Individual and county-level factors associated with use of multiple prescribers and multiple pharmacies to obtain opioid prescriptions in California.

Use of multiple prescribers and pharmacies is a means by which some individuals misuse opioids. Community characteristics may be important determinants of the likelihood of this phenomenon independent of individual-level factors. This was a retrospective cohort study with individual-level data derived from Californias statewide prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) and county-level socioeconomic status (SES) data derived from the United States Census. Zero-truncated negative binomial (ZTNB) regression was used to model the association of individual factors (age, gender, drug schedule and drug dose type) and county SES factors (ethnicity, adult educational attainment, median household income, and physician availability) with the number of prescribers and the number of pharmacies that an individual used during a single year (2006). The incidence rates of new prescriber use and new pharmacy use for opioid prescriptions declined across increasing age groups. Males had a lower incidence rate of new prescriber use and new pharmacy use than females. The total number of licensed physicians and surgeons in a county was positively, linearly, and independently associated with the number of prescribers and pharmacies that individuals used for prescription opioids. In summary, younger age, female gender, and living in counties with more licensed physicians and surgeons were associated with use of more prescribers and/or more pharmacies for obtaining prescription opioids

Application of research on carbon neutral strategy of physical education teaching based on attention mechanism in digital energy transformation

With the global goal of carbon neutrality being emphasized, the implementation of carbon-neutral strategies has become a crucial task across various domains. As an integral part of social activities, physical education also necessitates considerations on how to reduce carbon emissions and implement carbon-neutral strategies within the teaching process. This study focuses on physical education and explores carbon-neutral strategies based on an end-to-end architecture with an attention mechanism. Firstly, we introduce an end-to-end framework that enables the integration and optimization of various aspects within the teaching process to achieve comprehensive carbon-neutral objectives. This framework serves as a unified optimization platform, facilitating the collaboration of different components involved in teaching activities and balancing the reduction of carbon emissions with teaching effectiveness. Secondly, we employ Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) as the foundational model within the end-to-end architecture. Through training the CNN model, we automate the analysis of carbon emissions during the teaching process and provide corresponding carbon-neutral recommendations for different segments. Most importantly, we incorporate an attention mechanism to enhance the effectiveness and interpretability of the carbon-neutral strategy. The attention mechanism assists the model in automatically focusing on features or regions closely related to carbon-neutral objectives, thereby achieving more accurate and efficient carbon-neutral strategy recommendations. Finally, we conduct training and testing on the proposed model using a dataset constructed from carbon-neutral scenarios in physical education (the country where physical education occurred and digital energy have been scrutinized). The results demonstrate that the improved model surpasses a 90% threshold in mainstream evaluation metrics such as Action Recognition Accuracy (ARA), Action Recognition Recall (ARR), and Action Optimization Rate (AOR). The enhanced model exhibits notable improvements in inference speed and accuracy

Correction method by introducing cloud cover forecast factor in model temperature forecast

Objective temperature forecast products can achieve better forecast quality by using one-dimensional regression correction directly based on the present model temperature forecast product, and the forecast accuracy can be further improved by adding appropriate auxiliary factors. In this paper, ECMWF forecast products and ground observation data from Fujian are used to revise the surface temperature at 2 m by introducing a cloud cover forecast factor based on the model temperature forecast correction method. Analysis shows that the forecast deviation of daily maximum and minimum temperature after the revision of a single-factor forecast is obviously correlated with cloud cover. A variety of prediction schemes are designed, and the final scheme is determined through comparative testing. The following conclusions are drawn: all schemes based on cloud cover grouping can improve forecast performance, and the total cloud cover scheme is generally better than the low cloud cover scheme. There is a good positive correlation between the forecast deviation of maximum temperature and the mean total cloud cover; that is, the more cloud cover, the bigger the deviation. The minimum temperature is negatively correlated with cloud cover when the cloud cover is less than 40% and positively correlated for the rest. The absolute forecast deviations of the maximum and minimum temperatures are larger when the total cloud cover is less. Whether for Tmax or Tmin forecast, the binary regression scheme after grouping consistently showed the best performance, with the lowest MAE. The final scheme was used to forecast the maximum and minimum temperature in 2021, and most verification indicators showed improvement in most forecast periods. The forecast accuracy for the 36-h daily maximum and minimum temperature is 81.312% and 91.480%, respectively, which is 2.4%–2.6% higher than the single-factor regression scheme. The forecast skill scores (FSS) reach 0.065 and 0.086, indicating that the method can effectively improve forecast quality in a stable manner and can be used for practical forecasting

Molecular Etiology of Hearing Impairment in Inner Mongolia: mutations in SLC26A4 gene and relevant phenotype analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The molecular etiology of hearing impairment in Chinese has not been thoroughly investigated. Study of <it>GJB2 </it>gene revealed that 30.4% of the patients with hearing loss in Inner Mongolia carried <it>GJB2 </it>mutations. The <it>SLC26A4 </it>gene mutations and relevant phenotype are analyzed in this study.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>One hundred and thirty-five deaf patients were included. The coding exons of <it>SLC26A4 </it>gene were sequence analyzed in 111 patients, not including 22 patients carrying bi-allelic <it>GJB2 </it>mutations or one patient carrying a known <it>GJB2 </it>dominant mutation as well as one patient with <it>mtDNA </it>1555A>G mutation. All patients with <it>SLC26A4 </it>mutations or variants were subjected to high resolution temporal bone CT scan and those with confirmed enlarged vestibular aqueduct and/or other inner ear malformation were then given further ultrasound scan of thyroid and thyroid hormone assays.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty-six patients (19.26%, 26/135) were found carrying <it>SLC26A4 </it>mutation. Among them, 17 patients with bi-allelic <it>SLC26A4 </it>mutations were all confirmed to have EVA or other inner ear malformation by CT scan. Nine patients were heterozygous for one <it>SLC26A4 </it>mutation, including 3 confirmed to be EVA or EVA and Mondini dysplasia by CT scan. The most common mutation, IVS7-2A>G, accounted for 58.14% (25/43) of all <it>SLC26A4 </it>mutant alleles. The shape and function of thyroid were confirmed to be normal by thyroid ultrasound scan and thyroid hormone assays in 19 of the 20 patients with EVA or other inner ear malformation except one who had cystoid change in the right side of thyroid. No Pendred syndrome was diagnosed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In Inner Mongolia, China, mutations in <it>SLC26A4 </it>gene account for about 12.6% (17/135) of the patients with hearing loss. Together with <it>GJB2 </it>(23/135), <it>SLC26A4 </it>are the two most commonly mutated genes causing deafness in this region. Pendred syndrome is not detected in this deaf population. We established a new strategy that detects <it>SLC26A4 </it>mutations prior to the temporal bone CT scan to find EVA and inner ear malformation patients. This model has a unique advantage in epidemiologic study of large deaf population.</p

Comprehensive molecular etiology analysis of nonsyndromic hearing impairment from typical areas in China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Every year, 30,000 babies are born with congenital hearing impairment in China. The molecular etiology of hearing impairment in the Chinese population has not been investigated thoroughly. To provide appropriate genetic testing and counseling to families, we performed a comprehensive investigation of the molecular etiology of nonsyndromic deafness in two typical areas from northern and southern China.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 284 unrelated school children with hearing loss who attended special education schools in China were enrolled in this study, 134 from Chifeng City in Inner Mongolia and the remaining 150 from Nangtong City in JiangSu Province. Screening was performed for <it>GJB2</it>, <it>GJB3</it>, <it>GJB6</it>, <it>SLC26A4</it>, <it>12S rRNA</it>, <it>and tRNA</it>^{<it>ser</it>(<it>UCN</it>)}genes in this population. All patients with <it>SLC26A4 </it>mutations or variants were subjected to high-resolution temporal bone CT scan to verify the enlarged vestibular aqueduct.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mutations in the <it>GJB2 </it>gene accounted for 18.31% of the patients with nonsyndromic hearing loss, 1555A>G mutation in mitochondrial DNA accounted for 1.76%, and <it>SLC26A4 </it>mutations accounted for 13.73%. Almost 50% of the patients with nonsyndromic hearing loss in these typical Chinese areas carried <it>GJB2 </it>or <it>SLC26A4 </it>mutations. No significant differences in mutation spectrum or prevalence of <it>GJB2 </it>and <it>SLC26A4 </it>were found between the two areas.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this Chinese population, 54.93% of cases with hearing loss were related to genetic factors. The <it>GJB2 </it>gene accounted for the etiology in about 18.31% of the patients with hearing loss, <it>SLC26A4 </it>accounted for about 13.73%, and <it>mtDNA </it>1555A>G mutation accounted for 1.76%. Mutations in <it>GJB3, GJB6</it>, and <it>mtDNA tRNA</it>^{<it>ser</it>(<it>UCN</it>)}were not common in this Chinese cohort. Conventionally, screening is performed for <it>GJB2</it>, <it>SLC26A4</it>, and mitochondrial <it>12S rRNA </it>in the Chinese deaf population.</p

A QoS-Based Fairness-Aware BBR Congestion Control Algorithm Using QUIC

Congestion control is a fundamental technology to balance the traffic load and the network. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Quick UDP Internet Connection (QUIC) protocol has flexible congestion control and at the same time possesses the advantages of high efficiency, low latency, and easy deployment at the application layer. Bottleneck bandwidth and round-trip propagation time (BBR) is an optional congestion control algorithm adopted by QUIC. BBR can significantly increase throughput and reduce latency, in particular over long-haul paths. However, BBR results in high packet loss in low bandwidth and low fairness in multi-stream scenarios. In this article, we propose the enhanced BBR congestion control (eBCC) algorithm, which improves the BBR algorithm in two aspects: (1) 10.87% higher throughput and 74.58% lower packet loss rate in the low-bandwidth scenario and (2) 8.39% higher fairness in the multi-stream scenario. This improvement makes eBCC very suitable for IoT communications to provide better QoS services

Orf virus DNA vaccines expressing ORFV 011 and ORFV 059 chimeric protein enhances immunogenicity

Background: ORFV attenuated live vaccines have been the main prophylactic measure against contagious ecthyma in sheep and goats in the last decades, which play an important role in preventing the outbreak of the disease. However, the available vaccines do not induce lasting immunity in sheep and goats. On the other hand, variation in the terminal genome of Orf virus vaccine strains during cell culture adaptation may affect the efficacy of a vaccine. Currently, there are no more effective antiviral treatments available for contagious ecthyma. Results: We constructed three eukaryotic expression vectors pcDNA3.1-ORFV011, pcDNA3.1-ORFV059 and pcDNA3.1-ORFV011/ORFV059 and tested their immunogenicity in mouse model. High level expression of the recombinant proteins ORFV011, ORFV059 and ORFV011/ORFV059 was confirmed by western blotting analysis and indirect fluorescence antibody (IFA) tests. The ORFV-specific antibody titers and serum IgG1/IgG2a titers, the proliferation of lymphocytes and ORFV-specific cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IFN-gamma, and TNF-alpha) were examined to evaluate the immune responses of the vaccinated mice. We found that mice inoculated with pcDNA3.1-ORFV 011/ORFV059 had significantly stronger immunological responses than those inoculated with pcDNA3.1-ORFV011, pcDNA3.1-ORFV059, or pcDNA3.1-ORFV011 plus pcDNA3.1-ORFV059. Compared to other vaccine plasmids immunized groups, pcDNA3.1-ORFV011/ORFV059 immunized group enhances immunogenicity. Conclusions: We concluded that DNA vaccine pcDNA3.1-ORFV011/ORFV059 expressing ORFV011 and ORFV059 chemeric-proteins can significantly improve the potency of DNA vaccination and could be served as more effective and safe approach for new vaccines against ORFV.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000304650500001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701VirologySCI(E)3ARTICLEnull

Apelin-13 Suppresses Neuroinflammation Against Cognitive Deficit in a Streptozotocin-Induced Rat Model of Alzheimer’s Disease Through Activation of BDNF-TrkB Signaling Pathway

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by impairments of cognitive function as a result of synaptic deficits and neuronal loss, is associated with inflammation. Apelin-13, a predominant neuropeptide with inhibiting effect on inflammation, has beneficial effects on cognition memory and neuronal damage. However, whether apelin-13 can protect neurons to ameliorate cognitive deficits in AD by inhibiting the inflammatory response remains largely unknown. To test this hypothesis, rats were intracerebroventricularly (ICV) injected with streptozotocin (3 mg/kg) alone or in combination with apelin-13 (2 μg). And tyrosine receptor kinase B (TrkB) blocker K252a (200 nM) was administrated 10 min before apelin injection. Furthermore, cognitive performance was assessed by new object recognition (NOR) and Y-maze tests. Protein expression of apelin, APJ, microglial marker (IBA1), astroglia marker (GFAP), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), synaptophysin (SYP), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), TrkB, phospho-TrkB (p-TrkB) in the hippocampus were examined by western blotting or immunohistochemistry. And the gene expression of IBA1, GFAP, IL-1β, TNF-α, and SYP were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Inflammatory disorder in the hippocampus was tested by hematoxylin and eosin (H&amp;E) staining. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to study the expression level of acetylcholine. And the activity of acetylcholinesterase was detected by Acetylcholinesterase Assay Kit. We observed that apelin/APJ signaling was downregulated in the hippocampus of rats administrated with STZ. Apelin-13 was found to significantly ameliorate STZ-induced AD-like phenotypes including congnitive deficit, cholinergic disfunction and the damage of neuron and synaptic plasticity. Moreover, apelin-13 inhibited microglia and astrocyte activation, reduced IL-1β and TNF-α expression and hippocampal BDNF/TrkB expression deficit in AD rats. Finally, apelin-13-mediated effects were blocked by TrkB receptor antagonist K252a. These results suggest that apelin-13 upregulates BDNF/TrkB pathway against cognitive deficit in a STZ-induced rat model of sporadic AD by attenuating inflammation

Cinnamaldehyde attenuates streptozocin-induced diabetic osteoporosis in a rat model by modulating netrin-1/DCC-UNC5B signal transduction

Background: Cinnamaldehyde (CMD) is a major functional component of Cinnamomum verum and has shown treatment effects against diverse bone diseases. This study aimed to assess the anti-diabetic osteoporosis (DOP) potential of diabetes mellitus (DM) and to explore the underlying mechanism driving the activity of CMD.Methods: A DOP model was induced via an intraperitoneal injection of streptozocin (STZ) into Sprague–Dawley rats, and then two different doses of CMD were administered to the rats. The effects of CMD on the strength, remodeling activity, and histological structure of the bones were assessed. Changes in the netrin-1 related pathways also were detected to elucidate the mechanism of the anti-DOP activity by CMD.Results: CMD had no significant effect on the body weight or blood glucose level of the model rats. However, the data showed that CMD improved the bone strength and bone remodeling activity as well as attenuating the bone structure destruction in the DOP rats in a dose-dependent manner. The expression of netrin-1, DCC, UNC5B, RANKL, and OPG was suppressed, while the expression of TGF-β1, cathepsin K, TRAP, and RANK was induced by the STZ injection. CMD administration restored the expression of all of these indicators at both the mRNA and protein levels, indicating that the osteoclast activity was inhibited by CMD.Conclusion: The current study demonstrated that CMD effectively attenuated bone impairments associated with DM in a STZ-induced DOP rat model, and the anti-DOP effects of CMD were associated with the modulation of netrin-1/DCC/UNC5B signal transduction

Permittivity tensor imaging: modular label-free imaging of 3D dry mass and 3D orientation at high resolution.

The dry mass and the orientation of biomolecules can be imaged without a label by measuring their permittivity tensor (PT), which describes how biomolecules affect the phase and polarization of light. Three-dimensional (3D) imaging of PT has been challenging. We present a label-free computational microscopy technique, PT imaging (PTI), for the 3D measurement of PT. PTI encodes the invisible PT into images using oblique illumination, polarization-sensitive detection and volumetric sampling. PT is decoded from the data with a vectorial imaging model and a multi-channel inverse algorithm, assuming uniaxial symmetry in each voxel. We demonstrate high-resolution imaging of PT of isotropic beads, anisotropic glass targets, mouse brain tissue, infected cells and histology slides. PTI outperforms previous label-free imaging techniques such as vector tomography, ptychography and light-field imaging in resolving the 3D orientation and symmetry of organelles, cells and tissue. We provide open-source software and modular hardware to enable the adoption of the method