Background: Front-of-pack-labels (FOPLs) on packaged foods provide consumers with essential information about the nutritional content of food products, enabling them to make informed choices and align their dietary habits with their health goals. However, evidence on the comprehensibility, use, and effectiveness of FOPLs remains limited, particularly in low- and middle-income countries like Kenya. Objective: In this study, we assessed the effectiveness of three FOPLs in helping consumers identify excess nutrients of concern in packaged food products and their potential influence on food purchases in Kenya. Methods: A total of 2198 shoppers with diverse backgrounds were recruited from selected supermarkets in three Kenyan main cities (Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu) and a small town (Garissa). Participants were randomized to three FOPLs: Red and green Octagon label (RG), Red and Green Octagon with icons (RGI) and a black Octagon Warning label (WL). In the control phase, participants were shown unlabeled images of packaged food products and they responded to a set of questions. In the experimental phase, the same product images were presented with one of the three front-of-pack labels they were randomized to, and participants answered the same questions again. Differences in the proportions of participants correctly identifying the nutrients of concern and the changes in intention to purchase unhealthy foods before and after exposure to FOPLs were analyzed using frequency tables and Chi-Square tests. The effectiveness of the three FOPLs was further assessed using a modified Poisson regression. Results: Results showed that exposure to FOPLs significantly improvement participants' ability to correctly identify nutrients of concern across various food categories. Additionally, FOPLs reduced consumers’ intentions to purchase unhealthy foods, with the Warning Labels (WL) emerging as particularly effective in enhancing consumers' understanding of product healthiness and reducing the intention to purchase unhealthy foods compared to the other two FOPLs. Conclusion: These findings underscore the potential role of FOPLs, particularly the WL as an effective regulatory tool for promoting healthier food choices in Kenya.

Being forced to live in an area following a catastrophic landslide may adversely impact people's mental well-being. Unprivileged communities such as Adivasis, Dalits, plantation workers, and people with low incomes in Kerala's hilly districts are forced to live in landslide-affected areas despite their fear. This paper examines the fears and concerns of landslide survivors from the marginalized sections of society from a broader framework of the political economy of mental health. This approach aligns with the assertion made by the World Health Organisation that individual factors do not solely determine mental health but are intricately linked to broader social, political, and economic circumstances. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with fatal landslide survivors and key informants [ ]. The study employed thematic data analysis from in-depth interviews of various fatal landslide survivors since 2018. The three major themes unveiled in the analysis are: 1. post-disaster fears, 2. The factors that triggered fear and concern and 3. Socio-economic marginality and mental health. The study asserts that individuals who are poor and unprivileged are highly susceptible to mental health issues associated with landslides.

Mississippi youth are demographically unique compared to that of the nation. The purpose of this study was to determine the trend of drug use among adolescents of the United States and Mississippi, and to estimate the differences of drug use prevalence as a whole, and by gender and by race. National and Mississippi YRBSS data from 2001 to 2021 were obtained for analysis. Summary statistics, prevalence ratio, and survey Chi-squared tests of independence statistics were generated for the comparison for all students, and by gender and race separately. Trend analysis was conducted using logistic regression combined with joinpoint regression. Six survey questions being studied were: have you ever used marijuana, inhalant, heroin, methamphetamines, injected drugs, and were you offered, sold, or given an illegal drug on school property during the last 12 months. Survey packages in R were used to account for the complex sampling design of YRBSS data. On the national level, all six drug related risk behaviors being studied showed significant decrease from 2001 to 2021. In Mississippi however, only “ever used marijuana” showed a trend of decrease, while three remain unchanged, and two increased. 2021 YRBSS data shows that Mississippi adolescents exhibited significantly higher prevalence of drug use, and are more likely to be offered, sold or given an illegal drug on school property. Our study suggests an urgent need for drug use intervention among Mississippi adolescents. More concerted actions at the community, school and government level are needed for reducing youth drug use and controlling the drug traffic on school property.

Prevalence of overweight and obesity are escalating globally among the general population. However, there are limited evidence on the trends and prevalence of overweight /obesity in the military setting. Increased rates of injuries, low work productivity, incurred higher healthcare costs and prematurely discharge from service are consequences of overweight/obesity among the military. Therefore, we aimed to systematically describe the trends and prevalence of overweight and obesity in the military population, by regions and military service branches. Databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar were used. Inclusion criteria were military population (inclusive of all service branches) with BMI reported as the overweight/obesity indicator. Population related to military but not exclusively military personnel such as the retirees, the veterans and their dependents were excluded. From the 27 included studies, 13 were published between year 2010 to 2014 and half were conducted in the United States. Overall, studies showed increasing trend in the prevalence of overweight (30% to 50%) and obesity (2% to 30%); only one study showed a decreasing trend of 0.9% and 0.6% for the prevalence of overweight and obesity respectively. However, the rates of increment differed between countries, where Asian countries demonstrated lower overweight prevalence compared to the United States and the European countries. In conclusion, the military population is not protected from overweight and obesity. Interventions should be implemented to prevent overweight / obesity among the military personnel.

Background/Purpose: Multimorbidity of malaria, anaemia, and malnutrition (MAMM) is a condition in which an individual cohabits with two or more of these health outcomes and is becoming an emergent public health concern in sub-Saharan African countries. The independent associations of a child’s demographic variables and socioeconomic disparities with a child’s health outcomes have been established in literature. However, the effects of the intersection of these factors on MAMM, while accounting for other covariates have not been studied. Therefore, this study aimed to determine how children’s sex, age and socioeconomic status interact to explain the variations in MAMM among children aged 6-59 months in Nigeria. Methods: Data from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey and the 2018 National Human Development Report (NHDR) were used. The study includes weighted samples of 10,184 children aged 6-59 months in Nigeria. A three-level multilevel mixed effect ordinal logistic regression model such that individual characteristics at level 1 are nested in communities at level 2 and nested in states at level 3 was used. Subsequently, predictive probability charts and average adjusted probability tables were used to interpret the intersectional effects. Five models were created in this scenario. Model 1 is the interaction between the child's sex and wealth status; model 2, child's sex and age; model 3 is between child's age and wealth status; model 4 has the three 2-way interactions of child's sex, age, and household wealth status, and model 5 includes model 4 and the 3-way interactions between a child's sex, age, and wealth quintiles. Results: The prevalence of children with ‘none of the three diseases’ outcomes was 17.3% (1767/10,184), while, 34.4% (3499/10,184) had ‘only one of the diseases’, and 48.3% (4,918/10,184) cohabit with ‘two or more’ of MAMM. However, in the multivariate analyses, model 3 was the best fit compared with other models, so, that the two-way interaction effects of a child's age and wealth status are significant predictors in the model. Children aged 36-47 months living in the poorest households have the probability of 0.11, 0.18, and 0.32 of contracting MAMM above the probability of children of the same age and live in the middle, more prosperous and richest households, respectively, while all other covariates are held constant. Thus, the variation in MAMM over a child's age differs depending on the household wealth quintile. In other words, as the children grow older, variations in MAMM become more evident between the rich and the poor household. Conclusion: Therefore, it is recommended that policies that are geared toward economic redistribution will help bridged the disparities observed in multiple diseases among children aged 6-59 months in Nigeria

Obesity poses significant challenges in rural communities worldwide due to limited resources and healthcare access. Practical, innovative, and culturally sensitive approaches are essential. Time-Restricted Eating (TRE), aligning food intake with circadian rhythms, emerges as a promising strategy. By restricting eating to specific time windows, TRE synchronizes with the body's internal clock, offering potential metabolic health benefits. This review examines TRE's potential in rural obesity management, highlighting its simplicity and scalability. While TRE may address rural health disparities, cultural considerations and challenges such as undernutrition must be acknowledged for effective implementation. Overall, TRE shows promise in improving metabolic health and well-being in rural populations.

In Brazil, Brazilian borreliosis (BB), characterized molecularly, exhibits symptoms akin to Lyme disease (LD) but presents unique epidemiological, clinical, and morphological features. This study explores the incidence, diagnostic challenges, and awareness initiatives regarding this disease in Brazil. Employing a narrative review methodology, data were sourced from Pubmed, Ebsco, Google Scholar, and Web of Science without temporal constraints. Results reveal diagnostic complexities in Brazil due to the low sensitivity of conventional tests and the use of North American B. burgdorferi antigens. Despite challenges, epidemiological studies indicate an upswing in cases in humans and animals. Therefore, there is an urgent need to define new biomarkers, molecular strategies, or new antigenic targets to advance the development of vaccines and diagnostics. Early and accurate pathogen identification is crucial for active surveillance to comprehend and manage this zoonosis.

(1) Background: Until December 2021, French Guiana (FG), located in South America, faced four consecutive COVID-19 epidemic waves. This study sought to analyze the mortality trend of severe COVID-19 patients admitted to the referral ICU of FG. (2) Methods: We conducted a prospective, observational, and non-interventional study in ICU at Cayenne Hospital. We included 383 patients older than 18 admitted with SARS-CoV-2-related pneumonia hospitalized from May 2020 to December 2021. The study covers three periods. Period 1 (Waves 1 and 2, original variant), period 2 (Wave 3, gamma variant), and period 3 (Wave 4, delta variant). (3) Results: The median age was 63 years (52-70). Frailty was diagnosed in 36 patients over 70 (32.4%). Only 4.8% of patients were vaccinated. The median ICU LOS was 10 days (6-19). Hospital mortality was 37.3%. It was 30.9% in period 1, 36.6% in period 2 (p=0.329 vs. period 1), and 47.1% in period 3 (0.015 vs. period 1). In multivariate analysis, independent factors associated with hospital mortality were age more than 40 years (]40-60 years] OR=5.2, 95%CI: 1.4-19.5; (]60-70 years] OR=8.5 95%CI: 2.2-32; (]70+ years] OR=17.9, 95%CI: 4.5-70.9), frailty (OR=5.6, 95%CI: 2.2-17.2), immunosuppression (OR=2.6, 95%CI: 1.05-6.7), and MV use (OR=11, 95%CI: 6.1-19.9). This model had an overall sensitivity of 72%, a specificity of 80.4%, a positive predictive value of 68.7%, and a negative predictive value of 82.8%. (4) Conclusions: The mortality of severe COVID-19 patients in French Amazonia was higher during the delta variant wave. This over-death is explained by the virulence of the responsible SARS-CoV-2 variant and the under-vaccination coverage of the studied population.

Background: Aedes albopictus, the Asian Tiger Mosquito, has become a prevalent pest in Italy, causing severe nuisance and posing a threat of transmission of arboviruses introduced by infected travellers. In this study, we investigated the influence of weather parameters on the seasonal population density of Aedes albopictus. Methods: A Bayesian approach was employed to identify the best meteorological predictors of species trend, using the eggs collected monthly from 2010 to 2022 by the Emilia-Romagna regional monitoring network. Results: The findings show that the winter-spring period (January to May) plays a crucial role in the size of the first generation and seasonal development of the species. Conclusions: A temperate winter and a dry and cold March, followed by a rainy and hot spring and a rainy July, seem to favour the seasonal development of Ae. albopictus.

Long COVID, a name often given to the persistent symptoms following acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, poses a multifaceted challenge for health. This review explores the intrinsic relationship between comorbidities and autoimmune responses in shaping the trajectory of long COVID. Autoantibodies have emerged as significant players in COVID-19 pathophysiology, with implications for disease severity and progression. Studies show immune dysregulation persisting months after infection, marked by activated innate immune cells and high cytokine levels. The presence of autoantibodies against various autoantigens suggests their potential as comorbid factors in long COVID. Additionally, the formation of immune complexes may lead to severe disease progression, highlighting the urgency for early detection and intervention. Furthermore, long COVID is highly linked to cardiovascular complications and neurological symptoms, posing challenges in diagnosis and management. Multidisciplinary approaches, including vaccination, tailored rehabilitation, and pharmacological interventions, are used for mitigating long COVID's burden. However, numerous challenges persist, from evolving diagnostic criteria to addressing the psychosocial impact and predicting disease outcomes. Leveraging AI-based applications holds promise in enhancing patient management and improving our understanding of long COVID. As research continues to unfold, unravelling the complexities of long COVID remains paramount for effective intervention and patient care.

Background - Compared to the da Vinci platform, there is limited experience with the Hugo RAS platform for colorectal surgery in Europe. This difference is especially notable when considering a single complex procedure, such as total colectomy. Aim - To demonstrate the feasibility and safety of using the Hugo RAS for assisted total colectomy. Clinical case- Female patient: eighteen-year-old with Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP). Her IBM was 19. She underwent a total colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis using the Hugo RAS platform. The procedure took 230 minutes and had no complications. The postoperative period was uneventful. She was discharged from the hospital on the third postoperative day. Conclusion - The Hugo RAS platform is one of the emergent minimally invasive robotic platforms that can be used even in total colectomy if the proper patient selection is made. The placement choice of arms and trocars was crucial to obtain a similar operative time of the single laparoscopic approach. The certification of Hugo’s new instruments, such as energy devices and staplers, will make this platform even more competitive.

Since the 20th century, numerous studies have detected or isolated parasites from the Trypanosomatidae family in various tick species. However, the status of ticks as vectors of medically or veterinary important Trypanosoma and Leishmania remains unclear. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to pro-vide new insights into the potential vector status of Leishmania and Trypanosoma, which have medical and veterinary significance. We searched three databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science) from 1912 to June 30, 2023, resulting in 94 and 86 papers included in the qualitative and quantitative analyses, respectively. All identified field studies were conducted in endemic areas and investigated the presence of Trypanosoma and Leishmania parasite, DNA, or antigen in ticks. We recorded a pooled prevalence of Trypa-nosomatidae detection in ticks at 15.48% [7.99-24.61%], with significant variations depending on the year, detection method, and geographical area. Most of positive tick species belonged to the genera Amblyomma, Hyalomma, Ixodes, and Rhipicephalus. Experimental laboratory work on transmission routes proved potential vector competence in both the Argasidae and Ixodidae tick families. Although our systematic review and meta-analysis provide unambiguous evidence of the natural infection of ticks by Trypanosomatidae para-sites with some evidence of non-traditional transmission routes, it does not provide conclusive evidence on the role of ticks as biological or mechanical vectors for veterinary and medically interest protozoan Trypa-nosomatidae species. All these unambiguously demonstrates the need of additional investigations to address this point.

Objective: To explore the hot spots and development trends of community public health research. Methods: The literature related to this topic was searched in CNKI and PubMed databases, and the trend map of the number of articles was drawn according to the obtained data. The included literature were analyzed with Vosviewer software for keyword and author co-occurrence, and CiteSpace 6.3.R1 Basic software was used for mechanism co-occurrence, key emergence and clustering analysis, and timeline distribution map drawing. Results: 189 Chinese literature and 77 English literature were selected. The Chinese literature focused on “community public health service, emergency management, and community governance”, and the research trend was “community public health emergency management and community governance”; English literature focuses on “nursing education, health education, human qualitative research”. Conclusion: Although the Chinese and English literature shows that scholars in this field have different emphases, the primary community health is the key and difficult point to realize the national public health service project, and improving the basic public health service in the primary community is related to the health of all the people, so it is very important.

To assess the community health workers’ (CHWs) knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) in type-2 diabetes (T2D) and hypertension (HTN) management. We thus also sought to assess the potential health system barriers for incorporating CHWs in T2D and HTN management. Mixed-method study comprised (1) a survey among 153 active CHWs to assess their KAP of T2D and HTN, and (2) semi-structured interviews with key informants to understand challenges of the health system and proposed solutions in incorporating CHWs in T2D and HTN management. The majority of CHWs correctly answered general knowledge questions on NCDs, risk factors, and prevention; however, only one-quarter correctly answered questions on smoking, family history, or tobacco use as risk factors. Most respondents appeared to have positive attitudes and have been practicing some activities related to T2D and HTN. Both financial and non-financial resource constraints were cited as challenges of the health system; therefore, re-structuring the role definition of CHWs and task of responsibilities, and assessment the need and workload have been proposed as ways forwards to effectively incorporate CHWs in T2D and HTN care. CHWs in Cambodia have shown their potential in T2D and HTN management; however, a well-designed strategy including technical training, clearly defined roles and responsibilities, and strong supporting structure are important to maximize their potential in the health system.

Developmental, clinical, and epidemiological research have demonstrated the salience of perceived racial discrimination (PRD) as a contributor to negative mental health outcomes in adolescence. This article summarizes secondary analyses of cross-sectional data from a large-scale youth survey within a predominantly rural state to estimate the prevalence and strength of association between PRD and serious psychological distress, suicidal ideation, and prior suicidal attempts. Data from 93,812 students enrolled in Grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 within 129 school districts across Kentucky were examined to determine prevalence rates for subgroups within the cohort. Logistic regression analyses assessed differences and established comparative strength of association among these variables for racial/ethnic subgroups. PRD was self-reported at high rates across several demographic subgroups and was most evident among Black (24.5%) and Asian (22.1%) students. Multiracial students experienced the highest rates of both SPD and suicidality. Both for the entire cohort and for each racial/ethnic subgroup, PRD was significantly associated with increased likelihood of negative mental health outcomes, although the strength of these associations varied across subgroups and developmental levels. Implications for early intervention and prevention are discussed.

We developed a protein to rapidly and accurately diagnose Chagas disease, a life-threatening illness identified by the WHO as a critical worldwide public health risk. Complicating the current health situation are serological test limitations that contribute to most infected persons being unaware of their condition and therefore untreated. To improve diagnostic testing, we developed an immunological mimic of the etiological agent, Trypanosoma cruzi, by combining ten pathogen specific epitopes within the beta-barrel protein structure of Thermal Green Protein. The resulting multi-epitope protein, DxCruziV3, displayed high specificity and sensitivity as the antibody capture reagent in an ELISA platform with an analytical sensitivity that exceeds WHO recommendations. Within an immunochromatographic platform, DxCruziV3 showed excellent performance for the point of application diagnosis in a region endemic for multiple diseases, the municipality of Barcelos in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. In total, 167 individuals were rapidly tested using whole blood from a finger stick. As recommended by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, venous blood samples were laboratory tested by conventional assays for comparison. Test results suggest utilizing DxCruziV3 in different assay platforms can confidently diagnosis chronic infections by T. cruzi. Rapid and more accurate results will benefit everyone but will have the most noticeable impact in resource-limited rural areas where the disease is endemic.

This is a single tertiary center in southwest Romania, population-based, study. We retrospectively compared data obtained in two periods: January 2008 - December 2013 and January 2018 - De-cember 2023, respectively. The global incidence of transposition of great arteries (TGA) - the ter-minated cases added to the ones resulting in live-born pregnancies, remained almost constant. The live-born incidence of TGA decreased (0.34% to 0.013%). The prenatal detection rate increased slightly (71.42% to 87.5%). The median gestational age at the diagnosis decreased, from 29.3 ges-tational weeks (mean 25.4) to 13.4 weeks (mean 17.2). The proportion of terminated pregnancies significantly increased (14.28% to 75%, p = 0.019).

Magnaporthe oryzae is a filamentous heterothallic ascomycete fungus globally distributed in rice-growing regions and serves as the causative agent of rice blast disease. Populations shaped by environmental factors and human intervention play important roles in the formation of genetic structure. In this study, population structures and spatiotemporal dynamics were investigated based on the large-scale whole genomic sequences of rice-infecting M. oryzae around the world. By analyzing the genetic structures, we identified divergent clades that crossed geographic boundaries. While we observed associations between the isolates and their geographic origins, we also found that there were frequent migration events occurring worldwide. The populations in Asia demonstrated the highest genetic diversity due to the continent’s history of rice domestication, followed by separate gene flows to Africa, North America, South America and Europe. Within Asia, China was the migration origin, facilitating gene flows to Japan and South Korea. Additionally, our analysis of the evolutionary history of global M. oryzae populations provided insights into the population expansion that has taken place in recent decades. Overall, our findings indicate that human-mediated gene flows played a pivotal role in shaping the genetic structure of M. oryzae.

Demographic studies have revealed a strong association between exposure to high ambient temperatures during pregnancy and increased risks of preterm birth (PTB). The mechanism underlying this association is unclear, but it is plausible that altered placental function may contribute. In this study, we conducted differential gene expression analysis, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), and gene ontology (GO) analysis on bulk RNA-seq data from human placentas delivered at term and preterm during the warmer months compared to placentas delivered at term and preterm during the colder months in the UK. We detected 48 differentially expressed genes in preterm placentas delivered during the warmer months compared to preterm placentas delivered during the colder months, the majority of which were inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, including SERPINA1, IL1B, CCL3, CCL3L3, CCL4, CCL4L2, CCL20, and CXCL8. The GSEA positively enriched 17 signalling pathways, including the NF-κB, IL17, toll-like receptor, and chemokine signalling pathways, in warm-exposed preterm placentas, which were not observed in warm-exposed term placentas. The GO analysis revealed several biological processes, including neutrophil, granulocyte, monocyte, and lymphocyte chemotaxis, as well as inflammatory and humoral immune responses in warm-exposed preterm placentas, but not in warm-exposed term placentas. We conclude that maternal exposure to warm environmental temperatures during pregnancy alters the placental transcriptome towards inflammation and immune regulation, potentially leading to PTB.

Global warming may increase the potential evapotranspiration (Etp), thereby affecting the amount of clean water resources available in a region. In this study, the systematic biases in temperature outputs of 24 global climate models (GCMs) under 3 emission scenarios are corrected by using 8 bias correction methods. The trend of Etp in Yangzi River Delta in the 21st century is projected by using 4 Etp calculation formulas. The uncertainty of the projections is estimated and decomposed by using multi-way analysis of variance. The influence of uncertainty on the projected change signal is quantified by using the signal-to-noise ratio. The results show that, relative to the reference period (1971~2000), the annual mean daily Etp in Yangzi River Delta will increase by 0.14~0.17mm/d during the period 2021~2050 and by 0.21~0.41mm/d during the period 2061~2090, respectively. During 2021~2050, the uncertainty of Etp increase projections is dominantly contributed by the main effects of GCM (63%) and Etp calculation formula (24%). During 2061~2090, it is mainly contributed by the main effect of GCM (36%), followed by the main effects of emission scenario (34%) and Etp calculation formula (18%). The increase projections of Etp are generally reliable and robust during the two projection periods.

Long term Precipitation and temperature variations are one of the main determinants of climate variability of one’s area. The aim of this study is to determine trends variation in climatic elements of temperature and precipitation in the southern zone of Tigray regional state, Ethiopia. The station is assumed for the study of climatic records over southern zone of the region in detection for probable trends. The daily, monthly and annual precipitation totals and temperature observed at korem meteorological station were used for the period of 1981-2010 for Precipitation and 1985 – 2010 for minimum and maximum temperature. Summary of descriptive statistics and Mann Kendall test methods were employed for the observed data analysis to demonstrate any existence of possible trends. The main findings of the study indicated that the mean and maximum temperature had a general increasing trend; however, minimum temperature showed decreasing trend. In general annual temperature from 1985 – 2010 of the area showed a warming trend. Moreover analysis of the 30 years (1981-2010) annual precipitation showed a coefficient of variation ranging from 33.77 – 233 %. It indicated that the precipitation dissemination is not normal with large year to year variances.

To make wind power more competitive, it is necessary to reduce turbine downtime and reduce costs associated with wind turbine Operation and Maintenance (O&M). Incorporating machine learning in developing condition-based predictive maintenance methodologies for wind turbines can enhance their efficiency and reliability. This paper presents a monitoring method that utilizes Base Density for the Support Vector Machine (BDSVM) and the evolutionary Fourier spectra of vibrations. This method allows smart monitoring of the function evolution of the turbine. A complex optimal function (FO) for 5-degree order has been developed that will be the boundary function of the BDSVM to timely determine the magnitude, frequency, and place of the failure occurring in wind turbine drive.

Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) infections are the most common sexually-transmitted infection (STI). Despite effective antibiotics for Ct, undetected infections or delayed treatment can lead to infertility, ectopic pregnancies, and chronic pelvic pain. Besides humans, chlamydia poses similar health challenges in animals such as C. suis (Cs) in pigs. Based on the similarities between humans and pigs as well as their chlamydia species, we use pigs as a large biomedical animal model for chlamydia research. In this study, we use the pig model to develop a vaccine candidate against Ct. The vaccine candidate consists of TriAdj-adjuvanted chlamydial protease-like activity factor (CPAF) protein. We tested two weekly administration options – twice intranasal (IN) followed by twice intramuscular (IM), or twice IM followed by twice IN. We assessed the humoral immune response not only in serum by CPAF-specific IgG including antibody avidity determination but also in cervical and rectal swabs by CPAF-specific IgG and IgA ELISAs. The systemic T-cell response was analyzed upon in vitro CPAF-restimulation via IFN-γ and IL-17 ELISpots as well as intracellular cytokine staining flow cytometry. Our data demonstrate that while the IN/IM vaccination mainly led to non-significant systemic immune responses, the vaccine candidate is highly immunogenic if administered IM/IN. This vaccination strategy induced high serum anti-CPAF IgG levels with strong avidity as well as high IgA and IgG levels in vaginal and rectal swabs and in uterine horn flushes. In addition, this vaccination strategy prompted a pronounced cellular immune response: Besides inducing IL-17 production, the vaccine candidate induced a strong IFN-γ response by CD4 T cells. In the IM/IN vaccinated pigs, these cells also significantly downregulated their CCR7 expression – a sign for differentiation into peripheral tissue homing effector/ memory cells. Conclusively, this study demonstrates strong immunogenicity of the IM/IN administered TriAdj-adjuvanted Ct CPAF vaccine candidate. Future studies will test vaccine efficacy of this promising Ct vaccine candidate. In addition, this project demonstrates suitability of the Cs pre-exposed outbred pig model for Ct vaccine development. Thereby, we aim to open the bottleneck of large animal models to facilitate the progression of Ct vaccine candidates into clinical trials.

Background: The bacterium Capnocytophaga spp. is a part of the oral microbiome of dogs, which has zoonotic potential. This study aimed to assess factors that influence the prevalence of Capnocytophaga cynodegmi and Capnocytophaga canimorsus in Wrocaw’s dog population. Methods: Molecular detection (PCR) involved 105 swabs, examining parameters such as oral cavity condition, underlying health issues, recent antibiotics, age, medications, material collection, and dog chews. Results: The study highlighted significant associations between the presence of Capnocytophaga cynodegmi and oral cavity condition, material collection method, and use of dog’s chews. Conclusions: Correlations obtained in this study between the oral health of Wroclaw's dog population and the presence of Capnocytophaga cynodegmi suggest its significance in the oral microbiome of dogs. Limitations, including the small sample size, highlight the need for more research to comprehensively understand additional factors that affect the prevalence of Capnocytophaga spp. in dogs

The Mara River basin (MRB) has a world-famous ecosystem, but the vegetation has been damaged due to economic development in recent years, and there is little known about the area that will experience severe vegetation damage in the future. Based on the vegetation vulnerability system, principal component analysis, and three CMIP6 scenarios (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP5-8.5), vegetation vulnerability was calculated in the base period (2010-2019), near-term period (2020-2059) and long-term period (2060-2099) in the MRB. The spatial cluster of vegetation vulnerability was revealed by spatial correlation analysis, and the transition of vegetation vulnerability of different periods was analyzed by stochastic matrix. The results showed that in all periods, the vulnerability showed a high-high cluster in the east, and a low-low cluster midstream and downstream. From the stochastic matrix, the area of high vulnerability increased the least under the SSP1-2.6, while it increased the most under the SSP5-8.5. The vegetation vulnerability upstream increased the most from the base period to the near-term period and long-term period in the MRB. By comparing the vegetation vulnerability under different scenarios, and pointing out the areas with the highest vulnerability increase, this study can better provide comprehensive decision-making for vegetation protection in the MRB.

This study examines the association of sociodemographic risk factors and the comorbidities of COVID-19. Most COVID-19-related studies were conducted in inpatient settings among patients with severe infection during the first and second waves of the pandemic. The third wave with less severe Omicron variant presented a unique opportunity to observe the adult patients treated in outpatient settings. We conducted a cross-sectional study (117 patients aged > 40 years presented with symptomatic COVID-19). We employed the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) to compute comorbidity burden, Medical Outcomes Survey Short form (SF-12) to measure general health, and Self-care Self- Efficacy Scale (SCSES) to assess self-care ability. Fisher’s exact test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compute the relationship between comorbidities and demographics. This study report focuses on the distribution of the comorbidities and its relationship to demographic variables. The top five comorbidities were hypertension (42%), diabetes (31%), pulmonary disease/asthma (19%), depression (14%), and cancer (11%). Depression was significantly higher among younger age groups (p<0.01) and women (p<0.05). Age (p<0.0001) and income (p<0.01) were the most significantly associated demographics with the comorbidity burden. Incidence of pulmonary disease showed a positive association to educational status (p=0.05). This was the first study to report a significant prevalence of depression among adults with symptomatic COVID-19.

Aims/Hypothesis): Type 1 diabetes is an immune-mediated disease with destruction of the pancreatic β-cells, a process that is conditioned by multiple genes and other factors. HLA counts as the major susceptibility gene. Significant variations in HLA genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes between Caucasians, African and Asian and other ethnic groups may have led to the variation in incidence of type 1 diabetes globally. Type 1 diabetes is characterized upon HLA identification. In this chapter we discuss global variations in genetic susceptibility of HLA with regard to type 1 diabetes globally with a particular attention to Arab population. Methods): Haplotype configuration of HLA class I A, B, C and Class II –DR/DQ/DP were studied in Caucasians, African and Asian and in Arab population to see if that is responsible for the exponential rise in the rate of type 1 diabetes. Results): Although Arabs have one of the highest global incidence and prevalence rates of type 1 diabetes, unfortunately, there is a dearth amount of information regarding HLA genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes in the Arab world. HLA haplotype configurations contribute to its risk value. However, out of an insufficient present study there are examples of misjudgment of HLA risk according to HLA alleles rather than haplotypes. Conclusion): To date HLA outlooks for the characterization of type 1 diabetes. There is an ethnicity difference in HLA characteristics which is responsible for variation in type 1 diabetes. Although Arab population have contributed heavily in the rise of burden of type 1 diabetes, however, there is significantly a dearth amount of studies on HLA in Arab population. Obviously, any future prediction, prevention or cure of the disease will be based on the HLA genetics. There is a dire need for a systematic screening of HLA for Arab population with type 1 diabetes, identification of Arab HLA-risk values and identify those who are prone to get the disease.

Background: The practice of self-medication is common worldwide and is an important component of medical self-care. However, the practice can be dangerous and is linked to various risks for the patients and the entire community. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and factors associated with self-medication among Bangladeshi adults. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between April and June 2021 among Bangladeshi adults (aged >19 years) using convenient sampling. A total of 1320 data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a standardized questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with self-medication practice (SMP). Results: Overall, 41% of adults in our survey reported SMP. The most common illnesses that prompted SMP were common cold/flu (66.4%), gastric problems (65%), and headache (64.4%). The most frequent reasons for SMP were to get better services (30.59%), perceive SMP without side effects (23.28%), and save time with effectiveness (14.56%). Potential risk factors included 10 years (AOR = 1.91; 95% CI: 1.04 - 3.50) and >12 years of schooling (AOR = 5.03; 95% CI: 2.27 - 11.15), being a businessman (AOR = 4.64; 95% CI: 1.74 - 12.37), having ≤6 family members (AOR = 2.13; 95% CI: 1.40 - 3.24), being a member of a social group (AOR = 1.53; 95% CI: 1.10 - 2.12), a health status check after every six months (AOR = 1.52; 95% CI: 1.08 - 2.13), and current ill-health (AOR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.06 - 1.87). Protective factors identified included ≤30 years of age (AOR = 0.40; 95% CI: 0.17 - 0.93), and practice of modern (AOR = 0.39; 95% CI: 0.22- 0.69) and herbal (AOR = 0.45; 95% CI: 0.21- 0.97) healing types. Conclusion: More than one-third of the study participants reported practicing self-medication. Increasing the community’s awareness of the extreme consequences of SMP and not just the average experience might sway individuals away from SMP, and implementing strict jurisdiction could be a way to minimize the SMP.

HIV early detection (CD4 counts ≥350 cells/μL) is correlated with higher life expectancy among people living with HIV (PLHIV). Several factors including physical, cultural, structural, and financial barriers have contributed to HIV late detection. This is the first-of-its-kind study on the regional differences in early detection of HIV within Tajikistan and any country in the Central Asia region. Utilizing Tajikistan Ministry of Health's national HIV data (N=10,700) spanning 2010 to 2023, we developed median regression models with median CD4 cell count as the outcome and as predictors: time (years), region, age, gender, and area (urban/rural status). Individuals younger than 19 years old are more likely to be detected early for HIV, whereas those older than 39 years are more prone to late detection. Given their active engagement in age-related and sexual activities, those older than 39 years face a higher risk of HIV transmission to others if diagnosed late. Therefore, they require further attention and targeted interventions. Females are detected earlier compared to their male counterparts, regardless of region of residence. Rural populations are detected earlier in most years compared to their urban counterparts. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated HIV early detection in 2021 but most regions have returned to near pre-pandemic levels of detection in 2022 and 2023. These fluctuations in early detection may signify a shift in attention and resource allocation, potentially affecting efforts to address access gaps during the initial year of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are significant health inequities among different demographic and geographic groups which warrant further attention.

The aim of the study was to assess the frequency of fish consumption in Poland including sea and freshwater fish species referring to some socio-economic determinants. The frequency of consumption was assessed using Food Propensity Questionnaire data from 1489 adults (722 males, 767 females) in 2019–2020. The fish consumption frequency in Polish adults was too rare compared to the recommendations (at least twice a week). About 80% of respondents consumed fish less frequently than recommended. Sea fish were mostly consumed less than once a month (31.8%) or 1-3 times a month (30.9%). The most of subjects (44.8%) consumed freshwater fish less than once a month. It was also depended on: educational level, economic status, place of residence, declared health status, and on BMI value or BMI status. However, taking into account sex, the occurrence of these relationships was different in men and women. It seems that educational activities and dissemination of proper nutrition principles is necessary in order to increase the consumption of fish in Poland. It should be important to emphasize health benefits of fish consumption in relation to possible adverse effects of their contamination.

Transportation accidents in Brazil rank as the second leading cause of hospitalizations due to external causes, significantly impacting the organization of the healthcare system.. While all road users are at risk, pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable. Although governments and societies advocate for increased bicycling as a sustainable urban transportation option, the uneven accessibility of cycling infrastructure poses accident risks. Addressing the gap in research on this issue, this study investigates the trends and contributing factors of bicycle traffic accidents in the metropolitan area of Maringá, Paraná, Brazil. This ecological time series study analyzed 848 pre-hospital care records from SAMU and SIATE of Maringá-PR, spanning January 2010 to December 2019. The results reveal a rise in accident frequency over the study period, with the majority of victims being males aged 11 to 20 years. Accidents predominantly occurred between noon and 8:00 p.m., with peak occurrences on Fridays and Saturdays. Serious accidents were most frequent on Tuesdays and Fridays. These findings align with existing literature and underscore the importance of incorporating data from SIATE and SAMU into urban accident prevention strategies. Additionally, the study highlights the need for further research on this topic.

The sudden and abrupt rise of COVID-19 became a challenge for the world economy. In this paper, we investigate the changes of a trend of mutual trade between the EU-15 countries and China during the demanding times of the COVID-19 crisis. We use monthly data for Chinese export to the EU (2018:01 – 2020:05) and import from the EU (2018:01 – 2020:07) relying on the data from open source Trademap. We employ descriptive statistics to analyze the trade. Overall, there is the obvious decline of 13-32 per cent in worldwide trade as predicted by the WTO. This affected China as the main trading partner of electronic devices and medical supplies. The trade between the EU and China has decreased, but the major change in demand brought the alteration in commodities structure and re-orientation of Chinese export production. In the first five months of 2020, we have witnessed strong engagement of the Chinese economy in new highly demanded production - mainly to articles strongly linked with healthcare and medical equipment. Thus, we have observed that the Chinese were very flexible in changing the structure of export which was triggered by COVID-19 crisis. This flexibility is worth further exploration.

More than 400 million tons of livestock waste are generated annually by approximately 25,000 concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) located in the United States (US). These operations give rise to externalities, including adverse local and global health impacts from CAFO waste emissions, which can potentially outweigh their economic viability. However, a shortage of evidence synthesis research on US-based CAFO emissions may hinder effective policy development. This scoping review (ScR) study, conducted following guidance from the Joanna Briggs Institute, searched databases including Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed and Embase in May 2020, yielding ten publications meeting inclusion criteria. Results suggest possible CAFO worker exposures to multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MDRSA), campylobacteriosis and cryptosporidiosis. Communities near CAFOs experienced higher rates of adverse health impacts compared to those in non-CAFO areas, with patterns suggesting proximity may correlate with increased odds of detrimental health effects. Implicit global health threats include Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus  (MRSA), MDRSA, campylobacteriosis, tuberculosis, and cryptosporidiosis. These studies provide foundational insights into CAFO proximity, density patterns, and adverse public health effects, indicating a need for evidence-informed environmental health policies to minimize local and global risks.

The Asiatic apple leafminer, Phyllonorycter ringoniella (Matsumura), is a significant secondary pest of apple trees in Northeast Asia. To better understand its population dynamics, a population model based on temperature-developmental relationships was constructed. This model includes three sub-models: spring emergence, immature stage transition, and adult oviposition. Field data were collected from sex-pheromone baited traps in apple orchards in Andong, Korea, dur-ing 2015 and 2016 to validate the model. Simulations under six pesticide-natural enemy scenari-os showed that the population size of each generation was best simulated when weighted mor-tality factors for pesticides and natural enemies were applied. Using daily temperature inputs, the model demonstrated that P. ringoniella typically undergoes five generations per year, with peak times predicted within a seven-day margin of field data. Sensitivity analyses revealed that population size was influenced by total fecundity and the larval stage model, but peak times remained consistent despite parameter changes. Higher temperatures led to earlier adult peak dates, especially in summer generations. This model serves as a fundamental tool for estimating population dynamics and abundance changes of P. ringoniella and can guide the timings of pesti-cide application. Further validation is necessary to test the model's efficacy in controlling pests in apple orchards.

Abstract: Canine ehrlichiosis is a zoonotic disease transmitted by ticks, posing a formidable challenge to both veterinary and public health sectors worldwide. Across continents and regions, the prevalence rates of Ehrlichia canis exhibit significant variation, underlining the necessity for a nuanced and globally informed approach to understanding and combating this disease. The review navigates through this complexity, shedding light on the intricate pathogenesis of the illness. Central to this understanding is the bacterium's adept manipulation of the host's immune response, contributing to the diverse clinical manifestations observed in infected animals. Diagnostic methodologies, crucial for timely intervention and management, are subjected to critical assessment. From traditional microscopy to modern molecular techniques and serology, each approach is scrutinized for its strengths and limitations. By acknowledging these nuances, the review aims to equip practitioners with the knowledge necessary to make informed diagnostic decisions. A central tenet of this review is the advocacy for an integrated "One Health" approach. By leveraging advancements in genomics, proteomics, and artificial intelligence, there is a potential to enhance diagnostic accuracy and develop innovative therapeutic and preventive strategies globally. This collaborative approach recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, offering a holistic framework for tackling complex zoonotic diseases like canine ehrlichiosis. In conclusion, this review serves as a beacon of knowledge, illuminating the multifaceted landscape of canine ehrlichiosis. Through its synthesis of scientific literature and emphasis on methodological rigor, it provides a foundation upon which future research and interventions can be built. With a unified commitment to "One Health" principles and the integration of cutting-edge technologies, there exists the potential to mitigate the impact of this disease and safeguard both animal and human well-being worldwide

Statistical denoising techniques have been well studied, however many challenges still remain. This 9 article focuses on determining the least necessary number of significant samples in a statistical pop-10 ulation sampling, while minimizing the impact on the statistical detection of the fiber Bragg grating 11 (FBG) power spectra. This is achieved by using Bayesian decision making, small population statis-12 tics while excluding false detection. First, we investigate the impact of two-sided sliding window 13 technique applied near the cell under the test. The window size varies from 8 to 60 samples. The 14 considered maximum size of population sampling is connected with the number of wavelength 15 samples within the bandwidth of the symmetrical FBG power spectra peaks. Regarding the sym-16 metry of FBG power spectra peaks and the possible reduction of computational demands, we inves-17 tigate the impact of a one-sided sliding window. This enables to achieve less processing latency for 18 real time applications thus brings benefits to FBG-based fiber optical sensing. Both, two- and one-19 sided small population sampling techniques are then experimentally verified. Detection results are 20 analyzed in depth via calculating detection thresholds by using the small size window sliding along-21 side the waveband. From results achieved, it was found that the normality three-sigma rule does 22 not need to be followed while using the small population sampling. Experimental demonstrations 23 and analyses showed that the proposed concept of denoising and statistical threshold detection 24 based on the sliding window does not depend on the prior knowledge of probability distribution 25 functions of the FBG power spectra peaks level and background noise. We have also found that the 26 thresholds’ adaptability mainly depends on the statistical numerical characteristics of the above ad-27 ditive mixture of the FBG power spectra peaks signals and background noise.

Defect detection and identification from fruits and vegetables are particularly challenging for Indian agriculture. Defect Detection is a process to identify the defects or damages in vegetables and fruits, based on the shapes, colors and textures. The local market finds it difficult to cope with the defects and other infections in fruits and vegetables as quality evaluations and classification of vegetables and fruits have become tedious process. Recently, several approaches based on Image processing, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence methods have been proposed for the purpose of defect detection. On the basis of classifying the types of defects, related pathogens, and physical and morphological characteristics descriptors, we review the different approaches based on a corpus of 57 articles between 2016 and 2021. In the process of describing the defect analysis, steps from the target articles, algorithms, and methods including qualitative and quantitative evaluation are mainly summarized. The aim of this current review work is to present-day novel images and collects recent defective area calculation methods to detect surface defects of fruits and vegetables using RGB images and to classify whether the fruit is defected or fresh. A rigorous evaluation of many new algorithms provided for quality assurance by researcher’s probes of vegetables and fruits have been conducted in this work. This review work conveys that using the recent identification features will help to decrease the disadvantages in fruit storeroom owing to storage of the affected vegetables and fruits, ie. Preventing the spread of defects and other infections from the infected fruits and vegetables to the fresh ones.

Available water resources in the Middle East, as one of the most water-scarce regions of the world, have undergone extra pressure due to climatic change, population growth, and economic development during the past decades. The objective of this study is to detect the trends and quantify the changes in aridity with respect to precipitation and potential evapotranspiration in 20 countries of the Middle East and the adjacent area. A Pixel-wised trend analysis was conducted on precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, and aridity index for 71 years from 1948 to 2018. A nonparametric Mann-Kendall test was used over 14106 points in the study area to detect the trends at monthly and annual time scales. Results showed statistically significant (|Z| >1.96) upward trends in aridity (a downward trend in aridity index) up to 96 percent from December through September in most parts of the region. Aridity in October and November had a downward tendency in most parts of the study area. At the annual time scale, 62.5 percent of the statistically significant trends in aridity were found to be upward (up to 96 percent increase in aridity) due to the combined effects of the decrease in precipitation and the increase in potential evapotranspiration and 37.5 percent of the detected trends were downward (up to 61 percent decrease in aridity). The highest and the lowest trends in aridity were found in the north of Sudan (96 percent increase in aridity) and Eastern Arabia (61 percent decrease in aridity), respectively.

The study focused on two climatic variables i.e. precipitation and stream flow for analysing change in trend of rainfall for the River Ssezibwa Catchment area and stream flow of River Ssezibwa. This Catchment is found in the districts of Mukono and Buikwe in Uganda. In this area agriculture is majorly dependent on rainfall and irrigation on a small scale. However, rainfall occurrence has become unpredictable over the past few years as result of the changes in patterns of weather. This has caused severe effects on the agricultural cropping system as well as caused negative effects on the natural water resources. Stream flow data of 57 years (1960 – 2017) and rainfall data for 35 years (1982 – 2017) on a daily basis was analysed to find out the trend and detect change point. Trend analysis was done by using the non-parametric analysis while the change point detection was carried out by using the Pettit test (1979).Magnitude of trend for the time series data was carried out using Sen’s Slope estimator and Mann – Kendall test was done to determine the trend. Results from the statistical analysis highlighted that; for stream flow the trend was generally positive and change point detected to be in the year 2000 while for rainfall data analysis indicated that the trend was predominantly negative and change point was in the year 1998.

Objective: To visualize and analyze the published literature on diabetes and pyroptosis based on a bibliometric approach, so as to provide a comprehensive picture of the hot research directions and dynamic progress in this field. Methods: This study was based on the web of science core collection database to conduct a comprehensive search of the published literature in the field of diabetes and Pyroptosis from January 1985 to August 2022, including the published research literature in this field, as well as a visual analysis of the number of citations, year of publication, journal, author, research institution, country, and research topic. Results: A total of 139 literature on research related to diabetes and cellular scorch from 2011 to 2022 were retrieved, with a total of 3009 citations and a maximum of 255 citations for a single article, which had a first authorSchmid-Burgk, JL The first author of this article is from Germany; among 20 publishing countries, China leads with 100 articles; among 222 publishing institutions, Harbin Medical University leads with 18 articles and 184 citations; among 980 authors, Chen, X from China tops the list of high-impact authors with 5 articles and 29 citations; Among the 98 journals, "CELL DEATH DISEASE" ranked first in both volume and high impact journals with 4 articles and 29 citations; among 349 keywords, "pyroptosis" ranked first with a cumulative frequency of 65 times. The cluster analysis was divided into three categories, chronic complications of diabetes and pyroptosis (67 articles), diabetes and pyroptosis (60 articles), and diabetes combined with other diseases and pyroptosis (12 articles), and the number of articles related to diabetes and its chronic complications increased rapidly from 2019, among which, diabetic cardiomyopathy (27 articles) had the highest number of articles. Conclusions: Based on a comprehensive analysis of published literature in the field of diabetes and pyroptosis from 2011-2022, this study achieved a visual analysis of studies with significant and outstanding contributions to the field, thus framing a picture showing the development and changes in the field. At the same time, this study provides research information and direction for clinicians and investigators to conduct diabetes and pyroptosis related research in the future.

This study comprehensively reviews Generative AI and its relationship to video generation, emphasizing video cloning. The study is intended for Geekscode LLC’s strategic development; Geekscode LLC is a new company considering creating video cloning software as its main product. Furthermore, the study seeks to enhance the understanding of researchers in the information technology field and provide information technology professionals with insights into video generation using modern AI tools. This study highlights both the transformative potential and the legal, ethical, and technical challenges of AI-driven video creation. The study examines these key aspects of Video generation, including diffusion models, autoregressive models, input modalities, and Generative Adversarial Networks. This study highlights the significance of interdisciplinary approaches in navigating the area of AI-powered video production and the need to balance innovation and responsible ethical practices.

Crop productivity is directly dependent to soil fertility. High soil organic carbon (SOC) content in soil is vital as it leads to improved soil quality, increased productivity, and stable soil-aggregates. In addition, with the signing of the climate agreement, there is growing interest in carbon sequestration in landscapes. This paper looks at how SOC can be increased so that it not only contributes to reduction of CO₂, but also translates to increased food production thereby enhancing food security. This synergy between mitigation and enhancing food security is even more relevant for mountain landscapes of the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region where there remains huge potential to increase CO₂ sequestration and simultaneously address food security in the chronic food deficit villages. Soil samples were collected from seven transects each in Bajhang and Mustang and from 4 land use types in each transect. Samples of soils were taken from two depths in each plot; 0-15 cm below the soil surface and 15-30 cm below the soil surface to compare the top soil and subsoil dynamics of the soil nutrients. The lab analysis was performed to assess the soil texture, soil color, soil acidity in 'power of hydrogen' (pH), macro-nutrients as soil fertility. Secondary data was used to analyze the level of food deficit in the villages. The result shows that most of the sample soils from Mustang were clay (82.1%) which is 46 samples out of 56. The pH value of soil from Bajhang ranged from 5.29 to 9.09. The pH value of soil ranged from 5.65 to 8.81 in Mustang. SOC contents of sampled soils from Bajhang ranged from 0.20% to 7.69% with mean amount of 2.47% ± 0.17. SOC contents of sampled soils from Mustang ranged from 0.51% to 8.56% with mean amount of 2.60% ± 0.25. By land use type, forest land had the highest carbon (C) content of 53.61 t ha^-1 in Bajhang whereas in Mustang, agricultural land had the highest C content of 52.02 tons ha-1. Based on these data, we can say that there is potential for increasing SOC through improved soil health and crop production and soil. Sustainable soil management should be practiced for higher productivity. Livestock may also provide farmyard manure, which can be used to fertilize cultivated soils, which increases soil productivity. Increasing productivity would aid in increasing the access and availability of food in these mountain villages.

Background: G6PD is a rate-limiting enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway. The loss of G6PD activity in red blood cells exposes to the risk of acute haemolytic anaemia under oxidative stress, induced by infections, some medications, or fava beans. More than 200 single missense mutations are known in the G6PD gene. This study reports a 41-year-old woman coming from Basilicata region (Italy) that carried out the G6PD status in our hospital for prenatal investiga-tions. Methods: DNA was extracted from peripheral blood sample and genotyped for common-est G6PD pathogenic variants (PVs). Positive results obtained by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP), as per practice in our laboratory, are then re-confirmed in Sanger se-quencing. Results: RFLP analysis highlighted a variant compatible with G6PD Cassano variant. Confirmatory testing by Sanger unexpectedly identified a novel variant: c.1357G>A, p.(Val453Met) (NM_001360016.2). In silico models predicted a deleterious effect of this variant at the protein level. The novel G6PD variant was named "G6PD Potenza", on the basis of the pa-tient's regional origin. Conclusion: This case describes a novel G6PD variant. It also highlights how the Sanger sequencing technique still represents an indispensable confirmatory standard method for variants that could be miss-interpreted by using of “first-level” approached, as the RFLP. We stress that the evaluation of clinical manifestations in G6PD deficient patients is of primary importance for the classification of each new G6PD mutation, in agreement with the new WHO guidelines.

Abstract:High-pressure water jet technology has received extensive attention and application due to its high efficiency and environmental protection characteristics. The high-pressure water jet nozzle is its core component, and the research on the high-pressure water jet nozzle is conducive to improving the jet performance and improving the jet efficiency. This paper introduces the characteristics of water jet and the working principle of pure water jet, abrasive water jet, pulsed water jet and cavitation water jet, reviews the theoretical analysis and experiment of the predecessor's nozzle, briefly explains the application of high-pressure water jet and looks forward to the development trend of this technology.

With the development of information technology and the wide application of building information modelling technology, the construction industry continues to make digital changes. Managers are trying to apply smart construction site management to promote the upgrading of production modes. We used CiteSpace software to analyze 1707 articles from China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Web of Science and Scopus to understand the current research hotspots of global scholars in this field. Results show that: (1) The number of studies on smart construction sites increases rapidly by year. Researchers from China, America and the UK have the most influential studies. (2) The cooperation between researchers and institutions is not close enough. In addition, the directions of research in the field are still scattered; (3) Chinese scholars are good at building intelligent platforms and evaluating intelligent systems from multiple perspectives. International scholars are willing to pursue technological innovation, allowing the continuous development of intelligent construction technology. (4) The applications in this field have not been popularized despite relatively perfect technology and typical cases. Future scholars should gradually improve the theoretical basis and industry standards of smart construction sites, promote the development of intelligent construction technology and establish the evaluation standards of qualified smart sites. This study will provide scholars in this field with the theoretical basis and research directions for further in-depth research, help construction companies to understand the development status and trend of smart construction sites and accelerate the intelligent transformation of construction companies.

Marijuana is the most used illicit drug among youths in the United States. The objectives of the study were to identify the association between marijuana use and other risk behaviors including suicidality among high school students. The 2021 Mississippi Youth Risk Behavior Survey data sets were combined for this study. Crude odds ratio (OR) and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval were generated using the survey packages in R to account for weights and the complex sampling design of YRBS data. Tobacco products and alcohol use were significantly associated with marijuana use. Students who responded “Yes” to questions “currently used an electronic vapor product?”, “currently smoked cigarettes or cigars?” or “currently drank alcohol?” were more likely to use marijuana compared to students who responded “No”, after adjusting for other risk factors. Marijuana use is also significantly associated with students who had sex, compared to those who never had sex. The adjusted odds ratio is nearly doubled in those who had sex with the same sex or both sexes, compared to those who had heterosexual sex only. After adjusting for other health risk factors, the association between current marijuana use and attempted suicide was not statistically significant. The impact of students’ not sleeping in their parent's or guardian's home on current marijuana use was not significant after adjusting for other risk factors. Marijuana use is evenly burdened between males and females and between all race categories among Mississippi high school students. The identified associations seem to indicate that electronic vapor, tobacco products, and alcohol use could be the forerunners for drug use and should be treated accordingly in drug use prevention programs.

This report provides a comprehensive overview of occupational asthma and respiratory hypersensitivity, focusing on some chemicals used in the workplace Includes numerous case studies and research papers related to occupational exposure methacrylates, such as HEMA-HPMA, and respiratory hypersensitivity are discussed And the relationship is explored The book also examines asthma pathophysiology, emerging drug delivery systems used to treat asthma, and the potential of nanoparticles , dendrimers and micellar systems have to improve pulmonary drug delivery in detail The worldwide prevalence of asthma is highlighted, with higher rates in high-GDP countries. The book highlights the need to improve asthma diagnosis, treatment and biomarkers, particularly in rural and low-income countries where the disease is often underdiagnosed and inadequately treated, and discusses the role of inflammation in asthma, in particular secondary inflammation characterized by specific cytokines and inflammation cells In addition, the paper explores various drug delivery methods, such as parenteral and parenteral drugs, pressurized inhalers (pMDIs), dry powder inhalers ( DPIs), nebulizers, nanoparticles, liposomes, micellar systems, microparticles , dendrimers, and gene therapy . These systems aim to increase pulmonary delivery of drugs and improve clinical outcomes. The potential of dendrimer bilirubin-based nanoparticles and micellar systems in the treatment of asthma and lung inflammatory diseases, including asthma, has been discussed in summary, this paper provides an overview of occupational asthma and respiratory hypersensitivity, and this discussion highlights the association between methacrylate exposure and respiratory hypersensitivity.

Systematic traders employ algorithmic strategies to manage their investments. As a result of the deterministic nature of such strategies, it is possible to determine their exact responses to any conceivable set of market conditions. Consequently, sensitivity analysis can be conducted to systematically uncover undesirable strategy behavior and enhance strategy robustness by adding controls to reduce exposure during periods of poor performance / unfavorable market conditions or increase exposure during periods of strong performance / favorable market conditions. In this study, we formulate both a simple systematic trend-following strategy (i.e., trading model) to simulate investment decisions, and a market model to simulate the evolution of instrument prices. We then map the relationship between market model parameters under various conditions and strategy performance. We focus, in particular, on identifying the performance impact of changes in both serial dependence in price variability and changes in the trend. The long-range serial dependence of the true range worsens performance of the simple classic trend-following strategy. During periods of strong performance, the dispersion of trading outcomes increases significantly as long-range serial dependence increases.

Background: The pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus demonstrated the importance of prevention through a healthy diet and lifestyle, the most vulnerable people being those with severe chronic conditions, those who are overweight, and those with an unbalanced immune system. Methods: The evaluation of the eating habits and lifestyle of the Romanian population in the post-pandemic period was carried out based on a cross-sectional observational study with the help of a questionnaire. Results: 4704 valid answers were registered (3136 female and 1568 male respondents). Among the respondents, most of them belong to the young population, 2892 between the ages of 18 and 40, i.e., 61.5%. Most male respondents are overweight (1400) and obese (780). Most respondents indicated a tendency to consume 1-2 meals per day irregularly (p=0.6167). Only 974 respondents adopted a healthy diet, and 578 a healthy lifestyle. Conclusion: The present study reports low adherence to a healthy diet (20.7%) and healthy lifestyle (12.28%), especially among the young population (< 30 years). In the current context, it reports a reduced tendency to consume vegetables and fruits among the population, below the daily average recommended by the nutrition guidelines, a tendency towards sedentary behavior, and even deficient hydration of some of the respondents; these negative aspects can create a long term a series of nutritional and psycho-emotional imbalances. Our results evidence that complex surveys among the population are regularly required to investigate nutritional or lifestyle deficiencies; moreover, it could be helpful in further educational measures in nutrition, food, and environmental safety.

In many European countries over the last decades, arable fields dominate agriculture landscapes, leading to a very intensive land-use practices. This reason seems to be the main cause of popula-tions declines for numerous farmland species, including the European hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778). The Research institute for Animal Production (National Agricultural and Food Centre, Luzianky, Slovakia) has been engaged in a long monitoring project (project currently run-ning), collecting certain indicators of hare population dynamics during hunting season since 1987 to 2023 in the Slovak Danubian Lowland. In the same macro-area (Čiližská Radvaň and Lehnice) a study was conducted on the influence of permanent semi-natural vegetation in relation to re-cruitment, population density and production. The whole monitored period was aggregated into 5-years intervals (for a total of 7 time-intervals), with the aim of analyzing the brown hare popu-lation dynamics. Spring hare density in the Danubian Lowland is currently 20.8 hares/km2, with harvests of 4.6 hares/km2. During all the monitoring period, bag’s animals have been examined following the regular hunting operations for the purpose of age determination (weight of eye lenses), sex ratio and productivity. The results of our analysis showed that the proportion of juve-nile in bag (PYB) among those shot varied from 37.0 % of the last 5-years interval (2018-2023), to a maximum of 51.0 % in interval of years 1998-2002. On total average there were 1.86 juveniles per adult female (r). The proportion of adult females in gamebag varied from 22.58 % (years in-terval 1992-1997) to 31.26 % (years interval 2018-2023). Sex-ratio (SI; males : females) among shot hares showed a value of 0.50, ranged from 0.48 in the period 2008-2012 to 0.52 in the first observed period (years 1987-1991) and in the last one (years 2018-2023). Average weight of shot hares was 4.04 kg (juveniles 3.83 kg, adults 4.27 kg, adult males 4.21 kg and females 4.32 kg). There was a large positive effect of set-aside with special mixtures, created for hares in large-scale farmed agrarian landscape, on hare density, bag and recruitment. In model hunting grounds with such set-asides increased the spring stock by 25 %, bag by 100 % and recruitment by 20 %. This study reveals that the management of European brown hare is not sustainable, and the population is decreasing. It is proved through the decline of harvest hares and by population dynamics parameters. Environmental improvements lead to the stabilization and increasing of requested parameters.

The prevalence of hepatitis B and delta viruses (HBV/HDV) among people who use drugs (PWUD) remains largely unknown. In the context of one Philadelphia-based harm reduction organization (HRO), this study aimed to assess HBV/HDV prevalence and facilitate linkage to care. Participants completed a demographic HBV/HDV risk factor survey and were screened for HBV and reflexively for HDV if positive for HBV surface antigen or isolated core antibody. Fisher’s exact tests and regression were used to understand relationships between risks and HBV blood markers. Of the 498 participants, 126 (25.3%) were susceptible to HBV, 52.6% had been vaccinated against HBV, and 17.9% had recovered from a past infection. Eleven (2.2%) participants tested positive for isolated HBV core antibody, 10 (2.0%) for HBV surface antigen, and one (0.2%) for HDV antibody. History of incarceration was associated with current HBV infection, while transactional sex and experience of homelessness were predictive of previous exposure. This study found high rates of current and past HBV infection, and a 10% HBV/HDV co-infection rate. Despite availability of vaccine, one quarter of participants remained vulnerable to infection. Findings demonstrate the need to improve low-threshold HBV/HDV screening, vaccination, and linkage to care among PWUD. The study also identified gaps in the HBV/HDV care cascade, including lack of point-of-care diagnostics and lack of support for HROs to provide HBV services.

Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) remains a difficult disease to diagnose and treat, with a persistently high mortality rate. There is a lack of recent data on IE in Bulgaria over the last decades. Methods: The study is retrospective, single centered, includes 270 patients diagnosed with IE, for the period 2005 - 2021. We compared the two periods 2005-2015 (n=119) and 2016-2021 (n=151) to find the characteristics changes. Results: The median age was 65 (23) years and 65.5% (177) were male. In the second period, there is a significant increase in age from 62 (29) to 67 (22), (p=0.023); Charlson comorbidities index (CCI) from 3 (3) to 4 (4), (p=0.000); cases with chronic kidney diseases (CKD) from 12.6% (15) to 36.9% (55), (p=0.001); coronary arterial diseases (CAD) from16.85% (20) to 29.1% (44), (p=0.018); atrial fibrillation (AF) from 10.9% (13) to 23.8% (36), (p=0.006). Injection fraction decreased significantly in the second period from 63 (14) to 59 (15), (p=0.000). Almost half of the patients 45.6% (123) had no known predisposing cardiac condition and 46.3 (125) had an unknown port of entry. IE was community-acquired in 173 (64.1%), healthcare-associated in 26.7% (72), and injection drug use related IE in 9.3% (25).The study population included 67.8% (183) native valve IE, 31.5% (85) prosthetic IE, and 0.74% (2) intracardiac device­related IE. The hemoculture were positive in 59.6%, and the most frequent pathogenic agent was Staphylococcus - 33.3 % ( aureus – 16.5 % and coagulase negative - 16.8 %). Only 20% of patients underwent early surgery. The all­cause 30 days mortality rate was 24.8%. There is no significant difference between the two periods in terms of the characteristics listed above. Conclusion: The profile of IE in Bulgaria has changed with increasing age and comorbidity, changing predisposing cardiac conditions and entry door. The most common pathogen was the Staphylococcus group. The 30 day mortality rate remains high.

Determining the genetic contribution of susceptibility to severe SARS-CoV-2 infection outcomes is important for public health measures and individualized treatment. Through intense research on this topic, several hundred genes have been implicated as possibly contributing to the severe infection phenotype(s); however, the findings are complex and appear to be population-dependent. We aimed to determine the contribution of human rare genetic variants associated with a severe outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infections and their burden in the Slovenian population. A panel of 517 genes associated with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection were obtained through an extensive review of the literature, and additionally included target genes identified by the COVID-19 Host Genetic Initiative, as well as the curated Research COVID-19 associated genes from PanelApp, England Genomics. Whole genome sequencing was performed using PCR-free WGS on DNA from 60 patients hospitalized due to severe COVID-19 disease, and the identified rare genomic variants were analyzed and classified according to the ACMG criteria. Background prevalence in the general Slovenian population was determined by comparison with sequencing data from 8025 individuals included in the Slovenian genomic database (SGDB). Results show that several rare pathogenic/likely pathogenic genomic variants in genes CFTR, MASP2, MEFV, TNFRSF13B, and RNASEL likely contribute to the severe infection outcomes in our patient cohort. These results represent an insight into the Slovenian genomic diversity associated with severe COVID-19 outcome.

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae ensures successful fermentation in winemaking, although the persistent use of commercial strains lead the loss of aroma complexity of wines. Hence, the research of indigenous S. cerevisiae with proper oenological features and well adapted to specific wine-growing area become of great interest for winemakers. Here, 206 S. cerevisiae strains were isolated from two wineries during two-year sampling campaign and bio-typed with the aim to evaluate the occurrence and persistence of S. cerevisiae wild population linked to each winery. Both wineries belonging to the same Verdicchio DOC wine area (Castelli di Jesi), and never used commercial yeasts during fermentation. Results showed a specific and varied population of S. cerevisiae in each winery without cross-contamination each other and with commercial starter strains. Moreover, inside each winery it was observed a persistent of some dominant biotypes over the time, indicating a sort of “winery-effect”. The evaluation of S. cerevisiae populations for the oenological characters showed a proper and well distinct aromatic imprinting on the resulted wines confirming the “winery effect”.

Tianjin is currently in the phase of urban stock renewal, yet its industrial heritage encounters significant challenges, including constrained spatial development, a misalignment between industrial progress and the reuse of industrial heritage, and an understated cultural representation. This study applies geospatial analysis to delineate the distribution characteristics of Tianjin's industrial heritage across time, space, and typology. Moreover, the geographic detector is employed to assess the impact of various factors on the development of Tianjin's industrial heritage, ultimately elucidating the correlations between existing challenges and objective patterns. The conclusion of this paper presents three strategic approaches for the renewal of industrial heritage, emphasizing historical culture, environmental space, and sustainable development. These strategies are designed to provide a solid research foundation for protecting and revitalizing Tianjin's industrial heritage resources.

Magnesium alloy stents have been extensively studied in the field of biodegradable metal stents due to their exceptional biocompatibility, biodegradability and excellent biomechanical properties. Nevertheless, the specific in vivo service environment causes magnesium alloy stents to degrade rapidly and fail to provide sufficient support for certain time. This paper presents an overview of the development history and protection strategies for magnesium alloy stents. Alloying, optimizing stent structure and preparing protective coating have improved the corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy stents. Based on the corrosion mechanism of magnesium alloy stents, as well as their deformation during use and environmental characteristics, we present some novel solution strategies aiming at reducing the corrosion rate of magnesium alloys and enhancing the comprehensive performance of magnesium alloy stents. These strategies include adapting protective coatings for the deformation of the stents, preparing rapid endothelialization coatings to enhance the service environment of the stent, and constructing coatings with self-healing functions. It is hoped that this review can help to understand the development of magnesium alloy cardiovascular stents and solve the problems related to magnesium alloy stents in clinical applications at the early implantation stage.

The recent happenings in the world such as flood and wild forest fire were as a result of climate effect as being envisaged by scientists. It is urgent now to adopt a source of energy that will eliminate this effect on our universe. Solar energy is the major energy means that is abundant which could be utilized. In this review, the prospects of solar energy exploration were studied in Nigeria which include assessments, economic viability and hybrid systems. Findings show higher potential in the North as compared to the Southern region. Additionally, potential of offshore solar energy system was simulated by considering 2002, 2003 and 2004 data sets from Era5-land base. Their monthly mean, seasonal changes and annual mean value were estimated. The algebraic annual solar radiance for 2002, 2003 and 2004 were 34,914.732 kWh/m2, 33,898.316 kWh/m2 and 34,338.324 kWh/m2. Suggestions were made due to the present status of solar energy utilization that will enhance its maximum usage and development. One of these is the establishment of a functioning financial scheme and the database for all renewable energy systems. When all these are put in place, the energy supply will increase, climate effect will be reduced, and the economy will be boosted.

In Bangladesh, climate change is a major concern because of its geophysical location and climate dependent agriculture. As sessile organisms, crops plants have to face difficulties often in this environmentally vulnerable country. Therefore, this study examines the seasonal trend of two climatic parameters viz. temperature (maximum and minimum) and rainfall over a period of 1983 to 2013. Besides, this study provides insight into the relationship between climatic parameters and crop yield of two major crops viz. rice and wheat during 1997-2013. To assess the relationship of climatic parameters with time and yield using Pearson correlation analysis, time series data used at an aggregate level. SPSS software utilized for this analysis. The cropping seasons such as rice growing seasons Aus (summer rice), Aman (autumn rice) and Boro (winter rice) exhibited a significant increase in maximum and minimum temperature. Rainfall found to have a decreasing trend for all the seasons. This study also revealed that the climatic parameters had significant effects on rice yield, but these results varied among three rice crops. Maximum temperature had positive effects on all rice yields, especially on Aus and Aman. Minimum temperature had a negative effect on Aman rice yield but a positive effect on Aus rice yield. Wheat yield negatively associated with temperature. Rainfall exhibited negative relation with both rice and wheat yield.

The observed data of COVID-19 progression in Pakistan for first 50 days from the first patient been reported has shown quite an unusual trend which is in opposition to clear exponential spread pattern of any infectious disease. The data of positive cases of 50 days of disease progression has been collected from COVID-19 dashboard of Pakistan and analyzed to see the graphical trend and to forecast the behaviour of disease progression for next 30 days. Mathematical equations regarding exponential growth are used to analyse the disease progression and different possible trajectories are plotted to understand the approximate trend pattern. The possible projections estimated 20k-456k positive cases within 80 days of disease spread in Pakistan. Although, the disease progression pattern is not perfectly exponential, it is still threatening a major fraction of susceptible population and demands effective strategic planning and control.

Policymakers, academics, and industry players have been focused on determining whether connected health (CH) is a fad or a trend by looking at its sustainability. Although the significance of innovation in healthcare is gradually rising, a definitive identification and systematic comprehension of the core drivers, structure, content, and pattern of innovation in CH are missing. To bridge this gap, this study re-examines and analyses CH from the perspectives of its industrial chain and structure, to assess its future prospects and sustainability by focusing on how its structures and participants act in the ecosystem. This study involves an inductive theory building approach based on multi-stage, semi-structured interviews (n=60 in total). The results indicate that the core drivers, constituents, and components of CH need to be identified and restructured. A valid discourse, which is missing in the current literature, should be proposed with regard to the sustainability of CH. A sustainable business model innovation (BMI) system and the methods employed to achieve sustainability are suggested to discover indicators for future success. This study enriches the current CH understanding from a technology perspective and suggests some implications for practitioners as well as policymakers to enhance sustainable development in the healthcare sector.

Objective Hypertension is one of the most common chronic diseases, affecting more than 20 % of the population. The side effects experienced due to antihypertensive medications such as tired-ness, muscle pain, and insomnia are often a significant predictor of poor adherence to therapy. The goal of the current study is to present the frequency, type, seriousness, and severity of adverse drug reactions reported to the BDA via Individual Case Safety Reports (ICSR) and following differentiation of messages found in more than one patient. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of the reported adverse drug reactions (ADR) reported in the Bulgarian Drug Agency database after treatment with antihyperlipidemic medicines, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) - inhibitors, and sartans for the period 2017-2021. Each ICSR form was observed and data for suspected medicine and type of adverse reaction was analyzed. Results The total number of processed notifications for adverse drug reactions (ADR) included in the database is 142. The highest number of ADRs was reported for ARB (58), followed by antihyperlipidemic medicines (55) and ACE inhibitors (29.) Most of the assessed adverse events experienced by more than one patient fall into the probable and related categories based on Global Introspection method classification. Therefore, they have been investigated and are consistent with exposure in the population. Conclusion Cardiovascular medicines from the groups of ACE inhibitors, sartans and statins are with high share of reported ADRs in the BDA system. Some of them are severe and need further investigation.

The emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in pathogens transmitted through food poses a significant threat to global public health, complicating infection treatment and increasing mortality rates. This review explores the role of resistome mapping as a crucial tool for understanding the transmission dynamics of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in foodborne pathogens, such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Campylobacter spp., as well as various techniques for resistome mapping, such as metagenomic sequencing, PCR-based methods, and whole-genome sequencing (WGS), highlighting the significance of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) as a key mechanism for ARG dissemination in foodborne pathogens. Additionally, we investigated the influence of agricultural practices and environmental factors on AMR development, highlighting the critical need for improved surveillance, antibiotic stewardship, and global collaboration to mitigate the spread of resistant ARGs through the food chain. The perceptions gained from resistome mapping play an essential role in developing effective approaches to address AMR and to ensure food safety.

Nutrient profiling (NP) models that assess nutrient density of foods can help remedy micronutrient deficiencies. We used NP methods to identify the most nutrient-rich foods in the 2019 FAO/INFOODS Western Africa Food Composition Table (WAFCT). The WAFCT had complete data for 909 foods. Three versions of the well-established Nutrient Rich Food (NRF) model were used: 1) the original NRF9.3; 2) a new NRF6.3 based on 6 priority micronutrients (iron, zinc, calcium, folate, vitamin A, vitamin B12); and 3) NRF 15.3, based on 15 nutrients to encourage (NRF6.3 nutrients + vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin C, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B6, copper, and magnesium). Data analyses used one-way ANOVAs and independent t-tests, with significance at α=0.05. Animal-source foods were rated higher by NRF6.3 priority micronutrient and NRF15.3 NP models than by the NRF9.3 model. African indigenous vegetables had higher protein content and higher nutrient density compared to non-indigenous vegetables. African indigenous grains had higher nutrient density compared to non-indigenous grains. Though animal-source foods received some of the highest scores, NP models adapted to the West African context showed that African indigenous vegetables and grains were also nutrient rich. Indigenous foods could be important sources of priority micronutrients for the region.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and osteoporosis are two of the most widespread metabolic disease in the world. The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of DM among patients affected by osteoporosis and fragility fractures, and to search differences in clinical features. Methods: 713 patients belonging to CTO Bone Unit because of osteoporosis and fragility fractures were divided into two groups, according to the diagnosis of DM. The clinical and bone characteristics of patients were compared. Results: Prevalence of DM was 10.8%. When compared to patients without DM, the median age at the time of first fracture was similar (72 years ± 14 IQR vs 71 years ± 12 IQR); prevalence of combination of vertebral and hip fractures was higher (p=0.039), as well as prevalence of males, although not significantly (p=0.051). Bone mineral density (BMD) at all sites was higher in DM group; Trabecular Bone Score (TBS), instead, was significantly lower (p<0.001). Conclusions: Patients with fragility fractures and DM more frequently show combination of major fractures with higher BMD levels. In these patients, TBS could be a better indicator of bone health than BMD and therefore should be used as a diagnostic tool in clinical practice.

This study assesses the effectiveness of HCV self-testing (HCVST) distribution models compared to provider-led HCV testing (PL-HCVT), including the standard of care facility-based HCVT (SOC-HCVT) and community-based organization HCVT (CBO-HCVT) among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Vietnam. A cross-sectional study was conducted as part of a larger implementation science study in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from September 2023 to April 2024. We engaged 8 CBOs and 10 public and private clinics in offering choice of HCVST through community-based and facility-based distribution, and secondary distribution), or PL-HCVT via SOC-HCVT and CBO-HCVT. Among 1,165 PWID, 693 opted for HCVST and 472 for PL-HCVT. The proportion of first-time testers was significantly higher in HIVST community-based and secondary distribution as well as CBO-HCVT compared to SOC-HCVT and facility-based HCVST (87.1%, 93.3% and 82.7% vs. 41.9% and 35.7%, respectively; p < 0.001). Overall, HCV seropositivity rate was lower in HCVST than PL-HCVT, however, higher in HCVST facility-based and community-based distribution compared to HCVST secondary distribution (28.1% and 20.4% vs. 5.7%, respectively). Community-based HCVST was most effective, followed by facility-based HCVST and secondary distribution. Our findings indicate that HCVST effectively reaches first-time testers and results in more people diagnosed and treated among PWID.

Keywords: pelvic ultrasound, follicle number per ovary, FNPO, ovarian volume, PCOM, upper normal limits, referral population

(1) Background: Ectopic pregnancy (EP) is when fertilized ovum implanted outside of uterine cavity. The incidence was 1.5% to 2.0% of all pregnancies [1, 2]. EP decreases fertility ability [3]. This study focused on the pregnancy rate after EP and various parameters influencing pregnancy. (2) Methods: The data was extracted from National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) during 2000-2013. The study group enrolled women with one EP history. Those who did not have EP was put into the control group. Chi-square/Fisher exact test was performed on category variable and t-test was used on continue variables. (3) Results: The EP group had a higher cumulative rate of conceive, 41.55% than control group, 37.14% and 1.16 times higher risk in developing pregnancy (P&lt;0.001). The conceiving rate was lower than the control group in the first 5 years, but higher than the control group in the 10th to 14th years. (4) Conclusions: The fecundability after EP is lower at the beginning, but regained after long term follow.

Despite the increasing prevalence of pet ownership in Chinese societies, standardized tools to assess grief from pet loss remain lacking. Research predominantly focuses on Western populations, creating a gap in understanding pet bereavement in Chinese cultural settings. This study aimed to adapt and validate the Pet Bereavement Questionnaire (PBQ-C) for a Chinese context to create a culturally appropriate assessment tool. A total of 245 participants with companion animal loss experiences were recruited through the university of the research team. They were invited to complete an online survey including the Chinese PBQ, the Depression subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), and the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG). Both Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the PBQ-C and the findings supported a three-factor structure—grief, anger, and guilt—aligned with the original PBQ, with three items were reassigned to different factors. Despite these adjustments, the PBQ-C showed strong internal consistency, split-half reliability, and concurrent validity. The validated PBQ-C provides a culturally sensitive tool for assessing pet bereavement in Chinese society that can promote research and counselling support for this under-researched and under-recognized type of loss of human-animal relationships.

The article reviews the constituent’s physico-chemical parameters in the water of the Mansagar Lake of the Jaipur City. The water quality is also investigated using evaluated physico-chemical parameters with in-depth study of their distribution as per sample location-wise and season-wise. A detailed discussion on the associationship among parameters (pH, Conductivity, turbidity, dissolved Oxygen, chemical and Biochemical Oxygen demand, etc.) using the Pearson’s analytical method is also presented. The strength of the article is the graphical presentation of evaluated physico-chemical parameters and the water quality indices for sample station-wise and the season-wise. To our best of understanding, first time such details have been clubbed together and discussion in brief for studied lake.

Urbanization and industrialization processes in Mongolia have been significant and rapid for the last half-century. During this period, changes in political and economic systems, growth in the population, and the occasional harsh climate conditions were subject to fluctuations in the natural resource usage. The total Ecological Footprint (EF) in Mongolia has increased from 6.8 million global hectares (gha) in 1961 to 14.6 million gha in 2012. However, Biocapacity (BC) has decreased from 50.6 million gha in 1961 to 39.0 million gha in 2012. The study shows that grazing land Footprint and carbon uptake land Footprint are the two major contributors of the recent intensified use of biological resources. To ensure stable economic development and sustainable use of natural resources, environmental planning is required to consider both the population’s pressure on the environment and the ecosystem’s regeneration capacity, simultaneously. We have proposed a few possible strategies for sustainable utilization of grazing land Footprint and carbon Footprint. For grazing land Footprint, efficient management of both herding practice and number of animals should be considered. In case of carbon Footprint, it is estimated that with the improved combustion efficiencies of coal-based power plants and the maximum use of renewable energy, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in Mongolia can be reduced up to 30% compared to the base line business as usual case in 2030.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling has emerged as a valuable tool for investigating complex processes like microencapsulation. This paper aims to validate the ability of CFD simulations to predict particle size distribution in a polymer microencapsulation process. The CFD modeling approach employed an Eulerian multiphase framework, incorporating a discrete population balance model to track the evolution of the droplet population. A realizable k-ε turbulence model and a multiple reference frame strategy were utilized to capture the system’s flow dynamics. The results reveal that while the CFD simulations align well with experimental data at higher agitation speeds (>10000 rpm), discrepancies arise at lower speeds (<7500 rpm), indicating a challenge in accurately capturing turbulent viscous regimes. Despite these challenges, the CFD model demonstrates robust predictive capabilities for droplet formation and distribution in microencapsulation processes, validated by error margins within acceptable limits. The validated model can be used as a reliable tool to guide experimental efforts and optimize process parameters, contributing to an enhanced understanding and control of microencapsulation processes.

The rapid expansion of China's A-share market, coupled with the burgeoning volume of financial research reports, presents a unique challenge to traditional stock price prediction methodologies. This study introduces FAST-SCAN, a novel framework designed to leverage natural language processing (NLP) and time series analysis for the efficient and accurate prediction of stock market trends. By integrating advanced sentiment analysis, primarily through the utilization of the RoBERTa model, with dynamic time series forecasting, FAST-SCAN aims to distill actionable insights from the vast corpus of financial research reports. This approach not only enhances the speed and efficiency of financial analysis but also addresses the time-sensitive nature of market-influencing factors, thereby providing a competitive edge in stock price prediction. The framework demonstrates a notable improvement in predictive performance, achieving a 20% annualized return and a 7.19% RankIC, marking a significant advancement over conventional statistical analysis methods. Through its innovative combination of NLP and predictive analytics, FAST-SCAN paves the way for a more informed and strategic approach to investment in the A-share market, emphasizing the importance of timely, data-driven decision-making in the financial industry.

Study of spatiotemporal dynamics of temperature is vital to assess changes in climate, especially in the Himalayan region where livelihoods of billions of people living downstream depends on water coming from the melting of snow and glacier ice. To this end, temperature trend analysis is carried out in Narayani river basin, a major river basin of Nepal characterized by three climatic regions: tropical, subtropical and alpine. Temperature data from six stations located within the basin were analyzed. The elevation of these stations ranges from 460 to 3800 m a.s.l. and the time period of available temperature data ranges from 1960–2015. Multiple regression and empirical mode decomposition (EMD) methods were applied to fill in missing data and to detect trends. Annual as well as seasonal trends were analyzed and a Mann-Kendall test was employed to test the statistical significance of detected trends. Results indicate significant cooling trends before 1970s, and warming trends after 1970s in the majority of the stations. The warming trends range from 0.028 ∘" style="position: relative;">∘C year−1" style="position: relative;">−1 to 0.035 ∘" style="position: relative;">∘C year−1" style="position: relative;">−1 with a mean increasing trend of 0.03 ∘" style="position: relative;">∘C year−1" style="position: relative;">−1 after 1971. Seasonal trends show highest warming trends in the monsoon season followed by winter, pre-monsoon, and the post-monsoon season. However, difference in warming rates between different seasons was not significant. An average temperature lapse rate of −0.006 ∘" style="position: relative;">∘C m−1" style="position: relative;">−1 with the steepest value (−0.0064 ∘" style="position: relative;">∘C m−1" style="position: relative;">−1) in pre-monsoon season and least negative (−0.0052 ∘" style="position: relative;">∘C m−1" style="position: relative;">−1) in winter season was observed for this basin. A comparative analysis of the gap-filled data with freely available global climate datasets show reasonable correlation thus confirming the suitability of the gap filling methods.

In the context of rapid urbanization, the spatiotemporal patterns of socio-economic exposed to high seismic hazard in large cities lacks quantitative assessment, thus, it is difficult to understand the evolution of earthquake catastrophe risk there. In this paper, exposure change rate, and absolute and relatively exposure indices were proposed to quantitatively study the changes of spatiotemporal exposure to high seismic hazard in urban areas of large cities (i.e., permanent residents in urban areas more than 1 million) in Chinese mainland, using a set of multi-temporal population, GDP, and built-up datasets and a seismic hazard zoning map. The results show that, 64 out of 78 large cities are entirely or partially located in high seismically hazardous zones. Although the urban areas of large cities in high seismically hazardous zones (HSHUAs) cover only 1.73% (167177 km²) of mainland China, their share of population, GDP, and built-up land amounted to 18.14%, 30.24% and 24.55%, respectively, in 2015. Unprecedented urbanization has led to a dramatic exposure growth in HSHUAs between 1990 and 2015. The population, GDP, and built-up land in HSHUAs increased by 110 million people (with an average annual growth rate of 2.37%), 273.71 trillion USD(average annual growth rate of 11.15%), and 10593 km2 (average annual growth rate of 2.02%), respectively. HSHUAs experienced much faster population and GDP growth than the whole country, while relatively slower growth in built-up land. Exposure growth in HSHUAs also was varied for different types of large cities. Megacities had a higher proportion of increased GDP and population in HSHUAs, induced by industry and population agglomeration. Whereas, Type II large cities had a higher proportion of increased built-up land in HSHUAs, driven mainly by urban sprawl. Our analysis indicates that, for large cities under rapid urbanization, it is an urgent need to strengthen resilient urban planning, renewal and construction.

Background: Despite advances in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) over the last few decades, treatment opportunities for patients with HCC remain limited. HCC is the most common form of liver cancer, accounting for approximately 90% of all cases worldwide. Moreover, apart from the current pharmacological interventions, hepatic resection and liver transplantation are the mainstay curative approaches for patients with HCC. Methods: This systematic review included phase I, II, III, and IV clinical trials (CTs) and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on current treatments for patients with HCC in an Asian population (2013–2023). A total of 427 articles were screened, and 184 non-duplicate publications were identified. After screening titles and abstracts, 96 publications were excluded, and another 28 were excluded after full-text screening. The remaining 60 eligible RCTs/CTs were finally included. Results: Sixty clinical trials fulfilled our inclusion criteria and screened 36 drugs as monotherapy or combination therapy for HCC. Most studies used sorafenib alone or in combination with any of the treatment regimens. Lenvatinib or atezolizumab with bevacizumab was used for HCC after initial sorafenib treatment. Eighteen studies compared the efficacy of sorafenib with that of other drugs, including lenvatinib, cabozantinib, tepotinib, tigatuzumab, linifanib, erlotinib, resminostat, brivanib, tislelizumab, selumetinib, and refametinib. Conclusion: This study provides comprehensive insights into effective treatment interventions for HCC in Asian populations. The overall assessment indicated that sorafenib alone or in combination with atezolizumab and bevacizumab has been the first treatment choice in the past decade to achieve better outcomes in patients with HCC in an Asian population

The Roma population constitutes the largest ethnic minority in Europe, however, data regarding the prevalence of non- communicable diseases are still scarce in the medical literature. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical and metabolic particularities of a Roma population with diabetes, in comparison with a group of Romanian Caucasians. We conducted an observational, transversal study and evaluated 808 adult patients with diabetes mellitus, from a tertiary hospital providing diabetes care, aged between 18 and 89 years old, of whom the majority were men (52.84%). Most of them had type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), reaching 95.1% the Caucasian group and 87.8% among the Roma patients. 81.1% of the Caucasian patients had hypertension, approximately 15% higher than the Roma group, while more than half of the patients in both groups had obesity. There were no differences concerning myocardial infarction, however, the number of patients with history of stroke was 2.1 times higher in the Roma group compared to Caucasians. Chronic kidney disease was present in 22.1% of the Roma patients, 33.25% had retinopathy, and 72.7% presented polyneuropathy. The prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, cardiovascular disease and microvascular complications among the study Roma population are quite significant, underscoring the importance of ethnic disparities in approaching healthcare management strategies.

Probiotics, known for regulating gut microbiota, may aid those with overweight or obesity, but their mechanisms require more research. This study involved 75 overweight or obese young adults, randomly assigned to either a Bifidobacterium brevis BBr60 group or a placebo group. Both groups received diet guidance and took either BBr60 (1×1010 CFU/day) or a placebo for 12 weeks. Re-searchers analyzed body composition, serum glucose, lipids, liver and kidney function, comprehensive metabolome, and intestinal homeostasis before and after the intervention. After 12 weeks, BBr60 significantly reduced weight and BMI compared to pre-treatment levels and outperformed the placebo. The BBr60 group also showed improved blood biochemistry, with notably lower fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels than the placebo group (p < 0.05). Additionally, BBr60 influenced vital serum and fecal metabolites related to three amino acid metabolic pathways and regulated the bacteria Dialister, Klebsiella, and Bacteroides, which correlated strongly with serum metabolites. These findings indicate that BBr60 can safely and effectively regulating BMI, body weight, serum glucose, lipids, and liver function markers, which may involve BBr60's impact on key gut bacteria, which influence metabolites related to the valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis; glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism; and alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism.

Pragmatic trials aim to assess intervention efficacy in usual patient care settings, contrasting with explanatory trials conducted under controlled conditions. In aging research, pragmatic trials are important designs for obtaining real-world evidence in elderly populations, which are often underrepresented in trials. In this review, we discuss statistical considerations from a frequentist approach for the design and analysis of pragmatic trials. When choosing the dependent variable, it is essential to use an outcome that is highly relevant to usual medical care while also providing sufficient statistical power. Besides traditionally used binary outcomes, ordinal outcomes can provide pragmatic answers with gains in statistical power. Cluster randomization requires careful consideration of sample size calculation and analysis methods, especially regarding missing data and outcome variables. Mixed effects models and generalized estimating equations (GEEs) are recommended for analysis to account for center effects, with tools available for sample size estimation. Multi-arm studies pose challenges in sample size calculation, requiring adjustment for design effects and consideration of multiple comparison correction methods. Secondary analyses are common but require caution due to the risk of reduced statistical power and false-discovery rates. Safety data collection methods should balance pragmatism and data quality. Overall, understanding statistical considerations is crucial for designing rigorous pragmatic trials that evaluate interventions in elderly populations under real-world conditions. In conclusion, this review focuses on various statistical topics of interest to those designing a pragmatic clinical trial, with consideration of aspects of relevance in the aging research field.

Like all RNA viruses, SARS-CoV-2 shows high mutation rate, which has led to the emergence of new variants. Among them, Gamma and Delta developed at the turn of 2020-2021 in Amazonas and India, two ecoregions characterized by hot-humid weather, very similar to that of the summer season due to climate change in Italy, the first Western country to have been hit hard by COVID-19 and to experience lockdown restrictions in a democratic framework of 58,85 million people. Methods: during the state of national health emergency and the Draghi government, the Civil Defense Department daily released the aggregate data coming from the Ministry of Health, the Higher Institute of Health, the Independent Provinces and the Italian Regions, in order to inform about the pandemic situation in Italy. Among these data there were the number of deaths, hospitalizations in intensive care units (ICU), non-ICU patients, contagions, and performed swabs. By means of a team effort, we have collected and elaborated all these data, comparing COVID-19 pandemic in Italy during the summers 2020 (following the nationwide lockdown), 2021 and 2022. Results: from summer 2020 (before mass vaccination) to summers 2021 (after primary mass vaccination) and 2022 (after booster mass vaccination) all pandemic trend indicators have showed a sharp worsening in Italy. COVID-19 deaths increased by ≈298% and ≈834%, ICU hospitalizations by ≈386% and ≈310%, non-ICU hospitalizations by ≈224% and ≈600%, contagions by ≈627% and ≈6.850% (i.e. ≈68,50 times), swabs by ≈354% and ≈370%, and the mean positivity rate passed from ≈1% to ≈2% and ≈20%, respectively. Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted in any climate, including areas with hot and humid weather, and the emergence of variants adapted to hot-humid climate may result in summer COVID-19 outbreaks, even in neither tropical nor subtropical countries. Although COVID-19 vaccines can confer cross-protection against newly emerging variants, this cross-immunity is obviously not absolute but limited, also taking into account that vaccine protection wanes considerably after 6 months. It follows that a subject vaccinated at the beginning of winter will not be completely covered in the height of summer, without forgetting the unvaccinated. As a final remark, the long nationwide lockdown made it possible to flatten SARS-CoV-2 circulation and, therefore, its negative impact on Italy during summer 2020.

Vaccination, particularly against pneumoccus and influenza, is a low-cost primary prevention, useful to avoid hard complications, particularly among frail older people. In this study, we aimed to assess the effect of a strategy for influenza and pneumococcal vaccination for outpatients, never practiced before, evaluating what could stimulate or demotivate vaccination among older people. This study was conducted during the 2023-2024 influenza season at the outpatient clinics of the Geriatrics section, University Hospital of Palermo (Italy). A total of 101 vaccinations were carried out. Half of the patients could be considered as pre-frail and about 20% frail, according to a comprehensive geriatric evaluation. Among participants, 46.3% received only vaccination against Pneumococcus and 26.8% only anti-influenza or the combination of anti-pneumococcus and anti-influenza. Compared with the previous seasons, a 19.5% increase of influenza and 90.2 % of pneumococcal vaccine uptake was observed. Side effects of vaccination were the main reason of the previous rejections, namely 74.8% for influenza and 29.5% for anti-pneumococcal vaccination. In conclusion, our study indicates how a new vaccination strategy in different settings is possible. Proposing influenza and pneumococcal vaccination for outpatients could be an effective instrument to improve immunization coverage that is still low among older people.

The author attempts to reconstruct the climatic vicissitudes of the Mediterranean to explain why only broadly distributed Eurasian forest species have penetrated the Mediterranean peninsulas. He has carried out a bibliographic survey of the status of breeding forest birds in Italy over 15 decades (1872-2022) in order to establish an objective long-term trend (stable, increasing, decreasing, etc.). The number of breeding forest birds in Italy amounts to 61; their distribution, with a few exceptions, indicates that they are widespread in Eurasia, but only a small percentage of Eurasian forest species have colonized Italy and the other Mediterranean peninsulas, namely 49 in Iberian, 61 in Italian and 64 in Balkan peninsulas; a small percentage of them (between 10.9 and 14.3%) belongs to trans-Saharan migrants. The similarity between the forest species on the three peninsulas (Iberian, Italian and Balkan) results between 0.45 and 0.48, indicating a certain differ-ence in the overall fauna on the three territories. Not all species have penetrated southwards into the three peninsulas; for example, some that stopped in the Italian Alps have instead arrived to the forests of Greece, at a latitude corresponding to southern Italy, or species that in Italy stopped in the northern Apennines in the other two peninsulas have instead arrived far south. Iberian peninsula and the island of Corsica hold three endemic species among breeding forest birds, Italian and Balkan peninsulas have not endemic species. Overall, the Mediterranean presently hosts mainly neo-endemic taxa among forest bird species; the only paleo-endemics can be considered the three species of nuthatches living in Corsica, Algeria, and Turkey (other than Caucasus and the islet of Lesvos) and Le Vaillant’s woodpecker in the Maghreb (North Africa). Italian forests cover ca. 40% of land surface and since 1980’ are increasing, but 22% of them do not have a natural origin. However, it is difficult to know the true increase of forests, because some of them are fired every year. The presence of some ecologically demanding forest birds depends on the age of the trees, permanent open spaces and other characteristics at the edge of woodland.

Disasters related to climate change on our water resources are on the rise in terms of scale and severity. Therefore, predicting groundwater levels (GWL) is a crucial means to aid adaptive capacity towards disasters related to climate change in our water resources. In this study Gradient Boosting (GB) regression modelling approach for GWL prediction as a function of rainfall and antecedent GWL is used. Firstly, we sought to demonstrate the effects of rainfall changes on our groundwater resources through a Mann-Kendall trend analysis. Secondly, we evaluated the relationship between the input and response variables and determined the optimal lag times between the variables using autocorrelations and cross-correlations. Lastly a predictive model was developed for eight groundwater stations in the Upper Crocodile. 50 % of the groundwater stations revealed declining trends, while 25% had no trends and the other 25% showed an increasing trend. Generally low cross-correlation maximum (CCmax) were obtained, with the highest CCmax being 0.299 at an optimal lag of 2-month. While the highest autocorrelation was 0.969 at a 1-month lag. The best groundwater predictive model had R2 and MSE of 0.66 and 0.06, respectively. The stations that generally performed better had both high autocorrelation and cross-correlation coefficients. GB model performed satisfactorily in predicting GWL for most of the stations in the study area. Therefore, GB can be used for GWL prediction in the Upper Crocodile.

The healthcare sector has undergone a profound transformation, owing to the influential role played by IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) technology. However, there are substantial concerns over these devices' security and privacy-preserving nature. Current literature on IoMT tends to focus on specific security features like data confidentiality or data integrity or data availability or access control and most solutions are simulated and not tested in a real-world live network. This paper proposes a smart secure by design solution that safeguards user’s data during health and wellbeing monitoring of patients locally (home, care-home, and hospital) and remotely. The proposed innovative solution is known as Secure by Design Real Time IoMT Architecture for e-Health Population Monitoring (RTPM) for smart hospitals and any healthcare monitoring management. In this system, keys can also be generated by the patient monitoring system independent to maintain high privacy standard and trust during the monitoring process and to enable the IoMT devices run independently even if the server is compromised and are made safe from external exploits to the client nodes. However, the session keys are controlled by the trusted IoMT server to lighten the IoMT devices overheads and the session keys are securely exchanged between the client system and the monitoring server. The proposed RTPM focuses on addressing the major security requirements for an IoMT system: confidentiality, integrity, availability, conducts authentication, protect from DoS attacks and prevent from non-repudiation attack of patient medical data and the devices in a real time, sensory data communication environment for live e-health monitoring. A secure communication is tested by capturing the live network traffic and the system’s performance analysis of RTPM using different security algorithms with different key sizes of RSA, AES, and SHA shows that resource constraint low powered system can also successfully integrate with high-end state-of-the-art secure parameters and features and have the potential to support real time secure interaction. A stress test is also conducted to ensure that the system can withstand huge key sizes and different data types including multi-media information.

Lirianthe delavayi has valuable ornamental and medicinal value, is an important economic tree, and has a long history of cultivation. As important regulatory molecules, miRNAs are involved in important physiological processes, such as the plant stress response, organ morphogenesis, hormone secretion, and signaling. In this study, based on miRNA sequencing analysis of wild and cultivated Lirianthe delavayi, we explored the differences in posttranscriptional regulation during the cultivation of Lirianthe delavayi from the aspect of miRNA molecular regulation. The results revealed the following: 1. A total of 365 miRNAs were sequenced and identified, and their first bases had obvious uracil (U) base preferences. Among them, 242 miRNAs were classified into 32 miRNA families; 2. Analysis of miRNA expression differences revealed that 39 miRNAs had significant expression differences between wild and cultivated populations; 3. Bioinformatics target gene prediction and target gene enrichment analysis of significantly differentially expressed miRNAs revealed that the target genes were significantly enriched in plant‒pathogen interactions, sphingolipid metabolism, defense responses, and ADP binding. 4. The plant‒pathogen interaction pathway involves seven differentially expressed miRNAs and 30 miRNA‒target gene regulatory pairs, which are involved mainly in pathogen signature molecule recognition and binding, signal transduction, and the regulation of disease resistance molecules or gene expression; Ath-MIR169g-p3_2ss7AG19GA, ath-MIR169g-p5_2ss7AG19GA, and ath-miR408-3p_L-3 are expressed only in wild population, and it is hypothesized that the domestication process from wild to cultivation species may be accompanied by the loss of disease resistance-related miRNAs. This study provides a reference for exploring the posttranscriptional-level regulatory mechanisms of adaptive changes in Lirianthe delavayi from wild to cultivated.

Trend patterns of melanoma skin in Serbia from 1999 to 2020 *Rancic K. Natasa 1,2, Tiodorovic B. Danica 1,4, Ilic V. Mirko 2, Biljana N. Kocic 1,2, Maksimovic S. Natasa 3, Ilija D. Kocic 4, Dusan P. Miljkovic 4, Otasevic A. Suzana 1,2 Introduction. Melanoma of the skin represents about 1% of all skin cancers and it causes nearly 80% of skin cancer deaths. Due to its increasing incidence, particularly in the most developed countries it represents a great challenge for primary prevention. Objective. To explore patterns and analyze incidence trends of melanoma in Central Serbia from 1999 to 2020. Materials and Methods. Descriptive study was done and data were obtained from the Population-based Cancer Registry of Serbia. The joinpoint regression analysis was done to assess the incidence trend of the melanoma skin: the annual percent change (APC) along with its 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was calculated. Results. A total number of 9952 new melanoma cases were registered melanoma (5204 in males and 4748 in females) during the observed period. Males represented 52.3% of all patients, with male to female ratio of incidence 2.09:1. A non significant increasing trend of incidence in males from 1999 to 2013 with APC of 2.53% (95%CI: from -18.2 to 21.9, p=1) and significantly increasing trend from 2013 to 2020 with the APC of 11.29 % (95%CI: from 1.4 to 5.8, p<0.001) was established. An incidence trend in females has stabilized in the whole studied period, with APC of 0.42% (95%CI: from -3.3 to 6.8, p=0.1). Melanoma of the skin was not common before the age of 30. Out of all cases and about of 76% new cases were diagnosed in persons ≥ 50 years of age. Conclusion. The incidence trend of new melanoma cases significantly increase in the whole population from 1999 to 2020. The significant increasing of incidence trend in males and stabilization of incidence trend in females was established. Males had significantlly higher incidence rates than femalesand over of 76% new melanoma cases were diagnosed in persons above 50 years of age.

Abstract Depending upon altitudinal gradient in the Himalayas, the rate of climate change varies from lowland to upland. The Chitwan Annapurna Landscape (CHAL) is the central part of the Himalayas and covers all bioclimatic zones. Analysis of time series data (1970-2019) of temperature and precipitation was carried out in seven bioclimatic zones extending from lowland Terai to higher Himalayas. The non-parametric Mann-Kendall test was applied to determine the trend, which was quantified by Sen’s slope. Annual and decade interval average temperature, precipitation trends, and lapse rate were analyzed in each bioclimatic zone. Out of seven bioclimatic zones, four zones showed a decreasing precipitation trend (lower tropical, upper tropical, upper subtropical, and alpine bioclimatic zones)at the rate of 1.8, 1.98, 2.06, and 1.80 mm/year, and in lower sub-tropical, temperate, and lower subalpine bioclimatic zones, increasing at the rate of 0.45, 1.81 and 1.28mm/year, respectively. Precipitation did not show any particular trend at decade intervals. The average annual temperature at different bioclimatic zones clearly indicates that temperature at higher elevations is significantly increasing more than at lower elevations. In lower tropical bioclimatic zone (LTBZ), upper tropical bioclimatic zone(UTBZ), lower subtropical bioclimatic zone (LSBZ), upper subtropical bioclimatic zone(USBZ), and temperate bioclimatic zone(TBZ), the average temperature increased by 0.022, 0.030, 0.036, 0.042 and 0.051oC/year, respectively. The decade level temperature scenario revealed that the hottest decade was from 1999-2009. The average temperature was found as 24.1, 21.8, 19.7, 17.5, and 13.3oC in LTBZ, UTBZ, LSBZ, USBZ, and TBZ, respectively, and the average annual precipitation in LTBZ, UTBZ, LSBZ, USBZ, TBZ, LBZ, and ABZ was 2002.1, 2613.1, 2223.9, 3146.9, 1447.2, 952.1, and 361.7mm/year, respectively, in CHAL. With the impact of climate change site and region-specific, this information highlights the need to mitigate climate change in different bioclimatic zones.

Water quality forecasting is increasingly significant for agricultural management and environmental protection. Enormous amounts of water quality data are increasingly being collected by advanced sensors, which leads to an interest in using data-driven models for predicting trends in water quality. However, the unpredictable background noises introduced during water quality monitoring seriously degrade the performance of those models. Meanwhile, artificial neural networks (ANN) with feed-forward architecture lack the capability of maintaining and utilizing the accumulated temporal information, which leads to biased predictions in processing time series data. Hence, we propose a water quality predictive model based on a combination of Kernal Principal Component Analysis (kPCA) and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) to forecast the trend of dissolved oxygen. Water quality variables are reconstructed based on kPCA method, which aims to reduce the noise from the raw sensory data and preserve actionable information. With the RNN's recurrent connections, our model can make use of the previous information in predicting the trend in the future. Data collected from Burnett River, Australia was applied to evaluate our kPCA-RNN model. The kPCA-RNN model achieved R2 scores up to 0.908, 0.823 and 0.671 for predicting the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the upcoming 1, 2 and 3 hours, respectively. Compared to current data-driven methods like ANN and SVR, the predictive accuracy of the kPCA-RNN model was at least 8 %, 17 % and 21 % better than the comparative models in these 3 cases. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of the kPAC-RNN modeling technique in predicting water quality variables with noisy sensory data.

The effects of four cycles of recurrent selection on simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker allele frequencies and population structure were examined in the Maksimir 3 Synthetic (M3S) maize population (Zea mays L.). Genotyping of 32 plants from each cycle of selection at 38 SSR loci revealed that the mean number of alleles per locus and the mean expected heterozygosity were preserved over cycles of selection, indicating maintenance of sufficient genetic variability in the population needed for future genetic gain. Waples test of selective neutrality revealed that genetic drift was the main force in changing allele frequencies in the population. The proportion of selectively nonneutral loci in single cycles of selection varied between 16% and 37%. Some nonneutral loci shared the same genomic locations with previously published QTLs controlling important agronomic traits. Between 5% and 29% of loci were found to be in significant Hardy-Weinberg (HW) disequilibrium with the majority showing an excess of homozygosity. Excess of homozygosity at several loci was highly consistent across cycle populations suggesting positive assortative mating as the possible cause of the observed HW disequilibrium. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) tests revealed that the M3S population was essentially in linkage equilibrium. The proportion of pairs of loci in significant LD varied across cycles of selection between 0.1% and 1.8% probably due to the effects of genetic drift and epistatic selection.

At the end of the dry season in early March to early April each year, extensive agricultural biomass waste burnings occur throughout insular mainland Southeast Asia. During this biomass burnings period, smoke aerosols blanket the whole regions and were transported and dispersed by predominant westerly and south westerly winds to southern China, Taiwan and as far southern Japan and the Philippines. The extensive and intense burnings coincided with some wildfires in the forests due to high temperature making the region one of the global hot spots of biomass fires. In this study, we focus on the effect of pollutants emitted from biomass burnings in March 2019 at the height of the burnings period to the exposed population and their health impact. The Weather Research Forecast- Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model was used to predict the PM2.5 concentration over the simulating domain and health impacts are then assessed on the exposed population in the four countries of Southeast Asia, namely Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Using the health impact based on log-linear concentration response function and Integrated Exposure Response (IER), the results show that at the peak period of the burnings from 13 to 20 March 2019, Thailand experienced the highest impact, with an estimated 2170 premature deaths. Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia followed, with estimated mortalities of 277, 565, and 314 deaths respectively. However, when considering the impact per head of population, Laos exhibited the highest impact, followed by Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The results highlight the significant health impact and associated economic cost of agricultural waste burnings in Southeast Asia at the end of the dry season. And hence policy makers should take these into account to design measures to reduce the negative impact of widespread burnings on exposed population in the region.

This cross-sectional study evaluated the validity of three alternative methods compared to the gold standard 24-h urine collection for estimating dietary sodium intake, a modifiable risk factor for hypertension, among middle-aged and older adults with elevated blood pressure. These included spot urine collection (using Kawasaki, Tanaka, and INTERSALT equations), 24-h dietary recall, and food frequency questionnaire responses, compared against 24-h urine collection in a subset of 65 participants (aged 50–75 years, 58.5 % women, 61.6 % hypertensive) from the DePEC-Nutrition trial. The validity of the methods was assessed using bias, Spearman correlation coefficient (SCC), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and Bland-Altman analysis. Among the alternative methods, spot urine collection using the Kawasaki equation showed the strongest correlation (SCC 0.238; ICC 0.119, 95 % CI -0.079 to 0.323) but it exhibited a significant bias (1414 mg/day, p-value < 0.001) relative to 24-h urine collection. Conversely, dietary surveys had a smaller bias but wider limits of agreement. These findings underscore the complexities of accurately estimating dietary sodium intake using spot urine collection or dietary surveys in this specific population, suggesting that a combination or refinement of existing methodologies might improve accuracy. Further research with larger samples is necessary to develop more reliable methods for assessing sodium intake in this high-risk group.

With advances in Building Information Modeling (BIM), Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies have many potential applications in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. However, the AEC industry, relative to other industries, has been slow in adopting AR/VR technologies, partly due to lack of feasibility studies examining the actual cost of implementation versus an increase in profit. The main objectives of this paper are to understand the industry trends in adopting AR/VR technologies and identifying gaps within the industry. The identified gaps can lead to opportunities for developing new tools and finding new use cases. To achieve these goals, two rounds of a survey at two different time periods (a year apart) were conducted. Responses from 158 industry experts and researchers were analyzed to assess the current state, growth, and saving opportunities for AR/VR technologies for the AEC industry. The findings demonstrate that older generations are significantly more confident about the future of AR/VR technologies and they see more benefits in AR/VR utilization. Furthermore, the research results indicate that Residential and commercial sectors have adopted these tools the most, compared to other sectors and institutional and transportation sectors had the highest growth from 2017 to 2018. Industry experts anticipated a solid growth in the use of AR/VR technologies in 5 to 10 years, with the highest expectations towards healthcare. Ultimately, the findings show a significant increase in AR/VR utilization in the AEC industry from 2017 to 2018.

Plants and its corresponding botanical preparations have been used for centuries due to their remarkable potentialities in both treatment and prevention of numerous affections. Hundreds of biologically active constituents are present in each whole plant matrice, working in synergism and conferring both its own protection against invaders and even providing promissory bioactive effects for human beings. The worldwide population has devoted increasing attention and preference by medicinal plants use for health promotion and disease prevention, and more recently for oxidative-stress related disorders protection. Indeed, oxidative stress-related disorders, like cardiovascular and (neuro) degenerative disorders, and even cancer have raised exponentially. Although oxidative stress is in itself intrinsic to our own metabolism, allarming sources of free radicals are daily affecting us. In fact, plant-derived bioactives present a broad spectrum of biological effects, and its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and more recently anti-aging effects have been considered a hot topic among the medical and scientific community. Nonetheless, and although its numerous biological effects, it should not also be forgotten that some bioactive molecules are prone to oxidation and can even exert pro-oxidant effects. In this sense, the objective of the present review is to provide a detailed overview on plant-derived bioactives in oxidative stress-related disorders. Specifically, the role of phytochemicals as antioxidants and pro-oxidant agents is carefully addressed, as is its therapeutic relevance in disease prevention. Finally, an eye-opening look in overall evidence in humans is also ensured.

Sick leave is influenced by various modifiable lifestyle factors and sex differences. This study examines the impact of body mass index, fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activity, smoking, and alcohol consumption on sick leave among Serbia's working population, focusing on sex differences. Data from the 2019 National Health Survey of Serbia were analyzed, focusing on a representative sample of 4,652 individuals aged 18-65. Chi-square tests and logistic regression models assessed the relationships between lifestyle factors and sick leave, adjusting for sociodemographic, work-related, and health-related variables. Among respondents, 15.8% reported sick leave in the past 12 months, with higher rates among women in both, short-term (13.9% vs. 10.6%) and long-term sick leave (3.4% vs. 2.2%). For men, obesity (OR = 2.6), poor dietary habits (fruit OR = 2.1; vegetables OR = 2.8), smoking (OR = 1.9), and risky alcohol consumption (OR = 4.1) significantly increase the likelihood of sick leave. In women, smoking (OR = 1.8) and risky alcohol consumption (OR = 3.1) are major predictors, while BMI and physical activity show less impact. Fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity have inconsistent effects on sick leave, indicating the need for further research. This study identifies obesity, poor dietary habits, smoking, and alcohol consumption as key predictors of sick leave in men. In women, smoking and risky alcohol consumption are major predictors. Smoking is a risk factor for both sexes, while risky alcohol consumption emerges as a prominent predictor and is a significant predictor overall. These findings highlight the need for targeted public health interventions to address these lifestyle factors and reduce sick leave rates. Further research is needed to clarify the roles of dietary habits and physical activity in influencing sick leave.

China is a traditional agricultural country, and the integration of rural industries has become an essential policy direction for the current strategy of agricultural modernization in China. In recent years, the agricultural industrial chains across various regions of China have consistently expanded and extended. The multifunctionality of agriculture is continuously unearthed, and the principal entities managing agriculture have become increasingly diversified and have grown significantly. New industries and forms in agriculture emerge incessantly. Accurately and profoundly understanding the inherent features of the integration of industries in rural China, establishing a scientific and rational measurement index system in line with the current status and development goals of rural China, and employing appropriate measurement methods to assess its development level and process, is instrumental in comprehending the level of integrated development in various regions. This aids in identifying challenges in the developmental process and proposing targeted developmental strategies. Hence, this paper, rooted in the integration of rural industries, cross-industry, industry extension, industry agglomeration, and industry penetration, sets up an measurement index system. Using provincial panel data from 2011 to 2020, the paper measures the level of integrated development in rural industries across China and its 31 provinces. Based on the measurement results, further techniques such as kernel density estimation and Gini coefficient decomposition have been used to analyze the spatial distribution characteristics and dynamic trends of the integrated development of rural industries in China. Research indicates that during the sample period, the overall level of integrated development in rural industries in various provinces in China has shown an upward trend. Development among the eastern, central, and western regions is highly uneven, but this disparity has been gradually narrowing in recent years. Furthermore, the levels of integrated development in different provinces exhibit significant spatial agglomeration effects. The development level of neighboring regions significantly impacts the province's development status. In the process of integrated development of rural industries in China, there's a trend where "it's easier to downgrade than to upgrade," with very few regions achieving leapfrog development.

This study aims to identify the knowledge structure and research trends of soccer psychology research during the last 33 years (1990–2022). Data were obtained from 1,863 papers from the Web of Science database. The data were collected through keyword text mining and data preprocessing to determine the keywords needed for analysis. Based on the keywords, latent Dirichlet allocation-based topic modeling analysis was performed to analyze the topic distribution of papers and explore research trends by topic area. The topic modeling process included four topic area and fifty topics. The “Coaching Essentials in Football” topic area had the highest frequency, but it was not statistically identified as a trend. However, coaching, including training, is expected to continue to be an important research topic, as it is a key requirement for success in the highly competitive elite football world. Interest in the research field of “Psychological Skills for Performance Development” has waned in recent years. This may be due to the predominance of other subject areas rather than a lack of interest. Various high-tech interventions and problem-solving attempts are being made in this field, providing opportunities for qualitative and quantitative expansion. “Motivation, cognition, and emotion” is a largely underrated subject area in soccer psychology. This could be because survey-based psychological evaluation attempts have decreased as the importance of rapid field application has been emphasized in recent soccer-related studies. However, measuring psychological factors contributes to the study of football psychology through a new methodology and theoretical background. Recognizing the important role of psychological factors in player performance and mental management, as well as presenting new research directions and approaches that can be directly applied to the field, will advance soccer psychology research.

The purpose of the study is to control the ratio of programs of different genres when forming the broadcast grid in order to increase and maintain the rating of the channel. In the multichannel environment, television rating control consists of selecting such content, ratings of which are completely restored after advertising. A hybrid approach combining the benefits of semantic training and fuzzy relational equations in simplification of the expert recommendation systems construction is proposed. The problem of retaining the television rating can be attributed to the problems of fuzzy resources control. The increase or decrease trends of the demand and supply are described by primary fuzzy relations. The rule-based solutions of fuzzy relational equations connect significance measures of the primary fuzzy terms. Rules refinement by solving fuzzy relational equations allows avoiding labor-intensive procedures for the generation and selection of expert rules. The solution set generation corresponds to the granulation of the television time, where each solution represents the time slot and the granulated rating of the content. In automated media planning, generation of the weekly TV program in the form of the granular solutions provides the decrease of the time needed for the programming of the channel broadcast grid.

About 14% of adolescents experience mental illnesses globally. The rate increased after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of COVID-related major mental illnesses (depression and anxiety) and their predictors among adolescents. This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 350 adolescents aged 10-19 years, recruited from rural communities in West Bengal, India. The study areas included 27 subcenters in the Budge Budge II Block, which comprised 1,91,709 population and 45,333 households. Data were collected from randomly selected households by trained research assistants through house-to-house interviews. Pretested standardized questionnaires, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) for depression, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) for anxiety, and a demographic questionnaire were used for data collection. The prevalence of anxiety was 35.7% (125 out of 350), and the prevalence of depression was 30.0% (105 out of 350). Females had significantly higher scores of anxiety (6.67 ± 4.76 vs. 3.42 ± 3.17, respectively, p &lt;0.001) and depression (5.51 ± 4.99 vs. 3.26 ± 3.86, respectively, p &lt;0.001) compared to males. Adolescents who had COVID-19 cases or deaths in the family had significaly higher scores of anxiety and depression compared to those who didn’t have these events. In multivariate analysis, the statistically significant predictors of anxiety were COVID-19 death in the family, COVID-19 cases in the family, female gender, and a lower income group (p &lt;0.001 for all). For depression, the significant predictors included COVID-19 death in the family, COVID-19 cases in the family, female gender, a lower income group, and a higher age group in adolescents (p &lt;0.001 for all). Based on the study results, we recommend that immediate attention is needed for adolescents’ mental health support and coping with stresses following COVID-19.

Background: Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) is a neuropsychological tool used in clinical practice to measure executive function in clinical and non-clinical populations, in individuals aged 8-89 years, and consists of nine subtests that can be administered either as a single system or separately. Aims: In the present study, were established norms for the Verbal Fluency Test as well as the Design Fluency Test of the D-KEFS in a Greek population aged 20 to 49 years, since there is no previous study conducted in Greece for these age clusters. Methods: The study sample consisted of 100 healthy adults (44.4% male and 55.6% female), aged 20 to 49 years (M=32.81 SD=11.04) with education from 12 to 18 years (M=14.73, SD= .91). First, Spearman and Pearson tests explored the associations of gender, age and education with D-KEFS subtests’ performance. Afterwards, we calculated normative data using raw scores and transformed to percentile scores. Results: The present study is the first attempt to calculate norms for the two fluency subtests of the D-KEFS in Greek adult population stratified by age and educational level. Conclusion: Future research will promote the use of D-KEFS, in order to introduce a widely used tool which measures all basic executive functions subtypes for Greek adult population. Given that the majority of neuropsychological tools are adapted for older adult population, the current study aims at filling the gap in neuropsychological assessment of young adults as well as those who have co existing neurological or psychiatric disorders.

Introduction: Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is a vital diagnostic tool in clinical prac-tice, particularly in transcatheter interventions where it aids in both pre-operative planning and intra-operative guidance. Traditional TEE probes often require general anesthesia due to patient discomfort. However, the development of miniaturized TEE probes presents a promising alter-native, enabling routine examinations and interventions with minimal sedation. This study evaluates the feasibility of performing a complete 2D/4D TEE protocol with the new 4D-mini-TEE probe in echocardiography departments and its application in transcatheter interventions. Methods: This prospective, observational study included 30 consecutive patients from two high-volume European hospitals (Interbalkan Medical Center, Thessaloniki, Greece, and Rennes University, France) undergoing TEE or transcatheter interventions. The new 4D-mini-TEE 9VT-D probe (GE Healthcare) was utilized. The quality of the images and the tolerance of the probe were assessed in the Cath lab during interventions and in the echocardiography department during routine TEE examinations. Results: Direct comparison of the 4D-mini-TEE probe with the standard 6VT-D probe, confirmed the excellent image quality of this new pediatric probe. Most of the patients required minimal sedation or local oropharyngeal anesthesia, with satisfactory tolerance reported. Most of the transcatheter procedures did not require general anesthesia and intubation, resulting in shorter procedural time. Both 2D and 4D imaging modalities offered adequate intra-operative guidance for transcatheter procedures. Conclusions: The 4D-mini-TEE probe delivers exceptional imaging capabilities for routine ex-aminations and transcatheter interventions without needing sedation. Its use reduces esophageal trauma and the need for general anesthesia, enhancing patient comfort and safety.

Objectives: Describe the epidemiology of burns in the pediatric population. Analyze and compare the results obtained from the treatment of burn wounds by using the bio-preserved human epidermis allograft (BHEA) and other types of dressings and determine the need for further need of a skin graft. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study of pediatric population with burn injuries was conducted, grouped into categories based on their age group, and the mechanisms of injury into 6 categories: scald, flame, contact, electrical, chemical and friction. Describing the extension and depth of the burn injury. The results of treatment of two groups; the patients who used (BHEA) and the group with “other dressings” were analyzed by inferential statistics to establish the relationship between the use of BHEA and the need for skin grafts compared to the other group. Results: A total of 65 patients were obtained. The average age was 4.5 years (±3.8). Preschoolers (1-5 years old) were the most frequent age group 64% (n=42). Male patients represented 61% (n=40) of cases. Scald was the most reported mechanism 64% (n=42). The average total body surface area burned (TBSAB) was 10.8% (± 9.2). Mixed partial thickness burn (superficial and deep) was the most common with a 55%. The head was the most affected anatomical site; 30%. The face was the most reported “special anatomical site” with a 40% (n=30). 32.2 % of the population (n=21) was treated with BHEA. The average time of epithelialization of the BHEA group was 8 days (±7.2), and their average hospital stay time was 7 days (±5.7). In the “other dressing” group, the average epithelialization time was 18 days (±13.6), and the average hospital stay time was 11 days (±12.6). Fifty percent (n=22) of the “other dressing” group required skin grafts. In the BHEA group only 19% (n=4) required skin grafts. An OR of 0.23 and CI of 95% (0.06 – 0.81) with a p value of (0.017) for the need of skin grafts after de use of BHEA was obtained. Conclusion: The epidemiological results reported are similar to those described in the literature. The use of (BHEA) proved to be a good option for the management of partial thickness burns and burns in transition, promoting timely epithelilization and avoiding deepening of the burns while reducing morbidity, hospital stay and care costs.