A novel gelatin composite film with melt extrusion for walnut oil packaging.

Gelatin have excellent film-forming and barrier properties, but its lack of biological activity limits its application in packaging. In this study, fish gelatin incorporated with apple polyphenol/cumin essential oil composite films were successfully prepared by melt extrusion. The cross-linking existed in gelatin and apple polyphenol improved the thermal stability and oxidation resistance of the film. The synergistic effect of apple polyphenols and cumin essential oil decreased the sensitivity of the film to water, especially the water solubility decreased from 41.60 % to 26.07 %. The plasticization of essential oil nearly doubled the elongation at break while maintaining the tensile strength of the film (11.45 MPa). Furthermore, the FG-CEO-AP film can inhibit peroxide value to extend the shelf life about 20 days in the walnut oil preservation. In summary, the apple polyphenol/cumin essential oil of FG film exhibits excellent comprehensive properties and high preparation efficiency for utilization as an active packaging material.

Identifying a Gene Deficiency in the Antiviral Innate Immune Signaling Pathway.

Innate immunity is an important defense barrier for the human body. After viral pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) are detected by host-pathogen recognition receptors (PRRs), the associated signaling pathways trigger the activation of the interferon (IFN) regulatory factor (IRF) family members and the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB). However, any gene defects among the signaling adaptors will compromise innate immune efficiency. Therefore, investigating genetic defects in the antiviral innate immune signaling pathway is important. We summarize the commonly used research methods related to antiviral immune gene defects and outline the relevant research protocols, which will help investigators study antiviral innate immunity.

Nature of back slopping kombucha fermentation process: insights from the microbial succession, metabolites composition changes and their correlations.

Kombucha, a fermented tea prepared with a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY), offers a unique and unpredictable home-brewed fermentation process. Therefore, the need for a controlled kombucha fermentation process has become evident, which requiring a thorough understanding of the microbial composition and its relationship with the metabolites produced. In this study, we investigated the dynamics of microbial communities and metabolites over a 12-day fermentation period of a conventional kombucha-making process. Our findings revealed similarities between the microbial communities in the early (0-2 days) and late (10-12 days) fermentation periods, supporting the principle of back-slopping fermentation. Untargeted metabolite analysis unveiled the presence of harmful biogenic amines in the produced kombucha, with concentrations increasing progressively throughout fermentation, albeit showing relatively lower abundance on days 8 and 12. Additionally, a contrasting trend between ethanol and caffeine content was observed. Canonical correspondence analysis highlighted strong positive correlations between specific bacterial/yeast strains and identified metabolites. In conclusion, our study sheds light on the microbial and metabolite dynamics of kombucha fermentation, emphasizing the importance of microbial control and quality assurance measures in the production process.

Quercetin supplementation prevents kidney damage and improves long-term prognosis in hypertensive patients.

Quercetin has shown potential antihypertensive-like activities in several studies. The present study aimed to test the effect of quercetin supplementation on kidney damage and long-term prognosis in hypertensive patients. The data of enrolled hypertensive patients were acquired from the NHANES dataset. The flavanol intake data was extracted from the FNDDS flavonoid database. Information regarding mortality was extracted from the NCHS. A total of 5801 hypertensive patients were included in this study. Preliminary analysis found that the total flavanols intake dosage was the independent influence factor of the kidney damage prevalence in hypertension, and it was found that only the quercetin supplementation was the protective factor for kidney damage after stratification analysis. For every 10 mg/d increase in quercetin intake, the kidney damage prevalence decreased by 8% [OR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.85-0.99, p = 0.032]. The comprehensive analysis results suggested that hypertensive patients in the quercetin-high group had a lower kidney damage prevalence and a higher survival probability than those in the quercetin-low group. The urine microalbumin of hypertensive patients in the quercetin-high group was significantly lower than that of hypertensive patients in the quercetin-low group. In addition, at a median follow-up time of 122 months, the mortality decreased by 9% [HR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.84-0.99, p = 0.031] for every 10 mg/d increase in quercetin intake. The findings suggested that high quercetin intake was associated with low kidney damage prevalence and high survival probability. Based on the existing evidence, promoting quercetin supplementation as a supplementary treatment for hypertensive patients was warranted.

The impact of energy poverty on the health and welfare of the middle-aged and older adults.

Drawing upon data from the 2018 CHARLS, this paper utilizes MEPI and a 10% threshold indicator to, respectively, assess the energy poverty (EP) status among middle-aged and older adults in China, focusing on the unavailability and unaffordability of energy services. Additionally, an econometric model is constructed to investigate the effects of EP on the health and welfare of middle-aged and older adults. Regression results indicate that EP exerts a significant negative impact on the health and welfare of middle-aged and older adults. This conclusion remains robust after conducting endogeneity and robustness tests, demonstrating its validity. Finally, based on the calculation results, we propose relevant policy recommendations including enhancing energy services for older adults in rural areas, integrating household energy alternatives with targeted poverty alleviation, enhancing monitoring mechanisms, and conducting energy education activities to alleviate EP and improve the quality of life of middle-aged and older adults.

Relationship between serum glucose-potassium ratio and 90-day outcomes of patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Background: Recent studies have shown that the serum glucose-potassium ratio (GPR) upon admission is correlated with the prognosis of cerebrovascular disorders. Herein, we investigated the relationship between GPR and 90-day functional outcomes in patients with acute ischaemic stroke (AIS). Methods: Clinical data were collected from patients with AIS registered at the Stroke Center of Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine. The relationship between the GPR and 90-day outcomes was analysed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses, linear regression analyses, and subgroup analyses. Results: A total of 1826 patients met the enrolment requirements. The number of patients with a glucose-to-potassium ratio greater than the median value increased proportionally with increases in the NIHSS at admission and the 90-day modified Rankin scale (mRS). Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed a significant relationship between GPR and 90-day negative prognosis (OR 1.34 [95%Cl, 1.17-1.54], P < 0.001). After adjusting for all confounding variables, the relationship between GPR and 90-day adverse prognosis was shown to be nonlinearly U-shaped, with an inflection point of the curve for GPR of 1.347. Two linear regression analyses were performed on the basis of the inflection points of the curves. The results of this analysis revealed a negative correlation between GPR and 90-day adverse outcomes at GPR<1.347 (OR 0.86 [95%CI,0.09-7.86], P = 0.897), as well as a positive correlation between GPR and 90-day adverse outcomes at GPR≥1.347 (OR1.52 [95%CI, 1.19-1.93], P = 0.001). Subgroup analyses verified that the association between GPR and 90-day poor prognosis still existed, regardless of whether the patient had a history of diabetes mellitus (DM). (with DM: OR 1.39 [ 95%Cl, 1.05-1.83], P = 0.001); without DM: OR 0.93 [ 95%Cl,0.56-1.55], P = 0.016). Conclusions: GPR significantly correlated with poor prognosis at 90-days in patients with AIS. Early intervention and control of GPR are expected to enhance functional outcomes in patients with AIS.

Macular vascular density alteration patterns in paediatric optic neuritis patients with serum MOG antibody positivity detected by optic coherence tomography angiography.

PURPOSE: The retinal microvascular network plays a crucial role in inflammatory injury in paediatric optic neuritis (PON) with serum MOG antibody positivity (MOG + PON). This study compared retinal microvascular densities and structural alterations in MOG + PON eyes with paediatric isolated optic neuritis (PION) eyes and followed up with the final best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) after 6 months. METHODS: A total of 29 children (52 eyes) with PON, including 15 MOG + PON cases (28 eyes), 6 PION cases (10 eyes), 2 neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders associated PON(NMOSD-PON) cases (4 eyes), 6 MOG-associated disease (MOGAD) patients without ON-affected eyes (MOG + NPON) cases (10 eyes) and age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs) underwent superficial/deep retinal angiography density (SAD/DAD) by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Their BCVAs were followed up until 6 months after PON onsets. RESULTS: MOG + PON cases had better final BCVAs than PION and NMOSD-ON. MOG + PON (35.7 ± 10.3 %) and PION (40.1 ± 10.3 %) eyes experienced severe SAD reductions in contrast to MOGAD+NPON (48.7 ± 5.2 %) and HCs eyes (55.6 ± 8.2 %). However, DAD in MOG + PON eyes (48.5 ± 9.2 %) and MOG + NPON eyes (53.1 ± 3.3 %) increased compared to HC eyes (45.7 ± 9.6 %; p = 0.028 and 0.009, respectively). SAD reduction occurred in acute PON and was detected as early as 2 weeks after PON onset. CONCLUSIONS: MOG + PON eyes had better final BCVAs than PION eyes, which displayed superficial retinal microvascular perfusion reductions and deep microvascular perfusion increases. SAD could be a sensitive surrogate for PON attacks in children with MOGAD.

Effects of antibiotics on immunotherapy in patients with metastatic nonsmall cell lung cancer.

To investigate the effects of antibiotic exposure on the prognosis of patients with advanced metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (m-NSCLC) who received immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). This study retrospectively included 199 patients diagnosed with m-NSCLC in Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute from December 2017 to October 2021, all patients received ICIs for the first time. The basic clinical characteristics of patients before the first treatment of ICIs, whether antibiotics were used during treatment, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were collected. The survival among different groups was compared by the Kaplan-Meier method. The median follow-up time of m-NSCLC patients was 33.79 months, mPFS was 11.67 months, and mOS was 21.55 months. Univariate analysis showed that antibiotic use, radiotherapy, and targeted drug resistance influenced PFS and OS (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that antibiotic use, radiotherapy, and targeted resistance remained independent factors of PFS, and targeted resistance was an independent factor of OS (P < 0.05). Subgroup analysis found that antibiotic use within 30 days before and after immunotherapy could decrease the PFS and OS (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients without radiotherapy had shorter PFS (mPFS, 12.89 vs. 8.13 months; P = 0.0258) and OS (mOS, 26.94 vs. 16.43 months; P = 0.0465). The mPFS (16.17 vs. 9.19 months; P = 0.0151) and mOS (27.27 vs. 18.65 months; P = 0.0437) of patients in the antibiotic group were shorter. Patients in the targeted drug-resistant group had shorter PFS (mPFS, 40.66 vs. 7.77 months, P < 0.001) and OS (mOS, 41.98 vs. 16.89 months, P < 0.001) compared with patients who did not receive targeted treatment. Antibiotics and radiation therapy are associated with the prognosis of m-NSCLC who are newly treated with ICIs. Effectively reducing antibiotic use in 1 month before and after ICIs treatment may help improve the immunotherapy efficacy of patients with m-NSCLC.

Scalable Asymmetric Fabric Evaporator for Solar Desalination and Thermoelectricity Generation.

The integration of solar interfacial evaporation and power generation offers a sustainable solution to address water and electricity scarcity. Although water-power cogeneration schemes are proposed, the existing schemes lack scalability, flexibility, convenience, and stability. These limitations severely limit their future industrial applications. In this study, we prepared a hybrid fabric composed of basalt fibers and cotton yarns with asymmetric structure using textile weaving technology. The cotton yarn in lower layer of fabric facilitates water transport, while the basalt fibers in upper layer enable thermal localization and water supply balancing. The carbon black is deposited on top layer by flame burning to facilitate photothermal conversion. The fabric exhibits a high evaporation rate of 1.52 kg m-2 h-1, which is 3.6 times that of pure water, and an efficiency of 88.06% under 1 kW m-2 light intensity. After assembly with a thermoelectric module, the hybrid system achieves a maximum output power density of 66.73 mW m-2. By exploiting the scalability of fabric, large-scale desalination and power production can be achieved in outdoor environments. This study demonstrates the seamless integration of fabric-based solar evaporation and waste heat-to-energy technologies, thereby providing new avenues for the development of scalable and stable water-power cogeneration systems.

Association of diabetes and white blood cell count with stroke in patients with carotid artery dissection.

BACKGROUND: Carotid artery dissection is an important cause of stroke. However, the predictors of ischemic stroke in patients with carotid artery dissection are controversial. The study aimed to analyze the predictors of ischemic stroke in patients with carotid artery dissection through retrospective medical records. METHODS: Data of discharged patients diagnosed with carotid artery dissection during 2019-2023 were retrospectively collected. Based on the occurrence of ischemic stroke, the patients were divided into the ischemic stroke or non-ischemic stroke groups. Based on the results of univariate analyses, variables with an associated P value < 0.05 were introduced into the multivariable logistic regression analysis. . RESULTS: A total of 165 patients were included in the study, with an average age of 55.00 (48.00, 66.00) years, including 86 patients with internal carotid artery dissection and 79 patients with vertebral artery dissection. Ischemic stroke occurred in 69 patients with carotid artery dissection. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that diabetes (odds ratio [OR]: 3.144, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.552-6.508, P<0.002) and high white blood cells count (OR: 1.157, 95% CI: 1.02-1.327,P = 0.028) were related to the incidence of ischemic stroke in patients with carotid artery dissection. CONCLUSION: Ischemic stroke caused by carotid artery dissection causes severe damage to the nervous system. This study found that diabetes and high white blood cells count were associated with the incidence of ischemic stroke in patients with carotid artery dissection. Therefore, monitoring and controlling blood glucose levels and infections is essential in patients with carotid artery dissection to reduce the incidence of stroke.

Efficacy of a health education technology program in improving adherence to self-management behaviors and quality of life among adults with type 2 diabetes: A randomized controlled trial.

AIM: This study examined the efficacy of a health education technology program on self-management adherence behavior and quality of life among people with type 2 diabetes (T2D). METHODS: A randomized experimental study design was employed. A total of 110 subjects was recruited. The experimental group received a novel technology education program plus routine shared care. The control group received routine shared care alone. Quality of life and adherence to self-management behavior questionnaires were used to measure outcomes. A linear mixed-effects model was used to analyze changes in quality of life after controlling for pre-test effects. The odds ratio was calculated for differences in adherence behavior between the two groups. RESULTS: The between-group mean difference in quality of life scores and adherence to physical activity comparing pre-test at 3 months follow-up showed significant progress at 3 months post-test compared with the control group. However, the increase in mean quality of life scores and adherence behavior at 6 months did not demonstrate a sustained between-group difference. CONCLUSION: The results showed adherence to physical activity and improved quality of life in patients with T2D at 3 months post intervention. Therefore, the program can be used as an intensive model for diabetes shared care.

Atomistic simulations reveal impacts of missense mutations on the structure and function of SynGAP1.

De novo mutations in the synaptic GTPase activating protein (SynGAP) are associated with neurological disorders like intellectual disability, epilepsy, and autism. SynGAP is also implicated in Alzheimer's disease and cancer. Although pathogenic variants are highly penetrant in neurodevelopmental conditions, a substantial number of them are caused by missense mutations that are difficult to diagnose. Hence, in silico mutagenesis was performed for probing the missense effects within the N-terminal region of SynGAP structure. Through extensive molecular dynamics simulations, encompassing three 150-ns replicates for 211 variants, the impact of missense mutations on the protein fold was assessed. The effect of the mutations on the folding stability was also quantitatively assessed using free energy calculations. The mutations were categorized as potentially pathogenic or benign based on their structural impacts. Finally, the study introduces wild-type-SynGAP in complex with RasGTPase at the inner membrane, while considering the potential effects of mutations on these key interactions. This study provides structural perspective to the clinical assessment of SynGAP missense variants and lays the foundation for future structure-based drug discovery.

New progress in HBV control and the cascade of health care for people living with HBV in China: evidence from the fourth national serological survey, 2020.

Background: Since 1992, when recombinant hepatitis B vaccine was introduced in China, government health officials have used nationally representative serological surveys to monitor progress in prevention and control of hepatitis B. In 2020, we conducted the fourth seroepidemiological survey, which for the first time included medical evaluation of the clinical status of HBsAg positive subjects over the age of 15 and their medical management. We report survey results in comparison with the three previous surveys. Methods: Consistent with previous national surveys, the 2020 survey used a stratified, three-stage cluster random sampling method to select for evaluation 1-69-year-olds in 120 national disease surveillance points. Blood samples were tested for HBsAg, anti-HBV surface antigen (anti-HBs), and anti-HBV core antigen (anti-HBc) in the National Hepatitis Laboratory of the Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention of China CDC. HBsAg positive subjects aged ≥15-year were evaluated for evidence of liver disease, and through face-to-face questionnaire-based survey, we determined the healthcare management cascade of HBV-infected individuals. Findings: HBsAg prevalence in 1-69-year-olds was 5.86%; in children 1-4 years of age, seroprevalence was 0.30%; 75 million people were living with HBV nationwide. Among HBsAg-positive individuals 15 years and older, expert medical examination found that 78.03% were HBsAg carriers with no evidence of liver damage, 19.63% had chronic HBV with liver enzyme abnormalities, 0.84% had evidence of cirrhosis, and 0.15% had evidence of liver cancer. 59.78% of HBsAg + individuals were aware that they were positive before the survey, 30 million were unaware; 38.25% of those who knew they were positive (17 million) had medical indications for antiviral treatment, and 17.33% of these individuals (3 million) were being treated with antivirals. Interpretation: The decline in HBsAg prevalence in the general population, from 9.72% in 1992 to 5.86% in 2020, and in 1-4-year-olds from 9.67% in 1992 to 0.30% in 2020, shows progress that continues on track toward WHO targets for prevention of new infections. Implementation of acceptable strategies to identify infected individuals and offer long-term medical monitoring and management will be important to prevent complications from hepatitis B infection and for meeting WHO cascade-of-care targets. Funding: The study was funded by the Major Science and Technology Special Project of China's 13th 5-Year Plan (grant no. 2017ZX10105015); Central finance-operation of public health emergency response mechanism of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (131031001000200001, 102393220020010000017).

Rifaximin ameliorates influenza A virus infection-induced lung barrier damage by regulating gut microbiota.

Prior research has indicated that the gut-lung-axis can be influenced by the intestinal microbiota, thereby impacting lung immunity. Rifaximin is a broad-spectrum antibacterial drug that can maintain the homeostasis of intestinal microflora. In this study, we established an influenza A virus (IAV)-infected mice model with or without rifaximin supplementation to investigate whether rifaximin could ameliorate lung injury induced by IAV and explore the molecular mechanism involved. Our results showed that IAV caused significant weight loss and disrupted the structure of the lung and intestine. The analysis results of 16S rRNA and metabolomics indicated a notable reduction in the levels of probiotics Lachnoclostridium, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-013, and tryptophan metabolites in the fecal samples of mice infected with IAV. In contrast, supplementation with 50 mg/kg rifaximin reversed these changes, including promoting the repair of the lung barrier and increasing the abundance of Muribaculum, Papillibacter and tryptophan-related metabolites content in the feces. Additionally, rifaximin treatment increased ILC3 cell numbers, IL-22 level, and the expression of RORγ and STAT-3 protein in the lung. Furthermore, our findings demonstrated that the administration of rifaximin can mitigate damage to the intestinal barrier while enhancing the expression of AHR, IDO-1, and tight junction proteins in the small intestine. Overall, our results provided that rifaximin alleviated the imbalance in gut microbiota homeostasis induced by IAV infection and promoted the production of tryptophan-related metabolites. Tryptophan functions as a signal to facilitate the activation and movement of ILC3 cells from the intestine to the lung through the AHR/STAT3/IL-22 pathway, thereby aiding in the restoration of the barrier. KEY POINTS: • Rifaximin ameliorated IAV infection-caused lung barrier injury and induced ILC3 cell activation. • Rifaximin alleviated IAV-induced gut dysbiosis and recovered tryptophan metabolism. • Tryptophan mediates rifaximin-induced ILC3 cell activation via the AHR/STAT3/IL-22 pathway.

Prevalence of strong anticholinergic use in residents with and without cognitive impairment and frailty: Analysis from 106 nursing homes in 12 Asia-Pacific and European countries.

PURPOSE: There is a need to balance the benefits and risks associated with strong anticholinergic medications in older adults, particularly among those with frailty and cognitive impairment. This study explored the international prevalence of strong anticholinergic medication use in residents of nursing homes with and without cognitive impairment and frailty. METHODS: Secondary, cross-sectional analyses of data from 5,800 residents of 106 nursing homes in Australia, China, Czech Republic, England, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, and Spain were conducted. Strong anticholinergic medications were defined as medications with a score of 2 or 3 on the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden scale. Dementia or cognitive impairment was defined as a documented diagnosis or using a validated scale. Frailty was defined using the FRAIL-NH scale as 0-2 (non-frail), 3-6 (frail) and 7-14 (most-frail). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Overall, 17.4 % (n = 1010) residents used ≥1 strong anticholinergic medication, ranging from 1.3 % (n = 2) in China to 27.1 % (n = 147) in Italy. The most prevalent strong anticholinergics were quetiapine (n = 290, 5.0 % of all residents), olanzapine (132, 2.3 %), carbamazepine (102, 1.8 %), paroxetine (88, 1.5 %) and amitriptyline (87, 1.5 %). Prevalence was higher among residents with cognitive impairment (n = 602, 17.9 %) compared to those without (n = 408, 16.8 %), and among residents who were most frail (n = 553, 17.9 %) compared to those who were frail (n = 286, 16.5 %) or non-frail (n = 171, 17.5 %). CONCLUSIONS: One in six residents who were most frail and living with cognitive impairment used a strong anticholinergic. However, there was a 20-fold variation in prevalence across the 12 countries. Targeted deprescribing interventions may reduce potentially avoidable medication-harm.

RBNE-CMI: An Efficient Method for Predicting circRNA-miRNA Interactions via Multiattribute Incomplete Heterogeneous Network Embedding.

Circular RNA (circRNA)-microRNA (miRNA) interaction (CMI) plays crucial roles in cellular regulation, offering promising perspectives for disease diagnosis and therapy. Therefore, it is necessary to employ computational methods for the rapid and cost-effective prediction of potential circRNA-miRNA interactions. However, the existing methods are limited by incomplete data; therefore, it is difficult to model molecules with different attributes on a large scale, which greatly hinders the efficiency and performance of prediction. In this study, we propose an effective method for predicting circRNA-miRNA interactions, called RBNE-CMI, and introduce a framework that can embed incomplete multiattribute CMI heterogeneous networks. By combining the proposed method, we integrate different data sets in the CMI prediction field into one incomplete network for modeling, achieving superior performance in 5-fold cross-validation. Moreover, in the prediction task based on complete data, the proposed method still achieves better performance than the known model. In addition, in the case study, we successfully predicted 18 of the 20 potential cancer biomarkers. The data and source code can be found at https://github.com/1axin/RBNE-CMI.

Preoperative Evidence-Based Practice for Prevention of Early Postoperative Infections in Patients Receiving a Liver Transplant.

BACKGROUND This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing evidence-based preoperative nursing interventions in reducing postoperative infections and intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay among liver transplant recipients. MATERIAL AND METHODS A controlled study was conducted, comparing postoperative outcomes between an intervention group receiving standardized, evidence-based preoperative care and a control group receiving routine preoperative care. Patients undergoing elective liver transplantation from September 2020 to March 2021 were included and assigned to either the intervention or control group. The intervention group received preoperative interventions based on best available evidence, while the control group received standard preoperative care. The primary outcomes measured were postoperative infection rates and length of ICU stay. RESULTS In the control group the overall Intensive Care Unit (ICU) length of stay was 3 days and the infection rate was 33.30%, while in the intervention group it was 3 days and 13.80% (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the length of ICU stay between the control and the intervention groups (P>0.05). There was a significant improvement in the awareness, acceptance, and compliance of doctors and nurses. CONCLUSIONS Using the best evidence-based intervention for preoperative nursing of liver transplantation patients can standardize preoperative nursing behavior. Although we did not find significant differences in outcomes before and after the intervention, it is necessary to prevent postoperative infection and improve nursing compliance.

Depression prevalence, screening, and treatment in adult outpatients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes: A nationally representative cross-sectional study (National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey 2014-2019).

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that the presence of diabetes or depression may increase the risk for developing the other. The primary objective of this study is to describe the current prevalence of comorbid depression and the rate of screening and treatment for comorbid depression in US adult outpatients with diabetes compared to those without diabetes. METHODS: We analyzed data from the 2014-2019 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. Descriptive statistics, univariate analyses, and multivariable regression models were developed with weighting factors applied. RESULTS: Depression prevalence is higher in those with diabetes than without diabetes. Females with diabetes have higher rates of depression (15.4%) compared to females without diabetes (13.7%) or males with diabetes (9.1%). Screening rates for depression are extremely low (<6%) in patients with diabetes and without diabetes. Patients with diabetes and depression are less likely to be screened than those with depression alone. LIMITATIONS: The cross-sectional design of the study cannot establish causality and has inherent limitations in capturing temporal relationships. The reliance on ICD codes limits the scope of diagnosis and underestimates rates of comorbidity if depression is not formally diagnosed. The NAMCS cohort only includes ambulatory visits to office-based physicians, so depression diagnoses and screening rates among patients who visit other health care settings or are not seeing physicians would be underestimated. CONCLUSIONS: Depression is prevalent in people with diabetes. Screening rates are unacceptably low, indicating a gap in recommended care and underreporting of depression. More routine screening and treatment are necessary to align with guideline-recommended care.

Predicting DNA Reactions with a Quantum Chemistry-Based Deep Learning Model.

In this study, a deep learning model based on quantum chemistry is introduced to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of predicting DNA reaction parameters. By integrating quantum chemical calculations with self-designed descriptor matrices, the model offers a comprehensive description of energy variations and considers a broad range of relevant factors. To overcome the challenge of limited labeled data, an active learning method is employed. The results demonstrate that this model outperforms existing methods in predicting DNA hybridization free energies and strand displacement rate constants, thus advancing the understanding of DNA molecular interactions, and aiding in the precise design and optimization of DNA-based systems.

Association between vitamin B2 intake and cognitive performance among older adults: a cross-sectional study from NHANES.

The impact of vitamin B2 (riboflavin) intake on cognitive performance among older adults in the United States (US) remains inadequately understood. This study aimed to explore the association between vitamin B2 intake and cognitive performance among non-institutionalized elderly people in the US. Weighted logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between vitamin B2 intake and cognitive performance. Vitamin B2 intake was determined from the mean of two 24-hour dietary recall interviews. Three cognitive ability assessment tests, namely the Immediate Recall Test (IRT), Animal Fluency Test (AFT), and Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), were performed. Participants included all older adults over 60 who underwent cognitive scoring, with cut-offs defined based on the lowest quartile (25th percentile) for each test (the cut-offs for the three scores were 15.625, 12, and 33, respectively). Sensitivity analysis, including dose-response curves, subgroup analyses, interaction effects, per 1 standard deviation (SD), recommended dietary allowance (RDA), and residual energy model analysis, were performed to solidify the solid association between vitamin B2 and cognitive performance. A total of 2893 individuals aged over 60 were included, with a mean age of 69 (7) years, and 46% were men. There was a significant association between vitamin B2 intake and all three cognitive scores (IRT, Odds Ratio = 0.77, 95% confidence interval: [0.65,0.92]; AFT, 0.75, [0.64,0.88]; DSST, 0.72, [0.59,0.88]). Moreover, vitamin B2 intake above the RDA reduced the risk of low cognitive performance (IRT, 0.66, [0.46,0.93]; AFT, 0.83, [0.62,1.11]; DSST, 0.65, [0.45,0.92]) compared to intake below the RDA. Dose-response curves indicated that higher vitamin B2 intake was negatively associated with the risk of low cognitive performance. Physical activity may modify the association between vitamin B2 and cognitive performance. Vitamin B2 intake was positively associated with cognitive performance among older adults. Adequate vitamin B2 intake could help protect cognitive function.