Tag: nevin manimala

PLoS One. 2022 Sep 14;17(9):e0274334. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274334. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of use of complementary medicine (CM) in Switzerland in 2017, its development since the 2012 Swiss Health Survey, and to examine specific and non-specific sociodemographic, lifestyle and health-related determinants of CM use as compared to determinants of conventional health care use.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used data of 18,832 participants from the cross-sectional Swiss Health Survey conducted by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office in 2017 and compared these data with those from 2012. We defined four CM categories: (1) traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture; (2) homeopathy; (3) herbal medicine; (4) other CM therapies (shiatsu, reflexology, osteopathy, Ayurveda, naturopathy, kinesiology, Feldenkrais, autogenic training, neural therapy, bioresonance therapy, anthroposophic medicine). Independent determinants of CM use and of conventional health care use were assessed using multivariate weighted logistic regression models.

RESULTS: Prevalence of CM use significantly increased between 2012 and 2017 from 24.7% (95% CI: 23.9-25.4%) to 28.9% (95% CI: 28.1-29.7%), respectively, p<0.001). We identified the following independent specific determinants of CM use: gender, nationality, age, lifestyle and BMI. Female gender and nationality were the most specific determinants of CM use. Current smoking, being overweight and obesity were determinants of non-use of CM, while regular consumption of fruits and/or vegetables and regular physical activity were determinants of CM use.

CONCLUSION: Prevalence of CM use significantly increased in Switzerland from 2012 to 2017. Gender, nationality, age, lifestyle and BMI were independent specific determinants of CM use as compared to conventional health care use. Healthier lifestyle was associated with CM use, which may have potentially significant implications for public health and preventive medicine initiatives. The nationality of CM users underlines the role of culture in driving the choice to use CM but also raises the question of whether all populations have equal access to CM within a same country.

PMID:36103571 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0274334

Clin Transl Med. 2022 Sep;12(9):e1023. doi: 10.1002/ctm2.1023.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Intrauterine infection and inflammation caused by microbial transfer from the vagina are believed to be important factors causing spontaneous preterm delivery (PTD). Multiple studies have examined the relationship between the cervicovaginal microbiome and spontaneous PTD with divergent results. Most studies have applied a DNA-based assessment, providing information on the microbial composition but not transcriptional activity. A transcriptomic approach was applied to investigate differences in the active vaginal microbiome and human transcriptome at midgestation between women delivering spontaneously preterm versus those delivering at term.

METHODS: Vaginal swabs were collected in women with a singleton pregnancy at 18 + 0 to 20 + 6 gestational weeks. For each case of spontaneous PTD (delivery <37 + 0 weeks) two term controls were randomized (39 + 0 to 40 + 6 weeks). Vaginal specimens were subject to sequencing of both human and microbial RNA. Microbial reads were taxonomically classified using Kraken2 and RefSeq as a reference. Statistical analyses were performed using DESeq2. GSEA and HUMAnN3 were used for pathway analyses.

RESULTS: We found 17 human genes to be differentially expressed (false discovery rate, FDR < 0.05) in the preterm group (n = 48) compared to the term group (n = 96). Gene expression of kallikrein-2 (KLK2), KLK3 and four isoforms of metallothioneins 1 (MT1s) was higher in the preterm group (FDR < 0.05). We found 11 individual bacterial species to be differentially expressed (FDR < 0.05), most with a low occurrence. No statistically significant differences in bacterial load, diversity or microbial community state types were found between the groups.

CONCLUSIONS: In our mainly white population, primarily bacterial species of low occurrence were differentially expressed at midgestation in women who delivered preterm versus at term. However, the expression of specific human transcripts including KLK2, KLK3 and several isoforms of MT1s was higher in preterm cases. This is of interest, because these genes may be involved in critical inflammatory pathways associated with spontaneous PTD.

PMID:36103557 | DOI:10.1002/ctm2.1023

PLoS Biol. 2022 Sep 14;20(9):e3001776. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001776. eCollection 2022 Sep.

ABSTRACT

Introgression, endosymbiosis, and gene transfer, i.e., horizontal gene flow (HGF), are primordial sources of innovation in all domains of life. Our knowledge on HGF relies on detection methods that exploit some of its signatures left on extant genomes. One of them is the effect of HGF on branch lengths of constructed phylogenies. This signature has been formalized in statistical tests for HGF detection and used for example to detect massive adaptive gene flows in malaria vectors or to order evolutionary events involved in eukaryogenesis. However, these studies rely on the assumption that ghost lineages (all unsampled extant and extinct taxa) have little influence. We demonstrate here with simulations and data reanalysis that when considering the more realistic condition that unsampled taxa are legion compared to sampled ones, the conclusion of these studies become unfounded or even reversed. This illustrates the necessity to recognize the existence of ghosts in evolutionary studies.

PMID:36103518 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.3001776

PLoS One. 2022 Sep 14;17(9):e0274430. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274430. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Parental support programmes aim to strengthen family functioning and the parent-child relationship and to promote the mental health of children and parents. However, there is a lack of knowledge on how parenting support programmes can be implemented for newly arrived immigrant parents. This process evaluation describes the implementation of a successful parenting programme for immigrant parents from Somalia and identifies key components of the implementation process with a focus on Reach, Adaptation, and Fidelity of Ladnaan intervention.

METHOD: This process evaluation considered context, implementation and mechanism of impact, in accordance with the Medical Research Council’s guidance. Data were collected through focus group discussions, a questionnaire, attendance lists, field and reflection notes and observations of the sessions. The data were then analysed using content analysis and descriptive statistics.

RESULTS: Of the 60 parents invited to the parenting programme, 58 participated in the sessions. The study showed that involving key individuals in the early stage of the parenting programme’s implementation facilitated reaching Somali-born parents. To retain the programme participants, parents were offered free transportation. The programme was implemented and delivered as intended. A majority of the parents were satisfied with the programme and reported increased knowledge about children’s rights and the support they could seek from social services.

CONCLUSIONS: This study illustrates how a parenting support programme can be implemented for Somali-born parents and provides guidance on how to attract immigrant parents to and engage them in participating in parenting support programmes.

PMID:36103499 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0274430

PLoS One. 2022 Sep 14;17(9):e0274398. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274398. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy-specific disorder characterized by endothelial dysfunction, and activation of the coagulation system. Alteration of PLT parameters is the common hematological abnormality observed in women with PE. The main aim of this study was to systematically review previous studies from around the world to generate evidence about the relationship between platelet count (PC) and PE, as well as mean platelet volume (MPV) and PE, by calculating the pooled weighted mean difference (WMD) of PC and MPV between PE and normotensive (NT) groups.

METHODS: Relevant articles which were published in the English language from January 10, 2011, to January 10, 2021, were systematically searched through PubMed, Web of Science, and African journals online. In addition, reference probing of published articles searching was employed through Google Scholar and Google for searching grey literature. The methodological qualities of articles were assessed using Joana Brigg’s institute critical appraisal checklist. A random-effects model was used to estimate pooled WMD of PLT parameters between the two groups with the respective 95% confidence intervals (CI) using Stata version 11.0. The I2 statistics and Egger’s regression test were used to assess heterogeneity and publication bias among included studies, respectively.

RESULTS: A total of 25 articles were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. Of which, 23 studies were used in each PC and MPV analysis. The overall pooled WMD of PC and MPV between PE and NT groups were -41.45 × 109/L [95% CI; -51.8, -31.0] and 0.98 fl [95% CI; 0.8, 1.1], respectively. The pooled WMD revealed that PC decreased significantly in the PE group compared to the NT group while MPV increased significantly in the PE group.

CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review and meta-analysis indicated that there is a significant decrease in PC and a significant increase in MPV during PE development among pregnant women. As a result, a change in these parameters among pregnant women may indicate the development of PE.

PMID:36103491 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0274398

PLoS One. 2022 Sep 14;17(9):e0273487. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273487. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

The advancement and accessibility of high-resolution remotely sensed data has made it feasible to detect tree canopy cover (TCC) changes over small spatial scales. However, the short history of these high-resolution collection techniques presents challenges when assessing canopy changes over longer time scales (> 50 years). This research shows how using high-resolution LiDAR data in conjunction with historical aerial photos can overcome this limitation. We used the University of British Columbia’s Point Grey campus in Vancouver, Canada, as a case study, using both historical aerial photographs from 1949 and 2015 LiDAR data. TCC was summed in 0.05 ha analysis polygons for both the LiDAR and aerial photo data, allowing for TCC comparison across the two different data types. Methods were validated using 2015 aerial photos, the means (Δ 0.24) and a TOST test indicated that the methods were statistically equivalent (±5.38% TCC). This research concludes the methods outlined is suitable for small scale TCC change detection over long time frames when inconsistent data types are available between the two time periods.

PMID:36103468 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0273487

IEEE Trans Neural Netw Learn Syst. 2022 Sep 14;PP. doi: 10.1109/TNNLS.2022.3202799. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate the synchronization of user-controlled and uncontrolled neural networks (NNs) that exhibit chaotic solutions. The idea behind focusing on synchronization problems is to design the user-desired NNs by emulating the dynamical properties of traditional NNs rather than redefining them. Besides, instead of conventional NNs, this study considers NNs with significant factors such as time-dependent delays and uncertainties in the neural coefficients. In addition, information transmission over transmission may experience stochastic disturbances and network transmission. These factors will result in a stochastic differential NN model. Analyzing the NNs without these factors may be incompatible during the implementation. Theoretically, the model with stochastic disturbances can be considered a stochastic differential model, and the stability conditions are derived by employing It ∧o ‘s formula and appropriate integral inequalities. To achieve synchronization, the sampled-data-based control scheme is proposed because it is more effective while information is being transmitted over networks. In contrast to the existing studies, this study contributes in terms of handling stochastic disturbances, effects of time-varying delays, and uncertainties in the system parameters via looped-type Lyapunov functional. Besides this, in the application view, delayed NNs are employed as a cryptosystem that helps to secure the transmission between the sender and the receiver, which is explored by illustrating the statistical measures evaluated for the standard images. From the simulation results, the proposed control and derived sufficient conditions can provide better synchronization and the proposed delayed NNs give a better cryptosystem.

PMID:36103433 | DOI:10.1109/TNNLS.2022.3202799

Nicotine Tob Res. 2022 Sep 14:ntac156. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntac156. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Proactive outreach offering tobacco treatment is a promising strategy outside of clinical settings, but little is known about factors for engagement. The study objective is to examine the impact of caller area code in a proactive, phone-based outreach strategy on consenting low-income smokers to a quitline e-referral.

AIMS AND METHODS: This pragmatic randomized trial included unassisted adult smokers (n = 685), whose preferred language was English or Spanish, in a Los Angeles safety-net health system. Patients were randomized to receive a call from a local or generic toll-free area code. Log-binomial regression was used to examine the association between area code and consent to a quitline e-referral, adjusted for age, gender, language, and year.

RESULTS: Overall, 52.1% of the patients were contacted and, among those contacted, 30% consented to a referral. The contact rate was higher for the local versus generic area code, although not statistically significant (55.6% vs. 48.7%, p = .07). The consent rate was higher in the local versus generic area code group (adjusted prevalence ratio 1.29, 95% CI 1.01-1.65) and also higher for patients under 61 years old than over (adjusted prevalence ratio 1.47, 95% CI 1.07-2.01), and Spanish-speaking than English-speaking patients (adjusted prevalence ratio 1.40, 95% CI 1.05-1.86).

CONCLUSIONS: Proactive phone-based outreach to unassisted smokers in a safety net health system increased consent to a quitline referral when local (vs. generic) area codes were used to contact patients. While contact rate did not differ by area code, proactive phone-based outreach was effective for engaging younger and Spanish-speaking smokers.

IMPLICATIONS: Population-based proactive phone-based outreach from a caller with a local area code to unassisted smokers in a safety net health system increases consent to an e-referral for quitline services. Findings suggest that a proactive phone-based outreach, a population-based strategy, is an effective strategy to build on the visit-based model and offer services to tobacco users, regardless of the motivational levels to quit.

PMID:36103393 | DOI:10.1093/ntr/ntac156

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2022 Sep 14;10(9):e40576. doi: 10.2196/40576.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Persuasive technology is an umbrella term that encompasses software (eg, mobile apps) or hardware (eg, smartwatches) designed to influence users to perform preferable behavior once or on a long-term basis. Considering the ubiquitous nature of mobile devices across all socioeconomic groups, user behavior modification thrives under the personalized care that persuasive technology can offer. However, there is no guidance for developing personalized persuasive technologies based on the psychological characteristics of users.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the role that psychological characteristics play in interpreted mobile health (mHealth) screen perceived persuasiveness. In addition, this study aims to explore how users’ psychological characteristics drive the perceived persuasiveness of digital health technologies in an effort to assist developers and researchers of digital health technologies by creating more engaging solutions.

METHODS: An experiment was designed to evaluate how psychological characteristics (self-efficacy, health consciousness, health motivation, and the Big Five personality traits) affect the perceived persuasiveness of digital health technologies, using the persuasive system design framework. Participants (n=262) were recruited by Qualtrics International, Inc, using the web-based survey system of the XM Research Service. This experiment involved a survey-based design with a series of 25 mHealth app screens that featured the use of persuasive principles, with a focus on physical activity. Exploratory factor analysis and linear regression were used to evaluate the multifaceted needs of digital health users based on their psychological characteristics.

RESULTS: The results imply that an individual user’s psychological characteristics (self-efficacy, health consciousness, health motivation, and extraversion) affect interpreted mHealth screen perceived persuasiveness, and combinations of persuasive principles and psychological characteristics lead to greater perceived persuasiveness. The F test (ie, ANOVA) for model 1 was significant (F_9,6540=191.806; P<.001), with an adjusted R² of 0.208, indicating that the demographic variables explained 20.8% of the variance in perceived persuasiveness. Gender was a significant predictor, with women having higher perceived persuasiveness (P=.008) relative to men. Age was a significant predictor of perceived persuasiveness with individuals aged 40 to 59 years (P<.001) and ≥60 years (P<.001). Model 2 was significant (F_13,6536=341.035; P<.001), with an adjusted R² of 0.403, indicating that the demographic variables self-efficacy, health consciousness, health motivation, and extraversion together explained 40.3% of the variance in perceived persuasiveness.

CONCLUSIONS: This study evaluates the role that psychological characteristics play in interpreted mHealth screen perceived persuasiveness. Findings indicate that self-efficacy, health consciousness, health motivation, extraversion, gender, age, and education significantly influence the perceived persuasiveness of digital health technologies. Moreover, this study showed that varying combinations of psychological characteristics and demographic variables affected the perceived persuasiveness of the primary persuasive technology category.

PMID:36103226 | DOI:10.2196/40576

J Med Internet Res. 2022 Sep 14;24(9):e36978. doi: 10.2196/36978.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Depressive disorders (DDs) are a public health problem. Face-to-face psychotherapeutic interventions are a first-line option for their treatment in adults. There is a growing interest in eHealth interventions to maximize accessibility for effective treatments. Thus, the number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of eHealth psychotherapeutic interventions has increased, and these interventions are being offered to patients. However, it is unknown whether patients with DDs differ in internet-based and face-to-face intervention trials. This information is essential to gain knowledge about eHealth trials’ external validity.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to compare the baseline characteristics of patients with DDs included in the RCTs of eHealth and face-to-face psychotherapeutic interventions with a cognitive component.

METHODS: In this meta-epidemiological study, we searched 5 databases between 1990 and November 2017 (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, and the database of Cuijpers et al). We included RCTs of psychotherapeutic interventions with a cognitive component (eg, cognitive therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy [CBT], or interpersonal therapy) delivered face-to-face or via the internet to adults with DDs. Each included study had a matching study for predefined criteria to allow a valid comparison of characteristics and was classified as a face-to-face (CBT) or eHealth (internet CBT) intervention trial. Two authors selected the studies, extracted data, and resolved disagreements by discussion. We tested whether predefined baseline characteristics differed in face-to-face and internet-based trials using a mixed-effects model and testing for differences with z tests (statistical significance set at .05). For continuous outcomes, we also estimated the difference in means between subgroups with 95% CI.

RESULTS: We included 58 RCTs (29 matching pairs) with 3846 participants (female: n=2803, 72.9%) and mean ages ranging from 20-74 years. White participants were the most frequent (from 63.6% to 100%). Other socioeconomic characteristics were poorly described. The participants presented DDs of different severity measured with heterogeneous instruments. Internet CBT trials had a longer depression duration at baseline (7.19 years higher, CI 95% 2.53-11.84; 10.0 vs 2.8 years; P=.002), but the proportion of patients with previous depression treatment was lower (24.8% vs 42%; P=.04). Subgroup analyses found no evidence of differences for the remaining baseline characteristics: age, gender, education, living area, depression severity, history of depression, actual antidepressant medication, actual physical comorbidity, actual mental comorbidity, study dropout, quality of life, having children, family status, and employment. We could not compare proficiency with computers due to the insufficient number of studies.

CONCLUSIONS: The baseline characteristics of patients with DDs included in the RCTs of eHealth and face-to-face psychotherapeutic interventions are generally similar. However, patients in eHealth trials had a longer duration of depression, and a lower proportion had received previous depression treatment, which might indicate that eHealth trials attract patients who postpone earlier treatment attempts.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42019085880; https://tinyurl.com/4xufwcyr.

PMID:36103217 | DOI:10.2196/36978