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Exploring temperature and humidity environment combined with air quality index, black carbon, the short-term effect of combined exposure on respiratory disease mortality in Southwest China

This study investigates the correlation, impact, and hysteresis effect of joint exposure to the Temperature-Humidity Index (THI), Air Quality Index (AQI), and Black Carbon (BC) on respiratory disease mortality (RDM) in urban areas of the southwest basin of China, characterized by a subtropical monsoon climate. Dose-response analysis of THI, AQI, BC using a non-restrictive cubic spline model, a time series analysis was conducted to assess the relative risk (RR) of death from respiratory diseases using the distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) and the generalized additive model (GAM) based on the quasi-Poisson distribution. The RCS curve of THI exhibits a ‘U’ shape, with THI=67 representing the lowest point of mortality risk. The RCS curves for BC and AQI are linear and demonstrate a positive correlation with mortality outcomes. The peak mortality risk associated with the AQI typically occurs at Lag 2-3, with T3A3 (THI ≥ 75 and AQI ≥ P90) contributing to the highest excess mortality [excess increased risk rate (ER) = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.20, 0.81]. The peak risk of mortality associated with BC occurs at Lag0, with the highest excess mortality resulting from T3B3 (THI ≥ 75 and BC ≥ P90) combined events (ER=0.28, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.58). The cumulative relative risk (CRR) was highest in T3, with the peak CRR of 3.99 (95% CI: 1.26, 7.11) observed in definition T3A3. The relative risk of interaction (RERI) reveals varying degrees of positive additive interactions (RERI > 0) among AQI, BC, and THI.

Modeling the capacitance–voltage characteristics of AlGaN-based UV-C LEDs

Reassigning sources of misophonic trigger sounds to change their unpleasantness: Testing alternative mechanisms with a new set of movies, paintings, and words

We conducted nine experiments to determine why a sound’s pleasantness can be altered by movies, abstract paintings, and words. In Expt. 1, unpleasant sounds, such as the sound of a person sniffing, were paired either with their original video track or with video tracks depicting neutral events that could plausibly have produced the sound, such as pulling tissues out of a tissue box. While the unpleasant sounds were mildly unpleasant to an unscreened population, these sounds were expected to be more unpleasant for people who have misophonia, a condition in which certain everyday sounds are unbearable. Consistent with past literature, neutral video tracks increased the sounds’ pleasantness for the non-misophonic and misophonic populations, by 0.98 and 1.59 points, respectively (on an 11-point scale). Movies rated as having better audio-visual matches produced greater changes in pleasantness, consistent with the hypothesis that source reassignment caused the changes. Expt. 2 found a consistent result when the video tracks were replaced with written event descriptions, although the effect size was reduced. Expt. 3 inverted Expt. 1 and found that unpleasant video tracks decreased the pleasantness of neutral sounds by 2.12 points, but better-matching movies did not produce greater changes in pleasantness. In Expts. 4–6, we sought an alternative to the source reassignment explanation by obtaining ratings of audio-visual synchrony, cross-modal agreement in symbolism, source plausibility, and sound identifiability. No complete explanation was found for the effect of unpleasant videos. Furthermore, pleasant abstract paintings increased the pleasantness of unpleasant sounds by 0.37 points, correlating with cross-modal agreement but not with audio-visual match. Taken together, different types and patterns of match ratings can help discern the causal mechanisms by which visual stimuli affect sound pleasantness (e.g., source reassignment, cross-modal agreement).

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Comparative analysis of heart disease prediction using logistic regression, SVM, KNN, and random forest with cross-validation for improved accuracy

Burnout syndrome and healthy lifestyle among Egyptian physicians: A cross-sectional study

Introduction The phenomenon of burnout and the lifestyle of physicians significantly influence the delivery of healthcare. Over time, burnout intensifies, negatively impacting professional performance, which in turn leads to decreased quality of treatment, patient satisfaction, and productivity. Additionally, it increases the occurrence of medical mistakes and turnover among physicians. In addition to the direct influence of lifestyle on those components. Aim of the study The purpose of this study is to assess burnout syndrome among Egyptian physicians, as well as to investigate factors that contribute to burnout, especially demographic characteristics, lifestyle patterns, and health habits. Methods A cross-sectional study examined burnout prevalence and determinants among 502 Egyptian physicians in different governorates. An electronic questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. Questionnaire covered socio-demographics, The abbreviated Maslach Burnout Inventory (aMBI), and The Health Lifestyle and Personal Control Questionnaire (HLPCQ). Results Younger physicians under 30 showed higher burnout on emotional exhaustion and depersonalization scales, with significant findings (P = 0.047), (P <  0.01) respectively. Male physicians showed stronger depersonalization than females (P <  0.01). Burnout was higher among residents and fellowship trainees, with significant differences in depersonalization (P = 0.021). PhDs showed decreased burnout with significant outcomes (P = 0.002). Longer-working doctors had increased burnout in depersonalization (P = 0.005). Single doctors were more depersonalized than married ones (P = 0.025). Depersonalization was higher in childless people (P = 0.002). However, non-chronic illness physicians were more emotionally exhausted (P = 0.042). Conclusion These findings highlight the intricate relationship between burnout and lifestyle among physicians. A healthy lifestyle, including diet, routines, social support, and physical activity was linked to reduced burnout, while dietary harm avoidance was negatively correlated. This suggests opportunities to enhance the well-being of medical professionals through lifestyle interventions.

Non-fragile control of switched systems with memory feedback based on convex optimization

The impact of economic growth target management on urban green land utilization efficiency

Improving urban green land utilization efficiency (UGLUE) is the key to promoting green and sustainable development in China. Clarifying the impact of economic growth target management (EGTM) on UGLUE and its mechanism of action is of great significance to improving UGLUE. Selecting 273 cities in China from 2010 to 2021 as the research sample, this paper uses panel data model, and spatial Durbin model (SDM) to empirically examine the impact, transmission mechanism and spatial spillover effect of EGTM (including economic growth target values, hard constraints and soft constraints of economic growth targets) on UGLUE. In addition, this paper uses panel threshold model to verify the threshold role of environmental regulation in the relationship between EGTM and UGLUE. The research found that: (1) Local economic growth target value and its hard constraints have a negative impact on UGLUE, while soft constraints are conducive to improving UGLUE. (2) Green technology innovation and industrial structure upgrading are the main transmission channels. (3) As the intensity of environmental regulation increases, the negative impact of economic growth target value and its hard constraints on UGLUE weakens, while the positive impact of its soft constraints on UGLUE strengthens. (4) The economic growth target value and its hard constraints of surrounding areas can reduce the UGLUE in the region, while its soft constraints can improve the UGLUE in the region. (5) Economic growth targets have the greatest negative impact on UGLUE in the central region and resource-based cities. In the future, the importance of GDP growth rate in official performance evaluations should be reduced. More flexible “soft constraints” should be used to set economic growth targets.

Even cycles in enhanced hypercube networks under the conditional fault model

A lightweight detection algorithm of PCB surface defects based on YOLO

Aiming at the problems of low accuracy and large computation in the task of PCB defect detection. This paper proposes a lightweight PCB defect detection algorithm based on YOLO. To address the problem of large numbers of parameters and calculations, GhostNet are used in Backbone to keep the model lightweight. Second, the ordinary convolution of the neck network is improved by depthwise separable convolution, resulting in a reduction of redundant parameters within the neck network. Afterwards, the Swin-Transformer is integrated with the C3 module in the Neck to build the C3STR module, which aims to address the issue of cluttered background in defective images and the confusion caused by simple defect types. Finally, the PANet network structure is replaced with the bidirectional feature pyramid network (BIFPN) structure to enhance the fusion of multi-scale features in the network. The results indicated that when comparing our model with the original model, there was a 47.2% reduction in the model’s parameter count, a 48.5% reduction in GFLOPs, a 42.4% reduction in Weight, a 2.0% reduction in FPS, and a 2.4% rise in mAP. The model is better suited for use on low-arithmetic platforms as a result.

Epileptic encephalopathy in a young Bengal cat caused by CAD deficiency

Abstract Developmental and epileptic encephalopathy type 50 (DEE50) in humans is a severe early-onset neurometabolic disorder caused by biallelic loss-of-function variants in the CAD gene encoding a key multi-enzymatic protein for de novo pyrimidine nucleotide synthesis. Untreated, the condition is often fatal, but patients respond to uridine supplementation, which fuels nucleotide synthesis through CAD-independent salvage pathways. Here, we report a novel variant in the feline CAD gene in a 4-month-old Bengal kitten with intractable seizures and abnormal behavior. The variant, XP_011279586.1:p.(Ser2015Asn), was predicted to affect the oligomerization of the C-terminal aspartate transcarbamylase (ATCase) domain of CAD. Genotyping of 110 unaffected Bengal cats revealed four additional carriers of the mutant allele, confirming its presence in the breed. In a CAD-knockout human cell line dependent on uridine, the recombinant expression of human wildtype CAD, but not of the Asn2015 mutant, restored cell growth without uridine, demonstrating that the p.Ser2015Asn variant disrupts CAD function and is pathogenic. This study facilitates genetic testing of carriers and affected cats and suggests that uridine supplementation could be a potential treatment. Furthermore, CAD-deficient Bengal cats might serve as a valuable spontaneous large animal model to further investigate the pathogenic mechanisms of this rare epileptic encephalopathy in humans.

Evaluation and characterization of framycetin sulphate loaded hydrogel dressing for enhanced wound healing

Background Hydrogels loaded with antibiotics can be an effective drug delivery systemfor treating skin diseases or conditions such asinburns and wound healing. Objectives The current research work was planned to preparea hydrogel dressing for an effective wound healing. The hydrogel formulation was aimed to provide sustained drug release, reducing the frequency of repeated applying the transdermal drug formulation or patch. Methods Different polymers, polyvinyl alcohol, sodium alginate, and polyvinyl pyrrolidonein varying ratios were used to prepare hydrogels by freeze-thawing method. The prepared hydrogel formulations were loaded with framycetinsulphate (FC-S), a topical aminoglycoside. Results Swelling behaviour, drug release pattern, wereinvestigated.Equilibrium and dynamic studies were conducted at pH 7.4. The prepared hydrogel formulations showed Euilibriumswellingratio of 197.5%. The in-vitro release pattern of FC-Shydrogels was determined by dissolution testing. The prepared hydrogels were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM)andfourier transform infrared (FTIR)spectroscopy.Animal study was conducted on rats to evaluatethe in-vivo therapeutic effectiveness of FC-S hydrogels in wound healing. For that purpose,wounds were induced in the animals. The drug loaded hydrogel dressing was effiecent in wound heaing as the wound treated with FC-S loaded hydrogel was almost completely healed (97%) on the fifth day in comparison to commercially available product (Sofra Tulle gauze) that healed 86%, whereas free FC-S manifested healing at 76%. Conclusion It was observed that hydrogel dressing loaded with FC-S was therapeutically more efficient and can be used as a potential candidate for wound healing.

The challenges of climate change and human impacts faced by Mexican coasts: A comprehensive evaluation

The extensive shoreline of Mexico is heterogeneous and diverse, but it is increasingly exposed to degradation and loss. This is the first study performed at a national level and with a multidisciplinary approach, that aims to assess the impact of climate change and human-related pressures affecting Mexican coasts. From 1863 to 2022, 386 tropical cyclones have landed on Mexican coasts, six of them of category 5 (most on the Atlantic). Sea level rise projections showed that the Atlantic coast is the most vulnerable, whereas intense coastal erosion ( > 25m/year) is more widespread on the northern Pacific coast. Human impacts include coastal urbanization, ecosystem degradation and coastal armouring. Six million people live on Mexican coasts, mostly in the Caribbean. Mangroves and coastal dunes each cover nearly 800,000 ha. The mangroves are relatively well preserved, but almost half the area of the coastal dunes is degraded. Coastal armouring is widespread along the coasts, but most of these structures (55%) are found on the Yucatan peninsula. Activities required to improve the condition of Mexican coasts and make them a sustainable place to live would include: adaptation of human settlements to the conditions of the dynamic coasts; appropriate coastal protection measures that do not induce downdrift erosion; dealing with coastal risks by restoring and preserving coastal ecosystems.

Individual identification of sika deer (Cervus nippon) using short tandem repeat analysis for investigating illegal carcass disposal in Japan

The population of Japanese sika deer (Cervus nippon) are controlled by hunting to prevent damage to various crops in many areas in Japan. Hunters are subsidized by submitting the tail to the local government; animal carcasses must be properly disposed of after the hunt, and abandonment of hunted deer in the field is prohibited by law. However, there have been many carcasses of sika deer being abandoned without proper disposal. In such cases, individual identification by DNA analysis is required to match the abandoned deer and submitted tail and identify the suspect. When identifying individual wildlife by DNA analysis, it is crucial to select appropriate markers that consider both the procedure of the analysis and the animal species. To evaluate availability of Short Tandem Repeat (STR) analysis for the identification of sika deer, this study aimed to construct an STR database for sika deer in Japan and to evaluate the discrimination power of STR markers, using an identification kit for a closely related species of cattle and STR markers of the sika deer. The results showed polymorphism at six STR loci from the Bovine Genotypes Panel 3.1 Kit and two STR markers for sika deer, suggesting that these loci may be useful for sika deer identification. The coincidence rate for the three STR loci (CSSM019, TGLA53, ETH10) was 7.63 × 10-⁴, which was considered sufficient for identification of the sika deer population. This study was the first to evaluate the availability of sika deer STR analysis for individual identification in Japan and was expected to have applications in crime scene and wildlife forensics.

Allergic reactions flare in the gut after cuts to the skin, mouse research shows

TriLex: A fusion approach for unsupervised sentiment analysis of short texts

In recent years, online customer reviews and social media platforms have significantly impacted individuals’ daily lives. Despite the generally short nature of textual content on these platforms, they convey a wide range of user sentiments. However, sentiment analysis of short texts poses a challenge due to their context limitations. In addition, traditional supervised machine learning methods often struggle with the dynamic nature of sentiment expression and the scarcity of labeled data, which is a cost-efficiency issue. To address these challenges, this paper proposes TriLex, a novel unsupervised approach that leverages the majority votes of multiple lexicon-based sentiment analysis tools. TriLex categorizes agreement among TextBlob, VADER, and AFINN as strong labels and disagreement as weak labels. To improve sentiment labeling, we normalize sentiment scores across all lexicons and apply weighted averaging to compute a majority vote sentiment score. It then generates a new label for the weak label based on a dynamic threshold derived from the majority vote. The effectiveness of TriLex is evaluated on benchmark datasets for the accuracy, F1 score, precision, and recall of Logistic Regression, XGBoost, and LSTM models. The proposed TriLex model improves the accuracy of sentiment prediction by 2%–8%. Overall, our results demonstrate that TriLex outperformed methods relying on individual lexicons and existing fusion-based alternatives.

Behavioral insights during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina: the role of trust, health literacy, risk and fairness perceptions in compliance with public health and social measures

Background and aim Public health and social measures (PHSM) are critical aspects of limiting the spread of infections in pandemics. Compliance with PHSM depends on a wide range of factors, including behavioral determinants such as emotional response, trust in institutions or risk perceptions. This study examines self-reported compliance with PHSM during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBIH). Materials and methods We analyze the association between compliance and behavioral determinants, using data from five cross-sectional surveys that were conducted between June 2020 and August 2021 in FBIH. Quota-based sampling ensured that the 1000 people per wave were population representative regarding age, sex, and education level based on the data from the latest census in Bosnia and Herzegovina. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to identify significant changes between studies on determinants and PHSM measures. Regression was used to find relations between behavioral determinants and PHSM. Results Participants reported strong emotional responses to the rapid spread of the virus and its proximity to them. Risk perception was spiking in December 2020 when rates of infection and death were particularly high. Trends in policy acceptance were divergent; participants did not rate PHSM as exaggerated, but perceived fairness was low. Trust in institutions was low across all waves and declined for specific institutions such as the health ministry. In five wave-specific regression analyses, emotional response (βmin/max = .11*/.21*), risk perception (βmin/max = .06/.18*), policy acceptance (βmin/max = .09/.20*), and trust in institutions (βmin/max = .06/.21*) emerged as significant predictors of PHSM. Conclusions This study contributes to the body of research on factors influencing compliance with PHSM. It emphasizes the importance of behavioral monitoring through repeated surveys to understand and improve compliance. The study also affirms the impact of public trust on compliance, the risk of eroding compliance over time, and the need for health literacy support to help reinforce protective behaviors.

Association between hyperlipidemia and nephrolithiasis: A comprehensive bioinformatics analysis deciphering the potential common denominator pathogenesis

Objective Evidence suggests that nephrolithiasis and hyperlipidemia are linked. The study is designed to identify diagnostic biomarkers for nephrolithiasis in conjunction with hyperlipidemia using bioinformatics analysis, while exploring the potential common denominator pathogenesis. Methods The NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database provided separate datasets for nephrolithiasis and hyperlipidemia. We employed the R limma package to detect differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which were subsequently analyzed for enrichment using Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), Gene Ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways. Immune cell infiltration was analyzed by the CIBERSORT method. The WGCNA-R package clustered genes with similar expression profiles, followed by an analysis of the associations between the modules and specific traits or phenotypes. The STRING database was utilized to establish a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and key functional modules, which were then analyzed using Cytoscape software. Diagnostic genes for both diseases were screened from core hub genes using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) regression. Subsequently, we generated receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to validate the predictive ability of these diagnostic genes for diagnosing nephrolithiasis in combination with hyperlipidemia. Lastly, the Network Analyst platform facilitated the construction of transcription factor-gene (TF-gene) and TF-miRNA regulatory networks. Results Based on datasets of nephrolithiasis and hyperlipidemia, we identified 167 DEGs and 74 hub genes through WGCNA. Using PPI networks and machine learning techniques, we recognized three frequently diagnostic genes (HSP90AB1, HSPA5, and STUB1), which demonstrated high diagnostic validity. The functional enrichment of these three diagnostic genes primarily involved pathways related to cellular metabolism. Conclusions Our study identified three candidate diagnostic genes that can predict nephrolithiasis in conjunction with hyperlipidemia, providing a solid foundation for further exploration into the pathogenesis of nephrolithiasis and hyperlipidemia.

Top quarks spotted at mega-detector could reveal clues to early Universe

The red blood cell distribution width is associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality among individuals with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Background Identifying reliable prognostic indicators is essential for the appropriate management of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) has been established as an inflammatory marker associated with cardiovascular outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the association between RDW and both cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in individuals with NAFLD. Methods Data from 7,438 participants with NAFLD were analyzed, collected between 2005 and 2016 through the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Mortality data were retrieved from the National Death Index (NDI). Restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis was used to illustrate the relationship between RDW and mortality risk, Weighted Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the independent relationship between RDW and mortality risk. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to evaluate the predictive ability of RDW for survival outcomes. Results During a median follow-up period of 124 months, 1,269 deaths were recorded, including 335 from cardiovascular causes. RDW positively correlated with both cardiovascular and all-cause mortality according to the RCS analysis. Participants were categorized into quartiles based on RDW levels. Those in the highest RDW quartile (Q4) demonstrated a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular mortality (HR 3.61, 95% confidence interval [CI]:2.17–6.02, P=0.009) and all-cause mortality (HR 2.29, 95% CI:1.72–3.06, P < 0.0001), according to the weighted Cox hazards models. Additionally, the area under the curve (AUC) for all-cause mortality at 3, 5 and 10 years was, 0.69, 0.67, and 0.66, respectively. For cardiovascular mortality, the AUCs were 0.70, 0.68, and 0.68, respectively. Conclusion Among patients with NAFLD, RDW was identified as an independent predictor of increased cardiovascular and all-cause mortality risk.

Ultrashort-T2* mapping at 7 tesla using an optimized pointwise encoding time reduction with radial acquisition (PETRA) sequence at standard and extended echo times

Zero echo time (ZTE) sequences capture signal from tissues with extremely short T 2 * and are useful for qualitative and quantitative imaging of musculoskeletal tissues’ ultrashort-T 2 * components. One such sequence is Pointwise Encoding Time Reduction with Radial Acquisition (PETRA). While this sequence has shown promising results, it has undergone only limited testing at 7 tesla (T). The purpose of this work was to evaluate PETRA at 7T in its standard, commercially available form and with sequence code modifications to allow extended echo times for the purpose of performing ultrashort-T 2 * mapping. We acquired PETRA images of MnCl 2 and collagen phantoms and of the knee in eight participants (5 for optimization and 3 for ultrashort-T 2 * mapping assessment; 5 male/3 female, 39 ± 11 years old). Images were acquired using a 1-transmit/28-receive-channel knee coil. Artifacts, signal, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), ultrashort-T 2 *, the corresponding curve fit quality, and repeatability were assessed. In knee tissues, SNR was higher at TE = 0.07 msec than in a conventional-TE sequence (Dual-Echo Steady State with TE = 2.55 msec), with values of 68–337 for PETRA versus 16–30 for the same regions in the conventional-TE series. Acquisition of series for ultrashort-T 2 * maps was feasible at 1.50 mm isotropic acquisition resolution and TE ≤ 0.58 msec. Strong linear correlations were observed between relaxation rates (R 2 *) and MnCl 2 concentration, and between signal and collagen concentration. Ultrashort-T 2 * signal decay curve fit R 2 and repeatability were high for phantom and knee ultrashort-T 2 * <1 msec. PETRA imaging with minimal artifacts, high SNR, and scan time < 11 minutes was achieved at 7T at high (0.34 mm isotropic) resolution at TE = 0.07 msec and lower resolution (1.52 mm isotropic) at echo times ≤ 0.58 msec. Ultrashort-T 2 * mapping provided acceptable curve-fitting results for substances with sub-millisecond T 2 *.