The impact of anti-diabetic drugs on colorectal cancer risk in a large cohort of women with diabetes

No Abstrac

Modeling the Combined Effects of River Stage and Groundwater Flow on Riverbank Stability Before and After Dam Removal

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchive

Prevalence of Pediculus Capitis Infestation Among School Children of Chinese Refugees Residing in Mountainous Areas of Northern Thailand

An epidemiologic survey of Pediculus capitis infestation among Akka aboriginal and Han children of Chinese refugees living in mountainous areas at elevations of 1,100 to 1,400 m in Chiang-Rai Province of northern Thailand was conducted during January 2003. Of the 303 children examined, 43 (14.2%) had P. capitis infestation. The overall infestation rate for P. capitis in Akka children (29.3%, 12/41) was significantly higher than that in Han children (11.8%, 31/262; c2 = 8.161, p = 0.002). The prevalence in Akka (52.2%, 12/23) and Han girls (19.7%, 31/157) was higher than that in Akka (0%) and Han boys (0%), respectively (p < 0.001), and the prevalence was higher in Akka girls than in Han girls (c2 = 10.978, p = 0.001). The high prevalence of P. capitis infestation among these girls was possibly due to poor environmental hygiene and unavailability of sufficient water

Deep Learning for Spin-Orbit Torque Characterizations with a Projected Vector Field Magnet

Spin-orbit torque characterizations on magnetic heterostructures with perpendicular anisotropy are demonstrated on a projected vector field magnet via hysteresis loop shift measurement and harmonic Hall measurement with planar Hall correction. Accurate magnetic field calibration of the vector magnet is realized with the help of deep learning models, which are able to capture the nonlinear behavior between the generated magnetic field and the currents applied to the magnet. The trained models can successfully predict the applied current combinations under the circumstances of magnetic field scans, angle scans, and hysteresis loop shift measurements. The validity of the models is further verified, complemented by the comparison of the spin-orbit torque characterization results obtained from the deep-learning-trained vector magnet system with those obtained from a conventional setup comprised of two separated electromagnets. The damping-like spin-orbit torque (DL-SOT) efficiencies (|$\xi_{DL}$|) extracted from the vector magnet and the traditional measurement configuration are consistent, where |$\xi_{DL}$| $\approx$ 0.22 for amorphous W and |$\xi_{DL}$| $\approx$ 0.02 for $\alpha$-W. Our work provides an advanced method to meticulously control a vector magnet and to conveniently perform various spin-orbit torque characterizations

A Flexible Proximity Sensor Fully Fabricated by Inkjet Printing

A flexible proximity sensor fully fabricated by inkjet printing is proposed in this paper. The flexible proximity sensor is composed of a ZnO layer sandwiched in between a flexible aluminum sheet and a web-shaped top electrode layer. The flexible aluminum sheet serves as the bottom electrode. The material of the top electrode layer is nano silver. Both the ZnO and top electrode layers are deposited by inkjet printing. The fully inkjet printing process possesses the advantages of direct patterning and low-cost. It does not require photolithography and etching processes since the pattern is directly printed on the flexible aluminum sheet. The prototype demonstrates that the presented flexible sensor is sensitive to the human body. It may be applied to proximity sensing or thermal eradiation sensing

Crystallographic origin of cycle decay of the high-voltage LiNi\u3csub\u3e0.5\u3c/sub\u3eMn\u3csub\u3e1.5\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3e spinel lithium-ion battery electrode

High-voltage spinel LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 (LNMO) is considered a potential high-power-density positive electrode for lithium-ion batteries, however, it suffers from capacity decay after extended charge-discharge cycling, severely hindering commercial application. Capacity fade is thought to occur through the significant volume change of the LNMO electrode occurring on cycling, and in this work we use operando neutron powder diffraction to compare the structural evolution of the LNMO electrode in an as-assembled 18650-type battery containing a Li4Ti5O12 negative electrode with that in an identical battery following 1000 cycles at high-current. We reveal that the capacity reduction in the battery post cycling is directly proportional to the reduction in the maximum change of the LNMO lattice parameter during its evolution. This is correlated to a corresponding reduction in the MnO6 octahedral distortion in the spinel structure in the cycled battery. Further, we find that the rate of lattice evolution, which reflects the rate of lithium insertion and removal, is ∼9 and ∼10% slower in the cycled than in the as-assembled battery during the Ni2+/Ni3+ and Ni3+/Ni4+ transitions, respectively

Control of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Reactivation Induced by Multiple Signals

The ability to control cellular functions can bring about many developments in basic biological research and its applications. The presence of multiple signals, internal as well as externally imposed, introduces several challenges for controlling cellular functions. Additionally the lack of clear understanding of the cellular signaling network limits our ability to infer the responses to a number of signals. This work investigates the control of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus reactivation upon treatment with a combination of multiple signals. We utilize mathematical model-based as well as experiment-based approaches to achieve the desired goals of maximizing virus reactivation. The results show that appropriately selected control signals can induce virus lytic gene expression about ten folds higher than a single drug; these results were validated by comparing the results of the two approaches, and experimentally using multiple assays. Additionally, we have quantitatively analyzed potential interactions between the used combinations of drugs. Some of these interactions were consistent with existing literature, and new interactions emerged and warrant further studies. The work presents a general method that can be used to quantitatively and systematically study multi-signal induced responses. It enables optimization of combinations to achieve desired responses. It also allows identifying critical nodes mediating the multi-signal induced responses. The concept and the approach used in this work will be directly applicable to other diseases such as AIDS and cancer

MetaSquare: An integrated metadatabase of 16S rRNA gene amplicon for microbiome taxonomic classification

MOTIVATION: Taxonomic classification of 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicon is an efficient and economic approach in microbiome analysis. 16S rRNA sequence databases like SILVA, RDP, EzBioCloud and HOMD used in downstream bioinformatic pipelines have limitations on either the sequence redundancy or the delay on new sequence recruitment. To improve the 16S rRNA gene-based taxonomic classification, we merged these widely used databases and a collection of novel sequences systemically into an integrated resource. RESULTS: MetaSquare version 1.0 is an integrated 16S rRNA sequence database. It is composed of more than 6 million sequences and improves taxonomic classification resolution on both long-read and short-read methods. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: Accessible at https://hub.docker.com/r/lsbnb/metasquare_db and https://github.com/lsbnb/MetaSquare. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online

Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among school children in capital areas of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, West Africa

Background: Although the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe (DRSTP) has undertaken school children-based deworming programs against intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) using a single dose of mebendazole annually since 2005, it remains unclear as to the outcome to date. The present study intends to  investigate the recent IPIs status among school children living in capital areas of the DRSTP.Methods: A total of 252 school children (121 boys and 131 girls) of grades 4 and 5 from 4 primary schools located in the capital areas participated in the present study and their fresh fecal specimens were examined for the presence of any parasites using the merthiolate- iodine-formaldehyde concentration method as conducted.Results: The overall prevalence of IPIs was 64.7% (163/ 252). No significant gender difference in prevalence between boys (67.8%) and girls (61.8%) was found (p = 0.3). The majority of school children were infected with a single species of parasite (55.8%). Altogether, 12 different intestinal parasite species were identified in DRSTP school children, of which 9 species were pathogenic and the remaining 3 were non-pathogenic.Conclusion: Improving the detection method, sanitation facilities and personal hygiene as well as utilizing combined drugs are all important measures to greatly reduce IPIs in DRSTP school children.Keywords: Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, school children, intestinal parasitic infection