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To identify the relationship between non-verbal working memory and graphic symbol selection, this study examined whether the response time to select target symbols in a sentence construction task differed between two groups: a high non-verbal working memory group and a low non-verbal working memory group. The interaction effect between non-verbal working memory skills and the degree of exposure to graphic symbols was also examined. Thirty-two non-disabled young adults participated in this study. Based on the quartile of the participants' scores on the non-verbal working memory task (i.e., the backward matrix task), data were selected from the sentence construction task completed by seven participants who belonged to the 25%ile and less and seven who belonged to the 75%ile and more; these data were used to examine group differences. A Mann-Whitney "U" test showed that non-verbal working memory skills had a significant effect on graphic symbol selection, as the high non-verbal working memory group combined three symbols faster than did the low memory group. No significant interaction effect was found between non-verbal working memory skills and the degree of exposure to symbols. The theoretical and clinical implications of the research findings are discussed.

Purpose: This study is aimed to identify the high-frequency vocabulary (HFV), otherwise termed "core vocabulary" for adults with complex communication needs. Method: Three major characteristics of the HFV--a relatively small number of different words (NDW), a relatively high word frequency, and a high word commonality across speakers--were examined so as not to lose any candidate words for the HFV. Specifically, instead of applying the traditionally used cutoff word frequency of 0.5‰, a grouped frequency distribution was used to examine the appropriate frequency ranges to determine the HFV candidates. To improve the representativeness of the HFV across ages, social backgrounds, conversation situations, and topics, 330,000 spoken words of 66 adults (29 men and 37 women; M[subscript age] = 45.47 years, SD = 16.07) were extracted from the British National Corpus database for analysis. Results: A distinct pattern of NDW was observed from the frequency of 0.1‰ in the grouped frequency distribution. In total, 671 words were found to be candidates for the HFV, accounting for 90.94% of the total sample words. After the word commonality analysis indicated at least 80% commonality across speakers, 203 words were selected for the final HFV; accountability was calculated at 80.62%. Conclusions: With the innovative word analysis approach, this study provided an HFV list that can be used for a wide range of conversation topics. This method provides a scientific and principled approach to identifying and organizing vocabulary for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention that does not exist in many AAC resources that promote "core vocabulary" with identifying the source for vocabulary selection.

Background: Informing local decision-making, improving service delivery and designing household surveys require having access to high-spatial resolution mapping of the targeted population. However, this detailed spatial information remains unavailable for specific population subgroups, such as refugees, a vulnerable group that would significantly benefit from focused interventions. Given the continuous increase in the number of refugees, reaching an all-time high of 35.3 million people in 2022, it is imperative to develop models that can accurately inform about their spatial locations, enabling better and more tailored assistance. Methods: We leverage routinely collected registration data on refugees and combine it with high-resolution population maps, satellite imagery derived settlement maps and other spatial covariates to disaggregate observed refugee totals into 100-m grid cells. We suggest a deterministic grid cell allocation inside monitored refugee sites based on building count and a random-forest-derived grid cell allocation outside refugee sites based on geolocating the textual geographic information in the refugee register and on high-resolution population mapping. We test the method in Cameroon using the registration database monitored by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Results: Using OpenStreetMap, 83% of the manually inputted information in the registration database could be geolocated. The building footprint layer derived from satellite imagery by Ecopia AI offers extensive coverage within monitored refugee sites, although manual digitization was still required in rapidly evolving settings. The high-resolution mapping of refugees on a 100-m grid basis provides an unparalleled level of spatial detail, enabling valuable geospatial insights for informed local decision-making. Conclusions: Gathering information on forcibly displaced persons in sparse data-setting environment can quickly become very costly. Therefore, it is critical to gain the most knowledge from operational data that is frequently collected, such as registration databases. Integrating it with ancillary information derived from satellite imagery paves the way for obtaining more timely and spatially precise information to better deliver services and enhance sampling frame for target data collection exercises that further improves the quality of information on people in need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Acute heat stress in animals impairs the intestinal barrier function, particularly tight junction (TJ) depression, which occurs in pigs owing to the lack of functional sweat glands for evaporative heat loss. However, the mechanisms by which heat stress affects TJ regulation are not fully understood. We investigated the effect of heat stress on the TJ and its interaction with potential genes using transcriptomic analysis of the porcine jejunum. We found that heat stress reduced the expression of TJ proteins and induced alterations in genes involved in the actin cytoskeleton and filament-binding pathways. We aimed to investigate the impact of heat stress (HS) on the expression of tight junction (TJ) proteins and the interaction between genes affecting intestinal barrier function using transcriptomics in the porcine jejunum. Twenty-four barrows (crossbred Yorkshire × Landrace × Duroc; average initial body weight, 56.71 ± 1.74 kg) were placed in different temperatures (normal temperature [NT]; HS) and reared for 56 days. At the end of the experiment, jejunal samples were collected from three pigs per treatment for transcriptome and reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analyses. We identified 43 differentially expressed genes, involving five Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways, eight molecular functions, seven cellular components (CCs), and nine biological processes, using gene ontology enrichment analysis. Genes associated with the actin cytoskeleton, filament-binding pathways, and TJ proteins were selected and analyzed by RT-qPCR. Significant differences in relative mRNA expression showed that downregulated genes in the HS group included ZO1, CLDN1, OCLN, PCK1, and PCK2, whereas ACTG2, DES, MYL9, MYLK, TPM1, TPM2, CNN1, PDLIM3, and PCP4 were upregulated by HS (p < 0.05). These findings indicate that HS in growing-finishing pigs induces depression in gut integrity, which may be related to genes involved in the actin cytoskeleton and filaments of CC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutations are associated with tumor aggressiveness. This study aimed to demonstrate the ultrasonographic (US) features of TERT promoter-mutated follicular thyroid cancer (FTC) and evaluate their predictive performance. A total of 63 patients with surgically confirmed FTC between August 1995 and April 2021 were included. All data were available for analysis of preoperative US findings and TERT promoter mutation results. Genomic DNA was extracted from the archived surgical specimens to identify TERT promoter mutations. Logistic regression analysis was performed to compare US findings between TERT promoter-mutated and wild-type FTCs. Of the 63 patients with FTC, 10 (15.9%) had TERT promoter mutations. TERT promoter-mutated FTCs demonstrated significantly different US suspicion categories compared to wild-type FTCs (Ps = 0.0054 for K-TIRADS and 0.0208 for ACR-TIRADS), with a trend toward an increasing prevalence of the high suspicion category (40.0% for both K-TIRADS and ACR-TIRADS; Ps for trend = 0.0030 for K-TIRADS and 0.0032 for ACR-TIRADS). Microlobulated margins and punctate echogenic foci were independent risk factors associated with TERT promoter mutation in FTC (odds ratio = 9.693, 95% confidence interval = 1.666–56.401, p = 0.0115 for margins; odds ratio = 8.033, 95% confidence interval = 1.424–45.309, p = 0.0182 for punctate echogenic foci). There were no significant differences in the composition and echogenicity of the TERT promoter-mutated and wild-type FTCs. TERT promoter-mutated FTCs were categorized more frequently as high suspicion by the K-TIRADS and ACR-TIRADS. Based on US findings, the independent risk factors for TERT promoter mutations in FTC are microlobulated margins and punctate echogenic foci. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We investigated the association between exercise habits before or after thyroidectomy and incident type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in patients with thyroid cancer. Methods: An observational cohort study of 69,526 thyroid cancer patients who underwent thyroidectomy for the treatment of thyroid cancer between 2010 and 2016 was performed using the Korean National Health Information Database. Regular exercise was defined as mid-term or vigorous exercise at least 1 day in a week based on a self-reported questionnaire. Patients were divided into four groups according to exercise habits before and after thyroidectomy: persistent non-exercisers, new exercisers, exercise dropouts, and exercise maintainers. Results: During a median follow-up of 4.5 years, 2,720 (3.91%) patients developed T2DM. The incidence of T2DM per 1,000 person years was lower in patients who performed regular exercise before or after thyroidectomy than in persistent non-exercisers (10.77 in persistent non-exerciser group, 8.28 in new exerciser group, 8.59 in exercise dropout group, and 7.61 in exercise maintainer group). Compared with the persistent non-exerciser group, the new exerciser group (hazard ratio [HR] 0.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.78–0.97), the exercise dropout group (HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.72–0.91), and the exercise maintainer group (HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.76–0.93) had lower risks of incident T2DM. Exercising < 1,500 MET-minutes/week in the exercise maintainer group was associated with a lower risk of incident T2DM compared with persistent non-exercisers (< 500: HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.67–0.96, P = 0.002; 500 to < 1,000: HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.71–0.93, P < 0.001; 1,000 to < 1,500: HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.69–0.94, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Regular exercise before or after thyroidectomy was associated with a lower risk of incident T2DM in patients with thyroid cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims The long-term outcomes of paediatric-onset inflammatory bowel disease [pIBD] in non-Caucasian populations are unknown. We therefore evaluated and compared the clinical features and long-term outcomes of pIBD with those of adult-onset IBD [aIBD] using a population-based cohort in the Songpa-Kangdong district of Seoul, Korea. Methods Clinical characteristics and prognoses were compared between the two groups: pIBD [defined as <18 years of age at diagnosis] and aIBD [18–59 years of age at diagnosis]. Results We identified 131 patients with pIBD (48 ulcerative colitis [UC], 83 Crohn's disease [CD]) and 1192 patients with aIBD [866 UC, 326 CD] during 1986–2015. Extensive colitis at diagnosis was more prevalent in pUC than in aUC [45.8% vs 22.3%, p < 0.001], and the overall exposure to corticosteroids, thiopurines and anti-tumour necrosis factor agents was higher in pUC than in aUC [ p < 0.001]. The cumulative risk of colectomy was higher in pUC than in aUC during a median follow-up of 125.0 and 112.1 months, respectively [8.9% vs 1.8% at 10 years after diagnosis, p = 0.030]. Ileocolonic location and inflammatory behaviour at diagnosis were more common in pCD than in aCD; however, patients with pCD and aCD did not differ regarding treatment or disease course during a median follow-up of 137.2 and 120.9 months, respectively. Conclusion Our study showed clear differences between pIBD and aIBD, especially in UC. pUC presents with more extensive diseases and may have a more severe disease course, as suggested by an earlier time to administering medications and performing colectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Surgery is the most important curative treatment for medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). The relationship between surgeon volume (the number of surgeries performed) and short-term surgical outcomes, such as increased postoperative complication or costs, is well established. This study evaluated whether surgeon volume influenced long-term oncologic outcomes. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 246 patients diagnosed with MTC after initial thyroid surgery from 1995 to 2019. After exclusion, 194 patients were eligible for inclusion in the study. Surgeons were categorized as low/intermediate volume (fewer than 100 operations per year) or high volume (at least 100 operations per year). Results: Of the 194 included patients, 60 (30.9%) developed disease recurrence, and 9 (4.6%) died of MTC during the median follow-up of 92.5 months. Having a low/intermediate-volume surgeon was associated with high disease recurrence (log-rank test, p < 0.001). After adjustment for age, sex, tumor type (sporadic versus hereditary), primary tumor size, presence of central lymph node metastasis (LNM), presence of lateral LNM, extrathyroidal extension, and positive resection margin, surgeon volume was a significant factor for disease recurrence (hazard ratio 2.28, p = 0.004); however, cancer-specific survival was not affected by surgeon volume (hazard ratio 4.16, p = 0.115). Conclusions: Surgeon volume is associated with long-term oncologic outcome. MTC patients will be able to make the best decisions for their treatment based on the results of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]