49 research outputs found
Development and assessment of a questionnaire for a descriptive cross – sectional study concerning parents' knowledge, attitudes and practises in antibiotic use in Greece
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Upper Respiratory Infections (URIs) are common in children. The cause is usually viral, but parents' attitude often contributes to inappropriate antibiotic prescribing, promoting antibiotic resistance. The objective is to describe the process of developing a questionnaire to assess parents' Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) concerning the role of antibiotics when children suffer from URIs, as well as to evaluate the response rates, the completeness and the reliability (Cronbach) of the questionnaires. Finally, to note any limitations of the study.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Literature review, along with pre – testing yielded a questionnaire designed to assess the parents' KAP – level. A postal survey was set, in a national sample of 200 schools stratified by geographical region. The participants consist of a multistage geographical cluster sample of 8000 parents. The influence of demographic characteristics (i.e. sex, age, education) was analyzed. Cronbach index test and factor analysis were used to assess the reliability of the questionnaire.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The response rate of the parents was 69%. Islands presented the lowest response rate while in Northern Greece the response rate was the highest. Sixty – eight point nine percent of the sample returned questionnaires fully completed, while 91.5% completed 95% of the questions. Three questions out of 70 were answered in a very low rate which was associated mostly with immigrant respondents. The section describing parents' attitude toward antibiotic use was not completed as much as the sections of knowledge or practices. The questions were factor analyzed and 10 out of the 21 extracted factors were finally evaluated, reducing the number of independent variables to 46. The reliability of the questionnaire was 0.55. However, only items that increased the Cronbach when added were eventually included in the final scales raising the internal consistency to 0.68. Limitations of the study, such as the vocabulary and form of the questionnaire and the idiocycrancy of the respondents, emerged during the analysis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The response rate and the completeness of the questionnaires were higher than expected, probably attributed to the involvement of the teachers. The study findings were satisfactory regarding the development of a reliable instrument capable to measure parents' KAP characteristics.</p
X-Ray Spectroscopy of Stars
(abridged) Non-degenerate stars of essentially all spectral classes are soft
X-ray sources. Low-mass stars on the cooler part of the main sequence and their
pre-main sequence predecessors define the dominant stellar population in the
galaxy by number. Their X-ray spectra are reminiscent, in the broadest sense,
of X-ray spectra from the solar corona. X-ray emission from cool stars is
indeed ascribed to magnetically trapped hot gas analogous to the solar coronal
plasma. Coronal structure, its thermal stratification and geometric extent can
be interpreted based on various spectral diagnostics. New features have been
identified in pre-main sequence stars; some of these may be related to
accretion shocks on the stellar surface, fluorescence on circumstellar disks
due to X-ray irradiation, or shock heating in stellar outflows. Massive, hot
stars clearly dominate the interaction with the galactic interstellar medium:
they are the main sources of ionizing radiation, mechanical energy and chemical
enrichment in galaxies. High-energy emission permits to probe some of the most
important processes at work in these stars, and put constraints on their most
peculiar feature: the stellar wind. Here, we review recent advances in our
understanding of cool and hot stars through the study of X-ray spectra, in
particular high-resolution spectra now available from XMM-Newton and Chandra.
We address issues related to coronal structure, flares, the composition of
coronal plasma, X-ray production in accretion streams and outflows, X-rays from
single OB-type stars, massive binaries, magnetic hot objects and evolved WR
stars.Comment: accepted for Astron. Astrophys. Rev., 98 journal pages, 30 figures
(partly multiple); some corrections made after proof stag
The mammals of Angola
Scientific investigations on the mammals of Angola started over 150 years
ago, but information remains scarce and scattered, with only one recent published
account. Here we provide a synthesis of the mammals of Angola based on a thorough
survey of primary and grey literature, as well as recent unpublished records. We present
a short history of mammal research, and provide brief information on each species
known to occur in the country. Particular attention is given to endemic and near endemic
species. We also provide a zoogeographic outline and information on the conservation
of Angolan mammals. We found confirmed records for 291 native species, most of
which from the orders Rodentia (85), Chiroptera (73), Carnivora (39), and
Cetartiodactyla (33). There is a large number of endemic and near endemic species,
most of which are rodents or bats. The large diversity of species is favoured by the wide range of habitats with contrasting environmental conditions, while endemism tends to
be associated with unique physiographic settings such as the Angolan Escarpment. The
mammal fauna of Angola includes 2 Critically Endangered, 2 Endangered, 11
Vulnerable, and 14 Near-Threatened species at the global scale. There are also 12 data
deficient species, most of which are endemics or near endemics to the countryinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis
Background
Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis.
Methods
A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis).
Results
Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent).
Conclusion
Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified
Meiotic and Sperm Chromosome Analysis In A Male Carrier Of An Inverted Insertion (3 10) (Q13.2 P14p13)
Interspecific hybridisation in rhinoceroses: Confirmation of a Black � White rhinoceros hybrid by karyotype, fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) and microsatellite analysis
SNP discovery and characterisation in White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum) with application to parentage assignment
Abstract The white rhino is one of the great success stories of modern wildlife conservation, growing from as few as 50-100 animals in the 1880s, to approximately 20,000 white rhinoceros remaining today. However, illegal trade in conservational rhinoceros horns is adding constant pressure on remaining populations. Captive management of ex situ populations of endangered species using molecular methods can contribute to improving the management of the species. Here we compare for the first time the utility of 33 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and nine microsatellites (MS) in isolation and in combination for assigning parentage in captive White Rhinoceros. We found that a combined dataset of SNPs and microsatellites was most informative with the highest confidence level. This study thus provided us with a useful set of SNP and MS markers for parentage and relatedness testing. Further assessment of the utility of these markers over multiple (> three) generations and the incorporation of a larger variety of relationships among individuals (e.g. half-siblings or cousins) is strongly suggested