Tag: nevin manimala

Neural Netw. 2022 Mar 10;150:213-221. doi: 10.1016/j.neunet.2022.03.007. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This paper studies the Lyapunov stability of nonlinear systems and the synchronization of complex neural networks in the framework of event-triggered delayed impulsive control (ETDIC), where the effect of time delays in impulses is fully considered. Based on the Lyapunov-based event-triggered mechanism (ETM), some sufficient conditions are presented to avoid Zeno behavior and achieve globally asymptotical stability of the addressed system. In the framework of event-triggered impulse control (ETIC), control input is only generated at state-dependent triggered instants and there is no any control input during two consecutive triggered impulse instants, which can greatly reduce resource consumption and control waste. The contributions of this paper can be summarized as follows: Firstly, compared with the classical ETIC, our results not only provide the well-designed ETM to determine the impulse time sequence, but also fully extract the information of time delays in impulses and integrate it into the dynamic analysis of the system. Secondly, it is shown that the time delays in impulses in our results exhibit positive effects, that is, it may contribute to stabilizing a system and achieve better performance. Thirdly, as an application of ETDIC strategies, we apply the proposed theoretical results to synchronization problem of complex neural networks. Some sufficient conditions to ensure the synchronization of complex neural networks are presented, where the information of time delays in impulses is fully fetched in these conditions. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to show the effectiveness and validity of the theoretical results.

PMID:35316738 | DOI:10.1016/j.neunet.2022.03.007

Theriogenology. 2022 Mar 13;184:124-131. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2022.03.001. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The aim of this retrospective study was to compare simple linear regression and mixed linear regression on data grouped by breed or maternal weight group. The comparison was done to find the most accurate model for predicting day of parturition in pregnant bitches in clinical practice. The retrospective data consisted of fetal biparietal diameter determined by ultrasonography and day of parturition for all included bitches. The study population was divided into five maternal weight groups (miniature (≤5 kg), small (>5 to 10 kg), medium (>10 to 25 kg), large (>25 to 40 kg), and giant (>40 kg)) with three breeds in each group with 26 miniature-breed bitches, 13 small-breed bitches, 19 medium-breed bitches, 22 large-breed bitches, and 20 giant-breed bitches. The data was used to develop models to determine the number of days before parturition based on fetal biparietal diameter. A statistically significant effect was seen for grouping by maternal weight group (p<0.0001) and by breed (p=0.0057). Breed-specific models were derived and compared to each other within the same maternal weight group. Statistically significant differences between some miniature-breed and small-breed bitches were found using mixed linear regression analysis. The accuracies of all models were given as number of births within ±1 and ±2 days of estimated day of parturition and compared to an acceptable limit of 80% at ±2 days. All breeds and maternal weight groups except Dogue de Bordeaux and giant-breed bitches met the limit. Poor accuracies were seen when applying data from each breed to the maternal weight grouped model. Simple linear regression analyses were compared to mixed linear regression analyses. The simple linear regression analyses obtained the best accuracies for most of the breeds which is most likely to be caused by overestimation. Comparison of Chihuahua and German Shepherd to other studies showed similar accuracies between the highest reported and the two linear models. We recommend the use of breed-specific models based on mixed linear regression analysis in clinical practice. Further research is needed to analyze the differences between the two linear models and to confirm the tendency of more accurate predictions of day of parturition for medium-breed, large-breed, and giant-breed bitches when using breed-specific models.

PMID:35316731 | DOI:10.1016/j.theriogenology.2022.03.001

Eur J Radiol. 2022 Mar 17;150:110261. doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2022.110261. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To primarily evaluate the diagnostic performance of the monoexponential and intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) models for differentiating between nonhypervascular pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs).

METHODS: 63 patients with PNETs (35 nonhypervascular PNETs and 28 hypervascular PNETs) and 164 patients with PDACs were retrospectively enrolled in the study and underwent multiple b-value DWI. Intraobserver and interobserver reliabilities of DWI parameters were assessed by using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The parameters of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), true diffusion coefficient (D), pseudo-diffusion coefficient (D*), and perfusion fraction (f) of nonhypervascular PNETs were compared with PDACs and hypervascular PNETs using the independent sample t test or the Mann-Whitney U test. The diagnostic performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

RESULTS: All DWI parameters values showed good to excellent intra- and interobserver agreements (ICC = 0.743-0.873). Nonhypervascular PNETs had significantly lower ADC and D, but significantly higher f than PDACs (P = 0.005, P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively). ADC, D and f of nonhypervascular PNETs were lower than hypervascular PNETs (P = 0.001, <0.001 and 0.093, respectively). D* of nonhypervascular PNETs showed no statistically significant differences with PDACs and hypervascular PNETs (P = 0.809 and 0.420). D showed a higher area under the curve (AUC), followed by ADC and f (AUC = 0.885, 0.665 and 0.740, respectively) in differentiating nonhypervascular PNETs from PDACs.

CONCLUSION: Monoexponential and IVIM diffusion models are valuable to differentiate nonhypervascular PNETs from PDACs. D showed better performance than f and ADC.

PMID:35316674 | DOI:10.1016/j.ejrad.2022.110261

Forensic Sci Int Genet. 2022 Mar 16;58:102689. doi: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2022.102689. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In forensic applications, there is an increasing demand for the analysis of DNA profiles arising from missing person identification (MPI) cases. A specific DNA profile may originate from a single source or more than one contributor (i.e., a DNA mixture). When direct references are not available, indirect relative references can be used to identify missing persons by kinship analysis. As a novel kind of multiallelic marker, microhaplotypes have proven promising for relatedness determination and mixture deconvolution. Herein, we developed a large panel of 185 microhaplotype markers and demonstrated its application in different scenarios of relationship inference through a simulation study and real pedigree analysis, combined with probabilistic genotyping models for data interpretation. Based on single-source profiles, it was shown that the present microhaplotype panel was sufficient for pairwise close relative testing (parent/child, full-sibling and 2nd-degree relative). For more distant relatives (3rd-degree relatives), there was a clear improvement when data from one well-chosen extra relative were available. We further sought to evaluate the theoretical systematic effectiveness and actual performance of microhaplotype markers in identifying the contribution of a missing pedigree member to a two-person mixture (as a minor donor). It was observed that 100% correct assignments were made in the balanced mixtures (with no dropout) when referenced to close relatives. When the mixture profiles suffered from dropout, incorrect assignments of minor donors were markedly associated with relatedness and the dropout level. Meanwhile, the studied scenarios generally exhibited zero or very low false-positive rates, indicating a low probability of incorrectly assigning an unrelated contributor as a close relative of the reference. Our results indicate that microhaplotype data can be reliably interpreted for identifying missing persons through kinship analysis based on DNA profiles of single-source samples or two-person mixtures. Furthermore, this study could be extended to more complex scenarios, such as determining the relatedness of contributors in (or among) mixed DNA profiles, if combined with different statistical frameworks.

PMID:35316721 | DOI:10.1016/j.fsigen.2022.102689

Asian J Psychiatr. 2022 Mar 14;71:103086. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2022.103086. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether thyroid function in the normal range is associated with recurrence of depressive or mania in bipolar disorder patients.

METHODS: 104 patients with bipolar disorder in maintenance therapy phase were assigned randomly to mood stabilizer combined with antidepressant group or mood stabilizer group. There were 52 patients in both groups respectively. Clinical symptoms were assessed at baseline, 3rd month, 6th month, 9th month, and 12th month using HAMD-17 and YMRS. Blood samples were analyzed for thyroid function.

RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference of recurrence rate of depressive episode and mania episode at the end of the 12-months between mood stabilizer combined with antidepressant group and mood stabilizer group. There was significant relation of baseline TT4 (P = 0.020, HR = 0.948), FT3 (P = 0.035, HR = 2.055), and FT4 (P = 0.047, OR=0.769) with the recurrence of depressive episode in mood stabilizer group. The area under curve (AUC) of TT4, FT3, FT4 were 0.685, 0.613, 0.544, respectively. There was significant relation of baseline FT3 (P = 0.044，HR = 4.493) with the recurrence of mania episode for mood stabilizer combined with antidepressants group. The AUC of FT3 was 0.806.

CONCLUSION: Low level of TT4, FT4 and high level of FT3 within normal-range were related with the recurrence of depressive episode in the maintenance treatment with mood stabilizer of bipolar disorder. High level of FT3 within normal-range were related with recurrence of mania when mood stabilizer combined with antidepressants were used in the maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder.

PMID:35316669 | DOI:10.1016/j.ajp.2022.103086

Neuroimage Clin. 2022 Mar 8;34:102985. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.102985. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The ability to assess brain and cord atrophy simultaneously would improve the efficiency of MRI to track disease evolution.

OBJECTIVE: To test a promising tool to simultaneously map the regional distribution of atrophy in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients across the brain and cord.

METHODS: Voxel-based morphometry combined with a statistical parametric mapping probabilistic brain-spinal cord (SPM-BSC) template was applied to standard T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans covering the brain and cervical cord from 37 MS patients and 20 healthy controls (HC). We also measured the cord area at C2-C3 with a semi-automatic segmentation method using (i) the same T1-weighted acquisitions used for the new voxel-based analysis and (ii) dedicated spinal cord phase sensitive inversion recovery (PSIR) acquisitions. Cervical cord findings derived from the three approaches were compared to each other and the goodness to fit to clinical scores was assessed by regression analyses.

RESULTS: The SPM-BSC approach revealed a severity-dependent pattern of atrophy across the cervical cord and thalamus in MS patients when compared to HCs. The magnitude of cord atrophy was confirmed by the semi-automatic extraction approach at C2-C3 using both standard brain T1-weighted and advanced cord dedicated acquisitions. Associations between atrophy of cord and thalamus with disability and cognition were demonstrated.

CONCLUSION: Atrophy in the brain and cervical cord of MS patients can be identified simultaneously and rapidly at the voxel-level. The SPM-BSC approach yields similar results as available standard processing tools with the added advantage of performing the analysis simultaneously and faster.

PMID:35316667 | DOI:10.1016/j.nicl.2022.102985

Nurse Educ Pract. 2022 Mar 14;61:103330. doi: 10.1016/j.nepr.2022.103330. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: This study aimed to examine if participation in a required clinical course or elective fellowship pertaining to care of people with disabilities (PWD) had an impact on attitudes, knowledge and skills of nursing when compared with those with no clinical exposure to PWD.

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, over 1 billion people live with a disability, 93 million are children and an estimated 1-3% have an intellectual disability; 6.9 billion live with ‘impairment producing health condition’. (WHO, 2011; Maulik et al., 2011; Roscigno, 2013 p.21). Barriers that contribute to health disparities in PWD are numerous; repeated themes of inadequate education of nursing students and faculty, deficient communication skills and negative attitudes are pervasive in the literature (Alshammari et al., 2018; Anyinam et al., 2019; Cervasio et al., 2010; Ilkhani et al., 2015; Lyon & Houser, 2018; Polikandrioti et al., 2020; Temple & Murdoch, 2012; Werner & Grayzman, 2011; WHO, 2011).

STUDY DESIGN: A singular institution descriptive quantitative design using a purposive sample of student volunteers explored differences among pre-licensure senior nursing students which examined perceptions prior to and following a clinical experience specific to the care of PWD.

METHODS: Analyses of the change in scale scores by student type and experience working with PWD were evaluated using one-way ANOVA. Spearman correlations were used to test for an association between the change in scale scores and birth year.

RESULTS: There was no statistical evidence of differences between the elective fellowship (n = 9), clinical (n = 13), or control (n = 24) groups for change in attitudes (p = 0.1383), scenario 1 (p = 0.1996), or knowledge scores (p = 0.2854) (Table 3). Mean pre- and post-test scores for attitudes within the fellowship (69.78, 75.11) and clinical (67.62, 74) group increased more than the control (66.92, 68.29). There was evidence of a difference detected in the attitude questions, scenario 2 scores, with the fellowship and clinical groups showing a larger increase in scores compared with the control group (p < 0.0001) (Table 3). Also, the clinical group experienced a larger increase in skill scores compared with the control group (p = 0.0154).

CONCLUSIONS: Results from pre-post surveys exemplify the need for disability specific undergraduate education. Students will experience confidence and competence in their transition to practice because at anytime, anywhere, they will encounter someone with a disability. Further research is needed to determine the amount and type of education that translates to quality care of PWD.

PMID:35316666 | DOI:10.1016/j.nepr.2022.103330

Am J Dent. 2022 Feb;35(1):30-36.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To evaluate the in vitro marginal integrity of CAD-CAM composite inlays with the proximal box margin relocated with different direct restorative materials before and after thermomechanical aging.

METHODS: Standardized 4 mm-wide Class II cavities were prepared in 40 sound human upper molars. The mesial cervical margin was located in enamel (control) and 1 mm occlusal to the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ), while the distal cervical margin was located in dentin (experimental) and 2 mm apical to the CEJ. In the experimental groups (n=10), the distal margins were relocated up to the CEJ level by using a highly viscous conventional glass ionomer cement (Equia Forte), low-viscosity bulk-fill composite (SureFil SDR Flow), highly viscous nanofilled composite (Filtek Supreme XT), or a highly viscous bulk-fill composite (Filtek Bulk Fill). The inlays were milled from CAD-CAM nanohybrid composite blocks (Brava Block) and luted with dual-cure resin cement (Allcem). The specimens were submitted to thermocycling (5-55°C, 7,800 cycles) and fatigue loading (50 N, 1 Hz, 240,000 cycles). Epoxy resin replicas of the margins were obtained before and after aging and evaluated through scanning electron microscopy. The percentage of continuous margin in relation to individual assessable margin was calculated as the marginal integrity. The data were statistically analyzed using Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis tests (α= .05).

RESULTS: The marginal integrity before and after aging was not significantly different (P> 0.05). Similarly, no significant differences were observed between margins relocated with different restorative materials in comparison to enamel margins (P> 0.05).

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Cervical margin relocation is a valid protocol to simplify intra-oral scanning and luting of CAD-CAM composite inlays with deep proximal margins. The marginal integrity at deep margins with relocation material was comparable to that of enamel margins.

PMID:35316590

Am J Dent. 2022 Feb;35(1):25-29.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of cigarette smoking on the color stability and surface roughness of heat-polymerized poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM) PMMA denture base materials.

METHODS: A total of 40 disc-shaped specimens (diameter 15 mm x thickness 2 mm) were divided into two groups according to their processing technique: Group CC, CAD-CAM PMMA; and Group HP, heat-polymerized PMMA. The specimens were exposed to cigarette smoke with 20 cigarettes daily for 5 days. Before the procedure, the color of the denture base was measured using a spectrophotometer in accordance with the Commission Internationale de I’Eclairage (CIE) color system. The surface roughness (Ra) of each sample was measured five times before and after exposure to smoke using a profilometer, and the mean roughness (Ra) values were calculated. The color change and surface roughness were statistically analyzed (P< 0.05).

RESULTS: Greater discoloration was observed in the HP group, whereas the CC group showed clinically acceptable color change. Smoking increased the surface roughness of both denture base materials. However, the HP group had higher mean values than the CC group.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Denture base materials are susceptible to changes in color and surface roughness due to oral habits such as cigarette smoking. This in vitro study suggested that smoking can exacerbate the color changes and surface roughness of denture base materials, especially in heat-cured acrylic resins.

PMID:35316589

Am J Dent. 2022 Feb;35(1):12-14.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To evaluate the influence of cannabidiol (CBD) oil on the color stability of resin composites.

METHODS: Three different resin composites were chosen to prepare 90 disk-shaped specimens. The specimens were randomly selected to compose two test groups (classic CBD or chocolate CBD) and one control group (distilled water) for a 14-day test. Two-way ANOVA was used to evaluate the influence of the CBD oil on the color stability of the three resin composites. Tukey post-hoc test (HSD) was used to determine the statistical difference among the groups.

RESULTS: ANOVA indicated statistically significant differences among the storage solutions, resin composite, and their correlations (P< 0.001). HSD indicated significant differences among resin composites after staining. No difference was noticed between the color change of the specimens immersed in classic CBD or chocolate CBD. Color differences of the resin composites were related to the hydrophilic/hydrophobic nature of the resin matrix.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: CBD oil affected the color stability of all the examined resin composite specimens. Considering the obtained results, appropriate guidance should be provided to patients to prevent potential color alteration owing to the usage of CBD oil.

PMID:35316586