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Background: Catheter-related thrombosis (CRT) is a complication of central venous access devices (CVADs). Evidence is variable regarding the significance of the side of catheter insertion. The role of the patient's hand dominance in predisposition to CRT remains uncertain., Objectives: In a prospective randomised controlled trial, adult cancer patients were randomly allocated to either dominant or non-dominant side CVAD insertion. The primary endpoint of this trial examined the incidence of catheter-associated blood stream infection. Here, we report the secondary endpoint of the incidence of CRT., Methods: 640 CVADs were randomised to the dominant (n=322) or non-dominant (n=318) side of insertion. Only symptomatic patients underwent ultrasound imaging to evaluate for CRT., Results: The median patient age was 58, 60% of patients had haematological malignancies and 40% had solid tumours. CVADs used were peripherally-inserted central catheter line (PICC)(67%), tunnelled CVAD (23%) or non-tunnelled CVAD (10%). The CRT incidence rate was 0.65 vs 0.82 per 1000 line days in the dominant vs non-dominant group (HR 1.2; 95% CI 0.58-2.48, P=0.63). There was no significant difference in CRT incidence rate between left and right sided insertions (HR 0.63; 95% CI 0.30-1.32, P=0.22). The CRT incidence rate was lower in right-handed versus left-handed line inserters (HR 0.29; 95% CI 0.12-0.71, P=0.007)., Conclusions: The rate of CRT was not associated with whether CVAD insertion was on the patient's dominant or non-dominant side or the side of insertion. The role of inserter hand dominance requires further investigation., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Hepatic artery pseudoaneurysm (HAP) is a rare vascular complication following liver transplantation (LTx) with treatment choice frequently driven by institutional experience. Approximately, 10% of hepatic grafts are lost from this complication, requiring re-transplantation and placing further demand on the already present organ shortage. Secondly, patients with HAP can present with catastrophic bleeding, with reported mortality of up to 78%. We aim to identify risk factors associated with HAP and assess the survival benefit of different treatment modalities used (endovascular and open surgical techniques). Early detection may facilitate semi-elective management of this condition. A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Medline and Embase up to 1 October 2023. Case series with ≥5 patients focusing on adult patients who developed extrahepatic pseudoaneurysm following LTx were included. A total of 11 studies were pooled, comprising of 118 patients with survival data available in 61 patients. The most common presentation was haemorrhagic shock or luminal haemorrhage (75.5%). Bile leak was documented in 66.7% (28/42), 15.2% (18/118) associated foregut pathologies and 28.6% (14/49) of microbiology cultures grew a fungal organism. Flow preserving strategies (stenting, revascularization) trended towards better survival at 120 months compared to non-flow preserving strategies (embolization, HAL); however, this was not statistically significant following log rank (Mantel-Cox) analysis (P 0.169). Any patient following LTx presenting with haemorrhagic shock or luminal bleeding needs HAP excluded urgently. HAP management is complex, requiring careful consideration of patient specific presentation, anatomic factors and associated pathologies., (© 2024 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists.)

Background: There is limited research on the relationship between side of insertion of central venous catheter (CVAD) and bloodstream infection risk in patients with cancer.Aim: To conduct an exploratory analysis of data from a randomized control trial (RCT) and data from a prospective cohort study to compare infection rates for right- and left-sided insertions.Methods: The study populations were patients aged >14 years with cancer from two tertiary hospitals in Brisbane, Australia. The primary endpoint was catheter-associated bloodstream infection (CABSI) adjudicated by blinded assessors. For the RCT, randomized intention-to-treat comparisons were conducted between left- and right-side allocated insertion for early (≤14 days) and late (>14 days) infection using Cox proportional hazards regression. The RCT data were also combined with cohort study data collected from one of the hospitals prior to the RCT and non-randomized comparisons conducted between left- and right-sided insertions.Findings: In 634 randomly allocated CVADs there were 141 CABSIs. Analysis showed strong evidence of right-side allocated insertions having an increased risk of early infection by 2.5 times (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.3-4.7); however, there was no evidence of increased risk for late infection (hazard ratio: 1.06; 95% CI: 0.71-1.59). Results from analysis of the RCT and cohort study data combined (2786 CVADs and 385 CABSIs) were similar.Conclusion: There appears to be an increased risk of CABSI in patients with cancer for CVAD inserted into the right-side for around two weeks after line insertion. The mechanism underpinning the increased risk is unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Security issues and privacy issues are serious problems facing today's society, especially in image security, where privacy protection plays a pivotal role. To improve the security of images, we propose an image encryption algorithm based on optical chaos and Rubik's cube matrix in this paper. First, optical chaos is generated by constructing an optical device model. Second, in the image encryption algorithm, optical chaos and Rubik's cube matrix are used to encrypt the image at the bit level for the first time, and a "U" type encryption method is designed, and different "U" type encryption schemes are selected to encrypt the image for the second time. Finally, the "four-way diffusion" algorithm is used to diffuse the encrypted image, which further improves the security of the image. The computer simulations and security analysis results both confirm that ciphertext images can resist various common attack means, such as statistical attacks, differential attacks, and brute force attacks. In this paper, the proposed algorithm of decimal conversion, "U" encryption, and "quadrangle diffusion" makes the pixel value and pixel position change greatly, and the ciphertext image loses the original features of the plaintext image, which shows that the algorithm has good security performance and is suitable for image encryptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Lack of agreed terminology and definitions in healthcare compromises communication, patient safety, optimal management of adverse events, and research progress. The purpose of this scoping review was to understand the terminologies used to describe central venous access devices (CVADs), associated complications and reasons for premature removal in people undergoing cancer treatment. It also sought to identify the definitional sources for complications and premature removal reasons. The objective was to map language and descriptions used and to explore opportunities for standardisation. Methods: A systematic search of MedLine, PubMed, Cochrane, CINAHL Complete and Embase databases was performed. Eligibility criteria included, but were not limited to, adult patients with cancer, and studies published between 2017 and 2022. Articles were screened and data extracted in Covidence. Data charting included study characteristics and detailed information on CVADs including terminologies and definitional sources for complications and premature removal reasons. Descriptive statistics, tables and bar graphs were used to summarise charted data. Results: From a total of 2363 potentially eligible studies, 292 were included in the review. Most were observational studies (n = 174/60%). A total of 213 unique descriptors were used to refer to CVADs, with all reasons for premature CVAD removal defined in 84 (44%) of the 193 studies only, and complications defined in 56 (57%) of the 292 studies. Where available, definitions were author-derived and/or from national resources and/or other published studies. Conclusion: Substantial variation in CVAD terminology and a lack of standard definitions for associated complications and premature removal reasons was identified. This scoping review demonstrates the need to standardise CVAD nomenclature to enhance communication between healthcare professionals as patients undergoing cancer treatment transition between acute and long-term care, to enhance patient safety and rigor of research protocols, and improve the capacity for data sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Dental fillings nanotechnology considers a significant and increasingly in need to obtain the best and stable dental fillings with excellent performance and long life. Tribological and mechanical characteristics of poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) nanocomposites reinforced by nanoparticles of Titania (40% TiO 2) and Calcium aluminate (60% CaAl 2 O 4) in terms of different volume fractions (1 Vol.% - 5 Vol.%) have been studied. Ultrasonic dispersion technique used to prepare the nanocomposites specimens followed by cold – casting technique using flash Teflon molds according to standard conditions. Pin-on-disc technique is used to measure wear coefficient and coefficient of friction. Tribological tests of specimens were conducted at temperature 37°C and in the environment of artificial saliva. Hardness, compressive strength, Young modulus, and toughness have been measured according to ASTM standards. Results of tribological tests were led to improve the coefficient of friction and to decrease the wear coefficient with increasing of volume fraction and increase with slide lifetime, especially for 5 Vol. % specimens. Results of mechanical properties show that the values were increased progressively by succession of volume fraction of fillers. Simulation programs of tribological and mechanical tests for (TiO 2 + CaAl 2 O 4) / PMMA nanocomposites were carried out using finite difference method. The program was written in FORTRAN90 language using a computer type HP Pavilion g. The program assumes a load is directed towards a specimen of the composites. Density and optical microscope images were employed to aid interpretation of results. The results of study were reached that the optimum volume fraction was 5 Vol. %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the many complications of type 2 diabetes (T2D), locomotor disorders have been poorly studied and understood. Therefore, no disease-modifying treatment is usually considered. The study aimed to investigate the effect of the aqueous extract of Sclerocarya birrea, Nauclea latifolia, and Piper longum (SNP) mixture on locomotor activity in fructose/streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. T2D was induced by 10% fructose orally (6 weeks) and streptozotocin (STZ, 35 mg/kg, i.v.) in 25 male rats. Diabetic animals received distilled water, metformin (200 mg/kg), or the aqueous extract of the SNP mixture (75, 150, or 300 mg/kg). A 10-minute open field test was performed in diabetic rats (glycemia: 126 and 350 mg/dL) to assess locomotor activity before and after treatment. A group of 5 normal rats (NC) served as controls throughout the study. Rats were sacrificed, and the striatum was removed for biochemical and histological studies. In untreated diabetic rats, fructose/STZ administration resulted in hyperglycemia that altered locomotor function as characterized by increased freezing time, decreased mobility time, number of lines crossed, and total travel time compared to NC. MDA, TNF-α, INF-γ, and nitrite levels were elevated in the striatum of diabetic rats, while catalase activity and GSH levels were decreased, indicating oxidative stress and neuroinflammatory changes. In untreated diabetic rats, the microstructure of the HE-stained striatum revealed lipid vacuolation (hydropic degeneration) of the parenchyma, indicating a loss of neuronal integrity. The locomotor dysfunction was significantly improved by the aqueous extract of the SNP mixture, both biochemically and histologically. As a result, our findings support the mixture's ability to correct diabetes-related locomotion disorders as a glucose-lowering product and antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective agent. These results justify the use of the aqueous extract of a combination of these three plants to manage diabetes and neuroinflammatory complications in Northern Cameroon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meiofauna are fundamental components in mangrove ecosystem which play important roles in the energy flow and matter cycling. In order to reveal the spatio-temporal distribution of meiofaunal assemblages in mangrove habitats, sediment samples were collected in July (summer) and October (autumn) of 2013, January (winter) and April (spring) of 2014 in the mangrove tidal flat of Futian, Shenzhen, China. A total of 14 meiofaunal taxa were identified, including free-living marine nematodes, benthic copepods, polychaetes, oligochaetes, ostracods, isopods, etc. Additionally, there were also undetermined taxa. Results showed that the abundance range of meiofauna was (488.35±71.29)–(5136.36±623.38)ind(10 cm)−2. Marine nematodes were the most dominant group, with an average abundance of (1869.56±227.92)ind(10 cm)−2, accounting for 98.35% of the total abundance of meiofauna. The seasonal distribution of meiofauna showed that the abundance was the highest in summer, followed by those in spring, winter, and autumn. Vertical distribution showed that meiofauna were mainly distributed in the upper sediment layer (0–5 cm), with a proportion of 89.56%. Correlation analysis between meiofauna and environmental factors showed that meiofaunal abundance and biomass had significantly negative correlation with salinity. BIOENV analysis between meiofaunal assemblages and environmental factors showed that meiofaunal assemblages were affected by the combined effects of temperature, salinity, sediment median grain size, water content, and chlorophyll a content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper answers three essential questions for audio speech cryptosystems in time and discrete transform domains. The first question is, what are the best values of sub-keys that must be used to get the best quality and security for the audio cryptosystem in time and discrete transform domains. The second question is the relation between the number of sub-keys, the number of secret keys used, and the audio speech signal block's size. Finally, how many possible secret keys can be used to get the best quality and security results for the audio speech cryptosystem in time and discrete transform domains. An audio cryptosystem discussed before in recent research is applied to answer the three previous inquiries. Accurate simulation results and analysis answer all three questions; first, there is no specific, well-defined format or rule for sub-key values that must be used to get a better cryptosystem. For the second question, yes, there is a direct relationship between the number of applicable keys, number of available sub-keys, and block size of speech audio signal and formulated into a first-order equation. For the third question, each discrete transform domain has a specific acceptable range of sub-keys that imply a particular number of keys that can be used to get a better cryptosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vision is the most important way for an unmanned picking or plant protection robot to navigate an external environment. To achieve intelligent picking or plant protection, it is essential to obtain target location information. A new marker-controlled watershed (MCW-D) algorithm is proposed for object segmentation. By analyzing the shortcomings of the watershed algorithm and the characteristics of objects, the proposed MCW-D method mainly solves three problems. First, it reduces the influence of shadow and other factors on image color information. Based on histogram specification, secondary mapping is used to reduce the effects of lighting. Second, marker images are selected. All points with markers need to be located in the target object. The hue feature of long jujubes and trees is used as the marker image. Third, a mask image is acquired, which requires a clear boundary between the target and the background. An adaptive angle rotation based on an energy-driven approach is designed to find large differences between the target and the background. In a natural environment, the proposed MCW-D method respectively achieves segmentation accuracies of 94.7% and 93.2% on a jujube dataset and a tree dataset, which exceed the accuracies of widely used machine learning methods. These results promote the development of the forest and fruit economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) are seriously affecting human health all over the world. Nucleotide inhibitors have promising results in terms of its efficacy against different viral polymerases. In this study, detailed molecular docking and dynamics simulations are used to evaluate the binding affinity of a clinically approved drug, sofosbuvir, with the solved structure of the viral protein RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and compare it to the clinically approved drug, Remdesivir. These drugs are docked onto the three-dimensional structure of the nsp12 protein of SARS-CoV-2, which controls the polymerization process. Hence, it is considered one of the primary therapeutic targets for coronaviruses. Sofosbuvir is a drug that is currently used for HCV treatment; therefore, HCV RdRp is used as a positive control protein target. The protein dynamics are simulated for 100 ns, while the binding is tested during different dynamics states of the SARS-CoV-2 RdRp. Additionally, the drug-protein complexes are further simulated for 20 ns to explore the binding mechanism. The interaction of SARS-CoV-2 RdRp as a target with the active form of sofosbuvir as a ligand demonstrates binding effectiveness. One of the FDA-approved antiviral drugs, such as sofosbuvir, can help us in this mission, aiming to limit the danger of COVID-19. Sofosbuvir was found to bind nsp12 with comparable binding energies to that of Remdesivir, which has been reported for its potential against COVID-19 RdRp and is currently approved by the FDA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Alzheimer's disease is a neurological condition that affects about 44 million people worldwide. The available treatments target symptoms rather than the underlying causes. Ziziphus jujuba (Rhamnaceae) is widely used in traditional Cameroonian medicine to treat diabetes, pain, infections, and dementia. Previous studies reported that Z. jujuba aqueous macerate improves working memory impairment, but no study on the antiamnesic effect of a concoction of Z. jujuba in rats has been performed. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the antiamnesic and neuroprotective effects of an aqueous extract of Z. jujuba on scopolamine-induced cognitive impairments in rats. Methods. Learning and memory impairments were induced in rats by administering scopolamine (1 mg/kg, i.p.) to 58 rats for 15 days. Rats that developed learning and memory impairments in Morris water maze and Y-maze paradigms were divided into 7 groups (8 rats each) and treated daily for 15 days as follows: the normal control group received distilled water (10 ml/kg, p.o.), the negative control group received distilled water (10 ml/kg, p.o.), positive control groups either received donepezil (1.2 mg/kg, p.o.) or tacrine (10 mg/kg, p.o.), and the three test groups were given the extract (29, 57, and 114 mg/kg, p.o.). At the end of treatments, learning and memory impairments were determined using the same paradigms. Animals were then euthanized, and biochemical parameters of oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis were analyzed in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Results. On the 4th day of the acquisition phase in the Morris water maze, Z. jujuba (29 and 114 mg/kg) reduced (p < 0.001) the latency to reach the platform, while in the retention phase, Z. jujuba (57 and 114 mg/kg) decreased (p < 0.001) the time to reach the platform and increased the time in the target quadrant (p < 0.05) compared to control. Surprisingly, the extract failed to affect spontaneous alternations in the Y-maze. Furthermore, the extract (29, 57, and 114 mg/kg) reversed (p < 0.001) scopolamine-induced oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. This was supported by the reduction of neuronal alterations in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Conclusions. Compared to donepezil, a standard drug against Alzheimer's disease, these findings suggest that Z. jujuba extract possesses antiamnesic and neuroprotective effects, and these effects are mediated in part through antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic activities. These findings help to explain its use in treating psychiatric disorders in Cameroon's folk medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]