Comparison of conventional mathematical model and machine learning model based on recent advances in mathematical models for predicting diabetic kidney disease.

Previous research suggests that mathematical models could serve as valuable tools for diagnosing or predicting diseases like diabetic kidney disease, which often necessitate invasive examinations for conclusive diagnosis. In the big-data era, there are several mathematical modeling methods, but generally, two types are recognized: conventional mathematical model and machine learning model. Each modeling method has its advantages and disadvantages, but a thorough comparison of the two models is lacking. In this article, we describe and briefly compare the conventional mathematical model and machine learning model, and provide research prospects in this field.

Risk of thrombosis in essential thrombocythemia according to three prediction models: an external validation study.

BACKGROUND: Thrombosis is a major complication of essential thrombocythemia (ET). There are three well-known prediction models for thrombotic risk in ET patients. However, only few external validation studies for the performance of these models in Asian populations have been conducted. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the performance of these models for predicting the risk of thrombosis in Thai patients with ET. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated the clinical characteristics and thrombotic risk of 149 Thai ET patients in a university hospital in Southern Thailand between 2002 and 2019. Thrombotic risk variables were evaluated using Cox proportional hazard regression. The Brier score, calibration plot, and Harrel concordance index (C-index) were used to evaluate the performance of the three models. RESULTS: With a median follow-up of 5.2 years, there were a total of 28 thrombotic events in 26 patients. Age > 60 years was a significant prognostic factor for thrombosis in the multivariate Cox regression analysis. The Brier scores were 0.251, 0.273, and 0.276 in the conventional, IPSET-thrombosis, and revised IPSET-thrombosis models, respectively. The conventional model had optimal calibration and good discrimination (C-index, 0.67; 95%CI:0.55-0.79). The IPSET thrombosis (C-index 0.33; 95%CI:0.20-0.49) and revised IPSET thrombosis (C-index 0.31; 95%CI:0.18-0.44) models showed poor discrimination. CONCLUSION: The conventional model, which is based on age and history of thrombosis, is the best model to predict thrombotic risk in Thai ET patients. Further studies with a larger number of patients with thrombotic events are needed to validate the IPSET-thrombosis and revised IPSET-thrombosis models.

A comprehensive epigenomic analysis of phenotypically distinguishable, genetically identical female and male Daphnia pulex.

BACKGROUND: Daphnia species reproduce by cyclic parthenogenesis involving both sexual and asexual reproduction. The sex of the offspring is environmentally determined and mediated via endocrine signalling by the mother. Interestingly, male and female Daphnia can be genetically identical, yet display large differences in behaviour, morphology, lifespan and metabolic activity. Our goal was to integrate multiple omics datasets, including gene expression, splicing, histone modification and DNA methylation data generated from genetically identical female and male Daphnia pulex under controlled laboratory settings with the aim of achieving a better understanding of the underlying epigenetic factors that may contribute to the phenotypic differences observed between the two genders. RESULTS: In this study we demonstrate that gene expression level is positively correlated with increased DNA methylation, and histone H3 trimethylation at lysine 4 (H3K4me3) at predicted promoter regions. Conversely, elevated histone H3 trimethylation at lysine 27 (H3K27me3), distributed across the entire transcript length, is negatively correlated with gene expression level. Interestingly, male Daphnia are dominated with epigenetic modifications that globally promote elevated gene expression, while female Daphnia are dominated with epigenetic modifications that reduce gene expression globally. For examples, CpG methylation (positively correlated with gene expression level) is significantly higher in almost all differentially methylated sites in male compared to female Daphnia. Furthermore, H3K4me3 modifications are higher in male compared to female Daphnia in more than 3/4 of the differentially regulated promoters. On the other hand, H3K27me3 is higher in female compared to male Daphnia in more than 5/6 of differentially modified sites. However, both sexes demonstrate roughly equal number of genes that are up-regulated in one gender compared to the other sex. Since, gene expression analyses typically assume that most genes are expressed at equal level among samples and different conditions, and thus cannot detect global changes affecting most genes. CONCLUSIONS: The epigenetic differences between male and female in Daphnia pulex are vast and dominated by changes that promote elevated gene expression in male Daphnia. Furthermore, the differences observed in both gene expression changes and epigenetic modifications between the genders relate to pathways that are physiologically relevant to the observed phenotypic differences.

Usefulness of the Non-conventional Caenorhabditis elegans Model to Assess Candida Virulence.

Invasive candidiasis is caused mainly by Candida albicans, but other Candida species have increasing etiologies. These species show different virulence and susceptibility levels to antifungal drugs. The aims of this study were to evaluate the usefulness of the non-conventional model Caenorhabditis elegans to assess the in vivo virulence of seven different Candida species and to compare the virulence in vivo with the in vitro production of proteinases and phospholipases, hemolytic activity and biofilm development capacity. One culture collection strain of each of seven Candida species (C. albicans, Candida dubliniensis, Candida glabrata, Candida krusei, Candida metapsilosis, Candida orthopsilosis and Candida parapsilosis) was studied. A double mutant C. elegans AU37 strain (glp-4;sek-1) was infected with Candida by ingestion, and the analysis of nematode survival was performed in liquid medium every 24 h until 120 h. Candida establishes a persistent lethal infection in the C. elegans intestinal tract. C. albicans and C. krusei were the most pathogenic species, whereas C. dubliniensis infection showed the lowest mortality. C. albicans was the only species with phospholipase activity, was the greatest producer of aspartyl proteinase and had a higher hemolytic activity. C. albicans and C. krusei caused higher mortality than the rest of the Candida species studied in the C. elegans model of candidiasis.

Avaliação do modelo de produção e da inclusão de gordura nos parâmetros qualitativos e sensoriais do hambúrguer ovino / Evaluation of the production model and fat inclusion in qualitative and sensorial parameters of the sheep hamburgers

Carnes de 48 cordeiros Ile de France criados nos modelos orgânico e convencional, provenientes da dissecação da paleta foram submetidas à elaboração de hambúrguer, com fonte de gordura adicionada, nas proporções de 20 e 30%. Os modelos de produção (P<0,01) e o teor de gordura (P<0,01) influenciaram o pH dos hambúrgueres, entretanto apenas os modelos de produção afetaram a luminosidade (P<0,05) e o teor de vermelho (P<0,01), mas não influenciaram a capacidade de retenção de água, a perda de peso ao cozimento e o número de ácido 2-tiobarbitúrico (TBARS) dos hambúrgueres, com valores de 62,8%, 24,6% e 1,81mg malonaldeído/kg de amostra, respectivamente. No hambúrguer orgânico, houve menor força de cisalhamento (0,68kgf/cm²) em relação ao convencional (0,97kgf/cm²). Os teores de gordura afetaram a capacidade de retenção de água (P<0,05). Para perda de peso ao cozimento, força de cisalhamento e número de TBARS, os valores foram de 24,65%, 0,82kgf/cm² e 1,81mg malonaldeído/kg de amostra, respectivamente. Os modelos de produção e os teores de gordura não influenciaram a cor, o sabor, a maciez e a aceitação global dos hambúrgueres. Os modelos de produção e os teores de gordura não influenciaram a atividade de água na temperatura de 20,55ºC, no entanto, em temperaturas mais baixas, os hambúrgueres orgânicos tiveram maior atividade de água em relação aos convencionais.

The dissection of the pallete of 48 Ile de France lambs submitted to the organic and conventional production models was used for hamburger elaboration, with 20 and 30% fat. The production models (P<0,01) and the fat tenor (P<0,01) influenced the hamburgers' pH, the production models affected only the lightness (P<0,05) and the redness (P<0,01), and didn't influence, however, water holding capacity, cooking loss and 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances of hamburgers, with 62,8%, 24,6% and 1,81mg of malonaldehyde/1000g meat, respectively. In organic hamburgers, smaller shear force (0,68kgf/cm²) was observed in relation to conventional (0,97kgf/cm²). The fat tenors affected water holding capacity (P<0,05), however, they didn't influence cooking loss, shear force and 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. The production models and fat tenors didn't influence color, flavor, tenderness and global acceptance of the hamburgers. The production models and fat tenors didn't influence water activity of 20,55ºC, however, in lower temperatures, organic hamburgers had higher water activity in relation to conventional hamburgers.

Desempenho e características da carcaça de cordeiros submetidos aos modelos de produção orgânico e convencional / Performance and carcass characteristics of lambs submitted to organic and conventional production models

Avaliou-se o desempenho de 48 cordeiros Ile de France submetidos aos modelos de produção orgânico e convencional desde o nascimento até o abate, aos 32kg de peso corporal. Foi observado que peso ao nascer, peso ao desmame, peso corporal, peso corporal ao abate, idade do nascimento ao desmame, ingestão de matéria seca e ganhos de peso corporal do nascimento ao desmame e do desmame ao abate não foram influenciados (P>0,05) pelos modelos de produção estudados. Idade do desmame ao abate e idade do nascimento ao abate foram influenciados (P<0,05) pelos modelos de produção. Peso corporal, peso corporal ao abate, peso do corpo vazio, pesos da carcaça quente e fria, rendimentos verdadeiros de carcaça quente e fria e perdas ao resfriamento e ao jejum não foram influenciados (P>0,05) pelos modelos de produção estudados. Cordeiros submetidos ao modelo de produção convencional atingiram peso de abate em menor tempo, fato que, dos pontos de vista zootécnico e econômico, é mais propício e vantajoso ao produtor.

The performance of 48 Ile de France lambs, averaging 32kg body weight, raised on organic and conventional models from birth to slaughter age, was evaluated. Birth weight, weaning weight, body weight, slaughter body weight, birth to weaning age, dry matter intake, and body weight gain were not influenced by the (P>0.05) by the production models. However, weaning to slaughter age and birth to slaughter age were influenced (P<0.05) by the production models. Body weight, slaughter body weight, empty body weight, hot and cold weights, hot and cold carcass dressing percentages, and cooling and fasting losses were not influenced (P>0.05) by the production models. Lambs raised under conventional model reached slaughter weight in shorter time, so their performance and economical parameters would be more favorable and advantageous for the producer.