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Reciprocity and negativity in social relationships are fundamental topics of social research rarely examined in sub‐Saharan Africa. Since the number and quality of relationships is associated with individual outcomes, these ties are particularly important in impoverished areas. We conducted a multi‐method study of the conditions associated with problematic networks and difficult people, including face‐to‐face surveys in Agbogbloshie (Accra, Ghana) and Kangemi (Nairobi, Kenya). While one quarter of all relationships were perceived to be difficult, results reveal significant differences between the two communities in terms of the composition of personal networks and the factors associated with difficulty at both relational and network levels of analysis. Kenyan networks are more difficult when there is an imbalance of assistance provided by the respondent (exploitation), while any imbalance (inequality) is problematic in Ghanaian networks. These findings underscore the importance of independent analyses of negative ties and difficult networks, contributing to a community‐based understanding of poverty in urban slums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Gender-biased contexts may impact women's lives across a variety of domains. This study examined whether changes in district prevalence of a salient gendered practice - dowry - are associated with changes in poor health for women in India. Two waves of national multilevel panel data were used to assess the relationship between changes in district-level dowry prevalence and changes in self-rated health for 23,785 ever-married women aged 15-50 years. Increased dowry prevalence was found to be associated with increased poor self-rated health for women. This relationship remained when controlling for potentially confounding factors including household socioeconomic status, caste, infrastructure, mobility and state fixed-effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The booming progress of biomass fuels in the enhancement of energy sustainability has been witnessed over the past few decades. Drying or moisture content reduction is a critical pretreatment step for the efficient utilization of wet biomass fuels whose improvement requires this study to focus on the effect of the transportation behavior of biomass fuels inside drying facilities. Experiments were performed under a variety of operating conditions in order to determine the residence time distribution (RTD) and flow characteristics of s‐liked biomass fuels in the process of transportation. A series of experiments are carried out in a rotary drum with different baffle structures, a length of 1850 mm and a diameter of 770 mm. Meanwhile, s‐liked and CO2 expanded biomass particles were taken as standard and tracer materials. RTD and scattering and fallout angles are measured and studied under the conditions of different baffle heights (64‐184 mm), numbers (2‐8), installation slopes (70°‐110°), rectangular bend heights (24.8‐62.5 mm), and bend slopes (90°‐150°). The Taylor model can appropriately estimate the mean residence time (MRT) of particles in a rotating drum with variety of baffle structures, such as baffle height, number, and bend slope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A prolonged length of stay (LOS) after surgery may result in higher hospital costs and hospital-acquired complications. This study aims to identify the risk factors associated with a prolonged hospital stay after robot-assisted thoracoscopic lung surgery for pediatric patients in the context of enhanced recovery after surgery., Methods: The data for this retrospective study were collected from pediatric patients undergoing robot-assisted thoracoscopic lung surgery. Patients were divided into two subgroups based on median postoperative LOS (Group I: LOS > median 5 days and Group II: LOS ≤ median 5 days). Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the potential factors associated with increased LOS., Results: This study included 241 patients, 71 (29.46%) with an LOS of >5 days. The proportion of older children was significantly higher in Group I than that in Group II (P=0.004). Patients in Group I were more likely to experience a longer duration of anesthesia and surgery (P<0.001). They also had significantly higher rates of pneumonia, pleural effusion, and liver function damage (P<0.05). Several factors were identified to be associated with an increased LOS after robot-assisted thoracoscopic lung surgery: age >6 years [odds ratio (OR) =3.214, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.464-7.502, P=0.004], surgery duration >100 min (OR =2.138, 95% CI: 1.296-4.387, P=0.005), intra-albumin (OR =13.778, 95% CI: 1.470-129.116, P=0.022), and blood loss >5 mL (OR =2.184, 95% CI: 1.082-4.409, P=0.029)., Conclusions: The results revealed that older age, longer surgery duration, use of intra-albumin, and more blood loss predict longer postoperative hospital stay in pediatric patients with congenital lung lesions after robot-assisted thoracoscopic lung surgery., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://jtd.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/jtd-23-1585/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2024 Journal of Thoracic Disease. All rights reserved.)

This study aimed to determine the incidence and evaluate the risk factors and outcomes of intraoperative hypothermia (IH) during general anesthesia in infants. Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data. A total of 754 infants younger than 1 year old who underwent surgery under general anesthesia were included. Intraoperative body temperature fluctuations, surgical and anesthetic data, postoperative complications, and infant outcomes were recorded. Logistic regression algorithms were used to evaluate potential risk factors. Among the 754 infants, 47.88% developed IH (<36 °C) and 15.4% of them experienced severe hypothermia (<35 °C). The average lowest temperature in hypothermia patients was 35.06 ± 0.69°C with a duration of 82.23 ± 50.59 minutes. Neonates tended to experience hypothermia (37.7% vs 7.6%, P < .001) and prematurity was more common in patients with IH (29.4% vs 16.8%, P < .001). Infants with hypothermia experienced a longer length of stay in the post anesthesia care units and intensive care units, postoperative hospitalizations, and tracheal extubation as well as a higher rate of postoperative hemorrhage than those with normothermia (all P < .05). Several factors were proved to be associated with an increased risk of IH after multivariate analysis: neonate (odds ratio [OR] = 3.685, 95% CI 1.839-7.382), weight (OR = 0.599, 95% CI 0.525-0.683), American society of anesthesiologists (OR = 3.418, 95% CI 2.259-5.170), fluid > 20 mL/kg (OR = 2.380, 95% CI 1.389-4.076), surgery time >60 minutes (OR = 1.785, 95% CI 1.030-3.093), and pre-warming (OR = 0.027, 95% CI 0.014-0.052). This retrospective study found that neonates, lower weight, longer surgery times, more fluid received, higher American society of anesthesiologists stage, and no pre-warming were all significant risk factors for IH during general anesthesia in infants., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Objective: The incidence of intraoperative hypothermia remains high in pediatric patients during anesthesia and surgery even though core body temperature monitoring and warming systems have been greatly improved in recent years. We analyzed the risk factors and outcomes of intraoperative hypothermia in neonates and infants undergoing general anesthesia and surgery., Methods: The data on the incidence of intraoperative hypothermia, other clinical characteristics, and outcomes from electronic records of 1,091 patients (501 neonates and 590 infants between 28 days and 1 year old), who received general anesthesia and surgery, were harvested and analyzed. Intraoperative hypothermia was defined as a core temperature below 36°C during surgery., Results: The incidence of intraoperative hypothermia in neonates was 82.83%, which was extremely higher than in infants (38.31%, p  < 0.001)-the same as the lowest body temperature (35.05 ± 0.69°C vs. 35.40 ± 0.68°C, p  < 0.001) and the hypothermia duration (86.6 ± 44.5 min vs. 75.0 ± 52.4 min, p  < 0.001). Intraoperative hypothermia was associated with prolonged PACU, ICU, hospital stay, postoperative bleeding, and transfusion in either age group. Intraoperative hypothermia in infants was also related to prolonged postoperative extubation time and surgical site infection. After univariate and multivariate analyses, the age (OR = 0.902, p  < 0.001), weight (OR = 0.480, p  = 0.013), prematurity (OR = 2.793, p  = 0.036), surgery time of more than 60 min (OR = 3.743, p  < 0.001), prewarming (OR = 0.081, p  < 0.001), received >20 mL/kg fluid (OR = 2.938, p  = 0.004), and emergency surgery (OR = 2.142, p  = 0.019) were associated with hypothermia in neonates. Similar to neonates, age (OR = 0.991, p  < 0.001), weight (OR = 0.783, p  = 0.019), surgery time >60 min (OR = 2.140, p  = 0.017), pre-warming (OR = 0.017, p  < 0.001), and receive >20 mL/kg fluid (OR = 3.074, p  = 0.001) were relevant factors to intraoperative hypothermia in infants along with the ASA grade (OR = 4.135, p  < 0.001)., Conclusion: The incidence of intraoperative hypothermia was still high, especially in neonates, with a few detrimental complications. Neonates and infants each have their different risk factors associated with intraoperative hypothermia, but younger age, lower weight, longer surgery time, received more fluid, and no prewarming management were the common risk factors., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2023 Zhao, Le, Chu, Gao, Zhang, Fan, Ma, Hu and Lai.)