A data buoy for measuring coastal wave-action has been designed and constructed. The buoy is essentially a 0.6 m diameter sphere that is made of fiber-glass with aluminum, steel and polymer parts. ...While the overall geometry of the buoy is superficially similar to that of existing commercial spherical buoys (e.g. Wave-Rider by Datawell), the present design is based on a simple robust structure and mass-market electronics. A significant dual-use feature of this design is that the structure is usable as a float in a wave-energy generation device. This is possible due to the essentially isolated central structure and an electronics enclosure that is sealed both from the external environment and from the bulk shell of the buoy. This also allows the electronics to be mounted in an easily- modified, rack configuration that can be removed from the buoy shell. In a wave-energy generation set-up the electronics rack would be removed and the central cylinder will become part of a linear-motion type generator, with at least +/- 25 cm of internal movement available to it that is waterproof (for near surface or shallow immersions). Alternatively, for large wave motions, the buoy can couple to an energy-generating device using flanges that mate with its bolt circle pattern. However, at the moment, the buoy enclosure is dedicated to wave-action measurement, i.e., a data buoy with an onboard inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a radio-link to send real-time data to a receiving unit that can be on a boat or at the seashore. Basic GPS data are also transmitted. This is of interest if the buoy is being deployed in a drifting (un-moored) mode. This paper will only discuss the mechanical design and fabrication of the structure.
This study attempts to uncover the most common issue of fuel shortage faced by the oil and transportation industry worldwide. In Pakistan, petroleum is transported to the northern areas from the ...south coast. Currently, this is done using road tankers as a pipeline is still under construction. However, even after the pipeline becomes operative, road tankers would still be used for intra-city transport. Findings from this study can be used to determine the inter-city transport losses faced by oil companies. This study determines the hydrocarbons lost to the environment during inter-city road transport of petroleum. It takes nearly 2–3 days to complete a one-way trip with the fully loaded tank. Much work has been reported worldwide on hydrocarbon emissions, but nearly all of it has been done either for storage tanks/vessels or fuel tanks in rails/cars. The aim of this study was to investigate the actual amount of fuel lost to the environment due to the sloshing of liquid. Also, the results were expected to help in determining the extent of hazardous emissions resulting from road transport of petroleum. Hence, measures could be taken by the concerned authorities to mitigate the emissions if they exceeded the acceptable range. The sloshing was not found to contribute much in terms of vapor loss. Valve location was found to be important as no loss was obtained from the third compartment because the valve is to the right in this chamber. A negligible amount of fuel was lost from the first and second compartments per application of the brakes. Over a whole trip of 2–3 days, if the tanker braked 500 times, a total of 9–10 L would be lost to the environment.
Abstract
Introduction
Longitudinal studies of child mental disorders in the general population (herein study) investigate trends in prevalence, incidence, risk/protective factors, and sequelae for ...disorders. They are time and resource intensive but offer life‐course perspectives and examination of causal mechanisms. Comprehensive syntheses of the methods of existing studies will provide an understanding of studies conducted to date, inventory studies, and inform the planning of new longitudinal studies.
Methods
A systematic review of the research literature in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO was conducted in December 2022 for longitudinal studies of child mental disorders in the general population. Records were grouped by study and assessed for eligibility. Data were extracted from one of four sources: a record reporting study methodology, a record documenting child mental disorder prevalence, study websites, or user guides. Narrative and tabular syntheses of the scope and design features of studies were generated.
Results
There were 18,133 unique records for 487 studies—159 of these were eligible for inclusion. Studies occurred from 1934 to 2019 worldwide, with data collection across 1 to 68 time points, with 70% of studies ongoing. Baseline sample sizes ranged from
n
= 151 to 64,136. Studies were most frequently conducted in the United States and at the city/town level. Internalizing disorders and disruptive, impulse control, and conduct disorders were the most frequently assessed mental disorders. Of studies reporting methods of disorder assessment, almost all used measurement scales. Individual, familial and environmental risk and protective factors and sequelae were examined.
Conclusions
These results summarize characteristics of existing longitudinal studies of child mental disorders in the general population, provide an understanding of studies conducted to date, encourage comprehensive and consistent reporting of study methodology to facilitate meta‐analytic syntheses of longitudinal evidence, and offer recommendations and suggestions for the design of future studies. Registration DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/73HSW.
IntroductionChildren with special educational needs (SEN) often struggle academically. Previous studies found that children’s abilities in kindergarten are predictive of their future SEN status. It ...is currently unknown whether these predictors differ in children with and without an early identification of a special need in kindergarten (SN-K).
Objectives and ApproachWe investigated early predictors of SEN in Grade 3, in a cohort of Ontario children, with and without SN-K (1,824 and 62,842, respectively), who attended kindergarten between 2003/04 and 2005/06. Early Development Instrument data, a teacher-completed checklist of children’s development, were linked to Grade 3 standardized reading, writing, and mathematics test scores. Controlling for children’s demographics, multivariate binary logistic regressions were conducted examining the association between children’s developmental outcomes, their functional impairments, the necessity for further assessment (all reported by their kindergarten teacher) and their SEN status in Grade 3.
ResultsOverall, 69.8% of children with SN-K had SEN in Grade 3, while 11.6% of children without SN-K had SEN. Our analyses revealed that, for children with SN-K, having a functional impairment was the most significant predictor of having SEN in Grade 3 (Odds Ratio=3.61, 2.59-5.02 95% confidence interval). For children without SN-K, teachers reporting the need for further assessment was the strongest predictor of having SEN in Grade 3 in children without SN-K (Odds Ratio=2.70, 2.49-2.93).
Conclusion / ImplicationsEarly predictors of SEN in Grade 3 differ for children who receive an early identification (SN-K) compared to those who don’t. How children with SN-K function in a classroom is the best predictor of SEN in Grade 3, while teachers’ observation that a child needs further assessment is the strongest predictor of SEN in Grade 3 for those without SN-K. Addressing these areas early on may help reduce the number of children with SEN in later grades and may positively impact their future academic success.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of octreotide, a somatostatin analog, for treatment of postsurgical cystoid macular edema.
Twenty-one patients with chronic, ...refractory postsurgical cystoid macular edema and Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study best-corrected visual acuity of 20/25 to 20/400 were randomized 2:1 to 30 mg monthly intramuscular octreotide or placebo. Outcome measures were visual acuity (primary) and macular thickness and fluorescein angiographic leakage (secondary).
Fourteen eyes received octreotide and seven eyes received placebo. Mean duration of cystoid macular edema was 2.65 and 1.99 years for Sandostatin long-acting release and placebo groups, respectively. Visual acuity at 6 months improved > or =2 lines in 7 of 14 eyes (50%) in the treatment group and 0 of 7 eyes in the placebo group (P = 0.046). Improvement in retinal thickening and angiographic leakage occurred in 3 of 13 eyes (23.1%) and 3 of 14 eyes (21.4%) of the treatment group, respectively, and in 1 of 7 eyes (14.3%) (P = 1.0 compared with the treatment group) and 0 of 7 eyes in the placebo group (P = 0.52 compared with the treatment group). The three eyes that improved in all parameters were treated with octreotide.
Although there were no statistically significant differences between both groups in retinal thickening or angiographic leakage, octreotide-treated patients were more likely to experience a > or =2-line improvement in visual acuity. However, this observation cannot be generalized because of the small sample size.
Antibiotic resistance development and pathogen cross-dissemination are both considered essential risks to human health on a worldwide scale. Antimicrobial resistance genes (AMRs) are acquired, ...expressed, disseminated, and traded mainly through integrons, the key players capable of transferring genes from bacterial chromosomes to plasmids and their integration by integrase to the target pathogenic host. Moreover, integrons play a central role in disseminating and assembling genes connected with antibiotic resistance in pathogenic and commensal bacterial species. They exhibit a large and concealed diversity in the natural environment, raising concerns about their potential for comprehensive application in bacterial adaptation. They should be viewed as a dangerous pool of resistance determinants from the “One Health approach.” Among the three documented classes of integrons reported viz., class-1, 2, and 3, class 1 has been found frequently associated with AMRs in humans and is a critical genetic element to serve as a target for therapeutics to AMRs through gene silencing or combinatorial therapies. The direct method of screening gene cassettes linked to pathogenesis and resistance harbored by integrons is a novel way to assess human health. In the last decade, they have witnessed surveying the integron-associated gene cassettes associated with increased drug tolerance and rising pathogenicity of human pathogenic microbes. Consequently, we aimed to unravel the structure and functions of integrons and their integration mechanism by understanding horizontal gene transfer from one trophic group to another. Many updates for the gene cassettes harbored by integrons related to resistance and pathogenicity are extensively explored. Additionally, an updated account of the assessment of AMRs and prevailing antibiotic resistance by integrons in humans is grossly detailed—lastly, the estimation of AMR dissemination by employing integrons as potential biomarkers are also highlighted. The current review on integrons will pave the way to clinical understanding for devising a roadmap solution to AMR and pathogenicity.
Graphical Abstract
The graphical abstract displays how integron-aided AMRs to humans: Transposons capture integron gene cassettes to yield high mobility integrons that target res sites of plasmids. These plasmids, in turn, promote the mobility of acquired integrons into diverse bacterial species. The acquisitions of resistant genes are transferred to humans through horizontal gene transfer.
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•COVID-19 pandemic has traumatized the entire world. During this outbreak, an upsurge in MDR-associated pathogenic microbial organisms has been recorded.•The increasing human ...microbial diseases pose a severe danger to global human safety.•The infectious microbes have developed multiple tolerance strategies to overcome the negative drug impacts.•Several naturally occurring chemicals produced from bacteria, plants, animals, marine species, and other sources with antimicrobial characteristics have been reviewed.•These compounds show promise in minimizing the globally increasing microbial diseases.
Human infectious diseases caused by various microbial pathogens, in general, impact a large population of individuals every year. These microbial diseases that spread quickly remain to be a big issue in various health-related domains and to withstand the negative drug impacts, the antimicrobial-resistant pathogenic microbial organisms (pathogenic bacteria and pathogenic fungi) have developed a variety of resistance processes against many antimicrobial drug classes. During the COVID-19 outbreak, there seems to be an upsurge in drug and multidrug resistant-associated pathogenic microbial species. The preponderance of existing antimicrobials isn’t completely effective, which limits their application in clinical settings. Several naturally occurring chemicals produced from bacteria, plants, animals, marine species, and other sources are now being studied for antimicrobial characteristics. These natural antimicrobial compounds extracted from different sources have been demonstrated to be effective against a variety of diseases, although plants remain the most abundant source. These compounds have shown promise in reducing the microbial diseases linked to the development of drug tolerance and resistance. This paper offers a detailed review of some of the most vital and promising natural compounds and their derivatives against various human infectious microbial organisms. The inhibitory action of different natural antimicrobial compounds, and their possible mechanism of antimicrobial action against a range of pathogenic fungal and bacterial organisms, is provided. The review will be useful in refining current antimicrobial (antifungal and antibacterial) medicines as well as establishing new treatment strategies to tackle the rising number of human bacterial and fungal-associated infections.
The symbiotic relationship between the human digestive system and its intricate microbiota is a captivating field of study that continues to unfold. Comprising predominantly anaerobic bacteria, this ...complex microbial ecosystem, teeming with trillions of organisms, plays a crucial role in various physiological processes. Beyond its primary function in breaking down indigestible dietary components, this microbial community significantly influences immune system modulation, central nervous system function, and disease prevention. Despite the strides made in microbiome research, the precise mechanisms underlying how bacterial effector functions impact mammalian and microbiome physiology remain elusive. Unlike the traditional DNA-RNA-protein paradigm, bacteria often communicate through small molecules, underscoring the imperative to identify compounds produced by human-associated bacteria. The gut microbiome emerges as a linchpin in the transformation of natural products, generating metabolites with distinct physiological functions. Unraveling these microbial transformations holds the key to understanding the pharmacological activities and metabolic mechanisms of natural products. Notably, the potential to leverage gut microorganisms for large-scale synthesis of bioactive compounds remains an underexplored frontier with promising implications. This review serves as a synthesis of current knowledge, shedding light on the dynamic interplay between natural products, bacteria, and human health. In doing so, it contributes to our evolving comprehension of microbiome dynamics, opening avenues for innovative applications in medicine and therapeutics. As we delve deeper into this intricate web of interactions, the prospect of harnessing the power of the gut microbiome for transformative medical interventions becomes increasingly tantalizing.
COVID-19 infection resulting from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) began to spread across the globe in early 2020. Patients with hematologic malignancies are supposed to ...have an increased risk of mortality from coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) infection. From Pakistan, we report the analysis of the outcome and interaction between patient demographics and tumor subtype and COVID-19 infection and hematological malignancy.
This multicenter, retrospective study included adult patients with a history of histologically proven hematological malignancies who were tested positive for COVID-19 via PCR presented at the oncology department of 5 tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan from February to August 2020. A patient with any known hematological malignancy who was positive for COVID-19 on RT-PCR, was included in the study. Chi-square test and Cox-regression hazard regression model was applied considering p ≤ 0.05 significant.
A total of 107 patients with hematological malignancies were diagnosed with COVID-19, out of which 82 (76.64%) were alive, and 25 (23.36%) were dead. The significant hematological malignancy was B-cell Lymphoma in dead 4 (16.00%) and alive group 21 (25.61%), respectively. The majority of the patients in both the dead and alive group were on active treatment for hematological malignancy while they came positive for COVID-19 21 (84.00%) & 48 (58.54%) p 0.020. All patients in the dead group were admitted to the hospital 25 (100.00%), and among these, 14 (56.00%) were admitted in ICU with a median 11 (6-16.5) number of days. Among those who had contact exposure, the hazard of survival or death in patients with hematological malignancies and COVID-19 positive was 2.18 (CI: 1.90-4.44) times and 3.10 (CI: 2.73-4.60) times in patients with travel history compared to no exposure history (p 0.001).
Taken together, this data supports the emerging consensus that patients with hematologic malignancies experience significant morbidity and mortality resulting from COVID-19 infection.
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