Effects of low-frequency, low-acceleration motion on manual task performance

The current criteria and recommendations for assessing the acceptability of wind-induced building motion were largely established based on human perception thresholds and/or tolerance to wind-induced building motion. Therefore, they may not be able to ensure the performance of manual tasks is unaffected by wind-induced building motion. Few studies have investigated the effects of wind-induced building motion on manual task performance, and the findings of these studies are inconclusive. Hence the relationships between manual task performance and the wind-induced building motion and the mechanisms causing manual task performance degradation are yet to be explored and fully understood. Sopite syndrome describes a set of symptom centering around drowsiness due to exposure of healthy individuals to real or apparent motion. Recent studies have shown that symptoms of sopite syndrome are the most frequent manifestations of the effects of wind-induced building motion and decrease subjective work performance and objective cognitive task performance of building occupants. However, no study has investigated the effects of sopite syndrome on manual task performance. This thesis investigates the effects of low-frequency, low-acceleration motion and sopite syndrome on manual task performance based on a series of motion simulator experiments. Twelve low-frequency, low-acceleration motion conditions were generated using four frequencies (0.125, 0.25, 0.5, and 1 Hz) and three acceleration magnitudes (8, 16, and 30 milli-g) for both fore-aft and lateral directions. A continuous tracking task (CTT) was used as a paradigm to investigate the effects of the motion on manual task performance. Aiming accuracy of the CTT is the dependent measure. Twenty (10 males and 10 females) participants completed the experiment under fore-aft motion conditions and another 20 participants (10 males and 10 females) under lateral motion conditions. A Motion Sickness Assessment Questionnaire (MSAQ) was used to measure motion sickness severity, in particular sopite syndrome severity, of the participants before and after the exposure to the motion conditions. Activation levels of soleus (SOL) and tibialis anterior (TA), the lower leg muscles involved in maintaining balance in the fore-aft direction, were measured using electromyography (EMG) to provide supporting evidences for the effects of motion and sopite syndrome on manual task performance from a physiological perspective. Both acceleration and frequency were found to contribute to the degradations of manual task performance. Acceleration shows a strong inverse relationship with manual task performance; manual task performance decreases as the acceleration increases from 8 milli-g to 30 milli-g. The acceleration effect is attributable to an increase in inertial force. The activation levels of the SOL and TA also increase as acceleration increases from 8 milli-g to 30 milli-g. Evidently, the increase in inertial force can, in turn, induce visual impairment, disrupt balance, increase vibration breakthrough, and/or trigger motion sickness or sopite syndrome. In contrast, frequency has a complex nonlinear relationship with manual task performance. The worst manual task performance was measured at 0.5 Hz among the test frequencies ranging from 0.125 Hz to 1 Hz. This frequency effect is associated with the frequency response characteristic of the human body. Body sway increases as frequency approaches the resonant frequency of a standing human, which occurs at near 0.5 Hz. The activation levels of SOL and TA increase as frequency increases from 0.125 Hz to approximately 0.5 Hz, then drop as frequency increases from 0.5 Hz to 1 Hz. This affirms that the body sways the most at 0.5 Hz. The increases in body sway can cause discomfort, divert attention resources from performing a manual task, and trigger anxiety that increases difficulty to response to manual tasks

Validation of a Novel Traditional Chinese Medicine Pulse Diagnostic Model Using an Artificial Neural Network

In view of lacking a quantifiable traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) pulse diagnostic model, a novel TCM pulse diagnostic model was introduced to quantify the pulse diagnosis. Content validation was performed with a panel of TCM doctors. Criterion validation was tested with essential hypertension. The gold standard was brachial blood pressure measured by a sphygmomanometer. Two hundred and sixty subjects were recruited (139 in the normotensive group and 121 in the hypertensive group). A TCM doctor palpated pulses at left and right cun, guan, and chi points, and quantified pulse qualities according to eight elements (depth, rate, regularity, width, length, smoothness, stiffness, and strength) on a visual analog scale. An artificial neural network was used to develop a pulse diagnostic model differentiating essential hypertension from normotension. Accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity were compared among various diagnostic models. About 80% accuracy was attained among all models. Their specificity and sensitivity varied, ranging from 70% to nearly 90%. It suggested that the novel TCM pulse diagnostic model was valid in terms of its content and diagnostic ability

Misdiagnosis of pulmonary embolism and missed pulmonary embolism: A systematic review of the literature

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common and life-threatening condition. Misdiagnosis of PE is not uncommon as symptoms can overlap with other diagnoses and could cause potential harm. We conducted a systematic review to estimate rates of misdiagnosis and factors may be associated with misdiagnosis of PE. We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE for studies that evaluated the misdiagnosis of PE. The rate of misdiagnosis was pooled and results were narratively synthesized. A total of 18 studies were included which included 2,053 patients with a diagnosis of PE. Two different definitions were used for misdiagnosis of PE. The first refers to an initial diagnosis that is not PE and the patient is found to have PE. The second definition refers to patients who do not have a diagnosis of PE while they were alive and PE was subsequently found on autopsy. The pooled results across the studies suggest that in ED settings 27.5% of patients with PE are misdiagnosed initially and half of all patients in inpatient settings are misdiagnosed (53.6%). Among patients that die in intensive care who undergo autopsy 37.9% were found to have PE that was missed. The commonly diagnosed conditions instead of PE were respiratory infection, heart failure and acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Misdiagnosis in patients with an eventual diagnosis of PE is common. Clinicians should consider PE as differential diagnosis in patients who are initially suspected to have chest infection, heart failure or ACS who have negative diagnostic tests or poor response to treatment

Acute Encephalopathy Associated with Influenza A Infection in Adults

We report acute encephalopathy associated with influenza A infection in 3 adults. We detected high cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma concentrations of CXCL8/IL-8 and CCL2/MCP-1 (CSF/plasma ratios >3), and interleukin-6, CXCL10/IP-10, but no evidence of viral neuroinvasion. Patients recovered without sequelae. Hyperactivated cytokine response may play a role in pathogenesis

Marital status and risk of cardiovascular diseases : A systematic review and meta-analysis

Acknowledgement We acknowledge the ASPIRE Summer Studentship programme at Keele University for the support of this work. Funding This work is supported by the ASPIRE Summer Studentship programme at Keele University.Peer reviewedPostprin

Reactivation of Epstein–Barr virus by a dual-responsive fluorescent EBNA1-targeting agent with Zn2+-chelating function

EBNA1 is the only Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) latent protein responsible for viral genome maintenance and is expressed in all EBV-infected cells. Zn2+ is essential for oligomerization of the functional EBNA1. We constructed an EBNA1 binding peptide with a Zn2+ chelator to create an EBNA1-specific inhibitor (ZRL5P4). ZRL5P4 by itself is sufficient to reactivate EBV from its latent infection. ZRL5P4 is able to emit unique responsive fluorescent signals once it binds with EBNA1 and a Zn2+ ion. ZRL5P4 can selectively disrupt the EBNA1 oligomerization and cause nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tumor shrinkage, possibly due to EBV lytic induction. Dicer1 seems essential for this lytic reactivation. As can been seen, EBNA1 is likely to maintain NPC cell survival by suppressing viral reactivation

Methods to disinfect and decontaminate SARS-CoV-2: a systematic review of in vitro studies

Background: Cleaning is a major control component for outbreaks of infection. However, for the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, there is limited specific guidance regarding the proper disinfection methods that should be used. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of the literature on cleaning, disinfection or decontamination methods in the prevention of SARS-CoV-2. Results: A total of 27 studies were included, reporting a variety of methods with which the effectiveness of interventions were assessed. Virus was inoculated onto different types of material including masks, nasopharyngeal swabs, serum, laboratory plates and simulated saliva, tears or nasal fluid and then interventions were applied in an attempt to eliminate the virus including chemical, ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation, and heat and humidity. At body temperature (37°C) there is evidence that the virus will not be detectable after 2 days but this can be reduced to non-detection at 30 min at 56°C, 15 min at 65°C and 2 min at 98°C. Different experimental methods testing UV light have shown that it can inactivate the virus. Light of 254–365 nm has been used, including simulated sunlight. Many chemical agents including bleach, hand sanitiser, hand wash, soap, ethanol, isopropanol, guandinium thiocynate/t-octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol, formaldehyde, povidone-iodine, 0.05% chlorhexidine, 0.1% benzalkonium chloride, acidic electrolysed water, Clyraguard copper iodine complex and hydrogen peroxide vapour have been shown to disinfect SARS-CoV-2. Conclusions: Heating, UV light irradiation and chemicals can be used to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 but there is insufficient evidence to support one measure over others in clinical practice

Infective endocarditis is associated with worse outcomes in stroke : A Thailand National Database Study

Acknowledgements We thank the administrative staff of Insurance Schemes who prepared the anonymized dataset Funding No project specific funding was obtained for this study. KAR received the Aberdeen Summer Research Scholarship funded by the NHS Grampian Department of Medicine for the Elderly Endowment Funds.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A scoping review

Funding Information: This work was supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Brazil; and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Brazil. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Elsevier LtdBackground: Even though clinical practice is crucial for nursing students' personal and professional development, it is recurrently associated with stress. However, stressful situations may not only elicit negative responses, but positive responses as well, and such aspects should be further investigated. Aim: To explore the literature addressing the positive and negative aspects of stress experienced by nursing students during clinical practicum. Design: This scoping review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) and PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Data sources: CINAHL, MEDLINE/PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, IBECS, LILACS, BDENF and two theses and dissertations repositories. Review methods: Searches were conducted from June to August 2022. Studies addressing the positive and negative aspects of stress experienced by nursing students during clinical practice were included regardless of the method adopted. Results: This review included 32 studies published between 1999 and 2022 in 25 countries across four continents: Africa, America, Asia, and Europe. Stress can positively influence academic performance, especially in mobilizing a search for learning and professional development and in integrating theoretical knowledge and improving clinical skills and competencies. Negatively, stress can cause biopsychosocial symptoms that compromise a student's academic performance and can cause doubts and uncertainties about the construction of their professional identity. Conclusions: Although the negative aspects stand out over the positive ones, it is evident that both are present in the clinical practice environment. When considering stress of nursing students, educators should conduct the teaching-learning process in order to reduce the negative impact and promote the positive side of stressful situations.publishersversionpublishe