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Prevalence and molecular characterization of multi-drug and extreme drug resistant Escherichia coli in companion animals in Bangladesh

A research on spatial configuration characteristics and social performance evaluation of public sports facilities in shanghai based on geographic information system (GIS)

The spatial configuration and social performance of public sports facilities serve as crucial indicators for evaluating the equity of public sports services and the coherence of urban spatial structure. As Shanghai accelerates its development into a globally renowned sports city, the construction of public sports facilities has encountered significant opportunities. However, challenges persist in the spatial distribution, accessibility, and quality of these facilities. This study investigates the spatial agglomeration characteristics, accessibility, and social performance of urban public sports facilities in Shanghai at both the street and grid scales. Using geographic information system (GIS) tools and analytical methods such as kernel density estimation, standard deviation ellipse, spatial autocorrelation, Gaussian two-step moving search, and the Gini coefficient, the analysis yields the following findings: 1) Public sports facilities in Shanghai are concentrated in the central urban areas and exhibit scattered spatial distribution patterns in peripheral regions. These facilities display a significant directional coupling with population distribution (northeast-southwest), reflecting pronounced spatial imbalances. 2) Social performance analysis reveals clear regional inequities in Shanghai’s public sports facilities. While overall accessibility is relatively high, disparities remain, with suburbs facing facility shortages. Regional equity measurements indicate that the Gini coefficient for public sports facilities in Shanghai is 0.58. Central urban areas possess a high density of facilities, while suburban areas suffer from inadequate facility coverage, leading to uneven service radii and a pattern of high agglomeration but low coverage. 3) The social equity analysis shows that the service capacity entropy of public sports facilities exhibits a distinct spatial distribution, characterized by high values in the east and west and low values in the center. The highest entropy value is 4.25, while the lowest is 0.02. This study provides valuable insights for the planning and optimization of urban public sports facilities in Shanghai, contributing to the enhancement of spatial equity and service effectiveness.

Multiscale gradients of corticopontine structural connectivity

Abstract The cerebellum’s involvement in a range of cognitive, emotional, and motor processes has become increasingly evident. Given the uniformity of the cerebellar cortex’s cellular architecture its contributions to varied processes are thought be partially mediated by its patterns of reciprocal connectivity with the rest of the brain. A better understanding of these connections is therefore fundamental to disentangling the cerebellum’s contribution to cognition and behavior. While these connections have been studied extensively in non-human animals using invasive methods, we have limited knowledge of these connections in humans. The current work reconstructed the corticopontine projection, the first segment of downstream connections between the cerebral and cerebellar cortices, with diffusion MRI tractography in human in-vivo whole brain data and an independent higher resolution postmortem brainstem dataset. Dimensionality reduction was used to characterize the pattern of connectivity of cerebral cortical projections to the pons as two overlapping gradients that were consistent across participants and datasets: medial to lateral and core to belt. Our findings align with invasive work done in animals and advance our understanding of this connection in humans – providing valuable context to a growing body of cerebellar research, offering insights into impacts of damage along the pathway, and informing clinical interventions.

Exploring dynamical whole-brain models in high-dimensional parameter spaces

Personalized modeling of the resting-state brain activity implies the usage of dynamical whole-brain models with high-dimensional model parameter spaces. However, the practical benefits and mathematical challenges originating from such approaches have not been thoroughly documented, leaving the question of the value and utility of high-dimensional approaches unanswered. Studying a whole-brain model of coupled phase oscillators, we proceeded from low-dimensional scenarios featuring 2–3 global model parameters only to high-dimensional cases, where we additionally equipped every brain region with a specific local model parameter. To enable the parameter optimizations for the high-dimensional model fitting to empirical data, we applied two dedicated mathematical optimization algorithms (Bayesian Optimization, Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategy). We thereby optimized up to 103 parameters simultaneously with the aim to maximize the correlation between simulated and empirical functional connectivity separately for 272 subjects. The obtained model parameters demonstrated increased variability within subjects and reduced reliability across repeated optimization runs in high-dimensional spaces. Nevertheless, the quality of the model validation (goodness-of-fit, GoF) improved considerably and remained very stable and reliable together with the simulated functional connectivity. Applying the modeling results to phenotypical data, we found significantly higher prediction accuracies for sex classification when the GoF or coupling parameter values optimized in the high-dimensional spaces were considered as features. Our results elucidate the model fitting in high-dimensional parameter spaces and can contribute to an improved dynamical brain modeling as well as its application to the frameworks of inter-individual variability and brain-behavior relationships.

Increased water availability at various timescales has different effects on stomatal closure point in isohydric piñon pine and anisohydric juniper

Abstract Stomatal Closure Point (SCP) has commonly been used to describe drought response strategies in plants, with isohydric species maintaining relatively high, constant SCP compared to anisohydric species that can lower SCP with increasing drought severity. However, there is evidence that, within these groups, SCP may respond dynamically to environmental conditions. Here, we explored how increasing water availability affects SCP in classically isohydric piñon pine and anisohydric one-seed or Utah juniper at various spatial- (i.e., from branch, to tree, to ecosystem) and temporal- (i.e., hours to decades) scales. Our results show that short-term increases in water availability decreased SCP in isohydric piñon pine, making it more anisohydric, while short-term rehydration had no effect on SCP in anisohydric juniper. Increasing mean annual precipitation, on the other hand, increased SCP in both species. Our findings are consistent with documented differences in the use of ABA to control stomata in iso- and aniso-hydric species on short timescales, and with structural acclimation in both species at long timescales. These results illustrate that the local environment plays a large role in determining SCP.

Cardiovascular safety of Janus kinase inhibitors: A pharmacovigilance study from 2012–2023

Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKinibs) are increasingly used for autoimmune diseases, prompting concerns about their cardiovascular safety. This study aims to assess the cardiovascular safety of JAKinibs in real-world settings. We conducted a retrospective analysis of FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) data from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the second quarter of 2023, focusing on cardiovascular adverse events (AEs) associated with JAKinibs. We used disproportionality analysis to calculate reporting odds ratios (RORs) and identify signals of increased cardiovascular risk. This study identified 13,556 reports of cardiovascular AEs associated with JAKinibs in the FAERS database. Compared to the full database, Baricitinib exhibited significant signals for embolic and thrombotic events (ROR025 = 5.58), ischemic heart disease (ROR025 = 1.56), and cardiac arrhythmias (ROR025 = 1.14). Tofacitinib was associated with the signal for hypertension (ROR025 = 1.05), and upadacitinib was linked to embolic and thrombotic events (ROR025 = 1.23). When compared to TNF-α inhibitors, upadacitinib, baricitinib and tofacitinib showed 7, 6, and 2 positive signals, respectively (all ROR025 > 1). These findings highlight the need for careful cardiovascular monitoring and risk assessment for patients receiving JAKinibs, particularly those with pre-existing cardiovascular risk factors or older age.

The mediating role of financial well-being in the relationship between housing affordability and mental health

The application of cell-free DNA methylation patterns in critical illnesses: A protocol paper

Biomarkers in clinical medicine are typically employed to gauge severity of disease, prognosis and to monitor response to treatment. While various biomarkers have been employed in clinical medicine with variable performance characteristics, the use of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) have gained increased traction as a novel biomarker in a wide range of disease states such as cancer and trauma. While the quantification of cfDNA have been correlated with disease severity, the use of methylation pattens of cfDNA can be used to localize the site of injury that may have implications regarding prognosis and therapeutics. We propose a procedure using samples in a swine model of cardiac arrest where carbon monoxide is being used as a therapeutic to demonstrate our method and feasibility to obtain plasma cfDNA methylation patterns to help identify tissue origin with potential application in critical care medicine.

Network analysis of depression emotion suppression digital burnout and protective psychological factors

MALDI imaging mass spectrometry differentiates basal cell carcinoma from trichoblastoma and trichoepithelioma: A proof of principle study

Background Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) comprises a large portion of dermatopathology specimens; however, benign mimics such as trichoblastoma/trichoepithelioma (TB/TE) place accurate diagnosis at risk and consequently lead to inappropriate clinical management and overuse of healthcare resources. This study aims to address the challenges of traditional histopathological evaluation by utilizing matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI IMS). Methods and Findings Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded BCC and TB/TE tissue blocks were taken from archival tissue. A cohort of 69 BCC and TB/TE specimens were identified, each having three concordant diagnoses given by Dermatopathologists after a blinded analysis. H&E stained sections of each specimen were imaged for pathological analysis and uploaded to a digital annotation software with the following classifications: BCC, TB, TE, BCC stroma, TB stroma, and TE stroma. Mass spectra were collected from unstained serial sections guided by the areas annotated by the Dermatopathologists on the H&E stained serial sections. Before informatics, the data from the cohort were divided randomly into a training set (n = 55) and a validation set (n = 14). Prediction models were developed using a support vector machine (SVM) classification model from the training set data. The platform predicted BCC and TB/TE in model 2 (tumor nests alone) with a sensitivity of 98.9% (95% CI 98.3–99.4%) and specificity of 88.4% (95% CI 78.4–94.5%) at the spectral level in the validation set. Model 1 (stroma alone) had a sensitivity of 46.1% (95% CI 43.0–49.1%) and specificity of 99.2% (95% CI 97.1–99.9%). A combined model 3 (tumor nests and stroma) had a sensitivity of 90.26% (95% CI 89.1%-91.3%) and a specificity of 97.1% (95% CI 94.6% to 98.7%). The limitations of this study included a small sample set, which included easily identifiable cases obtained from a single tissue source. Conclusions Our study proves that BCC and TB/TE exhibit different proteomic profiles that one can use to enable accurate differential diagnosis. While our findings are not yet validated for clinical use, this merits further research to support IMS as an ancillary diagnostic tool for adequately and efficiently identifying the most common cutaneous malignancy in the United States. We recommend that future studies obtain a more extensive set of histologically challenging cases from multiple institutions and adequate clinical follow-up to confirm diagnostic accuracy.

Automated seizure detection in epilepsy using a novel dynamic temporal-spatial graph attention network

Retinal structure and related factors in 8-year-old Japanese children: The Yamanashi adjunct study of the Japan Environment and Children’s Study

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among retinal/choroidal structures and associated factors in 8-year-old Japanese children who participated in the Yamanashi Adjunct Study of the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS). Methods This was a study of 557 8-year-old Japanese children (274 boys, 283 girls) who participated in the JECS at the University of Yamanashi from June 2021 to March 2022. The visual acuity, spherical equivalent (SE), axial length (AL), and body height of the participants were measured. Retinal and choroidal thickness were measured using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (NIDEK RS-3000 Advance, Gamagori, Japan). Results This study included 304 participants (150 boysand 154 girls). The mean values were 23.08 ± 0.75mm for AL, −0.35 ± 0.79D for SE, and 0.08 ± 0.20 for uncorrected logMAR.The mean retinal thickness was 309.7 ± 10.9µm for all retinal layers (ARLs), 220.9 ± 15.3µm for the fovea, 134.8 ± 6.8µm for the outer retina, 76.1 ± 4.5µm for the inner retina, and 29.1 ± 2.1µm for the nerve fiber layer. The mean choroidal thickness was 301.5 ± 34.0µm. Multivariable analysis revealed that the thickness of ARLs had a significant negative correlation with AL (β=−0.20, p < 0.001) and a significant positive correlation with body height (β=0.11, p = 0.04), with males having a greater retinal thickness than females (β=−0.22, p < 0.001). Foveal thickness was significantly positively correlated with body height (β=0.13, p = 0.02) but not with AL (β=0.11, p = 0.06) or sex (β=−0.04, p = 0.55). Conclusion The structures of the retina and choroid in 8-year-old Japanese children were associated with several factors, but the associations varied by retinal site and layer.

Thermal compaction as an alternative approach for full-RAP base layer construction

Abstract The use of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) in road base layers represents a solution to reduce the consumption of natural aggregates. However, the variability of RAP properties poses challenges to its application, particularly regarding mechanical behavior. This study investigates thermal compaction as a strategy to stabilize mixtures composed exclusively of RAP, introducing the concept of a warm base. Repeated load triaxial tests were conducted to evaluate the effects of compaction temperature on permanent deformation (PD) and resilient modulus (RM). The results indicate that increasing the compaction temperature significantly improves the mechanical behavior of RAP, reducing PD by up to 52% at the highest stress level. Additionally, the RM of RAP-M samples increased by approximately 187.13% compared to the maximum value of RAP-F samples and 389.05% compared to the minimum value. This approach enables the application of larger quantities of RAP in pavements, ensuring good structural quality while minimizing the effects of the material’s initial variability.

Measuring functioning and disability in Korea: comparing general and dedicated surveys using the ICF as a reference framework

Introduction Functioning is the third health indicator besides mortality and morbidity. Although Korea periodically collects functioning information, the functioning indicator has not been generated yet. This study aimed to evaluate how functioning information is currently collected in Korea’s health and disability surveys, especially in terms of comparability and comprehensiveness, using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a reference framework. Methods Data sources included three health and disability surveys in Korea, namely the Population and Housing Census, the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and the Survey on the Living condition of Persons with Disabilities, and two international ICF-based surveys, the International Spinal Cord Injury Survey and the Model Disability Survey. Functioning information was linked by category to the ICF Generic-30 Set utilizing the ICF linking rules. Results Three ICF categories — d450 walking; d510 washing oneself; d540 dressing ̶ were covered by all the data sources. Excluding the Population and Housing Census, which inherently differs from the other data sources, all the surveys addressed six ICF categories — b152 emotional functions; b280 sensation of pain; d240 handling stress and other psychological demands; d450 walking; d510 washing oneself; d540 dressing. The ICF categories b152 emotional functions and b130 energy and drive functions were the most frequently covered across all the surveys. Despite of the common ICF categories, important differences in the operationalization of questions and response options were found. Conclusions The overlap of content of health and disability surveys in Korea enables interoperability with other data sources. Available functioning data can be used for estimating the functioning indicator and metric, as recommended by WHO, which can serve as a valuable epidemiological indicator for complementing mortality and morbidity indicators and for estimating and monitoring rehabilitation or long-term care needs of the Korean population.

Impact of pharmacology perception and learning strategies on academic achievement in undergraduate pharmacy students

Effectiveness of a clinical decision support system with prediction modeling to identify patients with health-related social needs in the emergency department: Study protocol

Introduction Health-related social needs (HRSNs) encompass various non-medical risks from a patient’s life circumstances. The emergency department (ED) is a crucial yet challenging setting for addressing patient HRSNs, a clinical decision support (CDS) intervention could assist in identifying patients at high risk of having HRSNs. This project aims to implement and evaluate a CDS intervention that offers ED clinicians risk prediction scores to determine which patients will likely screen positive for one or more HRSNs. Materials & methods The FHIR-based CDS intervention, implemented in the ED setting of a health system in Indianapolis, Indiana, will use health information exchange data to generate logit-derived probability scores that estimate an adult patient’s likelihood of screening positive for each of the following HRSNs: housing instability, food insecurity, transportation barriers, financial strain, and history of legal involvement. For each HRSN, ED clinicians will have access to the patient’s likelihood of screening positive categorized as “high,” “medium,” or “low” based on tertiles in the distribution of each likelihood score. Clinician participation in the CDS will be voluntary. The intervention’s effects will be assessed using a difference-in-difference approach with a pre-post design and a propensity-matched comparison group of ED patients from the same metropolitan area. Outcomes of interest include whether a formal HRSN screening was conducted, whether a referral was made to an HRSN service provider (e.g., social worker), and whether a repeat ED revisit (at 3, 7, and 30 days) or primary care follow-up (within 7 days) occurred. Discussion Efficiently and accurately identifying patients with HRSNs could help link them to needed services, improving outcomes and reducing healthcare costs. This protocol will contribute to a growing body of research on the role of CDS interventions in facilitating improved screenings and referrals for HRSNs. Trial registration Clincialtrials.gov NCT06655974

Validation of a software application using electronic health records for automatic detection of community onset sepsis

Abstract Our aim was to design and validate a software application, based on the Sepsis-3 criteria, capable of retrospectively identifying community-onset sepsis among emergency department patients requiring hospital admission.The application was developed using QlikView (Qlik, King of Prussia, PA, USA) software, and accessed data from the electronic health records TakeCare (CompuGroup Medical, Koblenz, Germany), and CliniSoft (CliniSoft, Kuopio, Finland). The application utilized indicators such as blood culture data, antibiotic administration, and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores to detect sepsis cases according to Sepsis-3 criteria. The application was tested retrospectively against a cohort from a large city hospital in Stockholm over a 2-year period, and its performance was compared to physician record reviews in a subset of cases identified by stratified random sampling. The results showed that among 229,195 emergency department visits leading to 60,213 hospital admissions, the application detected 7027 cases of sepsis. Validation using physician record review of a random selection of 426 cases demonstrated a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 95%, 99%, 92%, and 99%, respectively. The lower respiratory tract was the most common site of infection. This software application effectively identified community-onset sepsis patients using electronic health record data with high performance. It has the potential to improve sepsis identification as it operates independently of diagnostic codes and may, therefore, facilitate research in many areas of sepsis. Furthermore, it can be used as a tool within the healthcare system to enhance sepsis surveillance and evaluate quality improvement interventions.

Referral rate for refractive amblyopia using automated vision screening in school children in Beirut, Lebanon

Background Amblyopia is one of the most prevalent causes of decreased vision in children and can be effectively diagnosed at an early stage through vision screening. Untreated vision impairments during childhood have lasting implications on academic achievements. The purpose of this study was to compare referral rates when applying different referral criteria including the AAPOS 2021 exam failure levels and the Arnold “medium” 2022 Instrument Referral Criteria. Methods Automated vision screening was conducted in four selected schools (two private and two public) in Beirut, Lebanon. Children aged 3–6 years old were targeted. The Plusoptix A12 Refractometer was utilized to perform vision screening. Referral rate was computed for the American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) age-based criteria applied to the Plusoptix A12 and compared to the Arthur exam failure criteria and 4 instrument referral criteria (Arnold Medium and Specific, Matta & Silbert, and Alaska Blind Child Discovery). Referral rates were also compared between public and private schools based on the AAPOS criteria. Results A total of 308 children were screened: 114 students from public schools and 194 students from private schools. The gender distribution in the two groups was similar (46% females in public schools and 48% in private schools); 34% of the studied population were under 4 years old, while 66% were ≥4 years. The referral rate using the AAPOS 2021 criteria was 22%. There was a significant difference in referral rates overall and across the different types of refractive error when compared with the other referral criteria. Referral rate using the ABCD criteria was similar (17.9%). Referral rates were higher when applying Arthur criteria (28.2%) and Matta & Silbert criteria (41.9%), while the Arnold Medium and Specific criteria had the lowest referral rates (11.4%, 9.1%). The most common refractive error across all criteria was astigmatism. The overall referral rate using the AAPOS 2021 criteria was 22% and this differed significantly by school type, with a rate of 36% for public schools and 14% for private schools (p < 0.001). Spherical equivalent was also higher in public schools. Among children needing referral, 40.6% were already wearing spectacles at the time of examination and this differed by school type (4.9% of children referred from public schools and 92.8% of children referred from private schools). Conclusion Photoscreener referral rate and the detection of the different types of refractive errors varies significantly according to the referral criteria used. Careful consideration of psychometric characteristics of referral criteria is important and the use of device-specific age-based criteria is recommended. In our cohort, the most common refractive error was astigmatism. The overall rate of referral was 22% according to the AAPOS age-based exam failure referral criteria, which differed from referral rates applying other validated instrument referral criteria in the literature. The referral rate and spherical equivalent were higher in public schools compared to private schools.

A study on the cellular adhesion properties of a hybrid scaffold for vascular tissue engineering through molecular dynamics simulation

A study on substitution characteristics and competitive performance of Chinese super league teams under the five-substitution rule

Under the revised substitution regulations in soccer, this study aims to analyze the performance characteristics of substitution events in Chinese Football Association Super League (CSL) matches and explore the relationship between soccer substitution networks and team performance over the season. Using non-goalkeeper substitution events (n=2125) from the 2023 CSL season as the research sample, the study conducted substitution network modeling and clustering to investigate the relationship between network characteristics and team performance, as well as the performance traits of different types of substitution events. Results showed that professional soccer teams with higher substitution network density demonstrated better performance in goal difference and goals conceded. Out-degree centralization positively influenced goal difference, goals scored, and team ranking, while higher In-degree centralization correlated with fewer goals conceded. Additionally, players with more balanced on-field participation were substituted most frequently. Offensive players with strong attacking abilities were substituted in earlier, while wide players were the most frequently substituted out. Players with a high frequency of high-risk passes were substituted out later. Therefore, a substitution strategy centered around some soccer players contributes to better seasonal performance. Substitutions out of players are more focused on physical condition, with high-performing teams tending to substitute out similar types of players at different times. Substitutions in, on the other hand, emphasize the compatibility of player abilities. Under the “five substitutions” rule, greater attention is given to the running distance and maximum sprint speed of soccer substitute players.