Enhanced Dwarf Mongoose Optimization Based Node Localization Scheme for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

Recently, the Underwater Wireless Sensor Network (UWSN) with movable nodes has been launched because it has a lot of potential uses in aquatic science and is getting a lot of attention from researchers. Because there are so many more possible underwater uses, it is important to make sure that signals can get from one underwater point to another. Because of the long lags in signal transmission and the changing speed of sound underwater, it is hard and not possible to use the usual localization method in UWSN. Node localization (NL) in UWSN tries to figure out where new nodes are by using known nodes. The correctness of location can have a big effect on how well a UWSN works. UWSN has a lot of trouble with precise NL. When it comes to WSN, NL problems mean figuring out where unknown sensor nodes (SNs) are. This shows how important it is to have a perfect NL system. The Enhanced Dwarf Mongoose Optimization based Node Localization Scheme (EDMO-NLS) for UWSN is being worked on in this study. The scout group, the alpha group, and the babysitters are the three social groups of dwarf mongooses that were used in the suggested method. The family hunts as a unit, and the main female starts hunting. This sets the sleeping mounds, the road for hunting, and the distance that is covered. The EDMO-NLS method shown here finds nodes whose locations are unknown in UWSN. The modeling results showed that the proposed model worked better than existing methods. Based on the findings and the discussion, it is clear that the suggested method has shown the best localization success in UWSN

Liver Cancer Disparities in New York City: A neighborhood wiew of risk and harm reduction factors

Introduction: Liver cancer is the fastest increasing cancer in the United States and is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in New York City (NYC), with wide disparities among neighborhoods. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to describe liver cancer incidence by neighborhood and examine its association with risk factors. This information can inform preventive and treatment interventions. Materials and methods: Publicly available data were collected on adult NYC residents (n = 6,407,022). Age-adjusted data on liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancer came from the New York State Cancer Registry (1) (2007-2011 average annual incidence); and the NYC Vital Statistics Bureau (2015, mortality). Data on liver cancer risk factors (2012-2015) were sourced from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: (1) Community Health Survey, (2) A1C registry, and (3) NYC Health Department Hepatitis surveillance data. They included prevalence of obesity, diabetes, diabetic control, alcohol-related hospitalizations or emergency department visits, hepatitis B and C rates, hepatitis B vaccine coverage, and injecting drug use. Results: Liver cancer incidence in NYC was strongly associated with neighborhood poverty after adjusting for race/ethnicity (β = 0.0217, p = 0.013); and with infection risk scores (β = 0.0389, 95% CI = 0.0088-0.069, p = 0.011), particularly in the poorest neighborhoods (β = 0.1207, 95% CI = 0.0147-0.2267, p = 0.026). Some neighborhoods with high hepatitis rates do not have a proportionate number of hepatitis prevention services. Conclusion: High liver cancer incidence is strongly associated with infection risk factors in NYC. There are gaps in hepatitis prevention services like syringe exchange and vaccination that should be addressed. The role of alcohol and metabolic risk factors on liver cancer in NYC warrants further study

Magnitude of fatigue in cancer patients receiving radiotherapy and its short term effect on quality of life

Background : Fatigue is one of the most common, ongoing symptoms reported by patients undergoing radiotherapy and has profound effects on the quality of life. Aims : This study attempts to identify the magnitude of fatigue and its implication on the quality of life during radiotherapy. Methods and Materials : A prospective study was conducted from March 2004 to September 2005, on 90 patients with histologically proven cancer, receiving radiotherapy. Pretreatment and weekly assessment of fatigue and QOL was done during radiation treatment using Brief Fatigue Inventory Scale and EORTC QLQ C30 respectively and repeated one month after completion of radiotherapy. All the scores were measured in the 0 to 100 scale. Statistical Methods Used : Trimean, SPSS 11.0 and Sysstat 8.0 were used for statistical analysis. Results : Fatigue was present in 87.8% of patients initially and increased gradually over the course of radiotherapy and peaked in the last week. However at follow up it was nearing the pretreatment level. There was significant reduction in the functional scores ( P < 0.001) of QOL (physical, role and emotional function), which returned to pretreatment level at follow up. In the seventh week impairment of cognitive function (P=0.059) was noted. Significant reduction of social function (P < 0.001) at second week and global health status (P < 0.001) at fifth week was noted while financial difficulty was seen from second week onwards. Conclusion : Fatigue is transiently increased by radiotherapy before reaching pretreatment level after few weeks of completion of radiotherapy. QOL is also affected by fatigue which follows the same pattern

A case of endometrial carcinoma with age related hyperkyphosis treated with definitive radiotherapy

This report describes a simple brachytherapy procedure in a patient with endometrial cancer with age related hyperkyphosis.  Sixty-eight year-old postmenopausal woman with age related hyperkyphosis presented with endometrial carcinoma, and the patient was not operated on due to associated pelvic deformity. The patient received whole pelvic radiation followed by uterovaginal brachytherapy. Patient was supported with soft pillows to support her exaggerated anterior concavity during brachytherapy procedure and execution. The brachytherapy dose was 6 Gy per fraction per week for 3 weeks using image guidance. This is probably the first reported case of endometrial cancer with age related hyperkyphosis. In spite of the associated skeletal problems, a simple brachytherapy procedure is possible and provides good result.

Fishery, systematics and stock dynamics of billfishes landed along the Indian coast

Sailfishes, marlins, spearfishes and swordfishes commonly referred to as billfishes are highly migratory species, with a worldwide distribution in tropical and subtropical oceans. The landings of billfishes along the Indian coast registered an increasing trend with an estimated landing of 14,759 t in 2019. Kerala (41%) contributed the maximum followed by Tamil Nadu (28%), Andhra Pradesh (18%), Gujarat (8%) and Maharashtra (2%) to the total billfish landings during the last decade. Mechanised gillnetter cum hook and line was the major gear landing billfishes. The major species landed during 2012-2019 were Istiophorus platypterus (52.2%), Istiompax indica (21.1%), Makaira nigricans (7.3%), Xiphias gladius (17.2%) and Kajikia audax (2.3%). Four of these species could be easily distinguished by COI barcodes but, the striped marlin, K. audax showed high sequence similarity with K. albida and cannot be distinguished by barcodes alone. Control region (889 bp) provided a better phylogenetic signal, consistent with that of the whole mitochondrial genome topology. The stock status plots of billfishes depicted that, all the species were in the developing and exploited phase. Growth, mortality and exploitation rates estimated for four billfishes indicated that the present fishing rates and biomass levels are at safe levels and there is considerable scope for enhancing their fishery

αB-Crystallin: A Hybrid Solid-State/Solution-State NMR Investigation Reveals Structural Aspects of the Heterogeneous Oligomer

Atomic-level structural information on αB-Crystallin (αB), a prominent member of the small heat-shock protein family, has been a challenge to obtain due its polydisperse oligomeric nature. We show that magic-angle spinning solid-state NMR can be used to obtain high-resolution information on an ∼ 580-kDa human αB assembled from 175-residue 20-kDa subunits. An ∼ 100-residue α-crystallin domain is common to all small heat-shock proteins, and solution-state NMR was performed on two different α-crystallin domain constructs isolated from αB. In vitro, the chaperone-like activities of full-length αB and the isolated α-crystallin domain are identical. Chemical shifts of the backbone and Cβ resonances have been obtained for residues 64–162 (α-crystallin domain plus part of the C-terminus) in αB and the isolated α-crystallin domain by solid-state and solution-state NMR, respectively. Both sets of data strongly predict six β-strands in the α-crystallin domain. A majority of residues in the α-crystallin domain have similar chemical shifts in both solid-state and solution-state, indicating similar structures for the domain in its isolated and oligomeric forms. Sites of intersubunit interaction are identified from chemical shift differences that cluster to specific regions of the α-crystallin domain. Multiple signals are observed for the resonances of M68 in the oligomer, identifying the region containing this residue as existing in heterogeneous environments within αB. Evidence for a novel dimerization motif in the human α-crystallin domain is obtained by a comparison of (i) solid-state and solution-state chemical shift data and (ii) 1H–15N heteronuclear single quantum coherence spectra as a function of pH. The isolated α-crystallin domain undergoes a dimer–monomer transition over the pH range 7.5–6.8. This steep pH-dependent switch may be important for αB to function optimally (e.g., to preserve the filament integrity of cardiac muscle proteins such as actin and desmin during cardiac ischemia, which is accompanied by acidosis)

Magnitude of fatigue in cancer patients receiving radiotherapy and its short term effect on quality of life

Background : Fatigue is one of the most common, ongoing symptoms reported by patients undergoing radiotherapy and has profound effects on the quality of life. Aims : This study attempts to identify the magnitude of fatigue and its implication on the quality of life during radiotherapy. Methods and Materials : A prospective study was conducted from March 2004 to September 2005, on 90 patients with histologically proven cancer, receiving radiotherapy. Pretreatment and weekly assessment of fatigue and QOL was done during radiation treatment using Brief Fatigue Inventory Scale and EORTC QLQ C30 respectively and repeated one month after completion of radiotherapy. All the scores were measured in the 0 to 100 scale. Statistical Methods Used : Trimean, SPSS 11.0 and Sysstat 8.0 were used for statistical analysis. Results : Fatigue was present in 87.8% of patients initially and increased gradually over the course of radiotherapy and peaked in the last week. However at follow up it was nearing the pretreatment level. There was significant reduction in the functional scores ( P < 0.001) of QOL (physical, role and emotional function), which returned to pretreatment level at follow up. In the seventh week impairment of cognitive function (P=0.059) was noted. Significant reduction of social function (P < 0.001) at second week and global health status (P < 0.001) at fifth week was noted while financial difficulty was seen from second week onwards. Conclusion : Fatigue is transiently increased by radiotherapy before reaching pretreatment level after few weeks of completion of radiotherapy. QOL is also affected by fatigue which follows the same pattern

A case of endometrial carcinoma with age related hyperkyphosis treated with definitive radiotherapy

This report describes a simple brachytherapy procedure in a patient with endometrial cancer with age related hyperkyphosis.  Sixty-eight year-old postmenopausal woman with age related hyperkyphosis presented with endometrial carcinoma, and the patient was not operated on due to associated pelvic deformity. The patient received whole pelvic radiation followed by uterovaginal brachytherapy. Patient was supported with soft pillows to support her exaggerated anterior concavity during brachytherapy procedure and execution. The brachytherapy dose was 6 Gy per fraction per week for 3 weeks using image guidance. This is probably the first reported case of endometrial cancer with age related hyperkyphosis. In spite of the associated skeletal problems, a simple brachytherapy procedure is possible and provides good result. </p