Readiness for Perception and Action: Towards a More Mechanistic Understanding of Phasic Alertness.

Human survival requires prompt perception and action to address relevant events in the environment. For this, the brain has evolved a system that uses warning stimuli to elicit phasic alertness, a state readying the brain for upcoming perception and action. Although a wealth of empirical evidence revealed how phasic alertness improves a wide range of perceptual and cognitive processing, it is still unclear by what cognitive mechanisms this is achieved.

Landscapes-a lens for assessing sustainability.

Context: There are urgent calls to transition society to more sustainable trajectories, at scales ranging from local to global. Landscape sustainability (LS), or the capacity for landscapes to provide equitable access to ecosystem services essential for human wellbeing for both current and future generations, provides an operational approach to monitor these transitions. However, the complexity of landscapes complicates how and what to consider when assessing LS.

MITIGATING OVER-SATURATED FLUORESCENCE IMAGES THROUGH A SEMI-SUPERVISED GENERATIVE ADVERSARIAL NETWORK.

Multiplex immunofluorescence (MxIF) imaging is a critical tool in biomedical research, offering detailed insights into cell composition and spatial context. As an example, DAPI staining identifies cell nuclei, while CD20 staining helps segment cell membranes in MxIF. However, a persistent challenge in MxIF is saturation artifacts, which hinder single-cell level analysis in areas with over-saturated pixels.

Pancreas divisum unmasked: a case report.

Pancreas divisum occurs during development when the ventral and dorsal buds of the pancreas do not fuse. It is the most common congenital anomaly of the pancreas. Patients with this condition are usually asymptomatic, but almost 25% of these patients experience recurrent pancreatitis, which may progress to chronic pancreatitis.

Access to public health care and associated factors in rural areas: a cross-sectional community-based study in Bopa district, Southern Benin.

Introduction: despite the considerable progress made to date, access to health care in public health facilities remains a challenging public health problem in Benin. This study aimed to assess trends in access to care over five years and to identify factors associated with low access to care.

Methods: a cross-sectional community-based study was conducted in the Bopa district, a rural area of southern Benin between January and February 2020.

Coverage and associated factors of vitamin-A supplementation among children aged 6-59 months in Gondar City, Northwest Ethiopia, 2022: a community-based cross-sectional study.

Introduction: vitamin A is a nutrient required for normal visual system function, growth, and development. Periodic vitamin A supplementation is a cost-effective strategy for preventing vitamin A deficiency in children. This study aimed to assess the coverage and associated factors of vitamin A supplementation among children aged 6-59 months in Gondar City, Northwest Ethiopia 2022.

Mechanisms of Cancer-Induced Bone Pain.

Bone is a common site of advanced cancer metastasis, second only to the lungs and liver. Cancer-induced bone pain (CIBP) is a persistent and intense pain that is caused by a combination of inflammatory and neuropathic factors. As CIBP progresses, the degree of pain intensifies.

Imputation for Lipidomics and Metabolomics (ImpLiMet): a web-based application for optimization and method selection for missing data imputation.

Motivation: Missing values are prevalent in high-throughput measurements due to various experimental or analytical reasons. Imputation, the process of replacing missing values in a dataset with estimated values, plays an important role in multivariate and machine learning analyses. The three missingness patterns, including missing completely at random, missing at random, and missing not at random, describe unique dependencies between the missing and observed data.

Antibiotics-induced pulmonary embolism: A disproportionality analysis in Food and Drug Administration database of Adverse Event Reporting System using data mining algorithms.

Background: Antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed drugs. Unnecessary use of antibiotics is particularly concerning because antibiotics may be associated with a number of adverse drug events.

Aim: The study was designed to detect the association between pulmonary embolism and antibiotics by disproportionality analysis in the Food and Drug Administration database of Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) using data mining algorithms (DMAs).

Biogenic nanoparticles as a promising drug delivery system.

Nanotechnology has significantly influenced the worldwide medical services sector during the past few decades. Biological collection approaches for nanoparticles are economical, non-toxic, and ecologically benign. This review provides up-to-date information on nanoparticle production processes and biological sources, including algae, plants, bacteria, fungus, actinomycetes, and yeast.

Toxicodynamic insights of 2C and NBOMe drugs - Is there abuse potential?

Drug use represents a prevalent and multifaceted societal problem, with profound implications for public health, social welfare, and economic stability. To circumvent strict international drug control regulations, there is a growing trend in the development and market introduction of novel psychoactive substances (NPS), encompassing a wide range of compounds with psychoactive properties. This includes, among other classes of drugs, the phenethylamines.

A health-equity framework for tailoring digital non-pharmacological interventions in aging.

If designed with health equity in mind, digital non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs) represent a cost-effective, scalable means of reducing health disparities associated with age-related mental health disorders in older adults in the USA. However, disparities in technological access, literacy and effectiveness can limit the impact of these interventions in older adults from disadvantaged groups. We present a health-equity-promoting framework for the development of digital NPIs for age-related mental health disorders and provide an example from the literature that highlights how interventions can be targeted at specific groups to increase technological access, literacy and effectiveness to ensure that these interventions can meet their potential of reducing health disparities.

The Kerbernez long-term experiment: A dataset on crop yield and soil organic matter evolution in forage crop rotations and permanent grasslands in a temperate oceanic climate.

Forage crop rotations including grasslands, common in dairy systems, are known to ensure good productivity and limit the decrease of soil organic matter frequently observed in permanent arable land. A dataset was built to compile data from the Kerbernez long-term experiment, conducted in Brittany(France) from 1978 to 2005. This experiment compared the effect of different forage crop rotations fertilized with ammonium nitrate and/or slurry, with or without grassland, on forage production (quantity, quality) and changes in soil physio-chemical characteristics.

Reducing off-target expression of mRNA therapeutics and vaccines in the liver with microRNA binding sites.

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are often liver tropic, presenting challenges for LNP-delivered mRNA therapeutics intended for other tissues, as off-target expression in the liver may increase side effects and modulate immune responses. To avoid off-target expression in the liver, miR-122 binding sites have been used by others in viral and non-viral therapeutics. Here, we use a luciferase reporter system to compare different copy numbers and insertion locations of miR-122 binding sequences to restrict liver expression.

 (Labiatae), a new high-mountain Mediterranean species from the marble outcrops of the Sierra de Guadarrama (Central System, Madrid, Segovia, Spain).

A new species of () is described from the calcareous, high-mountain Spanish flora in the central part of the Iberian Peninsula. It is found in a Mediterranean climate at high-elevation, perennial, calcareous grasslands, as well as in marble screes of anthropogenic origin in the Sierra de Guadarrama, Central System (Spain), in a reserve area within the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, at 1996 m asl. Taxonomic morphological measurements were performed on collected specimens from Sierra de Guadarrama as well as on geographically-adjacent (i.

Influence of age and gender on gait kinematics of pelvis and hip in healthy adults aged 19-60 years.

Purpose: Pelvic and hip motion are pivotal in maintaining postural control and energy efficient gait. An insight into influence of age and gender on the coupled motion of hip and pelvis in gait-cycle will guide clinical rehabilitation strategies and pertinent technology-design for specific age-groups. Therefore, present study evaluated pelvic and hip-joint gait kinematics in healthy females and males across adult-hood.

Therapeutic functions of medical implants from various material categories with integrated biomacromolecular systems.

Medical implants are designed to replace missing parts or improve body functions and must be capable of providing structural support or therapeutic intervention for a medical condition. Advances in materials science have enabled the development of devices made from metals, polymers, bioceramics, and composites, each with its specific advantages and limitations. This review analyzes the incorporation of biopolymers, proteins, and other biomacromolecules into implants, focusing on their role in biological integration and therapeutic functions.

Predictors for recurrence of drug use among males on probation for methamphetamine use in Japan: a one-year follow-up study.

Background: Methamphetamine use is related to severe health, social, and criminal challenges. However, there is limited evidence regarding the factors associated with the recurrence of drug use among individuals who have used methamphetamine, particularly within populations involved in the criminal justice system. This study aimed to identify predictors of illicit drug use at a one-year follow-up among males in Japan who have used methamphetamine and are involved in the criminal justice system.

Targeted distribution of nicotine patches by mail to rural regions of Canada: Predictors of patch use.

Introduction: Rural regions generally report higher smoking rates than urban centers, which increases the risk of tobacco related harms and consequences, and makes promoting smoking cessation in these areas a priority. Mass distribution of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) by postal mail has been found to increase the odds of successful cessation attempts. Understanding factors that contribute to the use of NRT could help maximize this intervention's effectiveness.

Liver fibrosis classification on trichrome histology slides using weakly supervised learning in children and young adults.

Background: Traditional liver fibrosis staging via percutaneous biopsy suffers from sampling bias and variable inter-pathologist agreement, highlighting the need for more objective techniques. Deep learning models for disease staging from medical images have shown potential to decrease diagnostic variability, with recent weakly supervised learning strategies showing promising results even with limited manual annotation.

Purpose: To study the clustering-constrained attention multiple instance learning (CLAM) approach for staging liver fibrosis on trichrome whole slide images (WSIs) of children and young adults.

Iron metabolism in rheumatic diseases.

Iron is a crucial element for living organism in terms of oxygen transport, hematopoiesis, enzymatic activity, mitochondrial respiratory chain function and also immune system function. The human being has evolved a mechanism to regulate body iron. In some rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematous (SLE), systemic sclerosis (SSc), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and gout, this balanced iron regulation is impaired.

Interplay of epilepsy and long-term potentiation: implications for memory.

The interplay between long-term potentiation (LTP) and epilepsy represents a crucial facet in understanding synaptic plasticity and memory within neuroscience. LTP, a phenomenon characterized by a sustained increase in synaptic strength, is pivotal in learning and memory processes, particularly in the hippocampus. This review delves into the intricate relationship between LTP and epilepsy, exploring how alterations in synaptic plasticity mechanisms akin to those seen in LTP contribute to the hyperexcitable state of epilepsy.

Noise reduction in brain magnetic resonance imaging using adaptive wavelet thresholding based on linear prediction factor.

Introduction: Wavelet thresholding techniques are crucial in mitigating noise in data communication and storage systems. In image processing, particularly in medical imaging like MRI, noise reduction is vital for improving visual quality and accurate analysis. While existing methods offer noise reduction, they often suffer from limitations like edge and texture loss, poor smoothness, and the need for manual parameter tuning.

Partial directed coherence analysis of resting-state EEG signals for alcohol use disorder detection using machine learning.

Introduction: Excessive alcohol consumption negatively impacts physical and psychiatric health, lifestyle, and societal interactions. Chronic alcohol abuse alters brain structure, leading to alcohol use disorder (AUD), a condition requiring early diagnosis for effective management. Current diagnostic methods, primarily reliant on subjective questionnaires, could benefit from objective measures.

Who is WithMe? EEG features for attention in a visual task, with auditory and rhythmic support.

Introduction: The study of attention has been pivotal in advancing our comprehension of cognition. The goal of this study is to investigate which EEG data representations or features are most closely linked to attention, and to what extent they can handle the cross-subject variability.

Methods: We explore the features obtained from the univariate time series from a single EEG channel, such as time domain features and recurrence plots, as well as representations obtained directly from the multivariate time series, such as global field power or functional brain networks.