and death. Identification of abnormalities in the bicarbonate and serum markers may be seen before frank changes in vital signs in the hemorrhaging trauma patient, allowing for earlier lifesaving interventions. In this study the author aimed to evaluate the usefulness of serum bicarbonate and other lab markers as predictors of mortality in trauma patients within 30 days after injury., Methods: This retrospective, propensity-matched cohort study used the TriNetX database, covering approximately 92 million patients from 55 healthcare organizations in the United States, including 3.8 million trauma patients in the last two decades. Trauma patients were included if they had lab measurements available the day of the event. The analysis focused on mortality within 30 days post-trauma in comparison to measured lab markers. Cohorts were formed based on ranges of bicarbonate, lactate, and base excess levels., Results: Before propensity score matching, a total of 1,275,363 trauma patients with same-day bicarbonate, lactate, or base excess labs were identified. A significant difference in mortality was found across various serum bicarbonate lab ranges compared to the standard range of 21-27 milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L), post-propensity score matching. The relative risk of death was 6.806 for bicarbonate ≤5 mEq/L; 8.651 for 6-10; 6.746 for 11-15; 2.822 for 16-20; and 1.015 for bicarbonate ≥28. Serum lactate also displayed significant mortality outcomes when compared to a normal level of ≤2 millimoles per liter. Base excess showed similar significant correlation at different values compared to a normal base excess of -2 to 2 mEq/L., Conclusion: This study, approximately 100 times larger than prior studies, associated lower bicarbonate levels with increased mortality in the trauma patient. While lactate and base excess offer prognostic value, lower bicarbonate values have a higher relative risk of death. The greater predictive value of bicarbonate and accessibility during resuscitations suggests that it may be the superior prognostic marker in trauma., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: By the WestJEM article submission agreement, all authors are required to disclose all affiliations, funding sources and financial or management relationships that could be perceived as potential sources of bias. This study was conducted with the support of the Institute for Translational Sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch, supported in part by a Clinical and Translational Science Award (UL1 TR001439) from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health (NIH). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. There are no other conflicts of interest or sources of funding to declare.

Introduction: Disturbances in potassium levels can induce ventricular arrhythmias and heighten mortality in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). This study evaluates the influence of sK levels on seven-day mortality and incidence of ventricular arrhythmias in STEMI patients to further improve clinical guidelines and outcomes., Methods: This retrospective, propensity-matched study analyzed approximately 250,000 acute STEMI patients from 55 major academic medical centers/healthcare organizations (HCOs) in the US Collaborative Network of the TriNetX database. The sK levels recorded on the day of STEMI diagnosis were categorized into four cohorts: sK ≤ 3.4 (hypokalemia), 3.5 ≤ sK ≤ 4.5 (normal-control), 4.6 ≤ sK ≤ 5.0 (high-normal), and sK ≥ 5.1 (hyperkalemia). Patient cohorts were propensity-matched using linear and logistic regression for demographics. Outcomes of seven-day mortality, ventricular tachycardia (VT), and ventricular fibrillation (VF) were compared between these cohorts and the control group., Results: The analysis showed hypokalemia was linked to significantly higher seven-day mortality (7.2% vs. 4.3%; RR 1.69; p<0.001), and increased rates of VT and VF. Similarly, hyperkalemia was associated with elevated mortality (12.7% vs. 4.6%; RR 2.76; p<0.001), VT, and VF rates. High-normal sK levels showed increased mortality (7.4% vs. 4.7%; RR 1.58; p<0.001), but unchanged VT or VF rates compared to the normal sK group., Conclusion: This comprehensive study highlights the correlation of sK levels with death in STEMI patients, revealing a nearly doubled risk of mortality with hypokalemia and almost triples with hyperkalemia. More notably, the mortality for STEMIs is higher for high-normal vs normal sK values. Additionally, hypokalemia and hyperkalemia were found to significantly elevate VT and VF risks., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2024, Jensen et al.)

Introduction With the growing acceptance of transgender individuals, the number of gender affirmation surgeries has increased. Transgender individuals face elevated depression rates, leading to an increase in suicide ideation and attempts. This study evaluates the risk of suicide or self-harm associated with gender affirmation procedures. Methods This retrospective study utilized de-identified patient data from the TriNetX (TriNetX, LLC, Cambridge, MA) database, involving 56 United States healthcare organizations and over 90 million patients. The study involved four cohorts: cohort A, adults aged 18-60 who had gender-affirming surgery and an emergency visit (N = 1,501); cohort B, control group of adults with emergency visits but no gender-affirming surgery (N = 15,608,363); and cohort C, control group of adults with emergency visits, tubal ligation or vasectomy, but no gender-affirming surgery (N = 142,093). Propensity matching was applied to cohorts A and C. Data from February 4, 2003, to February 4, 2023, were analyzed to examine suicide attempts, death, self-harm, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within five years of the index event. A secondary analysis involving a control group with pharyngitis, referred to as cohort D, was conducted to validate the results from cohort C. Results Individuals who underwent gender-affirming surgery had a 12.12-fold higher suicide attempt risk than those who did not (3.47% vs. 0.29%, RR 95% CI 9.20-15.96, p < 0.0001). Compared to the tubal ligation/vasectomy controls, the risk was 5.03-fold higher before propensity matching and remained significant at 4.71-fold after matching (3.50% vs. 0.74%, RR 95% CI 2.46-9.024, p < 0.0001) for the gender affirmation patients with similar results with the pharyngitis controls. Conclusion Gender-affirming surgery is significantly associated with elevated suicide attempt risks, underlining the necessity for comprehensive post-procedure psychiatric support., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2024, Straub et al.)

Introduction Acute aortic dissection (AAD) represents a significant diagnostic challenge with a high mortality rate if not treated promptly. This challenge arises from the diverse clinical presentations of AAD, and its symptom overlap with other medical conditions. Although both helical CT and transesophageal echocardiography are reliable diagnostic tools for AAD, they are not feasible for every suspected case. Furthermore, limited research on D-dimer's utility in ruling out AAD has been conducted due to the condition's rarity. Methods This study utilizes the TriNetX database (https://trinetx.com/), encompassing data from 54 healthcare organizations across the United States over the past two decades from 85 million patients. The objective is to evaluate the sensitivity of an elevated D-dimer level in diagnosing AAD across a much larger patient cohort than previously studied. Results Retrospectively analyzing this dataset, there were 1,319 patients identified with a confirmed AAD who had undergone D-dimer testing within a day of diagnosis. Of these, 1,252 patients exhibited D-dimer levels exceeding 400 ng/ml while 1,227 had levels surpassing 500 ng/ml. Notably, a D-dimer cutoff of 400 ng/ml demonstrated a sensitivity of 0.949 while a 500 ng/ml cutoff yielded a sensitivity of 0.930. Conclusion This large retrospective cohort study demonstrates that a blood D-dimer level is highly sensitive in assaying for AAD. The D-dimer levels analyzed showed a remarkable sensitivity in ruling out AAD, avoiding the need for more invasive testing in low-risk patients., Competing Interests: The authors have declared financial relationships, which are detailed in the next section., (Copyright © 2023, Carter et al.)

Objectives : The emergence of COVID-19 has revealed its association with croup. The objective of this study was to compare outcomes of COVID-19 related croup to non-COVID-19 related croup during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods : This retrospective propensity matched study used data from 2020-2023 in the United States Cohort of the TriNetX database that includes 56 major health care organizations. The analysis compared the outcomes of 2 cohorts of patients between 2 months and 7 years of age: Cohort A had croup and a positive test for COVID-19 and Cohort B had croup without a positive COVID-19 test, both within 1 week before or after presentation with croup. Outcomes were death, admission to the hospital, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, respiratory rate >60, and oxygen saturation <90 within 7 days after the diagnosis of croup. Results : There were 2590 patients with COVID-19 related croup and 103,439 patients with non-COVID-19 croup. The final propensity matched cohort included 5180 patients evenly divided between groups. When both groups were compared based on outcomes after matching, there was twice the risk of the patient being admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 croup (risk ratio [RR] = 2.12; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.59-2.84; P  < 0.001). Those with COVID-19 related croup had significantly increased risk of being admitted to the ICU (RR = 4.90; 95% CI 3.11-7.73; P  < 0.001). The patients with COVID-19 related croup were more likely to have a respiratory rate ≥60 (RR = 2.00; 95% CI 1.18-3.37; P  = 0.008) and oxygen saturation ≤90% (RR = 2.12; 95% CI 1.21-3.70; P  = 0.007). There were no deaths in the final cohorts. There were no worse outcomes in the Omicron COVID-19 related croup group. Conclusions : The patients with COVID-19 related croup exhibited more severe disease manifestations. These children were more likely to be admitted to the hospital/ICU and had more significant respiratory distress., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (© 2023 The Authors. JACEP Open published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American College of Emergency Physicians.)

Organic systems often allow to create two triplet spin states (triplet excitons) by converting an initially excited singlet spin state (a singlet exciton). An ideally designed organic/inorganic heterostructure could reach the photovoltaic energy harvest over the Shockley-Queisser (S-Q) limit because of the efficient conversion of triplet excitons into charge carriers. Here, we demonstrate the molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe 2 )/pentacene heterostructure to boost the carrier density via efficient triplet transfer from pentacene to MoTe 2 using ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. We observe carrier multiplication by nearly four times by doubling carriers in MoTe 2 via the inverse Auger process and subsequently doubling carriers via triplet extraction from pentacene. We also verify efficient energy conversion by doubling the photocurrent in the MoTe 2 /pentacene film. This puts a step forward to enhancing photovoltaic conversion efficiency beyond the S-Q limit in the organic/inorganic heterostructures.

In our present work, we synthesized a new encapsulated complex denoted as RIBO-TSC4X, which was derived from an important vitamin riboflavin (RIBO) and p -sulfonatothiacalix[4]arene(TSC4X). The synthesized complex RIBO-TSC4X was then characterized by utilizing several spectroscopic techniques such as 1 H-NMR, FT-IR, PXRD, SEM, and TGA. Job's plot has been employed to show the encapsulation of RIBO (guest) with TSC4X (host) having a 1:1 molar ratio. The molecular association constant of the complex entity (RIBO-TSC4X) was found to be 3116.29 ± 0.17 M -1 , suggesting the formation of a stable complex. The augment in aqueous solubility of the RIBO-TSC4X complex compared to pure RIBO was investigated by UV-vis spectroscopy, and it was viewed that the newly synthesized complex has almost 30 times enhanced solubility over pure RIBO. The enhancement of thermal stability upto 440 °C for the RIBO-TSC4X complex was examined by TG analysis. This research also forecasts RIBO's release behavior in the presence of CT-DNA, and at the same time, BSA binding study was also carried out. The synthesized RIBO-TSC4X complex exhibited comparatively better free radical scavenging activity, thereby minimizing oxidative injury of the cell as evident from a series of antioxidant and anti-lipid peroxidation assay. Furthermore, the RIBO-TSC4X complex showed peroxidase-like biomimetic activity, which is very useful for several enzyme catalyst reactions., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Objectives: HemoTypeSC TM is one of the immunoassay methods currently used for the early diagnosis of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) in newborns. Earlier diagnosis remains the key strategy for early preventive care needs and parents' education about the child's future well-being throughout his life. Before considering these children as sick and aligning them for regular medical monitoring, it may be valuable to confirm the HemoTypeSC result with a secondary laboratory testing method. In resource-limited settings, where confirmatory methods are not always available, we propose testing the parents to validate the HemoTypeSC result., Methods: This study explored this approach in the city of Kisangani. It was a prospective diagnostic accuracy study using genotype biological parents to evaluate HemoTypeSC's performance in the newborn., Results: Fifty-eight children born to 46 known mothers, and 37 known fathers, have been tested. The phenotyping showed that 41 (70.7%) children were SS, whose 37 were born to a couple AS/AS and 4 to a couple AS/xx. Of the 41 SS children, 8 (19.5%) were newborns and 33 (80.4%) were children; 12 (20.6%) children were AS, one of whom was born to a couple SS/AA and 11 to a couple AA/SS; 5 (8.6%) children were AA. In this population, the probability of offspring born to AS/AS parents being SS rather than AS is high (odds, 1.25). No statistical difference was observed between girls and boys. The pedigree of all 58 children has been confirmed., Conclusion: We demonstrated that testing biological parents with HemoTypeSC is a reliable confirmatory method for newborn screening but it presents some limitations discussed in the present article.

Coking wastewater poses a serious threat to the environment due to the presence of a wide spectrum of refractory substances such as phenolic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic nitrogenous compounds. These toxic substances are difficult to treat using conventional treatment methods alone. In recent years much attention has been given to the effective treatment of coking wastewater. Thus, this review seeks to provide a brief overview of recent developments that have taken place in the treatment of coking wastewater. In addition, this article addresses the complexity and the problems associated with treatment followed by a discussion on biological methods with special focus on bioaugmentation. As coking wastewater is refractory in nature, some of the studies have been related to improving the biodegradability of wastewater. The final section focuses on the integrated treatment methods that have emerged as the best solution for tackling the highly unmanageable coking wastewater. Attention has also been given to emerging microwave technology which has tremendous potential for treatment of coking wastewater.

Background: The World Health Organization is considering substituting Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) with Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra (Ultra) for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis, but supportive evidence is scarce, particularly among people more likely (presumptive) to have paucibacillary pulmonary TB (PTB)., Methods: During January-July 2018, presumptive PTB patients visiting TB Screening and Treatment Centres of Dhaka for routine chest X-ray (CXR) and conventional Xpert were enrolled. Sputum specimens were additionally tested with microscopy, culture, and Ultra. Specimens with "Trace call" by Ultra (Ultra-trace) were retested. Yield and diagnostic accuracy using various approaches to Ultra-trace and concordance of Ultra with bacteriological-positive PTB were assessed., Results: Altogether, 1,083 participants (104 'Xpert-positive'; 979 'Xpert-negative and CXR-suggestive') were enrolled. All Xpert-positives and 900 (92%) Xpert-negatives were concordant with Ultra, however, seventy-nine (8.1%) Xpert-negative specimens tested positive with Ultra; 37 (46.8%) were categorically positives, and 42 (53.2%) were Ultra-trace. Sixteen of the 42 were retested, of whom eight (50.1%) Ultra-trace turned categorically positive, leading to 45 (4.6%) additionally detected by Ultra. Ultra sensitivity and specificity were 93.9% and 94.6%, and it additionally detected 5.4% more TB patients with a concordance of 94.6% (kappa, □=0.78) compared to any bacteriologically positive specimen (microscopy, culture, or Xpert)., Conclusion: Ultra exhibited improved detection and accuracy among Xpert-negatives in a cohort with a high likelihood of PTB., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest None declared., (Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotypes 1 and 2 are a major cause of avoidable morbidity and mortality in South Asia. Despite the high risk of death among infected pregnant women, scarce incidence data has been a contributing factor to global policy recommendations against the introduction of licensed hepatitis E vaccines, one of the only effective prevention tools., Methods: We tested serum from a nationally representative serosurvey in Bangladesh for anti-HEV immunoglobulin G and estimated seroprevalence. We used Bayesian geostatistical models to generate high-resolution maps of seropositivity and examined variability in seropositivity by individual-level, household-level, and community-level risk factors using spatial logistic regression., Results: We tested serum samples from 2924 individuals from 70 communities representing all divisions of Bangladesh and estimated a national seroprevalence of 20% (95% confidence interval [CI], 17%-24%). Seropositivity increased with age and male sex (odds ratio, 2.2 male vs female; 95% CI, 1.8-2.8). Community-level seroprevalence ranged widely (0-78%) with higher seroprevalence in urban areas, including Dhaka, with a 3.0-fold (95% credible interval, 2.3-3.7) higher seroprevalence than the rest of the country., Conclusions: Hepatitis E infections are common throughout Bangladesh. Strengthening surveillance for hepatitis E, especially in urban areas, can provide additional evidence to appropriately target interventions., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.)

Background: The World Health Organization recommends the Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra assay for diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in children. Though stool is a potential alternative to respiratory specimens among children, the diagnostic performance of Xpert Ultra on stool is unknown. Thus, we assessed the diagnostic performance of Xpert Ultra on stool to diagnose PTB in children., Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among consecutively recruited children (< 15 years of age) with presumptive PTB admitted in 4 tertiary care hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh, between January 2018 and April 2019. Single induced sputum and stool specimens were subjected to culture, Xpert, and Xpert Ultra. We considered children as bacteriologically confirmed on induced sputum if any test performed on induced sputum was positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and bacteriologically confirmed if M. tuberculosis was detected on either induced sputum or stool., Results: Of 447 children, 29 (6.5%) were bacteriologically confirmed on induced sputum and 72 (16.1%) were bacteriologically confirmed. With "bacteriologically confirmed on induced sputum" as a reference, the sensitivity and specificity of Xpert Ultra on stool were 58.6% and 88.1%, respectively. Xpert on stool had sensitivity and specificity of 37.9% and 100.0%, respectively. Among bacteriologically confirmed children, Xpert Ultra on stool was positive in 60 (83.3%), of whom 48 (80.0%) had "trace call.", Conclusions: In children, Xpert Ultra on stool has better sensitivity but lesser specificity than Xpert. A high proportion of Xpert Ultra assays positive on stool had trace call. Future longitudinal studies on clinical evolution are required to provide insight on the management of children with trace call., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.)

Enhancing the light coupling efficiency of large-area monolayer molybdenum disulfide (1L-MoS 2 ) is one of the major challenges for its successful applications in optoelectronics and photonics. Herein, we demonstrate a dramatically enhanced photoluminescence (PL) emission from direct chemical vapor deposited monolayer MoS 2 on a fluorine-doped TiO 2 /Au nanoparticle plasmonic substrate, where the PL intensity is enhanced by nearly three orders of magnitude, highest among the reported values. The formation of TiO 2 /Au/1L-MoS 2 ternary core-shell heterojunction is evidenced by the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and Raman analyses. Localized surface plasmon resonance induced enhanced absorption and improved light coupling in the system was revealed from the UV-vis absorption and Raman spectroscopy analyzes. Our studies reveal that the observed giant PL enhancement in 1L-MoS 2 results from two major aspects: firstly, the heavy p-doping of the MoS 2 lattice is caused by the transfer of the excess electrons from the MoS 2 to TiO 2 at the interface, which enhances the neutral exciton emissions and restrains the trion formation. Secondly, the localized surface plasmon in Au NPs underneath the 1L-MoS 2 film initiates exciton-plasmon coupling between excitons of the 1L-MoS 2 and surface plasmons of the Au NPs at the MoS 2 /Au interface. The PL and Raman analyses further confirm the p-doping effect. We isolate the contributions of plasmon enhancement from the theoretical calculation of the field enhancement factor using the effective medium approximation of plasmonic heterostructure, which is in excellent agreement with the experimental data. This work paves a way for the rational design of the plasmonic heterostructure for the effective improvement in the light emission efficiency of 1L-MoS 2 , and may enable engineering the different contributions to enhance the optoelectronic performance of 2D heterostructures., (© 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

Background: Arboviral diseases, including dengue and chikungunya, are major public health concerns in Bangladesh where there have been unprecedented levels of transmission reported in recent years. The primary approach to control these diseases is to control the vector Aedes aegypti using pyrethroid insecticides. Although chemical control has long been practiced, no comprehensive analysis of Ae. aegypti susceptibility to insecticides has been conducted to date. The aim of this study was to determine the insecticide resistance status of Ae. aegypti in Bangladesh and investigate the role of detoxification enzymes and altered target site sensitivity as resistance mechanisms., Methods: Eggs of Aedes mosquitoes were collected using ovitraps from five districts across Bangladesh and in eight neighborhoods of the capital city Dhaka, from August to November 2017. CDC bottle bioassays were conducted for permethrin, deltamethrin, malathion, and bendiocarb using 3- to 5-day-old F 0 -F 2 non-blood-fed female mosquitoes. Biochemical assays were conducted to detect metabolic resistance mechanisms, and real-time PCR was performed to determine the frequencies of the knockdown resistance (kdr) mutations Gly1016, Cys1534, and Leu410., Results: High levels of resistance to permethrin were detected in all Ae. aegypti populations, with mortality ranging from 0 to 14.8% at the diagnostic dose. Substantial resistance continued to be detected against higher (2×) doses of permethrin (5.1-44.4% mortality). Susceptibility to deltamethrin and malathion varied between populations while complete susceptibility to bendiocarb was observed in all populations. Significantly higher levels of esterase and oxidase activity were detected in most of the test populations as compared to the susceptible reference Rockefeller strain. A significant association was detected between permethrin resistance and the presence of Gly1016 and Cys1534 homozygotes. The frequency of kdr (knockdown resistance) alleles varied across the Dhaka Aedes populations. Leu410 was not detected in any of the tested populations., Conclusions: The detection of widespread pyrethroid resistance and multiple resistance mechanisms highlights the urgency for implementing alternate Ae. aegypti control strategies. In addition, implementing routine monitoring of insecticide resistance in Ae. aegypti in Bangladesh will lead to a greater understanding of susceptibility trends over space and time, thereby enabling the development of improved control strategies.

Background: Pandemic Vibrio cholerae from cholera-endemic countries around the Bay of Bengal regularly seed epidemics globally. Without reducing cholera in these countries, including Bangladesh, global cholera control might never be achieved. Little is known about the geographical distribution and magnitude of V cholerae O1 transmission nationally. We aimed to describe infection risk across Bangladesh, making use of advances in cholera seroepidemiology, therefore overcoming many of the limitations of current clinic-based surveillance., Methods: We tested serum samples from a nationally representative serosurvey in Bangladesh with eight V cholerae -specific assays. Using these data with a machine-learning model previously validated within a cohort of confirmed cholera cases and their household contacts, we estimated the proportion of the population with evidence of infection by V cholerae O1 in the previous year (annual seroincidence) and used Bayesian geostatistical models to create high-resolution national maps of infection risk., Findings: Between Oct 16, 2015, and Jan 24, 2016, we obtained and tested serum samples from 2930 participants (707 households) in 70 communities across Bangladesh. We estimated national annual seroincidence of V cholerae O1 infection of 17·3% (95% CI 10·5-24·1). Our high-resolution maps showed large heterogeneity of infection risk, with community-level annual infection risk within the sampled population ranging from 4·3% to 62·9%. Across Bangladesh, we estimated that 28·1 (95% CI 17·1-39·2) million infections occurred in the year before the survey. Despite having an annual seroincidence of V cholerae O1 infection lower than much of Bangladesh, Dhaka (the capital of Bangladesh and largest city in the country) had 2·0 (95% CI 0·6-3·9) million infections during the same year, primarily because of its large population., Interpretation: Serosurveillance provides an avenue for identifying areas with high V cholerae O1 transmission and investigating key risk factors for infection across geographical scales. Serosurveillance could serve as an important method for countries to plan and monitor progress towards 2030 cholera elimination goals., Funding: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention., (© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.)

Background: In Bangladesh, about 80% of healthcare is provided by the private sector. Although free diagnosis and care is offered in the public sector, only half of the estimated number of people with tuberculosis are diagnosed, treated, and notified to the national program. Private sector engagement strategies often have been small scale and time limited. We evaluated a Social Enterprise Model combining external funding and income generation at three tuberculosis screening centres across the Dhaka Metropolitan Area for diagnosing and treating tuberculosis., Methods and Findings: The model established three tuberculosis screening centres across Dhaka Metropolitan Area that carried the icddr,b brand and offered free Xpert MTB/RIF tests to patients visiting the screening centres for subsidized, digital chest radiographs from April 2014 to December 2017. A network of private and public health care providers, and community recommendation was formed for patient referral. No financial incentives were offered to physicians for referrals. Revenues from radiography were used to support screening centres' operation. Tuberculosis patients could choose to receive treatment from the private or public sector. Between 2014 and 2017, 1,032 private facilities networked with 8,466 private providers were mapped within the Dhaka Metropolitan Area. 64, 031 patients with TB symptoms were referred by the private providers, public sector and community residents to the three screening centres with 80% coming from private providers. 4,270 private providers made at least one referral. Overall, 10,288 pulmonary and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis cases were detected and 7,695 were bacteriologically positive by Xpert, corresponding to 28% of the total notifications in Dhaka Metropolitan Area., Conclusion: The model established a network of private providers who referred individuals with presumptive tuberculosis without financial incentives to icddr,b's screening centres, facilitating a quarter of total tuberculosis notifications in Dhaka Metropolitan Area. Scaling up this approach may enhance national and international tuberculosis response., Competing Interests: Jacob Creswell is an employee and received support from Stop TB Partnership in terms of salary during the project period. He was responsible for funding the interventions and their initial design, and contributed in the manuscript as senior author. Robert Stevens is an independent monitoring and evaluation expert employed by STOP TB Partnership. Md. Shamiul Islam and Rupali Sisir Banu are National Tuberculosis Control Program (NTP) staff. Besides the mentioned, all other listed co-authors either were/are staff of icddr,b working in the project and received salaries from the project fund, or working in other projects and received salaries from their respective project funds. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. None of the other authors have competing interests to declare.

Background: Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus is recognized as a major cause of encephalitis in Bangladesh. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends human immunization as the most effective means to control JE. Several WHO-prequalified vaccines are available to prevent JE but no vaccination program has been implemented in Bangladesh., Methods: We conducted hospital-based surveillance for acute meningitis-encephalitis syndrome (AMES) to describe JE epidemiology and help inform policy decisions about possible immunization strategies for Bangladesh., Results: During 2007-2016, a total of 6543 AMES patients were identified at four tertiary hospitals. Of the 6525 patients tested, 548 (8%) were classified as JE cases. These 548 patients resided in 36 (56%) out of 64 districts of Bangladesh, with the highest proportion of JE cases among AMES patients (12% and 7%) presenting at two hospitals in the northwestern part of the country. The median age of JE cases was 30 years, and 193 (35%) were aged ≤15 years. The majority of JE cases (80%) were identified from July through November., Conclusions: Surveillance results suggest that JE continues to be an important cause of meningo-encephalitis in Bangladesh. Immunization strategies including JE vaccine introduction into the routine childhood immunization program or mass vaccination in certain age groups or geographic areas need to be examined, taking into consideration the cost-effectiveness ratio of the approach and potential for decreasing disease burden., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background and Aims: Menstruation is a normal physiological process and a key sign of reproductive health in women in the reproductive age group. Poor menstrual hygiene affects the educational activities as well as the day to day activities of women. The objective of this study is to assess the practices of menstrual hygiene among women aged 15-49 years attending a tertiary care hospital in Kolkata and to assess their knowledge regarding menstrual hygiene., Materials and Methods: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional study conducted among the women belonging to the age group of 15-49 years attending the outpatient department of Gynaecology. Predesigned, pretested, semi-structured questionnaire was used as a study tool. Interview method was used for data collection after obtaining informed consent from the participants. Data were analysed by SPSS 20v software. Association between variables was checked by Chi-square test & P < 0.05 was considered as significant., Results: Mean age of respondents was 28.03 ± 7.01 years. The cause of menstruation as a normal body function constituted maximum response (43.5%) whereas the reason was unknown to many (37%). Regarding restrictions during menstruation, it was mentioned that avoiding worshipping was the commonest restriction (90.2%), followed by restriction in diet (32.6%). Use of readymade absorbents was found in most of the subjects (91%) followed by homemade reusable (6.5%) and homemade disposable (2.2%). Around 77.2% of them packed the napkins and disposed in garbage. Those who were aware about menstrual hygiene were found to be practicing satisfactory perineal cleaning ( p < 0.05)., Conclusion: Health education and awareness programme focusing on menstrual hygiene must be intensified. School curriculum can play a vital role in implementing health education., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2020 Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.)

Background: Outbreak investigations typically focus their efforts on identifying cases that present at healthcare facilities. However, these cases rarely represent all cases in the wider community. In this context, community-based investigations may provide additional insight into key risk factors for infection, however, the benefits of these more laborious data collection strategies remains unclear., Methods: We used different subsets of the data from a comprehensive outbreak investigation to compare the inferences we make in alternative investigation strategies., Results: The outbreak investigation team interviewed 1,933 individuals from 460 homes. 364 (18%) of individuals had symptoms consistent with chikungunya. A theoretical clinic-based study would have identified 26% of the cases. Adding in community-based cases provided an overall estimate of the attack rate in the community. Comparison with controls from the same household revealed that those with at least secondary education had a reduced risk. Finally, enrolling residents from households across the community allowed us to characterize spatial heterogeneity of risk and identify the type of clothing usually worn and travel history as risk factors. This also revealed that household-level use of mosquito control was not associated with infection., Conclusions: These findings highlight that while clinic-based studies may be easier to conduct, they only provide limited insight into the burden and risk factors for disease. Enrolling people who escaped from infection, both in the household and in the community allows a step change in our understanding of the spread of a pathogen and maximizes opportunities for control., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Data are scarce regarding the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) among tuberculosis (TB) patients in Bangladesh. This study was undertaken to estimate the number needed to screen (NNS) to identify a case of DM among those with TB symptoms and those with confirmed TB disease, and to identify factors predicting treatment outcomes of TB patients with and without DM., Methods: Persons attending public-private model screening centres in urban Dhaka for the evaluation of TB were offered free blood glucose testing in addition to computer-aided chest X-ray and sputum Xpert MTB/RIF., Results: Among 7647 people evaluated for both TB and DM, the NNS was 35 (95% confidence interval (CI) 31-40) to diagnose one new case of DM; among those diagnosed with TB, the NNS was 21 (95% CI 17-29). Among those with diagnosed TB, patients with DM were more likely to have cavitation on chest X-ray compared to those without DM (31% vs 22%). Treatment failure (odds ratio (OR) 18.9, 95% CI 5.43-65.9) and death (OR 2.08, 95% CI 1.11-3.90) were more common among TB patients with DM than among TB patients without DM. DM was the most important predictor of a poor treatment outcome in the classification analysis for TB patients aged 39 years and above., Conclusions: A considerable burden of DM was found among patients accessing TB diagnostics through a public-private model in urban Bangladesh, and DM was associated with advanced TB disease and a high rate of poor treatment outcome., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Precise control of the thickness of large-area two-dimensional (2D) organometal halide perovskite layers is extremely challenging owing to the inherent instability of the organic component. Herein, a novel, highly reproducible, and facile solvothermal route is reported to synthesize and tailor the thickness and optical band gap of the organic-inorganic halide perovskite nanosheets (NSs). Our study reveals that self-assembly of randomly oriented perovskite nanorods leads to the growth of multilayered perovskite NSs at ∼100 °C, while at higher temperature, large-area few-layer to bilayer 2D NSs (CH 3 NH 3 PbBr 3 ) are obtained through lattice expansion and layer separation depending precisely on the temperature. Interestingly, the thickness of the 2D NSs shows a linear dependence on the reaction temperature and thus enables precise tuning of the thickness from 14 layers to 2 layers, giving rise to a systematic increase in the band gap and appearance of excitonic absorption bands. Quantitative analysis of the change in the band gap with thickness revealed a strong quantum confinement effect in the 2D layers. The perovskite 2D NSs exhibit tunable color and a high photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY) up to 84%. Through a careful analysis of the steady-state and time-resolved PL spectra, the origin of the lower PL QY in thinner NSs is traced to surface defects in the 2D layers, for the first time. A white light converter was fabricated using the composition-tuned 2D CH 3 NH 3 PbBrI 2 NS on a blue light-emitting diode chip. The 2D perovskite photodetector exhibits a stable and very fast rise/fall time (24 μs/103 μs) along with high responsivity and detectivity of ∼1.93 A/W and 1.04 × 10 12 Jones, respectively. Storage, operational, and temperature-dependent stability studies reveal high stability of the 2D perovskite NSs under the ambient condition with high humidity. The reported method is highly promising for the development of large-area stable 2D perovskite layers for various cutting-edge optoelectronic applications.

In the absence of reliable data on the burden of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in high endemic countries, we established a hospital-based acute jaundice surveillance program in six tertiary hospitals in Bangladesh to estimate the burden of HEV infection among hospitalized acute jaundice patients aged ≥14 years, identify seasonal and geographic patterns in the prevalence of hepatitis E, and examine factors associated with death. We collected blood specimens from enrolled acute jaundice patients, defined as new onset of either yellow eyes or skin during the past three months of hospital admission, and tested for immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies against HEV, HBV and HAV. The enrolled patients were followed up three months after hospital discharge to assess their survival status; pregnant women were followed up three months after their delivery to assess pregnancy outcomes. From December'2014 to September'2017, 1925 patients with acute jaundice were enrolled; 661 (34%) had acute hepatitis E, 48 (8%) had hepatitis A, and 293 (15%) had acute hepatitis B infection. Case fatality among hepatitis E patients was 5% (28/589). Most of the hepatitis E cases were males (74%; 486/661), but case fatality was higher among females-12% (8/68) among pregnant and 8% (7/91) among non-pregnant women. Half of the patients who died with acute hepatitis E had co-infection with HAV or HBV. Of the 62 HEV infected mothers who were alive until the delivery, 9 (15%) had miscarriage/stillbirth, and of those children who were born alive, 19% (10/53) died, all within one week of birth. This study confirms that hepatitis E is the leading cause of acute jaundice, leads to hospitalizations in all regions in Bangladesh, occurs throughout the year, and is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Effective control measures should be taken to reduce the risk of HEV infections including improvements in water quality, sanitation and hygiene practices and the introduction of HEV vaccine to high-risk groups., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Serostudies are needed to answer generalizable questions on disease risk. However, recruitment is usually biased by age or location. We present a nationally-representative study for dengue from 70 communities in Bangladesh. We collected data on risk factors, trapped mosquitoes and tested serum for IgG. Out of 5866 individuals, 24% had evidence of historic infection, ranging from 3% in the north to >80% in Dhaka. Being male (aOR:1.8, [95%CI:1.5-2.0]) and recent travel (aOR:1.3, [1.1-1.8]) were linked to seropositivity. We estimate that 40 million [34.3-47.2] people have been infected nationally, with 2.4 million ([1.3-4.5]) annual infections. Had we visited only 20 communities, seropositivity estimates would have ranged from 13% to 37%, highlighting the lack of representativeness generated by small numbers of communities. Our findings have implications for both the design of serosurveys and tackling dengue in Bangladesh., Competing Interests: HS, KP, RP, IR, ZR, MA, MR, HA, JH, EG No competing interests declared

Herein, we demonstrated a novel synthetic route to grow size-tunable hybrid perovskite (CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 and CH 3 NH 3 PbBr 3 ) quantum dots (QDs) using a Fluorine-doped TiO 2 (F-TiO 2 ) mesoporous template and these QDs exhibit large exciton binding energy, high photoluminescence quantum yield and improved photostability. The pore size in F-TiO 2 template is tuned by varying the HF molar concentration during its solvothermal growth and size of the perovskite QDs embedded in F-TiO 2 pores is tuned in the range 1.7-5.1 nm, as revealed from the TEM analysis. A systematic blue-shift in UV-visible absorption edge, as well as photoluminescence (PL) spectrum, is observed with the reduced size of the perovskite QDs due to strong quantum confinement. The CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 QD with average size ∼1.7 nm exhibits ∼47 nm blue shift in the PL spectra, ∼43 fold enhancement in PL intensity and ∼25% PL quantum yield (QY). On the other hand, CH 3 NH 3 PbBr 3 QD of similar size exhibits dramatically enhanced (∼124 times) PL emission with narrow line width and a PLQY of ∼57%, which is significant for the template-assisted growth of perovskite QDs film. The quantitative analysis of the PL emission energy vs QD size shows an excellent fit with the Brus equation confirming the strong quantum confinement effect in the perovskite QDs. Analysis of low-temperature PL spectra reveals very high exciton binding energy (162-272 meV) for the QDs as compared to the bulk film (32 meV) due to the high effective dielectric constant, and high electron-hole recombination probability in the QDs, which is consistent with the extremely high PLQY and stable emission from the QDs. The blue shift of the PL peak with increasing temperature is explained on the basis of localization effect. Time-resolved PL analysis for both the perovskite QDs reveals faster life time compared to their bulk counterparts, confirming the significant radiative recombination of carriers in the QDs at the room temperature. The CH 3 NH 3 PbBr 3 QDs embedded in porous F-TiO 2 template maintain its initial PL intensity up to several hours (≥10 h) under the UV laser exposure (18mW), while that of the bulk film decreases to <67%. Thus, template grown hybrid perovskite QDs exhibiting high photostability and very high PLQY demonstrated here are promising for the next generation optoelectronic applications., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Shape tailored TiO₂ nanostructures with various dimensionality (zero to three dimension) have unique physicochemical and functional properties that facilitates its efficient energy and environment applications, e.g., solar light driven photocatalytic hydrogen generation and decontamination of organic/inorganic toxic pollutants, CO₂ reduction into the hydrocarbon fuels, solar cells, supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries etc. However, the wide band gap nature and the fast recombination of the photogenerated charge carriers in TiO₂ usually limit its overall performance under solar light illumination. In this review, we present a state of the art on the fabrication techniques of shape tailored TiO₂ nanostructures and the strategies employed to make the system catalytically more efficient. Though shape tailored TiO₂ nanostructures with large specific surface area and highly energetic (001) facet exposed TiO₂ nanostructures (2D and 3D) can enhance the photocatalytic efficiency to a reasonable extent, further surface engineering is needed for the modification of the electronic band arrangement, visible light sensitization and efficient charge separation. Herein, TiO₂ heterostructures (HSs) with metal/non-metal doping, surface fluorination, plasmonic noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) and coupling with the narrow band gap suitable semiconductor (type-II) are discussed in details covering from zero dimensional to three dimensional heterostructures. The synthesis strategies, charge transfer mechanism and their participation in the photocatalysis are elaborated. Though one dimensional TiO₂ HSs have been widely studied, we present the recent development of critical surface engineering strategies of two and three dimensional systems, which give rise to the excellent properties including the enlargement of surface area, light absorption capability and efficient separation of electrons/holes resulting in the superior performance in advanced applications. Based on recent breakthroughs in the field, future directions and outlook of the field are presented at the end.