Time Of Attack Research Articles

Study of the Dissolution of Tahoua Natural Phosphate by Mineral Acids: Hydrochloric Acid and Sulfuric Acid

The transformation of natural phosphorus into plant nutrient phosphorus, natural phosphates from Tahoua were dissolved in mineral acids, hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid. Dissolution was effected at various concentrations (0.01M; 0.1M and 1M) and stirring times (1 hour, 3 hours and 5 hours). The results show that for all two acids (2), the dissolution rate is greater in concentrated acid solutions (1M) and for the 5-hour attack time. These rates are 38.37% and 34.87% respectively for sulfuric and hydrochloric acid solutions. Dissolution of Tahoua natural phosphate depends on the concentration of etching solutions and the etching time. With mineral acids (sulfuric and hydrochloric acid), for example, it increases with concentration. This dissolution offers interesting visions for perfecting phosphate fertilizers.

Evaluation of Lower Extremities Power, Movement, Position and Effectiveness in Volleyball

Background: This paper presents research on the comparison and evaluation of lower limb power, movement, position on the court, and effectiveness in the players of men’s volleyball. The study involved professional players in the first division of a men’s volleyball team. The main aim of this paper was to show the correlation between lower limb power, movement, position on the pitch, and volleyball efficiency. Methods: The authors presented basic somatic characteristics of anthropology metrics, advanced research results obtained with the Optojump measuring system, players’ results statistics obtained with the Data Volley software (v.4.2024.01), and by applying scientific statistical methods and graphics interpretation. Results: The analyses with the Kruskal-Wallis test showed statistically significant differences in all the variables studied. Flight time (TF, H = 122.967; p < 0.001.) was the shortest for the players in the libero position, then the setter, attacker, middle and longest flight time was shown by the receiving players. The height of the jumps (JH, H = 123.018; p < 0.001) was the highest for receiving and mid players, and then attackers and setters, and the lowest jumps were recorded by libero players. The highest power of lower limbs (P, H = 20.392; p < 0.001) was characteristic for receivers, setters, mid-players and, curiously, libero achieved a better result than attackers. Conclusions: The analysis shows that the power of the lower extremities in volleyball players is associated with the function they perform on the court.

Generating of A Dynamic and Secure S-Box for AES Block Cipher System Based on Modified Hexadecimal Playfair Cipher

In today's digital world, the extensive use of devices, including smartphones, tablets, IoT devices, and the internet, emphasizes the necessity for strong security measures. These measures are essential to safeguard both user data and sensitive government information. As technology advances, the enhancement of cryptographic methods becomes imperative, ensuring alignment with this rapid progression. This paper introduces a novel approach to encrypting classified data using the modified AES cipher system. It employs a dynamic and secure substitution byte operation with a 4×4 matrix, replacing the static and public 16×16 S-box found in the original version of AES. To construct the presented S-box, the system makes a secret key of 56 bytes (4×14 Rounds), where each round of the AES-256 utilizes 4 bytes to generate a 4×4 Hexadecimal Playfair matrix. By altering the S-boxes in each round and block (where each block utilizes AES key expansion to generate a 56-byte secret key for the Playfair matrix), it becomes feasible to produce distinct encrypted blocks even when the original blocks remain identical. In terms of security, the effectiveness of the provided method has been verified by experimental and analytical studies including the Avalanche effect, Balanced output, Hamming distance, and Time complexity. The result shows that the Avalanche effect of the proposed method exceeds 50% and increase the time of brute force attack. Moreover, the proposed algorithm exhibits impressive execution speed, handling approximately 200 KB in just one second.

Maize plants can recover from fall armyworm damage under optimum crop production conditions in humid tropical agro-ecologies.

Farmers in Africa perceive the impact of fall armyworm (FAW) on maize to be significant, but field assessments have shown that yield losses are not significant enough to warrant pesticide interventions. This suggests that relationships between the crop stages, time, and duration of attack can affect the yield. Therefore, assessing the plant's recovery from damage using individual plants based on defoliation levels could guide whether and when pesticides should be applied. To study this, we selected 120 labeled maize plants corresponding to six levels of FAW defoliation, replicated 20 times, based on an initial damage rating. The rating scale ranged from 1 (no defoliation) to 5 (>75% defoliation) during four planting seasons. Plants with a rating scale of 1 were replicated and treated with a chemical insecticide to keep them undefoliated, and that served as a control. Damage severity was recorded weekly on all plants, starting from emergence until maturity, using the same damage rating scale. Results showed that damage severity varied significantly among different defoliation levels during all seasons. Higher levels of defoliation during dry seasons resulted in significant yield loss only for plants with damage levels 4 and 5, with damage severity ranging from 38.7% to 57.5%. These results indicate that FAW control is unnecessary in the rainy season. In contrast, pesticide interventions should be envisaged in seasons of erratic rainfall, with a significant defoliation threshold level of around 50%, occurring at 8 and 5wk after planting weeks after planting, respectively for the early and late dry season.

Quantitative and qualitative damage caused by Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) on soybean crop at different growth stages

The brown marmorated stink bug Halyomorpha halys, an invasive species native to East Asia, is now present and abundant on soybean throughout Europe where it has become a major pest damaging the crop. Because a better understanding of the impact of H. halys is crucial to implement effective and sustainable pest management, the present study aimed to assess the stages at which soybean is most susceptible to H. halys attacks, and the qualitative and quantitative alterations caused by its feeding on soybean seeds. Therefore, soybean plants were exposed to stink bug adults for 2 weeks at different development stages and were examined at harvest for damage. Stay-green syndrome occurred most severely as a result of H. halys attacks at soybean development stages R4-R5. In the same period, the bug feeding activity significantly reduced the number of seeds per pod, thus indicating a higher damage rate at the R4-R5 stage when soybean surveillance should be intensified in order to properly target pest management strategies. The lower number of seeds per pod corresponded to an increase in the seed weight due to plant compensation mechanisms, leading to grain yields that did not differ in relation to the time of attack or the rate of damaged seeds. However, while not causing overall a loss of weight production, H. halys attacks were shown to cause qualitative damage to soybean seeds, especially by altering protein content and mobilizing several primary metabolites from storage macromolecules, which will have to be considered depending on the intended use of the production.

Improving Differential-Neural Cryptanalysis

Our first objective is to enhance the capabilities of differential-neural distinguishers by applying more deep-learning techniques, focusing on handling more rounds and improving accuracy. Inspired by the Inception Block in GoogLeNet, we adopted a design that uses multiple parallel convolutional layers with varying kernel sizes before the residual block to capture multi-dimensional information. Additionally, we expanded the convolutional kernels in the residual blocks, enlarging the network's receptive field. In the case of Speck32/64, our efforts yield accuracy improvements in rounds 6, 7, and 8, enabling the successful training of a 9-round differential-neural distinguisher. As for Simon32/64, we developed a differential-neural distinguisher capable of effectively handling 12 rounds while achieving noteworthy accuracy enhancements in rounds 9, 10, and 11. Additionally, we utilized neutral bits to ensure the required data distribution for launching a successful key recovery attack when using multiple-ciphertext pairs as input for the neural network. Meanwhile, we redefined the formula for time complexity based on the differences in prediction speeds of the distinguisher between a single-core CPU and a GPU. Combining these various advancements allows us to considerably reduce the time and data complexity of key recovery attacks on 13-round Speck32/64. Furthermore, we used knowledge distillation techniques to reduce the model size, accelerating the distinguisher's prediction speed and reducing the time complexity. In particular, we achieved a successful 14-round key recovery attack by exhaustively guessing a 1-round subkey. For Simon32/64, we accomplished a 17-round key recovery attack for the first time and reduced the time complexity of the 16-round key recovery attack.

Clinical and imaging predictors for the development of diabetes mellitus following a single episode of acute pancreatitis in youth

BackgroundAcute pancreatitis (AP) increases the risk of diabetes mellitus (DM). Our aim was to identify clinical, laboratory and imaging predictors of preDM/DM in youth post index AP. MethodsThis was a prospective cohort study of patients ≤21 years-old with an index admission for AP and follow up at 3 and/or 12 months. Clinical laboratory values, imaging findings, admission course, and plasma chemokine and cytokine measures collected at index admission were tested for association with preDM/DM development. A multivariable regression model was used to predict preDM/DM. ResultsAmong 187 enrolled participants, 137 (73 %) and 144 (77 %) underwent DM screening at 3 and 12 months respectively, and 137 (73 %) had imaging available. PreDM/DM occurred in 22/137 (16 %; preDM n = 21, DM n = 1) at 3 months and 23/144 (16 %; preDM n = 18, DM n = 5) participants at 12 months. Univariate associations with preDM/DM at 12 months included: severe AP (SAP) (52 % preDM/DM vs. 17 % no DM; p = 0.0008), median [IQR] IL-6 (910 pg/ml [618–3438] vs. 196 pg/ml [71–480], p < 0.05) and CRP (4.16 mg/L [1.67–10.7] vs. 1.55 mg/L [0.4–3.68], p = 0.1) at time of AP attack. The optimal multivariable model to predict preDM/DM included with clinical variables was severe acute pancreatitis (SAP), c reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and age [AUC = 0.80; (0.70, 0.88)]. Including imaging markers, the ideal model included SAP, CRP, IL-6, subcutaneous fat area, age and presence of autoimmune disease with an AUC [0.82 (0.71, 0.90)]. ConclusionsDevelopment of preDM/DM following an index AP episode can be predicted by baseline AP severity, baseline CRP, IL-6 levels, and subcutaneous fat area.

Two-stage spatiotemporal cooperative reentry guidance strategy using transformer and improved beluga whale optimization

This research addresses the challenge of insufficient control margin caused by the coupling of multiple constraints in the cooperative precise reentry guidance of hypersonic vehicles. Drawing inspiration from the concept of spatiotemporal decoupling control, a rapid guidance strategy is developed to ensure precise handling of all constraints, including attack time, attack angle, and trajectory constraints. Initially, during the early phase of gliding flight, the adjustment of the heading angle is conceptualized as a single variable root-solving problem, in relation to the entrance width of the lateral azimuth error corridor. Subsequently, a lateral azimuth error corridor with adaptively narrowing entrance width, coupled with a Transformer network-based bank angle predictor, is incorporated to achieve precise fine-tuning of the heading angle under the soft constraint of velocity. In the later phase of gliding flight, the design of a cooperative guidance law under complex multiple constraints is transformed into a nonlinear rapid optimization problem of control commands. An enhanced beluga whale optimization suited to this guidance task is proposed. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy under both nominal and uncertain conditions.

Spatio-temporal human snow leopard (Panthera uncia) conflicts and mitigation measures in Baltistan - free-livestock grazing pastoral areas

Apex predators are essential for maintaining ecosystem balance by controlling biotic communities. The spatio-temporal grazing of livestock in pastoral areas can pose threats to endangered carnivores and their prey resulting in resource competition, conflicts and increased disease transmission. Our research aimed to assess the spatio-temporal distribution of snow leopards and livestock determine factors causing snow leopard-livestock conflicts identify seasonal conflict zones through public claims and interviews and evaluate conservation benefits and challenges. In this study, camera traps were used in 20 villages of Baltistan from November to April resulting in 720 snow leopard sightings and 8277 livestock events. Snow leopards preyed on 195 livestock in the 2022–2023 period resulting in an estimated loss of $225,004.51 USD including sheeps, goats, cows and yaks.We utilized the Generalized Linear Regression Model to examine snow leopard attacks finding that the timing of attacks was not significant. Proximity to predator-proofed corrals, traditional corrals, bite marks and distance to the nearest village or shepherd huts were positively correlated with attacks, while small stock body size was not significant. Through 110 public interviews we discovered that awareness campaigns and avoidance strategies successfully mitigated human-snow leopard conflicts. In conclusion, our results found that livestock attacks occur in pastures during both day and night with the size and sex of the livestock affecting the likelihood of attacks. Snow leopard attacks were linked to increased grazing and poorly constructed corrals. Snow leopards targeted vulnerable areas of their prey including the neck, mouth, ears and anal region. Compensation claims and field visits were used to identify conflict areas and public perception. In the future research should prioritize the use of camera traps to study prey and snow leopard density, grazing effects, food habits using genetic tools and sex determination.

Predicting the Path of Insurgency: Data-Driven Strategies to Counter Boko Haram in Nigeria

Background While Boko Haram insurgency’s dangers are well documented, existing research lacks methods for effective monitoring and prediction, of their activities. This study addresses this gap by analyzing data from Nigerian Security Tracker website (https://www.cfr.org/nigeria/nigeria-security-tracker/p29483) from year 2011 to 2023 and geolocated information on Boko Haram activity. Methods The research employs a mixed-methods approach. It uses descriptive statistics to understand attack trends and time series models (ARIMA/SARIMA) to forecast future attacks. Additionally, control charts identify periods of heightened insurgency. Results The findings confirm the Northeast region, as the epicenter of Boko Haram activities. The average monthly attack rate was 18 incidents, leading to 682 deaths over 12 years. 2014 and 2015 witnessed the peak of the insurgency. The forecasting models suggest a potential decrease in attack frequency in the coming years, with an average of nine attacks per month. This predicted decline might be linked to intervention efforts. Control charts reveal periods where attacks surpassed expected levels, highlighting critical moments for intensified counter-insurgency measures. These periods include July 2012-May 2014 and June 2014-August 2015, with a period of regained control. Conclusion This research provides valuable insights for stakeholders working to fight against Boko Haram’s insurgency. It offers forecasting capabilities and identifies critical periods, potentially informing targeted interventions and improving overall counter-insurgency strategies.

B cell and aquaporin-4 antibody relationships with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder activity.

This post hoc analysis of the randomized, placebo-controlled N-MOmentum study (NCT02200770) of inebilizumab in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) evaluated relationships between circulating B-cell subsets and aquaporin-4 immunoglobulin G (AQP4-lgG) titers and attacks. Among participants receiving placebo, CD20+ and CD27+ B-cell counts were modestly increased from the pre-attack visit to attack; plasmablast/plasma cell gene signature was increased from baseline to the pre-attack visit (p = 0.016) and from baseline to attack (p = 0.009). With inebilizumab treatment, B-cell subset counts decreased and did not increase with attacks. No difference in change of AQP4-IgG titers from baseline to time of attack was observed.

An Improved Multi-Chaotic Public Key Algorithm Based on Chebyshev Polynomials

Due to the similar characteristics of chaotic systems and cryptography, public key encryption algorithms based on chaotic systems are worth in-depth research and have high value for the future. Chebyshev polynomials have good properties and are often used in the design of public key algorithms. This paper improves the Bose Multi-Chaotic Public Key Cryptographic Algorithm (BMPKC) by applying Chebyshev polynomials. The proposed algorithm (CMPKC-) introduces the selective coefficient based on the properties of Chebyshev polynomials, allowing the special functions that need to be negotiated in the original system to be freely and randomly chosen as Chebyshev polynomials, and can also be expanded to m levels. The improved cryptographic algorithm also utilizes chaotic hash functions and logistic mapping to generate pseudo-random sequences and overcomes shortcomings of the Bose algorithm by iteratively iterating the selected Chebyshev polynomials based on the number of 0s or 1s in the pseudo-random sequence, thus providing better security. Analysis and software testing results indicate that this algorithm has strong robustness against brute force attacks, achieving a higher attack time for breaking the private key compared to the CEPKC, BMPKC, and CMPKC algorithms. Compared to the CMPKC algorithm, our proposal algorithm achieves better performance in the encryption and decryption phases. Furthermore, we combine this Multi-Chaotic System Key Exchange Protocol with the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm, while providing a demonstration, offering more possibilities for practical applications of this system.

Frequency of Asymptomatic Optic Nerve Enhancement in 203 Patients With MOG Antibody-Associated Disease.

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) is a distinct CNS demyelinating disease. The rate of asymptomatic optic nerve enhancement on MRI has not been explored in patients with MOGAD. An improved understanding of this would guide clinical practice and assessment of treatment efficacy. We aimed to determine the frequency of asymptomatic optic nerve enhancement in MOGAD. This was a retrospective review of patients evaluated at Mayo Clinic with MOGAD between January 1, 2000, and August 1, 2021 (median follow-up 1.6 [range 1-19] years). MRI studies were reviewed by masked neuroradiologists. Scans performed within 30 days of ON attack were classified as attack scans. Images obtained for routine surveillance, before ON attack, or at the time of non-ON attack were classified as interattack scans. Five hundred sixty-six MRIs (203 unique patients, 53% female) were included. Interattack MRIs represented 341 (60%) of the scans (median 36 days post-ON [range -1,032 to 6,001]). Of the interattack scans, 43 of 341 (13%), 30 unique patients, showed optic nerve enhancement. The enhancement was located at prior sites of ON in 35 of 43 (81%). Among the 8 patients with enhancement in new optic nerve areas, 6 had acute disseminated encephalomyelitis without an eye examination at the time of the MRI and 2 had preceding ON without imaging. Long-term visual outcomes showed no significant difference between those with and without asymptomatic enhancement, with improved visual acuity in most patients. Asymptomatic optic nerve enhancement occurred in 13% of interattack MRIs, the majority in patients with prior ON and occurring at prior sites of optic nerve enhancement. New asymptomatic optic nerve enhancement in areas without prior ON was rare. These findings are important for understanding the natural history of MOGAD, the interpretation of symptoms or response to treatment, and the adjudication of attacks in clinical trials.

Whole-Body Vibration (WBV) as a Conditioning Activity for Roundhouse Kick (mawashi geri) Performance in Karate.

Karate athletes strategically use lower-limb techniques in combat, with the roundhouse kick (mawashi geri) being highly effective in kumite. To quickly improve the technical performance before training or competitions, conditioning activities (CAs) are often utilized. Recently, Whole-Body Vibration (WBV) has emerged as a potential conditioning activity (CA). This study aimed to analyze the acute effects of WBV as a CA on the performance of the mawashi geri. The sample included sixteen male karate athletes. The study had a familiarization and two experimental sessions: one with WBV and the other without (NWBV), conducted randomly and counterbalanced, each preceded and followed by a mawashi geri assessment on a force platform. During the CA intervention, the participants performed four sets of isometric half-squats on a vibration platform at a frequency of 26 Hz and an amplitude of 4 mm in the WBV condition, while the platform was off in the NWBV condition. A significant reduction in the mawashi geri attack phase time was observed under the WBV condition [pre: 0.31 ± 0.03 s; post: 0.30 ± 0.03 s] compared to the NWBV condition [pre: 0.31 ± 0.04 s; post: 0.32 ± 0.03 s] (p = 0.02). However, no differences were noted regarding the impact force or other kinetic variables between the conditions. Therefore, WBV did not increase the performance of the kinetic and kinematic variables of the mawashi geri in karate athletes, but it is possible that there is a positive effect on attack time, suggesting that further studies with different vibration protocol configurations would be beneficial.

Early Maintenance Treatment Initiation and Relapse Risk Mitigation After a First Event of MOGAD in Adults: The MOGADOR2 Study.

Because myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) is a recently identified autoimmune disorder, the natural history of MOGAD is still not well described. The objective of this study was to describe the long-term outcomes of adult patients with MOGAD. In addition, we aimed to identify factors affecting relapse risk and neurologic outcomes. Clinical and biological data were obtained from patients with a first event of MOGAD and included in the French nationwide incident cohort between February 2014 and March 2017. Only patients aged 18 years or older at disease onset and with observation period of at least 3 months were included. Data were collected prospectively until July 2023 and registered in the dedicated French nationwide database. This form includes every relapse with phenotype description during follow-up, date of last assessment, final clinical outcome with Expanded Disability Status Scale score and visual acuity, and maintenance therapy. The probability of recurrence-free survival was assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method. We included 128 patients. The onset phenotype was isolated optic neuritis in 81 patients (63.3%) and isolated myelitis in 25 patients (19.5%). The median follow-up duration was 77.8 months (range 3.2-111.2), with 49 patients (38.3%) experienced at least one relapse. Median times from onset to second and third attacks were 3.2 (1.0-86.2) and 13.0 (2.6-64.4) months, respectively. At the last assessment, Expanded Disability Status Scale Score was ≥3 and ≥6 in 22 (17.2%) and 6 (4.7%) patients, respectively. Eighty patients received at least one maintenance treatment. This treatment was initiated after the first attack in 47 patients (36.7% of the whole cohort) and at the time of a second attack in 25 (19.5%). Multivariate analysis revealed that initiating maintenance treatment after the first attack was associated with a lower relapse risk (OR = 0.26 [95% CI 0.11-0.62], p = 0.002). In patients receiving maintenance therapy after first attack, the 2-year, 4-year, 6-year, and 8-year relapse risks were 11%, 15%, 20%, and 20%, respectively. In other patients, the risks were 41%, 46%, 51%, and 56%. The highest risk of a relapse in MOGAD occurs early, and initiating maintenance therapy from the first attack substantially reduced the relapse risk. This study provides Class III evidence that initiating maintenance therapy from the first attack in patients with MOGAD reduces the relapse risk.

Reliability of a kinetic and kinematic assessment procedure for kicks in combat sports

ABSTRACT Ensuring reliability of measurement instruments in combat sports is crucial for coaches and researchers, promoting their widespread use. This study assessed the reliability of a procedure that measures kinetic and kinematic variables in karate athletes’ roundhouse kicks. Twenty-four male karate athletes participated, performing three kicks initially and three 48 h later. Paired Student’s t-test found no significant differences between tests. Bland–Altman plot revealed few outliers. Strong agreement between test and retest was shown by Pearson correlations, Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), and Coefficient of Variation (CV) for impact force variables: r = 0.96; ICC = 0.93; CV = 0.12%, impulse: r = 0.95; ICC = 0.93; CV = 1.08%, attack time: r = 0.82; ICC = 0.70; CV = 0.14%, contact time: r = 0.72; ICC = 0.60; CV = 0.18%, return time: r = 0.80; ICC = 0.71; CV = 4.28%, and kick time: r = 0.84; ICC = 0.77; CV = 2.88%. No Smallest Worthwhile Changes (SWC) were observed, and Cronbach’s alpha indicated acceptable internal consistency. In conclusion, the procedure demonstrated reliability in terms of internal and measurement consistency, without random errors.

A Sampled-Data-Based Secure Control Approach for Networked Control Systems Under Random DoS Attacks.

This article aims to analyze H∞ stability of a class of networked control systems (NCSs) under random denial of service (DoS) attacks and design a sampled-data-based state feedback security controller to mitigate the influence of attacks. Different from the existing random attacks, the information about the maximum duration time of DoS attacks can be captured by introducing a predesigned logical processor. Then, based on the periodic sampling technique, the probability of attack occurrence and the resultant number of maximum allowable consecutive packet dropouts can be calculated, which is quite significant to investigating the security problem of NCSs. A DoS-dependent security controller which makes full use of the attack probability information and the number of attack-induced packet dropouts is designed. A novel networked sampled-data system model is first established that enables us to deal with the random DoS attacks phenomena and the time-varying delay induced by attacks under a uniform framework. By structuring a suitable Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, the relationship between mean square asymptotic stability and attack characteristics is obtained. Finally, the reliability and applicability of the presented control strategy in eliminating the influence of DoS attacks are validated by two practical engineering applications.

Massively Parallel Evasion Attacks and the Pitfalls of Adversarial Retraining

Even with widespread adoption of automated anomaly detection in safety-critical areas, both classical and advanced machine learning models are susceptible to first-order evasion attacks that fool models at run-time (e.g. an automated firewall or an anti-virus application). Kernelized support vector machines (KSVMs) are an especially useful model because they combine a complex geometry with low run-time requirements (e.g. when compared to neural networks), acting as a run-time lower bound when compared to contemporary models (e.g. deep neural networks), to provide a cost-efficient way to measure model and attack run-time costs. To properly measure and combat adversaries, we propose a massively parallel projected gradient descent (PGD) evasion attack framework. Through theoretical examinations and experiments carried out using linearly-separable Gaussian normal data, we present (i) a massively parallel naive attack, we show that adversarial retraining is unlikely to be an effective means to combat an attacker even on linearly separable datasets, (ii) a cost effective way of evaluating models defences and attacks, and an extensible code base for doing so, (iii) an inverse relationship between adversarial robustness and benign accuracy, (iv) the lack of a general relationship between attack time and efficacy, and (v) that adversarial retraining increases compute time exponentially while failing to reliably prevent highly-confident false classifications.

Insulinoma- Rare pancreatic tumor

Insulinoma is hormone producing neuroendocrine pancreatic tumor. Insulinoma is a type of functional neuroendocrine tumor characterized by hypersecretion of insulin, causing hypoglycemia. It typically presents as a solitary benign tumor but can be associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1). Patients with insulinoma have hypoglycemic episodes, more characteristically as fasting hypoglycemia.46 yrs. old male having recurrent episode of Syncopal attack, sweating, excessive thrust, and weakness last 3 to 4 yrs. His blood sugar level was always below normal range at time of attack. No H/O diabetes, Hyper tension or any other chronic illness.On detail examination and investigation, we found that his blood sugar level fall 01 hrs. After food intake and blood sugar fasting and post prandial (F=46 mg/dl &amp; PP= 180 mg/dl) is impaired. C Peptide level, serum insulin level is high. MRI shows growth near head of pancreas.Partial pancreatectomy done and sample send for histopathological examination which shows well differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor with no lymph node involvement and congested spleen.The Whipple triad, named after the American surgeon Allen O. Whipple (1881-1963), is the diagnostic hallmark establishing the existence of a hypoglycemic disorder and has the following 3 features: (1) symptoms, signs, or both consistent with hypoglycemia; (2) low plasma glucose measured at the time of the symptoms and signs; and (3) relief of symptoms and signs when the glucose is raised to a normal level (2, 3). Insulinoma is usually diagnosed by biochemical testing. Surgical resection is the preferred treatment choice.

Evaluation of the effect of agroclimatic variables on the probability and timing of olive fruit fly attack.

Agroclimatic variables may affect insect and plant phenology, with unpredictable effects on pest populations and crop losses. Bactrocera oleae Rossi (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a specific pest of Olea europaea plants that can cause annual economic losses of more than one billion US dollars in the Mediterranean region. In this study, we aimed at understanding the effect of olive tree phenology and other agroclimatic variables on B. oleae infestation dynamics in the Umbria region (Central Italy). Analyses were carried out on B. oleae infestation data collected in 79 olive groves during a 7-year period (from 2015 to 2021). In July-August, B. oleae infestation (1% attack) was negatively affected by altitude and spring mean daily temperatures and positively by higher winter mean daily temperatures and olive tree cumulative degree days. In September-October, infestation was negatively affected by a positive soil water balance and high spring temperatures. High altitude and cumulative plant degree days were related to delayed attacks. In contrast, high winter and spring temperatures accelerated them. Our results could be helpful for the development of predictive models and for increasing the reliability of decision support systems currently used in olive orchards.