Towards Adequate Policy Enhancement: An AI-Driven Decision Tree Model for Efficient Recognition and Classification of EPA Status via Multi-Emission Parameters

Accurate and timely evaluation and assessment of emission data and its impact on environmental status has been a key challenge due to the conventional manual approach utilized for independently computing most emission parameters. To resolve this long-standing issue, we proposed an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven Decision Tree model to adequately classify Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) status based on multiple Emission Parameters. The model's performance was systematically evaluated using multiple emission parameters obtained from a two-stroke motorcycle dataset collected in Nigeria across various metrics such as K-S Statistics, Confusion Matrix, Correlation Heat Map, Decision Tree, Validation Curve, and Threshold Plot. The K-S Statistics plot's experimental results showed a considerable correlation between HC, CO, and the target variable, with values ranging from 0.75-0.80. At the same time, CO2 and O2 do not correlate with the target variable with values between 0.00 and 0.09. The Confusion Matrix revealed that the proposed model has an overall accuracy of 99.9% with 481 true positive predictions and 75 true negative predictions, indicating the effectiveness of the proposed AI-driven model. In conclusion, our proposed AI-driven model can effectively classify EPA status based on multiple emission parameters with high accuracy, which may spur positive advancement in policy enhancement for proper environmental management

Trends in multiplicity of Plasmodium falciparum infections among asymptomatic residents in the middle belt of Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Malaria is the most important cause of mortality and morbidity in children living in the Kintampo districts in the middle part of Ghana. This study has investigated the multiplicity of infection (MOI) within asymptomatic residents of the Kintampo districts, and the influence of age and seasonality on MOI, by studying the distribution of the polymorphic Plasmodium falciparum antigen merozoite surface protein 2 (MSP2). METHODS: DNA was extracted from an asymptomatic cohort of children and adults infected with P. falciparum during the period November 2003 to October 2004. Polymerase chain reaction was carried out and multiplicity of infection (MOI) was determined. RESULTS: Children under 10 years of age had an average MOI of 2.3 while adults 18 years and above had an average MOI of 1.4. Children below five years had high and low average MOIs of 2.8 in the March/April survey and 0.9 in the May/June survey respectively. A similar trend in the monthly distribution of MOI was observed for the entire cohort. IC/3D7 strains outnumbered the FC27 strains throughout the year by a ratio of about 4:1 with the difference between the prevalence of the two strains being least marked in the March/April survey, at the beginning of the rainy season. MOI was not linked to the level of malaria transmission as measured by the entomological inoculation rate. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: The impact of interventions, introduced since this baseline study was carried out on the parasite diversity of asymptomatic residents will be the subject of further investigations

Limited Correlation of Shotgun Metagenomics Following Host Depletion and Routine Diagnostics for Viruses and Bacteria in Low Concentrated Surrogate and Clinical Samples

The etiologic cause of encephalitis, meningitis or meningo-encephalitis is unknown in up to 70% of cases. Clinical shotgun metagenomics combined with host depletion is a promising technique to identify infectious etiologies of central nervous system (CNS) infections. We developed a straightforward eukaryotic host nucleic acid depletion method that preserves intact viruses and bacteria for subsequent shotgun metagenomics screening of clinical samples, focusing on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A surrogate CSF sample for a CNS infection paradigm was used to evaluate the proposed depletion method consisting of selective host cell lysis, followed by enzymatic degradation of the liberated genomic DNA for final depletion with paramagnetic beads. Extractives were subjected to reverse transcription, followed by whole genome amplification and next generation sequencing. The effectiveness of the host depletion method was demonstrated in surrogate CSF samples spiked with three 1:100 dilutions of Influenza A H3N2 virus (qPCR Ct-values 20.7, 28.8, >42/negative). Compared to the native samples, host depletion increased the amount of the virus subtype reads by factor 7127 and 132, respectively, while in the qPCR negative sample zero vs. 31 (1.4E-4 %) virus subtype reads were detected (native vs. depleted). The workflow was applied to thirteen CSF samples of patients with meningo-/encephalitis (two bacterial, eleven viral etiologies), a serum of an Andes virus infection and a nose swab of a common cold patient. Unlike surrogate samples, host depletion of the thirteen human CSF samples and the nose swab did not result in more reads indicating presence of damaged pathogens due to, e.g., host immune response. Nevertheless, previously diagnosed pathogens in the human CSF samples (six viruses, two bacteria), the serum, and the nose swab (Human rhinovirus A31) were detected in the depleted and/or the native samples. Unbiased evaluation of the taxonomic profiles supported the diagnosed pathogen in two native CSF samples and the native and depleted serum and nose swab, while detecting various contaminations that interfered with pathogen identification at low concentration levels. In summary, damaged pathogens and contaminations complicated analysis and interpretation of clinical shotgun metagenomics data. Still, proper consideration of these issues may enable future application of metagenomics for clinical diagnostics

Identification of Heterozygous Single- and Multi-exon Deletions in IL7R by Whole Exome Sequencing

PURPOSE: We aimed to achieve a retrospective molecular diagnosis by applying state-of-the-art genomic sequencing methods to past patients with T-B+NK+ severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). We included identification of copy number variations (CNVs) by whole exome sequencing (WES) using the CNV calling method ExomeDepth to detect gene alterations for which routine Sanger sequencing analysis is not suitable, such as large heterozygous deletions. METHODS: Of a total of 12 undiagnosed patients with T-B+NK+ SCID, we analyzed eight probands by WES, using GATK to detect single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and small insertions and deletions (INDELs) and ExomeDepth to detect CNVs. RESULTS: We found heterozygous single- or multi-exon deletions in IL7R, a known disease gene for autosomal recessive T-B+NK+ SCID, in four families (seven patients). In three families (five patients), these deletions coexisted with a heterozygous splice site or nonsense mutation elsewhere in the same gene, consistent with compound heterozygosity. In our cohort, about a quarter of T-B+NK+ SCID patients (26%) had such compound heterozygous IL7R deletions. CONCLUSIONS: We show that heterozygous IL7R exon deletions are common in T-B+NK+ SCID and are detectable by WES. They should be considered if Sanger sequencing fails to detect homozygous or compound heterozygous IL7R SNVs or INDELs

Heritage in trust: sustainable stewardship in transition?

Founded in 1895 as a society for the preservation of natural beauty and historic interest, the National Trust starts its second century as Britain's largest private landowner. Its portfolio of property - natural and built, rural and urban, ancient and modern - is unique in its variety and quality. With its membership of over 2 million the Trust is also the world's largest voluntary conservation organisation. Frequently identified with 'establishment' values (though on occasion seen as subversive of them) the Trust has as often been a focus of critique as of celebration. This paper examines the Trust's changing relation to contested values of heritage as manifest in its acquisitions and management policies, in its engagement with environmental and social issues and an emerging politicisation which transcends a narrow, purely property- based interpretation of its statutory purpose. Recent acquisitions challenge conventional perceptions of 'natural beauty' and 'historic interest'. Organisational greening has precipitated a review of the implications of stewardship 'in perpetuity'. Recognition of the needs of local communities and awareness of equal opportunities issues have prompted a reinterpretation of its founders' concerns with access and enjoyment 'for the nation'. The outcome is an inchoate shift in the emphasis in heritage management from the preservation of the status quo, to the management of change, not merely within the context of its own heritage portfolio but also of the environmental and social context within which it is managed and presented

Migrant care workers at the intersection of rural belonging in small English communities

Shortage of staff in the private care sector brought migrant participants of this study to rural communities in northwest England. The care workers, fourteen highly skilled first-generation migrants, described experiences of feeling unsettled, despite residing in these communities for an average of nine years. Social divisions, such as their race, ethnicity, and gender, intersected in rural England to create an overwhelming, at times, feeling of being othered. We use intersectionality as a framework to examine the advantageous and disadvantageous positionings of migrant workers, alongside their strategies of resistance and adaptation, filling in the gaps that acculturation theory glosses over