Background: This study examines the incidence, prevalence, deaths, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) related to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in South Asia, exploring the environmental, metabolic, and behavioural risk factors, and exploring changes in deaths and DALYs driven by population growth, aging, and mortality rates.

Methods: Using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2021, we estimated age-standardized incidence, prevalence, deaths, and DALYs for four major NCDs: cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases from 2010 to 2021. Gender and age-specific estimations were conducted across all NCDs, with 95% uncertainty intervals and a decomposition analysis was employed to estimate change in death and DALYs attributable to NCDs.

Findings: The burden of NCDs in South Asia increased by 3.00% in incidence from 2010 to 2021, while overall prevalence decreased by 1.00%, yet the age-standardized prevalence rate remains above the global rate (91,570 per 100,000 population). Incidences of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases declined by 3.00% and 13.00%, respectively, whereas diabetes and cancer rose by 21.00% and 13.00% in South Asia. Nepal faced the highest environmental impact (23.4% of DALYs), Bangladesh the greatest metabolic impact (25.62%), and India the highest from behavioural factors (23.95%). Population growth and aging were primary drivers of changes in deaths and DALYs across the region.

Conclusion: This finding emphasizes the need for targeted public health interventions addressing environmental, metabolic, and behavioral risks for NCDs in South Asia, alongside strategies to support healthy aging and effective disease management across diverse demographic groups.

Objective: Interpersonal weight stigma (being teased, treated unfairly, or discriminated against for body weight) increases one's stress and negatively impacts their well-being. Weight stigma consistently increases maladaptive eating behaviors, such as eating to cope, binge eating, and restrictive dieting. Previously published crosssectional models suggest that vigilant coping (being on the lookout for future discrimination) is one way in which weight stigma may impact maladaptive eating behaviors, especially as internalized weight stigma (self- stigma) increases. This study aimed to analyze these relationships longitudinally using ecological momentary assessments.

Methods: Female, higher weight college students (M_BMI = 32.7, SD_BMI = 6.09) from a large public midwestern university (N = 130) completed 3 surveys per day for 7 days, reporting their vigilant coping, eating to cope, restrictive dieting, and binge eating. Data was collected from January 2023-February 2024. We examined the relationship between baseline experienced and internalized weight stigma and day-to-day vigilant coping. Additionally, we examined vigilant coping earlier in the day as a predictor of eating later in the day.

Results: Experienced and internalized weight stigma did not interact to predict day-to-day vigilant coping, but they both independently predicted vigilant coping. Vigilant coping earlier in the day predicted restrictive dieting later in the day but did not predict emotional or binge eating. There were no significant conditional indirect effects.

Conclusions: This study establishes vigilant coping as a longitudinal predictor of restrictive dieting, but further research is required to understand other health behaviors and outcomes related to vigilant coping.

Background/Objectives: The utilization of amphiphilic Pt(IV) complexes as prodrugs offers a promising strategy to revolutionize Pt-based cancer therapy by enhancing drug delivery and activation. While PEGylation is widely used to optimize drug properties, its impact on the biological behavior of amphiphilic Pt(IV) complexes remains unclear. This study systematically investigates how the PEGylation of varying molecular weights influences their cytotoxicity, cellular uptake, and activation.

Methods: Pt(IV) complexes were synthesized with PEG chains of different molecular weights using HATU-catalyzed amide bond formation and copper-free click chemistry. Their biological properties were assessed through cell-based analyses, focusing on cytotoxicity, cellular uptake, and activation by biological reductants.

Results: Small PEG modifications retained the potent cytotoxicity of amphiphilic Pt(IV) prodrugs, whereas large PEG chains significantly reduced efficacy. The decrease in potency was linked to impaired cellular uptake and mitochondrial accumulation. Additionally, large PEG modifications slowed the reduction and activation of Pt(IV) prodrugs by biological reductants, further limiting their anticancer activities.

Conclusions: These findings underscore the critical role of PEGylation in metallodrug design and provide key insights into optimizing PEGylation strategies for enhancing platinum–based cancer therapies.

Background: Helping young adults with mental illnesses attend college will increase their chances of being employed with benefits, which can pave the way for a successful career and a middle-class life.

Objective: This study sought to examine whether receiving vocational rehabilitation (VR) services of four-year college or university training would lead to improved employment outcomes for young adults with mental illnesses.

Methods: Based on the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)-911 data, a propensity score matching technique was employed to create a comparison group of young adults with mental illnesses who did not receive college or university training and a treatment group of those who did. The quasi-experimental design investigated differences in the employment outcomes between the two groups.

Results: Analyses revealed that the group who received college or university training was more likely to be engaged in competitive integrated employment upon exit from the VR program than the matched comparison group who did not receive the training. Participants with mental illnesses who received college or university training and had secured competitive integrated employment at the time of exit not only had significantly higher hourly wages and worked more hours per week than did non-college or university training recipients, they were also more likely to obtain employer-subsidized health insurance benefits.

Conclusions: College and university training is positively related to employment outcomes for young people with mental illnesses. Implications for state VR counsellors are discussed.

This study explores environmental inequality through a novel quantitative approach, analyzing urban vegetation in two contrasting neighborhoods in Cleveland, Ohio—East Cleveland and Shaker Heights. Utilizing computer vision and Google Street View image analysis techniques, this research quantifies the distribution, quality, and visual characteristics of tree canopy and grass. This study addresses the following question: how can visual data illuminate environmental inequalities in urban landscapes? The findings reveal significant disparities between the two neighborhoods, not only in tree canopy coverage but also in the visual characteristics and density of vegetation. Shaker Heights displays more abundant, healthier, and better-maintained greenery compared to East Cleveland. These results highlight the intersection of socio-economic factors and urban vegetation quality, suggesting that both the quantity and visual attributes of greenery serve as indicators of neighborhood wealth and environmental investment. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of computer vision techniques in accessing and analyzing visual data to represent environmental inequalities. It advocates for targeted urban planning interventions to promote equitable green space policies, considering both the quantity and quality of urban vegetation.