Tag: nevin manimala

Environ Pollut. 2021 Jul 7;288:117713. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117713. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In recent decades China has experienced high-level PM_2.5 pollution and then visible air quality improvement. To understand the air quality change from the perspective of aerosol optical depth (AOD), we adopted two statistical methods of Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF) and Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) to AOD retrieved by MODIS over China and surrounding areas. Results showed that EOF and NMF identified the important factors influencing AOD over China from different angles: natural dusts controlled the seasonal variation with contribution of 42.4%, and anthropogenic emissions have larger contribution to AOD magnitude. To better observe the interannual variation of different sources, we removed seasonal cycles from original data and conducted EOF analysis on AOD monthly anomalies. Results showed that aerosols from anthropogenic sources had the greatest contribution (27%) to AOD anomaly variation and took an obvious downward trend, and natural dust was the second largest contributor with contribution of 17%. In the areas surrounding China, the eastward aerosol transport due to prevailing westerlies in spring significantly influenced the AOD variation over West Pacific with the largest contribution of 21%, whereas the aerosol transport from BTH region in winter had relative greater impact on the AOD magnitude. After removing seasonal cycles, biomass burning in South Asia became the most important influencing factor on AOD anomalies with contribution of 10%, as its interannual variability was largely affected by El Niño. Aerosol transport from BTH was the second largest contributor with contribution of 8% and showed a decreasing trend. This study showed that the downward trend of AOD over China since 2011 was dominated by aerosols from anthropogenic sources, which in a way confirmed the effectiveness of air pollution control policies.

PMID:34273768 | DOI:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117713

Epilepsy Behav. 2021 Jul 14;122:108190. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.108190. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To assess the longitudinal impact of highly purified cannabidiol (CBD) on the electroencephalogram (EEG) of children and adults.

METHODS: Participants received an EEG prior to starting CBD, after approximately 12 weeks of CBD (FU1) and after approximately one year of CBD therapy (FU2). Longitudinal changes in five EEG measures (background frequency, focal slowing, reactivity, frequency of interictal, and ictal discharges) were examined following CBD exposure. Data were compared between pediatric and adult groups at two follow-up time points and within groups over time. Population-averaged models with generalized estimation equations or linear mixed effects models were used to analyze data where appropriate. Correlation analysis was used to assess any association between changes in seizure frequency and changes in EEG interictal discharge (IED) frequency. An alpha level of 5% was used to assess statistical significance.

RESULTS: At FU1, the adult group showed significant decrease in IED/minute (IDR 0.07, 95% CI [0.04, 0.14], P < 0.001); a nonsignificant decrease was observed among children (IDR 0.87, 95% CI [0.47, 0.64], P = 0.67). The difference in changes over time between participant groups was significant after adjusting for last CBD dose (IDR 11.8, 95% CI [4.86, 28.65], P < 0.0001). At FU2 both groups showed significant reduction from baseline after controlling for last CBD dose. This decrease was more pronounced in children (IDR 15.38, 95% CI [4.93, 47.99], P < 0.001). There was no significant correlation between changes in seizure frequency and EEG IED frequency at each timepoint (P = 0.542, 0.917 and 0.989 from baseline to FU1, FU1 to FU2 and baseline to FU2, respectively).

SIGNIFICANCE: This longitudinal EEG study shows that highly-purified plant-derived CBD has positive effects on interictal epileptiform discharge frequency but no effects on other EEG measures. The effect of CBD does not appear to be dose or treatment-duration dependent.

PMID:34273739 | DOI:10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.108190

Adv Med Sci. 2021 Jul 14;66(2):326-335. doi: 10.1016/j.advms.2021.07.003. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a very aggressive and often fatal heterogeneous disease that is usually asymptomatic until late in the disease. There is an urgent need for RCC specific biomarkers that may be exploited clinically for diagnostic and prognostic purposes.

MATERIALS/METHODS: Serum and urine samples were collected from patients with diagnosed kidney cancer and assessed with gold nanoparticle enhanced target (AuNPET) surface assisted-laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (SALDI MS) based metabolomics and statistical analysis.

RESULTS: A database search allowed providing assignment of signals for the most promising features with a satisfactory value of the area under the curve and accuracy. Four potential biomarkers were found in urine and serum samples to distinguish clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) from controls, 4 for the ccRCC with and without metastases, and 6 metabolites to distinguish low and high stages or grades.

CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study suggests that serum and urine metabolomics based on AuNPET-LDI MS may be useful in distinguishing types, grades and stages of human RCC.

PMID:34273747 | DOI:10.1016/j.advms.2021.07.003

J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2021 Jul 10;60:102572. doi: 10.1016/j.jelekin.2021.102572. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To compare the responses in knee joint muscle activation patterns to different perturbations during gait in healthy subjects.

SCOPE: Nine healthy participants were subjected to perturbed walking on a split-belt treadmill. Four perturbation types were applied, each at five intensities. The activations of seven muscles surrounding the knee were measured using surface EMG. The responses in muscle activation were expressed by calculating mean, peak, co-contraction (CCI) and perturbation responses (PR) values. PR captures the responses relative to unperturbed gait. Statistical parametric mapping analysis was used to compare the muscle activation patterns between conditions.

RESULTS: Perturbations evoked only small responses in muscle activation, though higher perturbation intensities yielded a higher mean activation in five muscles, as well as higher PR. Different types of perturbation led to different responses in the rectus femoris, medial gastrocnemius and lateral gastrocnemius. The participants had lower CCI just before perturbation compared to the same phase of unperturbed gait.

CONCLUSIONS: Healthy participants respond to different perturbations during gait with small adaptations in their knee joint muscle activation patterns. This study provides insights in how the muscles are activated to stabilize the knee when challenged. Furthermore it could guide future studies in determining aberrant muscle activation in patients with knee disorders.

PMID:34273728 | DOI:10.1016/j.jelekin.2021.102572

Nurse Educ Pract. 2021 Jun 30;55:103140. doi: 10.1016/j.nepr.2021.103140. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To improve undergraduate nursing students and educator intercultural knowledge and competencies by implementing an academic systems change.

BACKGROUND: Many organizations have diversity and inclusion guidelines and initiatives for healthcare providers to consider in determining culturally competent care, which has a direct impact on the care given, received, and overall outcomes.

DESIGN: 1. Assess student’s mindset at the beginning and the end of an undergraduate nursing course. 2. Ensure diversity and inclusion content was provided to faculty through a continuing education program. 3. Review all undergraduate courses for diversity and inclusion content.

METHODS: The Intercultural Development Inventory®, a 50-item cross-cultural, theory-based assessment tool was used in a pre- and post-test design (n = 61 intervention; n = 56 control) to determine undergraduate nursing student’s mindset and assists the student’s in developing a personalized Intercultural Development Plan. The effectiveness of faculty diversity and inclusion education was evaluated using a post program evaluation. Curricular blueprinting of all undergraduate nursing courses for diversity and inclusion content was completed.

RESULTS: The results demonstrated a statistically significant difference in the post-test between the intervention and control groups.

CONCLUSION: While evidence is lacking in specificity of how to best implement diversity and inclusion content in curriculum, these results provided some excellent baseline data that can be tracked while continued changes occur.

PMID:34273730 | DOI:10.1016/j.nepr.2021.103140

Neural Netw. 2021 Jun 30;143:452-474. doi: 10.1016/j.neunet.2021.06.022. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Accurate characterization of brain activity during a cognitive task is challenging due to the dynamically changing and the complex nature of the brain. The majority of the proposed approaches assume stationarity in brain activity and disregard the systematic timing organization among brain regions during cognitive tasks. In this study, we propose a novel cognitive activity recognition method that captures the activity-specific timing parameters from training data that elicits maximal average short-lived pairwise synchronization between electroencephalography signals. We evaluated the characterization power of the activity-specific timing parameter triplets in a motor imagery activity recognition framework. The activity-specific timing parameter triplets consist of latency of the maximally synchronized signal segments from activity onset Δt, the time lag between maximally synchronized signal segments τ, and the duration of the maximally synchronized signal segments w. We used cosine-based similarity, wavelet bi-coherence, phase-locking value, phase coherence value, linearized mutual information, and cross-correntropy to calculate the channel synchronizations at the specific timing parameters. Recognition performances as well as statistical analyses on both BCI Competition-III dataset IVa and PhysioNet Motor Movement/Imagery dataset, indicate that the inter-channel short-lived synchronization calculated using activity-specific timing parameter triplets elicit significantly distinct synchronization profiles for different motor imagery tasks and can thus reliably be used for cognitive task recognition purposes.

PMID:34273721 | DOI:10.1016/j.neunet.2021.06.022

J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2021 Jul 10;60:102574. doi: 10.1016/j.jelekin.2021.102574. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to compare the use of intramuscular (iEMG) and surface (sEMG) electromyography electrodes to record flexor hallucis longus (FHL) muscle activity during walking, and describe the role of the FHL. Muscle activity was recorded in 12 participants using sEMG and iEMG during treadmill and overground walking. Inter-tester reliability for visual detection of onset and offset of muscle activity was high (ICC = 1.00). During the loading period, the number of bursts of muscle activity was statistically significantly greater using iEMG compared to sEMG when treadmill walking (p = 0.016), and the duration of muscle activity was significantly greater for iEMG (p = 0.01) on both walking surfaces. There were no differences for peak and mean root mean squared (p ≥ 0.07). The FHL activity observed during the loading period (heel strike to forefoot strike) supports the function of the FHL to act as a dynamic ankle stabiliser of the rearfoot, as well as contributing to propulsion during the latter part of stance. The choice of electrodes to detect FHL activity should be dependent on whether the loading and propulsive periods are of interest, and whether treadmill or overground walking will be examined.

PMID:34273727 | DOI:10.1016/j.jelekin.2021.102574

Chemosphere. 2021 Jul 8;285:131486. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131486. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Phosphorus recovery has attracted increasing interest due to the potential depletion of phosphorus resources. One promising solution is to recover phosphorus via struvite precipitation from wastewater or other waste that is in rich of phosphate. However, product quality control during such process is always challenging due to the variation and complexity of wastewater compositions. For example, subcritical wet oxidation (SCWO) effluent is rich in phosphorus and nitrogen but contains a large amount of acetic acid, while its effect on struvite recovery is hardly known. Therefore, central composite design (CCD), considering pH, acetic acid level, Mg level and Ca level, was used to evaluate the effect of acetic acid on struvite purity, phosphorus removal, morphology and reaction kinetics. The experimental data were statistically analysed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and principal components analysis (PCA). The results indicate that pH and Mg level have a significant impact on phosphorus removal (pH: p-value < 0.0001, Mg: p-value < 0.0001) and struvite purity (pH: p-value = 0.0410, Mg: p-value < 0.0001), Ca level only affects the struvite purity (p-value = 0.0333). The presence of acetic acid, within the studied range (8.77-34.53 mM), has a negligible effect on struvite morphology, phosphorus removal and reaction kinetics, but a slightly positive effect on struvite purity. Findings of this research would be beneficial to determine the feasibility of acetic acid-rich wastewater as a phosphorus source for struvite recovery.

PMID:34273697 | DOI:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131486

Placenta. 2021 Jul 8;112:45-53. doi: 10.1016/j.placenta.2021.07.001. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Maternal metabolism undergoes dynamic changes during pregnancy. A deviation from this physiological metabolic status might be involved in the pathogenesis of pregnancy complications, such as recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). Decidua is an important uterine tissue, which provides immunological protection as well as nutritional support to the developing embryo during early pregnancy. Previous studies have shown that aberrant metabolism of the decidua is related to the etiology of RPL. However, the metabolic profile of the decidua in RPL has not yet been fully elucidated.

METHODS: In the current study, decidual samples from RPL patients (n = 23) and normal pregnancy (NP) women (n = 30) were collected, and hydrophilic and hydrophobic metabolites were extracted and measured using a liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry system. Besides, the mRNA expression of several critical enzymes involved in sphingolipid metabolism and glycerophospholipid metabolism was detected.

RESULTS: The OSC-PLS-DA scores plot illustrates that metabolic differences are present in the decidual tissue of RPL patients compared with that of NP women. Combining multivariate analysis with univariate statistical analysis, a total of 62 metabolites related to RPL were selected, including carnitine, glycerophospholipids, sphingomyelin (SM), ceramide, organic acids and their derivatives, and amino acid metabolomics. KEGG analysis showed that abnormalities in multiple metabolic pathways occurred in RPL decidua, including vitamin digestion and absorption, tryptophan metabolism, citrate cycle, arginine biosynthesis, glycerophospholipid metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, and sphingolipid signaling pathway. Increased SM synthase and decreased Phospholipase A2 Group IIE mRNA levels were detected in RPL compared with NP group.

DISCUSSION: Disruption of decidual metabolism, especially glycerophospholipid metabolism and sphingolipid metabolism, might be involved in the occurrence of RPL.

PMID:34273713 | DOI:10.1016/j.placenta.2021.07.001

Nurs Open. 2021 Jul 17. doi: 10.1002/nop2.977. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To explore the clinical working experiences of Saudi nurses during the novel Coronavirus outbreak, identify the challenges and determine how these challenges affect their nursing practice.

BACKGROUND: From the current experience of working during the novel Coronavirus outbreak, it is statistically significant to identify the challenges that nurses in Saudi Arabia face in their clinical practice and determine how these challenges affected their practice.

DESIGNS: A qualitative descriptive study.

METHODS: An in-depth interview with eight Registered Nurses in Saudi Arabia who worked in areas where the novel Coronavirus patients are treated were conducted between 10 and 23 April.

RESULTS: The following eight major themes were identified from this study: physical exhaustion, fear of infection, providing care with uncertainty, uncomfortable use of personal protective equipment, missed nursing care, prolonged procedures, lack of guidance during the outbreak and lack of managerial support.

CONCLUSION: The results suggest that nurses’ leaders should take active roles in empowering nursing staff. The absence of direct monitoring for nursing performance during their practice compromises patient safety and jeopardises the quality of care through missed nursing care. This study also revealed that nurses who worked during the outbreak need psychological support that can enhance their emotional resilience.

PMID:34273252 | DOI:10.1002/nop2.977