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Abstract: Immune thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (iTTP) is a chronically relapsing disorder caused by autoantibody-mediated deficiency of ADAMTS13. Rituximab is frequently administered to prevent relapses, but whether the durability of rituximab effect is maintained with subsequent treatment courses has not been studied. Using the United States Thrombotic Microangiopathy Consortium (USTMA) retrospective iTTP registry, we evaluated clinical relapse-free survival (RFS) with subsequent courses of rituximab treatment in multiply relapsing patients. Separately, we evaluated overall RFS (composite of time to clinical relapse, ADAMTS13 relapse, or preemptive rituximab) in a prospective iTTP cohort from the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Minnesota. In the USTMA registry, median clinical RFS was shorter after the second or subsequent rituximab-treated episode than the first (2.1 vs 6.0 years; P = .04). White patients' clinical relapse risk after the second and subsequent rituximab courses was not significantly different compared with the first (hazard ratio [HR], 1.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.22-15.80; P = .57), whereas for Black patients, clinical relapse risk was significantly higher after the second or subsequent courses (HR, 2.82; 95% CI, 1.52-5.24; P = .001). In the prospective cohort, overall RFS progressively shortened after each episode of rituximab treatment with the first episode having the longest RFS (2.8 years; interquartile range, 2.0-6.0) and this loss of response durability was most pronounced in Black patients. The durability of rituximab's effect declines with subsequent treatments, which is more pronounced in Black patients, who may benefit from closer monitoring and alternative immunomodulatory approaches such as maintenance rituximab and consideration of other agents., (© 2024 American Society of Hematology. Published by Elsevier Inc. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), permitting only noncommercial, nonderivative use with attribution. All other rights reserved.)

Introduction: The opioid crisis is a major public health issue, and postoperative opioids play a unique role. Many institutions have implemented standardized protocols to decrease excess opioids available. The objective of this study was to establish a standardized pain protocol for common surgical procedures and assess postoperative pain control., Methods: This is a prospective observational study based on the Michigan Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network network guidelines which provides prescription recommendations for surgical procedures. We evaluated all laparoscopic/robotic cholecystectomy, appendectomy, and all herniorrhaphies. Patients were prescribed a predetermined number of narcotics by procedure as part of a multimodal pain regimen. A survey was conducted within 14 d postoperatively to assess pain control and narcotic utilization., Results: A total of 442 patients were included from July 1, 2022 to October 28, 2022. Survey response was 40% (178/442) with 56% (249/442) prescribed per protocol. Fewer patients prescribed per protocol required refills, 9.6% (24/249) compared to 18.1% (35/193) (P = 0.007) without protocol. Patients reported taking significantly fewer narcotics with the protocol versus without (median = 5.0 versus 10.0, P < 0.001). The median number of narcotics taken were 5.5 for appendectomy, 7.0 for cholecystectomy, and 9.0 for herniorrhaphy. There was no difference in pain control when comparing patients with and without protocol (91.1% versus 90.5%, P = 1.0)., Conclusions: This study demonstrated that postoperative opioid prescriptions can be decreased by implementing a standardized protocol incorporating a multimodal regimen while adequately controlling pain following surgery., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

An aging population combined with a rapidly increasing prevalence of diabetes foreshadows a global epidemic of cardiovascular and kidney disease that threatens to halt improvements in life and health-span and will have particularly severe consequences in older adults. The management of diabetes has been transformed with the recent development of newer anti-hyperglycemic agents that have demonstrated superior efficacy. However, the utility of these drugs extends beyond glycemic control to benefits for managing obesity, cardiovascular disease (CVD), chronic kidney disease, and heart failure. Numerous cardiovascular and kidney outcomes trials of these drugs have played an instrumental role in shaping current guidelines for the management of diabetes and CVD. Older adults with diabetes are diverse in terms of their comorbidities, diabetic complications, and cognitive and functional status. Therefore, there is an unmet need for personalized management of diabetes and CVD in this population. In this review, we provide an overview of the epidemiological burden and management of diabetes and CVD in older adults. We then focus on randomized cardiovascular and kidney outcome trials with anti-hyperglycemic agents to propose an evidence-based approach to the management of diabetes in older adults with high risk of cardiovascular and kidney disease., (© 2024 The New York Academy of Sciences.)

Do people believe in misleading information disseminated via contemporary Internet memes? Do they believe in it more compared with information provided via text? This research explores these questions via a 3 (modality: contemporary internet meme vs text-only vs text-with-explanation) × 2 (identity-congruence: congruent vs incongruent) between-subject online experiment, using two contexts of investigation (crime and taxes). Findings indicate that identity-congruent posts (vs incongruent), regardless of modality, were perceived as more credible. These effects occurred due to the invocation of the self-identity heuristic (if content is similar to my identity, then it is automatically credible) and the other-identity heuristic (if content is similar to the identity of others in my network, then it is automatically credible). However, the effects of identity-congruent posts were diminished when the content was presented as a contemporary Internet meme (vs text). This occurred because identity-congruent posts in meme modality evoke anger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, the chemical discovery process has predominantly been a matter of trial-andimprovement, where small modifications are made to a chemical system, guided by chemical knowledge, with the aim of optimising towards a target property or combination of properties. While a trial-and-improvement approach is frequently successful, especially when assisted by the help of serendipity, the approach is incredibly time- and resourceintensive. Complicating this further, the available chemical space that could, in theory, be explored is remarkably vast. As we are faced with near infinite possibilities and limited resources, we require improved search methods to effectively move towards desired optima, e.g. chemical systems exhibiting a target property, or several desired properties. Bayesian optimisation (BO) has recently gained significant traction in chemistry, where within the BO framework, prior knowledge is used to inform and guide the search process to optimise towards desired chemical targets, e.g. optimal reaction conditions to maximise yield, or optimal catalyst exhibiting improved catalytic activity. While powerful, implementing BO algorithms in practice is largely limited to interfacing via various APIs - requiring advanced coding experience and bespoke scripts for each optimisation task. Further, it is challenging to seamlessly link these with electronic lab notebooks via a graphical user interface (GUI). Ultimately, this limits the accessibility of BO algorithms. Here, we present Web-BO, a GUI to support BO for chemical optimisation tasks. We demonstrate its performance using an open source dataset and associated emulator, and link the platform with an existing electronic lab notebook, datalab. By providing a GUIbased BO service, we hope to improve the accessibility of data-driven optimisation tools in chemistry; https://suprashare.rcs.ic.ac.uk/web-bo/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaboration across hospital-primary-community healthcare continuum is crucial to ensuring secure medication management at home, particularly among elderly persons. The study aim was to describe older adult's experiences of medication assessment using Safe Medication Assessment (SMA) in connection to home visits. A study was conducted, with data from 44 participants analyzed through qualitative content analysis (semi-structured interviews) at baseline, 1-month, and 3-month follow-ups based on SMA's 20 items. The results include 1 theme "Personcentredness due to medication management," and 2 categories, "Systematic approach towards safe medication at home" and "Taking control over prescribed drugs." SMA ensures a systematic work approach during home visits conducted by mobile team units, working in partnership with all involved parties (elderly, care providers, relatives) improving safe medication management at home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few strategies have been developed to effectively delineate management zones (MZs) in crop-pasture rotation (CPR) systems that accommodate site-specific management for multiple crops using a single map. This study aimed to propose and evaluate several feature selection approaches that account for multiple crops in CPR systems and propose a framework for MZ delineation in CPR systems that results in a single MZ map. The feature selection approaches were based on the spatial correlation between attributes (soil, crops, and terrain attributes) and yield variables (grain and pasture yield, spatial trend of yield, and yield temporal stability). This study was conducted in an area with an integrated crop-livestock system, featuring the CPR of soybean and pasture. The results showed that the approach based on yield temporal stability was the most effective for selecting relevant attributes used in the MZ delineation in CPR systems, resulting in greater differentiation among MZs. A higher number of MZs was needed (four zones), emphasizing the importance of carefully selecting the number based on variance reduction and yield differences to ensure that the final MZ map reflects the variability across all crops and guides their integrated management. The proposed framework is one of the first to use yield temporal stability for feature selection specifically aimed at delineating MZs in CPR systems. This approach improves the ability to select significant attributes used in the MZs delineation process, providing a better solution for improving input use efficiency and maximizing grain and pasture yield in integrated farming systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study investigates factors associated with the person with dementia and the caregiver to identify those associated with an increased risk of transition to a care home. Method: IDEAL data were collected at baseline and at 12- and 24-month follow-up for 1545 people with dementia and 1305 caregivers. Modified Poisson regressions with an offset for 'person years at risk' were used. Person with dementia factors explored were personal characteristics, cognition, health, self- and informant-rated functional ability, and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Caregiver factors explored were personal characteristics, stress, health, and quality of the dyadic relationship. Results: A 5% people moved into care. Risk of moving into a care home was higher among people with dementia who were ≥80 years, among people with Parkinson's disease dementia or dementia with Lewy bodies, and among those without a spousal caregiver. Poorer cognition and more self-rated or informant-rated functional difficulties increased the risk of moving into care. Conclusion: Factors related to increased dementia severity and greater disability are the primary influences that place people with dementia at greater risk of moving into a care home. Strategies that help to maintain everyday functional ability for people with dementia could help delay people with dementia moving into care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to investigate further properties of z-elements in multiplicative lattices. We utilize z-closure operators to extend several properties of z-ideals to z-elements and introduce various distinguished subclasses of z-elements, such as z-prime, z-semiprime, z-primary, z-irreducible, and z-strongly irreducible elements, and study their properties. We provide a characterization of multiplicative lattices where z-elements are closed under finite products and a representation of z-elements in terms of z-irreducible elements in z-Noetherian multiplicative lattices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast and cervical cancers are the most prevalent diagnosed in women worldwide, significantly contributing to maternal morbidity and mortality. We examined socio-demographic and behavioral factors associated with breast and cervical cancer screening among Cambodian women aged 15–49 years old. We analyzed women's data from the 2022 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS). In total, 19,496 women were interviewed. Multiple logistic regression was performed using STATA V17 to examine factors associated with breast and cervical cancer screening. The proportion of breast and cervical cancer screenings was 10.6% and 15.3%, respectively. After being adjusted, factors independently associated with breast cancer screening included age group 20–29 years [AOR = 2.51; 95% CI: 1.55–4.06], 30–39 years [AOR = 4.34; 95% CI: 2.66–7.09], and 40–49 years [AOR = 4.66; 95% CI: 2.81–7.71], higher education [AOR = 1.92; 95% CI: 1.26–2.93], exposure media [AOR = 1.66; 95% CI: 1.32–2.10], and rich wealth quintile [AOR = 1.50; 95% CI: 1.25–1.80]. Similarly, the odds of having cervical cancer screening were age group 20–29 years [AOR = 2.88; 95% CI: 1.76–4.71], 30–39 years [AOR = 5.94; 95% CI: 3.58–9.83], and 40–49 years [AOR = 7.61; 95% CI: 4.55–12.73], higher education [AOR = 1.55; 95% CI: 1.55–2.73], exposure media [AOR = 1.62; 95% CI: 1.35,1.95], and rich wealth quintile [AOR = 2.14; 95% CI: 1.78–2.5f8]. In conclusion, this study shows the low screening proportion for both breast and cervical cancers, and it also highlights that socio-economic factors are significantly important in determining the health care seeking for these two main cancer screening services among women aged 15–49 years in Cambodia. Therefore, increase of exposure media with health education focusing on these cancer screenings should be made better accessible to women, particularly those of low socio-economic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an in-pixel contrast enhancement circuit that performs image processing directly within the pixel circuit. The circuit leverages HyperFET, a hybrid device combining a MOSFET and a phase transition material (PTM), to enhance performance. It can be tuned for different modes of operation. In foreground enhancement mode, it suppresses low-intensity background pixels to nearly zero, isolating the foreground for better object visibility. In contrast enhancement mode, it improves overall image contrast. The contrast enhancement function is customizable both during the design phase and in real-time, allowing the circuit to adapt to specific applications and varying lighting conditions. A model of the designed pixel circuit is developed and applied to a full pixel array, demonstrating significant improvements in image quality. Simulations performed in HSPICE show a nearly 6x increase in Michelson Contrast Ratio (CR) in the foreground enhancement mode. Furthermore, process variation and Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) analysis has been conducted to evaluate the robustness of the design under manufacturing variations. The simulation results indicate its potential for real-time, adaptive contrast enhancement across various imaging environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the model setup and results from the first calibrated, physically-based, spatially-distributed hydrological modelling of combined land cover and climate change impacts on a large sample of UK river catchments. The SHETRAN hydrological model was automatically calibrated for 698 UK catchments then driven by the 12 regional climate model projections from UKCP18, combined with urban development and natural flood management scenarios. The automatic calibration of SHETRAN produces a median Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency value of 0.82 with 581 catchments having a value greater than 0.7. 24 summary metrics were calculated to capture changes to important aspects of the flow regime. The UKCP18 realisations in SHETRAN indicate that a warming climate will cause river flows, on average, to decrease. These decreases are simulated to be greatest in the south and east of the UK, with droughts becoming longer and more severe. While high flows also decrease on average, an increased number of extremes are exhibited, implying a greater number of extreme flood events in the future, particularly in the north and west of the UK. In the urban development scenarios, for flood events there is an increase in flow with the increased urbanization, with the 1 in 3-year peak flow event showing the greatest increase. The natural flood management scenarios consider the effect of increasing woodland and adding surface water storage ponds. The inclusion of these features produces a complex response but overall, the modelling shows a reduction in low, median, and high flows, although the more extreme the flow event the smaller the percentage change in flow. Simulated timeseries and summary metric datasets are freely available on the CEDA archive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cognitive symptoms are common in Parkinson's Disease (PD), and digital interventions like telerehabilitation other an accessible way to manage these symptoms. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a Home-Based Computerized Cognitive Training (HB-CCT) program in individuals with PD using a pilot randomized cross-over design. Methods: Twenty-five participants (mean age 69.32 ± 7.21 years, mean MDS-UPDRS III 33.76 ± 14.25) with PD and mild cognitive impairment were enrolled. They underwent neuropsychological assessments at three time points (5-week intervals): Baseline, after the HB-CCTi, and after Standard Care. The HB-CCT consisted of the Neurotablet® platform that was used to target cognitive domains such as Attention, Memory, Perception, Executive Functioning and Language. All participants completed both the Neurotablet intervention and Standard Care blocks in a randomized order. After a Shapiro-Wilk test, non-parametric repeated measures analyses of variance (Friedman's test) and post-hoc comparisons corrected with the Benjamini-Hochberg approach were performed to compare the effects on primary and secondary cognitive outcomes over experimental intervention and Standard Care. Results: The results from the Friedman analysis revealed significant improvements in Word List Immediate Recall, Digit Span Forward and Complex Figure Recall (all p < 0.001) following the HB-CCT, compared to the Baseline. Additionally, Naming performance showed significant improvement after the HB-CCT (p = 0.02). Significant differences were also observed when comparing the HB-CCT with Standard Care, with improved performance in TMT-A (p = 0.02), Phonemic Fluency (p < 0.01), and Digit Span Forward (p < 0.01). Discussion: These findings suggest that HB-CCT via Neurotablet can effectively enhance specific cognitive abilities in PD, supporting the role of digital, home-based interventions as feasible strategies to mitigate cognitive decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacterial-fungal interaction (BFI) has significant implications for the health of host plants. While the diffusible antibiotic metabolite-mediated competition in BFI has been extensively characterized, the impact of intercellular contact remains largely elusive. Here, we demonstrate that the intercellular contact is a prevalent mode of interaction between beneficial soil bacteria and pathogenic filamentous fungi. By generating antibiotics-deficient mutants in two common soil bacteria, Lysobacter enzymogenes and Pseudomonas fluorescens, we show that antibiotics-independent BFI effectively inhibits pathogenic fungi. Furthermore, transcriptional and genetic evidence revealed that this antibiotics-independent BFI relies on intercellular contact mediated by the type VI secretion system (T6SS), which may facilitate the translocation of bacterial toxic effectors into fungal cells. Finally, by using a "conidia enrichment" platform, we found that T6SS-mediated fungal inhibition resulting from intercellular contact naturally occurs within the soil microbiome, particularly represented by Pseudomonas fulva. Overall, these results demonstrate that bacteria from the soil microbiome can protect host plants from fungal infection through antibiotics-independent intercellular contacts, thus revealing a naturally occurring and ecologically important mode of BFI in agricultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The treatment of metastatic breast cancer (mBC) focuses on prolonging patient survival, providing adequate symptom management, and maintaining quality of life (QoL). This includes supportive therapy to prevent or treat potential side effects and handle comorbidities. The combination of mBC therapy, supportive therapy, and treatment for comorbidities increases the risk for polypharmacy, potential drug-drug interactions (pDDI), potentially inappropriate medication (PIM), and potentially missing drugs (pMD). Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess medication patterns of mBC patients in routine care within a cohort study from South Germany. Methods: Between July 2022 and February 2024 individuals with advanced or mBC, aged ≥ 18 years, living in Bavaria, and who gave written informed consent, were included in the BRE-BY-MED "Breast Cancer Care in Bavaria for Patients with Metastatic Disease" cohort study (DRKS00026601). BRE-BY-MED was carried out at the University Hospital Würzburg with the primary aim of estimating the prevalence of guideline-concordant treatment. For the present analysis cross-sectional data from the baseline assessment was used. Medication was extracted from routine medical records. PIM, pDDI and pMD were assessed using established criteria. Polypharmacy was defined as ≥ 5 concomitantly prescribed drugs. Results: Ninety-three patients with a median age of 57 years (IQR = 48–64 years), were consecutively enrolled in the BRE-BY-MED study. One patient was male. At baseline, a total of 668 drugs were documented for all patients, including 131 unique substances, of which 44% were mBC therapy, 18% supportive therapy and 38% treatment for comorbidities or supplements. Patients took a median of 6 (IQR = 5–9) concomitant drugs. Polypharmacy (i.e. ≥ 5 concomitant drugs) was observed in 80.6% (n = 75) of the patients. PIM were documented in 9.7% (n = 9), pDDI in 12.9% (n = 12) and pMD in 64.5% (n = 60) of the patients. Conclusion: We observed a high drug burden in mBC patients, largely due to treatment for comorbidities. These drugs might not only be associated with additional risk for side effects, pDDI, or PIM use, yet might also contribute to low medication adherence, higher medication costs and impaired QoL. Considering the burden of mBC and the predicted life expectancy, mBC patients might benefit from closer monitoring of their medication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has shown feasibility in evaluating cognitive function and brain functional connectivity (FC). Therefore, this fNIRS study aimed to develop a screening method for subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) based on resting-state prefrontal FC and neuropsychological tests via machine learning. Methods: Functional connectivity data measured by fNIRS were collected from 55 normal controls (NCs), 80 SCD individuals, and 111 MCI individuals. Differences in FC were analyzed among the groups. FC strength and neuropsychological test scores were extracted as features to build classification and predictive models through machine learning. Model performance was assessed based on accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, and area under the curve (AUC) with 95% confidence interval (CI) values. Results: Statistical analysis revealed a trend toward compensatory enhanced prefrontal FC in SCD and MCI individuals. The models showed a satisfactory ability to differentiate among the three groups, especially those employing linear discriminant analysis, logistic regression, and support vector machine. Accuracies of 94.9% for MCI vs. NC, 79.4% for MCI vs. SCD, and 77.0% for SCD vs. NC were achieved, and the highest AUC values were 97.5% (95% CI: 95.0%–100.0%) for MCI vs. NC, 83.7% (95% CI: 77.5%–89.8%) for MCI vs. SCD, and 80.6% (95% CI: 72.7%–88.4%) for SCD vs. NC. Conclusion: The developed screening method based on resting-state prefrontal FC measured by fNIRS and machine learning may help predict early-stage cognitive impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is a chronic systemic degenerative disease affecting small blood vessels in the brain, leading to cognitive impairments. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that applies low electrical currents to the scalp, shows promise in treating cognitive and movement disorders. However, further clinical evaluation is required to assess the long-term effects of tDCS on neuroplasticity and gait in patients with CSVD. We investigated the effects of long-term, repeated tDCS on local brain perfusion, network connectivity, cognition, and gait in patients with CSVD and gait disorders (CSVD-GD). Methods: This prospective, single-blind, multicenter, randomized controlled study enrolled 66 patients with CSVD-GD, categorized into the tDCS and Sham groups. Imaging and gait characteristic data were collected over three periods using magnetic resonance imaging and a gait analyzer, along with neuropsychological assessments. Results: Among 156 volunteers with CSVD-GD, 66 participated in this study, with 60 completing the entire process. Compared to the Sham group, the tDCS group exhibited a more pronounced increase in the cerebral blood flow to the dural cerebrospinal fluid ratio in regions such as the orbitofrontal cortex and cingulate gyrus (P < 0.05, FDR corrected), along with significantly greater improvements in gait speed and stride length. Tolerance to tDCS was good, with no difference in adverse reactions between the groups, except for a scalp burning sensation reported during the 1st week (24.24% and 6.06% in the tDCS and Sham groups, respectively; P = 0.003). Discussion: Long-term tDCS is effective and safe for improving neuroplasticity and gait cognition in patients with CSVD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photon avalanche (PA)—where the absorption of a single photon initiates a 'chain reaction' of additional absorption and energy transfer events within a material—is a highly nonlinear optical process that results in upconverted light emission with an exceptionally steep dependence on the illumination intensity. Over 40 years following the first demonstration of photon avalanche emission in lanthanide-doped bulk crystals, PA emission has been achieved in nanometer-scale colloidal particles. The scaling of PA to nanomaterials has resulted in significant and rapid advances, such as luminescence imaging beyond the diffraction limit of light, optical thermometry and force sensing with (sub)micron spatial resolution, and all-optical data storage and processing. In this review, we discuss the fundamental principles underpinning PA and survey the studies leading to the development of nanoscale PA. Finally, we offer a perspective on how this knowledge can be used for the development of next-generation PA nanomaterials optimized for a broad range of applications, including mid-IR imaging, luminescence thermometry, (bio)sensing, optical data processing and nanophotonics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The glycocalyx is a dense and dynamic layer of glycosylated species that covers every cell in the human body. It plays crucial roles in various cellular processes in health and disease, such as cancer immune evasion, cancer immune therapy, blastocyst implantation, and functional attenuation of membrane protein diffusion. In addition, alterations in glycocalyx structure may play an important role in ocular surface diseases, e.g., dry eye disease. Despite the emerging importance of the glycocalyx, various aspects of its functional organization remain elusive to date. A central reason for this elusiveness is the nanoscale dimension of the glycocalyx in conjunction with its high structural complexity, which is not accessible to observation with conventional light microscopy. Recent advances in super-resolution microscopy have enabled resolutions down to the single-digit nanometer range. In order to fully leverage the potential of these novel methods, computational frameworks that allow for contextualization of the resulting experimental data are required. Here, we present a simulation-based approach to analyze spatial relationships of glycan components on the cell membrane based on known geometrical parameters. We focus on sialic acids in this work, but the technique can be adapted to any glycan component of interest. By integrating data from mass spectrometry and quantitative biological studies, these simulations aim to model possible experimental outcomes, which can then be used for further analysis, such as spatial point statistics. Importantly, we include various experimental considerations, such as labeling and detection efficiency. This approach may contribute to establishing a new standard of connection between geometrical and molecular-resolution data in service of advancing our understanding of the functional role of the glycocalyx in biology as well as its clinical potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stroke is the leading cause of disability globally, with antiplatelet therapy being crucial for secondary prevention but also increasing bleeding risks. This requires careful dosage adjustments to balance thrombosis and bleeding risks. Objective: This study compared the efficacy and safety of low-dose versus standard-dose antiplatelet therapy in stroke patients. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search across multiple databases, including PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov, CNKI, and the Wanfang Medical Database, up to March 2024. Only randomized controlled trials assessing low-dose antiplatelet therapy in stroke patients were considered. The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool (RoB 2) was used for quality. Performed meta-analysis using Stata 15.0, with relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) as effect estimates. Results: Ten studies involving 7,703 Asia participants, mainly from China and Japan, were analyzed. The meta-analysis revealed that low-dose reduces the risk of bleeding (RR 0.51; 95% CI 0.27, 0.98) compared to standard dose, with similar risks for stroke (RR 1.04; 95% CI 0.69, 1.55), myocardial infarction (MI) (RR 1.91; 95% CI 0.88, 4.12), all-cause death (ACD) (RR 1.17; 95% CI 0.38, 3.62), and major bleeding (RR 0.74; 95% CI 0.16, 3.30). Subgroup analysis revealed that compared to standard-dose clopidogrel, low-dose clopidogrel increased the risk of MI. Notably, this increased risk was observed specifically within the Chinese population but not in the Japanese population. Low-dose clopidogrel and low-dose prasugrel reduce the risk of bleeding compared to standard-dose clopidogrel, but there is no statistically significant difference. Low-dose aspirin significantly reduces the risk of bleeding compared to standard-dose aspirin. Conclusion: In patients with stroke in Asia, low-dose antiplatelet therapy significantly reduces the risk of bleeding compared to standard doses, with consistent risks of stroke, MI, ACD, major bleeding, and discontinuation due to bleeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Emergent research literature has identified emotional and behavioural challenges for autistic children with a pathological demand avoidance profile. However, understanding of their parents' experience is limited. This study aimed to explore the experience of parents of autistic children with a pathological demand avoidance profile. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were completed with ten parents of autistic children with a pathological demand avoidance profile, aged between 5 and 11 years (M = 8.5, SD = 1.90). All participants were mothers, aged 33–50 years (M = 42, SD = 5.35). To explore what meaning participants gave to their lived experience, an interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted on interview data. Results: Four main themes were developed from the interpretative phenomenological analysis; the benefit of a shared understanding about pathological demand avoidance to the parents and their children, the power of pathological demand avoidance and the impact on families, the emotional experience of mothers, and the various ways in which they coped. Conclusion: The need for further recognition and understanding about pathological demand avoidance is emphasised through recommendations for future research. As is the need for flexible, informed, and appropriate support for demand avoidant children and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Globally, breast cancer ranks among the most common malignancies and has a high mortality rate. Invasive breast carcinoma of no special type (IBC-NST) presents a heterogeneous group with variable prognosis. Identifying reliable biomarkers is crucial for improving treatment strategies and predicting outcomes. This study investigates the immunohistochemical expression of parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) and ezrin in IBC-NST and their correlation with clinicopathological features and overall survival. Methods: This retrospective study analyzed 160 paraffin-embedded tissue samples, including 123 IBC-NST and 37 normal breast tissues, collected from patients treated at Menoufia University Hospital during the period from January 2018 to January 2022. Immunohistochemical staining for PTHrP and ezrin was performed, and expression levels were quantified using the H score. Results: PTHrP expression was significantly higher in IBC-NST than in adjacent DCIS and normal tissues (p < 0.001). High PTHrP percent of expression was associated with metastasis (p = 0.009), bone metastasis (p = 0.012), and lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.037). Ezrin expression was also significantly elevated in IBC-NST, with higher H score values correlating with high tumor grade (p = 0.002), high N stage (p = 0.045), advanced AJCC stage grouping (p = 0.0043) and metastasis (p = 0.001). A significant positive correlation was observed between PTHrP and ezrin expression (rs = 0.341, p < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that high ezrin expression, in terms of intensity (p = 0.007) and H score (p = 0.002), was linked to poorer survival. Conclusion: The study highlights the significant roles of PTHrP and ezrin in breast cancer progression. Elevated levels of these proteins are associated with more aggressive disease, suggesting their capability as prognostic indicators and treatment targets in breast cancer. Additional studies are required to investigate their interaction and collective influence on breast cancer metastasis and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture dust contains many organic immunogenic compounds, and organic dust exposure is strongly associated with the development of immune-mediated chronic pulmonary diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Chronic organic dust exposure from agriculture sources induces chronic lung inflammatory diseases and organic dust exposure has recently been linked to an increased risk of developing dementia. The cytokine interleukin-22 (IL-22) has been established as an important mediator in the resolution and repair of lung tissues. The omega-3 fatty acid metabolite aspirin-triggered Resolvin D1 (AT-RvD1) has shown efficacy in modulating the immune response in both pulmonary and neurological inflammation but has not been explored as a therapeutic in organic dust exposure-induced neuroinflammation. Investigating the link between IL-22 and AT-RvD1 may help in developing effective therapies for these immune-mediated diseases. We aimed to investigate the link between organic dust exposure and neuroinflammation, the role of IL-22 in the pulmonary and neurological immune response to organic dust exposure, and the immune-modulating therapeutic applications of AT-RvD1 in an IL-22 knock-out mouse model of organic dust exposure. C57BL/6J (WT) and IL-22 knock-out (KO) mice were repetitively exposed to aqueous agriculture organic dust extract (DE) 5 days per week for 3 weeks (15 total instillations) and treated with AT-RvD1 either once per week (3 total injections) or 5 times per week (15 total injections) for 3 weeks and allowed to recover for 3 days. We observed a significant pulmonary and neurological immune response to DE characterized by the development of inducible bronchus associated lymphoid tissue in the lung and gliosis in the frontal areas of the brain. We also observed that IL-22 knock-out increased pulmonary and neurological inflammation severity. Animals exposed to DE and treated with AT-RvD1 displayed reduced lung pathology severity and gliosis. Our data demonstrate that DE exposure contributes to neurological inflammation and that IL-22 is crucial to effective tissue repair processes. Our data further suggest that AT-RvD1 may have potential as a novel therapeutic for organic dust exposure-induced, immune-mediated pulmonary and neurological inflammation, improving outcomes of those with these diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This theoretical paper presents the development and analysis of an inclusive educational framework designed to manage cognitive load for neurodivergent students in online learning environments. Drawing from cognitive load theory and neurodiversity studies, the framework is based on existing literature, empirical work conducted by the authors, and iterative feedback from a participatory research advisory board. Taking a neurodiversity-informed perspective that focuses on interventions addressing challenges common across a range of conditions, it identifies six critical areas that might impact cognitive load in online learning for neurodivergent students: format, environment, delivery, instruction, support, and research (FEDIS+R). To assess the external factors influencing the potential implementation of the framework and its place within the broader landscape of inclusive education, a PESTEL (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal) analysis was conducted. The analysis highlights challenges such as resource disparities, institutional commitment to inclusion, and legal requirements for accessibility, which may affect the adoption of the framework. Given the evolving nature of both cognitive load theory and neurodiversity studies, future research directions are suggested to evaluate its effectiveness across diverse educational contexts. This paper contributes to the growing body of knowledge on neurodiversity in education and offers practical recommendations for educators and policymakers seeking to create inclusive online learning environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cerebral intra-arterial chemotherapy (CIAC) has been demonstrated to achieve tumoricidal concentrations in cerebral tumour cells that are otherwise unachievable due to the presence of the blood–brain barrier. In this study, we sought to analyze the safety of CIAC in a cohort of patients treated at the Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux de l'Estrie—Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CIUSSS-CHUS). Methods: Treatments consisted of monthly CIAC. A neurological examination and neuroimaging study (MRI) were performed before every treatment. The files of patients enrolled in our CIAC programme were reviewed. Adverse events were analyzed and categorized. Results: Overall, 2991 CIAC procedures were performed in 642 patients. Pathologies were as follows: malignant gliomas (68.7%), cerebral metastasis (17.6%), and cerebral lymphomas (13.7%). Perfusion vessels were as follows: 80% internal carotid artery and 20% vertebral artery. The chemotherapeutic agents used were carboplatin (86.4%), methotrexate (28.5%), melphalan (28.6%), and liposomal doxorubicin (2.8%). Osmotic blood–brain barrier disruption (BBBD) was induced in 30.5% of treatments. Symptomatic vascular adverse events occurred during 27 procedures (0.9%) in 26 patients (4%). Namely, 23 strokes, one carotid artery occlusion (responsible for one of the strokes), and two intratumoral and one subdural hemorrhage. The absolute risk of stroke was 1.3% and 0.5% for CIAC with or without BBBD, respectively. The use of the vertebral artery significantly increased the risk of stroke. Drug infusion-related seizures occurred in 2.5% of patients; 83.8% were associated with methotrexate and 16.2% with carboplatin. Conclusions: CIAC is a safe procedure with a 0.9% overall rate of symptomatic complications (stroke, carotid occlusion, subdural hemorrhage or intratumoral bleeding—n = 27/2991) on a treatment basis, mainly consisting of strokes (85%, n = 23), with a modified NIH Stroke Scale score of 4.1 ± 3.3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: All-cause mortality consisting of several heterogeneous subgroups does not have a well-defined set of risk factors. Despite the well-described role of oral hygiene on mortality, the association between the condition of the existing dentition and mortality remains unclear. Therefore, we embarked on the current study to assess the association of oral hygiene self-care (OHS) with all-cause mortality. Methods: We assessed whether edentulism and the levels of OHS are associated with all-cause mortality in 476 subjects without missing values participating in the KOHH study using proportional hazard models. We designated the edentulous group as OHS0, and poor, fair, and good OHS groups as OHS1, OHS2, and OHS3, respectively. The self-reported OHS was validated against clinical measures of oral inflammation and dental cleanliness, i.e., gingival bleeding and plaque indices. We, then, compared all-cause mortality at three levels of OHS (poor, fair, good) to that of the edentulous group. To test whether the association of OHS to all-cause mortality was mediated by inflammation, we adjusted for CRP. Results: The validity of self-reported OHS was good demonstrating an inverse association with gingival inflammation and plaque index in a dose-response manner. The group with good OHS lived significantly longer, with a 50% lower risk of all-cause mortality. The Hazard ratio (HR) = 0.50 (95% confidence limit: 0.25–0.99), p = 0.045, in a model adjusted for age, smoking, body mass index, and education. Adjusting for CRP attenuated the association of OHS to all-cause mortality slightly, suggesting that this association was mediated, at least in part, by inflammation. In the final model, the poor OHS group exhibited HR = 0.98 (0.51–1.89), p = 0.95. The HR and p-value so close to 1 suggested poor OHS has a similar risk to edentulism. Conclusions: OHS was associated with reduced risk for all-cause mortality: the better OHS, the lower the risk for all-cause mortality. Poor oral hygiene showed a similar risk for all-cause mortality to edentulism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Treadmill-based gait training is part of rehabilitation programs focused on walking abilities. The use of handrails embedded in treadmill systems is debated, and current literature only explores the issue from a behavioral perspective. Methods: We examined the cortical correlates of treadmill walking in healthy participants using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. We investigated whether the utilization of treadmill handrails at varying walking speeds could affect cortical activation associated with the task, and we evaluated potential differences in task-based functional connectivity across the various walking conditions. Results: Significant differences in cortical activation were found between the two walking speeds (3 and 5 km/h) in the unsupported condition; these differences were reduced when using the handrails. Specifically, cortical activation was significantly higher when the participants swung their arms freely while walking at a speed of 5 compared to 3 km/h in several Brodmann's Areas (BA): left BA10, BA3 and BA39, and right BA10, BA9, BA8, BA3, and BA40. No significant differences were found when participants were holding onto the handrails. A significant difference was found in the left BA40 between the two speeds, regardless of whether the participants were holding onto the handrails. Furthermore, at the higher speed and without the use of handrails, a wider pattern of task-based functional connectivity was observed, with significantly stronger connectivity between the left BA10 and BA40. Conclusions: We suggest that speed and handrails use play a role in walking cortical activity patterns, therefore they are key ingredients to take into account when planning a rehabilitation program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mine tailings are a byproduct of mineral extraction and often pose an environmental challenge due to the contamination of soil and water bodies with dissolved metals. However, this type of waste offers the opportunity for the recovery of valuable metals such as silver (Ag). In the present investigation, an integral analysis of a sample of tailings was carried out, addressing granulometry, elemental composition, neutralization potential (NP), and acid potential (AP), as well as mineralogy, for the dissolution of silver from this type of waste. For this purpose, thiourea (CH4N2S) was used as a leaching agent due to its low toxicity, and potassium oxalate (K2C2O4) was used as an organic additive to improve the leaching of the silver phases (argentite and polybasite) present in the tailings. The effects of CH4N2S and K2C2O4 concentrations, temperature, and pH on the leaching efficiency of silver (Ag), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), and arsenic (As) were systematically studied. The results revealed that the maximum silver dissolution rate reached 90.75% under optimal conditions: 0.2 M L−1 of thiourea and 0.2 M L−1 of potassium oxalate, at 35 °C and a pH of 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a systematic literature review (SLR) to provide a comprehensive understanding of higher education literature focusing on the implementation of sustainable campus operations. The implementation of on-campus sustainable operations represents a pivotal path for promoting sustainability in the higher education context. Nonetheless, only a scarce number of studies provide a comprehensive assessment of the existing literature on the topic of sustainable campus operations in higher education institutions (HEIs). Accordingly, our research intends to fill this gap. Our review identified 130 focal articles that were predominantly published in high-impact journals. Key themes identified in the literature include carbon neutrality, energy use, waste management, environmental management, and circular economy, with a notable emphasis on the interconnectedness of these topics. The review also highlights the critical role of institutional leadership, governance structures, stakeholder engagement, and technological innovation in driving sustainability on campuses. Despite the growing body of literature, research gaps were identified, including the need for more comparative studies, exploration of funding mechanisms, and improvements in data collection and reporting practices. This study underscores the importance of adopting a structured, holistic approach to campus sustainability in HEIs, which can inform policy development, enhance decision-making, and pave the way for more effective sustainability strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate and precise prediction of actual evapotranspiration (AET) on a large scale is a fundamental issue in natural sciences such as forestry (especially in species selection and planning), hydrology, and agriculture. With the estimation of AET, controlling dams, agriculture, and irrigation and providing potable and utility water supply for industry would be possible. Gathering reliable AET data is possible only with a sufficient weather station network, which is rarely established in many countries like Turkey. Therefore, climate models must be developed for reliable AET data, especially in countries with complex terrains. This study aimed to generate spatiotemporal AET surfaces using the Australian National University spline (ANUSPLIN) model and compare the results with the maps generated by the inverse distance weighting (IDW) and co-kriging (KRG) interpolation techniques. Findings from the interpolated surfaces were validated in three ways: (1) some diagnostics from the surface fitting model include measures such as signal, mean, root mean square predictive error, root mean square error estimate, root mean square residual of the spline, and the estimated standard deviation of noise in the spline; (2) a comparison of common error statistics between the interpolated surfaces and withheld climate data; and (3) evaluation by comparing model results with other interpolation methods using metrics such as mean absolute error, mean error, root mean square error, and adjusted R2 (R2adj). The correlation between AET and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was also evaluated. ANUSPLIN outperformed the other techniques, accounting for 73 to 94% (RMSE: 3.7 to 26.1%) of the seasonal variation in AET with an annual value of 83% (RMSE: 10.0%). The correlation coefficient between observed and predicted AET based on NDVI ranged from 0.49 to 0.71 for point-based and 0.62 to 0.83 for polygon-based data. The generated maps at a spatial resolution of 0.005° × 0.005° could provide valuable insights to researchers and practitioners in the natural resources management domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a method for aligning the geometric parameters of images in multi-channel imaging systems based on the application of pre-processing methods, machine learning algorithms, and a calibration setup using an array of orderly markers at the nodes of an imaginary grid. According to the proposed method, one channel of the system is used as a reference. The images from the calibration setup in each channel determine the coordinates of the markers, and the displacements of the marker centers in the system's channels relative to the coordinates of the centers in the reference channel are then determined. Correction models are obtained as multiple polynomial regression models based on these displacements. These correction models align the geometric parameters of the images in the system channels before they are used in the calculations. The models are derived once, allowing for geometric calibration of the imaging system. The developed method is applied to align the images in the channels of a module of a multispectral imaging polarimeter. As a result, the standard image alignment error in the polarimeter channels is reduced from 4.8 to 0.5 pixels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thyroid dysfunction is associated with a number of neuropsychiatric manifestations. Cognitive decline is a common feature of hypothyroidism and clinical or subclinical hyperthyroidism. In addition, there is a significant association between thyroid hormone (TH) levels and the degree of cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD). The pathophysiology of TH-related neurodegeneration include changes in the blood–brain barrier, increased cellular stress, altered processing of β-amyloid precursor protein and the effect of TH on neuronal cell viability. The neurotoxicity of TH is partially mediated by the thyroid hormone responsive protein (THRP). This protein is 83% homologous to mouse c-Abl-interacting protein-2 (Abi2), a c-Abl-modulating protein with tumor suppressor activity. In cell cultures, increasing THRP expression either with TH treatment or exogenously through transfecting neuronal or PC 12 cells causes cell necrosis. The expression of exogenous THRP in other cells such as the colonic epithelial cell line Caco-2 and the glial cell line U251 has no effect on cell viability. The effect of THRP on cell viability is not modulated by c-Abl tyrosine kinase. The causal relationship between specific biochemical perturbations in cerebral tissue and thyroid dysfunction remains to be elucidated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential of inland valleys to enhance food security and improve agricultural resilience to climate change in Africa is constrained by a limited understanding of their hydrological functioning and inadequate water management. In order to synthesize knowledge on hydrological responses in inland valley areas, this work reviewed 275 studies from tropical Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Data from the literature search were collected from Scopus™, ScienceDirect™, Web of Science™, Google Scholar™, and doctoral theses repositories such as ZEF, HAL, and Theses.fr, covering studies published from the inception of these databases through 31 May 2023. Our approach involved, firstly, a bibliometric analysis of all papers to gain insights into research trends and interests. Secondly, we performed a quantitative synthesis of results from 66 studies examining stream flows in a set of 79 inland valleys to better understand factors that govern runoff dynamics in these environments. Correlative analyses and clustering methods were applied to identify potential links between runoff and watershed physical parameters. The findings highlight the varied responses of inland valleys over both time and space, influenced by a combination of catchment drivers. The correlation matrices between hydrological indices and physical parameters indicate a strong relationship among runoff and a range of parameters, of which the most significant are rainfall (R2 = 0.77) and soil silt content (R2 = 0.68). Challenges in accurately spatializing information related to potential determining components of the water cycle, such as groundwater dynamics and soil moisture, seem to have limited the exploration of interactions between river flow, soil moisture, and groundwater. Future works should prioritize the development of accurate and user-friendly hydrological models that balance complexity and data availability to enhance the understanding of inland valley behavior at fine scales and consolidate food security in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) allows imaging beyond the diffraction limit. Detection of molecules is a crucial initial step in SMLM. False positive detections, which are not quantitatively controlled in current methods, are a source of artifacts that affect the entire SMLM analysis pipeline. Furthermore, current methods lack standardization, which hinders reproducibility. Here, we present an optimized molecule detection method which combines probabilistic thresholding with theoretically optimal filtering. The probabilistic thresholding enables control over false positive detections while optimal filtering minimizes false negatives. A theoretically optimal Poisson matched filter is used as a performance benchmark to evaluate existing filtering methods. Overall, our approach allows the detection of molecules in a robust, single-parameter and user-unbiased manner. This will minimize artifacts and enable data reproducibility in SMLM. The work presents a molecule detection method for single-molecule localization microscopy. By means of probabilistic thresholding with control over false positive detections, the method improves robustness and enhances reproducibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many visualisations used in the climate communication field aim to present the scientific models of climate change to the public. However, relatively little research has been conducted on how such data are visually processed, particularly from a behavioural science perspective. This study examines trends in visual attention to climate change predictions in world maps using mobile eye-tracking while participants engage with the visualisations. Our primary aim is to assess engagement with the maps, as indicated by gaze metrics. Secondary analyses assess whether social context (as social viewing compared to solitary viewing) affects these trends, the relationship between projection types and visual attention, compare gaze metrics between scientific map and artwork viewing, and explore correlations between self-reported climate anxiety scores and attention patterns. We employed wearable, head-mounted eye-tracking to collect data in relatively naturalistic conditions, aiming to enhance ecological validity. In this research, participants engaged with ten world maps displaying near- and far-term climate projections across five data categories, adapted from the online interactive atlas provided by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). To compare scientific information processing with aesthetic perception, participants also viewed two large-scale artworks. Responses to the Climate Change Anxiety Scale (CCAS) were also collected. Participants viewed the displays alone (single-viewing condition, N = 35) or together with a partner (paired-viewing condition, N = 12). Results revealed that the upper parts of the maps, particularly the continental Europe, received significant attention, suggesting a Euro-centric bias in viewing patterns. Spatial gaze patterns were similar between single and paired conditions, indicating that the visual attributes of the maps predominantly shaped attention locations. Although dwell times were comparable, the paired condition showed higher fixation counts, shorter average fixation durations, and longer scanpaths, suggesting a potentially dissociable viewing strategy and more exploratory viewing patterns influenced by social interaction. No substantial differences were observed in attention across projection timeframes or types, although individual variations were noted. Artwork viewing exhibited notably shorter average fixation durations compared to climate map viewing, potentially reflecting different visual engagement styles. Despite positive linear correlations among the four CCAS subscales, there was no apparent correlation between CCAS scores and main gaze metrics, indicating a lack of a direct relationship between self-reported anxiety and gaze behaviour. In summary, visual attention to climate change visualisations appears to be mainly influenced by the inherent visual attributes of the maps, but the social context may subtly influence visual attention. Additionally, the comparison with aesthetic viewing highlights relatively distinct attentional patterns in scientific versus aesthetic engagements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shape characteristics of flow hydrographs hold essential information for understanding, monitoring and assessing changes in flow and flood hydrology at reach and catchment scales. However, the analysis of individual hydrographs is time consuming, making the analysis of hundreds or thousands of them unachievable. A method or protocol is needed to ensure that the datasets being generated, and the metrics produced, have been consistently derived and validated. In this lab protocol, we present workflows in Python for extracting flow hydrographs with any available temporal resolution from any Open Access or publicly available gauging station records. The workflow identifies morphologically-defined flow and flood types (i.e. in-channel fresh, high flow and overbank flood) and uses them to classify hydrographs. It then calculates several at-a-station and upstream-to-downstream hydrograph shape metrics including kurtosis, skewness, peak hydrograph stage, peak arrival time, rate-of-rise, peak-to-peak travel time, flood wave celerity, flood peak attenuation, and flood wave attenuation index. Some metrics require GIS-derived data, such as catchment area and upstream-to-downstream channel distance between gauges. The output dataset provides quantified hydrograph shape metrics which can be used to track changes in flow and flood hydrographs over time, or to characterise the flow and flood hydrology of catchments and regions. The workflows are flexible enough to allow for additional hydrograph shape indicators to be added or swapped out, or to use a different hydrograph classification method that suits local conditions. The protocol could be considered a change detection tool to identify where changes in hydrology are occurring and where to target more sophisticated modelling exercises to explain the changes detected. We demonstrate the workflow using 117 Open Access gauging station records that are available for coastal rivers of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Texture is a significant component used for several applications in content-based image retrieval. Any texture classification method aims to map an anonymously textured input image to one of the existing texture classes. Extensive ranges of methods for labeling image texture were proposed earlier. However, computing the performance of these methods in the presence of various degradations is always an open area of discussion. Image noise is always a dominant factor among various image degradation factors, affecting the performance of these methods and making texture classification challenging. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the interpretation of these methods in the presence of prominent degradation factors such as noise. Applications for Segmentation-Based Fractal Texture Features (SFTF) include image classification, texture generation, and medical image analysis. They are beneficial for examining textures with intricate, erratic patterns that are difficult to characterize using conventional statistical techniques accurately. This paper assesses two texture feature extraction methods based on SFTF and statistical moment-based texture features in the presence and absence of Gaussian noise. The SFTF and statistical moments-based handcrafted features are passed to a multilayer feed-forward neural network for classification. These models are evaluated on natural textures from Kylberg Texture Dataset 1.0. The results show the superiority of segmentation-based fractal analysis over other approaches. The average accuracy rates using the SFTF are 99% and 97% in the absence and presence of Gaussian noise, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquaporin 1 (AQP1) is a key channel for water transport in peritoneal dialysis. Inhibition of AQP1 could therefore impair water transport during peritoneal dialysis. It is not known whether inhibition of AQP1 occurs unintentionally due to off-target interactions of administered medications. A high-throughput virtual screening study has been performed to investigate the possible binding of licensed medications to the water pore of human AQP1. A complete model of human AQP1 based on its canonical sequence was assembled using I-TASSER and MODELLER. The model was refined via the incorporation of pore water molecules from a high-resolution yeast aquaporin structure. Docking studies were conducted for the cytoplasmic domain of the AQP1 monomer against a library of all compounds listed in the British National Formulary (BNF), using the PLANTS software with the ChemPLP scoring function. The stability of the best docked conformations within the intrinsic water pore was assessed via short 15 nanosecond molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using the GROMACS-on-Colab utility. Of the 1512 compounds tested, 1002 docking results were obtained, and 198 of these conformations occupied a position within the intrinsic water pore. 30 compounds with promising docking scores were assessed by MD. The docked conformations for dopamine, gabapentin, pregabalin, and methyldopa were stable in these short MD studies. For furosemide and pravastatin, the MD trajectory suggested a binding mode different to the docking result. A small set of compounds which could impede water transport through human AQP1 have been identified in this computational screening study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The TRAMP complex contains two enzymatic activities essential for RNA processing upstream of the nuclear exosome. Within TRAMP, RNA is 3' polyadenylated by a subcomplex of Trf4/5 and Air1/2 and unwound 3' to 5' by Mtr4, a DExH helicase. The molecular mechanisms of TRAMP assembly and RNA shuffling between the two TRAMP catalytic sites are poorly understood. Here, we report solution hydrogen-deuterium exchange data with thermodynamic and functional assays to uncover these mechanisms for yeast TRAMP with Trf4 and Air2 homologs. We show that TRAMP assembly constrains RNA-recognition motifs that are peripheral to catalytic sites. These include the Mtr4 Arch and Air2 zinc knuckles 1, 2, and 3. While the Air2 Arch-interacting motif likely constrains the Mtr4 Arch via transient interactions, these do not fully account for the importance of the Mtr4 Arch in TRAMP assembly. We further show that tRNA binding by single active-site subunits, Mtr4 and Trf4-Air2, differs from the double active-site TRAMP. TRAMP has reduced tRNA binding on the Mtr4 Fist and RecA2 domains, offset by increased tRNA binding on Air2 zinc knuckles 2 and 3. Competition between these RNA-binding sites may drive tRNA transfer between TRAMP subunits. We identify dynamic changes upon TRAMP assembly and RNA-recognition motifs that transfer RNA between TRAMP catalytic sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study was to develop a multi-parametric MRI radiomics model to predict preoperative Ki-67 status. Materials and methods: A total of 120 patients with pathologically confirmed breast cancer were retrospectively enrolled and randomly divided into a training set (n = 84) and a validation set (n = 36). Radiomic features were derived from both the intratumoral and peritumoral regions, extending 5 mm from the tumor boundary, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The MRI sequences employed included T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps. The T-test and the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator Cross-Validation (LASSO CV) were conducted for feature selection. Modelintra, modelperi, modelintra+peri were established by eleven supervised machine learning (ML) algorithms to predict the expression status of Ki-67 in breast cancer and were verified by the validation groups. The model's performance was evaluated by employing metrics such as the area under the curve (AUC), accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. Results: The features of intratumor, peritumor, intratumor + peritumor were extracted 851, 851 and 1702 samples respectively, 14, 23 and 35 features were selected by LASSO. ML algorithms based on modelintra and modelperi consistently yield AUCs that are below 80% in the validation set. Hower, Logistic regression (LR) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) based on modelintra+peri demonstrated significant advantages over other algorithms, achieving AUCs of 0.92 and 0.98, accuracies of 0.94 and 0.97, sensitivities of 1 and 0.96, and specificities of 0.85 and 1 respectively in the validation set. Conclusion: The integrated intra- and peritumoral radiomics model, developed using multiparametric MRI data and machine learning classifiers, exhibits significant predictive power for Ki-67 expression levels. This model could facilitate personalized clinical treatment strategies for individuals diagnosed with breast cancer (BC). Clinical trial number: Not applicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Amphetamine-type stimulants are very common, and their usage is becoming a very big social problem all over the world. Thousands of addicts encounter several health problems including mental, metabolic, behavioral and neurological disorders. In addition to these, there are several reports about the elevated risk of tendency on committing criminal cases by addicted persons. Hence, methamphetamine addiction is not only an individual health problem but also a social problem. In our study, we aimed to investigate the pathogenesis of chronic usage of methamphetamine via untargeted metabolomics approach. Methods: 38 plasma samples were carefully collected and extracted for untargeted metabolomics assay. A liquid–liquid extraction was performed to get as much metabolite as possible from the samples. After the extraction procedure, samples were transferred into vials and they were evaluated via time of flight mass spectrometry instrument. Results: Significantly, altered metabolites were identified by the fold analysis and Welch's test between the groups. 42 different compounds were annotated regarding to data-dependent acquisition method. Pathway analysis were also performed to understand the hazardous effect of methamphetamine on human body. Conclusion: It has been reported that drug exposure may affect several metabolic pathways for amino acids, fats, energy metabolism and vitamins. An alternative bioinformatic model was also developed and validated in order to predict the chronic methamphetamine drug users in any criminal cases. This generated model passes the ROC curve analysis and permutation test and classify the controls and drug users correctly by evaluating the metabolic alterations between the groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Memory for words that are drawn or sketched by the participant, rather than written, during encoding is typically superior. While this drawing benefit has been reliably demonstrated in recent years, there has yet to be an investigation of its neural basis. Here, we asked participants to either create drawings, repeatedly write, or list physical characteristics depicting each target word during encoding. Participants then completed a recognition memory test for target words while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Behavioural results showed memory was significantly higher for words drawn than written, replicating the typical drawing effect. Memory for words whose physical characteristics were listed at encoding was also higher than for those written repeatedly, but lower than for those drawn. Voxel-wise analyses of fMRI data revealed two distributed sets of brain regions more active for items drawn relative to written, the left angular gyrus (BA 39) and bilateral frontal (BA 10) regions, suggesting integration and self-referential processing during retrieval of drawn words. Brain-behaviour correlation analyses showed that the size of one's memory benefit for words drawn relative to written at encoding was positively correlated with activation in brain regions linked to visual representation and imagery (BA 17 and cuneus) and motor planning (premotor and supplementary motor areas; BA 6). This study suggests that drawing benefits memory by coactivating multiple sensory traces. Target words drawn during encoding are subsequently remembered by re-engaging visual, motoric, and semantic representations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objective: Surgical site infection (SSI) is a leading common condition after ileostomy reversal (IR). However, evidence is unclear that subcutaneous negative-suction drainage (SND) reduces the incidence of SSI. This study aimed to investigate whether SND effectively reduced the incidence of SSI. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the records of 531 patients who underwent IR at Incheon St. Mary's Hospital between June 2005 and December 2020. SND was classified into two groups based on its presence or absence. The estimated risk of SSI was calculated using the surgical risk calculator of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP). After 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) using the estimated risk of SSI, we analyzed the two group's postoperative outcomes, including SSI rates. Results: After PSM, there was no difference in demographics between the two groups; however, the reversal interval was longer in the SND group than in the no SND group (193.3 ± 151.6 vs. 151.5 ± 141.0 days, p = 0.005). The incidence of SSI was lower in the SND group than in the no SND group (5.2% vs. 13.0%, p = 0.013). Conclusions: SND insertion can reduce the incidence of SSI during IR. Therefore, SND insertion should be considered as a basic technique for reducing SSI after IR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]