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Aims: Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) is a potentially fatal multisystemic disease that remains significantly underdiagnosed, particularly in the Middle East. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence and clinical characteristics of CA in a high‐risk population at a tertiary centre in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This cross‐sectional, retrospective, single‐centre study was conducted at a tertiary hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We reviewed the medical records of heart failure patients seen between August 2018 and July 2022 who exhibited red flags for CA and subsequently underwent CA screening. Red flags that prompted the workup included at least two of the following factors: the presence of unilateral or bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, a family history of transthyretin amyloid (ATTR) amyloidosis and specific electrocardiographic features (relative/absolute low QRS voltage, pseudoinfarct pattern and atrioventricular/interventricular conduction abnormalities). Echocardiographic red flags included mainly increased wall thickness (≥12 mm), significant diastolic dysfunction, reduced left ventricular (LV) longitudinal function, right ventricular (RV) dysfunction and elevated right atrial (RA)/pulmonary artery (PA) pressure. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) red flags included aspects similar to those in an echocardiogram as well as a subendocardial or transmural late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) pattern. These patients were assessed for CA through technetium‐99m pyrophosphate ([99mTc]Tc‐PYP) bone scintigraphy, serum and urine protein electrophoresis with immunofixation and a serum‐free light chain assay. Results: A total of 177 patients were screened, of which 21.0 (11.9%) patients were diagnosed with transthyretin amyloid CA (ATTR‐CA) and 13 (7.3%) patients were diagnosed with light chain CA (AL‐CA). Compared with patients with negative/equivocal [99mTc]Tc‐PYP scans (grades 0–1), patients with positive [99mTc]Tc‐PYP scans (grades 2–3) were older (78.0 vs. 68.0 years, P < 0.001), had higher levels of troponin (P = 0.003) and N‐terminal pro‐brain natriuretic peptide (NT‐proBNP) (P < 0.001), had a higher LV mass index (P < 0.001), displayed a more depressed global longitudinal strain (GLS) (P < 0.001) with a greater prevalence of a relative apical sparing pattern (P < 0.001) and demonstrated a higher incidence of first‐degree atrioventricular block (P = 0.008) and low voltage patterns on electrocardiography (P < 0.001). Patients with ATTR‐CA and AL‐CA were more likely to have a subendocardial or transmural LGE pattern on CMR (P < 0.001) and had a significantly lower overall survival (P < 0.001) when compared with other heart failure aetiologies. Conclusions: This is the first study to describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of CA in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia. The prevalence of CA among screened heart failure patients here aligns with major international studies, suggesting significant underdiagnosis in the region. Therefore, larger multicentric studies and regional screening programmes are urgently needed to accurately characterize the epidemiology and outcomes of CA in the Middle East. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Functionalities of proteins for the formulation of protein‐fortified products are crucial, impacting the use of protein from sustainable sources such as algae. Glycation (the initial step of the Maillard browning reaction) is a standout modification technique explored to improve the functions of the protein in the food matrices. In this study, Chlorella powder was conjugated with inulin using a wet glycation method. It is a quick, scalable and easy method for improving the functionality of food proteins. In this study, conjugation was performed for three different Chlorella to inulin molar ratios (S1:1, S3:1 and S5:1). The solution of each molar ratio was heated at 90°C for 30 min under alkaline state (9.0 pH). Characterisation was conducted employing OPA assay, browning intensity and FTIR spectroscopy techniques. The results suggested glycation achieved the highest for the Chlorella‐inulin ratio of 1:1. Glycation extent influenced the solubility of this conjugate significantly (P < 0.05) under an acidic medium. Other functional properties including hydration, moisture uptake, oil‐binding and emulsifying activity were also significantly (P < 0.05) enhanced compared to unmodified Chlorella powder. Chlorella conjugate with molar ratio 1:1 also displayed higher antioxidant properties suggesting glycation's role in improving Chlorella powder free radical scavenging capabilities (1.25‐fold increase) and reducing power (2.24‐fold increase). The total scavenging activity and total reducing power of S1:1 were 2.526 × 10−3 and 1.872 × 10−3 mg mL−1 mg−1(Trolox Eq.), respectively. The results provide an understanding of different functionalities for glycated conjugates promising utilisation in the food and beverage industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assessed the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) surveillance among individuals with HCV diagnosed with cirrhosis in British Columbia (BC), Canada. We used data from the British Columbia Hepatitis Testers Cohort (BC‐HTC), including all individuals in the province tested for or diagnosed with HCV from 1 January 1990 to 31 December 2015, to assess HCC surveillance. To analyse the impact of the pandemic on HCC surveillance, we used pre‐policy (January 2018 to February 2020) and post‐policy (March to December 2020) periods. We conducted interrupted time series (ITS) analysis using a segmented linear regression model and included first‐order autocorrelation terms. From January 2018 to December 2020, 6546 HCC screenings were performed among 3429 individuals with HCV and cirrhosis. The ITS model showed an immediate decrease in HCC screenings in March and April 2020, with an overall level change of −71 screenings [95% confidence interval (CI): −105.9, −18.9]. We observed a significant decrease in HCC surveillance among study participants, regardless of HCV treatment status and age group, with the sharpest decrease among untreated HCV patients. A recovery of HCC surveillance followed this decline, reflected in an increasing trend of 7.8 screenings (95% CI: 0.6, 13.5) per month during the post‐policy period. There was no level or trend change in the number of individuals diagnosed with HCC. We observed a sharp decline in HCC surveillance among people living with HCV and cirrhosis in BC following the COVID‐19 pandemic control measures. HCC screening returned to pre‐pandemic levels by mid‐2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct hydrazine fuel cells (DHFC) insist on the evolved and persistent electrocatalysts for anodic hydrazine oxidation reaction (HzOR). Herein, PdO promoted CuO heterostructures supported on γ‐Al2O3 are depicted as efficient electrocatalysts for HzOR. γ‐Al2O3 is prepared by precipitation method while metal precursors are incorporated by co‐impregnation technique. Physiochemically characterized PdO‐CuO/Al2O3 mesoporous composites displayed large electrochemical active surface area (ECSA) i. e., 0.18 cm2, high current density (j) i. e., 35.7 mA cm−2, larger diffusion coefficient (D°) i. e., 29.3×10−4 (cm2s−1), large apparent rate constant (kapp) i. e., 13.2 cm−1 with low charge transfer resistance (Rct) i. e., 3.6 kΩ shown by the best catalyst i. e., 1 % PdO‐CuO/Al2O3. Cyclic voltammetry indicated that the fabricated working electrodes offer high efficiency towards HzOR in alkaline medium in such a way that 1 % PdO‐CuO/Al2O3 produced 600 times higher oxidation current than CuO/Al2O3 composite. Owing to stability and reproducibility, PdO modified CuO/Al2O3 would achieve a huge catalytic significance in multiple electrochemical oxidation reactions with economic and ecological benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many international, national, state, and local organizations prioritize the ranking of threatened and endangered species to help direct conservation efforts. For example, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assesses the Green Status of species and publishes the influential Red List of threatened species. Unfortunately, such conservation yardsticks do not explicitly consider genetic or genomic diversity (GD), even though GD is positively associated with contemporary evolutionary fitness, individual viability, and with future evolutionary potential. To test whether populations of genome sequences could help improve conservation assessments, we estimated GD metrics from 82 publicly available mammalian datasets and examined their statistical association with attributes related to conservation. We also considered intrinsic biological factors, including trophic level and body mass, that could impact GD and quantified their relative influences. Our results identify key population GD metrics that are both reflective and predictive of IUCN conservation categories. Specifically, our analyses revealed that Watterson's theta (the population mutation rate) and autozygosity (a product of inbreeding) are associated with the current Red List categorization, likely because demographic declines that lead to "listing" decisions also reduce levels of standing genetic variation. We argue that by virtue of this relationship, conservation organizations like IUCN could leverage emerging genome sequence data to help categorize Red List threat rankings (especially in otherwise data‐deficient species) and/or enhance Green Status assessments to establish a baseline for future population monitoring. Thus, our paper (1) outlines the theoretical and empirical justification for a new GD‐based assessment criterion, (2) provides a bioinformatic pipeline for estimating GD from population genomic data, and (3) suggests an analytical framework that can be used to measure baseline GD while providing quantitative GD context for consideration by conservation authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the frequency and nature of adverse events related to type 2 biologic use in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP), including dupilumab and mepolizumab. Methods: This is a single‐institution retrospective study of real‐world patient data. Patients were included if they have a diagnosis of CRSwNP, have undergone at least one endoscopic sinus surgery, and have taken at least two doses of dupilumab or mepolizumab between January 1, 2016, and July 1, 2023. Data collected include clinicodemographic information and past medical/surgical history. The primary outcomes are the incidence and types of adverse events. Adjusted odds ratio was calculated to compare the biologics using logistic regression. Risk factors for developing adverse events were investigated. Results: Eighty‐seven patients on dupilumab and 51 patients on mepolizumab were included. Thirty‐nine (45%) and 10 (20%) patients respectively encountered adverse events, which differed from phase 3 trial data. The adjusted odds ratio for adverse event rates between these two treatment groups was 3.8 (95% CI, 1.5–10.5). The most common adverse events for dupilumab were arthralgia (16%), rash (14%), and conjunctivitis or xerophthalmia (10%). The main adverse events for mepolizumab were headache (6%) and fatigue (6%). Seven dupilumab and three mepolizumab patients discontinued therapy due to adverse events. The average duration of treatment was 22.5 (range: 1–77) months for mepolizumab and 15.9 (range: 1–35) months for dupilumab. Conclusion: Dupilumab and mepolizumab have distinct adverse event profiles. This study contributes to informing clinicians' decisions regarding the use of type 2 biologics in CRSwNP patients. Level of Evidence: 3 Laryngoscope, 134:3054–3059, 2024 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is the first attempt to explore the supercapacitor applications of Barium nickelate (BaNiO3) perovskite nanoparticles. The nanoparticles are synthesized using a simple combustion method and their morphology, elemental composition, and so forth are studied using standard characterization methods such as x‐ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and so forth. The nanoparticles were found to be hexagonal in shape, with an average particle size of 16 nm, and the elemental analysis confirms the successful synthesis of the BaNiO3 perovskite nanoparticles. For electrochemical studies, the electrodes are fabricated over a wearable and flexible conductive fabric (CF) substrate. A slurry paste of the synthesized BaNiO3 nanoparticles is applied over CF and dried overnight, thereby forming a thin film electrode. The fabricated electrode acts as a positive electrode with a high specific capacitance of 508.64 F g−1 at 2.2 A g−1 current density. Upon increasing the current density, the electrode maintains 60% of its specific capacitance and displays 97% cyclic stability over 5000 cycles. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) study indicates excellent conductivity of the electrode, with a bulk resistance of 3.2 Ohms. The electrochemical performance of the fabricated electrode is also compared with various previously reported works and the electrode displays higher specific capacitance and better cyclic stability. These findings suggest that the BaNiO3 perovskite nanoparticles‐based electrode holds promise for utilization as an anode material in supercapacitor applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatitis C core antigen (HCVcAg) is becoming increasingly recognized as an alternative to molecular testing for the confirmation of chronic hepatitis C. However, there are limited data on the performance of this assay in a genotype 3 (GT3) predominant country like Pakistan. We conducted a study to evaluate the diagnostic performance of HCVcAg against the HCV polymerase chain reaction (PCR) molecular test. HCV antibody‐positive patients requiring confirmatory testing were recruited from August to October 2018 at the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute and Research Center (PKLI&RC), Lahore, Pakistan. Patients with previously known diagnoses or treatment histories were excluded. The Abbott HCV Ag assay was used for HCVcAg testing. Results ≥3.00 fmol/L were considered positive for HCVcAg. The Abbott RealTime HCV assay was used for PCR testing with a lower detection limit of ≥12 IU/mL. We computed the sensitivity, specificity and correlation of HCVcAg against HCV PCR. A total of 394 patients were recruited. The median age of the patients was 42 years. Most participants were females (51.5%, n = 203), 30.7% (n = 121) had HTN, 10.4% DM (n = 41) and 5% had APRI ≥2. The overall sensitivity was 98.0% and the specificity was 98.6%. The lowest detection limit of cAg was an HCV RNA value of 4657 IU/mL. The levels of cAg were highly correlated with those of HCV RNA by Spearman's rank correlation test (r = 0.935, p <.001). HCVcAg represents a suitable alternative with high sensitivity and specificity compared with HCV PCR in the GT3‐predominant population and can be incorporated into algorithms to improve linkage to care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key Clinical Message: Palliative surgical resection of extra‐calvarial metastatic lesions from renal cell tumors is crucial for controlling metastatic spread, improving quality of life, and preventing associated morbidity. Careful surgical planning, including selective preoperative embolization and controlled resection around critical structures such as the sagittal sinus, is essential for successful outcomes. Cranioplasty with Titanium mesh and bone cement post‐resection can provide symptomatic relief, better cosmesis, and overall improved quality of life. Renal cell carcinomas are aggressive tumors with distant systemic disease. The calvarium appears to be an unusual and rare site for distant metastasis. The treatment modalities are challenging and out of the normal realm for the management of these tumors. We report a case of a 63‐year‐old woman with a previous history of nephrectomy who presented with symptoms of severe headaches, and swelling of bi‐frontal and bi‐parietal scalp regions due to multifocal extracalvarial disease. Preoperative bilateral superficial temporal artery embolization was performed to control the intraoperative bleeding. Surgical technique has been described with the critical steps involved, and a literature review has been conducted. Palliative tumor resection surgery was performed to improve the patient's quality of life as well as to confirm the histopathological diagnosis. Gross total resection of the extracalvarial metastatic tumor was achieved. Biopsy confirmed renal cell tumor with the clear cell subtype. The patient recovered well from her surgery with slow healing of the scalp wound. At 6‐month follow‐up, no recurrence of the extracalvarial disease was observed on serial imaging. Extracalvarial metastasis is a rare presentation in renal cell carcinoma. Considering the inherent radioresistant nature of the tumor, palliative surgical resection can be offered to control the metastatic spread, relieve agonizing pain symptoms, and to improve the quality of life. Preoperative embolization helps to decrease intraoperative blood loss. Moreover, palliative surgical resection of extracalvarial diseases helps to treat the metastasis as well as avoiding the associated morbidity that may occur if left untreated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) can be cured with the new highly effective interferon‐free combination treatments (DAA) that were approved in 2014. However, CHC is a largely silent disease, and many individuals are unaware of their infections until the late stages of the disease. The impact of wider access to effective treatments and improved awareness of the disease on the number of infections and the number of patients who remain undiagnosed is not known in Canada. Such evidence can guide the development of strategies and interventions to reduce the burden of CHC and meet World Health Organization's (WHO) 2030 elimination targets. The purpose of this study is to use a back‐calculation framework informed by provincial population‐level health administrative data to estimate the prevalence of CHC and the proportion of cases that remain undiagnosed in the three most populated provinces in Canada: British Columbia (BC), Ontario and Quebec. Methods: We have conducted a population‐based retrospective analysis of health administrative data for the three provinces to generate the annual incidence of newly diagnosed CHC cases, decompensated cirrhosis (DC), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and HCV treatment initiations. For each province, the data were stratified in three birth cohorts: individuals born prior to 1945, individuals born between 1945 and 1965 and individuals born after 1965. We used a back‐calculation modelling approach to estimate prevalence and the undiagnosed proportion of CHC. The historical prevalence of CHC was inferred through a calibration process based on a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm. The algorithm constructs the historical prevalence of CHC for each cohort by comparing the model‐generated outcomes of the annual incidence of the CHC‐related health events against the data set of observed diagnosed cases generated in the retrospective analysis. Results: The results show a decreasing trend in both CHC prevalence and undiagnosed proportion in BC, Ontario and Quebec. In 2018, CHC prevalence was estimated to be 1.23% (95% CI:.96%–1.62%),.91% (95% CI:.82%–1.04%) and.57% (95% CI:.51%–.64%) in BC, Ontario and Quebec respectively. The CHC undiagnosed proportion was assessed to be 35.44% (95% CI: 27.07%–45.83%), 34.28% (95% CI: 26.74%–41.62%) and 46.32% (95% CI: 37.85%–52.80%) in BC, Ontario and Quebec, respectively, in 2018. Also, since the introduction of new DAA treatment in 2014, CHC prevalence decreased from 1.39% to 1.23%,.97% to.91% and.65% to.57% in BC, Ontario and Quebec respectively. Similarly, the CHC undiagnosed proportion decreased from 38.78% to 35.44%, 38.70% to 34.28% and 47.54% to 46.32% in BC, Ontario and Quebec, respectively, from 2014 to 2018. Conclusions: We estimated that the CHC prevalence and undiagnosed proportion have declined for all three provinces since the new DAA treatment has been approved in 2014. Yet, our findings show that a significant proportion of HCV cases remain undiagnosed across all provinces highlighting the need to increase investment in screening. Our findings provide essential evidence to guide decisions about current and future HCV strategies and help achieve the WHO goal of eliminating hepatitis C in Canada by 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyethersulfone (PES) membranes are prevalent in the field of water treatment owing to their exceptional separation efficiency, robust mechanical properties, and resistance to chemical degradation. Nevertheless, these membranes are prone to fouling, resulting in a decrease in both flux and ultrafiltration efficiency. In the present study, PES membranes are blended with poly (3‐Sulfopropyl Methacrylate) (PSPMA) in various weight percentages (0%–3%) to improve their antifouling and ultrafiltration properties. The physicochemical properties of the blended membranes, including surface morphology, contact angle, hydrophilicity and surface energy are evaluated. The findings indicate that incorporation PSPMA results in an enhancement of the hydrophilic properties and surface charge of the PES membranes, assessed by employing Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) as a representative protein. Modified blended membranes display greater Flux Recovery Ratio (FRR%) and exhibit superior fouling resistance. Under the same experimental conditions (0.2 MPa applied pressure), a pure water flux of 154.18 L·m−2·h−1 for PES/PSPMA membrane found substantially greater than pure PES membrane (103.52 L·m−2·h−1) along with Total Fouling Ratio (TFR) of 36% and 64.9% respectively. Exceptional antimicrobial efficacy for modified membranes is revealed against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) using disc diffusion technique rendering them well‐suited for water treatment applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The knowledge of the morphology and morphometry of peripheral nerves is essential for developing neural interfaces and understanding nerve regeneration in basic and applied research. Currently, the most adopted animal model is the rat, even though recent studies have suggested that the neuroanatomy of large animal models is more comparable to humans. The present knowledge of the morphological structure of large animal models is limited; therefore, the present study aims to describe the morphological characteristics of the Ulnar Nerve (UN) in pigs. UN cross‐sections were taken from seven Danish landrace pigs at three distinct locations: distal UN, proximal UN and at the dorsal cutaneous branch of the UN (DCBUN). The nerve diameter, fascicle diameter and number, number of fibres and fibre size were quantified. The UN diameter was larger in the proximal section compared to the distal segment and the DCBUN. The proximal branch also had a more significant number of fascicles (median: 15) than the distal (median: 10) and the DCBUN (median: 11) segments. Additionally, the mean fascicle diameter was smaller at the DCBUN (mean: 165 μm) than at the distal (mean: 197 μm) and proximal (mean: 199 μm) segments of the UN. Detailed knowledge of the microscopical structure of the UN in pigs is critical for further studies investigating neural interface designs and computational models of the peripheral nervous system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon disulfide dimer (CS2)2 is a model system that has been widely studied in the field of computational chemistry because of its relevance to a variety of chemical and biological processes. The (CS2)2 dimer is a relatively simple molecular system composed of two carbon disulfide (CS2) molecules interacting with each other through intermolecular forces. Despite its apparent simplicity, the (CS2)2 dimer exhibits a rich array of structural and dynamical properties that are of great interest to researchers. In this research, we present an ab initio study of the intermolecular interactions in the carbon disulfide dimer (CS2)2 using an improved Lennard–Jones (ILJ) potential with CCSD(T)/QZVPP calculations. The potential energy surface of (CS2)2 is calculated using high‐level quantum mechanical calculations based on the CCSD(T)/def2‐qzvpp method, which accurately accounts for electron correlation effects. The resulting potential energy surface is then fitted to an ILJ potential energy function, which includes both long‐range dipole–dipole interactions and short‐range repulsive interactions. The calculated potential energy surface reveals a rich variety of structural and dynamical properties of (CS2)2, including multiple minima and saddle points, which are sensitive to the relative orientation of the two CS2 molecules. It is essential to use extended basis sets to accurately incorporate the significant quadrupole moment of CS2, which we have calculated to be 2.44 a.u. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of using high‐level ab initio methods for the accurate calculation of potential energy surfaces in complex molecular systems such as (CS2)2. The use of an ILJ potential, which takes into account both dipole–dipole interactions and short‐range repulsive interactions, provides a more accurate and efficient approach for modeling intermolecular interactions in (CS2)2 and other similar systems. The results of this study will be useful for understanding the behavior of carbon disulfide dimers in different environments and for the development of new materials and chemical processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an optics-based imaging technique, which may be called an "optical biopsy." It can be used to acquire structural information about a tissue at a resolution comparable to histopathology. OCT is based on the principle of low-coherence interferometry where near-infrared (NIR) light is shown on a tissue sample and then cross-sectional images are obtained based on backscattered light and echo time delay. Two main types of OCT are characterized as time-domain OCT (TD-OCT) and Fourier-domain OCT (FD-OCT). The applications of OCT in dentistry can be broadly divided into two groups, i.e., assessment of pathologies and assessment of surfaces and interfaces. Lately, OCT has made its transition from experimental laboratories to mainstream clinical applications. Starting from the short-term training courses, clinicians working in specialities like oral pathology, oral medicine, and oral implantology may find it a useful tool for their practices. It is now clear that OCT will be considered a gold standard diagnostic tool for the detection and characterization of several conditions and lesions of the orofacial region. However, the next challenge will be to incorporate it into the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum and train dental healthcare staff in the use of these devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: People living with HIV (PLWH) and/or who inject drugs may experience lower vaccine effectiveness (VE) against SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Methods: A validated algorithm was applied to population‐based, linked administrative datasets in the British Columbia COVID‐19 Cohort (BCC19C) to ascertain HIV status and create a population of PLWH and matched HIV‐negative individuals. The study population was limited to individuals who received an RT‐PCR laboratory test for SARS‐CoV‐2 between 15 December 2020 and 21 November 2021 in BC, Canada. Any history of injection drug use (IDU) was ascertained using a validated administrative algorithm. We used a test‐negative study design (modified case−control analysis) and multivariable logistic regression to estimate adjusted VE by HIV status and history of IDU. Results: Our analysis included 2700 PLWH and a matched population of 375,043 HIV‐negative individuals, among whom there were 351 and 103,049 SARS‐CoV‐2 cases, respectively. The proportion of people with IDU history was much higher among PLWH compared to HIV‐negative individuals (40.7% vs. 4.3%). Overall VE during the first 6 months after second dose was lower among PLWH with IDU history (65.8%, 95% CI = 43.5–79.3) than PLWH with no IDU history (80.3%, 95% CI = 62.7–89.6), and VE was particularly low at 4–6 months (42.4%, 95% CI = −17.8 to 71.8 with IDU history vs. 64.0%; 95% CI = 15.7–84.7 without), although confidence intervals were wide. In contrast, overall VE was 88.6% (95% CI = 88.2–89.0) in the matched HIV‐negative population with no history of IDU and remained relatively high at 4–6 months after second dose (84.6%, 95% CI = 83.8–85.4). Despite different patterns of vaccine protection by HIV status and IDU history, peak estimates were similar (≥88%) across all populations. Conclusions: PLWH with a history of IDU may experience lower VE against COVID‐19 infection, although findings were limited by a small sample size. The lower VE at 4–6 months may have implications for booster dose prioritization for PLWH and people who inject drugs. The immunocompromising effect of HIV, substance use and/or co‐occurring comorbidities may partly explain these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immigrants living in low hepatitis C (HCV) prevalence countries bear a disproportionate HCV burden, but there are limited HCV population‐based studies focussed on this population. We estimated rates and trends of reported HCV diagnoses over a 20‐year period in Quebec, Canada, to investigate subgroups with the highest rates and changes over time. A population‐based cohort of all reported HCV diagnoses in Quebec (1998–2018) linked to health administrative and immigration databases. HCV rates, rate ratios (RR) and trends overall and stratified by immigrant status and country of birth were estimated using Poisson regression. Among 38,348 HCV diagnoses, 14% occurred in immigrants, a median of 7.5 years after arrival. The average annual HCV rate/100,000 decreased for immigrants and nonimmigrants, but the risk (RR) among immigrants increased over the study period [35.7 vs. 34.5 (RR = 1.03) and 18.4 vs. 12.7 (1.45) between 1998–2008 and 2009–2018]. Immigrants from middle‐income Europe & Central Asia [55.8 (RR = 4.39)], sub‐Saharan Africa [51.7 (RR = 4.06)] and South Asia [32.8 (RR = 2.58)] had the highest rates between 2009 and 2018. Annual HCV rates decreased more slowly among immigrants vs. nonimmigrants (−5.9% vs. −8.9%, p < 0.001), resulting in a 2.5‐fold (9%–21%) increase in the proportion of HCV diagnoses among immigrants (1998–2018). The slower decline in HCV rates among immigrants over the study period highlights the need for targeted screening for this population, particularly those from sub‐Saharan Africa, Asia and middle‐income Europe. These data can inform micro‐elimination efforts in Canada and other low‐HCV‐prevalence countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In present research, novel cobalt bismuth layered double hydroxides (Co/Bi‐LDHs) were fabricated by urea hydrolysis approach at laboratory scale in mixed solvent of water and ethylene glycol. Synthesized product was analyzed by different techniques such as powder X‐ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Cobalt oxide (Co3O4) was obtained after calcinations in nanometer range, which showed excellent catalytic characteristics. Calcined LDHs were used as photocatalyst to degrade Congo Red (CR) under different conditions of catalyst and hydrogen peroxide. Different parameters such as flash point, fire point, cloud point, pour point, kinematic viscosity, and specific gravity were also studied in order to check the efficiency of commercial diesel at different concentrations of catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous report, we have already synthesized dinitro and dibromo derivatives of 2,2‐disubstituted‐quinazolin‐4(1H)‐one by a facile method. In order to give insight to our experimental results, we herein report on the theoretical investigations of reactivity of synthesized quinazolinone toward bromination and nitration by using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The optimized molecular geometries of these compounds by using the B3LYP/6–31G(d, p) method have been compared with their X‐ray structures, which are in good agreement. The correlation between the experimental and computational geometrical data is above 90% and root mean square deviation (RMSD) is low ranging from 0.04% to 0.9% except N1‐H1 and N2‐H2 bond where RMSD goes to 1% due to hydrogen bonding between N1‐H1 .....O1 = C1 and N2‐H2 ....O1 = C1. The Mullikan charge distributions at the different atomic sites have been computed and nucleophilic site are guessed by molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) map. In addition, frontier molecular orbitals of these compounds were discussed at the same level of theory, confirming the nucleophilic sites at position 6 and 8 of 4‐quinazolinone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few years, researchers have focused on computer‐aided polyp detection in gastroscopy. Deep learning (DL) has shown great promise for polyps' identification. The most exceptional contribution of DL methods in gastroenterology is their ability to identify polyps quickly and accurately using convolution neural network. Nonetheless, despite significant advancements, automatic detection of small polyps remains a challenging and complex task. Furthermore, due to multiple pooling operations, the features of small polyps are lost, resulting in low detection accuracy. This paper proposes an efficient object detection method for polyp detection using gastric images to address this issue. A single‐shot multi‐box detector (SSD) was combined with the feature extractor VGG‐16, and the Refined Map Block (RMB) was integrated into SSD's high‐resolution feature maps to get more semantic information. The RMB output was used as the input to the successive layers. The RMB comprises of attention cascade and feature map concatenation cascade. The attention cascade improved the localization accuracy, while the feature map concatenation cascade improved the classification accuracy. Using the former, the proposed attention‐based SSD for gastric polyps (ASSD‐GPNet) model focused on the specific information, a polyp, rather than the background. Furthermore, the feature map concatenation cascade adds semantic information while reducing computational complexity. The output of these two cascades was combined to produce a refined feature map that enhances the detection of small polyps. The model was trained and tested on 1970 gastric images and Pascal VOC07 + 12. Image augmentation was applied to increase the training data of gastric images to reduce overfitting and skip connections were used to overcome the vanishing gradient problem. Overall, the experimental results demonstrated that the proposed model outperformed than compared models in both medical and natural images. The ASSD‐GPNet obtained mean average precision (mAP) of 94.2% on gastric images and 76.9% on Pascal VOC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molybdenum nanoparticles are used as additives in alloys for various applications, such as or in corrosive or high‐vacuum environment. Their properties are completely different than the properties in their bulk. Molybdenum nanoparticles were prepared by hydrothermal technique. MoO3 synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by UV‐visible spectroscopy, SEM, TEM, and XRD. MoO3 had shown its maximum adsorption at wavelength 560 nm. Surface morphology of synthesized MoO3 was studied by using SEM, which showed that MoO3 nanoparticles have shown outgrowth at the edges of strands, while grain size, shape, and distribution was confirmed with TEM, which revealed that the synthesized nanoparticles are fiddle and thin in nature and these particles are made of joint nanosheets. Furthermore, the structure elucidation of synthesized nanoparticles was done by using the XRD calculations, which confirmed that the synthesized particles are MoO3 without impurities. Moreover, MoO3 nanoparticles can be used for photocatalytic properties and biological application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an approach is presented for the demand-side management of residential loads in the urban areas of Pakistan using a battery storage system at the feeder level. The proposed storage system will be installed by a private distributor to supply affordable electricity during peak hours. The experimental data used to carry out this research work are the Pakistan Residential Energy Consumption (PRECON) data set. The households of the data set are categorized based on electric power usage through K-means clustering. The clusters are expanded for feeder synthesis to represent small-scale, medium-scale, and large-scale consumption. This expansion is performed through uniform distribution in a Monte Carlo simulation. The techno-economic analysis for the installation of a battery storage system is carried out for each feeder using SAM. The results of the research project elucidated that the load factors of the feeders representing small-scale, medium-scale, and large-scale consumption improved by 1%, 6%, and 7% by using the optimally sized batteries of 50 kW (670 kWh), 90 kW (1207 kWh), and 100 kW (1360 kWh), respectively. The distributor profit and the consumer utility bill savings ranged from US$12 k to US$25 k. The results proved the validity of the used approach to simultaneously reduce the consumer bill, maximize the distributor profit, and improve the feeder load factor. The novelty of this work lies in the location and in the way the system modeling has been performed with limited data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate whether the rate of Anti‐Osteoporosis Medication (AOM) dispensing was related to prevalence of risk factors and hip fracture incidence in the local population. Methods: The Open Prescribing database was used to analyse dispensed AOM at the level of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in England. Male Healthy Life Expectancy (MHLE), Female Healthy Life Expectancy (FHLE), the prevalence of smoking and active adults, the incidence of hip fracture and of alcohol related hospital admissions, and local dispensing of a comparator drug (atorvastatin) were considered as predictor variables. Linear and multilinear regression were performed. Using atorvastatin as a comparator, AOM dispensing was compared after the start of the Covid‐19 pandemic with the same quarter the previous year. Results: Rates of AOM per 1000 people aged over 65 years in a CCG area varied between 379.2 and 1129.1, with a mean of 670.3. Population risk factors were individually related to the amount of AOM dispensed in an area. Collectively, local activity levels in adults (p = 0.042) and local hip fracture incidence (p = 0.003) were significantly negatively correlated with rates of AOM dispensed. Rates of alendronate dispensing fell significantly at the start of the Covid‐19 pandemic (p < 0.001), whilst atorvastatin dispensing rates significantly increased (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Lower rates of AOM dispensing were seen in areas with a higher proportion of active adults and higher incidence of hip fracture. Multidisciplinary services should be developed to address this care gap with consideration given to local population risk factors. Community pharmacists are ideally placed to play a vital role in osteoporosis management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SARS‐CoV‐2 variant Omicron emerged in late 2021. In British Columbia (BC), Canada, and globally, three genetically distinct subvariants of Omicron, BA.1, BA.2, and BA.5, emerged and became dominant successively within an 8‐month period. SARS‐CoV‐2 subvariants continue to circulate in the population, acquiring new mutations that have the potential to alter infectivity, immunity, and disease severity. Here, we report a propensity‐matched severity analysis from residents of BC over the course of the Omicron wave, including 39,237 individuals infected with BA.1, BA.2, or BA.5 based on paired high‐quality sequence data and linked to comprehensive clinical outcomes data between December 23, 2021 and August 31, 2022. Relative to BA.1, BA.2 cases were associated with a 15% and 28% lower risk of hospitalization and intensive care unit (ICU) admission (aHRhospital = 1.17; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.096–1.252; aHRICU = 1.368; 95% CI = 1.152–1.624), whereas BA.5 infections were associated with an 18% higher risk of hospitalization (aHRhospital = 1.18; 95% CI = 1.133–1.224) after accounting for age, sex, comorbidities, vaccination status, geography, and social determinants of health. Phylogenetic analysis revealed no specific subclades associated with more severe clinical outcomes for any Omicron subvariant. In summary, BA.1, BA.2, and BA.5 subvariants were associated with differences in clinical severity, emphasizing how variant‐specific monitoring programs remain critical components of patient and population‐level public health responses as the pandemic continues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In patients undergoing high‐risk cardiac surgery, the uncertainty of outcome may complicate the decision process to intervene. To augment decision‐making, a machine learning approach was used to determine weighted personalized factors contributing to mortality. Methods: American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program was queried for cardiac surgery patients with predicted mortality ≥10% between 2012 and 2019. Multiple machine learning models were investigated, with significant predictors ultimately used in gradient boosting machine (GBM) modeling. GBM‐trained data were then used for local interpretable model‐agnostic explanations (LIME) modeling to provide individual patient‐specific mortality prediction. Results: A total of 194 patient deaths among 1291 high‐risk cardiac surgeries were included. GBM performance was superior to other model approaches. The top five factors contributing to mortality in LIME modeling were preoperative dialysis, emergent cases, Hispanic ethnicity, steroid use, and ventilator dependence. LIME results individualized patient factors with model probability and explanation of fit. Conclusions: The application of machine learning techniques provides individualized predicted mortality and identifies contributing factors in high‐risk cardiac surgery. Employment of this modeling to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons database may provide individualized risk factors contributing to mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), induced by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, is responsible for a global pandemic following widespread transmission and death. Several vaccines have been developed to counter this public health crisis using both novel and conventional methods. Following approval based on promising efficacy and safety data, the AstraZeneca, Janssen, Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, and Sinovac vaccines have been administered globally among different populations with various reported side effects. Reports of life‐threatening anaphylaxis following administration were of particular concern for both health care providers and the public. A systematic literature search using PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, MedRxiv, and Lens.org databases identified relevant studies reporting anaphylaxis following vaccine administration. This systematic review includes 41 studies reporting anaphylaxis. A total of 7942 cases, including 43 deaths, were reported across 14 countries. Most cases occurred following the administration of the first dose. Importantly, the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of anaphylaxis. Subsequently, as populations continue to get vaccinated, it is important for health care providers to be able to recognize individuals at risk of developing anaphylaxis. Furthermore, they must be familiar with both the clinical hallmarks and treatment of anaphylactic reactions to minimize long‐term sequalae and prevent death in vaccinated individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanocomposites become very important because of their reduce size (1–100 nm), large surface area, excellent optical magnetic, and electrical and mechanical properties. In many applications, graphene oxide‐based metallic nanocomposites emerged as an outstanding class of nanomaterials that are used for different applications. (GO‐ZnO) nanocomposite has gained more importance in recent years. The present research study is designed to synthesize nanocomposites and aims to monitor its characteristics and applications. Graphene oxide is synthesized by Hummers' method. Metal salts are used as precursor source of respective metal oxides. Wet chemical synthesis method such as solvothermal/hydrothermal and copreciptation processes is used because of its low cost and easy applications as compared with other processes used in the past, which have been costly and difficult to handle. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) techniques are used to discriminate GO‐Zinc oxide metallic nanocomposites. XRD is used to investigate the crystal structure, and SEM images showed that the synthesized GO/ZnO nanocomposites is irregular in shape with merged surfaces and the size is 100 nm−1 μm. The dark and light color shows hollow morphology of the nanocomposites, and particles are merged with each other and irregular in shape. The obtained data are statistically analyzed by using regression analysis for the further interpretations. VESTA, MATCH, Origin pro is used for the interpretation of XRD results of synthesized nanocomposites. Applications of metallic (GO/Zn) nanocomposite as catalytic activity and colorimetry, flash point, fire point, cloud point, pour point, specific gravity, and viscosity and for the degradation of Drimarene Red K‐4BL is performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In small‐molecule organic solar cells (SM‐OSCs), it remains a big challenge to obtain favorable bulk heterojunction morphology by acceptor material design. In this report, efforts are being made to design efficient acceptor molecules for the active layer of the organic solar cell. Donor bridge modifications have been made by using effective donor units, and thus, four new molecules (KSD1–KSD4) have been designed and examined theoretically. Density functional theory (DFT) and time‐dependent density functional theory (TD‐DFT) have been employed for the calculation of various geometric and structural parameters. Transition density matrix, open‐circuit voltage, reorganizational energy of hole and electron, and photovoltaic characteristics of newly designed molecules have been examined through quantum chemical techniques. Additionally, the frontier molecular orbital analysis along with excitation and binding energies has been performed for these molecules. A narrow bandgap with a redshift in absorption spectrum is observed for KSD1–KSD4 molecules. Results of different analyses have recommended that the designed molecules are effective contributors for organic solar cell applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: During illness, adaptations of the hypothalamic–pituitary‐thyroid axis reduce energy expenditure, protein catabolism and modulate immune responses to promote survival. Lower serum free triiodothyronine‐to‐thyroxine (fT3/fT4) ratio has been linked to non‐response to treatment in a range of diseases, including in biologic‐treated patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Aim: To assess whether baseline serum fT3/fT4 ratio predicted primary non‐response (PNR) and non‐remission to infliximab and adalimumab in patients with Crohn's disease Methods: Thyroid function tests were undertaken in stored serum from biologic‐naïve adult patients with active luminal Crohn's disease immediately prior to treatment with infliximab (427 originator; 122 biosimilar) or adalimumab (448) in the Personalised Anti‐TNF Therapy in Crohn's Disease study (PANTS). Results: Baseline median [IQR] fT3/fT4 ratios were lower in women than men (0.30 [0.27–0.34] vs 0.32 [0.28–0.36], p < 0.001), in patients with more severe inflammatory disease, and in patients receiving corticosteroids (0.28 [0.25–0.33] vs. 0.32 [0.29–0.36], p < 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analysis demonstrated that fT3/fT4 ratio was independently associated with PNR at week 14 (odds ratio [OR] 0.51, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.31–0.85, p = 0.009), but not non‐remission or changes in faecal calprotectin concentrations at week 54. The optimal threshold to determine PNR was 0.31 (area under the curve 0.57 [95% CI 0.54–0.61], sensitivity 0.62 [95% CI 0.41–0.74], and specificity 0.53 [95% CI 0.42–0.73]). Conclusions: Lower baseline serum fT3/fT4 ratio was associated with female sex, corticosteroid use and disease activity. It predicted PNR to anti‐TNF treatment at week 14, but not non‐remission at week 54. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Evidence suggests that, while a preference for functional Health Literacy (HL) outcome measurement exists, researchers are converging towards more all‐encompassing instruments. While this claim is present in the HL field, minimal research has comprehensively explored the state of community HL measurement practices at the direct and proxy level. The almost exclusive focus on direct, as opposed to proxy, community HL measurement indicates a review of progress is needed. Objective: To identify HL outcome measurement practices for community HL interventions at the direct and proxy level of measurement. Search Strategy: Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Science, ERIC, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Google Scholar and targeted websites were searched. Inclusion Criteria: Studies were sampled from the general population, included HL as an outcome of interest, involved an intervention aiming to improve HL, were English‐text publications and were published ≥2010. Data Extraction and Synthesis: Study author(s) and publication years, sample characteristics, intervention profiles and direct and proxy instrument and outcome measurement information were extracted. Full‐text review retrieved 25 eligible studies. Main Results: In total, 21 unique direct and 38 unique proxy instruments were extracted. The majority of interventions assessed functional compared to communicative, critical, and other HL domains, with objective instruments more frequently used than subjective or combined objective‐subjective types, though more unique subjective HL instruments were extracted overall. The Test of Functional HL in Adults was the most popular instrument, and perceived health, knowledge, behaviors and health intentions were the most frequent proxy outcome measures, with only the Healthy Lifestyle Behavior Scale‐II and Patient Activation Measure used across multiple interventions. Discussion and Conclusions: Direct HL outcome practices endured a unidimensional profile, despite previous suggestions of a convergence towards holistic instruments. This review provides the first overview of proxy HL measurement across community HL interventions, identifying substantial variation in proxy outcome practices. Patient or Public Contribution: A University‐based senior librarian contributed to the development of the search strategy, and reviewed iterations of the strategy until refinement was complete. No further public or patient contribution was made given the review‐based nature of the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article in the Laryngoscope journal responds to real-world adverse events following the use of Type 2 biologics in Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyps. It acknowledges a reported case of alopecia areata in patients treated with dupilumab, a known adverse event in atopic dermatitis but not previously reported in CRSwNP. The onset of adverse events like alopecia and arthralgia following biologic use suggests a gradual alteration of the immune response in patients. The study emphasizes the diverse responses to dupilumab in real-world patients with CRSwNP. [Extracted from the article]

Summary: The oxygen reduction and evolution reaction (ORR/OER), are the keystones for many energy generating and storage devices, have influence with many electrocatalytic reactions. The sluggish kinetics of these reaction is a challenging situation on the surface of electrodes which imposes large over‐potential and affects the energy output of fuel cells. Although the platinum‐based electrode materials have excellent activity toward ORR/OER but their high cost limits commercialization of fuel cells. To deal with this problem, platinum‐free electrode materials has aroused the considerations of scientists. The present work is proposed to study the oxygen reduction reaction and water oxidation on the surface of xAg2O‐yPrO2/γ‐Al2O3/Glassy‐Carbon. The ORR was studied electrochemically via cyclic voltammetry on the surface of these nano‐catalysts while the OER was investigated via cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry in alkaline media. The mechanism of ORR on catalysts surface was enquired and the results indicate that ORR followed two electrons pathway in case of 10PrO2/γ‐Al2O3/Glassy‐Carbon while four electrons reduction pathway is identified on surface of others catalysts which divulged that addition of silver with praseodymium shifted the mechanism from 2e− to 4e− pathway. The electrocatalysts featured the stability during multiple scans and no corrosion of electrode in OER/ORR is observed. Different kinetic parameters for both reactions are determined which affirmed that both ORR and OER on the active surface of catalysts is irreversible and diffusion controlled. 4Ag2O‐6PrO2/γ‐Al2O3 is indicated to be proficient electro‐catalyst among other members of the series, having greater value of mass transport and diffusion coefficients. The bi‐functionality of all electrocatalysts are verified by their electrochemical responses in alkaline medium. The catalytic reduction of oxygen and oxidation of water by these electro‐catalysts imitates their potential as electrode material in batteries and unitized regenerative fuel cells (URFC) technology for energy production as substitute of platinum electrode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, nonlinear optical (NLO) molecular material networks/frameworks have shown attractive application prospects in modern laser technology, data storage components, optical communication, and digital processing. Finding new and novel materials with excellent nonlinear optical properties has become an attractive research topic in the field of nonlinear optics. Herein, DFT calculations have been performed on hybrid organic‐inorganic composite push‐pull systems based on polyoxometalates (POMs). Systems (DPA1‐DPA4) are theoretically analyzed to study the second‐order NLO response and have been compared with reference compound. The effect of four substituent groups on NLO properties has been investigated. Based on optimized geometric configurations, dipole polarizability(α), first‐order hyperpolarization(β), transition energy (E), oscillation frequency (ƒ), and HOM0 (highest occupied molecular orbital)‐LUM0 (lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) analysis have been performed. All the studied systems possess significantly large second‐order polarizability and proven to be excellent nonlinear optical hybrid composite materials. The asymmetric polarization of charges caused by D‐π‐A combination in our studied systems is accountable for the improvement of nonlinear optical activity of these push‐pull compounds. POM cluster/cage is behaving as an electron donor, whereas charge transfer has been observed in the direction of chain length. On the bases of the electron donor and electron acceptor ability of these substituent groups, substantial influence on NLO response and charge transfer characteristics has been identified. Our studied systems are efficient NLO materials and will be helpful for the synthetic chemists to produce effective hybrid composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic development and growth of any country strongly depend on the consumption and production system, which requires a massive amount of energy consumption. Many countries satisfy their energy demands by relying on fossil fuel consumption. Within the production system, manufacturing and logistical operations are heavily depend on fossil fuel‐based energy consumption, causing environmental degradation. Hence, economies worldwide strive to become carbon neutral; the goal is to be carbon‐free, requiring businesses in the respective countries to rely on renewable energy sources. Besides manufacturing, many countries for economic growth also depend on the tourism industry, which also requires the implementation of green policies. In this regard, economic growth, advanced logistics, tourism, and renewable energy are essential variables that need thorough empirical testing to address environmental problems. The current study uses fixed effect and random effect models to empirically test carbon‐free economic growth and international tourism through advanced logistical infrastructure and renewable energy consumption in developed countries. Findings reveal that advanced logistics infrastructure and renewable energy consumption play a crucial role in enhancing economic growth and international tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, research on the development of organic solar cells has increased significantly. For the last few years, machine learning (ML) has been gaining the attention of the scientific community working on organic solar cells. Herein, ML is used to screen small molecule donors for organic solar cells. ML models are fed by molecular descriptors. Various ML models are employed. The predictive capability of a support vector machine is found to be higher (Pearson's coefficient = 0.75). The best small donors with fullerene acceptors are selected to pair with Y6. New small molecule donors are also designed taking into account quantum chemistry principles, using building units that are searched through similarity analysis. Their energy levels and power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) are predicted. Efficient small molecule donors with PCE > 13% are selected. This design and discovery pipeline provides an easy and fast way to select potential candidates for experimental work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) has caused a global pandemic that continues to cause numerous deaths to date. Four vaccines have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as of July 2021 to prevent the transmission of COVID‐19: Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Janssen. These vaccines have shown great efficacy and safety profile. One side effect that has been widely reported is post‐COVID‐19 vaccination lymphadenopathy. Due to the mimicry of the lymphadenopathy for metastases in some oncologic patients, there have been reports of patients who underwent biopsies that showed pathologic confirmation of benign reactive lymphadenopathy secondary to the COVID‐19 vaccine. Therefore, understanding the incidence of lymphadenopathy post‐COVID‐19 vaccinations will help guide radiologists and oncologists in their management of patients, both present oncologic patients, and patients with concerns over their newly presenting lymphadenopathy. A systematic literature search was performed using several databases to identify relevant studies that reported lymphadenopathy post‐COVID‐19 vaccination. Our results revealed that several cases have been detected in patients undergoing follow‐up fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)‐positron emission tomography‐computerized tomography scans where lymph nodes ipsilateral to the vaccine injection site show increased uptake of FDG. Thus, knowledge of the incidence of lymphadenopathy may help avoid unnecessary biopsies, interventions, and changes in management for patients, especially oncologic patients who are at risk for malignancies. Highlights: Lymphadenopathy has been widely reported post‐COVID‐19 vaccination including patients undergoing follow‐up FDG‐PET‐CT scans which showed increased FDG uptakeCare must be taken before suspecting lymph node metastasis or deciding for lymphadenectomy following COVID‐19 vaccination [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, development in organic solar cells speeds up and performance continuously increases. From the last few years, machine learning gains fame among scientists who are researching on organic solar cells. Herein, machine learning is used to screen the small‐molecule donors for organic solar cells. Molecular descriptors are used as input to train machine models. A variety of machine‐learning models are tested to find the suitable one. Random forest model shows best predictive capability (Pearson's coefficient = 0.93). New small‐molecule donors are also designed from easily synthesizable building units. Their power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) are predicted. Potential candidates with PCE > 11% are selected. The approach presented herein helps to select the efficient materials in short time with ease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A brain tumor is the most common primary brain malignancy. Delaying in brain tumor diagnosis is a primary cause of death in affected individuals. Therefore, early diagnosis of a brain tumor is essential for treatment planning and prognosis. In this study, the multilevel dilated convolutional neural network (MLDCNN) model is used for brain tumor segmentation. MLDCNN model is implemented independently for five MLDC blocks with a different combination of dilation rates to analyze their impact on brain tumor segmentation. For each segmentation model, overall survival time prediction is performed independently. An automated system is proposed for the overall survival time prediction of patients suffering from a brain tumor. First, shape and multiscale texture‐based features are extracted from LoG filtered and wavelet decomposed images of the magnetic resonance imaging scans. The proposed model utilizes 3D information by extracting radiomic features from axial, coronal, and sagittal views. These features are reduced using an extra tree classifier to avoid overfitting. Random forest algorithms are applied on selected feature sets to predict overall survival time in days. Extensive experimentation is performed for the segmentation and survival time prediction on the publicly available BraTS2019 and BraTS 2020 datasets. Results demonstrate that the proposed approach achieved the least mean squared error value in the survival time prediction task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non‐fused ring electron acceptors with different end‐capped substituents were designed to construct efficient organic solar cells (OSCs). End‐capped modification of acceptor materials is an efficient approach for developing high performance OSCs. In this report, five new S‐shaped fullerene‐free acceptor molecules (3P1 to 3P5) have been designed and examined through density function and time‐dependent density functional theories (TD‐DFTs). Designed molecules have twisted backbone with different out‐of‐plane rings that cause high solubility in dilute solvent. Different optoelectronic and photovoltaic properties of newly designed S‐shape molecules have been examined and explored through DFT tools. Orientation of frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs), light absorption range, exciton binding energy (Eb), oscillating strength (f), open circuit voltage (Voc), and transition density matrix (TDM) analysis have been performed for 3P1 to 3P5 molecules. Further, electron and hole reorganization energies are also estimated with excitation energy. Results of different computed parameters have recommended that these designed molecules are effective contributors for possible applications in the field of OSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sulfonamides class of drugs is known due to superb biological and notable nonlinear optical (NLO) applications. The current study reports detailed computational and spectroscopic studies of 16 novel benzene sulfonamides compounds. Computational studies on these compounds (1–16) have been performed with the aid of density functional theory (DFT) at B3LYP/6‐31G (d,p) basis set. B3LYP with the conjunction of 6‐31G(d,p) has been used to gain optimized geometries of these compounds. Different key parameters have been performed to analyze the structural‐property relationship, stability, reactivity, charge transferability, and NLO response of these novel compounds. Electronic properties including frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs) alignment, natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis, spectroscopic fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), and NLO properties were calculated using B3LYP/6‐31G(d,p) and M06‐2X/6‐31G(d,p) basis sets. Natural bonding orbital analysis confirmed the successful electron transferability between donor moiety and acceptor moiety. The molecular electrostatic potential analysis unveils the intramolecular hydrogen bonding along with different reactive sites in these compounds 1–16. Global indices of reactivity were analyzed using energies of frontier molecular orbitals of compounds 1–16, which suggested that these compounds are chemically hard and stable compounds. Absorption maxima of all compounds were estimated with aid of time‐dependent DFT at B3LYP/6‐31G(d,p) basis set which disclosed the best agreement between experimental and DFT‐based recorded spectra. FT‐IR analysis (at B3LYP/6‐31G(d,p)) confirmed different modes of vibration in all the title compounds and also exhibit a concrete relation with experimentally recorded IR spectrums. Moreover, all the compounds (1–16) show good NLO response. NLO responses of 1–16 compounds were computed at the same level of B3LYP/6‐31G (d,p), which is found to be greater than the standard molecule. All these analyses suggest that 1–16 benzene sulfonamides compounds are found to be suitable candidates for biological and NLO applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Unique and significant properties of layered two‐dimensional titanium carbide MXene (Ti3C2) triggered world for designing and fabricating nanoelectrode materials with maximum energy storage capacity employed in various electrochemical device applications such as supercapacitors (SCs). In the present study, novel MXene/CoCr2O4 synthesis to fabricate nanoelectrode material via chemical co‐precipitation method with maximum stability and conductivity has been reported. Synthesized material shows reduction in c‐lattice parameter for MXene/CoCr2O4 nanocomposite to 21.7 A° indicated by X‐ray powder diffraction. Surface morphology reveals reduction in grain size up to 1.16 nm whereas elemental composition confirms presence of oxygen, titanium, chromium, and cobalt within nanocomposite. From Pl spectra, it is quite clear that peak intensity has been reduced whereas Raman spectra reveals both MXene and cobalt peaks presence within nanocomposite. Optimized nanocomposite reveals improved specific capacitance of 417 Fg−1 in IM KOH aqueous electrolyte. GCD analysis reveals power density increases from 603.2 to 1367.6 W/kg whereas energy density value decreases from 20.89 to 9.22 Wh/kg. Superior electrochemical performance of as‐prepared nanocomposite nano‐electrode material attributed to surface redox reaction supporting pseudocapacitance more strongly in basic electrolyte than acidic electrolyte. Thus, MXene/CoCr2O4 nanocomposite could serve as an excellent energy storage material especially in supercapacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & aims: The impact of interferon (IFN)‐free therapies on the epidemiology of hepatitis C virus (HCV) related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is not well understood at a population level. Our goal was to bridge this evidence gap. Methods: This study included all patients in Scotland with chronic HCV and a diagnosis of cirrhosis during 1999‐2019. Incident cases of HCC, episodes of curative HCC therapy, and HCC‐related deaths were identified through linkage to nationwide registries. Three time periods were examined: 1999‐2010 (pegylated interferon‐ribavirin [PIR]); 2011‐2013 (First‐generation DAA); and 2014‐2019 (IFN‐free era). We used regression modelling to determine time trends for (i) number diagnosed and living with HCV cirrhosis, (ii) HCC cumulative incidence, (iii) HCC curative treatment uptake and (iv) post‐HCC mortality. Results: 3347 cirrhosis patients were identified of which 381 (11.4%) developed HCC. After HCC diagnosis, 140 (36.7%) received curative HCC treatment and there were 202 deaths from HCC. The average annual number of patients diagnosed and living with HCV cirrhosis was approximately seven times higher in the IFN‐free versus the PIR era, whereas the number of incident HCCs was four times higher. However, the cumulative incidence of HCC was significantly lower in the IFN‐free versus PIR era (sdHR: 0.65; 95%CI:0.47‐0.88; P =.006). Among HCC patients, diagnosis in the IFN‐free era was not associated with improved uptake of curative treatment (aOR:1.18; 95%CI:0.69‐2.01; P =.54), or reduced post‐HCC mortality (sdHR: 0.74; 95%CI:0.53‐1.05; P =.09). Conclusions: The cumulative incidence of HCC is declining in HCV cirrhosis patients, but uptake of curative HCC therapy and post‐HCC survival remains suboptimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biofouling due to algae mass attachment has detrimental effects on the performance and economy of many manufacturing processes. In consideration of this, present research is focused to mitigate such effect through the development of environmentally benign active antialgal cationic amphiphilic copolymers of poly(2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA). The copolymers compositions were synthesized to tailor various characteristics to control surface biofilm formation and antialgal activities were determined through suspension assay. Biofilm formation of Dictyosphaerium sp. algae on the synthesized copolymers of different surface energies was ascertained by measuring chlorophyll A content and percent adhesion of algae. The copolymers antialgal performance enhanced with increase in PDMAEMA concentration as it exhibited the lowest contact angle as well as adhesion and minimum chlorophyll A contents. Algal adhesion on the surface of materials was also observed by optical microscopy. The copolymers with higher concentration of DMAEMA resulted in greater hydrophilicity which exhibited low adhesion of Dictyosphaerium algae due to possibility of stronger hydration effect and wettability as evident from their lower water contact angle. The developed benign cationic polymers of PDMAEMA and PMMA with varying compositions can lead to important breakthrough in the subject area of antialgal research in several manufacturing processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1H‐magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) provides noninvasive metabolite profiles with the potential to aid the diagnosis of brain tumours. Prospective studies of diagnostic accuracy and comparisons with conventional MRI are lacking. The aim of the current study was to evaluate, prospectively, the diagnostic accuracy of a previously established classifier for diagnosing the three major childhood cerebellar tumours, and to determine added value compared with standard reporting of conventional imaging. Single‐voxel MRS (1.5 T, PRESS, TE 30 ms, TR 1500 ms, spectral resolution 1 Hz/point) was acquired prospectively on 39 consecutive cerebellar tumours with histopathological diagnoses of pilocytic astrocytoma, ependymoma or medulloblastoma. Spectra were analysed with LCModel and predefined quality control criteria were applied, leaving 33 cases in the analysis. The MRS diagnostic classifier was applied to this dataset. A retrospective analysis was subsequently undertaken by three radiologists, blind to histopathological diagnosis, to determine the change in diagnostic certainty when sequentially viewing conventional imaging, MRS and a decision support tool, based on the classifier. The overall classifier accuracy, evaluated prospectively, was 91%. Incorrectly classified cases, two anaplastic ependymomas, and a rare histological variant of medulloblastoma, were not well represented in the original training set. On retrospective review of conventional MRI, MRS and the classifier result, all radiologists showed a significant increase (Wilcoxon signed rank test, p < 0.001) in their certainty of the correct diagnosis, between viewing the conventional imaging and MRS with the decision support system. It was concluded that MRS can aid the noninvasive diagnosis of posterior fossa tumours in children, and that a decision support classifier helps in MRS interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic photovoltaic solar cells are being designed to offer a low energy photovoltaic (PV) solution. Optimizing the molecular backbone is one the most important technique for improving the photovoltaic characteristic of A‐D‐A type small active layer molecules. Herein, we have designed and theoretical characterized six new molecules by end‐capped and bridging core modifications of recently synthesized molecule BFHIC‐4F. Enhancement in photovoltaic, optoelectronic and physio‐chemical properties of newly designed molecules are seen by doing such modifications. Different advanced quantum chemical techniques have been employed to evaluate the performance of newly planned molecules. Large open circuit voltage and narrow band gap suggested that the designed molecules are efficient aspirants for solar cell applications. Moreover, maximum absorption capability in near‐infra‐red (NIR) region is observed for these newly designed molecules. To sum up, outcomes of all analyses advocated that the designed molecules are efficient candidates for solar cell applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Aims: Public health measures introduced to limit transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), also disrupted various healthcare services in many regions worldwide, including British Columbia (BC), Canada. We assessed the impact of these measures, first introduced in BC in March 2020, on hepatitis C (HCV) testing and first‐time HCV‐positive diagnoses within the province. Methods: De‐identified HCV testing data for BC residents were obtained from the provincial Public Health Laboratory. Weekly changes in anti‐HCV, HCV RNA and genotype testing episodes and first‐time HCV‐positive (anti‐HCV/RNA/genotype) diagnoses from January 2018 to December 2020 were assessed and associations were determined using segmented regression models examining rates before vs after calendar week 12 of 2020, when measures were introduced. Results: Average weekly HCV testing and first‐time HCV‐positive diagnosis rates fell immediately following the imposition of public health measures by 62.3 per 100 000 population and 2.9 episodes per 1 000 000 population, respectively (P <.0001 for both), and recovered in subsequent weeks to near pre‐March 2020 levels. Average weekly anti‐HCV positivity rates decreased steadily pre‐restrictions and this trend remained unchanged afterwards. Conclusions: Reductions in HCV testing and first‐time HCV‐positive diagnosis rates, key drivers of progression along the HCV care cascade, occurred following the introduction of COVID‐19‐related public health measures. Further assessment will be required to better understand the full impact of these service disruptions on the HCV care cascade and to inform strategies for the re‐engagement of people who may have been lost to care because of these measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polystyrene (PS) was blended with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and silver sulfadiazine (SS) with different weight proportions to form polymeric blends. These synthesized blends were preliminary characterized in terms of functional groups through the FTIR technique. All compositions were subjected to thermogravimetric analysis for studying thermal transition and were founded thermally stable even at 280°C. The zeta potential and average diameter of algal strains of Dictyosphaerium sp. (DHM1), Dictyosphaerium sp. (DHM2), and Pectinodesmus sp. (PHM3) were measured to be -32.7 mV, -33.0 mV, and -25.7 mV and 179.6 nm, 102.6 nm, and 70.4 nm, respectively. Upon incorporation of PEG and SS into PS blends, contact angles were decreased while hydrophilicity and surface energy were increased. However, increase of surface energy did not led to decrease of antialgal activities. This has indicated that biofilm adhesion is not a major antialgal factor in these blended materials. The synergetic effect of PEG and SS in PS blends has exhibited significant antialgal activity via the agar disk diffusion method. The PSPS10 composition with 10 w / w % PEG and 10 w / w % SS has exhibited highest inhibition zones 10.8 mm, 10.8 mm, and 11.3 mm against algal strains DHM1, DHM2, and DHM3, respectively. This thermally stable polystyrene blends with improved antialgal properties have potential for a wide range of applications including marine coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most high‐risk and grievous tumour in the brain that causes the death of more than 50% of the patients within one to 2 years after diagnosis. Accurate detection and prognosis of this disease are critical to provide essential guidelines for treatment planning. This study proposed using a deep learning‐based network for the GBM segmentation and radiomic features for the patient's overall survival (OS) time prediction. The segmentation model used in this study was a modified U‐Net‐based deep 3D multi‐level dilated convolutional neural network. It uses multiple kernels of altered sizes to capture contextual information at different levels. The proposed scheme for OS time prediction overcomes the problem of information loss caused by the derivation of features in a single view due to the variation in the neighbouring pixels of the tumorous region. The selected features were based on texture, shape, and volume. These features were computed from the segmented components of tumour in axial, coronal, and sagittal views of magnetic resonance imaging slices. The proposed models were trained and evaluated on the BraTS 2019 dataset. Experimental results of OS time prediction on the validation data have showed an accuracy of 48.3%, with the mean squared error of 92 599.598. On the validation data, the segmentation model achieved a mean dice similarity coefficient of 0.75, 0.89, and 0.80 for enhancing tumour, whole tumour, and tumour core, respectively. Future work is warranted to improve the overall performance of OS time prediction based on the findings in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]