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Food products of animal origin which are free from biological and chemical contamination are an absolute requirement of food safety. Antibiotics residues in the food of animal origin is one of the chemical contaminants in food are harmful/hazardous to human health. Tetracycline is an antibiotic that is often used in the fishing industry. The study aims to detect the occurrence of tetracycline residues in tilapia sold in traditional markets in Kota Yogyakarta. The research was conducted with detection test (detect disease). The study used 61 samples of tilapia fish from 16 traditional markets in Kota Yogyakarta. Tilapia meat samples are prepared according to the Association of Official Analytical Chemistry (AOAC). The existence of tetracycline residues in meat can be detected by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Residue analysis in fish meat was conducted at the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Gadjah Mada University using HPLC Shimadzu version 6.1. The results showed that 24 samples of tilapia meat marketed in Kota Yogyakarta was positively contained tetracycline antibiotic residues. A total of 19 samples contained residues above maximum residue limits (MRL). The conclusion of the study is 31% of tilapia marketed in Kota Yogyakarta contains tetracycline residues above MRL. Surveillance of residues in food of animal origin and further research in terms of reducing antibiotic residue in tilapia meat is highly recommended to improve the quality and safety of food of animal origin.

The Cikapundung river basin community uses the Cibarani channel as a drainage system and water source for fishing. However, the test result released on 9th November 2020 revealed that the channel’s water quality failed to reach the class II raw water standards due to various domestic waste discharges. This led to the performance of various studies to identify pollution control techniques by limiting the wastewater discharge and quality, controlling the intake discharge, and using baffles. The Cibarani channel has a drop-structure that can improve the water quality, though the effect has not been previously detailed. Therefore, this study was intended to comprehensively examine the effect of the drop-structure along the Cibarani channel to improve water quality conditions, specifically the Dissolved Oxygen (DO) parameter. This study employed the one-dimensional HEC-RAS software to simulate the hydrodynamic and water quality conditions along the Cibarani channel, and the drop-structure was modelled using two alternatives consisting of a vertical wall and a steep riverbed. Subsequently, the drop-structure fitted with a vertical wall gave a more plausible reaeration rate of 125 day-1 and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) value of 0.50. The placement of a similar configuration before the first housing of the channel increased the DO concentrations by an average of 4.37 mg/L. This was followed by the modelling of another drop-structure after the first housing to increase the DO levels at the downstream part. Eventually, the combination of the two new drop-structures succeeded in increasing the DO concentrations along the Cibarani channel to 3.3 - 6.9 mg/L.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has recently become a trending tool and topic regarding productivity especially with publicly available free services such as ChatGPT and Bard. In this report, we investigate if two widely available chatbots chatGPT and Bard, are able to show consistent accurate responses for the best imaging modality for urologic clinical situations and if they are in line with American College of Radiology (ACR) Appropriateness Criteria (AC). All clinical scenarios provided by the ACR were inputted into ChatGPT and Bard with result compared to the ACR AC and recorded. Both chatbots had an appropriate imaging modality rate of of 62% and no significant difference in proportion of correct imaging modality was found overall between the two services (p>0.05). The results of our study found that both ChatGPT and Bard are similar in their ability to suggest the most appropriate imaging modality in a variety of urologic scenarios based on ACR AC criteria. Nonetheless, both chatbots lack consistent accuracy and further development is necessary for implementation in clinical settings. For proper use of these AI services in clinical decision making, further developments are needed to improve the workflow of physicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to practicing independently, radiology trainees spend considerable time and energy to learn and understand the practice of radiology. However, upon graduation trainees are often deficient in understanding the business of hospitals and the structure of reimbursement. Specifically, the workflow of relative value units (RVUs) and its impact on practice of radiology after completing training. In this manuscript, we provide a resource for trainees to understand the workflow of physician reimbursement. This article includes information on the mixed model healthcare structure of the United States and two government programs that influence reimbursement: Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRG) and Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) programs. Furthermore, we explain the method by which the Center of Medicare and Medicate Service's (CMS) reimburses physicians via the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) using the Resource Based Relative Value Scale. Understanding the structure of these payments along with the challenges and current landscape of radiology reimbursement will help new radiologists prior to seeking employment where reimbursements are integral to contract expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liver cancer is a complex disease that presents many challenges in its diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. It's mortality rate in the United States is a significant and warrants attention. To assess the trend of mortality rate due to HCC in the US from 1999 to 2020 by demographic groups for differences in trend of mortality. We used the CDC wonder database to collect mortality rate data due to HCC as a multiple cause of death in the US from 1999 to 2020 by sex, race, age, and state of residence. The SEER Joinpoint program was used to calculate trends, defined as average annual percent change (AAPC) and to identify disparities between groups. All age-adjusted rates (AAMR) are reported per 100,000. From 1999 to 2020, we found that women observed an uptrend (AAPC1.6%) and men observed a slightly higher uptrend in mortality (AAPC 1.8%). In addition, AI/AN population had a significant uptrend (AAPC 2.3%). The AAPI population observed a downtrend (AAPC -2.6%). The Black or African American population observed an uptrend (AAPC 1.8%) The white population also observed an uptrend (AAPC 2.2%). In the 2010 to 2020 time period, Mississippi had the lowest AAMR of any state with 15.2, while Hawaii had with the highest with 38.8. This investigation assesses mortality rates and trends due to HCC cancer in the US and found significant differences in mortality rates and mortality rate trends due to HCC by demographic status in the US. Addressing the disparities in HCC incidence and mortality by race, ethnicity, state, and region, as well as improving access to screening, surveillance, and effective treatments, can reduce the burden of HCC and improve outcomes for patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tansen Sen and Brian Tsui (Eds.), Beyond Pan-Asianism: Connecting China and India, 1840s–1960s (Oxford University Press, 2021), pp. 489, ₹433.92. ISBN: 978-0-19-012911-8 (Hardcover). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1 July and 30 September 2018, small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS), tethered balloon systems (TBSs), and additional radiosondes were deployed at Oliktok Point, Alaska, to measure the atmosphere in support of the second special observing period for the Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP). These measurements, collected as part of the Profiling at Oliktok Point to Enhance YOPP Experiments (POPEYE) campaign, targeted quantities related to enhancing our understanding of boundary layer structure, cloud and aerosol properties and surface–atmosphere exchange and providing extra information for model evaluation and improvement work. Over the 3-month campaign, a total of 59 DataHawk2 sUAS flights, 52 TBS flights, and 238 radiosonde launches were completed as part of POPEYE. The data from these coordinated activities provide a comprehensive three-dimensional data set of the atmospheric state (air temperature, humidity, pressure, and wind), surface skin temperature, aerosol properties, and cloud microphysical information over Oliktok Point. These data sets have been checked for quality and submitted to the US Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program data archive (http://www.archive.arm.gov/discovery/, last access: July 2019) and are accessible at no cost by all registered users. The primary dataset DOIs are https://doi.org/10.5439/1418259 (DataHawk2 measurements; Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program, 2016), https://doi.org/10.5439/1426242 (TBS measurements; Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program, 2017) and https://doi.org/10.5439/1021460 (radiosonde measurements; Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program, 2013a).

Background: The diagnosis of multidrug resistant and extensively drug resistant tuberculosis is a global health priority. Whole genome sequencing of clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates promises to circumvent the long wait times and limited scope of conventional phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility, but gaps remain for predicting phenotype accurately from genotypic data especially for certain drugs. Our primary aim was to perform an exploration of statistical learning algorithms and genetic predictor sets using a rich dataset to build a high performing and fast predicting model to detect anti-tuberculosis drug resistance. Methods: We collected targeted or whole genome sequencing and conventional drug resistance phenotyping data from 3601 Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains enriched for resistance to first- and second-line drugs, with 1228 multidrug resistant strains. We investigated the utility of (1) rare variants and variants known to be determinants of resistance for at least one drug and (2) machine and statistical learning architectures in predicting phenotypic drug resistance to 10 anti-tuberculosis drugs. Specifically, we investigated multitask and single task wide and deep neural networks, a multilayer perceptron, regularized logistic regression, and random forest classifiers. Findings: The highest performing machine and statistical learning methods included both rare variants and those known to be causal of resistance for at least one drug. Both simpler L2 penalized regression and complex machine learning models had high predictive performance. The average AUCs for our highest performing model was 0.979 for first-line drugs and 0.936 for second-line drugs during repeated cross-validation. On an independent validation set, the highest performing model showed average AUCs, sensitivities, and specificities, respectively, of 0.937, 87.9%, and 92.7% for first-line drugs and 0.891, 82.0% and 90.1% for second-line drugs. Our method outperforms existing approaches based on direct association, with increased sum of sensitivity and specificity of 11.7% on first line drugs and 3.2% on second line drugs. Our method has higher predictive performance compared to previously reported machine learning models during cross-validation, with higher AUCs for 8 of 10 drugs. Interpretation: Statistical models, especially those that are trained using both frequent and less frequent variants, significantly improve the accuracy of resistance prediction and hold promise in bringing sequencing technologies closer to the bedside. Keywords: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Multidrug-resistance, Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, Machine learning, Genome sequencing

Abstract VHF band stratosphere/troposphere (ST) radars around the globe are seldom operated in range-imaging mode. As such, the typical range resolution of their backscatter images is about 150 m. The only exception is the Kyoto University’s Middle and Upper Atmosphere (MU) radar in Shigaraki, Japan. Range imaging using frequency diversity was implemented there in 2005 and has often been used since then. During the Shigaraki UAV Radar Experiment (ShUREX) campaigns in the spring/summers of 2015, 2016, and 2017, the MU radar was operated in range-imaging mode to provide a range resolution of typically 20 m, for good signal to noise (SNR) ratios. The resulting Capon backscatter images revealed a variety of atmospheric structures in the moist troposphere in great detail. They were also quite useful in deploying in situ sensors on board unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to probe such structures in near real time guided by the images. The goal of this paper is to present and discuss some such structures of interest to atmospheric dynamics collectively, to provide an overarching view. They include Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) billows generated by shear instability, mid-level cloud-base turbulence (MCT) layers generated by convective instability in a moist troposphere, convective boundary layer (CBL), and sheet and layer (S&L) structures in a stably stratified atmospheric column. Videos of radar images collected during the 2015 and 2016 campaigns are included as Additional files 1, 2 and 3 with a brief explanatory text as Additional file 4 to demonstrate the fascinating, ever-changing evolution of atmospheric structures over the MU radar.

Abstract We tested models commonly used for estimating turbulence kinetic energy dissipation rates $$\varepsilon$$ ε from very high frequency stratosphere–troposphere radar data. These models relate the root-mean-square value $$\sigma$$ σ of radial velocity fluctuations assessed from radar Doppler spectra to $$\varepsilon$$ ε . For this purpose, we used data collected from the middle and upper atmosphere (MU) radar during the Shigaraki unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)—radar experiment campaigns carried out at the Shigaraki MU Observatory, Japan, in June 2016 and 2017. On these occasions, UAVs equipped with fast-response and low-noise Pitot tube sensors for turbulence measurements were operated in the immediate vicinity of the MU radar. Radar-derived dissipation rates $$\varepsilon$$ ε estimated from the various models at a range resolution of 150 m from the altitude of 1.345 km up to the altitude of ~ 4.0 km, a (half width half power) beam aperture of 1.32° and a time resolution of 24.6 s, were compared to dissipation rates ($$\varepsilon_{U}$$ εU ) directly obtained from relative wind speed spectra inferred from UAV measurements. Firstly, statistical analysis results revealed a very close relationship between enhancements of $$\sigma$$ σ and $$\varepsilon_{U}$$ εU for $$\varepsilon_{U} \,{ \gtrsim }\,10^{ - 5} \,{\text{m}}^{2} \,{\text{s}}^{ - 3}$$ εU≳10-5m2s-3 , indicating that both instruments detected the same turbulent events with $$\varepsilon_{U}$$ εU above this threshold. Secondly, $$\varepsilon_{U}$$ εU was found to be statistically proportional to $$\sigma^{3}$$ σ3 , whereas a $$\sigma^{2}$$ σ2 dependence is expected when the size of the largest turbulent eddies is smaller than the longitudinal and transverse dimensions of the radar sampling volume. The $$\sigma^{3}$$ σ3 dependence was found even after excluding convectively generated turbulence in the planetary boundary layer and below clouds. The best agreement between $$\varepsilon_{U}$$ εU and radar-derived $$\varepsilon$$ ε was obtained with the simple formulation based on dimensional analysis $$\varepsilon = \sigma^{3} /L_{c}$$ ε=σ3/Lc where L C ≈ 50–70 m. This empirical expression constitutes a simple way to estimate dissipation rates in the lower troposphere from MU radar data whatever the sources of turbulence be, in clear air or cloudy conditions, consistent with UAV estimates.

The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of foot revascularization in persons with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) and below-the-ankle (BTA) arterial disease. Consecutive patients referred for a new active ischaemic DFU requiring lower limb revascularization were considered. Among those, only patients with a BTA arterial disease were included. Revascularization procedures were retrospectively analysed: in the case of successful foot revascularization (recanalization of pedal artery, or plantar arteries or both) or not, patients were respectively divided in two groups, successful foot perfusion (SFP) and failed foot perfusion (FFP). Healing, minor and major amputation at 12 months of follow-up were evaluated and compared. Eighty patients (80) were included. The mean age was 70.5 ± 10.9 years, 55 (68.7%) were male, 72 (90%) were affected by type 2 diabetes with a mean duration of 22.7 ± 11.3 years. Overall 45 (56.2%) patients healed, 47 (58.7%) had minor amputation and 13 (16.2%) major amputation. Outcomes for SFP and FFP were respectively: healing (89.3 vs. 9.1%, p < 0.0001), minor amputation (44.7 vs. 78.8%, p = 0.0001), major amputation (2.1 vs. 36.3%, p < 0.0001). Failed foot revascularization resulted an independent predictor of non-healing, minor amputation, and major amputation. Foot revascularization is mandatory to achieve healing and avoid major amputation in persons with ischaemic DFU and BTA arterial disease.

Tansen Sen and Brian Tsui (eds.), Beyond Pan-Asianism: Connecting China and India, 1840s–1960s (India: Oxford University Press, 2021), pp. 489, ₹899. ISBN 9780190129118 (Hardcover). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Physician Payments Sunshine Act 2010 (PPSA) mandates that all industry payments to physicians be publicly recorded in order to increase transparency of industry-physician relationships. To assess industry relationships with diagnostic radiologists (DR), and to compare these relationships with those of oncology, a more directly medicine related field. We queried the Open payments database to collect industry payments data for both DR and oncology. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS software, significance is set at P < 0.05. We found that from 2012 to 2020, a total of 178,957 industry payments to DR were made via cash in-kind items and services. The average value of a cash payment was $1529, and $223 for in-kind. In addition, we found that pharmaceutical industries contribute a large portion of industry payments to DR, with the top 3 payors being Merk Sharp and Dohme Corporation followed by Hologic and Pfizer. When comparing payments between DR and oncology, the latter received more total payments for each year until 2019, where after DR physicians began to receive more total value in payments. In addition, DR physicians received on average a 10 times greater payment per transaction. From 2012 to 2021, DR physicians have had a stable trend of number of payments received, but an increase in average value per payment. From 2019 to 2021, oncologists have observed a downtrend in total value of payments, while DR physicians are observing a steep uptrend. This investigation assesses industry payments to DR physicians with context added from those of oncology. The results show that pharmaceutical industry payors are significantly involved in radiology and DR physicians are receiving greater value of payments from industry sponsors. By increasing transparency of industry relationships and understanding the nature of these relationships, the impact of industry on patient care can be better understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Variable rates of HPV infection have been reported in healthy oral mucosa worldwide. The main objective of this study was to detect and genotype HPV infection in users and nonusers of drugs with clinically healthy mucosa from the Northeast Brazil. Samples from 105 patients were amplified using the primers MY09/MY11 and GP5+/GP6+, and genotyping was performed by multiplex-PCR for HPV-6/11, 16 and 18. A total of 81.9% samples were positive. Among drug users, 84.5% presented the virus and 20.4% showed multiple infections. Among non-drug users, 78.7% were positive and 13.5% had multiple infections. Limited information is available on oral HPV in Brazilian population, especially for drug users, and our results showed higher HPV infection rates in both users and nonusers of drugs. More studies and researches focused on drug users including factors like sexual behavior, nutrition and cultural habits are necessary to enhance the comprehension of this relationship, and develop preventive strategies.

This paper introduces a new simple approach for dam-break hazard mapping in a data-sparse region. A hypothetical breaching case of an earthen dam, i.e., the Ketro Dam in Central Java, (Indonesia) was considered. Open-access hydrological databases, i.e., TRMM and CHIRPS, were collected and compared with the rainfall ground station data to ensure data quality. Additionally, the 3-h rainfall distribution of the TRMM database was employed and validated with the measured data to establish the 24-h rainfall distribution of the probable maximum precipitation. The probable maximum flood discharge was computed with the SCS method, and the reservoir routing computation was conducted to determine the possible breaching mechanisms. The result shows that the Ketro Dam proves safe against overtopping, and thus only the piping mechanism has been taken into consideration. Using the breaching hydrograph, the open-access Digital Elevation Model MERIT Hydro, and the high-performance shallow water model NUFSAW2D, the flood propagation to the downstream part of the dam was simulated, enabling fast computations for different scenarios. The quantification of the susceptibility rate of urban areas was eased with overlay analysis utilizing InaSAFE, a plugin for the QGIS model. This study shows that even for a data-sparse region, the recent open-access databases in terms of hydrological and hydraulic aspects may be used to generate a dam-break hazard map. This will benefit the related stakeholders to take proper action to reduce the loss of life.

In this modern era, the natural fibers usage in automobile and construction sectors has been increased. The goal of the current work was to investigate the fiber orientation effect on dynamic mechanical properties of hybrid Pineapple Leaf Fibre (PALF) hybridized with basalt reinforced epoxy composite at changing vibration frequencies. Hand Lay-up technique was used to manufacture the composites by keeping the unidirectional basalt fabric as an outer layer by keeping PALF as inner layer followed by static compression method. Tensile and flexural moduli were also determined apart from storage modulus ( E ′) and damping factor (tan δ ) for different PALF fiber angles. The results exemplified that not only the storage modulus and loss factor but also glass transition temperature ( Tg ) as well found to increase with frequency and also the fiber orientation angle has a greater impact on dynamic and static properties.

A closed-form analytical model is developed for estimating the 3D boundary-layer-displacement thickness of an internal flow system at the Sanal flow choking condition for adiabatic flows obeying the physics of compressible viscous fluids. At this unique condition the boundary-layer blockage induced fluid-throat choking and the adiabatic wall-friction persuaded flow choking occur at a single sonic-fluid-throat location. The beauty and novelty of this model is that without missing the flow physics we could predict the exact boundary-layer blockage of both 2D and 3D cases at the sonic-fluid-throat from the known values of the inlet Mach number, the adiabatic index of the gas and the inlet port diameter of the internal flow system. We found that the 3D blockage factor is 47.33 % lower than the 2D blockage factor with air as the working fluid. We concluded that the exact prediction of the boundary-layer-displacement thickness at the sonic-fluid-throat provides a means to correctly pinpoint the causes of errors of the viscous flow solvers. The methodology presented herein with state-of-the-art will play pivotal roles in future physical and biological sciences for a credible verification, calibration and validation of various viscous flow solvers for high-fidelity 2D/3D numerical simulations of real-world flows. Furthermore, our closed-form analytical model will be useful for the solid and hybrid rocket designers for the grain-port-geometry optimization of new generation single-stage-to-orbit dual-thrust-motors with the highest promising propellant loading density within the given envelope without manifestation of the Sanal flow choking leading to possible shock waves causing catastrophic failures.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of temporal variability on the optimization of the Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavedlning (HBV) model, as well as the calibration performance using manual optimization and average parameter values. By applying the HBV model to the Jiangwan Catchment, whose geological features include lots of cracks and gaps, simulations under various schemes were developed: short, medium-length, and long temporal calibrations. The results show that, with long temporal calibration, the objective function values of the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient (NSE), relative error (RE), root mean square error (RMSE), and high flow ratio generally deliver a preferable simulation. Although NSE and RMSE are relatively stable with different temporal scales, significant improvements to RE and the high flow ratio are seen with longer temporal calibration. It is also noted that use of average parameter values does not lead to better simulation results compared with manual optimization. With medium-length temporal calibration, manual optimization delivers the best simulation results, with NSE, RE, RMSE, and the high flow ratio being 0.563 6, 0.122 3, 0.978 8, and 0.854 7, respectively; and calibration using average parameter values delivers NSE, RE, RMSE, and the high flow ratio of 0.481 1, 0.467 6, 1.021 0, and 2.784 0, respectively. Similar behavior is found with long temporal calibration, when NSE, RE, RMSE, and the high flow ratio using manual optimization are 0.525 3, −0.069 2, 1.058 0, and 0.980 0, respectively, as compared with 0.490 3, 0.224 8, 1.096 2, and 0.547 9, respectively, using average parameter values. This study shows that selection of longer periods of temporal calibration in hydrological analysis delivers better simulation in general for water balance analysis.

Small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) are rapidly transforming atmospheric research. With the advancement of the development and application of these systems, improving knowledge of best practices for accurate measurement is critical for achieving scientific goals. We present results from an intercomparison of atmospheric measurement data from the Lower Atmospheric Process Studies at Elevation—a Remotely piloted Aircraft Team Experiment (LAPSE-RATE) field campaign. We evaluate a total of 38 individual sUAS with 23 unique sensor and platform configurations using a meteorological tower for reference measurements. We assess precision, bias, and time response of sUAS measurements of temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed, and wind direction. Most sUAS measurements show broad agreement with the reference, particularly temperature and wind speed, with mean value differences of 1.6 ± 2.6 ∘ C and 0.22 ± 0.59 m/s for all sUAS, respectively. sUAS platform and sensor configurations were found to contribute significantly to measurement accuracy. Sensor configurations, which included proper aspiration and radiation shielding of sensors, were found to provide the most accurate thermodynamic measurements (temperature and relative humidity), whereas sonic anemometers on multirotor platforms provided the most accurate wind measurements (horizontal speed and direction). We contribute both a characterization and assessment of sUAS for measuring atmospheric parameters, and identify important challenges and opportunities for improving scientific measurements with sUAS.

In this paper a compact Ultra Wide Band filter with notch at WLAN frequency is designed. The filter is a designed using coupled lines arranged in inter digital capacitor form. The filter is designed to allow microwave signals in the range of 2GHz to 7GHz with a notch at 5GHz. The measured results show the notch at 5GHz with transmission coefficient of -14dB. With uniform group delay in pass band and nonlinear group delay at notch frequency.

Dysphagia, or a disorder of swallowing, is very common and is reported in 1 out of 25 adults with approximately 1 million new cases per year in the United States alone. This also disproportionately impacts elderly patients, with a prevalence of 17%. Patients with dysphagia may have severe clinical complications such as starvation, dehydration, and airway obstruction- which may further increase mortality. Hence, timely and accurate diagnosis of dysphagia is hence crucial in management considerations. The gold standard for evaluating and diagnosing dysphagia is a modified barium swallow study (MBSS). The study is typically performed as a collaborative effort between a speech language pathologist (SLP) and a radiologist, who bring their individual skill sets to the table. Current MBSS reporting involves separately dictated and interpreted reports from the SLP and radiologist. In this paper, we elucidate our experience in a multi-institutional healthcare system wherein we have devised a single, integrated report for MBSS, which involves collaborative effort between SLP and the radiologist. We weight the advantages and disadvantages of unified reporting, the challenges of implementing it in a large healthcare system, and note how it can help improve efficiency and deliver unified patient care. We hope that this would be a template for other institutions as well as improve standardization of reporting techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was undertaken to evaluate the prophylactic potential of proteoglycan (PG) administration in experimental arthritis. Female BALB/c retired breeder mice received two (2xPG50 and 2xPG100 groups) or three (3xPG50 group) intraperitoneal doses of bovine PG (50 μg or 100 μg) every three days. A week later the animals were submitted to arthritis induction by immunization with three i.p. doses of bovine PG associated with dimethyldioctadecylammonium bromide adjuvant at intervals of 21 days. Disease severity was daily assessed after the third dose by score evaluation. The 3xPG50 group showed significant reduction in prevalence and clinical scores. This protective effect was associated with lower production of IFN-γ and IL-17 and increased production of IL-5 and IL-10 by spleen cells restimulated in vitro with PG. Even though previous PG administration restrained dendritic cells maturation this procedure did not alter the frequency of regulatory Foxp3+ T cells. Lower TNF-α and IL-6 levels and higher expression of ROR-γ and GATA-3 were detected in the paws of protected animals. A delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction confirmed specific tolerance induction. Taken together, these results indicate that previous PG inoculation determines a specific tolerogenic effect that is able to decrease severity of subsequently induced arthritis.

Phosphorus is one of the most important nutrients required to support various kinds of biodegradation processes. As this particular nutrient is not included in the activated sludge model no. 1 (ASM1), this study extended this model in order to determine the fate of phosphorus during the biodegradation processes. When some of the kinetics parameters are modified using observed data from the restoration project of the Xuxi River in Wuxi City, China, from August 25 to 31 in 2009, the extended model shows excellent results. In order to obtain optimum values of coefficients of nitrogen and phosphorus, the mass fraction method was used to ensure that the final results were reasonable and practically relevant. The temporal distribution of the data calculated with the extended ASM1 approximates that of the observed data.

Este estudo teve como objetivo descrever a população de profissionais do sexo, considerando características sociodemográficas, antecedentes gineco-obstétricos e comportamentais, e verificar a associação com a presença de doença sexualmente transmissível. Trata-se de estudo epidemiológico e transversal, realizado com 102 mulheres profissionais do sexo. Os dados foram obtidos por meio de entrevista e exames padrão-ouro para diagnóstico das doenças de interesse. A média de idade das mulheres foi de 26,1 anos, sendo que a maioria tinha nove ou mais anos de aprovação escolar, era solteira e teve coitarca antes dos 15 anos. A prática de sexo oral nos parceiros foi citada por 90,2% das mulheres, 99% delas relataram fazer uso de preservativo no trabalho, apenas 26,3% com parceiros fixos e 42,2% usavam drogas ilícitas. Não houve associação entre fatores sociodemográficos, antecedentes gineco-obstétricos e fatores comportamentais com presença de doença sexualmente transmissível e isso pode ser decorrente da escolaridade e do fato da população estudada possuir características muito semelhantes, dificultando o aparecimento de tais associações.

Free flap procedure provides an overall success rate of 97%, which decreases to 85% in hypercoagulable states. COVID-19, as a pro-thrombotic disorder, therefore seems detrimental to free flap survival. We encountered a case of unique pattern of free flap partial failure in a young male who underwent extremity reconstruction. The patient was diagnosed as COVID-19 positive on the 3rd day post-reconstruction. The flap survived well for the first 7 days post-operatively, but gradually the skin got necrosed and the subcutaneous fat layer was preserved when debriding. To our knowledge, this is the only case in which the skin of the free flap of a COVID-19 positive patient was necrosed almost entirely subsequently, while the subcutaneous fat was relatively preserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harvesting energy from ambient sources has been a recent topic of interest. A typical linear harvester is effective only near resonance, limiting its frequency bandwidth. In order to increase the efficiency and bandwidth of harvesters, various strategies have been proposed. Using multiple harvesters in a single device can harvest enough power over wider frequency band. In the present work, the effect of torsional coupling of the harvesters for low frequency vibration energy harvesting is investigated. Two pendulums with electromagnetic induction as the energy conversion mechanism is proposed. The performance of the device is studied theoretically and numerically. Cubic polynomials are used to model the pendulum nonlinearity. Fundamental harmonic oscillation are assumed to obtain the analytical solution. The effect of torsional coupling and pendulum length on the power harvested are reported.

Campylobacter spp cause infection in human in the form of gastroenteritis and Guillain-Barre syndrome.Campylobacter jejuni is one of Campylobacter spp responsible for about 90% of cases of Campylobacteriosisin human with gastroenteritis. Efforts to prevent the incidence of Campylobacteriosis in humans should bestarted with an assessment on its level of poultry. This study aims to develop a diagnostic test for C. jejunion chicken using immunochromatographic serological method. Stages of the research consist of thepreparation of test card, antigen preparation, optimization of the antigen and serum. The results showedthat immmunochromatographic card can distinguish infected serum from the uninfected.The minimumamount of antigen was found to be 1,5 ng/µl. It needs 10 µl serum to perform the test properly.

The incidence of transuterine perforation and migration of intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUCDs) into the abdominal cavity has been estimated at less than 0.1%. It has been suggested that intraperitoneal IUCD have low morbidity and may be left in situ. We report the first case of closed loop small bowel obstruction due to migration of a “Saf-T-Coil” IUCD into the abdominal cavity, where it became embedded in the omentum and ultimately, 31 years after deployment, coiled both arms around a loop of ileum. This late complication underlines the dangers of intra-abdominal foreign bodies, even when chemically and biologically inert.

The peril of incorrect diagnostic labelling is highlighted by this case of acute respiratory distress caused by a retrosternal recurrent goitre. An initial clinical diagnosis which cannot be fully validated on investigation with unexpected or poor response to treatment should prompt consideration and investigation for an alternative explanation.

Abstract Introduction Acute compartment syndrome is a surgical emergency requiring immediate fasciotomy. Spontaneous onset of acute compartment syndrome of the lower limbs is rare. We present a very rare case of pneumococcal sepsis leading to spontaneous acute compartment syndrome. Case presentation A 40-year-old Caucasian man presented as an emergency with spontaneous onset of pain in both legs and signs of compartment syndrome. This was confirmed on fasciotomy. Blood culture grew Streptococcus pneumoniae. Conclusion Sepsis should be strongly suspected in bilateral acute compartment syndrome of spontaneous onset.