Searching for relevance:NGO–donor relationships in a geographically isolated community

This study investigates the practice of NGO (nongovernment organizations)–donor relationships in a geographically isolated community in Alaska and explores the role of social capital in NGO sustainability. We employ the following parameters to apply social capital concepts to the needs of practitioners: study design centered on variables that are relevant for practitioners, nonlinear production of knowledge, attention to specifics of the context within which agents operate, and transfer of knowledge through the practitioners’ frame of reference. This study reveals that NGOs’ bonding social ties are of primary importance for assuring active donor commitment, while bridging ties serve to secure continuing commitment and support from passive donors. The structural, relational, emotional, and behavioral social capital dimensions shape both bonding and bridging ties, though they differ in their nature. Active donor commitment is increased by strengthening and extending the circle of bonding ties

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

The relationship between kidney size and anthropometry

The size of the kidney is important for the clinical evaluation of kidney diseases and also helps us to diagnose many diseases related to kidneys. The purpose of this study is to determine the usage of both anthropometric measurement and radiological measurements for prediction of kidney size.Fifty-four volunteers who were patients at the Urology Clinic of Faculty of Medicine at Trakya University partici­pated in this study. The volunteers did not have any kidney disease. Abdominal ultrasonography was used to mea­sure kidney size. Anterior abdominal wall length, lateral abdominal wall length, and bispinal distance were mea­sured using a caliper.The average anterior abdominal height, lateral abdominal height, and bispinal distance were 17.59 cm, 17.28 cm, and 27.56 cm respectively. In the same way, the mean values of right kidney length, right kidney transverse di­ameter, left kidney length, and left kidney transverse diameter were 102.75 mm, 44.72 mm, 99.82 mm, and 46.35 mm, respectively. There was a significant correlation between the left kidney length and the lateral abdominal wall height (p<0.05). However, there was no relationship between the right kidney length and any anthropomet­ric measurements. There was a significant correlation between the right kidney transverse diameter and all an­thropometric measurements (p<0.05), and there was a significant correlation between the left kidney transverse diameter and the anterior abdominal wall height (p<0.05).This study showed that there is a significant relationship between kidney dimensions and some anthropomet­ric measurements. These measurements can be used while examining patients. We suggest expanding this study with more participants to ensure more accurate results

The association of Intron 4 VNTR and Glu298Asp polymorphisms of the nitric oxide synthetase 3 gene and vasculogenic erectile dysfunction in Turkish men

Several studies have focused on the impaired role of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS3) gene polymorphism and its association to erectile dysfunction (ED). However, currently controversial results have been reported due to their significant heterogeneity. The present study aimed to assess the genotypic distribution and the allelic frequency of Intron 4 VNTR and Glu298Asp gene polymorphisms in vasculogenic ED patients compared to healthy controls of a specific region of Turkey. A total of 75 patients with ED (median age: 56, IQR:10.5) and 75 healthy controls (median age: 56, IQR:10.5) were prospectively analyzed. All subjects were equally evaluated by the same physician with detailed history-taking, physical examination, International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) questionnaire, and blood tests (incl. glucose, testosterone, triglyceride and total cholesterol level). Those with an IIEF score under 26 were considered to have ED, by classifying them according to their scores as mild (22-25), moderate (11-21) and severe (1-10) ED. Color doppler ultrasonography was carried out in patients with an IIEF score <22. Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, and smoking status were significantly associated with the ED group compared to control subjects with p values of <0.001, <0.001, 0.002 and <0.001, respectively. Overall genotype frequencies was 47 (31%) a/a, 22 (15%) a/b, 82 (55%) b/b for Intron 4 VNTR and 56 (37%) GG, 78 (52%) GT, 16 (11%) TT for the Glu298Asp polymorphism. The frequencies of Intron 4 VNTR a/a allele and Glu298Asp GT allele were associated with severe ED, while a/b and TT were associated with moderate or mild, and b/b and GG were associated with no ED. In contrast to Glu298Asp, statistically significant differences in genotypic frequencies of Intron 4 VNTR gene polymorphism between ED and control subjects was established

Freezing in Halide Salts

The static criterion that the amplitude of the principal peak of the liquid structure factor has a constant value along the freezing line and the onset of freezing are studied from the structure factors and the static dielectric functions of halide salts interacting via the effective pair potentials through the hypernetted-chain approximation. It is observed that the criterion above is restricted to the effective charge difference. The critical value of plasma parameter at freezing is affected by the mobility and number concentration of anions and cations. The distribution of the value of the static dielectric function closest to the wave number axis in the negative region is also determined by the charge difference and the ordering of ions and related to the onset of freezing

THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF URANIUM DIOXIDE: A MOLECULAR DYNAMICS STUDY OF SOLID AND LIQUID PHASES OF STOICHIOMETRIC <font>UO</font>₂

Thermodynamic and transport properties of solid and liquid uranium dioxide were studied using classical molecular dynamics simulation, with a newly parametrized interionic model potential. In addition to the static and transport properties which have been previously reported by the authors, this study further confirms that temperature dependence of the calculated thermophysical properties of uranium dioxide are in agreement with the available experimental data at both solid and liquid phases in providing an alternative rigid ion potential to the other model potentials in literature. Although lattice parameter and density have been underestimated, overall results give a fairly good description of the UO 2 system for wide range of temperature (0–4000 K). The transition to the superionic phase, Bredig transition, was successfully observed as a distinct λ-peak in specific heats at about 400 K below the experimental value. The results presented in our previous article and here show that the introduced alternative model potential for uranium dioxide is very promising and we are confident in the success of its use in future studies. </jats:p