General Reference Research Articles

Impact of reference design on estimating SARS-CoV-2 lineage abundances from wastewater sequencing data.

Sequencing of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA from wastewater samples has emerged as a valuable tool for detecting the presence and relative abundances of SARS-CoV-2 variants in a community. By analyzing the viral genetic material present in wastewater, researchers and public health authorities can gain early insights into the spread of virus lineages and emerging mutations. Constructing reference datasets from known SARS-CoV-2 lineages and their mutation profiles has become state-of-the-art for assigning viral lineages and their relative abundances from wastewater sequencing data. However, selecting reference sequences or mutations directly affects the predictive power. Here, we show the impact of a mutation- and sequence-based reference reconstruction for SARS-CoV-2 abundance estimation. We benchmark 3 datasets: (i) synthetic "spike-in"' mixtures; (ii) German wastewater samples from early 2021, mainly comprising Alpha; and (iii) samples obtained from wastewater at an international airport in Germany from the end of 2021, including first signals of Omicron. The 2 approaches differ in sublineage detection, with the marker mutation-based method, in particular, being challenged by the increasing number of mutations and lineages. However, the estimations of both approaches depend on selecting representative references and optimized parameter settings. By performing parameter escalation experiments, we demonstrate the effects of reference size and alternative allele frequency cutoffs for abundance estimation. We show how different parameter settings can lead to different results for our test datasets and illustrate the effects of virus lineage composition of wastewater samples and references. Our study highlights current computational challenges, focusing on the general reference design, which directly impacts abundance allocations. We illustrate advantages and disadvantages that may be relevant for further developments in the wastewater community and in the context of defining robust quality metrics.

Pathological and Etiological Aspects of Nephrotic Syndrome at the Niamey General Reference Hospital

Pathological and Etiological Aspects of Nephrotic Syndrome at the Niamey General Reference Hospital

Scanographic aspects of the origin of supra-aortic trunks at the general reference hospital of Niamey

Scanographic aspects of the origin of supra-aortic trunks at the general reference hospital of Niamey

Micronutrient Deficient in Elderly Patient at General Reference Hospital of Niamey (Niger)

Micronutrient Deficient in Elderly Patient at General Reference Hospital of Niamey (Niger)

Spatial differences and underlying mechanisms in electronic word of mouth in the foodservice industry: A case of Sanya, China.

Studying the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in the foodservice industry can not only provide guidance for merchants, but also spatially optimize the urban foodservice industry, restaurants' location selection, and customers' purchasing decisions. In this study, taking Sanya city as the research object, using big data crawling technology to collect the directory and their attribute information of 2107 restaurants with more than 100 reviews. Kernel density analysis, grid analysis and the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model were applied to reveal the distribution characteristics and influencing factors of eWOM in the foodservice industry in Sanya, China. The main results are as follows. The foodservice industry in Sanya extends along the southern coastline and is characterized by little dispersion and agglomeration at the macro level. The overall eWOM score of the foodservice industry is low. Market popularity, restaurant rating, transportation conditions, and commercial development all have a positive impact on the eWOM of the foodservice industry. Population and price have both positive and negative effects and the public services has a nonsignificant impact on the eWOM. This study not only improves the theoretical understanding of the foodservice industry, but also provides a general reference for its development in other industries and cities.

A Trust-Aware and Authentication-Based Collaborative Method for Resource Management of Cloud-Edge Computing in Social Internet of Things

The Social Internet of Things (S-IoT) paradigm is focused on topic of the Internet of Things (IoT), which accelerates the object issues by working with the concept of social networks. Searching and finding a new object in the community are considered to manage the number of friends and complex relationships between them and affect the ability to navigate at the cloud-edge layer, and resources, such as battery lifetime of S-IoT devices and energy resources, are important challenges in this field. In the processing of social messages of remote devices, increasing the battery life of devices that require such requirements plays the most important role. In this research, a collaboration scenario is presented to consider object attributes, friend’s functions and intelligent friend selection among objects for group messaging. First, a general reference model is designed and presented to select a friend to access group message remote processing services and minimize cloud-edge resources. The simulation results show that, for the correct communication of friends at the edge of the network and in each service discovery, according to the length of the path in the network, it is possible to establish stable communication and make better service with the least possible. The results show that if we want to develop a method for friendship between objects in communication in cloud computing, the proposed method can greatly improve the effectiveness of providing reliable message processing types.

Determinants of Non-Use of Insecticide-Treated Mosquito Nets among Pregnant Women and Children under Five Years Old at the Dikungu General Reference Hospital

Determinants of Non-Use of Insecticide-Treated Mosquito Nets among Pregnant Women and Children under Five Years Old at the Dikungu General Reference Hospital

Dynamic and Steady State Modelling of the Doubly Fed Twin Stator Induction Generator With Core Loss.

This paper presents dynamic and steady state models of the brushless doubly fed twin stator induction machine (BDFTSIM) with emphasis on its use as a generator. The dynamic models are presented in the general reference frame. The models include the effects of core loss on both the stator and the rotor. The frequency on the rotor of the BDFTSIM is much higher than in a standard induction machine so that core losses can not be neglected. The performance analysis indicates the feasibility of the BDFTSIM as a variable speed wind generator

Odesłanie do kryterium konieczności w demokratycznym społeczeństwie w Europejskiej Konwencji Praw Człowieka. Kontekst wykładni prawa i roli orzeczniczej

The study covers a theoretical analysis of the criterion of necessity in democratic society, which appears in several provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights and plays an important role in the assessment by the European Court of Human Rights of the activities of authorities of member states of the Council of Europe involving interference with such important rights as the right to privacy protection or freedom of speech, religion, assembly and association. Apart from the linguistic analysis of the phrase, it was found that this criterion can be considered as a component of the general reference clause in the context of its application and interpretation. Its axiological content associated with the type of references has been placed within the area of classic axiological choices related to the interpretation of phrases expressing extra-legal criteria. The unification of axiology of human rights standards in Europe has been recognized as the main function of this criterion since it is judicially used not only by the European Court of Human Rights, but also by national courts of Council of Europe member states.

Eosinophilic esophagitis is associated with increased risk of later inflammatory bowel disease in a nationwide Swedish population cohort.

Earlier studies on the possible association between eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been contradictory. Patients with biopsy-verified EoE diagnosed between 1990 and 2017 in Sweden (n=1587) were age- and sex-matched with up to five general population reference individuals (n=7808). EoE was defined using pathology reports from all 28 pathology centers in Sweden (the ESPRESSO study). Multivariate Cox regression then estimated hazard ratios for future IBD. IBD was defined based on the international classification of disease codes and histopathology codes. In secondary analyses, sibling comparators were used to further reduce potential familial confounding. Additionally, we performed logistic regression examining earlier IBD in EoE. During follow-up until 2020, 16 (0.01%) EoE patients and 21 (0.003%) general population reference individuals diagnosed with IBD, corresponding to a 3.5-fold increased risk of future IBD (aHR=3.56; 95% CI 1.79-7.11). EoE was linked to Crohn's disease (aHR=3.39 [95% CI 1.02-9.60]) but not to ulcerative colitis (aHR=1.37; 95% CI 0.38-4.86). Compared to their siblings, patients with EoE were at a 2.48-fold increased risk of IBD (aHR=2.48; 95% CI 0.92-6.70). Earlier IBD was 15 times more likely in EoE patients than in matched reference individuals (odds ratio, 15.39; 95% CI 7.68-33.59). In this nationwide cohort study, EoE was associated with a 3.5-fold increased risk of later IBD diagnosis. This risk increase may be due to shared genetic or early environmental risk factors, but also surveillance bias could play a role.

Efficacy of Fosfomycin against Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli Isolated from Patient Urinary Cultures in the General Reference Hospital of Niamey, Niger

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common patient infection and a major public health problem today. The rapid spread of antibiotic resistance genes in Enterobacterales, particularly in Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-E. coli), is compromising treatment with the antibiotics that are normally used. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of susceptibility of uropathogenic ESBL-producing E. coli to fosfomycin as an alternative treatment. A total of 3369 samples of urine were received and processed in the Bacteriology Laboratory of the Niamey General Reference Hospital (NGRH) throughout 2021. Synergy testing was performed for phenotypic detection of ESBLs, and fosfomycin sensibility of ESBLs-producing uropathogenic E. coli isolates were determined using the Viteck-2 system. Of the 280 enterobacteria identified in the urine samples, 104 Escherichia coli isolates were positive to the synergy test. The average age of the patients was 54 ± 17. The age range of 46–65 years was the most affected by these infections. The female patients predominated over the male ones, with a prevalence of 51.90%, a sex ratio of 1.08. The ESBL-producing E. coli isolates were 0.97% resistant to fosfomycin. Fosfomycin is highly effective against uropathogenic ESBL-producing E. coli isolates. It could be used as an alternative treatment for both uncomplicated and complicated urinary tract infections.

Tuning in Higher Education: Ten years on

When the first issue of the Tuning Journal for Higher Education was published in November 2013, the Tuning initiative had become of global significance, running projects in all continents. These all focussed on curriculum reform backed up by an internationally defined approach based on the paradigm of outcome based, that is, student-centred and active learning, in addition to agreed reference points. Around the same time, the Tuning aims and objectives were extended. This reset followed societal and technical developments. More emphasis was put on social inclusions, the involvement of students, identifying relevant topics, and to the development of practical tools. Also, more attention has been given to staff development responding to the notion that the modernisation of the higher education sector as well as the reform of degree programmes proved to be rather slow and a bit disappointing. To boost the process, Tuning – very recently - developed general Qualifications Reference Frameworks for all learning cycles as well as a Guideline to use these for Quality Assurance. For five disciplinary fields it also developed transnational diagnostic tests as a means to identify shortcomings in degree programmes, pushing for change. As a result, Tuning has reinvented itself to stay highly relevant for the years to come.

Clinics and Para clinics aspects of micronutrients deficient in elderly at General Reference Hospital of Niamey (Niger)

Introduction: Micronutrients are made up of vitamins, minerals and trace elements, their deficits in geriatrics patients are responsible for non-specific clinical signs leading to diseases or functional disabilities. The purpose was to describe the clinical and biology aspects of patients with micronutrient deficiency in the internal medicine and geriatrics department of the Niamey General Reference Hospital. Patient and methods: This was a longitudinal type cross-sectional study involving 88 patients during 15 months from June 30, 2021 to September 31, 2022. Results: A total of 88 patients, the average age was 78 years old [65 – 100 years old]. Common micronutrient deficiencies were: vitamin D (22.73%), hyponatremia (45%) and hypocalcemia (23%). The frequent clinical signs were of the musculoskeletal system in 63.6%, digestive system (45.4%). The denutrition rate was 36.3%, 61.3% loss of ability , 15.9% probable depression and 63.6% risk of falling. 37.5% had anemia including 30.6% microcytic and 35.2% hypochromic. There was a moderate alteration of renal function in 43.1% of cases. Conclusion: micronutrient deficiencies are characterized by a frequent Musculo skeletal signs, anemia and kidney disorders with non-specific etiology in context of limited micronutrient evidence in laboratory. So, this group of population should be sensibilize about appropriate nutrition to prevent those deficient.

Mining the Gap: Deriving Pregnancy Reference Intervals for Hematology Parameters Using Clinical Datasets.

Physiological changes during pregnancy invalidate use of general population reference intervals (RIs) for pregnant people. The complete blood count (CBC) is commonly ordered during pregnancy, but few studies have established pregnancy RIs suitable for contemporary Canadian mothers. Prospective RI studies are challenging to perform during pregnancy while retrospective techniques fall short as pregnancy and health status are not readily available in the laboratory information system (LIS). This study derived pregnancy RIs retrospectively using LIS data linked to provincial perinatal registry data. A 5-year healthy pregnancy cohort was defined from the British Columbia Perinatal Data Registry and linked to laboratory data from two laboratories. CBC and differential RIs were calculated using direct and indirect approaches. Impacts of maternal and pregnancy characteristics, such as age, body mass index, and ethnicity, on laboratory values were also assessed. The cohort contained 143 106 unique term singleton pregnancies, linked to >972 000 CBC results. RIs were calculated by trimester and gestational week. Result trends throughout gestation aligned with previous reports in the literature, although differences in exact RI limits were seen for many tests. Trimester-specific bins may not be appropriate for several CBC parameters that change rapidly within trimesters, including red blood cells (RBCs), some leukocyte parameters, and platelet counts. Combining information from comprehensive clinical databases with LIS data provides a robust and reliable means for deriving pregnancy RIs. The present analysis also illustrates limitations of using conventional trimester bins during pregnancy, supporting use of gestational age or empirically derived bins for defining CBC normal values during pregnancy.

Is full reparation in the constitutional context a fundamental right: general analytical references?

The history of law has shown us that although there are certain institutions that have appeared throughout its development in certain branches of law, it is no less true that in the course of its development other areas have incorporated them to their field of action. This is what presents the current situation of integral reparation in the constitutional context, which has conditioned its most elementary needs in its fulfillment of concrete designs like any other sector of the Law. Due to the characteristics of this juridical institution that starts in Private Law, but that nevertheless the constitutional law also takes it and imposes its own functions on it, we do not hesitate to affirm that reparation is a constitutional right.

Tolerance of jj ureteral endoprostheses using USSQ questionnaires in the urology department of the General Reference Hospital of Niamey

Tolerance of jj ureteral endoprostheses using USSQ questionnaires in the urology department of the General Reference Hospital of Niamey

Adaptive control of a linear first-order discrete-time system providing linear-like behaviour and asymptotic tracking

Adaptive control is an approach used to deal with systems having uncertain and/or time-varying parameters. In this paper, we consider the problem of designing an adaptive controller for a discrete-time first-order plant. Recently, Shahab et.al. considered this problem and proposed an approach which provides linear-like behaviour: exponential stability and a convolution bound on the input–output behaviour, together with robustness to slow time-variations and unmodelled dynamics. However, asymptotic tracking of a general reference signal was not provided. Here, we extend the aforementioned work with the aim to achieve asymptotic tracking while retaining linear-like closed-loop behaviour. We replace this uncertainty set with a pair of convex sets, one for each sign of the input gain, which enables us to use two parameter estimators — one for each convex set. We design these estimators using the modified version of the original projection algorithm. For each estimator, there is the corresponding one-step-ahead control law. A dynamic performance signal based switching rule is then adopted that decides which controller should be used at each time step. It is shown that the proposed approach preserves linear-like behaviour. In addition to that, we also have shown asymptotic trajectory tracking for two different circumstances: when the reference signal is asymptotically strongly persistently exciting of order two, and for a fairly general reference signal but the plant is unstable. Numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach.

Refinement of the NISECI ecological index reference conditions for Italian freshwater fish communities in the eastern Emilia-Romagna region

Following the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/CE (WFD), each member state of the European Union must monitor compliance of its rivers with ecological quality standards through biological quality indicators. The New Italian Index of the Ecological State of Fish Communities (NISECI) was developed in 2017 for the assessment of fish communities, as directed by the WFD in Italian freshwater habitats. According to the WFD, the general reference conditions (GRCs) of NISECI must be refined on a regional scale through new calculation of its metrics and sub-metrics. In the present study we used environmental and ichthyological data from 457 fish samplings distributed among 299 sampling sites within 84 different water bodies collected from 1995 to 2012 to develop: 1) new lists of expected species for six homogeneous zones identified in the Reno basin (Italy) and in the eastern regional basins of the Emilia-Romagna region; and 2) the threshold values for their species-specific abundance. Results were set as refined reference conditions (RRCs) for two of the metrics used in the application of the NISECI index in the study area (i.e. X1, relating to indigenous species and X2,b, for the abundance of expected species). The RRCs were tested by applying NISECI to 24 monitoring sites of the regional surface water monitoring network (i.e., ARPAE) and comparing the results with the application of NISECI using the GRCs. Furthermore, the analytical power of the refined NISECI was evaluated by relating the findings to three expert-based blind assessments of fish community ecological status. The results confirmed an increase in refined NISECI values and its higher consistency with expert-based assessment, supporting the validity of the presented method for RRC development and its potential for application in other regions.

IP Cameras Beyond Security: A Systematic Literature Review Examining Their Adoption and Potential in the Healthcare Industry

There is a growing interest of IP Camera usage in the healthcare industries. IP Cameras are now being used in healthcare including patient monitoring, healthcare, telemedicine, etc. This paper aims to determine the applications of the IP Camera in the healthcare industry including how it is used in these applications to serve as a tool for future researchers to understand how they can use IP cameras in their future endeavors. A total of 31 related literatures and studies published from 2019 to 2022 were gathered, all of which used IP cameras in their specific studies. A code for each study was created according to their specific application and use. Results show that IP cameras were mainly used in 12 applications, mostly for Deep Learning, Robotics, and COVID-19 Application. These cameras were also used in 7 roles, mainly remote monitoring, telemedicine, telerehabilitation, and capturing data for model training, testing, and use. Overall, this study showed that IP cameras play a crucial role in the healthcare industry and have the potential to improve and revolutionize the way healthcare services are delivered such as improving telemedicine and promoting the use of telerehabilitation. Future research includes examining the use of IP cameras in other industries, especially in smart home environments, how IP cameras are used in different deep learning algorithms, and analyzing the benefits and challenges of IP cameras in different applications. CCS CONCEPTS: CCS CONCEPTS -> General and reference ~ Document types ~ General literature ACM Reference Format: This block will be automatically generated when manuscripts are processed after acceptance.

Self-reported vitality and health status are higher in Dutch submariners than in the general population.

Living aboard submarines has a potential negative effect on health. Although studies have evaluated specific health hazards and short-term outcomes, long-term health effects have not been investigated in this population. Veteran submariners were contacted through the veterans' society and administered a World Health Organisation validated questionnaire (SF-36) assessing their physical, emotional, and social functioning. Scores were compared with those of the general (reference) population and scores in veteran submariners were differentiated by rank, time at sea and time in service. Statistical analyses were performed using the Wilcoxon signed rank and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Of the 1,025 submariners approached in December 2019, 742 (72.4%) completed and returned the questionnaire before July 2020. All 742 were men, of median age 68 (interquartile range [IQR] 59-76) years (range 34-99 years). Of these subjects, 10.3% were current smokers, 64.4% were former smokers and 23.7% had never smoked. Submariners scored significantly better (P < 0.001) than the general population on all eight domains of the SF-36. Except for 'pain' and 'change in health status over the last year', scores for all domains decreased with age. Scores were not significantly affected by smoking status, rank, service, and time at sea. Dutch veteran submariners have better self-reported vitality and health status than the general Dutch population. Rank, service, and time at sea did not significantly affect scores of Dutch submariners.