BMC Research Notes最新文献

Objectives: Image file fragment classification is a critical area of study in digital forensics. However, many publicly available datasets in this field are derived from a single source, often lacking consideration of the diversity in image settings and content. To demonstrate the effectiveness of a given methodology, it is essential to evaluate it using datasets that are sampled from varied data sources. Therefore, providing a sufficiently diverse dataset is crucial to enable a realistic assessment of any proposed method.

Data description: The dataset includes image file fragments of 4096 bytes from five formats (JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, and TIFF), each processed with different conversion settings. The source images are categorized into three content types: Nature, People, and Medical. In total, the dataset contains 501,000 fragments. These fragments consist of file headers and incomplete end-of-file fragments, completed with random bytes to approximate how operating systems handle data when file sizes are not multiples of the sector size. This approach aims to simulate typical scenarios where fragments are recovered from a hard drive, though it may not capture all real-world complexities such as data corruption and complex file structures.

Objective: Today, air medical services play a key part in providing emergency medical services in accidents and disasters in many countries, including Iran. The present study aims to investigate the barriers to air medical services in accidents and disasters in Iran and suggest solutions to them.

Results: Analysis of the qualitative data resulted in extraction of 84 codes, which were classified into 13 subcategories and eventually into four themes, namely planning, management of resources, updating procedures, and empowerment of human resources. The findings also underscored the role of general policies, safety of flights and the scene of the accident, the cost and length of arriving at the scene of the accident, training programs designed to enhance the personnel's preparation, and management of disasters and accidents. Senior medical emergency services managers can use the findings of the present study to identify the challenges which pre-hospital emergency care personnel are faced to air medical services in accidents and disasters and take the necessary measures to eliminate them toward improving the quality of pre-hospital care in air medical services in accidents and disasters.

Objective: This study examines the impact of preoperative stress on postoperative neuroinflammation and associated cognitive dysfunction, with a focus on aged individuals. The goal is to determine whether managing preoperative stress can enhance postoperative outcomes and lower the risk of cognitive impairment.

Results: In aged rats, preoperative restraint stress significantly worsened neuroinflammation and cognitive deficits following abdominal surgery. Elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines were observed in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex two days post-surgery, and these effects persisted for twenty-eight days. In contrast, adult rats did not show significant changes in neuroinflammation or cognitive function due to preoperative restraint stress. An ex vivo analysis indicated that hippocampal microglia from aged rats exhibited an intensified proinflammatory response to lipopolysaccharide stimulation, further heightened by preoperative restraint stress. These findings suggest that managing preoperative stress could mitigate these adverse effects, leading to better postoperative recovery and cognitive health in elderly patients.

Objective: This study investigated copper (Cu) status in relation to abdominal obesity indices and liver function in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This case-control study was carried out on 80 overweight/obese patients with NAFLD and 80 apparently healthy age, sex, and body mass index (BMI)-matched controls. A validated and reliable 168-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire was completed for each subject and fasting serum levels of liver aminotransferases, ferritin, Cu and ceruloplasmin were assessed.

Results: Mean intakes of energy and carbophydrate were significantly lower in patients with NAFLD than the control group while mean protein intake was highre (p < 0.05). Although mean Cu intake was greater in cases than controls, low dietary intake of Cu was found in 7.5% and 32.5% of the cases and controls, respectively. Apart from serum levels of liver aminotransferases (p < 0.001) and ferritin (p = 0.010), no significant differences were found in serum levels of Cu and ceruloplasmin. Serum and dietary Cu were positively correlated with obesity indices and serum ceruloplasmin was correlated with waist to height ratio and ferritin only in cases (p < 0.05). Low Cu intake (< 0.95 mg/day) was more likely to increase the odds of NAFLD (p for trend = 0.002), after adjusting for potential confounders.

Objective: Having a positive reputation generally yields more social benefits than a negative one. While individuals typically strive for a good reputation, their concern for it varies. This pre-registered study investigates how reputation concerns influence others' social evaluations of a protagonist, particularly in the context of leadership. In this study, participants (N = 363) read profiles of individuals exhibiting either high or low concern for their reputation and rated their suitability for leadership in both competitive and cooperative settings.

Results: Results indicated that in intergroup competitive situations, individuals with low reputation concerns were more likely to be endorsed as leaders compared to those with high reputation concerns (Leadership endorsement scores: M_low = 4.00, M_high = 3.23, p < .001, η_p² = 0.09). In contrast, in intergroup cooperative situations, individuals with high reputation concerns were more likely to be endorsed as leaders (M_low = 3.30, M_high = 3.76, p < .001, η_p² = 0.04). This study extends previous research on the factors influencing leadership endorsement and provides valuable insights into how individuals are endorsed as leaders across different contexts.

Objective: Salmonella is an important zoonotic foodborne pathogen which is recognized as a major public health concern worldwide. Salmonella contamination are highly prevalent in dog treats and raw meat-based dog food (RMBDs). And dog treats and raw meat-based dog food are often implicated as main sources of human infection. Many epidemiological studies have focused on the characteristics of Salmonella in many countries. But there are no such reports in Japan. This study was conducted to investigate the genetic characteristics of Salmonella using multi-locus sequence typing (MLST).

Results: Fourteen Salmonella isolates were assigned to 8 sequence types: ST19, ST26, ST32, ST34, ST241, ST469, ST864 and ST1861. The most common types were ST32 and ST34 (21%, n = 3). The second most common types were ST26 and ST469 (14%, n = 2).

Objective: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a disease impacting the synovial joint complex, yet transcriptional changes specific to shoulder OA remain underexplored. This study aims to profile transcriptomic changes in periarticular tissues from patients undergoing shoulder replacement for OA. By correlating these profiles with QuickDASH scores-a validated measure of worsening shoulder function-this research seeks to understand the gene expression changes associated with clinical decline. Capsular tissue biopsies from shoulder OA patients were compared with those from a control group undergoing shoulder stabilization for recurrent instability. This investigation forms part of a larger transcriptomic analysis of painful shoulder conditions which will address the current gap in knowledge regarding the molecular and genetic underpinnings of shoulder OA, rotator cuff tears and cuff-tear arthropathy.

Results: The analysis revealed that genes most strongly associated with increasing QuickDASH scores across tissues were linked to inflammation and stress response. Key pathways involved interleukins, chemokines, complement components, nuclear response factors, and immediate early response genes, reflecting a balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory signalling. Additionally, this study identified unique gene expression patterns in shoulder OA not previously observed in hip and knee OA, along with novel genes implicated in shoulder OA, highlighting areas for future targeted investigation. Trial registration This investigation has been registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR), registered on the 26th of March 2018, registration number: 12618000431224, accessible from: https://anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=374665&isReview=true.

Objective: Ultra-marathon running races are held as distance-limited or time-limited events, ranging from 6 h to 10 days. Only a few runners compete in 10-day events, and so far, we have little knowledge about the athletes' origins, performance, and event characteristics. The aim of the present study was to investigate the origin and performance of these runners and the fastest race locations. A machine learning model based on the XG Boost algorithm was built to predict running speed from the athlete´s age, gender, country of origin, country where the race takes place, the type of race and the kind of running surface. The model explainability tools were then used to investigate how each independent variable would influence the predicted running speed.

Results: The model rated the origin of the athlete as the most important predictor, followed by age group, running on dirt path, gender, running on asphalt, and event location. Running on dirt path led to a significant reduction of running speed, while running on asphalt showed faster running speeds compared to other surfaces. Most athletes came from USA, followed by Russia, Germany, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Most of the runners competed in USA. The fastest 10-day runners were from Finland and Israel. The fastest 10-day races were held in Greece.

Conclusions: Most 10-day runners originated from USA, but the fastest runners originate from Finland and Israel. The fastest race courses were in Greece. Running on dirt paths leads to a significant reduction in running speed while running on asphalt leads to faster running speeds.

Background: There is limited information about people's beliefs regarding how they deal with mental health problems, especially in developing countries. This study was conducted with the aim of determining predictors of seeking mental health services (SMHS) among Iranian middle-aged people.

Method: The current study is a cross-sectional study on 384 middle-aged people from Jahrom city that was selected with random cluster sampling. The data collection tool is a researcher-made questionnaire consisting demographic information and health beliefs about SMHS based on the health belief model. To examine the prediction of variables explaining SMHS, a linear regression analysis was carried out. P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Perceived susceptibility (β = 0.22; p < 0.001), perceived severity (β = 0.13; p = 0.002), perceived barriers (β = 0.39; p < 0.001) and perceived self-efficacy (β = 0.37; p < 0.001) could explain 44% of variance of SMHS (F = 61.46; p < 001).

Conclusion: SMHS was related to people's perceptions and beliefs, and middle-aged people's perceived barriers were stronger predictors. It is necessary for health planners to develop and implement educational intervention programs that include health beliefs.

Objective: Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) causes grasserie with severe effects in Thai strains of the silkworm Bombyx mori. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of probiotic supplementation on the survival of silkworm larvae challenged with BmNPV.

Results: Silkworm larvae of the Thai polyvoltine strain Samrong was supplemented with commercial probiotic bacteria, Lactobacillus acidophilus, on the second day of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th instar. When challenged with BmNPV on the second day of the 4th instar, the survival ratio was 92% for larvae supplemented with L. acidophilus as compared to 56% for larvae without L. acidophilus supplementation. For the larvae that survived until pupation, we determined the growth characters cocooning ratio, larval weight, and pupation ratio, and the economic characters cocoon shell weight and cocoon weight. Growth characters were significantly lower in larvae infected with BmNPV as compared to infected larvae receiving probiotics.