bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Resident-to-resident aggression in Norwegian nursing homes: a cross-sectional exploratory study
Authors: Botngård Anja , Eide Arne Henning , Mosqueda Laura , Malmedal Wenche
Published: June 2020

Background

Resident-to-resident aggression in nursing homes is a public health problem of growing concern, impacting the safety, health and well-being of all residents involved. Despite this, little research has been conducted on its occurrence particularly in large-scale national studies. The aim of this study was to explore the extent and nature of resident-to-resident aggression in Norwegian nursing homes, as reported by nursing staff.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional exploratory study, where nursing staff in 100 randomly selected Norwegian nursing homes completed a pen and paper survey measuring how often they had observed incidents of resident-to-resident aggression during the past year. These rates were separated according to nursing home size, location and units of workplace.

Results

Of the 3693 nursing staff who participated (response rate 60.1%), 88.8% had observed one or more incidents of resident-to-resident aggression during the past year, with acts of verbal and physical aggression being the most commonly reported. Nursing staff working in dementia special care units, larger nursing homes and nursing homes located in suburban/urban municipalities, reported more incidents of resident-to-resident aggression than staff in short-term and long-term units, small institutions, and nursing homes located in rural municipalities.

Conclusions

This is the first national study of resident-to-resident aggression in Norwegian nursing homes and is one of the largest surveys worldwide exploring the extent and nature of resident-to-resident aggression in long-term care settings. Overall, we found a high occurrence of all types of aggression, suggesting a need for strategies to improve residents’ safety and quality of life in nursing homes.
The clinical relevance of early identification and treatment of sleep disorders in mental health care: protocol of a randomized control trial
Authors: ter Heege Fiona M. , Mijnster Teus , van Veen Maaike M. , Pijnenborg Gerdina H. M. , de Jong Peter J. , Boersma Gretha J. , Lancel Marike
Published: June 2020

Background

Sleep disorders are a risk factor for developing a variety of mental disorders, have a negative impact on their remission rates and increase the risk of relapse. Early identification and treatment of sleep disorders is therefore of paramount importance. Unfortunately, in mental health care sleep disorders are often poorly recognized and specific treatment frequently occurs late or not at all. This protocol-paper presents a randomized controlled trial investigating the clinical relevance of early detection and treatment of sleep disorders in mental health care. The two aims of this project are 1) to determine the prevalence of sleep disorders in different mental disorders, and 2) to investigate the contribution of early identification and adequate treatment of sleep disorders in individuals with mental disorders to their sleep, mental disorder symptoms, general functioning, and quality of life.

Methods

Patients newly referred to a Dutch mental health institute for psychiatric treatment will be screened for sleep disorders with the self-assessment Holland Sleep Disorders Questionnaire (HSDQ). Patients scoring above the cut-off criteria will be invited for additional diagnostic evaluation and, treatment of the respective sleep disorder. Participants will be randomly assigned to two groups: Immediate sleep diagnostics and intervention (TAU+SI-T0), or delayed start of sleep intervention (TAU+SI-T1; 6 months after inclusion). The effect of sleep treatment as add-on to treatment as usual (TAU) will be tested with regard to sleep disorder symptoms, general functioning, and quality of life (in collaboration with a psychiatric sleep centre).

Discussion

This trial will examine the prevalence of different sleep disorders in a broad range of mental disorders, providing information on the co-occurrence of specific sleep and mental disorders. Further, this study is the first to investigate the impact of early treatment of sleep disorders on the outcome of many mental disorders. Moreover, standard sleep interventions will be tailored to specific mental disorders, to increase their efficacy. The results of this trial may contribute considerably to the improvement of mental health care.

Trial registration

This clinical trial has been retrospectively registered in the Netherlands Trial Register (NL8389; https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/8389) on February 2th, 2020.
Disrupted brain network dynamics and cognitive functions in methamphetamine use disorder: insights from EEG microstates
Authors: Chen Tianzhen , Su Hang , Zhong Na , Tan Haoye , Li Xiaotong , Meng Yiran , Duan Chunmei , Zhang Congbin , Bao Juwang , Xu Ding , Song Weidong , Zou Jixue , Liu Tao , Zhan Qingqing , Jiang Haifeng , Zhao Min
Published: June 2020

Background

Dysfunction in brain network dynamics has been found to correlate with many psychiatric disorders. However, there is limited research regarding resting electroencephalogram (EEG) brain network and its association with cognitive process for patients with methamphetamine use disorder (MUD). This study aimed at using EEG microstate analysis to determine whether brain network dynamics in patients with MUD differ from those of healthy controls (HC).

Methods

A total of 55 MUD patients and 27 matched healthy controls were included for analysis. The resting brain activity was recorded by 64-channel electroencephalography. EEG microstate parameters and intracerebral current sources of each EEG microstate were compared between the two groups. Generalized linear regression model was used to explore the correlation between significant microstates with drug history and cognitive functions.

Results

MUD patients showed lower mean durations of the microstate classes A and B, and a higher global explained variance of the microstate class C. Besides, MUD patients presented with different current density power in microstates A, B, and C relative to the HC. The generalized linear model showed that MA use frequency is negatively correlated with the MMD of class A. Further, the generalized linear model showed that MA use frequency, scores of Two-back task, and the error rate of MA word are correlated with the MMD and GEV of class B, respectively.

Conclusions

Intracranial current source densities of resting EEG microstates are disrupted in MUD patients, hence causing temporal changes in microstate topographies, which are correlated with attention bias and history of drug use.
Accessibility of basic paediatric emergency care in Malawi: analysis of a national facility census
Authors: Johansson Emily White , Lindsjö Cecilia , Weiss Daniel J. , Nsona Humphreys , Selling Katarina Ekholm , Lufesi Norman , Hildenwall Helena
Published: June 2020

Background

Emergency care is among the weakest parts of health systems in low-income countries with both quality and accessibility constraints. Previous studies estimated accessibility to surgical or emergency care based on population travel times to nearest hospital with no assessment of hospital readiness to provide such care. We analysed a Malawi national facility census with comprehensive inventory audits and geocoded facility locations to identify hospitals equipped to provide basic paediatric emergency care with estimated travel times to these hospitals from non-equipped facilities and in relation to Malawi’s population distribution.

Methods

We analysed a Malawi national facility census in 2013–2014 to identify hospitals equipped to manage critically ill children according to an extended version of WHO Emergency Triage, Assessment and Treatment (ETAT) guidelines. These guidelines include 25 components including staff, transport, equipment, diagnostics, medications, fluids, feeds and consumables that defined an emergency-equipped hospital in our study. We estimated travel times to emergency-equipped hospitals from non-equipped facilities and relative to population distributions using geocoded facility locations and an established accessibility mapping approach using global road network datasets from OpenStreetMap and Google.

Results

Four (3.5, 95% CI: 1.3–8.9) of 116 Malawi hospitals were emergency-equipped. Least available items were nasogastric tubes in 34.5% of hospitals (95% CI: 26.4–43.6), blood typing services (40.4, 95% CI: 31.9–49.6), micro nebulizers (50.9, 95% CI: 41.9–60.0), and radiology (54.2, 95% CI: 45.1–63.0). Nationally, the median travel time from non-equipped facilities to the nearest emergency-equipped hospital was 73 min (95% CI: 67–77) ranging 1–507 min. Approximately one-quarter (27%) of Malawians lived over 120 min from an emergency-equipped hospital with significantly better accessibility in Central than North and South regions (16% vs. 38 and 35%, p < 0.001).

Conclusions

There are unacceptable deficiencies in accessibility of basic paediatric emergency care in Malawi. Reliable supply chains for essential drugs and commodities are needed, particularly nasogastric tubes, asthma drugs and blood, along with improved capacity for time-sensitive referral. Further child mortality reductions will require substantial investments to expand basic paediatric emergency care into all Malawi hospitals for better managing critically ill children at highest mortality risk.
A case of torsades de pointes induced by the third-generation EGFR-TKI, osimertinib combined with moxifloxacin
Authors: Bian Shuang , Tang Xiaomiao , Lei Wei
Published: June 2020

Background

Torsade de pointes (TdP) is a malignant arrhythmia that can be induced by QT internal prolongation due to a variety of factors. Here we report an elderly patient with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) had sudden TdP during hospitalization, which was caused by multiple factors such as osimertinib, moxifloxacin and patient self-factors.

Case presentation

An 85-year-old man with advanced NSCLC with brain andbone metastasis was initially treated with gefitinib targeted therapy. After 4 months treatment, the patient developed drug resistance and a second genetic testing revealed that the T790M mutation was positive. And the patient was then changed to targeted therapy with osimertinib, followed by adverse reactions of varying severity such as diarrhea, electrolyte imbalance, decreased cardiac function, leukopenia, and prolonged QTc interval. Six months after the administration of osimertinib, the patient was admitted to the hospital, chest CT showed the lesion progressed again, and during which hospital-acquired infection occurred. After concomitant use of moxifloxacin, the patient had sudden TdP, and finally died of this cardiac event.

Conclusions

It is suggested that clinicians need to identify patients with high risk factors of TdP, and consider comprehensively in concomitant medication to avoid such events to the greatest extent.
Fasting in diabetes treatment (FIT) trial: study protocol for a randomised, controlled, assessor-blinded intervention trial on the effects of intermittent use of a fasting-mimicking diet in patients with type 2 diabetes
Authors: van den Burg Elske L. , Schoonakker Marjolein P. , van Peet Petra G. , van den Akker-van Marle M. Elske. , Willems van Dijk Ko , Longo Valter D. , Lamb Hildo J. , Numans Mattijs E. , Pijl Hanno
Published: June 2020

Background

Caloric restriction is an effective way to treat Type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, chronic and severe restriction of food intake is difficult to sustain and is known to promote slower metabolism. Intermittent and frequent fasting can exert similar metabolic effects, but may be even more challenging for most patients. A fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) is low in calories, sugars and proteins, but includes relatively high levels of plant based complex carbohydrates and healthy fats. The metabolic effects of such a diet mimic the benefits of water-only fasting. The effects of a FMD applied periodically in T2D patients are still unknown. The Fasting In diabetes Treatment (FIT) trial was designed to determine the effect of intermittent use (5 consecutive days a month during a year) of a FMD in T2D patients on metabolic parameters and T2D medication use compared to usual care.

Methods

One hundred T2D patients from general practices in the Netherlands with a BMI ≥ 27 kg/m2, treated with lifestyle advice only or lifestyle advice plus metformin, will be randomised to receive the FMD plus usual care or usual care only. Primary outcomes are HbA1c and T2D medication dosage. Secondary outcomes are anthropometrics, blood pressure, plasma lipid profiles, quality of life, treatment satisfaction, metabolomics, microbiome composition, MRI data including cardiac function, fat distribution and ectopic fat storage, cost-effectiveness, and feasibility in clinical practice.

Discussion

This study will establish whether monthly 5-day cycles of a FMD during a year improve metabolic parameters and/or reduce the need for medication in T2D. Furthermore, additional health benefits and the feasibility in clinical practice will be measured and a cost-effectiveness evaluation will be performed.

Trial registration

The trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. Identifier: NCT03811587. Registered 21th of January, 2019; retrospectively registered.
An alternative for proteinase K-heat-sensitive protease from fungus Onygena corvina for biotechnology: cloning, engineering, expression, characterization and special application for protein sequencing
Authors: Skowron Piotr M. , Krefft Daria , Brodzik Robert , Kasperkiewicz Paulina , Drag Marcin , Koller Klaus-Peter
Published: June 2020

Background

A neutral, heat-sensitive serine protease (NHSSP) originating from the feather-degrading fungus Onygena corvina (O. corvina) was described and defined as an alkaline serine protease of the subtilisin type S8 family, exhibiting an enzymatic activity at neutral pH. Generally, broad specificity proteases, such as proteinase K or trypsin, have found numerous applications in research and biotechnology.

Results

We report the cloning and expression in the yeast PichiaPink™ system, as well as purification, and characterization of the NHSSP. Recombinant, His6-tagged NHSSP was efficiently expressed from an optimized, synthetic gene and purified using a simple protocol based on ammonium sulfate fractionation and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The enzyme shows atypical C-terminal processing, the coded preproprotein undergoes signal peptide removal and maturation through the clipping of a propeptide section and 10 amino acids (aa) from the C-terminus, including the His6-tag. The deletion variant has been constructed, devoid of the C-terminal ORF segment, thus eliminating the need for C-terminal processing. Both NHSSP variants exhibit very similar enzymatic characteristics. The purified enzymes were characterized to determine the optimal proteolytic conditions. We revealed that the mature NHSSP is reproducibly active over a wide pH range from neutral to mild acidic (pH of 5.0 to 8.5), with an optimum at pH 6.8, and at temperatures of 15 to 50 °C with an optimum at 38–42 °C. Interestingly, we demonstrated that the protease can be fully deactivated by a moderate increase in temperature of about 15 °C from the optimum to over 50 °C. The protease was partially sensitive to serine protease inhibitors, and not inhibited by chelating or reducing agents and detergents. SDS induced autolysis of NHSSP, which points to a high stimulation of its proteolytic activity.

Conclusions

The NHSSP was produced as a recombinant protein with high efficiency. Compared to proteinase K, the most common serine protease used, NHSSP shows an approx. twofold higher specific activity. Protein sequencing can be a valuable technical application for the protease. The protein coverage is significantly higher in comparison to trypsin and reaches about 84–100% for β-lactoglobulin (BLG), antibody (mAb) light and heavy chains. Furthermore, the option to perform digestions at neutral to slightly acidic pH-values down to pH 5.0 avoids modification of peptides, e.g. due to deamidation.
1H-31P home-built solid-state NMR probe with a scroll coil for 400-MHz NB magnet for biological lossy sample
Authors: Jeong Ji-Ho , Kim Minseon , Son Jinyoung , Kim Yongae
Published: June 2020

Phosphorus is one of the most important constituents of human biofilms, in particular lipid bilayer packing, phase transition (gel phase, physiological liquid crystal phase, ripple phase, non-biphasic), lipid head group orientation/mechanics, and pure lipid bilayers. Phosphorus observations in biofilms play an important role in the study of the interaction of many types of proteins and biofilms in the human body. The design and construction of a 1H-31P double resonance probe with a scroll coil for solid-state NMR experiment are introduced. For good efficiency at the relatively high frequency, minimal RF sample heating during the experiment with a lossy sample, and a wide range of tuning frequency, this probe adapted the low inductance of a scroll coil. The 31P NMR spectra obtained on the biological lossy sample were used to demonstrate the possibility for monitoring the protein dynamics on biomembrane mimetic system and phase change of phospholipid.
Fire and distance from unburned forest influence bird assemblages in Southern Andean Yungas of Northwest Argentina: a case study
Authors: Morales Adriana Marisel , Politi Natalia , Rivera Luis Osvaldo , Vivanco Constanza Guadalupe , Defossé Guillermo Emilio
Published: June 2020

Background

Wildfires affect vegetation structure, functions, and other attributes of forest ecosystems. Among these attributes, bird assemblages may be influenced by the distance from undisturbed to fire-disturbed forests. Information about this influence is essential for designing management plans aimed at conserving birds’ diversity in undisturbed forests, which contributes to their sustainability. In Northwest Argentina, timber extraction and man-caused fires threaten the sustainability of Southern Andean Yungas forests. In this region, we evaluated, in relation to a reference unburned forest, the effects of close and distant fire-disturbed patches on bird assemblages, exploring also relationships between burned and unburned forest structures on bird assemblages. On each site, we determined forest structural variables, and twice per year, from 2015 to 2017, we recorded birds seen or heard on every site, from dawn to 1000 hours, at 30 0.5 ha counting points.

Results

Abundance and richness of bird species were lower in the unburned reference site than in close- and distant-burned sites; the farther the distance of burned sites to the unburned site, the less similarity in bird assemblages. Bird assemblage abundance appeared to be associated with snag height and basal area. However, bird species in mature forests were present at all sites and outnumbered those typically found in forest edges, or secondary or disturbed forests.

Conclusions

Connected areas between unburned and burned forest patches provide habitat for birds living in both environments. Preventing forest fragmentation by reducing the number and size of wildfires, promoting selective timber logging, and banning post-fire snag removal will help promote suitable habitat for different bird assemblages and contribute to Yungas forests’ sustainability. This study is the first step toward understanding how fire-patch distances to unburned forests may affect bird assemblages in subtropical Southern Andean Yungas forests in South America and provide a basis for comparison with other subtropical ecosystems around the world.
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Real-World Data From India
Authors: Tejaswi V. , Lad Deepesh P. , Jindal Nishant , Prakash Gaurav , Malhotra Pankaj , Khadwal Alka , Jain Arihant , Sreedharanunni Sreejesh , Sachdeva Manupdesh Singh , Naseem Shano , Varma Neelam , Varma Subhash
Published: June 2020

PURPOSE

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is uncommon in India. There are limited studies on CLL from the Indian subcontinent.

METHODS

This was a prospective study (2011-2017) of consecutively diagnosed patients with CLL at a single center. The diagnosis, prognosis, treatment indication, response criteria, and adverse events were recorded as per International Workshop on Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia guidelines. Biosimilar rituximab dosing (375 mg/m2) was fixed for all cycles. Time to next treatment (TTNT) was defined as the time from front-line treatment initiation to next treatment or death from any cause. Overall survival (OS) was defined as the time from treatment initiation until death from any cause.

RESULTS

A total of 409 patients with CLL were enrolled over the study period. The median follow-up was 32 months (range, 2-135 months). The median age was 61 years, and 31.8% of patients with CLL were ≤ 55 years of age; 43.3% of patients had a cumulative illness rating scale score ≥ 3. Prognostic fluorescence in situ hybridization data were available in 53.3% of patients. Chlorambucil (94/180; 52.2%) and bendamustine + rituximab (BR; 57/180; 31.6%) were the most common regimens used up front. The overall response rates after front-line therapy were 74.4% and 91.2%, respectively. The TTNT was 33 months and not reached, respectively ( P = .001). Grade 3/4 neutropenia and infections were seen in 52.6% and 38.5% of patients receiving BR. The median OS was not reached in both regimens ( P = .25).

CONCLUSION

Indian patients with CLL are younger in chronological age but have higher morbidity burden. Treatment outcomes with biosimilar fixed-dose BR are comparable to those reported in the literature. Chlorambucil is still a valid option, given the economic burden of the disease and treatment.
“Abandoning This Sinking Ship America”: The Classical Bildungsroman, Minor Characters, and the Negative Dialectic of Race in Paul Beatty’s White Boy Shuffle
Authors: Ravela Christian
Published: June 2020

This article explores the way The White Boy Shuffle delinks American citizenship’s hold on Black political subjectivity. Through a narrative analysis of Shuffle’s protagonist and minor characters, the author argues that the novel forwards what cultural historian Nikhil Pal Singh calls the “negative dialectic of race.” At the level of the protagonist, Shuffle’s deliberate adherence to the conventions of the classical bildungsroman but failed achievement of its aesthetic-spiritual ideal of bildung leads to a breakdown of the dialectic that would reconcile Black history and social experience with American identity and citizenship. Yet, at the level of minor characters, Shuffle is less negating racial ideologies and more forwarding a global conceptualization of race. Specifically articulated through a series of non- Black or white minor characters, Shuffle offers alternative racial subjectivities to post–civil rights US racial common sense by highlighting racialized social and historical experiences beyond and below the horizon of the US nation-state as a reminder of the alternative global geographies of race. Ultimately, the novel both negates American citizenship as sufficient to the aspirations and desires of Black political life and reorients Black political subjectivity back to what Singh calls “Black worldliness.”
Contemporary African Art as a Paradox
Authors: Hassan Salah M.
Published: June 2020

The field of contemporary African and African diaspora art and culture is currently riddled by two paradoxes. First, in Africa and its diaspora, we are witnessing a burgeoning of creative energy and an increasing visibility of artists in the international arts arena. Yet, this energy and visibility has not been matched by a parallel regime of art criticism that lives up to the levels of their work. Second, we find a rising interest in exhibiting and collecting works by contemporary African and diaspora artists among Western museums as well as private and public collections. This growing interest, however, has been taking place within an extremely xenophobic environment of anti-immigration legislation, the closing of borders to the West, and a callous disregard for African and non-Western people’s lives. Hence, this essay addresses the need for an innovative framework that is capable of critically unpacking these paradoxes and that offers a critical analysis of contemporary African and African diaspora artistic and cultural production. In doing so, the author asserts the importance of movement, mobility, and transiency in addressing issues of contemporary African artistic and cultural production. This article focuses on the use of the term Afropolitan, which has made its way into African artistic and literary criticism as a crossover from the fashion and popular culture arenas. In thinking about the usefulness of “Afropolitanism,” the author revisits the notion of cosmopolitanism in relationship to the entanglement of Africa and the West and its reconfiguration at the intersection of modernity and postcoloniality.
Means And Seas
Authors: Zielinski Siegfried
Published: June 2020

In this article, the author examines the contrasting worldviews of specific philosophers, architects, and physicists in an attempt to identify a position that would represent a viable alternative to the concept of universalization. In the history of civilization, he asserts, almost all wars have been of a territorial nature. Territories tend toward uniformity and universalization. He contrasts this worldview with reflections on oceanic thinking, which perceives bodies of water such as the Mediterranean as mediators between continents as well as between opposing worldviews, connecting and dividing at the same time. The sea, however, does not connect in order to homogenize but rather creates distance as an important prerequisite for true communication, thus linking multiplicity in all its variety as a viable alternative to universalism. The author moves on to scrutinize the cosmopolitan attitude as a paradox that on the one hand is oriented to the particular individual and on the other hand to an imaginary world community, that is, the universal. Taking this notion further to consider today’s world that is saturated with the imaginary and symbolic power of the Internet, the author proposes that cosmopolitanism could be understood as an adequate expression for the technologically advanced world community by its capability to strike a balance between the individual and the world as a whole, on one side, and synthetic identity generated by culture and technology, on the other. Nevertheless, deviating from all of these worldviews, the author concludes with a short reflection, inspired by two films, on an alternative to cosmopolitanism that he calls cosmoethics, which employs ethics as the guiding principle of thought and action and commits to a practice that stays in close contact not only with real but also with diverse realities.
Beyond Multiple Modernities
Authors: Meier Prita
Published: June 2020

This article explores how an oceanic perspective challenges still pervasive ideas about the constitutive link between place and culture in the study of the arts of Africa. Taking the rich and diverse photographs of nineteenth-century coastal eastern Africa as a springboard, the author considers how portrait photography was not an expression of a local modernity, in the way the concept is narrated in established studies of the cultural dimensions of globalization, but was an expression of the in-between. This can be described as a form of cosmopolitanism or creolization, depending on one’s interpretive predilections, but, most important, it emphasizes that historical actors on the Swahili coast of eastern Africa did not worry about what was authentically local or indigenous in the making of modernity. In coastal eastern African port cities, the photograph became instantly popular in the 1860s, because it was linked to the traveling cultures of the port, giving new form to a very old desire to create aesthetic experiences of oceanic connectedness. Additionally, the portrait photograph allowed residents of the port to merge Swahili ideals of the cultured body, colonial codes of the body, and newly forming ideas about individual subjectivity. Ultimately, the author suggests that in such nonterritorial spaces as the Swahili port city, engaging the artifacts of faraway places is a carefully crafted tactic of translation, where technologies of modernity, such as photography, enable people simultaneously to sustain a sense of distance and closeness to others.
A single cell transcriptional atlas of early synovial joint development
Authors: Bian Qin , Cheng Yu-Hao , Wilson Jordan P. , Su Emily Y. , Kim Dong Won , Wang Hong , Yoo Sooyeon , Blackshaw Seth , Cahan Patrick
Published: June 2020

Synovial joint development begins with the formation of the interzone, a region of condensed mesenchymal cells at the site of the prospective joint. Recently, lineage-tracing strategies have revealed that Gdf5-lineage cells native to and from outside the interzone contribute to most, if not all, of the major joint components. However, there is limited knowledge of the specific transcriptional and signaling programs that regulate interzone formation and fate diversification of synovial joint constituents. To address this, we have performed single cell RNA-Seq analysis of 7329 synovial joint progenitor cells from the developing murine knee joint from E12.5 to E15.5. By using a combination of computational analytics, in situ hybridization and in vitro characterization of prospectively isolated populations, we have identified the transcriptional profiles of the major developmental paths for joint progenitors. Our freely available single cell transcriptional atlas will serve as a resource for the community to uncover transcriptional programs and cell interactions that regulate synovial joint development.
Psychological burden of quarantine in children and adolescents: A rapid systematic review and proposed solutions
Authors: Imran Nazish , Aamer Irum , Sharif Muhammad Imran , Bodla Zubair Hassan , Naveed Sadiq
Published: June 2020

As COVID-19 grips the world, many people are quarantined or isolated resulting in adverse consequences for the mental health of youth. This rapid review takes into account the impact of quarantine on mental health of children and adolescents, and proposes measures to improve psychological outcomes of isolation. Three electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, and ISI Web of Science were searched. Two independent reviewers performed title and abstract screening followed by full-text screening. This review article included 10 studies. The seven studies before onset of COVID 19 about psychological impact of quarantine in children have reported isolation, social exclusion stigma and fear among the children. The most common diagnoses were acute stress disorder, adjustment disorder, grief, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Three studies during the COVID-19 pandemic reported restlessness, irritability, anxiety, clinginess and inattention with increased screen time in children during quarantine. These adverse consequences can be tackled through carefully formulated multilevel interventions.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.5.3088

How to cite this:Imran N, Aamer I, Sharif MI, Bodla ZH, Naveed S. Psychological burden of quarantine in children and adolescents: A rapid systematic review and proposed solutions. Pak J Med Sci. 2020;36(5):1106-1116. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.5.3088

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Problems with treatment of COVID-19 (+) patientwith psychiatric disorder – a case report
Authors: Skoneczny Tomasz , Lebiecka Zofia , Kucharska - Mazur Jolanta , Samochowiec Jerzy
Published: June 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has put an unusual strain on medical staff across the globe. Psychiatric disorders and their effect on patients’ behavior turn the management of coronavirus disease into an even more of a challenging task. In this paper we present a case report of a COVID-19-positive patient suffering from organic mental disorders and alcohol dependence syndrome, thus shedding some light on a perspective of mental health professionals working in a psychiatric hospital setting, transformed into an infectious diseases unit designated solely to cover treatment of SARS-COV-2 infected patients with mental disorders, on problems and issues arising during provision of immediate healthcare in psychiatry departments in today’s pandemic-stricken world. We believe that our experience from such an endeavor could prove invaluable for other mental health specialists and therefore sharing it seems especially timely and valid.
An analysis of the Regency of Rejang Lebong government policy in procuring the sports facility
Authors: Nugroho Fadli , Suherman Wawan Sundawan , Nanda Fitri Agung
Published: June 2020

The Government Policy on the sports facility has been an important component in improving the achievement and the society interest toward the conduct of sports activities. With regards to the statement, the study aims at identifying the policy of the Regency of Rejang Lebong Government in terms of sports facility procurement. During the conduct of the study, the subjects that had been selected were: (1) the Head of the Regency of Rejang Lebong Youth and Sports Department, the Office of Culture, Tourism, Youth and Sports; (2) the Caretakers of the Regency of Rejang Lebong Indonesian National Sports Committee; (3) the Management of Rejang Lebong Sports Hall; (4) the Management of Munatirta Swimming Pool; (5) the Management of Outdoor Tennis Court; (6) the Management of the Indonesian Badminton Federation Indoor Badminton Court; and (7) the Management of Rejang Lebong Soccer Stadium. Then, the instruments that had been implemented in the conduct of the study consisted of: (1) document and archive study; (2) in-depth interview; and (3) observation on the procurement of the sports facility by the Regency of Rejang Lebong Government. As a result, automatically the nature of the study is descriptive qualitative research. Then, the results of the study show that the procurement of the sports facility, which covers planning, utilization and evaluation, has not been maximized yet. In the same time, it is also found that the policy made by the Regency of Rejang Lebong Government should highlight the sports facility procurement in order to support the achievement and also the society aspiration in performing sports activities.
Calibration of Voting-Based Helpfulness Measurement for Online Reviews: An Iterative Bayesian Probability Approach
Authors: Guo Xunhua , Chen Guoqing , Wang Cong , Wei Qiang , Zhang Zunqiang
Published: June 2020

Voting mechanisms are widely adopted for evaluating the quality and credibility of user-generated content, such as online product reviews. For the reviews that do not receive sufficient votes, techniques and models are developed to automatically assess their helpfulness levels. Existing methods serving this purpose are mostly centered on feature analysis, ignoring the information conveyed in the frequencies and patterns of user votes. Consequently, the accuracy of helpfulness measurement is limited. Inspired by related findings from prediction theories and consumer behavior research, we propose a novel approach characterized by the technique of iterative Bayesian distribution estimation, aiming to more accurately measure the helpfulness levels of reviews used for training prediction models. Using synthetic data and a real-world data set involving 1.67 million reviews and 5.18 million votes from Amazon, a simulation experiment and a two-stage data experiment show that the proposed approach outperforms existing methods on accuracy measures. Moreover, an out-of-sample user study is conducted on Amazon Mechanical Turk. The results further illustrate the predictive power of the new approach. Practically, the research contributes to e-commerce by providing an enhanced method for exploiting the value of user-generated content. Academically, we contribute to the design science literature with a novel approach that may be adapted to a wide range of research topics, such as recommender systems and social media analytics.
Changing preceptorship to achieve better quality training and less attrition in newly qualified nurses
Authors: Barrett Renee
Published: June 2020

The preceptorship period is of great importance in the career of a nurse, as he or she moves from being a student to a competent, accountable professional. Problems with the current preceptorship system for preceptors include not receiving adequate training—particularly in providing constructive feedback to preceptees. In addition, when a small number of nurses are repeatedly assigned preceptees to mentor, this can lead to burnout. Preceptees can feel overwhelmed by their first months as a newly qualified nurse (NQN) and can feel unsupported if a preceptor's teaching style or personality is unsuited to them. This can lead to attrition in the nursing workforce, a current problem. This article suggests a new way of organising preceptorship, by allowing preceptors to opt in to the scheme, providing a pool of energised and enthusiastic preceptors. In turn, NQNs could initially work with the pool of nurses before being given the choice of which preceptor to work with individually.
Clinical negligence claims following the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Tingle John
Published: June 2020

John Tingle, Lecturer in Law, Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham, discusses how the Courts may view clinical negligence claims brought by families who have lost loved ones during the pandemic
Implementation of a hospice pain-education programme
Authors: Borders Joshua
Published: June 2020

Background:

No studies have explored the pain resource nurse curriculum in the hospice setting. This curriculum offers a structured method to teach pain management to nurses.

Aims:

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of implementing a modified pain resource nurse curriculum on nursing knowledge in a community hospice agency.

Methods:

A modified and condensed version of the pain resources nurse curriculum was presented to community hospice nurses during two educational sessions. A pre-test–post-test assessment was conducted using a modified version of the Nursing Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain tool to assess knowledge growth from the educational sessions.

Findings:

For educational session 1, average correct responses rose slightly from the pre-test to the post-test. However, this increase was not found to be statistically significant. For educational session 2, average correct responses rose an average of 2.6 points. This increase was found to be statistically significant.

Conclusions:

Based on this pre-experimental study, there is evidence that the pain resources nurse curriculum can provide an instructional framework for teaching hospice nurses. However, further study is needed, including a more rigorous design.
IJFP-2018-0015 - Robust Control Design for an Inlet Metering Velocity Control System of a Linear Hydraulic Actuator
Authors: Ali Hasan H , Fales Roger
Published: June 2020

In this paper, we consider a hydraulic system in which the velocity is controlled using an inlet-metered pump. The flow of the inlet-metered pump is controlled using an inlet metering valve that is placed upstream from a fixed displacement check valve pump. Placing the valve upstream from the pump reduces the energy losses across the valve. The multiplicative uncertainty associated with uncertain parameters in an inlet metering velocity control system is studied. Six parameters are considered in the uncertainty analysis. Four of the parameters are related to the valve dynamics which are the natural frequency, the damping ratio, the static gain, and the time delay. The other two parameters are the discharge coefficient and the fluid bulk modulus. Performance requirements for the system are described in the frequency domain. Frequency domain analysis is used to determine if the closed-loop velocity control system has robust performance. The time response of the nominal system with PID and H∞ controllers were found to be similar. The H∞ controller was found to have the advantages of robust performance when considering the parametric uncertainty while not requiring integral control as in the PID control system. The PID system did not achieve robust performance.
Zooming-in value-in-use through basic individual values
Authors: Stampacchia Paolo , Tregua Marco , Coppola Mariarosaria
Published: June 2020

To overcome the vagueness that Service-Dominant Logic (SDL) scholars have found in conceptualisations of value-in-use due to the existence of different denominations and perspectives, this conceptual paper analyses the SDL literature, finding both value-in-use proposed as a comprehensive
denomination, and resources, institutions, and time proposed as its main elements.
 Focusing on individuals as beneficiaries of value-in-use, the paper infuses the theory of basic individual values from social psychology in SDL, leading to three propositions that stress the ways
in which basic individual values affect individuals' perceptions of resources, institutions, and time. Therefore, basic individual values act as lenses through which beneficiaries perceive flows of resources, institutions, and the time during which use occurs, thereby clarifying why value-in-use
is always uniquely and phenomenologically determined by the beneficiary.
 This conceptual paper proposes basic individual values as micro-foundations of value co-creation, reveals ways to define the perceived value of resources, and leads practitioners to set value propositions according
to basic individual values.
Real-time infrared image detail enhancement based on fast guided image filter and plateau equalization
Authors: Chen Yaohong , Kang Jin U. , Zhang Gaopeng , Cao Jianzhong , Xie Qingsheng , Kwan Chiman
Published: June 2020

Image detail enhancement is critical to the performance of infrared imaging systems because the original images generally suffer from low contrast and a low signal-to-noise ratio. Although conventional decomposition-based methods have advantages in enhancing image details, they also have clear disadvantages, which include intensive computations, over-enhanced noise, and gradient reversal artifacts. In this paper, we propose to accelerate enhancement processing by using a fast guided filter and plateau equalization. Our method consists of image decomposition, base and detail layers processing, and projection of the enhanced image to an 8-bit dynamic range. Experimental results demonstrated that our proposed method achieves a good balance among detail enhancement performance, noise and gradient reversal artifacts suppression, and computational cost, with a frame rate around 30 fps for

640

×

512

infrared images.
Effects of different sterilization methods of herbal formula on phytochemical compounds and antibacterial activity against mastitis-causing bacteria
Authors: Harjanti Dian Wahyu , Wahyono Fajar , Ciptaningtyas Vincentia Rizke
Published: June 2020

Background and Aim: The current phytobiotic industry is struggling to determine a proper sterilization method for an herbal formula that comprises multiple plant extracts. Hence, this study aims to investigate the effects of two sterilization methods of herbal formula on phytochemical compounds and antibacterial activity against mastitis-causing bacterial isolates. Materials and Methods: The herbal formula comprised the extracts of Piper betle leaves, Curcuma domestica, and Curcuma zanthorriza. We applied two sterilization methods – sterilization using 0.45 μM syringe filter and sterilization using an autoclave at 121°C for 15 min. After sterilization, we measured phytochemical contents (phenol and flavonoid) of the herbal formula. Using the disk diffusion method, the antibacterial susceptibility test of the sterilized herbal formula against mastitis-causing bacterial isolates was conducted. Tetracycline, erythromycin, and penicillin – common antibiotics for mastitis therapy in dairy farms – were used as standard antibiotics. Results: Compared with autoclave sterilization, syringe filter sterilization resulted in less (p<0.05) phenolic and flavonoid contents. Against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, the filter sterilized herbal formula (E. coli: 65.9%-73%; S. aureus: 6.2%-18.1%) markedly reduced the antibacterial activity than the autoclave-sterilized herbal formula (E. coli: 2.1%- 3%; S. aureus: 4.5%-10.7%). Conclusion: This study establishes that autoclave sterilization of the herbal formula is the best sterilization method that exerts minimal adverse effects on the phytochemical compounds and could sustain the antibacterial efficacy against mastitis-causing bacteria. Hence, the herbal formula could be used as an alternative treatment for bovine mastitis.
KPI-tree modell fejlesztése predikciós eljárások alkalmazásával
Authors: Gáspár Sándor , Thalmeiner Gergő
Published: June 2020

A kontrolling fejlődése az elmúlt években a Big Data, mesterséges intelligencia, a különböző matematikai statisztikai módszertanok fejlődése és a digitalizáció által olyan modelleket hozott létre a menedzsment számára, amelyek hatékonyabb döntéshozást és tervezési folyamatot tettek lehetővé. A különböző predikciós, illetve ok-okozati kontrolling modellek a döntéshozáshoz szükséges információtartalmat nagymértékben növelték. Innovációs folyamatok által számos új, különböző operatív mérési lehetőség és adatszerzési forrás jelent meg. Ugyanakkor ezen adatok önmagukban nagyon kevésszer hordoznak információtartalmat. Összességében egy strukturált rendszerben, illetve modellben viszont olyan információhalmazzá válhatnak ezek az adatok, amelyek akár képesek egy teljes szervezet működési modelljének ok-okozati összefüggéseit elemezni és a különböző menedzsment funkciókat a tervezéstől egészen az ellenőrzésig támogatni.A KPI-tree egy olyan kontrolling modell, amelyet a legtöbb esetben az iparban tevékenykedő multinacionális szervezetek alkalmaznak, illetve fejlesztenek. A KPI-tree a különböző módokon megfogalmazott KPI mutatókat adott célok és korrelációk mentén csoportokba szervezi és egy egymásra épülő logikai felépítettség mellett rendszerezi. A különböző módokon mért KPI mutatószámokat mind a szakirodalom, mind pedig a vállalati gyakorlat határozza meg. A Big Data és az ipar 4.0 által generált adatok viszont az új KPI-ok megalkotására és a már meglévő KPI-ok akár percre pontos adatgyűjtésére is lehetőséget adnak. Ezen új KPI-ok lehetőséget adnak mind a napi szintű terv-tény összehasonlításra és az ezen alapuló objektív napi szintű elemzésre, illetve a különböző lean menedzsment és egyéb gazdálkodásszervezési módszer mérésére.A KPI-tree modellből nyert adatok felhasználásával és implementálásával a különböző predikciós modellek segítségével hatékonyan előrejelezhetővé válik a jövőbeli teljesítmény mértéke és a céltól való eltérése. Továbbá a különböző matematikai statisztikai módszerek és a fejlett Big Data elemző algoritmusok képesek előre jelezni a KPI-tree adataiból kinyerhető működési anomáliákat is.