Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Stat Med 2021 Apr 12. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey.

Network meta-analysis (NMA) is gaining popularity in evidence synthesis and network meta-regression allows us to incorporate potentially important covariates into network meta-analysis. In this article, we propose a Bayesian network meta-regression hierarchical model and assume a general multivariate t distribution for the random treatment effects. The multivariate t distribution is desired for heavy-tailed random effects and converges to the multivariate normal distribution when the degrees of freedom go to infinity. Read More

BMC Psychol 2021 Apr 12;9(1):55. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China.

Background: Poor mental health status and associated risk factors of public health workers have been overlooked during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used the effort-reward imbalance model to investigate the association between work-stress characteristics (effort, over-commitment, reward) and mental health problems (anxiety and depression) among front-line public health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

Methods: A total of 4850 valid online questionnaires were collected through a self- constructed sociodemographic questionnaire, the adapted ERI questionnaire, the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the 7-item General Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7). Read More

Neurol Clin Pract 2021 Apr;11(2):158-166

Department of Pediatric Neurology and Developmental Medicine (KL, MS), University Children's Hospital Tübingen, Germany; Clinic for Neuropediatrics and Neurorehabilitation (MS), Epilepsy Center for Children and Adolescents, Schön Klinik Vogtareuth, Germany; Pediatric Neurology (KL), Inselspital University Children's Hospital, University of Bern, Switzerland; and Department of Neuropediatrics (SEB), University Children's Hospital Zurich, Switzerland.

Objective: Hemidecortication is a therapeutic option in patients with drug-resistant structural epilepsy. If surgery is performed early enough in left-hemispheric pathology, the plasticity of the developing brain may enable the right hemisphere to take over language-if this has not occurred before surgery. A systematic overview of potential predictors of language outcome after left hemidecortication in children is warranted. Read More

Food Sci Nutr 2021 Apr 25;9(4):2217-2226. Epub 2021 Feb 25.

Department of Horticultural Sciences Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources Arak University Arak Iran.

Considerable genetic diversity among the native populations of Persian walnut ( L.) provides a great opportunity to identify genotypes with valuable traits. In the present study, morphological and pomological diversity assessments of 362 walnut seedling origin genotypes were performed to identify superior genotypes. Read More

Curr Psychol 2021 Apr 5:1-12. Epub 2021 Apr 5.

Department of Psychology, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, 110025 India.

The scientific world witnessed a surge of researches, from all corners of the world, regarding the humanitarian crisis precipitated by COVID-19 pandemic, more specifically its impact on people's mental health. However, researchers exploring the association between COVID-19 related fear and mental health are yet to understand the conditions through which potential benefits may occur. Many factors could buffer the effects of COVID-19 related fear on mental health; support system is probably the predominant one. Read More

J Sleep Res 2021 Apr 11:e13315. Epub 2021 Apr 11.

Pulmonary Department, Sleep Disorders Center, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenbrug, Sweden.

Recent studies indicate that ambient temperature may modulate obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) severity. However, study results are contradictory warranting more investigation in this field. We analysed 19,293 patients of the European Sleep Apnoea Database (ESADA) cohort with restriction to the three predominant climate zones according to the Köppen-Geiger climate classification: Cfb (warm temperature, fully humid, warm summer), Csa (warm temperature, summer dry, hot summer), and Dfb (snow, fully humid, warm summer). Read More

Exp Gerontol 2021 Apr 7:111342. Epub 2021 Apr 7.

Department of Physical Therapy, MGH Institute of Health Professions, Boston, MA, United States of America.

Introduction: Everyday walking often involves simultaneous performance of a cognitive task in environments with competing auditory and visual stimuli. Previous research has not evaluated task performance in these situations, where older adults are known to fall, limiting our understanding of how older adults adjust their gait, visual scanning (gaze), and cognitive processing to avoid falls (or not). The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of dual-task walking in a high-distraction real-world environment on cognitive performance, gait performance, and gaze behavior in older adult fallers relative to non-fallers. Read More

BMJ Open 2021 Apr 9;11(4):e045053. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

National Clinical Research Center of Cardiovascular Diseases, NHC Key Laboratory of Clinical Research for Cardiovascular Medications, State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Beijing, China

Objectives: To develop a model of in-hospital mortality using medical record front page (MRFP) data and assess its validity in case-mix standardisation by comparison with a model developed using the complete medical record data.

Design: A nationally representative retrospective study.

Setting: Representative hospitals in China, covering 161 hospitals in modelling cohort and 156 hospitals in validation cohort. Read More

BMC Public Health 2021 Apr 9;21(1):702. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Haidian District Huayuan North Road No. 51, Beijing, 100191, China.

Background: The current study examined the change in local government staff's emotional distress over 7 years after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, and the influence of earthquake exposure and professional quality of life (ProQOL) on emotional distress.

Methods: This longitudinal study assessed 250 participants at 1 year after the earthquake; 162 (64.8%) were followed up at 7 years. Read More

Geriatr Nurs 2021 Apr 6;42(3):721-726. Epub 2021 Apr 6.

Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan. Electronic address:

IKIGAI is culturally defined as a subjective evaluation of well-being in Japan and is believed to be an important factor in achieving a better life. This study determined the association between economic status and well-being using IKIGAI and the moderating effect of place attachment on their association among 499 older adults people over 65 years of age in Japan. The result of hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that lower economic status significantly decreased well-being. Read More