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Abstract There are already a number of autonomous robots that play a significant role in improving the quality of healthcare in different areas ranging from basic health diagnosis to complex surgeries. However, using robots and machine learning applications in the healthcare context poses concerns over liability for patient injury. This paper will thus attempt to investigate the potential legal problems that might arise if AI technology evolves or is commonly used in clinical practice. It also examines whether the traditional doctrines of liability can adequately address the liability for the injuries stemming from acts of autonomous robots. As such, this paper adopted both descriptive and analytical methodologies to explore the main focus of the study. while the descriptive methodology was used to spot light on various theories of liability, the analytical methodology was used to critically examine the main theories that have been advanced to deal with autonomous robots and predict the necessity of legal reform. Throughout this paper, the authors insist on the importance of distinguishing between robots in light of their degree of autonomy and then drafting liability rules depending on whether the action was done autonomously by an unattended robot or whether it was done automatically by an attended robot. Finally, the paper concludes with the proposal of a series of factors to be considered for the future regulation of AI Robots in the healthcare context.

Purpose: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common types of liver cancer that could potentially be surrounded by healthy arteries or veins that a surgeon would have to avoid during treatment. A realistic 3D liver model is an unmet need for HCC preoperative planning. Methods: This paper presents a method to create a soft phantom model of the human liver with the help of a 3D-printed mold, silicone, ballistic gel, and a blender. Results: For silicone, the elastic modulus of seven different ratios of base silicone and silicone hardener are tested; while for ballistic gel, a model using 20% gelatin and 10% gelatin is created for the tumor and the rest of the liver, respectively. It is found that the silicone modulus of elasticity matches with the real liver modulus of elasticity. It is also found that the 10% gelatin part of the ballistic gel model is an excellent emulation of a healthy human liver. Conclusion: The 3D flexible liver phantom made from a 10% gelatin-to-water mixture demonstrates decent fidelity to real liver tissue in terms of texture and elasticity. It holds significant potential for improving medical training, preoperative planning, and surgical research. We believe that continued development and validation of such models could further enhance their utility and impact in the field of hepatobiliary treatment planning and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to its complex properties like ergodicity, unpredictability, and sensitivity to its initial states, chaotic systems are attracting more and more attention and are frequently employed for security purposes. In this work, for the first time in our knowledge, a secure optical communication based on optical chaos with pre-, post-, and symmetric dispersion compression fiber (DCF) configurations was designed and implemented for 10 Gb/s non-return-to-zero (NRZ) utilizing OptiSystem software 7.0. It was found that the optical chaos resulted a degradation in system length of about 61%. To reduce this degradation, DCF was inserted. When comparing three DCF configurations, the pre-DCF outperforms the post-DCF and the symmetric DCF. When post- and symmetric DCF are compared, the former is found to be superior to the latter. Thus, using pre-DCF, a high-capacity, secure system with an acceptable distance and an effective cost was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urbanization and land use/land cover (LULC) changes have become global phenomena, significantly impacting ecosystems and climate, which are key concerns in eco-climatology. Focusing on Riyadh, the rapidly growing capital of Saudi Arabia, this study investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of ecosystem service values (ESVs) in response to LULC changes using an eco-climatological modeling approach. Support vector machine algorithms were employed on Google Earth Engine to classify Landsat imagery and map LULC in Riyadh for 1993, 2003, 2013, and 2023. ESVs were quantified using global coefficients to assess the impact of LULC changes on the eco-climatological system. Results revealed substantial LULC changes during 1993–2023, with built-up areas expanded by 330.79% (777.76 km²), vegetation by 114.30% (32.14 km²), and waterbody areas by 888.89% (7.20 km²). Conversely, barren soil and cropland areas declined by 9.41% (727.90 km²) and 84.40% (89.14 km²), respectively. These LULC changes led to significant alterations in ESVs, with barren soil and cropland losses resulting in ESV reductions of $591.56 million and $555.91 million, respectively. However, increased vegetated areas contributed to $750.40 million ESV rise. Spatially, western Riyadh experienced the most pronounced ESV declines due to rapid urbanization. Overall, total ESV decreased by $206.37 million over the 30-year, with supporting and cultural service values declining by $174.04 million and $39.91 million, respectively. Provisioning and regulating services increased by $3.58 million and $4.02 million. The eco-climatological modeling approach effectively captured the complex interactions between LULC dynamics, ecosystems, and ESVs in this arid environment, highlighting the need for sustainable land management strategies that balance urban growth, ecosystem preservation, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. This study contributes to eco-climatology by demonstrating advanced modeling techniques for assessing spatiotemporal ESV dynamics in response to LULC changes, informing future research and policy in rapidly urbanizing regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful antimicrobial therapy depends on achieving optimal drug concentrations within individual patients. Inter-patient variability in pharmacokinetics (PK) and differences in pathogen susceptibility (reflected in the minimum inhibitory concentration, [MIC]) necessitate personalised approaches. Dose individualisation strategies aim to address this challenge, improving treatment outcomes and minimising the risk of toxicity and antimicrobial resistance. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM), with the application of population pharmacokinetic (popPK) models, enables model-informed precision dosing (MIPD). PopPK models mathematically describe drug behaviour across populations and can be combined with patient-specific TDM data to optimise dosing regimens. The integration of machine learning (ML) techniques promises to further enhance dose individualisation by identifying complex patterns within extensive datasets. Implementing these approaches involves challenges, including rigorous model selection and validation to ensure suitability for target populations. Understanding the relationship between drug exposure and clinical outcomes is crucial, as is striking a balance between model complexity and clinical usability. Additionally, regulatory compliance, outcome measurement, and practical considerations for software implementation will be addressed. Emerging technologies, such as real-time biosensors, hold the potential for revolutionising TDM by enabling continuous monitoring, immediate and frequent dose adjustments, and near patient testing. The ongoing integration of TDM, advanced modelling techniques, and ML within the evolving digital health care landscape offers a potential for enhancing antimicrobial therapy. Careful attention to model development, validation, and ethical considerations of the applied techniques is paramount for successfully optimising antimicrobial treatment for the individual patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) is an important, actively cycling carbon reservoir (662 GtC). However, the chemical structure and cycling of DOM within rapidly warming, polar environments remains largely unconstrained. Previous studies have shown rapid surface cycling of carbohydrates as biologically-labile DOM (LDOM). Conversely, carboxyl-rich alicyclic molecules (CRAM) are often used as examples of biologically-recalcitrant DOM (RDOM). Traditional DOM isolation methods (e.g., ultrafiltration (10–30% of DOM) and solid-phase extraction (40–60% of DOM) induce chemical-, size- and compositional-bias – complicating inferences to total DOM cycling. Here, we use a total DOM proton (1H) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy method to show carbohydrates and CRAM have high concentrations in the surface ocean and low concentrations at depth in Baffin Bay. Between 21–43% of surface CRAM is removed at depth. These results suggest both CRAM and carbohydrates are major LDOM constituents – contradicting the existing CRAM cycling paradigm and further constraining the long-term persistence of deep ocean DOM. A study using total dissolved organic matter (DOM) proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy found rapid removal of surface-derived carbohydrates and carboxyl-rich alicyclic molecules at depth, challenging our notions of deep ocean DOM storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countersink inspection is crucial in various automated assembly lines, especially in the aerospace and automotive sectors. Advancements in machine vision introduced automated robotic inspection of countersinks using laser scanners and monocular cameras. Nevertheless, the aforementioned sensing pipelines require the robot to pause on each hole for inspection due to high latency and measurement uncertainties with motion, leading to prolonged execution times of the inspection task. The neuromorphic vision sensor, on the other hand, has the potential to expedite the countersink inspection process, but the unorthodox output of the neuromorphic technology prohibits utilizing traditional image processing techniques. Therefore, novel event-based perception algorithms need to be introduced. We propose a countersink detection approach on the basis of event-based motion compensation and the mean-shift clustering principle. In addition, our framework presents a robust event-based circle detection algorithm to precisely estimate the depth of the countersink specimens. The proposed approach expedites the inspection process by a factor of 10 × compared to conventional countersink inspection methods. The work in this paper was validated for over 50 trials on three countersink workpiece variants. The experimental results show that our method provides a standard deviation of 0.025 mm and an accuracy of 0.026 mm for countersink depth inspection despite the low resolution of commercially available neuromorphic cameras. Video Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/pateqqwh4d605t3/final_video_new.mp4?dl=0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corosolic acid (CA) is a well-known natural pentacyclic triterpene found in numerous therapeutic plants that can exhibit many bioactivities including anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor actions. The current investigation explores the chemoprotective roles of CA against azoxymethane (AOM)-induced colonic aberrant crypt foci (ACF) in rats. Thirty Sprague Dawley rats were grouped in 5 cages; Group A, normal control rats inoculated subcutaneously (sc) with two doses of normal saline and fed orally on 10% tween 20; Groups B-E received two doses (sc) of azoxymethane in two weeks and treated with either 10% tween 20 (group B) or two intraperitoneal injections of 35 mg/kg 5-fluorouracil each week for one month (group C), while group D and E treated with 30 and 60 mg/kg, respectively, for 2 months. The toxicity results showed lack of any behavioral abnormalities or mortality in rats ingested with up-to 500 mg/kg of CA. The present AOM induction caused a significant initiation of ACF characterized by an increased number, larger in size, and well-matured tissue clusters in cancer controls. AOM inoculation created a bizarrely elongated nucleus, and strained cells, and significantly lowered the submucosal glands in colon tissues of cancer controls compared to 5-FU or CA-treated rats. CA treatment led to significant suppression of ACF incidence, which could be mediated by its modulatory effects on the immunohistochemical proteins (pro-apoptotic (Bax) and reduced PCNA protein expressions in colon tissues). Moreover, CA-treated rats had improved oxidative stress-mediated cytotoxicity indicated by increased endogenous antioxidants (SOD and CAT) and reduced lipid peroxidation indicators (MDA). In addition, CA ingestion (30 and 60 mg/kg) suppressed the inflammatory cascades, indicated by decreased serum TNF-α and IL-6 cytokines and increased anti-inflammatory (IL-10) cytokines consequently preventing further tumor development. CA treatment maintained liver and kidney functions in rats exposed to AOM cytotoxicity. CA could be a viable alternative for the treatment of oxidative-related human disorders including ACF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mental health in the workplace is a growing concern for enterprises and policy makers. MENTUPP is a multi-level mental health intervention implemented in small and medium size enterprises from three work sectors in nine countries. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, delivery, and instruments for the MENTUPP intervention to inform the planning of a clustered randomized controlled trial. Methods: We administered items from the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire and the Danish Work Environment Cohort Study measuring psychosocial workplace factors. The questionnaire was answered by 382 participants at baseline, of which 98 participants also answered after six months at follow-up. We calculated mean scores of 19 psychosocial factors at baseline and conducted repeated measures ANOVAs to assess differences in eight psychosocial factors at follow-up. We also examined whether outcomes differed between work sectors and job positions at follow-up. Results: The construction sector and workers with no or a lower leadership role reported more negative working environment factors at baseline. We observed a statistically significant decline in social support from colleagues and social community at work, and a marginally significant decline in justice at work. For the rest of the constructs, we did not observe statistically significant changes. Conclusions: We found significant differences in psychosocial work environment factors among work sectors and job positions at baseline. Contrary to our hypotheses, three psychosocial work environment factors decreased at follow-up. Possible explanations are the utilization of specific psychosocial factors as resources to cope with psychosocial stressors, high participant expectations that were not met by the intervention, insufficient time for structural changes, or the intervention prompting critical evaluations of the work environment. These findings will inform the design and implementation of the forthcoming clustered randomized controlled trial, where they will also be further investigated to validate their significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fast fashion industry, characterized by its reliance on rapid consumption cycles, and short-lived garment use, has raised major environmental concerns. This industry generates over 92 million tons of waste and consumes 79 trillion liters of water annually, driven by rising consumer demand for fast fashion. As such, there is a pressing need to transition from the current wasteful fast fashion purchasing behavior to more sustainable behavior. Despite extensive research on sustainable purchasing behavior, there is still a gap in our understanding of the predictors of consumers' sustainable fast fashion purchasing behavior. To address this gap, our study utilized a survey questionnaire to collect data from a convenience sample of 123 South African consumers. We expanded the theory of planned behavior (TPB) by incorporating sustainability awareness as a background factor in the hypothesized theoretical model. We also investigated the relationships among the TPB constructs (attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control), sustainability awareness, and sustainable fast fashion purchasing behavior. By employing hierarchical regression within the extended TPB framework, we found that perceived behavioral control mediated the relationship between sustainability awareness and sustainable fast fashion purchasing behavior. Further, perceived behavioral control and its interaction with attitude significantly predicted sustainable fast fashion purchasing behavior, while sustainability awareness significantly predicted perceived behavioral control. Notably, our findings reveal that lower perceived behavioral control is associated with a stronger positive relationship between attitude and sustainable fast fashion purchasing behavior. These findings have important implications for theory and practice, and provide suggestions for future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern advancements in targeted therapy and immunotherapy have significantly improved survival outcomes for advanced melanoma; however, there remains a need for novel approaches to overcome disease progression and treatment resistance. In recent years, PARPi therapy has shown great promise both as a single regimen and in combination with other therapeutics in melanoma. Here, we describe three unique cases of advanced BRAF V600 mutated melanoma that progressed on targeted BRAF/MEK agents that subsequently exhibited partial to near-complete responses to combinatory PARPi and BRAF/MEK inhibitors. This highlights both a potential synergy underlying this combinatory approach and its efficacy as a treatment option for patients with advanced melanoma refractory to targeted and/or immunotherapies. Prospective clinical trials are needed to explore this synergic effect in larger melanoma cohorts to investigate this combination for treating refractory advanced melanoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can a set of metabolites present in embryo culture media correlate with embryo implantation? Case-control study in two phases: discovery phase (101 samples) and validation phase (169 samples), collected between 2018 and 2022, with a total of 218 participants. Culture media samples with known implantation outcomes were collected after blastocyst embryo transfer (including both PGT and non-PGT cycles) and were analyzed using chromatography followed by mass spectrometry. The spectra were processed and analyzed using statistical and machine learning techniques to identify biomarkers associated with embryo implantation, and to develop a predictive model. In the discovery phase, 148 embryo implantation biomarkers were identified using high resolution equipment, and 47 of them were characterized. Our results indicate a significant enrichment of tryptophan metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, and lysine degradation biochemical pathways. After transferring the method to a lower resolution equipment, a model able to assign a Metabolite Pregnancy Index (MPI) to each embryo culture media was developed, taking the concentration of 36 biomarkers as input. Applying this model to 20% of the validation samples (N=34) used as the test set, an accuracy of 85.29% was achieved, with a PPV (Positive Predictive Value) of 88% and a NPV (Negative Predictive Value) of 77.78%. Additionally, informative results were obtained for all the analyzed samples. Metabolite concentration in the media after in vitro culture shows correlation with embryo implantation potential. Furthermore, the mathematical combination of biomarker concentrations using Artificial Intelligence techniques can be used to predict embryo implantation outcome with an accuracy of around 85%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vitamin B6 is an essential micronutrient for humans which is synthesized in plants via de novo pathway. Since this pathway involves only two enzymes, it can be easily exploited to develop biofortified crops. In the present study, we investigated the effect of overexpressing PDX2 gene from Arabidopsis under endosperm-specific promoter for enhancing B6 levels in wheat seeds. Calli of two elite wheat varieties, Faisalabad-2008 and Galaxy, were transformed with PDX2 construct in expression vector via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation with the efficiency of 2.11% and 1.09%, respectively. Among the ten transgenic lines evaluated, the highest gene expression observed was 22.49-fold leading to 6.49-fold increase in B6 accumulation in mature seeds determined via HPLC. Vitamin B6 accumulation did not alter the chlorophyll content. However, the soluble protein content significantly decreased in some transgenic lines as compared to control plants. Some Faisalabad-2008 transgenic lines exhibited significant increase while all Galaxy transgenic lines showed significant decrease in their carbohydrate content than control plants. Moreover, seed yield increased in some transgenic lines without posing any variation in other agro-economically important traits. Previously vitamin B6 accumulation has been reported to confer resistance to abiotic factors because of its antioxidant properties. However, the transgene expression and vitamin B6 accumulation in the seed did not confer salt resistance to the transgenic lines. The amount of proline increased in salt-stressed plants while chlorophyll, protein, carbohydrate, and relative water content decreased. Thus, overexpression of PDX2 under seed-specific promoter enhances accumulation of vitamin B6 without conferring any resistance to salt stress conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the resident microbial communities and their above and below ground interactions with plants will provide necessary information for crop disease protection and stress management. In this study, we show how diversity of core microbiome varies with disease susceptibility of a crop. To test this hypothesis, we have focused on identifying the core microbial species of cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) susceptible Gossypium hirsutum and CLCuD resistant Gossypium arboreum under viral infestation. Derivation of core membership is challenging as it depends on an occupancy threshold of microbial species in a sampling pool, whilst accounting for different plant compartments. We have used an abundance–occupancy distribution approach where we dynamically assess the threshold for core membership, whilst marginalizing for occupancy in four compartments of the cotton plant, namely, leaf epiphyte, leaf endophyte, rhizosphere, and root endophyte. Additionally, we also fit a neutral model to the returned core species to split them into three groups, those that are neutral, those that are selected by the plant environment, and finally those that are dispersal limited. We have found strong inverse relationship between diversity of core microbiome and disease susceptibility with the resistant variety, G. arboreum, possessing higher diversity of microbiota. A deeper understanding of this association will aid in the development of biocontrol agents for improving plant immunity against biotrophic pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death for women worldwide, and detecting cancer at an early stage increases the survival rate by 97%. In this study, a novel textile-based ultrawideband (UWB) microstrip patch antenna was designed and modeled to work in the 2–11.6 GHz frequency range and a simulation was used to test its performance in early breast cancer detection. The antenna was designed with an overall size of 31*31 mm 2 using a denim substrate and 100% metal polyamide-based fabric with copper, silver, and nickel to provide comfort for the wearer. The designed antenna was tested in four numerical breast models. The models ranged from simple tumor-free to complex models with small tumors. The size, structure, and position of the tumor were modified to test the suggested ability of the antenna to detect cancers with different shapes, sizes, and positions. The specific absorption rate (SAR), return loss (S11), and voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) were calculated for each model to measure the antenna performance. The simulation results showed that SAR values were between 1.6 and 2 W/g (10 g SAR) and were within the allowed range for medical applications. Additionally, the VSWR remained in an acceptable range from 1.15 to 2. Depending on the size and location of the tumor, the antenna return losses of the four models ranged from - 36 to - 18.5 dB. The effect of bending was tested to determine the flexibility. The antenna proved to be highly effective and capable of detecting small tumors with diameters of up to 2 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying deep learning (DL) for annotating surgical instruments in robot-assisted minimally invasive surgeries (MIS) represents a significant advancement in surgical technology. This systematic review examines 48 studies that utilize advanced DL methods and architectures. These sophisticated DL models have shown notable improvements in the precision and efficiency of detecting and segmenting surgical tools. The enhanced capabilities of these models support various clinical applications, including real-time intraoperative guidance, comprehensive postoperative evaluations, and objective assessments of surgical skills. By accurately identifying and segmenting surgical instruments in video data, DL models provide detailed feedback to surgeons, thereby improving surgical outcomes and reducing complication risks. Furthermore, the application of DL in surgical education is transformative. The review underscores the significant impact of DL on improving the accuracy of skill assessments and the overall quality of surgical training programs. However, implementing DL in surgical tool detection and segmentation faces challenges, such as the need for large, accurately annotated datasets to train these models effectively. The manual annotation process is labor-intensive and time-consuming, posing a significant bottleneck. Future research should focus on automating the detection and segmentation process and enhancing the robustness of DL models against environmental variations. Expanding the application of DL models across various surgical specialties will be essential to fully realize this technology's potential. Integrating DL with other emerging technologies, such as augmented reality (AR), also offers promising opportunities to further enhance the precision and efficacy of surgical procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Apixaban (APX) is a poorly soluble drug; hence, a micronized active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is widely used for manufacturing immediate-release (IR) tablets using the dry granulation method (DG). Melt granulation techniques (MGTS) are widely used for enhancing solubility by reducing the crystallinity and/or formation of in situ amorphous forms. The present investigation aims to manufacture APX IR tablets with non-micronized API by MGTS and compare the same with tablets using micronized API manufactured by DG. Methods: APX 5 mg tablets were manufactured with a nonmicronized API particle size of 195 μm (D90) by MGTS, such as hot melt granulation (HMG) and hot melt extrusion (HME). Slugging/deslugging was selected as a dry granulation method (DG) to manufacture the tablets using a micronized API with a particle size of 25 μm (D90). Drug‒polymer miscibility studies were performed, and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was found to be a suitable polymer for MGTS. Both lubricated blends and tablets were characterized using different orthogonal analytical techniques including multi-media dissolution studies. Results: All the quality attributes for the initial and stable samples were well within the specification limits. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) data of the reference (REF) and DG products showed the crystalline form of the API in the tablets, whereas the HMG and HME tablets showed an amorphous nature. In multimedia dissolution studies, all manufactured batches showed a dissolution efficacy of > 85% in 15 min and, hence dissolution profiles of DG batches were comparable with MGTS. Conclusion: These findings suggest that MGTS could be adopted for the manufacturing of APX IR tablets using a nonmicronized API. The results show that MGTS is an alternative manufacturing process for DG in the production of APX IR tablets, especially to formulate surfactant-free tablets manufactured with non-micronized API. MGTS provide dissolution similarity with reference product that was due formation of an amorphous form during the manufacturing process. Moreover, MGTS are continuous manufacturing processes, which provide a high degree of manufacturing flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevailing argument regarding the quality of life of migrant domestic workers focuses on their vulnerabilities and the high risks of abuse, which ultimately have a detrimental impact on their well-being. However, there is a lack of quantitative evidence to support this argument. Using randomly sampled data from a large-scale survey of migrant domestic workers in Abu Dhabi, this study conducted hierarchical multiple regression to test for the direct effects of various predictors of life satisfaction of domestic workers. The results revealed a high level of life satisfaction among female migrant domestic workers, which was associated with emotional well-being, mental health, community identity, social support, awareness of local culture, and region of residence, but not with job-related variables and social relations related variables. Implications and limitations of this study were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Granulation is the critical process for the pharmaceutical development of poorly water-soluble drug products. Poorly formulated products have challenges in dissolution and bioequivalence studies. Rivaroxaban (RXB) is a poorly soluble drug and has 66% fasting bioavailability at a high strength of 20 mg. Establishing the bioequivalence between test and reference products for high strength requires comparative dissolution profiles and bioequivalence. Improper granulation products and the rest of the batches failed in virtual bioequivalence. The present study provided insight into the optimization of the wet granulation process for manufacturing RXB generic immediate-release tablets using PBPK modeling and simulations. Furthermore, PBPK models are not only useful for formulation optimization but also for process optimization during pharmaceutical product development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we propose a framework that enhances breast cancer classification accuracy by preserving spatial features and leveraging in situ cooling support. The framework utilizes real-time thermography video streaming for early breast cancer detection using Deep Learning models. Inception v3, Inception v4, and a modified Inception Mv4 were developed using MATLAB 2019. However, the thermal camera was connected to a mobile phone to capture images of the breast area for classification of normal and abnormal breast. This study's training dataset included 1000 thermal images, where a FLIR One Pro thermal camera connected to a mobile device was used for the imaging process. Of the 1000 images obtained, 700 images were considered for the normal breast thermography class while the 300 images were suitable for the abnormal class. We evaluate Deep Convolutional Neural Network models, such as Inception v3, Inception v4, and a modified Inception Mv4. Our results demonstrate that Inception Mv4, with real-time video streaming, efficiently detects even the slightest temperature contrast in breast tissue sequences achieving a 99.748% accuracy in comparison to a 99.712% and 96.8% for Inception v4 and v3, respectively. The use of in situ cooling gel further enhances image acquisition efficiency and detection accuracy. Interestingly, increasing the tumor surface temperature by 0.1% leads to an average 7% improvement in detection and classification accuracy. Our findings support the effectiveness of Inception Mv4 for real-time breast cancer detection, especially when combined with in situ cooling gel and varying tumor temperatures. In conclusion, future research directions should focus on incorporating thermal video clips into the thermal images database, utilizing high-quality thermal cameras, and exploring alternative Deep Learning models for improved breast cancer detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seaweeds are regarded as one of the greatest sources of biologically active substances with potent biological activities among the innumerable marine organisms. It finds numerous industrial applications in areas such as food and dairy, pharmaceuticals, medicine, cosmeceuticals, and nutraceuticals because it is a significant source of bioactive ingredients. It has been reported that the brown seaweed Padina boergesenii, also known as the leafy rolled-blade alga, has anti-venom activity against the Naja nigricollis. However, it is still unclear how these actions are prompted by it. Using in vitro and in vivo animal models, the current work seeks to evaluate the mechanistic anti-venom activity of Padina boergesenii methanolic extract (PBME) against Naja naja (N. naja) venom. The total antioxidant activity, deoxyribose radical scavenging activity, DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazylhydrate), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay were used to measure the in vitro antioxidant activity. In vivo (venom neutralization, suppression of hemorrhagic, necrotic, myotoxic, and paw edema) and in vitro (inhibiting phospholipase A2 and procoagulant effects) anti-venom properties of PBME were studied against N. naja venoms. In every anti-oxidant test, the extracts demonstrated potency. Naja naja venom's median lethal dose was 0.5943 mg/kg of body weight. The N. naja venom–induced phospholipase A2, hemorrhagic, necrotic, myotoxic, and paw edema in mice were all considerably reduced by PBME. Animals exposed to PBME substantially and dose-dependently neutralized the N. naja venom by various mechanisms. Therefore, additional research into PBME's anti-venom characteristics as a neutralizing agent for snake venoms is a possibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine sediments are an important part of the marine environment and the world's greatest organic carbon source. Sediment microorganisms are important regulators of major geochemical and eco-environmental processes in marine environments, especially nutrient dynamics and biogeochemical cycles. Despite their importance, core marine microorganisms are virtually unknown due to a lack of consensus on how to identify them. Most core microbiotas have been characterized thus far based on species abundance and occurrence. The combined effects of habitat and depth on benthic bacterial communities and ecological functions were studied using "Next-Generation sequencing (NGS) and Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt) predictive functional profiling" at the surface (0.2 cm) and bottom depth (250 cm) in a sediment core sample from Cochin Estuary, Kerala, India. The results showed that bacterial diversity and richness were significantly higher in the surface sediment sample with the most abundant phyla being Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Bacteroidetes. The major metabolic functions were metabolism, followed by environmental information processing and genetic information processing. Antibiotic resistance genes between the surface and bottom samples help to understand the resistance pattern among multidrug resistance is the most prominent one. Among viruses, Siphoviridae is the dominant family, followed by Myoviridae. In the case of Archea, Crenarchaeota is dominant, whereas among eukaryotes phyla Streptophyta and Chordata were dominant in the surface and the bottom samples respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance measurements which characterize digital image steganography techniques include payload capacity, stego image quality, and security (secret message detectability). Increasing payload capacity leads to diminishing both stego image quality and security. Conversely, a high stego image quality and a high security cannot be obtained without compromising payload capacity. It has become essential but increasingly challenging to achieve a balance between these image steganography requirements. The direction of recent contributions in the area of image steganography can be classified into two different approaches. The first approach is the development of techniques based on embedding efficiency in which the secret message hides while minimizing the embedding distortion in the cover image. The second approach is the development of techniques based on distortion function related to statistical detectability in which the secret message conceals in certain parts of the cover image determined by the defined distortion function such as textured or noisy regions. This study aims to provide the insight for the researchers about future works and pave away for them to design efficient steganography techniques. It practically analyzes and investigates which of the two approaches can attain all the requirements of image steganography simultaneously. Comprehensive experiments have been conducted on a large-scale benchmark dataset which demonstrate that increasing the embedding efficiency reflects on increasing stego image quality as well as security without compromising payload capacity. The experimental findings reveal that the virtual designed steganography technique, LSB_EE_20, achieved the optimum results, with an embedding efficiency of 20, a PRNR of 62, and a message detectability of 0.11%. Consequently, this paper recommends that the researchers in this area concentrate on developing embedding techniques in which the embedding efficiency increases rather than focusing on distortion function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Biologic therapies are licensed for both psoriasis (PsO) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) with some electronic medical record data suggest that IL (Interleukin)-23 blockers might be more protective in PsA prevention than TNF blockers; however, the findings have been inconsistent. Higher Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores have also been linked to an increased PsA risk. To clarify these unresolved issues we investigated biologic agents, methotrexate, phototherapy, and topical therapy for PsA prevention in patients with psoriasis. Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed data from 58,671 patients with psoriasis from the Israeli Meuhedet Health Services Organization database was evaluated for incident PsA. Patients were categorized on the basis of treatment: group 1, topical therapy; group 2, phototherapy; group 3, conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (cDMARDs; methotrexate); group 4, biologic DMARDs which was also stratified according to biologic class. Results: The PsA incidence rate was lower in the biologic agents' group versus the methotrexate group (HR 0.46 [95% CI 0.35–0.62]). The incidence rates per 100 person-years varied across biologic treatment groups, with the anti‑IL‑12/23 or anti‑IL‑23p19 group at 4.57, the anti-IL-17 group at 4.35, and the TNF inhibitor group at 2.55. No differences were found between various biological agents in terms of preventing PsA. The phototherapy group exhibited a higher PsA development rate than the topical therapy group (HR 1.85 [95% CI 1.65–2.07]). Conclusion: Biological agents are more effective than methotrexate in reducing incident PsA in patients with psoriasis. This lower rate of PsA on topical therapy compared to phototherapy supports the importance of psoriasis severity as a risk factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virotherapy treatment is a new and promising target therapy that selectively attacks cancer cells without harming normal cells. Mathematical models of oncolytic viruses have shown predator–prey like oscillatory patterns as result of an underlying Hopf bifurcation. In a spatial context, these oscillations can lead to different spatio-temporal phenomena such as hollow-ring patterns, target patterns, and dispersed patterns. In this paper we continue the systematic analysis of these spatial oscillations and discuss their relevance in the clinical context. We consider a bifurcation analysis of a spatially explicit reaction-diffusion model to find the above mentioned spatio-temporal virus infection patterns. The desired pattern for tumor eradication is the hollow ring pattern and we find exact conditions for its occurrence. Moreover, we derive the minimal speed of travelling invasion waves for the cancer and for the oncolytic virus. Our numerical simulations in 2-D reveal complex spatial interactions of the virus infection and a new phenomenon of a periodic peak splitting. An effect that we cannot explain with our current methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the aerodynamic performance of a system of multiple vehicles (three) propelled by an electric fan/compressor system in a closed low-pressure environment. The study was conducted on a 2-D axisymmetric model of multiple vehicles traveling at the same cruising speed inside a tube. The flow field was computed using the unsteady RANS model. The results demonstrate a significant improvement in aerodynamic performance when using a multiple-vehicle system equipped with an air-breathing electrical engine. The combined use of multiple-vehicle and the air-breathing propulsion system eliminated the piston effect at low Mach numbers and reduced transonic range effects at higher Mach numbers. Consequently, a considerable enhancement in aerodynamic performance over the single-vehicle model was attained. A minimum of 11% and a maximum of 57% reduction of further in average system drag was achieved for M = 0.3 and 0.7, respectively. An increase in thrust was also observed in the multiple-vehicle system over the single-vehicle system. The results of the study demonstrated the advantage of using an air-breathing multiple-vehicle system as an efficient and environmentally friendly high-speed transportation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To analyze the radiological features of the lacrimal gland (LG) and extraocular muscle (EOM) in thyroid eye disease (TED) patients with severe subjective dry eye disease (DED) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, mechanical ocular exposure, dry eye assessment and MRI data were collected. Patients were classified into non-severe subjective DED group with ocular surface disease index (OSDI) < 33 and severe subjective DED group with OSDI ≥ 33. Linear regression model was applied for comparing the OSDI < 33 and OSDI ≥ 33 group in TED patients. The predictive performance of MRI parameters and models was assessed by receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis. Results: Consecutive 88 TED patients (176 eyes) were included in this study. In the OSDI < 33 group, 52 TED patients (104 eyes) with a mean clinical activity score (CAS) of 0.63 ± 0.75. In the OSDI ≥ 33 group, there are 36 TED patients (72 eyes), with a mean CAS of 1.50 ± 1.54. The age and sex of the patients were matched between the two groups. The OSDI ≥ 33 group had shorter tear break-up time, larger levator palpebrae superioris / superior rectus (LPS/SR), inferior rectus and lateral rectus, smaller LG, more inflammatory LPS/SR and inferior rectus than OSDI < 33 DED group (P < 0.05). In the linear regression analysis, compare to the OSDI < 33 DED group, the OSDI ≥ 33 group had larger medial rectus cross-sectional area (β = 0.06, 95%CI: (0.02, 0.10), P = 0.008), larger inferior rectus cross-sectional area (β = 0.06, 95%CI: (0.00, 0.12), P = 0.048), smaller LG cross-sectional area (β = -0.14, 95%CI: (-0.25, -0.04), P = 0.008). In the ROC analysis, the area under curve of medial rectus, inferior rectus, LG, and combined model are 0.625, 0.640, 0.661 and 0.716, respectively. Conclusion: Multiparametric MRI parameters of the LG and EOM in TED patients with severe subjective DED were significantly altered. Novel models combining the cross-sectional area of LG, medial rectus and inferior rectus showed good predictive performance in TED patients with severe subjective DED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the rapidly changing climate of arid desert regions, evaluating the comprehensive characteristics of humidity levels is crucial for agricultural, urban, and infrastructural planning, as well as for minimizing potential public health impacts. We investigated variability and trends of humidity levels in major Saudi Arabian cities during 1982–2022, focusing on the influence of meteorological factors such as average, maximum and minimum temperature, rainfall, and windspeed. Employing the Probability Density Function and descriptive statistics, variability of climatic factors was analyzed. The Mann–Kendall Test (MKT) and Innovative Trend Analysis (ITA) were employed to identify monthly and annual trends. The magnitude and changing patterns were determined by calculating Sen's Slope and ITA slope. Findings of the MKT and ITA showed similar trends in humidity levels across all the cities. ITA result revealed that humidity in Riyadh and Taif decreased at a rate of 0.012% and 0.016% per year, respectively, while increased in Jeddah, Makkah, and Madinah at a 0.05 confidence level. The influence of climatic factors on humidity was assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficients, multiple regression model, and wavelet transform coherence (WTC) for each city, pinpointing temperature as the key driver of humidity variability. The dominance of temperature features was corroborated by strong power spectrums in the WTC across various time periods and scales. The in-depth analysis of humidity dynamics in this study provides critical insights for the development of climate-resilient infrastructure and formulation of public health strategies in Saudi Arabian cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of the Review: Contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI) remains a significant concern in diagnostic and invasive procedures, particularly in the context of iodinated contrast material administration. The traditional definition of CA-AKI, based on serum creatinine elevation following contrast exposure, may not accurately capture its multifactorial nature. Recent Findings: Studies have provided new insights into the differential incidence of CA-AKI between intravenous and intraarterial contrast administration, emphasizing the importance of tailored preventative strategies for high-risk procedures. This higher risk may arise from two proposed mechanisms: one implicating free radical formation leading to cytotoxicity and apoptosis in renal cells and another suggesting that contrast media alter renal hemodynamics, particularly in the outer medulla, by constricting the vasa recta and reducing medullary flow. Advances in technology and patient care, including contemporary use of low-osmolar contrast agents and hydration protocols, mitigate CA-AKI risk. Summary: Diagnostic and invasive procedures should not be avoided solely due to concerns about renal dysfunction if the patient is likely to benefit clinically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinopodium menthifolium (wood calamint) is a folkloric medicinal plant ingested as a treatment for many human disorders including gastric disorders. Our study evaluates the anti-ulcer potentials of Clinopodium menthifolium ethanol extracts (CMEE) in induced gastric ulcers in rats. Thirty Dawley male rats were divided into 5 groups: normal and ulcer controls, treated orally with Tween 20%; reference rats treated with Omeprazole 20 mg/kg, and the remaining two groups received 250 and 500 mg/kg CMEE for 2 weeks. After that, food was taken away for 24 h, and then, rats received ethanol-induced gastric ulceration (except normal control), 80% (1 ml/rat). After anesthetization and sacrificing, the ulcer index, mucus content, and other ulcer measurements were obtained from dissected rat stomachs. Stomach tissues were also analyzed by different histology procedures and homogenized stomach tissues were assessed for their antioxidant contents. The toxicity trial showed the absence of any toxic signs in rats supplemented with 2 and 5 g/kg of CMEE. The gastroprotective results showed a significantly lower ulcer index and higher gastric mucin content in CMEE-ingested rats compared to ulcer controls. Furthermore, CMEE treatments significantly increased the intensity of periodic acid Schiff stained (PAS), HSP 70 protein, and down-regulation of Bax protein expression in the stomach epithelium. Rats supplemented with 500 mg/kg revealed noticeable changes in their serum inflammatory cytokines along with positive regulations of antioxidant enzymes. The outcomes provide a scientific backup behind the gastroprotective potential effect of CMEE that could serve as a natural resource against peptic ulcers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) data for the chronic heart failure (HF) population in Malaysia are lacking. Using EQ-5D-5L, this study intended to describe their HRQoL, identify predictors of worse HRQoL, and derive EQ-5D-5L index scores for use in economic evaluations. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between April and September 2023 to collect EQ-5D-5L, sociodemographic, and clinical data from outpatients with HF across seven public specialist hospitals in Malaysia. Multivariable logistic and linear regression models were used to identify independent predictors of reported problems in the EQ-5D-5L dimensions, and predictors of index scores and EQ-VAS, respectively. Results: EQ-5D-5L data from 424 outpatients of multi-ethnic background (mean age: 57.1 years, 23.8% female, mean left ventricular ejection fraction: 35.7%, 89.7% NYHA class I-II) were collected using either Malay, English, or Chinese, achieving a 99.8% completion rate. Nearly half of the respondents reported issues in the Mobility, Usual Activities, and Pain/Discomfort dimensions. Mean EQ-5D-5L index was 0.820, lower than the general population, and significantly lower with NYHA class III-IV (0.747) versus NYHA class I (0.846) and NYHA class II (0.805). Besides NYHA class, independent predictors of worse HRQoL included Indian ethnicity, living alone, lower education, unemployment due to ill-health, and proxy-reported HRQoL, largely aligning with existing literature. Conclusion: Community-dwelling Malaysians with HF reported poorer HRQoL compared to the general population. The observed disparities in HRQoL among HF patients may be linked to specific patient characteristics, suggesting potential areas for targeted interventions. HRQoL assessment using EQ-5D-5L proves feasible and should be considered for routine implementation in local clinics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung images often have the characteristics of strong noise, uneven grayscale distribution, and complex pathological structures, which makes lung image segmentation a challenging task. To solve this problems, this paper proposes an initial lung mask extraction algorithm that combines threshold and gradient. The gradient used in the algorithm is obtained by the time series feature extraction method based on differential memory (TFDM), which is obtained by the grayscale threshold and image grayscale features. At the same time, we also proposed a lung contour repair algorithm based on the improved convex hull method to solve the contour loss caused by solid nodules and other lesions. Experimental results show that on the COVID-19 CT segmentation dataset, the advanced lung segmentation algorithm proposed in this article achieves better segmentation results and greatly improves the consistency and accuracy of lung segmentation. Our method can obtain more lung information, resulting in ideal segmentation effects with improved accuracy and robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to translate and culturally adapt the Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL)-6D into Malay (Malay-AQoL-6D), and assesses the instrument's acceptability, reliability, and validity among Malaysians living with chronic heart failure (HF). Methods: The translation and cross-cultural adaptation process adhered to international guidelines. The Malay-AQoL-6D underwent content and face validity assessments via expert review, and pretesting among healthy individuals and patients with chronic conditions. Subsequent psychometric validation utilised clinico-sociodemographic data and paired AQoL-6D and EQ-5D-5L data from a health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) survey involving Malay-speaking patients with HF, which encompassed assessments of Malay-AQoL-6D acceptability, internal consistency and test-retest reliability, as well as its construct, concurrent, convergent and divergent, and known-group validity. Results: The Malay-AQoL-6D was deemed acceptable among clinicians and local patients, achieving a 90.8% completion rate among 314 patients surveyed. The instrument demonstrated strong content validity (item-level content validity index [CVI]: 0.83–1.00, average CVI: 0.98), internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.72–0.89; MacDonald's omega: 0.82–0.90, excluding the Senses dimension), and test-retest reliability (average intraclass correlation coefficients: 0.79–0.95). Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the instrument's two-level, six-factor structure (Satorra-Bentler [SB]-scaled χ2(df: 164): 283.67, p-value < 0.001; root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA]: 0.051; comparative fix index [CFI]: 0.945, Tucker-Lewis index [TLI]: 0.937; standardised root mean-squared error [SRMR]: 0.058). The Malay-AQoL-6D's concurrent validity was evident through its good agreement with EQ-5D-5L. Multiple hypothesis tests further affirmed its construct and known-group validity. The Malay-AQoL-6D's psychometric properties remained consistent across different missing data techniques. Conclusion: The findings suggest that Malay-AQoL-6D could be a culturally acceptable, reliable, and valid HRQoL measure for quantifying HRQoL among the local HF population. Future studies are necessary to further validate the instrument against other measures and confirm the instrument's test-retest reliability and responsiveness, which are possible with the availability of the Malay-AQoL-6D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advancements in cloud computing, flying ad-hoc networks, wireless sensor networks, artificial intelligence, big data, 5th generation mobile network and internet of things have led to the development of smart cities. Owing to their massive interconnectedness, high volumes of data are collected and exchanged over the public internet. Therefore, the exchanged messages are susceptible to numerous security and privacy threats across these open public channels. Although many security techniques have been designed to address this issue, most of them are still vulnerable to attacks while some deploy computationally extensive cryptographic operations such as bilinear pairings and blockchain. In this paper, we leverage on biometrics, error correction codes and fuzzy commitment schemes to develop a secure and energy efficient authentication scheme for the smart cities. This is informed by the fact that biometric data is cumbersome to reproduce and hence attacks such as side-channeling are thwarted. We formally analyze the security of our protocol using the Burrows–Abadi–Needham logic logic, which shows that our scheme achieves strong mutual authentication among the communicating entities. The semantic analysis of our protocol shows that it mitigates attacks such as de-synchronization, eavesdropping, session hijacking, forgery and side-channeling. In addition, its formal security analysis demonstrates that it is secure under the Canetti and Krawczyk attack model. In terms of performance, our scheme is shown to reduce the computation overheads by 20.7% and hence is the most efficient among the state-of-the-art protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Gamma Knife radiosurgery as a treatment modality for pediatric cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) by assessing mortality rates, the rate of complete AVM obliteration, and the incidence of complications while exploring potential risk factors. A comprehensive search was conducted through multiple databases to identify relevant studies, including randomized controlled trials and observational studies. The studies were assessed for risk of bias using the ROBINS-I tool and methodological quality with the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Data on mortality, AVM obliteration rates, and complications were systematically extracted. Pooled rate analysis was performed to assess outcomes, and heterogeneity was evaluated. The analysis included 21 studies involving 2142 pediatric patients with cerebral AVMs. A low mortality rate of 0.75% (95% CI 0.09% to 2.71%) and a high rate of complete obliteration of AVMs was observed, with a rate of 71.64% (95% CI 65.716% to 77.211%). Complications, including new neurological deficits, post-radiosurgery intracranial hemorrhage, and other complications (such as seizures and radiation-related issues), were relatively low, with rates of 2.57%, 2.463%, and 4.784%, respectively. Gamma Knife radiosurgery demonstrates its potential as a safe and effective treatment option for pediatric cerebral AVMs. The low mortality rate and high rate of AVM obliteration suggest that this approach offers significant benefits. While some complications were observed, they were generally non-severe. However, further high-quality studies with extended follow-up periods are needed to better understand long-term efficacy and safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization is a complex phenomenon that has a profound impact on natural resources, economies, climate dynamics, and community structures. This study sets out to analyze the effects of urban sprawl on key urban regions in Bangladesh, covering urban, suburban, and rural landscapes. We used Landsat images from 1992 to 2022, processed and classified using the Google Earth Engine and Random Forest algorithm. Spatial metrics, Tupu method, ANOVA, and spatial regression models helped us quantify and explain land cover changes, their drivers, and consequences. Our findings show that the total built-up area in the five districts expanded from 1,200 km2 in 1992 to 2,800 km2 in 2022, with an overall yearly expansion rate of 3.5%. Meanwhile, vegetation cover declined from 2,500 km2 in 1992 to 1,500 km2 in 2022, with an average yearly loss rate of 2.5%. We identified population growth, economic development, and infrastructure expansion as the main drivers of urbanization, while land degradation, air and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity were the main consequences. Urbanization also had a significant impact on environmental functions, including carbon sequestration, water flow control, and urban heat mitigation, with varying effects across different urban areas and land use types. For instance, we found that carbon storage capacity decreased by 20% in urban areas, while it increased by 10% in rural areas. Our research highlights the crucial role of preserving and enhancing green spaces, including vegetation cover and water bodies, to mitigate urban heat and promote urban resilience. The findings underscore the need for sustainable urbanization, balancing economic growth with environmental protection and climate resilience, using geospatial and remote sensing techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A reliable and efficient RSM with BBD was established to speedily analyze empagliflozin in wastewater and pharmaceutical formulation samples using HPLC. The Taguchi method was initially applied to determine the critical parameters among all selected variables and was then optimized with BBD. This development has numerous advantages, such as minimum organic solvent usage, short analysis times, and small sample volume with lesser waste generation. The chromatographic separation was accomplished with BDS Hypersil C18 (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 µm) as stationary phase using buffer: methanol (92.4:7.6, v/v) with a flow rate of 0.89 mL/min and detected at 240 nm. The calibration plot was linear between 2.5 and 20.0 μg/mL with LOD and LOQ values of 0.83 μg/mL and 2.52 μg/mL, respectively. The developed HPLC method was a superior technique linked with green chemistry based on the penalty points or analytical eco-scale score, which enhanced the method's reliability. The isolates were analyzed using FTIR spectroscopy, and the observed spectrum is comparable to the simulated spectrum obtained at the B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level of theory. In addition, molecular structure, UV–visible spectral, electronic properties and molecular electrostatic potential of EMP were examined, and the findings will be useful for further research on EMP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulation based training methods are gaining popularity as they could provide a platform for practitioners to gain hands-on experience without causing ethical issues. By combining augmented reality (AR) and haptics, a training method for percutaneous liver biopsy (PLB) could be developed providing realistic scenarios, and real-time visualization of the human anatomy and needle. Additionally, it could also provide real-time feedback to the practitioner. In this review, we describe the conventional PLB procedure, then discuss AR technology and its application in the field of medicine for image-guided therapies, especially, hepatic biopsy. Next, we summarize the associated devices, models and methods illustrating a few haptic simulators devised for training and gesture assessment. Lastly, we present a few potential approaches to integrate AR and haptic interaction to develop a PLB training simulator by accounting the existing challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, a comprehensive assessment of the relationship between ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) indicators and cataract risk is lacking. Life's Essential 8 (LE8) is the latest concept proposed by the American Heart Association to comprehensively reflect CVH status. LE8 includes four health behaviors (diet, physical activity, smoking, and sleep) and four health factors (blood lipid, blood sugar, blood pressure, and body mass index). This study tried to evaluate the association between LE8 and cataract using data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005–2008, a continuous research program which aims to monitor and evaluate the health and nutrition status of the US population. A cross-sectional study of 2720 non-cataract participants and 602 cataract participants. All participants were assigned to the poor, intermediate, and ideal CVH status groups based on LE8 score. Weighted multiple logistic regression was used to investigate the correlation between the LE8 score and cataract, as well as the correlation between each of the eight subitems and cataract, with potential confounding variables being adjusted. Then, restricted cubic spline analysis was used to further explore whether there was a nonlinear relationship between LE8 score and cataract. The proportion of cataract participants was 14.1%, 18.2%, and 20.6% in the ideal, intermediate, and poor CVH groups, respectively (P < 0.05). LE8 score was inversely associated with cataract risk, with each 10-point increase in LE8 score associated with a 14% reduction in cataract risk [odds ratio (OR) = 0.86, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.79–0.93, P < 0.01]. Among all the LE8 subitems, physical activity, sleep, and blood glucose were significantly associated with cataract risk (all P < 0.05). Better CVH, defined by a higher LE8 score, is associated with a lower cataract risk. Efforts to improve LE8 score (especially when it comes to physical activity, sleep, and blood glucose) may serve as a novel strategy to help reduce the risk of cataract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a serious threat to public health on a worldwide scale and has made it extremely difficult to effectively control connected infectious diseases. Due to rapid spread of antibacterial resistance among bacteria, it has become necessary to unveil alternative therapies and medications to combat AMR as commercially available antibiotics are becoming less effective. Recently, nanotechnology has become a fast expanding field with several applications in biomedical sciences. Simultaneously, silver has gained popularity as a comparatively safe antibacterial substance and disinfectant. A wide range of antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral activities are exhibited by silver nanoparticles. In this current study, Clerodendrum glandulosum leaf extract was used for a simple, economical, and environmentally friendly production of biofunctionalized silver nanoparticles for evaluation of antibacterial efficacy. UV–visible spectroscopy confirmed the synthesis of silver nanoparticles giving absorption maxima at 450 nm due to surface plasmon resonance. From the scanning electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering, the average size of the particles was determined to be 150–200 nm. Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis was used to confirm the elemental composition of the biofunctionalized silver nanoparticles. The X-ray diffraction pattern and the Fourier transform infrared spectrogram have confirmed the crystalline nature and successful biofabrication of silver nanoparticles. The MBC values of the silver nanoparticles have been reported to be in the range of 10–20 µg/ml for a fixed population of bacteria, which is significant when compared to the MBC values of gentamicin against the same four strains. Therefore, biofunctionalization of phytoconstituents on nanosurface might improve silver nanoparticles' antibacterial activity as well as their biocompatibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thyroid hormone (T3) plays a vital role in brain development and its dysregulation can impact behavior, nervous system function, and cognitive development. Large case-cohort studies have associated abnormal maternal T3 during early pregnancy to epilepsy, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. Recent experimental findings have also shown T3's influence on the fate of neural precursor cells and raise the question of its convergence with embryonic neural progenitors. Our objective was to investigate how T3 treatment affects neuronal development and functionality at the cellular level. In vitro experiments using neural precursor cells (NPCs) measured cell growth and numbers after exposure to varying T3 concentrations. Time points included week 0 (W0) representing NPCs treated with 100 nM T3 for 5 days, and differentiated cortical neurons assessed at weeks 3 (W3), 6 (W6), and 8 (W8). Techniques such as single-cell calcium imaging and whole-cell patch clamp were utilized to evaluate neuronal activity and function. IHC staining detected mature neuron markers, and RNA sequencing enabled molecular profiling. W6 and W8 neurons exhibited higher action potential frequencies, with W6 showing increased peak amplitudes and shortened inter-spike intervals by 50%, indicating enhanced activity. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that W6 T3-treated neurons formed a distinct cluster, suggesting accelerated maturation. Comparison with the whole transcriptome further unveiled a correlation between W6 neurons treated with T3 and neuronal regulatory elements associated with autism and ADHD. These findings provide insights into T3's impact on neuronal development and potential mechanisms of T3 dysregulation and neurodevelopmental disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue fever is an intense feverish virus related disease dispatched with the nibble of Aedes mosquitoes carrying one of the four serotypes, which are symbolized as DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, DEN-4. Almost fifty two percent people of our planet is at risk due to the dengue fever. Particularly, people of the tropical and subtropical countries as like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia, etc. are in very risky position due to this fever. In Bangladesh, dengue fever happens nationally and has been endemic for more than two decades. Therefore, for realizing the dynamical conduct of this fever a perfect scientific model of disease transmission plays a noteworthy role and help us to prevent this disease effectively. From this context, in this article a novel six compartmental ASIR dengue transmission model have been established by using conformable fractional order derivatives. In the proposed model, the dynamics of human and mosquito populations have been constructed with six compartments. Here, the analytical stability of equilibria has been shown by disease free and endemic equilibrium points. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis of the proposed model has been executed to evaluate the comparative rank of the model parameters for dengue transmission. The data of infected human population has been accumulated from different health institutions of Bangladesh which have been used to compute the infection rate of dengue cases in Bangladesh. Finally, a numerical simulation has been constructed for studying the dynamical behavior of dengue transmission with the help of Conformable fractional differential transformation technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Diagnostic criteria for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) have been proposed but not yet validated. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of the MASLD definition with the existing criteria for metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) in identifying patients with significant fibrosis. Methods: The analysis included a total of 8317 individuals who had complete biochemical and liver ultrasonography data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2017–2020). In this study, significant fibrosis (≥ F2) was determined by a median liver stiffness of ≥ 8.0 kPa. To identify independent factors associated with significant fibrosis, multivariable logistic regression analyses were applied. Results: MAFLD (OR 3.44; 95% CI 2.88–4.12; P < 0.0001) has a trend for stronger and independent association with significant fibrosis compared to MASLD (OR 2.63; 95% CI 2.22–3.11; P < 0.0001). Non-MASLD MAFLD is independently associated with a 14.28-fold higher odds of significant fibrosis compared to non-MAFLD MASLD. The sensitivity for detecting significant fibrosis for MAFLD and MASLD was 76.23% vs 69.94%, respectively. The performance of MAFLD remains consistent in a sub-analysis of patients with no or mild alcohol intake. Conclusions: The definition of MAFLD provides a more precise identification of individuals who have both fatty liver and significant fibrosis, assessed by non-invasive tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boric acid (BA) is a naturally occurring weak Lewis acid containing boron, oxygen, and hydrogen elements that can be found in water, soil, and plants. Because of its numerous biological potentials including anti-proliferation actions, the present investigates the chemopreventive possessions of BA on azoxymethane (AOM)-induced colonic aberrant crypt foci (ACF) in rats. Thirty laboratory rats were divided into 5 groups: negative control (A) received two subcutaneous inoculations of normal saline and nourished on 10% Tween 20; groups B–E had two injections of 15 mg/kg azoxymethane followed by ingestion of 10% Tween 20 (B, cancer control), inoculation with intraperitoneal 35 mg/kg 5-fluorouracil injection (C, reference group), or ingested with boric acid 30 mg/kg (D) and 60 mg/kg (E). The gross morphology results showed significantly increased total colonic ACF in cancer controls, while BA treatment caused a significant reduction of ACF values. Histopathological evaluation of colons from cancer controls showed bizarrely elongated nuclei, stratified cells, and higher depletion of the submucosal glands than that of BA-treated groups. Boric acid treatment up-surged the pro-apoptotic (Bax) expression and reduced anti-apoptotic (Bcl-2) protein expressions. Moreover, BA ingestion caused upregulation of antioxidant enzymes (GPx, SOD, CAT), and lowered MDA contents in colon tissue homogenates. Boric acid–treated rats had significantly lower pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6) and higher anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10) based on serum analysis. The colorectal cancer attenuation by BA is shown by the reduced ACF numbers, anticipated by its regulatory potentials on the apoptotic proteins, antioxidants, and inflammatory cytokines originating from AOM-induced oxidative damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systematic review/meta-analysis of cumulative incidences of venous thromboembolic events (VTE) after metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS). Electronic databases were searched for original studies. Proportional meta-analysis assessed cumulative VTE incidences. (PROSPERO ID:CRD42020184529). A total of 3066 records, and 87 studies were included (N patients = 4,991,683). Pooled in-hospital VTE of mainly laparoscopic studies = 0.15% (95% CI = 0.13–0.18%); pooled cumulative incidence increased to 0.50% (95% CI = 0.33–0.70%); 0.51% (95% CI = 0.38–0.65%); 0.72% (95% CI = 0.13–1.52%); 0.78% (95% CI = 0–3.49%) at 30 days and 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively. Studies using predominantly open approach exhibited higher incidence than laparoscopic studies. Within the first month, 60% of VTE occurred after discharge. North American and earlier studies had higher incidence than non-North American and more recent studies. This study is the first to generate detailed estimates of the incidence and patterns of VTE after MBS over time. The incidence of VTE after MBS is low. Improved estimates and time variations of VTE require longer-term designs, non-aggregated reporting of characteristics, and must consider many factors and the use of data registries. Extended surveillance of VTE after MBS is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]