bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The impact of nurse-led patient education on quality of life in patients with heart failure
Authors: Nwosu Winifred Onyinyechi , Rajani Ronak , McDonaugh Theresa , Goulder Alison , Smith Daniel , Hughes Lyndsay
Published: May 2023

Heart failure is a complex condition where the heart is unable to pump blood effectively because of a structural or functional abnormality. This condition is associated with a substantial human and economic burden, with a particularly high impact on patients' quality of life. However, previous research suggests that patient education, which is often delivered by nurses, can help to reduce the burden of heart failure, both for patients and healthcare services. This review aimed to assess the impact of nurse-led patient education programmes on the quality of life among patients with heart failure. Key electronic databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Web of Science) were searched from inception to February 2022. Studies of adults with heart failure who received in-person nurse-led patient education using a quality of life assessment tool were included. Of the 2225 studies retrieved in the initial search, 18 were included in the final review, including a total of 2413 participants. Physical health was assessed across all studies, with some variation in the findings, particularly in relation to the impact of patient education on mortality rates. However, positive mental health outcomes were reported in intervention groups across selected studies, with one study reporting significant improvement at 12 months compared to a control group (P=0.038). This indicates that nurse-led patient education can improve some aspects of patients' quality of life, reinforcing the importance of this aspect of nursing care in heart failure management, while also highlighting areas in need of further research.
Management of Rare Open Patella Sagittal Plane Fracture with Associated Knee Joint Fractures: A Series of Three Cases
Authors: Gandhi Takshay , Patel Nimish , Dave Rutvik
Published: May 2023

Introduction: Open vertical patella fractures in combination with distal femoral or proximal tibial fractures are a rare combination of injuries that pose a challenge for adequate fixation and gaining favorable outcome. Case Report: Case 1 had an open fracture of sagittal fracture of patella with one half comminuted and a sagittal plane fracture of lateral femoral condyle with a 2 × 2 cm of articular bone loss. Case 2 had an open sagittal fracture of patella with ipsilateral lateral femoral condyle fracture and proximal tibia medial condyle fracture in sagittal plane. Case 3 had a closed comminuted fracture of patella with sagittal plane lateral femoral condyle fracture. Conclusion: Open vertical plane patella fractures with associated distal femoral or proximal tibial fracture when treated properly can restore knee function optimally. Keywords: Vertical patella fracture, open knee injuries, complex knee trauma.
Chondrosarcoma of Great Toe: A Case Report
Authors: Qamar Rayed , Abbas Mazhar , Siddiqui Yasir Salam , Gupta Divas , Mohammad Saad , Khurana Shivank
Published: May 2023

Introduction: Chondrosarcoma (CHS) of the toes is very rare and the involvement of phalanges is extremely rare. The osteolytic destruction of this tumor severely affects limb function and carries the risk of distant metastasis. These tumors are removed surgically to minimize local recurrence and distant metastases, maximize limb function with better prognosis. The main objective of this report is to present the case of a CHS that invaded the phalanx of the left great toe and formed a large phalangeal mass with osteolytic destruction of the distal bone. Case Report: This case report includes a 60-year-old man suffering from swelling of his left great toe for 2 years, with pain and swelling for 6 months. Serial hematological, radiological and tumor investigations were done. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a well-defined peripherally enhancing multilobulated soft-tissue mass with central necrotic component involving the entire proximal phalanx of left great toe extending to distal phalanx and head of first metatarsal. The patient was planned for operative intervention due to the possibility of invasion into the adjacent bones. The tumor was excised and sent for histopathological examination, which was reported as Grade 2 CHS (PT, Nx, and Mx) and was S100 positive. The patient has been followed-up for 5 months. Results: There were no signs of local recurrence or distant metastasis on radiological investigations or clinical assessment during follow-ups. Conclusion: CHS occurring in toes is extremely rare. In this case, extensive surgical resection of the large low-grade CHS was safe and effective. Keywords: Chondrosarcoma, phalanges, excision
Effect of reciprocity-breaking on fine-track tip/tilt systems
Authors: Isaacs J. , Parks D. , DiComo G. , Helle M.
Published: May 2023

We analyze here a candidate system for correcting the wander of a
self-channeled laser pulse using a fast-steering mirror along with a
cooperative beacon imaged with a telescope. For our model system, the
imaging telescope is coaxial with the propagation of the outgoing
pulse. In the ideal case, any incoming light gathered from the beacon
would be collimated, such that taking a centroid beacon image would
yield the precise tip and tilt required for the self-channeled pulse
to propagate back to the beacon on the reciprocal path. The degree to
which reality differs from this ideal case determines the
effectiveness of the wander correction. We simulate our system for a
range of propagation and imaging conditions. We also show that in the
absence of image noise (i.e., when the beacon power is arbitrarily
high, and the signal-to-noise ratio is not an important
consideration), the system exhibits its best performance when the
receiving aperture diameter of the imaging system is close to the
transverse size of the outgoing pulse, maximizing reciprocity. When
realistic noise and finite beacon power are included in the
simulation, however, we find that this reciprocity advantage may not
be sufficient to compensate for the reduced photon count and resolving
power of a small receiving aperture. In this case, the optimal
aperture diameter will be the smallest possible, which allows for an
acceptable signal-to-noise ratio.
Chaotic characteristics enhancement by introducing optical feedback into a sole intensity modulation optical injection system
Authors: Zeng Yao , Wang Youming , Gu Shuangquan , Huang Yu , Zhou Pei , Mu Penghua , Li Nianqiang
Published: May 2023

Wideband chaotic signals generated in an intensity modulation (IM) optical injection system were successfully implemented and provided new insight into overcoming the implementation bottleneck that semiconductor lasers under continuous-wave (CW) optical injection can generate chaos only in very narrow regions above the Hopf bifurcation. Despite its success, the dimensionality of chaos is relatively low due to the absence of delay loops in an optical injection system, which may only support low-dimensional optical chaos-based applications. Therefore, we introduce optical feedback into the sole IM optical injection system to enhance the chaotic dimension and demonstrate chaotic characteristics enhancement both experimentally and numerically. In detail, the influences of some key parameters, such as injection parameters, modulation parameters, and the feedback parameter, on the chaotic performance are systematically researched. The results show that the chaotic regions, bandwidth, and correlation dimension (CD) can be augmented through introducing optical feedback. Additionally, when the weak optical feedback is introduced, better chaotic quality with the time delay signature (TDS) value at a low level can be expected in an extensive range of the injection ratio and modulation depth.
Nonlinear optical response and ultrafast all-optical modulation of Nb4C3
Authors: Hu Yibiao , Yang Zhan , Zhang Tianju , Chen Chenduan , Wang Zixin , Dong Ningning , Wang Jun
Published: May 2023

MXenes exhibit a variety of unique electronic, optical, chemical, and mechanical properties. In this work, the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of Nb4C3Tx are systematically investigated. The Nb4C3Tx nanosheets exhibit saturable absorption (SA) response from visible region to near-infrared region and better saturability under 6 ns pulse excitation than that under 380 fs excitation. The ultrafast carrier dynamics show a relaxation time of ∼6 ps, which suggests a high optical modulation speed of ∼160 GHz. Consequently, an all-optical modulator is demonstrated by transferring the Nb4C3Tx nanosheets to the microfiber. The signal light can be modulated well by pump pulses with a modulation rate of 5 MHz and an energy consumption of 12.564 nJ. Our study indicates that Nb4C3Tx is a potential material for nonlinear devices.
Split-well resonant-phonon terahertz quantum cascade laser
Authors: Levy Shiran , Lander Gower Nathalie , Piperno Silvia , Addamane Sadhvikas J. , Reno John L. , Albo Asaf
Published: May 2023

We present a highly diagonal “split-well resonant-phonon” (SWRP) active region design for GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As terahertz quantum cascade lasers (THz-QCLs). Negative differential resistance is observed at room temperature, which indicates the suppression of thermally activated leakage channels. The overlap between the doped region and the active level states is reduced relative to that of the split-well direct-phonon (SWDP) design. The energy gap between the lower laser level (LLL) and the injector is kept at 36 meV, enabling a fast depopulation of the LLL. Within this work, we investigated the temperature performance and potential of this structure.
Sub-terahertz scanning near-field optical microscope using a quartz tuning fork based probe
Authors: Li Xinxing , Sun Jiandong , Jin Lin , Shangguan Yang , Chen Kebei , Qin Hua
Published: May 2023

We report a sub-terahertz scattering-type scanning near-field microscope (sub-THz s-SNOM) which uses a 6 mm long metallic tip driven by a quartz tuning fork as the near-field probe. Under continuous-wave illumination by a 94 GHz Gunn diode oscillator, terahertz near-field images are obtained by demodulating the scattered wave at both the fundamental and the second harmonic of the tuning fork oscillation frequency together with the atomic-force-microscope (AFM) image. The terahertz near-field image of a gold grating with a period of 2.3 µm obtained at the fundamental modulation frequency agrees well with the AFM image. The experimental relationship between the signal demodulated at the fundamental frequency and the tip-sample distance is well fitted with the coupled dipole model indicating that the scattered signal from the long probe is mainly contributed by the near-field interaction between the tip and the sample. This near-filed probe scheme using quartz tuning fork can adjust the tip length flexibly to match the wavelength over the entire terahertz frequency range and allows for operation in cryogenic environment.
Toroidal dipole bound states in the continuum based on hybridization of surface lattice resonances
Authors: Chen Deliang , Xu Juanjuan , Yu Hong , Mo Zhangjie
Published: May 2023

Obtaining a high quality factor (Q factor) in applications based on metasurfaces is crucial for improving device performance. Therefore, bound states in the continuum (BICs) with ultra-high Q factors are expected to have many exciting applications in photonics. Breaking the structure symmetry has been viewed as an effective way of exciting quasi-bound states in the continuum (QBICs) and generating high-Q resonances. Among these, one exciting strategy is based on the hybridization of surface lattice resonances (SLRs). In this study, we investigated for the first time the Toroidal dipole bound states in the continuum (TD-BICs) based on the hybridization of Mie surface lattice resonances (SLRs) in an array. The unit cell of metasurface is made of a silicon nanorods dimer. The Q factor of QBICs can be precisely adjusted by changing the position of two nanorods, while the resonance wavelength remains quite stable against the change of position. Simultaneously, the far-field radiation and near-field distribution of the resonance are discussed. The results indicate that the toroidal dipole dominates this type of QBIC. Our results indicate that this quasi-BIC can be tuned by adjusting the size of the nanorods or the lattice period. Meanwhile, through the study of the shape variation, we found that this quasi-BIC exhibits excellent robustness, whether in the case of two symmetric or asymmetric nanoscale structures. This will also provide large fabrication tolerance for the fabrication of devices. Our research results will improve the mode analysis of surface lattice resonance hybridization, and may find promising applications in enhancing light-matter interaction, such as lasing, sensing, strong-coupling, and nonlinear harmonic generation.
Valley-dependent vortex emission from exciton-polariton in non-centrosymmetric transition metal dichalcogenide metasurfaces
Authors: Li Mingchen , Gao Mingsheng , Zhang Qing , Yang Yuanjie
Published: May 2023

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted great attention in valleytronics. Owing to the giant valley coherence at room temperature, valley pseudospin of TMDs open a new degree of freedom to encode and process binary information. The valley pseudospin only exists in non-centrosymmetric TMDs (e.g., monolayer or 3R-stacked multilayer), which is prohibited in conventional centrosymmetric 2H-stacked crystals. Here, we propose a general recipe to generate valley-dependent vortex beams by using a mix-dimensional TMD metasurface composed of nanostructured 2H-stacked TMD crystals and monolayer TMDs. Such an ultrathin TMD metasurface involves a momentum-space polarization vortex around bound states in the continuum (BICs), which can simultaneously achieve strong coupling (i.e., form exciton polaritons) and valley-locked vortex emission. Moreover, we report that a full 3R-stacked TMD metasurface can also reveal the strong-coupling regime with an anti-crossing pattern and a Rabi splitting of 95 meV. The Rabi splitting can be precisely controlled by geometrically shaping the TMD metasurface. Our results provide an ultra-compact TMD platform for controlling and structuring valley exciton polariton, in which the valley information is linked with the topological charge of vortex emission, which may advance valleytronic, polaritonic, and optoelectronic applications.
Full-Stokes parameters detection enabled by a non-interleaved fiber-compatible metasurface
Authors: Qu Jiaqi , Wang Zhuo , Cehng Zhi , Wang Yue , Yu Changyuan
Published: May 2023

Polarization of the optical field determines the way of light-matter interaction, which lays the foundation for various applications such as chiral spectroscopy, biomedical imaging, and machine vision. Currently, with the rise of the metasurface, miniaturized polarization detectors have attracted extensive interest. However, due to the limitation of the working area, it is still a challenge to integrate polarization detectors on the fiber end face. Here, we propose a design of compact non-interleaved metasurface that can be integrated on the tip of a large-mode-area photonic crystal fiber (LMA-PCF) to realize full-Stokes parameters detection. Through concurrent control over the dynamic phase and Pancharatnam-Berry (PB) phase, different helical phases are assigned to the two orthogonal circular polarization bases, of which the amplitude contrast and relative phase difference can be represented by two non-overlapped foci and an interference ring pattern, respectively. Therefore, the determination of arbitrary polarization states through the proposed ultracompact fiber-compatible metasurface can be achieved. Moreover, we calculated full-Stokes parameters according to simulation results and obtained that the average detection deviation is relatively low at 2.84% for 20 elucidated samples. The novel metasurface exhibits excellent polarization detection performance and overcomes the limitation of the small integrated area, which provides insights into the further practical explorations of ultracompact polarization detection devices.
Performance improvement of GaN-based microdisk lasers by using a PEALD-SiO2 passivation layer
Authors: Zhao Hanru , Feng Meixin , Liu Jianxun , Sun Xiujian , Li Yongjian , Wu Xunfei , Liu Qifa , Yilmaz Ercan , Sun Qian , Yang Hui
Published: May 2023

Dry-etching is often utilized to shape GaN-based materials. However, it inevitably causes plenty of sidewall defects as non-radiative recombination centers and charge traps that deteriorate GaN-based device performance. In this study, the effects of dielectric films deposited by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) on GaN-based microdisk laser performance were both investigated. The results demonstrated that the PEALD-SiO2 passivation layer largely reduced the trap-state density and increased the non-radiative recombination lifetime, thus leading to the significantly decreased threshold current, notably enhanced luminescence efficiency and smaller size dependence of GaN-based microdisk lasers as compared with the PECVD-Si3N4 passivation layer.
High Energy, High Pulse Rate Laser Operation Using Crystalline Adhesive-Free Bonded Yb:YAG Slabs
Authors: De Vido Mariastefania , Phillips Paul , Meissner David , Meissner Stephanie , Quinn Gary , Banerjee Saumyabrata , Divoky Martin , Mason Paul
Published: May 2023

We report on the successful amplification of 10 ns pulses to 10 J energy at 10 Hz in a DiPOLE laser amplifier using crystalline Yb:YAG/Cr:YAG composite slabs manufactured using adhesive-free bonding (AFB) technology. We demonstrate that bonded slabs are suitable for operation in high energy cryogenic laser amplifiers. We also report on frequency doubling of the beam amplified in the bonded slabs. When the pulse energy of the output infrared beam is set to 5 J, a pulse energy of 3.9 J is achieved in the green (corresponding to 78% conversion efficiency). Results demonstrate that AFB technology is suitable for producing large-sized gain material slabs and can overcome current limitations in the manufacture of large-aperture gain material pieces. We believe this work will facilitate energy scaling of high energy lasers where aperture scaling of optical elements is not achievable via conventional manufacturing techniques.
Canonical correlation analysis for multi-omics: Application to cross-cohort analysis
Authors: Jiang Min-Zhi , Aguet François , Ardlie Kristin , Chen Jiawen , Cornell Elaine , Cruz Dan , Durda Peter , Gabriel Stacey B. , Gerszten Robert E. , Guo Xiuqing , Johnson Craig W. , Kasela Silva , Lange Leslie A. , Lappalainen Tuuli , Liu Yongmei , Reiner Alex P. , Smith Josh , Sofer Tamar , Taylor Kent D. , Tracy Russell P. , VanDenBerg David J. , Wilson James G. , Rich Stephen S. , Rotter Jerome I. , Love Michael I. , Raffield Laura M. , Li Yun ,   NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Consortium, TOPMed Analysis Working Group
Published: May 2023

Integrative approaches that simultaneously model multi-omics data have gained increasing popularity because they provide holistic system biology views of multiple or all components in a biological system of interest. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) is a correlation-based integrative method designed to extract latent features shared between multiple assays by finding the linear combinations of features–referred to as canonical variables (CVs)–within each assay that achieve maximal across-assay correlation. Although widely acknowledged as a powerful approach for multi-omics data, CCA has not been systematically applied to multi-omics data in large cohort studies, which has only recently become available. Here, we adapted sparse multiple CCA (SMCCA), a widely-used derivative of CCA, to proteomics and methylomics data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) and Jackson Heart Study (JHS). To tackle challenges encountered when applying SMCCA to MESA and JHS, our adaptations include the incorporation of the Gram-Schmidt (GS) algorithm with SMCCA to improve orthogonality among CVs, and the development of Sparse Supervised Multiple CCA (SSMCCA) to allow supervised integration analysis for more than two assays. Effective application of SMCCA to the two real datasets reveals important findings. Applying our SMCCA-GS to MESA and JHS, we identified strong associations between blood cell counts and protein abundance, suggesting that adjustment of blood cell composition should be considered in protein-based association studies. Importantly, CVs obtained from two independent cohorts also demonstrate transferability across the cohorts. For example, proteomic CVs learned from JHS, when transferred to MESA, explain similar amounts of blood cell count phenotypic variance in MESA, explaining 39.0% ~ 50.0% variation in JHS and 38.9% ~ 49.1% in MESA. Similar transferability was observed for other omics-CV-trait pairs. This suggests that biologically meaningful and cohort-agnostic variation is captured by CVs. We anticipate that applying our SMCCA-GS and SSMCCA on various cohorts would help identify cohort-agnostic biologically meaningful relationships between multi-omics data and phenotypic traits.
Seroepidemiology of Lassa virus in pregnant women in Southern Nigeria: A prospective hospital-based cohort study
Authors: Kayem Nzelle Delphine , Okogbenin Sylvanus , Okoeguale Joseph , Momoh Mojeed , Njoku Antonia , Eifediyi Reuben , Enodiana Xavier , Ngwu Hilary , Irhiogbe Wilfred , Ighodalo Yemisi , Olokor Thomas , Odigie George , Castle Lyndsey , Duraffour Sophie , Oestereich Lisa , Dahal Prabin , Ariana Proochista , Gunther Stephan , Horby Peter
Published: May 2023

Background

There is limited epidemiological evidence on Lassa fever in pregnant women with acute gaps on prevalence, infection incidence, and risk factors. Such evidence would facilitate the design of therapeutic and vaccine trials and the design of control programs. Our study sought to address some of these gaps by estimating the seroprevalence and seroconversion risk of Lassa fever in pregnant women.

Methodology/Principal findings

We conducted a prospective hospital-based cohort between February and December 2019 in Edo State, Southern Nigeria, enrolling pregnant women at antenatal clinic and following them up at delivery. Samples were evaluated for IgG antibodies against Lassa virus. The study demonstrates a seroprevalence of Lassa IgG antibodies of 49.6% and a seroconversion risk of 20.8%. Seropositivity was strongly correlated with rodent exposure around homes with an attributable risk proportion of 35%. Seroreversion was also seen with a seroreversion risk of 13.4%.

Conclusions/Significance

Our study suggests that 50% of pregnant women were at risk of Lassa infection and that 35.0% of infections might be preventable by avoiding rodent exposure and conditions which facilitate infestation and the risk of human-rodent contact. While the evidence on rodent exposure is subjective and further studies are needed to provide a better understanding of the avenues of human-rodent interaction; public health measures to decrease the risk of rodent infestation and the risk of spill over events may be beneficial. With an estimated seroconversion risk of 20.8%, our study suggests an appreciable risk of contracting Lassa fever during pregnancy and while most of these seroconversions may not be new infections, given the high risk of adverse outcomes in pregnancy, it supports the need for preventative and therapeutic options against Lassa fever in pregnancy. The occurrence of seroreversion in our study suggests that the prevalence obtained in this, and other cohorts may be an underestimate of the actual proportion of women of childbearing age who present at pregnancy with prior LASV exposure. Additionally, the occurrence of both seroconversion and seroreversion in this cohort suggests that these parameters would need to be considered for the development of Lassa vaccine efficacy, effectiveness, and utility models.
Impact of early telemedicine follow-up on 30-Day hospital readmissions
Authors: Grauer Anne , Cornelius Talea , Abdalla Marwah , Moise Nathalie , Kronish Ian M. , Ye Siqin
Published: May 2023

Introduction

Telemedicine is increasing in popularity but the impact of this shift on patient outcomes has not been well described. Prior data has shown that early post-discharge office visits can reduce readmissions. However, it is unknown if routine use of telemedicine visits for this purpose is similarly beneficial.

Materials and methods

We conducted a retrospective observational study using electronic health records data to assess if the rate of 30-day hospital readmissions differed between modality of visit for primary care or cardiology post-discharge follow-up visits.

Results

Compared to discharges with completed in-person follow-up visits, the adjusted odds of readmission for those with telemedicine follow-up visits was not significantly different (odds ratio [OR] 0.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.61 to 1.51, P = 0.86).

Conclusions

Our study showed that 30-day readmission rate did not differ significantly according to the modality of visit. These results provide reassurance that telemedicine visits are a safe and viable alternative for primary care or cardiology post-hospitalization follow-up.
Psychosocial support during childbirth: Development and adaptation of WHO’s Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) for maternity care settings
Authors: Khan Bushra , Hameed Waqas , Avan Bilal Iqbal
Published: May 2023

Introduction

Poor psychosocial support and lack of respectful care for women during childbirth are commonplace in health facilities in low- and middle-income countries. While WHO recommends providing supportive care to pregnant women, there is a scarcity of material for building the capacity of maternity staff to provide systematic and inclusive psychosocial support to women in the intrapartum phase, and prevent work stress and burnout in maternity teams. To address this need we adapted WHO’s mhGAP for maternity staff to provide psychosocial support in labour room settings in Pakistan. Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) is an evidence-based guidance which provides psychosocial support in resource-limited health care settings. This paper aims to describe the adaptation of mhGAP to develop psychosocial support capacity building materials for maternity staff to provide support to maternity patients, and also to staff, in the labour room context.

Methods

Adaptation was conducted within the Human-Centered-Design framework in three phases: inspiration, ideation, and implementation feasibility. In inspiration, a review of national-level maternity service-delivery documents and in-depth interviews of maternity staff were conducted. Ideation involved a multidisciplinary team to develop capacity-building materials by adapting mhGAP. This phase was iterative and included cycles of pretesting, deliberations, and revision of materials. In implementation feasibility, materials were tested via the training of 98 maternity staff and exploring system feasibility via post-training visits to health facilities.

Results

Inspiration phase identified gaps in policy directives and implementation and formative study identified limited understanding and skills of staff to assess patients’ psychosocial needs and provide appropriate support. Also, it became evident that staff themselves needed psychosocial support. In ideation, team developed capacity-building materials comprising two modules: one dedicated to conceptual understanding, the other to implementing psychosocial support in collaboration with maternity staff. In implementation feasibility, staff found the materials relevant and feasible for the labour room setting. Finally, users and experts endorsed usefulness of the materials.

Conclusion

Our work in developing psychosocial-support training materials for maternity staff extends the utility of mhGAP to maternity care settings. These materials can be used for capacity-building of maternity staff and their effectiveness can be assessed in diverse maternity care settings.
Early temperament and physical health in school-age children: Applying a short temperament measure in a population-based cohort
Authors: Wu Jennifer Chun-Li , Wang Pei-Ling , Chiang Tung-liang
Published: May 2023

Temperament has drawn considerable attention in the understanding of behavioural problems and psychopathology across developmental stages. However, less of a focus has been placed on the role of temperament in physical aspects of health. We aimed to examine the relations between early temperament traits and physical health in school-age children. This study used longitudinal data of 18,994 children (52.4% boys) born in 2005 from the Taiwan Birth Cohort Study, in which follow-up surveys were conducted via face-to-face interviews with the child’s caregiver. Temperament at 5.5 years of age was assessed using a nine-item measure, and two higher-order temperament traits, surgency and regulation, were derived through confirmatory factor analysis. Physical health outcomes at age 8 included caregiver-rated general health status and medically attended injuries. Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied, with the child’s birth outcome, early health status or injury history, health behaviours and family socioeconomic status as control variables. The results indicated that higher levels of surgency and regulation, as early temperament traits, significantly predicted lower odds of caregiver-rated poor health in later years. Higher level of regulation was also associated with lower odds of injury risk. Our findings suggest that assessing early temperament traits could be useful for the promotion and management of physical health in young school-age children.
Volunteers, religious communities and users representatives as an alternative for visiting hospitalized patients: The importance of an infection control training
Authors: Maurand Audrey , Le Guen Ronan , Sakr Celine , Sabourin Nadine , Hacquin Bruno , Boulmier Stéphanie , Bonnin Christèle , Gobe Lamnakhone , Fourreau Frédéric , Decousser Jean-Winoc
Published: May 2023

Background

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the suspension of relatives’ visits was a common measure in healthcare facilities to prevent the spread of the virus among patients. This measure caused significant adverse consequences for hospitalized patients. Volunteers’ intervention was an alternative but could also lead to cross transmission events.

Aims

in order to secure their intervention with patients, we implemented an infection control training to evaluate and to improve the knowledge of volunteers about infection control measures.

Method

We performed a before-after study in a group of five tertiary referral teaching hospitals in the suburbs of Paris. A total of 226 volunteers from three groups (religious representatives, civilian volunteers and users’ representatives) were included. Basic theoretical and practical knowledge about infection control, hand hygiene, and glove and mask use were evaluated just before and immediately after a three-hour training program. The contribution of the characteristics of the volunteers to the results was studied.

Findings

The initial conformity rate for theoretical and practical infection control measures ranged from 53% to 68%, depending on the participants’ activity status and education level. Some critical shortcomings in hand hygiene as well as mask and glove wearing putatively endangered the patients and volunteers. Surprisingly, serious gaps were also identified among volunteers who experienced care activities. Regardless of their origin, the program significantly improved both their theoretical and practical knowledge (p<0.001). Real-life observance and long-term sustainability should be monitored.

Conclusions

To become a secure alternative to relatives’ visits, volunteers’ interventions must be preceded by the assessment of their theoretical knowledge and practical skills in infection control. Additional study, including practice audit, must confirm the implementation of the acquired knowledge in the real-life.
A genome-wide screen in macrophages identifies PTEN as required for myeloid restriction of Listeria monocytogenes infection
Authors: Glover Rochelle C. , Schwardt Nicole H. , Leano Shania-Kate E. , Sanchez Madison E. , Thomason Maureen K. , Olive Andrew J. , Reniere Michelle L.
Published: May 2023

Listeria monocytogenes(Lm) is an intracellular foodborne pathogen which causes the severe disease listeriosis in immunocompromised individuals. Macrophages play a dual role duringLminfection by both promoting dissemination ofLmfrom the gastrointestinal tract and limiting bacterial growth upon immune activation. Despite the relevance of macrophages toLminfection, the mechanisms underlying phagocytosis ofLmby macrophages are not well understood. To identify host factors important forLminfection of macrophages, we performed an unbiased CRISPR/Cas9 screen which revealed pathways that are specific to phagocytosis ofLmand those that are required for internalization of bacteria generally. Specifically, we discovered the tumor suppressor PTEN promotes macrophage phagocytosis ofLmandL.ivanovii, but not other Gram-positive bacteria. Additionally, we found that PTEN enhances phagocytosis ofLmvia its lipid phosphatase activity by promoting adherence to macrophages. Using conditional knockout mice lackingPtenin myeloid cells, we show that PTEN-dependent phagocytosis is important for host protection during oralLminfection. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive identification of macrophage factors involved in regulatingLmuptake and characterizes the function of one factor, PTEN, duringLminfectionin vitroandin vivo. Importantly, these results demonstrate a role for opsonin-independent phagocytosis inLmpathogenesis and suggest that macrophages play a primarily protective role during foodborne listeriosis.
Angina de Ludwig: reporte de caso en un adolescente
Authors: Morales Suarez Angie Carolina , Londoño Alzate Alicia Juliana , Rairan-Penagos Mario Alejandro , Pulgarín-Cardona Airon Jhoan , Calle-Giraldo Juan Pablo
Published: May 2023

Antecedentes: la angina de Ludwig (ADL) es una enfermedad aguda que evoluciona rápidamente a celulitis submandibular, sin tratamiento puede tener consecuencias fatales. Se han reportado pocos casos en Colombia, la mortalidad es de 10 % en población general y de 17 % en población pediátrica. Se manifiesta con cambios inflamatorios en el piso de la boca, generando edema facial, protrusión lingual, trismos, hipersalivación, odinofagia y en estadios severos compromiso respiratorio. Reporte de caso: paciente adolescente quien ingresó al servicio de urgencias de un hospital de tercer nivel por cuadro de tumefacción, fiebre, cambios inflamatorios en cuello y suelo de la boca, con antecedente de trauma, cinco días previos al ingreso. Se realizó estudio imagenológico que confirmo el diagnóstico, iniciándose tratamiento con ceftriaxona y clindamicina. Posteriormente evolucionó a absceso decidiéndose realizar drenaje quirúrgico con resolución y recuperación completa. Conclusiones: Siendo una enfermedad infrecuente, que puede presentarse con compromiso respiratorio y complicaciones como abscesos, necrosis o septicemia con desenlaces letales; la evaluación clínica orienta el diagnóstico, sin embargo, el apoyo imagenológico resulta concluyente. El manejo antibiótico precoz y drenaje quirúrgico son los pilares de una adecuada intervención.
Síndrome opsoclonía-mioclonía asociado a enfermedad diarreica persistente: Reporte de caso en lactante menor masculino
Authors: López Vergara Paula Andrea , Caro Castelar Irma , Muñoz Otero Cristina , Rojas Zapata Tatiana Andrea
Published: May 2023

Antecedente: el síndrome opsoclonía-mioclonía (SOM) es un trastorno neurológico e inflamatorio inusual que se caracteriza por opsoclonus, mioclonus, ataxia y cambios en el comportamiento o alteraciones del sueño, de etiología paraneoplasica, infecciosa o idiopática. Se presenta el caso de un lactante menor masculino con síndrome de opsoclonus-mioclonus secundario a enfermedad diarreica persistente. Reporte de caso: paciente de cinco meses de edad que ingresa por movimientos involuntarios tipo sacudidas y aparente desconexión del medio, con antecedente de enfermedad diarreica persistente, se realizan exámenes complementarios, sin evidencia de anormalidad. Durante estancia se documenta alteración del sensorio con alternancia entre somnolencia e irritabilidad, eritema cutáneo, prurito, episodios recurrentes caracterizados por movimientos involuntarios de tronco y extremidades del tipo sacudidas breves asociados a llanto e irritabilidad con rubicundez, con posteriores episodios de titubeo cefálico y de tórax, por lo cual, se realiza diagnóstico de síndrome de opsoclonía-mioclonía, desencadenada por probable etiología enteral. Conclusiones: La inusual presentación del paciente, permite realizar una revisión de la literatura, con el fin de sensibilizar al profesional de la salud en la detección y tratamiento precoz de esta entidad clínica.
Dynamic analysis of delayed vaccination process along with impact of retrial queues
Authors: Chauhan Sudipa , Upadhyaya Shweta , Rana Payal , Malik Geetika
Published: May 2023

An unprecedented and precise time-scheduled rollout for the vaccine is needed for an effective vaccination process. This study is based on the development of a novel mathematical model considering a delay in vaccination due to the inability to book a slot in one go for a system. Two models are proposed which involve a delay differential equation mathematical model whose dynamical analysis is done to show how the delay in vaccination can destabilize the system. Further, this delay led to the formulation of a queuing model that accounts for the need to retry for the vaccination at a certain rate as delay in vaccination can have negative repercussions. The transition rates from one stage to another follow an exponential distribution. The transient state probabilities of the model are acquired by applying the Runge-Kutta method and hence performance indices are also obtained. These performance measures include the expected number of people in various states. Finally, numerical analysis is also provided to validate both models. Our results would specifically focus on what happens if the delay time increases or if the retrial rate increases (delay time decreases). The results reveal that a delay in being vaccinated by the first dose (i.e., 80 days) leads to an unstable system whereas there exists a delay simultaneously in getting vaccinated by both doses that destabilize the system early (i.e., 80 and 120 days for dose one and two, respectively). The system destabilizes faster in the presence of a delay for slot booking for both doses as compared to one dose delay. Further, the numerical results of queuing models show that if the retrial rate increases in this delay time to book the slots, it not only increases in the vaccinated class but also increases the recovered population.
NanoCeO2/conducting polymer based composite electrodes for high performance supercapacitor
Authors: G K Meenatchi , G Velraj
Published: May 2023

The present research paper reports the structural, morphological and electrochemical properties of cerium oxide doped polythiophene nanocomposite. Polythiophene was first polymerized using the chemical oxidation polymerization method and further, it was mixed with an equal amount of cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles by mechanical mixing. The initially generated polythiophene sample exhibited an amorphous character according to X-ray diffraction investigation, however the PTh–nCeO2 polymer nanocomposite displayed good crystallinity. The vibration bands of the PTh and PTh–nCeO2 polymer nanocomposites were further examined using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopic studies. The morphology and elemental composition of the prepared samples were investigated using scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The electrochemical performance of PTh and PTh–nCeO2 polymer nanocomposite was studied by cyclic voltammetry, Galvanostatic charge–discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. The PTh–nCeO2 polymer nanocomposites demonstrated a high specific capacitance of 161 F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1 among the produced samples. The Nyquist plot (low-frequency area) and Bode plot (phase angle) electrochemical impedance tests revealed excellent capacitive performance. The PTh–nCeO2 polymer nanocomposites may be a good option for high-performance super capacitors, according to the findings.
Effect of tremolite on the mechanical properties and thermal shock resistance of Al2O3 composites fabricated by temperature gradient spark plasma sintering
Authors: Sun Junlong , Zhao Weifu , Wang Juyun , Liu Changxia
Published: May 2023

Al2O3 has received increasing attention in the field of cutting tools and structural ceramics owing to its good mechanical performance. The mechanical and thermodynamic properties of Al2O3 matrix composites prepared by temperature gradient spark plasma sintering were investigated in this study. Liquid-phase sintering was confirmed to have occurred, based on thermodynamics and X-ray diffraction analysis during the fabrication of the Al2O3 composites. By dynamically modifying the heating rate during the entire preparation process, Al2O3 composites with smaller grain sizes were obtained. The effect of the tremolite additive on the hardness of the Al2O3 composites was elucidated by comprehensively considering the hardness and densification effects. The microstructural evolution of the composites was analyzed. The critical crack length was considered as the parameter necessary to evaluate the thermal shock resistance of the Al2O3 composites. The crack propagation resistance was found to significantly affect the thermal shock resistance of the Al2O3 composites. The results showed that the thermal shock resistance of the Al2O3 composites improved owing to the decrease in porosity and the improvement in mechanical properties due to the addition of tremolite.
Use, misuse, and overuse of antenatal corticosteroids. A retrospective cohort study
Authors: Cojocaru Liviu , Chakravarthy Shruti , Tadbiri Hooman , Reddy Rishika , Ducey James , Fruhman Gary
Published: May 2023

Objectives

To evaluate the timing of antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) administration in relation to the delivery timing based on indications and risk factors for preterm delivery.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study to understand what factors predict the optimal timing of ACS administration (ACS administration within seven days). We reviewed consecutive charts of adult pregnant women receiving ACS from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2019. We excluded pregnancies under 23 weeks, incomplete and duplicate records, and patients delivered outside our health system. The timing of ACS administration was categorized as optimal or suboptimal. These groups were analyzed regarding demographics, indications for ACS administration, risk factors for preterm delivery, and signs and symptoms of preterm labor.

Results

We identified 25,776 deliveries. ACS were administered to 531 pregnancies, of which 478 met the inclusion criteria. Of the 478 pregnancies included in the study, 266 (55.6 %) were delivered in the optimal timeframe. There was a higher proportion of patients receiving ACS for the indication of threatened preterm labor in the suboptimal group as compared to the optimal group (85.4 % vs. 63.5 %, p<0.001). In addition, patients who delivered in the suboptimal timeframe had a higher proportion of short cervix (33 % vs. 6.4 %, p<0.001) and positive fetal fibronectin (19.8 % vs. 1.1 %, p<0.001) compared to those who delivered in the optimal timeframe.

Conclusions

More emphasis should be placed on the judicious use of ACS. Emphasis should be placed on clinical assessment rather than relying solely on imaging and laboratory tests. Re-appraisal of institutional practices and thoughtful ACS administration based on the risk-benefit ratio is warranted.
Brazilian Portuguese-Russian (BraPoRus) corpus: automatic transcription and acoustic quality of elderly speech during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Sekerina Irina A. , Smirnova Henriques Anna , Skorobogatova Aleksandra S. , Tyulina Natalia , Kachkovskaia Tatiana V. , Ruseishvili Svetlana , Madureira Sandra
Published: May 2023

This article presents the Brazilian Portuguese-Russian (BraPoRus) corpus, whose goal is to collect, analyze, and preserve for posterity the spoken heritage Russian still used today in Brazil by approximately 1,500 elderly bilingual heritage Russian–Brazilian Portuguese speakers. Their unique 100-year-old variety of moribund Russian is disappearing because it has not been passed to their descendants born in Brazil. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we remotely collected 170 h of speech samples in heritage Russian from 26 participants (M
age = 75.7 years) in naturalistic settings using Zoom or a phone call. To estimate the quality of collected data, we focus on two methodological challenges, automatic transcription and acoustic quality of remote recordings. First, we find that among commercially available transcription programs, Sonix far outperforms Google Transcribe and Vocalmatic on the measure of word error rate (WER). Second, we also establish that the acoustic quality of the remote recordings was adequate for intonational and speech rate analysis. Moreover, this remote method of collecting and analyzing speech samples works successfully with elderly bilingual participants who speak a heritage language different from their dominant societal language, and it can become a new norm when face-to-face communication with elderly participants is not possible.
Fabrication of pyrite-zero nickel composites for efficient removal of Se(IV) from aqueous solution
Authors: Du Yanjun , Zhou Qing , Zhao Jiankun , Wu Hexi , Li Xiaoyan , Liu Yibao , Le Zhanggao
Published: May 2023

79Se is one of the important radionuclides in the safety evaluation of high-level radioactive waste repository due to its long half-life and highly fissionable radioactivity. Nanoscale pyrite-zero nickel composites (FeS2/Ni0) were fabricated by ball milling method for selenium(IV) (Se(IV)) adsorption from aqueous solution. The effects of pH, solid-liquid ratio, time, temperature, initial concentration of Se(IV) on the adsorption of Se(IV) by FeS2/Ni0 were investigated. FeS2/Ni0 was characterized by SEM, XPS, XRD, FT-IR, BET and Zeta potential, and the mechanism of removing Se(IV) was analyzed. The results showed that FeS2/Ni0 had a good removal effect on Se(IV). When pH was 5.5, the solid-liquid ratio was 0.1 g L−1, the reaction time was 40 min, the maximum adsorption capacity of Se(IV) by FeS2/Ni0 could reach 259 mg g−1. The research results can provide a theoretical basis for the treatment of wastewater containing Se(IV).