BACKGROUND Varicella(chickenpox)and herpes zoster(shingles)are outcomes of varicella-zoster virus(VZV)infection,and understanding their incidence trends is vital for public health planning.AIM To conduct an ambispecti...BACKGROUND Varicella(chickenpox)and herpes zoster(shingles)are outcomes of varicella-zoster virus(VZV)infection,and understanding their incidence trends is vital for public health planning.AIM To conduct an ambispective epidemiological study by analyzing the main epidemiological characteristics of VZV infection during an 18 year-period(2000-2018).METHODS We used descriptive and epidemiological methods to characterize chickenpox in Bulgaria,the city of Plovdiv and the region for a period of 18 years(2000-2018).RESULTS The average incidence of varicella-zoster infection for the period 2000–2018 in the Plovdiv region was estimated at 449.58‰.The highest relative share of the infection was assessed in the month of January at 13.6%,and the lowest in the months of August and September at 2.9%(both months).The age group most affected by the infection was 1-4 years,followed by 5-9 years.This corresponds to the so-called"pro-epidemic population"-a phenomenon typical for airborne infections,confirming their mass impact on the perpetuation of VZV infection.CONCLUSION Our findings reveal significant insights into VZV epidemiology,including age-specific incidence rates,clinical manifestations,and vaccination impact.This comprehensive analysis contributes to the broader understanding of VZV infec-tion dynamics and may inform evidence-based preventive measures.展开更多
The fundamental problem of similarity studies, in the frame of data-mining, is to examine and detect similar items in articles, papers, and books with huge sizes. In this paper, we are interested in the probabilistic,...The fundamental problem of similarity studies, in the frame of data-mining, is to examine and detect similar items in articles, papers, and books with huge sizes. In this paper, we are interested in the probabilistic, and the statistical and the algorithmic aspects in studies of texts. We will be using the approach of k-shinglings, a k-shingling being defined as a sequence of k consecutive characters that are extracted from a text (k ≥ 1). The main stake in this field is to find accurate and quick algorithms to compute the similarity in short times. This will be achieved in using approximation methods. The first approximation method is statistical and, is based on the theorem of Glivenko-Cantelli. The second is the banding technique. And the third concerns a modification of the algorithm proposed by Rajaraman et al. ([1]), denoted here as (RUM). The Jaccard index is the one being used in this paper. We finally illustrate these results of the paper on the four Gospels. The results are very conclusive.展开更多
Varicella zoster virus(VZV) is the causative agent of varicella(chicken pox) and herpes zoster(shingles). After primary infection, the virus remains latent in sensory ganglia, and reactivates upon weakening of the cel...Varicella zoster virus(VZV) is the causative agent of varicella(chicken pox) and herpes zoster(shingles). After primary infection, the virus remains latent in sensory ganglia, and reactivates upon weakening of the cellular immune system due to various conditions, erupting from sensory neurons and infecting the corresponding skin tissue. The current varicella vaccine(v-Oka) is highly attenuated in the skin, yet retains its neurovirulence and may reactivate and damage sensory neurons. The reactivation is sometimes associated with postherpetic neuralgia(PHN), a severe pain along the affected sensory nerves that can linger for years, even after the herpetic rash resolves. In addition to the older population that develops a secondary infection resulting in herpes zoster, childhood breakthrough herpes zoster affects a small population of vaccinated children. There is a great need for a neuro-attenuated vaccine that would prevent not only the varicella manifestation, but, more importantly, any establishment of latency, and therefore herpes zoster. The development of a genetically-defined live-attenuated VZV vaccine that prevents neuronal and latent infection, in addition to primary varicella, is imperative for eventual eradication of VZV, and, if fully understood, has vast implications for many related herpesviruses and other viruses with similar pathogenic mechanisms.展开更多
Objective:To systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture bloodletting therapy for herpes zoster.Methods:The computer searched the CNKI,WanFang,VIP,CBM,PubMed,and Cochrane Library databases.The time li...Objective:To systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture bloodletting therapy for herpes zoster.Methods:The computer searched the CNKI,WanFang,VIP,CBM,PubMed,and Cochrane Library databases.The time limit was from the establishment of the database to December 31,2019.Relevant literatures on randomized controlled trials of spinal bloodletting for shingles were retrieved.Data were extracted and quality evaluated based on the Cochrane bias risk assessment method.Meta analysis was performed using Rev Man5.3 and Stata15 statistical software.Results:(1)A total of 21 Chinese literatures were included,with a total of 1,533 patients;(2)Meta-analysis was performed using a fixed effect model,and the results showed that the total effective rate of the experimental group(OR=5.11,95%CI:(3.48,7.50),Z=8.33,P<0.00001)is better than the control group,the difference is statistically significant;(3)VAS score analysis using a random effects model(MD-2.23,95%CI(-2.46,-1.99),p<0.0001)(4)The incidence of sequela neuralgia was analyzed using a random effects model(OR=0.21,95%CI:(0.09,0.51),Z=3.48,P=0.0005).Conclusion:The effect of spinal bloodletting on the treatment of shingles and VAS scores,symptomatic relief,and the incidence of sequela neuralgia have advantages.展开更多
A 41-year-old woman developed skin lesions on her upper back and arm. Initially, a definitive diagnosis could not be made. Subsequently, PCR detected VZV DNA in skin lesions and saliva. Immediate antiviral treatment l...A 41-year-old woman developed skin lesions on her upper back and arm. Initially, a definitive diagnosis could not be made. Subsequently, PCR detected VZV DNA in skin lesions and saliva. Immediate antiviral treatment led to a quick recovery without complicating prolonged fatigue and weakness typically seen in adults with varicella.展开更多
Clinical infection with varicella in both its’ forms, primary and reactivation, can be associated with a variety of complications. Cardiac complications, though very rare, have been associated with the primary form o...Clinical infection with varicella in both its’ forms, primary and reactivation, can be associated with a variety of complications. Cardiac complications, though very rare, have been associated with the primary form of varicella zoster and as such should be recognized in order to initiate early treatment and prevent morbidity and mortality. However, cardiac complications have not been described in association with the reactivation form of varicella. We report a case of an adult immunocompetent male who presented with herpes zoster complicated by pericarditis with pericardial effusion and a positive varicella zoster virus (VZV) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in pericardial fluid.展开更多
BACKGROUND Celiac sprue,or celiac disease,is a relatively common disease whereby many are unaware that they have it.It often manifests with symptoms outside of the digestive system.Many health care providers are unawa...BACKGROUND Celiac sprue,or celiac disease,is a relatively common disease whereby many are unaware that they have it.It often manifests with symptoms outside of the digestive system.Many health care providers are unaware of the wide variety of symptoms of celiac disease as well as diseases that are associated with it,often delaying diagnosis and treatment.CASE SUMMARY The following case indicates an otherwise healthy 20-year-old female who presents with a variety of symptoms and is ultimately diagnosed with shingles,infectious mononucleosis,and celiac disease CONCLUSION Although it is known that risk-factors are genetic as well as environmental,much more research is needed to better understand the relationship of potential causes.In addition,continuing education is needed in health care so that more practitioners better understand celiac disease.展开更多
The most prevalent age-related movement condition,Parkinson's disease(PD),is characterized by bradykinesia,resting tremor,unbalanced gait,muscular rigidity,postural instability,as well as some nonmotor symptoms li...The most prevalent age-related movement condition,Parkinson's disease(PD),is characterized by bradykinesia,resting tremor,unbalanced gait,muscular rigidity,postural instability,as well as some nonmotor symptoms like autonomic and cognitive dysfunctions.展开更多
One way to increase storage density is using a shingled magnetic recording(SMR)disk.We propose a novel use of SMR disks with RAID(redundant array of independent disks)arrays,specifically building upon and compared wit...One way to increase storage density is using a shingled magnetic recording(SMR)disk.We propose a novel use of SMR disks with RAID(redundant array of independent disks)arrays,specifically building upon and compared with a basic RAID 4 arrangement.The proposed scheme(called RAID 4SMR)has the potential to improve the performance of a traditional RAID 4 array with SMR disks.Our evaluation shows that compared with the standard RAID 4,when using update in-place in RAID arrays,RAID 4SMR with garbage collection not just can allow the adoption of SMR disks with a reduced performance penalty,but offers a performance improvement of up to 56%.展开更多
The inclusion of recycled asphalt shingles(RAS)in asphalt mixtures has become increasingly common;however,the underlying design principles vary significantly by agency.The primary objectives of this study included:(1)...The inclusion of recycled asphalt shingles(RAS)in asphalt mixtures has become increasingly common;however,the underlying design principles vary significantly by agency.The primary objectives of this study included:(1)evaluating the‘binder availability’concept for RAS mixtures through a carefully designed laboratory experiment;(2)demonstrating a balanced mixture performance testing approach for the design of RAS mixtures;and(3)evaluating the field data of RAS mixtures placed in the Midwest region of the U.S.Three asphalt mixture designs with RAS contents of 0,2.5%and 5.0%,which were designed to have nearly identical volumetric characteristics,were investigated.The binder availability was determined to be approximately 100%in the two RAS mixtures considered.In addition,Hamburg wheel tracking and disk-shaped compact tension tests were conducted to evaluate the high-and low-temperature mixture performance.As expected,the addition of RAS significantly improved the rutting resistance.Disk-shaped compact tension(DC(T))test results demonstrated that a soft base binder effectively permitted the design of thermal-crack-resistant RAS mixtures.Field investigations indicated that the performance of pavement surfaces containing RAS was similar to that of surfaces containing only reclaimed asphalt pavement or virgin materials.This study also highlights a performanceengineered mix design approach,which is currently being adopted by several agencies in the Midwest(e.g.,Illinois Toll way,Missouri DOT,etc.)and can provide mix designers a reliable approach for designing innovative asphalt mixtures with higher recycling levels and a modern,heterogeneous composition.Furthermore,the proposed approach may prove to be a simpler,more mixture-centric alternative to the primary method suggested in AASHTO PP78-17,which recommends arbitrary VMA bumping plus binder extraction,recovery,and advanced binder testing.展开更多
基金the European Union-NextGenerationEU,through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan of the Republic of Bulgaria,No.BG-RRP-2.004-0008.
文摘BACKGROUND Varicella(chickenpox)and herpes zoster(shingles)are outcomes of varicella-zoster virus(VZV)infection,and understanding their incidence trends is vital for public health planning.AIM To conduct an ambispective epidemiological study by analyzing the main epidemiological characteristics of VZV infection during an 18 year-period(2000-2018).METHODS We used descriptive and epidemiological methods to characterize chickenpox in Bulgaria,the city of Plovdiv and the region for a period of 18 years(2000-2018).RESULTS The average incidence of varicella-zoster infection for the period 2000–2018 in the Plovdiv region was estimated at 449.58‰.The highest relative share of the infection was assessed in the month of January at 13.6%,and the lowest in the months of August and September at 2.9%(both months).The age group most affected by the infection was 1-4 years,followed by 5-9 years.This corresponds to the so-called"pro-epidemic population"-a phenomenon typical for airborne infections,confirming their mass impact on the perpetuation of VZV infection.CONCLUSION Our findings reveal significant insights into VZV epidemiology,including age-specific incidence rates,clinical manifestations,and vaccination impact.This comprehensive analysis contributes to the broader understanding of VZV infec-tion dynamics and may inform evidence-based preventive measures.
文摘The fundamental problem of similarity studies, in the frame of data-mining, is to examine and detect similar items in articles, papers, and books with huge sizes. In this paper, we are interested in the probabilistic, and the statistical and the algorithmic aspects in studies of texts. We will be using the approach of k-shinglings, a k-shingling being defined as a sequence of k consecutive characters that are extracted from a text (k ≥ 1). The main stake in this field is to find accurate and quick algorithms to compute the similarity in short times. This will be achieved in using approximation methods. The first approximation method is statistical and, is based on the theorem of Glivenko-Cantelli. The second is the banding technique. And the third concerns a modification of the algorithm proposed by Rajaraman et al. ([1]), denoted here as (RUM). The Jaccard index is the one being used in this paper. We finally illustrate these results of the paper on the four Gospels. The results are very conclusive.
文摘Varicella zoster virus(VZV) is the causative agent of varicella(chicken pox) and herpes zoster(shingles). After primary infection, the virus remains latent in sensory ganglia, and reactivates upon weakening of the cellular immune system due to various conditions, erupting from sensory neurons and infecting the corresponding skin tissue. The current varicella vaccine(v-Oka) is highly attenuated in the skin, yet retains its neurovirulence and may reactivate and damage sensory neurons. The reactivation is sometimes associated with postherpetic neuralgia(PHN), a severe pain along the affected sensory nerves that can linger for years, even after the herpetic rash resolves. In addition to the older population that develops a secondary infection resulting in herpes zoster, childhood breakthrough herpes zoster affects a small population of vaccinated children. There is a great need for a neuro-attenuated vaccine that would prevent not only the varicella manifestation, but, more importantly, any establishment of latency, and therefore herpes zoster. The development of a genetically-defined live-attenuated VZV vaccine that prevents neuronal and latent infection, in addition to primary varicella, is imperative for eventual eradication of VZV, and, if fully understood, has vast implications for many related herpesviruses and other viruses with similar pathogenic mechanisms.
基金National Key Research and Development Plan"Key Project of TCM Modernization Research"(No.2018YFC1705303)Science Foundation for Youth of National Natural Foundation of China(No.81704087)+1 种基金Innovation Talent Promotion Plan-Key Science and technology Innovation Team Plan(No.2017KCT-27)Key R&D project of Shaanxi Province(No.2018ZDXM-SF-010)
文摘Objective:To systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture bloodletting therapy for herpes zoster.Methods:The computer searched the CNKI,WanFang,VIP,CBM,PubMed,and Cochrane Library databases.The time limit was from the establishment of the database to December 31,2019.Relevant literatures on randomized controlled trials of spinal bloodletting for shingles were retrieved.Data were extracted and quality evaluated based on the Cochrane bias risk assessment method.Meta analysis was performed using Rev Man5.3 and Stata15 statistical software.Results:(1)A total of 21 Chinese literatures were included,with a total of 1,533 patients;(2)Meta-analysis was performed using a fixed effect model,and the results showed that the total effective rate of the experimental group(OR=5.11,95%CI:(3.48,7.50),Z=8.33,P<0.00001)is better than the control group,the difference is statistically significant;(3)VAS score analysis using a random effects model(MD-2.23,95%CI(-2.46,-1.99),p<0.0001)(4)The incidence of sequela neuralgia was analyzed using a random effects model(OR=0.21,95%CI:(0.09,0.51),Z=3.48,P=0.0005).Conclusion:The effect of spinal bloodletting on the treatment of shingles and VAS scores,symptomatic relief,and the incidence of sequela neuralgia have advantages.
文摘A 41-year-old woman developed skin lesions on her upper back and arm. Initially, a definitive diagnosis could not be made. Subsequently, PCR detected VZV DNA in skin lesions and saliva. Immediate antiviral treatment led to a quick recovery without complicating prolonged fatigue and weakness typically seen in adults with varicella.
文摘Clinical infection with varicella in both its’ forms, primary and reactivation, can be associated with a variety of complications. Cardiac complications, though very rare, have been associated with the primary form of varicella zoster and as such should be recognized in order to initiate early treatment and prevent morbidity and mortality. However, cardiac complications have not been described in association with the reactivation form of varicella. We report a case of an adult immunocompetent male who presented with herpes zoster complicated by pericarditis with pericardial effusion and a positive varicella zoster virus (VZV) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in pericardial fluid.
文摘BACKGROUND Celiac sprue,or celiac disease,is a relatively common disease whereby many are unaware that they have it.It often manifests with symptoms outside of the digestive system.Many health care providers are unaware of the wide variety of symptoms of celiac disease as well as diseases that are associated with it,often delaying diagnosis and treatment.CASE SUMMARY The following case indicates an otherwise healthy 20-year-old female who presents with a variety of symptoms and is ultimately diagnosed with shingles,infectious mononucleosis,and celiac disease CONCLUSION Although it is known that risk-factors are genetic as well as environmental,much more research is needed to better understand the relationship of potential causes.In addition,continuing education is needed in health care so that more practitioners better understand celiac disease.
文摘The most prevalent age-related movement condition,Parkinson's disease(PD),is characterized by bradykinesia,resting tremor,unbalanced gait,muscular rigidity,postural instability,as well as some nonmotor symptoms like autonomic and cognitive dysfunctions.
文摘One way to increase storage density is using a shingled magnetic recording(SMR)disk.We propose a novel use of SMR disks with RAID(redundant array of independent disks)arrays,specifically building upon and compared with a basic RAID 4 arrangement.The proposed scheme(called RAID 4SMR)has the potential to improve the performance of a traditional RAID 4 array with SMR disks.Our evaluation shows that compared with the standard RAID 4,when using update in-place in RAID arrays,RAID 4SMR with garbage collection not just can allow the adoption of SMR disks with a reduced performance penalty,but offers a performance improvement of up to 56%.
文摘The inclusion of recycled asphalt shingles(RAS)in asphalt mixtures has become increasingly common;however,the underlying design principles vary significantly by agency.The primary objectives of this study included:(1)evaluating the‘binder availability’concept for RAS mixtures through a carefully designed laboratory experiment;(2)demonstrating a balanced mixture performance testing approach for the design of RAS mixtures;and(3)evaluating the field data of RAS mixtures placed in the Midwest region of the U.S.Three asphalt mixture designs with RAS contents of 0,2.5%and 5.0%,which were designed to have nearly identical volumetric characteristics,were investigated.The binder availability was determined to be approximately 100%in the two RAS mixtures considered.In addition,Hamburg wheel tracking and disk-shaped compact tension tests were conducted to evaluate the high-and low-temperature mixture performance.As expected,the addition of RAS significantly improved the rutting resistance.Disk-shaped compact tension(DC(T))test results demonstrated that a soft base binder effectively permitted the design of thermal-crack-resistant RAS mixtures.Field investigations indicated that the performance of pavement surfaces containing RAS was similar to that of surfaces containing only reclaimed asphalt pavement or virgin materials.This study also highlights a performanceengineered mix design approach,which is currently being adopted by several agencies in the Midwest(e.g.,Illinois Toll way,Missouri DOT,etc.)and can provide mix designers a reliable approach for designing innovative asphalt mixtures with higher recycling levels and a modern,heterogeneous composition.Furthermore,the proposed approach may prove to be a simpler,more mixture-centric alternative to the primary method suggested in AASHTO PP78-17,which recommends arbitrary VMA bumping plus binder extraction,recovery,and advanced binder testing.
