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The role of lipids in promoting hair growth through HIF-1 signaling pathway

A qualitative exploration of the educational needs of people living with heart failure: BANDAIDD-Explore study

This is an exploratory qualitative study of cardiovascular clinicians, people living with heart failure (HF), and their caregivers. The aim was to understand the unmet educational needs in self-management for adults living with HF. Four focus groups were conducted face-to-face or via videoconference, recorded, and transcribed verbatim for thematic analysis. A total of 23 participants were recruited and included in analyses (clinicians n = 13; adults with HF n = 7; caregivers n = 3). The focus groups were on average 81 (range 73 to 91) minutes in duration. Seven key themes were identified which were: (i) Understanding and reinforcing the signs and symptoms, self-management, medications, and prognosis and severity of HF; (ii) Providing concise and timely education; (iii) Building trust and relationships; (iv) Accessibility of education to support patient needs; (v) Engaging family members and informal caregivers; (vi) Tailoring education to patients diverse needs; and (vii) Navigating the health system and dealing with continuity of care. There were several unmet educational needs for people living with heart failure and their caregivers. Providing patient-centred education is critical to developing understanding and reinforcing the signs and symptoms, prognosis, and severity of heart failure, to underpin self-management and optimise medication adherence. Clinicians, patients, and their caregivers provided several suggestions for improvement, such as the importance of providing concise and timely education and building trust and relationships between clinicians and patients. Priorities for education improvement were also provided, including regional and rural considerations; engaging informal family caregivers; tailoring to culturally and linguistically diverse and indigenous peoples, navigating the health system and ensuring continuity of care.

Improving emotional availability in Australian mother-toddler dyads via the Tuning in to Toddlers parenting program

Correction: The dinosaur tracks of Tyrants Aisle: An Upper Cretaceous ichnofauna from Unit 4 of the Wapiti Formation (upper Campanian), Alberta, Canada

Evaluation of humoral immune response and milk antibody transfer in calves and lactating cows vaccinated with inactivated H5 avian influenza vaccine

Abstract The detection of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) in dairy cattle in the United States has raised concerns about human exposure. This study evaluated the efficacy of various doses of an inactivated H5 AI vaccine in cattle and assessed antibody transfer in milk against a recent bovine isolate of HPAI A(H5N1, clade 2.3.4.4b). Calves were inoculated with different vaccine doses, while lactating cows received the vaccine four weeks later. The humoral immune response was measured using the Hemagglutination Inhibition (HI) test and ELISA. Results showed a dose-dependent immune response, with higher doses producing stronger and more sustained antibody levels. Group 1 maintained a stable HI titer of 6 log 2 , while Groups 2, 3, and 4 peaked at 8, 9, and 9 log 2 , respectively, by the fourth week post-vaccination. Milk antibody transfer was observed, with strong positive responses in milk samples by the second week post-vaccination. The ID Screen ELISA demonstrated higher sensitivity for detecting antibodies in milk compared to serum. The immune response to the AI vaccine differed from responses to other vaccines used in cattle such as Foot and Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV) and Lumpy Skin Disease Virus (LSDV), indicating the need for optimizing vaccine dosage and formulation, including adjuvant and antigen content. Future research should extend the monitoring period, increase sample sizes, and explore different vaccine formulations to develop effective vaccination strategies for cattle. These findings highlight the potential for using inactivated H5 AI vaccines in cattle to enhance immune protection and facilitate antibody transfer through milk.

Seed priming and abiotic stress tolerance in carrot: Unraveling the mechanisms of improved germination

Climate change necessitates the development of improved crops capable of withstanding future weather patterns. Carrots (Daucus carota L.), a crucial vegetable crop of global importance, face unique challenges in seed germination and seedling development due to their complex pollination biology and outcrossing reproduction mode with severe inbreeding depression if selfed. This study investigated the effects of salinity and drought stress on carrot seed germination and seedling development, with focus on the roles of seed priming, cellular processes inhibitors, and biochemical responses. Seed priming agents were hypothesized to enhance stress tolerance by modulating specific cellular and biochemical pathways, such as improving osmotic balance, enhancing antioxidant defense mechanisms, and activating stress-responsive genes. We also hypothesized that specific cellular processes and biochemical pathways influence the germination and early seedling growth of carrot seeds under salinity or drought stress. To test that hypothesis, we evaluated the effects of seed priming with various agents (e.g., water, NaCl, PEG, GA3) on germination rates and seedling vigor. Additionally, we investigated the impact of inhibitors (actinomycin D—inhibitor of transcription, cycloheximide—inhibitor of translation, hydroxyurea—inhibitor of DNA synthesis, cytochalasin—inhibitor of actin polymerization) on seed germination under stress conditions. Biochemical responses, including reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and antioxidant enzyme activities, were analyzed to identify genotype-specific adaptations indicative of stress tolerance. Our results revealed significant variability in germination rates and seedling growth among the studied carrot experimental lines and commercial cultivars under salinity or drought stress Seed priming enhanced germination and seedling vigor by up to 35% under salinity stress and 28% under drought stress, with notable differences observed across the priming agents. The application of inhibitors highlighted the involvement of specific cellular processes in regulation of seed germination under stress. For instance, actinomycin D reduced germination by 40% under salinity stress. Biochemical analyses indicated genotype-specific responses, with variations in ROS levels and antioxidant enzyme activities such as superoxide dismutase and peroxidase. ROS levels increased by 50% under drought stress, whereas antioxidant enzyme activities varied substantially among genotypes. These findings underscored the importance of genotype-specific adaptations in conferring salinity or drought tolerance in carrot seedlings. Future research integrating omics approaches (e.g., transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) will provide deeper insights into the molecular mechanisms that regulate stress tolerance, to aid in the development of more resilient carrot varieties suitable for cultivation under adverse environmental conditions.

Copper deposit development potential on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau in China based on the pressure-state-response framework

Correction: Acquisition and maintenance of disgust reactions in an OCD analogue sample: Efficiency of extinction strategies through a counter-conditioning procedure

Effects of spinal deformities on lower limb kinematics during walking: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Spinal deformities characterized by malalignment of the spinal column, including scoliosis, hyper kyphosis, and lordosis, can significantly impact lower limb kinematics, potentially leading to altered gait patterns. We aimed to synthesize existing literature investigating the effect of spinal deformities on lower limb kinematics during walking. We searched Four databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Embase from their inception through 29th December 2024. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was applied to assess quality of included studies and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE system) was employed to assess the overall quality of the evidence in the meta-analysis. Mean differences and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated with random effects model in RevMan version 5.4. The review included 35 studies with 1941 participants. Regarding scoliosis, strong evidence suggested a significant increase in right leg stance% and non-significant changes in left leg cadence, right and left leg speed and ankle transverse ROM in individuals with scoliosis compared to controls. Sensitivity analysis showed strong evidence of decrease in right leg stride length and ankle sagittal ROM, decrease in left leg single support and non-significant change in left leg step length. Individuals with sagittal malalignment showed strong evidence of significant reduction in velocity; moderate evidence suggested a significant increase in double support and a decrease in stride length, knee and hip sagittal ROM. Sensitivity analysis revealed strong evidence of a significant decrease in cadence during walking in individuals with sagittal trunk malalignment compared to controls. Participants with adult spinal deformity exhibited strong evidence of increased double support and decreased cadence during walking compared to controls. Spinal deformities significantly alter lower limb kinematics during gait. Our findings highlight the essential need for clinicians to take gait alterations into account when developing targeted interventions for individuals with spinal deformity.

Highly sensitive molecular assay based on Identical Multi-Repeat Sequence (IMRS) algorithm for the detection of Trichomonas vaginalis infection

Introduction Annually, approximately 174 million people globally are affected by Trichomonas vaginalis (T. vaginalis) infection. Half of these infections occur in resource-limited regions. Untreated T. vaginalis infections are associated with complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease and adverse pregnancy outcomes mostly seen in women. In resource-limited regions, the World Health Organization (WHO) advocates for syndromic case management. However, this can lead to unnecessary treatment. Accurate diagnosis of T. vaginalis is required for effective and prompt treatment. Molecular tests such as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) have the advantage of having a short turn-around time and allow the use of non-invasive specimens such as urine and vaginal swabs. However, these diagnostic techniques have numerous disadvantages such as high infrastructure costs, false negative and positive results, and interstrain variation among others. This study aimed to evaluate the use of identical multi-repeat sequences (IMRS) as amplification primers for developing ultrasensitive diagnostic for T. vaginalis. Methods We used genome-mining approaches based on identical multi-repeat sequences (IMRS) algorithm to identify sequences distributed on the T. vaginalis genome to design a primer pair that targets a total of 69 repeat sequences. Genomic T. vaginalis DNA was diluted from 5.8×102 to 5.8×10−4 genome copies/μl and used as a template in the IMRS-based amplification assay. For performance comparison, 18S rRNA PCR assay was employed. Results The T. vaginalis -IMRS primers offered a higher test sensitivity of 0.03 fg/μL compared to the 18S rRNA PCR (0.714 pg/μL). The limit of detection for the Isothermal assay was 0.58 genome copies/mL. Using real-time PCR, the analytical sensitivity of the T. vaginalis -IMRS primers was <0.01 pg/μL, equivalent to less than one genome copy/μL. Conclusion De novo genome mining of T. vaginalis IMRS as amplification primers serves as a platform for developing ultrasensitive diagnostics for Trichomoniasis and a wide range of infectious pathogens.

Efficacy of single dose praziquantel against Schistosoma mansoni in East Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Fitting and comparison of calcium-calmodulin kinetic schemes to a common data set using non-linear mixed effects modelling

Calmodulin is a calcium binding protein that is essential in calcium signalling in the brain. There are many computational models of calcium-calmodulin binding that capture various calmodulin features. However, existing models have generally been fit to different data sets, with some publications not reporting their training and validation performance. Moreover, there is no model comparison using a common benchmark data set as is common practice in other modeling domains. Finally, some calmodulin models have been fit as a part of a larger kinetic scheme, which may have resulted in parameters being underdetermined. We address these three limitations of previous models by fitting the published calcium-calmodulin schemes to a common calcium-calmodulin data set comprising equilibrium data from Shifman et al. and dynamical data from Faas et al. Due to technical limitations, the amount of uncaged calcium in Faas et al. data could not be predicted with certainty. To find good parameter fits, despite this uncertainty, we used non-linear mixed effects modelling as implemented in the Pumas.jl package. The Akaike information criterion values for our reaction rate constants were significantly lower than for the published parameters, indicating that the published parameters are suboptimal. Moreover, there were significant differences in calmodulin activation, both between the schemes and between our reaction rate and those previously published. A kinetic scheme with independent lobes and unique, rather than identical, binding sites fit the data best. Our results support two hypotheses: (1) partially bound calmodulin is important in cellular signalling; and (2) calcium binding sites within a calmodulin lobe are kinetically distinct rather than identical. We conclude that more attention should be given to validation and comparison of models of individual molecules.

MYH9 promotes malignant progression of glioma cells through regulating β-catenin stability via epithelial-mesenchymal transition signaling pathway

Cumulus cell expansion, nuclear maturation and embryonic development of bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes matured in varying concentrations of follicular fluid

In this study, we tested the overall hypothesis that CC expansion and early embryo development would be improved by including follicular fluid (FF) from small or large follicles in the oocyte maturation medium. In the first experiment, FF aspirated from bovine abattoir ovaries was added to the maturation medium at 0, 25, 50, 75 or 100%. Images of individual COCs were captured at 0, 6, 12 and 19 hours (h) of the maturation period and analyzed to calculate change in the total area over time. Cumulus cell expansion was greatest in COCs matured in 75% and 50% FF, and these differences were detectable at 12 (75% FF only) and 19 h (50% and 75% FF) of maturation. The improvement in CC expansion was greatest when FF from small follicles was used. Treatments for the subsequent experiments were selected based upon the results of the first experiment. Oocyte nuclear maturation rates were observed after supplementing the maturation medium with 0 or 75% FF and maturing for 19 h. The rate of nuclear maturation as determined by the presence or absence of the first polar body was similar between control (0% FF) and treated (75% FF) groups. In the final experiment, COCs were matured in 0%, 50% or 75% FF in preparation for IVF. Duration of the maturation period (12, 19 or 22 h) and size of the follicles from which FF was collected (small or large) also varied. In general, FF supplementation at 50% did not affect the zygotes’ developmental potential (neither increased nor decreased). Supplementation of maturation medium with 75% FF from small follicles consistently reduced measures of embryo development while 75% FF from large follicles yielded mixed results. It is concluded that FF supplementation improves CC expansion, but the greater CC expansion does not benefit subsequent embryo development. Notably, however, the 50% FF treatment did not reduce blastocyst rates, indicating that FF can be included in maturation media at concentrations of 50% or less with no detriment to IVF outcomes.

A comparative analysis of global and Chinese trends in the burden of kidney cancer from 1990 to 2021

Interval combined prediction of mine tunnel’s air volume considering multiple influencing factors

Continuous monitoring and accurate measurement of required air volume in mine tunnels are crucial phenomena for mine safety However, air volume fluctuates and can become unstable which can lead to biased measurement in underground environment. In this paper, to accurately measure the mine tunnel air volume, the tunnel air volume, and related ventilation parameters are consistently monitored, and the real monitoring data is converted to interval numbers for representation. These interval numbers are then preprocessed using an Interval-type Complete Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition with Adaptive Noise(In-CEEMDAN) to extract the essential features of the data. Then, the monitored data is processed using the phase space reconstruction technique to identify the most relevant influencing factors related to the air volume. The tunnel air volume and influencing factors are then input into different neural networks for air volume prediction. To further improve prediction accuracy, the predicted values of wind volume intervals from the single prediction method are transformed into triangular fuzzy numbers, and the generalized induced ordered weighted average operator is introduced for the combination of prediction results. The grey correlation method is selected as the optimization criterion, and the preference coefficients are used to transform the multi-objective optimization problem into a single-objective optimization problem. In order to reduce the prediction error, the L2 paradigm is combined with the gray correlation to construct a complete interval combination type air volume prediction model which considers multiple influencing factors. Finally, a sensitivity analysis was carried out to analyze the values of the preference coefficients in the model, and the final range of values was given. Experimental analysis using data from a coal mine in Inner Mongolia showed that the method could reduce Combined Weighted Mean Absolute Error(CWMAE) to a maximum of 5.0384, Combined Weighted Root of Mean Squares Error(CWRMSE) to 6.8889, and Combined Weighted Mean Absolute Percentage Error(CWMAPE) to 1.4756, which indicates that the method proposed in this study can effectively improve the prediction accuracy of the mine tunnel air volume.

Nonlinear finite element analysis of equivalent Iwan model considering threaded connections

Mechanical properties and microstructure of pre-treated luffa fiber reinforced cement mortar

In this work, leveraging the enhanced wear resistance, toughness, and renewability of luffa fiber, pretreated luffa fiber was applied into cement mortar to investigate the impact of different fiber contents and sizes on mortar performance. Meanwhile, the fiber-mortar interface fusion and hydration products were systemically analysed by performing SEM-EDS (scanning electron microscopy-energy spectrum analysis) and CT (Computed Tomography) tomography measurements. From our analysis, it was demonstrated that pretreated luffa fibers could significantly enhance the strength, shrinkage resistance, and toughness of cement mortar. When the fiber content was 1% and the length was 1 cm, the 28-day compressive and flexural strengths of the cement mortar reached 57.63 MPa and 9.68 MPa, respectively, representing an increase of 10.81% and 9.47% compared to ordinary cement mortar. When the fiber content was 1%, with fiber lengths of 1 cm and 2 cm, the 56-day drying shrinkage rates of the cement mortar were 2.78% and 6.09%, respectively. This result corresponds to a reduction in shrinkage by factors of 7.17 and 3.27, respectively, compared to standard cement mortar. Additionally, with a fiber content of 1% and lengths ranging from 1 to 3 cm, the load-deflection behaviour of luffa fiber cement mortar was noticeably superior to that of conventional mortar. The SEM-EDS images revealed that cement mortar containing 1 cm fibers had a substantial presence of tinfoil-like C-S-H (hydrated calcium silicate) and needle-like AFt (ettringite) structures. In addition, better integration with the cement mortar compared to other fiber lengths was demonstrated. CT tomography showed that luffa fibers were concentrated in large amounts at the top and bottom of the test samples, with an increase in voids and fiber agglomeration as the fiber content increased. In summary, when the luffa fiber content was 1% and the fiber length was 1 cm, the mechanical performance of cement mortar could be effectively enhanced and fiber agglomeration can be mitigated, suggesting potential applications in building materials.

Home-based transcranial direct current stimulation paired with cognitive training to reduce fatigue in multiple sclerosis

Efficacy and safety of antifibrotic drugs for interstitial lung diseases other than IPF: A systematic review, meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis

Background The therapeutic role of antifibrotic therapy has been well-established in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). However, its efficacy and safety for interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) other than IPF are not fully understood. Methods We updated a systematic review with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis (TSA) of randomized controlled trials and prospective studies on antifibrotic drug (nintedanib or pirfenidone) vs other intervention (placebo, no intervention or conventional treatment) in non-IPF ILDs. The primary outcomes were absolute change in forced vital capacity (FVC), all-cause mortality and serious adverse events (SAEs). The risk of bias was rated with the RoB2 tool and certainty of evidence was assessed by the GRADE approach. Results 17 studies with 1908 patients were included. For the primary outcomes, pooled analyses of four trials with low risk of bias showed that antifibrotic drugs significantly ameliorated FVC decline (mean difference 86.21; 95% CI 49.38 to 123.03; I2 = 64%; TSA-adjusted CI 40.86 to 131.56). Based on five trials with low risk of bias, no difference was observed in all-cause mortality (RR 0.87; 95% CI 0.53 to 1.43; I2 = 0%; TSA-adjusted CI 0.12 to 6.53) and SAEs (RR 0.97; 95% CI 0.83 to 1.13; I2 = 0%; TSA-adjusted CI 0.74 to 1.28) between groups. However, based on two studies with 324 patients, benefit of antifibrotic drugs in FVC was not shown in the subgroup taking mycophenolate (mean difference 17.08; 95% CI -56.22 to 90.37), which also had higher risk of SAEs (RR 1.71; 95% CI 1.09 to 2.70), although both were contested by TSA. Conclusion Our study suggests that antifibrotic drugs are beneficial for patients with non-IPF ILDs in slowing disease progression, whereas may not correlate to all-cause mortality and SAEs. However, for patients taking mycophenolate, antifibrotic drugs may do more harm than good. More investigations are warranted to validate current findings.