Normal Daily Life Research Articles

Increase in cathepsin K gene expression in Duchenne muscular dystrophy skeletal muscle.

Dystrophinopathy is caused by alterations in the dystrophin gene. The severe phenotype, Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), is caused by a lack of dystrophin in skeletal muscles, resulting in necrosis and regenerating fibers, inflammatory cells, and muscle fibrosis. Progressive muscle weakness is a characteristic finding of this condition. Here, we encountered a rare case of a 10-year-old patient with asymptomatic dystrophinopathy with no dystrophin expression and investigated the reason for the absence of muscle weakness to obtain therapeutic insights for DMD. Using RNA-seq analysis, gene expression in skeletal muscles was compared among patients with asymptomatic dystrophinopathy, three patients with typical DMD, and two patients without dystrophinopathy who were leading normal daily lives. Cathepsin K (CTSK), myosin heavy chain 3 (MYH3), and nodal modulator 3-like genes exhibited a >8-fold change, whereas crystallin mu gene (CRYM) showed a <1/8-fold change in patients with typical DMD compared with their expression in the patient with asymptomatic dystrophinopathy. Additionally, CTSK and MYH3 expression exhibited a >16-fold change (P < 0.01), whereas CRYM expression showed a <1/16-fold change (P < 0.01) in patients with typical DMD compared with their expression in those without dystrophinopathy. CTSK plays an essential role in skeletal muscle loss, fibrosis, and inflammation in response to muscles injected with cardiotoxin, one of the most common reagents that induce muscle injury. Increased CTSK expression is associated with muscle injury or necrosis in patients with DMD. The lack of muscle weakness in the patient with asymptomatic dystrophinopathy might be attributed to the low CTSK expression in the muscles. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to demonstrate that CTSK expression was significantly higher in the skeletal muscles of patients with DMD with a typical phenotype than in those without dystrophinopathy.

Determining the Effects of a 12-Week Moderate Intensity Circuit Exercise Program on Body Composition and Physical Fitness among Overweight Women of Working Age

Objectives. The study aimed to examine the effects of a 12-week moderate-intensity circuit exercise program on body composition and physical fitness among overweight women of working age. Materials and methods. Twenty-nine overweight women of working age were divided into two groups: the control group (CG, n = 14) had a normal daily life, and the moderate intensity circuit exercise group (MICE, n = 15) underwent training that included 3 sessions of MICE (40–50 seconds followed by 60 seconds of rest for each exercise and 90 seconds of recovery between sessions at 64–76% of maximum heart rate). The training was conducted for 60 minutes per day, three days per week. Body composition and physical fitness were measured before (2 days prior) and after (2 days post) a 12-week training period. Results. After the 12-week training, the MICE showed a considerable improvement in a number of key health indicators, including body weight, BMI, fat mass, skeletal muscle mass, visceral adipose tissue, total energy expenditure, resting energy expenditure, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio (-0.65%, -0.73%, -2.16%, 2.53%, -7.12%, 10.85%, 0.71%, -3.13%, and -2.67%, respectively, p &lt; 0.05) when compared to the CG. Similarly, the MICE demonstrated a significantly larger improvement in the sit and reach test, the back extension test, the hand grip strength of the right hand, hand grip strength of the left hand, leg strength, the 60-second chair stand test (also known as sit-to-stand test), and the maximum oxygen consumption (18.98%, 16.53%, 10.69%, 7.68%, 9.97%, 26.25%, and 8.87%) compared to the CG (-4.10%, -1.19%, -0.26%, -1.53%, -1.44%, 0.24%, and -0.70%), respectively. Conclusions. Moderate-intensity circuit exercise has been found to have positive effects on improving body composition and physical fitness in overweight working women. Thus, the implementation of MICE with appropriate sessions, resting, duration, and training periods can achieve maximum benefit.

Determining the Effects of a 12-Week Moderate Intensity Circuit Exercise Program on Body Composition and Physical Fitness among Overweight Women of Working Age

Objectives. The study aimed to examine the effects of a 12-week moderate-intensity circuit exercise program on body composition and physical fitness among overweight women of working age. Materials and methods. Twenty-nine overweight women of working age were divided into two groups: the control group (CG, n = 14) had a normal daily life, and the moderate intensity circuit exercise group (MICE, n = 15) underwent training that included 3 sessions of MICE (40–50 seconds followed by 60 seconds of rest for each exercise and 90 seconds of recovery between sessions at 64–76% of maximum heart rate). The training was conducted for 60 minutes per day, three days per week. Body composition and physical fitness were measured before (2 days prior) and after (2 days post) a 12-week training period. Results. After the 12-week training, the MICE showed a considerable improvement in a number of key health indicators, including body weight, BMI, fat mass, skeletal muscle mass, visceral adipose tissue, total energy expenditure, resting energy expenditure, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio (-0.65%, -0.73%, -2.16%, 2.53%, -7.12%, 10.85%, 0.71%, -3.13%, and -2.67%, respectively, p &lt; 0.05) when compared to the CG. Similarly, the MICE demonstrated a significantly larger improvement in the sit and reach test, the back extension test, the hand grip strength of the right hand, hand grip strength of the left hand, leg strength, the 60-second chair stand test (also known as sit-to-stand test), and the maximum oxygen consumption (18.98%, 16.53%, 10.69%, 7.68%, 9.97%, 26.25%, and 8.87%) compared to the CG (-4.10%, -1.19%, -0.26%, -1.53%, -1.44%, 0.24%, and -0.70%), respectively. Conclusions. Moderate-intensity circuit exercise has been found to have positive effects on improving body composition and physical fitness in overweight working women. Thus, the implementation of MICE with appropriate sessions, resting, duration, and training periods can achieve maximum benefit.

The prevalence and possible risk factors of gaming disorder among adolescents in China.

Nowadays, moderate gaming behaviors can be a pleasant and relaxing experiences among adolescents. However, excessive gaming behavior may lead to gaming disorder (GD) that disruption of normal daily life. Understanding the possible risk factors of this emerging problem would help to suggest effective at preventing and intervening. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of GD and analyze its possible risk factors that adolescents with GD. Data were collected between October 2020 and January 2021. In total, a sample of 7901 students (4080 (52%) boys, 3742 (48%) girls; aged 12-18 years) completed questionnaires regarding the Gaming-Related Behaviors Survey, Gaming Disorder Symptom Questionnaire-21 (GDSQ-21); Behavioral Inhibition System and Behavioral Activation System Scale (BIS/BAS Scale); Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ); Short-form Egna Minnenav Barndoms Uppfostran for Chinese (s-EMBU-C); and Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist (ASLEC). The prevalence of GD was 2.27% in this adolescent sample. The GD gamers were a little bit older (i.e., a higher proportion of senior grades), more boys, with more gaming hours per week in the last 12 months, with more reward responsiveness, maternal rejecting and occurrence of negative life events (e.g., interpersonal relationships, being punished and bereavement factors). These possible risk factors may influence the onset of GD. Future research in clinical, public health, education and other fields should focus on these aspects for provide target prevention and early intervention strategies.

Dementia U-Care: Comprehensive Cognitive Screening Application for Seniors

The prevalence of cognitive impairment increases with age, particularly impacting seniors as it advances to severe dementia. These conditions pose significant challenges for afflicted individuals and their caregivers, manifesting as profound impacts on daily life and imposing considerable emotional and financial burdens on families. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) denotes an intermediate stage between normal cognitive function and dementia, signifying a decline in cognitive abilities while maintaining normal daily life activities. Identifying MCI early in seniors within the community is pivotal to preventing further cognitive decline.In response to the challenge of traditional cognitive function assessments, which require trained healthcare professionals and take 20-30 minutes per case, we introduce "Dementia U-Care," an innovative app designed to assist community health workers in screening, monitoring, and collecting cognitive data. Accessible on mobile devices, it allows seniors to respond through drawing and writing, simplifying data collection compared to paper forms. Dementia U-Care streamlines preliminary assessments, empowering professionals and reducing fatigue and errors. This tool enables prompt screening, minimizing test-related stress, with an average testing time of 13.06 minutes, ranging from 9 to 20 minutes. The evaluation indicates high satisfaction with Dementia U-Care, with a mean score of 9.37±1.12. Users are generally pleased with its quality and user experience, demonstrating its effectiveness in meeting their needs and providing a positive experience.

The Experience sampling method in psychiatry: a state-of-the-art lecture

AbstractPsychiatric problems occur in people’s normal daily life, in a dynamic interaction with the context people are in. Yet, we have very few techniques to assess this dynamical nature of symptoms, nor do we have good insights in how people actually function in their ordinary life. Ambulatory assessment techniques such as Experience Sampling Methodology (ESM) or Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) have been proposed as a potential clinical tool to bridge this gap. Yet, very few of these techniques have actually made it to the clinic. In my talk, I will discuss the strengths and limitations of using these digital diary techniques to open up someone’s real life in clinical practice. I will discuss qualitative research identifying barriers and facilitators, identified by patients and clinicians. I also will discuss what is needed in terms of technology and data security, by demonstrating the MoMent app and MoMent Dashboard, that has been developed within the H2020 IMMERSE project. Finally, I will discuss how these digital mental health tools could help in developing a much more fine-grained understanding of how psychopathology emerges in the realm of ordinary life, making patients active partners in the clinical process.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

FlightForecast: A Comparative Analysis of Stack LSTM and Vanilla LSTM Models for Flight Prediction

The Coronavirus was first reported in China in the city of Wuhan in December 2019, after a couple of months, it was widespread around the world. The whole world was in a state of lockdown. This hazardous disease affects the normal daily life of every individual and the tourism industry, especially the airline business was at a greater loss. Considering the airline business, this study contains data on commercial flights from 2019 to 2020. The conducted research analyzed the rise and fall of different flights in the lockdown period. The research is based on the variants of Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) such as standard Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) and stack LSTM. The comparative research shows that the prediction of the stack LSTM model is better than the standard RNN keeping view of taking a considerable amount of time to train.

Power outages and bidirectional electric vehicle charging: Simulation of improved household energy resilience in subarctic conditions

In the highly digitalized and electrified modern world, blackouts and power outages cause significant disruptions to societies and to the normal daily life of individuals. The ongoing energy transition, climate change and energy crisis complicate grid dynamics, generate new forms of instability, and weaken the resilience of the electricity transmission grid leading to possible increases in power outages. Electric vehicles (EVs) with bidirectional charging points offer a convenient possibility for households to maintain electricity use during power outages through vehicle-to-home (V2H) operation. This study introduces a novel hybrid model that combines linear programming and deterministic approaches, considering ambient temperatures, to evaluate the efficacy of V2H for power outage prevention in subarctic detached households. The methodology includes a power outage response model that dynamically adjusts the EV’s SOC based on 5-minute interval household demand during sampled outage events. Utilizing real data, we simulate the energy resilience of V2H-equipped households during power outages, focusing on how this capability influences main customer objectives such as outage avoidance, electricity cost reduction, and EV state-of-charge (SOC). The approach provides insights into the system's performance across distinct EV-utilization cases and alternative customer preference assumptions. Based on our results, an EV could be used to fully prevent up to 98 % of all outages of the year occurring during EV plug-in. The average increased electricity costs resulting from outage response are less than 0.2€ if all outage types are considered. Overall, it can be stated that EVs can be effectively used to sustain household loads during power outages with V2H given EV availability, high SOC-level when the outage begins and if the EV is not needed for its primary purpose, mobility, during the outage.

Children’s Voices on the COVID-19 Pandemic as Presented in Swedish Junior and Daily Newspapers

This study focuses on children’s voices as they were presented in Swedish newspapers during the COVID-19 pandemic. It explores the ways in which journalists featured children’s experiences of everyday life during a time of crisis. A descriptive, thematic text analysis of 83 articles resulted in four prominent themes: children’s voices as a mouthpiece for or against school closure, children as cocreators of a new normal daily life, children as responsible and caring citizens, and COVID-19 as a magnifying glass for existing vulnerabilities in everyday life. The selection and representation of children’s viewpoints was adult led and limited, and the study thus calls for further research on media constructions of children/childhood and related consequences.

Depression is associated with discoordination between heart rate variability and physical acceleration in older women.

It is well known that depression is closely associated with the autonomic nervous system and physical acceleration (PA), which may cause functional time-deviance between these two parameters. Exploring this relationship is important in sustaining the mental and physical health of older adults in daily life. However, few studies have assessed the relationship between depression and the coordination of parasympathetic nervous activity (PSNA) and PA. The present study was designed to investigate whether the coordination between PSNA and PA is associated with the mental state of healthy volunteers in normal daily lives and the underlying mechanism. In total, 95 adult women were divided into non-older and older groups comprising 50 (aged 20-59 years) and 45 (aged 60-85 years) women, respectively. PSNA and PA data were simultaneously obtained every minute for 24 h during the free-moving day using the ActiveTracer accelerometer. Lag time was determined as the time difference between PSNA and PA, and it was introduced as a parameter of %lag0, which is the percent ratio of the lag = 0 min between PSNA and PA in 1 h. The General Health Questionnaire 28 (GHQ28) was used to evaluate the effects of psychological distress, including depression. In the hour before sleep, %lag0 was significantly lower in older women (38.7 ± 6.4) who had higher GHQ28 values (subscale D = 0, n = 12) compared with that in older women (19.4 ± 10.5) with lower values (subscale D ≧ 1, n = 33) (p < 0.05). Impairments in coordination between PSNA and PA are significantly associated with depression in older women, particularly in the hour before sleep on free-moving days.

Review on anti-alzheimer drug development: approaches, challenges and perspectives.

Alzheimer is an irreversible progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes failure of cerebral neurons and disability of the affected person to practice normal daily life activities. There is no concrete evidence to identify the exact reason behind the disease, so several relevant hypotheses emerged, highlighting many possible therapeutic targets, such as acetylcholinesterase, cholinergic receptors, N-methyl d-aspartate receptors, phosphodiesterase, amyloid β protein, protein phosphatase 2A, glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta, β-secretase, γ-secretase, α-secretase, serotonergic receptors, glutaminyl cyclase, tumor necrosis factor-α, γ-aminobutyric acid receptors, and mitochondria. All of these targets have been involved in the design of new potential drugs. An extensive number of these drugs have been studied in clinical trials. However, only galantamine, donepezil, and rivastigmine (ChEIs), memantine (NMDA antagonist), and aducanumab and lecanemab (selective anti-Aβ monoclonal antibodies) have been approved for AD treatment. Many drugs failed in the clinical trials to such an extent that questions have been posed about the significance of some of the aforementioned targets. On the contrary, the data of other drugs were promising and shed light on the significance of their targets for the development of new potent anti-alzheimer drugs.

Exploring the Needs and Requirements of Informal Caregivers of Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment From Sensor-Based Care Solutions: Multimethod Study.

With the increase in the older adult population, sensor-based care solutions that can monitor the deviations in physical, emotional, and physiological activities in real-time from a distance are demanded for prolonging the stay of community-dwelling older adults with cognitive impairment. To effectively develop and implement these care solutions, it is important to understand the current experiences, future expectations, perceived usefulness (PU), and communication needs of the informal caregivers of older adults with cognitive impairment regarding such solutions. This comprehensive study with informal caregivers of older adults with cognitive impairment aims to (1) highlight current experiences with (if any) and future expectations from general sensor-based care solutions, (2) explore PU specifically toward unobtrusive sensing solutions (USSs), (3) determine the information communication (IC) needs and requirements for communicating the information obtained through USSs in different care scenarios (fall, nocturnal unrest, agitation, and normal daily life), and (4) elicit the design features for designing the interaction platform in accordance with the persuasive system design (PSD) model. A multimethod research approach encompassing a survey (N=464) and in-depth interviews (10/464, 2.2%) with informal caregivers of older adults with cognitive impairment was used. The insights into past experiences with and future expectations from the sensor-based care solutions were obtained through inductive thematic analysis of the interviews. A convergent mixed methods approach was used to explore PU and gather the IC needs from USSs by using scenario-specific questions in both survey and interviews. Finally, the design features were elicited by using the PSD model on the obtained IC needs and requirements. Informal caregivers expect care infrastructure to consider centralized and empathetic care approaches. Specifically, sensor-based care solutions should be adaptable to care needs, demonstrate trust and reliability, and ensure privacy and safety. Most informal caregivers found USSs to be useful for emergencies (mean 4.09, SD 0.04) rather than for monitoring normal daily life activities (mean 3.50, SD 0.04). Moreover, they display variations in information needs including mode, content, time, and stakeholders involved based on the care scenario at hand. Finally, PSD features, namely, reduction, tailoring, personalization, reminders, suggestions, trustworthiness, and social learning, were identified for various care scenarios. From the obtained results, it can be concluded that the care scenario at hand drives PU and IC design needs and requirements toward USSs. Therefore, future technology developers are recommended to develop technology that can be easily adapted to diverse care scenarios, whereas designers of such sensor-driven platforms are encouraged to go beyond tailoring and strive for strong personalization while maintaining the privacy of the users.

Application of endoport-assisted neuroendoscopic techniques in lateral ventricular tumor surgery.

The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical experience and therapeutic efficiency of Endoport-assisted neuroendoscopic surgery for resection of lateral ventricular tumors. The key points and application value of this surgical technique were additionally discussed. A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical and follow-up data of 16 patients who underwent endoport-assisted neuroendoscopic surgery for lateral ventricular tumors at the Department of Neurosurgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, between January 2018 and September 2020. The surgical procedures, complications and outcomes were analyzed. The study included a total of 16 patients (5 males and 11 females) with lateral ventricular tumors, with a mean age of 43.2 years (18-70 years old). The tumors were distributed as follows: 5 cases involved the body of the lateral ventricle, 3 involved the frontal horn and body, 3 involved the occipital horn, 2 involved the trigone, 2 involved the frontal horn, and 1 case involved the occipital horn and body. Perioperative complications were analyzed, revealing 1 case of intraoperative acute epidural hematoma intraoperative and 2 cases of postoperative obstructive hydrocephalus. All complications were promptly managed. Postoperative MRI revealed that 14 cases (88%) achieved total resection, while 2 cases (12%) achieved subtotal resection. During the follow-up of 6-38 months, no recurrence was observed. The patient diagnosed with glioblastoma died 16 months after surgery (GOS=1), while the remaining patients have successfully resumed to normal daily life with a GOS score of 5. In conclusion, endoport-assisted neuroendoscopic surgery proved to be a minimally invasive and effective technique for resecting lateral ventricular tumors, with acceptable complications. It effectively utilizes the benefits of close observation, comprehensive exposure, and reduced tissue damage. Therefore, endoport-assisted neuroendoscopic surgery is suitable for the resection of lateral ventricular tumors.

Patients’ experiences of temporomandibular disorders and related treatment

BackgroundTemporomandibular disorders (TMD) are common and therefore managed by dentists on a daily basis. However, patients with TMD consistently go undetected and therefore untreated in dentistry. The reasons for these shortcomings have not been fully explored, specifically with regard to patients’ perspectives. Therefore, this study aimed to explore patients’ experiences of TMD and related treatment, with special focus on the experiences of having TMD, factors related to seeking care, and perspectives on received treatment.MethodsPurposive sampling was used to recruit adult patients at the Public Dental Health services (PDHS) in the Region of Västerbotten, Sweden, during 2019. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed using Qualitative Content Analysis. Sixteen patients were interviewed (ten women and six men, 20–65 years). The interviews probed the patients’ perspectives of having TMD, seeking care, and receiving treatment. All participants were also examined according to the Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (DC/TMD) and qualified for at least one DC/TMD diagnosis.ResultsThe data analysis led to the main theme Seeking care when the situation becomes untenable, but dental care fails to meet all needs. The patients expressed worry and social discomfort because of the symptoms but still strived to have an as normal daily life as possible. However, severe symptoms and associated consequences compelled them to seek professional help. Experiences of distrust together with challenges to access the PDHS were identified and related to the patients’ unfulfilled expectations.ConclusionsPatients’ reported experiences indicate that receiving timely and appropriate care is more of an unfulfilled expectation than the current state of management of patients with TMD in dentistry.

스토킹처벌법의 실무상 운용과 보완점

Stalking crime is a crime that causes severe mental and physical damage to the victim to the extent that normal daily life is difficult. There is a very high possibility that it can develop into a violent crime that threatens the body or life. Korea's stalking punishment law distinguishes and stipulates the stalking act and the stalking crime under the premise of prompt and preliminary prevention of the victim, and has provisions to take certain temporary measures against the stalker. From the viewpoint of victim protection against stalking, more flexible legislation and interpretation are required, and similar trends are observed in other countries' legislation. From a procedural aspect, provisional measures operated to protect victims are considered administrative action (police action) or quasi-judicial action, which must consider not only legitimacy but also purpose. So we need to operate more carefully. Nevertheless, even though there is no interrogation system in the stalking punishment law, setting up an interrogation system as an internal regulation, not a law, is contrary to the reservation principle of the law called the reservation of the National Assembly. If necessary, it is reasonable to review the introduction of the system through legislation through a resolution by the National Assembly.

Effect of astragalus polysaccharides (PG2) treatment of adjuvant chemotherapy-induced fatigue in premenopausal patients with breast cancer.

537 Background: Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of breast cancer (BC) patients who are receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. Astragalus Polysaccharides (PG2) had been proved to relieve cancer-related fatigue in advanced BC patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of PG2 as a complementary treatment among stage II/III BC patients with adjuvant chemotherapy of epirubicin-cyclophosphamide(EC) regimen in reduction of chemotherapy-induced toxicity and encouraging compliance with chemotherapy. Methods: This double blind, multicenter, phase II trial randomized stage II/III BC patients who would receive adjuvant EC at least 4 cycles to either PG2 500 mg or placebo on day1, 3, 8 every 21 days as the combination. Changes in chemotherapy-related fatigue score (CRFS) was evaluated by the Brief Fatigue Inventory-Taiwanese Form and incidence of Grade 3/4 neutropenia were the primary endpoints. Results: A total of 66 eligible patients were enrolled and equally randomized to PG2 and placebo groups, 30 cases in each group completed this trial. In general, there was no significant difference in the mean change of CRFS and fatigue intensity between the groups. But the CRFS and fatigue intensity in premenopausal-PG2 group were less aggravated after 4 cycles of EC than that of postmenopausal-placebo group. Persisted significance difference in CRFSs from cycle 1 day 5 (PG2: 0.6; Placebo: 1.9, P = 0.023) to cycle 4 day 15 (PG2: -0.3; Placebo: 0.7, P = 0.002). In all population, a lower proportion of patients suffered from grade 3/4 neutropenia from cycle 1 to cycle 4 were observed in the PG2 group compared to the placebo group (78.8% vs. 87.9% in intent-to-treat population). Conclusions: PG2 combined with adjuvant EC significantly improved adjuvant EC-induced fatigue in premenopausal BC patients. PG2 assists these patients with maintaining normal daily life and job activities, also less need of family support during chemotherapy. Furthermore, patients treated with PG2 might have better compliance to complete the whole course of adjuvant chemotherapy. Clinical trial information: NCT03314805 .

Wearable graphene-based fabric electrodes for enhanced and long-term biosignal detection

Wearable health sensing devices are crucial and the development of multi-sensing textiles for non-invasive and continuous long-term biosignal monitoring is of primary interest. Nowadays, different wearable sensors are available but they usually lack comfort for continuous use during normal daily life activities. In this study, new graphene-based flexible dry electrodes are investigated to overcome the limitations of the currently available electrodes. Briefly, they are realized through casting PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride)/GNP (graphene nanoplatelets) nanocomposite over commercial textiles. These electrodes are soft and flexible and adhere more easily to the skin. In terms of performance, the PVDF/GNP electrodes show lower impedance per unit area compared to commercial ones, hence they can be employed for biosignal detection. In particular, the developed electrodes are used for electrocardiogram (ECG) signal monitoring. The recorded ECG signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) reached up to 40 dB and all necessary ECG signal features and intervals are clearly distinguishable. Furthermore, the essential ECG signal intervals on each cadiac cycle show very small variations in time. Finally, the superhydrophobic property allows the electrodes to be used repeatedly after washing. As a final note, the developed dry PVDF/GNP electrodes provide reusability, biocompatibility, good skin-electrode contact, and no signs of skin irritation.

Return to work and normal activities after mid-urethral sling: secondary analysis of the Trial of Mid-Urethral Slings.

We aim to evaluate the timing of patients returning to work and to normal daily life following mid-urethral sling surgery. This is a secondary analysis of the Trial of Mid-Urethral Slings (TOMUS). Our primary outcome is the timing of return to work and normal activities. Secondary outcomes included paid days off, number of days to return to normal daily life, and objective and subjective failures. Predictors affecting the timing of return to work and normal activities were also assessed. Patients who underwent concomitant surgery were excluded. Among patients undergoing a mid-urethral sling, 183 (41.5%) returned to normal activities within 2weeks. Within 6weeks of surgery, 308 (70.0%) had returned to normal activities including work. At the 6-month follow-up, 407 (98.3%) had returned to normal activities including work. Patients took a median of 14days (interquartile range 1-115days) to return to normal activities including work and took a median of 5 (interquartile range 0-42days) paid work days off. Those who returned within 2weeks versus after 2weeks did not have significantly different characteristics, or failure and complication rates. In the multivariate regression analysis, there was no significant predictor of the timing of returning to normal activity/work. Less than half of patients returned to work and normal activities within 2weeks of a mid-urethral sling surgery and took many fewer paid days off. The timing of return to work was not associated with significant differences in treatment failure or adverse outcomes.

Disease perception, impacts and coping strategies for onchocerciasis in Southeast Nigeria: a qualitative study among patients and program managers

BackgroundOnchocerciasis is a disease of public health concern due to the devastating consequences of the disease which impacts negatively on the lives of the people. The negative impact of the disease may affect its perception and lead to the adoption of some coping strategies. Therefore, understanding the disease perception, impacts and coping strategies used by onchocerciasis patients will help plan health interventions aimed at improving their general well-being.MethodsThis was a community-based study that employed a qualitative method through Key informant interviews (KII) with program managers and focus group discussions (FGD) among people who had Onchocerciasis. Four sessions of FGDs with a total of thirty-two (32) participants and eleven KIIs were conducted to ascertain their in-depth experience in five thematic areas.ResultsIn these communities, onchocerciasis is perceived to have been caused mainly by the bite of blackflies. Other presumed causes by the patients included drinking polluted water, poor environmental sanitation and witchcraft. The disease had a significant detrimental influence on both the physical and financial aspects of life with limited emotional and social impacts. The long-term clinical manifestations of onchocerciasis triggered pain and insufficient mobility. Thus, onchocerciasis patients experienced impairment in normal daily life activities (farming, etc.), dependency, depression and inability to participate in social events. These manifestations stimulated various coping strategies, mainly, nodulectomy by traditional healers. Others included self-medication, taking an overdose of ivermectin, and the use of alcohol.ConclusionMisconceptions about the cause of onchocerciasis still exist among people with the disease. The consequences of the disease impact negatively on various aspects of their lives and stimulate various coping strategies. Therefore, health promotion messages to the public should aim at dispelling misconceptions about the disease and promote healthy coping strategies.

Effectiveness of laser hemorrhoidoplasty in the treatment of hemorrhoidal disease.

Minimally invasive techniques still continue to maintain their popularity in hemorrhoidal disease. In this study, we aimed to present the symptomatic recovery and recurrence rates, post-operative pain levels, and complication rates of patients treated with the laser hemorrhoidoplasty (LHP) method in our clinic. The data of patients who underwent LHP due to Grades 2, 3, and 4 internal hemorrhoidal disease in our clinic were reviewed retrospectively. The patients enrolled in the study were followed for at least 6 months (6 months, 1 year, and 2 years) and their results were analyzed. A total of 103 patients were included in the study. Seventy-five (72.8%) of them were male and the mean age was 41.6 ± 13.6 years. The mean operation time was 17.9 ± 5.2 min and minor complications developed in 3 (2.9%) patients postoperatively. Mean time to return to normal daily life was 2.17 (1-11) days. Recurrence developed in 16 (17.6%) patients with Grades 2 and 3 disease and in 6 (50%) of 12 patients with Grade 4 disease (p = 0.019). LHP is a popular procedure which is effective in selected patient groups with acceptable recurrence rates.