Women's Experiences of Intimate and Sexual Relationships During Menopause: A Qualitative Synthesis.

AIM: The aim of this literature review was to explore women's experiences of their intimate and sexual relationships during menopause. BACKGROUND: Evidence shows that the menopause transition can be a difficult time for women due to symptoms of menopause. There is little research evidence about how menopause-related symptoms impact women's intimate and sexual relationships. METHOD: A qualitative synthesis was carried out on research published between May 2005 and July 2023 using five electronic databases: ASSIA, CINAHL, PubMed, PsycINFO and Web of Science. We also searched Google Scholar and used backward and forward chaining methods to identify results not listed in the databases and ensure that no relevant literature was omitted. RESULTS: Eighteen qualitative studies were included in this review. Six main themes were identified: the meaning of menopause to women in different cultures; factors affecting women's sexual lives; changes in sexual desire and orgasm; talking about sexual issues; women's attempts to overcome the impact of ageing and menopause on their sexual lives; and concerns about partner sexual satisfaction during the menopause. CONCLUSION: During the menopause transition, women can experience sexual difficulties that have an impact on their lives and intimate relationships. Qualitative studies showed that sexual changes associated with menopause can be difficult to manage and must be viewed in the social and cultural contexts of the women's lives. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The results of this review will be of interest to nurses to assess patient needs while offering health services to women in menopause. In addition, the results can be used to inform education and support programmes for women. REPORTING METHOD: We have adhered to relevant EQUATOR guidelines and used the PRISMA-ScR reporting method. No patient or public contribution was required for this study.

Evaluation of cycloplegic and noncycloplegic performance of spot vision screener in detection of amblyopia risk factors using 2021 AAPOS guidelines.

PURPOSE: This research evaluates the effectiveness of the Spot Vision Screener (SVS) before and after cycloplegia to detect amblyogenic refractive errors in children. METHODS: Children ages 3 to 10 years old were screened by the SVS before and after cycloplegia. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, paired t-test, Bland-Altman plot and receiver operating characteristic area under the curve were evaluated by comparing the results of the SVS (v3.0.05) measurements with the results of the cycloplegic Topcon autorefractometer according to the 2021 guidelines of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. RESULTS: Both eyes of 211 patients aged 3 to 10 years old were included. Regarding the amblyopia risk factors, the noncycloplegic SVS had 65.7 % sensitivity, 94.9 % specificity, 81.2 % positive predictive value and 89.3 % negative predictive value. The SVS's sensitivity increased from 65.7 % to 81.9 % with cycloplegia compared to noncycloplegic SVS results. The sensitivity detection of hyperopia was improved from 4.2 % to 100 % after cycloplegia. Areas under the receiver operator characteristic curve for noncycloplegic SVS and cycloplegic SVS were 0.506 (95 % CI, 0.395 to 0.646, p = 0737) and 0.905 (95 % CI, 0.915 to 0.971, p < 0.001) for hyperopia, respectively. Using the +1.64 D revised cutoff criteria for hyperopia increased sensitivity from 4.2 % to 78 %. CONCLUSION: Noncycloplegic SVS measurements showed relatively high specificity in detecting amblyopia risk factors. The fact that noncycloplegic measurements have a very low sensitivity for hyperopia is an important weakness of the SVS, especially because hyperopia is the most frequently encountered refractive error in very young children. It should be noted that amblyogenic hyperopia may be overlooked by an SVS without cycloplegia.

Clinical Relevance of Choroidal Thickness in Obese and Healthy Children: A Machine Learning Study.

Objectives: To analyze the effect of macular choroidal thickness (MCT) and peripapillary choroidal thickness (PPCT) on the classification of obese and healthy children by comparing the performance of the random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and multilayer perceptrons (MLP) algorithms. Materials and Methods: Fifty-nine obese children and 35 healthy children aged 6 to 15 years were studied in this prospective comparative study using optical coherence tomography. MCT and PPCT were measured at distances of 500 µm, 1,000 µm, and 1,500 µm from the fovea and optic disc. Three different feature selection algorithms were used to determine the most prominent features of all extracted features. The classification efficiency of the extracted features was analyzed using the RF, SVM, and MLP algorithms, demonstrating their efficacy for distinguishing obese from healthy children. The precision and reliability of measurements were assessed using kappa analysis. Results: The correlation feature selection algorithm produced the most successful classification results among the different feature selection methods. The most prominent features for distinguishing the obese and healthy groups from each other were PPCT temporal 500 µm, PPCT temporal 1,500 µm, PPCT nasal 1,500 µm, PPCT inferior 1,500 µm, and subfoveal MCT. The classification rates for the RF, SVM, and MLP algorithms were 98.6%, 96.8%, and 89%, respectively. Conclusion: Obesity has an effect on the choroidal thicknesses of children, particularly in the subfoveal region and the outer semi-circle at 1,500 µm from the optic disc head. Both the RF and SVM algorithms are effective and accurate at classifying obese and healthy children.

Age and Sex Invariance of the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities: Evidence from Psychometric Network Modeling.

The Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ IV COG) is a comprehensive assessment battery designed to assess broad and narrow cognitive abilities, as defined by the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of intelligence. Previous studies examined the invariance of the WJ assessments across sex and age groups using factor analytic methods. Psychometric network modeling is an alternative methodology that can address both direct and indirect relationships among the observed variables. In this study, we employed psychometric network modeling to examine the invariance of the WJ IV COG across sex and age groups. Using a normative sample (n = 4212 participants) representative of the United States population, we tested the extent to which the factorial structure of the WJ IV COG aligned with CHC theory for the school-aged sample. Next, we used psychometric network modeling as a data-driven method to investigate whether the network structure of the WJ IV COG remains similar across different sex and age (age 6 to 19, inclusively) groups. Our results showed that the WJ IV COG maintained the same network structure across all age and sex groups, although the network structure at younger ages indicated weaker relationships among some subtests. Overall, the results provide construct validity evidence for the WJ IV COG, based on both theoretical and data-driven methods.

Correction to: Modelling personal cautiousness during the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study for Turkey and Italy.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s11071-021-06320-7.].

Modelling personal cautiousness during the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study for Turkey and Italy.

Although policy makers recommend or impose various standard measures, such as social distancing, movement restrictions, wearing face masks and washing hands, against the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, individuals follow these measures with varying degrees of meticulousness, as the perceptions regarding the impending danger and the efficacy of the measures are not uniform within a population. In this paper, a compartmental mathematical model is presented that takes into account the importance of personal cautiousness (as evidenced, for example, by personal hygiene habits and carefully following the rules) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two countries, Turkey and Italy, are studied in detail, as they share certain social commonalities by their Mediterranean cultural codes. A mathematical analysis of the model is performed to find the equilibria and their local stability, focusing on the transmission parameters and investigating the sensitivity with respect to the parameters. Focusing on the (assumed) viral exposure rate, possible scenarios for the spread of COVID-19 are examined by varying the viral exposure of incautious people to the environment. The presented results emphasize and quantify the importance of personal cautiousness in the spread of the disease.

A novel mutation in the SERAC1 gene correlates with the severe manifestation of the MEGDEL phenotype, as revealed by whole-exome sequencing.

The condition 3-methylglutaconic aciduria (3-MGA) with deafness, encephalopathy and Leigh-like (MEGDEL) syndrome, also known as 3-MGA IV, is one of a group of five rare metabolic disorders characterized by mitochondrial dysfunction, resulting in a series of phenotypic abnormalities. It is a rare, recessive inherited disorder with a limited number of cases reported worldwide; hence, it is important to study each case to understand its genetic complexity. An impaired activity of serine active site-containing protein 1 (SERAC1), caused by mutations, leads to defects in phosphatidylglycerol remodelling, which is important for mitochondrial function and intracellular cholesterol trafficking. In the present study, the patients (two male siblings of consanguineous Turkish parents) were analysed, whose multisystem dysfunctions, including an elevated 3-MGA concentration in early age, hearing loss and Leigh-like syndrome as determined by MRI, were consistent with MEGDEL syndrome. A novel mutation in the SERAC1 gene, in the upstream lipase domain, c.1015G>C (p.Gly339Arg) mutation located on exon 10 of the SERAC1, was identified and predicted to cause protein dysfunction. Furthermore, the results pointed towards a possible association between this mutation and the severity of MEGDEL syndrome.