Search

An acute bacterial infection called avian spirochetosis is spread by ticks to a variety of birds. Clinical symptoms can vary greatly and are frequently non-specific. To diagnose a condition, the infectious spirochete must be detected. Here, we structure an epidemic model for the transmission of avian spirochetosis to visualize the interaction between tick and bird populations. The recommended dynamics of avian spirochetosis is illustrated with the help of fractional framework. We inspected the steady-states of the system of the avian spirochetosis for the stability analysis. The next-generation technique is used to evaluate the model's reproduction parameter R 0 . The infection-free and endemic steady-state of avian spirochetosis were shown to be locally asymptotically stable under the specified conditions. Through mathematical skills, the positivity of solutions is determined. Additionally, evidence supporting the existence and uniqueness of the avian spirochetosis framework solution has been shown. We conduct modified simulations of the suggested avian spirochetosis system with different input factors to study the complex phenomena of avian spirochetosis under the effect of numerous input parameters. Our outcomes illustrate the significance and plausibility of fractional parameter, and they also suggest that this input parameter may adequately account for these kinds of observations.

Infectious disease cryptosporidiosis is caused by the cryptosporidium parasite, a type of parasitic organism. It is spread through the ingestion of contaminated water, food, or fecal matter from infected animals or humans. The control becomes difficult because the parasite may remain in the environment for a long period. In this work, we constructed an epidemic model for the infection of cryptosporidiosis in a fractional framework with strong and weak immunity concepts. In our analysis, we utilize the well-known next-generation matrix technique to evaluate the reproduction number of the recommended model, indicated by [Formula: see text]. As [Formula: see text], our results show that the disease-free steady-state is locally asymptotically stable; in other cases, it becomes unstable. Our emphasis is on the dynamical behavior and the qualitative analysis of cryptosporidiosis. Moreover, the fixed point theorem of Schaefer and Banach has been utilized to investigate the existence and uniqueness of the solution. We identify suitable conditions for the Ulam-Hyers stability of the proposed model of the parasitic infection. The impact of the determinants on the sickness caused by cryptosporidiosis is highlighted by the examination of the solution pathways using a novel numerical technique. Numerical investigation is conducted on the solution pathways of the system while varying various input factors. Policymakers and health officials are informed of the crucial factors pertaining to the infection system to aid in its control., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Tang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

The burden of vector-borne infections is significant, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where vector populations are high and healthcare infrastructure may be inadequate. Further, studies are required to investigate the key factors of vector-borne infections to provide effective control measure. This study focuses on formulating a mathematical framework to characterize the spread of chikungunya infection in the presence of vaccines and treatments. The research is primarily dedicated to descriptive study and comprehension of dynamic behaviour of chikungunya dynamics. We use Banach's and Schaefer's fixed point theorems to investigate the existence and uniqueness of the suggested chikungunya framework resolution. Additionally, we confirm the Ulam-Hyers stability of the chikungunya system. To assess the impact of various parameters on the dynamics of chikungunya, we examine solution pathways using the Laplace-Adomian method of disintegration. Specifically, to visualise the impacts of fractional order, vaccination, bite rate and treatment computer algorithms are employed on the infection level of chikungunya. Our research identified the framework's essential input settings for managing chikungunya infection. Notably, the intensity of chikungunya infection can be reduced by lowering mosquito bite rates in the affected area. On the other hand, vaccination, memory index or fractional order, and treatment could be used as efficient controlling variables., (© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.)

Background: Cigarette smoking is a serious global health issue. Limited studies previously analyzed health literacy components in patients undergoing smoking cessation interventions. This study focuses on individuals enrolled in smoking cessation services and investigates the distribution of health literacy in three domains (health care, disease prevention, and health promotion) and four abilities (access, understand, appraise, and apply health information). The study also explores the correlation between background factors (age, BMI, etc.) and health literacy, as well as the differences in health literacy levels among different background variables (gender, etc.)., Methods: 228 individuals completed the health literacy questionnaire. Descriptive statistical analysis, Pearson Correlation, and a Chi-Squared Test were employed to investigate the various health literacy levels and background variables., Results: 68% had excellent or sufficient health literacy. A total of 32% were considered problematic or to have inadequate health literacy. Of the three domains of health literacy, participants performed better in the healthcare domain. More than one-third were problematic in accessing and appraising information., Conclusions: this paper, being the pilot study in providing an analysis of health literacy components in individuals undergoing smoking cessation, could serve as a useful reference for devising interventions for different population groups in trying to maximize successful cessation rates.

Dengue fever has a huge impact on people's physical, social, and economic lives in low-income locations worldwide. Researchers use epidemic models to better understand the transmission patterns of dengue fever in order to recommend effective preventative measures and give data for vaccine and treatment development. We use fractional calculus to organise the transmission phenomena of dengue fever, including immunisation, reinfection, therapy, and asymptotic carriers. In addition, we focused our study on the dynamical behavior and qualitative approach of dengue infection. The existence and uniqueness of the solution of the suggested dengue dynamics are inspected through the fixed point theorems of Schaefer and Banach. The Ulam-Hyers stability of the suggested dengue model is established. To illustrate the contribution of the input factors on the system of dengue infection, the solution paths are studied using the Laplace Adomian decomposition approach. Furthermore, numerical simulations are used to show the effects of fractional-order, immunity loss, vaccination, asymptotic fraction, biting rate, and therapy. We have established that asymptomatic carriers, bite rates, and immunity loss rates are all important factors that might make controlling more challenging. The intensity of dengue fever may be controlled by reducing mosquito bite rates, whereas the asymptotic fraction is risky and can transmit the illness to noninfected regions. Vaccination, fractional order, index of memory, and medication can be employed as proper control parameters., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding this work., (Copyright © 2022 Tao-Qian Tang et al.)

Nanofluids are extremely useful to investigators due to their greater heat transfer rates, which have significant applications in multiple industries. The primary objective of this article is to look into the effect of viscous dissipation in Sisko nano liquid flow with gold Au nanoparticles on a porous stenosis artery. Heat transfer properties were explored. Blood was utilized as a base fluid for nanoparticles. To renovate the governing nonlinear PDEs into nonlinear ODEs, appropriate transformations were used. The bvp4c-based shooting method, via MATLAB, was used to determine the numerical results of the nonlinear ODEs. Furthermore, flow forecasts for each physical quantity were explored. To demonstrate the physical influences of flow constraints versus presumed flow fields, physical explanations were used. The findings demonstrated that the velocity contour improved as the volume fraction, curvature, power law index, and material parameter upsurged. For the Prandtl number, the volume fraction of nanoparticles, the index of the power law, and the temperature profile of the nanofluid declined. Furthermore, the drag force and transfer of the heat were also investigated as explanations for influences on blood flow. Further, the Nusselt number reduced and the drag force enhanced as the curvature parameter values increased. The modeling and numerical solutions play an impressive role in predicting the cause of atherosclerosis.

The abnormal growth of cells in the breast is called malignancy or breast cancer; it is a life-threatening and dangerous cancer in women around the world. In the treatment of cancer, the doctors apply different techniques to stop cancer cell development, remove cancer cells through surgery, or kill cancer cells. In chemotherapy treatment, powerful drugs are used to kill abnormal cells; however, it has adverse reactions on the patient heart which is called cardiotoxicity. In this paper, we formulate the dynamics of cancer in the breast with adverse reactions of chemotherapy treatment on the heart of a patient in the fractional framework to visualize its dynamical behaviour. We listed the fundamental results of the fractional calculus for the analysis of our model. The model is then analyzed for the basic properties, and the existence and uniqueness of the proposed breast cancer system are investigated through fixed point theory. Furthermore, the Adams-Bashforth numerical technique is presented for the solution of fractional-order system to illustrate the time series of breast cancer model. The dynamical behaviour of different stages of breast cancer is then highlighted numerically to show the effect of fractional-order ϑ and to visualize the role of input parameter on the dynamics of breast cancer., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 Tao-Qian Tang et al.)

While previous in vitro studies showed divergent results concerning the influence of pulsatile blood flow on oxygen advection in oxygenators, no study was done to investigate the uncertainty affected by blood flow dynamics. The aim of this study is to utilize a computational fluid dynamics model to clarify the debate concerning the influence of pulsatile blood flow on the oxygen transport. The computer model is based on a validated 2D finite volume approach that predicts oxygen transfer in pulsatile blood flow passing through a 300-micron hollow-fiber membrane bundle with a length of 254 mm, a building block for an artificial lung device. In this study, the flow parameters include the steady Reynolds number (Re = 2, 5, 10 and 20), Womersley parameter (Wo = 0.29, 0.38 and 0.53) and sinusoidal amplitude (A = 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75). Specifically, the computer model is extended to verify, for the first time, the previously measured O 2 transport that was observed to be hindered by pulsating flow in the Biolung, developed by Michigan Critical Care Consultants. A comprehensive analysis is carried out on computed profiles and fields of oxygen partial pressure (P O2 ) and oxygen saturation (S O2 ) as a function of Re, Wo and A. Based on the present results, we observe the positive and negative effects of pulsatile flow on P O2 at different blood flow rates. Besides, the S O2 variation is not much influenced by the pulsatile flow conditions investigated. While being consistent with a recent experimental study, the computed O 2 volume flow rate is found to be increased at high blood flow rates operated with low frequency and high amplitude. Furthermore, the present study qualitatively explains that divergent outcomes reported in previous in vitro experimental studies could be owing to the different blood flow rates adopted. Finally, the contour analysis reveals how the spatial distributions of P O2 and S O2 vary over time., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Objectives: The objective of this study is to evaluate the treatment outcomes of patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) under special programmatic management in Eastern Taiwan over the past 10 years., Materials and Methods: All newly diagnosed MDR-TB patients and MDR-TB patients enrolled previously with persistent positive cultures were included in this study, from May 2007 to April 2017, in Eastern Taiwan. A panel of pulmonologists designed the initial MDR-TB regimens. Subsequently, regimens were adjusted according to drug susceptibility test results for second-line drugs. Mobile teams were organized for treatment support, and several measures were adapted to safeguard effective treatment support., Results: A total of 178 patients with bacteriological confirmed pulmonary MDR-TB were identified, of whom 167 had treatment outcomes when the study was conducted. Of these 167 patients, 120 (71.9%) were cured, 11 (6.5%) completed therapy (78.4% had successful treatment), 25 (15.0%) died, 9 (5.4%) had treatment failure, none were transferred out, and 2 (1.2%) were lost to follow-up. Surgery was performed on 8 (4.8%)., Conclusions: This is an analysis of the treatment outcomes after adopting the Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course Plus program to treat MDR-TB patients in Eastern Taiwan. We had a low proportion of loss-to-follow-up, resulting in a high treatment success rate. This program serves as an effective model in providing quality care to patients with MDR-TB., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Background: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) has become a major health problem globally, affecting patients' health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Barrett's esophagus (BE) is a precancerous lesion associated with GERD. BE patients might not only suffer from HRQOL losses by GERD but also face psychological distress due to the increased risk of developing cancer. However, the majority of patients in Asia have shorter BE segment which is different from the West. This study aimed to determine whether the HRQOL in BE patients were worse than in healthy referents in Taiwan., Methods: Patients who received referral esophagogastroduodenoscopy for various symptoms were evaluated for the existence of BE. Lesions were judged as endoscopically suspected esophageal metaplasia (ESEM) if they showed morphological resemblances to BE by endoscopy. The diagnosis of BE was confirmed by histology with intestinal metaplasia or gastric metaplasia based on the Montreal definition. The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) was administered to BE patients before treatment. For each BE patient, we selected 2 age-, sex-, educational background and municipality-matched healthy referents, sampled by simple randomization method from a national survey in Taiwan. Multiple linear regression models were constructed to control the potential confounders., Results: A total of 84 patients diagnosed with BE were enrolled as BE group and then compared with 168 healthy referents. The BE group had significantly lower WHOQOL-BREF scores than those of healthy referents in the physical domain (P < 0.05) but higher scores in the environment domain (P < 0.05). In the physical domain, the BE group had significantly lower scores in various facets, including pain, discomfort, sleep and rest and dependence on medications or treatments. There was no significant difference in social and psychological domains between the BE group and healthy referents., Conclusions: BE patients suffer from poor sleep and rest and high dependence on medications, which significantly reduce their quality of life. Individual facets of each domain warrants a better clinical healthcare to improve quality of life of BE patients.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the structural stress and deformation of a newly designed onplant miniplate anchorage system compared to a standard anchorage system. A bone block integrated with a novel miniplate and fixation screw system was simulated in a three-dimensional model and subjected to force at different directions. The stress distribution and deformation of the miniplate system and cortical bone were evaluated using the three-dimensional finite element method. The results showed that the stress on the plate system and bone was linearly proportional to the force magnitude and was higher when the force was in a vertical direction (Y-axis). Stress and deformation values of the two screws (screw 1 and 2) were asymmetric when the force was added along Y-axis and was greater in screw 1. The highest deformation value of the screws was 7.5148 μm, much smaller than the limit value. The load was decreased for each single miniscrew, and the ability of the new anchorage system to bear the load was also enhanced to some degree. It was suggested that the newly designed onplant miniplate anchorage system is effective, easily implanted and minimally invasive.

In the case of two-lane traffic, vehicle drivers always worry about the lane changing actions from neighbor lane. This paper studies the stability of a car-following model on two lanes which incorporates the lateral effects in traffic. The stability condition of the model is obtained by using the linear stability theory. The modified Korteweg-de Vries equation is constructed and solved, and three types of traffic flows in the headway-sensitivity space--stable, metastable, and unstable--are classified. Both analytical and simulation results show that the anxiousness about lane changing from neighbor lane indeed has influence upon people's driving behavior and the consideration of lateral effects could stabilize the traffic flows on both lanes.

40 Patients with chronic cor pulmonale (CCP) were treated with Feiyaning (FYN), a Yiqi Huoxue compound prescription, and ligustrazine (LT) were reported. The results showed that FYN and LT could lower the pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) significantly; decrease the pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) as well as the consumption of oxygen in cardiac muscle; increase cardiac output (CO); improve some indices in hemorrheology; while PaO2 and SaO2 didn't change apparently. Moreover, lowering of FYN on PAP and PVR were superior to that of LT. The experimental studies showed that LT and injection of FYN could completely inhibit the hypoxia caused increase of PAP and PVR in rats; reduce the hypoxia caused pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH) and improve PVR of rats, as well as increase CO. The effects of FYN were superior to LT's. Although LT and FYN could decrease systemic arterial pressure to certain extent, they didn't induce systemic artery hypotension. It suggest that LT could reduce PAH definitely.

The changes of clinical features of blood stasis, hemorheology, arterial blood gas and hemodynamics which was determined by impedance cardiogram and pheopneumogram, hemorheologic examination, blood gaseous analysis and right heart catheterization were observed in 42 patients (male 35, female 7; age 64 +/- 16.5 years), 32 patients with decompensative chronic cor pulmonale (CCP), served as noninvasive methods group (NMG) treated by intravenous injecting 100% Paeonia lactifiora injection 5 ml per day, 10 patients with CCP as well as pulmonary hypertension, which was proved through right heart catheterization were considered as invasive methods group (IMG) treated by pulmonary artery injecting 100% Paeonia lactiflora 5 ml (one-time). After the treatment, the clinical features of blood stasis were improved significantly in NMG (P less than 0.05). Also the results of impedance cardiogram and pheopneumogram (such as: Q-B, B-Y interval and Q-B/B-Y ratio, cardiac output), the hemorheologic parameters (such as: blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, hematocrit and erythrocyte electrophoresis) and oxygen consumption of myocardium were improved significantly in NMG and IMG. In IMG, PAP was reduced by 0.71 +/- 0.27 kPa; PaO2 was promoted significantly in NMG. All of these have statistical significance (P less than 0.05 or 0.01). There are no statistical significance about the change of PaCO2, SaO2, blood pH and Bp (P less than 0.05).

A simultaneously comparative study of IPR and right catheter examination for measurement of PAMP has been done on 71 patients with COPD. The results show that the similar average value of PAMP of the examined group could be calculated by any representative equation, but at present time, an accurate predetermining value of PAMP can not be obtained by any noninvasive technique for each individual patient with COPD who has pulmonary hypertension of mild to moderate degree.