Category: Nevin Manimala

J Water Health. 2021 Aug;19(4):671-681. doi: 10.2166/wh.2021.074.

ABSTRACT

Adequate hydration is an essential component of health at every stage of life. Although many factors such as age, gender, physical activity, drug use, and illness affect hydration status, it is vital to maintain water balance, especially in infectious diseases. This study was conducted to estimate the hydration status of young adults living in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic. The total water intake (TWI) and total water loss of the individuals were determined using the Water Balance Questionnaire (WBQ), which consists of questions about physical activity status, frequency of food and beverage consumption, water consumption, and water loss with urine and feces. The TWI of men and women was found to be 4,776.1 and 4,777.3 mL/day, respectively (p > 0.05). It was determined that 29% of the total water was obtained from drinking water, 49% from other beverages, and 22% from food. A positive net water balance was found in all body mass index (BMI) groups, men, and women. The net water balance was statistically lower in men (2,230.6 mL) than women (2,783.8 mL) (p < 0.05). As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, studies should be done on hydration status in the more balanced populations in terms of BMI and age groups.

PMID:34371502 | DOI:10.2166/wh.2021.074

Nurse Educ Pract. 2021 Jul 23;55:103164. doi: 10.1016/j.nepr.2021.103164. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: The number of online graduate nursing programs across the United States has increased to address a critical shortage of nurse educators. Web-based learning appeals to nurses returning to school as a means of gaining an education at their convenience. More schools are offering compressed courses to meet this demand. Although students have a preference toward shorter intensive online courses, it is unclear how that affects the quality of the learning experience such as student engagement. The study explored the effect of course length on the student learning experience in a graduate online nurse educator course.

DESIGN: Using the community of inquiry framework, this study examined the effect of course duration (8-week versus traditional 16-week timeframes) on student engagement, student perceptions of the learning experience and self-reported learning behaviors. Study participants were enrolled in an online graduate nurse educator program located in the northwest United States.

METHODS: Data were collected using a background information form, a course evaluation form and the Community of Inquiry Questionnaire which measured teaching presence, social presence and cognitive presence. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

RESULTS: High mean scores on the questionnaire showed that a community of inquiry was established regardless of course duration. However, there were differences in terms of the social and teaching presence subscales but not in the cognitive presence subscale suggesting that students in the traditional course were better able to establish the type of rapport with each other that increased comfort and engagement with peer interactions. Independent t-tests revealed statistically significant differences in perceptions of time to complete course activities. Students in the 16-week course were more likely to report that they had adequate time to complete course teachings, think critically about course content, complete course assignments and thoughtfully engage in course discussion and that they performed their best on assignments.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the traditional course duration over an intensive 8-week format because it allows for students to build a better rapport and greater student engagement with the course materials and peers. The study reinforces previous work on distance education noting social presence and connectedness as essential to optimal online learning. Using the community of inquiry framework and best-practice pedagogies for online education in the design and development of online courses can contribute to greater collaboration and deeper learning.

PMID:34371480 | DOI:10.1016/j.nepr.2021.103164

Aging (Albany NY). 2021 Aug 9;13(undefined). doi: 10.18632/aging.203374. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

To map the magnitudes and temporal trends of blindness and vision loss (BVL) due to common eye diseases along with its attributable risk factors at the national, regional, and global levels. The annual burden of BVL in 204 countries and territories was extracted from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) and causes composition change were calculated to quantify the temporal trends of BVL-related disease burden by sex, region, and eye disease. The global disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of BVL increased from 12.44 million in 1990 to 22.56 million in 2019, with a slightly decreased rate from 3.03 to 2.78 per 1000 population (EAPC = -0.30). About 29.6% of BVL-related DALYs worldwide were caused by cataract, followed by refraction disorders (29.1%), near vision loss (21.7%), other vision loss (13.7%), glaucoma (3.3%), and age-related macular degeneration (2.5%) in 2019. The age-standardized DALYs rates due to each eye disease type in most regions were decreased, especially in countries with high burden and high-middle socio-demographic index. Moreover, the contribution of smoking and air pollution from solid fuels to BVL burden decreased, however, the age-standardized burden of BVL attributed to high body-mass index and high fasting plasma glucose elevated gradually across almost all regions. The temporal trend of BVL burden due to specific eye diseases varies remarkably by region, sex and age. Understanding the real-time patterns of BVL burden is crucial for formulating more effective and targeted prevention and healthcare strategies to decrease the BVL burden.

PMID:34371482 | DOI:10.18632/aging.203374

Eur J Cancer. 2021 Aug 6;155:97-105. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2021.06.052. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: It is unknown whether persistent metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with an increased risk of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). Therefore, we investigated the risk of CCA according to changes in MetS status.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This nationwide cohort study included 8,581,407 adults who underwent anthropometric measurements and laboratory tests in two consecutive national health screenings during 2009-2012 and observed the subjects until 2017. Individuals with cancer, or follow-up duration <1 year were excluded (n = 377,915). Subjects were classified into the MetS-free, MetS-developed, MetS-improved, and MetS-persistent groups. The outcome was the incidence of CCA, identified using the claims database. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were used.

RESULTS: Among the 8,203,492 subjects (mean age 48.9 ± 12.8 years; 56.7% male), 7506 CCA patients were newly identified during a median follow-up of 5.1 years. The probability of CCA was consistently higher in the MetS-persistent group than in the MetS-free group (P < 0.001). MetS-persistent status was significantly associated with an increased risk of CCA compared with the MetS-free status (unadjusted hazard ratio [HR] 2.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.66-2.95), even after adjusting for multiple covariates (adjusted HR 1.07, 95% CI 1.01-1.13). Improved or newly developed MetS was not associated with CCA risk in the fully adjusted model (aHR 1.02, 95% CI 0.94-1.10 and aHR 0.99, 95% CI 0.92-1.06, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS: MetS was associated with an increased risk of CCA if it persisted for ≥2 years. Our finding suggests that MetS may be a potentially modifiable risk factor for CCA.

PMID:34371446 | DOI:10.1016/j.ejca.2021.06.052

J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2021 Aug 4;205:114304. doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2021.114304. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Fluorescence, especially laser induced fluorescence (LIF), is a powerful detection technique thanks to its specificity and high sensitivity. The use of fluorescence detection hyphenated to separation technique often requires the labeling of analytes with suitable fluorescent dye, such as FITC for the labeling of molecules presenting amino groups. Nevertheless, the labeling of analytes could be a tedious, time consuming and a non-robust step of the analytical workflow. In this context, the objective of the present work was to propose a robust and reliable FITC labeling process. Primary and secondary amino compounds (i.e. synthetic cathinones) were selected as model compounds because they are representative of a large proportion of pharmaceutical small molecules. Based on prior knowledge, DoE combined with multivariate statistical modeling was performed to optimize the process. Reaction time and pH of reaction buffer were highlighted as the most critical parameters to control the process. The study showed also the benefit of short reaction time to maximize the labeling efficiency. Indeed, optimal condition was defined as reaction time of 32 min with ratio between FITC and analytes of 40.4 and the buffer reaction pH of 9.7. In addition, variance component analysis was integrated to the DoE to estimate the variability of process and to evaluate its applicability for quantitative purpose. These chemometric approaches helped to develop an efficient labeling process able to reach high sensitivity for CE-LIF analysis (i.e. 10 nM) with good precision (i.e. intermediate precision values lower or close to 5 %).

PMID:34371450 | DOI:10.1016/j.jpba.2021.114304

J Biomech. 2021 Jul 29;127:110657. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2021.110657. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Various methods have been suggested for estimating the variability in biomechanical variables during gait. However, all current measures of variability are performed on discrete measurements extracted from the kinematic or kinetic waveforms, which provide no temporal information on where differences in variability occur. This study used a variance equality test to compare temporal differences in group variance along the entire ground reaction force waveform. The variance equality test used an F-statistic whose critical value was determined using the random field theory function within the one-dimensional statistical parametric mapping package. Twenty healthy younger and twenty older adults were included in the study and completed gait analysis as they walked along a level walkway at a self-selected pace. Variance for each group was calculated and compared at each interval along the waveform to produce the F-value. The F-value was compared against a calculated F-critical value to determine where in the waveform significant differences in ground reaction force variance occurred. Results suggest that younger individuals may exhibit greater ground reaction force variance during heel contact in the vertical and posterior directions, and that older individuals may exhibit greater variability in the mediolateral direction at toe-off. This study was able to identify differences in ground reaction force variance within the gait cycle between younger and older adults. The findings of this study warrant the use of the function as a suitable method to compare variance along the entire waveform between two groups.

PMID:34371475 | DOI:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2021.110657

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Jul 31;799:149351. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149351. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Climate change and particularly warming are significantly impacting marine ecosystems and the services they provided. Temperature, as the main factor driving all biological processes, may influence ectotherms metabolism, thermal tolerance limits and distribution species patterns. The joining action of climate change and local stressors (including the increasing human marine use) may facilitate the spread of non-indigenous and native outbreak forming species, leading to associated economic consequences for marine coastal economies. Marine aquaculture is one among the most economic anthropogenic activities threatened by multiple stressors and in turn, by increasing hard artificial substrates at sea would facilitate the expansion of these problematic organisms and face negative consequences regarding facilities management and farmed organisms’ welfare. Species Distribution Models (SDMs) are considered powerful tools for forecasting the future occurrences and distributions of problematic species used to preventively aware stakeholders. In the current study, we propose the use of combined correlative SDMs and mechanistic models, based on individual thermal performance curve models calculated through non-linear least squares regression and Bayesian statistics (functional-SDM), as an ecological relevant tool to increase our ability to investigate the potential indirect effect of climate change on the distributions of harmful species for human activities at sea, taking aquaculture as a food productive example and the benthic cnidarian Pennaria disticha (one of the most pernicious fouling species in aquaculture) as model species. Our combined approach was able to improve the prediction ability of both mechanistic and correlative models to get more ecologically informed “whole” niche of the studied species. Incorporating the mechanistic links between the organisms’ functional traits and their environments into SDMs through the use of a Bayesian functional-SDM approach would be a useful and reliable tool in early warning ecological systems, risk assessment and management actions focused on important economic activities and natural ecosystems conservation.

PMID:34371417 | DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149351

Eur J Cancer. 2021 Aug 6;155:127-135. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2021.06.034. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to demonstrate the non-inferiority (NI) in overall survival (OS) of suspension of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) versus maintenance and intermittent versus continuous docetaxel administration in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: mCRPC patients were randomised to first-line docetaxel with maintenance or suspension of ADT. Patients attaining a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response after four chemotherapy cycles underwent second randomisation to receive continuous or intermittent docetaxel therapy. Six hundred patients were to be randomised to achieve 80% statistical power to demonstrate an NI hazard ratio (HR) of 1.25 of interruption versus maintenance of ADT.

RESULTS: The trial was prematurely closed when 198 participants were randomised. OS was similar in patients who continued (N = 96) versus those who interrupted (n = 102) ADT during docetaxel therapy (HR 0.98, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.72-1.33] and those on a continuous (N = 35) versus an intermittent (N = 42) docetaxel schedule (HR 0.86, 95% CI 0.55-1.43). No difference in radiological progression-free survival, PSA response, or toxicity was observed between the study arms. The actual NI hazard margins of OS in Arms A and B patients were 1.33 and 1.43, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: This trial enrolled one-third of the planned patients; this main weakness dramatically limits the interpretation of the results. ADT discontinuation and switching to an intermittent schedule did not seem to affect docetaxel efficacy. The absence of testosterone recovery in the majority of patients could have been a contributory factor. In men with mCRPC, ADT discontinuation should only be done with regular biochemical and clinical monitoring, with the option of quickly restarting ADT at disease progression.

PMID:34371442 | DOI:10.1016/j.ejca.2021.06.034

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Aug 2;799:149408. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149408. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Rapid and accurate delineation of contaminated sediments in marine environments is critical for the effective assessment of site risks and the development of appropriate remedial action plans. In this study, a new application of the ultraviolet optical screening tool (UVOST) equipped with electrical conductivity measurement (UVOST-EC) is proposed to delineate a water-covered sediment contaminated with dioxins and furans in a decommissioned pulp and paper wastewater stabilization basin. Bench scale experiments are presented that were used to develop a UVOST-EC interpretation method for delineating between two different sediment types present in the basin: an anthropogenically derived organic rich contaminated sediment (“black sediment”) and a naturally occurring grey organic silt sediment with marine provenance (“grey sediment”). The method involves comparative analysis of fluorescence and electrical conductivity signatures between the two sediments. Results indicate that each sediment type presents unique “signatures” related to fluorescence and electrical signals which corresponds to variability in their physio-chemical structure. Almost 100 UVOST-EC tests performed at the study site were paired with ex situ physical gravity core measurements of the black sediment to test the accuracy of the UVOST-EC-based method. A statistical analysis at seven sample “cluster” sites (i.e. multiple sub-samples within a defined area) indicated that the mean of sediment thickness obtained by the UVOST-EC measurement technique at a given site were not significantly different (p = 0.05) from measurements derived from sediment gravity core measurements. The UVOST-EC-based sediment thickness delineation method reliably determined the thickness of the dioxin and furan contaminated sediments as compared to gravity core determination for the sediment in this study. Application of this approach to other studies should be assessed in a similar manner. The UVOST-EC method offers health and safety, cost, logistics, and data interpretation benefits.

PMID:34371404 | DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149408

Sex Med. 2021 Aug 6;9(5):100402. doi: 10.1016/j.esxm.2021.100402. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is a common public health issue. Most studies, especially in the sub-Saharan region are typically carried out in the older married female population, but the post-secondary education period is crucial for the development of the sexuality of young women. Poor awareness and management of FSD may lead to adverse physical and psychosocial complications later on in the lives of these women.

AIM: To determine the prevalence of the risk of having FSD and the factors associated with having FSD among sexually active students of the University of Buea.

METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study carried out in the University of Buea involving 405 sexually active students; 16 years of age and above. Quantitative data on sociodemographic, biological, interpersonal and psychosocial characteristics were collected. A validated Japanese modified version of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI-J) was used to assess the risk of having female sexual dysfunction. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, binary and multivariate logistic analyses.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of risk of having FSD and its associated factors among students of the University of Buea.

RESULTS: A total of 171 (42.0%) out of 405 students showed a risk of having at least one form of FSD. The commonest forms of dysfunction were problems of sexual pain (46.9%), orgasm (42.0%), desire (29.1%) and arousal (21.2%). Participants who were unmarried but in a relationship (P = .002) were less likely to experience FSD. Lower levels of education (first year [P = .005], second year [P = .001]), having a history of sexual assault (P = 0.012) and poor health (P = .012) were all independently associated with a higher risk of having FSD.

CONCLUSION: The prevalence of students at risk of having FSD was high with 4 out of every 10 students showing a risk of having at least one form. Lower levels of education, having a history of sexual assault and poor health were independent risk factors of FSD. Being unmarried but in a relationship was the sole protective factor against FSD. Halle-Ekane GE, Timti LF, Tanue EA, Ekukole CM, Yenshu EV. Prevalence and Associated Factors of Female Sexual Dysfunction Among Sexually Active Students of the University of Buea. Sex Med 2021;XX:XXXXXX.

PMID:34371387 | DOI:10.1016/j.esxm.2021.100402