Determinants of Premature Rupture of Membranes: A Three-Year Retrospective Analysis of Age, Parity, Delivery Mode, and Seasonality.

Background:  Premature rupture of membranes (PROM) precedes 8‑10% of births and remains a leading cause of neonatal morbidity. Although infection, prior obstetric history, and cervical pathology are recognized contributors, data on the relative influence of maternal age, parity, mode of delivery, and seasonality are inconsistent across regions. Clarifying these determinants could enhance antenatal risk stratification and guide preventive counselling.

MineSim: A scenario-based simulation test system and benchmark for autonomous trucks in open-pit mines.

Simulation environments are essential for validating algorithms, evaluating system performance, and ensuring safety in autonomous driving systems before real-world deployment. Existing autonomous driving simulators are designed for urban scenarios but lack coverage of unstructured road environments in open-pit mining. This paper introduces MineSim, an open-source, scenario-based simulation test system specifically developed for planning tasks in autonomous trucks operating in open-pit mines.

Urinary Sodium Excretion and Kidney Disease Progression in IgA Nephropathy: A Cohort Study.

Introduction: The role of dietary sodium intake in the risk of chronic kidney disease progression remains controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the association of urinary sodium excretion and progression of IgA nephropathy.

Methods: We assessed 596 patients with IgA nephropathy, and urinary sodium excretion was measured at the time of kidney biopsy.

Safety performance evaluation of freeway merging areas under autonomous vehicles environment using a co-simulation platform.

Merging areas serve as the potential bottlenecks for continuous traffic flow on freeways. Traffic incidents in freeway merging areas are closely related to decision-making errors of human drivers, for which the autonomous vehicles (AVs) technologies are expected to help enhance the safety performance. However, evaluating the safety impact of AVs is challenging in practice due to the lack of real-world driving and incident data.

Urinary C4d and progression of kidney disease in IgA vasculitis.

Background: Immunoglobulin A (IgA) vasculitis nephritis (IgAVN) is the most common secondary IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Urinary C4d have been identified associated with the development and progression in primary IgAN; however, its role in kidney disease progression of IgAVN is still unclear.

Methods: This study enrolled 139 patients with IgAVN, 18 healthy subjects, 23 focal segmental glomerulosclerosis patients and 38 IgAN patients.

Plasma D-dimer as a potential predictor of progression in IgA nephropathy: a cohort study.

Introduction: Coagulation disorders play a key role in chronic kidney disease, and the formation or elevation of plasma D-dimer levels reflects activation of the coagulation system. However, its relationship with the severity and progression of kidney disease in IgA nephropathy (IgAN) remains unclear.

Methods: We assessed 1818 patients with IgAN diagnosed between 2002 and 2019 at the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine.

Automated Tumor Count for Mitosis-Karyorrhexis Index Determination in Neuroblastoma Using Whole Slide Image and Qupath, an Image Analytic Software.

Introduction: Mitosis-karyorrhexis index (MKI) is important for risk stratification workup of neuroblastic tumors. MKI is calculated by estimating the denominator (5000 tumor cells). We hypothesized that whole slide image (WSI) with appropriate digital image analytical software could provide an objective aid to pathologist's MKI workup.

Comparison of 24-h Urine Protein, Urine Albumin-to-Creatinine Ratio, and Protein-to-Creatinine Ratio in IgA Nephropathy.

Background: Proteinuria is a strong risk factor for renal outcomes in IgA nephropathy. Random urine protein-to-creatinine ratio (PCR), random albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR), and 24-h urine protein excretion (24-h UP) have been widely used in clinical practice. However, the measurement which is the best predictor of long-term renal outcomes remains controversial.

Intensive Systolic Blood Pressure Lowering and Kidney Disease Progression in IgA Nephropathy: A Cohort Study.

Background: Hypertension has been shown to be an important risk factor in IgA nephropathy (IgAN). The 2021 the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Guideline proposes a target systolic blood pressure (SBP) of less than 120 mmHg in patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) not receiving dialysis. However, whether lowering SBP from <140- <120 mm Hg is renoprotective is unknown.

Urine β2-Microglobulin and Retinol-Binding Protein and Renal Disease Progression in IgA Nephropathy.

Tubulointerstitial involvement has been reported to have a decisive influence on the progression of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). High levels of urine β2-microglobulin (β2-MG) and retinol-binding protein (RBP) were observed in patients with IgAN with tubulointerstitial lesions. However, their roles in disease progression remain unclear.

Pathogenesis of IgA Vasculitis: An Up-To-Date Review.

Immunoglobin A (IgA) vasculitis (IgAV), formerly called the Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP), is a small vessel vasculitis, characterized by IgA1-dominant immune deposition at diseased vessel walls. IgAV is the most common form of vasculitis in children; typical symptoms include palpable purpura, arthritis or arthralgia, abdominal pain, and hematuria or proteinuria. Galactose-deficient IgA1 is detected in the tissues of the kidney and skin in patients with IgAV; it forms immune complexes leading to subsequent immune reactions and injuries.

Serum phosphorus and calcium levels, and kidney disease progression in immunoglobulin A nephropathy.

Background: Disorders of calcium and phosphorus metabolism have been reported to be associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients requiring long-term dialysis therapy. However, its role in disease progression is not well established in patients without dialysis, especially in immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy. We aim to evaluate the association of serum phosphorus and calcium and progression of IgA nephropathy.

O-glycoforms of polymeric immunoglobulin A1 in the plasma of patients with IgA nephropathy are associated with pathological phenotypes.

Background: Immunoglobulin A1 (IgA1) O-glycosylation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). However, variations in IgA1 O-glycoforms have not been explored. We aimed to investigate the IgA1 O-glycoforms in the hinge region (HR) of polymeric IgA1 (pIgA1) and then evaluate the association between IgA1 O-glycoforms and crescent formation in IgAN.

Immune characteristics of renal allograft donors with mesangial IgA deposition.

Background: There are few studies describing the prevalence and immune features of people with subclinical mesangial immunoglobulin A (IgA) deposition in the Chinese population. We sought to investigate the prevalence of mesangial IgA deposition among kidney donors and the immune characteristics of donors with mesangial IgA deposition.

Methods: Fifty blood-related living donors with zero-hour allograft biopsies obtained at Peking University First Hospital were enrolled.

A Novel MEMS Gyroscope In-Self Calibration Approach.

This paper presents a novel approach for hand-held low-cost MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical system) gyroscope in-self calibration. This method does not need the support of external high-precision equipment compared with traditional calibration scheme and can be accomplished by user hand rotation. In this approach, Kalman filter is designed to perform the calibration procedure and estimate gyroscope bias error, scale factor error and non-orthogonal error.

Persistent Hematuria and Kidney Disease Progression in IgA Nephropathy: A Cohort Study.

Rationale & Objective: Hematuria is the most typical presentation of immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN); however, its role in disease progression is still controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the association of hematuria and progression of IgAN.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Associations of ABO blood type and galactose-deficient immunoglobulin A1 with adverse outcomes in patients with IgA nephropathy.

Background: Both ABO blood group antigens and pathogenic immunoglobulin A1 (IgA1) in patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN) are influenced by modifications of N-acetylgalactosamine and galactose. The purpose of this study was to assess whether ABO blood type is associated with galactose-deficient IgA1 (Gd-IgA1) in the progression of kidney disease in patients with IgAN.

Methods: We enrolled 1313 IgAN patients with a median of 44 months follow-up and measured the plasma Gd-IgA1 levels.

Plasma Galactose-Deficient IgA1 and C3 and CKD Progression in IgA Nephropathy.

Background And Objectives: Increased circulating galactose-deficient IgA1 and subsequently complement activation both play important roles in the pathophysiology of IgA nephropathy. However, their relationship to disease severity and progression remains unclear.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: We assessed 1210 participants in a cohort study of biopsy-proven IgA nephropathy at Peking University First Hospital.

Assessing right-turning vehicle-pedestrian conflicts at intersections using an integrated microscopic simulation model.

Frequent vehicle-pedestrian conflicts deserve special attention for safety assessment at intersections. This study helps verify how the simulation as an innovative approach can be utilized for right-turning vehicle-pedestrian conflict assessment at intersection crosswalks prior to implementation. Various behavior models such as vehicle turning path, turning speed, gap acceptance model and pedestrian behavior model, have been established.

[Establishment of a plant phosphorus utilization and weed control system based on phosphite and its dehydrogenase].

Nowadays, available phosphorus (P) deficiency in soil and weed resistance to herbicides have emerged as two severe limiting factors for sustainable agriculture. Therefore, it is of urgent needs to improve plant absorption/utilization ability of the soil P, seek phosphate (Pi)-alternative P fertilizers, and develop new forms of weed control systems. Phosphite (Phi), as a P resource of relatively high amount only less than Pi in Earth, can be converted to utilizable Pi uniquely in some bacterial species by oxidization via its specific dehydrogenase (PTDH), but inhibits plant growth and development.

Dividing CKD stage 3 into G3a and G3b could better predict the prognosis of IgA nephropathy.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 3 was divided into stage G3a and stage G3b in the 2013 Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes guidelines. Whether it is appropriate to regard 45 mL/min/per 1.73 m2 as the threshold value of G3a/G3b staging and whether dividing CKD stage 3 into G3a/G3b plays a useful role in assessing the prognosis of patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN) remain unknown.

Estimation of red-light running frequency using high-resolution traffic and signal data.

Red-light-running (RLR) emerges as a major cause that may lead to intersection-related crashes and endanger intersection safety. To reduce RLR violations, it's critical to identify the influential factors associated with RLR and estimate RLR frequency. Without resorting to video camera recordings, this study investigates this important issue by utilizing high-resolution traffic and signal event data collected from loop detectors at five intersections on Trunk Highway 55, Minneapolis, MN.

A Hybrid Vehicle Detection Method Based on Viola-Jones and HOG + SVM from UAV Images.

A new hybrid vehicle detection scheme which integrates the Viola-Jones (V-J) and linear SVM classifier with HOG feature (HOG + SVM) methods is proposed for vehicle detection from low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images. As both V-J and HOG + SVM are sensitive to on-road vehicles' in-plane rotation, the proposed scheme first adopts a roadway orientation adjustment method, which rotates each UAV image to align the roads with the horizontal direction so the original V-J or HOG + SVM method can be directly applied to achieve fast detection and high accuracy. To address the issue of descending detection speed for V-J and HOG + SVM, the proposed scheme further develops an adaptive switching strategy which sophistically integrates V-J and HOG + SVM methods based on their different descending trends of detection speed to improve detection efficiency.

Influential factors of red-light running at signalized intersection and prediction using a rare events logistic regression model.

Red light running (RLR) has become a major safety concern at signalized intersection. To prevent RLR related crashes, it is critical to identify the factors that significantly impact the drivers' behaviors of RLR, and to predict potential RLR in real time. In this research, 9-month's RLR events extracted from high-resolution traffic data collected by loop detectors from three signalized intersections were applied to identify the factors that significantly affect RLR behaviors.