Collision tumors, even uncommon, characterized by two distinctive (morphological, as well immunohistochemical) and spatially independent tumor components in the same location, are always puzzling for clinicians, pathologists and patients because they don’t fit in usual approaching schemes, neither diagnostic, nor therapeutic. Reviewing the specialized literature, until now, collision tumors have been reported in multiple locations such as the skin, esophagus, stomach, liver, kidney, bladder, adrenal gland or thyroid. We report a case of coexistence on the same site of a malignant tumor of ascending colon and a benign one emerging from peritoneal lining, thought initially by the surgeon to be right sided serosal carcinomatosis. But the histopatological examination reveals that those multiple serosal nodules were benign granular cell tumors collided with highly aggressive transparietal signet-ring colon carcinoma. These results put the patient's prognosis and therapeutic strategy in a different light than the clinical-imaging and intraoperative assessment.

Aspartame is the methyl-ester of the aspartate-phenylalanine dipeptide. Over time it became a very popular artificial sweetener. However, since its approval by the main food safety agencies, several concerns have been raised related to neuropsychiatric effects and neurotoxicity, due to its ability to activate glutamate receptors, as well as carcinogenic risks by increased production of reactive oxygen species. Within this review we critically evaluated reports concerning the safety of aspartame. Some studies evidenced subtle mood and behavioral changes upon daily high-dose intake below the admitted limit. Epidemiology studies also evidenced associations between daily aspartame intake and higher predisposition for malignant diseases like non-Hodgkin lymphomas and multiple myelomas, particularly in males, but association by chance still could not be excluded. While the debate over the carcinogenic risk of aspartame is ongoing, it is clear that its use may pose some dangers in peculiar cases, such as patients with seizures or other neurological diseases; it should be totally forbidden for patients with phenylketonuria, and reduced doses or complete avoidance are advisable during pregnancy. It would be also highly desirable for every product containing aspartame to clearly indicate on the label the exact amount of the substance and some risk warnings.

The elastic wave equation with the seismic tensorial force is solved in a homogeneous and isotropic medium (the Earth). Spherical-shell waves are obtained, which are associated to the primary P and S seismic waves. It is shown that these waves produce secondary waves with sources on the plane surface of a half-space, which have the form of abrupt walls with a long tail, propagating in the interior and on the surface of the half-space. These secondary waves are associated to the seismic mainshock. The results, previously reported, are re-derived by using Fourier transformations and specific regularization procedures. The relevance of this seismic motion for the ground motion, the seismographs' recordings and the effect of the inhomogeneities in the medium are discussed.

The few studies dealing with leaf phenological responses to elevated nutrients in forest trees have given ambiguous results, i.e., while some reported delayed leaf-out and autumn leaf senescence, others reported advanced leaf phenology caused by increased nutrition. This study aimed to determine the effects of experimentally increased phosphorus (+P) on the leaf phenologies of two juvenile provenances of common beech and sessile oak. Other objectives were to determine whether there are interspecies differences as well as intraspecies variations. Saplings were excavated in two mixed beech-oak stands and transplanted into four wooden boxes filled with a commercial soil substrate. Phosphorus fertilizer was added to two of the boxes, while the remaining boxes served as controls. Both species responded to +P treatment with advanced autumn leaf senescence in the first year of the experiment. Leaf senescence in common beech began significantly earlier, while in both species, the process was accelerated compared to that in the control. In the second year, the leaf senescence response to +P treatment was even more pronounced in both species. The +P effect on leafing phenology was absent in both common beech provenances and in an oak provenance. However, the other oak provenance showed advanced leafing, indicating the existence of intraspecies differences.

This paper exposes the initial part of a larger research on the impact of the automotive on human health and the quality of life and environment. After a brief introduction on the need for responsible and sustainable approaches and few questions on the subject, some considerations and statistical data are presented, based on a study of the literature on the impact of road traffic and vehicles noise and vibration on people's comfort and health and their quality of life. The research results show, based on official statistics, the significant harmful impact of noise and vibration from motor vehicles and road transport on people's health and quality of life, especially in urban areas during the day. Also, the significant increase in the number of electric and hybrid vehicles from one year to another, a reality and a necessity nowadays, and the awareness that electric vehicles are not perfectly quiet and comfortable, open new research opportunities and require the development of new standards, materials, tools, equipment and test methods in the field of NVH, in a sustained synergistic approach from all stakeholders, to meet the needs and demands of today's consumers, and to comply with existing regulations and standards on environmental protection and sustainable development.

This research focuses on the effect of trampling on vegetation in high-mountain ecosystems through the electromagnetic spectrum’s interaction with plant pigments, cell structure, water content and other substances that have a direct impact on leaf properties. The most heavily visited part of the High Tatras in Poland was divided into polygons and, after selecting the dominant species within alpine swards, a detailed analysis of trampled and reference patterns was performed. An ASD FieldSpec 3 was used to acquire high-resolution spectral properties of plants, their fluorescence and the leaf chlorophyll content with the ts-ta temperature index and fraction of accumulated radiation in the range of photosynthesis (fAPAR) used as reference data. The results show that, along tourist trails, vegetation adapts to trampling with the impact depending on the species. A lower chlorophyll value was confirmed by a decrease in fluorescence, and the state of cellular structures was degraded in trampled compared to reference species, with a lower leaf reflectance. Also, at the extreme, trampling can eliminate certain species such as Luzula alpino-pilosa.

Cellular therapies have started an important new therapeutic direction for Autistic Spectrum Disease (ASD), and the ample diversity of ASD pathophysiology and the different types of cell therapies need an equally ample effort for studying the applicable ASD causes and the specific benefits of cell therapies via clinical studies.CORDUS Clinical Study is a crossover study in which autologous cord blood was administered intravenously to 56 patients between January 2019 and July 2023, and has compared its efficacy versus an individualized combination of supplements; both treatments were administered in a different sequence to all participants. Treatment efficacy was evaluated pre- and post- treatments by an independent psychotherapist with ATEC, Q-CHAT and a 16-item comparative table score, after interviews with the children’s parents and therapists.Cord blood was beneficial in the group of 3–7-year-old children (n=28; 3 out of 4 children – 78.57% - improved scores), but was much less effective in kids older than 8 years or with body weight of more than 35 kg (n=28; 1 out of 10 children improved scores). Individualized supplements were more efficacious than cord blood in 5 cases out of 28, while in 23 kids cord blood brought more improvement than supplements; 6 kids registered minor or no improvement. Statistically significant improvements were seen after cord blood infusion on areas such as verbalization and social interaction, but not on irritability or aggressive behavior; also ample individual differences were noted. No serious adverse reactions were noted during and after cord blood or supplement administration.

The stability properties of the Hill equation are discussed, and especially those of the Mathieu equation that characterize ion motion in electrodynamic traps. The solutions of the Mathieu equation for a trapped ion are characterized by using the Floquet theory and Hill's Method solution, which yields an infinite system of linear and homogeneous equations whose coefficients are recursively determined. Stability is discussed for parameters $a$ and $q$ that are real. Characteristic curves are introduced naturally by the Sturm-Liouville problem for the well known even and odd Mathieu equations $ce_m(z,q)$ and $se_m(z,q)$. We illustrate the stability diagram for a combined (Paul and Penning) trap and represent the frontiers of the stability domains for axial and radial motion. In case of a Paul trap the stable solution corresponds to a superposition of harmonic motions. The problem of evaluating the maximum amplitudes of stable oscillations for the ideal conditions (taken into consideration) is also approached. Anharmonic corrections are discussed within the frame of the perturbation theory, while the frontiers of the modified stability domains are determined as a function of the chosen perturbation parameter. The results apply to 2D and 3D ion traps used for different applications in quantum engineering, among which optical clocks, quantum logic and quantum metrology, but not restricted only to these.

The economic activities in the romanian rural areas have started to know new horizons with Romania's accession to the European Community. The rural society was and is focused on the level of entrepreneurial behavior strictly on agriculture, with all its derivatives. At present there is a variety of sectors of activity that are found in the rural society, which are waiting to know new dimensions. The higher the number of entrepreneurs, the more job vacancies will be created across different fields of activity. In these circumstances, the number of jobs will increase, and the society in the romanian rural area can enjoy a diversity of the population determined by the various professions of people, but also by the new dimension offered by the entrepreneurial area. This way, it will be done later the repopulation of the Romanian countryside, a national interest issue, after the great majority of the population went to work in the countries of the European Community, having to be forced by the poverty of the romanian rural area, determined by the lack of jobs to ensure a decent standard of living.

The paper presents a new vision on the energy consumption management in the case of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), integrated into an advanced decision support platform, with technical and economic benefits on increasing the energy efficiency, which contains modules for database management, profiling, forecasting, and production scheduling. Inside each module, Artificial Intelligence and Data Mining techniques were proposed to remove the uncertainties regarding the dynamic of technological flows. Thus, the data management module includes the Data Mining techniques, that extract the technical details on the energy consumption needed in the development of production scheduling strategies, the profiling module uses an original approach based on clustering techniques to determine the typical energy consumption profiles required in the optimal planning of the activities, the forecasting module contains a new approach based on an expert system to forecast the total energy consumption of the SMEs, and production scheduling module integrates a heuristic optimization method to obtain the optimal solutions in flattening the energy consumption profile. The testing was done for a small enterprise from Romania, belonging to the domain of trade and repair of vehicles. The obtained results highlighted the advantages of the proposed decision support platform on the decrease in the intensity of energy consumption per unit of product, reduction of the purchase costs, and modification of the impact whom the energy bills have on the operational costs.

In the paper, an improved smart meter data-based three-stage algorithm to calculate the power/energy losses in the three-phase networks with the voltage level below 0.4 kV (low voltage - LV) is presented. In the first stage, a loading function of input data was built having as main feature the working at the same time with files from the database of smart metering system (SMS) containing the hourly electricity records, and files including the characteristic load profiles established by the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) for the consumers with standard energy meters depending the following factors: consumption class, day and season. In the second stage, a function which is based on the work with the structure vectors was implemented to identify easy the configuration of analysed networks. In the third stage, an improved version of forward/backward sweep-based algorithm was proposed to calculate fast the power/energy losses to three-phase LV distribution networks in balanced and unbalanced regime. A real LV rural distribution network from a pilot zone belonging to a Distribution Network Operator (DNO) from Romania was used to confirm the accuracy of the proposed approach. The comparison with the results obtained using the DigSilent PowerFactory Simulation Package certified the performance of the algorithm, the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) being 0.94%.

Myocardium transcriptomes of mouse left and right atria and ventricles were profiled separately to identify the differences that might be responsible for the distinct functional roles of the four heart chambers. In total, 16,886 distinct unigenes have been quantified in all 16 samples collected from four adult male mice from the same litter. 15.76% of the quantified genes on the left and 16.5% on the right exhibited differential expression between the corresponding atrium and ventricle of the same side, while 5.8% in atria and 1.2% in ventricles were differently expressed between the left and the right. Beyond the differentially expressed genes, the study revealed distinct expression control and coordination of ion channels and genes within the cardiac muscle contraction, oxidative phosphorylation, glycolysis/glucogenesis, calcium and adrenergic signaling pathways. Interestingly, while expression of Ank2 (encoding ankyrin-B) oscillates in phase with all its binding partners in the left ventricle, the percentage of synergistically expressed partners of Ank2 is 15% and 37% in the left and right atria and 74% in the right ventricle. The analysis revealed also the high interventricular synchrony of the expression of ion channels.

The need for continuous research to refine the models used in accident reconstruction appears with the development of new car models that satisfy consumer complaints. The paper analyzed a sub-sequence of car and pedestrian accidents, from the perspective of the distance traveled by them in the contact phase, with the aim of improving the information regarding the reconstruction of road accidents. The research included the analysis of some accidents with pedestrian dummies, as well as the simulation of the impact between different classes of vehicles and pedestrians in two different walking positions. Specialized software was used with complex multibody models of pedestrians, modifying the speed and deceleration parameters at the time of the collision. The research results highlight the differences between bilinear models used in accident reconstruction and the proposed study. They can also be used to determine the distance traveled by the vehicle in the first phase of the collision with pedestrians.

We firstly discuss classical stability for a dynamical system of two ions levitated in a 3D Radio-Frequency (RF) trap, assimilated with two coupled oscillators. We obtain the solutions of the coupled system of equations that characterizes the associated dynamics. In addition, we supply the modes of oscillation and demonstrate the weak coupling condition is inappropriate in practice, while for collective modes of motion (and strong coupling) only a peak of the mass can be detected. Phase portraits and power spectra are employed to illustrate how the trajectory executes quasiperiodic motion on the surface of torus, namely a Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser (KAM) torus. In an attempt to better describe dynamical stability of the system, we introduce a model that characterizes dynamical stability and the critical points based on the Hessian matrix approach. The model is then applied to investigate quantum dynamics for many-body systems consisting of identical ions, levitated in 2D and 3D ion traps. Finally, the same model is applied to the case of a combined 3D Quadrupole Ion Trap (QIT) with axial symmetry, for which we obtain the associated Hamilton function. The ion distribution can be described by means of numerical modeling, based on the Hamilton function we assign to the system. The approach we introduce is effective to infer the parameters of distinct types of traps by applying a unitary and coherent method, and especially for identifying equilibrium configurations, of large interest for ion crystals or quantum logic.

The negative impact of drought on plant growth may be modified by different availability of mineral nutrients and by their adaptation to different local habitat conditions. In this study, we examine the impact of drought, fertilization with phosphorus and provenance, as well as their interactions, on the growth and allometric growth relationships between belowground and aboveground organs of common beech (Fagus sylvatica) and sessile oak (Quercus petraea). The research was conducted on saplings originating from two mature mixed stands (dry and wet provenances) dominated by these species. In the common garden experiment, saplings were exposed to regular watering and drought in interaction with moderate and high phosphorus concentrations in the growing substrate (achieved by phosphorus fertilization). Obtained results indicate negative impact of drought and phosphorus fertilization on the growth of both species. In common beech, phosphorus fertilization had a negative impact on its adaptive capacity to drought, because of the unfavourable ratios between fine root mass and mass of other organs. The sessile oak provenances under the impact of drought showed a different root collar diameter/stem height increment ratio, which indicates its different phenotypic plasticity as a consequence of adaptation to different frequencies of dry periods in their natural habitats.

This article aims to create the nexus between sustainable development and the quality of the political regime. The current social and political context is characterized by a series of crises generated by COVID-19 pandemic, economic imbalances and regional conflicts. In this context, sustainable development is affected by the economic dynamics and the “democratic recession”. The study aims to respond to the following research questions: “how could influence the quality of the democracy the dynamics of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 17)?” and “what are the premises for sustainable development in the new political context, characterized by democratic recession?” The purpose of the study is to underline the fact that democratic regimes are inclined to create both participative and deliberative frames for achieving the SDGs in accordance with UN 2030 Agenda. The research methodology used in this study is based on descriptive and inferential statistics. The research data are collected from secondary sources in the years between 2015 and 2021, from 193 countries covering all the geographical areas. The empirical results suggest two models of development: the Asian model of sustainable development characterized by economic growth and the Western democratic model based on democratic institutions, fair justice and mechanisms for preserving peace. We noticed that the key-variables for explaining the dynamics of sustainability in correlation with democratic index are represented by the functioning of the governments and the political participation. Through civic engagement and political ac-countability, democracy could be seen as a pre-requisite for achieving an optimal level of the SDGs. All these empirical results could prove valuable for the scholars interested in the relation between democracy and sustainability and for the political decision makers involved in shaping strategies for social, economic and environmental development.

This paper aims to stress the nexus between sustainable development, economic freedom and local participatory democracy in 21 European smart cities. The development of smart cities is strongly correlated with technological advancements and improved access to pub-lic services for all residents. Furthermore, smart cities are characterized by efficient man-agement of social, economic and environmental resources and a strong partnership be-tween the public and private sectors. The paper aims to map the dynamics of local partic-ipatory democracy in European smart cities and to identify several relevant predictors of local participatory democracy. The sample is represented by 21 European capitals (20 EU countries plus UK), which are included in the Smart City Index (SCI). Using the quantita-tive design based on both statistical regressions and structural equations modelling (SEM), the paper shows positive statistical correlation between economic factors, sustainable de-velopment, political culture, education and the level of local participatory democracy. Be-sides the exogenous variables, the study emphasized the main priority areas, which might be seen as urgent issues for local governments. The conclusion of the paper underlines the fact that economic freedom, sustainable development, upper secondary education, afford-able housing and an increased level of citizens’ engagement could predict further evolu-tions of the local participatory democracy in 21 European capitals.

Adjustable frequency converters are widely used in modern automated asynchronous drives due to their high efficiency and high responsiveness control strategies. Control algorithms for frequency converters are divided into two main groups: constant frequency commutation and random frequency commutation. Research results on various commutation frequencies, conducted using Matlab/Simulink software, show that the use of random frequency commutation provides better efficiency by significantly reducing the amplitude of harmonic oscillations at different frequencies, with a reduction in switching losses in transistors. Currently, a converter with random frequency commutation is being researched and applied in the direct torque control system. The traditional direct control system, based on a two-level inverter, is widely used due to its simplicity and ease of implementation. However, this method results in the output current of the two-level converter, supplied to the motor stator, having many harmonic distortions, leading to strong torque fluctuations regardless of the rotation speed and ultimately causing additional losses in the stator windings and reducing the motor's lifespan. To enhance the efficiency of automated asynchronous drives, this article presents an algorithm for a direct control system based on a three-level NPC inverter using a PI speed regulator. The proposed algorithm's research is validated in the Matlab/Simulink environment. The research results show that in the absence of harmonic filtering, the stator current harmonic distortion coefficient is approximately 11%, and torque fluctuations are less than 5% of the resistive torque. The fluctuations between the two capacitors remain almost unchanged throughout the entire process.

Recently published structural analysis and galvanomagnetic studies of a large number of different bulk and mesoscopic graphite samples of high quality and purity reveal that the common picture assuming graphite samples as a semimetal with a homogeneous carrier density of conduction electrons is misleading. These new studies indicate that the main electrical conduction path occurs within 2D interfaces embedded in semiconducting Bernal and/or rhombohedral stacking regions. This new knowledge incites us to revise experimentally and theoretically the diamagnetism of graphite samples. We found that the $c$-axis susceptibility of highly pure oriented graphite samples is not really constant but can vary several tens of percent for bulk samples with thickness $t \gtrsim 30~\mu$m, whereas by a much larger factor for samples with smaller thickness. The observed decrease of the susceptibility with sample thickness resembles qualitatively the one reported for the electrical conductivity and indicates that the main part of the $c-$axis diamagnetic signal is not intrinsic of the ideal graphite structure but it is due to the highly conducting 2D interfaces. The interpretation of the main diamagnetic signal of graphite agrees with the reported description of its galvanomagnetic properties and provides a hint to understand some magnetic peculiarities of thin graphite samples.

The article examines church architecture in modern Russia. The historical processes of the development of church architecture are analyzed and systematized not only from the point of view of formal stylistic but also global significance. For this purpose, for the first time, a wide range of sources containing information on the sacred component of church art and on the monuments of temple architecture was studied. At the same time, many fragments of sources were first translated into English. The article uses historical and retrospective research methods that allowed to study the theoretical legacy of the modern period in the history of Russia and at the same time to generalize the place of Russian church architecture in the general context of European architectural development.

We tested the possibility of using “adverse events count” (AEC) as a drug-risk indicator and side-effect severity indicator. Data from 3938 adverse event (AE) reports for COVID-19 vaccines (Comirnaty, Moderna, Vaxzevria, and Janssen) and 6869 AE reports for other medicines were collected from the Bulgarian Drug Agency database (01.01.2018–31.03.2022). AEC was modeled with zero-adjusted negative binomial (ZANBI) and zero-adjusted Poisson inverse Gaussian (ZAPIG) regression models, which account for zero absence and overdispersion. The models’ fit was checked with residual diagnostic plots and parametric correspondence to normality. Explanatory variables were: age, sex, sequence number (order of submission), severity of AE, and vaccine type. Average AEC was higher in severe vs. non-severe AE, and in females vs. males; it decreased with age and was lower in Comirnaty than other vaccines. Variability of AEC for COVID-19 data decreased with sequence number in severe AE and increased in non-severe AE. Full ZANBI models had greater sensitivity than parametric ZANBI or ZAPIG models. Results showed correlation between AEC and AE severity, suggesting AEC as a simple and reliable measure of drug-risk and side-effect severity for clinicians and regulators, especially for COVID-19 vaccines.

Autistic spectrum disease (ASD) is an increasingly common diagnosis nowadays with a prevalence of 1-2% in most countries. Its complex causality – a combination of genetic, immune, metabolic and environmental factors - is translated into pleiomorphic developmental disorders of various severity, which have in common two main aspects: repetitive, restrictive behaviors, and difficulties in social interaction varying from awkward habits and verbalization to complete lack of interest from the ASD child for the outside world. The wide variety of ASD causes also makes it very difficult to find a common denominator – a disease biomarker and medication – and currently there is no commonly used diagnostic and therapeutic strategy besides clinical evaluation and psychotherapy.It is known that inflammation is present in a majority of ASD children, and blood inflammatory markers, together with metabolic, electrophysiological markers and imagistics are useful for ASD diagnostic validation and treatment; however, they tend to leave out a sizeable proportion of ASD kids who do not have such modifications. Genetic testing – whole exome sequencing or targeted profiling on about 500 ASD-linked genes- may also provide good insight into pathophysiology, however many times its results are more restrictive rather than offering additional therapeutic options.Here we describe a new biomarker for ASD - the neuron-specific enolase (NSE) - which was elevated above the normal clinical range (less than 16.3 ng/mL) in the vast majority of ASD kids tested in our study (40 of 41, or 97.5%). This finding opens up a new direction for diagnostic confirmation, dynamic evaluation and therapeutic intervention for ASD kids.

The sustainable development of our world has gain particular attention of a wide range of decisional factors, civil society, business sector, and scientific community, seeing that the prosperity of people and society is possible with the aid of sustained and inclusive economic growth of all countries and regions. Educational environment has a decisive impact on changes in the way that societies are coping with national, regional, and global challenges and opportunities brought by sustainable development. Looking at the implications of HE on the progress of society, the paper addressed the lack of HE institutional capacity to integrate the principles and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning. The scope of research problem was bounded on the capability of HEI as organization and school to act as entrepreneurial university by combining the scope of its responsibility within the value chain through a practical and effective mechanism needed to align the strategy with sustainable development goals (SDGs). Embarking on the path of SDGs requires HEI to design, launch, implement, and customize specific processes architectures to govern the advance of sustainability approach. The authors applied the process scoping diagram to capture and conceptualize the educational model needed to guide the HEI through the process of change to embrace sustainability into organizational culture and daily operations. It has been used the SIPOC method (Supplier, Input, Process, Output, Customer) with Visio software tool to articulate processes relationships embedded in the educational model of HEI. The benefits relied on the organized view of the work processes needed to be performed to incorporate SDGs into the strategy of any entrepreneurial HEI. Finally, the authors shared their views on the scalability of the model which may be customized and harmonized in accordance with different HE circumstances and priorities. Implementing the proposed educational model requires long-term institutional commitment, transparency, continuous performance improvement, and communicating the strategy for SDGs and its achievements to wider stakeholders.

Prototype of a family of at least nine members, c-src tyrosine kinase is a therapeutically interesting target, because its inhibition might be of interest not only in a number of malignancies, but also in a diverse array of conditions, from neurodegenerative pathologies to certain viral infections. Computational methods in drug discovery are considerably cheaper than conventional methods and offer opportunities of screening very large numbers of compounds in conditions that would be simply impossible within the wet lab experimental settings. We have explored the use of global QSAR models and molecular ligand docking in the discovery of new c-src tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Using a data set of 1038 compounds from ChEMBL and 19 blocks of molecular descriptors, we have developed over 200 QSAR classification models, based on six machine learning algorithms and 17 feature selection methods. We have selected 49 with reasonably good performance (positive predictive value and balanced accuracy higher than 70% in nested cross validation) and the models were assembled by stacking with a simple majority vote and used for the virtual screening of over the “named” ZINC data set (over 100,000 compounds). 744 compounds were predicted by at least 50% of the QSAR models as active, 147 compounds were within the applicability domain and predicted by at least 75% of the models to be active. The latter 147 compounds were submitted to molecular ligand docking using Vina and Ledock, and a number of 90 were predicted to be active based on the binding energy. External data from CHEMBL and PUBCHEM confirmed that at least 7.83% (in the case of QSAR) or 6.67% (in the case of integrated QSAR and molecular docking) of the compounds are active on the c-src target.

(1) Background: The intermediate-depth seismicity in the Vrancea region (Romania) is characterized by localized and persistent earthquake activity that culminates about two or three times in a century with the occurrence of a large event (M 6.5). Here we have revisited some important seismicity characteristics, using earthquake catalog data spanning two different time periods: 2005 – 2013 and 1960 – 2000. (2) Methods: we have determined the b-value of the frequency-magnitude distribution of earthquakes, using a maximum likelihood procedure, and estimated the parameter to quantify anomalous seismicity rate decreases and increases. (3) Results: by using data from the first period, we have confirmed the existence of a decreased b-value in the deepest part of the seismogenic zone; by using data from the second period, we have statistically confirmed the seismic quiescence that preceded the occurrence of the 1977 M7.4 Vrancea earthquake. (4) Conclusions: the decreased b-value has been interpreted either in terms of an increased lithostatic stress with depth or as an indicator of the depth range where the next major Vrancea earthquake may occur. The time variation of the seismicity parameter may reveal anomalous seismic quiescence and increased earthquake rates that may precede the occurrence of large earthquakes.

A forecasting scheme of the thermal updraft velocity based on a theoretical model and data collected from flights records at gliding competitions, is presented. The forecasting scheme was based on the hypothesis that there is linear relationship between the overheat function at ground surface and the temperature difference between soil and air. The proportionality factor of this relationship was determined experimentally using observations recorded during gliding flights. The results showed that based on this simple scheme forecasting thermal convection is possible at any geographical location.

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common endocrinopathies, estimated to affect about 5.4% of the world's population around 2025. It is thought that nearly a third of diabetic patients have some type of skin condition. Frequently, the cutaneous effects of this heterogeneous syndrome are ac-curately detected late in the progressive form of the disease. The main objective of the present study was to identify the main cellular characteristics of the cutaneous microenvironment in exper- imentally induced diabetes mellitus. Skin fragments were harvested from adult white Wistar rats of both sexes, with the weight of 200 g, 12 weeks after streptozotocin diabetes was induced. In parallel with histopathological diagnosis by using hematoxylin and eosine staining, samples were processed by transmission electron microscopy technique and examined with a Philips CM100 microscope. In the apparently macroscopically unchanged tegument, photon microscopy revealed both progres ive thinning of the epidermis in the early stages of diabetes and a significant process of fibrosis and collagen hyalinization in the dermis. In addition, in the early stages, the electron microscopic study provided ultrastructural details characteristic of a senescent phenotype with reduced cell proliferation. The morphological changes in the skin may be the first signs of disruption of carbohydrate metabolism and in the case of established diabetes may reflect its progression and the efficacy of therapy.

The deregulated markets have replaced the traditional way of trading electricity from the producers to the consumer, via government-owned organizations and regulated tariffs. Nowadays, electricity prices are determined by the offer-demand mechanism and consumers can negotiate tariffs with their supplier of choice. For classic wholesale suppliers, the tariffs are a result of the transactions performed on the wholesale market and the energy mix available in certain geographical regions. In parallel with becoming eligible and participating in retail electricity markets, the consumers use increasingly local generation sources based mostly on renewable energy technologies such as PV panels, and become prosumers. They want to be able to sell back to the market the generation surplus, in order to obtain the maximum benefits from their initial investment. Currently, several trading mechanisms for prosumers are available, ranging from the simplest, selling back the surplus to an aggregator at fixed tariffs, to more complex market schemes. This paper proposed a two-tier local market model for prosumers and consumers connected in microgrids, based on the blockchain technologies and other technologies and concepts such as remote sensing, smart grids, crowdsourcing and energy poverty.

The deregulated markets have replaced the traditional way of trading electricity from the producers to the consumer, via government-owned organizations and regulated tariffs. Nowadays, electricity prices are determined by the offer-demand mechanism and consumers can negotiate tariffs with their supplier of choice. For classic wholesale suppliers, the tariffs are a result of the transactions performed on the wholesale market and the energy mix available in certain geographical regions. In parallel with becoming eligible and participating in retail electricity markets, the consumers use increasingly local generation sources based mostly on renewable energy technologies such as PV panels, and become prosumers. They want to be able to sell back to the market the generation surplus, in order to obtain the maximum benefits from their initial investment. Currently, several trading mechanisms for prosumers are available, ranging from the simplest, selling back the surplus to an aggregator at fixed tariffs, to more complex market schemes. This paper proposed a two-tier local market model for prosumers and consumers connected in microgrids, based on the blockchain technologies and other technologies and concepts such as remote sensing, smart grids, crowdsourcing and energy poverty.

The increasing prevalence of periprosthetic femoral fractures, specifically in the vicinity of the hip, has emerged as a significant issue in recent times. Consequently, there is a need for a thorough examination to enhance the effectiveness of management and treatment approaches. The findings emphasized a significant disparity in the occurrence and characteristics of these fractures, as multiple studies have highlighted the efficacy of various treatment strategies, such as open reduction and internal fixation, as well as the utilization of cortical strut allografts. Furthermore, the research has identified potential risk factors that have an impact on the characteristics of fractures, providing valuable insights that could be crucial in the development of preventive strategies. This research provides a thorough examination of periprosthetic femoral fractures, highlighting the importance of a cohesive treatment algorithm to improve the handling of such fractures. Moreover, it promotes the need for a collaborative endeavor in conducting research in this field, cultivating a more profound comprehension that has the potential to drive progress in therapeutic approaches, ultimately enhancing patient results over an extended period of time. It is crucial that forthcoming research endeavors persist in expanding upon these discoveries, striving towards a unified methodology in tackling this substantial clinical obstacle.

How much is the h-index of an editor of a well ranked journal improved due to citations which occur after his/her appointment? Scientific recognition within academia is widely measured nowadays by the number of citations or h-index. Our dataset is based on a sample of four editors from a well ranked journal (impact factor – IF – greater than 2). The target group consists of two editors who seem to benefit by their position through an increased citation number (and subsequently h-index) within journal. The total amount of citations for the target group is bigger than 600. The control group is formed by another set of two editors from the same journal whose relations between their positions and their citation records remain neutral. The total amount of citations for the control group is more than 1200. The timespan for which citations’ pattern has been studied is 1975-2015. Previous coercive citations for a journal benefit (increase its IF) has been signaled. To the best of our knowledge, this is a pioneering work on coercive citations for personal (editors’) benefit. Editorial teams should be aware about this type of potentially unethical behavior and act accordingly.

In order to design effective protective coatings against corrosion, the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as compound and composite with silver nanoparticles (nAg/PVA) were electrodeposited on copper surface employing electrochemical techniques such as linear potentiometry and cyclic voltammetry. A new paradigm was used to distinguish the features of coatings, i.e., a Deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) was implemented to automatically and hierarchically extract the discriminative characteristics from the information given by optical microscopy images. The main arguments that invoke a CNN implementation in the surface science of materials are the following: artificial intelligence techniques can be successfully applied to learn differences between surface coatings; based on their popularity for image processing, CNN can model images related to the problem of coatings; deep learning is able to extract the features that are distinguishable between material surfaces. To provide an overview of the copper surface, CNN was applied on microscope slides (CNN@microscopy) and inherently learnt distinctive characteristics for each class of surface morphology. The material surface morphology controlled by CNN without the interference of the human factor was successfully conducted, in our study, to extract the similarities/differences between unprotected and protected surfaces to establish the PVA and nAg/PVA performance to retard the copper corrosion.

The paper highlights the performance of the seismic isolation devices, installed on retrofitted buildings in reducing the seismic response when subjected to earthquakes. Two buildings from the beginning of the XX-th century in Bucharest are chosen from many more, monitored over the city area. We discuss the response of these base-seismic isolated structures, relying on good quality data acquired from the recent strong earthquake (03.11.2022, MW = 5.0). Elastic response spectra computed from recordings at two levels of each structure are used, placed under and right above the isolating layer. At one building the existence of previous recordings and the particularity of the sensors allow a comparison with other two relatively recent medium intensity earthquakes. The assessment is carried out in terms of maximum acceleration amax, measured at certain levels in each structure, spectral acceleration amplitude SAmax and spectral-peak corresponding period. We find that the base-isolation methodology is effective in reducing the response of the building right above the isolating layer, an observation valid for both structures, all components of the recordings, and spectral acceleration values. Moreover, the outcomes from the modal evaluation performed prior to rehabilitation and seismic isolation process are presented, by pointing out a higher newly acquired fundamental period of the isolated structures.

This article investigates if public investments in rural basic infrastructure represent the best strategy for boosting the local economy of rural communities from Romania. The article focuses on one specific program implemented under the Cohesion policy in the framework of the National Plan for Rural Development called Measure 322. Geographically, the research included a sample of rural communes from the North-Western Region of Romania. Moreover, the study also looks at other determinants of local economic development (LED) than infrastructure investments, with a focus on certain feature characterizing Romanian rural communities such as population size, isolation from urban centers, connection with European and national roads networks, educational stock, etc. The research included three steps, namely the construction of the LED Index, a cvasi-experimental research, and a regression model. Our main findings seem to suggest that while investments in infrastructure help the development gap between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries remains relatively the same. In terms of determinants of LED, percentage of population with a university degree and connection to a European road are the most significant in the Romanian rural context.

This work is driven by a practical question, corrections of Artificial Intelligence (AI) errors. Systematic re-training of a large AI system is hardly possible. To solve this problem, special external devices, correctors, are developed. They should provide quick and non-iterative system fix without modification of a legacy AI system. A common universal part of the AI corrector is a classifier that should separate undesired and erroneous behavior from normal operation. Training of such classifiers is a grand challenge at the heart of the one- and few-shot learning methods. Effectiveness of one- and few-short methods is based on either significant dimensionality reductions or the blessing of dimensionality effects. Stochastic separability is a blessing of dimensionality phenomenon that allows one-and few-shot error correction: in high-dimensional datasets under broad assumptions each point can be separated from the rest of the set by simple and robust linear discriminant. The hierarchical structure of data universe is introduced where each data cluster has a granular internal structure, etc. New stochastic separation theorems for the data distributions with fine-grained structure are formulated and proved. Separation theorems in infinite-dimensional limits are proven under assumptions of compact embedding of patterns into data space. New multi-correctors of AI systems are presented and illustrated with examples of predicting errors and learning new classes of objects by a deep convolutional neural network.

Nowadays, healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) represent a major global public health problem and the burden of these infections is high. In order to reduce the incidence of HAIs and to prevent the spread antibi-otics resistant organisms is mandatory to develop surveillance systems. We undertook a retrospective case-control study of all patients presenting HAIs admitted in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in order to assess risk factors associated with death among patients with HAIs. Patients admitted to Intensive Care Unit who died were more likely to present an infection with a multidrug resistant bacteria, an infection with Acineto-bacter baumannii, and to suffer from acute myocardial infarction. Among the patients enrolled in the study, a higher probability of death was also observed in association with certain gram-negative pathogens: Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The longer the patient remains admitted in ICU, the higher the risk of getting an infection that can often become fatal. Acquiring a noso-comial infection also increases the length of hospitalization which will lead to increased financial damage.

To fulfil a need of limitation automotive emissions the reduction of vehicle weight is widely recommended and achieved in many ways, both by the construction of individual elements of the vehicle, and by the selection of light materials including Al alloys. Connecting these elements with each other and with elements made of iron alloys can be realized, inter alia, by welding or stir welding. However, the quality of the welds obtained varies widely and depends on many design, operational and environmental factors. The present study focused on a review of various welding technics used to joint both similar and dissimilar Al alloys utilized in automotive industry, the effect of various process parameters on welds quality, and phenomena appeared in such welds..

TThe aim of the work is to present a newly developed stand and methodology of accelerated tests of fatigue strength of flexible propellers and fins. The paper presents the design and concepts of the measuring elements used in the research. Test methodology and water stressing were devel-oped. The mechanical properties of the following materials were presented: Arnitel EL-550 and QUEO 8230 with the addition of PP / EVA 50/50 (polypropylene / ethylene-vinyl acetate) - in the proportion of 70/30 (QUEO 8230 / additive). The constructed test stand and a new method of fa-tigue testing of biomimetic fins made it possible to determine the number of fin movement cy-cles under a given load, which may facilitate the determination of a warranty for a newly intro-duced product. The current consumption by the fin drive and video monitoring allowed for the selection of the range of the number of movement cycles and the determination of the moment of fatigue cracks until the fin structure loses its capacity. During the analysis, the test results showed that the fins made of Arnitel EL-550 did not show changes in the measured values of the current and the force generated by the fin. For a fin made of QUEO 8230, at 35,000 cycles, there is a decrease in the current and force consumed, which indicates the initiation of fatigue damage to the fin. The performed tests can be the basis for the development of standards for the fatigue strength of flexible propellers.

Four-wire low voltage microgrids supply one-phase consumers with continuously changing electricity demand. For addressing climate change concerns, governments implemented incentive schemes for residential consumers, encouraging the installation of home PV panels for covering self-consumption needs. In the absence of sufficient storage capacities, the surplus is sold back by these entities, called prosumers, to the grid operator or in local markets, to other consumers. While these initiatives encourage the proliferation of green energy resources, and ample research is dedicated to local market designs for prosumer-consumer trading, the main concern of distribution network operators is the influence of power flows generated by prosumer surplus injection on the operating states of microgrids. The change in power flow amount and direction can greatly influence the economic and technical operating conditions of radial grids. This paper proposes a metaheuristic algorithm for prosumer surplus management that optimizes the power surplus injections using the automated control of three-phase inverters, with the aim of improving the active power losses and balancing the phase voltage profiles. A case study is performed on two real distribution networks with distinct layouts and load profiles and the algorithm shows its efficiency in both scenarios.

In this report, we demonstrate that it is possible to design epitope-based peptide vaccine candidates to counteract the novel China coronavirus (2019-nCoV) by using an approach similar to the one used in cancer neoantigen vaccination therapy. We identified multiepitope peptide vaccine candidates against 2019-nCov that can potentially trigger both CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell immune response with increased efficiency due to the presence of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell epitopes and a cathepsin-sensitive linker. Furthermore, we suggest that the peptide design strategy should incorporate population-specific HLA alleles in order to optimize binding specificity of the peptides. We refer to this as populationalized vaccinomics.

A growing number of households benefit from the government subsidies to install renewable generation facilities such as PV panels, used to gain independence from the grid and provide cheap energy. In the Romanian electricity market, these prosumers can sell their generation surplus only at regulated prices, back to the grid. A way to increase the number of prosumers is to allow them to make higher profit by selling this surplus back into the local network. This would also be an advantage for the consumers, who could pay less for electricity exempt from network tariffs and benefitting from lower prices resulting from the competition between prosumers. One way of enabling this type of trade is to use peer-to-peer contracts traded in local markets, run at microgrid (μG) level. This paper presents a new trading platform based on smart peer-to-peer (P2P) contracts for prosumers energy surplus trading in a real local microgrid. Several trading scenarios are proposed, which give the possibility to perform trading based on participants’ locations, instantaneous active power demand, maximum daily energy demand and the principle of first come first served implemented in an anonymous blockchain trading ledger. The developed scheme is tested on a low-voltage (LV) microgrid model to check its feasibility of deployment in a real network. A comparative analysis between the proposed scenarios, regarding traded quatities and financial benefits is performed.

Poly(vinyl butyral-co-vinyl alcohol-co-vinyl acetate) named further PVBA was investigated as protective coating for copper corrosion in 0.9 % NaCl solution using electrochemical measurements such as, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization associated with Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The PVBA coating on the copper surface (Cu-PVBA) was modeled in methanol containing PVBA. Its inhibitory properties against corrosion was comparatively discussed with those of the copper sample treated in methanol without polymer (Cu-Me) and of untreated sample (standard copper). A protective performance of PVBA coating of 80 % was computed from electrochemical measurements, for copper corrosion in NaCl solution. Also, AFM images designed a specific surface morphology of coated surface with PVBA, clearly highlighting a polymer film adsorbed on the copper surface, which presents certain deterioration after corrosion, but metal surface was not significantly affected compared to those of untreated samples or treated in methanol, in the absence of PVBA.

Abstract: Spinal disorders are some of the most prevalent health concerns, especially among stu-dents. Based on student demographics, this cross-sectional study evaluated the correlation be-tween functional tests (FT) and spinal range of motion (ROM). This study included 206 students from Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacău. Participants' assessments were conducted using the following tests: (i) Ott, (ii) Schober, (iii) Stibor, (iv) finger-to-floor distance, (v) lateral flexion of the cervical and lumbar spine, and (vi) flexion of the cervical spine. Correlation analyses were evaluated using Spearman correlation coefficient analysis. The results indicated a very strong re-lationship between lateral flexion of the lumbar spine on the left (LFLSL) and right (LFSR) for all departments (r = 0.85 to 0.97, p < 0.05). There was a stronger relationship between FT results and spinal ROM of physical education department students compared to students from other de-partments (n = 17, r = -0.38 to 0.93, p < 0.05). There was no statistically significant correlation be-tween FT and spinal ROM based on age (p > 0.05). The study results provide evidence of the pri-mary risk factors that predispose students to postural deviations. Practitioners and physiothera-pists can utilize these values as a reference for potential therapeutic interventions.

Precision agriculture including camera-guided row detection and hydraulic steering are often used as an alternative because crop damage can be decreased and driving speed can be increased comparable to herbicide applications.The effects of different approaches as uncontrolled (UC), mechanical weed control (MWC), herbicide weed control (HWC) and mechanical + herbicide control (MWC+HWC) on weed density and yield of sugar beet were tested and evaluated in two trials (2021 and 2022) in South Transylvania at the tested intervals BBCH 19 and 31. Weed control efficacy (WCE) depends on the emergence of the weeds and a good timing of weed controls in all the trials and methods, though the highest yield of sugar beet roots was recorded in the treatment MWC+HWC, with an increase up to 12-15% (56.48 t ha-1) yield from HWC (50.22 t ha-1) and a yield increase of more than 35- 40% than MWC (42.34 t ha-1). Our trials show that is possible to increase yield and have less chemical applications with the introduction of the new precision technologies in agriculture included here the sensor-guided mechanical controls.

Global warming and the global energy crisis are two major challenges humanity is currently confronting that are pressuring the scientific community to find efficient, low cost and environmentally sustainable solutions. Within this context, hydrogen has emerged as a clean and efficient energy carrier promising to replace the environmentally hazardous fossil fuels. The present study, of relevance to the water splitting domain, concerns the synthesis of two novel hybrid structures, based on perovskite materials functionalized with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The water electrolysis catalytic activity of these new materials was evaluated in a strongly alkaline medium. Perovskite-based modified electrodes were manufactured through four different procedures. The samples displayed electrocatalytic activity for the O2 evolution reaction and the most active electrode was the one obtained by drop-casting a mixture of LaMnO3:Ag/PVP, Carbon Black and Nafion on graphite support. The study is aimed at and succeeds in increasing the scientific database concerning the role of perovskite oxides in the water splitting field.

Objective: The aim of our study was to perform a retrospective analysis of the volume of cervical screening tests, the number of patients treated with an excision method, and the incidence of invasive and non-invasive cervical during a pandemic and pre-pandemic period of 24 months. Results: There was a statistically significant age difference between the two study periods, both by the average age of patients and by age group. The mean difference was 32 years before the pan-demic and 35 years during the pandemic (p-value >0.05). The majority of patients presenting for investigations before and during the pandemic were in the 30-39-year-old age group (31.95%, respectively; 34.2% (p-value = 0.003). The biggest patient loss ratio identified by age group was in the 50–59 years: 14,53% in the pre-pandemic period and 9,1% in the pandemic period. In the pan-demic period, patients from rural areas presented in the clinical trial with a lower rate of 39.52% (83 patients) vs. 60.47% (127 patients) in urban areas. A higher percentage of patients experiencing cervicorrhagia as a clinical manifestation in the pandemic period vs. the prepandemic period, with an increase in more severe lesions in the pandemic period, has a statistical significance of 8% more newly diagnosed compared to the pre-pandemic period. Conclusion: The addressability of the patients during the COVID period was not affected in a drastic way in our study. We encountered a decrease in appointments in the age group 50–59 years and a decrease in patients with rural residence. In our study, we found an increase in cervicorrhagia as a reason for consultation in the pandemic period with a higher lesion degree, both on a pap smear and on a cervical biopsy.

Ice-binding proteins are crucial for adaptation of various organisms to low temperatures. Some of these, called antifreeze proteins, are usually thought to inhibit growth and/or recrystallization of ice crystals. However, prior to these events, ice must somehow appear in the organism, either coming from outside or forming inside through the nucleation process. Unlike most other works, our paper is focused on ice nucleation rather than the behavior of the already existing ice. The nucleation kinetics is studied both theoretically, with special attention paid to ice nucleation on ice-binding surfaces, and experimentally. For experimental studies, we use the ice-binding protein mIBP83, a previously constructed mutant of a spruce budworm Choristoneura fumiferana antifreeze protein. We show that mIBP83 does not affect the ice nucleation temperature in the buffer in test tubes, but hinders the impact of potent ice nucleators of various chemical natures, namely CuO powder and ice-nucleating bacteria Pseudomonas syringae. Additional experiments on human cells show that mIBP83 is concentrated in some regions, but only in cooled cells. Thus, the antifreeze protein not only binds to ice, but also blocks various sites that act or can act as ice nucleators. Such ice-preventing binding may be the crucial biological task of antifreeze proteins.

Although ovarian cystic teratoma is the most common ovarian tumor, complications are quite rare. However, it is important to be recognized by the radiologist in order to avoid inaccurately diagnosing them as malignant lesions. This case report describes a 61-year-old postmenopausal woman, who presented to the emergency room with abdominal pain following a minor blunt abdominal trauma. In this context, a CT scan was performed, which showed the presence of round, hypodense masses randomly distributed in the peritoneum, with coexisting ascites in moderate amount; ovarian carcinoma with peritoneal carcinomatosis was suspected. The patient was hospitalized and an MRI of the abdomen and pelvis was recommended for a more detailed lesion characterization. Following this examination, the patient was diagnosed with mature cystic ovarian teratoma complicated by rupture. Surgery was performed, and the outcome was favorable. The cases of ruptured cystic teratomas are rare, and to our knowledge, this is the first occurrence described in literature. Special attention must be paid when confronting with such a case in medical practice, since it can easily misdiagnosed as peritoneal carcinomatosis

Our study aims to implement a strategy to reduce the carbon steel corrosion rate in sulfuric acid solution, using an expired drug with adsorption affinity on the metal surface. To investigate the corrosion protection efficiency of an environmental friendly inhibitor, namely neomycin sulfate (NMS), the electrochemical measurements were applied on carbon steel immersed in 1.0 M H₂SO₄ solution with and without NMS. The protective layer formed on the steel surface was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed that the presence of the neomycin sulfate in acid solution leads to the decrease in corrosion current density (i_corr) and the increase of polarization resistance (R_p). The mixed mechanism between physical and chemical adsorption of NMS molecules on the steel surface was proposed according to the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) indicated that the NMS molecules contributed to a protective layer formation by their adsorption on the steel surface. The AFM parameters such as: root-mean-square roughness (R_q); average roughness (R_a) and maximum peak to valley height (R_p-v) revealed that in the presence of NMS a smoother surface of carbon steel was obtained, compared to the steel surface corroded in sulfuric acid blank solution.

A four-step synthesis of bifunctional, noncovalent organocatalysts based on the chiral (1R,2R)-cyclohexane-1,2-diamine scaffold containing a 1,2-benzenediamine H-bond donor was developed. Nucleophilic aromatic substitution of the 2-fluoronitrobenzene derivative with the commercial (1R,2R)-cyclohexane-1,2-diamine was followed by selective alkylation of the primary amino group, reduction of the aromatic nitro group and final derivatization of the primary aromatic amino group, i.e. acylation, sulfonation, reductive alkylation and arylation, leading to the four subtypes of organocatalysts. All new compounds were fully characterized. The prepared organocatalysts (32 examples) were tested in the Michael addition of acetylacetone to trans-β-nitrostyrene, yielding the addition product with incomplete conversions (up to 93%) and enantioselectivities of up to 41% ee.

The global climate change mitigation efforts have increased the efforts of national government to incentivize local households in adopting individual renewable energy as a mean to help reduce the usage of electricity generated using fossil fuels and to gain independence from the grid. Since the majority of residential generation is made by PV panels that generate electricity at off-peak hours, the optimal management of such installations often considers local storage that can defer the use of locally generated electricity at later times. On the other hand, the presence of distributed generation can affect negatively the operating conditions of low-voltage distribution networks. The energy stored in batteries located in optimal places in the network can be used by the utility to improve the operation of the network. This paper proposes a metaheuristic approach based on a Genetic Algorithm that considers three different scenarios of using energy storage for reducing the losses in the network. Prosumer and network operator priorities can be considered in different scenarios inside the same algorithm, to provide a comparative study of different priorities in storage placement. A case study performed on a real distribution network provides insightful results.

In the last years, the Distribution Grid Operators (DGOs) assumed transition strategies of the distribution grids towards an active area associated with the "Smart Grids" concept. They are considering the use of Artificial Intelligence techniques, combined with advanced technologies and real-time remote communication solutions of the enormous data amounts, to develop smart solutions into the small size distribution grids, also called microgrids (μGs). These solutions will provide support for the DGOs to ensure an optimal operation of the technical infrastructure of the μGs. In this context, a bi-level methodology for solving the phase load balancing problem in the μGs with complex topologies and a high number of single-phase consumers, considering a clustering-based selection criterion of the consumers for placement of the switching devices, was proposed in the paper. A real μG from a rural area, with 114 consumers integrated into the Smart Metering System (SMS), belonging to the DGO from Romania, was considered in testing the proposed methodology. An implementation degree of 17.5%, corresponding to the phase load balancing equipment installed to only 20 consumers from the μG, led to a faster computational time with 43% and reducing the number of switching operations by 92% than in the case of a full implementation degree (100%). The performance indicators related to the unbalance factor and energy-saving used in the evaluation of the technical benefits highlighted the efficiency of the proposed methodology.

In the electric distribution systems, the “Smart Grid” concept is implemented to encourage energy savings and integration of the innovative technologies, helping the Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) in choosing the investment plans which to lead the optimal operation of the networks and increasing the energy efficiency. In this context, a new phase load balancing algorithm was proposed to be implemented in the low voltage distribution networks with hybrid structures of the consumption points (switchable and non-switchable consumers). It can work in both operation modes (on-line and off-line), uploading information from different databases of the DNO which contain: the consumers’ characteristics, the real loads of the consumers integrated into the Smart Metering System (SMS), and the typical load profiles for the consumers non-integrated in the SMS. The algorithm was tested in a real network, having a hybrid structure of the consumption points, on a time interval by 24 hours. The obtained results were analyzed and compared with other algorithms from the heuristic (Minimum Count of Loads Adjustment algorithm) and the metaheuristic (Particle Swarm Optimization and Genetic Algorithms) categories. The best performances were provided by the proposed algorithm, such that the unbalance coefficient resulted in the smallest value (1.0017). The phase load balancing led to the following technical effects: decreasing the average current in the neutral conductor with 94% and for the energy losses with 61.75 %, and increasing the minimum value of the phase voltage at the farthest pillar with the 7.14 %, compared to the unbalanced case.

Abstract: Autoimmune encephalitis is a complex and multifaceted pathology that involves the immune-mediated inflammation of the brain. It is characterized by the body's immune system mistakenly attacking the brain tissue, leading to a cascade of inflammatory processes. What makes autoimmune encephalitis vast is the wide range of causes, mechanisms, clinical presentations, and diagnostic challenges associated with the condition. The clinical presentations of autoimmune encephalitis are broad and can mimic other neurological disorders, making it a challenging differential diagnosis. This diverse clinical presentation can overlap with other conditions, making it crucial for healthcare professionals to maintain a high level of suspicion for autoimmune encephalitis when evaluating patients. The diagnostic challenges associated with autoimmune encephalitis further contribute to its vastness. Due to the variable nature of the condition, there is no definitive diagnostic test that can confirm autoimmune encephalitis in all cases. In this context, personalized patient management is crucial for achieving favorable outcomes. Each patient's treatment plan should be tailored to their specific clinical presentation, underlying cause, and immune response. Our objective is to raise awareness about the frequent yet under-diagnosed nature of autoimmune encephalitis by sharing five cases we encountered, along with a brief literature review.

Introduction: Antitumor host immune response is an important factor, but its role is not fully established. The role of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) in breast cancer as an immunological biomarker has been significantly explored over the past years. The number of patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) increased and identification of a biomarker to predict the probability of pCR (pathological complete response) is a high priority. Materials and methods: We evaluated 334 cases of BC treated with NAC followed by surgical resection from 2020-2022 in Ist Clinic of Oncological Surgery, Oncological Institute "Prof Dr I Chiricuta" Cluj Napoca. Of the above, 122 cases were available for histological evaluation both in pre-NAC biopsy and post-NAC resection tissue. Evaluation of biopsy fragments and resection parts using hematoxylin eosin (H&amp;E). The TIL evaluation took place according to the recommendations of the International TIL Working Group (ITILWG). Results: There was a strong association between elevated levels of pre-NAC TIL. At the same time, there is a statistically significant correlation between stromal TIL and tumor grade, the number of lymph node metastases, the molecular subtype, and the number of mitoses (p &lt;0.005). Intratumoral TIL showed a significant correlation with tumor size, distant metastasis, molecular subtype, number of mitosis, stage and lymph node metastasis (p&lt;0.005). We also demonstrated that high pre-NAC TILs represent a strong predictive marker for pCR. Conclusion: This study reveals the role of TIL as a predictive biomarker in breast cancer not only for the well-established TNBC (triple negative breast cancer) and HER2+ (Her2 overexpressed) subtypes but also in Luminal A and B molecular subtypes. In this scenario, the evaluation of TILs as novel predictive and therapy-predicting factors should become a routinely performed analysis that could guide clinicians into the choice of the most appropriate therapy.

Innovative practices in irrigation systems can bring improvements in terms of economic efficiency and in the same time can reduce environmental impact. Investment in high tech technologies frequently involves additional costs, but an efficient water management can increase the lifetime of the equipment. The main objective of this article is to reduce the energy consumption by one thousand cubic meters pumped and automatically to increase the economic efficiency of the pumping groups. This paper develops a new operating algorithm that ensures the operation of the pumping group at safe operating intervals and in the same time identifies the equivalent pump operating points for the entire flow range and pumping height of the pumping group. This methodology is based on the principles of an Expert System to perform the optimization process of the energy consumption in pumping groups. The resulting methodology avoids the combinatorial explosion of the solutions to be analyzed and determines the point of maximum efficiency without violation of any of the system constraints under any operating condition. The proposed methodology is tested on an irrigation system that includes a pumping group with 5 pumps, showing its effectiveness in obtaining the optimal solution with a relatively low computational burden.

In time, osteoarthritis (OA) generates the misalignment of the affected joint structures. However, due to the nature of bipedal gait, OA in the lower limb can also cause pathological gait patterns, which can generate instability and falls, with great consequence, especially in the aged population. With goniometry used to evaluate the range of motion of joints (ROM), we wanted to evaluate how gender impacts gait dynamics in OA patients. For this study we have compared 106 OA patients (male=32, female=74) to age matched controls. All participants had their right leg as dominant. Video recording of normal gait was analysed with a digital goniometry tool phone application, and the knee’s ROM was measured in midstance and midswing of the gait. During midstance, significant extension and flexion of the knee excursion have been observed in both males and females. During midswing, knee OA presents more differences, whereas subjects with hip and knee OA present changes on the dominant knee. Midstance changes suggest that the knee’s joint degenerative changes can be linked to hip OA secondary changes. Midswing changes in lower limb OA suggest a connection to the activities of daily life. Gender differences generated by OA must furthermore be studied in both lower limbs so that the best therapeutic approach can be chosen.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a distinct category of lymphoproliferative disorder characterized by the clonal expansion of mature B cells, followed by their accumulation in primary and secondary lymphoid organs. Cluster of differentiation (CD) markers such as CD20, CD22, CD23, CD5, and CD81 serve as reliable prognostic indicators and disease progression factors in CLL. The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system is a critical genetic variable in many diseases, with well-documented associations between HLA and various cancers. This study aims to investigate, for the first time, potential connections between HLA typing and CD marker expression in CLL. Despite being one of the most prevalent neoplasms in developed regions, there is a need for biomarkers that can improve survival predictions and identify possible genetic determinants. Methods: This study included 66 CLL patients and 100 controls, with all samples analyzed using biochemical methods, flow cytometry, and cytomorphology. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed for HLA typing. Results: The results indicate that several CD markers are statistically associated with different HLA alleles. Specifically, CD20 was associated with HLA-DRB1*11:04:01; CD45 with HLA-C*07:01:01; CD79b with HLA-DPA1*02:01:02; CD23 with HLA-B*39:01:01; CD43 with HLA-DRB1*15:01:01; CD22 with HLA-B*49:01:01, HLA-C*07:01:01, HLA-DPB1*02:01:02, and HLA-DRB1*07:01:01; and CD81 with HLA-DPB1*04:02:01, HLA-DQA1*01:04:01, and HLA-DQB1*05:03:01.Conclusion: In conclusion, this research demonstrates significant statistical links between HLA genes and immunophenotypic markers in CLL patients, shedding new light on the immunological context of CLL.

Magnetorheological (MR) fluids have been known to react to magnetic fields of sufficient magnitudes. While in the presence of the field the material develops a yield stress. The tunable property has made it attractive in e.g. semi-active damper applications in vibration control domain in particular. Within the context of a given application the fluids can be exploited in at least one of the fundamental operating modes of which the so-called gradient pinch mode has been least explored. Contrary to the other operating modes, the MR fluid volume in the flow channel is exposed to a non-uniform magnetic field in such a way that the Venturi-like contraction is developed in a flow channel solely by means of a solidified material in the regions near the walls rather than mechanically driven changes of the channel’s geometry. The pinch mode rheology of the material has made it a potential candidate in developing on a new category of MR valves. By convention, a pinch mode valve features a single flow channel with poles over which non-uniform magnetic field is induced. In this study the authors examine ways of extending the dynamic range of pinch mode valves by employing a number of such arrangements (stages) in series. To accomplish this, the authors developed a prototype of a multi-stage (three-stage) valve, and then compared its performance against that of a single-stage valve across a wide range of hydraulic and magnetic stimuli. To summarize, improvements in the pinch mode valve dynamic range are evident, however, at the same time it is hampered by the presence of serial air gaps in the flow channel.

The paper proposes an innovative solution for managing and ensuring high energy efficiency of power supply systems at high non-linear loads. This is realized by maintaining optimal value of reliability indicators and high quality of power supply. The validation is carried out using analyzes and tests of quality of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) for increased number of powered frequency converters. It has been proven that the effective use and reduction of energy consumption can be achieved thanks to the unique technological features of the employed electrical devices. This enables a normal operation of the system with decreased power and adequate control of energy processes. The problem of predicting power losses under changing conditions in a decentralized electrical network has been solved based on the theory of electromagnetic compatibility. The influence of the mains mode parameters and the indices of instantaneous distortion of current and voltage waveforms caused by the operation of converters on the resonance phenomena in power supply systems were investigated. Recommendations were developed for the selection of proper parameters of compensators for 6-10 kV and 0.4-0.66 kV circuits based on the analysis of the optimization problem when minimizing active power losses. Results of our findings may aid parties involved in designing and maintaining power networks in various applications, such as mines, etc.

Background: The modified Duke index derived from coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) was designed to predict cardiovascular outcomes based on the severity of coronary ste-nosis. However, it does not take into consideration the presence or severity of peri-coronary in-flammation. The peri-coronary fat attenuation index (FAI) is a novel imaging marker determined by CCTA which reflects the degree of inflammation in the coronary tree in patients with coronary artery disease. Purpose: To assess the association between the modified Duke index assessed by CCTA, cardiovascular risk factors and peri-coronary inflammation in the coronary arteries of pa-tients with coronary artery disease. Methods: One hundred seventy-two patients who underwent CCTA for typical angina were assigned into two groups based on the modified Duke index: group 1 – patients with low index ≤ 3 (n=107) and group 2 – patients with high index > 3 (n=65). Demo-graphic, clinical and CCTA data were collected for all patients, and FAI analysis of coronary in-flammation was performed. Results: Patients with increased values of the modified Duke index were significantly older compared to those with a low index (61.83 ± 9.89 vs. 64.78 ± 8.9; p = 0.002). No differences were found between the two groups in terms of gender distribution, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia or smoking history (all p > 0.5). The FAI score was significantly higher in patients from group 2, who presented a significantly higher score of inflammation compared to the patients in group 1, especially at the level of the right coronary artery (FAI score 20.85 ± 15.80 vs. 14.61 ± 16.66; p = 0.01 for the right coronary artery, 13.85 ± 8.04 vs. 10.91 ± 6.5; p = 0.01 for the circumflex artery, and 13.26 ±10.18 vs. 11.37 ± 8.84; p = 0.2 for the left anterior descending artery). CaRi-Heart® analysis identified a significantly higher risk of future events among patients with a high modified Duke index (34.84 % ± 25.86 % versus 16.87 % ± 15.80 %; p

Wild artisanal cultures, such as SCOBY-based membranes (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeasts) and water kefir grains (WKG), are complex consortia of microorganisms comprising yeasts, lactic and acetic acid bacteria, with a large strains’ diversity and abundance. The fermented products (FPs) obtained by the microbiome’s contribution can be included into functional products due to their metabiotics (pre-, pro-, post-, and paraprobiotics) as a result of the complex and synergistic association as well as due to the metabolic functionality. In this study, both consortia of SCOBY and WKG were involved in the co-fermentation of a new formulated substrate, that was further analysed aiming at increasing of the postbiotic composition of the FPs. Plackett-Burman (PB) and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) techniques were used for the experimental designs to select and optimize the most important parameters that influence the freeze-dried starter cultures of SCOBY and WKG activity as a multiple inoculum. The tea concentration (1-3%), sugar concentration (5-10%), raisins concentration (3-6%), SCOBY lyophilized culture concentration (0.2-0.5%), WKG lyophilized culture concentration (0.2-0.5%), and fermentation time (5-7 days), were considered the independent variables for mathematical analysis and fermentation conditions’ optimization. The pH, total acidity (TA), antioxidant activity (DPPH), and antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Bacillus subtilis MIUG B1, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, and Aspergillus niger MIUG M5 were evaluated as responses. The rich postbiotic bioactive composition of the FP obtained in optimized biotechnological conditions highlighted the usefulness of the artisanal co-cultures, through their symbiotic metabolic interactions for the improvement of bioactive potential.

Materials based on platinum metals with very good catalytic activity were tested in the reduction of p–nitrophenol (pNP) to p–aminophenol (pAP). The majority of presented catalytic materials are based on the adsorption of p–nitrophenol on the surface of the catalyst simultaneously with molecular hydrogen, coming from sodium borohydride in an aqueous medium, which reduces it. In the present paper, a catalytic material based on osmium dispersed in n–decanol or n–dodecanol is presented, which also works as an emulsion membrane, for the absorption of p–nitrophenol and molecular hydrogen at the n–alcohol aqueous solution interface. The hydrogenation of p–nitrophenol is carried out in a reaction and separation column in which the acid receiving phase emulsion is dispersed in the osmium nanodispersion, in n–alcohols. This emulsion circulates from the base of the column to its upper part in co-current or counter-current with the source phase consisting of p–nitrophenol and sodium borohydride. Experiments show that the circulation of counter-current phases is superior to that in co-current, and the emulsion based on n–decanol is more efficient than the one based on n–dodecanol. The increase in the pH difference between the source and receiving phases leads to the increase in the conversion of p–nitrophenol to p–aminophenol. The efficiency of separation of the reaction product in the receiving phase is lower than the conversion at the same operating time. The apparent catalytic rate constant (kapp) of the new catalytic material based on the emulsion membrane with nanodispersion of osmium nanoparticles (0.1×10−3 for n–dodecanol and 0.9×10−3 for n-decanol) is lower by an order of magnitude compared to those based on adsorption on catalysts from platinum metal group. The advantage of the tested membrane catalytic material is that it extracts p–aminophenol in the acid receiving phase. The paper proposes a mechanism of the studied reduction system.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are frequently interconnected and their association leads to an exponential increase in the risk of both fatal and non-fatal events. In addition, the burden of arrhythmias in CKD patients is increased. On the other hand, the presence of CKD is an important factor that influences the decision to pursue cardiac device therapy. Data on CKD patients with device therapy is scarce and mostly derives from observational studies and case reports. Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is associated with decreased mortality, reduced heart failure symptoms and improved renal function in early stages of CKD. Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are associated with a significant reduction in the mortality of CKD patients only for the secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death. Cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D) is preferred in patients that meet the established criteria. The need for cardiac pacing is 3-fold higher in dialysis patients. CKD is an independent risk factor for infections associated with cardiac devices.

Conclusions: HRCT is a valuable tool in preoperative assessment of cholesteatoma, helping in making surgical decisions. It can accurately predict the extent of disease and is helpful for detecting unapparent dangerous situations. However it is not very accurate in detecting Fallopian canal and stapes erosion.

Background and Objectives: Sports medicine, orthopaedic and rehabilitation physicians use gait analysis and goniometry to evaluate and diagnose patients with neuro-musculo-skeletal diseases. Goniometry is a measuring method that shows the joint’s range of motion. Three-dimensional goniometry has been used in order to assess the patients in a kinematic manner, but they are not affordable, so, phone apps come handy to any orthopaedic or rehabilitation physician so we can have a clear image of the progress made by the patient after the rehabilitation program or should something happen and the patient cannot come to the facility, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, when some orthopaedic and most of the rehabilitation facilities have been temporarily closed. Midstance has been chosen as the moment of the gait evaluation in this paper since it has an important role in stability. The objective of this paper is to figure out if the measurements taken during midstance at the knee joint of the subjects can be statistically significant and used during usual examinations. Materials and Methods: Four groups of subjects: patients suffering from hip, knee, hip and knee osteoarthritis and a control group volunteered their participation, being asked to normally walk while their gait was recorded and uploaded into Angles App – a phone based videogoniometer. Results: Patients suffering from hip osteoarthritis have a higher knee angle on the right side than the ones suffering from knee osteoarthritis, hip and knee osteoarthritis and the control group. Female patients suffering from hip osteoarthritis also presented a more flexed knee than the ones suffering from knee osteoarthritis and the ones in the control group, the knee flexion presenting itself as a compensation mechanism. Conclusion: Video goniometry can help us make an orthopaedic, rehabilitation or neurology database for each assessment with constant updates of the evolution of the osteoarthritis patient’s treatment.

We report the relative humidity (R.H.) sensing response of a resistive sensor, employing sensing layers based on a ternary nanohybrid comprising holey carbon nanohorns (CNHox), potassium chloride (KCl), and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) at mass ratios 7/1/2, 6.5/1.5/2, and 6/2/2 (w/w/w/w). The sensing structure comprises a silicon substrate, a SiO2 layer, and interdigitated transducer (IDT) electrodes. The sensing film is deposited on the sensing structure via the drop-casting method. The sensing layers' morphology and composition are investigated through Scanning Electron Microscopy (S.E.M.) and RAMAN spectroscopy. The ternary hybrid-based thin film resistance increases when the sensors are exposed to R.H., ranging from 0% to 100%. The manufactured devices show a room temperature response comparable to a commercial capacitive R.H. sensor and are characterized by excellent linearity, rapid response time, and good sensitivity. The presented sensors exhibit superior performance in terms of sensitivity compared to other similarly manufactured and tested sensors that employ a CNHox-based sensing layer. We explain the sensing role of each constituent of the ternary hybrid nanocomposites based on their chemical and physical properties, electronic properties, and affinity for water molecules. Different alternative sensing mechanisms are considered and discussed, such as the decreasing number of holes in the holey CNHox at the interaction with water molecules, proton conduction, and PVP swelling.

In the paper, a coordinated control methodology of single-phase (1-P) end-users switching oper-ations on the phases of an active electric distribution network (AEDN) has been proposed to ob-tain a minimum unbalance degree at the coupling common point (CCP) level with the main dis-tribution system. The phase load balancing (PLB) process considers the smart devices that switch from one phase to another phase the 1-P end-users (consumers and prosumers) to compensate for the phase load unbalance. The proposed methodology has been tested successfully in an AEDN belonging to a Romanian Distribution Network Operator (DNO) containing 114 end-users (104 consumers/10 prosumers) integrated into the Smart Metering System (SMS). The op-timal solution leads to a value of the objective function by 1.00004, represented by the unbalance factor, very close to the ideal target, 1.00. A comparative analysis was conducted considering other possible PLB cases (the consumer-level PLB and prosumer-level PLB), obtaining similar values of the UF (1.027 vs. 1.028), slightly higher than in the hybrid-level PLB. Also, the signifi-cant technical benefits were quantified through an energy-saving of 58.73% and decreasing the phase voltage unbalance rate by 91 % compared to the initial case (without PLB). These results emphasized the positive impact of the proposed coordinated control methodology on the PLB process and evidenced its effectiveness and applicability in the AEDNs.

Management of synchronous colorectal cancer with liver metastases (SCLM) is still on debate, regarding timing, indications and complications of the 3 strategies: classic approach (first tumor resection), simultaneous resection and reverse approach (liver first). A retrospective single-centre evaluation of synchronous approach was accomplished, focusing on surgical technique, indications and perioperative complications. Between 2017 and 2020, 31 SCLM patients benefited from synchronously colorectal and hepatic approach: segmental colectomies/rectal resections, simultaneously with liver metastasectomies (associated with radiofrequency ablation). Post-therapeutic imaging monitoring was performed from every 3 to 6 months. There were no perioperative complications related to the combination of the two procedures, low morbidity and zero postoperative mortality. The follow-up period was from 10 to 40 months: 13 patients had no evidence of recurrence, 10 patients had hepatic metastases in regression, 4 of them had signs of peritoneal carcinomatosis and 4 patients showed progression of liver disease; all patients were on chemotherapy. During follow-up 4 patients died. Experience shows that the simultaneous approach of recto-colic and hepatic resections in colo-rectal cancers is a safe procedure, with low morbidity, the limits being dictated by the size of the liver metastases. The results at long-distance must be drawn by further consistent trials.

Epigenetic modifications play a significant role in determining the fate of AFSC in terms of differentiation into multiple lineages. There is a tight correlation among DNA methylation, histone modifications, and small noncoding RNAs during the epigenetic control of stem cells differentiation. The present study investigates the role of miRNAs in differentiation of AFSC and addresses how their unique signatures contribute to lineage-specific differentiation. miRNAs profile was assessed in AFSC after 4 weeks of endothelial and muscular differentiation. Our results showed a decreased expression of for 5 miRNAs (miR-125b-5p, hsa-miR-18a-5p, hsa-miR-137, hsa-miR-21-5p and hsa-let-7a-5p) and an increased expression for 12 miRNAs (miR-134-5p, miR-103a-3p, let-7i-5p, miR-214-3p, let-7c-5p, miR-129-5p, miR-210-3p, let-7d-5p, miR-375, miR-181-5p, miR-125a-5p, hsa-let-7e-5p) in EPC compared with undifferentiated AFSC. Smooth muscle differentiation of AFSC revealed significant changes in 9 miRNAs from total of 84 tested; 3 were downregulated (miR-18a-5p, miR-137, sa-miR-21-5p) and 6 were upregulated (miR-155-5p, miR-20a-5p, let-7i-5p, hsa-miR-134-5p, hsa-miR-214-3p, hsa-miR-375). miRNAs are molecular regulators of cell fate and differentiation, recent advances in molecular biology techniques revealed miRNA regulatory networks that can provide us information of endothelial and muscle cell biology in terms of homeostasis, growth, differentiation, and vascular function.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has gained attention in the last few years due to its increasing prevalence worldwide becoming a global epidemic. This review aims to discuss the latest recommendations regarding diagnosis and treatment of NAFLD-associated HCC and the remaining challenges. Thus, there is a high amount of data derived from basic and clinical studies that revealed the molecular pathways which drive NAFLD-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Based on these findings, new prevention, surveillance and treatment strategies are emerging. However, current data on treatment modalities in NAFLD-associated HCC are still scarce, but based on subgroup analysis results from non-NAFLD HCC studies are promising and could provide a basis for future research agenda to address NAFLD/NASH patients. Conclusion: Due to the pandemic proportions that NAFLD gained in the last few years, there is a high amount of data derived from basic and clinical studies that revealed the molecular path-ways which drive NAFLD-associated HCC. Based on these findings, new prevention, surveillance and treatment strategies could be developed at an individual level.

Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are highly prevalent in CKD affecting over 80% of hemodialysis (HD) patients and require therapeutic intervention. Nephrological societies suggest the administration of cholecalciferol according to the guidelines for the general population. The aim of the observational study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the therapy with a high dose of cholecalciferol in HD patients with 25(OH)D deficiency and insufficiency to reach the target serum 25(OH)D level &gt; 30 ng/mL. 22 patients (16 M), with an average age of 72.5 ± 13.03 years and 25(OH)D concentration of 13.05 (9.00–17.90) ng/mL were administered cholecalciferol at a therapeutic dose of 70,000 IU/week (20,000 IU + 20,000 IU + 30,000 IU, immediately after each dialysis session). All patients achieved the target value &gt;30 ng/mL, with a mean time of 2.86 ± 1.87 weeks. In the first week, the target level of 25(OH)D (100%) was reached by 2 patients (9.09%), in the second week – by 15 patients (68.18%), in the fourth week – by 18 patients (81.18%) and in the ninth week by all 22 patients (100%). A significant increase in 1,25(OH)2D levels was observed during the study, however, only 2 patients (9.09%) achieved a concentration of 1,25(OH)2D above 25 ng/mL – the lower limit of the reference range. The intact PTH concentrations remained unchanged during the observation period. No episodes of hypercalcemia, and one new episode of hyperphosphatemia were observed. In conclusion, our study showed that the administration of a high therapeutic dose of cholecalciferol allowed for a quick, effective, and safe leveling of 25(OH)D concentration in HD patients.

The endo- and exo-N-heterocyclic carbene precursors based on camphor were prepared diastereoselectively in five synthetic steps starting from (1S)-(+)-ketopinic acid. The obtained N-heterocyclic carbene precursors were investigated in an asymmetric benzoin reaction. All new compounds were fully characterized and the absolute configurations were determined by X-ray diffraction and NOESY measurements.

Several strategies promote phyllosphere colonization by soil-born Trichoderma plant-beneficial strains. One of these is foliar spraying with suspensions containing large amounts of chlamydospores – spores with a thick cell wall structure that makes them highly resistant to harsh environmental conditions. Trichoderma biomass was produced by cultivation on cornmeal medium and compared by microscopic and thermogravimetric analysis with the biomass produced in potato dextrose broth. Both analyses revealed higher chlamydospores content and thicker mycelium in the fungal biomass produced on cornmeal medium. The Trichoderma suspension rich in chlamydospores was sprayed on bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) leaves at two concentration levels, 106 and 108 ufc/ml. The effect of these treatments on plant physiological parameters, leaf photosynthetic pigments, polyphenol and flavonoid contents, antioxidant activity of leaves and fruits and yield was compared to the control (plants sprayed with water) and to the experimental treatment sprayed with 108 ufc propagules produced in potato dextrose broth. The effect of chlamydospore-rich suspensions on plant physiological parameters was more pronounced and long-lasting compared with the other treatments. The treatment with chlamydospore-rich suspension enhanced the accumulation of polyphenols and flavonoids in the leaves and fruits and increased the antioxidant activity. The application of the foliar treatment with Trichoderma suspensions did not modify the cytocompatibility of the extracts from fruits determined on L929 cells.

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is vaccine-preventable neglected zoonotic neuroinvasive disease, caused by tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). Many of the Central and Eastern European countries are affected by TBE, which is often poorly perceived by tourists visiting endemic territories. Here we are reporting a fatal case of imported TBE in Serbian resident who was exposed to tick bite during a visit to Switzerland.

New complexes of manganese(II) hexafluoroacetylacetonate [Mn(hfac)2] with 2-(1-R-3-pyrazol-4-yl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-2-imidazoline-3-oxide-1-oxyl (R = CHF2, CH2CH2F, CH2CHF2 or CH2CF3) were synthesised and characterised structurally and magnetically. All complexes were prepared under similar conditions. Nonetheless, their crystal structures were considerably different. Depending on the structure of fluorinated alkyl substituent R, the complexation reaction led to complexes of three types: chain-polymeric complexes with the head-to-head or head-to-tail motif and complexes of molecular structure. All complexes show strong antiferromagnetic behaviour in a high-temperature region (150−300 K) and weak ferro- or antiferromagnetic exchange interactions at low temperatures. The stronger antiferromagnetic exchange, –101.7 ± 1.5 or –136 ± 10 cm–1, –82.3 ± 1.3 cm–1 and –87.4 ± 1.3 cm–1, was attributed to the magnetic interaction in three- or two-spin clusters: {&gt;N∸O–Mn2+–O∸N&lt;} or {&gt;N∸O–Mn2+}, respectively. The weaker antiferromagnetic interaction, –0.005, between three-spin clusters or ferromagnetic interactions, 0.18–0.81 cm–1, between two-spin clusters are realised through the pyrazole ring or intermolecular contacts.

The paper focuses on the application of a multilevel, integrative and territorial approach to the protection of cultural heritage through planning instruments in Serbia. It points out the problems of the sectoral approach and discusses international recommendations that can be integrated into the planning methodology. The case study is the area of Djerdap National Park, which has an already established international and national importance. The research suggests that the cultural heritage in the area, with the exception of the Roman limes, is still recognized at the level of individual localities. The study emphasizes the importance of aligning all levels of governance to safeguard the whole spatial entity rather than focusing solely on its particular areas. The interna-tional and national importance of the planning area contributes to the strengthening of awareness of heritage and its institutional protection. However, the vitality of the area, which is key to its sustainable development, comes from the local level. Planning documents contribute to the inte-gration of local values and local communities into development programs and projects.

Background and Objectives: Rheumatic diseases often exhibit a complex pattern of comorbidities, including the increased occurrence of emotional disorders like anxiety and depression, which are closely related to the presence of chronic pain. Therefore, a multimodal approach is necessary for treatment, targeting both the physical and psychological functioning. Due to the increased burden within the healthcare context that emerged during the post-pandemic period, the need to adjust the content and length of psychological interventions became ubiquitous. In this way, the main objective of this study was to investigate the efficiency of a single-session, process-based psychological intervention for patients with rheumatic conditions and emotional comorbidities in a naturalistic, in-patient setting. Materials and Methods: After the screening, a total of 31 participants (Mage = 58.9, SD = 12.03) completed the single session intervention. The therapeutic protocol relied on a process-based cognitive-behavioural therapy framework aiming to improve cognitive, emotional and behavioural functioning. Assessments were conducted prior to the intervention, post-intervention and one month following the hospitalization. Results: Immediately after the intervention, significant reductions in dysfunctional cognitive and emotional processes, along with the improvement of behavioural strategies were observed. At the one-month telephonic evaluation, participants reported decreased pain, state anxiety and state depression levels. Conclusions: The single-session, process-based approach represents a promising intervention in healthcare contexts, targeting important psychopathological mechanisms in patients with rheumatic conditions. Future studies could clarify the extent to which these outcomes persist over time and their specific associations with anxiety and depressive symptoms, by using more controlled and rigorous trial designs.

Considerable efforts have been made in recent years to identify an optimal treatment method for the removal of antibiotics from wastewaters. A series of supramolecular organic-inorganic magnetic composites containing Zn-modified MgAl LDHs and Cu-phthalocyanine as photosensitizer have been prepared with the scope to β-lactam antibiotics removal from aqueous solutions. The characterization of these materials confirmed the anchorage of Cu-phthalocyanine onto the edges of the LDH lamellae, with a negligible part inserted in the interlayer space. The removal of β-lactam antibiotics occurred via a concerted adsorption and photocatalytic degradation. The efficiency of the composites was depending on i) the LDH: magnetic nanoparticle (MP) ratio, that is strongly correlated to the textural properties of the catalysts, and ii) the phthalocyanine loading in the final composite. A maximum of the efficiency was achieved with a removal of ~93% of antibiotics after 2h of reaction.

Using of the organic base tetramethylammonium hydroxides (TMAH) is a viable, cheap and fast route, for the MgZnAl-LDH type materials synthesis by both co-precipitation and mechano-chemical methods. TMAH provided several advantages as smaller quantity of water required in the washing step compared to the use of inorganic alkalis, prevention of LDH contamination with alkali cations, acting as template molecule in texture tailoring along with disadvantages as its presence in small quantities in the resulting layered materials. Regardless the use of organic / inorganic bases and co-precipitation / mechano-chemical methods, zincite stable phase was found in all the synthesized solids. The basicity of catalysts followed the trend: mixed oxides &gt; reconstructed &gt; parent LDH. The memory effect of LDH is supported only by the presence of Mg and Al cations, while Zn remains as zincite stable phase. The catalytic activities for Claisen-Schmidt condensation of benzaldehyde with cyclohexanone provided values higher than 90% after 2h, with a total selectivity in 2,6-dibenzylidenecyclohexanone, while in self-condensation of cyclohexanone no more than 7.29% after 5h. These behaviors depended on catalysts basicity as well as the planar rigidity of the compound.

Glycosidic linkage analysis was conducted on the unfractionated polysaccharides in the alcohol-insoluble residues (AIRs) prepared from six red seaweeds (Gracilariopsis sp., Prionitis sp., Mastocarpus papillatus, Callophyllis sp., Mazzaella splendens, and Palmaria palmata) using GC-MS/FID analysis of partially methylated alditol acetates (PMAAs). The cell walls of P. palmata primarily contained mixed-linkage xylans and small amounts of sulfated galactans and cellulose. In contrast, the unfractionated polysaccharides of the other five species were rich in galactans displaying diverse 3,6-anhydro-galactose and galactose linkages with varied sulfation patterns. Different levels of cellulose were also observed. This glycosidic linkage method offers advantages for cellulose analysis over traditional monosaccharide analysis that is known for underrepresenting glucose in crystalline cellulose. Relative linkage compositions calculated from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements showed that anhydro sugar linkages generated more response in the latter detection method. This improved linkage workflow presents a useful tool for studying polysaccharide structural variations across red seaweed species. Furthermore, for the first time, relative linkage compositions from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements, along with normalized FID and total ion current (TIC) chromatograms without peak assignments, were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) as a proof-of-concept demonstration of the technique's potential to differentiate various red seaweed species.

Background: Educating college students about the importance of good sleep habits could lead to the adoption of healthier sleep routines, including sufficient sleep duration and sleep quality. The current pre-post study examines the impact of completing a sleep education program called “Sleep 101” on (1) sleep hygiene practices, (2) sleep quality, and (3) weekday and weekend sleep behaviors among college students. “Sleep 101” is an interactive online course developed to educate college students about the importance of sleep by addressing basic sleep physiology, the impact of sleep on mood, academic and physical performance, the interactions between sleep and various substances, and common sleep disorders. Methods: 338 college students were recruited from a midsized public university in the US and invited to participate in “Sleep 101”, of which 25 participants completed the baseline and post-intervention questionnaire. The Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI) was utilized to evaluate sleep hygiene practices, while standard questions were employed to assess weekday and weekend sleep behaviors and overall sleep quality. Results: Those who completed the study demonstrated a significant increase in weekday sleep duration and were less likely to engage in negative prior bedtime activities. In addition, 40% of those who completed baseline and post-intervention assessments noticed improvements in their sleep quality. Conclusion: These findings suggest that a brief online program is beneficial in improving sleep behaviors among college and could be a scalable approach to addressing current sleep issues and preventing future sleep problems in college students.

The profile of secondary metabolites occurring in apple cuticular layer is not only characteristic for particular apple cultivar, but also dynamically reflects various external factors in growing environment. In this study, the possibility to authenticate apple samples based on analysis of their cuticular layer extracts was investigated. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS/MS) was employed for obtaining metabolomic fingerprints. In total, 274 authentic apple samples, four cultivars harvested within the seasons 2020 to 2022 in the Czech Republic and Poland were analysed. The generated complex data processed by univariate and multivariate statistical methods enabled to build classification models for discrimination of apple cultivars as well as their geographical origin. The models showed very good performance in differentiation of Czech and Polish samples for three of four cultivars: ‘Gala’, ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Idared’, moreover, the validity of the models was verified over harvest seasons. The diagnostic markers, besides metabolites of triterpene biosynthetic pathway, mainly represented wax esters. ‘Jonagold’, which is known to be susceptible to mutations, was the only cultivar for which the unambiguous classification of geographical origin was not possible.

Strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora is one of the main diseases of strawberry and significantly impacts the yield and quality of strawberry fruit. There are now no effective control techniques available except for fungicide sprays, which may directly impact consumers. Biological control is becoming an alternative method for the control of plant diseases to replace or decrease the application of traditional synthetic chemical fungicides. Trichoderma is widely used as a biological agent for controlling strawberry root rot. In order to provide resources for screening the highly effective biocontrol fungus for controlling strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora, the biocontrol mechanism,the control effects of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 against strawberry root rot and growth-promoting effects on strawberry seedlings were investigated by plate culture, microscopy observation and root drenching methods.The results showed that CMT10 had obvious competitive, antibiotic and hyperparasitism effects on Neopestalotiopsis clavispora CMGF3. The CMT10 could quickly occupy nutritional space, and the inhibition rates of CMT10 against CMGF3 in confrontation culture on 7 d was 65.49%. The inhibition rates of volatile metabolite and fermentation metabolite produced by CMT10 against CMGF3 were 79.67% and 69.84%, respectively. The mycelium of strain CMT10 can act as hyperparasites by making contacting, winding and penetrating hyphae of CMGF3. Pot experiment showed that the biocontrol efficacy of CMT10 on strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora was 63.00%. CMT10 had obvious promotion effect on strawberry growth, the plant height, root length, total fresh weight, root fresh weight, stem fresh weight and root dry weight, with the promotion rates were 20.09%, 22.39%, 87.11%, 101.58%, 79.82% and 72.33%, respectively. Overall, this study showed the ability of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 to control strawberry root rot and their potential to develop as novel biocontrol agents to replace chemical fungicides for eco-friendly, sustainable agriculture.

Apis mellifera, especially weak ones, are highly vulnerable to Carpoglyphus lactis mites, which can rapidly infest and consume stored pollen, leading to weakened colonies and potentially colony collapse. This study aimed to ascertain and investigate the prevalence of this mite in honeybee colonies across 9 provinces in the Republic of Korea (ROK). A total of 615 honeybee colonies were collected, from 66 apiaries during the spring and 58 apiaries during the summer of 2023. A 1,242 bp segment of the the Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction method. The detection levels of C. lactis in the honeybees were compared between winter and summer. Based on the COI sequence analysis, the nucleotide sequence similarity of C. lactis mites isolated in the ROK with those from China (NC048990.1) was found to be 99.5%, and with those from the United Kingdom (KY922482.1) was 99.3%. This study is the first report of C. lactis in Korean apiaries. The findings in this study demonstrate a significantly higher detection rate in winter, which is 4.1 times greater than that in summer (p &lt; 0.001). Furthermore, the results underscore the usefulness of molecular diagnostic techniques for detecting C. lactis mites.

COX II containing a dual core CuA active site is one of the three core subunits of mitochondrial Cco, which plays a significant role in the physiological process. In this report, the full-length cDNA of COXⅡ gene was cloned from Sitophilus zeamais, which had an ORF of 684 bp encoding 227 amino acids residues. The predicted COXⅡ protein had a molecular mass of 26.2 kDa with pI value of 6.37, and multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis indicated that Sitophilus zeamais COXⅡ had high sequence identity 78.51% with the COXⅡ of other insect species, especially similarity to sitophilus oryzae. This gene was subcloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pET-32a, and induced by IPTG in E.coli Transetta (DE3) expression system. Finally the COXⅡ with 6-His tag was purified using affinity chromatography with Ni²⁺-NTA agarose. WB showed the recombinant COXⅡ was about 44 kD, and the concentration of fusion protein was 50μg/mL. UV-spectrophotometer and infrared spectrometer analysis showed that recombinant COXⅡ could catalyze the oxidation of substrate Cytc, and influenced by AITC. It was found that AITC could form a hydrophobic region with COXⅡ protein via molecular docking, besides, a sulfur atom of AITC structure could form a length of 2.9 Å hydrogen bond with Leu-31. These results will provide valuable information for elucidating the role of COXⅡ in Sitophilus zeamais responses to AITC, meanwhile, it will helpful to carry out a point mutation in AITC binding sites for the future research.

The properties of the annual, semiannual and triennial oscillations (AO, SAO and TO) in the middle atmosphere have been investigated using the TIMED/SABER temperature data. The Lomb-Scargle and wavelet spectra were used to determine the dominant oscillations in the background temperature field. The AO is prominent at the mid-latitudes. The AO amplitudes present an asymmetry between the two Hemispheres, being larger in the mesosphere than in the stratosphere. The SAO dominates the tropical regions, with three amplitude maxima at altitudes of 45, 75, and 85 km. The SAOs in the upper mesosphere (75 km) are out of phase with those in the mesopause (85 km) in the tropical regions, which can generate an enhancement of 11 K at each equinox, contributing to the lower mesospheric inversion layer. The TO is significant in the tropical region, with amplitude being maximum at 35, 45 and 85 km. Result shows that there may be potential interaction by the TO with SAO at 85km at the equator. The relation between ENSO and TO has also been discussed. The ENSO signal may modulate the amplitude of the TO, mainly in the lower stratosphere. The real origin of the TO may lie in the wave-mean-flow interaction.

This paper is focused on typical rural settlements in the Stara Planina Mountain area in Serbia. They are distinguished by their authenticity, identity and character, and they have still not been destroyed by inappropriate development as is the case in some other mountain areas in Serbia, where the effects of urbanization, globalization and homogenization are obvious. Consequently, there is a need to prevent these effects in mountain areas where there is a threat of disbalance between development and the inherited natural and cultural values. The paper starts from several important concepts that relate contemporary approaches to cultural heritage preservation, place morphology and planning future development. The concept definitions from recent documents from related fields are used. These concepts are then applied to the area of Stara Planina Mountain and its rural settlements. The necessity for an integrative approach to planning this area with significant natural and anthropogenic potential is pointed out, including its integration into international programs of sustainable development.

Knowledge regarding the influence of the microbial community in cancer promotion or protection has expanded even more through the study of bacterial metabolic products and how they can modulate cancer risk, which represents an extremely challenging approach for the relationship between intestinal microbiota and colorectal cancer (CRC). This review discusses research pro-gresses in the effect of bacterial dysbiosis from a metabolic point of view, particularly on the bio-chemical mechanisms of butyrate, one of the main short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) with an-ti-inflammatory and anti-tumor properties in CRC. Increased daily intake of omega-3 polyun-saturated fatty acids (PUFAs) significantly increases the density of bacteria that are known to produce butyrate. Omega-3 PUFAs have been proposed as a treatment to prevent gut microbiota dysregulation and lower the risk or progression of CRC.

The research reported on this paper was aimed at improving the overall efficiency of a PDO certified artisanal cheese production process. Being a PDO certified foodstuff by the EU, it is considered to have properties and qualities determined by the geographical environment in which is made, with its production taking place in a specific and determined geographical location, in this case the Serra da Estrela region. In that sense, the authors conducted a mapping according to a systemic perspective of the processes involved in the context of manufacturing and distribution of certified Serra da Estrela cheese. Numerous methods were used throughout the process, such as a systemic design analysis, and techniques derived from ethnographic methods, which led to the collection of data in the field and consequently provided the immersion of the researcher in genuine work situations. Critical points were identified and emphasized in the systemic map with the purpose of encouraging initiatives to address and overcome the gaps and inefficiencies detected. The systemic design analysis triggered the development of design work. Observations following an ethnographic approach identified ergonomic risks in cheese making during the process of cutting excess chips, fostering the emergence of musculoskeletal disorders at the wrist. A tool that fits best to the task at hand was developed. A prototype of the new tool enabled collecting feedback from use in the work context, in order to inform product development. The domains of agricultural production and microbiology, considering the specific microorganisms developed trough the ripening process of the cheese, turned out to be aspects of high importance for the issue under focus, contributing to a broader understanding of the ripening process and its risks, simultaneously improving the efficiency and success of cheese production. If it were not for the systemic analysis, which served as a link between the boundaries of distinct domains such as the risk of microorganism contamination, ergonomics, energy efficiency, legislation and regulation policies, transportation challenges and economic viability, approached throughout the research. Simultaneously creating bridges between them, the various problems might not have been detected in the first place, as they are usually addressed in specialized disciplines, predetermined by the restrictions of each specific area of knowledge. As a consequence of the development of this research, which was based on an analysis that sought to establish possible connections between various disciplines and tried to constantly maintain a holistic perspective, making new connections and observing the issues from a new angle, apart from the already established methodologies. All this allowed to lay out the seeds for the development of a plan to tackle the critical points identified by the systemic analysis reported in this paper.

Promoting green development has become an important way to optimize the ecological and economic structure and promote sustainable development. The Yangtze River Economic Belt is an important economic corridor in China, and it remains to be examined whether the implementation of environmental regulations has enhanced the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of cities. This paper calculates the green total factor productivity of 107 cities within the Yangtze River Economic Belt by using the super-efficient SBM model and the GML index with Chinese city panel data from 2007-2019 and measures the intensity of environmental regulations through textual analysis. The bidirectional fixed-effects model constructed in this paper suggests an inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and GTFP, which is confirmed by a series of robustness tests. Green technology innovation and advanced industrial structure play a mechanism role in this. In regions with lower levels of green technology and industrial structure, the inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and green total factor productivity is more significant. In addition, the phenomenon of GTFP rising and then falling because of environmental regulation is more obvious in cities in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and outside the urban agglomerations. Therefore, when formulating environmental regulation policies, it is necessary to balance the relationship between economic development and environmental protection and harmonize the environment and economic development of the entire Yangtze River Basin.

The wetlands in northeastern Bangladesh are home to some of the most prolific and valuable ecosystems on the planet, offering a wide range of benefits to both the local and wider communities. A limited number of research on this topic have been carried out in various wetlands in coastal hilsa, but none have been located in the northeastern region of Bangladesh. Thus, the goal of this study was to better understand the most commercially relevant species (anadromous hilsa) in northeastern Bangladesh as well as to assess the wetland ecosystem services more thoroughly with the contribution of their fish genetic resources. In addition to laboratory studies, fieldwork was done in the fishing settlements along the Surma River, Hakaluki Haor, and Tanguar Haor. The study classified 77 fish species into 21 subcategories of ecosystem services, of which 56% were not threatened, 17% were vulnerable, and 10% were highly endangered. The species Hilsa was found to be the most economically significant, accounting for 1% of the GDP overall. The study determined if the hilsa stock of the examined wetlands maintains a single or several subpopulations in comparison to other parts of the country when they migrate from saline water to northeastern Bangladesh (freshwater). But when compared to other groups, the FST score was between 0.000 to 0.017, indicating that the populations are identical and that there is genetic material sharing between them. Additionally, these statistics imply that the Sylhet haor and adjacent river systems contain a single stock of Hilsa fish. Nevertheless, a number of stresses and risks, including overexploitation, illicit and destructive fishing, siltation, and natural disasters like flash floods, have been linked to changes in the supply of hilsa and other ecosystem services. This study also emphasizes the necessity of policy attention and research to address the concerns.

In this paper, we introduce a specialized, fully automated experimental arrangement designed for assessing the effectiveness of augmented and virtual reality technologies in healthcare setting and explore its design principles focusing on depth sensor characterization. The main goal of this project is to establish a robust benchtop platform for the quantitative evaluation of extended reality technologies in a controlled environment, emphasizing the practical assessment of augmented reality head-mounted devices. We outline a design concept and considerations for an experimental configuration aimed at creating a realistic testing environment. This apparatus comprises an observation platform mounted on a three-degree-of-freedom motorized system and a test phantom stage. Focusing on real-case scenarios, we utilized a range of sensors, including readily available range-sensing cameras and commercial augmented reality headsets, such as the Intel RealSense L515 LiDAR camera, mounted on the motion control system. The setup enabled automated data collection and facilitates controlled assessments and validation of various facets of augmented reality technologies, including object, hand, and head tracking, as well as static and dynamic image registration. This paper describes the system architecture, the process of automated data collection, and presents several evaluation studies conducted with this setup, providing insights into the quality and temporal noise associated with static or moving objects or observers in augmented reality applications.

This study aims to assess several morphofunctional parameters in female teenagers with and without intellectual disability to characterise normality and its disturbances. More precisely, the purpose was to examine the factors contributing to the differences in body composition elements between groups, such as the physical activity level. To evaluate these parameters, we used bioelectrical impedance analysis technology (BIA), most commonly used in studies concerning body composition because it is non-invasive, quick, with high data fidelity; it can be easily moved to various locations and applied straightforwardly among populations with diverse types of intellectual disability. Our research sample comprised 212 subjects (boys and girls) aged 17.1±0.6, divided into six groups by gender and type of intellectual disability. The study found influences of physical activity level on body composition components. In addition, we report a highly significant relationship for p&lt;0.05, body mass index and the independent variable (No. of min./week) in some groups.

To conduct high-precision and high-resolution numerical simulation of complex flow structures in turbomachinery, a high-order finite volume weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme for the large eddy simulation (LES) is improved and embedded into the three-dimensional viscous unsteady CFD solver NUAA-Turbo. Firstly, the spectral characteristics and unsteady convergence of the improved WENO scheme are studied. Compared with the classical WENO scheme, the improved WENO scheme has better dissipation and dispersion characteristics and faster convergence speed. Then, the coefficient CW of the Wall-Adapting Local Eddy-viscosity (WALE) model is calibrated by decaying homogeneous isotropic turbulence (DHIT) test case. Finally, the scheme is applied to conduct high-precision LES calculations of turbulent boundary layer flow, supersonic compression corner flow, and low-pressure turbine cascade separation flow. The numerical simulation results show that this WENO scheme has excellent shock wave capture ability and turbulence resolution and can capture more flow field details with less mesh size, greatly reducing the computational cost and laying a foundation for large-scale engineering application of LES.

To secure logic circuits against the illegal copying the insertion of the so-called key bit inputs using XOR/XNOR gates has been proposed in . The inserted gates modify (lock) the behavior of the original circuit and only the correct choice of the secret key bits guarantees the equivalent behaviour of the locked circuit to the original circuit. To break this kind of security, i.e. to find the secret key bits, there was a SAT solver based attack proposed in . The aim of this work is to experimentally verify this attack on several locked circuits with various number of primary inputs and outputs and with various number of gates. Except for the random placement of the key gates we evaluate also the positioning with chaining elimination. The obtained and presented results show that we were able to unlock 10 of 11 circuits within few minutes on a common PC.

Intermetallic compounds are increasingly being expected to utilize in tribological environments, but to date the works are hindered by insufficient ductility at low and medium temperature. This paper presents a novel multiphase intermetallic alloy with the chemical composition of Mo-40Ni-13Si (at.%). Microstructure characterization reveals that a certain amount of ductile Mo phases formed during the solidification process of ternary Mo-Ni-Si alloy melt, which is undoubtedly beneficial to the ductility improvement of intermetallic alloy. Tribological properties of the designed alloy, including wear resistance, friction coefficient and metallic tribological compatibility, were evaluated under dry sliding wear test conditions at room temperature. Results suggested that the multiphase alloy possesses an excellent property for room-temperature wear applications, which is attributed to the unique microstructural features and thereby good combination in hardness and ductility. The corresponding wear mechanism is also reported by observing the worn surface, subsurface and wear debris of alloy, which to be found is soft abrasive wear.

With the integrated development of the Internet, wireless sensor technology, cloud computing, and mobile Internet, there has been a lot of attention given to research about and applications of the Internet of Things. A Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is one of the important information technologies in the Internet of Things; it integrates multi-technology to detect and gather information in a network environment by mutual cooperation, using a variety of methods to process and analyze data, implement awareness, and perform tests. This paper mainly researches the localization algorithm of sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network. Firstly, a multi-granularity region partition is proposed to divide the location region. In the range-based method, the RSSI (Received Signal Strength indicator, RSSI) is used to estimate distance. The optimal RSSI value is computed by the Gaussian fitting method. Furthermore, a Voronoi diagram is characterized by the use of dividing region. Rach anchor node is regarded as the center of each region; the whole position region is divided into several regions and the sub-region of neighboring nodes is combined into triangles while the unknown node is locked in the ultimate area. Secondly, the multi-granularity regional division and Lagrange multiplier method are used to calculate the final coordinates. Because nodes are influenced by many factors in the practical application, two kinds of positioning methods are designed: the unknown node is in the positioning unit or not. When the unknown node is on the side of the positioning unit, we use the method of vector similarity. Moreover, we use the centroid algorithm to calculate the ultimate coordinates of unknown node. When the unknown node is not on the side of the positioning unit, we establish a Lagrange equation containing the constraint condition to calculate the first coordinates. Furthermore, we use the Taylor expansion formula to correct the coordinates of the unknown node. In addition, this localization method has been validated by establishing the real environment.

The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a record of brain activity. Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology formed by the EEG signal has become one of the hotspots at present. How to extract the feature signal of EEG is the most basic research of BCI technology. In this paper, A new method of recognizing fatigue, conscious, concentrated state of human brain is proposed by the combination of discrete wavelet transform and the neural network based on EEG signal. First of all, the law signal is preprocessed by the wavelet denoising method because the law EEG signal contains a large number of high frequency noise, which is decomposed into multi-layer high frequency signal and low frequency signal. thus, δ wave, θ wave, α wave, β wave are obtained by the wavelet transform. And then, frequency band energy of the different wave is regards as the feature signal of EEG. In the experiment, the feature signal is classified by radial basic function (RBF) and annealed chaotic competitive learning network (ACCLN). RBF and ACCLN networks are trained with 500 sets of sample data and are tested by 100 sets of samples in different mental states. The experimental results show that the average accuracy of RBF network under three conditions are 88.75%, 88.25%, 88.5%, respectively, and the correct rate of ACCLN network is 97%, 98%, 98%, respectively.

Early discharge after childbirth has led to a rise in neonatal readmission, becoming a major concern in recent decades. Our research aimed to identify the risk factors and incidence of neonatal readmission, as well as explore preventive measures. Our study at the Clinical Hospital of Pediatrics in Ploiești, Romania included 108 neonates admitted during the neonatal period. This accounted for 2.06% of all admissions (5226). The most prevalent cases were malnutrition (25%), fever (20.3%) and bronchiolitis (17.5%). Diarrhea and infectious gastroenteritis were also observed (14.8%), along with acute rhinoconjunctivitis (9.2%) and late onset sepsis (3.7%). No deaths were recorded. The most significant characteristics identified were number of children (p&lt;0.001) and age at maternity discharge (p&lt;0.001). By following the prevention rules, malnutrition, feeding errors, and infections can be avoided. This includes practicing proper hand hygiene for both mothers and medical staff, as well as educating and demonstrating to mothers the benefits of breastfeeding. In addition, all newborns discharged from the maternity ward should benefit from follow-up at 7-10 days of life. Our results confirm the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary team and endorse promoting breastfeeding. Implementing quality control measures and regularly evaluating the surveillance program will help improve its effectiveness.