Explore the vast range of titles available.

Among 45 CpcPH/heart failure with preserved ejection fraction participants, 11 with normal left atrium (compared to 34 with abnormal left atrium, p  < 0.05 for all) had low left ventricle (LV) transmural pressure (2.9 ± 2.4 vs. 6.2 ± 2.9 mmHg), and increased right ventricle (RV):LV ratio (2.41 ± 1.09 vs. 1.46 ± 0.66) and interventricular septal angle (149 ± 8 vs. 136 ± 10), indicating exaggerated ventricular interdependence from a dilated RV.

Critical assessments of systemic reviews and meta-analyses have found them to often be redundant, lacking in novel perspectives, of poor methodological quality, and written by authors with potential conflicts of interest. We sought to investigate these issues as they relate to systemic reviews and meta-analyses of percutaneous patent foramen ovale closure for the prevention of recurrent cryptogenic stroke.

This research has concentrated on the project portfolio selection (PPS) in the petroleum industry. In this study, the PPS has been treated as a multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) problem; therefore, a hybrid framework comprising five MADM techniques has been proposed to tackle this problem. Several MADM techniques have been integrated to acquire more reliable decisions and consequently to decrease the risk of failure in the decision-making process. Since the proposed methodology is an MADM-based framework, there was a need to discover the influential attributes on selection of petroleum projects. In this respect, the literature of the PPS has been comprehensively reviewed and the most influential attributes have been detected. Sustainable development has been a concern for the researchers; hence, the sustainability-related attributes have been embraced in the decision-making process as well. To strengthen the practicality of the developed framework, the Delphi method has been employed to gather and converge the viewpoints of experts on the identified attributes. The Kruskal–Wallis statistical test has been implemented to compute the weights of the attributes. Having determined the influential attributes and their weights, the embedded MADM techniques in the proposed framework have been implemented to prioritize the potential petroleum projects of a real case study. To obtain the ultimate ranking of alternatives, the proposed framework consolidates the outputs of the aforementioned techniques through using the Copeland method. This paper has also proposed a mixed-integer mathematical formulation for the PPS problem to assess the precision and validity of the results delivered by the decision-making framework. Comparing the outputs of the proposed framework and the model revealed that the developed framework is capable of providing credible outcomes. Furthermore, several sensitivity analyses have been performed to demonstrate the robustness of the framework.

Anatomy is a requirement for medical education, which is necessary for the healthcare system to train professionals, improve their abilities, competencies, and practical experience, and fulfill society. The aim of this study is to provide a practical framework for developing virtual reality-based (VR) anatomy education applications by ascertain the technological and content specifications. This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2023–2024 and consisted of three steps. In the first step, related studies were reviewed to extract technical requirements, including software features and facilities. In the second step, VR software stores, such as Steam, Meta, and SideQuest were also examined to consider the most complete technical facilities, and similar software was considered. To this end, information related to the software, including the name of the software, headset and equipment, number of users (single user/multiple users), development tools, 3D material, anatomical position, and the key features are collected in Excel (version 2019). In the third step, seven curriculums of the anatomy course of the undergraduate degree in paramedical fields (including medical laboratory sciences, surgical technology, radiation therapy, radiology, health information technology, emergency care, and anesthesiology) were collected to identify the content requirements. Finally, a list of content and technical features was compiled. By examining software and literature, the research team for this study was able to determine the technological and content requirements. Following the elimination of duplicates, we were left with 80 technical and content requirements, divided into eight and two axes, respectively. The survey was distributed to 124 experts to assess technical and content requirements, and responses were received from a select group of participants, 35 experts. Consequently, we were able to identify 23 content needs that were divided into two axes and 57 technological requirements that were divided into eight categories. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS (version 27). Developers may create educational anatomy software based on VR that not only engages learners but also significantly enhances their grasp of complex anatomical structures by carefully identifying and resolving technical and content needs.

This paper addresses the design of an observer-based controller and synthesis issue for wireless networked control systems (WNCSs), considering DOS attacks and time delays for two observer positions: observer at the system side and observer at the controller side. The open nature of the communication network renders WNCSs more vulnerable to denial of service jamming (DoSJ) attacks than their wired counterparts. These attacks can lead to performance degradation and instability of the system. Additionally, packet losses resulting from attacks are assumed to introduce time delays. To mitigate the threat of attacks and reduce their impact on the desired system performance, as well as considering other uncertainties such as environmental noise, sufficient conditions in terms of linear matrix inequalities are derived for the existence of an observer-based controller for both observer positions. These conditions ensure that the closed-loop system of the stochastic nonlinear WNCS is exponential mean- square stable with the Lyapunov stability method. Finally, two practical examples based on an Internet-based test rig and a Chuafs oscillator circuit system represented to evaluate the effectiveness of designed techniques and compare performance for both observer position scenarios.

The evidence considering the potential protective impact of statins on the mortality rate caused by colorectal cancer (CRC) is controversial. This study aimed to systematically assess the effect of statins on the survival rate of CRC patients. A comprehensive search was conducted in Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science to assess the relationship between statin consumption and cancer-specific mortality (CSM), all-cause mortality (ACM), disease-free survival (DFS), and recurrence-free survival (RFS). Subgroup analyses were performed to assess data stratified by country, study design, disease stage, time to use, CRC, and treatment type due to high heterogeneity. Thirty-two studies were included; the data of 24 articles composed the meta-analysis. Statins improved prognosis of CRC, particularly in lower ACM (HR: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.74-0.87) with I²=90%, P-value < 0.01, and lower CSM (HR: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.67-0.82) with I²=88%, P-value < 0.01 when compared to non-users. Both pre- and post-diagnostic statin use were linked to lower ACM and CSM, though high heterogeneity was observed across studies. However, the results for statin use on RFS indicated an HR of 1.01 with 95% CI of 0.94 to 1.09 (I² = 0% and P-value = 0.93). Additionally, for DFS, the HR was 0.93 (95% CI: 0.85-1.01) with I² = 47%, suggesting no meaningful effect of statin use on DFS. No significant publication bias was found. Statin use was associated with a reduction in ACM and CSM in CRC patients. However, the variances in RFS and DFS were not statistically significant. However, these findings should be interpreted cautiously due to substantial heterogeneity among some included studies.

It has been suggested that antioxidized low-density lipoprotein (anti-oxLDL) antibodies play a role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to measure serum ox-LDL IgG levels in 31 patients with angiographically defined coronary artery disease (CAD) (≥50% stenosis in at least one major coronary artery; CAD+ group) and compare these levels with those of 32 subjects with <50% coronary stenosis (CAD− group) and 24 healthy age- and sex-matched controls using ELISA. We did not find any significant difference between CAD+, CAD−, and control groups in regard to oxLDL IgG levels (P=0.83). Serum oxLDL IgG levels did not differ between 1VD (one vessel disease), 2VD (2 vessels disease), and 3VD (3 vessels disease) subgroups of CAD+ patients (P=0.20). Serum anti-oxLDL titers were only significantly correlated with LDL-C in the CAD+ group (P<0.05) and waist and hip circumference (P<0.05 and P<0.01, resp.) in the CAD− group. In stepwise regression analysis, none of the conventional cardiovascular risk factors was associated with serum ox-LDL IgG levels. The present results suggest that serum levels of ox-LDL IgG are neither associated with the presence and severity of CAD nor with the conventional cardiovascular risk factors.

Throughout the world, many migrant and mobile populations are at elevated risk for HIV. Iran has a large immigrant population from neighboring Afghanistan; however, few data exist on the prevalence of HIV in this community. In 2008, we conducted a study to assess the presence of HIV infection among 477 immigrants in a town to the northeast of Tehran using a rapid test in the field. HIV prevalence was 0.2% (95% CI 0.005-1.2) with one person HIV-positive. We recommend periodic HIV sero-surveillance with detailed behavioral measures for this population in the future.

\"nThroughout the world, many migrant and mobile populations are at elevated risk for HIV. Iran has a large immigrant population from neighboring Afghanistan; however, few data exist on the prevalence of HIV in this community. In 2008, we conducted a study to assess the presence of HIV infection among 477 immigrants in a town to the northeast of Tehran using a rapid test in the field. HIV prevalence was 0.2% (95% CI 0.005-1.2) with one person HIV-positive. We recommend periodic HIV sero-surveillance with detailed behavioral measures for this population in the future.