Number Of Populations Research Articles

A 13-YEAR TREND OF THE ABUSE OF OLDER PEOPLE IN SOUTH KOREA

Abstract Compared to the growing number of the older population in South Korea, there is a scarcity of literature investigating issues about the abuse of older people, as well as effective prevention programs. To fill this gap, this study aimed to identify annual changes in patterns of the abuse of older people including the number of reported abuse cases; the type of abuse; and the characteristics of the subject. Data were drawn from the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS), the public national statistical database. The present study used 13-year data during the period of 2008-2020. Descriptive analyses were conducted via SPSS. The number of abuse cases has increased every year from 2,369 in 2008 to 6,259 in 2020 and 10% of the reported cases in 2020 were repeated cases. The most common type of abuse reported was psychological abuse followed by physical abuse and neglect over 13 years. Physical abuse increased substantially from 22.4% to 40.0%. The majority of subjects are consistently women, accounting for 68.4% in 2008 and 75.3% in 2020. One in fourth of the subjects are older people living with dementia in 2020. Considering the serious impact of abuse including depression and suicide, abuse of older people is no longer a single individual or family problem. To protect the older population and improve their rights in society, collaborative efforts are critical. Micro-level movements such as increasing social awareness and national-level initiatives such as implementing policies and developing relevant legislation should be necessary.

Eosinophils at diagnosis are elevated in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare, devastating neurodegenerative disease that affects upper and lower motor neurons. To date, no effective treatment or reliable biomarker for ALS has been developed. In recent years, many factors have been proposed as possible biomarkers of ALS; however, no consensus has been reached. Therefore, a reliable biomarker is urgently needed. Eosinophils may play a crucial role in healthy humans and diseases, and serve as a biomarker for many chronic diseases. Routine blood test results were collected from 66 healthy controls and 59 patients with ALS. The percentages and total numbers of each cell population were analyzed, and the correlation between these indicators and patient ALS functional rating scale-revised (ALSFRS-R) score or disease progression rate (ΔFS score) was analyzed. Compared to healthy controls, the number of blood leukocytes, neutrophils, monocytes, and basophils was significantly decreased in patients with ALS (p = 0.002, p = 0.001, p = 0.049, and p < 0.0001, respectively). There was an increase in the number of eosinophils (p < 0.0001), but no difference in the number of lymphocytes between patients with ALS and healthy controls was found (p = 0.563). Compared to healthy controls, the percentage of neutrophils was decreased and the percentage of lymphocytes and eosinophils was increased in patients with ALS (p = 0.01, p = 0.012, and p = 0.001, respectively). There was no difference between patients with ALS and healthy controls in the percentage of monocytes and basophils (p = 0.622 and p = 0.09, respectively). However, only the percentage and number of eosinophils had a correlation with the ΔFS score. Further multivariate analysis revealed a significant correlation between the disease duration, eosinophil count and percentage, and the disease progression rate (p < 0.0001, p = 0.048, and p = 0.023, respectively). The neutrophil-to-eosinophil ratio (NER), lymphocyte-to-eosinophil ratio (LER), and monocyte-to-eosinophil ratio (MER) were significantly lower in patients with ALS than in healthy controls. However, only the LER was significantly correlated with the ΔFS score. These observations implicate neutrophils, lymphocytes, and eosinophils as important factors, and increasing eosinophil counts were negatively correlated with the ΔFS score in patients with ALS.

&amp;gt;ADVOCATING FOR ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE OLDER ADULT DRIVING LONGEVITY

Abstract To age-in-place, older adults need to access their community. As most older adults live in suburban/rural areas, driving is the primary and preferred means of mobility. While recent research has shown that drivers in the seventies have fewer crashes than middle-aged drivers, it is likely due to less exposure. However, it demonstrates that driving decisions need to be based on function, not age. Moreover, with the aging population and increase numbers of older adults with cognitive impairment and/or slowed processing speed, other strategies are needed to preserve and lengthen the driving lifetime. While efforts for developing alternative transportation options are working in some places, rural areas lack the infrastructure and potential for public transportation or volunteer programs beyond medical necessity. This presentation will present some roadway engineering proven countermeasures and community strategies that can protect and benefit aging drivers so they can drive longer while reducing crash risk. Stepping outside the typical gerontological community, this presenter became a contributing member of their state’s highway safety five-year plan. As an older driver advocate, I was successful in achieving older adults as an “emphasis” area in the present plan. For the next five-year plan, researching engineering solutions was deemed essential to advocate for specific strategies that protect both aging drivers and pedestrians. Since every state is required have a five-year plan for highway safety to receive federal funding, the presenter will outline successful strategies to participate in innovative ways for improving safety such as influencing engineering and department of motor vehicles partners.

Legal, scientific, informational and ideological measures to ensure sustainable use of wildlife objects: russian and foreign experience

This article deals with the ecological education as an important means in the process of animal world preser-vation. Legal education is supposed to form a high level of legal awareness and legal culture among citizens and society. The result of legal education should be regarded in knowledge, citizens’ respectful attitude to the current legislation. According to this article, a high level of legal culture and legal education will allow everyone to realize the need to preserve the biodiversity of wild animals for the present and future generations. Based on the analysis of certain provisions of the legislation on the animal world and law enforcement practice, the article states that there is no comprehensive system of legal measures for the sustainable use of wildlife in Russia. The legal, economic, ideological, organizational measures proposed in this article will make it possible to achieve such use of the animal world that will preserve and increase the number of wild animal popula-tions, maintain ecological balance, and ensure satisfaction of the needs of present and future generations in a favorable environment. The measures proposed will create a legal basis for sustainable management of the animal world. These measures will be useful in the development of national programs for the sustainable use of wildlife, strengthening the dialogue of the authorities with the population to involve them in the process of sustainable use of wildlife objects in order to ensure a balance of economic, environmental and social interests.

A Numerical Simulation Study and Effectiveness Evaluation on the Flow Field Effect of Trapezoidal Artificial Reefs in Different Layouts

The combined release of artificial reefs in different quantities and arrangements leads to different flow field effects. This study designs a small trapezoidal artificial reef. To optimize the quantity and layout of these reefs, trapezoidal reefs in three different layouts were selected for analysis at five different velocity gradients (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 m/s). The effects of disposal spacing and layout on the flow field effect of trapezoidal artificial reefs at different flow velocities were simulated using Ansys Fluent. According to the findings: after simulation, flow velocity could indirectly reflect the distribution of upwelling and back eddy, the scale and strength of upwelling increased as flow velocity increased, and the back eddy showed no obvious variation with flow velocity. In transverse combination mode, both the scale and strength of the upwelling and back eddy were maximized when the reef spacing was 1.0 L; in longitudinal combination mode, upwelling and back eddy reached maximum scale and strength when the disposal spacing of the reefs was 1.5 L of a single reef. In 2020, flow mapping and fishery surveys were carried out in the engineering pilot area. The results showed that the number and species of fish populations with 1.5 L spacing in the vertical combination method were significantly higher than those in other forms, and the structure of the fish reef was stable without any flipping or sliding phenomenon. This study can provide a theoretical reference for the design and the actual deployment of artificial reefs to improve the ecological restoration of the water.

Владимир Георгиевич Ищенко (1938 – 2021) – памяти екатеринбургского петербуржца

This paper is dedicated to the history of the life path and scientific biography of Vladimir Georgievich Ishchenko, the founder of the national amphibian population ecology. He was born in 1938 and formed as a biologist in Leningrad, where he took his first steps in science under the guidance of Pavel Viktorovich Terentyev. In 1961, after graduating from the university, he moved to work in Sverdlovsk, at the Institute of Biology of the Ural Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, where he rose from a laboratory assistant to a leading researcher, Doctor of Biological Sciences and worked until his retirement on November 30, 2018. It was in Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg from 1723 to 1924 and after 1991) Vladimir Georgievich for a long period (39 years of regular continuous monitoring), conducted research to study the dynamics of the number and age structure of the amphibian population (pointed frog) in the Urals. The area of scientific interests of Vladimir Georgievich covered population ecology, genetic diversity, phylogeny and taxonomy of animals, the state of populations and the protection of the animal world. His work has made a significant contribution to understanding the ecological mechanisms of ontogeny regulation in animals.

Biological Selenium Nanoparticles in Quail Nutrition: Biosynthesis and its Impact on Performance, Carcass, Blood Chemistry, and Cecal Microbiota.

This study was conducted to examine the influence of dietary supplementation of biological nano-selenium (BNSe) on productive performance, hematology, blood chemistry, antioxidant status, immune response, cecal microbiota, and carcass traits of quails. In total, 180 Japanese quails (1week old) were randomly allocated into four groups, with five replicates of nine chicks each in a complete randomized design. The 1st group was fed a control diet without BNSe, and the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th treatments were fed diets supplemented with BNSe (0.2, 0.4, and 0.6g /kg feed, respectively). The best level of BNSe in body weight (BW) and body weight gain (BWG) parameters was 0.4g/kg diet. Feed conversion was improved (P < 0.01) by adding BNSe in quail feed compared with the basal diet without any supplementation. The inclusion of different BNSe levels (0.2, 0.4, 0.6g/kg) exhibited an insignificant influence on all carcass traits. The dietary addition of BNSe (0.4 and 0.6g/kg) significantly augmented aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity (P = 0.0127), total protein and globulin (P < 0.05), white blood cells (WBCs) (P = 0.031), and red blood cells (RBCs) (P = 0.0414) compared with the control. The dietary BNSe supplementation significantly improved lipid parameters, antioxidant and immunological indices, and increased selenium level in the blood (P < 0.05). BNSe significantly increased (P = 0.0003) lactic acid bacteria population number and lowered the total number of yeasts, molds, total bacterial count, E. coli, Coliform, Salmonella, and Enterobacter (P < 0.0001). In conclusion, adding BNSe up to 0.4 and 0.6g/kg can boost the growth, lactic acid bacteria population number, hematology, immunological indices, antioxidant capacity, and lipid profile, as well as decline intestinal pathogens in growing quail.

Development of rural areas in the context of implementation of agricultural policy

The socio-economic development of rural areas of Kazakhstan is largely determined by the magnitude and degree of use of potential, effectiveness of which largely depends on optimal combination of its constituent elements involved in economic turnover. The main directions of modern social policy are to improve the quality of life and modernize the national economy to ensure the required level of income for the rural population. The goal is to develop methodological provisions for a holistic assessment of the state and prospects for increasing the internal reserves of rural areas. Methods – comparative and system analysis, statistical-economic, logical generalization. Results – it is noted that target indicators are key indicators: level of agro-industrial production per capita, employment, average monthly wages of rural residents, the size of capital investments, consumer prices, environmental well-being. The authors focus on the importance of improving engineering and logistics infrastructure, expanding the capabilities of border rural settlements, uniting small farms and organizing agricultural cooperatives, allowing farmers to reduce costs for fertilizers, fuels and lubricants, feed, increase the volume of production through the sharing of land, agricultural machinery, stable sales of goods. Conclusions - the Concept for the Development of Rural Territories of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2023-2027 provides for a number of measures to involve villagers in local self-government, provide state support, spread agritourism, stimulate exports, ensure environmental safety and, in general, aimed at the systemic restructuring of the Kazakh village, where a significant number of rural population with high opportunities for sustainable growth. Such organizational and managerial approaches help solve the demographic situation and investment attractiveness of rural areas.

Newborn Screening for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency: Lessons Learned from Screening and Follow-Up of the Preterm Newborn Population.

Newborn screening (NBS) for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) by measurement of T-cell receptor excision circles (TRECs) successfully identifies newborns with SCID and severe T-cell lymphopenia, as intended. At the same time, NBS programs face the challenge of false positive results, with a disproportionately high number in the premature newborn population. This study evaluates TREC values and SCID screening outcomes in premature newborns and elucidates evidence-based SCID screening practices that reduce unnecessary follow-up activities in this population. De-identified individual SCID newborn screening data and aggregate SCID screening data were obtained from seven states across the US for babies born between 2018 and 2020. Relevant statistics were performed on data pooled from these states to quantify screening performance metrics and clinical impact on various birth and gestational age categories of newborns. The data were normalized using multiples-of-the-median (MoM) values to allow for the aggregation of data across states. The aggregation of NBS data across a range of NBS programs highlighted the trajectory of TREC values over time, both between and within newborns, and provides evidence for improved SCID screening recommendations in the premature and low birth weight population.

Russian City in Manchuria through the Eyes of the Minister of War: A.N. Kuropatkin’s Visit to Harbin in 1903

The author considers the history of Russian Imperial Minister of War A.N. Kuropatkin’s visit to Harbin in 1903. The study is based on the Minister's diaries which he kept during the trip, a set of documents he built during the trip, as well as his official report written after the trip. The documents are stored in the Russian State Military Historical Archive (RGVIA) and have been used for the for the first time for historical research in this article. A. N. Kuropatkin visited the new Russian city which was under construction in Manchuria from 1898 as part of his trip to the Far East, and described in detail his inspection of the city, as well as its quay, military barracks, and civil facilities, as well as the maneuvers of the troops of the Harbin garrison and border guards. The study gives a description of the barracks accommodation of the troops in the city and the problems of organizing barracks construction at that time. It is noted that A.N. Kuropatkin considered Harbin as the most important commercial and strategic center of northern Manchuria. The article provides data on the number and national composition of the city population, as well as a description of the first time the Russian Minister of War negotiated with the Chinese governor-general of the Jilin province. The studied material illustrates A.N. Kuropatkin’s understanding of the impossibility of organizing the management of the non-Russian population of the region without preserving authority the Chinese local officials and therefore there was a need to establish close cooperation with them. It is also pointed out the Minister of War had hoped increase the coordination of representatives of the Russians at the local level including Russia’s local military, diplomatic, and financial departments. A.N. Kuropatkin’s in his conclusions shows his conviction of the relative ineffectiveness of exclusively peaceful penetration into Manchuria without support by military force, a discovery which prompted him to actively engage in the further development of Harbin’s military infrastructure.

Register-based census in Thailand: A case study in Chachoengsao province

The use of registers has been increasingly popular in the field of population census because of its advantages over the traditional census. While the traditional census requires a large amount of fieldwork and data collection, the registered-based census can rely on pre-existing administrative data. As a result, the register-based census can save both time and budget. Thailand explored a use of the register-based census in 2020. In this paper, the authors layout the methodology in an aspect of data preparation and integration as well as analyze data quality of the register-based census compared with the traditional census in Chachoengsao province, Thailand. In addition, we compared conceptual frameworks that are commonly used for a register-based census in several countries and the number of databases (a recent single database VS multiple databases) used to construct the register-based census. We found that using a conceptual framework that counts the number of populations based on the main census variables on a single recent database is better than using a framework that counts population who appears on many registers in term of overcoverage and data distribution regarding to sex. This provides the evidence of using one recent and complete database is sufficient for conducting the register-based census. The authors end up with recommendations for conducing the register-based census.

Incidence of Acanthamoeba Keratitis in the United Kingdom in 2015: A Prospective National Survey.

The aims of this study were to quantify the incidence of Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) in the United Kingdom and investigate risk factors and management parameters. This was a prospective population-based study from January to December 2015 through the British Ophthalmic Surveillance Unit. Data were collected on demographics, clinical features, and management. Incidence rates were calculated from estimates of population and contact lens (CL) user numbers. Statistical analysis compared annualized incidences per million and altered risk ratios for AK with the England and Wales 24 months 1997/1998 to 1998/1999 study. The study identified 124 AK cases, an overall incidence of 2.35 per million. CL wearers accounted for 108 of 124 cases (87%), in whom the AK incidence was 26.94 per million. Herpes keratitis was initially misdiagnosed in 25 of 124 cases (20.2%). The highest incidence of AK was among planned replacement soft CL (PRSCL) wearers (50.65 per million), 7-fold greater than for daily disposable CL (DDSCL) users (7.24 per million). There was a significant increase in AK incidence ( P < 0.001) compared with both 1997/1998 [risk ratio 1.92, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.38-2.66] and 1998/1999 (risk ratio 2.13, 95% CI 1.52-2.98) together with a higher incidence per million CL users of 26.94 versus 21.14 (1997/1998) and 17.53 (1998/1999). This study provides the first published data on the nationwide incidence of AK in the United Kingdom. The findings confirm an increasing incidence of AK, particularly among contact lens wearers since 1997/1998 to 1998/1999. PRSCLs were identified as a significant risk factor compared with DDSCLs. Misdiagnosis and treatment delays remain an ongoing problem for patients with AK.

Geospatially clustered low COVID-19 vaccine rates among adolescents in socially vulnerable US counties

COVID-19 vaccinations are widely available across the United States (U.S.), yet little is known about the spatial clustering of COVID-19 vaccinations. This study aimed to test for geospatial clustering of COVID-19 vaccine rates among adolescents aged 12–17 across the U.S. counties and to compare these clustering patterns by sociodemographic characteristics.County-level data on COVID-19 vaccinations and sociodemographic characteristics were obtained from the COVID-19 Community Profile Report up to April 14, 2022. A total of 3,108 counties were included in the analysis. Global Moran’s I statistic and Anselin Local Moran’s analysis were used, and clustering patterns were compared to sociodemographic variables using t-tests. Counties with low COVID-19 vaccinated clusters were more likely, when compared to unclustered counties, to have higher numbers of individuals in poverty and uninsured individuals, and higher values of Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index (CCVI). While high COVID-19 vaccinated clusters, compared to neighboring counties, had lower numbers of Black population, individuals in poverty, and uninsured individuals, and lower values of SVI and CCVI, but a higher number of Hispanic population. This study emphasizes the importance of addressing systemic barriers, such as poverty and lack of health insurance, which were found to be associated with low COVID-19 vaccination coverage.

A Species-based Particle Swarm Optimization with Adaptive Population Size and Deactivation of Species for Dynamic Optimization Problems

Population clustering methods, which consider the position and fitness of individuals to form sub-populations in multi-population algorithms, have shown high efficiency in tracking the moving global optimum in dynamic optimization problems. However, most of these methods use a fixed population size, making them inflexible and inefficient when the number of promising regions is unknown. The lack of a functional relationship between the population size and the number of promising regions significantly degrades performance and limits an algorithm’s agility to respond to dynamic changes. To address this issue, we propose a new species-based particle swarm optimization with adaptive population size and number of sub-populations for solving dynamic optimization problems. The proposed algorithm also benefits from a novel systematic adaptive deactivation component that, unlike the previous deactivation components, adapts the computational resource allocation to the sub-populations by considering various characteristics of both the problem and the sub-populations. We evaluate the performance of our proposed algorithm for the Generalized Moving Peaks Benchmark and compare the results with several peer approaches. The results indicate the superiority of the proposed method.

GBS-DP: a bioinformatics pipeline for processing data coming from genotyping by sequencing

The development of next-generation sequencing technologies has provided new opportunities for genotyping various organisms, including plants. Genotyping by sequencing (GBS) is used to identify genetic variability more rapidly, and is more cost-effective than whole-genome sequencing. GBS has demonstrated its reliability and flexibility for a number of plant species and populations. It has been applied to genetic mapping, molecular marker discovery, genomic selection, genetic diversity studies, variety identification, conservation biology and evolutio nary studies. However, reduction in sequencing time and cost has led to the need to develop efficient bioinformatics analyses for an ever-expanding amount of sequenced data. Bioinformatics pipelines for GBS data analysis serve the purpose. Due to the similarity of data processing steps, existing pipelines are mainly characterised by a combination of software packages specifically selected either to process data for certain organisms or to process data from any organisms. However, despite the usage of efficient software packages, these pipelines have some disadvantages. For example, there is a lack of process automation (in some pipelines, each step must be started manually), which significantly reduces the performance of the analysis. In the majority of pipelines, there is no possibility of automatic installation of all necessary software packages; for most of them, it is also impossible to switch off unnecessary or completed steps. In the present work, we have developed a GBS-DP bioinformatics pipeline for GBS data analysis. The pipeline can be applied for various species. The pipeline is implemented using the Snakemake workflow engine. This implementation allows fully automating the process of calculation and installation of the necessary software packages. Our pipeline is able to perform analysis of large datasets (more than 400 samples).

Anomalous peony (&lt;i&gt;Paeonia anomala&lt;/i&gt; L.) In the Urals and contiguous landsAnomalous peony (&lt;i&gt;Paeonia anomala&lt;/i&gt; L.) In the Urals and contiguous lands

Modern varieties of flowering ornamental plants have high economic and social significance. Prominent representatives of active long-term plant breeding are various varieties of peonies, which are actively used in landscaping botanical gardens, urban landscapes and smallholdings. With the development of molecular genetics, the selection of ornamental varieties of flowering plants has received a new impetus in its development. Researchers have identified markers that determine important decorative and economic qualities, such as flower shape, leaf color, corolla color, variety of double flower, aroma, which allows to intensify plant breeding, and also, which is quite important, to certify new varieties. In this article, we have given an overview of the results of longterm studies of representatives of the genus Paeonia in the Urals and contiguous lands, since the mid-twentieth century to the present, both domestic and foreign scientific schools. The article presents data on the locations of the anomalous peony along the Ural mountain range, the morphology and ecology of the growth of representatives of this species, medicinal properties, the results of molecular genetic typing of various marker systems. The points requiring more detailed study are indicated: there is no complete up-to-date information on the distribution of the anomalous peony in the Urals, there is no up-to-date data on the population size, there is no information about the molecular genetic structure of the species as a whole. The anomalous peony is a red book species that has a high level of decorativeness, as well as resistance to diseases that can be used not only in pharmacology, but also in modern plant selection. It is known that the number of populations of anomalous peony is low, in places of meetings it is noted singly, less often in small groups, which is connected with the active use of this species in folk medicine. Vegetative and root systems contain a large number of biologically active components with different properties. To develop measures for the protection and rational use of representatives of Paeonia anomala growing in the Urals, it is necessary to study the species more closely in order to preserve it in nature and further use in breeding and hybridization as a source of genes that will help significantly improve the plant breeding potential of modern varieties.

Membrane (CD8⁺PD-1⁺ and CD4+PD-1⁺) and soluble (sPD-1 and sPD-L1) forms of immune checkpoints in melanoma, breast cancer, and oral mucosal cancer patients: A observational study

Background. The PD-1/PD-L1 pathway plays an important role in tumor evasion from immunological surveillance. In addition to the membrane forms of PD-1 and PD-L1, there are soluble variants: sPD-1 and sPD-L1. Both membrane and soluble forms have immunoregulatory properties and can affect the function and number of different immune cell populations.&#x0D; Aim. To study the relationship between the initial level of CD8⁺PD-1⁺ and CD4+PD-1⁺ lymphocytes and soluble forms of sPD-1 and sPD-L1 with the percentage of the main effector and regulatory populations of peripheral blood (PB) lymphocytes and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes.&#x0D; Materials and methods. The study included melanoma, breast cancer and the oral mucosa cancer patients. The percentage of cell populations of PB lymphocytes and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes was determined by flow cytometry before treatment. The concentrations of sPD-1 and sPD-L1 proteins were studied in blood serum using enzyme immunoassay.&#x0D; Results. The relationship of the level of CD8⁺PD-1⁺ cells with certain populations of CD8-lymphocytes in PB and tumor tissue was found. In the PB of melanoma patients with CD8⁺CD11b⁺CD28⁺ and CD8⁺CD11b⁻CD28⁻ T cells, in breast cancer patients with a population of CD8⁺CD11b⁺CD28⁺ lymphocytes. In the tumor tissue of all patients there was a positive correlation with a population of regulatory CD8⁺CD11b⁻CD28⁻ T cells. The immunoregulatory properties of sPD-1 and sPD-L1 were confirmed. Both sPD-1 and sPD-L1 levels were positively correlated with the number of suppressor CD8⁺CD11b⁻CD28⁻ T cells and negatively with the level of CD8 lymphocytes, CD8⁺CD11b⁺CD28⁺ cytotoxic/memory T cells, B cells and activated CD25 lymphocytes.&#x0D; Conclusion. The results of the study can make a certain contribution to the study of the prognostic significance of membrane and soluble forms of PD-1 and PD-L1, taking into account the peculiarities of their relationship with suppressor and effector populations of lymphocytes of systemic and local immunity.

Whole blood mitochondrial copy number in clinical populations with mood disorders: A meta-analysis: Blood mitochondrial copy number and mood disorders

Major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD), are globally prevalent, contributing to significant disease burden and adverse health outcomes. These mood disorders are associated with changes in many aspects of brain reward pathways, yet cellular and molecular changes in the brain are not readily available in clinical populations. Therefore, the use of biomarkers as proxies for changes in the brain are necessary. The proliferation of mitochondria in blood has emerged as a potentially useful biomarker, yet a clear consensus on how these mood disorders impact mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) has not been reached. To determine the current available consensus on the relationship of mood disorder diagnosis and blood mtDNcn, we performed a meta-analysis of available literature measuring this biomarker. Following PRISMA guidelines for a systematic search, 22 papers met inclusion criteria for meta-analysis (10 MDD, 10 BD, 2 both MDD and BD). We extracted demographic, disorder, and methodological information with mtDNAcn. Using the metafor package for R, calculated effect sizes were used in random effects or meta regression models for MDD and BD. Overall, our data suggest blood mtDNAcn may be a useful biomarker for mood disorders, with MDD and BD Type II associated with higher mtDNAcn, and BD Type I associated with lower mtDNAcn. Initially, we observed a trending increase in mtDNAcn in patients with MDD, which reached significance when one study with outlying demographic characteristics was excluded. Subgroup and meta-regression analysis indicated the relationship between mtDNAcn and diagnosis in patients with BD is dependent on BD type, while no relationship is detectable when BD types are mixed. Further study of blood mtDNAcn could predict downstream health outcomes or treatment responsivity in individuals with mood disorders.

Validation of a hematology analyzer in donkey medicine

Asinina de Miranda is a protected donkey sub-species from the Mirandês plateau in northeastern of Portugal. Donkeys are animals that have substantially lost their place as working animals in modern society, this had led to a decrease in their population numbers. A need to preserve native species has led to the foundation of organizations like Associação para o Estudo e Proteção do Gado Asinino (AEPGA) and the development of studies regarding breed welfare, such as hematology. The IDEXX ProCyte Dx is a veterinary hematology analyzer validated for several species, but not for donkeys. The aim of this study was to validate the ProCyte Dx for Asinina de Miranda donkeys. The validation requires a controlled study of precision, carryover, linearity and comparison between the equipment and the manually obtained values for the leukocyte differential count and hematocrit. Results indicated coefficient of variation was good (below 5 %) for both the intra-assay and the inter-assay precision, except for basophils. Carryover was 0 % for all the parameters except platelets (5.88 %). Linearity showed a very high Pearson correlation coefficient, above 0.99, for erythrocytes, hematocrit, hemoglobin, leucocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, platelets and plateletcrit. Comparison demonstrated excellent agreement for hematocrit (rs=0.96) and good Spearman rank correlation for neutrophils (rs=0.84) and lymphocytes (rs=0.90). Accuracy for total leukocyte count and platelets could not be determined. In conclusion, the ProCyte Dx seems appropriate to be used in Asinina de Miranda hematology.

Kernel principal component analysis fault diagnosis method based on improving Golden Jackal optimization algorithm

Aiming at the shortcomings of the Golden Jackal optimization algorithm, such as low convergence accuracy and easy falling into the optimal local solution, an improved Golden Jackal optimization algorithm was proposed. First, sine and piecewise linear (SPM) chaotic mapping was introduced to increase the population number to achieve the purpose of initial population diversity. The self-adaptive weight and sine–cosine algorithm improved the position update formula of the Golden Jackal optimization algorithm, so the global search ability of the golden jackal algorithm is improved, and avoid the algorithm that fell into local optimality. Second, simulation experiments with eight standard test functions are performed to prove that the algorithm has excellent optimization ability. The improved Golden Jackal optimization algorithm was applied to optimize the kernel parameters of hybrid kernel principal component analysis. A fault diagnosis model is proposed to improve the golden jackal algorithm to optimize the kernel principal component analysis. Finally, the proposed method is used to fault diagnosis in the hot strip mill process. According to the study of simulation results, the faulty data can be identified effectively by this method, the accuracy is up to 100%, and the fault false alarm rate is greatly reduced.