Background: Endovascular treatment of popliteal aneurysms (PA) has increased in the last few years, quickly becoming the main treatment in many vascular centers, based on the acceptable and promising outcomes reported in the literature. However, endograft infections are the most dangerous complication as a serious local compromise and usually require open surgical conversion and device explantation to preserve the affected extremity. Case report: We reported two patients admitted to the emergency room for pain and edema in the lower leg. Both patients have undergone exclusion of ruptured PA a few years before by endovascular graft. CTA showed a significant volume of fluid-corpuscular collection related to perianeurysmal abscess collection in both cases. Blood cultures and drained material cultures were positive for Staphylococcus Capitis in the first case and S. Aureus in the second. The antibiotics prophylaxis was performed for 10 days, then, patients underwent an open surgical conversion with a complete explantation of endovascular material and a femoro-popliteal bypass using an autologous vein in the first case and biological bovine pericardium prosthesis in the other case. Furthermore, we have questioned the literature and found eight more cases described in case report article referred to popliteal graft infections by different microorganisms, mostly presenting acute limb ischemia as the first symptom and suggesting endograft explantation with open conversion and autologous vein bypass as the commonest therapeutic choice. Conclusions: Open surgical conversion of popliteal endograft infection is the best strategy to manage peripheral infection of the popliteal stent.

Background: The surgical approach to treating calcaneal fractures, specifically Sanders types II, III, and IV, is still a subject of controversy. The decision to opt for open reduction and internal fix-ation (ORIF) or minimally invasive osteosynthesis (MIOS) remains uncertain owing to varying complication rates. This study intends to examine each treatment’s pros and cons in relation to the incidence of complications. Methods: In this retrospective study, we examined 70 patients treated between January 2018 and September 2022: 50 received ORIF, and 20 underwent MIOS. We evaluated functional outcomes with the Maryland Foot Score and the Creighton-Nebraska Health Foundation Assessment Scale (CNHFAS). We also assessed the amount of anatomical restoration using Böhler’s and Gissane’s angles, determined by radiographic checks, and the frequency of postoperative complications. Results: A significant reduction in the risk of reinter-vention was observed in patients with high anesthetic risks, polytraumatized individuals, and those with comorbidities who underwent MIOS. The chi-square test analysis of postoperative complications highlighted no substantial differences between the ORIF and MIOS groups in rela-tion to tendinitis, chronic pain and swelling, algodystrophy, and surgical wound infections (p > 0.20 for all). Conclusion: ORIF is more suitable for patients who have high motor function re-quirements, a long-term activity schedule and can endure potential additional procedures. This preference is because ORIF provides better anatomical restoration and features a lower osteoar-thritis occurrence rate.

Transportation plays an important role in urban development. Population growth and environmental burden have turned the efforts of cities globally towards smarter and greener mobility. Cooperative and Connected Automated Mobility (CCAM) serves as a concept with the power and potential to help achieve these goals building upon technological fields like Internet of Things, computer vision and distributed computing. However, its implementation is hindered by various challenges covering technical parameters such as performance and reliability in tandem with other issues, such as safety, accountability and trust. To overcome these issues, new distributed and decentralized approaches like blockchain and smart contracts are needed. This paper aims at identifying a comprehensive inventory of CCAM challenges and use it as a framework to describe methodologies using blockchain and smart contracts to address them. It provides a comparative analysis of the findings to draw useful conclusions and discuss future directions in CCAM and relevant blockchain applications. The paper contributes to intelligent transportation systems’ research by offering an integrated view of the difficulties in substantiating CCAM and providing insights on the most prominent blockchain and smart contract technologies that tackle them.

Teledermatology, the dermatological consultation and diagnosis via digital communication technologies, has become increasingly important in modern healthcare. The integration of teledermatology into clinical practice has gained significant interest, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Numerous studies have shown the effectiveness and reliability of teledermatology, with high levels of patient satisfaction and diagnostic accuracy. Pathpoint® eDerma is a cloud-based dermatology platform that aims to streamline the documentation and management of dermatological conditions. It offers several clinical benefits, including faster diagnosis, reduced unnecessary procedures, improved access to care, and cost savings. The platform follows a comprehensive risk management plan and complies with safety regulations. It undergoes regular recertification and reviews to ensure its safety and effectiveness. The clinical evaluation of eDerma confirms its ability to deliver significant clinical benefits while effectively mitigating risks. The benefit-risk ratio of eDerma is highly acceptable, supporting its use in clinical settings to enhance dermatological care.

Preoperative assessment is crucial in surgical care, traditionally relying on physical examinations and paper-based questionnaires. The emergence of digital tools like Pathpoint® ePOA represents a significant advancement, aiming to enhance the efficiency, accuracy, and standardisation of preoperative evaluations. Pathpoint® ePOA is a cloud-based platform designed to integrate seamlessly with Electronic Health Records (EHRs), providing a comprehensive, data-driven approach to preoperative assessments. It supports improved risk stratification, optimised resource allocation, and enhanced patient engagement through features such as customisable templates and real-time data integration.Current research highlights that digital preoperative tools like ePOA offer notable advantages, including increased clinical capacity, better complexity stratification, and improved patient follow-up. Despite these benefits, gaps remain in comparative studies, detailed clinical outcomes, and patient engagement strategies, indicating areas for further exploration. Pathpoint® ePOA adheres to rigorous safety standards and risk management protocols, ensuring reliability and data security while contributing to improved surgical outcomes. The benefit-risk ratio for ePOA is favourable, underscoring its potential to advance preoperative care by optimising clinical workflows and enhancing patient safety.

Historically, the military and non-religious, sub-continent’s intellectual elite Muslim men crafted state ideologies before partition, by actively contributing to sociocultural constructs prevalent to this day, in service of colonial patriarchal concepts. The purpose of this ideological collaboration has been to mould a Pakistani cis-gendered female child primarily into the ideal “Pakistan-Muslim” bride for marriage, carried out through her family and society. This has shaped the lives of cis-gendered female children in Pakistan through coerced, gendered control, implemented as prescriptive societal norms. These norms are rooted in colonial, patriarchal ideologies and are functions of capital and coercion intentionally perpetuated to erase her pluralistic identity, reducing her to a central resource within a family unit. To the military concept of nationalism, her mind and her body symbolize the unification and centralization of a statist ideology. Thus, the military state plays an essential role in shaping her purpose around the concept of nationalism. The intellectual elite, via the state, uphold colonial, patriarchal ideologies, where the primary identity of a cis-gendered female child is actualized through her marriage. The cis-gendered female child’s life is a vehicle to unify the state’s two-fold “Pakistani-Muslim” agenda, by implementing a ‘singular statist narrative’. A narrative that attempts to resolve two major tensions: First, it seeks to wipe out the possibility of a nation connecting with and exploring its own immense, internal ethnocultural diversity. It does this by imposing an imagined “homogenous Muslim” identity — which doesn’t exist — and is instead imported from multiple countries to reinforce a ‘singular statist narrative’, Second, it aims to control the mixing of local, sociocultural narratives by bridging any disjuncture between them by labelling colonial institutional patriarchy concepts as inherently “Pakistani”; in service of its preferred ‘singular statist narrative’.

Many middle-aged and older adults (MAOA) do not engage in sufficient physical activity (PA) despite its well-documented benefits for healthy aging. Existing PA interventions often fail to reach or engage the target population effectively. This study investigates MAOA's preferences for recruitment strategies to optimize the reach and uptake of PA interventions, thereby enhancing their impact on healthy aging and public health. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 39 MAOA participants (69% female, mean age = 69.46, SD = 7.07), guided by McGuire's Theory on Persuasive Communication. Factors related to the source, message content, channel, receiver characteristics, and target behavior of recruitment strategies were analyzed. Findings suggest a preference for trustworthy sources (e.g., healthcare professionals over commercial entities) and positive, non-ageist messaging. MAOA vary in channel preferences but emphasize the importance of personalization. Despite heterogeneity, MAOA commonly perceive themselves as sufficiently active, necessitating improving knowledge on what constitutes sufficient PA, and easy enrollment or trying-out interventions. Tailoring recruitment strategies to diverse MAOA segments, based on age, seems crucial for effective engagement. Future research could explore quantitative research into how communication factors relate to various target population characteristics.

Background: Gender differences characterize the prevalence and attitudes toward weight management. Despite limited evidence suggesting greater weight loss in women with anti-obesity pharmacotherapy, gender-specific analysis remains underexplored. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the gender-specific response to liraglutide 3.0 mg treatment in people with obesity without type 2 diabetes (T2D). Methods: Data were collected from 47 patients (31 women, 16 men), with age > 18 years, BMI ≥ 30 kg/m^2, absence of T2D, and with exclusion of prior anti-obesity treatment, comorbidities, or bariatric surgery. Only patients who maintained the liraglutide 3.0 mg dose for at least 6 months were included. Results: Both sexes showed significant reductions in weight and BMI at 3 and 6 months. Men achieved greater weight loss (WL), BMI reduction, % WL, WL >5% and >10% than women, and they also showed more significant improvements in metabolic parameters (total and LDL cholesterol, Fibrosis-4 Index FIB-4). No significant gender differences were observed in glucose metabolism or renal function. Conclusion: This study showed a greater therapeutic effect of liraglutide 3.0 mg in men. Given men's higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and underrepresentation in clinical weight loss programs, these findings may increase male engagement and improve their CVD risk.

Sleep and stress significantly affect emotions, productivity, and overall well-being, crucial for optimal health and performance. However, limited research examines how Nepalese nurses' quality of life relates to their sleep quality and stress levels. This study aims to assess this relationship among nurses in private hospitals in Kathmandu. Three private hospitals were selected for this cross-sectional analytical study. Eligible nurses were chosen through purposive sampling, and data were analysed using IBM SPSS v25, employing Chi-square tests and logistic regression analysis. Research revealed a high rate of poor sleep quality (83.9%) among individuals with a mean age of 24.33 ± 3.08 years. Initially, significant associations were found with the factors like bachelor's degree, no tobacco use, absence of insomnia, good sleep quality, and low stress with good quality of life. After adjustment, the association with bachelor's degree [AOR:2.025, CI at 95%: 1.021-4.016, p

Augmented Reality (AR) and 3D printing (3DP) are novel technologies in the orthopedic field. Over the past decade, enthusiasm for these new digital applications is driving new perspectives in improving diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity in the field of traumatology. Currently, however, it is still difficult to quantify the value and impact in the medical-scientific field especially in the improvement of diagnostic in complex fractures. Acetabulum fractures have always been a challenge among orthopedics, for volumetric complexity and low diagnostic reliability.Background/Objectives: The goal of this study is to determine whether these methods can improve the learning aspect and diagnostic accuracy of complex acetabulum fractures compared to gold standard CT (computed tomography). Methods: Orthopedic residents of our department have been selected and divided into Junior (JUN) and Senior (SEN) groups. Associated fractures of acetabulum have been included in the study, obtaining : CT-scans, 3DP model, and AR model displayed on a tablet screen. In a double-blind questionnaire, each resident classified every fracture according to methods. Diagnostic accuracy (DA), response time (RT), agreement (R), and confidence (C) were measured. Results: 20 residents (JUN=10, SEN=10) classified five fractures. Overall DAs were 26% (CT), 18% (3DP), and 29% (AR). AR-DA resulted to be superior to 3DP-DA (p=0,04). DA means (JUN vs SEN respectively) were :CT-DA was 20% vs 32% (p<0.05), 3DP-DA was 12% vs 24% (p=0.08), and AR-DA was 28% vs 30% (p=0,80). Overall RT was 61.2 sec (±24,6) for CT, 35.8 sec (±20,1) for 3DP, and 46,7 sec (±20,8) for AR. R was fairly poor between methods and groups. 3DPs resulted to have superior overall C (65%). Conclusions: AR resulted to have the same Overall DA as CT, independent from experience, 3DP has minor DA and R, but it resulted to be the most confident and fast method. Intra and interobserver R between methods remain very poor in residents.

Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) infections represent the fourth-leading cause of death attributable to antimicrobial resistance globally, but a standardized therapy is still lacking. In this narrative review we focused the antibiotic treatment of CRAB infections in view of newly β-lactam agents (NBLs) like sulbactam/durlobactam and cefiderocol, discussing the main hot points such as the superiority of combination treatment over monotherapy and the best antibiotic partner to use in combination. Sulbactam/durlobactam seems to be the best candi-date to replace current back-bone agents. Cefiderocol, could play a crucial role in combina-tion-regimen. Due to toxicity and the PK/PD limitations, colistin (or polymyxin B) should be used as an alternative agent (when no other options are available). Tigecycline (or minocycline) and fosfomycin could represent suitable partners for both NBLs. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) are needed to better evaluate the role of NBLs in CRAB infection treatment and to compare the ef-ficacy of tigecycline and fosfomycin as partner antibiotics. Synergism should be tested between NBLs and “old” drugs (rifampicin and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole). Huge efforts should be made to accelerate pre-clinical and clinical studies on safer polymyxin candidates with lung im-proved activity, as well as on the i.v. rifabutin formulation.

A single paragraph of about 200 words maximum. For research articles, abstracts should give a pertinent overview of the work. We strongly encourage authors to use the following style of structured abstracts, but without headings: (1) Background: Place the question addressed in a broad context and highlight the purpose of the study; (2) Methods: briefly describe the main methods or treatments applied; (3) Results: summarize the article’s main findings; (4) Conclusions: indicate the main conclusions or interpretations. The abstract should be an objective representation of the article and it must not contain results that are not presented and substantiated in the main text and should not exaggerate the main conclusions.

Distance Learning has become the new standard, especially after the pandemic and due to the technological advances, that are incorporated into the teaching procedure. At the same time, the augmented use of the internet has blurred the borders between distance and conventional learning. Students interact mainly through LMSs, leaving their digital traces that can be leveraged to improve the educational process. This work aims to propose a model that can capture the students' behaviors based on the clickstream data associated with the discussion forum and additionally to suggest interpretable patterns that will support education administrators and tutors in the decision-making process. To achieve our goal, we use Social Network Analysis (SNA) as networks represent complex interactions in a meaningful and easily interpretable way. Moreover, simple or complex network metrics are becoming available to provide valuable insights into the students’ social interaction. This study concludes that by leveraging the imprint of these actions in an LMS and using metrics of SNA, differences can be spotted in the communicational patterns that go beyond simple participation recording. Although HITS and PageRank algorithms were created with completely different targeting, it is shown that they can also reveal methodological features in students’ communicational approach.

Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) are short oligodeoxynucleotides designed to bind to specific regions of target mRNA. ASOs can modulate pre-mRNA splicing, increase levels of functional proteins and decrease levels of toxic proteins. ASOs are being developed for the treatment of several diseases, including motor neuron diseases (MNDs), a group of neurodegenerative disorders characterised by the loss of motor neurons, including spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA). The biggest success has been the ASO known as nusinersen, the first effective therapy for SMA, able to improve symptoms and slow disease progression. Another success is tofersen, an ASO designed to treat ALS patients with SOD1 gene mutations. Both ASOs have been approved by the FDA and EMA. On the other hand, ASO treatment in ALS patients with the C9orf72 gene mutation did not show any improvement in disease progression. The aim of this review is to provide an up-to-date overview of ASO research in MND, from preclinical studies to clinical trials and, where available, regulatory approval. We highlight the successes and failures, underline the strengths and limitations of the current ASO research, and suggest possible approaches that could lead to more effective treatments.

In patients with heart failure, the evaluation of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function is vital, offering crucial insights into hemodynamic impact and prognostic accuracy. Echocardiography stands as the primary imaging modality for diastolic function assessment, and using it effectively requires a profound understanding of the underlying pathology. This review covers four main topics: first, the fundamental driving forces behind each phase of normal diastolic dynamics, along with the physiological basis of two widely used echocardiographic assessment parameters, E/e' and mitral annulus early diastolic velocity (e'); second, the intricate functional relationship between the left atrium and LV in patients with varying degrees of LV diastolic dysfunction (LVDD); third, the role of stress echocardiography in diagnosing LVDD and the significance of parameter changes in this context; and fourth, the clinical utility of evaluating diastolic function from echocardiography images across diverse cardiovascular care areas.

Background: Tibial shaft fractures are the most common of long bone fractures. The gold standard for management is locked intramedullary nailing. The freehand method under fluoroscopic monitoring is the most often utilized method for distal screw locking. Electromagnetic guidance-based distal screw locking methods have gained popularity recently. The study's objective is to evaluate the system using electromagnetic tracking data against the free-hand technique. Methods: Sixty-three patients who received intramedullary nailing for tibial shaft fractures at our institute between January 2018 and May 2022, were included in this study. Two groups of patients were distinguished: Group FH underwent freehand distal locking and intramedullary nailing, while Group SS underwent electromagnetically guided locking. Radiation exposure period, as well as dose area product, were noted and statistically compared. Results: In terms of dose area product, a mean value of 43.57±31.57 cGy/cm2 in group FH and a mean value of 27.62±11.20 cGy/cm2 in group SS (p < 0.05) was assessed. Concerning the duration of surgery a mean value of 128.83±26.51 minutes was reported in group FH and a mean value of 126.42±48.31 minutes in group SS (p > 0.05). Conclusions: This study confirms the use of electromagnetic-guided locking distal screws reduces the total time of exposure to ionizing radiation, with no difference in operating time.

Background: One challenge in implant dentistry is to reduce marginal bone resorption to avoid long-term esthetic and biological complications. Sub-gingival implant placement has been suggested as a suitable strategy. Methods: 38 healthy patients were enrolled to receive bone level (BL – Control group) or 2 mm sub-crestal (SC - Test group) conical connection, platform-switched implants. An immediate tissue level abutment was used in the Test group by following a One Time Abutment (OTA) restorative procedure. Marginal Bone Modification (MBM) was calcu-latied on standardized radiographs at surgery (T0), loading (T1), and 6 months (T2) and 12 months after loading (T3), and cathegorised in Bone Loss (BL) if the resorption occurred below the implant neck and Bone Remodeling (BR) if above. Pocket probing depth (PPD), Bleeding on probing (BoP) and Plaque Index (PI) were also collected. Results: The mean MBM in the test group after 12 months was 0.61mm, compared to 0.52mm in the control group. However, no BL was observed in the test group, as the MBM completely occurred above the implant neck as BR, whilst in the control group MBM corresponded in total to BL. The average PPD was 2.38mm in the test group and 3.04mm in the control group after 12 months, BoP 50% and 43%, PI 33% and 19.44% respectively. Conclusions: Sub-crestal conical connection, platform-switched implants could be a suitable clinical choice to avoid BL with exposure of the treated implants surfaces.

In this article, many experimental similarities between electromagnetic fields (which are applied in systems of electrons, atoms, and liquids) and strong interaction fields (which are applied in systems of quarks, nucleons, and nuclei) are reviewed. The currently accepted theories describing electromagnetic fields differ fundamentally from those describing strong fields. Therefore, the many similarities are quite surprising, and some are not adequately explained even today. Several such unexplained similarities are listed among the top open problems in particle physics, such as the “EMC effect,” the “proton spin crisis,” and the “strong CP problem.” This paper highlights, for the first time, the underlying common characteristics of these problems, potentially offering valuable contribution to future explanations.

Background: Patients with thromboembolic disease, prosthetic valves, or coagulation issues are commonly prescribed anticoagulants and antiplatelets. Although common professional oral hygiene might not represent a health concern for these patients, anticoagulant and antiplatelet medication might constitute a challenge for dentists and dental hygienists since possible prolonged bleeding might interfere with dental procedures. The aim of the present study was to investigate the bleeding time of different anticoagulants and antiplatelets during a professional hygiene session adapting the Ivy test to the oral environment; Methods: 93 consecutive patients undergoing professional oral hygiene were recruited. Debridement during oral hygiene was performed using ultrasonic mechanical instrumentation, and bleeding sites were assessed and treated with gentle pressure using sterile gauzes. The time for bleeding cessation was recorded. Patients were categorized into six groups based on their drug intake, Control: no anticoagulants or antiplatelets DTI: direct thrombin inhibitors (dabigatran) AntiXa: directa factor Xa inhibitors (endoxaban, apixaban, rivaroxaban) VKA: vitamin K antagonists (warfarin, acenocoumarol) SAPT: single anti-platelet therapy (acetylsalicylic acid or clopidogrel) DAPT: dual anti-platelet therapy (acetylsalicylic acid and clopidogrel). Bleeding time was measured in seconds and mean values were assessed among the different groups. Differences between groups were investigated with Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s post-hoc correction for multiple comparisons or two-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett post-hoc; Results: Control patients presented the lowest bleeding time 50 sec, followed by AntiXa (98), SAPT (105), DTI (120), DAPT (190) and VKA (203). A statistically significant difference was present among control and DTI (p=0.004), VKA (p<0.001), DAPT (p<0.001). Conclusions: Based on the present outcomes, an increased risk of prolonged bleeding emerged in patients taking VKA and DAPT. However, bleeding did not interfere with the oral hygiene ses-sion The optimal period for dental treatment of these patients should be 2-3 hours before the next dose, without the need to temporarily suspend the medication.

Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the possibility of discriminating between the two sexes through the simultaneous use of cheiloscopy and palatine rugoscopy. Materials and methods: 80 palate and lip impressions (40 male and 40 female) were analyzed. The palate impressions were acquired using both analogue and digital methods. The lip impres-sions were first acquired analogically and then scanned. The morphology of the palatine rugae in the palate impressions was analyzed, with the exclusion of segmental rugae. The lip prints were analyzed in sextants and the morphology of the lip wrinkles was evaluated. Results: Palatine rugoscopy shows that women have more curvy rugae than men and that men have more rugae on the left side than on the right. Cheiloscopy gave no statistically significant re-sults. Discussion: Palatine rugoscopy showed some differences between the sexes, however, these re-sults were not solid enough for reliable sex discrimination. Differences between the results of dif-ferent studies can be attributed to ethnic and methodological variations. Cheiloscopy, on the other hand, did not provide statistically significant results for sex discrimination. Conclusions: Given the scant results obtained from palatine rugoscopy and the lack of statisti-cally relevant results in cheiloscopy, together with a lack of concordance among the data found in literature, it is believed that it is not possible to discriminate between the two sexes by using the two methods contemporarily. Further research is needed.

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare, highly aggressive skin cancer characterized by two etiologies: the first one, observed in most cases, is attributed to Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV), a DNA tumor virus, while the second one is due to ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure. Currently, there are limited diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic biomarkers available for MCC. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNA molecules that do not code for proteins but regulate various cellular processes, including cell cycle progression, proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. The dysregulation of miRNAs has been associated with a wide range of cancers since they can act as either tumor suppressors or oncogenes. This paper aims to collect, summarize and re-organize the recent discoveries concerning miRNAs, whose dysregulation in the pathogenesis and progression of MCC is slowly emerging. Furthermore, the potential clinical applications of miRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers, possible differentiation between MCPyV-related and unrelated MCC, predictors of response to therapy and prognostics are also discussed. From this review, it emerges that miRNAs may have, in the near future, the potential to become clinically significant in improving the diagnostic accuracy, prognostic evaluation, and therapeutic options of MCCs. Finally, the new perspectives on the poorly explored field of artificial intelligence in MCC are provided.

Several pathotypes of enteric E. coli have been identified. The group represented by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) is of particular interest. Raw milk and raw milk products are significant sources of STEC infection in humans; therefore, identifying pathogens at the herd level is crucial for public health. Most national surveillance programs focus solely on raw milk and raw milk cheeses that are ready for retail sale, neglecting the possibility of evaluating the source of contamination directly at the beginning of the dairy chain. In order to assess the viability of new molecular methodologies applied to raw milk filters enabling the identification of the presence of STEC serotypes in milk production and apply the same methods to identify the presence of these pathogens in calf feces we analyzed, through a commercial real-time PCR assay, a total of 290 samples coming from 18 different dairy herds; 88 bulk tank milk (BTM), 104 raw milk filters (RMF) and 98 calves’ feces samples. In total 3.4% of BTM, 41.4% of RMF and 73.4% of calves’ feces tested positive for stx presence, supporting our hypothesis that BTM is not a suitable matrix to assess the STEC presence at herd level, underestimating it. Our conclusion is that the surveillance program needs critical and extensive improvements such as RMF and calves’ feces analysis implementation in order to be more efficient in detecting and preventing STEC infections. The epidemiology of these infections and the characteristics of the pathogen clearly show how a One Health approach will be pivotal to improve our capabilities to control the spread of these infections.

Building a new-type power system is the key core of the green and low-carbon development of energy, the restructuring of the power system will inevitably have a linked impact on the coordinated development of the economy-energy-environment (3E) system. This paper constructs a "Dual-Triangle" theoretical framework consisting of the “Energy Trilemma” and the "Sustainable Development Triangle", by combining historical statistical analysis with scenario predictive analysis, analyzes the historical characteristics of the "Dual Triangle" and future development trends under different scenarios, and studies the coupled interaction relationship of the "Dual-Triangle" to explore the optimal transformation path of the power system that is most beneficial to the coordinated development of the 3E system. The conclusions are as follows: (1) The energy system gradually inclined towards economy and cleanliness from 2010 to 2022, the level of coordinated development of the 3E system fluctuated upwards, and the operation status of the "Dual Triangle" was stable. (2) Positive coupling relationship between "Dual Triangle" of scenario S1 is close, which can be regarded as the preferred path for the reconstruction of the power system. Due to phased development has clear development priorities, scenario S2 will artificially break the balance of the “Energy Trilemma”, which is a development model that dynamically mitigates the challenges of the “Energy Trilemma”.(3)The contradiction between economy and cleanliness is continuously weakened, and security has become the core contradiction of the "Impossible Triangle". The combination of renewable energy and energy storage is the key to resolving this contradiction. This paper conducts an integrated and innovative application of the "Dual-Triangle" theory, and the results provide a case basis for how to achieve the coupled interaction of the "Dual-Triangle", promote high-quality energy development, and support the sustainable development of the economy and society.

Background. Cervical esophageal reconstruction is vital for improving the quality of life in cancer surgery patients. Microsurgery is crucial, providing vascularized tissue for defect repair, particularly in secondary cases with a higher risk of failure due to larger defects and damage from previous surgery and radiotherapy. The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of a series of patients who underwent secondary repair of esophageal defects and provide practical information for the management and treatment of such cases based on the authors' experience and the literature review. Methods. We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records of the Plastic Surgery Clinic at the University of Trieste to identify cases of patients who underwent secondary esophageal microsurgical reconstructions following oncological surgery. Patient demographics, etiology of esophageal defects, previous surgical history, and preoperative assessments were collected from medical records. Surgical techniques employed for reconstruction, such as pedicled flaps or free tissue transfers, were documented along with intraoperative details. Postoperative outcomes, including complications, graft viability, and functional outcomes, were evaluated during follow-up. Results. We treated 13 cases of secondary esophageal reconstructions from 2011 to 2022. Most commonly, Antero-Lateral Thigh (ALT) flaps were used in 10 cases, while 2 cases employed Radial Forearm Flap (RFF), and 1 a chimeric parascapular flap. No flap failures occurred during a median 50-month follow-up. One ALT flap patient experienced post-op stricture but maintained swallowing ability. A single tracheoesophageal fistula occurred in a RFF patient with a history of radiotherapy and completion lymph node dissection. Conclusions. Cervical esophageal reconstruction significantly impacts patients' quality of life by restoring oral feeding and phonation. When local flaps fall short, microsurgical reconstruction with intestinal flaps is valuable, but burdened by limitations. For challenging secondary cases, ALT or RFF flaps emerge as safer options due to their robust pedicles, yielding low complication rates and positive functional outcomes.

Electricity consumption is often the hotspot of life cycle assessment (LCA) of products, industrial activities, or services. The objective of this paper is to provide a consistent, scientific, region-specific electricity-supply-based inventory of electricity generation technology for national and regional power grids. Marginal electricity generation technology is pivotal in assessing impacts related to additional consumption of electricity. China covers a large geographical area with regional supply grids; these are arguably equally or less integrated. Meanwhile, it is also a country with internal imbalances in regional energy supply and demand. Therefore, we suggest an approach to achieve a geographical subdivision of the Chinese electricity grid, corresponding to the interprovincial regional power grids, namely the North, the Northeast, the East, the Central, the Northwest, and the Southwest China Grids, and the China Southern Power Grid. The approach combines information from the Chinese national plans on for capacity changes in both production and distribution grids, and knowledge of resource availability. The results show that nationally, marginal technology is coal-fired electricity generation, which is the same scenario in the North and Northwest China Grid. In the Northeast, East, and Central China Grid, nuclear power gradually replaces coal-fired electricity and becomes the marginal technology. In the Southwest China Grid and the China Southern Power Grid, the marginal electricity is hydropower towards 2030.

Introduction. Anesthesia is widely used in various fields of dentistry to reduce patient discomfort when the treatment would be painful. The dentist may need to infiltrate the anesthetic into multiple locations and this is usually done with the same needle which passes through the soft tissues several times to distribute the anesthetic solution over a larger area. The present study aims to evaluate, through a morphological analysis under a scanning electron microscope (SEM), how the beveled tip of a 30G needle, used to inject anesthetic several times into different areas of the vestibular mucosa, changes. Materials and methods. 30G needles with two different brands were tested, in vivo used for a variable number of sequential injections from 1 to 6 on 192 patients. The specimens were analyzed under SEM observation to evaluate any deformations induced by contact with the vestibular soft tissues. Results. The amount of deformation, measured along the axis parallel to the needle, was proportional to the number of injections. The protrusion of deformations, measured on an axis perpendicular to the needle, were maximum on the needles used 3 times. For the needles used 4,5 and 6 injections, no further increase in deformations was noted. Conclusion. From the data it seems that the tested needles are not produced to withstand multiple injections consequently after the first injection on soft tissues, they undergo a deformation which could increase the risk of injury to the mucosa itself or to nerves and vessels with which they come into contact. It would be advisable to use the single needle for a reduced number of injections.

The carbohydrate antigen Sda is expressed on cells and secretions of the vast majority of Caucasians. The epitope is formed by a terminal GalNAc residue β4-linked to a α3-sialylated galactose. Different carbohydrate chains N- or O-linked to glycoproteins can be terminated by this epitope. The final step of Sda biosynthesis is catalyzed by the GalNAc transferase B4GALNT2. In this review, we will discuss the multifaceted aspects of B4GALNT2/Sda biology. In particular, we will see its implications in fertility and pregnancy, in susceptibility to infectious diseases, in chronic kidney diseases and in Duchene muscular dystrophy. In particular, we will show its regulation and prognostic implications in cancer.

The experience of ego dissolution and self-transcendence induced by psychedelic substances offers a profound challenge to our conventional understanding of the self and our relationship with the natural world. This paper delves into the philosophical underpinnings and implications of this phenomenon, exploring how the temporary breakdown of ego boundaries during a psychedelic experience may foster a sense of profound interconnectedness with nature. Drawing from Western and Eastern philosophical traditions, as well as recent insights from neuroscience and consciousness studies, we examine the potential of psychedelic-induced self-transcendence to catalyze a shift in our perspectives on the human-nature relationship. The paper investigates the philosophical implications of this experience, including its resonance with deep ecological philosophies and its potential to inspire more ecocentric ethical frameworks. Furthermore, we explore the possible practical implications of fostering a sense of ecological connectedness through psychedelics, such as promoting environmentally sustainable behaviors and addressing the pressing challenges of climate change and ecological degradation. Ultimately, this exploration highlights the value of engaging with altered states of consciousness as a means to reconsider our place within the intricate web of life on Earth.

MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs, which contribute to the regulation of many physiolog-ical and pathological processes. Conventionally, miRNAs perform their activity in the cyto-plasm, where they regulate gene expression by interacting in a sequence-specific manner with mature messenger RNAs. Recent studies point to the presence of mature miRNAs in the nucleus. This review summarizes current findings regarding the molecular activities of nuclear miRNAs. These molecules can regulate gene expression at the transcriptional level by directly binding DNA on the promoter or the enhancer of regulated genes. MiRNAs recruit to these regions dif-ferent protein complexes, resulting both in activation or repression of transcription, through a number of molecular mechanisms. Haematopoiesis is presented as a paradigmatic biological process whereby nuclear miRNAs possess a relevant regulatory role. Nuclear miRNAs may af-fect gene expression also acting on nuclear mRNA processing and on the biogenesis of miRNA themselves by regulating pri-miRNA maturation. Overall, nuclear miRNAs are biologically ac-tive molecules that can be critical for the fine tuning of gene expression and deserve further studies in a number of physiological and pathological conditions

Background: The aim of this experimental work was to confirm the individual uniqueness of lip prints, to verify the presence of recurrent patterns according to the Suzuki and Tsuchihashi classification and to search for characteristics that can be used in establishing the sex of a subject. Methods: Lip prints were taken from a sample of 172 volunteers using liquid lipstick and transparent adhesive tape and were digitally analyzed. Results: 59 prints (35.3%) were not considered for Suzuki and Tsuchihashi classification due to quality errors and the impossibility of visualizing lip wrinkles in one or more sextants, all the digitized prints revealed themselves to be unique after having been analyzed using superimposition. Qualitatively valid prints indicated a prevalence of Type II in both male and female and the presence of sex-linked features. A major problem was that the analysis of the same print by different operators often resulted in a different attribution of a Type. Conclusions: The potential of cheiloscopy lies mainly in the matching of prints, given their uniqueness, and can be a valid tool in gender determination but the absence of a database greatly limits its use. It is necessary to establish an acquisition protocol for taking and analyzing prints that could reduce the errors committed by the operator.

Background: Fiber-reinforced composites (FRCs) have been proposed as an alternative to traditional metal alloys for the realization of frameworks in full-arch implant supported prostheses. The aim of the present in vitro study was to evaluate the deflection under load of seven prostheses endowed with frameworks made of different materials, including different types of fiber reinforced composites (FRCs). Methods: A master cast with four implant analogues in correspondence of the two lateral incisors and the two first molars was used to create full-arch fixed prostheses with the same shape and different materials. Prostheses were made in different materials (framework+veneering material): gold alloy+resin (Au+R), titanium+resin (Ti+R), FRC with multi-directional carbon fibers+resin (ICFRC+R), FRC with unidirectional carbon fibers+composite (UCFRC+C), FRC with glass fibers+resin (GFRC+R), FRC with glass fibers+composite (GFRC+C), resin (R, full-acrylic prosthesis). Flexural tests were conducted using Zwick/Roell Z 0.5 machine and the deflection of the lower surface of the prosthesis was measured in order to obtain load/deflection graphs. Results: Greater rigidity and less deflection were recorded for UCFRC+C, GFRC+C, followed by Ti+R, and Au+R. The greatest deformations were observed for resin alone, ICFRC+R and GFRC+R. The results were slightly different in the incisal region probably due to the greater amount of veneering material in this area. Conclusions: When used to realize full-arch frameworks, Au and Ti allow a predictable mechanical behavior with gradual deformations with increasing load. UCFRC also demonstrated good outcomes and less deflection than ICFRCs when loaded. The GFRC full-arch framework may be a valid alternative, however showed greater deflections. Further studies are needed in order to evaluated how different prosthesis design and material thickness might affect the outcomes.

Osteosarcoma (OS) are the most prevalent malignant bone tumors in adolescents and young adults.. OS cells grow in a permissive local microenvironment which modulates their behavior and facilitates all steps in tumor development (e.g., proliferation/quiescence, invasion/migration, drug resistance) and contributes to their intrinsic heterogeneity. The lung parenchyma is the most common metastatic site in OS, and metastatic foci are frequently associated with a poor clinical outcome. Although multiple factors may be responsible for the disease, including genetic mutations (e.g., Rb, p53), the molecular mechanism of development of OS remains unclear and the conventional treatment for OS is still based on a sequential approach that combines chemotherapy and surgery. Also, despite the increase in clinical trials, the survival rates for OS have not improved. Non-specific targeting therapies thus show poor therapeutic effects with side effects at high doses. For these reasons, many efforts have been done to characterize the complex genome of osteosarcoma thanks to the whole exome analysis with the aim to identify predictive biomarkers to give to these patients a better therapeutic option. This review aims to summarize and discuss the main recent advances in OS molecular research for precision medicine.

Background: It is not clear whether rehabilitation after surgery for trigger finger is effective. The aim of this study was to reveal the effectiveness for trigger finger. Methods: This study was a randomized, controlled trial that included patients who underwent operations for trigger fingers. The patients in the rehabilitation group had postoperative occupational therapy (OT) for 3 months, while the patients in the control group were not referred for rehabilitation but received advice for a range of motion exercise. We evaluated the severity of trigger finger, Disability of Arm-Shoulder-Hand (DASH) score, pain-visual analogue scale (VAS), grip strength, whether they gained a full range of motion (ROM), and complications before and after surgery. Results: Finally, 29 and 28 patients were included in the control and rehabilitation groups, respectively. DASH score, grip strength, and ROM were significantly improved in the rehabilitation group from that preoperatively at final follow-up. Pain was significantly improved in both groups from that preoperatively at final follow-up. Subgroup analysis showed that there is a significant difference in the DASH score of patients doing housework or light work and those with a duration of symptoms > 12 months between the control and rehabilitation groups at the final follow-up.

We introduce Get Free Copy (getfreecopy.com), a web-based platform designed to streamline the search for biomedical literature across major repositories like arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv, and PubMed Central (PMC). Addressing challenges posed by paywalls and fragmented databases, it offers a unified interface for efficient retrieval of free, legitimate copies of biomedical literature. The platform's implementation involves a Node.js backend and dynamic front-end display, enhancing accessibility and research efficiency. As an open-source project, Get Free Copy represents a significant contribution to the open-access movement, inviting global researcher collaboration for further development.

The onset of neurodegenerative diseases involves a complex interplay of pathological mecha-nisms, including protein aggregation, oxidative stress, impaired autophagy. This review focuses on the intricate connection between oxidative stress and autophagy in neurodegenerative disor-ders, highlighting autophagy as pivotal in disease pathogenesis. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play dual roles in cellular homeostasis and autophagy regulation, with disruptions of redox sig-naling contributing to neurodegeneration. The activation of the Nrf2 pathway represents a criti-cal antioxidant mechanism, while autophagy maintains cellular homeostasis by degrading al-tered cell components. The interaction between p62/SQSTM1, Nrf2 and Keap1 forms a regulatory pathway essential for cellular stress response, whose dysregulation leads to impaired autophagy and aggregate accumulation. Targeting the Nrf2-p62/SQSTM1 pathway holds promise for thera-peutic intervention, mitigating oxidative stress and preserving cellular functions. Additionally, the review explores the potential synergy between the endocannabinoid system and Nrf2 signal-ing for neuroprotection. Further research is needed to elucidate the involved molecular mecha-nisms and develop effective therapeutic strategies against neurodegeneration.

(1) Background: Sleep disordered breathing represent a growing public health concern, especially among children and adolescents. Full-night polysomnography is considered the gold standard for diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea. Our goals are to identify personal and environmental risk factors for the onset and persistence of sleep respiratory disorders. We also want to investigate the differences in neuropsychological profiles; (2) Methods: This is an observational, retrospective cohort study. We collected information on adenoidectomy or adenotonsillectomy. We reviewed the clinical history and preoperative visits and collected data through a telephone questionnaire. Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) are questionnaires used for screening sleep respiratory disorders in children. The data were statistically analyzed it using SPSS version 22.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL); (3) Results: The study involved 138 patients, but only 100 parents participated. A higher percentage of patients with sleep disordered breathing were observed to have mothers who smoked during pregnancy. A smaller proportion of patients with sleep disordered breathing had a habit of using a pacifier. A rise in physical results is associated with a reduction in the PSQ at follow-up (p=0.051). An increase of overall academic achievement is associated with an average decrease in the PSQ at follow-up (p<0.0001). A more significant proportion of patients undergoing adenotonsillectomy were observed to have a history of prematurity and cesarean birth (4) Conclusions: These results provide essential information on the effectiveness and effects of adenotonsillectomy intervention compared to adenoidectomy intervention and the factors associated with SDB in children undergoing these interventions.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) approaches that could learn from large data sources have been identified as useful tools to support clinicians in their decisional process; AI and ML implementations have had a rapid acceleration during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. However, many ML classifiers are “black box” to the final user, since their underlying reasoning process is often obscure. Additionally, the performance of such models suffer from poor generalization ability in presence of dataset shift. Here, we present a comparison between an explainable-by-design (“white box”) model (Bayesian Network (BN)) versus a black-box model (Random Forest), both studied with the aim to support clinicians of Policlinico San Matteo University Hospital in Pavia (Italy) during the triage of COVID-19 patients. Our aim is to evaluate whether the BN predictive performances are comparable with those of a widely used but less explainable ML model such as Random Forest and to test the generalization ability of the ML models across different waves of the pandemic.

In this paper, the synthesis of two novel luminescent Eu3+ ion complexes [Eu(TFT)3(phen) (1) and Eu(TFT)3(bpy)•Hex (2)] based on the combination of 2-(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)-1-tetralone (TFT), containing n-donor ligands (1,10-phenanthroline or 2,2'-Bipyridine) and Eu3+ ion is reported herein, and their structural features are discussed on the basis of X-ray crystallographic and thermal analyses. We observed that the ligands transfer energy effectively to the metal center by fluorescence, IR and UV spectrograms studies. The structures and properties of complexes 1-2 were optimized by the DFT theoretical calculation, and the calculation results were consistent with the experimental X-ray structure data and spectral analysis.

Mesenchymal stem cells due to their multipotent ability are considered one of the best candidates to be used in regenerative medicine. The most used source of those stem cells long the last decades was the bone marrow, despite its limited cell resources and the painful and very invasive surgical treatment. Therefore, the scientific community investigated many alternative sources for the harvesting of these stem cell subpopulations. Adipose tissue attracted the biggest interest thanks to special features, such as great tissue abundance, easy availability, and in the end the large amount of positive mesenchymal stem cells. Once it was verified that these stem cell subpopulations possess the same bone marrow differentiation potential, it became evident that they would be the ideal candidate to be used in regenerative and tissue engineering applications. Even the regenerative use of these cells long become a sensitive point because not all the acquired phenotypes resulted in the best source for plastic procedures. As documented in the literature, the ideal fillers for regenerative is represented by stem cell population. Therefore, it became crucial to investigate any kind of biological mechanism on the differentiative ability of those mesenchymal stem cells, especially their regulative factors. One of the most studied and important regulators are the miRNAs. Indeed, miRNA play a crucial role in the differentiation process of adipose stem cell cultures isolated from patients or obtained by commercial cell lines toward osteocytes, chondrocytes, and adipocytes differentiated populations.

This study aimed to demonstrate the potential role of Dual Energy CT in assessing Bone Mineral Density (BMD) in postmenopausal women. A retrospective study was conducted on 51 postmenopausal female patients who underwent DXA and DECT examinations for other clinical reasons. DECT images were acquired with spectral imaging using a 256-slice system. These images were processed and visualized using an HAP(fat) map. Statistical analysis was performed using the Bland-Altman method to assess agreement between DXA and DECT HAP(fat) measurements. Mean BMD, vertebral and femoral T-scores were obtained. For vertebral analysis, the Bland-Altman plot showed an inverse correlation (R2: -0.042; RMSE: 0.690) between T-scores and DECT HAP(fat) values for measurements from L1 to L4, while a good linear correlation (R2: 0.341; RMSE: 0.589) it was found for measurements at the femoral neck. In conclusion, we demonstrated the enhanced accuracy of BMD calculation through DECT, finding a statistically significant correlation only at the femoral neck where BMD results do not seem to be influenced by the overlap of the measurements on cortical and trabecular bone. This outcome could be beneficial in the future by reducing radiation exposure for patients already undergoing follow-up for chronic conditions.

The way people innovate and create new ideas and bring them to the market is undergoing a fundamental change from closed innovation to open innovation. Why and how do firms perform open innovation? Firms’ open innovation is measured through the levels of firms’ joint patent applications. Next, we analyze network structures and characters of firms’ joint patent applications such as betweenness and degree centrality, structure hole, and closure. From this research, we drew conclusions as follows. First, the structure of collaboration networks has both direct and indirect effects on firms’ innovative performance. Second, in the process of joint patent applications, there is a long tail phenomenon in networks of joint patent applications. Third, the number of patents and International Patent Classification (IPC) subclasses together constitute a meaningful measure of the innovation performance of firms.

Aortic stenosis continues to be still the most frequently valvular pathology in the elderly population of the Western countries. According to the latest guidelines, the therapeutic choice of aortic stenosis depends on the age of the patient (<75 years or >75 years) and the risk class (STS-Prom/ Euroscore II < o > 4%). Therefore, if the surgical indication is clear in young and low risk patients and percutaneous treatment is the gold standard in older and high-risk patients, the therapeutic choice is still debated in intermediate-risk patients. In this group of patients the aortic valve stenosis treatment depends on the patient's global evaluation, on the experience of the center and no less important on the patient's will. Two main therapeutic options are debated: surgical aortic valve replacement with sutureless prosthesis versus transcatheter aortic valve implantation. In addition, the progressive development of mininvasive techniques for aortic valve surgery (right -anterior minitoracotomy) has also reduced the peri and post -operative risk in this group of patients. The goal of our review is to analyze the literature evidence of the best therapeutic choice in intermediate risk patients with severe aortic stenosis.

Quantum theory predicts violations of Bell’s inequality. This implies a contradiction with at least one of three statistical conditions, known as “Realism” (joint distribution of relevant observables), “Locality” (conditional separability of pairwise observations, given a set of hidden variables), and “Free Will” (statistical independence between hidden variables and measurement settings). Here we describe a classical system with “clockwork” properties that is unquestionably local. It produces maximal violations of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality. It contradicts every one of the three listed formal conditions. Nonetheless, it expresses the qualitative markers of ontological Realism, ontological Locality, and ontological Free Will, all at the same time. In other words, the three listed conditions do not correspond to the three ontological concepts with the same names. Therefore, there is no conflict between quantum theory and Local Realism.

Atta capiguara is a grass-cutting ant species frequently found in Cerrado biome. However, little is known about the giant nest architecture of this ant. In this study, we investigated the architecture of three A. capiguara nests from the fragment of cerrado in Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil. Casts were made of the nests by filling them with cement to permit better visualization of internal structures such as chambers and tunnels. After excavation, the depth and dimensions (length, width, and height) of the chambers were measured. The results showed the typical shape of Atta capiguara nests consisting of mounds of loose soil with unique features resembling a conic section. The fungus chambers were found outside the apparent main part of the nest and were spaced apart and distributed laterally at ground level. The waste chambers were located beneath the largest mound of loose soil. Both the fungus and waste chambers exhibited a sectoral distribution. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the so far unknown nest architecture of the grass-cutting ant A. capiguara.

The oscillating heat pipe (OHP) is a new member in the family of heat pipes, and it has great potential applications in energy conservation. However, the fluid flow and heat transfer in the OHP as well as the fundamental effects of inner diameter on them have not been fully understood, which are essential to the design and optimization of the OHP in real applications. Therefore, by combining the high-speed visualization method and infrared thermal imaging technique, the fluid flow and thermal performance in the OHPs with inner diameters of 1, 2 and 3 mm are presented and analyzed. The results indicate that three fluid flow motions, including small oscillation, bulk oscillation and circulation, coexist or, respectively, exist alone with the increasing heating load under different inner diameters, with three flow patterns occurring in the OHPs, viz. bubbly flow, slug flow and annular flow. These fluid flow motions are closely correlated with the heat and mass transfer performance in the OHPs, which can be reflected by the characteristics of infrared thermal images of condensers. The decrease in the inner diameter increases the frictional flow resistance and capillary instability while restricting the nucleate boiling in OHPs, which leads to a smaller proportion of bubbly flow, a larger proportion of short slug flow, a poorer thermal performance, and easier dry-out of working fluid. In addition, when compared with the 2 mm OHP, the increasing role of gravity induces the thermosyphon effect and weakens the 'bubble pumping' action, which results in a little smaller and bigger thermal resistances of 3 mm OHP under small and bulk oscillation of working fluid, respectively.

Open-vocabulary learning has recently gained prominence as a means to enable image segmentation for arbitrary categories based on textual descriptions. This advancement has extended the applicability of segmentation systems to a broader range of generally purpose scenarios. However, current methods often revolve around specialized architectures and parameters tailored to specific segmentation tasks, resulting in a fragmented landscape of segmentation models. In response to these challenges, we introduce OVAMTSeg, a versatile framework designed for Open-Vocabulary and Multitask Image Segmentation. OVAMTSeg harnesses adaptive prompt learning to empower the model to capture category-sensitive concepts, enhancing its robustness across diverse multi-task and scenario contexts. Text prompts are employed to effectively capture semantic and contextual features of the text, while cross-attention and cross-modal interactions enable the fusion of image and text features. Furthermore, a transformer-based decoder is incorporated for dense prediction. Extensive experimental results underscore the effectiveness of OVAMTSeg, showcasing its state-of-the-art performance and superior generalization capabilities across three segmentation tasks. Notable achievements include a 47.5 mIoU in referring expression segmentation, 51.6 mIoU on Pascal-VOC with four unseen classes, 46.6 mIoU on Pascal-Context in zero-shot segmentation, 65.9 mIoU on Pascal-5i, and 35.7 mIoU on COCO-20i datasets for one-shot segmentation.

Background: Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) represents a rare subset of pancreatic cancer. Functional tumors caused hormonal changes and clinical syndromes, while non-functional ones are often diagnosed late. Surgical management need a multidisciplinary planning, involving enucleation, distal pancreatectomy with or without spleen preserving, cen-tral pancreatectomy, pancreaticoduodectomy or total pancreatectomy. Minimally invasive ap-proach increased in the last decade compared to the open technique. The aim of this study is to analyze current diagnostic and surgical trends for pNETs, to identify better interventions and their outcomes. Methods: The study adhered to PRISMA guidelines, conducting a systematic review of literature from May 2008 to March 2022 across multiple databases. Several combinations of keywords was used ("NET", "pancreatic", "surgery", "laparoscopic", "minimally invasive", "robotic”, “enuclea-tion”,“parenchima sparing”) and relevant article references was manually checked. Manuscript quality was evaluated. Results: The study screened 3867 manuscripts, twelve studies were selected, primarily from Ita-ly, the United States, and China. A total of 7767 surgical treated patients was collected from 160 included centers. The mean age was 56,3 y.o. Enucleations (EN) and distal pancreatectomy (DP) was the most common performed surgery and represents 43.4% and 38.6% of the total interven-tions, respectively. Pancreatic fistula, post operative bleeding, re-operation and follow up was recorded and analyzed. Conclusions: Enucleation show better postoperative outcomes and lower mortality rates com-pared to pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) or distal pancreatectomy (DP), despite similar risks of postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF). DP was preferred over enucleation for pancreas body-tail, while laparoscopic enucleation is better for head pNETs.

Background: The aim of this experimental work was to evaluate cheiloscopy potential: to confirm the individual uniqueness of lip prints, to verify the presence of recurrent patterns according to the Suzuki and Tsuchihashi classification and to search for characteristics that can be used in establishing the sex of a subject, with a focus on assessing the method's limitations. Methods: Lip prints were taken from a sample of 172 volunteers using liquid lipstick and transparent adhesive tape and were digitally analyzed. Results: 59 prints (35.3%) were not considered for Suzuki and Tsuchihashi classification due to quality errors and the impossibility of visualizing lip wrinkles in one or more sextants. All the digitized prints revealed themselves to be unique after having been analyzed using superimposition. Qualitatively valid prints indicated a prevalence of Type II in both male and female. A major problem was that the analysis of the same print by different operators often resulted in a different attribution of a Type. Conclusions: The potential of cheiloscopy lies mainly in the matching of prints, given their uniqueness, but the absence of a database greatly limits its use. Additionally, its use for sex identification does not seem to be reliable. It is necessary to establish an acquisition protocol for taking and analyzing prints that could reduce the errors committed by the operator.

The open data market is growing, driven by laws requiring governments to make data publicly available. However, the true value of this market lies in the products and services derived from open data. In Slovenia, the open data market has been growing since 2015, especially in the field of mobility. Platforms such as Avtolog.si facilitate the retrieval of vehicle data via vehicle identification numbers, while tocen.si, ojpp.si, and brezavta.si aggregate mobility data, focusing on sustainable and micromobile public transportation services. These platforms use open government data and private sector open data, and are freely accessible. This study examines the use of open data in the Slovenian mobility applications and similar solutions developed in other countries. By mapping these applications, we gain valuable insights into potential advances in the field, and provide a useful resource for future developers worldwide. By focusing on the socio-economic impact of these innovations, the study identifies methods for evaluating such applications. This approach highlights how transforming open data into user-friendly products and services can deepen our understanding of their broader societal and economic benefits. While open data is valuable in its own right, its full transformative potential is realized through innovative products that support sustainable lifestyles and promote environmentally conscious behavior.

Neonatal mortality remains a public health concern and timely identification and prompt intervention in the delivery room could improve the outcome in neonatal morbidity and mortality. We performed a retrospective study to help us finding the profile of the high-risk newborn regarding the need for NICU admission, necessary to establish a protocol regarding the mobilization of human and material resources for the urgent management of these situations. All deliveries and neonates born in Maternity of Bihor County Emergency Clinical Hospital from Romania were reviewed, including relevant maternal, foetal and perinatal data to identify risk factors that result in birth of newborns needing resuscitation at birth between 2012-2019. The number of births showed a downward trend but around 90% of the births were on term. The incidence of neonatal emergencies is increasing, the most frequently were respiratory, sepsis and other infections, cardiovascular emergencies, and extreme prematurity. It is noted that in 2021 the incidence of these neurological emergencies increased by three times compared to previous years. The neonatal and maternal risk factors associated with admission to the NICU were mother's age over 35 years, low level of education, second/more gestation, weight under 2500 g, Apgar score under 7, premature rupture of membranes, macrosomia and mother's infectious pathology. Accurate identification of risk factors and anticipation at the birth of a high-risk neonate would result in adequate preparation and prompt resuscitation of neonates who need some level of intervention and thus, reducing neonatal morbidity and mortality.

Although many physical activity (PA) interventions for older adults have proven ef-fective in controlled research settings, optimal implementation in real life remains challenging. This study identifies determinants perceived by stakeholders when im-plementing community-based PA interventions for older adults. We interviewed 31 stakeholders guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Results showed that stakeholders are very specific about the role they can play in implementation making collaboration between stakeholders crucial. Barriers and motivators were identified in the CFIR intervention characteristics domain (relative advantage, complexity and costs, evidence quality and strength, and adaptability and trialability), in the outer setting domain (cosmopolitism, patient needs, and external policy and incentives), in the inner setting domain (implementation climate, relative priority, compatibility and organizational incentives and rewards) and in the individ-ual characteristics domain (knowledge and beliefs, and other personal attributes). An overarching theme was the stakeholders' emphasis on aiming for broad health goals in interventions, as they perceive PA as a means to reach these goals rather than an end in itself. Another overarching theme requiring attention in future implementation ef-forts is the need to tailor implementation efforts to the specific needs of older adults as the end users of the intervention.

Background/Objectives Bowel endometriosis (BE) is defined as the presence of endometrial-like tissue in the muscular layer of the bowel wall. When BE does not cause severe obstruction to fecal transit, not leading to (sub)occlusive symptoms, the decision to operate becomes challenging as intestinal surgery is associated with higher complication rates and long-term bowel dysfunction. The aim of this cross-sectional study is to evaluate the quality of life (QoL) in patients with BE undergoing medical therapy or expectant management, investigating the impact of characteristics of BE nodules on QoL and intestinal function. Methods A retrospective cross-sectional analysis was conducted on 580 patients with BE who did not undergo surgery but were treated conservatively by medical therapy or expectant management between January 2017 and August 2022. The diagnosis of BE was done by transvaginal ultrasound and confirmed at double contrast barium enema. After at least one year of follow-up, QoL and intestinal function of patients were evaluated by the Endometriosis Health Profile-5 (EHP-5) questionnaire and Bowel Endometriosis Symptom score (BENS), whereas pain symptoms were assessed by the Visual Analogic Scale (VAS 0-10). Statistical analysis was performed to investigate possible associations between QoL and characteristics of bowel nodules (dimension, location, and evidence of stenosis) as well as type and length of eventual medical therapy. Results Patients with BE had a satisfying overall QoL with a mean EHP-5 score of 105.42 ± 99.98 points and VAS lower than 3 for all pain domains; additionally, they did not show a significant impartment of bowel function with mean BENS score of 4.89 ± 5.28 points. Notably, patients under medical therapy had a better QoL than patients without therapy (p

Neurology is a quickly evolving specialty that requires clinicians to make precise and prompt diagnoses and clinical decisions based on the latest evidence-based medicine practices. In all Neurology subspecialties, Stroke and Epilepsy in particular, clinical decisions affecting patient outcomes depend on neurologists accurately assessing patient disability. Artificial intelligence (AI) can predict the expected neurological impairment from an AIS (Acute Ischemic Stroke), the possibility of ICH (IntraCranial Hemorrhage) expansion, and the clinical outcomes of comatose patients. This review article informs readers of artificial intelligence principles and methods. The article introduces the basic terminology of artificial intelligence before reviewing current and developing AI applications in neurology practice. AI holds promise as a tool to ease a neurologist’s daily workflow and supply unique diagnostic insights by analyzing data simultaneously from several sources, including neurological history and examination, blood and CSF laboratory testing, CNS electrophysiologic evaluations, and CNS imaging studies. AI-based methods are poised to complement the other tools neurologists use to make prompt and precise decisions that lead to favorable patient outcomes.

Large datasets play a crucial role in the progression of surgical robotics, facilitating advancements in the fields of surgical task recognition and automation. Moreover, public datasets enable the comparative analysis of various algorithms and methodologies, thereby assessing their effectiveness and performance. The ROSMA (Robotics Surgical Maneuvers) dataset provides 206 trials of common surgical training tasks performed with the da Vinci Research Kit (dVRK). In this work, we extend ROSMA dataset with two annotated subsets: ROSMAT24, which contains bounding box annotations for instrument detection, and ROSMAG40, which contains high and low level gesture annotations. We propose an annotation method that provides independent labels for the right-handed tool and the left-handed tool. For instrument identification, we validate our proposal with a YOLOv4 model in two experimental scenarios. We demonstrate the generalization capabilities of the network to detect instruments in unseen scenarios. For gesture segmentation, we propose two label categories: high-level annotations that describe gestures at a maneuvers level, and low-level annotations that describe gestures at a fine-grain level. To validate this proposal, we have designed a recurrent neural network based on a bidirectional long-short term memory layer. We present results for four cross-validation experimental setups, reaching up to a 77.35% mAP.

To assist firefighters and other first responders to use their existing equipment for respiration during the COVID-19 pandemic without using single-use, low-supply, masks, this study outlines an open source kit to convert a 3M-manufactured Scott Safety self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) into a powered air-purifying particulate respirator (PAPR). The open source PAPR can be fabricated with a low-cost 3-D printer and widely available components for less than $150, replacing commercial conversion kits saving 85% or full-fledged proprietary PAPRs saving over 90%. The parametric designs allow for adaptation to other core components and can be custom fit specifically to fire-fighter equipment, including their suspenders. The open source PAPR has controllable air flow and its design enables breathing even if the fan is disconnected or if the battery dies. The open source PAPR was tested for air flow as a function of battery life and was found to meet NIOSH air flow requirements for 4 hours, which is 300% over expected regular use.

Introduction Emergency laparotomy is a surgical procedure associated with significantly higher mortality rates compared to elective surgeries. Awake laparotomy under neuraxial anaesthesia has recently emerged as a promising approach in abdominal surgery to improve patient outcomes. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and potential benefits of using lumbar spinal anaesthesia as the primary anaesthetic technique in emergency laparotomies. Methods We conducted a case series involving 16 patients who underwent emergency laparotomy for bowel ischemia, perforation, or occlusion. Lumbar spinal anaesthesia was employed as the main anaes-thetic technique. We analysed patient demographics, clinical characteristics, intraoperative details, and postoperative outcomes. The primary outcome measures included the adequacy of postoper-ative pain control, the incidence of postoperative complications, and mortality rates. Results Among the 16 patients, adequate postoperative pain control was achieved, with only 2 patients requiring additional analgesia. Postoperative complications, including sepsis, wound dehiscence, and pneumonia, were observed in 7 patients (44%). The observed mortality rate was relatively low at 6% (1 patient). Notably, conversion to general anaesthesia was not necessary in any of the cases, and no early readmissions were reported. Discussion Our findings highlight the feasibility and potential benefits of using neuraxial anaesthesia in emergency laparotomies. The observed low mortality rate and the avoidance of conversion to general anaesthesia suggest that lumbar spinal anaesthesia may be a useful alternative in emer-gency settings. However, the occurrence of postoperative complications in 44% of patients indi-cates the need for cautious patient selection and close monitoring. Further research with larger sample sizes is warranted to fully elucidate the efficacy, safety, and potential impact of this tech-nique on patient outcomes in emergency laparotomies.

The rapid and accurate detection of viruses and the discovery of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are crucial for disease management and understanding viral evolution. In this study, a pipeline for virus detection, validation, and SNP discovery from next-generation sequencing (NGS) data is presented. By integrating state-of-the-art bioinformatics tools with artificial intelligence, the pipeline processes raw sequencing data to identify viral sequences with high accuracy and sensitivity. Before aligning the reads to the reference genomes, quality control measures and adapter trimming are performed to ensure the integrity of the data. Unmapped reads are subjected to de novo assembly to reveal novel viral sequences and genetic elements. The effectiveness of the pipeline is demonstrated by the identification of virus sequences, illustrating its potential for the detection of known and emerging pathogens. SNP discovery is performed using a custom Python script that compares the entire population of sequenced viral reads to a reference genome. This approach provides a comprehensive overview of viral genetic diversity and identifies dominant variants and a spectrum of genetic variations. The robustness of the pipeline is confirmed by the recovery of complete viral sequences, which improves our understanding of viral genomics. This study highlights the synergy between traditional bioinformatics techniques and modern approaches, providing a robust tool for analyzing viral genomes and contributing to the broader field of viral genomics.

Surgical simulators are crucial in early craniofacial and plastic surgical training, necessitating synthetic materials that accurately replicate tissue properties. Recent critiques of our lab’s currently deployed silicone surrogate have highlighted numerous areas for improvement. To further refine our models, our group's objective is to find a composition of materials that is closest in fidelity to native oral mucosa during surgical rehearsal by expert craniofacial surgeons. Fifteen platinum silicone-based surrogate samples were constructed with variable hardness and slacker percentages. These samples underwent evaluation of tactile sensation, hardness, needle puncture, cut resistance, suture retention, defect repair, and tensile elasticity. Expert craniofacial surgeon evaluators provided focused qualitative feedback on selected top-performing samples for further assessment and statistical comparisons. Evaluation revealed surrogate characteristics with satisfactory to good performance. Sample 977 exhibited the highest performance, and comparison with the original surrogate (sample 810) demonstrated significant improvements in critical areas, emphasizing the efficacy of the refined composition. The study identified a silicone composition that directly addresses the feedback received by our team’s original silicone surrogate. The study underscores the delicate balance between biofidelity and practicality in surgical simulation. The need for ongoing refinement in surrogate materials is evident to optimize training experiences for early surgical learners.

Surgical simulators are crucial in early craniofacial and plastic surgical training, necessitating synthetic materials that accurately replicate tissue properties. Recent critiques of our lab’s currently deployed silicone surrogate have highlighted numerous areas for improvement. To further refine our models, our group's objective is to find a composition of materials that is closest in fidelity to native oral mucosa during surgical rehearsal by expert craniofacial surgeons. Fifteen platinum silicone-based surrogate samples were constructed with variable hardness and slacker percentages. These samples underwent evaluation of tactile sensation, hardness, needle puncture, cut resistance, suture retention, defect repair, and tensile elasticity. Expert craniofacial surgeon evaluators provided focused qualitative feedback on selected top-performing samples for further assessment and statistical comparisons. Evaluation revealed surrogate characteristics with satisfactory to good performance. Sample 977 exhibited the highest performance, and comparison with the original surrogate (sample 810) demonstrated significant improvements in critical areas, emphasizing the efficacy of the refined composition. The study identified a silicone composition that directly addresses the feedback received by our team’s original silicone surrogate. The study underscores the delicate balance between biofidelity and practicality in surgical simulation. The need for ongoing refinement in surrogate materials is evident to optimize training experiences for early surgical learners.

This paper aims to address the exponential stability and stabilization problems for a class of delayed nonlinear Markov jump systems under randomly occurring Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack and packet loss. Firstly, the stochastic characteristics of DoS attack and packet loss are depicted by the attack success rate and packet loss rate. Secondly, a Period Observation Window (POW) method and a hybrid-input strategy are proposed to compensate for the impact of DoS attack and packet loss on the system. Thirdly, A Dynamic Event-triggered Mechanism (DETM) is introduced to save more network resources and ensure the security and reliability of systems. Then, by constructing a general common Lyapunov functional and combining with the DETM and other inequality analysis techniques, the less conservative stability and stabilization criteria for the underlying systems are derived. In the end, the effectiveness of our result is verified through a numerical example.

Purpose: Early glottic cancer is a highly curable malignancy. Disease control is achieved by resec-tion or external beam radiation with similar long-term results according survival. Surgery is predominantly performed by transoral endoscopic approach, due to reduced complication rates when compared to open cordectomy. Open cordectomy might still be warranted in cases of inad-equate surgical accessibility. Aim of the present study was to compare endoscopic versus open approach in relation to complications and outcome in an up-to-date patient group. Methods: 219 patients underwent primary tumor resection in early glottic cancer (UICC stages I-II). 168 opera-tions were performed endoscopically, 51 operations were open transcervical cordectomies. We compared survival data with non-parametric methods and functional outcome according to need of tracheostomy, feeding tube and voice functional outcome following ELS protocol. Results: There were no significant differences in overall survival (OS). 2 years OS after endoscopic surgery was 90.5% vs 95.3% after transcervical resection. As expected, OS in T1b and T2 tumors was worse than in T1a tumors. We found a statistically significant difference in disease free survival (DFS) within the T1a and T1b/T2 group (Log rank test: p=0.006) but no relevant difference be-tween the two surgical modalities, even when the data was stratified by T-categories performing a Cox regression (hazard ratio 1.21, p=0.712). Patients who underwent open surgery had a sig-nificantly worse peri- and postoperative course with longer hospital stay, higher frequency of tracheotomies and longer need for nasogastric tubes. Functional results were comparable within the two patient groups while higher tumor size / stage was an unfavorable predictor for voice re-habilitation. Conclusion: Open cordectomy leads to more complications but offers comparable oncological and functional outcome when compared to transoral endoscopic approach in early glottic cancer. Open surgery therefore continues to be a valid treatment option when endoscopic resection is not possible.

Adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSCs) represent a subset of mesenchymal stem cells in every adipose compartment throughout the body. ADSCs can differentiate into various cell types, including chondrocytes, osteocytes, myocytes, and adipocytes. Moreover, they exhibit a notable potential to differentiate in vitro into cells from other germinal lineages, including endothelial cells and neurons. ADSCs have a wide range of clinical applications, from breast surgery to chronic wounds. Furthermore, they are a promising cell population for future tissue-engineering uses. Accumulating evidence indicates decreased proliferation and differentiation potential of ADSCs with increasing age, body mass index, diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, or exposure to radiotherapy. Therefore, recent literature thoroughly investigates this cell population's senescence mechanisms and how they can hinder their possible therapeutic applications. This review will discuss the biological mechanisms and the physio-pathological causes behind ADSC senescence and how they can impact cellular functionality. Moreover, we will examine the possible strategies to invert these processes, re-establishing the full regenerative potential of this progenitor population.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on breast reconstruction trends in the United States, focusing on implant-based and autologous techniques, as well as the timing of reconstruction (immediate vs. delayed). Methods: A retrospective analysis of data from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons' National Plastic Surgery Statistics from 2015 to 2022 was conducted. Annual trends in breast reconstruction procedures were analyzed, comparing the pre-pandemic (2015-2019) and pandemic (2020-2022) periods. Results: The total number of breast reconstructions increased from 106,338 in 2015 to 151,641 in 2022. The proportion of implant-based reconstructions decreased from 81.41% pre-pandemic to 76.51% during the pandemic (p < 0.001), with a notable rise in direct-to-implant procedures from 10.37% to 19.12% (p < 0.001). Autologous reconstructions increased from 18.59% to 23.49% (p < 0.001). Among autologous techniques, DIEP flaps remained the most popular. Immediate reconstruction rates increased from 72.61% pre-pandemic to 75.57% during the pandemic, while delayed recon-struction rates decreased from 27.39% to 24.43% (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly influenced breast reconstruction trends in the United States, with a shift towards autologous techniques, particularly DIEP flaps, and an in-crease in immediate reconstructions. These changes may reflect adaptations in surgical practice and decision-making processes in response to the unique challenges posed by the pandemic. Further research is needed to assess the long-term outcomes and patient satisfaction associated with these trends.

The increasing emergence of multidrug resistant (MDR) pathogens causes difficult-to-treat infections, with long-term hospitalizations and high incidence of death, thus representing a global public health problem. To manage MDR bacteria bugs, new antimicrobial strategies are necessary, and their introduction in practice is a daily challenge for scientists in the field. An extensively studied approach to treat MDR infections consists in inducing high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by several methods. Although further clinical investigations are mandatory on the possible toxic effects of ROS to mammalian cells, clinical evaluations are extremely promising, and their topical use to treat infected wounds and ulcers, also in presence of biofilm, is already clinically approved. Biochar (BC) is a carbonaceous material obtained by pyrolysis of different vegetable and animal biomass feedstocks, at 200−1000 °C in limited presence of O2. Recently, it has been demonstrated that BC capability of removing organic and inorganic xenobiotics is mainly due to the presence of persistent free radicals (PFRs), which can activate oxygen, H2O2 or persulfate in the presence or not of transition metals by electron transfer thus generating ROS, which in turn degrade pollutants by advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). In this context, the antibacterial effects of BC containing PFRs have been demonstrated by some authors against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, thus giving birth to our idea of the possible use of BC-derived PFRs as a novel method capable of inducing ROS generation for antimicrobial oxidative therapy. Here, the general aspects concerning ROS physiological and pathological production and regulation, and the mechanism by which they could exert antimicrobial effects have been reviewed. The methods currently adopted to induce ROS production for antimicrobial oxidative therapy have been discussed. Finally, for the first time, BC-related PFRs have been proposed as a new source of ROS for antimicrobial therapy via AOPs.

Background: A new access technique was developed to reduce postoperative adverse events after the extraction of impacted maxillary wisdom teeth. Hence, this study aimed to assess the occurrence of adverse events after extraction of maxillary impacted wisdom teeth using traditional or modified access. Methods: Two different surgical incision designs were used for bilateral wisdom tooth extractions in 30 patients. The traditional incision was performed distal to the second molar in the center of the tuberosity, followed by a buccal releasing incision. After tooth extraction the wound was secured by sutures. The new technique consists of an oblique incision from the distal palatal aspect of the tuberosity towards the buccal aspect of the second molar. After tooth extraction, cyanoacrylate glue was used on the wound. Results: Lower pain was reported by patients at the site treated with the new technique (p&lt;0.01). Edema, postsurgical bleeding, and hematoma were similar in both groups. The surgical time was shorter for the new technique (p&lt;0.01). Conclusions: The new technique applied for the extraction of impacted maxillary wisdom teeth reduced postsurgical pain and the duration of surgery.

The study investigated the usage of open data in public organizations, focusing on the motives, preferences, and governance ideals that determine their quality. The study shed light on how open data platforms are created and improved, as well as their influence on government operations. The primary goal was to understand the motivations behind the usage of open data, evaluate gov-ernance ideals, and examine institutions' efforts to standardize data formats. Hierarchical regres-sion analysis divides variables into core reasons and different preferences, demonstrating a need for "diversification" in order to use open data effectively. Efficiency, accountability, community impact, knowledge, and high-quality service delivery are all emphasized in governance value analysis. The institution's dedication to standardizing open data formats is evidenced by legislative measures and the integration of many technologies. The findings illustrate the institution's dual strategy of em-ploying traditional techniques and new technologies for effective data management. The report suggests increasing data openness and standardization, investing in ongoing training, upgrading alerting and awareness systems, and adopting specific regulations for open data use. Monitoring and feedback techniques are critical for adjusting and refining open data services to satisfy de-velopment needs. This study adds to the scientific knowledge of open data use by highlighting important motives, preferences, and governance ideals. The offered guidelines provide practical insights for public organizations looking to improve their open data platforms by promoting openness, efficiency, and community participation.

In an effort to enhance the efficiency and safety of open-pit mines, this study explores the optimization of end slope road parameters and slope structures, specifically focusing on unmanned driving lanes.A significant aspect of the study is the development of a truck trajectory offset model, which considers the different reaction times between automated sensors and human drivers in adapting to environmental changes. To test these concepts, the study uses numerical simulations to confirm the stability of the proposed end slope designs. Using Victory West Mine No. 1 as a case study, the research determines the optimized width for unmanned driving lanes and the maximum angle for safe steepening of end slopes. The findings indicate that the optimized unmanned lane width for NTE240 mining dump trucks is 1743 mm, allowing for a 2-degree increase in the slope angle at the south end slope. This optimization leads to a steep mining stripping volume of 3.2735 million m³ and a coal output of 2.49628 million tons, maintaining a stripping ratio of 1.31m³/t. These results demonstrate that the unmanned driving road width optimization not only ensures slope safety but also significantly boosts the economic benefits of steep mining in open-pit mines.

Abstract: Field studies with large-stemmed plants Artemisia dubia (wormwood) have been carried out at Vėžaičiai Branch LAMMC since 2018. According to three years of experimental results, annual dry matter (DM) yield varied from 7.94 to 10.14 t ha-1. Growing conditions, nitrogen ap-plication level and harvesting time had significant impacts on Artemisia dubia productivity. This article presents the results of research on preparation and use of Artemisia dubia biomass for en-ergy conversion and evaluation of technological-technical and environmental parameters of these plants utilization for solid biofuel. For experiments were used 6 variants of Artemisia dubia samples, which were grown in 2021: plants were cut three times and two fertilization options were used: (1) no fertilization and (2) fertilization with 180 kg ha-1 of nitrogen fertilizer. These harvested plants were chopped, milled and were pressed into the pellets. The physi-cal-mechanical characteristics (mоisture content, density and strength) of Artemisia dubia pellets were investigated. During this study, it was found that the density in dry mass (DM) of pellets ranged from 1119.86 to 1192.44 kg m-3. The pellet moisture content ranged from 8.80 to 10.49%. After testing of pellet strength, it was found that the pellets which were made from plant bio-mass PK-1-1, were the most resistant to compression, they withstood 560.36 N of pressure. Dry fuel lower heating value (LHV) of pellets was sufficiently high and was very close to pine saw-dust pellets, it varied from 17.46±0.25 MJ kg-1 to 18.14±0.28 MJ kg-1. The ash content of burned pellets ranged from 3.62±0.02% to 6.47±0.09%. Emissions of harmful pollutants – CO2, CO, NOx and unburnt hydrocarbons (CxHy) did not exceed the maximum permissible levels. Summariz-ing the results of investigated properties, cоmbustion and emissiоns of Artemisia dubia pellets, it can be concluded that this biofuel can be used for production of pressed biofuel and it is charac-terized by sufficient high quality, efficient combustion and permissible emissions to the envi-ronment.

Keywords: Vascular Malformation, Diode Laser, Angioma, Blue light, Conservative

We present an any-to-one voice conversion (VC) system, using an autoregressive model and LPCNet vocoder, aimed to enhance the converted speech in terms of naturalness, intelligibility, and speaker similarity. As the name implies, non-parallel any-to-one voice conversion does not require paired source and target speeches and can be employed for arbitrary speech conversion tasks. Recent advancements in neural-based vocoders, such as WaveNet, have improved the efficiency of speech synthesis. However, in practice, we find that the trajectory of some generated waveforms is not consistently smooth, leading to occasional voice errors. To address this issue, we propose to use an autoregressive (AR) conversion model along with the high-fidelity LPCNet vocoder. This combination not only solves the problems of waveform fluidity but also produces more natural and clear speech, with the added capability of real-time speech generation. To precisely represent the linguistic content of a given utterance, we use speaker-independent PPG features (SI-PPG) computed from an automatic speech recognition (ASR) model trained on a multi-speaker corpus. Next, a conversion model maps the SI-PPG to the acoustic representations used as input features for the LPCNet. The proposed autoregressive structure enables our system to produce the following prediction step outputs from the acoustic features predicted in the previous step. We evaluate the effectiveness of our system by performing any-to-one conversion pairs between native English speakers. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art systems, producing higher speech quality and greater speaker similarity.

We present a case report of a 26-years-old female suffering from Coffin Siris Syndrome, who underwent orthodontic treatment and surgery to solve her malocclusion and improve her aes-thetics and functional occlusion. Methods: The presurgical phase involved multibracket self-ligating attachments, Damon prescription. The patient underwent maxillofacial surgery to correct the severe skeletal malocclusion and relocate the bone bases in the right relationship. The post-surgical orthodontic treatment was performed to complete the alignment. Results: The pa-tient improved her aesthetics and functional abilities. Conclusions: Syndromic patients can un-dergo orthodontictreatment if comorbidities and collaboration allow it. Support and collaboration of families and psychotherapists must be considered, but clinical cases of syndromic patients can be faced and solved. Obviously, each syndromic patient is considered unique, and the risk-benefit ratio must be correctly assessed for each one.

Accurate power curve modelling is essential to continuously evaluate the performance of a wind turbine (WT). In this work, we characterize the wind power curves using SCADA data acquired at a frequency of 5 minutes in a wind farm (WF) consisting of 5 WTs. Regarding the non-parametric methods, we select artificial neural networks (ANNs) to make curve estimations. Given that, we have the curves provided by the manufacturer of the WTs given by some very precisely measured pair of wind speed and power points. We can evaluate the difference between the manufacturer characterization and the ones estimated with the data provided by the SCADA system. Before the estimation, we propose a method of filtering the anomalies based on the characteristics provided by the manufacturer. We use three-quarters of the available data for curve estimation and one-quarter for the test. One WT suffered a break in the test part, so we can check how the test estimates reflect this problem in its wind-power curve compared to the estimations obtained in the WTs that worked adequately.

The impact of systemic vascular resistance (SVR) in hypertrophic (HCM) and amyloid cardio-myopathies has been seldom investigated. We studied pressure-strain loop derived myocardial work (MW) indices and SVR in patients with either sarcomere HCM or wild type transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR), presented with heart failure and preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (HFpEF) at the outpatient cardiology units at Messina and Catania University Hospitals (Italy). Patients were in sinus rhythm and needed to have good transthoracic ultrasound imaging quality to undergo transthoracic strain-echocardiography. Other than conventional parameters, SVR and GWI (global work index) were measured. Based on cross-tabulation (a way to assess the ventricular-arterial coupling), the patients were then classified in 4 classes according to the cut-off values suggested by previous studies of 1,440 dyne/s/cm-5 for SVR (Stefadouros et al., 1973) and 1576 mm Hg% for GWI (Olsen et al., 2022). Sixty patients, 30 in each group, aged 61±16 years, 78% males, were studied. HCM were younger than ATTR patients and in a better clinical status (23% HCM vs 77% ATTR were NYHA class 3, p<0.001). Overall, 51 patients (85%) showed high SVR, of whom 21 were HCM (70%) and 30 ATTR (100%) (p<0.005). Both, SVR and GWI were impaired (the poorest class C) in 43% HCM patients (with greater left ventricular concentric hypertrophy) vs 93% of ATTR patients (in advanced NYHA class) (p<0.001). In conclusion, assessing SVR and GWI in HFpEF patients with HCM or ATTR can help clinicians to interpret the pathophysiological and clinical features of such complex diseases.

Conversion of electromagnetic energy into magnetohydrodynamic energy occurs when the electric conductivity changes from negligible to finite values. This process is relevant during the epoch of reheating of the early Universe at the end of inflation and before the emergence of the radiation-dominated era. We find that conversion into kinetic and thermal energies is primarily the result of electric energy dissipation and that the magnetic energy plays only a secondary role in this process. This means that, since electric energy dominates over magnetic energy during inflation and reheating, significant amounts of electric energy can be converted into magnetohydrodynamic energy when conductivity emerges early enough, before the relevant length scales become stable.

Infrared thermography is a contactless imaging technique, useful to measure surface temperature at distance which has been widely applied in animal production. The possible applications within the pig husbandry include sow heat detection, reduction of the incidence of neonatal mortality, recognition of febrile state caused by pathogens, study of metabolic efficiency, evaluation of stress caused by heat, by constraints, or by aggressive interaction and meat quality prediction. Even if this technique could be easily influenced by environmental factors, the continuous improvement in the procedures and the decrease in the cost of the equipment will allow in the next future new and more applications in swine farming.

Cochlear implantation is the therapy used for patients with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. For the success of the surgery, it is important that each surgical step is performed with meticulous precision, starting from the correct patient’s position on the operating table. In elderly or obese patients, this can be difficult to achieve due to cervical rigidity. In these cases, the orthopedic position is an excellent choice to perform a mastoidectomy accurately, ensuring a safe procedure and avoiding unpleasant complications.

Approximately 20% of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) are diagnosed with a mucinous subtype of this tumor, have a worse prognosis, and often show resistance to available therapies. Molecules from the mucin family are involved in the regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which significantly determines the cancer aggressiveness. This study aimed to examine the diagnostic and prognostic significance of mucinous histology and EMT markers in patients with early-onset CRC and their association with disease severity and tumor characteristics. The study included tumor tissue samples from 106 patients diagnosed with CRC before the age of 45, 53 with mucinous and 53 with non-mucinous tumors. The EMT status was determined by immunohistochemical analysis of E-cadherin and Vimentin in tissue sections. Mucinous tumors had a significantly higher cytoplasmic E-cadherin score (P=0.043), they were significantly less differentiated (P=0.007), more advanced (P=0.005), and predominately affected right colon (P=0.030) in comparison to non-mucinous tumors. Epithelial tumors were significantly better differentiated (P=0.034) and with less prominent tumor budding (P < 0.001) than mesenchymal tumors. The process of EMT appears to be more prominent in tumors of younger patients regardless of mucinous histology. EMT status may represent a useful prognostic tool in early-onset CRC.

Fish is a very healthy food that is a great source of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids. For many people in developing nations, like Nigeria, smoked and dried fish serves as a significant source of protein and is an integral part of the traditional diet. However, smoked and dried fish are susceptible to fungal growth, especially when the storage conditions are not right, and it has been discovered that many products contain fungi that are easily visible on the surface. This study investigated the diversity and occurrence frequency of contaminated fungi species in dried fishes sold in local markets of Awka in Anambra state, Nigeria. Twenty-four fungal isolates with varying colony morphology were isolated from the various dried fish products. The contaminating species were further subjected to lactophenol cotton blue (LPCB) staining and Ten (10) Unique fungal morphology was detected. Carbohydrate utilization test was used to select unique isolates and further molecular identification showed successful PCR amplification of the isolates. The current study identified various fungal groups contaminating dried fish products sold in Awka Markets. The three dominant genera were the fungal genera' Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium. These results suggest that most dried fish being sold in the Markets are contaminated with multiple fungi, posing a critical health risk to individuals. Thus, there is a need for attention to be paid to the packaging and storage of dried fish to lessen the likelihood of air exposure, lower water activity, and prevent microbiological growth on the dried fish.

We present an open-source Star Tracker (ST) for Attitude Determination. Our implementation makes use of open source software of common usage in astronomy running on a Raspberry Pi 2 platform. The developed platform is open and available for parties interested in further development. Evaluation of the system showed that the ST is suitable for Cubesats of 2U or larger. The ST platform is capable of solving the Lost-In-Space (LIS) problem. Currently, the average accuracy reached of the algorithm is close to 5 seconds of arc with an average processing time of 75 seconds. However, a average accuracy of about 3 minutes of arc can be reached with 35 seconds in average processing time. We also describe the evaluation procedure, the found conclusions of this procedure, in particular the section of the algorithm where most of the processing time is spent and other possible source of errors not included in this study.

In this study, a new method for synthesizing Au-NaYF4:Yb3+/Er3+-DSPE-PEG2K nanocomposites was introduced. Using a hydrothermal method, the synthesized Yb3+- and Er3+-codoped NaYF4 upconversion luminescent materials and Au nanoparticles were doped into upconversion nanomaterials and modified with DSPE-PEG2k up-conversion nanomaterials. This material is known as Ag-UCNPs-DSPE-PEG2k, it improves both the luminous intensity because of the doped Au nanoparticles and has low cytotoxicity because of the DSPE-PEG2k modified. Exciting UCNPs with a wavelength of 980nm near-infrared light will emit light with a wavelength of 520nm to further excite gold nanoparticles to convert light energy into heat. Successful synthesized gold nanoparticles was confirmed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The morphology of UCNPs was observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the mapping confirmed the successful doping of Au nanoparticles. Fluorescence spectra were used to compare changes in luminescence intensity before and after doping Au nanoparticles. The cytotoxicity of Au-UCNPs-DSPE-PEG2K was tested via the cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) method, and its imaging ability was characterized using the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT) method.

Background Augmented reality (AR) in surgery can offer an enhanced view of reality through the superimposition of computer-generated digital images on the real environment. It allows surgeons to integrate image visualisation, improving operative efficiency, surgical outcomes, surgical training and patient education. This review aims to evaluate the current status of augmented reality in surgery, surgical training and potential future applications. Methods We performed a non-systematic review of available literature from January 2005 to August 2021 by searching PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane library using a combination of terms “augmented reality”, “virtual reality”, “surgery”, “simulation” and “training”. Articles considered for this review were identified by relevant search criteria including title, keywords, abstract, and full-text. Conclusions AR technologies present an exciting new trend with multiple potential applications in surgery. Intraoperative AR systems have shown promise in specialties involving fine movement of organs during surgical procedures, including Neurosurgery, Ears, Nose and Throat and Orthopaedic Surgery. AR has also exhibited the potential to enhance surgical training and improve knowledge acquisition; it can foster international collaborations via telesurgery and telepresence. In the near future, AR will likely work in symbiosis with surgeons, serving as a complex computer-human coalition which can improve patient outcomes, patient education and surgical training.

We present a discussion and analysis regarding the benefits and limitations of open and non-anonymized peer review based on literature results and responses to a survey on the reviewing process of alt.chi, a more or less open-review track within the CHI conference, the predominant conference in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI). This track currently is the only implementation of an open-peer-review process in the field of HCI while, with the recent increase in interest in open science practices, open review is now being considered and used in other fields. We collected 30 responses from alt.chi authors and reviewers and found that, while the benefits are quite clear and the system is generally well liked by alt.chi participants, they are reluctant to see it used in other venues. This concurs with a number of recent studies that suggest a divergence between support for a more open review process and its practical implementation. The data and scripts are available on https://osf.io/vuw7h/, and the figures and follow-up work on http://tiny.cc/OpenReviews.

The environmental aerosols in major South Asian cities were characterized using Aerosol Robotic Network datasets. Various types of aerosols were identified and classified. Industrial urban/vehicle emissions and biomass burning carbonaceous aerosols dominated during the winter, whereas dust aerosols dominated during the summer and pre-monsoon seasons, respectively. Moreover, mixed aerosol types existed throughout the year. An attempt has been made to detect carbonaceous aerosol CO2 using Zn-decorated ZnO nanocages, which can be converted into CH3OH and H2O via the use of H2 molecules. The adsorption of Zn on the nanocage of ZnO reduced the band width to 2.18 eV from 4.05 eV, with an increase in the room temperature sensitivity and a sensing response of −49.38% and −91.9%, respectively. The emergence of intermediate states near the Fermi level narrowed the bandgap. The negative electronegativity and electron affinity suggest the polar nature, high reactivity, and softness of the Zn-decorated ZnO CO2 complexes. Furthermore, a minimal recovery time of 2.249 × 10−11 s was noticed at room temperature, highlighting the remarkable catalytic efficiency of the ZnO-Zn/CO2 system compared with that of previously published Ag-decorated ZnO nanocages. An increase in temperature has minimal effects on the sensing response, while the recovery time decreased notably. This research was conducted within the context of density functional theory.

An accurate assessment of the stage-discharge relationship in open channel flows is necessary and important to the design and management of hydraulic structures and engineering in practical hydrosystems such as rivers and streams. While the flow structures and patterns at open channel junctions are interesting and have been widely studied in the literature, this paper focuses further on the effect of flow junctions on stage-discharge relationship at mountain river confluences. In this study, both the flume and physical model experiments are designed and performed carefully to test and analyze the complex flow structures and characteristics at river confluences with different configurations and hydraulic conditions. The impacts of the flow junctions on the traditional stage-discharge relationship are analyzed in this study. The results of this study are discussed in the paper for the understanding of flow structures at flow junctions and the design and management of hydraulic structures in river engineering.

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has transitioned from a progressive, fatal disease to a chronic, manageable disease thanks to better defining of antiretroviral therapy, hence contributing to increased life expectancy. In parallel, a growing number of subjects without overt clinical signs of disease but living with chronic HIV infection (people living with HIV, PLWH) are experiencing early cardiovascular disease worldwide. However, a progressive increase in the prevalence of multiple comorbid diseases has been reported as these patients age, including cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cardiovascular mortality can be either directly related to the viral infection, a progressive reduction of response to the antiretroviral therapy, chronic inflammation or lifestyle-related. Cardiovascular ageing represents a relevant issue in the management of HIV-infected patients. Although the exact pathophysiological mechanism that leads PLWH to develop cardiovascular disease is not entirely understood, there is substantial evidence that they accumulate age-related conditions earlier than the general population. Furthermore, since the proportion of PLWH growing older than 50 years has progressively increased, this results in a complex interaction between disease-related pathophysiology and the exposition of a growing burden of cardiovascular risk factors. For this reason, we performed a systematic review of the genes most frequently associated with ageing in HIV-infected subjects, followed by a bioinformatic analysis to explore the biological impact of the genes related to ageing.

We describe an interesting case report about a patient with hemophilia A with severe chronic elbow arthropathy who underwent multiple surgical because of his condition. We collected all the clinical and imaging findings, and we compared the decision-making flow chart and the surgery performed with the most recent indications, treatments and complications reported in the literature. The aim of this case report is to show how usually the hemophilic patient even if young usually comes to our attention from the beginning with complex and advance musculoskeletal disease. Elbow hemophilic arthropathy is a complex disease and the management in these patients could be more difficult than others because of the higher risk of complications rate after all surgical procedures, for this reason it’s very important to treat these patients in hub centers with expertise in well-coordinated multidisciplinary teams. The path from diagnosis to surgical treatment of hemophilic elbow arthropathy can be a risky one, as it happened in this case.

Most common classifications for acetabular bone defects are based on radiographic two-dimension imaging, with low reliability and reproducibility. With the rise of modern processing techniques based on 3D modelling, methodologies for volumetric quantification of acetabular bone loss are available. Our study aims to describe a new methodology for quantitative assess-ment of acetabular defects, based on 3D modelling, focused on the surface analysis of the integrity of the main anatomical structures of the acetabulum represented by four corresponding sectors (posterior, superior, anterior, and medial). The defect entity is measured as the Area Increase Ra-tio (AIR) detected in all the sectors analyzed on three planes of view (frontal, sagittal and axial) compared to healthy hemipelvises. The analysis was performed on 3D-models from the CT-scan of six exemplary specimens with a unilateral pathological hemipelvis. AIR between the native and the pathological hemipelvis was calculated for each sector, for a total of 48 analysis (range, +0.93% - +171.35%). AIR of >50% were found in 22/48(45.8%) sectors and affected mostly the posterior, medial and superior sectors (20/22, 90.9%). Qualitative analysis showed consistency of the data with the morphological features of the defects. Further studies with larger samples are needed to validate the methodology and potentially develop a new classification scheme.

This paper investigates the improvement in solar energy collection and conversion using Al₂O₃-Water nanofluids in a solar flat plate collector (SFPC). The efficiency of a solar flat plate collector using water as the fluid medium is analyzed experimentally and theoretically. For theoretical analysis, a mathematical model in MATLAB is used to simulate and is validated by the experimental results. To enhance the solar energy collection and conversion efficiency of the SFPC, Al₂O₃-Water nanofluid was selected as the fluid medium. The nanofluid properties like density, specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity and viscosity are analyzed and compared for several models of Al₂O₃-Water nanofluids and the best model was selected to modify the simulation. Effect of particle diameter in the nanofluid was found to be marginal on the nanofluid properties. The optimum volume concentration of the nanofluid was found to be 4% giving an efficiency increase of 7.78% in the SFPC over the use of water. This reduces the area of the SFPC by 10.5%.

Background: The validation of laser usage during laparoscopic procedures, notably by Camran Nezhat in the late 1980s, has been significant. Lasers offer precision and depth control in tissue vaporization without bleeding. Surgical intervention remains central in managing endometrio-sis-associated pain and infertility, especially for patients unresponsive to hormonal therapy. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 200 patients with SPE who underwent laparo-scopic laser vaporization. Surgery was performed using a CO2 laser, and histological confirma-tion of endometriosis was obtained for all cases. Pain scores and SF-36 questionnaire domains were assessed preoperatively and postoperatively. Fertility outcomes were evaluated among pa-tients desiring pregnancy. Results: Significant improvements in pain score and SF-36 questionnaire domains were ob-served postoperatively (p-value

A pivotal strategy in decarbonizing the transport sector is by transitioning from internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) to electric vehicles (EVs), especially if they are charged with renewable energy. To provide an incentive to the common populace to switch to EVs, cities should set up - or enable or even encourage the private sector to do so - electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS) at multiple and suitably accessible locations. This paper aims to present a digitaltwin-enabled methodology study for selecting the most suitable possible locations to establish EVCS with consideration of the low voltage (LV) network operation in terms of power losses, active and reactive power in EV charging demand and the effect of the EVCS on the transformers, based on examples in Newcastle upon Tyne (England, UK). It also evaluates the most suitable type of charger that could be installed at these locations by studying the estimated traffic, cost and impact of the EVCS on the power grid, both at peak and off hours. This paper demonstrates how digitaltwin technologies, such as the web-based tool AutoDesign by Northern Powergrid and EA Technology and open source Pandapower can be used for identifying the most viable and cost-effective locations to connect EVCSs to a Distribution Network Operators (DNO)’s LV network. The results of the analysis indicate that with the installation of the most suitable type of EVCS in a particular location, the local power grid would not be significantly affected at any hour of the day.

Even despite rapid advances in colorectal surgery, morbidity and mortality rates in elective gastrointestinal surgery play a significant role. For decades, there have been tempestuous discussions on preventive measures to minimize the risk of anastomotic dehiscence. When mechanical bowel preparation before elective procedure, one of the key hypotheses, has been introduced into practice, it was assumed that it would decrease number of infectious complications and anastomotic dehiscence. The advancements in antibiotic treatment supported concomitant administration of oral antibiotics and mechanical bowel preparation. In the prospective study conducted at our clinic, we performed left-side colorectal procedures without the prior mechanical preparation. All patients enrolled in the study underwent the surgery and had been observed in the 3rd Surgical Clinic, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, from January 2019 to January 2020. As a control group we used similar group of patients with MBP. Our observed group included 87 patients with tumors in the left part of their large intestine (lineal flexure, descendent colon, sigmoid colon, and rectum). Dixon laparoscopic resection was performed in 26 patients. Sigmoid laparoscopic resection was performed in 27 patients. In 12 patients, the procedure was started laparoscopically but had to be converted due to adverse anatomical conditions. The conservative approaches mostly included Dixon resections (19 patients), sigmoid colon resection (5 patients) and left side hemicolectomy (6 patients), and Miles´ tumor resection with rectal amputation (4 patients). Our study highlighted the fact that MBP does not have the unequivocal benefit for patients with colorectal infection, which has an impact on development of anastomotic dehiscence.

River monitoring has the potential to grow substantially with present-day available affordable and locally sourced hardware. Yet river monitoring networks are still under pressure due to lack of resources, difficulties with maintenance, and rapidly changing conditions which in part may be due to climate change. We advocate that to turn around this trend, monitoring stations must rely on local people, work with locally available devices, work without contact with water and operate through openly available knowledge. River observations with camera videos have this potential. IP cameras, drones or smartphones are widely available as observation platforms. The scientific methods are well established in literature. Yet current attempts to establish scalable open-source software solutions that can be operated anywhere are lacking. In fact, currently available software is either research-oriented, more aimed at incidental observations, is restricted to single-use licenses, entirely proprietary, or restricted to operations through a third-party Software as a Service. To overcome this obstacle, we present OpenRiverCam, a free and open-source software ecosystem for river observations that can fulfill a wide variety of use cases and business cases through a well-documented and simple to use Application Programming Interface, service workflows, cloud scalability and interoperability, and options to extend to several applications within the hydrological, hydrodynamic, environmental and geospatial domains. We demonstrate its current technical abilities through three different case studies that all originate from a user perspective. We discuss the future developments to meet further requirements, which include documentation, widely available training materials and embedding in curricula, and further hardware and software developments.

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a persistent neurodevelopment disorder frequently co-occurring with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and behavior-related disorders. While behavioral therapy is the first-line option to manage ASD core symptoms, pharmacological therapy is sometimes needed to treat acute problems, such as agitation and aggressive behaviors. Recent guidelines recommend neuroleptics to reduce psychomotor agitation in people with ASD. However, since children with ASD are often drug-resistant, alternative treatments are often justified. Reports from literature showed that intra-venous valproate (IV-VPA) can be effective in reducing agitation in psychiatric patients, with lower frequency of adverse events compared to convention-al treatments. However, since findings are occasionally inconsistent, IV-VPA is not an approved option in clinical psychiatry. We aim at improving the knowledge on the IV-VPA treatment option in emergency psychiatry in the pediatric age. Methods: We report the case of a 11-year-old boy suffering from a complex neurodevelopmental condition, who experienced a psychotic episode with severe aggressive and disruptive behaviors, successfully treated with IV-VPA. Besides, we conducted an up-dated literature review on this topic. Conclusion: In our case, first-line therapies proved to be ineffective. On the contrary, IV-VPA led to a safe and prompt clinical success, in line with other reports. Based on our literature review, IV-VPA can be highly effective and can reduce the risk of adverse events that frequently occur with the use of high-dose standard medications in emergency psychiatry.

Early detection of PDAC remains challenging due to the lack of early symptoms and absence of reliable biomarkers. The aim of the present project was to identify miRNA and proteomics sig-natures discriminating PDAC patients with DM from nondiabetic PDAC patients. Proteomics analysis and miRNA array were used for protein and miRNA screening. We used western blot-ting and Real-Time Quantitative Reverse Transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) for protein and miRNA validation. Comparisons between experimental groups with normal dis-tributions were performed using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test and pair-wise tests were performed using t tests. P≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Protein cluster of differentiation 166 (CD166), glycoprotein CD63 (CD63), S100 calcium binding protein A13 (S100A13), and tumor necrosis factor-β (TNF-β) were detected in the proteomics screening. The miRNA assay revealed a differential miRNA 1285 regulation. Previously described in the literature target proteins of miR-1285 cadherin-1 (CDH-1), cellular Jun (c-Jun), p53, mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 4 (Smad4), human transglutaminase 2 (TGM2) and yes-associated protein (YAP), were validated via Western blotting. miR-1285-3p was successfully validated as differentially regulated in PDAC + DM via qRT-PCR. Overall, our data suggest miRNA1285-3p, TGM2, CDH-1, CD166 and S100A13 as potential meaningful biomarker candi-dates to characterize patients with PDAC + DM. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD053169.

Lung cancer remains the main cause of global cancer-related deaths. Currently low-dose computed tomography (LD-CT) shows a 20% reduction of mortality. However, its clinical suitability is hindered by cost, radiation, and some false positives. Thus, the discovery non-invasive and less-expensive biomarker is urgent needed. In this scenario, proteins released in biological fluids could be considered interesting biomarkers for their role in cancer development. We conducted a pioneering case-control pilot study aimed at assessing the usefulness of Raf Kinase Inhibitory Protein (RKIP) and its phosphorylated form (pRKIP) as potential early-stage lung cancer biomarkers. Urine and Blood samples of two consecutive and independent cohorts of lung cancer patients and healthy controls were screened by means of a novel experimental ELISA assay designed to evaluate both forms of the biomarker. Although urinary levels of RKIP were not statistically different between the lung cancer group and high-risk healthy group, serum ones instead increased significantly in early stage LC patients and permitted to discriminate LC patients from both low-risk (HS) and high-risk healthy subjects (HR-HS) with an overall 93% accuracy (AUC 0.93) when LC was compared to HS and 74% (AUC 0.73) when it was compared to high-risk group. Of note, the analysis of RKIP/pRKIP ratio also showed a high accuracy (90% - AUC 0.95) in discriminating LC patients from HS and more importantly, it allowed to identify LC patients compared to HR-HS, with a higher accuracy (79% - AUC 0.79) than RKIP alone. We hypothesize that serum RKIP levels may be correlated to the activation of the immune systems against the tumor during the first phases of its development. Our study identified a preliminary, non-invasive, RKIP and pRKIP profile able to discriminate with high specificity and sensitivity the early-stage lung cancer patients from high-risk Healthy Subjects. These results, although preliminary, suggest the utility of measuring RKIP/pRKIP as potential new screening test for lung cancer and provide the basis for future validation studies.

Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by alterations in motile cilia func-tion. The diagnosis of PCD is challenging due to the lack of standardized methods in clinical practice. High-speed video microscopy analysis (HSVA) directly evaluates ciliary beat frequency (CBF) in PCD. Recently, open-source ciliary analysis software applications have shown promise in measuring CBF accurately. How-ever, there is limited knowledge about the performance of different software applications, creating a gap in understanding their comparative effectiveness in measuring CBF in PCD. We compared two open-source software applications, CiliarMove and Cilialyzer, against the manual count method. We used videos rec-orded at high-speed of nasal ciliary brush samples from PCD patients and healthy controls. All three meth-ods showed lower median CBF values in PCD patients than healthy controls. CiliarMove and Cilialyzer identified lower CBF in PCD patients, similar to the manual count. Cilialyzer, CiliarMove and manual count demonstrated statistical significance (p-value < 0.0001) in the difference of median CBF values be-tween PCD and healthy controls. These findings support the utility of open-source software-based analysis tools. Further studies are needed to validate these findings with other genetic variants and identify the op-timal software for accurate CBF measurement in PCD.

Although a growing number of evidence emphasizes superior of VATS over conventional thoracotomy, still is little known about early postoperative diaphragm muscle function after lobectomy via these two approahces. To fill the gap in existing literature, we conducted comparative study between VATS and conventional thoracotomy in terms of postoperative diaphragm muscle function, assessing its contractility, strength, magnitude of effort and potential risk of dysfunction such as: atrophy and paralysis. A total of 59 patients (30 after VATS), who underwent anatomical pulmonary resection at our institution, were enrolled into this study. The control group was consisted of 28 health subjects without medical condition could contribute to diaphragm dysfunction. Diaphragm muscle was assessed before and after surgery using ultrasonography. We found that both surgical approaches were associated with postoperative impairment of diaphragm muscle function - compared to baseline data. Postoperative reduction of diaphragm contraction was demonstrated in all of 59 patients. In case of control group, the differences between measurements were no observed. We noted that lobectomy via thoracotomy was linked with greater percentage of patients with diaphragm paralysis or/and atrophy that VATS. Similar findings were observed in refer to diaphragm magnitude effort, as well as, diaphragm contraction strength, where minimal invasive surgery was associated with better diaphragm function parameters - in comparison to thoracotomy. Disturbance of diaphragm work was reported both at operated and non-operated side. Upper right and left lobectomy was connected with greater diaphragm function impairment than other segments. In conclusion, VATS technique seems to be less invasive than conventional thoracotomy providing a better postoperative function of a main respiratory muscle.

We report the results of an analysis of the functional capabilities of the KTP crystal and its isomorphs for nonlinear-optical frequency conversion of all types of interaction in the transparency range of the crystal. The possibility of implementing angle-, wavelength- (frequency-) and temperature-noncritical phase matching is shown.

The article analyzes existing materials and structures with quadratic-nonlinear optical properties that can be used to generate a difference frequency in the terahertz and sub-terahertz frequency ranges. The principle of constructing a nonlinear optical-radio converter, based on an optical focon (a focusing cone), is proposed. Based on the assumption that this focon can be implemented from the metal-organic framework (MOF), we propose a technique for modeling its parameters. The mathematical model of the process of propagation and nonlinear interaction of waves inside the focon is based on a simplification of the nonlinear wave equation. Within the framework of the developed model, the following parameters are approximately determined: the 3D gradient of the linear refractive index and the function determining the geometric profile of the focon, which provide a few-mode-based generation of the difference frequency.

The Upper Hunter Valley is a major coal mining area containing approximately 40% of the currently identified total coal reserves in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Due to the ongoing increase of mining activities, PM10 (air-borne particle with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 micrometres) pollution has become a major air quality concern in local communities. This paper summarises the spatial and temporal variability modes of PM10 pollution in the region, based on long-term multi-site monitoring data and the application of the rotated principal component analysis (RPCA) and wavelet analysis techniques. RPCA identified two distinct air quality clusters/subregions in the valley, one in the west/northwest, the other in the southeast. Wavelet analysis revealed the annual cycle to be most persistent temporal mode of PM10 variability in both subregions, with intermittent signals observed at time scales of around 120, 30~90 and under 30 days. How these variation modes are related to the effects of local PM10 emissions and the influence of meteorology at different time scales deserves further attention in future work. The findings will be used in air quality reporting and forecasting in NSW. The methodology and results can also be useful for air quality research in similar regions elsewhere.