Self-inefficacy's impact on well-being indices in students self-identifying with cluttering characteristics.

INTRODUCTION: Cluttering, a fluency disorder characterized by fast and irregular speech patterns, receives relatively limited research attention. Consequently, the association between cluttering and measures of well-being remains unexplored. In contrast, stuttering, another fluency disorder, has been associated with anxiety and depression. The present study examines whether an individual's experience of cluttering characteristics is related to alterations in both positive and negative measures of well-being. To achieve this, we assessed the relationship between Self-Identified Cluttering Characteristics (SICC) and measures of well-being in a sizeable sample of 1201 university students. Our main objective was to explore the potential impact of self-inefficacy on the association between SICC and well-being. METHODS: Consistent with prior research, participants identified themselves as having cluttering characteristics (SICC) or no-cluttering characteristics (SINCC) based on a verbal and written explanation of the disorder. They also completed questionnaires on psychological well-being indices and self-inefficacy. RESULTS: In total, 276 respondents identified themselves as having cluttering characteristics. In regression models, both SICC and self-inefficacy were predictive of greater negative well-being, increased depressive symptoms, and heightened psychosomatic symptoms. Interestingly, ADHD diagnosis was associated with less negative well-being. Positive well-being indicators (positive future orientation and subjective happiness) were solely predicted by self-inefficacy. Supporting these findings, supplementary regressions including only 56 SICC participants who reported being treated for cluttering yielded similar results. Utilizing Hayes's PROCESS computational procedures to test moderation revealed that self-inefficacy significantly moderated the association between SICC and negative well-being (depressive symptoms) as well as the association between SICC and positive well-being (positive future orientation). CONCLUSIONS: The findings underscore alterations in well-being among individuals who identify themselves as experiencing cluttering characteristics. Primarily, heightened negative well-being was noted in those with SICC, yet individual self-inefficacy reports mitigated this effect. Overall, SICC exacerbates negative well-being rather than diminishing positive well-being. These findings point to the importance of integrating mental health assessment and intervention into clinical practice for individuals with cluttering symptoms and the potential benefits of interventions targeting self-inefficacy to improve overall well-being in this population.

1-L Transcription in Prion Diseases.

Understanding the pathogenesis and mechanisms of prion diseases can significantly expand our knowledge in the field of neurodegenerative diseases. Prion biology is increasingly recognized as being relevant to the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, both of which affect millions of people each year. This bioinformatics study used a theoretical protein-RNA recognition code (1-L transcription) to reveal the post-transcriptional regulation of the prion protein (PrPC). The principle for this method is directly elucidated on PrPC, in which an octa-repeat can be 1-L transcribed into a GGA triplet repeat RNA aptamer known to reduce the misfolding of normal PrPC into abnormal PrPSc. The identified genes/proteins are associated with mitochondria, cancer, COVID-19 and ER-stress, and approximately half are directly or indirectly associated with prion diseases. For example, the octa-repeat supports CD44, and regions of the brain with astrocytic prion accumulation also display high levels of CD44.

A systematic review of the prevalence of late identified hearing loss in childhood.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this systematic review was to assess the evidence about the prevalence of permanent hearing loss for children not identified from newborn hearing screening (NHS). DESIGN: Articles were grouped into three categories based on the methodological approach: (1) all participants received diagnostic testing, (2) otoacoustic emission (OAE) or pure tone screening was completed and those not passing were referred for a diagnostic test, and (3) data were retrieved from archival records. Study characteristics, prevalence, and contextual factors were synthesised and narratively described. STUDY SAMPLE: 30 peer-reviewed articles. RESULTS: Prevalence of permanent hearing loss per 1,000 children ranged from 0.32 to 77.87 (M = 7.30; SD = 16.87). Variations in the criteria for inclusion contributed to prevalence differences. Prevalence was higher when unilateral and milder degrees of hearing loss were included, and older children had higher prevalence (M = 13.71; SD = 23.21) than younger children (M = 1.57; SD = 0.86). CONCLUSION: There is scant research on prevalence of childhood hearing loss after NHS that utilised methods to accurately differentiate between permanent and temporary hearing loss. Rigorous research is needed on the prevalence of permanent childhood hearing loss to inform strategies for monitoring, identification, intervention, and management.

Emerging Microorganisms and Infectious Diseases: One Health Approach for Health Shared Vision.

Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) are newly emerging and reemerging infectious diseases. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases identifies the following as emerging infectious diseases: SARS, MERS, COVID-19, influenza, fungal diseases, plague, schistosomiasis, smallpox, tick-borne diseases, and West Nile fever. The factors that should be taken into consideration are the genetic adaptation of microbial agents and the characteristics of the human host or environment. The new approach to identifying new possible pathogens will have to go through the One Health approach and omics integration data, which are capable of identifying high-priority microorganisms in a short period of time. New bioinformatics technologies enable global integration and sharing of surveillance data for rapid public health decision-making to detect and prevent epidemics and pandemics, ensuring timely response and effective prevention measures. Machine learning tools are being more frequently utilized in the realm of infectious diseases to predict sepsis in patients, diagnose infectious diseases early, and forecast the effectiveness of treatment or the appropriate choice of antibiotic regimen based on clinical data. We will discuss emerging microorganisms, omics techniques applied to infectious diseases, new computational solutions to evaluate biomarkers, and innovative tools that are useful for integrating omics data and electronic medical records data for the clinical management of emerging infectious diseases.

Accessory foot bones in a Portuguese identified skeletal collection.

Data from dry bone samples, collected from anatomical or archaeological collections, can improve the knowledge regarding accessory foot bones, including prevalence, size, shape and laterality, that can be useful in disparate fields of research, from medicine to bioarcheology. In the present study, the prevalence of six accessory foot bones (os trigonum, calcaneus secundarium, accessory navicular bone, os vesalianum, os sustentaculum and os intermetatarseum) was assessed in a sample of 486 individuals (226 females, 260 males) from the Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection (CISC). The most frequent accessory bones are os trigonum (9.9%; 48/485) and calcaneus secundarium (6.0%; 29/486), while the most uncommon is os sustentaculum (0.4%; 2/486). No sex differences were observed. All accessory bones occur more often unilaterally, with the exception of the accessory navicular bone that, in the majority of cases, occurs bilaterally. The unilateral expression of os trigonum, calcaneus secundarium and os vesalianum was mostly in the right foot. The co-occurrence of accessory foot bones was recorded in 1.7% of the individuals (8/486), and the combinations of os trigonum and calcaneus secundarium were the most frequently observed. This research emphasizes the relevance of conducting studies on reference skeletal collections in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of anatomical variations in the foot. This understanding is crucial for accurate diagnoses and successful treatment in clinical settings, as well as for establishing population comparison standards in the fields of bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology.

Cellular-resolution gene expression mapping reveals organization in the head ganglia of the gastropod, Berghia stephanieae.

Gastropod molluscs such as Aplysia, Lymnaea, and Tritonia have been important for determining fundamental rules of motor control, learning, and memory because of their large, individually identifiable neurons. Yet only a small number of gastropod neurons have known molecular markers, limiting the ability to establish brain-wide structure-function relations. Here we combine high-throughput, single-cell RNA sequencing with in situ hybridization chain reaction in the nudibranch Berghia stephanieae to identify and visualize the expression of markers for cell types. Broad neuronal classes were characterized by genes associated with neurotransmitters, like acetylcholine, glutamate, serotonin, and GABA, as well as neuropeptides. These classes were subdivided by other genes including transcriptional regulators and unannotated genes. Marker genes expressed by neurons and glia formed discrete, previously unrecognized regions within and between ganglia. This study provides the foundation for understanding the fundamental cellular organization of gastropod nervous systems.

Egg-laying hormone expression in identified neurons across developmental stages and reproductive states of the nudibranch Berghia stephanieae.

Neuropeptides play essential roles in coordinating reproduction. Egg-laying hormone (ELH) is conserved in genetic sequence and behavioral function across molluscs, where neuronal clusters secrete ELH to modulate and induce egg-laying. Here we investigated ELH in the nudibranch mollusc, Berghia stephanieae. ELH preprohormone gene orthologs, which showed clade-specific differences at the C-terminus of the predicted bioactive peptide, were identified in brain transcriptomes across several nudipleuran species, including B. stephanieae. ELH shares deep homology with the corticotropin-releasing hormone gene family, which has roles broadly in stress response. Injection of synthesized B. stephanieae ELH peptide into mature individuals induced egg-laying. ELH gene expression in the brain and body was mapped using in-situ hybridization chain reaction. Across the adult brain, 300-400 neurons expressed ELH. Twenty-one different cell types were identified in adults, three of which were located unilaterally on the right side, which corresponds to the location of the reproductive organs. Ten cell types were present in pre-reproductive juvenile stages. An asymmetric cluster of approximately 100 small neurons appeared in the right pedal ganglion of late-stage juveniles. Additional neurons in the pleural and pedal ganglia expressed ELH only in adults that were actively laying eggs and sub-adults that were on the verge of doing so, implicating their direct role in reproduction. Outside the brain, ELH was expressed on sensory appendages, including in presumptive sensory neurons. Its widespread expression in the nudibranch B. stephanieae suggests that ELH plays a role beyond reproduction in gastropod molluscs.

Assessing a respiratory toxic infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) strain: isolation, identification, pathogenicity, and immunological failure insights.

Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is caused by avian coronavirus and poses a global economic threat to the poultry industry. In 2023, a highly pathogenic IBV strain, IBV/CN/GD20230501, was isolated and identified from chickens vaccinated with IBV-M41 in Guangdong, China. This study comprehensively investigated the biological characteristics of the isolated IBV strain, including its genotype, whole genome sequence analysis of its S1 gene, pathogenicity, host immune response, and serum non-targeted metabolomics. Through the analysis of the S1 gene sequence, serum neutralization tests, and comparative genomics, it was proven that IBV/CN/GD20230501 belongs to the GI-I type of strain and is serotype II. One alanine residue in the S1 subunit of the isolated strain was mutated into serine, and some mutations were observed in the ORF1ab gene and the terminal region of the genome. Animal challenge experiments using the EID50 and TCID50 calculations showed that IBV/CN/GD20230501 possesses strong respiratory pathogenicity, with early and long-term shedding of viruses and rapid viral spread. Antibody detection indicated that chickens infected with IBV/CN/GD20230501 exhibited delayed expression of early innate immune genes, while those infected with M41 showed rapid gene induction and effective viral control. Metabolomics analysis demonstrated that this virus infection led to differential expression of 291 ions in chicken serum, mainly affecting the citric acid cycle (tricarboxylic acid cycle).IMPORTANCEThis study identified an infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) strain isolated from vaccinated chickens in an immunized population that had certain sequence differences compared to IBV-M41, resulting in significantly enhanced pathogenicity and host defense. This strain has the potential to replace M41 as a more suitable challenge model for drug research. The non-targeted metabolomics analysis highlighting the citric acid cycle provides a new avenue for studying this highly virulent strain.

First report of leaf blight on pumpkin caused by Nigrospora sphaerica in China.

Pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata), which belongs to the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), is widely planted throughout the world. In June 2023, many pumpkin plants (cv. Miben) displayed leaf blight and chlorosis in fields located in Suizhou (31.99°N, 113.02°E), Hubei Province, China. The disease incidence ranged from 30 to 40% in nine fields, 6.3 ha in total. The symptoms were irregularly shaped lesions that expanded along the mid-vein until the leaf turned brown and wilted. Fungal isolations were performed as described previously (Liu et al. 2023). Twenty pumpkin leaf samples with typical symptoms were collected and cut into 1 cm×1 cm pieces. The diseased tissue was surface-sterilized in 75% ethanol for 30 sec, plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium and incubated at 25℃ for 3 days. Then, the emerging single fungal hyphal tip was transferred onto PDA plates to obtain purified isolates. A total of eighteen isolates on PDA plates were initially white and then developed to dark gray. The 5-day-old cultures growing on mung bean medium produced conidia that were black, single-celled, smooth, spherical or oblate, and ranged in size from 14.5 to 20.8 µm×13.3 to 20.5 µm (n=50). Therefore, the isolates were morphologically identified as Nigrospora sphaerica. Moreover, the genomic DNA of the isolates (HB-P1,HB-P2, and HB-P3) was extracted for amplification and sequencing of the regions of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) (White et al. 1990), nuclear large subunit rRNA (nLSU) (O'Donnell 1992; Rehner and Samuels 1994), and ß-tubulin (TUB2) (Glass and Donaldson 1995), with primers ITS1/ITS4, LROR/LR3, and Bt2a/Bt2b, respectively. Sequences were submitted to GenBank under accession numbers PP348112, PP348113, PP348114 (ITS), PP411414, PP411415, PP411416 (nLSU), and PP357438, PP357439, PP357440 (TUB2). BLASTn showed that the sequences ITS, nLSU, and TUB2 of HB-P1, HB-P2, and HB-P3 had >99% nucleotide identities ((ITS: 100%, 508/508 bp, MF996488.1; 99.8%, 506/507, ON326588.1; 100%, 500/500 ,MK748317.1), (nLSU: 99.83%, 573/574, KT462720.1; 99.83% , 574/575 bp, KT462720.1; 99.65%, 575/577, KT462720.1), and (TUB2: 100%, 388/388, MN719407.1; 99.74%, 387/388, MN719407.1; 100%, 387/387, MN719407.1)) with Nigrospora sphaerica, respectively. A multilocus (ITS, nLSU and TUB2) phylogenetic analysis indicated that the isolates were Nigrospora sphaerica. Pathogenicity of three isolates were tested on pumpkin plants (cv. Miben). Fifteen pumpkin plants were inoculated by spraying the leaves (1×106 spores/ml), respectively, and 10 pumpkin plants were treated with sterile water as a negative control. All plants were incubated in an artificial climate box (LongYue, ShangHai) at 25℃ for 12 days. The experiment was repeated three times. Twelve days later, the inoculated pumpkin plants developed symptoms of leaf blight, while the control plants remained healthy. Then, pathogens were re-isolated from the each leaf of inoculated pumpkin plants and not from the control plants. Nigrospora sphaerica has been previously reported to cause leaf spot on watermelon in Malaysia (Ismail and Abd Razak 2021). To our knowledge, this is the first report of N. sphaerica causing leaf blight on pumpkin in China. This new disease can cause leaf blight, which may affect pumpkin productivity.

Misspellings or "miscellings"-Non-verifiable and unknown cell lines in cancer research publications.

Reproducible laboratory research relies on correctly identified reagents. We have previously described gene research papers with wrongly identified nucleotide sequence(s), including papers studying miR-145. Manually verifying reagent identities in 36 recent miR-145 papers found that 56% and 17% of papers described misidentified nucleotide sequences and cell lines, respectively. We also found 5 cell line identifiers in miR-145 papers with misidentified nucleotide sequences and cell lines, and 18 cell line identifiers published elsewhere, that did not represent indexed human cell lines. These 23 identifiers were described as non-verifiable (NV), as their identities were unclear. Studying 420 papers that mentioned 8 NV identifier(s) found 235 papers (56%) that referred to 7 identifiers (BGC-803, BSG-803, BSG-823, GSE-1, HGC-7901, HGC-803, and MGC-823) as independent cell lines. We could not find any publications describing how these cell lines were established. Six cell lines were sourced from cell line repositories with externally accessible online catalogs, but these cell lines were not indexed as claimed. Some papers also stated that short tandem repeat (STR) profiles had been generated for three cell lines, yet no STR profiles could be identified. In summary, as NV cell lines represent new challenges to research integrity and reproducibility, further investigations are required to clarify their status and identities.

Strong culm: a crucial trait for developing next-generation climate-resilient rice lines.

Lodging, a phenomenon characterized by the bending or breaking of rice plants, poses substantial constraints on productivity, particularly during the harvesting phase in regions susceptible to strong winds. The rice strong culm trait is influenced by the intricate interplay of genetic, physiological, epigenetic, and environmental factors. Stem architecture, encompassing morphological and anatomical attributes, alongside the composition of both structural and non-structural carbohydrates, emerges as a critical determinant of lodging resistance. The adaptive response of the rice culm to various biotic and abiotic environmental factors further modulates the propensity for lodging. Advancements in next-generation sequencing technologies have expedited the genetic dissection of lodging resistance, enabling the identification of pertinent genes, quantitative trait loci, and novel alleles. Concurrently, contemporary breeding strategies, ranging from biparental approaches to more sophisticated methods such as multi-parent-based breeding, gene pyramiding, genomic selection, genome-wide association studies, and haplotype-based breeding, offer perspectives on the genetic underpinnings of culm strength. This review comprehensively delves into physiological attributes, culm histology, epigenetic determinants, and gene expression profiles associated with lodging resistance, with a specialized focus on leveraging next-generation sequencing for candidate gene discovery.

Cognitive empathy boosts honesty in children and young adolescents.

Children and young adolescents often tend to behave dishonestly in order to serve their self-interests. This study focused on how empathic abilities affect children's tendency to deceive others. Deception is the act of causing others to form a false belief to get them to act in a way that serves the deceiver's interests. As such, it requires the ability to predict how others might use the provided information. In two experiments, 274 participants (aged 10-16 years) played a game in which they could send a deceptive message to another participant to boost their own payoff at the other player's expense. We measured participants' cognitive and emotional empathy using different measures. We found that a measure of cognitive empathy, namely the fantasy scale, was associated with less deception of another player when that other player was not identified and was presented only as "Player B." However, when Player B was identified by name, empathy did not predict deception. In such cases, the only factors affecting deception rates were the gain for the participant (higher possible gains lead to more deception) and loss to the other player (higher possible losses lead to less deception). Overall, the findings suggest that even by 11 years of age, children can understand the impact of their unethical behavior on another child and adjust their actions accordingly. However, when the other child is not identified, children need to possess high levels of cognitive empathy toward imagined individuals to resist the temptation to deceive the other child.

Self-identified barriers to health services among migrants 50 years of age or older: population-based survey study of Russian speakers in Finland.

BACKGROUND: The compounded effect of a migratory background and ageing increases the risk of unequal medical treatment opportunities. The aim of this article is to investigate the social determinants of barriers to health services. METHODS: The study uses population-based survey data of Russian-speaking migrants (50 + years) residing in Finland (n = 1082, 57% of men, mean age 63 years). Multiple correspondence analysis was performed as a dimension reduction procedure on six barriers to health services. Multiple ordinary least-squares linear regression was used for the predicted score of the barriers as an outcome variable. RESULTS: Most of the sociodemographic characteristics were not associated with barriers to health services, except gender, as women tended to face more disadvantages. Migration-related factors, such as the need for interpreters for health services and experienced discrimination, were associated with an increased likelihood of reporting barriers to health services. Using the internet as a primary source of health information was associated with more access barriers to health services. CONCLUSIONS: Migrants 50 years of age or older face multiple barriers to health services. Given that the healthcare needs increase with age, addressing this issue becomes crucial, necessitating improved access to health services for older migrants.

Refining the 8th edition TNM classification for EBV related nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

The AJCC/UICC TNM classification describes anatomic extent of tumor progression and guides treatment decisions. Our comprehensive analysis of 8,834 newly diagnosed patients with non-metastatic Epstein-Barr virus related nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) from six Chinese centers indicates certain limitations in the current staging system. The 8th edition of the AJCC/UICC TNM classification inadequately differentiates patient outcomes, particularly between T2 and T3 categories and within the N classification. We propose reclassifying cases of T3 NPC with early skull-base invasion as T2, and elevating N1-N2 cases with grade 3 image-identified extranodal extension (ENE) to N3. Additionally, we suggest combining T2N0 with T1N0 into a single stage IA. For de novo metastatic (M1) NPC, we propose subdivisions of M1a, defined by 1-3 metastatic lesions without liver involvement, and M1b, characterized by >3 metastatic lesions or liver involvement. This proposal better reflects responses of NPC patients to the up-to-date treatments and their evolving risk profiles.

Experiences of Discrimination Among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders Living in the USA.

Experiences of racism and discrimination are stressors that adversely affect the well-being of marginalized populations, including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPI). However, commonly used data aggregation methods obscure information on NHPI communities and their lived experiences. The aim of our study is to understand the types and frequency of discrimination experienced by NHPI adults in the USA. The study utilized online survey data collected from 252 NHPI adults living in the USA between September and October 2021. Younger NHPI adults, those who report constantly thinking about their race/ethnicity, and those who are socially assigned a race/ethnicity that does not match their own report experiencing more types of discrimination. NHPI who constantly think about their race/ethnicity and those who are socially assigned a race/ethnicity that does not match their own report a greater frequency of discrimination. Findings indicate the need to understand the experiences of discrimination in this population.

Risk Factors Associated with Delays in Hearing Loss Identification in Pediatric Patients.

OBJECTIVE: To identify sociodemographic factors associated with pediatric late-identified hearing loss (LIHL) and classify novel subgroups within the LIHL population. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort. SETTING: Tertiary children's hospital. METHODS: Our cohort included children with permanent hearing loss (HL) between 2012 and 2020 (n = 1087). Patients with early-identified HL were compared to patients with LIHL (>6 months of age at diagnosis), and 3 subgroups: (1) late-identified congenital HL: failed NHS but had a diagnostic audiogram >6 months old; (2) late-onset HL: passed NHS and identified with HL after 6 months old; (3) late-identified, unknown-onset: unknown NHS results, identified after 6 months old. Geospatial analysis was performed using ArcGIS Pro. RESULTS: Compared with early-identified children, children with LIHL were more likely to have more comorbidities (odds ratio [OR] = 1.12, [1.01, 1.23]), be an under-represented minority (URM) (OR = 1.92, [1.27, 2.93]) and have a higher social vulnerability index (SVI) (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.1, [1.14, 3.87]). However, subgroups in the LIHL cohort had variable associations. Children with late-identified unknown onset hearing loss were uniquely associated with a primarily non-English speaking household (AOR = 1.84, [1.04, 3.25]), whereas children with late-onset hearing loss were less likely to have public insurance (AOR = 0.47, [0.27, 0.81]. There were no significant associations for children with late-identified congenital hearing loss. Neighborhood disadvantage, as measured by SVI, had an increased association with late-identified unknown onset HL (AOR = 4.08, [2.01, 8.28]) and a decreased association with late-onset HL (AOR = 0.40, [0.22, 0.72]). CONCLUSION: Sociodemographic factors serve as proxies for health care access, and these factors vary across LIHL pathways. Understanding the risk factors associated with each LIHL subgroup may help address disparities in pediatric HL identification.

Enhancing docosahexaenoic acid production in Aurantiochytrium species using atmospheric and room temperature plasma mutagenesis and comprehensive multi-omics analysis.

Aurantiochytrium sp. belongs to marine heterotrophic single-cell protist, which is an important decomposer in marine ecosystem. Aurantiochytrium sp. has gained notoriety because of its ability to accumulate high-value docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), but the key factors of DHA synthesis were unclear at present. In this study, Atmospheric and Room Temperature Plasma technology was applied to the mutagenic breeding of Aurantiochytrium sp., and transcriptomics and proteomics were adopted to analyze the DHA-biosynthesis mechanism. According to the growth and DHA accumulation profiles, the mutant strain Aurantiochytrium sp. R2A35 was selected. The DHA content in total lipids was greatly improved from 49.39 % of the wild strain R2 to 63.69 % of the mutant strain. Moreover, the DHA content in the biomass of Aurantiochytrium sp. R2A35 as 39.72 % was the highest DHA productivity reported so far. The differentially expressed genes distinguished from transcriptome and the TMT-identified differential proteins distinguished from proteome confirmed that the expression of acetyl-CoA carboxylase and ketoacyl reductase was up-regulated by 4.78-fold and 6.95-fold, respectively and the fatty acid synthase was concurrently down-regulated by 2.79-fold, so that more precursor was transported to the polyketide synthase pathway, thereby increasing the DHA yield in Aurantiochytrium sp. R2A35. This research would provide reference for the DHA metabolism process and contribute to the understanding of the decomposer - Aurantiochytrium sp. in marine ecosystems.

The Identified Skeletal Collection of the School of Legal Medicine: a contemporary osteological collection housed in Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain.

ABSTRA: Osteological collections are an important resource for the development of methods to assist in the study of skeletal remains in archeological and/or forensic contexts. The aim is to describe the current characteristics of the Identified Skeletal Collection of the School of Legal Medicine and its historical context. The Identified Skeletal Collection of the School of Legal Medicine of the Complutense University of Madrid consists of 138 male and 95 female individuals, born between 1880 and 1980 and deceased between 1970 and 2009. The minimum age of the sample is perinatal and the maximum age is 97 years. The collection is an essential tool for forensic research, given that its population characteristics can be extrapolated to those of present-day Spain. Access to this collection offers unique teaching opportunities as well as provides the information necessary to develop various lines of research.

Evaluating active leprosy case identification methods in six districts of Nepal.

BACKGROUND: Nepal has achieved and sustained the elimination of leprosy as a public health problem since 2009, but 17 districts and 3 provinces with 41% (10,907,128) of Nepal's population have yet to eliminate the disease. Pediatric cases and grade-2 disabilities (G2D) indicate recent transmission and late diagnosis, respectively, which necessitate active and early case detection. This operational research was performed to identify approaches best suited for early case detection, determine community-based leprosy epidemiology, and identify hidden leprosy cases early and respond with prompt treatment. METHODS: Active case detection was undertaken in two Nepali provinces with the greatest burden of leprosy, Madhesh Province (40% national cases) and Lumbini Province (18%) and at-risk prison populations in Madhesh, Lumbini and Bagmati provinces. Case detection was performed by (1) house-to-house visits among vulnerable populations (n = 26,469); (2) contact examination and tracing (n = 7608); in Madhesh and Lumbini Provinces and, (3) screening prison populations (n = 4428) in Madhesh, Lumbini and Bagmati Provinces of Nepal. Per case direct medical and non-medical costs for each approach were calculated. RESULTS: New case detection rates were highest for contact tracing (250), followed by house-to-house visits (102) and prison screening (45) per 100,000 population screened. However, the cost per case identified was cheapest for house-to-house visits [Nepalese rupee (NPR) 76,500/case], followed by contact tracing (NPR 90,286/case) and prison screening (NPR 298,300/case). House-to-house and contact tracing case paucibacillary/multibacillary (PB:MB) ratios were 59:41 and 68:32; female/male ratios 63:37 and 57:43; pediatric cases 11% in both approaches; and grade-2 disabilities (G2D) 11% and 5%, respectively. Developing leprosy was not significantly different among household and neighbor contacts [odds ratios (OR) = 1.4, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.24-5.85] and for contacts of MB versus PB cases (OR = 0.7, 95% CI 0.26-2.0). Attack rates were not significantly different among household contacts of MB cases (0.32%, 95% CI 0.07-0.94%) and PB cases (0.13%, 95% CI 0.03-0.73) (χ2 = 0.07, df = 1, P = 0.9) and neighbor contacts of MB cases (0.23%, 0.1-0.46) and PB cases (0.48%, 0.19-0.98) (χ2 = 0.8, df = 1, P = 0.7). BCG vaccination with scar presence had a significant protective effect against leprosy (OR = 0.42, 0.22-0.81). CONCLUSIONS: The most effective case identification approach here is contact tracing, followed by house-to-house visits in vulnerable populations and screening in prisons, although house-to-house visits are cheaper. The findings suggest that hidden cases, recent transmission, and late diagnosis in the community exist and highlight the importance of early case detection.

1-L Transcription in Parkinson's Disease.

BACKGROUND: As a chronic degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that affects both motor and non-motor systems, Parkinson's disease (PD) is very complex, and explanations and models are needed to better understand how dopaminergic neurons are affected and microglia are activated. METHODS: A theoretical protein-RNA recognition code that assumes that the second letter in codons is compatible with specific amino acids involved in protein-RNA recognition was used to search for compatibility of human α-synuclein (α-syn) with mRNAs in the human transcriptome (1-L transcription). RESULTS: The 1-L transcription revealed compatible amino acid sequences with the ATTTA ARE (class I), PAS and polyA in α-syn, supporting a protein-RNA regulatory model. In PD, inflammatory microglia reactions, cognitive decline and motor circuit disturbances are observed. The model theoretically explains why α-syn producing neurons are less protected from inflammation and why microglia are activated. Consistent with knowledge of PD, the identified genes showed how the PI3K-AKT pathway is downregulated, how reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and sensitivity are increased, how mitochondria are destabilized, why autophagy is impaired, and why neuronal depigmentation is observed. CONCLUSIONS: 1-L transcription of α-syn leads to genes/proteins relevant to PD. When α-syn is accepted as a small RNA recognition protein involved in the post-transcriptional regulations, some identified genes indicate that its function is an important regulatory factor associated with intracellular and extracellular transport of RNA vesicles. These vesicles are extremely important in cellular communication. In addition, the spectrum of identified genes strongly indicates that α-syn produced by neuronal cells is required for proper regulation of inflammatory and immune responses.