Bootstrap Replicates Research Articles

Identifying Primary Sites of Spinal Metastases: Expert-Derived Features vs. ResNet50 Model Using Nonenhanced MRI.

The spinal column is a frequent site for metastases, affecting over 30% of solid tumor patients. Identifying the primary tumor is essential for guiding clinical decisions but often requires resource-intensive diagnostics. To develop and validate artificial intelligence (AI) models using noncontrast MRI to identify primary sites of spinal metastases, aiming to enhance diagnostic efficiency. Retrospective. A total of 514 patients with pathologically confirmed spinal metastases (mean age, 59.3 ± 11.2 years; 294 males) were included, split into a development set (360) and a test set (154). Noncontrast sagittal MRI sequences (T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and fat-suppressed T2) were acquired using 1.5 T and 3 T scanners. Two models were evaluated for identifying primary sites of spinal metastases: the expert-derived features (EDF) model using radiologist-identified imaging features and a ResNet50-based deep learning (DL) model trained on noncontrast MRI. Performance was assessed using accuracy, precision, recall, F1 score, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-AUC) for top-1, top-2, and top-3 indicators. Statistical analyses included Shapiro-Wilk, t tests, Mann-Whitney U test, and chi-squared tests. ROC-AUCs were compared via DeLong tests, with 95% confidence intervals from 1000 bootstrap replications and significance at P < 0.05. The EDF model outperformed the DL model in top-3 accuracy (0.88 vs. 0.69) and AUC (0.80 vs. 0.71). Subgroup analysis showed superior EDF performance for common sites like lung and kidney (e.g., kidney F1: 0.94 vs. 0.76), while the DL model had higher recall for rare sites like thyroid (0.80 vs. 0.20). SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis identified sex (SHAP: -0.57 to 0.68), age (-0.48 to 0.98), T1WI signal intensity (-0.29 to 0.72), and pathological fractures (-0.76 to 0.25) as key features. AI techniques using noncontrast MRI improve diagnostic efficiency for spinal metastases. The EDF model outperformed the DL model, showing greater clinical potential. Spinal metastases, or cancer spreading to the spine, are common in patients with advanced cancer, often requiring extensive tests to determine the original tumor site. Our study explored whether artificial intelligence could make this process faster and more accurate using noncontrast MRI scans. We tested two methods: one based on radiologists' expertise in identifying imaging features and another using a deep learning model trained to analyze MRI images. The expert-based method was more reliable, correctly identifying the tumor site in 88% of cases when considering the top three likely diagnoses. This approach may help doctors reduce diagnostic time and improve patient care. 3 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.

First report of brown spot disease caused by Neoscytalidium dimidiatum on Disocatus ackermannii in Guangxi of China.

Disocatus ackermannii, commonly referred to as Orchid Cactus, is a striking succulent belonging to the Cactaceae family. Its unique appearance and captivating characteristics make it a sought-after addition to gardens and courtyards beautification. In June 2023, 20-30% of D. ackermannii in a flower nursery in Baise city (23°88'07.85″N, 106°56'98.96″E), Guangxi province of China showed brown spot disease. Symptoms were minute chlorotic depressed spots with a red fleck at the center, which turned to sunken, circular, light brown to dark brown lesions. Some lesions, surrounded by a yellow halo, led to cladode decay. In some cases, the diseased tissue dried out and appeared thin, producing conidia in the diseased area. For pathogen isolation, six cladodes were surface disinfected with 5% NaClO for 2 min followed by 70% ethanol for 30 s, rinsed three times with sterile water, then cultivated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates of 28 °C for 2 to 4 days. Emerging fungal colonies were purified by hyphal tipping. The colonies from the plates were initially white with powdery disarticulating aerial mycelium transitioned to an olive-green to greyish color and finally turned dark-gray to black after 9 days. The arthroconidia were ellipsoid to ovoid, zero to one septum, hyaline to dark brown and were 9.6 (4.2-15.4) × 4.5 (2.4-10.7) μm (n = 100). The morphological characteristics resembled those of N. dimidiatum (Crous et al. 2006; Phillips et al. 2013). Two isolates BSLJ4-1 and BSLJ5-1 were selected for DNA extraction following the manufacturer's instructions of Plant Genomic DNA Kit. Results from the BLASTn analysis of the ITS (GenBank accession nos. PP868502，PP860525), EF1-α (PP868386, PP868387), β-tubulin (PP868384, PP868385) genes of the isolates BSLJ4-1 and BSLJ5-1 showed higher than 99% identities with the epitype N. dimidiatum CBS 251.49 (ITS: KF531819; EF1-α: KF531797; β-tubulin: KF531799). The sequences were converted to FASTA files, assembled, and the maximum likelihood tree was constructed using IQ-TREE with the best model HKY+F+G4. The tree was evaluated from 1000 bootstrap replications. The result showed the isolates were related to N. dimidiatum with 100 bootstrap value supported. Spore suspensions (1 × 107 conidia/mL) were sprayed onto young cladodes of D. ackermannii. Three plants per isolate, sterile water was used as the control. Two weeks after inoculation, circular or subcircular faded green, brown sunken spots appeared on the leaves, surrounded by yellow halo even soft rotting developed but no infections observed in the water control. N. dimidiatum was successfully reisolated from inoculate-induced brown spot and subsequently identified based on its morphological characteristics and ITS sequence to fulfill the Koch's postulates. N. dimidiatum is a primary pitaya canker causative agent (Chuang et al. 2012; Lan et al. 2012; Sanahuja et al. 2016), however, in our observations, the characteristic hard brown scabs typically associated with N. dimidiatum infections on pitaya were not present on D. ackermannii. This is the first report of N. dimidiatum causing brown spot disease on D. ackermannii in China, suggesting a broader host range of N. dimidiatum within the Cactaceae family. Further studies are needed to understand the pathogen potential impact on other species and develop disease management strategies.

First Report of Colletotrichum nymphaeae Causing Pear Anthracnose in China.

China is a major producer of pears in the world and anthracnose is the most important disease, which may include fruit rot and early defoliation, and further brings enormous economic losses. In August of 2023, a sudden outbreak of anthracnose disease, ranging from 70% to 90% disease incidence, occurred on fruits of Pyrus pyrifolia (Burm.f.) Nakai in 200 acres of three pear orchards at Baiyi town, Guiyang city, Guizhou Province of China. Thirty diseased fruits were randomly collected three pear orchards, i.e., 10 fruits from each, and transported to the laboratory for analysis. The symptoms showed dark brown lesions that extended rapidly causing sunken fruit rot lesions harboring orange conidial clumps. To identify the pathogen, three from the 10 diseased fruits per orchard were used for isolation. Small tissue pieces of diseased fruits were disinfected and rinsed twice with 75% alcohol and sterile water, placed on a potato dextrose agar (PDA), and cultured at 25℃ in a dark (Fang, 1998). Ten isolates with same colony morphology were obtained. Two isolates, GZ-3 and GZ-5, were randomly selected for further analysis. The GZ-3 and GZ-5 isolates grew on PDA plates at an average daily growth rate of 0.8~1.0 cm/d in the darkness at 25℃. The colonies were white to gray on the front side and greyish-green to orange on the reverse side. The conidia were hyaline, smooth, nonseptate, and fusiform, measuring 9.0-19.2×2.5-6.1 μm, with the average mean of 13.9±2.2×4.4±0.9 μm (n=50) for GZ-3, and the size of 9.5-15.4×2.3-4.8 μm, with average size of 13.1±1.5×3.7±0.5 μm (n=50) for GZ-5, respectively. The morphological characteristics of the GZ-3 and GZ-5 colonies were consistent with those of Colletotrichum acutatum complex (Damm et al. 2012). To confirm the pathogenicity, the 6 × 106 mL-1 spore suspension of GZ-3 and GZ-5 were inoculated on healthy P. pyrifolia (Burm.f.) Nakai fruits using the non-invasive spray method, while sterile water was used to inoculate control fruits. The fruits inoculated with the two isolates exhibited dark brown spots in the early stage of the disease, then the lesions expanded to rot and produced orange conidia. GZ-3 and GZ-5 were reisolated from the fruits, fulfilling Koch's postulates. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), actin (ACT), chitin synthase 1 (CHS-1) and β-tubulin (TUB2) were partially amplified using the primers designed previously (Weir et al. 2012) and sequenced. The above five gene sequences from GZ-3 showed 99.63% to 100% identity with those of GZ-5, respectively. The GZ-3 sequences were deposited in GenBank (ACT: PP825836; TUB2: PP825837; CHS-1: PP825838; GAPDH: PP825839; ITS: PP821112). The sequence alignment was performed based on the concatenated sequence of ACT-TUB2-CHS-1-GAPDH-ITS. A phylogenetic tree, constructed using the Neighbor-Joining method with bootstrap replication 2200 bootstrap alignments in MEGA11.0, showed GZ-3 and GZ-5 clustering with reference C. nymphaeae isolates. Based on the obtained morphological characterization and phylogenetic analysis results, GZ-3 and GZ-5 were identified as C. nymphaeae. Currently, 12 Colletotrichum species causing pear anthracnose have been reported in China (Fu et al. 2019). To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. nymphaeae causing pear anthracnose in the country. The findings are significant for a quick monitoring and control of pear anthracnose.

First Report of Maize Ear Rot Caused by Fusarium boothii in Serbia.

Fusarium graminearum species complex (FGSC) includes at least fifteen species which are some of the most significant fungi that infect maize in temperate areas (Sarver et al. 2011). Agroecological conditions in Serbia are suitable for the development of infection by members of FGSC and therefore during the period of 1993-2010, maize samples collected from northern Serbia (46°5'55" N, 19°39'47" E) showed typical symptoms of gibberella ear rot. Twenty isolates were selected for study for FGSC identification. Appearance of colonies and macroconidia on potato dextrose agar (PDA) of all isolates (average 37.75-45.35×4.35-5.35 µm, No 50) were consistent with descriptions of F. graminearum (O'Donnell et al. 2004). Monosporal isolates were grown on PDA and used for molecular analyses. DNA isolation was performed using DNeasy Plant Mini Kit. Identification of FGSC was performed on the basis of the TEF-1α gene amplified with primers ef1/ef2 (Geiser et al. 2004) and sequenced in both directions. In four selected isolates two additional genomic regions (histone H3 and β-tubulin) were further analyzed using primers H3-1a/H3-1b and T1/T22, respectively (O'Donnell et al. 2000, Glass and Donaldson 1995). Nucleotide sequences of TEF-1α, β-tubulin, histone H3 have been deposited in GenBank under accession numbers: isolate 914 (MF974400, MG063784, MF999140), 1495 (MF974405, MG063789, MF999145), 2812 (MF974408, MG063792, MF999148), 2822 (MF974409, MG063793, MF999149), respectively. Isolates were molecularly identified using BLAST tool from NCBI and with phylogenetic analyses (Maximum Parsimony method with 1000 bootstrap replications on concatenated sequences of all three genes-TEF-1α, β-tubulin and histone H3) using MEGA 11 software package (Tamura et al. 2011). In BLAST analyses isolate 2822 shared 100% nucleotide identity with reference isolate Fusarium boothii NRRL26916 (GQ915470) originating from Central America based on histone H3 gene. Isolates 914, 1495 and 2812 shared 99% to 100% nucleotide identity with F. graminearum isolates. Phylogenetic analyses showed that all equally parsimonious trees made of 32 selected sequences of species within FGSC available in GenBank database and our four isolates, rooted with external outgroup species F. pseudograminearum, grouped three isolates (914, 1495, 2812) with F. graminearum isolates (NRRL28336, 29169, 28439) and one isolate (2822) grouped with F. boothii isolates (NRRL 29020, 26916). Pathogenicity of isolates was confirmed using the method of Reid et al. (1996). Artificial inoculation of maize ears was performed on the third day after silking by injecting 2 ml of a conidial suspension with a concentration of 1x105 conidia/ml into the silk channel. The same procedure was applied to control plants, using sterile water instead of inoculum. After three weeks, symptoms of Gibberella ear rot appeared and the pathogen was again successfully isolated. The fungus was identical to original isolates, thus completing Koch's postulates. Control plants did not show any symptoms. Based on available literature, this is the first report of species F. boothii in Serbia. Future research should be focused on determining distribution, aggressiveness, synthesis of mycotoxins, as well as damage caused by F. boothii on grain yield and quality compared to F. graminearum. This will contribute to a better understanding of biodiversity of FGSC, which may lead to a successful strategy for controlling these harmful pathogens.

First Report of Bacterial Leaf Spot Disease on Ginger Caused by Enterobacter quasiroggenkampii in China.

In autumn 2023, an unknown leaf spot disease has occurred on ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) in two fields of approximately 1800 m2 in Yongning District (22°49'N; 108°48'E), Nanning, China, with a incidence of 20-30%. The symptoms began as yellow spots on the leaves, expanding into elliptical to irregular lesions with yellow edges, the middle of the lesion turning grey-white in dry weather. Finally, multiple spots caused necrosis of the whole leaf. Twelve diseased leaves from six plants of two fields were collected, surface disinfected and ground. The ground samples were diluted and plated on nutrient agar (NA) medium at 28 °C for 48-72 h. The purified colonies appeared milky white and round, with smooth edges. Three isolates (GL1, GL2 and GL3) were selected for identification and pathogenic determination. They were gram negative, could utilize sorbitol, mannitol, inositol, raffinose, melibiose, disaccharides, and citrate; negative for methyl red, phenylalanine decarboxylase, hydrogen sulfide, urease; positive for voges-proskauer test and ornithine decarboxylase. These characteristics were consistent with Enterobacter genus (Wu et al., 2020). Genomic DNA was extracted from three isolates. The 16S rDNA region was amplified using 27F/1492R primers (Weisburg et al. 1991) and sequenced (accession no. PP837703-PP837705). Blastn analysis revealed that 16S rDNA sequences for GL1 was 99% identical (1373/1387 nt), GL2 96% (1364/1422 nt) and GL3 95% (1365/1435 nt) to Enterobacter quasiroggenkampii WCHECL1060 (NR_179166). To determine the species, the sequences of gyrB, rpoB and atpD genes were amplified using primers gyrB 01-F/gyrB 02-R, rpoB CM7/rpoB CM31b, and atpD 01-F/atpD 02-R, respectively (Lin et al. 2015; Zhu at al. 2010; Zhang et al. 2013). The GenBank accession numbers for the sequences were PP857680-PP857688. A multilocus phylogenetic tree was constructed with the concatenated sequence of 16S rDNA-gyrB-rpoB-atpD by using the Neighbor-Joining (NJ) method with 1000 bootstrap replicates in MEGA6 software. The three isolates clustered with E. quasiroggenkampii. Fifteen Darou ginger variety plants at the 4-5 leaf stage were tested for pathogenicity. Two to three leaves of each ginger plant were pricked with a syringe needle of 0.36mm in diameter or not and inoculated by spraying the bacterial suspension (108 CFU/mL), sterile water was used as a control. Five plants were inoculated with each isolate and the test was repeated three times. After 3-4 days of inoculation, all wounded leaves and about 10% of the unwounded leaves showed symptoms similar to those observed in the field. Control plants did not develop symptoms. Enterobacter quasiroggenkampii isolates were re-isolated from the inoculated leaves with symptoms, and their identity was confirmed by gyrB sequencing and colony morphology, completing Koch's postulates. Enterobacter quasiroggenkampii is a pathogen of humans that can cause nosocomial infections (Wu et al., 2020). In Guangxi, E. quasiroggenkampii was identified as one of the pathogens causing mulberry wilt (Jiao, 2022). To our knowledge, this is the first report of E. quasiroggenkampii causing bacterial leaf spot disease of ginger. The results of this study not only have practical significance for the control of ginger leaf spot, but also can provide excellent materials for the study of the differentiation and pathogenic mechanism of the genus Enterobacter, which has important academic value.

Development and validation of a predicting model for risk of rehospitalization within 30 days in heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction

Abstract Objective This study aimed to develop and validate a predicting model for risk of rehospitalization within 30 days post discharge in patients diagnosed with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF). Methods Clinical data of 9555 HFpEF patients registered in the heart failure registry from 2014 to 2022 at our hospital were analyzed. A total of 8160 patients (from 2014-2021) were designated as the training set, and 1395 patients (from 2022) as the validation set. A predictive model was established based on risk factors associated with 30-day rehospitalization due to heart failure identified by the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression and logistic regression analysis. The model's stability was ensured through Bootstrap internal validation and Temporal validation external validation. Results LASSO and logistic regression analyses identified eight risk factors associated with increased risk of 30-day rehospitalization, including New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification, albumin, c-reactive protein, N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) divided by 100, anemia, pleural effusion, atrial fibrillation, and pulmonary hypertension. The established predictive model demonstrated good discriminative ability in the internal validation with an Area Under the Curve (AUC) value of 0.714, and a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.693-0.736 after 500 Bootstrap replicates. In the Temporal validation external validation, the model exhibited robust stability with an AUC value of 0.740 and a 95% CI of 0.693-0.781. When compared to analogous models from prior studies, present model showcased superior predictive accuracy in that both Net Reclassification Improvement (NRI) and Integrated Discrimination Improvement (IDI) values were positive and within their respective 95% confidence intervals (P-values &amp;lt;0.05). Conclusion This study successfully developed and validated a predictive model for 30-day rehospitalization due to heart failure in patients diagnosed with HFpEF. This model might allow the timely identification of high-risk HFpEF patients for 30-day rehospitalization due to heart failure and optimizes the patient management accordingly.

Prepivoted Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test with Bootstrap-Assisted Lag Length Selection

We investigate the application of prepivoting in conjunction with lag length selection to correct the size and power performance of the Augmented Dickey-Fuller test for a unit root. The bootstrap methodology used to perform the prepivoting is a residual based AR bootstrap that ensures that bootstrap replicate time series are created under the null irrespective of whether the originally observed series obeys the null hypothesis or not. Simulation studies wherein we examine the performance of our proposed method are given; we evaluate our method’s performance on ARMA(1,1) models with varying configurations for size and power performance. We also propose a novel data dependent lag selection technique that uses bootstrap data under the null to select an optimal lag length; the performance of our method is compared to existing lag length selection criteria.

First Report of Botrytis cinerea Causing Stem Rot on Hydrangea macrophylla in China.

Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla), commonly referred to as big leaf hydrangea, is a species within the Hydrangeaceae family notable for its ornamental value. Characterized by its vividly colored sepals and lush, striking inflorescences, this species is globally esteemed as both a potted and landscape plant. Notably, in 2022, an alarming incidence of stem rot was observed in approximately 40% of H. macrophylla plants aged between six and twelve months within 16 greenhouses situated in Nanjing City (N 31°14', E 118°22'), Jiangsu Province, China. Initial symptoms of the disease manifested as wet gray-black spots at the base of the seedlings and stems, progressing to a necrotic gray-white discoloration in the stems and accompanied by the growth of gray mold on the affected parts. This infection ultimately led to the wilting of the leaves and the death of the seedlings. For pathogen identification, stem tissues at the interface of diseased and healthy sections were excised, surface-sterilized with 75 % ethanol for 30 s, followed by a 2 - 3 min treatment with 3% sodium hypochlorite, and subsequently rinsed three times with sterile water before air drying. Sections measuring 2 - 3 mm were then cultured on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium, supplemented with 50 mg/mL rifampicin (RFP), and incubated at 25 ℃ for 3 - 5 d (Zhou et al. 2022). Upon 2 - 3 days of incubation, notable growth of fungal colonies was observed. Mycelial clusters from the periphery of these colonies were subsequently transferred to fresh PDA plates and incubated at 25 ℃ for an additional 5 - 7 d. A particular colony, designated JSNJ2022-2 and now preserved at the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, was selected for detailed examination. This colony exhibited a flocculent texture, with a coloration ranging from grey-white to light brown. It was characterized by the presence of irregularly formed, hard sclerotia within the hyphae. The conidiophores were observed to be slender and erect, featuring dendritic branches at their extremities. The conidia were clustered on the conidiophore like grapes. These conidia were generally colorless or grey, oval in shape, smooth and transparent, and measured between 6.4 - 12.2 × 7.3 - 18.2 μm (n = 50). For genetic analysis, genomic DNA (gDNA) was extracted using the DNA secure Plant Kit (Tiangen Biotech, Beijing, China). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification was performed using a set of universal primers of ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990), primers corresponding to the specific sequences of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3PDH), heat-shock protein 60 (HSP60), and DNA-dependent RNA polymerase subunit II (RPB2) (Yang et al. 2020). The resultant PCR products were sequenced, and the resulting sequences were submitted to the GenBank database, under the accession numbers OP131597, OP142320, OP142321, and OP142322, respectively. BLAST analysis of the sequences obtained from the isolate JSNJ2022-2 revealed a high degree of genetic similarity, ranging from 99 to 100%, with known sequences of Botrytis cinerea (accessions MK051124.1, MH796662.1, MH479931.1, and KU760986.1). To elucidate the phylogenetic position of the isolate, a phylogenetic tree was constructed using the maximum likelihood method, supported by 1,000 bootstrap replications, in the Mega7 software (Kumar et al. 2016). The results of this analysis confirmed that the strains under study clustered within the same branch as B. cinerea. To establish the pathogenicity of the isolate, Koch's postulates (Falkow 1988) were employed. Healthy potted H. macrophylla seedlings, approximately three months old, were wound inoculated at the base of the seedlings with a 6 mm diameter mycelium plug of JSNJ2002-2 cultivated on PDA for 3 days, which was subsequently covered with moistened degreasing cotton. Control plants were treated with moistened degreasing cloths minus the pathogen. Post-inoculation, these plants were placed in a growth chamber maintained at 25 ℃ with a relative humidity range of 60 - 80%. After a 3-d incubation period, the inoculated plants displayed symptoms identical to those initially observed in the greenhouse. The pathogen was successfully re-isolated from these inoculated plants and was morphologically re-confirmed as B. cinerea, thus satisfying the criteria of Koch's postulates. To our knowledge, this report represents the first documented incidence of B. cinerea causing stem rot in H. macrophylla in China.

Refining criteria for a neurodevelopmental sub-phenotype of bipolar disorders: a FondaMental Advanced Centers of Expertise for Bipolar Disorders study

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a complex and heterogeneous psychiatric disorder. It has been suggested that neurodevelopmental factors contribute to the etiology of BD, but a specific neurodevelopmental phenotype (NDP) of the disorder has not been identified. Our objective was to define and characterize an NDP in BD and validate its associations with clinical outcomes, polygenic risk scores, and treatment responses. We analyzed the FondaMental Advanced Centers of Expertise for Bipolar Disorders cohort of 4468 patients with BD, a validation cohort of 101 patients with BD, and 2 independent replication datasets of 274 and 89 patients with BD. Using factor analyses, we identified a set of criteria for defining NDP. Next, we developed a scoring system for NDP load and assessed its association with prognosis, neurological soft signs, polygenic risk scores for neurodevelopmental disorders, and responses to treatment using multiple regressions, adjusted for age and gender with bootstrap replications. Our study established an NDP in BD consisting of 9 clinical features: advanced paternal age, advanced maternal age, childhood maltreatment, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, early onset of BD, early onset of substance use disorders, early onset of anxiety disorders, early onset of eating disorders, and specific learning disorders. Patients with higher NDP load showed a worse prognosis and increased neurological soft signs. Notably, these individuals exhibited a poorer response to lithium treatment. Furthermore, a significant positive correlation was observed between NDP load and polygenic risk score for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, suggesting potential overlapping genetic factors or pathophysiological mechanisms between BD and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The proposed NDP constitutes a promising clinical tool for patient stratification in BD.

Development and validation of a clinical diagnostic model for myocardial ischaemia in borderline coronary lesions based on optical pumped magnetometer magnetocardiography: a prospective observational cohort study

ObjectivesTo develop and validate a clinical diagnostic model based on optical pumped magnetometer magnetocardiography (OPM-MCG) for the detection of myocardial ischaemia in patients with borderline coronary lesions prior to invasive...

The mediating effects of basic psychological needs on the associations between teacher support and Chinese adolescents’ science and math self-efficacy

ABSTRACT Background Science and math self-efficacy in high school can encourage students to choose science and math-related majors and thus cultivate relevant talent. The importance of science and math self-efficacy in academic performance and science and math-related career choices is well-documented. Despite numerous studies on various factors related to adolescents’ science and math self-efficacy, little empirical research has examined the effects of perceived teacher support on science and math self-efficacy among adolescents. Purpose Based on self-determination theory (SDT), this study aimed to examine the parallel mediation effect of relatedness, autonomy, and competence between perceived teacher support and Chinese adolescents’ science and math self-efficacy. Sample: We carried out a cross-sectional study that collected data from 443 Chinese tenth-grade adolescents (209 males, 47.20%). The students completed measures of perceived support from teachers, basic psychological needs, and science and math self-efficacy through an online survey. Methods The model was performed with AMOS 23 using a structural equation modeling approach with bootstrapping techniques (bootstrap replications:5,000). Results The results indicate that the association between teacher support and science and math self-efficacy was fully mediated by autonomy. The indirect effects of teacher support and science and math self-efficacy on relatedness or competence were insignificant. Conclusion These findings highlight the importance of teacher support in adolescents’ science and math self-efficacy and provide a foundation for a novel approach to stimulate and motivate adolescents’ science and math self-efficacy.

Rotavirus A Infection Prevalence and Spatio-Temporal Genotype Shift among Under-Five Children in Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia: A Multi-Center Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Globally, rotavirus (RV) A (RVA) is the most common cause of severe and sometimes fatal diarrhea in young children. It is also the major cause of acute gastroenteritis among children in Ethiopia. Currently, the WHO has prequalified four RVA vaccines for universal childhood immunization. Ethiopia introduced the monovalent Rotarix vaccine into its national immunization program in 2013. Since then, only a few studies on the burden and genotype distribution of RVA infection post-vaccine introduction have been conducted (mostly at sentinel surveillance sites). Therefore, this study aimed to assess RVA prevalence and genotype distribution among children under five years in Ethiopia (February 2021-December 2022). Methods: This multi-center hospital-based cross-sectional study involved 537 diarrheic children under-five years old. Rotavirus A detection was conducted using a one-step reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Genotyping was conducted by Sanger sequencing of the VP7 (complete) and VP4 (partial) genes. Descriptive analysis and Pearson's chi-squared test were carried out using SPSS version 29. Phylogenetic analysis with 1000 bootstrap replicates was performed using MEGA version 11 software. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05 for all analyses. Results: The prevalence of RVA infection among diarrheic children was 17.5%. The most prevalent G-types identified were G3 (37%), the previously uncommon G12 (28%), and G1 (20%). The predominant P-types were P[8] (51%), P[6] (29%), and P[4] (14%). The three major G/P combinations observed were G3P[8] (32.8%), G12P[6] (28.4%), and G1P[8] (19.4%). Phylogenetic analysis revealed clustering of Ethiopian strains with the globally reported strains. Many strains exhibited amino acid differences in the VP4 (VP8* domain) and VP7 proteins compared to vaccine strains, potentially affecting virus neutralization. Conclusions: Despite the high RVA vaccination rate, the prevalence of RVA infection remains significant among diarrheic children in Ethiopia. There is an observable shift in circulating RVA genotypes from G1 to G3, alongside the emergence of unusual G/P genotype combinations such as G9P[4]. Many of these circulating RVA strains have shown amino acid substitutions that may allow for neutralization escape. Therefore, further studies are warranted to comprehend the emergence of these unusual RVA strains and the diverse factors influencing the vaccine's diminished effectiveness in developing countries.

First report of Tomato interveinal chlorosis virus infecting Rhynchosia minima plants in Brazil.

Tomato interveinal chlorosis virus (ToICV; Begomovirus solanumintervenae, genus Begomovirus, family Geminiviridae) has been described infecting tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and Macroptilium lathyroides in Northeastern (NE) Brazil for more than a decade (Albuquerque et al., 2012; Silva et al., 2012). During a survey in 2020, plants of the leguminous weed Rhynchosia minima exhibiting virus-like symptoms such as mosaic and interveinal chlorosis were observed in the state of Alagoas, NE Brazil. Symptomatic leaf samples of R. minima were randomly collected (n=15; supplementary figure 1). Total DNA from each sample was used as a template for PCR amplification of partial begomoviral DNA-A sequences using the degenerate primer pair PAL1v1978 and PAR1c496, universal for geminiviruses (Rojas et al., 1993). Amplicons of ~1.2 kbp were observed from 12 samples, although this should not be considered as incidence since only symptomatic plants were collected. To identify the begomovirus associated with R. minima, viral genomes were amplified from PCR-positive samples using rolling circle amplification (RCA) (Inoue-Nagata et al., 2004). The RCA products were digested with HindIII, cloned into the pBluescript II KS+ plasmid vector and bidirectionally Sanger-sequenced (Macrogen Inc., Seoul). BLASTn searches indicated that the clones (n=4) reported here corresponded to a begomovirus DNA-A component, and pairwise comparisons showed that they shared the highest identity with ToICV, at 92.4-94.7% nucleotide sequence identity. Based on the species demarcation criteria of ≥91% nucleotide identity for the genus Begomovirus (Brown et al., 2015), the begomoviruses obtained from R. minima are new isolates of ToICV. The new DNA-A sequences of 2,619-2,623 nt in length were deposited in GenBank under accession numbers PP639092 to PP639095. Multiple nucleotide sequence alignments were prepared using the MUSCLE algorithm implemented in MEGA v.11 (Kumar et al., 2018), and a maximum likelihood (ML) tree was reconstructed in RaxML-NG (Kozlov et al., 2019), assuming a general time reversible (GTR) nucleotide substitution model with a gamma (G) model of rate heterogeneity and 1,000 bootstrap replicates. The DNA-A-based tree showed that the ToICV sequences clustered into a monophyletic group, additionally supporting these isolates as members of the species Begomovirus solanumintervenae. At least two independent interspecies recombination events were predicted among the ToICV isolates, with breakpoints located in the Rep-encoding region and ToICV (GenBank Accession JF803253), tomato mottle leaf curl virus (JF803248) and soybean blistering mosaic virus (MN486865) detected as putative parents. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of ToICV infecting R. minima worldwide, expanding the host range of this begomovirus. Non-cultivated plants such as R. minima play a crucial role as reservoirs and sources of inoculum for begomoviruses (Paz-Carrasco et al., 2014), reinforcing their relevance to socioeconomically important crops.

Bootstrap-after-bootstrap for autoregressive models: an application to Indonesian value of export oil and gas

This research focuses on predicting the value of oil and gas exports in Indonesia, employing a hybrid methodology that combines autoregressive models and a bootstrap approach. Specifically, this research applies the bootstrap-after-bootstrap approach to showcase its effectiveness in improving the accuracy of parameter estimates. Analysis results indicate that the autoregressive model with an order of p=2 minimizes the AIC, BIC, and HQ values, yielding AIC=9.833775, BIC=10.03125, and HQ=9.883440, respectively. Consequently, the AR(2) model emerges as the optimal choice for predicting Indonesia's export value of oil and gas. This research utilizes varying numbers of bootstrap replications (B=100, 250, 500, 1000, and 10000) to assess the impact on prediction intervals. Prediction intervals exhibit less smoothness for B=100 and B=250, whereas B=500 and B=1000 result in a considerably smoother pattern. The highest level of smoothness is achieved for B=10000. The findings underscore that bootstrap-after-bootstrap prediction intervals provide the most accurate and conservative assessment of future uncertainty. Moreover, predictive analysis for the upcoming five periods indicates a projected decline in the export value of oil and gas in Indonesia. Overall, this research demonstrates the efficacy of the bootstrap-after-bootstrap approach in enhancing the precision of predictions and providing robust insights into future uncertainties surrounding Indonesia's oil and gas export market.

First report of Colletotrichum orbiculare causing anthracnose of pointed gourd in India.

Pointed gourd (Trichosanthes dioica Roxb.), of the Cucurbitaceae family, is widely cultivated as a vegetable in many countries such as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Over 800,000 metric tons of pointed gourds are produced annually in India, where cultivation is estimated to occupy over 33,000 hectares of land (MoA & FW, Government of India). In summer 2018, significant losses (approximately 15-20%) occurred in the sub-Himalayan region in West Bengal state of India (21.14-21.30° N, 78.82-79.02°E) due to a disease with typical anthracnose-like symptoms on the fruits. Light yellowish, small sized round to irregular spots were also apparent on the leaves. These spots gradually increased in size and turned into light brown and were surrounded by yellow halo. The lesions on the fruits were circular, yellow-brown, necrotic and sunken. A survey of four fields (1.5 ha) was conducted and a disease incidence of 30-40% was observed. Necrotic tissues from fruit as well as leaves were cut into approximately 5 mm2, surface sterilized with 0.1% HgCl2, plated in potato dextrose agar and incubated at 28ºC for 7 days in the dark. A total of 50 morphologically similar colonies were obtained from 20 sampled fruits and 10 sampled leaves. Fungal colonies were initially white, becoming gray as the cultures aged on PDA. The cultures developed black acervuli around the center of the colony. Setae were brown in colour, 1-5 septate, 40-100 µm long. Conidia were also observed through light and scanning electron microscopy and exhibit as (4-6 ×13-19 µm) hyaline, aseptate, cylindrical to oblong, with one end round and other truncate. The morphological characteristics were found similar to Colletotrichum orbiculare Damm, P.F. Cannon & Crous as reported by Damm et al. (2013). Ten isolates were obtained by transferring hyphal tips to new PDA plates and incubating under the same conditions. To confirm the identity of the pathogen, genomic DNA was extracted from five pure isolates (PG-Pha, PG-Pha-2, PG-Pha-3, PG-Pha-4, PG-Pha-5) with the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Further, the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region, D1/D2 region of the 28S rRNA large subunit (LSU), Actin (ACT) gene and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene were amplified using specific primers, ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990), NL1/NL4, ACT1/ACT2 and GDF1/GDR1 respectively and PCR conditions described in Damm et al. (2012). A GenBank BLAST search showed 99-100% identity to the Colletotrichum orbiculare (Acc. Nos. KP898988 for ITS1-5.8S-ITS2, Z18997 for 28S rRNA, AB778553 for ACT gene, and KF178482 for GAPDH). All obtained sequences were submitted to the GenBank (Acc. Nos. MN006616, OP811046-OP811049, [ITS1-5.8-ITS2], MN006684, PP391616-PP391619 [28S rRNA], MN168524, PP400822-PP400825 [ACT gene], OP627091, PP400826-PP400829 [GAPDH]). For phylogenetic analysis, MEGA version 11 (Tamura et al. 2021) was used to construct a maximum likelihood tree with 1000 bootstrap replicates, based on a concatenation alignment of three gene sequences (ITS, Actin and GAPDH) of the all the five C. orbiculare isolates as well as sequences of other Colletotrichum species obtained from GenBank. The cluster analysis revealed that, isolate PG-Pha form a cluster with other C. orbiculare isolates. Pathogenicity tests were conducted to confirm Koch's postulates. Pathogenicity tests were performed in mature fruits by inoculating them (n=8) with 10 µl of a 1×106 conidia/ml suspension at needle puncture wound sites. In control set up sterile distilled water was pipetted on fruits. Fruits were placed on sterile trays covered with glasses and incubated at humid chambers at 28±2ºC with 12 h of light. Healthy one-month old potted pointed gourd plants (n=15) were sprayed with conidial suspension until run-off. A set of 15 plants were sprayed with sterile distilled water and maintained as control. The plants were kept in a greenhouse at 25ºC, >75% relative humidity, and a 16/8 h day/night cycle for 15 days. Sterile distilled water was sprayed on the plants at one day interval to maintain the humidity. Inoculated fruits started showing yellowing symptoms one day post inoculation and gradually yellow-brown sunken spots became visible at the place of puncture, whereas control fruits remain symptomless even after 7 days of inoculation. Inoculated leaves showed disease symptoms similar to those observed in the field whereas leaves of control sets were symptomless even after 15 days. The pathogenicity test was repeated thrice under the same conditions mentioned before. C. orbiculare was successfully re-isolated from all the symptomatic tissues of leaves as well as fruits, completing Koch's postulates. Previously, the pathogen has been reported as an important anthracnose pathogen of Cucurbitaceae, especially of cucumber (Cucumis sativus), melons (Cucumis melo), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) and squash (Cucurbita maxima) (Farr and Rossman 2020). To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. orbiculare causing anthracnose of pointed gourd. This disease represents a threat to producers in India and central Asia. Further research may contribute to the development of management strategies for this disease.

Bootstrapping non‐stationary and irregular time series using singular spectral analysis

This article investigates the consequences of using Singular Spectral Analysis (SSA) to construct a time series bootstrap. The bootstrap replications are obtained via a SSA decomposition obtained using rescaled trajectories (RT‐SSA), a procedure that is particularly useful in the analysis of time series that exhibit nonlinear, non‐stationary and intermittent or transient behaviour. The theoretical validity of the RT‐SSA bootstrap when used to approximate the sampling properties of a general class of statistics is established under regularity conditions that encompass a very broad range of data generating processes. A smeared and a boosted version of the RT‐SSA bootstrap are also presented. Practical implementation of the bootstrap is considered and the results are illustrated using stationary, non‐stationary and irregular time series examples.

Environmental, social, and governance and hierarchical network data envelopment analysis firm efficiencies of Japan Airlines' supply chain

AbstractAlthough environmental, social, and governance (ESG) have been recognized for its overall impact on firm efficiency, research on the effects of the three main and multiple sub elements of ESG, especially in the airline industry, has been lacking. Thus, we analyze the impacts of overall ESG, its three main elements, and each sub elements of ESG on the firm efficiency of 29 suppliers, partners, and customers of Japan Airlines over the period of 2013–2022. First, we employ a two‐stage hierarchical network data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique that assesses the interrelationships and interdependencies among the supply chain players in contributing toward achieving their respective operating and profitability efficiencies. Second, we run ordinary least squares regression analyses with 5000 bootstrap replications and determine that overall ESG and its three main elements are positively linked with firm efficiencies. The sub elements of ESG have different impacts on firm efficiencies. That is, resource use and environmental innovation under the Environmental element and human rights and product responsibility under the Social element show significantly positive associations with firm efficiencies. All Governance sub elements positively affect firm efficiencies. The outcomes of this study will be valuable for managers at Japan Airlines and other policymakers within its supply chain because it highlights the importance of focusing on the three main and sub elements of ESG and employing the accurate firm efficiency measurement method when interrelationships and interdependencies of decision‐making units exist.

Skeletal muscle density performance for screening frailty in older adults with cancer and the impact of diabetes: The CARE Registry

IntroductionSkeletal muscle density (SMD) measurements from imaging scans identify myosteatosis and could screen patients for geriatric assessment. We assessed SMD performance as a screening tool to identify older adults with cancer likely to be frail and who could benefit from in-depth assessment; we compared performance by sex and diabetes status. Materials and MethodsWe analyzed patients in the Cancer & Aging Resilience Evaluation (CARE) Registry. Frailty and diabetes were captured using a patient-reported geriatric assessment (CARE tool). Frailty was defined using CARE frailty index (CARE-FI) based on principles of deficit accumulation. SMD was calculated from computed tomography scans (L3 vertebrae). Analyses were conducted by sex and diabetes status. Scatterplots and linear regression described crude associations between SMD and frailty score. Classification performance (frail vs. non-frail) was analyzed with (1) area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) and confidence intervals (CIs); and (2) sensitivity/specificity for sex-specific SMD quartile cut-offs (Q1, median, Q3). Performance was compared between patients with and without diabetes using differences and estimated CIs (2000 bootstrap replicates). We additionally calculated positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR+, LR-). ResultsThe analytic cohort included 872 patients (39% female, median age 68 years, 27% with diabetes) with predominately stage III/IV gastrointestinal cancer; >60% planning to initiate first-line chemotherapy. SMD was negatively associated with frailty score; models were best fit in male patients with diabetes. AUC estimates for female (range: 0.58–0.62) and male (0.58–0.68) patients were low. Q3 cut-offs had high sensitivity (range: 0.76–0.89), but poor specificity (0.25–0.34). Diabetes did not impact estimates for female patients. Male patients with diabetes had greater sensitivity estimates compared to those without (sensitivity differences: 0.23 [0.07, 0.38], 0.08 [−0.07, 0.24], and 0.11 [0.00, 0.22] for Q1, median, Q3, respectively). LR estimates were most notable for male patients with diabetes (LR+ = 2.92, Q1 cut-off; LR- = 0.46, Q3 cut-off). DiscussionUsing SMD alone to screen older patients for geriatric assessment requires improvement. High-sensitivity cut-off points could miss 11–24% of patients with frailty, and many non-frail patients may be flagged. Screening with SMD is practical but work is needed to understand clinical andresource impacts of different cut-off points. Future research should evaluate performance with additional clinical data and in subgroups.

Exploring the role of vitamin D in cognitive function: mediation by depression with diabetes modulation in older U.S. adults, a NHANES weighted analysis.

The relationship between vitamin D levels, depressive symptoms, and cognitive function has yet to be definitively understood in the elderly, particularly when considering the impact of chronic diseases. This study focuses on how depression mediates the impact of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3) on cognitive performance in older U.S. adults. We analyzed data from 2,745 elderly individuals extracted from the NHANES 2011-2014 cycles, applying weighted processing to account for the complex multi-stage sampling design characteristic of NHANES data. Utilizing weighted data for covariate and model selection, we conducted mediation analyses on both the overall population and subgroup data. Significant mediation pathways were validated using a stratified weighted bootstrap approach. For significant subgroup pathways, we explored interactive mechanisms through interactive mediation analysis. Mediation analyses, thoroughly accounting for the impact of chronic conditions, revealed significant pathways in both the weighted overall population and the weighted diabetes subgroup. After 1,000 stratified weighted bootstrap replications, the proportion of mediation effects were 10.6% [0.040, 0.268] and 20.9% [0.075, 0.663], respectively. Interactive mediation analysis for diabetes indicated that the interaction between diabetes and depression was not significant in the direct pathway (estimates = 0.050, p = 0.113) but was significant in the mediation pathway, yielding the largest effect size compared to other covariates (estimates = 0.981, p < 0.001). This study highlights the mediating role of depression in the relationship between vitamin D levels and cognitive function in the elderly, particularly emphasizing diabetes as a key moderator. Our findings suggest targeted interventions addressing both vitamin D sufficiency and depression could significantly benefit cognitive health, especially in diabetic individuals.

Short-term cost-utility analysis of biventricular cardiac resynchronization therapy in comparison with left bundle branch area pacing cardiac resynchronization therapy

Abstract Background Cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) is a well-established form of treatment for patients with heart failure and cardiac dyssynchrony. Recently, left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) has emerged as a more physiological alternative for biventricular pacing (BiVP) cardiac resynchronization therapy (1,2). Purpose The purpose of this study was to conduct a cost-utility analysis for LBBAP CRT, compared to BiVP CRT in a cohort of patients with heart failure from the Spanish health system perspective. Methods A multicenter prospective quasi-experimental study in which 44 consecutive patients underwent CRT was conducted. According to the study protocol, the four centers would perform their usual clinical practice: two out of them would perform conventional BiVP-CRT while the other half LBBAP-CRT. Intention-to-treat analysis was carried-out. Health outcomes were quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), measured by the EuroQol-5D-5L questionnaire, which the patients were asked to complete at baseline and 12 weeks after the CRT device implantation. The total direct costs include device, leads, guidewires, introducer kits, sheats and operating theater time. The results were expressed as the incremental cost-utility ratio (ICUR). In order to analyze the uncertainty of ICUR results, we performed a non-parametric bootstrapping with 1000 replications. Results The LBBAP procedure was attempted for a total of 26 consecutive patients (1 patient underwent rescue BiVP), while BiVP was attempted for 18 patients (2 patients switched to LBBAP). Mean QALYs over 3 months were 0.1914 ± 0.009 in the LBBAP CRT group and 0.1904 ± 0.0112 in the BiVP CRT. Improvements from baseline were greater in the LBBA CRT group but not statistically significant. The total costs at the end of the intervention were 7546.6 €± 602.15€ in the LBBAP CRT group and 16064.56€ ± 723.7€ in the BiVP CRT group. When excluding from the analysis the cases in which ICD was implanted, the mean difference in QALYs is 0.002; 95% confidence interval [95%CI]: -0.03 to 0.036) and the mean saving is -3.510.38 €. The LBBAP CRT leads to cost savings for the health system and similar QALYs outcomes; 95%CI: -6.660 to -360.71. Based on 1000 bootstrapping replication, the cost savings of using LBBAP vs BiVP occur in 99% of the simulations. Conclusion LBBAP CRT is an efficient alternative to BiVP CRT for cardiac resynchronization in patients with heart failure with similar results in terms of QALYs but with significant average savings per patient.Cost-utility plane for 1000 bootstrappedBaseline characteristics of patients