11237 research outputs found
Sort by
Introducing the special issues on consensus in carotid disease. Part 1 and Part 2
No full textTwo Special Issues published in International Angiology discuss several important contemporary topics concerning the management of patients with asymptomatic (AsxCS) and symptomatic (SxCS) carotid artery stenosis. These articles focus on the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of patients with AsxCS or SxCS. They also discuss various current topics regarding the conservative (i.e., best medical treatment [BMT]) and invasive treatment of patients with both AsxCS and SxCS (namely carotid endarterectomy [CEA], carotid artery stenting [CAS] and TransCarotid Artery Revascularization [TCAR]).</p
Audit fees-audit quality relationship: Does employee board representation matter?
No full textWe examine the effect of employee board representation on audit fees and whether the interplay between audit fees and employee board representation has an impact on audit quality, as measured by discretionary accruals. Using a sample of 3142 firm-year observations across seven European countries over the period of 2005–2019, we show that employee board representation is negatively associated with audit fees, and this association is primarily observed when the number of employee directors reaches two or more. In addition, we test the possible channels through which employee board representation affects audit fees and show that the effect is stronger in firms with weak corporate governance. We also document that audit committee effectiveness moderates the relationship. Finally, we show that the observed lower audit fees lead to an improvement in audit quality, probably due to a stronger control environment and reduced audit risk in the presence of employee directors. Our main results are unchanged when using alternative measures, additional controls, subsample analysis, alternative econometric techniques, and identification strategies.</p
Business, Human Rights, Technology, and Transitional Justice in Latin America Tracing Connections
No full textThis book offers theoretical arguments and empirical studies that demonstrate why focusing on the interrelations of technology and transitional justice from a business and human rights approach is crucial to achieve basic objectives in terms of truth, justice, memory, reparation, and non-repetition measures in post-conflict settings. This book elaborates a theoretical framework to analyze these topics and applies the framework through case studies to examine potential influence of technology in transitional justice mechanisms. In this sense, it contributes with information and legal, economic, political, and institutional arguments in the agenda that interrelate these three main topics.</p
How knowledge of cycling practice and changes to the British Highway Code relate to perceptions of cyclist discourtesy
No full textIn 2022 the UK Highway Code had a major update including advice for cyclists around lane positioning that reflects existing safety training practice and guidance for drivers to leave at least 1.5 m of lateral clearance when overtaking cyclists. This study uses a repeated measures design to examine the impact of changes to the Highway Code on knowledge of cycling road positioning practice, and the effect of this knowledge on perceptions of cyclist discourtesy.Knowledge of cyclist positioning practice improved significantly between the two surveys. A hierarchical multiple regression found that cyclist positioning knowledge score added significantly to the model predicting perceptions of cyclist discourtesy, with the change in R2 between the two models being significant. A separate hierarchical multiple regression, with cyclist positioning knowledge as the DV and Highway Code knowledge as the additional stage two IV, was not significant.The findings showed that while the highway code changes did not predict improvements in knowledge, drivers with better knowledge did have more positive opinions of cyclist behaviour, when controlling for their own participation in cycling.This was a novel study in applying a repeated measures design before and after the changes to the UK Highway Code. The findings will help inform development of interventions designed to improve road safety for cyclists.</p
Is there a disparity in osteoporosis referral and treatment among people with affective disorders? A ten-year data linkage study
No full textAims: People with affective disorders (AD) are at increased risk of osteoporosis and fractures. Osteoporosis treatment/referral is thus essential in this population. However, it is unclear whether osteoporosis treatment/referral differs between those with and without AD. This retrospective cohort study compared osteoporosis treatment/referral in people with and without AD across linked primary and mental health care data.Methods: People with AD (ICD-10 codes F3*) between 1.5.2009–30.11.2019, aged 18+ at first diagnosis, from Lambeth, South London were randomly matched 1:4 to healthy controls based on age band and gender. Outcomes including treatments (prescription of calcium, calcium with vitamin D) and referral (referrals for osteoporosis screening and/or prevention) were analysed using conditional and multivariable logistic regression analyses.Results: People with AD (n = 23,932) were more likely than controls (n = 76,593) to have a recorded prescription of calcium (odds ratio [OR] = 1.64, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.40–1.92) and calcium with vitamin D (OR = 2.25, 95 % CI 2.10–2.41), and be referred for osteoporosis screening (OR = 1.87, 95 % CI 1.76–1.99) within 2 years after the date of the first AD diagnosis in adjusted analyses. Older age, female sex, having an ethnic minority background, Class A analgesics use were significant predictors for all osteoporosis management pathways within AD patients.Conclusion: Findings from the present study suggest that compared to the general population, people with AD are more likely to receive osteoporosis screening/treatments. Whether this increased screening/treatment is sufficient to reduce the burden of osteoporosis and fractures in this population is unclear and warrants further consideration.</p
Delayed teleoperated robotic eye surgical system; controller design and real-time experiments
No full textA suitable control system is a key challenge in robotic eye surgery. This paper presents a
novel control system to address the selected scenario of procedures in robotic eye surgery.
A teleoperated eye surgical system may have a time delay in sending and receiving data from
two general master and slave parts. In this case, the system is called delayed teleoperated
robotic eye surgical system. A novel observer-based controller has been designed in this
paper to control the delayed teleoperated robotic eye surgical system, considering all the
possible control problems during robotic eye surgery. The real-time experimental results
show the power of the designed control system which considers the required conditions
for robotic eye surgery and presents results that mimic the real application by defining two
scenarios.</p
Characteristics, diagnostic accuracy, and safety in patients receiving selective prehospital thrombolysis in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a retrospective cohort study
No full textObjectives: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OOHCA) carries a significant mortality implication despite optimal conventional therapies. To better understand the role of prehospital thrombolysis for OOHCA, we report the clinical outcomes, safety and enhanced care team diagnostic accuracy concerning selective thrombolysis by a physician-paramedic staffed air ambulance service.Methods: A retrospective database review of electronic documentation was undertaken for all cases where thrombolysis was administered in OOHCA between January 2017 to April 2022 at Essex and Hertfordshire Air Ambulance Trust (EHAAT). Data collected included demographics, timings, pertinent clinical features, outcomes, and the treating team’s suspected cause of arrest. For patients who died, cause of death was obtained from local coroners.Results: 100 patients were identified and five survived to hospital discharge. The median (IQR) time from first cardiac arrest to thrombolysis was 58.5 min (44–75). The cause of death was available for 60 patients, among these 43% had suffered either a pulmonary embolus (PE) or myocardial infarction (MI). In patients who died of MI the critical care team correctly diagnosed this in 76.9% of cases, and of those who died of PE 92.3% were correctly diagnosed. However, the positive predictive value (PPV) of clinician diagnosis overall was only 36.7%.Conclusion: Despite a high proportion of patients having a cause of OOHCA theoretically amenable to thrombolysis, survival to hospital discharge remains poor. Further work is required to better understand the future role and timing of prehospital thrombolysis in refractory OOHCA. Clinicians detected both MI and PE with high sensitivity but low PPV.</p
Global prevalence of cannabis and amphetamine/methamphetamine use among adolescents in 47 countries: a population-based study from WHO database
No full textBackground: Adolescent drug use poses significant public health challenges worldwide, with detrimental effects on mental and physical health. Most existing research focuses on Western countries, holding a gap in understanding drug use in low- and middle-income countries. Thus, we aimed to assess the prevalence of cannabis and amphetamine or methamphetamine use among school-going adolescents aged 12–15 years across 47 countries globally.Methods: We used data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey from 47 countries (2009–2018) to analyze cannabis and amphetamine/methamphetamine use and age at first drug use among adolescents (n = 220,362). A meta-analysis utilizing random-effects models estimated prevalence rates and weighted linear regression analyzed trends. Student’s t tests were used to compare two-subgroup categories, while one-way ANOVA was employed for analyses involving the four-subgroup category. Stratification analysis by sex, World Bank income category, region, and country-specific characteristics based on World Health Organization data were also performed.Results: The study included a total of 220,362 school-going adolescents aged 12–15 years (49.96% girls) from 47 countries. The overall prevalence of cannabis use was 7.02% [95% confidence interval (CI) 6.16–7.89], with higher usage among boys [9.20% (95% CI 8.05–10.36)] compared to girls [4.20% (95% CI 3.68–4.72)]. Amphetamine/methamphetamine use prevalence was 4.05% (95% CI 3.51–4.60), also higher among boys [5.14% (95% CI 4.45–5.84)] than girls [2.34% (95% CI 2.00–2.69)]. The region of the Americas exhibited the highest prevalence of cannabis use [11.31% (95% CI 8.44–14.17)], while the African region showed the highest prevalence of amphetamine use [4.34% (95% CI 3.14–5.53)]. High-income countries reported the highest prevalence of cannabis use [9.45% (95% CI, 6.06 to 12.84)], whereas low-income countries had the lowest [3.46% (95% CI 2.01–4.91)]. Higher prevalence rates were associated with countries having higher homicide rates, better sanitation services, and higher health expenditures.Conclusions: Cannabis use among adolescents is more prevalent than amphetamine or methamphetamine use, with significant sex differences showing higher prevalence among boys. The highest prevalence of cannabis use was observed in Latin America, while Africa exhibited the highest rates of amphetamine use. Findings from the present study indicate a need for public policies and programs targeting adolescents to effectively reduce adolescent drug use.</p
Fruit and vegetable consumption and injurious falls among adults aged ≥50 years from low- and middle-income countries
No full textObjective: Inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption may increase risk for falls. However, to date, only one study has examined this association in a sample restricted to females, while the mediators of this association are largely unknown. Therefore, we aimed to examine the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and injurious falls, and to identify potential mediators in a sample including both males and females.Methods: Cross-sectional, nationally representative data from the World Health Organization (WHO) Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) were analyzed. Fruit/vegetable consumption was divided into two groups: ≥2 servings of fruits and ≥3 servings of vegetables per day (adequate consumption) or else (inadequate consumption). Fall-related injury referred to those that occurred in the past 12 months. Multivariable logistic regression and mediation analysis were conducted.Results: Data on 34,129 individuals aged ≥ 50 years were analyzed (mean age 62.4 years; 52.1% females). Overall, inadequate fruit/vegetable intake was associated with a significant 1.41 (95%CI = 1.05–1.90) times higher odds for injurious falls. This association was only significant among females (OR = 1.96; 95%CI = 1.32–2.85). Mediation analysis showed that affect (mediated percentage 8.8%), cognition (7.2%), and sleep/energy (7.5%) were significant mediators, but vision, grip strength, and gait speed were not.Conclusions: Inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with higher odds for injurious falls among adults aged ≥ 50 years (especially females), and this association was partly mediated by cognition, affect, and sleep/energy. Future longitudinal studies are necessary to provide more insight into the underlying mechanisms, and to assess whether increasing fruit/vegetable consumption may reduce risk for falls.</p
Coronary endothelial function: a novel acetylcholine infusion protocol with continuous thermodilution
No full textThe assessment of coronary microvascular and vasomotor function is essential in evaluating patients with angina and non-obstructive coronary arteries (ANOCA)1. Traditionally, endothelium-dependent microvascular function is assessed by measuring blood velocity with Doppler during acetylcholine (Ach) infusion into the coronary artery2. Doppler wires are currently commercially unavailable, so we aimed to utilise continuous thermodilution which measures absolute coronary blood flow (CBF) in mL/min with a pressure/temperature sensor-tipped wire and saline infusion through a dedicated catheter (RayFlow, Hexacath, Paris, France)3. This method is safe, reproducible, and operator-independent3,4, however, it’s role in the assessment of endothelial function by infusing Ach mixed with saline via the RayFlow catheter, has not been described.</p
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage Open Research Online? Become a CORE Member to access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard! 👇