Determining an optimal case definition using mid-upper arm circumference with or without weight for age to identify childhood wasting in the Philippines.

In resource-limited areas, where accurate weight-for-height Z-scores are hard to obtain, Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) is a simple tool to identify wasted children. MUAC alone, however, may miss identification of many wasted children, leading to untimely intervention and potentially death. Our study aimed to identify the best-performing case definition to detect wasting by Weight-for-Height z-scores (WHZ) in Filipino children aged 6-59 months.

Exposure to diesel-related particulate matter, cortisol stress responsivity, and depressive symptoms in adolescents.

Exposure to air pollution is associated with higher risk for psychopathology; however, the mechanisms underlying this association are not clear. Dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in response to stress has been implicated in depression. Here, we estimated annual exposure to particulate matter (PM) from diesel emissions in 170 9- to 15-year-old adolescents (56 % female) using their residential addresses and data from nearby monitoring sites.

Recent secondary contact, genome-wide admixture, and asymmetric introgression of neo-sex chromosomes between two Pacific island bird species.

Secondary contact between closely related taxa represents a "moment of truth" for speciation-an opportunity to test the efficacy of reproductive isolation that evolved in allopatry and to identify the genetic, behavioral, and/or ecological barriers that separate species in sympatry. Sex chromosomes are known to rapidly accumulate differences between species, an effect that may be exacerbated for neo-sex chromosomes that are transitioning from autosomal to sex-specific inheritance. Here we report that, in the Solomon Islands, two closely related bird species in the honeyeater family-Myzomela cardinalis and Myzomela tristrami-carry neo-sex chromosomes and have come into recent secondary contact after ~1.

Do Mathematics and Reading Skills Impact Student Science Outcomes?

Establishing validated science programs for students with or at risk for learning disabilities requires testing treatment effects and exploring differential response patterns. This study explored whether students' initial mathematics and reading skills influenced their treatment response to a whole-class, second-grade science program called Scientific Explorers (Sci2). The original Sci2 study employed a cluster randomized controlled design and included 294 students from 18 second-grade classrooms.

Effects of Pollution Burden on Neural Function During Implicit Emotion Regulation and Longitudinal Changes in Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents.

Background: Exposure to environmental pollutants early in life has been associated with increased prevalence and severity of depression in adolescents; however, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying this association are not well understood. In the current longitudinal study, we investigated whether pollution burden in early adolescence (9-13 years) was associated with altered brain activation and connectivity during implicit emotion regulation and changes in depressive symptoms across adolescence.

Methods: One hundred forty-five participants ( = 87 female; 9-13 years) provided residential addresses, from which we determined their relative pollution burden at the census tract level, and performed an implicit affective regulation task in the scanner.

Linking nursing students' professional identity, clinical learning environment, financial incentives, and career opportunities with migration intent: Structural equation modeling.

Aims: To investigate how nursing students' professional identity, clinical learning environment, financial incentives, and career opportunities influence their intention to migrate.

Background: There is a preponderance of studies about nurse migration and its impact on the global nursing workforce. However, a critical gap remains about nursing students' intentions to migrate, particularly among developing countries like the Philippines.

Socioeconomic Disadvantage Moderates the Association of Systemic Inflammation With Amygdala Volume in Adolescents Over a 2-Year Interval: An Exploratory Study.

Background: Research has demonstrated an association between elevated systemic inflammation and changes in brain function. Affective areas of the brain involved in processing threat (e.g.

CoaguChek and Coag-Sense PT2 Meter Point of Care INR Device Validation.

Objective: To standardize international normalized ratio (INR) measurements and improve data integrity by enabling electronic result transmission for warfarin monitoring, two point-of-care (POC) devices were evaluated against an internal plasma INR reference method.

Methods: A multicenter study was pursued (January 24, 2022, through October 19, 2022) to compare concordance of two commercially available POC devices, Coag-Sense PT2 Meter (Coag-Sense) and CoaguChek XS Pro and Plus devices (CoaguChek), against an internal plasma INR method among patients treated with warfarin. Bias and linear regression analysis were assessed for these devices including dosing decision accuracy compared with plasma INR reference.

The Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada: Opportunities and Recommendations for Modernization.

Context: The 2008 Public Health Agency of Canada's (PHAC's) "Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada" (the "Canadian core competencies") outline the skills, attitudes, and knowledge essential for the practice of public health. The core competencies represent an important part of public health practice, workforce development, and education in Canada and internationally. However, the core competencies are considered outdated and are facing calls for review, expansion, and revision.

Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation modifies cortical excitability in middle-aged and older adults.

There is a growing interest in the clinical application of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS). However, its effect on cortical excitability, and whether this is modulated by stimulation duration, remains unclear. We evaluated whether taVNS can modify excitability in the primary motor cortex (M1) in middle-aged and older adults and whether the stimulation duration moderates this effect.

The cortisol/DHEA ratio mediates the association between early life stress and externalizing problems in adolescent boys.

Background: Despite evidence that early life stress (ELS) can influence the functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and increase maladaptive behaviors in adolescence, less attention has been paid to the role of the coordinated effects of the two primary adrenal hormones, cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), in these associations.

Methods: 138 typically developing adolescents (76 females) reported the stressful events experienced during childhood and early adolescence across 30 domains. Two years later we assessed levels of externalizing problems and obtained salivary levels of cortisol and DHEA.

Neighborhood disadvantage and parenting predict longitudinal clustering of uncinate fasciculus microstructural integrity and clinical symptomatology in adolescents.

Parenting behaviors and neighborhood environment influence the development of adolescents' brains and behaviors. Simultaneous trajectories of brain and behavior, however, are understudied, especially in these environmental contexts. In this four-wave study spanning 9-18 years of age (N=224 at baseline, N=138 at final assessment) we used longitudinal k-means clustering to identify clusters of participants with distinct trajectories of uncinate fasciculus (UF) fractional anisotropy (FA) and anxiety symptoms; we examined behavioral outcomes and identified environmental factors that predicted cluster membership.

The growing interdisciplinarity of developmental psychopathology: Implications for science and training.

The field of developmental psychopathology has grown exponentially over the past decades, and has become increasingly multifaceted. The initial focus on understanding abnormal child psychology has broadened to the study of the origins of psychopathology, with the goals of preventing and alleviating disorder and promoting healthy development. In this paper, we discuss how technological advances and global events have expanded the questions that researchers in developmental psychopathology can address.

Clinical application of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation: a scoping review.

Purpose: Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is an emerging non-invasive neuromodulation therapy. This study aimed to explore the therapeutic use of taVNS, optimal stimulation parameters, effective sham protocols, and safety.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted.

Disruption of the autism-associated gene alters synaptic development and neuronal signaling in patient iPSC-glutamatergic neurons.

is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk gene and encodes a voltage-gated sodium channel. However, the impact of ASD-associated SCN2A variants on human neuron development is unknown. We studied SCN2A using isogenic induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and patient-derived iPSCs harboring a R607* truncating variant.

Associations among early life adversity, sleep disturbances, and depressive symptoms in adolescent females and males: a longitudinal investigation.

Background: Exposure to adversity early in life (ELA) has been associated with elevated risk for depression during adolescence, particularly for females; the mechanisms underlying this association, however, are poorly understood. One potential mechanism linking ELA and sex differences in depressive symptoms is sleep disturbances, which increase during adolescence and are more common in females. Here, we examined whether sleep disturbances mediate the association between ELA and increases in depressive symptoms during adolescence and whether this mediation differs by sex.

Early life stress predicts trajectories of emotional problems and hippocampal volume in adolescence.

Exposure to early life stress (ELS) has been consistently associated with adverse emotional and neural consequences in youth. The development of brain structures such as the hippocampus, which plays a significant role in stress and emotion regulation, may be particularly salient in the development of psychopathology. Prior work has documented smaller hippocampal volume (HCV) in relation to both ELS exposure and risk for psychopathology.

Safety of Single High-Dose Liposomal Amphotericin B for Induction Treatment of Cryptococcal Meningitis and Histoplasmosis in People With HIV: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Evidence for efficacy of single, high-dose liposomal amphotericin B (LAmB) in HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis and histoplasmosis is growing. No systematic review has examined the safety of this regimen across multiple studies.

Methods: We systematically searched Medline, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library from inception to April 2023 for studies reporting grade 3 and 4 adverse events (AEs) with single high-dose LAmB vs traditional amphotericin regimens for HIV-associated fungal infections.

Early life stress, sleep disturbances, and depressive symptoms during adolescence: The role of the cingulum bundle.

Adolescence is often characterized by sleep disturbances that can affect the development of white matter tracts implicated in affective and cognitive regulation, including the cingulate portion of the cingulum bundle (CGC) and the uncinate fasciculus (UF). These effects may be exacerbated in adolescents exposed to early life adversity (ELA). We examined the longitudinal relations between sleep problems and CGC and UF microstructure during adolescence and their relation to depressive symptoms as a function of exposure to ELA.

Moderate intensity aerobic exercise may enhance neuroplasticity of the contralesional hemisphere after stroke: a randomised controlled study.

Upregulation of neuroplasticity might help maximize stroke recovery. One intervention that appears worthy of investigation is aerobic exercise. This study aimed to determine whether a single bout of moderate intensity aerobic exercise can enhance neuroplasticity in people with stroke.

Corticostriatal Connectivity during Prosocial Decision-making Relates to Giving Behavior during Adolescence.

Prosocial behavior during adolescence becomes more differentiated based on the recipient of the action as well as the perceived value or benefit, relative to the cost to self, for the recipients. The current study investigated how functional connectivity of corticostriatal networks tracked the value of prosocial decisions as a function of target recipient (caregiver, friend, stranger) and age of the giver, and how they related to giving behavior. Two hundred sixty-one adolescents (9-15 and 19-20 years of age) completed a decision-making task in which they could give money to caregivers, friends, and strangers while undergoing fMRI.

"Two Is Better Than One": The Multifactorial Nature of Phage-Antibiotic Combinatorial Treatments Against ESKAPE-Induced Infections.

Phage-antibiotic synergy (PAS) has been extensively explored over the past decade, with the aim of developing more effective treatments against multidrug-resistant organisms. However, it remains unclear how to effectively combine these two approaches. To address this uncertainty, we assessed four main aspects of PAS interactions in this review, seeking to identify commonalities of combining treatments within and between bacterial species.

Quantifying patient experiences with therapeutic neurorehabilitation technologies: a scoping review.

Purpose: Neurorehabilitation technologies are a novel approach to providing rehabilitation for patients with neurological conditions. There is a need to explore patient experiences. This study aimed; 1) To identify available questionnaires that assess patients' experiences with neurorehabilitation technologies, and 2) where reported, to document the psychometric properties of the identified questionnaires.

Replicate contact zones suggest a limited role of plumage in reproductive isolation among subspecies of the variable seedeater (Sporophila corvina).

After establishing secondary contact, recently diverged populations may remain reproductively isolated or may hybridize to a varying extent depending on factors such as hybrid fitness and the strength of assortative mating. Here, we used genomic and phenotypic data from three independent contact zones between subspecies of the variable seedeater (Sporophila corvina) to examine how coloration and genetic divergence shape patterns of hybridization. We found that differences in plumage coloration are probably maintained by divergent selection across contact zones; however, the degree of plumage differentiation does not match overall patterns of hybridization.