Abstract: Background: Of the many side effects suffered by cancer patients, those related to cognitive performance have become increasingly prominent in clinical practice. We know that chemotherapy generates a series of side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, alopecia, and so on, which can be counteracted by complementary medication. However, in the case of post-chemotherapy cognitive impairment, or chemo brain, these cannot be controlled with drug therapies. However, before any intervention can be considered, it is necessary to know exactly what cognitive impairment is being triggered. For this reason, we decided to study the cognitive status of breast cancer patients. Methods: analytical, prospective, three-measure longitudinal, intrasubject unifactorial, non-probabilistic and accidental assignment study. The sample came from the Medical Oncology Department at Hospital de Salamanca, in Spain. Cognitive function (Trail Making Test and Stroop Test) was established as the primary variable; the presence of sleep disorders (Insomnia Severity Index, ISI) and anaemia (haemoglobin levels in blood) were analysed as secondary variables, in addition to sociodemographic variables (age, stage, type of carcinoma, radiotherapy, menopause, social support network, marital status, years of schooling and employment status). Results: We recruited 151 individuals according to the selection criteria. We can confirm that factors including anaemia, menopause, patient support network and marital status, years of schooling, and employment status did affect the cognitive performance of the patients in active chemotherapy treatment in the study. In contrast, sleep disorders, age, radiotherapy treatment, stage of disease, and type of carcinoma did not affect the cognitive performance of the cancer patients. Conclusions: Chemotherapy does impact the cognitive performance of breast cancer patients.

Background: Of the many side effects suffered by cancer patients, those related to cognitive performance have become increasingly prominent in clinical practice. We know that chemotherapy generates a series of side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, alopecia, and so on, which can be counteracted by complementary medication. However, in the case of post-chemotherapy cognitive impairment, or chemo brain, these cannot be controlled with drug therapies. However, before any intervention can be considered, it is necessary to know exactly what cognitive impairment is being triggered. For this reason, we decided to study the cognitive status of breast cancer patients. Methods: analytical, prospective, three-measure longitudinal, intrasubject unifactorial, non-probabilistic and accidental assignment study. The sample came from the Medical Oncology Department at Hospital de Salamanca, in Spain. Cognitive function (Trail Making Test and Stroop Test) was established as the primary variable; the presence of sleep disorders (Insomnia Severity Index, ISI) and anaemia (haemoglobin levels in blood) were analysed as secondary variables, in addition to intervening variables (age, stage, type of carcinoma, radiotherapy, menopause, social support network, marital status, years of schooling and employment status). Results: We recruited 151 individuals according to the selection criteria. We can confirm that factors including anaemia, menopause, patient support network and marital status, years of schooling, and employment status did affect the cognitive performance of the patients in the study. In contrast, sleep disorders, age, radiotherapy treatment, stage of disease, and type of carcinoma did not affect the cognitive performance of the cancer patients. Conclusions: Chemotherapy does impact the cognitive performance of breast cancer patients.

Background: Of the many side effects suffered by cancer patients, those related to cognitive performance have become increasingly prominent in clinical practice. We know that chemotherapy generates a series of side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, alopecia, and so on, which can be counteracted by complementary medication. However, in the case of post-chemotherapy cognitive impairment, or chemo brain, these cannot be controlled with drug therapies. However, before any intervention can be considered, it is necessary to know exactly what cognitive impairment is being triggered. For this reason, we decided to study the cognitive status of breast cancer patients. Methods: analytical, prospective, three-measure longitudinal, intrasubject unifactorial, non-probabilistic and accidental assignment study. The sample came from the Medical Oncology Department at Hospital de Salamanca, in Spain. Cognitive function (Trail Making Test and Stroop Test) was established as the primary variable; the presence of sleep disorders (Insomnia Severity Index, ISI) and anaemia (haemoglobin levels in blood) were analysed as secondary variables, in addition to intervening variables (age, stage, type of carcinoma, radiotherapy, menopause, social support network, marital status, years of schooling and employment status). Results: We recruited 151 individuals according to the selection criteria. We can confirm that factors including anaemia, menopause, patient support network and marital status, years of schooling, and employment status did affect the cognitive performance of the patients in the study. In contrast, sleep disorders, age, radiotherapy treatment, stage of disease, and type of carcinoma did not affect the cognitive performance of the cancer patients. Conclusions: Chemotherapy does impact the cognitive performance of breast cancer patients.

The purpose of this research article is to provide a comprehensive method that allows the evaluation of the public transportation in their different transport lines that offer in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. This study presents a description of the public transport system as part of the literature review that describes an appropriate model based on the more outstanding publications about urban mobility and public transportation for passengers’ as well as success cases published which serves as a starting point to check the actual state of the public transportation system based on the Pythagorean Fuzzy CODAS to analyze and evaluate the alternatives through criteria that defines the general performance. The integration of these methods provides an adequate methodology for decision-making concerning urban planning and mobility to detect and improve the performance of criteria not considered within sustainable urban mobility plans.

Given the rise in the number of cases and their recurrences, Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) are one of the major burdens on public healthcare worldwide. Rapid, inexpensive and selective detection of Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), a major contributor to UTIs, is the need of the hour for effective treatment, given the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria due to improper diagnosis. Here we present a rapid, real-time, selective and label-free detection of UPEC using an integrated sensing platform based on Crossed Surface Relief Gratings (CSRGs) as nanoplasmonic sensors. Detection is achieved due to the unique Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR)-based light energy exchange attributed to the CSRGs, allowing real-time sensing in a very narrow bandwidth of the incident light to pass where the SPR energy conversion occurs. The sensing ability of the platform is experimentally demonstrated by the detection of bulk Refractive Index (RI) changes, with a bulk sensitivity of 382.2 nm/RIU and a resolution in the order of 10-6 RIU. We demonstrate selective capture and detection of clinical concentration of UPEC, as opposed to other gram-negative bacteria, in real-time, a first for CSRGs. This work is particularly important for effective treatment of UTIs, allowing point-of-care diagnosis for economically disadvantaged regions around the world.

In this work a new method is proposed to tackle down the multiple objective optimization problem of the calculation of cation distribution in spinels structure, through the difference of intensity ratios between experimental and calculated intensities of cation sensitive Bragg planes, by introducing a new factor, Rabs, in Bertaut method. This factor is introduced as the sum of absolute R factors, and it is minimized by varying cation distribution. To test this method aluminate manganese spinel where synthesized though modified Pechini method and characterized though XRD. The results show to be in agreement with literature for the aluminum inversion in tetrahedral sites, which is near to the reported value of 10%. Also, it was noticed that the manganese atoms are present in octahedral sites with a mixed valence state of +2 and +3. Which might be an indicator that oxygen vacancies are present in the structure, so the vacancies value of oxygen is proposed considering the total charge of cations and thus proposing the value of 3.678 mol per formula unit of the spinel, thus having the next stoichiometry considering normalized Al and Mn, MnAl2O3.678. Finally, the last cation distribution proposed was [Mn0.867^(+2) Al0.129^(+3) ][Mn0.034^(+2) Mn0.098^(+3) Al1.871^(+3) ] O3.678 with a Rabs factor value of 0.6466, which considers the cation distribution and oxygen vacancies.

Power generation using renewable technologies has become a primordial option to satisfy the energy demand all over the world, being solar concentrating technologies widely applied for this purpose. A combination of Parabolic Trough Collector with Direct Steam Generation has been considered an excellent option for power generation, due to the economic cost and complexity in the plant are reduced. The thermal evaluation of the solar power plant as well as the PTC in the DSG process is very important in viability and economic analysis. In this sense, as the main objective of this work, a numerical tool for evaluating DSG with PTC technology has been developed. The software SOLEEC is a versatile, reliable, accurate and friendly to the user for thermally evaluating a DSG with PTC technology. The user has the possibility to compare the thermal behavior of different geometrical dimensions for a PTC; and even consider different materials; in order to satisfy the demand of superheated steam by a DSG process. The software has an error less than 5% when compared with literature results and in this paper is used to evaluate a power plant in Mexico obtaining that the change to DSG proposing different PTC could reduce the solar field about 35%.

Quantum computing is tipped to lead the future of global technological progress. However, the obstacles related to quantum software development are an actual challenge to overcome. In this scenario, this work presents an implementation of the quantum search algorithm in Atos Quantum Assembly Language (AQASM) using the quantum software stack my Quantum Learning Machine (myQLM). We present the creation of a virtual quantum processor whose configurable architecture allows the analysis of induced quantum noise effects on the quantum algorithms. The codes are available throughout the manuscript so that readers can replicate them and apply the methods discussed in this article to solve their own quantum computing projects. The presented results are consistent with theoretical predictions and demonstrate that AQASM and myQLM are powerful tools for building, implementing, and simulating quantum hardware.

The global warming our generation is experiencing is just one of the great environmental crises of the Anthropocene, a geological period that began with the use of fossil fuels and that, in merely one century and a few decades of industrial activity, has altered ecosystemic processes that sustain human health and well-being. Beyond the loss of the “intrinsic value of nature”, changes in the magnitude and direction of biogeochemical cycles and increases in temperature are phenomena that not only accompany the loss of habitats and species but impair resilience by ultimately generating greater and more complex numbers and types of exposures that constitute a danger to human health. In this study, we attempted to offer some notes about the margin, understood as that space with the greatest inequity and therefore the fastest growth of risk: the collision area where deprivation marks the social determinants of health and where the greatest interaction with causes of disease occur.

In recent years, online social media information has been subject of study in several data science fields due to its impact on users as a communication and expression channel. Data~gathered from online platforms such as Twitter has the potential to facilitate research over social phenomena based on sentiment analysis, which usually employs Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning techniques to interpret sentimental tendencies related to users opinions and make predictions about real events. Cyber attacks are not isolated from opinion subjectivity on online social networks. Various security attacks are performed by hacker activists motivated by reactions from polemic social events. In this paper, a methodology for tracking social data that can trigger cyber attacks is developed. Our main contribution lies in the monthly prediction of tweets with content related to security attacks and the incidents detected based on ℓ1 regularization.

Introduction: Osteosarcomas of the jaw (OSJ) are rare tumors with a different behavior from osteosarcomas of other bones. This study aims to analyze the clinical, pathological, and therapeutic characteristics of this type of sarcoma. Methods: a retrospective observational study of cases diagnosed with OSJ registered at the “La Paz” University Hospital (Madrid). Results: Eight cases with a diagnosis of OSJ were obtained in a study period of 22 years (2000-2022). The mean age was 41 years. The distribution was 1:1 between the maxilla and mandible. Painful inflammation was the most frequent clinical manifestation. Conventional osteoblastic osteosarcoma was the most common. Survival at 5 years was 50%, while at 10 years, it decreased to 25%. Conclusions: OSJ differs from conventional osteosarcomas of long tubular bones. Surgery continues to be the mainstay of treatment; more studies are needed in which more standardized protocols can be proposed for adjuvant therapeutic management.

The Mar Menor is a Spanish coastal lagoon of great ecological and economic interest. The agricultural and tourist activities developed in the surroundings of the lagoon, together with the modifications in its channels of connection with the Mediterranean Sea, have notably affected the quality of its waters, which is altering the natural balance of the ecosystem. In this work, an analysis of the density of phytoplankton present in the lagoon between the months of May to December 2017 has been carried out. There, it has been a notable increase in the density of organisms in post-summer samplings, following the recording of higher temperatures, and the presence of Chlorophyceae, Cyanophyceae, Chrysophyceae and nanoplanktonic Cryptophyceae stands out. The data collected indicate a significant increase in the eutrophication process of the lagoon that requires the development of management plans to reduce agricultural discharges and promote the recovery of the lagoon and its native species.

Mpox (monkeypox) is a zoonotic disease that has been endemic in African countries for decades, with a recent outbreak in several countries around the world. A 39-year-old male with HIV-HBV coinfection and poor adherence to antiretroviral treatment, who was severely immunocompromised and had a concurrent diagnosis of Mpox infection, presented to our hospital with disseminated dermatosis (over 350 lesions), perianal ulcers, odynophagia, oral intolerance, diarrhea, and soft-tissue bacterial superinfection of the lower extremities. Laboratory results were consistent with HBV infection, with an absolute CD4 cell count of 40 cells/uL and a positive PCR result for Mpox. An abdominopelvic CT scan showed evidence of severe proctitis and perineal soft-tissue infection. After 65 days of Mpox PCR, new lesions in the vesicular stage continued to appear, eventually developing hemodynamic instability and sepsis, resulting in a fatal outcome. Our case highlights the importance of intentionally looking for risk factors such as HIV/HBV coinfection and evaluating immune status (CD4 cell count) in patients with severe Mpox infection because it could be related to higher mortality.

Arsenic is highly toxic, affecting millions of people in many regions of the world. That is why developing economic and efficient technologies is imperative to eliminate it. Sorption techniques are attractive as efficient and inexpensive sorbents can be used. Chitosan is an abundant, naturally occurring, biodegradable, low-cost biopolymer that can be combined with metal oxide to enhance its removability. This work aimed to synthesize a new chitosan-magnetite-based sorbent for arsenic removal. The synthesized sorbent does not present pores, and by FT-IR, functional groups of the chitosan and the presence of As(V) in the sorbent treated with arsenic were identified. The synthesized magnetite was characterized by XRD spectroscopy. Application of the Composite Central Design model showed that 0.22 g of the sorbent at pH 6.0 could remove 27.6% of As(V). Kinetic data, fitted with the pseudo-first and second-order models, indicated an ion exchange sorption and activation energy of 28.1-31.4 kJ mol-1. The isotherms were fitted with the Langmuir model, indicating a favourable monolayer adsorption with high affinity. The sorption energy, calculated by Dubinin-Radushkevich, 9.60-8.80 kJ mol-1, confirms a sorption mechanism mediated by ion exchange. The thermodynamic parameters of the process were ΔG°(-21.7/-19.7 kJ mol-1), ΔH°(16.7 kJ mol-1) and ΔS°(123.3 J mol-1 K-1).

Recent discoveries have shown that enteric glial cells play an important role in different neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD), which is characterized by motor dysfunctions caused by progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substance nigra pars compacta and non-motor symptoms including gastrointestinal dysfunction. In this study we observed the modulatory effects of the flavonoid rutin on enteric glia in a PD animal model. Adult male Wistar rats were submitted to stereotaxic injection with 6-hydroxydopamine or saline, treated or not with rutin (10 mg/Kg) for 14 days. Intestinal segments (ileum and colon) were collected to analyze tissue reactivity and immunohistochemistry for neurons (HUc/d) and enteric glial cells (S100b) in the myoenteric plexuses. Behavioral tests demonstrated that treatment with rutin im-proved the motor capacity of parkinsonian animals, and also improved intestinal transit without interfering with the cell population; rutin treatment modulated reactivity of the ileal musculature by muscarinic activation, reducing relaxation through the signaling pathway of nitric oxide donors, and increasing the longitudinal contractility of the colon musculature in parkinsonian animals. Rutin demonstrated modulatory activities on the enteric nervous system, bringing relevant answers about the effect of the flavonoid in this system and po-tential application for PD adjuvant treatment.

This article introduces a new fractional approach to the concept of information dimension of complex networks, based on a (q,q′)-entropy proposed in the literature. The q parameter measures how far is the number of subsystems (for a given size ε) from the mean number of overall sizes. The q′ (interaction index) measures when the interactions between subsystems are greater (q′>1), lesser (q′<1) or equal to the interactions into these subsystems. The computations of the proposed information dimension are carried out on several real-world and synthetic complex networks. The results from the proposed information dimension are compared with those from the information dimension based on the Shannon entropy.

In this work, we propose an easy and a low cost method for the synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped Graphene NDG and its silver nanowires NW functionalization NWGN. The synthesis was performed using the improved graphene oxide method, chemical reduction of graphene oxide in the presence of caffeine as green nitrogen source and the subsequently the silver nanowires growth in the surface, by the chemical reductions salts in the presence of NG. Achieving a homogeneous growing (coating) of graphene sheets. The samples were analyzed using conventional characterization techniques: SEM-EDX, XRD, FT-IR, RAMAN, TEM, HRTEM, STEM and XPS.

The Church of the Company of Jesus in Quito (1605-1765) is one of the most remarkable examples of colonial religious architecture on the World Heritage List. This church has multiple constructive phases and several interventions with no clear record of the entire architectural site, including the historical mortars. A total of 14 samples of coating mortars inside the central nave were taken, with the protocols suggested by the research team and a comparative sample of the architectural group that does not have intervention. The analysis presented in this paper focuses on mineralogical characterization, semi-quantitative analysis by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy with microanalysis of the samples. The results showed the presence of volcanic aggregate lime and gypsum, used in lining mortars and joint mortars. Mineralogical and textural composition data have allowed the mortar samples to be relatively dated.

Objectives: To assess the short-term impact of a single global stretching session on plantar pressures and lumbar range of motion (RoM) over one week in sedentary university students. Design: A randomised controlled trial with two parallel groups. Participants: Sixty-four university students were randomly assigned to a stretching group or control group. The stretching group received a single session of global stretching and the control group remained seated for the same length of time as the stretching session. Main outcome measures: Lumbar RoM and plantar pressures were assessed before, immediately after, 48 hours after, and 7 days after intervention. Results: Group-by-time interaction was significant for lumbar lateral flexion (p = 0.044), right maximal pressure (p = 0.003), left maximal pressure (p = 0.008), right mean pressure (p = 0.025), left mean pressure (p = 0.002), and maximal pressure minus mean pressure in right foot (p = 0.007). The model with plantar pressures showed a significant difference for group-by-time interaction (p = 0.010).Conclusion: Global stretching seems to counteract the ill-effects of prolonged sitting up to seven days with respect to plantar pressure in standing without improving lumbar ROM

Next Generation IoT systems will allow sustainable performance in long-term monitoring systems. This sustainability concept is applicable to soundscape description, as it allows monitoring in urban environments. In this work, the implementation of psycho-acoustic annoyance models in a 5G-enabled IoT system is proposed applying two Edge Computing approaches. A modified Zwicker’s model is adopted in this research, introducing a term that takes into account the tonal component of the captured sound. These implementations have been validated in a measurement campaign where several IoT devices have been deployed to evaluate different sound environments of a University Campus. Then, the analysis of the sound quality metrics is done in different location showing that if tonality is present in a noisy environment, it results in greater subjective annoyance. Moreover, the Just Noticeable Difference of these results are derived for the Zwicker’s psycho-acoustic annoyance to establish a limitation for this metric.

The Cordoba Guitar Festival is one of the most important cultural events in Spain. This article analyses the musical preferences, satisfaction, attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty of spectators who attended the 36th festival held in July 2016, as well as the festival’s economic impact on the city. To achieve this aim, a structural equation model (SEM) was used. The results show the goodness-of-fit of the model and indicate that the observed data fit the expected dataset.

During the last decades, the production systems have developed different strategies to increase their competitiveness in the global market. In a manufacturing and services systems, Lean Manufacturing has been consolidated through the correct implementation of its tools. The present paper presents a case study developed in a Food Packer company where a Simulation Model was considered as an alternative to reduce the waste time generated by the poor distribution of operations and transportation areas for a product within the factory. As a matter of fact, the company has detected problems on the layout distribution that prevents to fulfill the market demand. In addition, the principal aim was to create a simulation model to test different hypothetical scenarios and alternative designs for the layout distribution without modifying its facilities. Moreover, the implemented methodology was based on classical models of simulation projects and a compendium of the manufacturing systems optimization by simulation process used during the last ten years. Also, a mathematic model supported by the Promodel ® simulation software was developed considering the company characteristics; along with the model development, it was possible to compare the production system performance from the percentage of used locations, the percentage of resources utilization, the number of finished products, and the level of Work in Process (WIP). Finally, the verification and validation stages were performed before running the scenarios in the real production area. The results generated by the implementation of the project represent an increase of 68% in the production capacity and a reduction of 5% in the WIP. In addition, both outcomes are associated with the resources management, which were reassigned to other production areas.

The objective of this research is to mitigate vibrations in induction motors. To achieve this goal, a discontinuous pulse width modulation (PWM) control strategy based on carrier wave modulation is proposed for multilevel inverters. This study provides justification for the reduction of machine vibrations compared to existing control techniques documented in the technical literature. Additionally, the proposed technique offers the advantage of attenuating the Total Harmonic Distortion of the multilevel inverter's output voltage while simultaneously achieving a higher RMS value for the same DC level. By modifying a parameter of the carrier wave, the control strategy allows for variations in the electrical spectrum while avoiding natural mechanical resonance frequencies, thereby reducing motor vibrations. Laboratory results demonstrating the application of different modulation strategies in a multilevel inverter for an induction motor and a comparison with the presented strategy are provided.

Product Design is getting nowadays new challenges on developing new products, since the industry is in a rush to introduce products into the marketplace, where customers demand products faster, cheaper, and free of failures. In the meantime, global companies are always trying to improve their Product Design process to get advantages over their competitors using proven tools like FEMA and mixing methodologies like Fuzzy theories with FMEA. Even today using all this tools and combination of methodologies there is a gap to address and it is required a robust risk analysis solving current issues in the electronic industry. This document aims to reveal a novel integrated method, where Failure Mode and Effect Analysis, Pythagorean Fuzzy Sets and Dimensional Analysis are cohesive into a model that minimize the uncertainty of the ranking and prioritization over the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis execution, helping to identify risks within an accurate grade over possible failures in the Product Design process. A real practical example is used to show the proposed method, where it is identified a robust methodology integration and solid and results using a sensitivity analysis.

Background: Oncology patients experience a large number of symptoms and, those referring to cognitive performance has an ever-increasing importance in clinical practice due to the increase in survival rates and interest in the patient's quality of life. The studies reviewed show that chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment may occur in 15 and 50% of oncology patients. The main objective of this research was to study the impact of chemotherapy on the cognitive function of patients with locoregional breast cancer.Method: Analytical, prospective, longitudinal study using three measures, unifactorial intrasubject design, non-probability and random selection sampling. The sample comprised women newly diagnosed with locoregional breast cancer in stages I, II, IIIA who received chemotherapy at the University Hospital of Salamanca (Complejo Asistencial Universitario de Salamanca) randomly selected for three years. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale, HAD); quality of life (QLQ-BR23 scale) and the following cognitive variables were assessed: processing speed, attention, memory and executive functions (subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale and the Trail Making Test). Results: The final sample size included 151 participants; 23 were excluded. A decline in cognitive performance was observed in patients which was not completely recovered two months after chemotherapy had been completed. Also, worse cognitive performance was observed in patients with anxious or depressive symptoms. There is a negative impact on the quality of life. Conclusion: Chemotherapy has an impact on the cognitive performance of oncology patients in most of the cognitive domains studied.

This document summarizes the evidence currently available about the effects of the anesthetic agents and techniques used in primary cancer surgery and long-term oncologic outcomes, and the biomolecular mechanisms involved in their interaction..

The analytical method for the calculation of the properties of a bolted connection established by the structural Eurocodes proposes the T-stub as a component for the characterization of the tension and compression zones in moment joints. In this article, a review of the state of the art on the T-stub component is developed, where the works developed since it was initially defined, and from the perspectives of formulation, experimentation and numerical simulation are summarized and discussed. Additionally, possible future lines of work are proposed.

Abstract: Canine ehrlichiosis is a zoonotic disease transmitted by ticks, posing a formidable challenge to both veterinary and public health sectors worldwide. Across continents and regions, the prevalence rates of Ehrlichia canis exhibit significant variation, underlining the necessity for a nuanced and globally informed approach to understanding and combating this disease. The review navigates through this complexity, shedding light on the intricate pathogenesis of the illness. Central to this understanding is the bacterium's adept manipulation of the host's immune response, contributing to the diverse clinical manifestations observed in infected animals. Diagnostic methodologies, crucial for timely intervention and management, are subjected to critical assessment. From traditional microscopy to modern molecular techniques and serology, each approach is scrutinized for its strengths and limitations. By acknowledging these nuances, the review aims to equip practitioners with the knowledge necessary to make informed diagnostic decisions. A central tenet of this review is the advocacy for an integrated "One Health" approach. By leveraging advancements in genomics, proteomics, and artificial intelligence, there is a potential to enhance diagnostic accuracy and develop innovative therapeutic and preventive strategies globally. This collaborative approach recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, offering a holistic framework for tackling complex zoonotic diseases like canine ehrlichiosis. In conclusion, this review serves as a beacon of knowledge, illuminating the multifaceted landscape of canine ehrlichiosis. Through its synthesis of scientific literature and emphasis on methodological rigor, it provides a foundation upon which future research and interventions can be built. With a unified commitment to "One Health" principles and the integration of cutting-edge technologies, there exists the potential to mitigate the impact of this disease and safeguard both animal and human well-being worldwide

As β-glucosidases represent the major bottleneck for industrial degradation of plant biomass, great efforts are being devoted both to discover novel and robust versions of these enzymes, as well as to develop efficient and inexpensive ways to produce them. In this work, raw glycerol from chemical production of biodiesel was tested as carbon source for the fungus Talaromyces amestolkiae with the aim of producing enzyme cocktails rich in this activity. Approximately 11 U/mL β-glucosidase were detected in these cultures, constituting the major cellulolytic activity. Proteomic analysis revealed BGL-3 as the most abundant protein and the main β-glucosidase. This enzyme crude was successfully used to supplement a basal commercial cellulolytic cocktail (Cellu-clast 1.5L) for saccharification of pretreated wheat straw, corroborating that even hardly exploitable industrial wastes, such as glycerol, can be used as secondary raw materials to produce valuable enzymatic preparations in a framework of circular economy

Usually in the manufacture of beer by fermentation of barley, in both industrialized and developing countries significant amounts of organic solid waste are produced from barley straw. These possibly have an impact on the carbon footprint with an effect on global warming. According to this, it is important to reduce environmental impact of these solid residues, and an adequate way is the recycling using them as raw material for the elaboration of handmade paper. Therefore, it is required to manage this type of waste by analyzing the environmental impact, and thus be able to identify sustainable practices for the treatment of this food waste, evaluating its life cycle, which is a useful methodology to estimate said environmental impacts. It is because of this work shows the main results obtained using the life cycle analysis (LCA) methodology, to evaluate the possible environmental impacts during the waste treatment of a brewery located in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. The residues evaluated were barley straw, malt residues and spent grain, and at the end, barley straw was selected to determine in detail its environmental impact and its reuse, the sheets analyzed presented a grammage that varies from 66 g/m2 and 143 g/m2, resistance to burst was 117 to 145 kpa, with a crystallinity of 34.4% to 37.1%.

In the whole world, including Mexico, the rising prevalence of diabetes poses significant challenges to healthcare systems, with a notable impact on hospital admissions even being an ambulatory care sensitive condition, that means, hospital admissions are avoidable. Traditional healthcare methodologies have been instrumental in managing diabetes and preventing complications, yet they often face limitations such as merging, cleansing, and outlier analysis of health data to identify and address diseases effectively. This paper aims to address this gap by conducting a comprehensive comparison of the methodologies used in healthcare and data science for this purpose. This work uses hospital diabetes discharge records from 2010 to 2023, a total of 36,665,793 records, which belong to medical units of the Ministry of Health of Mexico. In this work, we seek to provide the arguments why as a data scientist it is mandatory to learn the field of knowledge of the problem and its implications if this is not done, and therefore to disclose insights that can help in policy decisions and reduce the burden of avoidable hospitalizations. The approach is mainly based on the standardization or adjust rates by sex and age groups. This study provides the foundations for a new way of data scientist must deal with health data.

SARS-CoV-2 is a new coronavirus that has caused a worldwide pandemic. It produces severe acute respiratory disease (COVID-19), which is fatal in many cases, characterised by cytokine release syndrome (CRS). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), those who smoke are likely to be more vulnerable to infection. Here, in order to clarify the epidemiologic relationship between smoking and COVID-19, we present a systematic literature review until 28 April 2020 and a meta-analysis. It includes 18 recent COVID-19 clinical and epidemiological studies based on smoking patient status from 720 initial studies in China, USA, and Italy. The percentage of hospitalised current smokers was 7.7% (95%CI: 6.9-8.4) in China, 2.3% (95%CI: 1.7-2.9) in the USA and 7.6% (95%CI: 4.2-11.0) in Italy. These percentages were compared to the smoking prevalence of each country and statistically significant differences were found in them all (p <0.0001). By means of the meta-analysis, we offer epidemiological evidence showing that smokers were statistically less likely to be hospitalised (OR=0.18, 95%CI: 0.14-0.23, p<0.01). CRS and exacerbated inflammatory response are associated with aggravation of hospitalise patients. In this scenario, we hypothesise that nicotine, not smoking, could ameliorate the cytokine storm and severe related inflammatory response through the cholinergic-mediated anti-inflammatory pathway.

The world is currently, subjected to the worst health crisis documented in modern history; an epidemic led by the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). At the epicenter of this crisis, healthcare professionals continue working to safeguard our well-being. To the regular high levels of stress, COVID new heights even more to healthcare professionals so depending on the area, specialty, and type of work. Here we investigated what are the tendencies, or areas most affected. Through an adaptation of the original COVID-stress scale, we developed a remote, fast test designed for healthcare professionals of the Northeastern part of Mexico, an important part of the country with economic and cultural ties to the US. Our results showed 4 key correlations as highly dependent: Work area – Xenophobia (p &lt; 0.045), Work with COVID patients - Traumatic stress (p &lt; 0.001) and Total number of COVID patients per day – Traumatic stress (p &lt; 0.027), and Total number of COVID patients - Compulsive checking and reassurance. Overall concluding that normal levels of stress have increased (mild – moderate). Additionally, we further determine that the fear of being an asymptomatic patient (potential to spread without knowing) continues being a concern.

The use of different sources to energize a load is convenient in many applications, particularly those where two or more renewable energy sources are employed as: energy harvesting, hybrid vehicles, and off-grid systems. In these cases, a multi-input converter able to admit sources with different characteristics and, if necessary, select the output power of each source. Several topologies of multi-input converters have been proposed to this aim, however, most of them are based on multi-stage designs, which decreases efficiency and increases control complexity, particularly when more than two sources are used. In this work, a three-input step-up converter easy to control in open loop condition is analyzed. A designed procedure is described, and experimental results are presented for a 1 kW power converter. The implemented converter results in a higher voltage gain, less storage element keeping high efficiency compared to similar topologies. Using the procedure here proposed, this converter that was initially proposed for photovoltaic applications is enabled to be used in medium and high-power applications, for example when renewable energy sources are used.

High efficacy LED lamps combined with adaptive lighting control and greenhouse integrated photovoltaics (PV) could enable the concept of year-round cultivation and become a feasible option even in the harsh climate of the Nordic countries. Meteorological satellite data of this region was analyzed in a parametric study to evaluate the potential of these technologies. The generated maps showed monthly average temperatures fluctuating from -20°C to 20°C throughout the year. The natural photoperiod and light intensity also changed drastically, resulting in monthly average daily light integral (DLI) levels ranging from 45-50 mol·m-2·d-1 in summer and contrasting with 0-5 mol·m-2·d-1 during winter. To compensate, growth room cultivation independent from outdoor conditions could be used in winter. Depending on the efficacy of the lamps, the electricity required for sole-source lighting at 300 µmol·m-2·s-1 for 16 hours would be between 1.4 and 2.4 kWh·m-2·d-1. Greenhouses with supplementary lighting could help start the cultivation earlier in spring and extend it further into autumn. The energy required for lighting highly depends on several factors such as the natural light transmittance, the light threshold settings and the lighting control protocol, resulting in electric demands between 0.6 and 2.4 kWh·m-2·d-1. Integrating PV on the roof or wall structures of the greenhouse could offset some of this electricity, with specific energy yields ranging from 400 to 1120 kWh·kWp-2·yr-1 depending on the region and system design.

Canistel (Pouteria campechiana (Kunth) Baehni) (yellow sapote, canistel). Originally from Mexico, the fruit is edible, and the tree is used as an ornamental and medicinal plant. Descriptive studies were carried out with the objective of morphologically characterizing the fruits and leaves of trees located in different regions of Mexico to select outstanding specimens and propose their massive reproduction. The trees were selected in three zones. In zone 2 from flower anthesis to harvest 11 months, fruits with 3 seeds, greater weight (180 to 330 g) and quantity of pulp (198.88 g), subglobose shape, total soluble solids 33 %. The fruits of zone 1 at harvest 8 months and zone 3 took 9 months to be harvested, in the rest of the characteristics evaluated were exceeded by the fruits of zone 2. To characterize the canistel (P. campechiana) leaf and identify accessions or cultivars, the three main variables, according to the principal component analysis were: leaf area, perimeter, and minor diameter. The three zones where canistel fruits and leaves were characterized are important and can be recommended for propagation in zones with favorable climatic conditions for fruiting in tropical and subtropical regions of Mexico.

The anthropogenic deterioration of aquatic ecosystems affects water resources due to agricultural malpractices, pollution from domestic septic tanks, recreational activities, and poor watershed management, among others. This study examines the management of Las Curias Reservoir (176,974 m2), San Juan, Puerto Rico, post the 2016 arrival of the invasive aquatic fern Salvinia molesta. In December 2019, a community-led initiative introduced the Cyrtobagous salviniae weevil, an effective biological control agent for S. molesta, and commenced a mechanical removal campaign using an aquatic harvester. Limnological sampling (September 2019 to March 2022) and drone flights were employed to measure physicochemical and floating plant cover changes, respectively, in the reservoir. Monitoring of weevils in the reservoir demonstrated a rapid establishment and dispersal, which resulted in visible damage including browning of plants and eventually sinking of entire mats. By January 29, 2021, 71% (125,652 m2) of the reservoir surface was covered by salvinia. In 2022, the reservoir recorded an average dissolved oxygen concentration of 2.38 mg/L -1 (± 0.021, n = 144), the highest in the study period and indicative of ecosystem recovery. After three years of control efforts, dissolved oxygen, pH, and specific conductance returned to levels recorded prior to Salvinia molesta introduction. This ecosystem recovery, a first in Puerto Rico, could be attributed to an early use of mechanical control and a long-term impact of biological control.

Drawing on contextualization literature, this paper seeks to evaluate the impact of contextual theology from a Latin American perspective. Bevans' (2002) Praxis Model of contextual theology sets the conceptual framework used to evaluate the evangelical response to the sociopolitical crisis in Nicaragua. The case study provides an example of how Bevans’ Praxis Model can be applied by looking at the manner with which the evangelical and the catholic church have responded to the sociopolitical upheaval in Nicaragua. The literature on contextualization highlights how theologizing is inextricably tied to culture, that contextual theology is necessary to effectively communicate the truth of the Gospel in varying cultural contexts, and that the issues of syncretism and the plurality of theologies can be effectively addressed.

In genetic conflicts, driver and killer elements achieve biased survival, replication, or transmission over sensitive and targeted elements through a wide range of molecular mechanisms, including mimicry. Driving mechanisms manifest at all organismal levels, from the biased propagation of individual genes, as demonstrated by transposable elements, to the biased transmission of genomes, as illustrated by viruses, to the biased transmission of cell lineages, as in cancer. Targeted genomes are vulnerable to molecular mimicry through the conserved motifs they use for their own signaling and regulation. Mimicking these motifs enables a selfish element to control core target processes, and can occur at the sequence, structure, or functional level. Molecular mimicry was first appreciated as an important phenomenon more than twenty years ago. Modern genomics technologies, databases, and machine learning approaches offer tremendous potential to study the distribution of molecular mimicry across genetic conflicts in nature. Here, we explore the theoretical expectations for molecular mimicry between conflicting genomes, the trends in molecular mimicry mechanisms across known genetic conflicts, and outline how new examples can be gleaned from population genomic datasets. We discuss how mimics involving short sequence-based motifs or gene duplications can evolve convergently from new mutations. Whereas, processes that involve divergent domains or fully-folded structures occur among genomes by horizontal gene transfer. These trends are largely based on a small number of organisms and should be reevaluated in a general, phylogenetically independent framework. Currently, publicly available databases can be mined for genotypes driving non-mendelian inheritance patterns, epistatic interactions, and convergent protein structures. A subset of these conflicting elements may be molecular mimics. We propose approaches for detecting genetic conflict and molecular mimicry from these datasets.

Conventional academic debate on sustainability and transformation has begun to be disputed by researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders from the private sector. The complexity of linking sustainability with transformation necessitates the development of new ways of understanding and explaining actors, processes, issues, structures, and outcomes related to transformation to sustainability (T2S). A persistent problem in understanding and managing the T2S is the implied notion of a monolithic transformation to achieve sustainability. This notion underestimates the diversity of actors as well as the historical contexts of transformations. At the same time, achieving T2S is highly dependent on technical solutions as well as policies that can stir needed behavioural change, whereas these technical solutions and policies are not always socially acceptable or politically implementable. Therefore, achieving T2S also calls for evaluating normative foundations of policies and actions needed to advance T2S. This article argues that T2S is composed of different phases, each of which having a different set of actors, resources and audience. This article explains how collective decision can be achieved through multiple levels and types of negotiations that occur in an orchestrated manner. To understand this, this article introduces a theoretical model as an analytical framework to structure how T2S unfolds. This model uses insights from negotiation studies to focus on the actors’ perspectives on T2S. It proposes the division of the transformation process into phases – entry point, learning, sequencing, disrupting and fortifying. Using the Germany’s energy transition (Energiewende), each of these phases is analysed to determine the “quality” of cooperation that can help fulfil the tasks required to master the so-called “cognitive games” of T2S (ripeness game, power game, bargaining game, policy game, scaling game). Moreover, insights are presented to explain how the designated milestone can be achieved that indicates the advancing to the next phase and eventually entrench the transformation process. The lessons and findings resulting from the analysis of the phases of T2S suggest that there is also the need to revisit underlying assumptions on negotiations, sustainability and transformation.

In this work, the structural, magnetic, and mechanical properties of Nd16Fe76-xCoxB8 alloys varying the Co content at x = 0, 10, 20 and 25, were experimentally investigated by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Mössbauer Spectrometry (MS), Vibrating Sample Magnetometry (VSM) at room temperature (RT), and microhardness test were performed too. The system presents the hard Nd2Fe14B and the Nd1.1Fe4B4 phases for samples with x = 0 and 10. When concentration increases to x= 20 and 25, the CoO phase appears. All MS show the ferromagnetic behavior (eight sextets: sites 16k1, 16k2, 8j1, 8j2, 4c, 4e, sb) associated to the hard and soft magnetic phases, and one paramagnetic component (doublet: site d) associated to the minority Nd1.1Fe4B4 phase, which was not identified by XRD. All samples are magnetically hard present a hard magnetic behavior. The increase of Co content in these samples did not improve the hard magnetic behavior, but increased the critical temperature of the system and decrease the crystallite size of the hard phase. The hysteresis loop showed that predominates the Nd2Fe14B hard magnetic phase. There is a general tendency to increase microhardness with cobalt content, attributable to cobalt doping reduces the lattice parameters and porosities in the sample improving it hardness.

Paper recycling has increased in recent years. A principal consequence of this process is the problem of addressing polymeric components known as stickies. A deep characterization of stickies sampled over one year in a recycled paper industry in México was performed. Based on their chemical structure, an enzymatic assay was performed using lipases. Compounds found in stickies by Fourier-Transform Infrared spectrometry were poly (butyl-acrylate), dioctyl phthalate, poly (vinyl-acetate), and poly (vinyl-acrylate). Pulp with 4% consistency and pH=6.2 was sampled directly from the mill once macro stickies were removed. Stickies were quantified by counting the tacky macrostructures in the liquid fraction of the pulp using a Neubauer chamber before the paper was made, and they were analyzed with rhodamine dye and a UV lamp. Of the two enzymes evaluated, the best treatment condition used Lipase 30G at a concentration of 0.44 g/L, which produced a 35.59% decrease in stickies. SebOil DG showed a smaller stickies reduction of 21.5% when used at a concentration of 0.33 g/L. Stickies in kraft paper processes were actively controlled by the action of lipases, and future research should focus on how this enzyme recognizes its substrate and should apply synthetic biology to improve lipase specificity.

The quality of waste activated sludge produced in urban wastewater treatment systems varies according to the efficiency of the operation of treatment units along the content of microflora and organic carbon. However, these represent a biogas-energy alternative through anaerobic co-digestion, contributing to reducing the environmental impacts caused by their inadequate disposal. Biogas production by the Two-stage production method in batch digesters was evaluated by two qualities of waste activated sludge (SLB50 y SLB90) and with a mixture of two co-substrates: cattle manure (CEV50 y CEV90) and residual edible oil with mixing, pH and temperature control. Bacteria in good quality sludge (SLB90) showed a faster adaptation of 2 days than those in low quality (SLB50) with 25 days lag phase. The highest CH4 production was for SLB90 (303.99cm3 d-1) compared to SLB50 (4.33 cm3 d-1); while cow manure sludge mixture (CEV90) contributed to increasing production of CH4 (42 422.8 cm3 d-1) compared to CEV50 (12 881.45 cm3 CH4 d-1), while in residual edible oil mixture they were 767.32 cm3 d-1 and 211.42 cm3 d-1 for CAV90 y CAV50, respectively. The addition of sludge co-substrates improves the nutrient balance, C/N rate and micro flora diversity; consequently methane production improves too; this methodology could be integrated into concepts of Circular economy.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) usually comes along with metabolic disturbances attributed to androgen excess and obesity, but the contribution of each has not been defined, and the occurrence of metabolic disturbances is frequently not investigated. We evaluated 99 PCOS and 41 non-PCOS women. Clinical biomarkers of glucose-, liver-, and endothelial-related metabolic alterations were measured; participants were categorized into four groups according with obesity (OB) and hyperandrogenemia (HA) statuses: Healthy (no-HA, lean), HA (HA, lean), OB (no-HA, OB), and HAOB (HA, OB). Metabolic disturbances were highly frequent in PCOS women (70%). BMI correlated with all biomarkers, while free testosterone (FT) only with glucose- and hepatic-related indicators. Despite insulin sensitivity and liver enzymes were associated with FT, women with obesity exhibited lower M [coeff = 8.56 – 0.080(FT) –3.71(Ob); p &lt;0.001)] and higher aspartate aminotransferase (coeff = 26.27 + 0.532(FT) + 8.08(Ob); p = 0.015)] than lean at the same level of FT. Women with obesity exhibited greater risk of metabolic disorders than lean, independently of hyperandrogenemia. Clinicians are compelled to search for metabolic alterations in PCOS women; obesity must be handled in all cases, but hyperandrogenemia needs to be managed also in those with glucose- or liver-related disturbances.

Chiari malformation type 1 (CM1) includes a series of congenital anomalies that share ectopia of the cerebellar tonsils below the foramen magnum, in some cases associated with syringomyelia or hydrocephalus. CM1 can cause dysfunction of the brainstem, spinal cord, and cranial nerves. This functional alteration of the nervous system can be detected by various modalities of neurophysiological tests, such as brainstem auditory evoked potentials, somatosensory evoked potentials, motor evoked potentials, electromyography and nerve conduction studies of the cranial nerves and spinal roots, as well as brainstem reflexes. The main goal of this study is to review the findings of multimodal neurophysiological examinations in published studies of patients with CM1 and their indication in the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of these patients, as well as their utility in intraoperative monitoring.

Breast cancer (BC) affects millions of women; it is the leading cause of death by neoplasia in wom-en worldwide, with at least 500 thousand deaths each year, 70% of which occur in developing countries. Elastography evaluates tissue stiffness, making this a promising non-invasive real-time technique. BI-RADS is recognized as a standard and helpful technique for establishing BC risk. This study aimed to determine, by strain elastography (SE), the fat-to-lesion index (F/L index), sen-sitivity, specificity, and optimal cut-off to diagnose BC. This prospective study included 216 wom-en who underwent SE, ultrasound, mammography, and breast biopsy; according to mammogra-phy, we recruited BI-RADS category 2 (n= 5), category 3 (n=29), category 4 (n= 94), category 5 (n= 71) and category 6 (n=17); after biopsy, 108 women were classified as negative, and 108 were pos-itive for BC. Three expert BC radiologists performed all imaging interpretations and biopsies. Our results show mean values of the F/L index for negative biopsies of 3.70±2.57 and positive biopsies of 18.10±17.01; we developed two models for the prediction of BC, a logistic regression model with an AUC of 0.893 and a neural network with an AUC of 0.902. The Youden index yielded a F/L index cut-off >5.76, with a sensitivity and specificity of 84.26%. Positive Spearman's Rho cor-relation coefficient was observed between the F/L index and BI-RADS, r=.073 (p< 0.001). ANOVA test showed a difference between F/L index vs. molecular subtypes (p=0.002). SE is helpful as a di-agnostic complement to mammography, or in cases where the latter is contraindicated, elas-tography has an adequate predictive capacity and is a fast and minimally invasive procedure.

The binding affinity of trastuzumab and pertuzumab to HER2 has been studied using both experimental and in-silico methods. The experiments were conducted using the antibodies in their complete IgG form, as used in clinical therapy, and the extracellular domain of the HER2 protein in solution. This approach provides a precise, reproducible, and reliable view of the interaction between them in physiological conditions. Dynamic light scattering and size exclusion chromatography coupled with tetra detection were utilized to characterize the protein complexes, measure their concentrations, and calculate the equilibrium free binding energy, ΔGbind. In addition, PRODIGY, a QSAR-like model with excellent predictive ability, was employed to obtain in-silico ΔGbind estimations. The results obtained indicate that pertuzumab exhibits a slightly higher binding affinity to HER2 than trastuzumab. The difference in binding affinity was explained based on the contribution of the different interfacial contact (IC) descriptors to the ΔGbind value estimated by the PRODIGY model. Furthermore, experiments revealed that the pertuzumab IgG antibody binds preferentially to two HER2 proteins, one per Fab fragment, while trastuzumab mainly forms a monovalent complex. This finding was interpreted based on a geometrical model that identified steric crowding in the trastuzumab-HER2 complex as compared to the pertuzumab-HER2 complex.

Background: To inform global health policies and resources planning, this paper analyzes evolving trends in physical rehabilitation needs, using data on Years Lived with Disability (YLDs) from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2017. Methods: Secondary analysis of how YLDs from conditions amenable to physical rehabilitation have evolved from 1990 to 2017, for the world and across countries of varying income levels. Linear regression analyses were used. Results: A 66.2% growth was found in estimated YLD Counts amenable to physical rehabilitation: a significant and linear growth of more than 5.1 billion YLDs per year (99%CI: 4.8–5.4; r² = 0.99). Low-income countries more than doubled (111.5% growth) their YLD Counts amenable to physical rehabilitation since 1990. YLD Rates per 100,000 people and the percentage of YLDs amenable to physical rehabilitation also grew significantly over time, across locations (all p > 0.05). Finally, only in high-income countries Age-standardized YLD Rates significantly decreased (p < 0.01; r² = 0.86). Conclusions: Physical rehabilitation needs have been growing significantly in absolute, per-capita and in percentage of total YLDs, globally and across countries of varying income level. In absolute terms, growths were higher in lower income countries, wherein rehabilitation is under-resourced.

Secondary forests (SF) are important carbon sinks, removing CO₂ from the atmosphere through the photosynthesis process and storing photosynthates in their aboveground live biomass (AGB). This process occurring at large-scales partially counteracts C emissions from land-use change, playing, hence, an important role in the global carbon cycle. The absorption rates of carbon in these forests depend on forest physiology, controlled by environmental and climatic conditions as well as on the past land use, which is rarely considered for retrieving AGB from remotely sensed data. In this context, the main goal of this study is to evaluate the potential of full polarimetric ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 data for estimating AGB by taking into account the past-land use of SF areas in the Brazilian Amazon. We surveyed a chronosequence of 42 SF plots (20 ha) near the Tapajós National Forest in Pará state to quantifying AGB growth rates. We explored the full polarimetric data testing three regression models including non-linear (NL), multiple linear regressions models (MLR), and the semi-empirical extended water cloud model (EWCM). The results showed that the intensity of previous use has affected the structure of SF by reducing the AGB accumulation and being noticeable by several polarimetric attributes. The combination of multiple prediction variables with MLR improved the AGB estimation by 70% comparing amongst other models (R² adj. = 0.51; RMSE = 13.2 Mg ha^-1) bias = 2.1 ± 37.9 Mg ha^-1. The error propagation of the MLR model was estimated to be 15%.

In this work epitaxial Au islands have been grown on epitaxial α-Fe2O3 thin film by pulsed laser deposition on SrTiO3(111) substrate. Both Au and α-Fe2O3 layer show an island-type growth with an average particle size of 40 and 62 nm, respectively. The crystallographic coupling of lattices is confirmed with a rotation of 30º between the in-plane crystallographic axes of α-Fe2O3(0001) structure and those of SrTiO3(111) substrate and between the in-plane crystallographic axes of Au(111) and those of α-Fe2O3(0001) structure. α-Fe2O3 is the only phase of iron oxide identified before and after its functionalization with Au nanoparticles. In addition, its structural character-istics are also preserved after Au deposition, with minor changes at short-range order. The func-tional character of the complex systems as gas sensor has been proven at room temperature. Con-ductance measurements of Au(111)/α-Fe2O3(0001)/ SrTiO3(111) system show that the incorpora-tion of Au islands on top of the α-Fe2O3(0001) layer induces an enhancement of the gas-sensing ac-tivity for CO and CH4 gas in comparison to a bare α-Fe2O3(0001) layer grown on SrTiO3(111).

Marker-assisted selection (MAS) and genomic selection (GS) have been used to select individuals with desirable traits. MAS used a few markers associated with a specific trait to select individuals with desirable traits, which are determined after a Genome-wide association studies (GWAS). On the contrary, GS uses a large number of markers distributed across the genome to predict the genomic breeding values for a further selection of the individuals. In general, MAS has shown a high prediction accuracy but is not suitable for traits that are controlled for multiple genes, and has another constraint, it is required the phenotypic data; on the contrary, GS has not shown the highest prediction accuracy as MAS but it takes into account the effect of multiple genes controlling a target trait and it can be used without phenotypic data. Including GWAS-selected markers in GS can enhance the reduced prediction accuracy that GS shows in comparison with MAS. Thus, the objective of this study was to compare the prediction accuracy of MAS, and some models of genomic prediction (gBLUP, gBLUP including GWAs-selected markers, and some Bayesian models such as Bayes A, Bayes B, Bayes LASSO and Bayesian Ridge Regression) with GWAS-selected markers incorporated in gBLUP in order to confirm if the incorporation of GWAS in GS increases the prediction accuracy of GS. As a model for this study, it was used data from Sorghum which has shown population structure, to evaluate if the incorporation of GWAs-selected markers into GS improves prediciton accuracy. It was used a sample of 6000 SNPs out of the 265.487 reported in the study conducted by Morris et al (2013), and also it was considered some parameters that affect the efficiency of the selection such as the size of the training population, the heritability, and the number of QTNs. The GWAS-selected SNPs were identified after using the model BLINK. The results showed that the incorporation of GWAS-selected markers enhanced the performance of the genomic selection with similar prediction accuracy as MAS, the number of QTNs and size of the training population affected the accuracy, with higher accuracy with a bigger size of the training population and with a lower number of QTNs, but it seems that the heritability does not have any impact in the model where GWAS-selected SNPs were included in gBLUP.

The aim of this work was to classify the business incubators in Spain according to the four phases of startups incubation. Taking into account that the graduation rate implies greater survival and business success of the incubated companies, they have been identified at each stage of the incubation (spread of entrepreneurship, pre-incubation, advanced incubation, and graduation). The activities that present higher impacts on the success of the incubated companies and the activities carried out by the incubator that have a greater relevance on the graduation of the companies have concretely been considered. Principal component (PC) cluster analysis have been applied. All the incubation variables were used simultaneously, reducing their number, and grouping them into factors, finally the cases were grouped according to these latent variables. Principal components analysis reduced dimensionality to 8 factors with a 74 % of explained variance. Factor 1 was positively related to pre-incubation variables, factor 2 was linked to training and collaboration variables within the entrepreneurship diffusion phase. Factor 3 called activity monitoring and control and was related to phase 3 or basic incubation variables. Clusters analysis facilitates the grouping of incubators into three clusters: Group 1 (16 % of the total), incubators with strong deficits in incubation phases 1, 2 and 3. They are small Business Incubators, often located in rural areas or cities and low graduation rate. Group 2 (30 %), business incubators with very high graduation rate, and strongly positive values in factor 1 and 2. Factor 3 although positive is susceptible to improvement. They are the largest incubators and usually located in industrial and technological parks. Group 3 (54 %) is the majority, with values close to cluster 2 and 3.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a complex, progressive degenerative retinal disease. Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells play an important role in the immune defense of the eye, and their dysfunction leads to the progressive irreversible degeneration of photoreceptors. Genetic factors, chronic inflammation, and oxidative stress have been implicated in AMD pathogenesis. Oxidative stress causes RPE injury, resulting in a chronic inflammatory response and cell death. The Y402H polymorphism in the complement factor H (CFH) protein is an important risk factor for AMD. However, the functional significance of CFH Y402H polymorphism remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the role of CFH in the proinflammatory response using an in vitro model of oxidative stress in the RPE with the at-risk CFH Y402H variant. : ARPE-19 cells with the at-risk CFH Y402H variant were highly susceptible to damage caused by oxidative stress, with increased levels of inflammatory mediators and pro-apoptotic factors that lead to cell death. Pretreatment of ARPE-19 cell cultures with exogenous CFH prior to the induction of oxidative stress prevented damage and cell death. This protective affect may be related to the negative regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines. CFH contributes to cell homeostasis and is required to modulate the pro-inflammatory cytokine response under oxidative stress in the ARPE-19 cells with the at-risk CFH Y402H variant.

This study aims to report the clinical signs, therapy, necropsy, and histopathological findings of the first case of airsacculitis caused by enterobacteria and eggs of the superfamily Diplotriaenoidea in M. choliba in the Amazon Biome. The bird was admitted without clinical signs, had been hospitalized for observation for five months, and had started the rehabilitation process for release 37 days before it started to show signs of weakness, lack of appetite, cachexia, dyspnea, ruffled feathers, vomiting, and dry feces. Therapy with oxytetracycline (48 mg/kg), sulfamethoxazole (48 mg/kg), mebendazole (25 mg/kg), potenay (0.5 ml/kg), sodium chloride 0.9% (50 ml /kg) and mercepton (5ml/kg), however, after five days of starting the treatment, the bird died. At necropsy, prominence of the keel, pieces of food in the oral cavity and proventriculus, thickened air sacs, intestine with firm stools, and the presence of gas, hepatomegaly, and splenomegaly were observed. The parasitological examination showed eggs of the Diplotriaenoidea superfamily. The microbiological analysis identified Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Enterobacter aerogenes. Histopathological examination showed heterophilic bacterial airsacculitis. The diagnosis was confirmed through clinical signs, necropsy findings, and parasitological, microbiological, and histopathological examination results.

This work discusses the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and pollution in Spain using an autoregressive distributed lag regression model (ARDL) from 1961 to 2018. The authors apply the theoretical context of pollution haven/halo and conclude that FDI in Spain does not contribute to the transfer of green technologies for cleaner production, despite being included within the European environmental regulatory framework. The authors also verify the adequacy of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) and the Load Capacity Curve hypothesis (LCC) in the Spanish environmental context and find that income per capita has a positive effect on environmental sustainability and quality. In this sense, the further development of an efficient renewable energy infrastructure could efficiently drive to a better standards all pollution indexes in Spain, including nuclear energy production, contributing the emissions neutrality aimed by the EU by 2050.

Proteins and DNA exhibit key physical chemical properties that make them advantageous for building nanostructures with outstanding features. Both DNA and protein nanotechnology have growth notably and proved to be fertile disciplines. The combination of both types of nanotechnologies is helpful to overcome the individual weaknesses and limitations of each one, paving the way for the continuing diversification of the structural nanotechnologies. Recent studies have implemented a synergistic combination of both biomolecules to assemble unique and sophisticate protein-DNA nanostructures. These hybrid nanostructures are highly programmable and display remarkable features that create new opportunities to build in the nanoscale. This review focuses on the strategies deployed to create hybrid protein-DNA nanostructures. Here, we will discuss strategies such as polymerization, spatial directing and organizing, coating, rigidizing or folding DNA into particular shapes or moving parts. The enrichment of structural DNA nanotechnology by incorporating protein nanotechnology has been clearly demonstrated and still shows a large potential to create useful and advanced materials with cell-like properties or dynamic systems. It can be expected that structural protein-DNA nanotechnology will open new avenues in the fabrication of nano-assemblies with unique functional applications and enrich the toolbox of bionanotechnology.

This compendium presents new mathematical techniques for modeling Point Absorbers. A combined frequency-time domain framework is developed. It is used to simulate the energy generated by the wave farms. With Matlab and Fortran as a base, this leads to obtain physical variables of primary importance, namely position, velocity and power to energy net balance relationships of absorption. Integration of different degrees of freedom with heave as main executable leads in turn to a single buoy motion focus. Acquisition of the needed hydrodynamic coefficients is provided through application of potential field solvers with Boundary Element Methodology background. Initially, this Wave-to-motion model is validated by comparison with previous experimental results for a floating cone cylinder shape (Buldra-FO3). A single, generic, vertical floating cylinder is contemplated then, that responds to the action of the passing regular waves excitation. Later, two equally sized vertical floating cylinders aligned with the incident wave direction are modeled for a variable distance between the bodies. For both unidirectional regular and irregular waves as an input in deep water, we approximate the convolutive radiation force function term through the Prony method. By changing the spatial disposition of the axisymmetric buoys, using for instance triangular or rectangular shaped arrays of three and four bodies respectively, the study delves into motion characteristics for regular waves. The results highlight efficient layouts for maximizing the energy production whilst providing important insights into their performance, revealing displacement amplification- and capture width-ratios, while deriving in possible interpretations of scenarios related to the known park effect. These terms are encompassed by the novelty of a new conceptual Post-Processing methodology in the field, which leads to obtain an optimal distance for the separated bodies with effective energy absorption in a regular wave regime. The main objective is to generate a tendency within the hydrodynamic field of study, which is the Wave to motion perspective. More generally, this computational excursion envisions and depicts potential fields of study, which will surely enhance new connections and link this renewable energy form. Therefore, this research delves first into the historical and technical background on Ocean Wave Energy. Next, it is in the section regarding Materials and Methods, where boundaries and related equations are introduced step by step, together with latter mentioned case scenarios, and their corresponding configuration parameters. A separate section frames then the scope of results, while finally, there is an ensuing discussion and conclusions for evaluation assessment.

This thesis completion works it out to deepen into diverse modeling techniques for Point Absorbers. A combined frequency-time domain model is conceived, designed and developed in Matlab with Fortran as a base, leading to obtain physical variables of primary importance, namely position, velocity and power to energy net balance relationships of absorption. Integration of different degrees of freedom with heave as main executable leads in turn to a single buoy motion focus. Acquisition of the needed hydrodynamic coefficients is provided through application of NEMOH \& BEMIO solvers due to the Boundary Element Methodology. Initially, this Wave-to-motion model is validated by comparison with previous experimental results for a floating cone cylinder shape (Buldra-FO3). A single, generic, vertical floating cylinder is contemplated then, that responds to the action of the passing regular waves excitation. Later, two equally sized vertical floating cylinders aligned with the incident wave direction are modeled for a variable distance between the bodies. For both unidirectional regular and irregular waves as an input in deep water, we approximate the convolutive radiation force function term through the Prony method. By changing the spatial disposition of the axisymmetric buoys, using for instance triangular or rectangular shaped arrays of three and four bodies respectively, the study delves into motion characteristics for regular waves. The results highlight efficient layouts for maximizing the energy production whilst providing important insights into their performance, revealing displacement amplification- and capture width-ratios, while deriving in possible interpretations of scenarios related to the the known park effect. These terms are encompassed by the novelty of a new conceptual Post-Processing methodology in the field, which leads to obtain an optimal distance for the separated bodies with effective energy absorption in a regular wave regime. In conclusion, this computational excursion envisions and proposes potential fields of study, which will surely enhance new connections and link this renewable energy form.

This study aims to report the clinical signs, therapy, necropsy, and histopathological findings of airsacculitis caused by enterobacteria and the occurrence of the superfamily Diplotriaenoidea eggs in the feces of Megascops choliba in the Amazon Biome. A tropical screech owl nestling was rescued and admitted for hand-rearing. The animal was bred for five months. The feed was based on Zophobas morio larvae and thawed chicken breast meat with vitamin and mineral supplements. On the 37th day of hacking training for release, the owl showed weakness, lack of appetite, regurgitation, cachexia, dyspnea, ruffled feathers, dry feces in the vent and peri cloaca, and diarrhea. The parasitological examination showed eggs of the Diplotriaenoidea superfamily in the feces. The therapy was with oxytetracycline (48 mg/kg), sulfamethoxazole (48 mg/kg), mebendazole (25 mg/kg), potenay (0.5 ml/kg), sodium chloride 0.9% (50 ml /kg) and mercepton (5ml/kg). However, after five days of starting the treatment, the bird died. At necropsy, prominence of the keel, pieces of undigested food in the oral cavity and proventriculus, intestinal gas, and thickened and turbid air sacs were found. The microbiological analysis of air sacs identified Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Enterobacter aerogenes. Histopathological examination showed heterophilic bacterial airsacculitis.This study aims to report the clinical signs, therapy, necropsy, and histopathological findings of the first case of airsacculitis caused by enterobacteria and eggs of the superfamily Diplotriaenoidea in M. choliba in the Amazon Biome. The bird was admitted without clinical signs, had been hospitalized for observation for five months, and had started the rehabilitation process for release 37 days before it started to show signs of weakness, lack of appetite, cachexia, dyspnea, ruffled feathers, vomiting, and dry feces. Therapy with oxytetracycline (48 mg/kg), sulfamethoxazole (48 mg/kg), mebendazole (25 mg/kg), potenay (0.5 ml/kg), sodium chloride 0.9% (50 ml /kg) and mercepton (5ml/kg), however, after five days of starting the treatment, the bird died. At necropsy, prominence of the keel, pieces of food in the oral cavity and proventriculus, thickened air sacs, intestine with firm stools, and the presence of gas, hepatomegaly, and splenomegaly were observed. The parasitological examination showed eggs of the Diplotriaenoidea superfamily. The microbiological analysis identified Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Enterobacter aerogenes. Histopathological examination showed heterophilic bacterial airsacculitis. The diagnosis was confirmed through clinical signs, necropsy findings, and parasitological, microbiological, and histopathological examination results.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental disorder, is increasingly diagnosed and significantly affects communication, behavior, and social interaction. The current diagnostic framework, guided by the DSM-5, has limitations that may lead to clinical gaps due to overlapping symptoms of ASD and other disorders. This study proposes a comprehensive approach to enhance ASD diagnosis through clinical stratification based on comorbidities. We applied precision medicine techniques to identify and categorize ASD into ten clinical profiles. Our findings contribute to a more profound understanding of ASD, including its varied clinical manifestations and comorbidities, and facilitate the development of personalized therapeutic strategies.

While there are extensive studies on the mineralogy and geochemistry of laterites worldwide, the temporal and spatial mineralogical development of a typical nickel laterite profile is still poorly constrained. In this study, we present a detailed mineralogical and geochemical characterization of samples systematically collected from a nickel laterite profile at the Sta. Cruz nickel laterite deposit, Zambales, Philippines, to describe the temporal and spatial development of the laterite profile. Wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (WDSXRF), mass balance-element mobility calculations, transmitted and reflected light microscopy, and previously reported results from coupled X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Rietveld refinement analyses, reveal that the laterite profile investigated is composed of two main horizons: the limonite and saprolite zones, separated by a thin transitional zone. The main zones are further subdivided into subzones based primarily on the mineral assemblage and major element chemistry: upper limonite, lower limonite, transitional zone, upper saprolite, and lower saprolite. Late-stage Ni-rich serpentine veins were observed cutting the upper and lower saprolite subzones. Investigation of the structure of goethite within the limonite zone via Rietveld refinement show that the crystallinity of goethite decreases with increasing Ni content and increasing crystallite size. This suggests that upwards through the limonite zone, as goethite ages, its crystallinity increases which possibly results in the removal of Ni from its crystal structure and eventual remobilization to the lower laterite zones. We propose a genetic model of the formation of the Sta. Cruz laterite consisting of four stages: (1) early-stage alteration, (2) continued serpentinization and volume expansion, (3) late stage serpentinization, dissolution, and incipient oxide formation, and (4) goethite ageing and Ni-rich serpentine vein formation. Overall, our results suggest that serpentinization is an important aspect of Ni laterite formation, both before and after the emplacement of the peridotite protolith.

In polymer-based dental composites, wear is a three-body wear system mainly abrasive, because of the food particles and wear products suspended in the oral cavity, which are transferred to the microcavities of the surface of the replacements. Due to this fact, the incorporation of nanodiamond as reinforcement in these polymer matrix composites, which promotes the creation of a solid lubricant tribofilm surface could be advantageous. When nanodiamond is added in contents of 0.8, 1.6 and 3.2 wt %, an increase in microhardness from 95 up to 420 %, compared to the one of neat BisGMA/TEGDMA, is observed. Additionally, the incorporation of a content of 1.6 wt % is enough to cause a diminution of ~78 % in the friction coefficient and a reduction of the specific wear rate and Archard’s coefficient of ~50 %. Nevertheless, the addition of relatively high contents reduces the effectiveness of photoinitiation and UV-curing, which is related to the scattering and absorption of UV radiation by ND.

This article focuses on the comparison and perception of the potential of water’s surface in selected parts of the waterfront in two contrasting cities. The aim is to define the potential of the water’s surface in terms of psychology and its effects on climate. The analysis was performed on the example of Prague with its waterfront on the river Vltava, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife with its Atlantic coastline. Data was sourced from maps, questionnaire surveys and interviews with waterfront users during October 2020. The research showed a higher importance of the water’s surface for users in Prague, than in Santa Cruz. The main finding is that the psychological perception of the waterfront by its the users is affected by the possibility of a visual contact with the water’s surface, the design and composition of the space, and the climate situation of a site affected by the presence of an urban heat island (UHI). The results promote an adherence to ecosystem-based approaches in future design projects and modifications of existing public spaces. The purpose of the work is to open a broader debate on the sustainability of the potential of waterfronts and their positive impact on human health.

The Kalanchoe genus is composed of more than 100 species that usually thrive in tropical environments, which have been used in folkloric medicine to treat various illnesses, including dermatological conditions. With this, the present study assesses the pharmacognostical and pharmacological properties of different species of the Kalanchoe genus as elements for a potential treatment for dermatological-related conditions, from findings of existing literature and studies. It was analyzed that the Kalanchoe pinnata plant, or one of the most common species of Kalanchoe, have been observed to have distinct morphological and microscopic characteristics. Further, it was discovered that different species of Kalanchoe have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, and wound healing properties, which enable the plant to be used for dermatological products that are available to the market. With this, it is recommended that further studies be conducted in other understudied species of Kalanchoe regarding their pharmacological properties, as well as the use of other structures of the Kalanchoe plant for treatment of various dermatological conditions.

The influence of post-processing conditions on the magnetic properties of amorphous and nanocrystalline microwires have been thoroughly analyzed, paying attention on the influence of magnetoelastic, induced and magnetocrystalline anisotropies on the hysteresis loops of Fe-, Ni- and Co-rich microwires. We showed that magnetic properties of glass-coated microwires can be tuned by the selection of appropriate chemical composition and geometry in as-prepared state or further considerably modified by appropriate post-processing, which consists of either annealing or glass-coated removal. Furthermore, stress-annealing or Joule heating can further effectively modify the magnetic properties of amorphous magnetic microwires owing to induced magnetic anisotropy. Devitrification of microwires can be useful for either magnetic softening or magnetic hardening of the microwires. Depending on the chemical composition of the metallic nucleus and on structural features (grain size, precipitating phases) nanocrystalline microwires can exhibit either soft magnetic properties or semi-hard magnetic properties. We demonstrated that the microwires with coercivities from 1 A/m to 40 kA/m can be prepared.

OBJETIVE: This study analyses the views of four groups of healthcare professionals who may play a role in the management of suicidal behaviour. The goal was to identify key factors for suicide prevention in different areas of the healthcare system. METHODOLOGY: Qualitative research was conducted using focus groups made up of different healthcare professionals who participated in the identification, management and prevention of suicidal behaviour. Professionals included were primary care physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists and emergency physicians. RESULTS: ‘Suicide’ was amongst the most relevant terms that came up in discussions most of the times it appeared associated with words such as ‘risk’, ‘danger’ or ‘harm’. In the analysis by categories, the four groups of professionals agreed that interventions in at-risk behaviours are first in importance. Prevention was the second main concern with greater significance among psychiatrists. DISCUSSION: Primary care professionals claim for more time to address patients at risk for suicide and an easier access to and communication with the mental health network. Emergency care professionals have a lack of awareness of their role in the detection of risk for suicide in patients who seek attention at emergency care facilities for reasons of general somatic issues. Mental health care professionals are in high demand in case of self-harm but they would like to receive specific training in dealing with g suicidal behaviour.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) represent a growing public health concern due to increasing incidence worldwide. The current notion on the pathogenesis of IBD is that genetically susceptible individuals develop intolerance to dysregulated gut microflora (dysbiosis) and chronic inflammation develops as a result of environmental triggers. Among the environmental factors associated to IBD, diet plays an important role in modulating the gut microbiome, influencing epigenetic changes and, therefore, could be applied as a therapeutic tool to improve the disease course. Nevertheless, the current dietary recommendations for disease prevention and management are scarce and of weak evidence. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the complex interactions among diet, microbiome and epigenetics in IBD. Whereas over-abundance of calories and some macronutrients increases gut inflammation, several micronutrients have the potential to modulate it. Immunonutrition has emerged as a new concept putting forward the importance of vitamins such as vitamins A, C, E, D, folic acid and beta-carotene and trace elements such as zinc, selenium, manganese and iron. However, when assessed in clinical trials, specific micronutrients exerted a limited benefit. Beyond nutrients, anti-inflammatory dietary patterns as a complex intervention approach have become popular over the recent years. Hence, exclusive enteral nutrition in pediatric Crohn’s disease is the only nutritional intervention currently recommended as a first-line therapy. Other nutritional interventions or specific diets including the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, the low fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyol diet and most recently the Mediterranean diet have shown strong anti-inflammatory properties and provide a promise for improving disease symptoms. Definitely, more work is required to evaluate the role of individual food compounds and complex nutritional interventions with potential to decrease inflammation as means for prevention and management of IBD.

With the continuous growth of electric and electronic appliances’ usage, the waste produced with obsolete material (e-waste) has an increasing environmental impact. Also, the production of such appliances bears to increased consumption of natural resources and produces a multitude of toxic and hazardous substances, which typically are not properly treated. One of the approaches that may be adopted to reduce such problems relies on the circularization of the current linear model, commonly adopted in the EEE value chain. This includes recovering eol products and reintroducing its parts, components, or raw materials into the value chain (e.g. semiconductors, circuit boards, raw metals, etc.), thus contributing to a more sustainable value chain. In this article, we present a state-of-art review that focuses on approaches and solutions for the EEE value chain traceability, and analyses the technologies that may be beneficial for promoting and implementing the CE model in this value chain.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Long COVID are characterized by debilitating post-exertional malaise and other core symptoms related to immune dysregulation resultant from post-viral infection, including mitochondrial dysfunction, chronic neuroinflammation and gut dysbiosis. The reported associations between altered microbiota composition and cardinal symptoms of ME/CFS and Long COVID, suggesting that use of microbial preparations, such as probiotics, by restoring the homeostasis of the brain-immune-gut axis may help in the management of symptoms in both conditions. Therefore, this review aims to investigate the implications of alerted gut microbiome and assess the evidence supporting use of microbial-based preparations, including probiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics alone and/or in combination with other nutraceuticals in the management of fatigue, inflammation, as well as neuropsychiatric and gastrointestinal symptoms among patients with ME/CFS and Long COVID.

Serum transferrin (sTf) plays a pivotal role in regulating iron biodistribution and homeostasis within the body. The molecular details of sTf Fe(III) binding, blood transport, and cellular delivery through transferrin receptor-mediated endocytosis are generally well-understood. Emerging interest exists in exploring sTf complexation of nonferric metals as it facilitates the therapeutic potential and toxicity of several of them. This review explores recent X-ray structural and physiologically relevant metal speciation studies to understand how sTf partakes in the bioactivity of key non-redox active hard Lewis acidic metals. It challenges preconceived notions of sTf structure function correlations that were based exclusively on the Fe(III) model by revealing distinct coordination modalities that nonferric metal ions can adopt and different modes of binding to metal-free and Fe(III)-bound sTf that can directly influence how they enter into cells and, ultimately, how they may impact human health. This knowledge informs on biomedical strategies to engineer sTf as a delivery vehicle for metal-based diagnostic and therapeutic agents in the cancer field. It is the intention of this work to open new avenues for characterizing the functionality and medical utility of nonferric-bound sTf and to expand the significance of this protein in the context of bioinorganic chemistry.

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.

Breast cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous disease representing a substantial economic burden. In order to develop policies that successfully decrease this burden, the factors affecting costs need to be fully understood. Evidence suggests that early detection in Stage I has a lower cost than late detection. We aim to provide conservative estimates of BC's stage-wise medical costs from German healthcare and the payer's perspective. To this end, we conducted a literature review of articles evaluating stage-wise costs of BC in Germany through PubMed, Web of Science, and Econ Lit databases supplemented by Google Scholar. We developed a decision tree model to estimate BC related medical costs in Germany using available treatment and cost information. The review generated seven studies; none estimated the stage-wise costs of BC. The studies were classified into two groups: (1) case scenarios (five studies) and two studies based on administrative data. The first sickness funds data study (Gruber, Stock, et al. 2012) used 1999 information to approach BC attributable cost; their results suggest a range between €3,929 and €11,787 depending on age. The second study (Kreis, Plöthner, et al. 2020) used 2011-2014 data and suggested an initial phase incremental cost of €21,499, an intermediate phase cost of €2,620, and a terminal phase cost of €34,513 per incident case. Our decision tree model based BC stage-wise cost estimates were €21,523 for Stage I, €25,679 for Stage II, €30,156 for Stage III, €42,086 for Stage IV. Alternatively, the modeled cost estimates are €20,284 for the initial phase of care, €851 for the intermediate phase of care, and €34,963 for the terminal phase of care. Our estimates for phases of care are consistent with recent German estimates provided by Kreis and Plöthner et al. Furthermore, the data collected by sickness funds are collected primarily for reimbursement purposes, where the German ICD-10 classification system defines a cancer diagnosis. As a result, claims data lack the clinical information necessary to understand stage-wise BC costs. Our model-based estimates fill the gap and inform future economic evaluations of BC interventions.

Novel strategies have been developed to reduce or to avoid the intravitreal injections (IVTs) of the antiangiogenic (ranibizumab; RBZ) and the anti-inflammatory (triamcinolone acetonide; TA) agents used to treat vitreoretinal diseases. One of the strategies include liposomes. In this study, it was evaluated the safety and efficacy of topical triamcinolone-loaded liposomes formulation (TALF) as an adjuvant to intravitreal RBZ therapy in treatment-naive patients with neovascular age related macular degeneration (nAMD). Subjects were randomly assigned to the RBZ-TALF or the RBZ-pro re nata (RBZ-PRN) group. Patients from the RBZ-TALF group were instructed to apply TALF for a 12-month period after a single dose of RBZ. Patients from the RBZ-PRN group received three monthly RBZ-IVTs. Retreatment with RBZ was considered in case of nAMD reactivation. Related to safety, non-ocular abnormalities were observed during TALF therapy. Owing to the efficacy, non-significant differences are identified in visual acuity or central foveal thickness when the RBZ-PRN and RBZ-TALF groups are compared. Importantly the average number of RBZ injections was significantly lower in the RBZ-TALF group (2.5 ± 1.4 vs 6.1 ± 1.3 IVTs; p=0004). Therefore, TALF used as an adjuvant to RBZ reduce the number of RBZ-IVTs retreatment with optimal visual and anatomic results.

Sweet cucumber (Solanum muricatum) sect. Basarthrum, is a neglected horticultural crop native of the Andean region. It is naturally distributed very close to potatoes (Solanum sect. Petota) and tomatoes (Solanum sect. Lycopersicon), two groups of high economic importance. To date, molecular tools for this crop are still undetermined. We here obtained the first complete chloroplast (cp) genome of sweet cucumber and compared with seven Solanaceae species. Pair-end clean reads were obtained by PE 150 library and the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. The complete cp genome of S. muricatum had a 155,681 bp with typical quadripartite structure, containing a large single copy (LSC) region (86,182 bp) and a small single-copy (SSC) region (18,360 bp), separated by two inverted repeat (IR) regions (25,568 bp). The annotation of chloroplast genome predicted 88 protein-coding genes (CDS), 8 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, 37 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and one pseudogene. A total of 48 perfect microsatellites were identified, divided in mononucleotide repeats (32), followed by tetranucleotide (6) and dinucleotides (5). SSRs with trinucleotides repeats (3), pentanucleotide (1) and hexanucleotide (1) repeats motifs in these genomes were identified in lower quantity. Most of these repeats were distributed in the noncoding regions. Whole chloroplast genome comparison with the other seven Solanaceae species revealed that the small and large single copy regions showed more divergence than inverted regions. Finally, phylogenetic analysis resolved that S. muricatum is a sister species to members of sections Petota + Lycopersicum + Etuberosum. This study reports for the first time the genome organization, gene content, and structural features of the cp genome of S. muricatum. Also, this study may provide the basis for evaluating genetic diversity within Solanum, and will be useful to examine the evolutionary processes in sweet cucumber landraces.

Asthma is the most prevalent cause of chronic respiratory diseases. Herein, we evaluate asthma burden in Mexico based on results from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD 2019) study 2019. Using data from the GBD 2019, we estimated asthma prevalence, incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted lived years (DALYs) counts and crude and age-standardized rates per 100,000 people with a 95% uncertainty interval (UI) by sex and age at the national and subnational levels in Mexico from 1990 to 2019. At the national level, asthma affected 3.35 million (95% UI, 2.59-4.37) people, with 606.0 thousand (433.0-811.1) new incident cases and 1,655 (3-1,931) deaths during 2019. Asthma caused a slightly higher burden in females and affected mainly age groups between 1 and 14 years of age. The burden of asthma gradually decreased from 1990 to 2010. However, during the last decade (2010-2019), prevalence increased by 8.2%, as did incidence by 11.3%, whereas mortality and DALYs decreased by 23.3 and 1.6%, respectively. Finally, the burden of asthma displayed a heterogeneous pattern of disease at the subnational level. In conclusion, asthma causes a significant health loss in Mexico that differentially affects the population distributed among the states of the country, thus causing health disparities that should be addressed to provide sustainable asthma diagnosis and control to reduce its burden, especially at early stages of life.

A novel investigation into the structure-function relationship was undertaken to enhance understanding of the mechanism of action of the vasoactive peptide angiotensin II (AngII) using unconventional substitutions such as AIB (α-aminobutyric acid), CHA (cyclohexylalanine acid), IAP (isonipecotic acid), TOAC (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl-4-amine-4-carboxylic acid) at position 3, and DMT (2,6-dimethyl-Tyrosine) at position 4. Biological potency assays were conducted on guinea pig ileum, and structural features were analyzed using circular dichroism (CD) and molecular dynamics (MD). CHA3-AngII and AIB3-AngII analogs retained some agonistic activity, whereas IAP3-AngII and TOAC3-AngII derivatives were inactive. CD results indicated low conformational flexibility for AIB3-AngII and CHA3-AngII, and greater conformational restrictions for IAP3-AngII and TOAC3-AngII, consistent with computational modeling analyses. DMT4-AngII exhibited significant agonistic activity compared to the inactive Phe4AngII. Molecular modeling suggested a potential interaction between the hydroxyl group of Tyr4 and the amide bond between positions 7 and 8. AngII showed greater conformational restriction compared to DMT4-AngII and Phe4-AngII, underscoring the importance of tyrosine at position 4.

Technology has transformed aeroponics, providing numerous advantages over traditional soil-based agriculture. However, there remains a need for comprehensive information on the types of technology employed in aeroponics and their impact on the growing process. This paper presents a literature review of 47 studies published between 2012 and 2023 in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. As a result, it identifies the status and tendencies in the usage of technology in aeroponics as well as the main opportunities and challenges. Furthermore, this paper introduces the Technology Adoption and Integration in Sustainable Agriculture (TAISA) model. TAISA is a model that identifies the degree of technology integration in any sustainable agriculture system to determine how technology affects production and quality. Overall, the systematic review suggests that technology can play a vital role in improving the efficiency and sustainability of aeroponic farming. However, careful consideration must be given to the costs and technical requirements associated with using these technologies. Moreover, the TAISA model reveals that technology has primarily been employed in creating new processes that are not possible to implement without the help of technology. Therefore, we conclude that technology use has taken root in aeroponics and can be promoted to improve sustainable agriculture.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a disruptive technology in various areas, and medicine is no exception. In the last decade, there has been rapid progress in the application of AI in healthcare, from diagnosing and prognosticating diseases to improving operational efficiency in hospitals. This literature review explores the advances of artificial intelligence in the field of medicine, discusses its benefits, and discusses the ethical and regulatory challenges that need to be addressed to maximize its potential.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) triggers alterations in the maternal gut microbiome. Alongside metabolic shifts, microbial products may impact clinical factors and influence pregnancy outcomes. Here, we performed two separate analyses to integrate the maternal microbiome-metabolomic differences from a subset of the “Choosing Healthy Options in Carbohydrate Energy” (CHOICE) study. Women diagnosed with GDM were randomized to a diet higher in complex carbohydrates (CHOICE, n=18, 60% complex carbohydrate/25% fat/15% protein) or a conventional GDM diet (CONV, n=16, 40% carbohydrate/45% fat/15% protein). All meals were provided, diets were eucaloric, and fiber content was similar. CHOICE diet was associated with increases in TMAO, lysophosphotidylcholines, indoxyl sulfate, and several triglyceride (TG) species, while CONV diet was associated with higher plasma hippuric acid, aspartic acid, betaine, glutamic acid, indole propionic acid, and indoleacetic acid, suggesting that differences in lipid metabolism and tryptophan utilization pathways are linked to specific maternal diets. We also identified two latent metabolic groups not associated with either diet treatment: one metabolome associated with higher fasting glucose, and the other associated with higher fasting TGs after 7 weeks on either diet. Our study underscores the importance of utilizing dietary approaches to optimize maternal-fetal health outcomes in GDM treatment.

This article presents a combined route and path planning strategy to guide Skid-Steer Mobile Robots (SSMRs) in scheduled harvest tasks within expansive crop rows with complex terrain conditions. The proposed strategy integrates: i) a global planning algorithm based on the Traveling Salesman Problem under the Capacitated Vehicle Routing approach and Optimization Routing (OR-tools from Google) to prioritize harvesting positions by minimum path length, unexplored harvest points, and vehicle payload capacity, and ii) a local planning strategy using Informed Rapidly-exploring Random Tree (IRRT*) to coordinate scheduled harvesting points while avoiding low-traction terrain obstacles. The global approach generates an ordered queue of harvesting locations, maximizing the crop yield in a workspace map. In the second stage, the IRRT* planner avoids potential obstacles, including farm layout and slippery terrain. The path planning scheme incorporates a traversability model and a motion model of SSMRs to meet kinematic constraints. Experimental results in a generic fruit orchard demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed strategy. In particular, the IRRT* algorithm outperformed RRT and RRT* with 96.1% and 97.6% smoother paths, respectively. The IRRT* also showed improved navigation efficiency, avoiding obstacles and slippage zones, making it suitable for precision agriculture.

Recently, coastal swamps have been acknowledged for their capability to alleviate shorelines and defend coastal communities. Mangroves play a prominent role in obstructing water currents in riverbanks, shorelines, and coastal areas. Mangrove roots have the significant contribution to the resiliency of the vegetation structure. Yet, mangrove model has lately been called into question by lab experimental evidence. In this paper, the flow characteristics past root models are reviewed. coastal swamps are among the most fruitful and carbon‐rich ecosystems on the planet. Long‐term carbon putting away in coastal wetlands happens mostly below ground as soil organic matter. Mangrove servs as a carbon sink, impacts wetland ecosystem configuration, purpose, and firmness. To expect and ease the properties of climate change, there is a necessity to advance considerate of environmental controls on wetland. The impact of four soil formation factors are reviewed. Across the shorelines, soil organic matter was highest in mangrove forests and it was lower areas.

The Textile and Clothing (T\&C) value chain is one of the most polluting in the world and one that produces the most waste. It is, therefore, important to encourage the Circular Economy (CE) model in this sector, to reduce pollution and mitigate the effects of waste production, and consequently increase environmental sustainability. For that, the involvement of the final consumer is essential. And, the final consumer's use of an Eco-gamified application for registering and promoting Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) and Consumer-to-Business (C2B) activities, which extends the life time of textile products, is of utmost importance. In this article, we survey gamification frameworks for analyzing system design level techniques that enable engaging the final consumer in the CE process. Then, we select and use one of such frameworks, Gameful Design Heuristics (GDH), for defining the gamification structure needed to implement on a Business-to-Consumer-to-Consumer (B2C2C) context of a circular economy. As result, we present a B2C2C circular business process model for the T\&C value chain, and propose the design model of a gamified platform for the final consumers, which allows them to register the C2B and C2C activities, from the circular value chain's business process, and benefit from a game-like experience. All model features have been mapped to GDH framework heuristics, validating that it is possible to support a set of defined heuristics of applied gamification for promoting CE in the T\&C value chain.

Maternal obesity is increasingly prevalent and is associated with elevated morbidity and mortality rates in both mothers and children. As the interface between the mother and fetus, the placenta has mediates the impact of the maternal environment on fetal development. Most of the literature data on the effects of maternal obesity on placental functions do not exclude potential confounding factors like metabolic diseases (e.g. gestational diabetes). Moreover, it is now clear that the placental response to maternal environment depends on the fetal sex. In this context, we reviewed how maternal obesity (in the absence of gestational diabetes) affects the human placenta in terms of (i) endocrine function, (ii) morphological characteristics, (iii) nutrient exchanges and metabolism, (iv) inflammatory/immune status, (v) oxidative stress, and (vi) transcriptome, with a focus on fetal sex specificities. A better understanding of sex-specific placental responses to maternal obesity is crucial for improving pregnancy outcomes and the health of mothers and children.

Ants have a very sophisticated olfactory system; their communication is based on the interpretation of chemical trails known as semiochemicals. The escamolera ant (Liometopum apiculatum), has behaviors and physiological responses is induced by semiochemicals, without however, these have not been studied. Using an electronic nose analysis (e-nose) and chromatographic techniques, semiochemicals of L. apiculatum in nests, foraging trails and dissected the gasters were evaluated. Data were analyzed with multivariate statistics and a logistic regression model based on predictors (ant counts) and the semiochemicals identified in pre-season (PRE), season (TEM) and post-season (POS) of larval collecting. From the general pattern of volatiles with a natural separation in POS and a partial distribution between PRE and TEM 32 semiochemicals were identified inside the nests, those who can induce the behavioral responses of trail-following, alarm, aggression, and nestmate recognition. Trail counts indicated that ant traffic was higher in POS and that the presence of certain semiochemicals (response variable) have good fit in the model regression. These findings are intended to provide useful information and support decision-making for the conservation and sustainable use of L. apiculatum in central Mexico.

The bean weevil (Acanthoscelides obtectus (Say.)) is one of the main pests of stored beans in the world. Heterogeneous Inbreed Families (HIF) Population of Near Isogenic Lines (NILs) could be an exceptional strategy to study the inheritance of the resistance against A. obtectus. We developed a HIF population of NILs of R-bufa-80-12 (Phaseolus vulgaris) to study the inheritance related to bean weevil resistance and to search NILs with high resistance to the pest within the HIF population. The objective of this research was to study the inheritance in a HIF population and to identify the best lines to provide weevil resistance in bean breeding for commercial genotypes that could reduce pesticide applications. To achieve this objective, we developed a set of 148 NILs which were near-homozygous in the genome, except in the region under study. The HIF were evaluated in two environments under natural infestation with A. obtectus in free choice bioassays in a warehouse highly infested. The population showed wide variability for the traits studied, from 17.2 to 29.2 g for 100 seed weight, 0.0-0.8 for consumption in grams, 2.0-30.0 for consumption in percent and 1.2-9.6 for preference (number of adults in the bottle to the end of the experiments. The heritabilities for resistance traits were from very low to low 0.0 to 0.19. The heritability for 100 seed weight was the highest, with a value of 0.90. All traits studied in this research have a normal distribution, so they are considered to be quantitatively inherited. However, a great variability was found for the traits studied, which allows selecting lines with a high level of resistance within the R-bufa-80-12 HIF population. All traits studied in present research are of quantitative inheritance. The best lines of the HIF population for resistance to A. obtectus were the Line-45, Line-129, Line-124, Line-108 and Line-47.

Pirin is an oxidative stress (OS) sensor belonging to the functionally diverse cupin superfamily of proteins. Pirin is a suggested quercetinase and transcriptional activator of the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) pathway. Its biological role in cancer development remains as a novel area of study. This review shows accumulating evidence on the contribution of Pirin in epithelial cancers, signaling pathways involved, and as a suggested therapeutic target. Finally, we propose a model in which Pirin is upregulated by physical, chemical or biological factors involved in OS and cancer development.

A facilitative transport system exists on the blood brain barrier (BBB) that has been tacitly assumed to be a path for glutamate entry to brain. But glutamate is a non-essential amino acid whose brain content is much greater than plasma, and studies in vivo show that glutamate does not enter brain in material quantities except in those small regions with fenestrated capillaries (circumventricular organs). The situation became understandable when luminal (blood facing) and abluminal (brain facing) membranes were isolated and studied separately. Facilitative transport of glutamate and glutamine exist only on the luminal membranes whereas Na+-dependent transport systems for glutamate, glutamine and some other amino acids are present only on the abluminal membrane. The Na+-dependent cotransporters of the abluminal membrane are in a position to actively transport amino acids from the extracellular fluid (ECF) into the endothelial cells of the BBB. These powerful secondary active transporters couple the energy of the Na+-gradient to move glutamate and glutamine into the ECF whereupon glutamate can exit to blood on the luminal facilitative glutamate transporter. Glutamine may also exit brain on a separate facilitative transport system that exists on the luminal membranes or glutamine can be hydrolyzed to glutamate within the BBB thereby releasing ammonia that is freely diffusible. The γ-glutamyl participate cycle participates indirectly by producing oxoproline (pyroglutamate) that stimulates almost all secondary active transporters yet discovered in the abluminal membranes of the BBB.

Pomegranate extract (PG-E) has been reported to exert a protective effect in skin due to its antioxidant activity. Ingredients rich in phenolic compounds are unstable in extract solutions and, therefore, the use of a suitable nanosystem to encapsulate this type of extract could be necessary in different biotechnological applications. Thus, we investigated the capacity of Brassica oleracea L. (cauliflower) inflorescence vesicles (CI-vesicles) to encapsulate PG-E and determined the stability and the antioxidant capacity of the system over time. In addition, the protective effect against UV radiation and heavy metals in HaCaT cells was also tested. The CI-vesicles had an entrapment efficiency around 50% and accelerated stability tests did not show significant changes in the parameters tested. The results for the HaCaT cells show the non-cytotoxicity of the CI-vesicles containing PG-E and their protection against heavy metals (lead acetate and mercuric chloride) and UV-B radiation through a reduction of oxidative stress. The reduction of the percentage of deleted mtDNA (mtDNA4977, “common deletion”) in UV-treated HaCaT cells due to the presence of CI-vesicles containing PG-E indicates the mechanism of protection. Therefore, the effects of CI-vesicles loaded with PG-E against oxidative stress support their utilization as natural cosmeceuticals to protect skin health against external damage from environmental pollution and UV radiation.

In this paper we describe a method which combines sentiment analysis with machine learning techniques and/or multivariate statistical analysis. By applying this methodology it is possible to classify a collection of texts into two or more groups or clusters. On the basis of a number of previously defined clusters, the novelty of the outlined approach is the use of the sentiment analysis results as input to the machine learning model or multivariate statistical analysis. Once the classifier has been obtained, we can assign a given text into one of the pre-established clusters. The groups or clusters can represent different time periods, classes of texts transcribed from different conversations, etc. The method is illustrated through an example taken from one of the two studies in which we have applied this methodology. In one of the studies, the method was used to classify press news of a volcanic eruption, while in the other study it was used to classify the conversations recorded between a chatbot with different kinds of speakers (humans or chatbots). This last study was the seminal work in which we introduced this methodology.

Abiotic stress in plants is an increasingly common problem in agriculture, and thus, studies on plant treatments with specific certain compounds that may help to mitigate these effects have increased in recent years Melatonin (MET) application and its role in mitigating the negative effects of abiotic stress in plants have become important in the last few years. MET, a derivative of tryptophan, is an important plant-related response molecule involved in the growth, development, and reproduction of plants, and the induction of different stress factors. In addition, MET plays a protective role against different abiotic stresses such as salinity, high/low temperature, high light, waterlogging, nutrient deficiency and stress combination by regulating both the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant defense systems. Also, MET interacts with many signaling molecules, among these, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO), and participates in a wide variety of physiological reactions. It is well known that NO produces S-nitrosylation and NO2-Tyr of important antioxidant-related proteins, being this an important mechanism for maintaining the antioxidant capacity of the AsA/GSH cycle under nitro-oxidative conditions, being extensively reviewed here under different abiotic stress conditions. Lastly, in this review, we show the coordination between NO and MET as a long-range signaling molecule, regulating many responses in plants, including plant growth and abiotic stress tolerance. Despite all the knowledge acquired over the years, there is still more to know about how MET and NO act on tolerance to abiotic stresses.

The positional cloning of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the neutrophil cytosolic factor 1 (Ncf1) gene, advocating that a low oxidative burst drives autoimmune disease, demands an understanding of the underlying molecular causes. A cellular target could be T cells, which have been shown to be regulated by reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, the pathways by which ROS mediate T cell signaling remain unclear. The adaptor molecule linker for activation of T cells (LAT) is essential for coupling T cell receptor-mediated antigen recognition to downstream responses, and it contains several cysteine residues that have previously been suggested to be involved in redox regulation. To address the possibility that ROS regulate T cell-dependent inflammation through LAT, we established a mouse strain with cysteine-to-serine mutations at positions 120 and 172 (LATSS). We found that redox regulation of LAT through C120 and C172 mediate its localization and phosphorylation. LATSS mice had reduced numbers of double-positive thymocytes and naïve peripheral T cells. Importantly, redox insensitivity of LAT enhanced T cell-dependent autoimmune inflammation in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), a mouse model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This effect was reversed on an NCF1-mutated (NCF1m1j), ROS-deficient, background. Overall, our data shows that LAT is redox-regulated, acts to repress T cell activation, and is targeted by ROS induced by NCF1 in antigen-presenting cells (APCs).

With limited state budget, developed nation public higher education have increased their fees making education expensive for most developing nation students. Some developing nations have set up regional low-cost education hubs to attract developed nation universities to offer their reputable degree programs. However, the intense competition for student enrolment in both has led to the marketisation of education. Students as paying customers need to experience satisfying stress-free teaching and learning to sustain enrolment. With employers increasingly unhappy with the quality of human capital, has the marketisation of higher education led to nominal human capital development? Can substantive human capital be developed in the new normal of marketisation of higher education? An adaptation of randomised control trials was used to measure learning outcomes desired by future employers for two teaching and learning approaches namely students as customers (n=497) and employers as customers (n=355). Findings show both approaches have good learning outcomes with the latter generally more superior. However, the former leads to nominal learning outcomes. This research extends the literature on achieving substantive learning outcomes conducive to employability. Implications for student satisfaction, lecturer professionalism, employability and quality assurance are discussed.

⦁ Introduction: The challenging context, resulting from a post-pandemic scenario, wars, and various natural disasters, does not allow for the ideal assurance of efficiency in the Agri-food supply chain. ⦁ Research significance Currently, Agri-food supply chains and Reverse logistics show critical characteristics such as centralization, limited flexibility, distrust, bureaucratization, Border and Documentary Compliance and there are problems about efficiency, security, and safety Agri-Food. using the Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) framework, with the purpose of achieving Sustainable Development Goals, promoting transparency, traceability, and non-linearization of the agri-food supply chain. ⦁ Methodology The methodology is combined, the first part uses Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) identifying 72 articles with the principal contribution in the literature. The second part combines the application of Supply Chain Operations References (SCOR) and the Blockchain Technology aiming to decentralize the linear Agri-food Supply Chain and Reverse logistics. ⦁ Results/findings The results revealed a transformation of the traditional Agri-food Supply Chain, transitioning from linear management to a circular one. Additionally, after application it is possible to know a new way to manage the Reverse Logistic with more decentralization, flexibility, traceability, and reducing the unnecessary activities, which include Border and Documentary Compliance. The originality of this research is the novel combination of SCOR Model and Blockchain showing a priority about the key activities that add value and come close to the Sustainable practices. ⦁ Conclusion / Implications Based on the results is possible to conclude that the synergy between Blockchain and SCOR Model enables a new way to manage the Agri-food supply chain, improving efficiency and reducing activities without value. Also, it is possible to ensure that the practices of Reverse Logistics are improved based on terms of cost and time, and the reduction of the exposition on the Defective Product Risk. ⦁ Social Implications This paper could enhance confidence in all operations of the Agri-food supply chain as there are numerous issues regarding the security and safety of food. Additionally, it will aid in diminishing unnecessary activities and inefficient resource consumption practices, thereby accomplishing objectives 2 "zero hunger", 9 "Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure", and 12 "Responsible consumption and production", along with their respective indicators. ⦁ Practical implications Regarding the practical implications, this research could contribute to analyses of the application of technology Blockchain in different sectors and identify the possible limitations when the main objective is to apply it on a big scale.

Eysenhardtia platycarpa (Fabaceae) is a medicinal plant used in México and it lacks biotechnological studies for its use. The aim of this work was to establish a cell suspension cultures (CSC) of E. platycarpa, determine the phytochemical profile, and evaluate its antifungal activity. Friable callus and CSC were established with 2 mg/L 1-naphthaleneacetic acid plus 0.1 mg/L kinetin. The highest total phenolics of CSC was 15.6 mg GAE/g dry weight and the total flavonoids content ranged from 56.2 to 104.1 µg QE/g dry weight. CG‒MS analysis showed that the dichloromethane extracts of CSC, sapwood and heartwood have a high amount of hexadecanoic acid (22.3 ‒ 35.3 %) and steroids (13.5 ‒ 14.7%). Heartwood and sapwood defatted hexane extracts have the highest amount of stigmasterol (≈ 23.4%) and β-sitosterol (≈ 43%), and leaf extracts presented β-amyrin (16.3%). Methanolic leaves extracts showed mostly sugars and some polyols, mainly D-pinitol (74.3%). Dichloromethane and fatty hexane extracts of CSC exhibited the percentages inhibition higher for Sclerotium cepivorum with 71.5 and 62.0%, respectively. The maximum inhibition for Rhizoctonia solani was with fatty hexane extracts of the sapwood (51.4%). Our study suggest that CSC extracts could be used as a possible complementary alternative to synthetic fungicides.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been used in a broad range of applications conferring to bio-molecules diverse proprieties such as deliver, stabilization and reduction of adverse effects of drugs or plant ex-tracts. Polyphenolic compounds from Bacopa procumbens (BP) are able to modulate proliferation, adhesion, migration and cell differentiation, reducing artificial scratch area in fibroblast cultures and promoting wound healing in in vivo model. Here, chemically synthetized AuNPs conjugated with BP (AuNP-BP) were characterized by Uv-Vis, ATR-FTIR, DLS and zeta-potential. Results showed over-lapping FTIR spectra of polyphenolic compounds from B. procumbens capping the AuNPs, stable size by the DLS and zeta potential, AuNP-BP was 44.58 nm, the zeta-potential of AuNPs was -36.3±12.3 mV after conjugation with the BP; - (AuNP-BP), the zeta-potential was reduced to -18-2±7.02 mV. Enhancement of wound healing effect were evaluated by morphometric, histochemical and FTIR changes in rat wound excision model. Results showed that the nanoconjugation process reduced 100 folds BP concentrations to have the same wound healing effect of BP alone. Besides histological and FTIR spec-troscopy analyses, demonstrated that AuNP-BP treatment displayed better macroscopical performance; the reduction on inflammatory cells, and the increased synthesis and better organization of collagen fibers.

The electron Transport layer (ETL) plays a crucial role in solar cell technology, particularly in perovskite solar cells (PSCs), where nanostructured TiO2 films have been investigated as superior ETL’s compared to compact TiO2. In this study we explore the nanocolumnal growth of TiO2 in the anatase phase, for bilayer thin films by magnetron sputtering (MS) technique and glancing angle deposition (GLAD). By optimizing the growth parameters, we achieved the formation of TiO2 nanocolumns with a cross-sectional diameter ranging from 50 to 75 nm. The average thickness of the films exceeded 12.71 ± 0.5µm , while the filaments exhibited an inclination angle close to 70◦ , corresponding to the deposition angle. Furthermore, we observed a correlation between the quality of the initial layer and enhanced growth of the TiO2 nanocolumns.

Background: White matter hyperintensities (WMH), of presumed vascular origin, are visible and quantifiable neuroradiological markers of brain parenchymal change. These changes may range from damage secondary to inflammation and other neurological conditions, through to healthy ageing. Fully automatic WMH quantification methods are promising, but still, traditional semi-automatic methods seem to be preferred in clinical research. We systematically reviewed the literature for fully automatic methods developed in the last five years, to assess what are considered state-of-the-art techniques, as well as trends in the analysis of WMH of presumed vascular origin. Method: We registered the systematic review protocol with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO), registration number - CRD42019132200. We conducted the search for fully automatic methods developed from 2015 to July 2020 on Medline, Science direct, IEE Explore, and Web of Science. We assessed risk of bias and applicability of the studies using QUADAS 2. Results: The search yielded 2327 papers after removing 104 duplicates. After screening titles, abstracts and full text, 37 were selected for detailed analysis. Of these, 16 proposed a supervised segmentation method, 10 proposed an unsupervised segmentation method, and 11 proposed a deep learning segmentation method. Average DSC values ranged from 0.538 to 0.91, being the highest value obtained from an unsupervised segmentation method. Only four studies validated their method in longitudinal samples, and eight performed an additional validation using clinical parameters. Only 8/37 studies made available their method in public repositories. Conclusions: We found no evidence that favours deep learning methods over the more established k-NN, linear regression and unsupervised methods in this task. Data and code availability, bias in study design and ground truth generation influence the wider validation and applicability of these methods in clinical research.

(1) The purpose of this study was to compare the percentages of quarterly change for each of the variables analysed (height, weight, body fat percentage and muscle mass) as a function of the quarter in a sample of adolescent football players. (2) The sample consisted of young male football players of different categories belonging to a high-performance football academy, (more than 5 years in football and have spent 1 full year at the academy). (3) Two-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed for the anthropometric variable, P_value

Today's city needs more than ever methodological devices that ensure a specific urbanism, in keeping with the complexity of relationships that occur in the urban space. Networks or systems of diverse nature must be activated to achieve a certain success of the city, even more so in its fragile central fabrics. The study is focused on the historic neighborhoods of the city of Jaén (Spain), which have a high vulnerability index. The aim is to establish a strategy to revitalize their urban and social capital and improve their articulation with the rest of the urban and territorial structure. A methodological proposal for the analysis of vulnerability factors and an urban and cartographic analysis of the public space is addressed through an interweaving of a triple network: environmental, social, and urban. For this purpose, the configuration of this overlapping network of analysis and formulation of criteria is presented, which considers the urban multiplicity and promotes new dynamics for the integrated urban regeneration of the area and for the activation of public and collective urban spaces.

Background and Objectives: The techniques directed to the cranial field in osteopathy are the most questioned due to the lack of scientific evidence. In osteopathic practice, manual palpation is essential and, therefore, measuring reliability is fundamental. The objective of study is to assess the reliability and validity of osteopathic treatment depending on experience. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study of reliability and validity was conducted. For measurements, a strain gauge was placed on the sphenobasilar synchondrosis of the skull base, and three maneuvers (lateral compression, anteroposterior compression and compression maneuver of the mastoids) were repeated 25 times each by osteopaths with different time of experience (5-10 years, 1-5 years, <1 year). Measurement averages were computed for each of the three maneuvers to verify the average effect of each group in comparison to that of the Gold Standard (GS) (>10 years of experience). Data were analyzed to check for inter- and intra-observer reliability using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC). Results: Reliability and validity in 5-10 experience of observer 1 and observer 2 in the tree maneuvers was excellent (p<0.001) against GS. Poor or enough reproducibility and concordance were observed in osteopaths with less experience. Conclusion: Experience of osteopaths determines the efficacy of cranial maneuvers in osteopathic treatment for patients’ rehabilitation.