Public Health

Invasive ventilation is a fundamental treatment in intensive care but its precise timing is difficult to determine. This study aims at assessing the effect of initiating invasive ventilation versus waiting, in patients with hypoxemic respiratory failure without immediate reason for intubation on one-year mortality.

Neurobrucellosis (NB) is a rare and serious complication of brucellosis. Its clinical manifestations vary, with no obvious specificity. At present, there is no clear clinical diagnosis or treatment for reference. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the clinical data for 21 patients with NB to provide reference data for its further study.

The New Medicine Service (NMS) was developed in England more than ten years ago, as a three-stage consultation led by community pharmacists to support patients taking new medication for a chronic disease. In Poland, the scheme was officially introduced in January 2023. However, its implementation into common practice has been presented with various obstacles, including the need to develop relationships with general practitioners, resolve the payment structure, and provide training with adequate supporting materials. Hence, written materials have been designed for use as an optional tool for counselling patients receiving an NMS in community pharmacies.

Although family and school experiences play an important role in adolescents' adjustment during the transition to high school, most prior studies investigated the effects of these experiences in isolation; their joint implications for both adolescents' concurrent and long-term adjustment outcomes are less clear, and the potential role of individual characteristics within such associations remains understudied. Based on 525 10th graders (M = 15.48, SD = 0.71, 43.6% boys) who participated in a longitudinal study, the present research aimed to identify distinct family and school experience profiles among first-year high school students and examine their associations with adolescents' internalizing problems and externalizing problems, both concurrently and 18 months later. Latent profile analysis revealed four distinctive profiles: thriving, low resources-moderate family risk, developmental stress-high parental conflicts, and developmental stress-high peer victimization profiles. The other three profiles (vs. the thriving profile) reported significantly higher levels of concurrent internalizing problems; while these differences diminished after 18 months. However, the enduring impacts of these profiles on internalizing problems persisted among adolescents with higher levels of environmental sensitivity. Additionally, adolescents characterized by two developmental stress profiles (vs. the thriving profile) exhibited significantly higher levels of externalizing problems both currently and longitudinally. Findings underscore the importance of identifying at-risk populations among adolescents during the transition to high school by including both family and school experiences when examining environmental influence on their adjustment, as well as the necessity to take individual environmental sensitivity into account when examining these associations.

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) are the two most performed techniques in bariatric surgery. The aim of this study is to compare two surgical procedures in terms of weight loss and the development of comorbidities such as type II diabetes mellitus T2D, arterial hypertension, sleep apnea (OSAS), and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

The association between cooking fuel and hearing loss still needs more research to clarify, and two longitudinal cohort studies were explored to find if solid fuel use for cooking affected hearing in Chinese adults. The data from Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) and Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) were analyzed. Participants (older than 18) without hearing loss at baseline and follow-up visits were included, which were divided into clean fuel and solid fuel groups. Hearing loss rate was from follow-up visits (both in year 2011) until the recent one (year 2018 in CHARLS and 2019 in CLHLS). Cox regressions were applied to examine the associations with adjustment for potential confounders. Fixed-effect meta-analysis was used to pool the results. A total of 9049 participants (average age 8.34 ± 9.12 [mean ± SD] years; 4247 [46.93%] males) were included in CHARLS cohort study and 2265 participants (average age, 78.75 ± 9.23 [mean ± SD] years; 1148 [49.32%] males) in CLHLS cohort study. There were 1518 (16.78%) participants in CHARLS cohort and 451 (19.91%) participants in CLHLS cohort who developed hearing loss. The group of using solid fuel for cooking had a higher risk of hearing loss (CHARLS: HR, 1.16; 95% CI 1.03-1.30; CLHLS: HR, 1.43; 95% CI 1.11-1.84) compared with the one of using clean fuel. Pooled hazard ratio showed the incidence of hearing loss in the solid fuel users was 1.17 (1.03, 1.29) times higher than that of clean fuel users. Hearing loss was associated with solid fuel use and older people were at higher risk. It is advised to replace solid fuel by clean fuel that may promote health equity.

A drug molecule is a substance that changes an organism's mental or physical state. Every approved drug has an indication, which refers to the therapeutic use of that drug for treating a particular medical condition. While the Large Language Model (LLM), a generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) technique, has recently demonstrated effectiveness in translating between molecules and their textual descriptions, there remains a gap in research regarding their application in facilitating the translation between drug molecules and indications (which describes the disease, condition or symptoms for which the drug is used), or vice versa. Addressing this challenge could greatly benefit the drug discovery process. The capability of generating a drug from a given indication would allow for the discovery of drugs targeting specific diseases or targets and ultimately provide patients with better treatments. In this paper, we first propose a new task, the translation between drug molecules and corresponding indications, and then test existing LLMs on this new task. Specifically, we consider nine variations of the T5 LLM and evaluate them on two public datasets obtained from ChEMBL and DrugBank. Our experiments show the early results of using LLMs for this task and provide a perspective on the state-of-the-art. We also emphasize the current limitations and discuss future work that has the potential to improve the performance on this task. The creation of molecules from indications, or vice versa, will allow for more efficient targeting of diseases and significantly reduce the cost of drug discovery, with the potential to revolutionize the field of drug discovery in the era of generative AI.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is high among women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, empowering women enables them to confront and mitigate IPV. In this study, we examined the association between the survey-based women's empowerment index (SWPER) and IPV in SSA.

Previous studies on the associations between serum urate levels and neurodegenerative outcomes have yielded inconclusive results, and the causality remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether urate levels are associated with the risks of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and neurodegenerative deaths.

Leukemias driven by activated, chimeric FGFR1 kinases typically progress to AML which have poor prognosis. Mouse models of this syndrome allow detailed analysis of cellular and molecular changes occurring during leukemogenesis. We have used these models to determine the effects of leukemia development on the immune cell composition in the leukemia microenvironment during leukemia development and progression.

Although including public contributors as members of research teams is becoming common, there are few reflections on how they have been incorporated, and almost none of these reflections are co-produced with public contributors. This commentary, written by both academics and a public contributor, reflects on Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) activities when undertaking a framework analysis of PPI sections of annual reports from the National Institute for Health and care Research (NIHR) funded research centres. The UK Standards for Public Involvement (inclusive opportunities, working together, support and learning, communications, impact and governance) were used to structure our reflections. Key topics of reflection were: how difficult it is, in practice, to incorporate PPI into all aspects of the research cycle, especially when completing a commissioned research project on a short time-frame, and the complexities of incorporating PPI into qualitative analysis. Although useful when reflecting upon our own PPI practices, ways in which the UK Standards for Public Involvement could be improved were suggested. We hope that the co-produced recommendations can be used by other teams engaging with public contributors.

In patients without a family history, Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is typically diagnosed at around 4-5 years of age. It is important to diagnose DMD during infancy or toddler stage in order to have timely access to treatment, opportunities for reproductive options, prevention of potential fatal reactions to inhaled anesthetics, awareness of a child's abilities needed for good parenting, and opportunities for enrolment in clinical trials.

The national e-prescription system in Greece is one of the most important achievements in the e-health sector. Healthcare professionals' feedback is essential to ensure the introduced system tends to their needs and reduces their everyday workload. The number of surveys collecting the users' views is limited, while the existing studies include only a small number of participants.

Post liver transplantation (LT) patients endure high morbidity rate of multi-organ ischemic symptoms following reperfusion. We hypothesize that enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) as a typical non-invasive assisted circulation procedure, which can efficiently inhibit the relative ischemic symptoms via the systemic improvement of hemodynamics.

Body mass index (BMI) and lipid disorders are both known to be strongly associated with the development of diabetes, however, the indirect effect of lipid parameters in the BMI-related diabetes risk is currently unknown. This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of lipid parameters in the association of BMI with diabetes risk.

Understanding the molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has important clinical implications for guiding therapy. Impaired amyloid beta (Aβ) clearance is critical in the pathogenesis of sporadic AD, and blood monocytes play an important role in Aβ clearance in the periphery. However, the mechanism underlying the defective phagocytosis of Aβ by monocytes in AD remains unclear.

Ketamine is recognized as an alternative for pain management; however, concerns about emergent adverse reactions have limited its widespread adoption. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of a short infusion of low-dose ketamine (LDK) compared to intravenous morphine (MOR) as adjunctive analgesia for acute long bone fracture pain.

The increasing ageing of the population with growth in NCD burden in India has put unprecedented pressure on India's health care systems. Shortage of skilled human resources in health, particularly of specialists equipped to treat NCDs, is one of the major challenges faced in India. Keeping in view the shortage of healthcare professionals and the guidelines in NEP 2020, there is an urgent need for more health professionals who have received training in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of NCDs. This paper conducts a scoping review and aims to collate the existing evidence on the use of digital education of health professionals within NCD topics.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a common comorbidity among Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Yet, little is known about dysregulated pathways that are unique in PD patients with T2DM. We applied high-resolution metabolomic profiling in serum samples of 636 PD and 253 non-PD participants recruited from Central California. We conducted an initial discovery metabolome-wide association and pathway enrichment analysis. After adjusting for multiple testing, in positive (or negative) ion mode, 30 (25) metabolic features were associated with T2DM in both PD and non-PD participants, 162 (108) only in PD participants, and 32 (7) only in non-PD participants. Pathway enrichment analysis identified 17 enriched pathways associated with T2DM in both the PD and non-PD participants, 26 pathways only in PD participants, and 5 pathways only in non-PD participants. Several amino acid, nucleic acids, and fatty acid metabolisms were associated with T2DM only in the PD patient group suggesting a possible link between PD and T2DM.

In light of the existing knowledge gap in this research area (particularly based on representative samples and research conducted during the pandemic), the objective of this study was to explore the association between perceived ageism and psychosocial outcomes (i.e., in terms of life satisfaction, loneliness, social isolation, aging satisfaction and depressive symptoms) among middle-aged and older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic based on nationally representative data.

Selecting an optimal solid waste disposal site is one of the decisive waste management issues because unsuitable sites cause serious environmental and public health problems. In Kenitra province, northwest Morocco, sustainable disposal sites have become a major challenge due to rapid urbanization and population growth. In addition, the existing disposal sites are traditional and inappropriate. The objective of this study is to suggest potential suitable disposal sites using fuzzy logic and analytical hierarchy process (fuzzy-AHP) method integrated with geographic information system (GIS) techniques. For this purpose, thirteen factors affecting the selection process were involved. The results showed that 5% of the studied area is considered extremely suitable and scattered in the central-eastern parts, while 9% is considered almost unsuitable and distributed in the northern and southern parts. Thereafter, these results were validated using the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristics (ROC). The AUC found was 57.1%, which is a moderate prediction's accuracy because the existing sites used in the validation's process were randomly selected. These results can assist relevant authorities and stakeholders for setting new solid waste disposal sites in Kenitra province.

Women who fail to initiate contraceptive use within the first year after childbirth face an increased likelihood of experiencing unintended pregnancies in close succession. In regions with limited resources, the use of postpartum contraceptives, particularly long-acting reversible contraceptives, remains notably low. Consequently, this study sought to assess the prevalence and determinants of postpartum long acting reversible contraceptives in the extended postpartum period in the Shashago district, Central Ethiopia.

To provide a descriptive report of mortality and morbidity in the first 30 days of diagnosis of urosepsis. Secondary aim is to identify risk factors of unfavourable outcomes.

Knee pain is a prominent concern among older individuals, influenced by the central nervous system. This study aimed to translate the Central Aspects of Pain in the Knee (CAP-Knee) questionnaire into Japanese and investigate its reliability and validity in older Japanese individuals with knee pain.

Optimal blood pressure (BP) levels to reduce the long-term risk of cognitive decline remains controversial. We aimed to investigate the association between BP and anti-hypertensive treatment status with cognitive decline in older adults.

The impact of cigarette smoke (CS) on lung diseases and the role of microbiome dysbiosis in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have been previously reported; however, the relationships remain unclear.

In environmental bacteria, the selective advantage of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) can be increased through co-localization with genes such as other ARGs, biocide resistance genes, metal resistance genes, and virulence genes (VGs). The gut microbiome of infants has been shown to contain numerous ARGs, however, co-localization related to ARGs is unknown during early life despite frequent exposures to biocides and metals from an early age.

In this study, we sought to determine whether faecal shedding occurs among SARS-COV-2 positive Ghanaians, as reported elsewhere. Hence we assayed for SARS-COV-2 in the stools of 48 SARS-COV-2 confirmed patients at the Ho Municipal Hospital in Ghana.

Many health professions education programs involve people with lived experience as expert speakers. Such presentations may help learners better understand the realities of living with chronic illness or experiencing an acute health problem. However, lectures from only one or a small number of people may not adequately illustrate the perspectives and experiences of a diverse patient cohort. Additionally, logistical constraints such as public health restrictions or travel barriers may impede in-person presentations, particularly among people who have more restrictions on their time. Health professions education programs may benefit from understanding the potential effects of online patient-led presentations with a diverse set of speakers. We aimed to explore whether patient-led online learning modules about diabetes care would influence learners' responses to clinical scenarios and to collect learners' feedback about the modules.

Physical activity (PA) is closely related to our lives, and the effects of PA on thyroid function have not been elucidated.

Musculoskeletal chronic pain is a leading cause of global disability and laboral incapacity. However, there is a lack of population-based studies that investigate the relationship between chronic pain and mental disorders with a control group, particularly among low- and middle-income countries. Chronic pain is a serious public health problem in terms of human suffering, and in terms of socioeconomic implications. Frequent association with different mental disorders increases disability, decreases quality of life, and makes diagnosis and treatment challenging. The present study aimed to evaluate the presence of mental disorders in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain and compare with a control group without pain.

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) represents a major challenge for public health, with hypertension and diabetes being the main causes of its occurrence. Therefore, this study aims to determine the prevalence of hypertension (HTN) and diabetes mellitus (DM) in Peruvian patients with CKD.

Current classification for acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically ill patients with sepsis relies only on its severity-measured by maximum creatinine which overlooks inherent complexities and longitudinal evaluation of this heterogenous syndrome. The role of classification of AKI based on early creatinine trajectories is unclear.

Patients who have had a negative experience with the health care delivery bypass primary healthcare facilities and instead seek care in hospitals. There is a dearth of evidence on the role of users' perceptions of the quality of care on outpatient visits to primary care facilities. This study aimed to examine the relationship between perceived quality of care and the number of outpatient visits to nearby health centers.

Accurate short-term predictions of COVID-19 cases with empirical models allow Health Officials to prepare for hospital contingencies in a two-three week window given the delay between case reporting and the admission of patients in a hospital. We investigate the ability of Gompertz-type empiric models to provide accurate prediction up to two and three weeks to give a large window of preparation in case of a surge in virus transmission. We investigate the stability of the prediction and its accuracy using bi-weekly predictions during the last trimester of 2020 and 2021. Using data from 2020, we show that understanding and correcting for the daily reporting structure of cases in the different countries is key to accomplish accurate predictions. Furthermore, we found that filtering out predictions that are highly unstable to changes in the parameters of the model, which are roughly 20%, reduces strongly the number of predictions that are way-off. The method is then tested for robustness with data from 2021. We found that, for this data, only 1-2% of the one-week predictions were off by more than 50%. This increased to 3% for two-week predictions, and only for three-week predictions it reached 10%.

Efficient planning of the oral health workforce in Primary Health Care (PHC) is paramount to ensure equitable community access to services. This requires a meticulous examination of the population's needs, strategic distribution of oral health professionals, and effective human resource management. In this context, the average time spent on care to meet the needs of users/families/communities is the central variable in healthcare professional workforce planning methods. However, many time measures are solely based on professional judgment or experience.

Schizophrenia is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder with sexually dimorphic features, including differential symptomatology, drug responsiveness, and male incidence rate. Prior large-scale transcriptome analyses for sex differences in schizophrenia have focused on the prefrontal cortex. Analyzing BrainSeq Consortium data (caudate nucleus: n = 399, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: n = 377, and hippocampus: n = 394), we identified 831 unique genes that exhibit sex differences across brain regions, enriched for immune-related pathways. We observed X-chromosome dosage reduction in the hippocampus of male individuals with schizophrenia. Our sex interaction model revealed 148 junctions dysregulated in a sex-specific manner in schizophrenia. Sex-specific schizophrenia analysis identified dozens of differentially expressed genes, notably enriched in immune-related pathways. Finally, our sex-interacting expression quantitative trait loci analysis revealed 704 unique genes, nine associated with schizophrenia risk. These findings emphasize the importance of sex-informed analysis of sexually dimorphic traits, inform personalized therapeutic strategies in schizophrenia, and highlight the need for increased female samples for schizophrenia analyses.

Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are state-level databases that track and inform prescribing practices to reduce prescription drug diversion and misuse. To our knowledge, only three studies have examined the impact of PDMPs on opioid-related outcomes among adolescents, and none have focused on prescription pain medication misuse among adolescents.

The large-scale production of food crops with heavy application of chemical fertilizers in the effort to meet the astronomical increase in food demands may be counterproductive to the goal of food security. This study investigated the effect of different soil treatments on the levels of heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in two types of vegetables Lactuca sativa (lettuce) and Daucus carrota (carrot). The potential carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks from their consumption were also evaluated. Planting experiment was set up in a randomized block design, with different soil treatments of soil + cow dung (CD), soil + sewage sludge (SS), soil + chemical fertilizer (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (NPK)), and untreated soil (UNTRD). The vegetables were harvested at maturity, washed with distilled water, and subjected to an acid digestion process before the levels of heavy metals were measured by inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP-MS). The mean concentrations of the metals in the vegetables across all treatments were below the maximum permissible limits. The pattern of heavy metal accumulation by the vegetables suggested that the lettuce from SS treatment accumulated higher concentrations of heavy metals like Cr (0.20 mg/kg), Cu (3.91 mg/kg), Ni (0.33 mg/kg), and Zn (20.44 mg/kg) than carrot, with highest concentrations of Fe (90.89 mg/kg) and Pb (0.16 mg/kg) recorded in lettuce from NPK treatment. The bioaccumulation factor (BAF) showed that lettuce, a leafy vegetable, has bioaccumulated more heavy metals than carrot, a root vegetable. The BAF was generally below the threshold value of 1 in both vegetables, except in lettuce from NPK and CD treatments and carrot from NPK treatments, with BAF values of 1.6, 1.69, and 1.39, respectively. The cancer risk assessment factors were well below the unacceptable maximum range of 10 suggesting that consuming these vegetables might not expose an individual to potential risk of cancer development. The hazard quotient estimations were below the threshold values of 1 for all heavy metals; however, the hazard index (HI) values of 1.27 and 1.58 for lettuce from NPK and SS treatments indicate a potential non-carcinogenic health risk to consumers from intake of all the heavy metals.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a walking school bus intervention on children's active commuting to school.

In 2008, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines recommended against the use of antibiotic prophylaxis (AP) before invasive dental procedures (IDPs) to prevent infective endocarditis (IE). They did so because of lack of AP efficacy evidence and adverse reaction concerns. Consequently, NICE concluded AP was not cost-effective and should not be recommended. In 2015, NICE reviewed its guidance and continued to recommend against AP. However, it subsequently changed its wording to 'antibiotic prophylaxis against infective endocarditis is not routinely recommended'. The lack of explanation of what constituted routinely (and not routinely), or how to manage non-routine patients, caused enormous confusion and NICE remained out of step with all major international guideline committees who continued to recommend AP for those at high risk.Since the 2015 guideline review, new data have confirmed an association between IDPs and subsequent IE and demonstrated AP efficacy in reducing IE risk following IDPs in high-risk patients. New evidence also shows that in high-risk patients, the IE risk following IDPs substantially exceeds any adverse reaction risk, and that AP is therefore highly cost-effective. Given the new evidence, a NICE guideline review would seem appropriate so that UK high-risk patients can receive the same protection afforded high-risk patients in the rest of the world.

Sleep plays a crucial role in the health and well-being of adolescents; however, inadequate sleep is frequently reported in numerous countries. This current paper aimed to describe sleep duration, factors impacting sleep, consequences of insufficient sleep and satisfaction with life in Norwegian adolescents, stratified by sex and by adherence to the 8-hour sleep recommendation, and to examine potential associations between adherence to the 8-hours sleep recommendation and satisfaction with life.

Although patients with alpha-fetoprotein-negative hepatocellular carcinoma (AFPNHCC) have a favorable prognosis, a high risk of postoperative recurrence remains. We developed and validated a novel liver fibrosis assessment index, the direct bilirubin-gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase-to-platelet ratio (DGPRI). DGPRI was calculated for each of the 378 patients with AFPNHCC who underwent hepatic resection. The patients were divided into high- and low-score groups using the optimal cutoff value. The Lasso-Cox method was used to identify the characteristics of postoperative recurrence, followed by multivariate Cox regression analysis to determine the independent risk factors associated with recurrence. A nomogram model incorporating the DGPRI was developed and validated. High DGPRI was identified as an independent risk factor (hazard ratio = 2.086) for postoperative recurrence in patients with AFPNHCC. DGPRI exhibited better predictive ability for recurrence 1-5 years after surgery than direct bilirubin and the gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase-to-platelet ratio. The DGPRI-nomogram model demonstrated good predictive ability, with a C-index of 0.674 (95% CI 0.621-0.727). The calibration curves and clinical decision analysis demonstrated its clinical utility. The DGPRI nomogram model performed better than the TNM and BCLC staging systems for predicting recurrence-free survival. DGPRI is a novel and effective predictor of postoperative recurrence in patients with AFPNHCC and provides a superior assessment of preoperative liver fibrosis.

The public health measures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may have indirectly impacted other health outcomes, such as falls among older adults. The purpose of this study was to examine trends in fall-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits among older adults before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada.

Despite a lack of evidence, patients are often not fed for 48-96 h after upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB); however, many trials have demonstrated the benefits of early nutrition (EN). We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RTCs) to evaluate the outcomes of EN compared to delayed nutrition (DN) after UGIB. The protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42022372306). PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched on the 27th of April 2024 to identify eligible RCTs. The primary outcomes were early (within 7 days) and late (within 30-42 days) mortality and rebleeding. Pooled risk ratios (RR), mean differences (MD), and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using a random-effects model. A total of 10 trials with 1051 patients were included in the analysis. Early mortality was not significantly different between the two groups (RR 1.20, CI 0.85-1.71, I = 0%), whereas late mortality was reduced to a clinically relevant extent in the EN group (RR 0.61, CI 0.35-1.06, I = 0%). When comparing the two groups, we found no significant difference in terms of early and late rebleeding (RR 1.04, CI 0.66-1.63, I = 0% and RR 1.16, CI 0.63-2.13, I = 0%, respectively). Our analysis also showed that the length of hospital stay was reduced in the EN group compared to the DN group (MD -1.22 days, CI: -2.43 to -0.01, I = 94%). In conclusion, compared with DN, EN (within 24 h) appears to be a safe intervention and could reduce the length of hospital stay without increasing the risk of complications after UGIB.

In Africa, the delivery of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) at public healthcare clinics is challenged by understaffing, overcrowding, and HIV-associated stigma, often resulting in low PrEP uptake and continuation among clients. Giving clients the option to refill PrEP at nearby private pharmacies, which are often more convenient and have shorter wait times, may address these challenges and improve PrEP continuation.

Clinical databases typically include, for each patient, many heterogeneous features, for example blood exams, the clinical history before the onset of the disease, the evolution of the symptoms, the results of imaging exams, and many others. We here propose to exploit a recently developed statistical approach, the Information Imbalance, to compare different subsets of patient features and automatically select the set of features that is maximally informative for a given clinical purpose, especially in minority classes. We adapt the Information Imbalance approach to work in a clinical framework, where patient features are often categorical and are generally available only for a fraction of the patients. We apply this algorithm to a data set of 1300 patients treated for COVID-19 in Udine hospital before October 2021. Using this approach, we find combinations of features which, if used in combination, are maximally informative of the clinical fate and of the severity of the disease. The optimal number of features, which is determined automatically, turns out to be between 10 and 15. These features can be measured at admission. The approach can be used also if the features are available only for a fraction of the patients, does not require imputation and, importantly, is able to automatically select features with small inter-feature correlation. Clinical insights deriving from this study are also discussed.

This study aims to investigate the impact of four exercise modes (aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, aerobic combined with resistance multimodal exercise, and stretching) on the physical performance of cancer patients.

Diabetic patients are often comorbid with dyslipidemia, however, the relationship between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) in the adult diabetic population remains to be fully elucidated.The aim of this study is to evaluate the associations between HDL-C and DR in the United States adults with diabetes.

Although prior studies have demonstrated that children with high levels of fundamental movement skill (FMS) are more active throughout the day, little is known about children's FMS and their physical activity (PA) during different segments of the school day (e.g., recess, lunch break, and physical education). The present study focused on FMS and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) during school day and identifies the association between children's FMS and MVPA during different segments of the school day in China.

This study aimed to determine if there is a relationship between the presence of maxillary sinus pathology, nasal septum deviation and various lengths of the osteomeatal complex.

Members of the Anaplasmataceae family, such as the Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species, cause economic losses and public health risks. However, the exact economic impact has not been comprehensively assessed in Mozambique due to limited data available on its basic epidemiology. Therefore, we investigated the molecular occurrence and identity of Anaplasma and Ehrlichia spp. infecting beef cattle in Maputo province, Mozambique.

The immune microenvironment impacts tumor growth, invasion, metastasis, and patient survival and may provide opportunities for therapeutic intervention in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Although never studied as a potential modulator of the immune response in most cancers, Keratin 17 (K17), a biomarker of the most aggressive (basal) molecular subtype of PDAC, is intimately involved in the histogenesis of the immune response in psoriasis, basal cell carcinoma, and cervical squamous cell carcinoma. Thus, we hypothesized that K17 expression could also impact the immune cell response in PDAC, and that uncovering this relationship could provide insight to guide the development of immunotherapeutic opportunities to extend patient survival.

Despite growing recognition of loneliness as a global public health concern, research on its occurrence and precipitants among men across different life stages remains limited and inconclusive. This study aims to address this gap by investigating the prevalence and predictors of loneliness among a large, representative data set of Australian adult men.

Antiresorptive therapy (AR) disrupts osseous homeostasis and can induce direct irritation over the gastrointestinal mucosa; however, its possible erosive effects on the oral epithelium have not been totally described. Among the most frequent oral erosive lesions, oral lichen planus (OLP) frequently presents as painful mucosal ulcerations, arising from basal membrane inflammatory damage. Thus, the aim of this retrospective study was to describe the association between AR and the incidence of OLP.

An aging population has contributed to an increasing prevalence of functional limitations among older adults. Family support plays a crucial role in toileting and bathing assistance. Yet, the relationship between availability of family care resources and such actual assistance remains insufficiently explored. Our study aims to describe availability of family care resources and identify the association between availability of family care resources and toileting assistance or bathing assistance.

The mortality rate associated with open abdominal surgery is a significant concern for patients and healthcare providers. This is particularly worrisome in Africa due to scarce workforce resources and poor early warning systems for detecting physiological deterioration in patients who develop complications.

Despite the strong evidence supporting guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), prescription rates in clinical practice are still lacking.

Despite the resources and personnel mobilized in Latin America and the Caribbean to reduce the maternal mortality ratio (MMR, maternal deaths per 100 000 live births) in women aged 10-54 years by 75% between 2000 and 2015, the region failed to meet the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) due to persistent barriers to access quality reproductive, maternal, and neonatal health services.

Informed consent is an ethical and legal component of healthcare. It ensures patient autonomy and allows patients to make decisions regarding their treatment. In dental care, informed consent is particularly important because most dental procedures are invasive. Since dental students are future dentists, they need to learn about their ethical obligations and accountability through the informed consent process as this is critical to patients' well-being. This study aimed to determine dental students' knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the informed consent process for oral health care in Makerere University Dental Hospital, Uganda.

Despite the effectiveness of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, American Indians (AIs) have low screening rates in the US. Many AIs receive care at Indian Health Services, Tribal, and Urban Indian (I/T/U) healthcare facilities, where published evidence regarding the implementation of CRC screening interventions is lacking. To address this gap, the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center collaborated with two tribally-operated healthcare facilities in New Mexico with the goal of improving CRC screening rates among New Mexico's AI communities.

An acute Achilles tendon rupture represents a common tendon injury, and its operative methods have been developed over the years. This study aimed to quantify the learning curve for the minimally invasive acute Achilles tendon rupture repair.

Disparities in child healthcare service utilization are unacceptably high in Ethiopia. Nevertheless, little is known about underlying barriers to accessing child health services, especially among low socioeconomic subgroups and in remote areas. This study aims to identify barriers to equity in the use of child healthcare services in Ethiopia.

Little is known about the state of psychological distress of the elderly in China, and research on specific subgroups such as Hakka older adults is almost lacking. This study investigates psychache and associated factors among Hakka elderly in Fujian, China.

F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT has been widely used for the differential diagnosis of cancer. Semi-quantitative standardized uptake value (SUV) is known to be affected by multiple factors and may make it difficult to differentiate between benign and malignant lesions. It is crucial to find reliable quantitative metabolic parameters to further support the diagnosis. This study aims to evaluate the value of the quantitative metabolic parameters derived from dynamic FDG PET/CT in the differential diagnosis of lung cancer and predicting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status.

The link between dietary fiber intake and Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is under exploration, yielding inconsistent findings. Considering the limitations of previous research and the significance of dietary fiber in hepatic steatosis, this study investigates the association between dietary fiber intake and Controlled Attenuation Parameter (CAP) among 5935 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

As co-design and community-based participatory research gain traction in health and disability, the challenges and benefits of collaboratively conducting research need to be considered. Current literature supports using co-design to improve service quality and create more satisfactory services. However, while the 'why' of using co-design is well understood, there is limited literature on 'how' to co-design. We aimed to describe the application of co-design from start to finish within a specific case study and to reflect on the challenges and benefits created by specific process design choices.

Interprofessional primary care teams (IPCTs) work together to enhance care. Despite evidence on the benefits of IPCTs, implementation remains challenging. This research aims to 1) identify and prioritize barriers and enablers, and 2) co-develop team-level strategies to support IPCT implementation in Nova Scotia, Canada.

The popularity of e-cigarettes is on the rise among current cigarette users. Therefore, there are concerns about their health implications. This study examined the impact of health-related social media use on e-cigarette use among current cigarette users. It assesses the mediating influence of online anti-tobacco messages and the moderating role of the harm perception of e-cigarettes.

Frailty not only affects disease survival but also impacts the long-term function and quality life of all adults diagnosed with and/or treated for cancer.The American Heart Association has introduced Life's Essential 8 (LE8) as a novel metric for assessing cardiovascular health. Currently, LE8's application in evaluating the frailty of cancer survivors remains unreported. This research seeks to explore the connection between LE8 scores and frailty levels in cancer survivors across the United States, thereby addressing a significant void in existing studies.

The role of diet quality on malnutrition in older adults is uncertain, due the paucity of the research conducted and the use of use of screening tools that did not consider phenotypic criteria of malnutrition.

N-methyladenosine (mA) RNA methylation is critical for regulating mRNA translation; however, its role in the development, progression, and immunotherapy response of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains largely unknown. Using Tgfbr1 and Pten conditional knockout (2cKO) mice, we found the neoplastic transformation of oral mucosa was accompanied by increased mA modification levels. Analysis of mA-associated genes identified TRMT61A as a key mA writer linked to cancer progression and poor prognosis. Mechanistically, TRMT61A-mediated tRNA-mA modification promotes MYC protein synthesis, upregulating programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. Moreover, mA modification levels were also elevated in tumors treated with oncolytic herpes simplex virus (oHSV), contributing to reactive PD-L1 upregulation. Therapeutic mA inhibition sustained oHSV-induced antitumor immunity and reduced tumor growth, representing a promising strategy to alleviate resistance. These findings indicate that mA inhibition can prevent immune escape after oHSV therapy by reducing PD-L1 expression, providing a mutually reinforcing combination immunotherapy approach.

Mastitis is a common reason new mothers visit their general practitioner (GP). In Australia, the Therapeutic Guidelines: Antibiotic provides practical advice to GPs managing a range of infections, including mastitis. It is not known if Australian GPs prescribe antibiotics and order investigations as recommended for the management of mastitis.

Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most commonly diagnosed tick-borne disease in the northern hemisphere. Since an efficient vaccine is not yet available, prevention of transmission is essential. This, in turn, requires a thorough comprehension of the spatiotemporal dynamics of LB transmission as well as underlying drivers. This study aims to identify spatiotemporal trends and unravel environmental and socio-economic covariates of LB incidence in Poland, using consistent monitoring data from 2010 through 2019 obtained for 320 (aggregated) districts. Using yearly LB incidence values, we identified an overall increase in LB incidence from 2010 to 2019. Additionally, we observed a large variation of LB incidences between the Polish districts, with the highest risks of LB in the eastern districts. We applied spatiotemporal Bayesian models in an all-subsets modeling framework to evaluate potential associations between LB incidence and various potentially relevant environmental and socio-economic variables, including climatic conditions as well as characteristics of the vegetation and the density of tick host species. The best-supported spatiotemporal model identified positive relationships between LB incidence and forest cover, the share of parks and green areas, minimum monthly temperature, mean monthly precipitation, and gross primary productivity. A negative relationship was found with human population density. The findings of our study indicate that LB incidence in Poland might increase as a result of ongoing climate change, notably increases in minimum monthly temperature. Our results may aid in the development of targeted prevention strategies.

Depressive symptoms are one of the most common psychiatric disorders, with a high lifetime prevalence rate among middle-aged and elderly Chinese. Obesity may be one of the risk factors for depressive symptoms, but there is currently no consensus on this view. Therefore, we investigate the relationship and predictive ability of 13 obesity- and lipid-related indices with depressive symptoms among middle-aged and elderly Chinese.

Despite the critical role of self-disturbance in psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, its diverse behavioral manifestations remain poorly understood. This investigation aimed to elucidate unique patterns of self-referential processing in affective disorders and first-episode schizophrenia. A total of 156 participants (41 first-episode schizophrenia [SZ], 33 bipolar disorder [BD], 44 major depressive disorder [MDD], and 38 healthy controls [HC]) engaged in a self-referential effect (SRE) task, assessing trait adjectives for self-descriptiveness, applicability to mother, or others, followed by an unexpected recognition test. All groups displayed preferential self- and mother-referential processing with no significant differences in recognition scores. However, MDD patients showed significantly enhanced self-referential recognition scores and increased bias compared to HC, first-episode SZ, and BD. The present study provides empirical evidence for increased self-focus in MDD and demonstrates that first-episode SZ and BD patients maintain intact self-referential processing abilities. These findings refine our understanding of self-referential processing impairments across psychiatric conditions, suggesting that it could serve as a supplementary measure for assessing treatment response in first-episode SZ and potentially function as a discriminative diagnostic criterion between MDD and BD.

Diarrhea is a common public health problem and the third leading cause of death in the world among children under the age of five years. An estimated 2 billion cases and 1.9 million deaths are recorded among children under the age of five years every year. It causes body fluid loss and electrolyte imbalance. Even though, early initiation of recommended homemade fluid is a simple and effective approach to prevent diarrhea-related complications and mortality of children, recommended homemade fluid utilization for the treatment of diarrhea is still low in sub-Saharan African countries. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the magnitude of recommended homemade fluid utilization for the treatment of diarrhea and associated factors among children under five in sub-Saharan African countries.

Cell components soluble in neutral detergent are a diverse group, both compositionally and nutritionally. The present study aimed to evaluate production responses, behavior (eating, ruminating, and idling), and nitrogen balance of dairy goats fed different ratios of neutral detergent-soluble carbohydrate fractions. Five multiparous Alpine does with mean ± SD initial body mass of 49.5 ± 7.9 kg and 60 days of lactation were randomly assigned in a 5 × 5 Latin square design. The treatments were the ratios of starch (starch associated with soluble sugar [StSS]) to neutral detergent-soluble fiber (NDSF) (StSS:NDSF): 0.89, 1.05, 1.24, 1.73, and 2.92. No effect was observed (P > 0.05) of StSS:NDSF on the intakes of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and NDSC. However, DM intake showed a quadratic behavior (P = 0.049). The ingestive behavior was affected by StSS:NDSF linearly increased (P = 0.002) the feeding efficiency. The increase in StSS:NDSF caused a linear increase in fecal (P = 0.011), urinary (P < 0.001), and milk nitrogen excretion (P = 0.024). The increase in StSS:NDSF affected (P = 0.048) milk yield and net energy lactation (P = 0.036). In conclusion, dairy goats experience reduced dry matter intake and milk yield when subjected to high-NDSC diets, specifically those above 1.24 StSS:NDSF ratio. Elevated NDSC levels in the diets lead to decreased feeding time, whereas rumination remains unaffected. Nitrogen losses in goats increase linearly with high-NDSC diets, and a significant impact on nitrogen balance.

Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMS) is a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder caused by SHANK3 haploinsufficiency and is associated with an increased risk for seizures. Previous literature indicates that around one third of individuals with PMS also have epilepsy or seizures, with a wide range of types and ages of onset. Investigating the impact of seizures on intellectual and adaptive functioning for PMS is a primary concern for caregivers and is important to understanding the natural history of this syndrome.

Antimicrobial resistance is an emerging threat to public health around the world. The study employs computational and biophysical methods to investigate the properties of cefotaxime and meropenem's binding to various beta-lactamases like TEM-1, SHV-1, KPC-2, and Amp-C. The enzyme kinetics of purified proteins revealed an increase in Michaelis constant (K) value in the presence of meropenem and cefotaxime, indicating a decrease in enzyme affinity for nitrocefin. Proteins interact with meropenem/cefotaxime, causing quenching through complex formation. All proteins have one binding site, and binding constant (K) values are 10, indicating strong interaction. The study found that meropenem and cefotaxime had high fitness scores for Amp-C, KPC-2,TEM-1 and SHV-1, with binding energy ranging from -7.4 to -7.8, and hydrogen bonds between them. Molecular Dynamic simulation of protein-ligand complexes revealed cefotaxime-binding proteins have slightly lower Root Mean Square Deviation(RMSD) than meropenem-binding proteins, indicating stable association antibiotics with these proteins.

Limited information is available on the effect of ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) and abnormal glucose metabolism in elderly people. We aimed to analyze the prevalence of CVH behaviors, abnormal glucose metabolism, and their correlation in 65 and older people.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines are ambiguous over the need for patients at increased risk of infective endocarditis (IE) to receive antibiotic prophylaxis (AP) prior to invasive dental procedures (IDPs), and this has caused confusion for patients and dentists alike. Moreover, the current law on consent requires clinicians to ensure that patients are made aware of any material risk they might be exposed to by any proposed dental treatment and what can be done to ameliorate this risk, so that the patient can decide for themselves how they wish to proceed. The aim of this article is to provide dentists with the latest information on the IE-risk posed by IDPs to different patient populations (the general population and those defined as being at moderate or high risk of IE), and data on the effectiveness of AP in reducing the IE risk in these populations. This provides the information dentists need to facilitate the informed consent discussions they are legally required to have with patients at increased risk of IE about the risks posed by IDPs and how this can be minimised. The article also provides practical information and advice for dentists on how to manage patients at increased IE risk who present for dental treatment.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a slowly progressive neurodegenerating disease that may eventually lead to disabling condition and pose a threat to the health of aging populations. This study aimed to explore the association of two potential risk factors, selenium and cadmium, with the prognosis of Parkinson's disease as well as their interaction effect.

The continuation of bone-modifying agents (BMAs) in patients with established medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) is a common concern among dentists and oncologists. There is little evidence supporting or refuting the continued use of BMAs or drug holidays and their impact on established MRONJ. This paper evaluates the outcome of continued BMAs use on the patient's MRONJ status. A retrospective review of 29 oncology patients undergoing active cancer care for either metastatic disease or multiple myeloma was conducted. Data on demographics, oncological status, BMA history and MRONJ status were collected. In total, 90% of patients were judged to have healed or stable MRONJ while continuing BMAs. Most patients (69%) continued the same BMA regime (three- or four-weekly) that they were on before developing MRONJ. The average number of BMAs doses received after an MRONJ diagnosis was 12 (range 1-48). Three patients (10.3%) were found to have MRONJ progression, with two patients developing new sites of necrosis. This real-world dataset suggests that the majority of MRONJ cases remain stable and will not worsen with the continuation of BMAs.

Tubal factor infertility (TFI) is common in sub-Saharan Africa and often secondary to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Anaerobes associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV) are also found in PIDs widely dominated by Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis), whose role in TFI is better demonstrated than that of BV.

Tuberculosis (TB) poses a major public health challenge, particularly in children. A substantial proportion of children with TB disease remain undetected and unconfirmed. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a highly sensitive point-of-care test. This study aims to assess the performance of serological assays based on various antigen targets and antibody properties in distinguishing children (0-18 years) with TB disease (1) from healthy TB-exposed children, (2) children with non-TB lower respiratory tract infections, and (3) from children with TB infection.

To evaluate the urodynamic changes in patients who have undergone colocystoplasty (CCP), gastrocystoplasty (GCP) and ileocystoplasty (ICP) in a retrospective study. Changes in urinary continence, incidence of pathologic contractions before and after augmentation, alterations of urodynamic parameters were also examined.

Kobreisa littledalei, belonging to the Cyperaceae family is the first Kobresia species with a reference genome and the most dominant species in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau alpine meadows. It has several resistance genes which could be used to breed improved crop varieties. Reverse Transcription Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) is a popular and accurate gene expression analysis method. Its reliability depends on the expression levels of reference genes, which vary by species, tissues and environments. However, K.littledalei lacks a stable and normalized reference gene for RT-qPCR analysis.

A growing number of Lyme disease (LD) cases in the U.S. are reported in states neighbouring those with high-incidence (>10 cases per 100,000 population) rates. Considering the evolving epidemiology, high-incidence counties in many of these "neighbouring states," and the forthcoming vaccines, understanding the drivers of vaccination intention is critical, particularly how drivers of intention in neighbouring states vary relative to regions currently classified as high incidence. This study uses the Health Belief Model (HBM) to determine the key drivers associated with vaccine intention for U.S. adults and caregivers of children residing in neighbouring states.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is prone to metastasis and recurrence after surgery, which is one of the main causes for its poor treatment and prognosis. Therefore, it is essential to identify biomarkers associated with metastasis and recurrence in CRC. DNA methylation has a regulatory role in cancer metastasis, tumor immune microenvironment (TME), and prognosis and may be one of the most valuable biomarkers for predicting CRC metastasis and prognosis. We constructed a diagnostic model and nomogram that can effectively predict CRC metastasis based on the differential methylation CpG sites (DMCs) between metastatic and non-metastatic CRC patients. Then, we identified 17 DMCs associated with progression free survival (PFS) of CRC and constructed a prognostic model. The prognosis model based on 17 DMCs can predict the PFS of CRC with medium to high accuracy. The results of immunohistochemical analysis indicated that the protein expression levels of the genes involved in prognostic DMCs were different between normal and colorectal cancer tissues. According to the results of immune-related analysis, we found that the low-risk patients had better immunotherapy response. In addition, high risk scores were negatively correlated with high tumor mutation burden (TMB) levels, and patients with low TMB levels in the high-risk group had the worst PFS. Our work shows the clinical value of DNA methylation in predicting CRC metastasis and PFS, as well as their correlation with TME, immunotherapy, and TMB, which helps understand the changes of DNA methylation in CRC metastasis and improving the treatment and prognosis of CRC.

In the modern day, multimedia and digital resources play a crucial role in demystifying complex topics and improving communication. Additionally, images, videos, and documents speed data administration, fostering both individual and organizational efficiency. Healthcare providers use tools like X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans to improve diagnostic and therapeutic capacities, highlighting the importance of these tools in contemporary communication, data processing, and healthcare. Protecting medical data becomes essential for maintaining patient confidentiality and service dependability in a time when digital assets are crucial to the healthcare industry. In order to overcome this issue, this study analyses the DWT-HD-SVD algorithm-based invisible watermarking in medical data. The main goal is to verify medical data by looking at a DWT-based hybrid technique used on X-ray images with various watermark sizes (256*256, 128*128, 64*64). The algorithm's imperceptibility and robustness are examined using metrics like Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) and are analyzed using Normalized Connection (NC), Bit Error Rate (BER), and Bit Error Rate (BCR) in order to evaluate its resistance to various attacks. The results show that the method works better with smaller watermark sizes than it does with larger ones.

While a core aim of early intervention psychosis services (EIPS) is to prevent hospitalisation, many with a first episode of psychosis (FEP) will require inpatient care. We explored young people's (YP) and their carers' hospitalisation experiences prior to and during EIPS engagement and how factors across these services influenced these experiences.

Despite evidence showing rising suicidality among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) and Black adolescents, separately, there is scant research on suicide risk trajectories among youth groups across both racial and sexual identities. Thus, we examined trajectories of self-reported suicidal ideation and attempt and their associations with bullying among New York City-based adolescents. We analyzed 2009-2019 NYC Youth Risk Behavior Survey data. We ran weighted descriptive and logistic regression analyses to test for trends in dichotomous suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, bullying at school, and e-bullying variables among students across both race/ethnicity and sexual identity. We assessed associations between suicidality trends and bullying with logistic regressions. Models controlled for age and sex. Suicidal ideation and attempt were 2 and 5 times more likely among LGB than heterosexual participants, respectively. Bullying at school and e-bullying were 2 times more likely among LGB than heterosexual participants. Black LGB participants were the only LGB group for which both suicidal ideation (AOR = 1.04, SE = .003, p < .001) and attempt (AOR = 1.04, SE = .004, p < .001) increased over time. Both increased at accelerating rates. Conversely, White LGB participants were the only LGB group for which both suicidal ideation (AOR = 0.98, SE = .006, p < .001) and attempt (AOR = 0.92, SE = .008, p < .001) decreased over time. These changes occurred in parallel with significant bullying increases for Black and Latina/o/x LGB adolescents and significant bullying decreases for White LGB adolescents. Bullying was positively associated with suicidal ideation and attempt for all adolescents. Findings suggest resources aimed at curbing rising adolescent suicide should be focused on Black LGB youth.

The WHO highlight alcohol, tobacco, unhealthy food, and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes as one of the most effective policies for preventing and reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases. This umbrella review aimed to identify and summarise evidence from systematic reviews that report the relationship between price and demand or price and disease/death for alcohol, tobacco, unhealthy food, and SSBs. Given the recent recognition as gambling as a public health problem, we also included gambling.

Sedentary behavior, or time spent sitting, may increase risk for dynapenic abdominal obesity (DAO), but there are currently no studies on this topic.

Seasonal influenza causes annual school breaks and student absenteeism in Hong Kong schools and kindergartens. This proposal aims to conduct a retrospective cohort study to evaluate the impact of a school-based influenza vaccination (SIV) programme on absenteeism and outbreaks at schools in Hong Kong.