Non-melanomatous skin cancers (NMSCs), which include basal and squamous cell carcinoma (BCC and SCC respectively), represent a significant burden on the population as well as an economic load to the health care system, yet treatments of these preventable cancers remain ineffective. Although primary prevention is possible through minimising sunlight exposure, the World Health Organisation estimates that between 2 and 3 million new cases of NMSCs are diagnosed each year, accounting for 1 in 3 of all newly diagnosed cancers. Furthermore, studies have estimated there has been a 2-fold increase in the incidence of NMSCs between 1960s and 1980s. The increase in cases of NMSCs as well as the lack of effective treatments makes the need for novel therapeutic approaches all the more necessary. To rationally develop more targeted treatments for NMSCs, a better understanding of the cell of origin, in addition to the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms that govern the development of these cancers, is urgent. NMSCs are generally thought to arise from specific types of stem cells that become the source of clonal expansion of tumourigenic cells. Previous research on SCC has alluded to these stem cells being localised in the basal compartment of the skin, which ordinarily houses the progenitor cells that contribute towards wound healing and normal cell turnover of overlying epidermal skin layers. More recent research has suggested that commitment to differentiation, which requires exiting the basal, progenitor-cell compartment, is a reversible mechanism. Genetic modifications engage differentiated cells into dedifferentiation, converting them into cancer-initiating cells (CICs) and thereby promoting a tumourigenic environment. Here we explore the most recent developments in the understanding of skin SCC cell of origin, and discuss a case study illustrating the loss of the Grainy-head like 3 (GRHL3) transcription factor in suprabasal layers, which confers a tendency towards tumour development and thereby challenging the “stem cell” theory of tumourigenesis.

E-commerce is a rapidly evolving global trend that is having a significant impact on consumer behavior and business strategies. Despite its growing impact, e-commerce adoption by Moroccan firms remains low and research on this topic in this context is scarce. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the main determinants influencing e-commerce adoption by Moroccan firms. We use logit, probit, and conditional mixed process-probit models to identify the critical factors driving e-commerce adoption. Our results reveal five key findings. First, newer firms that are more open to innovation and change are more likely to adopt e-commerce. Second, firms with a higher proportion of highly educated employees are more likely to adopt e-commerce. Third, the digital skills of new employees do not directly influence the likelihood of e-commerce adoption. Fourth, being listed on digital platforms increases the likelihood of e-commerce adoption. Finally, there is a positive relationship between firms engaged in innovation activities and e-commerce adoption. These findings highlight the need for additional investment in promoting modern organizational practices, reskilling workers, and implementing advanced technologies to facilitate effective e-commerce integration among Moroccan SMEs. By addressing these challenges, Moroccan firms can harness the full potential of e-commerce and contribute to the country’s economic growth and digital transformation.

The transition to sustainable energy systems in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region addresses critical challenges of environmental protection, energy security, and socio-economic resilience. Using neo-institutional theory, this paper examines the intricate relationship between formal and informal institutions and their significant impact on the region’s energy transition. Despite the MENA region’s abundant renewable energy resources, numerous institutional barriers, such as governance inefficiencies, regulatory inconsistencies, and entrenched socio-cultural norms, significantly hinder this transition. Through a review of existing literature, this study presents a comprehensive analytical framework designed to overcome these barriers, with a focus on the Just and Sustainable Energy Transition model. This strategic model emphasizes equity, sustainability, and inclusive governance as pillars for reform. The study offers detailed recommendations for institutional change and underscores the importance of collaborative efforts among governments, industry stakeholders, and international partners to unlock the MENA region’s renewable energy potential, advance global sustainability goals, and ensure a more secure and resilient energy future.

Eelgrass meadows have attracted a lot of attention not only for their ability to maintain marine ecosystems as feeding grounds for marine organisms, but also for their potential to store atmos-pheric and dissolved CO2 as blue carbon. This study comprehensively evaluated the bacterial and chemical composition data obtained from eelgrass sediments of different scales along the coast of Japan to investigate the sediment effect on the acclimatization of eelgrass. Regardless eelgrass habitat, approximately 1% Anaerolineales, Babeliales, Cytophagales, and Phycisphaerales were present in the bottom sediment. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) were present at 3.69 % in eelgrass sediment compared to 1.70 % in bare sediment. Sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB) were present at 2.81% and 1.10% in the eelgrass and bare sediment, respectively. Bacterial composition analysis and linear discriminant analysis revealed that sulfur-oxidizing bacteria detoxified H2S in the eelgrass meadows and that the larger-scale eelgrass meadows had a higher diversity of sul-fur-oxidizing bacteria. Our result indicated that one of the following systems detoxifies the H2S in eelgrass meadows microbial oxidation by sulfur-oxidizing bacteria, oxidation by O2 perme-ated by the physical diffusion of benthos. This study indicated the issues of maintaining sustain-able conservation of the eelgrass bed.

Consumption is thus fundamentally related to sustainably because every decision pertaining to what to buy, what quantity the buy, how many to consume, or how to dispose of things has a direct influence on the natural world and the generations to come, and the overall impact of every single the customer's purchase is disastrous. A framework-based systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to better comprehend the body of research on digital innovation and sustainability driving consumer behavior. This was done in order to acquire a deeper understanding of the studies that have already been done in this area. to provide (i) a comprehensive review of the current research landscape and (ii) a rich roadmap for future research. This study evaluated the literature especially in terms of theory, context, traits, and methodology. A total of 107 research articles published between 2013 and 2022 were found using scientific methods in the Scopus database. The findings showed that most research appears to have employed qualitative methodologies and was grounded in the setting of China and Italy. This review could help scholars better grasp the relationship between digital innovation and sustainability, opening the door for additional study and advancement in the field. Additionally, by extending the literature study and emphasizing the elements that can improve digital innovation and sustainability, practitioners will be given a better overall understanding of how to approach the problem.

The accumulation of loss of function mutations in the uricase gene well explains the high urate levels in hominoids (apes and humans) compared to other mammals. The loss of human uricase activity may have allowed humans to survive environmental stressors, evolution bottlenecks, and life-threatening pathogens. While high urate levels may contribute to developing cardiometabolic disorders such as hypertension and insulin resistance, low urate levels may increase the risk for neurodegenerative diseases. The double-edged sword effect of uric acid has resurrected a growing interest in the antioxidant role of urate and the role of the uricase gene in modulating the risk of obesity. Characterizing both the effect of uric acid levels and the uricase gene in different animal models may provide new insights into the potential therapeutic benefits of uric acid and novel uricase-based therapy.

The macro-litter (plastic) sea bottom pollution of 14 city harbors and marinas in North Africa and in the western Baltic Sea was investigated using a new simple mobile underwater camera system. The study was complemented by a harbor manager survey and 3D-hydrodynamic transport simulations. The average pollution in German marinas was 0.1 particles/m² sea floor (0.04–1.75). The pollution in North African marinas on average was 7 times higher (0.7 particles/m²) and exceeded 3 particles/m² in city center harbors. The resulting >100,000 litter particles per harbor indicate the existence of a problem. With 73%-74%, plastic particles are dominating. Existing legal and management frameworks explain the lack of plastic bottles and bags on sea floors in Germany and are one reason for the lower pollution levels. Items that indicate the role of untreated sewage water were not found. Harbor festivals seem not to be quantitatively relevant for open sea bottom pollution. Our method tends to underestimate the pollution level. Model simulations indicate that storms can cause litter reallocations and sediment cleanings. However, marina sea floor monitoring is recommendable, because it addresses pollution hot-spots, is cost-effective and takes place close to emission sources. Further, the effectiveness of land-based pollution reduction measures can easily be assessed.

Purpose: To assess the clinical safety and possible effectiveness of Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide in the treatment of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) related to sepsis. Methods: Under FDA Investigational New Drug clearance, 8 patients with ARDS related to sepsis were treated with 50 pmole/kg/hr – 100 pmole/kg/hr of Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide by intravenous infusion for 12 hours. All patients were on mechanical ventilation and full telemetery. Results: No drug-related serious adverse events were seen. Hypotension was seen in association with two infusions and diarrhea in association with one, but did not necessitate cessation of therapy. Bigeminy was seen in association with one infusion without sequelae. Seven of eight patients demonstrated a successful course during intensive care and were successfully removed from mechanical ventilation and discharged from intensive care. The eighth patient succumbed to purulent secretions in the lungs. Of those who were discharged from the ICU, six demonstrated successful 30 day survival. The seventh died from a cerebral infract at day 30, deemed unrelated to treatment with VIP. Serum levels of Tumor Necrosis Factor α were obtained in 6 patients at baseline and 24 hours and were seen to decrease with treatment in five patients. Conclusions: Initial clinical results of treatment with VIP in patients with ARDS demonstrated a safety profile consistent with previous studies in normal volunteers. The successful clinical course seen in 7 of 8 patients in the setting of an expected 50% survival may suggest that VIP shows promise in the treatment of other infectious conditions that damage the pulmonary epithelium, particularly COVID-19.

Background: Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP) is known to bind to and protect the Alveolar Type II cell by blocking replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, upregulating surfactant production, blocking apoptosis, and blocking cytokine effects. RLF-100 (Aviptadil), a synthetic form of Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP) has been granted Fast Track Designation and is currently in phase 2/3 placebo-controlled trials. FDA has granted Emergency Use IND and Expanded Access Protocol approval for the use of RLF-100 in patients whose comorbidities render them ineligible for inclusion in the ongoing pivotal trial. Methods: This report describes the first 6 patients with Acute Respiratory Failure in Critical COVID-19, enrolled under Emergency Use IND were treated with three successive 12-hour infusions of intravenous Aviptadil at 50/100/150 pmol/kg/hr, while continuing to receive maximal ICU care. Results: Median patient follow-up time is 14 days. So far, all treated patients have survived. Improved radiographic appearance of typical “ground glass” COVID-19 features to varying degrees is seen in all patients within 72 hours. Improvement in blood oxygenation is seen in all patients, with complete remission from respiratory failure in 4 of 6 patients. An average 56% reduction in inflammatory markers was seen, together with a median 4 point reduction in the NIAID Ordinal Scale. 2/6 patients were discharged from the hospital and 1 patient was downgraded to the general medicine floor. Comment: The short term survival of 6/6 patients with respiratory failure in the setting of COVID-19 and major comorbidity is the most dramatic response ever seen with an antiviral agent. Improvement in radiographic appearance, oxygenation requirement, and inflammatory markers is consistent with in vitro evidence of direct anti-viral effect.

Electronic text stylometry is a collection of forensics methods that analyze the writing styles of input electronic texts in order to extract information about authors of the input electronic texts. Such extracted information could be the identity of the authors, or aspects of the authors, such as their gender, age group, ethnicity, etc. This survey paper presents the following contributions: 1) A description of all stylometry problems in probability terms, under a unified notation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive definition to date. 2) A survey of key methods, with a particular attention to data representation (or feature extraction) methods. 3) An evaluation of 23,760 feature extraction methods, which is the most comprehensive evaluation of feature extraction methods in the literature of stylometry to date. The importance of this evaluation is two fold. First, identifying the relative effectiveness of the features (since, currently, many are not evaluated jointly; e.g. syntactic n-grams are not evaluated against k-skip n-grams, and so forth). Second, thanks to our generalizations, we could evaluate novel grams, such as what we name compound grams. 4) The release of our associated Python feature extraction library, namely Fextractor. Essentially, the library generalizes all existing n-gram based feature extraction methods under the "at least l-frequent, dir-directed, k-skipped n-grams'', and allows grams to be diversely defined, including definitions that are based on high-level grammatical aspects, such as POS tags, as well as lower-level ones, such as distribution of function words, word shapes, etc. This makes the library, by far, the most extensive in this domain to date. 5) The construction, evaluation, and release of the first dataset for Emirati social media text. This evaluation represents the first evaluation of author identification against Emirati social media texts. Interestingly, we find that, when using our models and feature extraction library (Fextractor), authors could be identified significantly more accurately than what is reported with similarly sized datasets. The dataset also contains sub-datasets that represent other languages (Dutch, English, Greek and Spanish), and our findings are consistent across them.

Pharmacogenomics (PGx) is the study of how variations of the patient genetic makeup could influence the selection and dosing of medications, including urate-lowering therapies (ULTs). Patients with gout present with several comorbidities, warranting the use of several long-term medications that increase their pill burden and the risk of adverse drug events. PGx testing can identify individuals who are more or less likely to benefit from a given treatment and ultimately improve adherence and reduce polypharmacy. Gout management involves using various ULTs associated with specific genetic variations that could modulate medication safety and efficacy. Individuals carrying the HLA-B*58:01 variant are at a higher risk of serious and life-threatening skin reactions from taking allopurinol. Besides, racial disparities in HLA-B distribution warrant testing for its status in high-risk populations, specifically some Asian subgroups and African Americans. G6PD-deficient individuals are prone to develop hemolytic anemia and methemoglobinemia with pegloticase and probenecid use. Patients with the less active form of the drug-metabolizing CYP2C9 are at higher risk for NSAID-related upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. The drug-gene pair interactions among various gout therapies were also reviewed. Allopurinol-related genes included AOX, ABCG2, and SLC22A12. Febuxostat-related genes included UGT1A1. Benzbromarone- and probenecid- related genes included SLC22A12 and ABCB1. Colchicine-related genes included CYP2D6, ABCB1, rs6916345 G>A, and SEPHS1. Finally, the corticosteroid-related gene included HCG22; and the anakinra-related gene included IL1RA. This review synthesizes the most contemporary level of evidence for using PGx in gout pharmacotherapy, as referenced in the CPIC guidelines, FDA, PharmGKB, and current literature.

Decapod assemblages in Zostera marina beds from two bays adjacent to unvegetated habitats were investigated to assess their influence on decapod assemblages. Thirty-eight decapod species belonging to 4 taxa were collected using a small beam trawl at four habitat types from two different locations off the coast of Namhae Island, southern Korea. Dominant decapod taxon at all habitats was the caridean shrimps, with Eualus leptognathus, Heptacarpus pandaloides, Latreutes anoplonyx, La. laminirostris and Palaemon macrodactylus being the most abundant caridean species. Crabs were characterized by the highest biomass, but moderate species richness and abundance. Penaeoids and sergestoids shrimps only accounted for <1% of the total decapod abundance. The number of species, their abundance, and the diversity of decapod assemblages varied greatly by habitat type, season, and diel patterns. Species number and abundance peaked in seagrass beds of southern exposed bays during the autumn, and were lowest in unvegetated habitats during the summer months. Diel decapod species and catch rates were higher at night. Dense seagrass vegetation and nighttime supported greater decapod species richness and higher mean densities, but not diversity. Multivariate analyses revealed that habitat type and season significantly affected the structure of decapod assemblages, but diel patterns had a minor influence. Among decapod species, Pa. macrodactylus and Pugettia quadridens characterized the decapod assemblages in seagrass beds at the northern semi-closed bay, while Telmessus acutidens, Crangon affinis, Cr. hakodatei, Charybdis japonica and Portunus sanguinolentus were significantly associated with both vegetated and unvegetated habitats at the southern exposed bay, with the former two species more abundant during winter and spring.

This study examines the complex relation among environmental taxes, productive capacities, urbanization, and their collective effects on environmental quality in Africa, drawing on two decades of data from twenty African countries. It situates the study within the broader discourse on sustainable development and economic growth, emphasizing the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework to examine the relationship between economic development, characterized by urban expansion and increased productive capacities, and the adoption of environmental taxes amidst the continent’s diverse economic and environmental environments. Using advanced econometric techniques, including the Cross-Section Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model and the Dynamic Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (DCCEMG) estimator, the study addresses data challenges such as cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity. The results provide important insights into the dynamics of environmental quality in relation to economic and urban growth and the role of environmental taxation. The study proposes tailored policy strategies aimed at strengthening sustainable development initiatives in line with international agreements such as the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. These strategies advocate for a nuanced application of environmental taxes and the promotion of productive capacities to enhance environmental sustainability across the African continent.

Background: Low-income families often depend on fuels such as wood, coal, and animal dung for cooking. Such solid fuels are highly polluting and are a primary source of indoor air pollutants (IAP). We examined the association between solid fuel use (SFU) and acute respiratory infection (ARI) among under-five children in Afghanistan and the extent to which this association varies by socioeconomic status (SES) and gender. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study based on de-identified data from Afghanistan’s first standard Demographic and Health Survey conducted in 2015. The sample consists of ever-married mothers with under-five children in the household (n=27,565). We used mixed-effect Poisson regression models with robust error variance accounting for clustering to examine the associations between SFU and ARI among under-five children after adjusting for potential confounders. We also investigated potential effect modification by SES and sex. Additional analyses were conducted using an augmented measure of the exposure to IAP accounting for both SFU and the location of cooking/kitchen (High Exposure, Moderate, and No Exposure). Results: Around 70% of households reported SFU, whereas the prevalence of ARI was 17.6%. The prevalence of ARI was higher in children living in households with SFU compared to children living in households with no SFU (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR]= 1.10; 95%CI: 0.98, 1.23). We did not observe any effect modification by SES or child sex. When using the augmented measure of exposure incorporating the kitchen’s location, children highly exposed to IAP had a higher prevalence of ARI compared to unexposed children (aPR 1.17; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.32). SES modified this association with the strongest associations observed among children from the middle wealth quintile. Conclusion: The findings have significant policy implications and suggest that ARI risk in children may be reduced by ensuring clean cookstove as well as clean fuels and acting on the socio-environmental pathways.

The chicken embryo is a widely used experimental animal-model in many studies such as developmental biology and to study the physiological responses and adaptation to altered environments as well as for cancer and neurobiology research. Embryonic heart rate is an important physiological variable useful as an index reflecting the embryo's natural activity and is considered one of the most difficult parameters to measure. An acceptable measurement technique of embryonic heart rate should provide a reliable cardiac signal quality while maintaining adequate gas exchange through the eggshell along the incubation and embryonic developmental period. In this paper, we presented a detailed design and methodology for a non-invasive PPG-based prototype (Egg-PPG) for real-time and continuous monitoring of embryonic heart rate during incubation. An automatic embryonic cardiac wave detection algorithm, based on normalised spectral entropy, is described. The developed algorithm successfully estimated the embryonic heart rate with 98.7% accuracy. We believe that the developed overall system presented in this paper is showing a promising solution for non-invasion, real-time monitoring of embryonic cardiac signal, which can be used in both experimental studies (e.g., developmental embryology and cardiovascular research) and in industrial incubation applications.

The TME, consisting of immune cells, fibroblasts, vessels, and the extracellular matrix, regulates tumor progression and therapy responses. TME-targeted therapies aim to transform this environment from supporting tumor growth to impeding it and fostering an effective immune response. This review examines the metabolic disparities between immune cells and cancer cells, their impact on immune function and therapeutic targeting, the TME components, and the complex interplay between cancer cells and non-tumoral cells. The success of TME-targeted therapies highlights their potential in achieving better cancer control or even a cure.

The current energy policy recommends the idea of energy efficiency over fossil energy as a primary matter for the coming years. The kingdom of Morocco requires restructuring of its power equipment by increasing the percentage of renewable energy supplies, optimizing their systems and power storage. Therefore, increasing energy efficiency is an as important obligation as reducing the overall energy consumption. The purpose of this research is to present the energy transition in Morocco towards renewable energies and to assess the diversity of available marine natural resources. Recent research in conversion of ocean thermal energy, wave energy, tidal energy, offshore wind energy, and osmotic energy into power supply has started to encourage different technologies. This research has led to commercial deployment in some cases such as our 550 km long Mediterranean coast and 3000 km long Atlantic. This does not only result in fossil energies independency but also provides advantages like less cost and no pollution.

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.

The development of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) technology comes with inherent limitations and vulnerabilities that make it exploitable by intruders. The fundamental goal of this article is to solve security problems related to black hole attacks, which interfere with the proper performance of the network and can lead to data leakage and loss. The proposed solution in this article is to apply IDS to a WSN for the first time. We also used the NS2.35 simulator to compare the three routing protocols, AODV, AODV under Hacker Node (HNAODV), and the proposed solution (IDSHNAODV) in the WSN model to reduce the effects of black hole attacks.

Modern agriculture requires technology to give precise measures about relevant parameters such as pest control. Here, we developed an algorithm model as base for bait spray intervention, by monitoring the olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae (Rossi), with conventional traps, in 24.3 Hectares of non-irrigated Baladi olive cultivars, in Hassbaya region. We installed 49 yellow sticky traps with ammonium bicarbonate. The adults, males and females were monitored, on weekly basis. The traps and the trees were georeferenced, and the parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, tree phenology (BBCH), and fruit load rate were compiled. The results showed that the infested fruits were correlated as much with the fruit load rate as with the number of adults captures which were correlated more to the temperature than the relative humidity. The number of the males captured was higher than the females all over the cultivation period. The first symptoms of the fruits were observed from 22 September when the BBCH was equal to 85%, with an average of adult captures lesser than 5 adults by trap by 7 days.

The development of multidrug resistance by pathogenic bacteria and yeast is a significant medical problem that needs to be addressed. One possible answer could be the combined use of antibiotics and silver nanoparticles, which have different mechanisms of antimicrobial action. Nanoparticles can be combined with antifungal agents in the same way. Biogenic silver nanoparticles synthesized using environmentally friendly technology using extracts of biologically active plants are an effective nanomaterial that needs to be comprehensively investigated for implementation into medical practice. In this study, the synergistic effects arising from their combined use with antibiotics and fungicides against various bacteria and yeasts, included in the ESKAPE list, were studied. Effective concentrations of substances were established, recommendations for the studied pathogenic species were presented and the effect of destruction of the bacterial membrane was illustrated. The most significant synergistic effect was manifested in pathogenic candida and brewer's yeast.

Thalassemia treatment still relies on supportive care, including mainly blood transfusion and iron chelation therapy. Iron chelation therapy is considered the main responsible factor for the marked improvement in survival of thalassemic patients. Hemosiderosis should be prevented with appropriate chelation therapy from early childhood, timely dose adjustment according to changing body weight, as well as close monitoring of organ iron overload. Three iron chelators are currently available and the choice of appropriate chelator or their combination in pediatric population is individualized, depending on iron overload in target organs, patient age, adverse events and compliance issues, due to the limitations in their administration.

Among the many neglected underutilized species, tuberous Andean root crops like the ahipas (Pachyrhizus ahipa) constitute a promising alternative for increasing diversity in nutrient sources and food security at a regional level. In this study, we present the content of some functional compounds in tuberous roots from several ahipa accessions and the progenies of the interspecific hybrid X207 (P. ahipa × P. tuberosus). A significant objective was to determine protein and free amino acids in the roots to evaluate their food quality as protein supply. The interspecific hybrids have been found to possess the root quality to provide the crop with a higher dry matter content. The high dry matter content of the P. tuberosus Chuin materials is retained in the root quality of the hybrids. Food functional components like carbohydrates, organic acids, and proteins were determined in several ahipa accessions and a stable (non-segregating) progeny of the interspecific hybrid, X207. The X207 roots showed a significantly higher dry matter content and a lower content in soluble sugars, but no significant differences were found in starch content or organic acids compared to the ahipa accessions. About the root mineral contents, Fe and Mn concentrations in X207 were significantly raised compared to the average of ahipa accessions. Among the ahipa and the hybrid, no prominent differences in protein content or protein amino acids were found, being both partially defective in providing sufficient daily intake of some essential amino acids. Root weight, a central component of root yield, was significantly higher in X207, but thorough field studies are required to substantiate the hybrid’s superior yield performance..

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication, anxiety, hyperactivity, and restricted interest for specific subjects. In addition to the genetic factors, multiple environmental factors have been related to the development of ASD. Animal models can serve as crucial tools for understanding the complexity of ASD and identifying potential therapeutic strategies. In this study, a chemical model of ASD has been developed in zebrafish by exposing embryos to valproic acid (VPA) from 4 to 48 hours post-fertilization. After the exposure, embryos were transferred to fish water and the effects on behavior and neurotransmitters profile were analyzed at both larval and adult stages. Larvae from VPA-treated embryos showed hyperactivity and decreased visual and vibrational escape responses, as well as an altered neurotransmitters profile, with increased glutamate and decreased acetylcholine and norepinephrine levels. Adults from VPA-treated embryos exhibited impaired social behavior characterized by larger shoal sizes and a decreased interest for their conspecifics. Neurotransmitter analysis revealed a significant decrease in dopamine and GABA levels in the brain. These results support the interest of this model in the study of ASD.

To face the high tolerance of biofilms to antibiotics, it is urgent to develop new strategies to fight against these bacterial consortia. We describe here an innova-tive antibiofilm nano vector, consisting of a Dispersin B-permethylated-β-cyclodextrin/ciprofloxacin adamantly (DspB-β-CD/CIP-Ad). For this purpose, complexation assays between CIP-Ad and (i) unmodified β-CD and (ii) different derivatives of β-CD, that are 2,3-O-dimethyl-β-CD, 2,6-O-dimethyl-β-CD, and 2,3,6-O-trimethyl-β-CD were tested. A stoichiometry of 1/1 was obtained for the β -CD/CIP-Ad complex by NMR analysis. ITC experiments were carried out to determine Ka, ΔH, ΔS thermodynamic parameters of the complex between β-CD or its different derivatives in the presence of CIP-Ad. A stoichiometry 1/1 of β-CD/CIP-Ad complexes was confirmed with variable affinity according to the type of methylation. A phase solubility study showed increased CIP-Ad solubili-ty with CDs concentration, pointing out complex formation. The evaluation of the antibacterial activity of CIP-Ad and the 2,3-O-dimethyl-β-CD/CIP-Ad or 2,3,6-O-trimethyl-β-CD/CIP-Ad complexes was performed on S.epidermidis strains. MIC studies showed that the complex of CIP-Ad and 2,3-O-dimethyl-β-CD exhibited similar antimicrobial activity to CIP-Ad alone, while the interaction with 2,3,6-O-trimethyl-β-CD increased MIC values. Antimicrobial assays on S. epidermidis biofilms demonstrated that the synergistic effect observed with the DspB/CIP association was partly maintained with the 2,3-O-dimethyl-β-CDs/CIP-Ad complex. To obtain this "all in one" nano vector, able to destroy the biofilm matrix and release the antibiotic simultaneously, we covalently grafted DspB on three carboxylic permethylated CD derivatives with different length spacer arms. The strategy was validated by demonstrating that a DspB-permethylated-β-CD/ciprofloxacin-Ad nanovector exhibited efficient antibiofilm activity.

Magneto-rheological dampers (MR-dampers) are increasingly used in construction applications to reduce the dynamic response of structures to seismic activities or severe wind loading. Sensors attached to the structure will signal the computer to supply the dampers with electric charge that transfers the MR fluid to a near-solid material with different physical and mechanical properties (viscoelastic behavior). Control algorithms govern the fluid to near-solid conversion, which controls the behavior of the damper, and the performance of the structure under the seismic or wind loading event. The successful optimization of control parameters minimize the overall structural response to dynamic forces. The main objective of this research is to change the output behavior of specific floors within a building subjected to seismic excitation by optimizing the MR-dampers control parameters to impact the behavior of a specific floor or number of floors within the building. The adjustment of control parameters to attain this objective was validated in multiple case studies throughout this research. The successful implementation of the research outcome will result in optimized MR-damper design to meet the performance-based criteria of building projects.

Gas membrane-based separation is considered one of the furthermost effective technology to address energy efficiency and large footprint challenges. Various classes of advanced materials including polymers, zeolites, porous carbons and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) were attempted as membranes for gas separation. MOFs, among other porous materials, possess uniquely tunable nature, in which the pore size and environment can be controlled by connecting metal ions (or metal ion clusters) with organic linkers with various functionalities. This feature makes them attractive for thin membrane fabrication, as both diffusion and solubility components of permeability can be altered. It is interesting to notice that numerous reports have addressed the synthesis of different MOFs, fabrication of their corresponding thin films and their applications, nonetheless, relatively limited studies addressed their gas separation application as membranes. In this review, we provide a synopsis of the various MOF-based membranes that were fabricated in the last decade. In this review we propose a short introduction touching on the gas separation membrane technology and we shed light on (i) the various techniques developed for the fabrication of MOF as membranes and (ii) challenges and application for MOF thin film membranes in various important gas separation applications.

The rate of accidents in Morocco is experiencing a significant increase. Automatic license plate detection and recognition (ALPR) is an essential road safety technology. It facilitates applications such as traffic control, law enforcement, and toll collection by allowing for the automated recognition of vehicles on the road. In this study, we incorporated ShuffleNet V2 into the end-to-end YOLOV5 object detection system. The objective was to develop a model capable of identifying Moroccan license plates with an accuracy of 87%. The proposed model is intended to attain a high processing performance of 60 frames per second (FPS) while maintaining a low weight of 1.3 megabytes (MB) and a parameter count of 0.44 million floating point operations (MGFLOP). Our model maintains superior performance and is highly compatible with embedded systems compared to other models utilized in the same context.

BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) commonly causes increase in the patients’ disability and reduce their function because it causes pain, limitation in knee range of motion and decrease in muscle power.AIM: This study investigated the effect of three different physical therapy programs on knee range of motion , pain level, muscle strength and functional condition in patients with knee OA. DESIGN: Randomized comparative study.SETTING: Outpatient Rehabilitation clinic of Tongji Hospital (Wuhan, China).POPULATION: Seventy-two patients of Knee OA (aged 40-70) enrolled and randomly allocated into three groups. Group A (n=24) received physical agents and isometric quadriceps exercises, group B (n=24) received same physical agents as group A in addition to open kinetic chain exercises and group C (n=24) received physical agents as group A in addition to closed kinetic chain exercises.METHODS: knee range of motion (by electro goniometer), knee pain level (by VAS), quadriceps muscle strength (by isokinetic dynamometer) and functional condition (by WOMAC) were assessed before and after 5 weeks of treatment.RESULTS: In between group analysis, there were significant differences (P<0.05) between the three groups for all outcome measure. In within-group analysis, group C was the only group that showed significant differences (P<0.05) in all the outcomes. Group A and B showed significant differences (P<0.05) in quadriceps muscle strength and knee pain and no significant differences (P>0.05) in knee ROM and functional condition.CONCLUSIONS: After the study, our solid conclusion is that in physical therapy programs or protocols, closed kinematic chain exercise is very effective, it improves knee ROM, and help in reducing knee pain, muscle strength, function and disability for patients with knee osteoarthritis.CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: Comparison between different physical therapy programs provides the rehabilitation team with the best treatment intervention that is more effective in treating the problems associated with knee osteoarthritis.

This paper explores as a case study the development of e-cigarette use and smoking within small friendship group (n=8) in Glasgow, Scotland. Interviewed twice at six months apart these 16/17 year olds reported substantial change in their use of and attitudes towards e-cigarettes and tobacco. At time 1 vaping generated much excitement and interest, with 6/8 having their own vape device. At time 2 only two young people still vaped, with the others no longer professing any interest in continued vaping. The two regular smokers, who had been smoking before they first vaped, now only vaped privately and to reduce their tobacco intake. This small case study illustrates plasticity in the use of electronic cigarettes; just as young people can initiate using these devices so too can they more away from their use- with such changes in actual use occurring within a relatively short period of time. These findings demonstrate more than anything else the volatility in young peoples’ substance use behaviour. If we are to better understand these behaviours we require both quantitative and qualitative research studies that are capable of both monitoring changes in individual and group behaviour over time but which are also able to elucidate the nuance of individual behaviour differentiating between long term, frequent, consistent use and more episodic, experimental and infrequent use by young people.

One of the main challenges of the globalization became the increased destabilization and frequent economic crises. In general, managing an economic crisis is a particularly difficult task for any economy (developed or developing, and regardless the size). In the context of globalization, the process faces additional challenges. On the one hand, the world economy witnessed a shift from traditional purely economic instruments to more financial mechanisms of economic development. Indeed, the liberalization of the economy since the 1990s complicated the traditional trends of the world market development, resulting in significant fluctuation of the growth rates between different countries and regions. To respond to this evolution, governments and international organizations changed well-established strategies. For example, financial sector found itself given expanded role in economic development, with, different financial mechanisms used as key variables to evaluate an economic growth. On the other hand, the increased role of financial sector in a globilised world, increased financial relations among individual states and thus, interdependences. This “financial globalization” causes important fluctuations in the system and, as a result, causes instability in socio-economic development. Thus, an economic crisis of any important economy soon becomes a global issue (financial crisis of 2008, economic crisis of 2020).The recent global economic crisis due to the Covid-19 world pandemic, appeared to be unique for several reasons. First, it highlighted the transnational and origin-specific nature of the crisis. Second, it appeared to be the first case when non-economic factors caused a major economic crisis. As a result, this crisis turned out to be particularly difficult to predict and to manage. In this case, the main strategy of the global post-crisis rehabilitation became the restoration of the economy's predictability and ensuring its ability to obey the classical principles. According to the Organic Law on "Economic Freedom" of the European Union (2011), any factor which increases the equilibrium amount of output is reflected in the economic rehabilitation plan. Such exogenous factors are primarily fiscal mechanisms, i.e. - Reduction of taxes and increase of state expenditures. This crisis caused important structural problems with their effects on public expenditures (especially health expenditures, to the public expenditures, economic growth, price stability and budget balance) in both, developed and developing countries. Nearly every state declared an increase in public debt, inflation, and unemployment rates, while an important decrease was shown in growth rates and capital outflows. As the crisis due to the world pandemic was radically different from previous economic crises, it was difficult to manage it efficiently at the initial stage. It was complicated to forecast the scenarios of the unknown crisis with non-standard nature which was more linked to epidemiologic factors than objective economic law. The dynamics of crisis resolution depended on correct forecasting and effective implementation of global, but especially country-based reforms. More importantly, this crisis showed the important role of individual states to manage the global crisis. The traditional function of a government to ensure country’s socio-economic growth and security, increases in an extraordinary environment, such as sharp economic fluctuations and crises. In such contexts, the centralized management functions are sharply activated. The global pandemic processes have updated the economic essence of the state. The large scale of the latest economic crisis due to the world pandemic has determined the need for mutually coordinated development of anti-crisis plans of different countries. In today's dynamic landscape, modern global systems are redefining the standards and priorities of national economic policies. The economic status of countries is changing significantly as a result of their participation in these systems. As a result of these changes, today's global economy is marked by the proliferation of regionalism and the emergence of spatial economic frameworks. Thus, classical economic concepts are evolving, giving rise to a new model known as economic nationalism. This paradigm shift is generating new risks, which are increasing in severity and scope. The overriding objective of economic policy is now to ensure and predict stable development. Reflections are underway to meet the challenges of economic equilibrium and its social and institutional sustainability.In addition to the decentralization of the unified governance system, the global economy is characterized by the activation of centralized governance elements within individual countries. This requires the development of new norms for global cooperation and the careful balancing of national integration and development factors. The question of government's influence on the economy and the delegation of its powers becomes relevant once again. Effective coordination of public administration is based on the principle of decentralized government, which is a key element of a democratic model of society and facilitates the transfer of management tools to the public. The key objectives of this research are focused on the optimal distribution of state functions and the study of hierarchical principles of territorial organization within the country, fiscal mechanisms for the distribution of powers, as well as the particularities of the structuring of the spatial economy and its budgetary provisioning mechanisms.The example of the last two economic crisis showed that contemporary anti-crisis strategies should reflect several considerations. First, it becomes impossible to develop a single unified model of crisis management. Even in the context of important economic and financial globalization, the current decentralization and new spatial economic processes make it necessary to find a balance between the local priorities and global interests. Second, the role of non-economic crisis-causing factors increases compared to economic determinants. That is why international and country-based reforms should aim at not only economic rehabilitation, but also on the social, cultural and environmental restorations. Third, it becomes difficult to correctly predict the consequences of the crisis and thus, the effects of the anti-crisis strategy. Consequently, the success of the post-crisis rehabilitation of the countries' economies depends significantly not only on the effective realization of their own plan, but also, in general, on the specificities of the global economy and on the ability of the world markets to overcome the negative consequences of a crisis. In this context, the development of complex post-crisis platforms and state post-crisis strategies is the priority. The most effective component in the anti-crisis strategy is the monetary instruments of economic management. As for the determinant of successful functioning of economy, the priority should be given to the regulation of exchange rate, interest rate and inflationary processes. A state anti-crisis programs should reflect the crisis prevention strategy, which, on its turn, should differentiate the economic functions of the state and crisis management mechanisms according to the specific trends of given processes. It should aim at gaining stable development of the economy. Additionally, an anti-crisis plan should reflect the role of the society in the development process and its mental changes under crisis conditions. The state should be responsible for establishing and monitoring anti-crisis management mechanisms, financial recovery of the country and formation of correct relations. It is especially important to ensure economic security, to stabilize the development process and standard of living, to support the private sector and small entrepreneurship, to increase economic freedom, to ensure effective distribution of labor and capital, and others. All strategies of the anti-crisis platform should be focused on social results, as it should contribute to a fair distribution of income and to poverty reduction.

Beta adrenoblockers is a large class of drugs mainly used to manage abnormal heart rhythms. Over the last couples of decades, the anticancer effects of these compounds has been extensively studied. There is much evidence about their activity in non-small cell lung, pancreatic, breast, colorectal, prostate and ovarian cancer. However, the mechanism of beta blockers anticancer activity is still not known, and more detailed studies are needed. The aim of our study was to evaluate the anticancer activity of beta adrenoblockers in non-small cell lung cancer cell lines A549 and H1299. In order to find the relationship with their selectivity to beta adrenoreceptors, in our study we used selective (atenolol, betaxolol, esmolol, metoprolol) and non-selective (pindolol, propranolol and timolol) beta blockers. The effect on cell viability was evaluated by MTT assay and the activity on cell ability to form colonies was tested by clonogenic assay. The type of cell death was evaluated by cell double staining with Hoechst 33342 and Propidium iodide. The most active adrenoblockers against both tested cancer cell lines were propranolol and betaxolol. They completely inhibited lung cancer cell colony formation at 90% of EC50 (half maximal effective concentration) value. Most tested compounds induced cell death through apoptosis and necrosis. In A549 cell lines apoptosis was mainly induced while in H1299 cell line compounds induced both apoptosis and necrosis. There was no correlation established between beta adrenoblocker anticancer activity and their selectivity to beta adrenoreceptors.

Plastic pollution of the ocean is currently one of the most serious environmental threat. Analysis of observations in the Arctic ocean shows that microplastic particles have been found in Arctic snow cover, sea ice, water and sediments. Possible pathways and deposition locations of microplastics in the Arctic Ocean can be assessed based on 3D numerical modeling of thermohaline structure and water circulation, sea ice conditions and drift. The problem is that in addition to transport by currents, a number of other processes affect the state of microplastics. These include mechanical fragmentation, freezing into sea ice and release back into the water, biofouling, adsorption of contaminants and other factors. In this study, based on scenario calculations for a 5-year period, we analyzed the possible spread of microplastics brought by Siberian rivers to the Kara Sea shelf. The Lagrangian particle model used daily 3D numerical simulation data to simulate microplastic transport by ocean currents and by sea ice drift. The results of a series of scenario calculations show how the distribution of particles and their subsequent deposition depend on their type (density), size, processes of freezing into the ice and biofouling.

A valorization process of spent coffee grounds (SCG) was studied. Thus, a two-stage process, a stage of extraction of the polyphenols and a stage of obtaining activated carbon (AC) by a carbonization process, was performed. The extraction was carried out with a hydro-alcoholic solution in a pressure reactor, modifying time and temperature. To optimize the extraction of polyphenols, a two-level factorial design with three replications at the central values was used. The best results were obtained by performing the extraction at 80 °C during 30 min, using a mixture of EtOH:H2O 1:1 (v/v) as extraction solution. Caffeine and chlorogenic acid were the most abundant compounds in the analyzed extracts, ranging from 0.09 to 4.8 mg∙g^-1 and 0.06 to 9.7 mg∙g^-1, respectively. The precursor obtained in the extraction stage were transformed into AC. An experimental design was realized in order to analyze the influence of different variables in the AC obtained process (reaction time and amount of potassium hydroxide used). Actived carbons with BET specific surface (SBET) comprised between 1600 m^2∙g^-1 and 2330 m²∙g^-1 had a microporous surface. Under the optimum conditions, the obtained AC presented a maximum adsorption capacity of methylene blue (qm) between 411 mg∙g^-1 and 813 mg∙g^-1.

For this research we are selected three indicators of wheat: yield (t/ha), producer price (USD/t) and share of the harvested area under wheat in relation to the total land area of country (%). The mentioned indicators were analyzed for the period 2006-2021 in thirty-two European countries. The purpose of the research is to determine which of the mentioned indicators achieve average annual growth/decrease rates, what is the correlation between them, how European countries are grouped with their similarities and differences. The research examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mentioned indicators in a two time phases: Phase I, before the pandemic (2006-2019); Phase II, during the pandemic (2020-2021). The methodological approach to the research topic involved the application of descriptive statistics, as the method of principal components analysis (abbr. PCA) with graphics. A positive correlation exists only between the yield of wheat and the share of the harvested area under wheat in the total area of the land (0.291). PCA method showed that countries are grouped differently depending on the observed indicator and the analyzed time phase.

This paper examines whether classical extensional mereology is adequate for formalizing the whole-parts relation in quantum chemical systems. Although other philosophers have argued that classical extensional and summative mereology does not adequately formalize whole-parts relation within organic wholes and social wholes, such critiques often assume that summative mereology is appropriate for formalizing the whole-parts relation in inorganic wholes such as atoms and molecules. However, my discussion of atoms and molecules as they are conceptualized in quantum chemistry will establish that standard mereology cannot adequately fulfill this task, since the properties and behavior of such wholes are context-dependent and cannot simply be reduced to the summative properties of their parts. To the extent that philosophers of chemistry have called for the development of an alternative mereology for quantum chemical systems, this paper ends by proposing behavioral mereology as a promising step in that direction. According to behavioral mereology, considerations of what constitutes a part of a whole is dependent upon the observable behavior displayed by these entities. Thus, relationality and context-dependence are stipulated from the outset and this makes behavioral mereology particularly well-suited as a mereology of quantum chemical wholes. The question of which mereology is appropriate for formalizing the whole-parts relation in quantum chemical systems is relevant to contemporary philosophy of chemistry, since this issue is related to the more general question of the reducibility of chemical wholes to their parts and of the reducibility of chemistry to physics, which have been of central importance within the philosophy of chemistry for several decades. More generally, this paper puts contemporary discussions of mereology within the philosophy of chemistry into a broader historical and philosophical context. In doing so, this paper also bridges the gap between formal mereology, conceived as a branch of formal ontology, and ‘applied’ mereology, conceived as a branch of philosophy of science.

Salmorejo is a homogenate based on tomato, olive oil and breadcrumbs commercialized as a “fresh-like” cold puree in Spain and other European countries. Salmorejo is thermolabile and requires pasteurising upon High Temperature, Short Time (HTST) conditions to inhibit microbes and enzymes. Due to its penetration, dielectric heating by radiofrequency (RF) might improve pasteurisation results of conventional heating (CH) in viscous products. The objective was to validate the pasteurisation temperature (70-100 °C, at 5 ºC intervals) for salmorejo processed by radiofrequency (operating at 27.12 MHz for 9.08 s) or conventional continuous heating. Salmorejo was prone to thermal damage upon HTST conditions. Main heat-induced changes include: orangeness, flavour homogenisation, loss of freshness, thickening, loss of vitamin C and lipid oxidation. A ‘fresh-like’ good quality salmorejo can be obtained using either conventional or radiofrequency pasteurisers. Both CH and RF equivalent treatments allowed a strong reduction of total and sporulated mesophilic microorganisms, and an adequate inhibition of the pectinmethylesterase, peroxidase and, to a lesser extent, polyphenoloxidase, but did not inhibit the polygalacturonase enzyme. Pasteurisation at 80 °C for 9.8 s (RF) or 10.9 s (CH) provided a good equilibrium in levels of microbiological and enzymatic inhibition and thermal damage to the product. Increasing this temperature does not improve enzyme inactivation levels and salmorejo may become overheated.

Abstract: Thermostability of vaccines, particularly enveloped viral vectored vaccines, remains a challenge for their delivery wherever needed. Freeze-drying of viral vectored vaccines is a prom-ising approach but remains challenging due to the water removal process from the outer and in-ner parts of the virus. In the case of enveloped viruses, freeze-drying induces increased stresses on the envelope, which often leads to inactivation of the virus. In this study, we design a method to freeze-dry a recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV) expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein. Since the envelope of VSV is composed of 50% lipid and 50% protein, the formula-tion study focused on both the protein and lipid portions of the vector. Formulations were pre-pared primarily using sucrose, trehalose, and sorbitol as cryoprotectants; mannitol as a lyopro-tectant; and histidine as a buffer. Initially, the infectivity of rVSV-SARS-CoV-2 and cake stability were investigated at different final moisture contents. High recovery of the infectious viral titer ( 0.5 to 1 log loss) was found at 3-6% moisture content with no deterioration of the freeze-dried cakes. To further minimize infectious viral titer loss, the composition and concentration of the ex-cipients were studied. An increase from 5 to 10% of both cryoprotectants and lyoprotectant, to-gether with the addition of 0.5% gelatin, resulted in the improved recovery of infectious virus titer and stable cake formation. Moreover, the secondary drying temperature of the freeze-drying pro-cess showed a significant impact on the infectivity of rVSV-SARS-CoV-2. The infectivity of the vector declined drastically when the temperature was raised above 20°C. Throughout a long-term stability study, formulations containing 10% sugar (sucrose/trehalose), 10% mannitol, 0.5% gelatin, and 10 mM of histidine showed satisfactory stability for six months at 2-8°C. The development of this freeze-drying process and the optimized formulation minimizes the need for a costly cold chain distribution system.

Chronic venous disease (CVD) occurs in a substantial proportion of the world's population. If the onset of CVD looks like a cosmetic defect, then over time, it can develop into serious problems that require surgical intervention. The aim of the work is to use deep learning (DL) methods for automatic classification of the stage of CVD for self-diagnosis of a patient by using the image of the patient’s legs. The required for DL algorithms images of legs with CVD were obtained by using Internet Data Mining. For images preprocessing, the binary classification problem “legs - no legs” was solved based on Resnet50 with accuracy 0.998. The application of this filter made it possible to collect a data set of 11,118 good quality leg images with various stages of CVD. For classification of various stages of CVD according to CEAP classification, the multi classification problem was set and resolved by using two neural networks with completely different architecture - Resnet50 and DeiT. The model based on DeiT without any tuning shows better results than the model based on Resnet50 (precision = 0.770 (DeiT) and 0.615 (Resnet50)). To demonstrate the results of the work, a telegram bot was developed, in which fully functioning DL algorithms are implemented. This bot allows evaluating the condition of the patient's legs with a fairly good accuracy for the CVD classification.

We investigated the liquid water path and global solar irradiance at ground (Q) according to the ICON model, CLOUDNET measurements in Lindenberg, Munich, Jülich, and BSRN observations in Lindenberg. The liquid water path is underestimated, while global irradiance is overestimated. The lower liquid water path is due to liquid water content underestimation practically in all atmosphere layers and lower frequency of liquid clouds occurrence compare to observations. The latter is partly associated with a reduced model’ sensitivity to the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). An increase in CCN from 250 cm-3 (typical background value for the region of interest) to 1700 cm-3 (characteristic of polluted continental clouds) leads to an increase in grid-scale liquid water path by 40% and a decrease in Q under overcast conditions by 12%. However, we also showed that liquid water path is not a key factor of Q overestimation. The main factor is an inaccurate description of the cloud spatial structure, where the correct prediction of the direct to global irradiance ratio as a spatial characteristic of clouds plays the most important role compared to standard cloud fraction.

N-palmitoylethanolamine (PEA) is an endocannabinoid-like compound first encountered within lipid fractions of specific foods and has intrigued researchers since the 1950s due to its therapeutic effects. This study aims to explore the therapeutic promise held by PEA as an anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory agent. Therapeutic impact of PEA reverberates across diverse physiological systems, as the central nervous system, gastrointestinal tract, vascular network, digestive and respiratory system. Additionally, it was effective in pain management, reduction of inflammation and immune responses. These attributes have fostered collaborations targeting conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral ischemia, neuroinflammation, general inflammation, pain, coagulopathy, steatohepatitis, and acute lung injury. PEA operates both independently and in synergy with other compounds, like paracetamol, luteolin, and oxymetazoline. This efficacy stems from its interactions with pivotal targets including PPARα, PPAR-δ, PPAR-γ, CB1, CB2, GPR55, and TRPV1. Additionally, PEA exerts a direct influence on the inflammatory cascade, orchestrating precise adjustments in immune responses. Numerous animal studies have elucidated the inherent potential of PEA. Nevertheless, the imperative of reinforcing clinical investigation is evident. This review notably underscores the pivotal necessity for methodologically rigorous clinical trials to definitively establish the translational efficacy of PEA in ameliorating diverse inflammatory pathologies within the human milieu.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a weighty cause of mortality worldwide, with growing incidence in the Middle East. Understanding the level of awareness about CRC screening among the Syrian pop-ulation is crucial public health interventions. A cross-sectional study was conducted from Sep-tember 22, 2023, to October 15, 2023, involving 928 participants from six major governorates in Syria. An online questionnaire containing socio-demographic, knowledge, and attitude sections was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were employed for data analysis using (SPSS) v28.0. The survey revealed a lack of awareness regarding CRC screening among the Syrian population, with only 499(53%) of the proportion demonstrating adequate knowledge about the disease and its screening methods. Significant associations were observed between the level of knowledge and socio-demographic factors including gender, work status, and economic status (p < 0.05). The findings emphasize the need for public health initiatives to enhance awareness and knowledge about CRC and its early screening methods in Syria. Education is essential for improving early detection and reducing the burden of colorectal cancer in the region. Efforts to increase public understanding of CRC screening are critical for reducing the incidence and mortality.

The assessment of soil contamination in the vicinity of integrated siderurgical plants is of outmost importance for agroecosystems and human health, and sensitive techniques should be employed for accurate assessment of chemical elements (metals, potential toxic elements, rare earths, radioelements) in soil and further evaluation of potential ecological and safety risk. In this paper a total of 45 major, minor and trace elements (Al, As, Au, Ba, Br, Ca, Cd, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Dy, Eu, Fe, Hf, Hg, I, K, La, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Nd, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sm, Sn, Sr, Ta, Tb, Th, Ti, Tm, U, V, W, Y, Yb, Zn and Zr) were quantified in soils located around a large siderurgical works (Galati, SE Romania) using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) in combination with X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The statistical analysis results and vertical distribution patterns for three depths (0-5 cm, 5-20 cm, 20-30 cm) indicate inputs of toxic elements in the sites close to the ironmaking and steelmaking facilities and industrial wastes dumping site. For selected elements, a comparison with historical, legislated and world reported concentration values in soil was performed and depth migration, contamination and toxic risk indices were assessed. The distribution of major, rock forming elements was closer to the Upper Continental Crust (UCC), and to the Dobrogea loess, finding confirmed by the ternary diagram of the incompatible trace elements Sc, La and Th, as well as by the La to Th rate. At the same time, the La/Th vs. Sc and Th/Sc vs. Zr/Sc bi-plots suggested a felsic origin and a weak recycling of soils mineral components.

Keywords: Ecosystem services; Cultural Ecosystem Services; marine/maritime spatial planning; mapping, assessment, tools, methods, PPGIS

Walls-like structured monoclinic WO3 thin films were obtained by spray deposition method for further integration in gas sensors. For sensing applications, it is very important to achieve a high surface-to-volume ratio surface together with a proper thin films structure. The present communication reports on the effect of the sprayed solution volume variation (as a thickness variation element) on the detailed Raman spectroscopy for WO3 thin films with different thicknesses grown from precursor solutions with two different concentrations. Detailed analysis of the two series of samples shows that the growing thickness strongly affects the films morphology while their crystalline structure is only slightly affected. The Raman analysis contribute to refining the structural features clarifications. It was observed that, for both concentrations, the increase in thickness seems to slightly affect the stoichiometry of material and, in association with surface morphology variations, provide new possibilities for fine tuning of films properties towards enhanced as sensing applications. Further studies are ongoing.

Nutrition and calorie intake are associated with subtle changes of thyroid function tests in subjects with intact Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Thyroid axis. Iodine deficiency and extreme fluctuations in calorie intake, such as those occurring during periods of starvation or overfeeding could lead to alterations of thyroid hormones. The dietary macronutrient composition could also influence the thyroid function. Recently, Low-Glycemic Load (LGL) diets are very popular and effective in the treatment and/or prevention of several medical conditions, including diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and epilepsy. In this review, we report the available data from the literature regarding the association between LGL diets and thyroid function or dysfunction. Unfortunately, there are only a few studies in this field, with inconsistent findings.

Silver in different forms is used for medical purposes from ancient times. It is not yet well known, which form of silver is more biocompatible and less toxic. Here we considered silver nanoparticles and silver citrate. Also, the relationships of neurotoxicity of silver compaunds with ageing factor is not yet described. To assess the role of nanoform in neurotoxicity of silver and role of ageing a long-term experiment was conducted. We had four control groups of intact mice and four experimental groups which were exposed to silver nanoparticles and silver citrate for two months. Four groups of mice were introduced into the experiment since the age of five months to assess ageing factors. It was shown that the nanoform does play a certain role in neurotoxicity of silver. Silver citrate seems to be a more preferable silver compound. Ageing can be regarded as a positive factor that neutralizes toxic action of silver compounds. It may be due to the development of physiological/cognitive functions with the age as well as adaptation to unnatural content in the individual cages that is definitely stressful for mice.

Enhancing the management and monitoring of oil and gas processes demands developing precise predictive analytics techniques. Over the past two years, oil and its prediction have advanced significantly using conventional and modern Machine Learning techniques. Several review articles detail the developments in predictive maintenance and technical and non-technical aspects of influencing the uptake of big data. The absence of references for machine learning techniques impacts the effective optimization of predictive analytics in the oil and gas sector. This review paper offers readers thorough information on the latest machine learning methods utilized in this industry's predictive analytical modelling. The review covers forms of Machine Learning techniques used in predictive analytic modelling from 2021 to 2023 (91 articles). It provides an overview of the details of the papers that were reviewed, comprising of the model’s categories, the data's temporality, field, and name, the dataset's type, predictive analytics (classification or clustering or prediction), the models' input and output parameters, performance metrics, optimal model, and benefits and its drawbacks. Additionally, suggestions for future research directions are provided to raise the potential of the associated knowledge and increase the accuracy of oil and gas predictive analytics models.

In the recent years, biochar has emerged as a remarkable biosourced material for addressing global environmental, agricultural, biomedical, and energy challenges. However, the performances of biochar rest in part on finely tuning its surface chemical properties, intended to obtain specific functionalities. In this review, we tackle surface treatment of biochar with silane and other coupling agents such as diazonium salts, titatantes, ionic/non-ionic surfactants, as well as nitrogen-containing (macro)molecules. We summarize the recent progress achieved mostly in the last five years, and correlate the nature and extent of functionalization to eye catchy end applications of the surface engineered biochar.

Nowadays, inquiries are one of the most important tasks to be executed in order to get valued information. When an inquiry is done to gather information about a human behavior there are some problems inherent to it. One of the main problems is how the information about many different persons can be processed to give good information about their environment. Most of the information gathered by these inquiries is used to analyze the behavior of the respondents. It can be used to estimate the success of a certain product on the market or just to validate the satisfaction of current costumers. The veracity of this information can be critical to model environments with some acceptable level of precision. Modelling environments through Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) is highly common because ANN’s are excellent to model predictable environments using a set of data. ANN’s are good in deal with sets of data with some noise, but they are fundamentally surjective mathematical functions and they aren’t able to give different results for the same input. So if an ANN is trained using data where the same input has different images which can be the case of survey data, this can be a problem for the success of modelling the environment. Therefore is necessary to process the data in order to adjust and eliminate invalid data.

Nowadays the dynamism induced by the constant change of strategic decisions on the markets produces an extra difficulty in the management of an organization. The strategic decisions made by managers can become obsolete in a short period of time. One of the major difficulties in managing a commercial organization is to predict, with some precision degree, the impact some strategic decisions have on the financial results. Business Intelligence (BI) is an area widely used to help managers to make strategic decisions. But the methods used, behind the scenes, to achieve the conclusions are kept secret by BI company-based services. Modelling the environment can be a good option to study the impact of an action, provided by a strategic decision, in a real environment. A good model should give an approximate result of an action applied to a previous state of the environment. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are proven to be excellent in modeling environments with some level of data noise. The same strategic action can have different results in different organizations. A tool that allows an evaluation of a strategic action applied to an environment should have a major importance in the management scope. Modeling the environment should save time and money for the organization to improve the performance of the strategic plan. If one evaluates the state of the environment after a strategic action being applied, it can be possible to mitigate the risk of failure of the strategic plan. As we will be able to verify, it is possible to use ANNs to model strategic environments that should allow the prediction of sales and operating results by the used strategies with some precision, although the level of success will be directly related with the user’s necessity.

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), the principal catechin in green tea, exhibits diverse therapeutic properties. However, its clinical efficacy is hindered by poor stability and low bioavailability. This study investigated solid particle-in-oil-in-water (S/O/W) emulsions stabilized by whey protein isolate (WPI) and sodium caseinate (NaCas) as carriers to enhance the bioavailability and intestinal absorption of EGCG. Molecular docking revealed binding interactions between EGCG and these macromolecules. The emulsions exhibited high encapsulation efficiencies and augmented EGCG bioaccessibility by 64% compared to free EGCG in a simulated gastrointestinal digestion model. EGCG-loaded emulsions demonstrated minimal cytotoxicity towards Caco-2 cells and facilitated EGCG transport across the intestinal epithelial layer without compromising tight junction integrity. Notably, EGCG-loaded emulsions protected Caco-2 cells against oxidative stress by suppressing intracellular reactive oxygen species generation. The results demonstrate the potential of WPI- and NaCas-stabilized S/O/W emulsions to enhance the bioavailability, intestinal absorption, and bioactivity of EGCG, expanding its applications in functional foods and nutraceuticals.

The aim of this research work is to study the influence of temperature, solar irradiation and wind dust on the production of solar energy. In addition, it aims to study the assessment of water quality, in particular groundwater used for cooling and cleaning photovoltaic panels (quality analysis). it's an important source, stable and sustainable can be used entirely for cooling and cleaning PV modules from the sales dust, in order to improve their performance. To date, all research studies carried out in this context of cooling and cleaning using water have not taken account of the nature of this water. We have taken a sample of water from a well in a rural area in the Darra Tafilalet region of Morocco. This region has an arid and semi-arid climate, with very high temperatures and dust-laden winds, particularly in summer. These meteorological characteristics influence the efficiency of cells, particularly photovoltaic (PV) panels, reducing their performance. Next, the water sample was analysed in the laboratory. The results obtained show that the groundwater in this area is very sensitive to cooling and cleaning photovoltaic panels. Moreover, these results indicate that the temperature, solar irradiation and wind-blown dust have a significant influence on energy production.

Breast cancer is a serious disease and the second leading cause of cancer-related death among women in the U.S. New treatments for this aggressive disease are urgently needed. Repurposing FDA-approved drugs for cancer treatment is an alternative that saves time and lowers the costs needed for drug development. In this study, we investigated the effects of proguanil, an anti-malarial drug, in breast cancer cells. Proguanil exhibited a significant cytotoxic effect on breast cancer cell lines including patient derived cell lines. Proguanil caused apoptosis through increased production of ROS and consequent decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential, mitochondrial respiration, and ATP production rates. ROS generation by proguanil was up to 3-fold higher when compared to the control. Proguanil treatment increased the expression of Bax, p-H2AX, cleaved-caspase 9, cleaved PARP, and down-regulated bcl-2 and survivin in breast cancer cell lines. The enlargement of 4T1 breast tumors in female Balb/c mice was suppressed by 55% through daily oral administration of 20mg/kg of proguanil. Western blot analyses of proguanil- treated tumors showed increased levels of p-H2AX, Bax, c-PARP, and c-caspase3 compared to control. Proguanil proved to be an efficient in vitro and in-vivo inhibitor of breast cancer cells, hence should be considered further for clinical investigation against breast cancer.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Blazepod technology when incorporated with various training regimens on the essential elements of physical fitness in volleyball, such as agility, speed, visual response time, and vertical leap. Thirty-six participants (age :17.33±0.48 y, height: 183.78±6.34 cm, weight: 77.14±5.16 kg) were in-volved in this study. In randomized design, three equal groups with two experimental groups and one control group were involved in the study over a period of six weeks: (GE1) used Blazepod technology to workout at a low level; (GE2) used Blazepod technology to workout at a higher intensity; (CG) did not employ Blazepod technology, but it adhered to the same fundamental training curriculum. We conducted agility, speed, reaction time, and vertical jump tests before, midway and after the study to determine optimal training volume, intensity, and frequency. A significant main effect of time (P0.01), and time×group interaction (P>0.001) were found for all tests. Post hoc test showed that the two experimental groups gadget significantly improved in all performance variables (P

Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs) are intermittently connected networks, where there is no guaranteed end-to-end connectivity between the source and destination. The link between the pair of nodes in the DTNs environments is frequently disrupted, due to the fast mobility of nodes, dissemination nature, and power outages. Due to the absence of contemporaneous paths between the nodes, the opportunities for message forwarding in DTNs usually are limited. To obtain high data delivery, the DTNs use innovation of the Store-Carry and Forward (SCF) technique which allows data transmission to successfully proceed despite the absence of continuous end-to-end paths. However, the SCF approach arises various issues such as buffer congestion and message drop which are caused due to growing number of carried messages in restricted network resources. Therefore, buffer management techniques are required to manage the buffer capacity of the nodes by deciding how to effectively drop the messages and how to schedule the messages in the node’s buffer in a perfect way. This paper evaluates the performance of six buffer management techniques, namely First-In-FirstOut, Last In First Out, Drop Largest, Drop Youngest, Evict Shortest Lifetime First and Evict Most Forwarded First, with MaxProp and Spray and Wait routing protocols under variable message’s Time-To-Live values (60 to 300 minutes with step-change 60 minutes). In addition, this study uses an Opportunistic Network Environment (ONE) simulator that is utilized for evaluating the performance of the dropping policies techniques, where it is considering five performance metrics (delivery ratio, overhead ratio, average latency, hop count, and message drop). The evaluation results of each buffer management policy are explained by these metrics briefly.

Trypanosome brucei, the causative agent of African sleeping sickness, harbours a highly ordered, subpellicular microtubule cytoskeleton that defines many aspects of morphology, motility and virulence. This array of microtubules is associated with a large number of proteins involved in its regulation. Employing proximity-dependent biotinylation assay (BioID) using the well characterized cytoskeleton-associated protein CAP5.5 as a probe we identified CAP50 (Tb927.11.2610). This protein colocalizes with the subpellicular cytoskeleton microtubules but not with the flagellum. Depletion by RNAi results in defects in cytokinesis, morphology and partial disorganization of microtubule arrays. Published proteomics data indicate a possible association of CAP50 with two other, yet uncharacterized, cytoskeletal proteins, CAP52 (Tb927.6.5070) and CAP42 (Tb927.4.1300), which were therefore included in our analysis. We show that their depletion causes phenotypes similar to those described for CAP50 and that they are essential for cellular integrity.

Decomposition of natural and synthetic polymeric materials (peat, humates, biochar, strongly swelling hydrogels and other soil conditioners) in a biologically- and chemically- active soil environment inevitably leads to their degradation and ability to improve the structure, water-retention, absorptive capacity and actual fertility of artificial soil constructions in urbanized ecosystems and agro landscapes (constructozems). Quantitative assessment of the biodegradation process using field and laboratory incubation experiments, as well as mathematical modeling, showed the possibility of significant (up to 30-50% per year) losses of organic matter of constructozems and a corresponding deterioration in their quality. Incubation experiments with the analysis of carbon dioxide emission for polymeric materials under given thermodynamic conditions allow to estimate the potential rates of their decomposition (half-life) and their dependence on the dose of inhibitors of microbial activity. Special nomographs provide an opportunity to determine the optimum depth of the arrangement of organic components in soil constructions to ensure their stable functioning during a fixed operating time in urban conditions. The results of the study are useful for geo-engineers and landscaping practitioners.

The study of paraneoplastic syndromes in humans has a long history, whereas for domestic animals – only since the beginning of the 21^th century. There are various forms of paraneoplastic syndromes; many classifications based on pathogenetic, organ-system principles are described. In accordance with the modern classification, paraneoplastic syndromes are divided into endocrinopathies, hematological paraneoplastic syndromes, gastrointestinal, renal, dermatological, neurological, ophthalmological. The purpose of this study was to develop a scientifically based algorithm for diagnosing ophthalmopathies against the background of paraneoplastic syndrome in dogs, including a multifactorial system of “hormonal-drug treatment” of paraneoplastic ophthalmopathies. The work used a comprehensive methodological approach, including the collection of anamnestic data, clinical examination of the animal, examination of the area of the pathological process, hematological studies, cytomorphological studies, visual diagnostic methods with complete oncological and ophthalmological examinations using the necessary equipment. Treatment for cancer included surgical removal of the tumor, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The choice of treatment protocol depended on the location of the disease, tumor phenotype (if present) and stage of the malignancy. The only chemotherapy was applied using complex protocols in the treatment of dog lymphomas. Treatment of melanoma in dogs was carried out using an integrated approach which combined methods of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. The obtained results can be recommended for use in the diagnosis and treatment of paraneoplastic ophthalmopathies in dogs.

Abstract Plant uptake and assimilation of essential nitrogen compounds from the soil are mainly in the form of nitrate and ammonium ions. Plant nitrate transporters (NRTs) play a crucial role in nitrate uptake from the soil into the roots. NRT structural analysis reveals the mechanisms by which these transporters function. Similarly, plant ammonium transporters (AMTs) mediate the uptake of ammonium ions, and their structural analysis has provided valuable information on their mechanisms. After nitrogen uptake by plant roots, the nitrogen metabolism pathway involves the incorporation of nitrogen into organic compounds. Glutamine synthetase (GS) and glutamate synthase (GoGAT) are the master players in this pathway. They work together to convert ammonium ions into glutamine and glutamate, respectively. Different isoforms of GS and GoGAT exist, enabling plants to fine-tune nitrogen metabolism based on environmental cues. Under severe abiotic stress conditions, nitric oxide (NO) has been found to enhance plant survival under drought. Furthermore, the interaction between salinity stress and nitrogen availability in plants has been studied, with NO identified as a potential mediator of responses to salt stress. On the other hand, excessive use of nitrate fertilizers can lead to health and environmental issues. Therefore, alternative strategies, such as establishing nitrogen fixation in plants through diazotrophic microbiota, have been explored to reduce reliance on synthetic fertilizers. Ultimately, genomics can identify new genes related to nitrogen fixation, which could be harnessed to improve plant productivity. By deciphering the genetic basis of nitrogen-fixing traits, researchers aim to develop crops that efficiently utilize nitrogen from the environment.

The identification and quantitative determination of wool and fine animal fibers are of great interest in the textile field because of significant price differences between them and common adulterations in raw and processed textiles. Since animal fibers have remarkable similarities in their chemical and physical characteristics, specific identification methods have been studied and proposed following advances in analytical technologies. The identification methods of wool and fine animal fibers are reviewed in this paper and the results of relevant studies are listed and summarized, starting from classical microscopy methods which are still used today not only in Small to Medium Enterprises but also in large industries, research studies and quality control laboratories. Particular attention has been paid to image analysis, Nir spectroscopy and proteomics which constitute the most promising technologies of quality control in the manufacturing and trading of luxury textiles and can find application in forensic science and archeology.

The MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov) Florian Goebel telescopes are a system of two Cherenkov telescopes located on the Canary island of La Palma (Spain), at the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory, and operating in stereo mode since 2009. Their low energy threshold (reaching 15 GeV) allows the study of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) in the very-high-energy gamma ray range with an impressive sensitivity up to the redshift limit of the existing IACT systems. MAGIC has collected many discoveries and comprehensive studies of different kinds of galaxies and their AGNs, also in a multi-wavelength context, expanding the knowledge of our Universe. Here we report the highlights which have been achieved by the MAGIC collaboration since the beginning of the operations.

The introduction of digitization has changed all spheres of business on a global level, including geospatial data. In the Republic of Serbia, the process on this topic should begin with the introduction of the terms ePlan and eSpace. The general goal of the paper implies the construction and implementation of the ePlan as a future part of the eSpace for digital management of geospatial data, by creating co-creating value. For this purpose, the authors conducted research in which representatives of local self-governments and holders of public authority participated, by means of structured online research. The focus was on the digitization of urban and planning documents and the establishment a central database of spatial and planning documents in electronic format, and its further distribution through the one system. In that way, easy access to digital plan data expands the user community, and enables communication with different stakeholder groups. Ac-cording to the results of the research, the authors point out that it is necessary to form a new model for managing geospatial data through a eSpace system. This is achieved by shifting the focus from urban and spatial planning to other databases and their registers that are related to geospatial data. The goal of the paper indicates that it is necessary to raise the awareness of society, to introduce the concept of value co-creation, because conditions are created for the implementation of all measures aimed at digitization and management of electronic services in sustainable project society, at all countries.

Starting from the importance of risk perception for taking certain preventive measures to protect people and their property from disasters, the subject of the research is to examine the factors influencing public perception of mythically-based human behavior in disaster conditions. Using the random sampling method, 250 adult respondents were surveyed in the city of Belgrade, using a specially created and adapted survey questionnaire. The results of the research show that there is no statistically significant influence of gender, age, educational and economic factors on the public perception of human behavior in disaster conditions. The results of the research can be used to improve strategies and campaigns based on risk assessment, aimed at improving the safety of people in disasters.

Previous studies have shown that immunization within the first hours/days after birth promotes the shift from the intrauterine Th2 immune response toward the Th1 immunity resulting in lower risk of developing allergic diseases. We are currently conducting a prospective cohort study among 307 participants divided into groups based on their TB and hepatitis B vaccination status (vaccinated at birth, within the first 12 months of life or unvaccinated) and also based on whether the participants had factors contributing to the development of allergic diseases. In each group we assessed the fact of primary diagnosis of atopic dermatitis at 12 and 18 months of age. It was demonstrated that atopic dermatitis (AD) was diagnosed from birth to 12 months of age much less frequently in those infants who had received the tuberculosis (TB) vaccine from day 3 to day 7 and hepatitis B vaccine within the first 24 hours of birth, including newborns with a high risk of developing allergic diseases. The probability of onset of AD at 12 and 18 months was also lower in timely vaccinated children, even though a burdened allergic anamnesis starts playing a more central role in development of AD at this age. Our findings testify to the fact that timely BCG-M and hepatitis B vaccination can produce a protective effect against the onset of AD, yet this effect diminishes with aging.

Plant-based proteins, like those derived from hemp and rapeseed can significantly contribute to a balanced diet and human daily nutritional requirements by providing essential nutrients such as protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. According to numerous recent research papers the consumption of plant-based proteins has been associated with numerous health benefits, including reduced risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. Plant-based diets are often lower in saturated fat and cholesterol and higher in fiber and phytonutrients, which can support overall health and well-being. Present research investigates the nutritional attributes, functional properties, and potential food applications of hemp and rapeseed protein for a potential use in new food product development, with a certain focus on identifying anti-nutritional factors and bioactive compounds. Through comprehensive analysis, anti-nutritional factors and bioactive compounds were elucidated, shedding light on their impact on protein quality and digestibility. The study also delves into the functional properties of hemp and rapeseed protein, unveiling their versatility in various food applications. Insights from this research contribute to a deeper understanding of the nutritional value and functional potential of hemp and rapeseed protein, paving the way for their further utilization in innovative food products with enhanced nutritional value and notable health benefits.

The imperative to achieve carbon neutrality has driven significant advancements in the construction sector, particularly in the production and utilization of building materials. This paper explores innovative strategies and practices designed to reduce the carbon footprint of construction materials, with a focus on both the production processes and the application of sustainable materials. Key innovations include the development of low-carbon and carbon-negative materials, the integration of renewable energy sources in production, and the implementation of advanced recycling technologies. Case studies of successful projects demonstrate how these strategies can be applied in real-world scenarios, highlighting both the benefits and challenges encountered. The analysis also delves into the technical and economic aspects of these innovations, addressing the barriers to their widespread adoption and proposing solutions to overcome these challenges. Through a comprehensive examination of current practices and future trends, this paper aims to provide a roadmap for the construction industry to achieve carbon neutrality, contributing to broader climate change mitigation efforts and fostering a more sustainable built environment.

With advances in information technology, big data, mobile communications, and robotics, digital technologies are increasingly being used in factories around the world. This digital transformation is named industry 4.0. Today, industrial companies are looking at how to adopt this era and implement these technologies 4.0 while improving their performance and generating more profits. The objective of this paper is to help companies to better choose the appropriate digital technologies according to their activities using a multi-experts-multi-criteria decision-making approach under hesitant fuzzy information. The proposed model is a generic model based on Multi-Agent Systems allowing to have an idea of the parameters necessary to apply the adopted approach. The adopted approach allows a better representation of uncertainty and subjectivity of experts’ judgments. It would be of great interest, especially, when exact quantitative data are not available. A real case company example is exposed (automotive company) towards putting into practice the proposed approach.

This article provides a comprehensive review of the intersection of 5G technology and Beyond, and Smart Grids, focusing on the potential of Vehicle-to-Fog as an industrial alternative for addressing energy efficiency challenges in data processing. This study aims to investigate relevant articles and patents to understand the collaborative potential between 5G and Smart Grids. It explores how to establish new regulatory standards within the architectural framework of 5G to facilitate decentralized data processing and remodel energy consumption patterns. The hypothesis suggests that decentralized 5G architecture and Smart Grids can be most effectively applied through vehicular fogging powered by solar energy. A combined quantitative and qualitative methodology guides the exploration of articles and patents. The study concludes by advocating for new standards that embrace decentralized 5G data processing, emphasizing the potential of Vehicle-to-Fog and the future deployment of 6G technology in Smart Grids. These advancements can significantly enhance energy efficiency in the context of 5G and pave the way for future innovations.

In recent decade water pollution by micropollutants is an increasing environmental concern. Since 2019, due to COVID-19 pandemic, increased stormwater pollution by chlorine based disinfectants has been determined. Research aimed to treat of chlorine contaminated stormwater after outdoors spaces disinfection are very limited. Runoff from disinfected areas and residual chlorine present in stormwater are transported to surface water bodies. Residual chlorine reacts with dissolved organic compounds in water and results the formation of environmentally toxic disinfection by-products. Studies present event low residual chlorine concentrations may pose a risk to aquatic flora and fauna. In this study the efficiency of different filter materials, including peat, wood chips, sawdust (column tests) and ceramzites Leca, Pollytag, Polski, Ceski (batch tests), in retaining residual chlorine were tested in laboratory scale batch and flow through experiment. The best efficiency to retain chlorine presented sawdust (96 %) and ceramzite Leca (76 %). The plants abilities to reduce pollution by chlorine was analyzed in raised garden bed. Research results will contribute to future studies aimed to retain various micropollutants in stormwater using remediation technologies.

Age-related myelination decrease is considered one of the likely mechanisms of cognitive decline. The present study is based on the longitudinal assessment of global and regional myelination of the normal adult human brain using the fast macromolecular fraction (MPF) mapping. Additional markers were age-related changes in white matter (WM) hyperintensities on FLAIR-MRI and the levels of anti-myelin autoantibodies in serum. Eleven healthy subjects (33–60 years in the first study) were scanned twice, 7 years apart. An age-related decrease in MPF was found in global WM, GM, and mixed WM-GM, as well as in 48 out of 82 examined WM and GM regions. The greatest decrease in MPF was observed for the frontal WM (2-5%), genu of the corpus callosum (CC) (4.0%) and caudate nucleus (5.9%). The age-related decrease in MPF significantly correlated with an increase in the level of antibodies against myelin basic protein (MBP) in serum (r = 0.69 and r = 0.63 for global WM and mixed WM-GM, correspondingly). The volume of FLAIR hyperintensities increased with age but did not correlate with MPF changes and the levels of anti-myelin antibodies. MPF mapping showed high sensitivity to age-related changes in brain myelination, providing the feasibility of this method in clinics.

In order to counter the impending shortage of skilled professionals in the aging societies of our time in many western countries such as Germany, solutions for business and society are urgently needed. Here, artificial intelligence (AI) can play an important role in mitigating the problem with the help of diverse applications. At the same time, it is important to consider both the needs of the respective employee1 and the company to ensure that the use of AI has a positive impact on the organization and finds social acceptance. In this article, we describe the newly developed OSQE model (Optimize, Secure, Qualify, Expand), which for the first time outlines an AI cycle against the shortage of skilled professionals in a holistic approach that focuses equally on people and companies. This can serve organizations as a guide for strategy development, decision-making for and implementation of AI-supported measures in an entire cycle of an employee's affiliation with a company. The model takes three driving forces into account: companies, professionals, and AI applications. In the model, the measures to be implemented are prioritized with ascending numbering based on what would be most urgent for a company to implement. All measures relate to areas of action that place people at the center and can be assigned to the classic cycle of belonging of an employee in the company. In this regard, the opportunities that AI offers to professionals and companies are highlighted.

We aimed to estimate for the first time the burden of fungal infections in Uruguay. Data on population characteristics and underlying conditions were extracted from the National Statistics Institute, the World Bank, national registries and published articles. When no data existed, risk populations were used to estimate frequencies extrapolating from the literature. Population structure: total 3,444,006; 73% adults; 35% women younger than 50 years. Size of populations at risk: HIV infected 12,000; acute myeloid leukemia 126; hematopoietic stem cell transplantation 30; solid organ transplants 134; COPD 272,006 (19.7% of older than 40); asthma in adults 223,431 (prevalence 9%); cystic fibrosis in adults 48; tuberculosis 613 (incidence 26.2%), lung cancer 1,400 (ASR incidence 27.4). Annual incidence estimations per 100,000: 22.4 invasive aspergillosis, 16.4 candidaemia, 3.7 Candida peritonitis, 1.62 Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia, 0.75 cryptococcosis, severe asthma with fungal sensitisation 217, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis 165, recurrent Candida vaginitis 6,323, oral candidiasis 74.5 and oesophageal candidiasis 25.7. Although some under and overestimations could have been made, we expect that at least 127,525 people suffer from serious fungal infections each year. Sporothrichosis, histoplasmosis, paracoccidioidomycosis and dermatophytosis are known to be frequent but no data are available to make accurate estimations. Given the magnitude of the burden of fungal infections in Uruguay, efforts should be made to improve surveillance, strengthen laboratory diagnosis and warrant access to first line antifungals.

Recent advancements in mass spectrometry have significantly enhanced our understanding of complex lipid profiles, opening new avenues for oncological diagnostics. This review highlights the importance of lipidomics in the comprehension of certain metabolic pathways and its potential for the detection and characterization of various cancers, in particular melanoma. Through detailed case studies, we demonstrate how lipidomic analysis has led to significant breakthroughs in the identification and understanding of cancer types and its potential for detecting unique biomarkers that are instrumental in its diagnosis. Additionally, the review addresses the technical challenges and future perspectives of these methodologies, including their potential expansion and refinement for clinical applications. The discussion underscores the critical role of lipidomic profiling in advancing cancer diagnostics, proposing a new paradigm in how we approach this devastating disease, with particular emphasis on its application in comparative oncology.

Total cloud cover (TCC) retrieval from ground-based optical imagery is a problem being tackled by a few generations of researchers. The number of human-designed algorithms for the estimation of TCC grows every year. However, there is not very much progress in terms of quality, mostly due to the lack of systematic approach to the design of the algorithms, to the assessment of their generalization ability, and to the assessment of the TCC retrieval quality. In this study, we discuss the optimization nature of data-driven schemes for TCC retrieval. In order to compare the algorithms, we propose the framework for the assessment of the algorithms characteristics. We present several new algorithms that are based on deep learning techniques: a model for outliers filtering, and a few models for TCC retrieval from all-sky imagery. For training and assessment of data-driven algorithms of this study, we present the Dataset of All-Sky Imagery over the Ocean (DASIO) containing over one million of all-sky optical images of visible sky dome taken in various regions of the World Ocean. The research campaigns contributed to DASIO collection took place in the Atlantic ocean, the Indian ocean the Red and Mediterranean seas, and also in the Arctic ocean. Optical imagery collected during these missions are accompanied by standard meteorological observations of cloudiness characteristics made by experienced observers. We assess the generalization ability of the presented models in several scenarios that differ in terms of the regions selected for the train and validation subsets. As a result, we demonstrate that our models based on convolutional neural networks deliver superior quality compared to all previously published schemes. As a key result, we demonstrate considerable drop of the ability to generalize the training data in case of strong covariate shift between training and validation subsets of imagery which may take place in case of region-aware subsampling.

The inter-individual variability of CYP450s enzyme activity may be reduced by comparing the effects of bariatric surgery on CYP-mediated drug elimination in comparable patients before and after surgery. The current research will use a low-dose phenotyping cocktail to simultaneously evaluate the activities of six CYP isoforms and P-gp.The results showed that following weight reduction after surgery, the activity of all enzymes increased compared to the obese period, which was statistically significant in the case of CYP3A, CYP2B6, CYP2C9, and CYP1A2. Furthermore, the activity of P-gp after surgery decreased without reaching a statistical significance (p-value>0.05). Obese individuals had decreased CYP3A and CYP2D6 activity than the control group, albeit only CYP3A was statistically important. In addition, there was a trend to increase activity for CYP1A2, CYP2B6, CYP2C9, and CYP2C19 in obese patients compared to the control group, without reaching statistical insignificance (p-value≥0.05). After six months (at least), all enzymes and the P-gp pump activity were significantly higher than the control group except for CYP2D6.Ultimately, a greater comprehension of phenoconversion can aid in altering the patient's treatment. Further studies are required to confirm the changes in the metabolic ratios of probes after bariatric surgery to demonstrate the findings' clinical application. As a result, the effects of inflammation-induced phenoconversion on medication metabolism may differ greatly across persons and drug CYP pathways. It is essential to apply these results to the clinic to recommend dose adjustments.

In some species of salmon, reproductive maturity triggers the development of massive pathology resulting from reproductive effort, leading to rapid post-reproductive death. Such reproductive death, which occurs in many semelparous organisms (with a single bout of reproduction), can be prevented by blocking reproductive maturation, and this can increase lifespan dramatically. Reproductive death is often viewed as distinct from senescence in iteroparous organisms (with multiple bouts of reproduction) such as humans. Here we review the evidence that reproductive death occurs in C. elegans and discuss what this means for its use as a model organism to study aging. Inhibiting insulin/IGF-1 signaling and germline removal suppresses reproductive death and greatly extends lifespan in C. elegans, but can also extend lifespan to a small extent in iteroparous organisms. We argue that mechanisms of senescence operative in reproductive death exist in a less catastrophic form in iteroparous organisms, particularly those involving costly resource reallocation, and exhibiting endocrine-regulated plasticity. Thus, mechanisms of senescence in semelparous organisms (including plants) and iteroparous ones form an etiological continuum. Therefore understanding mechanisms of reproductive death in C. elegans can teach us about some mechanisms of senescence that are operative in iteroparous organisms.

The adoption of health information technology (HIT) has increased considerably, contributing to better communication between physicians and patients and providing technological bases for learning and institutional improvement. This type of technology brings many challenges; therefore, understanding its adoption and assimilation is important to assess its potential for engendering desirable outcomes in health management. The assimilation of health information systems should be highlighted as their importance in health organisations is now recognised as a key facilitator assisting in providing better health outcomes. Thus, this study aimed to analyse HIT adoption based on models such as Technology, Organisation and Environment (TOE), which analyses at the organisational level, with other models, such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which analyses at the individual level, and the assimilation of the adopted technologies.

The study also found that older age was a protective factor in prospective studies. The consistency of results across different study designs and sensitivity analyses further supported the robustness of the findings. It is important to note that the existing literature on revictimization in women facing intimate partner violence is limited and exhibits significant heterogeneity in terms of methodology and conceptual frameworks.

The role of foods is shifting from focusing on the provision of energy and basic nutrients to also include bioactive compounds that prevent the development of chronic age-related diseases. Mi-croalgae offer a source of nutritional compounds with important health effects, and have the po-tential for production of health-promoting products, without increasing agricultural land use and negatively impacting the environment. Here we investigate the health effects of microalgal ex-tracts with high levels of the colourless carotenoid phytoene. Phytoene is widely available from dietary sources and can be detected across different tissues in the human body. However, it is usually regarded as a precursor for the synthesis of other carotenoids, rather than a bioactive molecule. We utilised the model organism C. elegans to show that phytoene-rich extracts from Chlorella sorokiniana and Dunaliella bardawil have anti-ageing properties. The extracts protect against oxidative damage and amyloid-β42 proteotoxicity (a major pathology of Alzheimer's disease), and extends lifespan. We show that pure phytoene also has these anti-ageing effects, suggesting that phytoene is a bioactive molecule with positive effects on ageing and longevity.

Introduction: Hospitalization in a COVID-19 unit represents a significant source of stress and psychological distress for patients. Our study aims to determine the factors of psychological distress in the therapeutic and psychosocial management of patients hospitalized with a COVID-19 infection. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out over 8 months at the COVID-19 zone of the CHU HASSAN II of FES. 99 patients were evaluated within days of diagnosis by psychometric scales of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. In the course of this follow-up, we found the presence of psychological impacts in these patients, and we tried to find correlating factors between the occurrence of psychiatric disorders and the set of factors related to sociodemographic data, hospitalization course and treatments taken, as well as family support. Results: 35% of patients had scores in favor of post-traumatic stress disorder, 37% of the patients had definite depression and 50% had anxiety. Post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety were correlated with sociodemographic factors, hospitalization, treatments received, and length of stay. Conclusion: The prevalence of anxiety-depressive disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder was high in patients with COVID-19, hence the interest in providing psychological and psychosocial care in the emergency department.

Cobalamin is an essential nutrient required for the normal functioning of cells. Its deficiency can lead to various pathological states. Hydroxocobalamin (HOCbl) and cyanocobalamin (CNCbl) are the forms of vitamin B12 that are most commonly used for supplementation. There is substantial evidence indicating that cobalamins can both suppress and promote oxidative stress; however, the mechanisms underlying these effects are poorly understood. Here, it was shown that the oxidation of thiols catalyzed by HOCbl and CNCbl is accompanied by ROS production and induces, under certain conditions, oxidative stress and cell death. The form of vitamin B12 and the structure of thiol play a decisive role in these processes. It was found that the mechanisms and kinetics of thiol oxidation catalyzed by HOCbl and CNCbl differ substantially. It was discussed how these differences may explain different levels of ROS production and cytotoxicity induced by combinations of thiols with HOCbl and CNCbl. On the whole, the data obtained provide a new insight into the redox processes in which cobalamins are involved and might be helpful in developing new approaches to the treatment of some cobalamin-responsive disorders in which oxidative stress is an important component. In addition, these data may be useful for a better understanding of mechanisms underlying induction of different types of death of cancer cells and in a search for new targets for anticancer therapy.

The purpose of this study was to elucidate patterns and mechanisms driving seasonal and inter-annual variations of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in the zooplankton crustacean commu-nity of Lake Maggiore (Italy), during the period 2009-2020. Different zooplankton taxa and groups revealed different ranges of d13C signatures, giving an insight into food sources and niche partition. In particular, cyclopoids had a restricted range with most negative d13C‰ values and increase in d13C fractionation with the establishment of water thermal vertical stratification, high-lighting the importance of vertical distribution as key factor for taxa coexistence in a vertically heterogenous environment. d13C of the zooplankton community and of Daphnia were positively related to water temperature (R2=0.58 p <0.0001 and R2=0.68 p <0.0001, respectively) and d13C Daphnia signature to chlorophyll-a (R2=0.32, p < 0.0001). Decomposition of time series data for zooplankton carbon and nitrogen signatures and environmental parameters identified increasing trends in water temperature, chlorophyll-a and water conductivity and decrease in nitrate, that matched changes in carbon isotopic signature trend in some zooplankton taxa (Bosmina, Daphnia and diaptomids). Overall, the observed patterns in zooplankton isotopic signatures were interpreted as integrations of climate warming effects in Lake Maggiore, affecting both food sources availability and environmental conditions.

RLF-100 (Aviptadil), a synthetic form of Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP) is shown to block replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and has been granted Fast Track Designation by the US FDA for the treatment of Critical COVID-19 with Respiratory Failure. We describe the clinical course of the first patient treated with this investigational medication in an open label manner -- a 54 year old patient suffering antibody-mediated rejection of his double lung transplant who contracted COVID-19 with respiratory failure refractory to all currently available therapies. He received three infusions of RLF-100 under an FDA-approved emergency use IND. Within 24 hours of the third infusion, substantial improvement in oxygen saturation and radiographic improvement in characteristic COVID-19 pneumonitis was noted. He was discharged from intensive care at that point and scheduled for discharge to home at 1 week on room air. Despite an intervening hospitalization for trauma, he remains alive and free of respiratory failure at 28 days post treatment.

Research has provided substantial evidence on the role of parents’ well-being in the quality of parent-child relationship and children’s adjustment. Parents’ stress and parental couple conflict have been linked to children’s adverse developmental outcomes. However, little is known about the factors that affect parent’s wellbeing when coping with multiple with stressors such as those brought by the recent COVID-19 global pandemic. Our study intended to examine the predictors of parental well-being looking at the contextual factors of COVID-19 home confinement, i.e. the use of digital media and parents’ domestic workload, and family resilience. Also, age and number of children were controlled as potential variables impacting parents’ well-being. A three-step hierarchical regression analysis was applied. The results showed that family resilience was a very strong predictor of parents’ well-being after controlling for any other variable. Parental couple’s conflict over the use of technology predicted lower levels of family well-being, while notably parent child-conflict and domestic workload were not associated with parents’ well-being. Additionally, age of children did play a role: the higher the mean age of children in the family the better the parents’ well-being. The findings are discussed in the light of their implications for research and practice.

Depression and cognitive impairment are recognized complications of COVID-19. This study aimed to assess cognitive performance in clinically diagnosed post-COVID depression (PCD) patients using neuropsychological testing. The study involved 71 post-COVID patients, with matched control groups: recovered COVID-19 individuals without complications (n=18) and individuals without prior COVID-19 history (n=19). A post-COVID depression group (PCD, n=25) was identified based on psychiatric diagnosis, a comparison group (noPCD, n=46) included participants with neurological COVID-19 complications, excluding clinical depression. The PCD patients showed significantly less scores in the MoCA test, decreased immediate memory recall in the Word Memory Test, decreased processing speed and higher accuracy in the Trail Making Test, and near to significant worse executive control and processing speed in the Stroop task compared to controls and the noPCD patients. The number of post-COVID symptoms negatively correlated with immediate word memory recall and processing speed among all post-COVID patients. In PCD patients, negative correlations between number of post-COVID symptoms and delayed recall, between time after recovery and immediate recall, and positive correlation between the number of acute symptoms and processing speed in the incongruent condition of the Stroop task were found. No differences between groups in Sniffin’s stick olfactory test was found. Overall, our study revealed cognitive impairment in PCD patients similar to those in major depressive disorder.

Distributions with bounded support show considerable sparsity over those with unbounded support, despite the fact that there are a number of real-world contexts where observations take values from a bounded range (proportions, percentages, and fractions are typical examples). For proportion modelling, a flexible family of two-parameter distribution functions associated with the exponential distribution is proposed here. Mathematical and statistical properties of the novel distribution are examined, including quantiles, mode, moments, hazard rate function, and its characterization. The parameter estimation procedure using the maximum likelihood method was carried out, and applications to environmental and engineering data were also considered. To this end, various statistical tests are used, along with some other information criterion indicators to determine how well the model fits the data. The proposed model is found to be the most efficient plan in most cases for the datasets considered.

The Sidi Bou Othmane (SBO) pegmatite district is in the Central Jebilet massif, Occidental Meseta domain, Morocco. The SBO district is hosted essentially in a volcano-sedimentary series composed of the Late-Devonian Sarhlef shales. Pegmatite bodies crop out as dykes, which are oriented from N-S to E-W and are generally variably deformed with ductile and/or brittle structures with ante, syn- or post kinematic criteria. Petrographic observations of pegmatite dykes show that feldspars (i.e., albite, microcline) are the most abundant mineral phases, followed by quartz, micas, with tourmaline and accessory mineral as garnet, and zircon and secondary minerals as clinochlore, sericite, and illite. The geochemical study indicates that, according to the major pegmatite elements dykes of SBO have mainly a S-type granitic composition and are peraluminous granite with calc-alkalic affinity. The study of trace elements pointed out that SBO pegmatite formed under post-orogenic syn-collision context during the Variscan orogeny, by the partial melting of argilliferous sediment and can be ascribed to the muscovite-bearing pegmatite; moreover, they have a good potential on ceramic and contain minerals, such as feldspar, recently assessed as Critical raw materials by European Union.

The consequences of climate change and anthropogenic stressors, such as habitat loss and overexploitation, are threatening the subsistence of species and communities across the planet. Therefore, it is crucial to analyze the impact of environmental perturbations on the diversity, structure and function of ecosystems. In this work, in silico simulations of biodiversity loss were carried out on the marine food web of Caleta Potter (25 de Mayo Island, Antarctica) where global warming has caused critical changes in the abundance and distribution of benthic and pelagic communities during the last 30 years. We performed species removal considering their degree and trophic level and including four different thresholds on the occurrence of secondary extinctions. We examined the impact of extinctions on connectance, modularity and stability of the food web. We found different responses of these properties depending on the extinction criteria used, e.g., large increase in modularity and rapid decrease in stability when most-connected and relatively high-trophic level species were removed. Additionally, we studied the complexity-stability relationship of the food web founding two regimes: 1) high sensitivity to small perturbations suggesting that Potter Cove would be locally unstable, and 2) high persistence to long-range perturbations suggesting global stability of this ecosystem.

In a 24-week-long experiment, 31 rats were assigned to one of 3 groups: a Control group receiving standard chow and water, a Fructose group receiving standard chow and a 20% fructose solution, or an STZ+lipids group that received a fat-enriched diet following a single 25 mg/kg streptozotocin injection at the onset of the diet. Both groups experienced significantly increased caloric intake but did not gain weight above the Control group level. Adipocytes in subcutaneous and visceral adipose depots of both groups had smaller size compared to control and higher density in tissue. Respirometric analyses unveiled a substantial increase in mitochondrial respiration across all adipose tissue types in both dietary intervention groups, with greater changes observed in the Fructose group. Correlation analyses demonstrated that in both experimental groups high tissue respiration is associated with better biochemical profile and closer to control adipose tissue morphology. Increased tissue respiration in adipose depots could be an important mechanism of resilience to excessive caloric intake.

This paper explores the impact of international university rankings on French universities. A multiple case study of three French universities examined the nature of these impacts at national, organisational, and individual level. A thematic analysis of interviews using NVivo software showed that the changes, either imposed by new policies or initiated by the university managers, have profoundly altered the traditional values of academia. The novel findings reveal the degree of influence of rankings and the perception of academics regarding the changes experienced. After describing the current state of affairs in the French higher education system, the paper predicts that universities will engage more actively in the quest for a better position in the future, and will consequently accept the rules and norms of rankings. In contributing to the discussion on the effects of quantification of higher education processes and outcomes to the academia, by analysing the perception of academics on the experienced evolutions. This paper addresses policymakers, university managers and researchers interested in understanding how evaluation instruments, such as international rankings affect organizations and individuals in the higher education sector.

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) have rapidly been gaining traction across the research, policy, and practice spheres, touted as transformative actions to jointly address biodiversity loss and climate change. However, there are multiple, alternative ways to imagine NbS in those three spheres. To inform the NbS discourses across these three spheres, we critically reflect on the prevailing framing of NbS and consider the potential of a different framing of NbS to support transformations towards regenerative relationships between humans and nature. Such reflection is urgently needed to ensure that research, policy, and practice delivers on the transformative ambitions of NbS. We propose a novel “core framing” of NbS, charting two pathways for how such a framing can support a human value-based transformation – first through influencing individual beliefs and values, and second through the communication and application of the NbS concept in research, policy, and practice. We argue that for NbS to support transformation, it must support a reframing of human-nature relationships, one where the interdependencies between people and nature are recognized as essential for social and environmental well-being. We elaborate on how such a framing is key to support inclusivity and collaboration between diverse research perspectives, policy objectives across scales, and implementation practices, to deliver successful NbS.

Long-term changes in nanoparticles of copper-silver bimetallic systems on natural clinoptilolite obtained by ion exchange of Cu2+ and Ag+, and then reduced at different temperatures, have been studied. Even after storage under ambient conditions, XRD and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra indicate the presence of nanospecies of reduced copper and silver. Scanning Electron Microscopy of aged bimetallic samples, reduced at the highest temperature (450oC) and the primary samples for their preparation, also aged, showed the presence of silver nanoparticles with a size of about 100 nm. They are formed in the initial ion-exchanged sample (without reduction) due to the degradation of Ag+ ions. The nanoparticles in the reduced sample are larger; in both samples they are evenly distributed over the surface. The presence of silver affects the stability and the mechanism of decomposition/oxidation of reduced copper nanospecies, and this stability is higher in bimetallic systems. The decomposition pattern of recently reduced species includes the formation of smaller nanoparticles and few-atomic clusters. This can occur, preceding the complete oxidation of Cu to ions. Quasi-colloidal silver, which is present in fresh bimetallic samples reduced at lower temperatures, transforms after aging into Ag8 clusters, which indicates the stability of these nanospecies on natural clinoptilolite.

Pure silver as well as silver compounds have been used as antiseptics for centuries. Nowadays, the most frequently applied form of silver is a nanoparticle form. Several studies demonstrate the ability of silver nanoparticles and silver salts to accumulate in the brain of laboratory ani-mals as well as the ability of silver nanoparticles to influence behavioral and cognitive functions of laboratory mammals. For the first time, the influence of a silver salt, in particular, silver citrate on the change dynamics of behavioral and cognitive functions of laboratory mice at the daily oral exposure during 30, 60, 120 and 180 days is investigated in the present research. We observed the anxiety increase after 30 days of the exposure as well as the ability of mice to adapt to the prolonged oral exposure of silver citrate manifested in the anxiety decrease, increase of locomotor activity and the tendency of long-term contextual memory improvement. Increase of locomotor activity and memory improvement might be associated with the sensitivity increase and regarded as compensatory mechanism to anxiety increase. The observed phenomenon is classified as a hormetic effect. A comparison with the analogous study implemented polyvi-nylpyrrolidone coated silver nanoparticles is carried out. It was concluded that the nanoform is more neurotoxic.

Elbow dislocation and instability present significant clinical challenges, necessitating a thorough understanding of the underlying bio-mechanical mechanisms. In this study, a quasi-static three-dimensional finite element model of the human elbow joint is developed to investigate stress distribution and stages of dislocation in the human elbow under various loading conditions. The model simulates the elbow joint in different degrees of flexion (30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°) and forearm positions (pronation and supination), providing detailed insights into the progression of dislocation. Significant findings include the identification of high stress concentrations on the humerus at 90° flexion and on the radial and coronoid processes at 30°, 45°, and 60° flexion. Three reproducible stages of dislocation were observed, particularly in flexed positions with forearm pronation or supination. These stages align with experimental observations and highlight the initial occurrence of bony failures, such as radial head and ulnar coronoid fractures, preceding soft tissue tears. Clinically, the study underscores that early-stage low-impact posterior elbow dislocations retain enough stability to be managed with closed reduction and early mobilization. However, as dislocations progress, significant damage to the medial and lateral collateral ligaments is expected, necessitating more invasive treatments. This research provides valuable bio-mechanical insights into elbow dislocation, aiding in the development of improved treatment strategies and enhancing patient outcomes through precise and timely clinical interventions. The validated FEM serves as a powerful tool for pre-surgical planning offering a comprehensive understanding of elbow joint mechanics.

The structural evolution and phase composition of multi-block thermoplastic polyurethanes, with different nature of the soft segments based on poly(butylene adipate) (PBA), were analyzed during in-situ thermal treatments. A combination of synchrotron small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and FTIR spectroscopy was used to determine the influence of macrodiol nature and crystallization conditions on the polymorphic behavior of PBA. Using a new synthesis scheme, a relatively high degree of crystallinity for urethane blocks was achieved, which depends on the diisocyanate type in the structure of the soft segment. The hard segment domains impose geometrical constraints on PBA, thereby altering its crystallization process compared to the neat oligomer. Thus, crystallization after annealing at a low temperature (80 °C) is fast, predominantly yielding a metastable β-phase. When heated to 180 °C, which is higher than the hard-segment melting temperature, a phase-separated structure is observed. Subsequent crystallization is slower, favoring the formation of the stable α-PBA modification. The phase separation can be observed even after the hard block melting. A notably slow crystallization from an isotropic melt was documented after the disruption of phase separation at 230 °C.

In recent years, many cities throughout the world are facing the impact of last-mile logistics and the resulting rise in urban traffic and pollution: effects on the environment have been curbed by these dynamics. Urban traffic has a considerable impact in terms of noise emissions, road safety and air pollution: hence, both public and private parties shall undertake innovative solutions for reducing the negative effects of last-mile logistics and improving their operational effectiveness. This study aims to provide a systematic literature review on environmentally sustainable last-mile logistics. The main contributions of this paper are as follows: (1) exploring and analysing the existing literature on last-mile logistics, with a focus on various types of sustainable measures implemented by companies, governments (mainly local) and supra-national institutions; (2) clustering existing studies into five categories (i.e., agents’ preference and choices, shared logistics, stakeholders, studies on vehicles, and policy and decisions) clarifying the implications of the public economics analysis; (3) identifying the gaps and limitations of the existing literature and proposing potential issues for future research insights. The review of the literature reveals that the majority of recent studies have been based on engineering and urban planning approaches. Costs and benefits of last-mile logistics are researched with a public economics focus, gathering details from the different papers, starting from the business studies to the technology-oriented ones. This study aims at detecting the different topics and policies discussed in the literature and suggests how to incorporate them in creating new measures and policies or revamping current ones. Although the initial corpus was 583, only 108 papers were ultimately chosen for the review, since public economics studies were not thoroughly explored: following the results of this work, the topic has significant scope for further study.

Sweet cherry pomace is a by-product that can be a source of bioactive phenolic compounds. Usually, polyphenols have been extracted using conventional extraction methodologies. However, a significant fraction, called non-extractable polyphenols (NEPs), remains retained in the conventional extraction residues. Therefore, this work is aimed, for the first time, to investigate the release of NEPs from cherry pomace combining pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and enzyme-assisted extraction (EAE) using Promod enzyme. A response surface methodology was employed to study the influence of temperature, time, and pH on the NEPs extraction. The response variables were the total phenolic content (TPC) measured by Folin-Ciocalteu method, total proanthocyanidin (PA) content evaluated by vanillin, DMAC, and butanol/HCl assays, and total antioxidant capacity determined by Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity and inhibition of hydroxyl radical assays. The results indicated that PLE-EAE was more suitable and selective to obtain NEPs from sweet cherry pomace than PLE alone. In fact, the extracts obtained by PLE-EAE displayed higher TPC, PA content, and bioactivity than the extracts obtained by PLE under the same extraction conditions, and those obtained by conventional methods. Moreover, size-exclusion chromatography profiles showed that the combination of PLE and EAE enabled the recovery of NEPs with higher molecular weight than PLE without EAE treatment.

Background. We created agent-based model for short- and longterm forecasting of COVID-19 and for evaluation how the actions of the regulator affected the human and material resources of the healthcare system. Methods. The model was implemented in the AnyLogic software. It includes two state charts – social network and disease transmission. The COVID-19 Essential Supplies Forecasting Tool (COVID-ESFT, version 2.0) was used to determine healthcare resources needed. Results. Satisfactory results were obtained with long-term (up to 50 days) forecasting in the case of a monotonous change in total cases curve. However, if periods of relative stability are accompanied by sudden outbreaks, relatively satisfactory results were obtained with short-term forecasting, up to 10 days. Simulation of various scenarios showed that the most important place for the spread of infection are families. Wherein the maximum number of cases of COVID-19 is observed in the age group of 26-59 years. Due to a set of measures taken by government agencies, the number of cases in Karaganda city was 3.2 times less than was predicted in “no intervention” scenario. Economic effect is estimated at 40 %. Conclusion. Performed model is an attempt to consider as much as possible the peculiarities of the socio-demographic situation in the country. In the future, we will be prepared to some extent for challenges like those we have experienced in the past three years.

The evolutionary success of land plants largely relies on their ability to cope with constant environmental fluctuations, which negatively impact their reproductive fitness and trigger adaptational responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. In this challenging scenario, comprehensive research efforts so far aimed at depicting the roles of well-known phytohormones, mainly auxins, along with brassinosteroids, jasmonates, and abscisic acid, although the signaling networks coordinating the crosstalk among them remains vaguely understood. Accordingly, this review focuses on the Arabidopsis Amidase Signature (AS) superfamily members, highlighting the hitherto relatively underappreciated functions of AMIDASE1 (AMI1) and FATTY ACID AMIDE HYDROLASE (FAAH), as crucial coordinators of the growth-defense response trade-off by modulating auxin and ABA homeostasis.