Red sour soup (RSS) is a traditional food with rich cultural connotations and nutritional value, unique to the Kaili region of Guizhou Province, China. However, the existing packaging design lacks cultural characteristics and visual appeal, which greatly limits its market potential. This study proposes a systematic research framework for RSS packaging design by integrating NLP, Kansei engineering, and semiotics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTime estimation is an essential prerequisite underlying various cognitive functions. Previous studies identified 'sequential firing' and 'activity ramps' as the primary neuron activity patterns in the medial frontal cortex (mPFC) that could convey information regarding time. However, the relationship between these patterns and the timing behavior has not been fully understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth Econ Policy Law
December 2024
Prior to the No Surprises Act (NSA), numerous states passed laws protecting patients from surprise medical bills from out-of-network (OON) hospital-based physicians supporting elective treatment in in-network hospitals. Even in non-emergency situations, patients have little ability to choose physicians such as anaesthesiologists, pathologists or radiologists. Using a comprehensive, multi-payer claims database, we estimated the effect of these laws on hospital-based physician reimbursement, charges, network participation and potential surprise billing episodes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin J Am Soc Nephrol
December 2024
Background: Unintentional weight loss, a hallmark of frailty, predicts worse post-kidney transplantation (KT) outcomes. However, weight loss in candidates with obesity is often recommended to enhance transplant eligibility. We tested whether pre-evaluation weight change is associated with listing/waitlist mortality, considering intentionality and frailty.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Guidelines currently recommend annual screening for albuminuria only among persons with diabetes mellitus (DM). There is no guidance about albuminuria screening in those with other important risk factors for chronic kidney disease (CKD), such as hypertension and/or family history of kidney disease. We sought to create a risk score that predicts the likelihood of albuminuria in adults without diabetes to prompt earlier detection and management of CKD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This study aimed to explore the effect of household solid fuel usage on the multimorbidity trajectories among middle-aged and older adults.
Methods: Based on the 2011-2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, the group-based trajectory modeling and the multinomial logistic regression model were used to explore the relationship between multimorbidity trajectories of older adults with different fuel types, duration of solid fuel usage, and potential interaction with PM. Three multimorbidity trajectory patterns were identified by group-based trajectory modeling and labeled as "non-chronic morbidity" (no disease increase), "newly developing multimorbidity" (diseases grew from 0 to 2), and "multi-chronic multimorbidity" (diseases grew from 2 to 4).
Background: Kidney transplant (KT) candidates often experience hospitalizations, increasing their delirium risk. Hospitalizations and delirium are associated with worse post-KT outcomes, yet their relationship with pre-KT outcomes is less clear. Pre-KT delirium may worsen access to KT due to its negative impact on cognition and ability to maintain overall health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There is a high morbidity of polyps in the digestive tract, and certain subtypes of polyps are thought to induce cancer progression and often recur, which may be associated with chronic inflammation. Mendelian randomization (MR) can help identify potential causative relationships and inform early treatment action.
Methods: We performed a bidirectional two-sample MR analysis implementing the results from genome-wide association studies for 41 serum cytokines from 8,293 Finnish individuals, and three types of polyps from European ancestry, respectively, including gastric polyp (6,155 cases vs.
Background: Fewer minoritized patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) receive kidney transplantation (KT); efforts to mitigate disparities have thus far failed. Pinpointing the specific stage(s) within the transplant care continuum (being informed of KT options, joining the waiting list, to receiving KT) where disparities emerge among each minoritized population is pivotal for achieving equity. We therefore quantified racial and ethnic disparities across the KT care continuum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Dietary restrictions for patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) are burdensome. Kidney transplantation (KT) candidates who lack neighborhood resources and are burdened by dietary restrictions may have decreased access to KT.
Methods: In our two-center prospective cohort study (2014-2023), 2471 ESKD patients who were evaluated for KT (candidates) reported their perceived burden of dietary restrictions (not at all, somewhat/moderately, or extremely bothered).
Objective: To examine the effects of New York's surprise billing regulations on price changes by emergency ground ambulance service providers.
Study Design: We exploited a natural experiment using a difference-in-differences design with randomization inference (RI) to examine the effects of New York state regulations on the prices of emergency ground ambulances, analyzing 2012-2019 commercial claims data. In March 2015, New York implemented a law protecting patients from surprise out-of-network (OON) balance bills, including ground ambulance services.
Patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) are reported to have an increased risk of developing severe infections, leading to hospitalizations with sepsis. However, data regarding the impact of comorbid NAFLD on in-hospital outcomes of patients with sepsis is scarce. This nationwide retrospective observational study using discharge data from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS), Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality included 21,057,911 adult patients who were admitted to hospitals in the United States between 2000 and 2019 with a primary discharge diagnosis of sepsis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF(1) Background: Diet plays an important role in the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). There are a number of methods available to assess the diets of patients with IBD, including nutrients, dietary patterns, and various appraisal tools of diet quality. However, research on diet quality and dietary patterns in IBD populations is limited, and comparative evaluations of dietary intake in patients with IBD have not been performed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Transplant
September 2024
Breast cancer is a leading cause of female mortality and despite advancements in personalized therapeutics, metastatic disease largely remains incurable due to drug resistance. The estrogen receptor (ER, ESR1) is expressed in two-thirds of all breast cancer, and under endocrine stress, somatic ESR1 mutations arise in approximately 30% of cases that result in endocrine resistance. We and others reported ESR1 fusions as a mechanism of ER-mediated endocrine resistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe manipulation of multiple transcription units for simultaneous and coordinated expression is not only key to building complex genetic circuits to accomplish diverse functions in synthetic biology, but is also important in crop breeding for significantly improved productivity and overall performance. However, building constructs with multiple independent transcription units for fine-tuned and coordinated regulation is complicated and time-consuming. Here, we introduce the Multiplex Expression Cassette Assembly (MECA) method, which modifies canonical vectors compatible with Golden Gate Assembly, and then uses them to produce multi-cassette constructs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Obesogenic medications are a putative contributor to the obesity epidemic. While 20% of adults take ≥1 obesogenic medication, the proportion in the end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) population-a group enriched for cardiometabolic complications-is unknown. Obesogenic medications may contribute to obesity and hamper weight loss efforts to achieve transplant listing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: As health education robots may potentially become a significant support force in nursing practice in the future, it is imperative to adhere to the European Union's concept of "Responsible Research and Innovation" (RRI) and deeply reflect on the ethical risks hidden in the process of intelligent robotic health education.
Aim: This study explores the perceptions of professional nursing professionals regarding the potential ethical risks associated with the clinical practice of intelligent robotic health education.
Research Design: This study adopts a descriptive phenomenological approach, employing Colaizzi's seven-step method for data analysis.
Introduction: Frailty and cognitive function are often measured during kidney transplant evaluation. However, patient perspectives on the ethical considerations of this practice are unclear.
Research Question: What are patient perspectives on the use of aging metrics in kidney transplant decision-making?
Design: One hundred participants who were evaluated for kidney transplantation and were enrolled in an ongoing prospective cohort study (response rate = 61.
Int J Biol Macromol
October 2024
Lesion mimic mutants (LMMs) refer to the spontaneous formation of disease-like spots on leaves without any obvious pathogen infection. The LMM genes can regulate plant immunity, thus promoting the defense of crops against pathogens. However, there is a lack of systematic understanding of the regulatory mechanism of LMMs in wheat.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Medical distrust may hinder kidney transplantation (KT) access. Among KT candidates evaluated for waitlisting, we identified factors associated with high distrust levels and quantified their association with waitlisting.
Methods: Among 812 candidates (2018-2023), we assessed distrust using the Revised Health Care System Distrust Scale across composite, competence, and values subscales.