Full Investigation Research Articles

Are Synovial Inflammatory Markers Increased in Patients Who Have Aseptic Total Hip Arthroplasty Dislocation Indicated for Revision?

BackgroundPrevious studies have speculated on elevated synovial inflammatory markers in patients undergoing surgical revision for total hip arthroplasty (THA) dislocation. However, this assumption is based on small patient series and a full investigation according to International Consensus Meeting (ICM) criteria has not yet been performed. MethodsPatients who had aseptic THA dislocation indicated for revision surgery were identified retrospectively. Only patients who had available diagnostic workup according to ICM 2018 criteria, including preoperative and intraoperative parameters, were included. For comparison, we analyzed a matched cohort of patients indicated for aseptic THA revision for other conditions. The 2 cohorts each consisted of 55 patients and were not different regarding age, sex, BMI, or implant fixation. ResultsThere was no difference in synovial white blood cell count (2,238 ± 2,544 versus 2,533 ± 3,448 c/μL; P = .601), alpha-defensin quotient (0.14 ± 0.11 versus 0.19 ± 0.28; P = .207), or polymorphonuclear neutrophil percentage (% PMN) (36.7 ± 22.6 versus 31.3 ± 24.5%; P = .312) between the groups. In the dislocation cohort, 20% of patients had a synovial white blood cell count of 3,000 c/μL or higher, compared with 18% in the control cohort. However, all patients in the dislocation cohort were below the cutoff for alpha-defensin or % PMN. ConclusionIn patients who have aseptic THA dislocation, synovial inflammatory markers are not elevated compared with patients undergoing aseptic revision for other complications. A detailed preoperative analysis of synovial inflammatory markers using ICM criteria appears critical in patients who have a THA dislocation to exclude periprosthetic joint infection. Level of EvidenceLevel III, retrospective, comparative study.

Construction of Teaching and Research Linkage Mechanism for College English Team Building of Military Academies

The division of College English team in military academies is mainly based on the talent training program and the curriculum system. This model has optimized the staff structure, but has little effect on coordinated development of individuals and teams, and cannot enhance the teaching and research innovation. Based on a full investigation into the status and needs of College English team building in military academies, this study aims to frame a teaching and research linkage mechanism, and strives to open up ideas for teaching and research approaches, and further improve teaching efficiency, promote the depth of research, and achieve the parallel development pattern of teaching and research for College English team in military academies.

Construction of Evaluation System for the Effect of Party’s History Learning and Education for College Students

This paper conducts an in-depth study on the Party’s history learning and education of college students in Guangdong higher vocational colleges. Through the questionnaire design, the current situation, problems, and countermeasures of Party’s history learning and education have full investigation, understanding, study, analysis and discussion. Taking Guangdong vocational college students as the research object, this article adopts quantitative and qualitative methods, mainly based on the Kirkpatrick model, to construct evaluation indicators for Party’s history learning and education, and uses the AHP model to design the weights of each indicator to conduct consistency testing. And then this study constructs an evaluation system for the effectiveness of youth Party’s history learning and education in Guangdong vocational colleges, providing new ideas for proposing practical paths, and providing reference for the normalization, scientization, and long-term effectiveness of Party’s history learning and education.

Structure-function relationship of new peptides activating human Nav1.1

Nav1.1 is an important pharmacological target as this voltage-gated sodium channel is involved in neurological and cardiac syndromes. Channel activators are actively sought to try to compensate for haploinsufficiency in several of these pathologies. Herein we used a natural source of new peptide compounds active on ion channels and screened for drugs capable to inhibit channel inactivation as a way to compensate for decreased channel function. We discovered that JzTx-34 is highly active on Nav1.1 and subsequently performed a full structure-activity relationship investigation to identify its pharmacophore. These experiments will help interpret the mechanism of action of this and formerly identified peptides as well as the future identification of new peptides. We also reveal structural determinants that make natural ICK peptides active against Nav1.1 challenging to synthesize. Altogether, the knowledge gained by this study will help facilitate the discovery and development of new compounds active on this critical ion channel target.

The synthesis and functionalization of metal organic frameworks and their applications for the selective separation of proteins/peptides.

Recently, proteins separation has drawn great interest for the full investigation of a proteome because the proteins separation is the precondition when conducting clinical research or proteomics research. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are fabricated via covalent connection between organic ligands and metal ions/clusters units. MOFs have attracted much attention due to the ultra-high specific surface area, tunable structure, more metal site or unsaturated site, and chemical stability. Over the past decade, different functionalization types of MOFs have been reported in combination with amino acids, nucleic acids, proteins, polymers, and nanoparticles for various applications. In this review, the synthesis and functionalization of MOFs have been thoroughly discussed, and we introduced the existing problems and development trends in these fields. Furthermore, MOFs as advanced adsorbents for selective separation of proteins/peptides are summarized. Additionally, we present a comprehensive prospects and challenges in the preparation of robust functional MOFs-based adsorbents and make a final outlook on their future development prospects in selective separation of proteins/peptides.

Utilizing Data-Driven Optimization to Automate the Parametrization of Kinetic Monte Carlo Models.

Kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulations are a popular tool to investigate the dynamic behavior of stochastic systems. However, one major limitation is their relatively high computational costs. In the last three decades, significant effort has been put into developing methodologies to make kMC more efficient, resulting in an enhanced runtime efficiency. Nevertheless, kMC models remain computationally expensive. This is in particular an issue in complex systems with several unknown input parameters where often most of the simulation time is required for finding a suitable parametrization. A potential route for automating the parametrization of kinetic Monte Carlo models arises from coupling kMC with a data-driven approach. In this work, we equip kinetic Monte Carlo simulations with a feedback loop consisting of Gaussian Processes (GPs) and Bayesian optimization (BO) to enable a systematic and data-efficient input parametrization. We utilize the results from fast-converging kMC simulations to construct a database for training a cheap-to-evaluate surrogate model based on Gaussian processes. Combining the surrogate model with a system-specific acquisition function enables us to apply Bayesian optimization for the guided prediction of suitable input parameters. Thus, the amount of trial simulation runs can be considerably reduced facilitating an efficient utilization of arbitrary kMC models. We showcase the effectiveness of our methodology for a physical process of growing industrial relevance: the space-charge layer formation in solid-state electrolytes as it occurs in all-solid-state batteries. Our data-driven approach requires only 1-2 iterations to reconstruct the input parameters from different baseline simulations within the training data set. Moreover, we show that the methodology is even capable of accurately extrapolating into regions outside the training data set which are computationally expensive for direct kMC simulation. Concluding, we demonstrate the high accuracy of the underlying surrogate model via a full parameter space investigation eventually making the original kMC simulation obsolete.

Interleukin 8 in children with obstructive sleep apnea before and after adenotonsillectomy

ObjectiveTo assess serum interleukin 8 (IL-8) levels after adenotonsillectomy in children with symptoms suggestive for OSA.Study designProspective interventional study.SettingsThe study was carried out on 30 children with OSA attending ENT clinic of Suez Canal University Hospital.MethodsIncluding, children with sleep-related chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) and OSA symptoms performed an elective adenotonsillectomy, and aged (3–12 years). Excluding, children with acute tonsillitis, cardiorespiratory, craniofacial, or diseases affecting IL-8 level as cystic fibrosis, COVID-19 patients, and hepatitis C, taking drugs affecting IL-8 level as benzodiazepines or glutamine supplementation. Children were subjected to full history, clinical examination and laboratory investigations. Nocturnal pulse oximetry (ChoiceMMed) was performed (48–72 h preoperative and 3–4 weeks postoperative) used to determine the number of 4% dips in saturation from baseline, and the nadir saturation (nSAT). IL-8 was measured 1 month pre-operative and 1 month post-operative by flow cytometry using the Human Inflammatory Cytometric Bead Array kit.ResultsThe mean preoperative IL-8 (237.55 p/ml) and oxygen desaturation index (7.77%)cwere statistically significantly higher than mean postoperative IL-8 (207.98 p/ml) and oxygen desaturation index (2.90). The mean pre-operative SpO2 is 98.27 ranged (96.00–100.0%), while the mean postoperative SpO2 is 98.77 ranged (97.00–100.0%), with no statistically significant difference between them (p = 0.069). Preoperative IL-8 (p/ml), postoperative IL-8 (p/ml), and preoperative SpO2 (%) were found to be negatively correlated with IL-8 change.ConclusionIL-8 level significantly decreased after adenotonsillectomy in children with symptoms suggestive for OSA.

In Situ Spatial Analysis of Metabolic Heterogeneity in Single Living Tumor Spheroids Using Nanocapillary-Based Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectroscopy.

Spatial metabolomic analysis of individual tumor spheroids can help investigate metabolic rearrangements in different cellular regions of a spheroid. In this work, a nanocapillary-based electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS) method is established that could realize the spatial sampling of cellular components in different regions of a single living tumor spheroid and the subsequent MS analysis for a metabolic study. During the penetration of the nanocapillary into the spheroid for sampling, this "wound surface" at the outer layer of the spheroid takes only 0.1% of the whole area that maximally maintains the cellular activity inside the spheroid for the metabolic analysis. Using the ESI-MS analysis, different metabolic activities in the inner and outer (upper and lower) layers of a single spheroid are revealed, giving a full investigation of the metabolic heterogeneity inside one living tumor spheroid for the first time. In addition, the metabolic activities between the outer layer of the spheroid and two-dimensional (2D)-cultured cells show obvious differences, which suggests more frequent cell-cell and cell-extracellular environment interactions during the culture of the spheroid. This observation not only establishes a powerful tool for the in situ spatial analysis of the metabolic heterogeneity in single living tumor spheroids but also provides molecular information to elucidate the metabolic heterogeneity in this three-dimensional (3D)-cultured cell model.

Luenberger compensator theory for heat-Kelvin-Voigt-damped-structure interaction models with interface/boundary feedback controls

Abstract An optimal, complete, continuous theory of the Luenberger dynamic compensator (or state estimator or state observer) is obtained for the recently studied class of heat-structure interaction partial differential equation (PDE) models, with structure subject to high Kelvin-Voigt damping, and feedback control exercised either at the interface between the two media or else at the external boundary of the physical domain in three different settings. It is a first, full investigation that opens the door to numerous and far reaching subsequent work. They will include physically relevant fluid-structure models, with wave- or plate-structures, possibly without Kelvin-Voigt damping, as explicitly noted in the text, all the way to achieving the ultimate discrete numerical theory, so critical in applications. While the general setting is functional analytic, delicate PDE-energy estimates dictate how to define the interface/boundary feedback control in each of the three cases.

EMPIRICAL STUDY FOR THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF INTERNAL AUDIT IN DEDICATING FRAUD RISK IN THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT: EVIDENCE FROM IRAQ

An audit is a regular and systematic process to collect and impartially evaluate evidence of management claims in relation to economic activities and events to determine the extent to which these claims comply with predetermined criteria and to report results to stakeholders. The study aims to know the strategic role of internal audit in detecting the risks of financial fraud, in addition to identifying the basic concepts of internal auditing and the types of fraud risks in the financial statements, and clarifying the role of the internal auditor in detecting the risks of financial fraud, by knowing the impact of the planning process and professional skepticism and understanding The work environment and its contribution to support the internal auditor in detecting fraud risks in the financial statements, and the study concluded that the internal auditor when developing an audit plan, must develop an integrated vision of the effectiveness of governance and risk management, which contributes to reducing the risks of fraud in financial information. In addition, he should consider the institution's evaluation of fraud risks and may evaluate the company's fraud detection abilities on a regular basis. The ability of the internal auditor to continuously assess the potential risks resulting from the work environment helps in discovering the risks of fraud in financial information, in addition to the internal auditor's knowledge of the nature of the work environment in which he works helps to know the risks and detect financial fraud. The internal auditor should identify the potential effects of fraud and discuss the matter with the appropriate level of management, whom management decides to initiate a full investigation and this is achieved through the professional skepticism of the auditor.

Non-Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Montmorillonite/Polyamide 610 Nanocomposites.

Non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of montmorillonite (MMT)/polyamide 610 (PA610) composites were readily prepared by in situ melt polymerization followed by a full investigation in terms of their microstructure, performance, and crystallization kinetics. The kinetic models of Jeziorny, Ozawa, and Mo were used in turn to fit the experimental data, in all of which Mo's analytical method was found to be the best model for the kinetic data. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies were used to investigate the isothermal crystallization behavior and MMT dispersion levels in the MMT/PA610 composites. The experiment results revealed that low MMT content can promote the PA610 crystallization, whilst high MMT content result in MMT agglomeration, and reduce the PA610 crystallization rate.

Aeromonas veronii and ulcerative syndrome in cultured Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and their associated factors

This research was carried out to study the bacterial etiology of ulcerative syndrome in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and its associated environmental stressors. A total of 90 live and moribund Nile tilapia showing signs of ulcerative dermatitis were collected from various fish ponds in El-Sharkia Province, Egypt, during the summer seasons from June 2019 to August 2020. Collected fish were subjected to full clinical and postmortem investigation followed by bacteriological and molecular identification of the bacterial agents as well as histopathological examinations. Moreover, water samples from the fish sampling sites were collected and analyzed physiochemically and microbiologically. Furthermore, the pathogenicity of the isolated strains was assessed by challenging apparently healthy Nile tilapia to determine the LD50. Clinically, the examined fish exhibited ulcerative dermatitis as focal or fused large ulcers surrounded by red zones of hemorrhages at different body parts. Bacteriologically, Aeromonas veronii biovar sobria and A. caviae were isolated and identified. Moreover, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis verified the identity of these species. Antibiogram profiling of the recovered Aeromonas sp. isolates showed complete resistance to ampicillin, with high susceptibility to gentamycin, trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole, and erythromycin. Histopathological examination of the affected fish revealed epidermal necrosis with dermal edema and an influx of inflammatory cells into the dermis and hypodermis. The LD50 of A. veronii biovar sobria and A. caviae was estimated as 1.5 × 107 and 1.5 × 108 CFU/fish; respectively. The water temperature and ammonia concentrations recorded a significant rise (P ≤ 0.05) in July and August compared to June; however, the highest pH levels were recorded during August, followed by July. Also, the total bacterial load significantly increased (P ≤ 0.05). Finally, it was concluded that the improvement of water quality helps sustain the health of farmed fish.

Full potential theoretical investigations for electronic, optical, mechanical, elastic and anisotropic properties of X2Se2C (X = Ta, Nb) compounds

Full potential theoretical investigations for electronic, optical, mechanical, elastic and anisotropic properties of X2Se2C (X = Ta, Nb) compounds

Symmetry dictionary on charge and spin nonlinear responses for all magnetic point groups with nontrivial topological nature.

Recently, charge or spin nonlinear transport with nontrivial topological properties in crystal materials has attracted much attention. In this paper, we perform a comprehensive symmetry analysis for all 122 magnetic point groups (MPGs) and provide a useful dictionary for charge and spin nonlinear transport from the Berry curvature dipole, Berry connection polarizability and Drude term with nontrivial topological nature. The results are obtained by conducting a full symmetry investigation of the matrix representations of six nonlinear response tensors. We further identify every MPG that can accommodate two or three of the nonlinear tensors. The present work gives a solid theoretical basis for an overall understanding of the second-order nonlinear responses in realistic materials.

A novel Alzheimer’s disease prognostic signature: identification and analysis of glutamine metabolism genes in immunogenicity and immunotherapy efficacy

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized as a distinct onset and progression of cognitive and functional decline associated with age, as well as a specific neuropathology. It has been discovered that glutamine (Gln) metabolism plays a crucial role in cancer. However, a full investigation of its role in Alzheimer’s disease is still missing. This study intended to find and confirm potential Gln-related genes associated with AD using bioinformatics analysis. The discovery of GlnMgs was made possible by the intersection of the WGCNA test and 26 Gln-metabolism genes (GlnMgs). GlnMgs’ putative biological functions and pathways were identified using GSVA. The LASSO method was then used to identify the hub genes as well as the diagnostic efficiency of the four GlnMgs in identifying AD. The association between hub GlnMgs and clinical characteristics was also studied. Finally, the GSE63060 was utilized to confirm the levels of expression of the four GlnMgs. Four GlnMgs were discovered (ATP5H, NDUFAB1, PFN2, and SPHKAP). For biological function analysis, cell fate specification, atrioventricular canal development, and neuron fate specification were emphasized. The diagnostic ability of the four GlnMgs in differentiating AD exhibited a good value. This study discovered four GlnMgs that are linked to AD. They shed light on potential new biomarkers for AD and tracking its progression.

Genomic prediction of survival against Vibrio harveyi in leopard coral grouper (Plectropomus leopardus) using GBLUP, weighted GBLUP, and BayesCπ

Leopard coral grouper (Plectropomus leopardus) is a marine economic fish that widely inhabits the western Pacific. In recent years, the quantity of wild-captured leopard coral grouper has had difficulty meeting commercial and recreational needs. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the artificial culture of leopard coral grouper. However, disease outbreaks caused by Vibrio harveyi have hindered the sustainable development of the leopard coral grouper farming industry. The primary purposes of this study are to 1) estimate the genomic heritability of survival against V. harveyi in P. leopardus; 2) perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to determine the genetic architecture; and 3) compare the predictive accuracy variation of genomic methods using different density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panels and cross-validation grouping strategies. We collected 800 leopard coral groupers from two commercial aquatic companies and challenged them using V. harveyi by abdominal injection to obtain the survival phenotypes. After resequencing and quality control, a total of 798 fish and 1,211,259 high-quality SNPs were retained for downstream analysis. The genomic heritability (underlying scale) of survival against V. harveyi in leopard coral grouper ranged from 0.16 to 0.24. Eight trait-related regions with genetic variance explained >1% were identified from the GWAS results, and thirty genes were annotated from these regions. The accuracies of three genomic methods, genomic BLUP (GBLUP), weighted GBLUP (wGBLUP), and BayesCπ, showed ascending trends with the number of SNPs varied from 2 k to 100 k and reach a plateau when 30 k or more SNPs were used for prediction. In addition, there was no obvious difference in predictive accuracy between the three methods when 30 k SNPs were used for prediction. In conclusion, survival against V. harveyi in leopard coral grouper belongs to a low-to-moderate-heritability trait and has a polygenic genetic architecture. Although it is feasible to apply genomic methods using the reference group constructed from nonfamily materials, a full investigation of the relationship between candidates and the reference group is necessary in leopard coral grouper commercial breeding programs, which would help maximize the predictive accuracy.

Role of magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of non-palpable breast masses

Background: Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) provides anatomical and functional information with high sensitivity and variable specificity, making it a useful tool in the detection of breast cancer. The noninvasive functional imaging method known as diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), sensitive to tissue microstructure and cellularity. The aim of this work was to assess the role of DCE-MRI and DWI in the evaluation of non-palpable breast masses. Methods: Fifty female cases participated in a prospective research who were suspected to have non-palpable breast masses accidentally discovered or suspected by ultrasound and referred to MR units. All cases were subjected to complete personal and medical history, full clinical examination, laboratory investigations, mammogram and breast ultrasound and breast MRI. Results: DCE-MRI could predict non-palpable malignant lumps with 89.66% sensitivity, 95.24% specificity, 96.30% (PPV), 86.96% (NPV) and 92% accuracy. MRI could predict non-palpable benign lumps with 90.48% sensitivity, 96.55% specificity, 95% (PPV), 93.33% (NPV) and 94% accuracy. DWI could predict malignant masses with 93.10% sensitivity, 71.43% specificity, 81.82% (PPV), 88.24% (NPV) and accuracy 84%.Conclusions: DCE-MRI outperformed DWI-MRI in diagnostic performance; however, DWI-MRI still demonstrated good diagnostic performance with a 93.1% sensitivity and specificity of 71.4%. Both are excellent non-invasive techniques that are very useful in assessing non-palpable breast masses.

The appropriation of blockchain implementation in the supply chain of SMES based on fuzzy LMAW

This study investigates the adoption of blockchain technology in small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) supply chains. Blockchain has been deemed a “Game Changer” for its potential benefits but also has several limitations due to its properties and SMEs’ limited resources. Small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) have more problems employing Industry 4.0 Technologies in practice than larger companies. So, the employment of BC in SMEs’ supply chains, as the economy’s backbone, deserves a full investigation which has been addressed in this paper.We use the Technology–Organization–Environment framework to examine both positive and negative factors affecting blockchain adoption in SMEs. A Delphi method was used to refine a list of 42 factors down to the 22 most essential ones. These factors were then prioritized using the Fuzzy Logarithmic Additive Weights Methodology based on expert preferences. The findings indicate that while financial factors play a crucial role in adoption, transparency, and traceability are significant benefits that motivate organizations to adopt blockchain. The organizational dimension also has a substantial impact on decision-making.In this study, we conclude that SMEs must carefully consider their circumstances before adopting blockchain technology, given its infancy state. The barriers to adoption are just as significant as incentives, and SMEs must weigh the financial and organizational factors before making the decision. This study extends the literature by comprehensively looking at all possible factors influencing BC adoption by SMEs. Furthermore, we have highlighted valuable insights for policymakers and SME owners to make the best decision.

Full characterization of building energy factor significance by novel integrated stochastic level-based sensitivity analysis with support vector network and multivariate clustering

Effective planning and targeted implementation of building energy efficiency programs explicitly require robust knowledge on significance pattern of involving factors for precision model-based estimates of potential energy savings. Though extensively adopted for factor significance characterization, prior sensitivity analysis (SA) frameworks fail to capture typical influences attributed to commonly used categorical factors. Moreover, they often assume the assessed factors are independent which can be invalid in many cases to generate misleading outcomes. To overcome these observable defects, this paper develops a novel integrated stochastic level-based sensitivity analysis approach for exhaustively patterning effectual significance of all available building factors of varied type while incorporating diverse factor interactions on validated reliability. While the integration of categorical factors is achieved through factor-type dependent variation levelling, the random factor interactions are apprehended by stochastic sampling and nonlinear support vector network computing to accommodate collinearity trap. Multivariate clustering identifies significance pattern via a composite multi-statistic sensitivity metric derived from stochastic energy responses. Case results of 289 U.S. residential houses validate its utility. This presented approach benefits to perform reliable full sensitivity investigations and analyses under collinearity for building energy systems with verifiable robustness.

Open Letter to the International Criminal Court Alleging War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity for Intentional Triggering the February 6, 2023 Earthquake in the Republic of Türkiye

In 1968 MacDonald foresaw the possibility that in the future the military might develop the means to trigger earthquakes: “The key to geophysical warfare is the identification of the environmental instabilities to which the addition of a small amount of energy would release vastly greater amounts of energy.” In 1997, U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen confirmed military involvement in such activities. In 2002, the 90 deputies of the Russian State Duma warned the United Nations that Americans were experimenting with a new geophysical weapon and demanded an international ban. The United States, Norway and other nations possess electromagnetic “ionosphere heaters” that are capable of triggering earthquakes. On February 6, 2023, a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in southern Turkey near the northern border of Syria, followed by another earthquake and aftershocks that devastated parts of Turkey and Syria, with the death toll reportedly exceeding 55,100, the majority being women and children, many more injuries, and an estimated 1.5 million people made homeless. Real and fake news reports before and immediately following the event, together with scientific facts and circumstances described here, warrant a full, thorough, and complete investigation by the International Criminal Court of our allegations that said February 6, 2023 earthquake was deliberately triggered and constitutes war crimes and crimes against humanity.