XWikiGen: Cross-lingual Summarization for Encyclopedic Text Generation in Low Resource Languages

Lack of encyclopedic text contributors, especially on Wikipedia, makes automated text generation for low resource (LR) languages a critical problem. Existing work on Wikipedia text generation has focused on English only where English reference articles are summarized to generate English Wikipedia pages. But, for low-resource languages, the scarcity of reference articles makes monolingual summarization ineffective in solving this problem. Hence, in this work, we propose XWikiGen, which is the task of cross-lingual multi-document summarization of text from multiple reference articles, written in various languages, to generate Wikipedia-style text. Accordingly, we contribute a benchmark dataset, XWikiRef, spanning ~69K Wikipedia articles covering five domains and eight languages. We harness this dataset to train a two-stage system where the input is a set of citations and a section title and the output is a section-specific LR summary. The proposed system is based on a novel idea of neural unsupervised extractive summarization to coarsely identify salient information followed by a neural abstractive model to generate the section-specific text. Extensive experiments show that multi-domain training is better than the multi-lingual setup on average

In silico study of RxLR effectors of Phytophthora infestans HP-10-31, A2 mating type potato late blight pathogen

Phytophthora infestans is one of the most compelling plant pathogen among the scientific community throughout the world. It is the causative agent of potato late blight and responsible for tremendous economic loss worldwide. Pathogenic effector proteins are instrumental in modulating host immunity and disease resistance has been a major concern. In P. infestans, a class of cytoplasmic effectors recognized as RxLR is characterized by highly conserved region and abet in parasitic colonization by modifying the host defense system. We have sequenced an Indian strain of P. infestans HP-10-31 genome and identified several RxLR motif-containing genes.In this study we selected two RxLR effector genes named contig15921_2 and contig06738_6 from this A2 mating type strain. We used I-TASSER server to generate three-dimensional structure and observe the Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and S-adenosyl-Lhomocysteine conserve domains. Our in silico study reveals the binding properties of these proteins are favorable with corresponding ligands. This study gives insight into the interaction between putative RxLR effector proteins with its ligand that further aid our understanding of host-pathogen interaction and help in designing new agents to combat the agro pathogenicity

Comparison of concomitant boost radiotherapy against concurrent chemoradiation in locally advanced oropharyngeal cancers: A phase III randomised trial

AbstractPurposeTo test the toxicity and efficacy of concomitant boost radiotherapy alone against concurrent chemoradiation (conventional fractionation) in locally advanced oropharyngeal cancer in our patient population.Methods and materialsIn this open-label, randomised trial, 216 patients with histologically proven Stage III–IVA oropharyngeal cancer were randomly assigned between June 2006 and December 2010 to receive either chemoradiation (CRT) to a dose of 66Gy in 33 fractions over 6.5weeks with concurrent cisplatin (100mg/m2 on days 1, 22 and 43) or accelerated radiotherapy with concomitant boost (CBRT) to a dose of 67.5Gy in 40 fractions over 5weeks. The compliance, toxicity and quality of life were investigated. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) curves were estimated with the Kaplan–Meier method and compared using log rank test.ResultsThe compliance to radiotherapy was superior in concomitant boost with lesser treatment interruptions (p=0.004). Expected acute toxicities were significantly higher in CRT, except for grade 3/4 mucositis which was seen more in CBRT arm (39% and 55% in CRT and CBRT, respectively; p=0.02). Late toxicities like Grade 3 xerostomia were significantly high in CRT arm than CBRT arm (33% versus 18%; p<0.0001). The quality of life was significantly poor in CRT arm at all follow up visits (p<0.0001). The rates of 2year disease-free survival were similar with 56% in the chemoradiotherapy group and 61% in CBRT group (p=0.2; HR-0.81, 95%CI-0.53–1.2). Subgroup analysis revealed that patients with nodal size >2cm had significantly better DFS with CRT (p=0.05; HR-1.59, 95%CI-0.93–2.7).ConclusionIn selected patients of locally advanced oropharyngeal cancer, concomitant boost offers a better compliance, toxicity profile and quality of life with similar disease control, than chemoradiation

Enablers to implement sustainable initiatives in agri-food supply chains

yesDue to rapid agricultural industrialization, increased global food demand, and, increasing concerns related to food quality and safety, the concepts of sustainability and supply chain transparency are becoming critically important to the agriculture and agri-food sector. The new focus on sustainability performance objectives emphasizes the effective utilization and consumption of natural resources to balance ecological, economic and societal aspects of agri-food businesses. The management of sustainability adds a new demand on business managers who often have small profits and receive stringent requirements from large powerful customers and retailers. In this paper, we recognize and analyze the key enablers in implementing sustainable initiatives for Agri-Food Supply Chains (A-FSCs). Ten important sustainability driven enablers were considered from a rigorous literature review and phase of expert consultation. The identified enablers were then analyzed using a combined Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) - fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) based framework. The ISM approach enabled an appreciation of the contextual relationships among the enablers and to classify the enablers based on their driving and dependence potential. The fuzzy DEMATEL technique supported the determination of the influential and influenced enablers and also to categorize them into cause and effect groups. An empirical case study, drawn from a vegetable and fruit retail supply chain in India, is used to focus and test the applicability of the proposed research framework. The paper facilitates professional management practice and researchers to uncover and explore the enablers for the real execution of sustainability oriented initiatives in the agri-food business sector

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P &lt; 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022–2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Future trends in disease burden and drivers of health are of great interest to policy makers and the public at large. This information can be used for policy and long-term health investment, planning, and prioritisation. We have expanded and improved upon previous forecasts produced as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) and provide a reference forecast (the most likely future), and alternative scenarios assessing disease burden trajectories if selected sets of risk factors were eliminated from current levels by 2050. Methods: Using forecasts of major drivers of health such as the Socio-demographic Index (SDI; a composite measure of lag-distributed income per capita, mean years of education, and total fertility under 25 years of age) and the full set of risk factor exposures captured by GBD, we provide cause-specific forecasts of mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) by age and sex from 2022 to 2050 for 204 countries and territories, 21 GBD regions, seven super-regions, and the world. All analyses were done at the cause-specific level so that only risk factors deemed causal by the GBD comparative risk assessment influenced future trajectories of mortality for each disease. Cause-specific mortality was modelled using mixed-effects models with SDI and time as the main covariates, and the combined impact of causal risk factors as an offset in the model. At the all-cause mortality level, we captured unexplained variation by modelling residuals with an autoregressive integrated moving average model with drift attenuation. These all-cause forecasts constrained the cause-specific forecasts at successively deeper levels of the GBD cause hierarchy using cascading mortality models, thus ensuring a robust estimate of cause-specific mortality. For non-fatal measures (eg, low back pain), incidence and prevalence were forecasted from mixed-effects models with SDI as the main covariate, and YLDs were computed from the resulting prevalence forecasts and average disability weights from GBD. Alternative future scenarios were constructed by replacing appropriate reference trajectories for risk factors with hypothetical trajectories of gradual elimination of risk factor exposure from current levels to 2050. The scenarios were constructed from various sets of risk factors: environmental risks (Safer Environment scenario), risks associated with communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNs; Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination scenario), risks associated with major non-communicable diseases (NCDs; Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario), and the combined effects of these three scenarios. Using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways climate scenarios SSP2-4.5 as reference and SSP1-1.9 as an optimistic alternative in the Safer Environment scenario, we accounted for climate change impact on health by using the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change temperature forecasts and published trajectories of ambient air pollution for the same two scenarios. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were computed using standard methods. The forecasting framework includes computing the age-sex-specific future population for each location and separately for each scenario. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for each individual future estimate were derived from the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles of distributions generated from propagating 500 draws through the multistage computational pipeline. Findings: In the reference scenario forecast, global and super-regional life expectancy increased from 2022 to 2050, but improvement was at a slower pace than in the three decades preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (beginning in 2020). Gains in future life expectancy were forecasted to be greatest in super-regions with comparatively low life expectancies (such as sub-Saharan Africa) compared with super-regions with higher life expectancies (such as the high-income super-region), leading to a trend towards convergence in life expectancy across locations between now and 2050. At the super-region level, forecasted healthy life expectancy patterns were similar to those of life expectancies. Forecasts for the reference scenario found that health will improve in the coming decades, with all-cause age-standardised DALY rates decreasing in every GBD super-region. The total DALY burden measured in counts, however, will increase in every super-region, largely a function of population ageing and growth. We also forecasted that both DALY counts and age-standardised DALY rates will continue to shift from CMNNs to NCDs, with the most pronounced shifts occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (60·1% [95% UI 56·8–63·1] of DALYs were from CMNNs in 2022 compared with 35·8% [31·0–45·0] in 2050) and south Asia (31·7% [29·2–34·1] to 15·5% [13·7–17·5]). This shift is reflected in the leading global causes of DALYs, with the top four causes in 2050 being ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared with 2022, with ischaemic heart disease, neonatal disorders, stroke, and lower respiratory infections at the top. The global proportion of DALYs due to YLDs likewise increased from 33·8% (27·4–40·3) to 41·1% (33·9–48·1) from 2022 to 2050, demonstrating an important shift in overall disease burden towards morbidity and away from premature death. The largest shift of this kind was forecasted for sub-Saharan Africa, from 20·1% (15·6–25·3) of DALYs due to YLDs in 2022 to 35·6% (26·5–43·0) in 2050. In the assessment of alternative future scenarios, the combined effects of the scenarios (Safer Environment, Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination, and Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenarios) demonstrated an important decrease in the global burden of DALYs in 2050 of 15·4% (13·5–17·5) compared with the reference scenario, with decreases across super-regions ranging from 10·4% (9·7–11·3) in the high-income super-region to 23·9% (20·7–27·3) in north Africa and the Middle East. The Safer Environment scenario had its largest decrease in sub-Saharan Africa (5·2% [3·5–6·8]), the Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario in north Africa and the Middle East (23·2% [20·2–26·5]), and the Improved Nutrition and Vaccination scenario in sub-Saharan Africa (2·0% [–0·6 to 3·6]). Interpretation: Globally, life expectancy and age-standardised disease burden were forecasted to improve between 2022 and 2050, with the majority of the burden continuing to shift from CMNNs to NCDs. That said, continued progress on reducing the CMNN disease burden will be dependent on maintaining investment in and policy emphasis on CMNN disease prevention and treatment. Mostly due to growth and ageing of populations, the number of deaths and DALYs due to all causes combined will generally increase. By constructing alternative future scenarios wherein certain risk exposures are eliminated by 2050, we have shown that opportunities exist to substantially improve health outcomes in the future through concerted efforts to prevent exposure to well established risk factors and to expand access to key health interventions

Intraarticular distal end radius fractures treated with volar locking plate variations

Introduction: “Distal end radius fractures” account for almost 16% of all fractures and are the most common kind of upper limb fractures treated in hospital emergency departments. “Distal end radial fractures” occur more often in younger people due to high-energy trauma than in older people due to low-energy trauma. When comparing women and men of the same age, proximal end radii fracture are more prevalent in women than men owing to significant osteoporosis and a higher tendency for accidents in older women. Methodology: This was a prospective interventional study in which participants were divided in to two groups. Result and Conclusion: Both groups in the study had comparable range of motion, with the exception of the forearm”, where the “variable angle volar locking plate” excelled. The risk of complications was low in both approaches. Thus we conclude that when it comes to treating “displaced intra-articular distal end radius” fractures, the variable angle volar locking plate is superior than the Ellis locking plate

Revisiting the therapeutic potential of homeopathic medicine Rhus Tox for herpes simplex virus and inflammatory conditions

Background: Herpes simplex virus type-1 and type-2 cause a viral disease named Herpes. Genital herpes is mainly caused by HSV-2 with symptoms of painful and itchy blisters on the vagina, cervix, buttocks, anus, penis, or inner thighs with blisters that rupture and convert into sores. The homeopathic remedy Rhus Tox has been widely used to treat herpes and has shown in vitro anti-inflammatory effects in previous studies. Purpose: The presented review focuses on relapses and harmful effects caused by acyclovir in modern medicine and the probable antiherpetic activity of Rhus Tox on HSV infection based on its pathophysiology, preclinical findings, on primary cultured mouse chondrocytes, mouse cell line MC3T3e1 and a comparative study of Natrum Mur with Rhus Tox on HSV infection. Study design: The design of the study focuses mainly on the descriptive data available in various literature articles. Method: Databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, Medline and ScienceDirect were used to search the articles. Articles are selected from 1994 to 2022 focusing solely on the competence of Rhus Tox against herpes. Keywords used for the study are antiviral, Herpes, Rhus Tox, in vitro and homeopathy. Results: The review includes fifteen articles, including 4 full-text articles on HSV, 6 in vitro studies of homeopathic compounds performed on the herpes virus, and 5 articles based on the pathophysiology and effects of Rhus tox. The review article proposes the anti-inflammatory and antiviral action of the homeopathic remedy Rhus Tox which can be used in crisis conditions when the physician doubts the simillimum, as it prevents further outbreaks of HSV infection. Conclusion: The homeopathic medicine Rhus Tox has no cytotoxicity observed under in vitro conditions and can be used to treat herpes infection. Further studies are needed to confirm the results under in vitro and in vivo conditions as well as in clinical trials

Prevalence of calcified carotid artery atheromas on panoramic radiographs of renal stone patients

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of calcified carotid artery atheromas detected on panoramic radiographs of patients with renal stones and to assess the correlation of renal stones and carotid artery calcifications (CAC). Panoramic radiographs of 120 renal stone patients (76 males and 44 females) and 120 controls (68 males and 52 females) were examined for any calcifications in the carotid artery. The mean age of the patients with renal stones and controls was 40.6 ± 7.8 years and 41.1 ± 6.7 years, respectively. A total of 25 (20.8%) patients with renal stones and 16 (12.3%) patients from the control group showed CAC. The calcifications were however higher in the patients with renal stones, but there was no statistically significant difference (P >0.05) between the two groups. CAC was found in 15 males and ten females with renal stones and nine males and seven females of the control group, and this difference was not statistically significant (P >0.05). In the present study, no significant relationship was found between the presence of CAC in the patients with renal stones and the control group. However, there was a trend for higher prevalence of CAC in renal stone patients