Epidemiology of Infections with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2 Variant,Hong Kong,January–March 2022

Our analysis of data collected from multiple epidemics in Hong Kong indicated a shorter serial interval and generation time of infections with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. The age-specific case-fatality risk for Omicron BA.2.2 case-patients without complete primary vaccination was comparable to that of persons infected with ancestral strains in earlier waves.     

A bi-directional association between weight change and health-related quality of life: evidence from the 11-year follow-up of 9916 community-dwelling adults

Quality of Life Research - To examine the prospective associations between body mass index (BMI) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Data were extracted from a longitudinal, nationally...     

Extracting branching tubular object geometry via cores

Blood vessels and other anatomic objects in the human body can be described as trees of branching tubes. The focus of this paper is the extraction of the branching geometry in three-dimensional, as well as the extraction of the tubes themselves, via skeletons computed as cores. Cores are height ridges of a graded measure of medial strength called medialness, which measures how much a given location resembles the middle of an object as indicated by image intensities. Object bifurcations are detected using an affine-invariant corner detector and computations on the core's medialness values. The methods presented in this paper are evaluated on synthetic images of branching tubular objects as well as on blood vessels in head MR angiogram data. Results show impressive resistance to noise and the ability to detect branches spanning a variety of widths and branching angles. An extension that allows cores to extract general branching structures, not only branching tubes, is introduced.     

Diabetes resolution after one anastomosis gastric bypass

Background

Diabetes and other obesity-related diseases are a worldwide pandemic that transcends geographic borders as well as socioeconomic levels. Currently, it is well known that medical treatment alone is insufficient to ensure adequate and sustainable weight loss and co-morbidity resolution. It has been well proven that bariatric surgery can produce almost immediate resolution of diabetes and other co-morbidities as well as long-term weight loss.

The effect of matrix stiffness of injectable hydrogels on the preservation of cardiac function after a heart attack

This study compares the effect of four injectable hydrogels with different mechanical properties on the post-myocardial infarction left ventricle (LV) remodeling process. The bioactive hydrogels were synthesized from Tetronic-fibrinogen (TF) and PEG–fibrinogen (PF) conjugates; each hydrogel was supplemented with two levels of additional cross-linker to increase the matrix stiffness as measured by the shear storage modulus (G′). Infarcts created by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery in a rodent model were treated with the hydrogels, and all four treatment groups showed an increase in wall thickness, arterial density, and viable cardiac tissue in the peri-infarct areas of the LV. Echocardiography and hemodynamics data of the PF/TF treated groups showed significant improvement of heart function associated with the attenuated effects of the remodeling process. Multi-factorial regression analysis indicated that the group with the highest modulus exhibited the best rescue of heart function and highest neovascularization. The results of this study demonstrate that multiple properties of an injectable bioactive biomaterial, and notably the matrix stiffness, provide the multifaceted stimulation necessary to preserve cardiac function and prevent adverse remodeling following a heart attack.