Category: Nevin Manimala

BMC Nurs. 2025 May 2;24(1):485. doi: 10.1186/s12912-025-03112-x.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Nurses, as the most critical and largest professional group providing care to children and families, play a crucial role in collaborating with the parents of hospitalized children. The foundation of nursing care is based on a family-centered approach, where families are actively involved in the care process. The provision of family-centered care in educational and medical centers requires skilled nurses with high self-efficacy. Nurses with high self-efficacy are believed to demonstrate high competence in collaborating with children, parents, and colleagues. Therefore, the present study examines the relationship between nurses’ professional self-efficacy and parents’ perceptions of family-centered care.

METHODS: The present descriptive-correlational study was conducted in 2024 at the Pediatric Specialty Center of Ardabil in northwest Iran. 200 nurses were selected using a census method, and 220 parents of hospitalized children were selected through stratified random sampling. Data were collected using two valid and reliable tools: the Professional Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Nurses, and the Perception of Family-Centered Care for Parents Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using independent t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression tests using SPSS version 24.

RESULTS: According to the results, 54% of the nurses and 78% of the parents reported their level of professional self-efficacy and perception of family-centered care as moderate, respectively. Statistical analysis has not revealed significant correlations between demographic variables professional self-efficacy and perception of family center care. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that professional self-efficacy and subscales were predictors of parents’ perception of family-centered care. The selected predictors accounted for 2.6% of the total variance in the perception of family-centered care (F = 2.79, P = 0.041).

CONCLUSIONS: The present study revealed a limited association between nurses’ professional self-efficacy and parents’ perceptions of family-centered care. Consequently, there is a clear imperative for nursing leadership to implement targeted interventions to bolster nurses’ self-efficacy. Specifically, organizing workshops designed to enhance nurses’ confidence and foster collaborative partnerships with parents is recommended. Such initiatives have the potential to significantly improve the delivery of high-quality nursing care to hospitalized children, ultimately optimizing patient outcomes and family satisfaction.

CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.

PMID:40316991 | DOI:10.1186/s12912-025-03112-x

BMC Nurs. 2025 May 2;24(1):489. doi: 10.1186/s12912-025-03125-6.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: This study examines the impact of non-care-related stressors and resilience factors on the mental health of caregivers for chronically ill and disabled children. It aims to identify the daily stressors and protective factors most relevant to caregiver well-being.

METHODS: A total of 202 caregivers (predominantly female, aged 25-59) participated in a survey measuring exposure to daily micro-stressors, such as household tasks and financial pressures, and macro-stressors, such as significant life events. Resilience factors, including social support and internal locus of control, were also assessed. Descriptive statistics and regression analyses explored the relationship between stressors, resilience factors, and psychological distress.

RESULTS: Micro-stressors were strongly associated with higher levels of psychological distress, underscoring the cumulative burden of frequent, daily stressors. In contrast, macro-stressors had no significant impact on distress, possibly due to their lower frequency or differences in perception. Resilience factors, particularly social support and internal locus of control, buffered against distress, demonstrating their protective role. Internal locus of control moderated the relationship between micro-stressors and distress, indicating that caregivers who felt greater personal control over their circumstances were better able to manage the negative effects of daily stressors.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the significant toll of daily micro-stressors on caregivers’ mental health and emphasize the important role of resilience factors in mitigating this burden. Strengthening caregivers’ social networks and fostering internal control beliefs could be key components of interventions designed to improve their well-being. These results suggest that supporting caregivers is essential not only to enhance their quality of life but also to sustain their caregiving roles. Further research should investigate the long-term effects of interventions targeting resilience and explore additional protective factors that may buffer against daily stressors in this vulnerable population. These findings have important implications for disability and rehabilitation services aiming to provide holistic caregiver support.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: DRKS00027465, 2022-01-04 (German Clinical Trials Register); NCT05418205, 2022-03-01 (ClinicalTrials.gov).

PMID:40316988 | DOI:10.1186/s12912-025-03125-6

BMC Public Health. 2025 May 2;25(1):1637. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-22786-1.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Early-life interventions are essential for improving public health since lifestyle behaviours are established already in childhood. Child healthcare (CHC) plays a crucial role in this context. The ‘Saga Stories in health talk’ (SSiHT) material includes a flipchart with colourful illustrations to facilitate CHC nurses’ routine health talks with parents and their children, and a hand-out material kit to support healthy lifestyle behaviours in the families. Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of the SSiHT intervention at the 5-year routine visit at CHC on parental self-efficacy (primary outcome) and children’s health-related behaviours (secondary outcomes). Implementation aspects for using the SSiHT material in routine practice for health talks at the 5-year visit were simultaneously evaluated.

METHODS: A hybrid type 1 effectiveness-implementation design was used to evaluate the intervention in six health regions across Sweden. A cluster-randomised controlled trial was conducted to evaluate effectiveness, where 40 CHC centres (98 nurses) were randomised into two arms: use the SSiHT material in routine care (intervention), or standard care (control). Parents (n = 698) of 5-year-olds were recruited. Outcome measures were assessed using digital questionnaires before the health talk (baseline), and two months later (follow-up). Linear mixed-effect models were used to contrast differences in outcomes between groups, in accordance with the study protocol. Acceptability, appropriateness, feasibility, fidelity, and adoption were evaluated using questionnaires and checklists to CHC nurses in the intervention group.

RESULTS: No statistically significant intervention effects were found on parental self-efficacy to promote healthy lifestyle behaviours in their children (-0.61 score on a scale 0-160; p = 0.56), nor children’s intake of vegetables, fruits/berries, and sweet drinks or screen time (p > 0.05 for all). However, CHC nurses overall reported that the SSiHT material was feasible and appropriate to use in the health talks with families, and they used it in 83% of their health talks.

CONCLUSION: Although the SSiHT material was well accepted by the CHC nurses, there was no intervention effect on parental self-efficacy (primary outcome) nor health-related behaviours in children when evaluated in Swedish CHC. This warrants further research to better understand how to effectively empower parents through CHC health talks.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registered 2 February 2022 at Clinicaltrials.gov NCT05237362; https://www.

CLINICALTRIALS: gov/study/NCT05237362 .

PMID:40316984 | DOI:10.1186/s12889-025-22786-1

Appl Radiat Isot. 2025 Apr 24;222:111859. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2025.111859. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The X-ray examination of the pelvis is one of the procedures with the highest radiation dose and the most common X-ray examination. For this reason, this study investigated whether the alternative posteroanterior (PA) projection can be used instead of the established anteroposterior (AP) projection to perform pelvic radiography in an erect position.

METHODS: The study was conducted in a clinical setting on 100 patients who were referred to erect pelvic radiography. The patients were randomly divided into two equal groups of 50; the first group was imaged in the AP projection, and the second group in the PA projection. Weight and height were measured for each patient, from which the body mass index was calculated. During imaging, the source-to-patient was measured, and the tube voltage, tube current and time product, Dose Area Product (DAP), source-to-image receptor distance, and primary field size were collated. Based on these data, the entrance surface dose (ESD) and the effective dose, as well as the dose to selected organs, were calculated. In addition to measured dosimetric values, image quality was also assessed by three experienced radiologists using ViewDEX 2.57 software.

RESULTS: No statistically significant differences were found between the AP and PA projection of erect pelvic radiography for DAP and ESD. On the other hand, a statistically significant difference of 51.5 % (p < 0.001) was found when comparing the effective dose. There were no statistically significant differences between the image quality of the radiographs taken in the PA in AP projection.

CONCLUSION: Based on the above results, we can conclude that PA projection should be the method of choice when performing an erect pelvic radiography due to a significant decrease in effective dose.

PMID:40315538 | DOI:10.1016/j.apradiso.2025.111859

Phys Rev Lett. 2025 Apr 18;134(15):150402. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.150402.

ABSTRACT

Steady-state quantum thermal machines are typically characterized by a continuous flow of heat between different reservoirs. However, at the level of discrete stochastic realizations, heat flow is unraveled as a series of abrupt quantum jumps, each representing an exchange of finite quanta with the environment. In this work, we present a framework that resolves the dynamics of quantum thermal machines into cycles classified as enginelike, coolinglike, or idle. We analyze the statistics of individual cycle types and their durations, enabling us to determine both the fraction of cycles useful for thermodynamic tasks and the average waiting time between cycles of a given type. Central to our analysis is the notion of intermittency, which captures the operational consistency of the machine by assessing the frequency and distribution of idle cycles. Our framework offers a novel approach to characterizing thermal machines, with significant relevance to experiments involving mesoscopic transport through quantum dots.

PMID:40315534 | DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.150402

Phys Rev Lett. 2025 Apr 18;134(15):151006. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.151006.

ABSTRACT

This Letter reports new results from the HAYSTAC experiment’s search for dark matter axions in our galactic halo. It represents the widest search to date that utilizes squeezing to realize subquantum limited noise. The new results cover 1.71 μeV of newly scanned parameter space in the mass ranges 17.28-18.44 μeV and 18.71-19.46 μeV. No statistically significant evidence of an axion signal was observed, excluding couplings |g_{γ}|≥2.75×|g_{γ}^{KSVZ}| and |g_{γ}|≥2.96×|g_{γ}^{KSVZ}| at the 90% confidence level over the respective region. By combining this data with previously published results using HAYSTAC’s squeezed state receiver, a total of 2.27 μeV of parameter space has now been scanned between 16.96-19.46 μeVμ eV, excluding |g_{γ}|≥2.86×|g_{γ}^{KSVZ}| at the 90% confidence level. These results demonstrate the squeezed state receiver’s ability to probe axion models over a significant mass range while achieving a scan rate enhancement relative to a quantum-limited experiment.

PMID:40315518 | DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.151006

Phys Rev Lett. 2025 Apr 18;134(15):151802. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.151802.

ABSTRACT

The PROSPECT experiment is designed to perform precise searches for antineutrino disappearance at short distances (7-9 m) from compact nuclear reactor cores. This Letter reports results from a new neutrino oscillation analysis performed using the complete data sample from the PROSPECT-I detector operated at the High Flux Isotope Reactor in 2018. The analysis uses a multiperiod selection of inverse beta decay neutrino interactions with reduced backgrounds and enhanced statistical power to set limits on electron neutrino disappearance caused by mixing with sterile neutrinos with 0.2-20 eV^{2} mass splittings. Inverse beta decay positron energy spectra from six different reactor-detector distance ranges are found to be statistically consistent with one another, as would be expected in the absence of sterile neutrino oscillations. The data excludes at 95% confidence level the existence of sterile neutrinos in regions above 3 eV^{2} previously unexplored by terrestrial experiments, including all space below 10 eV^{2} suggested by the recently strengthened Gallium Anomaly. The best-fit point of the Neutrino-4 reactor experiment’s claimed observation of short-baseline oscillation is ruled out at more than 5 standard deviations.

PMID:40315503 | DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.151802

Phys Rev Lett. 2025 Apr 18;134(15):157101. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.157101.

ABSTRACT

In nonequilibrium steady states of Markov jump processes, we derive exact fluctuation-response relations (FRRs) that express the covariance between any pair of currents in terms of static responses in a notably simple form, thus generalizing the fluctuation-dissipation theorem far from equilibrium. We begin by considering perturbations in the symmetric part of the rates. We demonstrate that FRRs imply a hierarchy of thermodynamic bounds. These hierarchies prove the recently conjectured response thermodynamic uncertainty relation, which bounds the ratio between any current’s response and its variance by the entropy production rate (EPR). We furthermore strengthen this bound in two distinct ways, using a partial EPR in one case and a pseudo-EPR in the other. For perturbations in the antisymmetric part of the rates, we show that the ratio between any current’s response and its variance is bounded by traffic, a metric representing the total number of transitions per unit time in the system. As an application, we use FRRs to explain the origin of positive correlations between currents in Coulomb-blockaded systems previously observed in experiments.

PMID:40315487 | DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.157101

Phys Rev Lett. 2025 Apr 18;134(15):158101. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.158101.

ABSTRACT

Lattice models are valuable tools to gain insight into the statistical physics of heteropolymers. We rigorously map the partition function of these models into a vacuum expectation value of a Z_{2} lattice gauge theory (LGT), with both fermionic and bosonic degrees of freedom. Because the associated path integral expression is not affected by a sign problem, it is amenable to Monte Carlo (MC) sampling in both the sequence and structure space, unlike conventional polymer field theory. At the same time, since the LGT encoding relies on qubits, it provides a framework for future efforts to capitalize on the development of quantum computing hardware. We discuss two illustrative applications of our formalism: first, we use it to characterize the thermodynamically stable sequences and structures of small heteropolymers consisting of two types of residues. Next, we assess its efficiency to sample ensembles of compact structures, finding that the MC decorrelation time scales only linearly with the chain length.

PMID:40315486 | DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.158101

Phys Rev Lett. 2025 Apr 18;134(15):151001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.151001.

ABSTRACT

It is widely established that a lower bound on the dark matter particle mass, m, can be obtained by demanding that the de Broglie wavelength in a given galaxy must be smaller than the virial radius of the galaxy, leading to m≳10^{-22} eV when applied to typical dwarf galaxies. This lower limit has never been derived precisely or rigorously. We use stellar kinematical data for the Milky Way satellite galaxy Leo II to self-consistently reconstruct a statistical ensemble of dark matter wave functions and corresponding density profiles. By comparison to a data-driven, model-independent reconstruction, and using a variant of the maximum mean discrepancy as a statistical measure, we determine that a self-consistent description of dark matter in the local Universe requires m>2.2×10^{-21} eV (CL>95%). This lower limit is free of any assumptions pertaining to cosmology, microphysics (including spin), or dynamics of dark matter, and only assumes that it is predominantly composed of a single bosonic particle species.

PMID:40315485 | DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.151001