How well do large language model-based chatbots perform in oral and maxillofacial radiology?

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the performance of four large language model (LLM)-based chatbots by comparing their test results with those of dental students on an oral and maxillofacial radiology examination. METHODS: ChatGPT, ChatGPT Plus, Bard, and Bing Chat were tested on 52 questions from regular dental college examinations. These questions were categorized into three educational content areas: basic knowledge, imaging and equipment, and image interpretation. They were also classified as multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and short-answer questions (SAQs). The accuracy rates of the chatbots were compared with the performance of students, and further analysis was conducted based on the educational content and question type. RESULTS: The students' overall accuracy rate was 81.2%, while that of the chatbots varied: 50.0% for ChatGPT, 65.4% for ChatGPT Plus, 50.0% for Bard, and 63.5% for Bing Chat. ChatGPT Plus achieved a higher accuracy rate for basic knowledge than the students (93.8% vs. 78.7%). However, all chatbots performed poorly in image interpretation, with accuracy rates below 35.0%. All chatbots scored less than 60.0% on MCQs, but performed better on SAQs. CONCLUSIONS: The performance of chatbots in oral and maxillofacial radiology was unsatisfactory. Further training using specific, relevant data derived solely from reliable sources is required. Additionally, the validity of these chatbots' responses must be meticulously verified. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: This study is the first in the field of oral and maxillofacial radiology to assess the knowledge levels of four chatbots. We recommend further training in this domain for all chatbots, given their unsatisfactory performance.

Maternal disease factors associated with neonatal jaundice: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal jaundice is common, and despite the considerable medical costs associated with it, there are still few studies on the maternal factors associated with it. Identification of maternal factors associated with neonatal jaundice is very important in terms of prevention, screening and management of neonatal jaundice. The current study aimed to identify maternal disease factors associated with neonatal jaundice. METHODS: We compared the maternal disease diagnostic codes during pregnancy (study A) and 1 year before conception (study B) in mothers whose insurance claims data included newborns treated for neonatal jaundice before birth registration via the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort (control group). To decrease the effect of confounding variables, the neonatal jaundice and control groups were matched at a ratio of 1:10 via propensity score matching using covariates including age and income. RESULTS: The matched samples for studies A and B included 4,026 and 3,278 (jaundice group: 366 and 298) delivery cases, respectively. In both studies, the jaundice group had a higher proportion of patients who underwent cesarean section than the control group. In study A, other diseases of the digestive system had the highest odds ratio (OR) (K92; adjusted OR: 14.12, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.70-82.26). Meanwhile, gastritis and duodenitis had the lowest OR (K29; adjusted OR: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.22-0.69). In study B, salpingitis and oophoritis had the highest OR (N70; adjusted OR: 3.33, 95% CI: 1.59-6.94). Heartburn had the lowest OR (R12; adjusted OR: 0.29, 95% CI:0.12-0.71). CONCLUSIONS: This study identified maternal disease factors correlated with neonatal jaundice during pregnancy and 1 year before conception. Maternal risk factors for neonatal jaundice included syphilis and leiomyoma during pregnancy, and salpingo-oophoritis before pregnancy. The protective factors included infection, inflammatory diseases, and dyspepsia.

Natural organic matter removal from algal-rich water and disinfection by-products formation potential reduction by powdered activated carbon adsorption.

Algal blooms intensified operational problems in water treatment due to the increases of taste- and odor-causing compounds and natural organic matter (NOM). Effects of powdered activated carbon (PAC) addition during algal blooms on NOM removal was investigated in this study using an algal-rich water. Water quality analyses including dissolved organic carbon (DOC), ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (UV254) and specific UV absorbance (SUVA) were performed to elucidate characteristics of NOM removal by PAC adsorption. Variations of MW distributions and emission/excitation matrix (EEM) spectra with increasing PAC dosages were also measured. In addition, formation potential (FP) of trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), and haloacetonitriles (HANs) was evaluated with increasing PAC dosage. The correlations between disinfection by-products formation potential (DBPFP) and water qualities such as DOC, UV254, SUVA, and EEM spectra were also investigated to identify factors associated with DBPFP. The PAC addition was effective to remove NOM, especially low molecular weights NOM and proteinaceous substances with weak aromatics. The PAC addition showed the consistent reduction of THMFPs, HAAFPs, and HANFPs with increasing PAC dosage while the greater reduction of HAN precursors was eminent compared to the other two FPs. The close correlations between UV254 and the three DBPFPs were obtained. The low molecular weight (i.e., 1-700 Da) NOM and three fluorescence spectra peaks, i.e., T1, A and C peaks, also showed high correlation factors with the three DBPFPs. Those analyses with high correlations with DBPFPs would provide useful information to reduce DBPs during algal blooms.

Monitoring biofouling based on aerobic respiration in reverse osmosis system.

A monitoring method of biofouling in reverse osmosis (RO) system was proposed based on the fluorescent signal of resorufin, which is reduced by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide released from viable cells during aerobic respiration. The fluorescent signal of resorufin reduced by planktonic cells and microorganisms of biofilm showed linearity, indicating its feasibility to monitor biofouling in a RO system. For the application of the method to the lab-scale RO system, the injection concentration of resazurin and the injection flow rate were optimized. Biofilm on RO membranes continuously operated in a lab-scale RO system was estimated by resorufin fluorescence under optimized detection condition. As a result, resorufin fluorescence on RO membrane showed a significant increase in which the permeability of RO system decreased by 30.48%. Moreover, it represented the development of biofilm as much as conventional biofilm parameters such as adenosine triphosphate, extracellular polymeric substances, and biofilm thickness. The proposed method could be used as a sensitive and low-cost technology to monitor biofouling without autopsy of membranes.

TimesVector: a vectorized clustering approach to the analysis of time series transcriptome data from multiple phenotypes.

MOTIVATION: Identifying biologically meaningful gene expression patterns from time series gene expression data is important to understand the underlying biological mechanisms. To identify significantly perturbed gene sets between different phenotypes, analysis of time series transcriptome data requires consideration of time and sample dimensions. Thus, the analysis of such time series data seeks to search gene sets that exhibit similar or different expression patterns between two or more sample conditions, constituting the three-dimensional data, i.e. gene-time-condition. Computational complexity for analyzing such data is very high, compared to the already difficult NP-hard two dimensional biclustering algorithms. Because of this challenge, traditional time series clustering algorithms are designed to capture co-expressed genes with similar expression pattern in two sample conditions. RESULTS: We present a triclustering algorithm, TimesVector, specifically designed for clustering three-dimensional time series data to capture distinctively similar or different gene expression patterns between two or more sample conditions. TimesVector identifies clusters with distinctive expression patterns in three steps: (i) dimension reduction and clustering of time-condition concatenated vectors, (ii) post-processing clusters for detecting similar and distinct expression patterns and (iii) rescuing genes from unclassified clusters. Using four sets of time series gene expression data, generated by both microarray and high throughput sequencing platforms, we demonstrated that TimesVector successfully detected biologically meaningful clusters of high quality. TimesVector improved the clustering quality compared to existing triclustering tools and only TimesVector detected clusters with differential expression patterns across conditions successfully. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The TimesVector software is available at http://biohealth.snu.ac.kr/software/TimesVector/. CONTACT: sunkim.bioinfo@snu.ac.kr. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Dispersive biofilm from membrane bioreactor strains: effects of diffusible signal factor addition and characterization by dispersion index.

Introduction: Biofilm occurs ubiquitously in water system. Excessive biofilm formation deteriorates severely system performance in several water and wastewater treatment processes. Quorum sensing systems were controlled in this study with a signal compound cis-2-Decenoic acid (CDA) to regulate various functions of microbial communities, including motility, enzyme production, and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) production in biofilm. Methods: The addition of CDA to six strains extracted from membrane bioreactor sludge and the Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 strain was examined for modulating biofilm development by regulating DSF expression. Results and discussion: As the CDA doses increased, optical density of the biofilm dispersion assay increased, and the decrease in EPS of the biofilm was obvious on membrane surfaces. The three-dimensional visual images and quantitative analyses of biofilm formation with CDA proved thinner, less massive, and more dispersive than those without; to evaluate its dispersive intensity, a dispersion index was proposed. This could compare the dispersive effects of CDA dosing to other biofilms or efficiencies of biofouling control practices such as backwashing or new cleaning methods.

Treatment of the insensitive munitions compound, 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO), in flow-through columns packed with zero-valent iron.

The need for effective technologies to remediate the insensitive munitions compound 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO) is emerging due to the increasing use by the US Army and environmental concerns about the toxicity and aqueous mobility of NTO. Reductive treatment is essential for the complete degradation of NTO to environmentally safe products. The objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility of applying zero-valent iron (ZVI) in a continuous-flow packed bed reactor as an effective NTO remediation technology. The ZVI-packed columns treated an acidic influent (pH 3.0) or a circumneutral influent (pH 6.0) for 6 months (ca. 11,000 pore volumes, PVs). Both columns effectively reduced NTO to the amine product, 3-amino-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (ATO). The column treating the pH-3.0 influent exhibited prolonged longevity in reducing NTO, treating 11-fold more PVs than the column treating pH-6.0 influent until the breakthrough point (defined as when 85% of NTO was removed). The exhausted columns (defined as when only 10% of NTO was removed) regained the NTO reducing capacity by reactivation using 1 M HCl, fully removing NTO. After the experiment, solid-phase analysis of the packed-bed material showed that ZVI was oxidized to iron (oxyhydr)oxide minerals such as magnetite, lepidocrocite, and goethite during NTO treatment. This is the first report on the reduction of NTO and the concomitant oxidation of ZVI in continuous-flow column experiments. The evidence indicates that treatment in a ZVI-packed bed reactor is an effective approach for the removal of NTO.

Iron(II) monosulfide (FeS) minerals reductively transform the insensitive munitions compounds 2,4-dinitroanisole (DNAN) and 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO).

As military applications of the insensitive munitions compounds (IMCs) 2,4-dinitroanisole (DNAN) and 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO) increase, there is a growing need to understand their environmental fate and to develop remediation strategies to mitigate their impacts. Iron (II) monosulfide (FeS) minerals are abundant in freshwater and marine sediments, marshes, and hydrothermal environments. This study shows that FeS solids can reduce DNAN and NTO to their corresponding amines under anoxic ambient conditions. The reactions between IMCs and the FeS minerals were surface-mediated since they did not occur when only dissolved Fe2+(aq) and S2-(aq) were present. Mackinawite, a tetragonal FeS with a layered structure, reduced DNAN mainly to 2-methoxy-5-nitroaniline (MENA), which in turn was partially reduced to 2-4-diaminoanisole (DAAN). The layered structure of mackinawite provided intercalation sites likely responsible for partial adsorption of MENA and DAAN. Mackinawite entirely reduced NTO to 3-amino-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (ATO). The reduction of IMCs showed concurrent oxidation of mackinawite to goethite and elemental sulfur. A commercial FeS product, composed mainly of pyrrhotite and troilite, reduced DNAN to DAAN and NTO to ATO. At pH 6.5, DNAN and NTO transformation rates were 667 and 912 µmol h-1 m-2, respectively, on the mackinawite surface and 417 and 1344 µmol h-1 m-2, respectively, on the commercial FeS surface. This is the first report of the reduction of a nitro-heterocyclic compound (NTO) by FeS minerals. The evidence indicates that DNAN and NTO can be rapidly transformed to their succeeding amines in anoxic subsurface environments and aquatic sediments rich in FeS minerals.

Characteristics of organic fouling, reversibility by physical cleaning and concentrates in forward osmosis membrane processes for wastewater reclamation.

Numerous advantages of forward osmosis (FO) include operation at low or no hydraulic pressure, high rejection of a wide range of contaminants, and low irreversible fouling. The FO has been investigated to reduce effluent discharge in wastewater reclamation. The application of wastewater effluent as a feed stream to FO yields fouling on the active layer of the FO membrane. Fouling was examined using two compounds (i.e., alginate and humic acid) with distinguished hydrophobic properties. The repeated filtration and surface wash were applied and flux decline and reversibility of physical cleaning were evaluated. In addition, the characteristics of fouling cakes and concentrates were also analyzed. The foulants showed different behaviors in flux decline. The thick cake layer of alginate was obvious and the cake enhanced concentration polarization was also observed. The recovery results along with the FTIR spectra and FE-SEM images proved that the surface cleaning was not effective to detach foulants, especially for alginate fouling. The osmotic backwash showed greater flux recovery for alginate fouling than humic acid fouling, which indicated that restoring membrane pores or disturbing cake layers by osmotic backwash might be successful for the foulants for strong interactions between foulants and foulants. The concentrates were mostly composed of humic substances and low-molecular weight neutrals. The differences in the relative portions of the major components were occurred in the concentrates implying that the organic properties of the feed water and also interactions of foulants and membranes should be evaluated prior to determination of disposal options for concentrates.