Category: Nevin Manimala

Sci Rep. 2024 Nov 15;14(1):28154. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-78924-z.

ABSTRACT

The rapid changes in the shipping fleet during the last decades has increased the ship-induced loads and, thus, their impact on infrastructures, margin protections and ecosystems. Primary waves have been pointed out as the cause of those impacts, with heights that can exceed 2 m and periods around 2 minutes. Consequently, extensive literature can be found on their estimation mainly from a deterministic perspective with methods based on datasets limited to one location, making difficult their generalization. These studies propose either computationally expensive numerical models or empirical equations which often underestimate the extreme primary waves, hindering their use for design purposes. Moreover, a framework to allow the design of infrastructure under ship-wave attack based on probabilistic concepts such as return periods is still missing. In this study, a probabilistic model based on bivariate copulas is proposed to model the joint distribution of the primary wave height, the peak of the total energy flux, the ship length, the ship width, the relative velocity of the ship and the blockage factor. This model, a vine-copula, is developed and validated for four different deployments along the Savannah river (USA), with different locations and times. To do so, the model is quantified using part of the data in one deployment and validated using the rest of the data from this deployment and data of the other three. The vine-copula is validated from both a predictive performance point of view and with respect to the statistical properties. We prove that the probabilistic dependence of the data is preserved spatially and temporally in the Savannah river.

PMID:39548207 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-78924-z

Sci Rep. 2024 Nov 15;14(1):28191. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-79115-6.

ABSTRACT

The loss of germination, viability, and vigor of seeds under storage conditions are the main causes of the need to multiply the seed material for leguminous crops. For crop establishment, seeds obtained in propagation fields are usually used, and the coating comes from the basic seed. In the case of leguminous species, the seeds quickly lose their viability, and in accordance with international regulations, for legumes, the number of seeds increases only in the first year of propagation. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to assess the effects of variations in the storage period, temperature and humidity on the morphophysiological and chemical traits of two pea seed varieties (Gloriosa and Kelvedon Wonder). The pea seeds were harvested at the end of June 2017, 2018 and 2019 and stored for 32, 20 and 8 months at T = 4 °C and H = 8%; T = 4 °C and H = 12%; T = 8 °C and H = 8%; T = 8 °C and H = 12%; and T = 22 °C and H = 65%. The results of the morphological, chemical, and biochemical analyses showed that the highest germination rate; hypocotyl length; radicle length; lipid content; dietetic fiber content; caloric value; and Ca, Mg, K, Na, Fe and Zn contents were detected in the Gloriosa and KW seeds stored for 8 months at 4 °C and 8% humidity. Analysis of the experimental data by statistical methods revealed that increasing the storage time had an individual significant negative influence only on the germination rate of both pea varieties and on the hypocotyl length and radicle length of the KW variety, while humidity and temperature variation had individual significant influences on the lipid content. The significant effects of humidity and temperature on the germination rate, hypocotyl length and root length of KW plants were also determined. For the remaining morphophysiological and chemical traits of pea seeds, the individual and combined effects of the factors were not statistically significant. Furthermore, the comparison of means using the Tukey test showed that storage conditions related to temperature and humidity generally used by farmers (T = 22 °C × H = 65%) did not significantly affect the majority of the nutritional properties of the pea seeds. However, maintaining pea seeds under these conditions for a longer period of time significantly affects seed germination and vigor.

PMID:39548205 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-79115-6

Sci Rep. 2024 Nov 15;14(1):28125. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-79442-8.

ABSTRACT

In the face of an infectious disease, a key epidemiological measure is the basic reproduction number, which quantifies the average secondary infections caused by a single case in a susceptible population. In practice, the effective reproduction number, denoted as R t , is widely used to assess the transmissibility of the disease at a given time t. Real-time estimating this metric is vital for understanding and managing disease outbreaks. Traditional statistical inference often relies on two assumptions. One is that samples are assumed to be drawn from a homogeneous population distribution, neglecting significant variations in individual transmission rates. The other is the ideal case reporting assumption, disregarding time delays between infection and reporting. In this paper, we thoroughly investigate these critical factors and assess their impact on estimating R t . We first introduce negative binomial and Weibull distributions to characterize transmission rates and reporting delays, respectively, based on which observation and state equations are formulated. Then, we employ a Bayesian filtering for estimating R t . Finally, validation using synthetic and empirical data demonstrates a significant improvement in estimation accuracy compared to conventional methods that ignore these factors.

PMID:39548195 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-79442-8

Sci Rep. 2024 Nov 15;14(1):28120. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-79641-3.

ABSTRACT

Head and neck cancer (HNC) is the seventh most common cancer globally, with 20-60% of patients experiencing nutritional deficiencies. Recent studies indicate that microRNAs (miRNAs) may serve as molecular markers for malnutrition. This study evaluated miR-22-3p as a potential predictor of nutritional deficiencies and a prognostic factor in HNC patients undergoing intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). From 2014 to 2017, fifty-six advanced HNC patients at the Medical University of Lublin received IMRT, with miR-22-3p levels measured from peripheral blood before treatment. Statistical analysis using MedCalc 15.8 revealed that underweight patients had significantly lower miR-22-3p expression compared to non-underweight patients (0.89 vs. 2.47; p = 0.0233). Moderately or severely malnourished patients also showed reduced miR-22-3p levels compared to well-nourished individuals (1.42 vs. 11.04; p = 0.026). Additionally, patients with critical weight loss (CWL) had significantly lower miR-22-3p levels than those without CWL (0.96 vs. 4.91; p = 0.0015). Weak correlations were found between miR-22-3p levels, cancer stage, body mass index (BMI), and C-reactive protein (CRP), with lower miR-22-3p levels linked to advanced tumor stages and higher CRP levels. This study suggests miR-22-3p as a biomarker for nutritional deficiency risk in HNC patients, though further research is needed to validate its predictive capacity.

PMID:39548174 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-79641-3

Sci Rep. 2024 Nov 15;14(1):28161. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-78609-7.

ABSTRACT

The early microbiota of neonates is crucial for developing the postnatal immune system and establishing normal physiological, metabolic, and neurological functions. This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the diversity of the neonatal oral microbiome, including mother-to-newborn microbial transmission. The study includes a prospective cohort comprising 73 mothers and 87 neonates and a retrospective cohort comprising 991 mothers and 1,121 neonates. Samples from the maternal cervix and neonatal gastric, bronchial, and oral cavities were analyzed using culture-based methods. Neonatal oral swab samples were also analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize microbial diversity and composition. Similar genera were detected in the neonatal gastric, bronchial, and oral samples, and the neonatal gastric culture was the most similar to the maternal cervical culture. In addition to mother-to-newborn microbial transmission, various natal factors including birth type, birth weight, delivery mode, maternal chorioamnionitis, maternal diabetes and the presence of microbes in other sites influenced neonatal oral microbiome diversity. Among these factors, the birth type was the most significant, and preterm neonates exhibited decreased oral microbiome diversity, with fewer beneficial bacteria and more pathogens. These findings could serve as a baseline for research on the establishment of the oral microbiota in preterm neonates and its health implications.

PMID:39548168 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-78609-7

Sci Rep. 2024 Nov 15;14(1):28177. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-78271-z.

ABSTRACT

Architect-HIV Ag/Ab combo chemiluminescence assay is globally recognized for its sensitivity but has a notable false-positive rate. In this study, we aim to evaluate the performance of a new cost-effective screening alternative, the chemiluminescence Ag/Ab combo assay (CL-900i-HIV) from Mindray, China. We selected 195 archived samples categorized according to the INNO-LIA™ HIV I/II, the gold standard confirmatory assay. These samples included true positive (n = 38; positive by Architect-HIV & INNO-LIA-HIV), true negative (n = 101; negative by Architect-HIV & INNO-LIA-HIV), false positive (n = 20; positive by Architect-HIV & negative by INNO-LIA-HIV), and indeterminate results (n = 26). We tested all samples using the Mindray CL-900i-HIV and all positive Architect-HIV samples (n = 80) were confirmed by PCR. Compared to INNO-LIA™ HIVI/II line immunoassay confirmatory assay, Mindray CL-900i-HIV demonstrated a sensitivity of 100% (95% CI 90.7-100), specificity of 100% (95% CI 97.0-100), overall percent agreement (OPA) of 100% (95% CI 97.7-100.0), and perfect agreement with the INNO-LIA confirmatory assay (κ = 1.00). Additionally, Mindray’s CL-900i-HIV exhibited a significantly lower false-positive rate (8.75%) compared to Architect-HIV’s (55%). Mindray CL900i demonstrated high sensitivity and very low false-positive rate, thus, has the potential to serve as an excellent, cost-effective surrogate for HIV screening, overcoming the limitations of existing automated assays.

PMID:39548153 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-78271-z

Cognition. 2024 Nov 14;254:106002. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2024.106002. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

While the visual world is rich and complex, importantly, it nevertheless contains many statistical regularities. For example, environmental feature distributions tend to remain relatively stable from one moment to the next. Recent findings have shown how observers can learn surprising details of environmental color distributions, even when the colors belong to actively ignored stimuli such as distractors in visual search. Our aim was to determine whether such learning influences orienting in the visual environment, measured with saccadic eye movements. In two visual search experiments, observers had to find an odd-one-out target. Firstly, we tested cases where observers selected targets by fixating them. Secondly, we measured saccadic eye movements when observers made judgments on the target and responded manually. Trials were structured in blocks, containing learning trials where distractors came from the same color distribution (uniform or Gaussian) while on subsequent test trials, the target was at different distances from the mean of the learning distractor distribution. For both manual and saccadic measures, performance improved throughout the learning trials and was better when the distractor colors came from a Gaussian distribution. Moreover, saccade latencies during test trials depended on the distance between the color of the current target and the distractors on learning trials, replicating results obtained with manual responses. Latencies were slowed when the target color was within the learning distractor color distribution and also revealed that observers learned the difference between uniform and Gaussian distributions. The importance of several variables in predicting saccadic and manual reaction times was studied using random forests, revealing similar rankings for both modalities, although previous distractor color had a higher impact on free eye movements. Overall, our results demonstrate learning of detailed characteristics of environmental color distributions that affects early attentional selection rather than later decisional processes.

PMID:39546817 | DOI:10.1016/j.cognition.2024.106002

JMIR Form Res. 2024 Nov 15;8:e56006. doi: 10.2196/56006.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Studying illicit drug circulation and its effects on population health is complicated due to the criminalization of trade and consumption. Illicit drug markets have evolved with IT, moving digital to the “darknet.” Previous research has analyzed darknet market listings and customer reviews. Research tools include public health surveys and medical reports but lack neutral data on drugs’ spread and impact. This study fills this gap with an analysis of the volume of drugs traded on the darknet market.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to use the dark web data and officially published indicators to identify the most vulnerable regions of Russia and the correlations between the pairs of variables to measure how illicit drug trade can affect population well-being.

METHODS: We web-parsed the Hydra darknet drug marketplace using Python code. The dataset encompassed 3045 individual sellers marketing 6721 unique products via 58,563 distinct postings, each representing specific quantities sold in different Russian regions during 2019. In the second stage, we collected 31 variables from official sources to compare officially collected data with darknet data about amounts and types of selling drugs in every 85 regions of Russia. The health-related data were obtained from official published sources-statistical yearbooks. Maps, diagrams, correlation matrixes, and applied observational statistical methods were used.

RESULTS: In 2019, a minimum of 124 kilograms of drugs circulated daily in small batches on the Russian darknet. Cannabis dominated the market, being 10 times more prevalent than opiates, and cannabis products’ higher availability in the region is correlated with a lower incidence of opiate overdoses. The “grams of opiates in the region” variable is significantly correlated with drug overdose deaths (r=.41; P=.003), HIV-positive cases due to drug use (r=.51; P=.002), and drug court convictions in Russia (r=.39; P=.004). The study identified significant correlations between opiate sales on the darknet and higher rates of HIV among injection drug users (r=.47; P=.003). Conversely, regions with higher cannabis sales exhibited significant negative correlations with indicators of harmful drug use (r=-.52; P=.002) and its prevalence (r=-.49; P=.001). These findings suggest regional variations in drug sales on the darknet may be associated with differing public health outcomes. These indicators accurately reflect regional drug issues, though some official statistics may be incomplete or biased.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings point to varying levels of risk associated with different types of drugs sold on the darknet, but further research is needed to explore these relationships in greater depth. The study’s findings highlight the importance of considering regional variations in darknet drug sales when developing public health strategies. The significant correlations between drug sales data and public health indicators suggest that region-specific interventions could be more effective in addressing the diverse challenges posed by illicit drug use.

PMID:39546792 | DOI:10.2196/56006

J Neurosurg. 2024 Nov 15:1-10. doi: 10.3171/2024.7.JNS24373. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: There is persistent debate in the literature surrounding the true predictors of biochemical remission after resection of somatotroph adenoma. A multimodal analysis of a large number of patients is needed to better understand which patients may be at higher or lower risk for remission failure after surgery.

METHODS: A retrospective review was performed on patients undergoing somatotroph adenoma resection. Biochemical remission was defined as age- and sex-adjusted normalization of serum insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels at least 6 months after surgery. Patient case characteristics and clinicopathologic variables were tested for statistical associations with remission and were included in a random forest machine learning model to assess for their importance in determining remission status. Preoperative variables found to be significant remission predictors on statistical testing and important in the random forest model were subsequently assessed via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to determine numeric thresholds that optimally predicted preoperative likelihood of remission success or failure.

RESULTS: Eighty patients were identified with somatotroph adenoma who underwent transsphenoidal resection, with 60 patients (75%) achieving biochemical remission. Statistical testing found that patients with failed remission were more likely to have larger tumors (1.9 vs 1.6 cm by the largest axis, p = 0.014; and 3.61 vs 2.66 cm3 by 3D volume, p = 0.013) that invaded the cavernous sinus more frequently (70% vs 22% of patients, p < 0.001) and have higher preoperative IGF-1 level (860 vs 660 ng/ml, p = 0.044). An optimized random forest machine learning model with 10,000 iterations found that tumor size, preoperative growth hormone and IGF-1 levels, and cavernous sinus invasion were important preoperative predictors of remission status. ROC analysis revealed that 96% of patients with preoperative 3D tumor volume less than 1.51 cm3 (area under the curve [AUC] 0.691, p = 0.003) and 100% with nonadjusted preoperative IGF-1 level less than 718.5 ng/ml (AUC 0.736, p = 0.002) achieved remission.

CONCLUSIONS: Important preoperative predictors of postoperative remission for somatotroph adenoma resection include serum IGF-1 level, cavernous sinus invasion, and tumor size. Ninety-five percent of patients who achieved postoperative remission had preoperative 3D tumor volume less than 1.51 cm3.

PMID:39546789 | DOI:10.3171/2024.7.JNS24373

J Neurosurg. 2024 Nov 15:1-8. doi: 10.3171/2024.6.JNS232599. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The authors’ goal was to perform a retrospective audit of all emergency cranial neurosurgery performed at the Royal Darwin Hospital in the first 5 years of the unit and to compile their data in a similar fashion to an earlier study titled “Emergency Neurosurgery in Darwin: Still the Generalist Surgeons’ Responsibility,” which was published in 2015.

METHODS: All emergency cranial neurosurgery performed by a neurosurgeon between 2017 and 2021 was identified. Data were extracted from the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre database. Statistical analyses were descriptive logistic regression performed using Stata version 15.1 software to examine factors associated with death.

RESULTS: A total of 320 patients (42% Indigenous) underwent 427 emergency neurosurgeries. There were 35 emergency neurosurgeries in 2017 and 82 in 2021. The most common procedure performed was insertion of an external ventricular drain, followed by craniotomy and removal of intracranial hematoma. Mortality was 7.5% overall and 8.4% among patients with trauma. Only age proved to be a statistically significant independent risk factor for death (t = -2.95, p < 0.0041; OR 1.06, p = 0.02). Location, sex, injury severity, and presenting Glasgow Coma Scale score were not associated with death. Indigenous and non-Indigenous patients had similar outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS: The data illustrate the importance of developing small but sustainable neurosurgical units in rural and remote areas. A dedicated neurosurgical unit at the Royal Darwin Hospital has led to an increase in the amount and variety of emergency neurosurgery performed in Darwin. Interstate transfers have reduced. This has tangible lifesaving and economic advantages.

PMID:39546787 | DOI:10.3171/2024.6.JNS232599