bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Exclusive Breast Feeding and it's Determinants among the Rural Mother in a Selected Area of Bangladesh
Authors: Ali KM
Published: September 2024

Background: Breastfeeding is considered as the pivotal factor between life and death for the vast majority of children indeveloping countries, but pattern of breast feeding and exclusive breast feeding is more important, which is ignored often bymost mothers.

Objective: This study was conducted with a view to find out the importance and prevalence of exclusive breast feeding and itsdeterminants / associated factors among the rural mother in a selected area of Bangladesh.

Methodology: This was a descriptive type of cross-sectional study carried out in different villages of Manikganj during theperiod of October, 2020 to March, 2021 by the Department of Community Medicine, Monno Medical College, Manikganj.

Results: The study revealed that out of 248 respondents majority 120(48%) belonged to the age group (15-20) years, most ofthe respondents 82(66.0%) completed below SSC level and monthly family income of most of the respondents 48(38%) wastaka (5000-10000). Majority of the mothers 204(82.3%) says that breast milk is cost-effective and creates a bondage208(83.9%) between mother and child. The prevalence of knowledge and practices on EBF were 203 (81.9%) and 80 (32.3%)respectively. More than half 140 (56.5%) of the respondents initiated breast milk within one hour of delivery and two- thirds160 (64.5%) of the respondents gave colostrums to their baby. Only one-third of the respondents 83 (33.4%) blamed inadequatemilk production but majority 165 (66.5%) was working mother as reason for non-exclusive breast feeding and majority 187(75.45) get family support in exclusive breast feeding.

Conclusion: Rural people still have a lack of proper knowledge about exclusive breast feeding practice and its importance.
Foreign trade and trade competitiveness in agri-food products between the Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and North Macedonia
Authors: Mrdalj Vesna , Gjosheva Kovachevikj Marija , Popovska Stojanov Despina , Dimitrov Lazo
Published: September 2024

Foreign trade in agri-food products holds significant importance for both North Macedonia and the entity of the Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina), given the substantial role this sector plays in their overall trade exchange. As formal trade partners under the Central European Free Trade Agreement, understanding their trade dynamics is important. This paper aims to analyze the foreign trade exchange of agri-food products between the Republic of Srpska and North Macedonia in the 2013-2022 period. It first outlines export and import trends of the Republic of Srpska and North Macedonia in agri-food products, and then delves into the analysis of their export competitiveness. Descriptive analysis measures were employed to analyze the trade exchange involving agri-food products. The research determined the export competitiveness levels based on the trade competitiveness index for total foreign trade exchange, as well as for the agri-food sectors and its main product groups in both the Republic of Srpska and North Macedonia. The research results have shown almost an equal average share of 10.91% in exports and 10.93% in imports of agri-food sector of North Macedonia, while the Republic of Srpska recorded an average share of 17.41% in agri-food imports, and 8.13% in exports. Regarding export competitiveness, the agri-food sector of North Macedonia had characteristics of "poor export competitiveness", while the Republic of Srpska recorded "very poor export competitiveness" in the analyzed period. The calculated values of the trade competitiveness index for the main product groups of the agri-food sector of the Republic of Srpska have shown different levels of export competitiveness, from "no export competitiveness" to "strongest export competitiveness" compared with North Macedonia. However, North Macedonia and the Republic of Srpska exhibit room for improvement in enhancing export competitiveness to capitalize on market opportunities.
Mixed representations of choice direction and outcome by GABA/glutamate cotransmitting neurons in the entopeduncular nucleus
Authors: Locantore Julianna , Liu Yijun , White Jesse , Wallace Janet Berrios , Beron Celia , Kraft Emily , Sabatini Bernardo , Wallace Michael
Published: September 2024

The basal ganglia (BG) are an evolutionarily conserved and phylogenetically old set of sub-cortical nuclei that guide action selection, evaluation, and reinforcement. The entopeduncular nucleus (EP) is a major BG output nucleus that contains a population of GABA/glutamate cotransmitting neurons (EPSst+) that specifically target the lateral habenula (LHb) and whose function in behavior remains mysterious. Here, we use a probabilistic switching task that requires an animal to maintain flexible relationships between action selection and evaluation to examine when and how GABA/glutamate cotransmitting neurons contribute to behavior. We find that EPSst+ neurons are strongly engaged during this task and show bidirectional changes in activity during the choice and outcome periods of a trial. We then tested the effects of either permanently blocking cotransmission or modifying the GABA/glutamate ratio on behavior in well-trained animals. Neither manipulation produced detectable changes in behavior despite significant changes in synaptic transmission in the LHb, demonstrating that the outputs of these neurons are not required for ongoing action-outcome updating in a probabilistic switching task.
Mixed representations of choice and outcome by GABA/glutamate cotransmitting neurons in the entopeduncular nucleus
Authors: Locantore Julianna , Liu Yijun , White Jesse , Wallace Janet Berrios , Beron Celia C , Sabatini Bernardo L , Wallace Michael L
Published: September 2024

The basal ganglia (BG) are an evolutionarily conserved and phylogenetically old set of sub-cortical nuclei that guide action selection, evaluation, and reinforcement. The entopeduncular nucleus (EP) is a major BG output nucleus that contains a population of GABA/glutamate cotransmitting neurons (EP

Sst+

) that specifically target the lateral habenula (LHb) and whose function in behavior remains mysterious. Here we use a probabilistic switching task that requires an animal to maintain flexible relationships between action selection and evaluation to examine when and how GABA/glutamate cotransmitting neurons contribute to behavior. We find that EP

Sst+

neurons are strongly engaged during this task and show bidirectional changes in activity during the choice and outcome periods of a trial. We then tested the effects of either permanently blocking cotransmission or modifying the GABA/glutamate ratio on behavior in well-trained animals. Neither manipulation produced detectable changes in behavior despite significant changes in synaptic transmission in the LHb, demonstrating that the outputs of these neurons are not required for on-going action-outcome updating in a probabilistic switching task.
Multi-dimensional oscillatory activity of mouse GnRH neurons in vivo
Authors: Han Su Young , Yeo Shel-Hwa , Kim Jae-Chang , Zhou Ziyue , Herbison Allan E
Published: September 2024

The gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons represent the key output cells of the neural network controlling mammalian fertility. We used GCaMP fiber photometry to record the population activity of the GnRH neuron distal projections in the ventral arcuate nucleus where they merge before entering the median eminence to release GnRH into the portal vasculature. Recordings in freely behaving intact male and female mice revealed abrupt ~8 min duration increases in activity that correlated perfectly with the appearance of a subsequent pulse of luteinizing hormone (LH). The GnRH neuron dendrons also exhibited a low level of unchanging clustered, rapidly fluctuating baseline activity in males and throughout the estrous cycle in females. In female mice, a gradual increase in basal activity that exhibited ~80 min oscillations began in the afternoon of proestrus and lasted for 12 hr. This was associated with the onset of the LH surge that ended several hours before the fall in the GCaMP signal. Abrupt 8 min duration episodes of GCaMP activity continued to occur on top of the rising surge baseline before ceasing in estrus. These observations provide the first description of GnRH neuron activity in freely behaving animals. They demonstrate that three distinct patterns of oscillatory activity occur in GnRH neurons. These are comprised of low-level rapid baseline activity, abrupt 8 min duration oscillations that drive pulsatile gonadotropin secretion, and, in females, a gradual and very prolonged oscillating increase in activity responsible for the preovulatory LH surge.
Flexible neural representations of abstract structural knowledge in the human Entorhinal Cortex
Authors: Mark Shirley , Schwartenbeck Phillipp , Hahamy Avital , Samborska Veronika , Baram Alon B , Behrens Timothy E
Published: September 2024

Humans’ ability for generalisation is outstanding. It is flexible enough to identify cases where knowledge from prior tasks is relevant, even when many features of the current task are different, such as the sensory stimuli or the size of the task state space. We have previously shown that in abstract tasks, humans can generalise knowledge in cases where the only cross-task shared feature is the statistical rules that govern the task’s state-state relationships. Here, we hypothesized that this capacity is associated with generalisable representations in the entorhinal cortex (EC). This hypothesis was based on the EC’s generalisable representations in spatial tasks and recent discoveries about its role in the representation of abstract tasks. We first develop an analysis method capable of testing for such representations in fMRI data, explain why other common methods would have failed for our task, and validate our method through a combination of electrophysiological data analysis, simulations and fMRI sanity checks. We then show with fMRI that EC representations generalise across complex non-spatial tasks that share a hexagonal grid structural form but differ in their size and sensory stimuli, i.e. their only shared feature is the rules governing their statistical structure. There was no clear evidence for such generalisation in EC for non-spatial tasks with clustered, as opposed to planar, structure.
A bacterial regulatory uORF senses multiple classes of ribosome-targeting antibiotics
Authors: Baniulyte Gabriele , Wade Joseph T
Published: September 2024

Expression of many bacterial genes is regulated by
cis
- and
trans
-acting elements in their 5’ upstream regions (URs).
Cis
-acting regulatory elements in URs include upstream ORFs (uORF), short ORFs that sense translation stress that manifests as ribosomes stalling at specific codons within the uORF. Here, we show that the transcript encoding the
Escherichia coli
TopAI-YjhQ toxin-antitoxin system is regulated by a uORF that we name “
toiL
”. We propose that in the absence of translation stress, a secondary structure in the UR represses translation of the
topAI
transcript by occluding the ribosome-binding site. Translation repression of
topAI
leads to premature Rho-dependent transcription termination within the
topAI
ORF. At least five different classes of ribosome-targeting antibiotics relieve repression of
topAI
. Our data suggest that these antibiotics function by stalling ribosomes at different positions within
toiL
, thereby altering the RNA secondary structure around the
topAI
ribosome-binding site. Thus,
toiL
is a multipurpose uORF that can respond to a wide variety of translation stresses.
Analysis of fast calcium dynamics of honey bee olfactory coding
Authors: Paoli Marco , Wystrach Antoine , Ronsin Brice , Giurfa Martin
Published: September 2024

Odour processing exhibits multiple parallels between vertebrate and invertebrate olfactory systems. Insects, in particular, have emerged as relevant models for olfactory studies because of the tractability of their olfactory circuits. Here, we used fast calcium imaging to track the activity of projection neurons in the honey bee antennal lobe (AL) during olfactory stimulation at high temporal resolution. We observed a heterogeneity of response profiles and an abundance of inhibitory activities, resulting in various response latencies and stimulus-specific post-odour neural signatures. Recorded calcium signals were fed to a mushroom body (MB) model constructed implementing the fundamental features of connectivity between olfactory projection neurons, Kenyon cells (KC), and MB output neurons (MBON). The model accounts for the increase of odorant discrimination in the MB compared to the AL and reveals the recruitment of two distinct KC populations that represent odorants and their aftersmell as two separate but temporally coherent neural objects. Finally, we showed that the learning-induced modulation of KC-to-MBON synapses can explain both the variations in associative learning scores across different conditioning protocols used in bees and the bees' response latency. Thus, it provides a simple explanation of how the time contingency between the stimulus and the reward can be encoded without the need for time tracking. This study broadens our understanding of olfactory coding and learning in honey bees. It demonstrates that a model based on simple MB connectivity rules and fed with real physiological data can explain fundamental aspects of odour processing and associative learning.
Rabphilin-3A negatively regulates neuropeptide release, through its SNAP25 interaction
Authors: Abramian Adlin , Hoogstraaten Rein I , Murphy Fiona H , McDaniel Kathryn F , Toonen Ruud F , Verhage Matthijs
Published: September 2024

Neuropeptides and neurotrophins are stored in and released from dense-core vesicles (DCVs). While DCVs and synaptic vesicles (SVs) share fundamental SNARE/SM proteins for exocytosis, a detailed understanding of DCV exocytosis remains elusive. We recently identified the RAB3-RIM1 pathway to be essential for DCV-, but not SV exocytosis, highlighting a significant distinction between the SV- and DCV secretory pathways. Whether RIM1 is the only RAB3 effector that is essential for DCV exocytosis is currently unknown. In this study, we show that rabphilin-3A (RPH3A), a known downstream effector of RAB3A, is a negative regulator of DCV exocytosis. Using live-cell imaging at single vesicle resolution with RPH3A-deficient hippocampal neurons, we show that DCV exocytosis increased 3-fold in the absence of RPH3A. RAB3A-binding deficient RPH3A lost its punctate distribution, but still restored DCV exocytosis to WT levels when re-expressed. SNAP25-binding deficient RPH3A did not rescue DCV exocytosis. In addition, we show that RPH3A did not travel with DCVs, but remained stationary at pre-synapses. RPH3A null neurons also had longer neurites, which was partly restored when ablating all regulated secretion with tetanus neurotoxin. Taken together, these results show that RPH3A negatively regulates DCV exocytosis, potentially also affecting neuron size. Furthermore, RAB3A interaction is required for the synaptic enrichment of RPH3A, but not for limiting DCV exocytosis. Instead, the interaction of RPH3A with SNAP25 is relevant for inhibiting DCV exocytosis.
Circular RNA HMGCS1 sponges MIR4521 to aggravate type 2 diabetes-induced vascular endothelial dysfunction
Authors: Zhang Ming , Du Guangyi , Xie Lianghua , Xu Yang , Chen Wei
Published: September 2024

Noncoding RNA plays a pivotal role as novel regulators of endothelial cell function. Type 2 diabetes, acknowledged as a primary contributor to cardiovascular diseases, plays a vital role in vascular endothelial cell dysfunction due to induced abnormalities of glucolipid metabolism and oxidative stress. In this study, aberrant expression levels of circHMGCS1 and MIR4521 were observed in diabetes-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cell dysfunction. Persistent inhibition of MIR4521 accelerated development and exacerbated vascular endothelial dysfunction in diabetic mice. Mechanistically, circHMGCS1 upregulated arginase 1 by sponging MIR4521, leading to decrease in vascular nitric oxide secretion and inhibition of endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity, and an increase in the expression of adhesion molecules and generation of cellular reactive oxygen species, reduced vasodilation and accelerated the impairment of vascular endothelial function. Collectively, these findings illuminate the physiological role and interacting mechanisms of circHMGCS1 and MIR4521 in diabetes-induced cardiovascular diseases, suggesting that modulating the expression of circHMGCS1 and MIR4521 could serve as a potential strategy to prevent diabetes-associated cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, our findings provide a novel technical avenue for unraveling ncRNAs regulatory roles of ncRNAs in diabetes and its associated complications.
Benchmarking reveals superiority of deep learning variant callers on bacterial nanopore sequence data
Authors: Hall Michael B , Wick Ryan R , Judd Louise M , Nguyen An NT , Steinig Eike J , Xie Ouli , Davies Mark R , Seemann Torsten , Stinear Timothy P , Coin Lachlan JM
Published: September 2024

Variant calling is fundamental in bacterial genomics, underpinning the identification of disease transmission clusters, the construction of phylogenetic trees, and antimicrobial resistance prediction. This study presents a comprehensive benchmarking of SNP and indel variant calling accuracy across 14 diverse bacterial species using Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) and Illumina sequencing. We generate gold standard reference genomes and project variations from closely-related strains onto them, creating biologically realistic distributions of SNPs and indels.Our results demonstrate that ONT variant calls from deep learning-based tools delivered higher SNP and indel accuracy than traditional methods and Illumina, with Clair3 providing the most accurate results overall. We investigate the causes of missed and false calls, highlighting the limitations inherent in short reads and discover that ONT’s traditional limitations with homopolymer-induced indel errors are absent with high-accuracy basecalling models and deep learning-based variant calls. Furthermore, our findings on the impact of read depth on variant calling offer valuable insights for sequencing projects with limited resources, showing that 10x depth is sufficient to achieve variant calls that match or exceed Illumina.In conclusion, our research highlights the superior accuracy of deep learning tools in SNP and indel detection with ONT sequencing, challenging the primacy of short-read sequencing. The reduction of systematic errors and the ability to attain high accuracy at lower read depths enhance the viability of ONT for widespread use in clinical and public health bacterial genomics.
Connectome-Based Attractor Dynamics Underlie Brain Activity in Rest, Task, and Disease
Authors: Englert Robert , Kincses Balint , Kotikalapudi Raviteja , Gallitto Giuseppe , Li Jialin , Hoffschlag Kevin , Woo Choong-Wan , Wager Tor D , Timmann Dagmar , Bingel Ulrike , Spisak Tamas
Published: September 2024

Understanding large-scale brain dynamics is a grand challenge in neuroscience. We propose functional connectome-based Hopfield Neural Networks (fcHNNs) as a model of macro-scale brain dynamics, arising from recurrent activity flow among brain regions. An fcHNN is neither optimized to mimic certain brain characteristics, nor trained to solve specific tasks; its weights are simply initialized with empirical functional connectivity values. In the fcHNN framework, brain dynamics are understood in relation to so-called attractor states, i.e. neurobiologically meaningful low-energy activity configurations. Analyses of 7 distinct datasets demonstrate that fcHNNs can accurately reconstruct and predict brain dynamics under a wide range of conditions, including resting and task states and brain disorders. By establishing a mechanistic link between connectivity and activity, fcHNNs offer a simple and interpretable computational alternative to conventional descriptive analyses of brain function. Being a generative framework, fcHNNs can yield mechanistic insights and hold potential to uncover novel treatment targets.
Encoding of cerebellar dentate neuronal activity during visual attention in rhesus macaques
Authors: Flierman Nico A , Koay Sue Ann , van Hoogstraten Willem S , Ruigrok Tom JH , Roelfsema Pieter R , Badura Aleksandra , De Zeeuw Chris I
Published: September 2024

The role of cerebellum in controlling eye movements is well established, but its contribution to more complex forms of visual behavior has remained elusive. To study cerebellar activity during visual attention we recorded extracellular activity of dentate nucleus (DN) neurons in two non-human primates (NHPs). NHPs were trained to read the direction indicated by a peripheral visual stimulus while maintaining fixation at the center, and report the direction of the cue by performing a saccadic eye movement into the same direction following a delay. We found that single unit DN neurons modulated spiking activity over the entire time-course of the task, and that their activity often bridged temporally separated intra-trial events, yet in a heterogeneous manner. To better understand the heterogeneous relationship between task structure, behavioral performance and neural dynamics, we constructed a behavioral, an encoding and a decoding model. Both NHPs showed different behavioral strategies, which influenced the performance. Activity of the DN neurons reflected the unique strategies, with the direction of the visual stimulus frequently being encoded long before an upcoming saccade. Retrograde labeling of the recording location indicated that these neurons receive predominantly inputs from Purkinje cells in the lateral cerebellum as well as neurons of the principal olive and medial pons, all regions known to connect with neurons in the prefrontal cortex contributing to planning of saccades. Together, our results highlight that DN neurons can dynamically modulate their activity during a visual attention task, comprising not only sensorimotor but also cognitive attentional components.
Lifestyles and their relative contribution to biological aging across multiple organ systems: change analysis from the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort Study
Authors: Zhang Yuan , Tang Dan , Zhang Ning , Xiang Yi , Hu Yifan , Qian Wen , Baima Yangji , Ding Xianbin , Wang Ziyun , Yin Jianzhong , Xiao Xiong , Zhao Xing
Published: September 2024

Biological aging exhibits heterogeneity across multi organ systems. However, it remains unclear how is lifestyle associated with overall and organ-specific aging and which factors contribute most in Southwest China.To examine the associations of healthy lifestyle with comprehensive and organ-specific biological ages and which lifestyle factors contribute most.This study involved 8,396 participants who completed two surveys from the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort (CMEC) Study. The healthy lifestyle index (HLI) was developed using five lifestyle factors: smoking, alcohol, diet, exercise, and sleep. The comprehensive and organ-specific biological ages (BAs) were calculated using the Klemera-Doubal method based on longitudinal clinical laboratory measurements, and validation were conducted to select BA reflecting related diseases. Fixed effects model was used to examine associations between HLI or its components and the acceleration of validated BAs. We further evaluated the relative contribution of lifestyle components to comprehension and organ systems BAs using quantile G-computation.About two-thirds of participants changed HLI scores between surveys. After validation, three organ-specific BAs (the cardiopulmonary, metabolic, and liver BAs) were identified as reflective of specific diseases and included in further analyses with the comprehensive BA. The health alterations in healthy lifestyle index showed a protective association with the acceleration of all biological ages, with a mean shift of –0.19 (95%CI: –0.34, –0.03) in the comprehensive biological age acceleration. Diet and smoking were the major contributors to overall negative associations of five lifestyle factors with the comprehensive BA and metabolic BA accounting for 24% and 55% respectively.Healthy lifestyle changes were inversely related to comprehensive and organ-specific biological aging in Southwest China, with diet and smoking contributing most to comprehensive and metabolic BA separately. Our findings highlight the potential of lifestyle interventions to decelerate aging and identify intervention targets to limit organ-specific aging in less-developed regions.
Lifestyles and their relative contribution to biological aging across multiple organ systems: change analysis from the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort Study
Authors: Zhang Yuan , Tang Dan , Zhang Ning , Xiang Yi , Hu Yifan , Qian Wen , Baima Yangji , Ding Xianbin , Wang Ziyun , Yin Jianzhong , Xiao Xiong , Zhao Xing
Published: September 2024

Biological aging exhibits heterogeneity across multi organ systems. However, it remains unclear how is lifestyle associated with overall and organ-specific aging and which factors contribute most in Southwest China.To examine the associations of healthy lifestyle with comprehensive and organ-specific biological ages and which factors contribute most.This study involved 8,396 participants who completed two surveys from the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort (CMEC) Study. The healthy lifestyle index (HLI) was developed using five lifestyle factors: smoking, alcohol, diet, exercise, and sleep. The comprehensive and organ-specific biological ages (BAs) were calculated using the Klemera-Doubal method based on longitudinal clinical laboratory measurements, and validation were conducted to select BA reflecting related diseases. Fixed effects model was used to examine associations between HLI or its components and the acceleration of validated BAs. We further evaluated the relative contribution of lifestyle components to comprehension and organ systems BAs using quantile G-computation.About two-thirds of participants changed HLI scores between surveys. After validation, three organ-specific BAs (the cardiopulmonary, metabolic, and liver BAs) were identified as reflective of specific diseases and included in further analyses with the comprehensive BA. The health alterations in healthy lifestyle index showed a protective association with the acceleration of all biological ages, with a mean shift of -0.19 (95%CI: -0.34, -0.03) in the comprehensive biological age acceleration. Diet and smoking were the major contributors to overall negative associations of five lifestyle factors with the comprehensive BA and metabolic BA accounting for 24% and 55% respectively.Healthy lifestyle changes were inversely related to comprehensive and organ-specific biological aging in Southwest China, with diet and smoking contributing most to comprehensive and metabolic BA separately. Our findings highlight the potential of lifestyle interventions to decelerate aging and identify intervention targets to limit organ-specific aging in less-developed regions.
Correlation between disease severity indices and quality of life measurement tools in atopic dermatitis patients
Authors: Sanclemente Gloria , Hernández Natalia , Tamayo Liliana , Chaparro Daniela , López Ángela , Research Group Colombian Atopic Dermatitis
Published: September 2024

Introduction. Reports regarding the correlation and effect size of change of the full spectrum of quality of life and disease severity measures applied in-person to patients with atopic dermatitis are scarce.Objectives. To assess quality-of-life with 3 different instruments and to evaluate disease severity indices and to determine their correlation and effect size of change between two measurements.Materials and methods. Patient-level data were obtained through two in-person visits. Sociodemographic information and data related to disease distribution, severity (through the BSA, EASI, SCORAD, POEM, and itching scales), and the impact of atopic dermatitis on quality of life using the DLQI and Skindex-29, and EQ-5D, were assessed. The correlation between change in quality-of-life scores and disease severity scores in addition to the standardized effect size were also evaluated.Results. Only 139 out of 212 patients completed the follow-up visit. BSA highly correlated with SCORAD and EASI, and the lowest correlation was found with POEM. The best correlation of pruritus VAS was found with sleep disturbance. The SCORAD score highly correlated with EASI, and the lowest correlation was found with POEM. The magnitude of the effect at initiation of the study vs follow-up was in average moderate to important. Conclusions. Patients with atopic dermatitis experience a substantial burden on quality of life. Disease activity correlates better with quality-of-life measurements when the disease is less severe after starting therapy. POEM and Skindex-29 seem to be optimal to determine disease severity and quality of life in adults with atopic dermatitis.
The effect of maternal concerns about childbirth and postpartum period on obsessive and compulsive behaviors related to baby care
Authors: Menekşe Dilek , Karakaya Suzan Özge , Çınar Nursan
Published: September 2024

Introduction. Postpartum anxiety after childbirth is a common condition among pregnant women due to reasons such as the uncertainty of experiencing pregnancy and childbirth for the first time, or previous negative experiences. Fear of childbirth can affect the mother’s baby care process.Objective. This study was conducted analytically with a single-subject design to determine the effects of maternal concerns about childbirth and the postpartum period on obsessive and compulsive behaviors related to baby care.Materials and methods. The study was conducted with 260 mothers. Data were collected using a descriptive information form, and the scales ‘Fear of Childbirth and Postpartum Period’, and ‘Obsessive and Compulsive Behaviors of Mothers in the Postpartum Period Related to Baby Care’. The data were analyzed using the SPSS™ software to calculate percentages, mean values, t tests, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation, and simple linear regression analysis.Results. A statistically significant and positive correlation was found between participant scores of the ‘Fear of Childbirth and Postpartum Period’ and the ‘Obsessive and Compulsive Behaviors of Mothers in the Postpartum Period Related to Baby Care’ scales (p < 0.01). The regression model showed that 18.0% of the total variance in the obsessive and compulsive behaviors of mothers in the postpartum was explained by the fear of childbirth and the postpartum period (corrected R2 = 0.180).Conclusions. Fear of childbirth and the postpartum period were moderate. However, as the fear of women regarding childbirth and the postpartum period increased, theirpostpartum obsessive and compulsive behaviors about baby care also increased.
HCoV-NL63 and HCoV-HKU1 seroprevalence and its relationship with the clinical features of COVID-19 patients from Villavicencio, Colombia
Authors: Lesmes-Rodríguez Lida Carolina , Pedraza-Castillo Luz Natalia , Jaramillo-Hernández Dumar Alexander
Published: September 2024

Introduction. Due to the cross-reactivity between SARS-CoV-2 and common human coronaviruses, previous infections with these viruses could contribute to serological or cellular cross-protection against severe COVID-19. However, protective immunity may not develop, or pre-existing immunity could increase COVID-19 severity.Objective. To determine the seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against HCoV-NL63 and HCoV-HKU1 and correlate previous exposure with COVID-19 signs in patients from Villavicencio.Materials and methods. A cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted. ELISA technique was used to search for IgG antibodies against HCoV-NL3 and HCoV-HKU1 inpatients with positive RT-qPCR results for SARS-CoV-2. Patients were grouped according to COVID-19 clinical characteristics in four groups: group 1: asymptomatic (n = 23); group 2: hospitalized (n = 24); group 3: intensive care units (n = 24), and group 4: dead (n = 22).Results. The overall seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against HCoV was 74.2% (n = 69; 95% CI: 65.3-83.1), with 66.7% of HCoV-NL63 (n = 62; 95% CI: 57,1-76,2), and 25.8% of HCoV-HKU1 (n = 24; 95% CI: 16,9-34,7). Based on crosstab analysis, prior exposure to HCoV-NL63 was associated with protection against severe COVID-19 (p = 0.042; adjusted OR = 0.159; 95% CI: 0.027-0.938), and previous coinfection of HCoV-NL63 and HCoVHKU1 was considered a positive association to severe COVID-19 (p = 0.048; adjusted OR = 16.704; 95% CI: 1.020 - 273.670).Conclusion. To our knowledge, this is the first study addressing seroprevalence of HCoV IgG antibodies in Colombia and Latin America. Previous exposure to HCoV-NL63 could protect against severe COVID-19, whereas patients with underlying HCoV-NL63 and HCoVHKU1 coinfection could be hospitalized with severe signs of COVID-19.
Tratamiento para tuberculosis resistente a rifampicina o multirresistente: análisis comparativo de indicadores programáticos entre Buenaventura y otros municipios del Valle del Cauca, Colombia
Authors: Hoyos Diana , Meza Rossi , Forero Liliana , Moreira César , Ferro Beatriz E. , Pacheco Robinson
Published: September 2024

Introducción. El manejo adecuado de la tuberculosis multirresistente es una estrategia priorizada para el control de la tuberculosis en el mundo.Objetivo. Evaluar las diferencias entre las características demográficas y clínicas, y los indicadores programáticos de los pacientes con diagnóstico confirmado de tuberculosis pulmonar resistente a rifampicina o multirresistente en Buenaventura, frente a la cohorte de los demás municipios del Valle del Cauca entre 2013 y 2016.Materiales y métodos. Se desarrolló un estudio analítico de cohortes para comparar los registros de pacientes mayores de 15 años con tuberculosis multirresistente, del Programa de Tuberculosis de Buenaventura (con ácido paraaminosalicílico), frente a los demás municipios del Valle del Cauca (sin ácido paraaminosalicílico).Resultados. Se registraron 99 casos con una mediana de edad de 40 años (RIC = 26- 53); en Buenaventura, el 56 % eran mujeres; en los demás municipios, predominaron los hombres (67 %); el 95 % de los evaluados tenía aseguramiento en salud. La comorbilidad más frecuente fue diabetes (14 %). Las reacciones adversas a medicamentos antituberculosos en Buenaventura fueron 1,3 veces más frecuentes que en los demás municipios (OR = 2,3; IC95 %: 0,993 - 5,568; p = 0,04). En Buenaventura falleció el 5 % de los casos frente al 15 % reportado en los demás municipios. No hubo fracasos con el tratamiento en Buenaventura, pero se reportó un 35 % de pérdida del seguimiento. El éxito del tratamiento fue mayor en Buenaventura en el 56 %.Conclusión. El programa fortalecido de Buenaventura presentó mejores resultados programáticos que los demás municipios del Valle del Cauca. El acceso a pruebas moleculares, la disponibilidad de tratamientos acortados y el seguimiento continuo para identificar reacciones adversas a medicamentos antituberculosos son un derrotero para todos los programas de control.
Asociación de parto prematuro y enfermedad periodontal en Bolivia, Chile y Colombia
Authors: Herrera-Serna Brenda Yuliana , López-Soto Olga Patricia , Rendón-Blandón Diego León , Alfonso-Galeano Estefanía , Salgado-Yepes Laura Vanessa , Chacón Tatiana
Published: September 2024

Introducción. El parto prematuro es un problema médico, social y económico importante, causa gran mortalidad y morbilidad neonatal, tiene un impacto importante en el sistema de salud y afecta la calidad de vida de las familias. El peso de los recién nacidos de madres con enfermedad periodontal es significativamente menor en comparación con los de madres no afectadas por esta enfermedad bucal. Este resultado adverso se considera un problema de salud pública global según los datos epidemiológicos.Objetivo. Determinar la asociación entre la prevalencia de parto prematuro y la enfermedad periodontal en Bolivia, Chile y Colombia entre el 2000 y el 2020.Materiales y métodos. Este estudio ecológico consideró las poblaciones de mujeres de Bolivia, Chile y Colombia, y la prevalencia de partos prematuros y enfermedad periodontal, discriminadas por grupos de edad. El estudio abarcó el período entre el 2000 y el 2020. La estrategia de búsqueda con la herramienta de investigación del Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation incluyó prevalencia, grupos de edad, años entre 2000 y 2020, causas de parto prematuro y enfermedad periodontal, contexto y ubicaciones, mujeres y tasas. El análisis estadístico incluyó una regresión lineal simple entre parto prematuro y enfermedad periodontal para cada grupo de edad dentro de cada país. Resultados. Las tasas de partos prematuros fueron mayores en el grupo de 15 a 19 años (Bolivia: 697.563, Chile: 844.864, Colombia: 804.126). La prevalencia de la enfermedad periodontal aumentó con la edad, particularmente en el grupo de 45 a 49 años (Bolivia: 22’077.854, Chile: 34’297.901, Colombia: 32'032,830). Según los grupos de edad, la regresión lineal fue estadísticamente significativa (p < 0,001) para todos los grupos evaluados de la población boliviana, en los grupos mayores de 30 años para las colombianas y solo en el grupo de 15 a 19 años para las mujeres chilenas.Conclusión. Se encontró asociación entre el parto prematuro y la enfermedad periodontal en todos los grupos de edad en Bolivia, solo en el grupo de 15 a 19 años en Chile, y de 30 años y más en Colombia en el período evaluado de 20 años.
Experimental assessment of diffusible iodine-based contrast-enhanced computed tomography (diceCT) protocols
Authors: Costello Lucy F. , Richards Hazel L. , Evans Alistair R. , Adams Justin W.
Published: September 2024

Diffusible iodine-based contrast-enhanced computed tomography (diceCT) is an increasingly used digital complement, supplement, or alternative to traditional dissection-based anatomical research. The diceCT protocol, which has evolved and expanded over the past decade, employs passive diffusion of Lugol’s iodine (KI3) to increase soft tissue radiodensity and improve structure contrast in the CT or microCT imaging of specimens. The development and application of diceCT has focused largely on specimens under 1 kg, and the varying reporting of methods on studies of both small and large specimens has initiated, but not yet established, an effective diceCT protocol for larger specimens based on monitored experiments of several fundamental variables (e.g., Lugol’s iodine concentration, duration, and impacts of Lugol’s iodine on tissues). In this study, we have experimentally assessed the efficacy of diceCT protocols for imaging whole-body specimens of the 1–4.5 kg Australian brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) using sequential CT imaging assessment across experimental conditions. We assessed the impact of varying Lugol’s iodine concentration, the presence/absence of skin, solution volume and agitation on tissue radiodensity changes through weekly CT-based monitoring of tissue radiodensities over an 8-week experimental period. We have also quantified tissue volumetric changes across our experiment to assess the impact of diceCT applications on subsequent analyses of imaging datasets. Our results indicate that substantial changes in both soft-tissue radiodensity and soft-tissue volume occur within the first 28 days of Lugol’s iodine treatment, followed by a slower rate of progressive soft-tissue radiodensity and volume changes across the experiment duration. Our results demonstrate the negligible benefit of skinning larger specimens to improve solution diffusion, and document significant soft-tissue volumetric changes with high concentration solutions (e.g., 10%) and long-duration exposure (e.g., beyond 5 weeks) that should guide individual diceCT protocol design and/or quantification and analysis for mammal specimens above 1 kg.
Ensemble decision of local similarity indices on the biological network for disease related gene prediction
Authors: Cingiz Mustafa Özgür
Published: September 2024

Link prediction (LP) is a task for the identification of potential, missing and spurious links in complex networks. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks are important for understanding the underlying biological mechanisms of diseases. Many complex networks have been constructed using LP methods; however, there are a limited number of studies that focus on disease-related gene predictions and evaluate these genes using various evaluation criteria. The main objective of the study is to investigate the effect of a simple ensemble method in disease related gene predictions. Local similarity indices (LSIs) based disease related gene predictions were integrated by a simple ensemble decision method, simple majority voting (SMV), on the PPI network to detect accurate disease related genes. Human PPI network was utilized to discover potential disease related genes using four LSIs for the gene prediction. LSIs discovered potential links between disease related genes, which were obtained from OMIM database for gastric, colorectal, breast, prostate and lung cancers. LSIs based disease related genes were ranked due to their LSI scores in descending order for retrieving the top 10, 50 and 100 disease related genes. SMV integrated four LSIs based predictions to obtain SMV based the top 10, 50 and 100 disease related genes. The performance of LSIs based and SMV based genes were evaluated separately by employing overlap analyses, which were performed with GeneCard disease-gene relation dataset and Gene Ontology (GO) terms. The GO-terms were used for biological assessment for the inferred gene lists by LSIs and SMV on all cancer types. Adamic-Adar (AA), Resource Allocation Index (RAI), and SMV based gene lists are generally achieved good performance results on all cancers in both overlap analyses. SMV also outperformed on breast cancer data. The increment in the selection of the number of the top ranked disease related genes also enhanced the performance results of SMV.
Analysis of Sustainable Market Conditions and Determinants Influencing Farmers' Involvement in the Commercialization of Cocoyam in Anambra State, Nigeria
Authors: Obianefo Chukwujekwu A. , Isibor Chinwe A. , Nwigwe Cecilia A. , Uchemba Uzochukwu V. , Nwankwo Chijindu E.
Published: September 2024

This study on the analysis of sustainable market conditions and determinants influencing farmers' involvement in the commercialization of cocoyam in Anambra State, Nigeria focused on six specific objectives that ascertained the market conditions for cocoyam marketing, identified the commercialization index of the commodity, described the determinants of farmers' participation in the commercialization of the commodity, estimated the profitability of smallholder’s cocoyam production/marketing, and its determinants, and identified the challenges to cocoyam production/marketing in the area. A multistage sampling technique involving purposive and simple random sampling was employed to collect data from 368 cocoyam farmers. The study used a combination of analytical tools such as descriptive statistics, the Lorenz curve, marketing margin analysis, and ordinary least square regression achieved from the SPPS version 25 and Microsoft Excel. The study revealed the farmers’ average age and production/marketing experience as 19 years. The Gini coefficient value of 0.236 closer to zero shows a near-perfect condition in the area, with a 68.0% commercialization index. Gender (11.48)***, marital status (8.98)***, and cooperative membership  (4.81)** are the positive factors influencing market participation. The farmers realized a profitability ratio of 0.74 and a return on investment of 1.85. This profitability ratios are positively determined by sex (16.45)***, farming experience (4.58)***, and number of extension contacts (6.48)***. The farmers face the following challenges; inadequate capital, limited access to improved cultivars, and bad road networks among others. However, policymakers should therefore prioritize intervention to address the identified bottlenecks hindering market participation, profitability, and scalability of cocoyam production and marketing.
In vitro Anti-plasmodium Activity of Combined Extracts from Toddalia asiatica and Carica papaya
Authors: Omondi Robert , Wolfgang Mukabana R. , Lukhoba Catherine W. , Gathirwa Jeremiah W.
Published: September 2024

Objective: To evaluate anti-plasmodial potency of extracts of Toddalia asiatica and Carica papaya when used in combinations.
Methods: The plants, were collected from Homa-Bay County in Kenya and dried under shade to constant weight then ground into fine powder. Extraction was then done using organic solvent. Extracts were tested against Plasmodium falciparum in vitro at a starting concentration of 100µg/mL, which was then serially diluted 2-fold in growth medium to generate the test concentration ranges.  The assay plate was incubated at 370C for 72h in a sealed gas chamber under 3% O2 and 4% CO2 with the balance being N2.  The remaining population of parasites at each concentration of the test compound was determined by comparing the absorbance of each well to the absorbance of a well containing the drug-free control. Survival was plotted against concentration and the IC50-values were obtained using a non-linear dose response curve fitting analysis. Phytochemical screening of the extracts of the was also done.
Results:  The study established that the plant extracts were reasonably active, yielding IC50 values between approximately 2 and 11 µg/mL. When the two plants extracts were used in combination with each other it was established that, addition of Carica papaya to Toddalia asitica seems to improve its potency across most concentrations as reflected in the shift in IC50 of Toddalia. However, the opposite is true for Carica, Best results were however seen with higher ratios of the Carica papaya extract was paired with smaller levels of the Toddalia extract. 
Conclusion: The shift in Toddalia asitica's IC50 values indicates that adding Carica papaya extract to Toddalia asitica extract generally seems to increase its potency.
Black Soldier Fly Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) For Achieving Sustainable Development Through Circular Economy
Authors: Sable Anita V. , Khan Faria S. , Tawale Jayshri B.
Published: September 2024

A circular economy is a strategy aimed at optimizing resources so that sustainability can be achieved. The world needs to shift from linear economy to circular economy. Black soldier fly Hermetia illucens l. (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) is gaining popularity in recent years for its tremendous capacity for organic waste management and bioconversion of organic waste into nutrient rich compost. Larvae and prepupae of black soldier fly have been used as feed for poultry birds, fishes, other animals and it can be used as nutrient rich food for humans. It is a promising source of protein and can be utilized for chitin, protein and grease extraction and biodiesel production. Due to its potential applicability at various industries and thereby recycling the organic waste and close the loop in the production system, it has gained attention in recent years for achieving some of the sustainable development goals adopted by united nations by transition from linear to circular economy. India has vast potential for BSF-based industries.