Comparison of colorectal cancer surgery patients in intensive care between rural and metropolitan hospitals in Australia: a national cohort study.

Purpose: A small proportion of colorectal cancer (CRC) surgical patients will require an admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) within the early postoperative period. This study aimed to compare the characteristics and outcomes of patients admitted to an ICU following CRC surgery per hospital type (metropolitan vs. rural) over a decade in Australia.

Dose-dependent impact of intact cell fraction on in vitro starch digestion of common bean-based flour blends.

Pulse flours consisting of isolated cotyledon cells (ICC) have been incorporated in foods with delayed amylolysis. To optimize the cost-benefit ratio, understanding how the dosage of cellular ingredient affects starch digestibility is essential. Therefore, dose-response relationships were established to evaluate the sensitivity of amylolysis kinetics to the inclusion of intact cells in whole common bean-based flours.

The application of design of experiments and artificial neural networks in the evaluation of the impact of acidic conditions on cloud point extraction.

This study aimed to analyze the impact of acidic conditions on the recovery of ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin for cloud point extraction with the Design of Experiments and Artificial Neural Networks. The design included 27 experiments featuring three repetitions of the central point for both drugs. The tested parameters included Triton X-114 concentration, HCl concentration, NaCl concentration, and incubation temperature, which were coded at five levels.

Exploring continual learning strategies in artificial neural networks through graph-based analysis of connectivity: Insights from a brain-inspired perspective.

Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) aim at mimicking information processing in biological networks. In cognitive neuroscience, graph modeling is a powerful framework widely used to study brain structural and functional connectivity. Yet, the extension of graph modeling to ANNs has been poorly explored especially in terms of functional connectivity (i.

Simulated breathing in virtual reality does not affect perceived effort during the physical rehabilitation of people with long COVID.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of simulated breathing in virtual reality (VR) for manipulating the level of perceived effort of people with long COVID during sessions of physical rehabilitation.

Methods: We conducted a within-participants randomized prospective study during a cycling exercise in immersive VR with three counterbalanced conditions of simulated breathing: slower breathing, neutral breathing, and faster breathing compared to theirs. 37 participants with long COVID and deconditioning were included in the study, 36 of which could finish the experiment.

Overcoming challenges to optimize the clinical and financial benefits of in-home rehabilitation services.

The authors advocate for the implementation of value-based principles to address the underutilization and limited supply of home care and rehabilitation services.

Development and Implementation of Oral Anticancer Agent Tools for a Thematic Quality Improvement Program: A Collaboration Between Hematology Oncology Pharmacist Association and ASCO Quality Training Program.

Purpose: The Hematology Oncology Pharmacist Association Oral Chemotherapy Collaborative (HOPA OCC) developed practice-based tools to use in program development and improvement for the management of patients receiving oral anticancer agents (OAAs).

Methods: These tools include a baseline OAA program assessment, clinical OAA adherence tool, and OAA dashboard. HOPA OCC distributed these tools to teams participating in the 6-month HOPA ASCO Quality Training Programs (QTPs).

Effectiveness of Oral Prophylactic Antibiotics for Diagnostic Bronchoscopy: A Nationwide Database Study.

Rationale: Although the guidelines generally omit routine antibiotic prophylaxis for diagnostic bronchoscopy, this recommendation is primarily based on studies with relatively small sample sizes conducted at single institutions. Moreover, the applicability of recent technical and procedural advancements to these guidelines remains uncertain.

Objectives: To evaluate whether oral prophylactic antibiotic administration for diagnostic bronchoscopy reduces post-bronchoscopy infections among non-infectious diseases in the current setting.

Ambient Air Pollution and COPD: The Multiethnic Cohort Study.

Rationale: Globally, in 2019, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was the third leading cause of death. While tobacco smoking is the predominant risk factor, the role of long-term air pollution exposure in increasing risk of COPD remains unclear. Moreover, there are few studies that have been conducted in racial and ethnic minoritized and socioeconomically diverse populations, while accounting for smoking history and other known risk factors.

Evaluating Machine Learning and Deep Learning models for predicting Wind Turbine power output from environmental factors.

This study presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) models for predicting Wind Turbine (WT) power output based on environmental variables such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction. Along with Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Recurrent Neural Network (RNN), and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), the following ML models were looked at: Linear Regression (LR), Support Vector Regressor (SVR), Random Forest (RF), Extra Trees (ET), Adaptive Boosting (AdaBoost), Categorical Boosting (CatBoost), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM). Using a dataset of 40,000 observations, the models were assessed based on R-squared, Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE).

Outpatient Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Intensity: Linking Massachusetts Cancer Registry with All-Payer Claims.

Background: Early palliative care is associated with better outcomes for patients with advanced-stage cancers. Using a novel data linkage, we assessed outpatient palliative care use before death and its association with end-of-life care intensity and variation across eight provider networks.

Methods: We linked Massachusetts Cancer Registry and the All-Payer Claims Database for individuals with commercial insurance, Medicaid or Medicare Advantage diagnosed with colorectal, lung, prostate, and breast cancers from 2010 through 2013 who died by December 31, 2014.

Neonatal but not Juvenile Gene Therapy Reduces Seizures and Prolongs Lifespan in SCN1B-Dravet Syndrome Mice.

Dravet syndrome (DS) is a developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) that begins in the first year of life. While most cases of DS are caused by variants in SCN1A, variants in SCN1B, encoding voltage-gated sodium channel β1 subunits, are also linked to DS or to the more severe early infantile DEE. Both disorders fall under the OMIM term DEE52.

Genome-Wide Analysis of the CsAP2/ERF Gene Family of Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis) and Joint Analysis of Transcriptional Metabolism under Salt Stress.

Background: Sweet orange is an important economic crop, and salt stress can inhibit its growth and development.

Methods: In this study, we identified AP2/ERF genes in sweet orange via bioinformatics and performed a combined transcription‒metabolism analysis, which revealed for the first time the integrated molecular mechanism of salt stress regulation in sweet orange.

Key Results: A total of 131 sweet orange AP2/ERF genes were identified and categorized into five groups.

Repeatome landscapes and cytogenetics of hortensias provide a framework to trace Hydrangea evolution and domestication.

Background And Aims: Ornamental hortensias are bred from a reservoir of over 200 species in the genus Hydrangea s.l. (Hydrangeaceae), and are valued in gardens, households and landscapes across the globe.

A systematic review suggests extension and redefinition of a food-deception pollination syndrome involving anautogenous flies.

Background And Aims: The currently recognized diversity of pollination strategies requires pollination syndromes to be updated. Described a decade ago, kleptomyiophily is a deceptive pollination system in which plants exploit the nutrient-seeking behavior of females of kleptoparasitic flies (Chloropidae and Milichiidae) by olfactorily mimicking their insect host. Such a pollination system was already hypothesized for pollination by biting midges (Ceratopogonidae) but has never been formalized.

Genetic ancestry superpopulations show distinct prevalence and outcomes across pediatric central nervous system tumors from the PBTA and PNOC.

Background: Central nervous system (CNS) tumors lead to cancer-related mortality in children. Genetic ancestry-associated cancer prevalence and outcomes have been studied, but is limited.

Methods: We performed genetic ancestry prediction in 1,452 pediatric patients with paired normal and tumor whole genome sequencing from the Open Pediatric Cancer (OpenPedCan) project to evaluate the influence of reported race and ethnicity and ancestry-based genetic superpopulations on tumor histology, molecular subtype, survival, and treatment.

Integrating RNA-seq and scRNA-seq to explore the prognostic features and immune landscape of exosome-related genes in breast cancer metastasis.

Objective: This study aims to explore the role of exosome-related genes in breast cancer (BRCA) metastasis by integrating RNA-seq and single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) data from BRCA samples and to develop a reliable prognostic model.

Methods: Initially, a comprehensive analysis was conducted on exosome-related genes from the BRCA cohort in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Three prognostic genes (JUP, CAPZA1 and ARVCF) were identified through univariate Cox regression and Lasso-Cox regression analyses, and a metastasis-related risk score model was established based on these genes.

Identification of genetic variants of the gene in association with COPD susceptibility.

Background: Although existing studies have identified some genetic loci associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) susceptibility, many variants remain to be discovered. The aim of this study was to further explore the potential relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and COPD risk.

Methods: Nine hundred and ninety-six subjects were recruited (498 COPD cases and 498 healthy controls).

Global burden and trends of the infection-associated diseases from 1990 to 2021: an observational trend study.

Background: This study was aimed to explore the global burden and trends of Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI) associated diseases.

Methods: Data for this study were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. The burden of CDI was assessed using the age-standardized rates of disability-adjusted life years (ASR-DALYs) and deaths (ASDRs).

Innate immune cells in vascular lesions: mechanism and significance of diversified immune regulation.

Angiogenesis is a complex physiological process. In recent years, the immune regulation of angiogenesis has received increasing attention, and innate immune cells, which are centred on macrophages, are thought to play important roles in vascular neogenesis and development. Various innate immune cells can act on the vasculature through a variety of mechanisms, with commonalities as well as differences and synergistic effects, which are crucial for the progression of vascular lesions.

Research progress of femoral head necrosis in HIV-infected patients.

As life expectancy among patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) increases, a growing number of complications have been observed. This population displays an elevated risk of ischemic necrosis of the femoral head in comparison to the general population, which may be attributed to HIV infection, antiretroviral medication use, and hormone application. Patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who also have necrosis of the femoral head tend to present at an earlier age, with a rapid disease progression and a high incidence of bilateral onset.

Third Proceedings of The North American Airway Collaborative (NoAAC): Consensus Statement on Trial Design for Airway Stenosis.

Importance: Airway stenosis is a rare but debilitating disorder that significantly degrades the quality of life in affected patients. Treatments are primarily surgical, and disease management lacks established medical therapies. The North American Airway Collaborative held its third symposium at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 15, 2024, focused on strategies to advance the care of these patients.

Violence against women and girls research: Leveraging gains across disciplines.

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide, linked to numerous health, economic, and human rights outcomes. Target 5.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals calls for elimination of all forms of VAWG; however, progress toward achieving this goal has been inadequate.