We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
To save content items to your account,
please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies.
If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account.
Find out more about saving content to .
To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org
is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings
on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part
of your Kindle email address below.
Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations.
‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi.
‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Increased antibiotic use (AU) has been reported globally during the COVID-19 pandemic despite low rates of bacterial co-infection. We assessed changes in AU during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia and the Philippines.
Methods:
We evaluated hospital-wide AU over 36 months in six hospitals, 3 in Indonesia and 3 in the Philippines. Intravenous antibiotics commonly used for respiratory conditions were selected and grouped for analysis. AU rates were calculated as monthly defined daily dose per 1000 patient-days or patient discharges. Median AU rates were compared from the pre-pandemic (March 2018–February 2020) and pandemic periods (March 2020–February 2021) using quantile regression to assess for statistical significance. Changes in AU during the COVID-19 pandemic were analyzed using interrupted time series analysis.
Results:
Significant increases were noted in the median AU rate from the pre-pandemic to pandemic period of all antibiotics combined in 3/6 hospitals (percentage change, Δ, 12.5%–63.6%) and anti-pseudomonal antibiotics in 3/6 hospitals (Δ 51.5%–161.5%). In the interrupted time series analysis, an immediate increase (range: 125.40–1762) in the use of all included antibiotics combined was observed in 3/6 hospitals at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of these 3 hospitals experienced a statistically significant sustained increase, while another experienced a decrease over time.
Conclusions:
We observed significant increases in facility-wide inpatient AU during the COVID-19 pandemic in our participating hospitals in Indonesia and the Philippines. These findings reinforce the importance of antibiotic stewardship practices to optimize AU, especially during infectious disease pandemics.
Cannabis use poses a significant risk to the psychological wellbeing of youth, affecting academic performance and potentially triggering the onset of mental health issues. Providing young people with comprehensive information about patterns of cannabis use and specific factors that increase an individual’s health risks is crucial. The ability to critically assimilate this information is known as health literacy (HL).
Objectives
To design a psychoeducational intervention to increase HL on risky cannabis use among students aged 16-25, and to assess its usability and feasibility.
Methods
We designed a psychoeducational intervention based on the outcomes of a 3-hour co-creation session involving healthcare professionals and students. 29 university students and 25 high-school students completed this intervention and assessed its usability and feasibility with the SUS (System Usability Scale), PSSUQ (Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire) and additional open questions regarding the most and less-liked aspects of the intervention.
Results
The design phase resulted in an informative website (http://www.cahlyclinic.cat/) and a 1-hour structured onsite educator-facilitated session, comprising 3 group activities (completed on paper or online) addressing three dimensions of cannabis HL: searching for, interpreting and applying reliable information. Usability of the intervention was rated as excellent (SUS mean score>80). PSSUQ results indicate that students were satisfied with the intervention; found the HL information clear, relevant, and adequate for their needs; found the interface of the digital version pleasant and usable without support; and would recommend it to other students.
Conclusions
We propose an innovative structured and usable intervention, designed using a participatory approach, which aims to disseminate information on risky cannabis use to a key target population, namely young people.
The Fontan procedure is considered one of the most remarkable achievements in paediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery. Its final anatomical objective is a venous return through the superior and inferior vena cava. The complications inherent to this procedure and subsequent failure are its limitations.
Objective:
To describe the clinical and haemodynamic characteristics of patients with Fontan failure and define the risk factors associated with it, with its short- and long-term outcomes during a 21-year observation period.
Methods:
This is a retrospective follow-up study in which 15 patients diagnosed with Fontan failure in the single-ventricle programme of a high-complexity hospital in Medellín, Colombia, between 2001 and 2022 were included.
Results:
One hundred and eight patients were identified in whom the Fontan procedure was performed, and 17 met the failure criteria. 82.4% were men, with a median age of 4.3 years. Ebstein’s anomaly was the most common diagnosis, 29.4%. All patients underwent Fontan with an extracardiac tube following the procedure. According to the type of failure, 58.8% of patients presented protein-losing enteropathy and 17.6% plastic bronchitis. During follow-up, 5.9% of patients died.
Conclusion:
Fontan surgery in our centre is an option for patients with univentricular physiology. The correct selection of the patient is essential to mitigate failure risks.
Scientific disciplines recognize that pregnancy not only refers to the biological dimension. It also constitutes a social category, since sociocultural matrices have implications on what is conceived as the state of gestation (Noguera & Rodríguez, 2008). In this sense, cultures develop protocols to guide the actions of pregnant women and their loved ones regarding self-care during pregnancy in order to contribute to the well-being of mother and child (Carmona, Hurtado and Marín 2007). In this context, the belief category becomes relevant as a form of understanding the ways in which we appropriate reality and intervene it (Peirce, 1903).
Objectives
To analyze the beliefs that a group of pregnant women belonging to a population group from Montería (Córdoba, Colombia) have about taking care of themselves.
Methods
Approach: qualitative. The sample was defined by saturation, for a total of 15 pregnant women affiliated to the Mocarí Hospital in the city of Montería, Córdoba. Instrument: semi-structured open interview; content analysis technique through AtlasTi. Emerging categories: a) care during pregnancy; b) relationships with others.
Results
Main belief: Pregnant women need to take care of themselves physically and psychologically, for which it is necessary to have parents, siblings and partner’s support. Care is based on healthy nutrition, physical activity and mental health prevention. It is assumed that self-care is important for the well-being of mother and child. The importance of the family support networks’ participation is also recognized.
Image:
Conclusions
According to the approaches stated/developed by Peirce (1903), beliefs have implications on the way we behave and intervene in reality. Mental habits function as a link between belief and concrete action. For this research, the beliefs that arise from the sociocultural matrices of the pregnant women are evidenced in their concrete actions.
Background:Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant yeast that is transmitted in healthcare facilities and is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Environmental contamination is suspected to play an important role in transmission but additional information is needed to inform environmental cleaning recommendations to prevent spread. Methods: We conducted a multiregional (Chicago, IL; Irvine, CA) prospective study of environmental contamination associated with C. auris colonization of patients and residents of 4 long-term care facilities and 1 acute-care hospital. Participants were identified by screening or clinical cultures. Samples were collected from participants’ body sites (eg, nares, axillae, inguinal creases, palms and fingertips, and perianal skin) and their environment before room cleaning. Daily room cleaning and disinfection by facility environmental service workers was followed by targeted cleaning of high-touch surfaces by research staff using hydrogen peroxide wipes (see EPA-approved product for C. auris, List P). Samples were collected immediately after cleaning from high-touch surfaces and repeated at 4-hour intervals up to 12 hours. A pilot phase (n = 12 patients) was conducted to identify the value of testing specific high-touch surfaces to assess environmental contamination. High-yield surfaces were included in the full evaluation phase (n = 20 patients) (Fig. 1). Samples were submitted for semiquantitative culture of C. auris and other multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), extended-spectrum β-lactamase–producing Enterobacterales (ESBLs), and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE). Times to room surface contamination with C. auris and other MDROs after effective cleaning were analyzed. Results:Candida auris colonization was most frequently detected in the nares (72%) and palms and fingertips (72%). Cocolonization of body sites with other MDROs was common (Fig. 2). Surfaces located close to the patient were commonly recontaminated with C. auris by 4 hours after cleaning, including the overbed table (24%), bed handrail (24%), and TV remote or call button (19%). Environmental cocontamination was more common with resistant gram-positive organisms (MRSA and, VRE) than resistant gram-negative organisms (Fig. 3). C. auris was rarely detected on surfaces located outside a patient’s room (1 of 120 swabs; <1%). Conclusions: Environmental surfaces near C. auris–colonized patients were rapidly recontaminated after cleaning and disinfection. Cocolonization of skin and environment with other MDROs was common, with resistant gram-positive organisms predominating over gram-negative organisms on environmental surfaces. Limitations include lack of organism sequencing or typing to confirm environmental contamination was from the room resident. Rapid recontamination of environmental surfaces after manual cleaning and disinfection suggests that alternate mitigation strategies should be evaluated.
Sexting is sending / forwarding erotic-sexual content voluntarily through technological devices and / or the internet. (Fleschler-Peskin, 2013). Real Participation (RPS), Active Disposition (ADS) and Emotional Expression (EES) was studied.
Objectives
Compare sexting in two groups of participants: female and male
Methods
Comparison of data means measured by the Cronbach alpha sexting behavior scale α = 0.92, (Chacon-Lopez, et al, 2016). Sample N = 900 (447 female and 453 male)
Results
The ADS and RPS decrease between 18 to 20 years old and increase between 20 to 22 years old. EES decreases when increasing age, except in 20 years old. Applying multiple regression analysis, control variable sex and reference group age 18 old, presents statistically significant difference, excepting 19 years old in EES and 22 years old in RPS. (Figure 1)
Comparing age and gender, ADS men present higher levels than women, excepting 19 years old. EES and RP, no significant differences are observed. Comparing women’s mean show lower AD levels than men with Cohen’s effect size d = 0.62, (Cohen, 1988). Related to PRS averages, women present lower levels than men without statistically significant differences. Comparing means, women show lower ADS levels than men effecting d Cohen d = 0.46, (Cohen, 1988). (Figure 2)
Conclusions
Evidence difference between men and women, in ADS and EES, without pattern associated with age, young men and women sexting
Healthcare personnel with severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection were interviewed to describe activities and practices in and outside the workplace. Among 2,625 healthcare personnel, workplace-related factors that may increase infection risk were more common among nursing-home personnel than hospital personnel, whereas selected factors outside the workplace were more common among hospital personnel.
To develop a pediatric research agenda focused on pediatric healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial stewardship topics that will yield the highest impact on child health.
Participants:
The study included 26 geographically diverse adult and pediatric infectious diseases clinicians with expertise in healthcare-associated infection prevention and/or antimicrobial stewardship (topic identification and ranking of priorities), as well as members of the Division of Healthcare Quality and Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (topic identification).
Methods:
Using a modified Delphi approach, expert recommendations were generated through an iterative process for identifying pediatric research priorities in healthcare associated infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship. The multistep, 7-month process included a literature review, interactive teleconferences, web-based surveys, and 2 in-person meetings.
Results:
A final list of 12 high-priority research topics were generated in the 2 domains. High-priority healthcare-associated infection topics included judicious testing for Clostridioides difficile infection, chlorhexidine (CHG) bathing, measuring and preventing hospital-onset bloodstream infection rates, surgical site infection prevention, surveillance and prevention of multidrug resistant gram-negative rod infections. Antimicrobial stewardship topics included β-lactam allergy de-labeling, judicious use of perioperative antibiotics, intravenous to oral conversion of antimicrobial therapy, developing a patient-level “harm index” for antibiotic exposure, and benchmarking and or peer comparison of antibiotic use for common inpatient conditions.
Conclusions:
We identified 6 healthcare-associated infection topics and 6 antimicrobial stewardship topics as potentially high-impact targets for pediatric research.
Partly as a consequence of an aging global population, radiology departments have seen an increase in imaging in patients older than 65 years of age [1]. One department in the United Kingdom found a 51% increase in radiological studies performed in patients over 90 years of age over a recent 7-year period [2].
Previous genetic association studies have failed to identify loci robustly associated with sepsis, and there have been no published genetic association studies or polygenic risk score analyses of patients with septic shock, despite evidence suggesting genetic factors may be involved. We systematically collected genotype and clinical outcome data in the context of a randomized controlled trial from patients with septic shock to enrich the presence of disease-associated genetic variants. We performed genomewide association studies of susceptibility and mortality in septic shock using 493 patients with septic shock and 2442 population controls, and polygenic risk score analysis to assess genetic overlap between septic shock risk/mortality with clinically relevant traits. One variant, rs9489328, located in AL589740.1 noncoding RNA, was significantly associated with septic shock (p = 1.05 × 10–10); however, it is likely a false-positive. We were unable to replicate variants previously reported to be associated (p < 1.00 × 10–6 in previous scans) with susceptibility to and mortality from sepsis. Polygenic risk scores for hematocrit and granulocyte count were negatively associated with 28-day mortality (p = 3.04 × 10–3; p = 2.29 × 10–3), and scores for C-reactive protein levels were positively associated with susceptibility to septic shock (p = 1.44 × 10–3). Results suggest that common variants of large effect do not influence septic shock susceptibility, mortality and resolution; however, genetic predispositions to clinically relevant traits are significantly associated with increased susceptibility and mortality in septic individuals.
It is known that pigs can acquire flavour preferences by brief social interactions with conspecifics that previously consumed a flavoured solid feed. However, there is no information about whether a flavoured solution could support flavour preferences through social transmission. Ninety-six pigs (49 days old) were housed in 12 pens (8 pigs/pen). Four animals per pen were randomly selected to act as observers and four as demonstrators. Demonstrator animals were temporarily moved to an empty pen where a protein solution was offered (porcine digestive peptides (PDPs), 4% weight/volume) with the addition of 0.075% aniseed (six pens) or garlic (six pens) powdered artificial flavours for 30 min. Afterwards, demonstrators were returned to interact with observer animals for 30 min. A choice test (30 min) between aniseed and garlic PDP was performed for each observer group after the interaction. Observers showed a higher intake of solutions previously consumed by their demonstrator conspecifics (648 v. 468 ml; SEM 61.36, P < 0.05). As with flavoured solid feeds, protein solutions containing artificial flavours can create preferences in pigs for those flavours through social transmission from conspecifics.
Although the Cascajal Block (CB), an incised greenstone slab from southeastern Veracruz, Mexico, arguably contains the earliest written text in the New World, debate remains regarding the object's authenticity, dating, and cultural affiliation. To address these issues, this article details recent analyses of the CB via polynomial texture mapping (PTM), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). PTM revealed new details that have resulted in a new epigraphic drawing of the block's incised text and allowed for improved identification of several constituent signs. Spectrometric analysis confirmed that the chemical composition of the CB matrix is consistent with serpentine and identified a uniform patina on its surface, which provided additional contextual data. SEM micrographs of polymer replica molds taken from the incised text evidence manufacturing traces that correspond to lapidary techniques observed on other Formative-period Olmec objects of secure provenience. Results assist in clarifying the archaeological contexts of the object and confirm that in terms of symbols, material, and manufacture the CB conforms to other Formative-period Olmec objects, supporting the object's authenticity, dating, and cultural affiliation.
Elemental powders of Cu and Ni, binary alloys (Cu-Ni and Cu-Zr) and ternary alloy (Cu-Ni-Zr) obtained by mechanical alloying and uniaxial compaction hot microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated. The alloys studied were: pure Cu, pure Ni, binary alloys (Cu-Ni; Cu-Zr) and ternary alloys (Cu-Ni-Zr) under the same mechanical milling and hot pressing conditions. The samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM); the mechanical properties were studied by compression tests and hardness in Vickers scale (HV0.5) on polished surfaces at room temperature. According to XRD results, hot pressing process crystallite size increase and microstrain decreases in the compact samples due to the release of crystalline defects. The compacted samples have porosity of approximately 20%. The milling powder samples have a higher hardness than the unmilled samples, this because during milling crystal defects are incorporated together with the microstructural refinement. Ternary alloy is the one with the highest hardness of all systems studied, reaching 689 HV0.5. In compression tests determined a strain 5 %, Zr-containing samples become more fragile presenting the lowest values of compressive strength. In contrast, samples of Ni and Cu-Ni binary alloy are more resistant to compression.
We describe the performance of the Boolardy Engineering Test Array, the prototype for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope. Boolardy Engineering Test Array is the first aperture synthesis radio telescope to use phased array feed technology, giving it the ability to electronically form up to nine dual-polarisation beams. We report the methods developed for forming and measuring the beams, and the adaptations that have been made to the traditional calibration and imaging procedures in order to allow BETA to function as a multi-beam aperture synthesis telescope. We describe the commissioning of the instrument and present details of Boolardy Engineering Test Array’s performance: sensitivity, beam characteristics, polarimetric properties, and image quality. We summarise the astronomical science that it has produced and draw lessons from operating Boolardy Engineering Test Array that will be relevant to the commissioning and operation of the final Australian Square Kilometre Array Path telescope.