bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Late life depression and concepts of aging: an emerging paradigm
Authors: Jacobs Jeremy M. , Baider Lea , Goldzweig Gil , Sapir Eli , Rottenberg Yakir
Published: August 2023

Late life depression (LLD) is an emerging challenge, and recognized as a significant barrier to long-term healthy aging. Viewed within the context of the medical/biological model, advances in brain sciences over the last several decades have led to a deeper understanding of the biology of LLD. These advances in current knowledge include the description of aging brain pathophysiology; the biology and biochemistry of neurotransmitters; the correspondence between changes in neurological structure, function, and neural network; the description of neural, hormonal and inflammatory biomarkers; and identification of typical phenotypic subtypes of LLD. Despite these advances, current treatment of LLD, which remains largely pharmacological with accompanying cognitive and behavioral interventions, has poor success rate for long-term remission among older people. A wider perspective, in keeping with several emerging aging concepts, is suggested as an alternative framework within which to view LLD. A growing body of research supports the important role in LLD of frailty, resilience, intrinsic capacity, and functional integrity. Similarly, important social determinants need to be addressed in the etiology of LLD, rooted largely in negative stereotypes of aging, with consequent repercussions of reduced participation and inclusion, growing social isolation, with loss of identity, meaning and hope. This perspective suggests the importance of a wider integrative conceptualization of depression, set against a background of emerging aging concepts.
SY18ΔL60L: a new recombinant live attenuated African swine fever virus with protection against homologous challenge
Authors: Yang Jinjin , Zhu Rongnian , Zhang Yanyan , Fan Jiaqi , Zhou Xintao , Yue Huixian , Li Qixuan , Miao Faming , Chen Teng , Mi Lijuan , Zhang Fei , Zhang Shoufeng , Qian Aidong , Hu Rongliang
Published: August 2023

Introduction

African swine fever (ASF) is an acute and highly contagious disease and its pathogen, the African swine fever virus (ASFV), threatens the global pig industry. At present, management of ASF epidemic mainly relies on biological prevention and control methods. Moreover, due to the large genome of ASFV, only half of its genes have been characterized in terms of function.

Methods

Here, we evaluated a previously uncharacterized viral gene, L60L. To assess the function of this gene, we constructed a deletion strain (SY18ΔL60L) by knocking out the L60L gene of the SY18 strain. To evaluate the growth characteristics and safety of the SY18ΔL60L, experiments were conducted on primary macrophages and pigs, respectively.

Results

The results revealed that the growth trend of the recombinant strain was slower than that of the parent strain in vitro. Additionally, 3/5 (60%) pigs intramuscularly immunized with a 105 50% tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50) of SY18ΔL60L survived the 21-day observation period. The surviving pigs were able to protect against the homologous lethal strain SY18 and survive. Importantly, there were no obvious clinical symptoms or viremia.

Discussion

These results suggest that L60L could serve as a virulence- and replication-related gene. Moreover, the SY18ΔL60L strain represents a new recombinant live-attenuated ASFV that can be employed in the development of additional candidate vaccine strains and in the elucidation of the mechanisms associated with ASF infection.
In silico identification of modulators of J domain protein-Hsp70 interactions in Plasmodium falciparum: a drug repurposing strategy against malaria
Authors: Singh Harpreet , Almaazmi Shaikha Y. , Dutta Tanima , Keyzers Robert A. , Blatch Gregory L.
Published: August 2023

Plasmodium falciparum is a unicellular, intracellular protozoan parasite, and the causative agent of malaria in humans, a deadly vector borne infectious disease. A key phase of malaria pathology, is the invasion of human erythrocytes, resulting in drastic remodeling by exported parasite proteins, including molecular chaperones and co-chaperones. The survival of the parasite within the human host is mediated by P. falciparum heat shock protein 70s (PfHsp70s) and J domain proteins (PfJDPs), functioning as chaperones-co-chaperones partnerships. Two complexes have been shown to be important for survival and pathology of the malaria parasite: PfHsp70-x-PFE0055c (exported); and PfHsp70-2-PfSec63 (endoplasmic reticulum). Virtual screening was conducted on the drug repurposing library, the Pandemic Response Box, to identify small-molecules that could specifically disrupt these chaperone complexes. Five top ranked compounds possessing preferential binding affinity for the malarial chaperone system compared to the human system, were identified; three top PfHsp70-PfJDP binders, MBX 1641, zoliflodacin and itraconazole; and two top J domain binders, ezetimibe and a benzo-diazepinone. These compounds were validated by repeat molecular dockings and molecular dynamics simulation, resulting in all the compounds, except for MBX 1461, being confirmed to bind preferentially to the malarial chaperone system. A detailed contact analysis of the PfHsp70-PfJDP binders identified two different types of modulators, those that potentially inhibit complex formation (MBX 1461), and those that potentially stabilize the complex (zoliflodacin and itraconazole). These data suggested that zoliflodacin and itraconazole are potential novel modulators specific to the malarial system. A detailed contact analysis of the J domain binders (ezetimibe and the benzo-diazepinone), revealed that they bound with not only greater affinity but also a better pose to the malarial J domain compared to that of the human system. These data suggested that ezetimibe and the benzo-diazepinone are potential specific inhibitors of the malarial chaperone system. Both itraconazole and ezetimibe are FDA-approved drugs, possess anti-malarial activity and have recently been repurposed for the treatment of cancer. This is the first time that such drug-like compounds have been identified as potential modulators of PfHsp70-PfJDP complexes, and they represent novel candidates for validation and development into anti-malarial drugs.
The nuclei of the lateral lemniscus: unexpected players in the descending auditory pathway
Authors: Gómez-Martínez Mario , Rincón Héctor , Gómez-Álvarez Marcelo , Gómez-Nieto Ricardo , Saldaña Enrique
Published: August 2023

Introduction

In the mammalian auditory pathway, the nuclei of the lateral lemniscus (NLL) are thought to be exclusively involved in the bottom-up transmission of auditory information. However, our repeated observation of numerous NLL neurons labeled after injection of retrograde tracers into the superior olivary complex (SOC) led us to systematically investigate with retrograde tracers the descending projections from the NLL to the SOC of the rat.

Methods

We performed large injections of FluoroGold into the SOC to determine NLL contributions to descending projections, and focal injections of biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) to pinpoint the specific nuclei of the SOC innervated by each NLL.

Results

The SOC is innervated by thousands of neurons distributed across four nuclei or regions associated with the lateral lemniscus: the ipsilateral ventral and intermediate nuclei of the lateral lemniscus (VNLL and INLL); the medial paralemniscal region (PL) of both sides; and the ipsilateral semilunar nucleus (SLN), a previously unrecognized nucleus that wraps around the INLL dorsally, medially, and caudally and consists of small, flat neurons. In some experiments, at least 30% of neurons in the VNLL and INLL were retrogradely labeled. All nuclei of the SOC, except the medial and lateral superior olives, are innervated by abundant lemniscal neurons, and each SOC nucleus receives a unique combination of lemniscal inputs. The primary target of the projections from the VNLL is the ventral nucleus of the trapezoid body (VNTB), followed by the superior paraolivary nucleus (SPON), and the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB). The INLL selectively innervates the VNTB. The PL innervates dorsal periolivary regions bilaterally. The SLN preferentially innervates the MNTB and may provide the first identified non-calyceal excitatory input to MNTB neurons.

Discussion

Our novel findings have strong implications for understanding acoustic information processing in the initial stages of the auditory pathway. Based on the proportion of lemniscal neurons involved in all the projections described, the NLL should be considered major players in the descending auditory pathway.
Excitatory/inhibitory balance emerges as a key factor for RBN performance, overriding attractor dynamics
Authors: Calvet Emmanuel , Rouat Jean , Reulet Bertrand
Published: August 2023

Reservoir computing provides a time and cost-efficient alternative to traditional learning methods. Critical regimes, known as the “edge of chaos,” have been found to optimize computational performance in binary neural networks. However, little attention has been devoted to studying reservoir-to-reservoir variability when investigating the link between connectivity, dynamics, and performance. As physical reservoir computers become more prevalent, developing a systematic approach to network design is crucial. In this article, we examine Random Boolean Networks (RBNs) and demonstrate that specific distribution parameters can lead to diverse dynamics near critical points. We identify distinct dynamical attractors and quantify their statistics, revealing that most reservoirs possess a dominant attractor. We then evaluate performance in two challenging tasks, memorization and prediction, and find that a positive excitatory balance produces a critical point with higher memory performance. In comparison, a negative inhibitory balance delivers another critical point with better prediction performance. Interestingly, we show that the intrinsic attractor dynamics have little influence on performance in either case.
Effects of white matter hyperintensity on cognitive function in PD patients: a meta-analysis
Authors: Zhao Wenhao , Cheng Bo , Zhu Tao , Cui Yingjuan , Shen Yao , Fu Xudong , Li Maogeng , Feng Yuliang , Zhang Shushan
Published: August 2023

Background

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is often accompanied by cognitive dysfunction, which imposes a heavy burden on patients, their families, and society. Early identification and intervention are particularly important, but reliable biomarkers for identifying PD-related cognitive impairment at an early stage are currently lacking. Although numerous clinical studies have investigated the association between brain white matter hyperintensity (WMH) and cognitive decline, the findings regarding the relationships between WMH and cognitive dysfunction in PD patients have been inconsistent. Therefore, this study aims to conduct a meta-analysis of the effect of WMH on PD cognitive function.

Methods

This study was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) guidelines. We systematically searched relevant literature from databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, CNKI, and CBM. The retrieval time was limited to database records created up until December 31, 2022. Additionally, we manually retrieved references for full-text reading. Statistical data analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 and Stata 15.0 software.

Results

This study encompassed 23 individual studies and involved 2,429 patients with PD. The group of PD with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) exhibited a significantly higher overall level of WMH than the group of PD with normal cognitive function (PD-NC) (SMD = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.21–0.52, p < 0.01). This finding was consistent across subgroup analyses based on different ethnicities (Asian or Caucasian), WMH assessment methods (visual rating scale or volumetry), and age matching. In addition to the overall differences in WMH load between the PD-MCI and PD-NC groups, the study found that specific brain regions, including periventricular white matter hyperintensity (PVH) and deep white matter hyperintensity (DWMH), had significantly higher WMH load in the PD-MCI group compared to the PD-NC group. The study also conducted a meta-analysis of WMH load data for PD with dementia (PDD) and PD without dementia (PDND), revealing that the overall WMH load in the PDD group was significantly higher than that in the PDND group (SMD = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.56–1.41, p < 0.01). This finding was consistent across subgroup analyses based on different ethnicities and age matching. Moreover, regarding specific brain regions (PVH or DWMH), the study found that the PDD group had significantly higher WMH load than the PDND group (p < 0.01).

Conclusion

WMH was associated with PD cognitive dysfunction. The early appearance of WMH may indicate PD with MCI.
Objective assessment of dysarthric disorders in patients with multiple sclerosis depending on sex, age, and type of text read
Authors: Warmbier Wojciech A. , Popiel Małgorzata , Guzik Agnieszka , Drużbicki Mariusz , Bartosik-Psujek Halina
Published: August 2023

Purpose

To assess dysarthric disorders in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in comparison with healthy individuals and MS patients without dysarthria depending on the patient’s sex, age, and the type of text read using an objective tool.

Methods

The study was carried out in a group of 72 persons, including 24 with MS presenting dysarthria (study group) and 24 healthy individuals (healthy control group), and 24 with MS without dysarthria (MS control group). Performance (reading) time was evaluated by means of an objective tool created for the purpose of the analysis.

Results

The study showed significant statistical differences in the analyzed performance time of: poetry reading, prose reading, and completing a diction exercise, among persons with MS from the study group presenting dysarthria and both control groups (p < 0.05). It took more time to read the poem, and prose and to perform a diction exercise in the study group with dysarthria than in both control groups (with no significant differences between the two) Similarly, the comparison between the groups in terms of sex and age showed disturbances in the above-mentioned parameter in the study group. What was not demonstrated were significant differences in the evaluated speech parameters depending on both sex and age separately in the group of MS patients with dysarthria, and both control groups (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

The objective tool created for the purpose of speech analysis is useful in detecting discrepancies in performance (reading) time among MS patients with dysarthria, and healthy individuals, as well as patients with MS without dysarthria and can be used in clinical practice for diagnostic purposes, however, further research is essential to complete its validation.
Differential effects of remotely supervised transcranial direct current stimulation on recognition memory depending on task order
Authors: Imperio Casey M. , Chua Elizabeth F.
Published: August 2023

Background

Prior work has shown positive effects of High Definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on semantic memory performance and metamemory monitoring accuracy. However, HD-tDCS requires setup by a trained researcher, which is not always feasible. Few studies have used remotely supervised (rs) tDCS in healthy populations, and remote supervision has strong practical benefits.

Objective/hypothesis

The goal of the current study was to test if previously shown effects of HD-tDCS over the left DLPFC on semantic memory performance and metamemory monitoring accuracy extended to conventional rs-tDCS, which is less focal than HD-tDCS, and to episodic memory and metamemory tasks.

Materials and methods

A total of 36 healthy participants completed 6 weeks of rs-tDCS sessions, with either active left or right anodal DLPFC stimulation, or sham. Participants completed semantic and episodic memory and metamemory tasks, which each lasted for three consecutive sessions, and session order was counterbalanced across participants.

Results

Overall, there were no main effects of rs-tDCS on metamemory monitoring accuracy or memory performance for either the semantic or the episodic tasks. However, there were effects of rs-tDCS that depended on the order of completing the episodic and semantic task sessions. When participants completed the semantic task sessions after the episodic task sessions, semantic recognition was greater in the left anodal DLPFC condition. In a parallel effect, when participants completed the episodic task sessions after the semantic task sessions, episodic recognition was greater in the right anodal DLPFC condition.

Conclusion

Prior experience with tDCS is a factor for effects of rs-tDCS on cognition. Additionally, the current experiment provides evidence for the feasibility of fully remotely supervised tDCS in healthy participants.
Effects of postural threat on perceptions of lower leg somatosensory stimuli during standing
Authors: Cleworth Taylor W. , Peters Ryan M. , Chua Romeo , Inglis J. Timothy , Carpenter Mark G.
Published: August 2023

Height-induced postural threat affects emotional state and standing balance behaviour during static, voluntary, and dynamic tasks. Facing a threat to balance also affects sensory and cortical processes during balance tasks. As sensory and cognitive functions are crucial in forming perceptions of movement, balance-related changes during threatening conditions might be associated with changes in conscious perceptions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the changes and potential mechanisms underlying conscious perceptions of balance-relevant information during height-induced postural threat. A combination of three experimental procedures utilized height-induced postural threat to manipulate emotional state, balance behavior, and/or conscious perceptions of balance-related stimuli. Experiment 1 assessed conscious perception of foot position during stance. During continuous antero-posterior pseudorandom support surface rotations, perceived foot movement was larger while actual foot movement did not change in the High (3.2 m, at the edge) compared to Low (1.1 m, away from edge) height conditions. Experiment 2 and 3 assessed somatosensory perceptual thresholds during upright stance. Perceptual thresholds for ankle rotations were elevated while foot sole vibrations thresholds remained unchanged in the High compared to Low condition. This study furthers our understanding of the relationship between emotional state, sensory perception, and balance performance. While threat can influence the perceived amplitude of above threshold ankle rotations, there is a reduction in the sensitivity of an ankle rotation without any change to foot sole sensitivity. These results highlight the effect of postural threat on neurophysiological and cognitive components of balance control and provide insight into balance assessment and intervention.
A pilot study on spatial hearing in children with congenital unilateral aural atresia
Authors: Josefsson Dahlgren Hanna , Engmér Berglin Cecilia , Hultcrantz Malou , Asp Filip
Published: August 2023

Despite normal hearing in one ear, individuals with congenital unilateral aural atresia may perceive difficulties in everyday listening conditions typically containing multiple sound sources. While previous work shows that intervention with bone conduction devices may aid spatial hearing for some children, testing conditions are often arranged to maximize any benefit and are not very similar to daily life. The benefit from amplification on spatial tasks has been found to vary between individuals, for reasons not entirely clear. This study has sought to expand on the limited knowledge on how children with unilateral aural atresia recognize speech masked by competing speech, and how horizontal sound localization accuracy is affected by the degree of unilateral hearing loss and by amplification using unilateral bone conduction devices when fitted before 3 years of age. In a within-subject, repeated measures design, including 11 children (mean age = 7.9 years), bone conduction hearing device (BCD) amplification did not negatively affect horizontal sound localization accuracy. The effect on speech recognition scores showed greater inter-individual variability. No benefit from amplification on a group level was found. There was no association between age at fitting and the benefit of the BCD. For children with poor unaided sound localization accuracy, there was a greater BCD benefit. Unaided localization accuracy increased as a function of decreasing hearing thresholds in the atretic ear. While it is possible that low sound levels in the atretic ear provided access to interaural localization cues for the children with the lowest hearing thresholds, the association has to be further investigated in a larger sample of children.
Overcoming field variability: unsupervised domain adaptation for enhanced crop-weed recognition in diverse farmlands
Authors: Ilyas Talha , Lee Jonghoon , Won Okjae , Jeong Yongchae , Kim Hyongsuk
Published: August 2023

Recent developments in deep learning-based automatic weeding systems have shown promise for unmanned weed eradication. However, accurately distinguishing between crops and weeds in varying field conditions remains a challenge for these systems, as performance deteriorates when applied to new or different fields due to insignificant changes in low-level statistics and a significant gap between training and test data distributions. In this study, we propose an approach based on unsupervised domain adaptation to improve crop-weed recognition in new, unseen fields. Our system addresses this issue by learning to ignore insignificant changes in low-level statistics that cause a decline in performance when applied to new data. The proposed network includes a segmentation module that produces segmentation maps using labeled (training field) data while also minimizing entropy using unlabeled (test field) data simultaneously, and a discriminator module that maximizes the confusion between extracted features from the training and test farm samples. This module uses adversarial optimization to make the segmentation network invariant to changes in the field environment. We evaluated the proposed approach on four different unseen (test) fields and found consistent improvements in performance. These results suggest that the proposed approach can effectively handle changes in new field environments during real field inference.
Improving depressive symptoms and maintaining cognitive abilities of seniors within the nursing homes: A pilot study of brief mindfulness-based interventions for seniors in a semi-randomized trial
Authors: Aisenberg-Shafran Daniela , Harmatz Margalit
Published: August 2023

Introduction

Seniors in nursing homes are at higher risk for depression and emotional distress. The COVID-19 crisis and isolation have even increased the risk for cognitive decline and suicidality. Since social media is often unfamiliar to older adults, their treatment options were diminished during quarantine. Recently, studies showed the potential for Mindfulness-Based Intervention in improving cognitive functioning and psychological well-being among healthy older adults. Standardized courses such as MBSR and MBCT are not suited to the majority of seniors for several reasons. First, the interventions are too long and demanding, physically and cognitively. Second, they require an instructed counselor for delivery, which makes it almost impossible in times of quarantine, and third, very expensive. Hence, the purpose of this study was to examine whether similar improvements in emotional distress and cognitive functioning can be achieved through a brief intervention, that can be delivered by workers in nursing homes.

Methods

A course of 8 half-hour sessions each (MBIS: Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Seniors) was employed in two versions: (1) An 8-week course with weekly meetings (2) A 4-week course with 2 sessions per week and compared to a control care-as-usual group. Depression and mood were measured, as well as cognitive abilities in the Simon task. In addition, the level of Mindfulness skills was measured before and after the interventions.

Results

We showed that brief interventions succeeded in improving mindfulness Non-reactivity and produced changes in the facets Acting with awareness and Non-judging. More importantly, the brief intervention, in both frequency versions, improved the level of depression and mood (BDI and PHQ-9). At the cognitive level, an adaptive sequential effect appeared after the intervention only in the 8-week MBIS group.

Discussion

These findings indicate the effectiveness of this pilot of a short, simple, mindfulness-based intervention, in improving depression and psychological distress, as well as improving cognitive control over time. This may enhance significant developments in the field of treatment solutions for seniors, with a ready-to-use protocol to administer in nursing homes.
The moral foundations of cryptocurrency: evidence from Twitter and survey research
Authors: Banker Sachin , Park Joowon , Chan Eugene Y.
Published: August 2023

Despite its relatively brief history, cryptocurrency has already had a profound impact on the economy, with some predicting that it will eventually replace traditional fiat currencies. Historically, it had dark associations with illegal activities in the early days, although perceptions and associations likely have, in recent years, changed for the better. Thus, understanding how people perceive the morality of cryptocurrency currently forms the motivation of the current research. We, in particular, examine associations dependent on political ideology. Across both a large-scale analysis of Twitter posts (N = 959,393) and controlled survey research (N = 487), we find that cryptocurrency is currently best understood as being more strongly linked to conservative vs. liberal moral foundations. Cryptocurrency-related posts were more likely to express conservative moral foundations (Authority, Purity, and Loyalty) rather than liberal moral foundations (Fairness and Care), and individual endorsement of these conservative moral foundations was associated with increased interest in crypto investment.
The role of perceptual and action effector strength of graphs and bases of mathematical metaphors in the metaphorical processing of mathematical concepts
Authors: Khatin-Zadeh Omid , Farsani Danyal , Hu Jiehui , Marmolejo-Ramos Fernando
Published: August 2023

Metaphors that describe an abstract concept in terms of a motion concept are widely used to enhance our understanding of abstract concepts. These metaphors are used not only in our daily language but also in learning mathematics. As an example, in the process of understanding the abstract representation of a mathematical concept, a graphical representation may play the role of a mediatory domain. This graphical representation could have a high degree of perceptual and action effector strength. This is particularly the case when a gestures (as a motion) is used to depict the graphical representation. After looking at this example, we discuss perceptual and action effector strength of the base domains of several mathematical metaphors that describe mathematical concepts in terms of spatial and motion concepts. Then, based on the data in the Lancaster Sensorimotor Norms, it is suggested that high degrees of perceptual and action effector strength of the base domains of these metaphors play an important role in the grounding of abstract mathematical concepts in the physical environment.
Effects of 8 months of high-intensity interval training on physical fitness and health-related quality of life in substance use disorder
Authors: Tan Jun , Wang Jingsong , Guo Yin , Lu Chunxia , Tang Wanke , Zheng Lan
Published: August 2023

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the effect of 8 months of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on physical fitness and health-related quality of life in substance use disorder.

Methods

Sixty substance use disorder were randomly assigned to either the HIIT group or the control group according to a random sampling method. The HIIT group received 8 months of four 60-min sessions per week under supervision. Weight, waist circumference, body fat percentage, heart rate, blood pressure, VO2max, reaction time, grip strength, standing on one foot with eyes closed, sitting forward flexion, and quadrant jumping, standing on one foot with eyes closed, the number of push-ups, quality of life (SF-36) score, and craving (VAS) scored were monitored in the HIIT and control groups at baseline, 4 months, and 8 months. SPSS 22.0 was used to conduct repeated measurement analysis of variance and Pearson correlation analysis on the collected subject data.

Results

Compared with baseline, weight (p < 0.001), waist circumference (p < 0.001), body fat percentage (p < 0.001), heart rate (p < 0.05), Systolic blood pressure (p < 0.01), systolic blood pressure (p < 0.05), reaction time (p < 0.001),PSQI (p < 0.001), Total cholesterol (p < 0.001), Triglyceride (p < 0.001), Blood sugar (p < 0.001) and VAS score (p < 0.001) were significantly decreased after 8 months of exercise intervention. Contrastingly, VO2max (p < 0.05), grip strength (p < 0.05), eyes closed and one foot Standing (p < 0.001), sitting forward flexion (p < 0.001), quadrant jumping (p < 0.001), push-ups (p < 0.001), PCS (p < 0.001), and MCS (p < 0.001) were significantly increased. VO2max was significantly negatively correlated with VAS (r = −0.434, p < 0.001), and significantly positively correlated with PCS (r = 0.425, p < 0.001). There was a positive correlation between standing on one foot with closed eyes and MCS (r = 0.283, p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Eight months of HIIT can comprehensively improve the physical health level and health-related quality of life of men with substance use disorders, reduce the desire for drugs, and lay the foundation for better starting a happy life.
An examination of large-scale electronic health records implementation in Primary Healthcare Centers in Saudi Arabia: a qualitative study
Authors: Alzghaibi Haitham A.
Published: August 2023

Introduction

Digital transformation has become a buzzword in almost every industry in the twenti first century. Healthcare is not an exception. In the healthcare industry, digital transformation includes the utilization of electronic health records (EHRs), telemedicine, health information exchange, mobile health, and other interactive platforms. The importance of digital transformation in healthcare cannot be overemphasized as it has proven to be critical in improving patient outcomes, making healthcare delivery more efficient, and reducing costs. The positive impact of electronic health records was noticed almost immediately in the field of primary healthcare. It has been suggested that implementing electronic health records will enhance the accessibility and the process of distribution of health records between authorized users. As part of Saudi vision 2030, all healthcare organizations in Saudi Arabia are going to shift to digital transformation.

Methods

This study follows a qualitative, semi-structure, face-to-face interview approach. The collected data were analyzed using NVivo V10 software. Inductive thematic analysis approach was used to analyse the collected data from the interviews.

Result

Seventeen project team members, from different positions and backgrounds were purposively chosen to be interviewed. Three main themes and 38 codes were generated from the analysis of transcripts. The informants describe the implementation of electronic health records in the PHCs based on two different experiences. The participants reported that a previous attempt failed due to inappropriate infrastructure, lack of technical support, and low level of user acceptance. Therefore, the policymakers adopted several steps to increase the level of success and avoid failure causes. They initially established well-defined requests for proposals followed by continuous commendation among the project team and conducted a consultation on multiple levels (country level; organizational level and individual level).

Conclusion

This study concluded that the main causes that lead to the failure of the large-scale project were lack of connectivity, lack of technical support, and staff changes, particularly those who occupied high-level positions in the Saudi ministry of Health. The success rate of EHRs implementation can be directly impacted by the size of the project. Large-scale projects are complicated and may be subject to numerous challenges compared with small projects. Significant factors such as training, support, legal issues, and organizational workflow and redesign were a concern of the project team during the pre-implementation phase. In addition, other factors related to technology and end-users were included in the EHRs implementation plan.
Characterization of mild or asymptomatic patient admitted with Omicron variant of COVID-19 infection in Tibetan mobile cabin hospital China, August—October 2022
Authors: Shao Fei , Li Bo , Shang Ju-ju , Liu Wen-bin , Wang Hong-bing , Liu Qing-quan
Published: August 2023

Background

Prior to August 7, 2022, there had been no positive cases of novel coronavirus in Tibet for 920 consecutive days. However, with the first case of Omicron variant infection, the disease rapidly spread and was prevalent in Tibet for nearly 3 months, from August 7th to November 1st. With the spread of the epidemic, the local government responded quickly and established several mobile cabin hospitals to treat patients with mild and asymptomatic Omicron infection. However, the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of these patients are unknown.

Methods

This is a retrospective study including a total of 14,264 mild and asymptomatic cases with Omicron infection in Tibet between August to October, 2022. The clinical data and epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 cases admitted to Tibet mobile cabin hospitals were collected by using standardized forms from mobile cabin hospital database system, including demographic characteristics, onset symptoms, medication use, past medical history, hospitalization time, and discharge time. In terms of statistical analysis, multivariate Cox regression model was used to analyze the relationship between case characteristics and the length of stay in hospital.

Results

Among 14,264 patients infected with Omicron, the average length of hospital stay was six (4–8, Interquartile range) days. Fifty percent of the patients were discharged by the 6th day, and 90% were discharged by the 10th day. Patients of all ages are generally susceptible to COVID-19, and there was no difference in discharge time, but the average length of hospital stay of Tibetan patients with COVID-19 was longer than that of Han patients. According to the statistics of clinical symptoms, sore throat (38.7%) and fever (19.4%) were the most common symptoms, while muscle pain (17.4%), cough (16.6%), and expectoration (13.2%) were also common. In addition, patients with chronic gastritis had significantly longer hospital stays.

Conclusion

Based on the experience of Tibet mobile cabin hospitals and data analysis, we believe that patients of all ages are generally susceptible to Omicron. Compared with other novel coronavirus strains, Omicron infected patients had a shorter hospital stay, and treatment of symptoms is expected to shorten the time of nucleic acid negative conversion.
Population-level benefits of increasing influenza vaccination uptake among Italian older adults: results from a granular panel model
Authors: Domnich Alexander , Orsi Andrea , Panatto Donatella , Ogliastro Matilde , Barca Alessandra , Bert Fabrizio , Cereda Danilo , Chironna Maria , Costantino Claudio , Fiacchini Daniel , Pariani Elena , Rizzo Caterina , Volpe Enrico , Icardi Giancarlo ,   The FluCoV Study Group
Published: August 2023

Background

The impact of seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) on mortality is still controversial; some studies have claimed that increasing vaccination coverage rates is beneficial, while others have found no significant association. This study aimed to construct a granular longitudinal dataset of local VCRs and assess their effect on pneumonia- and influenza-related (P&I) mortality among Italian adults aged ≥ 65 years.

Methods

NUTS-3 (nomenclature of territorial units for statistics) level data on SIV coverage were collected via a survey of local data holders. Fixed- and random-effects panel regression modeling, when adjusted for potential confounders, was performed to assess the association between local SIV coverage rates and P&I mortality in older adults.

Results

A total of 1,144 local VCRs from 2003 to 2019 were ascertained. In the fully adjusted fixed-effects model, each 1% increase in vaccination coverage was associated (P < 0.001) with a 0.6% (95% CI: 0.3–0.9%) average over-time decrease in P&I mortality. With an annual average of 9,293 P&I deaths in Italy, this model suggested that 56 deaths could have been avoided each year by increasing SIV coverage by 1%. The random-effects model produced similar results. The base-case results were robust in a sensitivity analysis.

Conclusion

Over the last two decades, Italian jurisdictions with higher SIV uptake had, on average, fewer P&I deaths among older adults. Local policy-makers should implement effective strategies to increase SIV coverage in the Italian senior population.
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the physical activity and screen time habits of children aged 11–13 years in Sweden
Authors: Berggren Sara , Almquist-Tangen Gerd , Wolfbrandt Olivia , Roswall Josefine
Published: August 2023

Introduction

Physical activity (PA), exercise, sedentary behavior and screen time are lifestyle factors that have been shown to significantly impact child health in different ways. These lifestyle factors were affected to different degrees by global restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated PA and screen time in a cohort of Swedish children in both 2019 and 2021, before and during the pandemic.

Method

Adolescents born in 2008 in Halland, Sweden, and included in a previous longitudinal birth cohort study were invited to take part in follow-up questionnaires about PA, screen time and COVID-19. A total of 1041 children aged 11 (in 2019) and 13 years (in 2021) replied and 777 of them answered on both occasions.

Results

Most children (42.1%) reported that their leisure time PA was unchanged from 2019 to 2021. Compared to unchanged PA 33.9% exercised more often (p = 0.011) and 23.9% exercised less (p < 0.001), both differences statistically significant. Roughly, 43.2% of boys and 34.9% of girls in 2021 exercised so that they became breathless or broke a sweat at least 4 times a week not counting physical education in school, corresponding figures for 2019 were 38.2% for boys and 35.2% for girls. The majority of children were able to continue attending leisure time sports clubs during the pandemic, but participation decreased from 88.3% to 76.3% from 11 to 13 years of age. Most reported that sports club routines changed during the pandemic, but only 40.9% reported fewer practice opportunities. Attending a sports club gave greater protection against loss of PA during the pandemic than not belonging to one (41.0% vs. 23.2%, p < 0.001). The majority (71.1%) of children spent more time on screens in 2021 than 2019, with a mean increase of 9.4 h (95% CI 8.6 to 10.2 h) from 20.7 to 30.1 hours per week (p < 0.001) during the study.

Conclusions

Swedish children largely maintained their levels of PA during the pandemic at 13 years of age and these were possibly safeguarded by the comparably mild pandemic restrictions in Sweden in 2021. However, they did increase their screen time between 11 and 13 years of age.
Spatial and temporal metagenomics of river compartments reveals viral community dynamics in an urban impacted stream
Authors: Rodríguez-Ramos Josué , Oliverio Angela , Borton Mikayla A. , Danczak Robert , Mueller Birgit M. , Schulz Hanna , Ellenbogen Jared , Flynn Rory M. , Daly Rebecca A. , Schopflin LeAundra , Shaffer Michael , Goldman Amy , Lewandowski Joerg , Stegen James C. , Wrighton Kelly C.
Published: August 2023

Although river ecosystems constitute a small fraction of Earth’s total area, they are critical modulators of microbially and virally orchestrated global biogeochemical cycles. However, most studies either use data that is not spatially resolved or is collected at timepoints that do not reflect the short life cycles of microorganisms. To address this gap, we assessed how viral and microbial communities change over a 48-hour period by sampling surface water and pore water compartments of the wastewater-impacted River Erpe in Germany. We sampled every 3 hours resulting in 32 samples for which we obtained metagenomes along with geochemical and metabolite measurements. From our metagenomes, we identified 6,500 viral and 1,033 microbial metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs) and found distinct community membership and abundance associated with each river compartment (e.g., Competibacteraceae in surfacewater and Sulfurimonadaceae in pore water). We show that 17% of our viral MAGs clustered to viruses from other ecosystems like wastewater treatment plants and rivers. Our results also indicated that 70% of the viral community was persistent in surface waters, whereas only 13% were persistent in the pore waters taken from the hyporheic zone. Finally, we predicted linkages between 73 viral genomes and 38 microbial genomes. These putatively linked hosts included members of the Competibacteraceae, which we suggest are potential contributors to river carbon and nitrogen cycling via denitrification and nitrogen fixation. Together, these findings demonstrate that members of the surface water microbiome from this urban river are stable over multiple diurnal cycles. These temporal insights raise important considerations for ecosystem models attempting to constrain dynamics of river biogeochemical cycles.
Pancreas transplantation with grafts obtained from donation after cardiac death or donation after brain death results in comparable outcomes
Authors: Bleszynski Michael S. , Parmentier Catherine , Torres-Hernandez Alejandro , Ray Samrat , Yousuf Anila , Norgate Andrea , Schiff Jeffrey , Shwaartz Chaya , Sapisochin Gonzalo , McGilvray Ian , Selzner Markus , Reichman Trevor W.
Published: August 2023

Introduction

Pancreas organ shortages and long recipient waitlist times are critical components that limit recipients from receiving a pancreas transplant. Over the last decade, our center has been using donation after cardiac death (DCD) donors as an adjunct to donation after brain death (DBD) donors to expand the organ pool. The aim of this study was to compare recipient and graft survival between DCD and DBD recipients.

Methods

A retrospective single center propensity matched analysis (2011–2020) of 32 DCD vs 96 DBD pancreas transplants was performed.

Results

8-year recipient survival was similar between DCD and DBD groups (87.4% vs 92.7%, p=0.35) as was simultaneous kidney and pancreas transplant (SPK) 8-year kidney (88.9 vs 96.9%, p=0.219) and pancreas graft survival (77.4% vs 86.7%, p=0.344). There was no difference in vascular thrombosis rate between DCD and DBD pancreas grafts (3.1% vs 7.3%, p=0.73). DCD kidneys had a higher rate of DGF vs DBD kidneys (28.1% vs 6.3%, p=0.004), without any significant difference in long term kidney failure (12.5% vs 8.3%, p=0.5).

Discussion

Recipients of DCD grafts demonstrate equivalent long-term patient and graft survival compared to DBD recipients for pancreas transplantation. Increased utilization of well selected DCD donors is a safe strategy to increase the donor pool.
Vaccine use in Canadian cow-calf herds and opportunities for improvement
Authors: Lazurko Madelana M. , Erickson Nathan E.N. , Campbell John R. , Gow Sheryl , Waldner Cheryl L.
Published: August 2023

Vaccinations are one of the most impactful tools available to cow-calf producers to control within herd disease and later, in feedlots. While vaccine use has been studied across Canada, inconsistent and variable regional data makes analysis and interpretation difficult. The objective of this study was to describe vaccination protocols and factors associated with vaccine use in Canadian cow-calf herds and define associations between vaccine use and productivity outcomes. Surveys describing vaccine use in 2020 were collected from 131 cow-calf herds (40 eastern, 91 western), recruited through a national beef cattle surveillance program. Ninety-two percent of cows and replacement heifers, and 72% of bulls were vaccinated with Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR), Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV), Parainfluenza3 Virus (PI3), and Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus (BRSV). At least half of cows and bulls were vaccinated for clostridial pathogens and cows and heifers for viral calf scours. Clostridial vaccines were significantly more likely to be used in western Canada compared to eastern Canada. While 92% of producers vaccinated suckling calves against IBR/BRSV/PI3, only 47% provided a second vaccine prior to weaning; 78% of calves were also vaccinated at least once for BVDV before weaning. Producers who vaccinated calves against IBR/BRSV/PI3 before 3 months of age provided a second dose prior to weaning more often than producers who administer the first IBR/BRSV/PI3 vaccine later. Vaccine use has increased across Canada, particularly in calves, prior to weaning. Relative to label recommendations for annual vaccination, clostridial vaccines were generally underutilized in cows and bulls, and by producers in eastern Canada as compared to western Canada. Opportunities also exist to improve adherence to label recommendations for the booster dose of scours vaccine when used in bred replacement heifers. Protocols including product choices, the timing and boosting of respiratory vaccines in nursing calves vary widely across herds. Use of intranasal vaccines in neonatal calves less than 2 weeks old has increased in western Canada compared to previous reports. There is a need to better understand how timing of vaccination in nursing calves contributes to effectiveness, for respiratory disease in nursing and weaned calves.