A document by Amin Zeraatkar . Click on the document to view its contents.

There has been a pressing necessity to tax Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSB) taxation in Indonesia. Despite the rising prevalence of obesity and diabetes, past attempts at introducing SSB excise taxes have been repeatedly rejected or delayed. Reflecting on other similar policies in other countries, this commentary highlights the potential of SSB taxation as a public health intervention to curb consumption and mitigate associated health risks. It examines historical legislative efforts, current challenges, and the pivotal role of political commitment in overcoming industry lobbying. The commentary outlines strategic steps for advancing SSB taxation policy, including policy design, stakeholder engagement, and robust enforcement mechanisms. Emphasis is placed on evidence-based policymaking, cross-sector collaboration, and the allocation of excise revenue towards public health initiatives. The article concludes with a call for decisive action to address Indonesia’s burgeoning public health crisis through effective SSB taxation implementation.

This study validated an UPLC-MS/MS analysis method to simultaneously detect twelve cannabinoids. The concentration-response relationship for all analyzed cannabinoids was linear with R 2 values > 0.99 using the developed method, the relative standard deviations of recovery for the three levels of spiked samples are between 66.1%~104.1%. The method was used to analyze 43 industrial hemp flower and leaf samples, with the data being statistically analyzed. The analysis results showed that the cannabinoids content varied significantly among different varieties and different pretreatment methods, sample heating treatment led to the decarboxylation of acidic cannabinoids and the mutual conversion of cannabinoids. Based on the statistical analysis of the cannabinoids, hemp from different regions and different varieties were well distinguished by the PLS-DA model, with the main contributing substances being Cannabidiol, Δ 9-tetrahydrocannabinol, and Δ 8-tetrahydrocannabinol.

In the global monitoring of smart cities, the demands of global object detection systems based on cloud and fog computing in intelligent systems can be satisfied by photographs with globally recognized properties. Nevertheless, conventional techniques are constrained by the imaging depth of field and can produce artifacts or indistinct borders, which can be disastrous for accurately detecting the object. In light of this, this paper proposes an artificial intelligence-based gradient learning network that gathers and enhances domain information at different sizes in order to produce globally focused fusion results. Gradient features, which provide a lot of boundary information, can eliminate the problem of border artifacts and blur in multi-focus fusion. The multiple-receptive module (MRM) facilitates effective information sharing and enables the capture of object properties at different scales. In addition, with the assistance of the global enhancement module (GEM), the network can effectively combine the scale features and gradient data from various receptive fields and reinforce the features to provide precise decision maps. Numerous experiments have demonstrated that our approach outperforms the seven most sophisticated algorithms currently in use.

Purpose：The primary objective of this study was to comprehensively evaluate and compare the therapeutic efficacy of trastuzumab in combination with capecitabine plus cisplatin versus capecitabine plus cisplatin in the management of patients diagnosed with advanced human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive gastric cancer. Aiming to facilitate clinical decision-making and ultimately improving treatment outcomes for this specific patient population. Methods：A comprehensive computerized search was conducted across multiple databases, including Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, CNKI, CBM, VIP, and Wanfang to identify domestic and foreign clinical randomized controlled trials (RCTs), investigating the efficacy of trastuzumab in combination with capecitabine plus cisplatin for the treatment of patients with advanced HER2-positive gastric cancer. The search encompassed articles published from the inception of the databases until July 1, 2022. Results：This meta-analysis comprised 12 studies involving a total of 1199 patients diagnosed with advanced HER2-positive gastric cancer. The results revealed that the experimental group exhibited significantly higher rates of total effectiveness and control compared to the control group. Moreover, the experimental group showed a significant increase in median survival time compared to the control group. Additionally, the experimental group exhibited a significantly higher quality of life score and demonstrated improved prognosis in terms of carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) levels, with a lower recurrence rate. The experimental group showed a decrease in the stage of gastric cancer based on carbohydrate antigen 72-4 (CA72-4) levels and (CEA) levels compared to the control group.. Furthermore, the experimental group exhibited a notable enhancement in the therapeutic efficacy of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and a superior prognosis compared to the control group. Conclusion：Trastuzumab in combination with capecitabine plus cisplatin can be a preferred first-line treatment option for advanced HER2-positive gastric cancer, accompanying by a promising therapeutic efficacy.

The integration of precise landing capabilities into UAVs is crucial for enabling autonomous operations, particularly in challenging environments such as the offshore scenarios. This work proposes a heterogeneous perception system that incorporates a multimodal fiducial marker, designed to improve the accuracy and robustness of autonomous landing of UAVs in both daytime and nighttime operations. This work presents ViTAL-TAPE, a visual transformer-based model, that enhance the detection reliability of the landing target and overcomes the changes in the illumination conditions and viewpoint positions, where traditional methods fail. VITAL-TAPE is an end-to-end model that combines multimodal perceptual information, including photometric and radiometric data, to detect landing targets defined by a fiducial marker with 6 degrees-of-freedom. Extensive experiments have proved the ability of VITAL-TAPE to detect fiducial markers with an error of 0.01 m. Moreover, experiments using the RAVEN UAV, designed to endure the challenging weather conditions of offshore scenarios, demonstrated that the autonomous landing technology proposed in this work achieved an accuracy up to 0.1 m. This research also presents the first successful autonomous operation of a UAV in a commercial offshore wind farm with floating foundations installed in the Atlantic Ocean. These experiments showcased the system's accuracy, resilience and robustness, resulting in a precise landing technology that extends mission capabilities of UAVs, enabling autonomous and Beyond Visual Line of Sight offshore operations.

In order to address the challenges of complex process and low precision in traditional device modeling, based on the double hidden layer conjugate gradient back propagation neural network (CG-BPNN) and the double hidden layer Levenberg-Marquardt back propagation neural network (LM-BPNN), two small signal models are proposed and analyzed for the gallium arsenide (GaAs) pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) here. At first, the scattering parameters (S-parameters) of GaAs pHEMT are divided into training set and test set randomly. Experimental results show that the CG-BPNN is better than another S-parameters when predicting ImS12 with mean square error (MSE) of 1.0449e-05, while LM-BPNN predicts ImS12 with MSE of 3.0954e-06. Meanwhile, the MSE of CG-BPNN is higher than LM-BPNN when predicting all the S-parameters. In addition, it shows a smaller fluctuation range for the error curve of LM-BPNN, which is more stable than the CG-BPNN. Therefore, the double hidden layer LM-BPNN is the better choice to model the small signal of GaAs pHEMT.

Case Report

A document by Abdus Ansari. Click on the document to view its contents.

A document by Syed Haider . Click on the document to view its contents.

This paper mainly solves the problem of synchronous control of the master-slave manipulator in an underwater teleoperation system with hardware performance limitations, model uncertainties, and unknown external disturbances. Firstly, in order to meet the limitations of hardware conditions such as the motor speed in the hardware platform, and a prescribed performance function(PPF) is proposed to constrain the speed error, effectively improving the transient performance of the system. Secondly, a prescribed-performance-based adaptive nonsingular integral sliding mode controller(ANISMC) is proposed. Compared with the existing integral sliding mode controllers, the controller in this paper has a faster convergence speed. Then, the Lyapunov method is used to prove that the transformation error and the sliding surface can converge to zero within a fixed time, solving the problem that the integral sign is difficult to cancel when the integral sliding mode controller is used to prove fixed-time stability with the Lyapunov method, and there is no need to know the upper limit of uncertainties and disturbances in advance. Finally, the simulation comparison experiment shows the superiority of the proposed PPF-based ANISMC

：To achieve a stable addition of foaming agent under high flow rates, an independently designed Venturi structure with self-suction of liquid and foaming agent was numerically simulated. We simulated the effects of different suction structure diameters, contraction angles, throat length and position on the suction ratio, compared and analyzed the data, and determined the optimal suction structure parameters. The suction ratio stabilizes and then decreases as the outlet pressure increases. At an outlet pressure of 0.48 MPa, the suction ratio remains stable at 1.14%. However, as the outlet pressure increases, the ability of the Venturi structure to add foaming agent to the self-suction liquid decreases under high flow rates, causing the suction ratio to rapidly decrease to a minimum value of 0.55 MPa. The suction ratio shows a tendency to first stabilize and then decrease as the outlet pressure increases. When the outlet pressure reaches 0.48 MPa, the suction ratio can remain stable at 1.14%; as the outlet pressure increases, the addition ability of the Venturi structure with foaming agent added to the self-suction liquid under high flow rate decreases, and the suction ratio rapidly decreases to a minimum value of 0.55 MPa. We have conducted a detailed analysis of the process and flow field of liquid suction. As the pressure ratio increases, the high-speed area of the throat gradually shrinks, and the flow field in the diffusion section fluctuates. When the outlet pressure is 0.6 MPa and the velocity field shifts towards the upper part of the diffusion section, the cavitation area will gradually disappear and lose its liquid suction ability.

One of the types of external human parasites is a follicular scab called Demodex. Demodicosis is a skin disease in human and canine. Demodex mites feed on the epithelial cells of the hair follicle or sebaceous gland which found on and around the face. The host body immune system is responsible for controlling the population of parasites and Disruption of the cutaneous barrier causes stimulation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) Consequently, Demodex chitin detect by keratinocyte TLRs. According to the results, association between Demodicosis and the HLA gene showed that individuals with the gene HLACW2 are five times more likely to develop Demodicosis than others because Nk2 and T1 cells of the adaptive immune response are reduced. In human Demodicosis, factors such as carbohydrate-like Tn antigen (expressed by Demodex) and secretion of pro-inflammatory mediators may play a role in the innate immune response. Additionally, the expression level of TLR2 was increased and TLR4, TLR6 expression was decreased. Flow cytometry analysis of blood samples collected from individuals with human Demodicosis and healthy individuals showed that in the patient group, there were more T9 and T reg cells in the blood samples and in skin homing T cell populations compared to the control group. Studies of canine Demodicosis have reported that lymphocyte populations are composed mostly of CD3+ and CD8+ T cells. The importance of the humoral immune response during primary Demodicosis has not yet been determined because no significant differences in circulatory immune were seen. It seems that the host immune system appears to recognize and tolerate the presence of these mites, although the physiological role of human Demodex mites in healthy skin remains unclear, especially the way in which they escape the innate immune system is very important.

This study aims to investigate the low cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior and fatigue life prediction method of an advanced solid solution strengthened nickel-based superalloy at various temperatures and stress concentrations. Cylindrical specimens as well as plates with three types of holes (including straight holes and inclined holes with different orientations) were designed and machined for fatigue tests. The test results revealed fatigue life decreases with the temperature increasing. Meanwhile, the fatigue lives of the plate specimens have decreased differently and are strongly dependent on the geometry and orientation of the holes. The key damage parameter related to the fatigue life was found on the strain gradient path. A criterion based on strain gradient is defined as the boundary of the damage process zone. The results show that the prediction was in good agreement with the experimental data, for the majority of the data is within a scatter band of ±2.

Organ transplant recipients are at increased risk of contracting severe Covid due to their chronic immunosuppression, having both a significant increase in morbidity and mortality. Attempts to mitigate the contraction of COVID-19, the expeditious role out of the vaccines was first offered to those in this vulnerable subclass. Quickly established was the need for further booster doses to promote the immunological response in the immunosuppressed. This paper is a uni-centred study, exploring the anti-receptor binding domain (RBD) and anti-Spike immunoglobulin levels in a small subset of liver transplant recipients in Adelaide, South Australia, pre- and post 3rd administration of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Peripheral bloods samples taken were compared to a group of health controls. The data showed that a minimum of three doses of the vaccine were required in the liver transplant patients, in order to express both anti-RBD and anti-Spike IgG to levels that were statistically comparable to that of healthy individuals.

Understanding the intricate dynamics of biodiversity within and across riverine ecosystems, influenced by geological history and environmental factors, is crucial for effective conservation and management strategies. Italy, particularly the Ligurian region, harbors diverse freshwater fish communities and populations shaped by unique geological and hydrological conditions. Here, we investigated the suitability of eDNA-metabarcoding to identify inter- and intraspecific diversity patterns of riverine fish populations along the main drainage divide (MDD) between the Adriatic and Ligurian basins in Northern Italy. We collected 96 aquatic eDNA samples across 48 riverine sites, amplified them using a cytb primer pair and denoised the sequences to retrieve amplicon sequence variants (ASV). We calculated communities’ phylogenetic distance with betaMPD based on genetic distances derived from the ASVs, combined them with conductance-based landscape metrics and applied generalized dissimilarity models (GDM) to assess spatial genetic structure. Our results reveal genetic differentiation among populations of several fish species, with some displaying clustering patterns across the drainage divide and isolation by distance patterns. Overall, taxon richness was significantly higher in the Ligurian sites (25) than in the Adriatic side of the MDD (22), as was ASV richness (205 vs. 196). Our findings highlight the effectiveness of eDNA-metabarcoding in uncovering various facets of diversity, shedding light on hidden genetic diversity within ASVs, and revealing significant spatial genetic structuring in freshwater fish populations across multiple species.

In recent years, the number of patients with implanted leadless pacemaker has increased significantly. Due to the small size of the device, low risk of infection, indications for removal are rare. The dwell time is correlated with extraction difficulty. Although the MICRA TPS contains retrieval feature at the proximal part of the device, the manufacturer (Medtronic) does not offer tools dedicated to this procedure. Complete encapsulation of the device may also make removal difficult or even impossible. We present the case of a patient in whom MICRA TPS was successfully removed 70 months after implantation with non-dedicated commercially available tools.

Achalasia Cardia: A Case Report in Young Female