Nevin Manimala

J Clin Psychol. 2025 Aug 13. doi: 10.1002/jclp.70034. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Students enrolled in health sciences programs, similar to practicing healthcare professionals, are at high risk for burnout. Despite the numerous challenges these students face, it is crucial to support their well-being. This study examined the impact of a brief online intervention that combined mindfulness and stretching exercises on mindfulness, self-compassion, and mental well-being among health sciences students.

METHOD: The study employed a randomized control group design with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up assessments. The study group consisted of 38 undergraduate students in the health sciences. The participants in the experimental group attended a six-session online program that integrated mindfulness and stretching exercises. In contrast, the participants in the control group did not receive any treatment. Data were collected using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire-Short Form, Self-Compassion Scale-Short Form, and Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale.

RESULTS: The findings revealed that following a six-session online program combining mindfulness and stretching exercises, there were significant differences in mindfulness, self-compassion, and mental well-being scores between experimental and control groups over time. The experimental group showed statistically significant improvements in mindfulness, self-compassion, and mental well-being compared with the control group.

CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that a brief mindfulness-based stretching exercises program delivered online can effectively enhance mindfulness, self-compassion, and mental well-being among undergraduate students pursuing health sciences. The results support the potential of such interventions to promote psychological well-being among health sciences students.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was not pre-registered.

PMID:40802831 | DOI:10.1002/jclp.70034

PLoS One. 2025 Aug 13;20(8):e0327727. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0327727. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

A random sample of 847 households (HHs) in southern Ethiopia was used to assess the impact of HH characteristics, land and livestock ownership, seasonal variations, and agricultural challenges on cereals and legumes, crucial to community livelihoods. A structured survey was integrated into the ODK data collection tool, validated, and used with trained agricultural agents, and analyzed using an R statistical package. Farm productivity was significantly influenced by gender, since male headed HHs produced 25.5% more yield than female headed HHs. Livestock ownership, land cultivation, farm productivity and product utilizations were also varied among the HHs. Furthermore, agricultural practices like labor utilization, fertilizer and composite application, and use of improved seed varieties significantly affected the farm productivity. Besides, maize was identified as the principal and top-priority crop, while common bean (legume) was the second-priority crop for local people. This shows that legumes were important in the region’s agricultural systems, but some farmers experienced reduced productivity due to poor agronomic practices. Consequently, a substantial proportion of farmers (>50%) faced food shortages from February to June, representing the peak of the dry season and the beginning of the rainy season (April to May). Integrating early-maturing legumes in the farming system would help to escape the food shortage periods. Many farmers disclosed that the cost of chemical fertilizers’ was unaffordable, indicating a need for options like use of rhizobia inoculants and showed interest to use on their farms for improved productivities.

PMID:40802795 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0327727

Ocul Immunol Inflamm. 2025 Aug 13:1-9. doi: 10.1080/09273948.2025.2545521. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This retrospective cross-sectional study examined differences in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH D), total IgE, eosinophil levels, and outdoor exposure time in relation to disease severity in children with Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis (VKC). It also assessed these parameters across VKC subtypes.

METHODS: The study included 40 VKC patients and 43 healthy controls. Ophthalmologic examinations, serum 25-OH D, total IgE, eosinophil levels, and outdoor exposure times were evaluated. Disease severity was graded using Bonini’s system. Multinomial logistic regression was used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS: VKC patients had significantly lower 25-OH D (16.70 ± 5.50 vs. 23.98 ± 7.83 ng/ml, p < 0.001), higher IgE (248.52 ± 161.16 vs. 34.86 ± 17.38 ng/ml, p < 0.001), elevated eosinophils (365.72 ± 182.43 vs. 152.06 ± 80.23 cells/ml, p < 0.001), and reduced outdoor time (136.50 ± 42.39 vs. 210.0 ± 44.40 minutes, p < 0.001) compared to controls. 25-OH D negatively correlated with IgE (r = -0.505, p < 0.001) and eosinophils (r = -0.643, p < 0.001). Elevated IgE was significantly linked to mild-to-moderate VKC severity (OR = 1.120, p = 0.001).

CONCLUSION: VKC patients exhibited lower serum 25-OH D and reduced daytime outdoor exposure, likely due to photophobia, compared to controls. No significant association was found between vitamin D or outdoor time and VKC severity. High IgE and eosinophil levels support VKC’s allergic origin. The inverse correlations between 25-OH D, IgE, and eosinophil may suggest an immunomodulatory role. Large-scale, prospective interventional studies are warranted to validate these findings and elucidate causal relationships.

PMID:40802791 | DOI:10.1080/09273948.2025.2545521

PLoS One. 2025 Aug 13;20(8):e0328980. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0328980. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects over 10% of the global population and is closely linked to increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Mean corpuscular volume (MCV), a key hematological parameter, has been associated with various clinical outcomes. However, the relationship between MCV and mortality in CKD patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) has not been thoroughly investigated, with previous studies primarily limited to single-center designs.

METHODS: This retrospective multicenter cohort study analyzed data from the eICU-CRD and MIMIC-IV databases. Statistical analyses involved Kaplan-Meier survival curves and multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. Restricted cubic splines (RCS) were employed to assess the potential nonlinear relationships between MCV and mortality.

RESULTS: A total of 23,724 patients were included in the analysis. Higher MCV levels were significantly associated with increased 30-day and 90-day in-hospital mortality. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a higher mortality risk in patients with the highest MCV levels. Cox models confirmed that MCV was a significant risk factor for mortality, with hazard ratios indicating an increased risk with each unit increase in MCV. Subgroup analyses consistently showed that elevated MCV levels were associated with a higher mortality risk across different patient groups.

CONCLUSION: This first multicenter study demonstrated that elevated MCV levels are significantly associated with higher short-term mortality in CKD ICU patients, suggesting that MCV could serve as a potential biomarker for risk stratification. Future research should validate these findings and explore the underlying mechanisms.

PMID:40802782 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0328980

Sci Adv. 2025 Aug 15;11(33):eadt9311. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adt9311. Epub 2025 Aug 13.

ABSTRACT

In topology, averaging over local geometrical details reveals robust global features. These are crucial in physics for understanding quantized bulk transport and exotic boundary effects of linear wave propagation in (meta-)materials. Beyond linear Hamiltonian systems, topological physics strives to characterize open (non-Hermitian) and interacting systems. Here, we establish a framework for the topological classification of driven-dissipative nonlinear systems by defining a graph index for their Floquet semiclassical equations of motion. Our index builds upon the topology of vector flows and encodes the particle-hole nature of excitations around all out-of-equilibrium stationary states. Thus, we uncover the topology of nonlinear resonator’s dynamics under external and parametric forcing. Our framework sheds light on the topology of driven-dissipative phases, including under- to overdamped responses and symmetry-broken phases linked to population inversion. We therefore expose the pervasive link between topology and nonlinear dynamics, with broad implications for interacting topological insulators, topological solitons, neuromorphic networks, and bosonic codes.

PMID:40802767 | DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adt9311

PLoS One. 2025 Aug 13;20(8):e0329557. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0329557. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The rise in global temperatures due to climate change has intensified the frequency and severity of heat waves, disproportionately affecting outdoor workers. This is particularly concerning in low- and middle-income countries like Nepal, where inadequate policies and limited awareness leave outdoor workers highly vulnerable. This study explores the knowledge, attitudes, practices (KAP), and perceived risks of heatwaves among outdoor workers in Nepal.

METHODS: A cross-sectional mixed-method study was conducted across eight districts in five provinces of Nepal, surveying 356 outdoor workers from five occupational groups: street vendors, agricultural workers, rickshaw drivers/pullers, laborers, and service workers. Eleven focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted to gain deeper insights. Descriptive statistics were used to assess KAP scores, while Kernel-Based Regularized Least Square (KRLS) analysis examined the variations in practice scores among groups. Thematic analysis was applied to FGDs. The quantitative analysis was done in STATA-14, and the qualitative analysis was conducted manually.

RESULTS: The average age of participants in the study was 37.2 years (SD = 10.5), and just over half (57%) were male. On average, they had worked outdoors for about 10.7 years (SD = 8.6). Among all participants, 43% had heard of heatwaves, 86.2% were aware of heat-related incidents, and 78.6% had personally experienced them. Awareness about heatwave was positively associated with the practices of heat protection for the overall sample (practice score = 1.46, p < 0.001). Age was found to be negatively associated with the practices of heat protection (practice score = -0.03, p < 0.001). Compared to females, males had lesser practices of heat protection (practice score = -0.97, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: Heatwaves pose significant health risks, particularly for vulnerable outdoor workers who often lack knowledge about protective measures. This highlights an urgent need for government-led interventions and awareness programs at both community and policy levels to address and mitigate heat stress.

PMID:40802719 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0329557

Scand J Clin Lab Invest. 2025 Aug 13:1-8. doi: 10.1080/00365513.2025.2546318. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To explore the potential metabolic markers related to gestational hypothyroidism in early diagnosis, to find new intervention targets, and to provide metabolic pathway information for elucidating the pathogenesis of gestational hypothyroidism.

METHODS: Sixteen patients with gestational hypothyroidism treated in a tertiary hospital of China were enrolled. 20 normal pregnant women and 20 healthy women of childbearing age were also selected as control groups. Fasting serum samples were collected from all participants. The platform of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry was applied for detecting. The principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) models were constructed for metabolic profile analysis. Characteristic metabolites were screened and statistically studied by Mann-Whitney test, and the biological functions and metabolic pathways of characteristic metabolites were further analyzed.

RESULTS: 13 characteristic metabolites were screened. Palmitic acid, phytosphingosine, sphinganine, phytanic acid, palmitic amide, behenic acid, cetoleic acid, cerebronic acid, N-Palmitoylsphingosine, octadecanamidein in gestational hypothyroidism group were significantly higher than those in normal pregnancy group and healthy control group (p < 0.05). The serum levels of three kinds of lysophosphatidylcholine in gestational hypothyroidism group were significantly lower than those in normal pregnancy group and healthy control group (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: A total of 13 characteristic metabolites were screened, whose serum levels in the gestational hypothyroidism group had the same changing trend compared to those in the normal pregnancy group and the healthy control group, with statistical differences. This may provide new ideas for early diagnosis and finding new treatment targets for gestational hypothyroidism.

PMID:40802697 | DOI:10.1080/00365513.2025.2546318

Rev Gaucha Enferm. 2025 Aug 8;46:e20240401. doi: 10.1590/1983-1447.2025.2024-0401.en. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To map scientific evidence on the (in)adequacy of the Technical Safety Index provided by the Federal Nursing Council to cover absenteeism rates in Brazilian hospital nursing.

METHOD: Scoping review conducted according to Joanna Briggs Institute criteria. The search was carried out in February 2024, in the sources: Virtual Health Library, Scientific Electronic Library Online, Web of Science, Scopus, MEDLINE, CAPES Periodical Portal and Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations. Cross-sectional studies conducted in the hospital environment, published between 2004 and 2024, were included. After selecting the recruited material (n=1,297), the sample (n=29) was analyzed using descriptive statistics.

RESULTS: Of the selected studies, 86.2% indicated superiority in the percentage of absence coverage recommended by the entity. Absenteeism rates ranged from 0% to 44.7% among nurses and from 0.47% to 46% among technicians/assistants. The estimated technical safety index ranged from 8.3% to 53% for nurses and from 8.77% to 54.3% for mid-level professionals.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: There is evidence to support that the minimum percentage of absenteeism coverage (6.7%) provided for by the regulatory entity is not sufficient, especially in the context of public hospitals.

PMID:40802427 | DOI:10.1590/1983-1447.2025.2024-0401.en

Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992). 2025 Aug 8;71(7):e20250109. doi: 10.1590/1806-9282.20250109. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the conditioned pain modulation of patients with fibromyalgia and compare it to that of healthy individuals before and after 3 months of strength training.

METHODS: This is a prospective experimental study consisting of two independent, non-randomized groups: fibromyalgia (n=10) and healthy control (n=10). The research was conducted in person at the Unidade Saúde Escola of the Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil, during the period of June 2023-June 2024. The conditioned pain modulation test was administered to all patients in both groups. Twice a week (for 3 months), patients with fibromyalgia performed three sets of each exercise, with 10 repetitions, 40 s of muscle tension, and a 60-s interval between the sets. Subsequently, we compared the conditioned pain modulation test using the Student’s t-test.

RESULTS: Significant between-groups differences (p≤0.05) and large effect sizes (d≥0.8) that were observed at baseline (at times 2, 3, and 4) were not observed after 3 months of strength training, indicating that the intervention was able to improve the conditioned pain modulation in patients with fibromyalgia. Although the within-group comparisons (pre- and posttreatment) showed an absolute difference of 6.35 in central sensitization, this was not statistically significant (p≥0.05) and had a small effect size (d=0.27).

CONCLUSIONS: The conditioned pain modulation of fibromyalgia patients appears to become similar to that of healthy individuals after 3 months of strength training.

PMID:40802413 | DOI:10.1590/1806-9282.20250109

Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992). 2025 Aug 8;71(7):e20250088. doi: 10.1590/1806-9282.20250088. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this prospective cross-sectional study was to determine serum D-dimer and fibrinogen concentrations in pregnant women with hyperemesis gravidarum and compare them with those of healthy pregnant women.

METHODS: The study group consisted of 50 patients diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum. The control group consisted of 50 healthy pregnant women. Maternal characteristics such as age, gestational age, body mass index, gravida, and parity were recorded. Following a 12-h fasting period, venous blood samples of 10 cc were collected. The blood samples were centrifuged, and serum was stored at -80°C until assay. Blood count, coagulation profiles, and biochemical analyses were performed, and the results were analyzed using appropriate statistical tests.

RESULTS: The data of 45 patients in the hyperemesis gravidarum group and 47 patients in the control group were analyzed. Serum levels of hemoglobin, white blood cell and platelet counts, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen, D-dimer, and international normalized ratio were similar between groups (p>0.05). There was a positive association between serum D-dimer levels and serum fibrinogen levels (p=0.039, r=0.215). Also, a positive association was observed between serum D-dimer levels with the degree of ketonuria (p=0.008, r=0.274) and the number of vomitings per day (p=0.02, r=0.346) in hyperemesis gravidarum patients.

CONCLUSION: Serum D-dimer levels were not different in patients with hyperemesis gravidarum versus healthy women during the first trimester of pregnancy. Pregnant women tend to have higher D-dimer concentrations as hyperemesis gravidarum severity increases. Serum D-dimer levels cannot be used for the evaluation of potential venous thromboembolism in patients diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum.

PMID:40802411 | DOI:10.1590/1806-9282.20250088