Volume Values Research Articles

Therapeutic drug monitoring of linezolid in Chinese premature neonates: a population pharmacokinetic analysis and dosage optimization.

This study aimed to develop a pharmacokinetic model of linezolid in premature neonates and evaluate and optimize the administration regimen. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used to detect the blood concentration data of 54 premature neonates after intravenous administration of linezolid, and the relevant clinical data were collected. The population pharmacokinetic (PPK) model was established by nonlinear mixed effects modeling. Based on the final model parameters, the optimal administration regimen of linezolid in premature neonates with different body surface areas (BSA) was simulated and evaluated. The pharmacokinetic properties of linezolid in premature neonates are best described by a single-compartment model with primary elimination. The population typical values for apparent volume of distribution and clearance were 0.783 L and 0.154 L/h, respectively. BSA was a statistically significant covariate with clearance (CL) and volume of distribution (Vd). Monte Carlo simulations showed that the optimal administration regimen for linezolid in premature neonates was 6 mg/kg q8h for BSA 0.11 m2, 7 mg/kg q8h for BSA 0.13 m2, and 9 mg/kg q8h for BSA 0.15 m2 with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ≤1 mg/L, 7 mg/kg q8h for BSA 0.11 m2, 8 mg/kg q8h for BSA 0.13 m2, and 10 mg/kg q8h for BSA 0.15 m2 with MIC = 2 mg/L. A pharmacokinetic model was developed to predict the blood concentration on linezolid in premature neonates. Based on this model, the optimal administration regimen of linezolid in premature neonates needs to be individualized according to different BSA levels.

Chemical, rheological and sensory characteristics of wheat bread enriched with chia (Salvia hispanica L.) seed gum

Bread is a staple food in many countries worldwide. The aim of this study is the presentation of a novel type of bread prepared of wheat flour and extract of chia seed gum (CSG). The CSG was included in the wheat flour mixture in a concentration from 2 to 10%. The flour mixture was characterized by its rheological properties through amylography, farinography, and extensography tests. The bread was also subjected to texture, color, and tactile analysis. The highest grades of the bread in terms of appearance, flavor, aroma, texture, and color were shown for flour mixture that contained 10% of CSG (p < 0.05); namely, this wheat mixture showed an improved value of volume, specific size, external and internal characteristics of bread.

Enhancing radiologist's detection: an imaging-based grading system for differentiating Crohn's disease from ulcerative colitis

BackgroundDelayed diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is common, there is still no effective imaging system to distinguish Crohn's Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC) patients.MethodsThis multicenter retrospective study included IBD patients at three centers between January 2012 and May 2022. The intestinal and perianal imaging signs were evaluated. Visceral fat information from CT images was extracted, including the ratio of visceral to subcutaneous fat volume (VSR), fat distribution, and attenuation values. The valuable indicators were screened out in the derivation cohort by binary logistic regression and receiver working curve (ROC) analysis to construct an imaging report and data system for IBD (IBD-RADS), which was tested in the validation cohort.ResultsThe derivation cohort included 606 patients (365 CD, 241 UC), and the validation cohort included 155 patients (97 CD, 58 UC). Asymmetric enhancement (AE) (OR = 87.75 [28.69, 268.4]; P < 0.001), perianal fistula (OR = 4.968 [1.807, 13.66]; P = 0.002) and VSR (OR = 1.571 [1.087, 2.280]; P = 0.04) were independent predictors of CD. VSR improved the efficiency of imaging signs (AUC: 0.929 vs. 0.901; P < 0.001), with a threshold greater than 0.97 defined as visceral fat predominance (VFP). In IBD-RADS, AE was the major criterion, VFP and perianal fistula were auxiliary criteria, and intestinal fistula, limited small bowel disease, and skip distribution were special favoring items as their 100% specificity. Grade 3 to 5 correctly classified most CD patients (derivation: 96.5% (352/365), validation: 98.0% (95/97)), and 98% of those were eventually diagnosed with CD (derivation: 97.8% (352/360), validation: 98.0% (95/97)).ConclusionsIBD-RADS can help radiologists distinguish between CD and UC in patients with suspected IBD.

Optimized pyrolytic synthesis and physicochemical characterization of date palm seed biochar: unveiling a sustainable adsorbent for environmental remediation applications.

This study focuses on the optimization and comprehensive characterization of biochar synthesized from date palm seeds (DPS), a prevalent agricultural waste in arid regions. Using response surface methodology (RSM) with a central composite design (CCD), we optimized the pyrolysis process by investigating the effects of time (1-3 h) and temperature (600-900 °C) on critical properties such as specific surface area, pore volume, and yield. The optimized biochar, produced at 828 °C for 1.7 h, demonstrated a high specific surface area of 654.8 m2/g and well-developed microporosity. Characterization techniques, including XRD, FTIR, SEM-EDS, and BET analyses, revealed an amorphous carbon structure with graphitic domains, diverse surface functionalities, and a heterogeneous porous microstructure. The biochar's point of zero charge at pH 7.58 indicates its potential for selective adsorption of charged contaminants. The close agreement between RSM-predicted and experimental values for specific surface area (652.1 m2/g vs. 654.8 m2/g) and micropore volume (0.191 cm3/g vs. 0.190 cm3/g) validates the effectiveness of the model in optimizing biochar properties. This research highlights the potential of DPS-derived biochar as a sustainable adsorbent for environmental remediation, opening avenues for valorizing agricultural wastes and contributing to circular economy principles.

Excess Thermodynamic Properties and FTIR Studies of Binary Mixtures of Toluene with 2-Propanol or 2-Methyl-1-Propanol

Physical properties of the binary solutions, toluene with 2-propanol and 2-methyl-1-propanol, were measured at T = 293.15, 298.15, 303.15, 308.15, and 313.15 K and P = 100 kPa. The experimental density values were tested with the Emmerling et al. and Gonzalez-Olmos–Iglesias equations. The results indicate that the equation by Emmerling et al. is the best to correlate the density for toluene + 2-methyl-1-propanol system, while for toluene + 2-propanol, both proposed equations are proper to correlate the density with composition and temperature. The viscosity results were verified with different models containing two adjustable parameters. The values of viscosity deviation (∆η), excess molar volume (VE), excess Gibbs energy (ΔG*E), partial molar volumes (V1¯ and V2¯), and apparent molar volume (Vφ,1 and Vφ,2) were calculated. The values of the excess molar volume were positive for both systems, while negative values were obtained for the viscosity deviation and the excess Gibbs energy. The excess properties of the mixtures were adjusted to the Redlich–Kister equation. The values of thermodynamic functions of activation of viscous flow were computed and analyzed. Additionally, the Prigogine–Flory–Patterson (PFP) theory was applied to calculate VE and then compared with experimental values. The values of the percentage absolute average deviation obtained suggest the validity of this theory. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra of the binary solutions studied in this work allowed for the understanding of the interactions between the molecules of these systems.

The effect of Vachellia eriolaba leaf meal inclusion on growth performance, blood parameters and methane gas emission in lambs fed diets containing ammoniated maize stover

The study evaluated the effect of Vachellia erioloba leaf meal in diets containing ammoniated maize stove on growth performance, methane emission and heath of growing lambs. Thirty-two female lambs were allocated to the following four dietary treatments: total mixed ration (TMR, control), 20% inclusion of untreated maize stover (UMS), 20% inclusion of ammoniated maize stover (AMS), and combined inclusion of 10% ammoniated maize stover and 10% Vachellia erioloba leaves (AMSVL). Each treatment was replicated 8 times and a lamb in an individual pen was regarded as an experimental unit in a completely randomized design. Feed intake was higher (P < 0.05) in lambs fed the AMS and AMSVL diets compared to those fed UMS. Final body weights were higher in lambs fed the AMS and AMSVL diets. Both average daily gain (ADG) and feed convention ratio (FCR) were not affected by diet. In comparison with the AMS and AMSVL diets, the lambs fed the UMS diet had the highest (P < 0.05) methane emission. Overall, lambs fed the control diets had the lowest (P < 0.05) methane gas emission. Blood hematological values were affected by diet with the AMSVL fed lambs having the highest (P < 0.05) mean platelet volume (MPV) and procalcitonin (PCT) values. Furthermore, total albumin, amylase and total bilirubin were the highest (P < 0.05) in lambs fed on the AMSVL diet. Lambs fed on AMS diet had the highest (P < 0.05) serum urea levels. It can be concluded that combined inclusion of ammoniated maize stover and Vachellia leaves improved feed value and lamb performance when compared to the individual inclusion of both UMS and AMS.

Morphological Evaluation of Corpus Callosum Atrophy Over Time in Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic central nervous system (CNS) disease that generally affects young adults and is marked by inflammation, demyelination, and neurodegeneration. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is widely used diagnosis tool for relapsing remitting MS (RRMS). Corpus callosum (CC), the largest commissural tract in brain which is associated with both cognitive and physical impairment by atrophy in MS. Our study aimed to evaluate CC in RRMS patients using MR images and compare it to measurements from healthy controls within the same age. Methods: We manually measured changes in CC thickness in T1 brain MR images of RRMS patients in 2017, 2019, and 2022. Results: Our results showed that control group had greater thickness, length, and index values in all CC sections compared to patient group. Additionally, a significant difference was observed in thickness of genu and splenium sections and CC index between patient and control groups. However, no significant difference was detected in truncus part of CC or overall CC length. CC measurements in patient group decreased over time, with 1st MRI showing greater values than 2nd and 3rd MRI scans. Furthermore, there was a statistically significant difference in thickness of truncus part of CC and volume values of subcortical areas between 2nd-3rd and 1st-3rd MRI measurements. Conclusion: As a result of these findings, our study provides important information about changes in CC measurements for MS patients.

Population pharmacokinetics of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir in critically ill Chinese COVID-19 patients and recommendations for medication use: a two-center retrospective study

ABSTRACT Background This study aimed to establish population pharmacokinetics (PPK) models of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir in critically ill Chinese patients with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, explore factors affecting the pharmacokinetics (PK) of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir. Methods A total of 285 serum samples and clinical data were collected from 152 patients. The PPK models of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir were analyzed using nonlinear mixed-effect modeling (NONMEM) approach. The optimal dosing regimen for patients with different renal function was determined using Monte Carlo simulations. Results The population typical values of apparent clearance (CL/F) and apparent volume of distribution (V/F) of nirmatrelvir were 2.26 L/h and 15.3 L, respectively. Notably, creatinine clearance (CrCL) significantly influenced the PK variation of nirmatrelvir. Monte Carlo simulations suggested that patients with mild-to-moderate renal impairment experienced a 22.0–59.9% increase in the area under the curve (AUC) when they were administered a standard dose of nirmatrelvir compared to those with normal renal function. The AUC in patients with severe renal impairment after administration of 150 mg q12h nirmatrelvir was similar to that in patients with normal renal function after administration of 300 mg q12h nirmatrelvir. Conclusions PPK modeling and simulation provided a reference for the rational clinical application of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir in critically ill Chinese patients.

The Correlation Between Compressive Strength and The Size of Pore Fly Ash and Perlite Concrete Geopolymer at High Temperature

Abstract Burned material experiences a decrease in yield strength and elasticity modulus. Fire supervision is required. One of the sustainable material is geopolymer. In this study, fly ash and perlite-based concrete geopolymer have been burned for 900°C for 2 hours. It is followed by Surface Area Analyzer test equipment. The size of pore changes for burned concrete geopolymer. Meanwhile, one of the strength of concrete geopolymer indicator is compressive strength. Both of the results of compressive strength and the pore size are conducted through experimental study. Bet method has been used to measure pore size of it. UTM machine has been used to calculate compressive strength. The surface area analyzer test results show that the addition of perlite to fly ash-based geopolymer concrete will decrease the value of surface area, pore volume, and pore distribution in burned geopolymer concrete, but the addition of perlite to fly ash-based geopolymer concrete will increase the value of pore distribution and decrease the value of surface area and pore volume in unburned geopolymer concrete.

Combining Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping With the Gray Matter Volume to Predict Neurological Deficits in Patients With Small Artery Occlusion.

Currently, there is still a lack of valuable neuroimaging markers to assess the clinical severity of stroke patients with small artery occlusion (SAO). Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) is a quantitative processing method for neuroradiological diagnostics. Gray matter (GM) volume changes in stroke patients are also proved to be associated with neurological deficits. This study aims to explore the predictive value of QSM and GM volume in neurological deficits of patients with SAO. As neurological deficits, the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) was used. Sixty-six SAO participants within 24h of first onset were enrolled and divided into mild and moderate groups based on NIHSS. QSM values of infarct area and GM volume were calculated from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. Two-sample t-tests were used to compare differences in QSM value and GM volume between the two groups, and the diagnostic efficacy of the combination of QSM value and GM volume was evaluated. The results revealed both the QSM value and GM volume within the infarct area of the moderate group were lower compared to the mild group. Moderate group exhibited lower GM volume in some specific gyrus compared with mild group in the case of voxel-wise GM volume on whole-brain voxel level. The support vector machine (SVM) classifier's analysis showed a high power for the combination of QSM value, GM volume within the infarct area, and voxel-wise GM volume. Our research first reported the combination of QSM value, GM volume within the infarct area, and voxel-wise GM volume could be used to predict neurological impairment of patients with SAO, which provides new insights for further understanding the SAO stroke.

Association Between Metabolic Syndrome and the Size of Renal Cysts: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with the development of several diseases. However, the correlation between MetS and size of renal cysts remains unclear. This research aims to explore the potential connection between them, offering theoretical guidance for clinical prevention and treatment of renal cysts. A total of 467 patients diagnosed with renal cysts and admitted to Sir Run Run Hospital, Nanjing Medical University from September 2019 to September 2020 were eventually included in this study. They were divided into the small cyst group (cyst volume≤1.5cm³) and the large cyst group (cyst volume>1.5cm³) based on the median value of cyst volume. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between MetS and size of renal cysts. Our results indicated that MetS (OR 1.941, 95% CI 1.286-2.927, P=0.002) was positively associated with the size of renal cysts. Additionally, multiple renal cysts (OR 2.259, 95% CI 1.402-3.640, P=0.001) and serum globulin (OR 0.945, 95% CI 0.905-0.987, P=0.011) were positively and negatively related to size of renal cysts, respectively. Our study reveals the association between MetS and the size of renal cysts. Patients with MetS are more likely to have larger renal cysts. The administration of MetS may help limit the development of renal cysts. Further prospective studies are needed to explore the causal relationship between MetS and renal cysts.

Aortic valve calcification volume and prognosis in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation

Introduction and objectivesIt is unknown whether aortic valve calcium volume, as measured by contrast-enhanced computed tomography angiography (angio-CT), is associated with mortality in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). We aimed to confirm that contrast-enhanced aortic valve calcium correlates with noncontrast-enhanced calcium score and provides useful prognostic information in patients undergoing TAVI. MethodsThis retrospective observational study included patients from 2 high-volume TAVI centers in Germany, all of whom underwent high-quality angio-CT prior to TAVI. Calcium volume in contrast-enhanced angio-CT was calculated using 3Mensio software (Pie Medical, The Netherlands), while the calcium score from noncontrast-enhanced angio-CT was obtained using the Syngo.via (Siemens Healthineers, Germany) workstation to validate contrast-enhanced angio-CT values. Calcium volume was dichotomized using the median based on to sex-specific values from contrast-enhanced angio-CT, and the risk associated with increased calcium volume was determined using Cox proportional hazard regression analysis. ResultsWe included 3318 TAVI patients. A good correlation was observed between noncontrast-enhanced and contrast-enhanced angio-CT (r2=0.680; P<.001). The median values for sex-specific contrast-enhanced angio-CT calcium volume were 514 mm3 for women and 1025 mm3 for men. Patients with higher calcium volumes showed lower mortality at 1 year (8.8% vs 12.1%; adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.86; 95% confidence interval [95%CI], 0.75-0.98; P=.02) compared with those with lower calcium volumes. ConclusionsCalcium volume in contrast-enhanced angio-CT correlated well with noncontrast-enhanced angio-CT calcium score. Patients with higher calcium volume showed lower mortality at 1 year after TAVI.

Role of Acoustic and Volumetric Properties in View to Estimate the Intermolecular Interactions in the Solutions of Electrolytes and l‐Isoleucine

Abstractl‐Isoleucine is subjected to density and sound velocity measurements in aqueous solutions of potassium (KCl) and sodium chlorides (NaCl) as well as water, from 288.15 to 298.15 K. Through the use of these experimental data, a variety of volumetric and acoustical parameters are calculated, including values for molar volume (Vm), available volume (Va), adiabatic compressibility (β), nonlinear parameters (B/A), Wada constant (W), Rao's constant (R), and van der Wall's constant (a). The findings shed light on many electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions within the binary system involving electrolytes, water, and amino acids. The interactions between the electrolytes and l‐isoleucine are thoroughly examined under varying electrolyte concentrations and temperatures, revealing many interactions. Positive transfer quantities demonstrate the ion‐hydrophilic and solute–solvent interaction in the aqueous medium, particularly between l‐isoleucine and NaCl and KCl. The influence of electrolyte type and temperature on these interactions is discernible. The culmination of the study's outcomes is elaborated through analyzing solute–solvent and solute–solute interactions. In particular, the interaction hierarchy is identified as l‐isoleucine + water + KCl &gt; l‐isoleucine + water + NaCl &gt; l‐isoleucine + swater.

Partial molar volumes of 1–1 electrolytes at high T and P: correlations and predictions

Knowledge of the partial molar volumes of aqueous ions allows accurate calculation of the pressure dependence of equilibrium constants, solubility of minerals, etc., thus being useful for thermodynamic modeling of hydrothermal processes. This study analyzed methods to correlate and predict the values of the partial molar volumes at infinite dilution, V2o, for 1–1 electrolytes and singly charged ions at elevated T and P. Since the precise experimental values of the dielectric constant of water are measured only up to 873 K, we were interested only in non-electrostatic ways to correlate V2o data. First of all, we compiled the V2o values at T > 373 K for the following 1–1 electrolytes: HCl, LiCl, LiI, LiNO3, LiOH, NaF, NaCl, NaBr, NaI, NaNO3, NaOH, NaHCO3, NaClO4, NaH2PO4, NaTr (Tr stands for triflate), KF, KCl, KBr, KI, KNO3, KOH, CsBr, and NH4Cl. Relations, following from the “density” model and from the Fluctuation Solution Theory (FST) were employed to analyze data. It was concluded that at the current state of knowledge of V2o the FST-relations for electrolytes are recommended mainly to reject strongly deviating experimental outliers. However, the “density” model provides a simple and fairly accurate way to describe the compiled set of data with only two parameters for each ion, n and Vhc, values of which were evaluated for the following singly-charged ions: H+, Li+, Na+, K+, Cs+, NH4+, F-, Cl-, Br-, I-, OH–, NO3–, H2PO4-, HCO3–, ClO4-, Tr- (Tr = triflate). Following Mesmer et al. (1988), we consider the fitting parameters Vhc and n to be related to the intrinsic volume of the ion and to the number of water molecules transferred from the bulk water to a hydration shell around the ion, respectively.Although the values of n and Vhc were fitted from data at temperatures from 373 to 673 K and water densities, do, from 0.5 to 1.1 g cm−3, apparently, they predict realistic V2o values at temperatures up to 1600 K and do ranges from 0.2 to 1.6 g cm−3.

P61-1 Prognostic value of metabolic tumor volume in patients with resectable pancreatic cancer: a meta-analysis

P61-1 Prognostic value of metabolic tumor volume in patients with resectable pancreatic cancer: a meta-analysis

EP.08B.03 Prognostic Value of Irradiated Cardiac and Metabolic Tumor Volume in Unresected LA-NSCLC Treated with Concurrent Chemo-Radiotherapy.

EP.08B.03 Prognostic Value of Irradiated Cardiac and Metabolic Tumor Volume in Unresected LA-NSCLC Treated with Concurrent Chemo-Radiotherapy.

Structural investigation and dc conductivity of Bi2O3–B2O3 glasses

The structure of xBi2O3∙(100–x)B2O3 with (30 ≤ x ≤ 65 mol%) glasses was investigated by FTIR, XRD, TEM, SEM and dc conductivity. The factor of four coordinated boron atoms N4 increases up to 50 mol% Bi2O3 then decreases for further increase in Bi2O3 content. FTIR analyses indicate that Bi2O3 heads for creating a matrix of its own rather than modifying the borate matrix and this behavior gradually increases with increasing its concentration in the matrix. There is a linear increase in both experimental density and molar volume values with replacing B2O3 by Bi2O3, moreover a strong correlation between the computed and experimental density and molar volume values could be noticed. XRD patterns confirm that no sharp peaks for untreated samples whereas Bi2O3 crystalline phase appears for heat treated samples. TEM and SEM show the presence of some small phases with different sizes formed of clusters, these phases increase in size and became predominant with heat treatment. The conductivity increases while the activation energy seems to be constant. This rare behavior is interpreted in the light of forming Bi2O3 former matrix.

Prediction of Cardiovascular Events and Structural and Functional Remodeling of the Heart in Patients With Severe Mitral Regurgitation of Various Genesis Underwent Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair "Edge-To-Edge".

To search for predictors of adverse cardiovascular events after edge-to-edge transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR) in patients with severe mitral regurgitation (MR) of various origins with an assessment of structural and functional remodeling of the heart and left ventricular (LV) contractile function. The study included 73 patients (median age 71 [63; 80] years, 60.3% men) at a high surgical risk with severe MR of primary and secondary genesis, who underwent TMVR. The second-generation (58.9%) and fourth-generation (41.1%) clips were implanted. In addition to standard echocardiographic (EchoCG) indices, the parameters of left heart chamber longitudinal strain and LV myocardial function were assessed at baseline, on days 4-5, and at 6 and 12 months after the intervention. Also, the N-terminal fragment of the pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) was assessed at baseline and on days 4-5 after TMVR. A significant decrease in MR was achieved during 12 months of follow-up. In the group with primary mitral regurgitation (PMR), MR decreased from 4.0 [3.4; 4.0] to 2.0 [1.5; 2.5] at one year of follow-up (p&lt;0.001). In the group with secondary mitral regurgitation (SMR), MR decreased from 3.5 [3.0; 3.9] to 2.0 [2.0; 2.5] at 12 months of follow-up (p&lt;0.001). This effect was associated with volumetric unloading of the left heart chambers evident as a significant decrease in the volumetric indices of the left chambers and an increase in the cardiac index. In the early postoperative period, the LV function was impaired as shown by decreases in the ejection fraction (EF), global longitudinal strain (GLS), LV myocardial function parameters, and an associated increase in NT-proBNP. By 12 months of follow-up, statistically significant improvements in global constructive work (GCW) and global work index (GWI) relative to baseline values were noted in both groups without significant changes in EF and LV GLS. A strong correlation was found between LV EF and GCW (r=0.812, p&lt;0.001) and GWI (r=0.749, p&lt;0.001). The overall survival was 89%, not differing between groups (p=0.72); the absence of hospitalization for decompensated heart failure (HF) was 79.5%, also without significant differences between the groups (p=0.78). According to multivariate regression analysis, the baseline GCW value was the strongest predictor of rehospitalization for decompensated HF (relative risk (RR) 0.997; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.995-1.000; p=0.021) and the composite endpoint (CEP) (hospitalization for decompensated HF + all-cause mortality) (RR 0.998; 95% CI 0.996-1.000; p=0.033) in the cohort with PMR. In the group with SMR, the initial degree of MR was related with rehospitalization and the CEP (OR 12.252; 95% CI 2.125-70.651; p=0.005 and OR 16.098; 95% CI 2.944-88.044; p=0.001, respectively). The most significant predictor of overall mortality in the study population was the preoperative value of LV stroke volume (OR 0.824; 95% CI 0.750-0.906; p&lt;0.001). Edge-to-edge TMVR exerts a positive effect on the prognosis and structural and functional remodeling of the heart in patients with PMR and SMR. Myocardial function indices may be useful in assessing the LV contractile function in patients with severe MR of various origins. Identification of predictors for adverse cardiovascular events, including with new EchoCG technologies, may contribute to better patient stratification.

Adaptive Constraint Relaxation-Based Evolutionary Algorithm for Constrained Multi-Objective Optimization

The key problem to solving constrained multi-objective optimization problems (CMOPs) is how to achieve a balance between objectives and constraints. Unfortunately, most existing methods for CMOPs still cannot achieve the above balance. To this end, this paper proposes an adaptive constraint relaxation-based evolutionary algorithm (ACREA) for CMOPs. ACREA adaptively relaxes the constraints according to the iteration information of population, whose purpose is to induce infeasible solutions to transform into feasible ones and thus improve the ability to explore the unknown regions. Completely ignoring constraints can cause the population to waste significant resources searching for infeasible solutions, while excessively satisfying constraints can trap the population in local optima. Therefore, balancing constraints and objectives is a crucial approach to improving algorithm performance. By appropriately relaxing the constraints, it induces infeasible solutions to be transformed into feasible ones, thus obtaining more information from infeasible solutions. At the same time, it also establishes an archive for the storage and update of solutions. In the archive update process, a diversity-based ranking is proposed to improve the convergence speed of the algorithm. In the selection process of the mating pool, common density selection metrics are incorporated to enable the algorithm to obtain higher-quality solutions. The experimental results show that the proposed ACREA algorithm not only achieved the best Inverse Generation Distance (IGD) value in 54.6% of the 44 benchmark test problems and the best Hyper Volume (HV) value in 50% of them, but also obtained the best results in seven out of nine real-world problems. Clearly, CP-TSEA outperforms its competitors.

The role of thrombocyte indices in early determination of sepsis agents in newborns

Purpose: Neonatal sepsis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. The signs and symptoms of neonatal sepsis are nonspecific, and there is no ideal marker for diagnosis. Our study aimed to investigate the role of platelet indices in determining agents in sepsis. Materials and Methods: A total of 90 records with sepsis data were examined retrospectively, demographic and clinical characteristics of gram-positive, gram-negative and Candida infection patients were evaluated by complete blood counts at the time of diagnosis and on the fifth day of infection and platelet amount (PLT), mean platelet volume (MPV), plateletcrit (PCT) and distribution width (PDW) values were compared by ROC curve analysis. Results: No statistical difference was found between the groups in terms of gender, gestational week, birth weight, surfactant use, need for mechanical ventilator treatment, and necrotizing enterocolitis. When infection was first detected, the Area Under Curve (AUC) of PCT, PLT and MPV (without thrombocytopenia) values in detecting gram-positive bacterial infection were 0.764, 0.765 and 0.792 respectively. Conclusion: The increase in PCT and PLT values at the time of initial diagnosis can be used to detect gram-positive bacterial infections. A decrease in MPV can be used for early diagnosis of fungal infections without thrombocytopenia.