Select Candidates Research Articles

Improved Performance of PET Myocardial Perfusion Imaging Compared to SPECT in the Evaluation of Suspected CAD.

Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) has played a central role in the non-invasive evaluation of patients with obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) for decades. In this review, we discuss the key differences and advantages of positron emission tomography (PET) MPI over SPECT MPI as it relates to the diagnosis, prognosis, as well as clinical decision-making in patients with suspected CAD. Stress-induced perfusion abnormalities on SPECT help estimate presence, extent, and location of ischemia and flow-limiting obstructive CAD, help with risk stratification, and serve as a gatekeeper to identify patients who will benefit from downstream revascularization versus medical management. Some of the major limitations of SPECT include soft-tissue attenuation artifacts, underestimation of ischemia due to reliance on relative perfusion assessment, and longer protocols with higher radiation dose when performed with traditional equipment. PET MPI addresses most of these limitations and offers better quality images, higher diagnostic accuracy along with shorter protocols and lower radiation dose to the patient. A special advantage of PET scanning lies in the ability to quantify absolute myocardial blood flow and assess true extent of epicardial involvement along with identifying non-obstructive phenotypes of CAD such as diffuse atherosclerosis and microvascular dysfunction. In addition, stress acquisition at/near peak stress with PET allows us to measure left ventricular ejection fraction reserve and myocardial blood flow reserve, which help with identifying patients at a higher risk of future cardiac events and optimally select candidates for revascularization. The several technical advantages of PET MPI position as a superior method to diagnose obstructive and non-obstructive phenotypes of ischemic heart disease affecting the entirety of the coronary circulation offer incremental value for risk stratification and guide post-test management strategy for patients with suspected CAD.

Adjusted fence height: an improved phenotype for the genetic evaluation of show jumping performance in Warmblood horses

BackgroundShow jumping is one of the most popular disciplines in the horse sector, which makes success in show jumping competitions an important breeding goal for many studbooks. Therefore, the genetic evaluation of show jumping performance is of major interest and this is the case for two Belgian Warmblood studbooks: the Belgian Warmblood horse and Zangersheide. In this study, first an improved phenotype for show jumping performance was developed, i.e. adjusted fence height based on a new non-arbitrary method to scale ranking and competition level, which are two major components of success in competitions. Second, we assessed the importance of including a rider effect in genetic models for show jumping performance, this effect being under debate in sport horse breeding. Third, genetic models based on elementary performances and one model based on a summarized performance were compared in terms of model fit, heritabilities and the stability of estimated breeding values to define the most suitable one for the genetic evaluation of show jumping performance.ResultsIn this study, more than 600,000 Belgian competition records and almost 81,000 horses were used. Genetic evaluations were developed based on elementary performances (Blom-transformed ranking and adjusted fence height) and on a summarized performance (highest level achieved). Estimated heritabilities of Blom-transformed ranking, adjusted fence height and highest level achieved were 0.09, 0.12 and 0.39, respectively. Including a rider effect improved the models for genetic evaluations. Estimated genetic correlations between the studied models were moderate to high (rg = 0.60–0.99). With the best fit model, the accuracy of the estimated breeding value (EBV) for adjusted fence height reached 0.70 for a larger number of stallions and for stallions that tended to be younger.ConclusionsWe recommend breeders to implement this new phenotype ‘adjusted fence height’ in breeding programs. It is moderately to highly correlated with Blom-transformed ranking and highest level achieved, a proxy for lifetime success, and is available for selection candidates from an early age onwards.

Prawybory we francuskich partiach politycznych jako mechanizm wyłaniania kandydatów do prezydentury na przykładzie Republikanów i Partii Socjalistycznej

PRIMARY ELECTIONS IN FRENCH POLITICAL PARTIES AS A MECHANISM FOR SELECTING CANDIDATES FOR THE PRESIDENCY ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE REPUBLICANS AND THE SOCIALIST PARTY The article deals with the primary election as a procedure for nominating presidential candidates by major French political parties. Initially, closed primaries were held by left-wing formations. The Socialist Party started using this mechanism in 1995. The first open primaries to nominate a socialist candidate took place in 2011 (these were the so-called citizens’ primaries – primaire citoyenne). The neogaullist party, which has been called the Republicans since 2015, followed left-wing formations organizing primaries itself. The formation started with closed primaries. The first open ones were held in 2016. The author points out that prior to the 2022 presidential election, both parties returned to the concept of closed primaries. The latter formula may be defined a ballot in which only members of a given formation can participate, and not all citizens who declare their support for a concrete political option. It is argued that primaries, especially the open ones, have not proven to be a procedure that significantly increases the chances of a candidate nominated in this way. Instead, it may contribute to deepening intra-party divisions, which could potentially cause the political formation itself to be doomed to marginalization in the parliamentary election following its presidential candidate’s failure. This leads to the conclu-

Radiographic-pathologic concordance in the workup of locally radiorecurrent prostate cancer.

313 Background: Advanced molecular PET/CT (mPET) studies are increasingly being utilized in conjunction with multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) to evaluate the burden of radiorecurrent disease in men who develop a biochemical recurrence following definitive radiotherapy (RT) for prostate cancer (PCa). However, radiographic concordance with pathologic confirmation of radiorecurrent disease in this setting is poorly described. We sought to conduct a patient-level analysis comparing concordance of radiographic and pathologic findings between mpMRI and mPET. Methods: Men who had previously undergone definitive RT for PCa and subsequently experienced treatment failure defined by the Phoenix definition were enrolled in a prospective registry study wherein radiographically identified local PCa recurrences were biopsied using mpMRI or mPET fusion (Artemis) with real-time ultrasound. Prior to biopsy, men underwent diagnostic imaging with mpMRI, advanced mPET (68Ga-PSMA-11 or 18F-FACBC), or both in order to identify a biopsy target. At least one imaging modality had to reveal a recurrent lesion based on PIRADS or PROMISE imaging classifications in order to prompt biopsy. Radiographic and pathologic findings were classified as either “treatment effect” or “recurrent disease”. Using biopsy as the reference standard, positive predictive value (PPV) was evaluated for mpMRI and mPET modalities separately. Results: Of 28 patients with radiographic recurrence on mpMRI or mPET, 10/28 (35.7%) exhibited treatment effect without evidence of active cancer on biopsy confirmation. Prostate adenocarcinoma was identified in 17/28 patient biopsies, whereas small cell prostate cancer was present in 1 patient. All 28 men underwent mpMRI prior to biopsy and 23/28 (82.1%) additionally underwent mPET; 19/23 (82.6%) underwent 68Ga-PSMA-11 and 4/23 (17.4%) were imaged with 18F-FACBC. Concordance in the assessment of recurrent disease between mpMRI and mPET was achieved in 12/23 (52.2%) men who underwent both imaging modalities. Among the 28 men who underwent mpMRI, PPV was 0.84, whereas PPV for the 23 men who underwent mPET was 0.70. Conclusions: In patients for whom clinical suspicion of radiorecurrence was high enough to warrant a biopsy, pre-biopsy mpMRI outperforms mPET in terms of PPV for detecting pathologically confirmed locally radiorecurrent PCa. Used in tandem, mpMRI and mPET might better select appropriate candidates for biopsy than either radiographic modality alone. While advanced mPET remains promising for detecting distant recurrences at the time of RT failure, biopsy confirmation following radiographic detection of local radiorecurrence remains essential for evaluating the true burden of local recurrence.

Prediction of successful revision surgery for mesh-related complaints after inguinal hernia and pelvic organ prolapse repair

PurposeWith this retrospective case series, we aim to identify predictors for reduction of pain after mesh revision surgery in patients operated for inguinal hernia or pelvic organ prolapse with a polypropylene implant. Identifying these predictors may aid surgeons to counsel patients and select appropriate candidates for mesh revision surgery.MethodsClinical records before and after mesh revision surgery from 221 patients with chronic postoperative inguinal pain (CPIP) and 59 patients with pain after pelvic organ prolapse (POP) surgery were collected at two experienced tertiary referral centers. Primary outcome was patient reported improvement of pain after revision surgery. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to specify predictors for pain reduction.ResultsThe multivariable logistic regression was performed for each patient group separately. Patients with CPIP had higher chances of improvement of pain when time between mesh placement and mesh revision surgery was longer, with an OR of 1.19 per year. A turning point in chances of risks and benefits was demonstrated at 70 months, with improved outcomes for patients with revision surgery ≥ 70 months (OR 2.86). For POP patients, no statistically significant predictors for reduction of pain after (partial) removal surgery could be identified.ConclusionA longer duration of at least 70 months between implantation of inguinal mesh and revision surgery seems to give a higher chance on improvement of pain. Caregivers should not avoid surgery based on a longer duration of symptoms when an association between symptoms and the location of the mesh is found.

Abstract TMP68: Core/perfusion Mismatch In Acute Ischemic Stroke With M2 Occlusion: Prevalence And Associated Factors.

Background: The benefit of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with M2 occlusion is uncertain. Observational studies suggest that perfusion imaging may help select optimal M2 candidates for MT. We aimed to study the prevalence and factors associated with core/perfusion mismatch, as assessed by both CT and MRI, in an unselected population of AIS with M2 occlusion. Methods: Retrospective observational study including AIS patients with M2 occlusion and baseline perfusion imaging (MRI or CT) performed within 24hrs from last seen well. To avoid selection bias, patients were selected from the prospective registries of 3 centers with systematic use of perfusion imaging, including both MT-treated and untreated patients. Core/perfusion mismatch was defined as mismatch ratio (Tmax>6s/ core volume) >1.8 and mismatch volume (Tmax>6s - core volume) >15mL. Results: Overall, 156 and 196 patients were included in the MRI and CT cohorts, respectively. Last-seen-well to imaging time was 5.6hrs (IQR 3.9-9.7) and 3.5hrs (1.5-9.8) in the MRI and CT cohorts, and 103/156 (66%) and 134/196 (68%) had proximal M2 occlusions (the remainder had distal M2 occlusions). Median ASPECT score was 7 (5-8) and 8 (7-9), and core/perfusion mismatch was present in 70/156 (45%) and 167/196 (85%) patients. In both cohorts, mismatch was less frequent in distal M2 occlusions and among patients with lower ASPECTS (Figure). Multivariable analysis showed higher ASPECT scores (OR=3.09, 95%CI=2.11-4.52, P <0.001 and OR=2.41, 95%CI 1.63-3.58, P <0.001 in the MRI and CT cohorts) and proximal M2 occlusion (with distal M2 as a reference: OR=3.94, 95%CI=1.68-9.26, P =0.002 and OR=32.78, 95%CI 8.36-128.47, P <0.001 in the MRI and CT cohorts) were independently associated with core/perfusion mismatch. Conclusion: Perfusion imaging may be useful in triaging M2 patients, particularly for those with ASPECT score <8 and distal M2 occlusions. This has implication for trials.

Total neoadjuvant oxaliplatin-based therapy (TNT) before (induction) and after (consolidation) chemoradiation for advanced rectal cancer: MRI correlation on complete response and outcome.

165 Background: Preoperative chemoradiation with fluoropyrimidine, followed by total mesorectal excision (TME) and adjuvant chemotherapy is the standard care for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). Studies have shown the potential benefit of oxaliplatin based TNT approach. The benefits of using of both induction and consolidation chemotherapy with chemoradiation prior of TME is not well studied. We investigate whether the use of oxaliplatin based before (induction) and after (consolidation) neoadjuvant chemoradiation will increase the pCR and clinical Complete response (cCR), improve survival and MRI correlation. Methods: Patients treated with curative intent surgery for LARC who received oxaliplatin based induction and consolidation chemotherapy with neoadjuvant capecitabine chemoradiation were identified. Demographics and clinicopathologic data were analyzed. Multiparametric MRI was used for initial staging and restaging before surgery. The primary endpoint will be the complete response (pathological and clinical), recurrent-free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS). Results: A total of 21 patients have been identified, all patient has T3/T4 and positive nodes N1/N2 on initial MRI staging, 2 (10%) patients had Stage IV disease with abdominal para-aortic nodes. Median age was 63 (range: 26-76); 14 (67%) male. As for the induction regimen, 9 (43%) had CAPOX/FOLFOX, 7 (33%) had short-course capecitabine, 5 (24%) had FOLFIRINOX. All patient received neoadjuvant chemoradiation with capecitabine. As for consolidation, 19 (90%) had CAPOX/FOLFOX, 1 (5%) had capecitabine and 1 (5%) had FOLFIRINOX. Median time for induction and consolidation chemotherapy was 8.5 weeks (range: 1-24) and 8 weeks (range: 2-16) respectively. Median time from starting induction chemotherapy to surgery was 6.8 months (range: 3.2-11). Eight (38%) patients had cCR and pCR. Post-treatment restaging MRI prior of resection has 100% concordant rate with pCR. All (100%) pateints had tumor downstaged after treated with TNT and chemoradiation. The sensitivity of MRI in detecting the residual lymph node post TNT/neoadjuvant chemoradiation was 55% (95% CI: 26-81%), and the negative predictive value was 75% (51-90%); the specificity was 100% (76-100%) and the positive predictive value was 100% (57-100%). There is no death and one patient had recurrence after recurrence free for 2 years. Median RFS and OS are not meet. Median follow up time is 25.7 months (range: 9.1-76.8). Conclusions: Neoadjuvant oxaliplatin based therapy before and after chemoradiation for rectal cancer potentially improves CR rate, and accurately predicted by post-treatment MRI. The use of MRI can potentially help to select candidates who desire organ preservation.

Genome-wide allele and haplotype-sharing patterns suggested one unique Hmong–Mein-related lineage and biological adaptation history in Southwest China

BackgroundFine-scale genetic structure of ethnolinguistically diverse Chinese populations can fill the gap in the missing diversity and evolutionary landscape of East Asians, particularly for anthropologically informed Chinese minorities. Hmong–Mien (HM) people were one of the most significant indigenous populations in South China and Southeast Asia, which were suggested to be the descendants of the ancient Yangtze rice farmers based on linguistic and archeological evidence. However, their deep population history and biological adaptative features remained to be fully characterized.ObjectivesTo explore the evolutionary and adaptive characteristics of the Miao people, we genotyped genome-wide SNP data in Guizhou HM-speaking populations and merged it with modern and ancient reference populations via a comprehensive population genetic analysis and evolutionary admixture modeling.ResultsThe overall genetic admixture landscape of Guizhou Miao showed genetic differentiation between them and other linguistically diverse Guizhou populations. Admixture models further confirmed that Miao people derived their primary ancestry from geographically close Guangxi Gaohuahua people. The estimated identity by descent and effective population size confirmed a plausible population bottleneck, contributing to their unique genetic diversity and population structure patterns. We finally identified several natural selection candidate genes associated with several biological pathways.ConclusionsGuizhou Miao possessed a specific genetic structure and harbored a close genetic relationship with geographically close southern Chinese indigenous populations and Guangxi historical people. Miao people derived their major ancestry from geographically close Guangxi Gaohuahua people and experienced a plausible population bottleneck which contributed to the unique pattern of their genetic diversity and structure. Future ancient DNA from Shijiahe and Qujialing will provide new insights into the origin of the Miao people.

Application of Artificial Intelligence for Better Investment in Human Capital

Selecting candidates for a specific job or nominating a person for a specific position takes time and effort due to the need to search for the individual’s file. Ultimately, the hiring decision may not be successful. However, artificial intelligence helps organizations or companies choose the right person for the right job. In addition, artificial intelligence contributes to the selection of harmonious working teams capable of achieving an organization’s strategy and goals. This study aimed to contribute to the development of machine-learning models to analyze and cluster personality traits and classify applicants to conduct correct hiring decisions for particular jobs and identify their weaknesses and strengths. Helping applicants to succeed while managing work and training employees with weaknesses is necessary to achieving an organization’s goals. Applying the proposed methodology, we used a publicly available Big-Five-personality-traits-test dataset to conduct the analyses. Preprocessing techniques were adopted to clean the dataset. Moreover, hypothesis testing was performed using Pearson’s correlation approach. Based on the testing results, we concluded that a positive relationship exists between four personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness), and a negative correlation occurred between neuroticism traits and the four traits. This dataset was unlabeled. However, we applied the K-mean clustering algorithm to the data-labeling task. Furthermore, various supervised machine-learning models, such as random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), K-nearest neighbor (KNN), and AdaBoost, were used for classification purposes. The experimental results revealed that the SVM attained the highest results, with an accuracy of 98%, outperforming the other classification models. This study adds to the current literature and body of knowledge through examining the extent of the application of artificial intelligence in the present and, potentially, the future of human-resource management. Our results may be of significance to companies, organizations and their leaders and human-resource executives, in addition to human-resource professionals.

The selective turn-on recognition of fluoride ions using 5-aryl-rhodanines: Colorimetric & fluorescent detection

The main goal of this study is to obtain 5-Ar-Rhs by Knoevenagel condensation without using any catalyst as an ion-sensing organic ligand and investigate their sensing abilities. The 5-Ar-Rhs were obtained as the main product from the no-catalyst reactions carried out at high temperatures. Following synthesis, the anion-sensing properties of 5-Ar-Rhs were studied using colorimetric detection, and spectroscopic methods. The results showed that the 5-Ar-Rhs is only selective for F¯¯ion in the presence of different ions. The binding ratios of 5-Ar-Rhs to F¯ were found to be 1:1 according to Job's plot experiments. The binding constant of 3A and 3B were calculated and found to be 7.05 × 105 M−1 and 1.45 × 104 M−1 for F¯, respectively. The LOD values of 3A and 3B were calculated and found to be 22.4 µM and 27.3 µM, respectively. In addition, theoretical studies by DFT methods were also carried out to optimize the structure and explained the fluoride anion binding mechanism of 5-Ar-Rhs 3A and 3B. As a result, temperature and solvent-controlled Knoevenagel condensation reactions of the 3-NH2-Rh (1), which has a reactive amino group, were examined. Additionally, we can understand that 3A and 3B are good selective candidate sensors that can be used for fluoride detection from sensing studies.

An Improved MOEA/D Algorithm for the Solution of the Multi-Objective Optimal Power Flow Problem

The optimal power flow (OPF) is an important tool for the secure and economic operation of the power system. It attracts many researchers to pay close attention. Many algorithms are used to solve the OPF problem. The decomposition-based multi-objective algorithm (MOEA/D) is one of them. However, the effectiveness of the algorithm decreases as the size of the power system increases. Therefore, an improved MOEA/D (IMOEA/D) is proposed in this paper to solve the OPF problem. The main goal of IMOEA/D is to speed up the convergence of the algorithm and increase species diversity. To achieve this goal, three improvement strategies are introduced. Firstly, the competition strategy between the barnacle optimization algorithm and differential evolution algorithm is adopted to overcome the reduced species diversity. Secondly, an adaptive mutation strategy is employed to enhance species diversity at the latter stage of iteration. Finally, the selective candidate with similarity selection is used to balance the exploration and exploitation capabilities of the proposed algorithm. Simulation experiments are performed on IEEE 30-bus and IEEE 57-bus test systems. The obtained results show that the above three measures can effectively improve the diversity of the population, and also demonstrate the competitiveness and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm for the OPF problem.

What do (future) civil servants think of bribery and corruption? Evidence from India

Motivation Civil servants are often seen as key actors responsible for systemic corruption in developing countries. Yet, there is a dearth of empirical studies on what public officials think of bribery and corruption. Owing to the limitations of enrolling in-service bureaucrats into research on the sensitive topic of bribery, the study tries to understand the perceptions of future bureaucrats. Purpose The study is a novel attempt to analyse how the select candidates aspiring to join the highly competitive elite civil services in India respond to experimental bribery situations. What deters potential bribe-takers from accepting bribes, and what do they think about corruption in public life? Methods and approach The study employs mixed-methods research to answer these questions. Bribery experimental games were administered to examine the impact of varying degrees of “punishment,” “monitoring,” and “public loss” and their relation to the varying “bribery amount.” In addition, focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with these participants to explore the dynamics of corruption. Findings The findings suggest that high public loss and high severity of punishment were able to deter bribery even when the amount of the bribe was high. On the other hand, the impact of a high level of monitoring was only effective in cases where the bribe amount was low. FGDs revealed that social acceptance of corruption, and the low rate of convictions in corruption cases, are the main reasons for continuing corruption in the public sphere. Policy implications The study suggests that in India and other countries in which corruption is systemic and socially accepted, it is imperative to move anti-corruption policies away from their present fixation with strict monitoring to strict punishment. Monitoring alone without severe punishment is not sufficient. Corruption cases ought to have swift trials and better rate of conviction. It is equally important to inculcate the values of social good and integrity in public life

Antiparasitic Activity of Fluorophenyl-Substituted Pyrimido[1,2-a]benzimidazoles.

A series of fourteen pyrimido[1,2-a]benzimidazole compounds was prepared by straightforward heterocyclic chemistry and oxidation methods. The new pyrimidobenzimidazole derivative 2a with a 3-fluorophenyl substituent was identified as a new antiparasitic compound showing excellent activities against Leishmania major parasites. 2a was highly active against L. major promastigotes and amastigotes with EC50 values in the nanomolar concentration range. Compound 3b was less active than 2a against L. major, but more active against Toxoplasma gondii with considerable selectivity. Hence, two promising and selective antiparasitic drug candidates 2a and 3b for the treatment of two parasitic diseases were identified, which can be prepared by green chemistry methods using simple one-pot reactions and oxidation procedures, respectively.

Selection Criteria for Completion Thyroidectomy in Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma Using Primary Tumor Size and TERT Promoter Mutational Status.

A stepwise surgical approach with hemithyroidectomy and completion thyroidectomy was used to achieve definite characterization of follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC). Choosing appropriate candidates for completion thyroidectomy has been controversial. The aim of this study was to clarify the selection criteria for completion thyroidectomy using telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutation. A total of 87 FTC patients who had information about TERT promoter mutation from August 1995 to November 2020 were investigated. The cumulative risk of initial distant metastasis, disease recurrence, and cancer-specific death according to primary tumor size in each of the World Health Organization (WHO) 2017 classifications were calculated. Of the 87 patients, 8 (9.2%) had initial distant metastasis and 15 (17.2%) had persistent disease or developed structural recurrence. The threshold diameter for initial distant metastasis, disease recurrence, and cancer-specific death was 2cm in minimally invasive FTC (MI-FTC) with mutant TERT (M-TERT) and in encapsulated angioinvasive FTC (EA-FTC) with M-TERT, while that in MI-FTC with wild-type TERT (WT-TERT) and EA-FTC with WT-TERT was 4cm. The cumulative risk of initial distant metastasis, disease recurrence, and cancer-specific death according to primary tumor size in each WHO 2017 classification was significantly different only in patients with WT-TERT (p=0.001, p=0.019, and p=0.005, respectively). The data suggest 2cm as a critical threshold diameter for performance of completion thyroidectomy in MI-FTC with M-TERT and EA-FTC with M-TERT. TERT promoter mutational status can help select candidates for completion thyroidectomy.

Boundaries for genotype, phenotype, and pedigree truncation in genomic evaluations in pigs.

Historical data collection for genetic evaluation purposes is a common practice in animal populations; however, the larger the dataset, the higher the computing power needed to perform the analyses. Also, fitting the same model to historical and recent data may be inappropriate. Data truncation can reduce the number of equations to solve, consequently decreasing computing costs; however, the large volume of genotypes is responsible for most of the increase in computations. This study aimed to assess the impact of removing genotypes along with phenotypes and pedigree on the computing performance, reliability, and inflation of GEBV from ssGBLUP for selection candidates. Data from two pig lines, a terminal sire (L1) and a maternal line (L2), were analyzed in this study. Four analyses were implemented: growth and "weaning to finish" mortality on L1, pre-weaning and reproductive traits on L2. Four genotype removal scenarios were proposed: removing genotyped animals without phenotypes and progeny (noInfo), removing genotyped animals based on birth year (Age), the combination of noInfo and Age scenarios (noInfo + Age), and no genotype removal (AllGen). In all scenarios, phenotypes were removed, based on birth year, and three pedigree depths were tested: two and three generations traced back and using the entire pedigree. The full dataset contained 1,452,257 phenotypes for growth traits, 324,397 for weaning to finish mortality, 517,446 for pre-weaning traits, and 7,853,629 for reproductive traits in pure and crossbred pigs. Pedigree files for lines L1 and L2 comprised 3,601,369 and 11,240,865 animals, of which 168,734 and 170,121 were genotyped, respectively. In each truncation scenario, the linear regression method was used to assess the reliability and dispersion of GEBV for genotyped parents (born after 2019). The number of years of data that could be removed without harming reliability depended on the number of records, type of analyses (multitrait vs. single trait), the heritability of the trait, and data structure. All scenarios had similar reliabilities, except for noInfo, which performed better in the growth analysis. Based on the data used in this study, considering the last ten years of phenotypes, tracing three generations back in the pedigree, and removing genotyped animals not contributing own or progeny phenotypes, increases computing efficiency with no change in the ability to predict breeding values.

Dual Pseudo Label Refinement for Unsupervised Domain Adaptive Person Re-Identification

Although clustering-based unsupervised domain adaptive person re-identification has achieved promising progress, negative influence of noisy pseudo labels is still unsolved. Training model with noisy labeled data will mislead feature representation and ultimately affect the improvement of model performance. To tackle the above problem, we propose a dual pseudo label refinement framework for unsupervised domain adaptive person re-identification. It has two pseudo label refinement modules, one learns cross consistency of corresponding features between two collaborative networks and the other explores mutual consistency between global and local feature spaces. By working complementarily and jointly, the two modules optimize the quality of training datatset. Specifically, a mean teacher-student framework with multiple branches is designed to extract global and local features. Cross consistency of corresponding features between mean teacher and student networks is learned to select candidate samples for training. Meanwhile, mutual consistency of global and local features in mean teacher network is also explored to select other candidates. Finally, the intersection of two selected candidate datasets is used to re-train the framework. Being trained with selected reliable samples iteratively, the framework becomes more and more effective and robust. Extensive results on benchmark datasets confirm that our dual pseudo label refinement brings performance improvement and outperforms the state-of-the-art clustering-based unsupervised domain adaptive re-identification approaches.

Brief insight into the in silico properties, structure–activity relationships and biotransformation of fruquintinib, an anticancer drug of a new generation containing a privileged benzofuran scaffold

Current trends in drug design notably consider so-called privileged scaffolds as the core structural fragments with decisive impact on affinity to properly chosen biological targets, potency, selectivity and toxicological characteristics of drugs and prospective drug candidates. Fruquintinib (1) is a novel synthetic selective inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) isoforms, i.e., VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3. The therapeutic agent (1) consists of a flat bicyclic heteroaromatic ring, in which two nitrogens are suitablyincorporated, a core bicyclic heteroaromatic ring – privileged (substituted) benzofuran scaffold, and a pair of hydrogen bond (H-bond) donor and acceptor group, i.e., amide functional moiety. Fruquintinib (1) was first approved in China for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, a severe malignant disease with a high mortality rate. The review article offered a brief insight into the topic of privileged structures, their drug- -like ranges of several parameters, pharmacodynamic characteristics of fruquintinib (1) and various in silico descriptors characterizing drug’s structural and physicochemical properties (molecular weight, number of heavy atoms, number of aromatic heavy atoms, fraction of sp3 C-atoms, number of H-bond acceptors, number of H-bond donors, total polar surface area, molar refractivity, molecular volume as well as parameters of lipophilicity and solubility). Some of these descriptors were related to pharmacokinetics and distribution of fruquintinib (1), and, in addition, might help predict its ability to cross passively the blood–brain barrier (BBB). Moreover, a possible connection between the induction potential on cytochrome P450 isoenzymes (CYP1A2 and CYP3A4) and passive transport of a given drug into the central nervous system via BBB was investigated. Current clinical experience and future directions regarding of fruquintinib (1) were also briefly outlined.

Genetic relationships among yearling fertility, body composition and weight traits in tropically adapted composite cattle

Context Reproduction is an economically important trait in both males and females; however, the relationships between fertility and body composition traits are little researched, but essential to breeding programs, as they will help inform selection decisions and allow the greatest opportunity for genetic gain. Aims Estimate genetic and phenotypic correlations between male and female yearling fertility traits and investigate their relationship with yearling body composition traits, which have an effect on the attainment of puberty. Methods Genotype and phenotype data were obtained from a tropical composite commercial cattle population and imputed to 27 638 single nucleotide polymorphisms. A series of univariate and bivariate linear mixed models using a genomic relationship matrix were run to estimate genetic parameters, genetic and phenotypic correlations for a series of male and female fertility and body composition traits. These parameters were then compared to help understand the genetic relationships. Key results Scrotal circumference was favourably genetically correlated with weight (0.34), fat traits (0.06–0.24), muscle (0.24) and heifer days to calving (−0.32). Heifer days to calving was favourably correlated with muscle (−0.18) but not fat traits (0.11 to 0.21). The genetic correlations between heifer days to calving and sperm morphology traits were generally unfavourable (−0.32 to 0.25). Sperm morphology traits were favourably genetically correlated with fat traits (−0.84 to 0.31) and muscle (−0.61 to 0.31) but not weight (−0.15 to 0.09). Conclusions and implications Yearling sperm morphology traits were unfavourably correlated with heifer days to calving, indicating that they are not good candidates for indirect selection on improving female fertility in the herd. A different trend was found for yearling scrotal circumference and heifer days to calving, identifying it as a good candidate for indirect selection of heifer fertility as it is easy to measure and heritable. The genetic correlations estimated between composition traits with male and female fertility traits allow breeding programs to make an informed selection decision to optimise genetic gain across all traits.

Gene transcripts responsive to drought stress identified in Citrus macrophylla bark tissue transcriptome have a modified response in plants infected by Citrus tristeza virus

Citrus macrophylla Wester (CM) has valuable agronomic characteristics such as the ability to grow in saline soils, although with low tolerance to prolonged drought stress (DS) . To understand the mechanisms that characterize CM response to water scarcity, this study compared transcriptome profile changes in CM stem tissue when exposed to DS and identified a total of 2745 differentially expressed transcripts (DETs, fold change > 2), of which 631 were up-regulated and 2114 were down-regulated. DETs up-regulated by DS were enriched in pathways such as the redox and osmotic system or soluble carbohydrates and in transcripts for low molecular weight proteins such as late embryogenesis abundant protein (LEA). Down-regulated transcripts were mainly assigned to photosynthesis, transport, phenylpropanoids, calcium dependent kinases, brassinosteroids and other hormones including salicylic acid and abscisic acid. To assess the interplay between DS and Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) infection, twelve genes were profiled by quantitative Real-Time PCR (qPCR) analysis in control and CTV-infected CM plants, with or without DS. The twelve analyzed transcripts were significantly correlated ( r = 0.82, p < 0.001) with the RNA-Seq results and gave insight into the responses of CM to drought and/or to infection with CTV . Transcriptome results unveiled highly responsive genes to DS in stem tissue, which may be candidates for genetic selection of high drought tolerant plants of CM.

A Novel Nomogram for Identifying Candidates for Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Patients With Stage IB Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.

This study aimed to develop a novel predictive nomogram to identify specific stage IB non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) populations who could benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT). Stage IB NSCLC patients were included in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database and divided into the ACT and non-ACT groups. Then the methods of Kaplan-Meier analysis, propensity score matching (PSM), Least absolute shrink and selection operator (LASSO) regression, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were implemented. Finally, the predictive nomogram was constructed and validated. 9055 stage IB NSCLC patients were enrolled from the SEER database while 47 patients from Hangzhou TCM Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang Chinese Medical University were identified as the external validation cohort. Of these patients, 1334 cases underwent ACT while the other 7721 patients didn't receive ACT. After PSM, the patients in the ACT group presented longer median overall survival (100 vs 82months, P < .001). Among the ACT group, 482 (49.6%) patients achieving more prolonged overall survival than 82months were regarded as the beneficiary population. Then the LASSO regression and multivariate logistic regression analyses were implemented. Finally, 8 predictors were selected for model construction, including age, gender, marital status, laterality, pathology, tumor size, regional nodes examined, and tumor size. The predictive nomogram demonstrated good discrimination in the training cohort (AUC = .781), internal validation cohort (AUC = .772), and external validation cohort (AUC = .851). And calibration curves indicated ideal consistency between the predicted and observed probabilities. Decision curve analysis presented a clinically useful model. The practical nomogram could guide treatment decision-making and select optimal ACT candidates among stage IB NSCLC patients.