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The folklore of the “Swift” effect – lessons for medical research and clinical practice
Taylor Swift’s presence at National Football League (NFL) games was reported to have a causal effect on the performance of Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs. Critical examination of the supposed “Swift effect” provides some surprising lessons relevant to the scientific community. Here, we present a formal analysis to determine whether the media narrative that Swift’s presence at NFL games had any impact on player or team performance – and draw parallels to scientific journalism and clinical research. We performed a quasi-experimental study, using covariate matching. Linear mixed effects models were used to determine how Swift’s presence or absence in Swift-era games influence Kelce’s performance, relative to historical data. Additionally, a binary logistic regression model was developed to determine if Swift’s presence influenced the Chief’s game outcomes, relative to historical averages. Across multiple matching approaches, analyses demonstrated that Kelce’s yardage did not significantly differ when Taylor Swift was in attendance (n = 13 games) relative to matched pre‐Swift games. Although a decline in Kelce’s performance was observed in games without Swift (n = 6 games), the statistical significance of this finding varied by the matching algorithm used, indicating inconsistency in the effect. Similarly, Swift’s attendance did not result in a significant increase in the Chiefs’ likelihood of winning. Together, these findings suggest that the purported “Swift effect” is not supported by robust evidence. The weak statistical evidence that spawned the concept of the “Swift effect” is rooted in a constellation of fallacies common to medical journalism and research – including over-simplification, sensationalism, attribution bias, unjustified mechanisms, inadequate sampling, emphasis on surrogate outcomes, and inattention to comparative effectiveness. Clinicians and researchers must be vigilant to avoid falling victim to the “Swift effect,” since failure to scrutinize available evidence can lead to acceptance of unjustified theories and negatively impact clinical decision-making.
Religious values and confidence in science: Perceived tensions and common ground
While confidence in science is high compared to other institutions, many Americans question whether scientists share their values, including religious ones. Narratives surrounding science and religion often focus on a conflict between the two, but religious people, especially, tend to see their religious views as in line with science. Using survey data of two probability samples representative of U.S. adults, we examine how religious views, including perceptions of conflict and harmony between science and religion, predict confidence in science. We found that while general perceptions of religion and science as conflicting negatively predicted confidence in science, when individuals think religion endorses protecting the planet, their confidence in science was higher. The results suggest that attitudes toward religion and science are more nuanced than is often acknowledged and that audiences can be confident in science while holding strong religious beliefs. Further, the work suggests that finding and highlighting common ground between religion and science is a potentially promising avenue for cultivating confidence in science.
(Cardiac) complexity needs interaction
Abstract The heart exemplifies a complex system where electrical, mechanical, and biochemical processes interact dynamically. Understanding cardiac complexity requires exploring these interactions across multiple levels, from cellular dynamics to organ-wide behavior. This collection examines key interactions in cardiology, including excitation-contraction coupling, arrhythmia quantification, electromechanical modeling, and imaging advances. By integrating mathematical, computational, and clinical perspectives, researchers uncover novel insights into heart function and dysfunction. Progress in this field relies on interdisciplinary collaboration, emphasizing the vital role of human interaction in translating discoveries into improved diagnostics and treatments.
Differences in access to water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities among residents of Korail Slum, Bangladesh, during normal vs. water-logging situations
Background Slum areas in Dhaka, Bangladesh, experience frequent water-logging after heavy rain. However, the extent to which access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) varies between normal vs. water-logging periods has not been described. The objectives of this study are: 1) to describe WASH access and behaviors among Korail Slum residents during normal vs. water-logging periods, and; 2) to describe the extent to which the differences in WASH access and behaviors between normal vs. water-logging periods varied by socioeconomic status (SES). Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study in Korail Slum, Dhaka, Bangladesh, during November 2024 using face-to-face interviews and rapid observation of WASH infrastructures. We selected adult residents to Korail Slum via systematic random sampling and invited them to participate. We interviewed participants regarding WASH access and behaviors, as well as their education, income, and asset ownership (i.e., socioeconomic status (SES) indicators). We categorized participants into SES tertiles using principal component analysis (PCA). We analyzed data using descriptive statistics and McNemar’s tests. Results Nearly all of our participants (n = 404) reported a Basic level of water access during normal and water-logging periods, and no participant reported using unimproved latrines or open defecation. Approximately 85% of the participants reported access to Basic hygiene facilities during normal periods, most (95%) of whom also reported the access during water-logging periods (p-value = 0.134). The majority of participants did not always wash their hands at key moments during the normal period. Among those who reported always washing hands during the normal period, between 15% to 30% regressed and did not always wash their hands during the water-logging period. There were no statistically significant variations in the difference between WASH access and behaviors at normal vs. water-logging periods by socioeconomic tertile. Conclusion We found near-universal access to water and improved sanitation, but low level of hand hygiene behaviors. Limitations regarding generalizability and potential social desirability bias should be considered as caveats in the interpretation of the study findings.
Correction: MiR-198 represses tumor growth and metastasis in colorectal cancer by targeting fucosyl transferase 8
What does it mean to have experienced the death of a relative in a context of social and funeral restrictions? Lessons from the pandemic for bereavement research and clinical practice
The circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic raised concerns about their impact on people who were bereaved in this period. Numerous studies have attempted to quantify this impact. However, they have often adopted a pathologizing perspective on grief, with little attention being paid to the mediating processes and to the diversity of experiences, and their results have appeared contradictory. This study takes a comprehensive approach to understand these experiences in their uniqueness, without pathologizing them. Interviews with 12 bereaved people were analyzed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis and drawing on the theoretical framework of meaning-making, to explore the meanings that they gave to their loss and grief in a context of social and funeral restrictions. In our findings, the context of the pandemic appeared to be completely incompatible with the field of dying and mourning, creating paradoxical injunctions for some participants. While this led to feelings of guilt, powerlessness and loss of meaning for some, others were able to experience meaningful moments and to find solace in the farewell. All experiences were far from what had been expected, for better or for worse, and participants had to find their own ways to make sense of these unexpected experiences. The meanings they gave were complex, combining different levels of meaning – personal, moral, societal, or existential – and evolved over time, as did their emotional experiences. The results highlight the notions of paradoxical injunctions and grieving for an ideal goodbye as relevant for understanding and supporting the bereaved, drawing avenues for therapeutic work (e.g., restoring agency by providing a secure space to create a meaningful rite). They also have implications for research, highlighting the need to broaden the understanding of “impact”, to include mediators assessing subjectivity, and to privilege person-centered qualitative and quantitative methods.
Digital transformation as an ESG performance catalyst with insights from China’s external governance
S2DB-mmWave YOLOv8n: Multi-object detection for millimeter-wave radar using YOLOv8n with optimized multi-scale features
Millimeter-wave (mmWave) radar has become an important research direction in the field of object detection because of its characteristics of all-time, low cost, strong privacy and not affected by harsh weather conditions. Therefore, the research on millimeter wave radar object detection is of great practical significance for applications in the field of intelligent security and transportation. However, in the multi-target detection scene, millimeter wave radar still faces some problems, such as unable to effectively distinguish multiple objects and poor performance of detection algorithm. Focusing on the above problems, a new target detection and classification framework of S2DB-mmWave YOLOv8n, based on deep learning, is proposed to realize more accuracy. There are three main improvements. First, a novel backbone network was designed by incorporating new convolutional layers and the Simplified Spatial Pyramid Pooling - Fast (SimSPPF) module to strengthen feature extraction. Second, a dynamic up-sampling technique was introduced to improve the model’s ability to recover fine details. Finally, a bidirectional feature pyramid network (BiFPN) was integrated to optimize feature fusion, leveraging a bidirectional information transfer mechanism and an adaptive feature selection strategy. A publicly available 5-class object mmWave radar heatmap dataset, including 2,500 annotated images, were selected for data modeling and method evaluation. The results show that the mean average precision (mAP), precision and recall of the S2DB-mmWave YOLOv8n model were 93.1% mAP@0.5, 55.8% mAP@0.5:0.95, 89.4% and 90.6%, respectively, which is 3.3, 1.6, 4.5 and 7.7 percentage points higher than the baseline YOLOv8n network without increasing the parameter count.
Author Correction: Transglutaminase-2 regulates Wnt and FoxO3a signaling to determine the severity of osteoarthritis
Exploring the relationship between built environment and multidimensional street market vitality: Insights from urban villages in Shenzhen using multi-source data
Street markets play a vital role in revitalizing cities, especially within urban villages, which are unique neighborhoods characterized by dense migrant populations and complex social dynamics. This study addresses the underexplored relationship between street market vitality and the built environment, aiming to promote sustainable urban growth and inclusivity. A comprehensive framework embraces both macro-structural and micro-experiential perspectives, integrating urban morphology, functionality, and human perception indicators, to investigate the relationship between multidimensional vitality and the built environment in Shangxia Sha urban village street markets, Shenzhen, China. Utilizing multi-source data, geographic information systems, street view semantic segmentation, and space syntax, the study applies Geographically and Temporally Weighted Regression (GTWR) and Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) models to explore spatiotemporal and multi-scale spatial heterogeneity. Findings reveal the pivotal role of urban functionality in shaping multidimensional vitality. Specifically, social vitality is most positively correlated with bus convenience and most negatively with street length. In terms of commercial vitality, point of interest (POI) density shows a strong positive relationship, while life service facility density is most negatively associated. This research provides insights into how the living street scenes shaped by low-income and migrant populations interact with the urban environment, offering guidance for fostering urban inclusivity and diverse communities.
Analysis of the influence of coupling agents on the composition of artificial rocks with polymer matrix
Mortality prediction for ICU patients with mental disorders using large language models ensemble and unstructured medical notes
Assessing mortality risk in the intensive care unit (ICU) is crucial for improving clinical outcomes and management strategies. Conventional artificial intelligence studies often neglect vital clinical information contained in unstructured medical notes. Recently, large language models (LLMs) have achieved leading-edge performance in natural language processing tasks, though each model has limitations stemming from its architecture and pre-training. The ensemble of heterogeneous language models, including both conventional LMs and LLMs, effectively addresses these constraints. The study introduces a predictive ensemble classifier using a decision fusion approach of diverse medical LLMs and LMs, including Asclepius, Meditron, GatorTron, and PubMedBERT. These models, fine-tuned with multimodal data from the medical records of 11,914 individuals diagnosed with various mental disorders from the MIMIC-IV dataset, enhance the diversity of the resulting ensemble model. The performance of our multimodal ensemble model was rigorously evaluated, delivering superior results compared to individual LLM and LM models based on single modalities. Our study underscores the substantial influence of language models on mental health management in the ICU, advocating for advanced clinical decision-making techniques that integrate unstructured medical texts with language models to enhance patient outcomes.
Coupled hydrothermal venting and hydrocarbon seepage discovered at Conical Seamount, Papua New Guinea
Abstract During research expedition SO299 with the German RV Sonne, we discovered the first deep-sea hydrothermal vent system along the Tabar-Lihir-Tanga-Feni island chain in northeastern Papua New Guinea. The Karambusel vent field is hosted by a volcanic center on the western flank of Conical Seamount that formed ~ 89 ka ago. Karambusel is remarkable in that it hosts both a fossil high-temperature, gold-rich mineralization and an active low-temperature (< 51 °C) vent system precipitating arsenic-, antimony-, thallium-, and mercury-rich sulfide minerals. Chemosymbiotic fauna is associated with the vent system and we identified more endemic species than in previous studies on nearby seeps. Our study shows that the magmatic event at Karambusel likely triggered the epithermal mineralization at Karambusel and at the central summit of Conical Seamount. The current hydrothermal fluids originate from condensed magmatic vapor or connate fluids. Gas bubbles were observed at some vent sites and the proportion of methane in the gas phase exceeds that of any other hydrothermal vent system. The composition of the light hydrocarbons points towards a thermogenic origin. Karambusel is thus the first hybrid magmatic-hydrothermal vent and hydrocarbon seep system discovered globally which explains the highly endemic vent fauna as a consequence of the unique ecological niche.
Perinatal colonization with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing and carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria among home births in Bangladesh
Background Neonatal infections are increasingly caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. It is unknown to what extent home-based births, which account for nearly a third of deliveries in Bangladesh, may also result in exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Methods We enrolled mothers who delivered at home and their newborns from a rural community in Bangladesh during April-June, 2022. Within 2–7 days after delivery, we collected vaginal and rectal swabs from mothers and rectal swabs from the newborns. Swabs were cultured on chromogenic culture media selective for extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing bacteria (ESBL-PB) and carbapenem-resistant bacteria (CRB). Demographic and risk factor data were collected via surveys. Birth attendants who facilitated the deliveries were interviewed regarding infection prevention practices. We performed descriptive analyses and Firth’s penalized logistic regression to identify potential risk factors associated with colonization. Results Of the 50 mothers enrolled, the median age was 23 years (range 18–26). Thirty-eight (76%) mothers had at least one antenatal care visit. Only one mother reported hospitalization during pregnancy, and 4 reported antibiotic use during pregnancy. Following delivery, 47 (94%) mothers were colonized with ESBL-PB, and 37 (74%) were colonized with CRB. Of the newborns, 36 (72%) were colonized with ESBL-PB, and 27 (54%) were colonized with CRB. No associations were found with any perinatal exposures, though all households reported incomes below the international poverty level. Of the 9 birth attendants who were able to be interviewed, 7 (78%) reported performing hand hygiene before delivery, and 8 (89%) reported glove use during delivery. Attendants reported cleaning equipment shared across deliveries with soap and water and using boiled water for delivery (89%, n = 8). Conclusions Women and newborns in this rural population were frequently colonized with both ESBL-PB and CRB following home deliveries. This demonstrates the importance of community-based antibiotic-resistant bacterial transmission and need for further understanding community exposures driving antibiotic resistance.
Correction: Modulation of Rab7a-mediated growth factor receptor trafficking inhibits islet beta cell apoptosis and autophagy under conditions of metabolic stress
Unraveling the genomic complexity of secretion systems in the most virulent Xanthomonas arboricola pathovars
Xanthomonas arboricola pathovars pruni (Xap), juglandis (Xaj), and corylina (Xac) are phytopathogenic bacteria that infect Prunus spp., walnut, and hazelnut trees, respectively. In this study, the understanding of the differences among these pathovars was improved with the aim of elucidating their host range and uncovering distinct virulence mechanisms. A comparative genomic analysis was conducted focusing on secretion system clusters across high-quality genomes from two strains of each pathovar. The results revealed that the RaxABC type I secretion system was absent in all analyzed strains. However, the HlyDB type I secretion system was present in both Xap and Xac, with a putative HlyDB effector identified in each Xac strain. Additionally, Xap strains contained a putative PctAB type I secretion system, while only one of the Xac harbored a putative PctAB. Notably, the genomic region surrounding pctA and pctB lacked pctP, suggesting the presence of a novel type I secretion system rather than the canonical PctAB. In contrast, Xaj lacked all the studied type I secretion systems. While the core components of type II and type III secretion systems were highly conserved across strains, significant variation was observed in their substrates. Interestingly, only Xap carried two pathovar-specific type III effectors. Regarding type V secretion systems, complete homologs of EstA, YapH, and XadA were found in all strains, except for one Xac strain, which contained a frameshifted YapH. Additionally, homologs of the XacFhaB/XacFhaC system were found in both Xap strains. However, both Xaj strains and one Xac strain carried an incomplete XacFhaB subunit, while the other Xac strain lacked this system entirely. Finally, analysis of the genomic regions surrounding these secretion system clusters strongly suggests that horizontal gene transfer has played a crucial role in their acquisition, likely contributing to the diversification, emergence and specialization of distinct X. arboricola pathovars.
The density of Braun’s Lipoprotein determines vesicle production in E. coli
Production of extracellular vesicles by Gram-negative bacteria is known to be associated with blebbing of the outer membrane. Several proteins within Gram-negative bacteria crosslink the outer membrane to the cell wall, and thereby stabilize the cell envelope. Prior work in Escherichia coli demonstrated that crosslinking proteins reduce membrane blebbing and vesicle formation, and that deletion of crosslinking proteins, most notably Braun’s lipoprotein (Lpp), can increase vesicle production by about two orders of magnitude. To examine the quantitative relation between crosslinking proteins and bacterial vesicle formation, we develop here a simple physical model that predicts how vesicle production depends on the Lpp density. We test our model by measuring vesicle production in a strain of E. coli with tunable Lpp expression. Our experimental observations agree with our model predictions for most measured Lpp densities. For low Lpp densities, our experiments yield more pronounced vesicle production than predicted by our model, which can be explained if the mechanical properties of the cell envelope depend on the Lpp density. Our results shed light on basic principles and molecular mechanisms governing bacterial vesicle production.
Effects of alcohol consumption on the prevalence and incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Background and aims Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most prevalent diseases worldwide, with its prevalence and incidence continually increasing. However, the impact of alcohol consumption on the development and progression of hepatic steatosis has not been systematically investigated. Our aim was to estimate the impact of alcohol consumption on the development and progression of NAFLD. Methods The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standards were followed. We conducted a search of Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library without language restrictions, covering the period from inception to December 31, 2023. Abstract screening, full-text review, and data extraction were performed in duplicate. Results We identified 16 articles that reported adjusted data (Japan = 7, other countries = 9). Random-effects categorical meta-analyses were conducted to compare alcohol consumption levels (< 20 g/day for women and < 30 g/day for men) with those of non-drinkers. A total of 299,955 participants were included, with 63,693 cases of NAFLD. Overall, there was no significant difference in the prevalence of NAFLD between non-drinkers and light drinkers (RR = 0.99, 95% CI, 0.85–1.15). In subgroup analyses, no differences were observed between the Japan cohort (RR = 1.01, 95% CI, 0.81–1.25) and the participants from other countries (RR = 0.96, 95% CI, 0.76–1.21). Gender-specific subgroup analyses indicated that light drinking was associated with a reduced prevalence of NAFLD in men (RR = 0.82, 95% CI, 0.79–0.85), while no significant association was found in women (RR = 0.90, 95% CI, 0.60–1.36). Regarding incidence, non-drinkers were consistently associated with a substantially lower incidence of NAFLD compared to light drinkers (RR = 1.18, 95% CI, 1.08–1.30). Conclusion This study summarizes the impact of alcohol consumption on the incidence and prevalence of NAFLD. In prevalence, light drinking in men was associated with a lower prevalence of NAFLD, whereas light drinking was associated with a higher incidence of NAFLD.
Support needs and adaptive behavior surveys: Services prediction and relationship
The Inventory for Client and Agency Planning (ICAP) and the Supports Intensity Scale (SIS) have been used to determine Medicaid eligibility for individuals with disabilities but are designed to capture different information. This project explored how these surveys relate to services received and each other. ICAP and SIS surveys were conducted on 125 Wyoming adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities eligible for a Medicaid Waiver. Results suggest that both measures were strongly associated and could be used to predict services. However, this study suggests that the SIS and ICAP summary measures were separate constructs. Therefore, both instruments can be used to determine Medicaid eligibility, but implementers should be aware of differences in the types of constructs being captured.