Nevin Manimala

Front Public Health. 2026 Jul 13;14:1880962. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1880962. eCollection 2026.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the longitudinal dynamic relationships among frailty, depression, and self-perceptions of aging in community-dwelling older adults, to analyze the mediating role of depression between frailty and aging cognition, and to provide a theoretical basis for physical and mental health interventions for this population.

METHODS: A longitudinal follow-up research design was adopted, involving three waves of surveys (T1, T2, T3) conducted with 286 community-dwelling older adults. Assessments were performed using the Frailty Phenotype, a depression scale, and a brief version of the Self-Perceptions of Aging Scale. SPSS 26.0 was used for descriptive statistics and correlation analysis, while Mplus 8.3 was employed to construct cross-lagged panel models. Covariates such as age, gender, education level, the number of chronic diseases, and cognitive function were controlled.

RESULTS: The cross-lagged panel model demonstrated good fit indices. With the exception of baseline (T1) self-perceptions of aging not significantly predicting the midterm (T2) level, all other core variables exhibited significant temporal stability. Controlling for autoregressive effects and covariates, significant bidirectional predictive relationships emerged: T1 frailty significantly predicted T2 depression, and T2 depression significantly predicted T3 frailty; T1 depression significantly predicted T2 self-perceptions of aging, and T2 self-perceptions of aging significantly predicted T3 depression. Furthermore, the direct predictive path from frailty to self-perceptions of aging was not significant, suggesting that depression may constitute an indirect pathway linking frailty and self-perceptions of aging.

CONCLUSION: This study supports a dynamic psychosomatic interaction pattern among frailty, depression, and self-perceptions of aging in community-dwelling older adults. Depression serves as a core hub connecting physiological frailty and subjective aging cognition. The findings support the Psychosomatic Interaction Theory (PIT) and Stereotype Embodiment Theory (SET). These results suggest that community nursing practice should emphasize early screening and intervention for depressive symptoms. Targeting this potentially important depressive pathway may help interrupt the adverse cycle of “physiological frailty – psychological depression – negative aging cognition” among older adults can be disrupted.

PMID:42517102 | PMC:PMC13402109 | DOI:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1880962

Front Public Health. 2026 Jul 13;14:1807338. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1807338. eCollection 2026.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Health-seeking behaviors directly affect migrant adolescents’ access to healthcare, health outcomes, and social integration. The aim of this study is determine the effect of acculturation on health-seeking behaviors in adolescent migrants aged 16-18 years.

METHODS: This descriptive and correlational cross-sectional study was conducted with 272 migrant adolescents, selected using convenience sampling, who completed the Individual Identity Form, the Health-Seeking Behavior Scale (HSBS) and the Vancouver Index of Acculturation (VIA). Data were collected between April 2023-April 2024 and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 27.

RESULTS: Traditional health-seeking behavior and VIA core culture orientation had higher mean scores. mainstream culture orientation had positive and significant effect on health seeking behavior (p = 0.044).

CONCLUSION: Educated, socially secure, living mostly in cities with their nuclear families, and with income equal to expenditure, adolescent migrants scored significantly higher on the health-seeking behavior scale. These relationships revealed that cultural orientations have a significant effect on health seeking behaviors. Future studies with larger, diverse samples are recommended.

PMID:42517099 | PMC:PMC13402520 | DOI:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1807338

Front Public Health. 2026 Jul 13;14:1876948. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1876948. eCollection 2026.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to systematically evaluate the effects of acute and long-term exercise interventions on executive functions (inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility) in college students, and to explore the moderating roles of measurement paradigms, exercise dosage, and scoring methods.

METHODS: We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus, CNKI, and Wanfang from database inception to March 5, 2026, for randomized controlled trials on exercise interventions for executive function in college students. Two reviewers independently screened records, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias using the Cochrane ROB 2 tool. Meta-analyses were performed using Stata 17.0, with either fixed-effect or random-effect models selected based on heterogeneity.

RESULTS: A total of 16 randomized controlled trials involving 868 college students were included. Acute exercise interventions significantly improved inhibitory control (g = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.08, 0.95) and cognitive flexibility (g = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.23, 1.39), but the improvement in working memory did not reach statistical significance (g = 0.10, 95% CI: -0.21, 0.42). Long-term exercise interventions significantly improved inhibitory control (g = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.34, 0.70) and working memory (g = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.37, 0.78), whereas the effect size for cognitive flexibility was small and not statistically significant (g = 0.25, 95% CI: -0.05, 0.55). Subgroup analyses indicated that the effects of exercise interventions on subcomponents of executive function varied according to measurement paradigms, exercise dosage (duration, frequency, period, intensity), and scoring methods.

CONCLUSION: Acute and long-term exercise show distinct patterns of improving executive functions in college students. Acute exercise significantly enhances cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control but has limited effects on working memory. Long-term exercise significantly enhances inhibitory control and working memory but shows no significant effect on cognitive flexibility.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/, identifier CRD420261364227.

PMID:42517095 | PMC:PMC13402466 | DOI:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1876948

Eur Heart J Qual Care Clin Outcomes. 2026 Jul 28:qcag122. doi: 10.1093/ehjqcco/qcag122. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Accurate risk stratification for patients with three-vessel coronary artery disease (3VD) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains important in contemporary practice. SYNTAX-based mortality prediction models require reassessment in modern PCI populations.

METHODS: This post-hoc analysis of the Multivessel TALENT trial evaluated the core and extended logistic clinical SYNTAX Score (LCSS) for predicting 1-year all-cause mortality. Discrimination was assessed using the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC), and calibration using calibration intercept, calibration slope, graphical calibration, and the E-statistic. Prediction scores were calculated within each of 20 imputed datasets, with model performance evaluated within each imputation and summarised across imputations. Intercept-and-slope recalibration and decision curve analysis were also performed.

RESULTS: At 1 year, 46 (3.0%) of 1,548 enrolled patients had died. The pooled AUCs were 0.716 for the LCSS core model and 0.744 for the extended model, compared with 0.629 for the anatomical SYNTAX Score and 0.632 for the functional SYNTAX Score. LCSS models systematically overestimated absolute risk, although observed mortality increased across predicted-risk quintiles. Decision curve analysis showed a positive net benefit for the original and recalibrated LCSS models across threshold probabilities of 1% to 10%, with numerically higher net benefit for the recalibrated extended model across much of the evaluated threshold range.

CONCLUSION: In contemporary PCI for 3VD, the LCSS showed moderate discrimination for 1-year all-cause mortality while overestimating its absolute risk. Recalibration improved agreement with observed risk in this cohort and may inform future validation and model refinement.

PMID:42509586 | DOI:10.1093/ehjqcco/qcag122

Asian J Anesthesiol. 2025 Jun 1;63(2):70-79. doi: 10.6859/aja.202506_63(2).0004.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Opioid-free anesthesia (OFA) is an emerging practice in cancer care, providing adequate analgesia with reduced side effects. The objective of the study is to evaluate whether ketamine can replace morphine for performing OFA by assessing the acute pain relief achieved and to evaluate its effect on chronic pain.

METHODS: A total of 182 women undergoing modified radical mastectomy were recruited and randomized into the morphine group and the ketamine group. Participants in the morphine group received 0.05 mg/kg morphine 20 minutes before induction, and those in the ketamine group received 0.40 mg/kg bolus and 1.00 mg/kg/hour ketamine infusion until axillary dissection. The numerical rating pain scale (NRS) at 0, 2, 6, 12, and 24 hours postsurgery was recorded, and the Revised American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire (APS-POQ-R) was filled out the next day. The chronic pain score at 3 and 6 months after surgery was noted.

RESULTS: The mean NRS at 24 hours was 2.385 ± 0.965 in the ketamine group and 2.240 ± 0.996 in the morphine group (P = 0.336). The APS-POQ-R showed that, on average, patients in the ketamine group and the morphine group experienced moderate to severe pain for and 28.00% and 27.72% of the time in a day, respectively, and rescue analgesia usage was also comparable. The incidence of chronic pain was 28.9% and 21.2% (P = 0.31) at 3 months and 32.1% and 21.2 % (P = 0.19) at 6 months in the ketamine group and the morphine group, respectively, and not statistically significant.

CONCLUSION: The results demonstrated that both ketamine and morphine provided similar levels of acute pain relief during the procedure, with no significant difference in pain outcomes between the two groups. These findings suggest that ketamine may be a viable alternative to morphine in the management of pain during OFA, with similar efficacy in both acute and chronic pain relief.

PMID:42509583 | DOI:10.6859/aja.202506_63(2).0004

Plant Methods. 2026 Jul 27;22(1):62. doi: 10.1186/s13007-026-01577-8.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Covered smut in barley caused by Ustilago hordei leads to yield reduction and quality loss of stored grains and is especially challenging in organic production. However, screening for resistance remains challenging. The goal of our research was to evaluate protocols for screening covered smut in barley under normal and speed breeding conditions that could be scaled up for breeding purposes. We considered favorable pathogen growth conditions, a sufficient sample size to detect differences among genotypes through a power analysis, sources of disease escape or avoidance, and the infection effect on agronomic traits.

RESULTS: In the first experiment, twenty genotypes treated with various inoculum concentrations were screened for disease incidence under a speed breeding system. Generally, low infection levels were found, likely due to disease escape or avoidance. Based on a power analysis, we modified the protocol to include more plants and improved pathogen growth conditions under a normal greenhouse system. With the modified protocol, the incidence of covered smut was significantly different among genotypes. The protocol also reduced the number of plants required to detect at least one infected plant. Artificial inoculation significantly decreased germination rates while head emergence, days to heading, and plant height were affected by disease infection in the most susceptible genotypes. We also found that covered smut incidence varied with tiller emergence order. The genotypes ‘DH160779′ (RES check), PI 270630’, ‘CIho15270’, and ‘MTV-color-158’ presented potential resistance to covered smut.

CONCLUSION: The protocol has a high power to differentiate moderately resistant barley genotypes and we confirmed that specific agronomic traits were affected by disease incidence in susceptible genotypes.

PMID:42509569 | DOI:10.1186/s13007-026-01577-8

Parasit Vectors. 2026 Jul 24;19(1):303. doi: 10.1186/s13071-026-07529-4.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Four studies investigated the efficacy of fluralaner/moxidectin/pyrantel chewable tablets (Bravecto® TriUNO) in preventing and treating canine angiostrongylosis; one study also included a formulation of fluralaner/milbemycin oxime.

METHODS: Studies included eight or 10 dogs/group. In Studies 1 and 2 (prevention), dogs inoculated with third-stage larvae of Angiostrongylus vasorum on day – 31 or – 28 were randomized to groups by sex and body weight; in Studies 3 and 4 (treatment) by faecal first-stage larvae counts at approximately 8 weeks post-inoculation (PI). All studies included an untreated control group (CG). Study 1 included three groups treated with formulations of moxidectin/fluralaner/pyrantel; minimum moxidectin doses 0.0125, 0.025 or 0.055 mg/kg. The formulation with moxidectin at 0.025 mg/kg, 99.0% effective in preventing establishment of infection, was adopted as the investigational veterinary product (IVP) for the following studies. Study 2 included a group treated with either the IVP or a combination of fluralaner (10 mg/kg) with milbemycin oxime (0.75 mg/kg) (IVP-2). In all studies, the IVP was administered once on day 0; in Study 2, IVP-2 was administered on days 0, 31, 62 and 93. In Study 1, efficacy was determined by reductions in geometric mean necropsy worm counts approximately 33 days post-treatment versus mean CG counts, in the other studies by reductions in mean faecal L1 counts. Study 2 assessed pulmonary changes via thoracic computed tomography. Respiratory signs and serological antibody responses were monitored.

RESULTS: In Study 1, all moxidectin doses exceeded 90% efficacy. In Study 2, IVP efficacy (one treatment) at 62 days was 100.0%; IVP-2 (four treatments) efficacy was 99.8% at 124 days. Respiratory signs were absent or lower in IVP-treated than CG dogs. In Studies 3 and 4, IVP efficacy was 100% by 3 and 4 weeks post-treatment, respectively. In all studies, lungworm count reductions in the IVP groups were statistically significant (P < 0.0001) versus the CG. Serology confirmed A. vasorum infections in all control and IVP-2-treated dogs, and absence of infections in IVP-treated dogs. Treatments were well tolerated.

CONCLUSIONS: A single treatment with Bravecto TriUNO is highly effective in preventing angiostrongylosis and eliminating established A. vasorum infections. Infection-related lung pathology was reduced in treated dogs.

PMID:42509566 | DOI:10.1186/s13071-026-07529-4

Genome Biol. 2026 Jul 27;27(1):242. doi: 10.1186/s13059-026-04182-z.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: RNA velocity provides a powerful framework for inferring cellular dynamics from single-cell RNA sequencing data. The rapid proliferation of computational methods within this field has prompted a need for systematic evaluation. However, existing comparisons often suffer from limited scope or incomplete task design, leaving users without clear guidance. Consequently, there is a lack of a comprehensive and standardized benchmark that evaluates methods across diverse biological and technical scenarios using appropriate, context-specific metrics.

RESULTS: In this study, we present a comprehensive benchmark of 19 computational RNA velocity tools covering 30 distinct methods. We systematically evaluate 25 RNA-only methods across eight evaluation tasks, designating directional consistency, temporal precision, negative control robustness, and sequencing depth stability as core tasks, while assessing five multimodal-enhanced methods specifically on the multimodal integration task. These assessments utilize 34 datasets spanning 26 real-world and eight simulated scenarios. Our results reveal a clear trade-off between directional consistency and negative control robustness, distinct group-wise behaviors across temporal modeling strategies, and variability driven by sequencing depth and quantification choices. This study also identifies several methodological gaps, including the need for improved modeling of gene dependence, more accurate temporal inference strategies, and better-designed multimodal architectures.

CONCLUSIONS: This benchmark establishes a unified framework for evaluating RNA velocity methods. Crucially, we provide task-aware guidance to facilitate method selection based on specific biological contexts and technical constraints, rather than relying on a single overall ranking.

PMID:42509564 | DOI:10.1186/s13059-026-04182-z

Respir Res. 2026 Jul 27;27(1):294. doi: 10.1186/s12931-026-03840-x.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The relevance of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), a marker of low-grade systemic inflammation, remains unclear with regard to its association with severity and clinical outcomes in wheeze/asthma. We aimed to assess the role of hsCRP across different phenotypes and severity levels.

METHODS: We studied children with preschool wheeze (≥ 2 episodes), and patients with GINA-defined asthma (school-age/adult) compared with healthy controls (HCs) in the well-characterized ALLIANCE (All Age Asthma Cohort) study. HsCRP was measured (AU5800®-CRP-Latex test) in 944 study participants (pediatric: n = 728; adult: n = 216) at baseline. Age-stratified analyses (age groups 0-5, 6-18, ≥ 18 years) of standardized log₁₀-transformed hsCRP concentrations (age, sex, BMI, site) were performed using univariable tests and regression models. The validated ASSESS score and its dimensions (exacerbations, lung function, inhaled corticosteroids, symptom control) were primary outcomes.

RESULTS: Adult patients with asthma showed higher hsCRP than HCs (OR 2.22, 95% CI 1.56-3.24). Across all ages, hsCRP increased with clinical severity of wheeze/asthma. The ASSESS score correlated positively with hsCRP in patients aged ≥ 6 years (R = 0.19, p = 0.007). hsCRP was increased in school-age asthmatics with prior exacerbations (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.01-1.87), and in adult asthmatics with impaired lung function (R = 0.2, p = 0.013). Inhaled corticosteroid use was associated with lower hsCRP in preschool wheezers (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.50-0.85) but higher levels in adults (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.02-4.09).

CONCLUSIONS: HsCRP was increased in adult asthmatics compared to HCs and was associated with several severity-related clinical characteristics. ICS use was associated with higher hsCRP levels in adults, potentially reflecting greater disease severity, whereas ICS use in preschool wheezers was associated with lower hsCRP levels. These age-dependent effects may mirror varying disease courses across the lifespan and progression of asthma. The association of hsCRP with asthma severity in child- and adulthood may indicate its potential relevance for the course of disease and monitoring clinical outcomes. Future longitudinal studies are needed to assess, whether hsCRP may support therapy monitoring.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov; Pediatric arm: NCT02496468, Registration date: 03 July 2015; Adult arm: NCT02419274, Registration date: 14 April 2015.

PMID:42509549 | DOI:10.1186/s12931-026-03840-x

BMC Pulm Med. 2026 Jul 24;26(1):332. doi: 10.1186/s12890-026-04536-0.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the relationship between demographic characteristics, chest CT findings, and laboratory parameters during hospitalization and post-COVID pulmonary function and exercise capacity.

METHODS: The retrospective study included 101 patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19, had CT findings consistent with COVID-19, and completed at least two months after discharge. In the study, Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), Pulmonary Function Tests (PFT), thorax CT and laboratory findings were evaluated. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS (v25.0); normality and variance homogeneity were assessed by Shapiro-Wilk and Levene tests, respectively, while group comparisons were performed using Student’s t, Mann-Whitney U, Chi-square, and one-way ANOVA with Tukey post-hoc tests, and correlations were evaluated by Spearman analysis.

RESULTS: Patients with severe/critical COVID-19 had significantly higher age, BMI, length of hospital stay, time from diagnosis to admission, ferritin, CRP, D-dimer, neutrophil %, N/L ratio, and Charlson Comorbidity Index, and lower lymphocyte % (p < 0.005). Severe/critical pneumonia was observed in 66.7% of CO-RADS 4 and 67.9% of CO-RADS 5 cases (p = 0.002). Restrictive respiratory patterns were found in 32.7% of the severe/critical group (p = 0.018). ICU patients had significantly shorter 6MWT distances, more frequent restrictive PFT results, and higher inflammatory markers at admission compared to non-ICU patients (p < 0.05). No significant correlation was found between disease severity and 6MWT distance.

CONCLUSION: Elevated inflammatory markers and ICU admission during hospitalization were associated with impaired pulmonary function and reduced exercise capacity in the early post-COVID period. In contrast, disease severity and CO-RADS classification were not predictive of functional outcomes. These findings highlight the role of inflammatory burden and critical illness as key predictors of post-COVID impairment.

PMID:42509548 | DOI:10.1186/s12890-026-04536-0