BMC Research Notes最新文献

Objectives: Diarrhea is a common disease that could threaten the welfare of newborn foals. While there are several forms of foal diarrhea, the etiologies can be considered known pathogenic or non-pathogenic in nature. Moreover, there are likely differences in the composition of microbial populations in the gastrointestinal tracts of foals depending upon the etiology of diarrhea. Our study aims to examine the microbial population in the feces of foals with both pathogenic and non-pathogenic diarrheas to discern differences in their microbial compositions.

Results: Foal diarrhea samples tested positive or negative for common equine neonatal diarrhea pathogens by diagnostic polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which allowed for samples to be segregated as pathogenic or non-pathogenic. Pathogenic samples tested positive for combinations of Clostridium perfringens and/or Clostridioides difficile toxins. As a result, significantly higher alpha diversity was seen in the non-pathogenic samples than in pathogenic ones. Sequencing of the V4 domains of bacterial 16 S rRNA genes demonstrated that non-pathogenic samples had more alpha diversity. Furthermore, eight microbial families and eleven genera showed significant differences in their abundances between pathogenic and non-pathogenic diarrhea samples.

Objective: This article outlines the evaluation model for the Cooking with Confidence (CWC) program, developed using Bandura's Social Learning Theory as its conceptual framework. The evaluation aimed to: (1) Examine participant characteristics in the CWC program, (2) Assess changes in cooking knowledge, skill acquisition, self-efficacy, and confidence, and (3) Identify barriers and facilitators to participant engagement. CWC is a community-based educational program designed to help autistic young adults develop independent living skills and promote health through hands-on cooking classes. Recognizing the need for more opportunities for autistic individuals to practice these skills, the program was created through public and private partnerships. A pre-post study design was employed, with participants completing surveys before and after their involvement in the program.

Results: Participants reported high satisfaction with the program and showed improvements in cooking knowledge and self-efficacy. The analysis also highlighted participant characteristics, as well as key barriers and facilitators to cooking. Overall, the CWC program demonstrated positive outcomes, with findings offering valuable insights for future program development to enhance its impact.

Objective: To present a remodeling of the electroretinogram waveform using a covariance matrix to identify regions of interest and distinction between a control and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) group. Electroretinograms were recorded in n = 25 ADHD (16 male; age 11.9 ± 2.7 years) and n = 38 (8 male; age 10.4 ± 2.8 years neurotypical control participants as part of a broad study into the determining if the electroretinogram could be a biomarker for ADHD. Flash strengths of 0.6 and 1.2 log cd.s.m^- 2 on a white 40 cd.m^- 2 background were used. Averaged waveforms from each eye and flash strength were analyzed with Bayesian regularization of the covariance matrices using 100 equal length time intervals. The eigenvalues of the covariance matrices were ranked for each group to indicate the degree of complexity within the regularized waveforms.

Results: The correlation matrices indicated less correlation within the waveforms for the ADHD group in time intervals beyond 70 msec. The eigenvalue plots suggest more complexity within the ADHD group compared to the control group. Consideration of the correlation structure between ERG waveforms from different populations may reveal additional features for identifying group differences in clinical populations.

Objectives: This study investigates the performance of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, namely Cerviray AI^®, compared with Cerviray^® expert, aiming to compare its sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC ROC). The Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) test is used as the gold standard.

Results: The study involved 44 patients from various health centers in West Java Province. Performance of Cerviray AI^®, or Cerviray^® expert, and lastly VIA tests were compared in their ability to detect pre-cancerous cervical lesions in high-risk women of childbearing age. The current study indicated that Cerviray AI^® had a sensitivity of 42.9%, specificity of 100%, PPV of 100%, and ROC AUC values of 71.4%. In comparison, the evaluation of the Cerviray^® expert demonstrated a sensitivity of 71.4%, specificity of 97.3%, PPV of 83.3%, and ROC AUC values of 84.4%. In conclusion, the evaluation of Cerviray^® expert outperformed Cerviray AI^® in ROC AUC values.

Trial registration: Clinical Trials.gov Identifier NCT06518070 Retrospectively registered.

Objective: Pain is subjective, and self-reporting pain might be challenging. Studies conducted to detect pain using biological signals and real-time self-reports pain are limited. We evaluated the feasibility of collecting pain data on healthy females' menstrual pain and conducted preliminary analysis.

Results: Five healthy adult females participated. They wore two wristwatch devices (Silmee and Fitbit) and a Holter ECG (electrocardiogram) during menstruation to record the pain intensity and timing. Subsequently, we analyzed the correlation between heart and pulse rates and assessed pre- and post-pain biometric differences. We collected sixty pain records from five participants. The correlation coefficients between heart rate and pulse rate ranged from 0.79 to 0.95 with Holter ECG vs. Fitbit and 0.32 to 0.74 with Holter ECG vs. Silmee. Analysis revealed significant changes in motion frequency post-pain (p = 0.04). For abdominal pain with a numerical rating scale score of ≥ 4 (n = 13), motion frequency (p < 0.001) and pulse rate (p = 0.02) showed significant differences post-pain compared to baseline values. Healthy females could wear the wristwatch device in daily life and report pain in real time. Wristwatch devices can effectively collect biological data to detect moderate pain by focusing on acceleration and pulse rate.

Objectives: The interrupted time series (ITS) design is commonly used to investigate the impact of an intervention or exposure in public health. There are many statistical methods that can be used to analyse ITS data and to meta-analyse their results. We undertook two empirical studies to investigate: (i) how effect estimates (and associated statistics) compared when six statistical methods were applied to 190 real-world datasets; and (ii) how meta-analysis effect estimates (and associated statistics) compared when the combinations of two ITS analysis methods and five meta-analysis methods were applied to 17 real-world meta-analyses including 283 ITS datasets. Here we present a curated repository of a subset of ITS datasets from these studies.

Data description: The repository includes 430 ITS datasets curated from the two empirical studies. The datasets are diverse in the populations, interruptions and outcomes examined, and are methodologically diverse in the outcome types, aggregation time intervals, number of timepoints and segments. Most of the datasets are from public health. For each dataset, we provide the outcome value at each timepoint and the segment (indicating different interruptions), along with characteristics of the dataset. This repository may be of value for future research of ITS studies, and as a source of examples of ITS for use in teaching.

Objective: Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) disorders cause substantial harm. Effective Substance Use Treatment (SUT) exists, but long-term outcomes remain inconclusive. This study used a 20-year prospective follow-up of 1248 service users entering SUT in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2000-2002 to elaborate on how different dimensions of long-term outcomes may be measured by register-based indicators. Baseline characteristics and attrition bias were explicated, and register-based outcomes were examined.

Results: Register-based indicators are valuable, but they also have inherent limitations such as the lack of substance use data and inability to differentiate between un/met treatment needs and access. Significant variations in long-term outcomes were evident depending on which register-based indicator was used, and whether used in isolation or combinations. Six out of 10 service users were still alive after 20 years, but as many as 8 out of 10 of the survivors remained in treatment, and only two out of 10 had a stable economic situation. Hence, the register indicators identified only a few survivors, with stable economic and social situations, and without recent treatment contacts 20 years after treatment entry. The long-term outcomes were concerning and even more so when combining outcome dimensions.

Objective: Glaucoma is a major cause of irreversible blindness globally. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) aids early glaucoma diagnosis. Interpreting OCT scans requires familiarity with the technology and image analysis. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a mobile flipped classroom model on learning outcomes and satisfaction for teaching optical coherence tomography (OCT) interpretation skills in glaucoma.

Results: In this quasi-experimental pre/post-test study, a total of 22 ophthalmology residents participated in a 4-session mobile flipped classroom educational intervention (90 min/session) and were assessed on OCT interpretation. Learning was measured via pre/post-tests designed by a panel. Satisfaction was assessed using a validated questionnaire. Mean participant age was 29.42 (± 2.09) years. Compared to pre-intervention, post-test scores showed significant improvement after the mobile flipped classroom (p < 0.001). Mean satisfaction score was 74.05 (± 16.09), denoting high satisfaction. Implementing a mobile flipped classroom significantly improved OCT interpretation skills and was associated with high satisfaction ratings among ophthalmology residents. This model shows promise for enhancing clinical knowledge in graduate medical education.

Objective: African American women with breast cancer experience disproportionately poor survival outcomes, primarily due to the high prevalence of the deadliest subtype; triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The CRYβB2 gene is upregulated in tumors from African American patients across all breast cancer subtypes, including TNBC, and is associated with worse survival rates. This study investigated the effect of CRYβB2 on the invasion of TNBC cells and the underlying mechanisms contributing to this phenotype.

Results: We utilized the SUM159 cells with stable CRYβB2 overexpression in a 3D-culture tumor spheroids model in our investigation. A quantitative 3D invasion assay demonstrated that CRYβB2 overexpression significantly enhanced invasion (median invasion %; SUM159 = 0.14 and SUM159 + CRYβB2 = 0.33). RNA sequencing analysis indicated that CRYβB2 overexpression modulated cell-cell adhesion and extracellular matrix organization pathways, which are critical to invasion of cancer cells. Specifically, CRYβB2 suppressed the expression of key cell-cell adhesion genes known as clustered protocadherins and promoted the expression of PCDH7, a nonclustered protocadherin with known oncogenic roles in various cancers. Notably, the knockout of PCDH7 diminished the invasive capacity induced by CRYβB2 (median invasion %; SUM159 = 0.093, SUM159 + CRYβB2 = 0.184 and SUM159 + CRYβB2/PCDH7^-/-=0.082). These findings provide a novel link between a previously identified differentially expressed gene, CRYβB2, in driving breast cancer phenotypes by modulating a class of adhesion proteins.

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is a type of blood cancer related to human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1). The principal aim of this study was to investigate cellular processes related to innate immune response, intracellular protein transport, and translational initiation regulation in individuals afflicted with ATLL and Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Whole blood samples and peripheral blood mononuclear cells were collected from 10 viral ATLL patients and 10 ALL subjects. Real-time quantitative PCR was then performed to quantify mRNA expression levels of SMC6, FANCM, EIF4H, WDR7, RAB3GAP2, and IFN α/β. The study revealed some distinctions between ATLL and ALL patients. Particularly, RAB3GAP2 level (P = 0.028) was found to be elevated in ATLL patients compared to ALL. Conversely, expression levels of IFN-β (P = 0.31), SMC6 (P = 0.68), WDR7 (P = 0.43), EIF4H (P = 0.38), and FANCM (P = 0.57) were diminished in ATLL patients in contrast to ALL. These proteins play a pivotal role in both translation and immune activation, suggesting a potential correlation between the observed disparities and the virus-mediated progression of cancer. However, it is worth noting that the expression differences in FANCM, EIF4H, SMC6, and WDR7 between ATLL and ALL were minimal. This proposes that the underlying molecular mechanisms governing ATLL and ALL may largely overlap concerning these cellular processes. However, considerable increased expression of RAB3GAP2 was observed in ATLL compared to ALL.