Vitamin D has important anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial properties and plays a central role in host immune response. Due to the crucial role of the kidneys in the metabolism of vitamin D, patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), are prone to vitamin D deficiency. The resultant reduction in the production of calcitriol, the activated form of vitamin D in patients with CKD is responsible for exacerbating the existing renal impairment and periodontal inflammation. Recent evidence suggests a bidirectional, causal relationship between periodontitis and renal functional status. Both conditions have shared pathophysiologic mechanisms including oxidative stress, increases in the systemic inflammatory burden and impaired host response. This review explores the association between vitamin D, CKD and periodontitis. The review summarises the current evidence base for the classical and non-classical vitamin D metabolic pathways, the biological mechanisms linking vitamin D deficiency, CKD and periodontitis, as well as the bidirectional relationship between the two chronic inflammatory conditions. Finally, the paper explores the impact of vitamin D deficiency on CKD, periodontitis, and related co-morbidities.

Some time ago, Kobayashi et al. experimentally studied the so-called Lee-Naughton-Lebed's (LNL) angular effect in strong electric fields [K. Kobayashi, M. Saito, E. Omichi, and T. Osada, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{96}, 126601 (2006)]. They found that strong electric fields split the LNL conductivity maxima in $\alpha$-(ET)$_2$-based organic conductor and hypothetically introduced the corresponding equation for conductivity. In this Letter, for the first time we suggest quantum mechanical theory of the LNL angular oscillations in moderately strong electric fields. In particular, we demonstrate that the obtained by us approximate theoretical formula coincides with the hypothetical one and well describes the above mentioned experiments.

Reliable methods to confirm the diagnosis of COVID-19 are essential to the successful management and containment of the virus. Current diagnostic options are limited in type, supply, and reliability. This article explores the controversial unreliability of existing diagnostic methods and maintains that more reliable diagnostic methods, combinations, and sequencing are necessary to effectively assist in reducing the occurrence of discharge of the patient on false negative test results. This reduction would in effect reduce transmission of the disease.

What would compel a composer to set the same poem twice? Ludwig van Beethoven first set the text of Christoph Tiedge’s “An Die Hoffnung” (to Hope) between 1804 and 1805, and would later set the poem again, using even more of the text in 1815. While seeking context clues from what is known of his biography is crucial, another avenue of study lies within the pieces themselves. Through the study of key characteristics during Beethoven’s lifetime in addition to what biographical information we know, we can infer Beethoven’s intentions with each setting of the text and how this reflects his changing relationship to the text of “An Die Hoffnung”.

Children’s right to participation in child protection decision-making is supported by moral imperatives and international conventions. The fragmented implementation of this right reflects an already-conflicted discursive terrain that attempts to incorporate both children’s agency and their need for protection. This article uses two key theoretical lenses to further examine this terrain: child welfare inequalities and cultural capital. These theories draw attention to how social inequities and cultural capital relating to culture and class affect how participation plays out. An unintended consequence of constructing children within a traditional liberal account of rights, within neoliberal and ‘child focussed’ policy paradigms, is the reduction of an acknowledgment of the culturally contested nature of an individualistic construction of children, excising children from their social backgrounds and promoting the notion of a ‘universal child’. With a particular focus on class, culture and professional paradigms, I argue that the ways children’s views are elicited, the content of those views and how they are interpreted, become subject to a set of professional assumptions that tend to take little cognisance of the social backround of children, including norms relating to class, ethinicity and the oppressive structural relations relating to those two factors. This process is shored up with concepts such as attachment theory, the ‘adultification’ of children of colour, the diminishing of Indigenous concepts of children and childhood, and the pre-eminence of the ‘concerted cultivation’ middle class parenting style. The child’s cultural worldview and manner of expressing it may clash with professional cultures that emphasise an ability for verbal expression, independence, and entitlement when negotiating preferences with representatives of powerful social institutions such as child protection systems. Many children may not comply with this expectation due to both cultural and class socialisation processes, and the histories of the oppressive functions of child protection systems. The unspoken power of child protection organisations that must engage in constant translation of children’s cultural capital to ensure participation, may instead better serve children’s participation aims by devolving authority to affected communities. Communities reflecting children’s own, may be better able to offer recognition to children and enable their participation more effectively.

The work proposes a backtesting analysis in comparison between the Lee-Carter and the Cairns-Blake-Dowd mortality models, employing Italian data. The mortality data come from the Italian National Statistics Institute (ISTAT) database and span the period 1975-2014, over which we computed back-projections evaluating the performances of the models in comparisons with real data. We propose three different backtest approaches, evaluating the goodness of short-run forecast versus medium-length ones. We find that both models were not able to capture the improving shock on the mortality observed for the male population on the analyzed period. Moreover, the results suggest that CBD forecast are reliable prevalently for ages above 75, and that LC forecast are basically more accurate for this data.

With rising rates of human obesity, the study aimed to determine the relationship between maternal diet-induced obesity and offspring morphometrics and behaviour in mice. Pregnant and lactating female mice fed a diet high in fat and sugar (HFHS) commonly consumed by human populations showed decreased food, calorie, and protein intake but increased adiposity at the expense of lean mass. The pre-weaning body weight of HFHS offspring was reduced for the first postnatal week but not thereafter with HFHS female offspring having higher body weights by weaning, due to continuing higher fractional growth rates. Post-weaning, there were minor differences in offspring food and protein intake. Maternal diet, however, affected fractional growth rate and total body fat content of male but not female HFHS offspring. Maternal diet did not affect offspring locomotor activity or social behaviour in either sex. Both male and female HFHS offspring displayed reduced anxiety-related behaviours with sex differences in particular aspects of the elevated plus maze task. In the novel object recognition task, performance was impaired in male but not female HFHS offspring. Collectively, the findings demonstrate that maternal obesity alters the growth, adiposity, and behaviour of male and female offspring, with sex-specific differences.

Aaron Copland’s only full-length opera, The Tender Land has had a difficult production history. Critics of the 1954 New York City Opera Premiere bemoaned the atypical storyline, the music declared too dry, and the singing too sparse. The opera’s failure to dazzle initial audiences is likely because it was originally written for television. Copland was commissioned to write this opera for television in 1952, but was rejected by NBC in 1953, with no official explanation given as to why. The New York City Opera premiere, therefore, was not an accurate representation of Aaron Copland's vision. The opera eventually did find receptive audiences, each success marked by a smaller, more intimate venue, not unlike the intimacy afforded on a sound stage. Perhaps most notable of these was the touring 1993 University of Minnesota production that performed in barns and farmhouses throughout the Midwest. Through this tour, the opera reached a rural community mirrored in the story, providing much more opportunity for the audience to connect to the characters. However, the question remains what caused NBC to initially reject the opera. This paper exposes the likely political obstacles that prevented Copland’s opera from premiering in its intended medium, and the subsequent consequences of displacing The Tender Land from its television premiere.

Background: Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) is characterized by inflamed lesions that appear in apocrine rich flexural areas. Although studies have reported clinical and epidemiological data from western countries, data from the Middle East are scarce. The aim of this study is to characterize the differences in the clinical characteristics of patients with HS of Arab and Jewish ancestry and to review the clinical characteristics, the course of the disease, the comorbidities and the response to treatment. Methods: This is a retrospective study. We collected clinical and demographic data from patient files at the Rambam Healthcare Campus dermatology clinic – a tertiary hospital located at the north of Israel. between 2015-2018. Our results were compared to those of a previously published Israeli control group registered in clalit health services. Results: Of the 164 patients with HS, 96 (58.5%) were men and 68 (41.5%) were women. The average age at diagnosis was 27.5 years and the latency between the onset and diagnosis of the disease was 4 years. we found a higher adjusted prevalence of HS in Arab patients (56%) than in their Jewish counterparts (44%). Gender, smoking and obesity, as well as axilla and buttock lesions, were risk factors for severe HS, with no differences between ethnicities. No differences were documented in comorbidities and in response to Adalimumab, with a high overall response rate of 83%. Conclusions: Our findings revealed differences between Arab and Jewish patients with HS in terms of incidence and gender predominance, while no differences were documented in comorbidities and response to Adalimumab.

Emily Howard Jennings Stowe is acclaimed as Canada’s first female school principal, physician to practice medicine, and a founding Canadian suffragette. Yet, relatively little has been investi-gated regarding the life-changing events permitting her to pioneer in these chosen fields. To reveal relationships among the life-changing events in Emily Stowe’s life, a unique narrative research process is engaged to take Stowe’s story and develop it into a particular point of view based on responses to questions posed regarding her life, ranging from those most objective and specific to those that are subjective and more general. This is accomplished by following a prescribed order of question-asking: when, where, who, what, how, and why. The aim is to facilitate a comparison and interpretation of the connections regarding twenty-two of her life-changing events. Four dis-tinct aspects of her life are noted: personal, teacher, physician, and suffragette. It is found that much of Stowe’s success originated from her family’s Establishment connections, her studious intellectual ability, and her decision to obtain her medical education in the United States. There were notable periods in her life that might have ended her career. However, the aforementioned protective features of her status permitted the successful withstanding of these difficulties.

Creating intelligent systems capable of recognizing emotions is a difficult task, especially when looking at emotions in animals. This paper describes the process of designing a “proof of concept” system to recognize emotions in horses. This system is formed by two elements, a detector and a model. The detector is a fast region-based convolutional neural network that detects horses in an image. The model is a convolutional neural network that predicts the emotions of those horses. These two elements were trained with multiple images of horses until they achieved high accuracy in their tasks. 400 images of horses were collected and labeled to train both the detector and the model while 80 were used to validate the system. Once the two components were validated, they were combined into a testable system that would detect equine emotions based on established behavioral ethograms indicating emotional affect through head, neck, ear, muzzle and eye position. The system showed an accuracy of between 69% and 74% on the validation set, demonstrating that it is possible to predict emotions in animals using autonomous intelligent systems. Such a system has multiple applications including further studies in the growing field of animal emotions as well as in the veterinary field to determine the physical welfare of horses or other livestock.

The neuroglial extracellular matrix (ECM) provides critical support and physiological cues for the proper growth, differentiation, and function of neuronal cells in the brain. However, in most in vitro settings that study neural physiology, cells are grown as monolayers on stiff surfaces that maximize adhesion and proliferation, and therefore lack the physiological cues that ECM in native neuronal tissues provides. Macromolecular crowding (MMC) is a biophysical phenomenon based on the principle of excluded volume that can be harnessed to induce native ECM deposition by cells in culture. Here, we show that MMC using two species of Ficoll with vitamin C supplementation significantly boosts deposition of relevant brain ECM by cultured human astrocytes. Dopaminergic neurons co-cultured on this astrocyte-ECM bed prepared under MMC treatment showed longer and denser neuronal extensions, a higher number of pre ad post synaptic contacts, and increased physiological activity as evidenced by higher frequency calcium oscillation, compared to standard co-culture conditions. When the pharmacological activity of various compounds was tested on MMC-treated co-cultures, their responses were enhanced, and for apomorphine, a D2-receptor agonist, it was inverted in comparison to control cell culture conditions, thus emulating responses observed in in vivo settings. These results indicate that macromolecular crowding can harness the ECM-building potential of human astrocytes in vitro forming an ultra-flat 3D microenvironment that makes neural cultures more physiological and pharmacological relevant.

Rhodovulum spp. are anoxygenic photosynthetic purple bacteria with versatile metabolisms, including the ability to obtain electrons from minerals in their environment to drive photosynthesis, a relatively novel process called phototrophic extracellular electron uptake (pEEU). Recently, our group isolated 15 strains of R. sulfidophilum to observe this metabolism in marine phototrophs. Our group previously observed carbon dioxide fixation coupled to phototrophic iron oxidation (photoferrotrophy) and pEEU in AB26 and identified a novel di-heme c¬-type cytochrome EeuP important for pEEU but not photoferrotrophy. Taxonomic re-evaluation based on 16S and pufM phylogenetic analyses led us to re-classify two isolates, AB26 and AB19, as Rhodovulum visakhapatnamense. The AB26 genome consists of 4,380,746 base-pairs, including two plasmids, and encodes 4,296 predicted protein-coding genes. AB26 contains 22 histidine kinases, 20 response regulators, and dedicates ~16% of its genome to transport. Transcriptomic data under aerobic, photoheterotrophy, photoautotrophy, and pEEU reveals how gene expression varies between metabolisms. Lastly, we use transcriptomic data for a comparative genomic analysis of potential pEEU-relevant genes between all 15 isolates. With these data we identify potential pEEU capable phototrophs within these isolates, and likely molecular mechanisms of pEEU.

Opera and oratorio overtures exist in an indeterminate state between purely symphonic and dramatic music. While they can be and often are extracted for symphonic programs, they are ultimately tied to the story to which they grant the audience a preview of the story and music yet to come. Those that are easily extracted are so independent due to their structure, one well known to the symphony: the sonata form. In studying overtures from the 19^th century, however, one can trace a decline of the sonata form overture for one that is more subservient to the dramatic story soon to follow it. In this paper, three representatives of the early, mid and late period of the highlight this steady shift away from sonata form. Using Hepokoski and Darcy’s Elements of Sonata Theory: Norms, Types, and Deformations in the Late-Eighteenth-Century Sonata, I will categorize these overtures into one of the five sonata types listed therein. The increasing number of deformations as one moves through the overtures chronologically will illustrate the deliberate decline of use of the sonata form for the overture in favor of a clearer reflection of the upcoming story.

Smart manufacturing encompasses a category of manufacturing that employs computer-integrated capabilities and technologies to enhance supply chain optimization, production efficiency, and recyclability. Yet limited studies have been conducted to optimize these prospects from the perspective of low resource countries where such innovative studies have not been adequately explored. This paper aims to examine the implications of smart manufacturing practices (Smart Procurement, Smart Supply Chain, Smart Production Planning and Control, Automation and Industrial Robot, and Supply Chain Configuration) on pro-environmental behaviour and develop a baseline moderated mediation model to explain the relationship between smart manufacturing and pro-environmental behaviour with a role of green dynamic capability, and environmental orientation. This study is anchored on quantitative research approach, deductive reasoning, and explanatory design. Cross – sectional survey data have been obtained from 382 manufacturing companies in Ghana. Our hypotheses have been tested using Structural Equation Modelling and SMART-PLS version 3.8.9. The study has revealed that smart manufacturing practices significantly and positively relate to pro-environmental behaviour. Moreover, green dynamic capability and environmental orientation moderate the relationship between smart manufacturing and pro-environmental behaviour. The implications of the study include the emergence of a baseline model to guide policymakers, practitioners, and academicians to explain the relationship between smart manufacturing and sustainable manufacturing in the context of developing countries. Again, the social implication of the study includes the realisation of decent job and economic growth, responsible consumption and production as well as actions taken to combat climate change.

Evolutionary convergence provides natural opportunities to investigate how, when, and why novel traits evolve. Many convergent traits are complex, highlighting the importance of explicitly considering convergence at different levels of biological organization, or ‘multi‐level convergent evolution’. To investigate multi‐level convergent evolution, we propose a holistic and hierarchical framework that emphasizes breaking down traits into several functional modules. We begin by identifying long‐standing questions on the origins of complexity and the diverse evolutionary processes underlying phenotypic convergence to discuss how they can be addressed by examining convergent systems. We argue that bioluminescence, a complex trait that evolved dozens of times through either novel mechanisms or conserved toolkits, is particularly well suited for these studies. We present an updated estimate of at least 94 independent origins of bioluminescence across the tree of life, which we calculated by reviewing and summarizing all estimates of independent origins. Then, we use our framework to review the biology, chemistry, and evolution of bioluminescence, and for each biological level identify questions that arise from our systematic review. We focus on luminous organisms that use the shared luciferin substrates coelenterazine or vargulin to produce light because these organisms convergently evolved bioluminescent proteins that use the same luciferins to produce bioluminescence. Evolutionary convergence does not necessarily extend across biological levels, as exemplified by cases of conservation and disparity in biological functions, organs, cells, and molecules associated with bioluminescence systems. Investigating differences across bioluminescent organisms will address fundamental questions on predictability and contingency in convergent evolution. Lastly, we highlight unexplored areas of bioluminescence research and advances in sequencing and chemical techniques useful for developing bioluminescence as a model system for studying multi‐level convergent evolution.

Heartland virus (HRTV) is an emerging tick-borne bandavirus that is capable of causing severe disease characterized by acute thrombocytopenia and lymphopenia. The virus is endemic to the eastern United States, and is carried by the Lone Star tick (Amblyomma americanum). Since its discovery in 2009, at least 60 human infections have been recorded across this area, with an overall 5-10\% estimated mortality rate. All infections reported thus far have occurred following a known tick bite or exposure to tick-infested areas, but the possibility of nosocomial transmission has not been ruled out. Despite relatively high rates of seroprevalence among certain wildlife species such as white-tailed deer, the reservoir species for HRTV remains unknown, as the virus has never been isolated from any mammalian wildlife species. Furthermore, how the virus is transmitted to its vector species in nature remains unknown, though laboratory studies have confirmed both horizontal and vertical transmission of HRTV in A. americanum. In addition, the recent 2017 introduction of the Asian longhorned tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis) to the US has raised concerns about possible spillover of HRTV into a new tick species that has been confirmed to be a competent vector for HRTV in the laboratory. Thus, an increased awareness of its clinical presentation is needed, and further research is urgently required to establish the natural transmission cycle and develop new countermeasures for this novel zoonotic pathogen

After the end of colonial rule in 1997, the Hong Kong education system has been experiencing a policy reform on Senior Secondary Education (NSS) Curriculum commenced in September 2009 aiming to educate students as globalized Hong Kong citizens for the Western. Although previous scholars argued that it is hard to differentiate between domestic values and the Western values in account of curriculum development (Sewpaul, 2007), this study demonstrates an analysis using the dichotomy to investigate how local curriculum, especially in the post-colonial areas, embrace both the Western values and domestic values. Using content analysis on the NSS curriculum guides, this article evaluates the influence of the Western values and Chinese values in the NSS curriculum through investigating: (1) how the Western values and Chinese values was incorporated into the curriculum throughout its development (2) why some values are more significantly highlighted in the curriculum guide. Findings include that more Chinese values are involved in the curriculum documents. This may be because of the upholding of domestic values as a post-colonial city. The Western values which are academically related are greatly incorporated into the local curriculum.

This paper advances privacy theory through examination of online shaming, focusing in particular on persecution by internet mobs. While shaming is nothing new, the technology used for modern shaming is new and evolving, making it a revealing lens through which to analyze points of analytical friction within and between traditional conceptions of privacy. To that end, this paper first explores the narrative and structure of online shaming, identifying broad categories of shaming of vigilantism, bullying, bigotry and gossiping, which are then used throughout the paper to evaluate different angles to the privacy problems raised. Second, this paper examines shaming through three dominant debates concerning privacy - privacy’s link with dignity, the right to privacy in public places and the social dimension of privacy. Certain themes emerged from this analysis. A common feature of online shaming is public humiliation. A challenge is to differentiate between a humbling (rightly knocking someone down a peg for a social transgression) and a humiliation that is an affront to dignity (wrongly knocking someone down a peg). In addition, the privacy concern of shamed individuals is not necessarily about intrusion on seclusion or revelation of embarrassing information, but rather about the disruption in their ability to continue to participate in online spaces free from attack. The privacy interest therefore becomes more about enabling participation in social spaces, enabling connections and relationships to form, and about enabling identity-making. Public humiliation through shaming can disrupt all of these inviting closer scrutiny concerning how law can be used as an enabling rather than secluding tool.

Depressive disorder in childhood and adolescence is a highly prevalent mood disorder that tends to recur throughout life. Untreated mood disorders can adversely impact a patient's quality of life and cause socioeconomic loss. Thus, an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment is crucial. However, until now, diagnoses and treatments are conducted according to clinical symptoms. Objective and biological validation are lacking. This may result in a poor outcome for patients with depressive disorder. Research has been conducted to identify the biomarkers that are related to depressive disorder. Cumulative evidence has revealed that certain immunologic biomarkers in-cluding brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and cytokines, gastrointestinal biomarkers, hormones, oxidative stress, and certain hypothalamus-pituitary axis biomarkers are associated with depressive disorder. This article reviews the biomarkers related to the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric depressive disorders. To date, clinical biomarker tests are not yet available for diagnosis or for the prediction of treatment prognosis. However, cytokines such as Interleukin-2, interfer-on-gamma, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and BDNF have shown significant results in previous studies of pediatric depressive disorder. These biomarkers have the potential to be used for diagnosis, prognostic assessment, and group screening for those at high risk.

Nonmedical prescription stimulant use (NPSU) is an ongoing public health crisis in the United States. There exists, however, a dearth of research investigating specific childhood risk factors that may contribute to this illicit use. Adverse childhood experi-ences (ACEs) may be a significant risk factor to address in the prevention and treatment of NPSU, as research has provided evi-dence for increased substance use, potentially including prescription stimulant misuse, among individuals who have experienced trauma. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to gather and synthesize research articles specifically examining the relationship between nonmedical prescription stimulant use in adults and the experience of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Four studies met all inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The results demonstrated that nonmedical use of prescription stimulants in adults is significantly associated with ACEs, with a higher numerical count of ACEs associated with a greater likelihood of nonmedical prescription stimulant use. Gaps in the literature were identified, specifically noting a lack of information available regarding the relationship between ACEs and NPSU within gender- and racially-diverse populations. The findings have implications for informing interventions related to ACEs and the misuse of prescription stimulant medication in adults.

In mammals, the oviduct (or the Fallopian tube in humans) can be divided into the infundibulum (responsible for oocyte pick-up), ampulla (site of fertilization), isthmus (where preimplantation embryos develop), and uterotubal junction (where embryos transit to the uterus). The oviductal fluid, as well as extracellular vesicles produced from the oviductal epithelial cells, referred to as oEVs, have been shown to improve the fertilization process, prevent polyspermy, and aid in embryo development. oEVs contain molecular cargos (such as miRNAs, mRNAs, proteins, and lipids) that can be delivered and fuse to recipient cells. oEVs produced from the ampulla appear to be functionally distinct from those produced from the isthmus. In multiple species including mice, cats, dogs, pigs, and cows, oEVs can be incorporated into the oocytes, sperm, and embryos. In this review, we show the positive impact of oEVs on gamete function as well as blastocyst development and how they may improve embryo quality in in vitro conditions in an assisted reproductive technology setting for rodents, domestic animals, farm animals, and humans.

Robots in space are necessarily extremely light and lack structural stiffness resulting in natural frequencies of resonance so low as to reside inside the attitude controller’s bandwidth. A variety of input trajectories can be used to drive a controller’s attempt to ameliorate the control-structural interactions where feedback is provided by low-quality, noisy sensors. Traditionally, step functions are used as the ideal input trajectory. However, step functions are not ideal in many applications, as they are discontinuous. Alternative input trajectories are explored in this manuscript and applied to an example system that includes a flexible appendage attached to a rigid main body. The main body is controlled by a reaction wheel. The equations of motion of the flexible appendage, rigid body, and reaction wheel are derived. A feedback controller is developed to account for the rigid body modes. Additional filters are added to compensate for the system’s flexible modes. Sinusoidal trajectories are autonomously generated to feed the controller. Whiplash compensation is additionally implemented for comparison. The control method without random errors with the smallest error is the sinusoidal trajectory method, which showed a 97.39% improvement when compared to the baseline response when step trajectories were commanded, while the sinusoidal method was inferior to traditional step trajectories when sensor noise and random errors were present.

Multiple entities use unmanned underwater drones for various functions, but how can they navigate underwater at such depths without a pilot? It is essential to understand how different unmanned underwater drones, such as remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles, function with underwater sensing technology. As each unmanned underwater drone has its function, the combination or chief use of the sensors is equally essential to recognize. Different underwater drone designs can be more cost-effective when a human is not on board as it can lead to a smaller, streamlined design in which oxygen and pressure control need not be a factor. Without considering oxygen limitations, these underwater drones can remain submerged for extended periods. These underwater vehicles operate autonomously or in conditions that may leave the individuals controlling the trajectory relying upon these sensors. It is also necessary to review how these sensors work, how they are implemented, and how they can help the public. This review was performed to address these research questions and provide an overview of sensors employed by unmanned underwater vehicles.

Chaotic systems are systems whose results are sensitive to the initial conditions. Chaotic systems generally have nonlinearities that can be difficult to model. One example of a chaotic system with nonlinearities is the Lorenz system. The Lorenz system can be used to model weather, wind disturbances, and electronic circuit design, among other applications. In this manuscript, the Lorenz system is modeled and various control methods are applied in an effort to dictate the system’s state and rate trajectories. The combination of the linear feedback and nonlinear feedforward controllers can show over an 80% improvement in state trajectory errors when compared to the baseline run. However, the improved state trajectory performance comes at a cost of as much as 1800% error in the rate trajectories.

This article sets out to deconstruct and challenge the psychologised and pathologising approach that has come to dominate child protection practice in Aotearoa-New Zealand and comparable societies in neoliberal times. Within a risk and protection focused paradigm circumstances and behaviours associated with material deprivation are construed as indicators of heightened danger and harm as opposed to a means of better understanding family life. In this way, although poverty may be classified as an issue that is worthy of attention in the realm of broader economic and social policy, structural inequality is rendered largely irrelevant to the practice of statutory child protection. This article sets out to trouble this construction. It will be argued that understandings of how the effects of material inequality are played out in the lives of children and their families are critical to the development of more effective child protection social work. This ‘life-world’ is generally populated by young women parenting in poverty. Poverty exacerbates the everyday struggle of parenting - it shames and dis-empowers; reducing confidence and perceptions of competence (Gupta, 2015). A paradigm shift is needed. Child protection policy and practice needs to re-engage with the every-day struggles that accompany the lives of socially marginalised families in increasingly stratified late capitalist society. The future of social work in child protection depends on it.

Psychiatry needs operational definitions to appreciate differences seen in idiosyncratic, psychotic thinking, and shared subcultural beliefs or ideologies. Carl Wernicke first described overvalued idea in 1906. The concept has been applied to describe it as a motive in mass shootings and terrorism. We review the concept of overvalued idea and extreme overvalued belief as a basis for making the distinction between delusions and non-delusions.

Background: Dietary fiber is a key component of a health-promoting diet, and it is acknowledged as a short-fall nutrient in most Western diets. Some sources of dietary fiber, such as hemp hull fiber, also include inherent small molecule bioactives that further promote health and well-being. While dietary fiber is a key component that supports digestive health, it also can cause digestive discomfort. Digestive symptoms such as gas, bloating, belly pain, and the resulting decrease in digestive quality of life are common among adults. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in digestive comfort, in individuals who currently experience digestive discomfort, after consuming either a proprietary dietary fiber supplement from hemp hull, a dietary fiber supplement made from inulin, or a digestible control (maltodextrin). Methods: This study was a completely virtual, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial of healthy adults. The parallel arm study tested two fiber supplements at a practical dose yielding a “Good Source of Fiber” based on United States Dietary Reference Intakes (2.8 grams of fiber per day) for six weeks. Results Five hundred seventy nine randomized participants provided follow-up outcomes data. Digestion-associated quality of life questionnaire, belly pain, and gas and bloating scores were assessed and found to be superior after hemp hull fiber intake compared to inulin intake at multiple time points in a post-hoc analysis (p<0.05). Conclusion This study demonstrated that a practical dose of bioactive-rich fiber from hemp hull is well-tolerated, provides superior digestive comfort relative to both placebo and inulin fiber, and can aid in reaching total fiber intake goals.

The ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has raised concerns surrounding immunological protection against the virus, particularly for people with inborn errors of immunity (IEI). While COVID-19 vaccination induces robust antibody, memory B-cell, and T-cell responses in healthy individuals, how well vaccination protects people with IEI against infection and severe disease remains unclear – especially in the context of new viral variants and vaccine formulations – leading to anxiety, ongoing self-isolation, and repeated vaccination with limited evidence of increased efficacy. Whilst most people with IEI generate some level of cellular and/or humoral immunity to COVID-19 vaccination, the level of protection and durability of the response are unclear. Alongside vaccination, antibody-based therapeutics are aimed at limiting infection and severe disease in this cohort. Immunoglobulin replacement therapy (IgRT) provides passive immunity in antibody-deficient individuals. However, to successfully prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection, a sufficient number of neutralizing antibodies must be present in product. While antibodies against circulating variants are eventually present in IgRT products (both from natural infection and vaccination of the donors), evidence of their capacity to recognize new variants is limited. Furthermore, while antibody-based pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis can be effective, they are susceptible to decreased efficacy in the context of variant evolution. This review provides an in-depth overview of current knowledge about COVID-19 vaccine efficacy in IEIs, the efficacy of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody products, and knowledge and technological advances required for continued protection of people with IEI.

In recent years, antimicrobial resistance in many human pathogens has become a serious health concern. Since infections with resistant pathogens cannot be treated with traditional antimicro-bial drugs, new strategies are necessary to fight bacterial infections. Hybrid nano-systems may provide a solution to this problem, by combining multiple mechanisms for killing bacteria to synergistically increase the effectiveness of the antimicrobial treatment. In this review, we high-light recent advances in the development of hybrid nano-systems for the treatment of bacterial infections. We discuss the use of hybrid nano-systems for combinational therapy, focusing on various triggering mechanisms for drug release and the development of biomimetic nanomateri-als. We also examine inherently antimicrobial nano-systems and their uses in preventing infec-tions due to wounds and medical implants. This review summarizes recent advances and pro-vides insight into the future development of antimicrobial treatments using hybrid nanomateri-als.

(R)-(+)-3,5-Dinitro-N-(1-phenylethyl)benzothioamide 1 is a potential chiral solvating agent (CSA) for the spectral resolution of enantiomers by 1H NMR spectroscopy. The single enantiomer of 1 was synthesized from commercially (R)-(+)-a-methylbenzylamine 2 in two-steps with 85% yield.

Extracellular enzymes catalyze biogeochemical reactions in soil, cycling carbon and nutrients in agricultural systems. Enzymes respond quickly to soil management, including organic amendment inputs, such as biochar, a charcoal-like solid byproduct of bioenergy production. In a previous agricultural field trial, a pine biochar amendment caused an approximately 40% decrease in the enzyme activities of β-glucosidase (BG) and phosphatase (PHOS). The large surface area of the pine biochar has the potential to sorb nutrients and other organic molecules. To test if sorption caused decreased enzyme activity, we used a laboratory assay to quantify the activity of two sorbed enzymes: BG and acid PHOS, involved in the cycling of carbon and phosphorous. The enzymes were incubated with three solid phases: (1) the high surface area pine biochar, (2) the agricultural soil, and (3) a low surface area grass biochar, for an additional comparison. We quantified the sorbed enzymes at pH 6, 7, and 8, using a Bradford protein assay, and measured the immobilized enzyme activities via high-throughput fluorometric analysis. After sorption onto pine biochar, detectable BG and PHOS activity levels dropped by over 95% relative to the soil, supporting direct sorption as one mechanism that reduces enzyme activity in biochar amended soil. This laboratory assay demonstrated that sorption could account for the lack of priming of native soil organic matter and changes in soil phosphorous cycling after pine biochar addition.

This study proposes and validates a novel combustion control system for Oil-Fired Boilers aimed at reducing air pollutant emissions through flame image prediction. The proposed system is easily applicable to existing ships. Traditional proportional combustion control systems supply fuel and air at fixed ratios according to the set steam load, without considering the emission of air pollutants. To address this, a stable and immediate control system is proposed, which adjusts the air supply to modify the combustion state. The combustion control system utilizes oxygen concentration predictions from flame images via SEF+SVM as control inputs, and applies Internal Model Control (IMC)-based Proportional-Integral (PI) control for real-time combustion control. Due to the complexity of modeling the image-based system, IMC parameter tuning through experimentation is essential for achieving effective control performance. Experiments conducted on a 3000 kg/h marine oil-fired boiler in actual operation optimized the controller parameters for stability and responsiveness, and validated their effectiveness. The results demonstrate the potential of the proposed system to improve combustion efficiency and reduce emissions of air pollutants. This study provides a feasible and effective solution for enhancing the environmental performance of marine oil-fired boilers. Given its ease of application to existing ships, it is expected to contribute to sustainable air pollution reduction across the maritime environment.

Influenza A (IAV) is a major human respiratory pathogen, causing illness, hospitalizations, and mortality annually worldwide. IAV is also a zoonotic pathogen with a multitude of hosts, allowing for interspecies transmission, reassortment events, and the emergence of novel pandemics, as was seen in 2009 with the emergence of a swine origin H1N1 (pdmH1N1) virus into humans, causing the first influenza pandemic of the 21st century. While the 2009 pandemic was considered to have high morbidity and low mortality, studies have linked the pdmH1N1 virus and its gene segments to increased disease in humans and animal models. Genetic components of the pdmH1N1 virus currently circulate in the swine population, reassorting with endemic swine viruses that co-circulate and occasionally spillover into humans. This is evidenced by the regular detection of variant swine IAVs in humans associated with state fairs and other intersections of humans and swine. Defining genetic changes that support species adaptation, virulence, and cross-species transmission, as well as mutations that enhance or attenuate these features will improve our understanding of influenza biology, aid in surveillance and virus risk assessment, and guide the establishment of counter measures for emerging viruses. Here, we review current understanding of determinants of specific IAV phenotypes, focusing on the fitness, transmission, and virulence determinants that have been identified in swine IAVs and/or in relation to the 2009 pdmH1N1 virus.

Phylogenomic analyses have revolutionized the study of biodiversity, but they have revealed that estimated tree topologies can depend, at least in part, on the subset of the genome that is analyzed. For example, estimates of trees for avian orders differ if protein coding or non-coding data are analyzed. The bird tree is a good study system because the historical signal for relationships among orders is very weak, which should permit subtle non-historical signals to be identified, while monophyly of orders is strongly corroborated, allowing identification of strong non-historical signals. Hydrophobic amino acids in mitochondrially-encoded proteins, which are expected to be found in transmembrane helices, have been hypothesized to be associated with non-historical signals. We tested this hypothesis by comparing the evolution of transmembrane helices and extramembrane segments of mitochondrial proteins from 420 bird species, sampled from most avian orders. We estimated amino acids exchangeabilities for both structural environments and assessed the performance of phylogenetic analysis using each data type. We compared those relative exchangeabilities with values calculated using a substitution dataset for transmembrane helices from a variety of sampled set of nuclear- and mitochondrially-encoded proteins, allowing us to compare the bird-specific mitochondrial models with a general model of transmembrane protein evolution. To complement our amino acid analyses, we examined the impact of protein structure on patterns of nucleotide evolution. Models of transmembrane and extramembrane sequence evolution for amino acids and nucleotides exhibited striking differences, but there was no evidence for strong topological data type effects. However, incorporating protein structure into analyses of mitochondrially-encoded proteins improved model fit. Thus, we believe that considering protein structure will improve analyses of mitogenomic data, both in birds and in other taxa.

Given the increased provision of international exchange programmes in higher education, this paper examines students’ perceptions of their learning process in one Erasmus+ programme in Food Innovation and Product Design. Using evaluation model of international exchange programme and triple helix model as the analytical framework, students’ testimonials from 2015–2021 were analysed using a critical discourse analysis. EU and non-EU students had similar perceptions of learning outcomes related to knowledge of the food innovation industry, but non-EU students had a stronger sense of awareness of both the international context and multicultural interaction.

If the world’s countries seriously tackle the climate targets agreed in Paris, their citizens are likely to experience substantial changes in production, consumption and employment. We present a long-run post-Keynesian model for studying the potential implications of a major transition on macroeconomic stability and employment. It is a demand-led model in which firms have considerable but not absolute freedom to administer prices, while household consumption exhibits inertia. Firms continually seek input-saving technological improvements that, in the aggregate, tie technological progress to firms' cost structure. Together with firm pricing strategies and wage setting, the productivities of different inputs determine the functional income distribution. Saving and investment, and production and purchase of consumption goods, are undertaken by different economic actors, driven by income and capacity utilization, with the possibility that productive capacity exceeds, or falls short of, effective demand. The model produces business cycles and long waves driven by technological change. We present results for a “downshifting” scenario in which households voluntarily withdraw labor and discuss the implications of downshifting for stability, growth, and employment. We contrast the downshifting scenario with ones in which households reduce consumption without withdrawing from the labor pool.

This study examined the tourism spatial distribution of nine cities in the Fujian province and assessed the impacts of COVID-19. The modified gravity model found that it was widely dispersed, with uneven and relatively independent tourism development in different cities. The social network analysis showed that tourism connections across cities were significantly reduced after the pandemic. The impacts of brand awareness and transport accessibility on spatial networks were positive in pre-pandemic but became negative during the pandemic. In contrast, tourist volume had negative impacts on spatial networks in pre-pandemic but had positive ones during the pandemic. Tourism resources and market performance had significantly positive impacts in the post-pandemic era. These findings provide advice on tourism recovery and destination management in coping with future critical events. It also contributes to the theoretical gravity framework in tourism and the research scope of the social networks analysis at the city level.

COVID-19 is frequently associated with a coagulopathy with severe consequences. The mechanisms leading to a pro-coagulant state in these patients is multifactorial, including tissue destruction and inflammatory mechanisms. Based on the analysis of publicly available interactomes, we propose that SARS-CoV-2 infection causes a deficiency in C1 esterase inhibitor (C1-INH), a pathogen-specific mechanism that may help explain the pro-coagulant state in COVID-19 patients.

This document serves as supplemental information to Shapero et al. (2023), which is itself a comment on Nowell et al. (2022). Environmental Health Perspective’s publishing standards for article comments have strict word counts and do not allow the addition of new primary data analyses; therefore, this document provides an additional level of detail and supporting analyses that serve as an important backup to and expansion of Shapero et al. (2023) and that also respond to some comments within the author’s reply to our comments (Holmes and Nowell, 2023). Nowell et al. (2022) evaluated potential PM_2.5 community impacts from sugarcane harvesting. However, their analysis is flawed by erroneous assumptions and misapplied technical approaches, as discussed in Shapero et al. (2023) and as detailed in this supplemental information document. Additionally, the authors ended their analysis with 2018 data, but later data shows no marginal increase in PM_2.5 during sugarcane harvest following 2019 even using the authors’ approach (Holmes and Nowell, 2023). Therefore, the authors’ evaluations have no relevance to current conditions. Nonetheless, even their evaluation and conclusions regarding PM_2.5 concentrations purportedly attributable to sugarcane harvesting prior to 2019 are unsupported and technically unsound as detailed below.

Primates are traditionally considered to have a poor sense of smell. However, olfaction is important for non-human primates as demonstrated by conspicuous scent-marking behaviours in lemurs. We studied two family groups (N=4) of crowned lemurs (Eulemur coronatus) housed at Colchester and Twycross zoos (UK) by combining behavioural observations and chemical analyses of scent-marks. We recorded observations of olfactory behaviours for 201 h using instantaneous scan sampling. We investigated the volatile compounds of ano-genital odour secretions using solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Males scent-marked most frequently, displaying ano-genital marking for allomarking, head marking for countermarking and wrist marking in specific areas of the enclosure. Females displayed ano-genital marking predominantly on feeding devices. We detected a total of 38 volatile components in all male ano-genital scent-marks and 26 in all female samples of ano-genital odour secretions, including a series of esters, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, terpenes, volatile fatty acids and hydrocarbons that have been identified in odour profiles of other primates. In conclusion, we found sexual dimorphism in crowned lemurs. Male head and wrist marking behaviours might play defensive territorial functions, while ano-genital marking would be related to socio-sexual communication as chemical mate-guarding. Female ano-genital marking might be involved in resource defense.

Despite great strides in the development of contraceptive technologies, the United States has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the world. Many investigators have aimed to examine the relationship between religion and the sexual health behaviors of college students to determine how social factors may influence the use of contraception amongst college students. Thus, we aimed to examine the differences in current contraceptive method and age of first contraceptive usage among sexually active female college students with different religious affiliations and strengths of religiosity. It was hypothesized that there would be no difference in current contraceptive methods among different religious affiliations and strengths of religions, and that there would be a difference in age of first contraceptive usage among different religious affiliations and strengths of religiosity. Two-hundred twenty-four college aged females completed a 20-question survey about sexual health and religious practices. Chi-squared tests were implemented to determine if the frequencies of responses across religious affiliations and strengths of religiosity. Significant differences in the frequency of responses for age of first contraceptive usage were observed across different strengths of religiosity (p=0.016) and for the self-perceived impact of religion on sexual health across different religious affiliations (p=0.033) and strengths of religiosity (p=0.005). All other differences were found not to be statistically significant. It was determined that increased strengths of religiosity resulted in delayed onset of contraceptive us-age and that both different religious affiliations and greater strengths of religiosity lead to different self-perceived impacts of religion on sexual health.

Fabric material was coated with Viruferrin™ and tested for its inactivating properties against the pandemic severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and influenza A viruses. A statistically significant (p<0.0001) decrease in the number of infectious virus particles exposed to Viruferrin-treated fabric when compared with the cotton control for both SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A viruses was observed. For both SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A, Viruferrin-treated fabrics experienced a > 99% virus reduction without saliva after five minutes of contact when compared to the positive control at time point 0. Furthermore, the reusability of the Viruferrin treated fabric was demonstrated by stability for up to 10 washes. The level of anti-viral (SARS-CoV-2) activity remained constant from 5 to 10 washes and demonstrated a significant difference (p<0.0001) from the unwashed untreated material. Applications for this treated fabric are far-reaching, and as a biological face covering offers not only a unique 2-way protection but also is unlikely to cause onward touch transmission.

The Internet of Things (IoT) continues to grow at a rapid pace, becoming integrated into the daily operations of individuals and organisations. IoT systems automate crucial services within daily life that users may rely on, which makes the assurance of security towards entities such as devices and information even more significant. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey of papers that model cyber risk management processes within the context of IoT, and provide recommendations for further work. Using 39 collected papers, we studied IoT cyber risk management frameworks against four research questions that delve into cyber risk management concepts and human-orientated vulnerabilities. The importance of this work being human-driven is to better understand how individuals can affect risk and the ways that humans can be impacted by attacks within different IoT domains. Through the analysis, we identified open areas for future research and ideas that researchers should consider.

With the increasing use of data-driven modeling methods new approaches to complex problems in the field of wind energy can be addressed. Topics reviewed through literature include wake modeling, performance monitoring and controls applications, condition monitoring and fault detection, and other data-driven research. Literature shows the advantages of data-driven methods reduce computational expense or complexity, particularly in the cases of wake modeling and controls, as well as various data-driven methodologies’ aptitude for predictive modeling and classification, as in the cases of fault detection and diagnosis. Significant work exists for fault detection while less work is found for controls applications. A methodology for creating data-driven wind turbine models for arbitrary performance parameters is proposed. Results are presented utilizing the methodology to create wind turbine models relating active adaptive twist to steady-state rotor thrust as a performance parameter of interest. Resulting models are evaluated by comparing root-mean-square-error (RMSE) on both the training and validation data sets, with Gaussian Process Regression (GPR), deemed an accurate model for this application. The resulting model undergoes particle swarm optimization to determine the optimal aerostructure twist shape at a given wind speed with respect to the modeled performance parameter, aerodynamic thrust load. The optimization process shows an improvement of 3.15% in thrust loading for the 10 MW reference turbine, and 2.66% for the 15 MW reference turbine.

Sheep (Ovis aries) provide a vital source of protein and fibre to human populations. In coming decades, as the pressures associated with rapidly changing climates increase, breeding sheep sustainably as well as producing enough protein to feed a growing human population will pose a considerable challenge for sheep production across the globe. High quality reference genomes and other genomic resources can help to meet these challenges by: 1) informing breeding programmes by adding a priori information about the genome, 2) providing tools such as pangenomes for characterising and conserving genetic diversity, and 3) improving our understanding of fundamental biology using the power of genomic information to link cell, tissue and whole animal scale knowledge. In this review we describe recent advances in the genomic resources available for sheep, discuss how these might help to meet future challenges for sheep production, and provide some insight into what the future might hold.

Injury to the optic nerve, termed, traumatic optic neuropathy (TON) is a known comorbidity of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and is now known to cause chronic and progressive retinal thinning up to 35 years after injury. Although animal models of TBI have described the presence of optic nerve degeneration and research exploring acute mechanisms is underway, few studies in humans or animals have examined chronic TON pathophysiology outside the retina. We used a closed-head weight-drop model of TBI/TON in 6-week-old male C57BL/6 mice. Mice were euthanized 7-, 14-, 30-, 90-, and 150-days post injury (DPI) to assess histological changes in the visual system of the brain spanning a total of 12 regions. We show chronic elevation of FluoroJade-C, indicative of neurodegeneration, throughout the time course. Intriguingly, FJ-C staining revealed a bimodal distribution of mice indicating the possibility of subpopulations that may be more or less sus-ceptible to injury outcomes. Additionally, we show that microglia and astrocytes react to optic nerve damage in both temporally and regionally different ways. Despite these differences, as-trogliosis and microglial changes were alleviated between 14-30 DPI in all regions examined, perhaps indicating a potential critical period for intervention/recovery that may determine chronic outcomes.

Pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has significant negative effects on health and behavior in childhood including depression, failure to thrive, neurocognitive impairment, and behavioral issues. It is strongly associated with an increased risk for chronic adult disease such as obesity and diabetes, accelerated atherosclerosis, and endothelial dysfunction. Accumulating evidence suggests that adult-onset non-communicable diseases may originate from early life through a process by which an insult applied at a critical developmental window causes long-term effects on the structure or function of an organism. Recently, much attention has been paid to the role of epigenetic mechanisms in the pathogenesis of adult disease susceptibility. Epigenetic mechanisms that influence adaptive variability include histone modifications, non-coding RNAs, and DNA methylation. This review will highlight what is currently known about the phenotypic associations of epigenetic modifications in pediatric OSA and will emphasize the importance of epigenetic changes as both modulators of chronic disease and potential therapeutic targets.

More people are surviving longer with cancer. Whilst this can be partially attributed to advances in early detection of cancers, there is little doubt that the improvement in survival statistics is also due to the expansion in the spectrum of treatments available for efficacious treatment. Transformative amongst those are immunotherapies, which have proven effective agents for treating immunogenic forms of cancer, though immunologically “cold” tumour types remain refractive. Oncolytic viruses, such as those based on adenovirus have great potential as anti-cancer agents and have seen a resurgence of interest in recent years. Amongst their many advantages is their ability to induce immunogenic cell death (ICD) of infected tumour cells, thus providing the alluring potential to synergize with immunotherapies by turning immunologically “cold” tumours “hot”. Additionally, enhanced immune mediated cell killing can be promoted through the local overexpression of immunological transgenes, encoded from within the engineered viral genome. To achieve this full potential requires the development of refined, tumour selective “precision virotherapies” that are extensively engineered to prevent off-target up take via native routes of infection, and targeted to infect and replicate uniquely within malignantly transformed cells. Here, we review the latest advances towards this holy grail within the adenoviral field.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a flavivirus that originated in Africa but emerged in Latin America in 2015. In this region, other flaviviruses such as Dengue (DENV), West Nile, and Yellow Fever Virus (YFV) also circulate, allowing for possible antigenic cross-reactivity to impact viral infections and immune responses. Studies have found antibody mediated enhancement between DENV and ZIKV, but the impact of YFV antibodies on ZIKV infection has not been fully explored. ZIKV infections cause congenital syndromes, such as microcephaly, necessitating further research into ZIKV vertical transmission through the placental barrier. Recent advancements in biomedical engineering have generated co-culture methods that allow for in vitro recapitulation of the maternal: fetal interface. This study utilized a transwell assay, which is a co-culture model utilizing human placental syncytiotrophoblasts, fetal umbilical cells, and a differentiating embryoid body to replicate the maternal: fetal axis. To determine if cross reactive YFV vaccine antibodies impact the pathogenesis of ZIKV across the maternal fetal axis, maternal syncytiotrophoblasts were inoculated with ZIKV or ZIKV incubated with YFV vaccine anti-sera, and viral load was measured 72 hours post inoculation. Here we report that BeWo and HUVEC cells are permissive to ZIKV and that the impact of YFV post-vaccination antibodies on ZIKV replication is cell line dependent. Embryoid bodies are also permissive to ZIKV and the presence of YFV antibodies collected 1 to 6 months post vaccination enhances ZIKV infection. Our data show that each of the cell lines and EBs have a unique response to ZIKV complexed with post-vaccination serum suggesting there may be cell-specific mechanisms that impact congenital ZIKV infections. Since ZIKV infections can cause severe congenital syndromes, it is crucial to understand any potential enhancement or protection offered from cross-reactive, post-vaccination antibodies.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a flavivirus that originated in Africa but emerged in Latin America in 2015. In this region, other flaviviruses such as Dengue (DENV), West Nile, and Yellow Fever Virus (YFV) also circulate, allowing for possible antigenic cross-reactivity to impact viral infections and immune responses. Studies have found antibody mediated enhancement between DENV and ZIKV, but the impact of YFV antibodies on ZIKV infection has not been fully explored. ZIKV infections cause congenital syndromes, such as microcephaly, necessitating further research into ZIKV vertical transmission through the placental barrier. Recent advancements in biomedical engineering have generated co-culture methods that allow for in vitro recapitulation of the maternal: fetal interface. This study utilized a transwell assay, which is a co-culture model utilizing human placental syncytiotrophoblasts, fetal umbilical cells, and a differentiating embryoid body to replicate the maternal: fetal axis. To determine if cross reactive YFV vaccine antibodies impact the pathogenesis of ZIKV across the maternal fetal axis, maternal syncytiotrophoblasts were inoculated with ZIKV or ZIKV incubated with YFV vaccine anti-sera, and viral load was measured 72 hours post inoculation. The data show that the impact of YFV on ZIKV replication is cell line dependent. In differentiating embryoids, the presence of YFV antibodies enhanced ZIKV infection. Since viral pathogenesis, and the impact of antigenic cross-reactive antibodies, is cell line specific at the maternal-fetal axis, this suggests there may be discreet mechanisms that impact congenital ZIKV infections.

Background: Disability and caste are two different forms of oppression, however Dalits and people with disabilities commonly face similar types of marginalities. Dalit women with disabilities may experience double discrimination because of the intersectionality of disability and caste. This study examines whether the disability and caste identity of women together affects and compounds the utilization of maternal healthcare services. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire among a total of 354 Dalit and non-Dalit women, with and without a disability aged between 15 – 49 years. Maternal healthcare service utilization was assessed by Ante-Natal Care (ANC), health facility (HF) delivery, and Post-Natal Care (PNC) during the last pregnancy. Logistic regression was performed to detect the predictors of service utilization and identify whether disability and caste were associated with service utilization. First, disability and caste were fitted separately in models. Secondly, the intersectionality of disability and caste was tested by the inclusion of disability*caste interaction term. Finally, the confounding effect of socio-demographic factors was investigated. Results: Out of surveyed women, 73% had 4+ ANC visits, 65% had HF delivery and 29% had a PNC visit during their last pregnancy. Women with a disability had lower odds of HF delivery (OR 0.50, CI 0.30 – 0.84) and PNC (OR 0.47, CI 0.25 – 0.88) than women without a disability. Adjustment for women’s age and household wealth explained associations in HF delivery by women with disabilities. There was no association between caste and service utilization. Disability overrode caste and there was no other evidence of effect modification by women’s caste status in the utilization. However, a weak interaction effect in the utilization of ANC services was found in the caste group by their education (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.05 – 0.74). Conclusions: Disabled women – whether Dalit or non-Dalit - had lower rates of utilizing all maternal healthcare services than non-disabled women. However, Dalit women with disabilities were more likely to receive PNC than non-Dalit women with disabilities. Increasing equity in maternal healthcare service utilization requires that traditional approaches to service development and program intervention to be re-examined and more nuanced interventions considered to ensure improved access and outcome among all vulnerable groups.

This paper aims to provoke fundamental thinking and action around the value and importance of socially-equitable development to the economic advancement, resilience, and prosperity of communities, as we contend with the 21^st Century grand challenge of the changing climate and disasters. As local communities and the global community have experienced an increased frequency, intensity and duration of natural and man-made disasters over the past several decades, opportunities have also grown to identify and reap the benefits of socially-equitable economic development. Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic, we discuss the critical importance of socially-equitable economic development to the resilience and sustainability of communities and the infrastructure that supports them. To this end, we: (1) examine what constitutes socially-equitable economic development at different spatial scales of community; (2) explore whether socially-equitable development can occur at different scales of community; (3) explicate the importance of formally considering the inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes for socially-equitable development; (4) explain why the pursuit of equal distribution of the benefits and burdens of development is a necessary but not sufficient endeavor for socially-equitable economic development; (5) analyze the relationships between socially-equitable development, and resilient and sustainable infrastructure and communities; (6) explain why socially-equitable development should be a key component of infrastructure and community resilience strategies in the 21^st Century; and, (7) explain why socially-equitable development can ultimately be viewed as a long-term strategy for prosperity.

Sperm during the freezing and thawing process is damaged by oxidative stress. Thus, its antioxidant scavenger is essential for sperm survival and death in frozen-thawed semen. We used melatonin and silymarin in experiments. Our study aimed to identify the effect of melatonin and silymarin on the motility and viability of sperm, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and nitric oxide (NO) production in frozen-thawed boar semen. Melatonin and silymarin were treated alone and co-treated in the fresh boar semen. Boar semen was collected using the gloved-hand method from ten crossbred pigs, and the age of the experimental ten male pigs was 28.7 ± 3.2 months. We evaluated sperm viability using SYBR-14 and PI kit, and ROS and NO production were detected by DCF-DA and DAF-2, respectively. The sperm motility was not significantly different between non-treatment and treatment. ROS and NO production in frozen-thawed sperm were decreased by melatonin and silymarin (P < 0.05). Moreover, silymarin significantly reduced NO production more than melatonin (P < 0.05). Melatonin (46.37 ± 1.10) and silymarin (46.13 ± 0.80) enhanced the viability of sperm (P < 0.05). We suggest that melatonin and silymarin are essential antioxidants in semen cryopreservation for protecting sperm damage and maintaining sperm viability. Melatonin and silymarin may be useful antioxidants in freezing boar sperm.

Zooplankton and ichthyoplankton community assessments depend on species diagnostics, yet morphological identifications are time consuming, require taxonomic expertise, and are hampered by lack of diagnostic characters –particularly for larval stages. Metabarcoding can identify multiple species in communities from short DNA sequences in comparison to reference databases. To evaluate species resolution across phylogenetic groups and food webs of zooplankton and ichthyoplankton, we compare five metabarcode mitochondrial (mt)DNA markers from gene regions of (a)cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, (b) cytochrome b, (c) 16S ribosomal RNA, and (d) 12S ribosomal RNA for DNA extracted from net tows in the Northeastern Pacific Ocean’s Salish Sea across seven sites and two seasons. Species resolved by metabarcoding are compared to invertebrate morphological identifications and biomass estimates. Results indicate that species resolution for different zooplankton and ichthyoplankton taxa can markedly vary among gene regions and markers, and in comparison to morphological identifications. Thus, researchers seeking “universal” metabarcoding should take caution that several markers and gene regions likely will be needed; all will miss some taxa and yield incomplete overlap. Species resolution requires careful attention to taxon marker selection and coverage in reference sequence repositories. In summary, combined multi-marker metabarcode and morphological approaches improve broadscale zooplankton diagnostics.

While the surface of the Earth plays a key role in weather forecasting through its interaction with the atmosphere, in ensemble numerical weather predictions the uncertainty on the surface is only represented with perturbations in the parameterisations representing the surface processes. Data representing the surface, such as the land cover, are not perturbed. As fully data-driven forecasts without parameterisations are growing in importance, sampling the uncertainty on the land cover data brings a new way of making ensemble forecasts. Our work describes a method of generating ensemble land cover maps for numerical weather prediction. The target land cover map has the ECOCLIMAP-SG labels, used in the SURFEX surface model, and therefore is expected to have all relevant labels for surface-atmosphere interactions. The method translates the ESA WorldCover map to ECOCLIMAP-SG labels and resolution using auto-encoders. The land cover ensemble members are obtained by sampling the land cover probabilities in the output of the neural network. This paper builds upon the work done in a companion paper describing the high-resolution version of ECOCLIMAP-SG, called ECOCLIMAP-SG+, used for the training and evaluation of the neural network. The output map presented here, called ECOCLIMAP-SG-ML, improves upon the ECOCLIMAP-SG map in terms of resolution (from 300~m to 60~m), overall accuracy (from 0.41 to 0.63) and the ability to produce ensemble members.

Recent advancements in machine learning have ushered in innovative techniques for augmenting datasets, particularly through contrastive learning in the computer vision domain. This study pioneers the application of contrastive learning for sentiment analysis, introducing a novel approach termed EmoConLearn. By fine-tuning contrastive learning embeddings, EmoConLearn significantly surpasses BERT-based embeddings in sentiment analysis accuracy, as evidenced by our evaluations on the DynaSent dataset. This research further delves into the efficacy of EmoConLearn across various domain-specific datasets, highlighting its versatility. Additionally, we investigate upsampling strategies to mitigate class imbalance, further enhancing EmoConLearn's performance in sentiment analysis benchmarks.

We explored how dietary behaviors (sucrose, fructose, sodium, and potassium consumption) and endured psychological stress in young adult males and females impact the vascular aging index (VAI) and CVD risk by mid-life. Data were obtained from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study, an ongoing longitudinal study. Included participants (n=2,656) had un-dergone carotid artery ultrasound at year 20 allowing VAIs to be calculated. Demographics, di-etary data and depression scores were obtained at baseline and year 20. Regression analyses were used to assess the predictors of VAI. Cox regression analyses were conducted to assess the risk of CVD, stroke and all-cause mortality. Predictors of vascular aging were found to be sex-specific. In females, CES-D scores at baseline were positively associated with VAI (B-weight=0.063, p=0.015). In males, sodium intake at year 20 positively predicted VAI (B-weight=0.145, p=0.003) and potassium intake inversely predicted VAI (B-weight=-0.160, p<0.001). BMI significantly predicted CVD, stroke, and death. Fructose consumption at year 20 was a significant predictor of CVD risk while having high blood pressure at baseline was signif-icantly associated with stroke risk. Our findings support the promotion of nutrient- specific be-havior changes to prevent vascular aging in early adulthood and CVD risk in mid-life.

Although sarcopenia is known to be a risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), whether NAFLD is a risk factor for the development of sarcopenia is not clear. We investigated bidirectional relationships between NAFLD and low skeletal muscle mass index (LSMI) using three different datasets. Participants were classified into LSMI and normal groups. LSMI was defined as a body mass index (BMI)-adjusted appendicular skeletal muscle mass &lt;0.789 in men and &lt;0.512 in women or as the sex-specific lowest quintile of BMI-adjusted total skeletal muscle mass. NAFLD was determined according to NAFLD liver fat score or abdominal ultrasonography. The NAFLD groups showed a higher hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for LSMI than the normal groups (HRs=1.213, 95% CIs=1.050–1.402). The LSMI groups also showed a higher HRs with 95% CIs for NAFLD than normal groups (HRs=1.564, 95% CIs=1.378–1.775). Participants with NAFLD had consistently less skeletal muscle mass over 12 years of follow-up. In conclusion, LSMI and NAFLD showed a bidirectional relationship. Maintaining muscle mass should be emphasized in the management of NAFLD.

On the 9th March 2020, the first patient with COVID-19 was admitted to ICU in the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, Wales. We prospectively recorded the rate of ICU admissions of 52 patients with COVID-19 over 60 days, focusing on the epidemiology of ethnicity and deprivation. Patients were 65% (34 of 52) male and had a median (IQR) age of 55 (48-62) years. Prevalent comorbidities included obesity (52%); diabetes (33%), and asthma (23%). COVID-19 hospital and ICU inpatient numbers peaked on days 23 and 39, respectively – a lag of 16 days. The ICU mortality rate was 33% (17 of 52). Black, Asian and Minority Ethnics (BAME) population represented 35% of ICU COVID-19 admissions (18 of 52) and 35% of deaths (6 of 17). Within the BAME group, 72% (13 of 18) were found to reside in geographical areas representing the 20% most deprived in Wales, versus 27% of Caucasians (9 of 33). Less than 5% of the population within the hospital catchment area are of BAME descent, yet they represent a disproportionately high proportion of patients with ICU admission and mortality suffering from COVID-19. The interplay between ethnicity and deprivation, which is complex, may be a factor in our findings. This in turn could be related to an increased prevalence of co-morbidities; higher community exposure; or genetic polymorphisms.

Retiring coal power plants can reduce air pollution and health damages. However, the spatial distribution of those impacts remains unclear due to complex power system adjustments and pollution chemistry and transport. Focusing on coal retirements in Pennsylvania (PA), we analyze six counterfactual scenarios for 2019 that differ in retirement targets (e.g., reducing 50% of coal-based installed capacity vs. generation) and priorities (e.g., closing plants with higher cost, closer to Environmental Justice Areas, or with higher CO₂ emissions). Using a power system model of the PJM Interconnection, we find that coal retirements in PA shift power generation across PA and the Rest of PJM region leading to scenario-varying changes in the plant-level release of several air pollutants. Due to air pollution chemistry and transport and socio-demographics, these changes in turn give rise to a reduction of 10 to 182 PM_2.5-attributable deaths in PJM across the six scenarios, with most reductions occurring in PA. Scenarios that reduce more coal power generation yield greater aggregate health benefits due to air quality improvements in PA and adjacent downwind regions. In addition, vulnerable populations—in both PA and Rest of PJM—benefit most in scenarios that prioritize plant closures in PA near Environmental Justice Areas. These results demonstrate the importance of considering cross-regional linkages and socio-demographics in designing equitable retirement strategies.

Background: The Hengduan Mountains are one of the most species–rich mountainous areas in the world. The origin and evolution of such a remarkable biodiversity are likely to be associated with geological or climatic dynamics, as well as taxon-specific biotic processes (e.g., hybridization, polyploidization, etc.). Here, we investigate the mechanisms fostering the diversification of the endemic Himalopsyche martynovi complex, a poorly known group of aquatic insects. Methods: We used multiple allelic datasets generated from 691 AHE loci to reconstruct species and RaxML phylogenetic trees. We selected the most reliable phylogenetic tree to perform network and gene flow analyses. Results: Phylogenetic reconstructions and network analysis identified three clades, including H. epikur, H. martynovi sensu stricto and H. cf. martynovi. Himalopsyche martynovi sensu stricto and H. cf. martynovi present an intermediate morphology between H. epikur and H. viteceki, the closest known relative to the H. martynovi–complex. The gene flow analysis revealed extensive gene flow among these lineages. Conclusion: Our results suggest that H. viteceki and H. epikur are likely to have contributed to the evolution of H. martynovi sensu stricto and H. cf. martynovi via gene flow, and thus, our study provides insights in the diversification process of a lesser–known ecological group, and hints at the potential role of gene flow in the emergence of biological novelty in the Hengduan Mountains.

Supplements in fish nutrition can help alleviate pressure on the wild stock; however, there is limited information on the benefits of rooibos tea extract in aquafeed. This study aimed to determine the effect of rooibos tea extract inclusion in the commercial diet on the growth performance of larval fish. Fish were reared on three diets: a commercial diet with 30% fermented or green rooibos extract and a commercial tilapia diet (control). Fish (initial weight of 0.54 ± 0.008 g and length of 2.22 ± 0.01 cm) were randomly distributed into recirculating aquaculture systems in triplicates at 100 fish per tank. Fish was hand-fed thrice daily for eight weeks at 2% body weight. After that, samples were withdrawn to measure growth parameters. Fish-fed fermented, and green tea extracts exhibited a significantly (p ˂ 0.05) higher weight gain than the controls. The feed conversion ratio was higher in the control group, fermented (1.50 ± 0.25 cm) and green tea (1.41 ± 0.07 cm). Similarly, the control group exhibited the highest condition factor (K=13.14 ± 4.87). The two treatment groups were comparable (p &gt;0.05) in growth performance. Overall, the evidence indicates that adding rooibos tea extracts to the basal diet can improve fish growth.

This paper addresses the analysis for the nonlinear vibration response of a rectangular tube with a flexible end and non-rigid acoustic boundaries. This is a further work of the linear structural acoustic problem in a well-known acoustic book. In fact, the acoustic boundaries of an enclosed space sometimes are non-rigid and the structural vibration responses are nonlinear. These two points are the focuses of this paper. The multi-level residue harmonic balance method is applied to this nonlinear structural acoustic problem. The results obtained from the multi-level residue harmonic balance method and numerical method are generally in good agreement. The effects of excitation magnitude, tube length, and phase shift parameter etc. are examined.

Background Patients with severe dysphagia are usually fed using a nasogastric tube (NGT). Many patients who receive long-term NGT feeding are unable to obtain sufficient nutrients orally immediately after NGT removal. Thus, a transitional period involving oral diet training is required to transition from NGT feeding to exclusive oral feeding. We aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of oral diet training in indwelling NGT patients with prolonged dysphagia. Methods A total of 175 patients who were fed using an NGT for more than 4 weeks were enrolled. Their swallowing function was evaluated by a videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS). During the VFSS, patients received thick and thin barium while the NGT was insulted. Then, the patients underwent a VFSS without an NGT thirty minutes after NGT removal. If a patient had no aspiration with NGT inserted during the VFSS, oral diet training combined with NGT feeding was recommended. Results Of the 49 indwelling NGT patients who were recommended to receive oral diet training, 39 (79.6%) transitioned to exclusive oral feeding. A transition period of 2-8 weeks was required for them to achieve full oral feeding. Patients who were eligible for oral feeding trials showed no significant aspiration during the VFSS with an NGT inserted and had sufficient cough function. Patients who required prolonged NGT feeding and who could not complete oral trials showed significant aspiration during the VFSS when an NGT was inserted. Conclusion This study demonstrated that oral diet training combined with NGT feeding was safe in patients with prolonged dysphagia who had sufficient cough function and no aspiration during VFSS. We suggest that if the patient is a proper candidate for NGT removal, direct oral feeding training with an NGT inserted could be a useful therapeutic strategy during the transitional period from long-term NGT feeding to successful oral feeding.

Radiator reliability is crucial in environments characterized by high temperatures and friction, where prompt interventions are often required to prevent system failures. This study introduces a proactive approach to radiator fault diagnosis, leveraging the integration of Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) and Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) autoencoders. Vibration signals from radiators were systematically collected through randomized durability vibration bench tests, resulting in four operating states—two normal, one unknown, and one faulty. Time-domain statistical features of these signals were extracted and subjected to Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to facilitate efficient data interpretation. Subsequently, this study discusses the comparative effectiveness of GMM and LSTM in fault detection. GMMs are deployed for initial fault classification, leveraging their clustering capabilities, while LSTM autoencoders excel in capturing time-dependent sequences, facilitating advanced anomaly detection for previously unencountered faults. This alignment offers a potent and adaptable solution for radiator fault diagnosis, particularly in challenging high-temperature or high-friction environments. Consequently, the proposed methodology not only provides a robust framework for early-stage fault diagnosis but also effectively balances diagnostic capabilities during operation. Additionally, this study presents the foundation for advancing reliability life assessment in accelerated life testing, achieved through dynamic threshold adjustments using both the absolute log-likelihood distribution of the GMM and the reconstruction error distribution of the LSTM autoencoder model.

Recent evidence has highlighted the critical role of memory cells in maintaining lifelong food allergies, thereby identifying these cells as therapeutic targets. IgG⁺ memory B cells replenish pools of IgE-secreting cells upon allergen exposure, which contract thereafter due to the short lifespan of tightly regulated IgE-expressing cells. Advances in the detection and highly dimensional analysis of allergen-specific B and T cells from allergic patients have provided insight on their phenotype and function. The newly identified Th2A and Tfh13 populations represent a leap in our understanding of allergen-specific T cell phenotypes, though how these populations contribute to IgE memory responses remains poorly understood. Within, we discuss the mechanisms by which memory B and T cells are activated, integrating knowledge from human systems and fundamental research. We then focus on memory reactivation; specifically, on the pathways of secondary IgE responses. Throughout, we identify areas of future research which will help identify immunotargets for a transformative therapy for food allergy.

Periodontal disease is one of the most common conditions affecting dogs worldwide and is reported to be particularly prevalent in racing greyhounds. A range of potential risk factors have been hypothesised. Previous research has suggested, regular tooth brushing can reduce both calculus and gingivitis, but the frequency required is unclear. Here, we report a controlled blinded in-situ in which kennel staff brushed 160 racing greyhounds’ teeth (living at six kennel establishments), either weekly, daily or never over two-month period. All visible teeth were scored for calculus and gingivitis, using previously validated scales. We calculated average scores for each of three teeth groups and overall averaging the teeth groups. Changes were compared to baseline. After two months, the total calculus scores (controlling for baseline) were significantly different in the three treatemnet groups, (F(2,129) = 10.76, p&lt;0.001) with both weekly and daily brushing resulting in significant reductions. Gingivitis was also significantly different (F(2,128) = 4.57, p=0.012), but in this case, only daily brushing resulted in a significant reduction. Although dogs in different kennels varied significantly in their levels of both calculus (F(5,129) =8.64, p&lt;0.001), and gingivitis (F(5,128)=3.51 p=0.005), the intervention was generally similarly effective in all establishments. Teeth groups varied and incisors were not significantly affected by treatment. Since trainers implementing the routine, reported minimal time commitment and positive experiences, we suggest that daily brushing is recommended for racing greyhounds, and that demonstrations should include attention to all teeth groups including incisors. Similar trials need to be conducted with retired greyhounds since these have been shown to present particularly high levels of periodontal disease.

Although 4Ce4YSZ has high corrosion resistance, it faces challenges concerning sinterability and ionic conductivity. Therefore, we studied destabilization behavior caused by corrosion and oxygen vacancy ordering according to ZnO doping. The powders of (4Ce4YSZ)1-x(ZnO)x (x=0.5, 1, 2, 4 mol%) were synthesized through the sol-gel method. With the addition of ZnO, the cubic phase increased, and secondary phases were not observed. The (111) peak showed a higher angle shift in ZnO-doped 4Ce4YSZ compared to 4Ce4YSZ, and TEM-SAED revealed a reduction in the spacing of the (011)t plane, suggesting lattice contraction due to the substitution of the smaller Zn2+ (60 Å) for Zr4+ (84 Å) in the lattice. The local atomic structure analysis was conducted using EXAFS to investigate the oxygen vacancy ordering behavior. Zr K-edge Fourier-transform data revealed a decrease in the Zr-O1 peak intensity with an increasing amount o ZnO doping, indicating an increase in oxygen vacancies. The Zr-O1 peak position shifted to the right, leading to an increase in the Zr-O1 interatomic distance. In the Y K-edge Fourier-transform data, the Y-O1 peak intensity did not decrease, and there was little variation in the Y-O1 interatomic distance. These results suggest that the oxygen vacancies formed due to ZnO doping are located in the neighboring oxygen shell of Zn, rather than in the neighboring oxygen shells of Y and Zr. Impedance measurements were conducted to measure the conductivity, and as the amount of ZnO doping increased, the total conductivity increased, while the activation energy decreased. The increase in oxygen vacancies by ZnO doping contributed to the enhancement of conductivity and it is considered that these created oxygen vacancies did not interact with Zn2+ and did not form defect associations. Fluoride-based molten salts were introduced to the specimens to assess corrosion behavior in a molten salt environment. Yttrium depletion layers (YDLs) were formed on the surfaces of all specimens due to the leaching of yttrium. However, Ce remained relatively stable at the interface according to EDS line scans, suggesting a reduction in the phase transformation (cubic, tetragonal to monoclinic) typically associated with yttrium leaching in YSZ.

A multiscale model that enables quantitative understanding and prediction of the size effect on scattering properties of micro- and nanostructures is crucial for the design of LED surface textures optimized for high light extraction efficiency (LEE). In this paper, a hybrid process for combining full-wave finite-difference time-domain simulation and a ray-tracing technique based on a bidirectional scattering distribution function model is proposed. We apply this method to study the influence of different pattern sizes of a patterned sapphire substrate on GaN-based LED light extraction from the microscale to the nanoscale. The results show that near-wavelength–scaled patterns with strong diffraction are not expected to enhance LEE. By contrast, microscaled patterns with optical diffusion behavior have the highest LEE at a specific aspect ratio, and subwavelength-scaled patterns that have antireflection properties show marked enhancement of LEE for a wide range of aspect ratios.

Several types of guided bone regeneration materials are available with various properties and clinical indications. Among them, dentin-derived matrix from extracted teeth is an excellent alternative to traditional graft materials, such as allografts and xenografts. Different clinical preparation protocols exist: block form versus powder form, demineralized versus non-demineralized form. Out of these methods, demineralization protocols for dentin-derived matrix from extracted teeth have been noted for a wide range of successful clinical outcomes. The purpose of this animal study was to find out the most effective method of demineralizing dentin-derived matrix to result in the highest regenerative ability in the bone graft material in rabbit calvaria. The study conducted a comparative histomorphometric analysis of four groups in distinguished matrix conditions: a control group without graft placement, a non-demineralized dentin-derived matrix graft placement group, a 15-minute demineralized dentin-derived matrix graft placement group, and a 30-minute demineralized dentin-derived matrix graft placement group. Regenerative processes were evaluated three times at 2, 4, and 8 weeks post-graft placement. These groups of rabbits were evaluated randomly in a blinded setting to prevent bias. Among the four groups compared, the group with a 15-minute demineralized dentin-derived matrix graft showed the most efficient bone regeneration in the histomorphometric analysis. Based on this animal study, it was apparent that a 15-minute demineralization of dentin-derived matrix is the preferred preparation protocol to maximize the regenerative potential in the matrix.

The rapidly evolving domain of multimodal sentiment analysis is crucial for unraveling the intricate layers of emotional expression in social media content, customer service interactions, and personal vlogs. This research introduces a cutting-edge Advanced Cross-Modal Gating (ACMG) framework that significantly enhances the precision of sentiment analysis by refining the interplay among textual, auditory, and visual modalities. Our approach addresses three foundational aspects of sentiment analysis: (1) Advanced learning of cross-modal interactions, which focuses on extracting and synthesizing sentiment from varied modal inputs, thus providing a holistic view of expressed emotions; (2) Mastery over the temporal dynamics of multimodal data, enabling the model to maintain context and sentiment continuity over extended interactions; and (3) Deployment of a novel fusion strategy that not only integrates unimodal and cross-modal cues but also dynamically adjusts the influence of each modality based on its contextual relevance to the sentiment being expressed. The exploration of these dimensions reveals that the nuanced modeling of cross-modal interactions is crucial for enhancing model responsiveness and accuracy. By applying the ACMG model to two highly regarded datasets—CMU Multimodal Opinion Level Sentiment Intensity (CMU-MOSI) and CMU Multimodal Opinion Sentiment and Emotion Intensity (CMU-MOSEI)—we achieve groundbreaking accuracies of 83.9\% and 81.1\%, respectively. These results represent significant improvements of 1.6\% and 1.34\% over the current state-of-the-art, showcasing the superior performance and potential of our approach in navigating the complexities of multimodal sentiment analysis.

This study examined ways to prevent failures in the front-end of forklifts by addressing the center of gravity of heavy objects carried by forklifts, predicting the remaining useful lifetime (RUL), and the fault diagnosis based on alarm rules. In the research process, acceleration signals were acquired from the outer beam of the front-end of the forklift. A one-second window was applied to extract the time-domain statistical features, which were then set as variables. An exponentially weighted moving average was used to smooth the noise in the feature data set. The AWGN and LSTM autoencoders were used for data augmentation. Based on them, random forest and lightGBM models were used to develop classification models for the weight center of heavy objects carried by a forklift. In addition, contextual diagnosis performed by applying exponentially weighted moving averages to the classification probabilities of the machine learning models showed that random forest achieved an accuracy of 0.9563 and lightGBM achieved an accuracy of 0.9566. In addition, the acceleration data were collected through experiments to predict forklift failure and RUL because of the repeated forklift use when the center of heavy objects carried by the forklift was skewed to the right. The time-domain statistical features of the acceleration signals were extracted and set as variables by applying a 20-second window. Subsequently, logistic regression and random forest models were used to classify the failure stages of the forklifts. The f1-score (macro) obtained were 0.9790 and 0.9220 for logistic regression and random forest, respectively. In addition, the random forest probabilities for each stage were combined and averaged to generate a degradation curve and derive the failure threshold. The coefficient of the exponential function was calculated using the least squares method on the degradation curve, and the RUL prediction model was developed to predict the failure point. In addition, the SHAP algorithm was used to identify the significant features in classifying the stage. The alarm rule-based fault diagnosis was performed using the threshold of the normal stage distribution of the significant features.

The present study was conducted to investigate the comparative effects of organic and inorganic forms of sulfur, methyl sulfonyl methane (MSM) and sodium sulfate (SS), on laying performance, egg quality, ileal morphology, ileal volatile fatty acids, and antioxidant and stress markers in various biological samples in aged laying hens. A total of 144, 73-week-old Lohman Brown-Lite laying hens were randomly assigned to one of three experimental diets: basal diet (CONT), CONT + 0.2% MSM (MSM), and CONT + 0.3% SS (SS). The trial lasted for 12 weeks. MSM and SS groups contained 0.07% of sulfur, either organic or inorganic. Dietary MSM did not affect egg production and feed conversion ratio at 12 weeks compared with the CONT group. Dietary sulfur did not affect egg quality except for Haugh unit at 4 weeks which was lowered (P &lt; 0.05) in the SS group. Compared with the CONT group, higher (P &lt; 0.05) villus height and crypt depth ratio was observed in the SS group. None of dietary sulfur affected the percentages of short-chain fatty acids in the ileum. Total antioxidant capacity of liver increased (P &lt; 0.05) in laying hens fed MSM- and SS-added diets compared with the CONT group. The MSM and SS groups lowered (P &lt; 0.05) malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in serum samples compared with the CONT. Finally, dietary MSM had the lowest (P &lt; 0.05) MDA concentrations in yolk samples. Taken together, our study showed that dietary organic and inorganic sulfur have positive effects on ileal morphology and antioxidant capacity in laying hens. However, SS-mediated inhibition in laying performance needs to be clarified.

Optimal upper extremity motor control and range of motion are necessary to achieve even the basic Activities of Daily Living (ADL) function. Stroke, with resulting hemiparesis, can significantly and negatively impact an individual’s ADL function. Functional Independence Measure (FIM) self-care score can provide assessment of what aspects and to what degree ADL functions are impaired. FIM self-care assessment can also track changes in ADL function during stroke recovery and rehabilitation. Recently, sensor-acquired 3D motion analysis of stroke patients’ upper extremity has shown promise as a potential alternative to assess ADL function. This observational study evaluates whether the sensor-acquired upper extremity reachable workspace (RWS) measure correlates with clinician-evaluated FIM self-care score in stroke patients. Seventeen patients with stroke were enrolled in the study. FIM self-care, NeuroQoL upper extremity, and reachable workspace outcome measures (relative surface area, RSA) were collected upon rehabilitation hospital admission, at discharge, and at 3-month visit. Pearson and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients as well as multiple linear regression analyses were used to determine the relationships between FIM self-care, NeuroQoL, and reachable workspace RSAs. Moderately strong correlation between total reachable workspace RSA and total FIM self-care score at discharge and at 3-month were noted (r=0.619, r=0.661, p&lt;0.05), and similarly strong correlation was also noted with the upper extremity NeuroQoL total score (r=0.690, r=0.815, p&lt;0.05). Multiple linear regression analyses revealed a change in bilateral total RSA of 0.1 unit from admission to 3-month follow up correlated with respective change in FIM self-care score of 2.011 points (95%CI: 0.663-3.360). Longitudinal improvement in ADL function during stroke rehabilitation and recovery process is correlated with improvement in reachable workspace.

This study identified the effects of substituting fishmeal (FM) with soy protein concentrate (SPC) supplemented with lysine and methionine in the olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) diet on the expression of genes related to growth, stress, immunity, and digestion. Three experimental diets were prepared; the control diet (Con) contained 60% FM, and 25% (SPC25) and 50% (SPC50) FM were replaced by SPC. After the 140-day feeding period, weight gain, specific growth rate, feed availability, biological indices and chemical composition of the muscle were not significantly affected by the dietary treatments. The gene expression levels of growth-related genes (IGF, GFB-3), immune-related genes (IL-8 and caspase), stress-related genes (SOD, GPX, PRX, TRX) were higher in Con fish than in those fed the SPC25 and SPC50 diets. Chymo-TRY2, TRY2 and TRY3 in the stomach of fish fed the SPC25 diet were higher than fish fed the Con or SPC50 diets. TRY2 and lipase of fish fed the SPC25 diet were higher than those of fish fed the other diets but TRY3 was not significantly affected by the treatments in the intestine. In conclusion, substituting 25% FM with SPC was the most effective for the expression of growth, immune, stress, and digestive enzyme genes.

Abstract: This study investigates the transition to sustainable shipping industry within the framework of the IMO's 2050 carbon neutrality objective, focusing on socio-technical systems analysis. The research delves into the sustainable paradigm shift towards alternative marine fuels such as LNG, methanol, ammonia, and hydrogen from a socio-technical transition perspective, analyzing the multi-level per-spective challenges and opportunities. Specifically, it scrutinizes the implications of adopting these al-ternative fuels for global shipping, identifying technical uncertainties, financial constraints, and infra-structure needs. Through a comprehensive review of existing literature on ship emissions and alterna-tive fuels, coupled with socio-technical transition theory, the study addresses the multifaceted chal-lenges and opportunities in meeting the IMO's environmental objectives. It emphasizes the necessity of collaborative governance, innovative niche strategies, and a holistic approach to leverage the current window of opportunity in facilitating the maritime industry's transition to sustainable fuel options. Fi-nally, this research enhances our understanding of the intricate interplay between technological, social, industrial, and cultural dynamics in the greening of shipping and offers insights into the strategic adop-tion of environmentally friendly marine fuels for a sustainable future.

Historically, the evaluation and assessment of the clinical response to treatment for canine back pain is subjective and relies on owner and clinician assessment of pain. This study evaluated the use of sequential infrared thermal images as a measure of the response of canine patients with back pain to a prescribed series of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) treatments. Qualifying participants had histories of pain and dysfunction associated with spinal osteoarthritis or intervertebral disk disease, or of non-specific uni- or bilateral back pain along the paravertebral epaxial muscles. Each patient was initially thermally imaged prior to PBMT treatment and then received multiple PBMT treatments delivered to the appropriate spinal area on days 1, 2, 3, and 4. Participants were reimaged on day 7. Thermal images provided an objective measure of superficial temperature changes over the area of PBMT treatment of each patient after the PBMT regimen. The temperature correlated with statistically significant changes in Colorado State University Canine Chronic Pain Scale scoring (CPS) and owner assessment using the Canine Brief Pain Inventory (CBPI), which includes a Pain Severity Score (PSS) and Pain Interference Score (PIS). The correlation of objective thermal imaging data with more subjective outcome measures suggests thermal imaging may be a valuable additional tool in monitoring therapy outcome.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an alphavirus that causes febrile illness punctuated by severe polyarthralgia. After the emergence of CHIKV in the Western Hemisphere, multiple reports of congenital infections were published that documented neurological complications, cardiac defects, respiratory distress, and miscarriage. The Western Hemisphere is endemic to several alphaviruses and whether antigenic cross-reactivity can impact the course of infection has not been explored. Recent advances in biomedical engineering have produced cell co-culture models that replicate the cellular interface at the maternal fetal axis. We employed a trans-well assay to determine if cross-reactive antibodies affected the movement and replication of CHIKV across placental cells and into an embryoid body. The data show that antibodies to Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) significantly reduced CHIKV viral load in embryoid bodies. The data highlight that viral pathogenesis can be cell-specific and that exploiting antigenic cross-reactivity could be an avenue for reducing the impact of congenital CHIKV infections.

Cisplatin is a widely used anticancer drug for treating solid tumors, but it is associated with severe side effects, including nephrotoxicity. Various studies have suggested that the nephrotoxicity of cisplatin could be overcome; nonetheless, an effective adjuvant drug has not yet been established. Oleanolic acid acetate (OAA), a triterpenoid isolated from Vigna angularis, is commonly used to treat inflammatory and allergic diseases. This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of OAA against cisplatin-induced apoptosis and necroptosis using TCMK-1 cells and a mouse model. In cisplatin-treated TCMK-1 cells, OAA treatment significantly reduced Bax and cleaved-caspase3 expression, whereas increased Bcl-2 expression. Moreover, in cisplatin-induced kidney injury mouse model, OAA treatment alleviated weight loss in the body and major organs and also relieved cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity symptoms. RNA sequencing analysis of kidney tissues identified lipocalin-2 as the most upregulated gene by cisplatin. Additionally, necroptosis-related genes such as receptor interacting protein kinase (RIPK) and mixed lineage kinase domain like (MLKL) were identified. In vitro study, the phosphorylation of RIPKs and MLKL was reduced by OAA pretreatment in both cisplatin-treated cells and cells boosted by co-treatment with z-VAD-FMK. In conclusion, OAA could protect the kidney from cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and may serve as an anticancer adjuvant.

Cutaneous melanoma (CM) is a candidate for screening programs, since its prognosis is excellent when diagnosed in an early disease stage. Targeted screening of those at high risk for developing CM, a cost-effective alternative to population-wide screening, requires valid procedures to identify the high-risk group. Self-assessment of the number of nevi has been suggested as a component of such procedures, but its validity has not yet been established. We analyzed the level of agreement between self-assessments and expert assessments of the number of melanocytic nevi in the area between the wrist and the shoulder of both arms based on 4548 study subjects in whom mutually blinded double counting of nevi was performed. Nevus counting followed the IARC protocol. Study subjects received written instructions, photographs, a mirror, and a “nevometer” to support self-assessment of nevi larger than 2 mm. Nevus counts were categorized based on the quintiles of the distribution into five levels defining a nevus score. Cohen’s weighted kappa-coefficient was estimated to measure the level of agreement. In the total sample, agreement between self-assessments and expert-assessments was moderate (raw agreement: 50.29%, weighted κ=0.596). Self-assessed nevus counts were higher than those determined by experts (mean differ-ence: 3.33 nevi). The level of agreement was independent of sociodemographic and cutaneous factors; however, participants’ eye color had a significant impact on the level of agreement. Our findings show that even with comprehensive guidance, only a moderate level of agreement between self-assessed and expert-assessed nevus counts can be achieved. Self-assessed nevus information does not appear to be reliable enough to be used in individual risk assessment to target screening activities.

In the United States (US), tianeptine is sold as a dietary supplement under the trade name Tianaa™. Tianeptine is a synthetic drug prescribed by physicians as an antidepressant in parts of Europe, Asia and South America. The drug is not permitted for use by physicians in the US, be-cause it is a μ-opioid receptor agonist with a propensity for severe addiction. As incidence of Tianaa™ related opioid addiction across the southern US escalate, the current study aimed to quantify tianeptine in over the counter Tianaa™ White, Red, and Green products. The results of this investigation measured tianeptine levels between 3.1 to 10.9 mg per 531 mg capsules. Tianaa™ White capsules consistently contained the least tianeptine, while Green had the most. Close inspection of Tianaa™ products showed that capsule mass varied by as much as 16% from label claim, and the amount of tianeptine per capsule varied by as much as 35 % from the aver-age measured amount for each product. Tianaa™ Red contains kava leaf extract, which led to the identification of four kavapyrone components by mass spectrometry. The data presented pro-vide insight into tianeptine quantity and capsule mass variation for Tianaa™ supplements sold to customers naive to the risk of addiction.

Practicing preventive etiquettes such as hand washing, hand disinfection, wearing a face mask, practicing physical distancing, disinfection of surfaces and objects can help curb the transmission of COVID-19 at the workplace. This paper focuses on interventions and behaviors required to curb the spread of COVID-19 at workplaces. We undertook a detailed multi-disciplinary literature search on the following topics: hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, physical distancing, quarantine and isolation, disinfection of objects and surfaces, behavior change, and health crisis communication. We identified interventions that are effective for preventing the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) at workplaces. These findings present very useful non-clinical interventions for preventing COVID-19 in the work environment.

Cardiovascular risk factors (CRFs) such as hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes are increasingly implicated in cognitive decline and cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD). White matter hyperintensities (WMH), a hallmark of cSVD, are strongly linked to cognitive impairment, but their underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction has been proposed as a potential contributor to WMH development. This study aimed to explore the relationships between CRFs, BBB integrity, and WMH burden. We analyzed 155 participants from the Biomarkers and Cognition Study, Singapore, assessing CRFs through blood tests for glucose and lipid profiles, alongside blood pressure measurements. WMH volume was quantified using MRI, and an in vitro assay evaluated the impact of plasma on BBB integrity using human brain microvascular endothelial cells. Results showed that plasma from participants with higher WMH burden correlated with increased BBB disruption, which was further associated with higher blood pressure, elevated blood glucose, and lipid levels. Both periventricular and subcortical WMH were linked to BBB disruption. These findings suggest that CRFs contribute to BBB dysfunction, promoting WMH development and cognitive decline in cSVD. Further research is needed to clarify the precise mechanisms driving these associations.

In the development of the safety-critical systems, it is important to perform Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) process to identify potential failures. However, traditional FMEA activities tend to be considered difficult and time-consuming tasks. To compensate for the difficulty of the FMEA task, various types of tools are used to increase the quality and the effectiveness of the FMEA reports. This paper explains an Automatic FMEA tool which integrates the Model-based Design (MBD), FMEA, and Simulated Fault Injection techniques in a single environment. The Automatic FMEA tool has the following advantages compared to the existing FMEA analysis tool. First, the Automatic FMEA tool automatically generates FMEA reports compared to the traditional spreadsheet-based FMEA tools. Second, the Automatic FMEA tool analyzes the causality between the failure modes and the failure effects by performing model-based fault injection simulation. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the Automatic FMEA, we used the electronic fuel injection system (EFI) Simulink model. The results of the Automatic FMEA were compared to that of the legacy FMEA.

Levels of synthetic musk fragrances (SMFs) and various personal care products (PCPs) were measured in the Han River and its tributaries in Seoul, Korea. The most abundant SMF in all river and PCP samples was 4,6,6,7,8,8-hexamethyl-1,3,4,7-tetrahydrocyclopenta[g]isochromene (HHCB), followed by 1-(3,5,5,6,8,8-hexamethyl-6,7-dihydronaphthalen-2-yl)ethanone (AHTN), musk ketone (MK), and 1,1,2,3,3-pentamethyl-2,5,6,7-tetrahydroinden-4-one (DPMI). There was a significant correlation between the SMF concentration in the PCPs and the Han River samples. Moving from upstream to downstream in the Han River, the median SMF concentration was 6.756, 2.945, 0.304, and 0.141 μg/L in the sewage treatment plant (STP) influent, effluent, tributaries, and mainstream, respectively, implying that effective SMF removal was achieved during the sewage treatment process, followed by dilution in the receiving water. Four STPs using advanced biological treatment processes had removal efficiencies of 55.8%, 50.6%, 43.3% for HHCB, AHTN, and MK, respectively. The highest SMF concentrations in the tributaries were observed at locations close to the STPs. Our study confirmed that the main source of SMFs in the receiving water were sewage effluent containing untreated SMFs, which are largely originated from household PCPs, especially hair care products (e.g., shampoo) and perfumes.

Background The Delta Neutrophil Index (DNI), a prodiagnostic marker for sepsis, utilizes leukocyte count. Platelet activation, similar to leukocytes, plays a crucial role in host defence against pathogens and may serve as a predictor of sepsis outcome. However, the combined evaluation of Mean Platelet Component (MPC) and DNI in assessing sepsis has been rarely used. Methods To assess the prodiagnostic validity of simultaneous utilization of DNI and MPC in cases of human febrile sepsis, we conducted measurements of cellular indices, including DNI and MPC, as well as molecular biomarkers such as procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP). This study was carried out on patients admitted to the emergency department with suspected sepsis. Results Using a cutoff value of 2.65%, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of DNI in sepsis were found to be 69%, 73.9%, 77.9%, and 64.1%, respectively. Furthermore, significant differences in DNI and MPC levels were observed between the sepsis and non-sepsis groups (6.7±7.8% versus 2.1±2.2%, P=0.000 and 26.0±1.9 g/dl versus 26.8±1.4 g/dl, P=0.002), respectively. Notably, there was a negative correlation between DNI and MPC, with the strength of the correlation varying based on the cause of sepsis. By setting the cutoff value for DNI at 6.2%, the sensitivity, specificity, and NPV improved to 100%, 80.3%, and 100%, respectively, although the PPV remained at 10.6%. Importantly, the DNI≥6.2 group exhibited a higher incidence of death (10.9%, 5/46) and multiorgan failure (19.6%, 9/46) compared to the DNI<6.2 group (0.0%, 0/46 and 0.0%, 0/167, respectively) (P=0.000 and P=0.000, respectively). Conclusions In our study, DNI demonstrates superior effectiveness compared to other molecular biomarkers such as CRP and procalcitonin in distinguishing febrile septic patients from febrile nonseptic patients and predicting prognosis. Additionally, there exists a negative correlation between MPC and DNI, making MPC a valuable marker for differentiating the etiology of sepsis. These findings hold significant clinical implications as DNI/MPC is a cost-effective and readily applicable approach in various impending sepsis scenarios. Notably, this study represents the first examination of the prodiagnostic validity of simultaneously employing DNI and MPC in human cases of febrile sepsis.

Energy conversion and distribution (heat and electricity) is characterized by long planning horizons, investment periods and depreciation times, and it is thus difficult to plan and tell the technology that optimally fits for decades. Uncertainties include future energy prices, applicable subsidies, regulation, and even the evolution of market designs. To achieve higher adaptability to arbitrary transition paths, a technical concept based on integrated energy systems is envisioned and described. The problem of intermediate steps of evolution is tackled by introducing a novel paradigm in urban infrastructure design.It builds on standardization, modularization and economies of scale for underlying conversion units. Building on conceptual arguments for such a platform, it is then argued how actors like (among others) municipalities and district heating system operators can use this as a practical starting point for a manageable and smooth transition towards more environmental friendly supply technologies, and to commit to their own pace of transition (bearable investment/risk). environmental friendly supply technologies. Merits are not only supported by technical arguments but also by strategical and societal prospects like technology neutrality and availability of real options.

Regardless of country and age, the importance of history education is always being emphasized. Although the importance of history education is being emphasized in Korea, there are many difficulties in getting students to understand history properly through school classes alone, and it is also difficult to attract students to participate in classes. The effectiveness of education using games has been proven 20 years ago, and the demand for game-based education is gradually increasing in the current education world, which is becoming more open. In this paper, based on the effects proven through research on the existing game-based education, the improvement of historical thinking ability, experiential history learning, and the problems of game-based education introduced in the ESN report and the discomfort of teachers who participated in the education were improved. A plan was suggested to select and use games suitable for basic education. In this thesis, we selected a history game with a clear historical and periodic background and without distortion of history, and experimented with teaching using games focusing on historical thinking and empirical history learning. The learning achievement of textbook-based education was compared.

Regardless of country and age, the importance of history education is always being emphasized. Although the importance of history education is being emphasized in Korea, there are many difficulties in getting students to understand history properly through school classes alone, and it is also difficult to attract students to participate in classes. The effectiveness of education using games has been proven 20 years ago, and the demand for game-based education is gradually increasing in the current education world, which is becoming more open. In this paper, based on the effects proven through research on the existing game-based education, the improvement of historical thinking ability, experiential history learning, and the problems of game-based education introduced in the ESN report and the discomfort of teachers who participated in the education were improved. A plan was suggested to select and use games suitable for basic education. In this thesis, we selected a history game with a clear historical and periodic background and without distortion of history, and experimented with teaching using games focusing on historical thinking and empirical history learning. The learning achievement of textbook-based education was compared.

In Los Angeles, at one point, the Covid-19 testing positivity rate was 6.25%, or one in sixteen. This translates to, on average, one in sixteen specimens testing positive and the vast majority testing negative. Usually, we run sixteen tests on sixteen specimens to identify the positive one(s). This process can be time consuming and expensive. Since a group of negative specimens pooled together for testing will produce a negative result, one single test could potentially eliminate many specimens. Only when the pooled specimen tests positive do we need further testing to identify the positive one(s). Based on this concept, we designed a strategy that will identify the positive specimen(s) efficiently. Assuming one in sixteen specimens is positive, we find that only four tests are needed. Furthermore, we can run them simultaneously, saving both resources and time. Although, in the real world, we cannot make the assumption of only one positive specimen, the same strategy works with slight modification and proves to be much more efficient than the conventional testing. Our strategy returns an answer 48% of the time in four tests and one time cycle. Overall, the average number of tests is seven or eight depending on the follow-up testing, and the average time cycle is about one and a half.

This study aims to investigate the effects of cement kiln dust (CKD) on the hydration reactions and mechanical properties of cement and to evaluate its potential for use as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM). The key variables are the CKD type and incorporation rate. Cement paste and mortar specimens containing CKD were prepared to examine their effects on the cement hydration and mechanical properties. The impact on hydration was assessed using setting time measurements, heat of hydration tests, and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). In addition, compressive strength tests were conducted to evaluate the effect of CKD on the mechanical properties of the cement. The results indicated that CKD promoted early cement hydration and enhanced the early age mechanical properties. However, owing to its lack of pozzolanic reactivity, it did not significantly affect long-term hydration. Given that the effects of CKD vary slightly depending on its chemical composition, careful consideration of CKD's properties suggests that its potential use as a SCM is promising.

This paper aims to build up a preference function to evaluate the public benefits of the type of agricultural farming, biodiversity, water provisions, land use type, ecotourism modes, and a monetary attribute (environmental trust fund and willingness to contribute) associated with an ecosystem service and land use program in a forest park. This study used the choice experiments to build a random utility model, analyze the average preference for the above land use attributes based on the conditional logit and used a latent class model to test the resident’s heterogeneous preferences for land use planning in the forest park. We also estimated the welfare derived from various land use programs. The empirical result had shown that: (1) increasing organic farming area, maintaining the status quo of species biodiversity, increasing the surface water provision, increasing the area of custom flora, increasing the wetland area, and setting up an integrated framework for ecotourism increase the public’s preference for the land use program; (2) we found that farmer and non-farmer haven’t the same land use preferences; (3) the ecotourism development program incorporating biodiversity, organic farming, ethnobotany, and wetland area with integrated ecotourism are more preferred than other land use program scenarios.

Aim: To improve risk stratification in early-stage endometrial cancer (EC), we performed mo-lecular classification, and L1CAM immunohistochemistry (IHC) for additional risk assessment. Method: We analyzed archival tumor tissue from 247 early-stage EC patients. POLE mutations were detected using a Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction assay and Sanger sequencing, while the mismatch repair (MMR) status was determined by MMR protein IHC and MSI test. Additionally, we conducted IHC of p53 and L1CAM. Results: The 247 ECs were categorized into four subgroups: POLE-mutated (13.0%), MMR-deficient (27.9%), p53-abnormal (8.5%), and non-specific molecular profile (NSMP, 50.6%). We further subcategorized NSMP subgroup into NSMP-L1CAMneg (44.9%) and NSMP-L1CAMpos (5.7%), which we refer to as the molecu-lar-L1CAM classification. The molecular-L1CAM classification was an independent prognostic factor for recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) (p <0.001, each). Similarly, the simplified L1CAM-p53 categorization, for practical use, remained an independent prognostic factor for RFS and OS (p <0.001, p =0.003, respectively). Conclusion: Integrating the molecu-lar-L1CAM classification or the simplified L1CAM/p53 categorization can enhance risk stratifi-cation in early-stage EC, providing valuable prognostic information to guide treatment deci-sions and improve patient outcomes.

Health care in Canada is managed by provinces/territories. We investigated regional differences in survival among Canadians diagnosed with central nervous system (CNS) tumours. We identified 50,670 patients diagnosed with a first-ever primary CNS tumour between 2008 and 2017 with follow-up until December 31, 2017. We selected the four highest incidence histologies and used proportional hazards regression to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for five regions (British Columbia, Prairie provinces, Ontario, Atlantic provinces and the Territories), adjusting for sex, tumour behaviour and patient age. Ontario had the best survival profile for all histologies investigated. The Atlantic provinces had the highest HR for glioblastoma (HR=1.26, 95% CI:1.18-1.35) and malignant glioma not otherwise specified (NOS) (Overall: HR=1.87, 95% CI:1.43-2.43; Pediatric population: HR=2.86, 95% CI:1.28-6.39). For meningioma, the Territories had the highest HR (HR=2.44, 95% CI:1.09-5.45) followed by the Prairie provinces (HR=1.52, 95% CI:1.38-1.67). For malignant unclassified tumours, the highest HRs were in British Columbia (HR=1.45, 95% CI:1.22-1.71) and the Atlantic provinces (HR=1.40, 95% CI:1.13-1.74). There are regional differences in the survival of CNS patients at the population level for all four specific histological types of CNS tumours investigated. Factors contributing to these observed regional survival differences are unknown and warrant further investigation.

Agent-based models (ABMs) are computational models for simulating the actions and interactions of autonomous agents in time and space. These models allow users to simulate the complex interactions between individual agents and the landscapes they inhabit and are increasingly used in epidemiology to understand complex phenomena and make predictions. However, as the complexity of the simulated systems increases, notably when disease control interventions are considered, model flexibility and processing speed can become limiting. Here we introduce SamPy, an open-source Python library for stochastic agent-based modeling of epidemics. SamPy is a modular toolkit for model development, providing adaptable modules that capture host movement, disease dynamics, and disease control interventions. Memory optimization and design provide high computational efficiency allowing modelling of large, spatially-explicit populations of agents over extensive geographical areas. In this article, we demonstrate the high flexibility and processing speed of this new library. The version of SamPy considered in this paper is available at https://github.com/sampy-project/sampy-paper .

Using the World Bank Global Findex Database for 91 countries in 2014, 2017, and 2021, we examine whether fintech levels influence bank performance and whether fintech’s interaction with GDP per capita causes differential effects on bank performance globally. Since fintech levels were already very high for rich countries when the World Bank started providing fintech development statistics in 2014, we estimate AbFintech by regressing fintech levels on GDP per capita by year. AbFintech is the difference between the fintech level and its fitted values. Then, using multiple regression analyses, we investigate the impact of AbFintech on bank performance worldwide, focusing on the differential effects of AbFintech and GDP levels on bank performance. We find AbFintech significantly increases bank performance, primarily in less developed countries. Specifically, AbFintech increases banks’ ROA in the least developed countries and net interest margin in the 75th percentile countries. Also, AbFintech decreases the cost-to-income ratio in the 75th percentile countries, while it increases the ratio in the most developed countries. AbFintech does not affect the ratio of noninterest income to total income, regardless of the level of economic development.

This study surveyed the variation in Perfluorinated Compounds (PFCs) concentration entering urban wastewater treatment plants and proposed an optimal PFCS treatment method. The PFCS concentration in influent was shown to be affected by the types of industries and operating rate. The concentration of PFCs in the wastewater treatment effluent was slightly lower than that of influent. Thus, PFCs were considered to have barely been removed by the existing biological treatments. The pilot test result showed that about 10% of PFCs were removed by coagulation and precipitation, and the ozone and chlorine test also showed that few PFCs were removed regardless of the amount of injection. The activated carbon adsorption test showed that the removal was significantly increased by the empty bed contact time, with about a 60% removal in five minutes and over a 90% removal in 15 minutes. Therefore it is determined that a more stable and higher PFCs removal would result from the continuous oxidation processes such as ozone and adsorption processes such as activated carbon rather than a single biological treatment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that individuals with prediabetes are significantly less likely to develop type 2 diabetes if they participate in a lifestyle change program that results in at least 5% weight loss and 150 minutes of physical activity per week. The CDC recognizes distance learning as an effective delivery mode for lifestyle change programs to prevent type 2 diabetes. The purpose of this study was to assess enrollment, engagement, and effectiveness of a type 2 diabetes prevention program (DPP) using synchronous distance technology. Eat Smart, Move More, Prevent Diabetes (ESMMPD) is an intensive 12-month DPP delivered using synchronous distance technology. Throughout 26 lessons, participants focused on healthy eating, physical activity, and mindfulness behaviors. Study findings showed a significant decrease in A1C (-0.24 p<.0001). Weight loss averaged 5.66% for those who completed the program. Based on the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, participants demonstrated statistically significant changes in self-reported confidence in their ability to perform all 18 health-promoting behaviors assessed (p<.0001). Participation in the program also resulted in the adoption of health promoting behaviors. A DPP using synchronous distance technology is an effective delivery mode to help participants adopt healthy behaviors, increase physical activity, and achieve the weight loss necessary to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Multi-modal Motion-assisted Memory Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (3MDR), an interactive, virtual-reality assisted, exposure-based intervention for PTSD, has shown promising results for treatment-resistant Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (TR-PTSD) among military members (MMs) and Veterans in Randomized Controlled Trials. Previous research has suggested that emotional regulation (ER) and emotional dysregulation (ED) may be factors which are correlated with symptom severity and maintenance of TR-PTSD. This embedded mixed-methods pilot study (n=9) sought to explore the impact of 3MDR on ER and ED of MMs and Veterans. Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale (DERS-18) data was collected at baseline, prior to each session, and at 1 week, 1 month and 3 months post-intervention and analyzed using a Wilcoxon signed-ranks test. Qualitative data collected from sessions, debriefs, and follow-up interviews were transcribed and descriptively analyzed. Results demonstrated statistically significant decreases in DERS-18 scores from pre-intervention to post-intervention at each timepoint. Qualitatively, participants perceived improvements in ER within specified DERS-18 domains. We describe how 3MDR’s unique and novel approach may address ED through cognitive-motor stimulation, narration, divergent thinking, reappraisal of aversive stimuli, dual-task processing, and reconsolidation of traumatic memories. Further investigation is underway to better understand the underlying neurobiological mechanisms by which 3MDR addresses ER and PTSD.