Tag: pubmed

J Med Internet Res. 2025 Jul 10;27:e69953. doi: 10.2196/69953.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The United States is facing an opioid overdose epidemic resulting in an unprecedented number of preventable deaths. The use of medications including buprenorphine and methadone has proven effective for opioid use disorder (OUD), but many patients struggle to stay in treatment. Novel solutions, such as digital health tools, offer one option to help improve clinic management and improve treatment engagement.

OBJECTIVE: Using a mixed methods approach, we investigated facilitators and barriers to the use of a third-party digital health platform called Opioid Addiction Recovery Support (OARS) to aid OUD treatment engagement and adherence in a primary care setting.

METHODS: Patient and provider use of OARS was observed for 10 months and summarized using descriptive statistics. Differences in use were assessed using Wilcoxon signed rank tests. Additionally, key informant interviews were conducted with providers who prescribe medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and their case managers to understand the facilitators and barriers to implementation. Qualitative data were analyzed using a coding reliability thematic analysis approach.

RESULTS: Among 205 patients invited to use OARS, the median age was 37 (IQR 31-44) years, 130 (63.4%) identified as men, and 193 (94.1%) identified as non-Hispanic White. Of these 205 patients, 158 (77.1%) used the app at least 1 time. The median number of days the 158 patients viewed test results was 1 (IQR 1-3), progress was 1 (IQR 0-2), and educational content was 0 (IQR 0-1). The 55 patients whose providers had manually entered their results into OARS when the electronic health record (EHR) integration failed viewed test results (P=.002), progress (P<.001), and educational content (P<.001) more days than the 103 patients who could not view their results in OARS. Providers and the lead case manager reported that OARS increased patient-provider communication, allowed patients to better track their overall MOUD treatment, and enhanced providers’ ability to identify patients at risk for relapse. They also acknowledged that the lack of integration between OARS with the EHR resulted in administrative burdens, which impacted provider use of the system.

CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study highlight the challenges of successfully implementing OARS with patients who receive MOUD in primary care settings. Our results show a lack of OARS uptake among providers, case managers, and patients, despite positive assessments made by participants. We also show several barriers that impacted provider use, including the lack of integration between OARS and EHR. Future research is needed (1) to determine whether digital health tools like OARS are efficacious in improving OUD outcomes and, if proved efficacious, (2) to identify ways to routinize the use of digital health tools in MOUD treatment, primarily by solving technical and organizational challenges associated with EHR integration and patient engagement.

PMID:40638840 | DOI:10.2196/69953

Nucleosides Nucleotides Nucleic Acids. 2025 Jul 10:1-14. doi: 10.1080/15257770.2025.2532089. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a complex multifactorial metabolic disorder characterized by progressive disease progression, involving varying degrees of insulin resistance and pancreatic islet dysfunction. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a crucial enzyme regulating folate metabolism, and its polymorphisms have been associated with T2D. However, the methylation pattern of the MTHFR gene has not been previously studied. This study aimed to assess the association between T2D and the methylation profile of the MTHFR gene promotor in a Moroccan population. A total of 107 patients with T2D and 100 healthy controls were included in the study. The methylation status of CpG sites in the MTHFR gene promoter was conducted by methylation-specific PCR (MS-PCR). Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software (version 20). The promoter region of the MTHFR gene was predominantly hyper-methylated in patients with T2D compared to healthy controls (OR: 2.924; 95% CI: 1.285-6.650; p = 0.008). The hypermethylated profile was not influenced by environmental or metabolic factors examined in this study. These findings suggest that hypermethylation of CpG sites in the MTHFR gene promoter is associated with T2D in the Moroccan population, highlighting a potential epigenetic mechanism contributing to the disease.

PMID:40638835 | DOI:10.1080/15257770.2025.2532089

Environ Technol. 2025 Jul 10:1-25. doi: 10.1080/09593330.2025.2525558. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Recycling waste plastic as a binding material and substitution of sand with quarry offers a promising alternative. This study investigates the potential of recycled waste linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) plastic as a sustainable alternative binder to cement in construction block production. An extrusion technique was adopted to melt the plastic and disperse and distribute quarry dust within the molten plastic to produce a composite. Waste LLDPE plastic-quarry dust composite samples were produced at varying mix ratios of 1:0, 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3. Similar ratios were used to produce cement-quarry dust composite samples. The density, morphology, compressive strength, split tensile strength, water absorption, flexural strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, and skid resistance of the composites were evaluated. Comparative analysis was conducted, evaluating the performance of waste LLDPE plastic-quarry dust composites against cement-quarry dust composites at various mix ratios. Results revealed that the density of the waste LLDPE plastic-quarry dust composites were in the range of 1288-1571 kg/m³, and its compressive strength increased with increasing quarry dust content, reaching 18.22 MPa at a 1:3 ratio. Conversely, cement-quarry dust composites exhibited a decreasing compressive strength trend with increasing quarry dust, and the lowest strength of 17.57 MPa was obtained at a 1:3 ratio. A statistical analysis approach using post hoc analysis with Bonferroni adjustments validates the significant difference for the mix compressive strengths. Notably, the waste LLDPE plastic-quarry dust composites demonstrated promising performance characteristics, particularly at higher quarry dust ratios, suggesting a viable eco-friendly composite block.

PMID:40638813 | DOI:10.1080/09593330.2025.2525558

JMIR Med Inform. 2025 Jul 10;13:e66544. doi: 10.2196/66544.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Communication among health care professionals is essential for effective clinical care. Asynchronous text-based clinician communication-secure messaging-is rapidly becoming the preferred mode of communication. The use of secure messaging platforms across health care institutions creates large-scale communication networks that can be used to characterize how interaction structures affect the behaviors and outcomes of network members. However, the understanding of the structure and interactions within these networks is relatively limited.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the characteristics of a large-scale secure messaging network and its association with health care professional messaging behaviors.

METHODS: Data on electronic health record-integrated secure messaging use from 14 inpatient and 282 outpatient practice locations within a large Midwestern health system over a 6-month period (June 1, 2023, through November 30, 2023) were collected. Social network analysis techniques were used to quantify the global (network)- and node (health care professional)-level properties of the network. Hierarchical clustering techniques were used to identify clusters of health care professionals based on network characteristics; associations between the clusters and the following messaging behaviors were assessed: message read time, message response time, total volume of messages, character length of messages sent, and character length of messages received.

RESULTS: The dataset included 31,800 health care professionals and 7,672,832 messages; the resultant messaging network consisted of 31,800 nodes and 1,228,041 edges. Network characteristics differed based on practice location and professional roles (P<.001). Specifically, pharmacists and advanced practice providers, as well as those working in inpatient settings, had the highest values for all network metrics considered. Four clusters were identified, representing differences in connectivity within the network. Statistically significant differences across clusters were identified between all considered secure messaging behaviors (P<.001). One of the clusters with 1109 nodes, consisting mostly of physicians and other inpatient health care professionals, had the highest values for all node-level metrics compared to the other clusters found. This cluster also had the quickest message read and response times and handled the largest volume of messages per day.

CONCLUSIONS: Secure messaging use within a large health care system manifested as an expansive communication network where connectivity varied based on a health care professional’s role and their practice setting. Furthermore, our findings highlighted a relationship between health care professionals’ connectivity in the network and their daily secure messaging behaviors. These findings provide insights into the complexities of communication and coordination structures among health care providers and downstream secure messaging use. Understanding how secure messaging is used among health care professionals can offer insights into interventions aimed at streamlining communication, which may, in turn, potentially enhance clinician work behaviors and patient outcomes.

PMID:40638810 | DOI:10.2196/66544

Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2025 Jul 10. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003816. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate how genotype and caffeine habituation influence the acute effects of caffeine ingestion on exercise-induced hemostatic responses in individuals with obesity.

METHODS: Using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design, 40 physically inactive young men with obesity (age, 22.2 ± 2.3 years; BMI, 34.1 ± 2.7 kg/m2) completed two moderate-to-high-intensity concurrent exercise sessions following ingestion of caffeine (3 mg/kg) or placebo. Blood samples were collected at baseline, after exercise, and after 60 minutes of recovery. Statistical analysis was performed by repeated measures MANOVA.

RESULTS: Acute exercise increased platelet count and aggregation, fibrinogen, F1 + 2, tPA antigen, D-dimer, and clot lysis time, regardless of genotype or caffeine habituation status (P < 0.05). PAI-1 antigen remained unchanged after exercise (P > 0.05) but decreased following recovery (P < 0.01). Caffeine resulted in a greater increase in platelet aggregation, fibrinogen, F1 + 2, and clot lysis time, alongside a blunted increase in tPA antigen levels post-exercise in naïve consumers (P < 0.05). In contrast, habitual caffeine consumers exhibited a mitigated increase in clot lysis time and a greater post-recovery reduction in PAI-1 antigen following caffeine ingestion (P < 0.001). Caffeine’s impact on hemostatic responses to exercise was unaffected by genotype (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Moderate-to-high-intensity concurrent exercise induces a transient prothrombotic state in physically inactive individuals with obesity. Acute caffeine supplementation at a moderate dose modulates the hemostatic responses depending on caffeine habituation status rather than CYP1A2 genotype: it exacerbates the prothrombotic response in naïve consumers but attenuates it in habitual consumers.

PMID:40638809 | DOI:10.1249/MSS.0000000000003816

Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2025 Jul 10. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003815. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Physical inactivity contributes to systemic disease burden and premature mortality worldwide. Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) improves health outcomes; however, its genetic determinants, particularly in Asian populations, remain unclear. This study aimed to identify genetic loci associated with LTPA in the Taiwanese population.

METHODS: We conducted genome-wide association studies (GWASs) in 122,258 Taiwan Biobank participants. LTPA was assessed both as a binary trait (regular exerciser vs. non-exerciser) and an ordinal trait (categorized by MET-hours/week into low, moderate, and high PA levels). Logistic and ordinal logistic regression models were used under an additive genetic model, adjusting for age, age2, sex, BMI, smoking, and the first 10 genetic principal components. Candidate nonsynonymous mutations were further examined in 1,494 whole-genome sequenced participants.

RESULTS: Binary trait GWAS identified genome-wide significant (GWS) loci at ATXN2 (12q24.12), FTO (16q12.2), and NOTCH4 (6p21.32), with associations for FTO and NOTCH4 only observed in BMI-adjusted models. Ordinal trait analysis (MET-hours/week <10, 10-<20, ≥20) identified a single GWS locus at BRAP (12q24.12). Fine-mapping of 12q24.12 revealed multiple GWS single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in strong linkage disequilibrium (LD) with lead variants; these signals largely disappeared after conditional analysis, consistent with a single underlying association. Whole-genome sequencing and LD analysis identified three GWS nonsynonymous mutations, with ALDH2 rs671 emerging as the most likely causal variant.

CONCLUSIONS: ATXN2-ALDH2 region on chromosome 12q24.12 was identified as a key locus for LTPA in Taiwanese individuals. These findings enhance our understanding of the genetic basis of physical activity and may inform future precision medicine and public health strategies.

PMID:40638807 | DOI:10.1249/MSS.0000000000003815

Prev Chronic Dis. 2025 Jul 10;22:E38. doi: 10.5888/pcd22.240537.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Associations between screen time and health outcomes among teenagers are well established. However, most studies use parent-reported information, which may misrepresent the magnitude or nature of these associations. In addition, timely nationally representative estimates are needed to correspond with evolving screen use. This study aimed to address these gaps by using data from a nationally representative survey of teenagers.

METHODS: Data came from the 2021-2023 National Health Interview Survey-Teen (NHIS-Teen), a follow-back web-based survey designed to collect health information directly from teenagers aged 12 to 17 years. NHIS-Teen provides a unique opportunity to assess teenagers’ self-reported health in conjunction with a rich set of parent-reported covariates, including family income, from the National Health Interview Survey. This study examines associations between high daily non-schoolwork screen time, defined as 4 or more hours of daily screen time, and adverse health outcomes across the domains of physical activity, sleep, weight, mental health, and perceived support.

RESULTS: Teenagers with higher non-schoolwork screen use were more likely to experience a series of adverse health outcomes, including infrequent physical activity, infrequent strength training, being infrequently well-rested, having an irregular sleep routine, weight concerns, depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, infrequent social and emotional support, and insufficient peer support.

CONCLUSION: Results of this study include associations between high screen time and poor health among teenagers using self-reported data. Future work may further investigate these associations and their underlying mechanisms, including the content viewed on screens and the interactions taking place across screens.

PMID:40638804 | DOI:10.5888/pcd22.240537

Aust J Prim Health. 2025 Jul;31:PY25091. doi: 10.1071/PY25091.

ABSTRACT

Background Diabetes-associated morbidity and mortality are higher among some groups of migrants. However, differences in age structure between migrants and the destination countries’ populations can affect the estimated prevalence. There is also a lack of knowledge about the characteristics associated with poor diabetes outcomes among migrants. This study aimed to report the age-standardised prevalence of diabetes and characteristics associated with poor diabetes outcomes among different migrant groups in Australia, based on region of birth. Methods Using the whole population data from the Australian 2021 census data, diabetes age-specific and sex-specific prevalence, age-standardised prevalence and age-standardised prevalence ratio (ASPR) were calculated for people aged ≥30 years. Characteristics associated with poor diabetes outcomes were analysed. Results Age-standardised prevalence was higher than the Australian-born population among migrants from South-East Asia (ASPR: 1.4), North Africa and the Middle East (ASPR: 1.7), Southern and Central Asia (ASPR: 2.2) and Oceania (ASPR: 2.2). Among those with diabetes >50% had a weekly income 31% of individuals born in Australia, North-West Europe and Southern and Eastern Europe had ≥3 comorbidities. Over 37% of people born in Southern and Eastern Europe and North Africa and the Middle East needed assistance with core activities, and >8% born in Southern and Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East and South-East Asia had no formal education. People born in Northeast Asia had the highest percentage of people with low English proficiency (55.2%) and who arrived in Australia Conclusion In prioritising the migrant populations for diabetes prevention, control and healthcare delivery, characteristics associated with poor diabetes outcomes and prevalence of diabetes in different migrant populations in Australia should be considered. Strategies should be designed based on the characteristics of different migrant populations to empower them to manage their diabetes.

PMID:40638791 | DOI:10.1071/PY25091

Ann Bot. 2025 Jul 10:mcaf138. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcaf138. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Xylem and vessel structures help to maintain water transport in woody plants in response to environmental changes. Many studies have demonstrated the relationships between vessel structures and, in particular, temperature. However, the effects of environmental factors on the of vessel size distribution and on vessels of different sizes have not been fully assessed statistically. Lianas are characterized by large vessels and vessel dimorphism. Liana abundance decreases with decreasing temperature; this pattern is attributed to the vulnerability of their large vessels to freeze-thaw embolism. However, in temperate zones, the relationships between liana abundance and temperature differ between twining and root climber.

METHODS: We sampled wood discs of eight liana species distributed across Japan and measured size and shape of 130,940 vessels in 836 sections from 219 individuals. We classified vessels of each species into two diameter clusters (large and small) and calculated vessel traits and potential hydraulic conductivity (Kp). Vessel traits were compared among climbing mechanisms and the relationships between vessel traits and temperature were analyzed for species.

KEY RESULTS: Twining climbers had larger vessel diameters than root climbers and had greater Kp. However, the relationships between temperature and vessel traits of species were inconsistent within climbing mechanisms. The decrease in Kp in certain species with decreasing temperature might result from species-specific changes in xylem structure. Vessels of the two clusters related differently to temperature in some species.

CONCLUSIONS: The vessel traits in each climbing mechanism might partly explain the distribution patterns of these lianas in the study region. Furthermore, changes in Kp in some species supported the prediction that liana competitiveness decreases with decreasing temperature. Understanding the mechanisms behind the changes in vessel traits and vessel size distribution along environmental factors will provide fundamental insights into how environmental changes affect forest ecosystems by altering plant hydraulic function.

PMID:40638780 | DOI:10.1093/aob/mcaf138

JMIR Med Inform. 2025 Jul 10;13:e67513. doi: 10.2196/67513.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) pose serious risks to patient health, and effectively predicting and managing them is an important public health challenge. Given the complexity and specificity of biomedical text data, the traditional context-independent word embedding model, Word2Vec, has limitations in fully reflecting the domain specificity of such data. Although Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT)-based models pretrained on biomedical corpora have demonstrated high performance in ADR-related studies, research using these models to predict previously unknown drug-side effect relationships remains insufficient.

OBJECTIVE: This study proposes a method for predicting drug-side effect relationships by leveraging the parametric knowledge embedded in biomedical BERT models. Through this approach, we predict promising candidates for potential drug-side effect relationships with unknown causal mechanisms by leveraging parametric knowledge from biomedical BERT models and embedding vector similarities of known relationships.

METHODS: We used 158,096 pairs of drug-side effect relationships from the side effect resource (SIDER) database to generate an adjacency matrix and calculate the cosine similarity between word embedding vectors of drugs and side effects. Relation scores were calculated for 8,235,435 drug-side effect pairs using this similarity. To evaluate the prediction accuracy of drug-side effect relationships, the area under the curve (AUC) value was measured using the calculated relation score and 158,096 known drug-side effect relationships from SIDER.

RESULTS: The clagator/biobert_v1.1 model achieved an AUC of 0.915 at an optimal threshold of 0.289, outperforming the existing Word2Vec model with an AUC of 0.848. The BERT-based models pretrained on the biomedical corpus outperformed the vanilla BERT model with an AUC of 0.857. External validation with the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) Adverse Event Reporting System data, using Fisher exact test based on 8,235,435 predicted drug-side effect pairs and 901,361 known relationships, confirmed high statistical significance (P<.001) with an odds ratio of 4.822. In addition, a literature review of predicted drug-side effect relationships not confirmed in the SIDER database revealed that these relationships have been reported in recent studies published after 2016.

CONCLUSIONS: This study introduces a method for extracting drug-side effect relationships embedded in parameters of language models pretrained on biomedical corpora and using this information to predict previously unknown drug-side effect relationships. We found that BERT-based models pretrained with biomedical corpora consider contextual information and achieve better performance in drug-side effect relationship prediction. External validation using the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System dataset and the literature review of certain cases confirmed high statistical significance, demonstrating practical applicability. These results highlight the utility of natural language processing-based approaches for predicting and managing ADR.

PMID:40638775 | DOI:10.2196/67513