Knowledge and Perception Regarding Medication Error Among Nurses.

BACKGROUND: Patient safety is the major concern in providing quality care. Medication errors have been identified as the most common type of preventable errors. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and perception regarding medication error among nurses. METHODS: A quantitative cross-sectional research design was used. The study was conducted in four different private hospitals in Lalitpur. A total enumerative sampling technique was used to select 302 nurses from these hospitals. Descriptive statistical methods were used to assess socio-demographic variables and inferential statistics methods such as the chi-squared test was used to analyse the association between knowledge, perception, and its socio-demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Most of the respondents 244 (80.8%) agreed the cause of medication error occurs due to unclear handwriting and 217 (71.9%) agreed prescribing the wrong route or dose and time. Mostly respondents 126 (41.7%) had inadequate knowledge, 101 (33.4%) had adequate knowledge and 75 (24.8%) had moderate knowledge on medication error. Mostly respondents 273 (90.4%) had positive perception and 26 (8.6 %) had negative perception. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the nurses had inadequate knowledge but has positive perception on medication error. Appropriate strategies for reducing nurses' workload, barriers to reporting, and sensitization workshops in a regular basis by the administrator should be developed to address medication errors and enhance patient safety in hospital settings.

Investigating Factors Influencing Disaster Preparedness Perception of Nurses in Turkey:A Meta-Analytic Approach.

AIM AND BACKGROUND: In contemporary healthcare, the crucial importance of disaster preparedness and response within the nursing profession has gained recognition. Considering the elevated probability of encountering numerous disasters in Türkiye, it is noteworthy that limited research has been conducted in this domain. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the related factors to nurses' disaster preparedness Türkiye through a meta-analysis method. METHODS: The study was conducted based on PRISMA guidelines. We searched the national databases in Türkiye and Web of Science Core Collection. Descriptive studies published in Turkish or English between 01.01.2000-31.12.2021 in Türkiye were included in the study to derive the pooled outputs. RESULTS: A total of nine studies, encompassing a sample size of 3222 nurses, met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis' results revealed that gender and prior experience with disasters did not exhibit a statistically significant impact on nurses' disaster preparedness (p>0.05). Conversely, engaging in disaster education programs, familiarizing oneself with disaster plans, and actively participating in disaster drills were found to have a significant positive effect on nurses' preparedness for disasters (p<0.05). However, it is worth noting that the analysis of disaster experience exhibited substantial heterogeneity (I2=85.6%), indicating variations among the included studies. Similarly, the analysis related to reading disaster plans also demonstrated high heterogeneity (I2=77.7%). CONCLUSION: Based on the available evidence from the meta-analysis, it can be concluded that receiving disaster education, reading disaster plans, and participating in disaster drills have a positive and significant impact on nurses' perception of disaster preparedness.

Using Focus Groups to Explore Older Black Men's Perception of Dietary Interventions.

Older Black men are underrepresented in research despite being disproportionately affected by Alzheimer's disease (AD) and cardiovascular (CV) risk factors related to AD compared with non-Hispanic Whites. Although dietary interventions have shown promise to reduce modifiable CV risk factors related to AD, Black Americans have lower adherence likely due to lack of cultural considerations. Using a noninterventional convergent parallel mixed-methods approach, this study examined the cultural contexts that inform perceptions of dietary interventions among older Midwestern Black men. All participants completed an online demographic and dietary habit survey prior to focus group discussions. Two focus group discussion sessions were conducted with a total of 10 cognitively normal Black men aged 55 years and older. Survey data were analyzed using a frequency analysis and qualitative data were analyzed using a six-step thematic analysis process. Most men indicated having hypertension (N = 7, 77.8%) and currently not following a dietary eating pattern (N = 8, 88.9%). Emerging themes identified included (1) knowledge of dementia, (2) perceptions of dietary interventions, (3) barriers impacting participation in dietary interventions, and (4) overcoming barriers to engage Black men in dietary interventions. Findings from this study should inform the design of future dietary interventions for AD prevention to enhance participation among older Black men.

Vagueness and volume: Testing the perception of depth in images with linear, sharp, or blurred contours.

In European painting, a transition took place where artists started to consciously introduce blurred or soft contours in their works. There may have been several reasons for this. One suggestion in art historical literature is that this may have been done to create a stronger sense of volume in the depicted figures or objects. Here we describe four experiments in which we tried to test whether soft or blurred contours do indeed enhance a sense volume or depth. In the first three experiments, we found that, for both paintings and abstract shapes, three dimensionality was actually decreased instead of increased for blurred (and line) contours, in comparison with sharp contours. In the last experiment, we controlled for the position of the blur (on the lit or dark side) and found that blur on the lit side evoked a stronger impression of three dimensionality. Overall, the experiments robustly show that an art historical conjecture that a blurred contour increases three dimensionality is not granted. Because the blurred contours can be found in many established art works such as from Leonardo and Vermeer, there must be other rationales behind this use than the creation of a stronger sense of volume or depth.

Peripheral material perception.

Humans can rapidly identify materials, such as wood or leather, even within a complex visual scene. Given a single image, one can easily identify the underlying "stuff," even though a given material can have highly variable appearance; fabric comes in unlimited variations of shape, pattern, color, and smoothness, yet we have little trouble categorizing it as fabric. What visual cues do we use to determine material identity? Prior research suggests that simple "texture" features of an image, such as the power spectrum, capture information about material properties and identity. Few studies, however, have tested richer and biologically motivated models of texture. We compared baseline material classification performance to performance with synthetic textures generated from the Portilla-Simoncelli model and several common image degradations. The textures retain statistical information but are otherwise random. We found that performance with textures and most degradations was well below baseline, suggesting insufficient information to support foveal material perception. Interestingly, modern research suggests that peripheral vision might use a statistical, texture-like representation. In a second set of experiments, we found that peripheral performance is more closely predicted by texture and other image degradations. These findings delineate the nature of peripheral material classification.

Perception of faculty in the community health sciences colleges towards simulation-based education in clinical nutrition undergraduate practical courses.

BACKGROUND: Simulation now is widely used for training and education in different fields including healthcare education. Medicine and healthcare students can be trained in a secure, efficient, and engaging setting by Simulation-based Education (SBE). Therefore, this study aimed to assess the perception of faculty members in the community health departments towards SBE to be used in practical subjects for clinical nutrition undergraduate courses. METHOD: This cross-sectional survey was conducted among community health sciences faculty members. The perception was assessed using a self-administered questionnaire that included three sections. RESULTS: This questionnaire was completed by 125 faculty members, of whom 36 (28.8%) were male and 89 (71.2%) were female. Overall, faculty members had positive perceptions, with a mean score of 3.86 ± 0.74, but a high level of anxiety toward SBE, with a mean score of 3.42 ± 0.75. There was a statistically significant difference between the responses of the faculty members based on the training they received in simulation (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: The study results indicate that community health sciences faculty members' perception of SBE in Saudi Arabia is generally positive. However, the results show high levels of anxiety among faculty members toward SBE.

Job description and perception of clinical research personnel working in a network of French intensive care units.

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of information about the organisation and management of clinical research personnel in Europe and of their professional activity in intensive care. We therefore conducted a cross-sectional survey among personnel currently working in a French intensive care research network that involves 41 centres nationwide. The aim of the survey was to describe the personnel's personal and institutional organisation and management, their job perception in terms of satisfaction and stress, and suggestions for improvement. METHODS: Over 3 months in 2023, the research personnel received an electronic questionnaire on their personal and professional profile, past and present training, workplace and functions currently performed, personal knowledge about job skills required, job satisfaction and stress by as measured on a rating scale, and suggested ways of improvement. RESULTS: Ninety seven people replied to the questionnaire (a response rate of 71.3%), of whom 78 (57.3%) were sufficiently involved in intensive care to provide complete answers. This core sample had profiles in line with French recruitment policies and comprised mainly Bachelor/Master graduates, with nurses accounting for only 21.8%. The female to male ratio was 77:23%. Many responders declared to have a shared activity of technician (for investigation) and assistant (for quality control). More than 70% of the responders considered that most of the tasks required of each worker were major. Figures were much lower for project managers, who were few to take part in the survey. On a scale of 10, the median of job satisfaction was 7 for personal work organisation, 6 for training and for institutional organisation, and only 5 for personal career management. The median of job stress was 5 and was inversely correlated with satisfaction with career management. Respect of autonomy, work-sharing activity between investigation and quality control, a better career progression, financial reward for demanding tasks, and participation in unit staff meetings were the main suggestions to improve employee satisfaction. CONCLUSION: This nationwide survey provides a new insight into the activity of French clinical research personnel and points to ways to improve the quality and efficiency of this workforce.

Qualitative analysis of mothers' perception related to the delivery of information regarding preterm births.

BACKGROUND: Preterm birth is a major health issue due to its potential outcomes and socioeconomic impact. Prenatal counseling is of major importance for parents because it is believed that the risk of preterm birth is associated with a higher parental mental burden. Nowadays in France, the content and delivery of antenatal counseling is based on personal experience since there is a lack of official guidelines. The goal of the study was to evaluate maternal perception of antenatal information delivered in the setting of preterm births. METHODS: A qualitative study was performed using semi-structured individual interviews of 15 mothers with a child born > 26-34 GW. Data analysis was based on a constant comparative method. RESULTS: Concerning prenatal counseling content, parents wanted to be informed of their role in the care of their preterm child more so than statistics that were not always considered relevant. Parents' reactions to the announcement of the risk of a preterm birth was dominated by stupefaction, uncertainty and anxiety. When it comes to the setting of prenatal counseling, patients' room was deemed an appropriate setting by parents and ideally the presence of a coparent was appreciated as it increased patients' understanding. The physicians' attitude during the counseling was considered appropriate and described as empathic and optimistic. The importance of support throughout the hospitalization in the form of other parents' experiences, healthcare professionals and the possibility to preemptively visit the NICU was emphasized by participants. Delivery experience was dominated by a sense of uncertainty, and urgency. Some leads for improvement included additional support of information such as virtual NICU visit; participants also insisted on continuity of care and the multidisciplinary aspect of counseling (obstetrician, neonatologist, midwife, nurse, lactation consultant and psychologist). CONCLUSION: Highlighting parents' expectations about prenatal counseling could lead to the establishment of overall general guidelines. However, some topics like the use of statistics and mentioning the risk of death underline the importance of a personalized information.

Recent Progress in Wearable Near-Sensor and In-Sensor Intelligent Perception Systems.

As the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes more widespread, wearable smart systems will begin to be used in a variety of applications in people's daily lives, not only requiring the devices to have excellent flexibility and biocompatibility, but also taking into account redundant data and communication delays due to the use of a large number of sensors. Fortunately, the emerging paradigms of near-sensor and in-sensor computing, together with the proposal of flexible neuromorphic devices, provides a viable solution for the application of intelligent low-power wearable devices. Therefore, wearable smart systems based on new computing paradigms are of great research value. This review discusses the research status of a flexible five-sense sensing system based on near-sensor and in-sensor architectures, considering material design, structural design and circuit design. Furthermore, we summarize challenging problems that need to be solved and provide an outlook on the potential applications of intelligent wearable devices.

Enhancing Robotic Perception through Synchronized Simulation and Physical Common-Sense Reasoning.

We introduce both conceptual and empirical findings arising from the amalgamation of a robotics cognitive architecture with an embedded physics simulator, aligning with the principles outlined in the intuitive physics literature. The employed robotic cognitive architecture, named CORTEX, leverages a highly efficient distributed working memory known as deep state representation. This working memory inherently encompasses a fundamental ontology, state persistency, geometric and logical relationships among elements, and tools for reading, updating, and reasoning about its contents. Our primary objective is to investigate the hypothesis that the integration of a physics simulator into the architecture streamlines the implementation of various functionalities that would otherwise necessitate extensive coding and debugging efforts. Furthermore, we categorize these enhanced functionalities into broad types based on the nature of the problems they address. These include addressing challenges related to occlusion, model-based perception, self-calibration, scene structural stability, and human activity interpretation. To demonstrate the outcomes of our experiments, we employ CoppeliaSim as the embedded simulator and both a Kinova Gen3 robotic arm and the Open-Manipulator-P as the real-world scenarios. Synchronization is maintained between the simulator and the stream of real events. Depending on the ongoing task, numerous queries are computed, and the results are projected into the working memory. Participating agents can then leverage this information to enhance overall performance.

Exploring Aesthetic Perception in Impaired Aging: A Multimodal Brain-Computer Interface Study.

In the field of neuroscience, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are used to connect the human brain with external devices, providing insights into the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive processes, including aesthetic perception. Non-invasive BCIs, such as EEG and fNIRS, are critical for studying central nervous system activity and understanding how individuals with cognitive deficits process and respond to aesthetic stimuli. This study assessed twenty participants who were divided into control and impaired aging (AI) groups based on MMSE scores. EEG and fNIRS were used to measure their neurophysiological responses to aesthetic stimuli that varied in pleasantness and dynamism. Significant differences were identified between the groups in P300 amplitude and late positive potential (LPP), with controls showing greater reactivity. AI subjects showed an increase in oxyhemoglobin in response to pleasurable stimuli, suggesting hemodynamic compensation. This study highlights the effectiveness of multimodal BCIs in identifying the neural basis of aesthetic appreciation and impaired aging. Despite its limitations, such as sample size and the subjective nature of aesthetic appreciation, this research lays the groundwork for cognitive rehabilitation tailored to aesthetic perception, improving the comprehension of cognitive disorders through integrated BCI methodologies.

The trilogy of human musk receptors: linking receptor activation, genotype, and sensory perception.

The scent of musk plays a unique role in the history of perfumery. Musk odorants comprise 6 diverse chemical classes and perception differences in strength and quality among human panelists have long puzzled the field of olfaction research. Three odorant receptors (OR) had recently been described for musk odorants: OR5AN1, OR1N2, and OR5A2. High functional expression of the difficult-to-express human OR5A2 was achieved by a modification of the C-terminal domain and the link between sensory perception and receptor activation for the trilogy of these receptors and their key genetic variants was investigated: All 3 receptors detect only musky smelling compounds among 440 commercial fragrance compounds. OR5A2 is the key receptor for the classes of polycyclic and linear musks and for most macrocylic lactones. A single P172L substitution reduces the sensitivity of OR5A2 by around 50-fold. In parallel, human panelists homozygous for this mutation have around 40-60-fold higher sensory detection threshold for selective OR5A2 ligands. For macrocyclic lactones, OR5A2 could further be proven as the key OR by a strong correlation between in vitro activation and the sensory detection threshold in vivo. OR5AN1 is the dominant receptor for the perception of macrocyclic ketones such as muscone and some nitromusks, as panelists with a mutant OR5A2 are still equally sensitive to these ligands. Finally, OR1N2 appears to be an additional receptor involved in the perception of the natural (E)-ambrettolide. This study for the first time links OR activation to sensory perception and genetic polymorphisms for this unique class of odorants.

Association between cardiovascular risk and maternal perception of BMI in Peruvian schoolchildren.

Introduction: In the modern era, the maternal perception of children's nutritional status has emerged as a critical area of study, given its potential influence on nutritional interventions and long-term child health. The relationship between this perception and children's Body Mass Index (BMI) by age is particularly intriguing, as it may reveal discrepancies between perception and reality. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate Peruvian mothers' perception of their children's Body Mass Index (BMI) in relation to age and to determine how this perception associates with the children's cardiovascular risk. The study also analyzed sociodemographic factors that might influence this perception. Methods: The study included 130 mothers of schoolchildren aged 5 to 11 from a school in Lima. Mothers' perceptions of their children's weight were assessed using pictograms, and sociodemographic characteristics were collected through a questionnaire. Weight and height measurements were taken to calculate BMI, and waist circumference was measured to classify cardiovascular risk. Results: A total of 57.4% of the schoolchildren presented with excess malnutrition, and 51.5% of the mothers incorrectly classified the actual BMI/Age of their children (kappa 0.11; p ≤ 0.05). Additionally, it was found that the schoolchild's age is associated with the mother's failure to accurately perceive her child's weight (OR 1.59). Lastly, there was a significant association between maternal perception and cardiovascular risk (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: There is a significant discrepancy between maternal perception and the actual nutritional status of children, which can increase cardiovascular risk. It is necessary to implement intervention and education strategies targeted at parents to enhance the recognition and management of childhood overweight and obesity.

Physical Therapy Services During COVID-19 Pandemic: Perception of Families of Brazilian Children With Physical Disabilities.

PURPOSE: To describe the perspective of caregivers about physical therapy (PT) during the COVID-19 pandemic and the effect of social distancing on the health of children with physical disabilities. METHODS: This survey research used a remote questionnaire to identify the perceptions of caregivers about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of children and adolescents with physical disabilities and on PT services. Data were analyzed using the frequency of responses; open-ended questions were analyzed through a hybrid approach to thematic analysis. RESULTS: Caregivers of 47 children with cerebral palsy were included. Although most received regular PT services during the pandemic, worsened children's physical conditions and anxiety were prevalent. Caregivers believed that they lacked technical skills. CONCLUSIONS: Social distancing impacted the health of children with physical disabilities, especially their physical conditions. Identifying facilitators and barriers for PT services can be helpful in future similar scenarios.Video abstract Supplemental Digital Content available at:http://links.lww.com/PPT/A503.

Students' Perception of Online Platform Based Tutorial in Physiology Curriculum.

Tutorial is one of the effective ways of interactive small group teaching activity sessions. The tutorial is a short series of classes that is ideally conducted in the small group. The use of media in the form of online platforms in tutorials could be very useful. Aims of the study to evaluate the response and perception of students about the small group learning activities like Online platform tutorials in the medical undergraduate Physiology curriculum. This was the cross-sectional study done in the Physiology Department, AIIMS, Bhopal, India from 2022 to 2023 which involved first-year MBBS students (n=39). Five online platforms-based tutorials were taken whereby five topics- one for each system were discussed. In this form of tutorial, 20 to 25 minutes were focussed on discussion, followed by assessment by multiple choice questions through an online platform. Perceptions of students were assessed through a predesigned validated questionnaire, which involved open-ended and close-ended questions. Likert scale questionnaires were also used. The chi-square test and odds ratio was used to see the difference between categorical variable (yes vs. no). The mean and Median score of the Likert scale was reported. The major issue faced was the failure to promote writing skills followed by connectivity problems. Seventy-eight percent (78.0%) of participants liked this form of tutorial, and 94.0% of participants advocated using it in the future. Online platform-based tutorials motivated 84.0% of students to learn topics in a better way. However, 41.0% feared that it does not involve communication and 92.0% opined that writing skill is not promoted. Online platform-based tutorials should be used in the Physiology curriculum. However, infrastructure in the form of prior training and internet connection must be provided. Conventional forms of tutorial should also be used to promote communication and writing skills.

Our perception may not be reality: A longitudinal study of the relationship between perceived and actual change in smoking behavior.

INTRODUCTION: Results of the impact of lockdowns and stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic on changes in cigarette smoking are mixed. Previous studies examining smoking changes during the early stages of the pandemic in 2020 have mainly focused on smoker's perception of changes in cigarette consumption. Such measure has not been widely used in other contexts, and therefore we aim to compare the discrepancy between smokers' perceived changes in cigarette smoking and the actual change in the number of cigarettes smoked, using repeated measurements. METHODS: We included 134 smokers from the French TEMPO cohort with repeated measurements of their perceived changes in smoking habits during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and the number of cigarettes smoked repeatedly from March to May 2020. We used generalized estimation equations (GEE) to examine the association between changes in the number of cigarettes smoked and the odds of mismatched answers. RESULTS: The results suggest that at each study wave, 27-45% of participants provided mismatching answers between their perceived change in smoking habits and the actual change in the number of cigarettes smoked daily, measured repeatedly. Results from GEE analysis demonstrated that a mismatching assessment of smoking behavior was elevated among those who had an increase (OR = 2.52 [1.37;4.65]) or a decrease (OR = 5.73 [3.27;10.03]) in number of cigarettes smoked. DISCUSSION: Our findings highlight the possibility of obtaining different results depending on how changes in tobacco smoking are measured. This highlights the risk of underestimating the actual changes in cigarette smoking during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also more generally when validating public health interventions or smoking cessation programs. Therefore, objective measures such as the actual consumption of psychoactive substances should be utilized, preferably on a longitudinal basis, to mitigate recall bias.

Reduced Monocular Luminance Promotes Fusion But Not Mixed Perception in Amblyopia.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand how monocular luminance reduction affects binocular balance and examine whether it differentially influences fusion and mixed perception in amblyopia. Methods: Twenty-three normally sighted observers and 12 adults with amblyopia participated in this study. A novel binocular rivalry task was used to measure the phase duration of four perceptual responses (right- and left-tilts, fusion, and mixed perception) before and after a neutral density (ND) filter was applied at various levels to the dominant eye (DE) of controls and the fellow eye (FE) of patients with amblyopia. Phase durations were analyzed to assess whether the duration of fusion or mixed perception shifted after monocular luminance reduction. Moreover, we quantified ocular dominance and adjusted monocular contrast and luminance separately to investigate the relationship between changes in ocular dominance induced by the two manipulations. Results: In line with previous studies, binocular balance shifted in favor of the brighter eye in both normal adults and patients with amblyopia. As a function of the ND filter's density, the duration of fusion and mixed perception decreased in normal controls, whereas that of fusion but not mixed perception increased significantly in patients with amblyopia. In addition, changes in binocular balance from luminance reduction were more significant in more balanced amblyopes or normal observers. Furthermore, shifts in binocular balance after contrast and luminance modulation were correlated in both normal and amblyopic observers. Conclusions: The duration of fusion but not mixed perception increased in amblyopia after monocular luminance reduction in the FE. Moreover, our findings demonstrate that changes in ocular dominance from contrast-modulation and luminance-modulation are correlated in both normal and amblyopic observers.

Risk perception about communicable and vector borne diseases among international travellers to Pakistan: A cross sectional study.

With the rise in air travel, the risk of diseases travelling from one geographical area to another has also increased. Relatively little is known about how travellers know and perceive the health risks associated with travel and how they adopt preventive measures before and while travelling abroad. The objective of this study is to determine the risk perception about communicable and vector-borne diseases among international travellers arriving from different countries and to find any association between the level of risk perception and independent variables. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 426 participants enrolled through convenient sampling technique. An already validated questionnaire was used to collect information. Chi square test was applied to ascertain any significant association between dependent and independent variables. Out of 426 respondents, only 226 (53%) had a high risk perception, whereas 220 (47%) had a low risk perception. A significant association was noted between the level of risk perception and gender (x2=20.9, p=0.000), level of education (x2=42.9, p=0.000), nationality (x2=7.5, p= 0.006) and region of arrival of the passengers (x2=26.2, p= 0.000). The results of the study revealed that 220 (47%) of the travellers had a low risk perception that may lead to an increase in the burden on healthcare system in Pakistan as well as exporting any new disease from Pakistan to other parts of the world where it does not already exist.

Men With Type II Diabetes in Peru: The Role of Masculine Gender Norms in the Perception of Family Support.

Type II diabetes is increasingly becoming a problem in Latin American countries such as Peru. People living with diabetes must incorporate several behavioral changes in their everyday lives, which are done outside the purview of medical professionals. Support from friends and family members is essential to the successful management of any chronic condition. Our study discusses the role of family involvement in supporting the management of diabetes among Peruvian men and examines how masculine norms play a role in the way such support is received and perceived, and their influence in motivation to adhere to treatment recommendations. In-depth interviews with 20 men from a low socioeconomic status, aged 27 to 68 with a diagnosis of Type II diabetes were conducted. Our analysis suggests the importance of the close, complex, and integrated experience that connects family members and patients with a chronic condition. Participant accounts demonstrate they receive multiple forms of support from a diverse range of social relationships. The overwhelming majority of the people giving the support were female and were especially significant in supporting management practices. The participants' accounts were able to demonstrate how living with a chronic condition, such as diabetes, affects the whole family-physically, mentally, and emotionally-and they experience the disease as one unit. Our study demonstrates the need for a family health experience approach that considers masculine gender norms around health and provides relevant insights to inform family-based treatments and therapies to allow for more and better targeted health care for men.