Background: In Northern Ireland, approximately 550 people with cystic fibrosis (PwCF) attend the regional paediatric and adult centres within the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. This autosomal recessive chronic condition necessitates regular clinical monitoring and a high treatment burden, as well as time implications for the maintenance of respiratory devices. Development of health literacy skills at an early age and promoting children with CF (CwCF) to take an active role in their healthcare has many advantages relating to their long-term self-care in preparation for transition from paediatric to adult care, decision-making and partnership engagement with the CF-multidisciplinary team (CF-MDT).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenerative modelling is an important unsupervised task in machine learning. In this work, we study a hybrid quantum-classical approach to this task, based on the use of a quantum circuit born machine. In particular, we consider training a quantum circuit born machine using -divergences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo better tackle diseases and sustain healthy ecosystems, One Health programs must efficiently bridge health in humans, domestic/livestock species, wild animals and plants, agriculture/aquaculture, and the environment. The Smithsonian Institution proposes to address this by considering 'health' in a broad sense - the absence of undue pathogens and unnecessary stress for any organisms as well as access to good living conditions in functional environments. Considering the interconnectedness of all life forms, the Smithsonian plans to create a framework that will integrate cultural, social, and educational components into health research on humans, animals, plants, or ecosystems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
July 2019
Chronic diseases have added to the economic burden of the U.S. healthcare system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Health Insights
April 2019
Mini-grant programs are an increasingly popular method for outside organizations (eg, non-profits, state agencies) to support wellness initiatives. However, little is known about mini-grant programs in worksites. The present study explored the implementation and outcomes of a worksite wellness mini-grant program.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The purpose of this study was to determine if the Go Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment in Child Care (Go NAP SACC) intervention was effective in improving best practices in the areas of infant and child physical activity and outdoor play and learning in family child care homes (FCCHs) in Nebraska.
Methods: FCCHs (n = 201) participated in a pre-post evaluation using the Infant and Child Physical Activity and Outdoor Play and Learning assessments from the Go NAP SACC validated measure to assess compliance with best practices.
Results: At post, FCCHs demonstrated significant differences in 85% of the Infant and Child Physical Activity items (17 of 20) and 80% of the Outdoor Play and Learning items (12 of 15).
Species distribution models (SDM) can be valuable for identifying key habitats for conservation management of threatened taxa, but anthropogenic habitat change can undermine SDM accuracy. We used data for the Red Siskin (), a critically endangered bird and ground truthing to examine anthropogenic habitat change as a source of SDM inaccuracy. We aimed to estimate: (1) the Red Siskin's historic distribution in Venezuela; (2) the portion of this historic distribution lost to vegetation degradation; and (3) the location of key habitats or areas with both, a high probability of historic occurrence and a low probability of vegetation degradation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKelley and Endler (Reports, 20 January 2012, p. 335) claim that male great bowerbirds construct a visual illusion, using display object gradients, that affects mating success. We argue that they provide inadequate statistical support for their hypothesis, inappropriately exclude important data, and do not consider other display traits that explain mating success.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVariation in visual spectral tuning has evolved in concert with signal colour in some taxa, but there is limited evidence of this pattern in birds. To further investigate this possibility, we compared spectral sensitivity among bowerbird species that occupy different visual habitats and are highly diverged in plumage and decoration colour displays, which are important in mate choice and possibly reproductive isolation. Microspectrophotometry of violet-, short-, medium- and long-wavelength-sensitive cones revealed no significant interspecific variation in visual pigment peak spectral absorbance values that ranged between 404-410, 454, 503-511 and 558-568 nm, respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcute radiation syndrome or radiation sickness is a serious illness that occurs after the body receives a high dose of radiation, typically over a short period of time. This condition may be underrecognized by interventionalists and must be considered whenever performing complex endovascular procedures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIsolated dissection of the origin of both celiac and superior mesenteric arteries is a rare vascular pathology with limited management guidelines. The presentation is generally nonspecific, most often manifesting with epigastric pain radiating to the back. A high diagnostic index of suspicion and stepwise management are essential for a successful outcome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMales in many bird species mimic the vocalizations of other species during sexual displays, but the evolutionary and functional significance of interspecific vocal mimicry is unclear. Here we use spectrographic cross-correlation to compare mimetic calls produced by male satin bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) in courtship with calls from several model species. We show that the accuracy of vocal mimicry and the number of model species mimicked are both independently related to male mating success.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: (1) To assess the overall performance of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) as a screening instrument to identify cases of major depressive disorder (MDD) in mixed cancer outpatients. (2) To determine the sensitivity and specificity of various HADS cut-off scores. (3) To recommend an optimal HADS cut-off score for use in this population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHow the displays of bowerbirds have evolved has attracted widespread interest. Endler et al. (2005) analyzed color use in display in a subset of bowerbird species and generalized their results to all bowerbirds.
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