Browse Articles

Acute myeloid leukemia classification using ReLViT and detection with YOLO enhanced by adversarial networks on bone marrow images

A study in Bangladesh, Colombia, and Uganda on creating and retaining mobile health survey panels for longitudinal data collection

Abstract The increased subscription and ownership of mobile phones have created opportunities to improve health, education, or economic outcomes, including mobile phone surveys (MPS) to collect health data. Most MPS used cross-sectional survey designs. We explored the potential of MPS to collect panel data using anonymous surveys with agreement in age and gender, and participants’ retention across survey waves in three low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): Bangladesh, Colombia, and Uganda. Using random digit dialing, participants were recruited from 6 age-gender strata (i.e., 18-29-, 30-44-, and 45+-year-old males and females). Three interactive voice response survey waves were sent at two-week intervals. In Wave 1, the number of complete interviews in Bangladesh, Colombia, and Uganda was 2693, 5912, and 4813, respectively. In all waves, the proportion of 18-29-year-olds responding to the surveys was higher than that of 30-44- or 50+-year-olds. Bangladesh (83.7% in Wave 1) and Uganda (70.1% in Wave 1) had a higher proportion of males than females, while it was different in Colombia (45.6% in Wave 1). Regarding the reporting of age and gender in survey waves, we observed a high agreement in all three countries; the Kappa statistic was 0.89 (agreement: 93.7%) from Wave 1 to Wave 2 and 0.90 (agreement: 94.5%) from Wave 1 to Wave 3. In Wave 1, the response and refusal rates were, respectively, 0.26% and 0.19% in Bangladesh; 0.65% and 0.89% in Colombia; and 2.63% and 0.71% in Uganda. From Wave 1 to Wave 2, the attrition rate was 37.2% in Bangladesh, 43.7% in Colombia, and 39.2% in Uganda. From Wave 1 to Wave 3, the attrition rate was 64.2%, 62.8%, and 58.4% in Bangladesh, Colombia, and Uganda, respectively. Despite high attrition across survey waves, the agreement about responses was substantial in all countries and MPS has the potential to be implemented in LMICs. More research is required to improve the retention and increase enrollment in some sociodemographic groups (e.g., older people or women). Future studies could also be benefitted from adding validation questions to ensure the participation by the same respondent.

Study on the design, synthesis and activity of MDM2/MDMX anti-tumor stapled peptide PROTAC

Instance mask alignment for object detection knowledge distillation

Study on mechanical properties of aeolian sand solidified by enzyme induced carbonate precipitation combined with fiber reinforced

Abstract Aeolian sand is a problematic soil formed by the transfer, transition, and deposition of rock particles in desert areas, which can easily cause land desertification. Traditional sand treatment methods are generally contrary to the strategy of green and low carbon, whereas enzyme-induced calcium carbonate precipitation (EICP) is an efficient, green, and durable solidification method, and coupled with fiber reinforcement, can significantly improve the sand strength and reduce brittle fracture. This paper investigated the mechanical characteristics of aeolian sand solidified by enzyme-induced calcium carbonate precipitation coupled with fiber reinforcement by conducting permeability and unconfined compression strength (UCS) tests. The test results indicated that the optimal solidified conditions for the EICP were that the dry density, bonding times, standing time, and enzyme cement ratio were 1.6 g/cm3, 5 times, 5 days, and 1:1, respectively. Under these conditions, the UCS reached its maximum of 392.52 kPa. When the fiber length and fiber content of basalt fiber were 6 mm and 0.75%, and that of wool fiber were 9 mm and 0.75%, respectively, the optimal reinforcement conditions were achieved, yielding maximum UCS values of 849.65 kPa and 885.31 kPa, respectively. Based on the test results, the solidified mechanism was revealed, involving pore filling and particle cementation by EICP products and the formation of a three-dimensional reinforcement network by fibers, synergistically enhancing strength and transforming brittle sand into a ductile solidified body. A Poly model considering fiber length, fiber content, and UCS was established and validated, showing excellent agreement with experimental data. The research results can offer a valuable guideline for the treatment of aeolian sand in desert areas.

Fidelity assessment of synthetic images with multi-criteria combination under adverse weather conditions

Effects of Chlorella vulgaris, Microchloropsis Gaditana and Gracilaria vermiculophylla algae extracts on maturing and mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes

Nomogram for predicting postpartum hemorrhage in women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy

Optimized seismic risk mitigation in pipeline routing using a metaheuristic GIS based approach

Evaluation of planning policy scenarios for the water-food and energy nexus through the development of a multi-objective optimization model

Utilization of apple pomace as a novel substrate for citric acid production by Yarrowia lipolytica

Stabilizing effect of amino acids on protein and colloidal dispersions

Correction: CXCL10-dependent epithelial-vascular cross-talk for endothelial activation following SARS-CoV-2 infection

Study on design and practice of PBL teaching model based on STEM education concept

Effects of cumulative temperature and precipitation patterns on mosquito abundance in urban Seoul, South Korea

Peroxiredoxins as novel indicators in multiple myeloma associated with ferroptosis and immune infiltration

Impact of diet and nutritional status on gingival crevicular fluid metabolome and microbiome in people with type 1 diabetes: a cross-sectional study

Enhancing friction stir processing of magnesium alloys through heat treatment, SiO2 reinforcement, and multiple passes to improve microstructure and mechanical properties

Persistent homology elucidates hierarchical structures responsible for mechanical properties in covalent amorphous solids

Abstract Understanding how atomic-level structures govern the mechanical properties of amorphous materials remains a fundamental challenge in solid-state physics. Under mechanical loading, amorphous materials exhibit simple affine and spatially inhomogeneous nonaffine displacements that contribute to the elastic modulus through the Born (affine) and nonaffine terms, respectively. The differences between soft local structures characterized by small Born terms or large nonaffine displacements have yet to be elucidated. This challenge is particularly complex in covalent amorphous materials such as silicon, where the medium-range order (MRO) plays a crucial role in the network structure. To address these issues, we combined molecular dynamics simulations with persistent homology analysis. Our results reveal that local structures with small Born terms are governed by short-range characteristics, whereas those with large nonaffine displacements exhibit hierarchical structures in which short-range disorder is embedded within the MRO. These hierarchical structures are also strongly correlated with low-energy localized vibrational excitations. Our findings demonstrate that the mechanical responses and dynamic properties of covalent amorphous materials are intrinsically linked to the MRO, providing a framework for understanding and tailoring their properties.

Novel bioinformatics approaches to design epitope-based vaccine against HIV latency by inquiring CTL epitopes and built-in adjuvants

Abstract A key characteristic of HIV-1 persistence under antiretroviral therapy is its ability to form a latent reservoir in T cells, creating an obstacle to the virus eradication, therefore, there is no effective and permanent treatment against HIV-1. This study aims to develop an epitope-based vaccine that targets HIV-1’s key CTL epitopes involved in infection and latency. After studying and carefully checking previous reports and immunoinformatics, a multi-epitope vaccine was designed with strong CTL (Gag p24 and Pol) epitopes. CPP peptide (Tat) and an adjuvant (β-defensin) were incorporated into the vaccine construct for cell entry and to improve immunogenicity. The designed vaccine was evaluated in terms of antigenicity, allergenicity, safety, various physicochemical properties, solubility, and molecular docking with TLR4 using in silico tools. Immune simulation predicted a significant induction of immune responses. Successful expression and purification of the recombinant protein in E. coli BL21 strain, followed by confirmation by Western blot, demonstrated the feasibility of the vaccine production. Finally, our findings suggest that the designed epitope-based vaccine can induce humoral and cellular immune responses and is a suitable candidate for an HIV-1 therapeutic vaccine to control infection and latency.