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The skin surface lipids (SSLs) film, composed of sebum and keratinocyte membrane lipids, is crucial to the barrier function of the stratum corneum (SC). The first part of this study investigated the impact of solar radiation on the SC based on a novel hydration and dehydration approach using Raman spectroscopy. The SSLs were found to absorb solar light, and thus participate to the protection of the skin surface. However, the protective function of the SSLs may be limited and is dependent to the heterogenous distribution of SSLs over the body surface. To ensure comprehensive protection, synergistic measures such as the application of solar filters are necessary. In this second part of the study, we have evaluated the limits of the protection capacity of SSLs and explored the protective action of a solar filters on both SSLs composition and the water hydration and dehydration kinetics in the SC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Sex impacts individuals' response to vaccination. However, most vaccine studies do not report these differences disaggregated by sex. The aim of this study was to assess sex differences in the immunogenicity and efficacy of influenza vaccine. Methods We performed a meta-analysis using phase 3 randomized controlled trial data conducted between 2010 and 2018. Using hemagglutination inhibition antibody titers for each strain, differences in geometric mean ratios (GMRs) were calculated by sex. Risk ratios (RRs) comparing seroconversion proportions were pooled for females and males using random-effects models. Vaccine efficacy (VE) was assessed. Data were analyzed by age group (18–64 vs ≥65 years). Results A total of 33 092 healthy adults from 19 studies were included for immunogenicity analysis, and 6740 from 1 study for VE. Whereas no sex differences in immunogenicity were found in adults <65 years old, older females had a significantly greater chance to seroconvert compared to older males for all strains: RRH1N1 = 1.17 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.12–1.23]; RRH3N2 = 1.09 [95% CI, 1.05–1.14]; RRVictoria = 1.23 [95% CI, 1.14–1.31]; RRYamagata = 1.22 [95% CI, 1.14–1.30]. GMRs were also higher in older females for all strains compared to older males. VE in preventing laboratory-confirmed influenza was higher in older females compared to older males with VEs of 27.32% (95% CI, 1.15%–46.56%) and 6.06% (95% CI, −37.68% to 35.90%), respectively. Conclusions Our results suggest a higher immunogenicity and VE in females compared to males in older adults. These differences in immunogenicity and VE support the disaggregation of vaccine data by sex in clinical trials and observational studies. Clinical Trials Registration CRD42018112260. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genus Ferula comprises about 220 species of flowering plants belonging to family Apiaceae, distributed in the Mediterranean region and Asia and used in the treatment of different diseases as anti-oxidant, aphrodisiac, carminative, antinociceptive, anti-depressant, antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-leishmanial, and anti-inflammatory. Moreover, species of this plant are used for dizziness, asthma, bronchitis, and gastrointestinal discomfort. It was reported that all the pharmacological effects of these plants are due to the presence of different phenolic constituents including flavonoids, sesquiterpenes, coumarins and polysulfides. Sesquiterpene coumarins were responsible for the anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activities by blocking the 5-lipoxygenase enzyme that catalyzes the biosynthesis of leukotrienes (LTs) being a group of lipid mediators of inflammation. This review covers most of the identified chemical constituents of plants from the genus Ferula reported in literature between 2001 and 2023. In addition, the biological activities of the different species of genus Ferula are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Community-driven projects have characterized health impacts of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection in Indigenous communities in the Northwest Territories (NT) and Yukon (YT), Canada. These projects address concerns expressed by community leaders about the frequent diagnosis of Hp infection and its relation to gastric cancer deaths, perceived to occur with alarming frequency in this region. Previous project results showed a high prevalence of stomach pathologies associated with increased cancer risk among Hp-positive participants at baseline. This follow-up study investigated changes in precancerous stomach pathologies after treatment to eliminate Hp infection among 69 project participants with follow-up data. Most participants who had successful treatment to eliminate Hp at baseline remained infection-free at follow-up and the prevalence of precancerous stomach pathologies was lower at follow-up than baseline. The more frequent improvements in precancerous stomach pathologies observed in participants who were Hp-negative at follow-up relative to those who were Hp-positive at follow-up suggests that treatment to eliminate Hp infection has the potential to reduce stomach cancer risk in participating communities. Community-driven projects have characterized Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection in Indigenous communities in the Northwest Territories (NT) and Yukon (YT), Canada. These projects address concerns about the frequent diagnosis of Hp infection among community members and its relation to gastric cancer deaths, perceived to occur with alarming frequency in this region. Projects included breath-test screening for Hp infection, gastroscopy with gastric biopsies, and treatment to eliminate Hp infection. Previous project results showed a high prevalence of stomach pathologies associated with increased cancer risk among Hp-positive participants at baseline. This analysis describes changes in precancerous gastric pathologies in project participants who had gastroscopy before baseline treatment during 2008–2013 and again in 2017. Throughout the study period, the same pathologist graded Hp density, active gastritis, chronic gastritis, atrophic gastritis, and intestinal metaplasia using the updated Sydney System. Of 310 participants from three communities with baseline pathology data, 69 had follow-up pathology data. Relative to baseline, the prevalence of Hp infection and precancerous gastric pathology was substantially lower at follow-up; most participants who were Hp-positive at baseline and Hp-negative at follow-up had reduced severity of active, chronic, and/or atrophic gastritis at follow-up. Though follow-up numbers are small, these results yield evidence that successful Hp treatment has the potential to reduce the risk of gastric cancer in Arctic Indigenous communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, numerous machine learning (ML) techniques are being applied in the field of renewable energy (RE). These techniques may not perform well if they do not have enough training data. Additionally, the main assumption in most of the ML algorithms is that the training and testing data are from the same feature space and have similar distributions. However, in many practical applications, this assumption is false. Recently, transfer learning (TL) has been introduced as a promising machine-learning framework to mitigate these issues by preparing extra-domain data so that knowledge may be transferred across domains. This learning technique improves performance and avoids the resource expensive collection and labeling of domain-centric datasets; furthermore, it saves computing resources that are needed for re-training new ML models from scratch. Lately, TL has drawn the attention of researchers in the field of RE in terms of forecasting and fault diagnosis tasks. Owing to the rapid progress of this technique, a comprehensive survey of the related advances in RE is needed to show the critical issues that have been solved and the challenges that remain unsolved. To the best of our knowledge, few or no comprehensive surveys have reviewed the applications of TL in the RE field, especially those pertaining to forecasting solar and wind power, load forecasting, and predicting failures in power systems. This survey fills this gap in RE classification and forecasting problems, and helps researchers and practitioners better understand the state of the art technology in the field while identifying areas for more focused study. In addition, this survey identifies the main issues and challenges of using TL for REs, and concludes with a discussion of future perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing passive cooling solutions limit the short-term thermal output of systems, thereby either limiting instantaneous performance or requiring active cooling solutions. As the temperature of the electronic devices increases, their failure rate increases. That’s why electrical devices should be cooled. Conventional electronic cooling systems usually consist of a metal heat sink coupled to a fan. This paper compares the heat distribution on a heat sink relative to different heat fluxes produced by electronic chips. The benefit of adding a fan is also investigated when high levels of heat generation are expected.

Lipid peroxidation (LPO) is an oxidative deterioration when oxidants such as reactive oxygen species attack lipids that contain double bonds especially polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). The mechanism of LPO is composed of three steps: initiation, propagation, and termination. It can result from several reaction pathways: (1) auto‐oxidation, (2) enzymatic oxidation, or (3) photo‐oxidation. UV solar exposition is a major concern in skin research, dermatology, and cosmetic science. Skin surface lipids (SSLs) and stratum corneum (SC) lipids are among the first skin components exposed to external insults such as UV radiations. Fatty acids represent a major lipid class in SSLs and SC. The aim of this paper is to study the photo‐oxidation of fatty acids under UV solar radiations using Raman spectroscopy. Vibrational spectroscopies are useful techniques to follow the LPO in its different stages of oxidation: (1) the initiation step by following the CH2/CH3 stretching bands ratio that decreases due to the hydrogen abstraction in alpha position; (2) the propagation step where primary oxidation products are formed such as hydroperoxides, which was evaluated by following the 1165/1640 cm−1 ((δ(OH) and ν(CO))/ν(CO)) ratio that increases during oxidation process; and finally, (3) the termination step that is marked by the formation of aldehydes, alcohols, ketone, trans secondary oxidation products, and others, which was monitored by following the 1730/1640 cm−1 (ν(CO) (ald.)/ν(CO) (acid)) ratio and the trans ν(CC)/cis ν(CC) ratio that increase indicating the formation of secondary oxidation products. To our knowledge, this work is the first to put together different spectral descriptors enabling to follow, step by step, the different modifications of free fatty acids structures during the oxidation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]