In time-to-event settings, the presence of competing events complicates the definition of causal effects. Here we propose the new separable effects to study the causal effect of a treatment on an ...event of interest. The separable direct effect is the treatment effect on the event of interest not mediated by its effect on the competing event. The separable indirect effect is the treatment effect on the event of interest only through its effect on the competing event. Similar to Robins and Richardson's extended graphical approach for mediation analysis, the separable effects can only be identified under the assumption that the treatment can be decomposed into two distinct components that exert their effects through distinct causal pathways. Unlike existing definitions of causal effects in the presence of competing events, our estimands do not require cross-world contrasts or hypothetical interventions to prevent death. As an illustration, we apply our approach to a randomized clinical trial on estrogen therapy in individuals with prostate cancer.
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Nitroimidazole compounds are widely used antibiotics to encounter anaerobic bacterial and parasitic infections. The wide usage of antibiotic drugs became an ecological contaminant which in turn into ...potential monitoring. In this regards, we have designed and developed a new electrochemical sensing probe to monitor an antiprotozoal drug, ornidazole (ODZ), with the aid of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) integrated with manganese molybdate nanorods (MnMoO4) decorated graphene nanosheets (GNS) hybrid materials that prepared by feasible probe sonochemical method (parameters: 2–4 W, 5 mV amp, 20 kHz). The electrochemical investigations of the developed probe were performed by using rapid scan electrochemical workstations namely cyclic voltammetry (CV) and amperometric (i-t) techniques. The as-prepared MnMoO4/GNS nanocomposite was characterized and its purity of nanocomposite formation was confirmed by various analytical techniques like X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and Raman spectroscopy. In addition to that, the textural morphology of the MnMoO4/GNS nanocomposite was examined with the aid of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The MnMoO4/GNS nanocomposite rotating disk glassy carbon electrode (RDGCE) plays a crucial role in electrochemical detection of ODZ, which results in excellent anti-interference ability, a lower detection limit of 845 pM, massive linear ranges from 10 to 770 nM, and good sensitivity of about 104.62 μA μM−1 cm−2. From the acquired electrochemical studies, we have developed a disposable electrochemical sensor probe using a low-cost screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) with MnMoO4/GNS nanocomposite. The MnMoO4/GNS/SPCE are capably employed in real-time sensing of ODZ in water and urine samples. These electrochemical studies revealed the integral new vision on the electrocatalytic performance of the modified SPCE and also shown excellent amplification results in ultra-trace levels.
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•A robust electrochemical sensor probe for ornidazole (ODZ) detection has been reported.•The MnMoO4 decorated graphene nanosheets (GNS) hybrid catalyst prepared by probe sonication method.•The MnMoO4/GNS electrocatalyst showed trace-level detection limit around 845 pM.•The developed sensor was employed for real-time sensing of ODZ in water and urine samples.
Estimation of distribution algorithms (EDAs) are a successful branch of evolutionary algorithms (EAs) that evolve a probabilistic model instead of a population. Analogous to genetic drift in EAs, ...EDAs also encounter the phenomenon that the random sampling in the model update can move the sampling frequencies to boundary values not justified by the fitness. This can result in a considerable performance loss. This article gives the first tight quantification of this effect for three EDAs and one ant colony optimizer, namely, for the univariate marginal distribution algorithm, the compact genetic algorithm, population-based incremental learning, and the max-min ant system with iteration-best update. Our results allow to choose the parameters of these algorithms in such a way that within a desired runtime, no sampling frequency approaches the boundary values without a clear indication from the objective function.
Advanced process analytics are becoming an increasingly important part of continuous flow chemistry. In their Research Article on page 8139, Jason D. Williams, C. Oliver Kappe and co‐workers describe ...the use of four different process analytical technologies, controlled by one central system, in a multistep continuous flow process. Advanced data processing methods, including artificial intelligence, are used to accurately quantify up to nine process species in real time, toward self‐optimization and model predictive control applications.
Carbon deposition can be observed on the surface of Ni catalyst surface because of its high catalytic activity of hydrocarbon cracking, and thus cause the degradation of cell performance. In this ...work, anode supported single cells without and with the additional internal reforming catalyst NiFe2O4-GDC are successful assembled, and then used to characterize electrochemical performance and carbon tolerance in H2 and 50%CO2–50%CH4 fuels. Both single cells without and with NiFe2O4-GDC demonstrate similarly high electrochemical performance and low electrode polarization resistance fueled in H2, and the peak power densities are 1037.15 and 1163.36 mW/cm2 at 800 °C, respectively, the difference of which derived from the ohmic impedance and the electrode polarization resistance. Interestingly, to better understand the contribution of different electrode polarization impedances, the distribution of relaxation time (DRT) analysis is used to distinguish different rate-limiting steps with high resolution. While 50%CO2–50%CH4 fuel is applied, single cells with internal reforming catalyst NiFe2O4-GDC demonstrates high electrochemical performance (1046.72 mW/cm2 at 800 °C), long-term stability and excellent carbon tolerance from the Raman scanning analysis. All preliminary experimental results suggest that high performance and coking tolerance can be obtained for direct carbon dioxide-methane solid oxide fuel cells with an additional internal reforming catalyst.
•The fuel pre-reforming by CO2 is an effective method for carbon removal.•High-performance direct carbon dioxide-methane solid oxide fuel cells can be realized.•Additional internal reforming catalyst is used to enhance coking tolerance.•DRT analysis is used to distinguish different rate-limiting steps of electrode process.•Raman spectra analysis is performed to evaluate the carbon deposits of anode catalyst.
Background: Clinical studies in regenerative medicine remain insufficient in Japan due to ethical concerns regarding the control group and a lack of statistical methodology to evaluate efficacy in a ...small treatment group. This study evaluated the efficacy of autologous myoblast patch (AMP) treatment for heart failure using restricted mean survival time (RMST) analysis by comparing data from a small single-arm trial to epidemiological data from a registry.Methods and Results: The clinical trial arm included 55 patients with advanced ischemic cardiomyopathy who received an AMP between 2010 and 2020. The registry-based control group comprised 937 participants with severely impaired left ventricular function who were hospitalized for heart failure during the study period. Due to the limited number of patients, RMST analysis was used to compare survival between the 2 groups. Cox regression analyses revealed non-significant differences in survival between the groups at 3, 3.5, and 4 years. In contrast, RMST analyses revealed significant differences in survival at 3 years (P=0.008) and 3.5 (P=0.024) years, but not at 4 years.Conclusions: This small single-arm trial using RMST analyses was able to detect the efficacy of AMP transplantation for advanced heart failure (compared with a registry-based control group), with better survival until 3.5 years. This approach may be useful for efficacy analyses in regenerative medicine, where traditional clinical trials are difficult.
•The deposition of various dust particles in the upper layer of the PV module mainly causes soiling.•The label of power reduction entirely depends on the characteristics of the dust ...particles.•Rainfalls are the most frequent naturally occurring cleaning events in most sites.•Indoor experiment suggests maximum power reduction is seen in the case of Ash (39.21 %), while a minimum of 8.32 % is in the case of red soil.•The outdoor experiments suggest that red soil, sand, and brick dust can create huge power losses in the PV system.
This paper analyzes the effect of different types of dust on the reduction of PV systems' performance. The PV system installed on the field gives maximum output. However, in a real-time scheme, the PV system fails to generate the desired power output due to various realistic and unavoidable factors like soiling. Different dust particles accumulating on photovoltaic (PV) modules result in shadowing and reduced irradiance, impacting power production. The study investigates eight dust samples (ash, dirt, cement, brick powder, putty, wood dust, sand, and salt) in indoor and outdoor environments. It evaluates the decrease in power at solar irradiance levels of 500, 700, and 1000 W/m². The soiling experiments conducted indoors show that the maximum% reduction in power is 39.21 % in the case of Ash, while a minimum of 8.32 % in the case of red soil. The outdoor experiments suggest that red soil, sand, and brick dust can create huge power losses in the PV system, followed by ash powder, wood dust, putty dust, salt, and cement powder. The advantages of this research lie in its thorough analysis of several forms of dust and their impact on photovoltaic (PV) systems under different circumstances. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the crucial need for implementing dust control measures to maximize system performance, thereby providing insightful information for system design and maintenance procedures. The novelty of this study is to investigate the performance impact of various kinds of dust on PV systems, offering significant insights for improving system efficiency in real-world circumstances. The research enhances the reliability and applicability of its results by thoroughly assessing outdoor and indoor conditions, bridging the gap between laboratory results and practical applications.
There is a gender gap in the surgical field worldwide. Brazil and low- and middle-income countries generally tend to have a more profound gap. Therefore, we aim to assess the gender distribution in ...Brazilian surgical residencies.
From a national residencies’ database, we collected residency entering years, names, and surgical subspecialties. We classified gender from the names using Gender API software and performed linear regression, binomial, and chi-square tests.
From 81,979 doctors (1931-2020), 36.6% were women (P < 0.001). Of 13 subspecialties, regarding the absolute numbers of women, only neurosurgery and plastic surgery did not significantly differ between gender per year. There was a statistically significant growth in the proportional rates of female representation among most of the surgical residencies analyzed. Overall, the least women's representation was in urology (3.8%). From all subspecialties analyzed, both genders had a significant linear absolute increase over the years (P < 0.05), except for obstetrics-gynecology and pediatric surgery for men. Until 1990, all surgical programs had at least one woman resident, except for colorectal surgery.
Although there is an overall lack of women surgeons in Brazil, we observed an increase in women in surgical residencies. Therefore, the study may demonstrate a future change in the Brazilian gender equity scenario and reflect the growing representation of women in medicine in Brazil, except for some surgical specialties.
•Characterize functionally critical network locations (FCNL) using taxi trajectories.•Measure the level of criticality of FCNLs by the density of trajectories.•Propose two groups of quantitative ...indices to measure the evolution of FCNLs.•Analyze urban functional structures and people’s activities through FCNLs.
This paper studies the space–time properties of locations that are critical to travel activities in an urban environment. Specifically, we analyze locations on the urban street network from the perspective of the distribution of people’s travel trajectories. We identify the intersections of an urban transportation network which are characterized by good connectivity, serving a high density of trip trajectories, and exhibiting multiple traversing patterns of trip trajectories as potential functionally critical network locations (FCNLs). A geospatial method is proposed to extract FCNLs from people’s moving trajectories based on the street network. Two groups of quantitative indices are introduced to measure the evolution of the spatial extent and temporal variation patterns of different criticality levels of FCNLs. A case study using taxi trajectory data from Wuhan, China has been implemented. The results show that the FCNLs are very powerful in uncovering the space–time traveling patterns of a particular population and studying the relationship between urban functional structures and people’s activities.
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