Tag: pubmed

Int J Nurs Pract. 2022 May 27:e13064. doi: 10.1111/ijn.13064. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To test the psychometric properties and latent structure of the modified Strong Model of Advanced Practice tool.

BACKGROUND: The Strong Model of Advanced Practice tool, developed in the United States in 1990s and its Australia modification, has been increasingly used to delineate nursing and advanced practice nursing roles. Few research-driven efforts to develop and validate these tools have taken place.

DESIGN: Psychometric testing of the modified Strong Model of Advanced Practice tool.

METHODS: A confirmatory factor analysis was undertaken to examine the factors of the modified Strong Model of Advanced Practice tool and compare the model to the Australian Advanced Practice Role Delineation tool. The data were collected in September 2020.

RESULTS: The analysis of the data provided construct validity evidence of the underlying theoretical structures of the five-factor modified Strong Model of Advanced Practice tool. The 45-item modified Strong Model of Advanced Practice tool demonstrated satisfactory, slightly better psychometric properties and construct validity than the 40-item Advanced Practice Role Delineation tool.

CONCLUSIONS: Psychometric properties of the scale were evaluated and reported. Based on the statistical analysis, we suggest the use of the 45-item modified Strong Model of Advanced Practice tool.

PMID:35633049 | DOI:10.1111/ijn.13064

J Dermatol. 2022 May 27. doi: 10.1111/1346-8138.16446. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Hypertrophic herpes simplex (HHS) often has atypical presentations, such as a hypertrophic mass or ulcers, with chronic courses. This situation poses a diagnostic challenge and results in delayed treatment. Imiquimod was used as a treatment for HHS by several studies, but the therapeutic outcomes varied. This systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data was conducted to investigate the therapeutic outcomes and prognostic factors of imiquimod treatment for patients with HHS. Biomedical databases (Embase, PubMed, Medline, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, and ClinicalTrials.gov) were searched for all types of clinical studies reporting the complete cure rate and the time to complete response to imiquimod therapy between 1926 and 2021. Quantitative analysis of individual patient data was performed using multivariable flexible parametric survival regression with cluster variance correction. A total of 12 019 articles were identified and screened for eligibility. Twenty-five studies (21 case reports and four case series) with a combined total of 42 patients were included. The complete cure rate for imiquimod treatment was estimated at 88.1%. The median time to complete response was 60 days (95% confidence interval 35-70). Combined treatment, male sex, and an age less than 50 years were identified as significant prognostic factors for a shorter time to complete cure. A severe local reaction was reported in 2.3%. Imiquimod therapy has high effectiveness and safety in curing HHS. Patients who were male or younger than 50 years or whose treatments were combined with thymidine kinase-dependent antivirals had the best prognoses and were more likely to respond to treatment.

PMID:35632986 | DOI:10.1111/1346-8138.16446

Cancer Med. 2022 May 27. doi: 10.1002/cam4.4893. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor in children, accounting for 10% to 20% of deaths of pediatric malignancies. Due to the poor prognosis and significant biological heterogeneity of neuroblastoma, it is essential to develop personalized therapeutics and monitor treatment response. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), as one of the important analytes for liquid biopsy, could facilitate response assessment and outcome prediction for patients in a non-invasive way. Several methods and platforms have been used for the enrichment and detection of CTCs. The enumeration of CTCs counts and evaluation of tumor-specific mRNA transcript levels could provide prognostic information at diagnosis, during or after chemotherapy, and during the process of disease progression. So far, studies into neuroblastoma CTCs are only in the preliminary stages. The quality-controlled large prospective cohort studies are needed to evaluate the clinical significance and statistical rigor of CTC detection methods. Moreover, there remains a lot to be explored and investigated in genotyping characterization of neuroblastoma (NB) CTCs and construction of in-vitro or in-vivo functional models. CTCs and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis will be complementary in understanding tumor heterogeneity and evolution over the course of therapy for patients with NB in the future.

PMID:35632981 | DOI:10.1002/cam4.4893

Viruses. 2022 May 20;14(5):1100. doi: 10.3390/v14051100.

ABSTRACT

Climate variability and anomalies are known drivers of the emergence and outbreaks of infectious diseases. In this study, we investigated the potential association between climate factors and anomalies, including El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and land surface temperature anomalies, as well as the emergence and spillover events of bat-borne viral diseases in humans and livestock in the Asia-Pacific region and the Arabian Peninsula. Our findings from time series analyses, logistic regression models, and structural equation modelling revealed that the spillover patterns of the Nipah virus in Bangladesh and the Hendra virus in Australia were differently impacted by climate variability and with different time lags. We also used event coincidence analysis to show that the emergence events of most bat-borne viral diseases in the Asia-Pacific region and the Arabian Peninsula were statistically associated with ENSO climate anomalies. Spillover patterns of the Nipah virus in Bangladesh and the Hendra virus in Australia were also significantly associated with these events, although the pattern and co-influence of other climate factors differed. Our results suggest that climate factors and anomalies may create opportunities for virus spillover from bats to livestock and humans. Ongoing climate change and the future intensification of El Niño events will therefore potentially increase the emergence and spillover of bat-borne viral diseases in the Asia-Pacific region and the Arabian Peninsula.

PMID:35632842 | DOI:10.3390/v14051100

Viruses. 2022 May 17;14(5):1075. doi: 10.3390/v14051075.

ABSTRACT

The role of environmental transmission of SARS-CoV-2 remains unclear. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate whether viral contamination of air, wastewater, and surfaces in quarantined households result in a higher risk for exposed persons. For this study, a source population of 21 households under quarantine conditions with at least one person who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA were randomly selected from a community in North Rhine-Westphalia in March 2020. All individuals living in these households participated in this study and provided throat swabs for analysis. Air and wastewater samples and surface swabs were obtained from each household and analysed using qRT-PCR. Positive swabs were further cultured to analyse for viral infectivity. Out of all the 43 tested adults, 26 (60.47%) tested positive using qRT-PCR. All 15 air samples were qRT-PCR-negative. In total, 10 out of 66 wastewater samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (15.15%) and 4 out of 119 surface samples (3.36%). No statistically significant correlation between qRT-PCR-positive environmental samples and the extent of the spread of infection between household members was observed. No infectious virus could be propagated under cell culture conditions. Taken together, our study demonstrates a low likelihood of transmission via surfaces. However, to definitively assess the importance of hygienic behavioural measures in the reduction of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, larger studies should be designed to determine the proportionate contribution of smear vs. droplet transmission.

PMID:35632816 | DOI:10.3390/v14051075

Viruses. 2022 May 5;14(5):973. doi: 10.3390/v14050973.

ABSTRACT

The International Virus Bioinformatics Meeting 2022 took place online, on 23-25 March 2022, and has attracted about 380 participants from all over the world. The goal of the meeting was to provide a meaningful and interactive scientific environment to promote discussion and collaboration and to inspire and suggest new research directions and questions. The participants created a highly interactive scientific environment even without physical face-to-face interactions. This meeting is a focal point to gain an insight into the state-of-the-art of the virus bioinformatics research landscape and to interact with researchers in the forefront as well as aspiring young scientists. The meeting featured eight invited and 18 contributed talks in eight sessions on three days, as well as 52 posters, which were presented during three virtual poster sessions. The main topics were: SARS-CoV-2, viral emergence and surveillance, virus-host interactions, viral sequence analysis, virus identification and annotation, phages, and viral diversity. This report summarizes the main research findings and highlights presented at the meeting.

PMID:35632715 | DOI:10.3390/v14050973

Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2022 May 13;13(4):101966. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2022.101966. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In non-permanent parasites, host detachment should take place in an environment that ensures the continuation of their life cycle. Timing of detachment – in combination with the host’s space use – affects dispersal and transmission success of the parasites and of the pathogens they vector. Before reaching the adult reproductive stage, ticks need to go through multiple immature developmental stages (larva and nymph), each feeding on host blood. In between the feeding bouts, they often remain in the off-host environment for considerable periods of time. With this study, we aimed to obtain more insight in Ixodes frontalis’ off-host habitat use by comparing its detachment pattern in different life stages with that of two habitat-specialized ticks also found on birds: the endophilic tree-hole tick (Ixodes arboricola) and the exophilic sheep tick (Ixodes ricinus), the latter living in humid understory vegetation of forests. For this, we artificially infested hole-roosting (great tits, Parus major) and open-roosting (blackbirds, Turdus merula) birds with ticks under laboratory conditions, and recorded whether detachment occurred during the day or the night. We hypothesize that nocturnal detachment improves off-host mating opportunities and host localization, whereas diurnal detachment optimizes tick dispersal. Ixodes frontalis nymphs detached during the night, especially when feeding on blackbirds. This behaviour was very similar to that of I. arboricola (larva and nymph) feeding on great tits. In contrast, I. frontalis larvae detached during the day, especially when feeding on great tits, which resembles that of I. ricinus’ feeding behaviour (larva and nymph). Ixodes frontalis left the host within seven days, immediately after completion of the blood meal. This is similar to both developmental stages of I. ricinus but contrasts with the very long (up to 20 days) feeding duration in I. arboricola. Thus I. frontalis shows strong plasticity, switching from dispersal-centered (larvae) to host-centered (nymphs) detachment behaviour. Findings are discussed with regard to the ticks’ habitat use, dispersal, life history and host specificity.

PMID:35623316 | DOI:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2022.101966

Eur J Radiol. 2022 May 20;153:110366. doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2022.110366. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Proximal humeral fractures account for a significant proportion of all fractures. Detailed accurate classification of the type and severity of the fracture is a key component of clinical decision making, treatment and plays an important role in orthopaedic trauma research. This research aimed to assess the performance of Machine Learning (ML) multiclass classification algorithms to classify proximal humeral fractures using radiology text data.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from adult (16 + years) patients admitted to a major trauma centre for management of their proximal humerus fracture from January 2010 to January 2019 were used (1,324). Six input text datasets were used for classification: X-ray and/or CT scan reports (primary) and concatenation of patient age and/or patient sex. One of seven Neer class labels were classified. Models were evaluated using accuracy, recall, precision, F1, and One-versus-rest scores.

RESULTS: A number of statistical ML algorithms performed acceptably and one of the BERT models, exhibiting good accuracy of 61% and an excellent one-versus-rest score above 0.8. The highest precision, recall and F1 scores were 50%, 39% and 39% respectively, being considered reasonable scores with the sparse text data used and in the context of machine learning.

CONCLUSION: ML and BERT algorithms based on routine unstructured X-ray and CT text reports, combined with the demographics of the patient, show promise in Neer classification of proximal humeral fractures to aid research. Use of these algorithms shows potential to speed up the classification task and assist radiologist, surgeons and researchers.

PMID:35623313 | DOI:10.1016/j.ejrad.2022.110366

Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. 2022 May 18;216:112577. doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2022.112577. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Surface patterning is a promising approach to prevent bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation without the concerns of antimicrobial resistance. To determine the parameters of a patterned surface that can affect bacterial behavior, a sphere-like coccus (Staphylococcus aureus) was investigated on a series of polyurethane films with ordered hemisphere patterns. The bacterial retention data in a growth medium indicated that the surface patterns significantly decreased bacterial adhesion and proliferation. The most notable effects were observed with the 2 µm-pattern as well as the patterned polycaprolactone and polystyrene films, and the accessible contact area of the polyurethane films, surface wettability, and spatial confinement, did not show an influence. An optical microscope with a modified incubation cell was used for in situ real-time observations of bacterial colonization, proliferation, and migration. Based on appropriate statistical analyses, it was concluded that topographical geometry played a dominant role. In combination with the retention assessment in a nongrowth medium, it was found that pattern-mediated inhibition of biofilm formation was mainly achieved by affecting bacterial proliferation rather than adhesion. This study provides new insight for designing biofilm-resistant biomimetic materials.

PMID:35623259 | DOI:10.1016/j.colsurfb.2022.112577

Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2022 May 24;243:113987. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2022.113987. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Sanitation is intended to reduce the spread and burden of diseases transmitted from excreta. Pathogen reduction from excreta before sludge or effluent discharge to the environment would seem a logical and useful performance indicator for sanitation systems. However, the relative magnitudes of pathogen release from common sanitation technologies are not well understood. We, therefore, investigated the feasibility of performance measurement of different sanitation technologies in Tamil Nadu, India in reducing the release of the pathogen indicator Escherichia coli (E. coli). After conducting users’ surveys and technical assessments of the locally prevalent sanitation systems, we classified them into 7 distinct categories (based on both observed physical characteristic and usage) within a widely-accepted physical typology. Faecal sludge and wastewater samples were collected and analysed for E. coli and total solids from 136 household systems, 24 community systems, and 23 sanitary sewer oveflows. We estimated the average volumetric release rates of wastewater and faecal sludge from the different sanitation technologies. Average daily per capita E. coli release was computed, and used as one indicator of the public health performance of technologies. We found that on-site installations described by owners as “septic systems” included diverse forms of tanks and pits of uncertain performance. We observed a statistically significant difference in the average daily per capita E. coli release from different sanitation technologies (p = 0.00001). Pathogen release from the studied on-site sanitation technologies varied by as much as 5 orders of magnitude from “lined pits” (5.4 Log10 E. coli per person per day) to “overflowing sanitary sewers” and “direct discharge pipes” (10.3-10.5 Log10 E. coli per person per day). Other technologies lay between these extremes, and their performances in E. coli removal also varied significantly, in both statistical and practical terms. Our results suggest that although faecal sludge management along the sanitation service chain is important, sanitation planners of the observed systems (and probably elsewhere) should direct higher priority to proper management of the liquid effluents from these systems to minimize public health hazards. We conclude that (i) the work demonstrates a new and promising approach for estimating the public health performance of differing sanitation technologies, (ii) if E.coli is accepted as an indicator of the public health hazard of releases from sanitation systems, our results strongly suggest that safe containment of excreta for an extended period substantially reduces pathogen numbers and the risk of pathogen release into the environment; and (iii) there are some simple but little-used technical improvements to design and construction of on-site sanitation systems which could significantly reduce the release of pathogens to the environment.

PMID:35623255 | DOI:10.1016/j.ijheh.2022.113987