In the semi-arid region of Brazil, it is common to use saline or brackish water for crop production. However, this practice can negatively affect the soil, nutrient balance, and fruit quality and production. From this perspective, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of fertilization combinations with nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) on the production and quality of West Indian cherry grown under salt stress in the second year of production. The study was conducted in a protected environment following a randomized block design with treatments distributed in a 2 x 10 factorial arrangement referring to two levels of electrical conductivity of irrigation water (ECw) (0.6 and 4.0 dS m-1) and 10 NPK fertilization combinations (80-100-100; 100-100-100; 120-100-100; 140-100-100; 100-80-100; 100-120-100; 100-140-100; 100-100-80; 100-100-120 e 100-100-140% of the recommendation in the second year of production), with three replicates and one plant per lysimeter. The results indicate that irrigation of West Indian cherry crop irrigation at the water salinity of 4.0 dS m-1 negatively affected all fruit production variables. The interaction between the ECw of 0.6 dS m-1 and the 100-80-120 NPK fertilization combination increased the total number of fruits and the total fruit weight of West Indian cherry.

Liposomes have been used for several decades for the encapsulation of drugs and bioactives in cosmetics and cosmeceuticals. On the other hand, the use of these phospholipid vesicles in food applications is more recent and has been increasing significantly in the last ten years. Although in different stages of technological maturity - in the case of cosmetics, many products are on the market - processes to obtain liposomes suitable for the encapsulation and delivery of bioactives are highly expensive, especially aiming at scaling-up. Among the bioactives proposed for cosmetics and food applications, vitamins are the most frequently used. Despite the differences between the administration routes (oral for food and mainly dermal for cosmetics), some challenges are very similar (e.g., stability, bioactive load, average size, increase of drug bioaccessibility and bioavailability). In the present work, a systematic review of the technological advancements in the nanoencapsulation of vitamins using liposomes and related processes was performed; challenges and future perspectives were also discussed in order to underline the advantages of these drug loaded biocompatible nanocarriers for cosmetics and food applications.

Mexico shows a high prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents. Geographical location and cultural environment could play a role in the promotion of healthy lifestyles in terms of physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB) and nutrition. The purpose of this study was to assess rural and urban differences in body composition (BC), physical fitness (PF), PA and nutritional status of adolescents from the state of Jalisco (Mexico). The study involved 469 students aged 13-17 years (55.0% girls) from 8 high schools. BC was analyzed by bioimpedance, and PF by standardized field tests. Objective measurements of PA and SB were taken in a subsample (n=240). Energy intake (EI) was calculated from two 24h recalls. Rural residents presented a higher prevalence of overweight, waist circumference, trunk fat mass, regional fat free mass and muscle handgrip strength (all p<0.05, ηp2<0.06). Cardiorespiratory fitness was similar among participants, whereas urban adolescents showed higher muscle power, speed-agility and flexibility scores (all p<0.05, ηp2<0.07). Overall lifestyle behavior in urban adolescents was more sedentary (p<0.05, ηp2= 0.11). EI was similar in both locations. In conclusion, urban Mexican adolescents presented a generally higher sedentary behavior and better fitness and fatness profile than their rural peers.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the field of medicine, announcing a new era of innovation and efficiency. Among AI programs designed for general use ChatGPT holds a prom-inent position using an innovative language model developed by OpenAI. Thanks to the use of deep learning techniques, ChatGPT stands out as an exceptionally viable tool, renowned for gen-erating human-like responses to queries. Various medical specialties, including rheumatology, oncology, psychiatry, internal medicine, and ophthalmology, have been explored for ChatGPT in-tegration, with pilot studies and trials revealing each field's potential benefits and challenges. However, the field of genetics and genetic counseling, as well as that of rare disorders, represents an area suitable for exploration, with its complex data sets and the need for personalized patient care. In this review, we synthesize the wide range of potential applications for ChatGPT in the medical field, highlighting its benefits and limitations. We pay special attention to rare and genetic disorders, aiming to shed light on the future roles of AI-driven chatbots in healthcare. Our goal is to pave the way for a healthcare system that is more knowledgeable, efficient, and centered around patient needs.

Learning disorders (LD) are diagnosed in children whose academic skills of reading, writing or mathematics are impaired and lagged according to their age, schooling and intelligence. Children with LD experience substantial working memory (WM) deficits, even more pronounced if more than one of the academic skills is affected. We compared the task-related EEG power spectral density of children with LD (n= 23), with a control group of children with good academic achievement (n= 22), during the performance of a WM task. sLoreta was used to estimate the current distribution at the sources, and 18 brain regions of interests (ROIs) were chosen with an extended version of the eigenvector centrality mapping technique. In this way, we lessen some drawbacks of the traditional EEG at the sensor space by an analysis at the brain sources level over data-driven selected ROIs. Results: The LD group showed fewer correct responses at the WM task, an overall slower EEG with more theta activity in all ROIs, less upper-alpha power at posterior areas, and less high-frequency beta activity in frontal areas. We explain these EEG patterns in LD children as indices of an inefficient neural resource management related with a delay in the neural development.

The protection and regulation of international trade of Australia’s native species is legislated by its Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1999. In response to overwhelming evidence that the Act is ineffective at protecting biodiversity, the Australian Government is currently reforming its environmental laws. One problematic component of the Act is in cases where threatened species interact with multiple regulatory and management frameworks, such as commercially fished marine species that are traded as seafood. Here, we analyzed international seafood trade data and found that Australia exports four threatened fish species listed under the Act and additional species acknowledged as globally threatened. In light of our analysis, we have three recommendations for Australia’s new environmental legislation: 1) apply the same precautions to commercially harvested species as to other threatened species; 2) review the status of all threatened species annually; and 3) assess species listed on global conservation conventions. These recommendations will help ensure that Australia’s marine biodiversity is protected, despite its commercial value.

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

Background. The Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ) is widely used to measure functional ability in persons with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). The instrument was developed with limited involvement from persons with RA, and their perception of the instrument has not been studied in depth. The aim of this study was to explore how persons with RA experience the use of the HAQ in care. Methods. Forty persons with RA were purposefully recruited to participate in semi-structured interviews. The interviews were then analyzed qualitatively using thematic analysis. Results. The participants questioned the relevance of the HAQ but nevertheless experienced that the instrument had a profound effect on their understanding of health and how care is delivered. The analysis resulted in three themes: Problems with individual items, meaning of the summative score, and effects on care and health perceptions. Conclusions. To make the HAQ relevant to persons with RA, it needs to be revised or to include an option to select items most meaningful to the respondent. To ensure relevance, the HAQ update should preferably be co-created by researchers, clinicians and persons with RA.

Familial Alzheimer’s disease (FAD) can be caused by mutations in PSEN1 that encodes presenilin-1, a component of the gamma-secretase complex that cleaves amyloid precursor protein. Alterations in calcium (Ca2+) homeostasis and glutamate signaling are implicated in the pathogenesis of FAD, however it has been difficult to assess in humans whether or not these phenotypes are the result of amyloid or tau pathology. This study aimed to assess early calcium and glutamate phenotypes of FAD by measuring the Ca2+ response of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons bearing PSEN1 mutations to glutamate and the ionotropic glutamate receptor agonists NMDA, AMPA and kainate compared to isogenic control and healthy lines. The data shows that in early neurons, even in the absence of amyloid and tau phenotypes, FAD neurons exhibit increased Ca2+ responses to glutamate and AMPA, but not NMDA or kainate. Together this suggests that PSEN1 mutations alter Ca2+ and glutamate signaling as an early phenotype of FAD.

This paper proposes an upper bound for mine productivity and also a simple truck dispatch rule that demonstrates how tight the upper bound can be using simulation. It also proposes a greedy search to approximate the productivity upper bound, which is faster and often exact. Uncertainty is added to the simulation in order to verify how the productivity responds to it. Typically, the productivity upper bound is less tight close to its saturation point as a function of the number of trucks, where adding more trucks only increases queues. Furthermore, more uncertainty in the model typically leads to a less tight upper bound. The results are conducted using real data from an open pit mine in Brazil.

We hypothesized that biofilm production occurs on stainless steel when incubated with tissue specimens in thioglycolate broth media (TBM). In a diabetic foot infection (DFI) cohort, applying the Kirschner wire and conventional methods were more sensitive than applying only the latter (CI 90%; 0.167 versus 0.375).

The concept of a Social License to Operate (SLO) has become increasingly important in the sustainability literature in recent years. Having its origins in the business discourse of the mining industry with respect to limiting opposition to mining projects, the notion of a social contract above and beyond legal requirements has since become applied across a number of different industries. Despite the concepts adoption confusion exists over the practices and outcomes of SLO, and particularly the nature of engagement. Given this situation it is surprising that not more attention to the role of marketing, and social marketing in particular, in operationalizing the concept. The paper discusses the potential of social marketing to contribute to SLO. Economic, political and social relations are complex in SLO and exchange is intricate in such relational environments. A community-based social marketing orientation is proposed as a means to improve exchange relations and enhance engagement. Seven models of SLO related social marketing models are discussed with community-based social marketing and adaptive co-marketing models being regarded as the most positive for the achievement of an SLO. Potential barriers to adoption of these approaches are noted.

Abstract: The spectral and dynamic properties of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO)

This scholarly article introduces the "Change Through Play: Rethinking Masculinity" program, a potential intervention designed to address gun violence in the United States by targeting its societal roots, particularly through the lens of gender socialization. The program focuses on transforming children’s, particularly young boys', perceptions of masculinity away from gun violence by influencing the types of toys they play with. By promoting non-violent play, the initiative aims to foster a future generation less inclined to engage in gun violence. This community-interactive and educational approach emphasizes the importance of evidence-based interventions that respect community values and cultural dynamics. The program employs a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative research to evaluate its effectiveness. The program highlights the necessity of sustained, collective action to transform the entrenched practices and beliefs that perpetuate violence, ultimately striving for a society that prioritizes peace, justice, and safety.

The cannabis plant has been known for millennia for its properties such as textile fiber, food, recreational and medicinal use. Since the origin of its domestication in Asia, cannabis has been transported to the rest of the continents by merchants, nomads, settlers, and slaves, who have also carried with them valuable knowledge about its uses. Its medical use was one of the major contributions of this plant in the various civilizations through which it passed. This article aims to understand its origins, dissemination, and medical use over the years to the present day.

In 2011, it was reviewed that there is a strong co-occurrence between major depression and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), with fatigue and physio-somatic symptoms being key symptoms of depression, and depressive symptoms appearing during the course of CFS. Moreover, the comorbidity between both conditions may in part be explained by activated immune-inflammatory pathways, including increased translocation of Gram-negative bacteria and increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-1. Nevertheless, the possible involvement of activated microglia in this comorbidity has remained unclear. This paper aims to review microglial disturbances in major depression, CFS and their comorbidity. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using the PubMed / MEDLINE database to identify studies that are relevant to this current review. Depressed patients present neuroinflammatory alterations, probably related to microglial activation, while animal models show that a microglial response to immune challenges including lipopolysaccharides is accompanied by depressive-like behaviors. Recent evidence from preclinical studies indicate that activated microglia have a key role in the onset of fatigue. In chronic inflammatory conditions, such as infections and senescence, microglia orchestrate an inflammatory microenvironment thereby causing fatigue. In conclusion, based on our review we may posit that shared immune-inflammatory pathways and activated microglia underpin comorbid depression and CFS and that activated microglia are the main orchestrators of this comorbidity. As such, microglial activation and neuro-inflammation may be promising targets to treat the overlapping manifestations of both depression and CFS.

A study to produce cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) from Kraft cellulose pulp, an optimal enzyme mixture, was defined using a centroid simplex mixture design. The enzyme blend contains 69% endoglucanase and 31% exoglucanase. The central composite rotational design (CCRD) optimized the CNF production process by achieving a higher crystallinity index. It thus corresponded to a solid loading of 15 g/L and an enzyme loading of 0.974. Using the Segal formula, the crystallinity index (CrI) of CNF was determined by X-ray diffraction to be 80.87%. The average diameter of nanocellulose fibers measured by scanning electron microscopy between 550 - 600 nm for the CNF prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis and between 250 - 300 nm for the CNF produced by enzymatic hydrolysis with the optimal enzyme mixture followed by ultrasonic dispersion. Finally, synergistic interactions between the enzymes involved in nanocellulose production were demonstrated, with Colby factor values greater than one.

The mixing of terrestrial groundwater and seawater creates dynamic reaction zones in intertidal areas, where land-derived Fe(II) is oxidized to Fe(III) and then precipitates as Fe hydroxides at groundwater-seawater interface. These hydrogeochemical processes contribute to the formation of iron curtains beneath soil surface, which in turn influences the evolution of coastal aquifers. This paper provides a comprehensive review of physical and geochemical processes at field scale in coastal areas, explores the impact of mineral precipitation on pore structure at pore scale, and synthesizes reactive transport modeling (RTM) approaches for illustrating continuum-scale soil physio-chemical parameters during the evolution of porous media. Upon this review, knowledge gaps and research needs are identified. Additionally, challenges and opportunities are presented. Therefore, the incorporation of observational data into a comprehensive physico-mathematical model becomes imperative for capturing the pore-scale processes in porous media and their influence on groundwater flow and solute transport at large scales. Furthermore, a synergistic approach integrating pore-scale modeling and non-invasive imaging can provide detailed insights into intricate fluid-pore-solid interactions for future studies, as well as facilitate the development of regional engineering-scale models and physio-chemical coupled models with diverse applications in submarine science and engineering.

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

In this study, five polyphenol compounds (reference substances, ref.) were added to Stokesia laevis (Slae26) ethanolic extract (5 mg GAE / mL) in order to test their antiproliferative effects on human colon tumor cell line Caco-2 (ATCC-HTB-37). The five phenolics (ref.) are luteolin-7-O-glucoside (orientin), luteolin-8-C-glucoside (cinnaroside), caffeic acid, gentisic acid and para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), and they were combined in ratio 1:1 between the active compounds in samples (GAE : ref.). Results indicated certain antiproliferative effects of Slae26 (IC50=36 μg GAE/mL sample), of the five reference compounds, but mainly of Slae26 combinations with the five phenolics tested (ref.). Punctually, there were obtained IC50 values around 5 μg/mL sample, signifying real therapeutic usefulness and antitumor potency of Slae26 combinations with the five food bioactive compounds tested. In silico docking studies provided potential therapeutic agents to inhibit the catalytic domain of human tankyrase 1 (TNKS1) in the series of food bioactive compounds tested, and revealed luteolin-7-O-glucoside high effectiveness.

The SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome)-CoV (Coronavirus)-2 S(spike)-protein mRNA/cDNA currently being used as vaccines are antigenic but not antigens against SARS-CoV-2, that causes COVID (Coronavirus Disease) -19. Furthermore, the mRNA and cDNA antigenic vaccines also have potentials for homologous as well as heterologous recombination, primarily into the somatic cell DNA of the vaccine recipients. On the contrary, a SARS-CoV-2 RBD-protein antigen, a part of the S-protein, will directly stimulate antibody production against SARS-CoV-2. Hence, a vaccine composed of SARS-CoV-2 RBD-protein as a safer, fast acting, and effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 and thus against COVID-19. This is also useful for some immune compromised individuals.

This study compares lifestyles behaviour in Italian and Latvian university students, to assess if there are differences for sex, age, university or studies specialties. An online questionnaire investigating 8 lifestyle dimensions has been compiled by 156 (43,6 % females) from Italy and 105 from Latvia (82,9% females). Answers were collected between April and December 2020. Presence of smokers are negligible. The questionnaire showed to have a good internal consistency (Cronbach α =.929). On the total group, significant statistically differences were found for all the dimensions regarding age, sex, study specialty and university. Physical activity was associated with healthier lifestyles choices. Geographical-induced differences were found (eating and sleep behaviours, alcohol awareness) as well as socio-economic differences. Female students shown to be more stressed than males. Occupational wellness increased by age. Sport students shown more health awareness. Many of the differences found in the total group disappeared when comparing only sport students of the two university, showing females increasing their scores. This result can be explained by a masculinization effect of sport.

This study compares lifestyles behaviour in Italian and Latvian university students, to assess if there are differences for sex, age, university or studies specialties. An online questionnaire investigating 8 lifestyle dimensions has been compiled by 156 (43,6 % females) from Italy and 105 from Latvia (82,9% females). Answers were collected between April and December 2020. Presence of smokers are negligible. The questionnaire showed to have a good internal consistency (Cronbach α =.929). On the total group, significant statistically differences were found for all the dimensions regarding age, sex, study specialty and university. Physical activity was associated with healthier lifestyles choices. Geographical-induced differences were found (eating and sleep behaviours, alcohol awareness) as well as socio-economic differences. Female students shown to be more stressed than males. Occupational wellness increased by age. Sport students shown more health awareness. Many of the differences found in the total group disappeared when comparing only sport students of the two university, showing females increasing their scores. This result can be explained by a masculinization effect of sport.

Abstract: Arterial hypertension is the main preventable risk factor for premature death and stroke worldwide and anxiety is a real public health problem. Stress is the common denominator for both cases. In the last 3 years, the aggressive exposure of the population to negative emotions (fear of disease in a pandemic, fear of war, financial instability) was the trigger factor. The psycho-neuro-endocrine mechanisms include the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and induce sympathetic-parasympathetic imbalance, hypercortisolemia, endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress, inflammation, cytokine growth, and atherosclerosis. The individual’s vulnerability to stress depends on many factors, but the key role in the perception of stress belongs to immunogenic personality traits. Among them, self-efficacy is a protective factor against stress. Our research aimed to evaluate the connections between psycho-emotional factors and hypertension, using psychometric tests, to identify vulnerability to stress, perceived stress level, anxiety, self-efficacy, and psychobehavioral type, for 215 patients, 104 hypertensive and 111 non-hypertensive patients. The results of the study confirmed that there is a statistically significant difference, which requires psychological screening measures to identify patients vulnerable to stress, as well as medical education courses for doctors in the field of psychology.

Instead of simplified steady-state models, with modern computers, one can solve the complete aero-thermodynamics happening in gas turbine engines. In the present article, we describe a mathematical model and numerical procedure to represent the transient response of a PT6A gas turbine engine operating at off-design conditions. The aero-thermal model consists of a set of algebraic and ordinary differential equations that arise from the application of the mass, linear momentum, angular momentum, and energy balances in each engine's component. The solution code has been developed in Matlab-Simulink using a block-oriented approach. Transient simulations of the PT6A engine start-up have been carried out by changing the original Jet-A1 fuel with biodiesel blends. Time plots of the main thermodynamic variables are shown, especially those regarding the structural integrity of the burner. Numerical results have been validated against reported experimental measurements and GasTurb simulations. The computer model has been capable to predict acceptable fuel blends, such that the real PT6A engine can be substituted to avoid the risk of damaging it.

Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) has caused several environmental impacts, resulting in significant siltation of water bodies due to the deposition of sediments on river banks. Based on this perspective, this study aims to investigate the water bodies and regions most impacted by mining activities, especially in relation to the increase in the Total Suspended Solids (TSS) caused by ASGM, focusing on the territories of Suriname and French Guiana, over the period from 2017 to 2023, through the creation of an algorithm in Google Earth Engine. The research also aims to map and describe active mining in this region using the Classification and Regression Tree (CART) method, which achieved an overall accuracy of 82% and a kappa index of 0.77. The results reveal that from 2017 to 2024 there was an increase of 148.09 km² of mining, with an average increase in TSS of up to 167 mg/l in water bodies most affected by mining activities. Finally, the continued importance of using remote sensing technologies, such as GEE, together with innovative methodological approaches, to monitor and manage natural resources in a sustainable manner is highlighted.

The past is an important lesson for facing the future with greater awareness. In this context, school plays a key role to spread knowledge on natural phenomena and to promote behavior change. Together with researchers, teachers can be strong allies to build more resilient future citizens. The Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) school training activities provide tools to get ready for the next earthquake and/or tsunamis. About 5000 students from both Middle schools (ISCED 2) and High schools (ISCED 3) were involved in active learning activities based on a flipped-up approach during special online scientific events in the Pandemic. Online lab activities were conducted respectively during the European Researchers’ Night (“Earthquakes: history teaches us the future: researchers for a day with experimentation in didactics for ESL”) and during the World Water Day 2021 and the World Earth Day 2021 (“Tsunamis: history teaches us the future researchers for a day with experimentation in didactics for ESL”). These two Episodes of Situated Learning (ELS) experiences triggered students’ interest, favoring remote learning, developing life skills, focusing on historical seismic studies of both past earthquakes and tsunamis.

Rats, including those of the Sprague Dawley strain, may kill mice. Because of this muridical behavior, it is standard practice in many research animal housing facilities to separate mice from rats (i.e., the predators) to minimize stress for the mice. We therefore tested the effect of cohousing on the stress levels of mice from either the C57BL/6J (BL6) or the CD1 strain and Sprague Dawley (SD rat) by determining their fecal corticosterone or cortisol metabolites (FCM) concentration and investigated how cohousing impacts a behavioral assay, i.e., conditioned place preference for intragenus (i.e., mouse-mouse or rat-rat) dyadic social interaction (DSI CPP) that had been shown be sensitive to social factors, especially to handling by humans. We found that the two delivery batches of BL6 mice or SD rats, respectively, had different stress levels at delivery that were statistically significant for the BL6 mice. Even so, the BL6 mice cohoused with rats had significantly increased FCM concentrations, indicative of higher stress levels, as compared to (1) BL6 mice housed alone or (2) BL6 mice at delivery. In contrast to their elevated stress levels, the attractiveness for contextual cues associated with mouse-mouse social interaction (DSI CPP) even increased in rat-cohoused BL6 mice, albeit nonsignificantly. Thus, cohousing BL6 mice and rats did not impair a behavioral assay in BL6 mice that had proved to be sensitive to handling stress by humans in our laboratory. SD rats cohoused with BL6- or CD1 mice and CD1 mice cohoused with SD rats showed DSI CPP that was not different from our previously published data on SD rats and BL6 mice of the Jackson- or NIH substrain obtained in the absence of cohousing. Our findings suggest that the effect of cohousing rats and mice under the conditions described above on their stress levels as opposed to their behavior might be less clearcut than generally assumed and might be overriden by conditions that cannot be controlled, i.e., different deliveries. Our findings can help to use research animal housing resources, which usually are limited, more efficiently.

This research investigates the exposure of plant species to extreme drought events in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, employing an extensive dataset collected from 205 automatic weather stations across the region. Meteorological indicators derived from hourly data, encompassing precipitation, maximum and minimum air temperature, were utilized to quantify past, current, and future drought conditions. The dataset, comprising 10,299,236 data points, spans a substantial temporal window and exhibits a modest percentage of missing data. Missing data were excluded from analysis, aligning with the decision to refrain from imputation methods due to potential bias. Drought quantification involved the computation of the Aridity Index, the analysis of consecutive hours without precipitation, and the classification of wet and dry days per month. Mann-Kendall trend analysis was applied to assess trends in evapotranspiration and maximum air temperature, considering their significance. The hazard assessment, incorporating environmental factors influencing tree growth dynamics, facilitated the ranking of meteorological indicators to identify regions most exposed to drought events. The results revealed consistent occurrences of extreme rainfall events, indicated by positive outliers in monthly precipitation values. However, significant trends were observed, including an increase in daily maximum temperature and consecutive hours without precipitation, coupled with a decrease in daily precipitation across the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. No significant correlation between vulnerability ranks and weather station latitudes and elevation were found, suggesting geographical location and elevation does not strongly influence observed dryness trends.

According to previous studies the median raphe region (MRR) is known to contribute significantly to social behavior. Beside serotonin, there are reports of a small population of dopaminergic neu-rons in this region. Dopamine is linked to reward and locomotion, but very little has been known about its role in the MRR. To address that, we first confirmed the presence of dopaminergic cells in the MRR of mice (immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR) and humans (RT-PCR). Next, we used chemogenetic technology in mice containing Cre enzyme under the promoter of the dopamine transporter (DAT). With the help of an adeno-associated virus, artificial receptors were expressed in the dopaminergic cells of the MRR (DAT-MRR). Four weeks later, extensive behavioral charac-terization started 30 minutes after the injection of the artificial ligand (Clozapine-N-Oxide). Stimu-lation of DAT-MRR decreased social interest without influencing aggression and with an increase in social discrimination. Additionally, inhibition of the same cells increased the friendly social be-havior during social interaction test. No behavioral changes were detected in anxiety, memory and locomotion. All in all, dopaminergic cells were present both in the mice and human MRR, and manipulation of dopaminergic neurons of the MRR elicited a specific social response.

Urban tourism has witnessed significant growth in recent years, driven by various factors that foster the transformation of urban areas into tourist hotspots. These factors include a rising interest in culture and heritage, ongoing urban redevelopment and conversion processes, and the introduction of new experiences and activities. Two particularly influential factors contributing to this growth are low-cost travel, which facilitates more accessible access to urban destinations, and the emergence of new types of accommodation, such as short-term rental (also known as local accommodation or Airbnb-type accommodation). This sudden and continuous growth of this type of tourist accommodation brings new challenges to cities and local communities. On the positive side, it contributes to job opportunities, the dynamism of the local economy, and urban revitalization. On the other hand, it also represents more difficulty in retaining the local population in city centers, as more and more buildings are converted into hostels and tourist apartments. In this context, it becomes essential to conduct studies evaluating the impacts of these dynamics in urban areas and how they influence residents' and visitors' perspectives. Therefore, this study aims to identify the main transformations resulting from short-term rental (STR) development, focusing on the impacts felt by tourists and residents in Porto. A questionnaire was distributed to tourists and residents in Porto's city center in June 2023. The results reveal differences in opinions between tourists and residents, particularly concerning historical heritage preservation, local population relocation, and reduced housing availability for residents. Nevertheless, there is a similarity in their opinions regarding the stimulus that local accommodation brings to the economy and the rehabilitation of buildings and urban areas. This study reinforces the need to pay more attention to the future development of tourist accommodation in city centers, especially regarding local policies and territorial planning, to balance better tourism development and local communities' quality of life.

This brief communication intends to develop critical thinking on the development at different levels that could be evaluated in the well-being of humans from the local development towards a global scale or planetary point of view. Therefore it was presented and discussed how Artificial Intelligence tools could provide important contributions and influence in the design of critical thinking to develop ideas and insights within Research as well as funding for technology transfer. In this context it should be highlighted that the generation of funding and economy for sustainability that it should be based on critical thinking and analysis of what is need it from the close surrounding towards longer distances as well as in the inversed direction. In this regard, the main axes that support it are based on the importance of entailment of individuals in their close surrounding as well as to longer physical distances and cultural differences. An in this context it should be highlighted the existence of large diversity and varied Multicultural differences. These factors could affect the developments of technology, education; level, and quality of life. Thus the Economical and development indexes could be largely varied and different between them. For this reason it should highlighted the local development within shortened times by interacting to receive or provide materials with aggregated value or non-tangible values. Therefore, it could be accelerated the process of improvement in a targeted field looking for average homogeneous development everywhere. And there, it is where the link-up and transfer strategies of technology and education by creation of varied strategies in communication media. As for example the communication plays an important role to transfer knowledge within the different social status and imagining the development of thinking that later it will be the basis for the next generation of technology. By this manner, it could be coupled different levels of educations degrees by a factor in common related with curiosity and open minds to learn, work, and live together in the context of developments of new smart manners of living where economy and new encrypted currency are involucred and provide by different manners sustainability. In these perspectives the development and education at the University and higher degrees taking into account the transmission of important factors such as; i) entailment , ii) development of knowledge, and iii) transference, is fundamental. Finally, it should be highlighted the particular need of good human relationships, emotional intelligence, and diplomacy to afford from the simplest challenges to the higher ones.

Head and neck cancer is the sixth most frequent cancer type. Drug resistance and toxicity are common challenges of the existing therapies, making the development of reliable preclinical models essential for the study of the involved molecular mechanisms as well as for eventual intervention approaches that improve the clinical outcome. Preclinical models of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma have been traditionally based in cell lines and murine models. In this review, we will go over the most frequently used preclinical models, from immortalized-cell and primary tumour cultures in monolayer or 3D, to the currently available animal models. We will scrutinize their efficiency in mimicking the molecular and cellular complexity of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Finally, the challenges and opportunities of other envisaged putative approaches, as well as the potential of the preclinical models to further develop customized therapies will be discussed.

Objective: To evaluate the direct costs of treating patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) in outpatient care, from a hospital and Unified Health System (SUS) perspective. Methods: Observational study with data collection by microfunding, carried out with patients diagnosed with neuromyelitis optics, treated at a university hospital, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Mann-Whitney tests were performed to measure cost differences between patient groups by disease severity and analysis perspective. Results: Nine individuals with a median age of 48 years (IQR 30 - 59 years) were included. The median total costs for patients with greater severity from the perspective of the SUS and the hospital were R$ 21,638.22 (IIQ: R$ 15,614.63; R$ 25,985.32) and R$ 32,094.11 (IIQ: R$ 25,610 .60; R$ 38,617.25) respectively. For patients with moderate severity the median was R$ 7,339.85 (IIQ: R$ 6,235.45; R$ 11,912.05) from the SUS perspective and R$ 11,505.80 (IIQ: R$ 7,339.85; R$ 22,424.76) from the perspective of the hospital, where the use of medications had a major impact. Conclusion: The main cost drivers were medicines, especially those used off-label, and procedures.

Memristors were proposed in the early ’70s of the XXth century by Leon Chua as a new electrical element linking the charge and the flux. Since that first introduction, these devices have positioned themselves to be considered as possibly fundamental for the new generations of electronic devices. It has to be mentioned that actual memristors have only been recognized to exist as physical elements. In this paper, we apply a modeling framework to generate a model describing experimental measurements performed on a ReRAM. We show how to apply the Dynamic Route Map technique in the general case to obtain an approximation to the differential equation that determines the behaviour of the device.

Most recent university campuses follow the North American model, built on city limits or countryside, with large separate buildings in open green spaces. Studies suggest that prevalence and severity of mental health issues among university students are increasing over the past decade in most countries. University services were created to face this growing problem, however individual based interventions have limited effects on mental health and well-being of a large population. Our aim was to verify if and how the natural environment in Campuses is focused on programs to cope with the issue of mental health and well-being among students. Systematic review of literature was undertaken with search in Scopus and LILACS with the keywords “green areas” AND “well-being” AND “Campus”, following PRISMA guidelines. As a result, 32 articles were selected. Research on the topic is recent, mostly in the USA, Bulgaria, and China. Most studies used objective information on campuses’ greenness and/or university students’ perception. Mental health was usually measured by validated scores. Findings of all the studies indicated positive association between campus greenery and well-being of students. We conclude that there is a large potential for use of university campuses in programs and sites for students´ restoration and stress relief.

In this short communication, following a brief introduction, we undertake a comprehensive analytical study of the weighted Simpson index. Our primary emphasis concerns the precise determination of the optimal point (minimizer) coordinates and of the minimum value of the index, a differentiable convex function, which is related to the harmonic mean concept. Furthermore, we address and solve the inversion problem and show the tight connection between both approaches. Last, we give some insights and final remarks on this subject.

The purpose of this paper is to examine if there are links between interpersonal trust and competences, relations and cooperation in Polish telecom companies. It examines what factors affect trust in coworkers and managers in sustainable organizations. The paper surveys a sample of 175 employees of telecom companies in Poland by means of a questionnaire. The results indicate that the competences, relations and cooperation are related to interpersonal trust. Regression analysis showed that the competences and relations predict a significant variance in trust amongst coworkers. Additionally, cooperation contributes to prediction of trust in mangers. Given the importance of trust in sustainable organizations, a better comprehension of what factors are related to team confidence provides valuable information for stakeholders. The results provide valuable clues how to improve interpersonal trust in sustainable organizations.

Face recognition is a valuable forensic tool for criminal investigators since it certainly helps in identifying individuals in scenarios of criminal activity like fugitives or child sexual abuse. It is, however, a very challenging task as it must be able to handle low-quality images of real world settings and fulfill real time requirements. Deep learning approaches for face detection have proven to be very successful but they require a large computation power and processing time. In this work, we evaluate the speed-accuracy tradeoff of three popular deep-learning-based face detectors on the WIDER Face and UFDD data sets in several CPUs and GPUs. We also develop a regression model capable to estimate the performance, both in terms of processing time and accuracy. We expect this to become a very useful tool for the end user in forensic laboratories in order to estimate the performance for different face detection options. Experimental results showed that the best speed-accuracy tradeoff is achieved with images resized to 50% of the original size in GPUs and images resized to 25% of the original size in CPUs. Moreover, performance can be estimated using multiple linear regression models with a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 0.113 what is very promising for the forensic field.

Understanding tourist behaviour during and after major tourism crises is essential to help destinations recover. The COVID-19 pandemic, a period of uncertainty and risk, makes it relevant to assess factors that influence travel intentions. There has been little research on tourist behaviour during health crises and, in particular, on perceived health risk and uncertainty effects on travel intentions. This study was carried out during the first months of the pandemic in Brazil and aims to investigate the role of health risk perception and intolerance of uncertainty on travel intentions for 2020 and 2021. We applied an online survey to 1,150 Brazilian participants from March to May of 2020. Our findings indicate that perceived COVID-19 severity, perceived probability of contracting it, and expected pandemic duration are significant predictors of travel intentions for both years. This paper sheds new light on tourist behaviour in the context of global health crises.

Plasma medicine is a new field focusing on biomedical and clinical applications of cold physical plasmas, including their anticancer effects. Cold plasmas can be applied directly or indirectly as plasma activated liquids (PAL). The effect of plasma activated cell growth medium (PAM) and plasma activated phosphate buffered saline (PAPBS) were tested using a plasma pen generating streamer corona discharge in ambient air, on different cancer cell lines (melanoma A375, glioblastoma LN229 and pancreatic cancer MiaPaCa-2) and normal cells (human dermal fibroblasts HDFa). The viability reduction and apoptosis induction were detected in all cancer cells after incubation in PAL. In melanoma cells we focused on detailed insights to the apoptotic pathways. The anticancer effects depend on the plasma treatment time or PAL concentration. The first 30 minutes of incubation in PAL were enough to start processes leading to the cell death. In fibroblasts, no apoptosis induction was observed, only PAPBS, activated for longer time, slightly decreased their viability. Anticancer effects of PAM and PAPBS on cancer cells showed selectivity compared to normal fibroblasts, depended on correctly chosen activation time and PAL concentration. This selectivity, supported by optimum ratio of hydrogen peroxide and nitrites in PAL, is very promising for potential clinical applications.

Angiotensin II (Ang II) plays a role in several inflammatory diseases and is capable of inducing the release of inflammatory mediators in several cell types. The objective was to investigate the potential of Ang II to induce mRNA expression of inflammatory mediators by cultured primary human periodontal cells. A synergistic effect of a co-treatment with Ang II and IL1β on mRNA expression of inflammatory mediators was also explored. Primary cultures of human fibroblast-like cells isolated from gingival and periodontal ligament tissues from 3 subjects were established using explant techniques. Immunophenotyping of STRO-1, Ang II type 1 receptor (AT1R) and Ang II type 2 receptor (AT2R) was performed by flow cytometry analysis. Cell cultures were challenged with Ang II (1M) for 3, 6 and 24h with or without a co-treatment with IL1β (0.1ng/mL) for 24h. mRNA expression of inflammatory mediators was performed by real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). We present, for the first time, a precise quantification for AT1R and AT2R on human gingival and periodontal fibroblast-like cell types; the percentage of positive immunostaining compared to the total population of cells varied from 3.35% through 5.29% for AT1R and 2.97% through 4.57% for AT2R. Ang II slightly upregulated mRNA expression of IL6 and CCL2/MCP1 in gingival cells and IL8 and PTGS2/COX2 in periodontal ligament cells. IL1β induced upregulation of IL8, IL6 CCL2/MCP1, PTGS2/COX2 and IL1β mRNA in both cell types. Co-treatment with Ang II and IL1β did not show a synergistic effect under these experimental conditions. Ang II shows a low potential to induce mRNA upregulation of inflammatory mediators in cultured primary human gingival and periodontal ligament cells, most likely due to the low percentage of Ang II receptors in such cells, and no synergistic effect with the co-treatment with IL1β.

Angiotensin II (Ang II) plays a role in several inflammatory diseases and is capable of inducing the release of inflammatory mediators in several cell types. The objective was to investigate the potential of Ang II to induce mRNA expression of inflammatory mediators by cultured primary human periodontal cells. A synergistic effect of a co-treatment with Ang II and IL1β on mRNA expression of inflammatory mediators was also explored. Primary cultures of human fibroblast-like cells isolated from gingival and periodontal ligament tissues from 3 subjects were established using explant techniques. Immunophenotyping of STRO-1, AT1 and AT2 receptors was performed by flow cytometry analysis. Cell cultures were challenged with Ang II (1M) for 3, 6 and 24h with or without a co-treatment with IL1β (0.1ng/mL) for 24h. mRNA expression of inflammatory mediators was performed by real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). We present, for the first time, a precise quantification for AT1 and AT2 receptors on human gingival and periodontal fibroblast-like cell types; the percentage of positive immunostaining compared to the total population of cells varied from 3.35% through 5.29% for AT1 and 2.97% through 4.57% for AT2. Ang II slightly upregulated mRNA expression of IL6 and CCL2/MCP1 in gingival cells and IL8 and PTGS2/COX2 in periodontal ligament cells. IL1β induced upregulation of IL8, IL6 CCL2/MCP1, PTGS2/COX2 and IL1β mRNA in both cell types. Co-treatment with Ang II and IL1β did not show a synergistic effect under these experimental conditions. Ang II shows a low potential to induce mRNA upregulation of inflammatory mediators in cultured primary human gingival and periodontal ligament cells, most likely due to the low percentage of Ang II receptors in such cells, and no synergistic effect with the co-treatment with IL1β.

DFT calculations on the photoisomerization reactions of pyridazine N-oxide derivatives are presented. The irradiation of 3,6-diphenylpyridazine N-oxide allowed to obtain the first excited singlet state that underwent to a ring opening reaction induced to the oxygen migration to the adjacent carbon atom, with the formation of a diazo derivative. This intermediate can give a ring closure reaction to give a pyrazole derivative, or, with a higher transition energy, it can lose nitrogen allowing the formation of 2,5-diphenylfuran. The irradiation of 3-phenylpyridazine N-oxide allowed the formation only of 2-phenylfuran. In this case, calculations allowed to explain this behavior. The first excited singlet state gave a photoisomerization reaction with the formation of the corresponding diazo intermediate. This intermediate could not be converted into the corresponding pyrazole derivative because it was converted into a N-formyl pyrazole never reported in literature. The only possible reaction is the loss of nitrogen and the formation of 2-phenylfuran.

In the past few years, cloud-based additive manufacturing has shown its application and potential in industries. For this reason, when the demand for cloud-based additive products increases, efficient scheduling of related tasks becomes more important to achieve optimized duration. This research proposes a Heuristic Scheduling Algorithm (HSA) for use in Cloud-Based Additive Manufacturing (CBAM) with an approach to Critical Chain Buffer Management (CC/BM). This research aims to schedule and optimize the time in cloud-based additive manufacturing, in addition to the parts production process, it also includes the steps of receiving online orders and informing the manufacturing unit and sending them to the customer. The HSA proposed in this research consists of three phases 1- Buffer sizing, 2- Additive manufacturing and logistics scheduling, and 3- Buffer controlling. To evaluate, the performance of the algorithm is simulated. The finding shows that the proposed HAS can effectively solve the CBAM scheduling problem.

An important parameter in the development of a new drug is the drug's affinity to the identified target (protein/enzyme). Predicting the ligand binding to the target (protein/enzyme) by molecular simulation would allow the synthesis to be restricted to the most promising compounds.A restricted hybrid HF-DFT calculation was performed in order to obtain the most stable conformer of each ligand and a series of DFT calculations using the B3LYP levels with 6-31G* basis set has been conducted. The docking studies of the quinolone compounds will be performed with the CLC Drug Discovery Workbench to identify and visualize the ligand-receptor interaction mode.

From a thermodynamic point of view, living cell life is no more than a cyclic process. It starts with the newly separated daughter cells and restarts when the next generations grow as free entities. In this cycle the cell changes its entropy. In cancer the growth control is damaged. In this paper we analyze the role of the volume-area ratio in cell in relation to the heat exchange between cell and its environment in order to point out the effect on the cancer growth. The result holds to a possible control of the cancer growth based on the heat exchanged by the cancer towards its environment, and the membrane potential variation, with the consequence of controlling the ions fluxes and the related biochemical reactions. This second law approach could represent a starting point for a possible future support for the anticancer therapies, in order to improve their effectiveness for the untreatable cancers.

The present days can be considered a crossroad in the history our word because the economic, social and ecological needs don't agree one another. The result is a continuous growth of poverty and an increase of the ecological degradation. This has generated the present difficult socio-economic state, and it seems very difficult to escape. A new viewpoint must be introduced, but it cannot based on the usual economic indicators. So, new indicators must be introduced. They must allow us to consider the technological level, the environmental impact and the socio-economic conditions. In this paper we suggest three indicators based on an engineering approach of irreversibility. Three applications are shown in order to highlight the possible interest from different scientists and researchers in engineering, economy, etc, in order to develop sustainable approaches and policies for decision makers.

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.

This study aimed to determine the impact of a novel formulation of a supplement composed of the natural ingredients: bromelain, quercetin, and Lentinula edodes, on the gut microbiota of healthy adult dogs. Adult healthy female dogs were administered either a placebo (CTR, n = 15) or the supplement (TRT, n=15) over 28 days. Stool samples were collected for 16S rRNA sequencing before supplement administration (T0), at completion of supplement administration (T28), and one week after the end of supplement administration (T35) to characterize changes in the gut microbial communities. QIIME was used to determine both alpha- and beta-diversity and ANCOM-BC was used to identify differences in taxonomic abundances before and after supplementation. We found a significant decrease in overall diversity in CTR group, but no significant differences in overall diversity in the TRT group over time. Furthermore, we found differences in the abundance of several taxa in both CTR and TRT groups but differences in abundance of beneficial bacteria were more pronounced in TRT group. Specifically, we found increases in the abundance of sequences belonging to the genera Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus at T28 in the TRT group with significant increases in Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus persisting at T35 when compared to T0. Importantly, members of these genera are known to be pro anti-inflammatory and associated with a healthy gut microbiota in dogs. The results of our study show the potential of our supplement to selectively enhance specific beneficial bacterial taxa, offering a targeted approach to modulating the gut microbiome without causing disruptions to the overall equilibrium.

Chronic inflammation, the activation of immune cells and their cross-talk with cardiomyocytes in the pathogenesis and progression of heart diseases has long been overlooked. However, with the latest research developments, it is increasingly accepted that a vicious cycle exists where cardiomyocytes release cardiocrine signaling molecules that spirals down to immune cell activation and chronic state of low‐level inflammation. For example, cardiocrine molecules released from injured or stressed cardiomyocytes can stimulate macrophages, dendritic cells, neutrophils and even T-cells, which then subsequently increase cardiac inflammation by co-stimulation and positive feedback-loops. One of the key proteins involved in stress-mediated cardiomyocyte signal transduction is a small GTPase RhoA. Importantly, the regulation of RhoA activation is critical for effective immune cell response and is being considered as one of the potential therapeutic targets in many immune-cell-mediated inflammatory diseases. In this review we provide an update on the role of RhoA at the juncture of immune cell activation, inflammation and cardiac disease.

Abstract Psychiatric care in Spain has experienced relevant changes both in the legislative and conceptual frameworks. This new approach advocates for the combination of carrying out mental health promotion, prevention of alterations and early diagnosis and treatment, enhancing actions against stigma and emphasising the attention on the most vulnerable groups, like childhood and youth. For that, it has seen fit to perform a nursing intervention on Education and Promotion of mental health for teachers and counsellors of a secondary school located in Valencia, with the general objective of assessing their impact on stigma. Non-randomised clinical trial in which a nursing intervention on Education and Promotion of mental health was performed. Pre-intervention tools: multiple choice test validated by a group of experts; pre and post-intervention: AQ-27 (stigma attribution); in order to check its acceptance, satisfaction surveys were used. The inferential analysis included the Wilcoxon Test (pre and post AQ-27) and the Pearson Correlation Test for the quantitative variables of interest. Sample (n=22): women aged 47.96 ± 10.12 years with 18.64 ± 10.34 years of work experience. The predominant stigmatising attitude before and after intervention was “Coercion”. The ones with lower score were “Segregation” and “Anger”. The p-values obtained in the Wilcoxon Test were statistically significant (p-value <0.05) except for “pre and post Responsibility” and “pre and post Pity”. The following constructs of interest were faced: “Age” vs “Fear” (r= -0.48, moderate), “Professional experience” and “Fear” (r= -0.46, moderate) and “Help” and “Psychosis test” (r= 0.51, severe). The overall satisfaction score was 9/10. Despite the scores obtained in “Coercion” and “Psychosis”, the intervention was useful for reducing stigma in the sample.

Humans learn from a lot of information sources to make decisions. Once this information is learned in the brain, spatio-temporal associations are made, connecting all these sources (variables) in space and time represented as brain connectivity. In reality, to make a decision, we usually have only part of the infor-mation, either as a limited number of variables, or limited time to make the decision, or both. The brain functions as spatio-temporal associative memory. Inspired by the ability of the human brain, a brain-inspired spatio-temporal associative memory was proposed earlier, that utilizes the NeuCube brain-inspired spiking neural network framework. Here we apply the STAM framework to develop STAM for neuroimaging data, on the cases of EEG and fMRI, resulting in STAM-EEG and STAM-fMRI. The paper shows that once a NeuCube STAM classification model is trained on a complete spatio-temporal EEG or fMRI data, it can be recalled using only part of the time series, or/and only part of the used variables. We evaluate accordingly the temporal association accuracy and spatial association accuracy. This is a pilot study that opens the field for the development of multimodal classification systems on other multimodal neuroimaging data, such as the also shown longitudinal MRI data, trained on complete data, but recalled on partial data collected across different settings, in different labs and clinics, that may vary in terms of variables, time of data collection, and other parameters. The proposed methods will allow also for brain diagnostic/prognostic marker discovery using spatio-temporal neuroimaging data.

This is a single center retrospective study to assess safety and tolerability of continuous inhaled iloprost use as rescue therapy for refractory pulmonary hypertension (PH) in critically ill neonates and infants. Retrospective chart review was performed on 58 infants and data was collected at baseline, 1, 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours of iloprost initiation. Primary outcomes were change in heart rate (HR), fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2), mean airway pressures (MAP), blood pressure (BP) and oxygenation index (OI). Secondary outcomes were need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and death. 51 patients treated for > 6 hours were analyzed in 2 age groups, neonate (≤28 days: n=32) and infant (29-365 days: n=19). FiO2 (p

A processual texture lies at the core of phenomena that undergo change. Philosophers have observed the incessant becoming of our world from antiquity to the present day, but an explanation must still be found in terms of contemporary metaphysics. This article strives to bring the focus on the domain of possibles, an under-theorised philosophical issue that dwells in the ontological realm between the possibility and its actual realization. Sketching a more comprehensive concept of the possible unravelling the thread of its main meanings, the process of change will be not simply clarified from inside, but also understood as an activator of reality. Finally, the discussion will argue for a principle of prudence and responsibility derived from an ontological basis.

Historically the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in paediatrics dates back to 1984 with the intro-duction of a computer-assisted medical decision-making system called SHELP. Since then, research on the use of AI in pediatrics has become much more popular, and the number of reviewed publications largely increased. Consequently, a need for a holistic research landscape enabling researchers and other interested parties to gain insights into, deepen their knowledge about or inform them about the use of AI in pediatrics arised. To fill this gap a novel methodology named synthetic knowledge synthesis was applied. Using SKS we identified most prolific countries, in-stitutions, source titles, funding agencies, research themes, research gaps and hot spots.

In the last three decades the presence of phospholipids in the nucleus has been shown and thoroughly investigated. A great interest raised about nuclear inositol lipids mainly because of their role in signalling acting. Here we review the main issues of nuclear phospholipid localization and the role of nuclear inositol lipids and their related enzymes in cellular signaling both in physiological and pathological conditions.

Arthropod-borne viruses belonging to the flavivirus genus possess an enormous relevance in public health. Neotropical non-human primates (NPs) have been proposed to be infected more frequently with flaviviruses due to their arboreal and diurnal habits, their genetic similarity to humans and their relative closeness to humans. However, the only known flavivirus in America that is maintained by sylvatic cycles involving NPs is Yellow Fever virus (YFV), and the NPs role as potential hosts of flaviviruses is still unknown. Here, we examined flavivirus exposure in 86 free range and captive NPs of Costa Rica to evaluate their involvement in flavivirus transmission cycles and their potential as flavivirus hosts. We used a highly-specific micro plaque reduction neutralization test (micro-PRNT) to determine the presence of antibodies against YFV, Dengue virus 1-4 (DENV), Zika virus, West Nile Virus (WNV) and Saint Louis Encephalitis virus (SLEV). We found evidence of seropositive NPs to DENV-1 8.2% (homotypic –3/86, heterotypic – 4/86), SLEV 15.1% (homotypic – 10/86, heterotypic – 2/86), WNV 2.3% (homotypic – 2/86) and 8.1% (7/86) undetermined Flavivirus species. No antibodies against YFV or ZIKV were found. This work provides compelling serological evidence of exposure in NPs of flaviviruses associated with urban cycles, i.e. DENV, and confirms decades of circulation of SLEV in the same environments. Also, the range of years of sampling and the socioeconomic region was statistically significant for the presence of Dengue and Flavivirus undetermined seropositive individuals, respectively. Both the years and socioeconomic regions with greater seroprevalence coincide with the years and socioeconomic regions with high numbers of Dengue human cases for the country. Our work suggests bidirectional? circulation of different flaviviruses between humans and wildlife with public health importance and underscores the necessity of further surveillance for flaviviruses in the humans/wildlife interface in Central America.

The possibility of using additive manufacturing (AM) in the medicine area has created a new opportunities in health care. This has contributed to a sharp increase in demand for 3D printers, their systems and materials that are adapted to strict medical requirements. We described herein a medical-grade thermoplastic polyurethane (S-TPU), which was developed and then formed into a filament for Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printers during a melt-extrusion process. S-TPU consisting of aliphatic hexamethylene 1,6-diisocyanate (HDI), amorphous α,ω-dihydroxy(ethylene-butylene adipate) (PEBA) and 1,4 butandiol (BDO) as a chain extender, was synthesized without the use of a catalyst. The filament properties were characterized by rheological, mechanical, physico-chemical and in vitro biological properties. The tests showed biocompatibility of the obtained filament as well as revealed no significant effect of the filament formation process on its properties. This study may contribute to expanding the range of medical-grade flexible filaments for standard low-budget FDM printers.

The aim of this paper is to study the main areas in which Artificial Intelligence (AI) will impact the field of project management that relates to cost, risk and scheduling. The research model was based on a previous study of the ten project management knowledge areas presented in the PMI’s PMBOK 6th edition where project schedule-, cost- and risk management knowledge areas were identified as being the ones most likely to be affected by the development of AI. A group of experts that participated in the study agreed that AI will affect the project management profession in the future. Different elements of the three knowledge areas were considered to be affected more by AI than others. The schedule baseline is the element believed to be affected the most out of the project schedule management elements. For project cost management, the estimation of resource cost is believed to be affected the most. In the case of project risk management, the application of AI will have the strongest impact on the probability and impact format.

This paper maps the causes of the demographic, economic and social decline of a selected border micro-region during the last century. The decline occurred due to the location being remote, lacking natural resources and having an unsuitable industrial structure. Historical events associated with the post-war deportation of the German population and efforts to create a classless society also played a role in the decline. The results are an 87% population decrease, the demise of most companies, a very low level of human capital and unemployment reaching up to 5%. In order to comprehend the current state of the border micro-region and predict future development, it is necessary to understand the development that has occurred since approximately the middle of the nineteenth century. The European countryside is certainly not homogeneous, and different regions have shown unique mixes of positional, natural, economic and political factors. Some hope has been raised in relation to the transition to a post-productive economy, a transition that turns the remoteness of the region into an advantage. This is confirmed by the positive migration balances of the smallest municipalities in the last decade.

Keywords: Forest management; sustainability; FSC; PEFC; research; market share

Groundwater habitats in the Dinaric Karst are home to the only known cave-adapted genus of bivalve mollusks, which currently survives as three distinct species with a highly fragmented distribution. Over the past few decades, Congeria populations suffered a steep decline across their range, as a result of human activities. Here, we identify the most pressing issues concerning the current conservation status of Congeria and identify key priorities for its scientific study. The building of dams and other hydrotechnical constructions have led to a significant decrease in the water inputs that used to supply underground systems where Congeria lives, contributing to a reduction of the cave habitats feasible for bivalve settlement. This is relatively well documented in Popovo polje where, as a result of hydrotechnical interventions on Trebisnjica river, water level drop destroyed well over 99 % of Congeria kusceri population in Zira cave and caused their complete disappearance in other caves. Similar factors are likely to have also affected the sister species Congeria jalzici in the Lika region. In addition, the salinization of Neretva river, lack of proper wastewater management, intense agriculture, tourist exploitation, and additional hydrotechnical plans add to the ongoing decline of the quality of Congeria habitats. These threats are expected to least to drastic reductions in population size within the next few decades, and this situation might be further aggravated by the lack of regulations and active measures for Congeria protection, as well by the limited understanding of its biology. Future scientific studies should be aimed at better elucidating microhabitat preference, defining the range of tolerance of environmental parameters, and assessing the size and genetic viability of existing Congeria populations. However, we highlight that these efforts would most certainly require the collaboration of local authorities and the allocation of appropriate financial resources in order to be effective.

Existing literature on the relationship between ride-hailing (RH) and transit services is limited to empirical studies that lack real-time spatial contexts. To fill this gap, we took a novel real-time geospatial analysis approach. With source data on ride-hailing trips in Chicago, Illinois, we computed real-time transit-equivalent trips for all 7,949,902 ride-hailing trips in June 2019; the sheer size of our sample is incomparable to the samples studied in existing literature. An existing Multinomial Nested Logit Model was used to determine the probability of a ride-hailer selecting a transit alternative to serve the specific O-D pair, P(Transit|CTA)[1]. We find that 31% of ride-hailing trips are replaceable, whereas 61% of trips are not replaceable. The remaining 8% lie within a buffer zone. We measured the robustness of this probability using a parametric sensitivity analysis and performed a two-tailed t-test. Our results indicate that of the four sensitivity parameters, the probability was most sensitive to the total travel time of a transit trip. The main contribution of our research is our thorough approach and fine-tuned series of real-time spatiotemporal analyses that investigate the replaceability of ride-hailing trips for public transit. The results and discussion intend to provide perspective derived from real trips and we anticipate that this paper will demonstrate the research benefits associated with the recording and release of ride-hailing data. [1] This value defines the replaceability of the trip, where a value ranging from 0 to 0.45 is considered not-replaceable (NR), and a value ranging from 0.55 to 1.0 is considered replaceable (R).

COVID-19, the fear it engendered, and the policy measures to manage its spread have disproportionately impacted the wellbeing of children and adolescents (CAs). We present an intensive critical realist case study of the impact of COVID-19 on the health and wellbeing of CAs in Rwanda, seeing it as much a social and political crisis as a medical and public health one. To do this, we carried out interviews with a purposive sample of 25 leaders with a working knowledge of children and young people; they were more likely than the CAs themselves to observe changes across the CA population within their remit and more likely to be looking for general explanations rather than individual experiences. The findings show that CAs' responses to the changes wrought on their lives by Covid-19 were conditioned by their age, gender, social class and if they lived in urban or rural areas. However, Covid19 has not just revealed the structural weakness of the Rwandan health system but of education, social protection, child protection, employment, family, and financial systems. The pathway to (adverse) impacts of COVID-19 on CAs is conditioned by these institutions and their interactions together with structural socioeconomic inequalities both within Rwanda and globally.

The flexitarian diet, which emphasizes a reduction in meat consumption, has been identified as a crucial factor in transitioning to sustainable food systems that can help combat climate change and improve food and nutritional security, particularly in areas where food choices are abundant. Despite Brazil being a major meat producer, meat consumption among Brazilians has been decreasing in recent years, with a growing portion of the population adopting meat-free and meat-reduced dietary models. In this study, we conducted the first non-industry funded scientific investigation of Brazilian flexitarians, with the goal of characterizing their socio-economic and demographic characteristics, motivations for adopting flexitarianism, frequency of animal-based meat consumption, and main substitutes consumed. Data was collected from 1029 self-identified flexitarians in Brazil. Our findings indicate that the flexitarian food model is primarily adopted by women and is motivated by concerns about the environmental impact of meat consumption, personal health, and animal welfare. Flexitarians were found to have a consumption profile that can be divided into three groups: low (consuming meat 36 times a week), medium (consuming meat 7 times a week), and high (consuming meat 4 times a week). The flexitarian meals pattern is characterized by lower consumption of beef (less than 2 times per week) and higher consumption of chicken (3 times per week) and is supplemented by plant-based protein sources and eggs as the main meat substitutes.

Nowadays, frameworks and models are critical to enabling organizations to identify their current sustainability integration into business and to follow up on these initiatives over time. In this context, the maturity models offer a structured way of analyzing how a supply chain meets specific sustainability requirements and which areas demand attention to reach maturity levels. This study proposes a five-level maturity model to help supply chains identify their level of engagement with sustainability practices combining three perspectives: intra and inter-organizational sustainability practices, triple-bottom-line approach and critical areas for sustainability. All the steps followed in constructing the maturity model were based on a literature review, and case studies supported its improvement, application, and testing. The proposed model presents many advantages, such as being used as a self-assessment tool, a roadmap for sustainability behaviour improvement, and a benchmarking tool to evaluate and compare standards and best practices among organizations and supply chains.

The aim of this article is to summarize recent bioinformatic and statistical developments applicable to NMR-based metabolomics. Extracting relevant information from large multivariate datasets by statistical data analysis strategies may be of considerable complexity. Typical tasks comprise for example classification of specimens, identification of differentially produced metabolites, and estimation of fold changes. In this context it is of prime importance to minimize contributions from unwanted biases and experimental variance prior to these analyses. This is the goal of data normalization. Therefore, special emphasize is given to different data normalization strategies. In the first part, we will discuss the requirements and the pros and cons for a variety of commonly applied strategies. In the second part, we will concentrate on possible solutions in case that the requirements for the standard strategies are not fulfilled. In the last part, very recent developments will be discussed that allow reliable estimation of metabolic signatures for sample classification without prior data normalization. In this contribution special emphasis will be given to techniques that have worked well in our hands.

this article presents the results of implementing existing software tools in the accounting field. The teaching processes regarding the use of Learning and Knowledge Technologies (TAC) in the university environment, and very specifically, in what has to do with the pedagogical integration of the same in the curriculum is deficient and disjointed with the current technological development. Thus, in the different curricula of professional programs of Public Accounting and related, the courses related to computer automation processes are oriented only towards the management of computer science and accounting software and the great diversity of existing applications that would undoubtedly directly benefit the student to know the potential of these in their future accounting practice is not taken into account. Strengthen the various skills of a Public Accountant in training through Learning and Knowledge Technologies (TAC), under the hypothesis of developing skills in the accounting field through TACs. The research was developed using a quantitative approach, an empirical-analytical method, with a type of descriptive research under an experimental design based on G1 x O1 and G2–O2, three phases were defined. In the first phase, the characterization of the existing software tools in the accounting field was carried out. In the second phase, their relevance was determined. In the third phase, performance was evaluated and then classified in a repository. The data obtained were analyzed with parametric analysis techniques through which it was found that the difference in quantitative results in the academic process between the experimental and control groups was statistically significant, which concluded the success of the experimental treatment. The use of CT scans in the classroom by the experimental group resulted in an improvement in their academic performance compared to the control group, strengthening their self-learning processes and facilitating the development of cognitive functions and skills necessary in the exercise of their accounting profession. This research supports and strengthens the work skills developed in the classroom for public accounting students. The tools TAC is developed from the request made by the radiometry laboratory as a first phase and a second phase is necessary for validation with experts.

The main purpose of this article is to identify key areas of research on climate change in the context of the SDGs, focusing on the potential development impacts on Bolivia and Paraguay. Application of the Delphi technique with the involvement of a panel of experts allowed the consolidation of different perspectives and knowledge on climate change, focusing on those that experts considered to have the greatest potential impact on the regions. The results of this study constitute a valuable guide for decision-makers and funding bodies, highlighting research areas that could have a significant impact at the national and regional levels, as well as for researchers, identifying specific research areas crucial for regional development and climate change mitigation.

We describe a competitive colorimetric assay that enables rapid and sensitive detection of galactose and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) via colorimetric readouts and demon-strates its usefulness for monitoring NAD+-driven enzymatic reactions. We present a sensitive plasmonic sensing approach for assessing galactose concentration and the presence of NADH using galactose dehydrogenase immobilized gold nanostars (AuNS-PVP-GalDH). The AuNS-PVP-GalDH assay remains turquoise blue in the absence of galactose and NADH; however, as galactose and NADH concentrations grow, the reaction well color changes to a characteristic red color in the presence of an alkaline environment and metal ions catalyst (detection solution). As a result, when galactose is sensed in the presence of H2O2, the colored response of the AuNS-PVP-GalDH assay transforms from turquoise blue to light pink, then to wine red in a con-centration-dependent manner discernible to the human eye. This competitive AuNS-PVP-GalDH assay could be a viable analytical tool for rapid and convenient galactose quantification in re-source-limited areas.

Acne vulgaris is a prevalent dermatological disorder that impacts the quality of life for millions of people around the world. The multifactorial nature of this disorder requires innovative and effective treatment strategies. Over time, there has been a growing interest regarding the use of natural topical therapies, with cannabinoids emerging as a promising group of compounds for investiga-tion. In the context of acne treatment, cannabinoids are of particular interest due to their anti-acne properties, namely, lipostatic, anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, and antimicrobial activities. Among these bioactive compounds, cannabidiol stands out as a notable derivative, exhibiting a promising spectrum of therapeutic actions. Pre-clinical and clinical studies have proven its ability to modulate sebum production, reduce inflammation, and inhibit bacterial proliferation - all of which are critical components in the pathogenesis of this dermatosis. This review provides a comprehen-sive overview of cannabinoids' potential as a novel and holistic approach to acne vulgaris treatment and summarizes recent developments in this area.

The age-related loss of muscle mass and strength is referred to as “sarcopenia”. The combined effect of sarcopenia and osteoporosis is a devastating threat to the old adult, accounting for reduced mobility, risk for falls and subsequent fractures. In previous studies, we observed a high degree of inter-individual variability of paraspinal muscle fatty infiltration, one most relevant index of muscle wasting. This aspect solicited us to develop a computerized method to quantitatively characterize muscle fatty infiltration in aging and diseases. Magnetic resonance images of paraspinal muscles from 58 women of different age (age range 23-85 years) and physio-pathological status (healthy young, pre-menopause, post-menopause, and os-teoporosis), were used to set up the method. It is based on fractal analysis of lean muscle area (contractile muscle) to estimate muscle fatty infiltration. In particular, lacunarity was computed by parameter β from our hyperbola model function, used to fit the GBA (gliding box algorithm) curvilinear plot. Succolarity was estimated by parameter µ, for the four main directions, through an algorithm implemented on purpose. Results show that fractal lacunarity, by quantifying muscle fatty infiltration, can discriminate be-tween osteoporosis and healthy aging while succolarity can separate the other three groups showing similar lacunarity. Therefore, fractal features of contractile muscle, by measuring fatty infiltration, can represent good indices of sarcopenia in aging and disease.

Ensuring safe and continuous autonomous navigation in long-term mobile robot applications is still challenging. To ensure a reliable representation of the current environment without the need for periodic re-mapping, updating the map is recommended. However, in case of incorrect estimation of robot pose, updating the map can lead to errors that prevent the robot localisation and jeopardize map accuracy. In this paper, we propose a safe LIDAR-based occupancy grid map updating algorithm for dynamic environments taking into account the uncertainties in the estimation of the robot’s pose. The proposed approach allows robust long-term operations as it can recover the robot’s pose, even when it gets lost, to continue the map update process providing a coherent map. Moreover, the approach is robust also to temporary changes in the map due to the presence of dynamic obstacles such as humans and other robots. Results highlighting map quality, localisation performance, and pose recovery, both in simulation and experiments, are reported.

The introduction on Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnOn) in sunscreens solved the issue of poor spreadability of these formulations, which often left a white film on the skin. However, safety concerns have arisen regarding the topical application of ZnOn. Some studies employed commercial sunscreens to address the safety issues of the topical application of ZnOn; however, commercial formulations are often complex and contain a wide range of ingredients that could attenuate the potential damage caused by the ZnOn. Therefore, in this study we aimed to develop a simple stable formulation containing 20% of coated and uncoated ZnOn, characterize the formulations and the nanoparticles, and assess the skin penetration in Franz diffusion cell. The Feret's diameter for the uncoated and coated ZnOn was 137 nm and 134 nm, respectively. For the uncoated ZnOn the hydrodynamic size in water was 368 nm and for the coated ZnOn, the average hydrodynamic size in ethyl acetate was 135 nm. The incorporation of ZnOn led to formulations more consistent and easier to spread, as suggested by the lower work of shear and higher values of firmness, cohesiveness, consistency and index of viscosity compared with the vehicle. The stability assessment at 45ºC suggested that the formulations containing the ZnOn were stable for 30 days and the vehicle was stable for 90 days. The assessment off the skin penetration by reflectance confocal laser microscopy indicated that the formulations did not permeate into the deepest layers of the skin, but accumulated on the skin furrows, hair and hair follicle.

The problem of energy poverty, when energy becomes unaffordable for some population group, is not only a problem for developing countries, but this phenomenon is appearing more and more often in European countries as well. In Europe, it is estimated that 50 to 125 million people are at risk of energy poverty. We hear more and more about energy poverty in connection with the current energy crisis and rising energy prices, but also as a result of insufficient use of renewable energy sources. Due to rising energy prices, we are increasingly hearing about deepening energy poverty in Slovakia as well. The aim of the contribution is to examine the development of energy poverty in Slovakia compared to other EU countries. The situation is studied from the view of the number of days of heating and cooling, the percentage of the population that cannot maintain adequate heat at home, the percentage of the population that has a lack of heat and the percentage of residents without enough heat. During the research, we used distribution analysis, trend analysis, analysis of variance and one-way analysis. The main results show that HDD index recorded decrease, CDD index recorded increase, and Energy poverty is most obvious in low-income group of inhabitants, having shortage of heat, when RES use contribute to mitigation of energy poverty. Solving the unfavorable situation with energy poverty is possible by increasing the share of Renewable energy sources in the gross final energy consumption for heating and cooling, primarily in residential buildings. The results provide information for policy makers in area of economic, social and environmental decision-making.

This review systematically explored structural, functional, and metabolic features of the cisgender brain compared with the transgender brain before hormonal treatment and the heterosexual brain compared to the homosexual brain from the analysis of the neuroimaging literature up to 2018, and identified and discussed subsequent studies published up to March 2021. Our main aim was to help identifying neuroradiological brain features that have been related to human sexuality to contribute to the understanding of the biological elements involved in gender identity and sexual orientation. We analyze 39 studies on gender identity and 24 on sexual orientation. Our results suggest that some neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, and neurometabolic features in transgender individuals resemble those of their experienced gender despite the majority resembling those from their natal sex. In homosexual individuals the majority resemble those of their same sex heterosexual population rather than their opposite sex heterosexual population. However, it is always difficult to interpret findings with non-invasive neuroimaging. Given the gross nature of these measures, it is possible that more differences too subtle to measure with available tools yet contributing to gender identity and sexual orientation could be found. Conflicting results contributed to the difficulty of identifying specific brain features which consistently differ between cisgender and transgender or between heterosexual and homosexual groups. The small number of studies, the small-to-moderate sample size of each study, and the heterogeneity of the investigations made it impossible to meta-analyze all the data extracted. Further studies are necessary to increase the understanding of the neurological substrates of human sexuality.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second most common cause of death due to cancer. About 30% of patients with PCa who have been castrated develop a castration-resistant form of the disease (CRPC), which is incurable. In the last decade, new treatments that control the disease have emerged, slowing progression and spread, and prolonging survival while maintaining the quality of life. These include immunotherapies; however, we do not yet know the optimal combination and sequence of these therapies with the standard ones. All therapies are not always suitable for every patient due to co-morbidities or adverse effects of therapies or both, so there is an urgent need for further work on new therapeutic options. Advances in cancer immunotherapy with an immune checkpoint inhibition mechanism (e.g., ipilimumab, an anti-CTLA-4 inhibitor) have not shown a survival benefit in patients with CRPC. Other immunological approaches have also not given clear results, which has indirectly prevented breakthrough for this type of therapeutic strategy into clinical use. Currently, the only approved form of immunotherapy for patients with CRPC is a cell-based medicine, but it is only available to patients in some parts of the world. Based on the experience gained from recently completed clinical research on immunotherapy with dendritic cell-based immunohybridomas, the aHyC dendritic cell vaccine, for patients with CRPC, we highlight the current status, and possible alternatives that should be considered in the future.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a cytoprotective endogenous gas that is ubiquitously produced by the stress response enzyme heme-oxygenase. Being a gas, CO rapidly diffuses through tissues and binds to hemoglobin (Hb) increasing carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) levels. COHb can be formed in the erythrocytes or in plasma from cell-free Hb. Herein, it is discussed whether endogenous COHb is or is not an innocuous and inevitable metabolic waste product and it is hypothesized that COHb has a biological role. In the present review literature data is presented to support this hypothesis based on two main premises: (i) there is no direct correlation between COHb levels and CO toxicity; and (ii) COHb seems to have a direct cytoprotective and antioxidant role in erythrocytes and in hemorrhagic models in vivo. Moreover, CO is also antioxidant by generating COHb, which protects against the pro-oxidant damaging effects of cell free Hb. Up to now COHb has been considered as a sink for both exogenous and endogenous CO generated during CO intoxication or heme metabolism, respectively. Hallmarking COHb as an important molecule with a biological (and eventually beneficial) role is a turning point on CO Biology research, namely in CO intoxication and CO cytoprotection.

Due to the use of structural and seismic techniques an attempt has been made in this study to determine the hydrocarbon potential and future exploration in Pakistan's Lower Indus basin area and offshore region. In addition to the possibility of hydrocarbon accumulation, the major goals of this research are to analyze structural patterns in the subsurface of the study region, identify the horizons of various formations using surface seismic, and interpret seismic lines. Seismic data has been used to find and integrate the exposed Cretaceous/Tertiary basalt at Ranikot in the lower Indus basin to the well-known Deccan basalts of the Indo-Pak plate, which is the secondary goal of the current investigation. According to the interpretation of seismic data, the Indo-Pakistan plate has experienced rifting because of tectonic activity. Graben and horst structures have been identified in the study area horizon, which indicates that the area has undergone major structural and depositional changes. While faults provide a pathway for hydrocarbons to migrate from their source to reservoir rock, grabens are principally responsible for the accumulation of hydrocarbons. We further deduce that the prior exploration failures in the area were due to a lack of knowledge of the subsurface formations and structural trends, which are essential for characterizing the hydrocarbon play and trap features. Our results can be productive for the local hydrocarbon drilling projects as well as worldwide tectonic stratigraphy studies on passive continental edges.

The term “medical error” is quite often used to refer to any mistake committed in the provision of healthcare services which has caused harm to a patient. Objective: To analyze civil lawsuits involving medical errors in pediatrics by evaluating: 1) causal link; 2) type of medical error; 3) conviction of the court and its legal basis; 4) correlation between medical expert understanding and legal understanding. Materials and Method: Retrospective analysis of 60 pediatric forensic medical examinations carried out by a pediatric expert between April 2009 and February 2014 at the Institute of Medicine and Criminology of the State of São Paulo (IMESC). The expert’s reports were analyzed according to age, gender, type of forensic medical report (direct or indirect), conclusion of the expert’s report (causal link between the medical conduct and complaint or not), type of medical error (negligence, recklessness, malpractice), judgment in the first instance (if in accordance with the expert’s report or not), and basis of judgment as objective or subjective (type of law). Results: Most expert’s examinations (65%) were indirect (death). In 27 reports (45%), the expert’s conclusion determined that there was a causal link between medical care and the damage inflicted to a patient. Of the 27 reports with causal link, the judge was not in accordance with the expert’s report in one case, thus not considering medical error. The vast majority of sentences (55) were in accordance with the expert’s conclusion (91.6%). Subjective law was mostly used to support the judge’s ruling (61.70%), followed by objective law (23.30%). All lawsuits claimed moral damages (100%). In the statistical analysis of distribution of nominal variables (frequency), an excellent agreement (kappa= 0.86), with statistical significance, was verified between the expert’s report and the court ruling. Conclusion: Expert evidence supported 91.6% of the sentences and was considered to be highly valuable evidence. Expert evidence had a major impact on the legal proceedings and has proven statistically significant (p<0.005). Subjective law was used to assess medical error in all cases in which healthcare professionals were involved. Claims for moral damages was requested in all lawsuits, and was fully or partially granted in 100% of the cases.

Intussusceptive pillars, regarded as a hallmark of intussusceptive angiogenesis, have been described in developing vasculature of many organs and organisms. The aim of this study was to resolve the question about pillar formation and their further maturation employing zebrafish caudal vein plexus (CVP). The CVP development was monitored by in vivo confocal microscopy in high spatio-temporal resolution using the transgenic zebrafish model Fli1a:eGPF//Gata1:dsRed. We tracked back the formation of pillars (diameter ≤4µm) and intercapillary meshes (diameter >4µm) and analysed their morphology and behaviour. Transluminal pillars in the CVP arose by a combination of sprouting, lumen expansion, and/or by creation of intraluminal folds, and those mechanisms were not associated directly with blood flow. The follow-up of pillars indicated that one third of them disappeared between 28-48 hours post fertilisation (hpf) and of the remaining ones only 1/17 changed their cross-section area by >50%. The majority of the bigger meshes (39/62) increased their cross-section area by >50%. Plexus simplification and establishment of hierarchy was dominated by the dynamics of intercapillary meshes, which formed mainly by sprouting angiogenesis. These meshes were observed to grow, reshape, and merge with each other. Our observations suggested an alternative view on intussusceptive angiogenesis in the CVP.

Research found that those who believe sexual orientation is inborn have generally positive attitudes towards gay men and lesbians. However, other studies have also found that these beliefs could include negative eugenic ideas. This study aims to investigate the role of people’s beliefs about the aetiology of sexual orientation on attitudes towards adoption for both gay and lesbian couples. We hypothesized that this relationship would be mediated by sexual prejudice. To test the predictions, 256 Italian heterosexual participants were asked to answer to a scale about their beliefs regarding the aetiology of sexual orientation, sexual prejudice, and attitudes towards adoption by same-sex couples. Results confirmed that the relationship between aetiology beliefs and adoption support was fully mediated by sexual prejudice. These investigation results suggest that the belief that sexual orientation is controllable may serve to justify one’s prejudice and, in turn, result in a lower support for same-sex couples’ adoption.

This overview initially describes insect immune reactions and then brings together present knowledge of the interactions of vector insects with their invading parasites and pathogens. It is a way of introducing this special issue with subsequent papers presenting the latest details of these interactions in each particular group of vectors. Hopefully, this paper will fill a void in the literature since brief descriptions of vector immunity have now been brought together in one publication and could form a starting point for those interested and new to this important area. Descriptions are given on the immune reactions of mosquitoes, blackflies, sandflies, tsetse flies, lice, fleas and triatomine bugs. Cellular and humoral defences are described separately but emphasis is made on the co-operation of these processes in the completed immune response. The paper also emphasises the need of great care in extracting haemocytes for subsequent study as appreciation of their fragile nature is sometimes overlooked with non-sterile media, smearing techniques and excessive centrifugation sometimes used. The potential vital role of eicosanoids in the instigation of many of the immune reactions described is also discussed. Finally, the priming of the immune system, mainly in mosquitoes, is considered and one possible mechanism is presented

Aim: The main purpose of this feasibility study was to estimate compliance and acceptability rate of a 9-Steps mobile app preparation program. Subsequently, to assess its impact regarding attitudes towards smoking cessation. Methods: The program was only available on versions above iOS 13.3. The ecological study collected user’s data via the app from 04/07/2021 to 28/07/2021. Results: A total of 2331 ecological users completed onboarding; 1926 users (73.9%) completed the step 0 and only 265 users continued in step 1. On average, participants actively engaged with intra-steps activities (85,1%). Most users were highly satisfied at the end of each step. On average 86% found the content of each step comprehensive and relevant. Mann-Whitney tests demonstrated positive changes in attitudes toward smoking cessation on the less confident users: willing (3 to 5, p <.05); confidence (3 to 5, p <.001) and readiness to quit (3 to 5, p <.001). Conclusions: This ecological study corroborates the expected dropout between first use and regular use of health mobile apps. However, engagement and satisfaction rates support the feasibility and acceptability of a 9-step preparation program. Additional research is needed to better understand determinants of regular use of mobile apps and its impact on the target behavior.

We study the resonant dipole-dipole interaction energy between two uniformly accelerated identical atoms, one excited and the other in the ground state, prepared in a correlated Bell-type state, and interacting with the scalar field or the electromagnetic field nearby a perfectly reflecting plate. We suppose the two atoms moving with the same uniform acceleration, parallel to the plane boundary, and that their separation is constant during the motion. We separate the contributions of vacuum fluctuations and radiation reaction field to the resonance energy shift of the two-atom system, and show that Unruh thermal fluctuations do not affect the resonance interaction, which is exclusively related to the radiation reaction field. However, nonthermal effects of acceleration in the radiation-reaction contribution, beyond the Unruh acceleration-temperature equivalence, affect the resonance interaction energy. By considering specific geometric configurations of the two-atom system relative to the plate, we show that the presence of the mirror significantly modifies the resonance interaction energy between the two accelerated atoms. In particular, we find that new and different features appear with respect to the case of atoms in the free space, related to the presence of the boundary and to the peculiar structure of the quantum electromagnetic field vacuum in the locally inertial frame. Our results suggest the possibility to exploit the resonance interaction between accelerated atoms, as a probe for detecting the elusive effects of atomic acceleration on radiative processes.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of the two disorders known as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) along with Crohn’s disease (CD), with complex pathogenesis, requiring costly invasive investigations. Objective: to examine the most recent biomarkers proposed for UC diagnosis; to establish the strategy used to make the differential diagnosis between UC and CD relying on these biomarkers, also adding the benefit of finding new non-invasive tools in managing this condition. The search was performed in a single database (Web of Science) using the specific keywords „ulcerative colitis”, „biomarkers” and „diagnosis” for the last five years. Study eligibility criteria: clinical trials on adults and pediatric patients with ulcerative colitis compared with Crohn’s disease. Results: We selected 57 studies, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and clinical case series (CCS), summarizing the latest most specific biomarkers in diagnosis of UC. Limitations: we considered RCTs and CCS from one database, limited to the search topics. Our findings indicate a important number of potential biomarkers with diagnostic value, which bring the advantage of a non-invasive method to approach this challenging disorder.

Nudibranchs are marine gastropod mollusks that have been extensively studied for their poten-tial to yield new bioactive compounds. This review aims to share data about the chemical and biological activity of extracts and isolated compounds from nudibranchs. The systematic review followed the PRISMA (a systematic review protocol) and covers the studies from the literature published from January 1950 to September 2023, and various scientific databases, including Elsevier, web of science, ACS publications, Taylor and Francis, Wiley Online Library, MDPI, Springer and the Marine Pharmacology website. The results presented are based on the complete set of studies that met our inclusion criteria. Among the selected studies, chemical characteriza-tion was the focus in 79.6% of cases, while biological activity assessment accounted for 20.4%. Ten different types of biological activity assays were performed, with the most frequently studied activities being cytotoxicity (43.6%), antimycobacterial (43.6%), and ichthyotoxic (9.8%) effects. Most positive results obtained from these assays were related to antimycobacterial, cytotoxicity, and ichthyotoxic activities. Eight different types of metabolites were identified, with terpenes be-ing the most prevalent (78.5% of articles), followed by alkaloids (8.1%) and aromatic polyketides (4.7%). Gathering the existing evidence can aid in identifying research gaps and planning future investigations. Our findings indicate that certain nudibranch families, such as Cadlinidae, have received limited attention in terms of studies conducted, yet show promising results in terms of biological activities.

Transitioning towards net zero emissions is critical in the chemical and process industries to combat climate change and ensure environmental sustainability. Key focus areas of this review include the reduction of carbon emissions, the efficient utilization of energy resources, and the adoption of sustainable practices. Cutting-edge technologies such as biomass utilization, biotechnology applications, and waste management strategies are crucial in achieving this transition. Industries, including cement production, encounter unique challenges in their quest for sustainability and must actively seek innovative solutions to mitigate their carbon footprint effectively. The role of hydrogen as a clean fuel and its potential to revolutionize the chemical and process sectors is also discussed. The European Green Deal and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are significant for the chemical industry. They provide a clear roadmap and framework for promoting sustainability, driving innovation, and reducing the industry's environmental impact. By aligning with these initiatives, the chemical industry can enhance its competitiveness, contribute to societal well-being, and foster collaboration across sectors to achieve shared sustainability objectives.

Abstract: The Willows, belonging to the genus Salix, encompass a vast array of species and hybrids, totaling between 330 to 500 species along with approximately 200 hybrids. These plants are found across continents such as Africa, North America, Europe, and Asia, exhibiting diverse forms ranging from trees to shrubs and prostrate plants. Traditionally, Willows have been utilized in folk medicine due to their rich reservoir of biologically active compounds, with salicin being a notable example, serving as a prodrug for salicylic acid.The chemical composition of Willows is highly diverse, with 322 secondary metabolites identified thus far. These include various classes such as flavonoids (94 types encompassing flavonols, flavones, flavanones, isoflavones, flavan-3-ols like catechins and procyanidins, chalcones, dihydrochalcone, anthocyanins, and dihydroflavonols), phenolic glycosides (76), organic acids (28), non-phenolic glycosides (17), sterols, and terpenes (17), simple phenolics (13), lignans (7), as well as volatiles and fatty acids (69). This rich chemical di-versity underpins the various pharmacological activities exhibited by Willows. The pharmacological properties attributed to Willows are extensive and include analgesic, an-ti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, cytotoxic, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, antiobesity, neuroprotective, and hepatoprotective effects. These properties make Willows a subject of con-siderable interest in the fields of medicine and pharmacology. In summary, Willows represent a valuable natural resource with a diverse chemical composition and a wide range of pharmacological activities. This study aimed to enhance our comprehension of the medicinal characteristics of willow bark extract, focusing on its antimicrobial properties. This investigation holds significance in validating the traditional usage of willow bark and investi-gating its potential utility in contemporary medicine.

Critically ill patients treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) can present many abdominal conditions that need a prompt diagnosis and timely treatment because of their general frailty. Clinical evaluation and diagnostic tools like ultrasound or CT scan are not reliable or feasible in these patients. Bedside laparoscopy (BSL) is a minimally invasive procedure that allows surgeons to assess the abdominal cavity directly in the ICU, thus avoiding unnecessary exploratory laparotomy or incidence related to intra-hospital transfer. We conducted a review of the literature to summarize the state-of-the-art of BSL. Medline, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and Scopus databases were utilized to identify all relevant publications. Indications, contraindications, technical aspects, and outcomes are discussed. The procedure is safe, feasible, and effective. When other diagnostic tools fail to diagnose or exclude an intra-abdominal condition in ICU patients, BSL should be preferred over exploratory laparotomy.

Background: When homeostasis is disturbed it can occur a pathological event named inflammation. The main drugs used in the treatment consist of the non-steroidal and steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. However, the side effects remain an obstacle during the treatments. In this work we aimed to evaluate three new regioisomers analogues of naphthyl-N-acylhydrazone derivatives. Methods: Acute models of inflammation in vivo (formalin-induced licking and carrageenan-induced inflammation) as well as in vitro were used to evaluate the effects of LASSBio-2039, LASSBio-2040, and LASSBio-2041. Results: All three substances (at 1, 10 or 30 µmol/kg) presented significant effect in the in vivo model reducing leukocyte migration, nitric oxide (NO) and interleukin-1β production. It was observed that only LASSBio-2039 significantly reduced cell migration in vitro. None of the LASSBios did affect inducible nitric oxide synthase activity nor presented NO scavenger effect. It was not observed any toxic effect neither in vivo nor in vitro. The new regioisomers analogues of naphthyl-N-acylhydrazone derivatives presented a significant anti-inflammatory activity suggesting LASSBio-2039 with a direct effect in leukocytes migratory capacity. Conclusions: Taken together the data indicate that these substances present promising effect for de development a prototype for new drugs.

People working in the field of Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI) often state that they perceive animal welfare as a matter of paramount importance, nevertheless most of scientific literature focuses on the effectiveness of interventions from the user's perspective. Before focusing on animals’ management and welfare during the interaction with users, it would be important to ensure animal welfare during their “ordinary lives”. This article reports information and considerations about the management of donkeys involved in AAI in Northern Italy. Six facilities with several years of experience in Donkey-Assisted Interventions were visited for the purpose of an initial data collection regarding the management of donkeys involved in AAI. A general lack of knowledge regarding the nutritional needs of the donkey and a heterogeneity of practices in the field of its preventive medicine have been identified; the study also highlighted a need for efforts to create a more stimulating and enriched environment for animals involved in AAI. Some possible areas for improvement in the management of donkeys involved in AAI have been highlighted. Further studies are necessary to provide a more comprehensive picture of the welfare of donkeys involved in this context.

Visual exploration of complex data helps interpretation, especially in the case of omics data analysis in life sciences and clinical research. Generating and analysing omics data requires bioinformatic skills, while they are interpreted by domain experts, for whom parsing large and complex data structures may be challenging. However, outcomes of visual analytics are often difficult to quantify, which emphasises precision and reproducibility, especially for research on human diseases. Here, we propose a workflow combining a reproducible computational environment with a dedicated visualisation functionality for systems biology diagrams. By linking the Galaxy with the MINERVA Platform, we visualise and explore COVID-19 transcriptomic data to demonstrate the utility of our workflow. Visualised data recapitulate findings of the original publication and offer new insights about the COVID-19 pathology. Our results offer a blueprint for quick prototyping of computational workflows that facilitate communication and exploration of complex data in biomedical research.

(1) Background: In Eugenia Stipitata Mac Vaugh (Arazá), there is an abundance of flavonoids, carotenoids, and phenolic acids, which are bioactive compounds with antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, antiulcer, and cardiovascular disease prevention benefits. Therefore, the aim of this review is to compile the compounds that have been identified in the fruit and gather information about secondary metabolites to establish their potential preventive and therapeutic effects; (2) Methods: a literature search was conducted in repositories and databases such as Science Direct, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, Agriculture Collection Gale, SAGE, OXFORD University, DOAJ, among others. Articles identifying and quantifying bioactive compounds present in Arazá were included; (3) Results: Five studies meeting the inclusion criteria were incorporated, resulting in the compilation of 82 compounds, of which 24 were identified and quantified, while 58 were solely identified. This review was able to identify and report the concentration, and in some cases, the quantity, of phenolic compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capabilities present in Arazá; (4) Conclusions: With this scope, it was possible to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the fruit's potential to potentially enhance health aspects, thereby providing greater prominence and added value to this product, allowing for more frequent inclusion in the diets of consumers, and even enabling exportation.

Large office buildings are responsible for a substantial portion of energy consumption in urban districts. However, thorough assessments regarding the Nordic countries are still lacking. In this paper we analyse the largest dataset to date for a Nordic office building, by considering a case study located in Stockholm, Sweden, that is occupied by nearly a thousand employees.Distinguishing the lighting and occupants’ appliances energy use from heating and cooling, we can estimate the impact of occupancy without any schedule data. A standard frequentist analysis is compared with Bayesian inference, and the according regression formulas are listed in tables that are easy to implement into building performance simulations (BPS). Monthly as well as seasonal correlations are addressed, showing the critical importance of occupancy.A simple method, grounded on the power drain measurements aimed at generating boundary conditions for the BPS, is also introduced; it shows how, for this type of data and number of occupants, no more complexities are needed in order to obtain reliable predictions. For an average year, we overestimate the measured cumulative consumption by only 4.7%. The model can be easily generalised to a variety of datasets.

The authors introduce the GRASS GIS add-on module g.citation as an initial implementation of a fine-grained software citation concept. The module extends the existing citation capabilities of GRASS GIS, which until now only provide for automated citation of the software project as a whole, authored by the GRASS Development Team, without reference to individual persons. The functionalities of the new module enable individual code citation for each of the over 500 implemented functionalities, including add-on modules. Three different classes of citation output are provided in a variety human- and machine-readable formats. The implications of this reference implementation of scientific software citation for both for the GRASS GIS project and the OSGeo foundation are outlined.

To improve efficacy and safety of sunscreen emulsions, UV‐filter skin permeation could be kept as low as possible by reducing UV‐filter content or changing emulsion composition. In this work, different lipid phase ratio (12, 14 and 16% w/w) were assessed for their ability to affect the technological and sensory properties of O/W emulsions in which bemotrizinol (BMTZ), a broad spectrum sunscreen agent, was incorporated free or loaded into nanostructured lipid nanocarriers (NLC) to reduce its release from the vehicle and, hence, its skin permeation. The following technological properties were evaluated in vitro by suitable methodologies: spreadability, viscosity, pH, occlusion factor, BMTZ release, sun protection factor (SPF). Sensory attributes were assessed by trained panelists in three different phases: before/during pick‐up, rub‐in, after application. Raising the lipid phase ratio led to an increase of viscosity and to a corresponding drop of spreadability while the incorporation of BMTZ‐loaded NLC determined a decrease of occlusion factor and an increase of SPF. No BMTZ release was observed from all emulsions. Sensory attributes were mainly affected by lipid phase ratio. These results suggest that lipid phase ratio and BMTZ incorporation into NLC could contribute to determine technological and sensory properties of O/W emulsions.

The health benefits of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) are related with its chemical composition and the presence of bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties. The aim of this study was evaluate antioxidant compounds (pigments, CoQ10 and phenolic compounds) and antioxidant properties of EVOO from the same region comparing different cultivars (Hojiblanca and Arbequina), harvest year and crop stage. Antioxidant properties of oils were studied before and after a gastrointestinal digestion process, by in vitro assays (DPPH, ABTS and FRAP) and antioxidant markers in Caco-2 cells (reactive oxygen species production). The content of bioactive compounds measured was significantly affected by cultivar and harvest year (except for carotenoids) and by the crop stage (except for coenzyme Q10). Higher amount of coenzyme Q10 was observed in Hojiblanca than in Arbequina EVOO. Total phenol content and antioxidant properties were also different depending on cultivar and harvest year and the in vitro digestion process strongly improved antioxidant marker values. Antioxidant potential in bioaccessible fractions was mainly related with content of coenzyme Q10 and phenolic compounds in EVOO. Chemometric analysis showed that the oils were clearly classified by cultivars, harvest and crop stage, according with chemical composition and antioxidant activity analyzed in the present study

Sequence analysis is a robust methodological framework that has gained popularity in various fields, including transportation research. It provides a comprehensive approach to understanding the dynamics and patterns of individual behaviors over time. In the context of the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona, applying sequence analysis to the mobility surveys offers valuable insights into the sequencing and order of travel activities and modes, shedding light on the complex interrelationship between individuals, their travel choices, and the built environment. The Barcelona travel surveys collect detailed data on individuals' travel behavior, such as trip purpose, duration, mode of transportation, and origin-destination pairs. Sequence analysis allows for examining travel behaviors as dynamic processes, unveiling travel patterns' underlying structure and evolution in a day. A data analytics methodological approach is described; it enables the identification of common travel patterns and the exploration of variations across different demographic groups or geographical regions. Sequence analysis reveals insights into the factors influencing mode choice and potential opportunities for sustainable transport interventions. The paper proposes a methodological approach to discover homogeneous travel behavioral segments from diaries included in travel surveys in order to refine transport policies to selected segments by transportation planners and authorities