Publications by authors named "Ching C"

Accurately predicting individual antidepressant treatment response could expedite the lengthy trial-and-error process of finding an effective treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD). We tested and compared machine learning-based methods that predict individual-level pharmacotherapeutic treatment response using cortical morphometry from multisite longitudinal cohorts. We conducted an international analysis of pooled data from six sites of the ENIGMA-MDD consortium (n = 262 MDD patients; age = 36.

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Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health crisis that is predicted to worsen in the coming years. While improper antibiotic usage is an established driver, less is known about the impact of other endogenous and exogeneous environmental factors, such as metals, on AMR. One metal of interest is zinc as it is often used as a supplement for diarrhea treatment prior to antibiotics.

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Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are at the top of the pyramid of evidence as they offer the best answer on the efficacy of a new treatment. RCTs are true experiments in which participants are randomly allocated to receive a certain intervention (experimental group) or a different intervention (comparison group), or no treatment at all (control or placebo group). Randomization, along with other methodological features such as blinding and allocation concealment, safeguard against biases.

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Healthcare-associated infection (HAI) is the most common adverse medical event that affects patients. Internationally, healthcare workers (HCWs) are monitored for hand hygiene compliance to reduce HAI risk. While direct observation is considered the gold standard for monitoring, it has several disadvantages.

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Background: Screening for frequent hospitalizations in the community can help prevent super-utilizers from growing in the inpatient population. However, the determinants of frequent hospitalizations have not been systematically examined, their operational definitions have been inconsistent, and screening among community members lacks tools. Nor do we know if what determined frequent hospitalizations before COVID-19 continued to be the determinant of frequent hospitalizations at the height of the pandemic.

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  • * The paper discusses advanced detection methods, including ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UPLC-HRMS) and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS), which can identify 117 different AAS and corticosteroids at very low concentrations.
  • * Successful application of these methods is confirmed through testing of proficiency samples and real cases, such as the detection of nandrolone in hair samples from horses that had been administered the steroid.
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  • Early-onset restrictive eating disorders (rEO-ED), including early-onset anorexia nervosa (EO-AN) and avoidant restrictive food intake disorders (ARFID), have unknown impacts on brain development.
  • A study comparing brain features through MRI in children under 13 with EO-AN, ARFID, and typically developing peers revealed differing brain structures despite similar BMI, indicating unique brain mechanisms for each disorder.
  • Findings suggest EO-AN is linked to thinner cortex structures, while ARFID patients showed reduced surface area and subcortical volume, highlighting the need for further research on the relationship between low BMI and neurodevelopmental impacts in eating disorders.
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  • T cell therapies, like CAR and TCR T cells, are emerging cancer treatments, but improving their effectiveness requires understanding their behavior in populations.
  • The authors developed advanced tools using live-cell imaging to track and analyze modified T cells interacting with tumor cells, focusing on their morphology, movement, and interactions.
  • They found that specific genetic modifications in TCR T cells led to longer interaction times and better activation against cancer cells, while other modifications increased T cell growth, paving the way for more effective cancer therapies.
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Background: Chronic kidney disease patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) are at a high risk of developing sarcopenia. This study aimed to validate the performance of ultrasound (US) measurements of the vastus lateralis (VL) for estimating muscle mass and diagnosing sarcopenia in CKD patients with HD.

Methods: Forty-six patients were enrolled in this study.

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  • The study investigates the effectiveness and safety of pulsed field ablation (PFA) for treating atrial fibrillation (AF) in Asia, specifically focusing on its use for pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) and optional posterior wall ablation (PWA).
  • A total of 101 AF patients were analyzed, revealing a 1-year atrial arrhythmia recurrence rate of 10% for paroxysmal AF and 21% for persistent AF, with no significant differences in efficacy between PVI-only and PVI + PWA approaches.
  • The research concludes that PFA is a safe and effective method for AF ablation, with the additional PWA not leading to increased complications while maintaining procedural efficiency.*
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  • Advances in deep learning, specifically using a technique called SPHARM-Net, show potential in predicting clinical factors from brain MRI images.
  • The study utilized MRI-derived metrics like cortical curvature and thickness to predict age, sex, and Alzheimer's disease.
  • SPHARM-Net achieved strong classification accuracy for sex (91%) and age (average error of 2.97 years) while also performing well for Alzheimer's classification (86%), suggesting it could be useful for future clinical applications.
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Meditation is a family of ancient and contemporary contemplative mind-body practices that can modulate psychological processes, awareness, and mental states. Over the last 40 years, clinical science has manualized meditation practices and designed various meditation interventions that have shown therapeutic efficacy for disorders including depression, pain, addiction, and anxiety. Over the past decade, neuroimaging has been used to examine the neuroscientific basis of meditation practices, effects, states, and outcomes for clinical and nonclinical populations.

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Although specific risk factors for brain alterations in bipolar disorders (BD) are currently unknown, obesity impacts the brain and is highly prevalent in BD. Gray matter correlates of obesity in BD have been well documented, but we know much less about brain white matter abnormalities in people who have both obesity and BD. We obtained body mass index (BMI) and diffusion tensor imaging derived fractional anisotropy (FA) from 22 white matter tracts in 899 individuals with BD, and 1287 control individuals from 20 cohorts in the ENIGMA-BD working group.

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Introduction: Remote monitoring (RM) for cardiac implantable electronic devices is on the rise and has been shown to reduce the burden of in-clinic follow-up visits. We aimed to investigate the long-term clinical outcomes of RM versus no RM.

Methods: This was a prospective, single-centre cohort study of consecutive patients with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) or cardiac resynchronisation therapy-defibrillator (CRT-D) followed up from 2018 to 2023.

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  • Endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes communicate through paracrine signals to maintain heart health and function, impacting both development and performance.
  • The study reviews how signals from endothelial cells affect cardiomyocyte growth and contraction, while cardiomyocytes influence blood vessel formation and tone.
  • Disruptions in this cell communication can lead to various diseases, underscoring the importance of understanding their interaction for potential treatments and diagnostics.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat to global health and resistant bacterial populations have been observed to develop and spread in and around wastewater. However, studies on AMR development are typically conducted in ideal media conditions which can differ in composition and nutrient density from wastewater. In this study, we compare the growth and AMR development of in standard LB broth to a synthetic wastewater recipe and autoclaved wastewater samples from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA).

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Proper organ functioning relies on adequate blood circulation; thus, monitoring blood flow is crucial for early disease diagnosis. Laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) is a noninvasive technique that is widely used for measuring superficial blood flow. In this study, we developed a portable LSCI system using an 805-nm near-infrared laser and a monochrome CMOS camera with a 10 × macro zoom lens.

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  • Subcortical brain structures play a crucial role in various developmental and psychiatric disorders, and a study analyzed brain volumes in 74,898 individuals, identifying 254 genetic loci linked to these volumes, which accounted for up to 35% of variation.
  • The research included exploring gene expression in specific neural cell types, focusing on genes involved in intracellular signaling and processes related to brain aging.
  • The findings suggest that certain genetic variants not only influence brain volume but also have potential causal links to conditions like Parkinson’s disease and ADHD, highlighting the genetic basis for risks associated with neuropsychiatric disorders.
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