Recommendation Systems: A Systematic Review

This article presents a comprehensive and objective systematic review of existing research on recommendation systems with regards to core theory, latest studies, various applications, current attitudes, and potential future applications. The research is mainly based on exploring professional peer-reviewed studies and articles and using their abstracts to create a comprehensive and unbiased review of existing research. The following search terms were used to identify articles and studies for the research: recommendation systems; recommender systems; core theory of recommender systems; current attitudes towards recommendation systems; latest studies on recommendation systems; applications of recommendation systems; potential studies on recommendation systems; and future potential applications of recommendation systems. The research also used the advanced search filter to locate recent studies for comparison by limiting the search by year to find studies published from 2021 onwards. Most literature on this area highlights the importance of recommendation systems in almost all aspects of modern life. Specifically, recommendation systems have become critical components in business, health care, education, marketing, and social networking domains. Additionally, most studies identified reinforcement of learning and deep learning techniques as significant developments in the field. These techniques form the backbone of most modern recommendation systems. The primary concern that could hinder further evolution systems is their consequent filter bubble effects which many studies showed to be problematic. Healthcare is a central area that shows tremendous potential for these systems. Although recommender systems have been implemented in this domain, there remains a lot of untapped potential that, if unleashed, could revolutionize medicine and healthcare. But the problems facing these systems have to be tackled first to establish trust. Keywords: Recommendation systems, Recommender systems, Deep learning, Reinforcement learning DOI: 10.7176/CEIS/13-4-04 Publication date:August 31st 202

An Improved MobileNet for Disease Detection on Tomato Leaves

Tomatoes are widely grown vegetables, and farmers face challenges in caring for them, particularly regarding plant diseases. The MobileNet architecture is renowned for its simplicity and compatibility with mobile devices. This study introduces MobileNet as a deep learning model to enhance disease detection efficiency in tomato plants. The model is evaluated on a dataset of 2,064 tomato leaf images, encompassing early blight, leaf spot, yellow curl, and healthy leaves. Results demonstrate promising accuracy, exceeding 0.980 for disease classification and 0.975 for distinguishing between diseases and healthy cases. Moreover, the proposed model outperforms existing approaches in terms of accuracy and training time for plant leaf disease detection

Assessing the efficacy and safety of magnesium sulfate for management of autonomic nervous system dysregulation in Vietnamese children with severe hand foot and mouth disease.

BACKGROUND: Brainstem encephalitis is a serious complication of hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in children. Autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysregulation and hypertension may occur, sometimes progressing to cardiopulmonary failure and death. Vietnamese national guidelines recommend use of milrinone if ANS dysregulation with Stage 2 hypertension develops. We wished to investigate whether magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) improved outcomes in children with HFMD if used earlier in the evolution of the ANS dysregulation (Stage 1 hypertension). METHODS: During a regional epidemic we conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of MgSO4 in children with HFMD, ANS dysregulation and Stage 1 hypertension, at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh city. Study participants received an infusion of MgSO4 or matched placebo for 72 h. We also reviewed data from non-trial HFMD patients in whom milrinone failed to control hypertension, some of whom received MgSO4 as second line therapy. The primary outcome for both analyses was a composite of disease progression within 72 h - addition of milrinone (trial participants only), need for ventilation, shock, or death. RESULTS: Between June 2014 and September 2016, 14 and 12 participants received MgSO4 or placebo respectively, before the trial was stopped due to futility. Among 45 non-trial cases with poorly controlled hypertension despite high-dose milrinone, 33 received MgSO4 while 12 did not. There were no statistically significant differences in the composite outcome between the MgSO4 and the placebo/control groups in either study (adjusted relative risk (95%CI) of [6/14 (43%) vs. 6/12 (50%)], 0.84 (0.37, 1.92), p = 0.682 in the trial and [1/33 (3%) vs. 2/12 (17%)], 0.16 (0.01, 1.79), p = 0.132 in the observational cohort). The incidence of adverse events was similar between the groups. Potentially toxic magnesium levels occurred very rarely with the infusion regime used. CONCLUSION: Although we could not demonstrate efficacy in these studies, there were no safety signals associated with use of 30-50 mg/kg/hr. MgSO4 in severe HFMD. Intermittent outbreaks of HFMD are likely to continue across the region, and an adequately powered trial is still needed to evaluate use of MgSO4 in controlling hypertension in severe HFMD, potentially involving a higher dose regimen. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01940250 (Registered 22 AUG 2013). Trial sponsor: University of Oxford

The global response: How cities and provinces around the globe tackled Covid-19 outbreaks in 2021

Background: Tackling the spread of COVID-19 remains a crucial part of ending the pandemic. Its highly contagious nature and constant evolution coupled with a relative lack of immunity make the virus difficult to control. For this, various strategies have been proposed and adopted including limiting contact, social isolation, vaccination, contact tracing, etc. However, given the heterogeneity in the enforcement of these strategies and constant fluctuations in the strictness levels of these strategies, it becomes challenging to assess the true impact of these strategies in controlling the spread of COVID-19.Methods: In the present study, we evaluated various transmission control measures that were imposed in 10 global urban cities and provinces in 2021 Bangkok, Gauteng, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, London, Manila City, New Delhi, New York City, Singapore, and Tokyo.Findings: Based on our analysis, we herein propose the population-level Swiss cheese model for the failures and pit-falls in various strategies that each of these cities and provinces had. Furthermore, whilst all the evaluated cities and provinces took a different personalized approach to managing the pandemic, what remained common was dynamic enforcement and monitoring of breaches of each barrier of protection. The measures taken to reinforce the barriers were adjusted continuously based on the evolving epidemiological situation.Interpretation: How an individual city or province handled the pandemic profoundly affected and determined how the entire country handled the pandemic since the chain of transmission needs to be broken at the very grassroot level to achieve nationwide control

Approches d'immunothérapie anti-mélanome sur la base de l'inhibition du facteur de croissance IGF-1 modulant l'expression du CD9

Nous avons inhibé l expression de l insulin-like growth factor I sur une lignée de cellules de mélanome (la lignée B16-F0 des souris C57Bl/6). Les molécules impliquées dans l immunité (CMH-I, B7.1) n ont montré aucune variation d expression suite à la modulation de IGF-I. Par contre, la molécule de tétraspanine CD9, impliquée dans les interactions cellulaires, s est trouvée fortement inhibée. En parallèle, l inoculation in vivo de la lignée modifiée (B16-F0.MOD) induit une diminution de la tumorigénicité et améliore la survie. La vaccination par B16-F0.MOD entraîne la formation d effecteurs humoraux lytiques en présence de complément dirigés contre la lignée parentale, mais également d effecteurs cellulaires. En particulier, la sous-population CD8+ a la capacité d inhiber la croissance tumorale in vivo et la prolifération cellulaire in vitro. En conclusion, l inhibition de l IGF-I a provoqué la production d effecteurs immuns anti-mélanomeWe developed a strategy of immunological treatment based on inhibition of the insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) in melanoma cell line (B16-F0 from C57Bl/6 mice). Immunological molecules (CMH-I, B7.1) weren t modulated by targeting IGF-I. On the other hand, downregulation of the tetraspanin molecule named CD9, implicated in cellular interactions, was observed. Moreover, delayed outgrowth and increased survival were evaluated after inoculation of modified cells in syngeneic hosts. Vaccines were realised using these blocked modified cells. Cytotoxic antibodies were shown to be present in the sera of mice that were able to lyse parental cells in the presence of rabbit complement. Moreover, spleen cells from CD8 subpopulation harvested from hosts vaccinated were able to inhibit in vivo outgrowth and in vitro proliferation of parental B16-F0. Consequently promising results were reported using IGF-I inhibition strategy leading to stimulate anti-melanoma immune effectorsPARIS-BIUP (751062107) / SudocSudocFranceF

Le mélanome (aspects biologiques et cliniques, approches expérimentales contrôlant la prolifération tumorale par inhibition du facteur de croissance IGF-I (Insuline-like growth factor I))

PARIS-BIUP (751062107) / SudocSudocFranceF

Ciblage des cellules tumorales d'origine H-2b via des molécules de surface reconnues par des isoanticorps

PARIS-BIUSJ-Thèses (751052125) / SudocPARIS-BIUSJ-Physique recherche (751052113) / SudocSudocFranceF

Quinone-Based Polymers for Label-Free and Reagentless Electrochemical Immunosensors: Application to Proteins, Antibodies and Pesticides Detection

Polyquinone derivatives are widely recognized in the literature for their remarkable properties, their biocompatibility, simple synthesis, and easy bio-functionalization. We have shown that polyquinones present very stable electroactivity in neutral aqueous medium within the cathodic potential domain avoiding side oxidation of interfering species. Besides, they can act as immobilized redox transducers for probing biomolecular interactions in sensors. Our group has been working on devices based on such modified electrodes with a view to applications for proteins, antibodies and organic pollutants using a reagentless label-free electrochemical immunosensor format. Herein, these developments are briefly reviewed and put into perspective

Comparative study of the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activities of the seed coat vs. seed kernel extracts from the plant Mangifera indica L. in inflammatory acne treatment

Introduction: The present study was developed to investigate and compare the extraction yield, the contents of polyphenols and mangiferin, the activities against Propionibacterium acnes, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli bacteria, and the anti-inflammatory activities of ethanol extracts of mango seed kernels vs. seed coats. Methods: Mango seed kernels and seed coats were extracted using ethanol as the solvent and tested against microorganisms using the disc diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) levels of extracts were determined by the agar dilution method. The anti-inflammatory activities were assessed both in vitro and in vivo by albumin denaturation method and carrageenan-induced paw edema test, respectively. Results: Both extracts yielded high contents of mangiferin and phenolic compounds. The antibacterial activities of both extracts showed inhibition of the tested microorganisms Propionibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus aureus but not Escherichia coli. Seed kernel extract (0.2 g/kg) reduced paw edema by 44.8% at 3 hours after λ-carrageenan administration. Meanwhile, 0.5 g/kg seed coat extract reduced paw edema less than the seed kernel extract (23.1% vs. 44.8%). Mango seed kernel extract, mango seed coat extract, and diclofenac sodium displayed concentration-dependent inhibition of heat-induced protein denaturation with IC50 values of 137.23 μg/mL, 292.12 μg/mL, and 6.64 μg/mL, respectively. Conclusion: The obtained results confirmed the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory potential of mango seed kernel and seed coat extracts. The mango seed kernel extract was proven to be more effective than the mango seed coat extract and thus can be used in cosmetics as an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial agent