β3Gn-T6 was expressed in ~20% of PDAC cases and 30-40% of PanINs but not in NPDEs. Higher expression of β3Gn-T6 was found in PDAC cells in more differentiated adenocarcinoma cases showing significantly longer disease-free survival in both univariate and multivariate analyses. In addition, the expression of β3Gn-T6 in PDAC cells and PanINs significantly correlated with the expression of MUC5AC in these cells, suggesting that β3Gn-T6 expression is related to cellular differentiation status of the gastric foveolar phenotype. Thus, it is likely that β3Gn-T6 expression in PDAC cells is a favorable prognostic factor in PDAC patients, and that the expression of β3Gn-T6 correlates with the gastric foveolar phenotype in pancreatic carcinogenesis.We examined how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of 6,957 students from Germany, assessed between March 16 and April 21, 2020, when COVID-19 became a serious health concern in Germany, varied by personality. The Big Five personality traits-openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability-were assessed with the International Personality Item Pool. Students were asked whether they kept up with the COVID-19 news, followed specific governmental rules and recommendations (washing hands more, using public transport less, avoiding larger crowds, and restricting meetings with family/friends), hoarded supplies, felt less secure in public places, or expected financial losses due to the crisis. Logistic regressions adjusted for sociodemographic factors and cognitive abilities revealed that more conscientious (odds ratio (OR) = 1.133) and more agreeable (OR = 1.285) students kept up with the news more. More agreeable students were also more likely to wash their hands moses due to the crisis.Migrant workers may experience higher burdens of occupational injury and illness compared to native-born workers, which may be due to the differential exposure to occupational hazards, differential vulnerability to exposure-associated health impacts, or both. This study aims to assess if the relationships between psychosocial job characteristics and mental health vary by migrant status in Australia (differential vulnerability). A total of 8969 persons from wave 14 (2014-2015) of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey were included in the analysis. Psychosocial job characteristics included skill discretion, decision authority and job insecurity. Mental health was assessed via a Mental Health Inventory-5 score (MHI-5), with a higher score indicating better mental health. Migrant status was defined by (i) country of birth (COB), (ii) the combination of COB and English/Non-English dominant language of COB and (iii) the combination of COB and years since arrival in Australia. Data were analysed using linear regression, adjusting for gender, age and educational attainment. Migrant status was analysed as an effect modifier of the relationships between psychosocial job characteristics and mental health. Skill discretion and decision authority were positively associated with the MHI-5 score while job insecurity was negatively associated with the MHI-5 score. We found no statistical evidence of migrant status acting as an effect modifier of the psychosocial job characteristic-MHI-5 relationships. With respect to psychosocial job characteristic-mental health relationships, these results suggest that differential exposure to job stressors is a more important mechanism than differential vulnerability for generating occupational health inequities between migrants and native-born workers in Australia.

Non-publication and publication bias are topics of considerable importance to the scientific community. These issues may limit progress toward the 3R principle for animal research, promote waste of public resources, and generate biased interpretations of clinical outcomes. To investigate current publishing practices and to gain some understanding of the extent to which research results are reported, we examined publication rates of research projects that were approved within an internal funding program of the Faculty of Medicine at a university medical center in Germany, which is exemplary for comparable research funding programs for the promotion of young researchers in Germany and Europe.

We analyzed the complete set (n = 363) of research projects that were supported by an internal funding program between 2004 and 2013. We divided the projects into four different proposal types that included those that required an ethics vote, those that included an animal proposal, those that included both requirementshe projects ultimately generated some form of publication, the program was overall effective toward this goal; however, non-publication of research results is still prevalent. Further research will explore the reasons underlying non-publication. We hope to use these findings to develop strategies that encourage publication of research results.

The endeavor to tackle the spread of COVID-19 effectively remains futile without the right grasp of perceptions and beliefs presiding in the community. Therefore, this study aimed to assess myths, beliefs, perceptions, and information gaps about COVID-19 in Ethiopia.

An internet-based survey was conducted in Ethiopia from April 22 to May 04, 2020. The survey link was promoted through emails, social media, and the Jimma University website. Perceptions about COVID-19 have considered the World Health Organization (WHO) resources and local beliefs. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 20.0. Classifications and lists of factors for each thematic perception of facilitators, inhibitors, and information needs were generated. Explanatory factor analysis (EFA) was executed to assist categorizations. Standardized mean scores of the categories were compared using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-tests. A significant difference was claimed at p-value <0.05.

of the control of the virus, and thereby support engagement in standard precautionary measures. All forms of media should be properly used and regulated to disseminate credible information while filtering out myths and falsehoods.

Considering young population as being at low risk of COVID-19 would be challenging to the control efforts, and needs special attention. Risk communication and community engagement efforts should consider regional and township variations of myths and false assurances. It should also need to satisfy information needs, design local initiatives that enhance community ownership of the control of the virus, and thereby support engagement in standard precautionary measures. All forms of media should be properly used and regulated to disseminate credible information while filtering out myths and falsehoods.Cardiovascular diseases are estimated to cause 46% of all mortalities in Kuwait. The aim of evidence-based clinical practice has led to an increased interest in the design of medication assessment tools (MATs) to identify deviations from evidence-based practice, and eventually provide the basis of consistent standardized prescribing. This study was designed to develop and validate MATs using quality standards extracted from international guidelines to evaluate prescribing practices in secondary prevention of coronary heart disease in patients with post-acute coronary syndrome (STEMI or NSTEACS]. International guidelines were reviewed to develop two MATs (MATSTEMI and MATNSTEACS). Face and content validity of the developed tools was performed with three MAT experts and thirteen cardiologists. Two quantitative approaches were used to determine content validity (i) Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and the average of CVR values; and (ii) Content validity index at item level (I-CVI) and scale-level of the tool (S-CVI/ion therapy management and improving therapeutic interventions.Chronic conditions requiring long-term rehabilitation therapies, such as hypertension, stroke, or cancer, involve complex interactions between various systems/organs of the body and mutual influences, thus implicating a multiorgan approach. The dual-flow IVTech LiveBox2 bioreactor is a recently developed inter-connected dynamic cell culture model able to mimic organ crosstalk, since cells belonging to different organs can be connected and grown under flow conditions in a more physiological environment. This study aims to setup for the first time a 2-way connected culture of human neuroblastoma cells, SH-SY5Y, and Human Coronary Artery Smooth Muscle Cells, HCASMC through a dual-flow IVTech LiveBox2 bioreactor, in order to represent a simplified model of nervous-cardiovascular systems crosstalk, possibly relevant for the above-mentioned diseases. The system was tested by treating the cells with 10nM angiotensin II (AngII) inducing PKCβII/HuR/VEGF pathway activation, since AngII and PKCβII/HuR/VEGF pathway are res; further, it offers the advantageous opportunity of cultivating each cell line in its own medium, thus mimicking, at least in part, distinct tissue milieu.Computed tomography (CT) scans represent the gold standard in the planning of functional endoscopic sinus surgeries (FESS). Yet, radiologists and otolaryngologists have different perspectives on these scans. In general, residents often struggle with aspects involved in both reporting and operation planning. The aim of this study was to compare the completeness of structured reports (SR) of preoperative CT images and structured operation planning (SOP) to conventional reports (CR) and conventional operation planning (COP) to potentially improve future treatment decisions on an individual level. In total, 30 preoperative CT scans obtained for surgical planning of patients scheduled for FESS were evaluated using SR and CR by radiology residents. Subsequently, otolaryngology residents performed a COP using free texts and a SOP using a specific template. All radiology reports and operation plannings were evaluated by two experienced FESS surgeons regarding their completeness for surgical planning. User satisfaction of otolaryngology residents was assessed by using visual analogue scales. Overall radiology report completeness was significantly higher using SRs regarding surgically important structures compared to CRs (84.4 vs. 22.0%, p less then 0.001). SOPs produced significantly higher completeness ratings (97% vs. 39.4%, p less then 0.001) regarding pathologies and anatomical variances. Moreover, time efficiency was not significantly impaired by implementation of SR (148 s vs. 160 s, p = 0.61) and user satisfaction was significantly higher for SOP (VAS 8.1 vs. 4.1, p less then 0.001). Implementation of SR and SOP results in a significantly increased completeness of radiology reports and operation planning for FESS. Consequently, the combination of both facilitates surgical planning and may decrease potential risks during FESS.This paper aims to further increase the reliability of optimal results by setting the simulation conditions to be as close as possible to the real or actual operation to create a Cyber-Physical System (CPS) view for the installation of the Fractional-Order PID (FOPID) controller. For this purpose, we consider two different sources of variability in such a CPS control model. The first source refers to the changeability of a target of the control model (multiple setpoints) because of environmental noise factors and the second source refers to an anomaly in sensors that is raised in a feedback loop. We develop a new approach to optimize two objective functions under uncertainty including signal energy control and response error control while obtaining the robustness among the source of variability with the lowest computational cost. A new hybrid surrogate-metaheuristic approach is developed using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to update the Gaussian Process (GP) surrogate for a sequential improvement of the robust optimal result. The application of efficient global optimization is extended to estimate surrogate prediction error with less computational cost using a jackknife leave-one-out estimator. This paper examines the challenges of such a robust multi-objective optimization for FOPID control of a five-bar linkage robot manipulator. The results show the applicability and effectiveness of our proposed method in obtaining robustness and reliability in a CPS control system by tackling required computational efforts.

The opioid epidemic and subsequent mortality is a national concern in the U.S. The burden of this problem is disproportionately high among low-income and uninsured populations who are more likely to experience unmet need for substance use services. We assessed the impact of two Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) substance use disorder (SUD) service capacity grants on SUD staffing and service use in HRSA -funded health centers (HCs).

We conducted cross-sectional analyses of the Uniform Data System (UDS) from 2010 to 2017 to assess HC (n = 1,341) trends in capacity measured by supply of SUD and medication-assisted treatment (MAT) providers, utilization of SUD and MAT services, and panel size and visit ratio measured by the number of patients seen and visits delivered by SUD and MAT providers. We merged mortality and national survey data to incorporate SUD mortality and SUD treatment services availability, respectively. From 2010 to 2015, 20% of HC organizations had any SUD staff, had an aveincreasing SUD access for low income and uninsured populations broadly and for patients of these organizations.

With an increasing rate of caesarean sections as well as rising numbers of multiple pregnancies, valid classifications for benchmarking are needed. The Robson classification provides a method to group cases with caesarean section in order to assess differences in outcome across regions and sites. In this study we set up a novel method of classification by using routinely collected health data. We hypothesize i that routinely collected health data can be used to apply complex medical classifications and ii that the Robson classification is capable of classifying mothers and their corresponding newborn into meaningful groups with regard to outcome.

The study was conducted at the coding department and the department of obstetrics and gynecology Inselspital, University Hospital of Bern, Switzerland. The study population contained inpatient cases from 2014 until 2017. Administrative and health data were extracted from the Data Warehouse. Cases were classified by a Structured Query Language code according to thlth data would serve for medical classification and monitoring of quality and outcome. Risk-stratification might be conducted using this data set and should be the next step in order to evaluate the Robson criteria and outcome. This study will enhance the discussion to adopt an automated classification on routinely collected health data for quality assurance purposes.Phymorhynchus is a genus of deep-sea snails that are most distributed in hydrothermal vent or cold seep environments. In this study, we presented the complete mitochondrial genome of P. buccinoides, a cold seep snail from the South China Sea. It is the first mitochondrial genome of a cold seep member of the superfamily Conoidea. The mitochondrial genome is 15,764 bp in length, and contains 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 rRNA genes, and 22 tRNA genes. These genes are encoded on the positive strand, except for 8 tRNA genes that are encoded on the negative strand. The start codon ATG and 3 types of stop codons, TAA, TAG and the truncated termination codon T, are used in the 13 PCGs. All 13 PCGs in the 26 species of Conoidea share the same gene order, while several tRNA genes have been translocated. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that P. buccinoides clustered with Typhlosyrinx sp., Eubela sp., and Phymorhynchus sp., forming the Raphitomidae clade, with high support values. Positive selection analysis showed that a residue located in atp6 (18 S) was identified as the positively selected site with high posterior probabilities, suggesting potential adaption to the cold seep environment. Overall, our data will provide a useful resource on the evolutionary adaptation of cold seep snails for future studies.The concept of coherence was proposed for single-agent phase I clinical trials to describe the property that a design never escalates the dose when the most recently treated patient has toxicity and never de-escalates the dose when the most recently treated patient has no toxicity. It provides a useful theoretical tool for investigating the properties of phase I trial designs. In this paper, we generalize the concept of coherence to drug combination trials, which are substantially different and more challenging than single-agent trials. For example, in the dose-combination matrix, each dose has up to 8 neighboring doses as candidates for dose escalation and de-escalation, and the toxicity orders of these doses are only partially known. We derive sufficient conditions for a model-based drug combination trial design to be coherent. Our results are more general and relaxed than the existing results and are applicable to both single-agent and drug combination trials. We illustrate the application of our theoretical results with a number of drug combination dose-finding designs in the literature.

Eating self-efficacy behavior is an important predictor of successful lifestyle intervention. This secondary analysis evaluated the changes in eating self-efficacy behavior in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and overweight/obesity following structured lifestyle intervention based on the Malaysian customized transcultural Diabetes Nutrition Algorithm (tDNA).

Patients with T2D and overweight/obesity (n = 230) were randomized either into the tDNA group which included a structured low-calorie meal plan using normal foods, incorporation of diabetes-specific meal replacements, and an exercise prescription or usual T2D care (UC) for 6 months. Patients in the tDNA group also received either counseling with motivational interviewing (tDNA-MI) or conventional counseling (tDNA-CC). The UC group received standard dietary and exercise advice using conventional counseling. Eating self-efficacy was assessed using a locally validated Weight Efficacy Lifestyle (WEL) questionnaire. All patients were followed up for added lifestyle intervention based on the Malaysian customized tDNA and the improvement was further enhanced with motivational interviewing.

This randomized clinical trial was registered under National Medical Research Registry, Ministry of Health Malaysia with registration number NMRR-14-1042-19455 and also under ClinicalTrials.gov with registration number NCT03881540.

This randomized clinical trial was registered under National Medical Research Registry, Ministry of Health Malaysia with registration number NMRR-14-1042-19455 and also under ClinicalTrials.gov with registration number NCT03881540.Acute exacerbation of ILD (AE-ILD) is a common reason for hospitalization; it is also associated with significant mortality. Less is known about the prognostic significance of other events causing acute, non-elective hospitalizations in ILD patients. ILD patients hospitalized due to acute respiratory worsening were collected from medical records. Reasons for respiratory deterioration were classified into AE-ILDs and other causes. Clinical features and survival data of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other types of ILDs were evaluated and compared. In all, 237 patients (138 with IPF and 99 with other ILD) fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Of the non-IPF ILD types, the most prevalent subgroups were connective tissue disease-associated ILD (n = 33) and asbestosis (n = 22). The most common cause for hospitalization was AE-ILD explaining 41% of hospitalizations. Lower respiratory tract infection (22%), subacute progression of ILD (12%) and cardiovascular causes (7.2%) were other common reasons for hospital treatment. Patients with a lower respiratory tract infection had a more favorable prognosis compared with patients with AE-ILD. AE-ILDs were less fatal than cardiovascular or concurrent non-ILD-related causes for hospitalizations in non-IPF patients. High Gender-Age-Physiology (GAP) index was a marker for shortened survival and earlier AE-ILDs in all patients. IPF patients had a significantly shorter overall and post-hospitalization survival time compared with other ILDs. Most respiratory hospitalizations in ILD patients were related to causes other than AE-ILD, which highlights the importance of accurate differential diagnosis in order to target the appropriate treatment for each ILD patient.Acute gastroenteritis is one of the major health problems in children aged less then 5 years around the world. Rotavirus A (RVA) is an important pathogen of acute gastroenteritis. The burden of rotavirus disease in the pediatric population is still high in Bangladesh. This study investigated the prevalence of group A, B, and C rotavirus (RAV, RBV, RCV), norovirus, adenovirus (AdV) and human bocavirus (HBoV) infections in children with acute gastroenteritis in Bangladesh from February 2014 to January 2019. A total of 574 fecal specimens collected from children with diarrhea in Bangladesh during the period of February 2014-January 2019 were examined for RAV, RBV and RCV by reverse transcriptase- multiplex polymerase chain reaction (RT- multiplex PCR). RAV was further characterized to G-typing and P-typing by RT-multiplex PCR and sequencing method. It was found that 24.4% (140 of 574) fecal specimens were positive for RVA followed by AdV of 4.5%. RBV and RCV could not be detected in this study. Genotype G1P[8] was the most prevalent (43%), followed by G2P[4] (18%), and G9P[8] (3%). Among other genotypes, G9P[4] was most frequent (12%), followed by G1P[6] (11%), G9P[6] (3%), and G11P[25] (3%). We found that 7% RVA were nontypeable. Mutations at antigenic regions of the VP7 gene were detected in G1P[8] and G2P[4] strains. Incidence of rotavirus infection had the highest peak (58.6%) during November to February with diarrhea (90.7%) as the most common symptom. Children aged 4-11 months had the highest rotavirus infection percentage (37.9%). By providing baseline data, this study helps to assess efficacy of currently available RVA vaccine. This study revealed a high RVA detection rate, supporting health authorities in planning strategies such as introduction of RVA vaccine in national immunization program to reduce the disease burden.Posttranscriptional modification of tRNA is critical for efficient protein translation and proper cell growth, and defects in tRNA modifications are often associated with human disease. Although most of the enzymes required for eukaryotic tRNA modifications are known, many of these enzymes have not been identified and characterized in several model multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present two related approaches to identify the genes required for tRNA modifications in multicellular organisms using primer extension assays with fluorescent oligonucleotides. To demonstrate the utility of these approaches we first use expression of exogenous genes in yeast to experimentally identify two TRM1 orthologs capable of forming N2,N2-dimethylguanosine (m2,2G) on residue 26 of cytosolic tRNA in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. We also show that a predicted catalytic aspartate residue is required for function in each of the proteins. We next use RNA interference in cultured Drosophila melanogaster cells to identify the gene required for m2,2G26 formation on cytosolic tRNA. Additionally, using these approaches we experimentally identify D. melanogaster gene CG10050 as the corresponding ortholog of human DTWD2, which encodes the protein required for formation of 3-amino-3-propylcarboxyuridine (acp3U) on residue 20a of cytosolic tRNA. We further show that A. thaliana gene AT2G41750 can form acp3U20b on an A. thaliana tRNA expressed in yeast cells, and that the aspartate and tryptophan residues in the DXTW motif of this protein are required for modification activity. These results demonstrate that these approaches can be used to study tRNA modification enzymes.Photoperiod is an important factor of mammalian seasonal rhythm. Here, we studied morphological differences in the Harderian gland (HG), a vital photosensitive organ, in male striped dwarf hamsters (Cricetulus barabensis) under different photoperiods (short photoperiod, SP; moderate photoperiod, MP; long photoperiod, LP), and investigated the underlying molecular mechanisms related to these morphological differences. Results showed that carcass weight and HG weight were lower under SP and LP conditions. There was an inverse correlation between blood melatonin levels and photoperiod in the order SP > MP > LP. Protein expression of hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase (HIOMT), a MT synthesis-related enzyme, was highest in the SP group. Protein expression of bax/bcl2 showed no significant differences, indicating that the level of apoptosis remained stable. Protein expression of LC3II/LC3I was higher in the SP group than that in the MP group. Furthermore, comparison of changes in the HG ultrastructure demonstrated autolysosome formation in the LP, suggesting the lowest autophagy level in under MP. Furthermore, the protein expression levels of ATP synthase and mitochondrial fission factor were highest in the MP group, whereas citrate synthase, dynamin-related protein1, and fission1 remained unchanged in the three groups. The change trends of ATP synthase and citrate synthase activity were similar to that of protein expression among the three groups. In summary, the up-regulation of autophagy under SP and LP may be a primary factor leading to loss of HG weight and reduced mitochondrial energy supply capacity.Essential gene prediction helps to find minimal genes indispensable for the survival of any organism. Machine learning (ML) algorithms have been useful for the prediction of gene essentiality. However, currently available ML pipelines perform poorly for organisms with limited experimental data. The objective is the development of a new ML pipeline to help in the annotation of essential genes of less explored disease-causing organisms for which minimal experimental data is available. The proposed strategy combines unsupervised feature selection technique, dimension reduction using the Kamada-Kawai algorithm, and semi-supervised ML algorithm employing Laplacian Support Vector Machine (LapSVM) for prediction of essential and non-essential genes from genome-scale metabolic networks using very limited labeled dataset. A novel scoring technique, Semi-Supervised Model Selection Score, equivalent to area under the ROC curve (auROC), has been proposed for the selection of the best model when supervised performance methe prediction of gene essentiality and identification of novel therapeutic targets for antibiotic and vaccine development against disease-causing parasites.High body mass index is a known barrier to access to kidney transplantation in patients with end-stage kidney disease. The extent to which weight and weight changes affect access to transplantation among obese candidates differentially by race/ethnicity has received little attention. We included 10 221 obese patients waitlisted for kidney transplantation prior to end-stage kidney disease onset between 1995-2015. We used multinomial logistic regression models to examine the association between race/ethnicity and annualized change in body mass index (defined as stable [-2 to 2 kg/m2/year], loss [>2 kg/m2/year] or gain [>2 kg/m2/year]). We then used Fine-Gray models to examine the association between weight changes and access to living or deceased donor transplantation by race/ethnicity, accounting for the competing risk of death. Overall, 29% of the cohort lost weight and 7% gained weight; 46% received a transplant. Non-Hispanic blacks had a 24% (95% CI 1.12-1.38) higher odds of weight loss and 22% lower odds of weight gain (95% CI 0.64-0.95) compared with non-Hispanic whites. Hispanics did not differ from whites in their odds of weight loss or weight gain. Overall, weight gain was associated with lower access to transplantation (HR 0.88 [95% CI 0.79-0.99]) compared with maintenance of stable weight, but weight loss was not associated with better access to transplantation (HR 0.96 [95% CI 0.90-1.02]), although this relation differed by baseline body mass index and for recipients of living versus deceased donor organs. For example, weight loss was associated with improved access to living donor transplantation (HR 1.24 [95% CI 1.07-1.44]) in whites but not in blacks or Hispanics. In a cohort of obese patients waitlisted before dialysis, blacks were more likely to lose weight and less likely to gain weight compared with whites. Weight loss was only associated with improved access to living donor transplantation among whites. Further studies are needed to understand the reasons for the observed associations.Cardiovascular disease (CDV) risk factors are highly prevalent among adults with low social class in Spain. However, little is known on how these factors are distributed in the immigrant population, a socio-economic disadvantaged population. Thus, this study aims to examine inequalities in CVD risk factors among immigrant and native populations. We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the Spanish National Health Survey 2017 and used log-binomial regression to quantify the association of immigrant status on CVD risk factors among adults aged 25-64 years. The probabilities of having at least three CVD risk factors were higher for immigrants from Eastern Europe (PR 1.25; 95% CI 1.15-1.35) and lower for immigrants from Africa (PR 0.79; 95% CI 0.69-0.89) when compared with natives. The association of immigrant status and CVD risk factors varies with educational attainment (p-interaction = 0.001). Immigrants from Eastern Europe with low educational attainment have a higher probability of having at least three CVD risk factors compared with their native counterparts. In contrast, immigrants from Africa and Latin America with low educational attainment had a protective effect against having at least three CVD risk relative to natives. Health prevention and promotion strategies to reduce the burden of CVD taking should account for educational attainment given its differential effect among the immigrant population in Spain.

The study examined the prevalence, sociodemographic, and clinical correlates of chronic pain among primary care patients in the state of Kerala, India. It also examined the patterns and relationships of chronic physical and mental health conditions with chronic pain.

This study is a cross-sectional survey conducted among 7165 adult patients selected randomly by a multi-stage stratified design from 71 primary health centers. The questionnaires administered included Chronic pain screening questionnaire, self-reported Chronic physical health condition checklist, Patient Health Questionnaire-SADS, The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence, WHO Disability Assessment Schedule and WHOQOL- BREF for Quality/Satisfaction with Life. The prevalence and comorbid patterns of chronic pain were determined. Logistic regression analysis and generalized linear mixed-effects model was employed to examine the relationship of chronic pain to socio-demographic variables and examined ght the need to incorporate treatment models that will ensure appropriate management to improve outcomes within the resource constraints.

Chronic pain is a common condition among primary care attendees associated with significant burden of medical and mental health comorbidity. The findings highlight the need to incorporate treatment models that will ensure appropriate management to improve outcomes within the resource constraints.With the rise in physical inactivity and its related diseases, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms involved in physical activity regulation. Biological factors regulating physical activity are studied to establish a possible target for improving the physical activity level. However, little is known about the role metabolism plays in physical activity regulation. Therefore, we studied protein fractional synthesis rate (FSR) of multiple organ tissues of 12-week-old male mice that were previously established as inherently low-active (n = 15, C3H/HeJ strain) and high-active (n = 15, C57L/J strain). Total body water of each mouse was enriched to 5% deuterium oxide (D2O) via intraperitoneal injection and maintained with D2O enriched drinking water for about 24 h. Blood samples from the jugular vein and tissues (kidney, heart, lung, muscle, fat, jejunum, ileum, liver, brain, skin, and bone) were collected for enrichment analysis of alanine by LC-MS/MS. Protein FSR was calculated as -ln(1-enrichment). Data are mean±SE as fraction/day (unpaired t-test). Kidney protein FSR in the low-active mice was 7.82% higher than in high-active mice (low-active 0.1863±0.0018, high-active 0.1754±0.0028, p = 0.0030). No differences were found in any of the other measured organ tissues. However, all tissues resulted in a generally higher protein FSR in the low-activity mice compared to the high-activity mice (e.g. lung LA 0.0711±0.0015, HA 0.0643±0.0020, heart LA 0.0649± 0.0013 HA 0.0712±0.0073). Our observations suggest that high-active mice in most organ tissues are no more inherently equipped for metabolic adaptation than low-active mice, but there may be a connection between protein metabolism of kidney tissue and physical activity level. In addition, low-active mice have higher organ-specific baseline protein FSR possibly contributing to the inability to achieve higher physical activity levels.For more than a thousand years, Rhizoma Curcumae (known as E zhu), a Chinese herbal medicine, has been used to eradicate blood stasis and relieve aches. The plant Curcuma wenyujin, which is grown primarily in Wenzhou, China, is considered the best source of Rhizoma Curcumae. In this study, we sought to ascertain differences in transcript profiles of C. wenyujin grown in traditional (Wenzhou) and recently established (Haikou) production areas based on Illumina and RNA (RNA-seq) sequencing. We also examined differences in the main components of the volatile oil terpene; curcumin, polysaccharide, and starch constituents and related genes in the corresponding pathways, in C. wenyujin cultivated in the two production areas. We accordingly found that the essential oil (2.05%), curcumin (1.46%), and polysaccharide (8.90%) content in Wenzhou rhizomes was higher than that in the rhizomes of plants from Haikou (1.60%, 0.91%, and 6.15%, respectively). In contrast, the starch content of Wenzhou rhizomes (17.0%) was lower than that of Haikou rhizomes (23.8%). Furthermore, we detected significant differences in the oil components of Haikou and Wenzhou rhizomes, with curzerene (32.34%), curdione (21.35%), and germacrene B (9.39%) being the primary components of the essential oil derived from Wenzhou rhizomes, and curzerene (20.13%), curdione (14.73%), and cineole (9.76%) being the main constituents in Haikou rhizomes. Transcriptome and qPCR analyses revealed considerable differences in gene expression between Wenzhou and Haikou rhizomes. The expression of terpene, curcumin, and polysaccharide pathway-related genes in Wenzhou rhizomes was significantly up-regulated, whereas the expression of starch-associated genes was significantly down-regulated, compared with those in Haikou rhizomes. Difference in the content of terpene, curcumin, polysaccharides, and starch in rhizomes from the two production areas could be explained in terms of differences in expression of the related genes.

Forecasting epidemics like COVID-19 is of crucial importance, it will not only help the governments but also, the medical practitioners to know the future trajectory of the spread, which might help them with the best possible treatments, precautionary measures and protections. In this study, the popular autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) will be used to forecast the cumulative number of confirmed, recovered cases, and the number of deaths in Pakistan from COVID-19 spanning June 25, 2020 to July 04, 2020 (10 days ahead forecast).

To meet the desire objectives, data for this study have been taken from the Ministry of National Health Service of Pakistan’s website from February 27, 2020 to June 24, 2020. Two different ARIMA models will be used to obtain the next 10 days ahead point and 95% interval forecast of the cumulative confirmed cases, recovered cases, and deaths. Statistical software, RStudio, with „forecast”, „ggplot2”, „tseries”, and „seasonal” packages have been used for data analysis. with regards to the current number of disease occurrences until an appropriate medication is developed.

It is concluded from this study that the forecasting accuracy of ARIMA models in terms of RMSE, and MAE are better than the other time series models, and therefore could be considered a good forecasting tool in forecasting the spread, recoveries, and deaths from the current outbreak of COVID-19. Besides, this study can also help the decision-makers in developing short-term strategies with regards to the current number of disease occurrences until an appropriate medication is developed.Spissistilus festinus (Say) (Hemiptera Membracidae) was shown to transmit Grapevine red blotch virus (GRBV) in a greenhouse study. Grapevines infected with GRBV exhibit reduced sugar accumulation, altered secondary metabolite production and delayed berry maturation that negatively impacts wine quality and economics. Augmentative biocontrol may be a useful integrated pest management (IPM) tool for suppressing S. festinus populations in vineyards, but minimal research has been conducted on testing potential predators against the different life stages of S. festinus. The susceptibility of S. festinus adults and nymphs (1st through 5th instar) to predation by six commercially available biocontrol agents in petri dish and bell bean plant arenas was determined under greenhouse conditions. No significant mortality of S. festinus nymphs or adults occurred when exposed to Cryptolaemus montrouzieri adults, C. montrouzieri larvae and Sympherobius barberi adults in petri dish or bell bean plant arenas. Significant mortality of 1st and 2nd instar nymphs of S. festinus in the presence of Zelus renardii nymphs was observed in petri dish but not in bell bean arenas. Hippodamia convergens adults and Chrysoperla rufilabris larvae both consumed a significant number of S. festinus nymphs in petri dish and bell bean arenas. No significant predation of S. festinus adults was documented in this experiment. Results of this study aid in identifying predators that may be suitable candidates for additional field testing to determine their potential efficacy as biocontrol agents of S. festinus in a vineyard setting.This study assesses the dollar benefit of a neighborhood approach intervention on disaster risk reduction in small-sized, densely populated, and hazard-prone informal settlements across Latin American and Caribbean countries. We use a life satisfaction approach that assigns a dollar value to gains in wellbeing associated with the neighborhood approach intervention. Our primary data was a survey to a sample of 349 beneficiaries from small towns in Haiti, Guatemala, and Jamaica, and in major cities’ surrounded areas of Peru, Colombia, and Honduras. Out of 14 interventions, we found that community empowerment, physical works in public spaces and urban gardens/food approaches produced a gain of USD1,038 to USD1,241 to individual beneficiaries. Our study suggests a large benefit associated with the neighborhood approach intervention. It also shows that the life satisfaction approach is a promising method for the valuation of non-market and public goods, especially for countries where data on hazards and risks is not available to help monetize risk reductions.The absence of comparable epidemiological data challenges the correct estimation of the prevalence of congenital hearing loss (HL) around the world. Sign language (SL) is known as the main type of communication of deaf people. We suggest that the distribution of SL can be interpreted as an indirect indicator of the prevalence of congenital HL. Since a significant part of congenital HL is due to genetic causes, an assessment of the distribution of SL users can reveal regions with an extensive accumulation of hereditary HL. For the first time, we analyzed the data on the distribution of SL users that became available for the total population of Russia by the 2010 census. Seventy-three out of 85 federal regions of Russia were ranked into three groups by the 25th and 75th percentiles of the proportion of SL users 14 regions-„low proportion”; 48 regions-„average proportion”; and 11 regions-„high proportion”. We consider that the observed uneven prevalence of SL users can reflect underlying hereditary forms of congenital HL accumulated in certain populations by specific genetic background and population structure. At least, the data from this study indicate that the highest proportions of SL users detected in some Siberian regions are consistent with the reported accumulation of specific hereditary HL forms in indigenous Yakut, Tuvinian and Altaian populations.

Early and accurate prognosis prediction of the patients was urgently warranted due to the widespread popularity of COVID-19. We performed a meta-analysis aimed at comprehensively summarizing the clinical characteristics and laboratory abnormalities correlated with increased risk of mortality in COVID-19 patients.

PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase were systematically searched for studies considering the relationship between COVID-19 and mortality up to 4 June 2020. Data were extracted including clinical characteristics and laboratory examination.

Thirty-one studies involving 9407 COVID-19 patients were included. Dyspnea (OR = 4.52, 95%CI [3.15, 6.48], P < 0.001), chest tightness (OR = 2.50, 95%CI [1.78, 3.52], P<0.001), hemoptysis (OR = 2.00, 95%CI [1.02, 3.93], P = 0.045), expectoration (OR = 1.52, 95%CI [1.17, 1.97], P = 0.002) and fatigue (OR = 1.27, 95%CI [1.09, 1.48], P = 0.003) were significantly related to increased risk of mortality in COVID-19 patients. Furthermore, increased pretD-Dimer and ferritin, and decreased pretreatment absolute lymphocyte count were found in non-survivors, which also have an unbeneficial impact on mortality among COVID-19 patients. Motoring these indicators during the hospitalization plays a very important role in predicting the prognosis of patients.

Among the common symptoms of COVID-19 infections, fatigue, expectoration, hemoptysis, dyspnea and chest tightness were independent predictors of death. As for laboratory examinations, significantly increased pretreatment absolute leukocytosis count, LDH, PCT, D-Dimer and ferritin, and decreased pretreatment absolute lymphocyte count were found in non-survivors, which also have an unbeneficial impact on mortality among COVID-19 patients. Motoring these indicators during the hospitalization plays a very important role in predicting the prognosis of patients.Mexican Americans have a lower prevalence of asthma than White Americans, Black Americans, and Other Hispanics. This is concordant with the Hispanic Paradox, which posits that Hispanics have good health and lower mortality than White Americans despite their relative socioeconomic disadvantages. However, the research is limited in relation to the effects of race on health, independent of ethnicity, among this population. In this study, the author disaggregated Mexican Americans, foreign-born and U.S.-born into two categories, White and Black Mexicans, in order to assess their likelihood of having an asthma diagnosis, compared to White Americans and to each other. This study used harmonized data from the National Health Interview Survey from 2000-2018 with a final analytic sample of N = 1,094,516. The analysis was conducted using binary logistic regression, controlling for acculturation and health behavior-related variables, as well as sociodemographic characteristics. In the results, Black Mexicans had a significant disadvantage in relation to their White counterparts and White Americans. The findings suggest there is an intra-ethnic racial disparity in asthma and the Hispanic paradox is not applicable across racial lines for Mexican Americans. These findings also suggest Black Mexicans’ poor asthma outcomes are the byproduct of various mechanisms of racial inequality.Chagas disease (CD) will account for 200,000 cardiovascular deaths worldwide over the next 5 years. Early detection of chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC) is a challenge. We aimed to test if speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) can detect incipient myocardial damage in CD.

Among 325 individuals with positive serological tests, 25 (age 55±12yrs) were selected to compose the group with indeterminate form of Chagas disease (IFCD), based on stringent criteria of being asymptomatic and with normal EKG/X-ray studies. This group was compared with a group of 20 patients with CCC (55±11yrs) and a group of 20 non-infected matched control (NC) subjects (48±10yrs). CD patients and NC were submitted to STE and CD patients were submitted to cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) with late gadolinium administration to detect cardiac fibrosis by the late enhancement technique. Global longitudinal strain (GLS), circumferential (GCS) and radial strain (GRS) were defined as the average of segments measured from three apical view s early regional impairment of myocardial strain that is independent from fibrosis in IFCD subjects.

RegLS detects early regional impairment of myocardial strain that is independent from fibrosis in IFCD subjects.

To assess the improvement in the management of diabetes and its complications based on the evolution of hospitalisation rates for diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) and lower extremity amputation (LEA) in individuals with diabetes in France.

Data were provided by the French national health insurance general scheme from 2008 to 2014. Hospitalisations for DFU and LEA were extracted from the SNIIRAM/SNDS French medical and administrative database.

In 2014, 22,347 hospitalisations for DFU and 8,342 hospitalisations for LEA in patients with diabetes were recorded. Between 2008 and 2014, the standardised rate of hospitalisation for DFU raised from 508 to 701/100,000 patients with diabetes. In the same period, the standardised rate of LEA decreased from 301 to 262/100,000 patients with diabetes. The level of amputation tended to become more distal. The proportion of men (69% versus 73%) and the frequency of revascularization procedures (39% versus 46%) increased. In 2013, the one-year mortality rate was 23% after hospitalisation for DFU and 26% after hospitalisation for LEA.

For the first time in France, the incidence of a serious complication of diabetes, i.e. amputations, has decreased in relation with a marked improvement in hospital management.

For the first time in France, the incidence of a serious complication of diabetes, i.e. amputations, has decreased in relation with a marked improvement in hospital management.3D printing is a rapidly evolving field for biological (bioprinting) and non-biological applications. Due to a high degree of freedom for geometrical parameters in 3D printing, prototype printing of bioreactors is a promising approach in the field of Tissue Engineering. The variety of printers, materials, printing parameters and device settings is difficult to overview both for beginners as well as for most professionals. In order to address this problem, we designed a guidance including test bodies to elucidate the real printing performance for a given printer system. Therefore, performance parameters such as accuracy or mechanical stability of the test bodies are systematically analysed. Moreover, post processing steps such as sterilisation or cleaning are considered in the test procedure. The guidance presented here is also applicable to optimise the printer settings for a given printer device. As proof of concept, we compared fused filament fabrication, stereolithography and selective laser sintering as tting process.

Data on external validation of models developed to distinguish Crohn’s disease (CD) from intestinal tuberculosis (ITB) are limited. This study aimed to validate and compare models using clinical, endoscopic, and/or pathology findings to differentiate CD from ITB.

Data from newly diagnosed ITB and CD patients were retrospectively collected from 5 centers located in Thailand or Hong Kong. The data was applied to Lee, et al., Makharia, et al., Jung, et al., and Limsrivilai, et al. model.

Five hundred and thirty patients (383 CD, 147 ITB) with clinical and endoscopic data were included. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of Limsrivilai’s clinical-endoscopy (CE) model was 0.853, which was comparable to the value of 0.862 in Jung’s model (p = 0.52). Both models performed significantly better than Lee’s endoscopy model (AUROC 0.713, p<0.01). Pathology was available for review in 199 patients (116 CD, 83 ITB). When 3 modalities were combined, Limsrivilai’s clinical-endoscopy-pathology (CEP) model performed significantly better (AUROC 0.887) than Limsrivilai’s CE model (AUROC 0.824, p = 0.01), Jung’s model (AUROC 0.798, p = 0.005) and Makharia’s model (AUROC 0.637, p<0.01). In 83 ITB patients, the rate of misdiagnosis with CD when used the proposed cutoff values in each original study was 9.6% for Limsrivilai’s CEP, 15.7% for Jung’s, and 66.3% for Makharia’s model.

Scoring systems with more parameters and diagnostic modalities performed better; however, application to clinical practice is still limited owing to high rate of misdiagnosis of ITB as CD. Models integrating more modalities such as imaging and serological tests are needed.

Scoring systems with more parameters and diagnostic modalities performed better; however, application to clinical practice is still limited owing to high rate of misdiagnosis of ITB as CD. Models integrating more modalities such as imaging and serological tests are needed.

The COVID-19 pandemic is more than a public health crisis. Lockdown measures have substantial societal effects, including a significant impact on parents with (young) children. Given the existence of persistent gender inequality prior to the pandemic, particularly among parents, it is crucial to study the societal impact of COVID-19 from a gender perspective. The objective of this paper is to use representative survey data gathered among Dutch parents in April 2020 to explore differences between mothers and fathers in three areas paid work, the division of childcare and household tasks, and three dimensions of quality of life (leisure, work-life balance, relationship dynamics). Additionally, we explore whether changes take place in these dimensions by comparing the situation prior to the lockdown with the situation during the lockdown.

We use descriptive methods (crosstabulations) supported by multivariate modelling (linear regression modelling for continuous outcomes; linear probability modelling (LPM) for binary outcomes (0/1 outcomes); and multinomial logits for multinomial outcomes) in a cross-sectional survey design.