Search Results (142)

Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) affects up to 75% of women at least once during their lifetime, and up to 8% of women suffer from frequent recurrent episodes of VVC (RVVC). A lack of a protective host response underlies vaginal Candida infections, while a dysregulated hyperinflammatory response may drive RVVC. This study aimed to investigate the systemic inflammatory protein profile in women with RVVC in an African population, considering the potential influence of hormonal contraceptive use on systemic inflammation. Using multiplex Proximity Extension Assay technology, we measured 92 circulatory inflammatory proteins in plasma samples from 158 RVVC patients and 92 asymptomatic women (controls). Hormonal contraceptive use was not found to have a statistically significant correlation with a systemic inflammatory protein profile in either RVVC patients or the asymptomatic women. RVVC women had lower circulating Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 (FGF-21) concentrations compared with healthy controls (adjusted p value = 0.028). Reduced concentrations of FGF-21 may be linked to the immune pathology observed in RVVC cases through IL-1β. This study may help to identify new biomarkers for the diagnosis and future development of novel immunomodulatory treatments for RVVC. Full article

H.266/Versatile Video Coding (VVC) introduces new techniques that build upon previous standards, proposing a nested multi-type tree quadtree (QTMT). The introduction of this structure significantly enhances video coding efficiency; additionally, the number of directional modes in H.266 has increased by 32 compared to H.265, accommodating a greater variety of texture patterns. However, the changes in the related structures have also led to a significant increase in encoding complexity. To address the issue of excessive computational complexity, this paper proposes a targeted rapid Coding Units segmenting approach combined with decision-making for an intra-frame modes algorithm. In the first phase of the algorithm, we extract different features for CU blocks of various sizes and input them into the decision tree model’s classifier for classification processing, determining the CU partitioning mode to prematurely terminate the partitioning, thereby reducing the encoding complexity to some extent. In the second phase of the algorithm, we put forward an intra-frame mode decision strategy grounded in gradient descent techniques with a bidirectional search mode. This maximizes the approach to the global optimum, thereby obtaining the optimal intra-frame mode and further reducing the encoding complexity. Experimentation has demonstrated that the algorithm achieves a 54.53% reduction in encoding time. In comparison, the BD-BR (Bitrate-Distortion Rate) only increases by 1.38%, striking an optimal balance between the fidelity of video and the efficacy of the encoding process. Full article

Vulvovaginal candidosis (VVC) represents a frequent and cumbersome vaginal infection. Recurrent and/or persistent infections remain common among a significant number of patients despite the use of antifungals. Probiotics offer a promising adjunctive or alternative therapeutic strategy to antifungals in the management of VVC. We aimed to explore and thoroughly examine the various roles and potential applications of probiotics in VVC. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify relevant clinical trials and systematic reviews that examine the effectiveness of probiotics in the treatment and prevention of VVC and recurrent VVC (rVVC). Following the initial screening of 4563 articles, a total of 25 clinical studies and seven systematic reviews were finally included in this analysis. The studies reviewed provide a generally positive yet inconsistent view of the efficacy of probiotics in managing VVC, including clinical, mycological response, and prevention perspectives. Nonetheless, fluconazole remains more effective than probiotics in treating VVC, while the combination of the two seems to reduce recurrence and improve symptoms significantly. For prevention, probiotics seem to improve vaginal health and reduce symptoms, while safety and tolerability are consistently reported across the studies, affirming that probiotics represent a low-risk intervention. However, clear conclusions are difficult to establish since relative studies explore different clinical endpoints and follow-up times, variable populations are included, different probiotics are used, and diverse schedules and regimens are administered. We propose that future studies should study the benefit of probiotics in well-defined categories such as (1) treatment with acute probiotics instead of antifungals, (2) adjuvant probiotic therapy together or after antifungals, and (3) VVC recurrence prevention using probiotics. Full article

This study shows two parallelisms between (i) the acquisition process of English verb–particle constructions (VPCs) by children in the process of acquiring English as a native language (henceforth ENL children) and (ii) that of Japanese verb–verb compounds (VVCs) by children in the process of acquiring Japanese as a native language (henceforth JNL children) using the CHILDES database. First, both JNL and ENL children produce creative N–N compounds and complex predicates during the same period, in line with the proposal by Snyder that the Compounding Parameter (TCP) is set to positive for both Japanese and English languages. Second, particles or verbs which are used to represent the path of motion in English VPCs and Japanese VVCs are produced before the VPCs and VVCs they are used in because complex predicates are created by the combination of two or more constituents, such as verbs and particles. Thus, our findings corroborate the proposal that Japanese is a [+TCP] language and suggest that Japanese makes use of VVCs instead of VPCs. Furthermore, this parallelism observed among ENL and JNL children in the acquisition process of creative N–N compounds and VPCs/VVCs, respectively, suggests that English VPCs and Japanese VVCs are related expressions in a grammatical sense. This in turn implies that VPCs and VVCs are connected by more than their semantics; indeed, it implies that they are realizational variations of the same abstract linguistic structure. Full article

Probiotics are living microbes that provide benefits to the host. The growing data on health promotion, following probiotics administration, increased interest among researchers and pharmaceutical companies. Infections of the lower genital tract in females, caused by a wide range of pathogens, represent one of the main areas for the use of probiotics and postbiotics. Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) affects 75% of women of reproductive age at least once during their lifetime, with 5–8% developing the recurrent form (RVVC). The disease is triggered by the overgrowth of Candida on the vaginal mucosa. Here, in order to establish its probiotic potential in the context of VVC, we evaluated the anti-fungal effects of the spore-producing Bacillus coagulans LMG S-24828 against C. albicans and C. parapsilosis as well as its beneficial effects in counteracting Candida vaginal infection in vitro. Our results show that both live B. coagulans and its Cell-Free Supernatant (CFS) exerted antifungal activity against both fungi. Moreover, live B. coagulans reduced hyphal formation, inhibited C. albicans adhesion to vaginal epithelial cells, showed co-aggregation capacity, and exerted a protective effect on vaginal epithelial cells infected with C. albicans. These data suggest that B. coagulans LMG S-24828 may provide benefits in the context of Candida vaginal infections. Full article

The latest generation of standard versatile video coding (VVC) continues to utilize hybrid coding architecture to further promote compression performance, where the intra-mode decision module selects the optimal mode to balance bitrate and coding distortion. With regard to chroma intra modes, a scheme that uses a cross-component linear model (CCLM) is involved by utilizing the component correlation between luma and chroma, which could implicitly introduce distortion propagation from luma blocks to subsequent chroma prediction blocks during coding, impacting the result of a Lagrange optimization. This paper presents an improved intra-mode decision-based modified Lagrange multiplier for chroma components in VVC. The characteristics of chroma intra prediction are examined in depth, and the process of an intra-mode decision is analyzed in detail; then, the coding distortion dependency between the luma and chroma is described and incorporated into a Lagrange optimization framework to determine the optimal mode. The proposed method achieves an average bitrate-saving effect of 1.23% compared with the original scheme by using a dependent rate-distortion optimization in an All-Intra configuration. Full article

This Quality Improvement project evaluated the implementation of a virtual Tai Chi program for older Veterans (OVs) at risk of loneliness and/or physical deconditioning. A 12-week Tai Chi course was conducted virtually at three Veterans Affairs sites using VA Video Connect (VVC). Changes in physical function based on the 30-Second Chair Stand (30CST) and loneliness based on the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (DJGS) were measured, as were the OVs’ satisfaction and adherence. Of 109 OVs who enrolled, 74 completed the program with a mean attendance rate of 84%. Completers demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the 30CST, and those who were moderately or severely lonely at baseline saw a statistically significant improvement in the DJGS. Course evaluations were generally very positive. Results suggest that a virtual Tai Chi program is an effective and very satisfying intervention for OVs at risk of loneliness or physical deconditioning. Full article

Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) remains a prevalent fungal disease, characterized by challenges, such as increased fungal resistance, side effects of current treatments, and the rising prevalence of non-albicans Candida spp. naturally more resistant. This study aimed to propose a novel therapeutic approach by investigating the antifungal properties and toxicity of 2-hydroxychalcone (2-HC) and 3′-hydroxychalcone (3′-HC), both alone and in combination with fluconazole (FCZ) and clotrimazole (CTZ). A lipid carrier (LC) was also developed to deliver these molecules. The study evaluated in vitro anti-Candida activity against five Candida species and assessed cytotoxicity in the C33-A cell line. The safety and therapeutic efficacy of in vivo were tested using an alternative animal model, Galleria mellonella. The results showed antifungal activity of 2-HC and 3′-HC, ranging from 7.8 to 31.2 as fungistatic and 15.6 to 125.0 mg/L as fungicide effect, with cell viability above 80% from a concentration of 9.3 mg/L (2-HC). Synergistic and partially synergistic interactions of these chalcones with FCZ and CTZ demonstrated significant improvement in antifungal activity, with MIC values ranging from 0.06 to 62.5 mg/L. Some combinations reduced cytotoxicity, achieving 100% cell viability in many interactions. Additionally, two LCs with suitable properties for intravaginal application were developed. These formulations demonstrated promising therapeutic efficacy and low toxicity in Galleria mellonella assays. These results suggest the potential of this approach in developing new therapies for VVC. Full article

As the next generation video coding standard, Versatile Video Coding (VVC) significantly improves coding efficiency over the current High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard. In practice, this improvement comes at the cost of increased pre-processing complexity. This increased complexity faces the challenge of implementing VVC for time-consuming encoding. This work presents a technique to simplify VVC intra-prediction using Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) feature analysis and a concatenate-designed CNN. The coefficients of the (DTC-)transformed CUs reflect the complexity of the original texture, and the proposed CNN employs multiple classifiers to predict whether they should be split. This approach can determine whether to split Coding Units (CUs) of different sizes according to the Versatile Video Coding (VVC) standard. This helps to simplify the intra-prediction process. The experimental results indicate that our approach can reduce the encoding time by 52.77% with a minimal increase of 1.48%. We use the Bjøntegaard Delta Bit Rate (BDBR) compared to the original algorithm, demonstrating a competitive result with other state-of-the-art methods in terms of coding efficiency with video quality. Full article

Versatile Video Coding (VVC) achieves impressive coding gain improvement (about 40%+) over the preceding High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) technology at the cost of extremely high computational complexity. Such an extremely high complexity increase is a great challenge for power-constrained applications, such as Internet of video things. In the case of intra coding, VVC utilizes the brute-force recursive search for both the partition structure of the coding unit (CU), which is based on the quadtree with nested multi-type tree (QTMT), and 67 intra prediction modes, compared to 35 in HEVC. As a result, we offer optimization strategies for CU partition decision and intra coding modes to lessen the computational overhead. Regarding the high complexity of the CU partition process, first, CUs are categorized as simple, fuzzy, and complex based on their texture characteristics. Then, we train two random forest classifiers to speed up the RDO-based brute-force recursive search process. One of the classifiers directly predicts the optimal partition modes for simple and complex CUs, while another classifier determines the early termination of the partition process for fuzzy CUs. Meanwhile, to reduce the complexity of intra mode prediction, a fast hierarchical intra mode search method is designed based on the texture features of CUs, including texture complexity, texture direction, and texture context information. Extensive experimental findings demonstrate that the proposed approach reduces complexity by up to 77% compared to the latest VVC reference software (VTM-23.1). Additionally, an average coding time saving of 70% is achieved with only a 1.65% increase in BDBR. Furthermore, when compared to state-of-the-art methods, the proposed method also achieves the largest time saving with comparable BDBR loss. These findings indicate that our method is superior to other up-to-date methods in terms of lowering VVC intra coding complexity, which provides an elective solution for power-constrained applications. Full article

With the advancement of power systems, the integration of a substantial portion of renewable energy often leads to frequent voltage surges and increased fluctuations in distribution networks (DNs), significantly affecting the safety of DNs. Active distribution networks (ADNs) can address voltage issues arising from a high proportion of renewable energy by regulating distributed controllable resources. However, the conventional mathematical optimization-based approach to voltage reactive power control has certain limitations. It heavily depends on precise DN parameters, and its online implementation requires iterative solutions, resulting in prolonged computation time. In this study, we propose a Volt-VAR control (VVC) framework in ADNs based on multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL). To simplify the control of photovoltaic (PV) inverters, the ADNs are initially divided into several distributed autonomous sub-networks based on the electrical distance of reactive voltage sensitivity. Subsequently, the Multi-Agent Soft Actor-Critic (MASAC) algorithm is employed to address the partitioned cooperative voltage control problem. During online deployment, the agents execute distributed cooperative control based on local observations. Comparative tests involving various methods are conducted on IEEE 33-bus and IEEE 141-bus medium-voltage DNs. The results demonstrate the effectiveness and versatility of this method in managing voltage fluctuations and mitigating reactive power loss. Full article

Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a common condition that can lead to significant discomfort, affecting approximately 70–75% of women at least once in their lives. During pregnancy, the prevalence of VVC is estimated to be around 20%, peaking at about 30% in the third trimester, with a number of specific risk factors predisposing to yeast infection being identified and needing elucidation. This review aims to provide updated knowledge on candidiasis during pregnancy, addressing risk factors and maternal and neonatal outcomes, as well as discussing optimal therapeutic strategies to safeguard mothers and newborns. The bibliographic search involved two biomedical databases, PubMed and Embase, without imposing time limits. Among all Candida spp., Candida albicans remains the most frequent causative species. The hyperestrogenic environment of the vaginal mucosa and reduced immune defenses, physiological effects of pregnancy, create conditions favorable for Candida spp. vaginal colonization and hence VVC. Recent evidence shows an association between VVC and adverse obstetric outcomes, including premature membrane rupture (PROM), chorioamnionitis, preterm birth, and puerperal infections. Prompt and effective management of this condition is therefore crucial to prevent adverse obstetric outcomes, maternal–fetal transmission, and neonatal disease. Additional studies are required to confirm the benefits of systemic treatment for maternal candida infection or colonization in preventing premature birth or neonatal systemic candidiasis. Full article

The Pulsatilla decoction is a well-known herbal remedy used in clinical settings for treating vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC). However, the specific mechanism that makes it effective is still unclear. Recent studies have shown that in cases of VVC, neutrophils recruited to the vagina, influenced by heparan sulfate (HS), do not successfully engulf Candida albicans (C. albicans). Instead, they release many inflammatory factors that cause damage to the vaginal mucosa. This study aims to understand the molecular mechanism by which the n-butanol extract of Pulsatilla decoction (BEPD) treats VVC through transcriptomics. High-performance liquid chromatography was used to identify the primary active components of BEPD. A VVC mouse model was induced using an estrogen-dependent method and the mice were treated daily with BEPD (20 mg/kg, 40 mg/kg, and 80 mg/kg) for seven days. The vaginal lavage fluid of the mice was analyzed for various experimental indices, including fungal morphology, fungal burden, degree of neutrophil infiltration, and cytokines. Various assessments were then performed on mouse vaginal tissues, including pathological assessment, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, Western blot (WB), quantitative real-time PCR, and transcriptome assays. Our results showed that BEPD reduced vaginal redness and swelling, decreased white discharge, inhibited C. albicans hyphae formation, reduced neutrophil infiltration and fungal burden, and attenuated vaginal tissue damage compared with the VVC model group. The high-dose BEPD group even restored the damaged vaginal tissue to normal levels. The medium- and high-dose groups of BEPD also significantly reduced the levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and LDH. Additionally, transcriptomic results showed that BEPD regulated several chemokine (CXCL1, CXCL3, and CXCL5) and S100 alarmin (S100A8 and S100A9) genes, suggesting that BEPD may treat VVC by affecting chemokine- and alarmin-mediated neutrophil chemotaxis. Finally, we verified that BEPD protects the vaginal mucosa of VVC mice by inhibiting neutrophil recruitment and chemotaxis in an animal model of VVC via the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway. This study provides further evidence to elucidate the mechanism of BEPD treatment of VVC. Full article

The recently introduced Video Coding Standard, VVC, presents a novel Quadtree plus Nested Multi-Type Tree (QTMTT) block structure. This structure enables a more flexible block partition and demonstrates enhanced compression performance compared to its predecessor, HEVC. However, The introduction of the new structure has led to a more complex partition search process, resulting in a considerable increase in time complexity. The QTMTT structure yields diverse Coding Unit (CU) block sizes, posing challenges for CNN model inference. In this study, we propose a representation structure termed Block Segmentation and Block Connection (BSC), rooted in texture features. This ensures that partial CU blocks are uniformly represented in size. To address different-sized CUs, various levels of CNN models are designed for prediction. Moreover, we introduce a post-processing method and a multi-thresholding scheme to further mitigate errors introduced by CNNs. This allows for flexible and adjustable acceleration, achieving a trade-off between coding time complexity and performance. Experimental results indicate that, in comparison to VTM-10.0, our “Fast” scheme reduces the average complexity by 57.14% with a 1.86% increase in BDBR. Meanwhile, the “Moderate” scheme reduces average complexity by 50.14% with only a 1.39% increase in BDBR. Full article

Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is the most common cause of vaginal discharge among women. The present study aimed to investigate the synergistic anticandidal effect of lactobacillus cultures supplemented with plant extracts. Among 600 isolates of lactic acid bacteria, 41 isolates exhibited inhibitory activity against Candida albicans ATCC10231. Six out of 41 cell-free supernatants demonstrated the most potent antibacterial and anticandidal activities. They also inhibited the clinical isolates of C. albicans, causing VVC and non-C. albicans. The synergistic effect between Lactobacillus crispatus 84/7 and Limosilactobacillus reuteri 89/4 was demonstrated by the lowest fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI = 0.5). The synbiotic culture of bacterial combination, cultured with Jerusalem artichoke (H. tuberosus) extract, also exhibited the strongest inhibition against the tested C. albicans. Biofilm formation decreased after 12 h of incubation in the selected cell-free supernatants of this synbiotic culture. The anticandidal activity of crude extracts was lost after treatment with proteinase K and trypsin but not with heating conditions, suggesting that it may be a heat-stable substance. In conclusion, the combination of L. crispatus 84/7 and L. reuteri 89/4 with H. tuberosus may be a promising candidate for inhibiting Candida infection and biofilm formation, with the potential use as ingredients in vaginal biotherapeutic products. Full article