scholarly journals Assessment of Ensemble Models for Groundwater Potential Modeling and Prediction in a Karst Watershed

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 2540
Author(s):  
Mohsen Farzin ◽  
Mohammadtaghi Avand ◽  
Hassan Ahmadzadeh ◽  
Martina Zelenakova ◽  
John P. Tiefenbacher
Keyword(s):  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Area Under The Curve ◽  
Groundwater Potential ◽  
Karst Groundwater ◽  
Karst Springs ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Ensemble Models ◽  
Modeling Process ◽  
Southwestern Iran ◽  
Agriculture Water

Due to numerous droughts in recent years, the amount of surface water in arid and semi-arid regions has decreased significantly, so reliance on groundwater to meet local and regional demands has increased. The Kabgian watershed is a karst watershed in southwestern Iran that provides a significant proportion of drinking and agriculture water supplies in the area. This study identified areas with karst groundwater potential using a combination of machine learning and statistical models, including entropy-SVM-LN, entropy-SVM-SG, and entropy-SVM-RBF. To do this, 384 karst springs were identified and mapped. Sixteen factors that are related to karst potential were identified from a review of the literature, and these were compiled for the study area. The 384 locations were randomly separated into two categories for training (269 location) and validation (115 location) datasets to be used in the modeling process. The ROC curve was used to evaluate the modeling results. The models used, in general, were good at determining the location of karst groundwater potential. The evaluation showed that the E-SVM-RBF model had an area under the curve of 0.92, indicating that it was most accurate estimator of groundwater potential among the ensemble models. Evaluation of the relative importance of each of the 16 factors revealed that land use, a vector ruggedness measure, curvature, and topography roughness index were the most important explainers of the presence of karst groundwater in the study area. It was also found that the factors affecting the presence of karst springs are significantly different from non-karst springs.

Genetic and Epigenetic landscape of leukocyte infiltration identifies an immune prognosticator in lung adenocarcinoma

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Seema Khadirnaikar ◽  
Annesha Chatterjee ◽  
Sudhanshu Kumar Shukla
Keyword(s):  
Lung Adenocarcinoma ◽  
Immune Cell ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Immune Gene ◽  
Leukocyte Infiltration ◽  
Clinical Genetic ◽  
Factors Affecting

BACKGROUND: Leukocyte infiltration plays an critical role in outcome of various diseases including Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). OBJECTIVES: To understand the genetic and epigenetic factors affecting leukocyte infiltration and identification and validation of immune based biomarkers. METHOD: Correlation analysis was done to get the associations of the factors. CIBERSORT analysis was done for immune cell infiltration. Genetic and epigenetic analysis were performed. Cox regression was carried out for survival. RESULTS: We categorized the TCGA-LUAD patients based on Leukocyte fraction (LF) and performed extensive immunogenomic analysis. Interestingly, we showed that LF has a negative correlation with copy number variation (CNV) but not with mutational load. However, several individual genetic mutations, including KRAS and KEAP1, were significantly linked with LF. Also, as expected, patients with high LF showed significantly increased expression of genes involved in leukocyte migration and activation. DNA methylation changes also showed a strong association with LF and regulated a significant proportion of genes associated with LF. We also developed and validated an independent prognostic immune signature using the top six prognostic genes associated with LF. CONCLUSION: Together, we have identified clinical, genetic, and epigenetic variations associated with LUAD LF and developed an immune gene-based signature for disease prognostication.

Factors affecting progression to permanent atrial fibrillation in an unselected population of patients with non-permanent form of atrial fibrillation

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
V.L Malavasi ◽  
E Fantecchi ◽  
V Tordoni ◽  
L Melara ◽  
A Barbieri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atrial Fibrillation ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Area Under The Curve ◽  
Roc Curves ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Cox Proportional Hazard ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
History Of ◽  
Unselected Population ◽  
Cox Proportional Hazard Regression

Abstract Background Natural history of atrial fibrillation (AF) shows a progression of arrhythmia from non-permanent to permanent AF. Permanent AF was found associated with a worse prognosis than non-permanent one. Aim To assess the factors associated with progression to permanent AF in an unselected population of AF patients with non-permanent AF. Methods In this prospective study we enrolled in- as well as out-patients with non-permanent AF and age ≥18 years, with at least one episode of ECG-documented AF within 1 year. The patients were followed-up at 1 month and every 6 months thereafter. Results Out of 523 patients, 314 (60%) were in non-permanent AF (80 [25.5%] paroxysmal AF, 165 [52.5%] persistent AF, 69 [2%] first diagnosed AF), mostly male (188, 59.9%), median age 71 years (IQ range 62–77), median CHA2DS2VASc 3 (1–4), median HATCH score 1 (1–2). After a median follow-up of 701 (IQ range 437–902) days, 66 patients (21%) showed permanent AF. CHA2DS2VASc and HATCH scores were incrementally associated to progression to permanent AF (CHA2DS2VASc χ2 p=0.001; HATCH χ2 p=0.017; p for trend CHA2DS2VASc <0.001, HATCH p=0.001). At multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression the following variables were significantly associated with AF progression: age (hazard ratio [HR] 1.041; 95% CI: 1.004–1.079; p=0.028), at least moderate left atrial (LA) enlargement (>42 ml/m2) (HR 2.092; 95% CI: 1.132–3.866; p=0.018), antiarrhythmics drugs after the enrollment (HR 0.087; 95% CI: 0.011–0.662; p=0.018), EHRA score >2 (HR 0.351; 95% CI: 0.158–0.779; p=0.010) and Valvular HD (HR 2.161; 95% CI: 1.057–4.420; p=0.035). Adding LA dilation to HATCH score (HATCH-LA) and assigning 2 points based on multivariable Cox regression, HATCH-LA was statistically better in ROC curves in prediction of AF progression vs HATCH score (area under the curve 0.695 vs 0.636; DeLong p=0.0225). Survival-free curves on freedom from permanent AF using as discriminator HATCH-LA score ≤2 vs >2 led to a statistically significant difference (χ2=16.080 p<0.001), but the same was not found for HATCH score (χ2 =3.099; p=0.078). Conclusions In patients without permanent AF, progression of AF was independentely related to age, LA dilation, AF symptoms severity, antiarrhythmic drugs and Valvular HD. HATCH score predicted AF progression and adding to it LA dilation (at least moderate) improved patients stratification for the risk of evolution to permanent AF. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

The role of personal value preferences in predicting army stress

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S360-S360
Author(s):  
E. Tartakovsky ◽  
N. Rofe
Keyword(s):  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Stressful Environment ◽  
Personal Value ◽  
Security Values ◽  
The Face ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
Army Service ◽  
The Military ◽  
Value Preferences

BackgroundThe military is a stressful environment, and many service persons experience army stress. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors affecting army stress and stress resiliency.ObjectiveThe present study examines the connections between personal value preferences and army stress, applying the value congruency paradigm.MethodMale soldiers serving in three combat units in the Israeli Defense Forces participated in the study (n = 257).ResultsThe results obtained demonstrated that personal value preferences explained a significant proportion of the variance in army stress beyond the socio-demographic variables. A lower stress level was associated with a higher preference for the values of societal security, conformity, achievement, and universalism, and with a lower preference for the face and personal security values.ConclusionsThe research promotes our understanding of the relationships between general motivational goals expressed in personal value preferences and stress in the military context. In addition, the results obtained indicate the possible relevance of using values for selecting and preparing recruits who will most likely adjust well to the army framework. Finally, some value-oriented interventions that may be used for promoting the soldiers’ psychological adjustment during their army service are suggested.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Farmers’ participation in Water User Association in western Iran

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeed Gholamrezai ◽  
Fatemeh Sepahvand
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
User Association ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Water User ◽  
Water User Association ◽  
Agriculture Sector ◽  
Water Pumping ◽  
Pumping Stations ◽  
Agriculture Water

AbstractOne of the main challenges of water scarcity is the water consumption in the agriculture sector. Therefore, optimizing water consumption and applying an optimal management in the agriculture sector is necessary. The implementation of a participatory management of water resources in the rural areas and the creation of Water User Association (WUA) can be a successful approach towards this management. That requires the continuity of the management, the comprehensive participation of farmers, and the exploitation of water resources; however, this action needs to understand the factors affecting the behavior of consumers. Thus identifying the factors influencing farmers’ intentions towards participation in WUA is essential. The purpose of this study is to identify factors affecting farmers' intentions towards participation in water user association, by theory of planned behavior (TPB). There are 21 agriculture water pumping stations active in Lorestan Province. Farmers at each agriculture water pumping stations make up a Water User Association. The population of this study consisted of all WUAs in western Iran (N = 1990), and through a proportional stratified random sampling technique farmers were selected (N = 133) from the population. Moreover, the validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts. The reliability of the questionnaire was calculated at pre-test stage for different parts of the questionnaire ranging from 0.83 until 0.91. The collected data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 20 software. The results revealed that there were effective variables including subjective norm, attitude, and extension training courses which contributed to the importance of participation in the water management, and that the educational level of farmer was a controlled variable that could affect farmers' attitudes towards participating in Water User Association; these factors could explain 53% of farmers' participation totally.

scholarly journals Arrhythmic gut microbiome signatures for risk profiling of Type-2 Diabetes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Reitmeier ◽  
Silke Kießling ◽  
Thomas Clavel ◽  
Markus List ◽  
Eduardo L. Almeida ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Gut Microbiome ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Area Under The Curve ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Risk Profiling ◽  
Initial Sampling ◽  
Risk Pattern

SummaryTo combat the epidemic increase in Type-2-Diabetes (T2D), risk factors need to be identified. Diet, lifestyle and the gut microbiome are among the most important factors affecting metabolic health. We demonstrate in 1,976 subjects of a prospective population cohort that specific gut microbiota members show diurnal oscillations in their relative abundance and we identified 13 taxa with disrupted rhythmicity in T2D. Prediction models based on this signature classified T2D with an area under the curve of 73%. BMI as microbiota-independent risk marker further improved diagnostic classification of T2D. The validity of this arrhythmic risk signature to predict T2D was confirmed in 699 KORA subjects five years after initial sampling. Shotgun metagenomic analysis linked 26 pathways associated with xenobiotic, amino acid, fatty acid, and taurine metabolism to the diurnal oscillation of gut bacteria. In summary, we determined a cohort-specific risk pattern of arrhythmic taxa which significantly contributes to the classification and prediction of T2D, highlighting the importance of circadian rhythmicity of the microbiome in targeting metabolic human diseases.

Rubber–rubber blends: A critical review

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 196-242
Author(s):  
Abitha Vayyaprontavida Kaliyathan ◽  
KM Varghese ◽  
A Sreekumaran Nair ◽  
Sabu Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Morphological Characterization ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Rubber Blends ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Rubber Blend ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Atomic Force

The blending of different rubbers is one of the effective methods to achieve required performance properties in their final products. This article reviews the thermodynamic considerations of rubber–rubber blends and their filled systems. Factors affecting the rubber blend morphology (i.e. distribution mechanism of fillers, curatives and other compounding ingredients) and preparation techniques for rubber–rubber blends emphasizing their advantages and disadvantages are well discussed in this review. Microscopy is the field of interest to all material scientists. In the case of rubber blends, microscopy is an essential tool in order to understand the morphology, that is, size, shape and distribution of phases and filler particles in the rubber–rubber blend. In this review, selected scientific reports based on optical microscopy, electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy in rubber–rubber blends are discussed. Rubber material is a complex macromolecule; it has significant proportion of fillers, processing aids and curing agents; therefore, only a very few studies have been reported on the microscopic aspects of filled rubber–rubber blends. In particular, influence of rubber blend composition, fillers (micro and nano length scales) and processing additives on the morphology of rubber blends systems has not been systematically reviewed and discussed in the scientific literature. Therefore, in the present scenario, this review was thought of, which deals with the essential background to rubber–rubber blends, miscibility and morphological characterization of various rubber blend systems by microscopy. It is very important to add that although there is scattered information on these aspects in the scientific literature, to date a comprehensive review has not been published. The pros, cons, artefacts and the new challenges on the use of microscopy for the characterization of rubber–rubber blends are also discussed here.

scholarly journals Introducing ExHiBITT – Exploring Host microbiome inTeractions in Twins-, a colon multiomic cohort study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Mora-Ortiz ◽  
Hajir Ibraheim ◽  
Sherine Hermangild Kottoor ◽  
Ruth C. E. Bowyer ◽  
Sarah Metrustry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Monozygotic Twins ◽  
Colonic Polyps ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Familial Factors ◽  
Faecal Samples ◽  
Host Health ◽  
Generation Sequencing ◽  
Health Questionnaires

AbstractThe colon is populated by approximately 1012 microorganisms, but the relationships between this microbiome and the host health status are still not completely understood. Participants from the TwinsUK cohort were recruited to study the interactions between the microbiome and host adaptive immunity. In total, 205 monozygotic twins were recruited from the wider TwinsUK cohort. They completed health questionnaires, and provided saliva, blood, colon biopsies from three different locations, caecal fluid, and two faecal-samples.Here, our objective is to present the cohort characteristics of ExHiBITT including i) biomedical phenotypes, ii) environmental factors and ii) colonoscopic findings. A significant proportion of this apparently normal cohort had colonic polyps (28%), which are of interest as potential precursors of colorectal cancer, and as expected, the number of polyps found was significantly correlated with BMI and age. Hitherto undiagnosed diverticulosis was also not infrequently found during colonoscopy (26%) and was associated in changes in Hybrid Th1-17 cells in the colon. Twin proband cooccurrence rate for diverticulosis (82%), was much higher than for polyps (42%). Familial factors affecting morphology or tolerance may contribute to the ease of endoscopy, as both the time to reach the caecum, and pain perceived were highly concordant (proband concordance: 85% and 56% respectively). We found the expected positive relationship between BMI and colonoscopic anomalies such as diverticular disease and polyps in the whole population, but within twin pairs this association was reversed. This suggests that familial factors confound these associations. Host and microbial Next Generation Sequencing and metabolomics of the samples collected are planned in this cohort.

scholarly journals Urban Child Labour in Bangladesh: Determinants and It’s Possible Impacts on Health and Education

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Abdul Ahad ◽  
Mitu Chowdhury ◽  
Yvonne K Parry ◽  
Eileen Willis
Keyword(s):  
Primary Schools ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Education Programme ◽  
Child Labour ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Financial Loss ◽  
Urban Child ◽  
Push Factors ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Children And Parents

1) Background: A significant proportion of child laborers are compelled to work in exploitative environments, experience both deteriorating health and financial loss. The present study sought to determine the factors affecting child labour and the characteristics of their working environment. 2) Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted with 80 child labourers aged 5 to 17 years. Alongside descriptive statistics, a newly devised technique known as Influencing Causes Index (ICI) was administered and tested. 3) Results: The startling demographic findings reveal that peak share of child labourers are young children (12-14 years) and 32.5% child laborers had never attended school. The thorough assessment of determinants reflects that not only poverty, but schooling expenses and lack of access opportunity to primary schools are also the top-ranked push factors to trigger children towards labour. Around 72.5% of children work for over 8 hours a day. A significant proportion of participants received no leave, training, or access to hygiene facilities. The existing pattern of employment and working conditions resulted in musculoskeletal pain and dermatological infections among child labourers (p<0.05). 4) Conclusion: This research suggests that income measures for households, and an education programme for both children and parents would expedite the abolition of child labour.

scholarly journals Factors Affecting Volume Reduction Velocity for Arteriovenous Malformations After Treatment With Dose-Stage Stereotactic Radiosurgery

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiangyu Meng ◽  
Dezhi Gao ◽  
Hengwei Jin ◽  
Kuanyu Wang ◽  
Enmeng Bao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stereotactic Radiosurgery ◽  
Multivariate Analyses ◽  
Area Under The Curve ◽  
Target Volume ◽  
Volume Reduction ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Lesion Volume ◽  
3D Slicer ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
The Mean

Background and PurposeThe purpose of this study was to identify morphologic and dosimetric features associated with volume reduction velocity for arteriovenous malformation (AVM) after dose-stage stereotactic radiosurgery (DS-SRS).MethodsThirty patients with intracranial AVM were treated with DS fractionated SRS at Beijing Tiantan Hospital from 2011 to 2019. The AVM nidus was automatically segmented from DICOMRT files using the 3D Slicer software. The change in lesion volume was obtained from the decrease in the planning target volume (PTV) between the two treatment sessions. The volume reduction velocity was measured by the change in volume divided by the time interval between treatments. Fourteen morphologic features of AVM prior to treatment were extracted from the PTV using ‘Pyradiomics’ implemented in Python. Along with other dosimetric features, univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to explore predictors of the volume reduction velocity.ResultsAmong the 15 male (50.0%) and 15 female (50.0%) patients enrolled in this study, 17 patients (56.7%) initially presented with hemorrhage. The mean treatment interval between the initial and second SRS was 35.73 months. In multivariate analysis, the SurfaceVolumeRatio was the only independent factor associated with the volume reduction velocity (p=0.010, odds ratio=0.720, 95% confidence interval: 0.560–0.925). The area under the curve of this feature for predicting the volume reduction velocity after the initial treatment of DS-SRS was 0.83. (p=0.0018).ConclusionsThe morphologic features correlated well with the volume reduction velocity in patients with intracranial AVM who underwent DS-SRS treatment. The SurfaceVolumeRatio could predict the rate of volume reduction of AVMs after DS-SRS.

Layered-Shell Element Method of Calculating the Multi-Ribbed Composite Slab’s Elastic Lateral Stiffness

2011 ◽  
Vol 243-249 ◽  
pp. 1346-1350
Author(s):  
Peng Chang ◽  
Yao Luo
Keyword(s):  
Elastic Modulus ◽  
Influence Factor ◽  
Shell Element ◽  
Lateral Stiffness ◽  
Layered Shell ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Modeling Process ◽  
The Finite Element Analysis ◽  
Element Method

A new method for calculating the elastic lateral stiffness of the multi-ribbed composite slab by ANSYS—the layered-shell element method is introduced in this paper. In the modeling process, there are two ways for establishing the model using element SOLID46: the first refers to regarding the slab as a whole to make arranged layers. While the second type suggests that making arranged layers in each part already separated according to the materials. Especially when there are reasonable hypothesis, the analysis results can guarantee certain precision. By comparison among the two models and the experimental results, no errors with each other have exceeded 5%. The whole model is used for the numerical simulation in view of its briefness. Several factors affecting elastic lateral stiffness are considered, mainly including elastic modulus of the concrete, elastic modulus of the brick, and number of the ribbed-column. From the calculating results, conclusion can be deduced that all of these factors affecting the slab’s stiffness significantly. Along with the factors’ rising, the elastic lateral stiffness of the wall grows up. Basically, the influence factor and the elastic lateral stiffness of the slab present to be linear relationship. It is also meaningful to see that the elastic modulus of the brick plays a very important part in the elastic lateral stiffness of the wall. When compared to the SOLID65 and LINK8 used for the slab’s modeling before, the layered-shell element method is simple in principle, and distinct in conception. Above all, because only one type of element in the finite element analysis is used, it will cost less time when used on building a model of integrated architectural construction.

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