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IntroductionEarly recognition of pain in children is crucial, and their self-report is the primary source of information. However, communication about pain in healthcare settings can be challenging. For non-verbal communication regarding different symptoms, children prefer digital tools. The electronic Faces Thermometer Scale (eFTS) utilizes a universal design with colors, face emojis, and numbers on an 11-point scale (0–10) for pain assessment. The aim of this study was to establish content validity of the eFTS for pain assessments in children.MethodsA mixed methods design was used. The study took place at a university hospital in eastern Sweden, involving 102 children aged 8–17 years who visited outpatient clinics. Participants were presented with 17 pictures representing varying pain levels and asked to assess hypothetical pain using the eFTS. A think-aloud approach was employed, prompting children to verbalize their thoughts about assessments and the eFTS. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and comparative statistics, together with a qualitative approach for analysis of think-aloud conversations.ResultsA total of 1,734 assessments of hypothetical pain using the eFTS were conducted. The eFTS differentiated between no pain (level 0–1) and pain (level 2–10). However, no clear agreement was found in the differentiation between hypothetical pain intensity levels (level 2–10). The analysis revealed that children utilized the entire scale, ranging from no pain to high pain, incorporating numbers, colors, and face emojis in their assessments.DiscussionThe variability in assessments was influenced by prior experiences, which had an impact on the statistical outcome in our study. However, employing the think-aloud method enhances our understanding of how children utilize the scale and perceive its design, including the incorporation of emotion-laden anchors. Children express a preference for using the eFTS to assess their pain during hospital visits.

Abstract Objective Since obesity and poor fitness appear to be unfavorable for both cardiovascular health and coping with viral infections such as COVID‐19, they are of specific interest in light of the increased risk of cardiovascular and respiratory events now seen after infection with SARS‐CoV‐2. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate how body mass index (BMI) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in late adolescence are associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), respiratory disease, and mortality after COVID‐19. Methods In this study, 1.5 million 18‐year‐old Swedish men with BMI and CRF measured during enlistment for military service 1968–2005 were included. Hospitalized and non‐hospitalized COVID‐19 cases were identified through the Patient Register or positive polymerase chain reaction tests, and age‐matched with non‐infected controls. CVD, respiratory disease, and mortality after COVID‐19 were divided into 180days post‐infection. Cox regression models were used. Results Hospitalized COVID‐19 cases (n = 9839), compared to controls, had >10‐fold, 50 to 70‐fold, and >70‐fold hazards of CVD, respiratory disease, and mortality over the initial 60 days post‐infection with little variation across BMI or CRF categories. The elevated risks persisted at declining levels >180 days. For non‐hospitalized COVID‐19 cases (n = 181,822), there was a 4‐ to 7‐fold increased acute mortality risk, and high CRF was associated with lower risk of post‐infectious respiratory disease. Conclusions The high hazards of adverse outcomes during the first two months after COVID‐19 hospitalization, and across BMI and CRF categories, declined rapidly but were still elevated after six months. Adolescent CRF was associated with respiratory disease after COVID‐19 without hospitalization, which gives further support to the health benefits of physical activity.

Objective: Since obesity and poor fitness appear to be unfavorable for both cardiovascular health and coping with viral infections such as COVID‐19, they are of specific interest in light of the increased risk of cardiovascular and respiratory events now seen after infection with SARS‐CoV‐2. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate how body mass index (BMI) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in late adolescence are associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), respiratory disease, and mortality after COVID‐19. Methods: In this study, 1.5 million 18‐year‐old Swedish men with BMI and CRF measured during enlistment for military service 1968–2005 were included. Hospitalized and non‐hospitalized COVID‐19 cases were identified through the Patient Register or positive polymerase chain reaction tests, and age‐matched with non‐infected controls. CVD, respiratory disease, and mortality after COVID‐19 were divided into <60days, 60‐180days, >180days post‐infection. Cox regression models were used. Results: Hospitalized COVID‐19 cases (n = 9839), compared to controls, had >10‐fold, 50 to 70‐fold, and >70‐fold hazards of CVD, respiratory disease, and mortality over the initial 60 days post‐infection with little variation across BMI or CRF categories. The elevated risks persisted at declining levels >180 days. For non‐hospitalized COVID‐19 cases (n = 181,822), there was a 4‐ to 7‐fold increased acute mortality risk, and high CRF was associated with lower risk of post‐infectious respiratory disease. Conclusions: The high hazards of adverse outcomes during the first two months after COVID‐19 hospitalization, and across BMI and CRF categories, declined rapidly but were still elevated after six months. Adolescent CRF was associated with respiratory disease after COVID‐19 without hospitalization, which gives further support to the health benefits of physical activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The statistical framework of data assimilation provides methods for utilizing new data for obtaining up-to-date forest data: existing forest data are forecasted and combined with each new remote sensing data set. This new paradigm for updating forest database, well known from other fields of study, will provide a framework for utilizing all available remote sensing data in proportion to their quality to improve prediction. It also solves the problem that not all remote sensing data sets provide information for the entire area of interest, since areas with no remote sensing data can be forecasted until new remote sensing data become available. In this study, extended Kalman filtering was used for assimilating data from 19 TanDEM-X InSAR images on 137 sample plots, each of 10-meter radius at a test site in southern Sweden over a period of 4 years. At almost all time points data assimilation resulted in predictions closer to the reference value than predictions based on data from that single time point. For the study variables Lorey's mean height, basal area, and stem volume, the median reduction in root mean square error was 0.4 m, 0.9 m2/ha, and 15.3 m3/ha (2, 3, and 6 percentage points), respectively.

Background Analysing and modelling plant growth is an important interdisciplinary field of plant science. The use of relative growth rates, involving the analysis of plant growth relative to plant size, has more or less independently emerged in different research groups and at different times and has provided powerful tools for assessing the growth performance and growth efficiency of plants and plant populations. In this paper, we explore how these isolated methods can be combined to form a consistent methodology for modelling relative growth rates. Methods We review and combine existing methods of analysing and modelling relative growth rates and apply a combination of methods to Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.) stem-analysis data from North Wales (UK) and British Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) yield table data. Results The results indicate that, by combining the approaches of different plant-growth analysis laboratories and using them simultaneously, we can advance and standardise the concept of relative plant growth. Particularly the growth multiplier plays an important role in modelling relative growth rates. Another useful technique has been the recent introduction of size-standardised relative growth rates. Conclusions Modelling relative growth rates mainly serves two purposes, 1) an improved analysis of growth performance and efficiency and 2) the prediction of future or past growth rates. This makes the concept of relative growth ideally suited to growth reconstruction as required in dendrochronology, climate change and forest decline research and for interdisciplinary research projects beyond the realm of plant science.

For proper relative quantification by real-time PCR, compared samples should have similar PCR efficiencies. To test this prerequisite, we developed two quality tests: (i) adjustment of a test for kinetic outlier detection (KOD) to relative quantification; and (ii) comparison of the efficiency variance of test samples with the efficiency variance of samples with highly reproducible quantification. The tests were applied on relative quantification of two genes in 30 sets of 5 replicate samples (same treatment, different animals). Ten low-quality sets and 28 outliers were identified. The low-quality sets showed higher coefficient of variation (CV)% of DNA quantities in replicate experiments than high-quality sets (63% versus 26%; P = 0.001) and contained a higher proportion of outlying quantities (35% versus 5.9%; P = 0.001) when individual samples were detected by adjusted KOD. Outlier detection with adjusted KOD reduced the false detection of outliers by 2/3 compared with the previous, nonadjusted version of KOD (20% versus 5.9%; P = 0.001). We conclude that the presented tests can be used to assign technical reasons to outlying observations.

Objective: Since obesity and poor fitness appear to be unfavorable for both cardiovascular health and coping with viral infections such as COVID-19, they are of specific interest in light of the increased risk of cardiovascular and respiratory events now seen after infection with SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate how body mass index (BMI) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in late adolescence are associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), respiratory disease, and mortality after COVID-19., Methods: In this study, 1.5 million 18-year-old Swedish men with BMI and CRF measured during enlistment for military service 1968-2005 were included. Hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 cases were identified through the Patient Register or positive polymerase chain reaction tests, and age-matched with non-infected controls. CVD, respiratory disease, and mortality after COVID-19 were divided into <60days, 60-180days, >180days post-infection. Cox regression models were used., Results: Hospitalized COVID-19 cases (n = 9839), compared to controls, had >10-fold, 50 to 70-fold, and >70-fold hazards of CVD, respiratory disease, and mortality over the initial 60 days post-infection with little variation across BMI or CRF categories. The elevated risks persisted at declining levels >180 days. For non-hospitalized COVID-19 cases (n = 181,822), there was a 4- to 7-fold increased acute mortality risk, and high CRF was associated with lower risk of post-infectious respiratory disease., Conclusions: The high hazards of adverse outcomes during the first two months after COVID-19 hospitalization, and across BMI and CRF categories, declined rapidly but were still elevated after six months. Adolescent CRF was associated with respiratory disease after COVID-19 without hospitalization, which gives further support to the health benefits of physical activity., Competing Interests: Magnus Gisslén has received research grants from Gilead Sciences and Janssen‐Cilag and honoraria as speaker, DSMB committee member and/or scientific advisor from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Biogen, Bristol‐Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline/ViiV, Janssen‐Cilag, MSD, Novocure, Novo Nordic, Pfizer, and Sanofi. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Obesity Science & Practice published by World Obesity and The Obesity Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)