Hasil untuk "q-bio"

Clara Mayo de las Casas, Eloisa Jantus-Lewintre, Sebastian Ortiz Reina et al.

Background: BRAF p.V600 mutation is the most frequent molecular driver alteration in melanoma. Detection of BRAF mutations in circulating-free DNA (cfDNA) reflects the shedding of tumor DNA and offers a potential non-invasive biomarker for disease monitoring and prognosis. However, the lack of standardized methodologies and inter-assay variability hinders its clinical implementation. Methods: The sensitivity, agreement and concordance of seven BRAF mutation detection assays were assessed across four laboratories. BRAF p.V600 mutation in pretreatment plasma samples was analyzed in 51 patients diagnosed with advanced stage melanoma using two digital PCR-based assays (droplet digital PCR -ddPCR- Bio-Rad and microfluidic digital PCR -Absolute Q, ThermoFisher Scientific-), three RT-PCR based assays (Idylla®, Cobas®, PNA-Q-PCR) and two NGS based assays (Oncomine™ Pan-Cancer Cell-Free Assay and Illumina Platforms). Results: digital PCR-based assays and Cobas® exhibited the highest sensitivity (51.0 %), followed by NGS Illumina® (45.1 %), Oncomine NGS / PNA-Q-PCR (43.1 %) and Idylla® (37.2 %). Results of different techniques showed a moderate to strong agreement, except for the comparison of Cobas with Idylla that was poor (Kappa=0.57). There was near-perfect agreement on detection of BRAF mutation between both NGS platforms and the NGS Illumina® with PNA-Q-PCR (Kappa = 0.92). Concordance of the quantitative results in terms of mutant allele frequency was near-perfect between NGS Illumina and ddPCR Bio-Rad assays (ICC = 0.99). Conclusions: Our study demonstrates substantial agreement among multiple cfDNA BRAF mutation detection assays, particularly between NGS and digital PCR assays. These findings support the potential utility of different techniques for BRAF testing in cfDNA.

Jean-François Bastin, Nicolas Latte, Jan Bogaert et al.

Abstract Preserving and restoring terrestrial ecosystems is essential to preventing the decline of life on Earth. To guide global conservation efforts, we present a detailed counterfactual map showing Earth’s natural tree, short vegetation, and bare ground cover. This map accounts for environmental filtering along with realistic scenarios of fire frequency and wildlife herbivory. The most likely scenario suggests 43% (5669 ± 74 Mha) of land could support trees, 39% (5183 ± 86 Mha) shrubs and grasses, and 18% (2352 ± 59 Mha) bare ground. Adjustments in fire and herbivory could shift a minimum of 675 Mha of land, stressing the importance of considering alternative outcomes when restoring a landscape. Our findings also suggest that adjustments in fire frequency and wildlife herbivory could have a greater impact on natural vegetation than expected climate changes by 2050, highlighting decision-makers’ responsibility to guide conservation and restoration toward a sustainable and biodiverse future.

Nélio Teixeira Machado, Karen Marcela Barros da Costa, Silvio Alex Pereira da Mota et al.

This study explored the adsorption of carboxylic acids, especially free fatty acids (FFAs), present in biofuel (distilled fractions of bio-oil such as gasoline-like hydrocarbons, kerosene-like hydrocarbons, and diesel-like hydrocarbons) using red-mud-based adsorbents. The red mud was thermally activated at 40 °C and 600 °C and chemically activated with 0.25M, 1M, and 2M HCl. Analytical techniques were used to characterize the adsorbents’ properties. At the same time, the study examined factors like feed type, adsorbents, FFA contents, adsorbent percentage, activation temperature, acid solution concentration, and contact time to assess adsorption efficiency. The characterization results indicated that chemical activation with 0.25M HCl significantly increased the surface area to 84.3290 m²/g, surpassing that of the thermally activated samples (35.2450 m²/g at 400 °C). Adsorption experiments demonstrated that all chemically activated samples, with 5% adsorbent, adsorbed over 2000 mg of FFAs per gram of adsorbent, with CARM-1M HCl achieving 100% removal of acids from gasoline-like hydrocarbons. Kinetic modeling showed that the pseudo-second-order model best represented the adsorption data, as evidenced by high R² values and close agreement between the experimental and calculated q_e values. Therefore, adsorption with chemically activated red mud efficiently deacidifies biofuels, providing a cost-effective and promising approach for their upgrading.

Peipei Wang, Ziang Gao, Yang He et al.

Chiral materials are crucial components in the natural world, and the exploration of chiral materials hold significant importance in advancing areas such as chiral sensing, bio-marking. The integration of Bound States in the Continuum (BICs) in the design of chiral metasurfaces has emerged as a focal point in optical research, offering widespread research value and practical applications. The chiral dielectric metasurface proposed in this paper is formed by a combination of silicon nanorod, annular cylinder, and silicon dioxide substrate. Through selective detaching, we simultaneously break the structural mirror symmetry and in-plane inversion symmetry, thereby eliciting quasi-BICs and intrinsic chirality. This design achieves dual-band chiral responses, yielding a maximum circular dichroism (CD) of 0.979 and a Q-factor of 1517.5. By adjusting the structural parameters, the tunability of the structure is achieved. The study of the sensing performance of the metasurface resulted in a maximum sensitivity (S) of 270.6 nm/RIU and a maximum Figure of Merit (FOM) of 587.5. Additionally, By comparing the sensing performance with achiral structure, we verified the enhancement of sensing performance through chiral effects. The proposed chiral metasurface advances the practical application of chirality in fields such as biosensing.

Rebecca Webb, Elizabeth Ford, Judy Shakespeare et al.

Background Perinatal mental health difficulties can occur during pregnancy or after birth and mental illness is a leading cause of maternal death. It is therefore important to identify the barriers and facilitators to implementing and accessing perinatal mental health care. Objectives Our research objective was to develop a conceptual framework of barriers and facilitators to perinatal mental health care (defined as identification, assessment, care and treatment) to inform perinatal mental health services. Methods Two systematic reviews were conducted to synthesise the evidence on: Review 1 barriers and facilitators to implementing perinatal mental health care; and Review 2 barriers to women accessing perinatal mental health care. Results were used to develop a conceptual framework which was then refined through consultations with stakeholders. Data sources Pre-planned searches were conducted on MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychInfo and CINAHL. Review 2 also included Scopus and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Review methods In Review 1, studies were included if they examined barriers or facilitators to implementing perinatal mental health care. In Review 2, systematic reviews were included if they examined barriers and facilitators to women seeking help, accessing help and engaging in perinatal mental health care; and they used systematic search strategies. Only qualitative papers were identified from the searches. Results were analysed using thematic synthesis and themes were mapped on to a theoretically informed multi-level model then grouped to reflect different stages of the care pathway. Results Review 1 included 46 studies. Most were carried out in higher income countries and evaluated as good quality with low risk of bias. Review 2 included 32 systematic reviews. Most were carried out in higher income countries and evaluated as having low confidence in the results. Barriers and facilitators to perinatal mental health care were identified at seven levels: Individual (e.g. beliefs about mental illness); Health professional (e.g. confidence addressing perinatal mental illness); Interpersonal (e.g. relationship between women and health professionals); Organisational (e.g. continuity of carer); Commissioner (e.g. referral pathways); Political (e.g. women’s economic status); and Societal (e.g. stigma). These factors impacted on perinatal mental health care at different stages of the care pathway. Results from reviews were synthesised to develop two MATRIx conceptual frameworks of the (1) barriers and (2) facilitators to perinatal mental health care. These provide pictorial representations of 66 barriers and 39 facilitators that intersect across the care pathway and at different levels. Limitations In Review 1 only 10% of abstracts were double screened and 10% of included papers methodologically appraised by two reviewers. The majority of reviews included in Review 2 were evaluated as having low (n = 14) or critically low (n = 5) confidence in their results. Both reviews only included papers published in academic journals and written in English. Conclusions The MATRIx frameworks highlight the complex interplay of individual and system level factors across different stages of the care pathway that influence women accessing perinatal mental health care and effective implementation of perinatal mental health services. Recommendations for health policy and practice These include using the conceptual frameworks to inform comprehensive, strategic and evidence-based approaches to perinatal mental health care; ensuring care is easy to access and flexible; providing culturally sensitive care; adequate funding of services; and quality training for health professionals with protected time to do it. Future work Further research is needed to examine access to perinatal mental health care for specific groups, such as fathers, immigrants or those in lower income countries. Trial registration This trial is registered as PROSPERO: (R1) CRD42019142854; (R2) CRD42020193107. Funding This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health and Social Care Delivery Research programme (NIHR award ref: NIHR 128068) and is published in full in Health and Social Care Delivery Research; Vol. 12, No. 2. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information. Plain language summary Mental health problems affect one in five women during pregnancy and the first year after birth (the perinatal period). These include anxiety, depression and stress-related conditions. Mental health problems can have a negative effect on women, their partners and their children. They are also a leading cause of maternal death. It is therefore important that women who experience mental health problems get the care and treatment they need. However, only about half of women with perinatal mental health problems are identified by health services and even fewer receive treatment. This research aimed to understand what factors help or prevent women getting care or treatment for perinatal mental health problems. We did this by pulling together the findings from existing research in three phases. In phase 1 we reviewed the evidence from research studies to understand why it has been difficult for health services to assess, care for and treat women with perinatal mental health problems. In phase 2 we reviewed evidence from women’s perspectives on all of the factors that prevent women from being able to get the care and treatment they need. In phase 3 we worked with a panel of women, health professionals (such as general practitioners and midwives) and health service managers to look at the findings from phases 1 and 2. We then developed frameworks that give a clear overview of factors that help or prevent women getting care and treatment. These frameworks show 39 factors that help women access services, and 66 factors that prevent access. Based on these results we have developed guidance for government, NHS service managers and health professionals, such as general practitioners, midwives, health visitors, nurses and wider teams such as receptionists. This will be shared widely with health services and professionals who support women during pregnancy and after birth to improve perinatal mental health services so that care meets women’s needs. Scientific summary Background and objectives Perinatal mental health (PMH) difficulties can occur during pregnancy or after birth. They commonly consist of anxiety disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and stress-related conditions such as adjustment disorder. PMH difficulties are particularly important because of the potential negative impact on women, their partners and children. For example, they are associated with an increased risk of maternal suicide, a decline in relationship satisfaction and long-term impacts on children’s development. It is therefore important that women with PMH difficulties can access care and treatment. However, research suggests only half of women with PMH problems are identified by health services and even fewer receive treatment. This research therefore aimed to identify potential barriers and facilitators to PMH care across the care pathway, both in terms of women accessing care, and in terms of health services implementing new PMH assessment and treatment initiatives. Our primary research objective was to develop a conceptual framework of barriers and facilitators to PMH care (defined as identification, assessment, care and treatment) to inform PMH services, and highlight where further research is needed. This was done through two systematic reviews which synthesised the evidence on: Review 1 (R1) barriers and facilitators to implementing PMH care; and Review 2 (R2) barriers to women accessing PMH care. Results were used to develop a conceptual framework which was then refined through consultations with stakeholders (e.g. women, general practitioners, midwives, health visitors, psychiatrists, commissioners, third-sector organisations, etc.). Results were used to inform recommendations for policy, practice and future research in PMH care. Secondary research objectives were to: (1) determine the barriers and facilitators to implementing PMH care in health and social care services; (2) identify differences in barriers and facilitators across different health and social care settings; (3) evaluate the quality of this evidence; (4) extract recommendations for implementation, practice and research based on the barriers and facilitators identified; (5) determine the barriers and facilitators to women accessing PMH care; (6) evaluate the quality of these reviews; and (7) map the geographical distribution of the research to establish generalisability and gaps in the evidence. Review methods For both reviews pre-planned searches were carried out in MEDLINE (1946–present), EMBASE (1974–present), PsychInfo (1806–present) and CINAHL (1982–present). R2 also used Scopus and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Issue 8 of 12, August 2021). MeSH terms (i.e. prenatal care/anxiety/diagnosis) and Boolean operators ‘OR’ and ‘AND’ were used. Eligibility criteria for R1 were empirical studies that examined factors that either facilitated or impeded implementation of PMH care in health or social care services. These could be qualitative interviews with health professionals (HPs) or women about services; or studies describing the implementation of PMH care services. Eligibility criteria for R2 were reviews of literature on barriers and facilitators for women in the perinatal period (defined as conception to one year postpartum) to access assessment, care or treatment. Information on barriers and facilitators had to be directly drawn from perinatal women’s experiences. Only systematic reviews with a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) search strategy were included. Search results were imported into Endnote and duplicates were removed. Remaining studies were then imported into Eppi-Reviewer. In R1 10% of the results were double screened. In R2 all studies were double screened. For both reviews, 10% of included studies had their data extracted in duplicate. Methodological quality appraisal was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Critical Appraisal Tools for R1, and dual appraisal was conducted for 35% of included papers. Most studies (n = 44) had a quality rating above 70% suggesting that studies were well-conducted with low risk of bias. For R2, methodological quality of reviews was appraised using A measurement tool to assess systematic reviews-2 (AMSTAR) tool, and dual appraisal was carried out for all included reviews. The majority of reviews were evaluated as having low (n = 14) or critically low (n = 5) confidence in their results. Therefore, a qualitative sensitivity analysis was carried out to assess whether themes remained consistent across all reviews regardless of their quality rating. Only qualitative papers were identified. Results were analysed using a thematic synthesis and mapping themes on to a systems level model adapted from Ferlie and Shortell’s Levels of Change framework (e.g. individual level factors, HP factors, organisational factors and larger system factors) (Ferlie EB, Shortell SM. Improving the quality of health care in the United Kingdom and the United States: a framework for change. Milbank Q 2001;79(2):281–315. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.00206) and then grouped to reflect different stages of the care pathway adapted from Goldberg and Huxley’s Pathways to Care model (e.g. deciding to disclose, assessment, access to care, treatment) (Goldberg D, Huxley P. Common Mental Disorders: A Bio-Social Model. New York, NY: Tavistock/Routledge; 1992.). Review results Review 1 searches identified a total of 21,535 citations. After screening by title and abstract 10,130 records were excluded, leaving 931 papers to be screened by full text. Screening of full texts identified 43 studies to be included in the review. Forward and backward searches identified a further three papers. Therefore, 46 qualitative studies were included in the qualitative synthesis. Studies were mainly carried out in higher income countries (HICs). Implementation occurred in a wide range of settings including hospitals (n = 14); primary care (n = 12); and community-based care (n = 12). Most studies (n = 22) looked at the implementation of comprehensive care services (including screening, referral and treatment). Review 2 searches identified a total of 4086 citations. After removing duplicates and studies not meeting inclusion criteria, 2028 articles were left to be screened. Screening by title and abstract led to 1962 records being excluded, leaving 66 papers to be screened by full text. Screening of full texts identified 32 reviews of qualitative studies to be included in the meta-review. Reviews were conducted between 2006 and 2021. The number of studies included in each review varied from 4 to 40 with a total of 344 studies included across all the reviews. The reviews included studies carried out in 24 different countries. Most reviews focused on perinatal depression. Qualitative sensitivity analysis found that most themes were supported in both the higher quality and lower quality reviews. Including all reviews meant the data was richer and included marginalised women, such as refugees, migrants and women living in sub-Saharan Africa. This suggests results from R2 can be interpreted with reasonable confidence. Overall, in terms of geographical distribution and type of mental illness most studies were carried out in HICs (R1: n = 38; R2: n = 28), and the majority focused on perinatal depression (R1: n = 32; R2: n = 23). Barriers and facilitators to PMH care were identified from R1 and R2. Results from both reviews were merged together and mapped on to seven levels informed by Ferlie and Shortell’s (2001)40 framework (Ferlie EB, Shortell SM. Improving the quality of health care in the United Kingdom and the United States: a framework for change. Milbank Q 2001;79(2):281–315. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.00206). These were: (1) Individual factors; (2) HP factors; (3) Interpersonal factors; (4) Organisational factors; (5) Commissioner factors; (6) Political factors; and (7) Societal factors. Factors at these levels impacted on PMH care at different stages of the care pathway. Individual level factors were the most influential in women’s decision to consult. Women not understanding HPs roles (n = 12) or not understanding what perinatal mental illness (PMI) was (n = 14) were the most cited barriers. The largest individual level facilitator to deciding to consult was recognising something was wrong (n = 8). In terms of first contact with HPs, the most commonly cited reason for women dropping out of the care pathway was if HPs were dismissive about mental illness or normalised women’s symptoms (n = 8). Assessment of PMH was influenced by multiple factors. At the individual level, the most cited barrier was the presence of family and friends with negative beliefs about mental illness (n = 7). At the HP level, assessment specific behaviours such as carrying it out in a tick box way (n = 12) was the most cited barrier. At the interpersonal level, women and HPs being able to speak openly and honestly about assessment was the most cited facilitator (n = 5). At the organisational level, the most common facilitator was the acceptability of assessment or screening for both HPs and women (n = 17). Women deciding to disclose their symptoms was also affected by multiple factors. At the individual level, fear of being judged as a bad mother (n = 7) was the most cited barrier. HPs appearing too busy was the most cited barrier (n = 5) at the HP level. A lack of a trusting relationship between women and HPs (n = 10) was the most cited interpersonal barrier. Linked to this, at the organisational level, a lack of continuity of carer (n = 8) was the most cited barrier. Stigma (n = 18), culture (n = 13) and maternal norms (n = 15) were all societal level barriers preventing the disclosure of PMH symptoms. The most commonly cited factors affecting referral were collaborative working across services (n = 7) and organisational referral procedures (n = 7). Multiple factors influenced access to treatment. At the individual level, the most cited barriers to accessing care were logistical issues such as not having childcare (n = 14), the location of the care and difficulties travelling there (n = 13). Language barriers were the biggest interpersonal barrier to women accessing care (n = 4) and related to this, a lack of culturally sensitive care was the most cited organisational barrier to access (n = 7). At the commissioner level, the most cited barrier to access was a lack of appropriate or timely services for women (n = 11). At the political level a lack of financial resources to pay for health care (n = 14) was a barrier to access. In terms of provision of optimal care, at the HP level, HPs possessing valued characteristics (n = 9), such as being trustworthy and caring, were facilitators to the provision of optimal care. At the interpersonal level, a lack of trusting relationship was a barrier to optimal care provision (n = 5). At the organisational level, the provision of individualised care (n = 11) that was appropriate to women’s needs (n = 12) was a facilitator. A lack of training related to PMI and treatment was the most cited organisational barrier (n = 15). At the wider levels, immigration status (n = 5), stigma (n = 8) and culture (n = 6) were barriers to optimal care. Multiple factors impacted women’s experience of treatment or care. At the individual level, social isolation (n = 7) was a barrier to women’s experience of care as it exacerbated their mental health difficulties further. HPs who provided hope to mothers, were caring, supportive, empathetic and went above and beyond meant women had a positive care experience (n = 9). Individualised and person-centred (n = 11) care was also associated with a positive care experience. In terms of barriers and facilitators within different health and social care settings, within hospitals the most cited factors influencing implementation were lack of time or a heavy workload (n = 8), and whether HPs were positive about the care being implemented (n = 8). In primary care, the most commonly cited factors that influenced implementation were stigma (n = 8) and family presence (n = 8). In community settings the most important factors were training (n = 8) and the characteristics of the person providing the care (n = 6). Across low-income countries, stigma (n = 4) and lack of training (n = 4) were the most cited barriers to implementation. Similarly, when health services were located in higher income countries, but women from a refugee or different cultural background accessed them, stigma (n = 6) and lack of HP training (n = 6), along with HP’s heavy workload (n = 6) and lack of collaborative working (n = 6) were the most cited barriers. The MATRIx conceptual frameworks Results from both reviews were synthesised to develop two conceptual frameworks. Eight stages outlined by Jabareen were followed to develop the frameworks: (1) mapping the selected data sources; (2) extensive reading and categorising of the selected data; (3) identifying and naming concepts; (4) deconstructing and categorising the concepts; (5) integrating concepts; (6) synthesis, resynthesis and making it all make sense; (7) validating the conceptual framework using stakeholder meetings and the Confidence in the Evidence from the Reviews of Qualitative research (CERQual) approach; and (8) rethinking the conceptual framework. Two MATRIx conceptual frameworks were developed that highlight the importance of 66 barriers and 39 facilitators to PMH care at multiple levels and that intersect across the care pathway. These conceptual frameworks informed the development of evidence-based recommendations on how to address barriers to ensure that all women are able to access the care and support they need. Recommendations were made for health policy, practice and research. Conclusions The MATRIx conceptual frameworks on barriers and facilitators highlight the need for women-centred, flexible care, delivered by well-trained, knowledgeable, and empathetic HPs working within an organisational and political structure that enables them to deliver quality care. Results also suggest a need for international efforts to reduce stigma associated with mental health difficulties. Recommendations for practice and policy were made. While recommendations are based on the evidence, they may be more or less achievable, depending on the local and national context and pressures on services. Based on the evidence, it is suggested that policy makers: (1) review the conceptual frameworks and take comprehensive, strategic and evidence-based steps to ensure there is an effective system of PMH care; (2) ensure services are adequately funded and there are enough trained staff in order to ensure every woman with PMH difficulties is able to access appropriate treatment in a timely fashion; and (3) improve access to health care for all through free health care and a fair and easy-to-access welfare system. The evidence suggests that recommendations for healthcare practice include: (1) designing care with women to ensure it meets their needs; (2) providing culturally sensitive care and increasing the accessibility of care through pictorial aids and translators; (3) ensuring chosen technology is fit for purpose, and co-designed with HPs; (4) services working together; (5) employment of enough staff from a variety of health disciplines; and (6) HPs receiving high-quality training, with protected time to complete it. Limitations In R1 only 10% of abstracts were double screened and, given the large number of citations to screen, some papers may have been missed. Similarly, in R1 only 10% of included papers were methodologically appraised by two reviewers. Both reviews only included papers published in academic journals and written in English. Relevant reviews from health services, charities, third-sector organisations and other grey literature may have been missed. Furthermore, the majority of reviews in R2 were evaluated as having low (n = 14) or critically low (n = 5) confidence in their results. However, this was mitigated through the use of a qualitative sensitivity analysis. Future work Further research is needed to examine access to PMH care for specific groups, such as fathers, immigrants or those in lower income countries. More research is needed on facilitators to implementing and accessing PMH care, as well as appropriate measures to help service managers assess whether a service is working effectively. Trial registration This trial is registered as PROSPERO: (R1) CRD42019142854; (R2) CRD42020193107. Funding This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health and Social Care Delivery Research programme (NIHR award ref: NIHR 128068) and is published in full in Health and Social Care Delivery Research; Vol. 12, No. 2. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information.

Vladimir Karpiuk, Irina Gilevich, Marina Perova et al.

The use of autologous cartilage and bone grafts remains the gold standard in augmentation rhinoplasty performed to reconstruct of the nasal dorsum. Meanwhile, limited number of available sources, donor site morbidity, and unpredictable graft resorption represent significant disadvantages of autografting. The aim of this study is to test combination of autologous stromal vascular fraction (SVF) and commercially available bone substitutes (BSs) as new tissue-engineered grafting material (GM) for rhinoplasty. A series of consecutive cases includes four adult patients who underwent rhinoplasty to correct saddle nose deformity (SND) using the new graft technique. SVF was isolated from liposuction aspirate using standard methodology of enzymatic digestion. Two types of BSs were combined with SVF: Bio-Oss granules to create a moldable graft (M-graft), and block-shaped BoneMedik-S to create rigid grafts (R-grafts). The moderate SND was treated using an M-graft. In case of major or complex SND, the nasal dorsum was reconstructed with dorso-columellar L-shaped framework made of R-grafts. The results were evaluated over a period of 6 months to 3 years postoperatively using photogrammetry and FACE-Q appearance appraisal scales. Computerised tomography (CT) scanning of the reconstructed nose and histological analysis of grafted material were also carried out. No complications were observed. The photograms show the restoration of the correct contour of the nose. FACE-Q appraisal scale scores increased significantly, including satisfaction with nose appearance, psychological well-being, and social function. In CT evaluation, there was no substantial resorption or warping of the grafts. Histological findings show osteogenic remodeling of the grafted material. Thus, combining autologous SVF with BSs is a promising strategy for developing rhinoplasty GM.

Mustafa Bin Tariq, Hafiz Adnan Habib

Students are a gold asset for each country. Proper guidance/recommendation to the students regarding their education-related issues can ultimately result in uplifting the economy of a country. Different education models are followed in the world, out of which Outcome Based Education (OBE) is the one. OBE education model comprises three main components, which include Program Educational Objectives (PEOs), Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs), and Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs). CLOs are outcomes that a student achieves after studying a course. A single course may contain one or more CLOs. These CLOs are then mapped to PLOs and PLOs are then mapped to PEOs. Therefore, our objective in this work is to improve deficient/weak CLOs of students by suggesting online resources. Whereas, in the absence of this proposed system, students have to find out these resources by themselves or course teacher recommends relevant online resources. To achieve this objective, we created a dataset for the OBE education model, as to date no standard dataset exists on the OBE education model. From this dataset, we created a Student-to-CLO matrix and performed bi-clustering on this matrix to find groups of students having similar performance in different CLOs. So far, Bi-clustering has been used in the Bio-informatics field to determine similarity in gene expression data. Generated bi-clusters are sorted according to their homogeneity of contained values. These sorted bi-clusters are then mapped to a 2D grid to formulate a reinforcement-learning environment. The start state of the recommendation agent is determined using cosine similarity. If an agent visits a state, deficient CLOs of that state are recommended to the student. The agent can visit only those states that are nearby to its current state and accessible through its legal action space. An optimal sequence of actions to visit different states of a 2D grid, which can improve student’s performance, is determined using Q-learning. Online resources including research articles, YouTube videos, books, and online tutorials are suggested to the student to improve his deficient CLOs using a mobile app.

Rui Sherry Shen, Yusuf Osmanlıoğlu, Drew Parker et al.

Divergent brain connectivity is thought to underlie the behavioral and cognitive symptoms observed in many neurodevelopmental disorders. Quantifying divergence from neurotypical connectivity patterns offers a promising pathway to inform diagnosis and therapeutic interventions. While advanced neuroimaging techniques, such as diffusion MRI (dMRI), have facilitated the mapping of brain's structural connectome, the challenge lies in accurately modeling developmental trajectories within these complex networked structures to create robust neurodivergence markers. In this work, we present the Brain Representation via Individualized Deep Generative Embedding (BRIDGE) framework, which integrates normative modeling with a bio-inspired deep generative model to create a reference trajectory of connectivity transformation as part of neurotypical development. This will enable the assessment of neurodivergence by comparing individuals to the established neurotypical trajectory. BRIDGE provides a global neurodivergence score based on the difference between connectivity-based brain age and chronological age, along with region-wise neurodivergence maps that highlight localized connectivity differences. Application of BRIDGE to a large cohort of children with autism spectrum disorder demonstrates that the global neurodivergence score correlates with clinical assessments in autism, and the regional map offers insights into the heterogeneity at the individual level in neurodevelopmental disorders. Together, the neurodivergence score and map form powerful tools for quantifying developmental divergence in connectivity patterns, advancing the development of imaging markers for personalized diagnosis and intervention in various clinical contexts.

Ohad Vilk, Motti Charter, Sivan Toledo et al.

Diffusion and anomalous diffusion are widely observed and used to study movement across organisms, resulting in extensive use of the mean and mean-squared displacement (MSD). However, these measures - corresponding to specific displacement moments - do not capture the full complexity of movement behavior. Using high-resolution data from over 70 million localizations of young and adult free-ranging Barn Owls (\textit{Tyto alba}), we reveal strong anomalous diffusion as nonlinear growth of displacement moments. The moment spectrum function $λ_t(q)$ -- defined by $\left<|\bm{x}(t)|^q\right> \sim t^{λ_t(q)}$ -- displays piecewise linearity in $q$, with a critical moment marking the crossover between scaling regimes. This highlights the need of a broad spectrum of displacement moments to characterize movement, which we link to age-specific ecological drivers. Furthermore, a characteristic timescale of five minutes marks an unexpected transition from a convex to a concave $λ_t(q)$. Using two stochastic models - a bounded Lévy walk and a multi-mode behavioral model - we account for the observed phenomena, showing good agreement with data, relating age-specific behavioral states to environmentally confined movement, and demonstrating how Lévy walk-like patterns can arise from underlying behavioral structure. Finally, we discuss the ecological significance of our results, arguing that strong anomalous diffusion may be widespread in animal movement.

Soumyajyoti Mallick, Shreeya Rane, Nityananda Acharyya et al.

Plasmonic metasurfaces have been quite a fascinating framework to invoke transformation of incident electromagnetic waves for a while now. Oftentimes, the building block of these metasurfaces or the unit cells consists of two or more meta-resonators. As a consequence, near-field coupling amongst these constituents may occur depending upon the spatial and spectral separation of the individual elements (meta-resonators). In such coupled structures resonance mode-hybridization can help in explaining the formation and energy re-distribution among the resonance modes. However, the coupling of these plasmonic modes is extremely sensitive to the polarization of the incident probe beam and offers ample amount of scope to harness newer physics. A qualitative understanding of the same can be attained through mode-hybridization phenomena. In this context, here, we have proposed a multi-element metastructure unit cell consisting of split ring and dipole resonators aiming to explore the intricate effects of the polarization dependency of these hybridized modes. Multi-resonator systems with varied inter-resonator spacing ( sp = 3.0, 5.0, and 7.0 μ m) are fabricated and characterized in the terahertz domain, showing a decrement in the frequency detuning ( δ ) by 30% (approx.) for a particular polarization orientation of THz probe beam. However, no such detuning is observed for the other orthogonal polarization configuration. Therefore, modulation of the resonance-hybridization is strongly dependent on the terahertz beam polarization. Further, as an outcome of the strong near-field coupling, the emergence of dual toroidal modes is observed. Excitation of toroidal modes demands thoughtful mode engineering to amplify the response of these otherwise feeble modes. Such modes are capable of strongly confining electromagnetic fields due to higher Quality (Q-) factor. Our experimental studies have shown significant signature of the presence of these modes in the Terahertz (THz) domain, backed up by rigorous numerical investigations along with multipole analysis. The calculated multipole decomposition demonstrates stronger scattering amplitude enhancements (∼7 times) at both the toroidal modes compared to off-resonant values. Such dual toroidal resonances are capable of superior field confinements as compared to single toroidal mode, and therefore, can potentially serve as an ideal testbed in developing next-generation multi-mode bio-sensors as well as realization of high Q-factor lasing cavities, electromagnetically induced transparency, non-radiating anapole modes, novel ultrafast switching, and several other applications.

L. Mengi, N. C. Sarkar, Hemkalyan Verma et al.

A field experiment was conducted during at the Experimental Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, School of Agriculture Sciences and Rural Development (SASRD), Nagaland University, Medziphema, during kharif season of 2009 to study the influence of different sources of organic nutrients and bio-nutrient on the productivity of upland rice. The experiment was laid out in RBD with seven treatments including control and replicated thrice. The treatments consisted of control, seed inoculation with biofertilizer (Azotobactor) and three sources of organic manures i.e. pig manure, vegetable sea weed manure and vermicompost at the rate of 3.2 t ha-1, 25 kg ha-1 and 2.25 t ha-1 respectively, along with seed treatment with biofungicide (Trichoderma). The experiment results indicated that the application of Biofertilizer+pig manure @ 3.2 t ha-1+Trichoderma significantly increased the growth, yield, yield attributes and nutrient uptake of rice over the other treatments. The maximum plant height (135.37 cm), number of tillers hill-1 (9), dry weight (404.63 g), number of panicle m-2 (122), number of grains panicle-1 (151), grain yield (25.18 q ha-1), straw yield (54.83 q ha-1) were obtained. The maximum uptakes of N (23.86%), P (27.47%) and K (21.83%) in the grain were recorded in the treatment, which was significantly higher over the Biofertilizer+vegetable sea weed manure @ 25 kg ha-1.

A.V. Dyshlyuk, O.B. Vitrik

High-Q Fano resonances are demonstrated, as well as effects similar to electromagnetically induced transparency arising in a curved Fabry-Perot waveguide resonator with variable-reflection mirrors. It is shown that these effects arise as a result of coupling the fundamental mode of the bent waveguide core with whispering gallery cladding modes. An influence of the main geometrical parameters of the resonator on the resonance features in its reflection and transmission spectra is studied. The results obtained can be used in the creation of new functional elements of photonics based on curved waveguides, in particular, highly sensitive portable refractometers for bio- and chemosensory systems, as well as optical sensors of mechanical effects.

Samitha Somathilaka, Daniel P. Martins, Xu Li et al.

Bacterial cells are sensitive to a range of external signals used to learn the environment. These incoming external signals are then processed using a Gene Regulatory Network (GRN), exhibiting similarities to modern computing algorithms. An in-depth analysis of gene expression dynamics suggests an inherited Gene Regulatory Neural Network (GRNN) behavior within the GRN that enables the cellular decision-making based on received signals from the environment and neighbor cells. In this study, we extract a sub-network of \textit{Pseudomonas aeruginosa} GRN that is associated with one virulence factor: pyocyanin production as a use case to investigate the GRNN behaviors. Further, using Graph Neural Network (GNN) architecture, we model a single species biofilm to reveal the role of GRNN dynamics on ecosystem-wide decision-making. Varying environmental conditions, we prove that the extracted GRNN computes input signals similar to natural decision-making process of the cell. Identifying of neural network behaviors in GRNs may lead to more accurate bacterial cell activity predictive models for many applications, including human health-related problems and agricultural applications. Further, this model can produce data on causal relationships throughout the network, enabling the possibility of designing tailor-made infection-controlling mechanisms. More interestingly, these GRNNs can perform computational tasks for bio-hybrid computing systems.

Jin Xu, Gary Geng, Nhan D. Nguyen et al.

SBcoyote is an open-source cross-platform biochemical reaction viewer and editor released under the liberal MIT license. It is written in Python and uses wxPython to implement the GUI and the drawing canvas. It supports the visualization and editing of compartments, species, and reactions. It includes many options to stylize each of these components. For instance, species can be in different colors and shapes. Other core features include the ability to create alias nodes, alignment of groups of nodes, network zooming, as well as an interactive bird-eye view of the network to allow easy navigation on large networks. A unique feature of the tool is the extensive Python plugin API, where third-party developers can include new functionality. To assist third-party plugin developers, we provide a variety of sample plugins, including, random network generation, a simple auto layout tool, export to Antimony, export SBML, import SBML, etc. Of particular interest are the export and import SBML plugins since these support the SBML level 3 layout and render standard, which is exchangeable with other software packages. Plugins are stored in a GitHub repository, and an included plugin manager can retrieve and install new plugins from the repository on demand. Plugins have version metadata associated with them to make it install plugin updates. Availability: https://github.com/sys-bio/SBcoyote.

Luis A. Álvarez-García, Wolfram Liebermeister, Ian Leifer et al.

Symmetry principles play an important role in geometry, and physics, allowing for the reduction of complicated systems to simpler, more comprehensible models that preserve the system's features of interest. Biological systems are often highly complex and may consist of a large number of interacting parts. Using symmetry fibrations, the relevant symmetries for biological "message-passing" networks, we introduce a scheme, called Complexity Reduction by Symmetry or ComSym, to reduce the gene regulatory networks of Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis bacteria to core networks in a way that preserves the dynamics and uncovers the computational capabilities of the network. Gene nodes in the original network that share isomorphic input trees are collapsed by the fibration into equivalence classes called fibers, whereby nodes that receive signals with the same "history" belong to one fiber and synchronize. Then we reduce the networks to its minimal computational core via k-core decomposition. This computational core consists of a few strongly connected components or "signal vortices", in which signals can cycle through. While between them, these "signal vortices" transmit signals in a feedforward manner. These connected components perform signal processing and decision making in the bacterial cell by employing a series of genetic toggle-switch circuits that store memory, plus oscillator circuits. These circuits act as the central computation device of the network, whose output signals then spread to the rest of the network. Our reduction method opens the door to narrow the vast complexity of biological systems to their minimal parts in a systematic way by using fundamental theoretical principles of symmetry.

Damodhar Ghime, Kumar Vijyendra, Titikshya Mohapatra et al.

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Alexander J McGhee, Eric O McGhee, Jack E Famiglietti et al.

Advanced cell culture techniques such as 3D bio-printing and hydrogel-based cell embedding techniques harbor many new and exciting opportunities to study cells in environments that closely recapitulate in-vivo conditions. Researchers often study these environments using fluorescence microscopy to visualize the protein association with objects such as cells within the 3D environment, yet quantification of concentration profiles in the microenvironment has remained elusive. Here, we present a method to continuously measure the time-dependent concentration gradient of various biomarkers within a 3D cell culture assay using bead-based immunoassays to sequester and concentrate the fluorescence intensity of these tagged proteins. This assay allows for near real-time in situ biomarker detection and enables spatiotemporal quantification of biomarker concentration. Snapshots of concentration profiles can be taken, or time series analysis can be performed enabling time-varying biomarker production estimation. Example assays utilize an osteosacroma tumoroid as a case study for a quantitative single-plexed gel encapsulated assay, and a qualitative multi-plexed 3D bioprinted assay. In both cases, a time-varying cytokine concentration gradient is measured. An estimation for the production rate of the IL-8 cytokine per second per osteosarcoma cell results from fitting an analytical function for continuous point source diffusion to the measured concentration gradient and reveals that each cell produces approximately two IL-8 cytokines per second. Proper calibration and use of this assay is exhaustively explored for the case of diffusion-limited Langmuir kinetics of a spherical adsorber.

Oben Özgür, Arwa Rekik, Islem Rekik

The challenges of collecting medical data on neurological disorder diagnosis problems paved the way for learning methods with scarce number of samples. Due to this reason, one-shot learning still remains one of the most challenging and trending concepts of deep learning as it proposes to simulate the human-like learning approach in classification problems. Previous studies have focused on generating more accurate fingerprints of the population using graph neural networks (GNNs) with connectomic brain graph data. Thereby, generated population fingerprints named connectional brain template (CBTs) enabled detecting discriminative bio-markers of the population on classification tasks. However, the reverse problem of data augmentation from single graph data representing brain connectivity has never been tackled before. In this paper, we propose an augmentation pipeline in order to provide improved metrics on our binary classification problem. Divergently from the previous studies, we examine augmentation from a single population template by utilizing graph-based generative adversarial network (gGAN) architecture for a classification problem. We benchmarked our proposed solution on AD/LMCI dataset consisting of brain connectomes with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Late Mild Cognitive Impairment (LMCI). In order to evaluate our model's generalizability, we used cross-validation strategy and randomly sampled the folds multiple times. Our results on classification not only provided better accuracy when augmented data generated from one sample is introduced, but yields more balanced results on other metrics as well.

Ivana Pajic-Lijakovic, Milan Milivojevic

Morphogenesis, tissue regeneration and cancer invasion involve transitions in tissue morphology. These transitions, caused by collective cell migration (CCM), have been interpreted as active wetting/de-wetting transitions. This phenomenon is considered on model system such as wetting of cell aggregate on rigid substrate which includes cell aggregate movement and isotropic/anisotropic spreading of cell monolayer around the aggregate depending on the substrate rigidity and aggregate size. This model system accounts for the transition between 3D epithelial aggregate and 2D cell monolayer as a product of: (1) tissue surface tension, (2) surface tension of substrate matrix, (3) cell-matrix interfacial tension, (4) interfacial tension gradient, (5) viscoelasticity caused by CCM, and (6) viscoelasticity of substrate matrix. These physical parameters depend on the cell contractility and state of cell-cell and cell matrix adhesion contacts, as well as, the stretching/compression of cellular systems caused by CCM. Despite extensive research devoted to study cell wetting, we still do not understand interplay among these physical parameters which induces oscillatory trend of cell rearrangement. This review focuses on these physical parameters in governing the cell rearrangement in the context of epithelial aggregate wetting.de-wetting, and on the modelling approaches aimed at reproducing and understanding these biological systems. In this context, we do not only review previously-published bio-physics models for cell rearrangement caused by CCM, but also propose new extensions of those models in order to point out the interplay between cell-matrix interfacial tension and epithelial viscoelasticity and the role of the interfacial tension gradient in cell spreading.

S. Pramanik, Y. Kumar, D. Gupta et al.