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Using data-driven machine learning (ML) models as surrogates in classical engineering is an emerging trend in the literature. However, effective surrogate modeling in path-dependent problems requires a deep understanding of the fundamental physical properties that naturally arise in data obtained from simulations or experiments. While generic ML architectures can capture nonlinear behavior, they may not inherently satisfy the specific temporal constraints dictated by physical processes. This study examines the characteristics of deformation paths generated through finite element simulations and identifies key modeling requirements for achieving physically meaningful predictions. One important requirement is that future inputs do not influence past outputs, a property typically satisfied by most surrogate ML models, yet rarely acknowledged or formalized. This requirement, often called the truncation condition, is essential for achieving physically meaningful predictions. Another closely related requirement is consistency across different time discretizations, which remains an active and important topic in deformation history modelling. To address these requirements, we propose a customized and adaptable Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) transition function that takes absolute strain inputs and is designed to enforce both truncation and consistency, ensuring robust predictions across varying temporal resolutions. This study contributes toward improving physically consistent damage initiation estimation and supports the development of more reliable surrogate models in computational mechanics.

The unique environments created within healthcare simulations may create distinct health and safety risks for patients, learners, simulation faculty and staff, and other participants involved in these activities. Guidance to aid simulationists to manage the physical risks arising from simulation activities is limited and there is no integrated synthesis of known risks or risk mitigation strategies. To identify and examine literature addressing the physical health and safety risks associated with healthcare simulation, in order to inform the development of effective safety management strategies. This review included published empirical research and non-empirical literature (e.g., commentaries, editorials) examining physical health and safety risks associated with any form of healthcare simulation programme, event, or facility. A multi-pronged search strategy was used including electronic databases, Google Scholar searches, and reference list searches of literature published between 2010 and 2025. Risks, contributory factors and mitigation strategies were identified and mitigation strategies were coded according to the Hierarchy of Controls framework. Sixteen articles were included. The literature most frequently identified physical health and safety risks to patients during in-situ simulation. Risks to participants and simulation staff or faculty were reported less often and primarily related to exposure to clinical equipment and musculoskeletal injury associated with the physical demands of simulation. Risks to simulated participants included clinical interventions being performed on them. Contributory factors included learner inexperience and failure to recognise risks, rule violations, pursuit of realism in simulation, poor simulation design, inadequate preparation, and lack of formal safety systems. Mitigation strategies were predominantly administrative, with rules, procedures, and checklists reported in 94% of sources, while elimination and engineering controls appeared in 37% and 19% respectively. There was call for clinical governance tools and processes to support a robust simulation health and safety approach. These findings highlight the need for co-designed, simulation-specific governance tools, including standardised risk assessments, adverse event reporting systems, and safety policies tailored to simulation environments. These tools should be embedded within, and aligned to the parent organisation's health and safety governance process, rather than constituting a separate or parallel governance process.

Understanding how women navigate induced abortion care pathways is critical to ensuring person-centred, quality reproductive health services. Evidence indicates that persistent abortion stigma, the lack of choices of abortion methods and respectful care during abortion remain a global challenge to reproductive healthcare. Yet there is minimal evidence regarding abortion care pathways. This study explored induced abortion care pathways in Addis Ababa healthcare facilities. We used a descriptive qualitative approach, adopting purposive sampling techniques to recruit women who sought induced abortion care from seven facilities. The data were collected from May to July 2024. In-depth semi-structured interviews with sixteen women were digitally recorded and transcribed into the local language before being translated into English. Data were coded, organised, and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Five main themes and their corresponding subthemes were developed through data analysis. Themes were: (i) social and emotional support, (ii) moral and social meanings shaping abortion care, (iii) accessibility and service delivery, (iv) perceived competency of abortion providers, and (v) physical and emotional effects of abortion. Many women attended the clinic alone, without their families, and received no support. Women often sought care at clinics away from their community due to concerns related to fear of stigma and social pressure. This study found long waiting times to receive abortion care, a lack of medicine and ultrasound at some facilities and limited availability of second-trimester abortions. Women reported that many providers were welcoming and competent, while others reported poor communication, the use of medical jargon, and stigmatising behaviours. Participant reported pressure to accept methods they did not want during contraceptive counselling and fear of breaches in privacy and confidentiality. Participants also described physical symptoms such as bleeding and pain, and felt ashamed and upset after the abortion, which could be associated with negative experiences. Inadequate social support, abortion stigma, and barriers to accessing abortion services, such as long waiting times and insufficient resources, were identified as significant gaps. These findings emphasised the need to strengthen person-centred abortion care and address systemic and socio-cultural barriers that undermine the quality of care. Abortion care should be easy to access, fair for everyone, and respectful of women’s needs. Kind communication and emotional support during abortion enhance the quality of care. This study explored abortion care experiences in healthcare facilities in Addis Ababa.We spoke with women who came for abortion care. We conducted face-to-face interviews employing open-ended questions. We analysed the data by thoroughly reading and checking the information to identify common patterns in women’s experiences.Women had varied experiences of support. Some received strong support from family or friends, which made them feel less worried and more confident. Some went through the abortion procedure alone as they feared pressure or shame. Many women felt abortion was a “sin” or morally wrong, while others felt confident that they had made the best decision for their lives. Women reported waiting times and service availability as challenges to accessing quality care. In addition, negative experiences such as feeling judged and ignored, as well as poor communication from providers, are reported. Women explained physical symptoms such as bleeding, fatigue and emotional outcomes including anxiety, guilt and self-blame after abortion. At the same time, some felt relieved after the abortion and satisfied with the care received.This study found that women faced challenges such as stigma and judgment, long waiting times, and limited availability of abortion services in some places. Improving the quality of abortion care can help women feel supported, reduce emotional distress, and protect their health and dignity.

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is prevalent among adults with overweight/obesity, yet its detection remains limited by the scarcity of validated tools for Spanish-speaking populations. This study aimed to culturally adapt and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Binge Eating Disorder Screener-7 (BEDS-7) in Chilean adults with overweight/obesity and recurrent binge-eating episodes. The BEDS-7 was translated, back-translated, reviewed by expert judges, and pilot tested to ensure linguistic and cultural adequacy. Content validity evaluation also led to the exploratory addition of two DSM-5-based items. In total, 1,497 adults were recruited; after applying eligibility criteria, 435 were retained. Participants completed the Spanish BEDS-7 and online measures. Content validity was evaluated through expert judgment, structural validity using confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modeling, internal consistency using omega coefficients, measurement invariance using multigroup analyses across gender, BMI, and physical activity, and concurrent validity through associations with negative affect. Content validity analyses indicated adequate clarity, coherence, and relevance, although lower sufficiency supported the exploratory inclusion of two additional items. For the BEDS-7, a two-factor structure showed excellent fit (CFI = 0.995; TLI = 0.998; RMSEA = 0.014) and acceptable internal consistency (ω = 0.706), with factors labeled "loss of control" and "emotional distress." Measurement invariance was supported across gender, BMI, and physical activity groups, and negative affect was positively associated with both factors. The Spanish BEDS-7 demonstrated adequate psychometric properties for assessing binge-eating symptomatology in Chilean adults with overweight/obesity and recurrent binge-eating. This study provides novel evidence from Latin America and contributes to cross-cultural comparability. Future research should assess diagnostic accuracy and temporal stability. Binge-eating involves eating large amounts of food while feeling unable to stop. It is common among adults living with overweight or obesity, but many people are not identified early because very few short screening tools exist in Spanish. To help address this gap, we adapted the Binge Eating Disorder Screener-7 (BEDS-7) for use in Chile. Nearly 1,500 adults took part, and 435 met the criteria needed for the analysis. We first checked whether the questions were clear and meaningful for Chilean adults, which led to the addition of two items. We then examined how the questions grouped together and found two main areas: loss of control around eating and emotional distress related to eating. The questionnaire also worked in a similar way for people of different genders, different body-weight categories, and different levels of physical activity. These findings suggest that the Spanish BEDS-7 can be a useful tool for assessing binge-eating symptoms in Chilean adults with overweight or obesity and recurrent binge-eating.

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is a vital indicator of evaluating care outcomes and prognosis, yet little is understood about its developmental trajectories in older patients with chronic pain. This study aimed to identify latent HRQoL trajectories and their predictors, and to develop explainable machine learning models for predicting HRQoL deterioration. This prospective cohort study assessed 608 older patients with chronic pain at admission and at 1, 3, and 6 months post-admission, collecting data on HRQoL, general characteristics, pain level, activities of daily living (ADL), depression, and perceived social support. Growth mixture modeling was applied to identify trajectories of physical and mental HRQoL. Predictors were selected using LASSO regression and SVM-RFE. Nine explainable machine learning models were developed for both components, and SHAP interpreted the outputs. An HRQoL decision-support dashboard was developed to facilitate potential clinical application. Three physical HRQoL trajectories were identified: Stable High, Decline and Low Stability, alongside two mental HRQoL trajectories: Improvement and Decline. Key predictors included education level, pain duration, pain level, ADL, depression, and perceived social support, with ADL and pain level being the most influential for physical and mental HRQoL, respectively. This dual-trajectory study identified five distinct HRQoL patterns in older patients with chronic pain, elucidating key predictors via explainable machine learning. The proposed HRQoL decision-support dashboard may provide an interpretable tool to support understanding of predictive relationships and assist healthcare professionals in HRQoL assessment. Not applicable.

Incarcerated populations face greater health challenges, including higher rates of communicable and mental diseases. However, traditional health measures like disease prevalence and life expectancy do not capture their physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being. This scoping review will summarize the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes in incarcerated populations using preference-based HRQoL instruments (and measures that can be used to derive utility scores), providing insights for health policies and economic evaluations. A scoping review was conducted following PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Six electronic databases and three health technology assessment agencies were searched for peer-reviewed studies reporting preference-based HRQoL or HRQoL scores that can be used to generate health state utility values in incarcerated populations. Eligibility and data extraction were performed by two independent researchers.Findings were synthesized to identify knowledge gaps. Twenty-two articles met the inclusion criteria, primarily focusing on male and white populations. Ten studies targeted disease-specific populations, with mental health disorders (n = 7) being the most prevalent. Across studies, inmates generally reported lower HRQoL scores than the general population, especially those with mental health issues. Female and Indigenous inmates had lower HRQoL scores than male and non-Indigenous inmates. The variety in HRQoL instruments used, with each assessing different domains, hinders direct comparisons between studies. Validating instruments specific to incarcerated populations may be needed for future research. Overall, incarcerated populations, especially women and Indigenous inmates, demonstrate poorer HRQoL than the general population. There is a need for more diverse, inclusive studies to address these gaps. Incarcerated populations face greater health issues that are not fully captured by traditional health measures. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) provides a more comprehensive view of their physical, mental, emotional and social well-being. This study summarizes HRQoL research in incarcerated populations using standardized tools. The purpose of this study is to provide a scoping review of the HRQoL outcomes of incarcerated populations, summarizing existing research and identifying gaps in the literature. Our findings reveal that inmates generally have lower HRQoL scores compared to the general population, and those with mental health issues reporting the lowest scores. Additionally, female and Indigenous inmates tend to have poorer HRQoL than male and non-Indigenous inmates. The findings highlight the need for HRQoL tools specifically tailored to incarcerated populations and call for more diverse studies, particularly for underrepresented groups.

Neuroinflammation has historically been viewed through a biochemical lens, governed by cytokines and danger signals. While this paradigm has provided foundational insights, integrating the physical dimension of tissue stiffening, hemodynamic shear stress, and compressive forces offers a more complete understanding of the pathological microenvironment of the central nervous system (CNS). In this Review, we examine Piezo1 as an important mechanosensitive channel that can translate such physical cues into neuroinflammatory responses. We synthesize emerging evidence showing that Piezo1-mediated calcium signaling can regulate activation, migration, and metabolic reprogramming in resident CNS cells and infiltrating immune populations. Importantly, the strength of evidence is not uniform across all cell types: genetic studies provide the strongest support in microglia, oligodendrocyte-lineage cells, and endothelial cells, whereas roles in astrocytes, dendritic cells, and T cells remain more context-dependent and emerging.Furthermore, we outline the distinct mechanical signatures across major CNS pathologies and discuss how Piezo1 may shape context-dependent outcomes-from plaque-associated microglial responses in Alzheimer's disease to mechanically restricted remyelination in multiple sclerosis, acute vascular or parenchymal injury in stroke and trauma, and emerging links to seizure-associated swelling and hyperexcitability in epilepsy. Finally, we propose an integrated "Mechanical Alterations-Piezo1-Immune Regulation" framework and discuss how mechano-therapeutic strategies might be used to modulate, rather than uniformly enhance or suppress, neuroinflammatory responses.

Achondroplasia is a condition that affects bone growth and causes shorter height. People with achondroplasia face many challenges in their day-to-day lives and have different views on and expectations about treatments. Understanding these experiences, views, and expectations is important for researchers to develop appropriate treatments to meet people’s needs. We interviewed 15 people (aged 12–20 years) with achondroplasia and 15 caregivers of people with achondroplasia in the United States and South Korea. People with achondroplasia were asked about symptoms, how achondroplasia affects their lives, experiences with treatment, and potential future treatments. Caregivers responded for the person with achondroplasia they cared for. Common health issues included sleep apnea, teeth misalignment, obesity, and ear infections, and the most common symptoms were pain and snoring. Impacts on quality of life mainly included difficulties with physical activities, walking, completing daily routines, and social activities. When asked about treatments, increased height and reduced pain were the most desired potential benefits. While people with achondroplasia and caregivers were generally happy with treatments, many wished for easier ways to take treatment, ideally with fewer injections. These findings may help guide future research and lead to better treatments to meet the needs of people with achondroplasia.

The aim of this study was to examine the community participation levels (frequency and involvement) of children with Down syndrome (DS) and the restrictive and supportive factors affecting their participation levels and compare them with typically developing (TD) children. This cross-sectional study included parents of 70 children (35 with DS; 35 TD children) aged 8-17 years. Parents of all children completed the community module of the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth, which is used to assess participation and environmental factors in the community. Children with DS participated less frequently (organizations, groups, clubs, or leadership activities and out-of-school classes and lessons) and less involved (getting together with children, organizations, groups, clubs, or leadership activities and out-of-school classes and lessons) in community activities compared to TD children, and parents of children with DS were less satisfied with their children's participation in community activities. Children with DS faced more barriers (the physical layout, the sensory quality and weather conditions) and had insufficient resources (information and supplies) compared to their TD peers in the community. After adjusting for the child's age, parental education level and average income, the group (DS vs. TD) had an independent effect on frequency, involvement and desire for change. Children with DS are negatively affected in terms of community participation (both) compared to TD children. Beyond sociodemographic factors, being a child with DS may reduce community participation (both). The community environmental factors were influential for the community participation of children with DS. Community participation of children with DS can be increased through environmental regulations.

It is still challenging to enable a precise and editable hydrogel design by quantitatively relating the molecular composition and hierarchy with the properties and functions. Herein, a programmable hydrogel system was successfully produced by copolymerizing N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) with N, N'-dimethylacrylamide (DMAA) and acrylamide (AM), combined with the physical entanglement effect of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC). The incorporation of DMAA increased the hydrophilicity of the network, enabling precise adjustment of the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) within the range of 34°C∼49°C. The compressive modulus decreased from 18.3 to 12.3 kPa with increasing DMAA content, while the incorporation of AM significantly improved the compressive modulus from 16.2 to 24.0 kPa and reduced the mechanical loss rate to only 3.6% after 100 compressive cycles. The application of the hydrogel in information encryption was demonstrated by utilizing its quick and reversible transparent-opaque transition to achieve temperature-dependent quick response (QR) code encryption and dynamic password display. A soft actuator capable of rapid thermally induced bending was developed by constructing a bilayered poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-co-poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide)/poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-co-poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide-co-acrylamide) (P(NIPAM-co-DMAA)/P(NIPAM-co-DMAA-co-AM))structure with a modulus gradient. Finite element simulation confirmed the exponential relationship between the bending curvature and the interlayer modulus difference. This study provides a simple and rational strategy for designing a smart hydrogel platform.

Caring for a family member with Alzheimer’s disease can be physically, emotionally, and mentally challenging, affecting a caregiver’s overall well-being and daily life. We looked at two tools—the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit for Carers (ASCOT-Carer) and the EQ-5D-5L—to see how well they measure the impact of caregiving on a caregiver’s quality of life and to expand the available tools for properly evaluating caregiver quality of life in health economic evaluations in Japan. We also examined how these tools related to caregivers’ feelings of stress and burden using the eight-item short Japanese version of the Zarit Burden Interview. We surveyed 705 family caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease through an online questionnaire. Our results showed that both tools provide helpful information but focus on different areas of a caregiver’s quality of life. The EQ-5D-5L mainly looks at general health issues like mobility, self-care, and anxiety, but it doesn’t fully capture the social and emotional challenges of caregiving. Alternatively, the ASCOT-Carer offers a clearer picture of a caregiver’s well-being, especially regarding social connections and emotional health. Moreover, the ASCOT-Carer was better than the EQ-5D-5L at showing the stress and burden that caregivers experience. This highlights that the ASCOT-Carer is more sensitive to the specific challenges that caregivers face. While both tools are helpful, the ASCOT-Carer may be a more suitable tool for evaluating the impact of caregivers’ real-life struggles on their quality of life, making it a valuable resource for health economic evaluations.

Developmental dysplasia of the hip remains a preventable yet underdiagnosed condition. Conventional screening strategies that rely on physical examination demonstrate limited sensitivity and fail to achieve comprehensive population coverage. Although universal ultrasound screening has shown promise, evidence supporting scalable, sustainable, and nurse-led community-based implementation models within real-world public health systems remains limited. To evaluate a nurse-led community-based ultrasound hip screening program integrated into routine maternal and child health services in Japan using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance framework. A prospective cohort study with a mixed-methods design. Three rural Japanese municipalities (February 2024 to August 2025). Public health nurses, midwives, infants, and their caregivers who underwent routine newborn home visits or child-rearing consultations in the participating municipalities. The existing maternal and child health services evaluated across the following dimensions: Reach (coverage rate); Effectiveness (the proportion and mean age of infants referred early to medical institutions, and caregiver-reported outcomes following referral); Adoption (nurse adoption rate); Implementation (the proportion of ultrasound images meeting Graf's criteria, examination time, operational challenges, and cost); and Maintenance (continuation and policy integration). Ultrasound images were uploaded to a secure encrypted cloud server and interpreted remotely by Graf-certified pediatric orthopedic surgeons, with structured feedback provided to nurses throughout the implementation process. A total of 818 examinations were performed in 349 infants. The estimated coverage rate was 95.6%, indicating a near-universal range. Standard-plane images meeting Graf's criteria were obtained in 85.8% of examinations. Non-Type I hips accounted for 8.7% of cases, and 7.0% of infants were referred for further evaluation. Of these referred infants, 97.6% visited medical institutions, 54.8% required continued follow-up, and 4.8% required treatment. Adoption was high, with 95.5% of trained nurses conducting screenings. Implementation challenges included infant positioning, data-upload errors, and limited digital integration; however, interprofessional feedback from orthopedic surgeons improved technical performance. Ultrasound visualization enhanced caregiver understanding and facilitated timely adherence to referral recommendations. All municipalities continued screening, demonstrating strong maintenance. Nurse-led ultrasound hip screening can be feasibly integrated into routine maternal and child healthcare systems. This model enables early identification of suspected developmental dysplasia of the hip without clinical signs, and offers an equitable approach in resource-limited settings from a precision public health nursing perspective. University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trial Registry; UMIN000051929 (https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr/ctr_his_list.cgi?recptno=R000059248). Registration date: September 16, 2023. Start of recruitment: November 01, 2023. Nurse-led community ultrasound hip screening achieved 95.6% coverage, and 8.7% of the screened infants had a suspected dislocation or hip dysplasia.

This study aimed to identify subgroups of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and examine predictors of latent class membership among low- and high-income cancer survivors using latent class analysis (LCA). We analyzed data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013-2020), including 1075 cancer survivors. HRQoL patterns were identified using LCA based on the EuroQol five-dimension questionnaire. Analyses were conducted separately for low- and high-income groups to examine income-stratified HRQoL patterns. Sociodemographic characteristics and chronic disease status were included as covariates in the latent class models to examine predictors of class membership within each income group. Income-stratified LCAs suggested differential HRQoL patterns. Three latent HRQoL classes were identified in the low-income group: Good HRQoL, Pain and Mobility Impairment, and Poor HRQoL. In the high-income group, two classes were identified: Good HRQoL and Pain and Mobility Impairment. While education was a common predictor in both groups, other predictors varied by income level. In the low-income group, older age, unemployment, and multimorbidity were significantly associated with impaired HRQoL classes, whereas female sex predicted membership in the Pain and Mobility Impairment class in the high-income group. These findings highlight differences in HRQoL patterns and associated factors across income-stratified groups of cancer survivors, underscoring the limitations of relying solely on average HRQoL scores in survivorship care. Survivorship strategies should be tailored to the differential HRQoL patterns and associated predictors identified within each income group, thereby promoting more targeted and equitable care for cancer survivors. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is a key measure for understanding cancer survivors’ well-being after cancer. However, most studies use a single total score of HRQoL, which can mask important differences across physical, psychological, and social aspects. Considering its multidimensional nature, examining patterns across HRQoL domains can provide a more comprehensive understanding of survivors’ well-being. Moreover, since socioeconomic status—especially income—strongly influences HRQoL, it is important to explore how these patterns differ by income level. Therefore, this study examined HRQoL patterns among low- and high-income Korean cancer survivors and identified factors related to each pattern. Three patterns were found among low-income survivors—Good HRQoL, Pain and Mobility Impairment, and Poor HRQoL—and two among high-income survivors—Good HRQoL and Pain and Mobility Impairment. Education was associated with better HRQoL patterns in both groups, but other predictors differed. Among low-income survivors, older age, unemployment, and multiple chronic diseases were linked to poorer HRQoL patterns. Among high-income survivors, women were more likely to belong to the Pain and Mobility pattern. These findings highlight the need for survivorship strategies that address heterogeneity across income-stratified groups, promoting equitable and comprehensive care for cancer survivors, even when overall HRQoL scores appear satisfactory.