Search Results (64,652)

Background: Previous guidelines for endocarditis have suggested repeating blood cultures until they become negative, with limited evidence. Methods: Literature reviews were conducted (1) on the incidence of persistent bacteremia and association with outcome and (2) on timing of valve culture negativization to examine the claim for prolongation of antibiotic therapy starting from negative blood cultures. Results: Persistent bacteremia and fever may be present in the first 3 days of endocarditis, despite treatment, and are more common in Staphylococcus (especially MRSA) and Enterococcus species. Persistent bacteremia (48–72 h), persistent infection (day 7), and new onset septic shock are related and predict in-hospital mortality. It is, however, persistent infection at day 7 and septic shock that primarily determine the infectious course of endocarditis, and not persistent bacteremia. Valve cultures at surgery become negative in most cases (>85–90%) after 14–21 days of antibiotic therapy, with no calculated benefit for prolonging therapy after 21 days. Conclusions: Persistent infection at 7 days after appropriate antibiotic therapy is a better key event for prognosis then positive or negative blood cultures at 48–72 h. Therapy prolongation from the day of negative blood cultures is not reasonable. There is no need to survey blood cultures in endocarditis patients after starting therapy. Full article

In our pursuit of a fulfilling and contented life, the study of well-being has emerged as a fundamental field of research. Higher levels of well-being are associated with better mental health outcomes. Individuals with better mental health might possess the personal resources necessary to set and pursue meaningful goals, maintain positive expectations, and overcome adversities. We aim to explore the positive relationship between well-being (hedonic, psychological, and social) and dispositional hope. We suggest that mental health acts as a mediator in this relationship, since improved mental health can create a conducive environment for the development and maintenance of dispositional hope. Data were collected using an e-survey through social media during the last quarter of 2022. The hypothesis of this study was tested using mediation analysis. The sample was composed of 471 participants (85.4% female) with a mean age of 47.72 ± 11.86 years. Participants were mainly workers (88.6%), followed by pensioners (6.8%), university students (2.5%), and unemployed (2.1%). Results revealed that well-being was positively and significantly associated with dispositional hope. Additionally, well-being presented a significant and positive relationship with mental health, which, in turn, also presented a significant and positive relationship with dispositional hope. Finally, using the Hayes process macro for SPSS, we found that mental health mediates the relationship between well-being and dispositional hope. Our findings reinforce the conceptual frameworks that consider well-being and mental health as key contributors to a resilient and optimistic mindset. Interventions that aim to cultivate positive affect, facilitate personal growth, and foster supportive social environments might help improve mental health outcomes. Full article

This article addresses the pressing issue of attracting Generation Z to the agriculture sector in the Czech Republic, a vital issue given its crucial role in ensuring food security and sustainability. During demographic changes and declining interest from younger generations to work in agriculture, it is essential to understand and meet the specific needs of this generation. This article examines the alignment between advertised employee benefits and the preferences of Generation Z, offers a new employee benefits categorization, and highlights possible interventions to increase the attractiveness of the agricultural sector in the labor market. Based on a literature review, quantitative content analysis of job advertisements, and a questionnaire survey, the research aims to evaluate the current offers of employee benefits in the agricultural sector in the Czech Republic in terms of their attractiveness and how they are perceived by Generation Z before then categorizing these employee benefits. The results show that benefits from the “Holiday and times off” category have the highest value for Generation Z and that, on the contrary, they value benefits from the “Benefits for work–life balance” category the least. A total of seven categories of employee benefits have been newly identified. Full article

This paper presents a comprehensive literature review on the evolution of data-lake technology, with a particular focus on data-lake architectures. By systematically examining the existing body of research, we identify and classify the major types of data-lake architectures that have been proposed and implemented over time. The review highlights key trends in the development of data-lake architectures, identifies the primary challenges faced in their implementation, and discusses future directions for research and practice in this rapidly evolving field. We have developed diagrammatic representations to highlight the evolution of various architectures. These diagrams use consistent notations across all architectures to further enhance the comparative analysis of the different architectural components. We also explore the differences between data warehouses and data lakes. Our findings provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners seeking to understand the current state of data-lake technology and its potential future trajectory. Full article

Waste sorting at the source has been identified as a crucial solution for sustainable waste management in developing countries like Vietnam. Numerous previous studies have investigated the factors influencing waste sorting behavior among consumers. However, there has been limited research on consumers’ capability in waste sorting at source, particularly the role of information. Without sufficient consumer capability in waste sorting, contamination continues to be a widespread problem, posing a challenge to the sustainability of such programs. A survey using the ASK (Attitude-Skill-Knowledge) model was conducted with 228 participants in Lao Cai city, Vietnam, to assess how information enhances consumer capability in waste sorting. This study indicated that: (1) Both information quality and information accessibility could affect overall consumer capability toward waste sorting at the source; (2) Information accessibility is important in determining all ASK component, while interestingly, information quality plays an important role in determining consumers’ attitudes toward waste sorting at the source. The study suggested some solutions for enhancing consumer capability in waste sorting program, including engaging all stakeholders, leveraging technology, educational campaigns, and regular updates on waste sorting at the source information. Full article

Background: A multidisciplinary approach is required for the management of long COVID. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility (demand, implementation, practicality, acceptability, and limited efficacy) of an allied-health-led multidisciplinary symptom management service (ReCOV) for long COVID. Methods: A single-group observational cohort feasibility study was conducted to determine demand (referrals), acceptability (survey), implementation (waitlist times, health professions seen), practicality (adverse events), and limited efficacy (admission and discharge scores from the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Scale, Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ), Patient Health Questionnaire, and EuroQol 5D-5L). Data are presented as median [interquartile range] or count (percentage). Results: During the study, 143 participants (aged 42.00 [32.00–51.00] years, 68% women) participated in ReCOV. Participants were waitlisted for 3.86 [2.14–9.86] weeks and engaged with 5.00 [3.00–6.00] different health professionals. No adverse events occurred. The thematic analysis revealed that ReCOV was helpful but did not fully meet the needs of all participants. Limited efficacy testing indicated that participants had improved understanding and control (p < 0.001) of symptoms (BIPQ) and a small improvement in EQ VAS score (median difference 5.50 points [0.00–25.00], p = 0.004]). Conclusions: A multidisciplinary service was safe and mostly acceptable to participants for the management of long COVID. Further research should investigate the clinical and cost effectiveness of such a service, including optimal service duration and patient outcomes. Full article

Mainstream empirical studies on the spatial justice of medical facilities focus on equal accessibility or resource availability based on population scale, overlooking critiques that emphasize the importance of assessing inequality and the multidimensionality of human needs. However, access to medical care, particularly for vulnerable groups in social housing, often demands a higher level of consideration. Evaluating whether people can access the facilities they demand and expect is crucial for improving living standards. This study categorizes medical facilities into primary healthcare and hospital facilities based on their service grade, and integrates survey-based satisfaction into a spatial analysis of cost–distance-based accessibility and gravity-2SFCA-based availability. Analysis reveals that satisfaction primarily correlates with two factors: the distance to primary healthcare and the ease of reaching hospital facilities. While low accessibility to primary healthcare contributes to the evident distribution injustice of medical resources, satisfaction with service quality and scope is more strongly associated with the ease of reaching hospitals. To reduce injustice in social housing, specific remedies are needed to improve the difficult conditions for accessing primary healthcare faced by communities such as Guangdan, Likang, and Jinshazhou. Moreover, improving the easiness of reaching hospital facilities may significantly enhance the resident satisfaction with the level of medical service provided. Findings obtained in this research may not only enlighten Guangzhou’s urban planning, but may also be noteworthy for developing livable cities, which people anticipated. Full article

Teaching philosophy statements are often declarations of beliefs interspersed with descriptions and metaphors. The disjuncture between the stated philosophy and actual teaching has been raised by numerous academics. This case study addresses the neglected area of grounding teaching philosophies on actual teacher behaviour rather than on espoused beliefs. This study includes a replicable framework for teachers to create evidence-based teaching philosophy statements through a systematic investigation of their actual teaching practices. A retrospective think-aloud protocol was used to recount a lesson. Using a transcript of the recount, the teacher’s actions were identified, extracted, and justified following pre-determined protocols. References to theoretical and empirical studies supporting or contradicting the justifications were checked in the research literature. To counteract potential self-bias, colleagues’ views on the reasons selected were surveyed. The discrepancy between the teacher’s justification of actions and the peers’ perspectives revealed hitherto hidden idiosyncrasies and underlying values. Full article

This study addresses the problem of psycho-verbal violence experienced by women seeking divorce in Tehran (Iran’s capital) and aims to investigate the influence of cultural capital on the occurrence of this form of violence. The study surveyed 207 women aged 20 to 60 seeking divorce in Tehran using random sampling. The data were collected using questionnaires developed by the researchers and focused on cultural capital and cases of psycho-verbal violence against women. Pearson’s correlation coefficient test and regression multivariant analyses were used for statistical analysis. The results indicate a significant inverse relationship between women’s cultural capital and psycho-verbal violence against women, encompassing embodied cultural capital, objectified cultural capital, and institutionalized cultural capital (p < 0.001). Regression analyses revealed that the incidence of psycho-verbal violence experienced by women decreases when embodied cultural capital increases first, followed by objectified and institutionalized capital. Conversely, an increase in the number of children correlates with an increase in psycho-verbal violence. Full article

Human landscape-transforming activities contribute to the global change in vegetation in different forms. Hunting is one of the most ancient human landscape-shaping activities. Feeders for hunting are particularly disruptive to vegetation. In the present study, we conducted a vegetation survey in these highly disturbed places. We investigated the vegetation dynamics over several years in the turkey oak–sessile oak zone, in two areas with different moisture and shade conditions (forest and clearing). Important background factors are the changes in precipitation and temperature. Our results confirm that weed infestation is detectable at bait sites over a long period. The seasonal changes in field weed vegetation, as well as the increase in the number and coverage of weed species at the end of summer, resulting from lifestyle characteristics, were generally detectable in all years and locations, especially in the case of open and more strongly degraded clearings. Meteorological factors played a role in the degree of weed infestation in each year. Degradation was more significant in drought years, while regeneration was also observed in wetter periods. At baits located in the clearing, we showed a positive correlation between the amount of summer precipitation and the total coverage of weed species, as well as between the average spring temperature and the coverage of certain weed species. With the drying of the climate, the disturbed areas are constantly losing their natural value, but wetter weather is not an automatic solution either. Considering that there are approx. 30,000 bait sites in the country, and they are used regularly and very intensively, they can serve as major infection hotspots for alien species in a network. Full article

Half of Chinese adults face the double burden of overweight/obesity and micronutrient deficiencies, and nearly 40% of them are severely overweight/obese or have micronutrient deficiencies. This study used the data from China Nutrition and Health Survey (CNHS) from 2015 to 2017 to estimate the prevalence of inadequate dietary micronutrient intake (including vitamin A, vitamin B₁, vitamin B₂, vitamin C, cCalcium, iron and sodium) in Chinese adults and further determine the differences in micronutrient intake by gender, age and BMI. A total of 61,768 subjects were included in this study, of which 33,262 (54%) were female. The intake of energy and all macronutrients decreased with age, and the intake was higher in men than in women. Inadequate energy intake occurs in adults of all ages. In terms of nutrient intake, women had a higher rate of insufficient carbohydrate intake than men in all age groups. Inadequate protein intake was more common in women aged 18–49 years (60.9%) than in men. Compared with women, men had a higher rate of vitamin B2 intake. Insufficient vitamin B3 intake was more common in women aged 18–49 years (35.6%), men aged 65–79 years (39.7%) and men aged 80 years and above (47.9%). In all age groups, insufficient vitamin C intake is higher in women than in men—up to 85.8 percent in women aged 80 years old and above. Compared with men in the same age group, insufficient intake of calcium and iron is more obvious in women. Women have significantly higher rates of inadequate intake of calcium, iron and sodium than men. In the analysis of correlations between BMI or demographic data and micronutrient intakes, the likelihood of micronutrient intakes being insufficient was higher in the central and western regions in all age groups compared to the eastern regions. The risk of insufficient micronutrient intake was higher in obese men and women aged 18–49 years and 50–64 years. Underweight and overweight women in the 65–79 age group were more likely to have inadequate micronutrient intake. Obese women over 80 years of age were less likely to have inadequate micronutrient intake. No significant difference was found between urban and rural areas for each age group. Full article

Background: The global increase in the ageing population underscores the importance of a holistic approach to gerontological research. Social frailty, a state of vulnerability, is a growing concern that significantly affects the well-being and health outcomes of older people. With Hong Kong projected to have the world’s largest ageing population by 2050, research on social frailty within this demographic is crucial. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of social frailty among older adults in Hong Kong and examine its association with demographic characteristics. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using data from an online survey on older adults in Hong Kong, yielding 200 respondents. The survey encompassed demographic details, the Social Frailty Scale (SFS-8), and health-related factors. Results: Participants were categorized into three groups: social non-frailty (SNF, 41.5%), social pre-frailty (SPF, 34.5%), and social frailty (SF, 24%). Spearman’s rank correlation analysis revealed that self-rated health status negatively correlates with social frailty (SF) (r = −0.19, p < 0.001) and the number of diagnosed health conditions (r = −0.29, p < 0.001) but positively correlates with education level (r = 0.14, p < 0.05). Notably, the SPF group exhibited the highest prevalence of high cholesterol, hypertension, visual impairments, and diabetes, followed by the SF and SNF groups. No significant relationship was found between gender and SF, the total number of diagnosed health conditions and SF, or individual chronic diseases and SF. Conclusion: This survey on social frailty among older people in Hong Kong found a higher prevalence of pre-frail and socially frail individuals compared to other regions. While many benefit from strong social support, socially pre-frail and socially frail individuals have reduced interactions, highlighting the importance of social connectedness. The higher incidence of social frailty, especially among the pre-frail, underscores the need to consider Hong Kong’s unique socio-cultural and economic contexts. As the first of its kind in the region, this study paves the way for further research and emphasizes the need for culturally appropriate assessment tools to better understand and address social frailty. Full article

Since the “13th Five-Year Plan”, the exploration of large-scale structural oil and gas reservoirs in the Bohai oilfield has become more complex, and the exploration of igneous oil and gas reservoirs has become the focus of current attention. At present, igneous rock reservoir fluid identification methods are mainly based on the evaluation method of logging single parameter construction, which is primarily a qualitative identification due to lithology, physical property, and engineering factors. Accurate acquisition of interference logging data, and multi-parameter coupling and recording coupling methods are few, lacking systematic and comprehensive evaluation and analysis of logging data. Since conventional logging data in the study area have difficulty accurately and quickly identifying reservoir fluid properties, a systematic analysis was conducted of three factors: lithology, physical properties, and engineering, as well as a variety of logging parameters (gas measurement, three-dimensional quantitative fluorescence, geochemical, FLAIR, etc.) that can reflect fluid properties were integrated. Based on parameter sensitivity analysis, the quantitative characterization index FI of multi-parameter coupling fluid identification was established using the data from testing, sampling, and laboratory testing to develop the identification standard. The sensitivity analysis and optimization of characteristic parameters were carried out by integrating the data reflecting fluid properties such as gas surveys, geochemical data, and related logging data. Combined with gas logging-derived parameters and improved engineering parameters (the value of alkanes released by rock cracking per unit volume ${\mathrm{C}}_{\mathrm{a}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{j}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{t}}$, ${\mathrm{C}}_1$ abnormal multiple values, three-dimensional quantitative fluorescence correlation factor N), the fluid properties were identified, evaluation factors were constructed based on factor analysis, and fluid identification interactive charts were established. By analyzing test wells in the PL9-1 well area, the results of comparison test data are more reliable. Compared with conventional methods, this method reduces the dependence of a single parameter by synthesizing multiple parameters and reduces the influence of lithology, physical properties, and engineering parameters on fluid identification. It is more reasonable and practical. It can accurately and quickly identify the fluid properties of igneous rock reservoirs in the study area. It has a guiding significance for improving the accurate evaluation of logging data and increasing exploration benefits. Full article

In the transition to electric mobility (EM), business model innovation plays a crucial role in expanding the use of electric vehicles and increasing acceptance of this technology. The transition pathways differ between countries in the largest economies and those in Latin America. Brazil presents a unique scenario, benefiting from an early start with biofuels, the production of flex-fuel vehicles, predominantly renewable electric energy generation (>80%), and the absence of a structured national policy aligned with local governments. This study introduces a framework that surveys and categorizes businesses in EM, relating them to sustainable development aspects and regulatory maturity. It builds a solid conceptual foundation, incorporating data from technical and commercial events, as well as interviews with Brazilian specialists for validation. The proposed framework aids in understanding the Brazilian context, identifying regulatory gaps, and developing a common language to advance studies on business model innovation, contributing to electromobility studies in Latin America. Additionally, it can guide the construction of regional and local public policies and help identify more sustainable projects. Full article

Measles and rubella remain global health threats, despite the availability of safe and effective vaccines. Estimates of population immunity are crucial for achieving elimination goals and assessing the impact of vaccination programs, yet conducting well-designed serosurveys can be challenging, especially in resource-limited settings. In this review, we provide a comprehensive assessment of 130 measles and rubella studies published from January 2014 to January 2024. Methodologies and design aspects of serosurveys varied greatly, including sample size, assay type, and population demographics. Most studies utilized enzyme immunoassays for IgG detection. Sample sizes showed diverse sampling methods but favored convenience sampling despite its limitations. Studies spanned 59 countries, predominantly including adults, and revealed disparities in seroprevalence across demographics, regions, and notably among migrants and women. Age-related declines in antibodies were observed, particularly among infants, and correlations between vaccination status and seropositivity varied. We conclude with an outlook on measles and rubella serosurveillance, emphasizing the need for proper survey design and the advantages of standardized, multiplex serology assays. Full article