All Things Bugs (United States)

This study aims to analyze the achievement of Minimum Service Standards (MSS) for newborns at BukitSangkal Health Center in 2024, based on the importance of meeting MSS in improving maternal and newborn health quality. The methodology used was a descriptive research design with a cross-sectional approach, where data were collected through a recapitulation of newborn services at BukitSangkal Health Center. The study population included all registered newborns, with a sample of 458 babies who received services according to standards. The results showed that BukitSangkal Health Center achieved 100% of SPM targets. Out of 458 infants, 215 were male, and 207 were female, with a balanced distribution. Hepatitis B0 and BCG immunization coverage also showed satisfactory results. The availability of quality goods such as vaccines and MCH books reached 100%, but the quality of health human resources (HRH) still needs to be improved, with only a percentage of 51.9%. Overall, the quality of basic services reached 75.95%. This study emphasizes the need for more attention to human resources aspects to maintain service quality and ensure newborns receive optimal care. These results are expected to be a reference for related parties to improve health service standards at the Public Health Center and other health facilities.

IntroductionTrichomoniasis, the most common non-viral sexually transmitted disease, is caused by the protozoon Trichomonas vaginalis. T. vaginalis can establish a symbiosis with two bacteria, Mycoplasma hominis and Candidatus Mycoplasma girerdii, whose intracellular presence may modulate several characteristics of the protozoan, including its sensitivity to 5-nitroimidazoles, the only class of drugs currently effective in treating trichomoniasis. The rising prevalence of T.vaginalis strains resistant to metronidazole, the most commonly used antitrichomonal drug, underscores the need for therapeutic alternatives active against the protozoon.MethodsIn this study, we evaluate the antimicrobial activity of essential oils extracted from three plants cultivated in Vietnam — Cymbopogon citratus, Citrus grandis, and Mentha arvensis — against thirty T. vaginalis strains isolated from symptomatic women in Italy and Vietnam. We also assess the influence of M. hominis and Ca. M. girerdii on T. vaginalis susceptibility to essential oils and metronidazole, through dedicated susceptibility assays. Additionally, given the importance of lactobacilli in maintaining vaginal health, we investigate the effects of the essential oils on Lactobacillus gasseri and Lactobacillus crispatus. The cytotoxic activity of the oils against HeLa cells was also tested in vitro.ResultsAll three essential oils showed effective antitrichomonal activity without inhibiting lactobacilli growth. Among them, C. citratus oil exhibited the strongest inhibitory effect on T. vaginalis, including strains harboring bacterial symbionts. Moreover, the oils demonstrated no cytotoxic activity against HeLa cells at the concentrations effective against the protozoan.DiscussionThe results support the potential of C. citratus essential oil as a natural antitrichomonal agent. Its effectiveness against both free and symbiont-infected T. vaginalis strains positions it as a promising candidate for developing alternative therapies against drug-resistant trichomoniasis.

It brings me immense joy to welcome you to the inaugural issue of our SIGCHI newsletter! This beginning commences a new chapter in how we connect, share, and grow together as a global HCI community. As ACM's largest Special Interest Group, now with more than 5,500 members, SIGCHI is more global and diverse than ever. We love to see the rich cultural and regional diversity, just as we love to see our conferences grow in strength and scope, broadening and deepening our intellectual undertakings. At CHI 2025, we are excited to welcome our largest audience of new and old SIG members in Yokohama, to celebrate the people who make our conferences happen, people who sustain our SIG, people who care. And as SIGCHI continues to grow in numerous new directions, our goal remains to support each other in becoming the best possible researcher, practitioner, volunteer, leader, educator, mentor, contributor... and this newsletter is a step towards achieving this goal.

Background: Pain during the first stage of labour lasts the longest, making innovative pain management crucial for maternal well-being and improved outcomes. A 20-minute Hegu acupressure session can effectively relieve this pain and discomfort. Objective: To develop and assess the effectiveness of novel Hegu acupressure clips for pain relief during the first stage of labour. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted with a sample of 52 primigravidae in the labour room of Bueng Kan Hospital, randomly divided into two groups of 26 each. The experimental group used novel Hegu acupressure clips with standard pressure during cervical dilation of 4–7 cm for 20 minutes, applied only during contractions. The control group used the same clips but with non-standard pressure. Data were collected using a labour pain coping behaviour scale at pre- and post-test. Pain levels were analysed using descriptive statistics and compared with an independent sample t-test. Results: There were no significant differences in pre-test pain levels between the experimental and control groups during the first stage of labour (p > 0.05). However, post-test pain levels in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p < 0.05), indicating a substantial reduction in pain. Conclusion: The novel Hegu acupressure clips effectively relieve pain during the first stage of labour and could be integrated into standard labour management practices to enhance maternal comfort.

Background: The house cricket, Acheta domesticus, is one of the most farmed insects worldwide and the foundation of an emerging industry using insects as a sustainable food source. Edible insects present a promising alternative for protein production amid a plethora of reports on climate change and biodiversity loss largely driven by agriculture. As with other crops, genetic resources are needed to improve crickets for food and other applications. Methods: We present the first high quality annotated genome assembly of A. domesticus from long read data and scaffolded to chromosome level, providing information needed for genetic manipulation. Results: Gene groups related to immunity were annotated and will be useful for improving value to insect farmers. Metagenome scaffolds in the A. domesticus assembly, including Invertebrate Iridescent Virus 6 (IIV6), were submitted as host-associated sequences. We demonstrate both CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knock-in and knock-out of A. domesticus and discuss implications for the food, pharmaceutical, and other industries. RNAi was demonstrated to disrupt the function of the vermilion eye-color gene producing a useful white-eye biomarker phenotype. Conclusions: We are utilizing these data to develop technologies for downstream commercial applications, including more nutritious and disease-resistant crickets, as well as lines producing valuable bioproducts, such as vaccines and antibiotics.

The stable water isotope data for the East River Watershed, Colorado, consists of delta2H (hydrogen) and delta18O (oxygen) values from samples collected at multiple, long-term monitoring sites including streams, groundwater wells, springs, and a precipitation collector used to establish a local meteoric water line (LMWL) for the watershed. These locations represent important and/or unique end-member locations for which stable isotope values can be diagnostic of the connection between precipitation inputs as snow and rain and riverine export. Such locations include drainages underline entirely or largely by shale bedrock, land covered dominated by conifers, aspens, or meadows, and drainages impacted by historic mining activity and the presence of naturally mineralized rock. Developing a long-term record of water isotope values from a diversity of environments is a critical component of quantifying the impacts of both climate change and discrete climate perturbations, such as drought, forest mortality, and wildfire, on water export. Such data may be combined with stream gaging stations co-located at each surface water monitoring site to relate seasonal variations in water export to their stable isotopic signature. Data for liquid water delta2H and delta18O values are reported in units of parts per thousand (per-mil; ‰). This data package contains (1) a zip file (isotope_data_2014-2024.zip) containing a total of 87 files: 86 data files of isotope data from across the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) Watershed Function Scientific Focus Area (SFA) which is reported in .csv files per location and a locations.csv (1 file) with latitude and longitude for each location; (2) a file-level metadata (v5_20250515_flmd.csv) file that lists each file contained in the dataset with associated metadata; and (3) a data dictionary (v5_20250515_dd.csv) file that contains terms/column_headers used throughout the files along with a definition, units, and data type. Missing values within the anion data files are noted as either "-9999" or "0.0" for not detectable (N.D.) data. There are a total of 43 locations containing isotope data.Update on 2022-06-10: versioned updates to this dataset was made along with these changes: (1) updated isotope data for all locations up to 2021-12-31 and (2) the addition of the file-level metadata (flmd.csv) and data dictionary (dd.csv) were added to comply with the File-Level Metadata Reporting Format.Update on 2022-09-09: Updates were made to reporting format specific files (file-level metadata and data dictionary) to correct swapped file names, add additional details on metadata descriptions on both files, add a header_row column to enable parsing, and add version number and date to file names (v2_20220909_flmd.csv and v2_20220909_dd.csv).Update on 2023-08-08: Updates were made to both the data files and reporting format specific files. New available anion data was added, up until 2023-03-13. The file level metadata and data dictionary files were updated to reflect the additional data added.Update on 2024-03-11: Updates were made to both the data files and reporting format specific files. New available anion data was added, up until 2024-02-19. Further, revisions to the data files were made to remove incorrect data points (from 1970 and 2001). The reporting format specific files were updated to reflect the additional data added.Update on 2025-05-15: Updates were made to both the data files and reporting format specific files. New available isotope data was added, up until the end of WY2024 (September 30, 2024). International Generic Sample Numbers (IGSNs), when registered, were added to the data files. The reporting format specific files were updated to reflect the additional data added.

Stable water isotopes (d18O, d2H and d-excess) are important tracers in hydrologic research to understand water partitioning between vegetation, groundwater, and runoff but are rarely applied to large watersheds with persistent snowpack and complex topopgraphy. Data were collected for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Watershed Function Science Focus Area supported by the U.S Department of Energy in the East River, CO Hydrologic Unit Code (140200010) with limited data also collected in adjacent watersheds Ohio Creek and Taylor River. Data are provided in csv and includes isotopic information for precipitation (years 2014-2016), snowmelt (years 2016-2017) and snowpits (years 2016-2020). Snowpit data contain depth resolved information at 10 cm intervals for density, snow water equivalent (SWE) and stable water isotopes. Bulk isotopic data for 86 snowpits contain depth, SWE, density and SWE-weighted isotope values. Sampling locations and elevations are provided within the data files, while kmz files are provided to view sampling locations using Google Earth software.

To develop genetic resources for the improvement of insects as food, we sequenced transcripts from embryos, one-day hatchlings, three nymphal stages, and male and female adults of the house cricket, Acheta domesticus. A draft transcriptome was assembled from more than 138 million sequences combined from all life stages and sexes. The draft transcriptome assembly contained 45,866 contigs, and more than half were similar to sequences at NCBI (e value < e−3). The highest sequence identity was found in sequences from the termites Cryptotermes secundus and Zootermopsis nevadensis. Sequences with identity to Gregarina niphandrodes suggest that these crickets carry the parasite. Among all life stages, there were 5,042 genes with differential expression between life stages (significant at p < 0.05). An enrichment analysis of gene ontology terms from each life stage or sex highlighted genes that were important to biological processes in cricket development. We further characterized genes that may be important in future studies of genetically modified crickets for improved food production, including those involved in RNA interference, and those encoding prolixicin and hexamerins. The data represent an important first step in our efforts to provide genetically improved crickets for human consumption and livestock feed.

İşaret dili, el hareketlerinin, parmakların, kolların veya vücut hareketinin oryantasyonu ile konuşanın fikirlerini iletmek için yüz ifadeleriyle eş zamanlı olarak yaptıkları hareketlerdir. İşaret dilleri, son yıllarda tüm araştırmacıların gözdesi konumundadır. Yapılan hareketler sensörler yardımı ile tanınabilmektedir. Ancak, hareket verilerinin bilgisayar sistemlerine aktarılması büyük önem taşımaktadır. Alan yazın incelemesi sonucunda bu yönde yapılan çalışmaların yeterli olmadığı belirlenmiştir. Ayrıca, yapılmış çalışmaların daha çok Amerikan İşaret Dili, İngiliz İşaret Dili ve Arap İşaret Dili yönünde olduğu ve Türk İşaret Dili yönünde yapılan çalışmaların yeterli olmadığı tespit edilmiştir. Bu çalışmada, işitme ve konuşma engelli bireylerin diğer bireyler ile iletişimlerini kolaylaştırabilecek akıllı bir sistem geliştirilmiştir. Bu bağlamda yapılan çalışmanın alan yazındaki bu eksikliğin giderilmesine fayda sağlayacağı düşünülmektedir. Çalışma kapsamında geliştirilen akıllı sistemde, Türk İşaret Dili’nde ses bilimi olarak adlandırılan ve işaretlerin de temelini oluşturan 33 tane temel işaret baz alınmıştır. Bu işaretlerin sistem tarafından tanınabilmesi için Microsoft Kinect v2 sensörü kullanılmıştır. Sistemin altyapısında C# programlama dili ile sınıflandırma algoritmalarından Saklı Markov Modeli ve veritabanı olarak da MongoDB kullanılmıştır. Yapılan vaka çalışması sonucunda; 33 temel işaretin %82’inin geliştirilen sistem tarafından doğru bir şekilde tanımlandığı gözlemlenmiştir. Elde edilen doğruluk oranı göz önünde tutularak geliştirilen işaret tanıma sisteminin hem işitme ve konuşma engelli bireylere, hem de diğer bireylere yardımcı olacağı ve aralarındaki iletişim kurma problemini çözeceği düşünülmektedir