| 1. |
- Beal, Jacob, et al.
(author)
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Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density
- 2020
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In: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 3:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data.
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| 2. |
- Zamora, Juan Carlos, et al.
(author)
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Considerations and consequences of allowing DNA sequence data as types of fungal taxa
- 2018
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In: IMA Fungus. - : INT MYCOLOGICAL ASSOC. - 2210-6340 .- 2210-6359. ; 9:1, s. 167-185
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nomenclatural type definitions are one of the most important concepts in biological nomenclature. Being physical objects that can be re-studied by other researchers, types permanently link taxonomy (an artificial agreement to classify biological diversity) with nomenclature (an artificial agreement to name biological diversity). Two proposals to amend the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), allowing DNA sequences alone (of any region and extent) to serve as types of taxon names for voucherless fungi (mainly putative taxa from environmental DNA sequences), have been submitted to be voted on at the 11th International Mycological Congress (Puerto Rico, July 2018). We consider various genetic processes affecting the distribution of alleles among taxa and find that alleles may not consistently and uniquely represent the species within which they are contained. Should the proposals be accepted, the meaning of nomenclatural types would change in a fundamental way from physical objects as sources of data to the data themselves. Such changes are conducive to irreproducible science, the potential typification on artefactual data, and massive creation of names with low information content, ultimately causing nomenclatural instability and unnecessary work for future researchers that would stall future explorations of fungal diversity. We conclude that the acceptance of DNA sequences alone as types of names of taxa, under the terms used in the current proposals, is unnecessary and would not solve the problem of naming putative taxa known only from DNA sequences in a scientifically defensible way. As an alternative, we highlight the use of formulas for naming putative taxa (candidate taxa) that do not require any modification of the ICN.
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| 3. |
- Ademuyiwa, Adesoji O., et al.
(author)
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Determinants of morbidity and mortality following emergency abdominal surgery in children in low-income and middle-income countries
- 2016
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In: BMJ Global Health. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2059-7908. ; 1:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Child health is a key priority on the global health agenda, yet the provision of essential and emergency surgery in children is patchy in resource-poor regions. This study was aimed to determine the mortality risk for emergency abdominal paediatric surgery in low-income countries globally.Methods: Multicentre, international, prospective, cohort study. Self-selected surgical units performing emergency abdominal surgery submitted prespecified data for consecutive children aged <16 years during a 2-week period between July and December 2014. The United Nation's Human Development Index (HDI) was used to stratify countries. The main outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality, analysed by multilevel logistic regression.Results: This study included 1409 patients from 253 centres in 43 countries; 282 children were under 2 years of age. Among them, 265 (18.8%) were from low-HDI, 450 (31.9%) from middle-HDI and 694 (49.3%) from high-HDI countries. The most common operations performed were appendectomy, small bowel resection, pyloromyotomy and correction of intussusception. After adjustment for patient and hospital risk factors, child mortality at 30 days was significantly higher in low-HDI (adjusted OR 7.14 (95% CI 2.52 to 20.23), p<0.001) and middle-HDI (4.42 (1.44 to 13.56), p=0.009) countries compared with high-HDI countries, translating to 40 excess deaths per 1000 procedures performed.Conclusions: Adjusted mortality in children following emergency abdominal surgery may be as high as 7 times greater in low-HDI and middle-HDI countries compared with high-HDI countries. Effective provision of emergency essential surgery should be a key priority for global child health agendas.
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| 4. |
- Loeffen, Erik A. H., et al.
(author)
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Reducing pain in children with cancer : Methodology for the development of a clinical practice guideline
- 2019
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In: Pediatric Blood & Cancer. - : Wiley. - 1545-5009 .- 1545-5017. ; 66:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Although pain is one of the most prevalent and bothersome symptoms children with cancer experience, evidence-based guidance regarding assessment and management is lacking. With 44 international, multidisciplinary healthcare professionals and nine patient representatives, we aimed to develop a clinical practice guideline (following GRADE methodology), addressing assessment and pharmacological, psychological, and physical management of tumor-, treatment-, and procedure-related pain in children with cancer. In this paper, we present our thorough methodology for this development, including the challenges we faced and how we approached these. This lays the foundation for our clinical practice guideline, for which there is a high clinical demand.
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| 5. |
- Pironi, Loris, et al.
(author)
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Characteristics of adult patients with chronic intestinal failure due to short bowel syndrome: An international multicenter survey
- 2021
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In: Clinical Nutrition ESPEN. - : Elsevier BV. - 2405-4577. ; 45, s. 433-441
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and aims: The case-mix of patients with intestinal failure due to short bowel syndrome (SBS-IF) can differ among centres and may also be affected by the timeframe of data collection. Therefore, the ESPEN international multicenter cross-sectional survey was analyzed to compare the characteristics of SBS-IF cohorts collected within the same timeframe in different countries. Methods: The study included 1880 adult SBS-IF patients collected in 2015 by 65 centres from 22 countries. The demographic, nutritional, SBS type (end jejunostomy, SBS-J; jejuno-colic anastomosis, SBS-JC; jejunoileal anastomosis with an intact colon and ileocecal valve, SBS-JIC), underlying disease and intravenous supplementation (IVS) characteristics were analyzed. IVS was classified as fluid and electrolyte alone (FE) or parenteral nutrition admixture (PN). The mean daily IVS volume, calculated on a weekly basis, was categorized as <1, 1–2, 2–3 and >3 L/day. Results: In the entire group: 60.7% were females and SBS-J comprised 60% of cases, while mesenteric ischaemia (MI) and Crohn’ disease (CD) were the main underlying diseases. IVS dependency was longer than 3 years in around 50% of cases; IVS was infused ≥5 days/week in 75% and FE in 10% of cases. Within the SBS-IF cohort: CD was twice and thrice more frequent in SBS-J than SBS-JC and SBS-JIC, respectively, while MI was more frequent in SBS-JC and SBS-JIC. Within countries: SBS-J represented 75% or more of patients in UK and Denmark and 50-60% in the other countries, except Poland where SBS-JC prevailed. CD was the main underlying disease in UK, USA, Denmark and The Netherlands, while MI prevailed in France, Italy and Poland. Conclusions: SBS-IF type is primarily determined by the underlying disease, with significant variation between countries. These novel data will be useful for planning and managing both clinical activity and research studies on SBS.
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| 6. |
- Van Bulck, Liesbet, et al.
(author)
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Patient-reported outcomes of adults with congenital heart disease from eight European countries : scrutinising the association with healthcare system performance
- 2019
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In: European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. - : Sage Publications. - 1474-5151 .- 1873-1953. ; 18:6, s. 465-473
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Inter-country variation in patient-reported outcomes of adults with congenital heart disease has been observed. Country-specific characteristics may play a role. A previous study found an association between healthcare system performance and patient-reported outcomes. However, it remains unknown which specific components of the countries’ healthcare system performance are of importance for patient-reported outcomes.Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between components of healthcare system performance and patient-reported outcomes in a large sample of adults with congenital heart disease.Methods: A total of 1591 adults with congenital heart disease (median age 34 years; 51% men; 32% simple, 48% moderate and 20% complex defects) from eight European countries were included in this cross-sectional study. The following patient-reported outcomes were measured: perceived physical and mental health, psychological distress, health behaviours and quality of life. The Euro Health Consumer Index 2015 and the Euro Heart Index 2016 were used as measures of healthcare system performance. General linear mixed models were conducted, adjusting for patient-specific variables and unmeasured country differences.Results: Health risk behaviours were associated with the Euro Health Consumer Index subdomains about patient rights and information, health outcomes and financing and access to pharmaceuticals. Perceived physical health was associated with the Euro Health Consumer Index subdomain about prevention of chronic diseases. Subscales of the Euro Heart Index were not associated with patient-reported outcomes.Conclusion: Several features of healthcare system performance are associated with perceived physical health and health risk behaviour in adults with congenital heart disease. Before recommendations for policy-makers and clinicians can be conducted, future research ought to investigate the impact of the healthcare system performance on outcomes further.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Azevedo, Flavio, et al.
(author)
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Social and moral psychology of COVID-19 across 69 countries
- 2023
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In: Scientific Data. - : NATURE PORTFOLIO. - 2052-4463. ; 10:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all domains of human life, including the economic and social fabric of societies. One of the central strategies for managing public health throughout the pandemic has been through persuasive messaging and collective behaviour change. To help scholars better understand the social and moral psychology behind public health behaviour, we present a dataset comprising of 51,404 individuals from 69 countries. This dataset was collected for the International Collaboration on Social & Moral Psychology of COVID-19 project (ICSMP COVID-19). This social science survey invited participants around the world to complete a series of moral and psychological measures and public health attitudes about COVID-19 during an early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (between April and June 2020). The survey included seven broad categories of questions: COVID-19 beliefs and compliance behaviours; identity and social attitudes; ideology; health and well-being; moral beliefs and motivation; personality traits; and demographic variables. We report both raw and cleaned data, along with all survey materials, data visualisations, and psychometric evaluations of key variables.
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| 9. |
- Daniels, Mats, et al.
(author)
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Competencies for paradigm shift "survival"
- 2015
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In: Proc. 45th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference. - Piscataway, NJ : IEEE Press. - 9781479984534 ; , s. 1424-1429
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)
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| 10. |
- Daniels, Mats, 1956-, et al.
(author)
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Why Don't You Tell Me What I Need to Know? : Self-Flipped Classroom and Students' Personal Epistemology
- 2021
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In: 2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE). - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). - 9781665438513
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This is a full research paper addressing the crucial element of understanding students when creating learning environments. It is for instance important to be aware of how students appreciate our way of teaching and to consider consequences of students not understanding or plainly disliking a setup. This paper addresses the negative experiences of students in a peer-learning environment named the self-flipped classroom. Through the lens of a theory of personal epistemology we investigate course evaluation reports and observations from anonymous students. Results indicate that the personal epistemology framework indeed gives some answers to students disliking the self-flipped aspect of the course, and that some students would rather be told what to learn in detail as in the quote: “why don't you tell me what I need to know?”. Finally the paper presents some ideas on ways forward.
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