Idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (iMCD) is a rare hematologic disorder with heterogeneous presentations ranging from moderate constitutional symptoms to life-threatening multiorgan system involvement. There are vastly different clinical subtypes, with some patients demonstrating thrombocytopenia, anasarca, fever/elevated C-reactive protein, reticulin fibrosis/renal failure, and organomegaly (TAFRO) and others having milder/more moderate symptoms with potential for severe disease (not otherwise specified, NOS). Due to its rarity and heterogeneity, the natural history and long-term burden of iMCD are poorly understood. We investigated real-world medical data from ACCELERATE, a large natural history registry of patients with Castleman disease, to better characterize the long-term disease burden experienced by these patients. We found that iMCD-TAFRO patients face a significant hospitalization burden, requiring more time in the hospital than iMCD-NOS patients during the year surrounding diagnosis (median [interquartile range]: 36 [18-61] days vs. 0 [0-4] days; P<0.001). In addition, we found life-sustaining interventions, such as mechanical ventilation (17%) and dialysis (27%), were required among iMCD patients, predominantly those with iMCD-TAFRO. iMCD-NOS patients, however, spent a significantly greater proportion of time following disease onset in a state of disease flare (median 52.3% vs. 18.9%; P=0.004). Lastly, we observed severe iMCD-related morbidities, such as acute renal failure, sepsis and pneumonia, among others, arising after iMCD diagnosis, impairing the patients’ quality of life. These data demonstrate a substantial disease burden experienced by iMCD patients and emphasize the importance of ongoing research into iMCD to aid disease control.

Natural clay minerals, because of their physical and chemical characteristics are good adsorbents of metals. Among metals we often investigate heavy metals, but redox-sensitive metals are getting more and more attention. Redox-sensitive elements were measured in clay pit samples from clay mine in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For the purpose of analysis, a 23 m deep clay pit core sample was taken. From this sample 45 clay pit subsamples from different depths were used. The pH, electrical conductivity (EC), oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) and redox-sensitive elements content were measured. Amounts of redox-sensitive metals and aluminum were measured with an ICP-OES instrument. For statistical evaluation, maximum, minimum, average, median, correlation, correlation applying Al normalization and clr transformation were calculated. When justified PCA analysis was performed. The results are showing acidic pH, and oxidative ORP. The EC varied significantly through the sediment. The element concentrations lie in the sequence: Fe>Ti>V>As. There is a significant change in correlations with and without Al-normalization. The highest difference in was found in case of titanium and vanadium (r value ranging from -0.553 to 0.835). Correlations and PCA after clr transformation showed mainly strong negative correlations, meaning that redox sensitive elements behave differently in clay samples. Supplementary material: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.7014329

Due to the natural energy sources used in constructed wetlands, minimal energy and chemicals are required for wastewater treatment. For the successful wastewater treatment via constructed wetlands, adequate pretreatment and a sufficient amount of oxygen are crucial. Constructed wetlands can be used to treat industrial wastewater, such as wastewater from the dairy industry, with prior degreasing. This study was conducted on a horizontal flow pilot constructed wetland located on a plot of land used by the Biotechnical Faculty in Bihać. The constructed wetland consisted of two fields planted with rushes (Typha latifolia) and reeds (Phragmites australis). The substrate and plants were not changed during the experimental period. We monitored the efficiency of industrial wastewater treatment (wastewater from the dairy industry) by season, varying the flow rate as well as the hydraulic retention time of the water in the device. The quality of the influent and effluent was monitored by determining analytical parameters. The constructed wetland showed the highest efficiency in the summer period, with a hydraulic retention time of 6 days, with removal efficiencies of 98.03% for ammonia, 98.19% for total nitrogen, 95.27% for total phosphorous, 94.50% for COD and 97.73% for BOD5. The organic substance removal efficiency across all four seasons was 94.68%.

The continuous rise of multimedia entertainment has led to an increased demand for delivering outstanding user experience of multimedia content. However, modelling user-perceived Quality of Experience (QoE) is a challenging task, resulting in efforts for better understanding and measurement of user-perceived QoE. To evaluate user QoE, subjective quality assessment, where people watch and grade videos, and objective quality assessment in which videos are graded using one or many objective metrics are conducted. While there is a plethora of video databases available for subjective and objective video quality assessment, these videos are artificially infused with various temporal and spatial impairments. Videos being assessed are artificially distorted with startup delay, bitrate changes, and stalls due to rebuffering events. To conduct a more credible quality assessment, a reproduction of original user experiences while watching different types of streams on different types and quality of networks is needed. To aid current efforts in bridging the gap between the mapping of objective video QoE metrics to user experience, we developed DashReStreamer, an open-source framework for re-creating adaptively streamed video in real networks. The framework takes inputs in the form of video logs captured by the client in a non-regulated setting, along with an.mpd file or a YouTube URL. The ultimate result is a video sequence that encompasses all the data extracted from the video log. DashReStreamer also calculates popular video quality metrics like PSNR, SSIM, MS-SSIM and VMAF. Finally, DashReStreamer allows creating impaired video sequences from the popular streaming platform, YouTube. As a demonstration of framework usage we created a database of 332 realistic video clips, based on video logs collected from real mobile and wireless networks. Every video clip is supplemented with bandwidth trace and video logs used in its creation and also with objective metrics calculation reports. In addition to dataset, we performed subjective evaluation of video content, assessing its effect on overall user QoE. We believe that this dataset and framework will allow the research community to better understand the impacts of video QoE dynamics.

Case presentation We describe the case of the lethal full trisomy (T) 14 in a fetus from bichorionic biamniotic (BCBA) twin pregnancy. This is a case of a 28-year-old primigravida, with an unremarkable personal and family history, who just like her 30-year-old husband, was without consanguinity between spouses. She conceived spontaneously, without a burdened gynecological-obstetric history. By the 12th week of pregnancy, she had hyperemesis gravidarum and one episode of bleeding due to which progesterone supplementation was prescribed. Due to asymptomatic bacteriuria, she took cefuroxime axetil in the 13th week of pregnancy and azithromycin in the 15th week due to cervicitis with ureaplasma urealyticum.

Abstract Four natural sweeteners (sucrose, xylitol, fructose, and isomalt) were selected to examine the influence of their qualities and amounts on the characteristics of orodispersible films. Sodium carboxymethylcellulose (2% w/w) was utilized as the film-forming polymer and 1% w/w glycerol as a plasticizer. Films were produced through the solvent casting method, rendering them suitable for convenient application in community or hospital pharmacy settings. The physicochemical and optical properties of the films were analyzed, and Fourier-transform infrared analysis was carried out. All films exhibited acceptable disintegration time, uniformity of mass, thickness, and optical characteristics, with significant dependence (p<0.05) on both sweetener type and quantity. Disintegration time varied based on the employed method, as well as the characteristics and amount of sweetener. Additionally, all films maintained pH values within the oral cavity range, suggesting no potential irritancy upon administration. Fourier-transform infrared analysis confirmed the formation of the film and demonstrated compatibility between its components.

The diversity of Beyond 5G (B5G)/Sixth-Generation (6G) technologies and the increasing density of Internet-of-Things (IoT) clients are pushing the traditional MANagement and Orchestration (MANO) into more complex scenarios. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Industry Specification Group (ISG) Zero-touch Network and Service Management (ZSM) has published several documents that present ZSM as a visionary concept, which promises to deliver benefits for BSG and 6G networks, such as increased efficiency in MANO and for tackling the challenges and limitations endured in the transition from human-intervention assisted network management to fully autonomous network management. This work-in-progress paper provides insights into the recent trends in defining and developing ZSM, the efforts towards standardization of its guidelines, coverage of existing solutions that apply the ZSM principles, a discussion about the imperative of its adoption in the domains of the evolving mobile generations and a proposal for its application in a vehicular use case of Smart Traffic Management (STM), where B5G/6G applications are enhanced by a robust ZSM capability of edge resources, to improve the effectiveness of STM.

In the rapidly evolving Industry 4.0 landscape, the integration of industrial robots and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the processes involved in storing and managing goods. While these advancements hold the promise of enhancing operational efficiency, they necessitate a robust and high-performing indoor network infrastructure. This demo paper introduces a dynamic network slicing mechanism tailored for Wi-Fi networks, capitalizing on readily available Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) devices, and seamlessly incorporating In-Band Network Telemetry (INT) within a Software Defined Networking (SDN) framework. To effectively navigate the intricacies and uncertainties of network environments, we employ Fuzzy Logic to oversee queueing disciplines (qdisc), which directly influence air-time—the duration a device allocates to transmitting or receiving data over a wireless channel. Through a series of experimental demonstrations, we highlight the effectiveness of our proposed mechanism in maintaining stringent Quality of Service (QoS) standards even in conditions of network saturation. Our solution guarantees uninterrupted and streamlined operations, even in high-demand scenarios

The paper demonstrates the VITAL-5G platform capabilities to improve the adoption and effectiveness of 5G and beyond solutions within the Transport & Logistic domain by bridging the knowledge gap between industry stakeholders, network experts, and service developers. Therefore, in this paper, we present four distinct capabilities the VITAL-5G platform offers i) Facilitating deployment of vertical service in the 5G network, ii) Real-time monitoring of network and service performance and iii) Advanced failure diagnostics. IV) Utilization of 5G slices. To enhance the adoption and effectiveness of 5G and beyond solutions within the T&L domain, we showcase how the VITAL-5G platform hides the operational complexity from the experimenters, allowing them to express their network, application, and hardware requirements in a human-readable format, while in turn deploying complex services on the 5G SA infrastructure.

ABSTRACT Background Young migrants face multiple challenges that can affect their mental, sexual and reproductive health. Objective To assess the prevalence of self-reported poor mental health and its associated demographic, post-migration and sexual risk behaviour factors among young migrants (aged 15–25) in Sweden. Methods Data were drawn from a cross-sectional survey conducted with migrants aged 15–65 years old in Sweden between December 2018 and November 2019 (n = 6449). Among these, 990 participants aged 15–25 were eligible for the study. Mental health was measured using the Refugee Health Screener-13. Missing data indicator analysis and multivariable logistic regression models were conducted to estimate the association between mental health, sexual risk behaviour, demographic and migration-related variables. Results Of the 990 participants, 59% reported poor mental health. Participants reporting poor mental health were more likely to be female (AOR:1.63, 95% CI:1.18–2.25), to have lived in Sweden more than three years (AOR:2.16, 95% CI:1.17–3.97), to engage in any sexual risk behaviour (AOR:1.99, 95% CI:1.25–3.17), and to live alone (AOR:1.95, 95% CI:1.25–3.03) or with friends they already knew (AOR:1.60, 95% CI:1.37–4.91). People arriving from the Americas (AOR:0.54, 95% CI:0.33–0.88), Asia (AOR:0.44, 95% CI:0.22–0.86), Europe (AOR:0.30, 95% CI:0.14–0.61) and Africa (AOR 0.37, 95% CI: 0.23–0.60) had lower odds of poor mental health than those arriving from Syria. Conclusion The prevalence of poor mental health among young migrants in Sweden was high, with specific subgroups (women, asylum seekers, people arriving from Syria, and those residing longer in Sweden) being particularly vulnerable. Our results indicate the interconnectedness between poor mental health and sexual risk behaviour in this population. Thus, policies targeting young migrants should ensure that healthcare services screen for both poor sexual and mental health at the same time.