What do we know about alcohol internet interventions aimed at employees?—A scoping review

BackgroundInternet interventions are a promising avenue for delivering alcohol prevention to employees. The objective of this scoping review was to map all research on alcohol internet interventions aimed at employees regardless of design, to gain an overview of current evidence and identify potential knowledge gaps.MethodsWe conducted a literature search in three data bases (PsycInfo, PubMed, and Web of Science). Eligibility criteria were that (1) the study targeted employees age ≥18 years; (2) the intervention was delivered predominantly online; (3) the study focused specifically or in part on alcohol use; and (4) the study was published in English in a peer-reviewed academic journal. Two reviewers independently screened, reviewed, and extracted data.ResultsTwenty studies were included, of which 10 were randomized controlled trials, five were secondary analyses, three were feasibility trials, one was a cohort study and one described the rationale and development of an intervention. No qualitative studies were found. Randomized trials tended to show effects when interventions were compared to waitlists but not when more intensive interventions were compared to less intensive ones. We identified two design-related aspects where studies differed; (1) whether all applicants were included regardless of alcohol use level and (2) whether the intervention was explicitly framed as alcohol-focused or not. Significant recruitment problems were noted in several studies.ConclusionsAlcohol internet interventions hold promise in delivering alcohol prevention to employees, but heterogeneity in study design and difficulties in recruitment complicate interpretation of findings.Systematic review registrationhttps://osf.io/25x7e/, Open Science Framework

Spatial distributions and seasonal cycles of aerosols in India and China seen in global climate-aerosol model

Peer reviewe

Interchain effects in the ultrafast photophysics of a semiconducting polymer: THz time-domain spectroscopy of thin films and isolated chains in solution

Euan Hendry, Mattijs Koeberg, Juleon M. Schins, H. K. Nienhuys, V. Sundström, L. D. A. Siebbeles, and Mischa Bonn, Physical Review B, Vol. 71, article 125201 (2005). "Copyright © 2005 by the American Physical Society."We compare the generation and decay dynamics of charges and excitons in a model polymer semiconductor (MEH-PPV) in solution and drop-cast thin films, by recording the sub-ps transient complex conductivity using THz time-domain spectroscopy. The results show that the quantum efficiency of charge generation is two orders of magnitude smaller in solution (~10–5) than in the solid film (~10–3). The proximity of neighboring chains in the films apparently facilitates (hot) exciton dissociation, presumably by allowing the electron and hole to separate on different polymer strands. For both samples, photoexcitation leads to the predominant formation of bound charge pairs (excitons) that can be detected through their polarizability. Surprisingly, the polarizability per absorbed photon is a factor of 3 larger in solution than in the film, suggesting that interchain interactions in the film do not result in a substantial delocalization of the exciton wave function

ECG-Based Electrolyte Prediction: Evaluating Regression and Probabilistic Methods

Objective: Imbalances of the electrolyte concentration levels in the body can lead to catastrophic consequences, but accurate and accessible measurements could improve patient outcomes. While blood tests provide accurate measurements, they are invasive and the laboratory analysis can be slow or inaccessible. In contrast, an electrocardiogram (ECG) is a widely adopted tool which is quick and simple to acquire. However, the problem of estimating continuous electrolyte concentrations directly from ECGs is not well-studied. We therefore investigate if regression methods can be used for accurate ECG-based prediction of electrolyte concentrations. Methods: We explore the use of deep neural networks (DNNs) for this task. We analyze the regression performance across four electrolytes, utilizing a novel dataset containing over 290000 ECGs. For improved understanding, we also study the full spectrum from continuous predictions to binary classification of extreme concentration levels. To enhance clinical usefulness, we finally extend to a probabilistic regression approach and evaluate different uncertainty estimates. Results: We find that the performance varies significantly between different electrolytes, which is clinically justified in the interplay of electrolytes and their manifestation in the ECG. We also compare the regression accuracy with that of traditional machine learning models, demonstrating superior performance of DNNs. Conclusion: Discretization can lead to good classification performance, but does not help solve the original problem of predicting continuous concentration levels. While probabilistic regression demonstrates potential practical usefulness, the uncertainty estimates are not particularly well-calibrated. Significance: Our study is a first step towards accurate and reliable ECG-based prediction of electrolyte concentration levels.Comment: Code and trained models are available at https://github.com/philippvb/ecg-electrolyte-regressio

Sodium content in processed food items in Sweden compared to other countries: a cross-sectional multinational study

BackgroundDietary sodium has a dose-response relationship with cardiovascular disease, and sodium intake in Sweden exceeds national and international recommendations. Two thirds of dietary sodium intake comes from processed foods, and adults in Sweden eat more processed foods than any other European country. We hypothesized that sodium content in processed foods is higher in Sweden than in other countries. The aim of this study was to investigate sodium content in processed food items in Sweden, and how it differs from Australia, France, Hong Kong, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.MethodsData were collected from retailers by trained research staff using standardized methods. Data were categorized into 10 food categories and compared using Kruskal-Wallis test of ranks. Sodium content in the food items was compared in mg sodium per 100 g of product, based on the nutritional content labels on the packages.ResultsCompared to other countries, Sweden had among the highest sodium content in the “dairy” and “convenience foods” categories, but among the lowest in “cereal and grain products,” “seafood and seafood products” and “snack foods” categories. Australia had the overall lowest sodium content, and the US the overall highest. The highest sodium content in most analyzed countries was found in the “meat and meat products” category. The highest median sodium content in any category was found among “sauces, dips, spreads and dressings” in Hong Kong.ConclusionThe sodium content differed substantially between countries in all food categories, although contrary to our hypothesis, processed foods overall had lower sodium content in Sweden than in most other included countries. Sodium content in processed food was nonetheless high also in Sweden, and especially so in increasingly consumed food categories, such as “convenience foods”