Saltwater- and freshwater environments have opposing physiological challenges, yet, there are fish species that are able to enter both habitats during short time-spans, and as individuals they must therefore adjust quickly to osmoregulatory contrasts. In this study, we conducted an experiment to test for plastic responses to abrupt sainity changes in two poplulations of threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, representing two ecotypes (freshwater and ancestral saltwater). We exposed both ecotypes to abrupt native (control treatment) and non-native salinities (0 and 30‰) and sampled gill-tissue for transcriptomic analyses after six hours exposure. To investigate genomic responses to salinity, we analysed four different comparisons; one for each ecotype (in their control and exposure salinity; 1 and 2), one between ecotypes in their control salinity (3), and the fourth comparison included all transcripts identified in (3) that did not show any expressional changes within ecotype in either the control or the exposed salinity (4). Abrupt salinity transfer affected the expression of 10 and 1530 transcripts for the saltwater and freshwater ecotype, respectively, and 1314 were differentially expressed between the controls, including 502 that were not affected by salinity within ecotype (fixed expression). In total, these results indicate that factors other than genomic expressional plasticity are important for osmoregulation in stickleback, due to the need for opposite physiological pathways to survive the abrupt change in salinity.

After establishing secondary contact, recently diverged populations may remain reproductively isolated or hybridize to a varying extent depending on factors such as hybrid fitness and the strength of assortative mating. Replicated contact zones between hybridizing taxa offer a unique opportunity to explore how different factors interact to shape patterns of hybridization. Here, we used genomic and phenotypic data from three independent contact zones between subspecies of the Variable Seedeater (Sporophila corvina), to examine how coloration and genetic divergence shape patterns of hybridization. We found that plumage coloration has limited introgression across contact zones, but the degree of plumage divergence does not explain overall patterns of introgression. Across two parallel contact zones between populations with divergent phenotypes (entirely black vs. pied plumage) populations hybridized extensively across one contact zone but not the other, suggesting that plumage divergence is not sufficient to maintain reproductive isolation. Where subspecies hybridized, hybrid zones were wide and formed by later-generation hybrids, suggesting that hybrids present similar or higher fitness than parental subspecies. Moreover, contemporary gene flow has played an important role in shaping patterns of genetic diversity between populations. Overall, our results demonstrate that divergence in plumage coloration is important in reducing gene flow but insufficient in maintaining reproductive isolation in this clade, and that other factors such as divergence in song and time since secondary contact may also play an important role in driving patterns of reduced hybridization and gene flow.

The genetic structure of species is shaped by several natural and non-natural factors. Although geographical isolation and natural barriers are important causes of genetic structure formation of species, the effects of dispersal potential and population outbreaks remain controversial. Here, we explored this issue in a migratory locust, Ceracris kiangsu, which is an important pest that feeds on bamboo in East and Southeastern Asia. Based on 187 newly sequenced and 286 previously sequenced mitochondrial COI fragments, and 8 nuclear microsatellite loci, we studied the genetic diversity and population genetic structure of C. kiangsu. Both molecular markers revealed high genetic diversity of the geographic populations that possibly resulted from the high flight capacity of the locust. The degree of genetic differentiation among populations was also high, and Mantel test showed that it was significantly correlated with geographical distance. Principal coordinate analysis and STRUCTURE results revealed two genetically different groups, a South China (S-China) Group and a Southeast Asia (SE-Asia) Group. Climate variables well explained the population genetic structure. The demographic history showed that the S-China Group experienced population expansion in the Holocene, whereas the SE-Asia Group was consistently stable. A southeast population (Guangxi) might have been a refuge prior to Holocene expansion. Our study demonstrates a distinct population structure maintained in this migratory insect and reveals the potential effect of past climatic change, geographical isolation, and ecological factors on the evolution of their genetic structure.

Students may experience various types of headaches, as well as stress, which can have an impact on their mental and social health as well as their academic performance. Headache is one of the most common aspects of modern life, owing to the rapid changes in human life. Students are subjected to academic stress as a result of academic tests, homework assignments, and other school requirements. Scientists are testing drugs based on medical therapies based on previous research. Many drugs, such as naproxen, flurbiprofen, fenoprofen, ketoprofen, and ibuprofen are listed in the recommendations. Topological index is a molecular descriptor that use to analyze the chemical and physical properties of chemical compounds and can be used in modeling to predict the physicochemical properties and biological activities of molecules in a quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) and quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) studies. In this study, M-polynomial methods were used to investigate several degree-based topological indices for some drugs used for headaches (i.e., naproxen, flurbiprofen, fenoprofen, ketoprofen, and ibuprofen). Furthermore, a QSPR relationship was discovered between the various topological indices and the various physicochemical properties of these antiviral drugs. According to the obtained results, topological indices have a strong correlation with the physicochemical properties of potential drugs.

Title Page:Title : Letter To the Editor: Outcomes of Preoperative Antiplatelet Therapy in Patients With Acute Type A Aortic DissectionArticle Type : Letter To The EditorCorrespondence : 1. Sandhya KumariContact no: +92-3321346164 Email: ssdsandhyajiwan@gmail.comInstitute: Ziauddin University KarachiAddress: Bungalow Number 7/2, 26th Street, Tauheed Commercial Area, Phase 5 Defence Karachi.ORCID: 0000-0001-8842-8738Co-Author : 2. Roomi RajaContact No: +92-3342946940 Email: Romirajagoindani@yahoo.comInstitution: Ziauddin University KarachiAddress: Hemilton Courts Block G-1 Flat 408 Near Teen Talwar Clifton KarachiORCID: 0000-0001-9104-3644Word Count : 340Conflict of interest : NoneAcknowledgement : NoneDeclaration : NoneDisclosure : NoneFunding : NoneDear Editor,We have, in recent times, read with great interest the article entitled “ Outcomes of Preoperative Antiplatelet Therapy in Patients With Acute Type A Aortic Dissection” by Xuan Jiang MD et al.1 We highly appreciate the author’s efforts towards this highly sensitive topic and it needs to be applauded by the readers.We acknowledge the primary conclusion of the article that patients receiving antiplatelet therapy before having surgery for acute type A aortic dissection is associated with increased mortality and increased need for blood transfusions. However, some concerns appear, disturbing the validity of the study.Even though the authors have highlighted the use of multiple different antiplatelet drugs before the surgery such as ticagrelor, clopidogrel and aspirin, there remains some factors that made an impact on the findings. Firstly, the authors should have considered the patients who are on Dual antiplatelet therapy because mortality and blood transfusion rate in patients using dual antiplatelet therapy is higher as compared to a single antiplatelet drug user.2 Secondly, the authors should have widened their inclusion criteria and could have included patients with preoperative characteristic such as cardiac tamponade and lower systolic blood pressure, like the study of 2014 included these two as variables and found increased prevalence of mortality associated with these variables.3Thirdly, the authors should have classified the patients using Debakey class 1,2 and Penn class A,B,C classifications. For example, a study in 2019 stated that the patients who experienced major bleeding were associated with Debakey class 1 and higher Penn class.4 Lastly, the authors should have taken into consideration some measures while transferring a patient to the ICU to minimize the mortality rate. For example, a study of 2022 stated that patients on new oral anticoagulants required norepinephrine and other inotropic agents while transferring to ICU as compared to patients taking warfarin (Coumadin).5In last, additional new studies should be conducted on patients receiving antiplatelet therapy before undergoing mitral valve surgery so that incidents leading to mortality goes down and prognosis becomes better.References:1- Jiang X, Khan F, Shi E, Fan R, Qian X, Zhang H, Gu T. Outcomes of preoperativeantiplatelet therapy in patients with acute type A aortic dissection. J Card Surg. 2022Jan;37(1):53-61. doi: 10.1111/jocs.16080. Epub 2021 Oct 17. PMID: 34657299.2- Chemtob RA, Moeller-Soerensen H, Holmvang L, Olsen PS, Ravn HB. OutcomeAfter Surgery for Acute Aortic Dissection: Influence of Preoperative AntiplateletTherapy on Prognosis. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2017 Apr;31(2):569-574. doi:10.1053/j.jvca.2016.10.007. Epub 2016 Oct 11. PMID: 28017673.3- Hansson EC, Dellborg M, Lepore V, Jeppsson A. Prevalence, indications andappropriateness of antiplatelet therapy in patients operated for acute aortic dissection:associations with bleeding complications and mortality. Heart. 2013 Jan;99(2):116-21. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2012-302717. Epub 2012 Oct 9. PMID: 23048167.4- Hansson EC, Geirsson A, Hjortdal V, Mennander A, Olsson C, Gunn J, et al.Preoperative dual antiplatelet therapy increases bleeding and transfusions but notmortality in acute aortic dissection type a repair [Internet]. OUP Academic. OxfordUniversity Press; 2019: doi: org/10.1093/ejctz/ezy469. Epub 2019 january 16.5- Sromicki J, Van Hemelrijck M, Schmiady MO, Krüger B, Morjan M, Bettex D, VogtPR, Carrel TP, Mestres CA. Prior intake of new oral anticoagulants adversely affectsoutcome following surgery for acute type A aortic dissection. Interact CardiovascThorac Surg. 2022 Jun 15;35(1):ivac037. doi: 10.1093/icvts/ivac037. PMID:35258082; PMCID: PMC9252133.

Seiring dengan potensi ekonomi pariwisata syariah global maka para pemangku kepentingan di Indonesia mengembangkan regulasi, destinasi, fasilitas pendukung, dan akomodasi pariwisata berdasarkan prinsip-prinsip syariah Islam. Kebijakan pariwisata syariah tersebut diimplementasikan pada destinasi-destinasi potensial di Indonesia termasuk di Pulau Bali. Wacana implementasi pariwisata syariah di Bali tidak berjalan sesuai dengan harapan bahkan menimbulkan pro dan kontra di antara pemangku kepentingan pariwisata syariah dan pemangku kepentingan pariwisata budaya Bali. Pro dan kontra tersebut menarik untuk diteliti untuk memahami bentuk-bentuk diskursus, faktor-faktor yang melatarbelakangi penolakan, maupun implikasi-implikasinya. Untuk memecahkan permasalahan tersebut maka penelitian dilaksanakan dengan menggunakan metode kualitatif, data dikumpulkan melalui wawancara mendalam terhadap responden yang dipilih secara purposive dan teknik snow ball. Data dianalisis dengan teori hegemoni, ideologi dan relasi kuasa pengetahuan yang digunakan secara eklektik. Berdasarkan hasil analisis ditemukan bahwa wacana pengembangan pariwisata syariah di Bali merupakan praktik hegemoni yang melibatkan relasi kekuasaan negara untuk menanamkan ideologi Islam. Hegemoni pariwisata syariah tersebut tidak berhasil karena para pemangku kepentingan pariwisata budaya di Bali melakukan kontra hegemoni secara konsisten. Faktor-faktor yang melatari kontra hegemoni tersebut adalah konsep pariwisata budaya Bali, nilai-nilai multikulturalisme dalam pariwisata Bali, dan pemertahanan identitas etnis Bali. Wacana pariwisata syariah tersebut berimplikasi terhadap eskalasi praktik politik identitas karena regulasi negara berpihak pada Islam, menjadi ancaman terhadap pariwisata budaya, eksistensi tradisi, adat etnis Hindu Bali dan menjadi komoditas politik, dijadikan rujukan oleh etnis lain di luar Bali, dijadikan sebagai rambu-rambu untuk pengembangan pariwisata syariah selanjutnya. Oleh sebab itu disarankan agar pemerintah tidak melanjutkan wacana implementasi pariwisata syariah di Bali dan memelihara kohesi kebangsaan dalam keberagaman.1 Naskah Orasi Ilmiah pada Wisuda XX Universitas Triatma Mulya-Jumat 16 September 2022

A novel frequency-to-voltage converter (FVC) based phase-locked loop (PLL) is proposed to overcome the inability of an FVC-based frequency-locked loop (FLL) to lock phase. The proposed dual-loop PLL adds variable phase-locking capability, such that the phase locking angle can vary from 0o – 360o. The additional variable phase-locking can be applied in data communication in the form of phase modulation. The design is targeted for a 0.5-µm CMOS process. The proposed design generates a 480MHz clock from a reference clock of 15MHz. In simulation, the proposed PLL locks within 3.56 µs while consuming 1.61 mW of power.

Of central importance to evaluate the suitability of ionic liquids (ILs) for a process is the accurate estimation of IL properties related to target performances. In this work, a versatile deep learning method for predicting IL properties is developed. Molecular fingerprints are derived from the encoder state of a Transformer model pre-trained on the PubChem database, which allows transfer learning from large-scale unlabeled data and significantly improves generalization performance for developing models with small datasets. Employing the pre-trained molecular fingerprints, convolutional neural network (CNN) models for IL properties prediction are trained and tested on 11 databases. The obtained Transformer-CNN models present superior performance to state-of-the-art models in all cases and enable property prediction of millions of ILs shortly. The application of the proposed models is exemplified by searching CO2 absorbent from a huge database of 8,333,096 synthetically feasible ILs, which is by far the most high-throughput IL screening in literature.

Emergence traps have increasingly been used to study ground nesting bees. They offer an advantage over other methods, such as netting or passive traps, because they can directly measure ground nesting bees at a landscape scale. However, emergence trapping for ground nesting bees has limitations, including low catch rates and data that is difficult to interpret. For example, emergence traps catch a combination of actively nesting bees, newly emerging bees from nests provisioned the previous year, overwintering bees, and incidental bees, such as non-ground-nesting species or bees that were simply sleeping on vegetation. Further, a single emergence trap can capture many specimens from a single nest due to the presence of workers, newly emerging reproductives (gynes), or multiple siblings from a nest provisioned the previous year. Due to these factors, a thorough knowledge of the life history of bee species collected is necessary to accurately filter and interpret the data. Here, we provide methods to determine whether bee specimens caught from emergence traps came from nests. Using a combination of trap data, life-history characters, and estimates of bee age, we classify bees as newly emerging, active nests, or incidentally caught. This will allow researchers to reduce the risk of spurious inferences that may over- or under-estimate bee nesting. Many areas of future research remain, particularly studies on the efficacy of emergence traps for ground-nesting bee research as well as a glaring need to better document the life-history of many bee species.   Abstract content goes here

Rim M. HarfouchDepartment of microbiology and biochemistry, Faculty of pharmacy, Al-Sham private university (ASPU), Latakia, Syria.Correspondence Author’s E-mail: r.h.foph.lat@aspu.edu.sy

Background The commonness of psychological illness occurring within the university curriculum, along with the socioeconomic or behavioral status of students, is growing with the development of the deteriorating education system. It is gradually developing into a mental health issue among undergraduate students in Nepal and poses a significant challenge for public health globally. This research study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with depression, anxiety, and stress among undergraduate management students in Kathmandu, Nepal. Methods: Out of 600 sample sizes, 516 students participated in the descriptive cross-sectional study carried out among undergraduate management students in Kathmandu. Depression, anxiety, and stress were measured using the DASS21 (depression, anxiety, and stress scale 21) tool, designed for self-administered data collection in Nepali and English. The questionnaire comprises four sections: socio-demographic information, depression, anxiety, and stress, to measure the different emotional states of the student. Findings: The overall prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress was found to be 57.8 %, 60.9 %, and 43 %, respectively, among undergraduate management students in Kathmandu, and most female students experienced it in contrast to male students. Almost all students (100 %) who participated in the research study have experienced the unnecessary pressure of college studies as the most significant cause of depression, anxiety, and stress. Students, those having less family income (< 20000 NPR per month), those breaking up with loved ones, those having no daily physical exercise, and having pressured college studies were at higher risk of experiencing depression (P=0.004, P=0.007, P=0.023, and P=0.000 respectively). The prevalence rate of extremely severe depression, anxiety, and stress was about 9.1 %, 23.8 %, and 7 %, respectively. Conclusion: The study found that undergraduate management students in Kathmandu had high rates of anxiety, depression, and stress. Special attention and necessary psychological health intervention from their respective colleges/universities and government sectors are highly recommended.

Background: Incidences of sexual harassment that occur over the internet are growing with the development of new technologies and virtual communities. This is a hidden form of sexual harassment that emerges unpredictably and poses a public health challenge. The objective of this study was to determine the extent of online sexual harassment experienced by female students (aged 15–24 years) in Baneshwor (Ward 10), Kathmandu, Nepal. Methods: A total of 382 female students aged 15–24 – high school (10+2 level) to bachelor level – participated in a quantitative cross-sectional study. A semistructured questionnaire, in the English language, was designed for selfadministered data collection. It comprised six sections: sociodemographic information, internet accessibility, use of social media, experience of online sexual harassment, student’s awareness and online behaviour. Results: Around 66.5% of respondents reported having been exposed to online sexual harassment at least once, and most of the respondents (73.2%) had been exposed to online sexual harassment multiple times. Just under twothirds (62.8%) of the respondents had been exposed to online sexual harassment before they reached 18 years of age. The mean age at which the young women experienced online sexual harassment was 18.94±1.79 years. Respondents studying in high school (10+2 level), those residing in urban areas and those accepting friend requests on social media from people they did not know offline were at higher risk of experiencing frequent online sexual harassment (P=0.000, P=0.011, and P=0.013 respectively). Conclusion: The rate of online sexual harassment recorded was high. This shows an urgent need to address the problem; universities and the government need to play a part. A new module of comprehensive sexuality education for virtual communication is suggested as an addition to current academic curriculums.  

We report the incidence of bacteraemia associated with Ignatzschineria spp. for the first time from animal clinical case presumably, as a post complication of maggot wound in a White Yorkshire pig. We described a clinical history of a febrile adult white Yorkshire pig and the isolation of Ignatzschineria spp. from blood sample. The isolate was characterized phenotypically and further identified by 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Its occurrence may be misdiagnosed in veterinary hospitals especially in low-resource settings, often leading to the underreporting of such emerging infections, since the diagnostic facilities are still in very primitive phase in developing countries. More information on speciation is needed with much about the epidemiology and pathogenesis of this emerging pathogen in order to explore its role in the lives of animals and humans. Novel pathogens continue to emerge in human, domestic animal, wildlife and plant populations, yet the population dynamics of this kind of biological invasion remain poorly understood. This rapid communication may redirect the scientific community working for animal and human health worldwide to unveil such rare emerging infections.

Since this is a HP today contribution I understand that it should not have an abstract

Evaluating quality of research papers of U.S. and China via Nature Index journalsYiren Qin1,*1Black Family Stem Cell Institute, Department of Cell, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA.*Correspondence address: yiren.qin@mssm.eduAbstractA Japanese research institution reported that the quality of scientific research papers published by China has surpassed that of the U.S., ranking first in the world. However, the conclusion is questionable. Currently, there is no standard way to compare the quality of published research papers. In general, most high-quality papers are consistently published in Nature Index journals. Therefore, the quality of research papers can be assessed by comparing the number of papers published in Nature Index journals, which is a reliable method. Here, I first analyze the number of research papers published in all Nature Index journals in the last 3 years of U.S. and China. Further, I assess the quality of research papers published in China and the U.S. We can find that in the four fields of natural science research including chemistry, earth and environmental science, life science and physical science, the number of publications in the United States is higher than that in China. Among them, the gap is the largest in the field of life science research, the United States is 4.2 times that of China, the gap is the smallest in the field of chemical research, the United States is only 1.4 times that of China. When comparing the number of articles published in all Nature Index journals, the U.S. is 1.8 times that of China, still in the leading position. Therefore, in terms of the number of articles published in the internationally recognized Nature Index journals, the quality of the papers published in the U.S. still surpasses that of China.         Recently, a Japanese research institution reported that the number and quality of scientific research papers published by China has surpassed that of the U.S., ranking first in the world [1]. The study found that in the top 1% of the world's most cited papers in 2018-2020, there were 4,330 studies in the U.S., accounting for 24.9%, but in comparison, there were 4,744 studies in China, accounting for 27.2%. Therefore, they concluded that the quality of research papers published by China also surpasses that of the U.S. and ranks first in the world. In terms of the number of research papers, it is well-documented that the total number of research papers published by China currently exceeds that of the U.S. However, the conclusion that the quality of research papers published by China also surpasses that of the U.S. is questionable.         Currently, there is no standard way to compare the quality of published research papers. However, in general, most high-quality papers are consistently published and indexed in Nature Index journals. Therefore, the quality of research papers can be assessed by comparing the number of papers published in Nature Index journals, which is a reliable method. Here, I first analyze the number of research papers published in all Nature Index journals in the last 3 years (2019, 2020, 2021) of U.S. and China. Further, I assess the quality of research papers published in China and the U.S.         At present, there are 82 journals included in the Nature Index journals, which are distributed in the four fields of natural science research including chemistry, earth and environmental science, life science and physical science. These four fields include 20, 16, 43 and 24 journals respectively. Among them, the Nature Index journals in these four research fields repeatedly include 5 large-scale comprehensive journals, such as Nature, Science, The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature communications, and Science Advances.        1. The number of papers published in nature Index journals in chemistry in the U.S. and China         The U.S. published 47,990 articles in 20 Nature Index journals in chemistry, compared with 35,349 in China. The U.S. is 1.4 times that of China (Figure 1 and Table 1). However, there are 7 journals in which China published more articles than the US. They are Advanced Materials, Analytical Chemistry, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Chemical Communications, Chemical Science, Inorganic Chemistry, and The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. Among them, the journal with the largest surpassing range is Chemical Communications, and the number of articles published in this journal in the United States is only 20% of that in China.       2. The number of papers published in Nature Index journals in earth and environmental science in U.S. and China       In the 16 kinds of natural index journals in earth and environmental science, the total number of articles published in the U.S. is 38,645, and that in China is 16,923. The U.S. is 2.3 times that of China. Among them, China surpassed the US in the number of publications in only one journal - Water Research (Figure 1 and Table 2).       3. The number of papers published in Nature Index journals in life science in the U.S. and China        The U.S. published a total of 67,529 articles in 43 journals in life science, compared with 16,087 in China, and the U.S. is 4.2 times that in China (Figure 1 and Table 3). It should be pointed out that among these journals, none of the articles published in China exceeded that of the U.S.      4. The number of papers published in Nature Index journals in physical science in the U.S. and China          The U.S. published a total of 62,459 articles in 24 journals in physical science, compared with 35,291 in China. The U.S. is 1.8 times that of China (Figure 1 and Table 4). There are 6 journals in which China published more articles than the US. They are ACS Nano, Advanced Functional Materials, Advanced Materials, Applied Physics Letters, European Physical Journal C, and Physical Review A. Among them, the journal with the largest surpassing range is Advanced Functional Materials. The number of articles published in the journal in the United States is only 40% of that in China (Table 4).       5.  The number of papers published in all Nature Index in the U.S. and China          The U.S. published a total of 130,323 articles in all 82 Nature Index journals, compared with 70,906 in China. The U.S. is 1.8 times that of China (Figure 1 and Table 5).      6. Conclusion       From the above data, we can find that in the four fields of natural science research including chemistry, earth and environmental science, life science and physical science, the number of publications in the United States is higher than that in China. Among them, the gap is the largest in the field of life science research, the United States is 4.2 times that of China, the gap is the smallest in the field of chemical research, the United States is only 1.4 times that of China. When comparing the number of articles published in all Nature Index journals, the U.S. is 1.8 times that of China, still in the leading position. Therefore, in terms of the number of articles published in the internationally recognized Nature Index journals, the quality of the papers published in the U.S. still surpasses that of China. References[1] Ryosuke Matsuzoe, Nikkei, China tops U.S. in quantity and quality of scientific papers. August 10, 2022 Figure LegendsFigure 1. The number of research papers in Nature Index journals in chemistry, earth and environmental sciences, life sciences, and physical sciences and all Nature Index journals in China and U.S.

Android has become the most popular smartphone operating system. This rapidly increasing adoption of Android has resulted in significant increase in the number of malwares when compared with previous years. There exist lots of antimalware programs which are designed to effectively protect the users' sensitive data in mobile systems from such attacks. In this paper, our contribution is twofold. Firstly, we have analyzed the Android malwares and their penetration techniques used for attacking the systems and antivirus programs that act against malwares to protect Android systems. We categorize many of the most recent antimalware techniques on the basis of their detection methods. We aim to provide an easy and concise view of the malware detection and protection mechanisms and deduce their benefits and limitations. Secondly, we have forecast Android market trends for the year up to 2018 and provide a unique hybrid security solution and take into account both the static and dynamic analysis an android application.

This is a 200 patient retrospective single-centre study focused on evaluating the contribution of echocardiography (Echo) findings as an initial screening tool in selecting intensive care unit (ICU) patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) for further diagnostic evaluation with ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) scintigraphy. A total of 200 patients with suspected PE were referred for a V/Q scan. Of these 24 had Еcho findings of a dilated right ventricle (RV). 8 of these 24 patients (33%) had a positive V/Q scan for PE. Seven of those 8 patients (88%) had large pulmonary emboli. Of the remaining 176 patients (without dilated RV) the V/Q scan was positive for pulmonary emboli in 39 cases (22%). If evaluating only the patients positive for pulmonary emboli on V/Q scan (47 patients), 8 of them (17%) had a dilated RV, and 39 (83%) did not have a dilated RV. Thus, we found Еcho mainly contributed to identifying patients with life threatening large pulmonary thrombo-embolic disease. In contrast to the above, echocardiography was non-contributory in the presence of small PE. This was in congruence with the existing literature.

Background: cardiovascular complications are the leading mortality cause among children with chronic kidney diseases (CKD), being responsible for up to 30% of deaths. Left ventricle (LV) diastolic dysfunction is common and has been linked to poor cardiovascular outcomes. Echocardiographic assessment of diastolic function in CKD children is usually limited to spectral and tissue Doppler imaging, known to be less reliable techniques in pediatrics. Two-dimensional Speckle tracking echocardiography (2DST) evaluation of LA strain has recently been confirmed as a robust measure of diastolic function, in different clinical scenarios. Objectives: to investigate LA strain role in diastolic function assessment of children at different stages of CKD, comparing it with standard echocardiographic parameters. Methods: From February 2019 to July 2022, 55 consecutive pediatric CKD patients without cardiovascular symptoms and 55 healthy volunteers were evaluated by standard and 2DST echocardiograms. Clinical data were collected from medical records by the attendant physician. Results: patients and controls had similar age [9.78 (0.89 – 17.54) years vs. 10.72 (1.03 – 18,44) years; p = 0.41] and gender (36M:19F vs. 34M:21F; p = 0.84). The median duration of the disease was 8.1 (0.83 - 17.5) years. There were 7 (12.8%) CKD stage I, 4 (7.3%) CKD stage II, 12 (21.8%) CKD stage III, 2 (3.6%) CKD stage IV and 30 (54.5%) CKD stage V patients. Standard echo reveled preserved (≥ 55%) LV EF in all of them. Although average E/e’ was higher in CKD [6.99 (4.75 – 14.20) vs. 6.38 (3.88 – 11.11); p = 0.009], it was above normal limits in only one individual. Comparing CKD and controls, LA reservoir strain was lower (48.22 ± 10.62% vs. 58.52 ± 10.70%; p < 0.0001) and LA stiffness index was higher [0.14 (0.08 – 0.48) % -1 vs. 0.11 (0.06 – 0.23) % -1; p < 0.0001]. LV hypertrophy was associated with lower LA reservoir strain (42.05 ± 8.74% vs. 52.99 ± 9.52%; p < 0.0001), higher LA stiffness index [0.23 (0.11 – 0.48) % -1 vs. 0.13 (0.08 – 0.23) % -1; p < 0.0001) and filling index (2.39 ± 0.63 cm/s x % -1 vs. 1.74 ± 0.47 cm/s x % -1; p = 0.0001). Uncontrolled hypertension was associated with lower LA reservoir strain (41.9 ± 10.6% vs. 50.6 ± 9.7; p = 0.005). CKD stage showed negative correlation with LA reservoir strain ( r = - 0.37; p = 0.006) and conduit strain ( r = - 0.28; p = 0.0035), besides positive correlation with LA stiffness index (r = 0.48; p = 0.0002). E/e’ showed inferior accuracy in differentiating CKD patients from controls (AUC = 0.64), when compared with LA reservoir strain (AUC = 0.75) and LA stiffness index (AUC = 0.73). LA reservoir strain showed the best accuracy in differentiating dialysis form non dialysis patients (AUC = 0.77). Conclusions: LA strain parameters, especially reservoir strain and stiffness index, showed better accuracy than conventional E/e’ ratio concerning diastolic evaluation in pediatric CKD population. Since diastolic dysfunction bears strong prognostic value in CKD, incorporation of LA strain in routine echocardiographic evaluation of this particular pediatric population seems to be an appropriate strategy

Infrared camera array has been widely used in computer vision, remote sensing and computational Imaging. Due to the lack of a infrared camera array imaging model and a high-quality calibration object, high-quality calibration of the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of the infrared array camera is a challenge. This letter proposes a calibration method for Infrared camera array. Firstly, we propose an infrared camera array imaging model which contains intrinsic, extrinsic and distortion parameters of all sub-cameras of the infrared camera array. Then, we propose an objective function for infrared camera array calibration and use a non-linear algorithm to solve all parameters in infrared camera array calibration model. To get stable infrared checkboard images, we design a constant temperature heating checkboard. Experiment results show our method can efficiently solve intrinsic, extrinsic and distortion parameters with a low reprojection error and an excellent refocusing performance.

Despite frequent co-occurrence of drought and heat stress, the molecular mechanisms governing plant responses to these stresses in combination have not often been studied. This is particularly evident in non-model, perennial plants. We conducted large scale physiological and transcriptome analyses to identify genes and pathways associated with grapevine response to drought and/or heat stress during stress progression and recovery. We identified gene clusters with expression correlated to leaf temperature and water stress and five hub genes for the combined stress co-expression network. Several differentially expressed genes were common to the individual and combined stresses, but the majority were unique to the individual or combined stress treatments. These included heat-shock proteins, mitogen-activated kinases, sugar metabolizing enzymes, and transcription factors, while phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and histone modifying genes were unique to the combined stress treatment. Following physiological recovery, differentially expressed genes were found only in plants under heat stress, both alone and combined with drought. Taken collectively, our results suggest that the effect of the combined stress on physiology and gene expression is more severe than that of individual stresses, but not simply additive, and that epigenetic chromatin modifications may play an important role in grapevine responses to combined drought and heat stress.

a relaxation oscillator is designed.

A key operation in modern genetic engineering is to deliver foreign substances (like modified subcellular organelles, DNA molecules, and drugs) into live cells. Compared with the traditional methods like polyethyleneimine (PEI), cationic liposomes, viral vectors, electroporation, gene gun, etc., microinjection is a rising star due to the advantages of excellent safety, full controllability, high precision, and high survival rate. This review focuses on the recent development of microinjection technology and its applications in animal cells, yeast, fungal cells, and plant cells. Guidelines are provided for selecting the most appropriate microinjection method and system configuration for different application scenarios. When the outer membrane of the host cell is difficult to break, the piezo-driven penetrator could assist the penetration significantly and causes less damage to the host cell during microinjection process. The major existing challenges in microinjection are also analyzed. Overall, microinjection could become a standard technology for modern genetic engineering and microbiology.

Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) has been widely used due to its low cost and high precision. The deep learning methods for ADS-B signal classification have achieved a high performance. However, recent studies have shown that deep learning networks are very sensitive and vulnerable to small noise. We propose an ADS-B signal poisoning method based on U-Net. This method can generate poisoned signals. We assign one of ADS-B signal classification networks as the attacked network and another one as the protected network. When poisoned signals are fed into these two well-performed classification networks, the poisoned signal will recognized incorrectly by the attacked network while classified correctly by the protected network. We further propose an Attack-Protect-Similar loss to achieve “triple-win” in leading attacked network poor performance, protected network well performance and the poisoned signals similar to unpoisoned signals. Experimental results show attacked network classifies poisoned signals with a 1.55% classification accuracy, while the protected network classifies rate is still maintained at 99.38%.

Background: CLBBB and AF are not uncommon coexisted. The impact of CLBBB on long-term prognosis of catheter ablation of AF has not been well determined. Objectives: This study aims to explore the long-term outcomes of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and complete left bundle branch block (CLBBB) after catheter ablation. Methods: Forty-two patients with CLBBB of the 11,752 patients who underwent catheter ablation of AF from 2011 to 2020 were enrolled as CLBBB group. After propensity score matching in a 1:4 ratio, 168 AF patients without CLBBB were enrolled as Non-CLBBB group. The primary endpoint was a composite of stroke, all-cause mortality, and cardiovascular hospitalization. The secondary endpoint was AF recurrence after single ablation. Results: The incidence of the primary endpoint in the CLBBB group was significantly higher than in the Non-CLBBB group (21.4% vs. 6.5%, HR 3.98, 95%CI 1.64-9.64, P = 0.002). The recurrence rates in the CLBBB group and the Non-CLBBB group were 54.8% and 31.5% (HR 1.71, 95%CI 1.04-2.79, P = 0.034), respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that CLBBB was an independent risk factor for both primary endpoint (HR 2.92, 95%CI 1.17-3.34, P = 0.022) and secondary endpoint (HR 2.19, 95%CI 1.09-4.40, P = 0.031) in patients with AF after catheter ablation. Conclusions: CLBBB significantly increased the risk of a composite endpoint of stroke, all-cause mortality, and cardiovascular hospitalization after catheter ablation in patients with AF. CLBBB also independently predicted recurrence in these patients.