Photosynthesis is the foundation of all life on Earth, providing oxygen and energy. However, if not well regulated, it can also generate toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can cause photodamage. Regulation of photosynthesis is highly dynamic, responding to both environmental and metabolic cues, and occurs at many levels, from light capture to energy storage and metabolic processes. One general mechanism of regulation involves the reversible oxidation and reduction of protein thiol groups, which can affect the activity of enzymes and the stability of proteins. Such redox regulation has been well studied in stromal enzymes, but more recently evidence has emerged of redox control of thylakoid lumenal enzymes. This review/hypothesis paper summarizes the latest research and discusses several open questions and challenges to achieving effective redox control in the lumen, focusing on the distinct environments and regulatory components of the thylakoid lumen, including the need to transport electrons across the thylakoid membrane, the effects of pH changes in the stromal and lumenal compartments, and the observed differences in redox states. These constraints suggest that activated oxygen species are likely to be major regulatory contributors to lumenal thiol redox regulation, with key components and processes yet to be discovered.

Photocatalytic coatings have the potential to contribute to the purification of water via an advanced oxidation process (AOP) [1]. A commonly used method for analyzing the mechanism of the photocatalytic performance of a given reactor type is to document the degradation behavior in a solution containing methylene blue. However, since methylene blue is rather unstable, the degradation results should be viewed critically. In this work, the degradation behavior of a test solution with methylene blue on quartz glass surfaces coated with photocatalytic titanium dioxide (TiO 2) of the anatase modification was investigated through a variety of different light sources. The coating was deposited by the reactive pulsed DC magnetron sputtering (MSIP-PVD) method described in [2], while the quartz glasses were coated with a 100 nm thick TiO 2 coating. The same glasses were used for all experiments with TiO 2. In the determination of the degradation rate, additional experiments were performed using pure quartz glass without any coating, which made it possible to examine the influence of different light sources on the degradation rate of methylene blue in general. Three different light sources, namely UV-A, UV-C, and simple fluorescent lamps were used in this study. The concentration of methylene blue was recorded by photo spectrometer in 10-minute increments throughout the experiment and the experiments were performed for 24 hours in all cases.

Soil microbes play a key role in shaping terrestrial ecosystems. It is therefore essential to understand what drives their distributions. While multivariate analyses have been used to characterise microbial communities and drivers of their spatial patterns, few studies focused on modelling the distribution of Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs). Here, we evaluate the potential of species distribution models (SDMs), to predict the presence-absence and relative abundance distribution of bacteria, archaea, fungi and protist OTUs from the Swiss Alps. Advanced automated selection of abiotic covariates was used to circumvent the lack of knowledge on the ecology of each OTU. ‘Presence-absence’ SDMs were successfully applied to most OTUs, yielding better predictions than null models. ‘Relative-abundance’ SDMs were less successful, yet, they were able to correctly rank sites according to their relative abundance values. Archaea and bacteria SDMs displayed better predictive power than fungi and protist ones, indicating a closer link of the latter with the abiotic covariates used. Microorganism distributions were mostly related to edaphic covariates. In particular, pH was the most selected covariate across models. The study shows the potential of using SDM frameworks to predict the distribution of OTUs obtained from environmental DNA (eDNA) data. It underscores the importance of edaphic covariates and the need for further development of precise edaphic mapping and scenario modelling to enhance prediction of microorganism distributions in the future.

In this paper, the cooperative consensus tracking control problem is investigated for hybrid multi-agent systems with slow interference time-varying signals and directed topology. First of all, the dynamical model of hybrid multi-agent system with slow interference time-varying signals is built up, which contains second-order continuous and first-order discrete time agents. Secondly, interference observers of first-order and second-order agents are introduced, which can effectively detect interference signals, and estimate the velocity of second-order agents to realize compensation. Meanwhile a kind of sliding mode controllers based on interference compensation are designed to come true the cooperative consensus tracking of hybrid multi-agent systems. Then, via Lyapunov method, the stability of hybrid multi-agent system is attested. And the sufficient conditions are given for the realization of cooperative consensus tracking. In the end, simulation examples ulteriorly demonstrate the validity of our results.

The quality of machine learning (ML) models deployed in dynamic environments tends to decline over time due to disparities between the data used for training and the upcoming data available for prediction, which is commonly known as drift. Therefore, it is important for ML models to be capable of detecting any changes or drift in the data distribution and updating the ML model accordingly. This study presents various drift detection techniques to identify drift in the survival outcomes of patients who underwent cardiac surgery. Additionally, this study proposes several drift adaptation strategies, such as adaptive learning, incremental learning, and ensemble learning. Through a detailed analysis of the results, the study confirms the superior performance of ensemble model, achieving a minimum mean absolute error (MAE) of 10.684 and 2.827 for predicting hospital stay and ICU stay, respectively. Furthermore, the models that incorporate a drift adaptive framework exhibit superior performance compared to the models that do not include such a framework.

IntroductionCoronary artery disease (CAD) is the predominant etiology of early postoperative mortality and delayed mortality subsequent to resection of non-ruptured abdominal aneurysms. Myocardial infarction accounts for approximately 40% of all fatalities among patients who undergo aneurysm resection1. Conversely, a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA) is a life-threatening condition necessitating urgent diagnosis and surgical intervention. Herein, we depict a case of acute myocardial infarction that ensued immediately after a ruptured abdominal aorta, culminating in a life-saving outcome.

CASE REPORTOccurrence of adult-onset Still’s disease aftercoronavirus disease 2019 BNT162B2 vaccination in a patient with ulcerative colitisTakahiro Kobayashi1, MD | Kenichi Hashimoto1, MD, PhD | Yasuyoshi Kusanagi2, MD | Yuji Tanaka1, MD, PhD1Department of General Medicine, National Defense Medical College, Tokorozawa, Saitama359-8513, Japan2Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Rheumatology, National Defense Medical College, Tokorozawa, 359-8513 Saitama, JapanCorrespondence: Kenichi Hashimoto, Department of General Medicine, National Defense Medical College, 3-2 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama 359-8513, Japan.Tel: +81-429-95-1211 (ext. 3633); Fax: +81-429-91-1238Email:[email protected] AVAILABILITY STATEMENTNot applicable.FUNDING STATEMENTThis work was supported by the Fukuda Foundation for Medical Technology (2019).CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSUREThe authors report no conflict of interest.ETHICS APPROVAL STATEMENTThe study was approved by the Competent Authorities and Ethics Committees of National Defense Medical College (approval no. 4609). Written informed consent was obtained from all patients.PATIENT CONSENT STATEMENTPublished with written consent of the patient.PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE MATERIAL FROM OTHER SOURCESNot applicableCLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATIONNot applicable

Secondary syphilis in the third trimester of pregnancyRyosuke Tajiri, Emi Kondo, Yuma Saito, Mao Sekimata, Yasuyuki Kinjo, Hiroshi Mori, Kiyoshi YoshinoFacilities: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, JapanIseigaoka, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu 807-8555, Japan.Corresponding author: Dr. Ryosuke TajiriDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health. Japan, 1-1 Iseigaoka, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu 807-8555, Japan.Tel: +81-93-603-1611, Fax: +81-93-691-8892e-mail:[email protected] statement: Written informed consent was obtained from the patient to publish this report in accordance with the journal’s patient consent policy.

Crohn Disease: An Enigmatic Variant with Gastritis and Ileal ObstructionAbstractThere are multiple atypical manifestations of Crohn disease which sometimes delay diagnosis or even more often result in complete misdiagnosis especially in poorly equipped facilities. This is a case of an elderly woman with Crohn disease who presented with gastritis and bowel obstruction. She had hitherto been wrongly managed for peptic ulcer disease and functional constipation based mainly on her symptoms. Her diagnosis was made only after years of failed symptomatic management. This case aims to highlight the uncommon and easily misdiagnosed gastroduodenal presentation of Crohn disease, as well as clinical clues to correctly diagnosing the condition.Keywords: Crohn disease, gastritis, intestinal obstruction, constipationIntroductionCrohn disease falls under the umbrella of inflammatory bowel disease and can involve any part of the gastrointestinal tract. It is many a time misdiagnosed or diagnosed late.1 This is even more so when health centres are not well equipped to appropriately investigate it, as is the case in many developing countries. Common presentations include abdominal pain, diarrhea, unintentional weight loss and haematochezia. It is more prevalent in young adults.2There are however enigmatic variants that do not present with these tell-tale symptoms. These include those that manifest with obstructive symptoms, dyspeptic symptoms as well as those with more extra-intestinal than gastrointestinal symptoms such as arthritis, aphthous stomatitis and uveitis.Case PresentationThis is the case of a 78-year old Ghanaian woman who was admitted on account of an acute exacerbation of Crohn disease. She was diagnosed about a year prior to the index presentation, through an investigation for incomplete intestinal obstruction. No treatment was started after diagnosis as she declined medical interventions. The index presentation was a week’s history of severe generalized abdominal pain graded 9/10; colicky in her lower abdomen and burning in her epigastric region. It was associated with constipation (hard, scanty, infrequent stools averaging once a week) and vomiting which was non-projectile, non-bilious and non-bloody. The symptoms waxed and waned and were worst at night. She also reported having anorexia, and unintentional weight loss but no pain related to eating or fasting. Antacids gave partial relief to the epigastric pain. There was no abdominal distension related with her symptoms and her constipation was not absolute, as she was able to pass flatus. There was no alternation of the constipation with diarrhea and no melena or hematochezia. Her other symptoms included borborygmi, lower back and bilateral knee pain. She had hypertension well-controlled on amlodipine. She had completed empirical triple therapy for peptic ulcer disease several years prior to this presentation, but without resolution of her occasional dyspeptic symptoms. There was no history of abdominal surgeries and she had never smoked nor consumed alcohol.Her physical examination showed a soft, non-distended abdomen which moved with respiration. There was generalized tenderness which was worst at her lower abdomen. There were no palpable masses, percussion notes were tympanitic and bowel sounds were high pitched and frequent. Both knees were mildly tender on passive joint movement and worse on the left, without warmth or swelling, and there was mild tenderness at her lower back. All other examination findings were normal.Her renal and liver function tests were normal. She however had normocytic normochromic anaemia of 10.6g/dl on her complete blood count and low calcium and magnesium levels of 1.61mmol/L, 1.07mmol/L respectively. An erect and supine abdominal x-ray showed mildly dilated jejunum as well as gall stones. A contrast CT scan of the abdomen showed mild to moderate narrowing of the mid segment of the ileum with prestenotic dilatation of the ileum and jejunum. The dilated bowel measured 3.8cm-4.5cm. There were no masses seen and the large bowel was normal. Both ESR and CRP were high (30mm/h and 147mg/L respectively). Stool RE was normal and stool for occult blood and H. pylori antigen were negative.She was then managed for acute exacerbation of Crohn disease with partial ileal obstruction and gastroduodenal involvement. The noted Crohn disease associations were cholelithiasis, arthritis of both knees and sacroiliitis. Her calculated Crohn Disease Activity Index (CDAI) was 263, for moderate disease. She was hydrated with IV fluids, then put on hyoscine bromide for her crampy abdominal pains, IV omeprazole for her gastritis, SC enoxaparin for DVT prophylaxis and syrup lactulose for her constipation. After her vomiting subsided, she was switched to oral medications. Oral mesalazine 1g 6 hourly, oral prednisolone 30mg daily and oral paracetamol 1g 8 hourly were added to these medications. She had dietary interventions such as reducing meal fiber as well. She improved and had a significantly reduced frequency of the flares and was finally discharged after 5 days on admission.DiscussionIntestinal obstruction caused by strictures of Crohn disease widens the differential diagnoses for clinicians. These include intraluminal causes such as tumours, impacted feces and foreign bodies, intramural causes such as intussusception and extramural causes such as strangulated hernias, adhesions and volvulus.3-5 Most of these are purely surgical causes. It is no surprise this patient was managed by the general surgery team on her first admission. It is quite unusual that she had never experienced diarrhea at any point of the course of the disease because it is expected that before the strictures form, the preceding inflammation would cause irritative diarrheal symptoms.6 She also had peptic ulcer-like symptoms which had been treated unsuccessfully in the past. That she was managed empirically for peptic ulcer disease for a long period is because of the low availability of endoscopy in the Central Region of the country. Lack of these investigative facilities and low socioeconomic status result in the frequent use of mainly clinical impressions to make diagnoses in smaller facilities. Since dyspeptic symptoms are rare in Crohn disease,7 they are unlikely to be the clinical clue to the accurate diagnosis, which unfortunately was the case in this patient for several years. Her age of presentation was also unusual as Crohn disease is usually diagnosed in the young.Intestinal strictures form part of the natural history of Crohn disease and will occur in up to 70% of patients over a 10-year period.8 The strictures are classified as inflammatory, fibrotic, primary or anastomotic. 9 Inflammatory strictures result from edema of the intestinal lining while fibrotic ones are caused by chronic inflammation that results in accumulation of extracellular matrix and hyperproliferation of smooth muscle cells.10 There are also mixed variants that have both mechanisms at play at the same time. Primary strictures are those that follow the natural history of the disease and anastomotic ones are those resulting from a surgical intervention; resection and anastomosis. This woman had a primary stricture which was most likely mixed inflammatory and fibrotic because of the waxing and waning nature of her baseline constipation associated with the flares. Fibrotic strictures tend to produce a more constant type of obstruction while inflammatory ones occur in waves.Medical management was her mainstay because of her advanced age and moderate disease severity (CDAI 263). Dietary modifications such as reducing fiber in diet is necessary for reducing obstructive symptoms by reducing stool bulk to enable it bypass strictures.9Micronutrient supplementation may also be needed in cases where deficiencies such as hypocalcemia, hypomagnesemia and vitamin D are a concern due to malabsorption, as was in this patient. The deficiencies also result from anorexia caused by the abdominal pain (gastritis in this patient) and circulating inflammatory cytokines.11 Malabsorption is also the reason for formation of gallstones as in this patient (figure 1 and figure 2). The gallstones form as a result of failed reabsorption of bile acid and hence failed enterohepatic circulation, which in turn increases the concentration of cholesterol in the biliary system, precipitating the formation of cholesterol stones.12 It is usually asymptomatic and an incidental finding on radio imaging.Starting the patient on prednisolone and mesalazine resulted in a decline in symptoms by the 5th day of admission. 5-aminosalicylic acid derivatives such as mesalazine provide symptomatic relief for patients and remain the first line drugs for mild to moderate disease.13 Lactulose also improved her constipation by enabling her pass soft stools daily.Surgery is indicated in situations such as significant prestenotic dilatation, or presence of a fistula 8 —-none of which was present in this case.Gastroduodenal Crohn disease is not commonly symptomatic and seen in only about 4% of cases. 14 Its diagnosis is difficult because there are no specific or consistent pathological findings as well as the high prevalence of comorbidity with H. pylori gastritis.15 Medical therapy is usually enough in most cases except for those with gastric outlet obstruction that may require surgery. 16ConclusionBowel obstruction from strictures in Crohn disease is a common complication which may not always be preceded by diarrhea in the early stages as was in this case. Gastroduodenal Crohn disease is uncommon but should be considered in all patients being worked up for Crohn disease who have dyspeptic symptoms. Negative H. pylori antigen tests or persistence of symptoms after eradication of H. pylori should increase suspicion for gastroduodenal Crohn disease. These clinical clues are necessary not only for poorly equipped facilities, but also those that have all the investigative capacity in order to prioritize investigations and intervene as soon as possible.ReferencesCard TR, Siffledeen J, Fleming, KM. Are IBD patients more likely to have a prior diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome? Report of a case-control study in the General Practice Research Database. United European Gastroentrol J 2014 Dec; 2(6): 505-512. PMID: 25452846Cheema YA, Munir M, Zainab K, Ogedegbe OJ. An Atypical Presentation of Crohn’s Disease: A Case Report. Cureus. 2022 Sep; 14(9): e29431. PMID: 36299929Catena F, De Simone B, Coccolini F, Di Saverio S, Sartelli M, Ansaloni L. Bowel obstruction: a narrative review for all physicians. World J Emerg Surg. 2019 Apr; 20 (14)Yeo HL, Lee SW. Colorectal emergencies: review and controversies in the management of large bowel obstruction. J Gastrointest Surg. 2013; 17(11): 2007-12Roses RE, Folkert IW, Krouse RS. Malignant bowel obstruction: reappraising the value of surgery. Surg Oncol Clin N Am. 2018; 27(4): 705-15Anbazhagan AN, Priyamvada S, Alrefai, WA, Dudeja PK. Pathophysiology of IBD associated diarrhea. Tissue Barriers. 2018; 6(2): e1463897. PMID: 29737913Zhi TX, Hong GJ, Li T, Sun D, Yu XD, Chen QZ, Li T. Gastric Crohn’s Disease: A Rare Cause of Intermittent Abdominal Pain and Vomiting. Am J Med. 2017; 130 (5)Lin X, Wang Y, Liu Z, Lin S, Tan J, He J, Hu F, Wu X, Ghosh S, Chen M, Liu F, Mao R. Intestinal Strictures in Crohn’s disease: a 2021 updateIsmail MS, Charabaty A. Management of Crohn’s stricture: medical, endoscopic and surgical therapies. Frontline Gastroenterology 2022; 13:524-530Rieder F, Fiocchi C, Rogler G. Mechanisms, management and treatment of fibrosis in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases. Gastroenterology 2017; 152:340-50. PMID: 27720839Naser SA, Abdelsalam A, Thanigachalam S, Naser SA, Alcedo K. Domino effect of hypomagnesemia on the innate immunity of Crohn’s disease patients. World J Diabetes. 2014 Aug; 5(4): 527-535. PMID: 25126398Fevery, J. Pigment gallstones in Crohn’s disease. Gastroenterology. 1999; 116(6): 1492-1494Iacucci M, de Silva S, Ghosh S. Mesalazine in inflammatory bowel disease: A trendy topic once again? Can J Gastroenterol. 2010 Feb; 24(20):127-133. PMID: 20151072Steckstor M, Adam B, Pech O, Tannapfel A, Riphaus A. Gastroduodenal Crohn’s Disease. Video Journal and Encyclopedia of GI Endoscopy 2013; 1: 178-79Ingle SB, Hinge CR, Dakhure S, Bhosale SS. Isolated gastric Crohn’s disease. World J Clin Cases. 2013; 1(2): 71-73. PMID: 3845940Ibrahim SH, Smyrk TC, Faubion WA. Treatment of isolated gastric Crohn’s disease with inhaled corticosteroids. Case Rep Gastroenterol. 2008 Nov 5; 2(3): 363-8. PMID: PMC3075198

A document by Brihaspati K C. Click on the document to view its contents.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) believes to be a major cause of transience and indisposition worldwide. Early diagnosis and timely intervention are critical in preventing the progression of CVD and improving patient outcomes. Machine learning (ML) algorithms have emerged as powerful tools in CVD recognition, with the potential to assist physicians in making accurate and efficient diagnoses. This research paper explores the combination of multiple ML algorithms for CVD recognition, utilizing diverse datasets such as the Cleveland, Hungarian, Switzerland, statlog, and VA Long Beach datasets. Additionally, a CVD dataset comprising 12 attributes and 70,000 records is employed, demonstrating improved results through the proposed and trained model compared to previous prediction techniques for CVD. The performance of various ML techniques, including support vector machines (SVM), Naive Bayes (NB), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Random Forest (RF), and Logistic Regression (LR), is evaluated and compared. The impact of feature selection and feature scaling on the models’ performance is also examined. An ensemble bagging techniques is applied which is being embedded with other classifiers. LR classifier embedded with bagging techniques proved to be our proposed model. The findings reveal that the proposed Hybrid Linear Regression Bagging Model (HLRBM) outperforms other models. Furthermore, the study highlights the significance of data preprocessing techniques, such as data normalization and class balancing, which significantly enhance the performance of all models. To this end, standard scalar and Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE) are employed. The study emphasizes the importance of selecting an appropriate ensemble technique in conjunction with various ML algorithms and preprocessing methods for CVD prediction. Overall, the research provides valuable insights into the potential of ML in improving CVD risk assessment.

Due to a population bottleneck, northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris ) have very low genetic diversity, making them ideal model organisms for assessing the impact of genetic and non-genetic factors on the gut microbiome. In our study, we were especially interested in the role of sex given the northern elephant seal’s extreme sexual dimorphism. We investigated 54 northern elephant seal pups that were rescued from along the California coastline and brought to The Marine Mammal Center, a rehabilitation facility. Using a metabarcoding approach, we characterized microbial communities shortly after admission to the facility and found that both sex and geographic origin explained microbial variation. We detected significant differences in microbial class and order composition between sexes. We further analyzed paired samples from 24 seals at two time points, shortly after admission to the rehabilitation facility and a month post-acclimation in the facility. Between these two time points, microbial diversity increased, likely due to changes in diet. While there was an overall convergence of microbiome composition in a shared environment over time, remaining differences in microbial composition were explained by sex and host genetics.

Substantial wealth of knowledge about anaerobic fungi has accumulated in recent years, which may guide the attention of the biotechnology-oriented scientists towards the possible exploitation of their fascinating capabilities. Very efficient, unique and complex enzyme systems of anaerobic fungi play determining role in the conversion of lignocellulosic fodder to milk and meat in mammalian herbivores. Mitigation of the concomitant greenhouse gas emission by ruminants is a major environmental, climate change issue. In turn, controlled management of the inter-kingdom syntrophic co-operations among the eukaryotic anaerobic fungi, bacteria and archaea can lead to the production of valuable bio-fuels, e.g. bio-methane, bio-hydrogen, bio-ethanol, and organic acids, the latter could serve as building blocks in numerous biosynthetic processes in circular bioeconomy.

Introduction High flow nasal cannula (HFNC) is commonly used as first step respiratory support in infants with moderate-to-severe acute viral bronchiolitis (AVB). This device, however, fails to effectively manage respiratory distress in about a third of patients, and data are limited on determinants of patient response. The respiratory rate-oxygenation (ROX) index is a relevant tool to predict the risk for HFNC failure in adult patients with lower respiratory tract infections. The primary objective of this study was to assess the relationship between ROX indexes collected before and 1 hour after HFNC initiation, and HFNC failure occurring in the following 48 hours in infants with AVB. Method: This is an ancillary study to the multicenter randomized controlled trial TRAMONTANE 2, that included 286 infants of less than 6 months with moderate-to-severe AVB. Collection of physiological variables at baseline (H0), and 1 hour after HFNC (H1), included heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO 2), respiratory distress score (mWCAS), and pain and discomfort scale (EDIN). ROX was calculated as SpO 2/FiO 2 to RR. Predefined HFNC failure criteria included increase in respiratory distress score or respiratory rate, increase in discomfort, and severe apnea episodes. The accuracy of ROX index to predict HFNC failure was assessed using receiver operating curve analysis. Result: HFNC failure occurred in 111/286 (39%) infants, and for 56 (50% of the failure) of them within the first 6 hours. The area under the curve of ROX indexes at H0 and H1 were, respectively, 0.56 (95% CI 0.48-0.63, p =0.14), 0.56 (95% CI 0.49- 0.64, p =0.09). HFNC failure was associated with higher mWCAS score at H1 (p<0.01) and lower decrease in EDIN scale during the first hour of HFNC delivery (p = 0.02), but none of the physiological variables were predictive of HFNC failure. Conclusion: In this study, neither ROX index, nor physiological variables usually collected in infants with AVB had early discriminatory capacity to predict HFNC failure.

Labeling fine-grained objects manually is extremely challenging, as it is not only label-intensive but also requires professional knowledge. Accordingly, robust learning methods for fine-grained recognition with web images collected from Internet of Things have drawn significant attention. However, training deep fine-grained models directly using untrusted web images is confronted by two primary obstacles: 1) label noise in web images and 2) domain variance between the online sources and test datasets. To this end, in this study, we mainly focus on addressing these two pivotal problems associated with untrusted web images. To be specific, we introduce an end-to-end network that collaboratively addresses these concerns in the process of separating trusted data from untrusted web images. To validate the efficacy of our proposed model, untrusted web images are first collected by utilizing the text category labels found within fine-grained datasets. Subsequently, we employ the designed deep model to eliminate label noise and ameliorate domain mismatch. And the chosen trusted web data are utilized for model training. Comprehensive experiments and ablation studies validate that our method consistently surpasses other state-of-the-art approaches for fine-grained recognition task in a real-world scenario. Simultaneously, this introduces a novel pipeline for fine-grained recognition with substantial efficacy in practical applications. The source code and models can be accessed at: https://github.com/NUST-Machine-Intelligence-Laboratory/DDN.

Using the N-back task, we investigated how memory load influences the neural activity of the Chinese character cognitive subprocess (recognition, updating, and maintenance) in Mainland Chinese speakers. Twenty-seven participants completed the Chinese character N-back paradigm while having their event-related potentials recorded. The study employed time and frequency domain analyses of EEG data. Results showed that accuracy decreased and response times increased with larger N values. For ERPs, N2pc and P300 amplitudes decreased, and SW amplitude increased with larger N values. For time frequency analyses, the desynchronization of alpha oscillations decreased after stimulus onset, but the synchronization of alpha oscillations increased during the maintenance phase. The results suggest that greater memory load is related to a decrease in cognitive resources during updating and an increase in cognitive resources during information maintenance. Results of a brain-behavior relevant analysis showed that the ERP indicators in the maintenance phase predicted behavioral performance.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the effects of Empagliflozin on the mice model of HFD/STZ-induced T2DM and liver fibrosis, and the correlations with gut microbiota. Methods: The HFD/STZ-induced T2DM and liver fibrosis mice were treated with Empagliflozin for 6 weeks. After the intervention, OGTT and IPGTT were performed to assess glucose tolerance and insulin resistance in mice. The histological chemistry and indicators of liver pathology and liver fibrosis were assessed. Moreover, 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing for gut microbiota was performed to explore the changes of gut bacterial composition. And we analyzed the correlation between alterations in intestinal microbial composition and liver fibrosis score or glucose metabolic indicators. Results: 6-week Empagliflozin intervention improved glucose metabolism, and attenuated liver fibrosis in HFD/STZ-induced mice, which might be related to the alterations of gut microbiota. Furthermore, the abundance of Lactobacillus was increased, while Ruminococcus and Adlercreutzia were reduced in Empagliflozin-treated mice, which were positively associated with liver fibrosis and glucose metabolism in correlation analysis. Conclusion: Empagliflozin ameliorated glucose metabolic dysfunction and liver fibrosis in HFD/STZ-induced mice, whose effects might be due to the beneficial balance of gut microbiota composition. Our study provided evidence and highlighted improvement of gut-liver axis by inhibition of SGLT2 in T2DM and liver fibrosis.

Extreme precipitation events (EPEs) on a sub-daily scale are an important factor in triggering urban flooding and flash flooding. However, corresponding studies on the spatial patterns of sub-daily extreme precipitation in Guangdong Province are lacking. We objectively classified the spatial patterns of extreme precipitation (EPSPs) in Guangdong Province, calculated the importance of influencing factors on EPSPs, and finally analyzed the weather background corresponding to various EPSPs and explained the causes of extreme precipitation. We have found that the incidence of most EPSPs has tended to increase significantly over this 40-year period, and the increase has been particularly pronounced since the 21st century. The Pacific Decade Oscillation (PDO) was the main influence on EPEs in Yangjiang, Maoming and Shanwei, and the weakening of PDO has contributed to the occurrence of EPEs in these areas. Urbanization is the main factor contributing to the increase in EPEs in the PRD, Zhanjiang and coastal areas of Guangdong Province. The cause of the EPSP in central Guangdong Province was the southwest jet stream and topographic uplift. The extreme precipitation in Yangjiang, the PRD, Maoming and Shanwei was mainly triggered by the convergent shear of the southwesterly winds. The cause of the EPSP over Zhanjiang was the low vortex in western Guangdong and the influx of large amounts of water vapour over land from the south over the ocean.