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International Journal of Environmental... Oct 2021(1) Background: As cities densify, researcher and policy focus is intensifying on which green space types and qualities are important for health. We conducted a... (Review)
Review
(1) Background: As cities densify, researcher and policy focus is intensifying on which green space types and qualities are important for health. We conducted a systematic review to examine whether particular green space types and qualities have been shown to provide health benefits and if so, which specific types and qualities, and which health outcomes. (2) Methods: We searched five databases from inception up to June 30, 2021. We included all studies examining a wide range of green space characteristics on various health outcomes. (3) Results: 68 articles from 59 studies were found, with a high degree of heterogeneity in study designs, definitions of quality and outcomes. Most studies were cross-sectional, ecological or cohort studies. Environment types, vegetation types, and the size and connectivity of green spaces were associated with improved health outcomes, though with contingencies by age and gender. Health benefits were more consistently observed in areas with greater tree canopy, but not grassland. The main outcomes with evidence of health benefits included allergic respiratory conditions, cardiovascular conditions and psychological wellbeing. Both objectively and subjectively measured qualities demonstrated associations with health outcomes. (4) Conclusion: Experimental studies and longitudinal cohort studies will strengthen current evidence. Evidence was lacking for needs-specific or culturally-appropriate amenities and soundscape characteristics. Qualities that need more in-depth investigation include indices that account for forms, patterns, and networks of objectively and subjectively measured green space qualities.
Topics: Cities; Cohort Studies; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Parks, Recreational
PubMed: 34769549
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182111028 -
MBio Feb 2018Elegance is a prized quality in science that is associated with simplicity and explanatory power. This essay considers the qualities that make a scientific model,...
Elegance is a prized quality in science that is associated with simplicity and explanatory power. This essay considers the qualities that make a scientific model, experiment, method, or theory "elegant," with a focus on the life sciences. We propose a definition of elegance that includes clarity, cleverness, correctness, explanatory power, parsimony, and beauty. The pursuit of elegance can improve the quality of science, but elegance must be pursued with caution, as the truth is sometimes inelegant.
Topics: Biological Science Disciplines; Esthetics; Humans
PubMed: 29463650
DOI: 10.1128/mBio.00043-18 -
Clinical Medicine (London, England) Apr 2015The term 'compassion' has been much used and little discussed. I argue that compassion is a virtue in the Aristotelian sense, one of a family of other-regarding...
The term 'compassion' has been much used and little discussed. I argue that compassion is a virtue in the Aristotelian sense, one of a family of other-regarding properties and belongs to the affective qualities of a moral agent. Its exercise is an essential component of good medical care in many situations and requires grounding in moral principles. Although our dispositions vary, compassion is a quality that can be developed in all of us.
Topics: Empathy; Humans; Interprofessional Relations; Patient Care; Virtues
PubMed: 25824061
DOI: 10.7861/clinmedicine.15-2-121 -
Foods (Basel, Switzerland) Mar 2020Meat is an important source of proteins, vitamins, minerals and fat, and these nutrients are important for their beneficial effects on human health. In recent years,...
Meat is an important source of proteins, vitamins, minerals and fat, and these nutrients are important for their beneficial effects on human health. In recent years, meat quality has become a more relevant topic for consumers with regard to health and sensory characteristics, and for beef industry stakeholders because it affects their profitability. Therefore, the control of meat quality, including technological, sensory and nutritional quality traits, constitutes an important target for any farm animal production. What those qualities are and how we best evaluate them at the different levels of the continuum from the farm to fork are critical to understanding meat production and consumption patterns. However, despite the efforts of the industrials to control the eating and nutritional quality traits of meat and meat products, there remains a high level of variability, which is one reason for consumer dissatisfaction. This Special Issue focuses on the study of continuum aspects from farm to fork, which would have an impact on the control of the nutritional, sensory and technological aspects of carcass, muscle, meat and meat-product qualities. It groups fourteen original studies and one comprehensive review within five main topics that are (i) production systems and rearing practices, (ii) prediction of meat qualities, (iii) statistical approaches for meat quality prediction/management, (iv) muscle biochemistry and proteomics techniques and (v) consumer acceptability, development and characterisation of meat products.
PubMed: 32164289
DOI: 10.3390/foods9030321 -
Clinical and Translational Allergy 2017The quality of acute and long-term anaphylaxis management is variable and this contributes to the poor outcomes experienced by many patients. Clinical practice... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
The quality of acute and long-term anaphylaxis management is variable and this contributes to the poor outcomes experienced by many patients. Clinical practice guidelines have the potential to improve outcomes, but implementing guideline recommendations in routine practice is challenging. Quality indicators have the potential to support guideline implementation efforts.
OBJECTIVE
To identify quality indicators to support the acute and long-term management of anaphylaxis.
METHODS
We conducted a systematic review of the literature that involved searching Medline, EMBASE and CINAHL databases for peer-reviewed published literature for the period 1 January 2005-31 December 2015. Additionally we searched Google for grey and unpublished literature. The identified indicators were descriptively summarized against the most recent international anaphylaxis guidelines (i.e. those produced by the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology) and critically evaluated using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's criteria for indicator development.
RESULTS
Our searches revealed 830 publications, from which we identified five sources for 54 indicators addressing both acute (n = 27) and long-term (n = 27) management of anaphylaxis. The majority of indicators were developed through expert consensus with relatively few of these having been formally piloted or tested to demonstrate that they could discriminate between variations in practice and/or that they were sensitive to change.
CONCLUSIONS
There is a need for a comprehensive set of quality indicators for anaphylaxis management. We have however identified some indicators for the acute and long-term management of anaphylaxis that could with relatively little additional work support efforts to translate guideline recommendations into clinical care.
PubMed: 28546858
DOI: 10.1186/s13601-017-0151-1 -
Plants (Basel, Switzerland) Oct 2021Fleshy fruits are the most demanded fruits because of their organoleptic qualities and nutritional values. The genus is a rich source of diversified stone/drupe fruits... (Review)
Review
Fleshy fruits are the most demanded fruits because of their organoleptic qualities and nutritional values. The genus is a rich source of diversified stone/drupe fruits such as almonds, apricots, plums, sweet cherries, peaches, and nectarines. The fruit-ripening process in involves coordinated biochemical and physiological changes resulting in changes in fruit texture, aroma gain, color change in the pericarp, sugar/organic acid balance, fruit growth, and weight gain. There are different varieties of peaches with unique palatable qualities and gaining knowledge in the genetics behind these quality traits helps in seedling selection for breeding programs. In addition, peaches have shorter post-harvest life due to excessive softening, resulting in fruit quality reduction and market loss. Many studies have been executed to understand the softening process at the molecular level to find the genetic basis. To summarize, this review focused on the molecular aspects of peach fruit quality attributes and their related genetics to understand the underlying mechanisms.
PubMed: 34686000
DOI: 10.3390/plants10102191 -
Plants (Basel, Switzerland) Jul 2023It is well-established that plants are sessile and photoautotrophic organisms that rely on light throughout their entire life cycle. Light quality (spectral composition)... (Review)
Review
It is well-established that plants are sessile and photoautotrophic organisms that rely on light throughout their entire life cycle. Light quality (spectral composition) is especially important as it provides energy for photosynthesis and influences signaling pathways that regulate plant development in the complex process of photomorphogenesis. During previous years, significant progress has been made in light quality's physiological and biochemical effects on crops. However, understanding how light quality modulates plant growth and development remains a complex challenge. In this review, we provide an overview of the role of light quality in regulating the early development of plants, encompassing processes such as seed germination, seedling de-etiolation, and seedling establishment. These insights can be harnessed to improve production planning and crop quality by producing high-quality seedlings in plant factories and improving the theoretical framework for modern agriculture.
PubMed: 37514360
DOI: 10.3390/plants12142746 -
Hellenic Journal of Nuclear Medicine 2020Current literature records a glaring discrepancy between the rapid developments and progress of medicine and the simultaneous deterioration of the quality and safety of... (Review)
Review
Current literature records a glaring discrepancy between the rapid developments and progress of medicine and the simultaneous deterioration of the quality and safety of the provided health care services. Bibliographic data as far as perceptions of quality and safety in nuclear medicine departments are concerned, are limited and frequently ambiguous. Most nuclear medicine departments provide the same types of services, but not the same quality of service, while patients' perceptions are not always matched by the perceptions of health care providers. The multidimensional nature of quality and safety, deriving from the different criteria and standards by which different groups of the population attempt to interpret and evaluate them, justifies these discrepancies, over most of quality's and safety's dimensions studied. Nuclear medicine's unique characteristic of using radiopharmaceuticals, exposing to ionizing radiation affects dramatically these perceptions, irrespective of whether quality and safety assurance measures already cover radiation protection, instrumentation maintenance, radiopharmaceutical handling, and the management of all the other aspects of patient care. On the other end of the spectrum, patient-centred practice, communication and proper information play as a well decisive role in ensuring patients' satisfaction.
Topics: Humans; Nuclear Medicine; Quality Control; Safety
PubMed: 32361717
DOI: 10.1967/s002449912016 -
Frontiers in Plant Science 2020Potassium (K) nutrition is of relevant interest for winegrowers because it influences grapevine growth, berry composition, as well as must and wine quality. Indeed, wine... (Review)
Review
Potassium (K) nutrition is of relevant interest for winegrowers because it influences grapevine growth, berry composition, as well as must and wine quality. Indeed, wine quality strongly depends on berry composition at harvest. However, K content of grape berries increased steadily over the last decades, in part due to climate change. Currently, the properties and qualities of many fruits are also impacted by environment. In grapevine, this disturbs berry properties resulting in unbalanced wines with poor organoleptic quality and low acidity. This requires a better understanding of the molecular basis of K accumulation and its control along grape berry development. This mini-review summarizes our current knowledge on K nutrition in relation with fruit quality in the context of a changing environment.
PubMed: 32174933
DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00123 -
Neurology India 2022Yoga is increasingly being used as a complementary mode of treatment for epilepsy along with pharmacotherapy; however, the quality of reporting and bias of studies on... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
BACKGROUND
Yoga is increasingly being used as a complementary mode of treatment for epilepsy along with pharmacotherapy; however, the quality of reporting and bias of studies on yoga in epilepsy is uncertain.
OBJECTIVE
This study was performed to systematically evaluate the reporting quality and bias of the published studies on yoga in epilepsy.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
PubMed and Cochrane databases were searched for studies investigating the efficacy of yoga in epilepsy or describing the patients' or caregivers' knowledge, attitude, influence, and practice of yoga in epilepsy. The reporting qualities of the studies were appraised by standard reporting checklists (CONSORT, STROBE, COREQ, and modified CONSORT) and the risks of bias were assessed using standard tools (Cochrane Collaboration's risk of bias tool, Newcastle-Ottawa scale, and ROBINS-I tool) according to the study designs.
RESULTS
Fifteen studies (four randomized control trials, seven observational studies, three non-randomized interventional studies, and one was a mixed-method study) were included. The reporting qualities of the studies which evaluated the role of yoga in epilepsy were comparatively poor from the methodological perspective and the risks of bias were comparatively high than those which described the knowledge, attitude, influence, and practice of yoga in epilepsy.
CONCLUSION
The reporting qualities of studies in relation to yoga and epilepsy were not satisfactory and the risks of bias were high. Hence, it is imperative to be cautious before widely recommending yoga in epilepsy.
Topics: Humans; Yoga; Epilepsy
PubMed: 36352602
DOI: 10.4103/0028-3886.359244