Predictors of Final Place of Care in People With Advanced Dementia Receiving Home-Based Palliative Care in Singapore: A Multivariate Regression Analysis.

As the prevalence of dementia rises exponentially globally, instituting practices to support the dying process of people affected by dementia is a public health priority. However, end-of-life quality indicators such as place of death provide limited information about the totality of the dying process. Hence, this study's aim was to identify factors affecting the relatively understudied concept of final place of care (where care was received in the last three days of life i.

Topography and environmental deficiencies are associated with chikungunya virus exposure in urban informal settlements in Salvador, Brazil.

Background: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an arbovirus with a significant global public health burden. Delineating the specific contributions of individual behaviour, household, natural and built environment to CHIKV transmission is important for reducing risk in urban informal settlements but challenging due to their heterogeneous environments. The aim of this study was to quantify variation in CHIKV seroprevalence between and within four urban communities in a large Brazilian city, and identify the respective contributions of individual, household, and environmental factors for seropositivity.

Glial cells in the heart: Implications for their roles in health and disease.

Glial cells are essential regulators of brain homeostasis by orchestrating neuronal function, metabolism and immune responses. However, much less is known about peripheral glial cells, particularly those in the heart. This review explores the development, types and functions of cardiac glial cells, including Schwann cells, satellite glial cells and recently identified cardiac nexus glia, with some reference to their central nervous system counterparts.

Density-dependent network structuring within and across wild animal systems.

Theory predicts that high population density leads to more strongly connected spatial and social networks, but how local density drives individuals' positions within their networks is unclear. This gap reduces our ability to understand and predict density-dependent processes. Here we show that density drives greater network connectedness at the scale of individuals within wild animal populations.

Unravelling the Physiological and Anatomical Basis of Divergent Adaptations in Cultivated and Wild Tomatoes.

Distinct physiological and anatomical traits can lead to substantial variation in photosynthetic efficiency among plant varieties, which may, in turn, impact agronomically important traits. We conducted a comprehensive comparative analysis of leaf physiology, anatomy and biochemistry in Solanum lycopersicum (LEA) a modern inbred variety suited for the processing industry and Solanum pennellii (Lost accession LA5240) a drought-tolerant, green-fruited wild species to investigate differences in photosynthetic performance and stomatal physiology. Lost exhibited higher photosynthetic capacity due to both biochemical and anatomical features.

A close unicellular animal relative and predator of schistosomes exhibits chemokinesis in response to proteins and peptides from its prey.

Regulated motility is vital for many cells-both for unicellular microbes and for cells within multicellular bodies. Different conditions require different rates and directions of movement. For the microbial predator Capsaspora owczarzaki, its motility is likely essential for predation.

Development of a core patient-centred outcome set for adults living with obesity: a modified delphi-based international consensus.

Background: Obesity is a chronic disease linked to over 200 health conditions, reduced quality of life, and increased mortality. Despite the availability of multimodal treatments, there is a lack of standardised, patient-centred outcome measures to effectively assess and improve clinical care. This project aimed to define a core set of standardised outcome measures for adults with obesity, incorporating both patient-reported and clinician-reported outcomes.

Familiarity mediated by body size predicts intraspecific aggression in farming damselfishes.

Abstract: Aggressive territoriality can have significant benefits for resource acquisition yet is a costly behaviour. Selection should therefore favour mechanisms that allow individuals to modify their behaviour to maintain and defend their territory whilst minimising costs. One such mechanism between intraspecific territorial competitors is neighbour-stranger discrimination.

A narrative review of nursing in Saudi Arabia: prospects for improving social determinants of health for the female workforce.

Introduction: Nurses represent the backbone of global healthcare systems where women typically deliver care and men lead. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) highly relies on foreign female nurses despite Saudisation policies designed to localize its workforce. Yet, in the context of an ambitious 2016-30 national health transformation program to modernize public health in a high-income and rapidly developing country, intersectional inequalities persist for migrant and local nurses in KSA.

Between-hospital variability in the management and outcomes of postoperative periprosthetic femoral fractures.

Aims: Postoperative periprosthetic femoral fractures (POPFFs) following hip arthroplasty pose complex challenges, with differences in management and outcomes across healthcare facilities. However, there is limited published literature on such variability to inform improvement initiatives. This study aims to quantify the between-hospital variations in surgical management and short-term outcomes.

Barriers to Accessing Pediatric Health Care: A Focus on Health Equity in the UK.

Introduction: To achieve health equity, we must first understand health inequities. This article focuses on socioeconomic deprivation and associated barriers to accessing health care for children and their families in the UK, where, despite care being free at the point of delivery, economic barriers to health care access remain.

Methods: Thematic analysis of findings from a large qualitative study with providers of secondary and tertiary pediatric care in the UK.

A qualitative study exploring the perceptions and understandings of advance care planning by people with treatable but not curable cancer.

Background: Advance care planning for those with treatable but not curable cancer is considered good practice because innovations in treatment options make prognostication much more uncertain. Little is known about how such patients approach future planning.

Aim: To elicit the perceptions and understandings of advance care planning by patients with treatable but not curable cancer.

Personalised estimates of dosage within a population-based cohort suggest limited evidence that drinking water chemistry modulates health outcomes.

Access to clean drinking water is crucial for human health, but there are concerns that consumption levels of particular solutes may be linked to negative health outcomes. Many studies use data aggregated to area-level to assess consumption-health associations, but these do not account for differences in behaviour between individuals. Therefore, we combined publicly reported tap water chemistry from compliance data with estimated drinking water consumption within the home calculated from a water habits survey for 1970 UK adults from the TwinsUK cohort.

Investigating ACL length, strain and tensile force in high impact and daily activities through machine learning.

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction rates are rising, particularly among female athletes, though causes remain unclear. This study: (i) identify accurate machine learning models to predict ACL length, strain, and force during six high-impact and daily activities; (ii) assess the significance of kinematic and constitutional parameters; and (iii) analyse gender-based injury risk patterns. Using 9,375 observations per variable, 42 models were trained.

Geographic distribution of inflammatory bowel disease in the UK: A spatially explicit survey.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by chronic inflammation in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, with two main forms: Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). While CD can affect any part of the digestive system, UC predominately affects the colon and rectum. The incidence and prevalence rates of IBD cases are increasing worldwide, including in Europe where the UK has one of the highest incidence and prevalence rates.

Preliminary Preclinical Evaluation of Innovative Bone Scaffolds Composed of Natural Sources-Whey Protein Isolate and Pearl Powder.

The aim of this work was to produce bone scaffolds containing whey protein isolate and pearl powder and to conduct a preliminary assessment of the biomedical potential in vitro and in vivo. This included analysis of structural, physicochemical, mechanical, and biological properties, which revealed that biomaterials containing pearl powder exhibited an enhanced porous structure, increasing absorptive properties, and decreasing proteolytic capacity with increasing inorganic component content. Pearl powder content in the biomaterials did not clearly influence their mechanical properties or their ability to release calcium ions, as well as proteins.

A randomised controlled clinical and cost effectiveness trial of an online integrated bipolar parenting intervention (IBPI) compared to treatment as usual in improving child emotional and behavioural outcomes: a study protocol.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe mental health problem linked to substantial personal and social costs. Many individuals living with bipolar disorder are parents. Due to the nature of the condition, parents with BD often experience challenges in delivering consistent parenting.

Layer-by-Layer Fabrication of Fullerene-Intercalated Orthogonal Molecular Architectures Enhances Thermoelectric Behavior of Graphene-Based Nanodevices.

Despite the significant potential of molecular-scale devices for miniaturized electronics and energy conversion applications, conventional self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) exhibit limitations in simultaneously optimizing electrical conductivity and thermopower due to constrained electronic pathway modulation. This study demonstrates a molecular engineering strategy employing a discretely arranged conjugated molecular backbone to construct ordered cage-like supramolecular cavities, enabling controlled intercalation of fullerene within bipyridine-based SAMs grown on graphene-substrates. Quartz crystal microbalance and atomic force microscopy measurements confirmed the structural integrity of the fullerene-trapped SAMs.

Rainfall-induced lateral and vertical microplastic transport of varying sizes in agricultural fields.

Agricultural soils, particularly those utilizing plastic products for crop production, are increasingly recognized as sources of microplastics (MPs) to aquatic ecosystems. In this research, we investigate the transport of polyethylene MPs of three different size ranges (53-63 μm, 125-150 μm and 425-500 μm) in an agricultural soil during a plot-based rainfall simulation. Using a combination of fluorescent particles and high-frequency photography, we tracked the number of MPs on the soil surface throughout the rainfall simulation, measured the depth MPs migrated into the soil profile and the number of MPs which were transported in surface runoff.

Structural features of outdoor latrines influence the abundance of Anopheles gambiae s.l. and Culex quinquefasciatus in a village in Kisumu County, western Kenya.

Background: Malaria remains a leading cause of mortality in Kenya, despite concerted efforts in malaria vector control. Reducing outdoor transmission is a key factor in addressing residual malaria. Outdoor latrines are characterized as semi-sheltered structures with humid environments, which may provide an ideal resting site for Anopheles species to feed on human blood and subsequently rest.

A Novel Adaptive Superb Fairy-Wren () Optimization Algorithm for Solving Numerical Optimization Problems.

Superb Fairy-wren Optimization Algorithm (SFOA) is an animal-based meta-heuristic algorithm derived from Fairy-wren's behavior of growing, feeding, and avoiding natural enemies. The SFOA has some shortcomings when facing complex environments. Its switching mechanism is not enough to adapt to complex optimization problems, and it faces a weakening of population diversity in the late stage of optimization, leading to a higher possibility of falling into local optima.

First Measurement of ν_{e} and ν[over ¯]_{e} Charged-Current Single Charged-Pion Production Differential Cross Sections on Argon Using the MicroBooNE Detector.

Understanding electron neutrino interactions is crucial for measurements of neutrino oscillations and searches for new physics in neutrino experiments. We present the first measurement of the flux-averaged ν_{e}+ν[over ¯]_{e} charged-current single charged-pion production cross section on argon using the MicroBooNE detector and data from the NuMI neutrino beam. The total cross section is measured to be [0.