Digitalization of health care in low- and middle-income countries.

The rising incidence of noncommunicable diseases, combined with the costs of mitigating climate change, sovereign debt and regional conflicts, is undermining global health security and threatening progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals of the United Nations. The negative impact of these polycrises is disproportionately borne by low- and middle-income countries, which have the highest disease burden and lowest health-care spending. Health digitalization is emerging as a promising countermeasure, accelerated by artificial intelligence (AI) software and quantum computing hardware.

Artificial intelligence, recessionary pressures and population health.

Economic and labour policies have a considerable influence on health and well-being through direct financial impacts, and by shaping social and physical environments. Strong economies are important for public health investment and employment, yet the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to reshape economies, presenting challenges beyond mere temporary market disruption. Generative AI can perform non-routine cognitive tasks, previously unattainable though traditional automation, creating new efficiencies.

Fixed start method for repetitive project scheduling with simulated annealing.

This research deals with the high project completion variability by presenting a new method to decrease such variability in repetitive construction projects. To achieve this, a Fixed Start Method (FSM) -where the starts of each activity with a high level of probabilistic confidence for the planned project duration are fixed- was applied, where the high level of probabilistic confidence obtained was optimized with the use of the metaheuristic algorithm called Simulated Annealing (SA). This procedure evaluated the project completion in a case study based on the coefficient of variance (COV) of the resulting standard deviation, mean, and temperature selected for the SA.

Treatment approaches in advanced penile cancer: targeted therapies and immunotherapy.

Penile cancer is a rare genitourinary malignancy which can be treated with surgery or radiation for localized disease, but often requires systemic treatment with chemotherapy for recurrent or metastatic disease. With the emergence of immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapies for specific genomic aberrations in the treatment of over a dozen other cancers, recent studies have sought to identify therapies other than chemotherapy in treating this uncommon cancer. Several ongoing trials involving immune checkpoint inhibitors, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and antibody drug conjugates are attempting to identify additional therapies.

Influence of Acquisition Parameters on Silver Sulfide Nanoparticle Contrast in Photon-Counting Digital Mammography: A Phantom Study.

Photon-counting mammography is an emerging modality that allows for spectral imaging and provides a differentiation of material compositions. The development of photon-counting mammography-specific contrast agents has yet to be explored. In this study, the contrast, sensitivity, and organ dose between silver sulfide nanoparticles (AgS-NPs) and a clinically approved iodinated agent (iopamidol) were investigated using a contrast-embedded gradient ramp phantom and a prototype scanner.

A study of Filipina migrant workers' subjective health in Hong Kong and an assessment of eight scoring methods for the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12).

Objectives: The SF-12 version 2 is a survey instrument for collecting data on subjective health. The US-based scoring method is the recommended standard for measuring subjective health with data collected with this instrument. The inadequacy of the US-based scoring method of the SF-12 version 2 instrument for non-US populations is widely documented.

Association of player position and functional connectivity alterations in collegiate American football players: an fMRI study.

Introduction: Resting state-fMRI, provides a sensitive method for detecting changes in brain functional integrity, both with respect to regional oxygenated blood flow and whole network connectivity. The primary goal of this report was to examine alterations in functional connectivity in collegiate American football players after a season of repetitive head impact exposure.

Methods: Collegiate football players completed a rs-fMRI at pre-season and 1 week into post-season.

Oral medications for the treatment of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome; a systematic review of studies before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) is a complex form of dysautonomia that presents with abnormal autonomic reflexes upon standing, leading to symptoms such as lightheadedness, tachycardia, fatigue, and cognitive impairment. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought renewed attention to POTS due to its overlap with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). Studies have found that a substantial percentage of COVID-19 survivors exhibit symptoms resembling POTS, elevating POTS diagnoses to previously unseen levels.

Tracking changes in autonomic function by coupled analysis of wavelet-based dispersion of heart rate variability and gastrointestinal symptom severity in individuals with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

Introduction: People with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) experience multisystemic dysfunction with varying severity and unpredictability of flare occurrence. Cohort studies suggest that individuals with hEDS have a higher risk for autonomic dysfunction. The gold standard for assessing autonomic function, clinically, is the heart rate variability (HRV) assessment from 24-h Holter monitor electrocardiogram data, but this is expensive and can only be performed in short durations.

Evaluating plasma biomarkers NfL, GFAP, GDF15, and FGF21 as indicators of disease severity in Charcot-Marie Tooth patients.

Background: Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), a slowly advancing hereditary nerve disorder, presents a significant challenge in the medical field. Effective drugs for treatment are lacking, and we struggle to find sensitive markers to track the disease's severity and progression. In this study, our objective was to investigate the levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL), glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP), fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF-21) and growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) in individuals with CMT and to compare them to a control group.

The global research of magnetic resonance imaging in Alzheimer's disease: a bibliometric analysis from 2004 to 2023.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder worldwide and the using of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the management of AD is increasing. The present study aims to summarize MRI in AD researches via bibliometric analysis and predict future research hotspots.

Methods: We searched for records related to MRI studies in AD patients from 2004 to 2023 in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database.

Association Between Weight-Adjusted Waist Index and Cognitive Function in Older Adults Without Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: This study investigates the correlation between the weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) and cognitive performance in the senior American population, focusing on those without diabetes from 2011 to 2014.

Methods: We analyzed data from the 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), focusing on non-diabetic participants aged 60 and older who completed cognitive tests: Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease (CERAD), the Animal Fluency test (AFT), and Digit Symbol Substitution test (DSST). WWI was calculated using waist circumference divided by the square root of body weight.

Fiber Sorbents - A Versatile Platform for Sorption-Based Gas Separations.

Increasing demand for high-purity fine chemicals and a drive for process intensification of large-scale separations have driven significant work on the development of highly engineered porous materials with promise for sorption-based separations. While sorptive separations in porous materials offer energy-efficient alternatives to longstanding thermal-based methods, the particulate nature of many of these sorbents has sometimes limited their large-scale deployment in high-throughput applications such as gas separations, for which the necessary high feed flow rates and gas velocities accrue prohibitive operational costs. These processability limitations have been historically addressed through powder shaping methods aimed at the fabrication of structured sorbent contactors based on pellets, beads or monoliths, commonly obtained as extrudates.

Interleukin-10 exhibit dose-dependent effects on macrophage phenotypes and cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction.

Introduction: Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a potent immunomodulatory cytokine widely explored as a therapeutic agent for diseases, including myocardial infarction (MI). High-dose IL-10 treatment may not achieve expected outcomes, raising the question of whether IL-10 has dose-dependency, or even uncharted side-effects from overdosing. We hypothesized that IL-10 has dose-dependent effects on macrophage (Mφ) phenotypic transition and cardiac remodeling after MI.

Inflammation severity, rather than respiratory failure, is strongly associated with mortality of ARDS patients in high-altitude ICUs.

Introduction: In high-altitude cities located above 2,500 m, hospitals face a concerning mortality rate of over 50% among intensive care unit (ICU) patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This elevated mortality rate is largely due to the absence of altitude-specific medical protocols that consider the unique physiological adaptations of high-altitude residents to hypoxic conditions. This study addresses this critical gap by analyzing demographic, clinical, sex-specific, and preclinical data from ICUs in Bogotá, Colombia (2,650 m) and El Alto, Bolivia (4,150 m).

A comparative evaluation of antibiotic and synbiotic supplementation on production performance and necrotic enteritis severity in broilers during an experimental necrotic enteritis challenge.

The ban on antibiotics in the poultry diet resulted in re-emergence of several infectious diseases including necrotic enteritis (NE). These infectious diseases are leading to poor health and welfare as well as production and economic loss. Synbiotic could be a potential candidate to replace the antibiotics in poultry diet.

COVID-19's impact on food environment in the Indian states of Telangana, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Punjab: a descriptive qualitative study to build further research in India's food environment resilience building.

Background And Aim: Globally, COVID-19 has had a profound impact on food and nutrition security. This paper aims to gather the perspective from Transforming India's Green Revolution by Research and Empowerment for Sustainable food Supplies (TIGR2ESS) Flagship Project 6 (FP-6) team on the impact of COVID-19 on the food systems in India. The responses collected will be used for further research projects after TIGR2ESS ends in March 2022.

Associations of neighbourhood food retail with disability and death in older adults: Cardiovascular Health Study.

Background: A healthier diet is associated with lower chronic disease burden, but the impact of neighbourhood food environments on disability and death in older adults is not known.

Methods: In the Cardiovascular Health Study, a cohort study of adults aged 65+, we calculated study years until death (years of life (YOL)), study years without activities of daily living (ADL) difficulty (years of able life; YoAL) and percent of study years without ADL difficulty (compression of disability). Linear regression quantified associations of food establishments within 5 km of baseline home address (as a z-score) with each outcome, adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics.

Chronic Kidney Disease Is Associated With Increased All-Cause Mortality Risk Among Older Black Adults.

Background And Objectives: Older patients diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have a higher risk of all-cause mortality than the general population. However, there is limited information available on how CKD relates to all-cause mortality among Black adults in the United States. We aimed to investigate how CKD relates to all-cause mortality risk among older Black adults.

The relationship between C-reactive protein to lymphocyte ratio and the prevalence of chronic kidney disease in US adults: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: The C-reactive protein/Lymphocyte Ratio (CLR) is a novel biomarker whose role in the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is not well understood. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between CLR and the prevalence of CKD.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included participants from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted between 1999 and 2010.

Investigating Fast Scanning Calorimetry and Differential Scanning Calorimetry as Screening Tools for Thermoset Polymer Material Compatibility with Laser-Based Powder Bed Fusion.

As additive manufacturing (AM) technology has developed and progressed, a constant topic of research in the area is expanding the library of materials to be used with these techniques. Among AM methods that utilize polymers, laser-based powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) has preferentially used thermoplastic polymers as its starting materials, but the deposition and material joining method employed in PBF-LB may also be compatible with powdered thermoset polymer precursors as feedstocks. To assess the compatibility of candidate thermosetting polymers and PBF-LB, characterization techniques and protocols that link fundamental material behavior to material behavior in the processing environment are needed.