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International Journal of Environmental... Jan 2023The rise of the Internet and information and communication technologies (ICTs) has led to employees spending increasingly more time on non-work-related digital... (Review)
Review
The rise of the Internet and information and communication technologies (ICTs) has led to employees spending increasingly more time on non-work-related digital activities at work. A vast literature base exists that is devoted to the potential adverse effect of such activities in the form of cyberloafing. However, not much is known about the positive outcomes of such activities conceptualized as digital leisure. The present review systematically examines current literature on digital leisure activities and how these contribute to positive outcomes in the workplace. Additionally, possible moderating and mediating variables are investigated. Using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) framework, eight peer-reviewed studies were identified that met inclusion criteria. The results indicate that resource recovery processes and employee well-being, as well as employee productivity are positively associated with digital leisure in the workplace. Age was found to moderate the relationship between digital leisure and self-reported employee productivity, while employee satisfaction was found to mediate the relationship between digital leisure and employee productivity. Future research directions are outlined and implications for the work context are discussed.
Topics: Humans; Workplace; Leisure Activities; Self Report; Internet; Efficiency
PubMed: 36673769
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20021014 -
Coronavirus sampling and surveillance in bats from 1996-2019: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Nature Microbiology Jun 2023The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 highlights a need for evidence-based strategies to monitor bat viruses. We performed a systematic review of coronavirus sampling (testing for... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 highlights a need for evidence-based strategies to monitor bat viruses. We performed a systematic review of coronavirus sampling (testing for RNA positivity) in bats globally. We identified 110 studies published between 2005 and 2020 that collectively reported positivity from 89,752 bat samples. We compiled 2,274 records of infection prevalence at the finest methodological, spatiotemporal and phylogenetic level of detail possible from public records into an open, static database named datacov, together with metadata on sampling and diagnostic methods. We found substantial heterogeneity in viral prevalence across studies, reflecting spatiotemporal variation in viral dynamics and methodological differences. Meta-analysis identified sample type and sampling design as the best predictors of prevalence, with virus detection maximized in rectal and faecal samples and by repeat sampling of the same site. Fewer than one in five studies collected and reported longitudinal data, and euthanasia did not improve virus detection. We show that bat sampling before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was concentrated in China, with research gaps in South Asia, the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa, and in subfamilies of phyllostomid bats. We propose that surveillance strategies should address these gaps to improve global health security and enable the origins of zoonotic coronaviruses to be identified.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Chiroptera; Phylogeny; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; China
PubMed: 37231088
DOI: 10.1038/s41564-023-01375-1 -
Journal of the European Academy of... Oct 2023Increasing air pollution is common around the world, but the impacts of outdoor air pollution exposure on atopic dermatitis (AD) are unclear. We synthesized the current... (Review)
Review
Increasing air pollution is common around the world, but the impacts of outdoor air pollution exposure on atopic dermatitis (AD) are unclear. We synthesized the current global epidemiologic evidence for air pollution exposure and associated medical visits for AD among adults and children. This review followed PRISMA guidelines, and searches were conducted on PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science and EMBASE databases. The searches yielded 390 studies, and after screening, 18 studies around the world assessing at least 5,197,643 medical visits for AD in total were included for the final analysis. We found that exposure to particulate matter ≤2.5 μm in diameter (PM ) [(10/11) of studies], particulate matter ≤10 μm in diameter (PM ) (11/13), nitrogen dioxide (NO ) (12/14) and sulfur dioxide (SO ) (10/13) was positively associated with AD visits. Results were equivocal for ozone [(4/8) of studies reported positive association] and limited for carbon monoxide [(1/4) of studies reported positive association]. When stratifying results by patient age, patient sex and season, we found that the associations with particulate matter, NO and O may be affected by temperature. Exposure to selected air pollutants is associated with AD visits, and increasingly poor worldwide air quality may increase global healthcare use for AD.
Topics: Child; Adult; Humans; Nitrogen Dioxide; Dermatitis, Atopic; Environmental Exposure; Air Pollution; Air Pollutants; Particulate Matter; Delivery of Health Care
PubMed: 37184289
DOI: 10.1111/jdv.19193 -
Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical... Dec 2023Tumor immunotherapy has recently emerged as a crucial focal point in oncology treatment research. Among tumor immunotherapy approaches, tumor immune checkpoint... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
INTRODUCTION
Tumor immunotherapy has recently emerged as a crucial focal point in oncology treatment research. Among tumor immunotherapy approaches, tumor immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have attracted substantial attention in clinical research. However, this treatment modality has benefitted only a limited number of patients. We conducted a meta-analysis of various biomarkers to decipher their prognostic implications in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) who are treated with ICIs, and thus identify predictive markers with practical clinical relevance.
METHODS
A systematic search of electronic databases was conducted to identify clinical studies that examined the correlation between biomarkers and treatment outcomes in the HNSCC patients. The included articles were screened and analyzed to extract data regarding overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).
RESULTS
The relationship between the biomarkers included in the summary and prognosis was as follows: HPV positivity was associated with improved OS (HR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.58-1.99), PFS (HR = 1.16, 95% CI = 0.81-1.67), and response (OR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.37-2.99). PD-L1 positivity was associated with OS (HR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.59-0.85), PFS (HR = 0.56 95% CI = 0.43-0.73), and response (OR = 2.16, 95% CI = 1.51-3.10). Neither HPV positivity nor PD-L1 positivity was associated with DCR. The following markers were collected for OS and PFS data and were associated with longer OS: lower Glasgow prognostic score (GPS/mGPS) grading, lower PS grading, high body mass index (BMI), low neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), low platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), high albumin (Alb), low lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Factors associated with better PFS were lower GPS/mGPS grading, lower PS grading, high BMI, low NLR, high absolute lymphocyte count, and low LDH. Hyperprogressive disease was associated with worse OS and PFS. Fewer clinical studies have been completed on the tumor microenvironment and hypoxia, microsatellite instability/DNA mismatch repair, and microbiome and systematic analysis is difficult.
CONCLUSION
In our meta-analysis, different immune checkpoint factors were associated with different prognoses in HNSCC patients receiving immunotherapy. HPV, PD-L1, BMI, Alb, HPD, PS, GPS/mGPS, LDH, NLR, and PLR predicted the ICI outcome in HNSCC patients.
Topics: Humans; Prognosis; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors; B7-H1 Antigen; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck; Papillomavirus Infections; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Biomarkers; Tumor Microenvironment
PubMed: 38078963
DOI: 10.1007/s00432-023-05504-5 -
Drug Safety Sep 2021Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been discouraged for the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections, fearing... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
BACKGROUND
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been discouraged for the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections, fearing that they could increase the risk of infection or the severity of SARS-CoV-2.
METHODS
Original studies providing information on exposure to NSAIDs and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes were retrieved and were included in a descriptive analysis and a meta-analysis with Cochrane Revue Manager (REVMAN 5.4), using inverse variance odds ratio (OR) with random- or fixed-effects models.
RESULTS
Of 92,853 papers mentioning COVID-19, 266 mentioned NSAIDs and 61 mentioned ibuprofen; 19 papers had analysable data. Three papers described NSAID exposure and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 positivity, five papers described the risk of hospital admission in positive patients, 10 papers described death, and six papers described severe composite outcomes. Five papers studied exposure to ibuprofen and death. Using random-effects models, there was no excess risk of SARS-CoV-2 positivity (OR 0.86, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.71-1.05). In SARS-CoV-2-positive patients, exposure to NSAIDs was not associated with excess risk of hospital admission (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.80-1.17), death (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.80-0.98), or severe outcomes (OR 1.14, 95% CI 0.90-1.44). With ibuprofen, there was no increased risk of death (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.78-1.13). Using a fixed-effect model did not modify the results, nor did the sensitivity analyses.
CONCLUSION
The theoretical risks of NSAIDs or ibuprofen in SARS-CoV-2 infection are not confirmed by observational data.
Topics: Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; COVID-19; Hospitalization; Humans; Observational Studies as Topic; Odds Ratio; SARS-CoV-2; Severity of Illness Index; COVID-19 Drug Treatment
PubMed: 34339037
DOI: 10.1007/s40264-021-01089-5 -
Journal of the American Pharmacists... 2022Emotional intelligence (EI) can help perceive, understand, and manage emotions and positively impact performance in any profession, including pharmacists, and... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Emotional intelligence (EI) can help perceive, understand, and manage emotions and positively impact performance in any profession, including pharmacists, and consequently may have positive influence on patient-related outcomes. Although there is strong body of evidence suggesting that developing EI in health professionals (HPs) can increase their capacity to successfully communicate and build relationships with patients, thus increasing patient satisfaction, little is known about it in pharmaceutical care (PhC).
OBJECTIVES
This review aimed to synthesize available data on the probable impact of EI on PhC.
METHODS
PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases were searched for papers in English dated between January 2000 and June 2021. Quantitative, qualitative, or mixed method studies on EI and PhC that involved practicing pharmacists were included.
RESULTS
The inclusion criteria were met by 4 papers only. One reported positive impact of EI in reducing the negative correlation between autistic-like traits and empathy among hospital pharmacists. One study demonstrated that EI levels can be significantly enhanced through pharmacy leadership programs. Another study established a positive correlation between EI and entrepreneurial orientation in practicing community pharmacists. Higher EI scores were predictors of increased work innovation, proactivity, and risk-taking levels. One study reported comparative EI data between different HPs and found pharmacists' superiority in the EI subdomains of self-awareness, self-motivation, and social skills.
CONCLUSION
Additional research is required to provide evidence on how EI and EI development programs can add value to the provision of PhC. Processes and resources ought to be developed and secured to support the implementation and follow-up of such programs to bring long-term benefits to practicing pharmacists and consequently positively impacting patient-reported health outcomes.
Topics: Emotional Intelligence; Empathy; Health Personnel; Humans; Pharmaceutical Services; Pharmacists
PubMed: 35341711
DOI: 10.1016/j.japh.2022.02.019 -
Psychoradiology 2023Loneliness is associated with high prevalences of major psychiatric illnesses such as major depression. However, the underlying emotional mechanisms of loneliness... (Review)
Review
Loneliness is associated with high prevalences of major psychiatric illnesses such as major depression. However, the underlying emotional mechanisms of loneliness remained unclear. We hypothesized that loneliness originates from both decreases in positive emotional processing and increases in negative emotion processing. To test this, we conducted a systematic review of 29 previous studies (total participants = 19 560, mean age = 37.16 years, female proportion = 59.7%), including 18 studies that included questionnaire measures of emotions only, and 11 studies that examined the brain correlates of emotions. The main findings were that loneliness was negatively correlated with general positive emotions and positively correlated with general negative emotions. Furthermore, limited evidence indicates loneliness exhibited negative and positive correlations with the brain positive (e.g. the striatum) and negative (e.g. insula) emotion systems, respectively, but the sign of correlation was not entirely consistent. Additionally, loneliness was associated with the structure and function of the brain emotion regulation systems, particularly the prefrontal cortex, but the direction of this relationship remained ambiguous. We concluded that the existing evidence supported a bivalence model of loneliness, but several critical gaps existed that could be addressed by future studies that include adolescent and middle-aged samples, use both questionnaire and task measures of emotions, distinguish between general emotion and social emotion as well as between positive and negative emotion regulation, and adopt a longitudinal design that allows us to ascertain the causal relationships between loneliness and emotion dysfunction. Our findings provide new insights into the underlying emotion mechanisms of loneliness that can inform interventions for lonely individuals.
PubMed: 38666115
DOI: 10.1093/psyrad/kkad029 -
European Journal of Clinical... Sep 2023A clear cutoff value of galactomannan (GM) has not been established for chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) and is frequently extrapolated from invasive pulmonary... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
Systematic review and meta-analysis of galactomannan antigen testing in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage for the diagnosis of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis: defining a cutoff.
BACKGROUND
A clear cutoff value of galactomannan (GM) has not been established for chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) and is frequently extrapolated from invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the diagnostic performance of serum and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) GM, and to propose a cutoff.
METHODS
We extracted from the studies the cutoff of serum or/and BAL GM associated with true positives, false positives, true negatives, and false negatives. We performed a multi-cutoff model and a non-parametric random effect model. We estimated the optimal cutoff and the area under the curve (AUC) for GM in serum and BAL samples.
RESULTS
Nine studies from 1999 to 2021 were included. Overall, the optimal cutoff of serum GM was 0.96 with a sensitivity of 0.29 (95%CI: 0.14-0.51); specificity of 0.88 (95%CI: 0.73-0.95); and AUC of 0.529 (with a CI: [0.415-0.682] [0.307-0.713]). The AUC for the non-parametric ROC model was 0.631. For BAL GM the cutoff was 0.67 with a sensitivity of 0.68 (95%CI: 0.51-0.82), specificity of 0.84 (95%CI: 0.70-0.92), and AUC of 0.814 (with a CI: [0.696-0.895] [0.733-0.881]). The AUC for the non-parametric model was 0.789.
CONCLUSION
The diagnosis of CPA requires the assessment of a combination of mycological and serological factors, as no single serum and/or BAL GM antigen test is adequate. BAL GM performed better than serum, with better sensitivity and excellent accuracy.
Topics: Humans; Sensitivity and Specificity; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; Pulmonary Aspergillosis; Bronchoalveolar Lavage; Mannans
PubMed: 37430166
DOI: 10.1007/s10096-023-04639-0 -
Psychological Reports Dec 2023Nowadays it is important for companies to keep their profits and productivity high. This can be achieved by creating a good environment in which employees can perform at... (Review)
Review
Nowadays it is important for companies to keep their profits and productivity high. This can be achieved by creating a good environment in which employees can perform at their best. Unfortunately, counterproductive work behavior (CWB) is widespread in the workplace and poses a serious threat to both organizational performance and employee well-being. Among the many potential risk factors for CWB, the Dark Triad (DT) personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) have received increasing attention in recent years. To assess the robustness and magnitude of the association between DT and CWB, we conducted a systematic review of the available literature on DT and CWB using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines after a thorough search of several databases, 21 papers were included. The results showed that DT and CWB are positively associated. Psychopathy exhibited the strongest positive association with CWB, followed immediately by Machiavellianism and narcissism. Moreover, Machiavellianism and psychopathy showed positive correlations with both forms of CWB (organisational and interpersonal), whereas narcissism was positively correlated only with interpersonal CWB. Our findings highlight that even though organisations could benefit from people with DT at the performance level, there could be serious implications for well-being and an appropriate work environment due to CWB.
PubMed: 38041685
DOI: 10.1177/00332941231219921 -
Viruses Mar 2021Repeated positivity and reinfection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) is a significant concern. Our study aimed to evaluate the clinical... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
Repeated positivity and reinfection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) is a significant concern. Our study aimed to evaluate the clinical significance of repeatedly positive testing after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) recovery. We performed a systematic literature search following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline. With available individual patient data reporting on repeatedly SARS-CoV-2 positive (RSP) patients, case reports, and case series were included in this analysis. We performed a descriptive analysis of baseline characteristics of repeatedly positive cases. We assessed the cases according to the length of their polymerase chain reaction (PCR) negative interval between the two episodes. Risk factors for the severity of second episodes were evaluated. Overall, we included 123 patients with repeated positivity from 56 publications, with a mean repeated positivity length of 47.8 ± 29.9 days. Younger patients were predominant in the delayed (>90 days) recurrent positive group. Furthermore, comparing patients with RSP intervals of below 60 and above 60 days, we found that a more severe disease course can be expected if the repeated positivity interval is shorter. Severe and critical disease courses might predict future repeatedly positive severe and critical COVID-19 episodes. In conclusion, our results show that the second episode of SARS-CoV-2 positivity is more severe if it happens within 60 days after the first positive PCR. On the other hand, the second episode's severity correlates with the first.
Topics: Adult; Aged; COVID-19; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Reinfection; SARS-CoV-2; Young Adult
PubMed: 33808867
DOI: 10.3390/v13030512