Reply to Folman’s Comment on my publication: A simple, practical experiment to investigate atomic wavefunction reduction within a Stern-Gerlach magnet.

Background: Equine odontoclastic tooth resorption and hypercementosis (EOTRH) is a painful disorder primarily affecting the incisor teeth of horses over 15 years of age. Clinical signs of the disease include mastication problems, halitosis and weight loss. The disease predominately affects the reserve crown and presents as a loss of dental tissue and excessive build-up of cementum. Objectives: Determine the radiographic scores of horses with EOTRH and age-matched controls. Increase understanding of EOTRH using microCT to compare teeth from horses with EOTRH and age matched controls. Methods: This study used radiography ( in vivo) and microcomputed tomography (microCT) ( ex vivo) to help understand and characterise EOTRH. For radiography, 87 patients were assessed using a radiographic scoring system for EOTRH. The microCT study was undertaken on 20 incisor teeth which were scanned and segmented to measure the different dental tissues. These were assessed using a descriptive analysis (surface roughening, tooth resorption, root blunting, pulp cavity). Study design: In vivo and ex vivo studies. Results: Radiographic scoring demonstrated that 03s were more severely affected than 01s in EOTRH. Total radiographic score and age had a weak positive correlation. Following microCT, we identified that EOTRH teeth had a lower pulp and enamel volume and therefore significantly higher ratios relative to the whole tooth volume, compared to control teeth. Cementum and dentine volumes were more variable in EOTRH teeth. Thus, their ratios relative to the whole tooth volume were not different to control teeth. Main limitations: The number of horses was relatively small. Conclusions: Results suggest differing degrees of tooth resorption and hypercementosis, potentially indicating multiple phenotypes of the disease.

Background: There is a shortage of equine veterinarians. Understanding what factors are associated with job satisfaction in equine veterinarians can inform interventions to increase retention in equine medicine. Objective: To explore the prominent factors causing work dissatisfaction and burnout in equine veterinarians. Study design: A qualitative research study was conducted that consisted of semi-structured focus groups. Methods: Thirty-seven current and former equine veterinarians across the United States were recruited via snowball and convenience sampling to answer questions on work history, work-life balance, and perceptions of equine practice. Transcripts were analyzed in Delve and coded in the context of the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory. A card sorting activity was used to rank the four types of resources in the COR theory (condition, object, energy, personal). Results: Condition resources were the most frequently mentioned reasons for work dissatisfaction. These included issues with discrimination or bias due to age, race/ethnicity, and gender, unpredictable and long hours, and heavy workload. Object resources, such as equipment, were rarely mentioned. Energy resources, including pay and student loan debt, were influential, with most participants feeling that equine veterinarians are underpaid. Personal resources, such as problem-solving skills and enjoyment in helping others, improved job satisfaction. Main limitations: Although recruiting efforts prioritized perspectives of black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer plus (LGBTQ+) identities, and members with disabilities, demographic information was not directly collected. Conclusions: The main barriers to equine veterinary retention included lack of work-life balance, long hours, lower-than-expected pay, and issues with discrimination and bias. This study highlights areas for intervention to improve the equine veterinary field, such as higher pay, rural practice incentives, and effective diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) efforts. A shift toward caseload-sharing between veterinarians could help alleviate excessive emergency on-call and burnout.

Rehabilitation and release contribute to conservation efforts for threatened species. Ensuring the efficacy of these efforts requires a good understanding of the factors which determine survival and integration of released animals into wild populations. Post-release monitoring using animal-borne devices, including biologging or marking devices attached to or inserted inside animals, offers the opportunity to gain this information. The impacts of such devices on animal welfare are poorly researched. There is a growing consensus that researchers have an ethical obligation to reduce harm to animals. The well-established principal of the four Rs; replacing experimental animals, reducing the number of animals used, refining protocols to reduce suffering, and refusing unnecessary experimentation, aims to achieve this. Here, we suggest a framework for applying the four Rs to ensure the ethical use of animal-borne devices during post-release monitoring. To develop this framework, we consider the impact of the use of animal-borne devices on animal welfare and survival. The framework emphasises: i) clear definition of aims before the study begins, ii) consideration of the benefits of data obtained to conservation, iii) consideration of species and habitat specific needs iv) continued development of protocols based on feedback during the study, and v) transparency among the research and rehabilitation community (the DBSDT framework). The framework is widely applicable. As a case study, we develop a set of guidelines for the ethical use of biologging devices during post-release monitoring of ground pangolins (Smutsia temminckii).

The increasing complexity and size of state-of-theart models have led to substantial challenges in terms of computational demands and resource constraints, particularly when handling multi-modal data. A novel approach is introduced through recursive distillation combined with multi-modal distribution alignment, allowing for efficient model compression while retaining a significant portion of the original model's performance. Recursive distillation facilitates a gradual and structured transfer of knowledge from large models to smaller student models, significantly improving their ability to maintain high levels of accuracy across diverse tasks, including text, image, and audio processing. The alignment of feature distributions across modalities ensures more coherent generalization, mitigating the loss of performance typically observed in compressed models. Through extensive experimentation, this method achieves a reduction in computational overhead while preserving robustness across multi-modal tasks, demonstrating its potential for deployment in resource-constrained environments. The proposed framework significantly advances the state of model distillation, offering a scalable and efficient solution for multi-modal applications.

Cystic fibrosis is an autosomal recessive disease in which mutations in the CFTR gene lead to a reduced life expectancy in carriers, partly due to the rapid loss of respiratory functions. CFTR-F508del is the most frequent mutation, leading to a mislocalized and non-functional CFTR protein. The tri-therapy Elexacaftor/Tezacaftor/Ivacaftor is now given to patients carrying CFTR-F508del mutation, but some biological defaults of this mutation are still not addressed. Among CFTR interactors, we have previously identified COMMD1 as a potential therapeutic target, which overexpression favors the plasma membrane expression of CFTR. In 2013, a cell-penetrating peptide named CIGB-552 was discovered as a COMMD1 protein stabilizer. We evaluate the therapeutic potential of CIGB-552 in cystic fibrosis context. FITC Tagged version of CIGB-552 was used to evaluate its uptake on cell models cultured submerged or in air-liquid interface. HS-eYFP assay was performed for measuring CFTR quenching ratio. Short-circuit current was recorded to evaluate specific chloride flux through CFTR channel. Western blot was used to evaluate CFTR maturation and COMMD1 expression. We demonstrate that CIGB-552 is non-toxic and preferentially enters CFTR-F508del expressing cells without modifying COMMD1 expression or localization in our cystic fibrosis cell models. CIGB-552 is not a potentiator nor a corrector but acts synergistically with Elexacaftor/Tezacaftor/Ivacaftor in improving chloride efflux and increasing transepithelial potential difference of CFTR-F508del cells. The mechanism implied by CIGB-552 with the COMMD1 protein in this positive effect are still undeciphered. CIGB-552 synergy with the tri-therapy to modulate CFTR-F508del function is still a promising strategy to improve cystic fibrosis treatment.

This paper studies some deterministic mathematical models that seek to explain the expansion of Zika virus, as a viral epidemic, using published data for Brazil. Three SIR type models considering several aspects in the spread of the disease are considered with 3, 6 and 10 unknown parameters respectively. The parameter identification is carried through a search algorithm based on a combination of a stochastic domain exploration and a heuristic calculation of a descent direction, in order to avoid stopping the algorithm at a local optimum. The models are validated using the epidemic data found. Finally, it was confirmed that the basic reproductive ratio ℜ 0 is consistent with those previously reported in the literature. We conclude that the proposed optimization method improves computation time with respect to a genetic algorithm or an exhaustive search in the parameter space.

Background and Purpose: Voltage-gated Na+ channels are critical therapeutic targets of anti-seizure medications. The structurally related compounds carbamazepine (CBZ), oxcarbazepine (OXC), eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL), and S-licacarbazepine (S-Lic) of the dibenzazepine family are generally presumed to exert similar effects; however, a comparative analysis under identical conditions is lacking. Here, we rigorously compared their effects on biophysical properties of Na+ channels and effects on neuronal networks. Experimental Approach: 293T cells stably expressing Nav1.2 channels were employed to assess biophysical profiles using whole-cell patch clamp techniques. Additionally, the impact on neuronal networks in primary cortical neurons was evaluated using microelectrode array recordings. Key Results: CBZ and OXC exhibited similar effects on voltage-dependent fast inactivation and recovery from inactivation. ESL and S-Lic also influenced fast inactivation, but their effects were less pronounced than those observed with CBZ. Notably, S-Lic exhibited comparatively small effects on use-dependent block. For all compounds, effects on slow inactivation were subtle. With regards to neuronal network activity, CBZ, OXC, and ESL induced substantial changes in spiking, bursting, and synchrony. S-Lic elicited significant and selective effects on network synchrony without effects on other parameters. Lacosamide elicited significant effects on bursting. Conclusion and Implication: CBZ, OXC and ESL exhibited similar activity profiles on properties of Nav1.2 channels and neuronal networks. The structurally similar S-Lic showed significantly less use-dependent blocking effect, and a selective effect on distributed network bursts. These results emphasize that structurally similar dibenzazepine anti-seizure medications can exhibit substantial differences in activity on the ion channel and network level.

The ability to handle long-context dependencies is a critical challenge for modern language models, especially in tasks that require the retention of information over extended input sequences. Differentiating between latent and positional queries introduces a novel approach to evaluating how well models manage semantic meaning and token order across long texts, offering a more granular perspective on model performance. Through extensive experiments on Mistral, an open-source model, the evaluation focused on tasks designed to isolate latent structure retrieval from positional accuracy. The results revealed that Mistral demonstrated strong capabilities in extracting latent meaning, but struggled with positional accuracy, particularly as sequence length and task complexity increased. A dual-layered evaluation approach enabled a clear distinction between the model's semantic comprehension and its ability to maintain token sequences, uncovering valuable insights into the specific challenges associated with long-context processing. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how language models process extended inputs and provide a framework for improving their performance on tasks requiring both semantic and structural coherence.

A document by Sandesh Gaire. Click on the document to view its contents.

IntroductionSturge-Weber syndrome (SWS), also known as encephalotrigeminal angiomatosis, is a rare congenital disorder characterized by abnormal vasculature in the brain (leptomeningeal), skin & eye (1). Classically facial capillary malformation also known as port wine stain, is seen in the ophthalmic and maxillary division of the trigeminal nerve. (2) The most common presenting neurological manifestation is seizure with the age of onset ranging from birth to late adulthood. It is third most neurocutaneous syndrome after neurofibromatosis and tuberous sclerosis. (3) (4)Other clinical features include Port-Wine stain , glaucoma, visual impairment, migraine, hemiparesis, and cognitive impairments. (5)   Schirmer provided the first detailed description of SWS in 1860, Sturge further described SWS- related dermatological, ophthalmic and neurological manifestations in 1879 and Weber reported radiological altercations seen in these patients in 1929.Although the incidence is not reported accurately, it is estimated to be 1 in 20,000-50,000 live birth. (6)

A document by Alireza Dehghani. Click on the document to view its contents.

This paper explores the innovative approach of cardiac calcium electroporation as a potential advancement in catheter ablation techniques, building upon the historical context of thermal ablation methods. While traditional radiofrequency and cryothermal ablation have significantly improved efficacy and safety, the risk of collateral damage persists. Pulsed-field ablation (PFA) has emerged as a promising non-thermal alternative designed to target cardiac myocytes while sparing adjacent tissues. However, concerns about unintended consequences remain. In this study by Toya et al., the efficacy of low-power PFA augmented with calcium chloride infusion resulted in enhanced lesion formation, with increased surface area, volume, and histological damage, suggesting a potential for improved targeted ablation. Despite these findings, the study acknowledges limitations, including a small sample size and the need for further investigation into calcium’s effects on lesion durability and safety. This exploration represents a nascent step toward redefining cardiac ablation practices, highlighting the possibility of enhanced therapeutic and safety outcomes through innovative strategies. As PFA continues to evolve, incorporating calcium electroporation may further separate the overlapping risks of effective tissue ablation from collateral damage, signaling a transformative shift in cardiac electrophysiology.

This article investigates the stochastic stability of stochastic differential delay systems (SDDSs) with path information and their applications in consensus control of multi-agent systems (MASs) based on the path information feedback. Here, the integral path information and fragment-integral path information are considered respectively. The mean square (m.s.) and almost sure (a.s.) exponential stability criteria of the SDDSs with path integral information are established respectively according to the two types of path information. It is shown that the fragment-integral term may work positively for stochastic stability. Moreover, the obtained stochastic stability theorems are applied to design a distributed proportional integral/ fragment-integral control protocol and establish consensus conditions for stochastic MASs under proportional-integral (PI) -type controls. Finally, the effectiveness of the results is verified through two simulation examples.

Single-handed laparoscopic retrieval of a lost drain from a minefield of dense bowel adhesions: Just pray and do it!Konstantinos Kypriotis MD, Nikolaos Kathopoulis PhD, Dimitrios Haidopoulos Assoc. Prof., MD, A.Douligeris, I. Chatzipapas PhD, Athanasios Protopapas Prof., MDCorrespondence: 1st Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, ”Alexandra” Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Vasilissis Sofias Avenue 80, 11528 Athens, Greece.Corresponding author :Kypriotis Konstantinos MDEmail: kypriotisk@gmail.comTelephone number: 0030 6946150887Vasilissis Sofias Avenue 80, Athens, Greece. Postal code: 11528Authors have no conflict of interest.Keywords: Lost drain, intraperitoneal adhesions, laparoscopy

Strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) is sensitive to salt stress. Application of exogenous 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) can induce chloride channel ( CLC) gene expression, which promotes Cl - interception in roots and reduces transport to shoots, thereby improving plant salt tolerance. However, the mechanism of ALA-induced transcriptional regulation of FaCLC still remains unknown. In this paper, 23 FaCLC genes were identified in the whole genome of strawberry, which can be classified into two subclasses and six subgroups. NaCl stress stimulated the expression of FaCLC-b1/c4/e3 in the leaves and roots of strawberry, and ALA further promoted the gene expression under salt stress. NaCl and ALA activated the transcriptional activity of three gene promoters. Subcellular localization analysis showed that FaCLC-b1 and FaCLC-c4 are tonoplast proteins. Overexpression of FaCLC-b1 and FaCLC-c4 in tobaccos improved the salt tolerance of transgenic plants, with more Cl - retention in the roots and less accumulation in the leaves. Furthermore, we identified a nucleus-localized transcription factor FaMYB44. Verification by Y1H, LUC, and EMSA demonstrated that FaMYB44 can recognize the MBS element of the promoter of FaCLC-c4 and negatively regulate its expression. NaCl stress induced FaMYB44 expression in strawberry roots, while ALA suppressed its expression. Overexpression of FaMYB44 in tobacco resulted in more Cl - accumulation in the leaves, which reduced salt tolerance of the plant. Thus, FaMYB44 is a negative transcription factor for salt tolerance of strawberry, whose expression is induced by salt stress but downregulated by ALA. FaMYB44 was able to bind to the promoter of FaCLC-c4 to depress its expression, while ALA inhibited FaMYB44 expression, thereby alleviating the suppression of FaMYB44 on FaCLC-c4 expression, and then intercepting Cl - in roots and increasing salt tolerance. These findings provide a new perspective on the transcription regulation of FaCLC genes and facilitate better application of exogenous ALA in salt tolerance practices for fruit production.

The structure of the interconnected electric power system and the increasing quality of energy have led to an increased importance of Automatic Generation Control, or AGC. The tie line powers and frequency must be maintained within the permitted standard values. This work applies to Automatic Generation Control in a nonlinear model of an interconnected electric power system using a fractional order sliding mode controller. Three sections of a nonlinear interconnected electric power system are controlled by a fractional order sliding mode controller. The block diagram of the power plant model system considers the nonlinearities that are physical limits, such as governor dead band and generation rate constraints. In the presence of various load changes (sudden load change frequency), parameter uncertainty (variation), and the existence of physical constraints, the control’s goal is to manage the frequency deviation (load frequency error) and tie-line power deviation (tie-line power error) of the interconnected power system. Three sections of an interconnected power system with nonlinearities are used to simulate the fractional order sliding mode controller (FOSMC). These designs display the best performance of the suggested FOSMC controller, with numerical values for tie line power deviation of 2.9765e-5p.u. and frequency deviation of 6.8912e-4Hz. The suggested system has reduced nominal values as compared to SMC for the frequency deviation of 2.0762e-3Hz and tie line power deviation of 1.21754e-3p.u., as well as for PID controller frequency deviation of 3.5918e-3Hz and ti line power deviation of 1.5602e-3p.u. These comparisons further demonstrate that, even in the presence of parameter variation, load changes, and nonlinearities in the system, FOSMC performs the best, with reduced undershoot (5.4823e-4), overshoot (1.5545e-4), rising time (1.00042e-8), and settling time (2.688). MATLAB/Simulink has been used to create and simulate the controllers for the system model.

This paper presents the design and realization of a 15-bit-input-Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) that leverages the advantages of both Delta-Sigma Modulation (DSM) and Current-Steering DAC (CS-DACs) architectures to achieve superior dynamic performance. The proposed DAC design partitions the digital input signal into two segments: The 7- least significant bits (LSBs) are processed through a Delta-Sigma Modulator (DSM) based on a 3-stage cascaded MASH (Multi-stage Noise Shaping) structure, generating 3-bit modulated output. The 8- most significant bits (MSBs) are decoded utilizing a thermometer coding scheme, yielding 31 control signals for 8x current sources and 7 control signals for 1x current sources. By integrating the DSM DAC with a CS-DAC, the proposed architecture realized a 8-bit DAC, achieving significant improvements in dynamic performance compared to a conventional 8-bit CS-DAC. The results demonstrate enhanced resolution and reduced noise, underscoring the efficacy of the combined approach in addressing the limitations inherent in standalone Current-Steering DACs.

In this paper, we demonstrate performance improvement by replacing open stubs with short stubs in a T-circuit operating in a quarter-wave line at two frequencies. Compared to open-ended, short-ended stubs can replace impractical impedances and long lengths with more feasible impedances and half the length, providing a wider range of feasible frequency ratios, smaller size, and improved bandwidth.

Neem and Gliricidia sepium plants were evaluate for insecticidal value in the control of common poultry lice. Chickens infested with lice were selected and divided into four groups. Aqueous extract of Neem and Gliricida sepium plans in varying concentration such as of 0 ml 10 ml, 20 ml and 50 ml was prepared as treatment and water was used as the control. The results for the mean percentage mortality of lice exposed to various concentrations of Gliricidia sepium, Gliricidia sepium + Neem, and Neem plant extracts showed that Gliricidia sepium achieved the highest average percentage mortality of 100% in a 50 ml leaf extract. This was followed by Gliricidia sepium + Neem with a mortality rate of 93.02% at 50 ml and Neem with 78.05% mortality at 50 ml. In contrast, the control group exhibited 0% mortality. Additionally, the results revealed that the highest mortality rate of 100% was recorded after a 2-minutes exposure to Gliricidia sepium, followed by Gliricidia sepium + Neem with 93.02% at 50 ml in 5 minutes, and Neem extract with 78.05% in 6 minutes. However, the lowest percentage mortality was observed with 0 minutes of exposure in the control group, across different concentrations.

In today's fast-paced business environment, staying ahead of the curve is critical. Understanding market dynamics, customer preferences, and competitive landscapes are essential components for business growth. This is where Custom Market Insights steps in. As one of the top market research companies, we are committed to providing the latest insights, in-depth analysis, and strategic recommendations that cater to various industries across the globe.

Job recommender systems (JRS) are the most flexible and efficient tools that can not only provide relevant job opportunities to jobseekers but can simplify the task of employers by providing options like skill mapping and discovering more relevant job candidates. Modern JRS can be efficient in providing features like relevance, reliability, availability, and lower operational cost. However, there is a dire need to investigate the current issues and challenges in the available approaches used for job recommender systems. To achieve this goal, a systematic review-based study was conducted, and its protocol and findings are reported in this paper. The aim of this study was to chart out the state-of-the-art approaches in the domain of job recommender systems and uncover key issues and challenges in the current approaches. For this purpose, a protocol was followed to search and identify existing contributions in the domain between 2015 and 2024 that were found close and relevant to the theme of this study and consequently, seventy-three (73) studies were screened and reviewed. The results of this SLR manifest that 52.94% of the studies are presented in the generic content-based filtering. In knowledge-based recommender systems, generic and profile-based techniques have share of 27.27% each. In hybrid job recommender systems, the commonly used technique is generic that has share of 50%. In collaborative-based job recommender systems, the commonly used technique is matrix-factorization that has a share of 30%. In data mining-based recommender systems, machine learning has a share of 37.93% whereas deep learning has a share of 17.24%. The finding of this systematic literature review-based study will aid the researchers to design the job recommender systems that are more effective and efficient. Regarding future contributions and collaborations, cold start, skill mapping and transparency are the quality attributes that can be addressed; JRS is one of the emerging tools due to its prevalent acceptance and success that opens new ways of recruitment and job hiring.

The low earth orbit (LEO) satellite Internet of Things (IoT) has attracted widespread attention as an effective complement to terrestrial IoT. However, given the large number of service terminals, it is essential to design an access scheme that satisfies high capacity and low latency. In this work, a non-orthogonal multiple access based enhanced frameless slotted ALOHA (NOMA-EFSA) scheme is proposed for the access of massive IoT terminals through a LEO satellite terrestrial relay network. In this scheme, terminals are categorized into free, backlogged, and pseudo-backlogged states. Terminals in different states transmit data packets at discrete power levels according to specific rules and the relay decodes them using inter-slot and intra-slot successive interference cancellation (SIC). Most importantly, an effect of imperfect channel state information (CSI) is considered, and signature codes are employed to mitigate the power collision in multi-terminal transmission within this scheme. The Markov chain is used to derive the lower bound of the system throughput and the upper bound of the number of backlogged terminals, while taking into account the performance loss caused by satellite link outage. Moreover, simulation results confirm the aforementioned analysis and show that the proposed scheme outperforms remarkably the existing enhanced frameless slotted ALOHA (EFSA) scheme in terms of throughput and the number of backlogged terminals.

Objective: Insufficient physical activity (PA) is a well-known risk factor for many non-communicable diseases. This study aimed to develop a screening tool to identify physically inactive people at the population level and to help social and health care professionals promote physical activity among people at risk. Methods: Eighty-five healthy adults wore a hip-worn accelerometer for seven days, after which they completed several PA questionnaires. These included some novel and several validated questions on PA. The reliability of individual questions to identify physically inactive people was assessed by correlation analysis. Logistic regression analysis was used to find the combination of questions which best identified physically inactive people. Results: The highest correlation of the screening questionnaire with the accelerometer was 0.46 (p < 0.001) for sedentary behavior and 0.42 (p < 0.001) for total physical activity, respectively. The best pair of questions on total physical activity identified 64% of all inactive subjects (MVPA < 150 min/week) based on accelerometer data. Conclusions: The questionnaires developed for screening PA have a poor correlation with the accelerometer data. The screening questionnaires roughly describe PA level among middle-aged participants, but if a more sensitive or specific method is needed, device-based measurements are recommended.