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Selecting a stable and high-yielding hybrid of maize requires an efficient method of evaluation. Evaluating hybrids in multi environments is crucial in breeding process to identify the optimal genotype adapted to different kind of environments. Two promising white grain three way crosses i.e. TWC-SK-330 and TWC-SK-331 and two promising yellow grain three way crosses TWC-Nub 8 and TWC-Nub 10 plus four commercial three way cross hybrids were assessed during Summer, 2021 in five different environments in Egypt, i.e. Sakha, Gemmiza, Nubaria, Sids and Mallawy laid out in a randomized complete block design. The data showed that environments (E), hybrids (H) and their interaction (HEI) mean squares were significant or highly significant for all the studied traits except (HEI) for 50% silking. E, H, HEI explained 86.41, 5.46 and 8.13 % of the total grain yield variations, respectively. The two promising white grained three way crosses, TWC-SK-330 and TWC-SK-331 recorded 9.03 and 9.07 t ha-1 of grain yield, respectively which exceeded insignificantly the two white checks TWC-321 and TWC-324 and showed stable by 7, 8 stability statistics, respectively. Therefore, these hybrids are considered as stable genotypes and high yielding.

Abstract The least action principle indicates that for the open spacetime manifolds, there are data on the boundary. Recently, it has been proposed that the data for the effective actions at order $$\alpha '$$ α ′ are the values of the massless fields and their first derivatives. These data should be respected by the T-duality transformations at order $$\alpha '$$ α ′ . Moreover, the T-duality transformations should not change the unit vector to the boundary which in turns implies that the base space metric should be also invariant. Assuming such restricted T-duality transformations, we show that the transformation of the circular reduction of the parity-odd part of the effective action of the heterotic string theory at order $$\alpha '$$ α ′ under the Buscher rules is cancelled by some total derivative terms and by some restricted T-duality transformations at order $$\alpha '$$ α ′ . Using the Stokes’ theorem, we then show that the boundary terms in the base space corresponding to the total derivative terms are exactly cancelled by transformation of the circular reduction of the Gibbons–Hawking boundary term under the above restricted T-duality transformations. These calculations confirm the above proposal for the data on the boundary for the effective actions at order $$\alpha '$$ α ′ .

Abstract Background Acute deterioration describes a rapid change in physical and/or mental health resulting from an acute illness – e.g., heart attack or infection. Older people in care homes are some of the frailest and vulnerable in society. They have complex health needs, experience multiple long-term conditions (MLTC) and have weakened immune systems due to the ageing process. They are more susceptible to acute deterioration and delayed recognition and response, is linked to poorer health outcomes, adverse events and death. Over the past five years, the need to manage acute deterioration in care homes and prevent hospital admissions has led to development and implementation of improvement projects, including the use of hospital derived practices and tools to identify and manage this condition. This is potentially problematic as care homes are different from hospitals—options to escalate care vary throughout the UK. Further, hospital tools have not been validated for use in care homes and have shown to be less sensitive in older adults living with frailty. Objectives To collate the available evidence on how care home workers recognise and respond to acute deterioration in residents using published primary research, non-indexed and grey literature, policies, guidelines and protocols. Methods A systematic scoping review was conducted following Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) scoping review methodology. Searches were conducted using: CINAHL (EBSCOhost), EMCARE (OVID), MEDLINE (OVID) and HMIC (OVID). Snowball searches of included studies’ reference lists were conducted. Studies that featured care homes with or without nursing and provided 24/7 care to residents were included. Results Three hundred and ninety-nine studies were identified. After reviewing all studies against inclusion criteria, n = 11 were included in the review. All studies used qualitative methods and were conducted in Australia, UK, South Korea, USA and Singapore. Four themes were generated from the review: identifying residents with acute deterioration; managing acute deterioration, care home policies and procedures, and factors affecting recognition and response to acute deterioration. Findings Recognition and response to acute deterioration in residents is determined by multiple factors and is context sensitive. There are several interrelated factors within and external to the care home that contribute to how acute deterioration is recognised and managed. Conclusions and Implications The available literature on how care home workers recognise and respond to acute deterioration is limited and often subtends other areas of interest. Recognising and responding to acute deterioration in care home residents is reliant on a complex and open system encompassing multiple interrelated components. The phenomenon of acute deterioration remains underexplored and further research is required to examine contextual factors that accompany identification and management of this condition in care home residents.

Objective: In robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery, proper port positioning ensures that surgical tools have adequate access to the surgical site and avoids mid-surgery collisions of robotic arms. To date, several guidelines have been proposed for more accurate port placement. However, challenges remain due to variations in patient morphology, anatomy, and, in particular, organ displacement due to insufflation in certain laparoscopic procedures. The objective of this study was to design and develop a decision aid for optimal port placement in robot-assisted hysterectomy that accounts for patient variability and organ displacement due to insufflation. Methods: Three components were constructed: a robot model, a patient-specific model, and an optimization algorithm. The three components were integrated, and the system was verified using four different patients who underwent robotic hysterectomy. Once verified, two expert surgeons were asked to evaluate the decision aid for face and construct validity. A usability test was conducted using a torso phantom with target organs located in three different locations. Two expert surgeons performed a simulated hysterectomy task with and without the decision aid to evaluate performance and satisfaction. Results: The optimization algorithm was sensitive to individual differences in anatomy in the four patients. Expert surgeons successfully established face and construct validity. Usability test results showed a 28%–40% reduction in time to task completion with the optimized ports compared to expert-determined port locations without using the decision aid. Conclusions: The decision aid, based on an individualized patient-specific model, robot model, and optimization algorithm, was shown to be effective at addressing the challenges of displaced organs due to insufflation in robot-assisted hysterectomy. The face and construct validity of the decision aid was established by expert surgeons, while efficiency gains in task performance were demonstrated experimentally.

Abstract Background Dendritic cells (DCs) play a crucial role in immunity. Research on monocyte‐derived DCs (Mo‐DCs) cancer vaccines is in progress despite limited success in clinical trials. This study focuses on Mo‐DCs generated from prostate cancer (PCA) patients, comparing them with DCs from healthy donors (HD‐DCs). Methods Mo‐DCs were isolated from PCA patient samples, and their phenotype was compared to HD‐DCs. Key parameters included monocyte count, CD14 expression, and the levels of maturation markers (HLA‐DR, CD80, CD86) were assessed. Results PCA samples exhibited a significantly lower monocyte count and reduced CD14 expression compared to healthy samples (p ⟨ 0.0001). Additionally, PCA‐DCs expressed significantly lower levels of maturation markers, including HLA‐DR, CD80, and CD86, when compared to HD‐DCs (p = 0.123, p = 0.884, and p = 0.309, respectively). Conclusion The limited success of DC vaccines could be attributed to impaired phenotypic characteristics. These observations suggest that suboptimal characteristics of Mo‐DCs generated from cancer patient blood samples might contribute to the limited success of DC vaccines. Consequently, this study underscores the need for alternative strategies to enhance the features of Mo‐DCs for more effective cancer immunotherapies.

IntroductionAlterations in the composition and function of the gut microbiome have been reported in idiopathic epilepsy (IE), however, interactions of gut microbes with the enteric nervous system (ENS) in this context require further study. This pilot study examined how gastrointestinal microbiota (GIM), their metabolites, and nutrients contained in intestinal contents communicate with the ENS.MethodsFecal supernatants (FS) from healthy dogs and dogs with IE, including drug-naïve, phenobarbital (PB) responsive, and PB non-responsive dogs, were applied to cultured myenteric neurons to test their activation using voltage-sensitive dye neuroimaging. Additionally, the concentrations of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the FS were quantified.ResultsOur findings indicate that FS from all examined groups elicited neuronal activation. Notably, FS from PB non-responsive dogs with IE induced action potential discharge in a higher proportion of enteric neurons compared to healthy controls, which exhibited the lowest burst frequency overall. Furthermore, the highest burst frequency in enteric neurons was observed upon exposure to FS from drug-naïve dogs with IE. This frequency was significantly higher compared to that observed in PB non-responsive dogs with IE and showed a tendency to surpass that of healthy controls.DiscussionAlthough observed disparities in SCFA concentrations across the various FS samples might be associated with the induced neuronal activity, a direct correlation remains elusive at this point. The obtained results hint at an involvement of the ENS in canine IE and set the basis for future studies.

Abstract Effective anti‐cancer immune responses require activation of one or more naïve T cells. If the correct naïve T cell encounters its cognate antigen presented by an antigen presenting cell, then the T cell can activate and proliferate. Here, mathematical modeling is used to explore the possibility that immune activation in lymph nodes is a rate‐limiting step in anti‐cancer immunity and can affect response rates to immune checkpoint therapy. The model provides a mechanistic framework for optimizing cancer immunotherapy and developing testable solutions to unleash anti‐tumor immune responses for more patients with cancer. The results show that antigen production rate and trafficking of naïve T cells into the lymph nodes are key parameters and that treatments designed to enhance tumor antigen production can improve immune checkpoint therapies. The model underscores the potential of radiation therapy in augmenting tumor immunogenicity and neoantigen production for improved ICB therapy, while emphasizing the need for careful consideration in cases where antigen levels are already sufficient to avoid compromising the immune response.

Introduction: The diminution in vaccination coverage in recent years has contributed to the reappearance of infectious diseases, and vaccine hesitancy is one of the main causes. As a result, we investigated the causes of vaccine hesitancy in children. Materials and methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted cross-sectionally in 27 comprehensive health service centers in Isfahan City from June to October 2022. This study included Iranian families living in Isfahan who did not vaccinate their children by the due date. A researcher-made questionnaire collected data on children's vaccine hesitancy after verifying validity and reliability over the phone and in person by the researcher. The mothers completed informed consent. Independent T-tests, Pearson's correlation coefficient, analysis of variance, and a generalized linear model were used to analyze the data. Findings: Finally, 298 families participated in the study, 34.3% refused, and 65.7% delayed their child's vaccination. Vaccination was hesitant due to the child being sick at the time of injection (57.3%), believing that vaccination is not necessary to prevent uncommon diseases (49%), and being concerned about severe side effects caused by the vaccine (48.7%). Vaccine hesitancy among mothers with bachelor's degrees and families less than one kilometer from the health center was significantly less than among others. Additionally, Vaccines at birth, four, six, twelve, and eighteen months, and six-year-old vaccines were associated with vaccine hesitancy. Conclusion: Children's illness at the time of vaccination, the belief that vaccination is unnecessary to prevent uncommon diseases, and the worry about severe complications were among the most common reasons for vaccine hesitancy. Mother's education, distance to the health center, and vaccine type were associated with vaccine hesitancy.

Platelets are transfused to patients to prevent bleeding. Since both preparation and storage can impact the hemostatic functions of platelets, we studied platelet concentrates (PCs) with different initial composition in regard to platelet fragmentation and its impact on storage-induced changes in activation potential. Ten whole blood derived PCs were assessed over 7 storage days. Using flow cytometry, platelet (CD41+) subpopulations were characterized for activation potential using activation markers (PAC-1, P-selectin, and LAMP-1), phosphatidylserine (Annexin V), and mitochondrial integrity (DiIC1(5)). Aggregation response, coagulation, and soluble activation markers (cytokines and sGPVI) were also measured. Of the CD41+ events, the PCs contained a median of 82% normal-sized platelets, 10% small platelets, and 8% fragments. The small platelets exhibited procoagulant hallmarks (increased P-selectin and Annexin V and reduced DiIC1(5)). Normal-sized platelets responded to activation, whereas activation potential was decreased for small and abolished for fragments. Five PCs contained a high proportion of small platelets and fragments (median of 28% of CD41+ events), which was significantly higher than the other five PCs (median of 9%). A high proportion of small platelets and fragments was associated with procoagulant hallmarks and decreased activation potential, but, although diminished, they still retained some activation potential throughout 7 days storage.

Abstract It is known that, in the static gauge, the world-volume and the transverse Kaluza-Klein (KK) reductions of the O-plane effective actions on a circle satisfy the T-duality constraint for arbitrary base space background. In this paper we show that due to the presence of the second fundamental form in the D-brane couplings at order α′ and higher, the T-duality is satisfied only for a subclass of the couplings for arbitrary base space background. They are m = 0 couplings where m is the number of B ~ $$ \overset{\sim }{B} $$ -field (without derivative on it). For m > 0 couplings, the base space metric must be block-diagonal and the momentum U(1) vector field in the transverse reduction must be zero. However, the derivatives of the metric and the vector field are arbitrary. Using the assumption that the effective actions at the critical dimension are background independent, we then show that the T-duality constraint for the couplings at order α′ and for m = 0, fixes completely both bulk and boundary actions. These couplings indicate that the propagators of the massless open string fields receive α′-correction. We have also imposed the T-duality constraint on m = 1, 2, 3, 4 couplings. Because of the above restriction on the base space background in these cases, however, the T-duality can only partially fix the couplings for m > 0. This study shows that the Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) factor appears in both bulk and boundary actions at order α′.

Abstract Background The use of oxytocin as a therapy to treat social deficiencies in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is gaining popularity. This study aimed to determine oxytocin nasal spray’s effect in combination with applied behavior analysis (ABA) method in improving social impairments in pediatrics with ASD. Results Our study’s main findings have revealed that intervention with INT-OXT compared to NS effectively reduced the ASD index and stereotyped behaviors on the GARS-2 scale (p

Abstract Background Phylogenetic analyses of closely related species of mosquitoes are important for better understanding the evolution of traits contributing to transmission of vector-borne diseases. Six out of 41 dominant malaria vectors of the genus Anopheles in the world belong to the Maculipennis Group, which is subdivided into two Nearctic subgroups (Freeborni and Quadrimaculatus) and one Palearctic (Maculipennis) subgroup. Although previous studies considered the Nearctic subgroups as ancestral, details about their relationship with the Palearctic subgroup, and their migration times and routes from North America to Eurasia remain controversial. The Palearctic species An. beklemishevi is currently included in the Nearctic Quadrimaculatus subgroup adding to the uncertainties in mosquito systematics. Results To reconstruct historic relationships in the Maculipennis Group, we conducted a phylogenomic analysis of 11 Palearctic and 2 Nearctic species based on sequences of 1271 orthologous genes. The analysis indicated that the Palearctic species An. beklemishevi clusters together with other Eurasian species and represents a basal lineage among them. Also, An. beklemishevi is related more closely to An. freeborni, which inhabits the Western United States, rather than to An. quadrimaculatus, a species from the Eastern United States. The time-calibrated tree suggests a migration of mosquitoes in the Maculipennis Group from North America to Eurasia about 20–25 million years ago through the Bering Land Bridge. A Hybridcheck analysis demonstrated highly significant signatures of introgression events between allopatric species An. labranchiae and An. beklemishevi. The analysis also identified ancestral introgression events between An. sacharovi and its Nearctic relative An. freeborni despite their current geographic isolation. The reconstructed phylogeny suggests that vector competence and the ability to enter complete diapause during winter evolved independently in different lineages of the Maculipennis Group. Conclusions Our phylogenomic analyses reveal migration routes and adaptive radiation timing of Holarctic malaria vectors and strongly support the inclusion of An. beklemishevi into the Maculipennis Subgroup. Detailed knowledge of the evolutionary history of the Maculipennis Subgroup provides a framework for examining the genomic changes related to ecological adaptation and susceptibility to human pathogens. These genomic variations may inform researchers about similar changes in the future providing insights into the patterns of disease transmission in Eurasia.

Abstract Background Knowledge of pathogenic variants in cancer‐predisposing genes is important when making breast cancer treatment decisions, but genetic testing is not universal and criteria must be met to qualify for genetic testing. The objective of this study was to evaluate the pathogenic variant yield for nine cancer predisposition genes by testing criteria, singly and in combination. Methods Women diagnosed with breast cancer between June 2013 and May 2018 were recruited from four centers in Toronto, Canada. Participants completed a demographics and family history questionnaire and clinical characteristics were collected from medical charts. Genetic testing was done for BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, ATM, CHEK2, BRIP1, RAD51D, RECQL, and TP53. Pathogenic variant frequencies were calculated according to five criteria (age ≤ 50, triple‐negative breast cancer, family history, bilateral breast cancer, or Jewish ethnicity). Results Of the 1006 women studied, 100 women (9.9%) were found to have a pathogenic variant in one of the nine genes tested. The highest prevalence of pathogenic variants was found in women with triple‐negative breast cancer (23%). Of the 100 pathogenic variants detected, 78 were detected in women diagnosed at age 50 or less. A total of 96% of the mutations were identified with three criteria (age of diagnosis, family history, and triple‐negative status). Conclusions Genetic testing criteria for women with breast cancer should include women with triple‐negative breast cancer, regardless of age. All women aged 50 years or below at time of breast cancer diagnosis should be offered genetic testing.

Abstract Carrion flies play a significant role in forensic entomotoxicology, where they are employed as alternative samples when traditional samples are unavailable. In situations of poisoned death, these toxins disrupt insect development and affect forensic entomology analyses. So, forensic entomotoxicologists must be aware of this impact. The present study aimed to determine the effects of aluminum phosphide (AlP) and cypermethrin (CP) on the biochemical parameters and antioxidant enzymes of the third instar of Chrysomya megacephala maggots. C. megacephala was reared on normal and poisoned rabbit carcasses with aluminum phosphide and cypermethrin. The third larval instar of C. megacephala was studied using by spectrophotometer for detection of total protein, (TP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione s-transferase (GST), catalase (CAT) and malondialdehyde (MDA). The results indicated to significantly decrease of TP, TAC, SOD, GST and CAT and increase of AST, ALT and MDA in the maggots reared on the poisoned carcasses with AlP or CP compared with control group. In conclusion, the tested insecticides brought about a decrease antioxidant enzyme activity and increase of MDA could be involved in free radicals in C. megacephala larvae leading to oxidative stress by these insecticidal components.

Introduction Vertebral artery dissection (VAD) is a relatively common cause of ischemic stroke, especially after chiropractic neck manipulation. VAD usually can be diagnosed by noninvasive imaging studies such as CT angiography (CTA) of the head and neck with suggestive findings of an arterial string sign, arterial stenosis, a double lumen sign, a pseudoaneurysm, or an occlusion. However, in rare situations, CTA may display normal arterial caliber except for very subtle signs such as abnormal dorsal thickening of the arterial wall against adjacent fat at the V3 segment of the vertebral artery. This is referred to as the "suboccipital rind sign." Here we wish to report such a case as identified at our institution. Methods Electronic charts of a patient with acute spinal shock and strokes were reviewed. Results The patient is a 36‐year‐old female with chronic neck pain, status‐post C5‐T1 spinal fusion who presented emergently with quadriparesis that following chiropractic neck manipulation. She felt a “pop” at the neck during the neck manipulation. She shortly thereafter began experiencing persistent neck pain associated with tingling sensations of both upper extremities on her drive home. She then noted transient right‐hand weakness as she was attempting to open a package. Her symptoms then temporarily resolved with rest, but after some time the paresthesia and neck pain reoccurred, worsened, and quickly progressed to quadriplegia. Brain MRI was negative for acute stroke. However, MRI of the cervical spine demonstrated acute cervical spinal cord ischemia in addition to post‐surgical changes. CTA head and neck reported normal arterial caliber. A diagnostic angiogram was performed that showed no evidence of arterial dissection but did demonstrate absence of the anterior spinal artery. Subsequently, CTA was further reviewed on thin slice revealing a “suboccipital rind sign" of the left V3 segment, suggesting left vertebral artery V3 segment dissection. Hypercoagulable workup was negative, and the patient was treated with anticoagulation. Conclusion Arterial dissection is usually readily diagnosable by CTA with high sensitivity. However, a study with normal caliber vessels in the reconstituted images does not always exclude an arterial dissection. To our knowledge there have been six reported vertebral dissection cases with a normal appearing lumen on CTA or conventional angiography. However, similar to our case, they displayed “suboccipital rind” signs on CTA thin cross‐section due to the thickening of the dissected artery on the V3 segment. The V3 segment has a horizontal course which runs parallel to the axially acquired imaging plane, which makes it difficult to appreciate the classic crescentic wall hematoma associated with arterial dissection. We hope that increased awareness of the typical location and appearance of the “suboccipital rind” sign on CTA may increase the detection rates of subtle arterial dissections in the setting normal‐appearing arterial lumens.

Introduction Basilar artery occlusion (BAO) is one of the most severe acute ischemic strokes which carries high mortality and morbidity risk. Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) has been used as a promising treatment for BAO. However, the vertebral‐basilar anatomy is more challenging for MT compared to the anterior circulation due to several congenital variants such as hypoplastic vertebral artery, fenestration on the vertebrobasilar junction, or chronic asymptomatic occlusions of vertebral arteries, and tortuous subclavian arteries and vertebral arteries (VAs). Here, we described a BAO case with hypoplastic vertebrobasilar arteries, which was successfully treated with thrombectomy using the direct aspiration technique. Methods Electronic Medical Records review of a patient with acute basilar artery occlusion stroke. Results 55‐year‐old healthy gentleman presented to ER with acute onset with confusion, dysarthria, left‐sided weakness, and right facial droop. Initial NIHSS was 12. CT angiography (CTA) head and neck showed basilar artery was occluded in the distal one third segment. Because of the right fetal posterior cerebral artery and prominent left posterior communicating artery, his bilateral VAs and basilar artery were underdeveloped. The left VA appeared to be slightly bigger than the right one. After the patient received IV tPA, he was taken for mechanical thrombectomy. A Ballast catheter was placed in the left subclavian artery near the left VA origin. The conventional angiography showed the left VA was 2.8 mm and proximal basilar was about 2.1 mm. The Zoom 35 aspiration catheter was then used for mechanical thrombectomy. A complete basilar recanalization was achieved on the first pass. The patient improved after the MT. His NIHSS on discharge was 0. Conclusion The benefits of MT on BAO remain unknown despite several clinical trials. One of the reasons is due to more challenged vascular anatomy compared to anterior circulation. Underdevelopment of unilateral VA was commonly seen in posterior circulation ischemic strokes. But the underdevelopment of bilateral VAs with basilar arteries in BAO cases was rare and more difficult to treat. The Zoom 35 aspiration catheter provided a great advantage for this case with its smaller outer diameter, good navigation ability, and great aspiration efficacy. Our experience suggested a direct aspiration first pass technique (ADAPT) has an advantage on BAO, especially in the congenitally underdeveloped vertebrobasilar arteries.

Macromolecules i.e., carbohydrate derivatives are crucial to biochemical and medical research. Herein, we designed and synthesized eight methyl α-D-glucopyranoside (MGP) derivatives (2–8) in good yields following the regioselective direct acylation method. The structural configurations of the synthesized MGP derivatives were analyzed and verified using multiple physicochemical and spectroscopic techniques. Antimicrobial experiments revealed that almost all derivatives demonstrated noticeable antifungal and antibacterial efficacy. The synthesized derivatives showed minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 0.75 µg/mL to 1.50 µg/mL and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) ranging from 8.00 µg/mL to 16.00 µg/mL. Compound 6 inhibited Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cell proliferation by 10.36% with an IC50 of 2602.23 μg/mL in the MTT colorimetric assay. The obtained results were further rationalized by docking analysis of the synthesized derivatives against 4URO and 4XE3 receptors to explore the binding affinities and nonbonding interactions of MGP derivatives with target proteins. Compound 6 demonstrated the potential to bind with the target with the highest binding energy. In a stimulating environment, a molecular dynamics study showed that MGP derivatives have a stable conformation and binding pattern. The MGP derivatives were examined using POM (Petra/Osiris/Molinspiration) bioinformatics, and as a result, these derivatives showed good toxicity, bioavailability, and pharmacokinetics. Various antifungal/antiviral pharmacophore (Oδ−, O′δ−) sites were identified by using POM investigations, and compound 6 was further tested against other pathogenic fungi and viruses, such as Micron and Delta mutants of SARS-CoV-2.

Number of factors, including newly emerging infectious diseases and an increase in multi-drug resistant microbial pathogens with particular relevance for Gram-positive bacteria, make the treatment of infectious diseases in hospital-based healthcare a major challenge in the medical community. 4-Aminobenzoic acid (PABA), has demonstrated a variety of biological actions particularly, antimicrobial activity. In our study we coupled this vitamin-like molecule with different isatin derivatives. We investigated the antibacterial activity of the synthesized Schiff's bases. The compounds showed high selective activity against Gram-positive bacteria and showed weak or no activity against both Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. Compound 2a showed highest activity against S. aureus and B. subtilis (MIC 0.09 mmol/L). Additionally, these substances exhibit strong anti-B. Subtilis biofilm formation. We were able to shed insight on the binding mode of these new inhibitors using in silico docking of the compounds in the binding sites of a 3D structure of B. subtilis histidine kinase/Walk. The binding free energy of the compound 2a to the catalytic domain walk, of histidine kinase enzyme of B. subtilis bacteria, was calculated using molecular mechanics/generalized born surface area scoring. The key residues for macromolecule–ligand binding were postulated. The optimized 3D protein–ligand binding modes shed light on the B. subtilis HK/Walk–ligand interactions that afford a means to assess binding affinity to design new HK/Walk inhibitor as antibacterial agents.

Introduction Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-specific hypertensive disease that affects 3–5% of pregnant women all over the world and 1.3% of pregnancies among Jordanian women. Objectives This study aims to assess the cardiovascular disease risk factors awareness among women with a recent history of preeclampsia in Jordan and assess the role of healthcare providers in providing counseling about cardiovascular disease risk factors. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional design was used to recruit 180 women with a recent history of preeclampsia during the last 12 months. Data were obtained from patients’ medical records and the Attitude and Beliefs about Cardiovascular Disease Risk Questionnaires. Results The results revealed that 43.9% of women with a recent history of preeclampsia have hypertension, 6.7% have diabetes mellitus, 16.1% have dyslipidemia, 28.9% have a family history of cardiovascular disease, 66.1% are overweight or obese, and 7.2% are smokers. The mean total score of knowledge subscale was 5.5 (SD = 1.21) out of 8. Only 20% of the participants had good cardiovascular disease knowledge. The mean total score of risk perception was 15.47 (SD = 7.8). The mean score of perceived benefits and intention to change behaviors was 2.30 (SD = 0.62). The mean score of healthy eating intentions was 2.54 (SD = 0.81). Income, having diabetes mellitus, and receiving counseling about preeclampsia as cardiovascular disease risk factor were associated with some dimensions of cardiovascular disease risk factors awareness. Conclusion The prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors was relatively high among the study participants. The majority of participants had inadequate cardiovascular disease knowledge. In addition, the role of healthcare providers in providing counseling about cardiovascular disease and related risk factors, including PE was limited. Providing more counseling related to cardiovascular disease by nurses and doctors is essential to enhance women's cardiovascular disease knowledge and intention to change lifestyle.

IBD is considered a relapsing disease with relapsing phases. Probiotics are beneficial microorganisms that modulate inflammatory signaling pathways. Our aim was to identify the precise molecular effects of probiotics on inflammatory signaling pathways during the presence of inflammation. Evaluation of the expression of JAK/STAT and inflammatory genes after treatment of the HT -29 cell line with the sonicated pathogens and probiotics, simultaneously was performed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay. The production of IL-6 and IL-1β after administration of probiotics was conducted by means of cytokine assay. The probiotic cocktail resulted in the downregulation of TIRAP, IRAK4, NEMO, and RIP genes in the NF-кB pathway compared with Sonicat-treated cells. The expression of JAK/STAT genes was various after probiotic treatment. The application of probiotics has been observed to result in a notable decrease in the production of IL-6 and IL-1β. The investigated probiotic cocktail, especially Bifidobacterium spp. showed anti-inflammatory effects on HT -29 cells via modulation of JAK/STAT and NF-кB signaling pathways. The use of probiotics with the least side effects could be considered a suitable treatment for patients with inflammatory bowel disease, even at the beginning of inflammation.

Summary: Background: Protection against SARS-CoV-2 symptomatic infection and severe COVID-19 of previous infection, mRNA two-dose vaccination, mRNA three-dose vaccination, and hybrid immunity of previous infection and vaccination were investigated in Qatar for the Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants. Methods: Six national, matched, test-negative, case-control studies were conducted between January 18 and December 18, 2021 on a sample of 239,120 PCR-positive tests and 6,103,365 PCR-negative tests. Findings: Effectiveness of previous infection against Alpha, Beta, and Delta reinfection was 89.5% (95% CI: 85.5–92.3%), 87.9% (95% CI: 85.4–89.9%), and 90.0% (95% CI: 86.7–92.5%), respectively. Effectiveness of two-dose BNT162b2 vaccination against Alpha, Beta, and Delta infection was 90.5% (95% CI, 83.9–94.4%), 80.5% (95% CI: 79.0–82.0%), and 58.1% (95% CI: 54.6–61.3%), respectively. Effectiveness of three-dose BNT162b2 vaccination against Delta infection was 91.7% (95% CI: 87.1–94.7%). Effectiveness of hybrid immunity of previous infection and two-dose BNT162b2 vaccination was 97.4% (95% CI: 95.4–98.5%) against Beta infection and 94.5% (95% CI: 92.8–95.8%) against Delta infection. Effectiveness of previous infection and three-dose BNT162b2 vaccination was 98.1% (95% CI: 85.7–99.7%) against Delta infection. All five forms of immunity had >90% protection against severe, critical, or fatal COVID-19 regardless of variant. Similar effectiveness estimates were observed for mRNA-1273. A mathematical model accurately predicted hybrid immunity protection by assuming that the individual effects of previous infection and vaccination acted independently. Interpretation: Hybrid immunity, offering the strongest protection, was mathematically predicted by assuming that the immunities obtained from previous infection and vaccination act independently, without synergy or redundancy. Funding: The Biomedical Research Program and the Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and the Biomathematics Research Core, both at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Ministry of Public Health, Hamad Medical Corporation, Sidra Medicine, Qatar Genome Programme, Qatar University Biomedical Research Center, and Qatar University Internal Grant ID QUCG-CAS-23/24-114.

Abstract Arizona Cypress is one of the drought-resistant, aromatic, and aesthetically pleasing trees having several pharmacological uses. Certain microorganisms contribute to the secondary metabolism and synthesis of bioactive compounds in aromatic and medicinal plants. This study aimed to determine the photosynthetic pigments, total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, and essential oil composition of Arizona cypress under two irrigation regimes and microbial inoculations. We established a factorial experiment with three mycorrhizae inoculations (Rhizophagus irregularis, Funneliformis mosseae, and a mixture of R. irregularis and F. mosseae), a rhizobacterium inoculation (Pseudomonas fluorescens), and two irrigation regimes (well-watered and water stress). Under the water stress regime, seedlings inoculated with F. mosseae (0.46%) and non-inoculated control plants (0.29%) had the highest and lowest essential oil contents, respectively. GC–MS analysis revealed that limonen, a-pinene, terpinen-4-ol, and umbellulone were the most abundant compounds in the seedlings and treatments under study. The water stress regime had a significant and dominant effect on essential oil and antioxidant capacity, whereas seedling growth and photosynthetic pigments tended to decrease under stress conditions. However, co-inoculation of seedlings with mycorrhizae and the bacterium resulted in an increase in phenolic compounds and carotenoids. Under conditions of water stress and mycorrhizal symbiosis, the results of the current study may help increase the level of valuable compounds in Arizona cypress for further pharmaceutical applications.

Abstract Nowadays, smart health technologies are used in different life and environmental areas, such as smart life, healthcare, cognitive smart cities, and social systems. Intelligent, reliable, and ubiquitous healthcare systems are a part of the modern developing technology that should be more seriously considered. Data collection through different ways, such as the Internet of things (IoT)-assisted sensors, enables physicians to predict, prevent and treat diseases. Machine Learning (ML) algorithms may lead to higher accuracy in medical diagnosis/prognosis based on health data provided by the sensors to help physicians in tracking symptom significance and treatment steps. In this study, we applied four ML methods to the data on Parkinson’s disease to assess the methods’ performance and identify the essential features that may be used to predict the total Unified Parkinson’s disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Since accessibility and high-performance decision-making are so vital for updating physicians and supporting IoT nodes (e.g., wearable sensors), all the data is stored, updated as rule-based, and protected in the cloud. Moreover, by assigning more computational equipment and memory in use, cloud computing makes it possible to reduce the time complexity of the training phase of ML algorithms in the cases we want to create a complete structure of cloud/edge architecture. In this situation, it is possible to investigate the approaches with varying iterations without concern for system configuration, temporal complexity, and real-time performance. Analyzing the coefficient of determination and Mean Square Error (MSE) reveals that the outcomes of the applied methods are mostly at an acceptable performance level. Moreover, the algorithm’s estimated weight indicates that Motor UPDRS is the most significant predictor of Total UPDRS.

AbstractFor an arbitrary invariant [Formula: see text] of a graph G, the [Formula: see text]vertex stability number [Formula: see text] is the minimum number of vertices of G whose removal results in a graph [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] or with [Formula: see text] In this paper, first we give some general lower and upper bounds for the ρ-vertex stability number, and then study the edge chromatic vertex stability number of graphs, [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] is edge chromatic number (chromatic index) of G. We prove some general results for this parameter and determine [Formula: see text] for specific classes of graphs.

This study uses Panadero et al.'s (2021) Deep Learning Strategies Questionnaire to discover EFL learners' strategies from a new perspective. The questionnaire is a newly designed self-report instrument with ground-breaking features constructed with validity and reliability to measure students' actual strategies in real situations. The current study is the first in an EFL context to use this innovative tool. It investigates self-regulation strategies for learning English as a foreign language (EFL) among 430 male EFL college students in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire enabled us to adopt a micro-level inspection of strategy functions based on an innovative model that can help identify possible avenues for strategy interventions. The results mostly showed a high use of deep language learning strategies in all four questionnaire categories: basic learning, visual elaboration and summarizing, deep information processing, and social learning. Consequently, all the categories had a strong, positive, and significant correlation. In addition, the most used strategies were basic learning strategies, whereas the least used were visual elaboration and summarizing. Our findings provide useful pedagogical implications for promoting EFL learning strategies and strategy instruction. Successfully replicating the Deep Learning Strategies Questionnaire scrutinizes this methodological instrument's validity and reliability and encourages other researchers to use it.

Abstract Using the most general higher-derivative field redefinitions for the closed spacetime manifolds, we show that the tree-level couplings of the metric, B-field and dilaton at orders α′2 and α′3 that have been recently found by the T-duality, can be written in a particular scheme in terms of the torsional Riemann curvature R $$ \mathcal{R} $$ and the torsion tensor H. The couplings at order α′2 have structures R $$ \mathcal{R} $$ 3 , H 2 R $$ \mathcal{R} $$ 2, H 6, and the couplings at order α′3 have only structures R $$ \mathcal{R} $$ 4, H 2 R $$ \mathcal{R} $$ 3. Replacing R $$ \mathcal{R} $$ with the ordinary Riemann curvature, the couplings in the structure H 2 R $$ \mathcal{R} $$ 3 reproduce the couplings found in the literature by the S-matrix method.

Abstract Ducrosia anethifolia Boiss is a medicinal and aromatic plant that is used as a food additive and drug in the areas of natural distribution. In this study, eight populations from different geographical regions of Iran were evaluated for their essential oil composition, total phenolics and flavonoids as well as for free radical scavenging activity during two consecutive years under water deficit. Analysis of variance was performed using a randomized block design at three levels of irrigation and 2 years, using the GLM procedure of SAS software and cluster analysis was used according to Ward's method using squared Euclidean dissimilarity. The highest essential oil and total phenolics/flavonoids content were obtained in the second year. GC–MS analysis was used to analyze the essential oil components. In normal conditions, cis-chrysanthenyl acetate (39.1–66.4%) and α-pinene (1.02–4.7%) were recognized as major compounds. The essential oil components were elevated under water stress. The highest increase in cis-chrysanthenyl acetate (21.32%) in response to water stress was observed in Abarkuh1. Elevation in total phenolic, flavonoid and antioxidant activity was also observed in plants subjected to water deficit. The highest content of phenolic acids was measured in Semirom (136.74 mg TAE/g DW), while the highest flavonoid content was in Kerman (6.05 mg QUE/g DW) in severe water stress condition. Finally, a high diversity in the studied populations can be used to select advantageous populations for other pharmaceutical and food purposes.

We demonstrate the manifestations of nonlinear features in magnetic dynamics and I–V characteristics of a φ0 Josephson junction in the ferromagnetic resonance region. We show that at small values of the system parameters damping, spin–orbit interaction, and Josephson-to-magnetic energy ratio, the magnetic dynamics is reduced to the dynamics of a scalar Duffing oscillator driven by the Josephson oscillations. The role of the increasing superconducting current in the resonance region is clarified. Shifting of the ferromagnetic resonant frequency and the reversal of its damping dependence due to nonlinearity are demonstrated by the full Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert–Josephson system of equations and in its different approximations. Finally, we demonstrate the negative differential resistance in the I–V characteristics and its correlation with the fold-over effect.

Abstract In order to synthesise hierarchical zinc oxide (ZnO) nanomaterials with a high surface‐to‐volume ratio, a well‐controlled multistage hydrothermal method was developed. Hierarchical ZnO nanobrushes (ZNBs) built from initial mono‐morphological nanomaterials, ZnO nanowires (ZNWs), and ZnO nanoplates (ZNPs) were developed using sequential nucleation and growth following a hydrothermal process. Hierarchical nanomaterials which are comprised of one‐dimensional (1D) nanowire building blocks were obtained via a zinc ion source (zinc nitrate) during the second growth phase. In comparison to their first mono‐morphological equivalents, the hierarchical nanomaterials which were grown showed improved ultraviolet (UV) detection, as well as improved sensitivity (∼104), an ultra‐fast response time (235 ms), and a good recovery time (310 ms). Improvements to the response and recovery times were a result of distinct nanojunction barrier‐dominated resistance. Moreover, the enhanced sensitivity of the ZNB photodetector (PD) was because of the reduced dimensionality and the ultrahigh surface‐to‐volume ratio. This work lays the groundwork for lower‐cost, larger‐scale, and lower‐temperature production of high‐performance nanostructured ZnO‐based PDs on transparent and flexible substrates.

Summary: Background: Waning of natural infection protection and vaccine protection highlight the need to evaluate changes in population immunity over time. Population immunity of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection or of COVID-19 vaccination are defined, respectively, as the overall protection against reinfection or against breakthrough infection at a given point in time in a given population. Methods: We estimated these population immunities in Qatar's population between July 1, 2020 and November 30, 2022, to discern generic features of the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2. Effectiveness of previous infection, mRNA primary-series vaccination, and mRNA booster (third-dose) vaccination in preventing infection were estimated, month by month, using matched, test-negative, case–control studies. Findings: Previous-infection effectiveness against reinfection was strong before emergence of Omicron, but declined with time after a wave and rebounded after a new wave. Effectiveness dropped after Omicron emergence from 88.3% (95% CI: 84.8–91.0%) in November 2021 to 51.0% (95% CI: 48.3–53.6%) in December 2021. Primary-series effectiveness against infection was 84.0% (95% CI: 83.0–85.0%) in April 2021, soon after introduction of vaccination, before waning gradually to 52.7% (95% CI: 46.5–58.2%) by November 2021. Effectiveness declined linearly by ∼1 percentage point every 5 days. After Omicron emergence, effectiveness dropped from 52.7% (95% CI: 46.5–58.2%) in November 2021 to negligible levels in December 2021. Booster effectiveness dropped after Omicron emergence from 83.0% (95% CI: 65.6–91.6%) in November 2021 to 32.9% (95% CI: 26.7–38.5%) in December 2021, and continued to decline thereafter. Effectiveness of previous infection and vaccination against severe, critical, or fatal COVID-19 were generally >80% throughout the study duration. Interpretation: High population immunity against infection may not be sustained beyond a year, but population immunity against severe COVID-19 is durable with slow waning even after Omicron emergence. Funding: The Biomedical Research Program and the Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and the Biomathematics Research Core, both at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Ministry of Public Health, Hamad Medical Corporation, Sidra Medicine, Qatar Genome Programme, Qatar University Biomedical Research Center, and Qatar University Internal Grant ID QUCG-CAS-23/24-114.

Abstract Aim Increased IgE levels have made house dust mite allergens one of the most frequent causes of allergies worldwide. Treatment reduces the IgE antibodies and types two cytokines, namely interleukin‐4 (IL‐4) and IL‐13. Although existing treatments significantly reduce IgE or IL‐4/IL‐13, they are very costly. This study aimed to construct a recombinant protein derived from rDer p1 peptides in the form of an immunotherapy approach and to measure the response of IgE and IgG antibodies. Methods The proteins were isolated, purified, and evaluated using the SDS‐PAGE and Bradford test and confirmed by using Western blot. To evaluate immunotherapy efficiency, 24 BALB/C mice were sensitized intraperitoneally with house dust mites (HDM) adsorbed to Aluminum hydroxide (Alum) and randomly divided into four groups of six: control sensitized, HDM extract, rDer p1, and DpTTDp vaccine. To immunization, four groups of random mice were each treated with phosphate‐buffered saline, 100 μg of rDer p1 protein, DpTTDp, or HDM extract, every 3 days. Direct ELISA determined HDM‐specific IgG and IgE subclasses. Data were analyzed in SPSS and Graph pad prism software. Values of p

Implementation of effective cancer treatment strategies requires consideration of how the spatiotemporal heterogeneities within the tumor microenvironment (TME) influence tumor progression and treatment response. Here, we developed a multi-scale three-dimensional mathematical model of the TME to simulate tumor growth and angiogenesis and then employed the model to evaluate an array of single and combination therapy approaches. Treatments included maximum tolerated dose or metronomic (i.e., frequent low doses) scheduling of anti-cancer drugs combined with anti-angiogenic therapy. The results show that metronomic therapy normalizes the tumor vasculature to improve drug delivery, modulates cancer metabolism, decreases interstitial fluid pressure and decreases cancer cell invasion. Further, we find that combining an anti-cancer drug with anti-angiogenic treatment enhances tumor killing and reduces drug accumulation in normal tissues. We also show that combined anti-angiogenic and anti-cancer drugs can decrease cancer invasiveness and normalize the cancer metabolic microenvironment leading to reduced hypoxia and hypoglycemia. Our model simulations suggest that vessel normalization combined with metronomic cytotoxic therapy has beneficial effects by enhancing tumor killing and limiting normal tissue toxicity. Author summary Effective treatment of solid tumors with injected drugs requires that sufficient exposure of cancer cells to the cytotoxic drugs. However, non-uniform and poorly functioning blood vessels make this difficult. The amount of drug that reaches a given cancer cells depends on many factors, including the drug chemistry, its lifetime in the blood circulation, its ability to cross the blood vessel wall and enter the tissue, and the schedule of the injections. We present a mathematical model of tumor growth, angiogenesis, metabolism and drug transport that examines how these processes affect the response to treatment. We find that low dose, high frequency (metronomic) therapy normalizes the tumor vasculature to improve drug delivery and that combining an anti-cancer drug with a drug that specifically enhances vascular function increases tumor killing and reduces drug accumulation in normal tissues. Our model simulations suggest that vessel normalization combined with metronomic cytotoxic therapy has beneficial effects by enhancing tumor killing and limiting normal tissue toxicity.

BACKGROUND: Family caregivers play a key role in providing care for patients with advanced cancer. Most of this care burden is shouldered by female caregivers in the family. Compared to their male counterparts, female caregivers face numerous psychological challenges in the process of caregiving. The aim of this study was to identify the psychological challenges of female caregivers in providing care to patients with advanced cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive-exploratory study began with purposive sampling method in 2020-2021 in Isfahan and continued until data saturation was reached. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with female caregivers of patients with advanced cancer and 18 more interviews with providers of health services and supportive-palliative care. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using conventional qualitative content analysis. DISCUSSION: The results were classified into three categories. The first category was psychological reactions that included the four subcategories of depression and anxiety, aggression, mental exhaustion, and death anxiety; the second category was psychological needs which included the three subcategories of need for professional counseling, need for emotional support, and need to prepare for mourning; and the third category was mental occupations which consisted of the two subcategories of feeling of regret and remorse. CONCLUSION: Assessment of psychological challenges is a prerequisite for planning psychological interventions, providing high-quality care, and improving quality of life and satisfaction of caregivers. The findings of this study will contribute to the development of guidelines and empowerment programs for female caregivers providing palliative care.

Background: Non-pharmacologic prophylactic methods for chronic migraine have been developed, including the promising non-invasive techniques of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS). This study aimed to compare the efficacy of rTMS and tDCS on pain intensity, the impact of headaches on daily life, anxiety, and depression in migraine headaches patients. Materials and Methods: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 72 patients with migraine headaches, randomly allocated to the rTMS and tDCS groups. Participants received 3 and 12 sessions of stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), respectively. Follow-up measurements, including pain intensity, anxiety, depression, and impact on daily life, were performed one month after the last sessions. Analyses were done by IBM SPSS statistics version 26 software. Results: Of 72 patients enrolled in the study, 19 were male (8 in the rTMS group and 11 in the tDCS group). There was no significant difference in baseline characteristics between groups. During the follow-up visit, both groups showed a decrease in anxiety levels (P values = 0.005 and 0.015), while only the rTMS group displayed a significant improvement in depression (P value = 0.01). However, no statistically significant difference was found among the groups regarding changes in pain intensity, anxiety, and the impact of headaches on daily life (P values >0.05). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that both rTMS and tDCS may be effective in reducing pain intensity and improving the impact of headaches on daily life and anxiety in patients with chronic migraine. However, significant improvement in depression was only observed in the rTMS group patients.

The doping of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) is a key tool for manipulating the properties of ENMs (e.g., electromagnetic, optical, etc.) for different therapeutic applications. However, adverse health outcomes and the cellular biointeraction of doped ENMs, compared to undoped counterparts, are not fully understood. Previously, we have shown that doping manganese oxide nanoparticles with ZnO (ZnO-MnO2 NPs) improved their catalytic properties. In this study, we assessed the toxicity of ZnO-MnO2 NPs in Raw 264.7 cells. NPs were prepared via an eco-friendly, co-precipitation method and characterized by several techniques, including transmission and scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared. The physicochemical properties of ZnO-MnO2 NPs, including size, morphology, and crystalline structure, were almost identical to MnO2 NPs. However, ZnO-MnO2 NPs showed slightly larger particle aggregates and negative charge in cell culture media. Exposure to ZnO-MnO2 NPs resulted in lower toxicity based on the cell viability and functional assay (phagocytosis) data. Exposure to both NPs resulted in the activation of the cell inflammatory response and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Despite this, exposure to ZnO-MnO2 NPs was associated with a lower toxicity profile, and it resulted in a higher ROS burst and the activation of the cell antioxidant system, hence indicating that MnO2 NP-induced toxicity is potentially mediated via other ROS-independent pathways. Furthermore, the cellular internalization of ZnO-MnO2 NPs was lower compared to MnO2 NPs, and this could explain the lower extent of toxicity of ZnO-MnO2 NPs and suggests Zn-driven ROS generation. Together, the findings of this report suggest that ZnO (1%) doping impacts cellular biointeraction and the consequent toxicological outcomes of MnO2 NPs in Raw 264.7 cells.

SRC homology 3 (SH3) domains are critical interaction modules that orchestrate the assembly of protein complexes involved in diverse biological processes. They facilitate transient protein–protein interactions by selectively interacting with proline-rich motifs (PRMs). A database search revealed 298 SH3 domains in 221 human proteins. Multiple sequence alignment of human SH3 domains is useful for phylogenetic analysis and determination of their selectivity towards PRM-containing peptides (PRPs). However, a more precise functional classification of SH3 domains is achieved by constructing a phylogenetic tree only from PRM-binding residues and using existing SH3 domain–PRP structures and biochemical data to determine the specificity within each of the 10 families for particular PRPs. In addition, the C-terminal proline-rich domain of the RAS activator SOS1 covers 13 of the 14 recognized proline-rich consensus sequence motifs, encompassing differential PRP pattern selectivity among all SH3 families. To evaluate the binding capabilities and affinities, we conducted fluorescence dot blot and polarization experiments using 25 representative SH3 domains and various PRPs derived from SOS1. Our analysis has identified 45 interacting pairs, with binding affinities ranging from 0.2 to 125 micromolar, out of 300 tested and potential new SH3 domain-SOS1 interactions. Furthermore, it establishes a framework to bridge the gap between SH3 and PRP interactions and provides predictive insights into the potential interactions of SH3 domains with PRMs based on sequence specifications. This novel framework has the potential to enhance the understanding of protein networks mediated by SH3 domain–PRM interactions and be utilized as a general approach for other domain–peptide interactions.

The level of immunity induced by infection with different SARS-CoV-2 Omicron sub-lineages against infection with other sub-lineages is not known. Here, the authors use data from Qatar and show that infection with BA.1 induces strong protection against infection with BA.2, and vice versa, for several weeks.

The packet classification is a fundamental process in provisioning security and quality of service for many intelligent network-embedded systems running in the Internet of Things (IoT). In recent years, researchers have tried to develop hardware-based solutions for the classification of Internet packets. Due to higher throughput and shorter delays, these solutions are considered as a major key to improving the quality of services. Most of these efforts have attempted to implement a software algorithm on the FPGA to reduce the processing time and enhance the throughput. The proposed architectures, however, cannot reach a compromise among power consumption, memory usage, and throughput rate. In view of this, the architecture proposed in this paper contains a pipeline-based micro-core that is used in network processors to classify packets. To this end, three architectures have been implemented using the proposed micro-core. The first architecture performs parallel classification based on header fields. The second one classifies packets in a serial manner. The last architecture is the pipeline-based classifier, which can increase performance by nine times. The proposed architectures have been implemented on an FPGA chip. The results are indicative of a reduction in memory usage as well as an increase in speedup and throughput. The architecture has a power consumption of is 1.294w, and its throughput with a frequency of 233 ​MHz exceeds 147 Gbps.

Abstract Recently it has been proposed that the consistency with T-duality requires the effective action of string theory at order $$\alpha '^n$$ α ′ n to satisfy the least action principle provided that the values of the massless fields and their derivatives up to order n are known on the boundary. In this paper we speculate that this boundary condition constrains the field redefinitions and the corrections to the T-duality transformations in the presence of boundary, e.g., at order $$\alpha '$$ α ′ , the metric does not change, and all other massless fields should change to include only the first derivative of the massless fields. Using the above restricted field redefinitions, we write all gauge invariant bulk and boundary couplings in the bosonic string theory at order $$\alpha '$$ α ′ in a minimal scheme. Then using the assumption that the effective action of string theory at the critical dimension is background independent, we fix the coefficients of the tree-level gauge invariant couplings by imposing O(1, 1) symmetry when the background has a circle and by imposing O(d, d) symmetry when the background has $$T^d$$ T d . These constraints fix the bulk action up to an overall factor, and the boundary action up to two parameters. By requiring the gravity couplings in the boundary action to be consistent with those in the Chern-Simons gravity, the two boundary parameters are also fixed. Up to a restricted field redefinition, the bulk and boundary couplings are exactly those in the K.A. Meissner action and its corresponding boundary action.

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak on the Diamond Princess (DP) ship has caused over 634 cases as of February 20, 2020. We model the transmission process on DP ship as a stochastic branching process, and estimate the reproduction number at the innitial phase of 2.9 (95%CrI: 1.7–7.7). The epidemic doubling time is 3.4 days, and thus timely actions on COVID-19 control were crucial. We estimate the COVID-19 transmissibility reduced 34% after the quarantine program on the DP ship which was implemented on February 5. According to the model simulation, relocating the population at risk may sustainably decrease the epidemic size, postpone the timing of epidemic peak, and thus relieve the tensive demands in the healthcare. The lesson learnt on the ship should be considered in other similar settings.

Abstract Most criteria for genetic testing for prostate cancer susceptibility require a prior diagnosis of prostate cancer, in particular cases with metastatic disease are selected. Advances in the field are expected to improve outcomes through tailored treatments for men with advanced prostate cancer with germline pathogenic variants, although these are not currently offered in the curative setting. A better understanding of the value of genetic testing for prostate cancer susceptibility in screening, for early detection and prevention is necessary. We review and summarize the literature describing germline pathogenic variants in genes associated with increased prostate cancer risk and aggressivity. Important questions include: what is our ability to screen for and prevent prostate cancer in a man with a germline pathogenic variant and how does knowledge of a germline pathogenic variant influence treatment of men with nonmetastatic disease, with hormone-resistant disease and with metastatic disease? The frequency of germline pathogenic variants in prostate cancer is well described, according to personal and family history of cancer and by stage and grade of disease. The role of these genes in aggressive prostate cancer is also discussed. It is timely to consider whether or not genetic testing should be offered to all men with prostate cancer. The goals of testing are to facilitate screening for early cancers in unaffected high-risk men and to prevent advanced disease in men with cancer.

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant has subvariants with divergent properties but relative vaccine effectiveness has not been characterized. Here, the authors show that mRNA vaccine effectiveness is similar for the subvariants BA.1 and BA.2, with a decline three months after the second dose and increase after the booster.

This paper aims to build a Sustainable Development (SD) model that considers ecological threats. We need to identify and measure those threats to prevent them from hindering sustainable regional development. The authors mine the ecological threats’ indicators related to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the World Bank database. They found that the ecological threats affect eight SDGs out of the seventeen SDGs, as well as 43 security indicators that measure ecological threats. The obtained results are used to build a Sustainable Development Ecological Security Model made out of selected ecological indicators. The model is instrumental for further constructing an index, which allowed for estimating a level of security of sustainable development from ecological hazards. The study's novelty lies in considering ecological security issues while measuring SD. The obtained results may be instrumental for measuring countries’ secure sustainable development and managing the processes through relevant economic policies.

Poetry has a prominent history in Arabic literature. The classical Arabic poetry has 16 m that vary in rhythm and target purpose. Chanting a poem eloquently requires knowing the poem’s meter and obtaining a diacritized version of its verses (letters inscribed with their short vowels); diacritics are often not inscribed in Arabic texts. This work proposes solutions to classify input Arabic text into the 16 poetry meters and prose. It also investigates the automatic diacritization of Arabic poetry. We adopt machine learning approach using a large dataset of 1657 k verses of poems and prose to develop neural networks to classify and diacritize Arabic poetry. We propose deep and narrow recurrent neural networks with bidirectional long short-term memory cells for solving these problems. The proposed model classifies the input text with an average accuracy of 97.27%, which is significantly higher than previous work. We also propose a solution that achieves an accuracy that approaches 100% when multiple verses of the same poem are available through predicting the class from the aggregate probabilities of the multiple verses. Diacritizing poetry is much harder than diacritizing prose due to the poet’s meticulous selection of phrases and relaxation of some diacritization rules.

Most Arabic poetry is undiacritized or partially diacritized (written without short vowels). For people of various ages and language mastery levels, diacritizing Arabic poetry would allow them to enjoy reading and chanting it easily and properly. Moreover, diacritizing a poetry verse is an essential step to analyze it for classification and evaluation. Unfortunately, the available automatic poetry diacritization solutions are inaccurate. Diacritizing Arabic poetry is a difficult task for people and machines alike because Arabic has numerous complex diacritization rules and Arabic poetry has additional special cases and rich and vibrant compositions. Deep machine learning could provide the desired diacritization solution provided that adequate training datasets are available. Unfortunately, the available datasets are insufficient and expensive to develop. In this paper, we propose solutions to improve the automatic diacritization of Arabic poetry using deep machine learning. We mitigate the difficulty of diacritizing Arabic poetry verses by employing transfer learning to leverage pattern features from a pretrained classification model. We also overcome the training dataset deficiency by training the composite diacritization model in multiple phases on carefully selected sub-datasets. Compared with best known previous results, the proposed solutions improve the diacritization error rate from 6.08% to 3.54% (42% improvement).

Abstract Classification is a fundamental processing task in advanced network systems. This technique is exploited in 5G/6G wireless sensors networks where flow-based processing of the internet packets is highly demanded by intelligent applications that analyze big volumes of data in a limited time. In this process, the input packets are classified into specific streams by matching to a set of filters. The ternary content-addressable memory (TCAM) is used in hardware implementation of internet packets. However, due to the parallel search capabilities, this memory leads to an increase in the speed and drop of hardware bundles compared to other types of software bundles, but with the increase in the number of rules stored in its layers, the power required for searching, inserting and eliminating increases. Various architectures have been proposed to solve this problem, but none of them has proposed a plan to reduce power consumption while updating the rules in the TCAM memory. In this paper, two algorithms are presented for reducing power consumption during TCAM memory upgrades. The key idea in the proposed algorithms is the reduction in the search range as well as the number of displacements while inserting and deleting rules in TCAM. Implementation and evaluation of proposed methods represent a reduction of more than 50% of the number of visits to TCAM in both proposed algorithms, as well as reducing the update time in the second proposed algorithm compared to the first proposed algorithm which confirms the efficiency of both methods.

In the aftermath of the recent pandemic, organizations around the world had the opportunity to assess the benefits and drawbacks of allowing the bulk of their employees to work from home (WFH). As a result, many organizations realize that by using technology, it is possible to shift a significant percentage of their workforce to permanently function from any location without being physically present at a designated workplace. Although the economic benefits for organizations that allow WFH seem to be clear, how factors related to perceptions of employees such as their work motivation (WM) and their work-life balance (WLB) caused by blurred boundaries between work and family at home are not clearly understood. Therefore, the primary goal of this study is to determine how WFH impacts WLB through the possible mediating effects of work-family conflict (WFC) and WM. A cross-sectional survey instrument was developed using Likert type measurement scales that were adopted from top-tier journals. The data was collected through convenient sampling from 249 managerial and non-managerial employees in Omani business organizations. The relationships were tested through structural equation modeling. The results indicate that WFH increases WFC and WM, while the relationship between WFH and WLB is mediated by WFC, but not by WM. The findings of this study have implications for both theory and practice.

New ligand (E)-4-((dimethylamino)methyl)-2-((4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)diazenyl)phenol (HDmazo) was prepared by the coupling reaction between 4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-amine and 4-((dimethylamino)methyl)phenol. Moreover, the [MCl2(HDmazo)] and [M(HDmazo)2] [MII = Pd and Pt] were prepared using the direct reaction of equivalent molar of HDmazo and Na2PdCl4 or K2PtCl4. The HDmazo and its complexes were investigated by different spectroscopic techniques. In complexes (1–2) HDmazo ligand behaves as bidentate style through the nitrogen of azo group and nitrogen of thiazole ring towards Pd(II) and Pt(II). Or in a bidentate fashion via the oxygen atom of the hydroxylate group and nitrogen atom of azo group as mono-anion in complexes (3–4). Further, the study of biological activity against four pathogenic bacteria showed that compound (3) exhibited good activity compared to other compounds. Additional the anti-tumor action against A2870 cell lines was screened, and the complexes (1) and (2) displayed good activity with 7.45 ± 0.98 µM and 13.23 ± 1.43 µM, respectively. The binding mechanism of the prepared compounds with EGFR tyrosine kinase, was investigated using molecular docking experiments.