The main objective of this study is to address the challenge of simultaneously ensuring robustness and convergence performance in model-free inversion-based iterative learning control. Initially, this research provides a mathematical analysis of the sources of errors in the iterative process, followed by proposing a design guideline to enhance both convergence speed and the final value error. Based on the design guideline, a gain design method associated with the number of iterations is proposed, resulting in a novel model-free inversion-based iterative learning control algorithm. Subsequently, a robustness analysis of the proposed algorithm is conducted. Finally, a comprehensive simulation and numerical comparison of the proposed algorithm with existing similar algorithms are presented to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed control algorithm.

Acclimations of Oreochromis mossambicus to hypersalinity were conducted with multiple rates of salinity increase and durations of exposure to determine the rate-independent maximum salinity limit and the incipient lethal salinity. Quantitative proteomics of over 3000 gill proteins simultaneously was performed to analyze molecular phenotypes associated with hypersalinity. For this purpose, a species- and tissue-specific data-independent acquisition (DIA) assay library of MSMS spectra was created. From these DIA data, protein networks representing complex molecular phenotypes associated with salinity acclimation were generated. O. mossambicus was determined to have a wide “zone of resistance” from approximately 75g/kg salinity to 120g/kg, which is tolerated for a limited period with eventual loss of organismal function. Crossing the critical threshold salinity into the zone of resistance corresponds with blood osmolality increasing beyond 400 mOsm/kg, significantly reduced body condition factor, and cessation of feeding. Gill protein networks impacted by hypersalinity include increased energy metabolism, especially upregulation of electron transport chain proteins, and regulation of specific osmoregulatory proteins. Cytoskeletal, cell adhesion, and extracellular matrix proteins are enriched in networks that are sensitive to the critical salinity threshold. Network analysis of these patterns provides deep insight into specific mechanisms of energy homeostasis during salinity stress.

Purpose: Poly-medicated patients, especially those over 65, have increased. Multiple drug use and inappropriate prescribing increase drug-drug interactions, adverse drug reactions, morbidity, and mortality. This issue was addressed with several CDSS alerts. Health professionals have not followed these systems due to their poor alert quality and incomplete databases. Methods: Recent research shows a growing interest in using Text Mining via NLP to extract drug-drug interactions from unstructured data sources to support clinical prescribing decisions. NLP text mining and machine learning classifier training for drug relation extraction were used in this process. Results: In this context, the proposed solution allows to develop an extraction system for drug-drug interactions from unstructured data sources. The system produces structured information, which can be inserted into a database that contains information acquired from three different data sources. Conclusion: The architecture outlined for the drug-drug interaction extraction system is capable of receiving unstructured text, identifying drug entities sentence by sentence, and determining whether or not there are interactions between them.

In this paper, we revisit the long-standing debate of whether there is a pattern in the evolution of organisms towards greater complexity, and how this hypothesis could be tested using an interdisciplinary lens. We argue that this debate remains alive today due to the lack of a quantitative measure of complexity that is related to the teleonomic (i.e. goal-directed) nature of living systems. Further, we argue that such a biological measure of complexity can indeed be found in the vast literature produced within life history theory. We propose that an ideal method to quantify this complexity lays within life history strategies (i.e., schedules of survival and reproduction across an organism's life cycle), as it is precisely these strategies that are under selection to optimise the organism's fitness. In this context, we set an agenda for future steps: (1) how this complexity can be measured mathematically, and (2) how we can engage in a comparative analysis of this complexity across species to investigate the evolutionary forces driving increases or for that matter decreases in teleonomic complexity.

Background and Purpose: Allosteric sites on G Protein-Coupled Receptors have become increasingly popular drug targets as they can lead to the development of more selective compounds. An example is the D2 receptor, a validated drug target for numerous anti-psychotic drugs. In this study, we sought to gain a better understanding of the relationship between allosteric ligands and different orthosteric compounds. We investigated the UCB compound, a PAM-antagonist when treated with Dopamine, to see if it exhibits probe dependence and compared against other signalling pathways in relation to the allosteric site to gain insight into the improved design of a more selective D2R allosteric modulator. Experimental Approach: Dopamine, Quinpirole and Rotigotine were tested with/without the UCB compound. Forskolin-induced cAMP accumulation, Gi2 protein activation and β-arrestin2 protein recruitment real-time signalling pathways were assessed through transient transfection with the appropriate biosensors in HEK293 cells. Key Results: The UCB compound behaved as an allosteric antagonist with Quinpirole/Rotigotine in cAMP accumulation assays. However, in the β-arrestin2 protein recruitment assays, the UCB compound behaved as a PAM with all three agonists. Conclusions and Implications: The movement of the indole moiety of the UCB compound towards TM2 is important as it caused the switch from PAM-antagonism to antagonism in Forskolin-induced cAMP accumulation assays and a PAM in the β-arrestin2 protein recruitment assays. This provides insight to the functional groups required of a D2R allosteric modulator to interact with TM2. These findings may contribute towards the design of selective allosteric drugs targeting the D2R.

The volume of knowledge that the scientific community has compiled about SARS-CoV-2 and amyloid beta peptide is scarce, but it is growing every day. The interaction between the virus and the amyloid beta peptide is poorly understood and some data are unclear. The long-term consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection on human health remain uncertain at this time. The present work provides a discussion about the association between the amyloid beta peptide and COVID-19.

This study proposes an observer-based reinforcement learning(RL) control scheme for uncertain nonlinear systems subject to various external disturbances. The proposed approach regards the total uncertainty estimated by the extended state observer (ESO) as potential model information, which is incorporated into the known part of the system dynamics. Based on the updated known dynamics, an RL structure is constructed to approximate the optimal solution of the HJB equation without the persistence of the excitation (PE) condition. The convergence of the proposed policy to a neighborhood of the optimal policy is proven, and the stability of the system states is guaranteed. The comparative simulation results demonstrate improved performance with a significantly reduced cost of the developed controller, and the sensitivity of control gain in the input channel is also relaxed.

After a long period of research, the International HFE H63D Research Consortium has now defined another clinical variant of H63D syndrome (henceforth referred to as H63D type-1) after evaluation of 1082 patient cases: "H63D syndrome type-2". Its characteristics and clinical picture are presented in this first preliminary paper on type-2 of H63D syndrome.

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a pathogenic chytrid fungus that is particularly lethal for amphibians. Bd can extirpate amphibian populations within a few weeks and remain in water in the absence of amphibian hosts. Most efforts to determine Bd presence and quantity in the field have focused on sampling hosts, but these data do not give us a direct reflection of the amount of Bd in the water, which are useful for parameterizing disease models, and are not effective when hosts are absent or difficult to sample. Current methods for screening Bd presence and quantity in water are time, resource, and money intensive. Here, we developed a streamlined method for detecting Bd in water with low turbidity (e.g., water samples from laboratory experiments and relatively clear pond water from a natural lentic system). We centrifuged water samples with known amounts of Bd to form a pellet and extracted the DNA from that pellet. This method was highly effective and the resulting concentrations across all tested treatments presented a highly linear relationship with the expected values. While the experimentally-derived values were lower than the inoculation doses, the values were highly correlated and a conversion factor allows us to extrapolate the actual Bd concentration. This centrifuge-based method is effective, repeatable, and would greatly expand the domain of tractable questions to be explored in the field of Bd ecology. Importantly, this method increases equity in the field because it is time- and cost-efficient and requires few resources.

Objectives: Chiari type 1 malformation (CM1) may occasionally lead to central sleep apnea (CSA). We studied, in a large clinical cohort of pediatric CM1 patients, the effect of CM1 on breathing during sleep. Methods: This is a retrospective single pediatric pulmonology center study with a systematic evaluation of pediatric CM1 patients under age 18 with polysomnography (PSG) during 2008-2020. Children with syndromes were excluded. All patients had undergone head and spine magnetic resonance imaging. Results: We included 104 children with CM1 with a median age of 7 (interquartile range (IQR) 5-13) years. The median extent of tonsillar descent (TD) was 13 (IQR 10-18) mm. Syringomyelia was present in 19 children (18%). Of all children, 57 (55%) had normal PSG, 31 (30%) showed periodic breathing or central apnea index ≥5 h -1, and 16 (15%) displayed features of compensated central hypoventilation and periods with end-tidal or transcutaneous carbon dioxide 99 th percentile level above 50 mmHg. TD had the best predictive value for central breathing disorders. In a linear model, both age (61%) and TD (39%) predicted median respiratory rate (R = 0.33, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Although severe CSA is a rare complication of brainstem compression in pediatric patients with CM1, short arousal-triggered episodes of periodic breathing and mild compensated central hypoventilation are common. TD shows the best but still poor prediction of the presence of a central breathing disorder. This highlights the use of PSG in patient evaluation. Posterior fossa decompression surgery effectively treats central breathing disorders.

Alzheimers disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disease. The histopathological changes of AD include amyloid β-protein (Aβ) deposition, tau tangles, neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Some of the pathological changes could be shown in vivo by positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) biomarkers which play a key role in diagnosing AD. Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) can reflect and predict dysfunction. Aβ-PET was sensitive for the diagnosis of early AD but cannot distinguish the severity of AD. Tau-PET can compensate for the deficiency of Aβ-PET. Tau tangles were positively correlated with the severity of AD, and also associated with cognitive impairment. Probes targeting neuroinflammation of AD have been developed, but further study is needed to validate its effectiveness. Conventional MRI performs high tissue contrast that can show structural changes and has been routinely applied in clinical practice, such as evaluation of cerebral atrophy. Advanced MRI sequences (such as DTI、ASL、MRS、BOLD and QSM) that can provide additional information beyond structure that includes brain microstructure, blood perfusion, metabolite concentration, brain activity, connections and networks between brain regions, iron deposition, etc. The integrated PET and MR may improve the diagnostic efficiency of AD.

In this work, the gravitational field is investigated in detailed and the quantum mechanics equation under the gravitational field has been derived. Then, the Schrodinger and Dirac equations are accordantly solved under the gravitational field condition by separating variables. As a result, the Rydberg formula is deduced in such conditions, which proves that the change of the external gravitational field intensity will cause the overall spectral movement. Obviously, the partial redshift of quasar spectrum should assign to this effect. Furthermore, by applying this gravitational field together with the energy and mass concepts into the symmetry, gravity theory and gauge theory, it is deduced that the interaction of “gravity” between matter and anti-matter is repulsive force, which is the originator of the accelerated expansion phenomenon for dark energy in the universe. It is found that the calculated cosmological constant is a small variable related to the radial and angular direction of the universe, and the “spontaneous breaking of vacuum symmetry” is caused by this gravitational field. Further, the gravitational field lead to the non-conservation of weak action parity. The equal number of baryon and antibaryon as well as the energy conservation in the universe are confirmed. In this work, the gravitational field is introduced into quantum theory, which will promote the integrality of the quantum mechanics, and explain the dark energy phenomenon constitutionally. This study will push the astrophysical theory and the gauge theory of particle physics for the further study of energy level, basic particle structure, and quantum gravity theory.

Currently available vaccines are safe but, potentially, any vaccine can cause an allergic reaction and albeit very rare, anaphylaxis can occur. Although its rarity, the precise diagnostic management of a suspected anaphylaxis post-vaccination is of paramount importance due to the risk of a potential serious reactions after re-exposure, while, a misdiagnosis might lead to an increase in the number of children that interrupt vaccinations resulting in an unjustifiably individual and collective risk of loss of protection against immune preventable diseases. Especially, in the light that most cases of suspected allergy to a vaccine are not effectively confirmed in up to 85% of the patients referred for an allergy evaluation and patients can continue vaccination with the same formulation and tolerance of the booster doses The patient assessment has to be done by an allergist or an immunologist expert in the vaccine field to select subjects at risk of allergic reactions and to perform the correct procedures for vaccine hypersensitivity diagnosis and management, in order to guarantee safe immunization practices. Aim of this review is to provide a practical and safe management in the clinical settings of the allergic patient which have to undergo immunization practices, both to manage children with a suspected allergic reaction to a vaccine both children with history of allergy to a vaccine component.

A multi-mode wideband antenna based on multi-mode resonator is proposed with stable radiation pattern, which is composed of two metal radiators, two parasitic resonators, two shorted patches fed by the U-shaped feedline and a box-shaped reflector. A prototype of the proposed antenna is designed, fabricated and tested. Measured results show that the antenna achieves an impedance bandwidth of 37.5% (0.67-0.98 GHz) for |S11|<-15 dB, a half-power beam width (HPBW) of 67.5±2.4 degree at H-plane (horizontal plane) and a gain of 7.9±0.4 dBi. Furthermore, the XPD is more than 15 dB at 0° and at least 11.2 dB within ±60°at H-plane, respectively. The proposed antenna can be used in modern communication system for LTE700/GSM850/GSM900.

Objective To estimate the economic burden of diagnosing and treating cervical squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL) and cervical cancer throughout the disease course. Design Cross-sectional survey Setting National Population of Sample A total of 3471 women pathologically diagnosed with SIL and cervical cancer. Main Outcome Measures The median(IQR) of total costs (including direct medical, direct non-medical, and indirect costs), reimbursement rate by medical insurance, and catastrophic health expenditures in every clinical stage of the disease were calculated. Results The estimated total costs of LSIL and HSIL in urban areas were $1,637.7( IQR $956.4-$2,669.2) and $2,467.1( IQR $1,579.1-$3,762.3), while $459.0( IQR $167.7-$1,330.3) and $1,230.5( IQR $560.6-$2,104.5) in rural areas. For patients with cervical cancer stage IA, IB, IIA, IIB, and III-IV, the total costs were $15,034.9( IQR $11,083.4-$21,632.4), $19,438.6( IQR $14,060.0-$26,505.9), $22,968.8( IQR $16,068.8-$34,615.9), $26,936.0( IQR $18,176.6-$41,386.0) and $27,332.6( IQR $17,538.7-$44,897.0), respectively. 43%-55% of direct medical costs in cervical cancer were covered by medical insurance, which was 19%-43% in SIL. The expense was catastrophic for most cervical cancer patients, except for the urban residents with stage IA. For rural cervical cancer patients, the extent of catastrophic health expenditure was about twice larger than that for urban residents in each cancer stage. Conclusions The total costs of SIL and cervical cancer are substantial in China, while a large proportion of costs are unnecessary for LSIL. As for patients with cervical cancer, even with medical insurance, the catastrophic health expenditures are considerable, especially for rural residents.

Diversity and abundance of bees were estimated in six agro-climatic regions of an intensive agricultural state of India i.e. Punjab during the year 2020-21. Random sampling was done at various locations in all the six agro-climatic regions. Thirty sweeps of the hand insect net were made at each location. Overall, 7482 bees’ specimens were collected among which the most abundant bee species was Apis mellifera Linnaeus (12.58%), followed by Apis dorsata Fabricius (12.24%), Apis cerana Fabricius (11.61%) and Apis florea Fabricius (9.18%). The highly diverse regions with respect to number of bee species and their respective numbers were Sub-mountain Undulating (30 species, 1674 individuals) and Undulating Plain regions (29 species, 1662 individuals). The least diverse region was Western region (20 species, 743 individuals). Bombus haemorrhoidalis Smith was rare and restricted only to extreme Eastern part of the state, adjacent to hilly region, with relative abundance of 0.72 per cent. Sub-mountain Undulating and Undulating Plain regions were highly similar to each other as represented by Bray-Curtis and Jaccard’s indices. These two regions, had lower cropping intensity than other regions, provided lesser disturbed area and agro-chemical usage. Thus, these regions fulfil the utmost requirement of the native bee species i.e. good nesting place with ample food resources. Nonetheless, further studies are required to intensively investigate the area and to find possible linkage of various agricultural landscapes with bee pollinators’ community.

The tuberous root of Tinospora sagittata (Oliv.) Gagnep is the original plant of Traditional Chinese Medicine Tinosporae Radix (“Jin Guo Lan”), which usually be used to treat pharyngeal arthralgia, carbuncle furuncle, bacillary dysentery, abdominal pain and inflammation. Twenty-six clerodane diterpenoids were isolated from T. sagittata, including 8 new clerodane diterpenoids (tinotanoid A-H: 1-8), and 18 known ones (9-26). The absolute configurations of compounds 1, 2, 5, 8, 13, 17 and 20 were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Compound 1 is the first example of clerodane diterpenoid with a γ lactone ring which were constructed between C-11 and C-17. Compound 2 and 17 is a pair of epimer. Compounds 2, 12 and 17 showed excellent inhibitory activity on NO production with IC50 values of 9.56±0.69, 9.11±0.53 and 11.12±0.70 μM, respectively, and the activities were significantly stronger than the positive control Minocycline (Mino) (IC50 value was 23.57±0.92 μM). Moreover, compounds 2, 12 and 17 dramatically reduced the expressions of iNOS and COX-2 up-regulated by LPS treatment. Compounds 2 and 12 can significantly inhibit the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 that are increased by LPS stimulation.

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Precancerous lesions of the liver are the intermediate stage in the development of liver cancer from cirrhosis. Our previous studies indicated that Shanxian granules (SXG) can alleviate abnormal proliferation of liver cells and the formation of cirrhosis. To explore the mechanism of SXG-containing serum in reversing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and malignant transformation of hepatic oval cells (HOC). The malignant transformation and EMT of rat HOC cell line WB-F344 were induced by N-methyl-N’-nitro-N-nitroso (MNNG ). Subsequently, WB-F344 cells treated with MNNG were treated with with three doses of SXG to observe its inhibitory effect. The Wnt signaling pathway was blocked by adding Wnt activator CP21R7 on the basis of SXG high dose group to observe whether the inhibitory effect was regulated by Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.SXG-containing serum inhibited MNNG-stimulated proliferation, migration and invasion of WB-F344 cells in a time-and dose-dependent manner. In MNNG-stimulated WB-F344 cells, SXG-containing serum regulated the expression of tumor-related indicators and EMT-related proteins、Wnt signaling pathway-related proteins.The results showed that SXG-containing serum reversed WB-F344 EMT and malignant transformation through Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, which provides a scientific basis for the clinical application of SXG .

The conflict in Ukraine, which started when Russia invaded and violated its sovereignty, has led to the country's worst war since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. The war has resulted in a significant number of casualties, displaced millions of people, and damaged the healthcare system, which was already struggling before the conflict. The neurosurgical field, in particular, has been severely affected, with infrastructure and healthcare systems routinely demolished or interrupted in conflict zones, making fundamental medical operations unavailable to victims of armed conflict. As a result, neurosurgeons have been compelled to conduct surgeries outside of their areas of competence, in makeshift settings or under challenging conditions, with limited access to materials and equipment. The war has also severely damaged specialized neurosurgery facilities, causing a severe shortage of crucial supplies and equipment. To address the challenges facing neurosurgery care in Ukraine, it is essential to rebuild and repair the damaged neurosurgical centers and provide them with the necessary equipment and supplies to successfully administer neurosurgical treatments. Training programs for neurosurgeons and other medical specialists must also be organized to manage complex neurosurgical problems under difficult conditions.

Although there is evidence that low doses of nicotine can affect glucose metabolism, questioning whether glucose can reduce the harmful effects of nicotine on embryo development may constitute an interesting research area. This study planned to investigate how concomitant administration of Glucose monohydrate modulates the effects of exposure to Nicotine sulfate on embryos of Xenopus leavis by using a 96-h FETAX test. To this purpose, in-vitro fertilized embryos were treated with nicotine and glucose, alone or in combination, and then examined in order to determine likely teratogenic consequences of those treatments. At the end of FETAX procedure, the ratios of normal, abnormal and dead embyos were determined and length of embryos were measured in all treatment groups. Nicotine alone treatment significantly increased the ratios of abnormal and dead embryos compared to controls. Concomitant treatment of glucose and nicotine slightly decreased the ratio of abnormals but increased the ratio of normal embryos in comparison with the results of nicotine alone treatment group. According to our results, the addition of Glucose to nicotine showed a protective effect on embryos embryos in concomitant treatment groups. Confirmation of these results needs similarly designed, more advanced studies.

Afghanistan represents one of the most complex mosaics of ethnic groups in the world and its contemporary history has been characterised by ethnic hierarchy. Pashtuns domination of the country and their discriminatory policies toward non-Pashtuns have had long-term effects in destroying inter-ethnic trust. The hierarchical relationships among ethnic groups have always been an obstacle to creating ethnic harmony even in pre-war Afghanistan. The paper, by adopting ‘ethnic security dilemma theory,’ attempts to analyse how and why ethnicity in Afghanistan was politicised and morphed into fault line that finally surfaced in the form of civil war in 1990s. It will discuss the impacts of internecine war on inter-ethnic relations and explores the possible options to deal with the long-standing ethnic security dilemma. Being caught in an ethnic trap, the paper argues, only a meaningful power-sharing mechanism can glue the future Afghanistan together.

Chiral Iridium complexes are very important for the preparation of circularly polarized light emitting diodes (CP-OLEDs). Three novel Iridium(III) complexes, Ir(dnfppy)2(Cl/pyrrole), Ir(dfppy)2(dpp) and Ir(tfmqz)2(sdpp) have been synthesized and characterized, respectively. These Iridium(III) complexes emitted deep-blue, blue and red photoluminescence with high quantum yields, for ((Ir(dnfppy)2(Cl/Pyrrole): λmax=447 nm, F=62.4%; Ir(dfppy)2(dpp): λmax=467 nm, F= 25%; Ir(tfmqz)2(sdpp): λmax=609 nm, F=73.7%). Compared with Ir(dnfppy)2(Cl/pyrrole), HOMO energy level of Ir(dfppy)2(dpp) and Ir(tfmqz)2(sdpp) was calculated to be −5.71/-5.73 eV, and LUMO energy level increased to be -2.75/-3.36 eV, respectively. CD spectra of two pairs of the enantiomers for Ir(dfppy)2(dpp) or Ir(tfmqz)2(sdpp) displayed symmetry with opposite polarization between 300 and 600 nm. The maximum external quantum efficiency (EQEmax) of OLEDs based on Ir(tfmpqz)2(sddp) was 13.8%, showing a relatively low efficiency roll-off with the EQE of 10.7% at 5000 cd/m2.

In this paper, we present several new properties of h-convex functions in a way that complements those known properties for convex functions. The obtained results include, but are not limited to, Mercer-type inequalities, gradient inequalities, Jensen-type inequalities, Mean-like bounds, Hermite-Hadamard inequalities, external behavior, and super-additive inequalities. The obtained results, then, are employed to obtain some applications related to matrix inequalities, including unital positive mappings, weak majorization, and trace inequalities that generalize the celebrated Klein inequality.