Mandibular advancement devices (MAD) are an effective alternative treatment to CPAP. However, different maneuvers have been performed during the performance of drug sleep-induced endoscopy (DISE) to mimic the effect of MAD. Using the Selector Avance Mandibular (SAM) device, we aimed to identify MAD candidates during DISE using a titratable, reproducible, and measurable maneuver. This DISE-SAM protocol may help to find the relationship between the severity of the respiratory disorder and the degree of response, and to determine the advancement required to improve the collapsibility of the upper airway. Explorations were performed in 161 patients (132 males; 29 females) with a mean age of 46.81 (SD = 11.42) years, a BMI of 27.90 (SD = 4.19) kg/m2 and a mean AHI of 26.51 (SD = 21.23). Results showed no relationship between severity and MAD recommendation. Also, there was a weak positive relationship between the advancement required to obtain a response and the disease severity. Using the DISE-SAM protocol, the response and the range of mandibular protrusion were assessed, avoiding the inter-examiner bias of the jaw thrust maneuver. We suggest prescribing MAD as a single, alternative, or multiple treatment approaches following the SAM recommendations in a personalized design.

Family Parvoviridae consists of small, non-enveloped viruses with linear, single-stranded DNA genomes of approximately 4-6 kilobases, subdivided into 3 subfamilies: Parvovirinae, Densovirinae and Hamaparvovirinae. Parvoviruses of aquatic animals infect crustaceans, mollusks, and finfish. In this review, these parvoviruses, which are highly host-specific and are associated with mass morbidity and mortality in both farmed and wild aquatic animals are described. They include Cherax quadricarinatus densovirus (CqDV) in freshwater crayfish; Sea star-associated densovirus (SSaDV) in sunflower sea star on the Northeastern Pacific Coast; Clinch densovirus 1 in freshwater mussels in the Clinch River, Virginia, and Tennessee, USA, in subfamily Densovirinae; Hepatopancreatic parvovirus (HPV) and Infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHHNV) in farmed shrimp worldwide; Syngnathid ichthamaparvovirus 1 in gulf pipefish in the Gulf of Mexico and parts of South America; and Tilapia parvovirus (TiPV) in farmed tilapia in China and Thailand, in the subfamily Hamaparvovirinae. In addition, virus megataxonomy has enabled the inclusion of novel parvoviruses detected in both diseased and healthy animals using metagenomic sequencing for virus discovery, such as the novel zander parvovirus from zander in Hungary, novel salmon parvovirus from sockeye salmon smolts in British Columbia-Canada, and Spawner-isolated mortality virus (SMV) from shrimp broodstock in Australia.

We describe a family of paraxial and quasi-monochromatic optical wave packets with finite energy and smoothly shaped amplitude in space and time that develops a singularity in the intensity when spatiotemporally focused by imparting a converging spherical wave front and a negative temporal chirp. This singular behavior upon ideal focusing is manifested in actual focusing with finite apertures and in media with high-order dispersion in an "exploding" behavior featuring indefinitely increasing concentration of the energy when opening the aperture radius, thus exercising a continuous control on the focal intensity and spatial and temporal resolution. These wave packets offer a new way of focusing that outperforms what can be achieved with standard Gaussian wave packets in terms of focal intensity and resolution, and new possibilities in applications where energy concentration and its control are crucial.

Probiotics are microorganisms infused in products for health benefits including acceleration of nutrient digestion, however, it is also important to ensure the safety prior to incorporation. Here, we present evidence of the ability of two probiotic isolates,Lacticaseibacillus paracasei BCRC-16100 and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei ZFM54, in the (1) enhancement of carbohydrate digestion, (2) tolerance to stress, and (3) antibiotic resistance. Approaches include whole genome sequence (WGS) analysis and bioactivity assays. WGS revealed genes suggesting the ability of the two isolates to promote carbohydrate digestion, tolerance to stress and antibiotic resistance. Carbohydrate digestive ability was confirmed through a biochemical assay where the two isolates cause glucose release from starch. The two isolates also showed versatility in a range of temperature and alcohol concentration. For antibiotic resistance particularly on vancomycin, there are three mechanisms namely transporter control, transcriptional regulation, and efflux pump. Furthermore, promoter and transposable element analysis showed that some of the active antibiotic resistant (AbR) genes can be laterally transferred. Altogether, we show the potential of two probiotic isolates to be incorporated in products for improved carbohydrate digestion and the need to address the removal of active and mobile antibiotic resistance genes that may compromise safety.

Modern life implies a constant exposure of living organisms to electromagnetic fields generated by human made technology. The question of whether or not electromagnetic fields in the non-ionizing frequency range can affect cellular functions, increasing the risk of cancer or another pathologies is currently a subject of interest for scientific community of several disciplines of physics, biology, chemistry and medicine. The first part of this short review presents briefly the possible mechanism of interaction of electromagnetic fields in cellular level based in theoretical models and experimental results. The second part refers to experimental observations published by several authors about the potential cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of electromagnetic fields. Results of researches are no yet conclusive enough to accept or reject the genotoxic, carcinogenic or cytotoxic potential of these fields. Up to date the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified the X, gamma and ultraviolet radiation as carcinogenic and the fields generated by radio frequencies as possibly carcinogenic.

The confinement experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a rethink of the teaching-learning process to which teachers have responded without planning and instead using their resources. This study aims to analyze the relationships between work-family interactions, technostress, and perceived organizational support in teachers during the confinement period in Spain that began in March 2020. An online survey was administered to 640 pre-school, primary, and secondary school teachers. Positive reciprocal work-family interactions and their relationship with organizational support were found, with differences according to gender, with women showing a more negative perception of the impact on the family. There were no marked levels of technostress in the overall sample, although higher levels of perceived ineffectiveness and skepticism were found in teachers aged 46 years or older. Teachers in private and subsidized schools showed a higher level of perceived support than those in public schools. There is a need to continue this work to verify the values of these dimensions in other contexts and to apply institutional measures and public policies to improve these indicators in this group.

The development of an equipment starts from an effective design activity. The concept selection process is an activity that is entailed in the design stage and its relevance in the design process cannot be overemphasized because it informs the choice of optimal conceptual design from a set of alternative design. Hence, there is a need to accrue efforts to the concept selection process because of its importance. This article presents the identification of optimal conceptual design as a Multicriteria decision making model by assessing the suitability of Fuzzy Measurement Alternatives and Ranking according to COmpromise Solution (MARCOS). The Fuzzy MARCOS model was developed to access four alternative conceptual designs of briquetting machines considering eight design features with several sub features. The fuzzy MARCOS model was able to rank the conceptual designs and the results obtained from the decision analysis showed that the Fuzzy MARCOS model was able to rank the designs based on their performance and the final values of the overall utility function. The overall utility function is a based on the utility degree of the conceptual design alternatives in terms of the best and worst designs identified by the model. The utility degree created a platform for comparison on how the design alternatives varies from the best and worst design.

Dogs play an important role in the transmission of Leishmania infantum but epidemiologic and clinical studies of canine tegumentary leishmaniasis (CTL) are scarce. In an endemic area of human American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis (ATL) caused by Leishmania braziliensis, we determine the prevalence and incidence of both CTL and subclinical (SC) L. braziliensis infection in dogs and evaluated if the presence of dogs with the CTL or the SC L. braziliensis infection is associated with the occurrence of human ATL. SC infection in healthy animals and CTL in animals with ulcers was determined by PCR on biopsied healthy skin or on the ulcer or detecting antibodies against soluble leishmania antigen. We compared the occurrence of human ATL in homes with dogs with CTL or SC infection with control homes without dogs or with dogs without CTL or SC infection. The prevalence of SC infection was 35% and of CTL 31%. The incidence of SC infection in dogs was 4.6% and of CTL was 9.3%. The frequency of ATL in humans was 50% in homes with infected dogs and 13% in homes without L. braziliensis infection in dogs. CTL and SC infection is highly prevalent, and dogs may participate in the transmission chain of L. braziliensis.

Eryngium foetidum L., a biennial herb with diverse applications in food and traditional medicine, holds economic and pharmacological significance. Given its growing commercial interest, implementing biotechnological approaches like plant tissue culture is vital for sustainable propagation and metabolite production. In this study, we investigated the in vitro photoautotrophic potential of E. foetidum, examining growth, chlorophyll a fluorescence, photosynthetic pigments, and anatomical features under different sucrose concentrations and gas exchange rates. Acclimatization and survival rates of plants after ex vitro transfer were also assessed. E. foetidum exhibited robust growth in both photoautotrophic and photomixotrophic conditions, with natural ventilation significantly enhancing plant development. Chlorophyll a fluorescence and photosynthetic performance were influenced by sucrose and gas exchange, highlighting the importance of these factors in plant micropropagation. Moreover, the species demonstrated remarkable plasticity during acclimatization, with high survival rates and rapid inflorescence emission. The research provides valuable insights into optimizing in vitro cultivation conditions for E. foetidum, emphasizing the potential for large-scale clonal propagation and exploring secondary metabolites. The observed phenotypic plasticity underscores the adaptability of the species to diverse environments. These biotechnological strategies open avenues for future studies, including the application of elicitors for enhanced secondary metabolite production.

Primary Health Care is crucial in the healthcare system, being the first level of contact with health services for users and patients to take action using the available resources. Patient care units are created to facilitate direct user participation through the circuit of complaints, grievances, and suggestions, allowing the analysis of the population's unmet expectations and needs. To study complaints and grievances regarding the treatment and information received by users in the Santiago and Barbanza healthcare area during the year 2022. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted, in which complaints filed by patients in the year 2022 in the Santiago and Barbanza healthcare area were analyzed. A total of 326 users who filed a total of 512 complaints were studied in the year 2022, with 358 (70.0%) related to treatment/information. The mean age was 33.5±16.2 years. 72.4% were women (n=236). A Pearson correlation was performed to establish whether there was a dependence between the number of healthcare visits in both primary care and hospital settings in 2022 and the number of complaints filed in the same year. Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.14; 95% CI (0.02 - 0.27), p=0.012. There is a correlation between the number of consultations and the number of complaints filed. Frequent users are more likely to file a complaint. However, there is no correlation between the number of consultations and the likelihood of filing a complaint regarding treatment/information. Therefore, there seems to be a good relationship between healthcare personnel and users, which impacts patient satisfaction.

The objective of this was to evaluate the effects of organic fertilization on biomass production in Urochloa spp. pastures, and the soil biological and physical properties in the Colombian Amazon region. Three pastures crops (Urochloa decumbens, Urochloa humidicola and Urochloa brizantha) with 5 years old were examined in a hill landscape. A randomized complete blocks design covering an area of 5005 m2, with 1 m separation between units to minimize edge effects. Highly significant differences in Urochloa spp. biomass production were observed before and after organic fertilization (i.e., initial time: 992.19±97.66 kg DM ha-1 vs. final time: 1920.94±155.44 kg DM ha-1 vs.), but not between different fertilization treatments. The interaction between the treatment and time was significant for total density (p=0.0300) and richness (p=0.0300) of soil macrofauna. Furthermore, the interaction between treatment and soil depth was significant for bulk density (p=0.0187). The linear mixed effects analysis showed that soil bulk density and penetration resistance were lower in 0 - 10 cm depth than that observed in 10 - 20 depth and 20 - 30 cm depth. Overall, the application of organic fertilizers had a significant and positive effect on Urochloa spp. forage biomass and on the physical and biological properties of soils that had historically been affected by extensive livestock farming in a deforested hill landscape in the Colombian Amazon region.

The electronic structure and the participation of the simplest azomethine imine (AI) in [3+2] cycloaddition (32CA) reactions have been analysed within the Molecular Electron Density Theory (MEDT) using DFT calculations at the MPWB1K/6-311G(d) level. Electron localisation function (ELF) topological analysis reveals that AI has a pseudoradical structure, while the conceptual DFT reactivity indices characterise this TAC as a moderate electrophile and a good nucleophile. The non-polar 32CA reaction of AI with ethylene takes place through a one-step mechanism with low activation energy, 5.3 kcal/mol-1. A bonding evolution theory (BET) study indicates that this reaction takes place through a non-concerted [2n+2τ] mechanism in which the C–C bond formation is clearly anticipated prior to the C–N one. On the other hand, the polar 32CA reaction of AI with dicyanoethylene takes place through a two-stage one-step mechanism. Now, the more favourable regioisomeric transition state structure (TS) is located 8.5 kcal•mol⁻¹ below the reagents, in complete agreement with the high polar character of the TS. The current MEDT study makes it possible to extend Domingo’s classification of 32CA reactions to a new pra-type of reactivity.

The 32CA reactions of a series of pairs of bent three-atom-components (B-TACs) and linear TACs (L-TACs) towards electrophilic dicyanoethylene (DCE) have been studied within the Molecular Electron Density Theory in order to understand their different reactivity. ELF analysis indicates that while pseudodiradical B-TACs change their electronic structure to pseudoradical or carbenoid L-TACs upon dehydrogenation, zwitterionic B-TACs experience no remarkable change. Analysis of the CDFT indices indicates that five of the nine studied TACs have a strong nucleophilic character, thus participating in polar reactions towards electrophilic ethylenes. The activation energies of the 32CA reactions of the nine TACs towards electrophilic DCE range from 0.6 to 22.0 kcal·mol-1, which are by between 2.0 and 10.1 kcal·mol-1 lower than those involved in the non-polar 32CA reactions with ethylene. In general, B-TACs are more reactive than their L-TAC counterparts. A change of the regioselectivity is found in these polar 32CA reactions; in general, while B-TACs are meta regioselective, L-TACs are ortho regioselective. Analysis of the geometrical parameters indicates that at all TSs, the formation of the single bond involving the most electrophilic C4 carbon of DCE is more advanced than that involving the C5 one. A change of the asynchronicity in the reactions involving B-TACs and L-TACs is also found.

The loss of native forests in Argentina has been a concern, driven by factors such as agriculture expansion and urbanization. Therefore, understanding the conservation status of sampled populations and their adaptation to different plant communities is essential. This research focused on the heterogeneity analysis of the associated woody and semi-woody vegetation to Hexachlamys edulis (O. Berg) Kausel & D. Legrand, a species commonly known as "ubajay," in Entre Ríos, Argentina. The study aimed to record the species present in the populations, explore plant communities associated with H. edulis and identify other potentially useful agroforestry species, compare locations based on the similarity of accompanying species, and explain the conservation status of each population. Results revealed a total of 71 species belonging to 39 families. Myrtaceae family was the most relevant, particularly in terms of native species representation. The analysis of biodiversity indicators, including richness, Shannon index and dominance revealed variations among the studied sites. The anthropic indicator highlighted the impact of human activity, with Concordia showing a higher ratio of native to exotic species. Cluster analysis and ordination techniques revealed groupings of censuses from the same localities, indicating differences in vegetation composition between sites. Significant differences in species composition were found among the sampled populations. Overall, the study can serve as baseline information for future research on the dynamics of vegetation in these areas and on H. edulis studied species. Finally, these findings contribute to understanding how wild species like H. edulis adapt to different plant communities, which might be valuable for developing new agroecological approaches or identifying potential companion planting species in future agricultural systems.

The purpose of the evaluation of the Peruvian energy generation system is to project the electricity generation and demand until the year 2050. To achieve this, three alternative scenarios have been defined and analyzed using the LEAP (Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning) software. The scenarios are as follows: the first one, Business-as-Usual scenario, based on normal trends according to historical data and referencing projections made by Peruvian state entities; the second one is focused on Energy Efficiency, the highlighted characteristic is taking into consideration the efficient conditions in transmission and distribution of electric energy; and the third one, centered on Geothermal Energy, focused on the development of this type of energy source and prioritizing it. The primary purpose of this analysis is to identity advantages and disadvantages inherent in each scenario in order to get the best of each one. In this way, the intention is to propose solutions based on Peru’s national reality or possible uses of the country’s energy potential to supply its energy demand. Currently, Peru’s energy demand relies on fossil fuels, hydraulic, and thermal energy. However, there is the possibility of transforming this system into a sustainable one, by strengthening existing and growing energy sources such as solar and wind energy, and new technologies for hydraulic and thermal energy, in addition to considering geothermal energy as the main energy source in the third scenario. The new system mentioned satisfactorily indicate that the CO2 equivalent emissions decrease significantly in the third scenario, with a 15.8% reduction compared to the first scenario and a 9.7% reduction in comparison to the second. On the other hand, the second scenario shows a 5.6% decrease in CO2 emissions compared to the first, resulting from improvements in technology and energy efficiency without requiring significant modifications or considerable investments, as in the third scenario.

The contribution of academics and researchers to the discussion around sustainable rural development planning and its impact on rural communities has grown exponentially in recent years. Understanding trends in sustainable rural development research requires considering the different factors involved and affecting people from a holistic approach. This review examines, through bibliometric studies, the scientific knowledge generated on sustainable rural development planning in the last 50 years, analyzing 6,895 articles published in journals between 1970 and 2020. The results reveal the existence of three clusters and an important growth is observed to respond to the continuous needs in relation to sustainable rural development. This research shows the evolution of a new approach for the planning of sustainable rural development projects in postmodernity: Working with People (WWP). This WWP model, as a conceptual framework from social learning has been validated as a novel proposal in numerous contexts. The bibliometric analysis shows an evolution "From Putting the Last first" to "Working with People in Rural Development" research and the contributions of influential teachers such as Chambers and Cernea. These bibliometric analyses demonstrate the correct approach of WWP model, and open new fields of research in the planning of sustainable rural development projects.

The gold deposits of the eastern region of Cuba are genetically related to the lithological formations of the island arc and the ophiolitic complex, which have been studied and exploited since the time of the Spanish colonization in the mid-sixteenth century. These deposits are part of the so-called Aguas Claras-Guajabales mineral field, in the Holguín Province (Cuba) and lie in an extensive elongated strip of approximately 15 km in length. The object of this work is to make an orderly, detailed, and chronological review of the geological and mining work carried out in this region as well as to highlight the degree of study achieved in each of the stages of research. To facilitate this work, an extensive bibliographic review of all available materials was planned and carried out, such as reports, manuals, monographs, and articles. The results obtained from this study highlight that gold mineralization is closely linked to metasomatic processes produced by the circulation of hydrothermal fluids that affected different lithologies of both the volcanic island arc and the ophiolitic complex, it is noteworthy that the highest gold contents are mainly where the lithologies contact each other. This highlights the fact that the presence of alterations such as serpentinization, listvenitization, rodingitization and propylitization have played a primary role in the deposition of gold during mineralization processes. This work could be a very useful guide for future research in this region, as it is an orderly, concrete, and practical compilation of the characteristics of the mineralization and alterations, as well as a precise indication of the spatial position, thicknesses, and contents of the gold horizons.

The melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5 (MDA5; encoded by the IFIH1 gene) mediates the activation of the interferon pathway in response to viral infection. This protein is also upregulated in autoimmune diseases and psoriasis skin lesions. IFIH1 gene variants that increased the MDA5 activity have been associated with increased risk for immune mediated diseases, including psoriasis. Our aim was to determine the association between three IFIH1 variants (rs35337543, intron8 +1G>C; rs35744605, Glu627Stop; and rs1990760, Ala946Thr) and the main clinical findings in a cohort of Spanish patients with psoriatic disease (N=572; 77% early-onset). Early-onset psoriasis (EOPs) had a significant higher frequency of severe disease and Cw6+. Carriers of the 946Thr variant were more common in EOPs (p<0.001), and the effect was more pronounced among Cw6-negatives. This variant was also associated with an increased risk of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) independently of other factors (OR=1.62, 95%CI=1.11-2.37). The rs3533754 and rs35744605 have been reported as risk factors for viral infection and protective for autoimmune diseases, but we did not find significant differences between the two onset age or PsA groups. However, due to the reduced frequency of the two variants (<0.02) the size of our cohort was too low to conclude a significant effect. In conclusion, the common IFIH1 rs1990760 T allele that has been linked to increased gene expression was significantly more frequent in EOPs patients. This variant was also an independent risk factor for PsA in our cohort. This risk allele was in linkage disequilibrium with other variants previously associated with the risk of psoriasis and PsA. Our study reinforces the widely reported role of IFIH1 gene variants on psoriatic disease and other immune mediated diseases.

Graves' disease (GD) is an autoimmune disorder in which Thyrotropin Receptor Antibodies (TRAb) continuously stimulate thyroid receptors, leading to excessive production of thyroid hormones. TRAb also affect the orbital tissues, causing Graves' ophthalmopathy. Treatment to control Graves' disease consists of antithyroid drugs, radioiodine and thyroidectomy, and through such treatments, TRAb is reduced and the disease is alleviated. The mechanism by which TRAb, which play a critical role in the pathogenesis of Graves’ disease, decreases after GD treatment is still unknown. This paper presents a theoretical mechanism of how GD patients maintain a vicious cycle and how GD treatment can reduce the TRAb levels and breaks the cycle using stress-based ideas.

The [3+2] cycloaddition (32CA) reactions of strongly nucleophilic norbornadiene (NBD) with simplest diazoalkane (DAA) and three DAAs of increased electrophilicity have been studied within the Molecular Electron Density Theory (MEDT) at the MPWB1K/6-311G(d,p) computational level. These pmr-type 32CA reactions follow an asynchronous one-step mechanism with activation enthalpies ranging from 17.7 to 27.9 kcal·mol-1 in acetonitrile. The high exergonic character of these reactions makes them irreversible. The presence of electron-withdrawing (EW) substituents in the DAA increases the activation enthalpies, in complete agreement with the experimental slowing-down of the reactions, but contrary to the Conceptual DFT prediction. Despite the nucleophilic and electrophilic character of the reagents, the global electron density transfer at the TSs indicates rather non-polar 32CA reactions. The present MEDT study allows establishing that the depopulation of the NNC core in this series of DAAs with the increase of the EW character of the substituents present at the carbon center is responsible for the experimentally found deceleration.

The regioselectivity in non-polar [3+2] cycloaddition (32CA) reactions has been studied within the Molecular Electron Density Theory (MEDT) at the B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level. To this end, the 32CA reactions of nine simplest three-atom-components (TACs) with 2-methylpropane were selected. The electronic structure of the reagents has been characterised through the Electron Localisation Function (ELF) and the Conceptual DFT. The energy profiles of the two regioisomeric reaction paths and ELF of the transition state structures are studied to understand the origin of the regioselectivity in these 32CA reactions. This MEDT study permits to conclude that the least electronegative ends X1 atom of these TACs controls the asynchronicity in the C-X (X = C,N,O) single bond formation, and consequently, the regioselectivity. This behaviour is a consequence of the fact that the creation of the non-bonding electron density required for the formation of the new CX single bonds has a lesser energetic cost at the least electronegative X1 atom than that at the Z3 one.

We study the nonlinear absorptive and dispersive optical properties of molecular systems immersed in a thermal reservoir interacting with a Four-wave Mixing (FWM) signal. Residual spin-orbit Hamiltonians are considered in order to take into account the internal structure of the molecule. As system parameters in the dissipation processes, transverse and longitudinal relaxation times are considered for stochastic solute-solvent interaction processes. The intramolecular coupling effects on the optical responses are studied using a molecule model consisting of two coupled harmonic curves of electronic energies with displaced minima in nuclear energies and positions. In this study, it was considered the complete frequency space is considered through the pump-probe detuning, not restricting the derivations to only maximums of population oscillations. This approach opens the possibility of studying the behavior of optical responses, which is very useful in experimental design. Our results indicate the sensitivity of the optical responses to parameters of the molecular structure as well as to those derived from the photonic process of FWM signal generation.

The development of language and communication patterns has been significantly impacted by the internet's quick advancement. The ability to instantly communicate globally and engage with people of different linguistic origins is one of the main advantages of using the internet. Internet use has significant positive effects on language growth, but it also brings with it drawbacks that need to be addressed. Online communication's casual atmosphere can occasionally cause grammar norms to deteriorate and non-standard language patterns to proliferate. With the information stated in this paper, the aim now is to collect literature on the benefits of internet usage and the evolution of language to provide substantive information in regard to this matter. In order to assist students in navigating the complexity of Internet communication, educational institutions should incorporate digital literacy into their curricula. This involves upholding strict requirements for traditional language proficiency while teaching students how to use digital technologies efficiently. The Internet should be used to support the revitalization and preservation of endangered languages. This can entail setting up community forums, digital archives, and online learning portals where language users can interact and exchange resources.

School-aged children may benefit from education interventions focused on healthy eating and physical activity to improve their quality of life. This article aims to review scientific evidence on food and nutrition education (FNE) in Spanish-speaking countries for the prevention of overweight and obesity in school-aged children (6-12 y). Articles were searched between April and August 2021. The searches were conducted using MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and SciELO. The primary search for articles focused on the experience of FNE interventions in Spanish-speaking countries. Overall, 518 articles were found and 33 studies were eligible for data extraction. Forty-two percent of the studies had a focus on FNE and 64% were focused on describing the eating habits of schoolchildren. Nutritional assessments (anthropometric) were found frequently with 91% and 30% of the studies focused on physical activity. All interventions focused on preventing or reducing overweight and obesity in school-age children. Educational, cognitive, dietary, and physical activity practices were described, whit being educational the most frequent intervention. Interventions reported positive effects of FNE interventions to improve knowledge and practices of healthy lifestyles in school-age children.

The intramolecular ionic Diel-Alder (IIDA) reactions of two dieniminiums have been studied within the Molecular Electron Density Theory (MEDT) at the B97XD/6-311G(d,p) computational level. ELF topological analysis of dieniminiums shows that its electronic structure can been seen as the sum of those of butadiene and ethaniminium. The superelectrophilic character of dieniminiums accounts for the high intramolecular global electron density transfer taking place between the diene and iminium frameworks at the transition state structures (TSs) of these IIDA reactions. The activation enthalpy associated to the IIDA reaction of the experimental dieniminium, 8.7 kcal·mol-1, is closer to that of the ionic Diels-Alder (I-DA) reaction between butadiene and ethaniminium, 9.3 kcal·mol-1. However, the activation Gibbs free energy of the IIDA reaction is 12.7 kcal·mol-1 lower than that of the intermolecular I-DA reaction. The strong exergonic character of the IIDA reaction, higher than 17 kcal·mol-1, makes the reaction irreversible. These IIDA reactions present a total re/exo and si/endo diastereoselectivity, which is controlled by the most favourable chair conformation of the tetramethylene chain. Electron localization function (ELF) topological analysis of the single bond formation indicates that these IIDA reactions take place through a non-concerted two-stage one-step mechanism. Finally, ELF and atoms-in-molecules (AIM) topological analyses of the TS associated to inter and intramolecular processes show the great similitude among them.

The ionic Diels-Alder (I-DA) reactions of a series of six iminium cations with cyclopentadiene have been studied within the Molecular Electron Density Theory (MEDT). The superelectrophilic character of iminium cations,  > 8.20 eV, accounts for the high reactivity of these species participating in I-DA reactions. The activation energies are found between 13 and 20 kcal·mol-1 lower in energy than those associated to the corresponding Diels-Alder (DA) reactions of neutral imines. These reactions are low endo selective as a consequence of the cationic character of the TSs, but highly regioselective. Solvents have poor effects on the relative energies, and an unappreciable effect in the geometries. In dichloromethane the activation energies increase slightly as a consequence of the better solvation of the iminium cations than the cationic TSs. ELF topological analysis of the bonding changes along the I-DA reactions shows that they are very similar to those in polar DA reactions. The present MEDT study makes it possible establishing that the global electron density transfer (GEDT) taking place at the TSs of I-DA reactions, and not steric (Pauli) repulsions such as have been recently proposed, are responsible for the features of these type of DA reactions.

Clinker production is being reduced worldwide in response to the need to drastically lower greenhouse gas emissions. The trend began in the nineteen seventies with the advent of mineral additions to replace clinker. Blast furnace slag and fly ash, industrial by-products that were being stockpiled in waste heaps at the time, have not commonly been included in cements. Supply of these additions is no longer guaranteed, however, due to restrained activity in the source industries for the same reasons as in clinker production. The search is consequently on for other additions that may lower pollutant gas emissions without altering cement performance. In this research bentonite, a very common clay, was used as such an addition directly, with no need for pre-calcination, an still novel approach that has gone little explored to date for reinforced concrete with structural applications. The results of the mechanical strength and chemical resistance (to sulfates, carbonation and chlorides) tests conducted are promising. The carbonation findings proved to be of particular interest, for that is the area where cement with mineral additions tend to be least effective. In the bentonite-bearing material analysed here, however, carbonation resistance was found to be low as or lower than observed in plain Portland cement.

In this work, optimal consumption and investment strategies are derived for risk-averse investors under the 4/2 stochastic volatility class of models. We work under an expected utility (EUT) framework and consider a Constant Relative Risk Aversion (CRRA) investor, who might also be ambiguity-averse. The corresponding Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) and HJB-Isaacs (HJBI) equations are solved in closed-form for a subset of the parametric space and under some restrictions on the portfolio setting, for complete markets. Conditions for proper changes of measure and well defined solutions are provided. These are the first analytical solutions for the 4/2 stochastic volatility model and the embedded 3/2 model for the type of excess returns established in .

Several studies have already demonstrated the relationship between the loss of natural habitats and the incidence of diseases caused by vectors, such as dengue, which is an acute fever disease, considered a serious public health problem. The aim of the present study was to analyze the relationship between land use changes between 2009 and 2019 and the occurrence of dengue fever in 2015 and 2019 by municipality, using the state of Minas Gerais as a case study. For this, secondary data obtained from openly available sources were used. Natural vegetation cover data were obtained from the MAPBiomas platform and dengue occurrence data from the Ministry of Health, in addition to socioeconomic indicators from the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics. Between 2015 and 2019, 1,255,731 cases of dengue were recorded throughout the state of Minas Gerais, ranging from 0 to 227 per thousand inhabitants between municipalities. The occurrence of dengue was distributed throughout all regions of Minas Gerais, affected by climatic and socioeconomic aspects. In general, municipalities with net loss of natural vegetation, predominantly located in the Cerrado biome, had the highest number of dengue cases in the studied period. Despite the significant positive relationship between these two variables, three of the eight socioeconomic parameters analyzed also affected the occurrence of dengue: population density, human development index (both positively) and Gini inequality index (negatively). These results indicate that, contrary to expectations, municipalities with better social conditions had more dengue cases. Our study indicates that natural vegetation is, directly or indirectly, involved in the ecosystem service of dengue control, despite the occurrence of this disease being affected by multiple factors that interact in a complex way. Thus, policies towards reducing deforestation must be complemented by a continuous investment in public health policies and reduction of social inequalities to efficiently control dengue fever.

The intricate mechanisms of the immune response elicited by vaccines and the interplay between the immune system and the central nervous system (CNS) are poorly understood. This review explores these mechanisms, emphasizing the interplay between the immune system and the central nervous system (CNS). A critical aspect is the examination of how vaccine-induced immune responses can interact with the CNS, influencing neuroinflammation and neuroimmune interactions. Furthermore, the link between vaccination and persistent symptoms observed in long-COVID patients is discussed. Vaccination initiates a complex cascade of events, starting with the production of specific proteins, such as S1/S2 spike proteins, leading to robust immune activation in the axillary lymph nodes. The role of macrophages and antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in cytokine production, antigen presentation, and the stimulation of B and T cells highlights the sophistication of the adaptive immune response. The migration of immune cell-derived exosomes to the brain plays a dynamic role in CNS inflammation, neurodegenerative processes and long COVID. On the other hand, the prolonged presence of viral and vaccine-derived spike proteins may contribute to the complex pathophysiology of Long-COVID, shedding light on the delicate balance between beneficial immune responses and possible adverse neurological outcomes of vaccination. It is worth rigorous monitoring and further research to understand the mechanisms of neuroinflammation and the persistence of spike proteins and their long-term effects on the brain, emphasising the importance of a nuanced approach to vaccine safety and efficacy in the context of COVID-19 and beyond.Principio del formulario

This research investigates the effects of torsional moments on the mechanical behavior of thin-walled open-ended vertical pile foundations subjected to lateral wind loads. The warping and torsion effect generated over the piles due to the resultant lateral load impact outside the shear center is analyzed in-field tests. Complementarily, a two-dimensional finite element model based on the simple bending stress-strain state as well as a three-dimensional finite element model considering torsional effects were implemented and their results analyzed. Finally, a comparative analysis between the in-field lateral loading tests and the finite element model approaches was established and correlations between the errors and the parameters of influence were highlighted. From the results, it has been ascertained that the slender thin-walled open-ended pile foundations are particularly sensitive to small load deviations from their center of gravity, this leads to the fact that the slenderer and the more eccentricity of the load, the more it affects the torsion and warping of the pile. Calculation methodologies usually consider a simple in-plane bending behavior which conducts to errors between 44 and 58% of the experimental results.

The knowledge of COVID-19 impact on the human body has increased rapidly. Although many people recover from COVID-19, some continue to experience persistent symptoms that have been identified as Long COVID. This condition can have a severe impact on quality of life, and it remains a significant concern for medical professionals and researchers. One of the key components of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that enables it to enter human cells is the spike (S) protein. Recent studies have revealed a complex network of interactions between G proteins, spike (S) protein, and the Renin-Angiotensin System (RAS) may be responsible, at least in part, for long COVID. SARS-CoV-2 can also affect the brain, leading to neurological symptoms such as confusion, memory loss, and fatigue. Increasing evidence suggests that COVID-19 is not just a respiratory illness since it is likely that the virus could influence signal transduction pathways such as G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), among others, in the brain, either directly or indirectly, affecting neural functions. These interactions with the spike (S) protein and RAS, alongside the brain, are complex and require deep research to understand their implications for Long COVID-19 manifestation fully. While recent research has shed light on the complex interactions between G proteins, spike (S) protein, the brain, and the angiotensin system, this article explores these interconnected pathways and their implications for long COVID-19 manifestations. The present review summarises current research on different molecular mechanisms in Long COVID pathophysiology and may help identify possible targets or new strategies for the diagnosis and treatment.

With the Sendai Framework (2015-2030) and the Paris Agreement (2015), the UN has been promoting at a global level, the priority objectives to protect the life and well-being of people, these documents of global consensus have scheduled in several countries, an extensive list of actions of responsibilities and commitments to the environment, to address natural disasters among those of greatest impact earthquakes and floods and among earthquakes (seismic activity). The materialization of the disaster is a natural or human-induced event, it manifests itself in permanent changes in society and by its origin it is classified as natural, anthropogenic (anthropogenic) and mixed, creating a worldwide problematic situation of immediate reaction. The attention and alert in the scientific community have been adding efforts, but in a disorganized way, with limited human and material resources and with globalized strategies still to be improved. The literature review of disaster risk management due to seismic activity, from 2008 to 2023, allows us to have updated information to identify the factors and deepen them, with the understanding, comprehension, and multidisciplinary knowledge. The selected researches that mention the factors (elements) that influence risk management of natural disasters due to seismic activity (RMNDDSA) allow us to know the advances and spaces to approach them, which constitutes the motivation to study the twenty-four (24) factors present in this type of disasters. The selected research articles indicate important advances that associate disaster risk management (DRM) and communication technology (ICTs). The technological means mentioned are well received and accepted by society, capable of detecting and communicating in real time seismic activity worldwide, with the help of social mobile networks, technological platforms, Twitter, Facebook, and others.

The current invasion of the Mediterranean Sea by the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus entails the implementation of effective strategies of control and management. In native areas, the species is highly appreciated as a hard- and soft-shell seafood, and hard-shell fisheries are developing in a number of invaded countries. Here, to verify alternative approaches for enhancing the commercial value of the species, we carried out a pilot experiment to test a flow-through system for the production of soft-shell blue crabs. Fifty crabs were collected in the Lesina lagoon (Adriatic Sea, Italy) and inspected for the coloration of the line on the distal edge of the fifth pereiopod. Accordingly, they were grouped into three groups showing no, white, and red lines, symptomatic of the progression of the pre-molt phase, and maintained for 31 days in a flow-through pond system. The overall mortality rate determined during the trial was similar across the three groups and ranged between 10 and 20%, indicating that the flow-through system was effective for rearing the crabs. In addition, the molting rate was 10%, 65%, and 85% for individuals at an early, intermediate, and advanced pre-molt stage, confirming that the line coloration can be used as an effective indicator of the advancement of the molting process. Our study provides a first contribution towards the introduction in the Mediterranean fishery sector of novel procedures and practices for the production of soft-shell blue crabs, which may represent a cost-effective strategy to enhance the capture and commercialization of this invasive species as a high quality and valuable shellfish product.

The global craft beer market is witnessing substantial growth, with a particular spotlight on sour beers. These unique brews are created through lactic fermentation initiated by lactic acid bacteria (LAB). However, the presence of hops, renowned for their antimicrobial properties, can pose a limitation within the realm of sour beer production. This research aims to explore and assess the potential of sour beer as a probiotic beverage. It involves a comparative analysis of the viability of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei F19 (F19) and 431 (L431) in a sour beer with an International Bitterness Unit (IBU) value of 26.65, alongside examining the ex-pression of genes such as horA, horB, horC, hitA, bsrA, and recA, which are associated with hop resistance. The study encompasses the development of two formulations of sour beers characterized by both high hop content and a robust probiotic count (8.44 – 8.77 log CFU/mL). The findings suggest that both probiotic strains of F19 and L431, are well-suited to produce sour beers with elevated hop levels, demonstrating excellent stability. Notably, the expression of genes responsible for hops resistance exhibited distinct modulation patterns among the two strains. It appears that a higher concentration of bsrA, as observed in strain L431, may be more effective in mitigating the effects of hop-related stress, potentially surpassing the combined expression of horA and bsrA. Nonetheless, further research is essential to validate this observation in gene expression. F19 and L431 emerge as promising candidates for the development of sour beers with increased hop intensity.

In this research work, we examined the decomposition mechanisms of N-substituted diacetamides. We focused on the substituent effect on the nitrogen lone pair electron delocalization, withdrawing and electron donor groups. DFT functionals used included: B1LYP, B3PW91, CAMB3LYP, LC-BLYP, and X3LYP. Dispersion functions gd3bj were applied when necessary to improve non-covalent interactions in the transition state. Pople with higher angular moments and def2-TZVP basis sets were also applied and were crucial for obtaining consistent thermodynamic parameters. The proposed mechanism involves a six-membered transition state with the extraction of an α hydrogen. Several conformers of N-diacetamides were used to account for the decrease in entropy in the transition state in the rate-determining state. All calculations, including Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) analyses, were performed using the Gaussian16 computational package and its GaussView 6.0 visualizer, along with VMD and GNUPLOT software. The isosurfaces and IBSI indexes were calculated using MultiWFN and IGMPlot, respectively.

This research aims to introduce a model, SectraBank, designed to mitigate cyber fraud attacks, specifically targeting SIM Swapping and Fake App schemes in mobile banking users. A quantitative methodology with an experimental design was meticulously employed to examine the rise of cyber fraud within mobile banking. The study involved a sample of 100 professionals with advanced knowledge in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Surveys were utilized to measure awareness of threats and perceptions of security before and after the implementation of the proposed model. SectraBank leverages unique user identifiers such as fingerprint authentication and the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, in addition to geolocation and One Time Passwords (OTP) for validating electronic transactions in mobile banking. The effectiveness of the proposed model was notable, achieving a 96.1% efficacy rate in mitigating Fake App attacks and a 90.2% success rate in countering SIM Swapping attacks. These findings underscore the potential of SectraBank as a robust solution to enhance cybersecurity measures in the realm of mobile banking.

This short paper reveals a simple methodology to create local-correlation models suitable for the closed-form pricing of multi-asset financial derivatives. The multivariate models are built to ensure two conditions, first, marginals follow desirable processes, e.g. we choose the Geometric Brownian Motion (GBM), popular for stock prices. Second, the payoff of the derivative should follow a desired one dimensional process. These conditions lead to a specific choice of the dependence structure, in the form of a local-correlation model. Two popular multi-asset options are entertained, a spread option and a basket option.

Background. Shoulder in CrossFit should have a balance between mobility and stability. Glenohumeral internal rotation deficit and posterior shoulder stiffness are risk factors for overhead shoulder injury. Objective. To determine the effectiveness of instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization and horizontal adduction stretch in CrossFit practitioners’ shoulders. Methods: Twenty-one regular CrossFitters were allocated to experimental (stretching with isometric contraction and instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization) or control group (instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization). Each session lasted 5 minutes, 2 days a week, over a period of 4 weeks. Shoulder internal rotation and horizontal adduction (digital inclinometer), and posterior shoulder stretch perception (Park scale) were evaluated. Shapiro-Wilk test was used to analyze the distribution of the sample. Parametric student's t-test was used to obtain the intragroup differences. The inter- and intra-rater differences were calculated using a repeated measures ANOVA. Results. Changes were found in the experimental group following intervention (p < 0.05), and when comparing baseline and follow-up assessments (p < .05) in all variables. Significant differences were found in the control group following intervention (p < 0.05), in right horizontal adduction and left internal rotation. When comparing perception of internal rotation and horizontal adduction in both groups in the three assessments significant differences were found. Conclusions. Instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization can improve shoulder horizontal adduction and internal rotation. An instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization technique yields the same results alone as those achieved in combination with post-isometric stretch with shoulder adduction.

Configurable process models are frequently used to represent business workflows and other discrete event systems among different branches of large organizations: they unify commonalities shared by all branches and describe their differences, at the same time. The configuration of such models is usually done manually, which is challenging. On the one hand, when the number of configurable nodes in the configurable process model grows, the size of the search space increases exponentially. On the other hand, the person performing the configuration may lack the holistic perspective to make the right choice for all configurable nodes at the same time, since choices influence each other. Nowadays, information systems that support the execution of business processes create event data reflecting how processes are performed. In this article, we propose three strategies (based on exhaustive search, genetic algorithms, and greedy heuristic) that use event data to automatically derive a process model from a configurable process model that better represents the characteristics of the process in a specific branch. These strategies have been implemented in our proposed framework, and tested in both business-like event logs as recorded in a higher educational ERP system, and a real case scenario involving a set of Dutch municipalities.

The Western ‘discovery’ of Japanese cinema in the 1950s prompted scholars to articulate essentialist visions understanding its singularities as a result of its isolation from the rest of the World and its close links to local aesthetic and philosophical traditions. Recent approaches however, have evidenced the limitations of this paradigm of ‘national cinema’. Higson (1989) opened a critical discussion on the existing consumption, text andproduction-based approaches to this concept. This article draws on Higson´s contribution and calls into question traditional theorising of Japanese film as a national cinema. Contradictions are illustrated by assessing the other side of the ‘discovery’ of Japanese cinema: certain gendaigeki works that succeeded at the domestic box office while jidaigeki burst into European film festivals. The Taiyōzoku and subsequent Mukokuseki Action created a new postwar iconography by adapting codes of representation from Hollywood youth and western films. This article does not attempt to deny the uniqueness of this film culture, but rather seeks to highlight the need to reformulate the paradigm of national cinema in the Japanese case, and illustrate the sense in which it was created from outside, failing to recognise its reach transnational intertextuality.

Mineral extraction is one of the most important for the economies of different countries, and Brazil is one of the world's primary iron ore producers. Unfortunately, the dams are still the main problem, mainly in Minas Gerais, especially after the Fundão Dam rupture happened in 2015. Additionally, there is still a massive presence of buildings produced on earth throughout the Minas Gerais mining region, built from the 18th century to today. Investigating the potential of IOT to be incorporated into traditional earthen construction techniques in regions affected by dam ruptures presents a relevant and innovative research approach. In addition, the local reuse of these sediments should be the priority. Thus, the main objective of this work was to collect, characterize, and analyze the possibilities of application of these tailings to produce RE. XRD, XRF, granulometry, porosity, specific density, toxicity, and MEV/EDS were performed on the samples collected at three points. To analyze the soil-IOT compatibility, representative mixtures of RE were produced, and the specific mass, compaction, and compressive strength were performed. It was observed that the IoT samples have a high silica content and that the mixtures of IOT-soil, even without cement, reached compressive strength values above the current international standards.

Background: Repeated SARS-CoV-2 infections are plausible and related published data are scarce. We aimed to identify factors associated with the risk of recurrent (three episodes) laboratory-confirmed symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted and 1,700 healthcare workers were enrolled. We used risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) to evaluate factors associated with symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections. Results: We identified 14 participants with recurrent illness episodes. Therefore, the incidence rate was 8.5 per 10,000 person-months. In multiple model, vaccinated adults (vs. unvaccinated, RR = 1.05 [1.03 - 1.06]) and those with a severe first illness episode (vs mild disease, RR = 1.05 [1.01 - 1.10]) were at increased risk for repeated symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 reinfections. Increasing age showed a protective effect (per each additional year of age: RR = 0.98 [0.97 - 0.99]). Conclusions: Our results suggest that recurrent SARS-CoV-2 infections are rare events in adults and they seem to be determined, partially, by vaccination status and age.

Background: The respiratory syncytial virus infection (RSV) spread has been unusually high during 2022 and increasing trends have been documented We aimed to assess the survival experience of children hospitalized due bronchiolitis by laboratory-confirmed RSV. Methods: A nationwide and retrospective cohort was conducted in Mexico and data from 436 children aged 5 years and younger, with symptoms onset from August 2021 to November 2022, were analyzed. Survivor functions and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed by using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: The survival rates were high, particularly within the first three weeks of admission. The 3-day survival was 99.8% (CI 95% 98.4-99.9%) and went to 98.9% (CI 95% 96.5-99.7%), 97.5% (CI 95% 91.9-99.3%), 86.7% (95% CI 48.2-97.2%), and 69.4% (95% CI 24.2-91.0%) on days 7, 14, 21 and 28 of hospital stay, respectively. We documented 5 fatal outcomes, and the mortality rate was 2.1 per 1,000 person-days. Conclusions: We analyzed a large set of pediatric patients with bronchiolitis by RSV and the presented results contribute to achieving a better understanding of the in-hospital evolution of this disease.

The effect of legumes adapted to a temperate climate on gas production kinetics, enteric methane, and rumen fermentation in vitro was evaluated. The species studied were Acacia dealbatha, Acacia melanoxylon, Albizzia lopantha, Lupinus pubescens, Inga insignes, Senna multiglandulosa and Tecoma stans. The effective degradation of the dry matter was estimated, the in vitro gas production was measured up to 120 hours of incubation, and the production of enteric methane, VFAs, and ammonia were measured at 24 hours. Dry matter, organic matter, ash, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, and acid detergent lignin were evaluated. The content of total phenols and condensed tannins was quantified. To determine digestibility, the samples were incubated for up to 120 hours. I. insignes presented a higher dry matter content and a high crude protein content. L. pubescens presented low dry matter digestibility. The neutral detergent fiber content was higher in I. insignes and with a higher value in dry matter digestibility and lower content of total phenols and condensed tannins. While S. multiglandulosa showed low detergent acid fiber content. The acid detergent lignin value was higher in I. insignes and lower in L. pubescens. In vitro gas and enteric methane production was higher in L. pubescens. propionic acid and ammonia they were higher in S. multiglandulosa. It is concluded that the amount of secondary compounds affects methane production, compromises digestibility and rumen kinetics of the legumes studied.

The orchid genus Brachystele Schltr. comprises 20 species distributed from Mexico to Argentina; 10 are found in Brazil. Anatomical studies of Orchidoideae Lindl. have been scarce, and the anatomy and histochemistry of Brachystele are still largely unknown. We characterized the vegetative organs of B. guayanensis (Lindl.) Schltr. using standard anatomical and histochemical microtechniques. Brachystele guayanensis was observed to display the anatomical characters commonly found in the vegetative organs of representatives of the Orchidaceae and Orchidoideae (including a uniseriate epidermis, thin cuticle, amphistomatic leaves, anomocytic, diacytic and tetracytic stomata, a homogeneous mesophyll, collateral vascular bundles, rhizomes with pericyclic fibers, roots with velamen, uniseriate exodermis, endodermis and pericycle). Histochemical tests confirmed the presence of lignin, proteins, and alkaloids, the lipidic nature of the cuticle, starch grains stored in spiranthosomes in the roots, and the composition of the raphides. Alkaloids were observed in great abundance, especially in the roots, and may have potentially useful medicinal activities, as has been observed in groups phylogenetically related to Brachystele.

We present an open-source Star Tracker (ST) for Attitude Determination. Our implementation makes use of open source software of common usage in astronomy running on a Raspberry Pi 2 platform. The developed platform is open and available for parties interested in further development. Evaluation of the system showed that the ST is suitable for Cubesats of 2U or larger. The ST platform is capable of solving the Lost-In-Space (LIS) problem. Currently, the average accuracy reached of the algorithm is close to 5 seconds of arc with an average processing time of 75 seconds. However, a average accuracy of about 3 minutes of arc can be reached with 35 seconds in average processing time. We also describe the evaluation procedure, the found conclusions of this procedure, in particular the section of the algorithm where most of the processing time is spent and other possible source of errors not included in this study.

In the present work we have investigated an organic semiconductor based on tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (AlQ3) doped with tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ), which can be used as a photoactive layer in organic light-emitting device (OLED). DFT calculations were carried out to optimize the structure of semiconductor species and get related constants in order to compare experimental and theoretical results. The semiconductor AlQ3-TCNQ was structurally characterized and their experimental IR spectrum was compared with that obtained through DFT calculations. Subsequently, AlQ3-TCNQ films with polypyrrole (PPy) matrix were fabricated, they were morphologically and mechanically characterized by Scanning Electron and Atomic Force Microscopy techniques. The maximum stress for the film is 8.66 MPa and the Knoop hardness is 0.0311. The film was analyzed in its optical behavior and the optical properties of hybrid film were found to exhibit two indirect allowed transitions at 2.64 and 3.44 eV. Finally, an OLED type was fabricated that was electrically characterized. Applying a cubic-spline approximation to fit cubic polynomials to the J-V curves, the ohmic to SCLC transition voltage VON and the trap-filled-limit voltage VTFL for the device were obtained. Then, the free carrier density and trap density for the device were approximated to n0=2.4787×10171m3 and Nt=1.7419×10291m3 respectively.

The era of digital technology has brought about a substantial shift in language development, especially for younger generations who have grown up surrounded by it. Language development is impacted by digital media exposure in both positive and bad ways. Positively, users can interact with a variety of linguistic communities across the globe by using digital platforms, which offer a wealth of options for linguistic exposure and practice. This exposure can promote imaginative language use, increase vocabulary, and improve reading comprehension. Since the brevity and informality of digital communication frequently stress speed over correctness, there are worries that digital media could encourage shallow communication, shorter attention spans, and a deterioration in professional writing skills. This paper aims to gather literature about language development in the digital age. In order to make sure that technical breakthroughs support language development, standards for the responsible and balanced use of digital media in educational settings must also be developed. Teachers can better support their students' language development in a constantly changing digital environment by remaining knowledgeable and flexible.

A The guinea pig value chain in Jauja, Peru, has been developed through the application of productive projects, institutional strengthening and implementation of the principles of responsible investment in agriculture and food systems (CFS-RAI). The actors in this chain have been showing economic improvements, representativeness and participation, characteristics that make them the key human capital for development. To improve the performance of the actors in the sustainable rural development of the territory of Jauja, Peru, the research carried out an evaluation of the competencies and capacities for project management in 46 actors linked to the business programme on the CFS-RAI Principles, representing 1,094 people in the guinea pig value chain in Jauja, using the Working With People (WWP) model and empirical instruments based on the Octagon method, International Project Management Association (IPMA) competencies, performance evaluation carried out by experts, attitudinal evaluation and the Business Model Canvas. The results have helped to structure the actors of the value chain, who show an intermediate mastery of project management competencies (2.73/5), institutional capacities in development (2.89/7) and a growing organizational management performance (26.2/100). In addition, trust and proactivity have been generated among the actors in the chain, with an interest in continuing with the implementation of the CFS-RAI Principles in order to achieve sustainability in their productive projects with commercial innovation. The results have allowed us to generate the design of an innovative programme for the development of competencies, which balances the three dimensions of IPMA competencies (perspective, person and practice) in connection with the CFS-RAI Principles. Both processes complement the strengthening of human capital in agrifood value chains through sustainable project management and contributing to sustainable development in the region.

The paradigm that assumes the autonomous management of universities involves them in the redefinition of their policies and processes and the training of their staff, designing new formulas that allow them to adapt to a changing environment. In this context, research and sustainable universities can link with society to solve its problems and influence a responsible and sustainable development. Through a Delphi panel, importance to acquire and improve project management (PM) competences by teaching and research staff (TRS) into innovating education and research projects is measured, from the standard of individual competences (ICB4) of the International Project Management Association (IPMA). Also, internal data sources from the flexible structures of two Spanish universities (the University of Cadiz (UCA) and the Technical University of Madrid (UPM)), are investigated, in order to analyze how they are organized. Thanks to the study of cases, an increasing tendency to work by projects is observed, empowering teams, managing properly stakeholders and facilitating their functions towards society. Likewise, after two rounds of experts’ consultation, consensus is reached with an acceptable and stable level of responses, resulting in confirmation that there is alignment between IPMA competences and TRS’ needs for sustained success in education and research, contributing to universities’ development, improvement and sustainability.

This study employed e-Vol DX cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) software to assess dentin remnants in the furcation area of mesial canals in mandibular molars during root canal retreatment (RCR). Four groups (Reciproc®, ProTaper Next®, Race Evo®, Protaper Gold®) were subjected to RCR, and CBCT images were captured before (T1) and after (T2) treatment. Measurements of remaining dentin thickness at 1 mm and 3 mm below the furcation were scrutinized. Results revealed no significant differences in mean thicknesses of mesiobuccal (MB) and mesiolingual (ML) canals at 1 mm and 3 mm from the furcation pre-treatment (T1). Post-treatment (T2) showed analogous findings, with no significant differences in mean thicknesses. However, disparities surfaced between MB and ML canals at both distances, both before and after retreatment. In essence, the evaluated instruments exhibited safety in RCR, implying their appropriateness for use in critical areas of mandibular molars without inducing excessive wear. This study underscores the instruments' reliability in navigating danger zones during RCR, contributing valuable insights for dental practitioners handling complex root canal scenarios in mandibular molars.

The mechanisms underlying the establishment of asymmetric structures during development remain elusive. The wing of Drosophila is asymmetric along the Anterior-Posterior (AP) axis, despite that its growth signals that drive its growth are presumably symmetric. Here, we investigated the contribution of cell recruitment, a process that drives wing fate differentiation in Drosophila, to the asymmetric shape and pattern of the adult wing. Genetic impairment of cell recruitment results in a significant reduction in adult wing asymmetry, primarily affecting the region between longitudinal vein 5 and the wing margin (L5-M). Morphometric analysis reveals that the lack of cell recruitment results in a more symmetric wing with respect to the AP, suggesting a contribution of cell recruitment to the establishment of asymmetry in the adult wing. A close examination of the expression of the wing selector gene vestigial (vg) in wing disc does not support this hypothesis. However, the circularity of the Vg pattern significantly increase in recruitment-impaired wing disc, suggesting that while the decrease of the L5-M region in the adult wing may not be attributed to cell recruitment, it could contribute to the overall asymmetry of the adult wing. We conclude that cell recruitment, a widespread mechanism that participates in growth and patterning of several developing systems, could drive, at least partially, the asymmetric shape of the Drosophila wing.

Geopolymers, made from aluminosilicate raw materials, offer significant environmental advantages over conventional concrete (CC) mixes. This study explores the compressive strength, setting time, and durability of geopolymer concrete (GPC) cylinders, some of which include an additional ordinary portland cement (OPC) mix. Consistent material composition and testing methods are emphasized to achieve reliable results. MATLAB was utilized to develop and assess a neural network model predicting the compressive strength of GPC based on key variables. The model was validated using 16 experimental samples and 1047 samples from various studies. The performance plot displayed the Mean Squared Error (MSE) over iterations, identifying the best training performance at epoch 658 with an MSE of 5.3408. The Error Histogram highlighted distribution errors between predicted and actual compressive strength values, with the highest range from -1.015 to 0.3587, meaning that the predicted values were mostly within a small margin of error from the actual values. This narrow error range indicates that the ANN model has high accuracy in its predictions, as most errors are small and clustered around zero, demonstrating reliable performance in estimating compressive strength. Regression analysis showed varying correlation coefficients (training set R=0.98373, test set R=0.88164, and whole set R=0.96982), indicating adequate predictive accuracy. The results demonstrate that properly trained neural networks can effectively predict the compressive strength of GPC, highlighting its potential as a sustainable construction material.

Polyolefin fibre reinforced concrete (PFRC) has become an attractive alternative to steel for the reinforcement of concrete elements mainly due to its chemical stability and the residual strengths that can be reached with lower weights. The use of polyolefin fibres can meet the requirements in the standards, although the main constitutive relations are based on the experience with steel fibres. Therefore, the structural contributions of the fibres should be assessed by inverse analysis. In this study, the fibre dosage has been fixed at 6kg/m³ and both self-compacting concrete and conventional concrete have been used to compare the influence of the positioning of the fibres. An idealized homogeneous distribution of the fibres with such fibres crossing from side to side of the specimen has been added to self-compacting concrete. The experimental results of three-point bending tests on notched specimens have been reproduced by using the cohesive crack approach. Hence, the constitutive relations were found. The significance of this research relies on the verification of the formulations found to build the constitutive relations. Moreover, with these results it is possible to establish the higher threshold of the performance of PFRC and the difficulties of limiting the first unloading branch typical of fracture tests of PFRC.

Centropomus undecimalis (common snook, sergeant fish or robalo) and Centropomus parallelus (fat snook, smallscale fat snook, little snook or chucumite) have tropical and subtropical wide distribution from southern Florida (Gulf of Mexico) to southern Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul) waters, and due the value of their flesh, these species have been explored with predatory fishing, generating a deficiency for their conservation. Adequate conservation of this species depends on population genetic parameters. Thus, in this study, we used microsatellite markers to investigate the genetic variability and the genetic characterization of C. undecimalis and C. parallelus populations, identifying if the citations species are geographically connected, using 10 loci of microsatellites, bringing strategies of management, sustainability, and conservation for species citations, and providing genetic subsidies needed to be used in breeding programs for snooks. Microsatellite molecular genetic markers were efficient in the study of the genetic variability of the samples of C. parallelus and C. undecimalis, resulting in data on the genetic structuring of these populations, thus aiding in their management and conservation. The data presented may provide subsidies for future use in programs aimed at animal breeding of sea bass, establishing tools for use in fish farming. In addition, despite being two species that are not on the endangered list, we can observe that there are genetic differences between the studied populations of the same species.

Several methods have been tried to estimate air temperature using satellite imagery. In this paper, the results of two machine learning algorithms, Support Vector Machine and Random Forest, are compared with Multivariate Linear Regression, TVX and Ordinary kriging. Several geographic, remote sensing and time variables are used as predictors. The validation is carried out using four different statistics on a daily basis allowing the use of ANOVA to compare the results. The main conclusion is that Random Forest with residual kriging produces the best results (R$^2$=0.612 $\pm$ 0.019, NSE=0.578 $\pm$ 0.025, RMSE=1.068 $\pm$ 0.027, PBIAS=-0.172 $\pm$ 0.046), whereas TVX produces the least accurate results. The environmental conditions in the study area are not really suited to TVX, moreover this method only takes into account satellite data. On the other hand, regression methods (Support Vector Machine, Random Forest and Multivariate Linear Regression) use several parameters that are easily calculated from a Digital Elevation Model, adding very little difficulty to the use of satellite data alone. The most important variables in the Random Forest Model were satellite temperature, potential irradiation and cdayt, a cosine transformation of the julian day.

The olive wide genetic variability can be used to overcome some of the challenges faced by olive growing, including climate warming. One effect of climate warming in olive is the difficulty to fulfill the chilling requirements for flowering due to high winter temperatures. In the present work, we evaluate seven olive cultivars for their adaptation to high winter temperatures by comparing their flowering phenology in the standard Mediterranean climate of Cordoba, Southern Iberian Peninsula, with the Subtropical climate of Tenerife, Canary Islands. Flowering phenology in Tenerife was significantly earlier and longer than in Cordoba. However, genotype seems to have little influence on the effects of lack of winter chilling temperatures as in Tenerife. This even though the cultivars studied have a high genetic distance between them. In fact, all the cultivars tested in Tenerife flowered the three years under study but showing asynchronous flowering bud burst. Only ‘Arbequina’ showed an earlier day of full flowering than the rest of cultivars. The results observed here could be of interest to refine the phenological simulation models and including of the length of the flowering period. More genetic variability should be evaluated in warm winter conditions to look for adaptation to climate warming.

This article aims to systematically review the available evidence concerning the relationship between basal metabolism (BM), body composition (BC), and physical activity (PA) with central obesity. The search strategy was carried out using Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, and SciELO following the PRISMA guidelines. The STROBE checklist and the Jadad scale for quality assessment were also used. A total of 1382 studies were initially identified being 25 publications eligible for systematic data extraction. Individual studies showed that adults with waist circumference (WC) above 88 cm in women and above 102 in men had a higher risk of metabolic alterations related to high absolute energy expenditure and less maximum oxygen consumption (VO2 max). Participants with central obesity presented a high percentage of body fat (BF%) between 30.6% and 41.6%. Most of the PA intervention studies reported reductions in WC between 1.3 and 5.8 cm. In conclusion, there is a direct relationship between the components of BM with central obesity and a direct association between central obesity and BF%. PA is a protective factor that needs to be promoted to reduce WC and control central obesity as a public health problem. PROSPERO ID registration: CRD42021232917.

In 2015, the Self-Action Leadership Theory—a qualitative, nomological expansion of self-leadership theory rooted in atmospheric and astronomical metaphor aimed at expanding the personal freedom of individuals, organizations, and nations by bolstering the existential growth of individuals through a series of Maslow-esque stages of holistic, personal development. This article introduces an accompanying, practitioner-based Model of Self-Action Leadership (SAL) aimed at the implicit enhancement of a holistic range of administrative processes through explicit training, mentoring, and coaching in the model’s general and universally-applicable principles and practices. The SAL model produces an original construct of personal leadership practice that builds upon the extant self-leadership academic canon, which dates back to 1983 (Manz, 1983). It also provides an analogue to four of the five core processes of Project Management by positioning a self-action leader (an individual) as the ongoing “project” at hand. The SAL Model is rooted in action research and was developed through a variety of self-oriented, action research projects in conjunction with a comprehensive, qualitative, analytical autoethnographic study of a scholar’s life experiences.

The Convective Rainfall Rate from Cloud Physical Properties (CRPh) for Meteosat Second Generation Satellites is a day-only precipitation algorithm developed at the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) for EUMETSAT’ Satellite Application Facility in support to Nowcasting and Very Short Range Forecasting (NWC SAF). It is therefore mainly intended to provide input for monitoring and near-real-time forecasts for the next few hours. This paper critically discusses the theoretical basis of the algorithm with special emphasis in the empirical values and assumptions in the microphysics of precipitation and compares the performances of the CRPh with its antecessor, the Convective Rainfall Rate algorithm (CRR), using an object-based method. The analyses show that AEMET’s CRPh is physically consistent and that outperforms the CRR. The applicability of the algorithm for nowcasting and the challenges to evolve the product to an all-day algorithm are also presented.

In this article, we give a brief review of the origin of the neutrino mass in some interesting non-linear supersymmetric models with R-symmetry. These models are able to address and solve the most important problems of the particle physics and provide mechanisms for neutrino mass generation and their mixing parameters in agreement with the current experimental data. Their prediction could be experimentally tested in the near future by collider experiments.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, the scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) is a critically endangered species, primarily due to intense fishing and other anthropogenic effects such as pollution. Nowadays, plastic debris contamination is a subject of concern due to its extensive presence in the sea and the digestive tracts of many fish species. The possible effects of plastic debris as a vector of other pollutants are still unknown. We analyzed the digestive tract of hammerhead sharks to investigate the correlation between plastic and other anthropic debris contamination and feeding habits in the eastern region of the Gulf of California. A total of 58 specimens were analyzed from the coastal area, revealing a plastic occurrence frequency of 79.3%. Of these, 91.4% corresponded to fibers, and 8.6% to fragments. The composition of the polymers was primarily cellulose (64.4%). According to their diet, these organisms exhibit benthopelagic habits, feeding both in the water column and on the seabed. These results indicate a high level of contamination of anthropogenic cellulosic microfibers in the area. This changed according to the year, indicating that the anthropic debris ingestion is related to the discharges of human activities and their seasonality rather than to a selection process by the sharks. Although cellulosic microfibers are recognized as a biomaterial, they can harm marine species, posing an additional threat to this iconic shark.

This study addresses the problem of accurately predicting azimuth and elevation angles of signals impinging on an antenna array employing Machine Learning (ML). Using the information obtained at a receiving system when a transmitter’s signal hits it, a Decision Tree (DT) model is trained to estimate azimuth and elevation angles simultaneously. Simulation results demonstrate the robustness of the proposed DT-based method, showcasing its ability to predict the Direction of Arrival (DOA) in diverse conditions beyond the ones present in the training dataset, i.e., the results display the model’s generalization capability. Additionally, the comparative analysis reveals that DT-based DOA estimation outperforms the state-of-the-art MUltiple SIgnal Classification (MUSIC) algorithm, establishing DTs as competitive alternatives for DOA estimation in signal reception systems.

Background/aim: Sexual harassment has become a serious social and public health problem in adolescence, causing adverse effects on mental health. Nevertheless, some behaviours arise that, due to their characteristics, might be misinterpreted as sexual harassment. A field study, a survey with a non-probabilistic accidental sampling, was designed in order to estimate the prevalence of sexual harassment victimization in the Spanish adolescent population, as well as to quantify the harms. Method: 1028 Spanish adolescents, 54.3% females and 45.7% males, aged 13-17 years (M = 15.21, SD = 1.03), responded to a diagnostic measure of sexual harassment victimization and an inventory measure of internalizing and externalizing Mental Health Problems (MHPs). Results: The results showed a significant prevalence of diagnosed sexual harassment victimization of school-aged adolescents, 24.1%, 95% [.215, 267], with adverse effects on internalizing and externalizing MHPs. As for the internalizing MHPs, the results showed moderate adverse effects on depression, anxiety, somatic burns, posttraumatic symptoms, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms; and mild adverse effects on social anxiety. With regard to externalizing MHPs, the results revealed moderate adverse effects on hyperactivity-impulsivity, anger control and antisocial behaviour; and mild adverse effects on attention problems, aggression and defiant behaviour. In addition, it was corroborated that sexual harassment victimization affects adolescent females to a greater extent, with the effect being significantly greater in internalizing than in externalizing MHPs. Conclusions: The results obtained are discussed and future lines of research and intervention are proposed to promote the implementation of prevention and intervention programs that address this phenomenon and, in turn, improve the physical, psychological, and social well-being of adolescents.

Companies have been increasing the amount of data that they collect from their systems and processes, considering the decrease in the cost of memory and storage technologies in recent years. The emergence of technologies such as Big Data, Cloud Computing, E-Science, and the growing complexity of information systems made evident that traceability and provenance are promising approaches. Provenance has been successfully used in complex domains, like health sciences, chemical industries, and scientific computing, considering that these areas require a comprehensive semantic traceability mechanism. Based on these, we investigate the use of provenance in the context of Software Process (SP) and introduce a novel approach based on provenance concepts to model and represent SP data. It addresses SP provenance data capturing, storing, new information inferencing and visualization. The main contribution of our approach is PROV-SwProcess, a provenance model to deal with the specificities of SP and its ability in supporting process managers to deal with vast amounts of execution data during the process analysis and data-driven decision-making. A set of analysis possibilities were derived from this model, using SP goals and questions. A case study was conducted in collaboration with a software development company to instantiate the PROV-SwProcess model (using the proposed approach) with real-word process data. This study showed that 87.5% of the analysis possibilities using real data was correct and can assist in decision-making, while 62.5% of them are not possible to be performed by the process manager using his currently dashboard or process management tool.

In the last decade several projects have been developed for the digitization and semantization of cultural heritage data. They were developed to preserve and maintain this heritage, but bringing it closer to all types of users and allowing access to this information to other sectors such as tourism, education, etc. In these developments, web technologies are combined, along with the use of knowledge graphs and interactive visualisation tools. Although remarkably interesting projects have been developed, in those projects, the data visualization tools are usually focused on the project context. This makes it difficult to reuse these jobs. Additionally, there are peculiarities of cultural heritage data considered with little depth, such as uncertainty, spatial and temporal granularity, as well as other aspects, such as relationships between data. In this article, these problems are described and based on other works such as VUMO or VISO, the design of an ontology that formalizes how to visualise this information is proposed, considering these problems. In addition, the development of a platform that allows the visualisation of this information through a web application and its evaluation of its use in projects such as SILKNOW, or Arxiu Valencià del Disseny is exposed

This paper seeks to optimize the mechanical and durability properties of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC). To meet this objective, concrete specimens were manufactured by using 1,100 kg/m3 of binder, water/binder ratio 0.20, silica sand and last generation of superplasticizer. Silica fume, metakaolin and two types of nano silica were used for improving the performances of the concrete. Additional mixtures included 13mm long OL steel fibers. Compressive strength, electrical resistivity, mercury intrusion porosimetry tests and differential and thermogravimetric thermal analysis were carried out. The binary combination of nano silica and metakaolin, and the ternary combination of nano silica with metakaolin and silica fume, led to the best performances of the UHPC, both mechanical and durable performances.

Introduction: Individuals with gout are at higher risk of developing chronic conditions, such as diabetes, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and cardiovascular diseases. In this study, the association between urate-lowering therapy (ULT) use and the prevalence of these conditions was evaluated. Methods: This observational, cross-sectional pharmacoepidemiologic study used the 2013-2018 biannual cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The inclusion criteria were adults 30 years of age and older with a diagnosis of gout. The association between ULT treatment status and dyslipidemia, coronary heart disease, heart failure, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease was evaluated, as well as associations with select clinical laboratory biomarkers. Results: Use of ULT was 28.9% (95%CI 24.3%-33.9%). There was no significant association between ULT use and the prevalence of heart failure, coronary heart disease, hypertension, or dyslipidemia (p>0.05). Those on ULT had a lower mean eGFR compared to those not on treatment (68.03 versus 74.74 mL/min/1.73m², p=0.014). LDL- and HDL- and total cholesterol were significantly lower among those receiving ULT treatment (p<0.05). Conclusion: ULT use continues to be low among those with gout. Those on ULT were more likely to be diagnosed with CKD, college graduates and above, older males, and obese. Clinical guidelines conditionally recommend ULTs in co-morbid kidney disease; while our results may reflect guidelines recommendation for ULT use in CKD patients, worsening kidney function while taking ULT is unlikely. Further research is necessary to determine the long-term impact of ULTs on kidney function and cardiovascular biomarkers.

In the southeastern coast of Brazil, the bays of Ilha Grande and Sepetiba are linked by the Ilha Grande Channel, where remarkably vigorous currents have been consistently observed. The sheer intensity of these currents defies a simple explanation through tidal forcing alone, prompting researchers to delve into potential influences such as basin resonance and the baroclinic effect. This study aims to elucidate the role of remote meteorological effects within this complex hydrodynamic system. A numerical approach with a coastal model nested within an ocean model was employed, enabling an in-depth examination of the intricate interplay between meteorological and tidal forcings. The study revealed a significant finding: the lag in signal propagation plays a pivotal role in determining how these signals impact the dynamics of the bays. The astronomical signal exhibits a minimal lag along the coast (1 minute), and leads to water level differences between the sea and the coastline, resulting in the generation of tidal currents at the bay entrances. On the other hand, the remote meteorological signal, with a stronger signal lag along the coast (4.92 hours), leads to the creation of water level difference between the bay’s entrances, inducing significant fluxes along the narrow Ilha Grande Channel.

The combined effects of the thermal processing (i.e., sterilisation treatment) and the prior frozen storage time (3 or 6 months at –18 ºC) on the quality loss in canned Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) were determined. Thus, the sterilisation step led to a remarkable (p&lt;0.05) formation in canned fish muscle of fluorescent compounds, free fatty acids (FFAs) and trimethylamine and to an increase of the L* and b* colour parameters; meantime, a decrease (p&lt;0.05) of the total ω3 FA/total ω6 FA ratio and the a* colour value were detected. The prior frozen storage period led to an increased (p&lt;0.05) lipid oxidation (peroxide, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance and fluorescent compound formation) and hydrolysis (FFA formation) development and to increased L* and b* colour values in the corresponding canned samples; additionally, a lower (p&lt;0.05) polyene index and phospholipid content were observed in canned fish previously subjected to frozen storage. In most indices, physico-chemical changes related to quality loss were found higher if the previous storage period was increased. According to the marked effects of the sterilisation step and the prior frozen storage period, optimisation of such processing conditions is recommended to maximise the quality of canned horse mackerel.

Humulus lupulus, or hops, is a vital ingredient in brewing, contributing bitterness, flavor, and aroma. The female plants produce strobiles rich in essential oils and acids, along with bioactive compounds like polyphenols, humulene, and myrcene, which offer health benefits. This study examined the aromatic profiles of five hop varieties grown in Brazil versus their countries of origin. Fifty grams of pelletized hops from each strain were collected and analyzed using HS-SPME/GC-MS to identify volatile compounds, followed by statistical analysis with PLS-DA and ANOVA. The study identified 330 volatile compounds and found significant aromatic differences among hops from different regions. For instance, H. Mittelfrüher grown in Brazil has a fruity and herbaceous profile, while the German-grown variety is more herbal and spicy. Similar variations were noted in Magnum, Nugget, Saaz, and Sorachi Ace varieties. The findings underscore the impact of terroir on hop aromatic profiles, with Brazilian-grown hops displaying distinct profiles compared to their counterparts from their countries of origin, including variations in aromatic notes and α-acid content.

Size effect on plain concrete specimens is well known and can be correctly captured when performing numerical simulations by using a well characterised softening function, but in the case of fibre reinforced concrete this is not directly applicable, since an only diagram cannot capture the material behaviour on elements with different size due to dependence of the orientation factor of the fibres with the size of the specimen. In previous works, the use of a trilinear softening diagram proved to be very convenient for reproducing fracture of polyolefin fibre reinforced concrete elements, but only if it is previously adapted for each specimen size. In this work, a predictive methodology is used to reproduce fracture of polyolefin fibre reinforced concrete specimens of different sizes under three-point bending. Fracture is reproduced by means of a well known embedded cohesive model, with a trilinear softening function that is defined specifically for each specimen size. The fundamental points of these softening functions are defined a priori by using empirical expressions proposed in past works, based on an extensive experimental background. Therefore, the numerical results are obtained in a predictive manner, and then compared with a previous experimental campaign, showing that this approach properly captures the size effect, although some values of the fundamental points in the trilinear diagram could be defined more accurately.

Thermal plasma is a versatile technology that can be used to treat various types of wastes, including vegetal and mineral oils, solvents, plastics, papers and cardboard, glasses, bricks and rocks, metals, clothes, and mixtures of these materials. In this study, we utilized a commercial plasma cutter as a thermal plasma source to decrease the volume of a simulated low-level radioactive mixed solid waste. The simulated waste included papers, plastics, clothes, gloves, metals and stable Co, Cs, Sr, and Ce additives as surrogates of 60Co, 137Cs, 90Sr, and 144Ce, the latter typical contaminants in nuclear LLW. As a result of the process two products were obtained, a solid phase in which we focused this work and a gaseous phase. To retain as much as possible surrogates in the solid final phase, crushed glass from broken bottles was included as a vitrification additive to the original waste. After undergoing heat treatment, a dense vitreous slag was produced and ashes. The process resulted in a volume reduction of 70%, indicating the successful gasification of organic excess materials. The surrogate elements were retained in the process and were found in the ashes composition: Co (3.4% w/w), Cs (37.7% w/w), Ce (0.6% w/w) and in the glass matrix composition of Co, Cs, Sr and Ce: 72.4 ± 14.7, 32 ± 18.2, 125.3 ± 31.6, 80 ± 13.1 % w/w respectively. For the actual experimental conditions, retention efficiencies were estimated for Cobalt (Co) at 72.4 ± 14.7%, Cerium (Ce) at 80 ± 13.1%, Strontium (Sr) at 125.3 ± 31.6%, and notably Cesium (Cs) at 32 ± 18.2%.

The chemistry and electrochemistry basic fields have been active since the last two decades of the past century studying how surface modification of electrodes by coating with conductive films enhances their activity and performance. In the light of the development of alternative sustainable ways of energy storage and carbon dioxide conversion by electrochemical processes, these research studies have jumped in the 21st century to more applied fields such as chemical engineering, energy and environmental science and engineering. The huge amount of literature on experimental works dealing with the development of CO2 electroreduction processes addresses electrocatalyst development. Membranes can help understanding and controlling the mass transport limitations of current electrodes and reactors designs. The present bibliometric review addresses the papers published in the 21st century regarding membrane coated electrodes and electrocatalysts to enhance electrochemical reactor performance and viability with a special focus on the urgent issue of carbon dioxide capture and utilization.

Wetlands are ecosystems that are essential to ecological balance and biodiversity, never-theless human activity is a constant threat to them. Excess nutrients are caused by inten-sive livestock and agricultural operations, pollution, and population growth, which in turn leads to uncontrolled microbiological development. This impairment in water quality can constitute a risk to animal, human, and environmental health. To thoroughly charac-terize the microbial communities, shotgun metagenomics was used to characterize the taxonomic and functional pattern of microorganisms that inhabit urban wetlands in the Los Lagos Region of Chile. The main objective was to identify microorganisms of veteri-nary relevance, assess their potential antibiotic resistance, and characterize the main vir-ulence mechanism. As expected, a high diversity of microorganisms was identified, in-cluding bacteria described as animal or human pathogens. Also, a diverse repertory of an-timicrobial-resistant genes (ARGs) was detected, which confers mainly resistance to be-ta-lactams, consistent with the families of antibiotics most used in Chile. Besides, a di-verse collection of virulence mechanisms was also identified. Given the significance of the relationship between environmental, animal, and human health—a concept known as One Health—there is a need to establish molecular surveillance programs. This work is the first report of the presence of these harmful biological elements in urban wetlands subjected to anthropogenic pressure, located in the south of Chile.

This study introduces an innovative optimization method to identify the optimal configuration of a sparse symmetric 2D array for applications in security, particularly multistatic imaging. Utilizing Genetic Algorithms (GA) in a sophisticated optimization process, the research focuses on achieving the most favorable antenna distribution while mitigating the common issue of secondary lobes in sparse arrays. The main objective is to determine the ideal configuration from specific design parameters, including hardware specifications such as number of radiating elements, minimum spacing, operating frequency range, and image separation distance. The study employs a cost function based on the the point spread function (PSF), the system response to a point source, with the goal of minimizing the secondary lobe levels and maximizing their separation from the main lobe. Advanced simulation algorithms based on Physical Optics (PO) are used to validate the presented methodology and results.

The fermentation of syngas is an attractive technology that can be integrated with gasification of lignocellulosic biomass. The coupling of these two technologies allows for treating a great variety of raw materials. Lignin usually hinders microbial fermentations; thus, the thermal decomposition of the whole material into small molecules allows for the production of fuels and other types of molecules using syngas as substrate, a process performed at mild conditions. Syngas contains mainly hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in varying proportions. These gases have a low volumetric energy density, resulting more interesting its conversion into higher energy density molecules. Syngas can be transformed by microorganisms, thus avoiding the use of expensive catalysts, which may be subject to poisoning. However, the fermentation is not free of suffering from inhibitory problems. The presence of trace components in syngas may cause a decrease in fermentation yields or cause a complete cessation of bacteria growth. The presence of tar and hydrogen cyanide are just examples of this fermentation's challenges. Syngas cleaning impairs significant restrictions in technology deployment. The technology may seem promising, but it is still far from large-scale application due to several aspects that still need to find a practical solution.

Purpose: This research compared the dissociated phoria at near and distance fixation in free space using three techniques: the Howell test, alternate Cover test, and Thorington test. Methods: 220 healthy Mexican children (age 5.06-17.11) participated in this study. Phorias were quantified at both distances using each test, from the least to the most disruptive. The stereopsis degree and near point of convergence (break/recovery) were analyzed to understand their role on the visual system's sensorimotor balance. Results: For the exophoria/esophoria at near, the alternate Cover and Thorington tests showed similar values. The exophoria at distance, was similar with the alternate Cover and Howell tests, while esophoria, with the alternate Cover and Thorington tests. The break value and near exophoria relates to each other and affect the stereopsis degree, whereas age is associated with the stereopsis degree and break value. Conclusions: The analysis revealed that alternate Cover and Thorington tests can substitute one another, but not with the Howell test. The test's specific dissociation method may explain these results. Analyzing the binocular visual system provides information about its sensorimotor balance and fragility when faced to the technique’s degree of dissociation.

This work proposes a metaheuristic-based approach for hyperparameter selection in a multilayer perceptron to classify electromyographic signals. The main goal of the study is to improve the performance of the model by optimizing four important hyperparameters: the number of neurons, the learning rate, the epochs, and the training batches. The approach proposed in this work shows that hyperparameter optimization using particle swarm optimization and gray wolf optimizer significantly improves the performance of a multilayer perceptron for classifying EMG motion signals. The final model achieved an average classification rate of 93% for the validation phases. The results obtained are promising and suggest that the proposed approach may be helpful for the optimization of deep learning models in other signal processing applications.

The practice of spatial econometrics revolves around a weighting matrix, which is often supplied by the user on previous knowledge. This is the so called $\mathbf{W}$ issue. Probably, the aprioristic approach is not the best solution although, nowadays, there few alternatives for the user. Our contribution focuses on the problem of selecting a $\mathbf{W}$ matrix from among a finite set of matrices, all of them considerer appropriate for the case. We develop a new and simple method based on the Entropy corresponding to the distribution of probability estimated for the data. Other alternatives, which are common in current applied work, are also reviewed. The paper includes a large Monte Carlo to calibrate the effectiveness of our approach compared to the others. A well-known case study is also included.

The introduction of non-conventional renewable energies (photovoltaic and wind, in the residential case) demand new proposals and opportunities to obtain a domestic energy management system (HEMS), which allows reducing the use of electrical energy. The HEMS incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to respond to energy demand (DR), which can control, switch, turn on and off, modifying the consumption profile, reducing monthly billing, which as a consequence brings improvement. of the quality of life at home. Based on what has been described, a model for identifying electrical appliances and determining consumption patterns for the home is proposed, using intrusive measurement/actuator equipment called Smart Socket. The Smart Socket measures the electrical variables of voltage and current in real time, calculating the powers and active-reactive-apparent energies of each household appliance (or the most relevant ones). The information provided by the Smart Socket is used as a basis to configure the HEMS, with the aim of optimizing energy use using artificial intelligence techniques and tools, thus reducing energy consumption, CO2 emissions and the user's monthly billing. residential.

The purpose of this work was analysing the compaction of a cohesive material using different DEM simulators to determine the equivalent contact models and identify how some parameters of the simulations affect the compaction results (maximum force and compacts appearance) and computational costs. For that purpose, three cohesion contact models were tested (‘linear cohesion’ in EDEM; ‘SJKR’ and ‘SJKR2’ in LIGGGHTS). The influence of the particle size distribution (PSD) on the results was also investigated. Further assessments were performed on the effect of selecting different timesteps, using distinct conversion tolerances for exporting the 3D models to STL files and moving the punch with different speeds. Consequently, it was possible to determine that a timestep equal to a 10% Rayleigh timestep, a conversion tolerance of 0.01 mm and a punch speed of 0.2 m/s are adequate for simulating the compaction process using the contact models in this work. In addition, the results determined that the maximum force was influenced by the PSD because of the rearrangement of the particles. The PSD was also related to the computational cost because of the number of simulated particles and their sizes. Finally, an equivalence was found between the linear cohesion and SJKR2 contact models

As a consequence of the global sanitary crisis in early 2020, universities had to tackle with a sudden shift in their teaching-learning strategies so that the preset competences could be fulfilled. This study presents the learning outcomes of the tasks implemented, student experiences and feedback, as well as some reflections from the instructors with a holistic perspective of the courses due to the measures and adaptations adopted. Six courses taught at Civil Engineering degrees of three universities, two from Spain and one from Peru, are analyzed. The teaching and evaluation strategies are described and some reflections are made by comparing the student’s performance with the previous course. Although the shift to online learning had to be made from day to day, with no time for preparation, the experience has proved that online learning can be beneficial in some aspects and have probably come to stay, although some others are difficult to replace with respect to face-to-face learning, especially students’ engagement and motivation.

The majority of structures supporting solar panels are founded on thin-walled metal piles driven into the ground to optimize costs and construction timelines. These pile foundations are subjected to repetitive lateral loads from various external forces, such as wind, which can compromise the in-tegrity of the pile-soil system. Given that the proper functioning of photovoltaic solar plants is typically expected for 20-30 years, predicting their useful life under fatigue loading becomes crucial. This research investigates the lateral load response of a single pile subjected to different fatigue loads in stiff cohesive soils. Additionally, the effect of loading cycles on the degradation of pile-soil ad-hesion is studied through pull-out field tests. This study reveals that soil fatigue does not occur under repetitive loading, and the soil’s stiffness remains constant once the cycles causing soil compaction have been overcome. Nevertheless, the soil's accumulated plastic deflection steadily increases once soil compaction due to cyclic loading occurs. The implications of these results on the fatigue life of photovoltaic solar panel foundations are discussed.

Malnutrition is prevalent in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), especially those on hemodialysis. Recently, our group described that a new oral nutritional supplement (ONS) for malnourished (or at-risk) hemodialysis patients with a "similar to the Mediterranean diet" model, improved caloric and protein intake, nutritional status and inflammation and oxidation biomarkers. Our aim in this study was to evaluate whether the new ONS, including probiotics, may produce changes in miRNAs expression and its target genes in malnourished hemodialysis patients, compared to individualized diet recommendations. We conducted a randomized, multicenter, parallel-group study in malnourished hemodialysis patients divided in 3 groups (1: Control -C- individualized diet 2: Oral nutritional supplement -ONS- + placebo -ONS-PL- and 3: ONS + probiotics -ONS-PR). Study registration: NCT03924089. The trial was open to the ONS diet or individual dietary advice, but double-blind for the intake of probiotics supplements. MiRNAs and gene expression levels were analyzed by RT-qPCR at baseline and after 3 and 6 months. We observed that the expression of miR-29a and miR-29b increased significantly in patients with ONS-PR at 3 months in comparison with baseline, stabilizing at the sixth month. Moreover, we observed differences between studied groups, where miR-29b expression levels were elevated in patients receiving ONS-PR compared to the control group in the third month. Regarding the gene expression levels, we observed a decrease in the ONS-PR group compared to the control group in the third month for RUNX2 and TNFα. TGFB1 expression was decreased in the ONS-PR group compared to baseline in the third month. PTEN gene expression was significantly elevated in the ONS-PR group at 3-months in comparison with baseline. LEPTIN expression was significantly increased in ONS-PL group at 3-month intervention compared to baseline. The new Oral Nutritional Supplement associated with probiotics; increases the expression levels of miR-29a and miR-29b after 3 months of intervention, modifying the expression of target genes with anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic actions. This study highlights the potential benefit of this Oral Nutritional Supplement, especially associated with probiotics, in malnourished patients with chronic renal disease on hemodialysis.

This paper investigates pseudo-polymorphism in 2-pyridylmethoxy derivatives of p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene (PyC4), p-tert-butyldihomooxa-calix[4]arenes (PyHOC4), and p-tert-butylhexahomotrioxacalix[3]arenes (PyHO3C3), presenting 11 crystal structures with 15 crystallographically independent molecules. The macrocycle of PyC4 is smaller and less flexible with respect to those of PyHOC4 and PyHO3C3 and in solution, the cone conformation of these three molecules exhibit different point symmetries: C4, Cs and C3, respectively. A correlation is observed between the macrocycle's structural rigidity and the number of pseudo-polymorphs formed. The more rigid PyC4 displays a higher number (6) of pseudo-polymorphs compared to PyHOC4 and PyHO3C3, which exhibit a smaller number of crystalline forms (3 and 2, respectively). The X-ray structures obtained show that the conformation of the macrorings is primarily influenced by the presence of an acetonitrile guest molecule within the cavity, with limited impact from crystal packing and intermolecular cocrystallized solvent molecules. Notably, both calix[4]arene derivatives produce host-guest complex with acetonitrile, while the most flexible and less aromatic PyHO3C3 do not give crystals with acetonitrile as guest. Intertwined 1D and 2D solvent channel networks were observed in the PyHOC4-hexane and in the PyHO3C3-H2O-MeOH crystal structures, respectively, while the other pseudopolymorphs of PyHOC4 and PyHO3C3 and all PyC4 crystal forms exhibit a closely packed crystal structures without open channels.

Nowadays, the transparency of governments with respect to the sustainability of public services is a very interesting issue for stakeholders and academics. It has led to previous research and international organisations (EU, IMF, OECD, United Nations, IFAC, G-20, World Bank) to recommend promotion of the online dissemination of economic, social and environmental information. Based on previous studies about e-government and the influence of administrative cultures on governmental accountability, this paper seeks to identify political actions useful to improve the practices of transparency on economic, social and environmental sustainability in European local governments. We perform a comparative analysis of sustainability information published on the websites of 72 local governments in 10 European countries grouped into main three cultural contexts (Anglo-Saxon, Southern European and Nordic). Using international sustainability reporting guidelines, our results reveal significant differences in local government transparency in each context. The most transparent local governments are the Anglo-Saxon ones, followed by Southern European and Nordic governments. Based on individualized empirical results for each administrative style, our conclusions propose useful policy interventions to enhance sustainability transparency within each cultural tradition, such as development of legal rules on transparency and sustainability, tools to motivate local managers for online diffusion of sustainability information and analysis of information needs of stakeholders.

Fibre reinforced cementitious materials (FRC) have become an attractive alternative for structural applications. Among such FRC, steel and polyolefin fibre reinforced concrete and glass fibre reinforced concrete are the most used ones. However, in order to exploit the properties of such materials structural designers need constitutive relations that reproduce FRC fracture behaviour accurately. This contribution analyses the suitability of multilinear softening functions combined with a cohesive crack approach for reproducing the fracture behaviour of the FRC previously mentioned. The implementation performed accurately simulates the fracture behaviour while being versatile, robust and efficient from a numerical point of view.

The permeation of dioxin-like pollutants, namely, chlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans, through lipid membranes has been simulated using classic molecular dynamics (CMD) combined with the umbrella sampling approach. The most toxic forms of chlorinated dibenzodioxin and dibenzofuran, 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-p-dibenzodioxin (TCDD) and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran (TCDF), and a dioleyl-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC) lipid membrane of 50 Å wide have been chosen for our study. The free energy profile shows the penetration process is largely favoured thermodynamically (DG≈-12 kcal/mol), with a progressively decrease of the free energy until reaching the energy minima at distances of 8Å and 9.5Å from the centre of the membrane for, respectively, TCDD and TCDF. At the centre of the membrane, both molecules display subtle local maxima with free energy differences of 0.5 and 1 kcal/mol with respect to the energy minima for TCDD and TCDF, respectively. Furthermore, the intermolecular interactions between the molecules and the lipid membrane have been characterized at the minima and the local maxima using hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics energy decomposition analysis (QM/MM-EDA). Total interaction energies of -17.5 and -16.5 kcal/mol have been found at the energy minima for TCDD and TCDF, respectively. In both cases, the dispersion forces govern the molecule-membrane interactions, no significant changes have been found at the local maxima, in agreement with the classical free energy profile. The small differences found in the results obtained for TCDD and TCDF point out the adsorption and diffusion processes through the cell membrane are not related to the different toxicity shown by these pollutants.

This article proposes a monitoring system that allows to track transitions between different stages in the berry harvesting process (berry picking, waiting for transport, transport, and arrival to the packing) solely using information from temperature and vibration sensors located in the basket. The monitoring system assumes a characterization of the process based on Hidden Markov Models and uses the Viterbi algorithm to perform inference and estimate the most likely state trajectory. The obtained state trajectory estimate is then used to compute a potential damage indicator in real-time. The proposed methodology does not require information about the weight of the basket to identify each of the different stages, which makes it effective and more efficient than other alternatives available in the industry.

Despite the advancements in evidence-based medicine, many hospitals still maintain high rates of patients undergoing prolonged preoperative fasting. The goal of this study is to determine the prevalence of prolonged fasting time among patients undergoing elective surgeries at a Brazilian university hospital and its associations with clinical and sociodemographic variables. This cross-sectional study was conducted between May and November 2019 and included patients of all ages undergoing elective surgeries. Out of the 293 patients analyzed, 64.2% were male, with ages ranging from 1 to 85 years, and 93.9% were classified as ASA I or II. The prevalence of preoperative fasting exceeding 8 hours was 89.4%. An average fasting time exceeding 11 hours was observed across all age groups. Patients who underwent procedures in the afternoon had an average fasting time that was 16% longer than those in the morning period (13.84 vs. 11.92, p<0.001). Surgery time (r=0.134, p<0.03) and anesthesia times (r=0.121, p<0.04) demonstrated a weak correlation with fasting time. Despite the international consensus on preoperative fasting time, our study demonstrated low adherence to current recommendations. Therefore, healthcare professionals should ensure the comprehension of fasting guidelines, and further studies should aim to identify effective solutions to mitigate prolonged fasting.

Background: Clinical cases reports with snake accidents show that venom bite induces increased oxidative stress including several markers of lipid peroxidation and other oxidative stress marker in plasma. Methods: The main findings of this work were performed with BthTx-II on paw edema of animals treated with the toxin and biochemical measurement of COX-2, PGE2, MDA and the effects of peroxiredoxin inhibitors on edema and myotoxicity were also evaluated. Results: The results show that edema and myotoxocity induced by PLA2 (BthTx-II) induces a strong mobilization of arachidonic acid and an increase in cellular oxidative stress as measured by increased malondialdehydo (MDA) concentration and protein carbonylation. Thus, these findings establish the strong link between oxidative stress, arachidonic acid mobilization and that these events may explain the presence of oxidative stress markers in snake-bitten patients. Experiments performed with animals previously treated with commercially purchased inhibitors showed enzymes such as thioredoxin (TXN), thioredoxin reductase (TXNRD) and other glutathione (GSH)-related antioxidant defenses could play an essential role controlling and defining the end of edema on the late phase of PLA2 BthTx-II-induced process. Conclusion. This study showed that thioate-dependent antioxidant enzymes play an important role in resolving the edema induced by BthTx-II.

Comminution is the most power-demanding stage, and the lack of geometallurgical testing, often for financial reasons, may result in an inefficient operation. The Geopyörä Rock Breakage test was developed with the objective of making mineral variability data more accessible by providing both standard comminution parameters and rock mechanical properties at low cost, and with a modest sample size, allowing a larger number of samples to be tested to reduce uncertainties and assure productivity. The objective of this work is to present the results of an extensive validation of this new rock breakage method against two of the main tests currently in use, namely the SMC® and Bond ball mill work index tests. More than 100 samples have been tested and the results compared, showing that the new method can accurately estimate the parameters of the traditional tests. This confirms that the new test is a reliable tool for comminution and geometallurgical tests.

The critical role of global electron density transfer (GEDT) in increasing the reaction rate of polar organic reactions has been studied within the framework of Molecular Electron Density Theory (MEDT). To this end, the series of the polar Diels-Alder (P-DA) reactions of cyclopentadiene with cyanoethylene derivatives, for which experimental kinetic data are available, have been chosen. A complete linear correlation between the computed activation Gibbs free energies and the GEDT taking place at the polar transition state structures (TSs) is found; the higher the GEDT at the TS, the lower the activation Gibbs free energy. An interacting quantum atoms (IQA) energy partitioning analysis allows establishing a complete linear correlation between the electronic stabilization of the electrophilic ethylene frameworks and the GEDT taking place at the polar TSs. This finding supports Parr’s proposal for the definition of the electrophilicity  index (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1999, 121, 1922). The present MEDT study allows establishing the critical role of the GEDT in the acceleration of polar reactions, since the electronic stabilization of the electrophilic framework with the electron density gain is greater than the destabilization of the nucleophilic one, making a net favorable electronic contribution to the decrease of the activation energy.

The research focuses on the electrochemical behavior of TiVN trilayers in a liquid that simulates a physiological environment (blood plasma). TiVN films are obtained through Physical Direct Current Vapor (PVD) Deposition on titanium bases, depositing TiN and VN layers as an intermediate layer during the procedure. Impedance measurements are carried out before and during the wear test to determine the impact on the sample. The results show that the TiVN trilayer enhances corrosion resistance according to the time of exposure to the electrolyte. Initially, the load resistance (Rct) was 10.50 Ohms, but after 16 days, the Rct rose markedly to 13.87 Ohms, signaling an advance in corrosion resistance, a valuable property for wide applications.

Current State-of-the-Art (SotA) chatbots are able to produce high quality sentences, handling different conversation topics, and larger interaction times. Unfortunately, the generated responses highly depend on the data on which they have been trained, the specific dialogue history and current turn used for guiding the response, the internal decoding mechanisms, ranking strategies, among others. Therefore, it may happen that for semantically similar questions asked by users, the chatbot may provide a different answer, which can be considered as a form of hallucination or produce confusion in long-term interactions. In this research paper, we propose a novel methodology consisting of two main phases: a) hierarchical automatic detection of topics and subtopics in dialogue interactions using a Zero-Shot learning approach, and b) detecting inconsistent answers using K-Means and the Silhouette coefficient. To evaluate the efficacy of topic and subtopic detection, we used a subset of the DailyDialog dataset and real dialogue interactions gathered during the Alexa Socialbot Grand Challenge 5 (SGC5). The proposed approach enables detecting up to 18 different topics and 102 subtopics. For the purpose of detecting inconsistencies, we manually generate multiple paraphrased questions and employ several pre-trained SotA chatbot models to generate responses. Our experimental results demonstrate a weighted F-1 value of 0.34 for topic detection, a weighted F-1 value of 0.78 for subtopic detection in DailyDialog, then 81% and 62% accuracy for topic and subtopic classification in SGC5; finally, to predict the number of different responses, we obtained a mean squared error (MSE) of 3.4 when testing smaller generative models and 4.9 in recent large language models.

Biodiesel is seen as a successor to diesel of petrochemical origin, as it can be used in cycle engines and stationary engines, and be obtained from renewable raw materials. Currently, the biodiesel production process on an industrial scale is mostly carried out through the transesterification reaction, also forming glycerol as a product. Pure glycerol is used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, cleaning, food and other industries. Even presenting numerous applications, studies indicate that there is a saturation of glycerol in the market which is directly related to the production of biodiesel. This increase causes a commercial devaluation of pure glycerol; making the separation and purification processes unfeasible from an economic point of view. Despite the economic unfeasibility of the aforementioned processes, they continue to be carried out due to environmental issues. Faced with the problem presented, this work aims at a bibliographical review of works that aimed to use glycerol as a raw material for the production process of biofuels, these processes being carried out mostly via fermentation.

Digital Educational Recourses (DER) have undergone a rapid evolution and integration into the educational contexts. Teachers play a fundamental role in incorporating technology into their classrooms, so it is important to identify the value that teachers on DER and reflect on the implications for their practice. Through the qualitative methodology the necessary data is obtained with open-response inter-views with teachers. This dataset was analysed and categorised using AQUAD. The results suggest that teachers acknowledge the importance of integrating digital re-sources into their classrooms, although there was no consensus regarding the appropriate level at which to do so. Further the inter-views revealed that younger teachers tend to use more self-elaborated or selected resources. Teachers noted the benefits of using technology, especially in regard to maintaining student motivation, how-ever they also highlighted a number of extrinsic challenges and limitations. The results indicate there is a relationship between teachers’ perceptions and their practice, although this could be improved.

Thin films of BiFeO3 (BFO), VO2 and BFO/VO2 were grown on SrTiO3(100) and Al2O3(0001) monocrystalline substrates using the RF and DC sputtering techniques. The surface of the films was characterized by profilometry, AFM, and XPS. The heterostructures have roughnesses between 0.2 and 16 nm and a grain size between 20 nm and 67 nm. XPS measurements show a higher proportion of the V4+ and Bi3+ oxides. In the Fe region, a higher proportion of Fe3+ is shown in the films. The homogeneous ordering, low roughnesses, and the oxidation states on the obtained surface show a good coupling in these films. The I-V curves show ohmic behavior at room temperature and change with increasing temperature. The effect of coupling these materials in a thin film shows the appearance of hysteresis cycles I-V and R-T, typical of materials with high potential in applications such as resistive memories and solar cells.