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 send 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 sending content to .
To send 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 sending to your Kindle.
Note you can select to send to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations.
‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be sent 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.
Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are the primary cause of climate change and an estimated increase of 3.7 to 4.8 °C is predicted by the year 2100 if emissions continue at current levels. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) provide an interesting comparison study of the impact of climate change on bear species. While polar bears and giant pandas are arguably the most distant of the bear species with regard to life histories and behavior, both are likely to be significantly impacted by the broad-scale changes to their environment that are predicted to result from climate change. Herein, we review the conservation status of both species and their habitats, and present current and predicted evidence of the impacts of a changing climate on polar bear and giant panda survival.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented global crisis, necessitating drastic changes to living conditions, social life, personal freedom and economic activity. No study has yet examined the presence of psychiatric symptoms in the UK population under similar conditions.
Aims
We investigated the prevalence of COVID-19-related anxiety, generalised anxiety, depression and trauma symptoms in the UK population during an early phase of the pandemic, and estimated associations with variables likely to influence these symptoms.
Method
Between 23 and 28 March 2020, a quota sample of 2025 UK adults aged 18 years and older, stratified by age, gender and household income, was recruited by online survey company Qualtrics. Participants completed standardised measures of depression, generalised anxiety and trauma symptoms relating to the pandemic. Bivariate and multivariate associations were calculated for demographic and health-related variables.
Results
Higher levels of anxiety, depression and trauma symptoms were reported compared with previous population studies, but not dramatically so. Anxiety or depression and trauma symptoms were predicted by young age, presence of children in the home, and high estimates of personal risk. Anxiety and depression were also predicted by low income, loss of income and pre-existing health conditions in self and others. Specific anxiety about COVID-19 was greater in older participants.
Conclusions
This study showed a modest increase in the prevalence of mental health problems in the early stages of the pandemic, and these problems were predicted by several specific COVID-related variables. Further similar surveys, particularly of those with children at home, are required as the pandemic progresses.
The prevalence of psychotic experiences (PEs) is higher in low-and-middle-income-countries (LAMIC) than in high-income countries (HIC). Here, we examine whether this effect is explicable by measurement bias.
Methods
A community sample from 13 countries (N = 7141) was used to examine the measurement invariance (MI) of a frequently used self-report measure of PEs, the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE), in LAMIC (n = 2472) and HIC (n = 4669). The CAPE measures positive (e.g. hallucinations), negative (e.g. avolition) and depressive symptoms. MI analyses were conducted with multiple-group confirmatory factor analyses.
Results
MI analyses showed similarities in the structure and understanding of the CAPE factors between LAMIC and HIC. Partial scalar invariance was found, allowing for latent score comparisons. Residual invariance was not found, indicating that sum score comparisons are biased. A comparison of latent scores before and after MI adjustment showed both overestimation (e.g. avolition, d = 0.03 into d = −0.42) and underestimation (e.g. magical thinking, d = −0.03 into d = 0.33) of PE in LAMIC relative to HIC. After adjusting the CAPE for MI, participants from LAMIC reported significantly higher levels on most CAPE factors but a significantly lower level of avolition.
Conclusion
Previous studies using sum scores to compare differences across countries are likely to be biased. The direction of the bias involves both over- and underestimation of PEs in LAMIC compared to HIC. Nevertheless, the study confirms the basic finding that PEs are more frequent in LAMIC than in HIC.
Background: Urinary catheters, vascular catheters, and wounds, such as pressure injuries are often hidden from view under gowns and sheets (ie, out of sight, out of mind), contributing to prolonged catheter use, infections, delayed interventions, and diagnostic errors for symptoms (eg, fever or delirium) related to catheters and wounds. We developed and pilot tested a digital bedside Patient Safety Display of catheter and wound information to improve awareness by rounding providers (ie, physicians and advanced practice providers, APPs). Methods: The display development was informed by clinical observations of provider rounds and nurse handoffs, interviews, and iterative prototype testing with clinicians in simulated cases using catheterized mannequins with wounds. The display reports the presence and duration of urinary and vascular catheter use, urinary catheter indication, and wound presence and severity, from real-time mandatory nurse documentation in the electronic medical record (Fig. 1). We conducted a pilot study in a tertiary-care medical-surgical step-down unit with 20 private rooms, including a preintervention period and a postintervention period including 10 rooms without the display (control rooms) and 10 rooms with the display (intervention rooms). We surveyed individual providers directly after rounds to assess their awareness of their patients’ catheters and wounds compared to medical record documentation. We also assessed display utility and usability from postintervention clinician interviews and we identified major themes using an adapted grounded theory approach. Results: In total, 787 surveys were completed: 681 medicine service with 89% response rate, 106 surgery service with 47% response rate; 363 preintervention surveys, and 424 postintervention surveys. The surveys involved 176 unique patients and 47 unique providers. Among all 787 patient encounters, 156 (19.8%) had a transurethral indwelling urinary catheter (Foley), 314 (39.9%) had a central venous catheter (including PICCs), and 247 (31.4%) had at least 1 pressure injury. Figure 2 summarizes provider awareness of catheters and pressure injuries when present as assessed for patients in the preintervention and postintervention periods. Moreover, 13 clinician postintervention interviews yielded preliminary themes regarding the display’s benefits and limitations (Fig. 3). Conclusions: In this pilot study of a novel Patient Safety Display, although provider awareness of Foley catheters, CVCs, and pressure injuries appeared higher for patients in the intervention rooms compared to awareness as measured in the preintervention rooms and/or postintervention control rooms, most of these comparisons did not meet statistical significance. Clinicians varied widely in their personal assessments of the display as a useful tool for improving awareness and prompting discussion about catheters and wounds.
Funding: This work was funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) grant P30HS024385. Dr. Meddings’ effort was initially partially funded by concurrent support from AHRQ (K08 HS19767).
Disclosures: Dr. Meddings has reported receiving honoraria for lectures and teaching related to prevention and value-based purchasing policies involving catheter-associated urinary tract infection. The remaining authors report no conflicts of interest.
Quantifying tree biomass is an important research and management goal across many disciplines. For species that exhibit predictable relationships between structural metrics (e.g. diameter, height, crown breadth) and total weight, allometric calculations produce accurate estimates of above-ground biomass. However, such methods may be insufficient where inter-individual variation is large relative to individual biomass and is itself of interest (for example, variation due to herbivory). In an East African savanna bushland, we analysed photographs of small (<5 m) trees from perpendicular angles and fixed distances to estimate above-ground biomass. Pixel area of trees in photos and diameter were more strongly related to measured, above-ground biomass of destructively sampled trees than biomass estimated using a published allometric relation based on diameter alone (R2 = 0.86 versus R2 = 0.68). When tested on trees in herbivore-exclusion plots versus unfenced (open) plots, our predictive equation based on photos confirmed higher above-ground biomass in the exclusion plots than in unfenced (open) plots (P < 0.001), in contrast to no significant difference based on the allometric equation (P = 0.43). As such, our new technique based on photographs offers an accurate and cost-effective complement to existing methods for tree biomass estimation at small scales with potential application across a wide variety of settings.
Access to cutting-edge technologies is essential for investigators to advance translational research. The Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI) spans three major and preeminent universities, four large academic campuses across the state of Indiana, and is mandate to provide best practices to a whole state.
Methods:
To address the need to facilitate the availability of innovative technologies to its investigators, the Indiana CTSI implemented the Access Technology Program (ATP). The activities of the ATP, or any program of the Indiana CTSI, are challenged to connect technologies and investigators on the multiple Indiana CTSI campuses by the geographical distances between campuses (1–4 hr driving time).
Results:
Herein, we describe the initiatives developed by the ATP to increase the availability of state-of-the-art technologies to its investigators on all Indiana CTSI campuses, and the methods developed by the ATP to bridge the distance between campuses, technologies, and investigators for the advancement of clinical translational research.
Conclusions:
The methods and practices described in this publication may inform other approaches to enhance translational research, dissemination, and usage of innovative technologies by translational investigators, especially when distance or multi-campus cultural differences are factors to efficient application.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of State and Local Readiness (DSLR), Public Health Emergency Preparedness(PHEP) program funds 62 recipients to strengthen capability standards to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies. Recipients use these PHEP resources in addition to CDC’s administrative and scientific guidance to support preparedness and response program planning and requirements. It is expected that public health agencies develop and maintain comprehensive emergency preparedness and response plans in preparation for disasters such as hurricanes. The 2017 historic hurricane season highlighted how emergency planning and collaborative operational execution is important for public health agencies to effectively prepare for and respond to both the immediate and long-term population health consequences of these disasters. In 2017, the southeastern United States (US) and US Caribbean territories experienced 3 Category 4 or higher Atlantic hurricanes (Harvey, Irma, and Maria) within a 5-week period. This paper highlights selected case studies that illustrate the contributions and impact of jurisdictional emergency management planning and operational capacity supported by capability standards during the 2017 hurricane season. Although the magnitude of the 2017 hurricanes required public health officials to seek additional assistance, the following case studies describe the use of public health preparedness systems and recovery resources supported by the PHEP program.
Archaeologists have long subjected Clovis megafauna kill/scavenge sites to the highest level of scrutiny. In 1987, a Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) was found in spatial association with a small artifact assemblage in Converse County, Wyoming. However, due to the small tool assemblage, limited nature of the excavations, and questions about the security of the association between the artifacts and mammoth remains, the site was never included in summaries of human-killed/scavenged megafauna in North America. Here we present the results of four field seasons of new excavations at the La Prele Mammoth site that confirm the presence of an associated cultural occupation based on geologic context, artifact attributes, spatial distributions, protein residue analysis, and lithic microwear analysis. This new work identified a more extensive cultural occupation including the presence of multiple discrete artifact clusters in close proximity to the mammoth bone bed. This study confirms the presence of a second Clovis mammoth kill/scavenge site in Wyoming and shows the value in revisiting proposed terminal Pleistocene kill/scavenge sites.
The increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome in people with severe mental illness (SMI) is well documented. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria for metabolic syndrome are three or more of the following: waist circumference ( 80 cm (females), (94 cm (males) OR BMI (30, triglycerides >1.7 mmol/l or on treatment, raised blood pressure (systolic >130 mg Hg or diastolic >85 mm Hg, OR on treatment for hypertension), raised fasting blood glucose (.5.6 mmol/l) OR diagnosed type II diabetes) and reduced HDL cholesterol (< 1.03 mmol/l) OR on treatment.
The IMPACT RCT is a Department of Health funded trial of a health promotion intervention (HPI) delivered by care co-ordinators to people with SMI across South London, Kent and Sussex. The intervention is focussed on improving health by addressing modifiable lifestyle factors such as diet, physical activity, obesity, cigarette smoking, alcohol and substance use.
Objectives/aims
We investigated the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in a sample of 212 patients for whom we had relevant baseline measures.
Methods
Data (weight, BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose levels) were analysed on 212 patients.
Results
45% of the sample met IDF criteria for metabolic syndrome. Mean BMI was 30.6, glucose 6.4 mmol/L, triglycerides 2.0 mmol/L, HDL 1.2 (mmol/L), waist circumference 105.8 cm, and BP 122/82 mm Hg.
Conclusions
Metabolic syndrome was highly prevalent in this sample, significantly increasing the risk of physical morbidity and potentially lowering life expectancy. There is an unmet need for health promotion interventions in order to lower morbidity and mortality risk in these populations.
We assessed infection prevention in Swiss hospitals via a national survey focusing on infection prevention practices prior to a large national infection prevention initiative. Of the 59 hospitals that responded (77%), 98% had infection prevention teams and 40% very good or excellent leadership support. However, a minority of hospitals used recommended infection prevention practices and surveillance systems regularly.
Surfactants – molecules and particles that preferentially adsorb to fluid interfaces – play a ubiquitous role in the fluids of industry, of nature and of life. Since most surfactants cannot be seen directly, their behaviour must be inferred from their impact on observed flows, like the buoyant rise of a bubble, or the thickness of a coating film. In so doing, however, a difficulty arises: physically distinct surfactant processes can affect measurable flows in qualitatively identical ways, raising the spectre of confusion or even misinterpretation. This Perspective describes, in one coherent piece, both the equilibrium properties and dynamic processes of surfactants, to better enable the fluid mechanics community to understand, interpret and design surfactant/fluid systems. Specifically, we treat the equilibrium thermodynamics of surfactants at interfaces, including surface pressure, isotherms of soluble and insoluble surfactants and surface dilatational moduli (Gibbs and Marangoni). We describe surfactant dynamics in fluid systems, including surfactant transport and interfacial stress boundary conditions, the competition between surface diffusion, advection and adsorption/desorption, Marangoni stresses and flows and surface-excess rheology. We discuss paradigmatic problems from fluid mechanics that are impacted by surfactants, including translating drops and bubbles, surfactant adsorption to clean and oscillating interfaces; capillary wave damping, thin-film dynamics, foam drainage and the dynamics of particles and probes at surfactant-laden interfaces. Finally, we discuss the additional richness and complexity that frequently arise in ‘real’ surfactants, including phase transitions, phase coexistence and polycrystalline phases within surfactant monolayers, and their impact on non-Newtonian surface rheology.
The association of MeHg exposure through fish consumption on human autoimmunity remains unclear. Fish also contain n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) that are known to regulate inflammation and mitigate autoimmune disease symptoms. We studied the association of low-level exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) through fish consumption in the SCDS. We examined this association at age 19 years in the SCDS Main Cohort (n = 497). We measured MeHg exposure at 3 time points [prenatal, weighted average (6 months to 19 years) and concurrent (19 years) and LCPUFA status and a panel of 13 autoimmune markers at age 19 years. The autoimmune markers included antinuclear antibodies (ANA), anti-dsDNA and anti-RNP, and total (non-specific) immunoglobulins (Ig) IgG, IgA, and IgM. A combined ANA variable was also calculated based on being within or above reference range for any of the ANA markers; 56% of the subjects met this criterion. Multivariable regression models adjusted for prenatal MeHg, sex and waist circumference, with and without adjustment for LCPUFA, were fit for the three MeHg exposure metrics and each immune marker. Mean (SD) prenatal, weighted average and concurrent MeHg was 6.84 (4.55), 7.46 (2.82), and 10.23 (6.02) ppm, respectively. Combined ANA was positively associated with concurrent MeHg following adjustment for the n6:n3 LCPUFA ratio (β = 0.036, 95%; CI: 0.001, 0.073). Prenatal and average MeHg exposures were not significantly associated with any individual ANA. IgM was negatively associated with concurrent (β = -0.016, 95%CI: -0.016, -0.002), and average (β = -0.042, 95%CI: -0.042, -0.009) MeHg exposure in the models adjusted for n-3, n-6 LCPUFA and when separately adjusted for the n6:n3 LCPUFA ratio. Total (19-year) n-3 PUFA status was negatively associated with anti-RNP (β = -20.355, 95%CI: -36.89, -4.34) and IgG (β = -1.384, 95%CI: -2.682, -0.087). Total n-3 LCPUFA was associated with lower markers of autoimmunity. MeHg exposure at 19 years was associated with higher ANA and lower IgM but only following adjustment for LCPUFA. The clinical significance of these findings is unclear and further research is warranted to determine if these associations precede autoimmune disease development.
Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) can be prevented through infection prevention practices and antibiotic stewardship. Diagnostic stewardship (ie, strategies to improve use of microbiological testing) can also improve antibiotic use. However, little is known about the use of such practices in US hospitals, especially after multidisciplinary stewardship programs became a requirement for US hospital accreditation in 2017. Thus, we surveyed US hospitals to assess antibiotic stewardship program composition, practices related to CDI, and diagnostic stewardship.
Methods:
Surveys were mailed to infection preventionists at 900 randomly sampled US hospitals between May and October 2017. Hospitals were surveyed on antibiotic stewardship programs; CDI prevention, treatment, and testing practices; and diagnostic stewardship strategies. Responses were compared by hospital bed size using weighted logistic regression.
Results:
Overall, 528 surveys were completed (59% response rate). Almost all (95%) responding hospitals had an antibiotic stewardship program. Smaller hospitals were less likely to have stewardship team members with infectious diseases (ID) training, and only 41% of hospitals met The Joint Commission accreditation standards for multidisciplinary teams. Guideline-recommended CDI prevention practices were common. Smaller hospitals were less likely to use high-tech disinfection devices, fecal microbiota transplantation, or diagnostic stewardship strategies.
Conclusions:
Following changes in accreditation standards, nearly all US hospitals now have an antibiotic stewardship program. However, many hospitals, especially smaller hospitals, appear to struggle with access to ID expertise and with deploying diagnostic stewardship strategies. CDI prevention could be enhanced through diagnostic stewardship and by emphasizing the role of non–ID-trained pharmacists and clinicians in antibiotic stewardship.