Enrolment characteristics in age-related macular degeneration clinical trials: a cross-sectional study.

Background/objectives: To investigate demographic enrolment characteristics in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) trials.

Subjects/methods: Clinicaltrials.gov was searched with "age-related macular degeneration" to identify RCTs with double, triple, or quadruple masking.

Perioperative Changes in Serum Transaminases Levels Predicts Long-Term Survival Following Liver Resection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: We sought to define whether and how hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) as manifested by perioperative aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransaminase (ALT) levels impact long-term outcomes after curative-intent resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Patients And Methods: Intrasplenic injection of HCC cells was used to establish a murine model of HCC recurrence with versus without I/R injury. Patients who underwent curative resection for HCC were identified from a multi-institutional derivative cohort (DC) and separate external validation (VC) cohort.

Phenomenological Mapping: A Method For Understanding Pre-Reflective Consciousness.

Exploring the nuanced and often elusive realm of pre-reflective consciousness presents a methodological challenge, as it involves capturing experiences that arise prior to reflective thought and language. This article introduces Phenomenological Mapping, an innovative research method designed to systematically study the pre-reflective dimensions of human experience. Grounded in the foundational theories of Edmund Husserl (2012), Maurice Merleau-Ponty (2013), and Martin Heidegger (1992, 2008), the approach also integrates contemporary perspectives from Dan Zahavi (1999, Contemporary Phenomenology and Qualitative Research 5(1), 1-17, 2021), Shaun Gallagher (2006, 2017), and Evan Thompson (2010, 2017).

Development of a molecular assay for the determination of Eimeria tenella oocyst viability.

Coccidiosis is caused by apicomplexan parasites of the genus Eimeria, which infect epithelial cells of the intestinal tract causing diarrhea and negatively impacting production in the poultry industry. The self-limiting and highly immunogenic nature of infection by Eimeria spp. make live vaccination an effective means of coccidiosis control.

Assessment and ascertainment in psychiatric molecular genetics: challenges and opportunities for cross-disorder research.

Psychiatric disorders are highly comorbid, heritable, and genetically correlated [1-4]. The primary objective of cross-disorder psychiatric genetics research is to identify and characterize both the shared genetic factors that contribute to convergent disease etiologies and the unique genetic factors that distinguish between disorders [4, 5]. This information can illuminate the biological mechanisms underlying comorbid presentations of psychopathology, improve nosology and prediction of illness risk and trajectories, and aid the development of more effective and targeted interventions.

Ecological and anthropogenic effects on the genomic diversity of lemurs in Madagascar.

Ecological variation and anthropogenic landscape modification have had key roles in the diversification and extinction of mammals in Madagascar. Lemurs represent a radiation with more than 100 species, constituting roughly one-fifth of the primate order. Almost all species of lemurs are threatened with extinction, but little is known about their genetic diversity and demographic history.

The interplay between motor cost and self-efficacy related to walking across terrain in gaze and walking decisions.

Motor behaviours, like where to step and which path to walk, rely on gaze shifts to gather visual information necessary to decide the next action. Factors influencing both gaze and walking decisions are poorly understood. Here we had people choose between two paths to determine how a person's belief in their ability to walk across different terrains (i.

Loss of Hoxa5 function affects Hox gene expression in different biological contexts.

Hoxa5 plays numerous roles in development, but its downstream molecular effects are mostly unknown. We applied bulk RNA-seq assays to characterize the transcriptional impact of the loss of Hoxa5 gene function in seven different biological contexts, including developing respiratory and musculoskeletal tissues that present phenotypes in Hoxa5 mouse mutants. This global analysis revealed few common transcriptional changes, suggesting that HOXA5 acts mainly via the regulation of context-specific effectors.

Bioluminescent Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli for whole-cell screening of antibacterial and adjuvant compounds.

Continued efforts to discover new antibacterial molecules are critical to achieve a robust pre-clinical pipeline for new antibiotics. Screening of compound or natural product extract libraries remains a widespread approach and can benefit from the development of whole cell assays that are robust, simple and versatile, and allow for high throughput testing of antibacterial activity. In this study, we created and validated two bioluminescent reporter strains for high-throughput screening, one in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and another in a hyperporinated and efflux-deficient Escherichia coli.

Considering the interconnected nature of social identities in neuroimaging research.

Considerable heterogeneity exists in the expression of complex human behaviors across the cognitive, personality and mental health domains. It is increasingly evident that individual variability in behavioral expression is substantially affected by sociodemographic factors that often interact with life experiences. Here, we formally address the urgent need to incorporate intersectional identities in neuroimaging studies of behavior, with a focus on research in mental health.

High photothermal conversion efficiency of RF sputtered TiO Magneli phase thin films and its linear correlation with light absorption capacity.

RF-sputtering is used to deposit TiO-Magneli-phase films onto various substrates at deposition temperatures (T) ranging from 25 to 650 °C. Not only the structural, but also electrical conductivity, optical absorbance and photothermal properties of the TiO films are shown to change significantly with T. A T of 500 °C is pointed out as the optimal temperature that yields highly-crystalized pure-TiO-Magneli phase with a densely-packed morphology and a conductivity as high as 740 S/cm.

Enhancing practicality and efficiency of deepfake detection.

The proliferation of deepfake generation has become increasingly widespread. Current solutions for automatically detecting and classifying generated content require substantial computational resources, making them impractical for use by the average non-expert individual, particularly from edge computing applications. In this paper, we propose a series of techniques to accelerate the inference speed of deepfake detection on video data.

Widespread admixture blurs population structure and confounds Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) conservation even in the genomic era.

Intraspecific variation is important for species' long-term persistence in changing environments. Conservation strategies targeting intraspecific variation often rely on the identification of management or policy units below the species level based on biological differences among populations. To identify management units, this paper examines intraspecific divergence of Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in Great Slave Lake (GSL), Canada, using low-coverage whole-genome sequencing data.

Cyclic quantum annealing: searching for deep low-energy states in 5000-qubit spin glass.

Quantum computers promise a qualitative speedup in solving a broad spectrum of practical optimization problems. The latter can be mapped onto the task of finding low-energy states of spin glasses, which is known to be exceedingly difficult. Using D-Wave's 5000-qubit quantum processor, we demonstrate that a recently proposed iterative cyclic quantum annealing algorithm can find deep low-energy states in record time.

Association of higher potency statin use with risk of osteoporosis and fractures in patients with stroke in a Korean nationwide cohort study.

This population-based cohort study aimed to evaluate the risk of osteoporosis and fractures associated with higher-potency statin use compared to lower-potency statin use in patients with stroke, using data from the Health Insurance and Review Assessment database of South Korea (2010-2019). Patients who received statin within 30 days after hospitalization for a new-onset stroke (n = 276,911) were divided into higher-potency (n = 212,215, 76.6%) or lower-potency (n = 64,696, 23.

Outdoor nitrogen dioxide exposure and longitudinal health status trajectory in the Canadian National Population Health Survey.

Few studies have examined the association between air pollution and the trajectory of global health status measures related to the functional impacts of chronic disease. To address this gap, we examined the trajectory of the Health Utilities Index (HUI) over 17 years of follow-up among Canadian National Population Health Survey (NPHS) participants. Annual average nitrogen dioxide (NO) exposures from a national land use regression surface were mapped to 15,631 NPHS participants at their place of residence provided at each follow-up.

Association between e-health literacy and perceived importance of future pandemic preparedness in sub-saharan Africa.

Introduction: Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases continue to pose a severe threat to public health in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and globally. Community-related interventions, such as community e-Health literacy, can contribute to the preparedness to respond effectively to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. This study investigated the relationship between e-Health literacy and SSA countries' perceptions of the importance of readiness for potential pandemics.

Global proteomics reveals pathways of mesenchymal stem cells altered by Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) has a remarkable ability to persist inside host cells. Several studies showed that M.

Immediate effect of alone and combined virtual reality, gait-like muscle vibration and transcranial direct current stimulation on neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury: a pilot study.

Study Design: Quasi-experimental pilot study.

Objectives: Evaluate the immediate effect of virtual reality (VR), gait-like muscle vibration (MV) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined or alone on neuropathic pain in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Setting: Inpatient rehabilitation centre.

Absence of a Causal Link between Elemental Carbon Exposure and Short-Term Respiratory Toxicity in Human-Derived Organoids and Cellular Models.

Black carbon or elemental carbon (EC) in the atmosphere plays an ambiguous role in acute respiratory toxic effects. Here, we evaluate the contribution of EC to the short-term toxicity (including cytotoxicity and oxidative stress potency) of fine particulate matter (PM) on the human respiratory tract using in vitro airway organoids and cell lines. The toxic potency of EC per unit mass, including char and soot, is more than 2 orders of magnitude lower than that of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are coemitted from incomplete combustion.

Associations Between Patient Characteristics and Progression to Multiple Myeloma Among Patients With Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance: A Systematic Review.

Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) is a pre-malignant condition of multiple myeloma (MM). Evidence suggested old age, black race, male gender, and obesity as risk factors for MGUS development; however, whether they are associated with an increased risk of progression to MM among patients with MGUS is unclear. A systematic search of PUBMED and EMBASE for cohort studies investigating the association between age/race/gender/obesity and progression to MM.

The Financial Burden of Localized and Metastatic Bladder Cancer.

Background And Objective: Bladder cancer (BCa) imposes a substantial economic burden on health care systems and patients. Understanding these financial implications is crucial for effective resource allocation and optimization of treatment cost effectiveness. Here, we aim to systematically review and analyze the financial burden of BCa from the health care and patient perspectives.

Emergency department utilization patterns for pediatric urinary stone patients in the United States.

Background: The prevalence of pediatric urolithiasis has increased rapidly, leading to more emergency department (ED) visits across the United States.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine emergency care practices for children and adolescents with urinary stones and characteristics associated with management.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of the 2021 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample to identify pediatric patients (≤21 years) presenting to an ED in the United States with a primary diagnosis of urinary stone disease.