This study utilized arterial spin labeling-magnetic resonance imaging (ASL-MRI) to explore the developmental trajectory of brain activity associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Pulsed arterial spin labeling (ASL) data were acquired from 157 children with ADHD and 109 children in a control group, all aged 6-12 years old. Participants were categorized into the age groups of 6-7, 8-9, and 10-12, after which comparisons were performed between each age group for ASL analysis of cerebral blood flow (CBF). In total, the ADHD group exhibited significantly lower CBF in the left superior temporal gyrus and right middle frontal gyrus regions than the control group. Further analysis revealed: (1) The comparison between the ADHD group (N = 70) aged 6-7 and the age-matched control group (N = 33) showed no statistically significant difference between. (2) However, compared with the control group aged 8-9 (N = 39), the ADHD group of the same age (N = 53) showed significantly lower CBF in the left postcentral gyrus and left middle frontal gyrus regions. (3) Further, the ADHD group aged 10-12 (N = 34) demonstrated significantly lower CBF in the left superior occipital region than the age-matched control group (N = 37). These age-specific differences suggest variations in ADHD-related domains during brain development post age 6-7.

BACKGROUND: Suicide is a significant public health issue. Many risk prediction tools have been developed to estimate an individual\'s risk of suicide. Risk prediction models can go beyond individual risk assessment; one important application of risk prediction models is population health planning. Suicide is a result of the interaction among the risk and protective factors at the individual, health care system, and community levels. Thus, policy and decision makers can play an important role in suicide prevention. However, few prediction models for the population risk of suicide have been developed.
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to develop and validate prediction models for the population risk of suicide using health administrative data, considering individual-, health system-, and community-level predictors.
METHODS: We used a case-control study design to develop sex-specific risk prediction models for suicide, using the health administrative data in Quebec, Canada. The training data included all suicide cases (n=8899) that occurred from January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2010. The control group was a 1% random sample of living individuals in each year between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2010 (n=645,590). Logistic regression was used to develop the prediction models based on individual-, health care system-, and community-level predictors. The developed model was converted into synthetic estimation models, which concerted the individual-level predictors into community-level predictors. The synthetic estimation models were directly applied to the validation data from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2019. We assessed the performance of the synthetic estimation models with four indicators: the agreement between predicted and observed proportions of suicide, mean average error, root mean square error, and the proportion of correctly identified high-risk regions.
RESULTS: The sex-specific models based on individual data had good discrimination (male model: C=0.79; female model: C=0.85) and calibration (Brier score for male model 0.01; Brier score for female model 0.005). With the regression-based synthetic models applied in the validation data, the absolute differences between the synthetic risk estimates and observed suicide risk ranged from 0% to 0.001%. The root mean square errors were under 0.2. The synthetic estimation model for males correctly predicted 4 of 5 high-risk regions in 8 years, and the model for females correctly predicted 4 of 5 high-risk regions in 5 years.
CONCLUSIONS: Using linked health administrative databases, this study demonstrated the feasibility and the validity of developing prediction models for the population risk of suicide, incorporating individual-, health system-, and community-level variables. Synthetic estimation models built on routinely collected health administrative data can accurately predict the population risk of suicide. This effort can be enhanced by timely access to other critical information at the population level.

Our aim is to evaluate serum Raftlin levels as a biomarker for diagnosing and monitoring disease activity in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and Psoriatic arthritis (PsA). This trial included 40 axSpA patients, 40 PsA patients, and 40 healthy participants as the control group. Disease activity was assessed with Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score for axSpA patients and The Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis for PsA patients. The Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada index, health assessment questionnaire-disability index, and numeric rating scale were used to evaluate the enthesitis severity, disability, and pain status of all patients. Serum Raftlin levels were determined using the ELISA method. The 3 groups had no statistical differences regarding gender, age, weight, height, BMI, educational status, and exercise habits. The axSpA group had higher Raftlin levels than the PsA and control groups, and Raftlin levels were statistically significant in predicting the likelihood of axSpA. We found no statistically significant differences between the PsA and control groups. We found no statistically significant difference in Raftlin levels in HLA-B27 positive versus HLA-B27 negative patients in both axSpA and PsA groups. Our results also did not detect any correlation of Raftlin levels with Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, health assessment questionnaire-disability index, numeric rating scale, and Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada index in axSpA patients. Receiver operating characteristic analysis determined that Raftlin level ≥ 6.31 ng/mL discriminates axSpA from normal individuals with 92.5% sensitivity, 59% specificity, and an area under the curve of 0.738. Our results demonstrate that although serum Raftlin levels are elevated in axSpA patients, Raftlin cannot be used as an alone diagnostic marker for axSpA. Furthermore, it was not found to be related to the monitoring of disease activity, the level of pain, disability, or severity of enthesitis. This study is prospectively registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov (ID: NCT05771389).

BACKGROUND: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a consequence of significant disability and health issues globally, and long COVID represents the symptoms of neuro-musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and respiratory complications.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify the symptom responses and disease burden of long COVID in individuals with spinal cord injury.
METHODS: This case-control study was conducted on patients with SCI residing at a specialised rehabilitation centre in Bangladesh. Forty patients with SCI with and without long COVID symptoms (LCS) were enrolled in this study at a 1:1 ratio according to WHO criteria.
RESULTS: Twelve LCS were observed in patients with SCI, including fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, memory loss, headache, respiratory problems, anxiety, depression, insomnia, problem in ADL problem in work, palpitation, and weakness. The predictors of developing long COVID include increasing age (p<0.002), increasing BMI (p<0.03), and longer duration of spinal cord injury (p<0.004). A significant difference (p<0.01) in overall years of healthy life lost due to disability (YLD) for non-long COVID cases was 2.04±0.596 compared to long COVID (LC) cases 1.22±2.09 was observed.
CONCLUSIONS: Bangladeshi patients of SCI presented 12 long COVID symptoms and have a significant disease burden compared to non long COVID cases.

Introducción: La exposición nutricional se considera la principal exposición ambiental que contribuye a la formación de cálculos biliares. El objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar el patrón de consumo alimentario de casos y controles de EC y estimar el riesgo de desarrollar la enfermedad según los distintos patrones constituidos. Métodos: Se llevó a cabo un estudio analítico retrospectivo transversal de casos y controles, anidado a un estudio de prevalencia realizado en Rosario. Todos los participantes fueron entrevistados personalmente. El consumo de alimentos se consignó a través de un cuestionario semi-cuantitativo de frecuencia de consumo. Para determinar patrones de consumo alimentario se realizó un análisis de componentes principales, y análisis de regresión logística múltiple para evaluar riesgos. Resultados: La muestra quedó conformada por 51 casos y 69 controles. Se determinaron dos componentes que permitían diferenciar los casos de los controles, a través de las cuales se establecieron 2 patrones de consumo. Los casos se caracterizaron por un consumo determinado por el Patrón Poco saludable (altas ingestas de grasas animales, azúcar, cereales, granos, fiambres y embutidos) y los controles por el consumo del patrón Saludable (altas ingestas de pollo sin piel, frutas secas, carne vacuna magra, frutas, lácteos enteros). El patrón Poco saludable, aumentó el riesgo de desarrollar EC mientras que el patrón Saludable, se comportó como protector. Conclusión principal: Los patrones constituidos diferencian los casos de los controles, y la ingesta propia de los casos se correlaciona con un perfil de consumo que caracteriza a las culturas occidentales modernas y urbanas.

BACKGROUND: Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is an aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma associated with Plasmodium falciparum and Epstein-Barr virus, both of which affect metabolic pathways. The metabolomic patterns of BL is unknown.
METHODS: We measured 627 metabolites in pre-chemotherapy treatment plasma samples from 25 male children (6-11 years) with BL and 25 cancer-free area- and age-frequency-matched male controls from the Epidemiology of Burkitt Lymphoma in East African Children and Minors study in Uganda using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Unconditional, age-adjusted logistic regression analysis was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the BL association with 1-standard deviation increase in the log-metabolite concentration, adjusting for multiple comparisons using false discovery rate (FDR) thresholds and Bonferroni correction.
RESULTS: Compared to controls, levels for 42 metabolite concentrations differed in BL cases (FDR < 0.001), including triacylglyceride (18:0_38:6), alpha-aminobutyric acid (AABA), ceramide (d18:1/20:0), phosphatidylcholine ae C40:6 and phosphatidylcholine C38:6 as the top signals associated with BL (ORs = 6.9 to 14.7, P < 2.4✕10- 4). Two metabolites (triacylglyceride (18:0_38:6) and AABA) selected using stepwise logistic regression discriminated BL cases from controls with an area under the curve of 0.97 (95% CI: 0.94, 1.00).
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings warrant further examination of plasma metabolites as potential biomarkers for BL risk/diagnosis.

UNASSIGNED: The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index is a sign of atherosclerosis in cardiovascular diseases. The TyG index is thought to have clinical significance for the assessment of vascular damage. In this study we aimed to demonstrate the connection between the TyG index and retinal vein occlusion (RVO).
UNASSIGNED: This case-control observational study involved 492 participants aged 40-90, admitted to the ophthalmology outpatient clinic of our hospital. TyG index was calculated using the formula: ln(fasting TG [mg/dL] × fasting plasma glucose [mg/dL]/2).
UNASSIGNED: The RVO group included 387 patients (181 women and 206 men) and the control group included 115 patients (61 women and 54 men). The average patient age was 62.9±11.1 years in the RVO group and 56.7±8.7 years in the control group. The TyG index was higher in the RVO group (8.9±0.7) than in the control group (8.8±0.6). This difference was statistically significant (p=0.04). The correlation was statistically significant when evaluated according to age and sex by multivariate logistic regression analysis (odds ratio: 1.45, confidence interval: 1.03- 2.02, p=0.03).
UNASSIGNED: The TyG index is a novel atherogenicity index that is derived from routine blood tests and can be used to determine the risk of RVO in at-risk individuals with a simple calculation. Therefore, the TyG index could help as a reliable guide to identify individuals at RVO with high risk and initiate early intervention.

BACKGROUND: Persistent hyperuricemia can lead to the generation and deposition of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals. This can trigger gouty arthritis (GA), which in turn induces inflammation. Activation of the Nod-like receptor pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome plays a critical role in the onset and progression of GA. Autophagy may have a dual effect on GA with regard to the NLRP3 inflammasome. Therefore, the present study aimed to gain a deeper comprehension of the interaction between autophagy and NLRP3 inflammasome activation is imperative for developing more efficacious treatments for GA.
METHODS: Peripheral blood monocytes (PBMCs) were first isolated from GA patients and healthy controls and underwent bulk RNA sequencing analysis. Overexpression and knockdown of dual specificity phosphatase 1 (DUSP1) was performed in THP-1 monocytes to investigate its role in the immune response and mitochondrial damage. The luciferase assay and Western blot analysis were used to study the interaction between autophagy and NLRP3 inflammasome activation.
RESULTS: Bulk RNA sequencing analysis showed significant upregulation of DUSP1 expression in PBMCs from GA patients compared to healthy controls. This result was subsequently verified by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). DUSP1 expression in human THP-1 monocytes was also shown to increase after MSU treatment. Downregulation of DUSP1 expression increased the secretion of inflammatory cytokines after MSU treatment, whereas the overexpression of DUSP1 decreased the secretion levels. Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) combined with adenosine-triphosphate (ATP) led to mitochondrial damage, which was rescued by overexpressing DUSP1. DUSP1 overexpression further increased the level of autophagy following MSU treatment, whereas downregulation of DUSP1 decreased autophagy. Treatment with the autophagy inhibitor 3-Methyladenine (3-MA) restored inflammatory cytokine secretion levels in the DUSP1 overexpression group. MSU caused pronounced pathological ankle swelling in vivo. However, DUSP1 overexpression significantly mitigated this phenotype, accompanied by significant downregulation of inflammatory cytokine secretion levels in the joint tissues.
CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed a novel function and mechanism for DUSP1 in promoting autophagy to mitigate the MSU-induced immune response in GA. This finding suggests potential diagnostic biomarkers and anti-inflammatory targets for more effective GA therapy.

In 2022, an outbreak with severe bloodstream infections caused by Serratia marcescens occurred in an adult intensive care unit (ICU) in Hungary. Eight cases, five of whom died, were detected. Initial control measures could not stop the outbreak. We conducted a matched case-control study. In univariable analysis, the cases were more likely to be located around one sink in the ICU and had more medical procedures and medications than the controls, however, the multivariable analysis was not conclusive. Isolates from blood cultures of the cases and the ICU environment were closely related by whole genome sequencing and resistant or tolerant against the quaternary ammonium compound surface disinfectant used in the ICU. Thus, S. marcescens was able to survive in the environment despite regular cleaning and disinfection. The hospital replaced the disinfectant with another one, tightened the cleaning protocol and strengthened hand hygiene compliance among the healthcare workers. Together, these control measures have proved effective to prevent new cases. Our results highlight the importance of multidisciplinary outbreak investigations, including environmental sampling, molecular typing and testing for disinfectant resistance.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), an infectious disease resulting from a virus known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2), was discovered in China in 2019 and causes several mild to moderate respiratory conditions. This study aimed to reveal the changes in serum interleukin-10 (IL-10) and other parameters in Iraqi COVID-19 patients compared with healthy controls by studying the effects of enoxaparin and evaluating the potential of IL-10 as a disease activity marker.
METHODS: This was a case-control study that included 180 samples: 90 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 from November 2022 to 20 April 2023 (40 patients had never used enoxaparin, whereas 50 patients had taken enoxaparin) and 90 healthy, age- and sex-matched control. There were 44 female patients and 46 male patients. The mean age of the patients and controls was 53.8 years vs. 50.8 years, respectively. The sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used to measure IL-10 levels, while other parameters were assessed using the colorimetric method.
RESULTS: The results of the study indicated highly significant changes between the patients and healthy controls in IL-10, D-dimer, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, as well as liver and renal functions. These findings elucidated a significant change between enoxaparin patients and non-enoxaparin patients in IL-10, D-dimer, and CRP levels. However, the liver and renal functions were not significantly altered. The Spearman\'s rank correlation test investigated the relationship between serum IL-10 and CRP.
CONCLUSIONS: The results displayed a strong positive relationship between IL-10 and CRP. There were no significant differences between the other analyzed parameters; consequently, the patients had higher concentrations of IL-10, D-dimer, and some other parameters than the healthy controls. Additionally, IL-10 may be used as a marker of disease activity. Enoxaparin will likely help control IL-10 and D-dimer concentrations in patients since IL-10 levels decreased in patients treated with enoxaparin.