Tag: pubmed

Libyan J Med. 2023 Dec;18(1):2266239. doi: 10.1080/19932820.2023.2266239. Epub 2023 Oct 18.

ABSTRACT

Workplace bullying is quite prevalent and has been linked to many health complaints. The relationship between workplace bullying and fatigue was documented in previous studies. However, knowledge on how this relationship develops with the interplaying factors of spirituality and gender was not investigated before especially among schoolteachers. The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between workplace bullying and fatigue as moderated by spirituality and gender among schoolteachers in Lebanon. This is a cross-sectional study, where 215 schoolteachers aged 18 till 64 and employed for a minimum of 6 months were recruited through systematic sampling. Six private and six public schools in Beirut participated in the study. Online questionnaires using validated scales were used. Both simple and multiple ordinal logistic regression were performed for the statistical analysis. Results showed that workplace bullying is a predictor of fatigue with an odds ratio of 2.74 and p-value 0.008. Gender was found to be an effect modifier for this relationship, mainly among females (OR 2.66, p-value 0.047) but not among males. Anxiety and depression also predicted higher levels of fatigue (OR 5.75, p-value 0.017). Spirituality did not moderate this relationship.

PMID:37851853 | DOI:10.1080/19932820.2023.2266239

Ann Med. 2023;55(2):2269379. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2023.2269379. Epub 2023 Oct 18.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: An increasing number of studies show that the intestinal flora is closely related to spinal cord injury. Many researchers are exploring the changes in the richness, diversity, and evenness of intestinal flora in spinal cord injury animal models to identify the characteristic bacteria.

METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted using three databases: PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science. A meta-analysis was performed using R 4.3.1 to evaluate the comparison of microbiota diversity, richness, and evenness and the relative abundance of intestinal microbiota in animals with spinal cord injury and blank controls.

RESULTS: Fifteen studies were included in the meta-analysis, of which 12 involved gut microbiota distribution indicators and 11 included intestinal microflora relative abundance indicators. Meta-analysis of high-dimensional indicators describing the distribution of the gut microbiota identified a substantial decline in the evenness and richness of the intestinal flora. In addition, the Actinobacteria phylum and Erysipelotrichales and Clostridiales orders were significantly different between the spinal cord injury and sham groups; therefore, they may be the characteristic bacteria in spinal cord injury models.

CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis suggested that the gut microbiota in the spinal cord injury animal model group was altered compared with that in the control group, with varying degrees of changes in richness and evenness and potentially pathogenic characteristic flora. More rigorous methodological studies are needed because of the high heterogeneity and limited sample size. Further research is needed to clinically apply intestinal microbiota and potentially guide fecal microbiota transplantation therapy.

PMID:37851840 | DOI:10.1080/07853890.2023.2269379

Sci Adv. 2023 Oct 20;9(42):eadk0531. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adk0531. Epub 2023 Oct 18.

ABSTRACT

The stereoselectivity of glycosidic bond formation continues to pose a noteworthy hurdle in synthesizing carbohydrates, primarily due to the simultaneous occurrence of S_N1 and S_N2 processes during the glycosylation reaction. Here, we applied an in-depth analysis of the glycosylation mechanism by using low-temperature nuclear magnetic resonance and statistical approaches. A pathway driven by counterion exchanges and reaction byproducts was first discovered to outline the stereocontributions of intermediates. Moreover, the relative reactivity values, acceptor nucleophilic constants, and Hammett substituent constants (σ values) provided a general index to indicate the mechanistic pathways. These results could allow building block tailoring and reaction condition optimization in carbohydrate synthesis to be greatly facilitated and simplified.

PMID:37851803 | DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adk0531

Braz J Biol. 2023 Oct 13;83:e275161. doi: 10.1590/1519-6984.275161. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

Performance improvement is the main concept of development policy. Belief in strengthening and improving the performance of individuals and institutions in developing countries for success in development policy has gradually formed among development agents. Performance improvement at the individual level pays attention to individual needs in order to enhance performance. Development requires developed and trained people. Therefore, the better the human resources as wealth and national capital are cultivated, the smoother the development path will be. The dimensions of improving performance at the individual level include things such as abilities, needs, attitudes, psychology, motivations, talents and skills, which also raises the need for skill development. In this regard, the current research seeks to investigate the relationship between skill development and performance improvement in extension in Iranian agriculture. The statistical population includes agricultural jihad centers in five regions of the country (the division of the country’s provinces according to the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad, where each region includes 6 provinces) which is 8142 people, and accordingly, Cochran’s formula was used to determine the sample size and the number of sample size 366 people were obtained. A structured questionnaire was developed to collect data. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the skill development measurement model, the performance improvement measurement model, and the skill development model. The research results show the significant relationship of all the indicators extracted from the interview in the structural equations.

PMID:37851776 | DOI:10.1590/1519-6984.275161

Codas. 2023 Oct 13;36(1):e20220251. doi: 10.1590/2317-1782/20232022251pt. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To develop an assessment protocol for speech motor planning with phonologically balanced stimuli for Brazilian Portuguese, including all necessary variables for this diagnosis.

METHODS: Three stages were carried out: In the first, word lists were built with the main criterion being syllabic and accentual patterns. From the survey conducted in Stage 1, the words that composed the first version of the protocol lists in Stage 2 were selected, and grouped into two fundamental tasks for diagnosing acquired apraxia of speech (AOS): repetition and Reading Aloud (RA). In Stage 3, the occurrence of words was investigated using the Brazilian Corpus (PUC-SP) – Linguateca database, and a statistical analysis was performed to verify if the repetition and RA lists were balanced in terms of the occurrences. Thus, the lists were distributed in quartiles and submitted to both descriptive and bivariate analyses. A significance level of 5% (p<0.05) was adopted.

RESULTS: After completion of all stages, the words that composed the lists of the repetition and RA tasks were obtained. Finally, other tasks considered essential for the assessment of AOS, such as diadochokinetic rates and the board for spontaneous oral emission, were then added to the protocol.

CONCLUSION: The developed protocol contains the tasks considered standard for the assessment of AOS according to the international literature, which makes this instrument important for diagnosing this disorder in speakers of Brazilian Portuguese.

PMID:37851756 | DOI:10.1590/2317-1782/20232022251pt

Arq Bras Cardiol. 2023 Sep;120(9):e20230022. doi: 10.36660/abc.20230022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Despite reports of reduced physical fitness in children with congenital heart disease (CHD), no specific performance evaluations for activities of daily living have been conducted.

OBJECTIVES: The aim was to compare the activities of daily living, quality of life, posture, physical fitness and physical activity levels of children with CHD with healthy controls (HC).

METHODS: The study included 30 children aged 6-14 diagnosed with moderate or severe CHD and 30 age-sex-matched HC. The sociodemographic and clinical data of the participants were recorded. All participants went through several tests, namely the TGlittre-P test for activities of daily living, the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) for functional capacity, the Fitnessgram test battery for physical fitness, the hand dynamometer for measuring grip strength, the pedometer for measuring physical activity, and both the child and parents reported the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) for evaluating the quality of life, in addition to posture analyses. Values of p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS: Individuals with CHD had a longer TGlittre-P test completion time and a shorter 6MWT distance than HC (TGlittre-P: CHD 3.45 [3.24-4.02]min vs. HC 3.10 [2.57-3.23]min, 6MWT: CHD 514.00 [412.50-566.00]m vs. HC 591.50 [533.00-631.00]m). For the CHD group, sit-ups, push-ups, trunk lift, and sit-and-reach test scores within the Fitnessgram battery, grip strength, posture, and quality of life scores were lower than those for the HC group. Physical activity levels were similar in the groups.

CONCLUSIONS: The performance of activities of daily living, functional capacity, physical fitness, posture, and quality of life of children with moderate and severe CHD were affected compared to healthy peers.

PMID:37851733 | DOI:10.36660/abc.20230022

Arq Bras Cardiol. 2023 Sep;120(9):e20220835. doi: 10.36660/abc.20220835.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The long-term effects of mild COVID-19 on physical, cognitive, and mental health are not yet well understood.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to describe the protocol for the ongoing “Post-COVID Brazil” study 2, which aims to evaluate the factors associated with health-related quality of life and long-term cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular outcomes one year after a mild episode of symptomatic COVID-19.

METHODS: The “Post-COVID Brazil” study 2 is a prospective multicenter study that plans to enroll 1047 patients (NCT05197647). Centralized, structured telephone interviews are conducted at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after COVID-19 diagnosis. The primary outcome is the health-related quality-of-life utility score, assessed using the EuroQol-5D-3L (EQ-5D-3L) questionnaire at 12 months. Secondary endpoints include the EQ-5D-3L at 3, 6, and 9 months, as well as all-cause mortality, major cardiovascular events, hospitalization, return to work or education, persistent symptoms, new disabilities in instrumental activities of daily living, cognitive impairment, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress symptoms at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. A p-value < 0.05 will be considered statistically significant for all analyses.

RESULTS: The primary endpoint will be presented as the overall frequency of the EQ-5D-3L domains 12 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Main analysis will explore the association of independent variables with the study outcomes.

CONCLUSION: The “Post-COVID Brazil” study 2 aims to clarify the impact of long COVID on the quality of life and cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular outcomes of Brazilian patients who have had mild COVID-19.

PMID:37851732 | DOI:10.36660/abc.20220835

Cad Saude Publica. 2023 Oct 13;39(10):e00083123. doi: 10.1590/0102-311XES083123. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

A psychiatric reform is underway in Latin America and the Caribbean. Specifically in Argentina, a model of community mental health is being built, and prolonged psychiatric hospitalizations are still taking place, especially in neuropsychiatric hospitals. Therefore, it is necessary to closely monitor the psychiatric reform. One of the possible ways to monitor the reform is by analyzing society’s attitudes towards prolonged psychiatric hospitalization as a mean of mental health treatment. Thus, an analytical observational study was conducted at the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, in 2021, to analyze the behavior of neighbors of people who had prolonged psychiatric hospitalizations and who received housing support. Questionnaires were applied to neighbors and non-neighbors, addressing the behaviors toward prolonged psychiatric hospitalization as a mean of treatment, social distance toward people who were hospitalized, as well as specific interviews with key informants from neighborhoods where people with severe mental health disorders and who receive housing support live. Based on the answers of neighbors and non-neighbors, no statistically significant differences were identified in behaviors toward prolonged psychiatric hospitalization as a mean of treatment, nor for social distance in relation to people who were hospitalized. Key informants conditioned their assessment of prolonged hospitalization and valued the role of support teams in making community life viable.

PMID:37851727 | DOI:10.1590/0102-311XES083123

Arq Bras Cardiol. 2023 Oct;120(10):e20230082. doi: 10.36660/abc.20230082.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Pericardial window, in addition to promoting pericardial drainage, can also provide samples of the pericardium for anatomopathological examination. However, such biopsies’ contribution to clarifying the etiology of pericardial effusion has been debated.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the diagnostic value of non-targeted pericardial biopsy obtained from pericardial window procedures.

METHODS: Data from 80 patients who had undergone parietal pericardial biopsies from 2011 to 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Statistical significance was considered if p < 0.05.

RESULTS: Fifty patients were male (62.5%,) and 30 were female (37.5%). The median age was 52 years (interquartile range: 29 to 59) and 49 years (interquartile range: 38 to 65), respectively (p = 0.724). The suspected etiology of pericardial effusion was neoplastic in 31.3%, unclear in 25%, tuberculosis in 15%, autoimmune in 12.5%, edemagenic syndrome in 7.5%, and other miscellaneous conditions in 8.8%. The most frequent approach for pericardial drainage and biopsy was subxiphoid (74%), followed by video-assisted thoracoscopy (22%). Overall, in 78.8% of the biopsies, the histopathologic findings were compatible with nonspecific inflammation, and only 13.7% of all biopsies yielded a conclusive histopathological diagnostic. Those suffering from cancer and pericardial effusion had a higher proportion of conclusive histopathologic findings (32% had pericardial neoplastic infiltration). The hospital mortality rate was 27.5%, and 54.5% of the patients who died in the hospital had cancer. No deaths were attributed to cardiac tamponade or the drainage procedure.

CONCLUSION: Our results showed that pericardial window is a safe procedure, but it had little value to clarify the pericardial effusion etiology and no impact on the planned therapy for the primary diagnosis besides the cardiac decompression.

PMID:37851724 | DOI:10.36660/abc.20230082

Cad Saude Publica. 2023 Oct 13;39(9):e00076823. doi: 10.1590/0102-311XEN076823. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to investigate differences in determinants of active aging between older Brazilian and English adults and to verify the association of behavioral, personal, and social determinants with physical health. This cross-sectional study was based on the ELSI-Brazil (2015-2016) and ELSA (2016-2017) cohorts. Active aging determinants included behavior (smoking, sedentary lifestyle, and poor sleep quality), personal (cognitive function and life satisfaction), and social determinants (education, loneliness, and volunteering), according to the World Health Organization. Physical health included activities limitation and multimorbidity. We estimated age- and sex-adjusted prevalence for each indicator and mean score, and used the negative binomial regression for statistical analysis. We included 16,642 participants, 9,409 from Brazil and 7,233 from England. Overall, all active aging determinants were worse in Brazil than in England, except for life satisfaction (no difference). The most remarkable difference was found for social determinants score in Brazil (mean difference of 0.18; p < 0.05), mainly due to a significantly lower education level in Brazil (70.6%; 95% confidence interval – 95%CI: 69.7-71.5) than England (37.1%; 95%CI: 35.1-39.1). All determinants (behavioral, personal, and social) were associated with health in Brazil and in England. However, the behavioral domain was stronger associated with health in England (coefficient = 2.76; 95%CI: 2.46-3.10) than in Brazil (coefficient = 1.38; 95%CI: 1.26-1.50; p < 0.001). Older English adults beneficiate more from healthier behaviors than Brazilians, which depend more on social policies.

PMID:37851723 | DOI:10.1590/0102-311XEN076823