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1.
Front Public Health ; 12: 1369885, 2024.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38962782

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Studies focusing on coopetition and dynamic capabilities have expanded significantly over the past several decades. Coopetition strategy and dynamic capabilities are increasingly recognised as sources of sustained competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the factors driving growth performance in digital healthcare ventures by examining the role of coopetition, exploration and exploitation capabilities, and environmental uncertainty. While numerous studies have examined the competitive advantage of coopetition, its specific contribution to the growth of ventures in the digital realm remains less explored. Clarifying the strategic role of coopetition in driving growth performance is critical for delineating the intricate relationship between coopetition and growth performance, particularly in the context of digital healthcare ventures. To fill in this research gap, this study uses coopetition theory and dynamic capabilities theory to look at how exploration and exploitation capabilities, as well as environmental uncertainty, affect the relationship between coopetition and growth performance in digital healthcare ventures. Methods: We collected a total of 338 questionnaires from Chinese digital healthcare ventures between March 2023 and August 2023. We conducted data analysis using SPSS 26.0 and its macro-program PROCESS. Results: Our results confirm that coopetition has a positive effect on growth performance in digital healthcare ventures. Furthermore, exploration and exploitation capabilities fully mediate the relationship between coopetition and growth performance. Moreover, environmental uncertainty significantly and distinctively moderates the impact of exploration and exploitation capabilities on growth performance. Discussion: This study contributes to the existing literature by providing deeper insight into the relationship between coopetition and growth performance in digital healthcare ventures. It also offers important practical implications for public health improvement and socio-economic development.


Subject(s)
Digital Technology , Humans , Surveys and Questionnaires , China , Exploratory Behavior , Delivery of Health Care
2.
Child Abuse Negl ; 154: 106919, 2024 Jul 04.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38968759

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The increase in online enticement has led to law enforcement agencies engaging in more proactive policing through undercover chat sting operations. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to identify the topics and communication strategies triggering suspicion in chats between law enforcement officers and offenders and why those topics do not result in suspicion in victim-offender conversations. METHODS: We conducted a thematic analysis identifying: (1) how LEOs trigger suspicion, (2) how offenders communicate suspicion, (3) how LEOs attempt recovery from suspicion, and (4) how these triggers were present but did not trigger suspicion in victim-offender chats. We examined 20 LEO-offender chats and 20 victim-offender chats from US ICAC task forces. RESULTS: We identified four themes that triggered suspicion: risk assessment by the LEO's persona, LEO avoidance measures, details related to the offense and evidence, and proof of identity of chat participants. Offender responses to triggers revealed three themes: discomfort navigating boundaries and uncertainty, risk identification, and risk mitigation. Themes for the LEO's responses to suspicion included: risk assessment for chatters, issues with technology, appeasement, and negative emotional reactions. Finally, juxtaposing triggers onto minor-offender chats yielded four themes: explicit boundary setting, victim risk assessment, deep relationship forming and disclosures, and technology issues. CONCLUSION: This study has implications for law enforcement agencies seeking to reduce suspicion and risk assessment by offenders during internet sting operations.

3.
Sci Rep ; 14(1): 15473, 2024 Jul 05.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38969734

ABSTRACT

The face serves as a crucial cue for self-identification, while the sense of agency plays a significant role in determining our influence through actions in the environment. The current study investigates how self-identification through facial recognition may influence the perception of control via motion. We propose that self-identification might engender a belief in having control over one's own face, leading to a more acute detection and greater emphasis on discrepancies between their actions and the sensory feedback in control judgments. We refer to the condition governed by the belief in having control as the exploitation mode. Conversely, when manipulating another individual's face, the belief in personal control is absent. In such cases, individuals are likely to rely on the regularity between actions and sensory input for control judgments, exhibiting behaviors that are exploratory in nature to glean such information. This condition is termed the explorative mode. The study utilized a face-motion mixing paradigm, employing a deep generative model to enable participants to interact with either their own or another person's face through facial and head movements. During the experiment, participants observed either their own face or someone else's face (self-face vs. other-face) on the screen. The motion of the face was driven either purely by their own facial and head motion or by an average of the participant's and the experimenter's motion (full control vs. partial control). The results showed that participants reported a higher sense of agency over the other-face than the self-face, while their self-identification rating was significantly higher for the self-face. More importantly, controlling someone else's face resulted in more movement diversity than controlling one's own face. These findings support our exploration-exploitation theory: When participants had a strong belief in control triggered by the self-face, they became highly sensitive to any sensorimotor prediction errors, leading to a lower sense of agency. In contrast, when the belief of control was absent, the exploration mode triggered more explorative behaviors, allowing participants to efficiently gather information to establish a sense of agency.


Subject(s)
Facial Recognition , Humans , Male , Female , Adult , Young Adult , Facial Recognition/physiology , Face
4.
J Hazard Mater ; 476: 135121, 2024 Jul 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38981233

ABSTRACT

Pollution of the aqueous environment by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has caused increasing concerns. However, the occurrence and risks of aqueous VOCs in oil exploitation areas remain unclear. Herein, spatial distribution, migration flux, and environmental risks of VOCs in complex surface waters (including River, Estuary, Offshore and Aquaculture areas) were investigated at a typical coastal oil exploitation site. Among these surface waters, River was the most polluted area, and 1,2-Dichloropropane-which emerges from oil extraction activities-was the most prevalent VOC. Positive matrix factorization showed that VOCs pollution sources changed from oil exploitation to offshore disinfection activities along River, Estuary, Offshore and Aquaculture areas. Annual volatilization of VOCs to the atmosphere was predicted to be ∼34.42 tons, and rivers discharge ∼23.70 tons VOCs into the Bohai Sea annually. Ecological risk assessment indicated that Ethylbenzene and Bromochloromethane posed potential ecological risks to the aquatic environment, while olfactory assessment indicated that VOCs in surface waters did not pose an odor exposure risk. This study provides the first assessment of the pollution characteristics of aqueous VOCs in complex aqueous environments of oil exploitation sites, highlighting that oil exploitation activities can have nonnegligible impacts on VOCs pollution profiles.

5.
J Gerontol Soc Work ; : 1-21, 2024 Jul 03.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38958203

ABSTRACT

Financial exploitation (FE) of older adults is a growing public health problem. Current estimates of financial exploitation show between 5% and 11% of older adults are victimized each year. This study examined an empowerment-centered financial coaching intervention. Program records and participant baseline and follow-up assessment data were used to detail program dynamics and investigate participant outcomes. Most SAFE participants were very satisfied or satisfied (91%) with the services they received. Participants also reported significantly less stress at the six-month follow-up. These findings demonstrate that empowerment-centered financial coaching interventions can successfully address FE in older adult populations.

6.
J Anim Ecol ; 2024 Jun 14.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38877691

ABSTRACT

Recent evidence suggests that individuals differ in foraging tactics and this variation is often linked to an individual's behavioural type (BT). Yet, while foraging typically comprises a series of search and handling steps, empirical investigations have rarely considered BT-dependent effects across multiple stages of the foraging process, particularly in natural settings. In our long-term sleepy lizard (Tiliqua rugosa) study system, individuals exhibit behavioural consistency in boldness (measured as an individual's willingness to approach a novel food item in the presence of a threat) and aggressiveness (measured as an individual's response to an 'attack' by a conspecific dummy). These BTs are only weakly correlated and have previously been shown to have interactive effects on lizard space use and movement, suggesting that they could also affect lizard foraging performance, particularly in their search behaviour for food. To investigate how lizards' BTs affect their foraging process in the wild, we supplemented food in 123 patches across a 120-ha study site with three food abundance treatments (high, low and no-food controls). Patches were replenished twice a week over the species' entire spring activity season and feeding behaviours were quantified with camera traps at these patches. We tracked lizards using GPS to determine their home range (HR) size and repeatedly assayed their aggressiveness and boldness in designated assays. We hypothesised that bolder lizards would be more efficient foragers while aggressive ones would be less attentive to the quality of foraging patches. We found an interactive BT effect on overall foraging performance. Individuals that were both bold and aggressive ate the highest number of food items from the foraging array. Further dissection of the foraging process showed that aggressive lizards in general ate the fewest food items in part because they visited foraging patches less regularly, and because they discriminated less between high and low-quality patches when revisiting them. Bolder lizards, in contrast, ate more tomatoes because they visited foraging patches more regularly, and ate a higher proportion of the available tomatoes at patches during visits. Our study demonstrates that BTs can interact to affect different search and handling components of the foraging process, leading to within-population variation in foraging success. Given that individual differences in foraging and movement will influence social and ecological interactions, our results highlight the potential role of BT's in shaping individual fitness strategies and population dynamics.

7.
Eur J Neurosci ; 2024 Jun 24.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38923238

ABSTRACT

In uncertain environments in which resources fluctuate continuously, animals must permanently decide whether to stabilise learning and exploit what they currently believe to be their best option, or instead explore potential alternatives and learn fast from new observations. While such a trade-off has been extensively studied in pretrained animals facing non-stationary decision-making tasks, it is yet unknown how they progressively tune it while learning the task structure during pretraining. Here, we compared the ability of different computational models to account for long-term changes in the behaviour of 24 rats while they learned to choose a rewarded lever in a three-armed bandit task across 24 days of pretraining. We found that the day-by-day evolution of rat performance and win-shift tendency revealed a progressive stabilisation of the way they regulated reinforcement learning parameters. We successfully captured these behavioural adaptations using a meta-learning model in which either the learning rate or the inverse temperature was controlled by the average reward rate.

8.
Eval Program Plann ; 106: 102462, 2024 Jun 14.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38889549

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study utilized the Outcome of Human Trafficking Survivors (OHTS) to monitor the progress of female victims of CSE over a year while they were enrolled in a comprehensive treatment program. METHODS: Sixty-seven girls (M age 17.70 years) who were identified as confirmed victims of CSE (46 %) or at risk for CSE (54 %) and presented for treatment were administered the OHTS upon intake into the program and again at 90 day intervals resulting in four data points. Ratings were provided by staff members who interact with the member in each area assessed. A repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted comparing mean outcome differences across all four timepoints. RESULTS: Results indicate that significant changes were found in the area of Housing and Education, with gains in Education over time. For this sample, Parenting and Immigration were domains of less relevance and data was not consistently obtained in these areas. Other categories assessed by the OHTS did not demonstrate significant changes over time. CONCLUSION: The OHTS can be used to track progress of clients enrolled in treatment programming, but the goals of the program should align with the categories that are assessed in the OHTS. Repeated administration may be difficult due to high dropout rates in treatment and there may be rater bias.

9.
Cell Mol Life Sci ; 81(1): 252, 2024 Jun 08.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38849591

ABSTRACT

Animals have evolved to seek, select, and exploit food sources in their environment. Collectively termed foraging, these ubiquitous behaviors are necessary for animal survival. As a foundation for understanding foraging, behavioral ecologists established early theoretical and mathematical frameworks which have been subsequently refined and supported by field and laboratory studies of foraging animals. These simple models sought to explain how animals decide which strategies to employ when locating food, what food items to consume, and when to explore the environment for new food sources. These foraging decisions involve integration of prior experience with multimodal sensory information about the animal's current environment and internal state. We suggest that the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is well-suited for a high-resolution analysis of complex goal-oriented behaviors such as foraging. We focus our discussion on behavioral studies highlighting C. elegans foraging on bacteria and summarize what is known about the underlying neuronal and molecular pathways. Broadly, we suggest that this simple model system can provide a mechanistic understanding of decision-making and present additional avenues for advancing our understanding of complex behavioral processes.


Subject(s)
Caenorhabditis elegans , Decision Making , Feeding Behavior , Neurons , Animals , Caenorhabditis elegans/physiology , Decision Making/physiology , Feeding Behavior/physiology , Neurons/physiology , Models, Biological
10.
BMC Public Health ; 24(1): 1685, 2024 Jun 24.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38914998

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Human trafficking is a human rights violation and urgent public health challenge. It involves the exploitation of a person by means of force, intimidation or deceit and causes severe health risks. Though it occurs all over the world, its true extent is still unknown. Refugees are especially vulnerable to human trafficking due to language barriers and difficult living conditions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence and design a screening tool to identify survivors of all forms of human trafficking among refugees in a German state registration and reception centre. METHODS: In cooperation with the local authorities and the Ministry of Justice and for Migration Baden-Württemberg, we interviewed newly arrived refugees at an initial reception centre in Southern Germany to assess the prevalence of human trafficking. We used both a combination of the Adult Human Trafficking Screening Tool and a publication by Mumma et al. to assess all forms of human trafficking. RESULTS: In total, 13 of the 176 refugees had experienced trafficking, which corresponded to a prevalence of 7.3% (95%-CI = [3.5%, 11.3%]). Across all languages the questionnaire had a sensitivity of 76.9% and a specificity of 84.0% at a recommended cut-off of six positive responses. The recommended cut-off differed slightly for the Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, and English version. In an exploratory descriptive analysis on subregions, refugees from West Africa had a substantially higher prevalence (33.3%, 8 out of 24) for human trafficking within our sample, especially women. However, when we excluded this region from our analysis, we found no significant gender difference for the rest of the sample. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of trafficking in most regions, regardless of gender, suggests that more effort is needed to identify and protect all trafficked persons. The designed screening tool seems to be a promising tool to detect an especially vulnerable group of refugees and provides assistance in identifying survivors of human trafficking.


Subject(s)
Human Trafficking , Refugees , Humans , Refugees/statistics & numerical data , Human Trafficking/statistics & numerical data , Female , Male , Adult , Prevalence , Germany/epidemiology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Young Adult , Middle Aged , Mass Screening/methods , Adolescent
11.
Sci Rep ; 14(1): 14190, 2024 Jun 20.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38902267

ABSTRACT

As a newly proposed optimization algorithm based on the social hierarchy and hunting behavior of gray wolves, grey wolf algorithm (GWO) has gradually become a popular method for solving the optimization problems in various engineering fields. In order to further improve the convergence speed, solution accuracy, and local minima escaping ability of the traditional GWO algorithm, this work proposes a multi-strategy fusion improved gray wolf optimization (IGWO) algorithm. First, the initial population is optimized using the lens imaging reverse learning algorithm for laying the foundation for global search. Second, a nonlinear control parameter convergence strategy based on cosine variation is proposed to coordinate the global exploration and local exploitation ability of the algorithm. Finally, inspired by the tunicate swarm algorithm (TSA) and the particle swarm algorithm (PSO), a nonlinear tuning strategy for the parameters, and a correction based on the individual historical optimal positions and the global optimal positions are added in the position update equations to speed up the convergence of the algorithm. The proposed algorithm is assessed using 23 benchmark test problems, 15 CEC2014 test problems, and 2 well-known constraint engineering problems. The results show that the proposed IGWO has a balanced E&P capability in coping with global optimization as analyzed by the Wilcoxon rank sum and Friedman tests, and has a clear advantage over other state-of-the-art algorithms.

12.
Sci Rep ; 14(1): 13517, 2024 Jun 12.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38866847

ABSTRACT

As a preprocessing for machine learning and data mining, Feature Selection plays an important role. Feature selection aims to streamline high-dimensional data by eliminating irrelevant and redundant features, which reduces the potential curse of dimensionality of a given large dataset. When working with datasets containing many features, algorithms that aim to identify the most valuable features to improve dataset accuracy may encounter difficulties because of local optima. Many studies have been conducted to solve this problem. One of the solutions is to use meta-heuristic techniques. This paper presents a combination of the Differential evolution and the sailfish optimizer algorithms (DESFO) to tackle the feature selection problem. To assess the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, a comparison between Differential Evolution, sailfish optimizer, and nine other modern algorithms, including different optimization algorithms, is presented. The evaluation used Random forest and key nearest neighbors as quality measures. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is a superior algorithm compared to others. It significantly impacts high classification accuracy, achieving 85.7% with the Random Forest classifier and 100% with the Key Nearest Neighbors classifier across 14 multi-scale benchmarks. According to fitness values, it gained 71% with the Random forest and 85.7% with the Key Nearest Neighbors classifiers.

13.
J Food Sci ; 89(7): 3995-4018, 2024 Jul.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38847764

ABSTRACT

Sea cucumbers, members of the echinoderm class Holothuroidea, are marine invertebrates with ecological significance and substantial commercial value. With approximately 1700 species, these organisms contribute to marine ecosystems through nutrient cycling and face various threats, including overfishing and habitat loss. Despite their importance, they are extensively exploited for diverse applications, from seafood to pharmaceuticals. This study investigates sea cucumbers' nutritional profile and bioactive elements, emphasizing their role as sources of essential compounds with potential health benefits. The demand for sea cucumbers, especially in dried form, is significant, prompting exploration into various drying techniques. Examining the global trade in sea cucumbers highlights their economic importance and the conservation challenges they face. Conservation efforts, such as awareness campaigns and international collaboration, are evaluated as essential steps in combating illicit trade and promoting the sustainable stewardship of sea cucumber populations. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Around 1700 species of sea cucumbers were identified as vital ecological scavengers in the Holothuroidea class. High commercial value due to their health benefits, particularly their demonstrated inhibitory effect against various types of cancer. "Beche-de-mer" holds a 90% market share and is regarded as a luxury food item in Southeast Asian countries. Due to overexploitation, the species is classified as Schedule I under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) in India, prompting the implementation of a blanket ban on their harvesting to ensure its conservation.


Subject(s)
Desiccation , Sea Cucumbers , Seafood , Sea Cucumbers/chemistry , Animals , India , Desiccation/methods , Seafood/analysis , Nutritive Value , Food Handling/methods
14.
Soc Work Public Health ; 39(6): 548-560, 2024 Aug 17.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38916471

ABSTRACT

Thousands of youth are sexually trafficked each year in the United States. In order to address this concern, anti-trafficking advocates often emphasize the importance of uniform screening protocols to assist with the identification of survivors. Unfortunately, an oft-overlooked component of sex trafficking identification is what to do once a victim has been identified, and how to best meet survivors' complex needs. In this article, the authors provide social work practitioners and other advocates with best practice guidelines for how to design and evaluate anti-sex trafficking advocacy programs for children and youth. These guidelines include considerations related to direct services with clients, community partnerships, and organizational capacity, as well as recommendations for how to begin and then evaluate programming. Regardless of the form selected for the program, all anti-sex trafficking programs should be designed to provide effective, client-centered follow-up and advocacy once a positive identification is made in the community. The recommendations included in this paper are based upon extant literature, the authors' practice experience with survivors, and insights from anti-sex trafficking program evaluations.


Subject(s)
Crime Victims , Human Trafficking , Humans , Human Trafficking/prevention & control , Adolescent , United States , Child , Female , Male , Social Work , Consumer Advocacy , Program Development , Patient Advocacy
15.
Mar Environ Res ; 199: 106604, 2024 Jun 17.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38908113

ABSTRACT

The edible chiton Chiton articulatus is a commercially important mollusk found in the rocky intertidal zones of the Mexican tropical Pacific. Despite the intense harvesting in Acapulco Bay, Mexico, knowledge of its growth patterns is limited, hindering the development of effective management strategies. This study investigated the growth dynamics of C. articulatus using a multi-model inference approach based on size structure data collected in four sampling periods covering four decades. Results revealed continuous recruitment throughout the year, contributing to population resilience. The species exhibited growth plasticity, highlighting its adaptive potential. We found complex temporal patterns influenced mainly by climatic events. The El Niño event sowed higher growth rates and lower asymptotic length, while La Niña events showed the opposite pattern. This research provides insights into the growth dynamics of C. articulatus, highlighting the need for holistic management strategies for this commercially important species in the face of environmental change.

16.
Child Abuse Negl ; 154: 106910, 2024 Jun 20.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38908230

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The grooming process involves sexually explicit images or videos sent by the offender to the minor. Although offenders may try to conceal their identity, these sexts often include hand, knuckle, and nail bed imagery. OBJECTIVE: We present a novel biometric hand verification tool designed to identify online child sexual exploitation offenders from images or videos based on biometric/forensic features extracted from hand regions. The system can match and authenticate hand component imagery against a constrained custody suite reference of a known subject by employing advanced image processing and machine learning techniques. DATA: We conducted experiments on two hand datasets: Purdue University and Hong Kong. In particular, the Purdue dataset collected for this study allowed us to evaluate the system performance on various parameters, with specific emphasis on camera distance and orientation. METHODS: To explore the performance and reliability of the biometric verification models, we considered several parameters, including hand orientation, distance from the camera, single or multiple fingers, architecture of the models, and performance loss functions. RESULTS: Results showed the best performance for pictures sampled from the same database and with the same image capture conditions. CONCLUSION: The authors conclude the biometric hand verification tool offers a robust solution that will operationally impact law enforcement by allowing agencies to investigate and identify online child sexual exploitation offenders more effectively. We highlight the strength of the system and the current limitations.

17.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38935209

ABSTRACT

Commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) is a significant public health concern disproportionately affecting ethnoracially minoritized girls. Despite strong associations of CSE with suicide attempts, little is known about correlates of suicide among girls with CSE histories. Elevated rates of externalizing disorders (i.e., attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], disruptive behavior disorders [DBD], conduct disorder [CD]) were observed among CSE youth, particularly in ethnoracially minoritized samples. Youth with CSE histories are frequently affected by parental incarceration, which is correlated with risk for suicide attempts. We tested cross-sectional simultaneous associations of externalizing disorders and parental incarceration with number of suicide attempts among 360 ethnoracially diverse girls affected by CSE (Mean age = 18.86). ADHD, DBD, and maternal incarceration were positively associated with number of suicide attempts. Findings implicate clinical/familial correlates of suicide attempts in this marginalized group, suggesting early suicide prevention efforts may improve traction on this problem by focusing on individual and family level factors.

18.
J Child Sex Abus ; : 1-29, 2024 Jun 24.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38910372

ABSTRACT

Literature on human trafficking suggests the vulnerability to commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and child sexual abuse (CSA) changes by the prevalence of certain risk factors (e.g., runaway), trafficker-used lures (e.g., isolation), and the environmental conditions present at the time of victimization (e.g., foster care). Often, youth in foster care are at high risk for CSEC and CSA victimization associated with runaway instances. This scoping review aims to identify prevention and intervention strategies for CSEC/CSA of youth who run away from foster care. PRISMA scoping review guidelines were followed to review the literature across two search parameters (CSEC; CSA). An electronic review was conducted between August 2022 and January 2023 across four databases: PubMed, SAGE Journals Online, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science. The CSEC and CSA search parameters comprised three domains (sexual exploitation, foster care, and runaway; sexual abuse, foster care, and runaway, respectively). Literature published between 2012 and 2022 was included regardless of the methodological approach. Literature not concerning youth who run from foster care was excluded. Database searches yielded 206 publications for CSEC and 351 for CSA, reduced to 185 and 212, respectively, after removing duplicates. Seventy-one articles were identified, of which, 64 articles (28 CSEC, 36 CSA) were categorized as prevention strategies and seven (five CSEC, two CSA) as interventions. The intersection and dual victimization of CSEC and CSA of youth who run away from foster care are discussed. This paper also discusses applied behavior analysis principles for developing function-based interventions.

19.
Int J Med Inform ; 188: 105466, 2024 Aug.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38761458

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Disease trajectories have become increasingly relevant within the context of an aging population and the rising prevalence of chronic illnesses. Understanding the temporal progression of diseases is crucial for enhancing patient care, preventive measures, and effective management. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to propose and validate a novel methodology for trajectory impact analysis and interactive visualization of disease trajectories over a cohort of 71,849 patients. METHODS: This article introduces an innovative comprehensive approach for analysis and interactive visualization of disease trajectories. First, Risk Increase (RI) index is defined that assesses the impact of the initial disease diagnosis on the development of subsequent illnesses. Secondly, visual graphics methods are used to represent cohort trajectories, ensuring a clear and semantically rich presentation that facilitates easy data interpretation. RESULTS: The proposed approach is demonstrated over the disease trajectories of a cohort comprising 71,849 patients from Tolosaldea, Spain. The study finds several clinically relevant trajectories in this cohort, such as that after suffering a cerebral ischemic stroke, the probability of suffering dementia increases 10.77 times. The clinical relevance of the study outcomes have been assessed by an in-depth analysis conducted by expert clinicians. The identified disease trajectories are in agreement with the latest advancements in the field. CONCLUSION: The proposed approach for trajectory impact analysis and interactive visualization offers valuable graphs for the comprehensive study of disease trajectories for improved clinical decision-making. The simplicity and interpretability of our methods make them valuable approach for healthcare professionals.


Subject(s)
Disease Progression , Humans , Cohort Studies , Female , Male , Aged , Spain/epidemiology , Middle Aged , Aged, 80 and over
20.
bioRxiv ; 2024 May 14.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38798663

ABSTRACT

Similar to other animals, the fly, Drosophila melanogaster, changes its foraging strategy from exploration to exploitation upon encountering a nutrient-rich food source. However, the impact of metabolic state or taste/nutrient value on exploration vs. exploitation decisions in flies is poorly understood. Here, we developed a one-source foraging assay that uses automated video tracking coupled with high-resolution measurements of food ingestion to investigate the behavioral variables flies use when foraging for food with different taste/caloric values and when in different metabolic states. We found that flies alter their foraging and ingestive behaviors based on their hunger state and the concentration of the sucrose solution. Interestingly, sugar-blind flies did not transition from exploration to exploitation upon finding a high-concentration sucrose solution, suggesting that taste sensory input, as opposed to post-ingestive nutrient feedback, plays a crucial role in determining the foraging decisions of flies. Using a Generalized Linear Model (GLM), we showed that hunger state and sugar volume ingested, but not the nutrient or taste value of the food, influence flies' radial distance to the food source, a strong indicator of exploitation. Our behavioral paradigm and theoretical framework offer a promising avenue for investigating the neural mechanisms underlying state and value-based foraging decisions in flies, setting the stage for systematically identifying the neuronal circuits that drive these behaviors.

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