Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative and progressive disease that impacts the nerve cells in the brain and varies from person to person. The exact cause of PD is still unknown, and the diagnosis of PD does not include a specific objective test with certainty. Although deep learning has made great progress in medical neuroimaging analysis, these methods are very susceptible to biases present in neuroimaging datasets. An innovative decorrelated deep learning technique is introduced to mitigate class bias and scanner bias while simultaneously focusing on finding distinguishing characteristics in resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) data, which assist in recognizing the PD with good accuracy. The decorrelation function reduces the non-linear correlation between features and bias in order to learn bias-invariant features. The Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) dataset, referred to as a single scanner imbalanced dataset in this study used to validate our method. The imbalanced dataset problem affects the performance of the deep learning framework by overfitting to the majority class. To resolve this problem, we propose a new Decorrelated Convolutional Neural Networks (DcCNN) framework by applying decorrelation-based optimization to Convolutional Neural Networks(CNN). An analysis of evaluation metrics comparisons shows that integrating the decorrelation function boosts the performance of PD recognition by removing class bias. Specifically, our DcCNN model performs significantly better than existing traditional approaches to tackle the imbalance problem. Finally, the same framework can be extended to create scanner invariant features without significantly impacting the performance of a model. The obtained dataset is a multi-scanner dataset which leads to scanner bias due to the differences in acquisition protocols and scanners. The multi-scanner dataset is a combination of two datasets, namely PPMI and FTLDNI - frontotemporal lobar degeneration neuroimaging initiative (NIFD) dataset. The results of t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) and scanner classification accuracy of our proposed Feature Extraction-DcCNN (FE-DcCNN) model validated the effective removal of scanner bias. Our method achieves an average accuracy of 77.80% on a multi-scanner dataset for differentiating PD from healthy control, which is superior to the DcCNN model trained on a single scanner imbalanced dataset.

A new power receiving unit (PRU) is proposed in this paper for the resonant wireless power transfer (WPT), which is characterized by the capability of attracting high power from the power transmitting unit (PTU). The resonant WPT is designed for delivering the electrical power to the PRU attached on an electrical vehicle (EV) chassis 50cm away from a PTU installed on the ground. The proposed PRU uses only the passive elements such as inductors, diodes and the capacitors, which needs no initial power from the EV. It is then applicable for charging a battery to several hundred volts for even a first-time charging battery. At a switching frequency of the resonant WPT in the experiment being 4MHz, the proposed PRU behaves itself as a negative impedance converter (NIC) in the subharmonics of 4MHz. The NIC effect plus the subharmonic oscillation causes an instability current charging the battery connected to the PRU. In this paper, we simulated the PRU and performed the experiment. The experiment demonstrates a battery charging of 150W from 50cm away using three D-mode GaN HEMT transistors via the instability current ramp. The power transfer efficiency (PTE) improved as the power delivered to load (PDL) goes higher. The best power transfer efficiency (PTE) is 65% in the present findings. The simulation analysis shows that the circuit allows itself be used to much higher power transfer when it is implemented with more GaN HEMT transistors connected in parallel. The theoretical derivation of the PRU circuit is also used to support both the experimental and simulation results.

Short-range Internet of Things (IoT) sensor nodes operating at 2.4 GHz need to provide ubiquitous wireless sensor networks (WSNs) with energy-efficient, wide-range output power (POUT) and fully integrated on a single chip for wireless body area networks (WBANs) and wireless personal area networks (WPANs) using low-power Bluetooth (BLE) and Zigbee standards. The proposed fully integrated transmitter (TX) utilizes a digitally controllable current-mode class-D (CMCD) power amplifier (PA) with a second harmonic distortion (HD2) suppression to reduce VCO pulling in an integrated system while meeting harmonic limit regulations. The CMCD PA is divided into 7-bit slices that can be reconfigured between differential and single-ended topologies. Duty cycle distortion compensation is performed for HD2 suppression, and an HD2 rejection filter and a modified C-L-C low-pass filter (LPF) reduce HD2 further. Implemented in a 28 nm CMOS process, the TX achieves a wide POUT range of from 12.1 to -31 dBm and provides a maximum efficiency of 39.8% while consuming 41.1 mW at 12.1 dBm POUT. The calibrated HD2 level is -82.2 dBc at 9.93 dBm POUT, resulting in a transmitter figure of merit (TX_FoM) of -97.52 dB. Higher order harmonic levels remain below -41.2 dBm even at 12.1 dBm POUT, meeting regulatory requirements.

This paper proposed three-dimensional numerical simulation method by coupling of electrostatic and fluid fields to evaluating the performance of electrical sensor in the concentration measurement of gas/solid two-phase flow. Compared with the static numerical simulation, this real-time dynamic 3-D simulation method can research on a designed capacitance sensor combining the dynamic characteristics of the two-phase flows for concentration measurement. Several fluid-electrostatic models of transmission pipes with different sensor structures are built. Under different test positions and different particle concentrations, the flow characteristics and the corresponding electric signals can be obtained, and the correlation coefficient between the concentration values and the capacitance values are used for performance evaluation of the sensors. The effects of flow regimes on concentration measurement are also been investigated in this paper. To validate the results of simulation, an experimental platform with horizontal straight pipe for phase volume concentration measurement of solid/air two-phase flow is built, and the experimental results agree well with simulation conclusions. The simulation and test results show that the coupling models can give constructive reference opinions for the sensor design and collection of installation position in different transmission pipelines, which are very important for the practical process of pneumatic conveying system.

Acousto-Optical Tunable Filters (AOTFs) are a promising technology, exceptionally suited for advanced applications in spectroscopy and imaging across various scientific fields, including space exploration. This is due to their flexibility and high-speed functionality for precise wavelength selection via periodic modulation of the crystal’s refractive index using sound waves. These AOTFs are in turn driven by Radio Frequency (RF) signals through a transducer creating sound waves inside the crystal. This work presents a detailed comparison of three distinct topologies of Radio Frequency Power Amplifiers (RFPAs) for driving these AOTFs within the 30 to 300 MHz frequency range. The analysis focuses on three critical parameters: efficiency, bandwidth, and linearity, which are essential for optimizing the performance of AOTFs. By evaluating the trade-offs among these parameters, this research aims to identify the most effective design approach for RFPAs in this application context.

There are increasing calls in education for deeper integration of disciplines and better preparation for the personal and job challenges of a fast-changing and smarter society. Thus, we need to search for new effective didactic strategies. However, current classrooms are isolated. They practically never connect. This hinders the exchange of ideas. It inhibits imitation and recombination, the basic blocks of cultural evolution and innovation. In this paper, we analyze online inter-class tournaments. These are lessons where entire elementary or middle school classes interconnect synchronously and play an educational game. These are new types of academic activities, and only possible thanks to digital communication technology. In this paper, we examine four online tournaments, we analyze how feasible it is to carry them out and the benefits they bring. One tournament is for teaching machine learning and statistics. The second one teaches the conservation of momentum in physics and an engineering optimization challenge. The third tournament is for learning to solve word problems. The fourth one is for teaching natural and sexual selection along with developing statistical and population thinking. We found that these inter-class tournaments are feasible to implement in schools and that they are a promising mechanism to facilitate imitation, recombination, and innovation of teaching strategies.

This work proposes a methodological approach applied to ephemeral gravel-bed streams to verify the change in the magnitude and frequency of hydrological events affecting the morphological dynamics and sediment budget in this type of channel. For the case study the Azohía Rambla, located in southeastern Spain, was chosen, emphasizing the research on two reference riverbed sections (RCRs): an upper one, with a predominance of erosion, and a middle one, where processes of incision, transport, and deposition converge. First, this approach focuses on relationships between peak discharges and sediment budgets during the period 2018 to 2022. For this purpose, water level measurements from pressure sensors, a One-Dimensional Hydrodynamic model, and findings from comparative analyses of high-resolution differential digital elevation models (HRDEM of Difference - HRDoD) based on SfM-MVS and LiDAR datasets were used. In a second phase the GeoWEPP model was applied to the period 1996-2022 in order to simulate runoff and sediment yield at the event scale for the watersheds draining into both RCRs. During the calibration phase a sensitivity analysis was carried out to detect the most influential parameters in the model and to confirm its capacity to simulate peak flow and sediment delivery in the area described above. Values of NS (Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency) and PBIAS (percent bias) equal to 0.86 and 7.81%, respectively, were found in the calibration period, while these indices were 0.81 and -4.1% in the validation period. Finally, different event class patterns (ECPs) were established for the monitoring period (2018-2022), according to flow stage and morphological channel adjustments (overtopping, bankfull and sub-bankfull, and half-sub-bankfull), and then retrospectively extrapolated to stages of the prior simulated period (1996-2018) from their typical sequences (PECPs). The results revealed a significant increase in the number of events and PECPs leading to lower bed incision rates and higher vertical accretion, which denotes a progressive increase in bed armoring and bank erosion processes.

Cohen and Lenstra introduced conjectures concerning the distribution of class numbers in quadratic fields, though many of these conjectures remain unproven. This paper investigates the 2-part of class groups in imaginary quadratic fields and examines their alignment with the Cohen-Lenstra heuristics. We provide detailed proofs of key theorems related to ideal decompositions and modular homomorphisms, and we explore the distribution of class groups of imaginary quadratic fields. Our analysis includes constructing imaginary quadratic fields with prescribed 2-class groups and discussing the implications of these findings on the Cohen-Lenstra conjecture.

On return to campus after the pandemic, students were subjected to receiving lectures online, in class, or by the emerging hybrid approach. This study reports students' preference over the three approaches based on the experience gained during the 2022/23 academic session. One hundred and twenty-seven (127) on-campus Education students in one public university in Malaysia participated in the study. Data was collected through an online forum and interviews with the participants. The data collected was analyzed using content and thematic analysis. Preference for the hybrid approach emerged as a finding with three themes describing what makes the wholly online class unpopular (themes one and two); and, the popularity of the hybrid approach (theme three): 1. On-campus learner-environment challenges; 2. Perceived lack of Faculty engagement and support in the online learning environment; and, 3. Student engagement through faculty presence and technology innovation. What the students valued most in the hybrid approach is the face-to-face technology-enhanced classroom interaction that is retained, believing that learning is more effective and interesting in class than online. They considered the additional online learning activities as complementing the classroom learning. The approach provides an opportunity for fundamental learning in class and supplementary learning online. These findings imply that institutions should prioritize technology integration into face-to-face instruction, leveraging innovative approaches to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. Lecturers should consider adopting hybrid teaching models that combine the benefits of in-person interaction with the flexibility of online learning, catering to diverse student preferences and optimizing the educational experience.

This paper proposes a novel phase-resolved partial discharge (PRPD) sensor embedded in MV-class bushing for high-accuracy insulation analysis. The design, fabrication, and evaluation of a PRPD sensor embedded in MV-class bushing aimed to detect partial discharge (PD) pulses that are phase-synchronized with the applied primary HV signals. A prototype PRPD sensor was composed of a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) with dual-sensing electrodes, utilizing a capacitive voltage divider (CVD) principle for voltage measurement and D-dot principle for PD detection, and a signal transducer with passive elements. A PD simulator was prepared to emulate typical PD defects, i.e., a metal protrusion. The voltage measurement precision of the prototype PRPD sensor was satisfied with the accuracy class of 0.2 specified in IEC 61869-11, as the maximum corrected voltage error ratios and corrected phase errors in 80%, 100%, and 120% of the rated voltage (13.2 kV) were less than 0.2% and 10 minutes, respectively. In addition, the prototype PRPD sensor had good linearity and high sensitivity for PD detection compared with a conventional electrical detection method. According to performance evaluation tests, the prototype PRPD sensor embedded in the MV-class bushing can measure PRPD patterns phase-synchronized with the primary voltage without any additional synchronization equipment or system. Therefore, the prototype PRPD sensor holds potential as a substitute for conventional commercial PD sensors. Consequently, this advancement could lead to the enhancement of power system monitoring and maintenance, contributing to the digitalization and minimization of power apparatus.

This paper offers insights into the nexus of youth, masculinity and right-wing populism in Australia. Here we make reference to a wide body of international literature on the topic. There is some affinity between disenfranchised (white) working-class young men and the radical right. Survey data were collected for a project on masculinity and the far right in Australia. 203 young men worked primarily in “blue collar” sectors of the Australian labour force. Some survey responses locate them partly or potentially within the field of the populist right-wing, with many expressing anti-government sentiments and the discourse of white male victimhood. The majority were nostalgic for stereotypical masculinity. While right-wing populist movements across the world certainly differ, they often share a discourse promoting traditional gender roles.

Fraudulent transactions pose a significant threat to financial institutions and e-commerce platforms.Machine learning models, trained on historical labeled data (fraudulent vs. legitimate transactions), are often employed to identify and prevent fraud. However, real-world datasets frequently exhibit class imbalance, where fraudulent transactions (minority class) are significantly outnumbered by legitimate transactions (majority class). Machine learning models may perform poorly as a result of this imbalance, underestimating fraud and favouring the majority class. This paper proposes a novel approach to address class imbalance and improve fraud detection accuracy. We explore the implementation of FROST (Feature space RObust Synthetic saTuration) oversampling, a technique specifically designed to generate synthetic samples for the minority class. The FROST function leverages the k-nearest neighbors (KNN) algorithm and a user-defined amplification factor (m) to create synthetic data points that closely resemble existing minority class instances. We integrate the FROST-enhanced oversampling technique into the machine learning pipeline for fraud detection. The paper evaluates the effectiveness of this approach compared to traditional oversampling methods and analyzes its impact on classification accuracy metrics.

Facial expression recognition is crucial for understanding human emotions and nonverbal communication. With the growing prevalence of facial recognition technology and its various applications, accurate and efficient facial expression recognition has become a significant research area. However, most previous methods have focused on designing unique deep-learning architectures while overlooking the loss function. This study presents a new loss function that allows simultaneous consideration of inter- and intra-class variations to be applied to CNN architecture for facial expression recognition. More concretely, this loss function reduces the intra-class variations by minimizing the distances between the deep features and their corresponding class centers. It also increases the inter-class variations by maximizing the distances between deep features and their non-corresponding class centers, and the distances between different class centers. Numerical results from several benchmark facial expression databases, such as Cohn-Kanade Plus, Oulu-Casia, MMI, and FER2013, are provided to prove the capability of the proposed loss function compared with existing ones.

Objetives/Background: Vitamin D Binding Protein (VDBP) and free vitamin D are new markers that are being studied as a possible markers of vitamin D status. The main aim of our study was to analyse the VDBP genotype and quantify the levels of VDBP and free vitamin D in a sample of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Methods: Multicentre, cross-sectional and prospective study including patients with CF, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency who were clinically stable. We investigated vitamin D levels (total and free) and the different VDBP haplotypes. Free vitamin D levels were measured using an electro-chemiluminescence assay. Results: A sample of 48 patients was obtained (52% male; median age 13.8 years). The most common allele of VDBP was Gc1s (72%)>Gc2 (52%)>Gc1f (27%). Median calcidiol was 21.2 ng/ml (IR 15.3 - 26.9), 81% had levels in the insufficiency range: 23 patients (48%) below 20 ng/ml, and 16 (33%) between 20 and 30 ng/ml. The median free vitamin D level was 4.2 pg/ml (IR 3.9 – 5.6). A positive correlation was observed between calcidiol and free vitamin D levels (r=0.871; p<0.0001). After adjustment for season, vitamin D supplementation, sex and CFrelated diabetes, patients with Gc1f polymorphism had a lower risk of vitamin D deficiency, OR 0.22 (95% CI 0.05 – 0.99), p=0.027. A negative linear trend was observed between the polymorphisms grouped into 3 categories (Gc1/Gc1, Gc1/Gc2, and Gc2/Gc2, in that order) and vitamin D and free vitamin D levels (p=0.025 and p=0.033, respectively). Conclusion: In CF, as in the general population, the most common VDBP haplotype in Caucasian race is Gc1s. VDBP polymorphisms influence serum vitamin D and free vitamin D levels in CF patients. There is a good correlation between free vitamin D and calcidiol levels, suggesting that measuring the latter in CF does not seem to provide any additional benefit.

A preliminary study of a wind turbine design is carried out using a wind tunnel to obtain its aerodynamic characteristics. Utilization of data from the study to develop large-scale wind turbines requires further study. This paper aims to discuss the use of wind turbine data obtained from the wind tunnel measurements to estimate the characteristics of wind turbines that have field size. The torque of two small-scale turbines was measured inside the wind tunnel. The first small-scale turbine has a radius of 0.14 m and the second small turbine has a radius of 0.19 m. Torque measurement results from both turbines were analyzed using Buckingham π theorem to obtain a correlation between torsion and diameter variations. The obtained correlation equation is used to estimate the field measurement of turbine power with a radius of 1.2 m. The resulting correlation equation can be used to estimate the power generated by the turbine by the size of the field well in the operating area of the tip speed ratio of the turbine design.

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first 6 months of life improves the growth, health and survival status of newborns. Breastfeeding has been accepted as the most vital intervention for reducing infant mortality and ensuring optimal growth and development of children. Objectives: The general objective was to identify the factors affecting exclusive breastfeeding among working class women in selected wards in Egbedore Local Government in Osun state, Nigeria. Methodology: This was descriptive cross-sectional study. Leslie Kish formula was used for sample size calculation and multistage sampling was used in selecting 316 working class women for the study. A structured, self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 21.0 and level of significance was set at 5%. Results: 58% of the respondents were between the ages of 25-30. 72% demonstrated good understanding of exclusive breastfeeding based on the 6 months WHO recommendation for exclusive breast feeding, 25.9% had a fair knowledge and awareness of exclusive breastfeeding. 63.3% of the working class mother has a good practice of exclusive breast feeding, 19.6% of the women moderately practices exclusive breastfeeding while 17.1% poorly practices exclusive breastfeeding. Less than 3-months maternity leave for mothers, lack of crèche closer to place of work and lack of breastfeeding break were identified as barriers to exclusive breastfeeding practices among the working class women. The findings demonstrated a significant relationship between knowledge and practices of exclusively breastfeeding among working class women (P-value .009). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that working class women had good knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding and this influenced their breastfeeding practices. A good knowledge was associated with favorable attitudes to the practice of exclusive breast feeding. To derive long-term benefits from early childhood nutrition, interventions should focus on health education and community-based sensitization programs on the needs for mothers to engage in exclusive breast needing for global development.

From gene expression studies to identifying microbes quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) is widely used in research and medical diagnostics. In transmittable diseases like the Ebola outbreak in West Africa (2014-2016), or the present SARS-CoV2 pandemic qPCR plays a key role in the detection of infected patients. Although the technique itself is decades old with reliable approaches (eg. TaqMan essay) in the diagnosis of pathogens many people showed distrust in it during the SARS-CoV2 outbreak. This came mainly from not understanding or misunderstanding the principles of qPCR. This situation motivated us to design a simple laboratory practical class, in which students have opportunities to understand the underlying principles of qPCR and its advantages in microbiological diagnosis. Moreover, during the exercise, students can develop skills such as handling experimental assays, and the ability to solve problems, discuss their observations. Finally, this activity brings them closer to the clinical practice and they can see the impact of the science on real life. The class is addressed to undergraduate students of biological sciences.

Malware complexity is rapidly increasing, causing catastrophic impacts on computer systems. Memory dump malware is gaining increased attention due to its ability to expose plaintext passwords or key encryption files. This paper presents an enhanced classification model based on One class SVM (OCSVM) classifier that can identify any deviation from the normal memory dump file patterns and detect it as malware. The proposed model integrates OCSVM and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for increased model sensitivity and efficiency. An up-to-date dataset known as “MALMEMANALYSIS-2022” was utilized during the evaluation phase of this study. The accuracy achieved by the traditional one-class classification (TOCC) model was 55%, compared to 99.4% in the one-class classification with PCA (OCC-PCA) model. Such results have confirmed the increased performance achieved by the proposed model.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis remains a relevant problem in the field of healthcare with an unfavorable prognosis for patients due to progressive fibrous remodeling of the pulmonary parenchyma. Starting with the reactions damaging the epithelial lining of alveoli, pulmonary fibrosis is implemented through a cascade of complex mechanisms, the crucial of which is the TGF-β/SMAD mediated pathway, involving various cell populations. Considering that a number of the available drugs (pirfenidone and Nintedanib) have only limited effectiveness in slowing the progression of fibrosis, the search and justification of application of other approaches aimed at regulating the immune response, cellular aging processes, programmed cell death and transdifferentiation of cell populations remains relevant. This literature review presents the key modern concepts concerning molecular genetics and cellular mechanisms of lung fibrosis development, based mainly on in vitro and in vivo studies in experimental models of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis, as well as the latest data on metabolic features, potential application points and effects of vitamin D and its metabolites.

The aim of this single-center, open-label, non-controlled randomized study was to evaluate which formulation of vitamin D between cholecalciferol and calcifediol is most effective in the treatment of hypovitaminosis D in older adults. Demographic characteristics, clinical history and comprehensive geriatric assessment were recorded at admission. Eligible patients randomly received an equivalent vitamin D supplement either with cholecalciferol or calcifediol from hospital admission to three months after discharge. Among the 140 older patients included (mean age 83±6.6, 57.8% females), 69 received cholecalciferol and 71 calcifediol. The mean plasma values of 25OH-Vitamin D3 found at the enrollment were 16.8 ± 9.9 ng/mL in patients receiving cholecalciferol and 18.8 ± 13.3 ng/mL in those treated with calcifediol (p =0.31). At the 3-month follow up, the mean concentration of 25OH-Vitamin D3 was significantly higher in patients treated with calcifediol than in patients treated with cholecalciferol (respectively, 30.7 ± 8.4 vs 45.4 ± 9.8 ng/mL, p &lt;0.001). Supplementation with cholecalciferol or calcifediol results in both cases effective in reaching optimal circulating values of 25OH-VitaminD3 in the older patients suffering from hypovitaminosis D. However, supplementation with calcifediol led to average circulating values of 25OH- VitaminD3 significantly higher (over 50%) than those obtained with cholecalciferol.

Vitamin D plays an essential role in embryogenesis and the course of intra- and postnatal periods and is crucially involved in the functioning of the mother-placenta-fetus system. Low quantity of Vitamin D during pregnancy can lead to the elevated risk for preeclampsia occurence. Despite the numerous studies on the association of Vitamin D deficiency and preeclampsia development, the current research on this theme is contradictory. In this review we summarize and analyze study data on the effects of vitamin D deficiency and supplementation on pregnancy, labor, fetal and neonatal outcomes.

This work addresses the problem of automatic head pose estimation and its application in 3D gaze estimation using low quality RGB--D sensors without any subject cooperation or manual intervention. The previous works on 3D head pose estimation using RGB--D sensors require either an offline step for supervised learning or 3D head model construction which may require manual intervention or subject cooperation for complete head model reconstruction. In this paper, we propose a 3D pose estimator based on low quality depth data, which is not limited by any of the aforementioned steps. Instead, the proposed technique relies on modeling the subject's face in 3--D rather than the complete head, which in turn, relaxes all of the constraints with the previous works. The proposed method is robust, highly accurate and fully automatic. Moreover, it does not need any offline step. Unlike some of the previous works, the method only uses depth data for pose estimation. The experimental results on the Biwi head pose database confirm the efficiency of our algorithm in handling large pose variations and partial occlusion. We also evaluate the performance of our algorithm on IDIAP database for 3D head pose and eye gaze estimation.

Although vitamin D deficiency has been correlated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), there are few data on the association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH) D) and atherogenic indices predictive of CVD. This study aimed to investigate the relationship of vitamin D status with lipid profile and atherogenic indices in adult women in Morocco. Three hundred healthy women, aged 18 to 50 years, from Meknes were included. Fasting 25(OH) D and lipid concentrations were determined using a one-step electrochemiluminescence-based immunoassay and an enzymatic method, respectively. Atherogenic indices (Atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), non-HDL cholesterol (Non-HDL-C), Atherogenic coefficient (AC), Castelli risk indices I and II (CRI-I and II), and CHOLIndex (CI)) were calculated using conventional lipid parameters. Logistic regression models and operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis were used to assess the relationship of the variables and estimate the threshold of 25(OH) D levels associated with high atherogenic indices. 25(OH) D below 20 ng/ml was significantly associated with an enhanced risk of hypertriglyceridemia and elevated values of AIP, AC, Non-HDL-C, and CRI-I with an OR (95% CI) of 4.904 (1.856-12.959); 3.637(2.149-6.158); 3.589(1.673-7.700); 2.074(1.215-3.540), and 2.481(1.481-4.123), respectively. According to ROC analysis, the likelihood of hypertriglyceridemia and high values of AIP, AC, Non-HDL-C, and CRI-I were associated with 25(OH)D thresholds ≤15.15 ng/ml, ≤ 17.5 ng/ml, ≤ 19.8 ng/ml, ≤ 20.1 ng/ml and ≤ 19.5 ng/ml, respectively, all p &lt; 0.01. Based on atherogenic indices, this study indicates that vitamin D below 20 ng/ml may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in adult women. Additional health efforts are needed to raise awareness among women and healthcare providers in preventing and controlling cardiovascular risk factors.

Background: According to newly published studies, patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) have significantly lower serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D 25(OH)D levels than those without the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Vitamin D insufficiency may be a predictor of poor prognosis in COVID-19 patients. Vitamin D supplementation is related to improved clinical outcomes in terms of intensive care unit (ICU) admission and death, particularly in individuals with moderate-to-severe forms of COVID-19 requiring hospitalization. Materials and methods: This placebo-controlled five-day study was performed on 100 hospitalized COVID-19 patients with vitamin D insufficiency randomized into two groups. Vitamin D in the form of a sublingual sprayable microemulsion (LYL love your life® sunD3 LYLmicro™) was given three times daily after breakfast, lunch, and dinner (daily dose 12,000 IU) to 52 patients with blood vitamin D levels below 30 ng/ml. 48 patients in the control group received a placebo spray in the same daily regiment. Results: We observed a statistically significant increase by 8.6 ng/ml in median vitamin D level after five days of high-dose vitamin D3 spray therapy. 90.2% of subjects reached normal serum levels of vitamin D. There was a strong correlation between changes in vitamin D and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in individuals with moderately severe disease (p<0.05), while mild and severe cases showed no statistical significance comparing case and control groups. There were no statistically significant changes in ferritin and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels. Conclusions: In this study, we demonstrated the possibility to rapidly increase circulating levels of vitamin D just in 5 days of high-dose intervention and found a statistically significant decrease of CRP levels in patients with moderately severe COVID-19. We were not able to detect statistically significant changes in ferritin and IL-6 levels during the 5-day vitamin D intervention.

Vitamin D, unlike the micronutrients, vitamins A, E and K, is largely obtained, not from food, but by the action of solar UV light on its precursor, 7-dehydrocholesterol, in skin. With the decline in UV light intensity in winter, most skin production of vitamin D occurs in summer. Because no defined storage organ or tissue has been found for vitamin D, it has been assumed that adequate vitamin D status in winter can only be maintained by oral supplementation. Skeletal muscle cells have now been shown to incorporate the vitamin D-binding protein (DBP) from blood into the cell cytoplasm where it binds to cytoplasmic actin. This intracellular DBP provides an array of specific binding sites for 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) which diffuses into the cell from the extracellular fluid. When intracellular DBP undergoes proteolytic breakdown, the bound 25(OH)D is then released and diffuses back into blood. This uptake and release of 25(OH)D by muscle, accounts for the very long half-life of this metabolite in the circulation. As 25(OH)D concentration in blood declines in winter, its cycling in and out of muscle cells appears to be upregulated. Parathyroid hormone is the most likely factor enhancing the repeated cycling of 25(OH)D between skeletal muscle and blood. This mechanism appears to have evolved to maintain adequate vitamin D status in winter.

Vitamin D, unlike the micronutrients, vitamins A, E and K, is largely obtained, not from food, but by the action of solar UV light on its precursor, 7-dehydrocholesterol, in skin. With the decline in UV light intensity in winter, most skin production of vitamin D occurs in summer. Because no defined storage organ or tissue has been found for vitamin D, it has been assumed that adequate vitamin D status in winter can only be maintained by oral supplementation. Skeletal muscle cells have now been shown to incorporate the vitamin D-binding protein (DBP) from blood into the cell cytoplasm where it binds to cytoplasmic actin. This intracellular DBP provides an array of specific binding sites for 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) which diffuses into the cell from the extracellular fluid. When intracellular DBP undergoes proteolytic breakdown, the bound 25(OH)D is then released and diffuses back into blood. This uptake and release of 25(OH)D by muscle, accounts for the very long half-life of this metabolite in the circulation. As 25(OH)D concentration in blood declines in winter, its cycling in and out of muscle cells appears to be upregulated. Parathyroid hormone is the most likely factor enhancing the repeated cycling of 25(OH)D between skeletal muscle and blood. This mechanism appears to have evolved to maintain adequate vitamin D status in winter.

1) Background: The aim was to evaluate the bioefficacy of vitamin D (VitD) encapsulated in nanoemulsions developed by sonication and pH-shifting of pea protein isolate in restoring VitD status in VitD-deficient rats. 2) Methods: Weaned (3-week old), male albino rats (n = 35) were initially divided into two groups: control sufficient group (VDS; n = 7) fed on a normal AIN-93G diet and a VitD-deficient group (n = 28) fed a VitD-deficient diet for six weeks. VitD-deficient rats were divided into four subgroups: two treatment groups (Nano+VitD and Oil+VitD) and two control groups (Nano-VitD and Oil-VitD), receiving seven rats in each sub-group. Nano+VitD and Oil+VitD groups received VitD dispersed in PPI-nanoemulsions and in canola oil, respectively, while the control groups received the respective delivery vehicles without VitD. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)VitD], parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcium (Ca), phosphorus levels (P), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity were measured. Femur bone was used to prepare histopathological sections. 3) Results: After one week of treatment, the VitD-deficient rats consuming Nano+VitD recovered from VitD deficiency (serum 25(OH)VitD 34.38 ± 7.00) compared to the sufficient control (36.84 ± 9.16; p > 0.05) and the deficient control consuming VitD+Oil (14.05 ± 3.08; p < 0.01). Enhancement in VitD status was followed with expected changes in serum PTH, Ca, P, and ALP levels, no difference in similar biomarkers against the sufficient control, and an improvement of the osteoid area and reduction of trabecular separation in bone. 4) Conclusions: Stabilization of VitD within PPI-based nanoemulsions enhances its absorption and restores its status and biomarkers of bone resorption in VitD-deficient rats.

Vitamin D (VD) is a pro-hormone essential for life in higher animals. It is present in few types of foods and is produced endogenously in the skin by a photochemical reaction. The final step of VD activation occurs in the kidneys involving a second hydroxylation reaction to generate the biologically active metabolite 1,25(OH)₂-VD. Extrarenal 1α-hydroxylation has also been described to have an important role in autocrine and paracrine signaling. Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) has been in the spotlight as a major public health-care issue with an estimated prevalence of more than a billion people worldwide. Among individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD), VDD prevalence has been reported to be as high as 80%. Classically VD plays a pivotal role in calcium and phosphorus homeostasis. Nevertheless, there is a growing body of evidence supporting the importance of VD in many vital nonskeletal biological processes such as endothelial function, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system modulation, redox balance and innate and adaptive immunity. In individuals with CKD, VDD has been associated with albuminuria, faster progression of kidney disease and increased all-cause mortality. Recent guidelines support VD supplementation in CKD based on extrapolation from cohorts conducted in the general population. In this review, we discuss new insights on the multifactorial pathophysiology of VDD in CKD as well as how it may negatively modulate different organs and systems. We also critically review the latest evidence and controversies of VD monitoring and supplementation in CKD patients.

Vitamin D status may impact acute affective symptomatology and the severity of symptoms in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). Therefore, this cross-sectional study analyzed 25(OH)D, 24,25(OH)2D, and the vitamin D metabolite ratio (VMR) in BD and correlated the results with clinical affective symptomatology and functionality. The inactive precursor 25(OH)D and its principal catabolite 24,25(OH)2D were measured simultaneously with a validated liquid chromatography tandem mass-spectrometry method in 170 BD outpatients and 138 healthy controls. VMR was calculated as follows: VMR=100*(24,25(OH)2D/25(OH)D). The psychometric assessment enclosed: Beck Depression Inventory-II, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Young Mania Rating Scale, Global Assessment of Functioning, and number of suicide attempts. We did not find a significant difference between patients and controls in the concentrations of 25(OH)D and 24,25(OH)2D. Additionally, the VMR was comparable in both groups. The calculations for the clinical parameters showed a negative correlation between the Young Mania Rating Scale and 24,25(OH)2D (r = -.154, p = .040). Based on the small effect size and the predominantly euthymic sample, further exploitation in individuals with manic symptoms would be needed to confirm this association. In addition, long-term clinical markers, and an assessment in different phases of the disease may provide available additional insights.

(1) Background: Many malignancies are driven by mutations which affect the gene for fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) 1. Previously we have documented that signal transduction from FOP2–FGFR1 fusion protein in KG1 cells downregulated the expression of vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene. In this paper we investigated if also other FGFRs were responsible for the regulation of the VDR expression. (2) Methods: We used human myeloid leukemia cells U937, and bone cancer cell line U2OS, and cell transfection methods in order to address the above questions. (3) Results: In myeloid leukemia cells overexpression of FGFR 1-4 caused shift to granulocytic differentiation, upregulated expression of VDR, and sensitized these cells to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25D)-induced monocytic differentiation, while in bone cells, signal transduction activated by FGF1 was not responsible for regulation of VDR expression and activity. (4) Conclusions: Since the overexpression of FGFRs occurs in many neoplasms, it may be reasonable to use 1,25D analogs in these cancers, in which overexpression of FGFRs leads to VDR upregulation.

The role of vitamin D in the prevention and treatment of non-skeletal health issues has received significant media and research attention in recent years. Costs associated with clinical management of low vitamin D (LVD) have increased exponentially. However, no clear evidence supports vitamin D screening to improve health outcomes. Authoritative bodies and professional societies recommend against population-wide vitamin D screening in community-dwelling adults who are asymptomatic or at low risk of LVD. In order to assess patterns of physician management of LVD in this conflicting environment, we conducted a scoping review of three electronic databases and gray literature. Thirty-eight records met inclusion criteria and were summarized in an evidence table. Results from seven countries showed a consistent increase in vitamin D lab tests and related costs. Many vitamin D testing patterns reflected screening rather than targeted testing for individuals at high risk of vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency. Interventions aimed at managing inappropriate clinical practices related to LVD were effective in the short term. Variability and controversy were pervasive in many aspects of vitamin D management, shining light on physician practices in the face of uncertainty. Future research is needed is needed to inform better clinical guidelines and to assess implementation practices that encourage evidence-based management of LVD in adult populations.

Severe infection from the SARS-CoV-2 virus is associated with various clinical findings, including hematological manifestations. Thrombotic events or a tendency to develop thrombotic events also characterize severe COVID-19 disease and may lead to death. Vitamin D is known to have immunomodulating properties and to enhance the body defense system against invading pathogens and to have immunostimulatory properties as far as the innate immune response is concerned. The aim was to measure 25(OH)D3 levels in patients hospitalized for severe COVID-19 infection, to explore the relationship between 25(OH)D3 and outcome and to investigate the relationship between 25(OH)D3 levels, CRP, ferritin, d-dimers and fibrinogen levels in this cohort. In a cohort of 88 patients hospitalized for severe infection from the SARS-CoV-2 virus and a control group matched for age and sex the levels of 25(OH)D3 were measured. In the same cohort CRP, ferritin, d-dimer and fibrinogen levels were also analyzed. Levels of 25(OH)D3 were 17.36±8.80 ng/ml (mean±SD) as compared with 24.34±10.34 ng/ml, in patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection and the control group, respectively, p<0.001 (Student’s t test). The levels of 25(OH)D3 were found to be significantly related to outcome, i.e. survival as opposed to non-survival, as more patients with 25(OH)D3 deficiency (0-10 ng/ml) and insufficiency (10-20 ng/ml) had a fatal outcome as compared with those with vitamin D sufficiency, p<0.001, chi-square test, p<0.001, Fischer’s exact test. Levels of 25(OH)D3 were inversely related to CRP, ferritin, d-dimer and fibrinogen levels, p<0.001, linear regression analysis, beta coefficient of variation, -0.176, -0,160, -0.178, -0.158, respectively. Vitamin D deficiency observed in severe SARS-CoV-2 infection was related to the disease outcome. Increased ferritin levels, and increased thrombotic markers, namely d-dimer and fibrinogen levels were observed in the patients and their concentration was also inversely related to vitamin D. We showed that vitamin D levels were low in hospitalized patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection and also inversely related to CRP, ferritin, d-dimer and fibrinogen concentration. It is proposed that vitamin D levels may be an index of severity in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

(1) Background: To investigate the effect of phosphohistone H3 (PHH3) and vitamin D receptor (VDR) in the risk assessment of endometriosis, in two cohorts of women with this pathology, those receiving hormonal treatment, and those without treatment; (2) Methods: In 60 cases of women with endometriosis, the paraffin-embedded endometriosis tissue samples, retrieved after surgery, were immunohistochemically (IHC) analyzed aiming to determine the expression status of PHH3 and VDR; (3) Results: The IHC positive index of PHH3 and VDR of these two groups were compared. PHH3 levels were positively correlated with vitamin D levels, both being increased in patients without treatment. Within the group without treatment, PHH3 and VDR expressions were positively associated; (4) Conclusions: IHC analysis of PHH3 and VDR can be used as an additional tool for risk stratification and prognostic assessment in patients with endometriosis.

In December 2019, the so-called “coronavirus disease 2019” (COVID-19) began. This disease is characterized by heterogeneous clinical manifestations, ranging from an asymptomatic process to life-threatening conditions associated with a “cytokine storm”. This article (narrative review) summarizes the epidemiologic characteristics and clinical manifestations of COVID-19 and multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). The effect of the pandemic confinement on vitamin D status and the hypotheses proposed to explain the age-related difference in the severity of COVID-19 are discussed. The role of vitamin D as a critical regulator of both innate and adaptive immune responses and the COVID-19 cytokine storm are analyzed. Vitamin D and its links to both COVID-19 (low levels of vitamin D appear to worsen COVID-19 outcomes) and the cytokine storm (anti-inflammatory activity) are detailed. Finally, the efficacy of vitamin D supplementation in COVID-19 is evaluated, but the evidence supporting vitamin D supplementation as an adjuvant treatment for COVID-19 remains uncertain.

This study examines the evolution and eventual decline of the spirit of primitive federalism within Confucianism, tracing its trajectory from the time of the Duke of Zhou and Confucius to the significant reinterpretations by Dong Zhongshu. The Duke of Zhou's establishment of a confederation-like system and the "Zhou ritual norms" laid the groundwork for a political structure that embraced diversity and distributed power among states, reflecting a proto-federalist concept. Confucius's teachings continued this legacy, advocating for a return to the systems of the Duke's era, where both the central government and local states shared responsibilities and rights. The crux of this study lies within its fourth section, which narrates a tale of transformation happened under Emperor Wu of Han, where Dong Zhongshu distorted the original Confucianism and reinterpreted it as a centralized ideology. In Confucian theory, the shift involved the suppression of alternative philosophies, the establishment of Confucianism as the state's dominant ideology, and a reinterpretation of Confucianism that supported an centralized framework and cultural assimilation. In political practice, he re-envisioned the role of feudal lords as administrative extensions of a centralized government, effectively eroding local autonomy and shifting towards a unified, centralized system. Under the auspices of political authority, Confucian theory was transformed from a federalist theory promoting diversity, inclusivity and advocating decentralization, to one that legitimized a centralized and unified system.

Class Incremental Learning (CIL) has emerged as a vital machine learning paradigm, particularly suited for environments with continuous data streams, such as those encountered in the financial industry. CIL enables models to progressively acquire and accumulate new knowledge without retraining the entire dataset, making it highly efficient for dynamic financial markets. In this paper, we explore the application of CIL to financial data streams, where high-frequency, high-dimensional data, such as stock prices and cryptocurrency transactions, evolve rapidly. The challenges inherent in CIL, including catastrophic forgetting—where the model loses previously learned knowledge—and intransigence—where it resists learning new classes—are addressed through both regularization-based techniques and dynamic architecture expansion. We present a comprehensive analysis of the algorithms designed to mitigate these challenges and highlight their relevance in financial applications like algorithmic trading, portfolio management, risk assessment, and fraud detection. By demonstrating how CIL enables models to adapt to new market conditions and asset classes while retaining past knowledge, we illustrate its critical role in advancing real-time financial decision-making. Through a detailed examination of the methodologies and their applications, this paper aims to provide insights into the future of adaptive financial models using Class Incremental Learning. We have also summarized methodologies into a model optimization-based class and a data focused class.

Student leadership prepares students for responsibilities such as taking on specific tasks, assuming leadership roles in their future personal and professional lives. Developing students' leadership profiles is among the important goals of educational systems aiming for future generations to take responsibility and advance their countries. With this perspective in mind, the PISA assessment includes items to measure students' leadership behaviors. This study aims to extract student leadership profiles from the leadership-related items in the PISA 2022 application, using data from Cambodia, Peru, Paraguay, and Guatemala, which have different governance systems and cultural characteristics. The second purpose of the research is to determine the distribution of the identified leadership profiles in these countries and explain them in the context of governance and cultural characteristics. Latent class analysis was used to determine student leadership profiles. Accordingly, 2-class and 3-class latent models were found to be the most suitable models to explain student profiles. While the distinction between student profiles is more pronounced in the 2-class model, the 3-class model provides more detailed information about student profiles. In this respect, 2-class and 3-class latent models are reported comparatively. In the 2-class latent model, students are labeled as the "Shy or Lack of Self-Confidence Group" and the "Active Leader or Influential Group." In the 3-class latent model, students are labeled as the "Moderate or Passive Leader Group," the "Strong Leader or Influential Group," and the "Avoidant or Leadership-Uncomfortable Group." In both models, it is one of the striking findings that Cambodian students are in the low leadership profile, and Peruvian students are in the high leadership profile.

The aim of this study was to analyze the profile of IgG subclasses in COVID-19 convalescent Puerto Rican subjects and compare this profile with those exhibited by no-infected immunocompetent or immunocompromised subjects that received the mRNA vaccine. The most notable find-ngs from this study are: 1) Convalescent subjects that were not hospitalized developed high and long-lasting antibody response. 2) Both, IgG1 and IgG3 are the subclasses more prevalent in the SARS-CoV-2 infected population whereas IgG1 is more prevalent after vaccination. 3) Individuals that first had the infection and further received two doses of mRNA vaccines exhibited more robust neutralizing capacity against Omicron than those that were never infected and received two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. 4) A class switch toward the “anti-inflammatory” anti-body isotype IgG4 is induced a few weeks after the third dose, which peaked abruptly and remained at high levels for a long period. Moreover, the high levels of IgG4 are concurrent with high neutralizing percentages against various VOC including Omicron. 5) Subjects with IBD also develop IgG4 after the third dose, although these antibody levels have limited effect on the neutralizing capacity. Knowing that the mRNA vaccines do not prevent reinfections, all Omicron sub-variants that are dominant worldwide have shown to be less pathogenic, and the IgG4 levels have been associated to immunotolerance and causative of numerous negative effects, the recommendations of successive administration of booster vaccinations to people should be revised.

In the mid-layers of Deep Learning systems, clustered features tend to fit multiple classifications, which are filtered out during the final stages of object recognition. However, many misclassifications remain, regarded as errors of the system. This paper claims that tagging an entity incorrectly for reasons of similarity is evidence of spontaneous machine creativeness. According to the ratings of 40 design educators and researchers, AI-generated false-class inclusions produced creative design ideas, predicting the level of innovation value. These designers were not just anybody but came from a design school in Asia with a top position on the world ranking-lists. They entered an experiment in which 20 classification mistakes were framed as early-design ideas that were either human-made or intentionally suggested by creative AI. Many examples passed the Feigenbaum variant of the Turing test with a conceptual preference to creations supposedly done by human hand.

Automated software bots infiltrate online surveys and corrupt data integrity, not to mention waste researcher time and budgets. Although resources exist to help keep bots out and identify bots when they do evade survey barriers, bot attacks may be a persistent problem for online surveys for a long time to come. Bots are evolving -- even as survey designers try ever more sophisticated methods to fend them off and weed their answers out. Vigilance needs to be high and the bot generators should not be under-estimated. We recount here some bot features we encountered after our own survey was attacked that helped to identify them, and that have not been detailed elsewhere. We also discuss reasons why commonly recommended strategies for how to keep bots out may not be feasible for many scientific researchers.

This study has been taken during COVID-19. It describes the working scenario of all class of peoples and their mental anxieties are analysed based on their psychological behaviour patterns.

In Bangladesh, microcredit program has been in function for almost half a century. Though popularly termed as a tool for poverty alleviation and women empowerment, criticism about microcredit program’s actual effectiveness isn’t new. This study attempts to evaluate the impact of such programs by measuring borrowers’ social mobility. Using a multidimensional approach, indicators like household income, economic susceptibility, living conditions, consumption pattern, children’s education, healthcare facilities, women’s participation in decision-making were taken into account for measurement. Quantitative method was used. Based on a non-probability sampling, 107 microcredit borrowers were selected for conducting interview schedules who live in a rural, a semi-urban and an urban area. Statistical analysis of data reveals that those who have been taking loans for several number of years have all managed to increase their income level to a variety of extent, but only those have gained some sort of mobility who have been taking loans for more than 4-5 years and have taken 5 times or more. Few of them have actually moved from microcredit to become a microfinance client by taking bigger amount of loans and having savings. Positive responses about the indicators being used in the study were found among the handful of those who have mobilized significantly. In true sense, most of the borrowers are stuck at the bottom end of socio-economic ladder and are struggling to manage a better living standard.

This article is an anthropology study on how western-style coffee culture influences Indonesian coffee culture and eventually develops a new localized coffee culture. Immense development of such worldwide coffee franchise as Starbucks affects local community's coffee culture, particularly the middle class. This new wave is considered as an alternative lifestyle for those who are consumptive and seeking for leisure, dynamics, and identity. Broader than just the process of domestication or creolization, Indonesian new coffee culture has an element of “soft countering to” western coffee culture even though it still embraces some parts of the western styles. This phenomenon is referred to by the writer as the cultural encapsulation process or the process of substantial cultural resistance by drawing a line between the two coffee cultures with the intention of taking merely compatible elements.

In this paper, we study the effect of parasitic channel on electrical characteristics and power consumptions of vertically stacked gate-all-around (GAA) silicon nanosheet (NS) MOSFETs of the bulk and silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates. Through deliberate control of the bottom parasitic channel coverage, we systematically assess its influence on DC, AC, and RF characteristics including power consumption. The observed findings highlight a significant differentiation among the bottom parasitic channels: GAA (i.e., control sample with 100% coverage), omega-shaped gate NS (70% and 80% coverages), and FinFET (60% coverage). Compared with the device with a 60% coverage channel, the device with a 100% coverage channel possesses 3520% and 8030% normalized leakage current improvement for both NFET and PFET under the bulk substrate, respectively. Compared with bulk-substrate devices, the SOI-substrate devices further significantly improve the leakage current. Due to enhanced off-state current leakages in the 100% covered bulk-substrate device, the static power demonstrates a notable improvement (about 98.1%), compared to 60% covered devices. Hence, the utilization of a 60% covered channel will result in a degradation of both device and circuit performance. The observation of GAA NS MOSFET indicates that an increase in the bottom parasitic channel coverage ratio leads to a positive impact on power consumption and leakage currents. The examination presented here is useful in the fabrication of stacked GAA NS MOSFETs.

Phosphatidylserine (PS) has significant applications in various sectors, such as the medical and food industries. However, its production relies heavily on phospholipase D (PLD), a crucial tool that is hindered by issues like poor stability and irrecoverability. Immobilization presents itself as an effective solution to overcome these limitations. In this study, magnetic graphene oxide (MGO) modified with amino (-NH₂) were synthesized and utilized for PLD immobilization. The activity of the immobilized PLD (MGO-PLD) reached 3062 U/g_MGO, with a specific activity of 33.9 U/mg_PLD, virtually identical to that of the free PLD. MGO-PLD was utilized to synthesize PS efficiently in a biphasic system. Under optimal conditions, PS yield reached 18.66 g/L, with a conversion rate of 92.8% and a productivity of 3.11 g/L/h. Notably, MGO-PLD retained an impressive PS conversion rate of 77.4% even after seven repetitive usages. Moreover, MGO-PLD displayed enhanced thermal and pH resistance properties compared to free PLD, alongside an augmented storage stability. Post a 8-week preservation at 4°C, its residual activity was able to maintain at 76.3%. This study provides a sustainable and highly efficient pathway for biocatalytic synthesis of PS.

In 2021, the World Health Organization classified isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutant gliomas as a distinct subgroup of tumors with genetic changes sufficient to enable a complete diagnosis. Patients with an IDH mutant glioma have improved survival which has been further enhanced by the advent of targeted therapies. IDH enzymes contribute to cellular metabolism, and mutations to specific catalytic residues result in the neomorphic production of D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D-2-HG). The accumulation of D-2-HG results in epigenetic alterations, oncogenesis and impacts the tumor microenvironment via immunological modulations. Here, we summarize the molecular, cellular, and clinical implications of IDH mutations in gliomas as well as current diagnostic techniques.

The different cell subsets of the immune system express vitamin D receptor (VDR). Through VDR, vitamin D exerts different functions which influences on immune responses, as previously shown in different preclinical models. Based on this background, retrospective studies have explored the impact of vitamin D levels on the outcome of patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, showing that vitamin D deficiency is related to an increased risk of complications, especially graft-versus-host disease. These results have been confirmed in a prospective cohorts trial, although further studies are required to confirm this data. In addition, the role of vitamin D on the treatment of hematologic malignancies has also been explored. Considering this dual effect both on the immune system as well as on tumor cells in patients with hematologic malignancies, vitamin D might be useful in this setting both to decrease graft-versus-host disease and relapse rates.

Superoxide, a form of reactive oxygen species (ROS), is catabolized by superoxide dismutase (SOD) and contributes to carcinogenesis via the oxidative damage it inflicts on cells. The aim of this research was to analyze the potential vitamin D-mediated regulation of the antioxidative “SOD1-to-SOD2 switch” within the human MG-63 osteosarcoma model. For this study; real-time PCR analysis was performed using MG-63 cells exposed to metabolically active 1,25(OH)₂D₃. Frist; a sustained statistically significant >2-fold suppression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) transcripts was observed after 10nM but not at 100nM of 1,25(OH)₂D₃ treatment; suggesting a cytostatic effect. In order to assess regulators of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation; gene expression of COX2 and COX4l1 of the mitochondrial complex IV and antioxidative enzymes (SOD1; SOD2 and Catalase (CAT)) were monitored. For COX2 and COX4l1; no changes in gene expression were observed. However; a concomitant decrease in CAT and SOD1 mRNA; and increase in SOD2 mRNA after 24 hours of 10nM 1,25(OH)₂D₃ treatment were observed. A ~8-fold increase in SOD2 mRNA was apparent after 48 hours. The significant increase in SOD2 activity in the presence of vitamin D indicates an antioxidant potential and sensitization of vitamin D during osteosarcoma transformation and mitochondrial detoxification over time.

The synthesis of enantiomeric forms of D-amino acids can be achieved by a two-step "hydantoinase process" based on the sequential catalysis of substrates by specific enzymes, D-carbamoylase and D-hydantoinase. In addition to our previously studied D-hydantoinase, we describe here the structural features of D-carbamoylase from Pseudomonas, the encoded gene of which was chemically synthesized and cloned into Escherichia coli. A significant fraction of the overexpressed recombinant protein forms insoluble inclusion bodies, which are partially converted to a soluble state upon treatment with N-lauroylsarcosine or upon incubation of the cells at low temperatures. Analysis of the substrate specificity of the purified His-tag protein showed that D-carbamoylase exhibits the highest activity toward N-carbamoyl-D-alanine and N-carbamoyl-D-tryptophan. Molecular docking analysis revealed the location of the substrate binding site in the three-dimensional structure of D-carbamoylase. Molecular dynamics simulations showed that the binding pocket of the enzyme in complex with N-carbamoyl-D-tryptophan is stabilized within 100 ns. The free energy of binding indicated a possible role of residues Arg176 and Asn173 in the formation of hydrogen bonds between the enzyme and N-carbamoyl-D-tryptophan. The properties of the studied D-carbamoylase and D-hydantoinase support further development of a combined biotechnological process for the production of new drugs and peptide hormones.

Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is essentially featured by self-tissue destruction by means of the adaptive immune responses that evade immune regulation. Vitamin D carries out an immunomodulatory role that appears to promote immune tolerance. The aim of this study is to elaborate a narrative review about the relationship between vitamin D status and HT and the role of vitamin D supplementation to reduce HT risk by modulating the immune system. There is an extensive literature confirming that vitamin D levels are significantly lower in HT patients compared to healthy people. On the other hand, after the supplementation with cholecalciferol in patients with HT and vitamin D deficiency, thyroid autoantibody titer decreased significantly, However, there are no conclusive results on the effect of vitamin D supplementation on the thyroid function. The confirmation of the beneficial effects of vitamin D in the prevention and treatment of autoimmune thyroid diseases require additional randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials with longer follow-up.

Vitamin D plays an important role in maintaining healthy mineralized skeleton. It is also consid-ered an immunomodulatory agent that regulate the innate and adaptive immune systems. Multi-ple observational studies have demonstrated the association between low level of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and presence and severity of several rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), spondyloarthropathies and oste-oarthritis (OA). Nevertheless, the specific benefits of vitamin D supplement for treatment and prevention of rheumatic diseases are less accepted as the results from randomized clinical trials are inconsistent, although some conceivable benefits of vitamin D for improvement of disease ac-tivity of RA, SLE and OA have been demonstrated in meta-analyses. It is also possible that some individuals might benefit from vitamin D differently from others since inter-individual difference in responsiveness to vitamin D supplementation has been observed in genomic studies. Although the optimal level of serum 25(OH)D is still debatable, it is advisable it is advisable that patients with rheumatic diseases should maintain serum 25(OH)D level at least 30 ng/mL (75 nmol/L) to prevent osteomalacia, secondary osteoporosis and fracture, and possibly 40 – 60 ng/mL (100 – 150 nmol/L) to achieve maximal benefit from vitamin D for immune health and overall health.

This research was conducted to study the incidence of seed-borne fungi in stored sunflower seeds under ambient conditions as well as their influence on seed viability and vigour. Certified seeds, Quality Declared Seeds (QDS) and Farmer saved seeds (FSS) were stored for six months. Seed samples were taken every month testing for fungal infection percent (FIP), germination percentage (G%) and seedling vigour index (SVI). Eight fungal species namely as Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, Alternaria padwickii, A. zinniae, Botrytis cinerea, Curvularia lunata, Fusarium vericillioides and Rhizopus arrihizus were identified. At the end of experiment, the maximum species infection percentage were recorded on F. vericillioides (14.39), B. cinerea (14.28) in FSS and the minimum by A. zinniae (1.83) with QDS. Maximum total fungal infection incidence was recorded with FSS (73.11%) and minimum with QDS (66.94%) and certified seeds (67.06%). The QDS recorded the highest G% (81.56) and certified seeds (81.33%), the maximum SVI (96.76) was in certified seeds and 95.69 (in QDS). The minimum G% (60.67) and SVI (65.98) were found in FSS. The highest G% and SVI were recorded in seeds with minimum FIP. These results suggest that, fungal infections may negatively affect the seed viability and vigour. For the first time, the incidence of seed-borne fungi in stored sunflower seeds have been determined in Tanzania.

Most cervical cancer cases are a result of persistent high-risk Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. Cervical cancer is prevalent in LMICs especially in SSA where it is second most prevalent cancer. In South Africa, it is the second most common cancer affecting women aged between 15 and 44 years. The host immune response has been shown as an important factor in controlling the progression or regression of high-risk HPV infection of the cervix to cervical cancer. The risk of cervical cancer is known to be influenced by the host's genetic diversity, particularly by immune response-regulating genes such as the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) class I and II genes. HLA class I genes present viral peptides to CD8+ T cells which are restricted and pre-programmed for cytotoxic functions. There is very little known about the HLA genes of South African women and how these influence outcome of HPV infections. This review aims to understand the role and influence of HLA class I genes in HPV clearance, persistence, and CD8+ T cell mediated immunity in African women by examining existing literature in this area. Understanding this role can influence and inform therapeutic vaccine design that is population specific.

Due to the retrognathic mandible, an orthodontist frequently observes skeletal class II malocclusion in growing patients. The preferred technique for analyzing and monitoring the temporomandibular joint alterations caused by the functional device is magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]. The study aimed to assess and compare changes in the articular disc's dimension and location before and following the use of various class II correctors to correct the class II molar relation using MRI technology. Methods: 39 adolescent patients aged 15-23 years old [24 girls and 15 boys] who were diagnosed with skeletal Class II division 1 malocclusion based on clearly defined criteria underwent treatment with either the power scope II [PS], Sabbagh Advanced Repositioning Appliance [SARA] and or Dynaflex [DF] with fixed appliances. For fixed functional treatment, the average length of treatment was 5-7 months. The changes in the articular disc dimension and position and condylar position were assessed. The study was done at the Department of Orthodontics at the College of Dentistry, Hawler Medical University in Erbil City. Results: Group DF has a significant effect on the condylar position index and posterior joint space on the closed mouth and disc length on both open and close mouth techniques, and in the group SARA, disc position, and condylar position index on closed mouth technique have shown that significant differences were observed. Conclusion: Class II malocclusions can be effectively corrected by fixed functional appliances. The statistical significance forward movement of the condyle in the glenoid fossa and the posterior movement of the articular disc concerning the condylar head was observed. The mechanism of action of functional appliances appears to include the forward migration of the C-GF complex.

We propose Reduced Collatz Conjecture that is equivalent to Collatz Conjecture, which states that every positive integer can return to an integer less than it, instead of 1. Reduced Collatz Conjecture should be easier because some properties are presented in reduced dynamics, rather than in original dynamics (e.g., ratio and period). Reduced dynamics is a computation sequence from starting integer to the first integer less than it, and original dynamics is a computation sequence from starting integer to 1. Reduced dynamics is a component of original dynamics. We denote dynamics of x as a sequence of either computations in terms of ``I'' that represents (3*x+1)/2 and ``O'' that represents x/2. Here 3*x+1 and x/2 are combined together, because 3*x+1 is always even and followed by x/2. We formally prove that all positive integers are partitioned into two halves and either presents ``I'' or ``O'' in next ongoing computation. More specifically, (1) if any positive integer x that is i module $2^t$ (i is an odd integer) is given, then the first t computations (each one is either ``I'' or ``O'' corresponding to whether current integer is odd or even) will be identical with that of i. (2) If current integer after t computations (in terms of ``I'' or ``O'') is less than x, then reduced dynamics of x is available. Otherwise, the residue class of x (namely, i module $2^t$) can be partitioned into two halves (namely, i module $2^{t+1}$ and $i+2^t$ module $2^{t+1}$), and either half presents ``I'' or ``O'' in intermediately forthcoming (t+1)-th computation.

Objective. It is unknown whether the public accurately estimate socioeconomic health inequality and whether they wish to see it reduced or eliminated. Methods. Representative samples of the UK and US indicated the perceived and ideal lifespan of people working in “higher managerial/professional” and “routine” occupations. We present perceived and desired lifespan ratios for each sample and for key socio-demographic variables. Results. The UK public estimated the lifespan of professionals to be 5.9% longer than routine workers (true value of 5.8%), and 67.8% (UK) and 53.7% (US) participants correctly identified that professionals live longer than routine workers. In both populations, the median respondent expressed equal ideal lifespans for routine workers and professional workers. Conclusion. The UK public appear well-appraised on the average lifespan for professionals and routine workers. Across nationalities and most socio-demographic groups, the median respondent was aware of social class inequalities in lifespan and preferred that they be eliminated.

B lymphocyte development has two DNA recombination processes: V(D)J recombination of the immunoglobulin (Igh) gene variable region and class switching of the Igh constant regions from IgM to IgG, IgA, or IgE. V(D)J recombination is required for successful maturation of B cells from pro-B to pre-B to immature-B and then to mature B cells in the bone marrow. CSR occurs outside of the bone marrow when mature B cells migrate to peripheral lymphoid organs, such as spleen and lymph nodes. Both V(D)J recombination and CSR depend on an “open chromatin” state that makes DNA accessible to specific enzymes, recombination activating gene (RAG), and activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID). Acetyltransferases GCN5 and PCAF possess redundant functions acetylating histone H3 lysine 9 (H3K9). Here, we generated a mouse model that lacks both GCN5 and PCAF in B cells. We found that double-deficient mice possess low levels of mature B cells in the bone marrow and peripheral organs, an accumulation of pro-B cells in bone marrow, and reduced CSR levels. We conclude that both GCN5 and PCAF are required for B cell development in vivo.

The rationale of this study is to explore underlying sustainability assessment constructs in the context of WCSM implementation as a key focus by manufacturing industries in the journey of achieving world-class status in their manufacturing operations. This study primarily intends to collect primary data from 143 plant managers and supervisors through the structured questionnaires at select manufacturing companies in south India on the basis of area-cum-purposive sampling technique. The survey questionnaire is designed exclusively to reflect the sustainability assessment dimensions in terms of social, economic and environmental issues to examine the impetus of WCSM implementation on the competitive advantage of manufacturing companies. The empirical findings of this study clearly revealed that sustainable manufacturing practices, sustainability programs, creation of sustainable products, safety for employee, community and product, operational efficiency and integration of sustainability goals in day-to-day manufacturing activities were considered to be the key indicators by the manufacturing firms in their never-ending journey towards becoming the world class. Moreover, the WCSM practices & techniques adopted by sample manufacturers have a substantial positive influence on the achievement of competitive advantage in their manufacturing and business operations.

Despite the technological advancements of 3-D city models, the 3-D shape abstraction methods for urban vegetation are recent and still limited to support spatial analysis of individual or groups of trees and forest patches. In this paper, a scheme for individual urban tree abstraction, which retains the semantic complexity of the object, is proposed. Our contribution is three-fold. First, an initial tree structure based on a new 3-D aggregation operator is proposed. Second, we developed Gestalt rules for 3-D urban vegetation mapping. Third, current state-of-the-art deep learning is adapted for the abstraction of individual urban trees. Quantitative and qualitative results show the effectiveness of our proposed approach in accurately reducing the spatial density of trees and the degree of fragmentation of the total green area, which can access information about the location, size, and spatial distribution of mapped urban trees.

Background: Potential calcium-related adverse events of vitamin D supplement use have not been addressed in large-scale, real-world data so far. Methods: Leveraging data from the UK Biobank, encompassing 445,493 individuals aged 40-69, we examined associations of high 25-hydroxyvitamin (25[OH]D) levels ≥100 nmol/L and vitamin D supplementation with hypercalcemia (plasma calcium >2.6 mmol/L), kidney stones, and atherosclerosis assessments (pulse wave arterial stiffness index and carotid intima-medial thickness). Regression models were comprehensively adjusted for 49 covariates. Results: Approximately 1.5% of the participants had high 25(OH)D levels, 4.3% regularly used vitamin D supplements, and 20.4% reported regular multivitamin use. At baseline, the hypercalcemia prevalence was 1.6%, and 1.1% were diagnosed with kidney stones during follow-up. High 25(OH)D levels were neither associated with calcium-related adverse events nor atherosclerosis assessments. Vitamin D and multivitamin supplementation were associated with an increased prevalence of hypercalcemia (odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals: 1.46[1.32-1.62] and 1.11[1.04-1.18], respectively) but were neither associated with atherosclerosis nor future kidney stones. Conclusion: High 25(OH)D levels observable in routine care were not associated with any adverse outcome. Vitamin D users have a slightly higher prevalence of hypercalcemia, possibly due to co-supplementation with calcium, but without higher atherosclerosis prevalence or risk of kidney stones.

Background and Objectives: Previous studies revealed anti-angiogenic, antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory effects of Vitamin D on cancer cells. Although this body of evidence supported the correlation of high Vitamin D levels with reduced incidence rates for various malignancies, contradictory results were reported regarding non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC). Aim of this overview was to summarize the available evidence from the existing pool of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, focusing on Vitamin D serum status, dietary intake, and Vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms in correlation to NMSC incidence. Materials and Methods: A literature search in electronic databases was conducted from inception to January 2023. Inclusion criteria were systematic reviews and meta-analyses published in peer-reviewed journals, evaluating Vitamin D serum levels, dietary and/or supplementary intake, or VDR gene polymorphisms, and reporting data on NMSC. Results: A total of 10 studies were included in the data analysis models. A positive association between Vitamin D serum levels and NMSC is highlighted. However, dietary/supplementation of Vitamin D doesn’t exhibit a likewise strong linkage to NMSC. Despite the contradictory findings, VDR polymorphisms may play a crucial role in the intricate NMSC pathogenesis. Conclusions: This umbrella review showed that high Vitamin D levels are associated with increased NMSC incidence, potentially due to its direct correlation with increased sun exposure. Further research on VDR polymorphisms is suggested to explore their true effect size on NMSC risk.

Vitamin D is a nutrient with anti-inflammatory properties whose role is currently being evaluated in COVID-19. Although studies are conflicting, they seem to suggest a role for vitamin D in reducing disease susceptibility but not in improving clinical outcome. In order to understand why vitamin D does not seem to have much effect on decreasing disease severity, it is essential to appreciate pulmonary vitamin D metabolism. To reach the pulmonary compartment, vascular endothelial cells would need to take up vitamin D from the blood stream, but they lack vitamin D receptor (VDR) and the activating enzyme CYP27B1. Endothelialitis – an important disease manifestation of COVID-19 – is therefore not expected to be directly affected by vitamin D. Bronchial epithelial cells are usually among the first to be infected with SARS-CoV-2. They do express both VDR and CYP27B1, but circulating vitamin D may not reach bronchial epithelial cells without transportation from the blood stream through the blood vessel wall. Inhalation therapy with vitamin D has therefore been suggested as an alternative for oral administration to bypass endothelial cells and efficaciously target bronchial epithelium. In conclusion, based on the principles of pulmonary vitamin D metabolism, it is not expected that vitamin D administration has a significant effect on COVID-19 severity. Vitamin D is more likely to reduce SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility, but reaching the airways with oral supplementation will be difficult and vitamin D inhalation therapy should be considered.

Vitamin D has previously been quantified in some plants and algae, particularly in leaves of the Solanaceae family. We measured the vitamin D content of Australian native food plants and Australian-grown edible seaweed. Using liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry, 13 samples (including leaf, fruit and seed) were analysed in duplicate for vitamin D₂, vitamin D₃, 25-hydroxyvitamin D₂ and 25-hydroxyvitamin D₃. Five samples contained vitamin D₂: raw wattleseed (Acacia victoriae) (0.03 µg/100 g dry weight (DW)); fresh and dried lemon myrtle (Backhousia citriodora) leaves (0.03 and 0.24 µg/100 g DW, respectively); dried leaves and berries of Tasmanian mountain pepper (Tasmannia lanceolata) (0.67 and 0.05 µg/100 g DW, respectively). Fresh kombu (Lessonia corrugata) contained vitamin D₃ (0.01 µg/100 g DW). Detected amounts were low; however, it is possible that exposure to ultraviolet radiation may increase the vitamin D content of plants and algae if vitamin D precursors are present.

The aim of this work is to compare two softwares (MAUD and TOPAS) based on the Rietveld algorithm and to test the concept of tolerance factor using the dissolution at high temperature of yttrium into BaTiO₃. In general, both softwares give up different values of the crystalline parameters however the trends are similar in most cases but the analysis of the strain and crystallite size in the BaTiO₃ crystals suggests that, in this particular case, MAUD offered results more consistent with the expected behavior. Using the crystalline parameters calculated by Rietveld, the tolerance factor values were obtained and these data suggest even better stability in the crystalline structure than that expected using theoretical parameters. Tolerance factor concept also indicates that Ti⁴⁺ should be preferred.

Calorie restriction (CR) has been shown to prolong the lifespan of humans, but enforcing long-term CR is difficult. Therefore, a compound that reproduces the effect of CR without CR is needed. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on compounds with CR mimetic (CRM) effects. More than 10 compounds have been listed as CRMs, some of which are conventionally categorized as upstream-type CRMs showing glycolytic inhibition while the others are categorized as downstream-type CRMs that regulate or genetically modulate intracellular signaling proteins. Among these, we focus on upstream-type CRMs and propose their classification as compounds with energy metabolism inhibition effects, particularly glucose metabolism modulation effects. The upstream-type CRMs reviewed include chitosan, acarbose, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, and hexose analogs such as 2-deoxy-D-glucose, D-glucosamine, and D-allulose, which show anti-aging and longevity effects. Finally, we discuss the molecular definition of upstream-type CRMs.

A recent systematic review for 19 selected articles after searching through to 30 September 2017 showed vitamin D deficiency was associated with ischemic stroke (IS), not hemorrhagic stroke (HS). But a heterogeneity would be introduced with comparing the lowest and highest category of vitamin D. The aim of this article was to conduct an updated meta-analysis (UMA) with searching through to 31 March 2019. An interval collapsing method as information extraction was applied in order to decrease a heterogeneity among studies. Additional articles were selected from cited lists from 19 selected articles using citation discovery tools. Random effect model was applied if I-squared value was over 50%. A funnel plot and Egger’s test were used to detect a publication bias. After 5 new studies were added, the summary RRs [and their 95% confidence intervals] (I-squared value) were 1.52 [1.33–1.74] (0.0%) in IS, and 2.44 [1.34–4.46] (69.7%) in HS. This UMA supported the hypothesis that serum vitamin D deficiency was associated with an increased risk of HS as well as IS. Diverse public health programs against vitamin D deficiency status would be needed for higher risk group, especially elderly people.

Surfactant proteins A and D (SP-A and SP-D) belong to the collectin subfamily of C-type oligomeric lectins. They are pattern-recognition molecules (PRM), able to recognise pathogen- or dan-ger-associated molecular patterns (PAMP, DAMP) in the presence of Ca2+ cations. That property enables opsonisation or agglutination of non-self or altered/abnormal self-cells, and contributes to their clearance. Like other collectins, SP-A and SP-D are characterised by the presence of four distinct domains: a cysteine-rich domain (at N-terminus), a collagen-like region, an α-helical neck domain and a globular carbohydrate-recognition domain (CRD) (at C-terminus). Pulmonary sur-factant is a lipoprotein complex, preventing alveolar collapse by reducing surface tension at the air-liquid interface. SP-A and SP-D, produced by type II alveolar epithelial cells, and Clara cells, are not only pattern-recognition molecules but also contribute to the surfactant structure and homeo-stasis. Moreover, they are expressed in a variety of extrapulmonary sites where they are involved in local immunity. The term “cancer” includes a variety of diseases: tumours start from uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in any tissue which may further spread to other sites of the body. Many cancers are incurable, difficult to diagnose and often fatal. This short review summarises anti- and pro-tumourigenic associations of SP-A and SP-D as well as perspectives of their usefulness in cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Upland cotton is sensitive to 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), and the identification of potentially 2,4-D tolerant cotton chromosome substitution (CS) lines and understanding tolerance mechanisms provide a significant step into the development and genetic improvement of upland cotton to reduce yield loss caused by 2,4-D herbicide effects including the drifts. Experiments were conducted to understand the possible mechanism of herbicide tolerance in CS-T04-15, CS-T07, and CS-B15sh, 2,4-D herbicide-tolerant cotton CS lines compared with TM-1, the 2,4-D herbicide susceptible recurrent parent of the CS line as control, using [14C]2,4-D. Percent absorption rate and translocation patterns of the 14C-labeled herbicide application at 5.17 kBq at 6 to 48 hours after treatment (HAT) were determined. The tolerant cotton CS lines showed 15-19% [14C]2,4-D uptake while TM-1 exhibited a reduced uptake of only 1.4% [14C]2,4-D at 24 HAT. Distribution of the absorbed [14C]2,4-D showed that 2-5% was translocated outside the treated leaf. In TM-1, 77% of the herbicide was translocated above and below the treated leaf, contrasting with the reduced translocation of 14C-labeled herbicide observed in the tolerant CS lines. Interestingly, CS-T04-15 showed a restricted movement of 14C below the treated leaf at 6 to 48 HAT, suggesting a novel mechanism of herbicide tolerance. This finding is the first report on upland cotton demonstrating a complex differential uptake and translocation associated with herbicide tolerance for [14C]2,4-D in cotton CS lines.

Backgroundː Previous studies have shown that both serum creatinine and D-dimer levels were associated with atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD). We aimed to determine whether DCR is associated with coronary Gensini score in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Methodsː 337 STEMI patients with complete D-dimer and creatinine and other necessary information were included in the analysis. According to the values of the DCR, patients were divided into the lower DCR group (DCR ≤ 1.42, n = 173) and the higher DCR group (DFR > 1.42, n = 174), and the differences between the two groups were compared. Multivariate linear and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine independent predictors of Gensini score. Resultsː High DCR group had higher Gensini score compared with low DCR group (P < 0.05). DCR was positively correlated with Gensini score (r=0.493, P < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that Previous MI (r=11.312, P=0.035) and DCR (r=5.129, P<0.001) were independent risk factors associated with Gensini score. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that, compared to the group 1, DCR is independent risk factor for Group 2, Group 3, Group 4 (P <0.001). DCR is positively correlated with coronary Gensini score in STEMI patients and can be used as an independent predictor of higher Gensini score. Conclusionsː As a new and useful clinical marker, DCR is positively correlated with coronary Gensini score in STEMI patients and can be used as an independent predictor of higher Gensini score.

Reducing the immunogenicity of animal-derived monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for use in humans is critical to maximize therapeutic effectiveness and preclude potential adverse events. While traditional humanization methods have primarily focused on grafting antibody Complementarity-Determining Regions (CDRs) on homologous human antibody scaffolds, framework regions can also play essential roles in antigen binding. Here, we describe the humanization of the pan-HLA-DR mAb 44H10, a murine antibody displaying significant involvement of the framework region in antigen binding. Using a structure-guided approach, we identify and restore framework residues that directly interact with the antigen or indirectly modulate antigen binding by shaping the antibody paratope and engineer a humanized antibody with affinity, biophysical profile, and molecular binding basis comparable to that of the parental 44H10 mAb. As a humanized molecule, this antibody holds promise as a scaffold for the development of MHC class II-targeting therapeutics and vaccines.

In this article, rst we are going to review the concept of ordinary frames , in more general case in measure spaces, namely, gc-frames. We try to develop the use of measure space in describing frames. Then by means of the gc-frames, we shall introduce gn-operators, which we shall show that each trace class operator has a vector-valued integral representation and vice-versa.

Type 2 diabetes has been linked to the expression of Human Leukocyte Antigens, principally to the major Histocompatibility Complex Class II and only scarce reports to Major Histocompatibility Complex class I in specific populations. The objective of the present work was to explore the presence of polymorphisms in the MHC class I related to Type 2 diabetes in the Mexican population using the GWAS SIGMA database. This database contains information of 3,848 Mexican individuals with type 2 diabetes and 4,366 control individuals from the same population without clinical or hereditary history of the disease. The searching criteria considered a P value < 0.005 and odds ratio, OR > 1.0. Ten novel statistically significant nucleotide variants were identified: four polymorphisms associated with HLA-A (A*03:01:01:01), and six with HLA-C (C*01:02:01:01). These alleles have a high prevalence in Latin American populations and could potentially be associated with autoimmunity mechanisms related with the development of Type 2 diabetes complications.

In this paper, a new approach to retrieve semantic images based on shape and geometric features of image in conjunction with multi-class support vector machine is proposed. Zernike moment as shape feature is to verify the invariance of objects for silhouette image. In addition, a set of geometrical features is to explore the objects shape using two features of rectangularity and circularity. Then the extracted features are normalized and employed for multi-class support vector machine either for learning or retrieving processes. The retrieving process relies on three main tasks which namely Query Engine, Matching Module and Ontology Manger, respectively. Query Engine is to build the input text or image query using SPARQL language. The matching module extracts the shape and geometric features of image’s objects and employ them to Ontology Manger which in turn inserts them in ontology knowledge base. Benchmark mammals have been conducted to empirically conclude the outcome of proposed approach. Our experiment on text and image retrieval yields efficient results to problematic phenomena than previously reported.

Age-related declines in vitamin D receptor (VDR) expression have been implicated in the onset of sarcopenia. The increased expression of VDR in muscle is known to increase muscle mass, whereas VDR knockout in the muscle decreases muscle mass in rats. Similar to VDR, the age-related decline in protein deacetylase sirtuin (SIRT) expression is linked to the development of sarcopenia and age-related muscle dysfunction. This study aimed to investigate whether the VDR agonist 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25VD3) exerts beneficial effects on muscles through interactions with sirtuins and, if so, the underlying molecular mechanisms. 1,25VD3 treatment increases the expression of VDR, SIRT1, and SIRT3 in C2C12 myotubes. Additionally, it stimulates the differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts into myotubes. Furthermore, 1,25VD3 significantly enhanced the expression of key myogenic markers, including myosin heavy chain (MyHC) proteins (MyHC I and II), MyoD, and MyoG, and increased the phosphorylation of AMPK and AKT. Conversely, VDR knockdown in myoblasts induces myotube atrophy by downregulating SIRT1 and SIRT3 expression. Furthermore, 1,25VD3 ameliorated muscle atrophy and apoptosis induced by IFN-γ/TNF-α co-treatment to C2C12 myotube. Moreover, 1,25VD3 downregulated the increased expression of muscle atrophy-associated proteins, including FoxO3a, MAFbx, and MuRF1 in IFN-γ/TNF-α induced atrophy model. Importantly, IFN-γ/TNF-α significantly reduced the mtDNA copy number in C2C12 myotube, whereas the presence of 1,25VD3 effectively prevented this decrease. These results indirectly suggest that 1,25VD3 has the potential to develop as a therapeutic or preventive agent for age-mediated muscle atrophy by enhancing the VDR/SIRT1/SIRT3 axis and inhibiting the FoxO3-mediated atrophy pathway.

Rapid industrialization, urbanization, and population explosion in sub-Saharan Africa escalate environmental Lead levels with subsequent elevation of blood Lead levels in children. Nutrition status, age, and genetics govern one’s susceptibility to Lead toxicity. This study expounded this susceptibility by relating blood Lead levels, d-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase enzyme activity (ALAD), and genetic variations of proteins that code for ALAD enzyme in urban children of Uganda. Spectrophotometric analysis for blood Lead (BL), hemoglobin levels, and determination d-levels aminolevulinic acid dehydratase enzyme activity of the blood samples from 198 children were performed prior to a polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length digestion for ALAD polymorphism was done. Up to 99.5% of samples coded for the ALAD1 allele whereas 0.05% coded for ALAD2. Genotypes ALAD2-2 members had elevated BLL (mean 14.1 µg/dL) and reduced ALAD enzyme activity compared to others. This, therefore, implies that the majority of children hoard BL which may affect them later in life.

D-dimer testing in combination with clinical assessment is commonly used to diagnose suspected DVT and pulmonary embolism. However, as D-dimer levels are physiologically higher in elderly patients, this test loses clinical specificity in the setting of geriatric patients. The aim of our study was to investigate the changes in D-dimer levels with age and the specificity of the D-dimer test in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. 1617 elderly patients consecutively admitted to the Geriatric Emergency Care Department of the INRCA-IRCCS hospital between January 2013 and February 2014 and for whom D-dimer results were available were included. The D-dimer immunoturbidimetric assay was performed on a cs-2100i Sysmex Siemens using a conventional cut-off level of 500 µg/L. The median D-dimer level was 1200 [550-2990] µg/L FEU, and the percentage of patients with D-dimer levels below the conventional cut-off was only 22.1%. As expected, there was a significant age-related increase in D-dimer, even when sex was considered, and a significant decrease in the specificity of D-dimer assay with age. The most established use of D-dimer testing is in the diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. Our study confirms the need for an age-adjusted cut-off for D-dimer testing in geriatric patients.

Vitamin D has important anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial properties and plays a central role in host immune response. Due to the crucial role of the kidneys in the metabolism of vitamin D, patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), are prone to vitamin D deficiency. The resultant reduction in the production of calcitriol, the activated form of vitamin D in patients with CKD is responsible for exacerbating the existing renal impairment and periodontal inflammation. Recent evidence suggests a bidirectional, causal relationship between periodontitis and renal functional status. Both conditions have shared pathophysiologic mechanisms including oxidative stress, increases in the systemic inflammatory burden and impaired host response. This review explores the association between vitamin D, CKD and periodontitis. The review summarises the current evidence base for the classical and non-classical vitamin D metabolic pathways, the biological mechanisms linking vitamin D deficiency, CKD and periodontitis, as well as the bidirectional relationship between the two chronic inflammatory conditions. Finally, the paper explores the impact of vitamin D deficiency on CKD, periodontitis, and related co-morbidities.

D-Serine, a co-agonist of NMDA receptors has sparked a contentious debate within the scientific community regarding its status as a gliotransmitter or a neurotransmitter. This comprehensive review delves into the heart of this debate, offering a meticulous analysis of the existing evidence from various research methodologies. Immunostaining studies and cell-selective mutations provide compelling support for D-serine's neuronal origin, bolstering the serine shuttle model. In contrast, the gliotransmission hypothesis, proposing astrocytic synthesis and release, faces critical scrutiny as inconsistencies in supporting data emerge. In vivo microdialysis experiments unveil a neuronal contribution to D-serine release and its profound impact on synaptic plasticity, further strengthening the case for neuronal dominance. Counterarguments in favor of astrocytic D-serine release are systematically dissected, revealing inherent limitations and ambiguities. Collectively, the evidence corroborates D-serine's neuronal source and discounts the astrocytic hypothesis. This review underscores the need for scientific rigor when evaluating contentious topics and affirms the simplicity of the neuronal explanation, aligning D-serine with the serine shuttle model, thus advancing our comprehension of its pivotal role in synaptic function and cognitive processes. As the debate continues to evolve, this exploration encourages ongoing research to unravel the intricate mechanisms governing D-serine neurotransmission.

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are a kind of nano-inclusions that have experienced tremendous expansion in the material industry due to their outstanding mechanical qualities, sizable surface area, and capacity for functional tuning. Due to their vast potential, however, present practises fall short of fully using them. For example, employing CNCs in various matrices with various surface chemistries can be challenging; this problem tends to get worse if the focus is furthered on bio-based applications. This paper reviews the use of CNCs as fillers in natural and man-made polymers; we have explored in depth the production, characterisation, and of CNCs from various sources and their inclusion into various matrices. Surface alterations and the introduction of CNCs in biodegradable polymer can have a significant impact on several industrial behemoths such as tissue engineering and biomedical applications; therefore, pursue of current manuscript is extremely warranted. Throughout the manuscript various assembly techniques that involves alteration and adjustment of polymer network in building up a hydrogel with higher fracture energy and mechanical properties are also included. From rheological perspective the hydrogel processing is also discussed with some models routinely used in the literature to describe these hydrogels. Finally, bio-based hydrogels mechanically reinforced with CNCs such as Xanthan Gum, Alginate, protein, and polysaccharides were discussed.

Background: A Few preclinical studies have shown that Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is linked to gut microbiome dysbiosis and chronic inflammation. This pilot study was designed to look at the gut microbiome composition in KOA patients and normal individuals with or without vitamin D deficiency (VDD, serum vitamin D <30 ng/ml). Methods: This pilot study was conducted prospectively in 24 participants. The faecal samples of all the participants were taken for DNA extraction. The V3-V4 region of 16s rRNA was amplified and the library was prepared and sequenced on the Illumina Miseq platform. Results: The mean (±SD) age was 45.5 (±10.2) years with no defined co-morbidities. Of 447 total Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs), a differential abundance of 16 nominally significant OTUs between the groups were observed. Linear discriminate analysis (LEfSe) revealed a significant difference in bacteria among the study groups. Pseudobutyrivibrio and Odoribacter were specific for VDD while Parabacteroides, Butyricimonas, and Gordonibacter were abundant in the KOA_VDD group and Peptococcus, Intestimonas, Delftia, and Oribacterium were abundant in the KOA group. About 80% of bacterial species were common among different groups and hence labeled as core bacterial species. However, the core microbiome of KOA and VDD groups were not seen in the KOA_VDD group, suggesting that these bacterial groups were affected by the interaction of the KOA and VDD factors. Conclusion: Parabacteroides, Butyricimonas, Pseudobutyrivibrio, Odoribacter, and Gordonibacter are the predominant bacteria in vitamin D deficient patients with or without KOA. Together these results indicate an association between the gut microbiome, vitamin D, and knee osteoarthritis.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new virus which causes respiratory illness. Older adults and people who have previous chronic medical conditions are at higher risk for more serious complications from COVID-19.Hypovitaminosis D is attributed to the increased risk of lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) as well as diabetes, Cardiovascular event and associated comorbidities, which are the main causes of severe clinical problem in COVID-19 patients. Considering the protective role of vitamin D through modulating the innate and adaptive immune system as well as inhibition of Renin Angiotensin System (RAS), vitamin D supplementation might boost the immune system of COVID-19 patients and reduce severity of the disease in vitamin D deficient individuals.

The InSAR technique measures the displacement of an indicator using SAR image interference. The technique of interfering two SAR images among InSAR techniques is called Differential InSAR (D-InSAR). In the process of D-InSAR, the filtering technique is used in the Unwrapped Mask, usually using the GoldStein method. However, since the Goldstein method removes the noise on the path, it is difficult to derive the displacement value in the agricultural area where the relative coherence is low. In Korea, more than 50% of the whole country consists of mountainous regions and agricultural regions, so it is difficult to use the Goldstein technique polysynthetically. In this study, we set the test-bed for the urban area and the agricultural area based on Coherence, and introduce Goldstein and Boxcar Filter, one of the Goldstein and LSM techniques. Through this process, we want to draw the conclusion which is displacement values ​​in the agricultural area.

Recent studies have demonstrated a relationship between poor vitamin D status and respiratory infections and diarrhea among young children. Acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) and diarrhea are among the two most important causes of death in under-5 children. In this analysis, we examine the extent to which vitamin-D deficiency (<10 ng/ml) predicts these outcomes using data from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of daily folic acid and/ or vitamin B12 supplementation for six months in 6 to 30 months old children conducted in Delhi, India. Of the 960 subjects who had vitamin-D concentrations measured, 331(34.5%) were vitamin-D deficient. We found, after controlling for relevant potential confounders (age, sex, breastfeeding status, wasting, stunting, underweight, anemia status at base line and season), the risk of ALRI was significantly higher among vitamin-D deficient (OR 1.26; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.55) compared to vitamin-D-replete children in the six months follow-up period. Vitamin-D status was not significantly associated with episodes of diarrhea and clinical pneumonia. The extent of causal relationship of vitamin-D status and ALRI needs to be explored in further studies.

(1) Background: Obesity and its comorbidities can cause burdens and limitations. Bariatric surgery (BS) is indicated as a safe procedure to reduce body mass and improve present comorbidities. Yet, several complications were reported, like vitamin D [25(OH)D] deficiency. We evaluated if 25(OH)D serum levels relate to clinical characteristics, symptoms, or habits in women after their BS and whether the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene's TaqI and FokI polymorphisms affected 25(OH)D levels and the total body bone mineral density (TBBMD). (2) Methods: This cohort cross-sectional comparative analytical prospective study consisted of 27 women, 61.6 ± 5.0 years, submitted to BS one year prior at a public reference hospital, DF-Brazil. All participants were asked to follow the physical and dietary activity recommendations and received vitamin D3 supplements. Their anthropometric, biochemical, and immunological measurements and blood samples were obtained. (3) Results: 73.3% of participants had low 25(OH)D levels, and their levels correlated positively with TBBMD and negatively with systolic pressure. VDR TaqI did not affect 25(OH)D levels, whereas VDR FokI's allele f presence correlated to a median rise in 25(OH)D levels. Neither polymorphism correlated to TBBMD. (4) Conclusions: 25(OH)D levels were positively correlated with TBBMD, negatively with systolic blood pressure, and were higher in those with the VDR FokI allele f.

Chronic oxidative stress in long-distance runners adversely affects conditioning. Therefore, it is important to objectively assess and monitor oxidative stress but measuring oxidative stress can be invasive or require skill to measure. Therefore, this study aimed to verify whether skin autofluorescence (SAF), a noninvasive, rapid, and easily calculable metric for calculating advanced glycation end products (AGEs), is useful as an oxidative stress biomarker. The subjects were 50 young Japanese male long-distance runners (aged 20.2 ± 1.2 years); 35 average male university students (aged 19.8 ± 1.1 years) served as controls. The interactions and relationships between SAF and plasma pentosidine and oxidative stress markers (reactive oxygen metabolite-derived compounds [d-ROMs], biological antioxidant potential [BAP], and the BAP/d-ROMs ratio) in runners were examined, and SAF in the runners and controls was compared. The results suggest that plasma pentosidine in runners is associated with oxidative stress markers and that plasma pentosidine can assess oxidative stress. However, SAF was not validated as an oxidative stress marker because it was not associated with oxidative stress marker. In future, clarifying the factors affecting SAF may clarify the relationship between SAF, plasma pentosidine, and oxidative stress markers.

The agricultural soil maps (ASMs) showing the agricultural land of Poland were prepared in 1:5000 scale in 1960s’ and 1970s’. These maps show land suitability group, soil type and soil texture (ST) to a depth of about 150cm. Nowadays, these maps are being digitalized and might be a basis for the preparation of modern soil maps at local, regional, national and international level. The agreement between the ST of topsoil derived from ASMs and recently evaluated for eleven fields located in three voivodeships (regions) of Poland was studied. The study of soil considered the examination of soil profiles or augerings and laboratory analysis of the ST. The agreement between soil status in the field and according to maps was field-specific. Complete agreement (purity) within the field was assessed for 5-79% of ST classes and for 23-100% of agronomic categories (ACs) – a groupings of similar ST classes. However, the averaged agreement, which treated adjacent ST classes as having partial agreement, varied from 37 to 88% for ST classes and from 61 to 100% for the ACs among studied fields. These results indicate on the variable quality of the information shown on the ASMs and on the necessity of improvement of these maps.

Machine learning methods used for classification can face challenges due to class imbalance, where a certain class is underrepresented. Over/under-sampling of minority/majority class observations, or model selection for ensemble methods alone, may not be effective if the class imbalance ratio is very high. To address this issue, this paper proposes a method called enhance tree ensemble (ETE) based on generating synthetic data for minority class observations in conjunction with tree selection based on their performance on the training data. The proposed method first generates minority class instances to balance the training data and then uses the idea of tree selection by leveraging out-of-bag (〖ETE〗_OOB) and sub-samples (〖ETE〗_SS) observations, respectively. The efficacy of the proposed method is assessed using twenty benchmark problems for binary classification with moderate to extreme class imbalance, comparing it against other well-known methods such as optimal tree ensemble (OTE), SMOTE random forest (〖RF〗_SMOTE), over-sampling random forest (〖RF〗_OS), under-sampling random forest (〖RF〗_US), k-nearest-neighbor (k-NN), support vector machine (SVM), tree, and artificial neural network (ANN). Performance metrics such as classification error rate and precision are used for evaluation purposes. The analyses of the study revealed that the proposed method, based on data balancing and model selection, yielded better results than the other methods.

Given a set of distinct non-negative integers X^n and a target certificate S in parametrized form: ∃X^k⊆X^n,∑_(x_i∈X^k)▒x_i =S (k=|X^k |,n=|X^n |). We present a polynomial solution of the subset sum problem with time complexity T≤O(kn)≤O(n^2) and space complexity S≤O(((n-1)n)/2)≤O(n^2 ), so that P = NP.

Migratory flows and international travel are triggering an increase in imported cases of schistosomiasis in non-endemic countries, with serology being the recommended method for screening migrants. The present study aims to evaluate, for the first time, the LAMP technique on patients’ urine samples for the diagnosis of imported schistosomiasis in a non-endemic area in comparison to a commercial immunochromatographic test and microscopic examination of feces and urine. A prospective observational study was conducted in sub-Saharan migrants attending at the Tropical Medicine Unit, Almería, Spain. For schistosomiasis diagnosis, serum samples were tested using an immunochromatographic test (Schistosoma ICT IgG-IgM). Stool and urine samples were examined by microcopy. Urine samples were evaluated by combining three LAMP assays for the specific detection of Schistosoma mansoni and S. haematobium, and an assay for the genus Schistosoma. To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of Schistosoma-LAMP in comparison to microscopy and Schistosoma ICT IgG-IgM test, a Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was performed. A total of 115 patients were included; 21 patients (18.3%) were diagnosed with schistosomiasis confirmed by microscopy, with S. haematobium being the most frequent species identified (18/115; 15.7%). The Schistosoma ICT IgG-IgM test resulted 100% positive and Schistosoma-LAMP was 61.9% positive, reaching as high as 72.2% for S. haematobium. The sensitivity and specificity estimated by LCA, respectively, were: 92% and 76% for Schistosoma ICT IgG-IgM, 68% and 44% for Schistosoma-LAMP and, 46% and 97% for microscopy. The Schistosoma-LAMP technique presented a higher sensitivity than microscopy for the diagnosis of imported urinary schistosomiasis, which could improve the diagnosis both in referral centers and in centers with limited experience or scarce resources and infrastructure.

The implications of urban revitalization, gentrification, and residential migration have attracted widespread interest and ongoing debate among scholars across a range of disciplines. While a significant body of literature explores race and class interactions within urban gentrifying neighborhoods, few have examined the environments that await those displaced by this process. This study explores the social and political impact of urban gentrification and class stratification within the black community by examining responses of black middle class residents in Prince George’s County, MD to the growing in-migration of low-income and minority residents from Washington, DC. Drawing on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, a multi-neighborhood sample of ninety-five black middle class residents of Prince George’s County, and informal interviews with subject-area experts, this study explores how race and class shape residential decisions and their impact on residential mobility initiatives. Residents responded to a 26-item survey that covered demographic information, political and community engagement, and their attitudes and beliefs about the poor, changes in their community, and racial unity and responsibility. Findings from cross tabulations and binary logistic regression indicate that lower middle class residents are the most likely to resist in-migration by exiting their communities and/or voting against proposals to create affordable housing options. Core and upper middle class residents were the most likely to stay in their neighborhoods despite increases in low-income migration, to vote in support of policies to create affordable housing options and to believe their responsibility to poor blacks could include sharing residential space.

With the advent of COVID19, the attitude of health authorities around the world, led mainly by the West, demanded a level of proof as evidence for cheap, non-patented remedies while promoting expensive, patented, and untested remedies by using emergency use authorization and special provisions afforded to the status of a pandemic emergency. Western science has neither a tested nor a valid historical basis of a logical system that informs to authenticate scientific practices. Here we use a logical heuristic derived from ancient Buddhist logic, which is consistent with the conduct of modern science. We applied the heuristic to show that enough evidence was available for using cost-effective early therapies such as vitamin D supplementation as a public health measure during the first half of 2020. Strong supporting evidence has since accumulated. Apart from political and financial decisions incompatible with science and other conflicts of interest, a critical barrier to evaluating and approving early therapies appears to be the fallacy that the randomized controlled trial (RCT) is the superior proof method in medical hypotheses, including those for nutrients. Logically, no reason exists why properly designed retrospective, ecological, and naturalistic studies with adequate sample sizes and applied appropriate statistical methods would not be as valid as RCTs, especially when elucidating a causative factor instead of treatment. That assertion is particularly true for nutrient deficiencies, interventions, and other cost-effective therapies. Leading health authorities’ failure or refusal to consider other study types (because of either poor logic or vested interest) probably contributed to the spread of misinformation, symptomatic disease, complications, and deaths from COVID19. Partial immunity derived from vaccines and the later development of more contagious variants—and thus a sense of acceptance that SARS-CoV-2 had progressed from a pandemic to an endemic—shows the hollowness of the initial promotions and mandates of vaccines as a cure. Adequate knowledge was available in 2020 to advise that SARS-CoV-2 will continue to mutate, with variants emerging a few times per year, making the vaccine less effective. Emerging evidence confirms that natural immunity better protects against new variants than vaccination against the spike protein. Had vitamin D been adopted as part of the public health measure through a broader supplementation program in 2020 or even today (through sun exposure or as a prophylactic or adjunct therapy early on), the viral spread and symptomatic disease may have been suppressed, with minimal lockdowns and quarantine, and economic harm. The pandemic could have been halted with a significantly reduced need for hospitalization, complications, and deaths, potentially saving millions of lives.

The primary objective of this study was to identify a rapid and noninvasive methodology for effectively differentiating various herbal species cultivated in Eastern Poland. Typically, a plant's chemical profile is obtained using chromatographic methods; however, spectroscopic methods can serve as a complementary or independent tool for determining similarities in the analyzed samples. The investigation centered on leaves of plant species from the Lamiaceae family, encompassing basil, lavender, oregano, sage, and thyme. UV-VIS and ATR-FTIR spectra of dried plant samples' powder were recorded and subsequently analyzed using chemometric tools. This paper assesses the relative performance of different discrimination methods, including both traditional methods based on machine learning and those dealing with specimens associated with a specific category. Among the methodologies tested, SIMCA showed the best performance, particularly effective for small training sets.

Ransomware attacks have risen alarmingly, with encryption techniques becoming more complex. This paper introduces a novel detection model tailored for ransomware's distinctive characteristics. The Intel PIN tool extracts Windows API invocation sequences related to file operations. These sequences are used to construct n-grams, forming feature vectors enhanced by a new Class Feature Weighting (CFW) metric to improve malware detection. Preliminary results demonstrate elevated accuracy and precision versus existing methods. The major contributions are: (1) Introducing an innovative deep learning model for few-shot ransomware classification using entropy features and transfer learning. (2) Achieving high weighted F1-score in classifying ransomware variants into families with limited training data. (3) Demonstrating the potential of entropy-based features to capture intricacies lost in image-based approaches, improving detection of new strains.

One method of estimating the evaporation rate (ER) is to use a variety of evaporation pans, such as the Class A standard evaporation pan (CASEP) and the Colorado Sanken standard evaporation pan (CSSEP). In this study, the rate of evaporation of CASEP and CSSEP have been investigated and compared with each other. This study was conducted in Semnan, Iran. CSSEP was used as a test pan, which was performed in an open space around the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Semnan University. Evaporation was recorded daily for 123 days. The evaporation of the CASEP pan was obtained from the synoptic station of Semnan, which is located at a distance of 2.39 km from the test site. Meteorological data were also obtained from the synoptic station of Semnan and compared with experimental evaporation data. The results of this study showed that the daily ER from CASEP and CSSEP in the tested time periods were not significantly different. Based on the Klomogorov-Sminrov method, the best statistical distributions for CASEP and CSSEP were calculated as Error and Gamma, respectively. The coefficient of determination (R 2 ) between the two pans was estimated to be about 93%. Also, by examining the ER with other meteorological data, it was observed that the ER has the highest correlation with the average daily air temperature.

The analogy between the theory of phase transitions in simple fluids and vehicular traffic flow has long been suspected, promising a new level of understanding of urban congestion by standing on one of the firmer foundations in physics. The obstacle has been the interpretation of the thermal energy of the gas-particle system, which remains unknown. This paper proposes the flow of cars through the network as a viable interpretation, where the fundamental diagram for traffic flow would be analogous to the coexistence curve in gas-liquid phase transitions. Thanks to the power-law form of the coexistence curve, it was possible to formalize that the resulting network traffic model belongs to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class. The scaling relationships arising in this universality class are found to be consistent with West's scaling theory for cities. It is shown that congestion costs (delays + fuel consumption) scale superlinearly with city population, possibly and worryingly more so than predicted by West's theory. Implications for sustainability and resiliency are discussed.

In this note we, first, recall that the sets of all representatives of some special ordinary residue classes become $\left( m,n\right) $-rings. Second, we introduce a possible $p$-adic analog of the residue class modulo a $p$-adic integer. Then, we find the relations which determine, when the representatives form a $\left( m,n\right) $-ring. At the very short spacetime scales such rings could lead to new symmetries of modern particle models.

Mature B cells notably diversify immunoglobulin (Ig) production through class switch recombination (CSR), allowing the junction of distant “switch” (S) regions. CSR is initiated by activation-induced deaminase (AID) which targets cytosines adequately exposed within single-stranded DNA of transcribed targeted S regions, with a specific affinity for WRCY motifs. In mammals, G-rich sequences are additionally present in S regions, forming canonical G-quadruplexes (G4s) DNA structures which favor CSR. Small molecules interacting with G4-DNA (G4 ligands), proved able to regulate CSR in B lymphocytes, either positively (such as for nucleoside diphosphate kinase isoforms) or negatively (such as for RHPS4). G4-DNA is also implicated in the control of transcription, and due to their impact on both CSR and transcriptional regulation, G4-rich sequences likely play a role in the natural history of B cell malignancies. Since G4-DNA stands at multiple locations in the genome, and notably within oncogene promoters, it remains to be clarified how it can more specifically promote legitimate CSR in physiology, rather than pathogenic translocation. The specific regulatory role of G4 structures in transcribed DNA and/or in corresponding transcripts and recombination hereby appears as a major issue for understanding immune responses and lymphomagenesis.

Smartphone-based mobility apps enable users to make informed transportation decisions, offering instant access to transport-related information. This development has created a smartphone-enabled ecosystem of mobility services in developed countries while it is slowly picking up pace in the global south, which can contribute towards the decarbonization of urban transport. Work on this has already started in India, and there is considerable evidence indicating the profound impact of these apps on the perceived utility and usage of transport modes, with far-reaching implications for sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, for most users, the use of smartphone apps is a novel trend, and the knowledge of the impacts of usage of existing apps on the usage pattern of transport modes by various user groups is essential for positioning new consolidated app-based services soon. Against this backdrop, the present study uses latent class cluster analysis to empirically investigate the impacts of mobility apps on transport mode usage patterns in Delhi by classifying users into latent classes based on socioeconomic characteristics, attitudes/preferences, smartphone app usage, and mode usage pattern. The characteristics of the latent class and factors affecting the individual’s probability of being classified to these cluster have been discussed, along with some measures to encourage app-based mobility for each cluster.

The last series of Raven's standard progressive matrices (SPM-LS) test were studied with respect to its psychometric properties in a series of recent papers. In this paper, the SPM-LS dataset is analyzed with regularized latent class models (RLCM). For dichotomous item response data, an alternative estimation approach for RLCMs is proposed. For polytomous item responses, different alternatives for performing regularized latent class analysis are proposed. The usefulness of the proposed methods is demonstrated in a simulated data illustration and for the SPM-LS dataset. For the SPM-LS dataset, it turned out the regularized latent class model resulted in five partially ordered latent classes.

This study presents a novel technique utilizing high frequency vibration to shorten treatment time and preserve alveolar bone in challenging orthodontic cases treated with Invisalign® clear aligners. Four non-growing orthodontic patients (age range 14-47 years old) with Class II skeletal patterns (convex profiles with retrognathic mandibles) who sought correction of their crowded teeth and non-surgical correction of their convex profiles were included in this study. These patients were treated using Invisalign clear aligners together with high frequency vibration (HFV) devices (120 Hz) (VPro5™) that were used by all patients for five minutes per day during active orthodontic treatment. Vertical control and forward rotation of the mandible for each patient was achieved through pre-programming the Invisalign to produce posterior teeth intrusion. Successful forward rotation of the mandibles achieved in all patients led to improvement of their facial convex profiles (ANB improved 2.1 + 0.5 degrees; FMA improved 1.2 +1.1 degrees). Dental decompensation was achieved by lingual tipping of the lower incisors and palatal root torque of upper incisors. The use of HFV together with Invisalign facilitated achieving these results within a 12+6 month period. In addition, more bone labial to the lower incisors after their lingual movement was noted. In conclusion, the use of HFV concurrent with SmartTrack Invisalign aligners allowed complex tooth movement and forward projection without surgery in non-growing patients with skeletal Class II relationships. The clinical impact and implications of this case series is that the use of HFV facilitates complex orthodontic tooth movement including posterior teeth intrusion and incisor decompensation in addition to increased bone formation labial to lower incisors that may minimize future gum recession due to their labial inclination.