New Approach For Assessment Research Articles

A New Approach for Assessment of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Through Immunofluorescence Staining in Whole Blood Smears.

Neutrophils, constituting 50%-70% of circulating leukocytes, play crucial roles in host defense and exhibit anti-tumorigenic properties. An elevated peripheral blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio is associated with decreased survival rates in cancer patients. In response to exposure to various antigens, neutrophils release neutrophil granular proteins, which combine to form web-like structures known as neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Previously, the relative percentage of NETs was found to be increased in resected tumor tissue samples from patients with gastrointestinal malignancies. The presence of NETs in peripheral blood is indicative of underlying pathological conditions. Hence, employing a non-invasive method to detect NETs in peripheral blood, along with other diagnostic tests, shows potential as a valuable tool not just for identifying different inflammatory disorders but also for assessing disease severity and determining patient suitability for surgical resection. While reliable methods exist for identifying NETs in tissue, accurately quantifying them in whole blood remains challenging. Many previous methods are time-consuming and rely on a limited set of markers that are inadequate for fully characterizing NETs. Therefore, we established a unique sensitive smear immunofluorescence assay based on blood smears to identify NETs in only as little as 2 μL of whole blood. To identify the NET complexes that have enhanced specificities, this combines the use of various antibodies against neutrophil-specific CD15, NET-specific myeloperoxidase (MPO), citrullinated histone H3 (Cit H3), and nuclear DNA. This protocol offers an easy, affordable, rapid, and non-invasive method for identifying NETs; thus, it can be utilized as a diagnostic marker and targeted through various therapeutic approaches for treating human malignancies. Key features • Characterization of neutrophil extracellular traps in whole blood smears through immunofluorescence staining. • Affordable and quantitative approach to neutrophil extracellular trap detection.

Assessment of spawning stock for walleye pollock <i>Gadus chalcogrammus</i> Pallas, 1814 in the northern Okhotsk Sea by ichthyoplankton method taking into account the eggs mortality

A new approach for assessment of the spawning stock of walleye pollock in the northern Okhotsk Sea on the data of ichthyoplankton surveys is proposed. To estimate the actual number of spawned eggs, average age of eggs at each stage of development was determined and the eggs mortality was estimated in dependence on age. For the spring ichthyoplankton surveys in 2019–2023, the eggs mortality was evaluated as 27 % for stage I, 57 % for the stage II, 74 % for the stage III, and 86 % for the stage IV – these portions of the spawned eggs were not caught and counted. So, the number of counted eggs was in 1.7–2.1 times lower that the actual number of spawned eggs. The spawning stock biomass was amounted as 12.9 . 106 t in 2019–2023, on average, on the base of the actual number of eggs determined taking unto account the eggs mortality (while the biomass calculated from the counted number of eggs only would be 6.9 . 106 t). Results of the spawning stock estimation with this new method are comparable with the stock assessments by trawl surveys. The eggs number correction through mortality is recommended for calculation of the spawning stock for walleye pollock in the Okhotsk Sea using the ichthyoplankton method.

Comparison of End-to-End Neural Network Architectures and Data Augmentation Methods for Automatic Infant Motility Assessment Using Wearable Sensors

Infant motility assessment using intelligent wearables is a promising new approach for assessment of infant neurophysiological development, and where efficient signal analysis plays a central role. This study investigates the use of different end-to-end neural network architectures for processing infant motility data from wearable sensors. We focus on the performance and computational burden of alternative sensor encoder and time series modeling modules and their combinations. In addition, we explore the benefits of data augmentation methods in ideal and nonideal recording conditions. The experiments are conducted using a dataset of multisensor movement recordings from 7-month-old infants, as captured by a recently proposed smart jumpsuit for infant motility assessment. Our results indicate that the choice of the encoder module has a major impact on classifier performance. For sensor encoders, the best performance was obtained with parallel two-dimensional convolutions for intrasensor channel fusion with shared weights for all sensors. The results also indicate that a relatively compact feature representation is obtainable for within-sensor feature extraction without a drastic loss to classifier performance. Comparison of time series models revealed that feedforward dilated convolutions with residual and skip connections outperformed all recurrent neural network (RNN)-based models in performance, training time, and training stability. The experiments also indicate that data augmentation improves model robustness in simulated packet loss or sensor dropout scenarios. In particular, signal- and sensor-dropout-based augmentation strategies provided considerable boosts to performance without negatively affecting the baseline performance. Overall, the results provide tangible suggestions on how to optimize end-to-end neural network training for multichannel movement sensor data.

Consensus Meeting Report "Technology Enhanced Assessment" in Covid-19 Time, MENA Regional Experiences and Reflections.

PurposeMajority of the assessments, appraisals and placements have been disturbed, with some being cancelled, postponed, or modified in design. New approaches for assessment should be well-thought-out. This work attempts at capturing the collective wisdom of educators in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), providing an understanding of the online assessment conceptual framework in the era of COVID-19 that tells the story rather than determining cause and effect, and identifying the biggest gaps that derail the digital transformation.MethodsA qualitative inductive study using the grounded theory approach was implemented following a synchronous virtual online meeting, a summary of the reflections as well as experiences of medical education experts was prepared. Data for this qualitative study were collected from the meeting. The meeting was video-recorded and transcribed by the researchers. Thematic analysis was performed by three separate researcher coders. The authors then discussed together until they reached a consensus.ResultsThree main thematic areas were identified: 1) feasibility, 2) exam fairness/equity and 3) acceptable graduate attributes, society/community acceptance.ConclusionThe COVID-19 era necessitated revisiting of our assessment strategies to cope with new changes within the available context. Rapid adaptation is required.

Serum testosterone and its binding globulin during senescence

Purpose: The aim of this work is to analyze age-related changes in providing tissues with steroid hormones (androgens [A], mainly testosterone [T]) by means of specific steroid transport protein of the blood (testosterone-binding globulin, [TeBG]) and to propose new informative approach for reliable early diagnostics of impending hypogonadism in elderly men. Methods: Methods are analytical. Results and conclusions: Authors develop new approach for assessment of age-related physiological changes in supply of steroids (in particular T) by specific transporting them testosterone-binding globulin (TeBG). This work substantiates the following statements: a) existing common beliefs about circulating A (including ‘exchangeable’ and ‘free’ testosterone levels – [Texch], [Tfree]) do not match their true state of affairs concerning presence, interaction, interchange and transmission of А into target cells; b) blood pool of ‘ТeBG-Т-ТeBG’-complex should correctly be called the ‘functional Т-dimer’ (FTD); c) venous blood FTD-content ‘mirrors’ the ‘potentially active’ (bioavailable) testosterone molecules conc. ([Tact]) in arterial blood (i. e. which capable to be transferred into target cells from capillaries, [Tact] = [FTD] ); d) age-dependent rise in circulation of ‘nonfunctional’ TeBG-molecules (ТеBGnf) caused by accumulation with age the ‘senescence factor’ which inhibits needed FTD-formation; e) [FTD]- measurements can be useful for early diagnosis of impending hypogonadism in elderly men

New approach for assessment of environmental effects based on entropy optimization of jet engine

Aircraft engines are the main emission source of the aviation industry and this is a result of the entropy formation that occurs due to the combustion performance of engines. Entropy generation resulting from the irreversibility of engines increases environmental pollution due to inefficient fuel consumption. It is important to develop understandable and applicable criteria other than emission factors to examine the environmental sustainability of these processes and make impact assessments. In this study, first, the energy performance of a jet engine was investigated depending on the second law of thermodynamics. Then, different from the literature, an environmental impact assessment was made based on two criteria developed in this study. In addition, efficiency and environmental indicators were examined considering the improvement potential, and evaluated according to the criteria. According to the analysis, it was seen that the entropy production of the engine produces a very high pollution potential, according to the defined Carnot efficiency, but this effect can be significantly reduced with the improvement potential. It was also found that this potential effect of the jet engine, depending on the defined factor, has a higher effect of 128% when ideal conditions are taken into account. At the end of the study, possible effects of the improvement potential were evaluated and some suggestions were made in terms of environmental impact.

Modern possibilities of radiological diagnosis of bladder cancer

Bladder cancer is one of the most severe and common diseases of genitourinary organs. According to WHO statistics, bladder cancer is the tenth in cancer morbidity structure and the 13th in cancer mortality structure in the world. In Russia, bladder cancer is 11th in cancer morbidity structure and 16th in cancer mortality structure. In most cases, bladder cancer is diagnosed at 6574 years of age. The 5-year survival rate for stage IV bladder cancer is about 15%. Early detection, correct staging, and management of the patient influence the prognosis and further quality of life. This review shows detection and staging methods of bladder cancer, staging categories based on multiparametric magnetic-resonance imaging with the use of Vesical Imaging-Reporting and Data System (VI-RADS). Illustrations and a brief overview of alternative visualization methods of bladder lesions, and new approaches in assessment of digital medical images, radiomics and radiogenomics, are presented. In the future, these methods should help to determine the biological characteristics of the tumor without taking a biopsy.

Cisplatin alkylating activity in zebrafish causes resistance to chorionic degradation and inhibition of osteogenesis

Zebrafish have gained popularity as a model organism due to their rapid, external, and transparent development, high fecundity, and gene homology with higher vertebrate models and humans. Specifically, drug discovery has had high success in the implementation of zebrafish in studies for target discovery, efficacy, and toxicity. However, a major limitation of the zebrafish model is a dependence on waterborne exposure in order to maintain high throughput capabilities. Dose delivery can be impeded by a matrix of N-linked glycoproteins and other polypeptides called the chorion. This acelluar barrier is protective of the developing embryo, and thus new approaches for assessment have involved their removal. In these studies, we explored the chorionic interference of a well-characterized alkylating chemotherapeutic, cisplatin, known to accumulate in the chorion of zebrafish and cause delayed hatching. Our results indicated that increased exposure of cisplatin due to dechorionation did not alter morphological endpoints, although retained confinement reduced total body length and yolk utilization. Additionally, inhibition of osteogenesis visualized with Alizarian Red staining, was observable in dechorionated and non-dechorionated treatment groups. The chorions of cisplatin-treated embryos showed resistance to degradation unless treated with a pronase solution. This may be may be due to cisplatin covalently crosslinking which reinforces the structure. As such, the chorion may play an advantageous role in studies to determine alkylating activity of novel compounds. Furthermore, the expression of zebrafish hatching enzyme was not affected by cisplatin exposure. These studies demonstrate that not only was recapitulation of mechanistic activity supported in zebrafish, but highly relevant off-target toxicities observed in higher vertebrates were identified in zebrafish, regardless of chorionation. Experimental design in drug discovery should consider preliminary studies without dechorionation in order to determine dose impediment or off-target adducting.

New approach for assessment of positive streamer penetration of long air gaps under impulse voltages

The paper comprises a new systematic approach to determine the critical ambient field needed for positive streamer propagation in nonuniform field gaps. It is shown that such critical streamer penetration field is a function of the basic value previously established for uniform field gaps and the degree of ambient field nonuniformity. The latter quantity is defined by the ratio of the maximum to mean ambient electric fields along the streamer propagation path, which can be determined either analytically or by charge simulation. Such functional dependence of the critical streamer penetration gradient on field nonuniformity has been determined for different rod topologies of rod-plane gap as well as for single and bundle conductor plane gaps. The model is used to determine critical streamer penetration fields and streamer lengths under different impulse voltage levels for different gap configurations and for a tall ground structure exposed to ambient impulse field. The findings of this method are compared to available experimental results and the agreement is found satisfactory.

Applications of ultrasonic testing and machine learning methods to predict the static & fatigue behavior of spot-welded joints

Ultrasonic Testing (UT) is one of the well-known Non-Destructive Techniques (NDT) of spot-weld inspection in the advanced industries, especially in automotive industry. However, the relationship between the UT results and strength of the spot-welded joints subjected to various loading conditions is unknown. The main purpose of this research is to present an integrated search system as a new approach for assessment of tensile strength and fatigue behavior of the spot-welded joints. To this end, Resistance Spot Weld (RSW) specimens of three-sheets were made of different types of low carbon steel. Afterward, the ultrasonic tests were carried out and the pulse-echo data of each sample were extracted utilizing Image Processing Technique (IPT). Several experiments (tensile and axial fatigue tests) were performed to study the mechanical properties of RSW joints of multiple sheets. The novel approach of the present research is to provide a new methodology for static strength and fatigue life assessment of three-sheets RSW joints based on the UT results by utilizing Artificial Neural Network (ANN) simulation. Next, Genetic Algorithm (GA) was used to optimize the structure of ANN. This approach helps to decrease the number of tests and the cost of performing destructive tests with appropriate reliability.

Tau Angle: A New Approach for Assessment of True Sagittal Maxillomandibular Relationship.

AimThe orthodontic treatment planning relies on correct diagnosis of skeletal discrepancy, which demands accurate and precise cephalometric parameters. This study proposed an angle, which is based on unvarying cephalometric points and gives a true sagittal skeletal maxillomandibular relationship.Materials and methodsThe present study was conducted on 279 individuals (13–30 years), which were divided into three groups (class I, II, and III skeletal malocclusion) depending on beta, wits, and ANB (A point, Nasion, B point) angles. Tau angle was measured, which lied at the junction of lines connecting the points T to G and G to M. ANOVA and the Dunnett T3 post hoc test were used to discern difference between three skeletal patterns. The gender difference in each skeletal pattern was found using the unpaired Student's t-test. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves determined the Tau angle's sensitivity and specificity to differentiate among skeletal patterns.ResultsThe Tau angle between 28° and 34° suggests a skeletal class I malocclusion; values below 28° show a class III skeletal pattern and above 34° suggest skeletal class II pattern.ConclusionTau angle gives a true sagittal skeletal relationship, which depends on stable landmarks and is unaffected by rotation of jaws in vertical dimension due to growth or orthodontic therapy.Clinical significanceTau angle provides a demarcation among three skeletal malocclusions, which can be an important tool for treatment planning in pediatric patients having both anteroposterior and vertical dentofacial discrepancies.How to cite this articleGupta P, Singh N, Tripathi T, et al. Tau Angle: A New Approach for Assessment of True Sagittal Maxillomandibular Relationship. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2020;13(5):497–500.

New approaches in assessment of competitiveness of products

In market conditions of business development a huge role is given to maintaining the competitiveness of the organization, measures that promote in due time to changes in consumer preferences in the framework of improving consumer properties of products. Abroad benchmarking is one of the most common methods of assessing the competitiveness of organization in comparison with competing organizations that produce similar products. Benchmarking shows how other firms achieve the best results in the market being the object attention of marketing research. There are various approaches in studying of business processes and in particular estimations of consumer indicators of goods in benchmarking. One of them is the graphic method which is expressed in creation of an area chart – “rose of technical level” and definition of the complex indicator of product technical level (defining competitive advantages of products in comparison with similar goods).In submitted article we offer improving earlier developed method of calculation of a complex indicator of product technical level “Roses of technical level”. The technique offered in the article is more universal and can be used for assessment of competitiveness of products of various industries. Due to the reduction of unit of measure of all considered products indicators to uniform value, the quantity of these indicators can be significant. Both the priority of consumer properties of products and external factors that affect the preference of buyer upon purchase is also considered in this article.

Sustainability of innovative urban surfaces – a new approach of assessment

The physical design of urban surfaces determines the management processes that are required to ensure that their intended functions are fulfilled within a set period of time and influences their linked material flows. Those flows are causing numerous environmental, economic, and social impacts. In the field of urban surfaces, there is a broad variety of innovations available that has the potential to contribute to a more sustainable environment and quality of life in cities. However, before implementing any kind of innovation, it is important to quantitatively and qualitatively assess its sustainability impacts in a holistic manner. While current assessment methods provide a suitable framework for the sustainability assessment of products and services, without modification, they cannot be applied to urban surfaces and related management processes.The herein introduced methodological approach is designed to overcome this problem by not only being tailored to the sustainability assessment of innovations in the field of urban surfaces but also by combining life cycle thinking with a holistic approach. By integrating SDGs, it will provide insight into the possible impacts of an innovation in all three dimensions of sustainability at the municipal level. This knowledge can be used to support the municipality in its decision on the design of urban surfaces and management processes by showing whether or not it is advisable to implement an innovation from a sustainability point of view. The focus of this publication is on the development of a general life cycle of urban surfaces and its interaction with product innovations.

Stochastic assessment and enhancement of voltage stability in multi carrier energy systems considering wind power

Voltage instability is one of the main problems of power systems operation. Hence, voltage stability margin is kept within a sufficient range by several costly procedures such as load shedding. Coupling the electrical and natural gas systems by energy hub is a useful way to keep system voltage within a proper range following contingencies in the system. This paper proposes a new approach for assessment and enhancement of the power system voltage stability in the presence of wind power generation, as well as electrical and heat demands uncertainty. A stochastic programming method is adopted to handle the uncertainties of the wind power generation and demands. The proposed methodology shows that coupled operation of the electrical and gas systems in the presence of renewable resources can provide flexibility for the system along with a decrease in the operational cost in both regular cases and post-contingency conditions. In comparison with previous methods to enhance the power system voltage stability, in the proposed model the natural gas system could help power system to supply electrical demand without any voltage stability problem, where there is no load curtailment in some contingencies while in other cases, load curtailment is reduced dramatically which results in undeniable reduction of the total operation cost. Load margin is considered as voltage stability index, and the proposed framework is implemented on the IEEE 14-bus electrical system and 17-node natural gas system to indicate its applicability and appropriateness.

New approach for assessment of Wistar Hannover male rats reproductive toxicity

New approach for assessment of Wistar Hannover male rats reproductive toxicity

In vivo imaging system for explants analysis-A new approach for assessment of cell transplantation effects in large animal models.

IntroductionDespite spectacular progress in cellular transplantology, there are still many concerns about the fate of transplanted cells. More preclinical studies are needed, especially on large animal models, to bridge the translational gap between basic research and the clinic. Herein, we propose a novel approach in analysis of cell transplantation effects in large animals explants using in vivo imaging system (IVIS®) or similar equipment.Material and methodsIn the in vitro experiment cells labeled with fluorescent membrane dyes: DID (far red) or PKH26 (orange) were visualized with IVIS®. The correlation between the fluorescence signal and cell number with or without addition of minced muscle tissue was calculated. In the ex vivo study urethras obtained from goats after intraurethral cells (n = 9) or PBS (n = 4) injections were divided into 0.5 cm cross-slices and analyzed by using IVIS®. Automatic algorithm followed or not by manual setup was used to separate specific dye signal from tissue autofluorescence. The results were verified by systematic microscopic analysis of standard 10 μm specimens prepared from slices before and after immunohistochemical staining. Comparison of obtained data was performed using diagnostic test function.ResultsFluorescence signal strength in IVIS® was directly proportional to the number of cells regardless of the dye used and detectable for minimum 0.25x106 of cells. DID-derived signal was much less affected by the background signal in comparison to PKH26 in in vitro test. Using the IVIS® to scan explants in defined arrangement resulted in precise localization of DID but not PKH26 positive spots. Microscopic analysis of histological specimens confirmed the specificity (89%) and sensitivity (80%) of IVIS® assessment relative to DID dye. The procedure enabled successful immunohistochemical staining of specimens derived from analyzed slices.ConclusionsThe IVIS® system under appropriate conditions of visualization and analysis can be used as a method for ex vivo evaluation of cell transplantation effects. Presented protocol allows for evaluation of cell delivery precision rate, enables semi-quantitative assessment of signal, preselects material for further analysis without interfering with the tissue properties. Far red dyes are appropriate fluorophores to cell labeling for this application.

Progress in preoperative evaluation methods regarding cytoreduction in patients with advanced ovarian cancer

Primary cytoreductive surgery followed by platinum-based chemotherapy represents the standard treatment for patients with advanced ovarian cancer. But some patients with advanced ovarian cancer still have suboptimal residual disease after the primary debulking surgery. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been suggested as an alternative strategy to achieve no residual disease. It is important to find methods to estimate the likelihood that cytoreductive surgery will leave no residual disease. A number of studies have evaluated the use of serologic markers (such as CA-125), imaging modalities (such as CT, PETCT, MRI), and laparoscopic surgery to determine which patients are ideal predictors for neoadjuvant chemotherapy. As a new approach of assessment for preoperative evaluation regarding cytoreduction, laparoscopic surgery deserves further research.

Sustainable shear: a new approach for assessment of lower limb vascular function?

Sustainable shear: a new approach for assessment of lower limb vascular function?

A new approach for assessment of glass transition temperature of acrylic and methacrylic polymers from structure of their monomers without using any computer codes

This work introduces a simple correlation to assess glass transition temperature of acrylic and methacrylic polymers from monomer structure without using any computer code. This method is based on only suitable combination of elemental composition and some molecular fragments present in repeating unit structure. It can be applied for different acrylic and methacrylic polymer derivatives such as alkyl, aminoalkyl, cyanoalkyl, fluoroalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, nitratoalkyl, oxaalkyl, sulfinylalkyl, thiaalkyl, cyanooxaalkyl, cyano-thiaalkyl, fluorooxaalkyl and hydroxyoxaalkyl (meth)acrylate polymers. The root-mean-square deviations of the model from the 130 experimental data are 9.76 and 11.12 K for the training and test sets, respectively. In contrast to available methods, which are based on complex molecular descriptors and specific computer codes, glass transition temperatures of acrylic and methacrylic polymers can be easily calculated.

Using Single-Channel Blind Deconvolution to Choose the Most Realistic Pharmacokinetic Model in Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MR Imaging

In dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, there has been no consensus in the choice of the pharmacokinetic model. In this paper, a new approach for assessment of the most realistic model for a given tissue is presented. Non-blind and single-channel blind deconvolution algorithms were used in quantitative magnetic resonance dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging of the mouse masseter muscle to compare the realism of two different pharmacokinetic models for the tissue residue function. The first was the adiabatic approximation tissue homogeneity model (aaJW) and the second, the two-compartment exchange model (2CXM). Normals and mice treated with the substance C48/80 were studied. C48/80 increases both blood flow and contrast leakage in muscle substantially. The obtained approximation accuracy was evaluated for both pharmacokinetic models. In addition, the arterial input functions (aifs) estimated using blind deconvolution were compared to the corresponding observed aifs. The hypothesis is that the most realistic model of the tissue residue function leads to the best fits. The non-blind deconvolution did not result in any clear answer. For blind deconvolution, the aifs of the aaJW model were very similar to the corresponding observed aifs, and clearly more so than the aifs of the 2CXM model. Also, the approximation of the observed tracer time sequences was more accurate for the aaJW than the 2CXM model. The realism of different pharmacokinetic models in describing the passage of a tracer through a microvascular bed of a single tissue could be assessed using single-channel blind deconvolution.