Browse Articles

LAMA3 overexpression enhances proliferation, migration and invasion in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma based on bioinformatics and experimental validation

A comparative analysis of three pharmacovigilance system assessment tools

Background Three key tools are currently available for assessing pharmacovigilance systems at the national level: the Indicator-Based Pharmacovigilance Assessment Tool (IPAT), the World Health Organization (WHO) Pharmacovigilance Indicators, and the Vigilance Module of the WHO Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT). These instruments are designed to evaluate the functionality and performance of national regulatory authorities within the context of their respective pharmacovigilance systems. Objectives This study aims to identify, analyze, and compare the core characteristics and operational features of these pharmacovigilance assessment tools to better understand their scope, application, and limitations. Methodology A structured document analysis was conducted on the three identified tools. The content was systematically reviewed, categorized, and synthesized to facilitate a comparative evaluation of its design, focus areas, and assessment criteria. Results The analysis revealed that the available tools encompass a broad spectrum of indicators targeting different dimensions of pharmacovigilance systems, such as infrastructure, processes, and outcomes. However, exclusive reliance on a single tool may offer a limited perspective, potentially overlooking critical components of a national pharmacovigilance framework. Conclusion This study underscores the heterogeneity of existing pharmacovigilance assessment tools and emphasizes the importance of context-specific adaptation. A tailored approach, involving the strategic selection or integration of tools, is recommended to ensure a comprehensive and accurate evaluation of national pharmacovigilance systems.

Mechanical response characteristics and key technology of construction control of roof of long span string beam structure

Time since last birth and the risk of endometrial cancer: A meta-analysis of observational studies

Introduction Endometrial cancer, an adenocarcinoma originating from the uterine lining, is the most prevalent cancer of the female genital tract globally.Identifying early risk factors for endometrial cancer is crucial for prevention.Prior research suggests that pregnancy may lower endometrial cancer risk by reducing estrogen exposure.This meta-analysis aims to delve into the existing population-based longitudinal studies to evaluate the association between the time elapsed since the last birth and the risk of endometrial cancer. Methods and analysis We searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science for cohort studies published up to June 21, 2024, using relevant medical subject headings (MeSH) and keywords. Statistical analyses were conducted using Stata version 14.0. A fixed-effects model was applied if P > 0.1 and I 2  ≤ 50%; otherwise, a random-effects model was used to account for significant heterogeneity Publication bias was assessed using funnel plots and Egger’s test. Our meta-analysis included 3 cohort studies and 5 case-control studies with a total of 3,310,734 participants, published between 1994 and 2024. The analysis revealed that time since last birth is associated with endometrial cancer risk. Specifically, a period of 0–10 years since the last birth was linked to a reduced risk of endometrial cancer (OR= 0.431; 95% CI: 0.351–0.530). A period of 10–20 years since the last birth also showed a decreased risk (OR=0.867; 95% CI:0.747–1.007), whereas more than 20 years since the last birth was associated with an increased risk (OR = 1.304; 95% CI: 1.111–1.530). Conclusions Our meta-analysis indicates that a shorter time since the last birth is protective against endometrial cancer, whereas a longer interval increases risk. Further research is needed to clarify the underlying mechanisms of this association. These findings are crucial for developing new strategies for endometrial cancer prevention and treatment.

Leveraging hybrid model for accurate sentiment analysis of Twitter data

Not only self-views but also any ratings converge without conversations due to reduced noise bias

Exploratory analysis of critical event phases and the impact of team size and performance levels in 24 hour ultra cycling

This study explores the complex dynamics of rank-order stability by analyzing the current-to-final rank difference (CFRD), a metric that provides a dynamic view of rank fluctuations and their impact on the final ranking. This approach enables the identification of critical event phases that significantly influence the final rank. Specifically, we examine how varying team sizes and performance levels shape temporal trends in CFRD during 24-hour cycling races. A comprehensive dataset covering four consecutive years (2019–2022) of a 24-hour cycling race on a 17.9 km repetitive driven road track, encompassing diverse team sizes (solo rider, or teams of 4 and 10), is used. The results indicate significant interactions between time, team size, and performance F(18.04) = 1.74; p = 0.03). As the race progresses, the final standings become progressively more predictable. Solo riders exhibit the least clarity in their final standing throughout the race. In contrast, larger teams achieve a clearer indication of their final ranking earlier in the race. Medium-performance teams, especially solo riders, show lower clarity in their final standing across the race duration, whereas high- and low-performance teams tend to exhibit more predictable outcomes at earlier stages of the race. Overall, this study advances our understanding of endurance team cycling, and offers valuable insights for strategic decision-making and race optimization.

Air pollution and the number of daily visits of hypertension in northern china: a time-series analysis on generalized additive model

Lightweight and efficient skeleton-based sports activity recognition with ASTM-Net

Human Activity Recognition (HAR) plays a pivotal role in video understanding, with applications ranging from surveillance to virtual reality. Skeletal data has emerged as a robust modality for HAR, overcoming challenges such as noisy backgrounds and lighting variations. However, current Graph Convolutional Network (GCNN)–based methods for skeletal activity recognition face two key limitations: (1) they fail to capture dynamic changes in node affinities induced by movements, and (2) they overlook the interplay between spatial and temporal information critical for recognizing complex actions. To address these challenges, we propose ASTM‑Net, an Activity‑aware SpatioTemporal Multi‑branch graph convolutional network comprising two novel modules. First, the Activity‑aware Spatial Graph convolution Module (ASGM) dynamically models Activity‑Aware Adjacency Graphs (3A‑Graphs) by fusing a manually initialized physical graph, a learnable graph optimized end‑to‑end, and a dynamically inferred, activity‑related graph—thereby capturing evolving spatial affinities. Second, we introduce the Temporal Multi‑branch Graph convolution Module (TMGM), which employs parallel branches of channel‑reduction, dilated temporal convolutions with varied dilation rates, pooling, and pointwise convolutions to effectively model both fine‑grained and long‑range temporal dependencies. This multi‑branch design not only addresses diverse action speeds and durations but also maintains parameter efficiency. By integrating ASGM and TMGM, ASTM‑Net jointly captures spatial–temporal mutualities with significantly reduced computational cost. Extensive experiments on NTU‑RGB + D, NTU‑RGB + D 120, and Toyota Smarthome demonstrate ASTM‑Net’s superiority: it outperforms DualHead‑Net‑ALLs by 0.31% on NTU‑RGB + D X‑Sub and surpasses SkateFormer by 2.22% on Toyota Smarthome Cross‑Subject; it reduces parameters by 51.9% and FLOPs by 49.7% compared to MST‑GCNN‑ALLs while improving accuracy by 0.82%; and under 30% random node occlusion, it achieves 86.94% accuracy—3.49% higher than CBAM‑STGCN.

Nuclear localization and upregulation of BAI1 in alveolar macrophages during LPS-Induced acute lung injury

Reply to Izuma and Kakinuma: Conversation aligns self-views above and beyond noise reduction

Differential cognitive and clinical improvements in Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder following hospitalization: A comparative analysis based on the Clock Drawing Test

Background Schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder with psychotic features (BDP) are psychiatric disorders with significant impact on affected individuals. However, research comparing cognitive impairments between these groups is limited. This study aimed to evaluate the changes in cognitive function based on the Clock Drawing Test (CDT) among hospitalized SCZ and BDP patients and its association with positive and negative symptoms. Methods This cross-sectional study enrolled 84 Iranian patients (42 SCZ, 42 BDP, 51 male and 33 female) aged 42.85 (±11.51), ranging from 20 to 65 years old, from two psychiatric hospitals in Iran. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale and CDT were administered during the admission and discharge of patients. Within-group and between-group changes were analyzed using paired t-tests for pre-post comparisons and multiple regression was used to assess predictive factors of changes in cognitive and symptom changes. Results Both groups showed cognitive and clinical improvements at discharge, but changes were more pronounced in the BDP group for CDT, PANSS-positive symptoms, and CGI. However, PANSS-negative symptoms improved more in SCZ patients. No correlations existed between changes in CDT and positive and negative symptoms in either of the groups. Conclusion While both groups exhibited cognitive and clinical improvements following hospitalization, patients with SCZ showed relatively less improvement in the CDT compared to those with BDP. These findings suggest that cognitive recovery may follow a different trajectory in SCZ, independent of changes in positive and negative symptoms but related to the initial cognitive profile. However, given that the CDT is a screening tool rather than a comprehensive cognitive assessment, these results should be interpreted with caution. Future research should incorporate broader neurocognitive assessments to better understand the cognitive trajectories of these populations.

Structural relationships among physical literacy, mental toughness, athletic mental energy, achievement emotions, and COVID-19-induced negative psychological states in Chinese adolescents

Evolution and mitigation strategies of online public opinion: An analysis using an improved replicator dynamic three-party game model

In the digital age, online public opinion plays a pivotal role in shaping social stability, policymaking, and public trust in institutions. Given the frequent occurrence of public opinion crises, it is imperative to explore their evolutionary dynamics and effective mitigation strategies. This study develops a three-party evolutionary game model involving the government, ordinary netizens, and media/KOLs, incorporating both inter-group strategy influence and intra-group incentive effects. The model enhances traditional replicator dynamics by embedding incentive coefficients that reflect the strategic suppressive or promotive effects within each group. Simulation results reveal that changes in incentive structures significantly affect the speed and stability of opinion convergence. For instance, when the media’s suppression of dissemination strategies is strong ( λ 3 = 1.5 ), all groups reach near-equilibrium within 3–5 time steps, with netizen participation stabilizing above 0.99 by t  = 3. However, when only the government’s suppressive influence increases ( λ 1 ), convergence is slower and displays diminishing returns. As λ 1 continues to rise, netizen responsiveness plateaus, indicating a saturation effect whereby excessive suppression loses effectiveness in accelerating stabilization. These findings challenge the assumption that earlier or stronger intervention is inherently more effective. Instead, they underscore the importance of calibrated timing and intensity, as public sentiment evolves through the interplay of government response, media coordination, and audience receptiveness. Netizens respond more rapidly than institutional actors, reflecting their sensitivity to perceived information gaps. Effective mitigation of negative sentiment thus requires not only timely action but also adaptive adjustment of strategic influence in accordance with systemic feedback.

The impacts of achievement goal orientation, dark triad, person-environment misfit, and perceived psychological safety on external hires’ deviant behaviors

Treponema pallidum infection in asymptomatic persons: A puzzling scenario in the Canary Islands (Spain) (2001–2020)

Background and objectives Syphilis is an infectious disease caused by T. pallidum subsp. Pallidum . In high-income countries the main mode of transmission is sexual. Approximately half of infected patients are asymptomatic, which does not exclude the possibility of transmission. The aim of this study was to evaluate syphilis seroprevalence among asymptomatic persons in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain). Patients and methods Three different groups were studied from 2001 to 2020 : i) a “blood donor” sample of 948,869 voluntary blood donations as a proxy of health population.; ii) undocumented African immigrants, including 1,873 recent arrivals in Gran Canaria; and iii) people living with HIV (PLWH), a group of 1,690 patients followed by our team. The evaluation included both treponemal and reaginic tests. Results i) among blood donors, the mean seroprevalence of positive treponemal tests was 0.25% (95% CI: 0.19–0.31). Non-treponemal test positivity (RPR) ranged from 0.05 to 0.06% with titers ≤ 1:4 in all cases; ii) thirty-four of 641 undocumented African migrants (5.30%; 95% CI: 3.82–7.32%) had a confirmed positive treponemal test but only 4 had a positive RPR, with titers ranging from 1:1–1:4; iii) 46.51% (95% CI: 44.14–48.89) of PLWH patients had a confirmed positive treponemal test. For factors related to HIV-syphilis coinfection, multivariate analysis clearly showed the association with male sex and the MSM risk category. However, the results of this series call into question the overall role of immigration in the seroprevalence of syphilis among PLWH in our setting. Active syphilis (RPR > 1:8) was found in 20.10% of PLWH. Conclusions In summary, syphilis is a re-emerging infection, and asymptomatic persons constitute a group that facilitates its transmission and spread. In our setting, seroprevalence was lowest in blood donors, higher in recently arrived African migrants, and highest in PLWH, especially MSM. The presence of active syphilis however is mainly restricted to MSM. This information is of relevance for the design of syphilis control strategies.

Deep learning diagnosis plus kinematic severity assessments of neurodivergent disorders

A longitudinal assessment of the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 infection in the New Mexican population

While many studies have assessed immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection, none have studied functional antibody responses before and after vaccination of exposed patients in New Mexico in the United States. Here, we evaluate antibody binding, antibody neutralization, and antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) responses from convalescent patients between September 2020 and April 2021. Our results indicate that binding, neutralizing, and ADCC titers remained durable over an estimated 4-month period or were boosted by vaccination. Antibody binding titer stability was comparable to that of antibodies against four common viruses. Hispanic and Latino responses were similar to non-Hispanic/Latino responses in this cohort. Overall, these data shed light on functional antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 in pre-alpha variant waves in New Mexico.

BiLSTM-Kalman framework for precipitation downscaling under multiple climate change scenarios

Sociodemographic and clinical factors influencing typhoid fever prevalence and multidrug resistance in Niger State, Nigeria

Background This study investigated the prevalence of typhoid fever and the factors contributing to multidrug resistance in Niger State, Nigeria, a region affected by limited sanitation and healthcare access. Methodology A cross-sectional study design was employed across communities in Niger State, Nigeria, where participants in different communities of the state aged 18 years and above were enrolled. Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi isolation from stool and determination and interpretation of multi-drug resistance were performed according to the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) methods. We examined the associations between sociodemographic characteristics, clinical factors, and multidrug resistant (MDR) in Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi. Principal findings/conclusions Among the 624 participants, typhoid fever prevalence was recorded at 36.5%, with young adults (ages 18–27) and semi-urban residents demonstrating higher infection rates. Antibiotic sensitivity testing revealed 98% resistance to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, whereas gentamicin and levofloxacin exhibited high efficacy. Our findings underscore the urgent need for health education, improved antibiotic regulation, and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) interventions to control typhoid fever and mitigate MDR challenges.