The Potential of Exercise on Lifestyle and Skin Function: Narrative Review

BACKGROUND

The skin is an important organ of the human body and has moisturizing and barrier functions. Factors such as sunlight and lifestyle significantly affect these skin functions, with sunlight being extremely damaging. The effects of lifestyle habits such as smoking, diet, and sleep have been studied extensively. It has been found that smoking increases the risk of wrinkles, while excessive fat and sugar intake leads to skin aging. Lack of sleep and stress are also dangerous for the skin's barrier function. In recent years, the impact of exercise habits on skin function has been a focus of study. Regular exercise is associated with increased blood flow to the skin, elevated skin temperature, and improved skin moisture. Furthermore, it has been shown to improve skin structure and rejuvenate its appearance, possibly through promoting mitochondrial biosynthesis and affecting hormone secretion. Further research is needed to understand the effects of different amounts and content of exercise on the skin.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to briefly summarize the relationship between lifestyle and skin function and the mechanisms that have been elucidated so far and introduce the expected effects of exercise on skin function.

METHODS

We conducted a review of the literature using PubMed and Google Scholar repositories for relevant literature published between 2000 and 2022 with the following keywords: exercise, skin, and life habits.

RESULTS

Exercise augments the total spectrum power density of cutaneous blood perfusion by a factor of approximately 8, and vasodilation demonstrates an enhancement of approximately 1.5-fold. Regular exercise can also mitigate age-related skin changes by promoting mitochondrial biosynthesis. However, not all exercise impacts are positive; for instance, swimming in chlorinated pools may harm the skin barrier function. Hence, the exercise environment should be considered for its potential effects on the skin.

CONCLUSIONS

This review demonstrates that exercise can potentially enhance skin function retention.

Comparisons and Conversions: A Methodological Note and Caution for Meta-Analysis in Sport and Exercise Psychology

Meta-analysis is a powerful tool in sport and exercise psychology. However, it has a number of pitfalls, and some lead to ill-advised comparisons and overestimation of effects. The impetus for this research note is provided by a recent systematic review of meta-analyses that examined the correlates of sport performance and has fallen foul of some of the pitfalls. Although the systematic review potentially has great value for researchers and practitioners alike, it treats effects from correlational and intervention studies as yielding equivalent information, double-counts multiple studies, and uses an effect size for correlational studies (Cohen's d) that provides an extreme contrast of unclear practical relevance. These issues impact interpretability, bias, and usefulness of the findings. This methodological note explains each pitfall and illustrates use of an appropriate equivalent effect size for correlational studies (Mathur and VanderWeele's d) to help researchers avoid similar issues in future work.

What We have Learnt from PM6:Y6

Over the past three years, remarkable advancements in organic solar cells (OSCs) have emerged, propelled by the introduction of Y6-an innovative A-DA'D-A type small molecule non-fullerene acceptor (NFA). This review provides a critical discussion of the current knowledge about the structural and physical properties of the PM6:Y6 material combination in relation to its photovoltaic performance. The design principles of PM6 and Y6 are discussed, covering charge transfer, transport, and recombination mechanisms. Then, the authors delve into blend morphology and degradation mechanisms before considering commercialization. The current state of the art is presented, while also discussing unresolved contentious issues, such as the blend energetics, the pathways of free charge generation, and the role of triplet states in recombination. As such, this review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the PM6:Y6 material combination and its potential for further development in the field of organic solar cells. By addressing both the successes and challenges associated with this system, this review contributes to the ongoing research efforts toward achieving more efficient and stable organic solar cells.

Gender shapes the formation of review paper collaborations in microbiology

Women are underrepresented in senior academic positions within microbiology globally. Studies show that gender bias affects the progression of women in academia, but there is evidence that improving conscious awareness of bias can improve equity in this regard. Here we analyse the publication data associated with review articles within the microbiology field to investigate the statistical associations with author gender. We analyse the data from review articles published between 2010 and 2022 in three leading microbiology review journals: Nature Reviews Microbiology, Trends in Microbiology and Annual Review of Microbiology. We find a significant association between the gender of the lead author and the gender of co-authors in multi-author publications. Review articles with men lead authors have a significantly reduced proportion of women co-authors compared to reviews with women lead authors. Given the existing differences in the proportions of men and women in lead author positions, this association may have important consequences for the relative visibility of women in microbiology, along with negative impacts on scientific output relating to reduced collaboration diversity.

The need for robust critique of arts and health research: Dance-movement therapy, girls, and depression

We examine a highly cited randomized controlled trial on dance-movement therapy with adolescent girls with mild depression and examine its treatment in 14 evidence reviews and meta-analyses of dance research. We demonstrate substantial limitations in the trial which seriously undermine the conclusions reached regarding the effectiveness of dance movement therapy in reducing depression. We also show that the dance research reviews vary substantially in their treatment of the study. Some reviews provide a positive assessment of the study and take its findings at face value without critical commentary. Others are critical of the study, identifying significant limitations, but showing marked differences in Cochrane Risk of Bias assessments. Drawing on recent criticisms of systematic reviewing and meta-analysis, we consider how reviews can be so variable and discuss what is needed to improve the quality of primary studies, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses in the field of creative arts and health.

SARS-CoV-2-Related Adaptation Mechanisms of Rehabilitation Clinics Affecting Patient-Centered Care: Qualitative Study of Online Patient Reports

BACKGROUND

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic impacted access to inpatient rehabilitation services. At the current state of research, it is unclear to what extent the adaptation of rehabilitation services to infection-protective standards affected patient-centered care in Germany.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine the most relevant aspects of patient-centered care for patients in inpatient rehabilitation clinics under early phase pandemic conditions.

METHODS

A deductive-inductive framework analysis of online patient reports posted on a leading German hospital rating website, Klinikbewertungen (Clinic Reviews), was performed. This website is a third-party, patient-centered commercial platform that operates independently of governmental entities. Following a theoretical sampling approach, online reports of rehabilitation stays in two federal states of Germany (Brandenburg and Saarland) uploaded between March 2020 and September 2021 were included. Independent of medical specialty groups, all reports were included. Keywords addressing framework domains were analyzed descriptively.

RESULTS

In total, 649 online reports reflecting inpatient rehabilitation services of 31 clinics (Brandenburg, n=23; Saarland, n=8) were analyzed. Keywords addressing the care environment were most frequently reported (59.9%), followed by staff prerequisites (33.0%), patient-centered processes (4.5%), and expected outcomes (2.6%). Qualitative in-depth analysis revealed SARS-CoV-2-related reports to be associated with domains of patient-centered processes and staff prerequisites. Discontinuous communication of infection protection standards was perceived to threaten patient autonomy. This was amplified by a tangible gratification crisis of medical staff. Established and emotional supportive relationships to clinicians and peer groups offered the potential to mitigate the adverse effects of infection protection standards.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients predominantly reported feedback associated with the care environment. SARS-CoV-2-related reports were strongly affected by increased staff workloads as well as patient-centered processes addressing discontinuous communication and organizationally demanding implementation of infection protection standards, which were perceived to threaten patient autonomy. Peer relationships formed during inpatient rehabilitation had the potential to mitigate these mechanisms.

Systematic and Bibliometric Analysis of Magnetite Nanoparticles and Their Applications in (Biomedical) Research

Recent reports show air pollutant magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs) in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Considering various field applications of MNPs because of developments in nanotechnology, the aim of this study is to identify major trends and data gaps in research on magnetite to allow for relevant environmental and health risk assessment. Herein, a bibliometric and systematic analysis of the published magnetite literature (n = 31 567) between 1990 to 2020 is completed. Following appraisal, publications (n = 244) are grouped into four time periods with the main research theme identified for each as 1990-1997 "oxides," 1998-2005 "ferric oxide," 2006-2013 "pathology," and 2014-2020 "animal model." Magnetite formation and catalytic activity dominate the first two time periods, with the last two focusing on the exploitation of nanoparticle engineering. Japan and China have the highest number of citations for articles published. Longitudinal analysis indicates that magnetite research for the past 30 years shifted from environmental and industrial applications, to biomedical and its potential toxic effects. Therefore, whilst this study presents the research profile of different countries, the development in research on MNPs, it also reveals that further studies on the effects of MNPs on human health is much needed.

The Divergent Reactivity of Lactones Derived from Butadiene and Carbon Dioxide in Macromolecular Synthesis

The catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide and 1,3-butadiene into unsaturated lactone monomers provides an efficient route for converting sustainable carbon feedstocks into novel macromolecules. The chemical reactivity of this monomer is reviewed in order to highlight the many viable mechanistic pathways. Polymerization strategies, monomer alterations, and post-polymerization modifications are covered. The polymerization methods include radical, coordination, conjugate addition, ring-opening, olefin metathesis, and thiol-ene chemistries. Materials derived from these processes possess a wide range of function including responsiveness, degradability, adhesion, recyclability, and self-assembly. These aspects along with the advances in polymer chemistry that make them possible are discussed, along with a perspective on the future directions of the field.

New Insights into Microglial Mechanisms of Memory Impairment in Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common progressive and irreversible neurodegeneration characterized by the impairment of memory and cognition. Despite years of studies, no effective treatment and prevention strategies are available yet. Identifying new AD therapeutic targets is crucial for better elucidating the pathogenesis and establishing a valid treatment of AD. Growing evidence suggests that microglia play a critical role in AD. Microglia are resident macrophages in the central nervous system (CNS), and their core properties supporting main biological functions include surveillance, phagocytosis, and the release of soluble factors. Activated microglia not only directly mediate the central immune response, but also participate in the pathological changes of AD, including amyloid-beta (Aβ) aggregation, tau protein phosphorylation, synaptic dissection, neuron loss, memory function decline, etc. Based on these recent findings, we provide a new framework to summarize the role of microglia in AD memory impairment. This evidence suggests that microglia have the potential to become new targets for AD therapy.

Recent Hints on the Dual Role of Discs Large MAGUK Scaffold Protein 5 in Cancers and in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Discs large MAGUK scaffold protein 5 (DLG5) is a multi-domain member of membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK) family, which plays a major role in the maintenance of cell epithelial polarity being part of the SCRIB-LGL-DLG complex. Although polarity proteins have been generally considered tumor suppressors, recent discoveries led to reconsidering their role in cancer. This is also true for DLG5 in different cancer types, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this cancer, DLG5 was negatively associated with malignant characteristics, however recent findings associated DLG5 expression with advanced stages of HCC. In vitro studies evidenced its possible role in sustaining cell growth and migration by the interaction with several intracellular pathways, such as Hippo, Hedgehog, and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways. In this review, we summarize the recent finding on the dual role of DLG5 and other polarity proteins in cancers. What emerges is a still undefined role of those proteins in cancers, especially in HCC, one of the most frequent cancers worldwide, where the function of DLG5 and other polarity proteins is still largely unexplored.

A Brief Report on Reviews of Existing Creative Art-Based Interventions in Dementia Care From 2010-2020

The following brief report provides an overview of previously published reviews in the context of creative arts-based interventions for persons with dementia. A total of 22 review articles were identified and summarized. Next steps are suggested for future studies that may wish to a) develop a new review, or b) create new studies filling in the gaps identified by the authors in this report.

Automating Large-scale Health Care Service Feedback Analysis: Sentiment Analysis and Topic Modeling Study

BACKGROUND

Obtaining patient feedback is an essential mechanism for health care service providers to assess their quality and effectiveness. Unlike assessments of clinical outcomes, feedback from patients offers insights into their lived experiences. The Department of Health and Social Care in England via National Health Service Digital operates a patient feedback web service through which patients can leave feedback of their experiences in structured and free-text report forms. Free-text feedback, compared with structured questionnaires, may be less biased by the feedback collector and, thus, more representative; however, it is harder to analyze in large quantities and challenging to derive meaningful, quantitative outcomes.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to build a novel data analysis and interactive visualization pipeline accessible through an interactive web application to facilitate the interrogation of and provide unique insights into National Health Service patient feedback.

METHODS

This study details the development of a text analysis tool that uses contemporary natural language processing and machine learning models to analyze free-text clinical service reviews to develop a robust classification model and interactive visualization web application. The methodology is based on the design science research paradigm and was conducted in three iterations: a sentiment analysis of the patient feedback corpus in the first iteration, topic modeling (unigram and bigram)-based analysis for topic identification in the second iteration, and nested topic modeling in the third iteration that combines sentiment analysis and topic modeling methods. An interactive data visualization web application for use by the general public was then created, presenting the data on a geographic representation of the country, making it easily accessible.

RESULTS

Of the 11,103 possible clinical services that could be reviewed across England, 2030 (18.28%) different services received a combined total of 51,845 reviews between October 1, 2017, and September 30, 2019. Dominant topics were identified for the entire corpus followed by negative- and positive-sentiment topics in turn. Reviews containing high- and low-sentiment topics occurred more frequently than reviews containing less polarized topics. Time-series analysis identified trends in topic and sentiment occurrence frequency across the study period.

CONCLUSIONS

Using contemporary natural language processing techniques, unstructured text data were effectively characterized for further analysis and visualization. An efficient pipeline was successfully combined with a web application, making automated analysis and dissemination of large volumes of information accessible. This study represents a significant step in efforts to generate and visualize useful, actionable, and unique information from free-text patient reviews.

Foam 3D Printing of Thermoplastics: A Symbiosis of Additive Manufacturing and Foaming Technology

Due to their light-weight and cost-effectiveness, cellular thermoplastic foams are considered as important engineering materials. On the other hand, additive manufacturing or 3D printing is one of the emerging and fastest growing manufacturing technologies due to its advantages such as design freedom and tool-less production. Nowadays, 3D printing of polymer compounds is mostly limited to manufacturing of solid parts. In this context, a merged foaming and printing technology can introduce a great alternative for the currently used foam manufacturing technologies such as foam injection molding. This perspective review article tackles the attempts taken toward initiating this novel technology to simultaneously foam and print thermoplastics. After explaining the basics of polymer foaming and additive manufacturing, this article classifies different attempts that have been made toward generating foamed printed structures while highlighting their challenges. These attempts are clustered into 1) architected porous structures, 2) syntactic foaming, 3) post-foaming of printed parts, and eventually 4) printing of blowing agents saturated filaments. Among these, the latest approach is the most practical route although it has not been thoroughly studied yet. A filament free approach that can be introduced as a potential strategy to unlock the difficulties to produce printed foam structures is also proposed.

New pharmacological perspectives and therapeutic options for opioids: Differences matter

Opioids remain the major drug class for the treatment of acute, chronic and cancer pain, but have major harmful effects such as dependence and opioid-induced ventilatory impairment. Although no new typical opioids have come onto the market in the past almost 50 years, a plethora of new innovative formulations has been developed to meet the clinical need. This review is intended to shed light on new understanding of the molecular pharmacology of opioids, which has arisen largely due to the genomic revolution, and what new drugs may become available in the coming years. Atypical opioids have and are being developed which not only target the mu opioid receptor but other targets in the pain pathway. Biased mu agonists have been developed but remain 'unbiased' clinically. The contribution of drugs targeting non-mu opioid receptors either alone or as heterodimers shows potential promise but remains understudied. That gene splice variants of the mu opioid receptor produce multiple receptor isoforms in different brain regions, and may change with pain chronicity and phenotype, presents new challenges but also opportunities for precision pain medicine. Finally, that opioids also have pro-inflammatory effects not aligned with mu opioid receptor binding affinity implicates a fresh understanding of their role in chronic pain, whether cancer or non-cancer. Hopefully, a new understanding of opioid analgesic drug action may lead to new drug development and better precision medicine in acute and chronic pain relief with less patient harm.

The parenting occupations and purposes conceptual framework: A scoping review of 'doing' parenting

INTRODUCTION

Parenting is a valued, common and challenging adult role. Many parents, including some living with disability or difficult social circumstances, experience barriers to fulfilling their parenting roles. Yet, occupational therapy involvement in parenting is rarely documented. Current understandings about 'doing' parenting lack cohesion and are dispersed in occupational therapy literature. This study aims to map and synthesise occupational therapy literature on 'doing' parenting to describe the state of the existing knowledge base, and develop a conceptual framework of parenting occupations as portrayed in occupational therapy literature.

METHODS

A scoping review was conducted. Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched on 28 October 2019 and updated on 18 February 2021. Journal articles and book chapters were screened for eligibility. Included texts' publication characteristics, methodological characteristics, and areas of focus were summarised. Interpretive content analysis was conducted.

RESULTS

From 5945 unique records, 105 texts were included. These discussed general parenting, parents with disabilities, and parenting in challenging social situations. Most texts focussed on mothers caring for young children in Western cultural contexts. The analysis culminated in the development of a conceptual framework: the Parenting Occupations and Purposes (POP) Framework. This comprises 10 interrelated areas of parenting occupations, which are performed for the purposes of addressing the child's basic, developmental and social needs. Parenting occupations were also found to be influenced by additional, underlying occupations that build parenting capacity - Continuous Parental Development (CPD) occupations.

CONCLUSION

These findings provide an overview of current occupational therapy conceptualisations of parenting. Unlike most of the existing literature on parenting, the POP Framework is parent-centric rather than child-centric. More research on parenting occupations is needed, especially with more diverse representation (fathers, ages of children, parental disability and sociocultural background). Further research is required to examine the POP Framework's usefulness in guiding research and practice, particularly among parents with diverse characteristics.

Feature-Based Sentimental Analysis on Public Attention towards COVID-19 Using CUDA-SADBM Classification Model

The COVID-19 pandemic has spread to almost all countries of the World and affected people both mentally and economically. The primary motivation of this research is to construct a model that takes reviews or evaluations from several people who are affected with COVID-19. As the number of cases has accelerated day by day, people are becoming panicked and concerned about their health. A good model may be helpful to provide accurate statistics in interpreting the actual records about the pandemic. In the proposed work, for sentimental analysis, a unique classifier named the Sentimental DataBase Miner algorithm (SADBM) is used to categorize the opinions and parallel processing, and is applied on the data collected from various online social media websites like Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin. The accuracy of the proposed model is validated with trained data and compared with basic classifiers, such as logistic regression and decision tree. The proposed algorithm is executed on CPU as well as GPU and calculated the acceleration ratio of the model. The results show that the proposed model provides the best accuracy compared with the other two models, i.e., 96% (GPU).

Framing the time while designing and conducting reviews: A Focused Mapping Review and Synthesis

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To identify the profile of time restrictions and their justifications as reported on a set of published reviews.

BACKGROUND

There is a body of methodological knowledge addressing how to design and perform reviews in their different designs. However, how the time restrictions should be set and the justifications that should be provided have received limited attention to date.

DESIGN

A Focused Mapping Review and Synthesis following three steps (Focus, Mapping and Synthesis) was performed on 2021. The ENTREQ checklist was followed to report methods and findings.

METHODS

All Journal of Clinical Nursing reviews published in online or printed version on 2020 (n = 85). Time limits imposed in the literature search, and justifications provided were mapped and synthetised with quantitative and a qualitative analysis.

RESULTS

Time restrictions in reviews are not always reported and, when available, reflect three different profiles: (a) including all studies, to provide a comprehensive review; (b) selecting a period, to provide reviews for a contemporary practice; and (b) including only recent studies for reviews reflecting current practice. Reasons justifying time restrictions are not always reported; when documented, justifications regard changes in the practice, in the research or in the theory occurred over time, recent or ongoing.

CONCLUSIONS

In exploring the date restrictions applied in reviews published over the course of a year, it emerged that the time of access to the sources and the justifications are not always indicated. The attributes of the emerging concepts of "comprehensive reviews," "contemporary practice reviews" and "current practice reviews" might be further developed to support researchers in selecting an appropriate time frame.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Reviews require improvements regarding the time restrictions and their justifications. Methodological efforts to standardise the approach ensuring transparency in review protocols and in the following review publication are recommended.

Correlation between social media utilization by academic neurosurgery departments and higher online patient ratings

OBJECTIVE

Patients increasingly utilize online physician review websites (PRWs) and social media to inform healthcare-related decisions. This provides neurosurgeons with opportunities for increased patient engagement. And despite the growing use of social media among neurosurgeons, the relationship between social media utilization and online reviews remains unknown. The goal of this study was to characterize the relationship between social media utilization and PRW ratings across academic neurosurgery departments.

METHODS

Social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram) of academic neurosurgery departments were identified. Online reviews for individual faculty were obtained from Healthgrades, Vitals, WebMD, and Google. Reviews were aggregated to identify the total number of reviews per department, to generate a composite departmental rating, and to calculate a summed departmental score. US News & World Report (USNWR) and Doximity rankings were recorded for each department. Social media utilization by individual neurosurgeons and associated ratings were investigated within the departments with the highest social media utilization.

RESULTS

Seventy-eight percent of academic neurosurgery departments utilized social media. The most prevalent platform was YouTube (49.1%), followed by Twitter (46.5%), Facebook (38.6%), and Instagram (16.7%). Higher patient ratings on PRWs were associated with the utilization of YouTube (p = 0.048) or Twitter (p = 0.02). The number of social media platforms utilized demonstrated a significant, positive correlation with patient ratings (p = 0.006) and summed patient ratings (p = 0.048). Although USNWR (p = 0.02) and Doximity (p = 0.0008) rankings correlated with patient ratings, only the number of social media platforms utilized remained a significant predictor of patient ratings on multivariate analysis (p = 0.0001). Thirty-one percent of academic neurosurgeons from departments with high social media utilization were active on social media. The most prevalent social media platform among individual neurosurgeons was Twitter (27.4%), followed by Instagram (8.4%), Facebook (4.9%), and YouTube (2.2%). Higher summed patient scores were associated with individual neurosurgeon utilization of YouTube (p = 0.04), Facebook (p < 0.0001), and Instagram (p = 0.01). Increased social media utilization among neurosurgeons was correlated with a greater number of patient reviews (p = 0.006) and higher summed patient scores (p = 0.003). On multivariate analysis, only Facebook use remained a significant predictor of the number of patient reviews received (p = 0.002) and summed patient satisfaction scores (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

An increased social media presence is associated with higher ratings on PRWs. As neurosurgeons continue to expand their online presence, they should be aware of the possible impact of social media on online patient reviews.

Best Practices for Meta-Reviews in Physical Activity and Health Research: Insights From the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee Scientific Report

BACKGROUND

Systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) have proliferated with a concomitant increase in reviews of SRs/MAs or "meta-reviews" (MRs). As uncovered by the 2018 US Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee (PAGAC), there is a paucity of best practice guidance on MRs on physical activity health-related research. This manuscript aims to fill this gap.

METHODS

In total, the PAGAC conducted 38 literature searches across 3 electronic databases and triaged 20,838 titles, 4913 abstracts, and 2139 full texts from which 1130 articles qualified for the PAGAC Scientific Report.

RESULTS

During the MR process, the following challenges were encountered: (1) if the SR/MA authors had limited experience in synthesis methodology, they likely did not account for risk of bias in the conclusions they reached; (2) many SRs/MAs reviewed the same primary-level studies; (3) many SRs/MAs failed to disclose effect modifier analyses; (4) source populations varied; (5) physical activity exposures were nonstandardized; and (6) dose-response effects or effect modification of the physical activity exposure could not be identified.

CONCLUSIONS

Using examples from the PAGAC Scientific Report, we provide (1) a high-level introduction to MRs; (2) recommended steps in conducting a MR; (3) challenges that can be encountered; and (4) guidance in addressing these challenges.

The Burden of Drug Abuse in Nigeria: A Scoping Review of Epidemiological Studies and Drug Laws

Background: The burden of drug abuse is becoming a public health concern in Nigeria. Preventive measures should include identifying the root causes of the burden for targeted intervention. We, therefore, aim to conduct a scoping review of the literature to summarize the findings of epidemiological studies on drug abuse and provisions of drug laws in Nigeria. The review also provides appropriate recommendations as interventions for prevention. Methods: We conducted a systematic search of the literature on PubMed to identify information on drug abuse and drug laws in Nigeria from the inception of the database to March 2020. Additional information was retrieved from Google Scholar, a manual search of included articles, discussion with experts on the subject matter, and gray literature. Study selection was performed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statements. Information from gray literature was assessed for quality and accuracy using the AACODS checklist (authority, accuracy, coverage, objectively, date, significance). Results: The systematic search of the literature generated 253 studies. Nine articles were obtained from other sources. After the selection process, 23 eligible studies were included for review. A prevalence of 20-40% and 20.9% of drug abuse was reported among students and youths, respectively. Commonly abused drugs include cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine, heroin, diazepam, codeine, cough syrup and tramadol. Sources where abusers obtained drugs, were pharmacies/patent medicine shops, open drug markets, drug hawkers, fellow drug abusers, friends, and drug pushers. Drug abuse was common among undergraduates and secondary school students, youths, commercial bus drivers, farmers, and sex workers. Reason for use included to increase physical performance, stress and to derive pleasure. Poor socioeconomic factors and low educational background were the common risk factors associated with drug abuse. We identified several drug laws and policies that were established under government agencies such as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) and a Presidential Advisory Committee. Conclusion: Findings from epidemiological studies on drug abuse in Nigeria has demonstrated that the burden of drug abuse is still high despite the existing drug laws, policies, and strategies for prevention. Measures to reduce the burden should involve the community, government, and religious bodies. Preventive measures should target the youths, the students, identified sources of the drugs, reasons and risk factors associated with drug abuse in Nigeria.

Suicide Prevention Programs

This chapter presents a narrative synthesis of the evidence relating to the effectiveness of 13 different approaches (interventions) that have been incorporated into national suicide prevention programs. These approaches are presented in an analytic framework that distinguishes between national and community-based multilevel programs, prevention, and treatment/maintenance. The primary source of evidence are six reviews of reviews published since 2005, supplemented by a small number of systematic reviews and primary studies. We report strongly supportive evidence concerning the effectiveness of structural interventions (restrictions on access to bridges, tall buildings, and railways) and restriction on access to pharmacological agents. Weakly supportive evidence of effectiveness is available for community-based multilevel programs; restrictions on access to firearms and ligature points in institutional settings; settings-based programs (in schools, communities, workplaces, prisons, and the armed forces); education and training targeted at primary care physicians; lithium; cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy; and brief contact. There is insufficient or conflicting evidence concerning the effectiveness of the remaining approaches. We conclude that the evidence base for effective suicide prevention is far from convincing. Major improvement in the extent and quality of collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and practitioners and a considerable increase in funding for evaluation studies in suicide prevention are required if the current knowledge gap about effective interventions is to be bridged.

Data Quality Issues With Physician-Rating Websites: Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

In recent years, online physician-rating websites have become prominent and exert considerable influence on patients' decisions. However, the quality of these decisions depends on the quality of data that these systems collect. Thus, there is a need to examine the various data quality issues with physician-rating websites.

OBJECTIVE

This study's objective was to identify and categorize the data quality issues afflicting physician-rating websites by reviewing the literature on online patient-reported physician ratings and reviews.

METHODS

We performed a systematic literature search in ACM Digital Library, EBSCO, Springer, PubMed, and Google Scholar. The search was limited to quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method papers published in the English language from 2001 to 2020.

RESULTS

A total of 423 articles were screened. From these, 49 papers describing 18 unique data quality issues afflicting physician-rating websites were included. Using a data quality framework, we classified these issues into the following four categories: intrinsic, contextual, representational, and accessible. Among the papers, 53% (26/49) reported intrinsic data quality errors, 61% (30/49) highlighted contextual data quality issues, 8% (4/49) discussed representational data quality issues, and 27% (13/49) emphasized accessibility data quality. More than half the papers discussed multiple categories of data quality issues.

CONCLUSIONS

The results from this review demonstrate the presence of a range of data quality issues. While intrinsic and contextual factors have been well-researched, accessibility and representational issues warrant more attention from researchers, as well as practitioners. In particular, representational factors, such as the impact of inline advertisements and the positioning of positive reviews on the first few pages, are usually deliberate and result from the business model of physician-rating websites. The impact of these factors on data quality has not been addressed adequately and requires further investigation.

Surface-functionalised hybrid nanoparticles for targeted treatment of cancer

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. Despite the great advancement in understanding the pharmacology and biology of cancer, it still signifies one of the most serious human-health related problems. The current treatments for cancer may include surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, but these procedures have several limitations. Current studies have shown that nanoparticles (NPs) can be used as a novel strategy for cancer treatment. Developing nanosystems that allow lower doses of therapeutic agents, as well as their selective release in tumour cells, may resolve the challenges of targeted cancer therapy. In this review, the authors discuss the role of the size, shape, and surface modifications of NPs in cancer treatment. They also address the challenges associated with cancer therapies based on NPs. The overall purpose of this review is to summarise the recent developments in designing different hybrid NPs with promising therapeutic properties for different types of cancer.

Language Bias in Health Research: External Factors That Influence Latent Language Patterns

Background: Concerns with problematic research are primarily attributed to statistics and methods used to support data. Language, as an extended component of problematic research in published work, is rarely given the same attention despite language's equally important role in shaping the discussion and framings of presented data. Purpose: This study uses a topic modeling approach to study language as a predictor of potential bias among collected publication histories of several health research areas. Methods: We applied Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic models to dissect publication histories disaggregated by three factors commonly cited as language influencers: (1) time, to study ADHD pharmacotherapy; (2) funding source, to study sugar consumption; and (3) nation of origin, to study Pediatric Highly-Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (P-HAART). Results: We found that, for each factor, there were notable differences in language among each corpus when disaggregated by each factor. For time, article content changed to reflect new trends and research practices for the commonly prescribed ADHD medication, Ritalin. For funding source, industry and federally funded studies had differing foci, despite testing the same hypothesis. For nation of origin, regulatory structures between the United States and Europe seemingly influenced the direction of research. Conclusion: This work presents two contributions to ethics research: (1) language and language framing should be studied as carefully as numeric data among studies of rigor, reproducibility, and transparency; and (2) the scientific community should continue to apply topic models as mediums to answer hypothesis-driven research questions.

Overcoming the blood-brain barrier in neurodegenerative disorders and brain tumours

Drug delivery is one of the major challenges in the treatment of central nervous system disorders. The brain needs to be protected from harmful agents, which are done by the capillary network, the so-called blood-brain barrier (BBB). This protective guard also prevents the delivery of therapeutic agents to the brain and limits the effectiveness of treatment. For this reason, various strategies have been explored by scientists for overcoming the BBB from disruption of the BBB to targeted delivery of nanoparticles (NPs) and cells and immunotherapy. In this review, different promising brain drug delivery strategies including disruption of tight junctions in the BBB, enhanced transcellular transport by peptide-based delivery, local delivery strategies, NP delivery, and cell-based delivery have been fully discussed.

Gender, Soft Skills, and Patient Experience in Online Physician Reviews: A Large-Scale Text Analysis

Background

Online physician reviews are an important source of information for prospective patients. In addition, they represent an untapped resource for studying the effects of gender on the doctor-patient relationship. Understanding gender differences in online reviews is important because it may impact the value of those reviews to patients. Documenting gender differences in patient experience may also help to improve the doctor-patient relationship. This is the first large-scale study of physician reviews to extensively investigate gender bias in online reviews or offer recommendations for improvements to online review systems to correct for gender bias and aid patients in selecting a physician.

Objective

This study examines 154,305 reviews from across the United States for all medical specialties. Our analysis includes a qualitative and quantitative examination of review content and physician rating with regard to doctor and reviewer gender.

Methods

A total of 154,305 reviews were sampled from Google Place reviews. Reviewer and doctor gender were inferred from names. Reviews were coded for overall patient experience (negative or positive) by collapsing a 5-star scale and coded for general categories (process, positive/negative soft skills), which were further subdivided into themes. Computational text processing methods were employed to apply this codebook to the entire data set, rendering it tractable to quantitative methods. Specifically, we estimated binary regression models to examine relationships between physician rating, patient experience themes, physician gender, and reviewer gender).

Results

Female reviewers wrote 60% more reviews than men. Male reviewers were more likely to give negative reviews (odds ratio [OR] 1.15, 95% CI 1.10-1.19; P<.001). Reviews of female physicians were considerably more negative than those of male physicians (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.94-2.14; P<.001). Soft skills were more likely to be mentioned in the reviews written by female reviewers and about female physicians. Negative reviews of female doctors were more likely to mention candor (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.42-1.82; P<.001) and amicability (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.47-1.90; P<.001). Disrespect was associated with both female physicians (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.35-1.51; P<.001) and female reviewers (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.19-1.35; P<.001). Female patients were less likely to report disrespect from female doctors than expected from the base ORs (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.04-1.32; P=.008), but this effect overrode only the effect for female reviewers.

Conclusions

This work reinforces findings in the extensive literature on gender differences and gender bias in patient-physician interaction. Its novel contribution lies in highlighting gender differences in online reviews. These reviews inform patients’ choice of doctor and thus affect both patients and physicians. The evidence of gender bias documented here suggests review sites may be improved by providing information about gender differences, controlling for gender when presenting composite ratings for physicians, and helping users write less biased reviews.

Optical stimulation of neural tissue

Electrical stimulation has been used for decades in devices such as pacemakers, cochlear implants and more recently for deep brain and retinal stimulation and electroceutical treatment of disease. However, current spread from the electrodes limits the precision of neural activation, leading to a low quality therapeutic outcome or undesired side-effects. Alternative methods of neural stimulation such as optical stimulation offer the potential to deliver higher spatial resolution of neural activation. Direct optical stimulation is possible with infrared light, while visible light can be used to activate neurons if the neural tissue is genetically modified with a light sensitive ion channel. Experimentally, both methods have resulted in highly precise stimulation with little spread of activation at least in the cochlea, each with advantages and disadvantages. Infrared neural stimulation does not require modification of the neural tissue, but has very high power requirements. Optogenetics can achieve precision of activation with lower power, but only in conjunction with targeted insertion of a light sensitive ion channel into the nervous system via gene therapy. This review will examine the advantages and limitations of optical stimulation of neural tissue, using the cochlea as an exemplary model and recent developments for retinal and deep brain stimulation.

Protocol for a systematic review of reviews evaluating effectiveness of mass media interventions for prevention and control of non-communicable diseases

INTRODUCTION

Timely interventions are required in order to change unhealthy lifestyles because if continued for a prolonged period of time, these become risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Education through mass media is an important factor in bringing out the behavioural change which may get missed in community-based interventions due to their limited reach. Many countries engage in mass media interventions, however, the nature of interventions and their effectiveness differs. We, therefore, describe the protocol of a systematic review to evaluate the effectiveness of the mass media interventions to reduce the risk of NCDs in the general population and compare the differences in effectiveness estimates across low/middle-income countries and developed countries.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

We will search The Cochrane Library, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness, PubMed, Excerpta Medica Database limited to publications since 2000 to October 2019. Specific terms for the search strategy will be piloted as database-controlled vocabulary in the databases searched. The searches will include variations of the following terms: mass media, mass communication, campaign, publicity and terms for types of media, that is, print media, mobile, digital media, social media and broadcast. Study designs to be included will be systematic reviews followed by grey literature and other good quality reviews identified. The primary outcome of effectiveness will be the percentage change in population having different behavioural risk factors. In addition, mean overall change in levels of several physical or biochemical parameters will be studied as secondary outcomes.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The review is being done under the doctoral research which has been approved by the Institute Ethics Committee of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research Dissemination will be done by submitting scientific articles to academic peer-reviewed journals. We will present the results at relevant conferences and meetings.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42016048013.

Ambient pollen concentrations and asthma hospitalization in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveWe aimed to conduct a systematic review examining the association between outdoor pollen and childhood asthma hospitalizations.Data SourceA systematic search of articles in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, ProQuest Central, Web of Science and Google Scholar published to 18 July 2019.Study selection: Studies that presented data on pollen exposure and childhood asthma hospitalization were included and evaluated for potential risk of bias by two independent authors. Random effects meta-analysis was performed where possible.ResultsA total of 1048 records were identified, and twelve studies included in the review. The synthesis suggested possible associations between outdoor pollen, especially for grass and birch and childhood asthma hospitalization. However, the results varied widely across geographical areas and settings for other pollen taxa. The meta-analysis of the case-crossover studies showed a positive association between grass and childhood asthma hospitalization, an increase in 10 grass pollen grains/m³ was associated with a 3% increase in childhood asthma admission (OR = 1.03; 95%CI:1.01, 1.04), but the pooled estimate was not significant for timeseries studies. The meta-analysis of the timeseries studies for birch pollen showed an increase in 10 pollen grains/m³ being significantly associated with a Mean Percentage Change (MPC) in childhood asthma admissions (MPC= 0.85; 95%CI:0.40, 1.30).Conclusion: Globally, grass and birch pollen are important triggers of childhood asthma hospitalization, but the association could not be ascertained for other pollen taxa. Pollen is a major environmental trigger of asthma exacerbations and more focus on early interventions to reduce this burden needs to be considered.

Current trends in nano-technological interventions on plant growth and development: a review

Nanomaterials, recently have found burgeoning attention in the field of agriculture, owing to the positive correlation between nanoparticle (NP) application and the enhanced nutritional status of the applied plants. A wide range of NPs, namely carbon-based NPs, titanium dioxide NPs, silica NPs etc. has been found to influence plants in a positive way by increasing their nutrient uptake ratio, nutrient usage efficiency, among others. All these attributes have paved the way for possible improvement in plant growth, development, vigour etc. through the use of these NPs, mainly as nanofertiliser. In view of all these, it can also be concluded that in the global scenario of increased demand of food production and supply in the coming years, nanotechnology promises to play a critical role. In this review, an attempt has been made to consolidate all the positive trends with respect to application of NPs on plants, along with their probable mechanism of action, which may provide a comprehensive insight for researchers working in this field.

Has the Reporting Quality of Systematic Review Abstracts in Nursing Improved Since the Release of PRISMA for Abstracts? A Survey of High-Profile Nursing Journals

BACKGROUND

The PRISMA for Abstracts (PRISMA-A) was developed to guide authors to present a structured abstract. However, the adherence of abstracts to these guidelines in some areas was of concern.

AIMS

To determine whether the publication of PRISMA-A resulted in an improvement in the abstracts reported with nursing systematic reviews (SRs).

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study. We searched PubMed for randomized controlled trials-based SRs published in top-tier nursing journals. A PRISMA-A checklist was used to assess abstracts in the SR included. Total score on checklists, comparison of total scores between two periods, and effect factors were analyzed.

RESULTS

Overall, abstract reporting compliance with PRISMA-A has not improved significantly with the time span. Of the 81 SRs, 74.1% were structured. About half reported eligibility criteria, information sources, and description of the effect as recommended. Registration status was reported only in 4.9%. The reporting quality was significantly higher for journals with higher impact factors (p < .001).

LINKING EVIDENCE TO ACTION

Although not inclusive of all SRs in the nursing field, our sample reflects the general trend that there was no significant improvement in the compliance of SR abstracts reported in nursing with the release of PRISMA-A. There is room for improvement, as most items have not been fully reported.

Prevalence and predictors of adherence to inhaled corticosteroids in young adults (15-30 years) with asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: Adherence to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) is an essential part of asthma management throughout the lifespan; however, this may be particularly challenging during the transition into adulthood. This systematic review aimed to determine the prevalence and predictors of adherence to ICS in emerging adulthood.Data sources: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Scopus, and CINAHL were searched with search terms for asthma, ICS, adherence, young adults, and predictors combined.Study selection: Studies with participants with diagnosed asthma, currently prescribed ICS, a mean age between 15 and 30 years and reporting the prevalence and/or assessing predictor(s) of adherence using quantitative methods were included.Results: Twenty-nine studies were identified for inclusion (K = 29, N = 187 401). A random effect meta-analysis revealed the pooled prevalence of adherence was 28% (95% CI = 20-38%, k = 16) in studies that provided quantitative information on adherence. Adherence was higher in studies with a mean age <18 years (36%; 95% CI = 36-37%, k = 4). Studies using self-report measures provided higher estimates of adherence (35%; 95% CI = 28-42%, k = 10) than studies using pharmacy refill data (20%; 95% CI = 9-38%, k = 6). A narrative review identified personality, illness perceptions, and treatment beliefs as potentially important predictors of adherence.Conclusion: Adherence is sub-optimal during emerging adulthood, particularly after age 18. More reliable and objective measures are needed to precisely characterize adherence. Greater research and practice attention to emerging adulthood are needed to guide self-management support in those living with asthma at this important lifespan stage.Systematic review registration number: CRD42018092401.

Language Bias in Health Research: External Factors That Influence Latent Language Patterns

Background: Concerns with problematic research are primarily attributed to statistics and methods used to support data. Language, as an extended component of problematic research in published work, is rarely given the same attention despite language's equally important role in shaping the discussion and framings of presented data. Purpose: This study uses a topic modeling approach to study language as a predictor of potential bias among collected publication histories of several health research areas. Methods: We applied Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic models to dissect publication histories disaggregated by three factors commonly cited as language influencers: (1) time, to study ADHD pharmacotherapy; (2) funding source, to study sugar consumption; and (3) nation of origin, to study Pediatric Highly-Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (P-HAART). Results: We found that, for each factor, there were notable differences in language among each corpus when disaggregated by each factor. For time, article content changed to reflect new trends and research practices for the commonly prescribed ADHD medication, Ritalin. For funding source, industry and federally funded studies had differing foci, despite testing the same hypothesis. For nation of origin, regulatory structures between the United States and Europe seemingly influenced the direction of research. Conclusion: This work presents two contributions to ethics research: (1) language and language framing should be studied as carefully as numeric data among studies of rigor, reproducibility, and transparency; and (2) the scientific community should continue to apply topic models as mediums to answer hypothesis-driven research questions.

Evidence maps: a tool to guide research agenda setting

A surprisingly huge proportion of medical research still shows poor quality in design, conduct and analysis, leading to far from optimal robustness of findings and validity of conclusions. Research waste remains a problem caused by a number of reasons. Asking the wrong research questions and ignoring the existing evidence are possible preventable ones. Evidence maps are tools that may aid in guiding clinical investigators and help in agenda setting of future research. In this article, we explain how they serve such a goal and outline the steps required to build effective evidence maps.

A PRISMA assessment of the reporting quality of systematic reviews of nursing published in the Cochrane Library and paper-based journals

OBJECTIVE

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) was released as a standard of reporting systematic reviewers (SRs). However, not all SRs adhere completely to this standard. This study aimed to evaluate the reporting quality of SRs published in the Cochrane Library and paper-based journals.

METHODS

The SRs which evaluate the effectiveness of nursing interventions in 2016 were identified via PubMed. The reporting quality of selected articles was evaluated using the PRISMA checklist. For comparison, we divided these articles into Cochrane review (CR) and non-Cochrane review (NCR). Based on the satisfaction of the applicable criteria, each article is assigned an accumulated score and a total percentage score.

RESULTS

Overall, 41.7% articles were concentrated in 19.0 to 22.5 points which represent the moderate quality, 22% articles were high quality. There were still 36.5% articles with low quality. The mean PRISMA score was 20.54 ± 2.367 for CRs, and 18.81 ± 2.536 for NCRs. Although no significant difference was exit between overall CR and NCR scores, there were differences between items 1, 5, 8, 16, 23. Analysis indicated that CR was significantly associated with the overall PRISMA score.

CONCLUSION

Compliance of CR and NCR with PRISMA checklist exhibited different strengths and weaknesses. Our study underscores that nursing researchers should pay more attention to comprehensive reporting of SRs in nursing to follow the PRISMA statement.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND/OR HEALTH POLICY

Nursing researchers who participate in SRs should follow the latest Cochrane Handbook to prepare such study. Meanwhile, the PRISMA statement should be followed strictly to report SRs, so as to improve the quality of SRs.

Mapping the Social-Norms Literature: An Overview of Reviews

The theoretical literature on social norms is multifaceted and at times contradictory. Looking at existing reviews, we aimed to offer a more complete understanding of its current status. By investigating the conceptual frameworks and organizing elements used to compare social-norms theories, we identified four theoretical spaces of inquiry that were common across the reviews: what social norms are, what relationship exists between social norms and behavior, how social norms evolve, and what categories of actors must be considered in the study of social norms. We highlight areas of consensus and debate in the reviews around these four themes and discuss points of agreement and disagreement that uncover trajectories for future empirical and theoretical investigation.

Antibacterial magnetic nanoparticles for therapeutics: a review

Along with the extensive range of exotic nanoparticle (NPs) applications, investigation of magnetic NPs (MNPs) in vitro has ushered modern antibacterial studies into an increasingly attractive research area. A great number of microorganisms exist in the size scales from nanometre to micrometre regions. The enormous potential of engineered MNPs in therapeutic procedures against various drug-resistant bacteria has declined the menace of fatal bacterial infections. Many biocompatible MNPs have been introduced that possess remarkable impacts on various bacterial strains. Conventional synthesis methods such as co-precipitation or hydrothermal techniques have been widely adopted in the production of MNPs. The MNPs for antibacterial applications are mainly required to be superparamagnetic, recyclable and biocompatible. To implement novel strategies in developing new generation antimicrobial magnetic nanomaterials, it is essential to obtain a comprehensive preview of recent achievements in synthesis, proposed antibacterial mechanisms and characterisation techniques of these nanomaterials. This review highlights notable aspects of antibacterial activity in engineered MNPs and nanocomposites including their particle properties (size, shape and saturation magnetisation), antibacterial mechanisms, synthesis methods, testing methods, surface modifications and minimum inhibitory concentrations.

[Current State of Family-Based Prevention and Therapy of Substance-Use Disorders in Children and Adolescents: A Review]

Current State of Family-Based Prevention and Therapy of Substance-Use Disorders in Children and Adolescents: A Review Adolescence is a vulnerable period for substance use disorders (SUD) as indicated by epidemiological studies. Research demonstrates the family's role for the etiology of SUD and provides a rationale for interventions based on family-associated risk and resilience factors. In this article, we summarize published results for family-based interventions from 2008-2018. Taken together, prevention programs can be effective when they focus on the promotion of broader developmental competencies and familial resources, rather than narrowly addressing substance use. Moreover, programs could benefit from targeting youth and parents as done in the "Strengthening Families Program 10-14"; most existing programs however target parents and do not include the adolescents. Family-based treatment programs with an evidence base are Multisystemic Therapy, Functional Family Therapy, Multidimensional Family Therapy and Brief Strategic Family Therapy. Overall, the effects of family-based interventions are small-to-middle sized but vary significantly across populations. Across the field of family-based interventions, there is a need for more knowledge on effective components and differential effects. The results could be improved by translational research such as on the emerging concept of mindfulness. Moreover, there is a need for implementation research and the effectiveness of service delivery programs on the community level in Germany.

Efficiency in functional analysis of problem behavior: A quantitative and qualitative review

Originating in the mid-1960s, functional analysis (FA) has become the gold standard method for understanding the environmental variables that come to shape and maintain problematic behaviors such as aggression, self-injury, and property destruction. Over the decades, a number of studies have refined FA methods, attempting to improve the overall efficiency of the analysis through experimental design and procedural modifications. In the present review, we used ongoing visual-inspection criteria and basic probability theory to compare and analyze levels of efficiency across FA types. The multielement design and synthesized contingency analyses were about equally efficient with respect to the mean number of sessions conducted per function tested, and the trial-based and synthesized contingency analyses were the 2 most efficient with respect to the mean duration per function tested. We discuss the implications of these findings in the broader context of efficiency and provide recommendations for maximizing efficiency during an FA. We also discuss other qualitative procedural details that may influence the overall efficiency of an FA.

Nanoparticles: biosynthesis, translocation and role in plant metabolism

Nanotechnology is an emerging field of science that applies particles between 1 and 100 nm in size for a range of practical uses. Nano-technological discoveries have opened novel applications in biotechnology and agriculture. Many reactions involving nanoparticles (NPs) are more efficient compared to those of their respective bulk materials. NPs obtained from plant material, denoted as biogenic or phytosynthesised NPs, are preferred over chemically synthesised NPs due to their low toxicity, rapid reactions and cost-effective production. NPs impart both positive and negative impacts on plant growth and development. NPs exhibit their unique actions as a function of their size, reactivity, surface area and concentration. An insight into NP biosynthesis and translocation within the plant system will shed some light on the roles and mechanisms of NP-mediated regulation of plant metabolism. This review is a step towards that goal.

Investigating the prospects of bacterial biosurfactants for metal nanoparticle synthesis - a comprehensive review

Establishing biological synthesis of nanoparticles is increasing nowadays in the field of nanotechnology. The search for an optimal source with durability, stability, capacity to withstand higher environmental conditions with excellent characteristics is yet to meet. Consequently, there is need to create an eco-friendly strategy for metal nanoparticle synthesis. One approach investigated in this review is the use of biosurfactants to enhance the synthesis biologically. In comparison with the other technologies, biosurfactants are less toxic and exhibit higher properties. This method is different from the conventional practice like physical and chemical methods. Several research studies represented that the biosurfactant influences the production of nanoparticles about 2-50 nm. In this manner, the research towards the biosurfactant has raised. This review also addressed the feasibility of biosurfactant and their benefits in the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles. The findings from this review can recommend a conceivable use of biosurfactant as a source for metal nanoparticle synthesis.

Evolving nanotechnological trends in the management of mycotic keratitis

The alarming increase in global burden of various corneal diseases in general and mycotic keratitis in particular has raised up a major concern for its treatment. Mycotic keratitis is one of the most serious infections among the various ocular diseases. The proper diagnosis and effective treatment strategies remain a great challenge for ophthalmologists. The inefficacy and failure of conventional treatments have generated need to develop alternative approaches for the treatment of mycotic keratitis. Considering the promising applications of nanotechnology in biomedical area, it is believed that various nanomaterials can be effectively used in the management of mycotic keratitis. This review focuses on worldwide burden of various corneal diseases including mycotic keratitis and the role of nanotechnology in its treatment. In addition, safety and toxicological issues are also discussed.

Understanding quality of life within occupational therapy intervention research: A scoping review

INTRODUCTION

There is little consensus regarding the meaning of quality of life (QOL) within occupational therapy literature. Measurement of QOL has varied in both research and practice. This scoping review explored the definitions and measures used within occupational therapy quantitative intervention research to evaluate QOL as an outcome.

METHODS

The review was completed by searching six databases using occupational therapy-related and QOL-related terms. Data were extracted from each article and authors performed descriptive statistics to establish trends for both definitions and measures.

RESULTS

Eighteen publications met the inclusion criteria. Seven articles included a definition of QOL. Most authors defined QOL as a multidimensional construct, comprised of varying domains. Fourteen different standardised measures and two non-standardised measures were utilised.

CONCLUSIONS

A clear conceptualisation of QOL that incorporates occupational therapy values such as client-centredness and holism is needed to advocate for the profession's role in health care and to encourage the development of suitable outcome measures.