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Efficacy of an Internet-based self-help intervention with human guidance or automated messages to alleviate loneliness: a three-armed randomized controlled trial.
Get PDFLoneliness is a prevalent and stigmatized phenomenon associated with adverse (mental) health outcomes. However, evidence-based interventions to alleviate loneliness are scarce. This randomized controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov-ID: NCT04655196) evaluated the efficacy of an internet-based cognitive behavioral self-help intervention (ICBT) to reduce loneliness by comparing two intervention groups with guidance or automated messages against a waitlist control group. Adults (N = 243) suffering from loneliness were recruited from the general public and then randomly assigned (2:2:1) to a 10-week ICBT with human guidance (GU) or automated messages (AM) or to a waitlist control group (WL). Loneliness, assessed with the UCLA-9, was the primary outcome. Outcomes were assessed at baseline and 10 weeks (post) and analyzed using mixed-effects models. The pooled intervention conditions resulted in lower loneliness scores at post-assessment than the WL (Cohen's d = 0.57, 95% CI [0.25; 0.89]) and reduced depressive symptoms, social anxiety, social avoidance behavior, and rejection sensitivity (d = 0.32-0.52). The GU group had lower loneliness scores at post-assessment than the AM group (d = 0.42, 95% CI [0.13; 0.70]). ICBT effectively alleviated loneliness, and guidance increased the reduction in loneliness compared to automated messages. Alleviating loneliness with ICBT further seems to reduce the overall burden of psychopathological symptoms
Magnetic resonance imaging in dental implant surgery: a systematic review.
Get PDFPURPOSE
To comprehensively assess the existing literature regarding the rapidly evolving in vivo application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for potential applications, benefits, and challenges in dental implant surgery.
METHODS
Electronic and manual searches were conducted in PubMed MEDLINE, EMBASE, Biosis, and Cochrane databases by two reviewers following the PICOS search strategy. This involved using medical subject headings (MeSH) terms, keywords, and their combinations.
RESULTS
Sixteen studies were included in this systematic review. Of the 16, nine studies focused on preoperative planning and follow-up phases, four evaluated image-guided implant surgery, while three examined artifact reduction techniques. The current literature highlights several MRI protocols that have recently investigated and evaluated the in vivo feasibility and accuracy, focusing on its potential to provide surgically relevant quantitative and qualitative parameters in the assessment of osseointegration, peri-implant soft tissues, surrounding anatomical structures, reduction of artifacts caused by dental implants, and geometric accuracy relevant to implant placement. Black Bone and MSVAT-SPACE MRI, acquired within a short time, demonstrate improved hard and soft tissue resolution and offer high sensitivity in detecting pathological changes, making them a valuable alternative in targeted cases where CBCT is insufficient. Given the data heterogeneity, a meta-analysis was not possible.
CONCLUSIONS
The results of this systematic review highlight the potential of dental MRI, within its indications and limitations, to provide perioperative surgically relevant parameters for accurate placement of dental implants
Editorial: Methods and applications in cardiac electrophysiology-application to inherited arrhythmias.
Get PDFEukaryotic release factor 1 from Euplotes promotes frameshifting at premature stop codons in human cells.
Get PDFHuman physiology is highly susceptible to frameshift mutations within coding regions, and many hereditary diseases and cancers are caused by such indels. Presently, therapeutic options to counteract them are limited and, in the case of direct genome editing, risky. Here, we show that release factor 1 (eRF1) from Euplotes, an aquatic protist known for frequent +1 frameshifts in its coding regions, can enhance +1 ribosomal frameshifting at slippery heptameric sequences in human cells without an apparent requirement for an mRNA secondary structure. We further show an increase in frameshifting rate at the premature termination sequence found in the HEXA gene of Tay-Sachs disease patients, or a breast cancer cell line that harbors a tumor-driving frameshift mutation in GATA3. Although the overall increase in frameshifting would need further improvement for clinical applications, our results underscore the potential of exogenous factors, such as Eu eRF1, to increase frameshifting in human cells
Effects of alirocumab on endothelial function and coronary atherosclerosis in myocardial infarction: A PACMAN-AMI randomized clinical trial substudy.
Get PDFBACKGROUND AND AIMS
The effects of protein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors on endothelial function as assessed by flow-mediated dilation (FMD) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are unknown. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effects of the PCSK9 inhibitor alirocumab added to high-intensity statin on FMD, and its association with coronary atherosclerosis in non-infarct related arteries using intracoronary intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), and optical coherence tomography (OCT).
METHODS
This was a pre-specified substudy among patients recruited at Bern University Hospital, Switzerland, for the randomized-controlled, double-blind, PACMAN-AMI trial, which compared the effects of biweekly alirocumab 150 mg vs. placebo added to rosuvastatin. Brachial artery FMD was measured at 4 and 52 weeks, and intracoronary imaging at baseline and 52 weeks.
RESULTS
139/173 patients completed the substudy. There was no difference in FMD at 52 weeks in the alirocumab (n = 68, 5.44 ± 2.24%) versus placebo (n = 71, 5.45 ± 2.19%) group (difference = -0.21%, 95% CI -0.77 to 0.35, p = 0.47). FMD improved throughout 52 weeks in both groups similarly (p < 0.001). There was a significant association between 4 weeks FMD and baseline plaque burden (IVUS) (n = 139, slope = -1.00, p = 0.006), but not with lipid pool (NIRS) (n = 139, slope = -7.36, p = 0.32), or fibrous cap thickness (OCT) (n = 81, slope = -1.57, p = 0.62).
CONCLUSIONS
Among patients with AMI, the addition of alirocumab did not result in further improvement of FMD as compared to 52 weeks secondary preventative medical therapy including high-intensity statin therapy. FMD was significantly associated with coronary plaque burden at baseline, but not with lipid pool or fibrous cap thickness
Exploring Different Contexts of Statin Deprescribing: A Vignette-Based Experiment with Older Adults Across Four Countries.
Get PDFAn Analysis of Avalanche Consensus
Get PDFA family of leaderless, decentralized consensus protocols, called Snow consensus was introduced in a recent whitepaper by Yin et al. These protocols address limitations of existing consensus methods, such as those using proof-of-work or quorums, by utilizing randomization and maintaining some level of resilience against Byzantine participants. Crucially, Snow consensus underpins the Avalanche blockchain, which provides a popular cryptocurrency and a platform for running smart contracts.
Snow consensus algorithms are built on a natural, randomized routine, whereby participants continuously sample subsets of others and adopt an observed majority value until consensus is achieved. Additionally, Snow consensus defines conditions based on participants' local views and security parameters. These conditions indicate when a party can confidently finalize its local value, knowing it will be adopted by honest participants.
Although Snow consensus algorithms can be formulated concisely, there is a complex interaction between randomization, adversarial influence, and security parameters, which requires a formal analysis of their security and liveness. Snow protocols form the foundation for Avalanche-type blockchains, and this work aims to increase our understanding of such protocols by providing insights into their liveness and safety characteristics. First, we analyze these Snow protocols in terms of latency and security. Second, we expose a design issue where the trade-off between these two is unfavorable. Third, we propose a modification of the original protocol where this trade-off is much more favorable
Latest Pleistocene and Holocene primary producer communities and hydroclimate in Lake Victoria, eastern Africa
Get PDFThe Lake Victoria ecosystem is emblematic of the catastrophic effects that human activities, particularly cultural
eutrophication, can have on freshwater biodiversity. However, little is known about the long-term spatial and
temporal pattern of aquatic primary paleo-production (PPaq) and producer communities in Lake Victoria and
how these patterns relate to past climate variability, landscape evolution, lake hydrology, mixing regimes,
nutrient cycling, and biodiversity dynamics in the past 17 kyr. We use sediments from four well-dated cores
along a transect from offshore to nearshore sites, and exploit XRF element scanning and hyperspectral imaging
data, TC, TN, bSi, δ13C and δ15N, and sedimentary pigments to investigate paleolimnological variability and
change. Our findings demonstrate that changes in PPaq and algal communities during the past 17 kyr were closely
related to hydroclimatic changes, lake mixing, and nutrient availability. During the wetland phase (16.7–14.5 cal
ka BP), PPaq levels remained generally low, while chromophytes and chlorophytes dominated the algal community.
Following the rapid lake level rise (~14.2 cal ka BP) during the early African Humid Period (AHP), PPaq
levels steadily increased, accompanied by a shift towards cyanobacteria and chromophytes. During the Holocene,
our results suggest repeated short-lived arid intervals (~10.5, ~9, 7.8–7.2, ~4, and 3.2–3.0 cal ka BP) and two
distinct periods of enhanced lake mixing associated with high PPaq and high diatom productivity: the first one
between 11 and 9 cal ka BP, which coincided with the maximum of the AHP (high precipitation, high wind,
enhanced mixing), and the second, less pronounced one, between 7 and 4 cal ka BP. Between these two periods
(i.e. 9–7 cal ka BP) we observe reduced diatom productivity, relatively low PPaq, and high C/N ratios, suggesting
conditions with more stable lake stratification, likely associated with reduced wind strength, and some nutrient
limitation (N and P). Finally, the drier conditions around the end of the AHP (ca. 4 cal ka BP) and during the late
Holocene were associated with decreasing lake mixing and increasing dominance of cyanobacteria. Given our
reconstruction of PPaq over the past 17 kyr, we conclude that the levels in the 20th century are unprecedentedly
high, consistent with the massive human-mediated impact on the Lake Victoria ecosystem including biodiversity
loss
A Late Pleistocene coastal ecosystem in French Guiana was hyperdiverse relative to today.
No full textWarmer temperatures and higher sea level than today characterized the Last Interglacial interval [Pleistocene, 128 to 116 thousand years ago (ka)]. This period is a remarkable deep-time analog for temperature and sea-level conditions as projected for 2100 AD, yet there has been no evidence of fossil assemblages in the equatorial Atlantic. Here, we report foraminifer, metazoan (mollusks, bony fish, bryozoans, decapods, and sharks among others), and plant communities of coastal tropical marine and mangrove affinities, dating precisely from a ca. 130 to 115 ka time interval near the Equator, at Kourou, in French Guiana. These communities include ca. 230 recent species, some being endangered today and/or first recorded as fossils. The hyperdiverse Kourou mollusk assemblage suggests stronger affinities between Guianese and Caribbean coastal waters by the Last Interglacial than today, questioning the structuring role of the Amazon Plume on tropical Western Atlantic communities at the time. Grassland-dominated pollen, phytoliths, and charcoals from younger deposits in the same sections attest to a marine retreat and dryer conditions during the onset of the last glacial (ca. 110 to 50 ka), with a savanna-dominated landscape and episodes of fire. Charcoals from the last millennia suggest human presence in a mosaic of modern-like continental habitats. Our results provide key information about the ecology and biogeography of pristine Pleistocene tropical coastal ecosystems, especially relevant regarding the-widely anthropogenic-ongoing global warming
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