Investigating the classical problem of pursuit, in two modes

The pursuit problem is a historical issue of the application of mathematics in physics, which has been discussed for centuries since the time of Leonardo Da Vinci, and its applications are wide ranging from military and industrial to recreational, but its place of interest is nowhere but nature and inspiration from the way of migration of birds and hunting of archer fish. The pursuit problem involves one or more pursuers trying to catch a target that is moving in a certain direction. In this article, we delve into two modes of movement: movement on a straight line and movement on a curve. Our primary focus is on the latter. Within the context of movement on a straight line, we explore two methods and compare their respective results. Furthermore, we investigate the movement of two particles chasing each other and extend these findings to N particles that are chasing each other in pairs. By leveraging these two modes of movement, we present a novel relationship for two-particle and N-particle systems in pursuit. Lastly, we analyze the movement of moths around a lamp and evaluate their motion in relation to two-particle and N-particle systems in pursuit. The results of this analysis are carefully examined

The clinical application of Circulating tumor cells and DNAs as prognostic and predictive biomarkers in gastrointestinal cancer

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer is one of the most common cancers globally. Genetic and epigenetic mechanisms are involved in its pathogenesis. The conventional methods for diagnosis and screening for GI cancers are often invasive and have other limitations. In the era of personalized medicine, a novel non-invasive approach called liquid biopsy has been introduced for the detection and management of GI cancers, which focuses on the analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating cell-free tumor DNA (ctDNA). Several studies have shown that this new approach allows for an improved understanding of GI tumor biology and will lead to an improvement in clinical management. The aim of the current review is to explore the clinical applications of CTCs and ctDNA in patients with GI cancer. Key words: Gastrointestinal cancer; Liquid biopsy; CTCs; ctDNA; biomarkers; tumor biolog

Global, regional, and national burden of colorectal cancer and its risk factors, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Funding: F Carvalho and E Fernandes acknowledge support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (FCT), in the scope of the project UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences UCIBIO and the project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy i4HB; FCT/MCTES through the project UIDB/50006/2020. J Conde acknowledges the European Research Council Starting Grant (ERC-StG-2019-848325). V M Costa acknowledges the grant SFRH/BHD/110001/2015, received by Portuguese national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), IP, under the Norma Transitória DL57/2016/CP1334/CT0006.proofepub_ahead_of_prin

Citizens of the world: National stereotypes do not affect empathic response in the presence of individuating information

Stereotyping is defined as generalising an attribute to a whole group and overlooking individual differences. In this study, we investigated whether Iranians' stereotypes of nations affected their empathy for the citizens of those nations. First, in a pilot study we explored common national stereotypes by using the stereotype content model (SCM) based on which six countries with different perceived warmth and competence scores were selected as nationalities of the protagonists of the vignettes in our experiment. In the next phase, 21 participants were asked to rate the degree of sadness associated with each vignette in an fMRI scanner. The results showed no significant differences in brain activity while participants were exposed to scenarios in which negative events befell people from different nations. This may be due to the individuation of victims by providing personal information about them

Air-to-Air Heat and Moisture Recovery in a Plate-Frame Exchanger Using Composite and Asymmetric Membranes

The present work studied an air-to-air exchanger comprising a flat plate module with a diagonal channel and a counterflow configuration for the air streams. The objective of this study was to remove moisture and sensible heat from an exhaust air stream by indirect contact with another air stream. The temperature and flow rate of the exhaust air was in the range of 40–80 °C and 1–5 L·min−1, respectively, and the fresh ambient air to exhaust air flow ratio was 1–5. An asymmetric porous membrane (P-MEM), a thin film composite membrane (C-MEM), and a kraft paper were used as the core for the heat exchange module. The most influential parameter was the humid air temperature, with a direct positive effect (50–60%) due to the increase in the kinetic energy of the water molecules. The other effective parameter was the flow rate of the humid gas with a reverse effect on the enthalpy exchanger performance (25–37%). The ratio of “fresh” air to “exhaust” air had the lowest positive effect (8–10%) on the total effectiveness. The sensible effectiveness of different membranes under the studied conditions was relatively the same, showing their similar heat conductivity. However, the kraft paper showed the best performance compared to the synthetic membranes due to having a porous/hydrophile texture. P-MEM with an asymmetric porous texture showed the closest performance to kraft paper. Furthermore, it was found that under limited conditions, such as higher temperatures (70 and 80 °C) and flow rates (5 L·min−1) for the humid air, the performance of P-MEM was a little better than the kraft paper. However, C-MEM with the lowest total effectiveness and overall heat transfer coefficient (150–210 W·m−2·K−1) showed that the hydrophile PEBAX layer could not contribute to moisture recovery due to its high thickness

Smell Decline as a good Predictor of Sinonasal Polyposis Recurrence after Endoscopic Surgery

Introduction: To evaluate the most sensitive symptom to predict early recurrence of nasal polyposis. Prospective longitudinal cohort study. Tertiary university referral center with accredited otorhinolaryngology residency programs.  Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, we evaluated 62 patients with diffuse nasal polyposis. All patients underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery. The author-devised questionnaire relating to the four major symptoms of chronic rhinosinusitis were answered by patients at the pre-operative visit and at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after surgery. Patients were followed up with serial endoscopic examinations, and a computed tomography (CT) scan was performed if indicated.   Results: All 62 patients (37 male, 25 female) completed the study. The mean age was 41.24 ± 12.47 years. All major symptoms showed significant improvement after surgery (P=0.000); however, the severity of symptoms gradually increased in patients with a recurrence of polyposis, but at different points in time (P= 0.008). Sense of smell was the first symptom to deteriorate in patients with relapse (mean, 6 months) followed by nasal secretion (12 months), obstruction and pain(24 months). Patients with asthma, Samter’s triad, allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS) and allergic rhinitis showed symptoms of recurrence sooner than other patients (