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In this article we examine students' attitudes towards participation in higher education in Cameroon and consider the role of personal and socioeconomic factors in their post-school educational trajectories. The data were drawn from a questionnaire survey of 1,860 final-year secondary school students from Yaoundé, Cameroon, as well as supplementary interviews with 16 students. The findings show that the majority of respondents indicated a preference to continue their education after the end of secondary school and participate in some form of higher education. However, contrary to previous studies that identify gender or SES segregation in higher education participation, the findings in this study suggest that the influence of SES and gender on students' attitudes was minimised in the later stage of secondary schooling. Among the relatively minor external influences, institutional factors surpass family influence, and fathers' influence is stronger than that of mothers, echoing the patriarchal cultural background in Cameroon. Considering the positive attitudes revealed in this study, it is suggested that more external efforts could be made to respond to students' optimistic attitudes and smooth their transition processes. Higher education institutions should improve their capability to enrol and accommodate more students and patriarchal culture should also be challenged to boost women's educational opportunities. more...

This study aims to establish a preservation method by coupling certain barrier packaging with storage temperatures suitable for extending the shelf of chilled lamb. Chilled lamb was packaged using three different oxygen permeability packaging materials of high-oxygen-barrier packaging (HORP), medium-oxygen-barrier packaging (MORP), and low-oxygen-barrier packaging (LORP) (1.70, 23.95, and 1631.44 cm3/(m2·24·h·0.1·MPa), respectively, then stored at temperatures of 4 °C and −1 °C for 28 days, respectively. The results of total viable count, pH, color, and volatile basic nitrogen indicate that HORP effectively inhibits the growth rate of surface microorganisms and the oxidation rate of proteins in lamb. The sulfhydryl content, carbonyl value, and electronic nose suggest that the oxidative decomposition rate of lamb during storage at −1 °C is lower compared to storage conditions at 4 °C. The microbial diversity suggests that HORP significantly hinders the growth and reproduction of Pseudomonas and Brochothrix aerobic spoilage bacteria, as well as diminishes the abundance of the dominant microbial community. Herein, utilizing high-barrier packaging with an oxygen permeability of lower than 1.70 cm3/(m2·24·h·0.1·MPa) in conjunction with ice temperature storage at −1 °C is a highly effective preservation method for prolonging the shelf life of chilled lamb to 28 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Background: Intermediate phenotypes, such as characteristic neuroimaging patterns, offer unique insights into the genetic and stress-related underpinnings of neuropsychiatric disorders like depression. This study aimed to identify neuroimaging intermediate phenotypes associated with depression, bridging etiological factors to behavioral manifestations and connecting insights from animal models to diverse clinical populations. Methods: We analyzed datasets from both rodents and humans. The rodent studies included a genetic model (P11 knockout) and an environmental stress model (chronic unpredictable mild stress), while the human data comprised 748 participants from three cohorts. Using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations, we identified neuroimaging patterns in rodent models. We then applied a machine-learning approach to cluster neuroimaging subtypes of depression. To assess the genetic predispositions and stress-related changes associated with these subtypes, we analyzed genotype and metabolite data. Linear regression was employed to determine which neuroimaging features predicted core depression symptoms across species. Results: The genetic and environmental stress models exhibited distinct neuroimaging patterns in subcortical and sensorimotor regions. Consistent patterns emerged in two neuroimaging subtypes identified across three independent depressed cohorts. The subtype resembling P11 knockout demonstrated higher genetic susceptibility, with enriched expression of risk genes in brain tissues and abnormal metabolites linked to tryptophan metabolism. In contrast, the stress animal-like subtype did not show changes in genetic risk scores but exhibited enriched risk gene expression in somatic and endocrine tissues, along with mitochondrial dysfunction in the antioxidant stress system. Notably, these distinct subcortical-sensorimotor neuroimaging patterns predicted anhedonia, a core symptom of depression, in both rodent models and depressed subtypes. Conclusions: This cross-species validation suggests that these neuroimaging patterns may serve as robust intermediate phenotypes, linking etiology to anhedonia and facilitating the translation of findings from animal models to humans with depression and other psychiatric disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Acute unilateral vestibulopathy (AUVP) is quite common in clinical practice, but lesion localization and etiological diagnosis of AUVP remain the current clinical challenges, and have always been the focus for researchers. The study aimed to explore the lesion site and possible etiology of AUVP. Methods: This study is a retrospective study. Twenty-three AUVP patients who attended the neurology outpatient clinics of our hospital from January 2020 to March 2022 were included. Clinical data of patients including baseline data, cardiovascular risk factors, immunological test results and infection indicators were collected. Vestibular function tests, including video head impulse test (vHIT), caloric testing, vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) and post-contrast delayed 3D-FLAIR MRI, were performed. Results: Among 32 AUVP patients included, there were 10 males and 13 females, with a male-to-female ratio of 1:1.3, and an average age of 42.13 ± 14.57 years (range 19– 76 years old). Acute persistent vertigo and relapsing-remitting vertigo accounted for 39.1% (9/23) and 60.9% (14/23) of the patients, respectively. Possible etiologies included cardiovascular risk factors (n = 11), abnormal immunological indicators (n = 8), and evidence of infection (n = 3). About 57.1% (12/21) of the patients showed abnormal vHIT (including reduced gain in horizontal canal (HC) in 14.3%, anterior canal (AC) in 4.8%, both the AC and HC in 19%, both the HC and posterior canal (PC) in 14.3%, and all three canals in 9.5% of cases). Probable entire vestibular nerve damage was found in 38.1% of the patients, only 9.5% of the patients followed the innervation pattern of the entire vestibular nerve, these patients had abnormal vHIT and VEMP results, and were considered to have definite entire vestibular nerve damage. Probable superior vestibular nerve (SVN) damage was found in 47.6% of the patients, but only 4.8% (1/21) of the patients followed the innervation pattern of SVN, with reduced VOR gains for AC and HC and abnormal oVEMP results, and were considered to have definite SVN damage. 3D-FLAIR MRI revealed high signal intensity in the SVN and vestibule in 4.8% (1/21) and 19% (4/21) of the patients, respectively. Conclusion: The majority of AUVP patients had a relapsing-remitting course and had vestibular function test results that did not follow the innervation pattern of the vestibular nerve. Post-contrast delayed 3D-FLAIR MRI revealed damage to the vestibule in some patients, suggesting that damage to the labyrinth itself in AUVP deserves clinical attention. The majority of the AUVP patients had cardiovascular risk factors and abnormal systemic immunological indicators, which might be the possible etiologies of AUVP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Background Purpose Methods Results Conclusion Developing deep learning models for segmenting medical images in multiple modalities with less data and annotation is an attractive and challenging task, which was previously discussed as being accomplished by complex external frameworks for bridging the gap between different modalities. Exploring the generalization ability of networks in medical images in different modalities could provide more simple and accessible methods, yet comprehensive testing could still be needed.To explore the feasibility and robustness of using computed tomography (CT) images to assist the segmentation of magnetic resonance (MR) images via the generalization, in the segmentation of renal parenchyma of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients.Nephrographic CT images and fat‐suppressed T2‐weighted (fs‐T2 W) images were retrospectively collected. The pure CT dataset included 116 CT images. Additionally, 240 MR images were randomly divided into subsets A and B. From subset A, three training datasets were constructed, each containing 40, 80, and 120 images, respectively. Similarly, three datasets were constructed from subset B. Subsequently, datasets with mixed modality were created by combining these pure MR datasets with the 116 CT images. The 3D‐UNET models for segmenting the renal parenchyma in two steps were trained using these 13 datasets: segmenting kidneys and then the renal parenchyma. These models were evaluated in internal MR (n = 120), CT (n = 65) validation datasets, and an external validation dataset of CT (n = 79), using the mean of the dice similarity coefficient (DSC). To demonstrate the robustness of generalization ability over different proportions of modalities, we compared the models trained with mixed modality in three different proportions and pure MR, using repeated measures analysis of variance (RM‐ANOVA). We developed a renal parenchyma volume quantification tool by the trained models. The mean differences and Pearson correlation coefficients between the model segmentation volume and the ground truth segmentation volume were calculated for its evaluation.The mean DSCs of models trained with 116 data in CT in the validation of MR were 0.826, 0.842, and 0.953, respectively, for the predictions of kidney segmentation model on whole image, renal parenchymal segmentation model on kidneys with RCC and without RCC. For all models trained with mixed modality, the means of DSC were above 0.9, in all validations of CT and MR. According to the results of the comparison between models trained with mixed modality and pure MR, the means of DSC of the former were significantly greater or equal to the latter, at all three different proportions of modalities. The differences of volumes were all significantly lower than one‐third of the volumetric quantification error of a previous method, and the Pearson correlation coefficients of volumes were all above 0.96 on kidneys with and without RCC of three validations.CT images could be used to assist the segmentation of MR images via the generalization, with or without the supervision of MR data. This ability showed acceptable robustness. A tool for accurately measuring renal parenchymal volume on CT and MR images was established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This article investigates students' post-secondary education transition processes in Cameroon through the lens of agency. Situated in a country where the higher education participation rate is fairly low, our article explores how students agentically negotiate access to higher education within structural constraints of socio-economic status and gender. Semi-structured interviews with 25 students from two secondary schools in Yaoundé, Cameroon were conducted. The findings reveal that students enacted the four modes of reflexives (Archer, 2003) dynamically and discursively, with specific manifestations of agency relevant to gendered and classed structures in Cameroonian society. In this paper, we propose a person-centred, empowering approach to supporting students in higher education participation. We further confirm the importance of non-universal, contextually-situated employment of Archer's (2003) typology of four reflexive modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...