Biomedical subjects

Saurabh Sharma

Publications and source records attributed to Saurabh Sharma.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2025

Heterogeneity Analysis of Associations Involving the Large-Scale Online MindCrowd Survey Memory Test.

INTRODUCTION: Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRDs), as well as general age-related cognitive decline, are known to be multifactorial with heterogeneous etiologies. Identifying and accommodating heterogeneity in any one ADRD-related data set can be pursued using different analytical techniques, each with different assumptions or purposes. For example, whereas a great deal of research has explored clustering individuals or variables that exhibit greater similarity in some way, little research has explored evidence for heterogeneity in the relationships between relevant outcomes, such as performance on a memory test, and risk factors such as environmental exposures, behaviors, or genetic factors among individuals. METHODS: We explored evidence of heterogeneity in the relationships between ability on a memory test, specifically the paired associate learning (PAL) test, and multiple social and demographic risk factors using the large MindCrowd study database (n > 90,000 individuals). We focused on mixtures of regression models but compared models assuming many interaction effects among independent variables as well as random effects. RESULTS: We ultimately find substantial evidence for heterogeneity and offer an intuitive explanation for it involving individual motivation for participating in the MindCrowd study. Basically, we argue that our mixture of regression model analysis results suggest that a smaller group of individuals (∼16%) likely participated in the MindCrowd study out of a concern for their cognitive abilities as they exhibit stronger and statistically significant negative associations between age, number of medications they are on, some ancestries, and the number correct on the PAL test. They also exhibit stronger positive associations between education and PAL test results in a dose-dependent manner suggesting that a "cognitive reserve" associated with greater education could benefit them. Analysis models assuming interaction terms and random effects suggested that other forms of heterogeneity in the relationships between variables exist in the data set, but their results do not carry with them the same intuitive explanation that the results of the mixture model analyses do. CONCLUSION: We find evidence for heterogeneity in the relationships between social and demographic variables and PAL test results in the large MindCrowd study database. This heterogeneity is likely due to individuals with and without concerns for their cognitive abilities participating in the study. We also find other types of evidence in the data set. Our results should motivate caution in the use of large epidemiological study or survey-oriented data sets to build predictive models of clinical or subclinical pathologies without exploring or accommodating heterogeneity. Our results also suggest that one should include questions about motivation to participate in large epidemiological studies since different motivations may impact important relationships between independent and dependent variables.

Humans↗

PubMed2006

Arsenic biogeochemistry and human health risk assessment in organo-arsenical pesticide-applied acidic and alkaline soils: an incubation study.

Organo-arsenical compounds are considered non-carcinogenic, and hence, are still allowed by the regulatory agencies for use in agriculture as pesticides. Due to rapid encroachment of suburban areas into former agricultural lands, the potential for human exposure to soil-arsenic has increased tremendously in recent years. However, insufficient data is available on the stability of organo-arsenicals in soils; as to whether they remain in an organic form, or are converted over time to potentially carcinogenic inorganic forms. A static incubation study was conducted to estimate soil speciation and in-vitro bioavailability (i.e., bioaccessibility) of arsenic as a function of soil properties. Two chemically variant soil types were chosen, based on their potential differences with respect to arsenic reactivity: an acid sand with minimal arsenic retention capacity and an alkaline clay loam with relatively high concentrations of Fe/Al and Ca/Mg. The soils were amended with dimethylarsenic acid (DMA) at three rates, 45, 225 and 450 mg/kg, and incubated for 1 year. A sequential extraction scheme was employed to identify the geochemical forms of arsenic in soils, which were correlated with the in-vitro bioavailable fractions of arsenic. Human health risk calculated in terms of excess cancer risk (ECR) showed that risk assessment based on bioaccessible arsenic concentrations instead of the traditional total soil arsenic is a more realistic approach. Results showed that soil properties (such as pH, Fe/Al content and soil texture) of the two soils dictated the geochemical speciation, and hence, bioaccessibility of arsenic from DMA, indicating that the use of organic arsenicals as pesticides in mineral soils may not be a safe practice from a human health risk perspective.

Arsenic↗

PubMed2005

Fate and bioavailability of arsenic in organo-arsenical pesticide-applied soils. Part-I: incubation study.

A laboratory incubation study was conducted to estimate geochemical speciation and in vitro bioavailability of arsenic as a function of soil properties. Two chemically-variant soil types were chosen, based on their potential differences with respect to arsenic reactivity: an acid sand with minimal arsenic retention capacity and a sandy loam with relatively high concentration of amorphous Fe/Al-oxides, considered a sink for arsenic. The soils were amended with dimethylarsenic acid (DMA) at three rates: 45, 225, and 450 mg/kg. A sequential extraction scheme was employed to identify the geochemical forms of arsenic in soils, which were correlated with the "in vitro" bioavailable fractions of arsenic to identify the most bioavailable species. Arsenic bioavailability and speciation studies were done at 0 time (immediately after spiking the soils with pesticide) and after four-months incubation. Results show that soil properties greatly impact geochemical speciation and bioavailability of DMA; soils with high concentrations of amorphous Fe/Al oxides retain more arsenic, thereby rendering them less bioavailable. Results also indicate that the use of organic arsenicals as pesticides in mineral soils may not be a safe practice from the viewpoint of human health risk.

Aluminum Oxide↗

PubMed2005

Injections--how safe.

Injection, is a skin-piercing event performed by a syringe and needle with the purpose of introducing a curative substance or vaccine in a patient. According to WHO, safe injection is one which does not harm to the recepient, does not expose the health worker to any risk and does not result in waste that is dangerous for the community. To achieve this injection should be prepared on a clean workspace, provider should clean his hands appropriately, sterility of the syringe and needle to be maintained, skin of the recipient should be cleaned and above all sharps waste should be managed appropriately. Common danger of unsafe injection is infection. Most medication used in primary care can be administered orally. So firstly the behaviour of healthcare providers and patients must be changed so as to decrease overuse of injections, secondly provision of sufficient quantities of appropriate injection equipment and infection control supplies should be made available and thirdly a sharp waste management system should be set up.

Blood-Borne Pathogens↗

PubMed2005

Safe and newer injection technologies.

The different technologies available in safe injection practices can be categorised as: (1) Auto disable syringes for immunisation. (2) Prefilled devices. (3) Reuse prevention syringes for curative injections. (4) New safety devices which include safe blood draw and NSI prevention devices. Auto disable syringes are preferred over normal disposable syringes because of its safety and can be used with minimal amount of training. These syringes improved vaccination coverage rates and are being currently introduced in country EPI. Uniject prefill injection device ensures safety by various ways. There are also reuse prevention syringes for curative injections. The new safety devices have also been discussed in a nutshell.

Disposable Equipment↗

PubMed2002

Removal of cadmium and zinc from aqueous solutions using red mud.

Red mud, an aluminum industry waste, has been converted into an inexpensive and efficient adsorbent. The product obtained has been characterized and utilized in batch and column operations for the removal of cadmium and zinc from aqueous solutions over a wide range of initial metal ion concentrations (1.78 x 10(-5) to 1.78 x 10(-3) M for Cd2+ and 3.06 x 10(-5) to 3.06 x 10(-3) M for Zn2+; contact time, 24 h) adsorbent dose (5-20 g/L), and pH (1.0-6.0). The removal of Cd2+ and Zn2+ was almost complete at low concentrations, while it was 60-65% at higher concentrations at optimum pH's of 4.0 and 5.0, respectively, with 10 g/L of adsorbent in an 8-10 h equilibration time. The adsorption decreased with increase in temperature. Kinetic studies have been used to describe the mechanism of adsorption. Chemical regeneration of the columns has been achieved with 1% HNO3.

Adsorption↗