Understanding leaf trait variation is critical for the prediction of plant responses to global climate changes. Leaf trichomes are derived from stomatal epidermal cells, which play critical roles in biotic defenses and against abiotic stress. Previous studies reported spatial variations in stomatal traits and their driving factors at the same sampling sites. However, it remains unclear how leaf trichome densities vary along large geographic gradients and whether trichomes and stomata co-vary under environmental changes. We measured the leaf trichome densities of 44 Quercus variabilis populations in situ across Eastern Asia (24 to 51.8 °N, 99 to 137 °E) and 15 populations grown in a common garden, and used structural equation modelling to evaluate their relationships with climatic factors and stomatal traits. Our results revealed that climatic factors not only had a direct effect on trichome density, but also had indirect effects on trichome density through stomatal density and leaf mass per area. Trichome density was positively correlated with stomatal density whether in situ or in the common garden, and both increased with drought, which implied that trichomes may impact stomatal behavior and both traits may co-vary under certain environmental conditions. Our results suggested that leaf trichomes possess highly adaptive variation and are in close coordination with stomata in response to climate changes. Our findings provide new insights toward elucidating the interactions between leaf traits and the adaptive strategies of plants under climate change.

Inserts of DNA from extranuclear sources, such as organelles and microbes, are common in eukaryote nuclear genomes. However, sequence similarity between the nuclear and extranuclear DNA, and a history of multiple insertions, make the assembly of these regions challenging. Consequently, the number, sequence, and location of these vagrant DNAs cannot be reliably inferred from the genome assemblies of most organisms. We introduce two statistical methods to estimate the abundance of nuclear inserts even in the absence of a nuclear genome assembly. The first (intercept method) only requires low-coverage (<1x) sequencing data, as commonly generated for population studies of organellar and ribosomal DNAs. The second method additionally requires that a subset of the individuals carry extra-nuclear DNA with diverged genotypes. We validated our intercept method using simulations and by re-estimating the frequency of human NUMTs (nuclear mitochondrial inserts). We then applied it to the grasshopper Podisma pedestris, exceptional for both its large genome size and reports of numerous NUMT inserts, estimating that NUMTs make up 0.056% of the nuclear genome, equivalent to >500 times the mitochondrial genome size. We also re-analysed a museomics dataset of the parrot Psephotellus varius, obtaining an estimate of only 0.0043%, in line with reports from other species of bird. Our study demonstrates the utility of low-coverage high-throughput sequencing data for the quantification of nuclear vagrant DNAs. Beyond quantifying organellar inserts, these methods could also be used on endosymbiont-derived sequences. We provide an R implementation of our methods called “vagrantDNA” and code to simulate test datasets.

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase ( ALK)-fusion sarcomas are rare, part of the emerging theoretically-targetable tyrosine-kinase RAS::MAPK-pathway fusion myopericytic-ovoid-sarcomas. We report our clinicopathologic and treatment experience with an ALK-fusion sarcoma. A novel ERC1-unaligned-ALK-fusion infiltrative nonmetastatic low-grade sarcoma of the right hand of a 15-month-old male was treated with crizotinib, an ALK tyrosine-kinase inhibitor as oral monotherapy, inducing complete radiographic and clinical resolution by 10 months and sustained response now 8 months after elective discontinuation. Crizotinib can successfully be used to treat unresectable novel ALK-fusion sarcomas.

Background: At least 5-10% of malignancies occur secondary to an underlying cancer predisposition syndrome (CPS). For patients with a CPS, cancer surveillance is recommended with the goal of identifying malignancy earlier, in a presumably more curable form. Surveillance protocols, including imaging studies, lab work, and procedures, can be complex, differing based on age, gender, and syndrome, which may adversely affect adherence. Mobile health (mHealth) applications have been utilized in the oncology field and could help to facilitate adherence to cancer surveillance protocols. Methods: Applying a user-centered mobile app design approach, patients with a CPS and/or primary caregivers were interviewed to identify current methods for care management and barriers to compliance with recommended surveillance protocols. Broad themes from these interviews informed the design of the mobile app, HomeTown, subsequently evaluated by usability experts. The design was then converted into software code in phases, evaluated by patients and caregivers in an iterative fashion. User population growth and app usage data were assessed. Results: Common themes identified include general distress surrounding surveillance protocol scheduling and results, difficulty remembering medical history, assembling a care team, and seeking resources for self-education. These themes were translated into specific functional app features including push reminders, syndrome-specific surveillance recommendations, ability to annotate visits and results, storage of medical histories, and links to reliable educational resources. Conclusions: Families with CPS demonstrate a desire for mHealth tools to facilitate adherence to cancer surveillance protocols, reduce related distress, relay medical information, and provide educational resources. HomeTown may be a useful tool for engaging this patient population.

Understanding the molecular landscape of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), the most common thyroid cancer in children, creates additional therapeutic approaches. RET gene rearrangements are observed in pediatric PTC and selective inhibition of RET is now possible with specific tyrosine kinase inhibitors designed to target diverse RET-activating mutations. We present a 13-year-old female with radioactive iodine-refractory metastatic PTC, found to harbor a NCOA4-RET fusion, who responded to treatment with selpercatinib with elimination of supplemental oxygen need, marked reduction in pulmonary nodules and mediastinal lymphadenopathy, and substantial improvement in thyroglobulin levels. Response was maintained despite 2 dose reductions for possibly-related weight gain.

ECG is a non-invasive way of determining cardiac health by measuring the electrical activity of the heart. We investigate a novel detection technique for feature points P, QRS and T to diagnose various atrial and ventricular cardiovascular anomalies with ECG signals for ambulatory monitoring. Before the system is worthy of field trials, we validated it with several databases and recorded their response. The QRS complex detection is based on the Pan Tompkins Algorithm and difference operation method that provides positive predictivity, sensitivity and false detection rate of 99.29\%, 99.49\% and 1.29 \% respectively. Proposed novel T wave detection provides sensitivity of 97.78\%. Also, proposed P wave detection provides positive predictivity, sensitivity and false detection rate of 99.43\%, 99.4\% and 1.15\% for the control study (normal subjects) and 82.68\%, 94.3\% and 25.4\% for the case (patients with cardiac anomalies) study respectively. Disease detection such as, arrhythmia is based on standard R-R intervals while myocardial infarction is based on the ST-T deviations where the positive predictivity, sensitivity and accuracy are observed to be 94.6\%, 84.2\% and 85\%, respectively. It should be noted that, since the frontal leads are only used, the anterior myocardial infarction cases are detected with the injury pattern in lead \textit{avl} and ST depression in reciprocal leads. Detection of atrial fibrillation is done for both short and long duration signals using statistical methods using interquartile range and standard deviations, giving very high accuracy, 100\% in most cases. The system hardware for obtaining the 2 lead ECG signal is designed using commercially available off the shelf components. Small field validation of the designed system is performed at a Public Health Centre in Gujarat, India with 42 patients (both cases and controls). We achieved 78.5\% accuracy during the field validation.

Abstract Myiasis is the infestation by dipteran fly larvae to feed on the host’s organs, bodily fluids, or ingested food. We report a 14year old grade 7 female patient who visited our hospital with a complaint of right ear pain of two years duration. Keywords: Otomyiasis, myiasis, aural myiasis, adult

Splenic hematoma following an acute pancreatitis is a rare complication which is thought to be due to the distribution of pancreatic exudates to the spleen. We presented a case of a 44-year-old patient with acute pancreatitis who developed splenic hematoma. He responded well to conservative management and the hematoma resolved.

We carried out 3-D simulations of monodisperse particle suspensions subjected to a constant shear rate with the view to investigate the effect of electrical double layers around the particles on apparent suspension viscosities. To this end, expressions for Debye length, zeta potential and ionic strength (pH) of the liquid were incorporated into our in-house lattice Boltzmann code that uses the Immersed Boundary method and includes sub-grid lubrication models. We varied the solids concentration and particle radius, keeping the particle Reynolds number equal to 0.1. We report on results with respect to the effect of pH (in the range 9 through 12) and Debye length on apparent viscosity and spatial suspension structures, particularly at higher solids volume fractions, and on the effect of flow reversals.

The use of endocardial pacing in patients with univentricular hearts is limited. However, it may be the better option when the risk of surgery is high. We report a case of complete heart block who underwent left ventricular endocardial pacing due to the high risk of epicardial lead placement.

Background: The global spread of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in a significant disease burden, yet asthma patients do not have the expected high morbidity and mortality rates in the pandemics of COVID-19. Objective:To find the difference of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in asthma and non-asthma children and evaluate the effect of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) on its expression. Methods: The ACE2, immunoglobulin E (IgE) and eosinophils were tested in different children. Results: A total of 157 children aged 3-16 years were enrolled. The expression of ACE2 in asthma children were lower than non-asthma children (T=-2.512, P=0.013). Allergic non-asthma children had a significant higher ACE2 expression than children with allergic asthma (P=0.013) and non-allergic asthma (P=0.029). The expression of ACE2 had no significant difference between first diagnosed asthma children and that had been treated with ICS for≥6 months (F=0.028, P=0.598). The allergic asthma children showed a significantly higher Eosinophils cells (EC) count than the allergic non-asthma (W=200, P＜0.001) and non-allergic non-asthma children (W=1089, P＜0.001). Non-allergic asthma children also had a significant higher EC count than the allergic non-asthma (W=182.5, P＜0.001) and non-allergic non-asthma (W= 200.5, P＜0.001) children. There was no significant difference in IgE levels between asthmatic children and non-asthmatic children (W=2792.5, P= 0.18). Conclusion: Circulating ACE2 levels in asthmatic children were lower than those in non-asthmatic children and ICS treatment for ≥6 months did not affect the expression of ACE2 in peripheral blood in the asthma children.

The idea of e-flows emerged as a result of the efforts to lessen the effects of river flow alterations. The role of e-flows in ecosystem protection and water resources management isn’t yet fully understood and practiced. This review summarizes the historical evolution of the concept and recaps the assessment methods; analyze impacts of river flow alterations, and identifying gaps in the focus of e-flows researches. A total of 303 articles published since 2010 were collected and assessed. Most of the publications are focused on describing the effects and management of river flow alterations. According to the findings of this meta-analysis, less attention is given for basin scale, social, policy aspects of e-flows. Moreover, the role, importance, and influence of groundwater in the e-flows is given minor attention.

Here, the blood vessel shape was accurately measured to evaluate the viscoelastic properties of the radial artery. For a robust measurement, the shape parameters of the elliptical blood vessel were determined by integrating brightness over the entire vessel instead of using the brightness gradient at the vessel boundary. The usefulness of the proposed method was demonstrated via simulations and in vivo experiments. The obtained results exhibited considerable potential for estimating the viscoelastic properties of elliptically deformed blood vessels.

I am not sure this editorial comment deserves an abstract. Plesae advise.

Computational fluid dynamics simulations are carried out to better understand how to manage thermally coupled reactors for conducting simultaneous endothermic and exothermic reactions. Particular emphasis is placed upon the mechanisms involved in the heat transfer processes in thermally coupled reactors for hydrogen production by steam reforming. The effects of catalyst layer thickness on the enthalpy of reaction, methanol conversion, and hydrogen yield are delineated. The oxidation and reforming reaction rates involved in the endothermic and exothermic processes are determined. Contour maps denoting temperature, enthalpy, and species mole fractions are constructed and design recommendations are made. The results indicate that the waste heat can efficiently be recovered in a low-temperature region, although the reactivity of a steam reforming reaction is low in such a region. The steam reforming device is configured as to be heated by part of the combustion heat to cause a steam reforming reaction in the device. The steam reforming reaction is endothermic and is therefore typically carried out in an externally heated steam reforming reactor. The incorporation of a simultaneous exothermic reaction to provide an improved heat source can provide a typical heat flux of roughly an order of magnitude above the convective heat flux. Structured catalysts offer heat transfer benefits and extra activity, which is more effective in the inlet zone of the steam reformer. The metallic support is formed substantially to have the same shape as the reactor wall and is arranged in a direct heat conduction relationship with the reactor wall. Desirably all of the tubes contain the same proportions of structured catalyst and particulate catalyst, which provides the benefits of the higher activity, higher heat transfer, and low pressure drop of the structured catalyst at the inlet end and the benefit of the stronger particulate catalyst at the outlet end. Heat transport is more efficient when catalyzed hardware is used in the steam reforming process.Keywords: Heat transfer; Heat management; Heat fluxes; Heat losses; Heat resistances; Heat exchange

Cloud computing (CC) provides users with online access to network services, including enhanced, transparent user management and the capacity to gather and process data. A shared Internet gateway is offered by CC, which is evolving into a private and public data center set. The integration of AI technologies into a substantial amount of computer resources, especially integrated systems, presents a number of resource problems that require careful adjustment. The IoT paradigm recently evolved in an application for smart environments. Security and privacy are seen as being of the utmost importance in any smart IoT environment in the real world. Digital environments face security threats as a result of security flaws in IoT-based networks. Because AI has excellent learning capabilities, it is more dependable and effective at spotting harmful threats. The current architecture presented in this article will support several applications of AI in digital homes detailed study of security concerns and issues.

Left anterior descending (LAD) coronary arterial injury is an underappreciated and rare consequence of ablation in the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT). The authors present five cases of acute or subacute LAD injury after RVOT ablation. Most patients had fairly extensive ablation and two had coincident cardiac perforation. The patients reported also had a strikingly similar ECG morphology of their spontaneous ventricular arrhythmias. The authors’ report serves an important cautionary tale regarding ablation of intramural septal VAs.

Predictive Modeling of Lead Durability, An Important Step ForwardGeorge H. Crossley MD, FHRS, FACCVanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute, Nashville, TN; and Cardiovascular Diseases Section, Vanderbilt University School of MedicineRWI: Dr. Crossley consults for Medtronic, Boston Scientific, and Phillips.Running Title: Lead Durability AnalysisWord Count: 893

Radiofrequency (RF) ablation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation has gained widespread acceptance since the concept was introduced by Haissaguerre et al a quarter of a century ago. High power short duration ablation has been widely adopted in the management of atrial fibrillation. Evidence for combining lesion size index and high power short duration ablation is lacking. In this issue of the journal, Cai et al evaluated the combination of HPSD with LSI with a focus on long-term efficacy.

A empresa OpenAI lançou ao público, no final de 2022, o sistema de conversação ChatGPT-3, baseado em um modelo de processamento de linguagem natural. A qualidade do chat repercutiu em um debate entre profissionais e especialistas de várias áreas. Nesse texto, vamos mostrar uma conversa com o ChatGPT, sobre alguns tópicos, para refletir sobre o potencial desse tipo de recurso no ensino. Para além da questão se a inteligência artificial será capaz de substituir o trabalho humano criativo, propomos que professores devam conhecer, aprender e influir no desenvolvimento de ferramentas de informática que possam complementar e melhorar a qualidade do ensino, tornando mais dinâmica a relação ensino-aprendizagem.  

In conventional fuel cells, a predominantly diffusive heat and mass transport is established in the diffusion layer. However, conventional fuel cells cannot ensure a heat and mass transport from the porous diffusion layer to the catalytic reaction layer that is sufficiently uniform for this purpose. The present study aims to provide a methodology for determining the characteristics of heat and mass transport in catalytic reaction layers. Numerical simulations are performed using computational fluid dynamics to better understand the characteristics of heat and mass transport in catalytic reaction layers of thermally integrated reformers. The present study aims to provide a fundamental understanding of the heat and mass transport in catalytic reaction layers of thermally integrated reformers. Particular emphasis is placed upon the dimensionless quantities involved in thermally integrated reformer with different catalytic reaction layer structures. The results indicate that a vapor-liquid equilibrium exists when the escape tendency of the specie from liquid to a vapor phase is exactly balanced with the escape phase at the same temperature and pressure. It may be beneficial to utilize the thermodynamic work potential provided by the transfer of heat to drive the separation process in the desired direction. If a chamber partition operates below its maximum heat transfer flux capability, this flux often can be increased by augmenting adjacent latent energy transfer which transfers through the partition as sensible energy. The external balance establishes the net enthalpy offset and therefore the temperature difference and the net amount of liquid that may be evaporated or condensed. A pure diffusive heat and mass transport would lead to an uneven reaction density or current density in the catalytic reaction layer, on account of a corresponding lack of uniformity in the heat and mass transport in the same catalytic reaction layer. A high pressure-drop in the thermally integrated reformer is to be avoided, since a high-pressure drop is associated with correspondingly high-power losses, which in turn results in a low overall efficiency. The conduit surface may vary along the general direction of flow to provide the zones either intermittently or preferably continuously as with an undulating membrane surface. When tubular membranes are employed, which membranes are preferably circular in cross section, the zones are preferably provided by circumferential furrowing.Keywords: Integrated reformers; Temperature differences; Membrane surfaces; Dimensionless quantities; Heat transport; Mass transport

Cerasus conradinae is an important germplasm resource of wild cherry in China. In this work, sampling was expanded and genetic evidence was added for further study. The current and future potential populations were predicted by niche model. Based on three cpDNA sequences and one nrDNA sequence, and combined with the phylogeographic evolution of 12 populations of 244 individuals in C.conradinae, the temporal and spatial patterns of genetic variation in C.conradinae were investigated, and the effects of genetic drift and differentiation as well as natural environmental factors on the genetic variation and evolutionary distribution of C.conradinae were elucidated. Finally, morphological evidence combined with molecular evidence was used to discuss the species definition of population variation and differentiation. The results showed that Central China, East China and Southwest China were the core regions for the conservation and utilization of germplasm resources of C.conradinae. Support for variant Cerasus conradinae var. ruburm is established. The genetic diversity of C.conradinae was high (Hd = 0.830; Rd = 0.798). There was genetic variation among populations of C.conradinae, and genealogical geographic structure existed among the populations and three geographical groups, but the genetic differentiation coefficient at each level was low. The gene exchange was obvious in Southwest China, and the differentiation was obvious in Central China. The population and three geographic groups do not reject the expectation of expansion model. Two distinct lineages (three geographic groups) were identified from the population of C.conradinae: Central China+ East China lineage and East China+ (Central China+Southwest China) lineage, two lineages of 4.38Mya occurred in the early Pliocene based on geographical isolation. The southeastern part of Eastern China near Mount Wuyi was the most likely refuge for C.conradinae. The results provided a theoretical basis for the classification and identification of C.conradinae and the protection and utilization of germplasm resources.

Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) has evolved into a common surgical modality used to treat primarily oropharyngeal malignant and benign pathologies. The single port Intuitive Surgical da Vinci surgical robotics system facilitates access to the hypopharynx and cervical esophagus. We aim to describe our approach and advantages of the technique.

In this letter, an ultra-low-power power-on-reset circuit with reconfigurable trip-voltages is proposed. In order to reduce area and power consumption overhead, an all-MOS sub-threshold architecture based on threshold difference voltage references and current comparator is designed. By configuring the reference current and the different threshold transistors, the different trig voltages are generated to detect multi-supply voltages. Simulation results based on 55 nm CMOS process show that the proposed power-on-reset circuit generates trip voltages of 385.5 mV and 775.4 mV, consuming only 8.5 nA and 92.6 nA at the supply voltage of 0.5 V and 1 V, respectively. And the area of the proposed power-on-reset circuit is as low as 240 μm2.