Not-so-normal hearing: Temporary hearing changes lead to chronic difficulties for listeners with "normal" audiometric thresholds.

Hearing loss has historically been mainly associated with elevated pure-tone thresholds. However, in recent years, there has been increased interest in addressing the hearing difficulties reported by individuals with normal hearing thresholds. In this study, we measured hearing thresholds, noise history, temporary threshold shift history, and hearing difficulty for a sample of 10,492 Service Members.

The physiological mechanisms underlying consumer preferences towards organic food.

Previous research has shown that organic food labeling may lead consumers to biased processing of their preferences, the physiological mechanisms behind this phenomenon are not understood. For the first time, this manuscript combines consumer valuation and physiological measures to investigate the explicit and implicit preference dimensions of organic food. The explicit dimension was measured using the expected and actual degree of liking of two identical - but differently labeled - pear juices (organic and non-organic) while the implicit dimension was measured using the activity of the mylohyoid muscle (MM) and the 3D kinematics of the hand, and arm movements.

Sleep health of adults and children with Moebius syndrome.

Introduction: Moebius syndrome is a rare congenital disorder with frequent anecdotal reports of sleep disturbances not sufficiently categorized by prior literature. The present mixed-methods, two-phase study aimed to characterize the sleep health and symptoms of a cohort of adults and children (via parent proxies) with Moebius syndrome.

Methods: In Phase 1, participants were 46 adults with Moebius Syndrome (M=33.

Associations of a metal mixture and vitamin D with sleep duration among adolescents and young adults from the 2011-2018 NHANES cycles.

Introduction: Heavy metal exposure has been associated with poor sleep, but little is known about the cumulative associations of multiple metals with sleep duration, particularly among adolescents. This study examined the association of blood lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg) concentrations with sleep duration and possible effect modification by vitamin D.

Methods: The study sample consisted of 16-25-year-olds (n = 2637) from the 2011-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Factors associated with development of depression in adult patients with brain arteriovenous malformations.

Objective: Cerebrovascular diseases are often associated with the development of depression, but few studies have assessed this association with brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVMs). We aim to explore the association of brain arteriovenous malformation(bAVM) with new onset depression at follow-up.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study on adult bAVMs patients using an institutional bAVM database.

PEN-FAST-ED: Utilizing the PEN-FAST decision tool to guide antibiotic prescribing in the emergency department.

Background: Patient-reported penicillin allergies are frequently encountered in the emergency department (ED), which often lead to non-beta-lactam antibiotic use despite beta-lactams' place as first-line therapy in most bacterial infections. The PEN-FAST clinical decision tool was developed and validated to identify patients with a low risk of true penicillin allergies that do not require formal skin testing for rechallenging. The tool consists of four questions that add up to a total score ranging from 0 to 5.

Managed honey bees, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae), face greater risk from parasites and pathogens than mosquito control insecticide applications.

As the primary pollinator for many crops, honey bees (Apis mellifera) are critically important to food production and the agricultural economy. Adult mosquito control is often suspected by the public and commercial beekeepers to harm honey bees, creating conflicts between industries. To investigate this matter, a two-year field study was conducted on vegetated wetlands in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.

Mastering rectal cancer MRI: From foundational concepts to optimal staging.

MRI plays a critical role in the local staging, restaging, surveillance, and risk stratification of patients, ensuring they receive the most tailored therapy. As such, radiologists must be familiar not only with the key MRI findings that influence management decisions but also with the appropriate MRI protocols and structured reporting. Given the complexity of selecting the optimal therapy for each patient-which often requires multidisciplinary discussions-radiologists should be well-versed in relevant treatment strategies and surgical terms, understanding their significance in guiding patient care.

AI-based methods for biomolecular structure modeling for Cryo-EM.

Cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) has revolutionized structural biology by enabling the determination of macromolecular structures that were challenging to study with conventional methods. Processing cryo-EM data involves several computational steps to derive three-dimensional structures from raw projections. Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) including deep learning have significantly improved the performance of these processes.

Major advances in protein function assignment by remote homolog detection with protein language models - A review.

There is an ever-increasing need for accurate and efficient methods to identify protein homologs. Traditionally, sequence similarity-based methods have dominated protein homolog identification for function identification, but these struggle when the sequence identity between the pairs is low. Recently, transformer architecture-based deep learning methods have achieved breakthrough performances in many fields.

Body Image and sex among postpartum women.

Body image and sexuality both pertain to the body. Positive experiences in one domain are generally associated with positive experiences in the other. Yet, less is known about body image among postpartum women specifically.

HIV co-infection is associated with increased HLA-DR expression by Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific CD4 T cells in people with latent tuberculosis infection.

Infection with HIV is associated with dysregulated CD4 T cell responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and increased risk of developing tuberculosis. Mtb-specific CD4 T cells in people with HIV have diminished Th1 cytokine production capacity, thus we utilized a flow cytometry-based assay to measure CD40L expression by Mtb-specific CD4 T cells in a cytokine-independent manner. We evaluated the frequency and phenotype of Mtb-specific CD4 responses in Kenyan adults with latent Mtb infection and found that the majority of Mtb-specific CD4 T cells expressed CD40L in the absence of IFN-γ, regardless of HIV infection status.

Dimensions of perinatal and childhood adversities both merge and remain distinct.

Background: Perinatal and childhood periods are sensitive windows of development wherein adversity exposure can result in disadvantageous outcomes. Data-driven dimensional approaches that appreciate the co-occurrence of adversities allow for extending beyond specificity (individual adversities) and cumulative risk (non-specific summation of adversities) approaches to understand how the type and timing of adversities affect outcomes.

Objective: With evolving recommendations on what should be important in adversity research, we sought to establish a data-driven framework that accounts for both type and timing of adversity by (1) replicating dimensions of childhood adversities, (2) determining whether perinatal adversities form unique dimensions and (3) identifying whether adversities during the perinatal and childhood periods overlap or remain distinct.

Assessing diapocynin's different effects on osteosarcoma and breast cancer cells: An in vitro study.

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone cancer, accounting for approximately 5 % of new cancer cases globally. In contrast, breast cancer remains the most prevalent malignancy and a leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women. Given the limitations of current therapies, novel treatment strategies are urgently needed.

Development of a comprehensive food glycomic database and its application: Associations between dietary carbohydrates and insulin resistance.

Carbohydrates are an integral part of a healthy diet. The molecular compositions of carbohydrates encompass a very broad range of unique structures with many being ill-defined. This vast structural complexity is distilled into vague categories such as total carbohydrates, sugars, starches, and soluble/insoluble fibers.

Development and evaluation of the modified and standardized rainfall anomaly indices for extreme variability analysis.

This study introduces two refined rainfall anomaly indices-the Modified Rainfall Anomaly Index (MRAI) and the Standardized Rainfall Anomaly Index (SRAI)-to address limitations in the traditional Rainfall Anomaly Index (RAI). The existing RAI struggles to effectively capture extreme wet and dry rainfall conditions and relies on a simplistic formulation. To evaluate these indices on a continental scale, data from the Integrated Multi-Satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) was used for the Conterminous United States (CONUS), enabling scalability to ungaged locations and beyond.

Identification of drivers of global trade in plastic waste based on GCA and ISM-MICMAC model: Taking China, USA and South Africa as cases.

Plastic waste's dual characteristics of "resource" and "pollution" led to the prevalence of trade. The Global Plastic Waste Trade Network (GPWTN) is heterogeneous, and its structure is susceptible to the influence of key countries within it. However, there is a shortage of research on the key countries and trade drivers influencing GPWTN evolution.

Empowerment through knowledge: Qualitative perceptions of 'undetectable equals Untransmittable' among people living with HIV and tuberculosis in South Africa.

Introduction: Undetectable equals untransmittable (U=U) is an education campaign promoting science that people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who maintain an undetectable viral load cannot transmit HIV to others. Researchers theorize that undetectable equals untransmittable messaging will decrease HIV stigma by reducing fears of HIV transmission and providing evidence to dismantle discriminatory policies. However, little is known about how people with HIV in South Africa interpret the results of their viral load tests, undetectable equals untransmittable messaging, or its impact on stigma.

Evaluation of hazardous substances emitted during mask use.

This study evaluated the inhalation of mask-derived materials by simulating real breathing conditions and examined how the amount of inhaled materials varies with breathing flow rate and duration. Three types of non-certified reusable masks and two types of certified disposable masks were selected. For each mask, five different hazardous materials were captured and analyzed in three replicates with two breathing flow rates of 30 L/min and 85 L/min and two breathing time combinations of 15 min and 60 min.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia across the spectrum of alcohol use disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Insomnia is prevalent among patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD), potentially undermining treatment and increasing the risk of relapse. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the recommended first-line treatment for insomnia, but its efficacy is not well-characterized in patients across the spectrum of AUD. The aim of this meta-analysis was to quantify the effectiveness of CBT-I in improving insomnia severity and alcohol-related outcomes in adults with heavy alcohol use and/or varying levels of AUD severity and comorbid insomnia.

Trends, characteristics, and outcomes of pregnancy in women with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A nationwide analysis.

Objective: To assess clinical and obstetric characteristics associated with pregnant patients with a diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Methods: This serial cross-sectional study queried the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project National Inpatient Sample. The study population was 16,759,786 hospital deliveries from 2016 to 2020.