Effect of Moderate Red Meat Intake Compared With Plant-Based Meat Alternative on Psychological Well-Being: A 10-Wk Cluster Randomized Intervention in Healthy Young Adults.

Background: A healthy diet has been proposed to support good mental health, but the addition of either red meat or meat alternatives is nuanced.

Objectives: We aimed to determine if psychological and physiological well-being is differentially affected by consuming recommended weekly amounts of either lean red meat or plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs) supplemented with a plant-rich diet.

Methods: The trial was a parallel 2-arm randomized intervention of 10 wk duration.

Reevaluating the Causes of Otitis Externa: A Case Report.

A 28-year-old female domestic helper presented to the Ear, Nose, and Throat clinic complaining of three weeks of right otalgia associated with a right blocked ear. The hearing was otherwise normal, and she denied otorrhoea, dizziness or imbalance, ear digging, or water contact, and has no history of ear eczema. She has no other past medical history and no recent travel history.

Effects of Moderate Consumption of a Probiotic-Fermented Sour Beer on the Inflammatory, Immunity, Lipid Profile, and Gut Microbiome of Healthy Men in a Participant-Blinded, Randomized-Controlled Within-Subject Crossover Study.

Probiotic sour beer (PRO) fermented with Lpc-37 is a novel beverage option, which may potentially offer health benefits. In this study, the effects of PRO are evaluated on the inflammatory, immunity, lipid profile, and gut microbiome of consumers in a 5-week, participant-blinded, randomized-controlled within-subject crossover study. Twenty-one healthy male participants consumed 330 mL of PRO and normal sour beer (CON) daily for 2 weeks each with a 1 week of washout.

Management of perioperative thyrotoxicosis - what to do when standard therapy is contraindicated or fails?

Background: Current guidelines recommend that hyperthyroid patients should be rendered euthyroid prior to surgical procedures. These guidelines rely heavily on the use of ATDs as the primary medication, and do not give recommendations for patients who have contraindications to ATDs, or for whom standalone ATD treatment is inadequate.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of adjunctive pharmacological therapy and/or therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) in the perioperative management of patients with thyrotoxicosis who were intolerant to ATD or for whom standalone ATD therapy was inadequate to achieve euthyroidism prior to surgery.

Gender and racial diversity Assumed by text-to-image generators in microsurgery and plastic surgery-related subspecialities.

Background: Since the release of ChatGPT by OpenAI in November 2022, generative artificial intelligence (AI) models have attracted significant attention in various fields, including surgery. These advancements have been particularly notable for creating highly detailed and contextually accurate images from textual prompts. A notable area of clinical application is the representation of surgeon demographics in various specialties, particularly in the context of microsurgery and plastic surgery-related subspecialties.

Cellulose-like chitosan microfibrils facilitate targeted release and enhance the prolonged residence time of quercetin-selenium nanoparticles for Alzheimer's disease treatment.

The effect of digestion on nanocarriers will affect the release and pharmacological effects of bioactive compounds in delivery systems. The digestion of cellulose is limited to gut microbiota, which offers a new research strategy for targeted delivery of bioactive compounds. Herein, positively charged cellulose-like chitosan/polyvinylpyrrolidone nanofiber was prepared to improve the residence time, colon target and gut microbiota regulation activity of quercetin decorated selenium nanoparticles (QUE@SeNPs/CS/PVPNFs).

Spectral and coupling characteristics of somatosensory cortex and centromedian thalamus differentiate between pre- and interictal 5-9 Hz oscillations in a genetic rat model of absence epilepsy.

Spike-wave-discharges (SWD) are the electrophysiological hallmark of absence epilepsy. SWD are generated in the thalamo-cortical network and a seizure onset zone was identified in the somatosensory cortex (S1). We have shown before that inhibition of the centromedian thalamic nucleus (CM) in GAERS rats resulted in a selective suppression of the spike component while rhythmic cortical 5-9 Hz oscillations remained present.

The potential of Generative Pre-trained Transformer 4 (GPT-4) to analyse medical notes in three different languages: a retrospective model-evaluation study.

Background: Patient notes contain substantial information but are difficult for computers to analyse due to their unstructured format. Large-language models (LLMs), such as Generative Pre-trained Transformer 4 (GPT-4), have changed our ability to process text, but we do not know how effectively they handle medical notes. We aimed to assess the ability of GPT-4 to answer predefined questions after reading medical notes in three different languages.

Novel Nanoliposomes Synergistically Modulated by Sitogluside and Dioscin: Stability, Bioavailability, and Capacity To Alleviate Hyperuricaemia.

Cholesterol (Cho) is commonly used to stabilize nanoliposomes; however, there is controversy on the relationship between Cho and health. In this study, we developed a novel multifunctional nanoliposome utilizing structurally similar sitogluside (SG) and dioscin (Dio) instead of Cho to anchor the phospholipid bilayer and synergistically modulate the membrane properties of the nanoliposome (DPPC or DOPC). The storage and gastrointestinal tract stability experiment demonstrated that the changes of physical and chemical properties, including the significantly reduced size and Dio retention rate of nanoliposomes synergistically modulated by SG and Dio compared to those of SG alone, regulated nanoliposomes.

Malaria elimination challenges in countries approaching the last mile: a discussion among regional stakeholders.

Background: The national malaria control programmes in Cambodia, Nepal, and Bhutan aim to achieve malaria elimination by 2025-2030. While the vivax malaria burden remains challenging, the consistent decline in falciparum malaria in these countries over the last five years suggests that the goal is achievable. However, unexpected cases in previously falciparum malaria-free districts continue to occur.

Effectiveness of Digital-Based Interventions on Physical and Psychological Outcomes Among Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: Evolving digital technology has paved the way for endless potentiality. Leveraging on digital technology for healthcare purposes can target cancer patients, thus improving physical and psychological symptoms. Nevertheless, there is limited consolidated evidence on the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) and mobile applications.

Development of Machine-learning Model to Predict Anticoagulant Use and Type in Geriatric Traumatic Brain Injury Using Coagulation Parameters.

This study aimed to investigate the patterns of anticoagulation therapy and coagulation parameters and to develop a prediction model to predict the type of anticoagulation therapy in geriatric patients with traumatic brain injury. A retrospective analysis was performed using the nationwide neurotrauma database of Japan. Elderly patients (≥65 years) with traumatic brain injury.

Factorial designs are accurate tools to pick up the most promising extremophiles for future biosurfactant production.

In this study, five strains previously isolated from black liquor (BL) and vinasse (V) were tested to assess the most promising regarding its capacity of biosurfactant production. For that, four factorial designs of two factors at two levels (2) were run for each strain. Selected factors were the production time and the composition media, while the surface tension reduction and optical density were the responses variables.

Transparency, trustworthiness and usefulness in pre-eclampsia randomised controlled trials in the last three decades.

Objectives: Over the last decades, there has been a rising number of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on pre-eclampsia. We investigated pre-eclampsia RCTs between 1987 and 2021 and reported on trustworthiness, risk of biases, p-values, transparency, and usefulness.

Methods: We searched PubMed for RCTs containing "pre-eclampsia" or "hypertensive disorders of pregnancy" in the title between 1987 and 2021.

Trust in government vaccine recommendations during the Covid-19 pandemic in Singapore: A longitudinal survey study.

Background: Trust in governments has been decreasing in recent years, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, where low-trust societies showed reduced compliance with disease control measures. Few studies have examined how trust in authorities changed over the pandemic. This study investigated the trajectory of public trust in the Singapore government's vaccine recommendations during this period.

Advancements in glycan analysis: high performance anion exchange chromatography-pulsed amprometric detection coupled with mass spectrometry for structural elucidation.

Carbohydrates are essential biomolecules that play a vital role in various biological processes across humans, plants, and bacteria. Despite their ubiquity, the structural elucidation of carbohydrates, particularly oligo- and polysaccharides, remains a significant challenge due to their complex and heterogeneous nature. The high-performance anion exchange chromatography (HPAEC) or called ion chromatography (IC) coupled with pulsed amperometric detection (PAD) has emerged as a powerful tool for highly effective separation and highly specific detection of glycans.

Comprehensive industry-relevant black soldier fly bioconversion characterisation by a novel chamber system.

Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) efficiently convert biowaste into valuable animal feed. Sustainable and reliable bioconversion is desirable to achieve optimal economic and environmental outcomes. Thus, science and industry require an accessible research platform to study complex bioconversion processes under conditions mirroring industrial-scale settings.

Assessing the impact of car-following driving style on traffic conflict risk using asymmetric behavior model and explainable machine learning.

To deepen the understanding of the impact of car-following driving style (CFDS) on traffic conflict risk and address the lack of clear CFDS evaluation metrics, this study proposes an improved CFDS metric based on the Asymmetric Behavior (AB) theory. Interpretable machine learning models were utilized for regression analysis to examine the relationship between CFDS and conflict risk. The generalized AB model calculates the difference between vehicle trajectories and the Newell trajectory, constructing the driving style evaluation metric, which quantifies driver aggressiveness in a manner that is both computationally straightforward and easily interpretable.

Self-maintenance of zonal hepatocytes during adult homeostasis and their complex plasticity upon distinct liver injuries.

Hepatocytes are organized into distinct zonal subsets across the liver lobule, yet their contributions to liver homeostasis and regeneration remain controversial. Here, we developed multiple genetic lineage-tracing mouse models to systematically address this. We found that the liver lobule can be divided into two major zonal and molecular hepatocyte populations marked by Cyp2e1 or Gls2.

Neurotransmitter-Mimicking Nanovesicles Facilitate Postoperative Glioblastoma Stem Cell-Specific Treatment for Preventing Tumor Recurrence.

Survival quality of glioblastoma (GBM) patients remains undesirable despite the aggressive multimodal treatment methods implemented, which are strongly associated with tumor recurrence after surgical resection. Self-renewal and strong tumourigenic capacity of glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) at the narrow margin of the incision are essential factors driving tumor secondary strikes. Currently, the challenges in treating postoperative residual GSCs are mainly due to the lack of materials for incision and GSCs targeting.

Hydrolysis of palm kernel meal fibre using a newly isolated Bacillus subtilis F6 with high mannanase activity.

Palm kernel meal (PKM) presents a challenge for non-ruminant livestock feeding due to its high fibre content predominantly in the form of mannan. Microbial fermentation offers a sustainable solution for fibre hydrolysis in lignocellulosic biomass. In this study, a Bacillus subtilis strain (F6), with high mannanase secretion capability, was isolated from the environment.

Student perspectives on interdisciplinary learning in public health education: insights from a mixed-methods study.

Interdisciplinary learning is essential for equipping future health professionals to tackle the complexities of contemporary public health. This mixed-methods study investigates the experiences and perspectives of undergraduate public health students in Singapore on interdisciplinary learning in higher education and employed a convergent parallel design by combining a cross-sectional survey with in-depth interviews. Quantitative data were used to assess the relationship between students' exposure to interdisciplinary learning and its perceived value, while qualitative analysis explored key themes related to facilitators and barriers.