Mental health challenges among bank employees represent a growing public health concern with substantial individual and organizational consequences. Guided by the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model and Emotion Regulation Theory, this study examined the mediating role of emotional intelligence (EI) in the relationships between workplace stress, trait mindfulness, and person-job fit (PJF) on employee mental health in the banking sector.

Using a two-wave, time-lagged survey design, 412 bank employees (males = 159, 38.6%; females = 253, 61.4%; age range: 25-55 years; M = 35.64, SD = 7.30) were recruited from commercial banks in Southeast Nigeria via multi-stage sampling. Participants completed validated measures of workplace stress, mindfulness, person-job fit, emotional intelligence, and mental well-being. Data were analyzed using Hayes' PROCESS macro (Model 4).

Results indicated that mindfulness was negatively associated with mental health, whereas EI and PJF demonstrated significant positive associations. Workplace stress showed no significant direct relationship with mental health. With respect to direct pathways, mindfulness negatively predicted EI, while workplace stress demonstrated a positive association with EI; PJF showed no significant direct effect on EI. Notably, EI significantly mediated the mindfulness-mental health pathway, partially reducing the adverse direct effect of mindfulness on mental health - a finding that challenges the prevailing assumption that mindfulness is uniformly beneficial in occupational contexts. EI did not mediate the PJF-mental health or workplace stress-mental health pathways.

These findings suggest that emotional intelligence (EI) serves as a psychological mechanism connecting mindfulness to employee mental health. This underscores the intricate and context-dependent nature of mindfulness, particularly in high-demand work environments such as the banking sector.

Hypertension (HTN) constitutes a major and growing public health challenge in South Africa, a setting where HIV prevalence also remains high. Despite this dual burden, longitudinal evidence describing how individuals move through the HTN care cascade particularly comparing people living with HIV (PLHIV) and people not living with HIV (PNLHIV) remains limited. Understanding patterns of progression and regression across the cascade is essential to inform health system strategies for integrated chronic disease management.

We conducted a longitudinal secondary analysis using data collected from the iHEART-SA trial, implemented across nine public primary healthcare clinics in Johannesburg between August 2022 and May 2024, with follow-up through May 2025. Adults (≥18 years) receiving chronic care, with a known HIV status and a completed medical file review were included. Progression and regression were assessed across the HTN care cascade. Of 23,855 participants, 78.5% were PLHIV (median age 42 years, IQR 36-49; 69% female). The median SBP was 132 mmHg (IQR: 120-145 mmHg). Along the HTN care cascade, PLHIV were substantially more likely to remain undiagnosed compared with PNLHIV (aRR 3.40; 95% [CI 2.45, 4.73]; p < 0.001). Among those treated, PLHIV were less likely to achieve BP control (aRR 0.85; 95% [CI 0.75, 0.97]; p = 0.012). During follow-up, PLHIV experienced higher rates of cascade regression, including regression to untreated HTN (22% versus 11%; aRR 1.51; 95% [CI 1.03, 2.23]; p = 0.037) and from controlled to uncontrolled BP (aRR 1.10; 95% [CI 1.02, 1.18]; p = 0.010). The main study limitations were the use of routinely collected clinical data, variable follow-up, and treatment ascertainment based on documented medication use.

PLHIV had lower HTN diagnosis and higher regression, including treatment discontinuation and loss of BP control, underscoring persistent gaps in longitudinal HTN management within HIV programmes and the need for integrated and targeted chronic care models that ensure treatment continuity and sustained control.

Misconceptions about cancer causes may undermine prevention efforts, yet they remain poorly studied in Africa. This study assessed awareness of mythical cancer causes among adults in central Uganda.

A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 428 adults (≥ 18 years) in central Uganda using multistage random sampling. Participants completed a modified Cancer Awareness Measure-Mythical Causes Scale. Good awareness was defined as correctly identifying at least 10 of 20 mythical causes. Descriptive and non-parametric analyses examined awareness and associated factors.

Participants had a mean age of 36.5 ± 14.5 years, and 61.2% were female. Awareness of mythical cancer causes was extremely low; only 1.6% correctly identified at least half of the items, with a mean score of 2.4/20 (12%). The most commonly endorsed myth was that "eating food cooked in a polythene bag" causes cancer (95.3%). Lower awareness was associated with older age, being married, and lower education, while having a relative with cancer was associated with better recognition of myths (p < 0.05).

Misconceptions about cancer causes were widespread in this Ugandan population. Cancer awareness initiatives should promote evidence-based risk factors while dispelling common myths, particularly among older and less-educated populations, to strengthen cancer prevention.

While under-five mortality has declined by approximately 50% globally since 2000, mortality among older children and adolescents has fallen by only 31% since 1990. The age group 5-19-year-olds constitute over a third of Pakistan's population, yet estimates of mortality in this population, which are necessary for identifying preventable causes of death and developing interventions to improve health outcomes, have been limited. We aimed to investigate cause-specific mortality in children aged ≥5 years using verbal and social autopsy (VASA) to identify patterns and health risks across these age groups.

We used the multistage stratified cluster sampling frame of the Pakistan National Nutrition Survey 2018, which covered 115,600 households from urban and rural areas. Through retrospective mortality surveillance, we identified 1,322 deaths among 5-19-year-olds in these households in the preceding three years. We then obtained data on their deaths from the household members through VASA interviews, after which a trained paediatrician and two computerised methods assigned specific causes of death to each case.

We completed VASA interviews for 1,322 deaths, out of which 29.8% were among children aged 5-9 years, 24.4% among young adolescents (10-14 years), and 45.8% among older adolescents (15-19 years). Overall mortality was higher among males (59%) than females (41%). Infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and accidents/injuries were the three main causes of death, with the contribution of infectious diseases declining, and that of NCDs and injuries increasing with age. Maternal causes, particularly obstetric complications, contributed significantly to mortality among female adolescents.

We found age- and gender-based differences in mortality causes among the 5-19-year population in Pakistan. Targeted efforts are needed to sustain the gains achieved among the under-five population by extending mortality reduction strategies that focus on age-specific risks for older children and adolescents.

Karachi, Pakistan's largest metropolitan city, faces profound healthcare disparities, with an estimated 45-49% of the population residing in underserved informal settlements. Within these communities, the primary healthcare system is not merely under-resourced but structurally fractured, leaving patients to navigate prohibitively expensive private providers or overcrowded public hospitals. To address these systemic gaps, the Humanity Initiative, a student-led non-governmental organisation, implemented student-led clinics (SLCs) as a community-embedded, cost-effective model to bridge critical care deficits.

We conducted a descriptive study examining the implementation and early outcomes of two SLCs conducted in Agra Taj Colony, Lyari Town, Karachi. Operating every three weeks under licensed physician supervision, each SLC provided free primary consultations, dispensed essential medications, and delivered structured health education. We analysed patient demographics, disease burden, operational costs, and process-level indicators across both clinic cycles.

A total of 371 patients were seen across SLC1 (n = 194) and SLC3 (n = 177), with a higher proportion of female patients (n = 224, 60.4%). The disease burden was dominated by non-communicable diseases, including hypertension (14.3%) and diabetes (8.6%), alongside a notable number of acute infections and multi-system complaints reflecting the dual epidemiological burden characteristic of urban low- and middle-income country (LMIC) settings. Operational costs were maintained at PKR 128-136 (USD 0.45-0.48) per patient, demonstrating exceptional cost-efficiency. We found significant gaps in health literacy, particularly regarding chronic disease self-management, and gendered barriers to healthcare access.

The SLC model demonstrates proof-of-concept as a viable, scalable strategy for bridging structural gaps in fractured primary healthcare systems in LMICs. By embedding care within the community, SLCs advance Universal Health Coverage, rebuild community trust in allopathic medicine, and provide supervised experiential learning opportunities for future healthcare professionals. Replication of this model across similar underserved communities holds significant potential for reducing healthcare inequity in resource-constrained urban settings.

This study examines firstly if participation in a three-month intervention at Norwegian Healthy Life Centres (HLCs) improved self-reported physical activity (SR-PA), and secondly to what extent physical activity (PA) status at six months and changes from baseline were associated with demographic and motivational predictors.

Regular PA is promoted as a central component of public health initiatives aimed at preventing noncommunicable diseases.

This randomized controlled trial included 118 participants (57 in the intervention group) recruited from HLCs in South-western Norway. The intervention effect was assessed by comparing the intervention group with the waiting-list control group after six months. We examined sociodemographic and motivational predictors of change combining both groups into a single cohort. This trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT02247219).

At six-month follow-up, participants in the intervention group reported higher levels of SR-PA compared with the control group. The estimated effect was modest (B = 0.26, 95% CI -0.01 to 0.53), equivalent to ≈0.37 SD. Although the confidence interval included zero, the estimate remained compatible with a modest positive effect. Autonomous motivation and social support were positively associated with SR-PA after 6 months, while psychological defiance showed a negative association. Autonomous motivation and psychological defiance impacted PA change during the 6-month period in opposite directions.

The extent of production and use of plastics leads to release of nanoplastics (NPL) into the environment, where they undergo weathering that could alter their toxicological properties. NPL enter the human food chain via contaminated food, and food packaging, and within the body they are known to pass through epithelial barriers. In parallel to the increasing exposure to plastics, the incidence of non-communicable diseases, including intestinal diseases, is rising worldwide. This study focuses on how oral exposure of gestating and lactating female mice to 50 nm polystyrene beads, pristine (PS50) or weathered (PS50w) affects intestinal function in offspring. Two aspects of intestinal function were studied: oral tolerance and the onset of intestinal disorders.

Gestating mice received 1.25 mg of PS50 or PS50w by oral gavage administered daily from gestational day 15. Exposure was continued during lactation until pups were weaned (Postnatal Day, PND21). To study oral tolerance, offspring were exposed to ovalbumin (OVA) both orally and systemically. To study intestinal disorders, colitis was induced by exposure to Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS) from PND63.

Perinatal exposure to PS50 or PS50w had no impact on mortality of gestating or lactating dams or sex ratio in litters, but did lead to increased body weight at PND63 in offspring. No impact on tolerance to OVA was observed. However, macroscopic scores for DSS-induced colitis in adult offspring were significantly worsened in both sexes. In this context, in male offspring, PS50w was more deleterious than PS50.

Early-life exposure to PS50 or PS50w has long-lasting consequences on gut physiology, and effects show sexual dimorphism. The results presented raise questions on the kinetics of later-life effects linked to perinatal PS50 and PS50w exposure, and introduce the notion of imprinting.

BackgroundPeripheral artery disease (PAD) is common in maintenance hemodialysis patients, and ankle-brachial index (ABI) may underestimate disease because arterial calcification can yield falsely normal or elevated values. Toe-brachial index (TBI) may better detect distal ischemia. This study compared PAD detection by ABI and TBI and identified factors associated with TBI-defined PAD.MethodsIn this multicenter cross-sectional study, 211 maintenance hemodialysis patients underwent ABI and TBI assessment. PAD was defined separately as ABI <0.90 and TBI <0.70 using guideline-supported thresholds. Intermittent claudication, chronic wounds and burning toe pain were recorded. Detection rates were compared using McNemar's test, and associated factors were evaluated using multivariable Poisson regression with robust variance.ResultsPAD prevalence was 13.3% by ABI and 76.3% by TBI. TBI identified more patients with PAD than ABI (p < 0.001), with 133 patients (63.0%) showing normal ABI but abnormal TBI. Among these, 9.2% had at least one clinical ischemic feature. Diabetes mellitus, older age, and longer renal replacement therapy duration were independently associated with TBI-defined PAD.ConclusionTBI identified substantially more PAD than ABI and may provide complementary information when ABI alone could miss clinically relevant ischemia. Diabetes mellitus, older age, and longer RRT duration were independent correlates of TBI-defined PAD.

To identify comorbidity subgroups of heart failure (HF) from electronic health record (EHR) data by computational phenotyping and evaluate their associations with mortality and healthcare utilization.

Multimorbidity drives HF complexity, yet conventional classifications capture it poorly and EHR-based comorbidity phenotyping in Asian HF populations remains limited.

In this retrospective cohort using EHR data from 462 hospitals in Yichang, China (2018-2023), latent class analysis was applied to 17 ICD-10-coded comorbidity indicators among 95,593 adults with incident HF. Cox and negative binomial models assessed all-cause mortality and healthcare utilization, adjusted for age and sex. Sensitivity analyses examined stricter HF definitions, alternative class solutions, wider comorbidity ascertainment, and competing risk of death.

Eight phenotypes emerged; most prevalent were Cardiometabolic (31.4%) and Minimal Comorbidity (28.9%; low probabilities for all conditions except COPD). Versus Cardiometabolic, Malignancy-Anemia had the highest mortality (adjusted HR 5.00, 95% CI 4.69-5.32), followed by Cardiorenal-Anemia (2.35), Severe Multimorbidity (1.99) and Minimal Comorbidity (1.93, 1.85-2.01). Malignancy-Anemia had the highest hospitalization rate (incidence rate ratio 2.85, 95% CI 2.68-3.03), yet its cumulative incidence of first hospitalization did not differ from the reference once death was treated as a competing event (subdistribution HR 1.03; P = 0.287), reflecting high early mortality. Excess mortality in Minimal Comorbidity was not attenuated by capturing index-encounter diagnoses, adjusting for baseline healthcare contact, or stratifying by COPD; phenotype ordering held across alternative HF definitions and class solutions.

Phenotypes derived entirely from routinely coded data separate HF patients into prognostically distinct groups differing up to five-fold in adjusted mortality. Low coded comorbidity does not indicate low clinical risk, with direct implications for risk tools built on administrative data. With adjustment limited to age and sex in one region, these are hypothesis-generating prognostic associations requiring external validation and prospective evaluation before clinical use.

This study investigated phase-specific performance, movement smoothness, and turning kinematics during the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test in older adults with and without chronic neck pain (CNP).

Eighty-five older adults [CNP, n = 25; control (CON), n = 60] completed an instrumented TUG (iTUG) using wearable inertial sensors. Total TUG duration, spatiotemporal gait parameters (gait velocity, stride length, and cadence), and phase durations (sit-to-stand, walking forward, turning, walking back, and turn-to-sit) were extracted. Trunk movement smoothness was quantified using the Log Dimensionless Jerk based on acceleration (LDLJa), and peak trunk angular velocities during turning and turn-to-sit were calculated.

Compared with the CON group, participants with CNP required significantly longer to complete the TUG, particularly during the turning, walking-back, and turn-to-sit phases, despite similar gait velocity, stride length, and cadence. The CNP group also demonstrated lower LDLJa values, indicating reduced movement smoothness, together with lower peak trunk angular velocities during turning and turn-to-sit. LDLJa was positively correlated with turning angular velocity in both groups, indicating that smoother movement was associated with faster, more coordinated turning.

Older adults with CNP exhibited impaired functional mobility characterized by prolonged TUG performance and reduced movement smoothness despite preserved basic spatiotemporal gait parameters. These impairments were most evident during dynamic postural transitions, suggesting that phase-specific iTUG metrics and LDLJa provide complementary information on movement quality beyond conventional TUG outcomes and may enhance the clinical assessment of mobility impairment in older adults with CNP.