Time location sampling

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of fever of unknown origin remains challenge for pediatricians. Lymphadenopathy is a separate entity that mainly originates from infection or malignancy. METHODS: 168 patients with FUO accompanied by lymphadenectasis were reviewed. 33 lymph node tissue samples were examined by mNGS. Differences in clinical characteristics were compared among different disease groups. The value of mNGS in diagnosing and improving the clinical situation was assessed...

BACKGROUND: During a quit attempt, cues from a smoker's environment are a major cause of brief smoking lapses, which increase the risk of relapse. Quit Sense is a theory-guided Just-In-Time Adaptive Intervention smartphone app, providing smokers with the means to learn about their environmental smoking cues and provides 'in the moment' support to help them manage these during a quit attempt. OBJECTIVE: To undertake a feasibility randomised controlled trial to estimate key parameters to inform a definitive randomised controlled trial of Quit Sense...

Liquid biopsy is a noninvasive diagnostic technique used for monitoring cancer utilizing specific genetic biomarkers present in bodily fluids, such as blood, saliva, or urine. These analyses employ multiple biomolecular sources including circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), circulating tumor cells (CTCs), and exosomes (that contain DNA fragments) to detect genetic biomarkers that can predict, disclose, and/or monitor cancers. Levels of these biomarkers can inform on the presence of cancer, its genetic characteristics, and its potential treatment response and also provide predictive genetic predisposition information for specific cancers including oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC)...

Malignancies of the parotid gland are relatively uncommon and in most cases are primary neoplasms; intraparotid metastases are rare. Oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (O- and OP-SCC) can potentially metastasize to the parotid gland or intraparotid lymph nodes. Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) serves as the initial diagnostic approach for this purpose. HPV status in FNAC specimens is relevant and can guide the diagnostic workup, indicating a potential oropharyngeal origin of the primary tumor...

In tunnel boring projects, wear and tear in the tooling system can have significant consequences, such as decreased boring efficiency, heightened maintenance costs, and potential safety hazards. In this paper, a fault diagnosis method for TBM tooling systems based on SAV-SVDD failure location (SSFL) is proposed. The aim of this method is to detect faults caused by disk cutter wear during the boring process, which diminishes the boring efficiency and is challenging to detect during construction. This paper uses SolidWorks to create a complete three-dimensional model of the TBM hydraulic thrust system and tool system...

The objective of content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is to locate samples from a database that are akin to a query, relying on the content embedded within the images. A contemporary strategy involves calculating the similarity between compact vectors by encoding both the query and the database images as global descriptors. In this work, we propose an image retrieval method by using hierarchical K-means clustering to efficiently organize the image descriptors within the database, which aims to optimize the subsequent retrieval process...

The vegetation of the Canary Islands is characterized by a large number of endemic species confined to different altitudinal levels. It can be assumed that these circumstances determine the characteristic features of the chemical composition of local beekeeping products, including propolis. We report, for the first time, the chemical composition of propolis from Tenerife (Canary Islands). The volatile emissions of three propolis samples collected from different apiaries are represented by 162 C1 -C20 compounds, of which 144 were identified using the HS-SPME/GC-MS technique...

Blastocystis sp. is the most common single-celled eukaryote colonizing the human gastrointestinal tract worldwide. Because of the proven zoonotic potential of this protozoan, sustained research is therefore focused on identifying various reservoirs of transmission to humans, and in particular animal sources. Numerous groups of animals are considered to be such reservoirs due to their handling or consumption. However, some of them, including mollusks, remain underexplored. Therefore, a molecular epidemiological survey conducted in wild mussels was carried out in Northern France (Hauts-de-France region) to evaluate the frequency and subtypes (STs) distribution of Blastocystis sp...

The high content of bioactive compounds in Aronia melanocarpa fruit offers health benefits. In this study, the anti-atherosclerotic effect of Aronia extracts was assessed. The impact on the level of adhesion molecules and the inflammatory response of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was shown in relation to the chemical composition and the stage of ripening of the fruits. Samples were collected between May (green, unripe) and October (red, overripe) on two farms in Poland, which differed in climate...

We present double-perovskite molybdate with the formula of Ba2 MgMoO6 doped with Sm3+ ions as a potential red phosphor to improve the color characteristics of white-light-emitting dioded (wLEDs). The new orange-red phosphor was synthesized using the co-precipitation (CP) method, and then its structural and spectroscopic properties were determined. Red emission at 642.6 nm dominates, which results from the electric dipole (ED) transition of the 4 G5/2 → 6 H9/2 type, and the materials are characterized by short luminescence decay times...

Herein, we present the results of an experimental study on the mechanical properties of Fe-C alloys with different carbon contents (0.2, 0.45, and 0.8%) in a wide range of deformation rates (10-3 -103 s-1 ) and abrasive wear resistance, which underwent combined laser thermal (laser surface hardening-LSH) and laser shock wave (Laser Shock Peening-LSP) processing. The combined treatment modes included a different sequence of exposure to laser thermal and laser-induced shock pulses on the material. The amplitude and duration of laser-induced shock waves were measured using a laser Michelson interferometer...

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: The management of patients with narrow-mandibular ridges who seek prosthetic rehabilitation is challenging. PURPOSE: The purpose of this one-year preliminary clinical study was to compare the effects of laser biostimulation and a placebo on peri-implant tissues for a 2-implant-retained mandibular polyetheretherketone (PEEK) overdenture on expanded narrow mandibular ridges. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eighteen completely edentulous participants were enrolled for mandibular ridge splitting in the canine regions, followed by expansion, the placement of implants, and the application of a bone graft...

PURPOSE: To evaluate the histopathologic changes and potential correlations of tissue radiation absorbed dose (TAD) after 90 Y transarterial radioembolization (TARE) for colorectal liver metastases (CLM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective pilot study assessed 12 patients with 13 (CLM) through PET/CT--guided biopsies before, immediately (T0) and 3 weeks (T3) after TARE. Subsequent sampling from the same location was enabled by fiducial placement. Biopsy samples were evaluated with hematoxylin-eosin (H&E), TUNEL, Ki67, OxPhos, caspase-3 (CC3), and pH2AX antibodies...

Occupational protection could be improved in interventional radiology. The monthly personal dosimetry cannot alert on some occupational doses with anomalous values for certain procedures. Active electronic personal dosimeters linked wireless to a dose management system (DMS), allow for the measurement of occupational doses per procedure, integrating this information with patient dose indicators and with technical and geometrical conditions of the procedures. We analysed around 3100 occupational dose values for individual procedures collected during the last two years, in an interventional radiology laboratory of a University Hospital and two groups, with patient doses higher than 100 Gy...

BACKGROUND: In the last 2 decades, new technologies have emerged in health care. The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated the adoption of technology by both health care professionals and patients. These technologies create remote care practices that bring several benefits to the health care system: easier access to care, improved communication with physicians, and greater continuity of care. However, disparities in the acceptance and use of telehealth tools still exist among patients...

To study the spatiotemporal variability of particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and assess their carcinogenic potential in six contrasting urban environments in Greece, a total of 305 filter samples were collected and analyzed. Sampling sites included a variety of urban background, traffic (Athens, Ioannina and Heraklion), rural (Xanthi) and near-port locations (Piraeus and Volos). When considering the sum of 16 U.S. EPA priority PAHs, as well as that of the six EU-proposed members, average concentrations observed across locations during summer varied moderately (0...

To date, there have been no DNA-based metabarcoding studies into airborne fungi in tropical Sub-Saharan Africa. In this initial study, 10 air samples were collected onto Vaseline-coated acrylic rods mounted on drones flown at heights of 15-50 meters above ground for 10-15 min at three sites in Ghana. Purified DNA was extracted from air samples, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region was amplified using fungal-specific primers, and MinION third-generation amplicon sequencing was undertaken with downstream bioinformatics analyses utilizing GAIA cloud-based software (at genus taxonomic level)...

At least one in three women experience intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime. The most commonly sustained IPV-related brain injuries include strangulation-related alterations in consciousness (S-AICs) and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Moreover, survivors of IPV-related S-AICs and/or TBIs often demonstrate psychological distress such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. However, the co-occurrence of S-AICs and TBIs, and whether such TBIs may be moderate to severe, has not been systematically examined, and most data have been collected from women in North America...

INTRODUCTION: Cognitive ability is one of the most important enablers for successful aging. At the same time, cognitive decline is a well-documented phenomenon accompanying the aging process. Nevertheless, it is acknowledged that aging can also be related to positive processes that allow one to compensate for the decline. These processes include the compensatory brain activity of older adults primarily investigated using fMRI and PET. To strengthen the cognitive interpretation of compensatory brain activity in older adults, we searched for its indicators in brain activity measured by EEG...

Recent fresh produce outbreaks potentially associated with bioaerosol contamination from animal operations in adjacent land highlighted the need for further study to better understand the associated risk. The purpose of this research was to evaluate three sampling methods for quantifying target bacterial bioaerosols from animal operations. A dairy cattle and poultry farm located in Georgia, U.S. were visited six times each. Air was collected for 10 min using: 2-stage Andersen impactor with and without mineral oil overlay and impingement samplers...