Inbreeding depression, i.e., the reduction of health and vigour in individuals with high inbreeding coefficients, is expected to increase with environmental, social, or physiological stress. Differences in the strength of sexual selection are therefore predicted to usually lead to higher inbreeding depression in males than in females. However, sex-specific differences in life history may reverse that pattern during certain developmental stages. In salmonids, for example, female juveniles start developing their gonads earlier than males who instead grow faster during that time. We tested whether the sexes are differently affected by inbreeding during that time. To study the effects of inbreeding coefficients that may be typical for natural populations of brown trout (Salmo trutta), and also to control for potentially confounding maternal or paternal effects, we sampled males and females from the wild, used their gametes in a block-wise breeding design to produce 60 full-sib families, released the offspring as yolk-sac larvae into the wild, caught them back 6 months later, identified their genetic sex, and used microsatellites to assign them to their parents. We calculated the average inbreeding coefficient per family based on a panel of >1 million SNPs. Juvenile growth could be predicted from these inbreeding coefficients and the genetic sex: Females grew slower with increasing inbreeding coefficient, while no such link could be found in males. This sex-specific inbreeding depression led to the overall pattern that females grew on average slower than males during the time of gonad formation.

A set of fungal (candida (c.) albicans), bacterial and parasitic agents have a role in the incidence of Vulvovaginitis infectious form. To investigate Candida species incidence in east Iran, sixty-five Vulvovaginitis patients (20-50 years old) entered the study. Vaginal specimens were obtained and cultured. The PCR was performed to expand the ITS1-5.8s-ITS2 rDNA gene regions. Of the whole patients, 64% with c. albicans showed moderate and 36% severe symptoms. In non-albicans groups, 60% were moderate and 40% had severe symptoms. In the negative group, 28.6% were mild, 68.6% had moderate, and 2.8% had severe symptoms. Individuals under a diploma were the most frequent of the education level. 56% of the c. albicans group, and 40% of the non-albicans groups had taken fluconazole. 20% of the non-albicans groups also had taken azithromycin. 40% had not any taken. In sum, 2.9% had taken azithromycin, and 2.9% also two drugs of the azithromycin-metronidazole in the negative group. In sum, in the negative group, 2.9% were azithromycin, 2.9% the azithromycin-metronidazole, and 94.3% were without a history of antibiotic takes. 56% of the c. albicans and 40% non-albicans also were with a history of fluconazole takes (P<0.005). 60% of the albicans and 2.9% of the negative groups had relapses. After the PCR-RFLP technique, 13.4% of isolates were identified as c. dublinensis and 86.95% as c. albicans. In the end, c. albicans and then glabrata was introduced as the most common species. The incidence rate of albicans species also was higher than the other studies.

We demonstrate an automated two-step tumor segmentation method leveraging color information from brightfield images of fresh core needle biopsies of breast tissue. Three different color spaces (HSV, CIELAB, YCbCr) were explored for the segmentation task. By leveraging white-light and green-light images, we identified two different types of color transformations that could separate adipose from benign and tumor or cancerous tissue. We leveraged these two distinct color transformation methods in a two-step process where adipose tissue segmentation was followed by benign tissue segmentation thereby isolating the malignant region of the biopsy. Our tumor segmentation algorithm and imaging probe could highlight suspicious regions on unprocessed biopsy tissue to guide selection of areas most similar to malignant tissues for tissue pathology whether it be formalin fixed or frozen sections, expedite tissue selection for molecular testing, detect positive tumor margins, or serve an alternative to tissue pathology, in countries where these services are lacking.

A document by Clair Duchamp. Click on the document to view its contents.

ABSTRACT The present study evaluated the inter-rater reliability of the Heads Up Checkup (HCU), a brief digital mental health and behavioral adaptive screening system designed for use in primary care and diverse school settings. Two independent licensed clinical psychologists reviewed a random sample of thirty (N=30) HCU clinical screening reports (CSRs) of 13-14 year old adolescents drawn from a larger sample (N=846) enrolled in a predominantly Hispanic public middle school in California. Results showed strong inter-rater agreement (Fleiss kappa=.93) between clinician ratings and the screener’s priority risk index (HPI) in identifying students “in crisis.” In addition, clinicians’ ratings of confidence in their priority judgments were found to be significantly higher for the high-risk “in crisis” cases. Reasonable evidence of convergent validity emerged due to the significant correlations between clinician ratings of psychological distress and the HPI. Overall findings suggest that as an online universal school-based screener, the HCU has valid utility for identifying high-risk “in crisis” cases which can translate into timely and pragmatic real-world therapeutic solutions for diverse populations of adolescents. Future research directions with respect to the refinement of measurement issues and feasibility of implementation of population-level online screeners in schools are discussed. Keywords: Adolescent psychological distress, youth mental health risk assessment, inter-rater reliability, convergent validity.

Proline hyper-accumulation is one of the widely reported responses of plants exposed to heavy metals. The present study observed the level of proline hyper-accumulation in 20 crop plants exposed to Cu and in T. aestivum exposed to various heavy metals. Differential observations in resistance (growth as indicator), avoidance (of Cu/ heavy metal) and tolerance (proline hyper-accumulation as indicator) of these plants to heavy metals was studied. Avoidance and tolerance were not correlated and found to be independent of total Cu accumulation. In 75% plant tolerance was correlated negatively with root growth (or positively with root growth inhibition). These results indicate a trade-off between root growth and proline hyper-accumulation (tolerance) to Cu stress. Crops with higher proline accumulation (tolerance) showed less root growth.

Introduction Post-market monitoring has revealed an association between the use of leukotriene-modifying agents (LTRAs) and an increased occurrence of neuropsychiatric events. However, the results of observational studies have been inconclusive. Objective To assess the potential correlation between LTRAs exposure and depression in US outpatient adults. Method This population-based cross-sectional study used data from U.S. adults aged 20 to 59 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2016 cycle. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 was used to assess depression. Multivariable regression was used to evaluate the association between LTRAs exposure and depression. Results Among the 9,539 participants (mean age 40.4 years; 56.2% male), 602 (6.3%) were classified as having depression. LTRAs exposure was associated with a higher prevalence of depression (16.7% [50] vs. 6.0% [552]). In the multivariable logistic regression model LTRAs exposure was associated with depression (odds ratio [OR], 1.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22~2.83). An association between LTRAs exposure and depression was found in sensitivity analyses that conducted multivariable linear regression with the PHQ-9 score as a continuous variable (β, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.39~1.33), regardless of the PHQ-9 cut-off of 5 or 10, and the multivariable logistic regression results showed that LTRAs use increased the risk of depression (OR = 1.51 [95% CI, 1.12~2.05]; OR = 1.85 [95% CI, 1.22~2.83]). Conclusion Long-term LTRAs exposure is positively associated with depression in the adult outpatient population in the US. Therefore, the risk for depression in patients receiving long-term LTRAs treatment should be considered.

A document by Joel Chacón Castillo. Click on the document to view its contents.

Southern African savanna rangelands are facing a widespread degradation pattern called bush encroachment. This is associated with implications for various aspects of the water cycle and in particular canopy transpiration. At the individual-tree scale, it is estimated by scaling sap-flux density by sapwood area. However, the direct measurement of sapwood area is impracticable at landscape scale and general allometric equations of the West-Brown-Enquist (WBE) model relating sapwood area to primary size measures seem to fail for some species and climates. Therefore, we conducted intensive field measurements to establish species-specific allometric relationships between sapwood area and sizes (stem diameter, crown area) in six dominant shrub species involved in bush encroachment in Namibia ( Colophospermum mopane, Senegalia mellifera, Vachellia reficiens, Dichrostachys cinerea, Vachellia nebrownii, Catophractes alexandri). We found strong allometric relationships between sapwood area and stem diameter as well as between sapwood area and crown area for all six species. These relations are largely in line with the WBE theory but still provide estimates that are more accurate. Only in D. cinerea, the sapwood area was significantly smaller than predicted by the WBE theory, which might be caused by a larger need for stabilizing heartwood. Our results are useful to estimate water loss via transpiration at a large scale using remote sensing techniques and can promote our understanding of the ecohydrological conditions that drive species specific bush encroachment in savannas. This is particularly important in the light of climate change, which is considered to have major implications on ecohydrological processes in savannas.

Objective: The accuracy of clinical coding in COVID-19 is essential for quality of care, disease surveillance, as well as research and reporting. This study aims to describe and categorize consultations between medical coders based on the social media network in Iran on the COVID-19 coding. Method: A clinical coding group in the social network at the national level in Iran was established to follow consultation regarding COVID-19 among coders. We also utilized an online survey, which was designed to extract the problems coders encountered during clinical coding and their opinion on whether these consultations were effective. Herein, we report messages and communication records exchanged among members of this network obtained between 21 February 2020 and 20 November 2020. Finally, we categorised the obtained information and identified the problems for COVID-19 accurate coding in Iran. Results: A total of 1,340 messages in 332 consultations were exchanged amongst 76 coders. We categorised topics of consultations into 11 categories. Most consultations dealt with “suspected or probable” (n = 71), “clinical coding and diagnosis” (n=59) within 332 conversations. In 47% of consultations, the first reply was less than 10 ± 3 min. “Maternal and infant ” and “procedures and drugs ” were the most common subjects with specific answer. Based on the viewpoints of coders, online consultations can reduce the time of clinical coding and increase coding accuracy. Conclusion: The establishment of social networks among medical record coders is an efficient strategy to deal with coding issues during the COVID-19 pandemic and improve the quality of hospital records.

Over the past few decades, researchers have paid more focus to finding the optimal method for controlling infectious diseases. Recently, the idea of optimal control has widely been used to discuss the spread of COVD-19 pandemic. In this article, we consider a mathematical model to show the transmission of this virus with constant rates. Then, the optimal control technique is applied on the model with two different scenarios. The first scenario contains two different controls such as treatment and vaccination rate. However, the second scenario is dealing with treatment and vaccination effect. Accordingly, this study identifies the impact of these control mechanisms as time-dependent interventions using mathematical modeling and an optimal control method with Hamilton technique and Pontryagin's maximum principle. Computational results show that the use of treatment in the high level has the biggest impact in the minimizing the total infected people. Furthermore, the suggested mathematical model with and without control variables are accurately analyzed using the forward-backward Runge Kutta method in MATLAB for initial states and parameters. The findings of optimal control here indicate that the suggested scenarios may effective use for reducing the number of infected individuals and improving public health strategies more widely.

In this paper in an elegant way will be present the Dimensionless Equations of the Universe. All these equations are simple,elegant and symmetrical in a great physical meaning. We will propose the Dimensionless unification of the fundamental interactions and the Dimensionless unification of atomic physics with cosmology. We find the formulas for the cosmological constant and we will prove that the shape of the Universe is Poincaré dodecahedral space. From the dimensionless unification of the fundamental interactions will propose a possible solution for the density parameter of baryonic matter,dark matter and dark energy.

Yeast research is entering into a new period of scholarship, with new scientific tools, new questions to ask, and new issues to consider. The politics of emerging and critical technology can no longer be separated from the pursuit of basic science in fields, such as synthetic biology and engineering biology. Given the intensifying race for technological leadership, yeast research is likely to attract significant investment from government, and that it offers huge opportunities to the curious minded from a basic research standpoint. This article provides an overview of new directions in yeast research, and places these trends in their geopolitical context. At the highest level, yeast research is situated within the ongoing convergence of the life sciences with the information sciences. This convergent effect is most strongly pronounced in areas of AI-enabled tools for the life sciences, and the creation of synthetic genomes, minimal genomes, pan-genomes, neochromosomes and metagenomes using computer assisted design tools and methodologies. Synthetic yeast futures encompass basic and applied science questions that will be of intense interest to government and non-government funding sources. It is essential for the yeast research community to map and understand the context of their research in order to ensure their collaborations turn global challenges into research opportunities.

Transient stability assessment (TSA) plays a critical role in ensuring the reliable operation of power systems. However, existing approaches for TSA often encounter challenges such as data imbalances, limited sample sizes, and the need for adaptability in the face of system changes, necessitating the exploration of more advanced techniques. This paper proposes a novel deep transfer learning (DTL) framework to address these limitations that incorporates CNN-LSTM and stacked denoising auto-encoder (SDAE) techniques, aiming to significantly improve the speed and accuracy of power system TSA, especially in online applications and adaptability to system changes. First, the utilization of SDAE enables effective feature extraction, while the implementation of class weight balancing and cross-entropy loss function techniques effectively addresses data imbalances. Second, a CNN-LSTM classifier is constructed using transfer progressive learning. This approach allows for the effective analysis of spatial and temporal dynamic measurements by leveraging unsupervised pre-training (auto-encoder) and additional CNN-LSTM layers. Third, we propose the DTL, which leverages knowledge transfer from the CNN-LSTM model and incorporates fine-tuning techniques. This innovative approach ensures adaptability under in four scenarios, which is a prevalent challenge in power systems for continuous prediction. As compared with other techniques, the results demonstrate that our proposed approach achieves TSA accuracy of up to 99.68% on the IEEE 39-bus system and 99.80% on the South Carolina 500-bus system. Furthermore, to compare the performance of continuous prediction with other methods, our proposed method exhibits a significant improvement of 2% even with a limited sample size.

High Impedance Faults (HIF) are serious disturbances that occur in power distribution systems. Due to the low current levels, conventional overcurrent-based protection systems do not detect this type of fault. Some studies have been carried out in the diagnosis of this type of disorder in order to accelerate their detection and location, reducing the risk to people, environment, property, and damage to utilities. A HIF computational model that is faithful to the real characteristics influences decisively model-based HIF detection and localization tasks. In this paper, a HIF model widely used in the literature is the first time confronted with real oscillography data captured during actual HIF incidents in overhead distribution networks. The results show that the measured steady-state current signals match the HIF model.

When the internal defects of composite insulators develop to a certain extent, it will lead to core rod carbonization which seriously endangers the stable operation of transmission lines. Due to the lack of specific identification criteria, no difference is taken to replace abnormally hot composite insu-lators in operation at present, resulting in a waste of human and material resources. In this paper, an electric-magnetic-thermal multi-physical field simulation model for core rod-carbonated defective composite insulators was established, and the effects of the location and degree of defects and en-vironmental factors on the surface temperature rise characteristics of composite insulators were studied. Then, the simulation data were deeply analyzed, and the effect of voltage class and air convection was considered. The functional relationship between the position and length of the conductive channel formed by core rod carbonization, and the surface temperature rise of compo-site insulators was established, and the identification criterion of core rod carbonization heating of composite insulators was proposed. Finally, the proposed thermal identification criterion is verified by the experimental results and the field infrared measurement results. The results of this study can be an effective supplement to the current infrared fever diagnosis methods of composite insulators.

The numerical solution of partial differential equations is often performed on a numerical grid, where the grid points are used for estimating the partial derivatives. The grid can be fully static as in Eulerian type of solution method, or the grid points can move during the solution, which is the case in Lagrangian type of method. In the current article, a numerical solution method is presented , where the grid points are located on iso-contours of the two-dimensional field. The method calculates the local movement of the iso-contours according to an evolution equation described by the PDE, and the solution proceeds by moving the grid points towards the calculated direction. Additional stability is obtained by setting the grid points to move along the iso-contour line. To exemplify the application of the method, numerical examples are calculated for the two-dimensional diffusion equation.

We are evaluating the use of metabolically competent HepaRG™ cells combined with CometChip for DNA damage and the micronucleus (MN) assay as a follow up for in vitro positive genotoxic response as alternatives to in vivo genotoxicity testing.. Naphthalene is genotoxic with rat liver S9 in human TK6 cells inducing a nonlinear dose-response for the induction of micronuclei in the presence of rat liver S9. To follow up this response, we used metabolically competent HepaRG™ cells as a New Approach Methodology (NAM) alternative to animals for genotoxicity assessment of naphthalene. In HepaRG™ cells, naphthalene genotoxicity was assessed using 12 concentrations of naphthalene with the top dose used for assessment of genotoxicity of 1.7 mM corresponding to 45% cell survival. In contrast to human TK6 cell with S9, Naphthalene was not genotoxic in either the HepaRG™ MN Assay or the Comet Assay using CometChip. The lack of genotoxicity in both the MN and comet assays in HepaRG™ cells is likely due to Phase II enzymes removing phenols preventing further bioactivation to quinones and efficient detoxication of naphthalene quinones or epoxides by glutathione conjugation. In contrast to CYP450 mediated metabolism, these Phase II enzymes are inactive in rat liver S9 due to lack of appropriate cofactors causing a positive genotoxic response. This data indicates that rat liver S9-derived BMD10 over-predicts naphthalene genotoxicity BMD calculations when compared to hepatocytes. Metabolically competent hepatocyte models like HepaRG™ cells should be considered as human-relevant NAMs for use genotoxicity assessments to reduce reliance on rodents.

Hemodynamic fluctuations during hemodialysis therapy may result in brain damage, such as white matter hyperintensity (WMH). Cerebral blood flow (CBF) changes occurred before the appearance of WMH. To explore changes in CBF and white matter in hemodialysis patients, patients underwent twice structural and arterial spin-labeling MRI examinations at an interval of three years. Based on the changes in CBF between the baseline and follow-up groups, the hemodialysis patients were divided into two subgroups, increased CBF group and decreased CBF group. Our results showed that patients undergoing hemodialysis exhibited increased cerebral watershed white matter hyperintensities, deep WMH, and periventricular. Among HC, hemodialysis baseline, and follow-up patients, the CBF of gray matter, white matter, and whole matter showed no obvious differences. The CBF of patients with decreased CBF was higher than that of HC at baseline and lower than that of HC at follow-up. Compared with the increased CBF group, obvious development of deep WMH was found in the decreased CBF group for the gray matter, white matter, and whole matter. Therefore, WMH in hemodialysis patients were distributed in the deep white matter, periventricular white matter and cerebral watershed (CW), and progressed with the extension of hemodialysis duration. CBF in hemodialysis patients could manifest as both increased and decreased, and WMH in patients with decreased CBF developed severely with prolongation of hemodialysis duration.

Evidence suggests positive effects of ketogenic diet (KD) on cancers by limiting glucose availability to cancer. This systematic review aimed to explore the safety, feasibility, and effectiveness of KD in children with brain tumours (BT), including diet side effects, patient tolerance and compliance, tumour response, quality of life, and nutritional status. Using publications from several databases between 1995-2022, involving children with BT following KD, we reviewed eight publications, involving 11 patients, with median age of 5.3 years. Nine patients followed classic KD with medium-chain triglyceride (MCT oil). Remaining patients used modified Atkin or low-carbohydrate diet. KD was well-tolerated with non-severe side effects. Six patients showed positive tumour response, five improved neurological skills, and four reported growth improvement. Six patients reported a median overall survival of 17.6 months. KD can be a safe, and feasible dietary intervention for children with BT. However, the effects on tumours remain unclear and require further study.

Severe Refractory Hemorrhagic Cystitis after Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Responds to Recombinant Human Keratinocyte Growth Factor (KGF) - A Case Report and Review of the LiteratureCatherine Hughes1*, Anora Harris1*, Benjamin Watkins1, Muna Qayed1, Suhag Parikh1, Edwin Horwitz1, Elizabeth Stenger1, Kirsten M Williams1, Michelle L Schoettler1

Introduction: Systemic Mastocytosis (SM) is a rare disorder in which mast cells pathologically accumulate within tissue. The mast cells can be limited to the skin, or they can be systemic and involve extracutaneous tissues. One subtype of systemic mastocytosis (SM) is called indolent systemic mastocytosis, which is considered a less aggressive form of the disease, compared to advanced systemic mastocytosis which is considered to have organ impairment due to mast cell infiltration. Multi-kinase inhibitors such as Midostaurin and Imatinib are often used in the treatment of advanced SM or indolent SM that is refractory to conservative symptomatic treatment, but currently Avapritinib is reserved for treatment of advanced SM. Here is a case of an indolent SM responding to treatment with lower dose Avapritinib.

The commercially important Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), a large migratory fish, has experienced notable recovery aided by accurate resource assessment and effective fisheries management efforts. Traditionally, this species has been perceived as consisting of eastern and western populations, spawning respectively in the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, with mixing occurring throughout the Atlantic. However, recent studies have emerged challenging this assumption by revealing weak genetic differentiation and identifying a previously unknown spawning ground in the Slope Sea used by Atlantic bluefin tuna of uncertain origin. To further understand the current and past population structure and connectivity of Atlantic bluefin tuna, we have assembled a unique dataset including thousands of genome-wide Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) from five hundred larvae, young of the year and spawning adult samples covering the three spawning grounds and including individuals of other Thunnus species. Our analyses support two weakly differentiated but demographically connected ancestral populations that interbreed in the Slope Sea. Moreover, we also identified signatures of introgression from albacore into the Atlantic bluefin tuna genome, exhibiting varied frequencies across spawning areas, indicating strong gene flow from the Mediterranean Sea towards the Slope Sea. We hypothesize that the observed genetic differentiation may be attributed to increased gene flow caused by a recent intensification of westward migration by the eastern population, which could have implications for the genetic diversity and conservation of western populations. Future conservation efforts should consider these findings to address potential genetic homogenization in the species.

Accumulating studies in recent years have revealed that airway remodeling is involved in the occurrence, development, and treatment sensitivity of asthma. Airway epithelial cells (AECs) regulate the activation of epithelial-mesenchymal trophic units (EMTUs) during airway remodeling through secretion of a series of signaling mediators. However, the major trigger and the intrinsic pathogenesis of airway remodeling is still obscure. Here, we show that the expression of CTSK in airway epithelia increased significantly along with the development of airway remodeling in HDM-stressed asthma model. Increased secretion of CTSK from airway epithelia induced the activation of EMTU through the activation of PAR2-mediated pathway. We found that CTSK is a potential biomarker of airway remodeling for asthma patients that can reflect the degree of airway remodeling and the severity of asthma. Blockade of CTSK inhibits EMTU activation and alleviate airway remodeling effectively that is an effective intervention target of airway remodeling. Thus, our findings provide that CTSK is a potential biomarker for airway remodeling which may also be a useful target for the targeted intervention of airway remodeling in asthma patients.