Associations of infection burden with Kawasaki disease in a population-based setting during 30 years.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the role of infections in the pathogenesis of Kawasaki disease.

Methods: The investigation was a nationwide epidemiological case-control study, comprising all cases of Kawasaki disease diagnosed in Sweden 1987-2018. Controls were randomly sampled from the general population, matched on sex, age, and area of residency.

Impact of family childhood adversity on risk of violence and involvement with police in adolescence: findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

Background: Childhood adversities, such as exposure to parental mental illness, domestic violence and abuse, substance use, and family poverty, have been linked to involvement in violence in early adulthood. However, evidence on the cumulative impact of multiple adversities throughout childhood on violence and crime in adolescence remains scarce. This study investigates the associations between trajectories of family adversity and poverty during childhood, and the risk of involvement in violence and contact with police in adolescence.

Study protocol for the development and pilot-testing of a Self-assessment tool for the implementation of the European Standards of Care for Newborn Health (ESCNH).

Introduction: In Europe, disparities exist in having access to optimal neonatal care. With the European Standards of Care for Newborn Health (ESCNH), evidence-based reference standards are available which provide guidance to improve the care for preterm and ill newborns. To support healthcare professionals (HCPs) and hospital/clinic management in identifying the extent of ESCNH implementation, a feasible assessment tool is required.

Exposure to Drinking Water Trihalomethanes and Risk of Cancer: A Systematic Review of the Epidemiologic Evidence and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis.

Background: Chlorination is a widespread method for drinking water disinfection that has the drawback of introducing potentially carcinogenic chemical by-products to drinking water.

Objective: We systematically evaluated the epidemiologic evidence of exposure to trihalomethane (THM) disinfection by-products and risk of cancer.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies that assessed the association of exposure to residential concentrations of THMs with risk of cancer in adults.

Psychometric Validation of the Hemophilia Functional Ability Scoring Tool (Hemo-FAST).

Background:  The Hemophilia Functional Ability Scoring Tool (Hemo-FAST), consisting of a patient-reported outcome (PRO) part and a clinician-reported outcome (ClinRO) part, was developed as a rapid and effective tool to assess functional mobility in clinical practice. This study (NCT04731701) aimed to validate the psychometric properties of Hemo-FAST for assessment of joint health in people with haemophilia (PwH).

Methods:  PwH A or B aged ≥18 years completed questionnaires including the PRO part of Hemo-FAST and the short-form 36 health survey (SF-36) during one study visit.

The adaptive value of recombination in resolving intralocus sexual conflict by gene duplication.

Recombination plays a key role in increasing the efficacy of selection. We investigate whether recombination can also play a role in resolving adaptive conflicts at loci coding for traits shared between the sexes. Errors during recombination events resulting in gene duplications may provide a long-term evolutionary advantage if those loci also experience sexually antagonistic (SA) selection since, after duplication, sex-specific expression profiles will be free to evolve, thereby reducing the load on population fitness and resolving the conflict.

Dating the origin of a viral domestication event in parasitoid wasps attacking Diptera.

Over the course of evolution, hymenopteran parasitoids have developed a close relationship with heritable viruses, sometimes integrating viral genes into their chromosomes. For example, in parasitoids belonging to the genus, 13 viral genes from the family have been domesticated to deliver immunosuppressive factors to host immune cells, thereby protecting parasitoid offspring from the host immune response. The present study aims to comprehensively characterize this domestication event in terms of the viral genes involved, the wasp diversity affected by this event and its chronology.

Cophylogeny, narrow host breadth and local conditions drive highly specialized bird-haemosporidian associations in West-Central African sky islands.

The parasite island syndrome denotes shifts in parasite life histories on islands, which affect parasite diversity, prevalence and specificity. However, current evidence of parasite island syndromes mainly stems from oceanic islands, while sky islands (i.e.

A consensus on the definition of positive animal welfare.

The concept of animal welfare is evolving due to progress in our scientific understanding of animal biology and changing societal expectations. Animal welfare science has been primarily concerned with minimizing suffering, but there is growing interest in also promoting positive experiences, grouped under the term positive animal welfare (PAW). However, there are discrepancies in the use of the term PAW.

A minimal model of cognition based on oscillatory and current-based reinforcement processes.

Building mathematical models of brains is difficult because of the sheer complexity of the problem. One potential starting point is basal cognition, which gives an abstract representation of a range of organisms without central nervous systems, including fungi, slime moulds and bacteria. We propose one such model, demonstrating how a combination of oscillatory and current-based reinforcement processes can be used to couple resources in an efficient manner, mimicking the way these organisms function.

Sex and age-related day-to-day variability in the skin microcirculation during post-occlusive reactive hyperemia.

Introduction: Little is known about the day-to-day variability of different skin microcirculation parameters, and how this variability is influenced by age and sex. The aim was to examine the day-to-day variability of microcirculatory parameters in relation to age and sex.

Methods: The cutaneous microcirculation was measured using a fiber optic probe integrating laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) to measure oxygen saturation, red blood cell (RBC) tissue fraction, speed-resolved and conventional perfusion.

Systems-level immunomonitoring in children with solid tumors to enable precision medicine.

Cancer is the leading cause of death from disease in children. Survival depends not only on surgery, cytostatic drugs, and radiation but also on systemic immune responses. Factors influencing these immune responses in children of different ages and tumor types are unknown.

Platelet aggregation and thromboelastometry monitoring in women with preeclampsia: a prospective observational study.

Background: Thrombocytopenia affects 12-20% of women with preeclampsia and a low platelet count impairs coagulation. Women with preeclampsia have an increased risk of both cerebral hemorrhage, thromboembolism, and postpartum hemorrhage. Studies of platelet function and coagulation in women with preeclampsia show conflicting results.

A prospective examination of offending trajectories in men and women with out-of-home care experience followed up until retirement age.

Background: It is widely recognized that out-of-home care (OHC) is associated with criminal behavior, yet less is known about how this behavior unfolds in the OHC population over the life course and whether it is marked by desistance or persistence.

Objective: This study examines offending trajectories from age 15 to 64 in men and women with and without OHC experiences. It also investigates how different ages of placement, types of placements and reasons for placements affect representation across these trajectories.

Perceptions of the ability to efficiently utilise the full scope of midwifery practice in the newly introduced midwifery profession in Nepal.

Aim: To explore the readiness of Bachelor in Midwifery graduates in Nepal to provide midwifery care aligned with the definition competently on graduation and to identify barriers affecting their practice.

Background: Nepal has introduced an internationally standardised BSc midwifery education programme designed to enable midwives to work competently and independently in midwifery care on entering the profession.

Design: A qualitative interview study was conducted and analysed using inductive content analysis.

Dietary inflammation and childhood adiposity: Analysis of individual participant data from six birth cohorts.

Background & Aims: Childhood adiposity and inflammation impact long-term health. However, associations between dietary inflammation and childhood adiposity are unclear. We investigated if more pro-inflammatory diets are associated with greater adiposity in early-, mid-, and late-childhood.

Effects of laser wavelength and pulse energy on the evaporation behavior of TiN coatings in atom probe tomography: A multi-instrument study.

The impact of the laser wavelength on accuracy in elemental composition analysis in atom probe tomography (APT) was investigated. Three different commercial atom probe systems - LEAP 3000X HR, LEAP 5000 XR, and LEAP 6000 XR - were systematically compared for a TiN model coating studying the effect of shorter laser wavelengths, especially in the deep ultraviolet (DUV) range, on the evaporation behavior. The findings demonstrate that the use of shorter wavelengths enhances the accuracy in elemental composition, while maintaining similar electric field strengths.

Evaluating quick return restrictions on sickness absence in healthcare employees: A difference-in-differences study.

Background: Short intervals between shifts, known as quick returns, have been linked to adverse health effects, and increased risk of occupational accidents, particularly among healthcare employees. To safeguard employee health, the 2020 reform of Working Time Act in Finland limited rest periods under 11 h in irregular shift work.

Objective: To evaluate the changes in quick returns following the 2020 reform of the Working Time Act in Finland and their association with sickness absence among public healthcare employees.

Computational simulation of graphene/h-BN nanopores for single-molecule herbicide sensing.

The growing world population and climate change are key drivers for the increasing pursuit of more efficient and environmentally-safe food production. In this scenario, the large scale use of herbicides demands the development new technologies to control and monitor the application of these compounds, due to their several environmental and health-related problems. Motivated by all these issues, in this work, a hybrid graphene/boron nitride nanopore is explore to detect/identify herbicide molecules (Glyphosate, AMPA, Diuron, and 2,4-D).

Effectiveness of the AZD1222 vaccine against COVID-19 hospitalization in Europe: final results from the COVIDRIVE test-negative case-control study.

Marketing authorization holders of vaccines typically need to report brand-specific vaccine effectiveness (VE) to the regulatory authorities as part of their regulatory obligations. COVIDRIVE (now id. DRIVE) is a European public-private partnership for respiratory pathogen surveillance and studies of brand-specific VE with long-term follow-up.

Metabolic Engineering of Yeast.

Microbial cell factories have been developed to produce various compounds in a sustainable and economically viable manner. The yeast has been used as a platform cell factory in industrial biotechnology with numerous advantages, including ease of operation, rapid growth, and tolerance for various industrial stressors. Advances in synthetic biology and metabolic models have accelerated the design-build-test-learn cycle in metabolic engineering, significantly facilitating the development of yeast strains with complex phenotypes, including the redirection of metabolic fluxes to desired products, the expansion of the spectrum of usable substrates, and the improvement of the physiological properties of strain.

Physical health in young males and risk of chronic musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and respiratory diseases by middle age: A population-based cohort study.

Background: Cardiovascular, respiratory, and musculoskeletal disease are among the leading causes of disability in middle-aged and older people. Health and lifestyle factors in youth have known associations with cardiovascular or respiratory disease in adulthood, but largely unknown associations with musculoskeletal disease.

Methods And Findings: We included approximately 40,000 18-year-old Swedish males, who completed their conscription examination in 1969 to 1970, followed up until age of 60 years.

Circulating secretory component-containing anti-citrullinated protein antibodies prior to symptom onset in rheumatoid arthritis.

Objectives: To investigate the occurrence and dynamics of secretory component-containing antibodies towards citrullinated proteins (SC ACPA) in plasma from pre-symptomatic individuals subsequently developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: We studied 319 individuals who had donated plasma prior to RA onset (median predating time 4.7 years), whereof 181 also donated samples after diagnosis.

Challenges in Adolescent and Adult Males With Classic Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Due to 21-Hydroxylase Deficiency.

Classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency results in severe cortisol and aldosterone deficiency, leading to persistent adrenal stimulation and excess production of ACTH and adrenal androgens. This review examines the clinical considerations and challenges of balancing under- and overtreatment with glucocorticoids in adolescent and adult male individuals with CAH. Adolescents face many unique challenges that can hinder adherence, hormonal control, and transition to independence.

Clinical Manifestations and Challenges in Adolescent and Adult Females With Classic Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Due to 21-Hydroxylase Deficiency.

Classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency (CAH) is a rare genetic condition that results in cortisol deficiency and excess production of adrenal androgens. While the introduction of newborn screening for CAH has reduced morbidity and mortality, management of CAH remains challenging. Lifelong treatment with glucocorticoids is required to replace the endogenous cortisol deficiency and reduce excess adrenal androgens.