Positioning

To investigate potential correlations between the susceptibility values of certain brain regions and the severity of disease or neurodevelopmental status in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 18 ASD children and 15 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. The neurodevelopmental status was assessed by the Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS) and the severity of the disease was evaluated by the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC). Eleven brain regions were selected as regions of interest and the susceptibility values were measured by quantitative susceptibility mapping...

Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disability that includes sensory disturbances. Hearing is frequently affected and ranges from deafness to hypersensitivity. In utero exposure to the antiepileptic valproic acid is associated with increased risk of autism spectrum disorder in humans and timed valproic acid exposure is a biologically relevant and validated animal model of autism spectrum disorder. Valproic acid-exposed rats have fewer neurons in their auditory brainstem and thalamus, fewer calbindin-positive neurons, reduced ascending projections to the midbrain and thalamus, elevated thresholds, and delayed auditory brainstem responses...

Adolescence has been characterized as a period of risky and possibly suboptimal decision-making, yet the development of decision-making in autistic adolescents is not well understood. To investigate decision-making in autism, we evaluated performance on 2 computerized tasks capturing decision-making under explicit risk and uncertainty in autistic and non-autistic adolescents/young adults ages 12-22 years. Participants completed the Game of Dice Task (32 IQ-matched participant pairs) to assess decision-making under explicit risk and the modified Iowa Gambling Task (35 IQ-matched pairs) to assess decision-making under uncertainty...

Autism is characterized by atypical social communication styles. To investigate whether individuals with high autistic traits could still have effective social communication among each other, we compared the behavioral patterns and communication quality within 64 dyads of college students paired with both high, both low, and mixed high-low (HL) autistic traits, with their gender matched. Results revealed that the high-high (HH) autistic dyads exhibited atypical behavioral patterns during conversations, including reduced mutual gaze, communicational turns, and emotional sharing compared with the low-low and/or HL autistic dyads...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate uniformity and pitfalls in structured radiological staging of rectal cancer. METHODS: Twenty-one radiologists (12 countries) staged 75 rectal cancers on MRI using a structured reporting template. Interobserver agreement (IOA) was calculated as the percentage agreement between readers (categorical variables) and Krippendorff's α (continuous variables). Agreement with an expert consensus served as a surrogate standard of reference to estimate diagnostic accuracy...

We introduce a novel and straightforward methodology for photoredox arylation of an indole scaffold using aryldiazonium salts under mild and metal-free conditions. Our approach enables the regioselective and chemoselective introduction of several aryl groups to the C(2) position of indoles and tryptophan, even in competition with other amino acids. This approach extends to the late-stage functionalization of peptides and lysozyme, heralding the unprecedented arylation of tryptophan residues in wild-type proteins and offering broad utility in chemical biology...

Certain people occupy topological positions within social networks that enhance their effectiveness at inducing spillovers. We mapped face-to-face networks among 24,702 people in 176 isolated villages in Honduras and randomly assigned villages to targeting methods, varying the fraction of households receiving a 22-month health education package and the method by which households were chosen (randomly versus using the friendship-nomination algorithm). We assessed 117 diverse knowledge, attitude, and practice outcomes...

BACKGROUND: This article intends to showcase a case of guided bone regeneration (GBR) utilizing a partially demineralized dentin plate processed from an extracted second molar for horizontal augmentation of the posterior ridge for implant placement. METHODS AND RESULTS: A 60-year-old patient presented with horizontal ridge deficiency at site #30 and an endodontically treated tooth #31 with recurrent decay. A treatment plan was proposed to extract tooth #31 and utilize a dentin graft from the tooth for ridge augmentation at site #30...

Klebsiella pneumoniae, a member of the Enterobacteriaceae family, demonstrates an increasing trend of resistance to carbapenems and is a common cause of both hospital- and community-acquired infections. The current study provides insights into the genetic characterization of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) isolates circulating during 2022 in a Sarajevo tertiary hospital. Among the 87 CRKP strains analyzed, real-time polymerase chain reaction (rtPCR) results showed that 85 (97.7%) tested positive for the carbapenem resistance gene...

CONTEXT: Head and neck paragangliomas (HNPGLs) are rare, usually benign, slow-growing tumours arising from neural crest-derived tissue. Definitive management pathways for HNPGLs have yet to be clearly defined. OBJECTIVE: To review our experience of the clinical features and management of these tumours and to analyse outcomes of different treatment modalities. METHODS: Demographic and clinical data were obtained from The Northern Ireland Electronic Care Record (NIECR) as well from a prospectively maintained HNPGL database between January 2011 through December 2023...

PURPOSE: Recent literature has highlighted the overlapping contribution of demographic characteristics and spatial factors to urban-rural disparities in SARS-CoV-2 transmission and outcomes. Yet the interplay between individual characteristics, hospitalisation, and spatial factors for urban-rural disparities in COVID-19 mortality have received limited attention. METHODS: To fill this gap, we use national surveillance data collected by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and we fit a generalized linear model to estimate the association between COVID-19 mortality and the individuals' age, sex, hospitalisation status, population density, share of the population over the age of 60, and pandemic wave across urban, intermediate and rural territories...

BACKGROUND: Thyroid testing strategies vary across laboratories. First-line combined thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and freeT4 (FT4) have historically been preferred by many laboratories as this detects individuals with undiagnosed central hypothyroidism who can be missed with a first-line TSH-only strategy. However, an up-to-date evaluation of the utility of this approach is lacking. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the clinical utility of first-line TSH and FT4 in the detection of central hypothyroidism in current day practice...

BACKGROUND: As advancements in surgical instruments and techniques continue to evolve, minimally invasive surgery has become increasingly preferred as a means of reducing patient pain and recovery time. However, one major challenge in performing minimally invasive surgery for early gastrointestinal cancer is accurately identifying the location of the lesion. This is particularly difficult when the lesion is confined to the lumen of the intestine and cannot be visually confirmed from the outside during surgery...

OBJECTIVES: To map organisational interventions for workplace suicide prevention, identifying the effects, mechanisms, moderators, implementation and economic costs, and how interventions are evaluated. BACKGROUND: Suicide is a devastating event that can have a profound and lasting impact on the individuals and families affected, with the highest rates found among adults of work age. Employers have a legal and ethical responsibility to provide a safe working environment for their employees, which includes addressing the issue of suicide and promoting mental health and well-being...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to analyze the association between sports participation in childhood and adolescence and the practice of physical activity at different intensities in adulthood, and to verify if some sports participation characteristics such as number of sports; type of sport (individual, collective or a combination of both) and total estimated sports participation time are associated with the different physical activity intensities in adulthood. DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study...

The world's elderly population is growing at a rapid pace. This has led to an increase in demand on the health and welfare systems due to age-related disorders, with musculoskeletal complaints driving the need for rehabilitation services. However, there are concerns about health services' ability to meet this demand. While chiropractic care is gaining recognition for its benefits in treating older adults with musculoskeletal disorders, there is limited scientific literature on chiropractors' role and experiences in this area...

Against the background of increasingly severe environmental problems, green development has gained widespread attention, and green innovation has thus become crucial for enterprises. This study used 2007-2019 data from listed A-share companies in China to evaluate the effect of senior executives' overseas experience on corporate green innovation. The results showed that senior executives' overseas experience could promote green innovation in companies. This positive effect was more significant for private enterprises and high-tech enterprises, especially in eastern China...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of a validated chest computed tomography (Chest-CT) severity score in COVID-19 patients with their respiratory outcome in the Intensive Care Unit. METHODS: A single-center, prospective study evaluated patients with positive RT-PCR for COVID-19, who underwent Chest-CT and had a final COVID-19 clinical diagnosis needing invasive mechanical ventilation in the ICU. The admission chest-CT was evaluated according to a validated Chest-CT Severity Score in COVID-19 (Chest-CTSS) divided into low ≤50% (<14 points) and >50% high (≥14 points) lung parenchyma involvement...

How digital economy (DE) empowers high-quality development of tourism (HQDT) has become a common concern among scholars. Given this, this study clarifies the theoretical connotation of DE enabling HQDT,and finds that: Micro, DE promotes efficiency improvements in tourism enterprises, with its economies of scale and Matthew effect reducing average costs, its economies of scope meeting diversified demand, and its long-tail effect improving supply-demand matching mechanism. Meso, DE can transform and upgrade tourism industry structure through industrial digitization and digital industrialization, and also form a new tourist industry form and value chain through cross-border integration...

OBJECTIVES: To study fluid balance and endothelial glycocalyx degradation, reflected by syndedan-1 and heparan sulfate (HS) levels, in early stages of acute pancreatitis (AP). METHODS: This study comprised of 210 AP patients (104 mild, 53 moderately severe, 17 severe). Blood was sampled within 72 h from the onset of symptoms, and plasma syndecan-1 and HS levels were determined using ELISA. Fluid balance up to sampling and up to 4 days was determined retrospectively from medical records...