In this paper, we systematically review weighted persistent homology (WPH) models and their applications in biomolecular data analysis. Essentially, the weight value, which reflects physical, ...chemical and biological properties, can be assigned to vertices (atom centers), edges (bonds), or higher order simplexes (cluster of atoms), depending on the biomolecular structure, function, and dynamics properties. Further, we propose the first localized weighted persistent homology (LWPH). Inspired by the great success of element specific persistent homology (ESPH), we do not treat biomolecules as an inseparable system like all previous weighted models, instead we decompose them into a series of local domains, which may be overlapped with each other. The general persistent homology or weighted persistent homology analysis is then applied on each of these local domains. In this way, functional properties, that are embedded in local structures, can be revealed. Our model has been applied to systematically study DNA structures. It has been found that our LWPH based features can be used to successfully discriminate the A-, B-, and Z-types of DNA. More importantly, our LWPH based principal component analysis (PCA) model can identify two configurational states of DNA structures in ion liquid environment, which can be revealed only by the complicated helical coordinate system. The great consistence with the helical-coordinate model demonstrates that our model captures local structure variations so well that it is comparable with geometric models. Moreover, geometric measurements are usually defined in local regions. For instance, the helical-coordinate system is limited to one or two basepairs. However, our LWPH can quantitatively characterize structure information in regions or domains with arbitrary sizes and shapes, where traditional geometrical measurements fail.
OBJECTIVEEndoscopic skull base surgery (ESBS) is a relatively recent addition to the neurosurgical armamentarium. As with many new approaches, there has been significant controversy regarding its ...value compared with more traditional approaches to ventral skull base pathology. Although early enthusiasm for new approaches that appear less invasive is usually high, these new techniques require rigorous study to ensure that widespread implementation is in the best interest of patients.METHODSThe authors compared surgical results for ESBS with transcranial surgery (TCS) for several different pathologies over two different time periods (prior to 2012 and 2012-2017) to see how results have evolved over time. Pathologies examined were craniopharyngioma, anterior skull base meningioma, esthesioneuroblastoma, chordoma, and chondrosarcoma.RESULTSESBS offers clear advantages over TCS for most craniopharyngiomas and chordomas. For well-selected cases of planum sphenoidale and tuberculum sellae meningiomas, ESBS has similar rates of resection with higher rates of visual improvement, and more recent results with lower CSF leaks make the complication rates similar between the two approaches. TCS offers a higher rate of resection with fewer complications for olfactory groove meningiomas. ESBS is preferred for lower-grade esthesioneuroblastomas, but higher-grade tumors often still require a craniofacial approach. There are few data on chondrosarcomas, but early results show that ESBS appears to offer clear advantages for minimizing morbidity with similar rates of resection, as long as surgeons are familiar with more complex inferolateral approaches.CONCLUSIONSESBS is maturing into a well-established approach that is clearly in the patients' best interest when applied by experienced surgeons for appropriate pathology. Ongoing critical reevaluation of outcomes is essential for ensuring optimal results.
As cloud computing continues to evolve, the need for efficient and secure management of virtual machine (VM) migrations has become increasingly evident. Traditional models often fall short in ...optimizing load balancing and energy consumption while ensuring a high level of security. In this work, we propose the load balancing and energy-efficient migration model, an innovative approach that leverages bioinspired algorithms and advanced security measures to optimize VM migrations. The initial novelty of our model is the integration of Genetic Algorithms with Ant Colony Optimization for resource scheduling operations. These algorithms were specifically chosen for their proven effectiveness in solving complex optimization problems by simulating natural processes. Additionally, our model incorporates a deep reinforcement learning-based iterative-learning contextual side chaining model to enhance security measures. This approach not only learns and adapts to new security threats over time but also utilizes contextual side-chaining to link related security events, thereby providing a robust defense mechanism against potential threats. The affinity between VMs and physical machines is quantified using K Means clustering and fuzzy logic, which ensures optimal load balancing while accounting for the uncertainty inherent in the migration process. Furthermore, we employ bidirectional long short-term memory networks with recurrent graph neural network, for accurate workload prediction and informed migration decision making process. The selection of these techniques is grounded in their proven capability to analyze historical data and predict future trends with high accuracy levels. Our proposed model demonstrates marked improvements in several key performance metrics. We achieved a 4.5% reduction in makespan, a 4.9% increase in deadline hit ratio, and a 3.9% improvement in task diversity. Furthermore, computational complexity was reduced by 8.3%, VM migration efficiency improved by 2.5%, and the delay of computation was significantly reduced by 9.5%. Importantly, the integration of the Iterative-learning Contextual Side chaining Model significantly enhanced the security and quality of service (QoS) under attack scenarios, resulting in a 10.4% improvement in response speed, a 2.5% reduction in energy consumption during block mining, a 3.9% improvement in throughput, and an 8.5% reduction in storage costs. This load balancing and energy-efficient migration model represents a significant advancement in addressing the challenges of load balancing, energy efficiency, and security in VM migrations. Through the meticulous integration of bioinspired algorithms, advanced security measures, and machine learning techniques, our model provides a comprehensive and innovative solution that markedly improves system performance, reduces energy consumption, and fortifies security, thereby paving the way for a more efficient and secure cloud computing ecosystem.
Increasing crop productivity for food security is a challenging task without compromising the environmental integrity. In this scenario, seaweed based plant biostimulants are one of the potential ...sources for sustainably improving crop productivity and mitigating climate change. However, in order to quantitatively express the environmental benefits it becomes imperative to estimate the impacts resulting from their production. Thus the present study was undertaken to determine the various impacts across nineteen environmental categories that resulted from production of 1000 L of Gracilaria seaweed extract-a potent plant biostimulant by using life cycle assessment methodology. The environmental impacts were apportioned between seaweed extract and downstream product (agar) on the basis of price allocation. Among the three different steps involved in production of the extract, the processing module contributed to higher proportion of impacts across different evaluated environmental impact categories and it ranged from 65 to 99% of the total impacts. Electricity requirement, shed and blow-moulding sub-processess within the processing step contributed to bulk of the evaluated environmental impact categories. Plastics used in packaging of the extract as well as those used in cultivation module contributed to more than 50% of impacts across 8 out of the 19 evaluated environmental impact categories. Thus, in order to render the product even more sustainable we would recommend the use of biodegradable products for making the raft as well as for packaging. In addition, marketing of the extract as a concentrate would further lower the environmental burden associated with the transport and packaging, thus rendering the SWE even more sustainable.
•Carbon foot print for production of 1000 L of Gracilaria extract was 73.2 kg CO2 eq.•Price allocation was used for partitioning impacts between extract and agar.•Seaweed expulsion process accounted for higher proportion of impacts.•Plastics and their disposal were responsible for the bulk of the carbon footprint.•Disposal of plastics by land filling method increased marine and freshwater ecotoxicity.
Background
To document the role of sub-clinical infections in disc disorders and investigate the existence of microbiome in intervertebral discs (IVD).
Methods
Genomic DNA from 24 lumbar IVDs 8—MRI ...normal discs (ND) from brain dead yet alive organ donors, 8—disc herniation (DH), 8—disc degeneration (DD) was subjected to 16SrRNA sequencing for profiling the diversity of human disc microbiome in health and disease. The disc microbiome was further compared to established human gut and skin microbiomes.
Results
All healthy MRI normal discs from brain dead yet alive organ donors also had a rich bacterial presence. A total of 424 different species (355-ND, 346-DD, and 322-DH) were detected, with 42.75% OTUs being classified at kingdom level, 44% at the phylum level, 22.62% at genus level, and 5.5% at species level. Varying biodiversity and abundance between healthy and diseased discs were documented with protective bacteria being abundant in normal discs, and putative pathogens abundant in DD and DH.
Propionibacterium acnes
had a similar but lower abundance to other pathogens in all three groups ND (3.07%), DD (3.88%), DH (1.56%). Fifty-eight bacteria were common between gut and IVD microbiomes, 29 between skin and IVD microbiomes, and six common to gut/skin/IVD.
Conclusion
Our study challenges the hitherto concept of sterility in healthy IVD and documented a microbiome even in MRI normal healthy discs. The varying abundance of bacteria between ND, DD, and DH documents ‘dysbiosis’ as a possible etiology of DD. Many known pathogens were identified in greater abundance than
Propionibacterium acnes,
and there was evidence for the presence of the gut/skin/spine microbiome axis.
Kappaphycus alvarezii
seaweed extract (KSWE) is known to enhance crop productivity and impart stress tolerance. Close to one quarter of foliar spray applied to maize falls on the soil, either as ...drift or from leaf as drip. It was hypothesized that the drift spray would profoundly influence soil microbes under stress. An experiment was conducted with five treatments, with or without KSWE application at critical stages of maize grown under soil moisture stress and compared with an irrigated control. An Illumina platform was employed for the analysis of the V3–V4 region of 16S rRNA gene from the soil metagenome. A total of 345,552 operational taxonomic units were generated which were classified into 55 phyla, 152 classes, 240 orders, 305 families and 593 genera. Shannon’s index and Shannon’s equitability indicated increased soil bacterial diversity after multiple KSWE applications under conditions of abiotic duress. The abundance of the genera
Alicyclobacillus
,
Anaerolinea, Bacillus
,
Balneimonas
,
Nitrospira, Rubrobacter
and
Steroidobacter
decreased (49–79%) under drought imposed at the V5,10 and 15 stages of maize over the irrigated control, while it significantly improved when followed by KSWE application under drought.
Flavobacterium
,
Nitrosomonas
,
Nitrosovibrio
,
Rubrobacter
genera and several other bacterial taxa which are important for plant growth promotion and nutrient cycling were found to be enriched by KSWE application under drought conditions. Treatments having enriched microbial abundance due to KSWE application under stress recorded higher soil enzymatic activities and plant cob yield, suggesting the contribution of altered soil ecology mediated by KSWE as one of the reasons for improvement of yield.
Rotating Detonation Combustor (RDC) operation is investigated under different air and fuel flow rates, and varied geometries to reveal four fundamentally different instabilities. Select test points ...are chosen to study these instabilities using qualitative and quantitative tools. First, for RDC operation at lean limits, or with subsonic air injection, or with large fuel injection orifices, the detonation wave inside the combustor undergoes aperiodic chaotic propagation around the combustor annulus characterized by incoherent pressure-time traces. The high incoherence in recorded pressure, along with the considerable variation in subsequent pressure peaks suggests numerous failure and re-initiation of the detonation wave. Second, almost all operating points at the variety of conditions tested exhibit some degree of low frequency sinusoidal oscillations characterized by periodic waxing and waning of subsequent detonation peak pressures. It occurs between 200 Hz and 500 Hz for the operating maps studied. Third, the phenomenon of mode switching in the RDC is also defined as instability since the sudden change in the number of detonation waves existing in the combustor is temporally unpredictable, and often unpredictable for a given geometry. It is found that RDC operation is more stable when there are multiple detonation waves inside the chamber. With a back-pressurizing convergent nozzle, at certain operating points, the RDC exhibits axisymmetric pulsed operation like the Pulsed Detonation Combustor (PDC). There is significant evidence to suggest that these longitudinal pulsed detonations (LPD) are manifested due to shock-reflection from the RDC exit followed by a subsequent shock-initiation of the fresh reactants. The frequency of this instability is around 3.8 kHz for the test case investigated.
•Four fundamentally different instabilities in an RDC are qualitatively and quantitatively distinguished, for the first time.•Improper reactants mixing is found to be the cause behind chaotic, aperiodic detonation wave propagation instability.•Low frequency sinusoidal oscillation producing waxing and waning detonation pressures occurs for all operating regions.•Multiple detonation waves mode is found to be more stable than single wave operation.•Pulsed detonation instability identified by axisymmetric pulsation is found to occur only when the RDC is back-pressurized.
Objective To assess long-term efficacy of the gasket seal, a method for watertight closure of the cranial base using autologous fascia lata held in place by a rigid buttress, in a large case series. ...Methods A prospectively acquired database of all endonasal endoscopic surgeries performed over a 5-year period at Weill Cornell Medical College starting in September 2005 was reviewed. Results The gasket seal was used in 46 consecutive patients. Mean age was 53 years (range 7–83 years). All patients had extensive intracranial disease with a significant intraoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak. Pathology included craniopharyngioma (39.1%), meningioma (23.9%), and pituitary adenoma (17.4%). After a mean follow-up of 28 months (range 3–63 months), two (4.3%) patients had a postoperative CSF leak. Excluding the patients with adenomas, the CSF leak rate was 5.2% (2 of 38 patients). One leak was controlled with reoperation, and the other was stopped with a lumbar drain (LD). The significance of pathology, type of approach, exposure of the ventricular system, use of fat graft, use of nasoseptal (NS) flap, and use of lumbar drain (LD) was examined, and none of these were significant predictors of postoperative CSF leak. Conclusions Gasket seal closure is a reliable long-term effective method for achieving watertight closure of the cranial base. It can be used in association with an intracranial fat graft, NS flap, LD, and tissue sealants. In this series, none of these other factors were significant predictors of postoperative CSF leak.
Understanding the common topological characteristics of the human brain network across a population is central to understanding brain functions. The abstraction of human connectome as a graph has ...been pivotal in gaining insights on the topological properties of the brain network. The development of group-level statistical inference procedures in brain graphs while accounting for the heterogeneity and randomness still remains a difficult task. In this study, we develop a robust statistical framework based on persistent homology using the order statistics for analyzing brain networks. The use of order statistics greatly simplifies the computation of the persistent barcodes. We validate the proposed methods using comprehensive simulation studies and subsequently apply to the resting-state functional magnetic resonance images. We found a statistically significant topological difference between the male and female brain networks.
To study the clinical presentation and treatment outcomes of indocyanine green-enhanced transpupillary thermotherapy (ICG-TTT) for treatment-naïve juxtapapillary retinal capillary hemangioblastoma ...(JRCH).
A prospective interventional case series. The technique involved ICG dye infusion 45 seconds prior to application of TTT. The main study outcomes were local tumor control, resolution of subretinal fluid (SRF), and improvement in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA).
Eight eyes of seven patients (5 males and 2 females) were included. The mean age was 26 years (range: 5-56 years). Systemic evaluation revealed von-Hippel Lindau (VHL) disease in five patients. The most common location was the temporal aspect of the optic disc (5 eyes). The mean basal diameter was 2.9 mm (range: 1-8 mm), and tumor thickness was 1.4 mm (range: 1-4 mm). All eight eyes were treated with multiple sessions of ICG-TTT (mean: 3 sessions). Six eyes received adjuvant intravitreal injection of dexamethasone implant (4 eyes) and/or bevacizumab (4 eyes). Post treatment, six eyes (75%) had tumor regression with reduction of SRF. One eye had a partial response with persisting SRF, and one eye showed poor response to TTT for which external beam radiotherapy was performed. At the last follow-up (median: 11 months; range: 6-29 months), the BCVA remained stable in seven eyes and improved in one eye (hand motion to 20/40).
Multiple ICG-TTT sessions can be considered as an alternative treatment option for JRCH with effective local tumor control and SRF resolution.
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