Background: On-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) method affect almost all biochemical reactions by disrupting the patient’s redox homeostasis. Detection of systemic redox hemostasis in the patient are critical for the CABG method’s success and the prognosis of the disease. In this study, thiol/disulfide parameters, which are indicators of redox homeostasis, and ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) levels in the plasma and pericardial fluid of patients who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery were investigated. Methods: Sixty patients who underwent an on-pump CABG operation with the Cardiopulmonary Bypass (CPB) method were included in this study. Blood samples were taken from the patients before and after the CPB. Pericardial fluid samples were taken before the CPB. Then, thiol/disulfide homeostasis, albümin, and IMA levels in the pericardial fluid, and the patients’ plasma levels were compared. Results: Albumin and IMA levels were significantly higher in postop compared to preop (p < 0.001). Thiol/disulfide parameters, native thiol, total thiol, and disulfide levels were higher and statistically significant in preop than in postoperative examinations (p < 0.001). A negative correlation was found between pericardial fluid IMA and thiol-disulfide parameters (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Changes in thiol/disulfide homeostasis, albümin, and IMA levels at different times during the on-pump CABG may be caused by foreign non-endothelial surfaces, filters, the reperfusion process, and pharmacological effects in the extracorporeal circulation. Thiol/disulfide homeostasis, albumin, and IMA levels should be monitored during the on-pump CABG and should intervene with appropriate therapeutic strategies. In this way, secondary pathologies can be avoided by preventing cellular damage and excessive inflammatory responses.

Background. Deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) at ≤20°C for aortic arch surgery has been widely used for decades, with or without cerebral perfusion (CP), antegrade (ACP) or retrograde. In recent years nadir temperature progressively increased to 26-28 °C (moderately hypothermic circulatory arrest, MHCA), adding ACP. Aim of this multicentric study is to evaluate early results of aortic arch surgery and if DHCA with 10-minute of cold reperfusion at the same nadir temperature of the CA before rewarming (delayed rewarming, DR) can provide a neuroprotection and a lower body protection similar to that provided by MHCA+ACP. Methods. Two-hundred-ten patients were included in the study. DHCA+DR was used in 59 patients and MHCA+ACP in 151. Primary endpoints were death, neurologic event (NE), temporary (TNE) or permanent (permanent neurologic deficit, PND), and need of renal replacement therapy (RRT). Results. Operative mortality occurred in 14 patients (6.7%), NEs in 17 (8.1%) and PNDs in 10 (4.8%). Twenty-three patients (10.9%) needed RRT. Death+PND occurred in 21 patients (10%) and composite endpoint in 35 (19.2%). Intergroup weighed logistic regression analysis showed similar prevalence of deaths, NDs and death+PND, but need of RRT (OR 7.39, CI 1.37-79.1) and composite endpoint (OR 8.97, CI 1.95-35.3) were significantly lower in DHCA+DR group compared with MHCA+ACP group. Conclusions. The results of our study demonstrate that DHCA+DR has the same prevalence of operative mortality, NE and association of death+PND than MHCA+ACP. However, the data suggests that DHCA+DR when compared with MHCA+ACP provides better renal protection and reduced prevalence of composite endpoint.

Based on an auxiliary differential equation (ADE) and new weighted Laguerre polynomials (WLPs), an efficient 3-D finite-difference time-domain method (FDTD) with factorized-splitting (FS) scheme is proposed to calculate wave propagation in general dispersive materials. In order to model general dispersive materials, the ADE technique is introduced because it can establish the relationship between the electric displacement vector and the electric field intensity. Using a new temporal basis, the new WLPs can improve computational efficiency and save computing resources. The FS scheme is used to efficiently solve the huge sparse matrix equation of WLP-FDTD method into a sub-steps procedure. A numerical example is given to verify the accuracy and the efficiency of the proposed method. Compared with existing methods, the results from the proposed method show its superiority for dispersive media simulation.

The experimental and simulation results indicate that the reverse Brazil nut effect (RBNE)-Brazil nut effect (BNE) segregation inversion happens faster in the circular-bottom container than that in the flat-bottom container. The starting location of the sinkage of heavier grains at the top layer is triggered with certain randomness in the latter, whereas it first occurs at either of the lateral bottom edges in the former. The occurrence of standing-wave resonant spots of higher and lower granular temperature accelerates the RBNE-BNE transition. From the elastic collision model of single grain, the bottom with a larger angle leads to more energy transfer from the vertical direction. The simulation results of a monodisperse granular bed confirm that the circular-bottom container possesses a higher granular temperature and a lower packing density at the lateral edges of the circular bottom, whereas the flat-bottom container has a uniform standing-wave distribution with a period.

The purpose of this work is to explore the effect of new anti-aggregation agent ( coconut oil amide propyl betaine ) on the flow stability of oil-water emulsion system under different water content and flow rate conditions, and confirm that the new anti-aggregation agent under high water content and even pure water conditions can still play an anti-coagulation role, so that hydrates can form stable and mobile mud. In addition, in order to explore the parameter changes in the system caused by the transient changes ( shutdown and start ) in the flow system and the flow characteristics of hydrate in the non-flat pipeline, the flow characteristics of hydrate slurry with inclined pipe section are explored, and the changes in the flow characteristics of hydrate with shutdown and restart in the actual production process are explored by stopping and restarting the equipment.

Lamellar membranes, especially assembled by microporous framework nanosheets, have excited interest for fast molecular permeation. However, the underlying molecular dissolution behaviors on membrane surface, especially at pore entrances, remain unclear. Here, hierarchical metal-organic framework (MOF) lamellar membranes with 7 nm-thick surface layer and 553 nm-thick support layer are prepared. Hydrophilic (–NH2) or hydrophobic (–CH3) groups are decorated at pore entrances on surface layer to manipulate wettability, while –CH3 groups on support layer provide comparable, low-resistance paths. We demonstrate that molecular dissolution behaviors are determined by molecule-molecule and molecule-pore interactions, derived from intrinsic parameters of molecule and membrane. Importantly, two dissolution model equations are established: for hydrophobic membrane surface, dissolution activation energy (ES) obeys ES=Kmln[(γL-γC)μd2], while turns to ES=Kaln[(γL-γC)δeμd2] for hydrophilic one. Particularly, hydrophilic pore entrances exert strong interaction with polar molecules, thus compensating the energy consumed by molecule rearrangement, giving fast permeation (> 270 L m-2 h-1 bar-1).

Natural Language Interface to Database (NLIDB) eliminates the need for an end user to use complex query languages like SQL by translating the input natural language statements to SQL automatically. Although NLIDB systems have seen rapid growth of interest recently, the current state-of-the-art systems can at best handle point queries to retrieve certain column values satisfying some filters, or aggrega-tion queries involving basic SQL aggregation functions. In this demo, we showcase our NLIDB system with extended capabilities for business applications that require complex nested SQL queries without prior training or feedback from human in-the-loop. In particular, our system uses novel algorithms that combine linguistic analysis with deep domain reasoning for solving core challenges in handling nested queries. To demonstrate the capabilities, we propose a new benchmark dataset containing realistic business intelligence queries, conforming to an ontology derived from FIBO and FRO financial ontologies. In this demo, we will showcase a wide range of complex business intelligence queries against our benchmark dataset, with increasing level of complexity. The users will be able to examine the SQL queries generated, and also will be provided with an English description of the interpretation.

We developed a deterministic model with multiple compartments by a system of differential equations, which allows for simulating novel coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission dynamics with human adaptive behaviors and vaccine effects, aiming at predicting the end time of COVID-19 infection in global scale. Based on the surveillance information (reported cases and vaccination data) between January 22, 2020 and July 18, 2022, we validated the model by MCMC fitting method. We found that (1) if without protective and control behaviors, the epidemic could sweep the world in 2022 and 2023, causing 3.098 billion of human infections, which is 5.39 times of the current number; (2) there could be 645 million people avoided from infection due to vaccine; (3) if following current scenarios of protective/control behaviors and vaccine rate, the cumulative number of cases would increase slowly, leveling off around 2023, and the epidemic would end completely in June 2025, causing 1.024 billion infections. Our findings suggest that collective protection behavior and vaccination remain the key determinants of the global process of COVID-19 transmission.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine the success of vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC) based on previous cesarean delivery indication. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study SETTING: University of the Philippines - Philippine General Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology hospital masterlist data SAMPLE: Gravidas with a previous cesarean section within a five year period (2015 - 2019) METHODS: Maternal demographics, obstetric characteristics on admission, perinatal morbidities and maternal morbidities were recorded. Data was analyzed using Student’s t-test for continuous variables, chi-square test to compare the distribution and Z-test was used to compare success rates. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome measures are TOLAC rate, VBAC rate, factors which affect success of TOLAC and VBAC, and perinatal and maternal morbidities associated with successful and failed VBAC. RESULTS: A total of 2485 patients were included. The overall TOLAC rate was 17% (95% CI: 15.6% - 18.6%) and the VBAC rate was 9.5% (95% CI: 8.3% - 10.7%). Patients with successful VBAC are younger, had less weight and body mass index, shorter interdelivery intervals, and admitted in active phase cervical dilatation. Previous cesarean section indication did not significantly affect VBAC success. Perinatal and maternal morbidities of successful and failed VBAC did not significantly differ from one another. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided local evidence and valuable perspective in success factors which influence our counselling and eventual management of patients with a previous cesarean section.

While many species are fearful of human presence, others may habituate after prolonged, non-lethal exposure. Highly persecuted carnivores often take longer to habituate than herbivores, which can lead to prey associating with humans to ‘shield’ themselves from predators. We conducted an experiment in a hyper-diverse African reserve to examine how an apex predator (spotted hyena) and two primary prey species partition spatiotemporal activity in response to 1) threatening human voice playbacks and 2) long-term, less-threatening tourism activity. Hyenas avoided areas with human voice playbacks during the day, allowing prey to use these areas diurnally to shield themselves from predation. Neither predator nor prey were deterred from sites with tourists. This apparent habituation by predators conserved co-occurrence between predators and their prey, ‘breaking’ the human shield. While use of human shields may be widespread among large mammalian predators and prey, these effects may lessen through time in the absence of predator persecution.

Abstract:

Infectious fungal diseases can have devastating effects on wildlife health and our ability to detect emerging fungal pathogens in the wild is considered indispensable for effective management strategies. Several fungi from the genus Nannizziopsis and Paranannizziopsis are emerging pathogens of reptiles and have been observed to cause disease in a wide range of taxa. Nannizziopsis barbatae has become a particularly important pathogen of Australian reptiles with an increasing number of herpetofauna being reported with cases of infection from across the country. Here, we report a species-specific qPCR assay for the rapid detection of N. barbatae and demonstrate its application in a wild urban population of a dragon lizard. In addition, we present the mitochondrial genome sequences and phylogenetic analysis for seven species in this group of fungi to support further research into the evolutionary ecology of these emerging pathogens.

Aims: Colchicine treatment has known beneficial effects on cardiovascular health and reduces the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Studies in isolated rodent arteries have shown that colchicine can enhance β-adrenoceptor-mediated vasodilation. In this translational study we examined whether this effect of colchicine was present in humans by conducting a double-blinded, placebo controlled intervention study. Methods and Results : Middle-aged men with essential hypertension were randomly assigned firstly to acute treatment with either 0.5 mg colchicine or placebo, and subsequently re-randomized for 3 weeks of treatment with either colchicine 0.5 mg twice daily (n=16) or placebo (n=15) followed by a washout period of 48-72 h. The vasodilator responses to isoprenaline, acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside, were determined as well as arterial pressure, arterial compliance and plasma inflammatory markers. Acute colchicine treatment increased isoprenaline- (by 38% for the highest dose) as well as SNP- (by 29% main effect) induced vasodilation, but had no effect on the response to acetylcholine. Conclusion: Three weeks of twice daily treatment of colchicine, followed by a wash-out period, did not induce an accumulated or sustained effect on the β-adrenoceptor response and there was no effect on either arterial pressure, arterial compliance or on the level of measured inflammatory markers. The results provide novel translational evidence for a transient enhancing effect of colchicine on β-adrenoceptor-mediated vasodilation in humans with essential hypertension

Aims: Poly-ADP-ribose polymerase inhibitors have emerged as a new class of therapeutic agents for breast cancer patients with BRCA mutations; however, the efficacy and toxicity of PARP inhibitors have not been clearly established. Methods: This study comprehensively evaluated the efficacy and safety of PARP inhibitors in BRCA mutated breast cancer patients. Online databases were systematically searched, and six clinical trials were included in the meta-analysis. The primary endpoint of efficacy was PFS, secondary endpoints are OS and ORR. In addition, we also assessed safety. Results: The results of the meta-analysis showed that PARP inhibitors can effectively improve the PFS, and OS of patients compared with the control group. The pooled HR (PARP inhibitor vs control group) was 0.63 (95 % CI, 0.55− 0.73) in PFS and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.73 -0.95) in OS among all patients. In terms of safety, PARP inhibitors show controllable adverse reactions. There were no significant differences in overall AEs or grade≥3 AEs between the PARP inhibitor arms and the control arms. Conclusions: In general, this study demonstrates PARP inhibitors perform well in both monotherapy and combination therapy, not only can provide substantial survival benefit, but also do not increase the additional toxicity burden, and the clinical application is promising.

Gastrointestinal motility is tightly regulated by the enteric nervous system (ENS). Disruption of coordinated ENS activity can result in dysmotility. Pharmacological treatment options for dysmotility include targeting of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) expressed by neurons of the ENS. Current GPCR-targeting drugs for motility disorders bind to the highly conserved endogenous ligand binding site and promote indiscriminate activation or inhibition of the target receptor throughout the body. This can be associated with significant side-effect liability and a loss of physiological tone. Allosteric modulators of GPCRs bind to a distinct site from the endogenous ligand, which is typically less conserved across multiple receptor subtypes and can modulate endogenous ligand signalling. Allosteric modulation of GPCRs that are important for ENS function may provide effective relief from motility disorders while limiting side-effects. This review will focus on how allosteric modulators of GPCRs may influence gastrointestinal motility, using 5-HT, ACh, and opioid receptors as examples.

Evolutionary processes such as speciation happens gradually over time making such processes time-dependant. Many studies conducted over the past two decades have aimed at providing accurate, fossil-calibrated, estimates of the divergence times of both extant and extinct species in most lineages of the tree of life, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Data from more than 4 000 of these studies are now publicly available from a central time tree resource and provide opportunities of retrieving divergence times, evolutionary timelines, and time trees in various formats to enhance scientific investigations of evolution. There is, however, still limited functionality when studying large lists of species that would require the batch retrieval of data. To overcome this, a PYTHON package called Python Automated Retrieval of Time Tree data, abbreviated as PAReTT, was created to facilitate the interaction with the time tree resource when working with species lists. This package was recently used in a meta-analysis of candidate genes to study migration genetics and was able to successfully retrieve data for forty or more species to illustrate the relationship between divergence times and genetic data. The PAReTT package is freely available for download from GitHub to implement in PYTHON or as a pre-compiled Windows executable, with extensive documentation on the package available on the PAReTT GitHub wiki pages on dependencies, installation, and implementation of the various functions.

There is a wealth of information security guidance available in academic and practitioner literature. Although other tactics such as deterrence, deception, detection, and reaction are possible, most of the research focuses on how to prevent security threats using technological countermeasures. The findings of a qualitative study conducted in Korea to determine how businesses use security techniques to protect their information systems are presented in this article. The results show a deeply ingrained preventative mindset, driven by a desire to ensure the availability of technology and services and a general lack of awareness of enterprise security concerns. While other tactics were evident, they were also preventative measures. The article lays out a research agenda for deploying multiple strategies across an enterprise, focusing on how to combine, balance, and optimize systems. This research looked at various topics, including information security and areas where security strategy is likely to be discussed, such as military sources. There are nine security strategies identified. A qualitative focus group approach is used to determine how these security strategies are used in organizations. In focus groups, security managers from eight organizations were asked to discuss their organizations' security strategies. According to the findings, many organizations use a preventive approach to keep technology services available. Some of the other identified methods were used to support the prevention strategy on an operational level.

The integration of telecommunications in the energy grid, which is paving the way for Smart Grids, calls into question how the energy sector has historically ensured safe operations. New cyber security concerns exist, particularly in the areas of privacy, connection, and security management, which must be addressed effectively. Existing cyber security technologies and best practices are mostly derived from the old telecommunication context, where safety and availability requirements are less stringent. Lessons on how the oil and gas sector has coped with security concerns in the introduction of integrated operations can be used to Smart Grids. Smart Grids, on the other hand, face a somewhat different reality due to their wide geographic dispersion and large number of end-users. This study makes a contribution by providing an overview of cyber security problems for Smart Grids, as well as a plan for addressing these challenges in the near future. However, because many of the communication technologies now advocated for use by a smart grid are cyber-vulnerable, this might result in inconsistent system operations, resulting in wasteful spending and possibly disaster for both utilities and customers. We review the cyber security needs and potential vulnerabilities in smart grid communications in this study, as well as survey existing cyber security solutions for smart grid communications.

We live in a time when data security has become a significant concern. Cyber services are the most enjoyable and time-saving aspects of one's life. On the other hand, people save their data in the cloud, handled by the cyber. In this case, cyber-security is quite vital. This is an open security challenge because many intruders can attack the data and hack the user's details through the server. If we look around, we will see a lot of cases involving cyber-crime. The security of our cloud-based datasets has become a serious concern. Our research will include data security, including intruder detection that can happen anywhere on the planet. Protecting data from intruders has become critical, and intruder detection should be the essential key to identifying. How will we know who is stealing the data that has been secured using biometric security, fingerprints, passwords, OTPs, and other methods if we don't know who the intruder is? Intruder detection has become increasingly important, particularly on mobile objects such as aeroplanes and ships. We can only find a solution if we understand the problem. We employ machine learning, biometric recognition, data learning, and hybrid approaches to avoid this. These will be the system's handles, and they will help secure data from intruders by utilizing the best optimization techniques to obtain precise data. We proposed a banking system model in which biometric impressions and digital signatures are used to enable every transaction by a bank's customer. This proposal recommends that the Smart Online Banking System (SOBS) be made more secure by employing biometric prints, which decreases the number of threats that an invader may pose.

We present a case of a 60 year old male who found to be in atrial fibrillation during routine evaluation. Anticoagulation was initiated for 36 hours and he was referred for TEE guided electrical cardioversion. There was no thrombus identified in the left atrial appendage, however the appendage was large and had a tongue like accessory lobe along with spontanous contrast on the left atrium and its appendage. TEE probe was not withdrawn, patient underwent successful cardioversion with 200 joules and developed a thrombus in the left atrial appendage immediately after cardioversion, which rapidly became more dense. There was an associated marked decrease in appendage velocities. Patient was hospitalized to initiate low molecular weight heparin. This case highlights the need for vigilance in patients with unknown duration of atrial fibrillation, who have received a short duration of anticoagulant therapy and who have adverse appendage anatomy as thrombus may develop immediately after cardioversion despite anticoagulation.

Table S1.  Performance of soft pneumatic actuators

Background: Food allergy affects up to 8% of the pediatric population. Despite ongoing efforts, treatment options remain limited. Novel models of food allergy are needed to study response patterns downstream of IgE-crosslinking and evaluate drugs modifying acute events. Here, we report a novel human ex vivo model that displays acute, allergen-specific, IgE-mediated smooth muscle contractions using precision cut intestinal slices (PCIS). Methods: PCIS were generated using gut tissue samples from children who underwent clinically indicated surgery. Viability and metabolic activity were assessed from 0-24h. Distribution of relevant cell subsets was confirmed using single cell nuclear sequencing. PCIS were passively sensitized using plasma from peanut allergic donors or peanut-sensitized non-allergic donors, and exposed to various stimuli including serotonin, histamine, FcɛRI-crosslinker and food allergens. Smooth muscle contractions and mediator release functioned as readouts. A novel program designed to measure contractions was developed to quantify responses. The ability to demonstrate the impact of antihistamines and immunomodulation from peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) was assessed. Results: PCIS viability was maintained for 24h. Cellular distribution confirmed the presence of key cell subsets including mast cells. The video analysis tool reliably quantified responses to different stimulatory conditions. Smooth muscle contractions were allergen-specific and reflected the clinical phenotype of the plasma donor. Tryptase measurement confirmed IgE-dependent mast cell-derived mediator release. Antihistamines suppressed histamine-induced contraction and plasma from successful peanut OIT suppressed peanut-specific PCIS contraction. Conclusion: PCIS represent a novel human tissue-based model to study acute, IgE-mediated food allergy and pharmaceutical impacts on allergic responses in the gut.

A document by Oscar González-Llano. Click on the document to view its contents.

Prolonged Remission in Multiple Relapsed MLL-rearranged Infant B-ALL with Inotuzumab OzogamicinAkhila Lattupally MD1, Adonis Lorenzana MD1, Gregory Anthony Yanik MD2, Danielle Bell MD1,31. Ascension St. John Children’s Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, United States.2. C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital – University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States.3. Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, Michigan, United States.Corresponding Author: Akhila Lattupally MDAddress: 22101 Moross Rd, PB2, Suite 70, Detroit, Michigan 48236Phone: 469-468-7978Fax: 313-343-4756Email:Akhila.Lattupally@ascension.orgWord Count: Main text: 841 wordsNumber of Tables: 0 Number of Figures: 0 Number of Supporting Information Files: 0Running Title: Remission in Infant ALL with Inotuzumab Ozogamicin.Keywords: Infant Leukemia, ALL Relapse, Immunotherapy