Weekend physical activity profiles and their relationship with quality of life: The SOPHYA cohort of Swiss children and adolescents.

Introduction: Quality of life (QoL) is an important health indicator among children and adolescents. Evidence on the effect of physical activity (PA)-related behaviors on QoL among youth remains inconsistent. Conventional accelerometer-derived PA metrics and guidelines with a focus on whole weeks may not adequately characterize QoL relevant PA behavior.

Ambient pollen exposure and pollen allergy symptom severity in the EPOCHAL study.

Background: Ambient pollen exposure causes nasal, ocular, and pulmonary symptoms in allergic individuals, but the shape of the exposure-response association is not well characterized. We evaluated this association and determined (1) whether symptom severity differs between subpopulations; (2) how the association changes over the course of the pollen season; and (3) which pollen exposure time lags affect symptoms.

Methods: Adult study participants (n = 396) repeatedly scored severity of nasal, ocular, and pulmonary allergic symptoms, resulting in three composite symptom scores.

Long-term development of loneliness in older people and associations with stringency of COVID-19 measures: an observational cohort study.

Background: Most longitudinal studies found heightened feelings of loneliness in older people in spring 2020 compared to times before the pandemic. However, longer-term effects are more disputed. We, therefore, investigated changes in loneliness in older people throughout the first 21 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland and examined the association between the stringency of COVID-19 measures and feelings of loneliness.

Cross-Sectional but Not Prospective Association of Accelerometry-Derived Physical Activity With Quality of Life in Children and Adolescents.

This study aims to quantify the cross-sectional and prospective associations between quality of life (QoL) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). This study was based on the Swiss children's Objectively measured PHYsical Activity cohort. The primary endpoint is the overall QoL score and its six dimensions.

Randomised controlled trial on the effect of social support on disease control, mental health and health-related quality of life in people with diabetes from Côte d'Ivoire: the SoDDiCo study protocol.

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and its severe complications contribute significantly to disability and, hence, burden of disease. Poor mental health, a frequent DM consequence, may hinder successful diabetes control in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Evidence suggests social support as a cost-effective tool to improve diabetes self-management, behaviour and mental health.

A cohort analysis of residential radon exposure and melanoma incidence in Switzerland.

Radon is a radioactive noble gas found in Earth's crust. It accumulates in buildings, and accounts for approximately half the ionizing radiation dose received by humans. The skin is considerably exposed to ionizing radiation from radon.

Effectiveness of behavioural change interventions on physical activity, diet and body mass index of public primary healthcare users in Kosovo: the KOSCO cohort.

Background: Prevalent physical inactivity and poor nutrition contribute to high non-communicable disease (NCD) morbidity and mortality in Kosovo. To improve health services for patients with NCD the Accessible Quality Healthcare project developed behaviour change interventions following the principles of the WHO Package of Essential NCD (PEN) protocol. They were implemented into the public primary healthcare (PHC) system of five early-stage implementation municipalities (ESIM, 2018) and seven late-stage implementation municipalities (2020).

Prospective association between depressive symptoms and blood-pressure related outcomes in Kosovo.

Kosovo has the lowest life expectancy in the Western Balkans, where cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounts for over half of all deaths. Depression also contributes to disability in the country, with a prevalence of moderate to severe symptoms reported as high as 42% in the general population. Although the mechanisms are not yet well understood, evidence suggests that depression is an independent risk factor for CVD.

The Association between Apparent Temperature and Hospital Admissions for Cardiovascular Disease in Limpopo Province, South Africa.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have a high disease burden both globally and in South Africa. They have also been found to be temperature-sensitive globally. The association between temperature and CVD morbidity has previously been demonstrated, but little is known about it in South Africa.

Effectiveness of rectal artesunate as pre-referral treatment for severe malaria in children under 5 years of age: a multi-country observational study.

Background: To prevent child deaths from severe malaria, early parenteral treatment is essential. Yet, in remote rural areas, accessing facilities offering parenteral antimalarials may be difficult. A randomised controlled trial found pre-referral treatment with rectal artesunate (RAS) to reduce deaths and disability in children who arrived at a referral facility with delay.

A prospective cohort analysis of residential radon and UV exposures and malignant melanoma mortality in the Swiss population.

Background: Radon is a radioactive noble gas naturally found in the earth crust that can accumulate in buildings. In addition to lung cancer, alpha particles emitted by radon may contribute to the risk of skin cancer. We evaluated the association between residential radon exposure and skin cancer mortality, over a fifteen year period, taking residential ultra-violet (UV) exposure into account.

Effectiveness of an electronic clinical decision support system in improving the management of childhood illness in primary care in rural Nigeria: an observational study.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of ALgorithm for the MANAgement of CHildhood illness ('ALMANACH'), a digital clinical decision support system (CDSS) based on the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness, on health and quality of care outcomes for sick children attending primary healthcare (PHC) facilities.

Design: Observational study, comparing outcomes of children attending facilities implementing ALMANACH with control facilities not yet implementing ALMANACH.

Setting: PHC facilities in Adamawa State, North-Eastern Nigeria.

Non-communicable disease prevention in Kosovo: quantitative and qualitative assessment of uptake and barriers of an intervention for healthier lifestyles in primary healthcare.

Background: Smoking, physical inactivity, low fruit and vegetable consumption, and obesity are common in Kosovo. Their prevention is a priority to relieve the health system of from costly non-communicable disease treatments. The Accessible Quality Healthcare project is implementing a primary healthcare intervention that entails nurse-guided motivational counselling to facilitate change in the domains of smoking, diet, alcohol consumption and physical inactivity for at-risk patients.

Strengthening Primary Healthcare in Kosovo Requires Tailoring Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Prevention Interventions and Consideration of Mental Health.

Objectives: Kosovo has the lowest life expectancy in the Balkans. Primary healthcare (PHC) plays an essential role in non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention. We described primary, secondary and tertiary prevention indicators in Kosovo and assessed their association with depressive symptoms.

Depression and cardiovascular disease are not linked by high blood pressure: findings from the SAPALDIA cohort.

Depression and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are main contributors to the global disease burden and are linked. Pathophysiological pathways through increased blood pressure (BP) are a common focus in studies aiming to explain the relationship. However, studies to date have not differentiated between the predictive effect of depression on the course of BP versus hypertension diagnosis.

Exploring the role of social capital, self-efficacy and social contagion in shaping lifestyle and mental health among students representing the future healthcare workforce in Palestine: social cohort study protocol.

Introduction: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and depression form an unhealthy mix. The project focuses on potentially effective psychosocial factors shaping health-related habits and mental health. The study is conducted among health domain students.

Posttraumatic stress disorder predicts poor health-related quality of life in cardiac patients in Palestine.

Background: The longitudinal association of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with health-related quality of life (HRQL) in cardiac patients' remains poorly studied, particularly in conflict-affected settings.

Materials And Methods: For this cohort study, we used baseline and one-year follow-up data collected from patients 30 to 80 years old consecutively admitted with a cardiac diagnosis to four major hospitals in Nablus, Palestine. All subjects were screened for PTSD and HRQL using the PTSD Checklist Specific and the HeartQoL questionnaire.

Application of the Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines (PACV) survey in three national languages in Switzerland: Exploratory factor analysis and Mokken scale analysis.

Vaccine hesitancy (VH) is a complex and context-specific phenomenon that is linked to under-immunization and poses challenges to immunization programs. The Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines (PACV) is an instrument developed to measure VH. We translated the PACV into three languages (German, French and Italian) and administered it to 1388 Swiss parents.

Study protocol: a prospective cohort on non-communicable diseases among primary healthcare users living in Kosovo (KOSCO).

Introduction: With the lowest life expectancy in the Balkans, underlying causes of morbidity in Kosovo remain unclear due to limited epidemiological evidence. The goal of this cohort is to contribute epidemiological evidence for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases such as depression, hypertension, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease in Kosovo as the basis for policy and decision-making, with a spotlight on the relationships between non-experimental primary healthcare (PHC) interventions and lifestyle changes as well as between depression and the course of blood pressure.

Methods And Analysis: PHC users aged 40 years and above were recruited consecutively between March and October 2019 from 12 main family medicine centres across Kosovo.

Mediators of gender effects on depression among cardiovascular disease patients in Palestine.

Background: Among patients suffering from coronary heart disease (CHD) and comorbid depression, women experience a higher burden compared to men. Little is known on the characteristics that differentiate men and women with both diseases and whether these factors mediate gender effects on depression. This study assessed whether women are more likely to suffer from depression and which characteristics mediate gender effects on depression among a cardiac population in Palestine, specifically addressing the role of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Kinetics of d-Amino Acid Incorporation in Translation.

Despite the stereospecificity of translation for l-amino acids (l-AAs) in vivo, synthetic biologists have enabled ribosomal incorporation of d-AAs in vitro toward encoding polypeptides with pharmacologically desirable properties. However, the steps in translation limiting d-AA incorporation need clarification. In this work, we compared d- and l-Phe incorporation in translation by quench-flow kinetics, measuring 250-fold slower incorporation into the dipeptide for the d isomer from a tRNA-based adaptor (tRNA).