Publications by authors named "Samantha Smith"
Perfluoroalkyl chemical adsorption by granular activated carbon: Assessment of particle size impact on equilibrium parameters and associated rapid small-scale column test scaling assumptions.
Water Res
December 2024
Single-solute batch kinetic and isotherm experiments were conducted in Type 1 (18.2 MΩ·cm resistivity) water supplemented with 10 mM carbonate buffer (pH 7.75, 25 °C) for nine drinking water relevant perfluoroalkyl chemicals and three bituminous-coal based granular activated carbons (GACs).
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- Trainees in the medical field experience high levels of burnout, anxiety, and depression, and fostering a growth mindset may help improve their mental health and resilience.
- A study used a tabletop game and discussions to explore the influences on trainees' mindsets, identifying various factors that either promote a growth mindset (like passion and collaboration) or a fixed mindset (like burnout and competition).
- The findings highlight the importance of maintaining a balance among influencing factors, suggesting that medical training environments need to support growth mindsets while addressing the competitive culture that can lead to fixed mindsets.
Introduction: Leadership in medical emergencies is variable and frequently suboptimal, contributing to poor patient care and outcomes. Simulation training can improve leadership in both simulated practice and real clinical emergencies. Thoughtful debriefing is essential.
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- The COVID-19 pandemic worsened health disparities in underserved communities worldwide, leading to higher rates of illness and lower vaccination rates.
- A community engagement framework was adapted to create a statewide vaccine equity initiative focused on specific community needs during the health crisis.
- The framework consists of five key phases: fostering community engagement, ensuring relevance, focusing efforts, planning and implementation, and evaluation, which collectively helped build a successful collaboration to improve vaccine confidence and access in diverse communities in Nevada.
Article Synopsis
- * A study found that as age increases, the likelihood of older adults receiving antiviral treatment decreases, with only 35.2% of those aged 90 and above receiving it.
- * Among patients aged 65 and older, those who did not receive antiviral treatment were more likely to suffer severe outcomes, indicating a need for improved antiviral access for older populations.
Article Synopsis
- - The systematic review analyzed children's cooking interventions from 1998 to 2022 to identify successful program factors, focusing on outcomes like cooking skills, food acceptance, and dietary behavior.
- - After reviewing 1,104 articles, 23 studies were included, revealing that while many programs successfully enhanced children's cooking skills and confidence, actual dietary improvements were limited, and program quality varied significantly.
- - The study concluded that the lack of standardized assessments and diverse program characteristics hindered the identification of best practices, suggesting that future cooking interventions should improve their structure and measurement tools for better long-term results.
Article Synopsis
- Refugee doctors face significant challenges in integrating into new healthcare systems due to language and cultural differences, educational background, and reduced confidence, leading to potential relocation if not addressed.
- A study explored the impact of a six-day immersive simulation program on their workforce integration by conducting semi-structured interviews and analyzing data using a conceptual model of integration.
- Findings revealed that the simulation program improved communication and cultural understanding, strengthened social connections among doctors, and helped reclaim their professional identities, although some opportunities for integration were missed.
Article Synopsis
- The global need for children's palliative care (CPC) is estimated at 21 million children, but defining and quantifying this need is challenging due to limited data and inconsistent definitions across the literature.
- A scoping review of studies published from 2008 to October 2023 identified 51 relevant articles that discussed how CPC need is defined in policy and planning, revealing no universal agreement on the terminology or methods used.
- Four predominant definitions of CPC need emerged from the review: groups from ACT/RCPCH, the 'Directory' of Life-Limiting Conditions, 'List of Life-Limiting Conditions', and 'Complex Chronic Conditions', with data availability influencing quantification methods.
Myelination is essential for the proper conduction of impulses across neuronal networks. Mature, myelinating glia differentiate from progenitor cells through distinct stages that correspond to oligodendrocyte-specific gene expression markers. Reverse transcription quantiatative PCR (RT-qPCR) is a common technique used to quantify gene expression across cell development; however, a lack of standardization and transparency in methodology may lead to irreproducible data.
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- - The study investigates how using pedogenic ironstone and untreated red mud can help reduce phosphorus (P) loss in water runoff, which causes eutrophication in rivers and lakes.
- - Both materials showed similar P absorption capabilities, but red mud's absorption improved significantly when the pH dropped, making it more effective at retaining phosphorus compared to ironstone when mixed with soil.
- - While ironstone didn't affect soil drainage, adding even a small amount of red mud did; however, red mud also boosted the growth and phosphorus uptake of common bermudagrass, suggesting its potential use in permeable reactive barriers (PRB) for environmental management.
Objective: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)-associated uveitis (JIAU) is a serious JIA comorbidity that can result in vision impairment. This study aimed to identify genetic risk factors within the major histocompatibility complex for JIAU and evaluate their contribution for improving risk classification when combined with clinical risk factors.
Methods: Data on single nucleotide polymorphisms, amino acids, and classical HLA alleles were available for 2,497 patients with JIA without uveitis and 579 patients with JIAU (female 2,060, male 1,015).
Introduction: We aimed to understand clinician views regarding gene therapy as a future treatment for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and potential barriers and facilitators to its use.
Methods: We interviewed ten clinicians who treat patients with AD. Clinicians helped design a semi-structured interview including the following domains: establishing understanding, cost/access, quality of life, and religion/spirituality.
Article Synopsis
- - Communities historically marginalized faced greater impacts from COVID-19, including worse health outcomes and lower vaccination rates due to existing social inequities.
- - The study analyzed the relationship between the CDC's Social Vulnerability Index (CDC-SVI) and COVID-19 vaccine uptake across Nevada counties, finding weak correlations except for a positive link with minority status.
- - While the CDC-SVI is valuable for understanding public health disparities, its overall predictive power for vaccine uptake at the county level is limited, necessitating further investigation into specific social vulnerability measures and their effects on health outcomes.
Objective: The use of artificial intelligence has potential in assisting many aspects of imaging interpretation. We undertook a prospective service evaluation from March to October 2022 of Mammography Intelligent Assessment (MIA) operating "silently" within our Breast Screening Service, with a view to establishing its performance in the local population and setting. This evaluation addressed the performance of standalone MIA vs conventional double human reading of mammograms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Previous research suggests that fasting increases lead absorption in the gastrointestinal tract, and that regularly eating meals may reduce blood lead. However, there is insufficient evidence linking breakfast status and blood-metal levels in children. We assessed the cross-sectional association between breakfast consumption status and children and adolescent's blood levels of lead and cadmium.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Belonging is critical for the development and wellbeing of medical students. Belonging, particularly within a 'relational being' paradigm, presents a significant challenge for students, especially within clinical learning environments. Co-creation is a learning relationship in which students are actively involved in the education process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To evaluate Spot in detecting American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) Amblyopia risk factors (ARF) and for ARF myopia and hyperopia with variations in ocular pigments.
Design: Diagnostic screening test evaluation.
Methods: Study population: Children presented for a complete eye examination in pediatric clinic.
Article Synopsis
- The compassionate communities' movement focuses on how communities can support individuals who are dying and their caregivers, highlighting the role of occupational therapists in this context.
- Research conducted through interviews with Australian occupational therapists revealed their potential for facilitating connections between palliative care professionals and informal caregivers, while also promoting community education and awareness.
- The findings suggest that while occupational therapists possess valuable skills for supporting dying individuals in their homes, there is a need for a shift in perspective from a profession-centric approach to a more community-led ethos for better integration into compassionate communities.
Article Synopsis
- Cognitive training with the Useful Field of View (UFOV) task can reduce dementia risk and improve daily living activities in older adults, but results vary among different studies.
- This study examined how learning from verbal and visuospatial memory tasks (HVLT-R and BVMT-R) affects outcomes from a UFOV task called Double Decision after a 3-month cognitive training intervention.
- Findings revealed that older adults who struggled more with BVMT-R showed significant improvements in the Double Decision task, suggesting that those with lower baseline visuospatial abilities may benefit the most from speed-of-processing cognitive training.
Background: Avoidable patient harm in hospitals is common, and doctors in training can provide underused but crucial insights into the influencers of patient safety as those working 'on the ground' within the system. This study aimed to explore the factors that influence safe care from the perspective of medical registrars, to identify targets for safety-related improvements.
Methods: This study used enhanced critical incident technique (CIT), a qualitative methodology that results in a focused understanding of significant factors influencing an activity, to identify practical solutions.
Congruence between the preferred and actual place of death is recognised as an important quality indicator in end-of-life care. However, there may be complexities about preferences that are ignored in summary congruence measures. This article examined factors associated with preferred place of death, actual place of death, and congruence for a sample of patients who had received specialist palliative care in the last three months of life in Ireland.
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- - The study assessed how selective certain drinking water-related PFAS compounds are for chloride ions using three types of anion exchange resins, focusing on low concentrations relevant to drinking water (≤500 ng/L).
- - Results showed that most PFAS behaved according to traditional ion exchange principles, with selectivity increasing with both PFAS carbon chain length and chloride concentrations, while maintaining a much higher selectivity than inorganic anions like nitrate.
- - A competition experiment confirmed that selectivity values for individual PFAS could be used in a multisolute context, paving the way for improved models in water treatment processes involving PFAS.
Background: We describe the use of Apisensr, a web-based application that can be used to implement quantitative bias analysis for misclassification, selection bias, and unmeasured confounding. We apply Apisensr using an example of exposure misclassification bias due to use of self-reported body mass index (BMI) to define obesity status in an analysis of the relationship between obesity and diabetes.
Methods: We used publicly available data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.