Hasil untuk "Miscellaneous systems and treatments"

S. Yellen, D. Cella, K. Webster et al.

G. T. Strickland

Part I CLINICAL PRACTICE in the TROPICS. General Principles. Pulmonary Diseases. Cardiovascular Diseases. Gastrointestinal Diseases. Hepatobiliary Diseases. Hematologic Diseases. Urinary Tract Diseases. Dermatologic Diseases. Neurologic Diseases. Opthalmolgic Diseases. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Malignant Diseases. Surgery. Orthopedics. Maternal and Child Health. Integrated Management of Childhood Illness. Heat-Associated Illness. Traditional Medicine. Health and Nutrition Among. Refugees and Displaced Persons. Environmental and Occupational. Health in the Tropics. Imaging in the Tropics and The. Imaging of Tropical Diseases. Part II VIRAL INFECTIONS. General Principles. Human Immunodeficiency Virus. And AIDS. Human T Cell Lymphotropic Virus. Infections. Viral Infections with Cutaneous Lesions. Viral Respiratory Infections. Enteric Viral Infections. Viral Hepatitis. Viral Febrile Illnesses. Viral Encephalitis. Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers. PART III BACTERIAL INFECTIONS. Section a Infections of the Eye and Throat. Trachoma and Inclusion Conjunctivitis Diphtheria. Section B Respiratory Tract Infections. Q Fever. Psittacosis. Pertussis. Melioidosis. Actinomycoses. Nocardiosis. Section C Gastrointestinal Tract Infections. Shigellosis. Cholera and Other Vibrioses. Diarrhea Caused By Escherichia Coli. Campylobacter Enteritis. Miscellaneous Bacterial Enteritides. Helicobacter PyloriInfections. Section D Sexually Transmitted Infections. Chlamydial Infections. Lymphogranuloma Venereum. Syphilis and the Endemic Treponematoses. Gonococcal Infections. Chancroid. Granuloma Inguinale. Section E Infections Causing Neurological Manifestations. Acute Bacterial Meningitis. Tetanus. Botulism. Section F Infections of Skin and Soft Tissues. Anthrax. Glanders. Gas Gangrene. Pyomyositis. Tropical Phagedenic Ulcer. Section G Febrile Lymphadenitis. Bartonella-Associated Infections. Plague. Tularemia. Pasteurella. Brucellosis. Section H Disseminated Febrile Illnesses. Rickettsial Infections: General. Principles. Typhus. Spotted Fevers. Trench Fever. Scrub Typhus. Ehrlichiosis. Relapsing Fever. Leptospirosis. Lyme Disease. Meningococcal Disease. Typhoid Fever. Nontyphoidal Salmonellosis. Section I Mycobacterial Infections. Tuberculosis. Leprosy. Nontuberculosis Mycobacterial. Part IV the MYCOSES. General Principles. Superficial Mycoses. Subcutaneous Mycoses. Systemic Mycoses. Treatment of Systemic Mycoses. Part V PROTOZOAL INFECTIONS. General Principles. Section a Intestinal and Genital Infections. Amebiasis. Giardiasis. Cryptosporidiosis. Cyclosporiasis. Miscellaneous Intestinal Protozoa. Trichomoniasis. Section B Infections of the Blood and Reticuloendothelial System. Malaria. African Trypanosomiasis. American Trypanosomiasis. Leishmaniasis. Babesiosis. Section C Tissue Infections. Toxoplasmosis. Pneumocystosis. Free-Living Amebic Infections. OtherTissue Protozoa Infections. PART VI HELMINTHIC INFECTIONS. General Principles. Section a Intestinal Nematode Infections. General Principles. Nematodes Limited to the . Intestinal Tract. Intestinal Nematodes That. Migrate Through Lungs. Intestinal Nematodes That. Migrate Through Skin And. Lung. Section B Filarial Infections. Filariasis. Loiasis. Onchocerciasis. Miscellaneous Filarial Infections. Section C Other Tissue Nematode Infections. Dracunculiasis. Trichinosis. Toxocariasis. Gnathostomiasis. Angiostrongyliasis. Cutaneous Larva Migrans. Anisakiasis. Section D Trematode Infections. General Principles. Schistosomiasis. Intestinal Fluke Infections. Liver Fluke Infections. Lung Fluke Infections: Paragonimiasis. Section E Cestode Infections . General Principles. Tapeworm Infections. Larval Cestode Infections. PART VII POISONOUS and TOXIC PLANTS and ANIMALS. Poisonous Plants and Fish. Animals Hazardous to Humans. Pentastomiasis. Injurious Arthropods. PART VIII NUTRITIONAL PROBLEMS and DEFICIENCY DISEASES. General Principles. Protein-Energy Malnutrition. Vitamin Deficiencies. Mineral Deficiencies. Other Nutrition-Related Disorders. PART IX VECTOR TRANSMISSION of DISEASES. General Principles of Infectious . Disease Transmission. Zoonoses. Mollusks Involved in Disease. Transmission. Ticks and Mites in Disease. Transmission. Insects in Disease Transmission. Control of Arthropods of Medical. Importance. PART X TROPICAL DISEASE in a TEMPERATE CLIMATE. General Principles. Establishing a Travel Clinic. Adviceto Travelers. Screening Long Term Travelers. Diarrhea in Travelers. Fever in Travelers. Skin Lesions in Travelers. Eosinophilia in Travelers and Immigrants. Diseases of Immigrants. Global Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases. PART XI LABORATORY DIAGNOSIS of PARASITIC DISEASES. Examination of Stool and Urine Specimens. Examination of Blood, Other Body Fluids, Tissues, And Sputum. Parasitic Immunodiagnosis .

A. Tsai, T. Wadden

Xifeng Wu, Changhe Li, Zongming Zhou et al.

Cutting fluid has cooling and lubricating properties and is an important part of the field of metal machining. Owing to harmful additives, base oils with poor biodegradability, defects in processing methods, and unreasonable emissions of waste cutting fluids, cutting fluids have serious pollution problems, which pose challenges to global carbon emissions laws and regulations. However, the current research on cutting fluid and its circulating purification technique lacks systematic review papers to provide scientific technical guidance for actual production. In this study, the key scientific issues in the research achievements of eco-friendly cutting fluid and waste fluid treatment are clarified. First, the preparation and mechanism of organic additives are summarized, and the influence of the physical and chemical properties of vegetable base oils on lubricating properties is analyzed. Then, the process characteristics of cutting fluid reduction supply methods are systematically evaluated. Second, the treatment of oil mist and miscellaneous oil, the removal mechanism and approach of microorganisms, and the design principles of integrated recycling equipment are outlined. The conclusion is concluded that the synergistic effect of organic additives, biodegradable vegetable base oils and recycling purification effectively reduces the environmental pollution of cutting fluids. Finally, in view of the limitations of the cutting fluid and its circulating purification technique, the prospects of amino acid additive development, self-adapting jet parameter supply system, matching mechanism between processing conditions and cutting fluid are put forward, which provides the basis and support for the engineering application and development of cutting fluid and its circulating purification.

Kazuya Echigo, David E. J. van Wijk, Pol Mestres et al.

Safety-critical control systems, such as spacecraft performing proximity operations, must provide formal safety guarantees despite stochastic uncertainties from state estimation and unmodeled dynamics. Although Control Barrier Functions (CBFs) have been extended to stochastic systems, existing approaches typically face a trade-off between the tightness of probabilistic guarantees and computational tractability. This paper presents a particle-based probabilistic CBF framework that overcomes this limitation by exploiting the sub-Gaussian structure of the barrier function increment under Gaussian uncertainties. We establish that Gaussian uncertainties propagating through Lipschitz-continuous control-affine dynamics preserve sub-Gaussianity of the barrier function increment, with explicit tail bounds. Leveraging this structure, we derive finite-sample bounds on the approximation error between particle-based Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) estimates and ground-truth probabilistic constraints; applying this yields a tractable optimization problem formulation with finite-sample safety certificates. We show through numerical experiments how the proposed approach provides tight yet provably valid probabilistic safety guarantees.

A. Okonji, M. Odetunde, R. Ibrahim et al.

Abstract Despite the many proven benefits of home programs, there are many challenges in their effective use and administration by caregivers for children with cerebral palsy (CP), leading to poor adherence and outcomes. This study aimed to develop and test the feasibility of a home-based exercise education video among caregivers of children with CP. This two-phase quasi-experimental study involved 24 purposively selected children with CP and their caregivers attending two randomly selected physiotherapy clinics in Nigeria. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Ethics and Research Committee, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria (ERC/2024/02/23). An instructional video was developed and administered to caregivers for 6 weeks. Neck control was assessed using the Clinical Rating Scale for Head Control (CRSHC) and Gross Motor Function Measure-88 (GMFM-88). The usability of the video tool was assessed using a feasibility questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and repeated-measure ANOVA. Alpha value was set at p < 0.05. Results of CRSHC showed significant improvements in neck control in prone (F = 5.32; p = 0.032), supine (F = 11.537; p = 0.000), and supported-sitting (F = 21.421; p = 0.000) positions. The GMFM-88 results also showed significant improvements in neck control in supine (lifts head 45⁰) (F = 7.15; p = 0.004), supine (pull to sitting) (F = 7.000; p = 0.004), prone (lifts head upright) (F = 12.571; p = 0.005) and supported-sitting (F = 18.192; p = 0.001) positions across time points. 12.571; p = 0.005) and supported-sitting (F = 18.192; p = 0.001) positions across time points. Caregivers found the neck exercise video content clear, relevant, and engaging. This study concluded that the video-based exercise tool had good usability among caregivers of children with CP and effectively improved neck control among children with CP.

Shaobo Li, Yirui Eric Zhou, Hao Ren et al.

Unlike non-volatile memory that resides on the processor memory bus, memory-semantic solid-state drives (SSDs) support both byte and block access granularity via PCIe or CXL interconnects. They provide scalable memory capacity using NAND flash at a much lower cost. In addition, they have different performance characteristics for their dual byte/block interface respectively, while offering essential memory semantics for upper-level software. Such a byte-accessible storage device provides new implications on the software system design. In this paper, we develop a new file system, named ByteFS, by rethinking the design primitives of file systems and SSD firmware to exploit the advantages of both byte and block-granular data accesses. ByteFS supports byte-granular data persistence to retain the persistence nature of SSDs. It extends the core data structure of file systems by enabling dual byte/block-granular data accesses. To facilitate the support for byte-granular writes, \pname{} manages the internal DRAM of SSD firmware in a log-structured manner and enables data coalescing to reduce the unnecessary I/O traffic to flash chips. ByteFS also enables coordinated data caching between the host page cache and SSD cache for best utilizing the precious memory resource. We implement ByteFS on both a real programmable SSD and an emulated memory-semantic SSD for sensitivity study. Compared to state-of-the-art file systems for non-volatile memory and conventional SSDs, ByteFS outperforms them by up to 2.7$\times$, while preserving the essential properties of a file system. ByteFS also reduces the write traffic to SSDs by up to 5.1$\times$ by alleviating unnecessary writes caused by both metadata and data updates in file systems.

Maria Voreakou, George Kousiouris, Mara Nikolaidou

Energy consumption in current large scale computing infrastructures is becoming a critical issue, especially with the growing demand for centralized systems such as cloud environments. With the advancement of microservice architectures and the Internet of Things, messaging systems have become an integral and mainstream part of modern computing infrastructures, carrying out significant workload in a majority of applications. In this paper, we describe an experimental process to explore energy-based benchmarking for RabbitMQ, one of the main open source messaging frameworks. The involved system is described, as well as required components, and setup scenarios, involving different workloads and configurations among the tests as well as messaging system use cases. Alternative architectures are investigated and compared from an energy consumption point of view, for different message rates and consumer numbers. Differences in architectural selection have been quantified and can lead to up to 31\% reduction in power consumption. The resulting dataset is made publicly available and can thus prove helpful for architectures' comparison, energy-based cost modeling, and beyond.

S. Fakhri, Seyed Zachariah Moradi, Seyed Yahya Moradi et al.

Due to the complex pathophysiological mechanisms involved in cancer progression and metastasis, current therapeutic approaches lack efficacy and have significant adverse effects. Therefore, it is essential to establish novel strategies for combating cancer. Phytochemicals, which possess multiple biological activities, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic, immunomodulatory, antiproliferative, anti-angiogenesis, and antimetastatic properties, can regulate cancer progression and interfere in various stages of cancer development by suppressing various signaling pathways. The current systematic and comprehensive review was conducted based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) criteria, using electronic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct, until the end of December 2023. After excluding unrelated articles, 111 related articles were included in this systematic review. In this current review, the major signaling pathways of cancer metabolism are highlighted with the promising anticancer role of phytochemicals. This was through their ability to regulate the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) signaling pathway. The AMPK/PGC-1α signaling pathway plays a crucial role in cancer cell metabolism via targeting energy homeostasis and mitochondria biogenesis, glucose oxidation, and fatty acid oxidation, thereby generating ATP for cell growth. As a result, targeting this signaling pathway may represent a novel approach to cancer treatment. Accordingly, alkaloids, phenolic compounds, terpene/terpenoids, and miscellaneous phytochemicals have been introduced as promising anticancer agents by regulating the AMPK/PGC-1α signaling pathway. Novel delivery systems of phytochemicals targeting the AMPK/PGC-1α pathway in combating cancer are also highlighted in this review.

Xiangyun Chen, Wenlai Wang, Hongrui Zhang et al.

BACKGROUNDS AND AIMS Acute lung injury (ALI) is a complex pulmonary disease characterized by a severe inflammatory response. The management of ALI presents a formidable challenge due to the intricate nature of its inflammatory cascade. Numerous studies have highlighted the potential therapeutic benefits of plant-derived natural compounds (PNCs) in treating inflammatory diseases. Our study aims to provide robust current evidence regarding the anti-inflammatory effects and underlying molecular mechanisms of PNCs for ALI treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS The systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, and the protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024468401). A comprehensive search was conducted in electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journal database (VIP), Wanfang database, and China biomedical literature service system (SinoMed) up until November 2023. Preclinical studies published in both English and Chinese were included. RESULTS Our research encompassed 81 studies, comprising a total of 71 PNCs, including flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, terpenoids, polyphenols, alkaloids, saponins, glycosides, and miscellaneous compounds. This systematic review demonstrated that PNCs played a beneficial role on ALI by regulating the immune response and reducing the release of inflammatory mediators and cytokines. The molecular mechanisms were partially associated with the regulation of Th17/Treg responses, promotion of the polarization of M1-type macrophages to M2-type macrophages, induction of immune cell apoptosis, reversal of microbial dysbiosis in the lungs and the gut, epigenetic modification, and the modulation of inflammatory pathways, including NF-κB, MAPK, TLR4/MyD88, NLRP3/Caspase-1, TGF-β/Smad, Nrf2/HO-1, Rho/ROCK, TLR7/MyD88, and PI3K/AKT, thereby alleviating inflammatory responses and lung damage. CONCLUSION The therapeutic effects of PNCs on ALI are mediated through the modulation of immunity and inflammatory pathways. In light of their potential, PNCs represent a promising pharmacological intervention for the treatment of ALI.

Kelly George, Allyson L Anding, A. van der Flier et al.

Pompe disease is a debilitating and life-threatening disease caused by aberrant accumulation of glycogen resulting from reduced acid alpha-glucosidase activity. The first treatment for Pompe disease, the enzyme replacement therapy, Myozyme® (recombinant human acid alpha-glucosidase, alglucosidase alfa), is a lifesaving treatment for the most severe form of the disease and provided clinically meaningful benefits to patients with milder phenotypes. Nonetheless, many patients display suboptimal responses or clinical decline following years of alglucosidase alfa treatment. The approval of avalglucosidase alfa (Nexviazyme®) and cipaglucosidase alfa (Pombiliti®) with miglustat (Opfolda®) represents a new generation of enzyme replacement therapies seeking to further improve patient outcomes beyond alglucosidase alfa. However, the emergence of a complicated new phenotype with central nervous system involvement following long-term treatment, coupled with known and anticipated unmet needs of patients receiving enzyme replacement therapy, has prompted development of innovative new treatments. This review provides an overview of the challenges of existing treatments and a summary of emerging therapies currently in preclinical or clinical development for Pompe disease and related lysosomal storage disorders. Key treatments include tissue-targeted enzyme replacement therapy, which seeks to enhance enzyme concentration in target tissues such as the central nervous system; substrate reduction therapy, which reduces intracellular glycogen concentrations via novel mechanisms; and gene therapy, which may restore endogenous production of deficient acid alpha-glucosidase. Each of these proposed treatments shows promise as a future therapeutic option to improve quality of life in Pompe disease by more efficiently treating the underlying cause of disease progression: glycogen accumulation.

M. Maccari, M. Wolkewitz, C. Schwab et al.

BACKGROUND Activated phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) δ Syndrome (APDS) is an inborn error of immunity (IEI) with infection susceptibility and immune dysregulation, clinically overlapping with other conditions. Management depends on disease evolution, but predictors of severe disease are lacking. OBJECTIVES Report the extended spectrum of disease manifestations in APDS1 versus APDS2, compare these to CTLA-4 deficiency, NFκB1 deficiency, and STAT3 gain-of-function (GOF) disease; identify predictors of severity in APDS. METHODS Data collection with the European Society for Immunodeficiencies (ESID)-APDS registry. Comparison with published cohorts of the other IEIs. RESULTS The analysis of 170 APDS patients outlines high penetrance and early-onset of APDS compared to the other IEIs. The large clinical heterogeneity even in individuals with the same PIK3CD variant E1021K illustrates how poorly the genotype predicts the disease phenotype and course. The high clinical overlap between APDS and the other investigated IEIs suggests relevant pathophysiological convergence of the affected pathways. Preferentially affected organ systems indicate specific pathophysiology: bronchiectasis is typical of APDS1; interstitial lung disease and enteropathy are more common in STAT3 GOF and CTLA-4 deficiency. Endocrinopathies are most frequent in STAT3 GOF, but growth impairment is also common particularly in APDS2. Early clinical presentation is a risk factor for severe disease in APDS. CONCLUSION APDS illustrates how a single genetic variant can result in a diverse autoimmune-lymphoproliferative phenotype. Overlap with other IEI is substantial. Some specific features distinguish APDS1 from APDS2. Early-onset is a risk factor for severe disease course calling for specific treatment studies in younger patients.

Kun Zhang, Xinyi Wang, T. Wei et al.

Background The clinic-pathological boundary between poorly differentiated thyroid cancer (PDTC) and anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is unclear due to a wide spectrum of histopathological features and the rarity of the disease. In addition to that, with the highest mortality rate and non-standard treatment modality, the PDTC/ATC population has not been subjected to comprehensive description and comparison with the extent of histological characteristics, therapeutic response, prognostic factors, and death attribution analysis. Method A total of 4,947 PDTC/ATC patients from 2000 to 2018 were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Kaplan–Meier survival curve estimation and Cox proportional hazard regression were applied. Results Overall, the 5- and 10-year DSS for PDTC were 71.9% and 68.0%, respectively, whereas the 5- and 10-year OS are 59.3% and 51.2%, respectively. The median survival time for ATC patients was 3 months with 1-year OS being 26.9% and 1-year DSS being 31.2%. During the follow-up period, 68.1% of the PDTC/ATC cohort were dead, 51.6% of which were attributed to thyroid malignancies and 16.5% to non-thyroid causes. The top three common non-thyroid causes of death were miscellaneous cancers, lower respiratory system disease, and heart disease. The histological feature of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) was the leading pathological category for PDTC patients (51.7%), whereas 76.7% of ATC patients’ pathological feature was characterized as unidentifiable. Sarcoma histological characteristics found in ATC cases suffer the highest overall mortality (vs. PTC, HR = 2.61, 95% CI 1.68–4.06, P < 0.001). Older age unidentifiable histology feature, more advanced AJCC N1b, AJCC M1, and SEER stage, tumor size larger than 5 cm, and more invasive tumor extension were independent bad outcome predictors. Conclusion The populational analysis of the PDTC/ATC cohort has provided reliable support for better understanding of the difference between PDTC and ATC cases and the guidance of clinical practice and further studies.

Vivek Singh Rajpoot, K. Srinivasa Rao

Baccharoides anthelmintica (L.) Moench is a popular medicinal plant with a long history of use in several traditional remedies to cure a variety of diseases including; its effect on the central nervous system, gastrointestinal tract, metabolism, kidneys, gynecology, skin diseases, and general health. The present review aims to provide the latest, organized information on toxicological, pharmacological, phytochemical, and ethnomedicinal applications of Baccharoides anthelmintica. For this; several well‐known searchable websites (search engines) like; Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus‐Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, Springer, and DOAJ, were used to empirically investigate the knowledge of this useful medicinal plant. Based on previous studies, the pharmacological action of B. anthelmintica is due to various secondary metabolites including alkaloids, terpenoids, lignans, steroids, and other phytoconstituents. Hence, the present study recorded 225 phytochemicals obtained from different parts of the plant, where the steroids and derivatives (48), terpenes and sesquiterpenes (46), flavonoids and derivatives (41), fatty acids and derivatives (40), phenolic acids (12), triterpenes (11), chalcones (06), diterpenes (01) and miscellaneous (20) were reported. The present review also covered the pharmacological importance, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, antidiabetic, hypolipidemic action, liver disease, anticancer potential, anti‐HIV, antiosteoporotic action, antitoxic action, skin disorder, wound healing and immunomodulatory activity, systemic infection, and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases etc. The review concluded that B. anthelmintica has several pharmacological activities, which were due to the presence of secondary metabolites present in it, and thus indicates the importance of medicinal value of this plant. Hence, B. anthelmintica may be a good source for developing a lead molecule in the process of new drug discovery and development. More study is required to determine the pharmacokinetics, mechanism of action, long‐term toxicology testing, safe dosage, and possible interactions with other herbs/drugs.

Antonio Macedo, Taiane Rocha Campelo, Raul Garcia Aragon et al.

INTRODUCTION Since the Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS) publication in 2011 we have designed a prospective protocol for surveillance of neurogenic bladder according to the Leal da Cruz categorization system (J Urol, 2015) that guides us on treatment. Our institution was the precursor of in-utero myelomeningocele (MMC) in Latin America, so our database was biased mostly for patients that underwent fetal surgery for MMC closure. We have demonstrated that in-utero MMC closure does not improve bladder function in opposition to the data from the urological branch of the MOMS study (10), but our control group was based on a historical cohort, before the onset of in-utero MMC repair in our division (15) Since 2018, we have identified an increasing number of referrals of postnatal operated MMC patients to our group just for urological follow up. We decided then to start this prospective protocol for all neurogenic patients and provide a contemporary database to record differences in early bladder function, presence of hydronephrosis and vesicoureteral reflux, treatment, initial outcome and indication of surgery among three mains groups (in-utero MMC repair, post-natal repair and miscellaneous other cases of neurogenic bladder). We want to present preliminary data of this cohort in the period of time 2018 to 2023 (5 years). There was not an exclusion criteria, all patients with neuropathic bladder were included in this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS We evaluated our database of all neurogenic bladder (NB) patients aged <1 year who started urological treatment in our institution from 2018. We evaluated diagnosis, age at first visit, clinical data, prevalence of hydronephrosis and (vesicoureteral reflux) VUR, bladder pattern according to the Leal da Cruz categorization system (1), treatment, time of follow-up, number of clinical visits and (urodynamic evaluation) UE performed, final bladder status and surgeries performed. RESULTS We identified 43 were aged <1 year with a mean age of 4.5 months (median 3.5) at first urological appointment. Diagnosis was myelomeningocele in 33 patients and miscellaneous in 10. From the MMC group, 24 were operated in-utero and 9 post-natal. The initial bladder pattern in the whole group showed 23 (53.5%) high risk, 11 normal (25.6%), 5 underactive bladder (11.6%) and 4 incontinent (9.3%). Mean follow-up was 24 months, mean age at last UE (cases with minimum of 2): 37 months, mean UE per patient: 2. At present, 28 patients perform clean intermittent catheterization (CIC), 23 with anticholinergics and 15 are only under surveillance. VUR was seen in 11/43 cases: 25.6%. Urological surgery has been performed in 4 patients: bladder augmentation in 3 and vesicostomy in 1. Bladder categorization for high-risk and normal patterns were respectively 62.5% and 25% for in utero and 44.4% and 22.2% for postnatal repair and detailed statistical analysis did not present statistical significance of in utero and postnatal groups. CONCLUSION Our study can conclude in a contemporary prospective study the findings of elevated incidence of high-risk patterns irrespectively of in-utero or post-natal repair (62.5% and 44.4%). We acknowledge that even though this is not new information and besides the still limited follow up, this cohort is one of the very few that follow and compare in one single institution with comparable UE for in-utero and post-natal MMC repair population, having also a miscellaneous group of NB as a pictorial report of also a similar initial distribution of bladder patterns. We plan to report in the future in a larger cohort the continuation of this study.

Yang Dai, Zhaodi Lan, Yu Fang et al.

T. Koottatep, T. Pussayanavin, Choum Chomnan et al.

The integration of a solar septic tank (SST) system with an economically viable solar water-heating apparatus comprising polyethylene (PE) and copper (Cu) pipes, as well as a lightweight structural framework, has been conceptualized and implemented. Two variants of low-cost SSTs were subjected to empirical scrutiny within authentic settings, encompassing public toilets and residential establishments in Cambodia. Both the PE pipe and Cu pipe solar water-heating devices demonstrated efficacy in consistently maintaining temperatures within the system above ambient levels. Although the parameters do not conform to Cambodia's effluent requirements, the results of this study suggest that the SST is effective in reducing organic loads and provides a significant improvement over conventional septic tank effluent. This underscores the potential applicability of the developed system for the treatment of toilet wastewater, thereby mitigating pollution concerns and public health risks. Harnessing solar energy to elevate septic tank temperature, this system's cost varies but includes materials, tools, and miscellaneous components, with a total estimated cost ranging from $600 to $2500, depending on size and complexity.

In-Seon Lee, Seunghoon Lee, Heeyoung Moon et al.

Sampada Deglurkar, Haotian Shen, Anish Muthali et al.

Modern autonomous systems with machine learning components often use uncertainty quantification to help produce assurances about system operation. However, there is a lack of consensus in the community on what uncertainty is and how to perform uncertainty quantification. In this work, we propose that uncertainty measures should be understood within the context of overall system design and operation. To this end, we present two novel analysis techniques. First, we produce a probabilistic specification on a module's uncertainty measure given a system specification. Second, we propose a method to measure a system's input-output robustness in order to compare system designs and quantify the impact of making a system uncertainty-aware. In addition to this theoretical work, we present the application of these analyses on two real-world autonomous systems: an autonomous driving system and an aircraft runway incursion detection system. We show that our analyses can determine desired relationships between module uncertainty and error, provide visualizations of how well an uncertainty measure is being used by a system, produce principled comparisons between different uncertainty measures and decision-making algorithm designs, and provide insights into system vulnerabilities and tradeoffs.

Tianyue Zhou, Jung-Hoon Cho, Cathy Wu

Recommendation systems now pervade the digital world, ranging from advertising to entertainment. However, it remains challenging to implement effective recommendation systems in the physical world, such as in mobility or health. This work focuses on a key challenge: in the physical world, it is often easy for the user to opt out of taking any recommendation if they are not to her liking, and to fall back to her baseline behavior. It is thus crucial in cyber-physical recommendation systems to operate with an interaction model that is aware of such user behavior, lest the user abandon the recommendations altogether. This paper thus introduces the Nah Bandit, a tongue-in-cheek reference to describe a Bandit problem where users can say `nah' to the recommendation and opt for their preferred option instead. As such, this problem lies in between a typical bandit setup and supervised learning. We model the user non-compliance by parameterizing an anchoring effect of recommendations on users. We then propose the Expert with Clustering (EWC) algorithm, a hierarchical approach that incorporates feedback from both recommended and non-recommended options to accelerate user preference learning. In a recommendation scenario with $N$ users, $T$ rounds per user, and $K$ clusters, EWC achieves a regret bound of $O(N\sqrt{T\log K} + NT)$, achieving superior theoretical performance in the short term compared to LinUCB algorithm. Experimental results also highlight that EWC outperforms both supervised learning and traditional contextual bandit approaches. This advancement reveals that effective use of non-compliance feedback can accelerate preference learning and improve recommendation accuracy. This work lays the foundation for future research in Nah Bandit, providing a robust framework for more effective recommendation systems.