UTJECAJ RELIGIOZNOSTI I DUHOVNOSTI NA SVAKODNEVNU PRAKSU SOCIJALNIH RADNIKA

Although social work can trace the roots of its establishment as a profession to religion/spirituality, the relationship between social work and religion/spirituality has deteriorated due to the former’s professionalisation and secularisation. Nevertheless, religious/spiritual values are important for many social work services and for the practice of the profession. It is, hence, worth demarcating the role of religion/spirituality for frontline social workers. In the current qualitative study, repeated interviews were conducted with 11 Chinese social workers from diverse social work settings. It was noted that Eastern and Western religion/spirituality can instil meaning and value in the profession’s nature.Iako se uspostavljanje socijalnog rada kao profesije temelji na religIoznosti/duhovnosti, odnos između socijalnog rada i religioznosti/duhovnosti narušen je zbog profesionalizacije i sekularizacije socijalnog rada. Usprkos tome, religiozne/duhovne vrijednosti važne su za mnoge usluge socijalnog rada i za praksu socijalnog rada kao profesije. Stoga je važno utvrditi ulogu religioznosti/duhovnosti za najizloženije socijalne radnike. U ovom kvalitativnom istraživanju provedeni su ponovljeni razgovori s 11 kineskih socijalnih radnika iz različitih područja socijalnog rada. Uočeno je da istočnjačka i zapadnjačka religioznost/duhovnost mogu unijeti značenje i vrijednost u prirodu profesije

The impact of the ClearRT™ upgrade on target motion tracking accuracy in Radixact® Synchrony® lung treatments

Background: The objective was to investigate the change in segmentation error of Radixact® Synchrony® lung treatment after its kV imaging system was upgraded from Generation 1 to Generation 2 in the ClearRT™ installation. Materials and methods: Radixact® Lung Synchrony® plans were created for the Model 18023 Xsight® Lung Tracking “XLT” Phantom combined with different lung target inserts with densities of 0.280, 0.500, 0.943 and 1.093 g/cc. After Radixact® Synchrony® treatment delivery using the Generation 1 and Generation 2 kV systems according to each plan, the tracking performance of the two kV systems on each density insert was compared by calculating the root mean square (RMS) error (δRMS) between the Synchrony-predicted motion in the log file and the known phantom motion and by calculating δ95%, the maximum error within a 95% probability threshold. Results: The δRMS and δ95% of Radixact® Synchrony® treatment for Gen1 kV systems deteriorated as the density of the target insert decreased, from 1.673 ± 0.064 mm and 3.049 ± 0.089 mm, respectively, for the 1.093 g/cc insert to 8.355 ± 5.873 mm and 15.297 ± 10.470 mm, respectively, for the 0.280 g/cc insert. In contrast, no such trend was observed in the δRMS or δ95% of Synchrony® treatment using the Gen2 kV system. The δRMS and δ95%, respectively, fluctuated slightly from 1.586 to 1.687 mm and from 2.874 to 2.971 mm when different target inserts were tracked by the Gen2 kV system. Conclusion: With improved image contrast in kV radiographs, the Gen2 kV imaging system can enhance the ability to track targets accurately in Radixact® Lung Synchrony® treatment and reduce the segmentation error. Our study showed that lung targets with density values as low as 0.280 cc/g could be tracked correctly in Synchrony treatment with the Gen2 kV imaging system

Gating a Single Cell:A Label-Free and Real-Time Measurement Method for Cellular Progression

There is an ever-growing need for more advanced methods to study the response of cancer cells to new therapies. To determine cancer cells’ response from a cell-mortality perspective to various cancer therapies, we report a label-free and real time method to monitor the in situ response of individual HeLa cells using a single cell gated transistor (SCGT). As a cell undergoes apoptotic cell death, it experiences changes in morphology and ion concentrations. This change is well in line with the threshold voltage of the SCGT, which has been verified by correlating the data with the cell morphologies by scanning electron microscopy and the ion-concentration analysis by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). This SCGT could replace patch clamps to study single cell activity via direct measurement in real time. Importantly, this SCGT can be used to study the electrical response of a single cell to stimuli that leaves the membrane intact

Bioinspired, self-powered, and highly sensitive electronic skin for sensing static and dynamic pressures

Flexible piezoresistive pressure sensors obtain global research interest owing to their potential applications in healthcare, human–robot interaction, and artificial nerves. However, an additional power supply is usually required to drive the sensors, which results in increased complexity of the pressure sensing system. Despite the great efforts in pursuing self-powered pressure sensors, most of the self-powered devices can merely detect the dynamic pressure and the reliable static pressure detection is still challenging. With the help of redox-induced electricity, a bioinspired graphite/polydimethylsiloxane piezoresistive composite film acting both as the cathode and pressure sensing layer, a neoteric electronic skin sensor is presented here to detect not only the dynamic forces but also the static forces without an external power supply. Additionally, the sensor exhibits a fascinating pressure sensitivity of ∼103 kPa–1 over a broad sensing range from 0.02 to 30 kPa. Benefiting from the advanced performance of the device, various potential applications including arterial pulse monitoring, human motion detecting, and Morse code generation are successfully demonstrated. This new strategy could pave a way for the development of next-generation self-powered wearable devices

Study protocol for a peer-led web-based intervention to promote safe usage of dating applications among young adults: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Dating applications are a popular platform to meet new people. At the same time, they have been associated with risks such as unsafe sexual behavior and privacy concerns in young adults. This paper presents a study protocol of a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of a peer-led web-based intervention to promote its safe usage in young adults. METHODS: The study design is an open-labeled cluster RCT with an intervention and a placebo control arm. The intervention group will receive a web-based intervention developed through focus group discussions, a crowdsourcing contest, and a Peer-Vetted Creative Production (PVCP) workshop. The control group will receive a web-based resource on health and exercise. We aim to recruit approximately 338 young adults aged 17-27 years from three tertiary educational institutions in Hong Kong with the class as the cluster unit. Based on the Information, Motivation, and Behavioral Skills (IMB) model, the primary outcome of this study is self-efficacy in using dating applications measured by the General Self Efficacy Scale. Secondary outcomes include change in risk perception measured by the Risk Propensity Scale and a Risk Assessment Tool. Questionnaires will be administered before the intervention, after the intervention, and at one-month follow-up. Intention-to-treat analysis and multilevel regression modeling will be used to evaluate differences in outcomes between groups and the factors affecting these outcomes, respectively. DISCUSSION: Dating application usage presents opportunities as well as challenges to young adults meeting new friends. Innovative and relatable interventions are needed to promote the safe usage of dating applications to this population. Practical knowledge gained from the development process may be helpful for future intervention utilizing the peer-led approach. If effective, the intervention will be disseminated to non-governmental organizations and educational institutions to be used as a teaching resource. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03685643 . Registered on 26 September 2018. University of Hong Kong Clinical Trials Registry, HKUCTR-2512

Recommender Systems

The ongoing rapid expansion of the Internet greatly increases the necessity of effective recommender systems for filtering the abundant information. Extensive research for recommender systems is conducted by a broad range of communities including social and computer scientists, physicists, and interdisciplinary researchers. Despite substantial theoretical and practical achievements, unification and comparison of different approaches are lacking, which impedes further advances. In this article, we review recent developments in recommender systems and discuss the major challenges. We compare and evaluate available algorithms and examine their roles in the future developments. In addition to algorithms, physical aspects are described to illustrate macroscopic behavior of recommender systems. Potential impacts and future directions are discussed. We emphasize that recommendation has a great scientific depth and combines diverse research fields which makes it of interests for physicists as well as interdisciplinary researchers.Comment: 97 pages, 20 figures (To appear in Physics Reports

Mindfulness Awareness Is Associated With a Lower Risk of Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in Older Adults With Neurocognitive Disorders

Background: Apart from depressive disorders, there are great interests in adopting mindfulness based interventions (MBIs) for other mental health conditions. Depression and anxiety are common in people with neurocognitive disorders (NCD). The potential of MBIs as an adjuvant treatment in this cognitively at-risk group should be further explored. Objectives: The current study explored the association between depression and anxiety symptoms with dispositional mindfulness in older adults, and if same association stays in the context of cognitive impairment. Methods: The Hong Kong Mental Morbidity Survey for Older People (MMSOP) is an ongoing epidemiology study of the prevalence of neurocognitive and mental disorders in adults aged 60 years or over in Hong Kong. MMSOP evaluated cognitive function, psychiatric symptoms (Clinical Interview Schedule-revised, CIS-R), chronic physical disease burden, psychosocial support, and resilience factors, including dispositional mindfulness as measured by the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). We analyzed the impact of MAAS on CIS-R and potential moderation effects of mindfulness. Results: In March 2021, 1,218 community dwelling participants completed assessments. The mean age of the sample is 69.0 (SD 6.9) years. Eight hundred and two participants (65.7%) were not demented (CDR 0) and 391 (32%) and 25 (2%) were categorized as having mild NCD (CDR 0.5) and major NCD (CDR 1 or more), respectively. One hundred forty-three (11.7%) satisfied ICD-10 criteria for anxiety or depressive disorder as measured by CIS-R. Linear regression analysis showed that female gender, CIRS, and MAAS scores were significant factors associated with CIS-R scores. MAAS scores moderated and attenuated the impact CIRS on CIS-R (adjusted R2 = 0.447, p < 0.001). MAAS scores remained as significant moderator for CIRS in patients with NCD (CDR ≥ 0.5) (adjusted R2 = 0.33, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Interim findings of the MMSOP suggested that dispositional mindfulness is associated with lower level of mood symptoms in community dwelling older adults in Hong Kong. The interaction effects further suggested that high mindful awareness may reduce the adverse effects of chronic physical morbidity on mental health. The observation stayed in the participants with cognitive impairment. We should further explore MBIs as a non-pharmacological treatment for in older adults at-risk of physical morbidity and cognitive decline

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London