This study aims to determine the extraction of GLCM texture features, shape morphology and moment invariant features on the leaf image of medicinal plants and determine the accuracy of plant ...recognition based on these three features by using Artificial Neural Network Classifiers. The procedure performed to classify medicinal plants based on their leaf image is image acquisition, image pre-processing, feature extraction, image classification and calculating the accuracy of test results. The introduction had tested for ten Indonesian medicinal plant samples, namely: Bangun-Bangun, Binahong, Jarak, Kemuning, Mangkokan, Mengkudu, Pegagan, Sambiloto, Sambung Nyawa, and Sirih. Based on the test results, obtained 97% accuracy with GLCM features, 69% with Shape Morphological features, 86% with GLCM and Shape Morphological features and 79% with moment invariant features.
Guidelines about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) recommend broad categories of drugs, but uncertainty remains about what pharmacological treatment to select among all available compounds.
...Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials register, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, National PTSD Center Pilots database, PubMed, trial registries, and databases of pharmaceutical companies were searched until February 2016 for double-blind randomised trials comparing any pharmacological intervention or placebo as oral therapy in adults with PTSD. Initially, we performed standard pairwise meta-analyses using a random effects model. We then carried out a network meta-analysis. The main outcome measures were mean change on a standardised scale and all-cause dropout rate. Acute treatment was defined as 8-week follow up.
Desipramine, fluoxetine, paroxetine, phenelzine, risperidone, sertraline, and venlafaxine were more effective than placebo; phenelzine was better than many other active treatments and was the only drug, which was significantly better than placebo in terms of dropouts (odds ratio 7.50, 95% CI 1.72-32.80). Mirtazapine yielded a relatively high rank for efficacy, but the respective value for acceptability was not among the best treatments. Divalproex had overall the worst ranking.
The efficacy and acceptability hierarchies generated by our study were robust against many sources of bias. The differences between drugs and placebo were small, with the only exception of phenelzine. Considering the small amount of available data, these results are probably not robust enough to suggest phenelzine as a drug of choice. However, findings from this review reinforce the idea that phenelzine should be prioritised in future trials in PTSD.
Background: Hypertension and vitamin D deficiency are prevalent among the elderly. This study evaluated the effects of vitamin D supplementation on changes in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) ...concentrations and blood pressure (BP) in the elderly (age > 60 years).
Methods: Randomized controlled trials from electronic databases on the elderly taking oral vitamin D, until the end of March 2019, were selected. Two reviewers independently screened the literature on the basis of specific inclusion criteria. The primary outcomes were serum 25(OH)D level, systolic BP (SBP), and diastolic BP (DBP) changes.
Results: Our analysis revealed significant differences in serum 25(OH)D concentrations changes between the vitamin D and control groups (mean difference MD = 13.84; 95% confidence interval CI = 10.21-17.47; P < 0.000). There were no significant differences in SBP and DBP changes between the vitamin D and control groups. Subgroup analysis revealed significant differences in SBP changes between the hypertensive and vitamin D-deficient subgroups (MD = -4.01; 95% CI = -7.45 to -0.57; P = 0.02 and MD = -1.91; 95% CI = -3.48 to -0.34; P = 0.02, respectively), and DBP changes only in the hypertensive subgroup (MD = -2.22; 95% CI = -4.1 to -0.34; P = 0.02).
Conclusions: Vitamin D supplementation significantly increases 25(OH)D concentrations and seems beneficial in lowering BP, specifically in the elderly with elevated BP and vitamin D deficiency.
Cloud availability is a major performance parameter in cloud Service Level Agreements (SLA). Its correct evaluation is essential to SLA enforcement and possible litigation issues. Current methods ...fail to correctly identify the fault location, since they include the network contribution. We propose a procedure to identify the failures actually due to the cloud itself and provide a correct cloud availability measure. The procedure employs tools that are freely available, i.e. traceroute and whois, and arrives at the availability measure by first identifying the boundaries of the cloud. We evaluate our procedure by testing it on three major cloud providers: Google Cloud, Amazon AWS, and Rackspace. The results show that the procedure arrives at a correct identification in 95% of cases. The cloud availability obtained in the test after correct identification lies between 3 and 4 nines for the three platforms under test.
Background
Esterases (EC 3.1.1.X) are enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis ester bonds. These enzymes have large potential for diverse applications in fine industries, particularly in ...pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and bioethanol production.
Methods and results
In this study, a gene encoding an esterase from
Thermobifida fusca
YX (TfEst) was successfully cloned, and its product was overexpressed in
Escherichia coli
and purified using affinity chromatography. The TfEst kinetic assay revealed catalytic efficiencies of 0.58 s
−1
mM
−1
, 1.09 s
−1
mM
−1
, and 0.062 s
−1
mM
−1
against
p
-Nitrophenyl acetate,
p
-Nitrophenyl butyrate, and 1-naphthyl acetate substrates, respectively. Furthermore, TfEst also exhibited activity in a pH range from 6.0 to 10.0, with maximum activity at pH 8.0. The enzyme demonstrated a half-life of 20 min at 70 °C. Notably, TfEst displayed acetyl xylan esterase activity as evidenced by the acetylated xylan assay. The structural prediction of TfEst using AlphaFold indicated that has an α/β-hydrolase fold, which is consistent with other esterases.
Conclusions
The enzyme stability over a broad pH range and its activity at elevated temperatures make it an appealing candidate for industrial processes. Overall, TfEst emerges as a promising enzymatic tool with significant implications for the advancement of biotechnology and biofuels industries.
We present a model of intergenerational transmission of pro-social values in which parents have information about relevant characteristics of society that is not directly available to their children. ...Differently from existing models of cultural transmission of values (such as
Bisin and Verdier, 2001; Tabellini, 2008) we assume that parents are exclusively concerned with their children's material welfare. If parents coordinate their educational choices, a child would look at her system of values to predict the values of her contemporaries, with whom she may interact. A parent may thus choose to instill pro-social values into his child in order to signal to her that others can generally be trusted. This implies that parents may optimally decide to endow their children with values that stand in contrast with maximization of material welfare, even if their children's material welfare is all they care about.
AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate differences in downstream testing, coronary revascularisation, and clinical outcomes following non-invasive diagnostic modalities used to detect coronary artery ...disease.DesignSystematic review and network meta-analysis.Data sourcesMedline, Medline in process, Embase, Cochrane Library for clinical trials, PubMed, Web of Science, SCOPUS, WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, and Clinicaltrials.gov.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesDiagnostic randomised controlled trials comparing non-invasive diagnostic modalities in patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of low risk acute coronary syndrome or stable coronary artery disease.Data synthesisA random effects network meta-analysis synthesised available evidence from trials evaluating the effect of non-invasive diagnostic modalities on downstream testing and patient oriented outcomes in patients with suspected coronary artery disease. Modalities included exercise electrocardiograms, stress echocardiography, single photon emission computed tomography-myocardial perfusion imaging, real time myocardial contrast echocardiography, coronary computed tomographic angiography, and cardiovascular magnetic resonance. Unpublished outcome data were obtained from 11 trials.Results18 trials of patients with low risk acute coronary syndrome (n=11 329) and 12 trials of those with suspected stable coronary artery disease (n=22 062) were included. Among patients with low risk acute coronary syndrome, stress echocardiography, cardiovascular magnetic resonance, and exercise electrocardiograms resulted in fewer invasive referrals for coronary angiography than coronary computed tomographic angiography (odds ratio 0.28 (95% confidence interval 0.14 to 0.57), 0.32 (0.15 to 0.71), and 0.53 (0.28 to 1.00), respectively). There was no effect on the subsequent risk of myocardial infarction, but estimates were imprecise. Heterogeneity and inconsistency were low. In patients with suspected stable coronary artery disease, an initial diagnostic strategy of stress echocardiography or single photon emission computed tomography-myocardial perfusion imaging resulted in fewer downstream tests than coronary computed tomographic angiography (0.24 (0.08 to 0.74) and 0.57 (0.37 to 0.87), respectively). However, exercise electrocardiograms yielded the highest downstream testing rate. Estimates for death and myocardial infarction were imprecise without clear discrimination between strategies.ConclusionsFor patients with low risk acute coronary syndrome, an initial diagnostic strategy of stress echocardiography or cardiovascular magnetic resonance is associated with fewer referrals for invasive coronary angiography and revascularisation procedures than non-invasive anatomical testing, without apparent impact on the future risk of myocardial infarction. For suspected stable coronary artery disease, there was no clear discrimination between diagnostic strategies regarding the subsequent need for invasive coronary angiography, and differences in the risk of myocardial infarction cannot be ruled out.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO registry no CRD42016049442.
Revascularization is important for the healing of diabetic foot ulcers with peripheral arterial disease because it aids in the restoration of the perfusion function of the leg tissues and can reduce ...the risk of cardiovascular complications. However, no Indonesian studies have been identified that exclusively discuss the effectiveness of revascularization for patients with this condition. This study aimed to compare the healing rates of diabetic foot ulcers with peripheral arterial disease in patients who received or did not receive revascularization.
This cohort study included diabetic foot ulcer patients with peripheral arterial disease undergoing treatment at our institution who received or did not receive revascularization based on the wound, ischemia, and foot infection (WIfI) score criteria. Wound healing was considered complete re-epithelialization within six months of the procedure or consistent epithelialization for four consecutive weeks. Patients who required amputation within six months of observation were deemed to have failed therapy.
Each group contained 23 patients. The revascularization group exhibited a healing rate of 78.3 % (18 patients), while the non-revascularization patients had a rate of 26.1 % (6 patients). The wounds of revascularized patients were 14.944 (1.102–202.692) times more likely to heal than those without revascularization (p < 0.01). WIfI stage 2–3 patients showed an 11.926 (1.438–98.883) times increase in the likelihood of wound healing compared to stage 4 WIfI patients.
The wound healing rate was higher for revascularized patients than for non-revascularized patients, and the severity of the wound based on WIfI score affected patient wound healing.
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