| 1. |
- Mahmoudi, H., et al.
(författare)
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A mediating role for mental health in associations between COVID-19-related self-stigma, PTSD, quality of life, and insomnia among patients recovered from COVID-19
- 2021
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Ingår i: Brain and Behavior. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2162-3279 .- 2162-3279.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Patients with COVID-19 often suffer from psychological problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and self-stigmatization that may negatively impact their quality of life and sleep. This study examined mental health as a potential mediating factor linking self-stigmatization and PTSD to quality of life and sleep. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, 844 people who had recovered from COVID-19 were called and interviewed. Data were collected using structured scales. Structural equation modeling was applied to assess fitness of a mediation model including self-stigma and PTSD as independent factors and quality of life and insomnia as dependent variables. Results: Mental health, COVID-19-related self-stigma, and mental quality of life were associated. Insomnia, PTSD, and COVID-19-related self-stigma displayed significant direct associations (r =.334 to 0.454; p <.01). A mediation model indicated satisfactory goodness of fit (CFI = 0.968, TLI = 0.950, SRMR = 0.071, RMSEA = 0.068). Mental health as a mediator had negative relationships with COVID-19-related self-stigma, PTSD, and insomnia and positive associations with quality of life. Conclusion: Mental health may mediate effects of COVID-19-related self-stigma and PTSD on quality of life and insomnia. Designing programs to improve mental health among patients with COVID-19 may include efforts to reduce negative effects of PTSD and COVID-19-related self-stigma on quality of life and insomnia.
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| 2. |
- Ebrahimi-Fakhari, Darius, et al.
(författare)
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Defining the clinical, molecular and imaging spectrum of adaptor protein complex 4-associated hereditary spastic paraplegia
- 2020
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Ingår i: Brain. - OXFORD ENGLAND : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0006-8950 .- 1460-2156. ; 143:10, s. 2929-2944
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bi-allelic loss-of-function variants in genes that encode subunits of the adaptor protein complex 4 (AP-4) lead to prototypical yet poorly understood forms of childhood-onset and complex hereditary spastic paraplegia: SPG47 (AP4B1), SPG50 (AP4M1), SPG51 (AP4E1) and SPG52 (AP4S1). Here, we report a detailed cross-sectional analysis of clinical, imaging and molecular data of 156 patients from 101 families. Enrolled patients were of diverse ethnic backgrounds and covered a wide age range (1.0-49.3 years). While the mean age at symptom onset was 0.8 +/- 0.6 years [standard deviation (SD), range 0.2-5.0], the mean age at diagnosis was 10.2 +/- 8.5 years (SD, range 0.1-46.3). We define a set of core features: early-onset developmental delay with delayed motor milestones and significant speech delay (50% non-verbal); intellectual disability in the moderate to severe range; mild hypotonia in infancy followed by spastic diplegia (mean age: 8.4 +/- 5.1 years, SD) and later tetraplegia (mean age: 16.1 +/- 9.8 years, SD); postnatal microcephaly (83%); foot deformities (69%); and epilepsy (66%) that is intractable in a subset. At last follow-up, 36% ambulated with assistance (mean age: 8.9 +/- 6.4 years, SD) and 54% were wheelchair-dependent (mean age: 13.4 +/- 9.8 years, SD). Episodes of stereotypic laughing, possibly consistent with a pseudobulbar affect, were found in 56% of patients. Key features on neuroimaging include a thin corpus callosum (90%), ventriculomegaly (65%) often with colpocephaly, and periventricular white-matter signal abnormalities (68%). Iron deposition and polymicrogyria were found in a subset of patients. AP4B1-associated SPG47 and AP4M1-associated SPG50 accounted for the majority of cases. About two-thirds of patients were born to consanguineous parents, and 82% carried homozygous variants. Over 70 unique variants were present, the majority of which are frameshift or nonsense mutations. To track disease progression across the age spectrum, we defined the relationship between disease severity as measured by several rating scales and disease duration. We found that the presence of epilepsy, which manifested before the age of 3 years in the majority of patients, was associated with worse motor outcomes. Exploring genotype-phenotype correlations, we found that disease severity and major phenotypes were equally distributed among the four subtypes, establishing that SPG47, SPG50, SPG51 and SPG52 share a common phenotype, an 'AP-4 deficiency syndrome'. By delineating the core clinical, imaging, and molecular features of AP-4-associated hereditary spastic paraplegia across the age spectrum our results will facilitate early diagnosis, enable counselling and anticipatory guidance of affected families and help define endpoints for future interventional trials.
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| 3. |
- Lin, C. -Y, et al.
(författare)
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Advanced psychometric testing on a clinical screening tool to evaluate insomnia : sleep condition indicator in patients with advanced cancer
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sleep and Biological Rhythms. - : Springer. - 1446-9235 .- 1479-8425. ; 18, s. 343-349
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: To examine the psychometric properties of the Sleep Condition Indicator (SCI) using different psychometric approaches [including classical test theory, Rasch models, and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve] among patients with advanced cancer.Methods: Through convenience sampling, patients with cancer at stage III or IV (n = 859; 511 males; mean ± SD age = 67.4 ± 7.5 years) were recruited from several oncology units of university hospitals in Iran. All the participants completed the SCI, Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), and Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS). In addition, 491 participants wore an actigraph device to capture objective sleep.Results: Classical test theory [factor loadings from confirmatory factor analysis = 0.76–0.89; test–retest reliability = 0.80–0.93] and Rasch analysis [infit mean square (MnSq) = 0.63–1.31; outfit MnSq = 0.61–1.23] both support the construct validity of the SCI. The SCI had significant associations with ISI, PSQI, ESS, HADS, GHQ, and ESAS. In addition, the SCI has satisfactory area under ROC curve (0.92) when comparing a gold standard of insomnia diagnosis. Significant differences in the actigraphy measure were found between insomniacs and non-insomniacs based on the SCI score defined by ROC.Conclusion: With the promising psychometric properties shown in the SCI, healthcare providers can use this simple assessment tool to target the patients with advanced cancer who are at risk of insomnia and subsequently provide personalized care efficiently.
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| 4. |
- Pakpour, Amir H., et al.
(författare)
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Promoting medication adherence among patients with bipolar disorder : a multicenter randomized controlled trial of a multifaceted intervention
- 2017
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Ingår i: Psychological Medicine. - : Cambridge University Press. - 0033-2917 .- 1469-8978. ; 47:14, s. 2528-2539
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The present research aimed to investigate the efficacy of a multifaceted intervention that included motivational interviewing (MI) and psychoeducation in improving medication adherence (MA) among patients with bipolar disorder (BD).Method: A multicenter, cluster randomized, observer-blind, controlled, parallel-group trial was conducted in ten academic centers in Iran. Patients with BD were randomly assigned to the experimental group (EXP; n = 136) or the usual care group (UC; n = 134). The EXP group received five sessions of MI and psychoeducation together with their family members. The primary outcome measure was changes in scores on the Medication Adherence Rating Scale from baseline to 6 months post-intervention. Other outcome measures included serum levels of mood stabilizers, clinical symptoms, quality of life, as well as measures of intention, beliefs about medicine, perceived behavioral control, automaticity, action and coping planning, and adverse reactions.Results: Medication adherence improved over time in both groups, but patients in the EXP group improved more (baseline score: 6.03; score at the sixth month: 9.55) than patients in the UC group (baseline score: 6.17; score at the sixth month: 6.67). In addition, patients in the EXP group showed greater improvement than patients in the UC group in almost all secondary outcomes 6 months following the intervention.Conclusions: Multifaceted interventions that include motivational-interviewing and psychoeducation can significantly improve MA and clinical and functional outcomes in patients with BD.
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| 5. |
- Saffari, M., et al.
(författare)
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Educational Intervention Based on the Health Belief Model to Modify Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Disease in Police Officers in Iran : A Quasi-experimental Study
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health. - : Korean Society for Preventive Medicine. - 1975-8375 .- 2233-4521. ; 53:4, s. 275-284
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: Police officers may be at a greater risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) than the general population due to their highstress occupation. This study evaluated how an educational program based on the health belief model (HBM) may protect police officers from developing CVD. METHODS: In this single-group experimental study, 58 police officers in Iran participated in a 5-week intervention based on HBM principles. Outcomes included changes in scores on an HBM scale, time spent on moderate to vigorous physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire), body mass index (BMI), blood lipid profile, blood glucose, and blood pressure. The intervention consisted of 5 HBM-based educational sessions. Follow-up was conducted at 3 months post-intervention. The paired t-test was used to examine differences between baseline and follow-up scores. RESULTS: All aspects of the HBM scale improved between baseline and follow-up (p<0.05), except the cues to action subscale. Self-efficacy and preventive behaviors improved the most. BMI decreased from 26.7±2.9 kg/m2 at baseline to 25.8±2.4 kg/m2 at follow-up. All components of the lipid profile, including triglycerides, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein, showed significant improvements post-intervention. Blood glucose and blood pressure also decreased, but not significantly. Nearly 25% of participants who were not physically active at baseline increased their physical activity above or beyond the healthy threshold. CONCLUSIONS: A relatively brief educational intervention based on HBM principles led to a significant improvement in CVD risk factors among police officers. Further research is needed to corroborate the effectiveness of this intervention.
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| 6. |
- Felsberg, Michael, et al.
(författare)
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The Thermal Infrared Visual Object Tracking VOT-TIR2015 Challenge Results
- 2015
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision. - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). - 9781467383905 ; , s. 639-651
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Thermal Infrared Visual Object Tracking challenge 2015, VOTTIR2015, aims at comparing short-term single-object visual trackers that work on thermal infrared (TIR) sequences and do not apply prelearned models of object appearance. VOT-TIR2015 is the first benchmark on short-term tracking in TIR sequences. Results of 24 trackers are presented. For each participating tracker, a short description is provided in the appendix. The VOT-TIR2015 challenge is based on the VOT2013 challenge, but introduces the following novelties: (i) the newly collected LTIR (Linköping TIR) dataset is used, (ii) the VOT2013 attributes are adapted to TIR data, (iii) the evaluation is performed using insights gained during VOT2013 and VOT2014 and is similar to VOT2015.
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| 7. |
- Fu, H. Y., et al.
(författare)
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Microchanneled Chirped Fiber Bragg Grating Formed by Femtosecond Laser-Aided Chemical Etching for Refractive Index and Temperature Measurements
- 2008
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Ingår i: IEEE Photonics Technology Letters. - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). - 1041-1135 .- 1941-0174. ; 20:17-20, s. 1609-1611
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this work, a microchanneled chirped fiber Bragg grating (MCFBG) is proposed and fabricated through the femtosecond laser-assisted chemical etching. The microchannel (similar to 550 mu m) gives access to the external index liquid, thus inducing refractive index (RI) sensitivity to the structure. In the experiment, the transmission bands induced by the reduced effective index in the microchannel region were used to sense the surrounding RI and temperature changes. The experimental results show good agreement with the theoretical analysis. The proposed MCFBG offers enhanced RI sensitivity without degrading the robustness of the device showing good application potential as bio-chemical sensors.
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| 8. |
- Ghalambaz, Mohammad, et al.
(författare)
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Study of thermal and hydrodynamic characteristics of water-nano-encapsulated phase change particles suspension in an annulus of a porous eccentric horizontal cylinder
- 2020
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Ingår i: International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer. - : Elsevier BV. - 0017-9310 .- 1879-2189. ; 156
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, the thermal and hydrodynamic characteristics of a suspension with water-Nano-Encapsulated Phase Change Material (NEPCM) in an annulus of a porous eccentric horizontal cylinder are investigated. The NEPCM particles have a core-shell structure and stability suspended in water. Hence, the particles, along with the liquid, could freely circulate inside the annuli of the horizontal cylinder due to the buoyancy forces. The cores of these particles are made from a Phase Change Material (PCM). Moreover, such cores are in a continuous exchange of heat transfer between the solid and liquid phases. The heat transfer is acting in a combination of absorption, storage, and release mechanisms. The governing equations for the fluid motions and conservation of energy could be written in partial differential forms and by using the appropriate non-dimensional variables converted into non-dimensional ones. Then, the numerical approach is applied by implementing the finite element method (FEM) to solve such equations iteratively. The impact of various non-dimensional parameters including the fusion temperature, Stefan number, Rayleigh number, Darcy number, the volume fraction of nanoparticles, and eccentricity of the inner cylinder is addressed on the flow and heat transfer. It is observed that the most favourable fusion temperature ranges for the maximum heat transfer rate vary as a function of the Rayleigh number. In addition, the heat transfer rate can be enhanced by applying the phase change core of nanoparticles.
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| 9. |
- Khodabandeh, E., et al.
(författare)
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CFD study of non-premixed swirling burners : Effect of turbulence models
- 2020
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Ingår i: Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering. - : Elsevier BV. - 1004-9541 .- 2210-321X. ; 28:4, s. 1029-1038
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This research investigates a numerical simulation of swirling turbulent non-premixed combustion. The effects on the combustion characteristics are examined with three turbulence models: namely as the Reynolds stress model, spectral turbulence analysis and Re-Normalization Group. In addition, the P-1 and discrete ordinate (DO) models are used to simulate the radiative heat transfer in this model. The governing equations associated with the required boundary conditions are solved using the numerical model. The accuracy of this model is validated with the published experimental data and the comparison elucidates that there is a reasonable agreement between the obtained values from this model and the corresponding experimental quantities. Among different models proposed in this research, the Reynolds stress model with the Probability Density Function (PDF) approach is more accurate (nearly up to 50%) than other turbulent models for a swirling flow field. Regarding the effect of radiative heat transfer model, it is observed that the discrete ordinate model is more precise than the P-1 model in anticipating the experimental behavior. This model is able to simulate the subcritical nature of the isothermal flow as well as the size and shape of the internal recirculation induced by the swirl due to combustion.
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| 10. |
- Kristan, Matej, et al.
(författare)
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The Visual Object Tracking VOT2015 challenge results
- 2015
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Ingår i: Proceedings 2015 IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision Workshops ICCVW 2015. - : IEEE. - 9780769557205 ; , s. 564-586
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Visual Object Tracking challenge 2015, VOT2015, aims at comparing short-term single-object visual trackers that do not apply pre-learned models of object appearance. Results of 62 trackers are presented. The number of tested trackers makes VOT 2015 the largest benchmark on short-term tracking to date. For each participating tracker, a short description is provided in the appendix. Features of the VOT2015 challenge that go beyond its VOT2014 predecessor are: (i) a new VOT2015 dataset twice as large as in VOT2014 with full annotation of targets by rotated bounding boxes and per-frame attribute, (ii) extensions of the VOT2014 evaluation methodology by introduction of a new performance measure. The dataset, the evaluation kit as well as the results are publicly available at the challenge website(1).
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