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Mariusz Jaworski,1 Marta Rzadkiewicz,1 Miroslawa Adamus,1 Joanna Chylinska,1 Magdalena Lazarewicz,1 Gørill Haugan,2 Monica Lillefjell,3 Geir Arild Espnes,2 Dorota Wlodarczyk1 1Department of Medical Psychology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland; 2Department of Public Health and Nursing, 3Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, NTNU Center for Health Promotion Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway Introduction: There is evidence that meeting patients’ expectations toward health care correlates with involvement in the treatment they receive. The most important patient expectations concern certain types of information: explanation of disease and treatment, health promotion, and improvement in quality of life. Other demands include proper rapport and emotional support. The aim of this paper was to examine different patient groups over the age of 50 years and their expectations toward medical visits, evaluated before a visit and after the visit.Patients and methods: The study group consisted of 4,921 primary health-care patients. The patients received self-administered questionnaires that they filled in before and after the appointment with the doctor. Interviews with patients were conducted individually by specially trained interviewers. The PRACTA Patient Expectations Scale was used to measure the appointment-related expectations of the patients.Results: We observed differences related to age in patients’ expectations before medical visits regarding the following factors: disease explanation, treatment explanation, quality of life, rapport, and emotional support. The same differences were not observed on health promotion. Evaluation of patients’ appointment-related experiences after the visit showed that there were significant differences between the age-groups regarding all types of expectations included in the study. Differences between previsit and postvisit measurements were statistically significant in all age-groups. Patients who received less than they expected from doctors outnumbered those who received what they expected or more in all the groups.Conclusion: Patients’ expectations toward medical visits are conditioned by age. Therefore, doctors should pay more attention to requirements related to age in their effort to identify and satisfy expectations. This is particularly important in light of the discrepancy between previsit expectations and the actual experiences of patients evaluated after the visit. Keywords: primary care, patients expectations, medical appointment, experiences, PRACTA

Oliwia Wiraszka,1,* Dorota Włodarczyk2,* 1Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland; 2Department of Health Psychology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Oliwia Wiraszka, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland, Tel +48 798 664 227, Email wiraszka.oliwia@gmail.comBackground: Cardiovascular diseases are the main causes of morbidity and premature mortality among men and women in most industrialized and many developing countries. Cardiovascular health (CVH) is a relatively new term that focuses on maintaining good health not only on the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.Purpose: To demonstrate gender differences in selected elements regarding CVH, such as cardio-protection knowledge, behaviors for CVH, and self-efficacy and in the relationships between them.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a convenience sample of 157 respondents (70% women) aged 20– 60 was included. The research tool consisted of four parts: the List of Health Behaviors – CVH version, the Test of Cardio-protection Knowledge, the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), and a sociomedical survey. To estimate the direct and indirect effects between the variables, a bootstrapping procedure was adopted, as recommended for small- and medium-sized samples.Results: There were no gender differences in cardio-protection knowledge, but the groups differed in the levels of behaviors for CVH and self-efficacy. Women generally declared a higher level of healthy behaviors, whereas men demonstrated a higher level of self-efficacy. Women reported more healthy activities related to diet. Men more frequently practiced resistance exercise. The relationships between cardio-protection knowledge, self-efficacy, and behaviors for CVH were different in men and women.Conclusion: Further research should focus more on gender differences in mechanisms underlying health behaviors. Health-promoting programs should give more attention than before to how to differentiate the messages sent to men and women.Keywords: self-efficacy, cardiovascular health, health behaviors

Composites with differently shaped micro- and nanofillers show various, unique thermal, and physicochemical properties when mixed with carefully chosen polymer matrix. Selected composition holds strategic value in achieving desired properties that is biodegradability, thermoelectric conductivity, and shape memory for organic coating. The main aim of this work is to briefly examine structural changes after reaching percolation threshold and activating healing abilities within exploited (8–2 wt ratio) polyurethane–polycaprolactone thin films mixed up with different types of metallic and ferromagnetic microfillers. They, with applicable dosages of reduced graphene oxide nanoparticles, should enhance materials' mechanical and conductive properties. Microscopic and spectroscopic techniques accompanied by extensive thermal analysis have been chosen to provide useful information about local changes in surface structure and morphology. Moreover, pristine, percolating surface with inner-formed, metallic structures shows moderate conducting properties within exploited materials which unfortunately diminish after thermal healing stimulus is being applied. This statement is supported by observing the coverage of regional defects and nearby pores with a concise, uniform layer of blend having different PU:PCL ratio. Including the additional fact that apparent filler migration is changing local dopant composition brings up an assumption that both phenomena have negative synergy effect on each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering, and the temperature dependences of electrical conductivity are investigated for LiNb1 – xTaxO3 nanopowders of different composition (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1) obtained by mechanochemical synthesis with the use of the planetary ball mill. All samples were thermally treated at 550 °C; in addition, some of them were annealed at 800 °C. The comparison of the obtained structural parameters of LiNb1 – xTaxO3 samples with the structural data for LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 points to the formation of the LiNb1 – xTaxO3 solid solution. It is revealed that an increase in Ta content in LiNb1 – xTaxO3 nanopowders leads to an increase in the a-parameter of the crystal lattice and a simultaneous decrease in the c-parameter that eventually leads to a slight decrease in the unit cell volume. The average size of crystallites varies from 31 nm for the nanopowders annealed only at 550 °C to 206 nm for the ones additionally annealed at 800 °C. It is shown that although the Raman spectra of the investigated nanopowders are similar, some peculiarities are also observed. They arise from the different compositions of nanopowders, as well as from the presence of LiNb(Ta)3O8, Nb2O5 and/or Ta2O5 parasitic phases. For the first time, an intense band was revealed in the Raman spectra of samples with x ≠ 0. This band is observed in the region of 1008…1009 cm –1 and, probably, cannot be connected with the presence of parasitic phases. The temperature dependences of pressured LiNb1 – xTaxO3 nanopowders conductivity are investigated at temperatures of 400…940 °C. The determined activation energies of the electrical conductivity (1.328 eV for x = 0.5, 1.232 eV for x = 0.75, and 1.166 eV for x = 1) are close to the known values for pure LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 in the temperature range of ionic conduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the prevalence and risk factors for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) infection and investigate the relationship between these two infections in homeless adults.Design: Cross-sectional study.Setting: Inner-city shelters and free meal programs.Participants: A representative sample of 1226 adults (> or = 18 years) were enrolled from community sites.Main Outcome Measures: Serum HIV-1 antibody status and tuberculin skin test reactivity.Results: Human immunodeficiency virus seroprevalence was 8.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.0% to 10.1%) and the prevalence of TB infection was 32% (95% CI, 30% to 37%). Nineteen percent of the HIV-seropositive subjects had positive tuberculin skin tests. Independent risk factors for HIV infection included younger age, black race, male homosexual contact, injection drug use, use of injection drugs in shooting galleries, and selling sex. Tuberculosis infection was associated with the duration of homelessness and living in crowded shelters or single-room-occupancy hotels. Injection drug use, a risk factor for HIV, was also a risk factor for TB, with a particularly strong association in women. No evidence of an association between TB and HIV infection was found, even after accounting for anergy.Conclusions: The homeless population in the United States should be considered a group at high risk for HIV infection and TB. Given the constellation of risk factors present, the high prevalence of infection, and lack of access to medical services, we anticipate that these communicable diseases in this population will represent a growing public health problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Impaired sexual function is an important cause of depression in uraemic females. Hyperprolactinaemia is frequent, and often associated with decreased serum oestradiol concentration, which can significantly contribute to accelerated bone loss. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on sexual function, serum 17β-oestradiol and prolactin, and bone mineral density (BMD) in pre-menopausal women undergoing haemodialysis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We report details on the synthesis and properties of barium praseodymium tungstate, Ba 2 PrWO 6 , a double perovskite that has not been synthesized before. Room-temperature (RT) powder X-ray diffraction identified the most probable space group (SG) as monoclinic I 2/ m , but it was only slightly distorted from the cubic structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed that the initial (postsynthesis) material contained praseodymium in both 3+ and 4+ charge states. The former (Pr 3+ ) disappeared after exposure to UV light at RT. Photoluminescence studies of Pr 3+ revealed that Ba 2 PrWO 6 is an insulator with a band gap exceeding 4.93 eV. Pressure-dependent Raman spectroscopy excluded the possibility of a phase transition up to 20 GPa; however, measurements between 8 and 873 K signified that there might be a change toward the lower symmetry SG below 200 K. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectra revealed the presence of interstitial oxygen which acts as a deep electron trap.

Despite the current shift in medicine towards patient-centered care, clinicians rarely utilize patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in everyday practice. We examined the predictors of quality- of-life (QoL) trajectories in breast cancer (BC) patients during the first year after primary treatment. A total of 185 BC patients referred for postoperative radiotherapy (RT) filled in the EORTC QLQ-C30 Questionnaire assessing global QoL, functioning and cancer-related symptoms before starting RT; directly after RT; and 3, 6 and 12 months after RT. We used decision tree analyses to examine which baseline factors best allowed for predicting the one-year trajectory of the global QoL after BC treatment. We tested two models: 'basic', including medical and sociodemographic characteristics, and 'enriched', additionally including PROs. We recognized three distinct trajectories of global QoL: 'high', 'U-shape' and 'low'. Of the two compared models, the 'enriched' model allowed for a more accurate prediction of a given QoL trajectory, with all indicators of model validation being better. In this model, baseline global QoL and functioning measures were the key discriminators of QoL trajectory. Taking PROs into account increases the accuracy of the prediction model. Collecting this information in the clinical interview is recommended, especially for patients with lower QoL.

This comprehensive work showcases two novel, rock-salt-type minerals in the form of amphoteric cerium-tungstate double perovskite and ilmenite powders created via a high-temperature solid-state reaction in inert gases. The presented studies have fundamental meaning and will mainly focus on a detailed synthesis description of undoped structures, researching their possible polymorphism in various conditions and hinting at some nontrivial physicochemical properties like charge transfer for upcoming optical studies after eventual doping with selectively chosen rare-earth ions. The formerly mentioned, targeted A 2 BB'X 6 group of compounds contains mainly divalent alkali cations in the form of XII A = Ba 2+ , Ca 2+ sharing, here, oxygen-arranged clusters ( II X = O 2- ) with purposely selected central ions from f-block VI B = Ce 4/3+ and d-block VI B' = W 4/5/6+ since together they often possess some exotic properties that could be tuned and implemented into futuristic equipment like sensors or energy converters. Techniques like powder XRD, XPS, XAS, EPR, Raman, and FTIR spectroscopies alongside DSC and TG were involved with an intent to thoroughly describe any possible changes within these materials. Mainly, to have a full prospect of any desirable or undesirable phenomena before diving into more complicated subjects like: energy or charge transfer in low temperatures; to reveal whether or not the huge angular tilting generates large enough dislocations within the material's unit cell to change its initial properties; or if temperature and pressure stimuli are responsible for any phase transitions and eventual, irreversible decomposition., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Co-doping with manganese and carbon was performed in gallium nitride grown by halide vapor phase epitaxy method. Native seeds of high structural quality were used. The crystallized material was examined in terms of its structural, optical, and electrical properties. For that purpose, different characterization methods: x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, low-temperature photoluminescence, and temperature-dependent Hall effect measurements, were applied. The physical properties of the co-doped samples were compared with the properties of crystals grown in the same reactor, on similar seeds, but doped only with manganese or carbon. A comparison of the electrical and optical properties allowed to determine the role of manganese and carbon in doped and co-doped gallium nitride crystals.

Objectives: Inaccuracies in cause-of-death information in death certificates can reduce the validity of national death statistics and result in poor targeting of resources to reduce morbidity and mortality in people with HIV. Our objective was to measure the sensitivity, specificity, and agreement between multiple causes of deaths from death certificates obtained from the National Death Index (NDI) and causes determined by expert physician review., Methods: Physician specialists determined the cause of death using information collected from the medical records of 50 randomly selected HIV-infected people who died in San Francisco from July 1, 2016, through May 31, 2017. Using expert review as the gold standard, we measured sensitivity, specificity, and agreement., Results: The NDI had a sensitivity of 53.9% and a specificity of 66.7% for HIV deaths. The NDI had a moderate sensitivity for non-AIDS-related infectious diseases and non-AIDS-related cancers (70.6% and 75.0%, respectively) and high specificity for these causes (100.0% and 94.7%, respectively). The NDI had low sensitivity and high specificity for substance abuse (27.3% and 100.0%, respectively), heart disease (58.3% and 86.8%, respectively), hepatitis B/C (33.3% and 97.7%, respectively), and mental illness (50.0% and 97.8%, respectively). The measure of agreement between expert review and the NDI was lowest for HIV (κ = 0.20); moderate for heart disease (κ = 0.45) and hepatitis B/C (κ = 0.40); high for non-AIDS-related infectious diseases (κ = 0.76) and non-AIDS-related cancers (κ = 0.72); and low for all other causes of death (κ < 0.35)., Conclusions: Our findings support education and training of health care providers to improve the accuracy of cause-of-death information on death certificates.

Purpose: Extant research shows that health-related quality of life (HRQoL) differs between female and male survivors of myocardial infarction (MI), but the reasons for this are not fully understood. We aimed to examine the predictors of HRQoL in female and male survivors during the first year after MI., Methods: At timepoints 1 and 2, the sample comprised 222 MI survivors (59 women and 163 men; mean age 53.84 years, range 24-65) referred for in-patient cardiac rehabilitation. This number dropped to 140 participants (42 women and 98 men) at the third timepoint, approximately one year after the MI. We examined the gender differences in various predictors of physical and mental HRQoL: demographic factors (e.g., age, education, marital status), disease-related factors (pre- and post-MI), personality and coping with stress., Results: Initially, both physical and mental HRQoL were lower in women than men, but the differences disappeared at timepoint 3. Stepwise regressions performed separately for men and women revealed that the factors shaping HRQoL were different in both genders; they also changed over time. Substantially fewer factors predicted physical HRQoL in women than in men. Trait anxiety seems to play a similarly negative role in both genders., Conclusions: The psychosocial resources that influence HRQoL were different for women and men. There were also differences concerning predictors of HRQoL dimensions. Further studies with a different or broader range of predictors are needed, especially among women.

Objective: This report examined whether a change in the perceived communication behaviour (PeCoBe) of general practitioners (GPs) influenced the effect of the Promoting Active Aging (PRACTA) intervention on activation of older patients as perceived by GPs., Methods: Pre- and post-intervention questionnaires were filled out by 225 GPs, who were assigned to three groups, e-learning, pdf-article, and control. GPs self-reported their communication behaviour and their perceptions of the attitudes of older patients toward treatment and health., Results: Participation in the e-learning intervention showed an increase in the PeCoBe of GPs, while reading the pdf-article resulted in a decrease of such behaviours. An increase in the PeCoBe of GPs was positively related to an increase in their perception of an active attitude among older patients. The indirect effects observed for e-learning and pdf-article interventions had opposite directions., Conclusion: Both types of PRACTA intervention exerted an impact on GPs' perception of the attitudes of older patients, and change in PeCoBe of GPs could be considered as a mechanism driving this effect., Practical Implications: The methods based on a combination of knowledge delivery and modelling of communication skills are strongly recommended forms of teaching for GPs on how to communicate with and activate seniors., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The diversity in long-term changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among breast cancer (BC) survivors is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to identify clusters of trajectories (subgroups of patients with similar patterns of changes) of selected HRQoL domains over a 1-year period after radiotherapy (RT) in BC patients., Methods: The group consisted of 250 BC patients referred for postoperative RT. Global quality of life (QoL), functions, and cancer-specific symptoms were assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) core Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30) before starting RT, at completion of RT and 3, 6, and 12 months after RT. A hierarchical cluster analysis was used to identify possible trajectories of HRQoL domains., Results: Three distinct types of clusters of trajectories were identified for all outcome variables: Type 1 clusters encompassing the rather time-stable high-global QoL cluster, high-functioning clusters, and low-symptom clusters (44-98% of patients), Type 2 clusters with medium levels of HRQoL domains (8-49%), Type 3 clusters encompassing low-global QoL, low-functioning, and high-symptoms clusters (2-51%)., Conclusions: Our results demonstrated a noticeable heterogeneity of changes in HRQoL domains after BC treatment. The findings support the importance of an accurate patient-reported HRQoL assessment as a routine element of BC survivors' care. The pre-RT assessment of HRQoL alone allows to predict the course of HRQoL changes over the 1-year period after RT and the risk of "falling into" low functioning clusters.

We report detailed optical studies of BaWO 4 :Ce and BaWO 4 :Ce,Na single crystals. The material does not emit any luminescence at ambient pressure under near-UV (325 nm) excitation. Efficient green light is emitted only at high pressure (HP) and low temperature (LT). The luminescence is of excitonic character, since the lowest Ce 3+ 5d level is degenerate with the conduction band also under hydrostatic pressures. To explain these phenomena, absorption measurements were made together with powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and confocal micro-Raman and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Raman experiments confirm the existence of a metastable phase, induced by certain nonhydrostatic conditions, before the reversible transition at a high-pressure range above 9 GPa, where efficient photoluminescence (PL) occurs. Although the phase transition is reversible, it proceeds with a prominent hysteresis observed in luminescence and Raman experiments. FTIR focuses on the existence of Ce 3+ multisites observed during LT measurements.

Aims: Patients' attitude towards treatment and health (ATH) is crucial for compliance at all stages of treatment. This study examined the psychometric properties of the developed PRACTA Attitude Towards Treatment and Health questionnaire, designed to measure ATH as perceived by seniors (PRACTA-ATH) and doctors (PRACTA-ATH-D) in primary health care., Methods: The data were collected in two waves of the Polish-Norwegian PRACTA project. Exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) were conducted on wave 1 data from senior patients ( n = 3392) and their general practitioners ( n = 491). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were conducted on wave 2 data. This was a new sample of senior patients ( n = 2765) and a follow-up sample of doctors ( n = 393)., Results: The EFAs showed that the 16-item four-factor solution is the best solution reflecting the structure of both seniors and doctors' ATH questionnaires. The CFAs conducted to establish the best unified model for PRACTA-ATH and PRACTA-ATH-D indicated three comparatively good solutions: the 16-item four-factor solution, the 12-item four-factor solution and the 12-item five-factor solution., Conclusions: The questionnaire is found appropriate for use among patients and doctors, and can be used as a good tool to monitor older patients' ATH and concordance between doctors and patients' perspectives.

Ca 9 R(VO 4 ) 7 (R = rare earth) multicomponent oxides of a whitlockite-related structure are under consideration for applications in optoelectronics. In this work, the Czochralski-grown Ca 9 R(VO 4 ) 7 crystals were investigated as a function of pressure by powder X-ray diffraction and single-crystal Raman spectroscopy. The diffraction experiments were performed at the ALBA synchrotron under pressures ranging up to 9.22(5), 10.7(1), and 8.55(5) GPa for R = La, Nd, and Gd, respectively, to determine the third order equation of state (EOS) parameters. Fitting of the Birch-Murnaghan EOS provided the isothermal bulk moduli K 0 = 63(4), 63(2), and 61(5) GPa for these three orthovanadates. These values are apparently lower than that reported for structurally related tricalcium vanadate Ca 3 (VO 4 ) 2 . The compressibility anisotropy was observed; the lattice is markedly stiffer in [001] than in [100] direction. For Ca 9 Nd(VO 4 ) 7 , the variation of the diffractograms just above 10 GPa provides an indication on the beginning of amorphization process; during pressure release the whitlockite-like structure is recovered. Raman spectroscopy measurements for single crystals of the above-mentioned rare-earth vanadates and Ca 9 Y(VO 4 ) 7 were performed (the maximum pressures achieved were 16.3(1), 21.2(1), 15.3(1), and 18.6(1) GPa for R = Y, La, Nd, and Gd, respectively). These measurements reveal a partially reversible phase transition interpreted as amorphization, with an onset at the pressure of ∼9-10 GPa, characterized by broadening of the peaks and their shift to lower energies.

Background: Activating older adults in medical practice can benefit patients' health and quality of life, as well as the economy and burden of the healthcare system. Placing general practice in the public healthcare system gives the elderly population easy access to the promotion of active attitudes toward health, provided that the doctors have and use relevant activating tools. The aim of this study was to verify the possibility of activating senior patients through an educational intervention for doctors., Methods: Two waves of data collection from primary care patients and their doctors were separated by an intervention for doctors. The intervention took the form of an e-learning programme or article and was developed so as to improve general practitioners' (GP) communication and activation skills, especially when working with older adults. The outcome variable was the change between the waves in patients' scores on the PRACTA Attitude Toward Treatment and Health (ATH) Scale and PRACTA Self-efficacy Scale. Data from patients aged 50 + (n = 2175; 55.6% women; age: M = 69.56, SD = 9.10) appointed at the primary care facilities were analysed., Results: The analysis revealed the effect of doctors' e-learning and, to a lesser extent, the effect of article reading on patients' attitudes toward treatment and health as well as on their self-efficacy. In facilities in which the intervention was implemented, patients' attitudes were more active on follow-up than at baseline when compared with facilities without the intervention., Conclusions: Educational intervention among doctors can result in patients' ATH becoming more active. The form of intervention might diversify the impact., (© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.)

This study explored the effects intervening in the linkages of optimism and hope with subjective health in the short term after myocardial infarction. A two-wave study design was used. The sample consisted of 222 myocardial infarction survivors. When adopting a cross-sectional design, optimism and hope predicted subjective health at Time 1 and Time 2. After controlling for baseline subjective health, they were no longer significant predictors of subjective health at Time 2. Parallel indirect effects of seeking social support and problem solving were significant for both optimism and hope. After controlling for the shared variance between optimism and hope, these effects remained significant only for optimism.