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Copyright of Medicina Interna de Mexico is the property of Colegio de Medicina Interna de Mexico and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Food fortification is one approach for addressing anemia, but information on program effectiveness is limited. Objective: We evaluated the impact of Costa Rica's fortification program on anemia in women aged 15-45 y and children aged 1-7 y. Design: Reduced iron, an ineffective fortificant, was replaced by ferrous fumarate in wheat flour in 2002, and ferrous bisglycinate was added to maize flour in 1999 and to liquid and powdered milk in 2001. We used a one-group pretest-posttest design and national survey data from 1996 (baseline; 910 women, 965 children) and 2008-2009 (endline; 863 women, 403 children) to assess changes in iron deficiency (children only) and anemia. Data were also available for sentinel sites (1 urban, 1 rural) for 1999-2000 (405 women, 404 children) and 2008-2009 (474 women, 195 children), including 24-h recall data in children. Monitoring of fortification levels was routine. Results: Foods were fortified as mandated. Fortification provided about one-half the estimated average requirement for iron in children, mostly and equally through wheat flour and milk. Anemia was reduced in children and women in national and sentinel site comparisons. At the national level, anemia declined in children from 19.3% (95% CI: 16.8%, 21.8%) to 4.0% (95% CI: 2.1%, 5.9%) and in women from 18.4% (95% CI: 15.8%, 20.9%) to 10.2% (95% CI: 8.2%, 12.2%). In children, iron deficiency declined from 26.9% (95% CI: 21.1%, 32.7%) to 6.8% (95% CI: 4.2%, 9.3%), and iron deficiency anemia, which was 6.2% (95% CI: 3.0%, 9.3%) at baseline, could no longer be detected at the endline. Conclusions: A plausible impact pathway suggests that fortification improved iron status and reduced anemia. Although unlikely in the Costa Rican context, other explanations cannot be excluded in a pre/post comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Collegium Antropologicum is the property of Croatian Anthropological Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Collegium Antropologicum is the property of Croatian Anthropological Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Andrologie (11662654) is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Universitas Médica is the property of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Perfluorocompounds (PFCs) used in semiconductor manufacturing are potential contributors to greenhouse gas-driven climate change. PFCs emitted from plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) chamber cleans can be a significant portion of the total PFC emissions for a typical semiconductor fabrication facility. Previous work adopting octafluorocyclobutane (c-C4 F8) clean chemistries to reduce gas consumption and PFC emissions have been reported on applied materials and novellus PECVD tools. In this study, c-4 F8 was evaluated as an alter- native chamber clean gas on Mattson ASPEN II PECVD tools. A statistical design of experiment (DOE) methodology and tool emission analysis by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry were used to develop a low gas consumption and low PFC emission process. This c-4 F8 process reduced the clean gas consumption by 65% and PFC emission by 78%, compared to our current 2 F6 clean with no impact on deposited film properties or process repeatability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the study on the investigation of sexual abuse of street prostitutes in the U.S., which eventually lead findings to pornography. The study involves a detailed content analysis of the responses of street prostitutes, which describes sexual abuse in their background, documented a surprising amount of unsolicited references to pornography. Furthermore, the results can neither confirm nor reject the model of pornography, mainly because they are based on victims' responses. However, further research is urgently needed in order to explore the amount of pornography in sexual abuse.

Abstract Introduction The January 2023 COVID-19 omicron wave in China garnered wide publicity partly because it evaded most vaccines at that time and resulted in “breakthrough infections” in previously vaccinated individuals. This study focused on the COVID-19 vaccination status and the response of foreigners of African descent who were in China during the January 2023 Omicron-driven COVID-19 wave. Materials and methods A cross-sectional online survey of Africans in China was conducted in January 2023. Self-report electronic questionnaires were sent to eligible participants across the country, with no restriction on age, gender, or country of origin. Two hundred sixty-six participants were eventually enrolled. Collected data was cleaned and analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive analysis was used to summarize the data in terms of numbers and percentages, while the Chi-square test was used to determine relationships among variables. Results A total of 266 participants were enrolled, 68.8% males and 31.2% females. The majority (97%) were 45 years and below and mostly students (75.2%). 87.2% were vaccinated, with 53.1% having taken at least 2 shots. Sinovac (53.9%) was the most used vaccine brand. 21.4% reported infection with COVID-19 during the January 2023 omicron wave, with 14.0% reporting “breakthrough” infections. No significant difference was seen in the risk of getting infected with COVID-19 between unvaccinated and vaccinated participants; OR 1.2 (95% CI 0.396–3.634, p = 0.747). 35.1% reported mild asymptomatic infections, while 64.9% reported symptoms. The majority of the cases (89.5%) were managed from home. Conclusion In summary, most Africans in China were vaccinated during the January 2023 COVID-19 omicron wave, although “breakthrough” infections were reported. The infection rate among Africans in China was relatively higher than for African Americans and those living in Africa, but the majority were managed from home. Future studies are needed to capture vital COVID-19 information on Africans in China for more trailered responses to future outbreaks.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-35 accounts for up 10% of cervical cancers in Sub-Saharan Africa. We herein assessed the genetic diversity of HPV35 in HIV-negative women from Chad (identified as #CHAD) and HIV-infected men having sex with men (MSM) in the Central African Republic (CAR), identified as #CAR. Ten HPV35 DNA from self-collected genital secretions (n = 5) and anal margin samples (n = 5) obtained from women and MSM, respectively, were sequenced using the ABI PRISM® BigDye Sequencing technology. All but one HPV35 strains belonged to the A2 sublineage, and only #CAR5 belonged to A1. HPV35 from #CAR had higher L1 variability compared to #CHAD (mean number of mutations: 16 versus 6). L1 of #CAR5 showed a significant variability (2.29%), suggesting a possible intra-type divergence from HPV35H. Three (BC, DE, and EF) out of the 5 capsid loops domains remained totally conserved, while FG- and HI- loops of #CAR exhibited amino acid variations. #CAR5 also showed the highest LCR variability with a 16bp insertion at binding sites of the YY1. HPV35 from #CHAD exhibited the highest variability in E2 gene (P

Abstract: A chloramphenicol resistant strain of S. typhi which caused it very large epidemic of typhoid fever in Mexico in 1972-73 survived in opened bottles of one carbonated drink with a pH of 4.6 for two weeks and in another such drink with a pH of 5.1 for six months. Bottled beverages are potential sources of large outbreaks of enteric disease, and deserve the same type of standards and monitoring its comparable fluids such as milk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application of scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) to in situ observation will be essential in the current and emerging data-driven materials science by taking STEM's high affinity with various analytical options into account. As is well known, STEM's image acquisition time needs to be further shortened to capture a targeted phenomenon in real-time as STEM's current temporal resolution is far below the conventional TEM's. However, rapid image acquisition in the millisecond per frame or faster generally causes image distortion, poor electron signals, and unidirectional blurring, which are obstacles for realizing video-rate STEM observation. Here we show an image correction framework integrating deep learning (DL)-based denoising and image distortion correction schemes optimized for STEM rapid image acquisition. By comparing a series of distortion corrected rapid scan images with corresponding regular scan speed images, the trained DL network is shown to remove not only the statistical noise but also the unidirectional blurring. This result demonstrates that rapid as well as high-quality image acquisition by STEM without hardware modification can be established by the DL. The DL-based noise filter could be applied to in-situ observation, such as dislocation activities under external stimuli, with high spatio-temporal resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanism of dynamic strain aging (DSA) effect in high-Mn austenitic steel, and its correlation with the Portevin-Le Chatelier (PLC) banding, was elucidated using the in-situ synchrotron XRD measurement and digital image correlation (DIC) method during tensile test. The average dislocation velocity beyond the PLC band ranged from 10−2 to 10−1 nm/s, while reached to the order of 10° nm/s within the PLC band. In comparison, carbon diffusivity was significantly lower, allowing carbon atoms to diffuse only from 10−7 to10−9 nm in one second. The findings indicate that dislocations beyond the advancing PLC band were pinned by nearby carbon atoms, while dislocations within the PLC band became de-pinned from the carbons. Such localized pinning and de-pinning of dislocations occurred sequentially during deformation, appearing as the propagation of PLC bands in macroscopic scale. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Often, patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) have certain specific clinical features to suggest an autoimmune disease but do not justify the current rheumatologic classification systems to fit into a diagnosis of connective tissue disease (CTD)-associated IIP. There is a great paucity of clinical, serological, and radiological data of these patients from India. Aim: The aim was to study the clinicoradiological and autoantibody profile in patients with interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features (IPAF). Methodology: It was a prospective, observational study conducted in a tertiary care center between December 2015 and December 2016. A total of 30 patients who satisfied the criteria for IPAF according to the American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society research were included in the study. Results: All 30 patients satisfied IPAF criteria, but they did not meet the immunological criteria for CTD. Majority of them were female (86.67%) and nonsmokers. The mean age was 52.5 ± 14.5 years. The most common clinical symptom was inflammatory arthritis in 20 (66.67%) patients, followed by Raynaud's phenomenon in 5 (16%) patients. Nonspecific interstitial pneumonia was the most common radiological pattern seen in 20 (66.67%) patients, while antinuclear antibody (1:320) was the most common autoantibody positive in 18 (60.0%) patients, followed by rheumatoid arthritis factor in 15 (50%) patients. Conclusions: High female predominance along with distinct imaging, histologic and serological characteristic features are seen in patients with IPAF as compared to those with IIP. Further studies in patients with IPAF are needed to understand the natural history and its management.

Scene classification aims to classify various objects and land use classes such as farms, highways, rivers, and airplanes in the remote sensing images. In recent times, the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based models have been widely applied in scene classification, due to their efficiency in feature representation. The CNN based models have the limitation of overfitting problems, due to the generation of more features in the convolutional layer and imbalanced data problems. This study proposed Gaussian Mutation–Spider Monkey Optimization (GM-SMO) model for feature selection to solve overfitting and imbalanced data problems in scene classification. The Gaussian mutation changes the position of the solution after exploration to increase the exploitation in feature selection. The GM-SMO model maintains better tradeoff between exploration and exploitation to select relevant features for superior classification. The GM-SMO model selects unique features to overcome overfitting and imbalanced data problems. In this manuscript, the Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) is used for generating the augmented images, and the AlexNet and Visual Geometry Group (VGG) 19 models are applied to extract the features from the augmented images. Then, the GM-SMO model selects unique features, which are given to the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network for classification. In the resulting phase, the GM-SMO model achieves 99.46% of accuracy, where the existing transformer-CNN has achieved only 98.76% on the UCM dataset.