Biological variation of methylmalonic acid in urine in spanish population.

BACKGROUND-AIM: Methylmalonic acid (MMA) is currently the best biomarker of functional vitamin B12 deficiency. However, for a correct interpretation of the patient's results it is necessary to know its biological variation (BV). No BV data are available for urine MMA values, as measured by mass spectrometry. Hence, the aim of this study was to estimate the within- and between-person coefficients of variation (CVw, CVg) for MMA in a healthy population, and the associated index of individuality (II), as well as to define quality specifications based on BV and the reference change value (RCV). METHODS: Random urine samples from 34 healthy volunteers were collected over four consecutive weeks. Samples were stored at -80 °C until analysis in a single analytical run. MMA excretion was quantified by tandem liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Results were normalized to urine creatinine. The coefficients of variation were estimated by CV-ANOVA. Confidence intervals (95 %) were calculated. Quality specifications were defined according to international recommendations. RESULTS: A total of 128 samples were included. The coefficients of variation were CVw = 35.7 % (26.1-45.3) and CVg = 67.7 % (58.3-77.0). The associated II was 0.5 and the RCV was 88.1 %. CONCLUSION: Considering the II obtained, MMA in urine has high individuality, therefore, RCV is better to evaluate serial clinical results. Our results will contribute to a better clinical interpretation of this biomarker and will represent a great aid when defining analytical performance specifications for this magnitude.

A Cross-Sectional Study of the Normative Data of the Side-To-Side Soleus Hoffmann Reflex from the Calf Muscle in Healthy Individuals in the Lying Down Position.

The goal of this study was to find out from the calf muscle, the normal H-reflex is in a group of healthy adults. This study is conducted for the period of one year in 2020-2021, in the department of Physiology AIIMS Bhopal, 119 adult male healthy volunteers who were asymptomatic from peripheral neuropathy and had a mean age of 30.40±6.78 were evaluated, to compare the normative tibial H reflex to their stature, body mass index, core body temperature, and limb length. The parameters considered were M- Latency, H-Latency, M-Amplitude, H- Amplitude and H/M Ratio in their left and right legs, respectively. A total of 111 participants (93.3%) were in the age group of 40 years or younger, with the mean age (in years) being 30.40±6.78. Only eight (8) participants (6.7%) belonged to the over-40 age group. The average weight (Kg), height (cm), and limb length (cm) were 173.11 cm, 10.48 cm, and 94.28 cm respectively. The mean ±SD latencies of the H reflex were 30.93±4.42 and 31.01±5.21 milliseconds in the right and left legs, respectively. Leg length and H reflex latency had a significant correlation (r = 0.55, p=0.05). There was no discernible correlation between age and the H reflex latency. The right and left H reflex latencies should vary by no more than 1.8 ms to be deemed normal. This research examined tibia H-reflex side-to-side latency variability and amplitude. Neurologic function may be assessed using the H-reflex. Due of its sensitivity to external circumstances, the H-reflex must be elicited carefully. The H-reflex may reveal neuronal function following damage if assessed appropriately.

Pharmacokinetic comparison of subcutaneously administered CT-P13 (biosimilar of infliximab) via autoinjector and pre-filled syringe in healthy participants.

CT-P13, a biosimilar of infliximab, is used to treat inflammatory diseases that arise from immune system complications, resulting in excessive and persistent inflammation. The subcutaneous (SC) formulation of CT-P13 overcomes the drawback of prolonged administration associated with the intravenous (IV) infliximab biosimilar, necessitating autoinjector (AI) administration. This randomized, open-label, two-arm, parallel-group, single-dose clinical pharmacology study aimed to evaluate the pharmacokinetics (PK) and safety of CT-P13 SC administration via AI compared with the existing pre-filled syringe (PFS) method. A total of 147 healthy participants were randomized into two groups, of which 139 completed the study. Blood samples were collected from before CT-P13 SC administration to 2016 h after the start of the administration. Serum concentrations were analyzed using the Meso Scale Discovery electrochemiluminescence method. Geometric mean ratios (90% confidence interval) of the AUCinf (areas under the concentration-time curve from zero to infinity) and Cmax (The maximum serum concentration) for CT-P13 SC AI versus CT-P13 SC PFS groups, were 94.15% (85.02%-104.26%), 92.48% (84.66%-101.01%), respectively. CT-P13 SC AI and CT-P13 SC PFS achieved comparable PK because the 90% CI was within the predefined equivalence margin. At the end of the study, immunogenicity results revealed that 70 (97.22%) and 73 (98.65%) participants tested positive for anti-drug antibody (ADA) in the CT-P13 SC AI and CT-P13 SC PFS groups, respectively. They were tested positive for neutralizing antibodies. No other significant safety differences were observed between the treatment groups. In conclusion, both administrations demonstrated PK equivalence and were both safe and well-tolerated.

Differences in lung attenuation gradients between supine and standing positions in healthy participants on conventional/supine and upright computed tomography.

The effect of gravity on the lungs has been evaluated using computed tomography (CT) in the supine and prone positions but not the standing position. However, as humans spend most of the daytime in the standing position, we aimed to compare lung attenuation gradients between the supine and standing positions, and to assess the correlations between the lung attenuation gradients and participant characteristics, including pulmonary function test results. Overall, 100 healthy participants underwent conventional/supine and upright CT, and lung attenuation gradients were measured. Lung attenuation gradients in anteroposterior direction were greater in the supine position than in standing position (all p values < 0.0001) in both upper lobes at the level of the aortic arch (right: standing/supine, -0.02 ± 0.19/0.53 ± 0.21; left: standing/supine, -0.06 ± 0.20/0.51 ± 0.21); in the right middle (standing/supine, -0.26 ± 0.41/0.53 ± 0.39), left upper (standing/supine, -0.35 ± 0.50/0.66 ± 0.54), and lower lobes at the level of the inferior pulmonary vein (right: standing/supine, -0.22 ± 0.30/0.65 ± 0.41; left: standing/supine, -0.16 ± 0.25/0.73 ± 0.54); and in both lower lobes just above the diaphragm (right: standing/supine, -0.13 ± 0.22/0.52 ± 0.32; left: standing/supine, -0.30 ± 0.57/0.55 ± 0.37). Craniocaudal gradients were greater in the standing position (right: standing/supine, 0.41 ± 0.30/0.00 ± 0.16; left: standing/supine, 0.35 ± 0.30/-0.02 ± 0.16, all p values < 0.0001). No moderate to very high correlations were observed between age, sex, height, weight, body index mass, or pulmonary function test results and each lung attenuation gradient. Lung attenuation gradients in anteroposterior direction, which was observed in the supine position, disappeared in the standing position. However, the craniocaudal lung attenuation gradient, which was not present in the supine position, appeared in the standing position.

Reference values for exhaled nitric oxide in healthy children aged 6-18 years in China: a cross-sectional, multicenter clinical study.

BACKGROUND: The reference values of eNO have certain differences among people of different countries and races. We aimed to obtain the reference value of eNO in healthy children and adolescents (6-18 years old) in China and to explore the associations between the reference values with ages, gender, heights, BMI, and regions. METHODS: We measured FeNO50 levels in 5949 healthy Chinese children and adolescents, FeNO200 and CaNO levels in 658 participants from 16 provinces of 7 administrative areas in China aged 6-18. All persons were studied after obtaining informed consent from children and their parents. RESULTS: The mean FeNO50 of 5949 Chinese children and adolescents aged 6-18 years was 14.1 ppb, with a 95% confidence interval of 1-38.1 ppb. The mean FeNO200 of 658 persons was 6.9 ppb with a 95% upper confidence interval of 15.0 ppb, and the mean CaNO was 3.0 ppb with a 95% upper confidence interval of 11.2 ppb. In the 6-11 age group, age and height were correlated with the logarithm of FeNO50 (P < 0.001, P < 0.05). There was no significant correlation between the logarithm of FeNO200 and gender, age, height and BMI (all P > 0.05). The logarithm of CaNO was correlated with gender (P < 0.05). In the 12-18 age group, gender, height, and region were correlated with the logarithm of FeNO50 (all P < 0.001). There was only a weak correlation between the logarithm of FeNO200 and height (P < 0.001). The logarithm of CaNO was negatively correlated with age (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Higher FeNO50, FeNO200 and CaNO values were found in healthy children and adolescents in China compared with foreign reports, and is affected by age, height, gender, and region. This study provides useful references for clinical application of eNO in children, especially Asian children.

Ocular Accommodative and Pupillary Responses During Fixation on Augmented Reality With a Maxwellian Display.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the changes in ocular refraction and pupillary diameter during fixation on augmented reality (AR) images using a Maxwellian display. Methods: Twenty-two healthy young volunteers (average age, 20.7 ± 0.5 years) wore a Maxwellian display device in front of their right eye and fixated on an asterisk displayed on both a liquid-crystal display (real target) and a Maxwellian display (AR target) for 29 seconds (real as a baseline for 3 seconds, AR for 13 seconds, and real for 13 seconds) at distances of 5.0, 0.5, 0.33, and 0.2 meters. A binocular open-view autorefractometer was used to measure the ocular refraction and pupillary diameter of the left eye. Results: Accommodative (5.0 meters, 0.28 ± 0.29 diopter [D]; 0.5 meter, -0.12 ± 0.35 D; 0.33 meter, -0.43 ± 0.57 D; 0.2 meter, -1.20 ± 0.82 D) and pupillary (5.0 meters, 0.07 ± 0.22 mm; 0.5 meter, -0.08 ± 0.17 mm; 0.33 meter, -0.16 ± 0.20 mm; 0.2 meter, -0.25 ± 0.24 mm) responses were negative when the real target distances were farther away. The accommodative response was significantly and positively correlated with the pupillary response during fixation on the AR target (R2 = 0.187, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Fixating on AR images using a Maxwellian display induces accommodative and pupillary responses. Accommodative responses depend on the distance between real objects. Overall, the Maxwellian display does not completely eliminate accommodation in real space.

Characterization of Vortex Vein Drainage System in Healthy Individuals Imaged by Ultra-Widefield Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the choroidal characteristics of vortex vein (VV) drainage systems in healthy individuals using ultra-widefield optical coherence tomography angiography. Methods: The mean choroidal thickness (ChT) and choroidal vascularity index (CVI) of each VV quadrant (24 × 20 mm2 scan mode; superotemporal [ST], superonasal [SN], inferonasal [IN], and inferotemporal [IT] quadrants) were calculated. Furthermore, intervortex venous anastomosis (IVA) was classified into temporal, superior, inferior, and nasal types. Results: A total of 207 healthy eyes were analyzed to find that the ST quadrant had the thickest choroidal layer and highest CVI (all P < 0.05). Among the four VV drainage quadrants, the mean ChT and CVI decreased in the sequence of ST, SN, IT, and IN (all P < 0.05). Moreover, men had a higher CVI than women in all VV quadrants (all P < 0.05). IVA was observed in all VV quadrants of 91 eyes (43.96%), and in the macular region of 33 eyes (15.94%). Conclusions: The ST drainage system was identified as the preferred VV drainage route in healthy eyes. Among the four VV drainage quadrants, the drainage system adhered to the ST-SN-IT-IN order of descending perfusion. Furthermore, age- and sex-related differences were noted in the choroidal VV drainage systems of healthy eyes. Additionally, almost half of the healthy eyes had IVA in their choroidal vessel networks. Translational Relevance: The VV drainage system may be considered a novel imaging biomarker for ocular diseases.

Development of low-cost pressure mapping device to evaluate force distribution for seat cushion modification.

This study aimed to determine the reliability and concurrent validity of a low-cost pressure mapping system (Smart mat) and reference standard pressure mapping (MatScan). Thirty healthy volunteers aged 29.57 ± 4.50 years who could sit still for at least one minute and had a hip width of less than 40 cm (36 ± 2.05 cm) were recruited. The participants sat on the Smart mat system and MatScan for 60 s per trial for 3 trials. The reliability of Smart mat using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) showed an excellent ICC of normalised total force (nTF) and normalised ischial width (nIW) in sitting (0.93, 0.98). The validity was assessed using Spearman correlation coefficients, which showed that nTF in sitting had a significantly strong correlation (r = 0.70**) and nIW in sitting had a significantly moderate correlation (r = 0.67**). This study's satisfactory results indicated that a low-cost pressure mapping system could be used for assessing forced distribution and ischial width during sitting.

Walking on different inclines affects gait symmetry differently in the anterior-posterior and vertical directions: implication for future sensorimotor training.

A symmetric gait pattern in humans reflects near-identical movement in bilateral limbs during walking. However, little is known about how gait symmetry changes on different inclines. This study aimed to address this knowledge gap using the central pattern generator and internal model hypotheses. Eighteen healthy young adults underwent five 2-minute walking trials (inclines of +15%, +8%, 0%, -8%, and -15%). Dependent variables included step time, step length, step width, maximum heel clearance, time to peaks of maximum heel clearance, their corresponding coefficients of variation (CV), and respective symmetry indices (SI). Significant differences were observed in SI of step length (p = .022), step length variability (p < .001), step width variability (p =.001), maximum heel clearance (p < .001), and maximum heel clearance variability (p = .049). Compared to level walking, walking at -8% and -15% inclines increased SI of step length (p = .011, p = .039 respectively) but decreased SI of maximum heel clearance (p = .025, p = .019 respectively). These observations suggested that incline walking affected gait symmetry differently, possibly due to varied internal models used in locomotion. Downhill walking improved vertical gait symmetry but reduced anterior-posterior symmetry compared to level walking. Downhill walking may be a preferable rehabilitation protocol for enhancing gait symmetry, as it activates internal model controls. Even slight downhill inclines could increase active control loading, beneficial for the elderly and those with impaired gait.

The Impact of Pinus koraiensis Leaf Extract Consumption on Postprandial ApoB100 and Lipid Metabolism: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial in Healthy Participants Subjected to an Oral High-Fat Challenge.

Pinus koraiensis (PK) leaf extract, derived from Korean pine byproducts, holds promise for alleviating postprandial hyperlipidemia. In this study, we investigated the potential of PK leaf extract for modulating postprandial hyperlipidemia in adults with normal or borderline fasting triglyceride levels. In a randomized, double-blind, parallel design, 70 subjects were randomly assigned to either the placebo or PK group for 4 weeks. After 4 weeks of consuming PK leaf extract, the results indicated a trend toward decreased serum apolipoprotein B-100 (ApoB100) levels 2 h after a high-fat challenge. Furthermore, significant improvements were observed in the incremental area under the curve (iAUC) at 0-4 h and 2-4 h compared to baseline, particularly among individuals with a higher body weight (>61.35 kg) and daily caloric intake (>1276.5 kcal). Based on these findings, PK leaf extract may have beneficial effects on postprandial lipoprotein metabolism, especially among individuals with a relatively high body weight and caloric intake.

Sensor-Based Gait and Balance Assessment in Healthy Adults: Analysis of Short-Term Training and Sensor Placement Effects.

While the analysis of gait and balance can be an important indicator of age- or disease-related changes, it remains unclear if repeated performance of gait and balance tests in healthy adults leads to habituation effects, if short-term gait and balance training can improve gait and balance performance, and whether the placement of wearable sensors influences the measurement accuracy. Healthy adults were assessed before and after performing weekly gait and balance tests over three weeks by using a force plate, motion capturing system and smartphone. The intervention group (n = 25) additionally received a home-based gait and balance training plan. Another sample of healthy adults (n = 32) was assessed once to analyze the impact of sensor placement (lower back vs. lower abdomen) on gait and balance analysis. Both the control and intervention group exhibited improvements in gait/stance. However, the trends over time were similar for both groups, suggesting that targeted training and repeated task performance equally contributed to the improvement of the measured variables. Since no significant differences were found in sensor placement, we suggest that a smartphone used as a wearable sensor could be worn both on the lower abdomen and the lower back in gait and balance analyses.

Analytical Performance of the FreeStyle Libre 2 Glucose Sensor in Healthy Male Adults.

Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) not only can be used for glycemic control in chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes), but is increasingly being utilized by individuals and athletes to monitor fluctuations in training and everyday life. However, it is not clear how accurately CGM reflects plasma glucose concentration in a healthy population in the absence of chronic diseases. In an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) with forty-four healthy male subjects (25.5 ± 4.5 years), the interstitial fluid glucose (ISFG) concentration obtained by a CGM sensor was compared against finger-prick capillary plasma glucose (CPG) concentration at fasting baseline (T0) and 30 (T30), 60 (T60), 90 (T90), and 120 (T120) min post OGTT to investigate differences in measurement accuracy. The overall mean absolute relative difference (MARD) was 12.9% (95%-CI: 11.8-14.0%). Approximately 100% of the ISFG values were within zones A and B in the Consensus Error Grid, indicating clinical accuracy. A paired t-test revealed statistically significant differences between CPG and ISFG at all time points (T0: 97.3 mg/dL vs. 89.7 mg/dL, T30: 159.9 mg/dL vs. 144.3 mg/dL, T60: 134.8 mg/dL vs. 126.2 mg/dL, T90: 113.7 mg/dL vs. 99.3 mg/dL, and T120: 91.8 mg/dL vs. 82.6 mg/dL; p < 0.001) with medium to large effect sizes (d = 0.57-1.02) and with ISFG systematically under-reporting the reference system CPG. CGM sensors provide a convenient and reliable method for monitoring blood glucose in the everyday lives of healthy adults. Nonetheless, their use in clinical settings wherein implications are drawn from CGM readings should be handled carefully.

Comparison of facial skin ageing in healthy Asian and Caucasian females quantified by in vivo line-field confocal optical coherence tomography 3D imaging.

BACKGROUND: Quantitative biomarkers of facial skin aging were investigated in 109 healthy Asian female volunteers, aged 20 to 70 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In vivo 3D Line-field Confocal Optical Coherence Tomography (LC-OCT) imaging, enhanced by Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based quantification algorithms, was utilized to compute various metrics, including stratum corneum thickness (SC), viable epidermal (VE) thickness, and Dermal-Epidermal Junction (DEJ) undulation along with cellular metrics for the temple, cheekbone, and mandible. RESULTS: Comparison with data from a cohort of healthy Caucasian volunteers revealed similarities in the variations of stratum corneum and viable epidermis layers, as well as cellular shape and size with age in both ethnic groups. However, specific findings emerged, such as larger, more heterogeneous nuclei in both layers, demonstrated by an increase in nuclei volume and their standard deviation, and increased network atypia, all showing significant age-related variations. Caucasian females exhibited a flatter and more homogeneous epidermis, evidenced by a decreased standard deviation of the number of layers, and a less dense cellular network with fewer cells per layer, indicated by a decrease in cell surface density. CONCLUSION: Ethnicity-wise comparisons highlighted distinct biological features specific to each population. Asian individuals showed significantly higher DEJ undulation, higher compactness, and lower cell network atypia compared to their Caucasian counterparts across age groups. Differences in stratum corneum and viable epidermal thickness on the cheekbone were also significant. LC-OCT 3D imaging provides valuable insights into the aging process in different populations and underscores inherent biological differences between Caucasian and Asian female volunteers.

Decoding Multi-Class Motor Imagery From Unilateral Limbs Using EEG Signals.

The EEG is a widely utilized neural signal source, particularly in motor imagery-based brain-computer interface (MI-BCI), offering distinct advantages in applications like stroke rehabilitation. Current research predominantly concentrates on the bilateral limbs paradigm and decoding, but the use scenarios for stroke rehabilitation are typically for unilateral upper limbs. There is a significant challenge to decoding unilateral MI of multitasks due to the overlapped spatial neural activities of the tasks. This study aims to formulate a novel MI-BCI experimental paradigm for unilateral limbs with multitasks. The paradigm encompasses four imagined movement directions: top-bottom, left-right, top right-bottom left, and top left-bottom right. Forty-six healthy subjects participated in this experiment. Commonly used machine learning techniques, such as FBCSP, EEGNet, deepConvNet, and FBCNet, were employed for evaluation. To improve decoding accuracy, we propose an MVCA method that introduces temporal convolution and attention mechanism to effectively capture temporal features from multiple perspectives. With the MVCA model, we have achieved 40.6% and 64.89% classification accuracies for the four-class and two-class scenarios (top right-bottom left and top left-bottom right), respectively. Conclusion: This is the first study demonstrating that motor imagery of multiple directions in unilateral limbs can be decoded. In particular, decoding two directions, right top to left bottom and left top to right bottom, provides the best accuracy, which sheds light on future studies. This study advances the development of the MI-BCI paradigm, offering preliminary evidence for the feasibility of decoding multiple directional information from EEG. This, in turn, enhances the dimensions of MI control commands.

The DAV132 colon-targeted adsorbent does not interfere with plasma concentrations of antibiotics but prevents antibiotic-related dysbiosis: a randomized phase I trial in healthy volunteers.

The deleterious impact of antibiotics (ATB) on the microbiome negatively influences immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) response in patients with cancer. We conducted a randomized phase I study (EudraCT:2019-A00240-57) with 148 healthy volunteers (HV) to test two doses of DAV132, a colon-targeted adsorbent, alongside intravenous ceftazidime-avibactam (CZA), piperacillin-tazobactam (PTZ) or ceftriaxone (CRO) and a group without ATB. The primary objective of the study was to assess the effect of DAV132 on ATB plasma concentrations and both doses of DAV132 did not alter ATB levels. Secondary objectives included safety, darkening of the feces, and fecal ATB concentrations. DAV132 was well tolerated, with no severe toxicity and similar darkening at both DAV132 doses. DAV132 led to significant decrease in CZA or PTZ feces concentration. When co-administered with CZA or PTZ, DAV132 preserved microbiome diversity, accelerated recovery to baseline composition and protected key commensals. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in preclinical cancer models in female mice from HV treated with CZA or PTZ alone inhibited anti-PD-1 response, while transplanted samples from HV treated with ATB + DAV132 circumvented resistance to anti-PD-1. This effect was linked to activated CD8+ T cell populations in the tumor microenvironment. DAV132 represents a promising strategy for overcoming ATB-related dysbiosis and further studies are warranted to evaluate its efficacy in cancer patients.

Multimodal Emotion Recognition Based on EEG and EOG Signals Evoked by the Video-Odor Stimuli.

Affective data is the basis of emotion recognition, which is mainly acquired through extrinsic elicitation. To investigate the enhancing effects of multi-sensory stimuli on emotion elicitation and emotion recognition, we designed an experimental paradigm involving visual, auditory, and olfactory senses. A multimodal emotional dataset (OVPD-II) that employed the video-only or video-odor patterns as the stimuli materials, and recorded the electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrooculogram (EOG) signals, was created. The feedback results reported by subjects after each trial demonstrated that the video-odor pattern outperformed the video-only pattern in evoking individuals' emotions. To further validate the efficiency of the video-odor pattern, the transformer was employed to perform the emotion recognition task, where the highest accuracy reached 86.65% (66.12%) for EEG (EOG) modality with the video-odor pattern, which improved by 1.42% (3.43%) compared with the video-only pattern. What's more, the hybrid fusion (HF) method combined with the transformer and joint training was developed to improve the performance of the emotion recognition task, which achieved classify accuracies of 89.50% and 88.47% for the video-odor and video-only patterns, respectively.

Millimeter wave radiation to measure blood flow in healthy human subjects.

Objective.Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) is a progressive cardiovascular condition affecting 8-10 million adults in the United States. PAD elevates the risk of cardiovascular events, but up to 50% of people with PAD are asymptomatic and undiagnosed. In this study, we tested the ability of a device, REFLO (Rapid Electromagnetic FLOw), to identify low blood flow using electromagnetic radiation and dynamic thermography toward a non-invasive PAD diagnostic.Approach.During REFLO radio frequency (RF) irradiation, the rate of temperature increase is a function of the rate of energy absorption and blood flow to the irradiated tissue. For a given rate of RF energy absorption, a slow rate of temperature increase implies a large blood flow rate to the tissue. This is due to the cooling effect of the blood. Post-irradiation, a slow rate of temperature decrease is associated with a low rate of blood flow to the tissue. Here, we performed two cohorts of controlled flow experiments on human calves during baseline, occluded, and post-occluded conditions. Nonlinear regression was used to fit temperature data and obtain the rate constant, which was used as a metric for blood flow.Main results.In the pilot study, (N= 7) REFLO distinguished between baseline and post-occlusion during the irradiation phase, and between baseline and occlusion in the post-irradiation phase. In the reliability study, (N= 5 with 3 visits each), two-way ANOVA revealed that flow and subject significantly affected skin heating and cooling rates, while visit did not.Significance.Results suggest that MMW irradiation can be used to distinguish between blood flow rates in humans. Utilizing the rate of skin cooling rather than heating is more consistent for distinguishing flow. Future modifications and clinical testing will aim to improve REFLO's ability to distinguish between flow rates and evaluate its ability to accurately identify PAD.

Age-related analysis of corneal biomechanical parameters in healthy Chinese individuals.

To report the correlation between corneal biomechanical parameters and age in healthy Chinese individuals. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 864 eyes of 543 healthy participants. A comprehensive ophthalmic examination and corneal biomechanics examination using Corneal Visualization Scheimpflug Technology (Corvis ST) were conducted. Based on age, all participants were further divided into five age groups (n) as follows: group A, 11-20 years (105); group B, 21-30 years (112); group C, 31-40 years (113); group D, 41-50 years (100); and group E, > 50 years (113). Using Corvis ST, we examined 35 corneal biomechanical parameters and compared them across the different age groups. Spearman's correlation coefficients and stepwise multivariate linear regression models were used to investigate whether the corneal biomechanical parameters were related to demographic and ocular characteristics. A correlation analysis between the left and right eyes revealed that 13 parameters were significantly associated with eye differences. Among the 35 corneal biomechanical parameters, 28 exhibited significant differences across the age groups, with stiffness parameter at applanation 1(SPA1) showing an upward trend after the age of 30 and stress-strain index (SSI) demonstrates a statistically significant upward trend when comparing the five age groups in the study. Additionally, Spearman's correlation analysis and stepwise multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that 11 corneal biomechanical parameters were positively correlated with age and 10 were negatively correlated with age. Corvis biomechanical index (CBI) was significantly negatively correlated with intraocular pressure (IOP) and central corneal thickness (CCT), SSI was significantly positively correlated with age and IOP, and SPA1 were positively correlated with IOP and CCT. In conclusion, most corneal biomechanical parameters showed a significant correlation with age, with corneal stiffness progressively increasing alongside advancing age, IOP, or CCT.

BWC0977, a broad-spectrum antibacterial clinical candidate to treat multidrug resistant infections.

The global crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) necessitates the development of broad-spectrum antibacterial drugs effective against multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogens. BWC0977, a Novel Bacterial Topoisomerase Inhibitor (NBTI) selectively inhibits bacterial DNA replication via inhibition of DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV. BWC0977 exhibited a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC90) of 0.03-2 µg/mL against a global panel of MDR Gram-negative bacteria including Enterobacterales and non-fermenters, Gram-positive bacteria, anaerobes and biothreat pathogens. BWC0977 retains activity against isolates resistant to fluoroquinolones (FQs), carbapenems and colistin and demonstrates efficacy against multiple pathogens in two rodent species with significantly higher drug levels in the epithelial lining fluid of infected lungs. In healthy volunteers, single-ascending doses of BWC0977 administered intravenously ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05088421 ) was found to be safe, well tolerated (primary endpoint) and achieved dose-proportional exposures (secondary endpoint) consistent with modelled data from preclinical studies. Here, we show that BWC0977 has the potential to treat a range of critical-care infections including MDR bacterial pneumonias.

The impact of different music genres on pain tolerance: emphasizing the significance of individual music genre preferences.

Music is a promising (adjunctive) treatment for both acute and chronic pain, reducing the need for pharmacological analgesics and their side effects. Yet, little is known about the effect of different types of music. Hence, we investigated the efficacy of five music genres (Urban, Electronic, Classical, Rock and Pop) on pain tolerance. In this parallel randomized experimental study, we conducted a cold pressor test in healthy volunteers (n = 548). The primary outcome was pain tolerance, measured in seconds. No objective (tolerance time) or subjective (pain intensity and unpleasantness) differences were found among the five genres. Multinomial logistic regression showed that overall genre preference positively influenced pain tolerance. In contrast, the music genres that participants thought would help for pain relief did not. Our study was the first to investigate pain tolerance at genre level and in the context of genre preference without self-selecting music. In conclusion, this study provides evidence that listening to a favored music genre has a significant positive influence on pain tolerance, irrespective of the kind of genre. Our results emphasize the importance of individual music (genre) preference when looking at the analgesic benefits of music. This should be considered when implementing music in the clinical setting.