bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Skin tears in older adult residents of long-term care facilities: prevalence and associated factors
Authors: Peres Giovana Ribau Picolo , Bandeira da Silva Cinthia Viana , Strazzieri-Pulido Kelly Cristina , de Gouveia Santos Vera Lúcia Conceição
Published: June 2022

Objective:

To determine the prevalence of skin tears, and demographic and clinical factors associated with their presence in older adult residents of long-term care facilities.

Method:

This observational, quantitative, cross-sectional, epidemiological study was conducted with older adult residents of three long-term care facilities in São Paulo, Brazil. For data collection, four instruments were used: a questionnaire assessing sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the residents; and the Brazilian-Portuguese versions of the Mini-Mental State Examination, Skin Tear Audit Research (STAR) Skin Tear Classification System, and the Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living.

Results:

A total of 69 residents took part in the study. The prevalence of skin tears was 11.6%. Skin tears were significantly associated with the presence of haematoma (odds ratio, OR=9.159; p=0.017) and actinic purpura (OR=6.265; p=0.033), which increased the odds of skin tear development nine-fold and six-fold, respectively.

Conclusion:

The findings agree with the international literature. Considering that this was the first epidemiological study on skin tears carried out in long-term care facilities for older adults in Brazil, its contribution lies in the systematisation of data collection and making data available on a field that has not yet been studied in this country.
Significant and rapid reduction of free endotoxin using a dialkylcarbamoyl chloride-coated wound dressing
Authors: Susilo Yusak Budi , Mattsby-Baltzer Inger , Arvidsson Anna , Husmark Johanna
Published: June 2022

Objective:

Endotoxin causes inflammation and can impair wound healing. Conventional methods that reduce bioburden in wounds by killing microorganisms using antibiotics, topical antimicrobials or antimicrobial dressings may induce endotoxin release from Gram-negative bacteria. Another approach is to reduce bioburden by adsorbing microorganisms, without killing them, using dialkylcarbamoyl chloride (DACC)-coated wound dressings. This study evaluated the endotoxin-binding ability of a DACC-coated wound dressing (Sorbact Compress, Abigo Medical AB, Sweden) in vitro, including its effect on the level of natural endotoxin released from Gram-negative bacteria.

Method:

Different concentrations of purified Pseudomonas aeruginosa endotoxin and a DACC-coated dressing were incubated at 37°C for various durations. After incubation, the dressing was removed and endotoxin concentration in the solution was quantified using a Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) assay. The DACC-coated dressing was also incubated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells for one hour at 37°C. After incubation, the dressing and bacterial cells were removed and shed endotoxin remaining in the solution was quantified.

Results:

Overnight incubation of the DACC-coated wound dressing with various concentrations of purified Pseudomonas aeruginosa endotoxin (96–11000 EU/ml) consistently and significantly reduced levels of free endotoxin by 93–99% (p<0.0001). A significant endotoxin reduction of 39% (p<0.001) was observed after five minutes. The DACC-coated dressing incubated with clinically relevant Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells also reduced shed endotoxin by >99.95% (p<0.0001).

Conclusion:

In this study, we showed that a DACC-coated wound dressing efficiently and rapidly binds both purified and shed endotoxin from Pseudomonas aeruginosa in vitro. This ability to remove both endotoxin and bacterial cells could promote the wound healing process.
Identification of mechanics-responsive osteocyte signature in osteoarthritis subchondral bone
Authors: Zhou Jun , He Zhiyi , Cui Jiarui , Liao Xiaoling , Cao Hui , Shibata Yo , Miyazaki Takashi , Zhang Jiaming
Published: June 2022

Aims

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common degenerative joint disease. The osteocyte transcriptome is highly relevant to osteocyte biology. This study aimed to explore the osteocyte transcriptome in subchondral bone affected by OA.

Methods

Gene expression profiles of OA subchondral bone were used to identify disease-relevant genes and signalling pathways. RNA-sequencing data of a bone loading model were used to identify the loading-responsive gene set. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was employed to develop the osteocyte mechanics-responsive gene signature.

Results

A group of 77 persistent genes that are highly relevant to extracellular matrix (ECM) biology and bone remodelling signalling were identified in OA subchondral lesions. A loading responsive gene set, including 446 principal genes, was highly enriched in OA medial tibial plateaus compared to lateral tibial plateaus. Of this gene set, a total of 223 genes were identified as the main contributors that were strongly associated with osteocyte functions and signalling pathways, such as ECM modelling, axon guidance, Hippo, Wnt, and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signalling pathways. We limited the loading-responsive genes obtained via the osteocyte transcriptome signature to identify a subgroup of genes that are highly relevant to osteocytes, as the mechanics-responsive osteocyte signature in OA. Based on WGCNA, we found that this signature was highly co-expressed and identified three clusters, including early, late, and persistently responsive genes.

Conclusion

In this study, we identified the mechanics-responsive osteocyte signature in OA-lesioned subchondral bone. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2022;11(6):362–370.
Back to ‘things themselves’: breaking the cycle of misrepresentation when serving African Canadian youth
Authors: Garang Kuir ë
Published: June 2022

Bureaucratic discourses informed by legacies of slavery and colonisation create traumatising experiences among African Canadian youth in social, educational and law-enforcement institutions in Canada. These discourses create the already-known-people paradigm and are then exacerbated by the effects of neoliberal policies and managerialist administrations to produce an unfortunate social condition in which system professionals discount what these youth say about experiential marginality and social injustice. This means that African Canadian youth end up being understood by system professionals from administrative discourses or from historical assumptions. Using phenomenology, I argue in this article that focusing on the experiences of these youth in time when assessing or making decisions about them may help to reduce stereotyping and stigmatisation, and to highlight normalised social injustices. Consequently, focusing on behaviour-in-time as opposed to behaviour-in-discourse may allow system professionals to operationalise administrative discourses without downplaying behaviour-in-time, which is important in service provision.
Improved PGC demodulation algorithm to eliminate modulation depth and intensity disturbance
Authors: Li Yangtaozi , Gao Hong , Zhao Liguo , Fu Zhipeng , Zhang Juan , Li Zhen , Qiao Xueguang
Published: June 2022

In this paper, an improved phase generated carrier (PGC) demodulation algorithm based on frequency mixing and division difference is proposed. The effects of phase modulation depth variation and light intensity disturbance of the light source on the demodulated phase signal are investigated theoretically and experimentally. Compared to the traditional PGC differential-cross-multiplying (PGC-DCM) and PGC arctangent (PGC-Arctan) demodulation algorithms, the ameliorated demodulation algorithm eliminates the harmonic distortion of the demodulated signal by extracting the carrier modulation depth through frequency mixing. The demodulation error caused by the light intensity disturbance of the light source is suppressed by division difference. The stability of the demodulation system is improved. To verify the algorithm, a PGC demodulation system is built based on a Michelson interferometer. The experimental results show that when the frequency and amplitude of the sensed signal are set to 1 kHz and 0.4 rad, respectively, the signal-to-noise ratio with the proposed algorithm achieves a gain of 35.66 dB over the PGC-Arctan algorithm and 26.26 dB over the PGC-DCM algorithm.
Experimental demonstration of 16QAM/QPSK OFDM-NOMA VLC with LDPC codes and analog pre-equalization
Authors: Cai Yuxin , Chen Ming , Deng Aitao , Wang Dengqiao , Wang Ling , Gao Xu , Zhou Jie , Liu Yi , Xiang Changqing
Published: June 2022

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) via power domain multiplexing is widely deployed in bandwidth-limited light-emitting-diode-based visible-light-communication (VLC) systems due to its excellent spectral efficiency. However, quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) or even lower-order modulation formats are dominant; therefore, the spectral efficiency can be further improved with the higher-order quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) modulation. Besides, error propagation (EP) deteriorates the system performance of lower power users during demodulation with imperfect successive interference cancellation. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate a low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes-enabled 16QAM/QPSK modulation scheme for the orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing-based NOMA-VLC transmission system. Moreover, the analog pre-equalization technique is employed to enhance the modulation bandwidth. The experimental results exhibit that the EP can be significantly mitigated, and the bit error rate performance of lower power users can be improved by up to about 2 orders of magnitude by using LDPC codes and an analog pre-equalization technique.
Investigation of different wavelengths for scattering-based light sheet microscopy
Authors: Zhao Jingwei , Kulkarni Nachiket , Dobo Erika , Khan Michelle J. , Yang Eric , Kang Dongkyun
Published: June 2022

Scattering-based light sheet microscopy (sLSM) is a microscopy technique that can visualize cellular morphologic details based on the scattering signal. While sLSM was previously shown to image animal tissues ex vivo at a cellular resolution, the wavelength used was chosen based on other in vivo microscopy technologies rather than through a comparison of the sLSM imaging performance between different wavelengths. In this paper, we report the development of a multi-wavelength sLSM setup that facilitates the investigation of different wavelengths for sLSM imaging. Preliminary results of imaging human anal tissues ex vivo showed that the sLSM setup allowed for comparisons of the cellular imaging performance at the same tissue location between different wavelengths. Both the quantitative analysis of the image contrast and the visual assessment by a pathologist showed that the imaging depth increased with wavelength, and the imaging depth increase was most notable around 600 nm. The preliminary results showed that the multi-wavelength sLSM setup could be useful in identifying the optimal wavelength for the specific tissue type.
Random motion blur for optical image encryption
Authors: Ji Yu , Liu Zhengjun , Liu Shutian
Published: June 2022

We present a compact optical encryption scheme by using a continuous-random-motion blurring model in an optical imaging system. Image encryption is performed by additive motion blur effects with continuous and random shifts of a camera. Real-time random phase modulation can be achieved without the use of random phase mask. Storage of the key is more convenient, which only requires parameters of motion. In addition, modulation characteristics are different from the traditional encryption schemes. On the premise of high security, modulation space is broadened, and flexibility of encryption is further improved. Simulations and experiments verify the validity of the motion blur-based crypto-system and demonstrate its security under several attacks. This novel method will be significant for the practical applications in the field of optical information security.
An end-to-end laser-induced damage change detection approach for optical elements via siamese network and multi-layer perceptrons
Authors: Kou Jingwei , Zhan Tao , Wang Li , Xie Yu , Zhang Yihui , Zhou Deyun , Gong Maoguo
Published: June 2022

With the presence of complex background noise, parasitic light, and dust attachment, it is still a challenging issue to perform high-precision laser-induced damage change detection of optical elements in the captured optical images. For resolving this problem, this paper presents an end-to-end damage change detection model based on siamese network and multi-layer perceptrons (SiamMLP). Firstly, representative features of bi-temporal damage images are efficiently extracted by the cascaded multi-layer perceptron modules in the siamese network. After that, the extracted features are concatenated and then classified into changed and unchanged classes. Due to its concise architecture and strong feature representation ability, the proposed method obtains excellent damage change detection results efficiently and effectively. To address the unbalanced distribution of hard and easy samples, a novel metric called hard metric is introduced in this paper for quantitatively evaluating the classification difficulty degree of the samples. The hard metric assigns a classification difficulty for each individual sample to precisely adjust the loss assigned to the sample. In the training stage, a novel hard loss is presented to train the proposed model. Cooperating with the hard metric, the hard loss can up-weight the loss of hard samples and down-weight the loss of easy samples, which results in a more powerful online hard sample mining ability of the proposed model. The experimental results on two real datasets validate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method.
Iterative phase retrieval with a sensor mask
Authors: Song Li , Lam Edmund Y.
Published: June 2022

As an important inverse imaging problem in diffraction optics, Fourier phase retrieval aims at estimating the latent image of the target object only from the magnitude of its Fourier measurement. Although in real applications alternating methods are widely-used for Fourier phase retrieval considering the constraints in the object and Fourier domains, they need a lot of initial guesses and iterations to achieve reasonable results. In this paper, we show that a proper sensor mask directly attached to the Fourier magnitude can improve the efficiency of the iterative phase retrieval algorithms, such as alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). Furthermore, we refer to the learning-based method to determine the sensor mask according to the Fourier measurement, and unrolled ADMM is used for phase retrieval. Numerical results show that our method outperforms other existing methods for the Fourier phase retrieval problem.
Simple security proof of coherent-one-way quantum key distribution
Authors: Gao Rui-Qi , Xie Yuan-Mei , Gu Jie , Liu Wen-Bo , Weng Chen-Xun , Li Bing-Hong , Yin Hua-Lei , Chen Zeng-Bing
Published: June 2022

Coherent-one-way quantum key distribution (COW-QKD), which requires a simple experimental setup and has the ability to withstand photon-number-splitting attacks, has been not only experimentally implemented but also commercially applied. However, recent studies have shown that the current COW-QKD system is insecure and can only distribute secret keys safely within 20 km of the optical fiber length. In this study, we propose a practical implementation of COW-QKD by adding a two-pulse vacuum state as a new decoy sequence. This proposal maintains the original experimental setup as well as the simplicity of its implementation. Utilizing detailed observations on the monitoring line to provide an analytical upper bound on the phase error rate, we provide a high-performance COW-QKD asymptotically secure against coherent attacks. This ensures the availability of COW-QKD within 100 km and establishes theoretical foundations for further applications.
Parametric hologram optimization for enhanced underwater wireless optical communication
Authors: Nie Jiewen , Tian Lei , Zhang Feng , Li Xiaobo , Yang Haining
Published: June 2022

The performance of the underwater optical communication (UWOC) systems was primarily limited by the low optical transmission efficiency due to the beam divergence and water interference. It has been proved in our previous works that holographic beam shaping can effectively increase the optical transmission efficiency and therefore the communication distances and speed. The conventional hologram optimisation method treated each pixel as an independent variable, leading to a large search space and a slow process. In this work, we proposed to use a small set of parameters to describe the beam shaping holograms that were able to limit the beam divergence and compensate for the wavefront distortion. This significantly reduced the number of variables to be optimised and enabled the optimisation to be more efficient and effective. In a proof-of-concept experiment based on the off-the-shelf components, the proposed method was able to generate the optimal hologram within 20 iterations while achieving a tenfold increase in the optical transmission efficiency for a 30 m link at 100 Mbps.
Broadband nonreciprocal spoof plasmonic phase shifter based on transverse Faraday effects
Authors: Yan Hao , Jing Liqiao , Zhao Jia , Niu Chuanning , Zhang Yujie , Du Liuge , Wang Zuojia
Published: June 2022

Spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) have aroused widespread concern due to their strong ability in field confinement at low frequencies. For miniaturized integrated circuits, there is a pressing need for nonreciprocal spoof plasmonic platforms that provide diode functionalities. In this letter, we report the realization of nonreciprocal phase shifting in SSPPs using the transverse Faraday effect. A plasmonic coupled line is constructed by flipped stacking two corrugated metallic strips, in order to enhance the mode coupling between evanescent waves that carry opposite transverse spin angular momenta. With a transverse magnetized ferrite cladding, the SSPP mode is split into two circularly-polarized ones that show different propagation constants over a broad band. A nonreciprocal phase shifter compatible to standard microstrips is designed to validate the breaking of time-reversal symmetry in SSPPs. Microwave measurement demonstrates a differential phase shift up to 46.2°/cm from 12 GHz to 15 GHz. Owing to the advantages of strong field confinement and contactless ferrite integration, the proposed method enables an alternative pathway for nonreciprocal spoof interconnects.
Multi-prior underwater image restoration method via adaptive transmission
Authors: Ge WenYi , Lin Yi , Wang Zhitao , Yang Tongyu
Published: June 2022

Captured underwater images usually suffer from severe color cast and low contrast due to wavelength-dependent light absorption and scattering. These degradation issues affect the accuracy of target detection and visual understanding. The underwater image formation model is widely used to improve the visual quality of underwater images. Accurate transmission map and background light estimation are the keys to obtaining clear images. We develop a multi-priors underwater image restoration method with adaptive transmission (MUAT). Concretely, we first propose a calculation method of the dominant channel transmission to cope with pixel interference, which combines two priors of the difference between atmospheric light and pixel values and the difference between the red channel and the blue-green channel. Besides, the attenuation ratio between the superior and inferior channels is adaptively calculated with the background light to solve the color distortion and detail blur caused by the imaging distance. Ultimately, the global white balance method is introduced to solve the color distortion. Experiments on several underwater scene images show that our method obtains accurate transmission and yields better visual results than state-of-the-art methods.
Optimal nonlinear Stokes–Mueller polarimetry for multi-photon processes
Authors: Li Xiaobo , Liu Wei , Goudail François , Chen Shih-Chi
Published: June 2022

In this Letter, we present an optimization model for nonlinear
Stokes–Mueller polarimetry (SMP) to improve the precision in
estimating the nonlinear Mueller matrix (MM) for two- and three-photon
processes. Although nonlinear polarimeters can measure the
polarization properties of multi-photon processes or materials,
existing methods are suboptimal, leading to low measurement precision.
Based on the model and its solution, we have designed a new
measurement strategy to substantially reduce the estimation variance
of nonlinear MM coefficients by approximately 58.2% for
second-harmonic generation polarimetry and 78.7% for third-harmonic
generation polarimetry. The model and measurement method can be
directly applied to multi-photon processes to improve the precision of
SMP.
Ultra-high-sensitive biosensor based on SrTiO3 and two-dimensional materials: ellipsometric concepts
Authors: Chemerkouh Mohammad Javad Haji Najafi , Saadatmand Seyedeh Bita , Hamidi Seyedeh Mehri
Published: June 2022

We propose a new Kretschmann configuration-based SPR biosensor using the combination of SrTiO3 (STO) and two-dimensional (2D) materials. Using STO and single-layer graphene (SLG) enhanced the sensitivity by about 187% compared to conventional SPR biosensors in the angle interrogation method. This enhancement is related to the 44 nm of silver/13 nm of STO/SLG structure with a sensitivity of 333.2 °/RIU and conventional Ag-based SPR biosensor has a sensitivity of 116 °/RIU. Although the highest achieved sensitivity is 409 °/RIU for the 40 nm of Ag/14 nm of STO but for biosensor applications, 2D materials are needed to act as a Biomolecule Recognition Element (BRE). Furthermore, numerical modeling of ellipsometry integrated with the SPR technique is used, and it showed extraordinary enhancement in the overall performance of the proposed biosensor. Firstly, using Ψ can help to enhance the quality factor (QF) of the 2D materials-based SPR biosensor by more than 50%. Furthermore, using differential phase from numerical modeling of ellipsometry, by providing the extraordinary sensitivity of about 32140 °/RIU, improve the sensitivity more than 270-fold compared to conventional Ag-based SPR biosensors. These results show that our proposed structure and method will be beneficial in biomedical applications.
The lexical categorization model: A computational model of left ventral occipito-temporal cortex activation in visual word recognition
Authors: Gagl Benjamin , Richlan Fabio , Ludersdorfer Philipp , Sassenhagen Jona , Eisenhauer Susanne , Gregorova Klara , Fiebach Christian J.
Published: June 2022

To characterize the functional role of the left-ventral occipito-temporal cortex (lvOT) during reading in a quantitatively explicit and testable manner, we propose the lexical categorization model (LCM). The LCM assumes that lvOT optimizes linguistic processing by allowing fast meaning access when words are familiar and filtering out orthographic strings without meaning. The LCM successfully simulates benchmark results from functional brain imaging described in the literature. In a second evaluation, we empirically demonstrate that quantitative LCM simulations predict lvOT activation better than alternative models across three functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. We found that word-likeness, assumed as input into a lexical categorization process, is represented posteriorly to lvOT, whereas a dichotomous word/non-word output of the LCM could be localized to the downstream frontal brain regions. Finally, training the process of lexical categorization resulted in more efficient reading. In sum, we propose that word recognition in the ventral visual stream involves word-likeness extraction followed by lexical categorization before one can access word meaning.
SALARECON connects the Atlantic salmon genome to growth and feed efficiency
Authors: Zakhartsev Maksim , Rotnes Filip , Gulla Marie , Øyås Ove , van Dam Jesse C. J. , Suarez-Diez Maria , Grammes Fabian , Hafþórsson Róbert Anton , van Helvoirt Wout , Koehorst Jasper J. , Schaap Peter J. , Jin Yang , Mydland Liv Torunn , Gjuvsland Arne B. , Sandve Simen R. , Martins dos Santos Vitor A. P. , Vik Jon Olav
Published: June 2022

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is the most valuable farmed fish globally and there is much interest in optimizing its genetics and rearing conditions for growth and feed efficiency. Marine feed ingredients must be replaced to meet global demand, with challenges for fish health and sustainability. Metabolic models can address this by connecting genomes to metabolism, which converts nutrients in the feed to energy and biomass, but such models are currently not available for major aquaculture species such as salmon. We present SALARECON, a model focusing on energy, amino acid, and nucleotide metabolism that links the Atlantic salmon genome to metabolic fluxes and growth. It performs well in standardized tests and captures expected metabolic (in)capabilities. We show that it can explain observed hypoxic growth in terms of metabolic fluxes and apply it to aquaculture by simulating growth with commercial feed ingredients. Predicted limiting amino acids and feed efficiencies agree with data, and the model suggests that marine feed efficiency can be achieved by supplementing a few amino acids to plant- and insect-based feeds. SALARECON is a high-quality model that makes it possible to simulate Atlantic salmon metabolism and growth. It can be used to explain Atlantic salmon physiology and address key challenges in aquaculture such as development of sustainable feeds.
Inhibition of histone H3-H4 chaperone pathways rescues C. elegans sterility by H2B loss
Authors: Zhao Ruixue , Zhu Zhiwen , Geng Ruxu , Jiang Xuguang , Li Wei , Ou Guangshuo
Published: June 2022

Oncohistone mutations are crucial drivers for tumorigenesis, but how a living organism governs the loss-of-function oncohistone remains unclear. We generated a histone H2B triple knockout (3KO) strain in Caenorhabditis elegans, which decreased the embryonic H2B, disrupted cell divisions, and caused animal sterility. By performing genetic suppressor screens, we uncovered that mutations defective in the histone H3-H4 chaperone UNC-85 restored H2B 3KO fertility by decreasing chromatin H3-H4 levels. RNA interference of other H3-H4 chaperones or H3 or H4 histones also rescued H2B 3KO sterility. We showed that blocking H3-H4 chaperones recovered cell division in C. elegans carrying the oncohistone H2BE74K mutation that distorts the H2B-H4 interface and induces nucleosome instability. Our results indicate that reducing chromatin H3-H4 rescues the dysfunctional H2B in vivo and suggest that inhibiting H3-H4 chaperones may provide an effective therapeutic strategy for treating cancers resulting from loss-of-function H2B oncohistone.
Trends in cataract surgical treatment within the Brazilian national public health system over a 20-year period: Implications for Universal Eye Health as a global public health goal
Authors: Fernandes Arthur Gustavo , Ferraz Aline Nunes , Lemos Rafael da Silva , Watanabe Sung Eun Song , Berezovsky Adriana , Salomão Solange Rios
Published: June 2022

Cataract is a highly prevalent, treatable, and sight threatening condition considered one of the main focuses of public health policies addressing visual impairment and blindness towards Universal Eye Health. We aimed to investigate the trends on number of cataract surgical procedures performed through the Brazilian national health system (SUS) from 2000 to 2019 while also evaluating costs associated with it. The Brazilian Public Health System Information Database (DATASUS) was used as the primary data source for procedures including extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) and phacoemulsification. Trends along the years were evaluated through generalized linear models. A total of 8,424,521 cataract procedures were performed from 2000 to 2019, with a significant increase along the years from 228,145 in 2000 to 663,186 in 2019 (p<0.001), a cataract surgical procedure rate change from 13.15 to 32.28 procedures per 10,000 people. It was observed a significant increase on the number of phacoemulsification (p<0.001) and a significant decrease on the number of ECCE (p<0.001). A shift on the predominant technique has occurred between 2007 and 2008 with phacoemulsification increasing its percentual representativity from 34.3% to 69.7% of all procedures, reaching 96.1% in 2019. Phacoemulsification costs per procedure increased 30.5% from from USD$119.00 to USD$155.33 (p = 0.007) and the ECCE costs per procedure increased 29.1% from USD$78.57 to USD$101.43 (p = 0.001). There is an increasing trend of procedures related to cataract treatment performed through SUS along the 20-years period and a switch on the technique predominance from ECCE to phacoemulsification was observed after 2007. The costs associated with both techniques have increased but have not followed the country’s overall inflation. Data derived from DATASUS is important to understand the overall panorama of ocular health offered by the national health system and to provide information to guide healthcare leaders on management and planning of public health policies within the system.
Exploring health-seeking behavior for non-communicable chronic conditions in northern Bangladesh
Authors: Rasul Fatema Binte , Sarker Malabika , Yasmin Farzana , De Allegri Manuela
Published: June 2022

Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) account for 67% of total deaths in Bangladesh. However, the Bangladeshi health system is inadequately prepared to tackle NCDs. Evidence on NCD-specific health-seeking behavior can help appropriately address the needs of people affected by NCDs in Bangladesh. Our study aims to explore health-seeking behavior for people affected by NCDs in northern Bangladesh. We conducted a qualitative study in Mithapukur, Rangpur, during 2015–2016. We purposely selected respondents and carried out 25 in-depth interviews with individuals affected by non-communicable diseases and 21 healthcare providers. Additionally, we held six focus group discussions in the wider community. We verbatim transcribed all interviews and analyzed the content using thematic analysis, according to the following thematic areas: individual, household, and contextual factors that influence health-seeking behavior for NCDs within the context of the broader socio-economic environment. Study findings indicate that people seek care only when symptoms disrupt their daily lifestyle. Henceforth, people’s health beliefs, religious beliefs, and relations with local providers direct their actions, keeping provider accessibility, cost anticipation, and satisfying provider-encounters in mind. Health-seeking is predominantly delayed and fragmented. Semi-qualified providers represent a popular first choice. Gender roles dominate health-seeking behavior as women need their guardian’s permission to avail care. Our findings indicate the need to sensitize people about the importance of early health-seeking for NCDs, and continuing life-long NCD treatment. Our findings also highlight the need for people-centered care, making preventive and curative NCD services accessible at grassroots level, along with relevant provider training. Furthermore, special provisions, such as financial support and outreach programs are needed to enable access to NCD care for women and the poor.
The SWIS trial: Protocol of a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial of school based social work
Authors: Westlake David , Pallmann Philip , Lugg-Widger Fiona , Forrester Donald , Petrou Stavros , Daher Shahd , Adara Linda , Cook Laura , Munnery Kim , Bennett Verity , Smith Philip , White James
Published: June 2022

Background

Child and family social workers in the UK work closely with other agencies including schools and the police, and typically they are based in local authority offices. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of placing social workers in schools (SWIS) on the need for social care interventions. SWIS was piloted in three local authorities in 2018–2020, and findings from a feasibility study of the pilots suggests SWIS may operate through three key pathways: (1) by enhancing schools’ response to safeguarding issues, (2) through increased collaboration between social workers, school staff, and parents, and (3) by improving relationships between social workers and young people.

Methods

The study is a two-arm pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial building on three feasibility studies which found SWIS to be promising. Social workers will work within secondary schools across local authorities in England. 280 mainstream secondary schools will be randomly allocated with a 1:1 ratio to SWIS or a comparison arm, which will be schools that continue as normal, without a social worker. The primary outcome will be the rate of Child Protection (Section 47) enquiries. Secondary outcomes will comprise rate of referrals to children’s social care, rate of Child in Need (Section 17) assessments, days spent in care, and educational attendance and attainment. The study also includes an economic evaluation, and an implementation and process evaluation. Social care outcomes will be measured in July 2022, and educational outcomes will be measured in July 2023. Days in care will be measured at both time points.

Discussion

Findings will explore the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of SWIS on the need for social care interventions. A final report will be published in January 2024.

Trial registration

The study was registered retrospectively with the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number registry on 13.11.2020 (ISRCTN90922032).
Chronic kidney disease in cancer patients, the analysis of a large oncology database from Eastern Europe
Authors: Ciorcan Mircea , Chisavu Lazar , Mihaescu Adelina , Gadalean Florica , Bob Flaviu Raul , Negru Serban , Schiller Oana Marina , Grosu Iulia Dana , Marc Luciana , Chisavu Flavia , Dragota Pascota Razvan , Apostol Adrian , Ivan Viviana , Schiller Adalbert
Published: June 2022

Introduction

Kidney dysfunction is prevalent in oncology patients and has an impact on their treatment and quality of life. The aim of our study was to analyze the prevalence of CKD in a large cohort of several types of cancer patients in an East European Region.

Material and methods

We conducted an observational retrospective cohort study on 5831 consecutive, biopsy-diagnosed cancer patients between January 2019 –December 2020 in the largest oncology hospital and outpatient clinic in Western Romania. 4342 subjects were included in the statistical analysis.

Results and discussion

From the 24 cancer types, the most prevalent cancers were represented by: breast (22.02%), lung (10.18%) and colonic cancer (9.51%). The prevalence of CKD (G3 –G5) was 12.27% after the first year of follow-up and 13.42 after the second year. The prevalence of CKD was higher in patients with renal (50%), urinary tract (33.6%) and pancreatic cancers (19.6%) and lower in patients with colonic cancers (5.3%) and brain tumors (2.5%). At the end of our 2-year survey period, 0,7% of the CKD cases had an eGFR around 6 ml/min/1.73m2 –an indication for renal replacement therapy.

Conclusion

Oncology patients have a significantly higher prevalence of CKD compared to the general population, dependent of the age of the patients and the type of cancer. The prevalence of advanced CKD was surprisingly high (stages G4-G5 Pre-Dialysis 22.15%) one third of the CKD- G5 patients having indication for initiation of renal replacement therapy. An onco- nephrology team should be needed for the best medical care of these patients.
Anatomy Nights: An international public engagement event increases audience knowledge of brain anatomy
Authors: Sanders Katherine A. , Philp Janet A. C. , Jordan Crispin Y. , Cale Andrew S. , Cunningham Claire L. , Organ Jason M.
Published: June 2022

Anatomy Nights is an international public engagement event created to bring anatomy and anatomists back to public spaces with the goal of increasing the public’s understanding of their own anatomy by comparison with non-human tissues. The event consists of a 30-minute mini-lecture on the anatomy of a specific anatomical organ followed by a dissection of animal tissues to demonstrate the same organ anatomy. Before and after the lecture and dissection, participants complete research surveys designed to assess prior knowledge and knowledge gained as a result of participation in the event, respectively. This study reports the results of Anatomy Nights brain events held at four different venues in the UK and USA in 2018 and 2019. Two general questions were asked of the data: 1) Do participant post-event test scores differ from pre-event scores; and 2) Are there differences in participant scores based on location, educational background, and career. We addressed these questions using a combination of generalized linear models (R’s glm function; R version 4.1.0 [R Core Team, 2014]) that assumed a binomial distribution and implemented a logit link function, as well as likelihood estimates to compare models. Survey data from 91 participants indicate that scores improve on post-event tests compared to pre-event tests, and these results hold irrespective of location, educational background, and career. In the pre-event tests, participants performed well on naming structures with an English name (frontal lobe and brainstem), and showed signs of improvement on other anatomical names in the post-test. Despite this improvement in knowledge, we found no evidence that participation in Anatomy Nights improved participants’ ability to apply this knowledge to neuroanatomical contexts (e.g., stroke).
Mapping global kimberlite potential from reconstructions of mantle flow over the past billion years
Authors: Grabreck Anton , Flament Nicolas , Bodur Ömer F.
Published: June 2022

Kimberlites are the primary source of economic grade diamonds. Their geologically rapid eruptions preferentially occur near or through thick and ancient continental lithosphere. Studies combining tomographic models with tectonic reconstructions and kimberlite emplacement ages and locations have revealed spatial correlations between large low shear velocity provinces in the lowermost mantle and reconstructed global kimberlite eruption locations over the last 320 Myr. These spatial correlations assume that the lowermost mantle structure has not changed over time, which is at odds with mantle flow models that show basal thermochemical structures to be mobile features shaped by cold sinking oceanic lithosphere. Here we investigate the match to the global kimberlite record of stationary seismically slow basal mantle structures (as imaged through tomographic modelling) and mobile hot basal structures (as predicted by reconstructions of mantle flow over the past billion years). We refer to these structures as “basal mantle structures” and consider their intersection with reconstructed thick or ancient lithosphere to represent areas with a high potential for past eruptions of kimberlites, and therefore areas of potential interest for diamond exploration. We use the distance between reconstructed kimberlite eruption locations and kimberlite potential maps as an indicator of model success, and we find that mobile lowermost mantle structures are as close to reconstructed kimberlites as stationary ones. Additionally, we find that mobile lowermost mantle structures better fit major kimberlitic events, such as the South African kimberlite bloom around 100 Ma. Mobile basal structures are therefore consistent with both solid Earth dynamics and with the kimberlite record.
Personalized care planning and shared decision making in collaborative care programs for depression and anxiety disorders: A systematic review
Authors: Menear Matthew , Girard Ariane , Dugas Michèle , Gervais Michel , Gilbert Michel , Gagnon Marie-Pierre
Published: June 2022

Background

Collaborative care is an evidence-based approach to improving outcomes for common mental disorders in primary care. Efforts are underway to broadly implement the collaborative care model, yet the extent to which this model promotes person-centered mental health care has been little studied. The aim of this study was to describe practices related to two patient and family engagement strategies–personalized care planning and shared decision making–within collaborative care programs for depression and anxiety disorders in primary care.

Methods

We conducted an update of a 2012 Cochrane review, which involved searches in Cochrane CCDAN and CINAHL databases, complemented by additional database, trial registry, and cluster searches. We included programs evaluated in a clinical trials targeting adults or youth diagnosed with depressive or anxiety disorders, as well as sibling reports related to these trials. Pairs of reviewers working independently selected the studies and data extraction for engagement strategies was guided by a codebook. We used narrative synthesis to report on findings.

Results

In total, 150 collaborative care programs were analyzed. The synthesis showed that personalized care planning or shared decision making were practiced in fewer than half of programs. Practices related to personalized care planning, and to a lesser extent shared decision making, involved multiple members of the collaborative care team, with care managers playing a pivotal role in supporting patient and family engagement. Opportunities for quality improvement were identified, including fostering greater patient involvement in collaborative goal setting and integrating training and decision aids to promote shared decision making.

Conclusion

This review suggests that personalized care planning and shared decision making could be more fully integrated within collaborative care programs for depression and anxiety disorders. Their absence in some programs is a missed opportunity to spread person-centered mental health practices in primary care.
Using stable isotopes analysis to understand ontogenetic trophic variations of the scalloped hammerhead shark at the Galapagos Marine Reserve
Authors: Cerutti-Pereyra Florencia , Salinas-De-León Pelayo , Arnés-Urgellés Camila , Suarez-Moncada Jennifer , Espinoza Eduardo , Vaca Leandro , Páez-Rosas Diego
Published: June 2022

Changes in life-history requirements drive trophic variations, particularly in large marine predators. The life history of many shark species is still poorly known and understanding their dietary ontogeny is a challenging task, especially for highly migratory species. Stable isotope analysis has proven as a useful method for examining the foraging strategies of sharks and other marine predators. We assessed the foraging strategies and ontogenetic changes of scalloped hammerhead sharks,Sphyrna lewini, at Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR), by analysing δ13C and δ15N signatures in different maturity stages. Our isotopic results suggest ontogenetic shifts in resource use between sub-adult and adult stages, but not between adult and juvenile stages. Carbon isotopic signatures found in the juvenile stage were enriched in contrast to sub-adults (~0.73‰) suggesting a combination of the maternal input and the use of coastal resources around the Galapagos Islands. Adult female sharks also showed enrichment in δ13C (~0.53‰) in comparison to sub-adult stages that suggest feeding in high primary productivity areas, such as the GMR. This study improves the understanding of the trophic ecology and ontogenetic changes of a highly migratory shark that moves across the protected and unprotected waters of the Eastern Tropical Pacific.
Humoral response to mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with humoral immunodeficiency disease
Authors: Bitzenhofer Michaela , Suter-Riniker Franziska , Moor Matthias B. , Sidler Daniel , Horn Michael P. , Gschwend Anna , Staehelin Cornelia , Rauch Andri , Helbling Arthur , Jörg Lukas
Published: June 2022

Objectives

Although mRNA-based vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 induce a robust immune response and prevent infections and hospitalizations, there are limited data on the antibody response in individuals with humoral immunodeficiency. The aim of this study was to evaluate the humoral immune response after two vaccine doses with BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 in patients with humoral immunodeficiency disease.

Methods

This cross-sectional study assessed 39 individuals with hypogammaglobulinemia under immunoglobulin replacement therapy. IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike protein antibodies (anti-S) were measured 4 weeks to 4 months after two doses of an mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. The proportion of patients, who developed a humoral immune response to the spike protein were evaluated and compared to 19 healthy controls.

Results

After vaccination with two vaccine doses, 26/39 patients (66.7%) with humoral immunodeficiency disease and all healthy controls developed anti-S. In subjects with baseline IgG <3 g/l, only 1/5 (20%) showed a humoral immune response. 10 out of 26 with CVID (38.5%) and 7/9 under immunosuppressive drugs (77.8%) developed no immune response (13 subjects with no response) compared to 0/19 in healthy controls. Subgroup analysis in patients without immunosuppressive drugs revealed lower anti-S in patients with moderate to severe humoral immunodeficiency disease: baseline IgG <3 g/l: 12.0 AU/ml (95%CI 12.0–125.0), baseline IgG 3–5 g/l: 99.9 AU/ml (95%CI 14.4–400.0), baseline IgG >5 g/l: 151.5 AU/ml (95%CI 109.0–400.0), healthy controls 250.0 AU/ml (95%CI 209.0–358.0), p = 0.007.

Conclusion

In most patients with mild to moderate humoral immunodeficiency we found only slightly lower anti-S antibodies compared with healthy controls after two vaccine doses with BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273. However, in patients with a decreased baseline IgG below 3 g/l and/or under immunosuppressive drugs, we found severely impaired humoral immune responses.
Cumulative semantic interference is blind to morphological complexity and originates at the conceptual level
Authors: Döring Anna-Lisa , Abdel Rahman Rasha , Zwitserlood Pienie , Lorenz Antje
Published: June 2022

When naming a sequence of pictures of the same semantic category (e.g.,furniture), response latencies systematically increase with each named category member. This cumulative semantic interference effect has become a popular tool to investigate the cognitive architecture of language production. However, not all processes underlying the effect itself are fully understood, including the question where the effect originates from. While some researchers assume the interface of the conceptual and lexical level as its origin, others suggest the conceptual-semantic level. The latter assumption follows from the observation that cumulative effects, namely cumulative facilitation, can also be observed in purely conceptual-semantic tasks. Another unanswered question is whether cumulative interference is affected by the morphological complexity of the experimental targets. In two experiments with the same participants and the same material, we investigated both of these issues. Experiment 1, a continuous picture naming task, investigated whether morphologically complex nouns (e.g.,kitchen table) elicit identical levels of cumulative interference to morphologically simple nouns (e.g.,table). Our results show this to be the case, indicating that cumulative interference is unaffected by lexical information such as morphological complexity. In Experiment 2, participants classified the same target objects as either man-made or natural. As expected, we observed cumulative facilitation. A separate analysis showed that this facilitation effect can be predicted by the individuals’ effect sizes of cumulative interference, suggesting a strong functional link between the two effects. Our results thus point to a conceptual-semantic origin of cumulative semantic interference.