Well-being is an important issue in workplace. One of these assessment tools of well-being, Workplace PERMA Profiler, is based on Seligman's five dimensions well-being. Prolonged fatigue may last for ...a long time, leading a great impact on both employees and enterprises. However, rare studies about the association between well-being and fatigue had been investigated. Our aim is to establish the Chinese version Profiler, and to discovery the association between workplace well-being and fatigue.
The Chinese version was established according to International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) task force guidelines. In the study, researchers employed simple random sampling by approaching individuals undergoing health checkups or receiving workplace health services, inviting them to participate in a questionnaire-based interview. Prolonged Fatigue was evaluated by Checklist Individual Strength (CIS). The reliability was evaluated by Cronbach's alphas, Intra-class Correlation Coefficients (ICCs), and measurement errors. Moreover, confirmatory factor analysis and correlational analyses were assessed for the validity.
The analyses included 312 Chinese workers. Cronbach's alphas of the Chinese version ranged from 0.69 to 0.93, while the ICC ranged from 0.70 to 0.92. The 5-factor model of confirmatory factor analysis revealed a nearly appropriate fit (χ
(82) = 346.560, Comparative Fit Index CFI = 0.887, Tucker-Lewis Index TLI = 0.855, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation RMSEA = 0.114, Standardized Root Mean Square Residual SRMR = 0.060). Moreover, the CIS and its four dimensions were significantly and negatively associated with the Positive Emotion, while they are positively associated with Engagement dimension except CIS-Motivation dimension.
The Chinese version Workplace PERMA-Profiler indicate nice reliability and validity. Furthermore, all CIS dimensions were negatively influenced by Positive Emotion, while commonly positively associated with Engagement.
The non-inferiority test is a reasonable approach to assessing a new treatment in a three-arm trial. The three-arm trial consists of a placebo, reference, and an experimental treatment. The ...non-inferiority is often measured by the mean differences between the experimental and the placebo groups relative to the mean differences between the reference and the placebo groups.
To cope with possible estimation distortion due to the allowance of heteroskedasticity, we adjust the measurement of non-inferiority by the incorporation of coefficient of variation (CV) of the experimental, the reference and the placebo groups. In this research, we propose a generalized Formula: see text-value based method (GPV-based method) to facilitate non-inferiority tests for the means with unknown coefficient of variation in a three-arm trial.
The simulation results show that the GPV-based method can not only adequately control type I error rate at nominal level better but also provide power higher than those from Delta method and the empirical bootstrap method, which verifies the feasibility of our adjustment.
We revise the measurement of non-inferiority by deducting the CV of each kind of treatment from the average effect of trials. CVs are included in the non-inferiority explicitly to help prevent possible estimating distortion if heteroskedasticity is allowed. Through the simulation study, the performance of GPV-based method for facilitating non-inferiority tests for the means with unknown CV in a three-arm trial is better than those from empirical bootstrap method and Delta method for small, medium and large sample sizes. Hence, the GPV-based method is recommended to be used to conduct the non-inferiority test for the means with unknown CV in a three-arm trial. The GPV-based method still performs well in non-normality cases.
Background and Objectives
To determine early continence outcomes after three‐layer vesicourethral reconstruction during robot‐assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) and the role of postoperative ...cystography pattern.
Methods
Between May 2015 and January 2019, a total of 170 consecutive patients with localized prostate cancer who underwent RARP, were divided into one‐ and three‐layer groups based on the method of vesicourethral reconstruction. Continent status, preoperative, intraoperative, postoperative, clinicopathological variables, and cystography parameters were analyzed. The patients were followed up for at least 12 months.
Results
Of the 170 consecutive patients, 85 with one‐layer vesicourethral anastomosis, and 85 with three‐layer reconstruction. The continence rates immediately after catheter removal, 4, 12, and 24 weeks after RARP were 47.1%, 75.3%, 92.9%, and 98.8% in the three‐layer group; compared to 15.3%, 60%, 78.8%, and 90.6% in the one‐layer group, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, three‐layer reconstruction was the only independent variable with a 42% risk reduction of postprostatectomy incontinence (hazard ratio (HR): 0.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.42–0.80, p = 0.001). Cystography in the three‐layer group revealed less anastomotic leakage, less sharp bladder neck angle, and higher bladder neck level category.
Conclusions
Three‐layer anatomical reconstruction demonstrated promising early continence outcomes, and postoperative cystography revealed a specific pattern more associated with continence.
Abstract
Background
Urinary C–C motif chemokine ligand 14 (CCL14) has been described as an effective marker for delayed recovery of acute kidney injury (AKI), yet its efficacy has been found to vary ...between different trials. The goal of this research was to assess the predictive performance of urinary CCL14 as a marker for persistent AKI.
Methods
In accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we searched the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases up to April 2023 for studies of adults (> 18 years) that reported the diagnostic performance of urinary CCL14. The sensitivity, specificity, number of events, true positive, and false positive results were extracted and evaluated. Hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic curves (HSROCs) were used to summarize the pooled test performance, and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations criteria were used to appraise the quality of evidence.
Results
We included six studies with 952 patients in this meta-analysis. The occurrence of persistent AKI among these patients was 39.6% (377/952). The pooled sensitivity and specificity results of urinary CCL14 in predicting persistent AKI were 0.81 (95% CI 0.72–0.87) and 0.71 (95% CI 0.53–0.84), respectively. The pooled positive likelihood ratio (LR) was 2.75 (95% CI 1.63–4.66), and the negative LR was 0.27 (95% CI 0.18–0.41). The HSROC with pooled diagnostic accuracy was 0.84.
Conclusion
Our results suggest that urinary CCL14 can be used as an effective marker for predicting persistent AKI.
The reported chemical structures of tricyclic acridone alkaloids (1–6) from Severinia buxifolia and Pleiospermium alatum were reinvestigated through a comparison of the nuclear magnetic resonance ...(NMR) spectral data of similar compounds and a comprehensive study of their two‐dimensional (2D) NMR spectra. The structures of 1–5 were further confirmed by a comparison of their spectral data with those of the authentic samples and standards. The different chemical shifts caused by substituted functional groups in the tricyclic acridones were summarized according to the results in the present study. Furthermore, the synthetic compound 10 (N‐methyl‐1,3‐dihydroxy‐4,5,6‐trimethoxyacridine‐9‐one) has not been reported from any natural sources in the previous literature. In addition, the chemical structures of macranthanine (21) and 7‐hydroxy‐noracronycine (22) from Glycosmis macrantha were also revised.
The 1H and 13C NMR data of tricyclic (1–20) and two polycyclic acridone alkaloids (21 and 22) were reinvestigated. The different chemical shifts caused by substituted functional groups in the tricyclic acridones were summarized according to the results in the present study. These results are potentially useful for the determination of the acridone structures with multiple substitutions.
Background
Few studies have comprehensively and systematically analyzed nationwide samples. This study purposed to explore temporal trends and predictors of medical resource utilization and medical ...outcomes in these patients to obtain data that can be used to improve healthcare policies and to support clinical and administrative decision-making.
Methods
This study used nationwide population data contained in the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database of Taiwan. The 14,970 inguinal hernia repair patients were enrolled in this study (age range, 18–100 years) from 1997 to 2013 in Taiwan. After temporal trends analysis of demographic characteristics, clinical characteristics, and institutional characteristics, predictors of postoperative medical resource utilization and medical outcomes were evaluated through multiple linear regression analysis and Cox regression analysis.
Results
The prevalence of inguinal hernia repair per 100,000 population significantly decreased from 195.38 in 1997 to 39.66 in 2013 (
p
< 0.05). Demographic characteristics, clinical characteristics, and institutional characteristics were significantly associated with postoperative medical resource utilization and medical outcomes (
p
< 0.05). Of these characteristics, both surgeon volume and hospital volume had the strongest association.
Conclusions
The inguinal hernia repair prevalence rate gradually decreased during the study period. Demographic characteristics, clinical characteristics, and institutional characteristics had strong associations with postoperative medical resource utilization and medical outcomes. Furthermore, hospital volume and surgeon volume had the strongest associations with postoperative medical resource utilization and medical outcomes. Additionally, providing the education needed to make the most advantageous medical decisions would be a great service not only to patients and their families, but also to the general population.
E. coli RecA recombinase catalyzes the homology pairing and strand exchange reactions in homologous recombinational repair. RecA must compete with single-stranded DNA binding proteins (SSB) for ...single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) substrates to form RecA nucleoprotein filaments, as the first step of this repair process. It has been suggested that RecA filaments assemble mainly by binding and extending onto the free ssDNA region not covered by SSB, or are assisted by mediators. Using the tethered particle motion (TPM) technique, we monitored individual RecA filament assembly on SSB-wrapped ssDNA in real-time. Nucleation times of the RecA E38K nucleoprotein filament assembly showed no apparent dependence among DNA substrates with various ssDNA gap lengths (from 60 to 100 nucleotides) wrapped by one SSB in the (SSB)
binding mode. Our data have shown an unexpected RecA filament assembly mechanism in which a RecA-SSB-ssDNA interaction exists. Four additional pieces of evidence support our claim: the nucleation times of the RecA assembly varied (1) when DNA substrates contained different numbers of bound SSB tetramers; (2) when the SSB wrapping mode conversion is induced; (3) when SSB C-terminus truncation mutants are used; and (4) when an excess of C-terminal peptide of SSB is present. Thus, a RecA-SSB interaction should be included in discussing RecA regulatory mechanism.
A previous sup.1H-NMR method allowed the quantification of ephedrine alkaloids; however, there were some disadvantages. The cyclized derivatives resulted from the impurities of diethyl ether were ...identified and benzene was selected as the better extraction solvent. The locations of ephedrine alkaloids were confirmed with 2D NMR. Therefore, a specific sup.1H-NMR method has been modified for the quantification of ephedrine alkaloids. Accordingly, twenty Ephedrae Herba samples could be classified into three classes: (I) E. sinica-like species; (II) E. intermedia-like species; (III) others (lower alkaloid contents). The results indicated that ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are the major alkaloids in Ephedra plants, but the concentrations vary greatly determined by the plant species and the collection locations.
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