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The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of telemedicine has grown exponentially over the past decade, along with the adoption of AI-based telemedicine to support public health systems. Although AI-based telemedicine can open up novel opportunities for the delivery of clinical health and care and become a strong aid to public health systems worldwide, it also comes with ethical risks that should be detected, prevented, or mitigated for the responsible use of AI-based telemedicine in and for public health. However, despite the current proliferation of AI ethics frameworks, thus far, none have been developed for the design of AI-based telemedicine, especially for the adoption of AI-based telemedicine in and for public health. We aimed to fill this gap by mapping the most relevant AI ethics principles for AI-based telemedicine for public health and by showing the need to revise them via major ethical themes emerging from bioethics, medical ethics, and public health ethics toward the definition of a unified set of 6 AI ethics principles for the implementation of AI-based telemedicine. (Am J Public Health. 2023;113(5):577–584. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2023.307225 )

The predicted 2–4°C increment in temperature by the end of the 21st Century poses a threat to rice production. The impact of high temperatures at night is more devastating than day-time or mean daily temperatures. Booting and flowering are the stages most sensitive to high temperature, which may sometimes lead to complete sterility. Humidity also plays a vital role in increasing the spikelet sterility at increased temperature. Significant variation exists among rice germplasms in response to temperature stress. Flowering at cooler times of day, more pollen viability, larger anthers, longer basal dehiscence and presence of long basal pores are some of the phenotypic markers for high-temperature tolerance. Protection of structural proteins, enzymes and membranes and expression of heat shock proteins (HSPs) are some of the biochemical processes that can impart thermo-tolerance. All these traits should be actively exploited in future breeding programmes for developing heat-resistant cultivars. Replacement of heat-sensitive cultivars with heat-tolerant ones, adjustment of sowing time, choice of varieties with a growth duration allowing avoidance of peak stress periods, and exogenous application of plant hormones are some of the adaptive measures that will help in the mitigation of forecast yield reduction due to global warming.

Introduction: Paddy farming is one of the main occupations in Kashmir valley. The workers associated with paddy are exposed to variety of irritants such as manures, fertilizers, and pesticides, besides getting exposed to intense sunlight for long hours due to the nature of their work. All these factors can potentially either trigger skin diseases or can worsen them. Aim: The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence and pattern of various skin disorders among paddy field workers in Kashmir valley. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study in which 600 workers engaged in paddy farming in different areas of Kashmir valley were screened. The diagnosis was made on clinical grounds and wherever deemed necessary, relevant investigations were carried out to establish the nature of the disease. Results: A total of 600 workers were evaluated for the presence of skin disorders. Two hundred thirty workers (38.3%) were found to have skin lesions, while the rest, i.e. 370 (61.7%) were free from any skin problem. Out of the total skin lesions, infectious ones were seen in 40.4%, while non-infectious accounted for 59.6% cases. The main non-infectious disorders included melasma, followed by hand and foot eczemas, hyperkeratosis of palms and soles and callosities/cuts, while among the infectious group the major chunk was formed by bacterial infections followed by fungal, viral, and parasitic. Pitted keratolysis and intertrigo were the most common bacterial and fungal infections respectively. Conclusion: A large number of skin diseases were seen in paddy field workers, with some diseases showing an occupational nature.

Purpose Gamma Knife Radiosurgery(GKRS) is an established modality for treatment of non-functioning pituitary adenomas(NFPA). The objective of the study was to assess long-term hormonal and imaging outcomes after adjunctive GKRS in patients with NFPA. Methods A retrospective review of records of 109 patients with NFPA, from 1996 to 2020, who received adjunctive GKRS, was performed. Patients who had received GKRS as the primary modality of treatment for NFPA were not included. Results Sixty-three (57.8%) patients were available for follow up at our institute. The median follow-up period was 47 months (range, 6–260). At a median time of 38 months (range, 8–97), 25 (39.7%) patients developed ≥ 1 new pituitary hormone deficiency. Median time to cortisol deficiency was 38 months (range, 8–55), thyroid hormone deficiency was 45.5 months (range, 12–97) and gonadotropin deficiency was 45 months (range, 21–75). The actuarial risk of developing a new pituitary hormone deficit at 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 years was 2.5%, 11%, 26.3%, 28% and 29.7%, respectively. Adenoma size decreased in 36 (57.1%) patients, remained unchanged in 19 (30.2%) patients, and increased in 8 (12.7%) patients. Overall tumor control rate was 87.3%. Endocrinopathy-Free Survival was 47.1%, and tumor Progression-Free Survival was 93.3%, at 5 years. Five (4.6%) patients required additional treatment after GKRS. One (1.6%) patient each had worsening of headache, optic atrophy and cerebellar infarct after GKRS therapy. Conclusion GKRS offers a safe adjunctive treatment modality, with satisfactory long-term preservation of hormone functions and a high rate of tumor control, in patients with NFPA.

Background Central elastic artery stiffness can increase vascular resistance and induce hypertrophic remodeling of cerebral arterioles and, in turn, may increase the risk of cerebral hypoperfusion. In this study, we examined whether central artery stiffness was directly associated with cerebral perfusion. Methods Thirty-five adults (15 men and 20 women; 49 ± 7 years) were studied. Central artery stiffness was determined by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV). Regional cerebral perfusion in deep subcortical white and gray matter was measured using arterial spin labeling (ASL). Results Participants were divided into two groups created by a median split of pooled subjects (median cfPWV = 1,090 cm/s). The group with high cfPWV showed significantly lower cerebral perfusion in frontal (29.9 ± 3.6 vs. 50.7 ± 3.7 ml/100 g/min, P = 0.001) and parietal (33.4 ± 6.0 vs. 57.5 ± 5.7 ml/100 g/min, P < 0.01) white matter and hippocampus (44.4 ± 4.4 vs. 60.1 ± 6.1 ml/100 g/min, P = 0.04) than the low cfPWV group. Simple correlation analysis revealed that cfPWV is significantly associated with cerebral perfusion in frontal (r = −0.64, P < 0.001) and parietal (r = −0.36, P = 0.03) white matter. Multiple linear regression analysis further indicated that 11% of the variability in frontal white matter perfusion (ΔR 2 = 0.11, P = 0.03) is explained by cfPWV (β = −0.54, P = 0.03), independent of age, sex, race, heart rate, blood pressure, and cardiovascular medication. Conclusions Central elastic artery stiffness is inversely and significantly associated with cerebral perfusion in deep subcortical frontal white matter, independent of potential confounding factors. American Journal of Hypertension advance online publication 9 June 2011; doi:10.1038/ajh.2011.101

In this paper, we suggest and analyze a new family of two-step predictor corrector type iterative schemes for solving nonlinear equations in the framework of multiplicative calculus. We also discuss the convergence criteria of these newly developed iterative methods. Some numerical examples will be given to illustrate the efficiency and performance of derived methods. Keywords: Iterative methods, Nonlinear equations, Convergence, multiplicative calculus. AMS Subject Classification: 83-02, 99A00

The efficiency of cooperative communication protocols to increase the reliability and range of transmission for Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET) is proven, but identity verification and communication security are required to be ensured. Though it is difficult to maintain strong network connections between vehicles because of there high mobility, with the help of cooperative communication, it is possible to increase the communication efficiency, minimise delay, packet loss, and Packet Dropping Rate (PDR). However, cooperating with unknown or unauthorized vehicles could result in information theft, privacy leakage, vulnerable to different security attacks, etc. In this paper, a blockchain based secure and privacy preserving authentication protocol is proposed for the Internet of Vehicles (IoV). Blockchain is utilized to store and manage the authentication information in a distributed and decentralized environment and developed on the Ethereum platform that uses a digital signature algorithm to ensure confidentiality, non-repudiation, integrity, and preserving the privacy of the IoVs. For optimized communication, transmitted services are categorized into emergency and optional services. Similarly, to optimize the performance of the authentication process, IoVs are categorized as emergency and general IoVs. The proposed cooperative protocol is validated by numerical analyses which show that the protocol successfully increases the system throughput and decreases PDR and delay. On the other hand, the authentication protocol requires minimum storage as well as generates low computational overhead that is suitable for the IoVs with limited computer resources.

Invasion and metastasis are the most strenuous problems in the management of breast cancer. These events require diverse proteolytic enzymes, among which MMP-2 and MMP-9 play a significant role in degradation of type IV collagen, the major component of the basement membrane. Therefore, the major objective of the study is to evaluate the clinical usefulness of MMP-2 and MMP-9 with respect to malignant tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis in breast cancer. Gelatin zymography was performed on 157 tissue extracts of malignant and adjacent normal breast tissues as well as negative and positive lymph nodes from 49 breast cancer patients. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS statistical software (version 10). ProMMP-2 levels were significantly higher in adjacent normal tissues. Active MMP-2 and MMP-9 levels were higher in malignant breast tissues. Activation ratios of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were significantly higher in malignant breast tissues and in patients with lymph node metastasis. ProMMP-2, active MMP-2, and active MMP-9 could significantly discriminate between malignant and adjacent normal breast tissues. The MMP-2 activation ratio showed significant discriminatory efficacy between patients with and without lymph node metastasis and significant association with increased risk of lymph node metastasis in node-negative patients. The results indicate significant clinical utility of these proteolytic enzymes in malignant tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis in breast cancer.

Genome mining at the turn of the millennium uncovered a new family of type II transmembrane serine proteases (TTSPs) that comprises 17 members in humans and 19 in mice. TTSPs phylogenetically belong to one of four subfamilies: matriptase, hepsin/TMPRSS, corin and HAT/DESC. Whereas a wealth of information now has been gathered as to the physiological functions of members of the hepsin/TMPRSS, matriptase, and corin subfamilies of TTSPs, comparatively little is known about the functions of the HAT/DESC subfamily of proteases. Here we perform a combined expression and functional analysis of this TTSP subfamily. We show that the five human and seven murine HAT/DESC proteases are coordinately expressed, suggesting a level of functional redundancy. We also perform a comprehensive phenotypic analysis of mice deficient in two of the most widely expressed HAT/DESC proteases, TMPRSS11A and HAT, and show that the two proteases are dispensable for development, health, and long-term survival in the absence of external challenges or additional genetic deficits. Our comprehensive expression analysis and generation of TMPRSS11A- and HAT-deficient mutant mouse strains provide a valuable resource for the scientific community for further exploration of the HAT/DESC subfamily proteases in physiological and pathological processes.

Nutrition influenced growth, sporulation and virulence of the insect pathogenic fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae. Virulent conidia were produced on susceptible insect hosts, 1% yeast extract, 2% peptone, osmotic stress medium (OSM) and CN 10:1 medium. Several strain independent markers were identified that could be used to predict the virulence of M. anisopliae conidia. Virulent conidia typically had high levels of spore bound Pr1, an important cuticle degrading protease, and high germination rates. We also show for the first time that virulent conidia have an endogenous CN ratio below 5.2:1. Real Time PCR revealed that virulent conidia from insects contained significantly higher levels of transcripts of pr1 A and other pathogenicity-related genes than inoculum from artificial media. Of the artificial media studied, 1% yeast extract medium yielded the most virulent conidia, these had higher levels of transcripts of these pathogenicity-related genes than the least virulent conidia from the high conidia yielding CN 35:1 medium (=SDA), however, the levels were significantly lower than those in insect-derived conidia. Our study shows for the first time that the passaged inoculum is virulent irrespective of the original culture medium or insect host. Virulent conidia were consistently produced on OSM even though growth and sporulation were poor. We postulate that starvation conditions, whether in vivo or in vitro, results in de-repression of Pr1 and that elevated levels of this enzyme enhance fungal virulence.