Common Issues Research Articles

Pharmacist-Led Follow-Up Program for Rural Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome: The PLURAL-ACS Pilot Program.

Patients living in rural settings have poorer access to care and more frequent readmissions after treatment for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) than patients in urban settings. It is unclear what types of medication-related issues are encountered by this cohort and whether pharmacist-led care could resolve them. To describe the issues related to cardiac medications encountered by rural patients after treatment for ACS and the impact of a pharmacist-led virtual follow-up pilot program in this population. A quality improvement initiative was developed whereby a cardiology pharmacist provided follow-up to post-ACS rural patients in Alberta, Canada, between March and May 2022. For each patient, the pharmacist identified and resolved cardiac medication-related issues through regular telephone visits over a 30-day period following hospital discharge. The primary outcome was the number of cardiac medication-related issues identified. Secondary outcomes included the types of medication-related issues identified and actions taken by the pharmacist to resolve them. During the 15-week program, 40 patients received care, and 139 virtual visits were completed. The median time spent per visit was 60 (interquartile range [IQR] 50-80) minutes. In total, 255 cardiac medication-related issues (6 per patient, IQR 3.75-8.25) were identified, of which 233 (91%) were resolved by the pharmacist. Prescription errors, adverse effects, and drug therapy optimization were the most common issues identified on days 1, 10, and 30, respectively. The pharmacist commonly undertook patient counselling (n = 126, 54%) and medication prescribing (n = 63, 27%) to address medication-related issues. A substantial number of cardiac medication-related issues were identified and resolved through a pharmacist-led virtual follow-up program in rural post-ACS patients. These findings could assist in the development of future follow-up programs to improve care for this high-risk population.

Prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms among matriculated university students in Singapore during Covid-19 pandemic: findings from a repeated cross-sectional analysis

BackgroundDepression is a common issue among university students and has been particularly exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, limited research has specifically focused on depression among university entrants.ObjectivesThis study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression severity and identify associated factors during different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic using health screening questionnaires completed by matriculated university students in Singapore.MethodsA repeated cross-sectional study was conducted at a public university in Singapore. Data from health screening questionnaires administered in 2020 and 2021, involving 15,630 newly enrolled university students, were analyzed. The questionnaires covered students’ sociodemographic information, physical health status, own and family medical history, lifestyle behaviours, and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The PHQ-9 was used to measure the severity of depressive symptoms, categorizing into moderate to severe depressive symptoms (MSDS), mild depressive symptoms (MDS), or no depressive symptom (NDS). Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the sociodemographic, physical and behavioural correlates of depression.ResultsThe prevalence of MSDS was 1% in both 2020 and 2021, while the rates for MDS were 1.93% in 2020 and 1.64% in 2021. In the 2020 cohort, male freshmen who reported better health had a lower likelihood of experiencing depression. Conversely, students of Malay ethnicity, those majoring in Engineering, those with multiple chronic diseases, monthly alcohol consumers, current smokers, and those with a family history of mental disorder had a higher likelihood of experiencing depression. Moreover, students who lived on-campus in the 2021 cohort were less likely to experience depression than those living off-campus. However, the associations between academic majors, alcohol consumption, and smoking with depression were not significant in the 2021 cohort.ConclusionsThis study reported a low prevalence of both MSDS and MDS among university entrants in Singapore. The study further identified three categories of factors associated with depression: sociodemographic, physical, and behavioural. This study suggests policy interventions to enhance targeted social support that address each student group’s specific requirements and susceptibilities. A more extensive and comprehensive study is warranted to assess the changes in student mental health status post-COVID-19 pandemic.

A fast and high‐accurate commutation failure identification method for LCC‐HVDC system

AbstractCommutation failure (CF) is one of the most common issues in line‐commuted converter‐based high voltage direct current systems (LCC‐HVDC), leading to critical power system security and stability problems. Accurate and rapid identification of CF is crucial to prevent subsequent CF in HVDC systems. However, the existing CF identification methods are lack of the required accuracy and speed. The relationship between bridge arm current, commutation voltage, and trigger pulse based on the commutation progress mechanism after the AC fault is analysed in this paper. A novel CF identification method is presented, which utilises the CF identification factor, enabling fast and high‐accurate identification without relying on the value of the extinction angle. The proposed method offers a simpler and more efficient implementation in engineering practice. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified in both the standard International Council on Large Electric systems HVDC model and the Hardware in Loop test using practical project parameters. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can accurately and fast identify CF.

Adolescent Health Care Needs and Relationship to Disease in Patients With Childhood-Onset Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Our objective was to characterize adolescent health and psychosocial issues in patients with childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE) and evaluate demographic and disease characteristics associated with adolescent health. We retrospectively examined adolescents aged 12 to 18 years with cSLE seen at the Hospital for Sick Children meeting the American College of Rheumatology/Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics classification criteria, assessed by adolescent medicine in the cSLE clinic between 2018 and 2020. Adolescent health issues were characterized using the Home, Education/Employment, Activities, Diet/Drugs, Sexuality, Suicide/mood (HEADDSS) framework. Issues were classified as presenting and/or identified; adolescent health burden was tabulated as the number of distinct adolescent issues per patient. Multiple Poisson regression models examined associations between patient and disease characteristics (age, sex, material deprivation, disease activity, disease damage, and high-dose glucocorticoid exposure) and adolescent health issues. A total of 108 (60%) of 181 adolescents with cSLE were seen by adolescent medicine, with a median of 2 (interquartile range [IQR] 1-3) visits and a median of 2 (IQR 1-5) adolescent health issues during the study period. Common issues were mood (presenting in 21% vs identified in 50%), sleep (27% vs 2%), school and education (26% vs 1%), and nonadherence (23% vs 8%). Psychoeducation was provided by adolescent medicine to 54% of patients. High-dose glucocorticoids (risk ratio [RR] 1.82, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.41-2.35, P < 0.001), material deprivation (RR 1.17, 95% CI 1.04-1.30, P = 0.007), and lower SLE Disease Activity Index scores (RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.92-0.98, P = 0.004) were associated with higher adolescent health burden. Adolescents with cSLE experience many adolescent issues, especially low mood. High-dose glucocorticoids and social marginalization are associated with greater adolescent health burden. This study highlights the importance of addressing adolescent health needs as part of routine care.

Cathodized Stainless Steel Mesh for Binder-Free NiFe&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt;/NiFe Layer Double Hydroxides Oxygen Evolution Reaction Electrode

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is an essential reaction commonly applied in various energy storage and conversion technologies. One of the common issues of OER lies in its low kinetic activity. Therefore, developing durable, low-cost, and high-performance OER catalysts is critical. Recently, many attempts have used stainless steel mesh (SSM) as the substrate for OER electrodes because SSM is abundant, cheap, and durable. Nickel/iron-based materials, i.e., NiFe2O4/NiFe layer double hydroxides (LDHs), are regarded as one of the most excellent OER catalysts in alkaline electrolytes, making them attractive low-cost materials for OER catalysts. However, synthesizing NiFe2O4/NiFe LDHs directly on the surface of SSM is challenging. Modifying the SSM surface through cathodization has proved to enhance the adhesion and OER activity. Moreover, the cathodization technique is facile and cost-effective. In this work, the surface of SSM is modified by cathodization treatment. Subsequently, NiFe2O4/NiFe LDHs are deposited onto the surface of treated SSM via a low-temperature one-step chemical bath deposition technique. This synthesis is a binder-free method; the resulted electrodes show excellent OER performance without the binder effects. The as-prepared electrodes have a small Tafel slope of 125.4 mV/dec (1 M KOH) and high durability (10 mA/cm2 for 50 hours).

Anxiety and depression from military medical aspects

Anxiety and depression are the most common issues of mental health problems. In military medicine, healthcare professionals are facing even more of it because the military population is taken out to tasks that are more likely to lead to these kinds of symptoms and/or disorders even with attention, training, and preventive measures. The military medical system focuses on that and in special cases like disasters and pandemics the civilian side could also profit from its experiences.

Identifying the best method for restoring dung beetle biodiversity and function in the early stages of rainforest restoration

With less than half of the world's tropical forests remaining, ecological restoration is urgently needed to halt biodiversity loss. However, the efficacy of different active reforestation methods remains largely untested particularly with respect to the recovery of fauna during the early years of restoration. Here, we present the results of a long‐term restoration project in the Australian Wet Tropics after 6 years of planting. Using dung beetles as bioindicators of restoration success, we investigated how the diversity and density of trees in experimental plots influence the recovery of dung beetle diversity and their ecological functions (dung removal and secondary seed dispersal). We found that after only 6 years since planting, a native dung beetle community, representing around 41% of the species found in the adjacent rainforest, has colonized the experimental plots. Plots with the highest diversity of trees (24 species planted) showed higher dung beetle diversity, dung removal, and seed dispersal but only when the density of trees on the plots was low. These plots also have higher species richness, diversity, and abundance of rainforest species, while the opposite trend was found for open‐habitat species. Therefore, planting a higher diversity of trees appears to be the best method for the early recovery of rainforest dung beetle communities and their functions. This is particularly crucial at low tree density, which is a common issue in active restoration projects as tree mortality is relatively high in the early years.

The medium-term impact of a micronutrient powder intervention on anemia among young children in Rural China

BackgroundPoor development of young children is a common issue in developing countries and it is well established that iron deficiency anemia is one of the risk factors. Research has shown that iron deficiency is a common micronutrient deficiency among children in rural China and can result in anemia. A previous paper using data from the same trial as those used in the current study, but conducted when sample children were younger, found that after 6 months of providing caregivers of children 6–11 months of age free access to iron-rich micronutrient powder (MNP) increased the hemoglobin concentrations (Hb) of their children. However, no effects were found 12 and 18 months after the intervention. The current study followed up the children four years after the start of the original intervention (when the children were 4–5 years old) and aims to assess the medium-term impacts of the MNP program on the nutritional status of the sample pre-school-aged children, including their levels of Hb, the prevalence of anemia, and the dietary diversity of the diets of the children.MethodsAt baseline, this study sampled 1,802 children aged 6–11 months in rural Western China. The intervention lasted 18 months. In this medium-term follow-up study that successfully followed 81% (n = 1,464) of children (aged 49–65 months) from the original study population 4 years after the start of the intervention, we used both intention-to-treat (ITT) effect and average treatment on the treated effect (ATT) analyses to assess the medium-term impacts of the MNP distribution program on the nutritional status of sample children.ResultsThe ITT analysis shows that the MNP intervention decreased the prevalence of anemia of young children in the medium run by 8% (4 percentage points, p < 0.1). The ATT analysis shows that consuming 100 (out of 540) MNP sachets during the initial intervention led to a decrease in anemia of 4% (2 percentage points, p < 0.1). Among children with moderate anemia at baseline (Hb < 100 g/L), the intervention reduced the probability of anemia by 45% (9 percentage points, p < 0.1), and, for those families that complied by consuming 100 (out of 540) sachets, a 25% (5 percentage points, p < 0.05) reduction in the anemia rate was found. The MNP intervention also led to a persistent increase in dietary diversity among children that were moderately anemic at baseline. The results from the quantile treatment effect analysis demonstrated that children with lower Hb levels at baseline benefited relatively more from the MNP intervention.ConclusionsThe findings of the current study reveal that the MNP intervention has medium-term effects on the nutritional status of children in rural China. The impacts of the MNP program were relatively higher for children that initially had more severe anemia levels. Hence, the implications of this study are that programs that aim to increase caregiver knowledge of nutrition and improve their feeding practices should be encouraged across rural China. Families, policymakers, and China’s society overall need to continue to pay more attention to problems of childhood anemia in rural areas. This is particularly crucial for families with moderately anemic children at an early age as it can significantly contribute to improving the anemia status of children across rural areas of China.Trial registrationISRCTN44149146 (15/04/2013).

The Calibration of theta-phi Fiber Positioners Based on the Differential Evolution Algorithm

Robotic fiber positioner (RFP) arrays are commonly adopted in multiobject spectroscopic instruments. The positioning accuracy is a common but vital issue for RFP as inaccurate fiber placement may heavily affect the observation performance. The calibration of RFP can effectively improve the positioning accuracy. Least-square is a widely used calibration method. However, it has disadvantages, such as sensitivity to the initial values and calculation complexity. To improve the positioning accuracy and reduce the iteration moves, we propose a new calibration method based on the differential evolution algorithm and verify it by calibrating the RFP of the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopy Telescope. We first build the kinematic models of the RFP based on the Denavit–Hartenberg matrix and geometry relationship. Then, we analyze the error components and present the proposed calibration algorithms. The experiments are done with the digital universal tool microscope 19JC and the errors are calculated using the distance between the positions of achieved and target. Results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve higher accuracy than the least-square method and the average positioning accuracy is improved by 78.94% after calibration. Combined with the “pulse reduction” strategy and close-loop compensation, after two moves, the positioners can place the fiber ends within 40 μm of the intended location. The proposed calibration method is also suitable for other similar theta-phi positioners.

Success Factors in Management of IT Service Projects: Regression, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and Structural Equation Models

Although there have been some studies on the success factors for IT software projects, there is still a lack of coherent research on the success factors for IT service projects. Therefore, this study aimed to identify and understand the factors and their relationships that contribute to the success of IT service projects. For this purpose, multivariate regressions and structural equation models (SEMs) were developed and analyzed. The regression models included six project management success criteria used as dependent variables (quality of the delivered product, scope realization and requirements, timeliness of delivery, delivery within budget, customer satisfaction, and provider satisfaction) and four independent variables (agile techniques and change management, organization and people, stakeholders and risk analysis, work environment), which had been identified through exploratory factor analysis. The results showed that not all success factors were relevant to all success criteria, and there were differences in their importance. An additional series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses along with appropriate statistical measures were employed to evaluate the quality of these four factors. The SEM approach was based on five latent constructs with a total of twenty components. The study suggests that investing in improving people’s knowledge and skills, using agile methodologies, creating a supportive work environment, and involving stakeholders in regular risk analysis are important for project management success. The results also suggest that the success factors for IT service projects depend on both traditional and agile approaches. The study extensively compared its findings with similar research and discussed common issues and differences in both the model structures and methodologies applied. The investigation utilized mathematical methods and techniques that are not commonly applied in the field of project management success modeling. The comprehensive methodology that was applied may be helpful to other researchers who are interested in this topic.

Gene Expression-Based Cancer Classification for Handling the Class Imbalance Problem and Curse of Dimensionality.

Cancer is a leading cause of death globally. The majority of cancer cases are only diagnosed in the late stages of cancer due to the use of conventional methods. This reduces the chance of survival for cancer patients. Therefore, early detection consequently followed by early diagnoses are important tasks in cancer research. Gene expression microarray technology has been applied to detect and diagnose most types of cancers in their early stages and has gained encouraging results. In this paper, we address the problem of classifying cancer based on gene expression for handling the class imbalance problem and the curse of dimensionality. The oversampling technique is utilized to overcome this problem by adding synthetic samples. Another common issue related to the gene expression dataset addressed in this paper is the curse of dimensionality. This problem is addressed by applying chi-square and information gain feature selection techniques. After applying these techniques individually, we proposed a method to select the most significant genes by combining those two techniques (CHiS and IG). We investigated the effect of these techniques individually and in combination. Four benchmarking biomedical datasets (Leukemia-subtypes, Leukemia-ALLAML, Colon, and CuMiDa) were used. The experimental results reveal that the oversampling techniques improve the results in most cases. Additionally, the performance of the proposed feature selection technique outperforms individual techniques in nearly all cases. In addition, this study provides an empirical study for evaluating several oversampling techniques along with ensemble-based learning. The experimental results also reveal that SVM-SMOTE, along with the random forests classifier, achieved the highest results, with a reporting accuracy of 100%. The obtained results surpass the findings in the existing literature as well.

Adjustment of selection bias for clinical trials: a simulation study

Clinical trial selection bias is a common issue, as patients are typically not selected randomly from a target population. Various statistical approaches have been proposed to adjust for this bias, including IPW (inverse probability weights), SPS (subclassification with propensity scores), and EVB (external validity bias). However, there has been very little statistical research to compare the performance of these methods in clinical trials. To bridge this gap, we conducted a simulation study using a patient population with seven covariates and a true treatment effect size of 0.5 (Cohen’s d). Next, we assessed the efficacy of the three statistical methods on nonrandom clinical trial samples with varying sizes and covariates. Based on our simulation results, EVB is the most effective method for adjusting clinical trial selection bias when there are seven covariates. SPS is the most effective method for adjusting clinical trial selection bias when there are three and five covariates. However, we observed that IPW's performance was inadequate, indicating that it may not be a suitable option for selection bias adjustment in clinical trials. In summary, our study sheds light on the effectiveness of various statistical methods in mitigating selection bias in clinical trials.

Critical Risk Factors influencing Time Schedule of Residential Projects in Pakistan

Delays in residential construction projects are common issues in both developing and developed countries. This research aims to identify the key reasons behind these delays in Pakistan. When the projects run behind schedule, this can lead to problems such as exceeding the budget, reduced productivity at the construction site, and potentially lower quality work. The study involved a detailed survey using questionnaires that were addressed to industry professionals. Their responses were used to rank the critical factors causing delays. The most significant factors were found to be fluctuating material prices, financial challenges for contractors, underestimating project duration, poor site management, inexperienced contractors, ineffective project management, communication gaps among project stakeholders, shortage of skilled workers, changes in project design, unqualified contractors, and inadequate project planning. Identifying these critical factors through the Relative Importance Index (RII) method can help in addressing and preventing delays in Pakistan's construction projects, ensuring timely completion and better project outcomes in the future.

Optimisation of Small-Scale Aquaponics Systems Using Artificial Intelligence and the IoT: Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities

Environment changes, water scarcity, soil depletion, and urbanisation are making it harder to produce food using traditional methods in various regions and countries. Aquaponics is emerging as a sustainable food production system that produces fish and plants in a closed-loop system. Aquaponics is not dependent on soil or external environmental factors. It uses fish waste to fertilise plants and can save up to 90–95% water. Aquaponics is an innovative system for growing food and is expected to be very promising, but it has its challenges. It is a complex ecosystem that requires multidisciplinary knowledge, proper monitoring of all crucial parameters, and high maintenance and initial investment costs to build the system. Artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are key technologies that can overcome these challenges. Numerous recent studies focus on the use of AI and the IoT to automate the process, improve efficiency and reliability, provide better management, and reduce operating costs. However, these studies often focus on limited aspects of the system, each considering different domains and parameters of the aquaponics system. This paper aims to consolidate the existing work, identify the state-of-the-art use of the IoT and AI, explore the key parameters affecting growth, analyse the sensing and communication technologies employed, highlight the research gaps in this field, and suggest future research directions. Based on the reviewed research, energy efficiency and economic viability were found to be a major bottleneck of current systems. Moreover, inconsistencies in sensor selection, lack of publicly available data, and the reproducibility of existing work were common issues among the studies.

Growing, learning, sharing, and healing through Home Garden Network: A social capital framework

AbstractObjectiveThe study addresses two research inquiries: evaluating the effectiveness of the Home Garden Network (HGN) program in attaining its four intended outcomes (learning, growing, sharing, and healing) as well as exploring the social capital mechanisms in facilitating the four outcomes.BackgroundDrawing from Coleman's social capital theory, the HGN program was developed in response to common issues many families experience: the lack of family leisure time, dietary‐related health issues, and food insecurity.MethodsIndividual interviews were conducted with eight program participants.ResultsThe findings revealed that the program produced the four intended outcomes in which the three forms of social capital (i.e., information channels, reciprocity, and social norms) served as mechanisms that explained the outcomes. Through information channels, participants learned from their network members as well as the program facilitators. Reciprocity is fostered through a system where families take turns assisting each other in growing their gardens, establishing a sense of mutual obligation. Social norms encourage the sharing of produce and plants, reinforcing a collective culture of generosity. Reciprocal relationships further strengthened their interpersonal bonding experiences, providing participants with a sense of group identity and belonging, and hence healing. In addition, families utilize their gardens as a communication starter, establishing social norms of routines and responsibilities that promote family cohesion.ConclusionThe study validates the HGN program in achieving its learning, growing, sharing, and healing objectives.ImplicationsThe program offers implementation opportunities for human services organizations and land‐grant universities, aligning with social policies promoting food security and healthy lifestyles.

Perceptions of Cat Rearing, Feeding, and Health Management by Cat Owners in Rajshahi

Background and Objectives: Perceptions of cat owners may affect the lives of pet animals. The study was conducted to learn about of cat owners as well as their contentment with and motivations for raising cats in Rajshahi districts of Bangladesh.&#x0D; Materials and Methods: Data were collected by a face-to-face interview with 150 pet owners who came to the recognized pet clinics in Rajshahi city from January to December 2023 and analyzes using chi-square test.&#x0D; Results: This study showed that cat owners made up 70% by female of the total, while 30% made up by male. The majority of cat owners were young people, between the ages of 21 and 30 (49.3%). Urban residents tend to rear cat (62.0%) and have better educational levels (41.5%). Among the cat owners, 87.7% raised their cats indoors, and 11.3% nurtured them outdoors. Residence and educational attainment of cat owners have a substantial association (p&lt;0.05). The breed of cats and their origins were likewise of great worth (p&lt;0.05). The feeding habits of cats varied from owner to owner; however, the majority (20.7%) fed their cats cooked meat, cooked fish and pellets. Different factors influenced cat-raising with the majority (30.0%) being hobbies. Impact studies showed that biting had a significant negative impact and that unconditional love had a significant good impact. During the investigation, various cat health issues were noted; alopecia was the most common issue (24.7%). The vaccination and deworming rates for their cat were 54.0% and 52.7%, respectively.&#x0D; Conclusion: It was concluded that different owners raised cats for different reasons, with a different preference in choice of cat breed, feeding practice, medication approach, and through a fuller understanding of these features, such research will aid in the development of a cat-rearing approach that improves the well-being of both pets and their owners.

Corporate sustainability, organizational resilience, and corporate purpose: a review of the academic traditions connecting them

AbstractThe increasing complexity of economic, environmental, and social systems causes crises, uncertainty and risk to become common global issues, and organizations that want to achieve long-term prosperity must pursue corporate sustainability, i.e., the joint pursuit of environmental, social, and economic goals, in order to successfully face the complex and uncertain environment in which these organizations find themselves. To achieve the above, organizational resilience would also seem to be critical, as it is a capacity which enables the organization to build a risk-aware culture that helps it better position itself to deal with the demands of high-impact events as well as to be able to find opportunities through uncertainty. Yet, both corporate sustainability and organizational resilience are organizational capabilities that can nourish (and/or be nurtured by) a corporate purpose that leads organizations to have a clear and inspiring sense of direction, fostering the development of strong responsible and adaptive behaviors. Nevertheless, the academic traditions that relate and explain “how” these concepts are related are non-existent. To bridge the above gap, we conducted a science mapping analysis and discovered that by 2022, a total of 34 documents had presented the relationship between sustainability, organizational resilience and corporate purpose. The analysis of these 34 papers yields five different academic traditions from which the relationship between these three concepts has been studied and reveals several gaps that future research should address to gain a holistic understanding of the interconnectedness of these three concepts to help organizations achieve long-term prosperity.

Urogenital microbiota-driven virulence factor genes associated with recurrent urinary tract infection.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a common health issue affecting individuals worldwide. Recurrent urinary tract infections (rUTI) pose a significant clinical challenge, with limited understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Recent research suggests that the urobiome, the microbial community residing in the urinary tract, may play a crucial role in the development and recurrence of urinary tract infections. However, the specific virulence factor genes (VFGs) driven by urobiome contributing to infection recurrence remain poorly understood. Our study aimed to investigate the relationship between urobiome driven VFGs and recurrent urinary tract infections. By analyzing the VFGs composition of the urinary microbiome in patients with rUTI compared to a control group, we found higher alpha diversity in rUTI patients compared with healthy control. And then, we sought to identify specific VFGs features associated with infection recurrence. Specifically, we observed an increased abundance of certain VGFs in the recurrent infection group. We also associated VFGs and clinical data. We then developed a diagnostic model based on the levels of these VFGs using random forest and support vector machine analysis to distinguish healthy control and rUIT, rUTI relapse and rUTI remission. The diagnostic accuracy of the model was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, and the area under the ROC curve were 0.83 and 0.75. These findings provide valuable insights into the complex interplay between the VFGs of urobiome and recurrent urinary tract infections, highlighting potential targets for therapeutic interventions to prevent infection recurrence.

Advancing PetroChina’s Development Strategies for Low-Permeability Oil Reservoirs

Based on PetroChina’s status and situation of low-permeability oil reservoir development, this paper analyzes the key common issues in the production capacity construction of new oilfields, the stable production of old oilfields, and enhanced oil recovery, and, in connection with the progress made in major development technologies and the results of major development tests for low-permeability oil reservoirs in recent years, puts forward the technical countermeasures and development directions. For optimizing the development of low-grade reserves, a comprehensive life-cycle development plan is essential, alongside experimenting with gas injection and energy supplementation in new fields. Addressing challenges in reservoir classification, multidisciplinary sweet spot prediction, and displacement–imbibition processes can significantly boost well productivity. In fine water flooding reservoirs, the focus should shift to resolving key technological challenges like dynamic heterogeneity characterization, and functional and nano-intelligent water flooding. For EOR, accelerating the application of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) advancements, along with air injection thermal miscible flooding, and middle-phase microemulsion flooding, is crucial. This approach aims to substantially enhance recovery and establish a new model of integrated secondary and tertiary recovery methods.

Mechanical performance of CRTS II slab tracks in reinforced-unreinforced transition zone in extreme heat events

Anchors have been widely utilized to reinforce the CRTS II slab tracks. The mechanical performance of the tracks in the reinforced-unreinforced transition zone exposed to extreme heat waves can be very complex due to the difference in mechanical properties between the two kinds of track segments. This paper investigates the damage behavior of the tracks in the reinforced-unreinforced transition zone in extreme heat events. A finite element model of the CRTS II slab track in the transition zone has been established and validated, in which the nonlinear mechanical properties of track materials and interfaces are considered by applying the Concrete Damaged Plasticity model and the Cohesive Zone Model respectively. The nonlinear temperature field in the track structure in extreme heat events is applied to the model. Structural damage of the track, including slab-end arching and interfacial failure, in the transition zone under extreme heat is thoroughly investigated. In particular, the effects of joint use of post-installed reinforcement anchors and other track maintenance measures like interface adhesives and concrete joint restoration are studied. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) The more reinforced track-slabs in the transition zone, the milder the track diseases including slab-end arching and interfacial gapping. (2) Joint use of anchor installation and other maintenance measures such as interface adhesives and concrete joint restoration shows a better effect on mitigating track damage than using post-installed reinforcement anchors solely. (3) Concrete joint restoration overweighs interface adhesives in terms of reducing slab-end arching and interfacial damage when they are jointly used with post-installed reinforcement anchors. (4) In the transition zone, track damage surges when the air temperature increases from 42 ℃ to 47 ℃, which is the temperature range for an extreme heat wave. Monitoring of track state in the transition zones is necessary during extreme heat waves. The novel findings are expected to provide some insights into the mechanical performance of slab tracks and help to prevent potential damage to the tracks in the transition zone, which is a common and practical issue in railway engineering.