| 1. |
- Johnston, B. C., et al.
(författare)
-
Microbial Preparations (Probiotics) for the Prevention of Clostridium difficile Infection in Adults and Children: An Individual Patient Data Meta-analysis of 6,851 Participants
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 0899-823X .- 1559-6834. ; 39:7, s. 771-781
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE. To determine whether probiotic prophylaxes reduce the odds of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in adults and children. DESIGN. Individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), adjusting for risk factors. METHODS. We searched 6 databases and 11 grey literature sources from inception to April 2016. We identified 32 RCTs (n=8,713); among them, 18 RCTs provided IPD (n=6,851 participants) comparing probiotic prophylaxis to placebo or no treatment (standard care). One reviewer prepared the IPD, and 2 reviewers extracted data, rated study quality, and graded evidence quality. RESULTS. Probiotics reduced CDI odds in the unadjusted model (n=6,645; odds ratio [OR] 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.25-0.55) and the adjusted model (n=5,074; OR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.23-0.55). Using 2 or more antibiotics increased the odds of CDI (OR, 2.20; 95% CI, 1.11-4.37), whereas age, sex, hospitalization status, and high-risk antibiotic exposure did not. Adjusted subgroup analyses suggested that, compared to no probiotics, multispecies probiotics were more beneficial than single-species probiotics, as was using probiotics in clinical settings where the CDI risk is 5%. Of 18 studies, 14 reported adverse events. In 11 of these 14 studies, the adverse events were retained in the adjusted model. Odds for serious adverse events were similar for both groups in the unadjusted analyses (n=4,990; OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.89-1.26) and adjusted analyses (n=4,718; OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.89-1.28). Missing outcome data for CDI ranged from 0% to 25.8%. Our analyses were robust to a sensitivity analysis for missingness. CONCLUSIONS. Moderate quality (ie, certainty) evidence suggests that probiotic prophylaxis may be a useful and safe CDI prevention strategy, particularly among participants taking 2 or more antibiotics and in hospital settings where the risk of CDI is >= 5%.
|
|
| 2. |
- du Toit, Lisa, et al.
(författare)
-
The Effect of Dietary Nitrate on the Oral Microbiome and Salivary Biomarkers in Individuals with High Blood Pressure.
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Journal of Nutrition. - : Elsevier. - 0022-3166 .- 1541-6100.
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Green leafy vegetables (GLV) contain inorganic nitrate, an anion with potential prebiotic effects on the oral microbiome. However, it remains unclear whether GLV and pharmacological supplementation [potassium nitrate (PN)] with a nitrate salt induce similar effects on the oral microbiome.OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare the effect of GLV with PN supplementation on the oral microbiome composition and salivary biomarkers in individuals with high blood pressure.METHODS: Seventy individuals were randomly allocated to 3 different groups to follow a 5-wk dietary intervention. Group 1 consumed 300 mg/d of nitrate in form of GLV. Group 2 consumed pills with 300 mg/d of PN and low-nitrate vegetables. Group 3 consumed pills with potassium chloride (placebo: PLAC) and low-nitrate vegetables. The oral microbiome composition and salivary biomarkers of oral health were analyzed before and after the dietary intervention.RESULTS: The GLV and PN groups showed similar microbial changes, probably nitrate-dependent, including an increase in the abundance of Neisseria, Capnocytophaga, Campylobacter species, and a decrease in Veillonella, Megasphaera, Actinomyces, and Eubacterium species after the treatment. Increased abundance of Rothia species, and reduced abundance of Streptococcus, Prevotella, Actinomyces, and Mogibacterium species were observed in the GLV group, which could be nitrate-independent. GLV and PN treatments increased salivary pH, but only GLV treatment showed an increase in the salivary buffering capacity and a reduction of lactate.CONCLUSION: The combination of nitrate-dependent and nitrate-independent microbial changes in the GLV group has a stronger effect to potentially improve oral health biomarkers compared with PN.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
- Leijon, Arne, et al.
(författare)
-
Analysis of data from the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA) using Bayesian Item Response Theory
- 2020
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Audiology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1499-2027 .- 1708-8186.
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: IOI-HA response data are conventionally analysed assuming that the ordinal responses have interval-scale properties. This study critically considers this assumption and compares the conventional approach with a method using Item Response Theory (IRT). Design: A Bayesian IRT analysis model was implemented and applied to several IOI-HA data sets. Study sample: Anonymised IOI-HA responses from 13273 adult users of one or two hearing aids in 11 data sets using the Australian English, Dutch, German and Swedish versions of the IOI-HA. Results: The raw ordinal responses to IOI-HA items do not represent values on interval scales. Using the conventional rating sum as an overall score introduces a scale error corresponding to about 10 − 15% of the true standard deviation in the population. Some interesting and statistically credible differences were demonstrated among the included data sets. Conclusions: It is questionable to apply conventional statistical measures like mean, variance, t-tests, etc., on the raw IOI-HA ratings. It is recommended to apply only nonparametric statistical test methods for comparisons of IOI-HA results between groups. The scale error can sometimes cause incorrect conclusions when individual results are compared. The IRT approach is recommended for analysis of individual results.
|
|
| 6. |
- Thorslund, Birgitta, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
-
Exploring older adults hearing and vision and driving : The Swedish study
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Transportation Research Part F. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 1369-8478 .- 1873-5517. ; 64, s. 274-284
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim: The aims of this study were to evaluate the self-reported driving abilities and use of visual and hearing aids for driving, among older adults with varying degrees of hearing impairment (HI), vision impairment (VI) and dual sensory impairment (DSI). Visual processing related to driving performance was also assessed to provide a laboratory-based index of driving ability and safety. The research examined the associations between self-reported and clinically measured vision and hearing, and how they related to the level of comfort in various driving situations and the use of hearing and vision aids (spectacles) when driving.Method: Participants included 109 older adults (58 women, 51 men) aged over 60 years (M age = 69.5 years (SD = 5.25), age range: 60–87) who held a valid driver's license. Following attendance at the testing session that involved clinical measures of vision and hearing and an assessment of visual processing abilities, the participants were categorized into four groups according to their hearing and vision abilities: no visual or hearing impairment (NI), corrected visual impairment (CVI), hearing impairment (HI), and corrected visual impairment combined with hearing impairment (CVHI). All participants filled in a questionnaire covering subjective measures of vision, hearing, driving habits, and use of vision and hearing aids.Results and Conclusion: There was a strong association between most of the subjective and objective measures of both hearing and vision, which indicates that participants in this study were aware of their abilities to some extent. Better hearing and vision measures were associated with higher level of comfort in several traffic situations. The results also show that spectacles are used more than hearing aids when driving (95% versus 57% of the time respectively). In addition, both the measured and the experienced benefits of hearing aids were significantly associated with the amount of hearing aid use when driving. The findings of this study provide the basis for larger scale studies to explore the impact of hearing and visual impairment on driving and the use of vision and hearing aids and should also include participants who have visual impairment even with their optimal optical correction to fully explore these effects.
|
|
| 7. |
- Wakelam, V., et al.
(författare)
-
A KINETIC DATABASE FOR ASTROCHEMISTRY (KIDA)
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 199:1, s. 21-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a novel chemical database for gas-phase astrochemistry. Named the KInetic Database for Astrochemistry (KIDA), this database consists of gas-phase reactions with rate coefficients and uncertainties that will be vetted to the greatest extent possible. Submissions of measured and calculated rate coefficients are welcome, and will be studied by experts before inclusion into the database. Besides providing kinetic information for the interstellar medium, KIDA is planned to contain such data for planetary atmospheres and for circumstellar envelopes. Each year, a subset of the reactions in the database (kida.uva) will be provided as a network for the simulation of the chemistry of dense interstellar clouds with temperatures between 10 K and 300 K. We also provide a code, named Nahoon, to study the time-dependent gas-phase chemistry of zero-dimensional and one-dimensional interstellar sources.
|
|
