bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
High burden of abnormal cervical smears in South African primary health care: health programmes implications
Authors: Omole Olufemi B , Francis Joel M , Musonda John M , Sodo Pumla P , Reji Elizabeth , Phukuta Nyundu S J , Mabuza Honey L M , Musonda Joyce S , Akii Jimmy , Ndimande John V , Ayo-Yusuf Olalekan A
Published: January 2025

Cervical cancer is the second most common malignancy among South African women and the load of abnormal cervical smears has clinical, programmatic and policy implications. This cross-sectional study of women who presented for cervical cancer screening aimed to determine the prevalence of abnormal cervical smears and associated factors in primary health care (PHC) facilities in Gauteng—the most densely populated province in South Africa. A questionnaire collected data on socio-demography, tobacco use, sexual behaviours, HIV status, past treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STI) and cervical cancer screening in the past 10 years. Cytology reports were extracted from the laboratory reports. Of 749 participants, most were black (89.7%), aged 30–49 years (62.2%), single (57.5%) and attained high school education (76.8%). About 43.9% were HIV positive with almost all (97.2%) on antiretroviral therapy. Cytology results were available for 612 (81.9%) participants. Of these, 25.8% (159) were abnormal: 13.2% low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion; 5.7% atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance and 4.9% high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion. In bivariate and multivariable analysis, abnormal cervical cytology was not associated with any sociodemographic characteristics, HIV status, tobacco use status, sexual behaviours or past treatment for STI. In conclusion, the prevalence of abnormal cervical smears is high across all demographic groups and irrespective of HIV status and highlights the need to increase screening uptake, including advocacy for self-sampling. It also calls for capacity building to allow for the devolution of some downstream clinical care from specialist to district hospitals and large PHC facilities.
Dynamics of bacterial growth, and life-history tradeoffs, explain differences in soil carbon cycling due to land-use
Authors: Wattenburger Cassandra J , Wang Evangeline , Buckley Daniel H
Published: January 2025

Soil contains a considerable fraction of Earth’s organic carbon. Bacterial growth and mortality drive the microbial carbon pump, influencing carbon use efficiency and necromass production, key determinants for organic carbon persistence in soils. However, bacterial growth dynamics in soil are poorly characterized. We used an internal standard approach to normalize 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing data allowing us to quantify growth dynamics for 30 days following plant litter input to soil. We show that clustering taxa into three groups optimized variation of bacterial growth parameters in situ. These three clusters differed significantly with respect to their lag time, growth rate, growth duration, and change in abundance due to growth (ΔNg) and mortality (ΔNd), matching predictions of Grime’s CSR life-history framework. In addition, we show a striking relationship between ΔNg and ΔNd, which reveals that growth in soil is tightly coupled to death. This result suggests a fitness paradox whereby some bacteria can optimize fitness in soil by minimizing mortality rather than maximizing growth. We hypothesized that land-use constrains microbial growth dynamics by favoring different life-history strategies and that these constraints control carbon mineralization. We show that life-history groups vary in prevalence with respect to land-use, and that bacterial growth dynamics correlated with carbon mineralization rate and net growth efficiency. Meadow soil supported more bacterial growth, greater mortality, and higher growth efficiency than agricultural soils, pointing toward more efficient conversion of plant litter into microbial necromass, which should promote long-term C stabilization.
Information-blocking trends following regulatory action
Authors: Everson Jordan , Healy Daniel
Published: January 2025

Objective

To describe the prevalence of and trends in practices that interfere with the exchange of patient health information (potential information blocking) 2 years after implementation of information-blocking regulations.

Materials and Methods

Drawing from the American Hospital Association Information Technology (IT) Supplement and a national survey of health information organizations (HIOs), we described rates and methods of potential information blocking from these organizations’ perspectives in 2023 and compared them to prior years.

Results

Twenty-seven percent of hospitals sometimes or often observed potential information blocking by any actor in 2023, down from 42% in 2021 and 33% in 2022. Thirty percent of HIOs routinely observed potential information blocking by health IT developers, down from 50% in 2015. 13% of HIOs routinely observed potential information blocking by hospitals and health systems, down from 25% in 2015. According to both hospitals and HIOs, the most prevalent method of potential information blocking by developers in 2023 was through price, while the most prevalent by healthcare providers/health systems was by focusing exchange on strategic affiliations. Few hospitals and HIOs that experienced potential information blocking said that they had reported it to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Discussion

Hospitals and HIOs perceived lower rates of potential information blocking in 2023 than in prior years indicating some impact of regulations addressing information blocking. However, both respondent types reported that substantial potential information blocking persisted in 2023 and negatively impacted the exchange of information.

Conclusion

While potential information-blocking practices have decreased, they have not been eliminated, indicating the value of continued and robust enforcement of information-blocking regulations.
Biocatalytic diversification of abietic acid in Streptomyces
Authors: McCadden Caitlin A , Alsup Tyler A , Ghiviriga Ion , Rudolf Jeffrey D
Published: January 2025

Biocatalysis provides access to synthetically challenging molecules and commercially and pharmaceutically relevant natural product analogs while adhering to principles of green chemistry. Cytochromes P450 (P450s) are among the most superlative and versatile oxidative enzymes found in nature and are desired regio- and stereoselective biocatalysts, particularly for structurally complex hydrocarbon skeletons. We used 10 genome-sequenced Streptomyces strains, selected based on their preponderance of P450s, to biotransform the bioactive diterpenoid abietic acid. We isolated and structurally characterized seven oxidized abietic acid derivatives from three different strains, including four products that are new bacterial biotransformants or enzymatic products. Oxidations (hydroxylation, dehydrogenation, and aromatization) were seen on both the B and C rings of abietic acid and five products had multiple modifications. Notable conversions observed in the study were that of abietic acid to 15-hydroxy-7-oxo-8,11,13-abietatrien-18-oic acid, 7, which involves multiple hydroxylation reactions and dehydrogenation. The findings from this study will lead to identifying P450s or other enzymes that may act as general biocatalysts to modify abietanes and other labdane-type diterpenoid skeletons.

One-Sentence Summary

Genome-guided biotransformation of the bioactive diterpenoid abietic acid in Streptomyces yielded seven oxidized derivatives including four that have not been previously seen from bacteria.
Adult Neurogenesis
Authors: Shtrahman Matthew , Parylak Sarah L. , Toda Tomohisa , Gage Fred H.
Published: January 2025

This chapter explores the field of adult neurogenesis. It explains adult-born dentate granule cells (DGCs) are generated throughout most of the mammalian class, likely including humans. Many of the key molecular signals orchestrating the generation of adult-born DGCs guide a developmental program in which new neurons form functional connections with the existing hippocampal circuitry. The chapter discusses the goal of developing noninvasive tools for monitoring neurogenesis and understanding how this process is altered with aging and various disease states. It notes the possibility of understanding the regenerative potential of the neurogenic niche to improve memory and mood while treating psychiatric and neurological disorders.
Stress and the Hippocampus
Authors: McEwen Bruce S. , Chattarji Sumantra
Published: January 2025

This chapter describes how stress affects the hippocampus across biological scales. The discovery of stress hormone receptors in the hippocampus provided a gateway into studying structural and functional plasticity of the developing, adult, and aging hippocampus. The same framework has been utilized for studies of other brain areas that interact with the hippocampus in the context of stress effects on the brain, such as the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. It also outlines findings that have broadened the definition of stress to include epigenetic factors, immune system mediators, and sex and metabolic hormones, that determine how the brain and body interact with each other. It discusses the concepts of allostasis and allostatic load that include adaptations to a changing environment, and to health-promoting and health-damaging behaviors.
Faces of Clinical Depression
Authors: Fogel Barry S. , Jiang Xiaoling
Published: January 2025

Current diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) do not capture the diversity of phenotypes of clinically significant depression. Culture can entail suppression, normalization, or concealment of depressive symptoms. Clinically depressed people who are “subsyndromal” by MDD criteria often fall in a “middle zone” between normal negative emotion and frank mental illness. Alternative criteria for clinical depression are proposed that better accommodate cultural differences as well as variations in personality and pathophysiology. Such criteria validate the illness of people whose subsyndromal depression entails functional impairment, persistent distress, or suicide risk. Appreciation of middle zone depression by clinicians and the public could reduce the stigma of depression and facilitate its timely treatment. Questionnaire-based screening tests like the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and the Beck Depression Inventory function better if cut points are modified according to culture and if their translations from English to other languages consider connotations as well as explicit meanings of items.
Dimensions and Implications of Cultural Identity
Authors: Fogel Barry S. , Jiang Xiaoling
Published: January 2025

Cultural identity is intersectional: It includes not only race and nationality but also socioeconomic class, occupation, religion, gender, age/generation, and life stage. Culture is usefully characterized dimensionally. Hofstede identified dimensions of individualism/collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, gender role differentiation, short-term/long-term orientation, and indulgence/restraint. Trust in individuals and institutions, as well as social capital—structural, relational, instrumental, and cognitive—moderate the emotional effects of stress and adversity. Trust in clinicians enables effective treatment. The expression of depression is mediated by cultural communication styles, with their dimensions of high-context/low-context, direct/indirect, self-enhancing/self-effacing, and elaborate/understated. Word choices and metaphors—which vary by culture—help identify depression, indicate its severity, and reveal suicide risk. Details critical for accurate diagnosis and effective treatment can be “lost in cultural translation.”
Japan: Invisible Double-Edged Swords
Authors: Fogel Barry S. , Jiang Xiaoling
Published: January 2025

Traditional Japanese culture uniquely combines elements of Buddhism, Daoism, and Shintō. It is more collectivistic than Western culture and more individualistic than Chinese culture. Aesthetics and organizational culture are highly developed, with survival value and external appeal but with underlying negative or risky implications. Communication is high-context, understated, and often non-verbal or paralinguistic. Self-construal is highly interdependent. Shūdan ishiki (group consciousness) is universal, and ba no kuuki wo yomu (“reading the air”) is an essential social skill. Melancholy is normalized, and suicide often is rationalized or romanticized. Haji (shame) is a common reaction to error or failure, sometimes unbearable to the point of suicide. Distinctive presentations of depression and self-harm arise from this cultural context, including kodokushi (lonely death), karōshi (death from overwork), and shin-gata utsubyo ("new type depression” or “modern type depression”). Depression can be obscured by normalization of melancholy and bipolarity by culturally sanctioned overwork or pleasure-seeking.
Depression and Suicide in the “World’s Happiest Countries”
Authors: Fogel Barry S. , Jiang Xiaoling
Published: January 2025

The Nordic nations—Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden—and Switzerland are consistently among the world’s 10 “happiest countries.” Their residents enjoy excellent education and healthcare, relatively high upward mobility, a relatively small gender gap, and natural beauty. However, their positive social determinants of health do not prevent depression or suicide. Compared with Western Europe overall, Finland and Sweden have a higher prevalence of major depressive disorder. Suicide rates are relatively high for both genders in Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland; for men in Iceland; and for women in Denmark and Norway. Cultural differences help explain the epidemiology. Finland has historical trauma, a tradition of stoicism, and widespread binge drinking. Sweden has highly prevalent sexual harassment, leading to depression in working women. Denmark’s hedonistic culture underlies lifestyle-related chronic medical conditions. Norway’s athletic, outdoor culture is antidepressant. French, Italian, and German regions of Switzerland differ in their prevalence and expressions of depression.
General concept of somatization
Authors: Grover Sandeep , Naskar Chandrima
Published: January 2025

The phenomenon of expression of psychological or emotional distress in the form of bodily symptoms is termed somatization. The concept has come a long way from the Hippocratic ‘hysteria’ to the diagnostic category of disorders of bodily distress and bodily experience in the International Classification of Diseases, eleventh revision (ICD-11). Various models have been proposed to explain these apparently ‘unexplainable’ physical complaints, which account for a significant burden on healthcare services. This chapter tries to provide an overview of the concept of somatization, from its psychodynamic origins, cognitive models, and neurobiological correlates. An attempt is also made to synthesize these seemingly disparate concepts into an understandable correlated mechanism, underlying the phenomenon of somatization.
Somatization disorders in the United Kingdom
Authors: Chari Damodar , Duddu Venugopal , Aria Fabida
Published: January 2025

This chapter is about somatization disorders in the United Kingdom (UK), including historical aspects, the concept of somatization, and its prevalence, impact, and costs. It describes the clinical features and interactions of patients with doctors. It mentions the changes from ICD 10 to ICD 11 in the criterion. The chapter also discusses assessment and management processes and their challenges, cultural and training aspects, psychological interventions, and treatments. It also raises the impact on quality of life, relationships and financial aspects with regards to expenditure on health. As this chapter is mainly about presentations in the UK, it focuses on studies and case reports mainly done in, or reported from, the UK.
Somatization in North America
Authors: El Halabi Sarah , Fiskin Anna
Published: January 2025

Mind–body dualism is at the core of Western philosophy and has found its way to modern sciences, including psychiatry. Somatization is a term that is used to describe bodily symptoms that may or may not be attributed to a medical condition and, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5), are related to mental distress. This chapter, with the help of a constructed vignette, explores the relationship between mind–body dualism and somatization. Furthermore, the chapter explores the diagnostic premise of somatization in modern medicine, screening and treatment approaches, and psychotherapeutic techniques.
Somatization across cultures: Conclusion
Authors: Nagendrappa Sachin , Chaturvedi Santosh K.
Published: January 2025

This is the summary of all the chapter in this book. The chapter review and explores the history, prevalence, and cultural aspects of somatization disorders across different regions and highlights the impact of cultural beliefs, social norms, and gender roles on somatization expression, diagnosis, and treatment. It discusses the challenges in assessing and managing somatic symptoms and emphasizes the importance of culturally sensitive interventions. The need for further research and the integration of traditional healing practices and complementary medicine into healthcare systems are also discussed. The aims of the chapters discussed in this book are to promote a better understanding and management of somatization disorders worldwide.
Self-management approaches
Authors: Quarshie Emmanuel Nii-Boye , House Allan
Published: January 2025

Self-management can start with basic self-care focusing on eating habits and diet, sleep hygiene and the use of alcohol and recreational drugs. A basic crisis plan can involve a list of coping strategies the individual can try, and of external sources of support. It is worth looking not just at short-term tactics but at longer-term goals and plans—thinking about personal goals and values, key people in longer-term relationships both helpful and harmful, reviewing barriers to change. External resources in all these endeavours can include friends and family, third-sector organizations, and (despite their poor reputation) judicious use of social media. When and how to seek professional help should form part of a self-management plan.
Interpersonal communication: Heron’s Six Category Intervention Analysis
Authors: Morrissey Jean
Published: January 2025

This chapter presents John Heron’s Six Category Intervention communication and outlines how mental health nurses can use the different interventions in their clinical practice. For the developing practitioner, this communication framework provides a flexible and user-friendly tool to learn, acquire, and develop a range of interpersonal skills that can be used in various clinical encounters. However, it is not enough simply to learn the specific interventions; they must be applied in practice, whereby real learning takes place. Examples of each intervention are presented together with some of the factors that might influence their use in practice. The chapter concludes with a summary of the key points discussed.
Understanding therapeutic relationships in mental health nursing
Authors: Rooney Greg , McKenna Lawson Stephen , Coffey Michael
Published: January 2025

This chapter provides a discussion on relationship skills for mental health nurses. These skills are seen as fundamental to the profession and arise in the context of supporting policy, education, and research on and about practice, and in relation to places and types of work that mental health nurses are engaged in. High-quality relationships are valued by people using services and predict positive outcomes for them. Mental health nurses value therapeutic relationships as an important part of their work too. The chapter sets out a framework for establishing and maintaining relationships as a fundamental basis for intervening to help people. This recognizes that skilful and sensitive handling are required to enable people to trust nurses so that together the nurse and service user can find ways to help the person and keep them safe.
Key skills for delivering psychosocial interventions in dementia care
Authors: Hoe Juanita , Thompson Rachel
Published: January 2025

The number of people living with dementia is increasing and caring for people effectively can be difficult. Dementia is a complex and multifaceted disorder and nurses should be able to provide evidence-based, culturally sensitive interventions appropriately tailored to the needs of this population. Evidence supporting the use of psychosocial interventions in dementia care has increased significantly over recent years and focuses on improving cognitive, psychological, and social aspects of well-being. This chapter examines three well-established therapeutic psychosocial interventions: cognitive stimulation therapy, reminiscence therapy, and life story work. These interventions are nationally and globally recommended for use with people living with dementia.
Law and practice
Authors: Griffith Richard
Published: January 2025

This chapter examines how the law seeks to protect individuals and manage and enable treatment for people who suffer from mental health problems. The discussion focuses on the principles and provisions of part 2 of the Mental Health Act 1983 and the nurse’s role when providing care and treatment within that legal framework. The chapter begins by defining a mental disorder and the considers the principles of compulsory confinement then discusses the civil detention provisions of the 1983 Act. Consent to treatment and the safeguards underpinning compulsory treatment are discussed. The role of the Mental Health Act 1983 in supporting rehabilitation and aftercare is considered.
How Do I Manage My New Patient Who Has Been Erratically Managed with Opioids?
Authors: Smith Wally R.
Published: January 2025

This chapter offers advice for managing sickle cell disease patients periodically in pain who, with each episode, have been repeatedly given a cycle of opioid therapy, often by different caregivers, without a thoughtful, comprehensive pain management plan or a thoughtful plan for safe opioid prescribing long-term. They may have developed opioid tolerance and possibly have also developed physical dependence. What name should be given to their pain and opioid utilization patterns—acute pain or chronic pain? Is their pattern of use considered overuse, misuse, or addiction? How then should they be counseled regarding their current habits of opioid, emergency, and hospital utilization? What are some approaches that will best serve these patients, in terms of both pain management efficacy and safe opioid use?
Does My Adult Patient on De Facto Chronic Opioid Therapy Need It?
Authors: Smith Wally R.
Published: January 2025

This chapter makes recommendations for comprehensively managing patients who are effectively on constant, long-term opioids for sickle cell disease pain, without intention. They likely have developed both opioid tolerance and physical dependence. The risks and benefits of long-term opioids have not been explicitly weighed by their many, often episodic, providers. Guidelines all strongly recommend that job one is to phenotype the patient’s pain, as part of an assessment of whether they have chronic pain. What name should be given to their pain and opioid utilization patterns? How should their opioid risks and benefits be weighed? How then should their pain be comprehensively assessed and managed long-term?
How Do I Manage My Adult Patient at Home in a Vaso-occlusive Crisis?
Authors: Smith Wally R.
Published: January 2025

Acute sickle cell disease (SCD) pain, mostly in the form of vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs), may present suddenly with no warning. VOCs can occur atop ongoing acute or chronic pain. Most SCD pain, including acute pain, is treated at home. This chapter offers an approach to the management of acute SCD pain treated at home. It offers tools and approaches to prevent emergency department and hospital use, to shorten the length of a home-managed VOC, and to monitor patients in a VOC at home for resolution or further intervention. Specific medications and combinations of medications are suggested. Behavioral and social elements influencing place of treatment are also listed and discussed.
How Do I Reduce My Patient’s Psychic Trauma and Social Disruption?
Authors: Walls Rachel , Smith Wally R.
Published: January 2025

This chapter focuses on management of the often-encountered behavioral health comorbidities which can trigger frequent, problematic healthcare utilization in patients with sickle cell disease. The chapter urges clinicians to adopt the biopsychosocial model of pain, and understand the bilateral relationships between the psychosocial and biomedical aspects of the pain experience. The chapter reviews findings that, in both children and adults, psychological interventions improve pain, and recommends these findings be applied to patients with SCD. Terms are defined that illustrate various problematic utilization behaviors. Behavioral theories underlying suggested specific management tools are offered. Explanations are given of how to use these management tools to change patient utilization behavior. Precautions are offered about the use and misuse of these tools. Patient autonomy is emphasized.
How Do I Manage My Patient Using Cannabis for Pain?
Authors: Liu Angela , Slawek Deepika , Curtis Susanna
Published: January 2025

This chapter guides clinicians on how to work in partnership with people living with sickle cell disease (SCD) to make decisions about using cannabis for their pain. Humans have used phytocannabinoids (cannabinoids derived from plants) for their activity on the human endocannabinoid system for thousands of years. This use has been recreational or medicinal and has been common in people living with chronic pain, including those with SCD. Pharmaceutical-grade cannabis has been effective for treating chronic pain, nausea, and poor appetite (tetrahydrocannabinol [THC]), anxiety, cravings from substance use disorders, seizures (cannabidiol [CBD]), and neuropathic pain and spasticity (THC/CBD). Cannabis use in people with SCD has been associated with a reduction in hospital admissions or improvements in mood. However, phytocannabinoids have slowed reaction time, caused lung toxicity if inhaled, and carried risks of contamination and legal toxicity from use of unregulated formulations. This chapter emphasizes that cannabis use in SCD patients should be oral, to avoid lung toxicity, and should be medically prescribed, to avoid risks of contamination and legal toxicity in states with medical cannabis laws.
How Do I Manage My Patient with a Painful Leg Ulcer?
Authors: Minniti Caterina , Crouch Andrew , Zinder Roman
Published: January 2025

Leg ulcers are a common complication of sickle cell disease (SCD). Ulcers start in the second decade of life and tend to recur. They are slow to heal. They are very painful even without manipulation, especially at night and when exposed to air. This chapter addresses acute and chronic leg ulcers as causes of pain in individuals with SCD. It offers insights into the etiology of leg ulcer, its significance for the overall health of patients and clinical course, and tips for ulcer management, which necessitates a holistic approach. It provides a special focus on leg ulcer pain management. It offers clinical insights on how to predict the course of leg ulcers and how to counsel patients accordingly.
Cancer Survivors in Later Life
Authors: Deimling Gary T.
Published: January 2025

This book examines a broad range of topics concerning cancer survivorship in later life. Most cancers and half of all malignancies occur in individuals older than 65. As the population ages, it is estimated that this will increase to 70% by 2030. With the recent advances in medical care, people are living longer after cancer treatments, and the number of cancer survivors is projected to reach 19 million in 2024. This book realistically portrays life after cancer among older adults in terms of continuing health and the emotional challenges they face, and the strength, resources, and growth of those who have survived cancer. This book is organized into eight chapters that reflect some of the key themes in psychosocial and medical oncology as well as in geriatric and social gerontology literatures: physical and mental health, stress appraisal, coping and adaptation, survivor, and illness identity, and altered life perspectives. Within each chapter, a conceptual framework identifies its core themes. These are then examined in terms of prominent foundational and recent research published by others other working in cancer survivorship and aging. Our own research at the Cancer Survivors Research Program (CSRP) at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland Ohio is featured as well. In addition to the quantitative findings, each chapter provides a narrative that draws on the lived experiences of older adult survivors who participated in our research in their own words. We hope that these “lived experiences” of survivors illuminate the statistics we report.
The purpose of psychodynamic psychotherapy
Authors: Rinaldi Matthew
Published: January 2025

Psychodynamic psychotherapy helps patients in many ways. In this chapter, the main effects of psychodynamic psychotherapy are explained by the various techniques that will be outlined in the remainder of the book. This will justify why the new therapist is learning these skills which include providing a space for people to tell their story, being trustworthy, listening without judgement, empathy, focusing on emotions, reflecting during absences, the working alliance, linking, working with difference, defences, countertransference, transference interpretations, dream work, working through, and ending. Psychoanalytic, neuroscientific, and observational studies are used to evidence the claims made for psychodynamic psychotherapy as an effective intervention for complex patients. The case is also made that training in psychodynamic psychotherapy is a resilience-promoting exercise for the trainee.
Personal therapy
Authors: Rinaldi Matthew
Published: January 2025

Personal therapy is a very helpful tool to build one’s resilience, understand the inner world, and learn how to embody a helpful way of being with other people. It can also offset the demands of the training and profession. By exploring why one chose to be a therapist, one can also ensure that the pathological drives are minimized. Suggestions are given for how to find a suitable therapist, what to consider, and the reader is encouraged to make a start.
Dual DNA replication modes: varying fork speeds and initiation rates within the spatial replication program in Xenopus
Authors: Ciardo Diletta , Haccard Olivier , de Carli Francesco , Hyrien Olivier , Goldar Arach , Marheineke Kathrin
Published: January 2025

Large vertebrate genomes duplicate by activating tens of thousands of DNA replication origins, irregularly spaced along the genome. The spatial and temporal regulation of the replication process is not yet fully understood. To investigate the DNA replication dynamics, we developed a methodology called RepliCorr, which uses the spatial correlation between replication patterns observed on stretched single-molecule DNA obtained by either DNA combing or high-throughput optical mapping. The analysis revealed two independent spatiotemporal processes that regulate the replication dynamics in the Xenopus model system. These mechanisms are referred to as a fast and a slow replication mode, differing by their opposite replication fork speed and rate of origin firing. We found that Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) depletion abolished the spatial separation of these two replication modes. In contrast, neither replication checkpoint inhibition nor Rap1-interacting factor (Rif1) depletion affected the distribution of these replication patterns. These results suggest that Plk1 plays an essential role in the local coordination of the spatial replication program and the initiation–elongation coupling along the chromosomes in Xenopus, ensuring the timely completion of the S phase.
Real-World Effectiveness of Nicotine Replacement Therapy Sampling in Chinese Women of a Sex-Specific Smoking Cessation Program in Hong Kong, China
Authors: Chen Hong , Luk Tzu Tsun , Guo Ziqiu , Yip Annie On Ni , Cheung Yee Tak Derek , Chan Sophia Siu Chee , Lam Tai Hing , Wang Man Ping
Published: January 2025

Introduction

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) sampling has been shown effective in increasing smoking abstinence by trials, but the real-world effectiveness in women is unknown. We examined the effectiveness of 1-week NRT sampling combined with counseling on smoking abstinence in Chinese women.

Aims and Methods

A prospective study was conducted on 545 Chinese women (mean age: 37.7 years) receiving nurse-delivered smoking cessation counseling from the Women Quit program in Hong Kong from 2006 to 2023. 1-week free NRT sampling was offered to all participants. Participants were categorized based on NRT usage at 1 month: non-users (n = 255), users of < 1 week (n = 112), and 1-week users (n = 178). The primary outcome was self-reported 7-day point prevalence of abstinence (PPA) at 6 months.

Results

Compared with non-users receiving counseling alone, 1-week users had higher 7-day PPA at 3- (aRR 1.66, 95% CI: 1.24 to 2.20) and 6-month (aRR 1.71, 95% CI: 1.29 to 2.25), higher 60-day (aRR 1.55, 95% CI: 1.03 to 2.33) and 150-day continuous abstinence (aRR 2.06, 95% CI: 1.33 to 3.20), and higher smoking reduction rates at 3- (aRR 1.66, 95% CI: 1.27 to 2.17) and 6-month (aRR 1.47, 95% CI: 1.07 to 2.02) follow-ups. Users of < 1 week had similar smoking abstinence and reduction rates compared with non-users (all p > .05). Higher 7-day PPA at 6 months of 1-week users was observed in lower versus higher education and income (both p for interaction < 0.05).

Conclusions

The evidence presented suggests the real-world effectiveness of 1-week NRT sampling combined with counseling for increasing smoking abstinence and reduction rates in women. This implies that encouraging sampling of NRT will improve smoking cessation outcomes, particularly for women of low socioeconomic status.

Implications

We found that using 1-week NRT sampling combined with counseling was associated with higher smoking abstinence and reduction rates compared with counseling alone in women receiving a quitline service. We also found that women with socioeconomic disadvantages and older age benefited more from the use of 1-week NRT sampling. These findings highlight the importance of offering and promoting the use of 1-week NRT sampling as part of smoking cessation programs for women, particularly those with lower socioeconomic status, potentially to narrow cessation disparities.
Viral Burden and Illness Severity During Acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection Predict Persistent Long COVID Symptoms
Authors: Brandstetter Figueroa Elisabeth , Frosch Anne E P , Burrack Kristina S , Dileepan Gayathri , Goldsmith Rachael , Harris Morgan , Ikeogu Nwando , Jibrell Hodan , Thayalan Sangeitha , Dewar Robin L , Shenoy Chetan , Sereti Irini , Baker Jason V
Published: January 2025

Background

Long COVID is a common complication of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, but the prevalence and predictors of the condition remain poorly characterized.

Methods

We prospectively studied adults (≥18 years) with acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presenting to an urban safety net hospital and associated clinics between July 2020 and December 2022. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between baseline demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics with long COVID status, defined as symptoms persisting at least 9 months after acute disease. Among unrecovered participants, we describe the prevalence of individual symptoms.

Results

We enrolled 222 participants, 162 (73%) of whom had known recovery status by 9 months. Median age was 54 years, half (55%) were female, and the majority of participants (78%) had at least 1 comorbidity at the time of COVID-19 diagnosis. Based on acute illness characteristics, the adjusted odds ratio for long COVID was 3.0 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1–8.0) among those with detectable nucleocapsid antigen and 3.6 (95% CI, 1.2–11) for those who required supplemental oxygen. Of the 41% of participants with symptoms persisting at least 9 months, central nervous system and psychological symptoms were most commonly reported, with 57% reporting functional limitations due to their persistent symptoms.

Conclusions

The strong association with initial disease suggests a decreasing prevalence of long COVID as acute illnesses become milder. However, many contemporary patients still experience high viral burden with extended viral replication, even after vaccination. Our findings highlight the importance of properly characterizing long COVID as viral evolution shifts acute disease presentation.
Developing a typology of climate grief expressions in Canada: a scoping review
Authors: Zurba Melanie , Boyd Sara , Lamoureux Bryanne , Brimacombe Morgan , Morton-Ferguson Aden , Mendritzki Erica , Park Andrew , Busolo David , Woodgate Roberta L , Binkley Lisa
Published: January 2025

Increasing temperatures, severe storms, wildfires, and melting sea ice have made climate change a reality for Canadians. Climatic change can cause experiences of grieving and loss, often termed ‘climate grief.’ Our objective was to better understand emotions related to climate change by developing a typology illustrating the ways people in Canada express climate grief. In a scoping review (in English and French) of databases, popular media, social media, and art, we identified nine primary ‘mediums’ through which climate grief is discussed and expressed: (i) peer-reviewed research; (ii) grey literature; (iii) guiding frameworks; (iv) education; (v) social action gathering; (vi) mental health support; (vii) religions and spiritual practice; (viii) artistic expression; and (ix) media. Additionally, within those mediums we identified and categorized 26 forms of expression (secondary), and 40 types of expression (tertiary). Our review collected sources until 2022 and found that people in Canada express climate grief through diverse mediums, spanning Canadian provinces and territories. This typology can strengthen education, learning, and environmental decision-making to find new avenues to support the emotional and physical toll climate change can have on people in Canada.
Blockbuster or bust? Silver screen effect and stock returns
Authors: Hong Sanghyun , Wei Xiaopeng
Published: January 2025

This study introduces a novel mood metric—blockbuster movie releases—and investigates its correlation with stock market dynamics. We document a significant positive correlation between blockbuster movie releases and US stock market returns in the subsequent week. This pattern remains robust across various robustness tests both in-sample and out-of-sample. The changes in weekly box office revenue and increased Internet searches for movie-related terms further affirm this relationship. Moreover, releases of blockbuster movies predict lower expected market volatility and risk aversion. The positive predictive effect on market returns is also evident in international markets.
Evaluating allograft risk models in organ transplantation: Understanding and balancing model discrimination and calibration
Authors: Goldberg David , Ishwaran Hemant , Potluri Vishnu , Harhay Michael , Vail Emily , Abt Peter , Ratcliffe Sarah J. , Reese Peter P.
Published: January 2025

In the field of organ transplantation, the accurate assessment of donor organ quality is necessary for efficient organ allocation and informed consent for recipients. A common approach to organ quality assessment is the development of statistical models that accurately predict posttransplant survival by integrating multiple characteristics of the donor and allograft. Despite the proliferation of predictive models across many domains of medicine, many physicians may have limited familiarity with how these models are built, the assessment of how well models function in their population, and the risks of a poorly performing model. Our goal in this perspective is to offer advice to transplant professionals about how to evaluate a prediction model, focusing on the key aspects of discrimination and calibration. We use liver allograft assessment as a paradigm example, but the lessons pertain to other scenarios too.
The Role of Social Support in Bridging the Digital Divide for Older Veterans
Authors: Jacobs Josephine C. , Greene Liberty , SooHoo Sonya , Slightam Cindie , Gujral Kritee , Zulman Donna M.
Published: January 2025

Background:

For nearly a decade, the US Veterans Health Administration (VA) has distributed tablets to Veterans with access barriers who may benefit from video telehealth visits. Older Veterans’ lower likelihood of tablet use relative to younger Veterans has prompted interest in factors influencing tablet utilization.

Objectives:

We examined whether social support facilitates video telehealth utilization among older Veterans who received VA tablets.

Research Design:

We performed a cross-sectional analysis of electronic health record–linked survey data. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine the relationship between social support and telehealth use, controlling for predisposing, enabling, and health factors.

Subjects:

Veterans aged ≥65 who received a VA-issued tablet and responded to a national survey (September 2021 to January 2022) (n=859).

Measures:

The outcome measure was any VA video telehealth use in the 6 months post-tablet receipt. Social support measures included tangible support, living with others, and marital status.

Results:

Fewer than two-thirds of respondents (62.4%) had a video visit in the 6 months post-tablet receipt. In all, 32.2% of respondents noted that the absence of family or friends to help with video visits hindered their use of video telehealth. In multivariable analyses, greater tangible social support was associated with 54.1% (95% CI: 10.1%–116.2%) higher odds of having a video visit.

Conclusions:

Older adults who receive technological devices to engage in video telehealth benefit from tangible social support from family and friends. Assessing and addressing patients’ social and environmental circumstances may help optimize digital divide interventions and ensure that older adults are not excluded from telehealth-related access gains.
Future directions in transfeminine genital gender-affirming surgery: tissue substitutes and transplant
Authors: Xu Alex J. , Zeki Jessica Abou , Gupta Shubham , Mishra Kirtishri
Published: January 2025

Purpose of review

The present study reviews contemporary literature focused on uterine transplantation and tissue substitutes for the purposes of transfeminine genital gender affirming surgery (GAS). Additional background is provided for both topics to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the modern applications.

Recent findings

Uterine transplant remains an experimental procedure in cisgender patients who wish to avoid surrogacy. A natural extension might be to apply these techniques to GAS. Technical barriers include anatomic differences and alterations to gender-affirming hormone administration protocols. Ethically, resource allocation, elective immunosuppression, societal response to organ donation, legal ramifications of parenthood as well as the potential, under-studied effects that such an elective procedure may have on the patient's offspring must be further investigated.

Tissue substitutes have long been used in urologic reconstruction but more recently applied to gender affirmation surgery which has traditionally relied on autografting to line the neovaginal canal both in the context of primary and revision vaginoplasty. However, the advent of off-the-shelf xenografts have recently been posited to be safe and efficacious alternatives to autografts. Longer term studies are needed to validate whether these proposed methods are indeed noninferior to traditional approaches.

The field of feminizing gender affirmation surgery remains an exciting frontier for surgeons and patients alike. Given the relative nascency of the specialty and its propensity to draw techniques from various surgical disciplines there exists a unique opportunity for rapid innovation to overcome challenging problems posed by these complex procedures as evidenced by discussions around applying uterine transplantation and the use of novel tissue grafting techniques.
The effect of tart cherry juice (TCJ) supplementation on exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) in an athletic population
Authors: Dehghani Elaheh , Beba Mohammad , Danandeh Khashayar , Memari Amirhossein , Ershadmanesh Mohamad Javad , Rasoulian Pegah , Danandeh Arshiya , Djafarian Kurosh
Published: January 2025

Introduction:

This systematic review and meta-analysis quantified the effect of tart cherry juice (TCJ) supplementation on exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD). Evidence supported TCJ’s beneficial effects on muscular function and inflammatory biomarkers interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8.

Method:

PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched up to January 2024. Risk of bias was assessed using RevMan® software. Mean differences and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), inflammatory markers, creatine kinase (CK), and visual analog scale (VAS) score were pooled using fixed- or random-effect models. Heterogeneity was assessed using Chi-square or I
2 statistics.

Results:

Ten trials were included in the analysis. TCJ supplementation significantly improved MVIC [weighted mean difference (WMD) = 9.13%, 95% CI (6.42–11.84), I
2 = 62.3%] and decreased IL-6 [WMD = −0.4 pg/ml, 95% CI (−0.68 to −0.11), I
2 = 62.2%] and IL-8 [WMD = −0.3 pg/ml, 95% CI (−0.6 to −0.0), I
2 = 46.3%]. No significant changes were found in CK, C-reactive protein, IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, or VAS score. Dose–response analysis revealed a significant non-linear association between daily TCJ dose and MVIC effect size.

Conclusion:

TCJ supplementation may improve muscle function and some inflammatory biomarkers in EIMD. Further high-quality studies with larger sample sizes are needed to determine TCJ’s long-term effects.