Urban scaling and Zipf’s law are two fundamental paradigms for the science of cities. These laws have mostly been investigated independently and are often perceived as disassociated matters. Here we present a large scale investigation about the connection between these two laws using population and GDP data from almost five thousand consistently-defined cities in 96 countries. We empirically demonstrate that both laws are tied to each other and derive an expression relating the urban scaling and Zipf exponents. This expression captures the average tendency of the empirical relation between both exponents, and simulations yield very similar results to the real data after accounting for random variations. LDC7559 supplier We find that while the vast majority of countries exhibit increasing returns to scale of urban GDP, this effect is less pronounced in countries with fewer small cities and more metropolises (small Zipf exponent) than in countries with a more uneven number of small and large cities (large Zipf exponent). Our research puts forward the idea that urban scaling does not solely emerge from intra-city processes, as population distribution and scaling of urban GDP are correlated to each other.

Female genital cutting (FGC) involve an acute physical trauma that hold a potential risk for immediate and long-term complications and mental health problems. The aim of this study was to examine the prediction of depressive symptoms and psychological distress by the immediate and current physical complications following FGC. Further, to examine whether the age at which 12-year-old Gambian girls had undergone the procedure affected mental health outcomes.

This cross-sectional study recruited 134 12-year-old girls from 23 public primary schools in The Gambia. We used a structured clinical interview to assess mental health and life satisfaction, including the Short Mood and Feeling Questionnaire (SMFQ), the Symptom check list (SCL-5) and Cantril’s Ladder of Life Satisfaction. Each interview included questions about the cutting procedure, immediate- and current physical complications and the kind of help and care girls received following FGC.

Depressive symptoms were associated with immediate physical healimplications for psychological health. Only a minimal number of girls received medical care when needed, and the dissemination of health education seems crucial in order to prevent adverse long-term physical and psychological health consequences.We present a forecasting model aim to predict hospital occupancy in metropolitan areas during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Our SEIRD type model features asymptomatic and symptomatic infections with detailed hospital dynamics. We model explicitly branching probabilities and non-exponential residence times in each latent and infected compartments. Using both hospital admittance confirmed cases and deaths, we infer the contact rate and the initial conditions of the dynamical system, considering breakpoints to model lockdown interventions and the increase in effective population size due to lockdown relaxation. The latter features let us model lockdown-induced 2nd waves. Our Bayesian approach allows us to produce timely probabilistic forecasts of hospital demand. We have applied the model to analyze more than 70 metropolitan areas and 32 states in Mexico.

To determine risk factors affecting time-to-death ≤90 and >90 days in children who underwent a modified Blalock-Taussig shunt (MBTS).

Data from a retrospective cohort study were obtained from children aged 0-3 years who experienced MBTS between 2005 and 2016. Time-to-death (prior to Glenn/repair), time-to-alive up until December 2017 without repair, and time-to-progression to Glenn/repair following MBTS were presented using competing risks survival analysis. Demographic, surgical and anesthesia-related factors were recorded. Time-to-death ≤90 days and >90 days was analyzed using multivariate time-dependent Cox regression models to identify independent predictors and presented by adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Of 380 children, 119 died, 122 survived and 139 progressed to Glenn/repair. Time-to-death probability (95% CI) within 90 days was 0.18 (0.14-0.22). Predictors of time-to-death ≤90 days (n = 63) were low weight (<3 kg) (HR 7.6, 95% CI2.8-20.4), preoperative varger shunt size/weight ratio should be reevaluated within 90 days to minimize the risk of shunt over flow.

90 days after receiving MBTS. Larger shunt size/weight ratio should be reevaluated within 90 days to minimize the risk of shunt over flow.

Some patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) must be hospitalized because of heart failure (HF), including HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and HF with reduced EF (HFrEF). The association between IPF and HF has not been clarified. We retrospectively investigated the clinical features and outcomes of patients with IPF who required nonelective hospitalization because of HF.

We examined data from IPF patients who required nonelective hospitalization for HF at the Kindai University Hospital from January 2008 to December 2018. We divided the patients into 3 groups those with HFpEF without elevated right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP), those with HFpEF and elevated RVSP, and those with HFrEF. The recurrence rates of HF after discharge and the 30- and 90-day mortality rates of the patients were evaluated.

During the study period, 37 patients with IPF required hospitalization because of HF. Among the 34 patients included in the study, 17 (50.0%) were diagnosed with HFpEF without elevaHFpEF without elevated RVSP survived longer than the patients with the other 2 types of HF.Evocalcet is a novel calcimimetic agent with fewer gastrointestinal (GI) adverse effects compared to cinacalcet. Although it is thought that cinacalcet induces GI side effects through the direct stimulation of the calcium receptor (CaR) expressed in the GI tract, the differences in the direct stimulatory effects of these two drugs on the GI tract have not been reported. In this study, we analyzed the difference in the GI effects of these two calcimimetic agents using miniature pigs by detecting vagus nerve stimulation after oral administration of the agents. Although cinacalcet induced vomiting in miniature pigs, evocalcet never induced emetic symptoms. A significant increase in the vagus nerve action potentials was observed after the administration of cinacalcet. Although the increase of that after the administration of evocalcet was mild and not significant in comparison to that in the vehicle group, it was not significantly different from the vagus nerve action potentials after cinacalcet treatment.