Factors influencing referral among women attending post abortion care at tertiary hospitals in Northern Uganda.

Referral is critical in the chain of managing women receiving post-abortion care (PAC). We assessed factors influencing referral among women receiving PAC at two tertiary hospitals in Northern Uganda. An embedded, mixed-methods study design was conducted from July to December 2023.

fNIRS reproducibility varies with data quality, analysis pipelines, and researcher experience.

As data analysis pipelines grow more complex in brain imaging research, understanding how methodological choices affect results is essential for ensuring reproducibility and transparency. This is especially relevant for functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), a rapidly growing technique for assessing brain function in naturalistic settings and across the lifespan, yet one that still lacks standardized analysis approaches. In the fNIRS Reproducibility Study Hub (FRESH) initiative, we asked 38 research teams worldwide to independently analyze the same two fNIRS datasets.

Lossy DICOM conversion may affect AI performance.

Many pathologies have started to digitize their glass slides. To ensure long term accessibility, it is desirable to store them in the DICOM format. Currently, many scanners initially store the images in vendor-specific formats and only provide DICOM converters, with only a few producing DICOM directly.

General practitioners' views on green social prescribing in Scotland: analysis of a national cross-sectional survey.

Background: Green social prescribing (GSP) aims to link patients to nature-based health interventions (NBHIs) through general practitioners (GPs). However, knowledge of GPs' views on GSP is limited.

Aim: To explore GPs' views on GSP and the factors influencing these views.

The fNIRS glossary project: a consensus-based resource for functional near-infrared spectroscopy terminology.

Significance: A shared understanding of terminology is essential for clear scientific communication and minimizing misconceptions. This is particularly challenging in rapidly expanding, interdisciplinary domains that utilize functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), where researchers come from diverse backgrounds and apply their expertise in fields such as engineering, neuroscience, and psychology.

Aim: The fNIRS Glossary Project was established to develop a community-sourced glossary covering key fNIRS terms, including those related to the continuous-wave (CW), frequency-domain (FD), and time-domain (TD) NIRS techniques.

Effect of simultaneous physical and auditory stressors on cardiorespiratory response.

In occupational medicine, monitoring individual stress-related physiological responses is an effective tool for minimizing health risks at the workplace. From an audiology perspective, this particularly concerns the effects of auditory stress, which leads to increased listening effort with subsequent hearing fatigue. A study was conducted to investigate whether cardio-respiratory responses can detect the effects of a multi-level combination of physical and auditory stressors.

"We provide the methods to others but we don't use the methods ourselves": challenges with utilization of modern contraception among Female Healthcare Workers at two tertiary teaching hospitals, Northern Uganda.

Background: Female Healthcare Workers (FHCWs) play a crucial role in advocating for, delivering modern contraceptive methods (MCM) to reproductive-age women and potential users. Despite the high frequency of women seeking healthcare annually, less than half receive adequate contraceptive counseling and services. Investigating FHCWs' adherence to these practices and understanding the obstacles they encounter is essential.

The experience sampling methodology as a digital clinical tool for more person-centered mental health care: an implementation research agenda.

This position paper by the international IMMERSE consortium reviews the evidence of a digital mental health solution based on Experience Sampling Methodology (ESM) for advancing person-centered mental health care and outlines a research agenda for implementing innovative digital mental health tools into routine clinical practice. ESM is a structured diary technique recording real-time self-report data about the current mental state using a mobile application. We will review how ESM may contribute to (1) service user engagement and empowerment, (2) self-management and recovery, (3) goal direction in clinical assessment and management of care, and (4) shared decision-making.

Pre-Processing of Categorical Features Within Medical Analysis Systems.

The complexity of the cancer problem domain presents challenges not only to the medical analysis systems tasked with its analysis, but also to the users of such systems. While it is desirable to assist users in operating these medical analysis systems, prior groundwork is required before this can be achieved, such as recognising patterns in the way users create certain analyses within these systems. In this paper, we use machine learning algorithms to analyse user behaviour patterns and attempt to predict the next user interaction within the CARESS medical analysis system.

Comparison of Ensemble Learning Methods for Classification in Cancer Registries.

Significant developments are currently underway in the field of cancer research, particularly in Germany, regarding cancer registration and the use of medical information systems. The use of such systems contributes significantly to quality assurance and increased efficiency in data evaluation. The growing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in cancer research is evident as these systems integrate AI for various purposes, i.

Strategies, processes, outcomes, and costs of implementing experience sampling-based monitoring in routine mental health care in four European countries: study protocol for the IMMERSE effectiveness-implementation study.

Background: Recent years have seen a growing interest in the use of digital tools for delivering person-centred mental health care. Experience Sampling Methodology (ESM), a structured diary technique for capturing moment-to-moment variation in experience and behaviour in service users' daily life, reflects a particularly promising avenue for implementing a person-centred approach. While there is evidence on the effectiveness of ESM-based monitoring, uptake in routine mental health care remains limited.

Optimizing spatial specificity and signal quality in fNIRS: an overview of potential challenges and possible options for improving the reliability of real-time applications.

The optical brain imaging method functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a promising tool for real-time applications such as neurofeedback and brain-computer interfaces. Its combination of spatial specificity and mobility makes it particularly attractive for clinical use, both at the bedside and in patients' homes. Despite these advantages, optimizing fNIRS for real-time use requires careful attention to two key aspects: ensuring good spatial specificity and maintaining high signal quality.

Reshaping heavy rare earth supply chains amidst China's stringent environmental regulations.

China's official heavy rare earths (HREs) supply, vital to the global sustainable transition, has declined by 90% over the past 20 years. Global concerns have mounted regarding China's production quota policies, yet the real-world bottlenecks remain unclear. This study explores China's terbium (a critical HREs element) supply-demand conflicts and supply chain bottlenecks, and further simulates future potential changes.

VersKiK: Study protocol of an observational registry-based study on the current state of follow-up care and adherence to follow-up guidelines after cancer in childhood or adolescence.

Background: This article describes the study design of the quantitative part of the VersKiK study, The primary objectives of this study are to examine the occurrence of late effects in survivors of childhood or adolescent cancer (module 1), investigate health-related vulnerabilities and medical service utilization within this survivor group (modules 1 and 3), and assess the alignment between documented follow-up care for cardiological and audiological late effects with guideline recommendations, along with evaluating the extent of adherence among paediatric cancer survivors (module 3).

Methods: This is a non-interventional retrospective observational cohort study. It is based on stochastically linked insurance claims data from approximately 150,000 statutory insured persons with information concerning around 25,000-30,000 cancer survivors recorded in the German Childhood Cancer Register (GCCR).

Long-term care, care needs and wellbeing of individuals after cancer in childhood or adolescence (VersKiK): study protocol of a large scale multi-methods non-interventional study.

Background: It has been shown previously that a relevant proportion of childhood cancer survivors suffers from late effects, which are often directly related to the cancer itself or its therapy, resulting in particular follow-up needs, additionally burdening healthcare systems. Being diagnosed with cancer at a vulnerable stage of development, this group of cancer survivors is at comparatively higher risk of relapse or subsequent cancer. Although national and international follow-up guidelines based on treatment modalities have been developed, their implementation seems to leave room for improvement.

Amplitude-Phase Variation in a Graphene-Based Microstrip Line.

A graphene-based transmission line with independent amplitude and phase variation capability is proposed. Variation of graphene's tunable conductivity by an applied DC bias is exploited in designing an attenuator and a phase shifter. The attenuator and phase shifter are separated from each other by an interdigitated capacitor to ensure independent control of each section through an applied DC bias.

A Survey of Robotic Systems for Nursing Care.

An increase of the aging population with a decrease in the available nursing staff has been seen in recent years. These two factors combined present a challenging problem for the future and has since become a political issue in many countries. Technological advances in robotics have made its use possible in new application fields like care and thus it appears to be a viable technological avenue to address the projected nursing labor shortage.

Impact of Activity Tracker Usage in Combination with a Physical Activity Intervention on Physical and Cognitive Parameters in Healthy Adults Aged 60+: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Regular physical activity (PA) is of central importance for healthy aging and has a well-known impact on helping older adults maintain their cognitive and physical health. Thus, we aimed to compare the effectiveness of two physical activity interventions primarily conducted at home (print-based or web-based vs. web-based plus the use of an activity tracker) on cognitive and physical health parameters in older adults.

Web-Based Versus Print-Based Physical Activity Intervention for Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Crossover Randomized Trial.

Background: Fewer than half of older German adults engage in the recommended levels of endurance training.

Objective: The study aim is to compare the acceptance and effectiveness of two interventions for physical activity (PA) promotion among initially inactive community-dwelling older adults ≥60 years in a 9-month, crossover randomized trial.

Methods: Participants were recruited in person and randomized to one of the following interventions for self-monitoring PA: a print-based intervention (PRINT: 113/242, 46.