bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Incidence and potential risk factors for remdesivir-associated bradycardia in hospitalized patients with COVID-19: A retrospective cohort study
Authors: Alsowaida Yazed Saleh , Shehadeh Fadi , Kalligeros Markos , Mylonakis Eleftherios
Published: February 2023

Background: Remdesivir is widely used for the management of COVID-19 and several studies have reported bradycardia as a potential side effect associated with this agent. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the incidence rate, severity, and potential risk factors of remdesivir-associated bradycardia.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study among hospitalized adult patients with COVID-19 who were treated with remdesivir from March 2020 to October 2021. Our primary outcome of interest was the incidence rate and severity of bradycardia after remdesivir administration. We defined mild bradycardia as a heart rate of 51–59 beats per minute, moderate bradycardia as a heart rate of 41–50 beats per minute, and severe bradycardia as a heart rate of ≤40 beats per minute. We also performed univariable and multivariable regression analyses to determine potential bradycardia risk factors. Baseline characteristics were reported as means with standard deviations or medians with interquartile ranges (IQRs). All the statistical tests are shown as odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Results: In total, 1,635 patients were included in this study. The median age with IQR was 68 (57–79) years and 51.7% of the patients were male. In total, 606 (37.1%) patients developed bradycardia. Among them, 437 patients (26.7%) developed mild bradycardia, 158 patients (9.7%) moderate bradycardia, while 11 patients (0.7%) experienced severe bradycardia. In our adjusted multivariate logistic regression, the odds of bradycardia development after remdesivir administration were higher among patients with age ≥65 years (OR 1.76, 95% CI: 1.04–2.99, p = 0.04), those with hypertension (OR 1.37, 95% CI: 1.07–1.75, p = 0.01), and obesity (OR 1.32, 95% CI: 1.02–1.68, p = 0.03).

Conclusion: More than 1 out of 3 patients (37%) who received remdesivir for COVID-19 developed bradycardia with the majority of these patients developing mild or moderate bradycardia that is usually a benign manifestation not needing treatment in most cases. Age ≥65 years, hypertension, and obesity were potential risk factors for remdesivir-associated bradycardia among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Clinicians should be aware of this adverse event and consider close clinical monitoring for patients at high risk for this adverse event.
Combating iron and zinc malnutrition through mineral biofortification in maize through plant growth promoting Bacillus and Paenibacillus species
Authors: Ahmad Maqshoof , Hussain Azhar , Dar Abubakar , Luqman Muhammad , Ditta Allah , Iqbal Zafar , Ahmad Hafiz Tanvir , Nazli Farheen , Soufan Walid , Almutairi Khalid , Sabagh Ayman El
Published: February 2023

Introduction

The burgeoning population of the world is causing food insecurity not only by less food availability but also by the malnutrition of essential nutrients and vitamins. Malnutrition is mostly linked with food having micronutrients lower than the optimal concentration of that specific food commodity and becoming an emerging challenge over the globe. Microbial biofortification in agriculture ensures nutritional security through microbial nitrogen fixation, and improved phosphate and zinc solubilization, which increase the uptake of these nutrients. The present study evaluates the novel plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) to biofortify maize gain.

Methods

For this purpose, a pot and two field experiments for maize were conducted. PGPRs were applied alone and in combination for a better understanding of the biofortification potential of these strains. At physiological maturity, the growth parameters, and at harvest, the yield, microbial population, and nutritional status of maize were determined.

Results and discussion

Results revealed that the consortium (ZM27+ZM63+S10) has caused the maximum increase in growth under pot studies like plant height (31%), shoot fresh weight (28%), shoot dry weight (27%), root fresh (33%) and dry weights (29%), and microbial count (21%) in the maize rhizosphere. The mineral analysis of the pot trial also revealed that consortium of ZM27+ZM63+S10 has caused 28, 16, 20, 11 and 11% increases in P, N, K, Fe, and Zn contents in maize, respectively, as compared to un-inoculated treatment in pot studies. A similar trend of results was also observed in both field trials as the consortium of ZM27+ZM63+S10 caused the maximum increase in not only growth and biological properties but also caused maximum biofortification of mineral nutrients in maize grains. The grain yield and 1000-grain weight were also found significantly higher 17 and 12%, respectively, under consortium application as compared to control. So, it can be concluded from these significant results obtained from the PGPR consortium application that microbial inoculants play a significant role in enhancing the growth, yield, and quality of the maize. However, the extensive evaluation of the consortium may help in the formulation of a biofertilizer for sustainable production and biofortification of maize to cope with nutritional security.
Phenotypic differences in the appearance of soft rice and its endosperm structural basis
Authors: Fan Peng , Xu Jian , Wang Zhijie , Liu Guodong , Zhang Zhenzhen , Tian Jinyu , Wei Haiyan , Zhang Hongcheng
Published: February 2023

In view of the significant differences among genotypes in the appearance of soft rice, it is necessary to conduct research on the differences in the appearance quality of soft rice and their mechanisms. It can provide a theoretical basis for the selection and breeding of superior appearance varieties at a later stage. In order to clarify the differences in appearance phenotypes between different soft rice genotypes and structural basis of endosperm structures behind the differences, four soft rice varieties were selected in this study, including two varieties with good-appearance and two varieties with cloudy appearance. The differences in appearance phenotypes and endosperm structure in mature grains of soft rice with different appearance phenotypes were scientifically analyzed. The development process of their endosperm differences at the filling stage was investigated. The results show that the difference in the rice appearance of soft rice varieties mainly lay in the chalk-free seed transparency and chalkiness. These differences were caused by two completely different types of endosperm structure. Fewer and smaller starch grain cavities were responsible for higher chalk-free transparency of soft rice grains, denser starch granules arrangement caused lower chalkiness of soft rice grains. Ten days after flowering, the starch granules in the back and heart of good-appearance soft rice were already significantly fuller and more closely packed than those of cloudy soft rice. At the same time, the number and area of starch granule holes were significantly smaller than those of cloudy soft rice. This difference gradually increased until maturity. Therefore, based on appearance evaluation, soft rice with good-appearance should have higher transparency and lower chalkiness. The endosperm starch granules should be full and tightly arranged. The number of starch grain cavities and the area should be smaller. These differences develop in the early stages of grouting and gradually increase.
New Insights into rice pyrimidine catabolic enzymes
Authors: Lopez Andrea J. , Narvaez-Ortiz Heidy Y. , Rincon-Benavides Maria A. , Pulido Dania Camila , Fuentes Suarez Luis Eduardo , Zimmermann Barbara H.
Published: February 2023

Introduction

Rice is a primary global food source, and its production is affected by abiotic stress, caused by climate change and other factors. Recently, the pyrimidine reductive catabolic pathway, catalyzed by dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DHPD), dihydropyrimidinase (DHP) and β-ureidopropionase (β-UP), has emerged as a potential participant in the abiotic stress response of rice.

Methods

The rice enzymes were produced as recombinant proteins, and two were kinetically characterized. Rice dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), an enzyme of pyrimidine biosynthesis often confused with DHPD, was also characterized. Salt-sensitive and salt-resistant rice seedlings were subjected to salt stress (24 h) and metabolites in leaves were determined by mass spectrometry.

Results

The OsDHPD sequence was homologous to the C-terminal half of mammalian DHPD, conserving FMN and uracil binding sites, but lacked sites for Fe/S clusters, FAD, and NADPH. OsDHPD, truncated to eliminate the chloroplast targeting peptide, was soluble, but inactive. Database searches for polypeptides homologous to the N-terminal half of mammalian DHPD, that could act as co-reductants, were unsuccessful. OsDHODH exhibited kinetic parameters similar to those of other plant DHODHs. OsDHP, truncated to remove a signal sequence, exhibited a kcat/Km = 3.6 x 103 s-1M-1. Osb-UP exhibited a kcat/Km = 1.8 x 104 s-1M-1. Short-term salt exposure caused insignificant differences in the levels of the ureide intermediates dihydrouracil and ureidopropionate in leaves of salt-sensitive and salt-resistant plants. Allantoin, a ureide metabolite of purine catabolism, was found to be significantly higher in the resistant cultivar compared to one of the sensitive cultivars.

Discussion

OsDHP, the first plant enzyme to be characterized, showed low kinetic efficiency, but its activity may have been affected by truncation. Osb-UP exhibited kinetic parameters in the range of enzymes of secondary metabolism. Levels of two pathway metabolites were similar in sensitive and resistant cultivars and appeared to be unaffected by short-term salt exposure.”
Genetic analysis and elite tree selection of the main resin components of slash pine
Authors: Ding Xianyin , Li Yanjie , Zhang Yini , Diao Shu , Luan Qifu , Jiang Jingmin
Published: February 2023

Pine resin, as a natural material, has been widely used in food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. Slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm var. elliottii) is the primary tree species for resin tapping due to its high resin yield, low resin crystallization rate, and high turpentine content. Current researches focuse on the targeted improvement of several significant components to meet industrial needs rather than just resin yield. The objective of this study was to examine the genetic variation and correlation of genetic and phenotype for four main resin components (α pinene, β pinene, abietic acid, and levoprimaric acid) of 219 half-sib progenies from 59 families. The results showed that the levopimaric acid had the largest content (mean value = 21.63%), while the β pinene content had the largest variation coefficient (CV = 0.42). The α pinene content has the highest heritability (h2 = 0.67), while levopimaric acid has the lowest heritability (h2 = 0.51). There was a significant negative correlation between α pinene and the other three components and a significant positive correlation between β pinene and the two diterpenes. The family ranking and genetic gain suggested that it is possible to improve the contents of main resin components of slash pine through genetic breeding selection.
Genome-wide association analysis for drought tolerance and associated traits in faba bean (Vicia faba L.)
Authors: Gutiérrez Natalia , Pégard Marie , Balko Christiane , Torres Ana M.
Published: February 2023

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is an important high protein legume adapted to diverse climatic conditions with multiple benefits for the overall sustainability of the cropping systems. Plant-based protein demand is being expanded and faba bean is a good candidate to cover this need. However, the crop is very sensitive to abiotic stresses, especially drought, which severely affects faba bean yield and development worldwide. Therefore, identifying genes associated with drought stress tolerance is a major challenge in faba bean breeding. Although the faba bean response to drought stress has been widely studied, the molecular approaches to improve drought tolerance in this crop are still limited. Here we built on recent genomic advances such as the development of the first high-density SNP genotyping array, to conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using thousands of genetic polymorphisms throughout the entire faba bean genome. A worldwide collection of 100 faba bean accessions was grown under control and drought conditions and 10 morphological, phenological and physiological traits were evaluated to identify single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers associated with drought tolerance. We identified 29 SNP markers significantly correlated with these traits under drought stress conditions. The flanking sequences were blasted to the Medicago truncatula reference genomes in order to annotate potential candidate genes underlying the causal variants. Three of the SNPs for chlorophyll content after the stress, correspond to uncharacterized proteins indicating the presence of novel genes associated with drought tolerance in faba bean. The significance of stress-inducible signal transducers provides valuable information on the possible mechanisms underlying the faba bean response to drought stress, thus providing a foundation for future marker-assisted breeding in the crop.
Evaluation of convolutional neural networks for herbicide susceptibility-based weed detection in turf
Authors: Jin Xiaojun , Liu Teng , McCullough Patrick E. , Chen Yong , Yu Jialin
Published: February 2023

Deep learning methods for weed detection typically focus on distinguishing weed species, but a variety of weed species with comparable plant morphological characteristics may be found in turfgrass. Thus, it is difficult for deep learning models to detect and distinguish every weed species with high accuracy. Training convolutional neural networks for detecting weeds susceptible to herbicides can offer a new strategy for implementing site-specific weed detection in turf. DenseNet, EfficientNet-v2, and ResNet showed high F1 scores (≥0.986) and MCC values (≥0.984) to detect and distinguish the sub-images containing dollarweed, goosegrass, old world diamond-flower, purple nutsedge, or Virginia buttonweed growing in bermudagrass turf. However, they failed to reliably detect crabgrass and tropical signalgrass due to the similarity in plant morphology. When training the convolutional neural networks for detecting and distinguishing the sub-images containing weeds susceptible to ACCase-inhibitors, weeds susceptible to ALS-inhibitors, or weeds susceptible to synthetic auxin herbicides, all neural networks evaluated in this study achieved excellent F1 scores (≥0.995) and MCC values (≥0.994) in the validation and testing datasets. ResNet demonstrated the fastest inference rate and outperformed the other convolutional neural networks on detection efficiency, while the slow inference of EfficientNet-v2 may limit its potential applications. Grouping different weed species growing in turf according to their susceptibility to herbicides and detecting and distinguishing weeds by herbicide categories enables the implementation of herbicide susceptibility-based precision herbicide application. We conclude that the proposed method is an effective strategy for site-specific weed detection in turf, which can be employed in a smart sprayer to achieve precision herbicide spraying.
Different doses of UV-B radiation affect pigmented potatoes’ growth and quality during the whole growth period
Authors: Wu Xiaojie , Chen Bicong , Xiao Jiping , Guo Huachun
Published: February 2023

Introduction

UltraViolet- Biological (UV-B) plays an important role in plant growth and the formation of nutrients, especially secondary metabolites.

Methods

To investigate the phenotypic changes, physiological responses, and internal genes expression of potatoes under enhanced UV-B radiation, two Yunnan native pigmented potatoes varieties named “Huaxinyangyu” and “Jianchuanhong” were exposed to different UV-B doses during whole growth duration.

Results

Pearson correlation analysis and principal component analysis showed that the agronomic characters (i.e. plant height, pitch, stem diameter, and root shoot ratio) of plants treated with low dose ultraviolet (T1) did not change significantly compared with the absence of ultraviolet radiation (CK), even unit yield increased slightly; Similarly, under low UV-B radiation, photosynthetic and physiological parameters (photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, respiration rate, and transpiration rate) of leaves were significantly increased. In addition, low-dose UV-B treatment promoted the synthesis of tuber nutrients (e.g. phenols, chlorogenic acids, flavonoids, vitamin C, anthocyanins) and increased the expression of structural genes for anthocyanin synthesis. The number of nutrients and gene expression in tubers raised by the “Huaxinyangyu” was the highest at 84 days, and “Jianchuanhong” was the highest at 72 days. However, the higher dose of UV-B radiation (T2) will cause greater damage to the pigmented potatoes plants, making the plants reduce the yield, and significantly reduce the tuber nutrients.

Discussion

This study showed that proper ultraviolet radiation will not harm pigmented potatoes, but also improve their oxidative stress tolerance, increase the structure genes expression of anthocyanins and continuously synthesize beneficial substances to improve the yield and quality of potato tubers.
Diaporthe atlantica enhances tomato drought tolerance by improving photosynthesis, nutrient uptake and enzymatic antioxidant response
Authors: Pereira Eric C. , Zabalgogeazcoa Iñigo , Arellano Juan B. , Ugalde Unai , Vázquez de Aldana Beatriz R.
Published: February 2023

Functional symbiosis with fungal endophytes can help plants adapt to environmental stress. Diaporthe atlantica is one of the most abundant fungal taxa associated with roots of Festuca rubra subsp. pruinosa, a grass growing in sea cliffs. This study aimed to investigate the ability of a strain of this fungus to ameliorate the impact of drought stress on tomato plants. In a greenhouse experiment, tomato plants were inoculated with Diaporthe atlantica strain EB4 and exposed to two alternative water regimes: well-watered and drought stress. Several physiological and biochemical plant parameters were evaluated. Inoculation with Diaporthe promoted plant growth in both water treatments. A significant interactive effect of Diaporthe-inoculation and water-regime showed that symbiotic plants had higher photosynthetic capacity, water-use efficiency, nutrient uptake (N, P, K, Fe and Zn), and proline content under drought stress, but not under well-watered conditions. In addition, Diaporthe improved the enzymatic antioxidant response of plants under drought, through an induced mechanism, in which catalase activity was modulated and conferred protection against reactive oxygen species generation during stress. The results support that Diaporthe atlantica plays a positive role in the modulation of tomato plant responses to drought stress by combining various processes such as improving photosynthetic capacity, nutrient uptake, enzymatic antioxidant response and osmo-protectant accumulation. Thus, drought stress in tomato can be enhanced with symbiotic fungi.
Isolation, characterization, and functional verification of salt stress response genes of NAC transcription factors in Ipomoea pes-caprae
Authors: Su Yiren , Liu Yang , Xiao Shizhuo , Wang Yuan , Deng Yitong , Zhao Lukuan , Wang Yao , Zhao Donglan , Dai Xibin , Zhou Zhilin , Cao Qinghe
Published: February 2023

Adverse environmental stress is a major environmental factor threatening food security, which is why improving plant stress resistance is essential for agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability. The NAC (NAM, ATAF, and CUC) transcription factors (TFs) play a dominant role in plant responses to abiotic and biotic stresses, but they have been poorly studied in Ipomoea pes-caprae. In this research, 12 NAC TFs, named IpNAC1–IpNAC12, were selected from transcriptome data. The homologous evolution tree divided IpNACs into four major categories, and six IpNACs were linearly associated with Arabidopsis ANAC genes. From the gene structures, protein domains, and promoter upstream regulatory elements, IpNACs were shown to contain complete NAC-specific subdomains (A–E) and cis-acting elements corresponding to different stress stimuli. We measured the expression levels of the 12 IpNACs under abiotic stress (salt, heat, and drought) and hormone treatment (abscisic acid, methyl jasmonate, and salicylic acid), and their transcription levels differed. IpNAC5/8/10/12 were located in the nucleus through subcellular localization, and the overexpressing transgenic Arabidopsis plants showed high tolerance to salt stress. The cellular Na+ homeostasis content in the mature and elongation zones of the four IpNAC transgenic sweetpotato roots showed an obvious efflux phenomenon. These conclusions demonstrate that IpNAC5/8/10/12 actively respond to abiotic stress, have significant roles in improving plant salt tolerance, and are important salt tolerance candidate genes in I. pes-caprae and sweetpotato. This study laid the foundation for further studies on the function of IpNACs in response to abiotic stress. It provides options for improving the stress resistance of sweetpotato using gene introgression from I. pes-caprae.
Factor structure of post-operative quality of recovery questionnaire (QoR-15): An Italian adaptation and validation
Authors: Rosato Rosalba , Palazzo Valentina , Borghi Felice , Camanni Marco , Puppo Andrea , Delpiano Elena Maria , Pellegrino Luca , Piovano Elisa , Rizzo Alessio , Rolfo Monica , Morino Mario , Allaix Marco Ettore , Testa Silvia , Ciccone Giovannino , Pagano Eva
Published: February 2023

Background

The Quality of Recovery questionnaire (QoR-15) is an English instrument for measuring quality of recovery in surgical patients, not yet translated and validated in Italian when the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Piemonte studies were planned.

Objective

To produce the Italian version of the QoR-15 questionnaire, to evaluate its factorial structure and to assess the invariance between two types of surgery.

Methods

The Italian version (QoR-15I) was obtained translating and adapting the original version to the Italian context. The validation was performed suppling the QoR-15I to 3,784 patients enrolled in two parallel stepped wedge cluster randomised trials (ERAS Colon-rectum Piemonte; ERAS Gyneco Piemonte). The factor structure and its invariance between types of surgery was tested using confirmatory bifactor model and multi-group analysis. Comparative fit index (CFI), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), and standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) fit indices and their changes between nested models were used to assess the factor structure and the invariance.

Results

The bifactor model showed good fit (RMSEA = 0.049, CFI =0.957, SRMR = 0.036) and provided a general recovery factor and two specific factors for physical and mental recovery. Eighty-four percent of the common variance is attributable to the general factor, and thus the QoR-15I is sufficiently ‘one-dimensional’ with an adequate reliability (ωh = 0.70). The ωs values for the physical and mental recovery factors were 0.01 and 0.13, respectively. Multigroup analysis supported configural (RMSEA = 0.053, CFI = 0.950, SRMR = 0.035) and metric invariance (ΔRMSEA = -0.004; ΔCFI = -0.002; ΔSRMR = 0.014), whereas the intercept constraint was removed from item 15 to obtain partial scalar invariance (ΔRMSEA = 0.002; ΔCFI = 0.007; ΔSRMR = 0.004). Construct validity was supported by a negative association of QoR-15I scores with all variables related to worse patient condition and more complex surgery.

Conclusion

Our results support the use of the QoR-15I as a valid, reliable, and clinically feasible tool for measuring the quality of recovery after surgery. The results of the confirmatory factor analyses suggest that a unique recovery score can be calculated and support measurement invariance of the QOR-15I across the two type of surgery, suggesting that the questionnaire has the same meaning and the same measurement parameters in colorectal and gynaecologic patients.
The relationship between student’s perceptions of their school environment and academic achievement
Authors: Edgerton Edward , McKechnie Jim
Published: February 2023

Research within an educational context has demonstrated the importance of variables such as socioeconomic status, gender and school attendance as predictors of academic achievement, however research investigating the role of the physical learning environment on academic achievement is more limited and what research has been conducted often focuses on objective characteristics such as temperature, air quality and noise. In contrast this study measures students’ subjective perceptions of their physical school environment and explores how these perceptions along with socioeconomic status, gender and school attendance relate to academic achievement. In addition, we also examined a range of other important variables that could be potential mediating factors between environmental perceptions and academic achievement. The study was conducted with 441, S5 students in five secondary schools in Scotland. Students completed a questionnaire that measured their perceptions of their school environment, their behavior in school, and their learning goals. In addition, data on student academic achievement, attendance and socioeconomic status was provided by the Local Authority. Regression analysis indicates that students’ subjective perceptions of their physical school environment, along with attendance, socioeconomic status and gender are all significantly related to academic achievement. In addition, subsequent analysis indicates that the relationship between students’ subjective perceptions of their physical school environment and academic achievement is mediated by important “in-school behaviours,” namely engaging behavior and environmental difficulty. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the direct and indirect relationship between student perceptions of their school environment and their academic achievement.
The double-edged sword effect of employee impression management and counterproductive work behavior: From the perspective of self-control resource theory
Authors: Ni Hui , Li Yi , Zeng Yimei , Duan Jia
Published: February 2023

Why do people who seem to be doing well in the workplace occasionally behave badly? Because these employees may be using impression management tactics to create an image. Existing studies have focused on comparing the differences in the use of impression management among different individuals, but cannot explain why a well-behaved individual sometimes behaves badly. Based on the theory of self-control resources, we adopts the survey method of job logs and collects the data of 121 employees. The results show that: (1) the use of self-promotion tactics and ingratiation tactics will promote the depletion of self-control resources. (2) The depletion of self-control resources will encourage employees to engage in counterproductive work behaviors. (3) The effect of self-promotion tactic and ingratiation tactic on the depletion of self-control resources was moderated by emotional intelligence. In the case of high emotional intelligence, this effect is attenuated. And vice versa. (4) Under high emotional intelligence and low emotional intelligence, the indirect effects of self-promotion tactic and ingratiation tactic on employees’ counterproductive work behaviors are significantly different. Our research breaks through the between-individual perspective and illustrates the double-edged sword effect of self-promotion tactic and ingratiation tactic on employee counterproductive work behavior and its mechanism from the internal perspective, which is highly innovative.
Smaller prize, bigger size? Exploring the impact of money on men’s self-reported markers of masculinity
Authors: Christensen Jacob Dalgaard , Otterbring Tobias , Lagerkvist Carl-Johan
Published: February 2023

Bodily markers, often self-reported, are frequently used in research to predict a variety of outcomes. The present study examined whether men, at the aggregate level, would overestimate certain bodily markers linked to masculinity, and if so, to what extent. Furthermore, the study explored whether the amount of monetary rewards distributed to male participants would influence the obtained data quality. Men from two participant pools were asked to self-report a series of bodily measures. All self-report measures except weight were consistently found to be above the population mean (height and penis size) or the scale midpoint (athleticism). Additionally, the participant pool that received the lower (vs. higher) monetary reward showed a particularly powerful deviation from the population mean in penis size and were significantly more likely to report their erect and flaccid penis size to be larger than the claimed but not verified world record of 34 cm. These findings indicate that studies relying on men’s self-reported measures of certain body parts should be interpreted with great caution, but that higher monetary rewards seem to improve data quality slightly for such measures.
Abnormalities in one-carbon metabolism in young patients with psychosis
Authors: Frajerman Ariel , Urban Marie , Rivollier Fabrice , Plaze Marion , Chaumette Boris , Krebs Marie-Odile , Scoriels Linda
Published: February 2023

Introduction

Folates, the main actors in one-carbon (C1) metabolism, are involved in synthesising monoamines and maintaining genomic stability. Previous studies support the association between C1 metabolism and schizophrenia. The main purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of plasma folate, and/or vitamin B12 deficiencies and hyperhomocysteinemia in young patients with psychotic disorders.

Methods

We included young inpatients (15–30 years old) with psychosis between 2014 and 2017 from Sainte-Anne Hospital in Paris. Plasma folate, vitamin B12 deficiency and homocysteinemia dosages were done at admission. Clinical data were extracted retrospectively, and patients diagnosed with a first-episode psychosis (FEP), schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or persistent delusional disorder were retained for the analysis.

Results

Among the 334 inpatients, 188 (56%) had C1 dosages available (135 males; 53 females). From the 188 patients, 32% had a C1 abnormality. This abnormality reached 38% of FEP patients. The most frequent abnormality was folate deficiency: 21% of all patients and 27% of FEP. Lower levels of folates were found in males compared to females (p = 0.02) and were correlated with more severe disorder, as assessed by Clinical Global Impression – Severity (CGI-S; p = 0.009). Antipsychotic dosage was positively associated with B12 levels (p = 0.013) and negatively with homocysteinemia (p = 0.034).

Conclusion

One-carbon metabolism anomalies in young patients with psychotic disorders are highly prevalent, reaching almost half of the patients with FEP. Potential protective effects from females and antipsychotics have emerged. These results spotlight the need for new therapeutic prospects, such as folate supplementation, to achieve personalised medical approaches to the early stages of psychotic disorders.
Personal infection prevention behaviors and campaign to encourage travel during COVID-19: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Shimoda Hayato , Nagata Tomohisa , Ishimaru Tomohiro , Hino Ayako , Ando Hajime , Muramatsu Keiji , Tateishi Seiichiro , Tsuji Mayumi , Mori Koji
Published: February 2023

Introduction

The Go To Travel campaign in Japan was launched to subsidize travel and accommodation costs for tourists through vouchers that could be used at domestic destinations. Infection prevention behavior can lead to refraining from travel owing to infection concerns; conversely, taking preventive action can promote travel. There is a lack of information about the association between infection prevention behaviors and desire to travel. During a pandemic of infection, there is the difficult challenge of balancing the promotion of infection prevention behavior with economic revitalization. Thus, we examined the relationship between personal infection prevention behaviors and using Go To Travel.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study of 26,637 workers who responded to a large-scale questionnaire survey about COVID-19 in Japan. We built multilevel logistic regression models adjusted for confounders to assess the association between each personal infection prevention behavior and using Go To Travel. We analyzed the seven infection prevention behavior individually: wearing a mask when among other people; disinfecting hands with alcohol before going indoors; washing hands after using the toilet; gargling upon returning home; opening a window to ventilate a room; carrying an alcohol sanitizer; and disinfecting hands after touching objects outside.

Results

Among the 26,637 participants, 7,959 (30%) used Go To Travel. For “wearing a mask in the presence of others” and “washing hands after using the toilet,” the majority of respondents answered “almost always: 86.5 and 85.6% respectively. Action “carrying alcohol disinfectant” was the least implemented, with 36.9% of respondents saying “almost never.” Two of the seven preventive behaviors (“disinfecting hands with alcohol before going indoors” and “carrying alcohol disinfectant”) were positively related to using Go To Travel, that is, the more of these actions they took, the more they used Go To Travel (p for trend <0.001).

Conclusions

To balance pandemic preparedness with economic preparedness, it is also necessary to promote travel when the infection situation is calm. However, since human mobility can be a factor that exacerbates the infection situation, it is necessary to promote more infection prevention behaviors among individuals. We confirmed that Go To Travel users were basically doing a good infection prevention behaviors, but they tended not to wash their hands after touching things or carry alcohol sanitizer. It is necessary to encourage these measures to be taken when traveling.
The invisible burden of managing COVID-19 for Australian women: Cognitive labor and public health information
Authors: Lee Ashlin , Kakoschke Naomi , Higgins Liesel , Reeson Andrew , Brindal Emily
Published: February 2023

Providing accurate and timely public health information is an ongoing challenge for public health officials. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated such challenges and presented unique difficulties in providing public health information, through the parallel rise of an “infodemic” of mis/dis-information. Understanding why individuals select, use and change their public health information seeking behaviors around COVID-19, and the relationship of these decisions relative to participant characteristics, is therefore an important step in understanding and responding to infodemics. This study used a qualitative survey (n = 255) and free-text qualitative questions to ask (1) Why participants use an information source, (2) How participants used an information source, and (3) How information seeking behavior has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were primarily women, born in Australia, with de-facto/married relationships, without children at home, with university/college qualifications, and employed full-time or unemployed/retired. Most participants identified “easiness” and “immediacy” as reasons why they chose and used information, with sources primarily used for planning, communication, and decision making. A minority of participants changed their information seeking behavior since the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who did change, desired more immediate and accurate information. Emergent themes of care and anxiety were also noted, raising questions around the impact of mental load and cognitive labor in some female populations. Women may be suffering from increased cognitive labor and a gendering of public health information seeking behavior in the context of COVID-19. The impact of these attributes on women requires greater empirical research and consideration amongst front line practitioners and public health professionals.
Prevalence and associated factors of cross-sectional and incident self-reported arthritis or rheumatism among a national community sample of middle-aged and older adults in Thailand
Authors: Pengpid Supa , Peltzer Karl
Published: February 2023

Background

The study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of cross-sectional and incident arthritis or rheumatism among a national community sample of middle-aged and older adults in Thailand.

Methods

We analyzed cross-sectional and longitudinal data from two consecutive waves (2015 and 2017) of the Health, Aging, and Retirement in Thailand (HART) study. Arthritis or rheumatism (SRA) was assessed by self-reported health care provider diagnosis.

Results

The cross-sectional (baseline) sample included 5,616 participants (≥45 years, median age 66 years, interquartile range 57 to 76 years) and the incident (follow-up) sample included 3,545 participants. The prevalence of SRA in the cross-sectional sample (baseline) was 4.0% and in the incident (follow-up) sample 5.3%. In the cross-sectional multivariable model, obesity class I (aOR: 1.78, 95% CI: 1.19 to 2.67), obesity class II (aOR: 1.82, 95% CI: 1.02 to 3.25), hypertension (aOR: 1.90, 95% CI: 1.35 to 2.66), brain disease and/or psychiatric problems (aOR: 4.79, 95% CI: 2.27 to 10.62), sleep problem (aOR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.01 to 2.07) and prescription drug use (aOR: 1.63, 95% CI: 1.14 to 2.33) were positively associated, and not in the labor force (aOR: 0.53, 95% CI: 0.34 to 0.84), and employed (aOR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.41 to 0.99) were negatively associated with SRA. In the incident multivariable model, obesity class I (aOR: 1.78, 95% CI: 1.17 to 3.61), obesity class II (aOR: 2.01, 95% CI: 1.12 to 3.61), poor mental health (aOR: 1.69, 95% CI: 1.19 to 2.41), and functional disability (aOR: 2.04, 95% CI: 1.01 to 4.13) were positively associated, and current alcohol use (aOR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.25 to 0.99) was negatively associated with SRA.

Conclusion

The middle and older Thai adults had a low prevalence and incidence of SRA, and several physical and mental risk factors for cross-sectional and/or incident SRA were identified.
Do changes in working hours increase stress in Japanese white-collar workers?
Authors: Ozawa Masaki , Anzai Tatsuhiko , Yamauchi Takashi , Takahashi Kunihiko
Published: February 2023

Introduction

High stress at work is associated with negative health outcomes for workers, making stress prevention a critical challenge. Overtime work is an influential stress factor. This study, therefore, aimed to longitudinally evaluate how stress increased depending on changes in working hours among Japanese white-collar workers.

Methods

We targeted 3,874 participants who were full-time workers and were recognized as having low stress in a web-based cohort in 2018 (T1) and 2019 (T2). We performed univariate and multivariate logistic regression with the following variables: years of experience, years of education, medical background, income, and roommates.

Results

We observed a greater increase in stress among female who worked 41–50 h per week at T1 and more than 50 hours per week at T2, and those who worked more than 50 h per week at T1 and 35–40/41–50 h per week at T2, compared to those who worked 41–50 h per week both at T1 and T2, with odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of OR = 2.09, 95% CI (1.18, 3,70); OR =1.86, 95% CI (1.14, 3.03), respectively. However, no association between change in working hours and stress was found among male.

Discussion

These results show that reducing stress requires decreasing working hours as well as identifying factors that lead to high stress.
Association between composite lifestyle factors and cardiometabolic multimorbidity in Chongqing, China: A cross-sectional exploratory study in people over 45 years and older
Authors: Zheng Yuanjie , Zhou Zhongqing , Wu Tingting , Zhong Kailuo , Hu Hailing , Zhang Hengrui , Sun Rong , Liu Weiwei
Published: February 2023

Introduction

Modifiable lifestyle factors are considered key to the control of cardiometabolic diseases. This study aimed to explore the association between multiple lifestyle factors and cardiometabolic multimorbidity.

Methods

A total of 14,968 participants were included in this cross-sectional exploratory study (mean age 54.33 years, range 45–91; 49.6% male). Pearson's Chi-square test, logistic regression, and latent class analysis were employed.

Results

We found that men with 4–5 high-risk lifestyle factors had a 2.54-fold higher risk (95% CI: 1.60–4.04) of developing multimorbidity compared to males with zero high-risk lifestyle factors. In an analysis of dietary behavior, we found that in women compared to men, over-eating (OR = 1.94, P < 0.001) and intra-meal water drinking (OR = 2.15, P < 0.001) were more likely to contribute to the development of cardiometabolic multimorbidity. In an analysis of taste preferences, men may be more sensitive to the effect of taste preferences and cardiometabolic multimorbidity risk, particularly for smoky (OR = 1.71, P < 0.001), hot (OR = 1.62, P < 0.001), and spicy (OR = 1.38, P < 0.001) tastes. Furthermore, “smoking and physical activity” and “physical activity and alcohol consumption” were men's most common high-risk lifestyle patterns. “Physical activity and dietary intake” were women's most common high-risk lifestyle patterns. A total of four common high-risk dietary behavior patterns were found in both males and females.

Conclusions

This research reveals that the likelihood of cardiometabolic multimorbidity increases as high-risk lifestyle factors accumulate. Taste preferences and unhealthy dietary behaviors were found to be associated with an increased risk of developing cardiometabolic multimorbidity and this association differed between genders. Several common lifestyle and dietary behavior patterns suggest that patients with cardiometabolic multimorbidity may achieve better health outcomes if those with certain high-risk lifestyle patterns are identified and managed.
Testing New Materials to Deliver Medicine to Sick Bones
Authors: DuMez Rachel , Skromne Isaac
Published: February 2023

Bones are the building blocks of our skeletons—they give our bodies structure and allow us to walk, dance, and pick things up. Healthy bones are strong, lightweight, hard, and even able to fix themselves when they get worn out or damaged. But if bones get sick, they can no longer repair themselves and they start to break down. One disease that makes bones sick is called osteoporosis and it can be very painful. Currently, doctors cannot cure osteoporosis. While there are medications to slow bone loss, there are no safe treatments to repair bone that is already damaged. Therefore, doctors and scientists are working together to find ways to prevent and even cure diseases like osteoporosis. One important challenge that needs to be addressed is: how can medicine be delivered to sick bones? In this article, we discuss how tiny carbon nanoparticles could help doctors deliver medicine to sick bones to repair them.
The role of open data in digital society: The analysis of scientific trending topics through a bibliometric approach
Authors: Catone Maria Carmela
Published: February 2023

The analysis of contemporary society, characterized by technological, economic, political, social, and cultural changes, has become more challenging due to the development of the internet and information and communication technologies, which provide a vast and increasingly valuable source of information, knowledge, and data. Within this context, so-called open data—that is, data that are made public, especially by public administrations, through an open governance model (transparent and accessible to citizens) are assuming a significant role. This is a topic of growing importance that scientific research is addressing in an attempt to discern the multiplicity of social, educational, legal, technological, statistical, and methodological issues that underlie the creation and use of such data. This article aims to provide insights into understanding scientific trends on the topic of open data through a bibliometric approach. Specifically, a total of 3,110 publications related to the disciplinary fields of the social sciences and humanities published from 2013 to 2022 were collected. The data was then analyzed using network and factorial analysis techniques to detect the conceptual structure to identify the trends of topics and perspectives of research that characterize open data studies.
Intrusion Detection for Electric Vehicle Charging Systems (EVCS)
Authors: ElKashlan Mohamed , Aslan Heba , Said Elsayed Mahmoud , Jurcut Anca D. , Azer Marianne A.
Published: February 2023

The market for Electric Vehicles (EVs) has expanded tremendously as seen in the recent Conference of the Parties 27 (COP27) held at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt in November 2022. This needs the creation of an ecosystem that is user-friendly and secure. Internet-connected Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCSs) provide a rich user experience and add-on services. Eventually, the EVCSs are connected to a management system, which is the Electric Vehicle Charging Station Management System (EVCSMS). Attacking the EVCS ecosystem remotely via cyberattacks is rising at the same rate as physical attacks and vandalism happening on the physical EVCSs. The cyberattack is more severe than the physical attack as it may affect thousands of EVCSs at the same time. Intrusion Detection is vital in defending against diverse types of attacks and unauthorized activities. Fundamentally, the Intrusion Detection System’s (IDS) problem is a classification problem. The IDS tries to determine if each traffic stream is legitimate or malicious, that is, binary classification. Furthermore, the IDS can identify the type of malicious traffic, which is called multiclass classification. In this paper, we address IoT security issues in EVCS by using different machine learning techniques and using the native IoT dataset to discover fraudulent traffic in EVCSs, which has not been performed in any previous research. We also compare different machine learning classifier algorithms for detecting Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks in the EVCS network environment. A typical Internet of Things (IoT) dataset obtained from actual IoT traffic is used in the paper. We compare classification algorithms that are placed in line with the traffic and contain DDoS attacks targeting the EVCS network. The results obtained from this research improve the stability of the EVCS system and significantly reduce the number of cyberattacks that could disrupt the daily life activities associated with the EVCS ecosystem.