Analysis of scientific publications on oral cancer diagnosis delays: a bibliometric study over 22 years.

BACKGROUND: The area of oncology still lacks bibliometric studies that investigate the diagnostic interval of oral cancer. This study proposed to carry out a bibliometric analysis of epidemiological studies that investigated the diagnosis of oral cancer between 2002 to 2024. MATERIAL AND METHODS: On April, 2024, the Scopus and Web of Science databases were explored, and the selected articles underwent bibliometric analysis of performance and scientific mapping of journals, authors, institutions, and countries, as well as the predominant topics and trends in research into the diagnosis of oral cancer through an analysis of references and co-occurrence of key words. The analyzes were carried out using the R extension package, Bibliometrix, and the VOSviewer software. RESULTS: A total of 532 documents were included. China contributed the highest number of publications (36.71%) and total citations [1,584]. Seoane J was the most prolific author [16 (h-index: 9)], while Warnakulasuriya S had the highest total link strength [282 (h-index: 7)] in co-citations. Oral Oncology was identified as the most prolific [231 (72.64%)], co-cited and impactful journal (h-index: 13). Explosions of citations were found for keywords such as "early diagnosis", "biomarker", "saliva", "precancer" and "prognosis", making it evident that in the field of oral cancer diagnosis there is room for new studies focusing in reducing the diagnostic interval, with the research hotspots being the terms "biomarkers", "imaging diagnosis" and "gene expression". CONCLUSIONS: This study provides valuable information that can help researchers and institutions align their research activities according to emerging themes, establish collaborations and allocate resources effectively.

Use of neem vegetable cake (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) increases corn productivity.

The need to transition to more sustainable agriculture that is adaptable to environmental challenges, reducing dependence on chemical fertilizers and minimizing environmental impact, represents the new paradigm of the moment. In this scenario, studies with the adoption of bioinputs in corn cultivation emerge as a viable option for the sustainability of agricultural activity. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate the effect of doses of neem vegetable cake on the yield components of corn crops. An experimental design was used of randomized blocks was used, consisting of four doses of neem vegetable rendering (3 kg ha-1, 6 kg ha-1, 9 kg ha-1 and 12 kg ha-1) and a treatment control without the presence of organic fertilizer. The result indicates the presence of a significant effect of treatments with the application of neem cake on the main components of corn yield, including grain productivity, suggesting that the high carbon content present in the organic product can induce phytochemical effects and biological changes. in the soil, making it more productive. It was found that, when administering the maximum experimental dose, compared to the control group, there was a significant effect (p≤0.01) of 21.3% on grain productivity, jumping from 2,140 kg ha -1, when did not apply organic fertilizer, to 2,596 kg ha-1 with the application of 12 kg of neem cake per hectare. It is noted that the increase in grain productivity was in the proportion of 38 kg ha-1 of corn for each kilo of neem cake applied. To facilitate interpretation and decision-making, an analysis of the economic viability of neem cake for rainfed corn was also determined, also identifying the maximum experimental dose of 12 kg ha-1, as the most economically viable, providing an increase in profit of around R$ 119.92 per hectare, in relation to the control.

Knowledge, behavior and practices of the population during the pandemic against the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the state of Alagoas, Brazil.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international state of emergency in order to contain the rapid spread of COVID-19. To ensure that there is adherence to preventive measures by the population aimed at controlling the pandemic in Alagoas, it is expected that knowledge, behavior and practices play an important role in preventing and controlling the disease. In this sense, it becomes relevant to understand the knowledge of the population about the disease. To evaluate the knowledge, behavior and practices of social media users during social isolation to prevent the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 in the state of Alagoas, Northeast, Brazil. A probabilistic sample was carried out across the entire territory of the state of Alagoas with those who have access to a device that accesses the internet and a cross-sectional study was carried out using an online questionnaire applied to a convenience sample, recruited between August 2021 and July 2022 by snowball sampling. The questionnaire consisted of seven sessions, the first collecting data on the socioeconomic and sociodemographic profile of the participants, and the other sessions involving knowledge, attitudes and practices, including topics related to the vaccination that had to be administered at that time. High popular knowledge about signs and symptoms, means of transmission and risk groups. Low knowledge about seeking health services. Based on the results obtained, information from official channels became relevant to better teach the population in order to reduce the impact of COVID-19.

Estimating the burden of care for oral potentially malignant disorders and oral cancer in Brazilian dental practice.

BACKGROUND: Oral cancer (OC) and oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD) pose significant challenges to public health in Brazil. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of oral cancer (OC) and oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD) among patients who would be treated by Brazilian dentists during their careers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data on the number of dentists in Brazil were extracted from the 2022 census data, while incidence rates for OC cases were sourced from the Brazilian National Cancer Institute (INCA). Population estimates for Brazil and data on dental check-up rates were obtained from relevant national sources. RESULTS: Our analysis indicates that a general dentist in Brazil can expect to encounter on average two to three OC patients and on average 675 patients with OPMDs over a 35-year career. Regional disparities were observed, with certain regions showing higher than the average number of encounters due to low density of dentists in some rural districts. CONCLUSIONS: Brazilian dentists are likely to confront a substantial number of OPMD cases during their professional tenure, emphasizing the need for public health policies aimed at enhancing dental surgeons' education in oral cancer prevention and early detection.

Head and neck myofibroma: A case series of 16 cases and literature review.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to explore the clinical, histopathologic, and immunohistochemical characteristics of myofibromas (MFs) affecting the head and neck region. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of patients diagnosed with MFs in the head and neck were retrieved from the archives of three oral and maxillofacial pathology laboratories. Data including clinical, radiographic, microscopic and immunohistochemical findings, treatment employed, and follow-up status were retrieved from the patient's medical records or pathology reports. RESULTS: Sixteen cases were included in the study. Females were slightly more affected than males. The first and second decades of life were more prevalent. The most common locations were the alveolar ridge and cheek. Although rare, some of the patients were presented with intraosseous lesions. Microscopically, tumors consisted of plump, spindle-shaped myofibroblasts arranged in whorls or fascicles with varying degrees of differentiation. Immunohistochemically, diffuse positivity for vimentin and α-SMA was observed, while Ki-67 mostly showed low immunoreactivity (<5%). Treatment primarily involved complete excision. CONCLUSIONS: MFs in the head and neck region are rare and predominantly affect female patients during the second decade of life. Despite their rarity, central MFs should be considered in the differential diagnosis of intraosseous lesions in infants.

Electroanalytical applications of ITIES - A review.

Over the last decades, the interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES) attracted considerable attention of the scientific community due to their vast applications, such as extraction, catalysis, partition studies and sensing. The aim of this Review is to highlight the potential of electrochemistry at the ITIES for analytical purposes, focusing on ITIES-based sensors for detection and quantification of chemically and biologically relevant (bio)molecules. We start by addressing the evolution of ITIES in terms of number of publications over the years along with an overview of their main applications (Chapter 1). Then, we provide a general historical perspective about pioneer voltammetric studies at water/oil systems (Chapter 2). After that, we discuss the most impacting improvements on ITIES sensing systems from both perspectives, set-up design (interface stabilization and miniaturization, selection of the organic solvent, etc.) and optimization of experimental conditions to improve selectivity and sensitivity (Chapter 3). In Chapter 4, we discuss the analytical applications of ITIES for electrochemical sensing of several types of analytes, including drugs, pesticides, proteins, among others. Finally, we highlight the present achievements of ITIES as analytical tool and provide future challenges and perspectives for this technology (Chapter 5).

Design of experiment (DoE) of mucoadhesive valproic acid-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) for potential nose-to-brain application.

Epilepsy is a highly prevalent neurological disease and valproic acid (VPA) is used as a first-line chronic treatment. However, this drug has poor oral bioavailability, which requires the administration of high doses, resulting in adverse effects. Alternative routes of VPA administration have therefore been investigated, such as the nose-to-brain route, which allows the drug to be transported directly from the nasal cavity to the brain. Here, the use of nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) to encapsulate drugs administered in the nasal cavity has proved advantageous. The aim of this work was to optimise a mucoadhesive formulation of VPA-loaded NLC for intranasal administration to improve the treatment of epilepsy. The Design of Experiment (DoE) was used to optimise the formulation, starting with component optimisation using Mixture Design (MD), followed by optimisation of the manufacturing process parameters using Central Composite Design (CCD). The optimised VPA-loaded NLC had a particle size of 76,1 ±â€¯2,8 nm, a polydispersity index of 0,190 ±â€¯0,027, a zeta potential of 28,1 ±â€¯2,0 mV and an encapsulation efficiency of 85,4 ±â€¯0,8%. The in vitro release study showed VPA release from the NLC of 50 % after 6 h and 100 % after 24 h. The in vitro biocompatibility experiments in various cell lines have shown that the optimised VPA-loaded NLC formulation is safe up to 75 µg/mL, in neuronal (SHSY5Y), nasal (RPMI) and hepatic (HepG2) cells. Finally, the interaction of the optimised VPA-loaded NLC formulation with nasal mucus was investigated and mucoadhesive properties were observed. The results of this study suggest that the use of intranasal VPA-loaded NLC may be a promising alternative to promote VPA targeting to the brain, thereby improving bioavailability and minimising adverse effects.

Acute rapamycin treatment reveals novel mechanisms of behavioral, physiological, and functional dysfunction in a maternal inflammation mouse model of autism and sensory over-responsivity.

Maternal inflammatory response (MIR) during early gestation in mice induces a cascade of physiological and behavioral changes that have been associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In a prior study and the current one, we find that mild MIR results in chronic systemic and neuro-inflammation, mTOR pathway activation, mild brain overgrowth followed by regionally specific volumetric changes, sensory processing dysregulation, and social and repetitive behavior abnormalities. Prior studies of rapamycin treatment in autism models have focused on chronic treatments that might be expected to alter or prevent physical brain changes. Here, we have focused on the acute effects of rapamycin to uncover novel mechanisms of dysfunction and related to mTOR pathway signaling. We find that within 2 hours, rapamycin treatment could rapidly rescue neuronal hyper-excitability, seizure susceptibility, functional network connectivity and brain community structure, and repetitive behaviors and sensory over-responsivity in adult offspring with persistent brain overgrowth. These CNS-mediated effects are also associated with alteration of the expression of several ASD-,ion channel-, and epilepsy-associated genes, in the same time frame. Our findings suggest that mTOR dysregulation in MIR offspring is a key contributor to various levels of brain dysfunction, including neuronal excitability, altered gene expression in multiple cell types, sensory functional network connectivity, and modulation of information flow. However, we demonstrate that the adult MIR brain is also amenable to rapid normalization of these functional changes which results in the rescue of both core and comorbid ASD behaviors in adult animals without requiring long-term physical alterations to the brain. Thus, restoring excitatory/inhibitory imbalance and sensory functional network modularity may be important targets for therapeutically addressing both primary sensory and social behavior phenotypes, and compensatory repetitive behavior phenotypes.

The role of the Ventral Nucleus of the Trapezoid Body in the auditory prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex.

Cholinergic signaling is essential to mediate the auditory prepulse inhibition (PPI), an operational measure of sensorimotor gating, that refers to the reduction of the acoustic startle reflex (ASR) when a low-intensity, non-startling acoustic stimulus (the prepulse) is presented just before the onset of the acoustic startle stimulus. The cochlear root neurons (CRNs) are the first cells of the ASR circuit to receive cholinergic inputs from non-olivocochlear neurons of the ventral nucleus of the trapezoid body (VNTB) and subsequently decrease their neuronal activity in response to auditory prepulses. Yet, the contribution of the VNTB-CRNs pathway to the mediation of PPI has not been fully elucidated. In this study, we used the immunotoxin anti-choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)-saporin as well as electrolytic lesions of the medial olivocochlear bundle to selectively eliminate cholinergic VNTB neurons, and then assessed the ASR and PPI paradigms. Retrograde track-tracing experiments were conducted to precisely determine the site of lesioning VNTB neurons projecting to the CRNs. Additionally, the effects of VNTB lesions and the integrity of the auditory pathway were evaluated via auditory brain responses tests, ChAT- and FOS-immunohistochemistry. Consequently, we established three experimental groups: 1) intact control rats (non-lesioned), 2) rats with bilateral lesions of the olivocochlear bundle (OCB-lesioned), and 3) rats with bilateral immunolesions affecting both the olivocochlear bundle and the VNTB (OCB/VNTB-lesioned). All experimental groups underwent ASR and PPI tests at several interstimulus intervals before the lesion and 7, 14, and 21 days after it. Our results show that the ASR amplitude remained unaffected both before and after the lesion across all experimental groups, suggesting that the VNTB does not contribute to the ASR. The%PPI increased across the time points of evaluation in the control and OCB-lesioned groups but not in the OCB/VNTB-lesioned group. At the ISI of 50 ms, the OCB-lesioned group exhibited a significant increase in%PPI (p < 0.01), which did not occur in the OCB/VNTB-lesioned group. Therefore, the ablation of cholinergic non-olivocochlear neurons in the OCB/VNTB-lesioned group suggests that these neurons contribute to the mediation of auditory PPI at the 50 ms ISI through their cholinergic projections to CRNs. Our study strongly reinforces the notion that auditory PPI encompasses a complex mechanism of top-down cholinergic modulation, effectively attenuating the ASR across different interstimulus intervals within multiple pathways.

Severity of papular urticaria in children is associated with specific IgG4 anti-salivary gland antigens from Aedes aegypti.

Summary: Background. Papular Urticaria (PU) is a cutaneous hypersensitivity disorder triggered by hematophagous arthropod bites. Despite being a common condition, especially in tropical environments, many knowledge gaps are observed for this disease. The main objective of this study was to investigate the patterns of humoral immune response to mosquito antigens in children with PU and establish a correlation between this response and the severity of clinical symptoms. Methods. An analytical cross-sectional observational study was carried out. Clinical and sociodemographic data and children's blood samples were collected to measure the specific antibodies from: 1. A. aegypti salivary gland antigens; 2. A. aegypti whole body antigens (both produced in the laboratory of the Center for Health Sciences at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). A PU severity score based on clinical data is proposed to correlate disease severity with antibody reactivity signatures. Results. According to the clinical data, 58.9% of children received high severity scores. A significant statistical correlation was found between patients with high PU severity score and the development of symptoms before the age of two (p = 0.0326) and high IgG4 anti-salivary gland antigens concentration (p less than 0.05). Conclusion. It is suggested that PU severity in children is associated with a high concentration of IgG4 anti-salivary gland antigens from Aedes aegypti. Further studies are recommended to deepen the understanding of the mechanisms involved.

Dulaglutide and Glomerular Hyperfiltration, Proteinuria, and Albuminuria in Youth With Type 2 Diabetes: Post Hoc Analysis of the AWARD-PEDS Study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine changes in glomerular hyperfiltration and other measures of kidney function in youth with type 2 diabetes treated with dulaglutide or placebo. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Post hoc analysis was performed on kidney laboratory data from 154 youths (age 10-18 years) with type 2 diabetes enrolled in a completed placebo-controlled glycemic control trial of dulaglutide. RESULTS: Mean estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decreased from baseline to 26 weeks in participants treated with dulaglutide versus placebo (-5.8 vs. -0.1 mL/min/1.73 m2; P = 0.016). Decreases in eGFR were observed primarily in participants with baseline glomerular hyperfiltration. At 26 weeks, the prevalence of both glomerular hyperfiltration and proteinuria increased with placebo but decreased with dulaglutide (P = 0.014 and 0.004 vs. placebo, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Dulaglutide was associated with attenuated glomerular hyperfiltration and proteinuria in youth with type 2 diabetes. The impact of these changes on the risk of diabetic kidney disease is unclear.

Evaluating the cognitive effects of interventions to reduce social isolation and loneliness in older adults: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: Social isolation and loneliness among older adults present serious public health challenges linked to increased dementia risk. This systematic review analyzes interventions addressing social isolation and loneliness in older adults and their cognitive effects to inform future dementia prevention programs. METHOD: We systematically searched databases (PUBMED, PsycINFO, SCOPUS, EBSCO, and SAGE Journals) from February to May 2023 and updated from August to November 2023 using terms like social isolation, loneliness, intervention, and cognitive outcome. We included studies that assessed cognitive outcomes (such as global cognition or specific domains) and non-cognitive outcomes (including depression, well-being, and functionality). Study quality was assessed using Cochrane's RoB 2, ROBINS-I, and other appraisal tools, with results synthesized narratively. RESULTS: Nine studies (1025 participants) were included, with a high risk of bias in most randomized trials (except one) and a low-to-moderate risk in non-randomized studies. Six studies showed improved cognitive function post-intervention, five of which involved technology. Two studies demonstrated reduced loneliness and improved cognition. CONCLUSION: Technological interventions promise to reduce social isolation and loneliness, positively impacting cognitive function. Despite this, these interventions did not directly impact social isolation, which requires future and larger studies to understand more in-depth the role of these approaches for individuals with social isolation. The interventions promoting social interactions could lead to higher social identification, well-being, and interest in life. Multidomain interventions, including technology, are effective. Limitations include study scarcity and heterogeneity, highlighting the need for more robust research on interventions to alleviate social isolation and loneliness and enhance cognitive function.Systematic Review Registration PROSPERO CRD42023460933.

UAV-UGV Collaborative Localisation with Minimum Sensing.

This paper presents a novel methodology to localise Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The UGVs are assumed to be operating in a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-denied environment. The localisation of the ground vehicles is achieved using UAVs that have full access to the GNSS. The UAVs use range sensors to localise the UGV. One of the major requirements is to use the minimum number of UAVs, which is two UAVs in this paper. Using only two UAVs leads to a significant complication that results an estimation unobservability under certain circumstances. As a solution to the unobservability problem, the main contribution of this paper is to present a methodology to treat the unobservability problem. A Constrained Extended Kalman Filter (CEKF)-based solution, which uses novel kinematics and heuristics-based constraints, is presented. The proposed methodology has been assessed based on the stochastic observability using the Posterior Cramér-Rao Bound (PCRB), and the results demonstrate the successful operation of the proposed localisation method.

Nandrolone decanoate impairs gastrointestinal motility and duodenal morphometry in moderately exercised rats.

The misuse of anabolic androgenic steroid associated or not with physical workouts disrupts gastrointestinal (GI) function homeostasis. Our goal was to investigate the effects of nandrolone decanoate (ND) and moderate swimming on the GI transit of solid meals, GI motor contractility, and intestinal histology in rats. Male Wistar rats were allocated to four groups that received intramuscular injections of ND (5.0 mg/kg) or vehicle (60.0 µL) and were submitted or not to swimming sessions (60 min, 5% body weight overload) for 4 weeks. Gastric emptying, intestinal transit, in vitro GI contractility, intestinal morphometry, and duodenal mucosal mast cells were evaluated in all experimental groups. ND treatment accelerated gastric emptying, slowed small intestine transit time, enhanced gastric carbachol-mediated reactivity, decreased crypt depth and villus height, reduced mucosal thickness, and increased the circular and longitudinal muscle layer thickness of the duodenum in sedentary rats. Moderate exercise accelerated intestinal transit time and reduced submucosa thickness. In vehicle-treated animals, a strong negative correlation was found between intestinal transit and mucosal mast cells, which was reversed by ND treatment. Combining ND treatment and swimming accelerated gastric emptying, increased duodenal cholinergic reactivity, inhibited the sodium nitroprusside relaxing response, increased the number of duodenal mast cells, decreased villus height, and increased the thickness of all muscle layers. ND changed the morphological and functional properties of the GI tract over time, with intense dysmotility, especially in sedentary animals, but moderate exercise seemed to have played a compensatory role in these harmful effects in the gut.

Secretory structures in Baccharis platypoda DC. inflorescences (Asteraceae) and characterization of the chemical composition of its secretion.

Rocky outcrop environments at high altitudes have nutrient-poor soil, where species are exposed to water scarcity and high solar radiation. Baccharis platypoda DC. occurs in such an environment and has a rigid and transparent secretion that covers the entire inflorescence. We analysed and compared the secretory structures and their chemical composition in female and male inflorescences of B. platypoda, a dioecious species, to explore chemodiversity within this species and assess potential differences between individuals. Our investigation also aims to understand the occurrence of these substances in the genus Baccharis L. Chemical compounds and secretory structures were similar in female and male inflorescences. There are glandular trichomes on the epidermis of the abaxial surface of bracts, and secretory ducts in the axis of the inflorescence, as well as in sepals, petals, and bracts. Histochemical tests were positive for phenolic compounds, flavonoids, proteins, pectin, and lipids, but not for mucilage. Flavonoid content varied between 6.24% and 9.81%, being higher in female inflorescences. Chromatography revealed the presence of several phenolic compounds, some terpenes, and other less frequent classes in both female and male inflorescences. We highlight that trichomes found on these surfaces produce abundant phenolic compounds. These act as natural defence agents, absorbing UV radiation and minimizing oxidative stress to plant cells. The chemical composition of the secretion covering the inflorescences may reflect adaptation and survival mechanisms of these organisms under extreme sun exposure.

Tropical grass digestibility assessed by the mobile bag and in vitro methods in horses.

This study aimed to compare the digestibility of tropical grasses by horses by the in vivo method using mobile nylon bags with the in vitro digestibility method using horse feces as a source of inoculum. Five horses were used in a 2 × 5 factorial design with randomized blocks featuring two methods (in vivo and in vitro) and five grasses: Tifton 85 hay (Cynodon spp.), sixweeks threeawn grass (Aristida adsencionis, Linn), Alexandergrass (Brachiaria plantaginea (Link) Hitchc.), capim-de-raiz (Chloris orthonoton, Doell), and Sabi grass (Urochloa mosambicensis). No difference (P>0.05) was found between the in vivo and in vitro methods regarding nutrient digestibility of Sabi grass and sixweeks threeawn. Tifton 85 was the only grass that showed differences (P<0.05) between the two methods concerning the apparent digestibility of all nutrients. Alexandergrass, Tifton 85, and capim-de-raiz exhibited the best digestibility of dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, and organic matter by the mobile bag method compared to the in vitro method. Tifton 85 and capim-de-raiz had higher crude protein digestibility by the mobile bag method than by the in vitro method. The mean retention time of the mobile bags in the digestive tract of the horses was 43.69 h. The bags with samples of sixweeks threeawn and Sabi grass had shorter retention times than capim-de-raiz and Alexandergrass (P<0.0001). It is concluded that, for sixweeks threeawn and Sabi grass, digestibility in horses can be assessed using the in vitro method in place of the mobile nylon bag method.

A 10-week play-based after-school program to improve coordinative abilities and physical fitness capabilities among adolescents: a randomized trial.

The average levels of physical activity in children are below the ideal, which may influence children's health and motor competence levels. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the impact of a 10-week play-based after-school program on 50 twelve-year-old students' anthropometric characteristics (body height and body weight), coordinative abilities (flamingo balance test and T-test agility), and physical fitness (sit and reach, 20-m sprint test, SLJ, CMJ, and handgrip). After baseline assessments, the students were randomly divided into two groups: one participating in a play-based after-school program (experimental group) and the other attending regular PE classes (control group). No differences were noted between the sexes. Analysis revealed baseline differences between groups in body weight, agility T-test, and right-handgrip, with no significant sex differences. Following the intervention, the experimental group demonstrated improvements in the 20-m sprint test (F(1,46) = 11.03, p < 0.01), flamingo balance test (F(1,46) = 9.16, p = 0.004), SLJ (F(1,46) = 5.30, p = 0.03), agility T-test (F(1,46) = 28.30, p < 0.01), and right-handgrip (F(1,46) = 6.59, p < 0.01). In summary, the results suggested that a 10-week play-based after-school program enhances coordinative abilities and physical fitness in 12-year-old children. This underscores the potential advantages of integrating play-based physical activities into schools to promote holistic health and fitness in children.

Unknown parent groups and truncated pedigree in single-step genomic evaluations of Murrah buffaloes.

Missing pedigree may produce bias in genomic evaluations. Thus, strategies to deal with this problem have been proposed as using unknown parent groups (UPG) or truncated pedigrees. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of modeling missing pedigree under ssGBLUP evaluations for productive and reproductive traits in dairy buffalos using different approaches: 1) traditional BLUP without UPG (BLUP), 2) traditional BLUP including UPG (BLUP/UPG), 3) ssGBLUP without UPG (ssGBLUP), 4) ssGBLUP including UPG in the A and A22 matrices (ssGBLUP/A_UPG), 5) ssGBLUP including UPG in all elements of the H matrix (ssGBLUP/H_UPG), 6) BLUP with pedigree truncation for the last 3 generations (BLUP/truncated), and 7) ssGBLUP with pedigree truncation for the last 3 generations (ssGBLUP/ truncated). UPGs were not used in the scenarios with truncated pedigree. A total of 3,717, 4,126 and 3,823 records of the first lactation for accumulated 305 d milk yield (MY), age at first calving (AFC) and lactation length (LL), respectively were used. Accuracies ranged from 0.27 for LL (BLUP) to 0.46 for MY (BLUP), bias ranged from -0.62 for MY (ssGBLUP) to 0.0002 for AFC (BLUP/truncated), and dispersion ranged from 0.88 for MY (BLUP/ A_UPG) to 1.13 for LL (BLUP). Genetic trend showed genetic gains for all traits across 20 years of selection and the impact of including either genomic information, UPG or pedigree truncation under GEBV accuracies ranged among the evaluated traits. Overall, methods using UPGs, truncation pedigree and genomic information exhibited potential to improve GEBV accuracies, bias and dispersion for all traits compared with other methods. Truncated scenarios promoted high genetic gains. In small populations with few genotyped animals, combining truncated pedigree or UPG with genomic information is a feasible approach to deal with missing pedigrees.

Behind Prep Decisions: Understanding User Patterns and Discontinuation Factors in Real-World.

This study aimed to characterize the epidemiological aspects of PrEP use and barriers to accessing this prophylaxis. This cross-sectional study was conducted between January 2021 and April 2022, encompassing 140 PrEP users treated at the Testing and Counseling Center (CTA) in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul. Data on sociodemographic characteristics and factors associated with PrEP discontinuation were obtained using a standardized questionnaire. Most PrEP users were cisgender men (92.00%), predominantly white (51.00%), over 30 years of age (56.50%), homosexual-oriented (76.50%), and had a minimum of 12 years of education (77.50%). Approximately 60.00% admitted to inconsistent condom use in recent sexual encounters, primarily involving anal intercourse. Approximately 88.00% perceived themselves as at risk of contracting STIs in the upcoming year. Regarding new presentation forms, 54.00% indicated a willingness to use "on-demand PrEP," and 92.00% expressed interest in using "injectable PrEP." After 6 months of follow-up, 43.60% (95.00% CI: 35.50-52.00) discontinued PrEP use, primarily due to changes in sexual behavior (38.30%) and difficulties accessing healthcare services (21.28%). This study underscores the need to involve diverse key populations and highlights the significance of PrEP as an ongoing monitoring strategy for HIV/STI prevention in addition to the importance of incorporating new formulations such as daily oral PrEP into the Brazilian National Health System (SUS).

Precise positioning of gamma ray interactions in multiplexed pixelated scintillators using artificial neural networks.

Introduction. The positioning ofγray interactions in positron emission tomography (PET) detectors is commonly made through the evaluation of the Anger logic flood histograms. machine learning techniques, leveraging features extracted from signal waveform, have demonstrated successful applications in addressing various challenges in PET instrumentation.Aim. This paper evaluates the use of artificial neural networks (NN) forγray interaction positioning in pixelated scintillators coupled to a multiplexed array of silicon photomultipliers (SiPM).Methods. An array of 16 Cerium doped Lutetium-based (LYSO) crystal pixels (cross-section 2 × 2 mm2) coupled to 16 SiPM (S13360-1350) were used for the experimental setup. Data from each of the 16 LYSO pixels was recorded, a total of 160000 events. The detectors were irradiated by 511 keV annihilationγrays from a Sodium-22 (22Na) source. Another LYSO crystal was used for electronic collimation. Features extracted from the signal waveform were used to train the model. Two models were tested: i) single multiple-class neural network (mcNN), with 16 possible outputs followed by a softmax and ii) 16 binary classification neural networks (bNN), each one specialized in identifying events occurred in each position.Results. Both NN models showed a mean positioning accuracy above 85% on the evaluation dataset, although the mcNN is faster to train.DiscussionThe method's accuracy is affected by the introduction of misclassified events that interacted in the neighbour's crystals and were misclassified during the dataset acquisition. Electronic collimation reduces this effect, however results could be improved using a more complex acquisition setup, such as a light-sharing configuration.ConclusionsThe methods comparison showed that mcNN and bNN can surpass the Anger logic, showing the feasibility of using these models in positioning procedures of future multiplexed detector systems in a linear configuration.