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Immunogenic cell death signature predicts survival and reveals the role of VEGFA + Mast cells in lung adenocarcinoma
Prolactin levels and chronic kidney disease and the subsequent risk of cardiovascular events: A long term population based cohort study
Abstract Both the clearance and secretion of prolactin are disrupted in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Evidence indicates that prolactin may play a role in cardiovascular (CV) disturbances. Considering the increased cardiovascular risk associated with CKD, this study investigates the relationship between prolactin levels, CKD, and the risk of CV events in both women and men, with an average follow-up period of 20 years. The study included 2,005 participants from the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS) who met the inclusion criteria. They were reassessed approximately every three years for a median follow-up of 19.0 years (Interquartile range (IQR):16.4–20.2), during which occurrences of CKD and CV events were recorded. A pooled logistic regression model examined the influence of Prolactin on CV events and its interaction with CKD. During follow-up, we identified 156 incident cases of CV events among men and 73 among women. Median (95%CI) PRL levels were 7.4 (5.5–10.5) ng/mL for men and 15.2 (10.3–23) ng/mL for women. The results of analyses showed that a history of CKD was associated with significantly higher odds of CV events for both men 4.2 (95% CI: 2.6–6.8) and women 5.5 (95% CI: 2.6–11.5). Results remained unchanged after adjustment for confounders including age, waist circumference, smoking, education, history of diabetes and hypertension, and family history of CV events. Interaction analyses revealed no statistically significant interaction between CKD and PRL on the odds of CV events in unadjusted and adjusted models. This consistent pattern was observed regardless of gender. Results of population-based data with over a median follow-up period of 20 years showed that CKD independently increases the risk of CV events in both men and women. However, our findings suggest that this elevated risk may not be substantially influenced by prolactin levels. Further investigation may be warranted to confirm these findings.
Isogeometric modeling and vibroacoustic analysis of a symmetrically laminated thin plate coupled with an acoustic cavity
Morpho-physiological traits of soybean plants in symbiosis with Gigaspora sp. and submitted to water restriction
Association between TyG-related parameters and NAFLD risk in Japanese non-obese population
Towards the Vertical City: psychosocial mechanisms for human-centered underground office spaces
Molecular insights into ulcerative colitis and orbital inflammation
Quantitative analysis of the performance improvement of the surrounding rock mass by applying a prestressed bolt system
Integrating convolutional layers and biformer network with forward-forward and backpropagation training
Multi-modal Language models in bioacoustics with zero-shot transfer: a case study
Abstract Automatically detecting sound events with Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become increas- ingly popular in the field of bioacoustics, ecoacoustics, and soundscape ecology, particularly for wildlife monitoring and conservation. Conventional methods predominantly employ supervised learning techniques that depend on substantial amounts of manually annotated bioacoustic data. However, manual annotation in bioacoustics is tremendously resource- intensive in terms of both human labor and financial resources, and it requires considerable domain expertise. Moreover, the supervised learning framework limits the application scope to predefined categories within a closed setting. The recent advent of Multi-Modal Language Models has markedly enhanced the versatility and possibilities within the realm of AI appli- cations, as this technique addresses many of the challenges that inhibit the deployment of AI in real-world applications. In this paper, we explore the potential of Multi-Modal Language Models in the context of bioacoustics through a case study. We aim to showcase the potential and limitations of Multi-Modal Language Models in bioacoustic applications. In our case study, we applied an Audio-Language Model–—a type of Multi-Modal Language Model that aligns language with audio / sound recording data—–named CLAP (Contrastive Language–Audio Pretraining) to eight bioacoustic benchmarks covering a wide variety of sounds previously unfamiliar to the model. We demonstrate that CLAP, after simple prompt engineering, can effectively recognize group-level categories such as birds, frogs, and whales across the benchmarks without the need for specific model fine-tuning or additional training, achieving a zero-shot transfer recognition performance comparable to supervised learning baselines. Moreover, we show that CLAP has the potential to perform tasks previously unattainable with supervised bioacoustic approaches, such as estimating relative distances and discovering unknown animal species. On the other hand, we also identify limitations of CLAP, such as the model’s inability to recognize fine-grained species-level categories and the reliance on manually engineered text prompts in real-world applications.
Photo and electrochemical applications of green synthesized ZnO/Ag2O nanocomposites materials under visible light using P. macrosolen L. leaf
Gain enhancement wideband CPW antenna based on artificial magnetic conductor
Abstract Unidirectional radiation and, hence, gain enhancement can be achieved by placing a primary radiator (simple antenna) at suitable height over a reflector to diminish back radiation and to enhance the forward radiation. The reflector used to enhance the gain is usually an electrically conducting surface (ECS) or an artificial magnetic conducting surface (AMCS). The ECS unifies the direction of radiation by reflecting the incident wave with $$180^\circ$$ phase shift, which requires the placement of the antenna at large enough height above the reflector to avoid destructive interference between the incident and the reflected waves. The AMCS is a metasurface constructed as periodic structure to produce reflection with 0° phase. This allows the antenna to be placed near the AMCS without destructive interference. Thus, the combined structure of the antenna and the AMCS reflector can have lower profile than that resulting in the case of employing ECS. The present work proposes a planar wideband antenna as well as an AMCS to produce unidirectional radiation with high gain over a wide frequency band. The proposed antenna is a planar octagon-shaped monopole patch with inverted U-slot and is fed through a coplanar waveguide (CPW). Both the radiating patch and the feeding line are printed on a single-sided substrate of type Rogers RT5880 of dimensions $$27\,\text{mm}\times 37\,\text{mm}$$ and thickness $$1.57\,\text{mm}$$ . The patch geometry is designed to maximize the radiation efficiency by cutting an inverted U-shaped slot with long base. The proposed AMCS consists of $$5\times 5$$ cells and has dimensions $$70\,\text{mm }\times 70\,\text{mm}$$ . The metallic patches of AMCS cells are printed on the top layer of a substrate of type Rogers’ RO4003C of thickness $$1.52\,\text{mm}$$ . Both the proposed antenna and AMCS are fabricated for experimental evaluation of the performance of the radiating structure. It is shown by simulation and measurement that the proposed antenna when based on the proposed AMCS produces a realized gain of $$11.5\,\text{dBi}$$ and total efficiency of greater than $$80\%$$ over the frequency band 3.5–6.5 GHz.
Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in bioaerosols and surface samples from healthcare facilities in Klang Valley, Malaysia
Atomization of Water Jet in Crossflow via High-Speed Photography
Abstract The interaction between crossflow and liquid jets is common in engineering applications, such as in gas–steam catapult power systems and supersonic ramjets. Studying the atomization process of liquid jets in crossflow has significant engineering value. In this work, high-speed photography was used. The experimental results indicate that factors such as airflow velocity, temperature, jet velocity, temperature, and nozzle diameter can affect the depth of jet penetration. Considering the influence of various factors, an empirical formula for calculating jet penetration is obtained. The results can support the design of gas–steam catapult propulsion systems and be extended to other applications, such as supersonic ramjets.
Comparative performance analysis of hemispherical solar stills using date and olive kernels as heat storage material
Abstract This study investigates the performance of hemispherical solar stills (HSS) enhanced with date kernels and olive kernels as heat storage materials to improve water distillation efficiency. By utilizing these natural and sustainable materials, the research highlights an alternative to synthetic options. Rigorous experimentation and detailed analysis under identical conditions reveal that both kernels significantly improve heat retention and water production rates. The HSS with date kernels (HSSDK) achieved a daily water productivity of 6.66 kg/m2 day, representing an efficiency increase of 10.87%, while the HSS with olive kernels (HSSOK) produced 8.00 kg/m2 day, enhancing efficiency by 13.54%. The cost per m3 of distilled water for HSSDK is approximately USD 4.65, while HSSOK costs USD 3.89, compared to USD 7.83 for the conventional CHSS system. These results demonstrate that the inclusion of heat storage materials has significantly reduced the cost of water production, with reductions of about 40% for HSSDK and 50% for HSSOK compared to the conventional system. These results are attributed to the high thermal conductivity and specific heat capacities of the kernels, enabling effective heat storage and gradual release. This study demonstrates the potential of agricultural by-products as cost-effective and sustainable solutions for solar water distillation. Further research is recommended to optimize the quantities and configurations of these materials, as well as to explore their integration with other renewable energy systems to enhance overall efficiency and sustainability.
Multiparametric ultrasound (MPUS) evaluation of the testes of normozoospermic dogs – a pilot study
Establishing metrics of clinically meaningful change for treating knee osteoarthritis with a combination of autologous orthobiologics
Gestational hyperglycaemia impacts glucose control and insulin sensitivity in mouse offspring
Abstract Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) predisposes offspring to the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes. While GDM is studied in the context of maternal obesity and insulin resistance, the consequences of GDM in lean, insulin sensitive women for offspring health are unclear. This preclinical study investigated whether GDM in lean dams characterized by reduced insulin secretion affects offspring metabolic health. Lean GDM was induced by short-term 60% high-fat diet and low-dose streptozotocin injections before mating in mice. The control dams received only high-fat diet (HF) or low-fat diet (LF). Glucose homeostasis was studied in chow-fed offspring. GDM resulted in decreased birth weight, that resolved at postnatal day 15 (PN15). At PN100, higher postprandial glucose responses were found in GDM offspring, while insulin secretion was lower in both GDM and HF offspring. Female GDM offspring showed lower endogenous glucose production and increased liver insulin sensitivity at PN100 compared to controls. No differences in metabolic parameters were observed at PN200 and PN300. Prenatal exposure to elevated maternal glucose levels without maternal obesity modestly affected glucose regulation in mouse offspring during early adulthood. Future studies should clarify if a less favourable postnatal diet may further challenge metabolic health in offspring of GDM dams.
Theoretical analysis of dynamic sliding mechanism of rock slope with a bedding structural plane based on stress wave propagation
Abstract The stress at the structural plane of bedding rock slope will change under dynamic load, which may lead to sliding failure risk of the slope. Based on the time-domain recursive method (TDRM), the propagation process of stress waves in viscoelastic rock slope with a nonlinear bedding plane is analyzed, and the propagation equation of multiple reflected waves between the plane and the slope surface is obtained. According to the superposition principle and the relation between the particle vibration velocity caused by stress waves and stress, the expressions of normal and tangential stress of any particle at the structural plane are obtained. Furthermore, in light of the gravitational impact on the rock mass, we formulate the slip criterion equation for the structural plane. The results indicate that the stress field at the structural plane is influenced by several factors, including the slope angle, horizontal positioning of monitoring points, vertical distance to the slope foot, and the initial stiffness of the structural plane. The influence of multiple reflected waves on stress field obviously increases the possibility of rock mass sliding on structural plane. This paper theoretically elucidates the slippage mechanism of a rock slope featuring a bedding structural plane subjected to the effects of stress wave. The research findings furnish a theoretical foundation for comprehending the dynamic response of rock slopes, conducting dynamic stability analyses, and ensuring the safety measures for rock mass engineering projects.