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• There are few reports on dynamic changes in the fragmented QRS complex in acute pulmonary embolism (APE). • Patients with deeper fragmented QRS complexes have a poor prognosis. • Patients with dynamic shallower fragmented QRS complexes have better prognosis than those with deeper one. • Dynamical changes in the fragmented QRS may assist in risk stratification and individual treatment in APE. Dynamic changes in the fQRS complex between the initial and follow-up ECG in patients with acute pulmonary embolism (APE) have rarely been studied. The purpose of this study was to investigate the significance of dynamic changes in the fragmented QRS complex in APE patients. APE patients (n = 222) were divided into three groups based on their ECG data to determine whether there were dynamic changes in the fQRS complex from admission to follow-up at one month: the fQRS shallower group (n = 49), fQRS deeper group (n = 25) and fQRS unchanged group (n = 148). Each patient was observed and followed for 12 months. Cox multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the dynamic deeper fQRS complex was an independent predictor of long-term mortality (HR: 5.563, 95 % CI: 1.079–28.678, P = 0.040) in patients with APE. Kaplan–Meier curve analysis revealed that the event-free survival of the fQRS shallower group significantly increased relative to that of the fQRS deeper group and that of the fQRS deeper group significantly decreased relative to that of the fQRS unchanged group and shallower group (P = 0.022, P = 0.041). Compared with the deeper fQRS complex, the dynamic shallower fQRS complex was an indicator of a good prognosis in APE patients, while the dynamic deeper fQRS complex indicated a poor prognosis. Dynamical changes in fQRS may assist clinicians in risk stratification and individualized treatment for APE, as well as in predicting APE regression or progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the dynamic changes in the platelets of patients with severe heatstroke and the impact of these changes on the occurrence of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and prognosis in them. Methods: This retrospective cohort study conducted at two tertiary hospitals recruited 264 patients with severe heatstroke. Logistic regression was used to analyze the association between platelet counts and DIC. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the predictive performance of platelets count for DIC occurrence. We used mediation effect to analysis the role of DIC as a mediating variable to mediate the relationship between platelet count decrease after 24 hours and death. Results: There were 214 patients with lower platelet counts compared to admission (107 × 109/L[69,168] vs.171 × 109/L[126,215], p < 0.001). The DIC patients had lower platelet counts than the non-DIC patients when measured in the emergency department and after 24 hours. The platelet count decrease after 24 hours was a risk factor for DIC (odds ratio [OR] = 2.710, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.069–6.869). The results of the ROC curve revealed that the predictive performance of the platelet count after 24 hours (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.8685, 95% CI = 0.8173–0.9197) was significantly better than that of the platelet count measured in the emergency department (AUC = 0.7080, 95% CI = 0.6345–0.7815). Mediation analyses showed that PLT decrease after 24 hours did not directly lead to death, but can indirectly cause death by inducing the development of DIC. Conclusions: Decreased platelet count is an independent risk factor for DIC in patients with severe heatstroke. Although the platelet counts measured in the emergency department and after 24 hours show a good predictive performance for DIC occurrence, the prediction performance of the latter is better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant-based meat analogs have garnered considerable attention due to its benefits in reducing resource consumption, mitigating environmental pollution, enhancing animal welfare and human health. However, most plant-based products currently mimic the color of real meat by exogenously adding natural pigments. In this study, for the first time, Monascus. Ruber AS3.549 (MA) was employed as the primary pigment-producing strain, together with mixed lactic acid bacteria (LM) consisting of 12 different kinds of lactic acid bacteria as the auxiliary strain to ferment textured soy protein (TSP) for the production of plant-based meat products. TSP achieved the highest red pigment color value of 34.47 ± 0.91 U/g under the ideal fermentation conditions. Furthermore, the fermentation procedure greatly enhanced the physicochemical characteristics of TSP, with a notable rise of 39.84% in crude protein content and an impressive rise of 302.34% in soluble protein content. The water-holding capacity (WHC) and oil-holding capacity (OHC) experienced a substantial rise, while the color transitioned from yellow to deep red, with the level of redness rising by 295.26%. As a result, this work investigates a novel combination of strains capable of coloring TSP, significantly improving TSP quality, and serving as a reference for the future creation of plant-based meat products with desirable meat quality properties. [Display omitted] • Fermented textured soy protein (FTSP) with Monascus and Lactic acid bacteria is feasible. • Lactic acid bacteria can promote the pigment production of Monascus. • Soluble protein contents increased by about 302.34% during the fermentation. • Redness increased by about 295.26% during the fermentation. • Fermentation process significantly improves textured soy protein quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is denoted to emanation of a network order in the world economy under it’s current transition to post industrial paradigm. This new order is described as a functional synthesis of hierarchy and market modes of social co-ordination, which suits the global modified communication environment ( sharply increase dynamism, uncertainty and independencies) and the regime of continuous innovation. The author associates the global crises with transformation of the world economy’s organisation code at all level of social interactions, particularly with shifts from rigid vertical structures towards transformation network and from industries to trans – industries clusters as a basic structural element. Special attention is paid to collaboration between three leading institutional sectors, including science, business and government since their model of network interactions forms an organisational matrix of knowledge based cluster and innovation – led economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Population growth and increasing food and energy demands have led to nitrogen pollution. The nitrogen footprint is a relatively new index of quantitative determination of nitrogen emissions used to measure the environmental pollution caused by human activities. In this study, the nitrogen footprint in the Min River Basin from 2000 to 2015 was estimated based on the N-calculator model. The dynamic change characteristics and the impact of social and economic influencing factors on the nitrogen footprint were analyzed. Our results revealed that from 2000 to 2015, the total N footprint in the Min River Basin increased from 173,609 Mg to 275,803 Mg, with an increase from 20.3 kg N/capita/yr to 26.0 kg N/capita/yr. The increase in the N footprint was mainly due to high urbanization, and the per capita food N footprint changes in rural and urban areas were positively correlated with changes in food consumption patterns. The nitrogen footprint of the urban residents increased at a stable average rate of 18.0 kg N/capita/yr, but the nitrogen footprint of rural residents initially decreased and then increased, eventually reaching an average value of 16.9 kg N/capita/yr. These data revealed the gradual narrowing of the rural-urban gap of the nitrogen footprint. Foods with a high-nitrogen content accounted for a high proportion (61%) of the per capita nitrogen footprint of the urban residents, whereas the proportion of the high-nitrogen foods (e.g., animal meat and aquatic products) of the rural residents increased from 39% to 57% over the time period of the study. In addition, the analysis of the correlation between food nitrogen footprint and social and economic factors showed that the nitrogen footprint was influenced by income and consumption levels, family size, education degree, and regional dietary habits. The food nitrogen footprints of the urban and rural residents in the basin were positively correlated with per capita disposable income and resident consumption level but negatively correlated with the Engel's coefficient and the average family size. Our results provide evidence that basin residents can effectively reduce their N footprint by increasing nitrogen utilization in food production, optimizing their dietary structure, maintaining reasonable low nitrogen dietary habits, and using clean energy sources. Highlights • N footprint was estimated using N-calculator model. • Food N footprint is major component of N footprint. • Rural-urban gap of food N footprint was narrowing. • Social and economic factors are important driving forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowdays, Cloud computing has gained a particular attention to run dynamic workflow applications. Nevertheless, due to lack of formal description of the resource perspective in dynamic workflows, the behavior of Cloud resource allocation cannot be correctly managed. In this paper, we aim at formally verifying the correctness of dynamic workflow changes in a Cloud environment using the Event-B method. More precisely, we propose a formal model which aims to preserve the correctness of workflow properties at both design time and runtime. We have considered properties related to control flow and resource perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adapting dynamic changes in the user needs or in the environment is considered as one of the important quality attributes of a system in the pervasive or ubiquitous environment. An aspect-oriented framework to modularize the dynamic changes using aspects is considered as a solution for creating dynamic adaptable systems. This framework allows the system to reflect the dynamic changes on the associated components through aspects without altering the structure of the components. For evaluating the adaptability of this framework, a new adaptability metric has been proposed using the principles of coupling. In this work, coupling is defined as a Conceptual coupling between Aspects and Classes (CBAC), which represents the semantic association between the aspects that are used to represent dynamic changes and the components that are associated with the dynamic changes at the architecture level. The adaptable efficiency of the system that is the ability of reflecting the dynamic changes on the components associated with those changes is measured using the proposed conceptual coupling metric. Based on the measures it is concluded that adaptability efficiency of the system is increased with increasing the coupling between the aspect and the components. The proposed CBAC metric is evaluated and demonstrated by measuring the adaptability of the dynamic changes in the requirements of the various software systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic changes in total phenolics (TP), total flavonoids (TF), total anthocyanins (TA), two main monomer anthocyanins, cyanidin-3- O -glucoside (C3G) and cyanidin-3- O -rutinoside (C3R), colour and antioxidant activities as well as correlations among these factors were investigated in mulberry wine during alcoholic fermentation. TP and TF increased rapidly from day 0 to 3 and showed unobvious changes from day 3 to 10, whereas TA, C3G and C3R increased first and then decreased. C3G and C3R reached their maximum at days 1 and 2, respectively; thereafter, C3G decreased rapidly, whereas C3R was more stable. Five colour parameters, L*, a*, b*, C* and H*, changed significantly from day 0 to 2 and showed unobvious changes from day 2 to 10. For antioxidant activity, changes of the scavenging activity of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH⋅) and reducing power were similar to changes of colour parameters. TP, TF, TA and C3R exhibited significant correlations (P < 0.01) with antioxidant activity, whereas C3G exhibited weaker correlations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis after recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) therapy. Subjects: Subjects included children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). Methods: We conducted a multicenter, retrospective study that assessed 72 GHD patients treated with rhGH during 6 months. Patients were classified into two groups: isolated GHD (IGHD; n = 20) and multiple pituitary hormone deficiencies (MPHD; n = 52). The HPA axis and other hormones were evaluated at baseline and every 3 months. Results: In the MPHD group, 32 patients had adrenocorticotrophic hormone deficiency and received hydrocortisone before rhGH therapy. In the other 20/52 MPHD patients, the cortisol (COR) level was significantly reduced after rhGH therapy. Moreover, 10 patients showed low COR levels. In the IGHD group, COR levels also decreased, but remained within the normal range. Conclusion: During rhGH therapy, COR levels were reduced, particularly in patients with MPHD. HPA axis should be monitored during rhGH therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a known marker of systemic inflammation. Recent studies demonstrated its applicability as a marker of poor prognosis for stroke patients. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between dynamic changes in the NLR and sICH in patients with successful recanalization following ERT.Materials and Methods: This study included 128 patients with acute ischemic stroke who underwent successful ERT between January 2013 and November 2019. We evaluated the NLR pre-ERT (at admission) and post-ERT (at 24-36 h after ERT). The symptomatic ICH and miserable outcomes at 3 months after ERT were analyzed as outcomes. sICH was defined as type-2 parenchymal hematoma with neurological deterioration (defined as National Institute of Health Stroke Scale score ≥4). Moreover, a modified Rankin Scale score of 5-6 at 3 months was considered a miserable outcome.Results: Among the included patients, sICH occurred in 12 (9.4%). The sICH group had significantly higher post-ERT NLR (P < 0.001) and ∆NLR (calculated as the difference between pre-ERT NLR and post-ERT NLR) (P = 0.004). In the multivariate analysis, the post-ERT NLR was independently associated with sICH (odds ratio [OR], 1.166; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.041-1.306; P = 0.008) and miserable outcome at 3 months (OR, 1.101; 95% CI, 1.002-1.210; P = 0.045).Conclusions: This study demonstrated that temporal elevation of the NLR is associated with sICH events after successful ERT in patients with acute ischemic stroke. The temporal variation in NLR may help to identify high-risk patients with sICH after ERT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We propose two types of spatiotemporal background models (i.e., SLDP and StSIC). [•] They integrate multiple different modeling approaches into a single framework. [•] SLDP models an illumination-invariant local feature in a statistical framework. [•] StSIC models spatiotemporal similarity of intensity changes among the pixels. [•] Experimental results show our models are robust against various background changes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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Background: Sequential digital dermatoscopy identifies dynamic changes in melanocytic lesions. However, no algorithm exists that systematically weights dynamic changes regarding their association with melanoma. Objective: We sought to identify relevant dynamic changes and to integrate these into a novel diagnostic algorithm. Methods: During follow-up (mean 44.28 months) of 688 patients at high risk, 675 pigmented lesions with prospectively documented dynamic changes were excised. The association between specific changes and melanoma was assessed. Results: We detected 61 melanomas (38 invasive, median thickness 0.42 mm) with dynamic changes. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed a significant association between the diagnosis of melanoma and 5 dynamic criteria. According to the observed odds ratios we defined two dynamic major criteria (2 points each: asymmetric-multifocal enlargement and architectural change) and 3 dynamic minor criteria (1 point each: focal increase in pigmentation, focal decrease in pigmentation, and overall decrease in pigmentation when not accompanied by a lighter pigmentation of the adjacent skin). The DynaMel score was generated by addition of dynamic and 7-point checklist scores with a threshold for excision of 3 or more points. Including information about dynamic changes increased the sensitivity of the 7-point checklist from 47.5% (29 of 61 melanomas detected) to 77.1% (47 of 61 melanomas detected). The specificity slightly decreased from 99.0% to 98.1%. Limitations: Before broad application the DynaMel algorithm needs to be validated using data from a different prospective study. Conclusions: The DynaMel algorithm integrates a scoring system for dynamic dermatoscopic changes into the 7-point checklist for dermatoscopy and thereby increased the sensitivity of melanoma detection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]