Sex-associated differences in baseline urinary metabolites of healthy adults.

The biological basis for gender variability among disease states is not well established. There have been many prior efforts attempting to identify the unique urine metabolomic profiles associated with specific diseases. However, there has been little advancement in investigating the metabolomic differences associated with gender, which underlies the misconception that risk factors and treatment regimens should be the same for both male and female patients. This present study aimed to identify biologically-meaningful baseline sex-related differences using urine samples provided by healthy female and male participants. To elucidate whether urinary metabolic signatures are globally distinct between healthy males and females, we applied metabolomics profiling of primary metabolism with comprehensive bioinformatics analyses on urine samples from 60 healthy males and females. We found that levels of α-ketoglutarate and 4-hydroxybutyric acid increased 2.3-fold and 4.41-fold in males compared to females, respectively. Furthermore, chemical similarity enrichment analysis revealed that differentially expressed metabolites, such as saturated fatty acids, TCA, and butyrates, were significantly related to the gender effect. These findings indicate that there are baseline sex-related differences in urinary metabolism, which should be considered in biomarker discovery, diagnosis, and treatment of bladder diseases, such as interstitial cystitis

Eating Behaviors of Older Adults Participating in Government-Sponsored Programs with Different Demographic Backgrounds

The purpose of this study was to determine the food behaviors of nutritionally high-risk seniors as a function of their racial background, gender, marital status, and education level. A total of 69 seniors were identified to be at high nutritional risk using the Nutrition Screening Initiative (NSI) checklist. A supplemental questionnaire (SQ) was created to examine the risk factors in relation to the participant’s demographic background. Key results indicated that Asians practiced healthy food behaviors and women were more likely to eat alone (p≤0.05). Married participants (90.9%) were most likely to consume 2 meals or more each day. College educated individuals practiced healthier eating, eating 5 servings or more of fruits and vegetables (p≤0.01) and 2 or more servings of milk and milk products (p≤0.01). These preliminary findings indicate that more studies should be conducted to focus on the demographic characteristics and food behaviors among older populations

Menthol, a unique urinary volatile compound, is associated with chronic inflammation in interstitial cystitis.

Chronic inflammation is a potential systemic risk factor for many bladder dysfunctions, including interstitial cystitis (IC). However, the underlying mechanism through which a healthy bladder protects itself from inflammatory triggers remains unknown. In this study, we identified odor compounds in urine obtained from IC patients and healthy controls. Using comprehensive solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-TOF-MS) profiling and bioinformatics, we found that levels of urinary volatile metabolites, such as menthol, were significantly reduced in IC patients, compared to healthy controls. In an attempt to understand the mechanistic meaning of our volatile metabolites data and the role of menthol in the immune system, we performed two independent experiments: (a) cytokine profiling, and (b) DNA microarray. Our findings suggest that lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated inflammatory events, such as the production and secretion of inflammatory cytokines (e.g., TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β) and the activation of NF-κB and associated proteins within a large signaling network (e.g., Akt, TLR1, TNFAIP3, and NF-κB), are suppressed by the presence of menthol. These findings broaden our knowledge on the role of urinary menthol in suppressing inflammatory events and provide potential new strategies for alleviating both the odor and inflammation associated with IC

Revising the Language Map of Korea

As linguists develop a deeper understanding of the properties of individual varieties of speech, they often find it necessary to reclassify dialects as independent languages, based on the criterion of intelligibility. This criterion is applied here to Jejueo, the traditional variety of speech used on Jeju Island, a province of the Republic of Korea. Although Jejueo has long been classified as a nonstandard dialect of Korean, evidence from an intelligibility experiment shows that it is not comprehensible to monolingual speakers of Korean and therefore should be treated as a separate language, in accordance with the usual practice within linguistics. This finding calls for a revision to the standard language map of Kore

Infections after Living Donor Liver Transplantation in Children

The aim of this study was to evaluate the infectious complications after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in children. We enrolled 95 children (38 boys and 57 girls) who underwent LDLT from 1994 to 2004. The median age was 22 months (range, 6 months to 15 yr). We retrospectively investigated the proven episodes of bacterial, viral, and fungal infection. There occurred 150 infections in 67 (70%) of 95 patients (1.49 infections/patient); 74 in 43 patients were bacterial, 2 in 2 were fungal, and 74 in 42 were viral. The most common sites of bacterial infection were the bloodstream (33%) and abdomen (25%). Most of the bacterial infections occurred within the first month after LDLT. Bacterial and fungal infections did not result in any deaths. The most common causes of viral infection were Epstein-Barr virus in 37 patients and cytomegalovirus in 18. Seven of the 14 deaths after LDLT were associated with viral infection. Our study suggests that infection is one of the important causes of morbidity and mortality after LDLT. Especially careful monitoring and management of viral infections is crucial for improving the outcome of LDLT in children

Trends in Use of Medication to Treat Opioid Use Disorder During the COVID-19 Pandemic in 10 State Medicaid Programs

Federal and state agencies granted temporary regulatory waivers to prevent disruptions in access to medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) during the COVID-19 pandemic, including expanding access to telehealth for MOUD. Little is known about changes in MOUD receipt and initiation among Medicaid enrollees during the pandemic.To examine changes in receipt of any MOUD, initiation of MOUD (in-person vs telehealth), and the proportion of days covered (PDC) with MOUD after initiation from before to after declaration of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE).This serial cross-sectional study included Medicaid enrollees aged 18 to 64 years in 10 states from May 2019 through December 2020. Analyses were conducted from January through March 2022.Ten months before the COVID-19 PHE (May 2019 through February 2020) vs 10 months after the PHE was declared (March through December 2020).Primary outcomes included receipt of any MOUD and outpatient initiation of MOUD via prescriptions and office- or facility-based administrations. Secondary outcomes included in-person vs telehealth MOUD initiation and PDC with MOUD after initiation.Among a total of 8 167 497 Medicaid enrollees before the PHE and 8 181 144 after the PHE, 58.6% were female in both periods and most enrollees were aged 21 to 34 years (40.1% before the PHE; 40.7% after the PHE). Monthly rates of MOUD initiation, representing 7% to 10% of all MOUD receipt, decreased immediately after the PHE primarily due to reductions in in-person initiations (from 231.3 per 100 000 enrollees in March 2020 to 171.8 per 100 000 enrollees in April 2020) that were partially offset by increases in telehealth initiations (from 5.6 per 100 000 enrollees in March 2020 to 21.1 per 100 000 enrollees in April 2020). Mean monthly PDC with MOUD in the 90 days after initiation decreased after the PHE (from 64.5% in March 2020 to 59.5% in September 2020). In adjusted analyses, there was no immediate change (odds ratio [OR], 1.01; 95% CI, 1.00-1.01) or change in the trend (OR, 1.00; 95% CI, 1.00-1.01) in the likelihood of receipt of any MOUD after the PHE compared with before the PHE. There was an immediate decrease in the likelihood of outpatient MOUD initiation (OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.85-0.96) and no change in the trend in the likelihood of outpatient MOUD initiation (OR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-1.00) after the PHE compared with before the PHE.In this cross-sectional study of Medicaid enrollees, the likelihood of receipt of any MOUD was stable from May 2019 through December 2020 despite concerns about potential COVID-19 pandemic–related disruptions in care. However, immediately after the PHE was declared, there was a reduction in overall MOUD initiations, including a reduction in in-person MOUD initiations that was only partially offset by increased use of telehealth

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good