Macrobenthic fauna have recently been widely used as bio-indicators for their ability to reflect the various disturbances in aquatic ecosystems. They have recently been used to assess the ecological health of streams in the East Cameroon region. This study aims to reveal the ecological health of four streams by studying the variations in the population of benthic macroinvertebrates collected in them. Sampling was done from December 2018 to December 2019 for a total of 13 months spread over four collection seasons. Kohonen's self-organising map (SOM) was performed for the various distribution patterns of the organisms collected. Discriminant factor analysis (DFA) was used to identify the parameters that characterise these patterns observed in the environment. Four groups of macrobenthic populations were observed. The distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates in these streams was spatial, temporal and discriminated by variable mineralization parameters and sediment grain size. The distribution of taxonomic richness is linked to the environmental conditions of the stations, which appear to be more or less stable, highlighting a stress gradient on the organisms. The station (Sen3), with unstable conditions, is the site of anthropic activities due to its proximity to residential areas, which are enriched in organic matter and, as a result, abound in pollutant-resistant species such as diptera (Chironomus holomelas, Chironomus sp1 and Chironomus sp2). The population of the other well differentiated groups is subject to light anthropogenic disturbance.

No abstract

Heart failure (HF) is associated with morbidity, rehospitalization and polypharmacy. The incidence rate of mortality in HF patients with polypharmacy is poorly studied. We examine the association of polypharmacy with mortality risk in incident hospitalized HF patients with a primary diagnosis after discharge from the hospital using Quebec administrative databases, Canada from 1999 to 2015. Polypharmacy, cardiovascular (CV) polypharmacy and non-CV polypharmacy were respectively defined as exposure to ≥ 10 drugs, ≥ 5 CV drugs and ≥ 5 non-CV drugs within three months prior to the case or the control selection date. We conducted a nested case–control study to estimate rate ratios (RR) of all-cause mortality using a multivariate conditional logistic regression during one-year of follow-up. We identified 12,242 HF patients with a mean age of 81.6 years. Neither CV polypharmacy (RR  0.97, 95%CI 0.82–1.15) nor non-CV polypharmacy (RR  0.93, 95%CI 0.77–1.12) were associated with lower mortality risk. However, all polypharmacy (RR 1.31, 95%CI 1.07–1.61) showed an association with mortality risk. Myocardial infarction, valvular disease, peripheral artery disease, diabetes, major bleeding, chronic kidney disease, high comorbidity score, high Frailty score, hydralazine and spironolactone users were associated with increasing mortality risk, ranging from 15 to 61%, while use of angiotensin II inhibitors, beta-blockers, statins, anticoagulant, and antiplatelets were associated with lower risk, ranging from 23 to 32%.

No abstract

No abstract