Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide, and it is urgently necessary to diagnose it as early as possible. Usually, the diagnostic process begins with a radiological examination which, when a possible tumour is present, is followed by a biopsy to extract tissue samples from the patient's lungs. Therefore, the purpose of this study is the development of an artificial intelligence algorithm that will analyse the Whole Slide Image (WSI) generated by the digitisation of the glass slides obtained from the extracted samples and detect if there is a tumour. The developed learning algorithms as well as the tested neural networks (NNs) were trained on a dataset composed of previously annotated WSI tiles, classified as Tumour or Non-Tumour. From these, four developed convolutional neural networks stood out and were selected to be compared with each other and with the tested NNs. When the best result of each of the developed architectures was compared to the highest result of the tested NNs, it was possible to denote that version 4 of CancerDetecNN achieved an average accuracy of 89.749 \% and an average loss of 0.220. Furthermore, the results for the four selected versions are in agreement with the results reported in the literature, however, the limited size of the given dataset must be considered. Given the results obtained, the fourth version has the potential to optimise the lung cancer diagnosis process.

Taeniid infections pose a significant threat to both animal and public health, as certain tapeworms within this group can also infect humans, potentially leading to severe health conditions. Therefore, this calls for preventive and control measures, such as regular deworming of dogs. While the efficacy of deworming has been established in developed countries, there is a paucity of reported deworming practices in rural areas of developing countries, such as Tanzania. This study aims to understand determinants for helminth treatment-seeking behavior towards control of cestodial taeniid infections in rural settings in northern Tanzania. A cross-sectional study was undertaken in agropastoral and pastoral areas of northern Tanzania. Comprehensive data from household surveys in selected sub-villages were collected to ascertain dog ownership, dog deworming practices, and the availability of dewormers. Analytical methods were employed to discern how various determinants influenced deworming practices among dog owners in these communities. Awareness of dewormers specifically formulated for dogs emerged as a pivotal factor affecting dog deworming practices. Dog owners who were informed about appropriate dog dewormers were nearly two times more likely to engage in deworming compared to those with limited knowledge (OR = 1.78, 95% CI 1.77 - 4.18, p < 0.001). A majority 32(51.6%, 95% CI: 38.7-64.3) acknowledged accessing dewormers for livestock within their wards. Praziquantel a potent dewormer on cestodes was least known to most dog owners 2(13%, 95% CI: 2.3-41.6). Praziquantel, a potent and common dewormer effective against cestodial taeniid infections, remains relatively unknown in rural areas of northern Tanzania. Therefore, more awareness on appropriate deworming agents against taeniids in dogs should be raised in rural dog-keeping communities.

Peri-implantitis continues to be one of the major reasons for implant failures. We propose a new approach for incorporating MTA into Zirconia implant surfaces with Nd:YAG laser and investigate the biological response of peri-implant cells as well as the microbiological response. Discs of Zirconia stabilized with Yttria and Titanium were produced according 4 tested groups: Nd:YAG laser textured Zirconia coated with MTA (Zr MTA); Nd:YAG laser textured Zirconia (Zr Textured); Zirconia and Titanium discs (Zr and Ti ). Contact profilometry was used to evaluate surface roughness. Human osteoblasts, gingival fibroblasts and S. oralis were cultured on samples. Cell adhesion and morphology, cell viability, cell differentiation markers and bacterial growth were assessed. Zr Textured roughness was significantly higher compared to all other groups. Cellular adhesion was observed at 1 day in all samples in both cell lines. Osteoblasts viability was lower in Zr MTA group, unlike fibroblasts viability was shown to be higher in Zr MTA group compared to Zr Textured group at 3 and 7 days. Osteocalcin and IL-8 release by osteoblasts were higher in Zr MTA. Zr Textured showed higher IL-8 values released by fibroblasts. No differences in S. oralis CFUs were observed between groups. The results suggest that Zirconia implant surfaces coated with MTA seems to promote fibroblasts proliferation and osteoblasts differentiation, however does not appear to have antibacterial properties.

Introduction Livestock abortigenic agents, which are microorganisms that lead to premature foetal death and expulsion before completion of the gestation period, are common in Africa and Asia. Abortion events cause economic losses by lowering reproduction (and hence herd/flock sizes) and effects on milk production. Despite the importance of livestock production for food security and livelihoods of millions of the world’s poorest communities, very little is known about the scale, magnitude or causes of livestock abortion in Africa. The aim of this review was to determine the current status of the burden of livestock abortion and surveillance measures adopted for livestock abortigenic pathogens in Africa and Asia, and to explore feasible surveillance technologies. Methodology A systematic literature search was conducted using Preferred Reporting of Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines in four databases for studies published between 1 Jan 1990 and 31 July 2021 that reported epidemiological surveys of livestock abortigenic pathogens in cattle, goats and sheep in Africa and Asia including; Brucella spp., Neospora caninum, Toxoplasma gondii, Rift valley fever virus, Coxiella burnetii, Chlamydia, Leptospira and Bovine viral Diarrhoea Virus. A meta-analysis was used to estimate the species-specific prevalence of the abortigenic diseases and the region where they were detected. Results In the systematic literature search, 48 full papers were included which in total included 50 species-specific surveillance reports from Africa and 19 from Asia. Adjusted median seroprevalence calculations estimated Brucella at 6.85% (range 1.2-11.6) of 9071 sheep, 3.35% (range 0.90-5.40) of 17,007 goats, 8.95% (range 0.50-63.60) of 171,733 cattle, Neospora at 6.80% (range 6.80 -6.80) of 555 sheep, 10.80 (range 10.80-10.80) of 185 goats, 12.65% (range 3.40- 25.60) of 3775 cattle, Toxoplasma at 27.50% (range 1.40 – 75.90) of 2284 sheep, 32.0% (range 20.00- 64.80) of 1226 goats, 7.50% (range 7.50 - 7.50) of 174 cattle, Coxiella at 9.20 (range 9.20 – 9.20) of 184 sheep, 24.20% (range 24.20-24.20) of 91 goats, 13.80% (range 13.80-13.80) of 217 cattle, Rift valley fever virus at 7.70 (2.40-40.00) of 874 sheep, 20.95 (range 2.50-40.00) of 547 goats, 7.45% (range 3.60-11.30) of 309 cattle, Bovine viral diarrhea virus at 78.90 (range 78.90 – 78.90) of 398 cattle, Leptospira at 70.50 (range 70.50 – 70.50) of 373 cattle and Chlamydia at 6.60 (6.60-6.60) of 803 sheep. We found that most studies, 45 (89%) used serological surveys, 1 (2%) used molecular and 1 (2%) reported to have used Mobile-phone based surveillance approach. Three studies (6.25%) of the 48 included were embedded in the national surveillance programs of the respective countries they were conducted, majority 89% were stand-alone cross-sectional studies. Conclusion In conclusion, livestock abortigenic pathogens are still a burden in many African and Asian countries.

The maritime industry contributes to over 80% of global trade and ranks as the sixth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. The International Maritime Organization has taken strides to reduce these emissions, while the European Union spearheads efforts to establish sustainable maritime transport. However, meeting decarbonisation targets poses significant challenges, with the potential implications of adopting an EU Emission Trading System (ETS) on shipping allowances, particularly at specific borders. If not managed effectively, this could result in diversifying regular container shipping routes away from EU ports, potentially leading to increased shipping emissions and disrupting the logistics trade and security chain. These challenges are exacerbated by the International Maritime Organization's lack of a carbon fee on bunkering, which creates an imbalance. The ETS Directive has fostered unfair competition between EU and non-EU ports due to discrepancies in applying emission unit allowances. It is imperative to implement preventive measures to contain and prevent the shift of operations from EU ports to nearby ports, ensure equitable treatment of EU transhipment ports and their competitors, and thwart carbon leakage. Additionally, the recent Houthis attacks on the Red Sea have significantly impacted shipping costs on the Cape of Good Hope route to Europe, necessitating increased allowances to and from Europe.

The maritime industry contributes to over 80% of global trade and ranks as the sixth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. The International Maritime Organization has taken strides to reduce these emissions, while the European Union spearheads efforts to establish sustainable maritime transport. However, meeting decarbonisation targets poses significant challenges, with the potential implications of adopting an EU Emission Trading System (ETS) on shipping allowances, particularly at specific borders. If not managed effectively, this could result in diversifying regular container shipping routes away from EU ports, potentially leading to increased shipping emissions and disrupting the logistics trade and security chain. These challenges are exacerbated by the International Maritime Organization's lack of a carbon fee on bunkering, which creates an imbalance. The ETS Directive has fostered unfair competition between EU and non-EU ports due to discrepancies in applying emission unit allowances. It is imperative to implement preventive measures to contain and prevent the shift of operations from EU ports to nearby ports, ensure equitable treatment of EU transhipment ports and their competitors, and thwart carbon leakage. Additionally, the recent Houthis attacks on the Red Sea have significantly impacted shipping costs on the Cape of Good Hope route to Europe, necessitating increased allowances to and from Europe.

The objective of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the articles that addressed the effect BA or carnosine supplementation on physical exercise (PE)-induced oxidative stress (OS). Before May 2018 we searched throughout PubMed, CAPES Periodic and SPORTDiscus human model peer review, randomized control studies with chronic BA or carnosine supplementation on PE-induced OS. A total of 128 citations were found. Only four articles met criteria for inclusion. All four studies used healthy young sedentary, recreationally active or athletic participants. After a chronic BA or carnosine supplementation, the studies evaluated PE-induced OS both immediately and several hours after exercise (0.5 to 48 h). In response to PE-induced OS, when compared to placebo, BA/carnosine supplementation increased total antioxidant capacity [TAC; Effect Size (ES) = 0.35, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.06 to 0.65, p = 0.02] and glutathione (GSH; ES = 0.75, 95% CI 0.32 to 1.19, p = 0.0007) concentrations while decreased direct OS markers (ES = −1.19, 95% CI −1.48 to −0.80, p < 0.01) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity (ES = − 0.58, 95% CI −1.10 to −0.06, p = 0.03). BA or carnosine supplementation did not prevent the increase in indirect OS markers (ES: 0.06, 95% CI −0.38 to 0.500, p = 0.80). In humans, following PE-induced OS, initial treatment trials of BA or carnosine supplementation seemed to increase TAC and GSH concentrations, while decreasing SOD activity. Also, albeit mitigating the acute increase in direct OS markers (reactive nitrogen and oxygen species), treatment did not decrease measured values of indirect OS markers (peroxidation or molecule oxidation).

The olfactory system is capable of distinguishing individual odorants from among a virtually unlimited number. Fish, for example, detect changes in the electric field environment induced by prey and other sources. Floral electric fields exhibit variations in pattern and structure, which can be discriminated by bumblebees. We have constructed an electric field sensor, which, in the course of focussing on achieving maximum sensitivity and consistency, ultimately resembles features of the insect sensorium. A “fingerprint” 3D plot ( time, frequency range, voltage amplitude), representing the emitted electric field profile, is presented for each of a variety of odorants and other chemicals. The substance-specific electric-field emission and identification is not impeded by containers or barriers or distance.

This paper presents a new information technology platform specially tailored for infrastructure asset management of urban water systems operated by water utilities of lower digital maturity level, developed in the scope of DECIdE research project. This platform aims at the integration of different data from the water utilities with several information systems and the assessment of the system performance, in terms of water losses, energy efficiency and quality of service by using developed tools (i.e., water and energy balances and key performance indicators). This platform was tested with data from five small to medium size Portuguese water utilities with different maturity levels in terms of technological and human resources. Obtained results are very promising since the platform allows to assess the systems performance periodically which constitute an important part of the infrastructure asset management for small and medium-sized water utilities

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

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most sexually transmitted infection associated with the development of cervical cancer. This study investigated cervical HPV prevalence, characteristics and distribution according to age and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among women attending public community health facility in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. A total of 325 participants (aged 18 to 60) visiting a community health facility for any reason were recruited. Cervical HPV infection was detected using the Seegene Anyplex™ II HPV28 assay. Overall HPV prevalence was 65.2% (95% CI: 59.9–70.2%), with the highest prevalence of 80.9% (95% CI: 67.2–89.8%) observed in the 18–25 years age group and lowest prevalence of 46.3% (95% CI: 35.8–57.1%) in 46–60 years of age. HR-HPV infection was found to decrease with increasing age among women who were HPV infected by any type (p=0.02), but not when stratified according to HIV status. A proportion of 12.9% (42/325) were infected with one or more HPV types covered by the Cervarix® HPV vaccine (HPV-16 and/or -18), 18.8% (61/325) by those covered by Gardasil®4 (HPV-6, -11, -16 and/or -18) and 42.2% (137/325) by those covered by Gardasil®9 (HPV-6, -11, -16, -18, -31, -33, -45, -52 and/or -58). Alpha-9 HPV species were the most dominant species (40.6%, 132/325), followed by alpha-7 species (29.8%, 97/325). In the overall population, alpha-9 HPV species were always part of the most dominant HPV alpha species co-infection, which were alpha-9 and -7 species (17.5%, 57/325), alpha-9 and -5 species (9.8%, 32/325), and alpha-9 and -6 species (9.5%, 31/325). High overall HPV, HR-HPV, and alpha-9 species prevalence were observed among women attending the public health facility. These findings contribute to the limited HPV distribution data among Eastern Cape women, which could be used to improve HPV-related policy and assess the effectiveness of the HPV vaccination.

The main contribution of this paper is to develop a graphical tool to evaluate the suitability of a candidate parametric model to fit a data set. The practical motivation is to check the adequacy of the so called SAINT model proposed in Jarner and Kryger (2011). This model has been implemented in practice by an important European pension fund concerned with setting annuity reserves for all current or former employees of Denmark. So, one particular relevant question is whether this mortality model is actually fitting old-age. Our graphical test can be described as follows. First we transform the data by means of the parametric model which is being evaluated. Should the model be correct, the transformed data will be in accordance with an Exponential distribution with rate 1. Then we construct a family of local linear hazard estimates based on the data on the transformed scale. Finally we use the statistical tool SiZer to assess the goodness-of-fit of the Exponential distribution to the data on the transformed scale. If the model is correct the SiZer map should not reveal any significant feature in the family of kernel estimates. Our method allow us to establish a diagnostic regarding the validity of the SAINT model when describing mortality patterns in four different countries.

We aimed to directly compare the cost-effectiveness of the NELSON and NLST screening protocols, two trials influencing lung cancer screening implementation internationally. A decision-analytic model analyzing the cost-effectiveness of the NELSON protocols was manipulated to reflect the protocols of the NLST, while maintaining features specific to the Hungarian healthcare setting. In the NELSON protocol, there are three possible outcomes to the initial round of screening: positive, negative, or indeterminate, indicating an uncertain degree of suspicion for lung cancer. This pro-tocol differs from the NLST protocol, in which the only possible screening outcomes are positive or negative, with no indeterminate option. The NLST pathway for smokers aged 55-74 resulted in a 43 € increase in total average lifetime costs compared to the Hungarian screening pathway and re-sulted in a lifetime gain of 0.006 QALYs. The incremental costs and QALYs yield an ICER of 7875 €/QALY. Our results demonstrate that assigning any suspicious LDCT screen as a positive result (NLST protocol) rather than indeterminate (NELSON protocol) can yield a slight QALY gain that is worth the additional use of resources according to Hungary’s willingness to pay threshold. Our study provides insight on the cost-effectiveness, advantages, and disadvantages of various LDCT screening protocols for lung cancer and can assist other countries as they implement their screening programs.

Organizations can play a significant role in the advancement of Sustainable Development, and companies with Quality, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (QEOHS) certified management systems address the three Sustainability Dimensions (economic, environmental and social). This research aims to map the present level of engagement of those companies in contributing and reporting to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of The United Nations 2030 Agenda. The content of companies reports (available in web sites, by 31 December 2017) of a total of 235 Portuguese organizations with QEOHS certified management systems, was analyzed. The results show a moderate reporting of SDGs by those companies, with the top five being SDG 12 - Responsible consumption and production (23.8%), SDG 13 – Climate action (22.1%), SDG 09 - Industry, innovation, and infrastructure (21.3%), SDG 08 - Decent work and economic growth (20.0%) and SDG 17 - Partnerships for the goals (19.6%). The results of the statistical tests indicate that the communication of SDGs is more prominent in organizations (QEOHS) with higher business volume, that are members of the United Nations Global Compact Network Portugal, and that disclose their sustainability reports on their web site. This study can be useful for decision-makers that aim to support organizations to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals.

The design and engineering of antibacterial materials is key for preventing bacterial adherence and proliferation in biomedical and house-hold instruments. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and chitosan (CHI) are broad-spectrum antibacterial materials with different properties, whose combined application is currently under optimization. This study proposes the formation of antibacterial films with AgNPs embedded in carboxymethylcellulose/chitosan multilayers by the layer-by-layer (LbL) method. The films were deposited onto nanoporous silicon (nPSi), an ideal platform for bioengineering applications, due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, and bioresorbability. We focus on two alternative multilayer deposition processes: cyclic dip coating (CDC) and cyclic spin coating (CSC). The physicochemical properties of the films were the subject of microscopic, microstructural and surface-interface analyses. The antibacterial activity of each film was investigated against Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive) bacteria strains as model microorganisms. According to the findings, CDC technique produced multilayer films with higher antibacterial activity for both bacteria compared to the CSC method. Bacteria adhesion inhibition was observed from only 3 cycles. The developed AgNPs-multilayer composite film offers advantageous antibacterial properties for biomedical applications.

The study assessed the trapping efficacy of locally-modified 1) Gravid Aedes Trap(GAT) lined with insecticide-treated net (ITN) as a killing agent, 2) Autocidal Gravid Ovitrap(AGO) with sticky board in the semi-field system (SFS) and field setting. Fully-balanced Latin square experiments were conducted to compare GAT lined with ITN vs AGO, both with either yeast or grass infusion. Biogents-Sentinel (BGS) with BG-Lure and no CO2 was used as standard trap for Aedes mosquitoes. In the SFS, GAT outperformed AGO in collecting both nulliparous (65% vs 49%,OR=2.22,[95%CI:1.89-2.60],p

High-throughput screening technologies continues to produce large amounts of multiomics data from different populations and cell types for various diseases, such as cancer. However, analysis of such data encounters difficulties due to cancer heterogeneity, further exacerbated by human biological complexity and genomic variability. There is a need to redefine the drug discovery development pipeline, bringing an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered informational view that integrates relevant biological information and explores new ways to develop effective anticancer approaches. Here, we show SynPred, an interdisciplinary approach that leverages specifically designed ensembles of AI-algorithms, links omics and biophysical traits to predict synergistic anticancer drug synergy. SynPred exhibits state-of-the-art performance metrics: accuracy – 0.85, precision – 0.77, recall – 0.75, AUROC – 0.82, and F1-score - 0.76 in an independent test set. Moreover, data interpretability was achieved by deploying the most current and robust feature importance approaches. A simple web-based application available online at http://www.moreiralab.com/resources/synpred/ was constructed to predict synergistic anticancer drug combinations requiring only the upload of the two drug SMILES to be tested, allowing easy access by non-expert researchers.

Advanced Nano structural hard coatings are thin materials films that range in thickness from a few nanometers to a few micrometers and are applied to different surfaces to increase their hardness and wear resistance. Physical vapor deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods are frequently used to deposit these coatings. These coating’s distinctive characteristics result from their microstructure, which is made up of material columns or grains with a diameter of only a few nanometers. Increased hardness, higher wear resistance, and improved tribological properties result from these short dimensions. In applications with significant wear and/or high contact pressures, such as cutting tools, bearings, and engine parts, the usage of sophisticated Nano structural hard coatings is crucial. Advanced Nano structural hard coatings include, 1. Amorphous carbon coatings with high hardness, low friction, and exceptional wear resistance are known as diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings. DLC coatings are frequently used in a variety of industries, including the automotive, aerospace, and biomedical ones. 2. Coatings made of titanium nitride (TiN): These metallic coatings have high hardness and wear resistance. Cutting tool, machining, and aerospace industries frequently use TiN coatings. 3. Chromium nitride (CrN) coatings: These coatings have great corrosion resistance, good wear resistance, and high hardness. Cutting tools, gears, and bearings are just a few of the objects that use CrN coatings. 4. Tungsten carbide (WC) coatings: These coatings, which have a high degree of hardness and wear resistance, are frequently employed in cutting tools and other applications that require wear resistance. Advanced Nano structural hard coatings provide many advantages over conventional coatings, including better hardness, increased wear resistance, and improved tribological qualities. The automotive, aerospace, and biomedical industries are just a few that could use these coatings. In this paper the author will explain about the design synthesis and applications of advanced Nano structural hard coating in aerospace and automotive applications.

Monitoring lakes in high-latitude areas can provide a better understanding of freshwater systems sensitivity and accrete knowledge on climate change impacts. Phytoplankton are sensitive to various conditions: warmer temperatures, earlier ice-melt and changing nutrient sources. Satellite imagery can monitor algae biomass over large areas. The detection of chlorophyll a (chl-a) concentrations in small lakes is hindered by the low spatial resolution of conventional ocean colour satellites. The short time-series of the newest generation of space-borne sensors (e.g. Sentinel-2) is a bottleneck for assessing long-term trends. Although previous studies have evaluated the use of high-resolution sensors for assessing lakes' chl-a, it is still unclear how the spatial and temporal variability of chl-a concentration affect the performance of satellite estimates. We discuss the suitability of Landsat (LT) 30-m resolution imagery to assess lakes' chl-a concentrations under varying trophic conditions, across extensive high-latitude areas in Finland. We use in situ data obtained from field campaigns in 19 lakes and generate remote sensing estimates of chl-a, taking advantage of the long-time span of the LT 5 and 7 archives, from 1984 to 2017. Our results show that linear models based on LT data can explain approximately 50 % of the chl-a interannual variability. However, we demonstrate that the accuracy of the estimates is dependent on the lake's trophic state, with models performing in average twice as better in lakes with higher chl-a concentration (> 20 µg/l) in comparison with less eutrophic lakes. Finally, we demonstrate that linear models based on LT data can achieve high accuracy (R2 = 0.9; p-value < 0.05) in determining lakes' annual mean chl-a concentration, allowing the mapping of the trophic state of lakes across large regions. Given the long time-series and high spatial resolution, LT-based estimates of chl-a provide a tool for assessing the impacts of environmental change.

We take a heterodox approach to the ΛFRW Cosmology starting from the modification of Newtonian gravity by explicitly incorporating Mach's Principle through an additional term a great scale in the gravitation. The results show that at the after of the matter-radiation decoupling, the distribution of matter at scales greater than 10Mpc contributes with an inverse Yukawa-like field, which verifies the observations: resulting null in the inner solar system, weakly attractive in ranges of interstellar comoving distances, very attractive in comoving distance ranges comparable to the clusters of galaxies, and repulsive in cosmic scales. This additional term explains dark energy, removes the incompatibility between the density of matter and the flatness of the universe; and also allows the theoretical deduction of the Hubble-Lemaitre Law. Additionally, Birkhoff Theorem, Virial Theorem, the missing mass of Zwicky, the BAO, gravitational redshift are discussed. It is concluded that the dark energy and the missing mass can be approached with the usual physics if a classical, large-scale modification of the Inverse Square Law.

This study assesses the feasibility of hepatitis B and C elimination, using an analysis of trends of epidemiology data (1990-2019) from the global burden of disease. Joinpoint regression analysis was used to identify significant changing points in trends of Age-standardizes Prevalence Rate (ASPR) and Age-standardizes Mortality Rate (ASMR) and to estimate the annual percentage changes (APC) and the average annual percentage changes (AAPC) for the period. Sociodemographic Index (SDI) was used to analyze trends between countries. The total percentage change of the ASPR (2019/1990) was -31.4% and -12.8% for HBV and HCV worldwide respectively, the rate ratio (HBV/HCV) was 2.5. Mortality has decreased for HBV but not for HCV. The total percentage change for the ASMR (2019/1990) was -26.7% and 10.0%, for HBV and HCV respectively. While ASMR of HBV decreased, HCV increased during this period. The percentage change in ASMR of HBV was highest in countries with high-middle SDI and lowest in countries with high SDI. For HCV, the percentage change in ASMR was highest in countries with High SDI (increase) and only in countries with low SDI decreased. The global HBV and HCV rates have fallen with different AAPC associated with the SDI. Despite the advances, there is still a long way forward to achieve the 2030 elimination goals. An important challenge is related to finding a way to speed up the yearly rate at which the decline is happening.

Inflation and exchange rates have great influence on consumer prices especially on imports and exports. Exchange rate fluctuations create inefficiency and distort world prices whereas changes in inflation rates have a direct impact on consumer goods prices which incidentally include exchange rates. There is a direct interdependence between inflation and exchange rates and this paper is aimed at investigating this relationship in dynamic context. It tries to find out how changes in inflation and exchange rates impact on another by adopting the econometric and copula approaches. Both inflation and exchange rates data are susceptible to volatility clustering, possess fat tails and are skewed coupled with conditional heteroskedasticity. Hence we model the univariate distributions by using ARMA$(p,q)$-GARCH$(x,y)$ so as to capture the most important stylized features of inflation and exchange rates. A bivariate model is then constructed by coupling the marginal distributions of inflation and exchange rates using the survival Clayton copula. Empirical results from monthly inflation and exchange rates data show positive correlation between the two based on Kendall $\tau$ test which confirms that a change in inflation results in change of exchange rates an vice versa hence there is co-movement. Furthermore, by the Granger causality test, exchange rates spikes cause changes in inflation rates. The results of the study have implications on economic policy design and hedging strategies for traders on imports and exports.

Frontal incomes play an important role in human behavioral regulation and can be a determinant of eating behavior. The aim of this study was to analyse the frontal incomes in obese patients with and without Binge Eating Disorder (BED), compared to normoweight (NW) subjects and to analyse the effect of sex and binge disorder on quality of life, with age and BMI as covariates. A total of 114 participants comprised three different groups (obese with BED, obese without BED and NW) completed the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) and Impact of Weight on Quality of Life (IWQOL-lite). The results showed that obese patients, with and without BED, have poorer frontal functioning than NW persons. Obese patients with BED have lower performance in frontal income than obese patients without BED. Male participants have a higher perception of quality of life in all dimensions, with women showing lower values in self-esteem and sex life. Obese with BED show greater weaknesses in physical function. These results suggest that low frontal incomes and worse quality of life characterize obese patients, more evident in obese patients with BED.

An approach to the assessment of probabilistic inference is described which quantifies the performance on the probability scale. From both information and Bayesian theory, the central tendency of an inference is proven to be the geometric mean of the probabilities reported for the actual outcome and is referred to as the “Accuracy.” Upper and lower error bars on the accuracy are provided by the arithmetic mean and the -2/3 mean. The arithmetic is called the “Decisiveness” due to its similarity with the cost of a decision and the -2/3 mean is called the “Robustness”, due to its sensitivity to outlier errors. Visualization of inference performance is facilitated by plotting the reported model probabilities versus the histogram calculated source probabilities. The visualization of the calibration between model and source is summarized on both axes by the arithmetic, geometric, and -2/3 means. From information theory, the performance of the inference is related to the cross-entropy between the model and source distribution. Just as cross-entropy is the sum of the entropy and the divergence; the accuracy of a model can be decomposed into a component due to the source uncertainty and the divergence between the source and model. Translated to the probability domain these quantities are plotted as the average model probability versus the average source probability. The divergence probability is the average model probability divided by the average source probability. When an inference is over/under-confident, the arithmetic mean of the model increases/decreases, while the -2/3 mean decreases/increases, respectively.

Automating pruning tasks entails overcoming several challenges, encompassing not only robotic manipulation but also environment perception and detection. To achieve efficient pruning, robotic systems must accurately identify the correct cutting points. A possible method to define these points is to choose the cutting location based on the number of nodes present on the targeted cane. For this purpose, in grapevine pruning, it is required to correctly identify the nodes present on the primary canes of the grapevines. In this paper, a novel method of node detection in grapevines is proposed with four distinct state-of-the-art versions of the YOLO detection model: YOLOv7, YOLOv8, YOLOv9 and YOLOv10. These models were trained on a public dataset with images containing artificial backgrounds and afterwards validated on different cultivars of grapevines from two distinct Portuguese viticulture regions with cluttered backgrounds. This allowed to evaluate the robustness of the algorithms on the detection of nodes in diverse environments, compare the performance of the YOLO models used, as well as create a publicly available dataset of grapevines obtained in Portuguese vineyards for node detection. Overall, all used models were capable of achieving correct node detection on images of grapevines from the three distinct datasets. Considering the trade-off between accuracy and inference speed, the YOLOv7 model demonstrated to be the most robust in detecting nodes in 2D images of grapevines, achieving F1-Score values between 70 % and 86.5 % with inference times of around 89 ms for an input size of 1280×1280 px. Considering these results, this work contributes with an efficient approach for real-time node detection for further implementation on an autonomous robotic pruning system.

COVID-19 is a well-known respiratory disease spreading worldwide since January 2020, causing many deaths and massive pressure on health systems. This pandemic’s appearance compromised the health services’ sustainability and quality as many procedures were postponed or even canceled out, with an expected increase of adverse events like nosocomial infections, in-hospital deaths, and the worsening of the patients’ clinical status. Therefore, assessing whether the healthcare providers’ performance has changed is paramount. In this case, we evaluated the public hospitals in Portugal as the leading secondary health care providers in the country, which in turn has been highly affected by the pandemic. To this end, we developed a network Data Envelopment Analysis model serially relating efficiency and effectiveness. Using 2,795 observations from public hospitals and 18 variables, we observed consistent drops in efficiency when the pandemic started, followed by a recovery to levels above the pre-pandemic ones. Regarding effectiveness, we observed a positive trend during the evaluated period. In short, these results allow us to conclude that, apart from the great resilience of public healthcare providers, the Portuguese State was not prepared for a pandemic like COVID-19, but still the actions taken (including massive vaccination) were beneficial.

Water quality assessment stands as a fundamental step in water resource management. In addition to substances and organisms present in the water, land use and land cover are two factors affecting also water quality. This study analyzed the correlation and influence between water quality and land use and land cover in the Miranda River Basin (MRB) and the natural wetlands in the Pantanal Biome. Using a watershed-wide approach, results suggested that water quality management policies can be considered in terms of sub-basins (smaller planning units). The Water Quality Index (WQI) was considered GOOD or EXCELLENT throughout the MRB. It was observed that the natural wetlands have the capacity to contribute to improve WQI, with reductions in thermotolerant coliforms and turbidity; however, high values were found for thermotolerant coliforms, a temporal increasing trend of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and a reduction in dissolved oxygen and total phosphorus. Conversely, it was found in these flooded areas a trend of decrease in dissolved oxygen and an increase in BOD concentrations. Natural wetlands play important hydrological and ecological roles in water quality, storing, removing, and cycling nutrients. They are highly relevant areas for defining watershed management and conservation strategies, environmental protection, and providing ecosystem services.

This paper aims to assess whether the financial performance of Portuguese companies that publish sustainability reports (SR) differs from the financial performance of companies that do not publish SR. We use two methodological procedures. First, we conducted a univariate analysis to test the differences in the financial performance according to the disclosure of SR. Second, we conducted a multivariate analysis using a multiple linear regression that explains financial performance by the disclosure of SR, as well as control variables such as sector, size, leverage, growth, and liquidity. Findings indicate that financial performance of companies that disclose SR does not significantly differ from the financial performance of companies that do not disclose SR. The results are robust to both methodological procedures, as well as to the sample split by sectors.

An online survey assessed the awareness of Nelson region’s residents, comparing responses between those who experienced the installation and those who did not. Findings indicated that eco-art installations can significantly enhance public understanding of ALAN's environmental and health impacts. The installation successfully increased specific knowledge about ALAN, with 92% of visitors reporting learning something new, however overarching knowledge and levels of concern were largely similar between the groups. Emotional engagement was high, with 62% of viewers stating that the installation invoked an emotional response. While the study did not measure behavioural changes, 94% of festival participants found it at least ‘somewhat appropriate’ and 64% ‘very’ or ‘entirely appropriate’ to raise awareness of these issues at such events, suggesting a potential foundation for future action. This research underscores the promise of art-science collaborations in environmental education and public engagement.

Background and Objectives: Mechanical and biological complications can lead to system fracture or screw loss on dental implants. Narrow and regular platforms have been used without a consensus about the effect of distance the abutment from the prosthetic platform margin. The aim of this study is to evaluate different insertion torques in the deformation of tri-channel platform connections through two- and three-dimensional measurements with micro-CT. Materials and Methods: 164 implants were divided into groups (platform diameter and type): 3.5, 3.75, and 4.3 mm NP (Narrow Platform), and 4.3 mm RP (Regular Platform). Each implant-platform group was then divided into four subgroups (n = 10) with different torques: T45 (45 Ncm), T80 (80 Ncm), T120 (120 Ncm) and T150 (150 Ncm). The implant-abutment-screw assemblies were scanned and the images obtained were analyzed. Results: A significant difference was observed for the linear and volume measures between the different platforms (p &lt;0.01) and the different implant insertion torques (p &lt;0.01). Qualitative analysis suggested higher deformation resistance for the 3.75 NP compared to the 3.5 NP, and RP was more resistant compared to the NP. Conclusions: The 0.25-mm increment in the implant platform did not increase the resistance to the applied insertion torques; the 4.3-mm implant was significantly stronger compared to the 3.5-mm implant and the proposed micro-CT analysis was considered valid for both 2D and 3D analyses of micro gaps, qualitatively and quantitatively.

Most systems that are the subject of control engineering studies have some non-linearity. An example of this is the horizontal cylindrical tank, commonly used in process industries. To deal with cases like this, several control theories have been developed over time, each one presenting better results in certain systems. This work presents an alternative for the control of nonlinear systems, without necessary modeling or previous information about the system, based on a new optimization law for the artificial neural network training in real time.

This study proposes a framework to integrate Sustainability within Management Systems Standards and subsequently implement and disclose Sustainable Development goals and results. Moreover, it investigates the SD goals (SDGs) and results (SDRs) that Portuguese organizations with Integrated Management Systems (IMSs) disclose to their interest parties. The study, supported by content analysis, highlights that the four more frequently disclosed SDGs are “life on land“(50.0%), “industry, innovation, and infrastructure” (47.1%), “responsible consumption and production” (47.1%), and “partnerships for the goals” (47.1%). Conversely, the four SDRs most frequently disclosed are “employment” (82.4%), “economic performance” (79.4%), “anti-corruption” (64.7%), and “occupational health and safety” (61.8%). Hence, SDGs disclosure emphasizes the environmental dimension, while SDRs disclosure highlights the social dimension (economic dimension present in both SDGs and SDRs). Finally, the disclosure of SDGs and SDRs in institutional reports presents a positive and strong correlation that is statistically significant. Overall, the contributions of this research are twofold. First, it supports the integration of the SDGs within organizations, and second, it stimulates the demonstration of their impacts on the SDGs (the SDRs).

In this work, we show that a late fusion approach to multi-modality in sign language recognition improves the overall ability of the model in comparison to the singular approaches of Computer Vision (88.14%) and Leap Motion data classification (72.73%). With a large synchronous dataset of 18 BSL gestures collected from multiple subjects, two deep neural networks are benchmarked and compared to derive a best topology for each. The Vision model is implemented by a CNN and optimised MLP and the Leap Motion model is implemented by an evolutionary optimised deep MLP topology search. Next, the two best networks are fused for synchronised processing which results in a better overall result (94.44%) since complementary features are learnt in addition to the original task. The hypothesis is further supported by application of the three models to a set of completely unseen data where a multi-modality approach achieves the best results relative to the single sensor method. When transfer learning with the weights trained via BSL, all three models outperform standard random weight distribution when classifying ASL, and the best model overall for ASL classification was the transfer learning multi-modality approach which scored 82.55% accuracy.

Management of calcium and phosphate in biofluids is key to maintaining physiological mineral homeostasis (i.e., appropriate mineralization of hard tissues and an absence of mineral deposition in soft tissues). This review describes and contrasts the ways vertebrates manage calcium phosphate in two biological fluids (breast milk and serum) and illustrates the benefits of mineral sequestration by proteins. In milk, phosphoprotein-sequestered calcium magnesium phosphates provide nutritional support, whereas in serum, protein-sequestered calcium phosphates control transport and delivery of calcium and phosphate to tissues for biological function or excretion. In addition, subsets of sequestered phosphates in serum have been identified as culprits underlying ectopic deposition of calcium phosphates and toxicity.

The dark proteome as we define it, is the part of the proteome where 3D structure has not been observed either by homology modeling or by experimental characterization in the protein universe. From the 550.116 proteins available in Swiss-Prot (as of July 2016) 43.2% of the Eukarya universe and 49.2% of the Virus universe are part of the dark proteome. In Bacteria and Archaea, the percentage of the dark proteome presence is significantly less, with 12.6% and 13.3% respectively. In this work, we present the map of the dark proteome in Human and in other model organisms. The most significant result is that around 40%- 50% of the proteome of these organisms are still in the dark, where the higher percentages belong to higher eukaryotes (mouse and human organisms). Due to the amount of darkness present in the human organism being more than 50%, deeper studies were made, including the identification of ‘dark’ genes that are responsible for the production of the so-called dark proteins, as well as, the identification of the ‘dark’ organs where dark proteins are over represented, namely heart, cervical mucosa and natural killer cells. This is a step forward in the direction of the human dark proteome.

Since the outbreak of SARS CoV-2 infection (Covid-19), healthcare professionals worldwide have been trying to find disease management and control alternatives to encourage immunotherapies. Immunotherapy is an efficient therapeutic option used against comparable viral contaminations such as MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV. The aim of the current study is to assess the existing knowledge associated with SARS-CoV-2 immunotherapy. Information available in published articles and their quality highlights the importance of following strict scientific rules for clinical outcomes. Thus, these studies have shown enough data to confirm that immunomodulation is the main topic investigated in research about Covid-19 therapy. Therefore, it is possible saying that immunotherapy is certainly the appropriate option against this virus.

This study evaluates spatial analyses of groundwater quality and environmental changes to obtain information on the groundwater contamination in the Permian Basin, Texas. Coupled with the U.S. government’s open data, these analyses can identify regions where environmental change could have potentially effected groundwater quality. A total of thirty-six wells were selected within the six counties: Andrews, Martin, Ector, Midland, Crane, and Upton. Spatial distribution maps were created for six different parameters: pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), chloride, fluoride, nitrate, and arsenic. Total groundwater quality maps incorporate all the contaminants and denote regions of poor, medium, and optimum conditions. To identify spatial changes in groundwater quality, maps were separated into two different time intervals, 1992-2005 and 2006-2019. We found that groundwater contamination resulted primarily from the mobilization of the contaminant from natural sources or anthropogenic activities such as chemical fertilizers. Overall, groundwater quality decreased during the study period from 1992 to 2019 as population and urban growth began to develop in the Permian Basin. This study contributes on understanding of the response of groundwater quality associated with environmental change in the Permian Basin. Therefore, this research provides important information for groundwater managements in developing plans for the use of water resource in the future for Texas.

Diverse factors may have an impact in Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions; thus, three main contributors, energy consumption, exergy indicator and gross domestic product (GDP) are examined in this work. This study explores the relationship between economic growth and energy consumption by means of the hypothesis postulated for the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Panel data for 10 countries, from 1971 to 2014 have been studied. Despite all this wide gamma of research, the role of an exergy variable has not been tested to find the EKC; then exergy analysis is proposed. Exergy analyses were developed to propose an exergetic indicator as a control variable and a comparative empirical study is developed to study a multivariable framework with the aim to detect correlations between them. High correlation between CO₂, GDP, energy consumption, energy intensity and trade openness are observed, conversely not statistically significant values for trade openness and energy intensity. The results do not support the EKC hypothesis, however exergy intensity opens the door for future research once it proves to be a useful control variable. Exergy provides opportunities to analyze and implement energy and environmental policies in these countries, with the possibility to link exergy efficiencies and the use of renewables.

The objective of this research is to develop an experimental-theoretical analysis about the influence of the cooling medium and the geometry of the welding bead profile in fatigue life and associated parameters with structural integrity of welded joints. A welded joint with cruciform geometry is considered using SMAW, plates in structural steel ASTM A36 HR of 8 mm of thickness and E6013 electrode input. A three-dimensional computational model of the cruciform joint was created using the finite element method. For this model, the surface undulation of the cord and differentiation in the mechanical properties of the fusion zone were considered, the heat-affected zone (HAZ) and base material, respectively. In addition, an initial residual stress field which was established experimentally was considered. The results were a set of analytical expressions for the weld magnification factor Mk. It was found that values for the latter decrease markedly in function of the intensity of the cooling medium used in the post welding cooling phase, mainly due to the effect of the residual compressive stresses. The obtained models of behavior of the weld magnification factor are compared with the results from other researchers with some small differences, mainly due to the inclusion of the cooling effect of the post weld and the variation of the leg of the weld bead. The obtained analytical equations in the present research for Mk can be used in management models of life and structural integrity for this type of welded joint.

A previous research showed the 1755 tsunami would inundate the Marginal Avenue, the railway and the low ground area of Caxias, Oeiras municipality, Portugal. Thus, in this study several proposals for coastal protection are presented. A new Lidar data of local topography allowed the construction of a more accurate DEM, including the representation of the streets of Caxias downtown, to be used in the tsunami numerical model. The results were combined with field survey on Caxias and other coastal areas of Portugal and Japan. The new calculations show the low ground areas up to 6 m in height area inundated by the tsunami. However, with the new proposal DEM the tsunami inundation is restricted to the beaches. The proposal includes the construction of a new sea wall with 7 m in height at Caxias beach, the increase in height of the Barcarena Stream levees and the elevation of the sidewalk at São Bruno beach, with a gentle slope up to 7 m in height. It is also proposed the construction of a third bridge over the Barcarena Stream for pedestrian ranging from 5 to 7 m in height that will serve as a gate for the incoming tsunami waves.

Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that can adjust and respond to different stimuli within a cell. This plastic ability allows them to effectively coordinate several cellular functions in cells and becomes particularly relevant in highly complex cells such as neurons. An imbalance in mitochondrial dynamics can disrupt mitochondrial function, leading to abnormal cellular function and ultimately to a range of diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders. Regulation of mRNA transport and local translation inside neurons is crucial for maintaining the proteome of distal mitochondria, which is vital for energy production and synaptic function. A significant portion of the axonal transcriptome is dedicated to mRNAs for mitochondrial proteins, emphasizing the importance of local translation in sustaining mitochondrial function in areas far from the cell body. In neurons, local translation and the regulation of mRNAs encoding mitochondrial-shaping proteins could be essential for synaptic plasticity and neuronal health. The dynamics of these mRNAs, including their transport and local translation, may influence the morphology and function of mitochondria, thereby affecting the overall energy status and responsiveness of synapses. Comprehending the mitochondria-related mRNAs regulation and local translation, as well as its influence on mitochondrial morphology near the synapses will help to better understand neuronal physiology and neurological diseases where mitochondrial dysfunction and impaired synaptic plasticity play a central role.

We propose a toy model of a spherical universe made up of an exotic dark gas with temperature $T$ in thermal equilibrium with a black-body. Each particle of this exotic gas mimics a kind of particle of dark energy. So, each dark particle occupies a very small area of space so-called Planck area $L_p^{2}$, which represents the minimum area of the whole space-time given by the spherical surface with area $4\pi R_H^2$, where $R_H$ is the Hubble radius. We realize that such spherical surface is the surface of the black-body for representing the dark universe as if it were the surface of an expanding balloon. Thus, we are able to derive the law of universal gravitation, thus leading us to understand the cosmological anti-gravity. We estimate the tiny order of magnitude of the cosmological constant and the acceleration of expansion of the dark sphere. In this toy model, as the dark universe can be thought of as a large black body, when we obtain its power and frequency of emission of radiation, we find very low values. We conclude that such radiation and frequency of the black body made up of dark energy is a background gravitational wave with very low frequency in the order of $\sim 10^{-17}$Hz due to the slight stretching of the fabric of space-time.

Policing is considered a high-stress occupation due to the demanding nature of the job. Addressing police stress requires a detailed understanding of how psychosocial risk factors influence various aspects of their well-being. Moreover, an analysis of the direct effects of work conditions and the mediating effects of cognitive appraisals is also warranted. Using the Demands-Resources-Individual Effects (DRIVE) model of work-related stress [19], this study investigated the direct effects of work conditions on well-being and also examined the intermediate role of perceived job stress and job satisfaction in the relationship between work conditions and well-being. Five hundred and seventy-eight police officers from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (J.C.F.) completed the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using hierarchical regressions and the Hayes Process tool for mediation analysis. Both perceived job stress and satisfaction mediated the relationship between work conditions and general physical health. Perceived job stress was an indirect pathway through which work conditions influenced psychological distress, whereas job satisfaction was not a significant mediator. In contrast, job satisfaction mediated the relationship between work conditions and positive well-being, but perceived job stress did not. These findings provide significant evidence for periodically monitoring and auditing perceptions of stress and job satisfaction as they are likely precursors to subsequent health problems.

In this paper, we introduce the application of Type-I fuzzy inference systems (FIS) as an alternative to improve the prioritization in the FMECA analysis applied in cyber-power grids. Classical FMECA assesses the risk level through the Risk Priority Number (RPN). The multiplication between three integer numbers computes this, called risk factors, representing the severity, occurrence, and detectability of each failure mode and are defined by a team of experts. The RPN does not consider any relative importance between the risk factors and may not necessarily represent the real risk perception of the FMECA team members, usually expressed by natural language; this is the main FMECA shortcoming criticized in the literature. Our approach considers fuzzy variables defined by FMECA experts to represent the uncertainty associated with the human language and a rule base consisting of 125 fuzzy rules to represent the risk perception of the experts. To test our approach, we select a cyber-power grid previously analyzed by the authors using the classical FMECA. The results reveal our proposed fuzzy approach as promissory to represent the uncertainty associated with expert knowledge and to perform an accurate prioritization of failure modes in the context of electrical power systems.

The expression of the Fasciola hepatica Carboxylesterase type B (CestB) gene is induced in response to the anthelmintic triclabendazole (TCBZ), resulting in a significant increase in enzymatic specific activity. Furthermore, the amino acid sequence of CestB exhibits variations that could lead to substantial amino acid substitutions at the ligand-binding site. These substitutions have the potential to affect the interaction between the ligand and the protein, as well as the catalytic properties of the enzyme. The objective of this study was to identify new CestB polymorphisms in TCBZ-resistant parasites using 3D modeling against the metabolically oxidized form of the anthelmintic TCBZSOX. Our aim was to observe the formation of TCBZSOX-specific binding pockets that could potentially explain the resistance to anthelmintic agents. We identified a CestB polymorphism in a TCBZ-resistant strain of parasites exhibiting three radical amino acid substitutions at positions 147, 215, and 243, resulting in the formation of a TCBZSOX-affinity pocket capable of binding the anthelmintic drug. Additionally, our 3D modeling analysis revealed that these amino acid substitutions also had an impact on the configuration of the CestB catalytic site, affecting the enzyme's interaction with chromogenic carboxylic ester substrates and altering its catalytic properties; however, the identified TCBZSOX-binding pocket was located far from the enzyme's catalytic site, making the enzymatic hydrolysis of TCBZSOX theoretically impossible. Nonetheless, the increased affinity for the anthelmintic may explain a drug-sequestration type of anthelmintic resistance and lays the foundation for the development of a molecular diagnostic tool for identifying anthelmintic resistance in F. hepatica.

Product Development Process is widely known among industry and automobile companies. With the advance of technology and the need to improve product efficiency, many companies have been applying Lean Thinking principles. Their benefits lead those companies to implement their concepts and tools, like Value Stream Design in Indirect Areas, Obeya, Just-in-time (JIT) which is based on the production control system developed and implemented by Toyota. This article describes the case study of the implementation of Lean Product &amp; Process Development (LPPD) on the current Product Development Process (PDP) in an automotive company. The PDP was created by the organization and adapted from Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP). The main findings were a Value Stream Design model of an improved PDP as a useful and successfully contribution for the company. These improvements reduced the product development lead time from 700 days to 369 days. The process efficiency increased from 68% to 85%. The communication and transparency between the cross-functional team (CFT) was improved and show promise for achieving a successful launch of new products.

One of the most important challenges in the Machine and Deep Learning areas today is to build good models using small datasets, because sometimes it is not possible to have large ones. Several techniques have been proposed in the literature to address this challenge. This paper aims at studying the different available Deep Learning techniques and performing a thorough experimentation to analyze which technique or combination thereof improves the performance and effectiveness of the models. A complete comparison with classical Machine Learning techniques was carried out, to contrast the results obtained using both techniques when working with small datasets. Thirteen algorithms were implemented and trained using three different small datasets (MNIST, Fashion MNIST, and CIFAR-10). Each experiment was evaluated using a well-established set of metrics (Accuracy, Precision, Recall, F1, and the Matthews correlation coefficient). The experimentation allowed concluding that it is possible to find a technique or combination of them to mitigate a lack of data, but this depends on the nature of the dataset, the amount of data, and the metrics used to evaluate them.

Brucellosis is a zoonoses caused by bacteria of the genus Brucella, which causes economic losses in livestock and threatens public health. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Brucella species and risk factors in smallholder dairy cattle in six regions of Tanzania from July 2019 to October 2020. Dairy cattle (n=2048) were sampled from 1371 farms. DNA ex-tracted from blood and vaginal swabs was tested for Brucella using qPCR targeting the IS711 gene and positives were tested for the alkB marker for B. abortus and BMEI1172 marker for B. melitensis. The molecular prevalence was 3.5% (95% CI: 2.8-4.4) with the highest prevalence 8.1% (95%CI: 4.6-13.0) in Njombe region. B. melitensis was the predominant species detected (66.2%). Logistic regression revealed PCR positivity in dairy cattle was higher in the animals with a history of abortion (OR: 3.17, 95%CI: 1.05-9.62) and farms without dogs around (OR: 2.68, 95%CI: 1.12-5.90). Further studies are recommended to understand the source of B. melitensis and the implications to veterinary public health. Livestock keepers should be informed of the risks and biosecurity practices to reduce introduction and control Brucella. Cattle and small ruminant vaccination pro-grams could be implemented to control brucellosis in high-risk populations in the country.

Earth is a complex material with a mechanical and physical behavior that differs from modern building materials. The conservation of rammed earth (RE) constructions presents specific difficulties that are challenging to overcome. The lack of knowledge about RE due to its abandonment for decades and attempts to adopt materials and repair methodologies designed for new building products has led to inadequate interventions. In the case of historic defensive constructions, the doubts and technical difficulties are even greater due to the nature of the so called military RE (with physical and mechanical characteristics significantly different from those of civil, more common, RE) and, not least, due to the historical and cultural heritage value of these constructions. Some important interventions have been carried out recently and others are underway or in the planning stage, and there is a constant lack of information and technical data on the best ways to intervene. To fill this gap, the state of conservation of the RE defensive structures and the results of interventions carried out throughout history in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula are being assessed. This article sets out the framework of the subject, identifies the material and construction techniques, and recognizes the main causes of its deterioration and decay. With special focus on the most frequent damages detected in historic military defensive structures built with RE, it analyses and discuss the most common techniques that have been used for the repair and conservation of these particular structures.

Since HIV was first identified, and in a relatively short period of time, AIDS has become one of the most devastating infectious diseases of the 21st century. Classical antiretroviral therapies were a major step forward in disease treatment options, significantly improving the survival rates of HIV-infected individuals. Even though these therapies have greatly improved HIV clinical outcomes, antiretrovirals (ARV) feature biopharmaceutic and pharmacokinetic problems such as poor aqueous solubility, short half-life and poor penetration into HIV reservoir sites, which contribute to the sub-optimal efficacy of these regimens. To overcome some of these issues, novel nanotechnology-based strategies for ARV delivery towards HIV viral reservoirs have been proposed. The current review focus on the benefits of using lipid-based nanocarriers for tuning the physicochemical properties of ARVs to overcome biological barriers upon administration. Furthermore, a correlation of these properties and the potential therapeutic outcomes has been established. Biotechnological advancements using lipid nanocarriers for RNA interference delivery for the treatment of HIV infections were also discussed.

The biofilm is a conglomerate of cells surrounded by an extracellular matrix, which contributes to the persistence of infections. The difficulty in removing the biofilm drives the research for new therapeutic options. In this work, the effect of terpenes (-)-trans-Caryophyllene, (S)-cis-Verbenol, (S)-(-)-Limonene, (R)-(+)-Limonene, and linalool was evaluated, individually and in combinations on bacterial growth, by assay with resazurin; the formation of biofilm, by assay with violet crystal; and the expression of associated genes, by real-time PCR, in two clinical isolates of S. aureus, ST30-t019 and ST5-t311, responsible for more than 90% of pediatric infections by this pathogen in Paraguay. All combinations of terpenes can inhibit biofilm formation in more than 50% without affecting bacterial growth. The most effective combination was (-)-trans-Caryophyllene and linalool at a 500 μg/mL concentration for each, with an inhibition percentage of 88%. This combination decreased the expression levels of the sdrD, spa, agr, and hld genes associated with the initial cell adhesion stage and quorum sensing. At the same time, it increased the expression levels of the cap5B and cap5C genes related to the production of capsular polysaccharides. The combinations of compounds tested are promising alternatives to inhibit biofilm formation in S. aureus.

In the discussion on environmental policies, the notion of eco-efficiency is often used. Eco-efficiency is defined as the delivery of products and services with competitive values, while reducing the ecological impacts and satisfying human needs. In an environment of great competitiveness in which the companies operate, the improvements in the productive process is one of the differentiating factors for guaranteeing a strong competition. Also it is essential rationalizing energy consumption and natural resources. For this it is necessary to understand the main operations and dynamics of the company. This work presents an empirical study of a Portuguese company in the industrial sector. The problematic here presented is based on the company’s growing concern to reduce the amount of scrap produced. From the literature research that was performed, a strong dependence relation between the different variables in the extrusion process was found. The main objective of this work is to model the aluminium extrusion process, with the aim of minimizing the production of scrap. For this several variables involved in the process are taking into account. Using statistical techniques, in particular multiple linear regressions, it was possible to identify the importance of the variables under study for the scrap production.

Maternal obesity and over/undernutrition can have a long-lasting impact on offspring health during critical periods in the first 1000 days of life. Children born to mothers with obesity have reduced immune responses to stimuli which increase susceptibility to infections. Recently, maternal western-style diets (WSD), high in fat and simple sugars, have been associated with skewing neonatal immune cell development, and recent evidence suggests that dysregulation of innate immunity in early life has long-term consequences on metabolic diseases and behavioral disorders in later life. Several factors contribute to abnormal innate immune tolerance or trained immunity, including changes in gut microbiota, metabolites, and epigenetic modifications. Critical knowledge gaps remain regarding the mechanisms whereby these factors impact fetal and postnatal immune cell development, especially in precursor stem cells in bone marrow and fetal liver. Components of the maternal microbiota that are transferred from mothers consuming a WSD to their offspring are understudied and identifying cause and effect on neonatal innate and adaptive immune development needs to be refined. Tools including single-cell RNA-sequencing, epigenetic analysis, and spatial location of specific immune cells in liver and bone marrow are critical for understanding immune system programming. Considering the vital role of immune function plays in offspring health, it will be important to understand how maternal diets can control developmental programming of innate and adaptive immunity.

Butanol extracts from leaves, twigs and fruits of Elaeagnus rhamnoides (L.) A. Nelson (sea buckthorn, SBT) were fractionated into phenolic and non-polar lipid components. Their chemical composition was analyzed using the Thermo Ultimate 3000RS chromatographic system, equipped with a diode array detector, a corona-charged aerosol detector, and coupled with a (Q-TOF) mass spectrometer. Assuming that an effect on natural microbiotaand host epithelial cells needs to be assessed, regardless of the purpose of using SBT formulations in vivo, the MIC/MBC/MFC of the fractions and reference phytocompounds were screened involving 17 species of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and Candida species. The impact of the fractions (subMIC) on the important in vivo persistence properties of S. aureus and C. albicans strains was evaluated. Tests for adhesion and biofilm formation on an abiotic surface and the surfaces conditioned with fibrinogen, collagen, plasma or artificial saliva showed the inhibitory activity of the fractions. The effects on FITC-labeled staphylococci adhesion to fibroblasts (HFF-1) and epithelial cells (Caco-2), and on fungal morphogenesis, indicated that SBT extracts have high anti-virulence potential. Cytotoxicity tests (MTT-reduction) on the standard fibroblast cell line showed variable biological safety of the fractions depending on their composition and concentration.

Recently, new semantic segmentation and object detection methods have been proposed for direct processing of three-dimensional (3D) LiDAR sensor point clouds. LiDAR can produce highly accurate and detailed 3D maps of natural and man-made environments and is used for sensing in many contexts due to its ability to capture more information and its robustness to dynamic changes in the environment. In addition, the cost of LiDAR sensors has decreased in recent years, which is an important factor for many application scenarios. The challenge with 3D LiDAR sensors like the Velodyne HDL-64E S2 is that they can output large 3D data at up to 1,300,000 points per second, which is difficult to process in real time when applying complex algorithms and models for efficient semantic segmentation. Most existing approaches are either only suitable for relatively small point clouds or rely on computationally intensive sampling techniques to reduce their size. As a result, most of these methods do not work in real-time in realistic field robotics application scenarios, making them unsuitable for practical applications. Systematic point selection is a possible solution to reduce the amount of data to be processed, but although it is memory and computationally efficient, it selects only a small subset of points, which may result in important features being missed. To address this problem, we propose a new approach to semantic segmentation in forestry that uses a systematic sampling method in which the local neighbors of each point are retained to preserve geometric details. Our approach has been shown to process up to 1 million points in a single pass. It outperforms the state of the art in efficient semantic segmentation in large datasets such as Semantic3D. We also present a preliminary study on the performance of LiDAR-only data, i.e., intensity values from LiDAR sensors without RGB values for semi-autonomous robot perception.

Somaclones with typical and atypical shoots were regenerated from a callus culture in the same culture medium and in equal culture conditions. Since the genetic relationship among regenerated somaclones has not been investigated, current study employed heterologous microsatellite primers to examine the molecular diversity within and among somaclones, showing typical and atypical phenotypes with high morphological divergence. Nei identity value calculated between the somaclones was high (I = 0.929) and AMOVA showed higher genetic variation within (96%) than among (4%) the samples of somaclones. The polymorphism in the microsatellite loci indicated high levels of mean observed and expected heterozygosity in atypical somaclones, presumably with high adaptive potential and as source of genotypes for generation of new varieties of ornamental cacti. Low molecular divergence between typical and atypical morphologies of somaclones is a promising perspective for use of the atypical somaclones as source of chemical compounds of commercial and industrial interest. The somaclonal variations occurring in vitro callus culture has generated phenotypically differentiated subpopulations with low molecular divergence, however with high genetic variability, enough to be recommended as a source of genotypes to generate new varieties of ornamental cacti and of plants with new traits, necessary for breeding programs.

Currently, there has been a tendency for companies to direct the development of their businesses following circular economy trends associated with sustainability. European Community guidelines have established deadlines for the implementation of management strategies that allow creating and maintaining an effective and resource-efficient economic system, reducing the amount of en-ergy and materials used in production. In this scenario, this study makes sense, which aims to an-alyze academic studies on these topics with the aim of understanding future trends. In this sense, the objective of this study is to understand the potential impacts on business development of the inte-gration of sustainability and the circular economy. This article uses a systematic literature review, which has the objective of gather and analyze materials from different authors, carrying out an analysis to answer a specific question. The findings indicate that CE and sustainability are con-nected and businesses should implement sustainability and CE appropriate strategies to increase their competitiveness and improve resource efficiency. These strategies may integrate innovative technologies, the use of sharing platforms, product life extension, resource recovery to minimize waste and the integration of sustainability concepts in business as well as their communication with their stakeholders to change trends and behaviors.

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.

A Digital marketing allows brands to disseminate information in a targeted way towards their clients and consumers, making bidirectional communication and interactions between organizations and audiences feasible. This reality not only allows companies to pass on messages about sustainability associated with processes and products with the aim of launching trends and shaping behaviour, but also allows consumers to share their experiences, needs, preferences and expectations. In this sense, the techniques used in the context of digital marketing make it possible not only to communicate products and services but also to show that brands are working to be more sustainable and to disseminate new sustainable trends that help to change consumer mindsets. This research paper employs a Systematic Literature Review with Bibliometric Analysis (SLBA) methodology to explore and synthesize data about how digital marketing can be used to promote and communicate sustainability. In this study, the results show that digital marketing strategies contribute to promoting sustainable development by encouraging sustainable consumption patterns. This scenario is possible by understanding consumer behavior, communicating key messages through the best channels and effectively evaluating green marketing campaigns on consumer attitudes and purchasing decisions.

Over recent years globalisation has occasioned a dramatic rise in cross-cultural interactions – until this was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic (OECD 2018, Nelson &amp; Luetz 2021). The ability to competently engage in a multicultural world is often considered the “literacy of the future” (UNESCO 2013, OECD 2018). Global interconnectedness has brought studies into intercultural competence to centre stage (UNDP 2004, Bissessar 2018, Nelson et al. 2019). This has increased the demand for cross-cultural education experiences that facilitate such learning. However, there is a dearth of empirical research into the issues and effects surrounding short-term cross-cultural educational experiences for adolescents. This mixed methods study extends previous research by looking specifically into what impact short-term cross-cultural experiences may have on the formation of intercultural competence and emotional intelligence of Australian high school students. This study used two instruments for measuring intercultural competence and emotional intelligence in a pre- and posttest quasi-experimental design (n=14), the GENE Scale and TEQ. Moreover, it conducted in-depth post experience qualitative interviews (n=7) that broadly followed a phenomenological paradigm of inquiry. The findings suggest that fully embodied cross-cultural immersive experiences offer benefits in areas of intercultural competence and emotional intelligence and can offer meaningful application in areas of current affairs. A greater understanding of the linkages between immersive cross-cultural experiences and intercultural competence offers prospects for policy makers, educators, pastoral carers, and other relevant stakeholders who might employ such experiential learning to foster more interculturally and interracially harmonious human relations.

Framed in a context with an emerging economy and with a high percentage of school failure, this study aimed to identify the factors that turn students with socioeconomic disadvantages into resilient students. Two questions guided the research: Can resilience be supported in students in adverse socioeconomic situations? What factors influence building resilient students? A cross-sectional study was carried out from 2011 to 2015 in Chile, using a multilevel logistic regression model with three levels, considering the hierarchical data structure. The behavior of 63100 to 76400 sampled students was analyzed. Results show five relevant factors in building resilience: self-efficacy in language, minor aggressions and violence perceived by students, norms and values of the establishment, interest in study, and self-efficacy. Some risk factors identified were an atmosphere of less respect and trust, engagement in physical education activities and good performance in carrying them out. These results could orient educational leaders interested in supporting the educational community in order to improve the academic success of disadvantaged students.

Lupus, also known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is a chronic autoimmune disease that can lead to inflammation and damage to multiple organs and tissues in the body. The symptoms vary from patient to patient, which makes the disease manifest very differently, resulting in difficulty in diagnosing and treating patients. Some may experience fatigue, hair loss, joint pain, and more. In the past, a general approach of blanket immunosuppression was commonly used to treat lupus. These immunosuppressive drugs would broadly target the immune system and focus on reducing symptoms. However, recent research has shown that selective immunotherapies such as monoclonal antibodies (anifrolumab and belimumab) which target specific components of the immune system are more effective in managing lupus because of their ability to reach specific cells in the immune system rather than easing symptoms. Anifrolumab blocks the activity of type I interferons, while belimumab neutralizes BLyS to reduce the production of autoantibodies, the root cause of SLE.¹⁻² This paper will introduce the immunology of the disease, explore how the more traditional approach of blanket immunosuppressive drugs work compared to the newer selective immunotherapies, and review the results from the clinical trials of anifrolumab and belimumab.

(1) Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between IMO and burnout while assessing the contribution of job demands and resources on increasing internal orientation and worker well-being and, consequently, the levels of perceived performance; (2) Methods: Data were collected between April and December 2021 by completing an online questionnaire, developed in the Google Forms platform. The following descriptive statistics were analyzed: measures of central tendency (mean), dispersion (standard deviation), minimum value and maximum value. Next, Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated to analyze the relationship between the variables under study.; (3) Results: The results showed the mediating effect of IMO between performance feedback and perceived performance, while burnout mediates the relationship between emotional and technology demands and perceived performance. (4) Conclusions: These conclusions demonstrate that constructive feedback might help a more efficient performance through better internal communication and the positive effects of technology demands could be the result of the interaction between personal and organizational resources.

The presence of copper in distilled sugar cane spirits, especially cachaça produced in alembics, has impeded the marketing of this product. Red mud (RM) is a residue obtained from alumina production. It contains a high concentration of metal oxides and is very alkaline. The RM was dried at 100 oC and sifted through a 150-micron sieve. The sample was characterized by B.E.T. nitrogen adsorption, scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) and Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (A.A.S.). The textural parameters indicate that the total surface area (S.T.) was 21.9 m2g-1, and the total volume pore (V.T.) was 0.09 cm3g-1. The RM (1 g) was stirred for two hours with a 1.0 L cachaça sample containing 9.39 mg of copper L-1 and filtered under atmospheric pressure. The concentration of copper ions detected in the filtrate was 0.00 mg L-1. No copper ions were retained when the cachaça was filtered through the RM under high pressure without stirring prior to filtration.

Microalgae are used in various biotechnological processes, such as biofuel production due to their high biomass yields, agriculture as biofertilizers, production of high-value-added products, de-contamination of wastewater, or as biological models for carbon sequestration. The number of these biotechnological applications is increasing, and as such, any advances that contribute to reducing costs and increasing economic profitability can have a significant impact. Nitrogen fixing organisms, often called diazotroph, also have great biotechnological potential, mainly in agri-culture as an alternative to chemical fertilizers. Microbial consortia typically perform more com-plex tasks than monocultures and can execute functions that are challenging or even impossible for individual strains or species. Interestingly, microalgae and diazotrophic organisms are capable to embrace different types of symbiotic associations. Certain corals and lichens exhibit this sym-biotic relationship in nature, which enhances their fitness. However, this relationship can also be artificially created in laboratory conditions with the objective of enhancing some of the biotech-nological processes that each organism carries out independently. As a result, the utilization of microalgae and diazotrophic organisms in consortia is garnering significant interest as a potential alternative for reducing production costs and increasing yields of microalgae biomass, as well as for producing derived products and serving biotechnological purposes. This review makes an effort to examine the associations of microalgae and diazotrophic organisms, with the aim of highlighting the potential of these associations in improving various biotechnological processes.

Despite advances in the reliability of sensory devices used by drones, the integrity of information from some devices is still considered an obstacle to ensuring successful flight plans. It is widely known that GNSS can suffer attacks or lose the signal from satellites, which can cause the drone to fail to complete its flight plan. In this context, we propose SiaN-VO, a Siamese network for visual odometry prediction. In our initial studies, this approach proved satisfactory for flights in static conditions (speed and height). Although interesting, these conditions do not reflect real flight conditions. In this sense, we have advanced our studies to propose the SiaN-VO, which fuses data from different sensors to enable displacement predictions to be made in dynamic flight conditions.

Renewable energy sources are increasingly crucial for meeting global energy demands in an eco-friendly manner, particularly as the world shifts away from fossil fuels and faces higher volatility of the market prices. Portugal, a country with limited fossil fuel reserves and high energy dependency, has heavily invested in renewables in recent years. However, renewables like sunlight, wind, and water are inherently unsteady due to climate influences, resulting in energy production fluctuations. To mitigate this issue, energy storage systems are being deployed to stabilize renewable energy supply during production lulls. This project aims to assess an energy storage system and define technical specification in order to maximize profitability at the Finerge-owned Alto Douro wind farm. To achieve this, we've conducted an energy demand analysis, followed by simulations to assess system performance in relation to energy use and profit, while varying parameters such as power and efficiency. We've also compared commercial proposals from different battery manufacturers utilizing various technologies. Our findings suggest that high-power, quick charge-discharge lithium-ion batteries are the most suitable solution, given their efficiency and modularity. These attributes are vital for achieving current and future profitability.

Water scarcity is a worldwide concern, considering that water is a limited resource and essential for life. In Brazil, approximately 30% of its population lives in one of the areas that most suffer from lack of water, the semi-arid region covering about 20% of the country's territorial extension. The lack of water, mainly in the northeast of the country, has been a problem for years, where people who live in this territory have been suffering for months from the lack of water and the poor distribution of the resource, which increases the degree of inequality between the regions of the country. The research aims to show the effect of the hydrological cycle on the quality of vegetation and how such processing can end up affecting people's lives and the environment. The municipality of Floresta is within the scope of sub-basin 73, the territory is part of the municipalities benefited from the PISF- São Francisco River integration project works, and the study has raised discussion on the part of the scientific community regarding the effectiveness of the population project and the possible risks caused to the environment. This study carried out a temporal analysis, 1961-2021, to investigate water availability and how the hydrological system can affect society, raising the degree of its importance for a better quality of life and consequently reducing hydric inequalities. It was also evaluated how climate changes can interfere with these environmental changes and the quality of life at the local scale. The hydrological model system used to assess water availability was the Pernambuco Hydrological Response Units SUPer-System. In addition, this system helped to understand the changes that occurred in the studied sub-basin. Yet was used UAV-Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to view relationship between lives in house and environment conditions. The study can obtain accurate and necessary information to understand the dynamics of the hydrological system and the possible changes of social hydric inequalities. Thus, it is concluded that climate change will have different impacts on small scales and lives conditions due to different characteristic's environment. It is very important to carry out studies on a detailed scale to provide better public policies for mitigating the effects of climate change on people's lives.

The ceramic pastes of ca. 31 samples recovered from the Almaraz archaeological site, located in the south bench of Tagus River, were studied in detail using XRF, micro-Raman and GSDR spectroscopies, as well as the XRD technique. The ceramic sherds could be grouped into six categories, Red Slip tableware, Decorated tableware, Yellow Slip tableware, Grey tableware, Common tableware and Handmade pottery. Our studies of the mineralogic composition of the sherds` body indicate that all ceramics were produced locally, using silicious clays in most cases and calcareous clays in a few ones. Micro-Raman and ground state diffuse reflectance absorption spectroscopy provided useful information regarding the materials used to produce the coloured ceramics: hematite and brookite for the red slip and decorated ceramics, jacobsite or carbon black for the black decoration or grey ceramics. For the yellow slip tableware a simple engobe rich in yellow clay was used. XRF spectroscopic studies provided the elemental composition of all samples, and biplots of the Potassium (K) versus Calcium (Ca) contents, normalized to the silicon content of each ceramic paste, clearly show that Pliocene and Miocene local clays sources were used to produce most ceramics. Only one sherd can be considered a Lisbon production.

Neurodevelopmental and late-onset neurodegenerative disorders present as separate entities that are clinically and neuropathologically quite distinct. However, recent evidence has highlighted surprising commonalities and converging features at the clinical, genomic, and molecular level between these two disease spectra. This is particularly striking in the context of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Genetic causes and risk factors play a central role in disease pathophysiology and enable the identification of overlapping mechanisms and pathways. Here, we focus on clinico-genetic studies of causal variants and overlapping clinical and cellular features of ASD and PD. Several genes and genomic regions were selected for our review, including SNCA (alpha-synuclein), PARK2 (parkin RBR E3 ubiquitin protein ligase), chromosome 22q11 deletion/DiGeorge region, and FMR1 (fragile X mental retardation 1) repeat expansion, which influence development of both ASD and PD with converging features related to synaptic function and neurogenesis. Both PD and ASD display alterations and impairments at the synaptic level, representing early and key disease phenotypes which support the hypothesis of converging mechanisms between the two types of diseases. Therefore, understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms might inform on common targets and therapeutic approaches. We propose to re-conceptualize how we understand these disorders and provide a new angle into disease targets and mechanisms linking neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegeneration.

Urban mobility is experiencing a profound change. On the one hand, mobility patterns are becoming more complex, and typical home-work-home travel is no longer the rule, as journeys now tend to connect multiple points in a rather inconstant pattern. This has changed the approach to transport planning, in that the existing transportation planning and operation approaches have been focussed on the ability to identify typical home-work/school-home travel and subsequently plan the transport system accordingly. The traditional approach has been: forecast -> plan -> deliver, as new mobility solutions are emerging. These are characterised by greater flexibility, in that they take advantage of the “sharing concept” and simultaneously provide solutions that have lower GHG emissions. Urban mobility follows a fuzzier pattern, with even the urban transportation system behaving like an active organism, where solutions are often quickly replaced. This dynamic and evolving environment raises several new challenges at different levels. The best digital solution system is the Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) one. This system transforms the physical transportation system into a commodity and takes advantage of the internet of things (IoT). However, the onset of MaaS solutions is anything but linear. Several business models have emerged, with different partners originating from different industries (e.g., technological, transport operators, infrastructure managers, etc.) developing their own solutions, often in competition with others. It is not unusual to find different MaaS solutions in the same city, which integrate different solutions.

The ability to simulate realistically the electronic structure of superconducting materials is important to understand and predict various properties emerging in both the superconducting topological and spintronics realms. We introduce a tight-binding implementation of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes method, parameterized from density functional theory, which we utilize to explore the bulk and thin films of Nb, known to host a significant superconducting gap. The latter is useful for various applications such as the exploration of trivial and topological in-gap states. Here, we focus on the simulations aspects of superconductivity and study the impact of temperature, Cooper-pair coupling and dimensionality on the size of the superconducting order parameter.

The odontogenic cysts can lead to a bone destruction that can hamper the dental implant place-ment in the ideal 3D position. Different biomaterials and techniques that allow bone regeneration are described in the literature, each with its advantages and disadvantages. This clinical case with 18 months of follow-up shows the enucleation of an odontogenic cyst fol-lowing the guide bone regeneration with fence technique. After 6 months 2, dental implants were placed at the region of tooth 11 and 21, being rehabilitated nine weeks after. The fence technique allowed the recovery of the bone morphology and the placement of the dental implants in the 3D ideal position.

Passive microwave measurements have been available on satellites dating back to the 1970s on research satellites flown by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Since then, several other sensors have been flown to retrieve hydrological products for both operational weather applications (e.g., the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager–SSM/I; the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit–AMSU) and climate applications (e.g., the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer–AMSR; the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission Microwave Imager–TMI; the Global Precipitation Mission Microwave Imager–GMI). Here the focus is on measurements from the AMSU-A, AMSU-B and Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS). These sensors have been in operation since 1998 with the launch of NOAA-15, and are also on board NOAA-16, -17, -18, -19 and the MetOp-A and -B satellites. A data set called the “Hydrological Bundle” is a Climate Data Record (CDR) that utilizes brightness temperatures from Fundamental CDRs to generate Thematic CDRs (TCDR). The TCDR’s include: Total Precipitable Water (TPW), Cloud Liquid Water (CLW), Sea-Ice concentration (SIC), Land surface temperature (LST), Land surface emissivity (LSE) for 23, 31, 50 GHz, rain rate (RR), snow cover (SC), ice water path (IWP), and snow water equivalent (SWE). The TCDR’s are shown to be in general good agreement with similar products from other sources such as the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) and the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA-2). Because of the careful intercalibration of the FCDR’s, little bias is found among the different TCDR’s produced from individual NOAA and MetOp satellites, except for normal diurnal cycle differences.

1) Background: Climate change may subject forests to climate conditions to which they are not adapted. Elevated temperatures reduce net photosynthesis by increasing respiration rates and increasingly long droughts dramatically increase morbidity. CO₂ enrichment enhances productivity, but it is not clear to what extent CO₂ enrichment can offset the negative effects of elevated temperatures and longer droughts. 2) Methods: We used a mechanistic landscape model to conduct controlled simulation experiments manipulating CO₂ concentration, temperature, drought length and soil water capacity. 3) Results: We found that elevated CO₂ stimulates productivity such that it dwarfs the negative effect caused by elevated temperature. Energy reserves were not as strongly mitigated by elevated CO₂, and mortality of less competitive cohorts increased. Drought length had a surprisingly small effect on productivity measures, but had a marked negative effect on mortality risk. 4) Conclusions: Elevated CO₂ compensated for the negative effect of longer droughts in terms of productivity measures, but not survival measures.

In recent decades the Mediterranean area observed an increase in large fires, despite the decrease in the number of fire ignitions, following a worldwide tendency. Climate change has been the main culprit for large burnt areas, and alterations of forest ecosystems, resulting in the increased recurrence of forest fires. In Portugal, the analogous trend resulted in the destruction of large rural, urban and industrial areas, where after the 2017 months of June and October catastrophic events, the government implemented the 2019 specific policies for preventing fire outbreaks and defending the forest against fires. This compulsory policy demanded that landowners and local governments alike needed to contact specific authorities requesting authorization for their intentions to clean properties in and around urban areas, roads, and forest limits. Despite policy and careful monitoring, ignitions still occur, and in many cases resulting from the implementation of such policies. The study analyses the before and after policy implementation, considering 6904 ignitions records from the period between 2014 and 2023 from the central area of Portugal, covering the transition area between the agricultural fields of the Tagus valley and the Monte-junto-Estrela Mountain range, the district of Santarém. The authorization to use fire in clearance practices is granted according to a set of weather conditions, temperature, wind intensity, and relative humidity, when analyzing fire ignitions with the average daily wind intensity at the site of the occurrence, we observed that more than half of wildfires occur on days with winds between 10 and 20 Km/h, whereas intensities greater than 30 Km/h only 1% of the total occurrences, and of these 22% occurred due to the use of fire in the burning of agricultural leftovers and cut and piled bushes. The circulation of the thermal depression in the Iberian Peninsula gives rise to increasing intensity throughout the day, reaching a maximum in the late afternoon, this factor combined with the misjudgment of safe conditions leads us to suggest stricter intervals and the need for awareness of daily variation in conditions.

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

Beef dry aging consist in a selection of unpackaged primal cuts that are placed in a refrigerator room with controlled environment for several weeks. The goals are the concentration of flavor, like nutty and beefy and tenderness improvement. In this study it was intended verify the microbiological and physicochemical behavior and the meat sensorial perception during a process example of meat dry aging. Twelve beef loins were selected for 90 days of dry aging and placed in a refrigerator room with average temperature, relative humidity and forced air 3.17 ± 0.68 °C, 60.65 ± 4.23 % and 0.5-2 m/s, respectively. On 1, 14, 21, 35, 60 and 90 days of dry aging, were taken two samples, crust and lean meat for microbiological counts, pH, aw, color L*a*b* and sensorial analysis. During drying, there weren´t any pathogenic bacteria counts and the average counts were higher for the crust. The aw and pH had an average of 0.98 ± 0.02 and 5.77± 0.015, with a slightly decrease and increase respectively (P&lt;0.05) along aging days. The dry aging process practices, with room refrigeration at RH&lt;65.00% and temperature &lt;4.00 °C can be the reason for aw&lt;0.98 and meat pH&lt;6.00 and therefore for the absence of pathogenic bacteria. The lower microbial counts on the lean meat and the overall acceptability assessed by the sensory panel confirm the importance of the good trimming and storage practices for the dry aged beef.

In the last decades droughts, deforestation and wildfires have become recurring phenomena that have affected both human activities and natural ecosystems in Amazonia. The time an ecosystem requires to recover from carbon losses is a crucial metric to evaluate disturbance impacts on forests. However, the factors influencing and controlling the recovery time and its spatiotemporal patterns at the regional scale are still poorly understood. In this study, we combined forest growth model, remote sensing and field plots, to map Amazonia-wide (300-ha resolution) impact and recovery time of aboveground biomass (AGB) after drought, fire and a combination of logging and fire. Our simulated results indicate that AGB decreases by 4%, 19% and 46% in forests disturbed by drought, fire and logging + fire, respectively, with an average AGB recovery time of 27 years for drought, 44 years for burned and 63 years for logged + burned areas and with maximum values reaching 184 years in areas of high fire intensity. Our findings provide two major insights in the spatial and temporal patterns of drought and wildfire in the Amazon: 1) the recovery time of the forests takes longer in the southeastern part of the basin, and, 2) as droughts and wildfires become more frequent – since the intervals between the disturbances is getting shorter than forest regeneration – potentially causing a long-lasting damage in these fragile ecosystems and a permanent degradation.

This article introduces simulations of theoretical material with controlled properties for the evaluation of the effect of key parameters, as volumetric fractions, elastic properties of each phase and transition zone on the effective dynamic elastic modulus (Ed). The accuracy level of classical homogenization models was checked regarding the prediction of Ed. Numerical simulations were performed with finite element method (FEM) for evaluations of the natural frequencies and their correlation with Ed, through frequency equations. An acoustic test validated the numerical results and obtained the elastic modulus of concretes and mortars at 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7 water-cement ratios (w/c). Hirsch calibrated according to the numerical simulation (x = 0.27) exhibited a realistic behavior for concretes of w/c = 0.3 and 0.5, with 5% error. Nevertheless, for w/c = 0.7, Ed approached Reuss model, similarly to theoretical triphasic materials. Hashin-Shtrikman bounds is not perfectly applied to theoretical biphasic materials under dynamic situations.

Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) has been widely used by the majority of consumers in different digital platforms. This exploratory study was conducted with the aim to get further insights about online consumer behavior through social networking sites and online reviews sites in order to help tourism businesses develop sustainable eWOM strategies. In order to carry out this objective, an exploratory study has been developed to analyze the existing literature of eWOM strategies and online consumer behavior. The systematic literature review analysis establishes two main topics: (i) tourism (ii) eWOM. The scientific database of Web of Science has been used to collect relevant literature of the subject matter. The search term “Tourism” and “eWOM” were applied. The database of Web of Science produced a total of 124 articles and with the different filters applied during the PRISMA 2009 Flow diagram the process resulted in a selection of 13 studies. The results of the research will provide a broader knowledge for scholars of social sciences and businesses for adopting sustainable strategies of the increasing influence of eWOM in tourism.

Human urinary bladder cancer has similar development that invasive urothelial cancer that happens spontaneously in dogs. Then, research of these malignant tumors associated with the advances of new treatment drive to the specific fight of the urothelial tumor cell, is highly valuably related to efficiency and reduction of side effects of treatments, even extrapolating to humans. Thus, a review of the most important aspects on new advances on canine bladder cancer was achieved. Many forms of therapies are being reported; one of them, of highly promising feature is the treatment with immunomodulators. The resemblance between spontaneous urothelial cancer in canines and urinary bladder cancer in humans makes this canine tumor relevant animal model to research and advances of treatment that may be more efficient in management of tumor with less unfavorable effects. Immunomodulators exhibit important outcomes when used in the therapy of bladder cancer in dogs. Nanomaterials that are possible carriers of some kinds of drugs to the target tumor significantly raise the efficiently of the therapy. Therefore, the advancement of immunomodulator combined with nanoparticles can disrupt the therapy of bladder cancer in dogs and thereafter in humans.

Purpose: This study aims to provide a foundational understanding of patient-centric perceptions of telemedicine implementation in rural Minnesota. Methods: This retrospective cohort study utilized a mail questionnaire to assess patient attitudes and behaviors regarding telemedicine during the emergency response to COVID-19. The target population was patients of a Primary Care clinic in eastern Minnesota. Descriptive statistics were used to assess respondents’ level of agreement with survey items scored on a 0-10 scale. Results: A majority of the respondents indicated that they were satisfied with using telemedicine (73.96%); that they gained an additional sense of control over their health condition due to the availability of telemedicine (52.08%); that they would support the use of telemedicine in the future (61.05%); that telemedicine increased access to care (65.63%); telemedicine was preferred over the clinic (61.46%), and that they would purchase new equipment to increase the utility of telemedicine services (54.17%). 51.04% of the respondents indicated a 10/10 level of satisfaction with telemedicine services. 48.96% indicated the strongest level of disagreement related to difficulty using telemedicine or a preference for in-person clinical appointments. Conclusions: Patients were found to have favorable perceptions of telemedicine overall. Though providers continue to recognize the benefit of face-to-face visits, their patients show an increased predilection for virtual care and telemedicine will likely remain an essential tool for providers to reach patients who would otherwise choose not to seek care.

The role of insurance in financial inclusion as well as in economic growth is immense. However, low uptake seems to impede the growth of the sector hence the need for a model that robustly predicts uptake of insurance among potential clients. In this research, we compared the performances of eight (8) machine learning models in predicting the uptake of insurance. The classifiers considered were Logistic Regression, Gaussian Naive Bayes, Support Vector Machines, K Nearest Neighbors, Decision Tree, Random Forest, Gradient Boosting Machines and Extreme Gradient boosting. The data used in the classification was from the 2016 Kenya FinAccess Household Survey. Comparison of performance was done for both upsampled and downsampled data due to data imbalance. For upsampled data, Random Forest classifier showed highest accuracy and precision compared to other classifiers but for down sampled data, gradient boosting was optimal. It is noteworthy that for both upsampled and downsampled data, tree-based classifiers were more robust than others in insurance uptake prediction. However, in spite of hyper-parameter optimization, the area under receiver operating characteristic curve remained highest for Random Forest as compared to other tree-based models. Also, the confusion matrix for Random Forest showed least false positives, and highest true positives hence could be construed as the most robust model for predicting the insurance uptake. Finally, the most important feature in predicting uptake was having a bank product hence bancassurance could be said to be a plausible channel of distribution of insurance products.

The diameter of a H13 steel tool with M6 threads and a pin diameter of 5.9 mm and a pin length of 5 mm was measured after each 25.4 mm length of friction stir processing (FSP) of 6061-T6 extrusions. The change in pin diameter with FSP time or distance did not exhibit any steady state and was found to have two distinct regions. Metallographic analysis of two tools subjected to FSP for 60 and 120 seconds showed that (i) threads fractured in early stages of FSP, (ii) a built-up layer formed between the threads, and (iii) threads progressively wore with processing time. The metallographic analysis of an embedded tool showed the presence of a fractured piece of the tool in the stir zone. These points are discussed in detail in the paper.

This article investigates hydraulic percolation in saturated porous media, focusing on containment systems using sheet pile walls and gravity concrete dams. The Laplace equation, which governs hydraulic flow in porous media, is solved using the Finite Element Method through the ANSYS software. The modeling of the porous media employs a planar quadratic element called Plane 55, originally used for thermal problems, composed of four nodes and one hydraulic degree of freedom per node. The numerical results of the water pressure acting on the hydraulic structure, flow rate, and hydraulic gradient at the outlet of the porous media are compared with results obtained in the technical-scientific literature using flow nets. Two different methodologies are used to obtain the rate of seepage: by using the average hydraulic velocity or by calculating the integral of the hydraulic gradient perpendicular to the flow area. Both methodologies are compared and validated in the numerical simulations. This work also demonstrates the importance of mesh refinement for obtaining the flow rate in the studied hydraulic systems.

Energy supply interruptions or blackouts caused by faults in power distribution feeders entail several damages to power utilities and consumer units: financial losses, damage to power distribution reliability, power quality deterioration, etc. Most studies in the specialized literature concerning faults in power distribution systems present methodologies for detecting, classifying, and locating faults after their occurrence. In contrast, this study aims to prevent faults by estimating the city regions whose power grid is most vulnerable to them. This work incorporates the geographic space study to prevent faults in the distribution power grid through a spatial data analysis using local variables that increase the fault risk in feeders in some city regions. Geographically weighted spatial analysis is applied to data aggregated by regions to produce thematic maps with the city regions whose feeders are more vulnerable to failures. Spatial data analysis is developed in QGIS and R programming environments. It is applied in real data of electrical discharges in a medium-sized city with approximately 200,000 inhabitants. In this study, we highlight a moderate positive correlation between electrical discharge density and the percentage of faults in transformers by regions in the central and western areas of the city under study.

The statistics of grain displacements probability distribution function (pdf) during the shear of a granular medium displays an unusual dependence with the shear increment upscaling as recently evinced [Phys. Rev. Lett. 115 238301 2015]. Basically, the pdf of grain displacements has clear nonextensive ($q$-Gaussian) features at small scales but approaches to Gaussian characteristics at large shear window scales -- the granulence effect. Here, we extend this analysis studying a larger system (more grains considered in the experimental setup) which exhibits a severe shear band fault during the macroscopic straining. We calculate the pdf of grain displacements and the dependency of the $q$-statistics with the shear increment. This analysis have shown a singular behavior of $q$ at large scales, displaying a non-monotonic dependence with the shear increment. By means of an independent image analysis, we demonstrate that this singular non-monotonicity could be associated with the emergence of a shear band within the confined system. We show that the exact point where the $q$-value inverts its tendency coincides with the emergence of a giant percolation cluster along the system, caused by the shear band. We believe that this original approach using Statistical Mechanics tools to identify shear bands can be a very useful piece to solve the complex puzzle of the rheology of dense granular systems.

One of the areas of research on materials for thin-film solar cells focuses on replacing In and Ga with more earth-abundant elements. In that respect, chalcostibite (CuSbS2) is being considered as a promising environmentally friendly and cost-effective photovoltaic absorber material. In the present work, single CuSbS2 phase have been synthesized directly by a short duration (2 h) mechanochemical synthesis step starting from mixtures of elemental powders. X-ray diffraction analysis of the synthesized CuSbS2 powders revealed a good agreement with the orthorhombic chalcostibite phase, space group Pnma, and a crystallite size of 26 nm. Particle size characterization revealed a multimodal distribution with a median diameter ranging from of 2.93 m to 3.10 m. The thermal stability of the synthesized CuSbS2 powders was evaluated by differential thermal analysis. No phase change was observed by heat treating the mechanochemically synthesized powders at 350 C for 24 h. By UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy the optical bandgap was determined to be 1.41 eV, suggesting that the mechanochemically synthesized CuSbS2 can be considered suitable to be used as absorber materials. Overall, the results show that the mechanochemical process is a viable route for the synthesis of materials for photovoltaic applications.

Fatty acid desaturase 2 (Fads2) is the key enzyme of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) biosynthesis. Endogenous production of these biomolecules in vertebrates, if present, is insufficient to meet demand. Hence, LC-PUFA are considered as conditionally-essential. At present however, LC-PUFA are globally-limited nutrients due to anthropogenic factors. Attention of research is given therefore to find ways to maximize endogenous LC-PUFA production especially in production species, whereby deeper knowledge on molecular mechanisms of enzymatic steps involved is being generated. This review first briefly informs about the milestones in the history of LC-PUFA essentiality exploration before it focuses on the main aim – to highlight the fascinating Fads2 potential to play roles fundamental to adaptation to novel environmental conditions. Investigations are summarized, which elucidate the evolutionary history of fish Fads2 providing an explanation for the remarkable plasticity of this enzyme in fish. Further, structural implications of Fads2 substrate specificity are discussed and some relevant studies performed on organisms other than fish are mentioned in cases when such studies have so far not been conducted on fish models. The importance of Fads2 in the context of growing aquaculture demand and dwindling LC-PUFA supply is depicted and a few remedies in the form of genetic engineering to improve endogenous production of these biomolecules are outlined.

Despite a global push in the development and implementation of widespread alternative energy use, significant disparities exist across given nation-states. These disparities reflect both technical and economic factors, as well as the social, political, and ecological gaps between how communities see energy development and national/global policy goals. Known as the “local-national gap,” many nations struggle with fostering meaningful conversations about the role of alternative energy technologies within communities. Mitigation of this problem first requires understanding the distribution of existing alternative energy technologies at the local level of policymaking. Using the State of Georgia, U.S.A. as a case study, we present a model for analyzing how existing adoption trends enable/limit conversation at the scale of local governance (i.e., county governments). Leveraging existing work on the Gini Coefficient as a metric for measuring energy inequity, we argue these tools can be applied to analyze where gaps exist in ongoing solar adoption trends. As we demonstrate, communities that adopt solar tend to be concentrated in a few counties, indicating existing conversations are limited to a circumscribed set of social networks. This information and the model we demonstrate can enable focused qualitative analyses of existing solar trends, not only amongst high-adoption areas but within communities where little to no adoption has occurred.

The heavy demand of water resources from the Zarqa River Basin (ZRB) has resulted in a base-flow reduction of the River from 5m³/s to less than 1m³/s. This paper aims at predicting Curve Numbers (CN) as a baseline scenario and proposing restoration scenarios for ZRB. The method includes classifying the soil type and land use, predicting CNs, and proposing CN restoration scenarios. Prediction of existing CNs will be in parallel with the runoff prediction using the US Army Corps of Engineers HEC-1 Model, and Rainfall-Runoff Model (RRM). The models have been set up at the land use distribution of 0.3% water body, 9.3% forest and orchard, 71% mixture of grass, weeds, and desert shrubs, 7.0% crops, 4.0% urban areas, and 8.4% bare soil. The results show that CN under dry condition are 59, 78 under a normal condition and 89 under a wet condition. During vegetation period, CN are 52, 72 and 86 for the dry, normal and wet condition respectively. The restoration scenarios; CN decreases runoff, and increases soil moisture when using the contours, terraces and crop residues. Analyzing results of CN scenarios will be a fundamental tool to support end-users related to their targets to achieve watershed restoration.

As the global overprovisioning of electronic devices continues to rise, the management of electronic waste (e-waste) has developed as a significant challenge. E-waste is comprised of hazardous materials; moreover, the toxic constituents in them can impact the environment and public health through improper disposal. On the beneficial side, this e-waste also contains some valuable materials. If the valuable materials are recovered, they can reduce the dependence on new, raw materials. Conventional linear models of production and consumption have led to a momentous buildup of e-waste, posing environmental and economic risks. This paper examines how the adoption of a circular economy approach can improve e-waste recycling in Nairobi by evaluating its economic recovery potential and e-waste residuals. It introduces metrics to assess the development of circular economy practices to help in the handling of e-waste residuals and examines the economic consequences associated with the adoption of circular strategies.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the impact of a predictive model for detecting extracapsular extension on pathology (pECE+) on biochemical recurrence-free survival (BCRFS) within 4 years after robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). Methods: Retrospective data analysis from a single center between 2015 to 2022. Variables under consideration included prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, patient age, prostate volume, MRI semantic features and Gleason score (GS). We also assessed the influence of pECE+ and positive surgical margins on BCRFS. using the Kaplan-Meier survival function and Cox regression model were assessed. Additionally, we analyzed the MRI features on BCR (biochemical recurrence) in low/intermediate risk patients. Results: 177 participants with a follow-up exceeding 6 months post-RARP were included. The 1-year, 2-year, and 4-year risks of BCR after curative prostatectomy were 5%, 13%, and 21%, respectively. The survival analysis showed that adverse MRI features as macroscopic ECE on MRI (mECE+), capsular disruption, high tumor capsular contact length (TCCL), GS≥8, positive surgical margins (PSM), and pECE+ on pathology were risk factors for BCR. In low/intermediate-risk patients (pECE- and GS &lt;(4+4)) the presence of adverse MRI features, has been shown to increase the risk of BCR. Conclusions: The study highlights the importance of incorporating predictive MRI features for detecting extracapsular extension pre-surgery in influencing early outcomes and clinical decision-making; mECE+, TCCL, capsular disruption, and GS≥8 based on pre-surgical biopsy were independent prognostic factors for early BCR. The presence of adverse features on MRI can assist in identifying low/intermediate-risk patients who would benefit from closer monitoring.

In insects, Adipokinetic hormone is the primary hormone responsible for the mobilization of stored energy. While a growing body of evidence has solidified role of Adipokinetic hormone (AKH) in modulating the physiological and behavioral responses to metabolic stress, little is known about the upstream endocrine circuit that directly regulates AKH release. We evaluated the AKH-producing cell (APC) transcriptome to identify potential regulatory elements controlling APC activity, and found that a number of receptors show consistent expression levels, including all known dopamine receptors and the Pigment Dispersing Factor receptor (PDFR). We tested the consequences of targeted genetic knockdown and found that AKH expression of RNAi elements corresponding to each dopamine receptor caused a significant reduction in survival under starvation. In contrast, PDFR knockdown significantly extended lifespan under starvation whereas expression of a tethered PDF in APCs resulted in a significantly shorter lifespan. These manipulations caused various changes in locomotor activity under starvation. We used live-cell imaging to evaluate the acute effects of the ligands for these receptors on APC activation. Dopamine application led to a transient increase in intracellular calcium in a sugar-dependent manner. Furthermore, co-application of dopamine and ecdysone led to a complete loss of this response, suggesting that these two hormones act antagonistically. We also found that PDF application led to an increase in cAMP in APCs, and that this response was dependent on expression of the PDFR in APCs. Together these results suggest a complex circuit in which multiple hormones act on APCs to modulate metabolic state.

As Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (CNCD) increase, preventive approaches become more crucial. In this review, Calorie Restriction (CR) effects on human beings were evaluated, comparing benefits and risks of different CR diets: classic CR vs ketosis-inducing diets, including Intermittent Fasting (IF), Classic Ketogenic Diet (CKD), Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD), Very-Low-Calorie Ketogenic Diet (VLCKD) and Spanish Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet (SKMD). Special emphasis on Insulin Resistance (IR) was placed, as it mediates Metabolic Syndrome (MS), a risk factor for CNCD, and predicts MS diagnosis. CR is the most robust intervention known to increase lifespan and health span, with high evidence and known biochemical mechanisms. CR improves cardiometabolic risk parameters, boosts exercise insulin sensitivity response, and there may be benefits of implementing moderate CR on healthy young and middle-aged individuals. However, there is insufficient evidence to support long-term CR. CKD is effective for weight and MS management, and may have additional benefits such as prevention of muscle loss and appetite control. SKMD has extreme significance benefits for all the metabolic parameters studied. Studies show inconsistent benefits of IF compared to classic CR. More studies are required to study biochemical parameters, reinforce evidence, identify risks, and seek effective and safe nutritional CR approaches.

Nowadays, probiotics has been proposed for substituting antibiotics in animal feed, since the European Union (EU) banned the latter compounds in 2006 to avoid their serious side effects on human health. Therefore, this work aimed to produce a probiotic product by fed-fermentation of whey with kefir grains for use in animal feed. The whey was fermented with a combination of kefir grains AGK1 and the free biomass present in whole milk fermented milk used to activate these kefir grains. The probiotic culture obtained was characterized with high levels of biomass, total viability and antibacterial activity. Some probiotic properties of the probiotic culture were investigated in vitro, including its survival at low pH values, under simulated gastrointestinal conditions, after freezing in skim milk at − 20 ºC, and in the commercial feed during storage at room temperature. The viable cells of lactic and acetic acid bacteria and yeasts exhibited higher tolerance to acidic pH and simulated gastrointestinal conditions when the cells were protected with skim milk and piglet feed, compared with washed cells. The results indicated the feasibility of producing a probiotic product at a low cost with a potential application in animal feed.

Dinoflagellates are one of the largest groups of marine microalgae and exhibit diverse trophic strategies. Within these niches, dinoflagellates can produce secondary metabolites that are known to be toxic, which can lead to ecologically harmful blooms. Amphidinium carterae is one species of dinoflagellate that produces toxic compounds and is used as a model for dinoflagellate studies. The extent to which the microbiome surrounding A. carterae affects its growth and secondary metabolite synthesis is still being assessed, as well as the impact of bacterial data on sequencing and assembly. An antibiotic cocktail was previously shown to eliminate 16S amplification from the dinoflagellate culture. Even with drastically reduced bacterial numbers, bacterial populations are likely to be present. In this experiment we used novel Nanopore long-read sequencing techniques on A. carterae cultures to assemble 15 full bacterial genomes ranging from 2.9-6.0 Mb and found that the use of antibiotics decreased the percentage of reads mapping back to bacteria. We also identified shifts in the microbiome composition and identified a potentially deleterious bacterial species arising in the absence of the antibiotic-treatment. Multiple antibiotic-resistance genes were identified, as well as evidence that the bacterial population do not contribute to toxic secondary metabolite synthesis.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of probiotics obtained from agro-industrial substrates fermented with lactic acid bacteria and/or yeasts on the health and changes in the microbiota of the digestive tract of guinea pigs. Eighty male guinea pigs, Kuri breed, 30 days old and 250 g live weight, were randomly selected and divided into four groups of 20 animals each. T0, Control, T1, Lactobacillus acidophilus and L. bulgaricus. T2, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Kluyveromyces fragilis and T3. L acidophilus, L bulgariccus, S cerevisiae and K. fragilis. T1, T2 and T3 contained molasses-vinasse substrate in their base, the dose administered was 0.75 mL/animal orally. The parameters evaluated were weight gain, occurrence of diarrhea and mortality, blood profile, macroscopic lesions in the digestive tract organs and changes in the microbiota of the stomach, caecum, small and large intestine. Treatments T1, T2 and T3 improved weight gain (p<0.05) and reduced the presence of guinea pigs with diarrhea (p<0.05) and there was no mortality; hematic indices did not vary significantly (p>0.05) between treatments; animals in the control group presented a greater amount (p<0.05) of macroscopic lesions in the digestive tract organs; in the T1, T2 and T3 group there was an improvement in the natural microbiota. It is concluded that the inclusion of microbial additive in young guinea pigs improves intestinal health, consequently, improves weight gain, reduces diarrhea and deaths, and normalizes the natural microbiota of the gastrointestinal tract.

Analytical channel design tools have not advanced appreciably in the last decades, and continue to produce designs based upon a single representative discharge that may not lead to overall sediment continuity. It is beneficial for designers to know when a simplified design may be problematic and to efficiently produce alternative designs that approximate sediment balance over the entire flow regime. The Capacity/Supply Ratio (CSR) approach, an extension of the Copeland method of analytical channel design for sand channels, balances the sediment transport capacity of a design reach with the sediment supply of a stable upstream reach over the entire flow duration curve (FDC) rather than just a single discharge. Although CSR has a stronger physical basis than previous analytical channel design approaches, it has not been adopted in practice because it can be a cumbersome and time-consuming iterative analysis without the use of software. We investigate eighteen sand-bed rivers in a comparison of designs based on the CSR approach and five single-discharge metrics: the effective discharge (Qeff), the 1.5-year recurrence interval discharge (Q1.5), the bankfull discharge (Qbf), and the discharges associated with 50th (Qs50) and 75th (Qs75) percentiles of the cumulative sediment yield curve. To facilitate this analysis we developed a novel design tool using the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) programming language in Excel® to produce stable channel slope-width combinations based on the CSR methodology for both sand- and gravel-bed streams. The CSR Stable Channel Design Tool’s (CSR Tool) code structure was based on Copeland’s method in SAM and HEC-RAS (Hydrologic Engineering Center’s River Analysis System) and was tested with a single discharge to verify outputs. The Qs50 and Qs75 single-discharge designs match the CSR output most closely, followed by the Qbf, Qeff, and Q1.5. The Qeff proved to be the most inconsistent design metric because it can be highly dependent on the binning procedure used in the effectiveness analysis. Furthermore, we found that the more rigorous physical basis of the CSR analysis is potentially most important in designing ‘labile’ channels with highly erodible substrate, high perennial flow ‘flashiness,’ low width-to-depth ratio, and high incoming sediment load. The CSR Tool provides a resource for river restoration practitioners to efficiently utilize in-depth design techniques that can promote sediment balance in dynamic fluvial systems.