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Extensive research from both sensorimotor and perceptual domains has shown that people make decisions by combining prior and current information according to their relative uncertainties, following Bayesian statistics predictions. However, less is known about visual search, a task that requires people to determine the presence/absence of a search target (T) amongst distractors (Ls). Here, we examined decision-making behavior in a visual search task which manipulated the target prevalence rate (prior: 25% or 50%) and the portion of the display that was visible (sensory information: 0%, 30%, or 60%). Participants' (N=56) decision-making behavior qualitatively reflected Bayesian predictions, relying more on the information that was less uncertain. When no items were visible, participants were highly accurate in making present/absent decisions based on the prevalence rate learned through feedback. But when provided sensory information, participants' decision-making was more strongly influenced by visibility. Thus, reliance on sensory information may dominate priors in visual search.

Abstract Drug resistance poses a significant obstacle to the success of anti-cancer therapy in head and neck cancers (HNCs). We aim to develop a platform for visualizing and analyzing molecular expression alterations associated with HNC drug resistance. Through data mining, we convened differentially expressed molecules and context-specific signaling events involved in drug resistance. The driver genes, interaction networks and transcriptional regulations were explored using bioinformatics approaches. A total of 2364 differentially expressed molecules were identified in 78 distinct drug-resistant cells against 14 anti-cancer drugs, comprising 1131 mRNAs, 746 proteins, 62 lncRNAs, 257 miRNAs, 1 circRNA, and 166 post-translational modifications. Among these, 255 molecules were considerably, the signature driver genes of HNC drug resistance. Further, we also developed a landscape of signaling pathways and their cross-talk with diverse signaling modules involved in drug resistance. Additionally, a publicly-accessible database named “HNCDrugResDb” was designed with browse, query, and pathway explorer options to fetch and enrich molecular alterations and signaling pathways altered in drug resistance. HNCDrugResDb is also enabled with a Drug Resistance Analysis tool as an initial platform to infer the likelihood of resistance based on the expression pattern of driver genes. HNCDrugResDb is anticipated to have substantial implications for future advancements in drug discovery and optimization of personalized medicine approaches.

Abstract Background Health-related stigma and its internalization among individuals with chronic health conditions contribute to impaired mental and physical health and quality of life. Research on health-related stigma has been siloed, with disease-specific measures that may not capture the experiences of individuals with multiple health conditions and that prevent comparisons across health conditions. The current study aimed to develop and test a transdiagnostic measure of internalized health-related stigma for use among adults with different physical health conditions. Methods An existing measure of internalized mental health stigma was adapted to assess stigma due to chronic physical health conditions following COSMIN procedures, with input from advisory boards of community members living with a range of stigmatized health conditions (obesity, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, skin diseases, HIV, chronic pain, and cancers) and of health professionals who specialized in these conditions. The new Internalized Health-Related Stigma (I-HEARTS) Scale was tested in an online sample of 300 adults with these health conditions, recruited from ResearchMatch. Additional psychosocial measures of mental health and quality of life were administered, and participants provided information about their health conditions and demographic characteristics. Exploratory factor analysis and tests of reliability and validity were conducted to determine the psychometric properties of the I-HEARTS Scale, and k-means clustering and receiver of characteristic curve analysis were used to determine a clinically meaningful cutoff score indicating high levels of internalized stigma. Results Factor analysis results yielded a 25-item scale with a 3-factor solution, with subscales of Perceived and Anticipated Stigma, Stereotype Application and Self-Devaluation, and Stigma Resistance. Psychometric properties for internal consistency, inter-item and item-total correlations, and test-retest reliability were strong. Certain demographics (e.g., younger age) and characteristics related to health conditions (e.g., greater symptom severity) were associated with higher levels of internalized stigma. I-HEARTS Scale scores correlated moderately to strongly with related but distinct psychosocial measures, and a cutoff score of 3.40 or higher on the 1–7 rating scale was determined to indicate clinically meaningful levels of internalized stigma. Conclusions The I-HEARTS Scale is a reliable and valid measure for the assessment of internalized health-related stigma among adults with varied stigmatized chronic health conditions. Study pre-registration https://osf.io/84c5d/?view_only=87238512f6d6475c87f8f64280a8a15f .

Recent reports highlight the effectiveness of mud therapy in various health conditions. A previous study showed that applying a mud pack (MP) to the abdomen and eyes effectively lowered blood pressure (BP) in healthy individuals. However, there have been no studies investigating the immediate effects of MP on the abdomen and eyes in patients with hypertension. This pilot study aims to determine the immediate impact of MP on cardiovascular parameters in patients with hypertension.

Background: Migraine is a common disabling headache that affects every aspect of a person’s life. Auricular acupuncture is a cost-effective treatment modality for the management of painful neurological conditions. Previous studies have shown the beneficial effects of a combination of ear points in the management of migraines. However, no studies have evaluated the efficacy of a single auricular point (i.e., sympathetic point) in migraine. Thus, this study evaluated the efficacy of sympathetic points on pain intensity and depression levels in patients with migraine. Methods: In this randomized controlled study, 100 patients with migraine aged 18–45 years were randomly divided into either an auricular acupuncture group (AAG) (n = 50) or a placebo control group (PCG) (n = 50). The AAG underwent needling at the sympathetic point (an auricular acupuncture point), whereas the PCG underwent needling at a non-acupuncture point for 20 minutes daily for 7 days. Assessments were performed before and after the intervention using a 6-item headache impact test (HIT-6) and Beck depression inventory (BDI) scale. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 16. Results: In within-group analysis, the AAG showed a significant reduction in HIT-6 and BDI, whereas the PCG showed a significant increase in HIT-6 and a significant reduction in BDI. In between-groups analyses, HIT-6 reduced significantly in the AAG compared with that in the PCG, whereas BDI reduced significantly in the PCG compared with that in the AAG. Conclusion: In patients with migraine, needling at the sympathetic point produces a greater reduction in the pain intensity level and lesser reduction in the depression level compared to needling at a non-acupuncture point.

Sepsis is the major cause of morbidity and mortality for patients admitted to an intensive care unit worldwide. Currently, procalcitonin (PCT) is a widely used prognostic marker for sepsis. The high cost of estimating Procalcitonin limits its utility in all health facilities. Lipid profile, being a frequently done routine investigation, is studied in sepsis patients to predict the prognosis of sepsis. This study was aimed to assess the association between lipid profile parameters, procalcitonin and clinical outcomes in patients with sepsis.

Abstract Background A major obstacle faced by families with rare diseases is obtaining a genetic diagnosis. The average "diagnostic odyssey" lasts over five years and causal variants are identified in under 50%, even when capturing variants genome-wide. To aid in the interpretation and prioritization of the vast number of variants detected, computational methods are proliferating. Knowing which tools are most effective remains unclear. To evaluate the performance of computational methods, and to encourage innovation in method development, we designed a Critical Assessment of Genome Interpretation (CAGI) community challenge to place variant prioritization models head-to-head in a real-life clinical diagnostic setting. Methods We utilized genome sequencing (GS) data from families sequenced in the Rare Genomes Project (RGP), a direct-to-participant research study on the utility of GS for rare disease diagnosis and gene discovery. Challenge predictors were provided with a dataset of variant calls and phenotype terms from 175 RGP individuals (65 families), including 35 solved training set families with causal variants specified, and 30 unlabeled test set families (14 solved, 16 unsolved). We tasked teams to identify causal variants in as many families as possible. Predictors submitted variant predictions with estimated probability of causal relationship (EPCR) values. Model performance was determined by two metrics, a weighted score based on the rank position of causal variants, and the maximum F-measure, based on precision and recall of causal variants across all EPCR values. Results Sixteen teams submitted predictions from 52 models, some with manual review incorporated. Top performers recalled causal variants in up to 13 of 14 solved families within the top 5 ranked variants. Newly discovered diagnostic variants were returned to two previously unsolved families following confirmatory RNA sequencing, and two novel disease gene candidates were entered into Matchmaker Exchange. In one example, RNA sequencing demonstrated aberrant splicing due to a deep intronic indel in ASNS, identified in trans with a frameshift variant in an unsolved proband with phenotypes consistent with asparagine synthetase deficiency. Conclusions Model methodology and performance was highly variable. Models weighing call quality, allele frequency, predicted deleteriousness, segregation, and phenotype were effective in identifying causal variants, and models open to phenotype expansion and non-coding variants were able to capture more difficult diagnoses and discover new diagnoses. Overall, computational models can significantly aid variant prioritization. For use in diagnostics, detailed review and conservative assessment of prioritized variants against established criteria is needed.

RNA N4-acetylcytidine (ac4C) is a highly conserved RNA modification that plays a crucial role in controlling mRNA stability, processing, and translation. Consequently, accurate identification of ac4C sites across the genome is critical for understanding gene expression regulation mechanisms. In this study, we have developed ac4C-AFL, a bioinformatics tool that precisely identifies ac4C sites from primary RNA sequences. In ac4C-AFL, we identified the optimal sequence length for model building and implemented an adaptive feature representation strategy that is capable of extracting the most representative features from RNA. To identify the most relevant features, we proposed a novel ensemble feature importance scoring strategy to rank features effectively. We then used this information to conduct the sequential forward search, which individually determine the optimal feature set from the 16 sequence-derived feature descriptors. Utilizing these optimal feature descriptors, we constructed 176 baseline models using 11 popular classifiers. The most efficient baseline models were identified using the two-step feature selection approach, whose predicted scores were integrated and trained with the appropriate classifier to develop the final prediction model. Our rigorous cross-validations and independent tests demonstrate that ac4C-AFL surpasses contemporary tools in predicting ac4C sites. Moreover, we have developed a publicly accessible web server at https://balalab-skku.org/ac4C-AFL/.

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is an important public health issue in India. This study was performed to determine the impact of acupuncture at the GB39, BL17, and LR13 points on hemoglobin levels, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and red cell distribution width (RDW) in people with IDA. One hundred women with IDA were randomly allocated to the acupuncture group (AG) or placebo control group (PCG). For 30 minutes per day, daily for 2 weeks, the AG received acupuncture at GB39, BL17, and LR13, while the PCG received needling at non-acupuncture points. Outcomes were assessed before and after the intervention. We found a significant increase (p < 0.001) in hemoglobin level (AG 10.39-11.38 g/dl, effect size 0.785; PCG 10.58-10.40 g/dl, effect size 0.191), MCH (AG 25.69-27.50 fl, effect size 0.418; PCG 27.43-27.23 fl, effect size 0.058), and RDW (AG 15.12-16.41 fl, effect size 0.626; PCG 14.91-14.94 fl, effect size 0.017) in the AG compared to the PCG. Results : suggest that needling at the GB39, BL17, and LR13 acupuncture points is more effective in treating people with IDA than needling at non-acupuncture points.

Introduction: The rubber dam plays an important role in isolation of teeth during dental procedures and helps prevent contamination risks. The usage of rubber dam in day-to-day clinical practice has become crucial during the pandemic. Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of rubber dam usage among dental practitioners in India during and after the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional surveybased examination. A pretested 15-item questionnaire was administered to 300 dental practitioners in Tamil Nadu, India, using Google Forms. The questions were categorised into three parameters: knowledge, attitude, and practice. The study population included dentists of all types who were performing restorative and endodontic procedures. Information was collected regarding age, gender, educational qualification, and the use of rubber dam. The questionnaire contained leading questions designed to assess the opinions and attitudes of dentists toward the use of rubber dam. The responses received were statistically analysed using the Chi-square test. Results: Out of the respondents, 257 (85.66%) reported being taught about rubber dam placement, while 43 (14.33%) were unaware of its usage. Prior to the pandemic, 181 (61.35%) of respondents were utilising rubber dam for conservative and endodontic procedures. Only 151 (50.84%) of practitioners believed that rubber dam placement prevents aerosol transmission. Additionally, 266 (89.26%) of respondents expressed willingness to learn and gain knowledge about rubber dam. Conclusion: The study concluded that dental practitioners exhibited a positive attitude towards incorporating rubber dam usage in their practice and showed willingness to update their knowledge about rubber dam, regardless of age, due to the pandemic.

Background: Anemia is a pathological condition in which the blood hemoglobin concentration is reduced to a low level, due to deficiency of one or more nutrients. The nutrients required for the synthesis of hemoglobin are iron, folic acid, and vitamin B12. Anemia is one of the major global public health problems in the early stages of childhood, mainly in developing countries. Aim and Objectives: We aimed to assess the prevalence of anemia and associated factors in pediatric subjects. Material and Methods: Our study was conducted on children aged between 1 to 12 years attending the pediatric department in our hospital. A total of 200 children were selected as cases who fulfilled WHO criteria for anemia and another 200 normal healthy children of the same demographic data were recruited as controls. The serum ferritin values were compared between normal healthy children and children with various types of anemias. All control and patient samples were tested for Serum Iron, Ferritin, TIBC, Vitamin B12, and Folic acid. Results: Iron deficiency anemia (46%) was the most common type followed by megaloblastic anemia (20%), thalassemia (19%), sickle cell anemia (9%), and other causes of anemia (6.0%). Conclusion: Anemia among pediatric population needs to be addressed immediately in the form of supplementation and health education in a regular manner to prevent adverse health effects in children.

Supercapacitors hold promise for energy storage due to their exceptional power density and fast charge/discharge cycles. However, their performance hinges on the electrode material. Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are attractive options due to their tailorable structure and high surface area. But traditional ZIF synthesis relies on toxic solvents derived from fossil fuels, hindering their envisioned environmental benefit. This study explores using bio-derived solvents for a greener and potentially superior approach. The researchers employed anodic electrodeposition to synthesise cobalt-based ZIFs (Co-ZIFs) as supercapacitor electrode materials. Two linkers (2-methylimidazole and benzimidazole) and two bio-derived solvents (CyreneTM and γ-valerolactone (GVL)) were investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that bio-derived solvents enhanced the crystallinity of Co-ZIFs compared to traditional solvents. Notably, CyreneTM promoted better crystallinity for Co-bIM/Co-mIM structures. The Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) analysis suggests CyreneTM promotes Co-bIM/Co-mIM crystallinity (lower FWHM). Co-mIM in CyreneTM exhibits the best crystallinity (FWHM = 0.233) compared to other ZIF samples. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed these findings, showing larger and well-defined crystals for bio-derived solvent-synthesised ZIFs. The choice of solvent significantly impacted the final ZIF structure. While 2-methylimidazole consistently formed ZIF-67 regardless of the solvent, benzimidazole exhibited solvent-dependent behaviour. GVL yielded the highly porous Co-ZIF-12 structure, whereas DMF (N,N-dimethylformamide) and CyreneTM produced the less porous ZIF-9. This work reports the first-ever instance of ZIF-12 synthesis via an electrochemical method, highlighting the crucial interplay between solvent and precursor molecule in determining the final ZIF product. The synthesised binder-free Co-ZIF electrodes were evaluated for supercapacitor performance. The capacitance data revealed GVL as the most effective solvent, followed by DMF and then CyreneTM. This suggests GVL is the preferred choice for this reaction due to its superior performance. The ZIF-12-based electrode exhibits an impressive specific capacitance (Csp) of 44 F g⁻1, significantly higher than those achieved by ZIF-9-Cyrene (1.2 F g⁻1), ZIF-9-DMF (2.5 F g⁻1), ZIF-67-GVL (35 F g⁻1), ZIF-67-Cyrene (6 F g⁻1), and ZIF-67-DMF (16 F g⁻1) at 1 A g−1. This surpasses the Csp of all other ZIFs studied, including high-performing ZIF-67(GVL). ZIF-12(GVL) maintained superior Csp even at higher current densities, demonstrating exceptional rate capability. Among the bio-derived solvents, GVL outperformed CyreneTM. Notably, the Co-bIM in the GVL sample exhibited a ZIF-12-like structure, offering potential advantages due to its larger pores and potentially higher surface area compared to traditional ZIF-67 and ZIF-9 structures. This work presents a significant advancement in Co-ZIF synthesis. By utilising bio-derived solvents, it offers a more sustainable and potentially superior alternative. This paves the way for the eco-friendly production of Co-ZIFs with improved properties for supercapacitors, gas separation, catalysis, and other applications.

Herein, a novel sulfur-doped carbon material has been synthesized via a facile and sustainable single-step pyrolysis method using lignin-sulfonate (LS), a by-product of the sulfite pulping process, as a novel carbon precursor and zinc chloride as a chemical activator. The sulfur doping process had a remarkable impact on the LS-sulfur carbon structure. Moreover, it was found that sulfur doping also had an important impact on sodium diclofenac removal from aqueous solutions due to the introduction of S-functionalities on the carbon material’s surface. The doping process effectively increased the carbon specific surface area (SSA), i.e., 1758 m2 g−1 for the sulfur-doped and 753 m2 g−1 for the non-doped carbon. The sulfur-doped carbon exhibited more sulfur states/functionalities than the non-doped, highlighting the successful chemical modification of the material. As a result, the adsorptive performance of the sulfur-doped carbon was remarkably improved. Diclofenac adsorption experiments indicated that the kinetics was better described by the Avrami fractional order model, while the equilibrium studies indicated that the Liu model gave the best fit. The kinetics was much faster for the sulfur-doped carbon, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 301.6 mg g−1 for non-doped and 473.8 mg g−1 for the sulfur-doped carbon. The overall adsorption seems to be a contribution of multiple mechanisms, such as pore filling and electrostatic interaction. When tested to treat lab-made effluents, the samples presented excellent performance.

Abstract Soils are usually the interface between human activity and environmental components that must be conserved and protected. As a result of rising industrialization and urbanization, activities such as exploration and extraction operations lead to the release of heavy metals into the environment. This study presents distribution of six heavy metals (As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) in 139 top soil samples collected in and around oil and natural gas drilling sites at a sampling density of 1 site/12 km2. The results indicated the concentration ranged from 0.1 to 16 mg/kg for As, 3–707 mg/kg for Cr, 7–2324 mg/kg for Cu, 14–234 mg/kg for Ni, 9–1664 mg/kg for Pb, and 60–962 mg/kg for Zn. The contamination of soil was estimated on the basis of Index of geo accumulation (Igeo), enrichment factor (Ef), and contamination factor (Cf). Further, spatial distribution pattern maps indicated that the pollution levels for Cu, Cr, Zn, and Ni were higher around drilling sites of the study area relative to other regions. Using exposure factors for the local population and references from the USEPA’s integrated database, potential ecological risk indices (PERI) and health risk assessments were made. The hazard index (HI) values of Pb (in adults) and Cr, Pb (in children) exceeded the recommended limit of HI = 1, indicating the non-carcinogenic risks. Total carcinogenic risk (TCR) calculations revealed Cr (in adults) and As, Cr (in children) levels in soils exceeded the threshold value of 1.0E − 04, indicating significant carcinogenic risk due to high metal concentrations in the study area. These results may assist in determining the soil’s present state and its effect due to extraction strategies used during drilling process and initiate few remedial techniques, particularly for proper management strategies in farming activities to decrease point and non-point source of contamination.

2'-O-methylation (2-OM or Nm) is a widespread RNA modification observed in various RNA types like tRNA, mRNA, rRNA, miRNA, piRNA, and snRNA, which plays a crucial role in several biological functional mechanisms and innate immunity. To comprehend its modification mechanisms and potential epigenetic regulation, it is necessary to accurately identify 2-OM sites. However, biological experiments can be tedious, time-consuming, and expensive. Furthermore, currently available computational methods face challenges due to inadequate datasets and limited classification capabilities. To address these challenges, we proposed Meta-2OM, a cutting-edge predictor that can accurately identify 2-OM sites in human RNA. In brief, we applied a meta-learning approach that considered eight conventional machine learning algorithms, including tree-based classifiers and decision boundary-based classifiers, and eighteen different feature encoding algorithms that cover physicochemical, compositional, position-specific and natural language processing information. The predicted probabilities of 2-OM sites from the baseline models are then combined and trained using logistic regression to generate the final prediction. Consequently, Meta-2OM achieved excellent performance in both 5-fold cross-validation training and independent testing, outperforming all existing state-of-the-art methods. Specifically, on the independent test set, Meta-2OM achieved an overall accuracy of 0.870, sensitivity of 0.836, specificity of 0.904, and Matthew's correlation coefficient of 0.743. To facilitate its use, a user-friendly web server and standalone program have been developed and freely available at http://kurata35.bio.kyutech.ac.jp/Meta-2OM and https://github.com/kuratahiroyuki/Meta-2OM.

Community-based HIV testing offers an alternative approach to encourage HIV testing among men in sub-Saharan Africa. In this study, we evaluated a community-based HIV testing strategy targeting male bar patrons in northern Tanzania to assess factors predictive of prior HIV testing and factors predictive of accepting a real-time HIV test offer. Participants completed a detailed survey and were offered HIV testing upon survey completion. Poisson regression was used to identify prevalence ratios for the association between potential predictors and prior HIV testing or real-time testing uptake. Of 359 participants analyzed, the median age was 41 (range 19-82) years, 257 (71.6%) reported a previous HIV test, and 321 (89.4%) accepted the real-time testing offer. Factors associated with previous testing for HIV (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR], 95% CI) were wealth scores in the upper-middle quartile (1.25, 1.03-1.52) or upper quartile (1.35, 1.12-1.62) and HIV knowledge (1.04, 1.01-1.07). Factors that predicted real-time testing uptake were lower scores on the Gender-Equitable Men scale (0.99, 0.98-0.99), never testing for HIV (1.16, 1.03-1.31), and testing for HIV > 12 months prior (1.18, 1.06-1.31). We show that individual-level factors that influence the testing-seeking behaviors of men are not likely to impact their acceptance of an HIV offer.

Abstract Background Cellulases play a key role in the enzymatic conversion of plant cell-wall polysaccharides into simple and economically relevant sugars. Thus, the discovery of novel cellulases from exotic biological niches is of great interest as they may present properties that are valuable in the biorefining of lignocellulosic biomass. Results We have characterized a glycoside hydrolase 5 (GH5) domain of a bi-catalytic GH5-GH6 multi-domain enzyme from the unusual gill endosymbiont Teredinibacter waterburyi of the wood-digesting shipworm Psiloteredo megotara. The catalytic GH5 domain, was cloned and recombinantly produced with or without a C-terminal family 10 carbohydrate-binding module (CBM). Both variants showed hydrolytic endo-activity on soluble substrates such as β-glucan, carboxymethylcellulose and konjac glucomannan, respectively. However, low activity was observed towards the crystalline form of cellulose. Interestingly, when co-incubated with a cellulose-active LPMO, a clear synergy was observed that boosted the overall hydrolysis of crystalline cellulose. The crystal structure of the GH5 catalytic domain was solved to 1.0 Å resolution and revealed a substrate binding cleft extension containing a putative + 3 subsite, which is uncommon in this enzyme family. The enzyme was active in a wide range of pH, temperatures and showed high tolerance for NaCl. Conclusions This study provides significant knowledge in the discovery of new enzymes from shipworm gill endosymbionts and sheds new light on biochemical and structural characterization of cellulolytic cellulase. Study demonstrated a boost in the hydrolytic activity of cellulase on crystalline cellulose when co-incubated with cellulose-active LPMO. These findings will be relevant for the development of future enzyme cocktails that may be useful for the biotechnological conversion of lignocellulose.

Objectives We aimed to prospectively describe incident cardiovascular events among people living with HIV (PLWH) in northern Tanzania. Secondary aims of this study were to understand non-communicable disease care-seeking behaviour and patient preferences for cardiovascular care and education.Design A prospective observational study.Setting This study was conducted at the Majengo HIV Care and Treatment Clinic, an outpatient government-funded clinic in Moshi, TanzaniaParticipants Adult patients presenting to an HIV clinic for routine care in northern Tanzania were enrolled from 1 September 2020 to 1 March 2021.Interventions At enrolment, participants completed a survey and a resting 12-lead ECG was obtained. At 6 month follow-up, a repeat survey regarding interim health events and repeat ECG was obtained.Primary and secondary outcome measures Interim major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) were defined by: self-reported interim stroke, self-reported hospitalisation for heart failure, self-reported interim myocardial infarction, interim myocardial infarction by ECG criteria (new pathologic Q waves in two contiguous leads) or death due to cardiovascular disease (CVD).Results Of 500 enrolled participants, 477 (95.4%) completed 6 month follow-up and 3 (0.6%) died. Over the 6 month follow-up period, 11 MACE occurred (3 strokes, 6 myocardial infarctions, 1 heart failure hospitalisation and 1 cardiovascular death), resulting in an incidence rate of 4.58 MACE per 100 person-years. Of participants completing 6 month follow-up, 31 (6.5%) reported a new non-communicable disease diagnosis, including 23 (4.8%) with a new hypertension diagnosis.Conclusions The incidence of MACE among PLWH in Tanzania is high. These findings are an important preliminary step in understanding the landscape of CVD among PLWH in Tanzania and highlight the need for interventions to reduce cardiovascular risk in this population.

In the present study, the phytochemicals and anti-oxidant ability rich marine mangrove plant Rhizophora mucronata (R. mucronata) was evaluated. The UV-bio spectrometer result of O.D value of phenolic content was shown 0.986 as well as flavonoid content were shown 0.994 at 100 µg/mL concentration. The high yields of phenol and flavonoid contents were observed compared with standard gallic acid and rutin. Concisely, the more phenols and flavonoids and some bioactive derivatives were clearly exhibited by LC-MS scanning report. In addition, the anti-oxidant activity result shown with 85 % and DPPH scavenging assay result shown 66% in crude extract of R. mucronata were observed and it was very higher than the rate of standard gallic acid and ascorbic acid. Further, the liquid–liquid extraction of available bioactive compounds were purified and shown excellent anti-bacterial activity against multi drug resistant bacteria. The anti-microbial activity result indicated that the 250 µg/mL of R. mucronata extract was shown 24 and 26 mm zone of inhibition against K. pneumoniae and A. baumannii. Then, the concentration dependent inhibition of R. mucronata extract was shown against both the tested pathogens and 250 µg/m concentrations was fixed as a minimum inhibition concentration range. Finally, the induction of outer cellular layer morphology effect and damaged size and shapes of the R. mucronata extract was shown against K. pneumoniae and A. baumannii. Altogether, the present study results were deliberately recommended that the R. mucronata extract as potential anti-oxidant and anti-bacterial agent. Hence, the natural marine mangrove plant R. mucronata is the safe, eco-friendly, low cost source for discovery of potential drug against various infections.

Existing research has developed a working understanding of borderline personality disorder (BPD) patient traits and behav-ior in everyday life, but the subtleties of their cognitive processes during decision-making remains unclear. To understandhow reliance on previous experiences (priors) versus current sensory information (likelihoods) in the decision-makingprocess may differ for those with BPD in comparison to those within neuro-typical population, we implemented a coin-catching behavioral task with varying levels of prior and likelihood uncertainty. We hypothesized that, in accordance totypical BPD characteristics, BPD patients will rely significantly more on likelihood information even when likelihoodinformation is more unreliable than prior information. Analyzing the results using Bayesian statistics, we found evidencesuggesting that both the BPD patient group and the neuro-typical control group utilized prior and likelihood informa-tion similarly in decision-making. We theorize that BPD characteristics that are prominent in social interactions may notexactly replicate in non-social settings.

Substantial evidence has suggested that major depression is associated with a dysregulated dopamine system, which playsa pivotal role in decision-making under uncertainty. Previous research has proposed that dopamine enhances the weightgiven to current sensory information (sensory weight) versus prior beliefs, yet how much this relationship holds true indepression remains a topic under debate. To examine whether depression patients have decreased sensory weight dueto disturbed dopaminergic neurotransmissions, we used a visual coin-catching task in which uncertainty in both priorand sensory information varied. Decision-making strategies during the task were modeled by Bayesian statistics. Ourresults supported that depression patients preserved the ability to learn both prior and sensory information uncertainty,comparable to healthy controls. In contrast to our prediction, depression patients did not show decreased reliance onsensory information compared to controls, suggesting that depression does not induce a universal alteration in decision-making strategies under uncertainty. Our study provides empirical evidence that depression does not always show deficitsin uncertainty processing regardless of its correlation with dopamine dysregulations.

Measurement(s) COVID-19 Protocols, Restrictions • Health Behaviors • Personality and Behavioral Change, CTCAE • Emotion • Message Framing • Self-Determination Technology Type(s) Survey • Experiment Design Type Factor Type(s) COVID-19 Protocols, Restrictions • Health Behaviors • Loss-Gain Framing • Cognitive Reappraisal • Self-Determination Messaging Sample Characteristic - Organism Homo Sample Characteristic - Environment Daily Life Sample Characteristic - Location North America • South America • Africa • Australia • Europe • United Kingdom • Asia