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Introduction: The aging process is intricately linked to alterations in cellular and tissue structures, with the respiratory system being particularly susceptible to age-related changes. Therefore, this study aimed to profile the activity of proteases using activity-based probes in lung tissues of old and young rats, focusing on the expression levels of different, in particular cathepsins G and X and matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs). Additionally, the impact on extracellular matrix (ECM) components, particularly fibronectin, in relation to age-related histological and ultrastructural changes in lung tissues was investigated. Materials and methods: Lung tissues from old and young rats were subjected to activity-based probe profiling to assess the activity of different proteases. Expression levels of cathepsins G and X were quantified, and zymography was performed to evaluate matrix metalloproteinases activity. Furthermore, ECM components, specifically fibronectin, were examined for signs of degradation in the old lung tissues compared to the young ones. Moreover, histological, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural assessments of old and young lung tissue were also conducted. Results: Our results showed that the expression levels of cathepsins G and X were notably higher in old rat lung tissues in contrast to those in young rat lung tissues. Zymography analysis revealed elevated MMP activity in the old lung tissues compared to the young ones. Particularly, significant degradation of fibronectin, an essential ECM component, was observed in the old lung tissues. Numerous histological and ultrastructural alterations were observed in old lung tissues compared to young lung tissues. Discussion and conclusion: The findings indicate an age-related upregulation of cathepsins G and X along with heightened MMP activity in old rat lung tissues, potentially contributing to the degradation of fibronectin within the ECM. These alterations highlight potential mechanisms underlying age-associated changes in lung tissue integrity and provide insights into protease-mediated ECM remodeling in the context of aging lungs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a lethal human pathogen, with the key flavoenzyme for catalyzing bacterial cell-wall biosynthesis, decaprenylphosphoryl-D-ribose oxidase (DprE1), considered an Achilles heal for tuberculosis (TB) progression. Inhibition of DprE1 blocks cell wall biosynthesis and is a highly promising antitubercular target. Macozinone (PBTZ169, a benzothiazinone (BTZ) derivative) is an irreversible DprE1 inhibitor that has attracted considerable attention because it exhibits an additive activity when combined with other anti-TB drugs. Herein, 754 BTZ analogs were assembled in a virtual library and evaluated against the DprE1 target using a covalent docking approach. After validation of the employed covalent docking approach, BTZ analogs were screened. Analogs with a docking score less than –9.0 kcal/mol were advanced for molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, followed by binding energy evaluations utilizing the MM-GBSA approach. Three BTZ analogs–namely, PubChem-155-924-621, PubChem-127-032-794, and PubChem-155-923-972– exhibited higher binding affinities against DprE1 compared to PBTZ169 with ΔGbinding values of –77.2, –74.3, and –65.4 kcal/mol, versus –49.8 kcal/mol, respectively. Structural and energetical analyses were performed for the identified analogs against DprE1 throughout the 100 ns MD simulations, and the results demonstrated the great stability of the identified BTZ analogs. Physicochemical and ADMET characteristics indicated the oral bioavailability of the identified BTZ analogs. The obtained in-silico results provide promising anti-TB inhibitors that are worth being subjected to in-vitro and in-vivo investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) was the first tumor virus identified in humans, and it is mostly linked to lymphomas and cancers of epithelial cells. Nevertheless, there is no FDA-licensed drug feasible for this ubiquitous EBV viral contagion. EBNA1 (Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen 1) plays several roles in the replication and transcriptional of latent gene expression of the EBV, making it an attractive druggable target for the treatment of EBV-related malignancies. The present study targets EBV viral reactivation and upkeep by inhibiting EBNA1 utilizing a drug-repurposing strategy. To hunt novel EBNA1 inhibitors, a SuperDRUG2 database (> 4,600 pharmaceutical ingredients) was virtually screened utilizing docking computations. In accordance with the estimated docking scores, the most promising drug candidates then underwent MDS (molecular dynamics simulations). Besides, the MM-GBSA approach was applied to estimate the binding affinities between the identified drug candidates and EBNA1. On the basis of MM-GBSA//200 ns MDS, bezitramide (SD000308), glyburide (SD001170), glisentide (SD001159), and glimepiride (SD001156) unveiled greater binding affinities towards EBNA1 compared to KWG, a reference inhibitor, with ΔGbinding values of −44.3, −44.0, −41.7, −40.2, and −32.4 kcal/mol, respectively. Per-residue decomposition analysis demonstrated that LYS477, ASN519, and LYS586 significantly interacted with the identified drug candidates within the EBNA1 binding pocket. Post-dynamic analyses also demonstrated high constancy of the identified drug candidates in complex with EBNA1 throughout 200 ns MDS. Ultimately, electrostatic potential and frontier molecular orbitals analyses were performed to estimate the chemical reactivity of the identified EBNA1 inhibitors. Considering the current outcomes, this study would be an adequate linchpin for forthcoming research associated with the inhibition of EBNA1; however, experimental assays are required to inspect the efficiency of these candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many problems related to the use of machine learning and machine vision technology on a commercial scale for cutting sugarcane seeds. These obstacles are related to complex systems and the way the farmers operate them, the possibility of damage to the buds during the cleaning process, and the high cost of such technology. In order to address these issues, a set of RGB color sensors was used to develop an automated sugarcane seed cutting machine (ASSCM) capable of identifying the buds that had been manually marked with a unique color and then cutting them mechanically, and the sugarcane seed exit chute was provided with a sugarcane seed monitoring unit. The machine's performance was evaluated by measuring the damage index at sugarcane stalk diameters of 2.03, 2.72, 3.42, and 3.94 cm. where two different types of rotary saw knives had the same diameter of 7.0 in/180 mm the two knives had 30 and 80 teeth, also we used five cutting times of 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, and 3000 ms. All tests were done at a fixed cutting speed of 12000 rpm. In addition, the machine's performance was evaluated by conducting an economic analysis. The obtained results showed that the most damage index values were less than 0.00 for all cutting times and sugarcane stalk diameters under testing, while the DI values were equal zero (partial damage) for sugarcane stalk diameter of 3.42 cm at cutting times of 2000 ms and 2500 ms, in addition to the DI values being equal zero (extreme damage) for sugarcane stalk diameter of 3.94 cm at cutting times of 1500 ms and 2000 ms. The economic analysis showed that the total cost of sugarcane seeds per hectare is 70.865 USD. In addition, the ASSCM can pay for itself in a short period of time. The payback time is 0.536 years, which means that the ASSCM will save enough money to pay for itself in about 6.43 months. Finally, we suggest using a rotary saw knife with 80 teeth and a cutting time of 2000 ms to cut sugarcane stacks with an average diameter of 2.72 cm. This will result in higher performance and lower operating costs for the ASSCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to investigate how a tracking indirect solar dryer (SD) powered by photovoltaic cells affected the drying kinetics (DK) and thermo-environmental conditions of tomato slices. In this current investigation, three air speeds (1, 1.5, and 2 m/s) are used, as well as three slice thicknesses (ST) (4, 6, and 8 mm) and two SD, one of which is integrated with fixed collector motion (FCM) and another with SD tracking collector motion (TCM). The obtained results showed that the drying time (DT) isn't significantly change with increasing air speeds from 1 to 2 m/s, this may be due to many reasons such as short DT, high temperature inside drying room, and little difference between the exanimated air speeds. When the ST is changed from 4 to 8 mm and maintaining constant air speeds, the DT for FCM and TCM rose by roughly 1.667 and 1.6 times, respectively. In addition, the drying coefficient of the TCM is higher than the FCM due to higher temperature. At 1.5 m/s air speed and 8 mm ST, the maximum values of moisture diffusivity (MD) are 7.15×10−10 and 9.30×10−10 m2/s for both FCM and TCM systems, respectively. During the study of DK, nine drying models and chose the best based on higher R2 and lower χ2 and RMSE are used. The findings of the DK analysis revealed that the modified two term II model fit the experimental data of various air speeds well when TF was dried using TCM and FCM systems at varying ST. These findings are based on recorded observations. Where the models' R2 values varied from 0.98005 to 0.99942 for FCM system and varied from 0.99386 to 0.99976 for TCM system. Regarding environmental analysis, it is found that the CO2 mitigation per lifetime is ranged between 5334.9–6795.4 tons for FCM and 6305.7–6323.3 tons for TCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirteen components were identified in the methanol extract of Moricandia sinaica leaves (MSLE) through analysis utilizing HPLC-ESI-MS/MS., including flavonoids, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, and fatty acids. The methanol extract of M. sinaica leaves contained total phenolics and flavonoids (59.37 ± 2.19 mg GAE/g and 38.94 ± 2.72 mg QE/g), respectively. Furthermore, it revealed in vitro antioxidant properties as determined by the DPPH and FRAP assays, with respective IC50 values of 10.22 ± 0.64 and 20.89 ± 1.25 μg/mL. The extract exhibited a notable hepatoprotective effect in rats who experienced paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity. When a dose of 250 mg/kg was given, there was a 52% reduction in alanine transaminase and a 30% reduction in aspartate transaminase compared to the group with the disease. Furthermore, it demonstrated a 3.4-fold, 2.2-fold, and 2.6-fold increase in superoxide dismutase, non-protein sulfhydryl, and glutathione peroxidase, respectively. In addition, it demonstrated a 68% decrease in lipid peroxide levels compared to the group with paracetamol-induced condition. The verification was conducted using a histological study, which identified improved liver histology with a small number of distended hepatocytes. Moreover, in silico studies focused on the enzymes NADPH oxidase, butyrylcholinesterase, and tyrosinase as the targets for the major compounds. In conclusion, MSLE showed promising hepatoprotective and antioxidant activities due to its richness in antioxidant metabolites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diesel engines (DEs) commonly power pumps used in agricultural and grassland irrigation. However, relying on unpredictable and costly fuel sources for DEs pose's challenges related to availability, reliability, maintenance, and lifespan. Addressing these environmental concerns, this study introduces an emulation approach for photovoltaic (PV) water pumping (WP) systems. Emulation offers a promising alternative due to financial constraints, spatial limitations, and climate dependency in full-scale systems. The proposed setup includes three key elements: a PV system emulator employing back converter control to replicate PV panel characteristics, a boost converter with an MPPT algorithm for efficient power tracking across diverse conditions, and a motor pump (MP) emulator integrating an induction motor connected to a DC generator to simulate water pump behaviors. Precise induction motor control is achieved through a controlled inverter. This work innovatively combines PV and WP emulation while optimizing system dynamics, aiming to develop a comprehensive emulator and evaluate an enhanced control algorithm. An optimized scalar control strategy regulates the water MP, demonstrated through MATLAB/Simulink simulations that highlight superior performance and responsiveness to solar irradiation variations compared to conventional MPPT techniques. Experimental validation using the dSPACE control desk DS1104 confirms the emulator's ability to faithfully reproduce genuine solar panel characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The use of smartphones among the general public and health care practitioners, in particular, is ubiquitous. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between smartphone addiction and sleep quality, psychological distress, and loneliness among health care students and workers in Saudi Arabia. Methods This cross-sectional study used an online questionnaire to collect data on smartphone addiction, sleep quality, psychological distress, and loneliness as well as demographic information. Results A total of 773 health care students and workers participated in the study, with an average age of 25.95 ± 8.35, and 59.6% female participants. The study found a positive significant association between smartphone addiction and psychological distress (F(1,771) = 140.8, P < 0.001) and emotional loneliness (F(1,771) = 26.70, P < 0.001). Additionally, a significant negative association between smartphone addiction and sleep quality was found (F(1,771) = 4.208, P = 0.041). However, there was no significant relationship between smartphone addiction and social loneliness (F (1,771) = 0.544, P < 0.461). Conclusion These findings suggest that smartphone addiction has a negative impact on psychological distress, sleep quality, and emotional loneliness among health care students and workers. It is important to promote strategies to reduce smartphone dependency in order to avoid the harmful consequences of smartphone addiction.

Background Social stigma associated with infectious diseases existed throughout the history of pandemics due to fears of contagion and death. This study aims to assess social and self-stigma resulting from COVID-19 infection and other associated factors in Egypt during the pandemic. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 533 adult Egyptians via an online questionnaire. The questionnaire included social stigma toward current and recovered COVID-19 patients and the negative self-image of being a COVID-19 patient. Results The mean calculated overall COVID-19-related stigma score for the studied sample was 4.7±3.1. The highest reported stigma category was mild stigma: Social stigma towards current COVID-19 patients (88.2%), Social stigma toward recovered COVID-19 patients (64.2%), Negative self-image for being a COVID-19 patient; perceived self-stigma (71.6%) and total stigma score (88.2%) respectively. The overall stigma score was negatively associated with a higher level of education and getting information from healthcare workers and positively associated with getting information from social networks. Conclusion Social and self-stigma related to COVID-19 infection was mild from the Egyptian perspective but found in a large proportion of the population and mainly affected by getting information from healthcare workers or through social media and being more among those with lower education levels. The study recommends more legislative control on social media for disseminating health-related information and conducting awareness campaigns to counteract these adverse effects.

This article investigates the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions of employees and employee burnout, from a sustainable development point of view, in the healthcare system of China. It fills the void in conventional literature by analyzing the indirect effect of CSR on the health and well-being of health workers aligning with SDGs focused on health and wellbeing. To be able to address the crux of healthcare professionals' burnout which can have far-reaching negative consequences for individual welfare and healthcare delivery, this research explores the linkages between CSR perceptions, employee burnout, happiness, psychological safety, and altruistic behavior. Data were obtained from 392 health care workers in three Chinese cities through a thrice-administered questionnaire that measures CSR perceptions of employees, burnout levels, happiness, safety perceptions, and altruistic motivations. It is seen that results show a strong link between CSR perceptions of employees and burnout reduction. Furthermore, the happiness and psychological safety of workers were expressed as mediators, with altruism playing the role of moderator. The above points highlight the need to adopt CSR strategies to promote employee well-being and combat burnout in the healthcare sector, which plays a vital role in global initiatives to attain SDGs related to good health and well-being, and sustainable development. Additionally, this research increases the debate on employee burnout based on their organization's CSR perceptions and positive psychology theory as a lens, bringing up CSR as the key factor in the achievement of sustainable development and the improvement of well-being within healthcare settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lemon grass, formally identified as Cymbopogon citratus, is a plant that belongs to the Poaceae family. The present work aimed to examine the chemical composition by GC/MS analysis and assess the biological potential of C. citratus volatile oil and n-hexane extract. The volatile oil and n-hexane extract were evaluated for antioxidant potential and tested for their enzyme inhibition against tyrosinase, butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), α-amylase, and α-glucosidase. The chemical analysis of the lemongrass n-hexane extract (HE) and volatile oil (VO) revealed that the main constituents in the HE are aliphatic hydrocarbons (42.98%), triterpenoids (20.14%), and aromatic hydrocarbons (17.25%). Conversely, the main constituents of the (VO) are predominantly monoterpenes, namely α-citral (36.08%), β-citral (34.22%), and β-myrcene (13.84%). The oil showed more potent antioxidant potential in DPPH, ABTS, CUPRAC, FRAP, and phosphomolybdenum (10.18, 35.69 mg Trolox equivalent/g, 98.97 and 69.73 mg Trolox equivalent/g and 43.01 mmol Trolox equivalent/g). The HE displayed higher BChE (1.53 mg Galanthamine equivalent)/g), as well as α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities (0.39 and 2.40 mmol Acarbose equivalent/g). The VO demonstrated more potent tyrosinase inhibitory activities (57.19 mg Kojic acid equivalent/g) along with acetyl and butyrylcholinesterase inhibition. Dominant compounds exhibited the ability to bind with high affinity to various target proteins, with a particular affinity for AChE and BChE. The volatile oil and n-hexane extract of C. citratus show significant promise as a viable choice for the advancement of novel therapeutic strategies aimed at addressing oxidative stress, neurodegeneration, and diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With the introduction of new therapy modalities and the resulting increase in survival rates, childhood brain cancers have become a focal point of research in pediatric oncology. In current protocols, besides surgical resection and chemotherapy, radiotherapy is required to ensure optimal survival. Our aim was to determine which of the two major irradiation options, proton (PT) or photon (XRT), was the least harmful yet effective for children with brain tumors. Methods: The protocol was registered on PROSPERO in advance (CRD42022374443). A systematic search was performed in four databases (MEDLINE via (PubMed), Embase, Cochrane Library, and Scopus) on 23 April 2024. Odd ratios (OR) and mean differences (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using a random-effects model. Survival and six major types of side effects were assessed based on data in the articles and reported using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5.0. Heterogeneity was assessed using Higgins and Thompson's I2 statistics. Results: Altogether, 5848 articles were screened, of which 33 were eligible for data extraction. The 5-year overall survival results showed statistically no significant difference between the two radiotherapy modalities (OR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.51–1.23, p = 0.22, I2 = 0%). In terms of toxicity rates, an advantage was found for PT, particularly in terms of chronic endocrine side effects (hypothyroidism OR: 0.22, 95% CI: 0.10–0428, p = 0.002, I2 = 68%), neurocognitive decline (global IQ level MD: 13.06, 95% CI: 4.97–21.15, p = 0.009, I2 = 68%). As for hematological, acute side effects, neurological changes and ophthalmologic disorders PT can be beneficial for survivors in terms of reducing them. Conclusions: In comparison with XRT, PT can reduce most side effects, without significantly decreasing the survival rate. There is considerable clinical relevance in the findings, even not all of them are statistically significant, which may facilitate the development of protocols regarding the usage of radiotherapy methods, and may encourage the establishment of more proton centers, where more studies can be done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this research was to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the energy and environmental efficiency of a smart sprayer with a variable rate in orange production. The smart sprayer was developed from a standard orchard sprayer with a fixed rate using different equipment. Energy indicators, encompassing energy efficiency, energy productivity, energy intensity and net energy gain, were calculated. Environmental indicators, including global warming potential, acidification, eutrophication and human toxicity potentials, were estimated using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method in 15 midpoint and 4 endpoint categories. The findings demonstrated that the smart sprayer with a variable rate held a significant advantage over the conventional sprayer with a fixed rate in terms of reducing the pesticide deposition on the trees, lowering pesticide consumption, increasing the energy efficiency and productivity and mitigating the environmental impacts. The maximum pesticide lowering was 46%, achieved at a speed of 1.6 km.hr-1. The energy efficiency and productivity changed from 0.594 to 0.650 and from 0.313 to 0.342 kg.MJ-1, respectively. The Global Warming Potential (GWP) declined from 422.860 to 407.573 kg CO2 eq per ton of orange production. The reduction of chemical pesticide, diesel fuel and agricultural machinery consumption contributed to the decrease in environmental emissions. Consequently, the smart sprayer with a variable rate emerged as a significantly more sustainable and efficient solution for orange production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To explore the perceptions of Jordanian primipara and para 1 women regarding Cesarean section delivery and provide insights for clinical practice, policy development, and future research to optimize maternity care practices and outcomes in Jordan and similar contexts. Background: Global Cesarean section (CS) rates have risen steadily over recent decades. Jordan has witnessed a significant increase in CS rates. This trend has sparked interest in understanding the underlying factors behind this phenomenon and the perceptions surrounding CS delivery. Understanding these factors is essential for informing healthcare practices and promoting optimal maternal and neonatal health outcomes. Methods: Forty-one primipara and para 1 women were interviewed within seven focus groups. The analysis was conducted using interpretative phenomenological analysis with the assistance of the NVivo 12 software program. Results: Three main themes were identified: The Foundation of Women's Knowledge and Cognitive Structures; The Influential Parties in Shaping Women's Perceptions; and Transforming Perception into Action. Discussion: To offer empathetic, comprehensive, and patient-centered care, healthcare professionals should discuss delivery options with pregnant mothers and factor in maternal preferences and perceptions. This study underscores the importance of supportive dialogue and informed decision-making in maternity care, advocating for a more individualized approach to childbirth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Non-adherence to cardiovascular medications is a global problem with clinical, economic, and humanistic consequences. Investigation of this problem may open the road for proper management of cardiovascular diseases. Objective: Our objectives were to assess the level of adherence to, and to examine factors influencing adherence to, cardiovascular medications in subjects visiting a heart center in Sudan. Methods: We have conducted a cross-sectional study that assessed adherence to cardiovascular medications among subjects visiting outpatient cardiac clinics in a heart center-Khartoum State, Sudan. The validated Adherence to Refills and Medication Scale (ARMS) tool was used to assess the level of medication adherence. A score of >16 was used as a cut-off point to categorize surveyed patients into non-adherent (e.g., 17–48) and adherent (e.g., 12–16) in ARMS. Descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages) and inferential tests such as One-Way ANOVA and Binary regression were used for data analysis. Results: A total of 255 subjects were enrolled in this study. Slightly more than half the respondents were males (54.5%) and their ages ranged between (51–60 years), and have no insurance coverage (58%). Most of the subjects were married (60.4%), were from Khartoum-State (67.8%), and were unemployed (77.6%). About 39.6% had primary education while 34.5% had secondary (34.5%) education. Diabetes (56.1%) and hypertension (45.5%) were common among the study population. The results showed a high non-adherence prevalence rate (97.6%). The cited reasons for non-adherence include forgetfulness and the costs of refilling medications. Education and age were associated with the level of adherence. Those with high non-adherence behaviors were the more educated, younger and old patients, those not employed, and those having comorbid diseases. Conclusion: The results generally showed a high level of non-adherence to cardiovascular medications, necessitating interventions to support patients' adherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been an increased interest in standardized approaches to coding facial movement in mammals. Such approaches include Facial Action Coding Systems (FACS), where individuals are trained to identify discrete facial muscle movements that combine to create a facial configuration. Some studies have utilized FACS to analyze facial signaling, recording the quantity of morphologically distinct facial signals a species can generate. However, it is unclear whether these numbers represent the total number of facial muscle movement combinations (which we refer to as facial configurations) that each species is capable of producing. If unobserved combinations of facial muscle movements are communicative in nature, it is crucial to identify them, as this information is important for testing research hypotheses related to the evolution of complex communication among mammals. Our study aimed to assess how well the existing literature represents the potential range of facial signals in two previously studied species: chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and domesticated cats (Felis silvestris catus). We adhered to the coding guidelines outlined in the FACS manuals, which are based on the anatomical constraints and capabilities of each mammal's face, to create our comprehensive list of all potential facial configurations. Using this approach, we found that chimpanzees and domesticated cats may be capable of producing thousands of facial configurations, many of which have not yet been documented in the existing research literature. It is plausible that some of these facial configurations are communicative and could be discovered with further research and video recording. In addition to our findings having significant implications for future research on the communicative complexity of mammals, it can also assist researchers in evaluating FACS coding accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on modeling Resistor-Inductor (RL) electric circuits using a fractional Riccati initial value problem (IVP) framework. Conventional models frequently neglect the complex dynamics and memory effects intrinsic to actual RL circuits. This study aims to develop a more precise representation using a fractional-order Riccati model. We present a Jacobi collocation method combined with the Jacobi-Newton algorithm to address the fractional Riccati initial value problem. This numerical method utilizes the characteristics of Jacobi polynomials to accurately approximate solutions to the nonlinear fractional differential equation. We obtain the requisite Jacobi operational matrices for the discretization of fractional derivatives, therefore converting the initial value problem into a system of algebraic equations. The convergence and precision of the proposed algorithm are meticulously evaluated by error and residual analysis. The theoretical findings demonstrate that the method attains high-order convergence rates, dependent on suitable criteria related to the fractional-order parameters and the solution's smoothness. This study not only improves comprehension of RL circuit dynamics but also offers a solid numerical foundation for addressing intricate fractional differential equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The validity and reliability of the Lafayette stability platform are well-established for double leg testing. However, no evaluation of single leg (SL) stance on the platform was discovered yet. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the reliability of conducting the SL stance on the Lafayette platform. Thirty-six healthy and active university students (age 23.2 ± 3.2 years; BMI 21.1 ± 3.1 kg/m2) were tested twice, one week apart (week 1; W1, week 2; W2). They stood on their dominant leg with eyes-open (EO) and eyes-closed (EC) in random order. Three successful trials of 20 seconds each were recorded. The duration during which the platform was maintained within 0° of tilt was referred to as time in balance (TIB). At all-time points, TIB was consistently longer in EO (EOW1: 17.02 ± 1.04s; EOW2: 17.32 ± 1.03s) compared to EC (ECW1: 11.55 ± 1.73s; ECW2: 13.08 ± 1.82s). A ±10 seconds difference was demonstrated in the Bland-Altman analysis in both EO and EC. Lower standard error of measurement (SEM) and coefficient of variation (CV) indicated consistent output. High intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values were seen between weeks (EO = 0.74; EC = 0.76) and within weeks (EOW1 = 0.79; EOW2 = 0.86; ECW1 = 0.71; ECW2 = 0.71). Although statistical measures (i.e., SEM, CV, and ICC) indicated good reliability of Lafayette for SL tasks, the wide agreement interval is yet to be clinically meaningful. Factors underlying the wide variation need to be identified before Lafayette is used for TIB assessment.

BackgroundAfter COVID-19 vaccines received approval, vaccination campaigns were launched worldwide. Initially, these were characterized by a shortage of vaccine supply, and specific risk groups were prioritized. Once supply was guaranteed and vaccination coverage saturated, the focus shifted from risk groups to anti-vaxxers, the under-aged population, and regions of low coverage. At the same time, hopes to reach herd immunity by vaccination campaigns were put into perspective by the emergence and spread of more contagious and aggressive viral variants. Particularly, concerns were raised that not all vaccines protect against the new-emerging variants. The objective of this study is to introduce a predictive model to quantify the effect of vaccination campaigns on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 viral variants.Methods and findingsThe predictive model introduced here is a comprehensive extension of the one underlying the pandemic preparedness tool CovidSim 2.0 (http://covidsim.eu/). The model is age and spatially stratified, incorporates a finite (but arbitrary) number of different viral variants, and incorporates different vaccine products. The vaccines are allowed to differ in their vaccination schedule, vaccination rates, the onset of vaccination campaigns, and their effectiveness. These factors are also age and/or location dependent. Moreover, the effectiveness and the immunizing effect of vaccines are assumed to depend on the interaction of a given vaccine and viral variant. Importantly, vaccines are not assumed to immunize perfectly. Individuals can be immunized completely, only partially, or fail to be immunized against one or many viral variants. Not all individuals in the population are vaccinable. The model is formulated as a high-dimensional system of differential equations, which is implemented efficiently in the programming language Julia. As an example, the model was parameterized to reflect the epidemic situation in Germany until November 2021 and future dynamics of the epidemic under different interventions were predicted. In particular, without tightening contact reductions, a strong epidemic wave is predicted during December 2021 and January 2022. Provided the dynamics of the epidemic in Germany, in late 2021 administration of full-dose vaccination to all eligible individuals (e.g. by mandatory vaccination) would be too late to have a strong effect on reducing the number of infections in the fourth wave in Germany. However, it would reduce mortality. An emergency brake, i.e., an incidence-based stepwise lockdown, would be efficient to reduce the number of infections and mortality. Furthermore, to specifically account for mobility between regions, the model was applied to two German provinces of particular interest: Saxony, which currently has the lowest vaccine rollout in Germany and high incidence, and Schleswig-Holstein, which has high vaccine rollout and low incidence.ConclusionsA highly sophisticated and flexible but easy-to-parameterize model for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is introduced. The model is capable of providing useful predictions for the COVID-19 pandemic, and hence provides a relevant tool for epidemic decision-making. The model can be adjusted to any country, and the predictions can be used to derive the demand for hospital or ICU capacities.

This report characterizes the first lethal outbreak of Marek's disease on a large farm of mixed-breed adult ducks (>18,000) and identifies the pathogen that resulted in high mortality (35%). Clinical signs included inappetence, respiratory distress, depression, muscle weakness, and ataxia. Post mortem revealed enlarged fragile liver mottled with miliary whitish spots and an enlarged spleen. Histopathology revealed hepatocellular necrosis with eosinophilic intra-nuclear inclusion bodies, necrosis of splenic follicles and degeneration/necrosis of renal tubules. The disease was tentatively diagnosed as a herpesvirus infection, confirmed by virus isolation from the liver. DNA was isolated from 15-year-old archival formalin-fixed tissues from infected ducks and subjected to next generation sequencing (NGS). Despite highly degraded DNA, short stretches of G- and C-rich repeats (TTAGGG and TAACCC) were identified as telomeric repeats frequently found in herpesviruses. Megablast and further investigative bioinformatics identified presence of Marek's disease virus (MDV), a Gallid alphaherpesvirus type 2 (GAHV-2), as the cause of the acute fatal infection. The source of infection may be attributed to a dead migratory flamingo found close to the duck enclosures three days prior to the outbreak; hence, GAHV-2 may also be responsible for the fatal infection of the flamingo accentuated by heat stress. Considering the possible spread of this highly contagious and lethal virus from a flamingo to the ducks, and the increasing zoonosis of animal viruses into humans, such as monkey B alphaherpesvirus transmission from macaques to humans with ~80% fatality, this observation has important ramifications for human health and safety of the poultry industry.

Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous in the environment, in the human food chain, and have been recently detected in blood and lung tissues. To undertake a pilot analysis of MP contamination in human vein tissue samples with respect to their presence (if any), levels, and characteristics of any particles identified. This study analysed digested human saphenous vein tissue samples (n = 5) using μFTIR spectroscopy (size limitation of 5 μm) to detect and characterise any MPs present. In total, 20 MP particles consisting of five MP polymer types were identified within 4 of the 5 vein tissue samples with an unadjusted average of 29.28 ± 34.88 MP/g of tissue (expressed as 14.99 ± 17.18 MP/g after background subtraction adjustments). Of the MPs detected in vein samples, five polymer types were identified, of irregular shape (90%), with alkyd resin (45%), poly (vinyl propionate/acetate, PVAc (20%) and nylon-ethylene-vinyl acetate, nylon-EVA, tie layer (20%) the most abundant. While the MP levels within tissue samples were not significantly different than those identified within procedural blanks (which represent airborne contamination at time of sampling), they were comprised of different plastic polymer types. The blanks comprised n = 13 MP particles of four MP polymer types with the most abundant being polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), then polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyfumaronitrile:styrene (FNS), with a mean ± SD of 10.4 ± 9.21, p = 0.293. This study reports the highest level of contamination control and reports unadjusted values alongside different contamination adjustment techniques. This is the first evidence of MP contamination of human vascular tissues. These results support the phenomenon of transport of MPs within human tissues, specifically blood vessels, and this characterisation of types and levels can now inform realistic conditions for laboratory exposure experiments, with the aim of determining vascular health impacts.

Sapoviruses belonging to the genus Sapovirus within the family Caliciviridae are commonly responsible for severe acute gastroenteritis in both humans and animals. Caliciviruses are known to induce intrinsic apoptosis in vitro and in vivo, however, calicivirus-induced necroptosis remains to be fully elucidated. Here, we demonstrate that infection of porcine kidney LLC-PK cells with porcine sapovirus (PSaV) Cowden strain as a representative of caliciviruses induces receptor-interacting protein kinase 1 (RIPK1)-dependent necroptosis and acts as proviral compared to the antiviral function of PSaV-induced apoptosis. Infection of LLC-PK cells with PSaV Cowden strain showed that the interaction of phosphorylated RIPK1 (pRIPK1) with RIPK3 (pRIPK3), mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (pMLKL) increased in a time-dependent manner, indicating induction of PSaV-induced RIPK1-dependent necroptosis. Interfering of PSaV-infected cells with each necroptotic molecule (RIPK1, RIPK3, or MLKL) by treatment with each specific chemical inhibitor or knockdown with each specific siRNA significantly reduced replication of PSaV but increased apoptosis and cell viability, implying proviral action of PSaV-induced necroptosis. In contrast, treatment of PSaV-infected cells with pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK increased PSaV replication and necroptosis, indicating an antiviral action of PSaV-induced apoptosis. These results suggest that PSaV-induced RIPK1-dependent necroptosis and apoptosis‒which have proviral and antiviral effects, respectively‒counterbalanced each other in virus-infected cells. Our study contributes to understanding the nature of PSaV-induced necroptosis and apoptosis and will aid in developing efficient and affordable therapies against PSaV and other calicivirus infections.

ObjectivesHospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are significant problems as public health issues which need attention. Such infections are significant problems for society and healthcare organizations. This study aimed to carry out a systematic review and a meta-analysis to analyze the prevalence of HAIs globally.MethodsWe conducted a comprehensive search of electronic databases including EMBASE, Scopus, PubMed and Web of Science between 2000 and June 2021. We found 7031 articles. After removing the duplicates, 5430 studies were screened based on the titles/ abstracts. Then, we systematically evaluated the full texts of the 1909 remaining studies and selected 400 records with 29,159,630 participants for meta-analysis. Random-effects model was used for the analysis, and heterogeneity analysis and publication bias test were conducted.ResultsThe rate of universal HAIs was 0.14 percent. The rate of HAIs is increasing by 0.06 percent annually. The highest rate of HAIs was in the AFR, while the lowest prevalence were in AMR and WPR. Besides, AFR prevalence in central Africa is higher than in other parts of the world by 0.27 (95% CI, 0.22-0.34). Besides, E. coli infected patients more than other micro-organisms such as Coagulase-negative staphylococci, Staphylococcus spp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In hospital wards, Transplant, and Neonatal wards and ICU had the highest rates. The prevalence of HAIs was higher in men than in women.ConclusionWe identified several essential details about the rate of HAIs in various parts of the world. The HAIs rate and the most common micro-organism were different in various contexts. However, several essential gaps were also identified. The study findings can help hospital managers and health policy makers identify the reason for HAIs and apply effective control programs to implement different plans to reduce the HAIs rate and the financial costs of such infections and save resources.

BackgroundGastrointestinal (GI) cancers are common and fatal. Improved cancer-directed therapies, with thier substantial role in improving cancer-specific survival, may increase non-cancer mortality-including cardiovascular mortality-in these patients.AimTo identify the risk factors of cardiovascular mortality in GI adenocarcinoma patients.MethodsData of GI adenocarcinoma patients were gathered from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. We used Pearson's chi-square test to assess the relationships between categorical variables. We used the Kaplan-Meyer test in the univariate analysis and Cox regression test for the multivariate analysis.ResultsAmong 556,350 included patients, 275,118 (49.6%) died due to adenocarcinoma, 64,079 (11.5%) died due to cardiovascular causes, and 83,161 (14.9%) died due to other causes. Higher rates of cardiovascular mortality were found in patients ≥ 50 years (HR, 8.476; 95% CI, 7.91-9.083), separated (HR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.184-1.361) and widowed (HR, 1.867; 95% CI, 1.812-1.924), patients with gastric (HR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.1-1.265) or colorectal AC (HR, 1.123; 95% CI, 1.053-1.198), and patients not undergone surgery (HR, 2.04; 95% CI, 1.958-2.126). Lower risk patients include females (HR, 0.729; 95% CI, 0.717-0.742), blacks (HR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.924-0.978), married (HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.749-0.792), divorced (HR, 0.841; 95% CI, 0.807-0.877), patients with pancreatic AC (HR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.757-0.91), and patients treated with chemotherapy (HR, 0.416; 95% CI, 0.406-0.427).ConclusionsRisk factors for cardiovascular mortality in GI adenocarcinoma include advanced age, males, whites, separated and widowed, gastric or colorectal adenocarcinoma, advanced grade or advanced stage of the disease, no chemotherapy, and no surgery. Married and divorced, and patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma have a lower risk.

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is unreliable in some situations. To mend the poor GNSS signal, an autonomous vehicle can self-localize by matching a ground image against a database of geotagged aerial images. However, this approach has challenges because of the dramatic differences in the viewpoint between aerial and ground views, harsh weather and lighting conditions, and the lack of orientation information in training and deployment environments. In this paper, it is shown that previous models in this area are complementary, not competitive, and that each model solves a different aspect of the problem. There was a need for a holistic approach. An ensemble model is proposed to aggregate the predictions of multiple independently trained state-of-the-art models. Previous state-of-the-art (SOTA) temporal-aware models used heavy-weight network to fuse the temporal information into the query process. The effect of making the query process temporal-aware is explored and exploited by an efficient meta block: naive history. But none of the existing benchmark datasets was suitable for extensive temporal awareness experiments, a new derivative dataset based on the BDD100K dataset is generated. The proposed ensemble model achieves a recall accuracy R@1 (Recall@1: the top most prediction) of 97.74% on the CVUSA dataset and 91.43% on the CVACT dataset (surpassing the current SOTA). The temporal awareness algorithm converges to R@1 of 100% by looking at a few steps back in the trip history.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a prevalent infectious disease with considerable morbidity annually. Here, we aimed to investigate the likely variations in gene expression of glycoprotein63 (gp63), heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), histone, arginase, cysteine protease B (CPB), Leishmania homologue of receptors for activated C kinase (LACK), small hydrophilic endoplasmic reticulum-associated protein (SHERP) in metacyclic promastigotes of L. major isolated from Phlebotomus papatasi sand flies and promastigotes excessively cultured in culture medium. The parasites were collected from suspected CL cases in Pasteur Institute of Iran, cultured and inoculated into the female BALB/c mice (2×106 promastigotes). Sand flies were trapped in Qom province, fed with the blood of euthanized infected mice and subsequently dissected in order to isolate the midgut including stomodeal valve. The metacyclic promastigotes were isolated from Ph. papatasi (Pro-Ppap) using peanut agglutinin test (PNA), then continuously cultured in RPMI-1640 medium enriched with fetal bovine serum, penicillin (100 U/ml) and streptomycin (100 mg/ml) to reach stationary phase (Pro-Stat). The gene expression was evaluated in both parasitic stages (Pro-Ppap and Pro-Stat) using qRT-PCR. Out results showed a significant increased gene expression at Pro-Ppap stage for gp63 (P = 0.002), SHERP (P = 0.001) and histone (P = 0.026) genes, in comparison with Pro-Stat stage. Noticeably, significant changes were, also, demonstrated in 10th to 15th passages [gp63 (P = 0.041), arginase (P = 0.016), LACK (P = 0.025)] and in 5th to 20th passage (SHERP) (P = 0.029). In conclusion, the findings of the present study seem to be essential in designing Leishmania studies, in particular regarding host-parasite interaction, immunization and infectivity studies.

The operation of the system's frequency can be strongly impacted by load change, solar irradiation, wind disturbance, and system parametric uncertainty. In this paper, the application of an adaptive controller based on a hybrid Jaya-Balloon optimizer (JBO) for frequency oscillation mitigation in a single area smart μG system is studied. The proposed adaptive control approach is applied to control the flexible loads such as HPs and EVs by using the JBO which efficiently controls the system frequency. The suggested technique uses the power balance equation to provide a dynamic output feedback controller. The main target is to regulate the frequency and power of an islanded single area μG powered by a PV and a diesel generator with integrations of smart bidirectional loads (HPs and EVs) that are controlled by the proposed adaptive controller in presence of electrical random loads. Moreover, the JBO is designed to minimize the effect of the system load disturbance and parameter variations. For a better assessment, the proposed controller using JBO technique is compared with two other methods which are the coefficient diagram method (CDM) and adaptive one using classical the Jaya technique. In the obtained results, the frequency deviation is found as 0.0015 Hz, which is fully acceptable and in the range of the IEEE standards. The MATLAB simulation results reveal that the suggested technique has a substantial advantage over other techniques in terms of frequency stability in the face of concurrent disturbances and parameter uncertainties. The real-time simulation tests are presented using a dSPACE DS1103 connected to another PC via QUARC pid_e data acquisition card and confirmed the MATLAB simulation results.

BackgroundHealth care providers including pharmacists are often on the first line when dealing with COVID -19; they can be under threat of contracting and spreading the disease. We aimed to assess and compare their knowledge of hand sanitization during COVID-19 pandemic to improve quality of care.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in Jordan, on healthcare providers in different settings from 27 October till 3 December 2020, using a pre-validated electronic questionnaire. Participants (n = 523) were healthcare providers practicing in different settings. Descriptive and association statistical analyses were produced on the data using SPSS 26. Chi square was used for the categorical variables, and One way ANOVA was used on the continuous and categorical variables.ResultsA significant difference was recorded in total knowledge mean according to gender (59.78 vs 61.79 p = 0.030) in favor of men, and between pharmacists and other healthcare providers in favor of the latter (59.22 vs 61.45, p = 0.02). No significant difference was generally noticed between those who attended hand hygiene training and those who did not.ConclusionHealthcare providers' knowledge of hand hygiene was generally good among participants, regardless of training and it was possibly increased because of fear of COVID-19 infection. Physicians were the most knowledgeable in regard of hand hygiene while pharmacists were the least among healthcare providers. Thus, structured, more frequent, and tailored training on hand sanitization in addition to new educational strategies are recommended for healthcare providers, in particular, pharmacists for better quality of care especially in pandemics.

BackgroundBreast cancer (BC) is the most often diagnosed cancer in women globally. Cancer cells appear to rely heavily on RNA helicases. DDX43 is one of DEAD- box RNA helicase family members. But, the relationship between clinicopathological, prognostic significance in different BC subtypes and DDX43 expression remains unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the clinicopathological significance of DDX43 protein and mRNA expression in different BC subtypes.Materials and methodsA total of 80 females newly diagnosed with BC and 20 control females that were age-matched were recruited for this study. DDX43 protein levels were measured by ELISA technique. We used a real-time polymerase chain reaction quantification (real-time PCR) to measure the levels of DDX43 mRNA expression. Levels of DDX43 protein and mRNA expression within BC patients had been compared to those of control subjects and correlated with clinicopathological data.ResultsThe mean normalized serum levels of DDX43 protein were slightly higher in control than in both benign and malignant groups, but this result was non-significant. The mean normalized level of DDX43 mRNA expression was higher in the control than in both benign and malignant cases, although the results were not statistically significant and marginally significant, respectively. Moreover, the mean normalized level of DDX43 mRNA expression was significantly higher in benign than in malignant cases. In malignant cases, low DDX43 protein expression was linked to higher nuclear grade and invasive duct carcinoma (IDC), whereas high mRNA expression was linked to the aggressive types of breast cancer such as TNBC, higher tumor and nuclear grades.ConclusionThis study explored the potential of using blood DDX43 mRNA expression or protein levels, or both in clinical settings as a marker of disease progression in human breast cancer. DDX43 mRNA expression proposes a less invasive method for discriminating benign from malignant BC.

Roles for the baculoviral inhibitor of apoptosis repeat-containing (BIRC) genes, BIRC2 and BIRC3, may include signaling to the inflammatory transcription factor, nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and protection from cell death. However, distinct functions for each BIRC are not well-delineated. Given roles for the epithelium in barrier function and host defence, BIRC2 and BIRC3 expression was characterized in pulmonary epithelial cell lines and primary human bronchial epithelial cells (pHBECs) grown as undifferentiated cells in submersion culture (SC) or as highly differentiated cells at air-liquid interface (ALI). In A549 cells, interleukin-1β (IL1B) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF) induced BIRC3 mRNA (~20-50-fold), with maximal protein expression from 6–24 h. Similar effects occurred in BEAS-2B and Calu-3 cells, as well as SC and ALI pHBECs. BIRC2 protein was readily detected in unstimulated cells, but was not markedly modulated by IL1B or TNF. Glucocorticoids (dexamethasone, budesonide) modestly increased BIRC3 mRNA and protein, but showed little effect on BIRC2 expression. In A549 cells, BIRC3 mRNA induced by IL1B was unchanged by glucocorticoids and showed supra-additivity with TNF-plus-glucocorticoid. Supra-additivity was also evident for IL1B-plus-budesonide induced-BIRC3 in SC and ALI pHBECs. Using A549 cells, IL1B- and TNF-induced BIRC3 expression, and to a lesser extent, BIRC2, was prevented by NF-κB inhibition. Glucocorticoid-induced BIRC3 expression was prevented by silencing and antagonism of the glucocorticoid receptor. Whereas TNF, but not IL1B, induced degradation of basal BIRC2 and BIRC3 protein, IL1B- and TNF-induced BIRC3 protein remained stable. Differential regulation by cytokines and glucocorticoids shows BIRC2 protein expression to be consistent with roles in rapid signaling events, whereas cytokine-induced BIRC3 may be more important in later effects. While TNF-induced degradation of both BIRCs may restrict their activity, cytokine-enhanced BIRC3 expression could prime for its function. Finally, shielding from glucocorticoid repression, or further enhancement by glucocorticoid, may indicate a key protective role for BIRC3.

This study aims to predict head trauma outcome for Neurosurgical patients in children, adults, and elderly people. As Machine Learning (ML) algorithms are helpful in healthcare field, a comparative study of various ML techniques is developed. Several algorithms are utilized such as k-nearest neighbor, Random Forest (RF), C4.5, Artificial Neural Network, and Support Vector Machine (SVM). Their performance is assessed using anonymous patients' data. Then, a proposed double classifier based on Henry Gas Solubility Optimization (HGSO) is developed with Aquila optimizer (AQO). It is implemented for feature selection to classify patients' outcome status into four states. Those are mortality, morbidity, improved, or the same. The double classifiers are evaluated via various performance metrics including recall, precision, F-measure, accuracy, and sensitivity. Another contribution of this research is the original use of hybrid technique based on RF-SVM and HGSO to predict patient outcome status with high accuracy. It determines outcome status relationship with age and mode of trauma. The algorithm is tested on more than 1000 anonymous patients' data taken from a Neurosurgical unit of Mansoura International Hospital, Egypt. Experimental results show that the proposed method has the highest accuracy of 99.2% (with population size = 30) compared with other classifiers.

We developed an oral Salmonella-based vaccine that prevents and reverses diabetes in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. Related to this, the gastrointestinal tract harbors a complex dynamic population of microorganisms, the gut microbiome, that influences host homeostasis and metabolism. Changes in the gut microbiome are associated with insulin dysfunction and type 1 diabetes (T1D). Oral administration of diabetic autoantigens as a vaccine can restore immune balance. However, it was not known if a Salmonella-based vaccine would impact the gut microbiome. We administered a Salmonella-based vaccine to prediabetic NOD mice. Changes in the gut microbiota and associated metabolome were assessed using next-generation sequencing and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The Salmonella-based vaccine did not cause significant changes in the gut microbiota composition immediately after vaccination although at 30 days post-vaccination changes were seen. Additionally, no changes were noted in the fecal mycobiome between vaccine- and control/vehicle-treated mice. Significant changes in metabolic pathways related to inflammation and proliferation were found after vaccine administration. The results from this study suggest that an oral Salmonella-based vaccine alters the gut microbiome and metabolome towards a more tolerant composition. These results support the use of orally administered Salmonella-based vaccines that induced tolerance after administration.

Kidney disorders are among the most common diseases and there is a scarcity of effective treatments for chronic kidney disease. There has been a progressive improvement in specific flavonoids for protective effects against kidney diseases. Flavonoids inhibit the regulatory enzymes to control inflammation-related diseases. In the present study, a hybrid approach of molecular docking analyses and molecular dynamic simulation was followed by principal component analyses and a dynamics cross-correlation matrix. In the present study, the top-ranked five flavonoids were reported, and the maximum binding affinity was observed against AIM2. Molecular docking analyses revealed that Glu_186, Phe_187, Lys_245, Glu_248, Ile_263, and Asn_265 are potent residues against AIM2 for ligand-receptor interactions. Extensive in silico analyses suggested that procyanidin is a potential molecule against AIM2. Moreover, the site-directed mutagenesis for the reported interacting residues of AIM2 could be important for further in vitro analyses. The observed novel results based on extensive computational analyses may be significant for potential drug design against renal disorders by targeting AIM2.

BackgroundThe novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted pregnant women, increasing maternal and neonatal morbidity. The placenta is a potential target for the pathophysiological processes due to the increased thrombotic inflammatory activation and inadequate uteroplacental perfusion and oxygenation, potentially causing intrauterine growth restriction. This study investigates the impact of gestational age at diagnosis of COVID-19 and the presence of symptoms on intrauterine fetal growth in pregnant women.MethodsA retrospective review of COVID-19 positive pregnant women in Qatar from March 2020 to March 2021 was conducted. They were divided based on trimester of pregnancy in which they were infected. The outcomes included birthweight, customised fetal birthweight centiles, small for gestational age (SGA) baby and daily growth increments, compared between the trimesters and between symptomatic and asymptomatic women.ResultsIn our cohort, 218 women (20.5%) were infected in the first trimester, 399 (37.5%) in the second and 446 (42%) in the third. Women in the second trimester were significantly younger and symptomatic. Women infected in the first trimester were least likely to have diabetes. The mean birthweight, risk of SGA (11.5% vs 10% vs 14.6%, p = 0.302), and median customized growth centiles (47.6% vs 45.9% vs 46.1%)were similar between the groups. Symptomatic women had significantly lower mean birthweight (3147 gms vs 3222 gms) and median birthweight centiles (43.9% vs 54.0%)compared to the asymptomatic (pConclusionThis study shows that women with symptomatic disease had lower birth centiles and birth weights. This was regardless of the gestational age at which they were infected. Early symptomatic disease seems to have an impact on fetal growth velocity; however, larger studies are needed to corroborate these findings.

In this paper, an integration between a low earth orbit satellite (LEO-Sat) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is proposed to assist users in post-disaster areas. In this scenario, multiple UAVs will be distributed to fully cover the victims and provide rescue services, while LEO-Sat provides backhaul links for UAVs to the ground base station (GBS). In this regard, we consider the problem of efficient UAVs distribution to maximize the total sum rate of the victims while assuring fairness in their coverage within the limited resources of UAVs batteries and LEO-Sat bandwidth. In this paper, UAV distribution problem is considered as a combinatorial multi-armed bandit (MAB) with arms’ fairness and limited UAVs battery budget (CMAB-FB) constraints. Additionally, the utilization of LEO-Sat bandwidth resources is optimized based on the average traffic demands of the LEO-UAV links by means of gradient decent algorithm. The results of numerical analysis indicate that the proposed approach outperforms other naïve ben chmarks.

The optimum economic outcome of financial system development depends on its level of efficiency. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of institutional quality on financial system efficiency. For empirical analysis, we have used a panel dataset of 108 countries from 1996–2020 and employed fixed effect regression and two stages least squares (2SLS) regression methods. The empirical results show that institutional quality has a significant positive effect on financial system efficiency. Particularly all the constituting elements—voice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence, regulatory quality, government effectiveness, rule of law, and control of corruption—of institutional quality are found to have a significant positive impact on financial system efficiency. Moreover, we found that the effect of institutional quality is more pronounced in countries with low-income levels and strong institutional quality. These findings are robust across several robustness tests conducted using additional controls, alternative methodologies, an alternative measure of institutional quality, and financial system efficiency. The results of the study suggest that policy makers should prioritize both enhancing and sustaining institutional quality to promote the efficiency of the financial system, which is crucial for sustainable growth and development.

ObjectiveRoad traffic accident (RTA) is the major cause of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in developing countries and affects mostly young adult population. This research aimed to describe the factors predicting functional outcome after TBI caused by RTA in a Malaysian setting.MethodsThis was a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted on specialist medical reports written from 2009 to 2019, involving patients who survived after TBI from RTA. The functional outcome was assessed using the Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE). Factors associated with good outcome were analysed via logistic regression analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to derive the best fitting Prediction Model and split-sample cross-validation was performed to develop a prediction model.ResultsA total of 1939 reports were evaluated. The mean age of the study participants was 32.4 ± 13.7 years. Most patients were male, less than 40, and with average post RTA of two years. Good outcome (GOSE score 7 & 8) was reported in 30.3% of the patients. Factors significantly affecting functional outcome include age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, education level, severity of brain injury, neurosurgical intervention, ICU admission, presence of inpatient complications, cognitive impairment, post-traumatic headache, post traumatic seizures, presence of significant behavioural issue; and residence post discharge (pConclusionGood functional outcome following TBI due to RTA in this study population is comparable to other low to middle income countries but lower than high income countries. Factors influencing outcome such as seizure, cognitive and behavioural issues, and independent living post injury should be addressed early to achieve favourable long-term outcomes.

Many studies indicate the importance of including the instructional illustrations (pictures, drawings, concrete objects …etc.) in childhood education learning materials and employing them in a way that suits the psychological and cognitive levels of young children. In this context, the current study aimed to develop a list of standards to be considered and adopted in designing instructional illustrations, and to reveal the perceptions of childhood teachers about the extent to which these standards are considered in instructional illustrations used in children's learning materials. The participants were childhood education teachers in the Jordanian region of Irbid, who were randomly selected. Two hundred thirty-four teachers completed the questionnaire online. The scale consisted of a total of 34 items distributed over four dimensions. The results showed that the scores of teachers' estimation about employing design standards in the instructional illustrations used in childhood education came at low levels, ranging from average to low, and did not reach high ratings. The study also revealed that there is an impact attributed to teaching experience on teachers' perceptions about the extent to which these standards are employed in instructional illustrations, while there is no impact of gender, academic qualification, or the classes taught by the teachers.

Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) have been bred to exude higher amounts or different types of the specialized plant metabolites, acylsugars, from type IV trichomes. Acylsugars are known to deter several herbivorous insect pests, including the western flower thrips (WFT), Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande); however, all previous studies investigated the effect of acylsugars on leaves, or acylsugar extracts obtained from leaves. In spite of the WFT predilection for flowers, there is a gap in knowledge about flower defenses against thrips damage. This is especially important in light of their capacity to acquire and inoculate viruses in the genus Orthotospovirus, such as Tomato spotted wilt orthotospovirus (TSWV), in flowers. Therefore, we turned our attention to assessing thrips oviposition differences on flowers of 14 entries, including 8 interspecific hybrids, 5 tomato lines bred for specific acylsugar-related characteristics (type IV trichome densities, acylsugar amount, sugar moiety and fatty acid profile), and a fresh market tomato hybrid, Mt. Spring, which only produces trace amounts of acylsugars. Our results show that the density of the acylsugar droplet bearing type IV trichomes is greatest on sepals, relative to other flower structures, and accordingly, WFT avoids oviposition on sepals in favor of trichome-sparse petals. In concordance with past studies, acylsugar amount was the most important acylsugar-related characteristic suppressing WFT oviposition. Certain acylsugar fatty acids, specifically i-C5, i-C9 and i-C11, were also significantly associated with changes in WFT oviposition. These results support continued breeding efforts to increase acylsugar amounts and explore modifications of fatty acid profile and their roles in deterring thrips oviposition. The finding that acylsugar production occurs and reduces thrips oviposition in tomato flowers will be important in efforts to use acylsugar-mediated resistance to reduce incidence of orthotospoviruses such as TSWV in tomato by deterring virus transmission and development of thrips vector populations in the crop.

BackgroundIn pandemic COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the prognosis of patients has been determined using clinical data and CT (computed tomography) scans, but it is still unclear whether chest CT characteristics are correlated to COVID-19 severity.AimTo explore the potential association between clinical data and 25-point CT score and investigate their predictive significance in COVID-19-positive patients at Fayoum University Hospital in Egypt.MethodsThis study was conducted on 252 Egyptian COVID-19 patients at Fayoum University Hospital in Egypt. The patients were classified into two groups: a mild group (174 patients) and a severe group (78 patients). The results of clinical laboratory data, and CT scans of severe and mild patients, were collected, analyzed, and compared.ResultsThe severe group show high significance levels of CRP, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatinine, urea, ferritin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), neutrophil percent, and heart rate (HR) than the mild group. Lymphopenia, hypoalbuminemia, hypocalcemia, and decreased oxygen saturation (SpO2) were the most observed abnormalities in severe COVID-19 patients. Lymphopenia, low SpO2 and albumin levels, elevated serum LDH, ferritin, urea, and CRP levels were found to be significantly correlated with severity CT score (PConclusionThe clinical severity of COVID-19 and the CT score are highly correlated. Our findings indicate that the CT scoring system can help to predict COVID-19 disease outcomes and has a strong correlation with clinical laboratory testing.

In this paper, the unified approach is used in acquiring some new results to the coupled Maccari system (MS) in Itô sense with multiplicative noise. The MS is a nonlinear model used in hydrodynamics, plasma physics, and nonlinear optics to represent isolated waves in a restricted region. We provide new results with complicated structures to this model, including hyperbolic, trigonometric and rational function solutions. We draw the two dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D) graphs to some of the study's solutions under appropriately chosen physical parameter values. Random factors can alter the collapse caused by turbulence in the model medium. We noticed that our results may be useful for solving some real-world physical issues by identifying the motion of an isolated wave in a small area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chickpea and broad bean dips are among the most popular legume-based dishes in the Middle Eastern countries. They are either made freshly by restaurants or sold in cans. Various manufacturing processes may enhance or reduce the chemical compositions of any food products, including these dips, which in turn can affect their nutritional values and health benefits. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the nutritional values of the chickpea and broad bean dips and examine the possible differences between those made freshly and those sold as canned products. Methods: Fresh-made and canned chickpea and broad bean dips were obtained from various restaurants and factories in Jordan and were analyzed for their proximate analysis, titratable acidity, and pH value. Furthermore, vitamins B were analyzed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results: Significant differences were detected between fresh-made and canned chickpea dips, with the former containing higher quantities of fiber (10.96g ± 0.32) while the latter containing higher quantities of proteins (8.06g ± 0.29), fats (8.05g ± 1.08), and the vitamins B1 (0.46 ± 0.02) and B5 (0.87 ± 0.02). On the other hand, a significant difference was detected between fresh-made and canned broad bean dips, while the latter contained higher quantities of carbohydrates (20.94g ± 0.78) and tested B-vitamins (except for B6). These detected differences may be due to different variances of chickpeas and broad beans used, preparation methods, and/or the addition of other ingredients. Conclusion: Our results indicate that both chickpea and broad bean dips prepared/sold in Jordan were of high nutrition values in terms of proximate analysis, and vitamins B, with higher quantities observed in the canned dips. Higher titratable acidity and lower pH were also significantly found in the canned dips. This study adds to the existing literature regarding the fresh-made and canned chickpea and broad beans dips produced and sold in Jordan. Moreover, this study shows that canned chickpea and broad beans dips can provide consumers with comparable nutrient values to those provided by the freshly made dips. Nevertheless, these findings warrant more investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates enhancing the efficiency of solar water pumping systems (SWPS) by implementing a Maximum Power Point Tracking technique based on the Bat Metaheuristic Optimizer (MPPT-bat) for the photovoltaic generator (PVG) side, coupled with Direct Torque Control (DTC) for the induction motor powering the pump. Unlike traditional techniques, which make no compromise between tracking speed, oscillation and robustness. The integration of the MPPT-bat represents a significant advance, making it possible to improve PVG performance whatever the weather conditions. The main objective remains to improve the energy efficiency of this type of application by maximizing the electrical power allocated to the SWPS. At the same time, a DTC controller applied to the pump motor aims to optimize the use of the energy generated by the MPPT-bat. This intelligent approach adjusts the motor power according to the power extracted from the PVG, thus avoiding inappropriate profiles for the pumping system. The study confirms that optimizing SWPS using this approach based on MPPT-bat and DTC, significantly improves overall performances in terms of tracking error, oscillations, tracking speed and robustness, promotes more efficient pump rotation and, consequently, increases the flow rate of pumped water, and that these improvements persist under different climate conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 virus's frequent mutations have made disease control with vaccines and antiviral drugs difficult; as a result, there is a need for more effective coronavirus drugs. Therefore, detecting the expression of various diagnostic biomarkers, including ncRNA in SARS-CoV2, implies new therapeutic strategies for the disease. Aim: Our study aimed to measure NEAT-1, miR-374b-5p, and IL6 in the serum of COVID-19 patients, demonstrating the correlation between target genes to explore the possible relationship between them. Also, the association between target genes and patients' clinical findings and radiological severity indices will be explored. Patients and methods: The current study included 48 COVID-19-infected individuals and 40 controls. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) was performed to detect lncRNA NEAT-1 and miRNA374b-5p fold change (FC) in the participants' sera. Enzyme-Linked Immune Sorbent Assay (ELISA) is used to detect IL6. Results: Our results showed statistical significance with lower levels of (NEAT-1) [ median (range) = 0.08 (0.001-0.602)], and (miR374b-5p) [ median (range) = 0.14 (.01-7.16)] while higher IL-6 levels [ median (range) = 41.3 (7.2-654) pg/ml] when compared to controls with p-value <0.001. Serum level of NEAT-1 correlates negatively with IL-6 level (r = -.317, P =.008). ROC curve analysis revealed that sensitivity and specificity tests for NEAT-1 and IL-6 levels in the diagnosis of cases illustrated a sensitivity of (100% and 97.9%) and a specificity of (85% and 100%) at cut-off values (0.985 and 12.55), respectively. In comparison, miR374b-5p showed sensitivity and specificity of around 85% in distinguishing COVID-19 patients from controls. No significant association was detected between target genes and radiological severity indices. Conclusions: Our study is the first to detect decreased NEAT-1 and miR374b-5p expression in COVID-19 patients' serum. There was also an increase in IL6 levels. There is a negative correlation between NEAT-1 and IL6 in COVID-19 patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental health studies are of great interest in research to evaluate the mortality-temperature relationship by adjusting spatially correlated random effects as well as identifying significant change points in temperature. However, this relationship is often not expressed using parametric models, which makes identifying change points an even more challenging problem. This paper proposes a unified semiparametric approach to simultaneously identify the nonlinear mortality-temperature relationship and detect spatially-dependent change points. A unified method is proposed for the model estimation, spatially dependent change points detection, and testing whether they are significant simultaneously by a permutation-based test. We operate under the assumption that change points remain constant, yet acknowledge the uncertainty regarding their precise number. These change points are influenced by the smoothing of an unknown function, which in turn relies on a smoothing variable and spatial random effects. Consequently, the detection of change points may be influenced by spatial effects. In this paper, several simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the performance of our proposed approach. The advantages of this unified approach are demonstrated using epidemiological data on mortality and temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) causes bovine tuberculosis (bTB). The challenges in controlling and eradicating this zoonotic disease are compounded by our incomplete understanding of the host immune response. In this study, we used high-throughput bulk RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to characterise the response profiles of γδ T cells to antigenic stimulation using purified protein derivate from M. bovis (PPDb). γδ T cells are a subgroup of T cells that bridge innate and adaptive immunity and have known anti-mycobacterial response mechanisms. These cells are usually classified based on the expression of a pathogen-recognition receptor, Workshop Cluster 1 (WC1), into two main subsets: WC1.1+ and WC1.2+. Previous studies have identified a preferential transcriptomic response in WC1.1+ cells during natural bTB infection, suggesting a subset-specific response to mycobacterial antigens. This follow on study tested the hypothesis that a subset specific response would also be apparent from γδ T cells from infected cattle after repeat stimulation. Peripheral blood was collected from Holstein-Friesian cattle naturally infected with M. bovis, confirmed by a single intradermal comparative tuberculin test (SICTT) and IFN-γ ELISA and stimulated with 10 μg/ml PPDb for 6 hours. After whole blood stimulation, WC1.1+ and WC1.2+ γδ T cell subsets were isolated using magnetic cell sorting (n = 5 per group). High-quality RNA was extracted from each purified lymphocyte subset (WC1.1+ and WC1.2+) to generate transcriptomes using bulk RNA sequencing, resulting in 20 RNA-seq libraries. Transcriptomic analysis revealed 111 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) common to both WC1.1+ and WC1.2+ γδ T cell compartments, including upregulation of IL1A, IL1B, IL6, IL17A, IL17F, and IFNG genes (FDR-Padj. < 0.1). Interestingly, the WC1.2+ cells showed upregulation of IL10, CCL22, and GZMA (log2FC ≥ 1.5, and FDR-Padj. < 0.1). In conclusion, while WC1.1+ and WC1.2+ γδ T cells exhibit a conserved inflammatory response to PPDb, differences in anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial gene expression between these cell subsets provide new insights into their effector functions in response to mycobacterial antigens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental and health impacts of chemical processes have been a growing concern, leading to the establishment of Green Chemistry principles. Introducing new metrics for the assessment of methods' greenness is crucial to evaluate the exerted efforts to conserve the environment. In this work, we introduce a Modified Green Star Area (MoGSA) and software to assess the greenness of chemical reactions in laboratory settings. MoGSA refines the traditional Green Star Area Index (GSAI) by allowing users to selectively apply specific principles of Green Chemistry based on their relevance to the chemical process being evaluated. This approach addresses the limitations of GSAI, which often lacks clear boundaries between green and non-green practices and does not account for the varying applicability of the 12 Green Chemistry principles across different contexts. Through comparative case studies on catalytic stereoselective reduction of acetophenone, MoGSA demonstrates its utility in providing a more refined and flexible assessment, enhancing both educational and industrial applications of sustainable chemical practices. The software is available as an open source at https://bit.ly/MOGSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]