Decreased brain iron deposition based on quantitative susceptibility mapping correlates with reduced neurodevelopmental status in children with autism spectrum disorder.

To investigate potential correlations between the susceptibility values of certain brain regions and the severity of disease or neurodevelopmental status in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 18 ASD children and 15 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. The neurodevelopmental status was assessed by the Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS) and the severity of the disease was evaluated by the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC). Eleven brain regions were selected as regions of interest and the susceptibility values were measured by quantitative susceptibility mapping. To evaluate the diagnostic capacity of susceptibility values in distinguishing ASD and HC, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was computed. Pearson and Spearman partial correlation analysis were used to depict the correlations between the susceptibility values, the ABC scores, and the GDS scores in the ASD group. ROC curves showed that the susceptibility values of the left and right frontal white matter had a larger area under the curve in the ASD group. The susceptibility value of the right globus pallidus was positively correlated with the GDS-fine motor scale score. These findings indicated that the susceptibility value of the right globus pallidus might be a viable imaging biomarker for evaluating the neurodevelopmental status of ASD children.

Comprehensive Review on the Use of Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) in Ethiopia: 2019 to 2023.

BACKGROUND: Cholera outbreaks in Ethiopia necessitate frequent mass oral cholera vaccine (OCV) campaigns. Despite this, there is a notable absence of a comprehensive summary of these campaigns. Understanding national OCV vaccination history is essential to design appropriate and effective cholera control strategies. Here, we aimed to retrospectively review all OCV vaccination campaigns conducted across Ethiopia between 2019 and 2023. METHODS: The OCV request records from 2019 to October 2023 and vaccination campaign reports for the period from 2019 to December 2023 were retrospectively accessed from the Ethiopia Public Health Institute (EPHI) database. Descriptive analysis was conducted using the retrospective data collected. RESULTS: From 2019 to October 2023, Ethiopian government requested 32 044 576 OCV doses (31 899 576 doses to global stockpile; 145 000 doses to outside of stockpile). Around 66.3% of requested doses were approved; of which 90.4% were received. Fifteen OCV campaigns (12 reactive and 3 pre-emptive) were conducted, including five two-dose campaigns with varying dose intervals and single-dose campaigns partially in 2019 and entirely in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Overall vaccine administrative coverage was high; except for Tigray region (41.8% in the 1st round; 2nd round didn't occur). The vaccine administrative coverage records were documented, but no OCV coverage survey data was available. CONCLUSIONS: This study represents the first comprehensive review of OCV campaigns in Ethiopia spanning the last five years. Its findings offer valuable insights into informing future cholera control strategies, underscoring the importance of monitoring and evaluation despite resource constraints. Addressing the limitations in coverage survey data availability is crucial for enhancing the efficacy of future campaigns.

How do animals weigh conflicting information about reward sources over time? Comparing dynamic averaging models.

Optimal foraging theory suggests that animals make decisions which maximize their food intake per unit time when foraging, but the mechanisms animals use to track the value of behavioral alternatives and choose between them remain unclear. Several models for how animals integrate past experience have been suggested. However, these models make differential predictions for the occurrence of spontaneous recovery of choice: a behavioral phenomenon in which a hiatus from the experimental environment results in animals reverting to a behavioral allocation consistent with a reward distribution from the more distant past, rather than one consistent with their most recently experienced distribution. To explore this phenomenon and compare these models, three free-operant experiments with rats were conducted using a serial reversal design. In Phase 1, two responses (A and B) were baited with pellets on concurrent variable interval schedules, favoring option A. In Phase 2, lever baiting was reversed to favor option B. Rats then entered a delay period, where they were maintained at weight in their home cages and no experimental sessions took place. Following this delay, preference was assessed using initial responding in test sessions where levers were presented, but not baited. Models were compared in performance, including an exponentially weighted moving average, the Temporal Weighting Rule, and variants of these models. While the data provided strong evidence of spontaneous recovery of choice, the form and extent of recovery was inconsistent with the models under investigation. Potential interpretations are discussed in relation to both the decision rule and valuation functions employed.

Follow-up of children with Down syndrome and sleep disordered breathing and the effects of treatment on actigraphically recorded sleep, quality of life, behaviour, and daytime functioning.

Children with Down syndrome are at increased risk of obstructive sleep disordered breathing, which has deleterious effects on daytime functioning. We aimed to examine the effects of treatment of sleep disordered breathing on sleep quality and daytime functioning in children with Down syndrome, and hypothesised that these would be improved. Thirty-four children completed a baseline study and a follow-up 2 years later. Measures at both time points included 7 days of actigraphy and parents completed a number of questionnaires assessing sleep, behaviour, daytime functioning, and quality of life. All children had overnight polysomnography at baseline; 15 children (44%) were treated. At baseline the treated group had more severe sleep disordered breathing compared with the untreated group: obstructive apneoa-hypopnoea index 29.3 ± 38.2 events/h versus 3.3 ± 5.2 events/h (p < 0.01). Actigraphy showed no significant differences in total sleep time, sleep efficiency, sleep schedules from baseline to follow up in either group. The sleep disturbance (p < 0.01) and total problems (p < 0.05) scales on the OSA-18 and the sleep disordered breathing subscale on the Paediatric Sleep Problem Survey Instrument (p < 0.01) improved in the treated children. There were no changes in any measure in the untreated children. Treatment of sleep disordered breathing improves symptoms, sleep disturbance and quality of life in children with Down syndrome, but has no demonstrable impact on actigraphic sleep measures or daytime behaviour or function. In contrast, children who were not treated, despite having less severe disease at baseline, had increased sleep disruption and no change in quality of life.

The Impact of Primary Care Clinic and Family Physician Continuity on Patient Health Outcomes: A Retrospective Analysis From Alberta, Canada.

PURPOSE: Continuity of care is broadly associated with better patient health outcomes. The relative contributions of continuity with an individual physician and with a practice, however, have not generally been distinguished. This retrospective observational study examined the impact of continuity of care for patients seen at their main clinic but by different family physicians. METHODS: We analyzed linked health administrative data from 2015-2018 from Alberta, Canada to explore the association of physician and clinic continuity with rates of emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations across varying levels of patient complexity. Physician continuity was calculated using the known provider of care index and clinic continuity with an analogous measure. We developed zero-inflated negative binomial models to assess the association of each with all-cause ED visits and hospitalizations. RESULTS: High physician continuity was associated with lower ED use across all levels of patient complexity and with fewer hospitalizations for highly complex patients. Broadly, no (0%) clinic continuity was associated with increased use and complete (100%) clinic continuity with decreased use, with the largest effect seen for the most complex patients. Levels of clinic continuity between 1% and 50% were generally associated with slightly higher use, and levels of 51% to 99% with slightly lower use. CONCLUSIONS: The best health care outcomes (measured by ED visits and hospitalizations) are associated with consistently seeing one's own primary family physician or seeing a clinic partner when that physician is unavailable. The effect of partial clinic continuity appears complex and requires additional research. These results provide some reassurance for part-time and shared practices, and guidance for primary care workforce policy makers.

Work hours, weekend working, nonstandard work schedules and sleep quantity and quality: findings from the UK household longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Atypical temporal work patterns such as working longer than the standard 35-40 h/ week, weekend working, and nonstandard work schedules (i.e. outside of the typical 9-5, including but not restricted to shiftwork) are increasingly prevalent in the UK. Aside from occupation-specific studies, little is known about the effects of these atypical temporal work patterns on sleep among workers in the UK, even though poor sleep has been linked to adverse health problems, lower workplace productivity, and economic costs. METHOD: We used regression models to investigate associations between three types of atypical temporal work patterns (long and short weekly work hours, weekend working, and nonstandard schedules) and sleep duration and disturbance using data from over 25,000 employed men and women from 2012-2014 and/or 2015-2017 in the UK Household Longitudinal Study, adjusting for potential confounders and psychosocial work factors. RESULTS: We found that relative to a standard 35-40 h/week, working 55 h/week or more was related to short sleep (less than 7 h/night) and sleep disturbance. Working most/all weekends compared to non-weekends was associated with short sleep, long sleep (more than 8 h/night), and sleep disturbance, as was working nonstandard schedules relative to standard schedules (fixed day-time schedules). Further analyses suggested some gender differences. CONCLUSIONS: These results should prompt employers and policymakers to recognise the need for rest and recovery, consider how the timing and scheduling of work might be improved to better support workers' health and productivity, and consider appropriate compensation for anyone required to work atypical temporal work patterns.

The association between primary care appointment lengths and opioid prescribing for common pain conditions.

BACKGROUND: While brief duration primary care appointments may improve access, they also limit the time clinicians spend evaluating painful conditions. This study aimed to evaluate whether 15-minute primary care appointments resulted in higher rates of opioid prescribing when compared to ≥ 30-minute appointments. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study using electronic health record (EHR), pharmacy, and administrative scheduling data from five primary care practices in Minnesota. Adult patients seen for acute Evaluation & Management visits between 10/1/2015 and 9/30/2017 scheduled for 15-minute appointments were propensity score matched to those scheduled for ≥ 30-minutes. Sub-groups were analyzed to include patients with acute and chronic pain conditions and prior opioid exposure. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to examine the effects of appointment length on the likelihood of an opioid being prescribed, adjusting for covariates including ethnicity, race, sex, marital status, and prior ED visits and hospitalizations for all conditions. RESULTS: We identified 45,471 eligible acute primary care visits during the study period with 2.7% (N = 1233) of the visits scheduled for 15 min and 98.2% (N = 44,238) scheduled for 30 min or longer. Rates of opioid prescribing were significantly lower for opioid naive patients with acute pain scheduled in 15-minute appointments when compared to appointments of 30 min of longer (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.35-0.84). There were no significant differences in opioid prescribing among other sub-groups. CONCLUSIONS: For selected indications and for selected patients, shorter duration appointments may not result in greater rates of opioid prescribing for common painful conditions.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Routine Prenatal Care: Use of Online Visits.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether prenatal visits or screening/testing were fewer or occurred later during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 (CINT) as compared to the prior year (PreCINT). METHODS: A retrospective cohort study compared CINT (n = 2,195) to PreCINT (n = 2,395) at seven public hospitals in New York City. The primary outcome was total number of prenatal-care visits. Secondary outcomes were components of prenatal-care visits completion, timing of standard pregnancy screening tests, and adverse neonatal outcomes. RESULTS: CINT patients had more total prenatal-care visits (B = 1.30, 95% CI:1.04, 1.56, p < 0.001), lower odds for initiation of prenatal care which was inadequate according to widely used criteria (OR:0.39, 95% CI:0.34, 0.45, p < 0.001), and lower gestational age at initial visit (B=-4.51, 95% CI:-5.10, -3.93, p < 0.001) than PreCINT patients. In-person visits did not differ between the two groups. PreCINT patients had no televisits, while CINT patients had a median of one televisit (Median = 1, p < 0.001). CINT patients had increased odds for group B Streptococcus screening (OR:1.27, 95% CI: 1.10, 1.48, p = 0.001), quadrivalent screening (OR:1.30, 95% CI:1.15, 1.48, p < 0.001), and anatomy sonogram (OR:2.30, 95% CI:2.04, 2.59, p < 0.001) but decreased odds for glucose challenge test screening (OR:0.81, 95% CI:0.72, 0.91, p < 0.001). Adverse neonatal outcome did not differ between CINT and PreCINT pregnancies. CONCLUSIONS FOR PRACTICE: Despite the difficulties and perceived dangers of in-person visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, the COVID-19 pandemic had little negative impact upon the outpatient prenatal care received by patients in this hospital system.

Effect of online parent training in promoting language development of children with language delay in Hubei province, China.

BACKGROUND: Training parents to implement language and communication intervention strategies is an effective approach to promote language development for children with language delay. AIMS: This study introduces an online parent training program conducted in Hubei province, China, which was designed to help parents of language-delayed children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), developmental language disorder (DLD) or global developmental delay (GDD) apply language intervention strategies into daily interactions and promote their children's language development at home. METHODS & PROCEDURES: The Bethel Hearing and Speaking Training Center Family Training for Early Communication & Language Development (Bethel Family Training Program, BFT) (Bethel HSTC, 2020) was designed to improve the language and communication skills for children with language delay in a naturalistic way. The caregivers (including parents, grandparents and other main caregivers) participated in an 8-h online program, including lectures on milestones in child language development, common misunderstandings of child language development, and three basic family language intervention strategies ('Looking together, playing together, and talking together') incorporating active learning through video analysis and discussion. Tongji Hospital in Hubei then continued with 3 months of online home intervention monitoring to all the caregivers via weekly online Q&As led by BFT certified speech therapists' team. The Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS) was carried out before the online parent training program and after the 3-month online home intervention monitoring. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: 146 families whose children aged 12-68 months with language delay participated in the online training program. The results of the GDS assessments conducted before and after the program showed that not only did the developmental quotient (DQ) of language improve, but so did the DQ of social behaviour and adaptive behaviour (p < 0.001). There is no between-group difference in the application of three strategies between the ASD group and the DLD or GDD group (p > 0.05). Furthermore, both caregivers' ability to apply 'looking together, playing together, talking together' strategies and the effective interaction time played important roles in improving the child's language abilities. CONCLUSION & IMPLICATIONS: The online parent training focusing on improving daily interaction with children through speech-language stimulation strategies promoted the development of language skills. It is an economic and practical approach for children with language delay who have limited access to local language intervention programs. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject Parent-implemented language intervention is an effective approach at improving children's language development. Telepractice is an appropriate model of service delivery for audiologists and speech-language therapists and may be the primary mode of service delivery or may supplement in-person services. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge This paper explores the effectiveness of an online parent training program and provides new evidence that online training on language support strategies (looking together, playing together, talking together) followed by home intervention monitoring works for Mandarin-speaking children and it is equally effective for children with ASD and non-ASD diagnosis. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Developmental behavioural paediatricians and speech-language therapists in countries and areas that lack sufficient training resource for every child will have the option to deliver parent training and home intervention monitoring online, which will save time and cost considerably while offering convenience.

Balancing act: exploring work-life balance among nursing home staff working long shifts.

BACKGROUND: Nursing home staff often face challenges in achieving a satisfactory work-life balance, particularly because of the nature of shift work. While long shifts offer extended periods off work, their impact on the delicate balance between work and leisure remains understudied in the context of nursing homes. This study investigated the experiences of nursing home staff in Norway working long shifts lasting 12-14 h and their perceptions of the balance between family life and work. METHODS: Eighteen nursing home staff members were interviewed following a semi-structured qualitative approach. The participants worked in three types of long shifts and provided insights into their experiences, addressing issues such as work hours, shift patterns, and work-family balance. RESULTS: The study revealed four main categories: (1) impact of long shifts on family life-the highs and lows; (2) maximizing time off with long shifts; (3) reducing job stress with long shifts; and (4) full-time work leads to predictable hours and stable income. The participants emphasised the distinct separation between work and leisure during long shifts, acknowledging limited social life during working periods but appreciating extended periods off. Family life posed challenges, especially with young children, but the participants found benefits in the longer periods of family time during days off. Longer rest periods and reduced commuting time were perceived as advantages of long shifts, contributing to better sleep, reduced stress and overall well-being. Long shifts also allowed for more predictable working hours and income, supporting a stable work-life balance. CONCLUSION: Balancing work and family life involves more than just the number of hours spent at work; it also encompasses the quality of those hours both at work and at home. Our findings underscore the complex interplay between work and family life for nursing home staff working long shifts. While challenges exist, benefits such as extended time off, improved sleep, reduced stress, and predictable working hours contribute positively to their work-life balance. Long shifts in nursing homes offer a unique perspective on achieving work-life balance, revealing both the challenges and advantages inherent in such schedules. Understanding the experiences of nursing home staff in this context can inform future innovations in shift scheduling, promoting a more balanced and sustainable work environment for healthcare professionals. For some healthcare staff, extended shifts can lead to a better work-life balance.

A demonstration of incorporating discriminative stimuli into an AAC device during functional communication training.

Functional communication training (FCT) is an effective intervention for teaching communication responses and reducing challenging behavior. One limitation of FCT is that frequent reinforcement may be impractical or impossible in many situations. Recently, Mitteer et al. published a tutorial in the journal AAC that provided video models on how to implement an empirically supported strategy for thinning reinforcement during FCT, known as FCT with discriminative stimuli, when teaching with an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device. However, no study has empirically evaluated the approach described in that tutorial. This paper details a case study using several single-case experimental designs to teach a non-vocal autistic adult who did not use speech to communicate requests only when reinforcement was signaled to be available by the color of the AAC icons. We demonstrated the efficacy of this approach with unique pairs of discriminative stimuli for tangible and edible items, thinning reinforcement for each stimulus class independently. We then rapidly transferred stimulus control to new icons and integrated both classes of stimuli into a single AAC grid. This first demonstration of embedding discriminative stimuli into an AAC device represents a promising advancement for individuals who do not use speech and may not readily respond to delay or denial cues.

Assessing the impacts of nurse staffing and work schedules on nurse turnover: A systematic review.

AIM: This study aimed to investigate and synthesize the impacts of nurse staffing and work schedules on nurse turnover in acute hospitals. BACKGROUND: The retention of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic was critical due to the increased demand for nurses. Among the multifaceted factors contributing to nurse turnover, it is worth examining nurse staffing and work schedules while considering policy intervention. METHODS: The findings of this systematic literature review were reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. Using eight databases, including CINAHL and PubMed, research articles published from January 2000 until June 2021 were reviewed. The inclusion criteria were original peer-reviewed research, nonexperimental studies published in English or Korean languages, and studies examining the impacts of nurse staffing and work schedules on nurses' actual turnover. RESULTS: Fourteen articles were reviewed. Among them, 12 studies investigated the relationship between nurse staffing and turnover, and four examined the impact of work schedules on nurse turnover. Nurse staffing levels are strongly related to nurse turnover in the expected direction. However, few studies have found that work schedules are significantly related to nurse turnover. CONCLUSION: Inadequate and unsafe nurse staffing leads to increased nurse turnover rates. More studies are needed to investigate the impacts of work schedules on nurse turnover. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING, HEALTH, AND SOCIAL POLICY: Several states in the United States have adopted the nurse staffing policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. More hospitals and the government should adopt and implement policies to regulate nurse staffing, reduce nurse turnover, and increase retention. Policy intervention in nurse work schedules should also be considered to prevent nurse turnover.

Missed antenatal diabetes care appointments and neonatal outcomes for pregnancies with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

BACKGROUND: There is limited information regarding the association between missed appointments and neonatal outcomes for diabetes in pregnancy. STUDY METHODS: This retrospective live birth cohort included pregnant women with Type 1 or 2 diabetes who attended specialized clinics from 2008 to 2020. The association between at least one missed antenatal diabetes appointments and outcomes were assessed using logistic regression and reported as adjusted odds ratios (aOR) (95% confidence interval). Mediation analyses were conducted to examine if above target HbA1c mediated these relationships. RESULTS: The cohort included 407 and 902 women with Type 1 and 2 diabetes, respectively, of whom 25.1% and 34.5% missed at least one appointment. Women with Type 1 diabetes who missed an appointment were more likely to have a caesarean section (aOR 1.95 [1.15, 3.31]) and their babies more likely to be admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (aOR 2.25 [1.35, 3.75]). Women with Type 2 diabetes who missed an appointment were more likely to have a large-for-gestational-age infant (aOR 1.61 [1.13, 2.28]), and an extreme large-for-gestational-age infant (aOR 1.69 [1.02, 2.81]) compared with women who did not miss appointments. Above target HbA1c mediated the relationship between missed appointments and caesarean delivery in Type 1 diabetes and large-for-gestational age and extreme large-for-gestational age in Type 2 diabetes. CONCLUSION: In individuals with Type 1 and 2 diabetes, there are differences in neonatal outcomes between those who missed an appointment compared to those who did not. It remains unclear if missed diabetes appointments are causative or a marker of other health behaviours or risk factors leading to neonatal morbidity.

Instrumental learning and behavioral persistence in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity-disorder: does reinforcement frequency matter?

BACKGROUND: Prominent theoretical accounts of attention-deficit/hyperactivity-disorder (ADHD) hypothesize that reinforcement learning deficits underlie symptoms of ADHD. The Dynamic Developmental Theory and the Dopamine Transfer Deficit hypothesis assume impairments in both the acquisition and extinction of behavior, especially when learning occurs under partial (non-continuous) reinforcement, and subsequently the Partial Reinforcement Extinction Effect (PREE). Few studies have evaluated instrumental learning in ADHD and the results are inconsistent. The current study investigates instrumental learning under partial and continuous reinforcement schedules and subsequent behavioral persistence when reinforcement is withheld (extinction) in children with and without ADHD. METHODS: Large well-defined samples of children with ADHD (n = 93) and typically developing (TD) children (n = 73) completed a simple instrumental learning task. The children completed acquisition under continuous (100%) or partial (20%) reinforcement, followed by a 4-min extinction phase. Two-way (diagnosis by condition) ANOVAs evaluated responses needed to reach the learning criterion during acquisition, and target and total responses during extinction. RESULTS: Children with ADHD required more trials to reach criterion compared to TD children under both continuous and partial reinforcement. After partial reinforcement, children with ADHD executed fewer target responses during extinction than TD children. Children with ADHD executed more responses than TD children during extinction, irrespective of learning condition. CONCLUSIONS: The findings demonstrate general difficulties in instrumental learning in ADHD, that is, slower learning irrespective of reinforcement schedule. They also show faster extinction following learning under partial reinforcement in those with ADHD, that is, a diminished PREE. Children with ADHD executed more responses during extinction. Results are theoretically important, with clinical implications for understanding and managing learning difficulties in those with ADHD, as they suggest poorer reinforcement learning and lower behavioral persistence.

Guideline of guidelines: follow-up after orchidectomy for clinical stage 1 testicular cancer.

Several medical organisations have developed evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis, management, and follow-up of testicular cancer. This article aimed to review, compare, and summarise the most updated international guidelines and surveillance protocols for clinical stage 1 (CS1) testicular cancer. We reviewed a total of 46 articles on proposed follow-up strategies for testicular cancer, and six clinical practice guidelines including four guidelines published by urological scientific associations and two guidelines published by medical oncology associations. Most of these guidelines have been developed by panels of experts with different backgrounds in clinical training, and geographic practise patterns, which explains the considerable variability between published schedules, and recommended follow-up intensity. We present you with a comprehensive review of the most important clinical practice guidelines and propose unifying recommendations based on the most up to date evidence to help standardise follow-up schedules based on patterns and risk of disease relapse.

Refining Vendor-Defined Measures to Accurately Quantify EHR Workload Outside Time Scheduled With Patients.

Accurately quantifying clinician time spent on electronic health record (EHR) activities outside the time scheduled with patients is critical for understanding occupational stress associated with ambulatory clinic environments. We make 3 recommendations regarding EHR workload measures that are intended to capture time working in the EHR outside time scheduled with patients, formally defined as work outside of work (WOW): (1) separate all time working in the EHR outside of time scheduled with patients from time working in the EHR during time scheduled with patients, (2) do not exclude any time before or after scheduled time with patients, and (3) encourage the EHR vendor and research communities to develop and standardize validated, vendor-agnostic methods for measuring active EHR use. Attributing all EHR work outside time scheduled with patients to WOW, regardless of when it occurs, will produce an objective and standardized measure better suited for use in efforts to reduce burnout, set policy, and facilitate research.

Mechanical replication of natural fever enhances protection against Aeromonas veronii infection in a teleost fish.

There is a long-standing debate on the attributes of temperature for fish health. We recently showed that thermoregulatory programs exerted through natural behavioural fever drive molecular and cellular responses that contribute to pathogen clearance, inflammation control, and tissue repair. These offered a mechanistic basis for the survival advantage conferred through fever. Herein, we show the attributes of mechanical replication of this fever response. Central to our approach was consideration of both, the maximal temperatures naturally selected by fish after infection, as well as the dynamics of thermal changes induced through this response. Coarse replication of the febrile thermal program as well as shorter truncated thermal schedules offered immune-regulatory capacity. Most notably, these promoted induction of acute inflammation and significant enhancements to pathogen clearance. However, the coarse protocols tested only partially recapitulated enhancements to induction and control of tissue repair. Our findings highlight a promising new alternative to combat infections in fish using a natural, drug-free, sustainable approach.

Patient Attitudes and Barriers to Endoscopy During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: After COVID-19 restrictions on nonessential procedures were lifted and safety protocols established, utilization rates of endoscopic procedures remained reduced. AIMS: This study assessed patient attitudes and barriers to scheduling endoscopy during the pandemic. METHODS: A survey was administered to patients with ordered procedures at a hospital-based setting (7/21/2020-2/19/2021) collecting demographic data, body mass index, COVID-19 relevant comorbidities, level of procedural urgency (defined by recommended scheduling window), scheduling and attendance, concerns, and awareness of safety measures. RESULTS: The average respondent was female (63.8%), age 57.6 ± 14, White (72.3%), married (76.7%), insured (99.3%), affluent English speakers (92.3%) and highly educated (at least college 90.2%). Most reported moderate to excellent COVID-19 knowledge (96.6%). Of 1039 procedures scheduled, emergent cases accounted for 5.1%, urgent 55.3% and elective 39.4%. Respondents identified appointment convenience (48.53%) as the most frequent factor impacting scheduling, also noting concern for results (28.4%). Age (p = .022), native language (p = .04), education (p = .007), self-reported COVID knowledge (p = .002), and a desire to be COVID tested pre-procedure (p = .023) were associated with arrival, more commonly in an ambulatory surgical center than hospital (p = .008). Diabetes mellitus (p = .004) and an immunocompromised state (p = .009) were adversely related to attendance. Attitudes towards safety protocols did not affect scheduling. Multivariate analysis demonstrated age, education and COVID knowledgeability were associated with procedure completion. CONCLUSIONS: Safety protocols and urgency levels were not associated with procedure completion. Pre-pandemic barriers to endoscopy persisted as dominant factors amid pandemic concerns.

Predicting no-show appointments in a pediatric hospital in Chile using machine learning.

The Chilean public health system serves 74% of the country's population, and 19% of medical appointments are missed on average because of no-shows. The national goal is 15%, which coincides with the average no-show rate reported in the private healthcare system. Our case study, Doctor Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospital, is a public high-complexity pediatric hospital and teaching center in Santiago, Chile. Historically, it has had high no-show rates, up to 29% in certain medical specialties. Using machine learning algorithms to predict no-shows of pediatric patients in terms of demographic, social, and historical variables. To propose and evaluate metrics to assess these models, accounting for the cost-effective impact of possible intervention strategies to reduce no-shows. We analyze the relationship between a no-show and demographic, social, and historical variables, between 2015 and 2018, through the following traditional machine learning algorithms: Random Forest, Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machines, AdaBoost and algorithms to alleviate the problem of class imbalance, such as RUS Boost, Balanced Random Forest, Balanced Bagging and Easy Ensemble. These class imbalances arise from the relatively low number of no-shows to the total number of appointments. Instead of the default thresholds used by each method, we computed alternative ones via the minimization of a weighted average of type I and II errors based on cost-effectiveness criteria. 20.4% of the 395,963 appointments considered presented no-shows, with ophthalmology showing the highest rate among specialties at 29.1%. Patients in the most deprived socioeconomic group according to their insurance type and commune of residence and those in their second infancy had the highest no-show rate. The history of non-attendance is strongly related to future no-shows. An 8-week experimental design measured a decrease in no-shows of 10.3 percentage points when using our reminder strategy compared to a control group. Among the variables analyzed, those related to patients' historical behavior, the reservation delay from the creation of the appointment, and variables that can be associated with the most disadvantaged socioeconomic group, are the most relevant to predict a no-show. Moreover, the introduction of new cost-effective metrics significantly impacts the validity of our prediction models. Using a prototype to call patients with the highest risk of no-shows resulted in a noticeable decrease in the overall no-show rate.

Factors related to the waiting time for scheduling an oral biopsy in Brazil: a multilevel analysis.

BACKGROUND: Timely diagnosis of oral cancers is critical, and performing biopsies of oral lesions with suspected malignancy is a crucial step in achieving this goal. The waiting time for the diagnosis may be related to the progression and prognosis of malignant neoplasms. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this observational, cross-sectional, national-level study was to identify the factors associated with the waiting time for scheduling an oral biopsy, based on the identification of its need. METHODS: We used secondary data from the Brazilian public health system, obtained from the 2nd cycle of the National Program to Improve Access and Quality of Dental Specialty Centers (PMAQ-CEO). The study outcome was the waiting time for scheduling an oral biopsy, starting from the identification of the need for the exam. We analyzed individual and contextual variables using multilevel statistical analysis. RESULTS: In 51.8% of DSC the waiting time for scheduling a biopsy was non-immediate; in 58.1% of CEOs, the sum of the weekly workload of dentists working in the Stomatology specialty is up to 20 h per week; in terms of coverage, 67.1% of the CEOs have only municipal coverage and 34.0% are references for up to 12 oral health teams in primary health care; only the coverage variable remained significant in the multivariate model (p < 0.05). Of the contextual variables, none of the variables remained significant (p > 0.05). When these were analyzed together, only the coverage remained significant (p < 0.05); CONCLUSION: Our analysis indicates that the waiting time for scheduling an oral biopsy is longer in CEOs that cover only one municipality and is not related to contextual factors.