Browse Articles

Impact of the Clinical Frailty Score on Outcomes of Critically Ill Patients in a Tertiary Care ICU

Hyers Ulam stability and bifurcation control of leptospirosis disease dynamics and preventations: Modeling with singular and non-singular kernels

Due to its various uses, the dynamical system is a significant research area in the field of mathematical biology. The model is first developed by applying the usual derivative with combined recovery measures of humans as well as animals for leptospirosis transmission and then converted into a generalized form of the fractal fractional sense with power law kernel, exponential law kernel, and Mittag-Leffler kernel. We verify all the fundamental characteristics of the newly developed model for the validation analysis of the system such as equilibrium points, local stability, positivity of solutions, reproductive number, and existence of a unique solution. Also, bifurcation analysis has been used for newly developed systems to observe the impact of each sub-compartment with the effect of different parameters. The results on Hyers Ulam stability are established by utilizing different kernels to observe its stable state. We used a numerical scheme based on the Lagrange polynomials for all three cases of fractal fractional derivatives having different kernels. The efficiency of the fractional operators with comparative analysis of different kernels is shown in simulation form to verify the validity and real behavior of leptospirosis transmission for humans as well as animals. he graphical explanation of our model’s solution depicts the effectiveness of our techniques applied and this study helps for future predictions and developing better control strategies.

Cancelable biometric authentication leveraging empirical mode decomposition and quaternion representations for IoT security

Enhancing Advance Care Planning in India through a 12-step Pathway

Comparison of CMIP6 GCMs historical precipitation with measured precipitation over Pakistan

Comparison of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) General Circulation Models (GCMs) with observations under different climatic conditions is necessary to determine their respective strengths and differences. In the current study, ten CMIP6 GCMs are compared with measured gauge precipitation data of 51 stations across Pakistan. Results show reasonable agreement between the CMIP6-GCMs with measured data in capturing precipitation days of ≤10 mm/day. The precipitation intensity of events ≥10 mm/day shows a significant resemblance with measured data at a 95% confidence level (K-S test). Furthermore, the results of regional differences demonstrate the relatively good agreement of CMCC-CM2-SR5, EC-Earth3-AerChem, and EC-Earth3-CC with measured data in arid and semiarid regions and FGOALS-f3-L in humid and extremely arid regions. Significant precipitation variability is reported in the interannual standard deviation ratio (STD) for all GCMs in all seasons, implying more dynamics and intense precipitation in GCMs. The magnitude of STD is sensitive to the precipitation magnitude in time and space rather than climate classes, higher and lower in monsoon and autumn seasons, respectively. The climatological mean shows higher precipitation in the northeastern and southeastern parts of GCMs during the monsoon and lower precipitation during winters complementing station data. Based on selected metrics, CMCC-ESM2 has the highest skill in simulating precipitation distributions over Pakistan, followed by CMCC-CM2-SR5 and EC-Earth3-CC, while NorCPM1 ranked the worst in reproducing measured precipitation. The findings can serve as a benchmark in the region for applying the CMIP6 GCMs in water and food security studies.

Altered internetwork functional connectivity and graph analysis of occipital regions in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis accompanied by olfactory dysfunction

Bacteremia Caused by Rare NFGNB in the ICU: A Single-center Experience

Adherence to the current guidelines on antibiotic prescription among dental practitioners: A national survey

Background The global emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance jeopardise health-care advances and life expectancy. Following the latest antibiotic guidelines is crucial to combat this issue. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the knowledge regarding antibiotics prescription and investigate the evidence-based practices among dental practitioners in Saudi Arabia. Method This cross-sectional study was conducted during November 2020 to April 2021 in Saudi Arabia. A self-designed validated questionnaire comprising 27 close ended knowledge-based questions and 9 practice-based question was administered among dentists working in various settings through online generated link. A pilot study in 20 dental specialists and consultants was conducted prior to the study, to arise at sample size of 318. Reliability of the questionnaire was assessed with Cronbach’s α value of 0.85, face validity of 84%, and content validity ratio of 0.78. The knowledge and practice score were graded based on quartile derivatives. The data was analyzed using descriptive analysis, chi square analysis, correlation, and regression by IBM SPSS® Statistics for Windows, Version 28.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. Results The average age of the participants was 36.3 ±  5.9 years, and their average experience was about 7.3 years. The mean knowledge score was 19.62 ±  4.28 with government employees scoring higher (20.03 ±  3.90) compared to private practitioners and academicians. Clinicians with less than five years of experience had significantly higher knowledge scores (p =  0.002). The majority of the participants, 218 (68.55%), had good practices while 100 (31.44%) participants showed poor practices. Moreover, only half of the participants could correctly identify the majority of case-based scenarios related to antibiotic prescriptions. Conclusion Dentists in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have a good level of knowledge and practices on antibiotics prescription. However, some aspects of poor practices particularly among private sector clinicians necessitate the launching of educational campaigns, interventions and provision of latest guidelines for prudent use of antibiotics in dental practice.

Clinical implications of deep learning based image analysis of whole radical prostatectomy specimens

Position Statement of ISCCM on Intrahospital Transport of Critically Ill Patients

A randomized, controlled trial of a web-based tailored intervention to increase human papillomavirus vaccination among people living with HIV/AIDS

Background Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes several cancers that disproportionally affect people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) yet there is a paucity of research on interventions to foster HPV vaccine use in this population. We sought to evaluate the efficacy of a web-based, tailored intervention (e-HPV) to promote HPV vaccination among PLWH. Methods This is a randomized controlled trial with PLWH aged 18 to 45 years. Participants were recruited between January and June 2022 and randomized into two groups: experimental group (e-HPV), which received information about HPV and the HPV vaccine, based on the Protection Motivation Theory and control group, who received a clipping of information from the page maintained by the Ministry of Health dedicated to informing the population about HPV and the HPV vaccine. The primary and secondary outcomes were the percentage of PLWH willing to get HPV vaccine and HPV vaccine initiation (i.e., receipt of any doses by PLWH), respectively. Results A total of 654 individuals were randomly allocated: 327 in the e-HPV and 327 in the control group. The average age was 29.7 years, the majority were men (71.4%), black or mixed race (63.2%). The intention to get vaccinated against HPV was approximately twice as high among participants in the e-HPV vs. control group (OR = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.3–3.4; p < 0.003), and HPV vaccine initiation was also significantly more common among participants in the e-HPV group (OR = 2.1, 95% CI: 1.1-4.0; p = 0.03). Belief in the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine, risk perception and the severity of an HPV infection were the reasons most reported by participants intending to get HPV vaccination. Conclusions The intervention was acceptable and efficacious in increasing HPV vaccination among PLWH. Future studies are warranted to optimize and disseminate the e-HPV intervention to settings providing services to PLWH. Trial registration Brazilian Clinical Trials Registry RBR-557mbvy

Vehicular mediated emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in roadside soils of Shanghai

Should We Scope? Or is there a Scope for the Probe?

Promoting engagement with social fact-checks online: Investigating the roles of social connection and shared partisanship

Social corrections – where users correct each other – can help rectify inaccurate beliefs. However, social corrections are often ignored. Here we ask under what conditions social corrections promote engagement from corrected users, allowing for greater insight into how users respond to debunking messages (even if such responses are negative). Prior work suggests two key factors may help promote engagement with corrections – partisan alignment between users, and social connections between users. We investigate these factors here. First, we conducted a field experiment on Twitter (X) using human-looking bots to examine how shared partisanship and prior social connection affect correction engagement. We randomized whether our accounts identified as Democrat or Republican, and whether they followed Twitter users and liked three of their tweets before correcting them (creating a minimal social connection). We found that shared partisanship had no significant effect in the baseline (no social connection) condition. Interestingly, social connection increased engagement with corrections from co-partisans. Effects in the social counter-partisan condition were ambiguous. Follow-up survey experiments largely replicated these results and found evidence for a generalized norm of responding, wherein people feel more obligated to respond to people who follow them – even outside the context of misinformation correction. Our findings have important implications for increasing engagement with social corrections online.

Prognostic impact of clinical trial eligibility in patients with advanced gastric cancer

Role of Antimicrobial Air Purifier in Reducing the Microbial Load in the Critical Care Unit in Oncology Center: An Intervention Study

Trend of home birth and its associated factors in Ethiopia during COVID-19 and social crisis (2019–2023)

Background Maternal mortality is unacceptably high in some countries of the world, including Ethiopia. Access to skilled delivery is one of the prevention methods for maternal and neonatal deaths. However, a significant number of women gave birth at home due to many reasons. In, Ethiopia, after the implementation of many interventions to reduce home birth, the change in its trend was not studied. Hence, this study was aimed to address this information gap. Objective To determine the trend of home birth and its associated factors in Ethiopia during COVID-19 and Social Crisis from 2019–2023. Method We obtained the data from the Performance Monitoring for Action, which employed panel design with embedded cross-sectional surveys from 2019–2023. A total sample of 8,419 women who gave birth were included in this analysis. A two-stage cluster sampling was applied to select study participants. The datasets were appended, edited, and analyzed using STATA 17 and SPSS 25. Microsoft Excel was used to prepare line graphs. A binary logistic regression model was fitted to identify factors associated with home delivery. We used an adjusted odds ratio with 95% CI to measure the strength of associations. Result The level of home birth showed a significant decline from 37.80% in 2019 to 29.90% in 2023. Having less than four ANC visits [AOR = 1.91, 95% CI (1.25, 2.92)], not encouraged by partners to visit clinics [AOR =  2.15, 95%CI (1.19, 3.87)], and did not discuss delivery by skilled attendant during ANC visit [AOR =  1.70, 95% CI (1.09, 2.64)] were some of the variables significantly associated with home birth. Conclusion Home birth is declining in Ethiopia. Providers and health managers should use ANC visits as a good opportunity to inform, encourage and follow mothers to attend birth at a health facility.

Enhancing zinc and iron biofortification in mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) through various application method

Can Early Use of HFNC through Improved Study Design Make a Statistically Significant Difference in the Rate of Intubation in Patients with Post-traumatic Lung Contusion?

Decoding oncogenic secrets of regulator of chromosome condensation 1: A breakthrough mechanistic evidence from breast and lung cancer models

The Regulator of Chromosome Condensation 1 (RCC1), a master regulator of cell cycle progression, chromatin structure, and nuclear transport, emerges as a powerful driver of cancer progression. Elevated RCC1 expression in breast and lung cancers is closely tied to enhanced tumor cell survival, proliferation, and metastasis, positioning it as a promising therapeutic target. This study unveils RCC1’s pivotal role in cancer biology by silencing its expression in MDA-MB-231 (breast cancer) and A549 (lung cancer) cell lines using shRNA. RCC1 knockdown dramatically reduced cell viability, colony formation, and motility, while inducing apoptosis, as evidenced by increased apoptotic markers and reduced anti-apoptotic Bcl2 expression. Gene expression analysis revealed downregulation of cell cycle and DNA repair pathways, highlighting RCC1’s critical role in sustaining oncogenic mechanisms. These findings underscore RCC1 as a gatekeeper of tumor survival, capable of resisting apoptosis and promoting metastasis. Targeting RCC1 offers a dual advantage: disrupting cancer growth and enhancing apoptotic pathways, creating an exciting opportunity for precision therapies. By illuminating RCC1’s integration into survival networks, this study not only advances our understanding of cancer biology but also lays the groundwork for innovative treatments aimed at halting cancer progression and metastasis.