Tag: nevin manimala

Chaos. 2023 Sep 1;33(9):093117. doi: 10.1063/5.0156025.

ABSTRACT

Synchronization of chaotic systems is usually investigated for structurally equivalent systems typically coupled through linear diffusive functions. Here, we focus on a particular type of coupling borrowed from a nonlinear control theory and based on the optimal placement of a sensor-a device measuring the chosen variable-and an actuator-a device applying the actuating (control) signal to a variable’s derivative-in the response system, leading to the so-called flat control law. We aim to investigate the dynamics produced by a response system that is flat coupled to a drive system and to determine the degree of generalized synchronization between them using statistical and topological arguments. The general use of a flat control law for getting generalized synchronization is discussed.

PMID:37703476 | DOI:10.1063/5.0156025

Rev Esc Enferm USP. 2023 Aug 28;57:e20230047. doi: 10.1590/1980-220X-REEUSP-2023-0047en. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To compare nursing staff workload and dimensioning measured by two patient classification systems.

METHOD: Cross-sectional study, developed in a clinical inpatient unit of a large hospital in southern Brazil, between June and August 2022. Included patients (n = 260) were assessed through two different patient classification systems. The dimensioning calculation provided by the standard and descriptive statistics were applied.

RESULTS: Of the total number of patients, 1,248 classifications were performed with each of the classification systems. One of the instruments showed a concentration of demand for minimal care (54.5%) and the other for intermediate care (63.4%). The anticipation of required nursing hours was discrepant (235.58 and 298.16 hours), as well as the projected nursing staff, which was of 53 and 67 workers, respectively.

CONCLUSION: Measurement of workload and dimensioning were different when using two patient classification systems in the same sample. Additional accuracy studies shall be carried out.

PMID:37703470 | DOI:10.1590/1980-220X-REEUSP-2023-0047en

Inorg Chem. 2023 Sep 13. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c00008. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

We introduce Na₂[Fe₃S₄], comprising anionic layers, synthesized by a simple and straightforward solid-state method based on the fusion of binary sulfides of abundant sodium and iron. The structure crystallizes in a trigonal lattice with honeycomb cavities, as well as 25% of statistical iron vacancies in the crystal structure. The compound depicts high dielectric constants from 998 to 1850 at a frequency of 1 kHz depending on the sintering temperature, comparable with benchmark dielectric materials. According to the complex electrochemical impedance results, the compound depicts an electrical conductivity at ambient temperature. Optical investigations reveal a band gap of 1.64 eV, which is in agreement with an electronic band gap of 1.63 eV computed by density functional theory calculations. Magnetometry results reveal an antiferromagnetic behavior with a transition at 120 K. These findings introduce Na₂[Fe₃S₄] as a sustainable multifunctional material with potential for a variety of electronic and magnetic applications.

PMID:37703452 | DOI:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c00008

Pain. 2023 Sep 13. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003051. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Neonatal pain is a critical issue in clinical practice. The oral administration of glucose-based solutions is currently one of the most common and effective nonpharmacologic strategies for neonatal pain relief in daily minor procedures. However, a varying degree of analgesic efficacy has been reported for this treatment. Environmental, maternal, and genetic factors may explain this variability and potentially allow for a personalized analgesic approach, maximizing therapeutic efficacy and preventing side effects. We investigated the exposome (ie, the set of clinical and anthropometric variables potentially affecting the response to the therapy) and the genetic variability of the noradrenaline transporter gene (solute carrier family 6 member 2 [SLC6A2]) and 2 glucose transporter genes (solute carrier family 2 member 1 [SLC2A1] and 2 [SLC2A2]) in relation to the neonatal analgesic efficacy of a 33% glucose solution. The study population consisted in a homogeneous sample of more than 1400 healthy term newborns. No association for the exposome was observed, whereas a statistically significant association between the G allele of SLC2A1-rs1105297 and a fourfold decreased probability of responding to the therapy was identified after multiple-testing correction (odds ratio of 3.98, 95% confidence interval 1.95-9.17; P = 4.05 × 10-4). This allele decreases the expression of SLC2A1-AS1, causing the upregulation of SLC2A1 in the dorsal striatum, which has been suggested to be involved in reward-related processes through the binding of opioids to the striatal mu-opioid receptors. Altogether, these results suggest the involvement of SLC2A1 in the analgesic process and highlight the importance of host genetics for defining personalized analgesic treatments.

PMID:37703430 | DOI:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003051

Health Promot Int. 2023 Oct 1;38(5):daad109. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daad109.

ABSTRACT

Adolescents’ general health status and health behaviors have been closely monitored in recent years. It is estimated that adolescents comprise one-sixth of the world’s population. This study examined whether eHealth literacy was predicted via health promotion activities and preventive health practices among Turkish adolescents. This cross-sectional study was conducted between March and May 2022 with 706 adolescents in Çorum, Turkey. A face-to-face questionnaire form was used, including socio-demographic characteristics, preventive health practices, eHealth literacy scale and Adolescent Health Promotion Scale. The data of the research were analyzed with the SPSS 22.0 program. Percentage, mean, Pearson Correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis were used in the analyzes. The p < 0.05 value was considered statistically significant in the evaluations. In the study, 55.8% were female, and the mean age of the whole group was 16.09 ± 2.63 years. The mean score on the eHealth literacy scale was 29.40 ± 6.29. The mean of the total scores obtained from the Adolescent Health Promotion Scale was 137.97 ± 21.87. There was a significant positive correlation between eHealth literacy and the Adolescent Health Promotion Scale (p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to predict eHealth literacy using the variables of Adolescent Health Promotion and preventive health practices. eHealth literacy positively and significantly predicts health promotion activities (β = 0.27, t (695) = 7.54, p < 0.001). eHealth literacy increased annual weight measurement by more than 0.13 (β = 0.13), annual blood iron measurement by more than 0.16 (β = 0.16) and annual dental examination by more than 0.11 (β = 0.11). Developing eHealth literacy interventions will be necessary for environments with a high concentration of adolescents (schools and courses). Also, primary health care services should be integrated with the school environment.

PMID:37703395 | DOI:10.1093/heapro/daad109

Sleep. 2023 Sep 13:zsad242. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsad242. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Polysomnography (PSG) scoring is labor intensive, subjective, and often ambiguous. Recently several deep learning (DL) models for automated sleep scoring have been developed, they are tied to a fixed amount of input channels and resolution. In this study, we constructed a standardized image-based PSG dataset in order to overcome the heterogeneity of raw signal data obtained from various PSG devices and various sleep laboratory environments.

METHODS: All individually exported European data format files containing raw signals were converted into images with an annotation file, which contained the demographics, diagnoses, and sleep statistics. An image-based DL model for automatic sleep staging was developed, compared with a signal-based model and validated in an external dataset.

RESULTS: We constructed 10,253 image-based PSG datasets using a standardized format. Among these, 7,745 diagnostic PSG data were used to develop our DL model. The DL model using the image dataset showed similar performance to the signal-based dataset for the same subject. The overall DL accuracy was greater than 80%, even with severe obstructive sleep apnea. Moreover, for the first time, we showed explainable DL in the field of sleep medicine as visualized key inference regions using Eigen-class activation maps. Furthermore, when a DL model for sleep scoring performs external validation, we achieved a relatively good performance.

CONCLUSION: Our main contribution demonstrates the availability of a standardized image-based dataset, and highlights that changing the data sampling rate or number of sensors may not require retraining, although performance decreases slightly as the number of sensors decreases.

PMID:37703391 | DOI:10.1093/sleep/zsad242

Sci Adv. 2023 Sep 15;9(37):eadi2960. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adi2960. Epub 2023 Sep 13.

ABSTRACT

Although high-entropy carbides (HECs) have hardness often superior to that of parent compounds, their brittleness-a problem shared with most ceramics-has severely limited their reliability. Refractory HECs in particular are attracting considerable interest due to their unique combination of mechanical and physical properties, tunable over a vast compositional space. Here, combining statistics of crack formation in bulk specimens subject to mild, moderate, and severe nanoindentation loading with ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of alloys under tension, we show that the resistance to fracture of cubic-B1 HECs correlates with their valence electron concentration (VEC). Electronic structure analyses show that VEC ≳ 9.4 electrons per formula unit enhances alloy fracture resistance due to a facile rehybridization of electronic metallic states, which activates transformation plasticity at the yield point. Our work demonstrates a reliable strategy for computationally guided and rule-based (i.e., VEC) engineering of deformation mechanisms in high entropy, solid solution, and doped ceramics.

PMID:37703369 | DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adi2960

Oral Dis. 2023 Sep 13. doi: 10.1111/odi.14730. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of the long non-coding RNA “MALAT1” measured in the saliva of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and assess the salivary expression of microRNA-124, which MALAT1 targets.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Forty subjects were collected in a consecutive pattern and allocated into two groups. Group A included 20 patients with OSCC, while Group B included 20 healthy subjects. Salivary expression of MALAT1 and microRNA (miRNA)-124 was evaluated in the two study groups using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and correlated with histopathological examination of OSCC subjects.

RESULTS: OSCC yielded a statistically significant higher expression of MALAT1 than healthy controls and a lower expression of miRNA-124 in OSCC than controls. There is a statistically significant inverse relationship between salivary MALAT1 and miRNA-124. Moreover, there is a statistically significant difference in the MALAT1 expression in saliva samples from metastatic cases compared with non-metastatic cases, as well as in patients with lymph node involvement compared with those without involvement. At a cut-off value of 2.24, salivary MALAT1 exhibited 95% sensitivity and 90% specificity in differentiating OSCC from healthy subjects.

CONCLUSION: Salivary MALAT1 acts as a sponge for miRNA-124 and could be a potential salivary biomarker for OSCC.

PMID:37703315 | DOI:10.1111/odi.14730

PLoS One. 2023 Sep 13;18(9):e0276999. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276999. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: To step over an unexpected obstacle, individuals adapt gait; they adjust step length in the anterior-posterior direction prior to the obstacle and minimum toe clearance height in the vertical direction during obstacle avoidance. Inability to adapt gait may lead to falls in older adults with diabetes as the results of the effects of diabetes on the sensory-motor control system. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate gait adaptability in older adults with diabetes.

RESEARCH QUESTION: Would diabetes impair gait adaptability and increase sagittal foot adjustment errors?

METHODS: Three cohorts of 16 people were recruited: young adults (Group I), healthy older adults (Group II), and older adults with diabetes (Group III). Participants walked in baseline at their comfortable speeds. They then walked and responded to what was presented in gait adaptability tests, which included 40 trials with four random conditions: step shortening, step lengthening, obstacle avoiding, and walking through. Virtual step length targets were 40% of the baseline step length longer or shorter than the mean baseline step length; the actual obstacle was a 5-cm height across the walkway. A Vicon three-dimensional motion capture system and four A.M.T.I force plates were used to quantify spatiotemporal parameters of a gait cycle and sagittal foot adjustment errors (differences between desired and actual responses). Analyses of variance (ANOVA) repeated measured tests were used to investigate group and condition effects on dependent gait parameters at a significance level of 0.05.

RESULTS: Statistical analyses of Group I (n = 16), Group II (n = 14) and Group III (n = 13) revealed that gait parameters did not differ between groups in baseline. However, they were significantly different in adaptability tests. Group III significantly increased their stance and double support times in adaptability tests, but these adaptations did not reduce their sagittal foot adjustment errors. They had the greatest step length errors and lowest toe-obstacle clearance, which could cause them to touch the obstacle more.

SIGNIFICANCE: The presented gait adaptability tests may serve as entry tests for falls prevention programs.

PMID:37703264 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0276999

PLoS One. 2023 Sep 13;18(9):e0289841. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289841. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The etiology of autism spectrum (ASD) and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity (ADHD) disorders are multifactorial. Epidemiological studies have shown associations with environmental pollutants, such as plasticizers. This study focused on two of these compounds, the Bisphenol-A (BPA) and Diethylhexyl Phthalate (DEHP). The major pathway for BPA and DEHP excretion is via glucuronidation. Glucuronidation makes insoluble substances more water-soluble allowing for their subsequent elimination in urine.

HYPOTHESIS: Detoxification of these two plasticizers is compromised in children with ASD and ADHD. Consequently, their tissues are more exposed to these two plasticizers.

METHODS: We measured the efficiency of glucuronidation in three groups of children, ASD (n = 66), ADHD (n = 46) and healthy controls (CTR, n = 37). The children were recruited from the clinics of Rutgers-NJ Medical School. A urine specimen was collected from each child. Multiple mass spectrometric analyses including the complete metabolome were determined and used to derive values for the efficiency of glucuronidation for 12 varied glucuronidation pathways including those for BPA and MEHP.

RESULTS: (1) Both fold differences and metabolome analyses showed that the three groups of children were metabolically different from each other. (2) Of the 12 pathways examined, only the BPA and DEHP pathways discriminated between the three groups. (3) Glucuronidation efficiencies for BPA were reduced by 11% for ASD (p = 0.020) and 17% for ADHD (p<0.001) compared to controls. DEHP showed similar, but not significant trends.

CONCLUSION: ASD and ADHD are clinically and metabolically different but share a reduction in the efficiency of detoxification for both BPA and DEHP with the reductions for BPA being statistically significant.

PMID:37703261 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0289841