Tag: nevin manimala

Environ Manage. 2022 May 4. doi: 10.1007/s00267-022-01648-1. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

There has been considerable brownfield development in the UK since 2000 due to increasing demand for new housing, combined with local opposition to building on greenbelt land. To facilitate this, extensive site investigations have been carried out and the reports submitted to local government as part of the planning process. This research investigates whether this largely untapped resource of site investigation data can be used to improve understanding of potentially toxic elements (PTE) and persistent organic pollutants (POP) at a local scale. The PTE/POP data were extracted from 1707 soil samples across 120 brownfield sites in an urban/suburban region. The samples were analysed to determine the effect of site location, historical use and site age on PTE/POP concentrations. Box plots indicating statistical results together with GIS maps of PTE/POP sample data provided the optimal visualisation of results. The dataset was shown to be a valuable resource, although further exploitation would be enhanced by digitisation of the submitted data. The paper explores potential applications of this data, including background concentrations and anthropogenic enrichment factors for PTE/POP. The results were summarised in a table for the PTE/POP and a preliminary risk assessment process chart to inform developers/regulators on potential PTE/POP levels on brownfield sites on a local scale. This information could focus design and resources for developers for site investigations and risk assessments and improve planning and regulatory guidance. The lack of predictability in PTE/POP results across sites have emphasised the ongoing need for intrusive site investigation on new brownfield developments.

PMID:35507107 | DOI:10.1007/s00267-022-01648-1

Rheumatol Int. 2022 May 4. doi: 10.1007/s00296-022-05120-5. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The primary aim of this study was to verify if shear wave elastography can be used to evaluate salivary gland involvement in primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS). The secondary objective was to establish an accurate cut-off value for parotid and submandibular salivary gland stiffness and to verify whether there are any distinctions among pSS patients with or without subjective mouth dryness. This prospective study included 45 patients with pSS (2016 ACR/EULAR classification criteria) and 108 healthy controls. All subjects underwent bilateral shear wave elastography of the parotid and submandibular salivary glands. Clinical data of pSS patients were collected and compared to elastography results. Patients with pSS had significantly higher shear wave elastography values for the parotid and submandibular salivary glands than the controls. There were no statistical differences in SWE values between patients with or without mouth dryness. The optimal cut-off value (mean value of 4 salivary glands shear wave elastography results) to distinguish patients with or without pSS was 13.19 kPa with sensitivity = 97.8% and specificity = 100.0%. It was, therefore, confirmed that shear wave elastography measurement of salivary glands has strong predictive ability in pSS detection (AUC 97.8%, 95% CI 93.4-100.0%). Shear wave elastography seems to be a promising, non-invasive and simple quantitative adjunct test to support the diagnosis of pSS with good sensitivity and specificity. More extensive prospective studies are needed to standardize a study protocol.

PMID:35507104 | DOI:10.1007/s00296-022-05120-5

Bull Math Biol. 2022 May 4;84(6):63. doi: 10.1007/s11538-022-01020-8.

ABSTRACT

We extended a class of coupled PDE-ODE models for studying the spatial spread of airborne diseases by incorporating human mobility. Human populations are modeled with patches, and a Lagrangian perspective is used to keep track of individuals’ places of residence. The movement of pathogens in the air is modeled with linear diffusion and coupled to the SIR dynamics of each human population through an integral of the density of pathogens around the population patches. In the limit of fast diffusion pathogens, the method of matched asymptotic analysis is used to reduce the coupled PDE-ODE model to a nonlinear system of ODEs for the average density of pathogens in the air. The reduced system of ODEs is used to derive the basic reproduction number and the final size relation for the model. Numerical simulations of the full PDE-ODE model and the reduced system of ODEs are used to assess the impact of human mobility, together with the diffusion of pathogens on the dynamics of the disease. Results from the two models are consistent and show that human mobility significantly affects disease dynamics. In addition, we show that an increase in the diffusion rate of pathogen leads to a lower epidemic.

PMID:35507091 | DOI:10.1007/s11538-022-01020-8

Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2022 May 4. doi: 10.1007/s10578-022-01351-6. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Cognitive behavioural therapy is the first line of treatment for social anxiety disorder; however, children with social anxiety disorder do not respond as well to generic cognitive behavioural therapy programs, compared to children with other anxiety disorders. The aim of the study was to provide a preliminary examination of the efficacy and applicability of a new disorder specific intervention for children with social anxiety disorder. Five children aged 7-13 years, with a primary or secondary DSM-5 diagnosis of social anxiety disorder were provided with an adapted version of the Cool Kids anxiety program. Three out of the five children were in remission from social anxiety disorder at the end of the intervention and at 3-month follow-up. Statistically significant improvements were also noted in overall anxiety symptoms and functioning. Preliminary evidence was found for the efficacy of a social anxiety version of the Cool Kids program.

PMID:35507090 | DOI:10.1007/s10578-022-01351-6

World J Surg. 2022 May 4. doi: 10.1007/s00268-022-06575-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Preoperative anxiety is associated with increased morbidity and/or mortality in surgical patients. This study investigated the incidence, predictors, and association of preoperative anxiety with postoperative complications in vascular surgery.

METHODS: Consecutive patients undergoing aortic, carotid, and peripheral artery surgery, under general and regional anesthesia, from February until October 2019 were included in a cross-sectional study. Anesthesiologists assessed preoperative anxiety using a validated Serbian version of the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale. Patients were divided into groups with low/high anxiety, both anesthesia- and surgery-related. Statistical analysis included multivariate linear logistic regression and point-biserial correlation.

RESULTS: Of 402 patients interviewed, 16 were excluded and one patient refused to participate (response rate 99.7%). Out of 385 patients included (age range 39-86 years), 62.3% had previous surgery. High-level anesthesia- and surgery-related anxieties were present in 31.2 and 43.4% of patients, respectively. Independent predictors of high-level anesthesia-related anxiety were having no children (OR = 0.443, 95% CI: 0.239-0.821, p = 0.01), personal bad experiences with anesthesia (OR = 2.294, 95% CI: 1.043-5.045, p = 0.039), and time since diagnosis for ≥ 4 months (OR = 1.634, 95% CI: 1.023-5.983, p = 0.04). The female sex independently predicted high-level surgery-related preoperative anxiety (OR = 2.387, 95% CI: 1.432-3.979, p = 0.001). High-level anesthesia-related anxiety correlated with postoperative mental disorders (r_pb = 0.193, p = 0.001) and pulmonary complications (r_pb = 0.104, p = 0.042). Postoperative nausea (r_pb = 0.111, p = 0.03) and postoperative mental disorders (r_pb = 0.160, p = 0.002) correlated with high-level surgery-related preoperative anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS: Since preoperative anxiety affects the postoperative course and almost every third patient experiences anxiety preoperatively, routine screening might be recommended in vascular surgery.

PMID:35507076 | DOI:10.1007/s00268-022-06575-0

Orthod Craniofac Res. 2022 May 4. doi: 10.1111/ocr.12585. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether flash-free adhesive ceramic brackets (FFA) have a better clinical performance than conventional adhesive ceramic brackets (CVA) in patients undergoing multi-bracket orthodontic treatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed, CENTRAL, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, CNKI, and Gray-literature were searched without restrictions up to January 2022. Both randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and controlled clinical trials (CCTs) were included. Risk of bias assessment was performed using the RoB 2.0 and ROBINS-I cochrane risk of bias tools.

RESULTS: Eight articles, for seven studies, were included in this systematic review, and four split-mouth trials (SMT) were included in the meta-analysis. A random-effects meta-analysis found a statistically significant faster bonding time with FFA (mean difference (MD) = -93.85 seconds/quadrant, P = 0.002, 2 SMT), and no statistically significant difference regarding bracket failure rate at 6 months (risk ratio (RR) = 1.05; P = 0.93, 3 SMT), adhesive removal time (MD = -18.26 seconds/quadrant, P = 0.50, 2 SMT), and amount of remnant adhesive (MD = -0.13/bracket, P = 0.72, 2 SMT) between FFA and CVA. No difference (P > 0.05, 3 SMT) was found in enamel demineralization and periodontal measurements. CVA showed a statistically significant higher debonding pain score (P = 0.004, 1 SMT).

CONCLUSIONS: Both flash-free and conventional adhesive ceramic brackets had a similar clinical performance, except for the faster bonding with FFA. Further well-designed clinical trials are still required.

PMID:35506474 | DOI:10.1111/ocr.12585

J Comp Eff Res. 2022 May 4. doi: 10.2217/cer-2021-0266. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Aim: To demonstrate the potential of fourth-order polynomials within a non-linear optimisation framework for matching-adjusted indirect comparison (MAIC). Materials & methods: Simulated individual patient data were reweighted via fourth-order polynomials (polyMAIC) to match aggregate-level data across multiple baseline characteristics. The polyMAIC approach employed pre-specified matching tolerances and maximum allowable weights. Matching performance against aggregate-level targets was assessed, and also compared against the current industry-standard MAIC approach (Signorovitch). Results: The polyMAIC method matched aggregate-level targets within pre-specified tolerances. Effective sample sizes were either similar to or somewhat higher than those obtained from the Signorovitch method. Performance gains from polyMAIC tended to increase as matching complexity increased. Conclusion: PolyMAIC incorporates greater flexibility than the industry-standard MAIC approach and demonstrates matching potential.

PMID:35506464 | DOI:10.2217/cer-2021-0266

Biometrics. 2022 May 4. doi: 10.1111/biom.13687. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Analyses of biomedical studies often necessitate modeling longitudinal causal effects. The current focus on personalized medicine and effect heterogeneity makes this task even more challenging. Towards this end, structural nested mean models (SNMMs) are fundamental tools for studying heterogeneous treatment effects in longitudinal studies. However, when outcomes are binary, current methods for estimating multiplicative and additive SNMM parameters suffer from variation dependence between the causal parameters and the non-causal nuisance parameters. This leads to a series of difficulties in interpretation, estimation and computation. These difficulties have hindered the uptake of SNMMs in biomedical practice, where binary outcomes are very common. We solve the variation dependence problem for the binary multiplicative SNMM via a reparametrization of the non-causal nuisance parameters. Our novel nuisance parameters are variation independent of the causal parameters, and hence allow for coherent modeling of heterogeneous effects from longitudinal studies with binary outcomes. Our parametrization also provides a key building block for flexible doubly robust estimation of the causal parameters. Along the way, we prove that an additive SNMM with binary outcomes does not admit a variation independent parametrization, thereby justifying the restriction to multiplicative SNMMs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:35506445 | DOI:10.1111/biom.13687

J Nurs Manag. 2022 May 4. doi: 10.1111/jonm.13657. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIMS: To examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Culture of Care Barometer in healthcare organisations.

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of tools to gauge the caring culture in Chinese hospitals. The Culture of Care Barometer is a psychometrically sound measure for caring culture developed in Western settings.

METHODS: This study was guided by Sousa and Rojjanasrira’s methodological approach. A total of 2365 staff were recruited from two tertiary hospitals. The Barometer was administered with the Hospital Culture Evaluation Index and Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire.

RESULTS: The content validity index were calculated as 0.99. The goodness of fit indices, apart from the model chi-square, which was statistically significant, all exceeded established thresholds for adequate fit. The internal consistency was very satisfactory. Pearson’s correlation indicated that the tool has good concurrent and convergent validity.

CONCLUSIONS: The Barometer is a reliable and valid instrument to assess front-line staff perspectives on a caring culture in Chinese hospitals.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nursing managers can use the Barometer to gauge the caring culture in China. Tailored interventions can be designed to address specific domains, and additional support can be provided to more vulnerable departments or staff groups.

PMID:35506434 | DOI:10.1111/jonm.13657

Australas Psychiatry. 2022 May 4:10398562221080740. doi: 10.1177/10398562221080740. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Test whether extra time with alcohol and drug nurses for inpatients at a Mental Health Unit (MHU) reduces post-discharge mental and co-occurring alcohol and drug problems and increases engagement in alcohol and drug treatment more than a Brief Information Pack (BIP).

METHOD: Single blind randomised control trial in block design compared two alcohol and drug nurse delivered interventions over 6 months post-discharge using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Brief Symptom Inventory index of overall psychological distress Global Severity Index (GSI).

RESULTS: Alcohol and drug nurse delivered BIP was associated with a statistically significant reduction in AUDIT measured alcohol use for the highest follow-up score across the 6-month post-discharge period, n = 20, t = 2.24, p = 0.037, d = 0.50 and for the extra time intervention, n = 11, t = 2.51, p = 0.031, d = 0.76.

CONCLUSIONS: MHUs may benefit from the integration of alcohol and drug nurses with community alcohol and drug treatment experience.

PMID:35506425 | DOI:10.1177/10398562221080740