Maintaining the judiciary's power requires a high level of budgetary expenditure, but the specifics of this relationship have yet to be fully explored. Although several studies have analyzed the impact of spending in the judiciary through productivity and performance-related measures, none have employed machine learning techniques. This study examines the productivity of the judiciary based on spending and other variables using machine learning techniques, including clustering and neural networks. The final neural network model supports the results of Pearson's parametric correlation test, which found no significant correlation between expenditure and productivity. This study's findings demonstrate the importance of understanding that increased public budgetary expenditure alone is insufficient for improving the judiciary's efficiency. Instead, other administrative and technical measures are necessary to meet the demands of the Brazilian judiciary and improve service delivery rates. These findings offer important theoretical and managerial contributions to the field.

Drying grains in a fixed bed can be an interesting alternative to prevent undesirable breaks and fractures of solids due to mechanical shocks, something that cannot be avoided when drying in moving beds. A disadvantage of fixed bed drying is that there can be significant gradients in the critical variables if the layer of particulate solids is thick. This work shows that periodically changing the direction of drying air flow is an effective technique to reduce differences within the bed and allow better uniformity of the product. Drying in a thick layer of 10 cm of sorghum grains was carried out at 50 and 60oC for air flow velocity of 2.1 m.s-1. The results showed that despite increasing the total drying time, the technique actually allowed a significant decrease in the temperature gradients and moisture content of the sorghum grains. The change in direction of the air flow caused the drying front to be displaced, sometimes towards the top, sometimes towards the base of the bed. At 50oC, drying lasted a total of 240 min, bringing the sorghum grains to an average overall moisture content of 0.13 on a dry basis.

The World Health Organization has estimated an annual occurrence of approximately 392 million Dengue virus (DENV) infections in more than 100 countries where the virus is endemic, and this represents a serious threat to humanity. DENV is a serologic group with four distinct serotypes (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3, and DENV-4) belonging to the genus Flavivirus, in the family Flaviviridae. Dengue is the most widespread mosquito-borne disease in the world. The ~10.7 kb DENV genome encodes three structural proteins (capsid [C], pre-membrane [prM], and envelope [E]) and seven non-structural (NS) proteins (NS1, NS2A, NS2B, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, and NS5). The NS1 protein is a membrane-associated dimer and a secreted, lipid-associated hexamer. Dimeric NS1 is found on membranes both in cellular compartments and cell surfaces. Secreted NS1 (sNS1) is often present in patient serum at very high levels, which correlates with severe dengue symptoms. This study was conducted to discover how NS1 protein, microRNAs-15/16 (miRNAs-15/16), and apoptosis are related during DENV-4 infection in human liver cell lines. Huh 7.5 and HepG2 cells were infected with DENV-4, and miRNAs-15/16, viral load, NS1 protein, and caspases-3/7 were quantified after different times of infection. This study demonstrated that miRNAs-15/16 are overexpressed during infection of HepG2 and Huh 7.5 cells by DENV-4 and have a relationship with NS1 protein expression, viral load, and activity of caspases-3/7, thus making these miRNAs potential injury markers during DENV infection in human hepatocytes.

The COVID-19 pandemic initiated a race to determine the best measures to control the disease and to save as many people as possible. Efforts to implement social distancing, the use of masks, and massive vaccination programs turned out to be essential in reducing the devastating effects of the pandemic. Nevertheless, the high mutation rates of SARS-CoV-2 challenge the vaccination strategy and maintain the threat of new outbreaks due to the risk of infection surges and even lethal variations able to resist the effects of vaccines and upset the balance. Most of the new therapies tested against SARS-CoV-2 came from already available formulations developed to treat other diseases, so they were not specifically developed for SARS-CoV-2. In parallel, the knowledge produced regarding the molecular mechanisms involved in this disease was vast due to massive efforts worldwide. Taking advantage of such a vast molecular understanding of virus genomes and disease mechanisms, a targeted molecular therapy based on siRNA specifically developed to reach exclusive SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences was tested in a non-transformed human cell model. Since coronavirus can escape from siRNA by producing siRNA inhibitors, a complex strategy to simultaneously strike both the viral infectious mechanism and the capability of evading siRNA therapy was developed. The combined administration of the chosen produced siRNA proved to be highly effective in successfully reducing viral load and keeping virus replication under control, even after many days of treatment, unlike the combinations of siRNAs lacking this anti-anti-siRNA capability. Additionally, the developed therapy did not harm the normal cells, which was demonstrated because, instead of testing the siRNA in nonhuman cells or in transformed human cells, a non-transformed human thyroid cell was specifically chosen for the experiment. The proposed siRNA combination deeply reduced the viral load throughout the experiment and allowed cellular recovery, thus representing a potential innovation, to be considered as an additional weapon for therapy of COVID-19 and even other infectious diseases.

Healthcare professionals constantly face situations that reflect ecosystems’ degradation. These can negatively affect their mental health. Research suggests that hope and resilience can play an important role in this scenario, since they are related to/predict mental health in highly heterogeneous samples (considering geography, age, profession, health, etc.). In this context, the aims of the present study are: to characterize and explore the relationship between hope, resilient coping and mental health of Portuguese healthcare professionals. Using Google Forms, 276 healthcare professionals answered to the GHQ-28, the (adult) Trait Hope Scale, and the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (cross-sectional study). The minimum and maximum possible scores were reached, with the exception of the maximum score of GHQ-28-Total. Regarding Hope, 19.6% scored below the midpoint (M=43.46, SD=11.97); 29.3% revealed low resilience (M=14.93, SD=4.05); and the average of 4 of the 5 Mental Health scores (exception: Severe Depression) indicates the probability of a psychiatric case. Hope correlated with Social Dysfunction and GHQ-28-Total; resilient coping proved to be a (weak) predictor of 4 of the 5 GHQ-28 indicators (exception: Severe depression). The results support the need to promote the sample's mental health, hope and resilient coping. They also suggest that stimulating resilient coping may contribute to improving healthcare professionals’ mental health.

All types of sports are potential application scenarios for automatic and real-time visual object and event detection. In rink hockey, the popular roller quad skate variant of hockey team sports, it is of great interest to automatically track player’s movements and positions, player’s sticks and, also, making other judgments, such as being able to locate the ball. In this work, we introduce a real-time pipeline composed by an object detection model, created specifically for rink hockey games, followed by a knowledge-based event detection module. Even in the presence of occlusions and quick motions, our deep learning object detection model effectively identifies and tracks, in real-time, important visual elements such as: ball; players; sticks; referees; crowd; goalkeeper; and goal. Using a curated dataset composed by a collection of videos of rink hockey, comprising 2525 annotated frames, we trained and evaluated the algorithm performance and compare it to state of the art object detection techniques. Our object detection model, based on YOLOv7, presents a global accuracy of 80%, and presents a good performance in terms of accuracy and speed, according to our results, making it a good choice for rink hockey applications. In our initial tests, the event detection module successfully detected one important event type in rink hockey games, the occurrence of penalties.

The long-term laboratory aspects of the effects of COVID-19 on liver function are still not well understood. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the hepatic clinical-laboratory profile of patients with up to 20 months of long-term COVID-19. A total of 243 patients of both sexes aged 18 years or older hospitalised in the acute phase of COVID-19 were included in this study. Liver function analysis was performed. Changes were identified in the mean levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), and ferritin. Inflammatory markers such as ferritin > 300 U/L were observed in the group that presented more changes in liver function markers (ALT, AST, and GGT). Age ≥ 60 years, male sex, AST > 25 U/L, and GGT ≥ 50 or 32 U/L were associated with ALT > 29 U/L. There was a correlation between ALT and AST, LDH, GGT, and ferritin. Our findings suggest that ALT and AST levels may be elevated in patients with long-term COVID, especially in those hospitalised in the acute phase. In addition, ALT > 29 U/L was associated with other markers of liver injury, such as LDH, GGT, and ferritin.

Long COVID affects a significant number of people after acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and haematological changes can persist in the COVID-19 phase. This study aimed to evaluate these haematological laboratory markers, linking them to clinical findings and long-term outcomes in patients with long COVID. This cross-sectional study selected participants from a ‘long COVID’ clinical care programme in the Amazon region. Clinical data and baseline demographics were obtained, and blood samples were collected for quantification of erythrogram-, leukogram-, and plateletgram-related markers. Long COVID was reported for up to 985 days. Patients hospitalised in the acute phase had higher mean red/white cell, platelet, and plateletcrit levels and red cell distribution width. In addition, haematimetric parameters were higher in shorter periods of long COVID. Patients presenting with more than six concomitant long COVID symptoms had a higher white blood cell count, shorter prothrombin time (PT), and increased PT activity. Within up to 985 days of long COVID, our results suggest a probable benign compensation for erythrogram-related markers. Increased levels of leukogram-related markers and increased coagulation activity were observed in the worse long COVID groups, also indicating an exacerbated response after the acute disturbance, which is uncertain and requires further investigation.

This study presents an in-depth analysis and evaluation of self-healing networks as an innovative solution to combat the escalating threat of ransomware attacks. Recognizing the limitations of traditional network security methods in the face of advanced cyber threats, the research focuses on the development and implementation of self-healing networks, characterized by their dynamic, intelligent response systems. Utilizing a combination of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, these networks demonstrate remarkable adaptability and resilience. Through rigorous simulations, the study examines the efficacy of self-healing networks in detecting, isolating, and recovering from ransomware attacks, with an emphasis on their ability to learn and evolve from each incident. The research highlights the strengths and limitations of these networks and discusses their potential applications in various sectors. The findings suggest that self-healing networks, with their proactive and adaptive defense mechanisms, represent a significant advancement in cybersecurity strategies, offering a robust solution against a range of cyber threats. Future work is recommended to further enhance the capabilities of self-healing networks, particularly in the areas of speed, detection accuracy, and quantum-resistant security measures.

This research looks into the evolving dynamics of ransomware, shifting from conventional encryption-based attacks to sophisticated data exfiltration strategies. Employing the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) model, the study analyzes network traffic patterns to detect ransomware activities, offering new insights into their covert operations. The findings emphasize the need for advanced AI tools in cybersecurity, highlighting the significance of adapting and innovating defense strategies to counter the changing landscape of ransomware threats. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of ransomware evolution and underscores the importance of integrating AI in cybersecurity practices.

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused by a dysregulated host response to an invading pathogen such as multidrug-resistant bacteria. Despite recent advancements, sepsis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, resulting in a significant global impact and burden. This condition affects all age groups, with clinical outcomes depending mainly on timely diagnosis and appropriate early therapeutic intervention. Because of the unique features of nanosized systems, there is a growing interest in developing and designing novel solutions. Nanoscale-engineered materials allow a targeted and controlled release of bioactive agents, resulting in improved efficacy with minimal side effects. Additionally, nanoparticle-based sensors provide a quicker and more reliable alternative to conventional diagnostic methods for identifying infection and organ dysfunction. Despite recent advancements, fundamental nanotechnology principles are often presented in technical formats that presuppose advanced chemistry, physics, and engineering knowledge. Consequently, clinicians may not grasp the underlying science, hindering interdisciplinary collaborations and successful translation from bench to bedside. In this review, we abridge some of the most recent and most promising nanotechnology-based solutions for sepsis diagnosis and management using an intelligible format to stimulate a seamless collaboration between engineers, scientists, and clinicians.

The oceans harbor a great diversity of organisms, and have been recognized as an important source of new compounds with nutritional and therapeutic potential. Among these compounds, carbohydrate-based compounds are of particular interest because they exhibit numerous biological functions associated with their chemical diversity. This gives rise to new substances for the development of bioactive products. Many are the known applications of substances with glycosidic domains obtained from marine species. This review covers the structural properties and the current findings on the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, antitumor and antimicrobial activities of medium and high molecular-weight carbohydrates or glycosylated compounds extracted from various marine organisms.

The content of this paper is a very significant contribution to the heritage regional reconstruction and conservation interventions. The results about the iconographic analysis of the Early-Renaissance frescoes of St. Leocadia Church, in Chaves, in the north-east of Portugal, were presented for the first time. This paper aims to study facial similarity analysis applied to identification of the personages represented in the 1511-1513 mural paintings of the apse of St. Leocadia Church, in Chaves Municipality (North of Portugal) and those ones in the oil paintings by the Proto-Renaissance Portuguese painter Nuno Gonçalves. In this work, it was explored the feasibility of face recognition technologies in answering many ambiguities concerning Manueline stylistic identity and iconography. A proposal was made to identify the characters, fundamental to the meaning of the frescoes. It has been experimentally proved on 7 characters of St. Leocadia Church’s paintings, in comparison with the referred old master portraits. It was used an in-house trained deep face recognition model to extract facial features from images of 15th and 16th century portraits to compare their degree of similarity. It was undertaken facial similarity analysis of the faces in the formidable portrait gallery of the 15th century Portuguese society represented in the Panels of St. Vicent, which has been subject of national and international research for 130 years. On the other, in the oil painting of St. Peter and St. Paul and Infanta St. Joana, of the same old master. The iconographic interpretation of the mural paintings of St. Leocadia, based in the deep facial features of the images, is plausible: a catechetical purpose; the ritual practices of royal ancestor worship in royal portrait apses of the churches; the Portuguese maritime expansion and the macro-imperial ideology of D. Manuel I.

This study presents the first genome assembly of the freshwater saprobe fungus Neonectria lugdunensis and a comprehensive phylogenomics analysis of the Nectriaceae family, examining genomic traits according to fungal lifestyles. The Nectriaceae family, one of the largest in Hypocreales, includes fungi with significant ecological roles and economic importance as plant pathogens, endophytes, and saprobes. The phylogenomics analysis identified 2684 single-copy orthologs, providing a robust evolutionary framework for the Nectriaceae family. We analyzed the genomic characteristics of 17 Nectriaceae genomes, focusing on their carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes), biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs), and adaptations to environmental temperatures. Our results highlight the adaptation mechanisms of N. lugdunensis, emphasizing its capabilities for plant-litter degradation and enzyme activity in varying temperatures. Comparative genomics of different Nectriaceae lifestyles revealed significant differences in genome size, gene content, repetitive elements, and secondary metabolite production. Endophytes exhibited larger genomes, more effector proteins, and BGCs, while plant pathogens had higher thermo-adapted protein counts, suggesting greater resilience to global warming. In contrast, the freshwater saprobe shows less adaptation to warmer temperatures and is important for conservation goals. This study underscores the importance of understanding fungal genomic adaptations to predict ecosystem impacts and conservation targets in the face of climate change.

Economic theory states that incineration and landfill taxation can effectively diminish the environmental impacts of pollution and resource use by reducing their associated pollutants while stimulating the reuse and recycling of materials, and therefore, fostering a circular economy. The aim of this research is to assess the economic and environmental effects of these taxes in Spain under different scenarios with a detailed dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, as there are no studies analyzing this in detail. We focus on the economic impact on GDP and sectorial production and the environmental impact on different categories: global warming potential, marine eutrophication potential, photochemical ozone formation potential, particulate matter, human toxicity (cancer and noncancer), ecotoxicity, and depletion of fossil resources. We find in all scenarios that these taxes have a limited economic impact while reducing all of the environmental impact categories analyzed. The study reinforces the theory that policy makers need to impose taxes on landfill and incineration to reinforce the circularity of the economy and reduce environmental burdens, but also demonstrates that they can improve their design without additional costs.

The dysregulated release of cytokines has been identified as one of the key factors behind poorer outcomes in COVID-19. This ‘cytokine storm ‘produces an excessive inflammatory and immune response, especially in the lungs, leading to acute respiratory distress (ARDS), pulmonary edema and multi-organ failure. Alleviating this inflammatory state is crucial to improve prognosis. Pro-inflammatory factors play a central role in COVID-19 severity, especially in patients with comorbidities In these situations, an overactive, untreated immune response can be deadly, suggesting that mortality in COVID-19 cases is likely due to this virally driven hyperinflammation. Administering immunomodulators has not yielded conclusive improvements in other pathologies characterized by dysregulated inflammation such as sepsis, SARS-CoV-1 and MERS. The success of these drugs at reducing COVID-19-driven inflammation is still anecdotal and comes with serious risks. It is also imperative to screen the elderly for risk factors that predispose them to severe COVID-19. Immunosenescence and comorbidities should be taken into consideration. In this review, we summarize the latest data available about the role of the cytokine storm in COVID-19 disease severity as well as potential therapeutic approaches to ameliorate it. We also examine the role of inflammation in other diseases often comorbid with COVID-19, such as aging, sepsis, and pulmonary disorders. Finally, we identify gaps in our knowledge and suggest priorities for future research aimed at stratifying patients according to risk as well as personalizing therapies in the context of COVID19-driven hyperinflammation.

Geoethics is a field of knowledge currently in full development. Researchers in geoethics are pri-marily concerned with the anthropogenic interaction with the Earth system. Due to its nature, ge-oethics holds particular importance in sustainable development due to its nature as it aims to promote ethical human behaviour that does not negatively impact the Earth system. In the present research, we implemented an intervention program addressing various issues related to the sus-tainability of the Earth system, such as the exploitation of geological resources, the management of geological risks, and the conservation and promotion of geopatrimony. The intervention program was applied to higher education students in the geosciences field. A sample of 90 students from various geosciences courses completed an initial questionnaire, revealing limited knowledge about geoethics. This study resorted to mixed-method research involving interviews with some students who volunteered (n=52). The results showed that after applying the intervention programme most students had developed a deeper understanding of the topics addressed and recognised the con-tributions this scientific area can make to sustainable development. Additional research in geoethics education is essential to foster the integration of geoethics into the curricula of higher education institutions.

The integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the current airspace poses significant challenges in terms of safety, security and operability. As an example, the European Union has defined in 2019 a set of rules to support the digitalization of UAS Traffic Management (UTM) systems and services, namely the U-Space regulations. Current propositions opted for a centralized and private model, concentrated around governmental authorities (e.g., AlphaTango provides the Registration service and depends on the French government). In this paper, we advocate in favor of a more decentralized and transparent model in order to improve safety, security and operability among UTM stakeholders. As such, we propose DFly, a Publicly Auditable and Privacy-preserving UAS Traffic Management system on Blockchain, and developed two initial services: Registration and Flight Authorization. We demonstrate that the use of a blockchain guarantees the public auditability of the two services and corresponding service providers’ actions. In addition, it facilitates the comprehensive and distributed monitoring of airspace occupation and the integration of additional functionalities (e.g., the creation of a live UAS tracker). The combination with zero knowledge proofs enable the deployment of an automated, distributed, transparent and privacy-preserving flight authorization service, performed on-chain thanks to the blockchain logic. In addition to its construction, this paper details the instantiation of the proposed UTM system with the Ethereum Sepolia’s testnet and the Groth16 ZK-SNARK protocol. On-chain (gas cost) and off-chain (execution time) performance analyses confirm that the proprosed solution is a viable and efficient alternative in the spirit of digitalization and offers additional security guarantees.

Music perception in foetuses has been explored under different theoretical paradigms such as habituation, categorical perception, sound preferences and recall. This study investigated the temporal dimension of music perception through the habituation and sensitization paradigm. Foetuses of 41 pregnant women, mean gestational age of 34.7 weeks (±2.4), were observed during ultrasound exams. Foetuses’ reaction to two different tempos (Allegro vs Adagio) and sources (internal vs external) of music stimuli was registered by heart rate variability (HR) and motor response according to the Assessment of Preterm Infants Behaviour scale (APIB) by its factors of movement (MOV) and organization (ORG). A folkloric lullaby, sung and played live with a stringed instrument by a musician, was presented in three stages that were compared to baseline: 1) slow tempo (Adagio), 2) fast tempo (Allegro); and 3) now sung by mother at slow tempo (Adagio). Exploratory analyses showed that all factors increased from baseline to first stage. HR and ORG varied significantly among stages, with HR being the strongest factor. MOV merely detected change from baseline to first stage. ORG decreased for Allegro but increased for maternal Adagio, while HR decreased to near baseline values. ANOVA-repeated measures with gestational age as covariate showed that all measures were sensitive to first music presentation (Adagio), although only HR and ORG differed among stages. Considering estimated marginal means, adjusted for gestational age, HR presented a sensitization pattern throughout stages, but ORG kept habituating to external source and increased to maternal Adagio, suggesting foetal discrimination by sound source. We conclude that foetuses showed different behavioural and physiological responses to external versus internal sound source and musical tempo. The combined use of a behavioural scale (APIB) and HR in foetuses proved to be a valid multidimensional instrument.

Elevated ammonium (NH4+) concentrations in untreated waterways contribute to eutrophication and dissolved oxygen depletion, which cause severe degradation of water quality. Ion exchange processes are a robust, low operational cost and efficient option for ammonium removal with zeolites being the most widely used. Geopolymers are a sustainable and low-cost option compared to zeolites that follows the same ion exchange technology. In the present study, a metakaolin-based porous geopolymer was synthetized, characterised and validated as adsorbent material. The laboratory batch tests showed a maximum adsorption capacity (Qm) of 18.35 mg/g being 27% higher than reference zeolites. Kinetics followed the Weber-Morris rate equation being the intraparticle diffusion the limiting process and continuous experiments indicated a maximum removal of 97% in the first hours. The material was validated in a wastewater treatment pilot plant where values in pH, electrical conductivity and NH4+ concentration were monitored. The obtained data indicated that the material achieved up to 80% NH4+ removal which is similar to traditional zeolites. The results demonstrate that this sustainable, low-cost and easy-to-install metakaolin-based geopolymer can be used effectively for NH4+ treatment.

WHO estimates that around 600 million people suffer from high blood pressure which causes high costs for health systems and influences the economy of these countries. In this study, we investigate the sociodemographic characteristics and risk factors related to hypertension among individuals from Huambo, Angola. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 158 participants consulted in the Cardiology services at Hospital Geral do Huambo, between January and July 2023. A total of 67.1% of the studied patients were hypertensive. The mean age of the hypertensive (55.8±11.3) patients was higher than non-hypertensive (53.1±13.4) patients, although no significance was observed (p=0.199). Patients aged between 30 and 40 (OR=1.19, P=0493), male (OR=1.17, P=660), employees (OR=9.94, P=0935), patients consuming alcohol (OR=1.11, P=0.864), and practising physical activity (OR=1.12, P=0.742) presented a high chance of developing hypertension, while those living in urbanized areas (OR=0.78, P=0.59) and with a low educational level (OR=0.43, P=0.194), had a low chance to develop hypertension. There was no statistical significance between demographic or behavioural characteristics with hypertension (P>0.05). Regarding clinical characteristics, body mass index was statistically related to hypertension (p=0.011). Our findings show that hypertension is a major health problem for the young population of Huambo. There is an urgent need to create strategies to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of hypertension, not only in Huambo but throughout the country. Further studies to understand determinants related to hypertension should be carried out among the young population in Angola.

Baía de Todos os Santos is the second largest bay in Brazil and is home to important ecosystems, including estuarine systems and mangroves. However, studies on the seasonal variability of its soil properties and composition are still scarce. For this study, soil and leaf samples were seasonally collected from mangrove forests at four sites (Cacha Prego, Ponta Grossa, Ilha de Maré, and Pitinga), which are representative of different environmental conditions within the BTS. Soil physicochemical properties, soil composition and partition of Fe forms were determined, and analysis of minerals by Scanning Electron Microscope, was performed on soil samples. Isotopic ratios (δ13C, δ15N) were also determined on soil and leaf samples. Soils showed significant spatial and temporal changes affecting both their properties (pH, Eh) and their composition (TOC, pyrite and Fe oxyhydroxide contents). Clear spatial changes were observed in redox potential, significantly affecting the concentrations of the different geochemical forms of Fe, particularly the concentrations of crystalline oxyhydroxydes and pyrite in one of the studied sites. In three of the study sites, pyrite crystals showed clear evidence of degradation associated with sandy soils. Finally, δ13C and N/C ratios in soils seem to suggest a mixed origin of organic matter.

Metformin is an oral antidiabetic agent with antimicrobial properties, excreted in an active and unmetabolized form. Like some non-antibiotic drugs, subinhibitory concentrations of metformin may contribute to the expression of microbial resistance in wild-type strains. This work aimed to evaluate the biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa TGC04 exposed to 100 and 200 µg/mL of metformin, varying the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and flow regime. Biofilms were quantified after 2 and 24 hours, observing reductions and increases in biofilm growth around 13 and 64%, respectively. The greatest biofilm growth occurred in cells exposed to 200 µg/mL of metformin. Both the flow regime and COD concentration were important for the development of the biofilm, whose cells were mostly weakly to moderately adhered. The study provides evidence that in polluted aquatic systems with turbulent regimes, the inhibitory concentration of metformin promoted the least disturbances to the biofilm.

Natural fibers are being increasingly used in different areas of engineering, including as composite reinforcement. Among these fibers, carauá stands out for its good mechanical properties and adherence to resin. Nevertheless, little is known about the behavior of this material in the manufacture of a composite or whether classic failure theory can be used in this case. In this context, the present study assesses the mechanical properties of two laminas made of unidirectional curauá fiber with volumetric fiber percentages of 30 % and 22 %, and compares the results with the values obtained for four failure criteria reported in the literature, using analysis of variance (ANOVA). To that end, tensile tests were conducted in the direction of the fiber and at other loading angles, in addition to iosipescu shear tests. The results show that the maximum stress criterion does not represent the failure behavior of these materials and that the best was the Hashin criterion.

This study aimed to identify the most relevant factors of absenteeism in the perception of nursing technicians from a regional reference hospital in Brazil. A cross-sectional study, based on a case study, was conducted from August 2018 to July 2021, with 324 nursing technicians from a Brazilian macroregional reference hospital in Northwestern Ceará. Data were collected through Google Forms® via the Scale of Factors of Work Absenteeism (EFAL). For data analysis, the overall mean and means of the four EFAL factors were calculated. The individuals were grouped by rating level and data were presented descriptively. The results showed that fatigue, low pay, work overload, need to resolve unpostponable personal/family bureaucratic matters, and need for time to continue/post-graduate education were the main causes of absenteeism. In general, nursing technicians' perceptions varied between low and medium relevance to the factors that contributed to work absenteeism. We can associate these results to the low frequency of absen-teeism among the professionals of the institution.

The activity of prioritizing software requirements should be done as efficiently as possible. Selecting the most stable requirements for the most important customers for the development company can be a positive factor when we consider that the available resource does not always encompass the implementation of all requirements. Quantitative methods for reaching software prioritization in releases are many in the field of Search-Based Software Engineering (SBSE). However, we show that it is possible to use qualitative Verbal Decision Analysis (VDA) methods to solve this same type of problem. Moreover, we will use the ZAPROS III-i methods to prioritize requirements considering the opinion of the decision-maker, who will participate in this process. Finally, the results obtained in the VDA structured methods were quite satisfactory when compared to the methods using SBSE. A comparison of results between quantitative and qualitative methods will be made and discussed later.

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of a motor skills training program in children with DCD considering their gender. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC-2) classified the children and assessed skill changes over time. The study was implemented at four kindergartens in the Khorezm region of Uzbekistan. In the study, all children had DCD (5.17 ± 0.70 years; 10 girls), and all indicators on MABC-2 were less than 16 percent. Participants were divided into an experimental group (n=17) receiving ten weeks of motor skills training program for 45 min twice per week, the control group (n=7) proceeded with exercises of everyday living. All children in the experimental group had a significant increase in total percentile rank of MABC-2 and concerning each domain (manual dexterity; throwing and catching; balance). In the control group, a significant decrease in the total percentile rank of MABC-2 and each domain of MABC-2 was observed. The effectiveness of the intervention program was similar across both genders. The study supports that a period of 10 weeks of a motor skills training program can increase the quality of children's motor coordination and represent a valuable procedure for physical education specialists to enhance motor skills for children with DCD.

The Eliezer and Gray physical interpretation of the Ermakov-Lewis invariant is applied as a guiding principle for the derivation of the special relativistic analog of the Ermakov-Milne-Pinney equation and associated first integral. The special relativistic extension of the Ray-Reid system and invariant is obtained. General properties of the relativistic Ermakov-Milne-Pinney are analyzed. The conservative case of the relativistic Ermakov-Milne-Pinney equation is described in terms of a pseudo-potential, reducing the problem to an effective Newtonian form. The non-relativistic limit is considered as well. A relativistic nonlinear superposition law for relativistic Ermakov systems is identified. The generalized Ermakov-Milne-Pinney equation has additional nonlinearities, due to the relativistic effects.

The present article discusses the institutional model adopted in Brazil regarding energy production through biomass. The theoretical-empirical method is used to conclude that the model's difficulties can be overcome by adopting a network of contracts capable of subjecting renewable energy generation to an energy compensation model.

Monitoring water supply requires, among other quality indicators, the identification of the cyanobacte-ria community taking into account their potential impact in terms of water quality. In this work, cya-nobacteria strains were isolated from Cheffia reservoir and identified based on morphological features, 16S rRNA gene, phylogenetic analysis, and toxin production by PCR screening of the genes involved in the biosynthesis of cyanotoxins (mcyA, mcyE, sxtA, sxtG, sxtI, cyrJ, and anaC). Thirteen strains repre-senting six different genera: Aphanothece, Microcystis, Geitlerinema, Lyngbya, Microcoleus, and Pseudanabaena were obtained. The results demonstrated the importance of morphological features in determining the genus or the species when incongruence between the morphological and phylogenetic analysis occurs and only the utility of the 16S rRNA gene on determining higher taxonomic levels. The phylogenetic analysis confirmed the polyphyly of cyanobacteria for the Microcystis and Oscillatoriales genera. Unexpectedly, Aphanothece sp. CR 11 had the genetic potential to produce microcystins. Our study gives new insight instead of picocyanobacteria toxic genotype in this ecosystem. Thus, conven-tional water treatment methods in this ecosystem have to be adapted.

Arboviruses are infections caused by arboviruses that may be either symptomatic or asymptomatic, according to individuals' resistance and immune response, which dietary patterns can influence. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the possible association between the occurrence of clinical manifestations of arboviruses and the dietary pattern of the population studied. The study was conducted in a rural population in the metropolitan area of Belém, Pará State, Brazil. The sampling consisted of 95 individuals during a febrile outbreak. Two investigations were conducted: clinical-epidemiological-dietary and laboratory investigation based on blood samples taken for arbovirus analysis. Out of the 95 individuals studied, more than half (57.89%) showed clinical manifestations. Following the laboratory serology (HI and IgM ELISA) analyses, viral isolation in C6/36 cells, and viral genome detection (RT-qPCR), the final diagnosis of the cases was 47.37% Oropouche Fever, 2.11% Oropouche Fever and Chikungunya Fever, and 1.05% Mayaro Fever. Regarding dietary pattern, as for the comparison analyses, statistical significance was observed between dietary pattern and classification regarding the presence of symptoms (p<0.05); after the correspondence analysis, symptomatic cases were more associated with a bad dietary pattern, while asymptomatic cases were more associated with a good dietary pattern.

This study aimed to investigate Coll-I, III, IV and elastin in canine normal prostate and PC, using Picrosirius red (PSR) and Immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis. Eight normal prostates and 10 PC from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples were used. Collagen fibers area was analyzed with ImageJ software. The distribution of Coll-I and Coll-III was approximately 80% around prostatic ducts and acini, 15% among smooth muscle and 5% surrounding blood vessels, in both normal prostate and PC. There was a higher median area of Coll-III in PC, when compared to normal prostatic tissue (p=0.001 for PSR and p= 0.05 for IHC). Immunostaining for Coll-IV was observed in the basal membrane of prostate acini, smooth muscle, blood vessels, and nerve fibers of normal and PC samples. Although there was no difference in Coll-IV area between normal tissue and PC, tumors with Gleason score 10 showed absence of Coll-IV, when compared to scores 6 and 8 (p=0.0095). Elastic fibers were found in the septa dividing the lobules and around the prostatic acini of normal samples, and was statistically higher in PC, compared to normal tissue (p=0.00229). Investigation of ECM components brings new information and should be correlated with prognosis in future studies.

Epidemiologic studies suggest an inverse correlation between coffee consumption and the occurrence of neurodegenerative diseases, but the role of caffeine and roasting degree are still matter of debate. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of caffeinated (light, medium, and dark roast) and decaffeinated instant coffee samples in acetylcholinesterase inhibition and antioxidant assays, as well as in animal models of Parkinson’s disease. Caffeinated coffees inhibited the acetylcholinesterase in much smaller concentrations than decaffeinated coffee. All coffee samples showed antioxidant capacity without relation with the caffeine content. Dopaminergic-like activity in the haloperidol-induced catalepsy test was observed with caffeinated coffee, but not in the decaffeinated sample. The medium roast coffee reduced the number of rotations of rats after methamphetamine administration on the 6-hydroxydopamine unilateral lesion of the medial forebrain bundle. However, the coffee treatment did not avoid the loss of dopaminergic neurons on substantia nigra pars compact and only the smallest dose of coffee was able to avoid the decrease of dopamine levels in the lesioned side of the striatum. Altogether, these results suggest that coffee exerts moderate pro-cholinergic and pro-dopaminergic effects and caffeine seems to be the main responsible for these effects.

A E. Crassipes is considered a problem in different aquatic ecosystems, due to its abundance could become a solution to design and build economic and efficient treatment plants, and especially for the production of biofuels such as bioethanol. The objective of this research is to design and implement a sustainable development process between phytoremediation and bioethanol production with E. crassipes, evaluating the incidence of chromium adhered to the biomass of this plant in the production of bioethanol. Materials and methods: A system was installed to evaluate the phytoremediation with E crassipes with water loaded with chromium, determining the effectiveness of this plant to remove this heavy metal even if it is alive in a body of water. After this process, we proceeded to bring the biomass loaded with chromium to bioreactors to evaluate the production of bioethanol, assessing three types of biomass, one without chromium adhered and the other two with chromium adhered to its plant structure. There was an impact of the ethanol production of the E crassipes due to the presence of chromium, but this production can be taken into account for the assembly of an integral system of phytoremediation and bioethanol production, making the most of this biomass.

Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death. Oxidative stress and inflammation are pathophysiological processes involved in the development of cardiovascular diseases, so anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents that modulate redox balance have become the targets of research to evaluate their molecular mechanisms and therapeutic properties. Astaxanthin, a carotenoid of the xanthophyll group, has potent antioxidant effects due to its molecular structure and its arrangement in the plasma membrane, factors that favor the neutralization of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. This carotenoid also stands out for its anti-inflammatory activity, possibly interrelated with its antioxidant effect, as well as for its modulation of lipid and glucose metabolism. Considering the potential positive effects of astaxanthin on cardiovascular health evidenced by preclinical and clinical studies, this paper describes the molecular and cellular mechanisms related to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of this carotenoid in cardiovascular diseases, especially atherosclerosis.

This study involved a comprehensive examination of sensory attributes in Bísaro dry-cured loins, including odor, androsterone, scatol, color, fat color, hardness, juiciness, chewiness, flavor intensity, and flavor persistence. Analysis of 40 samples revealed a wide variation in these attributes, ensuring a robust margin for multivariate calibration purposes. The respective near-infrared (NIR) spectra unveil distinct peaks associated with significant components such as protein, lipid, and water. Support Vector Regression (SVR) models were methodically calibrated for all sensory attributes, with optimal results using multiplicative scattering correction pre-treatment, MinMax normalization, and radial base kernel (non-linear SVR model). The predictive models exhibited acceptable results, characterized by R-squared values close to 1 (0.9616 - 0.9955) and low RMSE values (0.0400 – 0.1031). The prediction set's relative standard deviation (RSD) remained under 5%. Comparisons with prior research revealed significant improvements in prediction accuracy, particularly when considering attributes like pig aroma, hardness, fat color, and flavor intensity. This research underscores the potential of advanced analytical techniques to improve the precision of sensory evaluations in food quality assessment.

When there is uncertainty in the value of parameters of the input random components of a stochastic simulation model, two-level nested simulation algorithms are used to estimate the expectation of performance variables of interest. In the outer level of the algorithm (n) observations are generated for the parameters, and in the inner level (m) observations of the simulation model are generated with the value of parameters fixed at the value generated in the outer level. In this article, we consider the case in which the observations at both levels of the algorithm are independent, showing how the variance of the observations can be decomposed into the sum of a parametric variance and a stochastic variance. Next, we derive central limit theorems that allow us to compute asymptotic confidence intervals to assess the accuracy of the simulation-based estimators for the point forecast and the variance components. Under this framework, we derive analytical expressions for the point forecast and the variance components of a Bayesian model to forecast sporadic demand; and we use these expressions to illustrate the validity of our theoretical results by performing simulation experiments using this forecast model.

There is an urgent need to develop new therapies for cancer treatment due to high rates of resistance and tumor relapse. Moreover, chemotherapy and radiation weaken the immune system and leave patients susceptible to sudden death from infections and organ failure since antineoplastic drugs lack specificity. Hence, scientists worldwide continue the search for natural alternatives with anticancer activities and fewer side effects. In this regard, traditional medicine offers strategies for preventing and treating numerous diseases and nowadays scientific studies worldwide highlight some of the mechanisms underlying their potential as an effective alternative for the management of cancer. In Mexico, Mayan healers have been prescribed mainly medicinal plants for more than 2,000 years. Furthermore, their ethnomedical knowledge has led to drug discovery or the development of herbal remedies. Medicinal plants from the genus of Cissus remain an important element of all indigenous medical systems in Mexico including the Mayan tribes in Yucatan, particularly for the management of gastrointestinal illnesses, sores, cutaneous diseases, and tumors. In this review, we present the reported bioactivities against cancer cells of the extract and compounds from the species of Cissus with a particular focus on recent studies on the phytochemistry of C. trifoliata which is widely distributed in Mexican territory and used for tumor management in traditional medicine.

This article analyzes laws, normative reforms and regulations surrounding the practices and mechanisms of control over the consumption, cultivation and commercialization of cannabis. On the one hand, I investigate regulatory practices that deny rights for the consumption of cannabis classified as recreational. On the other hand, I study regulatory practices that extend rights for the production, consumption and commercialization of cannabis classified as medicinal and industrial. The empirical moment is composed of four stages and methodological tools. First, I conduct an analysis of state policies. Then, I analyze nine laws and codes on cannabis regulation from 1970 to the present. Next, I perform five semi-structured interviews. Finally, I develop two life stories of former people deprived of their liberty for cannabis cultivation and trade. In this way, I trace forms of regulation on multiple demands, knowledge, interests and beliefs. This research focuses on state regulation. Cannabis regulatory regimes are conceived as constructions of political, social and economic truths, meanings and rights. In sum, the answer to the question of how collective demands around cannabis are regulated in Ecuador stipulates that state action reinforces stigmatization and criminalization. In addition, it legitimizes moral entrepreneurs and counter-movements around cannabis.

Non-pharmacological interventions in the fight against COVID 19 include: a) suppression, which facilitates its extinction; and b) mitigation, which reduces its speed of spread. Left unmitigated, the intensive care unit bed capacity (ICU) is exceeded over its maximum supply, resulting in increased deaths. Suppression has shown in simulation models the potential for decreasing ICU occupation below its surge limit, effectively decreasing mortality. However, for avoiding a rebound in transmission, suppression must be maintained intermittently until a vaccine is available (which may take up to 2 years). The objective of this paper was to describe the mortality patterns observed in Spain, Italy and South Korea for discussing a hypothetical combined public health policy and socioeconomic model that could potentially reduce mortality while reducing the economic impact of this pandemic in Spain. The plan is based on a progressive-voluntary reinstatement to work of the population exposed to the lowest risks (healthy non-immune family units <50 y/o and immune population) and it depends on having sufficiently available ICU beds for providing adequate support. This model, if proven correct for Spain, could eventually be followed by other countries facing a similar impact of the present pandemic.

Given the importance of the development of urban infrastructure and environmental impacts produced by the civil construction waste (CCW), it is important to correct the handling of CCW with objective solutions that are more environmentally friendly. In that sense the present study aimed to determine indicators that make it possible to estimate the amount of CCW generated from construction sites in the city of Londrina, Parana State, Brazil. The generation of CCW was estimated in a general way, regarding the composition of its mixture, correlated to the gross areas of the buildings studied and their generated volumes of RCC. This generating rate was evaluated in a general way and specifies two types of sites: the new residential and new non-residential constructions. The data required for the development of these indicators was obtained through extensive survey and interviews carried out at the environment secretariat of the City Hall. The generating rate of CCW obtained for non-residential buildings was 0.2052m3/m2 or 170.44kg/m2, for new residential sites was 0.2054m3/m2 or 170.60kg/m2 and for new commercial or non-residential construction sites, it was 0.20453 m3/m2 or 169.85kg/m2. It was also possible to estimate the amount generated annually per inhabitant in the municipality, which is 0.60m3/inhabit.year or 498.55kg/inhabit.year.

Clinical training in medical schools in Spain is performed by rotations in university hospitals. During these internships, students are expected to acquire and master basic procedural skills. However, the assessment tools available rarely check whether these skills are completely acquired by the students. We have used an e-portfolio to determine the optimal number of times the students need to repeat a procedure to be able to perform it independently. The results were compared with the actual performance during the internships. An e-portfolio collected qualitative information about the internships. Quantitative information was also requested about the number of times each clinical skill was performed. Later, a survey asked these students and their teachers the optimal number of times each skill should be repeated before it could be considered fully acquired. The questionnaire was answered by 98.6% of the students and 70.3% of their teachers. Out of the 21 clinical skills and procedures selected, both students and their tutors agreed in a similar optimal value in 16 of them; only in five of them, teachers thought that students needed a greater number of times than that selected by the students. When these optimal values were compared with the actual values recorded in the portfolio during the internships, it was found that about half of the clinical skills were carried out less frequently than expected, thus providing an important feedback about the internships. Quantitative information collected in portfolios reveals a moderate mismatch between students and tutors perceptions of their training needs.

The objective of this work is to evaluate and compare the levels of bioactive compounds in basil leaves (Ocimum basilicum), fresh and after thermal drying processing freeze-dried, using methodological procedures that follow internationally recommended and accepted standards. Fresh basil leaves had 9.50 -63.3 mg/100g (vitamin C), 1.8 -3.9 mg EAG/g (total polyphenols), 0.73-1.78 mg/g (flavonoids), 2287.8-1003,8 μg/100g (chlorophyll a), 2606-2287 μg/100g (chlorophyll b), 16.71-20.6 (total carotenoids).Regarding color, there was variation in the parameters L*, a* and b* of the dry sample, but maintained the tendency towards green e (a+) and yellow (b-). Infrared analysis (FTIR) demonstrated the presence of functional groups related to cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, confirmed by micrography (SEM) with visualization of plant parenchyma residues and fiber bundles. Thermogravimetry (TG/DTG) shows stability in the range of 234 °C, showing more intense mass loss at 294.6 °C. Given the data, it is possible to infer that basil is little affected by freeze-drying, with few changes in bioactive compounds, chemical groups and with good thermal stability. Thus, the application of the freeze-drying technique is a viable alternative to the commercialization of basil leaves, prolonging their useful life and increasing the forms of food applications.

The use of plant fibers as reinforcement in composites with the aim of totally or partially replacing synthetic fibers has received significant attention in the last years. However, one of the disadvantages of the use of these fibers in polymeric composites is associated to the fact that they are hydrophilic, resulting in poor adhesion with most matrices when in the presence of moisture. In addition, another problem encountered is the lower strength of this type of fiber and, as a solution to minimize these problems, the composite can be hybridized by adding layers of natural and synthetic fibers and the use of resin protection along the thickness of the composite. (Lateral protection) to reduce moisture absorption by the laminate. The objective of this work is to obtain composites formed by five layers of reinforcement and terephthalic polyester matrix, one of which is reinforced only with short glass fiber-E blanket, another reinforced only with jute fiber and a third hybrid containing the fibers. Two types of reinforcements with interlayer layers. Afterwards, the loss of mechanical properties was observed when these materials were immersed in distilled water, with and without lateral protection, until reaching saturation. We evaluated parameters such as the influence of configuration type and environmental conditions, such as the amount of water absorption. The obtained results show that the hybrid composite obtained a behavior close to the composite containing only fiberglass, and better than the one containing only jute fiber and that the absorption was smaller in the samples with side protection.

Mandarins occupy the third group among citrus produced in Brazil. Primarily aimed at the fresh fruit market, commercial orchards have suffered significant losses in production, due to the high incidence of diseases, such as alternaria brown spot (ABS) and huanglongbing (HLB). The fact that 80% of the orchards are composed of two varieties, Ponkan mandarin and Murcott tangor, are highly susceptible to both diseases, demand intensive chemical control of the diseases in the field, which has resulted in a significant increase in production costs and a negative environmental impact. A total of one hundred and seventy-three mandarin accessions, including several species and hybrids, belonging to the Collections of the Instituto Agronômico de Campinas (IAC), were evaluated in the field, in an endemic location for the diseases. Evaluations of the incidence and severity of the diseases showed that there is a range of genotypes tolerant to ABS with potential to replace the current commercial varieties, mainly within the clementina and Willow leaf mandarin groups. Although with differences in incidence and susceptibility to HLB, there are no varieties tolerant to this disease, which significantly impacts the loss of fruit quality.

The combined influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the East Atlantic (EA) patterns on the covariability of temperatures and precipitation in 35 stations of the Iberian Peninsula during the period 1950-2019 is analysed in this work. Four EA-NAO composites were defined from teleconnection patterns positive and negative phases: EA+NAO+, EA+NAO-, EA-NAO+, and EA-NAO-. Daily data of maximum and minimum temperature were used to obtain seasonal means (TX, and TN, respectively), and the covariability of these variables with accumulated seasonal rainfall (R) was studied comparing results obtained for different NAO and EA composites. Main results indicate slight differences in the spatial coverage of correlation coefficients between R and temperature variables, except in spring when the generalized negative relationship between R and TX under EA+NAO+ and EA-NAO- disappears under EA-NAO+ and EA+NAO- composites. This result may be useful to interpret and discuss historical reconstructions of Iberian climate.

Rice cultivation stands as a cornerstone of Sri Lanka's economy, serving as a vital source of em-ployment for rural communities. However, the constraints of limited land availability have prompted an escalating dependence on agrochemicals, notably for pest management, thereby posing significant threats to human health and the environment. This review delves into the ex-ploration of silica nanoparticles as a promising eco-friendly substitute for conventional pesticides in the context of Sri Lankan rice farming. It comprehensively examines various aspects including the synthesis methods of silica nanoparticles, their encapsulation with synthetic pesticides, and an evaluation of their efficacy in pest control. Furthermore, it sheds light on the innovative utilization of agricultural waste such as rice husk and straw in the production of silica-based nano-pesticides. This approach not only demonstrates a shift towards sustainable agricultural practices but also aligns with the principles of green chemistry and circular economy, offering a holistic solution to the challenges faced by the rice farming sector in Sri Lanka.

Several review articles about megachurch studies have been published recently concentrating their work on USA, Europe, and other parts of the world, with just a few references about Latin American megachurches. For that reason, this article aims to identify some of the characteristics of Latin American Evangelical megachurches by looking at relevant literature, especially that produced in the region, in Spanish and Portuguese, which is usually overlooked by researchers in Global North. Since this research field is still limited in Latin America, areas, where further work is necessary, are identified. Three general catalysts for the emergence of megachurches in the region, church growth methodologies, Pentecostalization, and theologies of growth, serve as guides to organize the review process. The discussion shows several potential areas of research in a variety of fields such as theology, ecclesiology, organizational theory, leadership, gender studies, and ethics, are proposed from the review.

Genetic Programming (GP) is a powerful Machine Learning (ML) algorithm that can produce readable white-box models. Although successfully used for solving an array of problems in different scientific areas, GP is still not well known in Remote Sensing. The M3GP algorithm, a variant of the standard GP algorithm, performs Feature Construction by evolving hyper-features from the original ones. In this work, we use the M3GP algorithm on several sets of satellite images over different countries to create hyper-feature from satellite bands to improve the classification of land cover types. We add the evolved hyper-features to the reference datasets and observe a significant improvement of the performance of three state-of-the-art ML algorithms (Decision Trees, Random Forests and XGBoost) on multiclass classifications and no significant effect on the binary classifications. We show that adding the M3GP hyper-features to the reference datasets brings better results than adding the well-known spectral indices NDVI, NDWI and NBR. We also compare the performance of the M3GP hyper-features in the binary classification problems with those created by other Feature Construction methods like FFX and EFS.

The purpose of this article is to conduct a bibliometric review of literary production in terms of market interdependence. We investigate the effect of contagion on agricultural commodities and identify the commodities and methods used in the most cited publications over the decades. For this, we used the SCOPUS database, sorting with Rayyan, Excel, and finally, the Bibliometrix/R-project. The results showed that corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton, and sugar are the most studied commodities. There is no uniqueness concerning the methods used to identify interdependence and the contagion effect. Also, it is possible to perceive the growing scientific interest concerning the subject, with a diversity of authors and magazines. However, there is a direction of the and magazines most cited articles for analyzing agricultural commodities and energy, demonstrated a worldwide trend of studies relating natural resources, biofuels, clean energy, and efficiency. In addition, countries like China and the United States stand out in this scientific scenario as the countries that produce the most articles.

Alternaria brown spot (ABS) is a disease caused by the fungus Alternaria alternata f. sp. citri, which results in lesions on fruits, leaves, and branches of several mandarin varieties and their hybrids. Due to the high cost of fungicide application, alternative methods for controlling ABS need to be studied. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the use of essential oils (EOs) from different mandarin varieties to mitigate the effects of ABS. The inhibitory effect of different concentrations (1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 μL mL-1) of Fremont IAC 543 mandarin, IAC 2019Maria mandarin, Murcott IAC 221 tangor, and Late IAC 855 willowleaf. EOs on the in vitro mycelial growth of the fungus A. alternata was evaluated. Additionally, the curative and preventive effects of these EOs on ABS symptoms on detached leaves of Murcott IAC 221 tangor were also assessed. The EO of IAC 2019Maria mandarin induced less mycelial growth, and consequently, greater inhibition of the growth of the fungus A. alternata at a concentration of 16 μL mL-1. This EO was more effective in control than the other oils tested. In the detached leaf experiment, both the curative and preventive treatments at a concentration of 16 μL mL-1 showed lower values of disease severity.

Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) analysis is a pivotal tool in non-invasive diagnostics, including cancer monitoring and prenatal testing. However, the preanalytical phase, particularly the choice of anticoagulant, significantly impacts cfDNA integrity and yield. This study aims to compare cfDNA yield, stability, and DNase activity across plasma-citrate, plasma-heparin, plasma-EDTA, and serum, to identify the most suitable specimen for cfDNA analysis among the tested anticoagulants. Blood samples from 15 healthy volunteers were collected in four types of tubes (citrate, heparin, EDTA, and serum). cfDNA was extracted and quantified using qPCR, and endogenous DNase activity was assessed through hydrolysis probe assays. Samples were incubated at 37°C for 24 hours to evaluate cfDNA degradation rates. Statistical analyses were performed using repeated measures ANOVA and Sidak's multiple comparison tests. Baseline cfDNA levels were highest in serum, followed by heparin-plasma, while EDTA and citrate-plasma exhibited the lowest levels. DNase activity was fully inhibited in EDTA-plasma, partially inhibited in citrate-plasma, and active in both heparin-plasma and serum. cfDNA degradation was most pronounced in heparin-plasma (85.3%) and serum (55.6%), compared to minimal degradation in EDTA (8%) and citrate-plasma (13.3%). Among the tested anticoagulants, EDTA-plasma proved to be the most suitable specimen for cfDNA analysis due to its low DNase activity and minimal gDNA contamination. Citrate-plasma, with intermediate DNase inhibition, could be an alternative if the citrate concentration were increased. Heparin-plasma and serum showed significant cfDNA degradation, rendering them unsuitable for cfDNA analysis. These findings highlight the importance of anticoagulant selection in preserving cfDNA integrity for diagnostic applications.

Single Image Super Resolution (SSIR) is a problem in computer vision where the goal is 1 to create high-resolution images from low-resolution ones. It has important applications in fields 2 such as medical imaging and security surveillance. While traditional methods such as interpolation 3 and reconstruction-based models have been used in the past, deep learning techniques have recently 4 gained attention due to their superior performance and computational efficiency. This article proposes 5 an Autoencoder based Deep Learning Model for SSIR, in particular, a light model that uses fewer 6 parameters without compromising performance. The down-sampling part of the Autoencoder 7 mainly uses 3 by 3 convolution and has no subsampling layers. The up-sampling part uses transpose 8 convolution and residual connections from the down sampling part. The model is trained using a 9 subset of the VILRC ImageNet database. The model is evaluated using quantitative metrics PSNR, 10 SSIM as well as qualitative measures such as perceptual quality. PSNR and SSIM figures as high as 11 76.06 and 0.93 are reported.

The quality of yarn is essential in the control of the fabrics processes. There is some commercial equipment that measures the quality of yarn based on sensors, of different types, used for collecting data about some yarn characteristic parameters. The existing equipment, for the above-mentioned purpose, is characterized by its high size and cost, and for allowing the analysis of only few yarn quality parameters. Thus, this paper presents the development and results obtained with the design of a mechatronic prototype integrating a computer vision system that allows, among other parameters, the analysis and classification, in real time, of the hairs of the yarn using artificial intelligence techniques. The system also determines other characteristics inherent to the yarn quality analysis, such as: linear mass, diameter, volume, twist orientation, twist step, average mass deviation, coefficient of variation, hairiness coefficient, average hairiness deviation and standard hairiness deviation, as well as performs spectral analysis. A comparison of the obtained results with the designed system and a commercial equipment was performed validating the undertaken methodology.

In tropical and subtropical climate regions, heat stress is one of the main causes of production losses in laying quails, aggravated by the antinutritional effects of the phytate in diet ingredients, which negatively affect the bioavailability of minerals, especially calcium and phosphorus. This situation results in a reduction in production and quality of eggs from commercial laying hens. Several nutritional strategies are utilized to reduce the adverse effects of high temperatures and antinutritional factors such as phytate. Among these strategies, the use of exogenous enzymes, such as phytase, stands out as a viable alternative. Phytase breaks down phytate molecules, optimizing the absorption of essential minerals and improving productive performance and egg quality under unfavorable conditions. In this context, this bibliographic review sought to produce a document demonstrating the beneficial effects of the phytase enzyme on the hydrolysis of the phytate molecule and the availability of calcium for Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica), and its implications in thermal stress due to heat.

The vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) when augmented with internet is called internet of vehicles (IoV). In the IoV, vehicles have on board units (OBUs), use communication technologies and customized software to communicate with infrastructure around them. The vehicles can have permanent connectivity and global network awareness based on cloud computing. IoV technologies are still being assessed to ensure that the network is protected from attacks, supports a dynamic vehicular mobility scenarios and meets the low latency communication requirements between the vehicles and the surrounding infrastructure. To meet these strict Quality of Service (QoS) demands, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) play a vital role in IoV ecosystems. An UAV can serve as a mobile roadside unit (mRSU) to transmit data between vehicles, stationery RSUs and other UAVs. The UAVs have better line of sight (LOS) connections which result in better channel states and lower path loss than fixed RSUs. Although the inclusion of UAVs in vehicular networks has improved the system performance by providing better resource management and routing solutions, the traditional optimization techniques with their limitations are often not applicable. Therefore, in recent years, research community is integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) into UAV based IoV ecosystem to better manage resource allocation, routing and mobility management issues to optimize the overall network performance. In this survey paper we review the existing research done in AI/ML based UAV-IoV networks and communications with focus on resource management and routing from year 2019 to 2023. We have studied different AI techniques, their training attributes and architectures in various research works. The limitations of AI-based approaches in terms of required computational resources, availability of real world data and AI models’ complexity for the UAV-IoV environment are also discussed. Finally, the future directions for UAV-IoV research opportunities that can leverage the full potential of AI are presented.

Epigenetic mechanisms, including post-translational modifications of DNA and histones that influence chromatin structure, regulate gene expression during normal development, and are also involved in carcinogenesis and cancer progression. The histone methyltransferase G9a (euchromatic histone lysine methyltransferase 2, EHMT2), which mostly mediates mono- and dimethylation by histone H3 lysine 9 (H3K9), influences gene expression involved in embryonic development and tissue differentiation. Overexpression of G9a has been observed in several cancer types, and different classes of G9a inhibitors have been developed as potential anticancer agents. Here, we review the emerging evidence suggesting the involvement of changes in G9a activity in brain tumors, namely glioblastoma (GBM), the main type of primary malignant brain cancer in adults, and medulloblastoma (MB), the most common type of malignant brain cancer in children. We also discuss the role of G9a in neuroblastoma (NB) and the drug development of G9a inhibitors.

In the field of forensic imaging, it is important to be able to extract a “camera fingerprint” from one or a small set of images known to have been taken by the same camera (image sensor). Ideally, that fingerprint would be used to identify an individual source camera. Camera fingerprint is based on certain kind of random noise present in all image sensors that is due to manufacturing imperfections and thus unique and impossible to avoid. PRNU (Photo-Response Non-Uniformity) has become the most widely used method for SCI (Source Camera Identification). In this paper, we design a set of “attacks” to a PRNU based SCI system and we measure the success of each method. We understand an attack method as any processing that alters minimally image quality and that is designed to fool PRNU detectors (or, generalizing, any camera fingerprint detector). The PRNU based SCI system was taken from an outstanding reference that is publicly available.

The energy supply for isolated systems remains a current challenge in Brazil and worldwide, particularly when known solutions are compared regarding cost, the ability to supply energy on demand, and sustainability. In this context, green hydrogen, which has been considered one of the main paths for the decarbonization of the energy chain, is also seen as a potential solution for energy supply in isolated systems. Based on a literature review of articles addressing the topics of green hydrogen and isolated systems, an analysis is conducted on the application of green hydrogen as an energy supply solution for isolated systems. The review identified and collected data on important parameters for comparing solutions, such as CAPEX, OPEX, energy cost, and the price per kilogram of hydrogen. Using these data, analyses were performed to provide an overview of the application of green hydrogen in isolated systems. One of the objectives of this work is to present a comprehensive analysis of the green hydrogen chain and its application in the context of electricity generation, particularly for isolated systems in Brazil.

Peri-implant diseases are defined as pathological inflammatory reactions in the tissue surrounding the osseointegrated implants. They are classified into two categories: mucositis - defined as peri-implant soft tissue inflammation and peri-implantitis - bone loss in the peri-implant region. A clinical case of a 61-years-old woman with an implant in the 46 anatomical position and a 5-year follow-up is presented. A probe depth of 5mm and a bone defect length of 35% was observed. The Implacure® Protocol was applied, with the main objective of eliminating the biofilm present on the exposed implant surface. There are multiple approaches to treat peri-implant diseases. While non-surgical treatment is essential for mucositis control, the treatment of peri-implantitis surgical treatment should be considered. Regenerative bone reconstruction promotes bone repair in the defect area and reduces bleeding during probing. To achieve that, autologous fibrin combined with Cerasorb M® was used. The proposed approach in the exposed clinical case involves the application of Implacure® Protocol, whose combination of the physical decontamination technique, together with the use of chlorhexidine and orthophosphoric acid, added with the combination Piperacillin + Tazobactam together with hyaluronic acid, provide a base that allows to regenerate bone using platelet-rich fibrin with Cerasorb M® and increase the survival time of the implant.

To determine the adequacy of management practices in Social Health Organization (SHO) in face of compliance guidelines established by Brazilian organizations. This was qualitative research. Data were gathered through interviews and documentary analysis and were analyzed through the interpretation of significances and content analysis. The entity structures the compliance function based on three axes: a) normative - institutionalization of the integrity program, ethical conduct, internal controls and risk management; b) commercial - institutionalization of mechanisms aimed at transparency and accountability of the funds raised. However, the Covid-19 pandemic generated unforeseen contingencies such as accountability for funds from private donations; c) organizational - adherence by top management in maintaining a structure for inspection and control of the institution’s processes and behaviors in the market in which it operates. Based on the analysis of documents there is 76% adequacy of adherence of management practices to the compliance guidelines. It is concluded that organizations that depend on resources and understand that the subsidies they receive, whether government, whether public or private donations, will make the necessary efforts to ensure high levels of compliance, their choices and conduct preserve their image and the achievement of greater credibility and legitimacy.

Climate changes caused by anthropogenic actions can directly and indirectly affect living beings, including parasites and their hosts. Changes such as water temperature, pH, distribution of nutrients in the aquatic environment are some examples that can interfere with the fish community, whether in open water or in production systems. In this review, we will show how climate change can affect the adaptation of hosts and parasites in the aquatic environment and how these parasites can be used for environmental monitoring.

Forecasting streamflow accurately is essential to achieve an efficient integrated water resources management strategy and provide consistent support to water decision-makers. We present a simple, low-cost and robust approach for forecasting monthly and yearly streamflow during the hydrological year in course, applicable to headwater catchments. It combines the use of regression analysis techniques, the two-parameter Gamma continuous cumulative probability distribution function and the Monte Carlo method. It is based on a probabilistic comparison of the progression of the current hydrological year with the historic observed series. The methodology has been successfully applied to two headwater reservoirs within the Guadalquivir River Basin in southern Spain. The root-mean-square error and correlation coefficient were used to measure the accuracy of the model and the results showed good levels of reliability. The outputs are the probabilistic monthly and yearly streamflow and 80% confidence interval. Further reductions in prediction errors may be achieved from increasing the number of observed years. These risk-based predictions are of great value, especially, before the intensive irrigation campaign starts (usually in April), when Water Authorities are to take responsible management decisions about the best allocation of the available water volume between the different water users and environmental needs.

In this article the galactic rotation curve is analyzed as an effect of an accelerated reference frame. This phenomenon is the strongest evidence for the so called dark matter. We show that a non-inertial reference frame could explain the experimental data. We also show that general relativity is not enough to complete explain that which encouraged alternatives paths such as the MOND approach. Considering the effect of dark matter as a realization of accelerated reference frames is a simple but powerful hypothesis.

Introduction: Biofuels, biohydrogen and bioethanol have properties that stand out from other fossil fuels, are colorless, odorless, and insipid, therefore, they are free of contaminants. Its production can be generated from the biomass of the aquatic plant Eichhornia crassipes, since this alternative is timely and viable due to its high energy composition. This plant is a problem in wetlands, rivers and other hydrosystems, due to its abundance and dominance over other species of aquatic plants, and which in effect causes an ecological imbalance. Objective: To evaluate the production of biohydrogen and bioethanol from the biomass of the E. crassipes plant. Materials and methods: Lignocellulosic material was used, realizing different physical, chemical and biological processes such as: reduction of size, lignin removal, acid hydrolysis, fermentation and distillation. a laboratory scale production system was designed and built where two bioreactors were used in the process. Results and discussion: the production of bioethanol and biohydrogen showed a production index of more than 40 mg of bioethanol per gram of bio-mass of E. crassipes and in relation to biohydrogen, 65 mmol / L was obtained. Conclusion: With the biomass of E. crassipes it is possible to obtain a high index of bio-fuel production, since it is possible to take advantage of its physical characteristics and its high proliferation in hydrosystems, in this way it constitutes an optimal alternative to produce biohydrogen and bioethanol at a high scale.

Cosmic strings can arise from spontaneous phase transitions during the inflationary period and are describable as disclination topological defects in spacetime. Analytical integration of the geodesic equations for a particle around a cosmic string reveals distinct orbit patterns dependent on the disclination intensity $\beta_{0}$. After its interaction with the cosmic string, the particle's behavior becomes random. To categorize these patterns, we describe the geodesic motion as iterated maps of a discrete parameter. Through the stabilization values of these functions, we correlate the scattering angle and the number of loops for the particle with $\beta_{0}$. Therefore, we interpret the gravitational field mathematically as an instructor of a particle's next position, given its previous one. We find that the radial function in the small displacement limit is similar to the logistic map. This leads us to conjecture the potential of the discrete parameter being a multiple of Planck's time, suggesting a method for the geometric discretization of spacetime around a cosmic string.

Introduction Acalypha indica (AI) is an Ayurvedic medicinal plant. Some of this plant’s phytochemicals have been reported to cause oxidative stress in red blood cells. However, we know very little about those chemicals due to a dearth of literature. We present a case in which a patient with a previously unidentified glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency experienced acute hemolysis after ingesting fresh AI plant leaves. Case Presentation A 65-year-old man presented with jaundice, pallor, and haematuria following ingestion of the "Kuppamenia mallum" dish. His peripheral blood picture showed bite cells and Heinz bodies. A positive Brewer's test raised the clinical suspicion of G6PD deficiency. Low values of the G6PD level assessment at the follow-up visit confirmed the diagnosis. Conclusion Although AI is regarded as a medicinal plant, acute hemolysis can also occur after consumption in G6PD-deficient patients. This case emphasises the need for further research to identify the phytochemicals and their concentrations that can induce toxicity.

Software defect prediction models enable test managers to predict defect-prone modules and assist with delivering quality products. A test manager would be willing to identify the attributes that can influence defect prediction and should be able to trust the model outcomes. The objective of this research is to create software defect prediction models with a focus on interpretability. Additionally, it aims to investigate the impact of size, complexity, and other source code metrics on the prediction of software defects. This research will also assess the reliability of cross-project defect prediction. Well-known machine learning techniques such as support vector machines, k-nearest neighbors, random forest classifiers, and artificial neural networks were applied to publicly available PROMISE datasets. The interpretability of this approach has been demonstrated by SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) and local interpretable model-agnostic explanations (LIME) techniques. The developed interpretable software defect prediction models showed reliability on independent and cross-project data. Finally, the results demonstrate that static code metrics can contribute to the defect prediction models, and the inclusion of explainability assists in establishing trust in the developed models.

Twin pregnancies are highly undesirable in dairy cattle; they compromise the health and wellbeing of a cow, and its incidence dramatically impairs the farm economy. Recently, a genomic prediction for twin pregnancies has been developed. The objective of this study was to assess cow, environmental and management risk factors affecting the incidence of twin pregnancies in high-producing dairy cows in their first lactation, with special emphasis placed on the genomic prediction values for twin pregnancy. Our study population of primiparous cows proved valuable in identifying factors other than genomic predictive values influencing the twin pregnancy rate. The odds ratio for twin pregnancy was 0.85 (p &lt;0.0001) for each unit of a prediction value increase, 3.5 (p = 0.023) for cows becoming pregnant during the negative photoperiod, and 0.33 (p = 0.016) for cows producing ≥42 kg of milk at AI, compared to the remaining cows producing &lt;42kg of milk. As a general conclusion, the practical implication of our findings is that genomic prediction values can identify the risk of twin pregnancy at herd level. Given the cumulative effect of genomic selection, selecting for animals with reduced genetic risk of twin pregnancies can contribute to reduce its incidence in dairy herds.

In this paper is presented the design and syntheis of a dynamic output feedback neural network controller for a non-holonomic mobile robot. First the dynamic model of a non-holonomic mobile robot is presented, in which these constraints are considered for the mathematical derivation of a feasable representation for this kind of robot. Then two control strategies are provided based on kinematic control for this kind of robot. The first control strategy is based on driftless control, this means, that considering that the velocity vector of the mobile robot is orthogonal to its restriction a dynamic output feedback and neural network controller is designed in order that the control action would be zero only when the velocity of the mobile robot is zero. The Lyapunov stability theorem is implemented in order to find a suitable control law. Then another control strategy is designed for trajectory tracking purposes, which similar to the driftless controller, a kinematic control scheme is provided but suitable to implement in more sophisticated hardware. In both control strategy a dynamic control law is provided along with a feedforward neural network controller, so in this way, by the Lyapunov theory the stability and convergence to the origin of the mobile robot position coordinates is ensured. Finally, two numerical experiment are presented in order to validate the theoretical results synthetized in this research study. Discussions and conclusions are provided in order to analyze the results found in this research study.

Autotaxin (ATX) is a secreted lysophospholipase D, catalysing the conversion of lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) to bioactive lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). LPA acts through two families of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) controlling key cellular responses, and is implicated in many physiological processes and pathologies. ATX has therefore been established as an important drug target in the pharmaceutical industry. Structural and biochemical studies of ATX have shown that it has a bimetallic nucleophilic catalytic site, a substrate-binding (orthosteric) hydrophobic pocket that accommodates the lipid alkyl chain, and an allosteric tunnel that can accommodate various steroids and LPA. Here we first review what is known about ATX-mediated catalysis, crucially in light of allosteric regulation. We then present the known ATX catalysis-independent functions, including binding to cell-surface integrins and proteoglycans. In light of these data we then discuss the four types of ATX inhibitors, as classified depending on their binding to the orthosteric and/or the allosteric site. Finally, we analyse the binding mode of known members of all four types and discuss how mechanistic differences might differentially modulate the activity of the ATX-LPA signalling axis, and clinical applications including cancer.

A series of polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based block copolymers with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as sacrificial bock were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization and used as precursors for the synthesis of porous carbons. The carbons enriched with O- and S-containing groups, introduced by controlled oxidation and sulphuration, respectively, were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry, and their surface textural properties were measured by a volumetric analyzer. We observed that the presence of sulphur tends to modify the structure of the carbons, from microporous to mesoporous, while the use of copolymers with a range of molar composition PAN/PMMA between 10/90 to 47/53 allows the obtainment of carbons with different degrees of porosity. The amount of sacrificial block only affects the morphology of carbons stabilized in oxygen, inducing their nanostructuration, but has not effect on their chemical composition. We also demonstrated their suitability for separating a typical N2/CO2 post-combustion stream.

The theory of the origin of carcinomas suggests that neoplasias from epithelial tissues are the consequence of the reactivation of developmental programs. It proposes a model in which the epithelial cells undergo cellular transitions due to replicative senescence and inflammation towards a mesenchymal-undifferentiated phenotype with cancerous behavior. The conserved pattern of histological progression and the molecular biology of carcinomas is congruent with the view of cancer as a developmental disease. In support of the theory, the experimental literature regarding the molecular, cellular, and histopathological mechanisms associated with epithelial carcinogenesis were aligned according to the premises of the hypothesis. Thereby identified a generic process in the carcinogenesis of the breast, endometrium, prostate, colon, lung, pancreas, bladder, liver, and cervix. Then, is provided a methodology overview of modeling in systems biology derived from previous research testing the hypothesis. The results illustrate the value of the complex systems approach to recover behavior that cannot be inferred only by traditional methods. Specifically, the model suggests that the consistency in the cell types and the directionality of the observed cellular transitions during epithelial carcinogenesis arise from structural constraints in the molecular networks associated with the carcinomas. Overall, the results of the dynamical analysis agree with the premises of the hypothesis and provide an insightful perspective of the potential mechanisms underlying the cellular plasticity displayed during epithelial carcinogenesis. In an era of big data and yet few advances in the underlying causes of chronic diseases, the manuscript also aims to inspire molecular biologists to integrate existing empirical evidence with systems biology modeling in the pursuit of understanding.

The origin of cancer remains one of the most important enigmas in modern biology. The prevailing paradigm has failed to grasp a comprehensive view of the disease. Naturally, therapies developed under the current assumptions are inadequate and cancer is practically an incurable disease. Meanwhile, descriptive studies continuously extend the molecular complexity of cancer without an equivalent advancement in its understanding. Furthermore, they tend to accumulate inconsistencies inexplicable under the classical view. This paper presents a compelling theory of the origin of carcinomas. By hypothesis, a series of generic events in epithelial tissues promoted by cellular aging and inflammation enables the reactivation of developmental programs. The origin of carcinomas in vivo is described as the time-ordered cell state transitions undergone by epithelial cells in the hyperplasia due to replicative senescence and inflammation towards a mesenchymal undifferentiated endogenous cell state with cancerous behavior. In support of the theory, the molecular, cellular, and histopathological evidence is critically reviewed. A plausible model for the origin of carcinomas is presented to explain the mechanism underlying carcinogenesis from an evolutive and developmental perspective. The implications of the hypothesis in the current strategies for cancer prevention and treatment are discussed along with rational alternatives and some predictions for possible experimental validation.

Plastics are naturally hydrophobic materials so, in order to employ flotation for the separation of plastic mixtures, the use of appropriate wetting agents is mandatory. In this work, the effect of pretreatment with alkaline solutions of sodium hydroxide on the floatability of four plastics (PET, PS, PMMA and PVC) was studied. The influence of NaOH concentration, treatment time and temperature of the alkaline solution, and influence of particle size was analyzed. Results showed that alkaline treatment had a strong effect on PET floatability, some effect on floatability of PMMA and PVC and no effect on floatability of PS. Plastics floatability decreased with the increase of NaOH concentration, temperature and treatment time of the alkaline solution. Based on flotation behavior of simple plastics, flotation separation after alkaline treatment of bi-component mixtures of PET with PS and PVC was achieved efficiently. The best separation was obtained for PET/PS mixture, a floated with a grade of 98% in PS and a sunk with a grade of 100% in PET. PET/PMMA mixture led to the worst separation. For PET/PMMA and PET/PVC mixtures, flotation separation improved with the decrease of the particles size.

Non-ulcerated cutaneous leishmaniasis (NUCL) is an atypical and peculiar clinical form of the disease that was first described by Ponce et al. (1988) in Honduras (Central America), where iso-lated or disseminated popular and/or nodular skin lesions are commonly seen in adolescents and young adults. Leishmania (L.) chagasi was then incriminated as the causal agent of the disease, as well as of American visceral leishmaniasis (AVL), although NUCL has been shown to be more prevalent than AVL in the region. Considering, however, the dubious taxonomic character of the causal agent of NUCL, as there is no evidence of this form of disease associated with L. (L.) cha-gasi in South America, this study aimed to carry out a retrospective taxonomic analysis on a se-ries of studies on the diagnostic approach to the Honduran parasite in loco (El Tigre island, Amapala municipality, west coast of Honduras), where taxonomic characters of a biological (in vitro and in vivo), epidemiological (vector and canine reservoir), clinical-immunological (im-munopathological features of in situ skin lesion and systemic infection) and molecular (ge-nomic/phylogenetic analyses) nature were considered. The findings, particularly those of mo-lecular nature, such as: the Honduran parasite showed to be more ancestral (molecular clock analysis of the DNA polymerase alpha subunit gene) than all viscerotropic ones [L. (L.) chagasi, L. (L.) donovani and L. (L.) infantum], as well as presenting an absolutely unprecedented structural variation on chromosome 17 and the highest frequency of genomic SNPs (more than twice the number seen in the Brazilian parasite), in addition to representing a different phylogenetic lin-eage (mainly in the NJ - RNA Pol II tree) from those viscerotropic ones, have pointed to the characterization of a new leishmanine parasite, Leishmania (Leishmania) poncei n. sp. (Kinetoplas-tea: Trypanosomatidae), in honor of Professor Ponce, who was the first researcher to describe NUCL in Honduras.

The risk of the emergence and reemergence of zoonoses is high in regions that are under anthropogenic actions, as they contribute to the risk of vector disease transmission. Yellow fever (YF) is among the main pathogenic arboviral disease in the world, and the Culicidae Aedes albopictus has been proposed to have the potential to transmit yellow fever virus (YFV). This mosquito inhabits both urban and wild environments, and under experimental conditions, it has been shown to be susceptible to infection by YFV. In this study, the vector competence of the mosquito Ae. albopictus for the YFV was investigated. Female Ae. albopictus were exposed to non-human primates (NHP) of the genus Callithrix infected with YFV for blood meal. Subsequently, on the 14th and 21st days post infection, the legs, heads, thorax/abdomen and saliva of the arthropods were collected and analyzed by viral isolation and molecular analysis techniques to verify the infection, dissemination and transmission. The presence of YFV was detected in saliva samples through viral isolation and in the head, thorax/abdomen and legs both by viral isolation and by molecular detection. The susceptibility of Ae. Albopictus to YFV confers a potential risk of reemergence of urban YF in Brazil.

Artificial intelligence’s rapid advancement has enabled various applications, including intelligent video surveillance systems, assisted living, and human-computer interaction. These applications often require one core task: video-based human action recognition. Research in human video-based human action recognition is vast and ongoing, making it difficult to assess the full scope of available methods and current trends. This survey provides an in-depth exploration of the vision-based human action recognition field, comprehensively offering the available techniques and their evolution, highlighting the cutting-edge ideas driving its development. We also analyze the most used keywords in research papers over the past years to identify trends and predict possible future directions. Hence, this concise survey helps researchers understand the breadth of existing approaches, evaluate current research trends, and stay up-to-date on potential developments.

The primary sources of particulate matter are linked to human activity. Certain particulate emissions, particularly those of a finer nature, can significantly impact human health, making them one of the most concerning pollutants. Ultrafine particles (UFP), which have a diameter of less than 100 nm, are of particular concern due to their impact on human health and the difficulty in controlling them. The concentration of ultrafine particles (UFP) in the workplace is a growing concern and is classified as an emerging risk. Workers may be exposed to UFP through inhalation, skin absorption, ingestion, or a combination of these routes. This study aims to determine the levels of UFP exposure among workers in environments with varying direct particle emission patterns. Measurements were conducted to compare the results with the levels recommended by the WHO. The study monitored industrial workplaces with direct particulate matter emissions, such as a carpentry and a bakery, as well as social sector sites without or almost without direct particle emissions, such as a school and a health clinic. One conclusion drawn from this study is that all tasks and occupations are susceptible to high levels of UFP, exceeding WHO recommended values in virtually all monitored environments. Therefore, monitoring and controlling UFP is crucial. Further in-depth studies on this subject are also necessary..

Cryptococcus neoformans is a fungus that mainly affects the respiratory system and the central nervous system. One of the main virulence factors is the capsule, constituted by the polysaccharides glucuronoxylomannan (GXM) and glucuronoxylomanogalactan (GXMGal). Polysaccharides are immunomodulators. One of the target cell populations for modulation are macrophages, part of the first line of defense, important for innate and adaptive immunity. It has been reported that macrophages can be modulated to act as a "Trojan horse" taking phagocytosed yeasts to strategic sites or having their machinery activation compromised. The scarcity of information on canine cryptococcosis led us to assess whether the purified capsular polysaccharides from C. neoformans would be able to modulate the microbicidal action of macrophages. In the present study, we observed that the capsular polysaccharides, GXM, GXMGal or capsule total did not present toxic effects for the DH82 macrophage cell line. However, it was possible to demonstrate that phagocytic activity was decreased after treatment with polysaccharides. In addition, yeasts recovered from macrophages treated with the polysaccharides, after phagocytosis, could be cultured, showing that their viability was not altered. The polysaccharides led to a reduction in ROS production and the expression of IL-12 and IL-6. We observed that GXMGal inhibits MHC class II expression and GXM reduces ERK phosphorylation. In contrast, GXMGal and GXM were able to increase the PPAR- expression. Furthermore, our data suggests that capsular polysaccharides can reduce the microbicidal activity of canine macrophages DH82.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance and urgent need of rapid and accurate diagnostic tests for detection and screening of this infection. In our proposal, a biosensor based on the ELISA immunoassay was developed for monitoring antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in human serum samples. The SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (N-protein) was selected as a specific receptor for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid immunoglobulin G. Thus, the N-protein was immobilized on surface of screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) modified with carboxylated graphene (CG). The IgG-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid concentration was quantified using a secondary antibody labelled with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) (anti-IgG-HRP) catalyzed by 3,3’,5,5’-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) mediator by chronoamperometry. A linear response was obtained in the range of 1:1000-1:200 v/v in phosphate buffer solution (PBS) and the limit of detection calculated was of 1:4947 v/v. The chronoamperometric method showed electrical signals directly proportional to antibody concentrations due to Ag-Ab specific and stable binding reaction.

This study investigates the power production and blade fatigue of a three-turbine array subjected to active yaw control (AYC) in full-wake and partial-wake configurations. A framework of two-way coupled large-eddy simulation (LES) and aeroelastic blade simulation is applied to simulate the atmospheric boundary-layer (ABL) flow through the turbine array and the structural responses of the turbine blades. Mean power outputs and blade fatigue loads are extracted from the simulation results. By exploring the feasible AYC decision space, we find that (a) in the full-wake configuration, the local power-optimal AYC strategy with positive yaw angles endures less flapwise blade fatigue and more edgewise blade fatigue than the global power-optimal strategy; (b) in the partial-wake configuration, applying positive AYC in certain inflow wind directions achieves higher optimal power gains than that in the full-wake scenario and reduces the blade fatigue from the non-yawed benchmark. Through a theoretical analysis based on the blade element momentum theory, we reveal that the aforementioned differences in flapwise blade fatigue between the positively and negatively yawed turbine are due to the differences in the azimuthal distributions of the local relative velocity on blade sections, resulting from the combined effects of vertical wind shear and blade rotation. Furthermore, the difference in the blade force between the positively and negatively yawed front-row turbine induces different wake velocity and turbulence distributions, causing different fatigue loads on the downwind turbine exposed to the wake.

The analysis and simulation of water quality in distribution networks is a complex issue of great concern today. The analysis of the evolution of water age, as a simple indicator of water quality in the network, is of great interest in both design and operation phases. Understanding the factors that have the strongest influence on water quality is key to developing adequate strategies aimed at preserving it. This paper firstly analyses the factors with biggest influence in the tanks water age, to support the selection of the most appropriate configuration from the point of view of water quality during design phases. Then, the main considerations when modelling tanks following the different mixing models considered in Epanet have been presented. Also, a real tank behaviour has been characterised through field measurements and Epanet simulations in order to determine the best fitted mixing model.

The main objective of this study was to study the effect of occupational stress on turnover intentions, as well as whether this relationship is mediated by burnout levels and moderated by motivation. The sample of this study consisted of 603 participants, all employees of the Portuguese Tax and Customs Authority, which is part of the Ministry of Finance and belongs to the Direct State Administration. The results indicate that occupational stress (with managers, with career and remuneration and with work overload) has a positive and significant effect on turnover intentions and that this relationship is mediated by burnout. Motivation (intrinsic and identified) has a negative and significant effect on turnover intentions. Intrinsic motivation moderates the rela-tionship between occupational stress (with managers, with colleagues, with career and pay and with family problems) and turnover intentions. These results indicate that among the dimensions of occupational stress, the most critical are stress with managers, work overload and career and pay. These are factors that the Direct State Administration should be concerned about in trying to minimize their causes.

In recent years, research has noted the increasing prevalence of mental health problems among university students. The current mental health needs of the university population, along with the multitude of stressors they face, increase the importance of examining their psychological well-being and determining the personal resources that effectively promote it. In this context, the present research aims to analyze the role of psychological capital (PsyCap) and coping strategies as personal resources facilitating psychological well-being (PWB) of university students. Specifically, the mediating role of coping strategies (both adaptive and maladaptive) in the relationship between PsyCap and PWB is explored. The study involved 391 university students from Spain. The results found a partial mediation effect of adaptive coping strategies on the relationship between PsyCap and PWB. Likewise, PsyCap was shown to be a direct positive predictor of adaptive coping strategies and PWB, as well as a direct negative predictor of maladaptive coping strategies. Therefore, it is concluded that PsyCap serves as a valuable personal resource that enhances and strengthens PWB in university students, as well as adaptive coping strategies. PsyCap also decreases the tendency to engage in maladaptive coping strategies. Similarly, the use of adaptive coping strategies contributes to improving students' PWB.

In the field of robotics education, introductory courses would ideally utilize heavy industrial arms for hands-on learning. This would provide students with valuable experience in joint programming, which involves direct control of each joint motor in the arm to accomplish desired path planning and differential movements. This practice requires consideration of the physical dynamics of the arm. However, the use of heavy industrial arms has several drawbacks. They are large and expensive, require specialized maintenance, can pose safety risks, and they typically do not allow for direct control of the joint motors. One solution is to use a small, lightweight, toy-like arm. While these are cost-effective and provide direct access to the joint motors without posing safety risks, their lightweight construction means they exhibit minimal dynamic behavior, which limits their educational value. Another solution involves a robotic arm simulator that uses a virtual arm. However, a virtual arm doesn't offer the same level of hands-on engagement and excitement as a physical arm. We propose a hybrid solution that combines a small physical arm with a virtual arm. This approach provides students with the experience of working with an industrial arm, but without the associated difficulties. We demonstrate how this approach successfully improved the completion rate of joint programming assignments, offering a promising solution for practical robotics education.

New data on the climate in southern Spain from 1792 to 1808 are analyzed in this work. The data source is the newspaper Correo Mercantil de España y sus Indias, where summaries of the weather conditions in Spain were published at weekly resolution. The study is focused on southern provinces, providing 2788 new records, some of them corresponding to areas without data previously recorded. The analysis indicates the predominance of cold-dry winters, cold-wet springs, warm-dry summers, and variable conditions in autumn, from west (cold-wet) to east (warm-dry). Some examples of these situations are presented.

A 35-year-old man with a late-onset combined immunodeficiency (LOCID) variant of common variable immunodeficiency, severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and Crohn's disease attended Regional Hospital of Presidente Prudente and HC-FMUSP, São Paulo, Brazil. Anti-IL-12/IL-23 (ustekinumab) monoclonal antibody was prescribed due to failure of other treatments (phototherapy, oral acitretin) for psoriasis and Psoriasis Area Severity Index &lt;10. We evaluated the impact of ustekinumab, a potent immunosuppressor, on the risk of infectious diseases in this patient followed for 8 years. Four quarterly doses of ustekinumab 90 mg and human immunoglobulin replacement (10,000 mg at 28-day intervals) were administered. Immunophenotyping, culture of lymphocytes, genetic sequencing, and whole exome sequencing were performed to investigate the primary immunodeficiency. Normal lymphocyte proliferation, absence of pathogenic variants in the genes analyzed and no clinically significant variants were detected in the whole exome. The main infections included chronic sinusitis, tonsillitis, fungal and bacterial otitis, gastroenteritis, and community-acquired pneumonia. The patient was infected with COVID-19, dengue (twice), and influenza and was hospitalized three times for intravenous antibiotic therapy. Ustekinumab did not influence susceptibility to severe infections and significantly improved psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and Crohn's disease in a patient with LOCID.

Free-living amoebae (FLA) are protozoa widely distributed in the environment, found in a great diversity of terrestrial biomes. However, few genera of FLA are linked to human infections. Within these genera, Acanthamoeba spp., classified by genotypes (T1-T23), being T1, T2, T4, T5, T10, T12, and T18 as capable of causing granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE) in immunocompromised patients mostly and Acanthamoeba keratitis related to genotypes T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T10, T11, T12 and T15 in apparently healthy patients. Meanwhile, Naegleria fowleri is the causative agent of an acute infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), while Balamuthia mandrillaris, like some Acanthamoeba genotypes, causes GAE, differing from the latter in the description of numerous cases in patients immunocompetent. Finally, other FLA related to the pathologies mentioned above have been reported; Sappinia pedata is responsible for one case of amoebic encephalitis; Vermamoeba vermiformis has been found in cases of ocular damage, and its extraordinary capacity as endo-cytobiont for microorganisms of public health importance such as Legionella pneumophila, Bacillus anthracis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, among others. In this review, issues related to the epidemiology of each one are addressed, updating their geographic distribution and cases reported in recent years for pathogenic FLA.

Background : The multisystem manifestations of Fabry disease can create major challenges in patient care. Although enzyme replacement therapy with recombinant agalsidase beta has demonstrated clinical benefits, the standard fortnightly, multihour infusion regimen imposes a substantial burden on patients. Methods : We assessed the safety and feasibility of shortening the agalsidase beta infusion time to 90 minutes in adult patients with classic or later-onset Fabry disease in the absence of premedication. A total of 39 consecutive adult patients (agalsidase-naive: n=6; significant comorbidities: n=15) with no recent infusion-associated reactions underwent a total of 85 agalsidase beta infusions in our tertiary reference center for lysosomal diseases. Each infusion was administered at a constant rate (between 0.78 and 1.17 mg/min, depending on the patient’s body weight). Results : No adverse events of any type (including discomfort and infusion-associated reactions) were reported during or after infusions. The patients’ vital signs remained stable, and patient satisfaction was high. Seven patients requested even shorter infusions (50 to 60 minutes) under strict medical supervision. Conclusions : Our results suggest that shortening the agalsidase beta infusion time to 90 minutes is safe and feasible in stably treated adult patients with Fabry disease and no recent infusion-associated reactions.

Using first-principles molecular dynamics (FPMD), we performed numerical simulations at 300 K to explore the interaction of a 2D MoS2 surface and a platinum atom, calculating the optical properties of the resulting material. The pristine MoS2 is a semiconductor with a gap of around 1.8 eV. The Pt atom is chemisorbed by the surface with an adsorption energy of −1.718 eV. With the adsorption of the Pt atom, the material remains a semiconductor, and its energy band gap reduces to 1.04 eV. But changes in the material's energy band structure imply substantial changes in its optical properties. The energy band structure of the 2D MoS2 with a sulfur vacancy VS shows that the material becomes a conductor, and there are significant changes in its optical properties. We also found that the Pt atom chemisorbs in a sulfur vacancy of the material, with an adsorption energy of −4.1164 eV. After the adsorption of Pt atoms in the sulfur vacancy, the material becomes a semiconductor with a band gap of 1.06 eV, and the changes in the optical absorption and reflectivity are significant.

Integrated crop-livestock production (ILP) is an interesting alternative for more sustainable soil use. However, more studies are needed to analyze soil pore properties under ILP at the micrometer scale. Thus, this study proposes a detailed analysis of soil pore architecture at the micrometer scale in three dimensions. For this purpose, samples of an Oxisol under ILP subjected to minimum tillage (MT) and no-tillage (NT) with ryegrass as cover crop (C) and silage (S) were investigated. The soil micromorphological properties of the soil were analyzed using X-ray microtomography. The MT(C) system showed the highest values of porosity (c. 20.4%), connectivity (c. 32.8×103), volume (c. 26%), and number of pores (c. 32%) in a rod-like shape. On the other hand, the MT(S), NT(C), and NT(S) systems showed higher tortuosities (c. 2.2, c. 2.0, and c. 2.1) and lower pore connectivities (c. 8.3×103, c. 6.9×103, and c. 6.2×103), especially in S use. Ellipsoidal and rod-shaped pores predominated over spheroidal and disc-shaped pores in all treatments. The results of this study show that the use of ryegrass as a cover crop improves soil physical properties, especially in MT. For S use, the type of soil management (MT or NT) did not show any differences.

Taxes on the consumption of certain products have played a key role in public revenue analysis in European countries. This work aims to assess the differences in tax planning on new non-combustion products across some European territories. Through theoretical analysis, the paper has three distinct aspects. Firstly, we show the taxpayer profile in different countries. Secondly, the study analyzes the risks for the health system and the individual. Thirdly, the design of the land tax is based on previous experience and planning in Europe. This paper concludes with a case study for different countries: 1) Spain “vapers” and “smokers”, where the analysis is based on micro-data from the European Health Interview Survey 2020. 2) Sweden with the analysis of snus, shows it as a practice to reach economic savings while decreasing economic costs thanks to the nudging of consumers towards better products. The results show taxation and, specially, land taxation, should consider differences in planning in the case of new products, such as the non-combustion products, given the user per capita income and the potential lower health risks involved.

The origin of cancer remains one of the most important enigmas in modern biology. This paper presents a hypothesis for the origin of carcinomas in which cellular aging and inflammation enable the recovery of cellular plasticity that may ultimately result in cancer. The process is described as the result of dedifferentiation undergone by epithelial cells in hyperplasia due to replicative senescence towards a mesenchymal cell state with potential cancerous behavior. In support of the hypothesis, the molecular, cellular, and histopathological evidence was critically reviewed and reinterpreted when necessary to postulate a plausible generic model for the origin and progression of carcinomas. In addition, the implications of this theoretical framework for the current strategies of cancer treatment are discussed against recent evidence of the molecular events underlying the epigenetic switches involved in the resistance of breast carcinomas. Subsequently, is proposed an epigenetic landscape for their progression and a potential mechanism to restrain the degree of dedifferentiation and malignant behavior. Finally, is suggested a novel understanding of the involution and carcinogenesis of tissues associated with aging as a perspective that might inspire integrative approaches in the study and management of chronic diseases.

In this paper we use the additive thermodynamic formalism to obtain new bounds of the Hausdorff and box-counting dimension of certain non conformal hyperbolic repellers defined by piecewise smooth expanding maps on a $d$-dimensional smooth manifold $M$.

As companies increasingly undergo digital transformation, the role of talent management pro-cesses becomes pivotal in enhancing overall organizational performance. The research addresses the significance of talent management in corporate digital transformation, examining whether variations in the digitalization of these processes can be attributed to company size. A qualitative approach was employed, utilizing a questionnaire, collecting responses from 202 organizations across diverse sectors. Findings reveal disparities in digitalization throughout the talent man-agement process, with pronounced presence in the attracting, selecting, and rewarding phases, but diminishing in deployment and development, further declining in planning. A positive cor-relation between company size and adoption of specific digital platforms was observed. Larger enterprises exhibit greater utilization of digital platforms in talent deployment and development. Moreover, corporate communication tools are consistently utilized in the rewarding phase, irre-spective of company size. These findings offer practical insights for organizations to optimize their digitalization strategies based on their scale, thereby contributing to more effective and tailored digitalization endeavors. The uniqueness of this research lies in its exploration of the in-fluence of company size on the digitalization of talent management processes and its potential to explain variations across different stages of these processes.

Latterly, the development of green synthesized polymeric nanoparticles with anticancer studies has been an emerging field in academia, and in the pharmaceutical and chemical industry. Vegetable oils are potential substitutes for petroleum derivatives, as they present themselves as a clean and environmentally friendly alternative and are available in high quantities at relatively low prices. Biomass-derived chemicals can be converted into monomers with unique structures, generating materials with new properties for the synthesis of sustainable monomers and polymers. In this way, the production of bio-based polymeric nanoparticles appears as a great application of green chemistry for biomedical uses. There is an increasing demand for biocompatible and biodegradable materials for specific applications in biomedical as cancer therapy, encouraging scientists in working on research towards designing polymers, with enhanced properties and clean processes, containing oncology active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The nanoencapsulation of these APIs in bio-based polymeric nanoparticles can control the release of the substances, increase bioavailability, reduce problems with volatility and degradation, reduce side effects, and increase treatment efficiency. Thus, this review aims to discuss the use of green chemistry for bio-based nanoparticle production and its application in anticancer medicine. The use of vegetable oils for the production of renewable monomers and polymers will be discussed, bringing castor oil as an ideal candidate for such application, as well as more suitable methods for the production of bio-based nanoparticles and some oncology APIs available for anticancer application.

The Azores bullfinch (Pyrrhula murina Godman, 1866) is a rare Passeriformes endemic from the eastern part of São Miguel Island. This bird was almost considered extinct in the first half of the 20th century and, due to recent conservation measures, it has experienced a recovery since the beginning of the 2000s. Despite the attention given to this bird, the size of its population is still controversial, and the most recent studies present significant divergences on this behalf. The pur-pose of the present study is to present data from the long-term monitoring of the Azores bullfinch to update the information about the population size and range of this species. In addition, we performed a literature review to highlight the limitations and advantages of the different ap-proaches for monitoring this species. In this study, we conclude that the most likely size of the Azores bullfinch population is 500 to 800 couples, with a slow population growth tendency, and an area of distribution of 130 Km2.

Autonomous driving navigation relies on diverse approaches, each with advantages and limitations depending on various factors. For HD maps, modular systems excel, while end-to-end methods dominate mapless scenarios. However, few leverage the strengths of both. This paper innovates by proposing a hybrid architecture that seamlessly integrates modular perception and control modules with data-driven path planning. This innovative design leverages the strengths of both approaches, enabling a clear understanding and debugging of individual components while simultaneously harnessing the learning power of end-to-end approaches. Our proposed architecture achieved 1st and 2nd place in the 2023 CARLA Autonomous Driving Challenge’s SENSORS and MAP tracks, respectively. These results demonstrate the architecture’s effectiveness in both map-based and mapless navigation.

Motivated by the way animals react in nature, we introduce a fully-connected neural-network model, which incorporates the external pattern presented to the system as a fundamental tool of the recognition process. In this new scenario, in the absence of this external field, memories are not attractors inside basins of attraction, as in usual attractor neural networks, although basins may be created according to the external pattern, thus allowing storing a much larger number of memories. The key point consists in calibrating the influence of the external pattern such as to cancel the noise generated by those memories not correlated with the external pattern.We illustrate how this proposal works by including this new contribution in the standard Hopfield model, showing a significant increase in its recognition capacity (typically by a factor $10^{2}$). As an additional feature of this model, we show its ability to react promptly to changes in the external environment, a crucial attribute of living beings. This procedure can be applied to a wide variety of neural-network models to increase considerably their recognition and reaction capabilities.