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Abstract Background Gallstones are abnormal lumps in the gallbladder or biliary tract due impaired cholesterol, bilirubin, or bile salt metabolism. The Adenosine triphosphate binding cassette transporter genes G5 and G8 (ABCG5, ABCG8) are two half transporters which work together as a heterodimer to regulate cholesterol levels in bile, and any alterations in their function can contribute to gallstone formation. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the association between three specific polymorphisms—ABCG5 i7892T > C, ABCG5 Q604E, and ABCG8 D19H—and the risk of gallstone disease (GSD) in Egyptian females. These polymorphisms result from nucleotide substitutions in the gene sequences, which affect the transporter’s ability to efficiently regulate cholesterol secretion into the bile. This alteration can lead to cholesterol supersaturation in the bile, a key factor in the development of cholesterol gallstones. Additionally, the study aimed to examine the impact of these genetic variations on serum lipid profile to understand their role in modulating biochemical markers associated with GSD. Furthermore, the study sought to investigate haplotype patterns and explore their combined effects on disease susceptibility, providing deeper insight into the genetic factors that contribute to the development of GSD. Methods The study included 100 female patients diagnosed with gallstones and 100 healthy controls. Genotyping of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was performed using allelic discrimination pre-designed TaqMan polymerase chain reaction method. Various laboratory investigations were measured using enzymatic colorimetric methods, and hematology analyzer was used for the whole blood count test. Results Between patients with gallstone disease and healthy controls, there were statistically significant differences in the distribution of these genes polymorphisms. Q604E CC genotype (OR = 15.2; P = 0.004) and C allele (OR = 2; P = 0.007) in ABCG5 (rs6720173) as well as D19H GC genotype (OR = 2.9; P = 0.002) and C allele (OR = 2; P = 0.004) in ABCG8 (rs11887534) were significantly more frequent in gallstone patients. The CCC haplotype is a statistically significant predictor of GSD. Conclusions This study suggests that ABCG8 D19H (G/C) and ABCG5 Q604E (C/C) genotypes may play a significant role in GSD susceptibility among Egyptian females. Graphical abstract

In this paper, we start with a comprehensive evaluation of the effect of adding differential privacy (DP) to federated learning (FL) approaches, focusing on methodologies employing global (stochastic) gradient descent (SGD/GD), and local SGD/GD techniques. These global and local techniques are commonly referred to as FedSGD/FedGD and FedAvg, respectively. Our analysis reveals that, as far as only one local iteration is performed by each client before transmitting to the parameter server (PS) for FedGD, both FedGD and FedAvg achieve the same accuracy/loss for the same privacy guarantees, despite requiring different perturbation noise power. Furthermore, we propose a novel DP mechanism, which is shown to ensure privacy without compromising performance. In particular, we propose the sharing of a random seed (or a specified sequence of random seeds) among collaborative clients, where each client uses this seed to introduces perturbations to its updates prior to transmission to the PS. Importantly, due to the random seed sharing, clients possess the capability to negate the noise effects and recover their original global model. This mechanism preserves privacy both at a “curious” PS or at external eavesdroppers without compromising the performance of the final model at each client, thus mitigating the risk of inversion attacks aimed at retrieving (partially or fully) the clients’ data. Furthermore, the importance and effect of clipping in the practical implementation of DP mechanisms, in order to upper bound the perturbation noise, is discussed. Moreover, owing to the ability to cancel noise at individual clients, our proposed approach enables the introduction of arbitrarily high perturbation levels, and hence, clipping can be totally avoided, resulting in the same performance of noise-free standard FL approaches.

Differential privacy (DP) has been widely used in communication systems, especially those using federated learning or distributed computing. DP comes in the data preparation stage before line coding and transmission. In contrast to the literature where differential privacy is mainly discussed from the point of view of data/computer science, in this paper we approach DP from a perspective that provides a better understanding to the communications engineering community. From this perspective, we show the contrast between the MAP detection problem in communications and the DP problem. In this paper, we consider two DP mechanisms, namely, the Gaussian Mechanism (GM) and the Laplacian Mechanism (LM). We explain why the definition of $\epsilon$ -DP is associated with the LM, while we must resort to the definition of ( $\epsilon, \delta$ )-DP if the GM is used. Furthermore, we derive a new lower bound on the perturbation noise required for the GM to guarantee ( $\epsilon, \delta$ )-DP. Although no closed form is obtained for the new lower bound, a very simple one dimensional search algorithm can be used to achieve the lowest possible noise variance. Since the perturbation noise is known to negatively affect the performance of the data analysis (such as the convergence in federated learning), the new lower bound on the perturbation noise is expected to improve the performance over the classical GM. Moreover, we derive the perturbation noise required for both the LM and the GM in case of the adversary having auxiliary information in the form of the prior probabilities of the different databases. We show that the availability of auxiliary information at the adversary, is equivalent to reducing the tolerable privacy leakage, and hence it requires more perturbation noise. Finally, we analytically derive the border between the region where GM is better to use and the region where LM is better to use.

Objective: The aim of the research is to achieve Salkane style by localizing it in Army Iran. Methodology: in terms of type; developmental and from the perspective of future studies; Normative and in terms of method; descriptive and in terms of approach; It is qualitative. In this regard, VOSviewr software and a combination of future research methods, interviews with experts, expert panel and RAHS observation method were used. Findings: Destructive trendsetters; Because neglect, hypocrisy, piousness, envy, major and minor sins, plagues, intellectual preoccupations and other possible obstacles play a destructive role in refining the ego of a commander.Originality: in the school of the future maker of Shahid Sayad Shirazi; In addition to divine favors; The drivers of vigilance (yaqzah), repentance, following the pure revealed Sharia, patience, satisfaction and trust, are among the causes of the cause and the causes of the full stomach in order to reach the position of God's grace. Commanders in the future with scenarios; The religious command, the mujahidan command, the common command and the ignorant command will face each other.

The Xfinity Racing Series is an American stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. For the 2017 racing season, NASCAR introduced new regulations with the objective of creating a level playing field by reducing aerodynamic influence on vehicle performance. In this context, the primary objective of this work is to explore the differences in the aerodynamic performance between the 2016 and 2017 Toyota Camry Xfinity racecars using only open-source Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and CAE tools. During the CFD validation process, it was observed that none of the standard turbulence models, with default turbulence model closure coefficients, were able to provide racecar aerodynamic characteristics predictions with acceptable accuracy compared to experiments. This necessitated a fine-tuning of the closure coefficient numeric values. This work also demonstrates that it is possible to generate CFD predictions that are highly correlated with experimental measurements by modifying the closure coefficients of the standard k−ω SST turbulence model.

Introduction Previous population-based studies, mainly from high-income countries, have shown that a higher forced vital capacity (FVC) is associated with a lower risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the longitudinal association between spirometry measures and the onset of cardiometabolic diseases across sites in low-income, middle-income and high-income countries.Methods The study population comprised 5916 individuals from 15 countries participating in the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease baseline and follow-up assessments. Postbronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), FVC and FEV1/FVC were measured at baseline. Participants who reported having doctor-diagnosed hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and stroke at follow-up but not at baseline were considered new cases of these diseases. The association between lung function and the onset of participant-reported cardiometabolic diseases was assessed in each site using regression models, and estimates were combined using random effects meta-analysis. Models were adjusted for sex, age, smoking, body mass index and educational level.Results Participants with greater per cent predicted FVC were less likely to have new-onset diabetes (OR per 10%=0.91, 95% CI 0.84 to 0.99), heart disease (OR per 10%=0.86, 95% CI 0.80 to 0.92) and stroke (OR per 10%=0.81, 95% CI 0.73 to 0.89) during the follow-up period (mean±SD 9.5±3.6 years). A greater percentage of FEV1 was associated with a lower risk of onset of heart disease and stroke. No significant association was found between FEV1/FVC and onset of reported cardiometabolic diseases, except for a higher risk of diabetes (OR per 10%=1.21, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.35) in participants with higher FEV1/FVC.Conclusions The findings of this study suggest that a low FVC is more important than a low FEV1/FVC as a risk factor for developing cardiometabolic diseases. The value of including FVC in risk score models to improve their precision in predicting the onset of cardiometabolic diseases should be explored.

Emphysematous pyelonephritis is a necrotizing infection of the renal parenchyma by gas-forming organisms, with a risk of the gas extending into peri-nephric or para-renal spaces and in advanced cases, the involvement may be extensive and bilateral. It is a common complication in patients with long-term diabetes, primarily caused by Gram-negative organisms or, in some cases, anaerobes. The diagnosis of emphysematous pyelonephritis is made by clinical features and confirmed by computed tomography. Treatment is decided based on the computed tomography classification, with minimally invasive conservative techniques and antibiotic treatment before considering nephrectomy. We present a case of a 30-year-old women with an emphysematous pyelonephritis associated with pneumoperitonuem.

Abstract Little is known about the relative impact of lighting duration and light intensity on lettuce production, as well as whether daily light integrals (DLIs) play a significant role during different plant growth stages. Four DLIs were tested: 8.64, 11.52, 12.96, and 17.28 mol m−2 day−1 as supplemental lighting, which were obtained from a combination of supplemental light intensities at 200 and 300 µmol m−2 day−1 for 12 and 16 h. Sunlight was used as control. A direct correlation was observed between DLIs and yield, total fresh weight, and total dry weight. Under supplemental lighting, relative growth rate (RGR) increased due to an increase in net assimilation rate (NAR) rather than in leaf area ratio (LAR). Plants in the seedling stage were more sensitive to an elevation in DLI than in the head stage. This was confirmed by a greater increase in NAR compared to their corresponding control under the same DLI. Increasing DLI also improved lettuce quality via reducing nitrate and increasing protein content. Higher DLIs (12.96 and 17.28 mol m−2 day−1) led to a decrease in maximum quantum yield of photosystem II and an increase in performance index. In conclusion, manipulating RGR through NAR adjustments proved to be more effective than changes in LAR, and adjusting supplemental DLI at each stage was necessary to achieve a larger NAR and, consequently, a larger RGR.

AbstractCurrent structures of STEM graduate programs raise questions about addressing graduates’ interest in multiple career paths, and how programs prepare graduates for positions increasingly available in varied occupations. This problem is addressed through an innovative doctoral program in engineering, Pathways to Entrepreneurship (PAtENT), which works to develop a scalable alternative student-centered framework. This research explores how this program responds to calls for graduate STEM education to address changes in science and engineering, the nature of the workforce, career goals, and how program components build an entrepreneurial mindset. A mixed-methods design includes a curriculum analysis showing alignment of program components to recommendations for Ph.D. STEM programs from the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Direct measures include surveys and interviews developed for current doctoral students and faculty to describe students’ and faculty perspectives about program components, particularly entrepreneurship and the patent process. The curriculum analysis shows strong alignment of the PAtENT program components and activities to the ten elements of the National Academies’ recommendations. A survey of graduate students in engineering, computing, and business show strong measures in engineering and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Interviews of program participants and faculty demonstrate strong interest in patents and developing entrepreneurship. This innovative program in engineering focusing on obtaining a patent as a capstone shows potential to reform doctoral studies, so candidates are prepared not only for academic careers but a range of industry and government work environments. This work will lead to development of a model for other graduate STEM programs.

Background: Ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) causes cellular dysfunction and death in organs like the kidney, heart, and brain. It involves energy depletion during ischemia and oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis during reperfusion. Kidney IRI often leads to acute kidney injury (AKI) in various clinical scenarios. The omentum, an adipose tissue with healing properties, has been used to treat injuries in different organs. Objective: This study aimed to assess the omentum’s healing effects on reducing IRI’s adverse effects after renal ischemia in Wistar rats. Method: A total number of 36 male Wistar rats were used in a study on IRI-induced AKI. Rats were divided into 6 groups of normal kidneys wrapped with omentum “Sham-1” and “Sham-2,” ischemic kidney wrapped with omentum as “OMT-1” and “OMT-2,” and ischemic kidney without omentum as “Control-1” and “Control-2.” Ischemia was induced by clamping the left renal artery for 45 minutes. The omentum was transposed onto the injured kidney in “OMT” group. After sacrifice at weeks 4 and 8, kidney histology and blood samples were analyzed for kidney function markers. Results: On the first day after surgery, there was an immediate increase in creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels, which then decreased by day 28. Both OMT groups showed significantly lower levels of creatinine and BUN compared to Control groups on day 1, but after 28 days differences were not statistically significant. Histological analysis using H&E and Masson’s trichrome staining revealed significantly higher levels of inflammatory cell infiltration and hyperemia in the OMT groups. However, fibrosis and glomerular shrinkage were higher in the Control groups. Conclusion: Using an omental flap significantly prevented fibrosis within the renal parenchyma, slow down the AKI progression, and potentially serving as a promising therapeutic strategy for kidney dysfunction.

Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) models and workflows are often developed in an ad hoc manner, leading to a limited understanding of interaction effects and model behavior under various conditions. Machine learning (ML) and explainability tools can help CFD process development by providing a means to investigate the interactions in CFD models and pipelines. ML tools in CFD can facilitate the efficient development of new processes, the optimization of current models, and enhance the understanding of existing CFD methods. In this study, the turbulent closure coefficient tuning of the SST k−ω Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) turbulence model was selected as a case study. The objective was to demonstrate the efficacy of ML and explainability tools in enhancing CFD applications, particularly focusing on external aerodynamic workflows. Two variants of the Ahmed body model, with 25-degree and 40-degree slant angles, were chosen due to their availability and relevance as standard geometries for aerodynamic process validation. Shapley values, a concept derived from game theory, were used to elucidate the impact of varying the values of the closure coefficients on CFD predictions, chosen for their robustness in providing clear and interpretable insights into model behavior. Various ML algorithms, along with the SHAP method, were employed to efficiently explain the relationships between the closure coefficients and the flow profiles sampled around the models. The results indicated that model coefficient β* had the greatest overall effect on the lift and drag predictions. The ML explainer model and the generated explanations were used to create optimized closure coefficients, achieving an optimal set that reduced the error in lift and drag predictions to less than 7% and 0.5% for the 25-degree and 40-degree models, respectively.

This study aims to discover the perceptions of the critical success factors (CSFs) of the public and private sectors’ players that influence the implementation of public-private partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects in Bangladesh. Methods: A questionnaire survey was adopted to discover public and private sector players’ perceptions of the CSFs and success subfactors (SSF) of PPP projects. Based on the literature review, CSFs and SSFs were identified, and the agreement between respondents from the public and private sectors was tested. A total of 59 responses were collected and examined to reveal the perceived gaps between sectors and rank CSFs and SSFs. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used. The results show that the top-ranking factor was “economic viability”, followed by “appropriate risk allocation”, “sound financial packages”, “favorable investment environment”, and “reliable concessionaire”. It was also found that the perceptions of the public and private sectors were mixed. The key conclusion of this study is that the identified factors must be effectively addressed in order to develop consensus and engage relevant stakeholders in Bangladesh.

The main purpose of the study is to identify the thin-bed reservoirs of the Eastern Folded Belt (Sylhet and Bandarban) and characterize them with diligence. A detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis has been carried out. It is based on thin-section petrographic analyses of sandstone samples. These samples are from the reservoir horizons of the Sylhet region and Bandarban region fields. The purpose of this analysis is to characterize the textural and mineralogical properties. Additionally, it aims to evaluate the post-depositional diagenetic changes. The results obtained from the field and laboratory analysis are studied extensively to characterize the thin-bed reservoirs. Samples from the Sylhet area are medium-coarse-grained, fairly sorted, tight packing, submature-mature sublithic characteristics. Contrarily, samples from the Bandarban region are mature-submature sublithic arenites, which are fine-medium-grained, moderately well-sorted, and moderately loosely packed. Despite the similarity of the detrital elements (quartz, feldspar, lithic grains, mica, etc.) in the two areas, silica cementation is more frequent in Sylhet region samples than early carbonate cementation in Bandarban region samples. Comparatively speaking, the sediments in the Sylhet region are more compact than those in the Bandarban region. The most important outcome of this study is that the thin bed of the unconventional reservoir and the conventional reservoir are in close proximity. The Thin-bed reservoir units of the Eastern Folded Belt are found to be medium to fine-grained and well sorted, with frequent alteration of sand-shale with the prevalence of parallel bedded sandstone. Average porosity is 4% to 12%, and pore spaces are interconnected. So, the permeability rate is good enough to flow the hydrocarbon through these pore spaces. Most importantly, the thin bed and tight reservoir (average porosity 4% to 12%, but pore spaces are not interconnected) are not more prominent than 1 meter or 2 meters. Subsequently, though the vertical thickness is not so high, they keep up a momentous tirelessness of horizontal progression. On the contrary, at whatever point it comes to a conventional reservoir, the vertical thickness is higher than that of the unconventional reservoir. But their lateral persistence is not as long as unconventional ones.

A lucrative and delicious nonclimacteric tropical fruit, rambutan, has disadvantages of inadequate fruiting, low yield, and inferior edibility at farm level that need to be addressed. Moreover, unstable tropical temperatures and humidity threaten poor fruit set and insufficient rambutan yields. Therefore, the study revealed the effectiveness of gibberellic acid (GA3) on fruit set and retention, fruit size and yield, shelf life, and postharvest properties of rambutan under these atmospheric conditions. GA3 at concentrations of 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 ppm, apart from the control (without GA3), was applied to panicles twice in the early flowering and the early fruiting stages (thirty days after the first spraying). The results showed that maximum fruit set (223.2 per panicle), retention (13.2 per panicle, 5.9%), and yield (714.0 g per panicle) were obtained by GA3 treatment at 300 ppm. In addition to increasing fruit size (54.1 g) and pulp weight (31.3 g), GA3 at a dose of 300 ppm significantly reduced seed weight by 27.5% and increased the edible portion by 26.6% compared to the control. Notably, preharvest GA3 treatment increased TSS content (19.0%), total sugar (4.5%), and shelf life (11.5 days), while it decreased titratable acidity (0.4%) of rambutan. GA3 doses from 200 to 500 ppm had similar effects in terms of affecting the edible properties and shelf life of rambutan. However, fruit set, retention, and yield exhibited distinct dose-dependent responses, with 300 ppm being the best and 200 ppm consistent with the best, with some differences. Regression analysis showed a skewed curve explaining higher yield and better fruit quality at the medium GA3 treatment level (250–350 ppm). In comparison, lower (< 200 ppm) and higher (> 400 ppm) doses resulted in worse results in most cases. Therefore, regulated use of GA3 is necessary to improve rambutan yield and fruit quality.

This study investigates the quality of groundwater in Kuakata, a coastal area in southwestern Bangladesh, by analyzing the levels of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and chromium (Cr) in 50 groundwater samples. The concentrations of these heavy metals were determined using atomic absorption spectrometry. The results indicated that while cadmium was not detected, significant levels of lead and chromium exceeded recommended safety thresholds. The contamination was evaluated using several indices, including the heavy metal evaluation index (HEI), heavy metal pollution index (HPI), and degree of contamination (Cd). Health risk assessments for adults and children revealed potential non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks, particularly from lead. This study provides essential data to guide groundwater management and improve public health in the region. The groundwater samples contain traces of additional heavy metals including lead and chromium. The lead concentration ranges from 0.0003 to 0.1049 mg/L, while chromium ranges from 0.00074 to 0.1828 mg/L. The levels of certain substances in groundwater exceeded the maximum limit set by international and local health authorities for safe drinking water. Heavy metal evaluation index (HEI), along with the degree of contamination (Cd) and heavy metal pollution index (HPI), were used to assess the pollution load. The results of HEI and HPI revealed that a significant portion of the samples in the study area, specifically 34% and 38%, were found to be strongly and seriously affected, whereas 38% samples were within the highest values (>4) of Cd. Based on the hazard index (HI) and incremental lifetime cancer risk (ICLR) values, the deep groundwater in the coastal area presents a notable health risk to the local population, particularly children. This study provides essential data that can be used as a foundation for developing effective groundwater management strategies in the coastal region, with the ultimate goal of ensuring the availability of safe drinking water.

Objectives During the COVID-19 epidemic, due to the high risk associated with travel and group gatherings, the Ministry of Public Health in Qatar introduced home delivery of pharmaceutical services. This study aims to investigate the satisfaction and preferences of patients who used the new home delivery services provided by health centres (HCs).Study design A cross-sectional study was conducted using an exploratory questionnaire to assess patients’ preferences for pharmaceutical delivery services.Settings Primary care.Participants A convenient sample of 604 adults who used the pharmaceutical delivery services was recruited. The study tool measured satisfaction with a set of 11 service evaluation criteria on a Likert scale of 5 grades. The score ranged between 1 for highly dissatisfied and 5 for highly satisfied. A quantitative summary satisfaction score was calculated by summing the satisfaction rating for home delivery on the 11 service evaluation criteria. The final score was adjusted to a maximum of 100 for ease of understanding.Results Results showed that 45.5% of participants were highly satisfied with the overall quality of the home delivery service. Furthermore, 58.9% were willing to recommend the service to others, while only 30.9% considered the delivery cost to be reasonable. Among the factors associated with satisfaction was nationality, where Qatari nationals had a significantly higher mean satisfaction score (89%) compared with expatriates (79.5%).Outcome The satisfaction score exhibited a significant positive trend with age and educational level. Factors such as gender, the time required to access the HCs, frequency of requesting pharmacy service and income categories did not show a significant difference in the satisfaction score.Conclusion The home delivery service is a promising addition to primary care. It may play a crucial role in enhancing accessibility for the beneficiaries reducing unnecessary visits to HCs in the future.

Key Clinical Message Patients with a history of persistent mesenteric ischemia should not undergo laparoscopy. Mesenteric ischemia must be kept in mind for patients who develop nonspecific abdominal symptoms following laparoscopic surgeries. Abstract During laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), the rise in Intra‐Abdominal Pressure due to carbon dioxide insufflation can reduce blood flow through splanchnic vessels, potentially leading to intestinal ischemia. A 72‐year‐old woman with a history of diabetes, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and hyperlipidemia underwent LC. She was discharged but readmitted 4 days later due to peritonitis. Ischemic jejunum loops were found during surgery.