Improving patient satisfaction based on service quality in clinical trials: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Participants' satisfaction is an important factor in securing competitiveness in clinical trials. In many industries, such as healthcare, customer service quality has been analyzed to increase customer satisfaction. However, no study so far has attempted to measure participants' perceptions of service quality in the clinical trial area and identify its effect on participant satisfaction.

Substance Use and Mental Health in Emerging Adult University Students Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico: A Comparative Study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted mental health and substance use patterns, particularly among young adults.

Objective: This study aimed to assess changes in anxiety, depression, self-esteem, and substance use among university students in Mexico before, during, and after the pandemic.

Methods: Using a repeated cross-sectional design, this study was conducted with university students in Mexico across three periods: pre-pandemic (2017 and 2019); during the pandemic (2021); and post-pandemic (2023).

Validation of the Arabic Version of the Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS-29): a Rasch Analysis Study.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord. This cross-sectional study aimed to validate the Arabic version of the Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale-29 (MSIS-29) using Rasch analysis to assess quality of life in Jordanian MS patients.

Method: Rasch analysis was conducted to evaluate the suitability of the model for the present study.

State Variation in Uptake of Pharmacy-Based CLIA-Waived Testing: Impact of Laws and Regulations.

Community pharmacies have grown to be an increasingly important provider of CLIA-waived tests, just second to physician offices as the venue with the most waivers. Yet, individual variation is still observed across states with respect to the percentage of pharmacies holding a CLIA-waiver, with a reported range of 10.7% in Massachusetts to 87.

Nutrient allocation patterns in different aboveground organs at different reproductive stages of four introduced species in a common garden in northwestern China.

Introduction: The species is a typical shrub with assimilative branches (ABs) in arid regions in Central Asia. The nutrient distribution patterns at different reproductive stages are of great significance for further understanding the ecological adaptation and survival strategies of plants.

Methods: In the present study, a common garden experiment was employed to avoid interference by environmental heterogeneity.

Elastic-plastic fracture analysis of pressure pipelines with axial cracks based on the interaction integral method.

The proposed work aims to demonstrate the significance of the plastic zone at the tip of an axial crack in a pipeline for managing Stress IntensityFactors(SIF). The three-dimensional finite element model of pressure pipeline with axial cracks was built by utilizing the Ramberg-Osgood X80 material model of pipeline. according to Von Mises yield criterion, the size of plastic zone at crack tip was determined, and the fracture parameters were calculated based on interaction integral method, the plastic stress deformation law, determination of elastic-plastic limit load and plastic correction of SIF at crack tip of pressure pipeline with axial crack were discussed.

Over 100 Fontan Patients on Systemic Ventricular Assist Device Support: An ACTION Update.

As the Fontan population grows, understanding successful strategies for ventricular assist device (VAD) support of the failing Fontan circulation is needed. We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with Fontan circulation and systemic VAD support in the Advanced Cardiac Therapies Improving Outcomes Network (ACTION) registry. Competing outcomes and Kaplan-Meier estimated survival methods were used.

Knowledge, attitude, and experience of dentists toward child abuse and neglect. A cross-sectional study.

Context: Child abuse and neglect can be described as all kinds of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, neglect, commercial and/or any other type of exploitation resulting in any potential of causing hurt or an actual form of harm to a child's general health, growth, survival, and dignity. The dentist is in a position to identify physical signs of physical abuse in a child hence, it is important to gauge the knowledge level and perception regarding child abuse and neglect.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to ascertain the knowledge, attitude, and experience regarding child abuse and neglect among dentists in India.

Catalyzing sustainable development: insights from the international workshop on STI policies and innovation systems in Central America.

This article examines the landscape of Science, Technology, and Innovation policies in Central America, focusing on Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. These nations face significant challenges in leveraging STI for sustainable development, including financial constraints and limited resources. Additionally, Central America struggles with systemic issues such as corruption, violence, and high levels of emigration, further complicating efforts to advance STI.

Banning tobacco products sales to adolescents in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Background: Tobacco use poses a challenge to public health in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Although restricting access to tobacco can reduce consumption among adolescents, there is limited knowledge of how to implement the tobacco sales ban policy in the sub-region.

Aim: To assess implementation of the ban on tobacco products sales to adolescents in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries as recommended in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Penalizing underage alcohol use is associated with lower mortality for young drivers: Use/lose laws and their association with motor vehicle collision mortality.

Background: Motor vehicle collisions (MVC) continue to be a leading cause of mortality for youth in the United States. Since 2010, seven states have revoked mandatory laws that suspended licenses for underage alcohol use, also known as use/lose laws. This study analyzed whether each state's policy change was associated with increased youth MVC mortality.

Fast-Charging Solid-State Li Batteries: Materials, Strategies, and Prospects.

The ability to rapidly charge batteries is crucial for widespread electrification across a number of key sectors, including transportation, grid storage, and portable electronics. Nevertheless, conventional Li-ion batteries with organic liquid electrolytes face significant technical challenges in achieving rapid charging rates without sacrificing electrochemical efficiency and safety. Solid-state batteries (SSBs) offer intrinsic stability and safety over their liquid counterparts, which can potentially bring exciting opportunities for fast charging applications.

Molecular phenotypes of critical illness confer prognostic and biological enrichment in sub-Saharan Africa: a prospective cohort study from Uganda.

The generalisability of critical illness molecular phenotypes to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is unknown. We show that molecular phenotypes derived in high-income countries (hyperinflammatory and hypoinflammatory, reactive and uninflamed) stratify sepsis patients in Uganda by physiological severity, mortality risk and dysregulation of key pathobiological domains. A classifier model including data available at the LMIC bedside modestly discriminated phenotype assignment (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) 0.

Forensic genetics in the shadows.

This article examines the controversial practice of law enforcement agencies searching genetic samples obtained in health care settings, without a warrant or consent. While police have previously used public genealogy databases for this purpose, our article describes how they are now secretly accessing genetic information from newborn screening programs and medical tests. This raises ethical and legal concerns, blurring the line between health care and law enforcement.

Embedded Ethics in Practice: A Toolbox for Integrating the Analysis of Ethical and Social Issues into Healthcare AI Research.

Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into critical domains such as healthcare holds immense promise. Nevertheless, significant challenges must be addressed to avoid harm, promote the well-being of individuals and societies, and ensure ethically sound and socially just technology development. Innovative approaches like Embedded Ethics, which refers to integrating ethics and social science into technology development based on interdisciplinary collaboration, are emerging to address issues of bias, transparency, misrepresentation, and more.

Speaking Truthfully about Provider-Assisted Death.

This letter responds to the essay "Language Matters: The Semantics and Politics of 'Assisted Dying,'" by Anna M. Elsner, Charlotte E. Frank, Marc Keller, Jordan O.

Making Video Games More Inclusive for People Living With Motor Neuron Disease: Scoping Review.

Background: Evidence suggests that individuals with motor neuron disease (MND), a terminal illness, find enjoyment and social connection through video games. However, MND-related barriers can make gaming challenging, exacerbating feelings of boredom, stress, isolation, and loss of control over daily life.

Objective: We scoped the evidence to describe relevant research and practice regarding what may help reduce difficulties for people with MND when playing video games.

Placebo and the law of identification.

Thousands of essays and studies have been published on placebo and nocebo. Yet, despite this plethora of information, we are not much closer to a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental mechanism producing placebo and nocebo effects than we were in 1946, when participants in the Cornell Conferences on Therapy speculated on the roles of authority, belief and expectancy. In this paper, we examine the weaknesses in current placebo and nocebo definitions and theories.

Structural Stigma, Racism, and Sexism Studies on Substance Use and Mental Health: A Review of Measures and Designs.

Purpose: Most research on the structural determinants of substance use and mental health has centered around widely studied factors such as alcohol taxes, tobacco control policies, essential/precursor chemical regulations, neighborhood/city characteristics, and immigration policies. Other structural determinants exist, however, many of which are being identified in the emerging fields of structural stigma, structural racism, and structural sexism. This narrative review surveys the measures and designs used in substance use and mental health studies from these three fields.

Stability of synchronization manifolds and its nonlinear behaviour in memristive coupled discrete neuron model.

In this study, we investigate the impact of first and second-order coupling strengths on the stability of a synchronization manifold in a Discrete FitzHugh-Nagumo (DFHN) neuron model with memristor coupling. Master Stability Function (MSF) is used to estimate the stability of the synchronized manifold. The MSF of the DFHN model exhibits two zero crossings as we vary the coupling strengths, which is categorized as class .

Features of disposable e-cigarettes and their association with pricing and consumer preference: Evidence from web data of US online stores.

Background And Aims: Disposable e-cigarettes designed for one-time use are the most popular option among youth users in the United States (US). Product-level data (e.g.

East London Project: a participatory mixed-method evaluation on how removing enforcement could affect sex workers' safety, health and access to services in East London.

Background: Sex workers' risk of violence and ill-health is shaped by their work environments, community and structural factors, including criminalisation.

Aim: We evaluated the impact of removing police enforcement on sex workers' safety, health and access to services.

Design: Mixed-methods participatory study comprising qualitative research, a prospective cohort study, mathematical modelling and routine data collation.