Exploring means to facilitate software debugging

In this thesis, several aspects of software debugging from automated crash reproduction to bug report analysis and use of contracts have been studied.Algorithms and the Foundations of Software technolog

Detection and distribution of virulence genes in Aeromonas hydrophila isolates causing infection in cultured carps

Aeromonas hydrophila is a bacterium associated with many diseases and disorders such as fin rot, skin ulcers and lethal hemorrhagic septicemia in fish. It bears several virulence factors including type III secretion system (T3SS), aerolysin, cytolytic enterotoxin and enzymes (e.g., hemolysins, lipase) that seem to play an important role in its pathogenesis. Detection of virulence markers by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a key procedure in defining the pathogenic ability of pathogenic bacteria and preparing a vaccine for its treatment. In this sense, this study was aimed to determine the frequency of virulence genes in isolates obtained from infected cultured carps in Khuzestan province. Out of 200 moribund carps with septicemic symptoms, 125 isolates were belonged to the motile aeromonads and 59 isolates were identified as A. hydrophila by biochemical methods. Finally, using PCR analysis, 31 isolates were identified as A. hydrophila. Five virulence genes were detected in these isolates including hemolysin, aerolysin, cytolytic enterotoxin and T3SS (aopB and ascV) by specific primers. Results showed that 23 (74.19%), 18 (58.06%), 16 (51.61%), 13 (41.63%) and 10 (32.25%) isolates possessed cytolytic enterotoxin, hemolysin, aerolysin, and T3SS genes, respectively. The results of the present study showed that among 31 isolates, only five isolates had all of dominant virulence genes. Thirteen other isolates had genotypes including hlyA+, aerA+, and act+. The remaining isolates had at least one virulence gene. This study showed that determination of the virulence genes by PCR can be a reliable method to identify a potential pathogenic Aeromonad strain

The significance of bug report elements

Algorithms and the Foundations of Software technolog

Determination of developmental stages of embryo in the sea urchin, Echinometra mathaei

Sea Urchin is one of the most useful tools in developmental biology studies because this organism has the simplest kind of developmental stages. We aimed to determine developmental stages and timetable of Echinometra mathaei embryo (the species of Persian Gulf). The spawning of E. mathaei was induced by 0.5M KCl injection (1ml) into the coelomic cavity. After fertilization, embryos were placed in beakers and were incubated at 29°C and a salinity of 39 ppt until embryos reached the pluteus stage. The developmental stages of embryos and the timing of each stage including cleavage, morulae, blastula, gastrula, prism and pluteus larvae were studied under the microscope. Our results showed that after 30 hours from fertilization time, the embryos developed to pluteus larvae. E. mathaei had the shorter development time in comparison to the other Sea Urchin species. Therefore, it may be appropriate as a model organism in biological researches

Amniotic membrane seeded with mesenchymal adipose-derived stem cell for coverage of wound in third degree burn: An experimental study

Methods: This study was experimental and has been done in Burn Research Center of Iran University of Medical Sciences during January 2012 to April 2013. Thirty rats randomly divided to three equal groups. Inguinal fat of 10 rats (one group) were used for preparation of autologous adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Acellular amnion was used as a scaffold for stem cell transfer. Each of the thirty rats had been exposed to a cm deep 3rd degree burn on back area. 24 hours after surgery, the wound was excised and it had been covered by three methods: conventional dressing in the first group, acellular amnion in the second group and acellular amnion seeded with adipose-derived stem cell in the third group. The rate of wound healing and pathologic characteristics was compared in all three groups. Results: Healing rate and decrease in wounds size was significantly better in acellular amnion seeded with adipose- derived stem cells compared with other two groups at 3rd and 15th days after surgery P<0.01. Also in histopathology examination, fibroplasia and neovascularization of wounds were significantly better in stem cells group than the other two groups P<0.001. Conclusion: Acellular amnion seeded with adipose-derived stem cell can result in faster wound healing and better histopathology characteristic. The amnion as a scaffold and the fat derived stem cells as healing accelerator are recommended for coverage of the 3rd degree burn wounds after excision and it may reduce the need for skin graft. Background: Stem cells are applied in the treatment of wide range of diseases and can be separated from different tissues of the body. These cells can treat diseases by cytokine and growth factor secretion and also cell differentiation. Burn wound is a challenging problem of reconstructive surgery and stem cells may help wound healing process. We designed this study to evaluate the beneficial effect of fat derived stem cells for coverage of 3rd degree burn wound. © 2014, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). All rights reserved

Coupling of acoustic cavitation with DEM-based particle solvers for modeling de-agglomeration of particle clusters in liquid metals

The aerospace and automotive industries are seeking advanced materials with low weight yet high strength and durability. Aluminum and magnesium-based metal matrix composites with ceramic micro- and nano-reinforcements promise the desirable properties. However, larger surface-area-to-volume ratio in micro- and especially nanoparticles gives rise to van der Waals and adhesion forces that cause the particles to agglomerate in clusters. Such clusters lead to adverse effects on final properties, no longer acting as dislocation anchors but instead becoming defects. Also, agglomeration causes the particle distribution to become uneven, leading to inconsistent properties. To break up clusters, ultrasonic processing may be used via an immersed sonotrode, or alternatively via electromagnetic vibration. This paper combines a fundamental study of acoustic cavitation in liquid aluminum with a study of the interaction forces causing particles to agglomerate, as well as mechanisms of cluster breakup. A non-linear acoustic cavitation model utilizing pressure waves produced by an immersed horn is presented, and then applied to cavitation in liquid aluminum. Physical quantities related to fluid flow and quantities specific to the cavitation solver are passed to a discrete element method particles model. The coupled system is then used for a detailed study of clusters’ breakup by cavitation

Tracking development assistance for health and for COVID-19 : a review of development assistance, government, out-of-pocket, and other private spending on health for 204 countries and territories, 1990-2050

Background The rapid spread of COVID-19 renewed the focus on how health systems across the globe are financed, especially during public health emergencies. Development assistance is an important source of health financing in many low-income countries, yet little is known about how much of this funding was disbursed for COVID-19. We aimed to put development assistance for health for COVID-19 in the context of broader trends in global health financing, and to estimate total health spending from 1995 to 2050 and development assistance for COVID-19 in 2020. Methods We estimated domestic health spending and development assistance for health to generate total health-sector spending estimates for 204 countries and territories. We leveraged data from the WHO Global Health Expenditure Database to produce estimates of domestic health spending. To generate estimates for development assistance for health, we relied on project-level disbursement data from the major international development agencies' online databases and annual financial statements and reports for information on income sources. To adjust our estimates for 2020 to include disbursements related to COVID-19, we extracted project data on commitments and disbursements from a broader set of databases (because not all of the data sources used to estimate the historical series extend to 2020), including the UN Office of Humanitarian Assistance Financial Tracking Service and the International Aid Transparency Initiative. We reported all the historic and future spending estimates in inflation-adjusted 2020 US$, 2020 US$ per capita, purchasing-power parity-adjusted US$per capita, and as a proportion of gross domestic product. We used various models to generate future health spending to 2050. Findings In 2019, health spending globally reached$8. 8 trillion (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 8.7-8.8) or $1132 (1119-1143) per person. Spending on health varied within and across income groups and geographical regions. Of this total,$40.4 billion (0.5%, 95% UI 0.5-0.5) was development assistance for health provided to low-income and middle-income countries, which made up 24.6% (UI 24.0-25.1) of total spending in low-income countries. We estimate that $54.8 billion in development assistance for health was disbursed in 2020. Of this,$13.7 billion was targeted toward the COVID-19 health response. $12.3 billion was newly committed and$1.4 billion was repurposed from existing health projects. $3.1 billion (22.4$2.4 billion (17.9%) was for supply chain and logistics. Only $714.4 million (7.7$1519 (1448-1591) per person in 2050, although spending across countries is expected to remain varied. Interpretation Global health spending is expected to continue to grow, but remain unequally distributed between countries. We estimate that development organisations substantially increased the amount of development assistance for health provided in 2020. Continued efforts are needed to raise sufficient resources to mitigate the pandemic for the most vulnerable, and to help curtail the pandemic for all. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Ecological validity of a deep learning algorithm to detect gait events from real-life walking bouts in mobility-limiting diseases

Introduction: The clinical assessment of mobility, and walking specifically, is still mainly based on functional tests that lack ecological validity. Thanks to inertial measurement units (IMUs), gait analysis is shifting to unsupervised monitoring in naturalistic and unconstrained settings. However, the extraction of clinically relevant gait parameters from IMU data often depends on heuristics-based algorithms that rely on empirically determined thresholds. These were mainly validated on small cohorts in supervised settings. Methods: Here, a deep learning (DL) algorithm was developed and validated for gait event detection in a heterogeneous population of different mobility-limiting disease cohorts and a cohort of healthy adults. Participants wore pressure insoles and IMUs on both feet for 2.5 h in their habitual environment. The raw accelerometer and gyroscope data from both feet were used as input to a deep convolutional neural network, while reference timings for gait events were based on the combined IMU and pressure insoles data. Results and discussion: The results showed a high-detection performance for initial contacts (ICs) (recall: 98%, precision: 96%) and final contacts (FCs) (recall: 99%, precision: 94%) and a maximum median time error of −0.02 s for ICs and 0.03 s for FCs. Subsequently derived temporal gait parameters were in good agreement with a pressure insoles-based reference with a maximum mean difference of 0.07, −0.07, and <0.01 s for stance, swing, and stride time, respectively. Thus, the DL algorithm is considered successful in detecting gait events in ecologically valid environments across different mobility-limiting diseases

Anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2018

Anemia is a globally widespread condition in women and is associated with reduced economic productivity and increased mortality worldwide. Here we map annual 2000–2018 geospatial estimates of anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age (15–49 years) across 82 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), stratify anemia by severity and aggregate results to policy-relevant administrative and national levels. Additionally, we provide subnational disparity analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of anemia prevalence inequalities within these countries and predict progress toward the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) to reduce anemia by half by 2030. Our results demonstrate widespread moderate improvements in overall anemia prevalence but identify only three LMICs with a high probability of achieving the WHO GNT by 2030 at a national scale, and no LMIC is expected to achieve the target in all their subnational administrative units. Our maps show where large within-country disparities occur, as well as areas likely to fall short of the WHO GNT, offering precision public health tools so that adequate resource allocation and subsequent interventions can be targeted to the most vulnerable populations.Peer reviewe