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Child maltreatment and metabolic syndrome: a systematic review
Get PDFBackground: Evidence suggests that child maltreatment (CM) is associated with an elevated risk of adult diseases in later life. Emerging evidence shows that CM in childhood is associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) in adulthood. However, no study has systematically examined the evidence. Hence, this review aims to synthesise the evidence on the association between forms of CM and MetS in adulthood. Methods: Electronic databases of CINAHL, Medline, PsychInfo, SOCINDEX, and Scopus were systematically searched using predefined key terms to identify relevant published studies on the association between CM and MetS from the beginning of indexing to 1st January 2024. Studies were included if they met the selection criteria. The quality of studies was appraised using suitable criteria for cross-sectional and prospective studies. Results: The search revealed a total of 2411 studies. Five studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The findings revealed that there was an association between physical abuse and MetS in women across two studies and one study in men. In addition, one study reported an association between emotional abuse and the risk of MetS in men, while two studies revealed increased odds with CM. However, no significant associations were reported between MetS and childhood sexual abuse and neglect, respectively. Conclusion: These findings suggest that some forms of CM may increase a person’s risk of having MetS. However, there is a need for methodological improvements due to heterogeneity in studies, mainly on the assessment and definition of CM. Further research is needed on forms of CM and MetS to understand the underlying mechanisms of the associations found and to identify targeted strategies to prevent the impact of CM on MetS and subsequent future health.</p
Deformability, noise and vibrations of polymer gears
No full textPolymer Gears discusses polymer gear design and their efficient mechanical properties, light weight, and low noise during operation. As plastic gears are replacing metallic gears in traditional and new applications, there is still lack of material characterization and complex relations between different geometric and operating parameters. Thus, polymer gear design remains an open challenge. This book serves as a comprehensive and professional guide on the topic, providing readers with current developments carried out in the field of plastic gears production, characterization, and applications
The frail-LESS (LEss sitting and sarcopenia in frail older adults) remote intervention to improve sarcopenia and maintain independent living via reductions in sedentary behaviour: findings from a randomised controlled feasibility trial
Get PDFBackground: Sarcopenia leads to functional disability, dependence in activities of daily living (ADL), and is a key contributor to frailty. Reducing and breaking up sedentary time is associated with improved sarcopenia and frailty-related outcomes. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of delivering and evaluating a remote sedentary behaviour intervention to improve sarcopenia and independent living in older adults with frailty. Methods: A two-arm randomised controlled feasibility trial was conducted with a target of 60 older adults (mean age 74 ± 6 years) with very mild or mild frailty. Participants were randomised to the Frail-LESS (LEss Sitting and Sarcopenia in Frail older adults) intervention or usual care control group for six months. The intervention included tailored feedback on sitting, standing and stepping; an education workbook that included goal setting and action planning; one-to-one health coaching; peer support; and a wearable device to self-monitor sedentary behaviour. Participant recruitment (percentage of eligible individuals recruited), retention and data completion rates were used to assess trial feasibility. Acceptability of the trial was explored through interviews and safety was evaluated via unplanned healthcare utilisation and number of falls. Sitting, standing, stepping and sarcopenia were measured to evaluate potential intervention effects. Results: Sixty participants were recruited. Recruitment and retention rates were 72% and 83%, respectively. Completion rates for outcome measures ranged from 70 to 100%. The trial was safe (< 1 fall per participant on average at each timepoint) and trial procedures were acceptable. Descriptive analysis (mean ± SD) showed that daily sitting was 25.1 ± 82.1 min/day lower in the intervention group, and 6.4 ± 60.5 min/day higher in the control group, at 6 months compared with baseline. Hand grip strength and sit-to-stand score were improved by 1.3 ± 2.4 kg and 0.7 ± 1.0, respectively, in the intervention group. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the feasibility and safety of delivering and evaluating a remote intervention to reduce and break up sitting in older adults with frailty. The intervention showed evidence towards reducing daily sitting and improving sarcopenia, supporting its evaluation in a definitive randomised controlled trial. Trial registration: ISRCTN registry (registration number: ISRCTN17158017). Registered 6th August 2021
The PHEM-B toolbox of methods for incorporating the influences on behaviour into public health economic models
Get PDFBackground: It is challenging to predict long-term outcomes of interventions without understanding how they work. Health economic models of public health interventions often do not incorporate the many determinants of individual and population behaviours that influence long term effectiveness. The aim of this paper is to draw on psychology, sociology, behavioural economics, complexity science and health economics to: (a) develop a toolbox of methods for incorporating the influences on behaviour into public health economic models (PHEM-B); and (b) set out a research agenda for health economic modellers and behavioural/ social scientists to further advance methods to better inform public health policy decisions. Methods: A core multidisciplinary group developed a preliminary toolbox from a published review of the literature and tested this conceptually using a case study of a diabetes prevention simulation. The core group was augmented by a much wider group that covered a broader range of multidisciplinary expertise. We used a consensus method to gain agreement of the PHEM-B toolbox. This included a one-day workshop and subsequent reviews of the toolbox. Results: The PHEM-B toolbox sets out 12 methods which can be used in different combinations to incorporate influences on behaviours into public health economic models: collaborations between modellers and behavioural scientists, literature reviewing, application of the Behaviour Change Intervention Ontology, systems mapping, agent-based modelling, differential equation modelling, social network analysis, geographical information systems, discrete event simulation, theory-informed statistical and econometric analyses, expert elicitation, and qualitative research/process tracing. For each method, we provide a description with key references, an expert consensus on the circumstances when they could be used, and the resources required. Conclusions: This is the first attempt to rigorously and coherently propose methods to incorporate the influences on behaviour into health economic models of public health interventions. It may not always be feasible or necessary to model the influences on behaviour explicitly, but it is essential to develop an understanding of the key influences. Changing behaviour and maintaining that behaviour change could have different influences; thus, there could be benefits in modelling these separately. Future research is needed to develop, collaboratively with behavioural scientists, a suite of more robust health economic models of health-related behaviours, reported transparently, including coding, which would allow model reuse and adaptation
Experiences of and attitudes towards the use of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicines and therapies during and after pregnancy: a qualitative evidence synthesis
No full textReview question What are the experiences and attitudes of women towards the use of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicines and therapies during and after pregnancy? What are the attitudes of maternity care professionals and other stakeholders towards women’s use of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicines and therapies during and after pregnancy
Complete chloroplast genome characterization of three Plagiomnium species and the phylogeny of family Mniaceae
No full textThe taxonomic concepts and phylogenetic relations among genera of the family Mniaceae have given rise to much controversy in recent years, including Mnium, Plagiomnium, and Pohlia. Chloroplast genome study of these genera will be helpful to reflect the fact of this relationship. In this study, we sequenced three species in the Plagiomnium genus using an Illumina HiSeq 4000 platform. The complete chloroplast genomes of P. rostratum, P. succulentum and P. vesicatum were 125,196 bp, 124,689 bp, and 124,663 bp in length, which all contained a quadripartite structure including two copies of the invert repeats (IR, 10,120 bp, 9,818 bp, and 9,665 bp), one large single copy region (LSC, 86,395 bp, 86,299 bp, and 86,532 bp), and one single copy region (SSC, 18,561 bp, 18,754 bp, and 18,801 bp). The overall GC contents were 29.8%, 30.5%, and 30.5% respectively. The simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were detected in conjunction with Plagiomnium acutum, with variable sites genes observed: rpoC2, ycf1, and ycf2. Combined with the other three sequences published in Mniaceae, analyses of codon usage, repeats sequences, GC contents, and gene features revealed similarities among the seven species in Mniaceae. The trend of nucleotide diversity (Pi) in the seven complete chloroplast genomes showed Pi > 0.056: trnI-rpl23, petG-petL-psbE, trnK-chlB, trnG-trnR-atpA, rpoB-trnC-ycf66, ndhB, trnN-ndhF, and rps15-ycf1. We confirmed the phylogenetic relationships that Plagiomnium genus is a sister group with Mnium, while the Pohlia genus is not a monophyletic group. Phylogenetic analyses corroborated the monophyly of Mniaceae and supported the transfer of the Pohlia genus into Mniaceae
LANGUAGECERT academic concordance report
No full textReport on a two-year study examining the relationship between LANGUAGECERT Academic and IELTS Academic, with the aim of providing stakeholders with data-driven evidence to support their academic and migration-related decisions
Authorship, the “Mezzanine”, and the intercession of meaning:a metaphysics of the creative writing process
No full textDrawing on ethnographic field data and utilizing a combination of sociological theories of “late-modernism” and the philosophical approaches of Henri Bergson and Gilles Deleuze relating to the understanding of how creativity is achieved, understood, and valued, this chapter studies authorial observations of creative technique and mechanics of invention as a combination of organic realization and philosophical, ideological, and subconscious reproductions. Consequently, it explores the possibility that the “anxiety of influence” may be more accurately considered a physical and metaphysical developmental aspect of creativity that sees a signification of text applied solely after creative inception and action (and via public exposure) leading to individual (and collective) hermeneutic affirmations in time-space via fluid and variable filters of intersectional criteria in an age of societal fragmentation. To the writer, anxiety is not in negotiating the weight of extant texts on authorial ordering but, instead, in the anticipation (and fear) of the unpredictability of the creative act itself and the attendant ontological and ideological nakedness of the “mezzanine condition”: the intertextual and intersectional merely devices of elucidation.</p
A dedicated consensus algorithm for improving performance of futuristic energy blockchain
No full textIntegrating renewable energy generation in the consumer end has transformed users acting as both buyers and sellers. Uncoordinated interconnections lead to degraded power quality, which demands for continuous network monitoring. This study evaluates the applicability of the network monitoring process to develop a novel consensus protocol, customized for blockchain platforms integrated with smart grids. The motivation for integrating grid monitoring with the blockchain consensus mechanism lies in the significance of decentralized architectures such as distributed ledger technologies for future energy grids. Existing blockchain consensus mechanisms have exhibited excessive energy usage and low scalability due to the additional workload associated. Hence, the study proposes a customised solution, which has the advantage of combining grid monitoring with the blockchain consensus protocol. This eliminates the additional computation burden, reduces the cost of execution, and improves the transaction throughput of the blockchain consensus mechanism
Association between timing of first prenatal visit and preterm birth in a population based ethnically diverse maternal cohort in the UK
No full textBackground Timely initiation of prenatal care is critical to maximising positive maternal and infant outcomes. In the UK, women are recommended to start prenatal care by 10 weeks’ gestation. We examined association between timing of first prenatal appointment and prevalence of preterm birth (PTB <37 weeks of gestation) among mothers in an ethnically diverse area in the UK. Methods We analysed routinely collected data on all women who received prenatal care between April 2007 and October 2022 (n=80,508) from a large UK National Health Service maternity unit in an ethnically diverse area. We conducted multiple logistic regression models to examine associations between timing of first prenatal visit and PTB prevalence, including extremely (EPTB <28 weeks), and moderately preterm birth (MPTB 28 to <37 weeks). Findings Gestational week at first prenatal booking appointment was available for 80,176 (99.59%) mothers, of which 62.8%, 28.5% and 8.7% booked at ≤10 weeks, 11-20 weeks and >20 weeks respectively. About one third (31.5%) of all births were to Black Caribbean, Black African, Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi mothers. Prevalence of PTB was 8.5%, including 7.3% MPTB and 1.2% EPTB. Mothers who started prenatal care >16 weeks of pregnancy were more likely to have PTB compared to those who started prenatal care ≤10 weeks [RRR 1.39 (1.28 to 1.50) for MPTB and 3.59 (3.10 to 4.17) for ETPB]. Conclusions Mothers in ethnically diverse areas who started prenatal care late are more likely to have a preterm birth, highlighting need for targeted primary and secondary interventions
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