Background: Intensive care unit (ICU) physicians should provide relatives of critically ill patients with appropriate and clear information, regarding prognosis, treatment options and expectations.
Objectives: To assess whether a structured communication tool improves satisfaction with care and engenders realistic expectations among relatives of critically ill patients.
Study Design: A controlled, pre-post intervention design was implemented in the General and Medical ICUs in the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.
Methods: Forty relatives of patients who received usual communication from the medical staff (control group) were interviewed. We then implemented a structured communication tool and another forty family members were interviewed (intervention group). The ICU physicians who participated in the family meeting were also interviewed.
Results: Satisfaction in the intervention group was higher regarding ease of obtaining the information (90% vs 70%, p = .025) and the consistency of information provided (92.5% vs 77.5%, p = .057). There was better correlation between physicians' and relatives' expectations in the intervention group regarding hospital survival (Kappa 0.322 vs 0.054, p = .01). Physicians predicted more accurately patients' actual hospital survival.
Conclusions: A structured communication tool was associated with improved family satisfaction with communication and expectations regarding hospital survival. Further research is required to evaluate this promising intervention.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrc.2019.01.011 | DOI Listing |
Environ Sci Technol
January 2025
RECETOX, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czechia.
Access to information about chemicals in products and articles is critical for supporting enforcement of chemical regulations, assessing risks from chemicals, allowing informed consumer choices, and enabling product circularity. In this work, we identified and evaluated available databases (DBs) on chemicals in products and articles from the literature using a defined protocol and from European national market surveillance authorities, nongovernmental agencies, and industrial sector groups using questionnaires. This is the first comprehensive review of DBs that provide information about chemicals in products and articles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Plant Biol
January 2025
School of Engineering, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan Province, China.
The homeotic transformation of stamens into pistil-like structures (pistillody) causes cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS). This phenomenon is widely present in plants, and might be induced by intracellular communication (mitochondrial retrograde signaling), but its systemic regulating mechanism is still unclear. In this study, morphological observation showed that the stamens transformed into pistil-like structures, leading to flat and dehiscent pistils, and fruit set decrease in sua-CMS (MS K326, somatic fusion between Nicotiana.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Bioinformatics
January 2025
School of Computer Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, 443 Huangshan Road, Hefei, 230027, China.
Background: Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) especially antagonistic ones present significant risks to patient safety, underscoring the urgent need for reliable prediction methods. Recently, substructure-based DDI prediction has garnered much attention due to the dominant influence of functional groups and substructures on drug properties. However, existing approaches face challenges regarding the insufficient interpretability of identified substructures and the isolation of chemical substructures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRadiography (Lond)
January 2025
Department of Radiography, School of Allied Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Namibia, P.O Box 13301, Windhoek, Namibia. Electronic address:
Introduction: Patient-centred care (PCC) is essential in radiography for polytrauma patients emphasising empathy, clear communication, and patient well-being. Polytrauma patients require tailored imaging approaches, often involving multiple modalities. Managing and handling these patients during imaging are key components of radiography training to develop the necessary competencies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWater Res
January 2025
College of Environmental Science and Engineering and Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Ministry of Education), Hunan University, Changsha 410082, PR China. Electronic address:
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a biological process in which anaerobic microorganisms convert organic matter into methane-rich gas, contributing to the cycling of carbon and other nutrients. Quorum sensing (QS), a microbial communication mechanism, plays a critical role in regulating population-level behaviors within AD systems. This review systematically examines the roles and applications of QS in AD, emphasizing its importance in enhancing process efficiency.
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