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Background Sierra Leone is one of the countries with poor health outcomes. The country has made some progress in the uptake of maternal health services. Despite improvements in the national coverage rates, there is no evidence of how equal these improvements have been. Objective To estimate inequalities in maternal healthcare use in Sierra Leone. Methods Using cross-sectional study data from 2008, 2013, and 2019 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), we study inequalities in maternal health services by computing rate ratios, and concentration indices (as well as concentration curves) using selected inequality stratifiers such as household wealth index, maternal education, and rural/urban place of residence. Results We found that considerable progress has been made in increasing the uptake of maternal health services as well as reducing inequalities over time. We also found that inequalities in the selected health indicators favoured women from wealthy households, educated women, as well as women from urban areas. Although inequalities declined over time, the use of delivery services was highly unequal. However, of the selected health interventions, the use of four or more antenatal visits was almost at perfect equality in 2013 and 2019. Conclusion Although efforts have been made to increase the use of maternal healthcare services among women with a lower socioeconomic status, the use of maternal health services remains favourable to women with a higher socioeconomic standing. Therefore, policy initiatives need to prioritise women of lower socioeconomic status through projects aimed at increasing women’s educational levels as well as focusing on poverty reduction.

The study of the perceived affective qualities (PAQs) in soundscape assessments have increased in recent years, with methods varying from in-situ to laboratory. Through technological advances, virtual reality (VR) has facilitated evaluations of multiple locations in the same experiment. In this paper, VR reproductions of different urban sites were presented in an online and laboratory environment testing three locations in Greater Manchester ('Park', 'Plaza', and pedestrian 'Street') in two population densities (empty and busy) using ISO/TS 12913-2 (2018) soundscape PAQs. The studied areas had audio and video recordings prepared for 360 video and binaural audio VR reproductions. The aims were to observe population density effects within locations (Wilcoxon test) and variations between locations (Mann-Whitney U test) within methods. Population density and comparisons among locations demonstrated a significant effect on most PAQs. Results also suggested that big cities can present homogenous sounds, composing a 'blended' urban soundscape, independently of functionality. These findings can support urban design in a low-cost approach, where urban planners can test different scenarios and interventions., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Carvalho et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Hyperspectral imaging enables researchers and plant breeders to analyze various traits of interest like nutritional value in high throughput. In order to achieve this, the optimal design of a reliable calibration model, linking the measured spectra with the investigated traits, is necessary. In the present study we investigated the impact of different regression models, calibration set sizes and calibration set compositions on prediction performance. For this purpose, we analyzed concentrations of six globally relevant grain nutrients of the wild barley population HEB-YIELD as case study. The data comprised 1,593 plots, grown in 2015 and 2016 at the locations Dundee and Halle, which have been entirely analyzed through traditional laboratory methods and hyperspectral imaging. The results indicated that a linear regression model based on partial least squares outperformed neural networks in this particular data modelling task. There existed a positive relationship between the number of samples in a calibration model and prediction performance, with a local optimum at a calibration set size of ~40% of the total data. The inclusion of samples from several years and locations could clearly improve the predictions of the investigated nutrient traits at small calibration set sizes. It should be stated that the expansion of calibration models with additional samples is only useful as long as they are able to increase trait variability. Models obtained in a certain environment were only to a limited extent transferable to other environments. They should therefore be successively upgraded with new calibration data to enable a reliable prediction of the desired traits. The presented results will assist the design and conceptualization of future hyperspectral imaging projects in order to achieve reliable predictions. It will in general help to establish practical applications of hyperspectral imaging systems, for instance in plant breeding concepts., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Objective: Surfactant Proteins (SPs) are well known from lung and form, along with phospholipids, a surface-active-layer at the liquid-air-interface of the alveolar lining. They play a major protective role by lowering surface tension, activating innate and adaptive immune defense at the lung mucosal interface, especially during infection. We analyzed the regulation of SPs in human and mouse articular chondrocytes, synoviocytes, and synovial fluid under healthy and inflammatory conditions, as well as in tissues of patients suffering from osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis., Methods: Immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR, qRT-PCR, ELISA, Western blotting were performed in cell cultures and tissue samples to determine localization, regulation, and concentration of SPs., Results: All four SPs, were expressed by healthy human and mouse articular chondrocytes and synoviocytes and were also present in synovial fluid. Treatment with inflammatory mediators like IL-1β and TNF-α led to short-term upregulation of individual SPs in vitro. In tissues from patients with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, protein levels of all four SPs increased significantly compared to the controls used., Conclusion: These results show the distribution and amount of SPs in tissues of articular joints. They are produced by chondrocytes and synoviocytes and occur in measurable amounts in synovial fluid. All four SPs seem to be differently regulated under pathologic conditions. Their physiological functions in lowering surface tension and immune defense need further elucidation and make them potential candidates for therapeutic intervention., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.