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Lichen sclerosus et atrophicus (LSA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder, most often characterized by atrophic skin plaques located on female genitalia. Infrequently, LSA may present extragenitally; however, much is unknown about the temporal relationship between genital and extragenital LSA. Morphea, also known as localized scleroderma, is a rare inflammatory skin condition characterized by sclerotic plaques. Investigators debate whether LSA and morphea exist on the same spectrum of disease, with LSA representing a superficial variant of morphea involving genitalia, or if they are distinct but coincidental entities. Although researchers have described LSA and morphea occurring in different locations on the same patient, few reports describe LSA and morphea occurring in the same lesion and in the inguinal folds. Herein, we report a case of a 62-year-old woman with extragenital LSA-morphea overlap in the inguinal folds, who three months later developed genital LSA. Extragenital LSA-morphea in the same plaque, with no signs of genital lesions on initial exam, with later development of genital LSA, is especially uncommon. The temporal progression of extragenital LSA-morphea overlap to genital LSA over a three-month period is an important contribution to the literature, as the temporal relationship between extragenital and genital LSA is not previously discussed.

Introduction: Tinnitus is a common phenomenon with an estimated prevalence of 14.4% in the adult population. The experienced severity of tinnitus varies significantly among this population. Psychological factors have been identified as major contributors to this perceived severity, and numerous studies have demonstrated a correlation between symptoms of depression and tinnitus severity. However, the assessment of tinnitus severity and depressive symptoms often relies on self-report questionnaires, which show content overlap. This can pose challenges in distinguishing both conditions and interpreting their relationship. To address these challenges, the proposed study aims to examine the overlap between tinnitus and depressive symptom questionnaires by analyzing their content based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework. Methods and analysis: Six validated, multi-item, self-report questionnaires measuring perceived tinnitus severity (THI, TQ, mTQ, THQ, TRQ, TFI) and seven validated, multi-item, self-report, depressive symptom questionnaires (BDI-II, HADS-D, SDS, PHQ-9, CES-D, SCL-90-R depression subscale, DASS-42 depression subscale) will be included in the content analysis. The content of all items of these questionnaires will be linked to ICF categories and item overlap between the tinnitus and depressive symptom questionnaires will be analyzed. Discussion: By exploring the overlap between depression and tinnitus questionnaires, this study seeks to gain a better understanding of the relationship between tinnitus and depression, by distinguishing between shared content and independent constructs of symptom scores and shedding light on the factors influencing their measured severity. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval is not required for this study, due to the characteristics of the study design. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed open access publication and scientific conferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vestibular migraine (VM) is a common cause of recurrent spontaneous and positional dizziness of varying durations. Short episodes of VM lasting seconds to minutes, triggered by changes in head position can resemble those of benign paroxysmal positioning vertigo (BPPV), while episodes lasting minutes to hours can mimic those of Meniere’s disease (MD).We aimed to compare symptoms and vestibular test results in patients with VM, BPPV and MD, where VM was categorized by episode duration.We compared vestibular, aural and migraine symptoms, as well as cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials and 3D video head impulse tests, in 108 patients: 24 with BPPV, 33 with VM episodes of short duration (<10 min), 29 with VM of medium duration (≥10 min) and 22 with MD.We found significant overlap in the symptoms of all patient groups, and no significant differences between patients with short and medium VM. Abnormal test results occurred infrequently in all groups.Our results confirm significant symptom overlap between BPPV or MD and VM, and suggest that VM mimics other conditions when the episode duration matches the differential diagnosis, rather than because patients with different durations of vertigo have different symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the composition and dynamics of ecological communities is challenging because of the large number of organisms present and their numerous interactions. Among agricultural systems, intercropping considerably increases the complexity of communities compared to monocultures and alternative host plants can influence insect pest damage. Using literature records, we construct and analyse connectance trophic webs of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) agro-ecosystems, including and excluding intercrops. Estimates of connectance (community complexity) are relatively low and little affected by consideration of intercrops. Plant–herbivore overlap is relatively high, suggesting that herbivores are typically not specialists. Herbivore–natural enemy overlap is greater when intercrops are considered, suggesting that diffuse apparent competition regulates pest populations. We pay particular attention to how trophic web structure might affect Batrachedra amydraula (Lesser date moth), an important economic pest. Records indicate it having 15 species of natural enemies and sharing 9 of these with other herbivores; these may maintain populations of natural enemies when the moth is seasonally rare, contributing to pest suppression. The estimated potential for apparent competition between the lesser date moth and other herbivores is higher when intercrops are considered. The consequent expectation of less severe infestations in plantations that are intercropped compared to monocultures matches empirically derived reports. Further, comparing results obtained from the literature on one country (Oman) and from 15 Middle Eastern countries, we find that community metric estimates are relatively little affected by the geographical scale considered. Overall, our results suggest that literature-based trophic web construction can provide an efficient and robust alternative, or in addition, to direct empirical methodologies and that the presence of intercrops will contribute to major pest suppression via indirect apparent competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suicidality was very high among individuals who suffered from childhood trauma. The distribution of cumulative childhood trauma among youths remains unclear, as well as the specific effects of cumulative childhood trauma on suicidality. This study attempted to explore the distribution of cumulative childhood trauma and examine the specific effects of cumulative childhood trauma on suicidality. A cross-sectional design was employed in this study, with 117,769 college students recruited from 63 universities in Jilin Province, China. All variables were measured by corresponding self-report questionnaires. The Venn diagram was used to represent the distribution of single and cumulative childhood trauma. ANOVA and chi-square tests were conducted to identify the high-risk suicide groups. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to examine risk factors for suicidality for overlapping subtypes. 27,671 (23.5%) participants reported suffering from childhood trauma, of which 49.5% were male (M age = 19.59, SD = 1.76). The "physical neglect" group accounted for the largest proportion (31.5%). Suicidality was the highest in the "overlap of childhood neglect, emotional abuse, and physical abuse" group (2.0%). Depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder were common risk factors for suicidality. This study was limited by cross-sectional studies and self-report bias. The childhood trauma subtype group with the largest proportion was not necessarily the highest suicidality. Both the largest group and the highest-risk suicide group require special attention to their respective risk factors. • The "physical neglect" group was the largest group. • The "overlap of childhood neglect, emotional abuse, and physical abuse" group was the highest-risk suicide group. • Depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder were risk factors for suicidality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We proceed with the study of ultimate periodicity properties related to overlaps between the suffixes of a left-infinite word λ and the prefixes of a right-infinite word ρ . For a positive integer n, let g(n) be n minus the maximum length of overlaps between the suffix of λ and the prefix of ρ of length n. In a recent publication we have shown that the function g has finite image if and only if λ and ρ are ultimately periodic words with a same root. In this paper we give an asymptotic characterization of words λ and ρ for which the function g has finite image. We prove that this condition is true if and only if the sequence (g (n) / n) n tends to zero [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diverse T and B cell repertoires play an important role in mounting effective immune responses against a wide range of pathogens and malignant cells. The number of unique T and B cell clones is characterized by T and B cell receptors (TCRs and BCRs), respectively. Although receptor sequences are generated probabilistically by recombination processes, clinical studies found a high degree of sharing of TCRs and BCRs among different individuals. In this work, we use a general probabilistic model for T/B cell receptor clone abundances to define publicness or privateness and information-theoretic measures for comparing the frequency of sampled sequences observed across different individuals. We derive mathematical formulae to quantify the mean and the variances of clone richness and overlap. Our results can be used to evaluate the effect of different sampling protocols on abundances of clones within an individual as well as the commonality of clones across individuals. Using synthetic and empirical TCR amino acid sequence data, we perform simulations to study expected clonal commonalities across multiple individuals. Based on our formulae, we compare these simulated results with the analytically predicted mean and variances of the repertoire overlap. Complementing the results on simulated repertoires, we derive explicit expressions for the richness and its uncertainty for specific, single-parameter truncated power-law probability distributions. Finally, the information loss associated with grouping together certain receptor sequences, as is done in spectratyping, is also evaluated. Our approach can be, in principle, applied under more general and mechanistically realistic clone generation models.

Abstract DeFi blockchain technology, known as decentralized finance today, separates from the traditional financial ecosystem and ushers the new financial landscape onto digital platforms. In decentralized financial applications, all digital assets are safeguarded by blockchain technology. Thanks to this technology, investors can transfer their financial assets without being dependent on banking authorities. Despite the numerous advantages they bring, financial assets based on the decentralized finance ecosystem come with certain disadvantages. These assets are difficult to control, easily manipulated, and are at risk due to their vulnerability to cyberattacks. This study conducted bibliometric analyses on a total of 930 publications registered in the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases using the VOSviewer program. In both databases, “all fields” were filtered and scanned with the keyword “decentralized finance.” According to the results, the Scopus database has much richer content compared to the WoS database. The most cited author in the Scopus database was Chen Y, while in the WoS database, it was Nakomoto S. There has been a significant increase in the number of publications in both databases since 2020. Additionally, it was detected that the most cited countries in both databases were the USA, China and England, respectively. It has been observed that computer science comes to the fore in the publication rankings. Decentralized finance is an interdisciplinary field of study. Therefore, many more qualified hybrid studies are needed. More studies are needed, especially examining investor behavior. The analyses presented in this article will enable researchers to grasp the bigger picture from a holistic perspective.

Abstract Home range is a fundamental characteristic of an animal natural history. The study of home range provides information on the sites where organisms forage for food, find shelter, or locate mates. Home range size and shape can change throughout the lifespan of an organism, during the year, or across seasons, driven by resource availability and the basic needs for each organism. For freshwater and semi-aquatic turtles, home range is greatly affected by water availability, humidity, and temperature throughout the year, nevertheless demographic factors such age and sex are also important determinants of home range size. In this study we estimated home range and dispersal movements for Kinosternon creaseri, Terrapene yucatana, and Rhinoclemmys areolata in a semi-tropical dry forest in central Yucatán. For a two-year period, turtles were surveyed using hoop traps and visual encounters. Twenty-one individuals (5–8 per species) were equipped with radio transmitters to track them across the landscape. Distances between relocations and home range were compared across species seasons, sex, and interactions of these variables. Monthly average movements were positively correlated with rain in the three species studied. Home range of R. areolata was larger than those of K. creaseri and T. yucatana. Home range of the three studied species were larger during the wet season. Home range overlap index within same species individuals was higher during the rainy than dry season, but overall overlap is low between and within species.

DeFi blockchain technology, known as decentralized finance today, separates from the traditional financial ecosystem and ushers the new financial landscape onto digital platforms. In decentralized financial applications, all digital assets are safeguarded by blockchain technology. Thanks to this technology, investors can transfer their financial assets without being dependent on banking authorities. Despite the numerous advantages they bring, financial assets based on the decentralized finance ecosystem come with certain disadvantages. These assets are difficult to control, easily manipulated, and are at risk due to their vulnerability to cyberattacks. This study conducted bibliometric analyses on a total of 930 publications registered in the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases using the VOSviewer program. In both databases, "all fields" were filtered and scanned with the keyword "decentralized finance." According to the results, the Scopus database has much richer content compared to the WoS database. The most cited author in the Scopus database was Chen Y, while in the WoS database, it was Nakomoto S. There has been a significant increase in the number of publications in both databases since 2020. Additionally, it was detected that the most cited countries in both databases were the USA, China and England, respectively. It has been observed that computer science comes to the fore in the publication rankings. Decentralized finance is an interdisciplinary field of study. Therefore, many more qualified hybrid studies are needed. More studies are needed, especially examining investor behavior. The analyses presented in this article will enable researchers to grasp the bigger picture from a holistic perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating the overlap between two states is an important task with several applications in quantum information. However, the typical swap test circuit can only measure a sole pair of quantum states at a time. In this study, a recursive quantum circuit is designed to measure overlaps of n quantum states | ϕ 1 〉 , | ϕ 2 〉 , ... | ϕ n 〉 concurrently with O (k 2 k) controlled-swap(CSWAP) gates and O (k) ancillary qubits, where k = ⌈ log n ⌉ . All pairwise overlaps among input quantum states | 〈 ϕ i | ϕ j 〉 | 2 can be obtained in this circuit. Compared with existing scheme for measuring the overlap of multiple quantum states, the circuit provides higher precision and less consumption of ancillary qubits. In addition, some simulation experiments are performed on IBM quantum cloud platform to verify the superiority of this algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the coverage and overlap of retracted publications, retraction notices and withdrawals are compared across seven significant scholarly databases, with the aim to check for discrepancies, pinpoint the causes of those discrepancies, and choose the best product to produce the most accurate picture of retracted literature. Seven scholarly databases were searched to obtain all the retracted publications, retraction notices and withdrawal from 2000. Only web search interfaces were used, excepting in OpenAlex and Scilit. The findings demonstrate that non-selective databases (Dimensions, OpenAlex, Scilit, and The Lens) index a greater amount of retracted literature than do databases that rely their indexation on venue selection (PubMed, Scopus, and WoS). The key factors explaining these discrepancies are the indexation of withdrawals and proceeding articles. Additionally, the high coverage of OpenAlex and Scilit could be explained by the inaccurate labeling of retracted documents in Scopus, Dimensions, and The Lens. 99% of the sample is jointly covered by OpenAlex, Scilit and WoS. The study suggests that research on retracted literature would require querying more than one source and that it should be advisable to accurately identify and label this literature in academic databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Biotropica is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

The following case series presents three different pediatric patients with SCN5A- related disease. In addition, family members are presented to demonstrate the variable penetrance that is commonly seen. Identifying features of this disease is important, because even in the very young, SCN5A disorders can cause lethal arrhythmias and sudden death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field observed shrinkage was quantified and compared for one geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) type left covered only by a black geomembrane, a white geomembrane, and 0.3 m of gravel cover. Shrinkage is reported for up to 28 months field exposure of an additional four GCLs beneath a black geomembrane. All GCLs were needle-punched geotextile encased: one containing fine granular bentonite, two with powdered bentonite, one with polymer amended granular bentonite, and one multicomponent GCL with a film coating installed film up. All the GCLs examined have the potential to shrink with the magnitude of the shrinkage primarily dependent on the thermal/moisture cycles to which it is subjected and the degree of adhesion between panel overlaps. It is shown that the panel overlap adhesion can be highly variable and this is primarily attributed to condensation of water vapour below geomembrane wrinkles during daily thermal cycles. With a an initial GCL overlap of 300 mm, the shrinkage observed over 28 months left ≥32% of the original overlap; however, if the overlap had been only 150 mm, then gaps or ineffective seams would have occurred for several GCLs. Guidance regarding mitigating GCL panel shrinkage is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key to a new contract for education is understanding that knowledge is not scarce, it is not a commodity, and it does not belong in a market economy. Instead, knowledge exchange is gift exchange, and education, when not thwarted or constricted, demonstrates its abundance. The abundance of knowledge operates in ways similar to the abundance of nature, as described by the ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer in her essay "The serviceberry: An economy of abundance". We can therefore draw productive parallels between education and the new agroecology, which recognizes the intertwining nature and importance of the diversity of life and the gifts that come from the synergy of that diversity. Just as monoculture farming gives way to holistic farming, monoculture learning must also give way to a paradigm shift. Helping us envision this shift are arguments made in a court case in the US brought by the Department of Justice against 23 universities, including those in the Ivy League (US v Brown, 1992 and 1993). Through ideas expressed in court in defense of admissions practices, we can see how the cooperation necessary for a new education paradigm might be constructed. This essay invites us to more fully envision this new paradigm by focusing on the key shift that happens when knowledge exchange is understood to be gift exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Djoussour El-maarefa is the property of Association of Arab Universities 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.)

Laser trackers (LTs) are dimensional measurement instruments commonly employed in the manufacture and assembly of large structures. Terrestrial laser scanners (TLSs) are a related class of dimensional measurement instruments more commonly employed in surveying, reverse engineering, and forensics. Commercially available LTs typically have measurement ranges of up to 80 m. The measurement ranges of TLSs vary from about 50 m to several hundred meters, with some extending as far as several kilometers. It is difficult, if not impossible, to construct long reference lengths to evaluate the ranging performances of these instruments over that distance. In this context, we explore the use of stitching errors (i.e., stacking errors in adjoining or overlapping short lengths) and stitching lengths (i.e., constructing long reference lengths from multiple positions of a reference instrument by registration) to evaluate these instruments. Through experimental data and a discussion on uncertainty, we show that stitching is indeed a viable option to evaluate the ranging performances of LTs and TLSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been considerable interest in understanding victim-offender overlap, including why it occurs and the factors that are responsible for creating it. At the same time, however, there has been a lack of research examining precisely why some offenders are able to escape victimization and yet others are more susceptible to it. The current study sought to address this gap in the literature. To do so, data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) were analyzed. The results revealed that a range of covariates, including low self-control, delinquent peers, social support, parental criminality, intelligence, and poverty, were differentially related to the odds of being victimized among offenders over the life course. We discuss what these findings mean for research on victim-offender overlap and future research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Electric Drive for Locomotives is the property of Electric Drive for Locomotives Editorial Office 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.)

IntroductionTinnitus is a common phenomenon with an estimated prevalence of 14.4% in the adult population. The experienced severity of tinnitus varies significantly among this population. Psychological factors have been identified as major contributors to this perceived severity, and numerous studies have demonstrated a correlation between symptoms of depression and tinnitus severity. However, the assessment of tinnitus severity and depressive symptoms often relies on self-report questionnaires, which show content overlap. This can pose challenges in distinguishing both conditions and interpreting their relationship. To address these challenges, the proposed study aims to examine the overlap between tinnitus and depressive symptom questionnaires by analyzing their content based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework.Methods and analysisSix validated, multi-item, self-report questionnaires measuring perceived tinnitus severity (THI, TQ, mTQ, THQ, TRQ, TFI) and seven validated, multi-item, self-report, depressive symptom questionnaires (BDI-II, HADS-D, SDS, PHQ-9, CES-D, SCL-90-R depression subscale, DASS-42 depression subscale) will be included in the content analysis. The content of all items of these questionnaires will be linked to ICF categories and item overlap between the tinnitus and depressive symptom questionnaires will be analyzed.DiscussionBy exploring the overlap between depression and tinnitus questionnaires, this study seeks to gain a better understanding of the relationship between tinnitus and depression, by distinguishing between shared content and independent constructs of symptom scores and shedding light on the factors influencing their measured severity.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval is not required for this study, due to the characteristics of the study design. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed open access publication and scientific conferences.

Crown shape and canopy structure are crucial determinants of tree and forest performance, and forest-climate interactions, but methods of quantifying these from field measurements are based on untested assumptions. Historically, measurements of crown size, shape and interactions have been limited to what can be quantified using simple tools such as a tape measure or clinometer, which are then combined with simple geometric assumptions to calculate metrics including crown area, crown volume and canopy cover and overlap. Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) captures the three-dimensional structure of trees and can derive such metrics directly, bypassing the need for geometric assumptions. Here we use TLS data from c. 2500 trees in mixed Mediterranean forests to present a first test of the validity of common assumptions of tree shape. We simulate field measurements from TLS, use these to estimate crown and canopy properties based on geometric assumptions and compare with direct TLS estimates. We find that commonly used methods produce consistently biased estimates of individual tree crown area and crown volume, and whole-plot crown projected area and crown overlap. Although TLS is often not the practical choice for forest measurement, we show that it can guide best practice and here present recommendations of ground measurements that minimise errors.

Purpose: To summarize the evidence and determine the most effective impression technique for implant-supported prostheses in terms of accuracy, time efficiency, and patient preference in partially and completely edentulous arches. Materials and Methods: The searches were performed independently up to April 30, 2021 by two review authors through the Cochrane Oral Health Review, MEDLINE/PubMed, LILACS, and Science Direct databases. Moreover, manual and gray literature searches were performed to identify further potential reviews. Only English language--based systematic reviews with and without meta-analyses evaluating the different dental implant impression techniques were included. The outcomes assessed were accuracy, time efficiency, and patient preference. The methodologic quality of the included reviews was investigated by using the R-AMSTAR tool, and the degree of overlap of primary studies was assessed by calculating the percentage of corrected covered area (CCA) as proposed by Pieper et al.64 Results: The qualitative analysis included a total of 28 reviews, 8 of which included meta-analyses, published between 2008 and 2021, involving a total of 42 clinical trials and 203 laboratory studies. Digital vs conventional implant impression techniques were compared in 17 reviews, different digital impressions in 3 reviews, and different conventional impression techniques in the remaining reviews. Overall, the methodologic quality assessed by using the R-AMSTAR tool was moderate (mean: 26.7 ± 5.5) with slight overlap of primary studies (CCA; 5.23%). Conclusion: Within an overall moderate methodologic quality, the digital implant impressions showed favorable outcomes in terms of accuracy, time efficiency, and patient preference in partially edentulous arches involving three or fewer implants. However, the accuracy of full-arch digital impressions involving multiple implants is not satisfactory and needs significant improvements. Hence, future studies following stringent guidelines and robust methodology are recommended to substantiate the findings of this overview and provide a high level of evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bashaeer Abdullh Al Jalal,1 Ahmed Khalid Alnawah,1 Fahad Mohammed Alturkie,1 Khalid Jafar Alqadhib,1 Mohammed Sami Alabbadi,1 Sayed Ibrahim Ali,2 Hessah Abdulaziz Al Hussaini1 1Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Al Ahsa, 31982, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Al Ahsa, 31982, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Bashaeer Abdullh Al Jalal, Email baljalal@kfu.edu.saIntroduction: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and functional constipation (FC) are two common gastrointestinal disorders that affect many age groups in the community. A few studies were conducted to find the association between GERD and FC, but no study had been conducted in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, this study aims to find the overlap between GERD and FC and associated risk factors among the general population in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia between August and September 2022. GERDQ and Rome IV criteria were used to collect the data with participants’ characteristics through an online questionnaire.Results: Out of 2007 respondents, 1481 filled the required criteria, among them 320 (21.6%) had GERD, and 1292 (87.2%) respondents had FC based on the listed criteria. Eighty percent of respondents with GERD had overlapping FC. Men were more likely than women to experience this significant relationship (53.1% versus 46.9%).Conclusion: There is a significant relationship between GERD and FC among the general population of the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Consequently, this study could be used to improve the understanding of the overlapping between these gastrointestinal disorders and further new guidelines could be carried out to find the best treatment for these patients.Keywords: GERD, functional constipation, overlap, Saudi Arabia

Structural systems often undergo changes due to variations in the usage, the loading conditions, or the presence of defects in their elements. The problem can be exacerbated when there is insufficient overlap between reinforcing bars in critical moment zones. This article investigates the behavior of reinforced concrete cantilever beams exhibiting insufficient overlap between bars that used as main reinforcing steel bars in the negative moment zone. Various strengthening techniques were employed in order to improve these defected cantilever beams. Eleven beams underwent flexural testing until reaching failure. The experimental parameters encompassed the strengthening scenarios and the bonded length. Three strategies were used: the application of stainless-steel plates (SSPs) as externally bonded reinforcement, near surface mounted (NSM) reinforcement in which additional deformed steel bars were bonded utilizing engineering cementitious composites, and externally pre-stressing technique. The anchorage length was examined at 40, 50, and 60 times the internal bar diameter. It was noted that the most substantial improvement achieved with the NSM method, followed by the externally pre-stressing method. It is worth mentioning that most of the beams failed in a flexural manner, with partial debonding occurring in beams strengthened using external strengthening. Moreover, this article includes the development of a numerical model employing the finite element method to replicate the response observed from the experimentally tested beams. The accuracy of the model was confirmed through the comparison of its outcomes with the experimental data, demonstrating an acceptable level of accuracy with deviations of less than 4.4 %. This successful numerical investigation was also used to conduct a parametric study. From this study it is evident that the effect of debonding on SSPs can be reduced by adding steel anchors at the ends of these plates. Finally, an analytical method was proposed to calculate the ultimate load capacity of strengthened reinforced concrete beams.

In the past decade, various exact balancing‐based weighting methods were introduced to the causal inference literature. It eliminates covariate imbalance by imposing balancing constraints in a certain optimization problem, which can nevertheless be infeasible when there is bad overlap between the covariate distributions in the treated and control groups or when the covariates are high dimensional. Recently, approximate balancing was proposed as an alternative balancing framework. It resolves the feasibility issue by using inequality moment constraints instead. However, it can be difficult to select the threshold parameters. Moreover, moment constraints may not fully capture the discrepancy of covariate distributions. In this paper, we propose Mahalanobis balancing to approximately balance covariate distributions from a multivariate perspective. We use a quadratic constraint to control overall imbalance with a single threshold parameter, which can be tuned by a simple selection procedure. We show that the dual problem of Mahalanobis balancing is an ℓ2$$ {\ell}_2 $$ norm‐based regularized regression problem, and establish interesting connection to propensity score models. We derive asymptotic properties, discuss the high‐dimensional scenario, and make extensive numerical comparisons with existing balancing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of haematopoietic neoplasms, particularly its fifth version from 2022 (WHO-HAEM5), myeloid neoplasms are not only grouped into myeloproliferative (MPN) and myelodysplastic neoplasms (MDS). There is also a group of haematological disorders that share features of both categories termed myelodysplastic /myeloproliferative neoplasms (MDS/MPN). In this article, we aim to provide a comprehensive and practical guide to WHO-HAEM5 highlighting the genetic alterations that underlie MPN and MDS/MPN. This guide provides an overview of the overlapping commonalities among these entities, as well as their unique characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regime complexity characterizes the international system, as many international organizations (IOs) overlap in membership and competencies at the same time. Unmanaged overlaps endanger the effectiveness of IOs. Inter-organizational cooperation can mitigate such negative consequences. However, a novel dataset reveals that not all overlapping IOs cooperate with each other and the institutionalization of cooperation agreements varies. Why do some but not all overlapping IOs opt for cooperation agreements, and why do their designs vary? The analysis of a demand–supply–restraint model shows that increased exposure to overlaps creates a demand for IOs to reach cooperation agreements and for their strong institutionalization. States respond more favourable to the supply of cooperation agreements when they are used to international cooperation and internal authority-delegation. The restraint component underscores that IOs are less inclined to cooperate when ideological differences and power differentials between them are greater and that IOs choose highly institutionalized cooperation agreements when their ideological differences are limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate scenarios in which the low-temperature phase of short-range spin glasses comprises thermodynamic states which are nontrivial mixtures of multiple incongruent pure state pairs. We construct a new kind of metastate supported on Gibbs states whose edge overlap values with a reference state fall within a specified range. Using this metastate we show that, in any dimension, the variance of free energy difference fluctuations between pure states within a single mixed Gibbs state with multiple edge overlap values diverges linearly with the volume. We discuss some implications of these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Methods Results Conclusions Psoriasis (Ps) and atopic dermatitis (AD) are chronic systemic immune‐mediated diseases that can coexist in an overlapping condition called psoriasis dermatitis (PD). PD patients have intermediate lesions with characteristics of both Ps and AD. PD is very rare in adults but much more frequent in children. Little is known, however, about the course of PD in the pediatric population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the percentage of PD cases in children that evolved to a definite form of Ps or AD and to identify any clinical or epidemiological variables that could predict the course of the disease.We performed a prospective multicenter cohort study of children diagnosed with PD between January 2018 and December 2020. We collected participants' clinical and epidemiological characteristics, and pediatric dermatologists determined the percentage of participants who developed Ps or AD.The study included 24 children with PD, with a median age of 7.0 years. After a median follow‐up period of 31 months, 83.3% of cases had evolved to a definite form of Ps or AD (44.4% to Ps and 38.9% to AD). Younger age and family history of Ps were associated with progression to AD. Participants who progressed to AD or Ps had a longer follow‐up than those with an unchanged PD diagnosis.Given sufficient time, a large percentage of PD cases in children will evolve into Ps or AD. Long‐term clinical follow‐up is necessary for a correct diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cold spray additive manufacturing is an emerging solid-state deposition process that enables large-scale components to be manufactured at high-production rates. Control over geometry is important for reducing the development and growth of defects during the 3D build process and improving the final dimensional accuracy and quality of components. To this end, a machine learning approach has recently gained interest in modeling additively manufactured geometry; however, such a data-driven modeling framework lacks the explicit consideration of a depositing surface and domain knowledge in cold spray additive manufacturing. Therefore, this study presents surface-aware data-driven modeling of an overlapping-track profile using a Gaussian Process Regression model. The proposed Gaussian Process modeling framework explicitly incorporated two relevant geometric features (i.e., surface type and polar length from the nozzle exit to the surface) and a widely adopted Gaussian superposing model as prior domain knowledge in the form of an explicit mean function. It was shown that the proposed model could provide better predictive performance than the Gaussian superposing model alone and the purely data-driven Gaussian Process model, providing consistent overlapping-track profile predictions at all overlapping ratios. By combining accurate prediction of track geometry with toolpath planning, it is anticipated that improved geometric control and product quality can be achieved in cold spray additive manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Functional constipation (FC), a common functional gastrointestinal disorder, is usually overlapping with upper gastrointestinal symptoms (UGS). We aimed to explore the clinical characteristics of patients with FC overlapping UGS along with the related risk factors. Methods: The differences in the severity of constipation symptoms, psychological state, quality of life (QoL), anorectal motility and perception function, autonomic function, and the effect of biofeedback therapy (BFT) among patients with FC in different groups were analyzed, along with the risk factors of overlapping UGS. Results: Compared with patients with FC alone, those with FC overlapping UGS had higher scores in the Patient Assessment of Constipation Symptoms and Self‐Rating Anxiety Scale and lower scores in the Short Form‐36 health survey (P < 0.05). Patients with FC overlapping UGS also had lower rectal propulsion, more negative autonomic nervous function, and worse BFT efficacy (P < 0.05). Overlapping UGS, especially overlapping functional dyspepsia, considerably affected the severity of FC. Logistic regression model showed that age, body mass index (BMI), anxiety, exercise, and sleep quality were independent factors influencing overlapping UGS in patients with FC. Conclusions: Overlapping UGS reduces the physical and mental health and the QoL of patients with FC. It also increases the difficulty in the treatment of FC. Patient's age, BMI, anxiety, physical exercise, and sleep quality might be predictors for FC overlapping UGS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isometric words are those words whose occurrence as a factor in a transformation of a word u in a word v can be avoided, while preserving the minimal length of the transformation. Such minimal length refers to a distance between u and v. In the literature, isometric words have been considered with respect to the Hamming distance and the Lee distance; the former especially for binary words, while the latter for k-ary words, with k ⩾ 2. Ham- and Lee- isometric words have been characterized in terms of their overlaps with errors. In this paper, we give algorithms to decide whether a word f, of length n, is Ham- or Lee-isometric and provide evidence of the possible non-isometricity by returning a pair of words of minimal length whose transformation cannot avoid the factor f. Such a pair of words is called a pair of witnesses and the minimal length of the witnesses is called the index of f. The algorithms run in O ( n ) time with a preprocessing of O ( n ) time and space to construct a data structure that allows answering LCA queries on the suffix tree of f in constant time. The correctness of the algorithms lies on some theoretical results on the index and the witnesses of a word that are here presented. The investigation on the index is completed by the characterization of words with minimum/maximum index. All the results are shown referring to both Hamming and Lee distance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a fibroinflammatory condition that is characterized by storiform fibrosis, infiltration of IgG4-positive lymphocytes, obliterative phlebitis, and high IgG4 levels. Since IgG4-RD affects a wide variety of organs, a differential diagnosis must include multiple conditions. IgG4-RD is also believed to coexist with certain diseases. In recent years, case reports and case series describing the co-occurrence of IgG4-RD and ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) have been published. We intended to evaluate patients with IgG4-RD and AAV overlap in the literature using a case similar to one that was diagnosed and monitored in our department. We searched the databases of Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar as well as PubMed with the keywords ANCA, IgG4, IgG4-RD, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, Wegener's granulomatosis, microscopic polyangiitis, Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, and Churg–Strauss syndrome. Cases and Case series addressing the coexistence of IgG4-RD and AAV have been selected. Comprehensive diagnostic criteria are used to diagnose IgG4-RD. The Chapel Hill Consensus Conference nomenclature criteria were used for the inclusion of AAV. Out of a total of 910 publications, 20 articles, including 65 cases, were found to be eligible. Forty-seven cases with IgG4-RD were evaluated as definitive (71.2%), 10 cases as probable (15.1%), and 9 cases as possible IgG4-RD (13.6%). 26 patients were diagnosed with GPA, 1 patient with localized GPA, 23 patients with MPA, and 4 patients with EGPA. The aorta, lacrimal tissue, pancreas, and retroperitoneum are the sites of IgG4-RD rather than AAV. AAV and IgG4-RD might coexist in the same patient. IgG4-RD is mainly associated with GPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many philosophical views have the surprising implication that, within the boundaries of each human being, there is not just one mind, but many: anywhere from two (the person and their brain, or the person and their body) to trillions (each of the nearly-entirely-overlapping precise entities generated by the Problem of the Many). This is often treated as absurd, a problem of 'Too Many Minds', which we must find ways to avoid. It is often thought specifically absurd to allow such a multiplication of conscious subjects, even if we could accept it for physical objects. I consider metaphysical, phenomenological, and moral arguments for this asymmetry, and show that they all fail: many overlapping conscious minds is no more problematic than many overlapping physical objects. Theories that imply such a multiplicity may or may not be true, but they cannot be rejected simply for implying it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biotic and abiotic factors play a crucial role in determining the distribution of species. These factors dictate the conditions that must be met for a species to thrive in a particular area. Sister species that present some degree of niche overlap can shed light on how they are distributed and coexist in their environment. This study aims to investigate the geographical distribution and ecological niche of the sister species of snake-necked turtles Hydromedusa maximiliani and H. tectifera. By analyzing their niche overlap, we aim to obtain a better understanding of how these two species coexist and which variables are determining their occurences. We applied species distribution modeling and compared the niches using the niche equivalence and similarity tests. Our findings show that the distribution of H. maximiliani is most influenced by temperature seasonality and isothermality, while H. tectifera is most affected by the temperature seasonality, precipitation of warmest quarter and mean diurnal range. In addition, our results suggest that the niche expressed by H. maximiliani retained ecological characteristics that can accurately predict the H. tectifera distribution, but the inverse is not true. In this sense, differences are not solely due to the geographic availability of environmental conditions but can reflect niche restrictions, such as competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Overlap with prior experience facilitates learning in some cases while hindering it in others. As facilitation and interference are typically studied in separate lines of research, using distinct paradigms, it is unclear what key factors drive the opposing behavioral outcomes. Methods: In two experiments, we tested whether both effects can be observed within a single task, depending on what overlaps between experiences. Participants completed a novel task in which they learned a grid of object- location associations, followed by a second grid that overlapped with the first in locations and/or objects. We hypothesized that overlap of locations would serve as a spatial schema, facilitating new learning, while overlap of objects would create interference. Results: In line with our hypothesis, we found that location overlap facilitated learning of the second grid, while object overlap hindered learning of the second grid. We replicated these findings in a second experiment, additionally showing that both effects remain largely stable across two distinct grid shapes. Discussion: These results demonstrate that the effect of overlap can be manipulated within a single task, pinpointing one factor that determines the direction of the effect and highlighting the differential roles of "what" and "where" in the organization of memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concurrent obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are referred to as COPD-OSA overlap. We investigated the prevalence and clinical significance of COPD-OSA overlap in the general population of South Korea. Data were obtained from the 2019 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants ≥40 years of age with complete STOP-Bang questionnaire and spirometry data were included. OSA was presumed in individuals with a STOP-Bang score of ≥3. COPD was determined using forced expiratory volume at 1 s/forced vital capacity <0.7. Participants were classified on the basis of the STOP-Bang score and spirometry findings. Clinical characteristics, comorbidities, and quality of life (using the EuroQoL 5-dimension instrument) were compared between the overlap group and COPD-alone or OSA-alone groups. Among the 3157 participants, 6.9 % demonstrated COPD-OSA overlap. Individuals with OSA alone and COPD alone were 31.8 % and 5.2 %, respectively. The overlap group included more males, ever smokers, and frequent alcohol drinkers than the COPD- or OSA-alone groups. The overlap group had more diagnoses of hypertension, diabetes, and stroke than the COPD-alone group. The risk of anxiety/depression was approximately 2.5 times higher in the overlap group than in the COPD-alone group. COPD-OSA overlap was a significant risk factor for anxiety/depression after adjusting for age, sex, household income, and education levels. COPD-OSA overlap is not rare within the general population of South Korea. Patients with overlap showed more comorbidities and higher levels of anxiety/depression than those in the COPD-alone group. • About 6.9 % of South Korean adults aged ≥40 are suspected to have COPD-OSA overlap. • Individuals with overlap have more comorbidities than those with COPD alone. • Overlap group has a higher risk of anxiety/depression than COPD-alone group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and functional constipation (FC) are two common gastrointestinal disorders that affect many age groups in the community. A few studies were conducted to find the association between GERD and FC, but no study had been conducted in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, this study aims to find the overlap between GERD and FC and associated risk factors among the general population in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia between August and September 2022. GERDQ and Rome IV criteria were used to collect the data with participants' characteristics through an online questionnaire. Results: Out of 2007 respondents, 1481 filled the required criteria, among them 320 (21.6%) had GERD, and 1292 (87.2%) respondents had FC based on the listed criteria. Eighty percent of respondents with GERD had overlapping FC. Men were more likely than women to experience this significant relationship (53.1% versus 46.9%). Conclusion: There is a significant relationship between GERD and FC among the general population of the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Consequently, this study could be used to improve the understanding of the overlapping between these gastrointestinal disorders and further new guidelines could be carried out to find the best treatment for these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Human antibiotic formulations in animal feed for therapeutic and non-therapeutic purposes have contributed to antimicrobial resistance worldwide; however, little evidence is available in low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to generate evidence of antibiotic use across the human and animal health sectors by investigating the overlap in antibiotic use in community settings in rural blocks of Pune District, India, following the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Access, Watch, Reserve (AWaRe) classification. Materials and Methods: An exploratory pilot study using a cross-sectional design in two randomly selected rural blocks of the Pune district included 138 interviews with general physicians (GPs, n = 62), pharmacists (n = 60), and veterinary practitioners (n = 16) using semi-structured interview schedules and the WHO AWaRe classification. IBM-Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, Version 21.0 software was used for descriptive statistics and to calculate the proportions of the different antibiotic groups. The WHO AWaRe classification was used to describe antibiotic use by the study participants and to assess the overlap in antibiotic use. Results: Our study provides evidence of an overlap in human and animal antibiotic use in rural community settings across the human and animal health sectors. Amoxicillin (access group), penicillin (access group), and ofloxacin (watch group) were used in both human and animal health. Amoxicillin and penicillin were used to treat common bacterial infections, ofloxacin was used to treat skin infections in humans and animals, and ofloxacin was used to treat pneumonia in animals and urinary bladder infections in humans. In contrast, azithromycin (watch group), cefixime (watch group), and amoxicillin (Access Group), with or without other antibiotics, were the most commonly used antibiotics by GPs in humans. Conclusion: We confirmed the overlap in antibiotic use across the human and animal health sectors in rural community settings, suggesting the need for interventions following the One Health approach. Further, research is required to assess the patterns of this overlap, as well as behavior, knowledge, and potential solutions to help avoid this overlap and prevent the rampant use of antibiotics in the animal and human health sectors in rural community settings.

Summary: Many real‐world application datasets such as medical diagnostics, fraud detection, biological classification, risk analysis and so forth are facing class imbalance and overlapping problems. It seriously affects the learning of the classification model on these datasets because minority instances are not visible to the learner in the overlapped region and the performance of learners is biased towards the majority. Undersampling‐based methods are the most commonly used techniques to handle the above‐mentioned problems. The major problem with these methods is excessive elimination and information loss, that is, unable to retain potential informative majority instances. We propose a novel entropy and neighborhood‐based undersampling (ENU) that removed only those majority instances from the overlapped region which are having less informativeness (entropy) score than the threshold entropy. Most of such existing methods improved sensitivity scores significantly but not in many other performance contexts. ENU first computes entropy and threshold score for majority instances and, a local density‐based improved KNN search is used to identify overlapped majority instances. To tackle the problem effectively ENU defined four improved KNN‐based procedures (ENUB, ENUT, ENUC, and ENUR) for effective undersampling. ENU outperformed in sensitivity, G‐mean, and F1‐score average ranking with reduced information loss as compared to the existing state‐of‐the‐art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) is the result of an autoimmune process that occurs as a rapidly advancing encephalopathy. Autoimmune encephalitis was commonly linked to herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) as the most frequently identified virus. The main areas affected by this invasion are the temporal lobe, frontal lobe, and limbic system. Limbic encephalitis is a highly uncommon occurrence involving antialpha- amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR) encephalitis and anti-IgLON family member 5 (IgLON5) disease, both belonging to the rare category. As far as we know, this is the first report showing that a patient diagnosed with AMPAR encephalitis overlapped with anti-IgLON5 disease post herpes simplex virus encephalitis (HSE), which helps to broaden the range of this uncommon autoimmune disease. We recommend autoantibody testing in all patients with HSE, particularly those involving neurological relapses or progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species assemblages are influenced by trophic and intraguild interactions, which may be competitive, facilitative, or neutral. These interactions vary in relative importance depending on resource availability. We assessed the nature of interactions among six carnivore species (Ursus arctos, Panthera uncia, Vulpes vulpes, Mustela altaica, and Martes foina) and their prey (Capra sibirica, Pseudois nayaur, Hemitragus jemlahicus, Moschus leucogaster, Ochotona sp., and Rodentia sp.) by examining their spatial–temporal overlaps using camera‐trap data gathered between 2016 and 2019 from the resource‐limited landscapes of the high Himalayas. We examined fine scale pairwise spatial interaction using multi‐species occupancy method and temporal overlap using time activity kernel densities function. Carnivore species showed relatively high spatio‐temporal overlap. We found spatial avoidance between two pairs and temporal avoidance between four out of 15 pairs. Contrary to our expectation that carnivore species would segregate due to competition in a resource‐poor environment, our results showed that they generally showed significant co‐occurrence and appeared to track their prey's activity. Our findings highlight the potentially overriding role of prey availability in influencing carnivore species occurrence in resource‐poor landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the requirements of Serbian railway signaling system and the characteristics of the national train protection system, this paper puts forward the adaptive solution and application discussion of integration of Serbian signalling system with ETCS-2 system based on the analysis of ETCS level transition and movement authority, so as to provide technical reference for the "Go Global" of China's high-speed railway technology and equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In education settings, treatments are often non-randomly assigned to clusters, such as schools or classrooms, while outcomes are measured for students. This research design is called the clustered observational study (COS). We examine the consequences of common support violations in the COS context. Common support violations occur when the covariate distributions of treated and control units have substantial areas of non-overlap. Such violations are likely to occur in a COS, especially with a small number of treated clusters. We provide a comprehensive review of methods for overlap violations in the context of COS designs. We provide an overview of diagnostic tests and trimming methods to ensure overlap holds for the distributions of treated and control covariates. We then outline how trimming changes the estimand and how profiling can be used to understand the causal quantity for which overlap holds. Finally, we demonstrate how steps to achieve adequate overlap can result in very narrowly defined causal effects that may have little policy relevance. We use data on Catholic schools to illustrate concepts throughout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]