BACKGROUND: Systemic thromboembolism is a known complication of rheumatic mitral stenosis (RMS) in sinus rhythm (SR). Left atrial appendage (LAA), the commonest site of thrombus formation is usually hypocontractile (inactive) in such patients. We aimed to study the prevalence of LAA inactivity (LAAI) in severe RMS and assess its independent predictors. METHODS: The study population consisted of 100 patients of severe RMS in sinus rhythm. Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography were done to assess LAA contractile function. Patients with LAA-peak emptying velocity <25 cm/sec were defined as having LAAI. RESULTS: The mean age of study subjects was 31.66±8.69 years and 56% were females. 73% patients had LAAI (Group A), while remaining 27% had normal LAA function (Group B). Mitral-valve area (MVA) and lateral annulus systolic velocity (Sa-wave) were significantly lower while mean pressure gradient across mitral valve (MGMV) and serum fibrinogen were significantly higher (all p-values <0.001) in group A patients. On multivariate regression analysis, MGMV (p<0.001), Sa-wave (p=0.02) and serum fibrinogen (p=0.005) were independent predictors of LAAI. Optimal cut-off values of MGMV, Sa-wave and serum fibrinogen for predicting LAAI were 11.5mmHg, 6.8cm/sec and 300mg/dL respectively.67(90.55%) patients in group A compared to 13(48.1%) in group B had LA/LAA smoke. LAAI was the only independent predictor of left atrium (LA)/LAA smoke and associated thrombus. CONCLUSION: There is high prevalence of LAAI in patients of severe MS in SR. MGMV, Sa-wave and serum fibrinogen levels are independent predictors of LAAI. LAAI is an independent predictor of LA/LAA smoke and associated thrombus.

We reflect on the progress in the area of Explainable AI (XAI) Program relative to previous work in the area of intelligent tutoring systems (ITS). A great deal was learned about explanation—and many challenges uncovered—in research that is directly relevant to XAI. We suggest opportunities for future XAI research deriving from ITS methods, as well as the challenges shared by both ITS and XAI in using AI to assist people in solving difficult problems effectively and efficiently.

Neural network architectures are achieving superhuman performance on an expanding range of tasks. To effectively and safely deploy these systems, their decision-making must to be understandable to a wide range of stakeholders. Methods to explain AI have been proposed to answer this challenge, but a lack of theory impedes the development of systematic abstractions which are necessary for cumulative knowledge gains. We propose Bayesian Teaching as a framework for unifying explainable AI (XAI) by integrating machine learning and human learning. Bayesian Teaching formalizes explanation as a communication act of an explainer to shift the beliefs of an explainee. This formalization decomposes any XAI method into four components: (1) the inference to be explained, (2) the explanatory medium, (3) the explainee model, and (4) the explainer model. The abstraction afforded by Bayesian Teaching to decompose any XAI method elucidates the invariances among them. The decomposition of XAI systems enables modular validation, as each of the first three components listed can be tested semi-independently. This decomposition also promotes generalization through recombination of components from different XAI systems, which facilitates the generation of novel variants. These new variants need not be evaluated one by one provided that each component has been validated, leading to an exponential decrease in development time. Finally, by making the goal of explanation explicit, Bayesian Teaching helps developers to assess how suitable an XAI system is for its intended real-world use case. Thus, Bayesian Teaching provides a theoretical framework that encourages systematic, scientific investigation of XAI.

The field of Explainable AI (XAI) has focused primarily on algorithms that can help explain decisions and classification and help understand whether a particular action of an AI system is justified. These \emph{XAI algorithms} provide a variety of means for answering a number of questions human users might have about an AI. However, explanation is also supported by \emph{non-algorithms}: methods, tools, interfaces, and evaluations that might help develop or provide explanations for users, either on their own or in company with algorithmic explanations. In this article, we introduce and describe a small number of non-algorithms we have developed. These include several sets of guidelines for methodological guidance about evaluating systems, including both formative and summative evaluation (such as the self-explanation scorecard and stakeholder playbook) and several concepts for generating explanations that can augment or replace algorithmic XAI (such as the Discovery platform, Collaborative XAI, and the Cognitive Tutorial). We will introduce and review several of these example systems, and discuss how they might be useful in developing or improving algorithmic explanations, or even providing complete and useful non-algorithmic explanations of AI and ML systems.

How would you describe the features that a deep learning model composes if you were restricted to measuring observable behaviours? Explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) methods rely on privileged access to model architecture and parameters that is not always feasible for most users, practitioners, and regulators. Inspired by cognitive psychology research on humans, we present a case for measuring response times (RTs) of a forward pass using only the system clock as a technique for XAI. Our method applies to the growing class of models that use input-adaptive dynamic inference and we also extend our approach to standard models that are converted to dynamic inference post hoc. The experimental logic is simple: If the researcher can contrive a stimulus set where variability among input features is tightly controlled, differences in response time for those inputs can be attributed to the way the model composes those features. First, we show that RT is sensitive to difficult, complex features by comparing RTs from ObjectNet and ImageNet. Next, we make specific a priori predictions about RT for abstract features present in the SCEGRAM dataset, where object recognition in humans depends on complex intra-scene object-object relationships. Finally, we show that RT profiles bear specificity for class identity, and therefore the features that define classes. These results cast light on the model’s feature space without opening the black box.

Yükseköğretim programlarının akreditasyon ölçütlerinden biri, programın öğretim elemanı nitelikleri ve sayısı açısından değerlendirilmesidir. Gelecekte sağlıklı nesiller oluşturabilmek için, bugün formal eğitimin ilk basamağı olan okul öncesi eğitime öğretmen yetiştiren okul öncesi öğretmenliği programlarında ders veren öğretim elemanlarının nitelikleri ve sayısı önemlidir. Bu çalışmanın amacı Türkiye'deki üniversitelerde bulunan okul öncesi öğretmenliği programlarında ders veren kadrolu öğretim elemanlarının akreditasyon kriterlerine uygunluğunu incelemektir. Ayrıca Temel Eğitim Bölümü Okul öncesi Eğitimi Anabilim Dalı ve Okul öncesi Öğretmenliği konusunda farkındalık yaratmak, mevcut durumları hakkında tanımlayıcı istatistikî bilgi elde etmek amaçlanmıştır. Çalışmada nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden durum çalışması kullanılmıştır. Bu kapsamda öğretim elemanlarının lisans, yüksek lisans ve doktora mezuniyetleri taranmıştır. Veriler doküman analizine dayalı değerlendirilmiştir. Türkiye'deki 75 üniversitenin okul öncesi eğitimi anabilim dalında görev yapan 415 öğretim elemanının 164'ünün tüm mezuniyetlerinin alana temel teşkil eden programlardan olduğu görülmüştür. Araştırmanın sonucunda, hem öğretim elemanı sayısı hem de niteliği açısından Gazi Üniversitesi'nin diğer üniversitelerin önünde olduğu saptanmıştır. Giriş Bir ülkenin toplumsal sistemlerinin kalitesi o ülkenin gelişmişlik göstergelerindendir. Adalet, eğitim, güvenlik ve üretim gibi sistemlerin, ülkeler arası faaliyet ve ilişkilerin zirveye ulaştığı 21. yüzyılda, dünya standartlarında olması gerektiğine dair inançlar giderek artmaktadır. Bunlardan eğitim sistemi diğer sistemleri doğrudan etkilemesi açısından stratejik bir öneme sahiptir. Eğitimin her kademesinde kalite standartları belirlenmiş bir hizmet ile toplumun tüm bireylerinin işini hakkıyla yapan bir profile ulaşması ve ülkesini en iyiler arasına dahil etmeye katkı sağlaması beklenir. Bu anlamda Demirtaş ve Yılmaz'ın da (2013) belirttiği gibi Türkiye, globalleşen dünyaya kendi disiplininde küresel standartlarda bilgi ve becerilere sahip kişilikler yetiştirebilecek ve milli yeterliliklerinin uluslararası kabul edilebilir olabileceği yükseköğretim sistemine sahip olarak uyum sağlayabilecektir. Türkiye eğitim öğretim faaliyetleri açısından birçok dönemden geçmiştir. Miras alınan Osmanlı Devleti'nden günümüze bu duruma geniş bir perspektiften bakıldığında birçok dünya devletiyle paralel olarak Bardak ve Topaç'ın (2019) da ifade ettiği gibi sivil toplum kuruluşlarının elinde bulunan eğitim faaliyetleri 1824-1924 arasında yaşanan değişim ve dönüşüm süreciyle tamamen devlet kontrolüne geçmiştir. Fakat okul öncesi eğitim, temel eğitim ve ortaöğretimi öğretmen yetiştirme yönüyle besleyen yükseköğretim basamağında nitelik ve nicelik sorunları uzun yıllar her an patlak vermeye hazır bir durumu yansıtmıştır. Ülkeler arası etkileşimin ve dünya üzerindeki mobilitenin artması ve beyin göçü olgusu nedeniyle yükseköğretimde küresel bir rekabet bulunmaktadır. Araştırma geliştirme ve en iyi öğrencileri çekme gibi bir takım unsurlar bu rekabette ön plandadır. Işık ve Beykoz (2018) bu rekabet ortamında üniversitelerin nitelikli bilgiyi yenileşmenin gücüyle harmanlayarak daha çok yatırım ve fon çekmeye ve nitelikli insan yetiştirmeye odaklandıklarını belirtmiştir. Bogue (1998), yükseköğretim kurumlarında etkin kalite güvence sisteminin kurulmasına yönelik dört çağdaş yaklaşımdan söz etmektedir. Bu yaklaşımlar; geleneksel akran değerlendirmesi, değerlendirme ve sonuç hareketi, toplam kalite yönetimi, hesap verebilirlik ve performans göstergesi raporlaması'dır. Eğitim sektöründeki alternatiflerin çoğalması durumunda rekabetin artacağı okul seçiminde performans göstergelerinin göz önünde bulundurulacağı, ailelerin buna önem vereceği, bu durumun ise kalite artışını getireceği düşünülmektedir (Yirci & Kocabaş, 2013). Türkiye'de halen 129'u devlet 78'i

A bilateral occurrence of kissing molars and three-rooted maxillary second premolars is rare and not been reported previously in literature. In this report we describe the detailed clinical and radiographic evaluation, including considerations of key factors prior to any surgical or endodontic intervention in such a patient.

A systematic first-principles study is performed to investigate the 20-electron transition metal complexes (C5H5)2TM(E1E2)2 (TM = Cr, Mo, W; E1E2 = CO, N2, BF). The bond dissociation energy (De) based on (C5H5)2TM(E1E2)2 → (C5H5)2TM(E1E2) + E1E2 indicates much lower thermodynamic stability of (C5H5)2TM(N2)2 because of poor binding ability of N2 ligands. For the thermodynamic stable (C5H5)2TM(E1E2)2 complexes (TM = Cr, Mo, W; E1E2 = CO, BF), their 20-electron nature is derived from their occupied nonbonding molecular orbital mainly donated by ligands. Furthermore, charge transfer from TMs to the C5H5 ligands is revealed by the atoms in molecules (AIM) theory, leading to the positive charges of the TM atoms. On the other hand, the nature of the TM-E1 bond has been thoroughly analyzed by the energy decomposition analysis (EDA) method. The absolute value of interaction energies (|ΔEint|) between (C5H5)2TM(E1E2) and E1E2 has the same trend as the corresponding bond dissociation energy and Wiberg bond orders of TM-E1 bonds, following the order W > Mo > Cr with same ligands and BF > CO with same TM. Additionally, the largest contribution to the ΔEint values is the repulsive term ΔEPauli. Similar contributions from covalent and electrostatic terms to the TM-E1 bonds were found, which can be described as the classic dative bond with nearly same σ and π contributions. The stronger σ donations and π backdonations in (C5H5)2TM(BF)2 than in (C5H5)2TM(CO)2 indicate much more stability of (C5H5)2TM(BF)2.

Purpose: We investigated whether Chest X-Ray (CXR) could replace CT modality in the diagnosis and during the treatment of young adult COVID-19 patients with mild dyspnea with no comorbid diseases. Materials and Method: This retrospective study involved an examination of the records of a total of 956 patients hospitalized between March 1 and May 15, 2020. The study included a total of 64 patients, aged 21–60 years with mild dyspnea with no comorbid diseases and with COVID-19 infection confirmed by a polymerase chain reaction, who underwent a CXR at admission and CT imaging within 24 hours. The first CXR and CT images at the time of admission were evaluated in terms of lesions and localization. The clinical-radiological course of the diseases with CXR were also statistically evaluated. Results: CT was normal in 18/64 (28.2%) patients, all of whom also had normal CXR. The rest of the patients 46/64 (71.8%) with an abnormal CT, the CXR was normal in 18/46 (39.1%) and abnormal in 28/46 (60.9%). The time between the onset of complaints and admission to the hospital in patients with abnormal and normal CXR was 3.5 ± 2.3 days and 2.1 ± 1.1, which was statistically significant (p = 0.004). The hospital stay duration of the patient with abnormal and normal CXR was 9.6 ± 3.5 and 9.5 ± 3.4 (p=0.928), respectively, and was not statistically significant. Conclusion: CXR could be used in the diagnosis and follow-up of young adult COVID 19 patients with mild dyspnea no comorbid disease. In the case of early admission to the hospital, there is not a significant difference between using CXR or CT in the management of these patients. Therefore, the use of CXR in these patients groups will reduce the burden of CT units in pandemic conditions with limited resources.

Background: To discuss the necessity of the second prostate biopsy in the patients with atypical small acinar proliferation (ASAP) and to develop a scoring system and risk table as a new re-biopsy criteria. Methods: 2845 patients who were performed transrectal ultrasonography-guided prostate biopsy between January 2008 and May 2019 were evaluated. 128 patients, whose data were reached, were enrolled into the study. Before the first and the second biopsy, tPSA, fPSA, f/tPSA rate and PSA-Density assessment and changes in these parameters between the two biopsies were recorded. “ASAP Scoring System and risk table” (ASS-RT) was evaluated before the second biopsy. Results: The mean age of 128 patients with ASAP was 62.9±7.8 years. The ASS-RT scores of the patients with PCa were statistically significantly higher than the patients with non-PCa (p: 0.001). In the ROC curve analysis of ASS-RT, area under the curve was 0.804 and the standard error was 0.04. The area under the ROC curve was significantly higher than 0.5 (p:0.001). The cut-off point of ASS-RT score in diagnosis of malignancy was ≥ 7. The sensitivity of this value was found to be 60.8% and its specificity as 80.5%. Conclusions: The threshold value for the ASS-RT score may be used as 7 and the second biopsy may be performed immediately to patients over this value. We think that there may be no need for a second biopsy if the ASS-RT score under the 7 (especially low-risk group) before the second biopsy.

Multi-disciplinary teams present the framework in the increasingly challenging care provided for patients. Wang et al. present a 37 year old female who is 35 weeks pregnant when a rare cardiac angiosarcoma is diagnosed.

A document by Abdullah Nasif. Click on the document to view its contents.

The lattice vibration and thermal properties of CdS by first-principles calculations based on density functional theory are especially investigated. The results of phonon spectra show that CdS is thermodynamically stable. Combined with the concept of irreducible representation, the contribution of atoms in CdS to Raman and infrared is analyzed, that is: A1 and E1 participate in Raman vibration, and A1, E1 and E2 participate in infrared vibration. The electronic band structure and optical properties such as dielectric constant, refractive index, reflectivity are determined theoretically using DFT method. The thermal properties of CdS show that Debye temperature, isochoric specific heat capacity and coefficient of thermal expansion increase with the increase of temperature, and then tend to equilibrium. The equilibrium values are 353.13 K, 23.86 cal/cell.K and 1.04×10-4 K-1, respectively. For comparison. piezoelectric semiconductor material CdS power is synthesized by microwave hydrothermal process (temperature at 140°C + time about 15min), with particle size ranges from 50nm to 1000nm. The HRTEM imagine of CdS are experimentally studied to understand the crystal structure, with the growth preference along the plane (1000) and nanocrystal distance of 6.76 Å. This study is of great significance and provides theoretical guidance for further designing CdS matrix composite materials and to improve photoanode performance through doping of CdS and quantum dots co-sensitization.

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a viral transboundary disease of small ruminants that causes significant damage to agriculture. This disease has not been previously registered in the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK). This paper presents an assessment of the susceptibility of the RK’s territory to the spread of the disease in the event of its importation from infected countries. The Generalized Linear Negative Binomial regression model that was trained on the PPR outbreaks in China was used to rank municipal districts in the RK in terms of PPR spread risk. The outbreaks count per administrative district was used as a risk indicator, while a number of socio-economic, landscape and climatic factors were considered as explanatory variables. Summary road length, altitude, the density of small ruminants, the maximum green vegetation fraction, cattle density and the Engel coefficient were the most significant factors. The model demonstrated a good performance in training data (R 2 = 0.69) and was transferred to the RK, suggesting a significantly lower susceptibility of this country to the spread of PPR. Hot Spot analysis identified three clusters of districts at the highest risk, located in the western, eastern and southern parts of Kazakhstan. As part of the study, a countrywide survey was conducted to collect data on the distribution of livestock populations, which resulted in the compilation of a complete geo-database of small ruminant holdings in the RK. The research results may be used to formulate a national strategy for preventing the importation and spread of PPR in Kazakhstan through targeted monitoring in high-risk areas.

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is endemic in India, where circulation of serotypes O, A and Asia 1 is frequent. In the past two decades, many of the most widespread and significant FMD lineages globally have emerged from the South Asia region. Here, we provide an epidemiological assessment of the ongoing mass vaccination programs in regard to post-vaccination monitoring and outbreak occurrence. The objective of this study was to quantify the spatiotemporal dynamics of FMD outbreaks and to assess the impact of the mass vaccination program between 2008 to 2016 with available antibody titer data from the vaccination monitoring program, alongside other risk factors that facilitate FMD spread in the country. We first conducted a descriptive analysis of epidemiological outcomes of governmental vaccination programs in India, focusing on antibody titer data from >1 million animals sampled as part of pre- and post-vaccination monitoring and estimates of standardized incidence ratios calculated from reported outbreaks per state/administrative unit. The percent of animals with inferred immunological protection (based on ELISA) was highly variable across states, but there was a general increase in the overall percent of animals with inferred protection through time. In addition, the number of outbreaks in a state was negatively correlated with the percent of animals with inferred protection. Because standardized incidence ratios of outbreaks were heterogeneously distributed over the course of eight years, we analyzed the distribution of reported FMD outbreaks using a Bayesian space-time model to map high-risk areas. This model demonstrated a ~50% reduction in the relative risk of outbreaks in states that were part of the vaccination program. In addition, states that did not have an international border experienced reduced risk of FMD outbreaks. These findings help inform risk-based control strategies for India as the country progresses towards reducing reported clinical disease.

In this paper we study a translation operator associated with the canonical Fourier Bessel transform $\mathcal{F}_{\nu}^{\mathbf{m}}.$ We then use it to derive a convolution product and study some of its important properties. As a direct application, we introduce the heat semigroup generated by the Bessel-type operators $$\Delta_{\nu}^{\mathbf{m}^{-1}}=\frac{d^{2}}{dx^{2}}+\left( \frac{2\nu +1}{x}+2i \frac{a}{b} x\right) \frac{d}{dx}-\left( \frac{a^{2}}{b^{2}}x^{2}-2i\left( \nu +1\right) \frac{a}{b}\right) $$ and use it to solve the initial value problem for the heat equation governed by $\Delta_{\nu}^{\mathbf{m}^{-1}}.$

As SARS-CoV-2 continues to challenge hospital systems, the safety of heart transplantation must be evaluated. Retrospective review of all heart recipients transplanted at a single academic medical center in a U.S. SARS-CoV-2 epicenter found two patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy. The 34-year-old male (ejection fraction <10%) was bridged to transplant with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and microaxial left ventricular assist device. His perioperative course was uncomplicated except for transient SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity two months post-transplant. He was asymptomatic and remained so eight months to follow. The 20-year-old female (ejection fraction 5%) was bridged to transplant with microaxial left ventricular assist device. She progresses well with SARS-CoV-2 seronegativity eight months post-transplant. Our early experience suggests that intentional recipient, donor, and provider testing, cautious organ procurement, strategic intrahospital patient organization and transport, and well-coordinated follow-up permits uninterrupted provision of this definitive therapy for heart failure without subjecting these patients to greater risk.

Abstract The planet earth is composed of one-fourth of the land with a total geographical area of India as 328.2M ha. Due to various reasons, 14.64% of the land resource falls under wastelands. Rapid industrialization, intensive agricultural practices, and unsustainable urbanization lead to the degradation of land resources. Most of the time, the biophysical composition of the soil determined its utilization and productivity rate. Some are highly productive on the other hand some are less or unproductive, India has roughly 328 million hectares of land area and the land utility pattern been 43.6% agricultural, 4.6% grazing lands, 12.2% marshlands, 10.7% woodlands, 8.4% desolate land, 5.3% municipal land. The continuous increase of the population leads to pressure for uptown land. The area under non-agricultural land is used for the roads, buildings, railways, industrial establishments. In this connection, non-agricultural land is increasing which is a major concern about land degradation. Based on the secondary data this review paper discussed the contaminated land in India, respective case studies, and its remediation technologies. Many physical, chemical, and biological methods were adopted for cleaning the contaminated lands in them some are tough and some are expensive to handle.

A 73-year-old woman with premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) had very thick left ventricular papillary muscles (PAMs) kissing each other. The PVC origin at the septal side of the anterolateral PAM that faced the posteromedial PAM, rendered mapping confusing. This case illustrated an unusual challenge in catheter ablation of PAM PVCs.

In this article, we aim to investigate the regularity of statistical solution for the 2D non-autonomous magneto-micropolar fluid equations as well as the relationship between invariant measures and statistical solutions. Firstly, to get the regularity of the statistical solution, we prove the existence and regularity of the pullback attractor for the equations. Then we prove the statistical solution possesses some regularity properties by using regularity of the pullback attractor. Finally, we prove the statistical solution is actual an invariant measure for the equations.

Aim: Vitamin D affects the secretion of antimicrobial peptides associated with toll-like receptor (TLR), which have antiviral effects. It has been suggested that vitamin D may affect the susceptibility of the host to varicella zoster virus (VZV) and the clinical course of zona zoster. Materials and Methods: In this study, 101 patients who were diagnosed with zona zoster at the dermatology outpatient clinic and had a vitamin D result at the time of diagnosis and a control group of 100 people were included. Results were analyzed statistically. Results: The 25-OH vitamin D levels of the patients ranged from 2.37 to 32.98 µg / L and the mean value was 14.25 ± 7.20 µg / L. In the control group, 25-OH vitamin D levels ranged between 10.3 and 44.25 µg / L, and the mean value was 24.9 ± 6.24 µg / L. 25-OH vitamin D levels in the patient group were significantly lower than the levels in the control group. (p <0.001) Conclusion: This study revealed that 25-OH vitamin D levels were significantly lower in patients with zona zoster compared to the control group. 25-OH vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of VZV reactivation, and vitamin D supplementation in patients with vitamin D deficiency in zona zoster may help the mild course of the disease.

1. Teleost fishes occupy a range of ecosystem and habitat types subject to large seasonal fluctuations. Temperate fishes in particular, survive large shifts in temperature, light availability, and access to certain habitats across seasons. Yet, there is limited understanding of how behavioral responses to a seasonally shifting environment might shape, or be shaped by, the nervous system. 2. Here we quantified variation in relative brain size and the size of five externally visible brain regions in a freshwater top predator, lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), across six consecutive seasons in two different lakes. Acoustic telemetry data from one of our study lakes was collected during the study period from a different subset of individuals and used to infer relationships between brain size and seasonal behaviors (habitat use and movement rate). 3. Our results indicated that lake trout relative brain size was larger in the fall and winter compared to the spring and summer in both lakes. Larger brains coincided with increased use of nearshore lake habitats and increased horizontal movement rates by lake trout in the fall and winter based on acoustic telemetry. The telencephalon followed the same pattern as whole brain size, while the other brain regions (cerebellum, optic tectum, olfactory bulbs, hypothalamus) were only smaller in the spring. 4. Seasonal shifts in total brain size might reflect greater underlying changes in the size of the telencephalon. These findings provide evidence that flexibility in brain size could underpin shifts in behavior which could subserve functions associated with differential habitat use during cold and warm seasons and allow fish to succeed in seasonally variable temperate environments.

Pulsed amplitude modulation (PAM) chlorophyll a fluorescence provides information about photosynthetic energy transduction. When reliably measured, chlorophyll a fluorescence provides detailed information about critical in vivo photosynthetic processes. Such information has recently provided novel and critical insights into how yield potential of crops could be improved. While PAM chlorophyll a fluorometers measure fluorescence intensity per se, herein we articulate the criteria by which instrumentally detected intensities can be assumed to assess fluorescence yield, a phenomenon quite different than fluorescence intensity and one that provides critical insight about how solar energy is variably partitioned into the biosphere. An integrated mathematical, phenomenological, and practical discussion of many useful chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters is presented. We draw attention to, and provide examples of, potential uncertainties that can result from incorrect methodological practices and potentially problematic instrumental design features. Fundamentals of fluorescence measurements are discussed, including the major assumptions underlying the signals and the methodological caveats about taking measurements during both dark- and light-adapted conditions. Key fluorescence parameters are discussed in the context of recent applications under environmental stress. Nuanced information that can be gleaned from intracomparisons of fluorescence-derived parameters and intercomparisons of fluorescence-derived parameters with those based on other techniques is elucidated.

Three dimensional printable formulation of self-standing and vascular-supportive structures using multi-materials suitable for organ engineering is of great importance and highly challengeable, but, it could advance the 3D printing scenario from printable shape to functional unit of human body. In this study, the authors report a 3D printable formulation of such self-standing and vascular-supportive structures using an in-house formulated multi-material combination of albumen/alginate/gelatin (A-SA-Gel)-based hydrogel. The rheological properties and relaxation behavior of hydrogels were analyzed prior to the printing process. The suitability of the hydrogel in 3D printing of various customizable and self-standing structures, including a human ear model, was examined by extrusion-based 3D printing. The structural, mechanical, and physicochemical properties of the printed scaffolds were studied systematically. Results supported the 3D printability of the formulated hydrogel with self-standing structures, which are customizable to a specific need. In vitro cell experiment showed that the formulated hydrogel has excellent biocompatibility and vascular supportive behavior with the extent of endothelial sprout formation when tested with human umbilical vein endothelial cells. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated the suitability of the extrusion-based 3D printing technique for manufacturing complex shapes and structures using multi-materials with high fidelity, which have great potential in organ engineering.