Healthcare Costs and Early Complications in Liver-Transplanted Patients With Portal Vein Thrombosis: Experience From a Colombian Reference Center.

Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the direct healthcare costs and early complications associated with pretransplant portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in cirrhotic patients undergoing their first orthotopic liver transplant (LT) at a hospital in Colombia from 2013 to 2021.

Methods: A registry-based retrospective follow-up study was conducted on cirrhotic patients aged 14 years or older who underwent their first LT at the San Vicente Fundación Rionegro Hospital between January 2013 and April 2021. The primary outcomes were early (30-day) vascular and biliary complications and direct healthcare costs.

Advances in our understanding of the estrous cycle and applications for improving targeted reproductive management in livestock.

The scientific discipline of endocrinology has been invaluable to our understanding of the estrous cycle. In the second half of the twentieth century the development of immunoassay technologies provided a rapid and sensitive method to quantify circulating concentrations of reproductive hormones and relate them to stage of the estrous cycle and physiological status of the animal. Ovarian ultrasonography provided the ability to track the growth and regression of ovarian structures within the same animal across the estrous cycle in real time and, in combination with hormonal profiling, accurately identify mechanisms regulating the estrous cycle and early pregnancy.

Occurrence, seasonal distribution and probabilistic source-specific health risk assessment of dissolved trace metals in southwestern rivers, Nigeria.

The presence of trace metals (TMs) in river systems at certain levels can cause toxicity and pose significant risks to human health. In this study, nine TMs (Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) in water samples collected from six major rivers from southwestern Nigeria during both dry and wet seasons. Across both seasons, the mean concentrations (mg/L) ranged from 0.

Environmental contaminants assessment for frequently harvested migratory waterfowl in the Northeast Atlantic flyway.

Waterfowl serve as indicators of ecosystem health and represent a pathway of contaminant exposure for hunters who consume them. In the northeast Atlantic Flyway, data on baseline contaminant loads in waterfowl are lacking. We assessed five species of commonly harvested (and consumed) waterfowl for mercury, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

Effects of warning information at medication initiation on deprescribing intentions in older adults: A hypothetical vignette.

Objectives: To explore to what degree providing patients warning information about the long-term risks of a medication would affect their subsequent desire to discontinue it.

Methods: We conducted a vignette-based online experiment in which participants aged ≥ 65 years from the United States were asked to imagine starting and subsequently stopping omeprazole. Participants were randomized to one of four vignettes about starting omeprazole (potential long-term harms or no harm information; OTC vs.

Opening the black box: Think Aloud as a method to study the spontaneous stream of consciousness.

Asking participants to Think Aloud is a common method for studying conscious experience, but it remains unclear whether this approach alters thought qualities-such as meta-awareness, rate of topic shifts, or the content of thoughts in task-absent conditions. To investigate this, we conducted two studies comparing thinking aloud to thinking silently. In Study 1, 111 participants alternated between 15-minute intervals of verbalizing and silently reflecting on their stream of consciousness in a counterbalanced design.

d-Limonene inhibits cytokines and chemokines expression by regulating NF-kappaB and STAT in HaCat cells and DNCB-induced atopic dermatitis in BALB/c mice.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder characterized by itching and redness, affecting individuals of all ages and significantly impairing their quality of life. The prevalence of AD is rising, posing serious health concern. Relief of itching is a primary treatment objective; however, steroid treatments can lead to adverse effects, including skin barrier thinning.

Can ecosystem services supply match local residents' perception: Linking macro-ESs and micro-individual perceptions in the Yellow River Basin.

Residents' satisfaction perceptions of ecosystem services (ESs) are essential for the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin (YRB). Existing studies lacks large-scale survey of local residents' satisfaction perception at urban scale within river basins, and has not effectively explored the matching relationship between the ESs supply and the perceptions of local residents. To address this gap, this study develops a database on nine ESs supply and individual perceptions of the YRB, constructs a comprehensive framework to quantify the matching of ESs supply and local residents' satisfaction perceptions, and proposes targeted strategy.

Mangrove-based carbon market projects: What stakeholders need to address during pre-feasibility assessment.

Mangrove-based carbon market projects (MbCMP) aim to conserve, protect and restore mangrove habitats in order to generate high quality blue carbon credits via a crediting program, as a contribution to climate change mitigation/adaptation, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services provision and local socio-economic development. The blue carbon credits generated are transferable, verifiable and sold through carbon markets to earn additional income for governments and local communities. The main aim of the paper is to provide important considerations for pre-field planning, that is, how challenges associated with fieldwork, project implementation, and monitoring reporting and verification (MRV) can be addressed with proper pre-field planning.

Genome assembly and multiomic analyses reveal insights into flower and bark colors of Lagerstroemia excelsa.

Lagerstroemia excelsa is a unique plant species from China, holds a significant aesthetic and economic value, and plays a crucial role in landscape architecture and horticulture. Thus far, there is little genetic and genomic information available about this species, which limits its use in development of new cultivars. In this study, a high-quality genome map of L.

Long-term suppression of Microcystis aeruginosa by tannic acid: Risks of microcystin pollution and proteomic mechanisms.

Harmful algal blooms are a critical eco-environmental issue with severe impacts on aquatic ecosystems and human health. Tannic acid (TA) has been suggested as an effective algal bloom control, but the molecular mechanisms of its interaction with algae cells and its effects on algal toxin release remain unclear. This study tracked toxin production and release in the toxigenic species Microcystis aeruginosa (M.

Impact of luteal blood perfusion and expression of estrus on pregnancy rates of Bos taurus embryo recipients exposed to fixed-time embryo transfer.

This study evaluated the impact of luteal blood perfusion (BP) and expression of estrus on pregnancy rates of Bos taurus embryo recipients exposed to fixed-timed embryo transfer (FTET) using a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)- and progesterone-based ovulation synchronization protocol. Postpartum beef cows (n = 746) were exposed to a GnRH/progesterone-based ovulation synchronization protocol. Luteal morphometry and BP were assessed using color Doppler ultrasonography 9 days after CIDR removal concurrently with FTET.

Spatially constrained hyperpolarized 13C MRI pharmacokinetic rate constant map estimation using a digital brain phantom and a U-Net.

Fitting rate constants to Hyperpolarized [1-C]Pyruvate (HP C13) MRI data is a promising approach for quantifying metabolism in vivo. Current methods typically fit each voxel of the dataset using a least-squares objective. With these methods, each voxel is considered independently, and the spatial relationships are not considered during fitting.

Measurement of biomechanical properties of transversely isotropic biological tissue using traveling wave expansion.

The anisotropic mechanical properties of fiber-embedded biological tissues are essential for understanding their development, aging, disease progression, and response to therapy. However, accurate and fast assessment of mechanical anisotropy in vivo using elastography remains challenging. To address the dilemma of achieving both accuracy and efficiency in this inverse problem involving complex wave equations, we propose a computational framework that utilizes the traveling wave expansion model.

Peptide nucleic acids: Recent advancements and future opportunities in biomedical applications.

Peptide nucleic acids (PNA), synthetic molecules comprising a peptide-like backbone and natural and unnatural nucleobases, have garnered significant attention for their potential applications in gene editing and other biomedical fields. The unique properties of PNA, particularly enhanced stability/specificity/affinity towards targeted DNA and RNA sequences, achieved significant attention recently for gene silencing, gene correction, antisense therapy, drug delivery, biosensing and other various diagnostic aspects. This review explores the structure, properties, and potential of PNA in transforming genetic engineering including potent biomedical challenges.

Developmental changes of skin quality from breast, back, and thigh of Pekin ducks from 1 to 6 weeks of age.

Good skin quality not only improved carcass quality but also increased consumer demand for fresh poultry meat. This study aimed to investigate the developmental changes in skin growth and quality of Pekin ducks during 1-6 weeks of age. The skin samples were collected from the breast, back, and thigh tissues of six male ducks at the end of each week.

The impact of colloid-solvent dynamic coupling on the coarsening rate of colloidal phase separation.

Phase separation, a fundamental phenomenon in both natural and industrial settings, involves the coarsening of domains over time t to reduce interfacial energy. While well-understood for simple viscous liquid mixtures, the physical laws governing coarsening dynamics in complex fluids, such as colloidal suspensions, remain unclear. Here, we investigate colloidal phase separation through particle-based simulations with and without hydrodynamic interactions (HIs).

The mechanisms of frequency tuning in gecko auditory hair cells.

We developed an isolated auditory papilla of the crested gecko to record from the hair cells and explore the origins of frequency tuning. Low-frequency cells displayed electrical tuning, dependent on Ca-activated K channels; high-frequency cells, overlain with sallets, showed a variation in hair bundle stiffness which when combined with sallet mass could provide a mechanical resonance of 1 to 6 kHz. Sinusoidal electrical currents injected extracellularly evoked hair bundle oscillations at twice the stimulation frequency, consistent with fast electromechanical responses from hair bundles of two opposing orientations, as occur in the sallets.

Environmental controls on the conversion of nutrients to chlorophyll in lakes.

Anthropogenic inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus to lakes have increased worldwide, causing phytoplankton chlorophyll concentrations to increase at many sites, with negative implications for biodiversity and human usage of lake resources. However, the conversion of nutrients to chlorophyll varies among lakes, hindering effective management actions to improve water quality. Here, using a rich global dataset, we explore how the relationship between chlorophyll-a (Chla) and nitrogen and phosphorus and inferred nutrient limitation is modified by climate, catchment, hydrology and lake characteristics.

Association between homelessness and PrEP uptake among men who have sex with men: Results from the American Men's Internet Survey, 2017-2021.

Background: Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) are disproportionately affected by housing insecurity across the US. This study examined the association between homelessness and uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention among GBMSM in the United States and investigated the modifying effect of injection drug use.

Methods: 47,750 cisgender GBMSM who participated in the American Men's Internet Survey from 2017 to 2021 and who self-reported not living with HIV were included in this secondary, cross-sectional analysis.

Mental illness and personal recovery: A narrative identity framework.

This article presents a metamorphic model to describe the manifold role of narrative identity, a person's internal life story, across the course of mental illness and personal recovery. First, early adversity and negative co-authoring may contribute to the development of a fragile life story, which itself may combine with life stressors to increase the likelihood of mental illness. Second, mental illness may negatively impact the development of narrative identity, which in turn may exacerbate the devastating effects of mental illness on daily functioning.

Estimation of the phase velocity dispersion curves for viscoelastic materials using Point Limited Shear Wave Elastography.

Ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE) is widely used in clinical applications for non-invasive measurements of soft tissue viscoelasticity. The study of tissue viscoelasticity often involves the analysis of shear wave phase velocity dispersion curves, which show how the phase velocity varies with frequency or wavelength. In this study, we propose an alternative method to the two-dimensional Fourier transform (2D-FT) and Phase Gradient (PG) methods for shear wave phase velocity estimation.

The (in)dependence of single-cell data inferences on model constructs.

Recent developments in single-cell analysis have revolutionized basic research and have garnered the attention of the forensic domain. Though single-cell analysis is not new to forensics, the ways in which these data can be generated and interpreted are. Modern interpretation strategies report likelihood ratios that rely on a model of the world that is a simplification of it.

T-Shaped Wedge Resection of the Upper Eyelid: An Alternative to the Pentagonal Wedge.

Purpose: To report the experience with an alternative to the upper eyelid pentagonal wedge resection technique which results in improved cosmesis due to a greater alignment of incisions with relaxed skin tension lines.

Methods: A retrospective review of all patients who underwent the T-shaped wedge resection by the authors from 2009 to 2017. A horizontal eyelid crease incision is made across the upper eyelid skin.