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Iris is one of the most widely used biometric modalities because of its uniqueness, high matching performance, and inherently secure nature. Iris segmentation is an essential preliminary step for iris-based biometric authentication. The authentication accuracy is directly connected with the iris segmentation accuracy. In the last few years, deep-learning-based iris segmentation methodologies have increasingly been adopted because of their ability to handle challenging segmentation tasks and their advantages over traditional segmentation techniques. However, the biggest challenge to the biometric community is the scarcity of open-source resources for adoption for application and reproducibility. This review provides a comprehensive examination of available open-source iris segmentation resources, including datasets, algorithms, and tools. In the process, we designed three U-Net and U-Net++ architecture-influenced segmentation algorithms as standard benchmarks, trained them on a large composite dataset (>45K samples), and created 1K manually segmented ground truth masks. Overall, eleven state-of-the-art algorithms were benchmarked against five datasets encompassing multiple sensors, environmental conditions, demography, and illumination. This assessment highlights the strengths, limitations, and practical implications of each method and identifies gaps that future studies should address to improve segmentation accuracy and robustness. To foster future research, all resources developed during this work would be made publicly available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Animals Studied Procedure Results Conclusion To map the disease locus for familial ocular melanosis (OM) in the Cairn Terrier.Cairn Terriers with OM and normal control dogs.A genome‐wide association study (GWAS) was performed using 63 OM‐affected and 31 control Cairn Terriers, followed by haplotype analysis. A significantly associated single‐nucleotide polymorphism was genotyped in a larger group of OM‐affected and control Cairn Terriers. The coding and splice‐site regions of genes mapping within the confidence interval were sequenced.A ~9.2 Mb region of chromosome 11 was significantly associated with OM. Haplotype analysis narrowed the region to 1.49 Mb. Genotyping of a SNP within the region showed 86% of OM‐affected dogs were homozygous or heterozygous for the risk allele, whereas 78% of unaffected dogs were homozygous for the nonrisk allele. Sequencing of the coding regions and splice sites of four genes (c9orf72, IFNK, the 5′ end of MOB3B, and the 3′ end of LINGO2) and of a microRNA (MIR876) did not detect any genetic variants unique to OM‐affected dogs.OM in Cairn Terriers maps to a 1.49 Mb region of chromosome 11. This accounts for 86% of OM cases in our DNA bank. A second locus may account for the OM phenotype in the remaining 14% of cases. Sequencing of coding regions and splice sites of positional candidate genes and a microRNA did not reveal any genetic variants unique to affected dogs. Further studies are required to elucidate the DNA variant causal for OM in Cairn Terriers and to understand the disease mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In public spaces, threats to societal security are a major concern, and emerging technologies offer potential countermeasures. The proposed intelligent person identification system monitors and identifies individuals in public spaces using gait, face, and iris recognition. The system employs a multimodal approach for secure identification and utilises deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) that have been pretrained to predict individuals. For increased accuracy, the proposed system is implemented on a cloud server and integrated with citizen identification systems such as Aadhar/SSN. The performance of the system is determined by the rate of accuracy achieved when identifying individuals in a public space. The proposed multimodal secure identification system achieves a 94% accuracy rate, which is higher than that of existing public space person identification systems. Integration with citizen identification systems improves precision and provides immediate life-saving assistance to those in need. Utilising secure deep learning techniques for precise person identification, the proposed system offers a promising solution to security threats in public spaces. This research is necessary to investigate the efficacy and potential applications of the proposed system, including accident identification, theft identification, and intruder identification in public spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To describe features of a syphilitic vascularized iris mass on multimodal imaging and its resolution after penicillin treatment. Methods: Observational case report and literature review of syphilitic iris masses. Results: A 43-year-old woman presented with a unilateral vascularized tan iris mass in the setting of bilateral panuveitis that occurred along with bilateral papillitis, cystoid macular edema and retinal vasculitis. Laboratory work-up confirmed a diagnosis of syphilis. Ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) of the iris mass showed parapupillary hyperechoic full-thickness iris stromal thickening with small intrinsic circular lumens without cyst or ciliary body extension, while the anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) demonstrated a hyperreflective mass with deep iris extension and partial hyporeflective rim. Following treatment, the mass fully resolved without residual sequela. A review of literature identified 11 additional cases of syphilitic iris masses in the English literature from 1915 to present. Their presentations and clinical courses were reviewed herein. Conclusions: This report characterizes a syphilitic iris mass on slit-lamp photography, iris fluorescein angiography, UBM and AS-OCT; depicts key characteristics of syphilitic iris masses; and highlights the need for close inspection of the iris mass as an uncommon sign of ocular syphilis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) became a significant new disease complex in the 1980s. The wide range of associated pathologies came from pathological observation of living and dead patients. The opportunistic infections and cancers, systemic wasting syndromes and direct HIV-induced damage to most organs are well described, but new syndromes will probably emerge. The major change in HIV clinical pathology happened after 1996 when effective anti-HIV chemotherapy became available and AIDS ceased to be a death sentence. Complications of the new therapies will continue to present, requiring vigilance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to compare the outcomes of initiating antiretroviral therapy early vs late in people with HIV and mpox. No worse outcomes were found associated with mpox-related immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome among those who started antiretroviral treatment early, suggesting initiation as soon as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In public spaces, threats to societal security are a major concern, and emerging technologies offer potential countermeasures. The proposed intelligent person identification system monitors and identifies individuals in public spaces using gait, face, and iris recognition. The system employs a multimodal approach for secure identification and utilises deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) that have been pretrained to predict individuals. For increased accuracy, the proposed system is implemented on a cloud server and integrated with citizen identification systems such as Aadhar/SSN. The performance of the system is determined by the rate of accuracy achieved when identifying individuals in a public space. The proposed multimodal secure identification system achieves a 94% accuracy rate, which is higher than that of existing public space person identification systems. Integration with citizen identification systems improves precision and provides immediate life-saving assistance to those in need. Utilising secure deep learning techniques for precise person identification, the proposed system offers a promising solution to security threats in public spaces. This research is necessary to investigate the efficacy and potential applications of the proposed system, including accident identification, theft identification, and intruder identification in public spaces.

Abstract Background Renal disease in canine leishmaniosis is of great importance owing to increased risk of mortality. In human visceral leishmaniosis, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) has been used as a marker of renal damage and inflammation. The purpose of this study was first to determine the serum MCP-1 and urinary MCP-1-to-creatinine ratio (uMCP-1/Cr) in healthy dogs and dogs with leishmaniosis at diagnosis, and second to determine whether these markers can differentiate disease severity at diagnosis. Methods In total, 19 healthy seronegative dogs and 38 dogs with leishmaniosis were included in the study. Dogs with leishmaniosis were classified as LeishVet clinical staging and as International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) staging. Serum and urinary MCP-1 concentrations were measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve determined disease severity at diagnosis between two LeishVet groups (Stage II versus stage III and IV). Results Dogs in Leishvet stages IIb, III, and IV had a median serum MCP-1 and uMCP-1/Cr concentration higher than healthy dogs (P

Abstract Diseases such as diabete and cancer must be detected and treated precociouse. They are generally detected using recognition and classification systems. The latter must be choosen according their accuracies and other measures. In addition, some difficulties and ambiguities can exist related with features representing data sets such as their variant types (eg., integer, nominal, etc.) or overlapping between them. Also, data can be imprecise or incomplete and can influence negatively classification results. Fuzzy sets and their generalizations, resolve problems of data uncertainty by modeling them with linguistic variables. The latter are presented with membership functions having different shapes. Triangular fuzzy numbers which represent tringular functions are very rarely used in classification systems. The cause can be that triangular shape does not preserve in case of some calculations. This research proposes to generalize the classification system "‘Amended Fused TOPSIS-VIKOR for classification"’ (ATOVIC) with triangular fuzzy numbers and to apply it to some UCI date sets. The objective is to unveil the impact of triangular fuzzy numbers in classification. The results of generalized fuzzy ATOVIC are compared to those of its crisp version and those of some existing classification systems using fuzzy sets. Results of ATOVIC generalized with tringular fuzzy numbers are promising. Especially its results on breast cancer Wisconsin and IRIS data sets are higher than Mamdani and Segano fuzzy inference systems using triangular fuzzy numbers from literature.

Creating and testing a biometric key is a critical process used for security and identity verification .When using biometric traits such as fingerprints, facial features, iris patterns, earprints, and voice patterns, a unique key is created and linked to the individual's biometric identity. These biometrics provide inherent uniqueness, resulting in a higher level of security compared to traditional methods. In addition, biometric authentication eliminates the need for users to memorize complex passwords or carry physical tokens, thus enhancing convenience and user experience. Iris recognition systems have received significant attention in biometrics for their ability to provide robust criteria for identifying individuals, thanks to the rich texture of the iris. In this research, the key generation process was created by converting biometrics (the iris) into a digital representation (a set of binary numbers from the two iris) that can be used in the encryption process. This is done by using digital image processing algorithms to extract unique features from the two irises. After the key is generated, it is tested using random metrics. If the key meets the criteria, it is random otherwise the key will be generated again.

Abstract Tuberculosis (TB) is a global health threat, especially in HIV patients who may experience immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) upon Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Diagnosing and defining IRIS in non‐HIV patients remains challenging. A 63‐year‐old male with acute leukaemia underwent induction therapy with a regimen containing fludarabine. Febrile neutropenia led to further investigations, revealing non‐cavitary pulmonary TB, prompting anti‐tuberculosis therapy (ATT) alongside resumed leukaemia treatment with sorafenib. Persistent extra‐pulmonary TB, specifically lymph node involvement, were observed and IRIS was suspected, evidenced by enlarged lymphadenopathies, scrofula, and skin lesions that developed during the 13‐month course of ATT, with no recurrence after its cessation. This article explores a case of lymph node TB‐associated paradoxical IRIS in a non‐HIV leukaemia patient, revealing the intricate interplay between tuberculosis and haematological malignancies and emphasizing the lack of standardized diagnostic criteria and treatment consensus. Challenges in lymph node TB diagnosis and management highlight the need for tailored therapeutic approaches. The report explores the potential immunomodulatory effects of fludarabine and sorafenib, questioning their roles in TB‐IRIS. This case illuminates TB‐IRIS dynamics in non‐HIV patients, urging further research and collaborative efforts to enhance understanding and outcomes. As medical complexities persist, personalized therapeutic approaches and advancements in TB‐IRIS research are crucial.

Background: Renal disease in canine leishmaniosis is of great importance owing to increased risk of mortality. In human visceral leishmaniosis, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) has been used as a marker of renal damage and inflammation. The purpose of this study was first to determine the serum MCP-1 and urinary MCP-1-to-creatinine ratio (uMCP-1/Cr) in healthy dogs and dogs with leishmaniosis at diagnosis, and second to determine whether these markers can differentiate disease severity at diagnosis. Methods: In total, 19 healthy seronegative dogs and 38 dogs with leishmaniosis were included in the study. Dogs with leishmaniosis were classified as LeishVet clinical staging and as International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) staging. Serum and urinary MCP-1 concentrations were measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve determined disease severity at diagnosis between two LeishVet groups (Stage II versus stage III and IV). Results: Dogs in Leishvet stages IIb, III, and IV had a median serum MCP-1 and uMCP-1/Cr concentration higher than healthy dogs (P < 0.0001). No statistical differences were found in serum MCP-1 and uMCP-1/Cr between dogs in LeishVet stage IIa and healthy dogs. The dogs in LeishVet stage IV had significantly higher serum MCP-1 and uMCP-1/Cr compared with the dogs in LeishVet stage IIa (P < 0.0001). Serum MCP-1 and uMCP-1 were significantly higher in dogs in IRIS stage I and II + III + IV compared with healthy dogs. Dogs stage II + III + IV of IRIS had a significantly higher serum MCP-1 compared with dogs in IRIS stage I (P < 0.0001). The area under the ROC curve for serum MCP-1 was 0.78 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.64–0.93] and for uMCP-1/Cr it was 0.86 (95% CI, 0.74–0.99). The optimal cutoff value for serum MCP-1 and uMCP-1/Cr was 336.85 pg/ml (sensitivity of 79% and specificity of 68%) and 6.89 × 10−7 (sensitivity of 84% and specificity of 79%), respectively. Conclusions: Serum MCP-1 and uMCP-1/Cr are increased in dogs with leishmaniosis compared with healthy dogs, suggesting the presence of inflammation and renal injury. Serum MCP-1 and uMCP-1/Cr were more elevated in the advanced stages of the disease compared with the moderate stages and, therefore, can be markers of the severity of the disease process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adverse outcomes of fungal infection in mammalian hosts depend on the complex interactions between the host immune system and pathogen virulenceassociated traits. The main clinical problems arise when the host response is either too weak to effectively eliminate the pathogen or overly aggressive, resulting in host tissue damage rather than protection. This article will highlight current knowledge regarding the virulence attributions and mechanisms involved in the dual-sided role of the host immune system in the immunopathogenesis of the thermally dimorphic fungus Talaromyces marneffei through the lens of the damage response framework (DRF) of microbial pathogenesis model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attracting pollinators to achieve successful reproduction is a key challenge for wild plants that may be disturbed by complex multispecies interactions in nature. Pairwise plant–pollinator interactions have traditionally been studied for decades, while ignoring other ecological players may obscure a comprehensive understanding on how plants recruit partners or combat enemies in the pollination process. Hence, integrated studies considering the inherent complexity of ecological interactions are needed, which may open up new perspectives for deciphering intricate systems and predicting ecological consequences.We examined the presence of nectar yeasts using a combination of high‐throughput sequencing, cultivation and microscopy and quantified floral herbivory by evaluating the incidence of flowers with visible holes in 13 natural populations of Iris bulleyana in the Hengduan Mountains of southwest China during 2017–2022. We combined yeast inoculation and herbivore manipulation treatments to illustrate the isolated and combined impacts of two contrasting nectarivorous organisms, the ascomycetous yeast Metschnikowia reukaufii and adult sawflies, on pollinator visitation and plant reproductive success in two populations. In the lab, we first employed gas chromatography–mass spectrometry to profile the volatile metabolites of yeast‐inoculated nectar relative to control, followed by a behavioural bioassay to test the preference of honeybees for these microbial volatiles.Yeasts commonly inhabited floral nectar and insect herbivores frequently bit holes in the perianth tube to consume nectar and nectaries. Nectar yeasts indirectly facilitated plant reproduction through increased pollinator visits, probably because of microbial metabolism as honeybees preferred nectar volatiles produced by yeasts in behavioural bioassays. Insect herbivores increased total floral visits but reduced legitimate visits by inducing legitimate‐to‐robbing behavioural changes of honeybees, thus leading to lower seed production. The detrimental effect of herbivory was mitigated by the presence of yeasts, which diminished the relative proportion of robbing visits and thereby 'rescued' flowers from reproductive failure.Synthesis: Overall, we found contrasting effects of non‐pollinator species, including both micro‐ and macro‐organisms, on plant–pollinator interactions in a biodiversity hotspot, where pollination deficit may be a ubiquitous phenomenon. Our findings suggest that both microbial and herbivory effects are likely to be important in explaining the exact causes of pollen limitation in species‐rich areas, highlighting the biological context dependence of species interactions in natural ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of Iris, Iris cangshanensis, was discovered in Cangshan Nature Reserve, Dali City, Yunnan Province, China. Morphologically, I. cangshanensis shares several key features with species in Iris subg. Crossiris, including prominent crests and stout rhizomes, but it is easily distinguished from other Iris species by its unique crest, dark purple spots on the falls, erect standards recurved to the style branches, and slightly fimbriate tips of the style branches. Phylogenetic analysis including 115 related species based on matk/trnk and trnL‐F sequences indicates that I. cangshanensis forms a distinct clade, and reveals a strong genetic connection between I. cangshanensis, the Iristectorum complex and Iris latistyla. Overall, both morphological and phylogenetic evidence strongly support the classification of I. cangshanensis as a newly discovered species. A comprehensive description of this species is provided, including a detailed illustrations and photographs, geographical distribution, habitat and ecology, as well as its IUCN conservation status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Granulomatosis due to immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) and disseminated Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare (M. avium) infection may trigger hypercalcemia. Here, we report a rare case of hypercalcemia and acute kidney damage related to IRIS in a person living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Case presentation: A 39-year-old male person living with HIV presented with muscle weakness and unwanted weight loss of 8 kg within the last 2 weeks. Laboratory findings included serum hypercalcemia of 3.27 mmol/mL associated with elevated calcitriol and acute kidney damage. Since the first diagnosis of HIV and concomitant disseminated M. avium infection, the patient received antiretroviral therapy (ART), rifabutin, clarithromycin, and ethambutol. 18Fluoro-D-glucose positron emission computed tomography (18FDG-PET/CT) showed progressive multilocular lymphadenopathy. Biopsy specimen from the duodenum as well as retroperitoneal and mediastinal lymph nodes revealed granulomatous inflammation consistent with IRIS. Treatment with forced diuresis, bisphosphonates, and calcitonin normalized serum calcium and kidney function recovered. Conclusion: Hypercalcemia due to IRIS is a rare differential diagnosis in persons living with HIV and may lead to acute kidney damage, despite sufficient ART and antimycobacterial treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fingerprint and iris traits are used in sensitive applications and so, spoofing them can impose a serious security threat as well as financial damages. Spoofing is a process of breaking biometric security using artificial biometric traits. This spoofing can be avoided by detecting the liveness of the biometric traits. Hence, liveness detection techniques have become an active research area. However, liveness detection techniques are also prone to attack because of advanced spoofing materials. Hence, they are subjected to further development to face futuristic spoofing and compromising real biometric traits. To aid the development, this paper technically and informatically reviews the state-of-the-art liveness detection techniques in the last decade. Firstly, the paper reviews the processing strata, adopted features and detectors in the existing liveness detection techniques. Secondly, the paper presents the benchmark datasets, their characteristics, availability and accessibility, along with the potential spoofing materials that have been reported in the literature under study. Thirdly, the survey reports the performance of the techniques on the benchmark datasets. Eventually, this paper summarizes the findings, gaps and limitations to facilitate strengthening of liveness detection techniques. This paper further reports that the Fingerprint Liveness Detection (FLD) techniques such as Slim-ResCNN, JLW and Jung CNN have achieved a better accuracy of 94.30%, 98.61% and 97.99%, respectively on LivDet19 datasets. It has been observed that CNN-based architectures have outperformed in significant number of FLD datasets. In contrast, Support Vector Machine (SVM) with appropriate shallow and deep features has achieved equivalent performance against deep classifiers on detecting iris spoofs from Iris Liveness Detection (ILD) datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate risk factors for intraocular pressure (IOP) spike after cataract surgery using the IRIS® Registry (Intelligent Research in Sight). Retrospective clinical cohort study. Adults with IRIS Registry data who underwent stand-alone phacoemulsification from January 1, 2013, through September 30, 2019. Intraocular pressure spike was defined as postoperative IOP of > 30 mmHg and > 10 mmHg from the baseline within the first postoperative week. Odds ratios (ORs) for demographic and clinical characteristics were calculated with univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses. Incidence and OR of IOP spike. We analyzed data from 1 191 034 eyes (patient mean age, 71.3 years; 61.2% female sex; and 24.8% with glaucoma). An IOP spike occurred in 3.7% of all eyes, 5.2% of eyes with glaucoma, and 3.2% of eyes without glaucoma (P < 0.0001). Multivariable analyses of all eyes indicated a greater risk of IOP spike with higher baseline IOP (OR, 1.57 per 3 mmHg), male sex (OR, 1.79), glaucoma (OR, 1.20), Black race (OR, 1.39 vs. Asian and 1.21 vs. Hispanic), older age (OR, 1.07 per 10 years), and complex surgery coding (OR, 1.22; all P < 0.0001). Diabetes (OR, 0.90) and aphakia after surgery (OR, 0.60) seemed to be protective against IOP spike (both P < 0.0001). Compared with glaucoma suspects, ocular hypertension (OR, 1.55), pigmentary glaucoma (OR, 1.56), and pseudoexfoliative glaucoma (OR, 1.52) showed a greater risk of IOP spike and normal-tension glaucoma (OR, 0.55), suspected primary angle closure (PAC; OR, 0.67), and PAC glaucoma (OR, 0.81) showed less risk (all P < 0.0001). Using more baseline glaucoma medications was associated with IOP spike (OR, 1.18 per medication), whereas topical β-blocker use (OR, 0.68) was protective (both P < 0.0001). Higher baseline IOP, male sex, glaucoma, Black race, older age, and complex cataract coding were associated with early postoperative IOP spike, whereas diabetes and postoperative aphakia were protective against a spike after stand-alone phacoemulsification. Glaucomatous eyes demonstrated different risk profiles dependent on glaucoma subtype. The findings may help surgeons to stratify and mitigate the risk of IOP spike after cataract surgery. Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opportunistic infections have significantly decreased in individuals living with human immunodeficiency virus and receiving antiretroviral therapy. However, in approximately 10%–25% of patients, severe skin reactions during immune reconstruction are constantly increasing. This may manifest as either an exacerbation of a chronic disease or the development of a new disorder, referred to as immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome. This review focuses on the current knowledge regarding the dermatological symptoms of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome observed in recent years. These symptoms encompass various pathogens, neoplasms, and certain autoimmune diseases. In addition to the most common skin reactions, attention is directed towards conditions not previously described in any review, such as psoriasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, understanding the distribution of radioactive substances and dose-equivalent rates is crucial to develop detailed decontamination plans and minimize worker exposure. In this study, we remotely visualized radioactive hotspots and dose-equivalent rate distribution in Unit 1 reactor building of the station using a Mecanum wheel robot equipped with a Compton camera, simultaneous localization and mapping device, and survey meter. We successfully visualized high-concentration radioactive hotspots on the U-shaped piping of the drywell humidity control system and the atmospheric control piping in the ceiling in front of the transverse in-core probe room. Furthermore, the hotspot location was identified in three dimensions using the Compton camera used to analyze the atmospheric control piping. By simultaneously analyzing the dose-equivalent rate data acquired by the survey meter and the hotspot locations visualized by the Compton camera, it was confirmed that the hotspots caused elevated dose-equivalent rates in the surrounding area. In the future, if this robotic system is used in unexplored areas, such as the upper floors of reactor buildings, it can provide information about the locations of radioactive hotspots and the distribution of dose-equivalent rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Mycobacterium abscessus infection after liposuction/fat grafting is a rare complication that is hard to diagnose and treat. Misdiagnosis could result in treatment failure and prolonged hospital stays. The paradoxical reaction is another complication that rarely occurs in non-HIV patients infected with nontuberculosis mycobacteria. This study reported 3 cases infected with M. abscessus complicated by the paradoxical reaction after liposuction and fat grafting. It highlighted characteristics giving clues of the paradoxical reaction and a successful strategy. Also, a systematic review was conducted to comprehensively provide varied aspects of M. abscessus infection after liposuction and/or fat grafting. Methods: Three cases were retrospectively included reporting data characteristics of patients, cosmetic procedures, and treatment strategy. PubMed, Scopus, Virtual Health Library (VHL), and Global Health Library (GHL) were searched to find and include cases with M. abscessus infection after liposuction and/or fat grafting based on defined selection criteria. Relevant data were extracted and summarized. The risk of bias in included studies was assessed using JBI critical appraisal checklists. Results: Twenty-four articles were included in the systematic review. Symptoms often developed approximately 1 month after the cosmetic surgery. Culture, AFB, and PCR were common methods of diagnosis of M. abscessus after liposuction and/or fat grafting. It took about 33 days on average from the presentation to isolate and detect the pathogens. Antibiotics based on susceptibility testing results along with surgical interventions were effective methods of treatment. Our three cases which were complicated by the paradox were addressed by adding methylprednisolone for 2 weeks to the macrolide-based therapy. Conclusions: Awareness of this disease should be widely raised among physicians for early diagnosis and proper treatments. Cultures of specimens and AFB should be repeated many times before excluding the possibility of Mycobacterium spp. A paradoxical reaction should be suspected if the symptoms were worse after the antibiotic therapy based on susceptibility testing results and proper surgical interventions, especially if patients had taken corticosteroids before being admitted. Level of Evidence III: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The native populations of Iris hymenospatha and Iris histrio, two endangered bulbous species within the large Iris genus in Iridaceae, are threatened with extinction due to mining and other industrial activities in their natural habitats in Central Asia, including Iran. These species not only have a significant economic impact on the global horticultural industry due to their versatility and attractive phenotypic traits, but also have significant ecological value that necessitates their conservation. In this study, we examined the morphological and functional diversity between individuals within these two species, which exhibit high tolerance to environmental stresses. Our study examined 10 populations of I. hymenospatha and two populations of I. histrio based on bulb, flower, and leaf characteristics throughout Iran. We recognized a gradation of five different leaf shapes among I. hymenospatha populations with significant differences between some populations, including "Arak-Khomain" and "Arak-Gerdo". The "Jaro", "Natanz-Karkas", "Ardestan-Taleghan", "Arak-Rahjerd", "Arak-Gerdo", "Ganjnameh", and "Abas-Abad" populations of I. hymenospatha displayed maximal values in leaf width, stem diameter under flower, crown diameter, flower number, leaf number, and bulb diameter. The I. histrio "Velian" population had a significantly larger flower size, a longer stem length, a larger style width, a longer flowering date, and a higher plant height compared to the "Ganjnameh" population of I. histrio. Such characteristics of both species make them remarkable ornamental plants. Our study also revealed that I. hymenospatha populations grow on different soils and elevations and have the ability to adapt to different growing conditions. Given the threats they face, conservation through horticultural selection and propagation offers a viable conservation strategy for both species. This approach not only preserves the genetic diversity of these species, but also enables their further contribution to the horticultural industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A taxonomic and nomenclatural account on taxa of Iridaceae proposed by Ferdinand Schur, a famous investigator of the flora of Transylvania (present‐day Romania), is presented. Types are designated for 12 names, namely lectotypes for Crocus banaticus var. niveus, C. exiguus, Iris fieberi var. monantha, I. × binata, I. × cucullata, I. pseudocyperus, I. transsilvanica, I. sibirica var. salina, and neotypes for C. banaticus var. concolor, C. banaticus var. pictus, C. banaticus var. versicolor and I. pumila var. albiflora. Based on a broad examination of Schur's original and authentic material, the taxonomic application of these names, as well as of his invalidly published and unpublished names (appearing only on herbarium labels), are clarified. It is proposed to treat I. fieberi var. monantha as a taxonomic synonym of I. aphylla, I. pumila var. albiflora and I. transsilvanica as synonyms of I. pumila, and I. sibirica var. salina as a synonym of I. spuria. The names I. × binata and I. × cucullata are accepted for the hybrids I. aphylla × pumila and I. × germanica × pallida, respectively. The treatment of I. pseudocyperus as a distinct subspecies within I. graminea is supported. All names validly published by Schur in Crocus are treated as synonyms of C. heuffelianus s.l. until an adequate taxonomic revision covering the southern Carpathian allotetraploid C. cf. heuffelianus (2n = 18) is implemented. If this polyploid deserves the rank of a distinct species, the name C. exiguus, which seems to be the earliest validly published, should be accepted for this taxon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To describe a pilot study on the use of single-session, high-dose-rate, Food and Drug Administration–cleared, yttrium-90 (Y90) plaque brachytherapy for iris and iridociliary melanoma. Design: A single-center, clinical case series. Participants: Six consecutive patients were included in this study. Each was diagnosed with an iris or iridociliary melanoma based on clinical examination with or without biopsy. Methods: Each tumor was staged according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer criteria and received Y90 eye plaque brachytherapy. The main variables were tumor size, patient age, sex, and method of diagnosis (clinical or biopsy). Surgical techniques, treatment durations, and ocular side effects were recorded. Local control was defined as a lack of tumor growth or regression determined by clinical examinations, including slit-lamp and gonio photography, as well as high-frequency ultrasound measurements. Toxicity parameters included acute and short-term corneal/scleral change, anterior segment inflammation, and cataract progression. Main Outcome Measures: Local and systemic cancer control, tumor regression, visual acuity, as well as radiation-related normal tissue toxicity. Results: High-dose-rate Y90 plaque brachytherapy was used to treat small (American Joint Committee on Cancer cT1) category melanomas. Single-surgery high-dose-rate irradiations were performed under anesthesia. Because of short treatment durations, high-dose-rate Y90 did not require the additional procedures used for low-dose-rate plaque (e.g., sutures, amniotic membrane epicorneal buffering, Gunderson flaps, and second surgeries for plaque removal). Only conjunctival recession was used to avoid normal tissue irradiation. High-dose-rate Y90 treatment durations averaged 8.8 minutes (median, 7.9; range, 5.8–12.9). High-dose-rate Y90 brachytherapy was associated with no periorbital, corneal (Descemet folds), or conjunctival edema. There was no acute or short-term anterior uveitis, secondary cataract, scleropathy, radiation retinopathy, maculopathy, or optic neuropathy. The follow-up was a mean of 16.0 (range 12–24) months. Evidence of local control included a lack of expansion of tumor borders (n = 6, 100%), darkening with or without atrophy of the tumor surface (n = 5/6, 83%), and a mean 24.5% reduction in ultrasonographically measured tumor thickness. There were no cases of metastatic disease. Conclusions: High-dose-rate Y90 brachytherapy allowed for single-surgery, minimally invasive, outpatient irradiation of iris and iridociliary melanomas. Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.

Eye gaze direction is a critical issue since several applications in computer vision technology rely on determining gaze direction, where individuals move their eyes to limited mobility locations for sensory information. Deep neural networks are considered one of the most essential and accurate image classification methods. Several methods of classification to determine the direction of the gaze employ convolutional neural network models, which are VGG, ResNet, Alex Net, etc. This research presents a new method of identifying human eye images and classifying eye gaze directions (left, right, up, down, straight) in addition to eye-closing discrimination. The proposed method (Di-eyeNET) stands out from the developed method (Split-HSV) for enhancing image lighting. It also reduces implementation time by utilizing only two blocks and employing dropout layers after each block to achieve fast response times and high accuracy. It focused on the characteristics of the human eye images, as it is small, so it cannot be greatly enlarged, and the eye's iris is in the middle of the image, so the edges are not important. The proposed method achieves excellent results compared to previous methods, classifying the five directions of eye gaze instead of the four directions. Both the global dataset and the built local dataset were utilized. Compared to previous methods, the suggested method's results demonstrate high accuracy (99%), minimal loss, and the lowest training time. The research benefits include an efficient method for classifying eye gaze directions, with faster implementation and improved image lighting.

Abstract Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection can cause liver failure, while individuals with Acquired Immunodeficiency Virus Disease (AIDS) are highly susceptible to various opportunistic infections, which can occur concurrently. The treatment process is further complicated by the potential occurrence of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS), which presents significant challenges and contributes to elevated mortality rates. Case presentation The 50-year-old male with a history of chronic hepatitis B and untreated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection presented to the hospital with a mild cough and expectoration, revealing multi-drug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis (MDR-PTB), which was confirmed by XpertMTB/RIF PCR testing and tuberculosis culture of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). The patient was treated with a regimen consisting of linezolid, moxifloxacin, cycloserine, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol for tuberculosis, as well as a combination of bictegravir/tenofovir alafenamide/emtricitabine (BIC/TAF/FTC) for HBV and HIV viral suppression. After three months of treatment, the patient discontinued all medications, leading to hepatitis B virus reactivation and subsequent liver failure. During the subsequent treatment for AIDS, HBV, and drug-resistant tuberculosis, the patient developed disseminated cryptococcal disease. The patient’s condition worsened during treatment with liposomal amphotericin B and fluconazole, which was ultimately attributed to IRIS. Fortunately, the patient achieved successful recovery after appropriate management. Conclusion Enhancing medical compliance is crucial for AIDS patients, particularly those co-infected with HBV, to prevent HBV reactivation and subsequent liver failure. Furthermore, conducting a comprehensive assessment of potential infections in patients before resuming antiviral therapy is essential to prevent the occurrence of IRIS. Early intervention plays a pivotal role in improving survival rates.

Abstract Background Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) reactions are the most common cause of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) in HIV-positive infants who initiate antiretroviral therapy (ART). There is limited evidence regarding the incidence of BCG-IRIS; however, reports from outpatient cohorts have estimated that 6–9% of infants who initiated ART developed some form of BCG-IRIS within the first 6 months. Various treatment approaches for infants with BCG-IRIS have been reported, but there is currently no widely accepted standard-of-care. Case Presentation A 5-month-old male HIV-exposed infant BCG vaccinated at birth was admitted for refractory oral candidiasis, moderate anemia, and moderate acute malnutrition. He had a HIV DNA-PCR collected at one month of age, but the family never received the results. He was diagnosed with HIV during hospitalization with a point-of-care nucleic acid test and had severe immune suppression with a CD4 of 955 cells/µL (15%) with clinical stage III disease. During pre-ART counseling, the mother was educated on the signs and symptoms of BCG-IRIS and the importance of seeking follow-up care and remaining adherent to ART if symptoms arose. Three weeks after ART initiation, he was readmitted with intermittent subjective fevers, right axillary lymphadenopathy, and an ulcerated papule over the right deltoid region. He was subsequently discharged home with a diagnosis of local BCG-IRIS lymphadenitis. At six weeks post-ART initiation, he returned with suppurative lymphadenitis of the right axillary region that had completely eviscerated through the skin without signs of disseminated BCG disease. He was then started on an outpatient regimen of topical isoniazid, silver nitrate, and oral prednisolone. Throughout this time, the mother maintained good ART adherence despite this complication. After 2.5 months of ART and one month of specific treatment for the lymphadenitis, he had marked mass reduction, improved adenopathy, increased CD4 count, correction of anemia, and resolution of his acute malnutrition. He completely recovered and was symptom free two months after initial treatment without surgical intervention. Conclusions This case details the successful management of severe suppurative BCG-IRIS with a non-surgical approach and underlines the importance of pre-ART counseling on BCG-IRIS for caregivers, particularly for infants who initiate ART with advanced HIV.

Abstract Background The “C group” of the histiocytic disorders is characterized by non-Langerhans-cell histiocytic lesions in the skin, mucosal surfaces, or both, out of which Juvenile xanthogranuloma (JXG) is the most common typically affecting the skin. The eye is the most common extra-cutaneous site of JXG., we aim at providing our clinical and histopathological experience with this group of diseases including the adult-onset xanthogranuloma (AXG). Methods This is a retrospective cohort study of all patients with the tissue diagnosis of ocular and periocular cutaneous and mucocutaneous non-LCH disorders who presented to us over a period of 25 years (January 1993 to December 2018). Results Twenty patients were diagnosed as “Group C” disease with an age range of 2 months-60.9 years. Eleven patients were females (55%) and nine were males (45%). The involvement was mostly unilateral in 80.9%. All cases fell into the xanthogranuloma family with 11 JXG patients, 8 AXG patients of skin and ocular surface, and one patient with solitary reticulohistiocytoma (SRH). The clinical site of involvement in JXG was primarily in the eyelid in 5 patients (45%), ocular surface lesions in 2 (18%), iris in 2 (18%), choroidal and bilateral orbital lesions in 1 patient each (9%). The group of AXG, presented equally with eyelid lesions in 4/8 and ocular surface lesions in 4/8. The non-Langerhans’ histiocytic infiltrate showed supportive immunohistochemical staining properties (reactive to CD68 marker and negative to S-100 and langerin markers). Conclusion Among the rare histiocytic disorders, xanthogranulomatosis is the commonest and has wide clinical manifestations. Accurate diagnosis needs to be supported by typical histopathological findings. JXG was the commonest in our study with relatively older mean age at presentation and frequent eyelid rather than iris involvement. AXG is often confused with xanthelasma when involving the eyelids with corneal limbal involvement is relatively frequent.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection can cause liver failure, while individuals with Acquired Immunodeficiency Virus Disease (AIDS) are highly susceptible to various opportunistic infections, which can occur concurrently. The treatment process is further complicated by the potential occurrence of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS), which presents significant challenges and contributes to elevated mortality rates. Case presentation: The 50-year-old male with a history of chronic hepatitis B and untreated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection presented to the hospital with a mild cough and expectoration, revealing multi-drug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis (MDR-PTB), which was confirmed by XpertMTB/RIF PCR testing and tuberculosis culture of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). The patient was treated with a regimen consisting of linezolid, moxifloxacin, cycloserine, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol for tuberculosis, as well as a combination of bictegravir/tenofovir alafenamide/emtricitabine (BIC/TAF/FTC) for HBV and HIV viral suppression. After three months of treatment, the patient discontinued all medications, leading to hepatitis B virus reactivation and subsequent liver failure. During the subsequent treatment for AIDS, HBV, and drug-resistant tuberculosis, the patient developed disseminated cryptococcal disease. The patient's condition worsened during treatment with liposomal amphotericin B and fluconazole, which was ultimately attributed to IRIS. Fortunately, the patient achieved successful recovery after appropriate management. Conclusion: Enhancing medical compliance is crucial for AIDS patients, particularly those co-infected with HBV, to prevent HBV reactivation and subsequent liver failure. Furthermore, conducting a comprehensive assessment of potential infections in patients before resuming antiviral therapy is essential to prevent the occurrence of IRIS. Early intervention plays a pivotal role in improving survival rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One crucial component of the optical system is the ciliary body (CB). This body secretes the aqueous humour, which is essential to maintain the internal eye pressure as well as the clearness of the lens and cornea. The histological study was designed to provide the morphological differences of CB and iris in the anterior eye chambers of the following vertebrate classes: fish (grass carp), amphibians (Arabian toad), reptiles (semiaquatic turtle, fan‐footed gecko, ocellated skink, Egyptian spiny‐tailed lizard, Arabian horned viper), birds (common pigeon, common quail, common kestrel), and mammals (BALB/c mouse, rabbit, golden hamster, desert hedgehog, lesser Egyptian jerboa, Egyptian fruit bat). The results showed distinct morphological appearances of the CB and iris in each species, ranging from fish to mammals. The present comparative study concluded that the morphological structure of the CB and iris is the adaptation of species to either their lifestyle or survival in specific habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 15‐month‐old, grey, Thoroughbred filly presented for investigation of a 6‐week history of corneal oedema and blepharospasm on the right eye (OD). The filly was otherwise healthy. Following ophthalmic examination, glaucoma on the OD was diagnosed. A space occupying mass within the anterior chamber was documented on transpalpebral ultrasonographic examination. This mass obliterated most of the anterior intraocular structures on the peripheral nasal side (corneal endothelium and drainage angle), leading to secondary glaucoma. After systemic and topical treatment addressing secondary glaucoma, the corneal oedema reduced. The mass was visualised as an irregularly rounded brown structure associated with the iris on the peripheral nasal side of the anterior chamber. Given the filly's signalment, location and appearance of the mass, a tentative diagnosis of intraocular melanoma was made and enucleation was performed. Histopathological evaluation of the globe revealed solid sheets of heavily pigmented melanocytic cells, disrupting the normal ciliary body architecture and extending into the iris and subretinal. The cells were pleomorphic, polyhedral to round with occasional spindle‐shaped cells, and contained moderate to large amounts of granular black‐brown pigment (melanin). The iridal component expanded into the anterior chamber, with cells directly opposed to Descemet's membrane, with loss of the endothelium and expanding and occluding the filtration angle in this area. The lesion infiltrated locally into the edge of the sclera, but did not extend through the sclera, though occasional perivascular clusters of melanophages were observed within the scleral stroma adjacent to the optic nerve. Diagnosis of a uveal melanocytic neoplasm was confirmed, with characteristics similar to only one reported case. This is a unique case of a rapidly growing, invasive, uveal melanoma in a young horse. Intraocular melanoma should be considered as a differential diagnoses for glaucoma in grey horses, regardless of the age and absence of melanocytic skin lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iris laevigata Fisch. is an excellent ornamental plant in cold regions due to its unique ornamental ability and strong cold resistance. However, the flowering period of the population is only about 20 days, greatly limiting its potential uses in landscaping and the cutting flower industry. In addition, I. laevigata is often challenged with various abiotic stresses including high salinity and drought in its native habitats. Thus, breeding novel cultivars with delayed flowering time and higher resistance to abiotic stress is of high importance. In this study, we utilized sequencing data from the I. laevigata transcriptome to identify WRKYs and characterized IlWRKY22, a key transcription factor that modulates flowering time and abiotic stress responses. IlWRKY22 is induced by salt and drought stress. We cloned IlWRKY22 and found that it is a Group IIe WRKY localized in the nucleus. Overexpressing IlWRKY22 in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. and Nicotiana tabacum L. resulted in a delayed flowering time in the transgenic plants. We created transgenic N. tabacum overexpressing IlWRKY22, which showed significantly improved resistance to both salt and drought compared to the control plants. Thus, our study revealed a unique dual function of IlWRKY22, an excellent candidate gene for breeding novel Iris cultivars of desirable traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In iris biometric recognition systems, protecting the storage and transmission of iris templates is crucial, and template protection techniques are pivotal for ensuring their security. A prevalent approach involves using indexing methods as an effective algorithm for iris template protection, leveraging the index or rank of the extracted iris code to generate a secure iris template. Meantime, many privacy threats to biometric data have emerged, necessitating heightened protection measures. Specifically, protecting the privacy of iris data is imperative within the context of iris template protection during recognition processes. As stipulated by the international standard ISO/IEC 30136, effective iris template protection must concurrently meet the criteria of irreversibility, revocability, and unlinkability. Nevertheless, existing indexing methods on iris template protection faced the formidable challenge of simultaneously fulfilling these three privacy requirements while maintaining the efficacy of iris recognition. This paper introduces a standard ranking (standardR) algorithm, named standardR, designed to enhance the security of iris templates by transforming each iris template into an irreversible representation. The experimental results on the benchmarked Casia-Iris-interval dataset, along with two additional iris datasets MMU1 and UBRIS 1, demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm. The proposed standardR algorithm achieves an equal error rate (EER) of 0.1695% and an area under the curve of 0.93011% with the Casia-Iris-Interval dataset. Furthermore, the algorithm maintains efficient recognition with a reduced iris code length of 1280 bits, a time complexity of O(n log n), and satisfies the biometric template protection (BTP) requirements in irreversibility, unlinkability, and renewability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differentiation of iris and ciliary body lesions as benign or malignant and cystic or solid is important. The aim of this study was to compare anterior segment swept-source optical coherence tomography (AS SS-OCT) and ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) findings in iris and ciliary body tumors. Forty-two eyes of 38 cases with iris and ciliary body tumors imaged with UBM and AS SS-OCT between September 2018 and September 2023 were evaluated retrospectively. Of 42 eyes, 14 had melanoma, 14 iris pigment epithelial (IPE) cysts, 7 nevi, 3 Lisch nodules, 2 iris stromal cysts, 1 pars plana cysts, and 1 iris mammillations. An equivalent (100%) visualization of the anterior tumor margin was obtained with both techniques. Compared to AS SS-OCT, UBM was superior for posterior margin visualization in melanocytic tumors and IPE cysts. Bland-Altman plots demonstrated good agreement between UBM and AS SS-OCT for melanocytic tumors < 2.5 mm in base diameter and < 2 mm in thickness. Although, UBM is the gold standard for ciliary body and iridociliary tumors. AS SS-OCT should be considered as an excellent alternative to UBM, especially in minimally elevated iris lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eye gaze direction is a critical issue since several applications in computer vision technology rely on determining gaze direction, where individuals move their eyes to limited mobility locations for sensory information. Deep neural networks are considered one of the most essential and accurate image classification methods. Several methods of classification to determine the direction of the gaze employ convolutional neural network models, which are VGG, ResNet, Alex Net, etc. This research presents a new method of identifying human eye images and classifying eye gaze directions (left, right, up, down, straight) in addition to eye-closing discrimination. The proposed method (Di-eyeNET) stands out from the developed method (Split-HSV) for enhancing image lighting. It also reduces implementation time by utilizing only two blocks and employing dropout layers after each block to achieve fast response times and high accuracy. It focused on the characteristics of the human eye images, as it is small, so it cannot be greatly enlarged, and the eye's iris is in the middle of the image, so the edges are not important. The proposed method achieves excellent results compared to previous methods, classifying the five directions of eye gaze instead of the four directions. Both the global dataset and the built local dataset were utilized. Compared to previous methods, the suggested method's results demonstrate high accuracy (99%), minimal loss, and the lowest training time. The research benefits include an efficient method for classifying eye gaze directions, with faster implementation and improved image lighting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) reactions are the most common cause of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) in HIV-positive infants who initiate antiretroviral therapy (ART). There is limited evidence regarding the incidence of BCG-IRIS; however, reports from outpatient cohorts have estimated that 6–9% of infants who initiated ART developed some form of BCG-IRIS within the first 6 months. Various treatment approaches for infants with BCG-IRIS have been reported, but there is currently no widely accepted standard-of-care. Case Presentation: A 5-month-old male HIV-exposed infant BCG vaccinated at birth was admitted for refractory oral candidiasis, moderate anemia, and moderate acute malnutrition. He had a HIV DNA-PCR collected at one month of age, but the family never received the results. He was diagnosed with HIV during hospitalization with a point-of-care nucleic acid test and had severe immune suppression with a CD4 of 955 cells/µL (15%) with clinical stage III disease. During pre-ART counseling, the mother was educated on the signs and symptoms of BCG-IRIS and the importance of seeking follow-up care and remaining adherent to ART if symptoms arose. Three weeks after ART initiation, he was readmitted with intermittent subjective fevers, right axillary lymphadenopathy, and an ulcerated papule over the right deltoid region. He was subsequently discharged home with a diagnosis of local BCG-IRIS lymphadenitis. At six weeks post-ART initiation, he returned with suppurative lymphadenitis of the right axillary region that had completely eviscerated through the skin without signs of disseminated BCG disease. He was then started on an outpatient regimen of topical isoniazid, silver nitrate, and oral prednisolone. Throughout this time, the mother maintained good ART adherence despite this complication. After 2.5 months of ART and one month of specific treatment for the lymphadenitis, he had marked mass reduction, improved adenopathy, increased CD4 count, correction of anemia, and resolution of his acute malnutrition. He completely recovered and was symptom free two months after initial treatment without surgical intervention. Conclusions: This case details the successful management of severe suppurative BCG-IRIS with a non-surgical approach and underlines the importance of pre-ART counseling on BCG-IRIS for caregivers, particularly for infants who initiate ART with advanced HIV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we present new design techniques to improve the gain and impedance bandwidth of short backfire antennas. For the gain enhancement procedure, our approach was to flare the rim of the antenna, which simultaneously led to an increase in the impedance bandwidth of the antenna. Parametric studies were carried out to obtain the optimal flaring angle. The peak realized gain was obtained as 17.2 dBi with an impedance bandwidth of 55% (2.4 dB and 28.6% increase in gain and bandwidth, respectively, compared to the unflared antenna). To further enhance the impedance bandwidth, an inductive iris was added to improve impedance matching at the waveguide aperture. We varied the width of the iris to obtain the optimal width that provided the best gain and impedance bandwidth result of 17.1 dBi and 66% (~40% increase compared to the unflared antenna without iris). To experimentally verify the work, prototypes were fabricated and tested. We found good agreement between simulation and measurement. The results of this study indicate that gain and bandwidth can be enhanced through optimized geometrical modification of the SBF structure. Furthermore, our 3D-printed technique demonstrates a mass reduction compared with conventional metallic structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is an opportunistic infectious demyelinating disease of the central nervous system caused by JC polyomavirus predominantly affecting immunocompromised individuals. Nowadays, HIV, hematological malignancies and iatrogenic immune suppression account for most PML cases. For unknown reasons, spinal cord is classically protected from PML lesions. Here, we report the course of a patient harboring spinal cord lesions in the context of PML with immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome and review the eight other cases reported in the literature so far. Then, we discuss the evolving spectrum of PML over recent years, potentially making its diagnosis more challenging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmaceutical science encompasses meticulous processes, from initial pharmacological testing to distribution and pharmacovigilance. Each stage demands unwavering precision and adherence to regulatory standards to ensure the quality and safety of medicinal products. This article delineates the multifaceted landscape of pharmaceutical regulations, focusing on Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards as a cornerstone of quality assurance. GMP standards, encompassing GxP principles, mandate adherence to rigorous protocols throughout the drug lifecycle. Within the European Union (EU), GMP standards are codified in directives and regulations governing medicinal products for human and veterinary use. Volume 4 of Eudralex serves as a compendium of EU regulations, providing comprehensive guidelines for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Mutual Recognition Agreements on GMP inspections between the EU and other jurisdictions aim to facilitate trade and regulatory cooperation, exemplifying international collaboration in pharmaceutical oversight. Recent agreements between the EU and the US FDA streamline inspection processes, reducing redundant inspections and expediting market access for pharmaceutical products. Moreover, electronic systems such as EudraGMDP enhance transparency and regulatory compliance within the pharmaceutical industry. By evaluating international GMP practices, this article underscores the importance of harmonizing regulatory standards for Good Manufacturing Practices globally. In conclusion, adherence to GMP standards not only ensures the quality of pharmaceutical products but also plays a pivotal role in the development of pharmacy practices worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many plant species of family Iridaceae like Crocus, Gladiolus, Iris and Freesia are grown worldwide for their commercially valued flowers and flowering product. All these plants along with other cultivated members are known to get diseases from multiple pathogens. This leads to greater damage in yield causing huge economic losses to farmers and growers. To understand the disease cycle, their cause and prophylactic measures on broader scale, fungal and bacterial pathogens causing corm rot diseases, blight diseases, leaf spot, wilt diseases and viral diseases are discussed. The survey of the reported literature and their analysis revealed that corm and rhizome rot is most devastating disease in all commercially valued species from this family, worldwide. Fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum found to be pathogen of major concern. Viral and bacterial disease is equally recurring problem. Yet, suitable and recommended agronomic practices along with use of fungicides and bactericides have potential in preventing spread of pathogens and diseases to nearby fields. The endeavour of the article is to provide summarised information with potential to be utilised by stakeholders for better disease management and prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Birds display a rainbow of eye colours, but this trait has been little studied compared with plumage coloration. Avian eye colour variation occurs at all phylogenetic scales: it can be conserved throughout whole families or vary within one species, yet the evolutionary importance of this eye colour variation is under‐studied. Here, we summarize knowledge of the causes of eye colour variation at three primary levels: mechanistic, genetic and evolutionary. Mechanistically, we show that avian iris pigments include melanin and carotenoids, which also play major roles in plumage colour, as well as purines and pteridines, which are often found as pigments in non‐avian taxa. Genetically, we survey classical breeding studies and recent genomic work on domestic birds that have identified potential 'eye colour genes', including one associated with pteridine pigmentation in pigeons. Finally, from an evolutionary standpoint, we present and discuss several hypotheses explaining the adaptive significance of eye colour variation. Many of these hypotheses suggest that bird eye colour plays an important role in intraspecific signalling, particularly as an indicator of age or mate quality, although the importance of eye colour may differ between species and few evolutionary hypotheses have been directly tested. We suggest that future studies of avian eye colour should consider all three levels, including broad‐scale iris pigment analyses across bird species, genome sequencing studies to identify loci associated with eye colour variation, and behavioural experiments and comparative phylogenetic analyses to test adaptive hypotheses. By examining these proximate and ultimate causes of eye colour variation in birds, we hope that our review will encourage future research to understand the ecological and evolutionary significance of this striking avian trait. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The "C group" of the histiocytic disorders is characterized by non-Langerhans-cell histiocytic lesions in the skin, mucosal surfaces, or both, out of which Juvenile xanthogranuloma (JXG) is the most common typically affecting the skin. The eye is the most common extra-cutaneous site of JXG., we aim at providing our clinical and histopathological experience with this group of diseases including the adult-onset xanthogranuloma (AXG). Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of all patients with the tissue diagnosis of ocular and periocular cutaneous and mucocutaneous non-LCH disorders who presented to us over a period of 25 years (January 1993 to December 2018). Results: Twenty patients were diagnosed as "Group C" disease with an age range of 2 months-60.9 years. Eleven patients were females (55%) and nine were males (45%). The involvement was mostly unilateral in 80.9%. All cases fell into the xanthogranuloma family with 11 JXG patients, 8 AXG patients of skin and ocular surface, and one patient with solitary reticulohistiocytoma (SRH). The clinical site of involvement in JXG was primarily in the eyelid in 5 patients (45%), ocular surface lesions in 2 (18%), iris in 2 (18%), choroidal and bilateral orbital lesions in 1 patient each (9%). The group of AXG, presented equally with eyelid lesions in 4/8 and ocular surface lesions in 4/8. The non-Langerhans' histiocytic infiltrate showed supportive immunohistochemical staining properties (reactive to CD68 marker and negative to S-100 and langerin markers). Conclusion: Among the rare histiocytic disorders, xanthogranulomatosis is the commonest and has wide clinical manifestations. Accurate diagnosis needs to be supported by typical histopathological findings. JXG was the commonest in our study with relatively older mean age at presentation and frequent eyelid rather than iris involvement. AXG is often confused with xanthelasma when involving the eyelids with corneal limbal involvement is relatively frequent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background After antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation, people with HIV (PWH) treated for tuberculosis (TB) may develop TB-associated immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (TB-IRIS). Integrase inhibitors, by providing a faster HIV-RNA decline than efavirenz, might increase the risk for this complication. We sought to assess incidence and determinants of TB-IRIS in PWH with TB on raltegravir- or efavirenz-based ART. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of the Reflate TB 2 trial, which randomized ART-naive PWH on standard TB treatment, to receive raltegravir- or efavirenz-based ART. The primary objective was to evaluate the incidence of TB-IRIS. Incidence rate ratio comparing TB-IRIS incidence in each arm was calculated. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to compare TB-IRIS–free survival probabilities by ART arm. Cox regression models were fitted to analyze baseline characteristics associated with TB-IRIS. Results Of 460 trial participants, 453 from Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire, Mozambique, and Vietnam were included in this analysis. Baseline characteristics were median age 35 years (interquartile range [IQR], 29–43), 40% female, 69% pulmonary TB only, median CD4, 102 (IQR, 38–239) cells/mm³, and median HIV RNA, 5.5 (IQR, 5.0–5.8) log copies/mL. Forty-eight participants developed TB-IRIS (incidence rate, 24.7/100 PY), 19 cases in the raltegravir arm and 29 in the efavirenz arm (incidence rate ratio 0.62, 95% confidence interval.35–1.10). Factors associated with TB-IRIS were: CD4 ≤ 100 cells/μL, HIV RNA ≥500 000 copies/mL, and extrapulmonary/disseminated TB. Conclusions We did not demonstrate that raltegravir-based ART increased the incidence of TB-IRIS compared with efavirenz-based ART. Low CD4 counts, high HIV RNA, and extrapulmonary/disseminated TB at ART initiation were associated with TB-IRIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Intra-field redox zonation across depth in soils can be heterogeneous and account for the presence of biogeochemical "hot spots." Understanding the spatial distribution of hot spots is desirable but hard to obtain. Materials and methods: In this study, low-cost manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) oxide-coated Indicator of Reduction In Soils (IRIS) films were installed at a wetland. A grid soil sampling approach within a monitoring plot (20 × 20 m; 2-m raster cells) featured a microrelief of 29 cm above the water table (WT). Data of Mn and Fe oxide removal along IRIS films and natural (newly formed) Fe oxides along Mn IRIS served to spatially resolve digital redox maps by ordinary kriging. Results and discussion: A distinctive redox zonation due to the microrelief could be differentiated with the lowest oxide loss at elevated terrain. Located at 9 to 29 cm above the WT, small-scaled pattern of oxide loss of a few cm2 occurred due to anoxic microsites (zone I). Zone II was located at 4 to 9 cm above the WT (Fe2+ sink), whereas zone III extended below and a few cm above the WT (Fe2+ source). Mn IRIS displayed three times more oxide loss, compared to Fe IRIS. Thereupon, natural Fe oxides formed to a major extent along Mn IRIS with on average 80% in redox zone I and II. Thus, Fe2+ was an omnipresent constituent in soil solution, while no or only minor synthetic Fe oxide along Fe IRIS were removed. This highlights the clear difference between the reducibility of pedogenic Fe oxides and synthetic Fe oxides. Overall, the large reactive surface area of IRIS can circumvent problems associated with misclassification of the soil redox status using redox electrodes, which are more susceptible to soil spatial variability. Conclusions: Homogeneity and representativeness of redox sensitive topsoil samples or soil solutions can in fact only be guaranteed within a range < 5 m for this particular study site. IRIS can be utilized to investigate both: microsite-driven features such as neo-formed natural Fe oxides along Mn IRIS (< mm to cm scale) and geo-referenced oxide loss from IRIS at the plot scale (tens to hundreds of meters). Soil redox maps deliver important spatial information for the worldwide growing demand for high-resolution digital soil maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adverse outcomes of fungal infection in mammalian hosts depend on the complex interactions between the host immune system and pathogen virulence-associated traits. The main clinical problems arise when the host response is either too weak to effectively eliminate the pathogen or overly aggressive, resulting in host tissue damage rather than protection. This article will highlight current knowledge regarding the virulence attributions and mechanisms involved in the dual-sided role of the host immune system in the immunopathogenesis of the thermally dimorphic fungus Talaromyces marneffei through the lens of the damage response framework (DRF) of microbial pathogenesis model.

Iris segmentation is an initial step for identifying the biometrics of animals when establishing a traceability system for livestock. In this study, we propose a deep learning framework for pixel-wise segmentation of bovine iris with a minimized use of annotation labels utilizing the BovineAAEyes80 public dataset. The proposed image segmentation framework encompasses data collection, data preparation, data augmentation selection, training of 15 deep neural network (DNN) models with varying encoder backbones and segmentation decoder DNNs, and evaluation of the models using multiple metrics and graphical segmentation results. This framework aims to provide comprehensive and in-depth information on each model’s training and testing outcomes to optimize bovine iris segmentation performance. In the experiment, U-Net with a VGG16 backbone was identified as the optimal combination of encoder and decoder models for the dataset, achieving an accuracy and dice coefficient score of 99.50% and 98.35%, respectively. Notably, the selected model accurately segmented even corrupted images without proper annotation data. This study contributes to the advancement of iris segmentation and the establishment of a reliable DNN training framework.

Iris is one of the most widely used biometric modalities because of its uniqueness, high matching performance, and inherently secure nature. Iris segmentation is an essential preliminary step for iris-based biometric authentication. The authentication accuracy is directly connected with the iris segmentation accuracy. In the last few years, deep-learning-based iris segmentation methodologies have increasingly been adopted because of their ability to handle challenging segmentation tasks and their advantages over traditional segmentation techniques. However, the biggest challenge to the biometric community is the scarcity of open-source resources for adoption for application and reproducibility. This review provides a comprehensive examination of available open-source iris segmentation resources, including datasets, algorithms, and tools. In the process, we designed three U-Net and U-Net++ architecture-influenced segmentation algorithms as standard benchmarks, trained them on a large composite dataset (>45K samples), and created 1K manually segmented ground truth masks. Overall, eleven state-of-the-art algorithms were benchmarked against five datasets encompassing multiple sensors, environmental conditions, demography, and illumination. This assessment highlights the strengths, limitations, and practical implications of each method and identifies gaps that future studies should address to improve segmentation accuracy and robustness. To foster future research, all resources developed during this work would be made publicly available.