by Chih-Hsiung Chen, Rahul Patel, Alessandro Bortolami, Federico Sesti Biological organisms respond to environmental stressors by recruiting multiple cellular cascades that act to mitigate damage and ultimately enhance survival. This implies that compounds that interact with any of those pathways might improve organism's survival. Here, we report on an initial attempt to develop a drug screening assay based on the heat shock (HS) response of Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes. The protocol works...
by Harald Haidl, Axel Schlagenhauf, Angelika Krebs, Harald Plank, Willibald Wonisch, Vera Fengler, August Fiegl, Gerd Hörl, Martin Koestenberger, Thomas Wagner, Erwin Tafeit, Gerhard Cvirn, Seth Hallström Background Ethyl pyruvate (EP), the ethyl ester of pyruvate, has proven antiinflammatory and antioxidative properties. Additionally, anticoagulant properties have been suggested recently. EP, therefore, is a potentially antiatherosclerotic drug. We aimed to investigate whether EP possesses antiplatelet...
by Anneli Uusküla, Peter Vickerman, Mait Raag, Josephine Walker, Dimitrios Paraskevis, Ksenia Eritsyan, Vana Sypsa, Dmitry Lioznov, Radko Avi, Don Des Jarlais Objective We aim to show the feasibility of using an integrated prevention and care continuum (PCC) model as a complete and improved tool for HIV control measurement and programming. Alignment of prevention and care continua is essential to further improve health outcomes and minimize HIV transmission risk. Design Cross-sectional study. Methods...
by Jana Bürger, Andrey V. Malyshev, Nathalie Colbach Key plant traits affecting growth performance can differ among and within species, influencing competitive plant community dynamics. We determined the intra-specific variability of germination base temperature among 13 arable weed species and the seedlings’ early post-emergence relative growth rate among 21 species in climate chamber and green house experiments. Intra-specific variability was quantified with two seed populations (originating...
by Marcia M. de O. Buanafina, M. Fernanda Buanafina, Sue Dalton, Phillip Morris, Marissa Kowalski, Manav K. Yadav, Lindsay Capper While many aspects of the growth of maize are well understood, the role of cell wall feruloylation particularly during internode elongation has not been firmly established, but results so far indicate that it has significant implications for both biofuel feedstock conversion and for crop yield. The growth of the cell wall is achieved by synthesis, integration and...
by Kim Sui Wan, Foong Ming Moy, Khalijah Mohd Yusof, Feisul Idzwan Mustapha, Zainudin Mohd Ali, Noran Naqiah Hairi Background Clinical inertia can lead to poor glycemic control among type 2 diabetes patients. However, there is paucity of information on clinical inertia in low- and middle-income countries including Malaysia. This study aimed to determine the time to treatment intensification among T2D patients with HbA1c of ≥7% (≥53 mmol/mol) in Malaysian public health clinics. The proportion of...
by Kazuya Tateishi, Atsushi Nakagomi, Yuichi Saito, Hideki Kitahara, Masato Kanda, Yuki Shiko, Yohei Kawasaki, Hiroyo Kuwabara, Yoshio Kobayashi, Takahiro Inoue Background Although current guidelines recommend admission to the intensive/coronary care unit (ICU/CCU) for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (MI), routine use of the CCU in uncomplicated patients with acute MI remains controversial. We aimed to evaluate the safety of management in the general ward (GW) of hemodynamically...
by Nicholas Risko, Kalin Werner, O. Agatha Offorjebe, Andres I. Vecino-Ortiz, Lee A. Wallis, Junaid Razzak Background In this paper, we predict the health and economic consequences of immediate investment in personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers (HCWs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods To account for health consequences, we estimated mortality for HCWs and present a cost-effectiveness and return on investment (ROI) analysis using a decision-analytic model...
by Hoda Nouri, Hamid Moghimi, Sayed-Amir Marashi, Elahe Elahi Zymomonas mobilis, as an ethanologenic microorganism with many desirable industrial features, faces crucial obstacles in the lignocellulosic ethanol production process. A significant hindrance occurs during the pretreatment procedure that not only produces fermentable sugars but also releases severe toxic compounds. As diverse parts of regulation networks are involved in different aspects of complicated tolerance to inhibitors, we...
by Ekasit Kowitdamrong, Thanyawee Puthanakit, Watsamon Jantarabenjakul, Eakachai Prompetchara, Pintip Suchartlikitwong, Opass Putcharoen, Nattiya Hirankarn Background A greater understanding of the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 in an infected population is important for the development of a vaccination. Aim To investigate SARS-CoV-2 IgA and IgG antibodies in Thai patients with differing severities of COVID-19. Methods Plasma from the following patient groups was examined: 118 adult patients with...
by Wen-Zhi Guan, Gao-Feng Qiu, Feng-Liu During recent years, China has become a hotspot for the domestication of mandarin fish, and this is of great commercial value. Although the food preference of domesticated mandarin fish has been studied, little is known about genes regulating their growth. We raised hybrid mandarin fish on artificial feed for 3 months, the results showed that the survival rate of hybrid mandarin fish was 60.00%. Their total length and body weight were 18.34 ±0.43 cm and...
by Alison Evans, Miranda Davies, Vicki Osborne, Debabrata Roy, Saad Shakir Introduction Although the direct oral anticoagulant rivaroxaban is recommended for stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation based on Phase III clinical trials, there is still a need for additional safety data from everyday clinical practice. The ROSE study was initiated to collect further information on the safety and utilisation of rivaroxaban in a broader range of patient groups in routine clinical...
by Marta Blangiardo, Michela Cameletti, Monica Pirani, Gianni Corsetti, Marco Battaglini, Gianluca Baio In this study we present the first comprehensive analysis of the spatio-temporal differences in excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. We used a population-based design on all-cause mortality data, for the 7,904 Italian municipalities. We estimated sex-specific weekly mortality rates for each municipality, based on the first four months of 2016–2019, while adjusting for age,...
by Sunil Shrestha, Binaya Sapkota, Santosh Thapa, Bhuvan K. C., Saval Khanal Background Understanding patient satisfaction with pharmacy services can help to enhance the quality and monitoring of pharmacy services. Patient Satisfaction with Pharmacist Services Questionnaire 2.0 (PSPSQ 2.0) is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring patient satisfaction with services from the pharmacist. The availability of the PSPSQ 2.0 in Nepalese version would facilitate patient satisfaction and enhance...
by Miwako Nagasu, Isamu Yamamoto The association of socioeconomic status and lifestyle behaviours on mental health appears well-established in the literature, as several studies report that better socioeconomic status such as higher levels of disposable income and employment as well as practising healthy lifestyles can enhance mental well-being. However, the reliance on cross-sectional correlations and lack of adequate statistical controls are possible limitations. This study aims to add the...
by Yahui Li, Ying Wang, Linlin Fan, Fan Wang, Xiaoli Liu, Hongzhi Zhang, Jianzhong Zhou Glycosidases enhance flavor during wine-making by mediating the enzymatic release of aroma molecules. In order to better understand the aroma enhancement potential of Oenococcus oeni SD-2a, β-D-glucosidase (βG) activities in the culture supernatant, whole cells, and disrupted cell lysate were assessed at mid log, late log and stationary growth phase. The enzymatic activity was also compared further from cell...
by Helen Regina Mota Machareth de Morais, Edison Iglesias de Oliveira Vidal, Claudia Medina Coeli, Rejane Sobrino Pinheiro Purpose We aimed to examine whether the number of previous hospitalizations and the main diagnoses of those hospitalizations are associated with increased in-hospital hip fracture mortality for older people. That assessment is relevant because if those variables are shown to be associated with increased mortality, that finding could support their use as proxies for comorbidity...
by Samuel Long, Brian Berkemeier Accurate and sensitive quantification of rebound competent HIV that persists despite combination antiretroviral treatment (cART), including in latently infected cells (i.e., viral reservoir), is critical for evaluating cure strategies for decreasing or eliminating this reservoir. Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected Rhesus macaques are an important non-human primate (NHP) system for studying potential cure strategies as they model many key aspects of...
by Tae Hyeon Kim, Dong Eun Park, Hyung Ku Chon Objectives Endoscopic transpapillary gallbladder drainage (ETGBD) has been proposed as an alternative to surgery or percutaneous cholecystostomy in patients with acute calculus cholecystitis (ACC). We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ETGBD via endoscopic transpapillary gallbladder stenting (ETGBS) or endoscopic naso-gallbladder drainage (ENGBD) as either a bridging or a definitive treatment option for patients with ACC when a cholecystectomy...
by Fabien Mavrot, Karin Orsel, Wendy Hutchins, Layne G. Adams, Kimberlee Beckmen, John E. Blake, Sylvia L. Checkley, Tracy Davison, Juliette Di Francesco, Brett Elkin, Lisa-Marie Leclerc, Angela Schneider, Matilde Tomaselli, Susan J. Kutz
by Bryan Taekyung Jung, Won Hyeon Kim, Byungho Park, Jong-Ho Lee, Bongju Kim, Jee-Ho Lee Fixation materials used in the surgical treatment of subcondylar fractures contribute to successful clinical outcomes. In this study, we simulated the mechanical properties of four fixation materials [titanium (Ti), magnesium alloy (Mg alloy), poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA), and hydroxyapatite/poly-L-lactide (HA-PLLA)] in a finite-element analysis model of subcondylar fracture. Two four-hole plates were fixed...
by Fabiano L. Ribeiro, Joao Meirelles, Vinicius M. Netto, Camilo Rodrigues Neto, Andrea Baronchelli
by Luicer Anne Olubayo Ingasia, Evangelia Georgia Kostaki, Dimitrios Paraskevis, Anna Kramvis Description of the spatial characteristics of viral dispersal is important in understanding the history of infections. Nine hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes (A-I), and a putative 10th genotype (J), with distinct geographical distribution, are recognized. In sub-Saharan Africa (sub)-genotypes A1, D3 and E circulate, with E predominating in western Africa (WA), where HBV is hyperendemic. The low genetic...
by Gábor Remzső, János Németh, Viktória Varga, Viktória Kovács, Valéria Tóth-Szűki, Kai Kaila, Juha Voipio, Ferenc Domoki
by Lloyd A. Courtenay, Darío Herranz-Rodrigo, Rosa Huguet, Miguel Ángel Maté-González, Diego González-Aguilera, José Yravedra Modern day investigation in fields of archaeology and palaeontology can be greatly characterised by an exponential growth of integrated new technologies, nevertheless, while these advances are of great significance to multiple lines of research, their evaluation and update over time is equally as important. Here we present an application of inter and intra-observer analysis...
by Jeehee Pyo, Eun Young Choi, Won Lee, Seung Gyeong Jang, Young-Kwon Park, Minsu Ock, Sang-Il Lee The present study investigated physicians’ perceptions regarding the need for, effects of, and barriers to disclosure of patient safety incidents (DPSI). An anonymous online questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate physicians’ perception regarding DPSI, in particular of when DPSI was needed in various situations and of methods for facilitating DPSI. Physicians’ perceptions were then compared...
by Siliang Luan, Qingfang Yang, Zhongtai Jiang, Wei Wang, Chao Chen This study presents a multi-stage random regret minimization (RRM) model as an emergency rescue decision support system to determine the emergency resource pre-allocation schedule for the freeway network. The proposed methodology consists of three steps: (1) improved accident frequency approach to identify the black spots on the freeway network, (2) stochastic programming (SP) model to determine the initial allocation plan sets,...
by James Alexander Reid, Alison McDonald, Anthony Callanan The aim of this study was to look at how the composition and morphology of polymer scaffolds could be altered to create an optimized environment for endothelial cells. Four polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds were electrospun with increasing fibre diameters ranging from 1.64 μm to 4.83 μm. The scaffolds were seeded with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and cultured for 12 days. PCL scaffolds were then electrospun incorporating...
by Stephanie M. Groman, Satoshi Ikemoto, Matthew Rushworth, Jane R. Taylor, Robert Whelan The survival of an organism depends on the ability to make adaptive decisions to achieve the needs of the organism: where to get food, who to mate with, and how to evade predators. Decision-making is a term used to describe a collection of behavioral and/or computational functions that guide the selection of an option amongst a set of alternatives. Some of these functions may include calculating the costs...
by Jessica R. Terrill, Basma A. Al-Mshhdani, Marisa N. Duong, Catherine D. Wingate, Zahra Abbas, Angelo P. Baustista, Amanda K. Bettis, Cynthia J. Balog-Alvarez, Joe N. Kornegay, Peter P. Nghiem, Miranda D. Grounds, Peter G. Arthur Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a lethal, X-chromosome linked muscle-wasting disease affecting about 1 in 3500–6000 boys worldwide. Myofibre necrosis and subsequent loss of muscle mass are due to several molecular sequelae, such as inflammation and oxidative...
by Barbara Laskowska, Mariusz Kamola Finding music pieces whose similarity is explainable in plain musical terms can be of considerable value in many applications. We propose a composition grouping method based on musicological approach. The underlying idea is to compare music notation to natural language. In music notation, a musical theme corresponds to a word. The more similar motives we find in two musical pieces, the higher is their overall similarity score. We develop the definition of...
by Rodrigo López Barreda, Alonso Guerrero, Juan Cristóbal de la Cuadra, Manuela Scotoni, Wilbaldo Salas, Fernando Baraona, Francisca Arancibia, Polentzi Uriarte The objective of this study was to assess the quality of life and psychological wellbeing of adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) in Chile, and to identify other associated factors. The study enrolled 68 patients aged between 18 and 72 (median 29), 35 being females. They completed a questionnaire, which included a quality of life...
by Hui Guo, Wei Li, Yingying Huang, Xiaoyan Li, Zhi Li, Hongxia Zhou, Enhua Sun, Li Li, Jisheng Li Objective To evaluate the microbial loading in aerosols produced after air-puff by non-contact tonometer (NCT) as well as the effect of alcohol disinfection on the inhibition of microbes and thus to provide suggestions for the prevention and control of COVID-19 in ophthalmic departments of hospitals or clinics during the great pandemics. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out in this study....
by Jenny Saving, Emelie Heintz, Hans Pettersson, Anders Enocson, Cecilia Mellstrand Navarro Aim To investigate the cost-effectiveness of Volar Locking Plate (VLP) compared to External Fixation (EF) for unstable dorsally displaced distal radius fractures in a 3-year perspective. Methods During 2009–2013, patients aged 50–74 years with an unstable dorsally displaced distal radius fracture were randomised to VLP or EF. Primary outcome was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for VLP compared...
by Nicole Droz, Patrick Hanaway, Mark Hyman, Yuxuan Jin, Michelle Beidelschies, M. Elaine Husni Background Despite treatment advances for inflammatory arthritis, a significant amount of patients fail to achieve remission. Other modifiable factors such as diet, physical activity and environmental exposures may be an important area of focus to help patients achieve disease remission and greater overall health. Functional medicine focuses on these lifestyle factors and may be an important adjunctive...
by Steven Kane Curtis, Jagdeep Singh, Oksana Mont, Alexandra Kessler (1) Background Research and user experience suggests both positive and negative social impacts resulting from practices in the sharing economy: social cohesion vs. gentrification; inclusiveness vs. discrimination; flexible employment vs. exploitation. However, as yet, there is no framework for understanding or assessing these social impacts holistically. (2) Objective We aim to improve understanding of the social impacts of sharing...
by Matthew C. Allender, Michael J. Ravesi, Ellen Haynes, Emilie Ospina, Christopher Petersen, Christopher A. Phillips, Robert Lovich Wildlife disease surveillance and pathogen detection are fundamental for conservation, population sustainability, and public health. Detection of pathogens in snakes is often overlooked despite their essential roles as both predators and prey within their communities. Ophidiomycosis (formerly referred to as Snake Fungal Disease, SFD), an emergent disease on the...
by Évèhouénou Lionel Adisso, Hervé Tchala Vignon Zomahoun, Amédé Gogovor, France Légaré Background Shared decision making (SDM) in healthcare is an approach in which health professionals support patients in making decisions based on best evidence and their values and preferences. Considering sex and gender in SDM research is necessary to produce precisely-targeted interventions, improve evidence quality and redress health inequities. A first step is correct use of terms. We therefore assessed sex...
by Roberta Forlano, Benjamin H. Mullish, Sujit K. Mukherjee, Rooshi Nathwani, Cristopher Harlow, Peter Crook, Rebekah Judge, Anet Soubieres, Paul Middleton, Anna Daunt, Pablo Perez-Guzman, Nowlan Selvapatt, Maud Lemoine, Ameet Dhar, Mark R. Thursz, Shevanthi Nayagam, Pinelopi Manousou Background & aims Although metabolic risk factors are associated with more severe COVID-19, there is little evidence on outcomes in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We here describe the...
by Ga-Young Ban, Dong-Ye Youn, Young-Min Ye, Hae-Sim Park Background Patients with aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD) are known to have poor clinical outcomes. The pathogenic mechanisms have not yet been completely understood. Objective We aimed to assess the involvement of the de-novo synthetic pathway of sphingolipid metabolism in patients with AERD compared to those with aspirin tolerant asthma (ATA). Methods A total of 63 patients with AERD and 79 patients with ATA were enrolled...
by Sam E. Mason, Alasdair J. Scott, Sheraz R. Markar, Jonathan M. Clarke, Guy Martin, Jasmine Winter Beatty, Viknesh Sounderajah, Seema Yalamanchili, Max Denning, Thanjakumar Arulampalam, James M. Kinross, on behalf of the PanSurg Collaborative Background There is a need to understand the impact of COVID-19 on colorectal cancer care globally and determine drivers of variation. Objective To evaluate COVID-19 impact on colorectal cancer services globally and identify predictors for behaviour change....
by Liangliang Meng, Xiaoxi He, Xiao Zhang, Xiaobo Zhang, Yingtian Wei, Bin Wu, Wei Li, Jing Li, Yueyong Xiao Objective Melanoma is rare but dangerous skin cancer, and it can spread rather quickly in the advanced stages of the tumor. Abundant evidence suggests the relationship between tumor development and progression and the immune system. A robust gene risk model could provide an accurate prediction of clinical outcomes. The present study aimed to explore a robust signature of immune-related gene...
by Ahmed Maged Nofal, Gabriella Cacciotti, Nick Lee During the past 6 months, the world has lost almost 950,000 lives because of the outbreak of COVID-19, with more than 31 million individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 worldwide. In response, lockdowns, and various other policies have been implemented. Unfortunately, many individuals are violating those policies and governments have been urging people to comply with the behavioral guidelines. In this paper, we argue that personality traits need...
by Simon Agerskov, Jonathan Arvidsson, Doerthe Ziegelitz, Kerstin Lagerstrand, Göran Starck, Isabella M. Björkman-Burtscher, Carsten Wikkelsö, Mats Tullberg Introduction Core symptomatology in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) points at dysfunction in the mesencephalon and pons indicating pathological changes in these regions, but only a few studies have addressed the issue. The aim of this study was to investigate diffusion (ADC) and perfusion patterns pre- and postoperatively in...
by Juan Pablo Gutierrez, Stefano M. Bertozzi Background The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic compounds Mexico’s pre-existing challenges: very high levels of both non-communicable diseases (NCD) and social inequity. Methods and findings Using data from national reporting of SARS-CoV-2 tested individuals, we estimated odds of hospitalization, intubation, and death based on pre-existing non-communicable diseases and socioeconomic indicators. We found that obesity, diabetes, and hypertension are positively associated...
by Dun-Sol Go, Young-Eun Kim, Seok-Jun Yoon This study developed and validated a Korean community health determinants index (K-CHDI), which can be used to assess the health status of the community. To develop composite indicators, we followed the guidelines of the Joint Research Centre of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. We reviewed previous studies and formed a theoretical framework to systematize our domains and indicators, which were decided through a Delphi survey...
by Britt Borregaard, Jordi S. Dahl, Ola Ekholm, Emil Fosbøl, Lars P. S. Riber, Kirstine L. Sibilitz, Sasja M. Pedersen, Thomas P. H. Rothberg, Maiken H. Nielsen, Selina K. Berg, Jacob E. Møller Objective Detachment from the workforce following open heart valve surgery is a burden for the patient and society. The objectives were to examine patterns of employment status at different time points and to investigate factors associated with a lower likelihood of returning to the workforce within six...
by Nathalie C. M. Rolland, C. Rob Markus, Mark J. Post
by Noriyuki Sasaki, Takeshi Iwaya, Takehiro Chiba, Masashi Fujita, Zhenlin Ju, Fumitaka Endo, Mizunori Yaegashi, Tsuyoshi Hachiya, Ryo Sugimoto, Tamotsu Sugai, Doris R. Siwak, Lance A. Liotta, Yiling Lu, Gordon B. Mills, Hidewaki Nakagawa, Satoshi S. Nishizuka Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is released from tumor cells into blood in advanced cancer patients. Although gene mutations in individual tumors can be diverse and heterogenous, ctDNA has the potential to provide comprehensive biomarker...
by Suzanne van de Groep, Kiki Zanolie, Kayla H. Green, Sophie W. Sweijen, Eveline A. Crone Adolescence is a formative phase for social development. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated regulations have led to many changes in adolescents’ lives, including limited opportunities for social interactions. The current exploratory study investigated the effect of the first weeks of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on Dutch adolescents’ (N = 53 with attrition, N = 36 without attrition) mood, empathy, and...
An empirical study on spatial–temporal dynamics and influencing factors of apple production in China
by Qiangqiang Zhang, Fanji Shi, Nazir Muhammad Abdullahi, Liqun Shao, Xuexi Huo In the context of supply-side structural reform, revealing the characteristics of spatial–temporal dynamics and influencing factors of China’s apple production layout is of great significance to ensure apple supply and demand balance and timely adjustment of industrial policies and regional layout strategies. Based on national and provincial apple production data from 1978 to 2016, this study used the apple production...
by Harutaro Kenmotsu, Kiichi Uchida, Yuu Hirose, Toshihiko Eki Nematodes are representative soil metazoans with diverged species that play crucial roles in nutrient recycling in the pedosphere. Qualitative and quantitative information on nematode communities is useful for assessing soil quality, and DNA barcode-mediated taxonomic analysis is a powerful tool to investigate taxonomic compositions and changes in nematode communities. Here, we investigated four regions (regions 1–4) of the 18S small...
by Nicolas Bottan, Bridget Hoffmann, Diego Vera-Cossio The current coronavirus pandemic is an unprecedented public health challenge that is having a devastating economic impact on households. Using a sample of 230,540 respondents to an online survey from 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the study shows that the economic impacts are large and unequal: 45 percent of respondents report that a household member has lost their job and, among households owning small businesses, 59 percent...
by Moon Hyung Choi, Seung Bae Yoon, Meiying Song, In Seok Lee, Tae Ho Hong, Myung Ah Lee, Eun Sun Jung Although pancreatic cancer tumors are irregularly shaped in terms of their three-dimensional (3D) structure, when T staging by imaging results, generally only the axial plane is used to measure the largest tumor diameter. We investigated the size of pancreatic cancer tumors using multi-plane and 3D reconstructed computed tomography (CT) images and investigated their clinical usefulness. Patients...
by Fallon K. Noto, Jaya Sangodkar, Bisoye Towobola Adedeji, Sam Moody, Christopher B. McClain, Ming Tong, Eric Ostertag, Jack Crawford, Xiaohua Gao, Lauren Hurst, Caitlin M. O’Connor, Erika N. Hanson, Sudeh Izadmehr, Rita Tohmé, Jyothsna Narla, Kristin LeSueur, Kajari Bhattacharya, Amit Rupani, Marwan K. Tayeh, Jeffrey W. Innis, Matthew D. Galsky, B. Mark Evers, Analisa DiFeo, Goutham Narla, Tseten Y. Jamling We have created the immunodeficient SRG rat, a Sprague-Dawley Rag2/Il2rg double knockout...
by Cindy Sing Bik Ngai, Rita Gill Singh, Wenze Lu Social networking sites offer an important means for increasing the accessibility and enabling new forms of health communication between the public and medical social influencers (MSIs). MSIs have a social presence and are perceived as a credible source of health-related information. A research gap, however, exists in understanding the communication strategies employed by MSIs and the factors driving the public to engage in health communication...
by Alice Kamau, Grace Mtanje, Christine Mataza, Lucas Malla, Philip Bejon, Robert W. Snow Introduction Malaria surveillance is a key pillar in the control of malaria in Africa. The value of using routinely collected data from health facilities to define malaria risk at community levels remains poorly defined. Methods Four cross-sectional parasite prevalence surveys were undertaken among residents at 36 enumeration zones in Kilifi county on the Kenyan coast and temporally and spatially matched to...
by Chun Wei Yap, Lixia Ge, Reuben Ong, Ruijie Li, Bee Hoon Heng Background For population health management, it is important to have health indices that can monitor prevailing health trends in the population. Traditional health indices are generally measurable at different geographical levels with varied number of health dimensions. The aim of this work was to develop and validate a scalable and extendable multi-dimensional health index based on individual data. Methods We defined health to be...
by Peter Hoffmann, Rouven Behnisch, Julia Gsenger, Paul Schnitzler, Annika Gauss Background and aims The incidence of hepatitis E virus (HEV)-infections in industrialized nations has been increasing over the past years. Patients suffering from inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) may be more prone to transmission. Data on HEV seroprevalence in IBD patients is scarce and has not been reported in German IBD patients. The German Health Examination Survey for Adults 2008–2011, which included 4.422 samples,...
by Sanghoon Lee, Ikhyun Kim, Gisu Park, Jong Kook Lee, Jae Gang Kim A thermochemical nonequilibrium analysis was performed under the low enthalpy shock-tunnel flows. A quasi-one-dimensional flow calculation was employed by dividing the flow calculations into two parts, for the shock-tube and the Mach 6 nozzle. To describe the thermochemical nonequilibrium of the low enthalpy shock-tunnel flows, a three-temperature model is proposed. The three-temperature model treats the vibrational nonequilibrium...
by Andréia Ferreira Machado, Simone Elisa Facioni Guimarães, José Domingos Guimarães, Giancarlo Magalhães Santos, Alex Lopes Silva, Yame Fabres Robaina Sancler Silva, Domingos Souza Lollobrigida Netto, Pietro Vitor Felix Correa, Marcos Inácio Marcondes Evaluations of replacement heifers in intensively managed grazing systems in tropical conditions are warranted. Thus, we aimed to evaluate performance, muscle and mammary gland development, oocyte quality, and in vitro production of embryos of...
by Roger E. Peverill, Bon Chou, Lesley Donelan, Wai-ee Thai Background The peak velocity of early diastolic mitral annular motion (e`) is believed to provide sensitive detection of left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), but other aspects of LV long-axis function in HCM have received less attention. Systolic mitral annular excursion (SExc) is also reduced in HCM and must be an intrinsic limitation to the extent of the subsequent motion during diastole....
by Peng Lu, Weinan Wang, Guangxi Zhang, Wen Li, Anjie Jiang, Mengjiao Cao, Xiaoyan Zhang, Ke Xing, Xue Peng, Bo Yuan, Zhaozhong Feng Lignin, a characteristic component of terrestrial plants. Rivers transport large amounts of vascular plant organic matter into the oceans where lignin can degrade over time; however, microorganisms involved in this degradation have not been identified. In this study, several bacterial strains were isolated from marine samples using the lignin-derived compound vanillic...
by Nguyen N. Rang, Tran Q. Hien, Ton Q. Chanh, Tran K. Thuyen Background The relationship between women who are exposed to secondhand smoke and preterm birth is still controversial. The present study aimed to examine the association between maternal secondhand smoking (SHS) during pregnancy and preterm birth. Methods A 1:1 case-control study was conducted at delivery room of The Women’s and Children’s Hospital of An Giang, Vietnam. A total of 288 cases of preterm birth and 288 controls included...
by Chen Bishan, Li Bing, Chen Chixin, Song Junxia, Zhu Shulin, Li Cailang, Yang Siqiao, Luo Chuanxiu Pollen is an important component of bioaerosol and the distribution of pollen and its relationship with meteorological parameters can be analyzed to better prevent hay fever. Pollen assemblages can also provide basic data for analyzing the relationship between bioaerosol and PM. We collected 82 samples of airborne pollen using a TSP large flow pollen collector from June 1, 2015 to June 1, 2016,...
by Nicole L. Berry, Erin P. Overholt, Thomas J. Fisher, Craig E. Williamson Mosquitoes have increased in their abundance and geographic distribution in northeastern North America, coinciding with an increase in extreme precipitation events and up to a doubling of dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentrations in some inland waters. Increases in DOM can reduce exposure of mosquito larvae to solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Although mosquito larvae are most common in shaded habitats, almost nothing...
by Leonel Alves de Oliveira, Tatiana Karla Borges, Renata Oliveira Soares, Marcelo Buzzi, Selma Aparecida Souza Kückelhaus Blood Concentrates (BCs) are autologous non-transfusional therapeutical preparations with biological properties applied in tissue regeneration. These BCs differ in the preparation method, in fibrin network architecture, growth factors release as well as in platelet/cell content. Methodological changes result in distinct matrices that can compromise their clinical effectiveness....
by Candice Frances, Angela de Bruin, Jon Andoni Duñabeitia Learning new content and vocabulary in a foreign language can be particularly difficult. Yet, there are educational programs that require people to study in a language they are not native speakers of. For this reason, it is important to understand how these learning processes work and possibly differ from native language learning, as well as to develop strategies to ease this process. The current study takes advantage of emotionality—operationally...
by Jordan Weiss, Eli Puterman, Aric A. Prather, Erin B. Ware, David H. Rehkopf Background Studies examining risk factors for dementia have typically focused on testing a priori hypotheses within specific risk factor domains, leaving unanswered the question of what risk factors across broad and diverse research fields may be most important to predicting dementia. We examined the relative importance of 65 sociodemographic, early-life, economic, health and behavioral, social, and genetic risk factors...
by Joshua Odunayo Akinyemi, Rotimi Felix Afolabi, Olutosin Alaba Awolude Background HIV diagnosis is a watershed in women’s childbearing experience. It is usually accompanied by the fear of death and stigmatisation. Women diagnosed of HIV are often sceptical about pregnancy. Meanwhile, availability of antiretroviral treatments has impacted positively on childbearing experience among women living with HIV. We therefore investigated the timing of first childbirth after HIV diagnosis and its determinants...
by Fabian Hoitz, Jordyn Vienneau, Benno M. Nigg Studies on the paradigm of the preferred movement path are scarce, and as a result, many aspects of the paradigm remain elusive. It remains unknown, for instance, how muscle activity adapts when differences in joint kinematics, due to altered running conditions, are of low / high magnitudes. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to investigate changes in muscle activity of the lower extremities in runners with minimal (≤ 3°) or substantial (>...
by Jacques Balayla The relationship between a screening tests’ positive predictive value, ρ, and its target prevalence, ϕ, is proportional—though not linear in all but a special case. In consequence, there is a point of local extrema of curvature defined only as a function of the sensitivity a and specificity b beyond which the rate of change of a test’s ρ drops precipitously relative to ϕ. Herein, we show the mathematical model exploring this phenomenon and define the prevalence threshold (ϕe)...
by David J. Ouellette, Dan-Ling Hsu, Patricia Stefancin, Timothy Q. Duong Background Repeated practice to acquire expertise could result in the structural and functional changes in relevant brain circuits as a result of long-term potentiation, neurogenesis, glial genesis, and remodeling. Purpose The goal of this study is to use surface-based morphology (SBM) to study cortical thickness differences in Chinese chess experts and novices, and to use regions of cortical thickness differences as seeds...
by Dimitri Dubois, Stefano Farolfi, Phu Nguyen-Van, Juliette Rouchier This paper experimentally investigates the impact of different information sharing mechanisms in a common-pool resource game, with a view to finding a mechanism that is both efficient and inexpensive for the managing agency. More precisely, we compare the observed extraction levels produced as a result of three mechanisms: a mandatory information sharing mechanism and two voluntary information sharing mechanisms that differ...
by Adina Coroiu, Chelsea Moran, Tavis Campbell, Alan C. Geller Background Social distancing measures (e.g., avoiding travel, limiting physical contact with people outside of one’s household, and maintaining a 1 or 2-metre distance between self and others when in public, depending on the country) are the primary strategies used to prevent transmission of the SARS-Cov-2 virus that causes COVID-19. Given that there is no effective treatment or vaccine for COVID-19, it is important to identify barriers...
by Reka Szigeti, Domos Kellermayer, Giedrius Trakimas, Richard Kellermayer The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by type 2 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), puts all of us to the test. Epidemiologic observations could critically aid the development of protective measures to combat this devastating viral outbreak. Recent observations, linked nation based universal Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination to potential protection against morbidity and mortality from SARS-CoV-2,...
by Thiago Alexandre Santana Gilio, Oscar P. Hurtado-Gonzales, Maria Celeste Gonçalves-Vidigal, Giseli Valentini, Julio Cesar Ferreira Elias, Qijian Song, Marcial A. Pastor-Corrales Anthracnose, caused by the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, is one of the world’s most destructive diseases of common bean. The use of resistant cultivars is the most cost-effective strategy to manage this disease; however, durable resistance is difficult to achieve due to the vast virulence diversity...
by Daniel J. D. Natusch, Patrick W. Aust, Syarifah Khadiejah, Hartini Ithnin, Ain Isa, Che Ku Zamzuri, Andre Ganswindt, Dale F. DeNardo The use of carbon dioxide (CO2) exposure as a means of animal euthanasia has received considerable attention in mammals and birds but remains virtually untested in reptiles. We measured the behavioral responses of four squamate reptile species (Homalopsis buccata, Malayopython reticulatus, Python bivitattus, and Varanus salvator) to exposure to 99.5% CO2 for...
by Finbarr G. Horgan, Arriza Arida, Goli Ardestani, Maria Liberty P. Almazan The direct effects of rising global temperatures on insect herbivores could increase damage to cereal crops. However, the indirect effects of interactions between herbivores and their biotic environment at the same temperatures will potentially counter such direct effects. This study examines the potential for intraspecific competition to dampen the effects of optimal temperatures on fitness (survival × reproduction)...
by Marcel Weiss The presence of the ‘Keilmesser-concept’ in late Middle Paleolithic assemblages of Central and Eastern Europe defines the eponymous ‘Keilmessergruppen’. The site of Lichtenberg (Lower Saxony, Germany) was discovered in 1987 and yielded one of the most important Keilmessergruppen assemblages of the northwestern European Plain. At that time, researchers used the bifacial backed knives to define a new type, the ‘Lichtenberger Keilmesser’, which they characterized by an aesthetic...
by Jeffrey V. Lazarus, Scott Ratzan, Adam Palayew, Francesco C. Billari, Agnes Binagwaho, Spencer Kimball, Heidi J. Larson, Alessia Melegaro, Kenneth Rabin, Trenton M. White, Ayman El-Mohandes Background Understanding public perceptions of government responses to COVID-19 may foster improved public cooperation. Trust in government and population risk of exposure may influence public perception of the response. Other population-level characteristics, such as country socio-economic development, COVID-19...
by Jung-Ah Lim, Jangsup Moon, Tae-Joon Kim, Jin-Sun Jun, Byeongsu Park, Jung-Ick Byun, Jun-Sang Sunwoo, Kyung-Il Park, Soon-Tae Lee, Keun-Hwa Jung, Ki-Young Jung, Manho Kim, Daejong Jeon, Kon Chu, Sang Kun Lee
by Laurynne C. Coates, Jaclyn Mahoney, John S. Ramsey, EricaRose Warwick, Richard Johnson, Michael J. MacCoss, Stuart B. Krasnoff, Kevin J. Howe, Kathy Moulton, Surya Saha, Lukas A. Mueller, David G. Hall, Robert G. Shatters, Michelle L. Heck, Carolyn M. Slupsky Huanglongbing (HLB) is a deadly, incurable citrus disease putatively caused by the unculturable bacterium, ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ (CLas), and transmitted by Diaphorina citri. Prior studies suggest D. citri transmits CLas...
by Raymond J. Playford, Meg Cattell, Tania Marchbank
by Marlon de Jong, Anne M. Bonvanie, Jacob Jolij, Monicque M. Lorist Mental fatigue has repeatedly been associated with decline in task performance in controlled situations, such as the lab, and in less controlled settings, such as the working environment. Given that a large number of factors can influence the course of mental fatigue, it is challenging to objectively and unobtrusively monitor mental fatigue on the work floor. We aimed to provide a proof of principle of a method to monitor mental...
by Deborah Lai, Daniel Wang, Joshua Calvano, Ali S. Raja, Shuhan He COVID-19 has highlighted an opportunity for medical professionals to engage in online Public Engagement with Science (PES). Currently a popular platform for PES is Reddit. Reddit provides an Ask Me Anything (AMA) format for subject matter experts to answer questions asked by the public. On March 11, 2020, from 2:00 to 4:00pm EST, two Emergency Department physicians from Massachusetts General Hospital hosted an AMA session on...
by Jijun Kang, Yanjun Yang In recent years, the environmental problems caused by excessive carbon emissions from energy sources have become increasingly serious, which not only aggravates the climate change caused by the greenhouse effect but also seriously restricts the sustainable development of Chinese economy. An attempt is made in this paper to use energy consumption method and input-output method to study the carbon emission structure of China's energy system and industry in 2015 from...
by Erin M. Wilfong, Roxanne Croze, Xiaohui Fang, Matthew Schwede, Erene Niemi, Giselle Y. López, Jae-Woo Lee, Mary C. Nakamura, Michael A. Matthay Human mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (hMSCs) are a promising therapy for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and other inflammatory conditions. While considerable research has focused on paracrine effects and mitochondrial transfer that improve lung fluid balance, hMSCs are well known to have immunomodulatory properties as well. Some of these...
by Pierpaolo Petrone, Guido Giordano, Elena Vezzoli, Alessandra Pensa, Giuseppe Castaldo, Vincenzo Graziano, Francesco Sirano, Emanuele Capasso, Giuseppe Quaremba, Alessandro Vona, Maria Giuseppina Miano, Sergio Savino, Massimo Niola Detecting the ultrastructure of brain tissue in human archaeological remains is a rare event that can offer unique insights into the structure of the ancient central nervous system (CNS). Yet ancient brains reported in the literature show only poor preservation...
by Matthew J. Foulkes, Faith H. Tolliday, Katherine M. Henry, Stephen A. Renshaw, Simon Jones During inflammation, dysregulated neutrophil behaviour can play a major role in a range of chronic inflammatory diseases, for many of which current treatments are generally ineffective. Recently, specific naturally occurring tanshinones have shown promising anti-inflammatory effects by targeting neutrophils in vivo, yet such tanshinones, and moreover, their isomeric isotanshinone counterparts, are still...
A blockchain-based framework for electronic medical records sharing with fine-grained access control
by Jin Sun, Lili Ren, Shangping Wang, Xiaomin Yao In the medical system, the verification, preservation and synchronization of electronic medical records has always been a difficult problem, and the random dissemination of patient records will bring various risks to patient privacy. Therefore, how to achieve secure data sharing on the basis of ensuring users’ personal privacy becomes the key. In recent years, blockchain has been proposed to be a promising solution to achieve data sharing with...
by Nan Song, Xinghao Li, Risong Na Phasmatodea represents an order of hemimetabolous insects. This group includes species with extreme forms of masquerade crypsis, whereby they imitate twigs, bark, lichen, moss, and leaves. In this study, we sequenced and annotated three mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) from Phasmatodea. The lengths of the novel mitogenomes range from 14,162 bp to 15,879 bp. The gene content and organization correspond to those inferred for the ancestral insect. We conducted...
by José M. Abuín, Nuno Lopes, Luís Ferreira, Tomás F. Pena, Bertil Schmidt The progress of next-generation sequencing has lead to the availability of massive data sets used by a wide range of applications in biology and medicine. This has sparked significant interest in using modern Big Data technologies to process this large amount of information in distributed memory clusters of commodity hardware. Several approaches based on solutions such as Apache Hadoop or Apache Spark, have been proposed....
by Sameh S. M. Soliman, Tasneem B. Alhamidi, Shifaa Abdin, Ahmed M. Almehdi, Mohammad H. Semreen, Razan B. Alhumaidi, Sarra B. Shakartalla, Mohamed Haider, Mohamed I. Husseiny, Hany A. Omar Biogenic synthesis of nanoparticles provides many advantages over synthetic nanoparticles including clean and non-toxic approaches. Nanoparticle-based application for the development of diagnostics and therapeutics is a promising field that requires further enrichment and investigation. The use of biological...
by Florian S. Frueh, Bijan Jelvani, Claudia Scheuer, Christina Körbel, Bong-Sung Kim, Pietro Giovanoli, Nicole Lindenblatt, Yves Harder, Emmanuel Ampofo, Michael D. Menger, Matthias W. Laschke Vascularized lymph node (VLN) transfer is an emerging strategy to re-establish lymphatic drainage in chronic lymphedema. However, the biological processes underlying lymph node integration remain elusive. This study introduces an experimental approach facilitating the analysis of short-term molecular and...
by Jin-Sung Park, Jae-Young Hong, Hak-Kyu Kim, Bongmo Koo, Sang-Hee Kim, Yong-Chol Kwon No studies of the current status of treatment options are available for ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients in South Korea. This study assesses the current status of AS treatment trends using a nationwide database. This study was conducted using a Korean National Health Insurance System (KNHIS) dataset from 2006 to 2016. We randomly extracted 50% of the total number of patients registered as As patients...
by Eszter Somogyi, Thuy Tuong Uyen Tran, Bahia Guellai, Ildikó Király, Rana Esseily The present study investigated how linguistic group membership influences prosocial behaviors, namely helpfulness and cooperation, in preschool children. Whilst research indicates that children preferentially direct their prosocial behavior towards members of their own groups, the influence of perceived linguistic group membership on actual helpfulness and cooperation has not been investigated. We presented an...
by Te-Wei Ho, Hsing-Hua Tsai, Jui-Fen Lai, Sue-Min Chu, Wan-Chung Liao, Han-Mo Chiu Introduction Many health organizations have promoted the importance of the health-related benefits of physical fitness and physical activity. Studies have evaluated effective public health practice aiming to understand the cognition of physical activity among youths and adolescents. However, studies investigating the level of cognition and knowledge of physical fitness among Asian adults are lacking. Purpose This...
by Mahmoud Abdel-Sattar, Amr M. Haikal, Sandy E. Hammad A two-year field trial was conducted in a vineyard (northern Egypt)cultivated with Thompson seedless grapevines to evaluate the effectiveness of four “alternative” (biological/chemical) treatments, Bacillus megaterium, boric acid, calcium nitrate and chitosan, against the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita (Mi), compared to that of the nematicide oxamyl. The influence of these treatments on plant nutritional status and fruit yield...
by Silvia Gianola, Tiago S. Jesus, Silvia Bargeri, Greta Castellini The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed a deluge of publications. For this cross-sectional study we compared the amount and reporting characteristics of COVID-19-related academic articles and preprints and the number of ongoing clinical trials and systematic reviews. To do this, we searched the PubMed database of citations and abstracts for published life science journals by using appropriate combinations of medical subject headings...
by Jorge Sanchez, Margarita Velasquez, Fabian Jaimes Chronic urticaria causes a significant limitation to quality of life. In the literature, various studies can be found that have reviewed several clinical and laboratory markers, but none of these variables alone is sufficient to predict the patient's prognosis. In this study, we present a protocol to develop a prognostic model that can predict the clinical response of urticaria patients to antihistamines. This is a protocol for a bidirectional...
by Takayuki Ishihara, Kyohei Yamaji, Osamu Iida, Shun Kohsaka, Taku Inohara, Toshiro Shinke, Hirohiko Ando, Tetsuya Amano, Yasushi Sakata, Toshiaki Mano, Yuji Ikari Atherosclerosis is a systemic process. As the population ages, increasingly more patients who undergo coronary revascularization are complicated with peripheral artery disease (PAD). However, the large body of evidence in this area has not been limited to analysis from trial-based data from younger and relatively uncomplicated patients...
by Roy Arokiam Daniel, Partha Haldar, Manya Prasad, Shashi Kant, Anand Krishnan, Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, Rakesh Kumar Background Despite the well-known short-term and long-term ill effects of elevated blood pressure in children and adolescents, pooled data on its burden among Indian adolescents have not yet been synthesized. Objectives We did a systematic review with meta-analysis to calculate the pooled prevalence of hypertension among adolescents (10–19 years) in India. Methods We searched PubMed,...
by Brendan Saloner, Sarah E. Gollust, Colin Planalp, Lynn A. Blewett The global COVID-19 pandemic is causing unprecedented job loss and financial strain. It is unclear how those most directly experiencing economic impacts may seek assistance from disparate safety net programs. To identify self-reported economic hardship and enrollment in major safety net programs before and early in the COVID-19 pandemic, we compared individuals with COVID-19 related employment or earnings reduction with other...
by Ignacio Ruiz-Cristi, Laurence Berville, Eric Darrouzet The yellow-legged hornet, Vespa velutina nigrithorax (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Lepeletier 1836), is native to Southeast Asia and has been unintentionally introduced in France. The species is spreading in many areas of the world. The European Union has classified V. velutina as a species of concern because the hornet significantly affects beekeeping activities, mostly by preying honeybees (Apis mellifera) at beehive entrances. No current...
by Camila Coelho, Gloria Gallo, Claudia B. Campos, Leon Hardy, Martin Würtele The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic represents a global challenge. SARS-CoV-2's ability to replicate in host cells relies on the action of its non-structural proteins, like its main protease (Mpro). This cysteine protease acts by processing the viruses' precursor polyproteins. As proteases, together with polymerases, are main targets of antiviral drug design, we here have performed...
by Zenebe Kano Anbesse, Teshale Ayele Mega, Behailu Terefe Tesfaye, Getandale Zeleke Negera Background Significant numbers of chronic obstructive respiratory disease patients are readmitted for Acute Exacerbation (AE) within 30 days of discharge. And these early readmissions have serious clinical and socioeconomic consequences. The objective of our study was to determine the rate of readmission within 30 days of discharge and it’s predictors among patients treated for acute exacerbations of asthma...
by Nguyen N. Nguyen, Manohar B. Mutnal, Richard R. Gomez, Huy N. Pham, Lam T. Nguyen, William Koss, Arundhati Rao, Alejandro C. Arroliga, Liping Wang, Dapeng Wang, Yinan Hua, Priscilla R. Powell, Li Chen, Colin C. McCormack, Walter J. Linz, Amin A. Mohammad Public health emergency of SARS-CoV-2 has facilitated diagnostic testing as a related medical countermeasure against COVID-19 outbreak. Numerous serologic antibody tests have become available through an expedited federal emergency use only...
by Bijay Kumar Behera, Biswanath Patra, Hirak Jyoti Chakraborty, Parameswar Sahu, Ajaya Kumar Rout, Dhruba Jyoti Sarkar, Pranaya Kumar Parida, Rohan Kumar Raman, Atmakuri Ramakrishna Rao, Anil Rai, Basanta Kumar Das, Joykrushna Jena, Trilochan Mohapatra Beneficial microbes are all around us and it remains to be seen, whether all diseases and disorders can be prevented or treated with beneficial microbes. In this study, the presence of various beneficial bacteria were identified from the sediments...
by Sylwia Salamon, Katarzyna Mikołajczak, Lidia Błaszczyk, Karolina Ratajczak, Hanna Sulewska Plant roots are inhabited by an enormous variety of microorganisms, including fungi, which can control the growth as well as regulate the health of the host plants. The mycobiome composition of the roots of wheat plants, especially spelt, under drought stress has been rarely investigated. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the composition of fungal communities in the root endosphere...
by Saviour Victor Adjibolosoo, Benjamin Dankyira Ofori, Philip Baba Adongo, Stephen Afranie, Dzidzo Regina Yirenya-Tawiah Open defaecation has remained a major public and environmental health concern which has gained global attention. This study explored cultural factors including superstition, taboo, norms and values influencing open defaecation behaviour among basic school pupils in the Eastern and Volta Regions all within Southern Ghana. Self-reported data were collected from 400 pupils using...
by GyuChol Kim, SuChol Li Public key cryptosystems such as RSA, rebalanced RSA and ElGamal have the disadvantage of serious asymmetry between encryption and decryption speed. We reduced the CRT (Chinese Remainder Theorem) exponents maintaining full sized private exponent in ElGamal with composite modulus (CRT–ElGamal) for the fast decryption as in rebalanced RSA. In this case, unlike rebalanced RSA, decryption speed up can be obtained without losing of the fast encryption speed which is comparable...
by Fang Zhao, Robert Gaschler, Anneli Kneschke, Simon Radler, Melanie Gausmann, Christina Duttine, Hilde Haider Sequential skill learning with practice is fundamental to human activity (e.g., tying shoes). Given the lack of prior knowledge in most participants, Origami folding is a promising task to study the acquisition of a sequential skill. While previous Origami folding studies mainly dealt with the question, which forms of instruction can lead to better learning outcomes, we employ a dual-task...
by Haider Karar, Muhammad Amjad Bashir, Muneeba Haider, Najeeba Haider, Khalid Ali Khan, Hamed A. Ghramh, Mohammad Javed Ansari, Çetin Mutlu, Suilman Mohammad Alghanem
by Richard C. Larson, Oded Berman, Mehdi Nourinejad About 50% of individuals infected with the novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) suffer from intestinal infection as well as respiratory infection. They shed virus in their stool. Municipal sewage systems carry the virus and its genetic remnants. These viral traces can be detected in the sewage entering a wastewater treatment plant (WTP). Such virus signals indicate community infections but not locations of the infection within the community. In this...
“It just feels right”: Perceptions of the effects of community connectedness among trans individuals
by Jessamyn Bowling, Jordan Barker, Laura H. Gunn, Tatim Lace Trans individuals (e.g. trans men and women, non-binary, gender fluid) are at higher risk for mental health concerns, in part due to marginalization. Previous work has documented the effects of social support and community engagement on health outcomes. However, individuals’ perceptions of community engagement effects may point to opportunities for intervention. This mixed methods study examines trans individuals’ perceived effects...
by Craig S. Mayer, Nick Williams, Vojtech Huser Background Efforts to define research Common Data Elements try to harmonize data collection across clinical studies. Objective Our goal was to analyze the quality and usability of data dictionaries of HIV studies. Methods For the clinical domain of HIV, we searched data sharing platforms and acquired a set of 18 HIV related studies from which we analyzed 26 328 data elements. We identified existing standards for creating a data dictionary and reviewed...
by Krishnapriya Krishnakumariamma, Kalaiarasan Ellappan, Muthaiah Muthuraj, Kadhiravan Tamilarasu, Saka Vinod Kumar, Noyal Mariya Joseph Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is the most severe form of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection in humans and is a public health concern worldwide. We evaluated the performance of GeneXpert MTB/RIF (GeneXpert) for the diagnosis of TBM. In addition, genetic diversity and drug susceptibility profiling of Mtb strains isolated from TBM patients were also investigated....
by Jae Ha Lee, Chan Sun Park, Jin Woo Song Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are chronic, progressive, parenchymal lung diseases with high morbidity and mortality. In recent studies, the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in patients with ILD has been reported to be high. However, the prevalence and predictive factors of OSA in Korean ILD patients are not well defined. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and predictive factors of OSA in Korean patients with...
by Tafere Gebreegziabher, Taylor Roice, Barbara J. Stoecker Anemia in women of reproductive age is highly prevalent globally and remains a public health problem. In Ethiopia, despite efforts to minimize the burden of anemia, it is still a moderate public health problem. Anemia has various etiologies including nutritional deficiency, parasitic infection, and inflammation. The aim of this study was to examine contributing factors to anemia in lactating women. Following ethical approval, and six...
by Chiung-Yu Huang, Chia-Chin Hsu, Mu-Lin Chiou, Chun-I Chen Ever since the grey system theory was proposed about 40 years ago, its characteristics such as small samples, few data, and uncertainty have been used for study in the literature with increasingly wider scope. Recent studies on grey relation analysis have included static data analyses, and most of them have adopted initial values with only a relational order. Under the same study conditions, if different data preprocessing methods...
by Lucía del Priore, María Inés Pigozzi Crossover rates and localization are not homogeneous throughout the genomes. Along the chromosomes of almost all species, domains with high crossover rates alternate with domains where crossover rates are significantly lower than the genome-wide average. The distribution of crossovers along chromosomes constitutes the recombination landscape of a given species and can be analyzed at broadscale using immunostaining of the MLH1 protein, a component of mature...
by Farhan Akram, Ping En Koh, Fuqiang Wang, Siqin Zhou, Sze Huey Tan, Mahsa Paknezhad, Sojeong Park, Tiffany Hennedige, Choon Hua Thng, Hwee Kuan Lee, Kiattisa Sommat Background We hypothesized that spatial heterogeneity exists between recurrent and non-recurrent regions within a tumor. The aim of this study was to determine if there is a difference between radiomics features derived from recurrent versus non recurrent regions within the tumor based on pre-treatment MRI. Methods A total of 14 T4NxM0...
by Kentaro Tochitani, Shungo Yamamoto, Tsukasa Kamitani, Hajime Yamazaki, Shunichi Fukuhara, Yosuke Yamamoto Objectives To investigate the association of mental health and subjective physical functioning with future antibiotic prescriptions. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting A rural town in Japan. Participants Participants who completed the baseline survey (2008–2010) of the Locomotive Syndrome and Health Outcomes in the Aizu Cohort Study (LOHAS) were recruited. Participants were limited...
by Fangcheng Tang, Zeqiang Qian In the platform-based innovation ecosystem, the symbiotic evolution and interaction between the participating entities have drawn extensive attention. However, there is a lack of understanding of the co-specialization and co-innovation among members of the innovation ecosystem. This paper addresses this gap. In this paper, the collaborative innovation between a platform firm and different kinds of complementors, and its effects on the performance of the innovation...
by Vladimir Mashanov, Abdelrahman Alwan, Michael W. Kim, Dehui Lai, Aurelia Poerio, Young Min Ju, Ji Hyun Kim, James J. Yoo It is often critical to improve the limited regenerative capacity of the peripheral nerves and direct neural growth towards specific targets, such as surgically implanted bioengineered constructs. One approach to accomplish this goal is to use extrinsic neurotrophic factors. The candidate factors first need to be identified and characterized in in vitro tests for their...
by Ray-Bing Chen, Ping-Yang Chen, Cheng-Lin Hsu, Weng Kee Wong Finding a model-based optimal design that can optimally discriminate among a class of plausible models is a difficult task because the design criterion is non-differentiable and requires 2 or more layers of nested optimization. We propose hybrid algorithms based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) to solve such optimization problems, including cases when the optimal design is singular, the mean response of some models are not fully...
by Sébastien Goutal, Nicolas Tournier, Martine Guillermier, Nadja Van Camp, Olivier Barret, Mylène Gaudin, Michel Bottlaender, Philippe Hantraye, Sonia Lavisse Introduction Knowledge of the repeatability of quantitative parameters derived from [18F]FDG PET images is essential to define the group size and allow correct interpretation. Here we tested repeatability and accuracy of different [18F]FDG absolute and relative quantification parameters in a standardized preclinical setup in nonhuman primates...
by Katharina Martini, Christian Blüthgen, Joan Elias Walter, Thi Dan Linh Nguyen-Kim, Friedrich Thienemann, Thomas Frauenfelder Background To evaluate chest-computed-tomography (CT) scans in coronavirus-disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients for signs of organizing pneumonia (OP) and microinfarction as surrogate for microscopic thromboembolic events. Methods Real-time polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 patients undergoing chest-CT (non-enhanced, enhanced, pulmonary-angiography [CT-PA])...
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