Association Between Type 2 Diabetes Onset Age and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality: Two Cohort Studies from United Kingdom and Hong Kong.

Objective: This study evaluated the association between age of onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality.

Method: Two retrospective cohort studies were conducted using the electronic health record from United Kingdom (UK) and Hong Kong (HK) (2008-2013) on adults without CVD. 128,918 and 185,646 patients with newly diagnosed T2DM were assigned to the T2DM group, and control group included 5,052,770 and 3,159,396 patients without T2DM in UK and HK cohort, respectively.

Towards parameter-free attentional spiking neural networks.

Brain-inspired spiking neural networks (SNNs) are increasingly explored for their potential in spatiotemporal information modeling and energy efficiency on emerging neuromorphic hardware. Recent works incorporate attentional modules into SNNs, greatly enhancing their capabilities in handling sequential data. However, these parameterized attentional modules have placed a huge burden on memory consumption, a factor that is constrained on neuromorphic chips.

Comparative risks and clinical outcomes of midazolam versus other intravenous sedatives in critically ill mechanically ventilated patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials.

Objectives: This systematic review synthesized literature evidence and compared midazolam's risks and clinical outcomes with other sedatives in critically ill mechanically ventilated patients.

Methods: We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from databases of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and CINAHL without language restrictions. We used relative risk (RR) for binary outcomes and standardized mean difference (SMD) for continuous outcomes, with corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI).

Aspirin after completion of standard adjuvant therapy for colorectal cancer (ASCOLT): an international, multicentre, phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Aspirin is a simple, globally available medication that has been shown to reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of aspirin in the secondary prevention of colorectal cancer.

Methods: This phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted at 66 centres across 11 countries and territories (ten in Asia-Pacific; one in the Middle East).

The influence of simulated worn shoe and foot inversion on heel internal biomechanics during running impact: A subject-specific finite element analysis.

This study explored how systematic changes in running shoe degradation and foot inversion alter the distribution and peak value of heel pressure and calcaneus stress, as well as the total stress-concentration exposure (TSCE) within the calcaneal bone. A foot-shoe finite element model was employed and three shoe wear conditions (new shoe (CON), moderate worn shoe (MWSC), excessive worn shoe (EWSC)) coupled with three foot inversion angles (0°, 10°, 20°) were further modulated. Simulations were conducted at the impact peak instant during running.

Altered Sensorimotor Striatal Network Connectivity in Women With Anorexia Nervosa.

Objective: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is associated with disturbances in reward processing, cognitive control, and body image perception, implicating striatal dysfunction. Evidence suggests that underweight may modulate brain function in AN. We aimed to investigate whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the striatum in patients with AN while controlling for the acute effects of underweight.

mHealth knowledge and usage in maternal healthcare delivery: perspectives and experiences of healthcare practitioners in Ghana.

Objectives: This study explored the knowledge and experiences of health practitioners regarding the use of mobile health (mHealth) for maternal healthcare delivery.

Design: Underpinned by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, this study was an exploratory qualitative design involving in-depth interviews. Data collection occurred between July 2023 and January 2024.

A power dependence model of the impact of leader impostorism on supervisor support and undermining: The moderating role of power distance.

Leaders, often perceived as possessing exceptional confidence and competence, are not immune to feelings of self-doubt. Leader impostorism describes the experience that one's attributes, experiences, skills, and abilities fall short of the standards expected in the leadership role, resulting in a sense of deception in fulfilling leadership responsibilities. While existing research has examined the antecedents and individual outcomes of leader impostorism, its implications for leaders' treatment of subordinates remain largely unexplored.

Electron-Donating Zr Induces Suppressed Ru Over-Oxidation and Accelerated Deprotonation Process Toward Efficient and Durable Water Electrolysis.

The scarcity of cost-effective and durable iridium-free anode electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) poses a significant challenge to the widespread application of the proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE). To address the electrochemical oxidation and dissolution issues of Ru-based electrocatalysts, an electron-donating modification strategy is developed to stabilize WRuO under harsh oxidative conditions. The optimized catalyst with a low Zirconium doping (Zr, 1 wt.

Assembly-enhanced recognition: A biomimetic pathway to achieve ultrahigh affinities.

On the one hand, nature utilizes hierarchical assemblies to create complex biological binding pockets, enabling ultrastrong recognition toward substrates in aqueous solutions. On the other hand, chemists have been fervently pursuing high-affinity recognition by constructing covalently well-preorganized stereoelectronic cavities. The potential of noncovalent assembly, however, for enhancing molecular recognition has long been underestimated.

Extracellular vesicles in liquid biopsies: there is hope for oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Current approaches to oral cancer diagnosis primarily involve physical examination, tissue biopsy, and advanced computer-aided imaging techniques. However, despite these advances, patient survival rates have not significantly improved. Hence, there is a critical need to develop minimally invasive tools with high sensitivity and specificity to improve patient survival and quality of life.

Association of falls with risk of dementia and all-cause mortality: a cohort study of Japanese older adults with a 9-year follow-up.

Objective: Many risk factors affect dementia and all-cause mortality. However, whether falls are a risk factor for dementia and all-cause mortality is unclear. The study examines the association of falls with the risk of dementia and all-cause mortality, and whether dementia mediates the association of falls with all-cause mortality.

Improving influenza forecast in the tropics and subtropics: a case study of Hong Kong.

Influenza forecasts could aid public health response as shown for temperate regions, but such efforts are more challenging in the tropics and subtropics due to more irregular influenza activities. Here, we built six forecast approaches for influenza in the (sub)tropics, with six model forms designed to model seasonal infection risk (i.e.

DECT sparse reconstruction based on hybrid spectrum data generative diffusion model.

Purpose: Dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) enables the differentiation of different materials. Additionally, DECT images consist of multiple scans of the same sample, revealing information similarity within the energy domain. To leverage this information similarity and address safety concerns related to excessive radiation exposure in DECT imaging, sparse view DECT imaging is proposed as a solution.

A Fine-grained Hemispheric Asymmetry Network for accurate and interpretable EEG-based emotion classification.

In this work, we propose a Fine-grained Hemispheric Asymmetry Network (FG-HANet), an end-to-end deep learning model that leverages hemispheric asymmetry features within 2-Hz narrow frequency bands for accurate and interpretable emotion classification over raw EEG data. In particular, the FG-HANet extracts features not only from original inputs but also from their mirrored versions, and applies Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters at a granularity as fine as 2-Hz to acquire fine-grained spectral information. Furthermore, to guarantee sufficient attention to hemispheric asymmetry features, we tailor a three-stage training pipeline for the FG-HANet to further boost its performance.

Brief report: Impact of consolidation durvalumab on unresectable non-small lung cancer with driver mutations.

Unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) carries a poor prognosis. The PACIFIC trial established consolidation durvalumab after chemoradiation as a standard treatment; however, its efficacy in patients with driver mutations remains uncertain. This retrospective cohort study analyzed data from three oncology centers in Hong Kong, covering the period from January 2019 to December 2022.

Scaling up morphological differentiation of pangolin scales: Serial, ontogenetic and evolutionary variation.

Pangolins are the most heavily trafficked mammals in the world, largely because of the high demand for their keratinous scales from the traditional Chinese medicine market. While seizures of pangolin material are largely composed of isolated scales, efficient approaches to reach species-level identification are missing. This mostly originates from the lack of comparative studies on the shape of pangolin scales, resulting in knowledge gaps on the imbricated effects of serial, ontogenetic, and evolutionary variations.

Characterizing the Profile of Anhedonia in Individuals With Schizotypal Traits, Subthreshold Depression and Autistic Traits.

Anhedonia is believed to be transdiagnostic symptom exist in various disorders including schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. However, very few studies attempted to profile subclinical samples with schizophrenia, depressive, and autistic symptoms using measures of anhedonia scales. This study adopted a cluster analytical approach to examine the anhedonia profile in 46 individuals with schizotypal trait (ST), 43 subthreshold depression (SD), 27 autistic trait (AT), and 41 healthy controls.

Association of Sugar-Sweetened, Artificially Sweetened, and Unsweetened Coffee Consumption with Chronic Liver Disease and Liver-Related Events: A Large Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: Previous observational studies have not reached an agreement on the association between coffee consumption and risk of liver diseases. Also, none of these studies took sweetener added in coffee into consideration.

Objectives: We aim to explore the associations of consumption of sweetened and unsweetened coffee with chronic liver disease (CLD) and liver-related events (LREs), and evaluate the degree to which sweetener added counteracted the effect of coffee.

Navigating translational research in nanomedicine: A strategic guide to formulation and manufacturing.

Over the past two decades, extensive research has focused on both the fundamental and applied aspects of nanomedicine, driven by the compelling advantages that nanoparticles offer over their bulk counterparts. Despite this intensive research effort, fewer than 100 nanomedicines have been approved by the U.S.

Asian Thoracic Oncology Research Group expert consensus statement on the peri-operative management of non-small cell lung cancer.

The peri-operative management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in earlier stage disease has seen significant advances in recent years with the incorporation of immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapy. However, many unanswered questions and challenges remain, including the application of clinical trial data to routine clinical practice. Recognising the unique demographic profile of Asian patients with NSCLC and heterogeneous healthcare systems, the Asian Thoracic Oncology Research Group (ATORG) convened a consensus meeting in Singapore on 26 April 2024 to discuss relevant issues spanning diagnostic testing to post-neoadjuvant treatment considerations and future directions.

Durvalumab with or without bevacizumab with transarterial chemoembolisation in hepatocellular carcinoma (EMERALD-1): a multiregional, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 study.

Background: Transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE) is standard of care for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma that is amenable to embolisation; however, median progression-free survival is still approximately 7 months. We aimed to assess whether adding durvalumab, with or without bevacizumab, might improve progression-free survival.

Methods: In this multiregional, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 study (EMERALD-1), adults aged 18 years or older with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma amenable to embolisation, an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1 at enrolment, and at least one measurable intrahepatic lesion per modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours (RECIST) were enrolled at 157 medical sites including research centres and general and specialist hospitals in 18 countries.

Cirsii Herba glycoprotein promotes macrophage M1 polarization through MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways via interaction with TLR4.

The present study aimed to extract and purify the glycoprotein from Cirsii Herba (CHPs), and investigate its immunomodulatory activity and molecular mechanism in RAW264.7 macrophages. The results showed that CHPs contained 14.

Recombinant collagen microneedles for transdermal delivery of antibacterial copper-DNA nanoparticles to treat skin and soft tissue infections.

Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) include bacterial infections of the skin, muscles, and connective tissue such as ligaments and tendons. SSTI in patients with immunocompromising diseases may lead to chronic, hard-to-heal infected wounds, resulting in disability, amputation, or even death. To treat SSTI and rebuild the defensive barrier of the skin, here we utilize recombinant type XVII collagen protein (rCol XVII) to construct biodegradable, regenerative collagen microneedles (rCol-MNs) for transdermal delivery of antibacterial agents.