The current status of surgical pilonidal sinus disease therapy in Germany

European Surgery - Treatment of pilonidal sinus disease (PSD) requires a tailored approach. A national guideline was published in 2014. The current status of surgical PSD therapy...     

Uncertainty evaluation at three spatial scales for the NDVI-based VWC estimation method used in the SMAP algorithm

Vegetation water content (VWC) is the key input parameter for a soil moisture retrieval algorithm based on microwave remote sensing, and VWC uncertainty can limit the estimated accuracy of soil moisture. There has been little research on VWC algorithm development and validation in China, and the uncertainty of the VWC estimation method has not been well evaluated. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the uncertainty of the VWC estimation method used in the SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) algorithm on three spatial scales (the point-scale, 30 m scale, and 1 km scale) for maize in northeast China. Results from three ground experimental datasets showed that the SMAP VWC estimation method was strongly biased with an average overestimation of 1.16 kg m^?2,1.04 kg m^?2, and 1.13 kg m^?2 for the point-scale, 30 m scale, and 1 km scale respectively, and maximum bias occurred in the mid-stage of maize. Also, a new power relationship between NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and VWC was proposed for the 30 m scale based on Sentinel 2 NDVI and field VWC values from 2017 experiment, with respective R² (coefficient of determination) and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) values of 0.80 and 0.67 kg m^?2. The results confirmed that this power relationship was still suitable for VWC estimation at the 1 km scale, and it has smaller bias than the original SMAP VWC method. Future work will be carried out to evaluate the applicability of this VWC estimation method over a lager region. It is expected that it can improve the accuracy of soil moisture by providing high precision VWC input parameters.     

Pharmacy patron perspectives of community pharmacist administered influenza vaccinations

Background

One approach to boost influenza vaccination coverage has been to expand immunization authority. In 2012, the province of Ontario gave community pharmacists the authority to administer the influenza vaccine.

四方联动防跌护理在社区跌倒高危老年人中的应用

目的探讨专科护士-社区护士-个体-家庭四方联动防跌护理模式在社区跌倒高危老年人中的应用与效果。方法选取深圳市龙岗区的2个社区,随机分为观察组和对照组,从两个社区登记建档的跌倒高风险老年居民中分别随机抽选45名进行干预。观察组采用"专科护士-社区护士-个体-家庭"四方联动推进的综合干预方案。对照组接受社区防跌倒常规护理。于干预前及干预后12个月使用修订版社区老年人跌倒危险评估量表、步态和平衡测试量表对两组老年人进行评测,记录两组1年内跌倒发生例次。结果干预期间跌倒发生情况:观察组1人次,对照组6人次。观察组步态和平衡测试得分提高,跌倒危险评估表得分降低,与对照组比较,差异有统计学意义(均P0.01)。结论四方联动的综合干预方案应用于社区居家老年人,能有效降低老年人跌倒风险,提升其防跌能力,对预防社区老年人跌倒的发生有积极作用。