In conclusion, the present study demonstrated the safety of practicing WFM at different TOD. Furthermore, it appears that practicing WF in the evening is safer, as indicated by HRR60s, [Gl], and MBP findings. The utilization of digital biomarkers for monitoring health status during WFM has been shown to be efficient.

Water is essential for all living things however its pain has become serious. Many industrial activities cause its pollution by the release of polluting byproduct. Waste water treatment is hence necessary. In this context, the waste water of the textile industry containing Red Acid 52 was treated by the solid waste of the washed natural phosphate byproduct. Natural phosphate was also studied. The solid materials were first characterized by chemical analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The phosphate materials were after that, tested in the adsorption of the Red Acid 52. The experimental data indicated that the phosphate waste rock allowed the removal of Red Acid 52. Its maximum retention capacity attained 18.4 mg.g-1. Calcinations of materials inhibits the removal capacity found reduced by 60 to 70%. The adsorption kinetics of the Red Acid 52 on the material is well described by the pseudo second order model while the adsorption isotherms are identified by the Langmuir model. Hereafter, the thermodynamic study revealed that the adsorption process is spontaneous and exothermic. Keywords: Waste water, Phosphate co-product, Adsorption, Red Acid 52.

Abstract Several studies have been conducted to strengthen weak road layers, regardless of whether they are un-der construction or are undergoing maintenance. Using substrates filled with different materials has proven effective for increasing the strength of these layers. In this study, I evaluated the coefficient of lateral soil pressure under various conditions when using reinforced and unreinforced piles filled with in-expensive material and the extent of their contribution to strengthening road layers. The results con-firmed that there was a difference in the coefficient of lateral soil pressure when the sand-filled piles were reinforced. The sand-filled piles were divided into several parts by arming. The maximum coeffi-cient of lateral soil pressure was 0.38 in the case of sand (1 mm) with reinforcement, whereas it was 0.29 in the same case without reinforcement as shown in Figure 1. The maximum coefficient of lateral soil pressure was 0.27 in the case of granite grain (2 mm) with reinforcement, whereas it was 0.17 in the same case without reinforcement. Moreover, the maximum lateral pressure coefficient was 0.26 in the case of granite grain (3 mm) with reinforcement, and it was 0.30 in the same case without reinforce-ment.

Construction of Pontoons is based on multiple elements, dimensions and weight. The study has addressed about how the industry of the floating reinforcement concrete precast (pontoons) installs in the factory with the combinations of utility, electricity services, and Internet service. The pontoon bridges are successfully installed in the road for transport or sea for shops. The installation process for pontoons is successfully attempted in a balanced situation above surface of the sea to the resistant of floating precast (pontoons) to any ambient effects such as weather conditions, the movement of the waves or any others effects. The findings elaborate that it is not just a military solution. Pontoon installation can significantly serve for civil purposes.

This review is dedicated to sustainable practices in liquid chromatography. HPLC and UHPLC methods contribute significantly to routine analytical techniques. Therefore, the transfer of classical liquid chromatographic methods into sustainable ones is of utmost importance in moving toward sustainable development goals. Among other principles to render a liquid chromatographic method green, substitution of the organic solvent component in the mobile phase with a greener one received great attention. This review concentrates on choosing the best alternative green organic solvent to replace the classical solvent in the mobile phase for easy rapid transfer to a more sustainable normal phase or reversed-phase liquid chromatography. The main focus of this review will be on describing the transfer of non-green to green and white chromatographic methods in an effort to elevate the sustainability best practice in analytical chemistry. The greenness properties and greenness ranking in addition to the chromatographic suitability of seventeen organic solvents for liquid chromatography are mentioned to have a clear insight into the issue of rapidly choosing the appropriate solvent to transfer a classical HPLC or UHPLC method into a more sustainable one. A simple guide is proposed for making the liquid chromatographic method more sustainable.

Medical implants made of biodegradable materials could be of advantage for temporary applications such mechanical support during bone-healing or as vascular stents to keep blood vessels open. After completion of the healing process the implant would disappear, avoiding long-term side effects or the need for surgical removal. Various corrodible metal alloys based on magnesium, iron or zinc have been proposed as sturdier and potentially less inflammatory alternative to degradable organic polymers, in particular for load-bearing applications. Despite the recent introduction of magnesium-based screws the remaining hurdles to routine clinical applications are still challenging, such as limiting mechanical material characteristics or unsuitable corrosion characteristics. Here, salient features and clinical prospects of currently investigated biodegradable implant materials are summarized with a main focus on magnesium alloys. A mechanism of action for the stimulation of bone growth due to the exertion of mechanical force by magnesium corrosion products is discussed. To explain divergent in vitro and in vivo effects of magnesium a novel model for bacterial biofilm infections is proposed which predicts crucial consequences antibacterial implant strategies.

Cyrene was evaluated for the first time as a potential sustainable mobile phase solvent in re-versed-phase chromatography. As a benign biodegradable solvent, Cyrene is an attractive re-placement to classical non-green organic chromatographic solvents such as acetonitrile and a modifier, co-eluent to known green solvents such as ethanol. Compared to ethanol, Cyrene is less toxic, non-flammable, bio-based, biodegradable and cheaper solvent. A fire safety spider Chart was generated to compare the properties of Cyrene to ethanol and show its superiority as a greener solvent. Cyrene's behaviour, advantages, and drawbacks in reversed-phase chromatography, including cut-off value, elution power, selectivity, and effect on the column, were investigated using a model drug mixture of moxifloxacin and metronidazole. A monolithic C18 (10 x 4.6 mm) column was used as a stationary phase. Different ratios of Cyrene: ethanol with an aqueous portion of sodium acetate buffer mobile phases were tested. A mobile phase consisting of Cyrene: ethanol: 0.1 M sodium acetate buffer pH 4.25 (8:13:79, v/v) was selected as most suitable mobile phase system for separating and simultaneously determining metronidazole and moxifloxacin. The greenness and whiteness of the method were evaluated using the qualitative green assessment tool AGREE and the white analytical chemistry assessment tool RGB12. Further potentials of Cyrene as a solvent or modifier in normal phase chromatography, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and supercritical fluid chromatography are discussed.

A sustainable reversed-phase chromatographic method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of three active pharmaceutical ingredients, dorzolamide, brinzolamide, and timolol, used to treat glaucoma. The eco-friendly solvent isopropanol has been used as an organic mobile phase constituent. According to the Hansen space green solvent selection tool, isopropanol has a G score of 6.5, comparable to ethanol, which has a G score of 6.6. The mobile phase consists of isopropanol: aqueous sodium acetate buffer (0.1 M, pH 4.25) in the ratio of 10:90 (v/v). The flow rate was maintained at 1 mL/min. Dorzolamide and brinzolamide were detected at 254 nm, and timolol was detected at 295 nm. A high-purity silica with a polymeric C18 modification column (5 µm,150 x 4.6 mm) was used for this separation. The three compounds were eluted within 8 min. The method was validated according to ICH guidelines. The calibration curves were linear in the range of 20-70 µg/mL, 40-140 µg/mL, and 20-70 µg/mL for dorzolamide, brinzolamide, and timolol, respectively. The LODs were found to be 1.61 µg/mL, 1.60 µg/mL, and 3.16 µg/mL for dorzolamide, brinzolamide, and timolol, respectively. Good accuracy and precision were obtained for the three compounds. The greenness and whiteness of the method were indicated using the AGREE and RGB12 tools, respectively.

This qualitative study aims at identifying the essence of personal experiences of accounting partners in Saudi Arabia. For this phenomenology approach employs to understand the lived experience of accounting partners and how would such experience affect their career. It mainly aims to explore the different experiences of fifteen (15) Saudi partners working in various accounting companies in Saudi Arabia. The interviews conducted to explore the most important challenges and difficulties for accountants to become a partner, and the most important job skills that the partners must have. This study found that there is urgent need for a number of things, including the required number of years of experience to become a partner, and to make sure that the partners are having the right education and professionally qualified. In addition, other different skills that the partner must have include responsible leadership, professional communication, good marketing skills and excellent command of English. Moreover, this research is vital for the concerned parties to identify the current challenges in the accounting profession in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The reliability of Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) is measured in terms of energy consumption (EC), end-to-end delay(E2E) and packet delivery ratio (PDR). The adverse effects of channel may cause data loss. Reducing delay up to possible extend improves the reliability of the network, also increasing the number of nodes in a particular network increase reliability. Besides, increasing the number of nodes improve reliability but also increase power consumption. In order to overcome these shortcomings, the two routing protocols are proposed in this paper, namely Delay and Reliability Aware Routing (DRAR) protocol and Cooperative Delay and Reliability Aware Routing (Co-DRAR) protocol for UWSNs. In DRAR protocol, network is divided into two equal regions where two sink nodes(SNs) are positioned at upper region of the network and two SNs are placed at the mid region of the network. The protocol choose the relay node based on residual energy (RE), distance and Bit Error Rate (BER). These parameters protect the data packets from corruption and also provide stable path (where nodes remain active for longer period and do not die quickly). The protocol uses single link and may get worse sometimes while changing channel circumstances. To address this problem, cooperative routing scheme is added to DRAR protocol in order to developed its enhanced version known as Co-DRAR protocol. The protocol works by allowing the destination to receive multiple copies of data packets in order to decide the quality of packets. The proposed protocols DRAR and Co-DRAR perform routing irrespective to geographical position of sensors nodes conversely to the some of conventional routing protocols that's way our propose protocol better perform than the well-known protocol i.e. Depth base routing (DBR) in terms of EC, E2E, PDR, dead nodes, packet drop ratio and number of alive nodes (ANs).

Keywords: Green human resource management1; Green supply chain management2; Regulation and legislation3; Sustainable development goals4.

In the quest for robust and efficient digital communication, this paper introduces cutting-edge key exchange protocols leveraging tropical semirings’ computational prowess and block matrices’ structural resilience. Moving away from the conventional use of finite fields, these protocols deliver markedly faster processing speeds and heightened security. We present two implementations of our concept, each utilizing a different platform for the set of commuting matrices: one employing tropical polynomials of matrices and the other employing Linde-de la Puente matrices. The inherent simplicity of tropical semirings leads to a decrease in operational complexity, and using block matrices enhances our protocols’ security profile. The security of these protocols relies on the Matrix Decomposition Problem. We also provide a comparative analysis of our protocols against existing matrix block-based protocols in finite fields. This research marks a significant shift in cryptographic protocol design, specifically tailored for demanding engineering applications, and sets a new standard in secure and efficient digital communication.

Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI), a sustainable engineering design approach for managing urban stormwater runoff, has long been recommended as an alternative to conventional conveyance-based stormwater management strategies to mitigate the adverse impact of sprawling urbanization. Hydrological and hydraulic simulations of small-scale GSI measures in densely urbanized micro watersheds require high-resolution spatial databases of urban land use, stormwater structures, and topography. This study presents a highly resolved Storm Water Management Model developed under considerable spatial data constraints. It evaluates the cumulative effect of the implementation of dispersed, retrofitted, small-scale GSI measures in a heavily urbanized micro watershed of Costa Rica. Our methodology includes a high-resolution digital elevation model based on Google Earth information, whose accuracy was sufficient to determine flow patterns and slopes, as well as to approximate the subsurface stormwater structures. The model produced satisfactory results in event-based calibration and validation, which ensured the reliability of the data collection procedure. Simulating the implementation of GSI shows that dispersed, retrofitted, small-scale measures could significantly reduce impermeable surface runoff (peak runoff reduction up to 40%) during frequent, less intense storm events and delay peak surface runoff 5-10 minutes. The presented approach can benefit stormwater practitioners and modelers conducting small scale hydrological simulation under spatial data constraint.

Fossil fuels and carbon origin resources are affecting our environment. Therefore, alternative energy sources have to be established to co-produce energy along with fossil fuels and carbon origin resources until it is the right time to replace them. Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) is a promising technology in the field of energy production. Compared to the conventional power sources it is more efficient and not controlled by the Carnot cycle. Its high efficiencies, low noise, and less pollutant output could make it revolutionize in the power generation industry with a shift from centrally located generating stations and long-distance transmission lines to dispersed power generation at load sites. In this review, several characteristics of the MFC technology will be highlighted. First, a brief history of abiotic to biological fuel cells and subsequently, microbial fuel cells is presented. Second, the focus is then shifted to elements responsible for the making MFC working with efficiency. Setup of the MFC system for every element and their assembly is then introduced, followed by an explanation of the working machinery principle. Finally, microbial fuel cell designs and types of main configurations used are presented along with scalability of the technology for the proper application.

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

This study examines the role of using algorithmic HRM to make strategic decisions pertaining to HR activities in organizations. The study develops a scale to measure algorithmic HRM usage in its first phase, and in the second phase, it finds that algorithmic HRM having significant impact on the strategic HR decision making that helps and enables organization in creating the competitive advantage. Utilizing the author’s LinkedIn profile, 234 final participants considered for this research. Collected data analyzed by applying PLS SEM. It evaluates the mediation role of the HR strategic decision making, and the HR digital maturity as a moderator in seeing the impact of algorithmic HRM on the competitive advantage of the firm. The study finds a strong relationship between the algorithmic HRM usage and competitive advantage, a significant relationship between algorithmic HRM usage and the strategic HR decision making, and lastly, a significant relationship between strategic HR decision making and the competitive advantage. The moderating role of HR digital maturity was found to be insignificant in this research which paves the way for further research. This research, the model, and its findings contribute to the theory and implicate the practicality of algorithmic HRM. It's one of few papers that address the algorithmic HRM usage in the transitioning economy like Saudi Arabia.

Climate change and development have increased urban flooding, requiring modernization of stormwater infrastructure. Retrofitting standard passive systems with controllable valves/pumps is promising, but requires real-time control (RTC). One method of automating RTC is reinforcement learning (RL), a general technique for sequential optimization and control in uncertain environments. The notion is that an RL algorithm can use inputs of real-time flood data and rainfall forecasts to learn a policy for controlling the stormwater infrastructure to minimize measures of flooding. In real-world conditions, rainfall forecasts and other state information, are subject to noise and uncertainty. To account for these characteristics of the problem data, we implemented Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG), an RL algorithm that is distinguished by its capability to handle noise in the input data. DDPG implementations were trained and tested against a passive flood control policy. Three primary cases were studied: (i) perfect data, (ii) imperfect rainfall forecasts, and (iii) imperfect water level and forecast data. Rainfall episodes (100) that caused flooding in the passive system were selected from 10 years of observations in Norfolk, Virginia, USA; 85 randomly selected episodes were used for training and the remaining 15 unseen episodes served as test cases. Compared to the passive system, all RL implementations reduced flooding volume by 70.5% on average, and performed within a range of 5%. This suggests that DDPG is robust to noisy input data, which is essential knowledge to advance the real-world applicability of RL for stormwater RTC.

Osteoarthritis is a painful, disabling condition which is increasing in prevalence as a result of an ageing population. With no recognised disease limiting therapeutics, arthroplasty of the hip and knee is the most common and effective treatment for lower limb osteoarthritis, however lower limb arthroplasty has a finite life-span and a proportion of patients will require revision arthroplasty. With increasing life expectancy and an increasing proportion of younger (<65 years) patients undergoing arthroplasty, the demand for revision arthroplasty after implant failure is also set to increase. Statins are cholesterol modulating drugs widely used for cardiovascular risk reduction which have been noted to have pleiotropic effects including potentially influencing arthroplasty survival. In vitro studies have demonstrated pleiotropic effects in human bone cells, including enhancement of osteoblastogenesis following simvastatin exposure, and in vivo studies have demonstrated that intraperitoneal simvastatin can increase peri-implant bone growth in rats following titanium tibial implant insertion. There is evidence also that statins may also influence osseointegration, enhancing bone growth at the bone-implant interface, subsequently improving the functional survival of implants. Data from the Danish Hip Arthroplasty Registry and Clinical Practice Research Datalink in the UK suggest a reduction in the risk of lower limb revision arthroplasty in statin ever-users vs never users, and a time dependent effect of statin administration on reduction in risk of revision. In this article we review the clinical and scientific evidence linking statins and risk of revision arthroplasty.

Neuronal timing is critical for many brain functions such as perception and learning. At the level of the chemical synapse, the synaptic delay is determined by the presynaptic release probability (Pr) and the waveform of the presynaptic action potential (AP). Depolarization-induced analogue-digital facilitation (d-ADF) is a form of context-dependent synaptic facilitation that is induced by constant depolarization of the presynaptic neuron and is mediated by voltage inactivation of presynaptic Kv1 channels. Whether synaptic delay is modulated during d-ADF remains unclear. We show here that despite Pr is elevated during d-ADF at L5-L5 synapses, the synaptic delay is surprisingly unchanged, suggesting that both Pr- and AP-dependent changes in synaptic delay compensate for each other. We conclude that in contrast with other short- or long-term modulation of presynaptic release, timing is not affected during d-ADF because of the opposite interaction of Pr- and AP-dependent modulations of synaptic delay.

In addition to identifying and prosecuting cyber attackers, attack attribution activities can provide valuable information guiding the defenders’ security procedures and giving them greater confidence in incident response and remediation. However, technical analysis involved in cyberattack attribution requires high skills, experience, access to up-to-date Cyber Threat Intelligence, and significant investigators’ effort. Attribution results are not always reliable, and skilful attackers often work hard to cover their traces and mislead or confuse investigators. In this article, we present a tool designed to support technical attack attribution and implemented as a machine learning model extending the OpenCTI platform. We also discuss the tool’s performance in the investigation of a recent cyberattack.

Almost all modern inorganic light-emitting diode (LED) designs are based on double heterojunctions (DHJs) whose structure and current injection principle have remained essentially unchanged for decades. Although highly efficient devices based on the DHJ design have been developed and commercialized for energy-efficient general lighting, the conventional DHJ design requires burying the active region (AR) inside a pn-junction. This has hindered the development of emitters utilizing nanostructured ARs located close to device surfaces such as nanowires or surface quantum wells. Modern DHJ III-N LEDs also exhibit resistive losses which arise from the DHJ device geometry. The recently introduced diffusion-driven charge transport (DDCT) emitter design offers a novel way to transport charge carriers to unconventionally placed ARs. In a DDCT device, the AR is located apart from the pn-junction and the charge carriers are injected into the AR by bipolar diffusion. This device design allows the integration of surface ARs to semiconductor LEDs and offers a promising method to reduce resistive losses in high power devices. In this work, we present a review of the recent progress in gallium nitride (GaN) based DDCT devices, and an outlook of potential DDCT has for opto- and microelectronics.

The intricate relationship between Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) metrics and machine learning model performance underscores the need for rigorous dataset evaluation and selection protocols to ensure the reliability and generalizability of classification outcomes. This study involved a thorough examination of selected publicly available plant diseases datasets, with an emphasis on how well they performed as measured by GLCM metrics. After first classifying the datasets according to their GLCM metrics, dataset_2 (D2) and dataset_5 (D5) were found, respectively, to be the best-performing dataset in all GLCM analyses. The same datasets were then used to train deep learning models, and their classification performances were assessed. A noteworthy association was observed between the results of training deep learning models and the performance ratings derived from GLCM studies. More specifically, dataset_2 (D2) performed best in both GLCM analysis and deep learning model performance, indicating a strong correlation between the accuracy of classification and the textural qualities that GLCM captured. In the context of plant disease identification, in particular, these results highlight the significance of clearly defined dataset selection criteria in deep learning applications. Scholars can improve the accuracy and dependability of deep learning models for diagnosing plant diseases by giving preference to datasets with favorable GLCM metrics. The research also emphasizes the importance of texture features being taken into account in addition to conventional image features, highlighting the necessity of transparency and rigor in dataset selection procedures.

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

Fault detection is an important step for subsurface interpretation and reservoir characterization from 3D seismic images. Due to the numerous and complicated faulting structures of seismic images, manual seismic interpretation is time taking and need intensive work. To overcome this problem, geoscientists are coming up with productive computer-aided techniques for assisting in interpreter science for many years. However, in this paper, we used a pre-trained CNN model to predict faults from the 3D seismic volume of the Poseidon field of Browse Basin, Australia. Basically, this field is highly structured with complex normal faulting throughout the targeted Plover Formations. So, our motivation for this work in this field is to compare machine learning-based fault prediction to user interpreted faults identification with supported by seismic variance attribute. We found very satisfying result using DL with having an improved fault probability volume that outperform variance technology. Therefore, we propose that this workflow could reduce time and able to predict fault quite accurately in any field area.

In this paper a novel and flexible solution for fault prediction based on data collected from Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system is presented. Generic fault/status prediction is offered by means of a data driven approach based on a self-organizing map (SOM)and the definition of an original Key Performance Indicator (KPI). The model has been assessed on a park of three photovoltaic (PV) plants with installed capacity up to 10 MW, and on more than sixty inverter modules of three different technology brands. The results indicate that the proposed method is effective in predicting incipient generic faults in average up to 7 days in advance with true positives rate up to 95%. The model is easily deployable for on-line monitoring of anomalies on new PV plants and technologies, requiring only the availability of historical SCADA data, fault taxonomy and inverter electrical datasheet.

Climate change is affecting the planet, compromising survival and altering forest ecosystems. Investigating climatic variations in all regions is important. The aim of this research was to assess such variations in the W and Pendjari Biosphere Reserves in Benin from 1985 to 2015 and predict climate up to 2045. Drought frequency was assessed by using the Standardized Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and correlation was performed between climatic variables. Then a predictive analysis was computed. From 1985 to 2015, there was change in the climate with few severe dry and wet years while no extreme climatic condition was noticed. Most of the years showed nearly normal climatic conditions. The predicted climate indicates an absence of extreme conditions up to 2045 but an increase in the annual humidity is expected. A low decrease in annual mean temperature with high confidence is expected. Decision-makers can better organize adaptation programs and sensitize people in the reserves on their role in environmental conservation and mitigation of climate change using these outputs.

Currently, narrowband Power line communication (PLC) is considered as an attractive communication system in smart grid environments for applications such as advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). In this paper, we will present a comprehensive comparison and analysis in time and frequency domain of noise measured in China and Italy. In addition, impulsive noise in these two countries are mainly analyzed and modeled using two probability based models, Middleton Class A (MCA) model and \(\alpha\) stable distribution model. The results prove that noise measured in China is rich in impulsive noise, and can be modeled well by \(\alpha\) stable distribution model, while noise measured in Italy has less impulsive noise, and can be better modeled by MCA model.

Structural DNA nanotechnology provides an excellent foundation for diverse nanoscale shapes that can be used in various bioapplications and materials research. From all existing DNA assembly techniques, DNA origami has proven to be the most robust one for creating custom nanoshapes. Since its invention in 2006, building from the bottom up using DNA has drastically advanced, and therefore, more and more complex DNA-based systems have become accessible. So far, vast majority of the demonstrated DNA origami frameworks are static by nature, but interestingly, there also exist dynamic DNA origami devices that are increasingly coming into view. In this review, we discuss DNA origami nanostructures that perform controlled translational or rotational movement triggered by predefined DNA strands, various molecular interactions and/or other external stimuli such as light, pH, temperature and electromagnetic fields. The rapid evolution of such dynamic DNA origami tools will undoubtedly have a significant impact on molecular scale precision measurements, targeted drug delivery and diagnostics, but they can also play a role in development of optical/plasmonic sensors, nanophotonic devices and nanorobotics for numerous different tasks.

Long unpunctuated texts containing complex linguistic sentences are a stumbling block to processing any low-resource languages. Thus, approaches that attempt to segment lengthy texts with no proper punctuation into simple candidate sentences are a vitally important preprocessing task in many hard-to-solve NLP applications. In this paper, we propose (PDTS) a punctuation detection approach for segmenting Arabic text, built on top of a multilingual BERT-based model and some generic linguistic rules. Furthermore, we showcase how PDTS can be effectively employed as a text tokenizer for unpunctuated documents (i.e., mimicking the transcribed audio-to-text documents). Experimental findings across two evaluation protocols (involving an ablation study and a human-based judgment) demonstrate that PDTS is practically effective in both performance quality and computational cost.

Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is staple of Pakistani people. However, its yield at farmer field is low as compared with its genetic potential. Integration of various crop and soil management strategies might be an option to enhance wheat productivity at farmer field. This 2-year experiment was conducted to check the influence of combine application of natural plant water extracts and biochar on the productvity of wheat during the winter season of 2015-16. The experiment consisted of seven treatment viz. (1) control (2) application of biochar (0.18 kg pot-1) alone, (3) application of sorghum water extract (SWE) alone, (4) application of moringa water extract (MWE) alone, (5) application of biochar + SWE, (6) application of biochar + MWE, (7) application of biochar + SWE+MWE. The results revealed that application of both crop water extracts in combination with biochar improved the growth and grain yield of wheat. Use of MWE in combination with biochar enhanced the grain weight, grain number and grain yield of wheat by 44, 14, and 24%, respectively than the control treatment. In crux, use of MWE in combination with biochar might be a viable option to improve the productivity of bread wheat.

The laser sintering process and modification of electrophoretic deposition (EPD) YSZ coatings on YSZ air plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) were investigated. Ni-based superalloy was plasma sprayed using yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) to perform thermal barrier coating with 400 μm thickness. The electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique was used for depositing nanopowder of YSZ on the surface of YSZ TBCs. In this study, a technology of direct sintering the green EPD layer by laser beam was carried out. The best conditions of deposition YSZ overlay coating using DC current were obtained with applied voltage 40 V, deposition time 5 min, and suspension concentration 10 g/l. Iodine was added to the solutions as the stabilizing agent. To overcome the disadvantages of high sintering temperatures, laser sintering was taken as a new approach. Microstructures for all specimens were studied using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) with EDS analysis. Surface roughness was investigated using AFM analysis and central line average (CLA). The results indicated that the morphology after the direct laser sintering of the EPD layer has a fine and controllable grain size, high hardness, and low roughness. Which is better than the direct laser on plasma-sprayed coatings.

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

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a high contagious respiratory infectious disease that has afiected millions of people worldwide. Initially, basic public health measures were implemented to control specially the spread of such virus. However, vaccination has emerged as a highly efiective strategy in combating COVID-19 and reducing its transmission. Several efiective and safe vaccines have been approved to prevent the inadvertent spread of the disease. In this study, a modeling approach is used to analyze the impact of these vaccines on the dynamics of COVID-19. By applying a higher-order numerical method, the model is solved based on reported cases in Pakistan. A spectral method is employed for the numerical solution, and the model is simulated to assess the efiects of vaccination. The Next-generation method is used to calculate the threshold quantity, known as R0, which indicates the potential for disease transmission. The study also includes a detailed stability analysis, examining the invariance properties of the model solution and discussing equilibrium points and their stability in disease-free and endemic states. Furthermore, the study presents graphical representations of the influence of special parameters on the dynamics of the pandemic.

The development of new medical monitoring applications requires precise modeling of the human body effects as well as simulating and emulating realistic scenarios and conditions. The first aim of this paper is to develop realistic and adjustable human body 3D emulation platforms which could be used for evaluating emerging microwave-based medical monitoring/sensing applications such as the detection of brain tumors, strokes, breast cancers as well as for capsule endoscopy studies. The new phantom recipes are developed for microwave ranges for the realistic shaped phantom molds. The second aim is to validate the feasibility and reliability of the phantoms for practical scenarios with electromagnetic simulations using tissue layer models and biomedical antennas. The third aim is to investigate the impact of the water temperature in the phantom cooking phase on the dielectric properties of the stabilized phantom. The evaluations show that the dielectric properties of the developed phantoms correspond closely to those of real human tissue. The error in dielectric properties varies between 0.5-8%. In the practical scenario simulations, the differences obtained with phantoms-based simulations in S21 parameters are 0.1-13dB. However, the differences are smaller in the frequency ranges targeted for medical applications.

Inorganic nanoparticles based on magnetite improve the mechanical, thermal, and magnetic properties of microporous cryogel polymer composites. Here we report the synthesis of microporous cryogel based on the crosslinked sodium vinyl sulfonate (Na-VS) and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid sodium salt (Na-AMPS). The magnetite nanoparticles were inserted into Na-VS/Na-AMPS cryogel either during its crosslinking polymerization or by in-situ technique after its crosslinking. The morphology, particle sizes, thermal stability and magnetite contents of Na-VS/Na-AMPS cryogel and its magnetite composites were investigated. The prepared Na-VS/Na-AMPS cryogel and its magnetite composites were used as adsorbents for methylene blue (MB) cationic dye using optimum conditions. The magnetite Na-VS/Na-AMPS cryogel composite prepared by in-situ technique achieved the best adsorption MB removal capacity for 7 cycles among the other adsorbents via chemical adsorption mechanism at room temperature.

Electromobility has gained significant attention in the auto- motive industry, with car manufacturers striving to improve the charging experience for their users. In this study, we compare multiple realistic charging strategies in order to quantify the benefits arising from better planning of charging sessions. We base our evaluation on electricity price data from three regions: Sweden (SE3 region), Germany (DE region), and Denmark (DK2 region). This data is obtained from the ENTSO-E Transparency Platform, covering the two full years 2021 and 2022. We enhance this dataset with commercial price forecasts from the company StormGeo and benchmark it against a naive forecasting method. The primary aim of our work is to compare how the strategies of varying levels of complexity perform across the three different countries in terms of minimizing energy costs for electric car users.

By shifting eating hours from daytime to nighttime, Ramadan intermittent fasting (RIF) illustrates how religious beliefs influence human dietary behavior and subsequent anthropometric and metabolic measures. This study aimed to investigate socioeconomic characteristics and examine how observing RIF affects dietary intake, anthropometric indices, and metabolic markers in healthy premenopausal (PRE-M) and post-menopausal (POST-M) Saudi women. Before starting the study, the authors hypothesized that the RIF improves some nutritional aspects and health in respondents, but not after breaking the fast.. The study includes 62 women (31 PRE-M, 21-43 years, and 31 POST-M, 44-68 years). A structured questionnaire was used to collect socioeconomic data. Physical activity, anthropometric, dietary, and biochemical assessments were undertaken before RIF and at the end of the third week of Ramadan fasting month. Socioeconomic data varied among respondents. Observing RIF was associated with significantly (at either p ≤ 0.01 or p ≤ 0.05) lower intake of calories, macronutrients, minerals (except for Na), and vitamins than before RIF for both groups. In terms of body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) for PRE-M, the percentage of overweight decreased significantly (p≤0.01) while obesity remained unchanged. In contrast, for POST-M, the percentage of overweight increased significantly (p≤0.05), but obesity decreased after RIF. Both groups' waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), body fat (BF), and fat mass (FM) decreased after RIF. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglycerides (TG), and blood pressure (SBP, DBP) were generally maintained at acceptable normal levels in most responders before and after RIF. However, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) was significantly decreased during RIF than before, especially for POST-M. Age, occupation, and monthly income were the most important factors influencing women’s nutritional status and body fat. In conclusion, observing RIF by PRE- and POST-M Saudi women was associated with significant improvements in variable health indicators, with a few exceptions, particularly POST-M, and may help lower risk factors for chronic diseases.

Mercury (Hg (II)) contamination is indefatigable global hazard which causes severe permanent damages to human health. Extensive research has been carried out to produce mercury adsorbents however they are still facing certain challenges limiting their upscaling. Herein we reported the synthesis of novel amine impregnated inverse vulcanized copolymer for effective mercury removal. Poly(S-MA) was prepared using sulfur and methacrylic acid employing inverse vulcanization method following by functionalization. The polyethylenime (PEI) was impregnated on poly(S-MA) to increase the adsorption active sites. The developed adsorbent was then characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FTIR confirmed formation of copolymer and successful impregnation of PEI and SEM revealed composite porous morphology of the copolymer. Amine impregnated copolymer (amine@poly(S-MA)) outperformed poly(S-MA) in mercury as it showed 20 % superior performance with 44.7 mg/g maximum adsorption capacity. The adsorption data best fits the pseudo second order which indicates that the chemisorption is most influential mechanism in this case indicating the involvement of NH2 in mercury removal. The adsorption is mainly monolayer on homogenous surface as indicated by 0.76 value of Redlich-Peterson exponent (g) which describes the adsorption nature advent from R2 value of 0.99.

The rodents of Saudi Arabia consist of 20 species and 12 genera within four families (Gliridae, Dipodidae, Muridae, and Hystricidae). Details on the past and present distribution of the rodents were included along with available data on their habitat preference and biology. The eastern central part of Saudi Arabia covering Tuwiq mountains plateau, including the vicinity of Riyadh, hosts the highest number of rodent species. Analysis of the rodent fauna of Saudi Arabia revealed that they have four major zoogeographical affinities; Palaearctic-Oriental (one species), Afrotropical- Palaearctic (six species), Palaearctic (four species), endemic to Saudi Arabia and Yemen (three species), Afrotropical-Palaearctic-Oriental (three species) and three cosmopolitan species. According to the National Red List, the Euphrates Jerboa, S. euphratica, is listed as Endangered, Near Threatened for the Indian Crested Porcupine, H. indica, three species as Data Deficient, while the rest are considered as Least Concern.

Plaque psoriasis is a common, long-lasting illness that affects the immune system and causes significant negative impacts on a patient's physical health, well-being, and ability to work effectively. Deucravacitinib (DEU) is the first oral medication used in the treatment of plaque psoriasis, a chronic skin condition that causes red, scaly patches on the skin. DEU is a type of medication called an oral Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor, which works by blocking specific enzymes that play a role in the inflammation and immune response associated with psoriasis. Therefore, a quick, easy, novel, reliable, sensitive, and straightforward Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) approach was used to analyse DEU in plasma samples. The LC-MS/MS method for the determination of DEU in human plasma was based on using trimethoprim as an internal standard (IS). The separation of DEU and IS was carried out via liquid-liquid extraction (LLE). The isolated substances were then subjected to the chromatographic system using the ACE-C18 column (4.6x100 mm, 5 µm). The mobile phase employed consisted of methanol and a solution of 2 mM ammonium formate (80:20 v/v, respectively). The flow rate used was set at 0.9 mL min-1. The creative strategy was performed by running an ABSCIEX API 4000 mass spectrometer with an electron spray ionization source in Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) modes. The ion transitions m/z 426.3  358.2 was used for DEU quantitation, while the ion transitions m/z 291.1  261.1 was used for trimethoprim quantitation. The accuracy, precision, linearity, recovery, and selectivity of DEU were deemed acceptable when validated for a concentration range between 0.500 to 601.050 ng/mL, utilizing a weighting factor of 1/x2.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a common type of cancer that unfortunately leads to a significant number of deaths each year. The majority of the reported MM cases are detected in the advanced stages, posing significant challenges for treatment. Additionally, all MM patients eventually develop resistance or experience relapse, therefore advances in treatment are needed. However, developing new anti-cancer drugs, especially for MM, requires significant financial investment and a lengthy development process. The study of drug repurposing involves exploring the potential of existing drugs for new therapeutic uses. This can significantly reduce both time and costs, which is typically a major concern for MM patients. The utilization of pre-existing non-cancer drugs for various myeloma treatments presents a highly efficient and cost-effective strategy, considering their prior preclinical and clinical development. The drugs have shown promising potential in targeting key pathways associated with MM progression and resistance. Thalidomide exemplifies the success that can be achieved through this strategy. This review delves into the current trends, the challenges faced by conventional therapies for MM, and the importance of repurposing drugs for MM. This review highlights a noncomprehensive list of conventional therapies that have potentially significant anti-myeloma properties and anti-neoplastic effects. Additionally, we offer valuable insights into the resources that can help streamline and accelerate drug repurposing efforts in the field of MM.

Evaluation of road safety is a critical issue having to be conducted for successful safety management in road transport systems, whereas safety management is considered in road transportation systems as a challenging task according to the dynamic of this issue and the presence of a large number of effective parameters on road safety. Therefore, evaluation and analysis of important contributing factors affecting the number of crashes play a key role in increasing the efficiency of road safety. For this purpose, in this research work, two machine learning algorithms including the group method of data handling (GMDH)-type neural network and a combination of support vector machine (SVM) and the grasshopper optimization algorithm (GOA) are employed for evaluating the number of vehicles involved in the accident based on the seven factors affecting transport safety including the Daylight (DL), Weekday (W), Type of accident (TA), Location (L), Speed limit (SL), Average speed (AS) and Annual average daily traffic (AADT) of rural roads of Cosenza in southern Italy. In this study, 564 data sets of rural areas were investigated and relevant effective parameters were measured. In the next stage, several models were developed to investigate the parameters affecting the safety management of road transportation for rural areas. The results obtained demonstrated that "Average speed" has the highest level and "Weekday" has the lowest level of importance in the investigated rural area. Finally, although the results of both algorithms were the same, the GOA-SVM model showed a better degree of accuracy and robustness than the GMDH model.

This review focuses on Cu/TiO2 sequentially and Cu-TiO2 co-sputtered catalytic/photocatalytic surfaces leading to bacterial inactivation discussing their stability, synthesis, adhesion and antibacterial kinetics. The intervention of TiO2, Cu and the synergic effect of Cu and TiO2 on films prepared by a colloidal approach and other techniques is also reviewed leading to bacterial inactivation. Processes in aerobic media and anaerobic media leading to bacterial loss of viability on multidrug resistant (MDR) pathogens, Gram-negative (-) and Gram-positive(+) bacteria are described. Insight is provided for the interfacial charge transfer mechanism under solar irradiation occurring between TiO2 and Cu. surface properties of 2D TiO2/Cu and TiO2-Cu films are correlated with the bacterial inactivation kinetics observed in the dark and under light. The intervention of these antibacterial sputtered surfaces in health-care facilities leading to MRSA-isolates is described in the dark and under the actinic light. The synergic intervention of the Cu and TiO2 films leading to bacterial inactivation prepared by direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS), pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMSP) and highly ionized pulse plasma magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) is reported in a detailed way.

Spatio-temporal variability and dynamics in Sahelian agro-pastoral zones make each local situation a special case. These specificities must be considered to guide the dissemination of agricultural options with a view to sustainable development. The territorial scale of municipalities is not sufficient for this necessary contextualization; the scale of the “village terroir” seems to be a better option. This is the hypothesis put forward by the Global Collaboration for Resilient Food Systems program. By analyzing the links between farm managers and their cultivated land, as well as the spatio-temporal dynamics of “village terroirs” in three regions of Niger (Maradi, Dosso and Tillabéri), this study provides evidence of the existence and functional usefulness of the village terroir for farmers, their land management and their activities. It demonstrates the usefulness of contextualizing agricultural options at this scale. It is based on data collected through participatory mapping and surveys. Their analysis elucidates the links between “terroirs village” and the specific functioning of the agro-socio-ecosystems acting on each of them, thus laying the systemic and geographical foundations for a model of the spatio-temporal dynamics of “village terroirs”. This initial work has opened up new perspectives in modeling and sustainable development.

Streptococcus pneumoniae causes invasive infections such as otitis media, pneumonia and meningitis. It produces pneumolysin (Ply) toxin, which forms a pore to host cell membrane and has multiple functions in S. pneumoniae pathogenesis. The Ply C-terminal domain 4 mediates binding to membrane cholesterol and induces the formation of pores composed of up to 40 Ply monomers. Ply has a key role in the establishment of nasal colonization, pneumococcal transmission from host to host and pathogenicity. Altogether, 27 hydrolyzable tannins were tested for Ply inhibition in hemolysis assay and tannin-protein precipitation assay. Pentagalloylglucose (PGG) and gemin A showed nanomolar inhibitory activity. Ply oligomerization on the erythrocyte surface was inhibited with PGG. PGG also inhibited Ply cytotoxicity to A549 human lung epithelial cells. Molecular modelling of Ply interaction with PGG suggested that it binds to the pocket formed by domains 2, 3 and 4. In this study, we reveal the structural features of hydrolyzable tannins that are required for interaction with Ply. Monomeric hydrolysable tannins containing a sufficient number of polyvalent and flexible galloyl groups have highest inhibitory power to Ply cytotoxicity, and are followed by oligomers. Of the oligomers, macrocyclic and C-glycosidic structures were weaker in their inhibition than the glucopyranose-based oligomers. Accordingly, PGG-type monomers and certain oligomers might have therapeutic value in the targeting of S. pneumoniae infections.

Toll-like receptor 5 ligand, flagellin, and Vascular Adhesion Protein-1 (VAP-1) are involved in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study aimed to determine whether VAP-1 mediates flagellin-induced hepatic fat accumulation. The effects of flagellin on adipocyte VAP-1 expression were first studied in vitro. Then, flagellin (100 ng/mouse) or saline was intraperitoneally injected to C57BL/6J WT and C57BL/6-Aoc3^-/- (VAP-1 KO) mice on high-fat diet twice a week every two weeks for 10-weeks. After that, the effects on inflammation, insulin signaling, and metabolism were studied in liver and adipose tissues. Hepatic fat was quantified histologically and biochemically. Because flagellin challenge increased VAP-1 expression in human adipocytes, we used VAP-1 KO mice to determine whether VAP-1 regulates the inflammatory and metabolic effects of flagellin in vivo. In mice, VAP-1 mediated flagellin-induced inflammation, leukocyte infiltration and lipolysis in visceral adipose tissue. Consequently, increased release of glycerol led to hepatic steatosis in WT but not KO mice. Flagellin-induced hepatic fibrosis was not mediated by VAP-1. VAP-1 KO mice harbored more inflammation-related microbes than WT, while flagellin did not affect the gut microbiota. Our results suggest that by acting on visceral adipose tissue, flagellin increased leukocyte infiltration that induced lipolysis. Further, the released glycerol participated in hepatic fat accumulation. In conclusion, the results describe that gut microbial flagellin through VAP-1 induced hepatic steatosis.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a recurring global problem, which constantly demands new antimicrobial compounds to challenge the resistance. It is well known that essential oils (EOs) have been known for biological activities including antimicrobial properties. In this study, EOs from seven aromatic plants of Asir region of southwestern Saudi Arabia were tested for their antimicrobial efficacy against four drug resistant pathogenic bacterial isolates (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli and Streptococcus typhimurium) and one fungal isolate (Candida albicans). Chemical compositions of EOs were determined by Gas chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The results revealed that EOs from Mentha cervina, Ocimum basilicum and Origanum vulgare proved most active against all isolates with inhibitory zone range between17 to 45 mm. The lowest minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.025mg/ml was observed for Staph. aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes with EO of Origanum vulgare. All the three EOs showed significant anti candida activity. Together form the results the EOs from Mentha cervina, Ocimum basilicum and Origanum vulgare demonstrated a significant antimicrobial efficacy against drug resistant microorganisms.

Background: The prevalence of obesity, defined as body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2, has reached epidemic levels. Obesity is associated with an increased risk of various cancers, including gastrointestinal ones. Recent evidence has suggested that obesity disproportionately impacts males and females with cancer, resulting in varied transcriptional and metabolic dysregulation. Methods: This study aimed to elucidate the differences in the metabolic milieu of adenocarcinomas of the gastrointestinal (GI) track both related and unrelated to sex in obesity. To demonstrate these obesity and sex-related effects, we utilized three primary data sources: serum metabolomics from obese and non-obese patients assessed via the Biocrates MxP Quant 500 mass spectrometry-based kit, the ORIEN tumor RNA-sequencing data for all adenocarcinoma cases to assess the impacts of obesity, and publicly available TCGA transcriptional analysis to assess GI cancers and sex-related differences in GI cancers specifically. We applied and integrated our unique transcriptional metabolic pipeline in combination with our metabolomics data to reveal how obesity and sex can dictate differential metabolism in patients. Results: Differentially expressed genes (DEG) analysis of ORIEN obese adenocarcinoma as compared to normal-weight adenocarcinoma patients resulted in large-scale transcriptional reprogramming (4029 DEGs, adj. p < 0.05 and |logFC|>0.58). Gene Set Enrichment and metabolic pipeline analysis showed genes enriched for pathways relating to immunity (inflammation, and CD40 signaling, among others) and metabolism. Specifically, we found alterations to steroid metabolism and tryptophan/kynurenine metabolism in obese patients, both of which are highly associated with disease severity and immune cell dysfunction. These findings were further confirmed using the TCGA colorectal adenocarcinoma (CRC) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (ESCA) data, which showed similar patterns of increased tryptophan catabolism for kynurenine production in obese patients. These patients further showed disparate alterations between males and females when comparing obese to non-obese patient populations. Alterations to immune and metabolic pathways were validated in 6 patients (2 obese and 4 normal weight) via CD8+/CD4+ peripheral blood mononuclear cell RNA-sequencing and paired serum metabolomics, which showed differential kynurenine and lipid metabolism, which corresponded with altered T-cell transcriptome in obese populations. Conclusions: Overall, obesity is associated with differential transcriptional and metabolic program in various disease sites. Further, these alterations, like kynurenine and tryptophan metabolism, which impact both metabolism and immune phenotype, vary with sex and obesity together. This study warrants further in-depth investigation into obesity and sex-related alterations in cancers that may better define biomarkers of response to immunotherapy.

Indoor localization (IL) is a significant topic of study with several practical applications. The area of IL has evolved greatly in recent years due to the introduction of numerous technologies such as WiFi, Bluetooth, cameras, and other sensors. Despite the growing interest in this field, there are numerous challenges and drawbacks that must be addressed to develop more accurate and sustainable systems for IL and its real-life applications. This review study gives an in-depth look into IL, covering the most promising artificial intelligence-based and hybrid strategies that have shown excellent potential in overcoming some of the limitations of classic methods. In addition, the paper investigates the significance of high-quality datasets and evaluation metrics in the design and assessment of IL algorithms. Furthermore, this overview study emphasizes the crucial role that machine learning techniques, such as deep learning and transfer learning, play in the advancement of IL. A focus on the importance of IL and the various technologies, methods, and techniques that are being used to improve it. Finally, The survey highlights the need for continued research and development to create more accurate and scalable techniques that can be applied across a range of industries, such as evacuation-egress routes, hazard-crime detection, smart occupancy-driven energy reduction and asset tracking and management.

The paper focuses on the application of a multilevel, integrative and territorial approach to the protection of cultural heritage through planning instruments in Serbia. It points out the problems of the sectoral approach and discusses international recommendations that can be integrated into the planning methodology. The case study is the area of Djerdap National Park, which has an already established international and national importance. The research suggests that the cultural heritage in the area, with the exception of the Roman limes, is still recognized at the level of individual localities. The study emphasizes the importance of aligning all levels of governance to safeguard the whole spatial entity rather than focusing solely on its particular areas. The interna-tional and national importance of the planning area contributes to the strengthening of awareness of heritage and its institutional protection. However, the vitality of the area, which is key to its sustainable development, comes from the local level. Planning documents contribute to the inte-gration of local values and local communities into development programs and projects.

In infectious disease and clinical microbiology, rarely encountered species are often of special concern simply by virtue of their unfamiliarity, especially in settings of complicated underlying disease. This is all the more so when the infectious agent has an appearance that distinguishes it from most commonly encountered organisms, making it a mystery that must be explained. In this context, it is rare for histopathologists to be more familiar with a bacterial species than clinical microbiologists but Sarcina ventriculi is one such example. Infrequently seen in tissue and even less often in culture, we here report a case of Sarcina ventriculi in the GI tract of a geriatric patient with complex underlying history. A brief discussion of the history, clinical presentation, treatment, and culture conditions of this organism is provided, along with clarification of nomenclature, which has changed and could otherwise be a source of additional confusion in this rarely encountered bacterium.

Glycosidic linkage analysis was conducted on the unfractionated polysaccharides in the alcohol-insoluble residues (AIRs) prepared from six red seaweeds (Gracilariopsis sp., Prionitis sp., Mastocarpus papillatus, Callophyllis sp., Mazzaella splendens, and Palmaria palmata) using GC-MS/FID analysis of partially methylated alditol acetates (PMAAs). The cell walls of P. palmata primarily contained mixed-linkage xylans and small amounts of sulfated galactans and cellulose. In contrast, the unfractionated polysaccharides of the other five species were rich in galactans displaying diverse 3,6-anhydro-galactose and galactose linkages with varied sulfation patterns. Different levels of cellulose were also observed. This glycosidic linkage method offers advantages for cellulose analysis over traditional monosaccharide analysis that is known for underrepresenting glucose in crystalline cellulose. Relative linkage compositions calculated from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements showed that anhydro sugar linkages generated more response in the latter detection method. This improved linkage workflow presents a useful tool for studying polysaccharide structural variations across red seaweed species. Furthermore, for the first time, relative linkage compositions from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements, along with normalized FID and total ion current (TIC) chromatograms without peak assignments, were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) as a proof-of-concept demonstration of the technique's potential to differentiate various red seaweed species.

Background: Educating college students about the importance of good sleep habits could lead to the adoption of healthier sleep routines, including sufficient sleep duration and sleep quality. The current pre-post study examines the impact of completing a sleep education program called “Sleep 101” on (1) sleep hygiene practices, (2) sleep quality, and (3) weekday and weekend sleep behaviors among college students. “Sleep 101” is an interactive online course developed to educate college students about the importance of sleep by addressing basic sleep physiology, the impact of sleep on mood, academic and physical performance, the interactions between sleep and various substances, and common sleep disorders. Methods: 338 college students were recruited from a midsized public university in the US and invited to participate in “Sleep 101”, of which 25 participants completed the baseline and post-intervention questionnaire. The Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI) was utilized to evaluate sleep hygiene practices, while standard questions were employed to assess weekday and weekend sleep behaviors and overall sleep quality. Results: Those who completed the study demonstrated a significant increase in weekday sleep duration and were less likely to engage in negative prior bedtime activities. In addition, 40% of those who completed baseline and post-intervention assessments noticed improvements in their sleep quality. Conclusion: These findings suggest that a brief online program is beneficial in improving sleep behaviors among college and could be a scalable approach to addressing current sleep issues and preventing future sleep problems in college students.

The profile of secondary metabolites occurring in apple cuticular layer is not only characteristic for particular apple cultivar, but also dynamically reflects various external factors in growing environment. In this study, the possibility to authenticate apple samples based on analysis of their cuticular layer extracts was investigated. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS/MS) was employed for obtaining metabolomic fingerprints. In total, 274 authentic apple samples, four cultivars harvested within the seasons 2020 to 2022 in the Czech Republic and Poland were analysed. The generated complex data processed by univariate and multivariate statistical methods enabled to build classification models for discrimination of apple cultivars as well as their geographical origin. The models showed very good performance in differentiation of Czech and Polish samples for three of four cultivars: ‘Gala’, ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Idared’, moreover, the validity of the models was verified over harvest seasons. The diagnostic markers, besides metabolites of triterpene biosynthetic pathway, mainly represented wax esters. ‘Jonagold’, which is known to be susceptible to mutations, was the only cultivar for which the unambiguous classification of geographical origin was not possible.

Strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora is one of the main diseases of strawberry and significantly impacts the yield and quality of strawberry fruit. There are now no effective control techniques available except for fungicide sprays, which may directly impact consumers. Biological control is becoming an alternative method for the control of plant diseases to replace or decrease the application of traditional synthetic chemical fungicides. Trichoderma is widely used as a biological agent for controlling strawberry root rot. In order to provide resources for screening the highly effective biocontrol fungus for controlling strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora, the biocontrol mechanism,the control effects of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 against strawberry root rot and growth-promoting effects on strawberry seedlings were investigated by plate culture, microscopy observation and root drenching methods.The results showed that CMT10 had obvious competitive, antibiotic and hyperparasitism effects on Neopestalotiopsis clavispora CMGF3. The CMT10 could quickly occupy nutritional space, and the inhibition rates of CMT10 against CMGF3 in confrontation culture on 7 d was 65.49%. The inhibition rates of volatile metabolite and fermentation metabolite produced by CMT10 against CMGF3 were 79.67% and 69.84%, respectively. The mycelium of strain CMT10 can act as hyperparasites by making contacting, winding and penetrating hyphae of CMGF3. Pot experiment showed that the biocontrol efficacy of CMT10 on strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora was 63.00%. CMT10 had obvious promotion effect on strawberry growth, the plant height, root length, total fresh weight, root fresh weight, stem fresh weight and root dry weight, with the promotion rates were 20.09%, 22.39%, 87.11%, 101.58%, 79.82% and 72.33%, respectively. Overall, this study showed the ability of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 to control strawberry root rot and their potential to develop as novel biocontrol agents to replace chemical fungicides for eco-friendly, sustainable agriculture.

Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) can help to achieve multiple Water-Ecosystem-Food Nexus Do-main Objectives & Nexus Resilience Qualities, facilitating the transition to more resilient agrifood systems and providing an evidence base for a broader Nexus policy dialogue. This paper de-scribes the stepwise methodology developed in the EU-funded LENSES project to carry out a comprehensive analysis of NBSs in 6 pilot areas in 5 Mediterranean countries, and presents the results of NBSs implementation in 4 pilot areas, highlighting obstacles and opportunities. The methodology includes the development of an analytical evaluation framework and of a com-prehensive catalogue of Nexus-related NBSs, whose suitability needs to be assessed at the local level to achieve better use of protected/natural ecosystems, increase the sustainability and mul-tifunctionality of managed ecosystems and design and manage novel ecosystems. Subsequently, in a collective learning process which supported the operationalisation of the WEF Nexus, NBSs were identified that address specific contextual vulnerabilities, improve water distribution and enhance food security, while preserving ecosystems and supporting adaptation to climate change. The added value of the proposed methodology lies in the multi-stakeholder participatory approach to gain in-depth knowledge of local agri-food systems, including their main WEF-related challenges, and to facilitate overcoming barriers to NBS implementation.

Apis mellifera, especially weak ones, are highly vulnerable to Carpoglyphus lactis mites, which can rapidly infest and consume stored pollen, leading to weakened colonies and potentially colony collapse. This study aimed to ascertain and investigate the prevalence of this mite in honeybee colonies across 9 provinces in the Republic of Korea (ROK). A total of 615 honeybee colonies were collected, from 66 apiaries during the spring and 58 apiaries during the summer of 2023. A 1,242 bp segment of the the Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction method. The detection levels of C. lactis in the honeybees were compared between winter and summer. Based on the COI sequence analysis, the nucleotide sequence similarity of C. lactis mites isolated in the ROK with those from China (NC048990.1) was found to be 99.5%, and with those from the United Kingdom (KY922482.1) was 99.3%. This study is the first report of C. lactis in Korean apiaries. The findings in this study demonstrate a significantly higher detection rate in winter, which is 4.1 times greater than that in summer (p &lt; 0.001). Furthermore, the results underscore the usefulness of molecular diagnostic techniques for detecting C. lactis mites.

COX II containing a dual core CuA active site is one of the three core subunits of mitochondrial Cco, which plays a significant role in the physiological process. In this report, the full-length cDNA of COXⅡ gene was cloned from Sitophilus zeamais, which had an ORF of 684 bp encoding 227 amino acids residues. The predicted COXⅡ protein had a molecular mass of 26.2 kDa with pI value of 6.37, and multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis indicated that Sitophilus zeamais COXⅡ had high sequence identity 78.51% with the COXⅡ of other insect species, especially similarity to sitophilus oryzae. This gene was subcloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pET-32a, and induced by IPTG in E.coli Transetta (DE3) expression system. Finally the COXⅡ with 6-His tag was purified using affinity chromatography with Ni²⁺-NTA agarose. WB showed the recombinant COXⅡ was about 44 kD, and the concentration of fusion protein was 50μg/mL. UV-spectrophotometer and infrared spectrometer analysis showed that recombinant COXⅡ could catalyze the oxidation of substrate Cytc, and influenced by AITC. It was found that AITC could form a hydrophobic region with COXⅡ protein via molecular docking, besides, a sulfur atom of AITC structure could form a length of 2.9 Å hydrogen bond with Leu-31. These results will provide valuable information for elucidating the role of COXⅡ in Sitophilus zeamais responses to AITC, meanwhile, it will helpful to carry out a point mutation in AITC binding sites for the future research.

The properties of the annual, semiannual and triennial oscillations (AO, SAO and TO) in the middle atmosphere have been investigated using the TIMED/SABER temperature data. The Lomb-Scargle and wavelet spectra were used to determine the dominant oscillations in the background temperature field. The AO is prominent at the mid-latitudes. The AO amplitudes present an asymmetry between the two Hemispheres, being larger in the mesosphere than in the stratosphere. The SAO dominates the tropical regions, with three amplitude maxima at altitudes of 45, 75, and 85 km. The SAOs in the upper mesosphere (75 km) are out of phase with those in the mesopause (85 km) in the tropical regions, which can generate an enhancement of 11 K at each equinox, contributing to the lower mesospheric inversion layer. The TO is significant in the tropical region, with amplitude being maximum at 35, 45 and 85 km. Result shows that there may be potential interaction by the TO with SAO at 85km at the equator. The relation between ENSO and TO has also been discussed. The ENSO signal may modulate the amplitude of the TO, mainly in the lower stratosphere. The real origin of the TO may lie in the wave-mean-flow interaction.

This paper is focused on typical rural settlements in the Stara Planina Mountain area in Serbia. They are distinguished by their authenticity, identity and character, and they have still not been destroyed by inappropriate development as is the case in some other mountain areas in Serbia, where the effects of urbanization, globalization and homogenization are obvious. Consequently, there is a need to prevent these effects in mountain areas where there is a threat of disbalance between development and the inherited natural and cultural values. The paper starts from several important concepts that relate contemporary approaches to cultural heritage preservation, place morphology and planning future development. The concept definitions from recent documents from related fields are used. These concepts are then applied to the area of Stara Planina Mountain and its rural settlements. The necessity for an integrative approach to planning this area with significant natural and anthropogenic potential is pointed out, including its integration into international programs of sustainable development.

The research reported on this paper was aimed at improving the overall efficiency of a PDO certified artisanal cheese production process. Being a PDO certified foodstuff by the EU, it is considered to have properties and qualities determined by the geographical environment in which is made, with its production taking place in a specific and determined geographical location, in this case the Serra da Estrela region. In that sense, the authors conducted a mapping according to a systemic perspective of the processes involved in the context of manufacturing and distribution of certified Serra da Estrela cheese. Numerous methods were used throughout the process, such as a systemic design analysis, and techniques derived from ethnographic methods, which led to the collection of data in the field and consequently provided the immersion of the researcher in genuine work situations. Critical points were identified and emphasized in the systemic map with the purpose of encouraging initiatives to address and overcome the gaps and inefficiencies detected. The systemic design analysis triggered the development of design work. Observations following an ethnographic approach identified ergonomic risks in cheese making during the process of cutting excess chips, fostering the emergence of musculoskeletal disorders at the wrist. A tool that fits best to the task at hand was developed. A prototype of the new tool enabled collecting feedback from use in the work context, in order to inform product development. The domains of agricultural production and microbiology, considering the specific microorganisms developed trough the ripening process of the cheese, turned out to be aspects of high importance for the issue under focus, contributing to a broader understanding of the ripening process and its risks, simultaneously improving the efficiency and success of cheese production. If it were not for the systemic analysis, which served as a link between the boundaries of distinct domains such as the risk of microorganism contamination, ergonomics, energy efficiency, legislation and regulation policies, transportation challenges and economic viability, approached throughout the research. Simultaneously creating bridges between them, the various problems might not have been detected in the first place, as they are usually addressed in specialized disciplines, predetermined by the restrictions of each specific area of knowledge. As a consequence of the development of this research, which was based on an analysis that sought to establish possible connections between various disciplines and tried to constantly maintain a holistic perspective, making new connections and observing the issues from a new angle, apart from the already established methodologies. All this allowed to lay out the seeds for the development of a plan to tackle the critical points identified by the systemic analysis reported in this paper.

Promoting green development has become an important way to optimize the ecological and economic structure and promote sustainable development. The Yangtze River Economic Belt is an important economic corridor in China, and it remains to be examined whether the implementation of environmental regulations has enhanced the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of cities. This paper calculates the green total factor productivity of 107 cities within the Yangtze River Economic Belt by using the super-efficient SBM model and the GML index with Chinese city panel data from 2007-2019 and measures the intensity of environmental regulations through textual analysis. The bidirectional fixed-effects model constructed in this paper suggests an inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and GTFP, which is confirmed by a series of robustness tests. Green technology innovation and advanced industrial structure play a mechanism role in this. In regions with lower levels of green technology and industrial structure, the inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and green total factor productivity is more significant. In addition, the phenomenon of GTFP rising and then falling because of environmental regulation is more obvious in cities in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and outside the urban agglomerations. Therefore, when formulating environmental regulation policies, it is necessary to balance the relationship between economic development and environmental protection and harmonize the environment and economic development of the entire Yangtze River Basin.

The wetlands in northeastern Bangladesh are home to some of the most prolific and valuable ecosystems on the planet, offering a wide range of benefits to both the local and wider communities. A limited number of research on this topic have been carried out in various wetlands in coastal hilsa, but none have been located in the northeastern region of Bangladesh. Thus, the goal of this study was to better understand the most commercially relevant species (anadromous hilsa) in northeastern Bangladesh as well as to assess the wetland ecosystem services more thoroughly with the contribution of their fish genetic resources. In addition to laboratory studies, fieldwork was done in the fishing settlements along the Surma River, Hakaluki Haor, and Tanguar Haor. The study classified 77 fish species into 21 subcategories of ecosystem services, of which 56% were not threatened, 17% were vulnerable, and 10% were highly endangered. The species Hilsa was found to be the most economically significant, accounting for 1% of the GDP overall. The study determined if the hilsa stock of the examined wetlands maintains a single or several subpopulations in comparison to other parts of the country when they migrate from saline water to northeastern Bangladesh (freshwater). But when compared to other groups, the FST score was between 0.000 to 0.017, indicating that the populations are identical and that there is genetic material sharing between them. Additionally, these statistics imply that the Sylhet haor and adjacent river systems contain a single stock of Hilsa fish. Nevertheless, a number of stresses and risks, including overexploitation, illicit and destructive fishing, siltation, and natural disasters like flash floods, have been linked to changes in the supply of hilsa and other ecosystem services. This study also emphasizes the necessity of policy attention and research to address the concerns.

Background: The purpose of this study is to carry out bioinformatic analysis of lncRNA data obtained as a result of genomic analysis of kidney tissue samples taken from rats with nephrotoxicity induced by methotrexate (MTX) and from rats without pathology and modeling with tree-based machine learning method. Another aim of the study is to identify potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of nephrotoxicity and to provide a better understanding of the nephrotoxicity formation process by providing the interpretability of the model with explainable artificial intelligence methods as a result of the modeling. Methods: To identify potential indicators of drug-induced nephrotoxicity, 20 female Wistar Albino rats were separated into two groups: nephrotoxicity and control. Kidney tissue samples were collected from the rats, and genomic, histological, and immunohistochemical analyses were performed. The data set obtained as a result of genomic analysis was modeled with Random Forest (RF), one of the tree-based methods. Modeling results were evaluated with sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), balanced accuracy (B-Acc), negative predictive value (Npv), accuracy (Acc), positive predictive value (Ppv), and F1-score performance metrics. The Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Annotations (LIME) method was used to determine the lncRNAs that could be biomarkers for nephrotoxicity by providing the interpretability of the RF model. Results: The outcomes of the histological and immunohistochemical analyses done in the study supported the conclusion that MTX use caused kidney injury. According to the results of the bioinformatics analysis, 52 lncRNAs showed different expression in the groups. As a result of modeling with RF for lncRNAs selected with Boruta variable selection, the B-Acc, Acc, Sp, Se, Npv, Ppv, and F1-score were 88.9%, 90%, 90.9%, 88.9%, 90.9%, 88.9% and 88.9%. respectively. lncRNAs with id rnaXR_591534.3 rnaXR_005503408.1, rnaXR_005495645.1, rnaXR_001839007.2, rnaXR_005492056.1 and rna_XR_005492522.1 the lncRNAs with the highest variable importance values produced from RF modeling can be used as nephroxicity biomarker candidates. Also, according to the LIME results, the high level of lncRNAs with id rnaXR_591534.3 and rnaXR_005503408.1 especially increased the possibility of nephrotoxicity. Conclusions: With the possible biomarkers obtained as a result of the analyses made within the scope of this study, it can be ensured that the procedures for the diagnosis of drug-induced nephrotoxicity can be carried out easily, quickly and effectively.

We investigated the influence of the fuel change, from pure hydrogen to hydrogen-ammonia mixture at different percentage, on the electrochemical behaviour of 50 mm in diameter Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) with sputtered thin buffer layers of Gd doped Ceria, varying the working temperatures from 800°C to 650°C. The results show that the performances of the cells are not affected by the fuel change for the high working temperatures (800°C and 750°C). As an example, a power density value of 802 mW∙cm-2 at 1 A∙cm-2 is found when directly feeding the cell with 8 Nml∙min-1cm-2 of ammonia and with an equivalent flowrate of 12 Nml∙min-1cm-2 of H2. These power density output values are comparable to those obtained in industrial State of Art (SoA) SOFC cells with screen printed buffer layers fed with higher hydrogen flowrates, thanks to the improved electrochemical performances obtained in the case of cells with sputtered thin buffer layers of Gd doped Ceria. At lower working temperatures (700°C and 650°C), slight changes in the electrochemical behaviour of the cells are observed. Nevertheless, also in this temperature range, we obtain an output current density value of 0.54 A∙cm-2 in pure ammonia flowrate of 12 Nml min-1cm-2, at 800 mV and 700°C, equal to the value observed in SoA button cells with industrial screen printed GDC barrier layer fuelled with 16 Nml∙min-1cm-2 of H2. These results pave the way towards the use of innovative SOFC structures with sputtered thin buffer layers fuelled by ammonia.

Multilayered metallic sheets fabricated by hot metal forming processes are attractive structural components in the aerospace and automobile industry. The strength of the mechanical bond between the different layers is critical to the applicability of such components in load bearing applications. While it is well understood that the process conditions such as temperature, deformation and rate of deformation influence the bond strength, a clear functional relationship between these conditions and the bond strength has yet to be established. The objective of the current study is to investigate the joining of Aluminum-6061 alloy specimens by hot compression bonding. Hot compression tests of beam specimen pairs were conducted at different temperatures (300-500℃), with different strains and strain rates (10-2-10-1 [1sec]). Coupled thermo-mechanical finite element models were utilized to compute the time dependent thermo-mechanical fields that develop along the specimen interface. The computed values were used to map the spatial distribution of a scalar parameter J which is hypothesized to govern bond formation. Mechanical tensile tests were used to determine the bond strength and expose the bonded surfaces. It is demonstrated that the computed J distribution can be correlated well with SEM observations of the debonded surface. It is also shown that the actual bonded area can be predicted from the computations for a certain range of critical J values.

In this paper, we introduce a specialized, fully automated experimental arrangement designed for assessing the effectiveness of augmented and virtual reality technologies in healthcare setting and explore its design principles focusing on depth sensor characterization. The main goal of this project is to establish a robust benchtop platform for the quantitative evaluation of extended reality technologies in a controlled environment, emphasizing the practical assessment of augmented reality head-mounted devices. We outline a design concept and considerations for an experimental configuration aimed at creating a realistic testing environment. This apparatus comprises an observation platform mounted on a three-degree-of-freedom motorized system and a test phantom stage. Focusing on real-case scenarios, we utilized a range of sensors, including readily available range-sensing cameras and commercial augmented reality headsets, such as the Intel RealSense L515 LiDAR camera, mounted on the motion control system. The setup enabled automated data collection and facilitates controlled assessments and validation of various facets of augmented reality technologies, including object, hand, and head tracking, as well as static and dynamic image registration. This paper describes the system architecture, the process of automated data collection, and presents several evaluation studies conducted with this setup, providing insights into the quality and temporal noise associated with static or moving objects or observers in augmented reality applications.

To conduct high-precision and high-resolution numerical simulation of complex flow structures in turbomachinery, a high-order finite volume weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme for the large eddy simulation (LES) is improved and embedded into the three-dimensional viscous unsteady CFD solver NUAA-Turbo. Firstly, the spectral characteristics and unsteady convergence of the improved WENO scheme are studied. Compared with the classical WENO scheme, the improved WENO scheme has better dissipation and dispersion characteristics and faster convergence speed. Then, the coefficient CW of the Wall-Adapting Local Eddy-viscosity (WALE) model is calibrated by decaying homogeneous isotropic turbulence (DHIT) test case. Finally, the scheme is applied to conduct high-precision LES calculations of turbulent boundary layer flow, supersonic compression corner flow, and low-pressure turbine cascade separation flow. The numerical simulation results show that this WENO scheme has excellent shock wave capture ability and turbulence resolution and can capture more flow field details with less mesh size, greatly reducing the computational cost and laying a foundation for large-scale engineering application of LES.

To secure logic circuits against the illegal copying the insertion of the so-called key bit inputs using XOR/XNOR gates has been proposed in . The inserted gates modify (lock) the behavior of the original circuit and only the correct choice of the secret key bits guarantees the equivalent behaviour of the locked circuit to the original circuit. To break this kind of security, i.e. to find the secret key bits, there was a SAT solver based attack proposed in . The aim of this work is to experimentally verify this attack on several locked circuits with various number of primary inputs and outputs and with various number of gates. Except for the random placement of the key gates we evaluate also the positioning with chaining elimination. The obtained and presented results show that we were able to unlock 10 of 11 circuits within few minutes on a common PC.

Intermetallic compounds are increasingly being expected to utilize in tribological environments, but to date the works are hindered by insufficient ductility at low and medium temperature. This paper presents a novel multiphase intermetallic alloy with the chemical composition of Mo-40Ni-13Si (at.%). Microstructure characterization reveals that a certain amount of ductile Mo phases formed during the solidification process of ternary Mo-Ni-Si alloy melt, which is undoubtedly beneficial to the ductility improvement of intermetallic alloy. Tribological properties of the designed alloy, including wear resistance, friction coefficient and metallic tribological compatibility, were evaluated under dry sliding wear test conditions at room temperature. Results suggested that the multiphase alloy possesses an excellent property for room-temperature wear applications, which is attributed to the unique microstructural features and thereby good combination in hardness and ductility. The corresponding wear mechanism is also reported by observing the worn surface, subsurface and wear debris of alloy, which to be found is soft abrasive wear.

With the integrated development of the Internet, wireless sensor technology, cloud computing, and mobile Internet, there has been a lot of attention given to research about and applications of the Internet of Things. A Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is one of the important information technologies in the Internet of Things; it integrates multi-technology to detect and gather information in a network environment by mutual cooperation, using a variety of methods to process and analyze data, implement awareness, and perform tests. This paper mainly researches the localization algorithm of sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network. Firstly, a multi-granularity region partition is proposed to divide the location region. In the range-based method, the RSSI (Received Signal Strength indicator, RSSI) is used to estimate distance. The optimal RSSI value is computed by the Gaussian fitting method. Furthermore, a Voronoi diagram is characterized by the use of dividing region. Rach anchor node is regarded as the center of each region; the whole position region is divided into several regions and the sub-region of neighboring nodes is combined into triangles while the unknown node is locked in the ultimate area. Secondly, the multi-granularity regional division and Lagrange multiplier method are used to calculate the final coordinates. Because nodes are influenced by many factors in the practical application, two kinds of positioning methods are designed: the unknown node is in the positioning unit or not. When the unknown node is on the side of the positioning unit, we use the method of vector similarity. Moreover, we use the centroid algorithm to calculate the ultimate coordinates of unknown node. When the unknown node is not on the side of the positioning unit, we establish a Lagrange equation containing the constraint condition to calculate the first coordinates. Furthermore, we use the Taylor expansion formula to correct the coordinates of the unknown node. In addition, this localization method has been validated by establishing the real environment.

The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a record of brain activity. Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology formed by the EEG signal has become one of the hotspots at present. How to extract the feature signal of EEG is the most basic research of BCI technology. In this paper, A new method of recognizing fatigue, conscious, concentrated state of human brain is proposed by the combination of discrete wavelet transform and the neural network based on EEG signal. First of all, the law signal is preprocessed by the wavelet denoising method because the law EEG signal contains a large number of high frequency noise, which is decomposed into multi-layer high frequency signal and low frequency signal. thus, δ wave, θ wave, α wave, β wave are obtained by the wavelet transform. And then, frequency band energy of the different wave is regards as the feature signal of EEG. In the experiment, the feature signal is classified by radial basic function (RBF) and annealed chaotic competitive learning network (ACCLN). RBF and ACCLN networks are trained with 500 sets of sample data and are tested by 100 sets of samples in different mental states. The experimental results show that the average accuracy of RBF network under three conditions are 88.75%, 88.25%, 88.5%, respectively, and the correct rate of ACCLN network is 97%, 98%, 98%, respectively.

Early discharge after childbirth has led to a rise in neonatal readmission, becoming a major concern in recent decades. Our research aimed to identify the risk factors and incidence of neonatal readmission, as well as explore preventive measures. Our study at the Clinical Hospital of Pediatrics in Ploiești, Romania included 108 neonates admitted during the neonatal period. This accounted for 2.06% of all admissions (5226). The most prevalent cases were malnutrition (25%), fever (20.3%) and bronchiolitis (17.5%). Diarrhea and infectious gastroenteritis were also observed (14.8%), along with acute rhinoconjunctivitis (9.2%) and late onset sepsis (3.7%). No deaths were recorded. The most significant characteristics identified were number of children (p&lt;0.001) and age at maternity discharge (p&lt;0.001). By following the prevention rules, malnutrition, feeding errors, and infections can be avoided. This includes practicing proper hand hygiene for both mothers and medical staff, as well as educating and demonstrating to mothers the benefits of breastfeeding. In addition, all newborns discharged from the maternity ward should benefit from follow-up at 7-10 days of life. Our results confirm the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary team and endorse promoting breastfeeding. Implementing quality control measures and regularly evaluating the surveillance program will help improve its effectiveness.

Wearable technology has been proposed as a potential tool to change the way of human life, such as the smart bracelet and the Google Glass. In the wearable technology, the inertial sensor has great significance in tracking the object movements. The paper focused on detecting the movements of user’s finger based on the inertial sensor to give the control signals. Firstly, the attitude matrix, which represented the transformation relation of carrier coordinate system and the navigation coordinate system, was obtained. Secondly, the attitude matrix was expressed based on the quaternions. Thirdly, the finger gesture was processed by the attitude matrix to get the attitude angle. Finally, the robot was controlled by attitude angle to make the moving action. The experimental results showed the detection of the finger movement is effective.

Two interesting compounds such as quaternary ammonium lignin(QAL) and 2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (P507) were synthesized as ionic liquids(QP-ILs) for the extraction of metal ions. The extraction behavior of Co(II) and Ni(II) from chloride solution was compared between QP-ILs and P507. The results showed that the extraction rates of Co(II) and Ni(II) in the two solutions varied with the extraction conditions, but QP-ILs has stronger extractability for cobalt than P507, while Ni is on the contrary. Under the same conditions, the Co/Ni separation performance(βCo/Ni) in QP-ILs is superior to that in p507. At pH4.0, 55℃, concentration of 20%, extraction time of 10 minutes, the βCo/Ni of QP-ILs reached to 2703, while that of P507 was only 164. In conclusion, QP-ILs was more efficient than P507 for separating Co from mixed solutions.

Brain aging causes a wide variety of changes at molecular and cellular levels, leading to the decline of cognitive functions and increased vulnerability to neurodegenerative disorders. The research aimed at understanding the aging of the brain has made much progress in recent decades. Technological innovations such as single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq), proteomic analyses, and spatial transcriptomic analyses have facilitated the research on the dynamic changes occurring within neurons, glia, and other cells along with their impacts on intercellular communication during aging. In this review, we introduce recent trends of how neurons and glia change during aging and discuss the impact of the brain microenvironment such as the blood-brain barrier (BBB).

In this paper, we study the semilinear pseudo-parabolic equations $\displaystyle u_{t} - \triangle_{\mathbb{B}}u - \triangle_{\mathbb{B}}u_{t} = \left|u\right|^{p-1}u$ on a manifold with conical singularity, where $\triangle _{\mathbb{B}}$ is Fuchsian type Laplace operator investigated with totally characteristic degeneracy on the boundary $x_{1} = 0$. Firstly, we discuss the invariant sets and the vacuum isolating behavior of solutions with the help of a family of potential wells. Then, we derive a threshold result of existence and nonexistence of global weak solution: for the low initial energy $J(u_{0})<d$, the solution is global in time with $I(u_{0}) >0$ or $\displaystyle\Vert \nabla_{\mathbb{B}}u_{0}\Vert_{L_{2}^{\frac{n}{2}}(\mathbb{B})} = 0$ and blows up in finite time with $I(u_{0}) < 0$; for the critical initial energy $J(u_{0}) = d$, the solution is global in time with $I(u_{0}) \geq0$ and blows up in finite time with $I(u_{0}) < 0$. The decay estimate of the energy functional for the global solution and the estimates of the lifespan of local solution are also given.

Multimodal remote sensing data classification can enhance the model’s ability to distinguish land features through multimodal data fusion. In this context, how to help models understand the relationship between multimodal data and target tasks is the focus of researchers. Inspired by human feedback learning mechanisms, causal reasoning mechanisms, and knowledge induction mechanisms, this paper integrates causal learning, reinforcement learning, and meta learning into a unified remote sensing data classification framework and proposed the causal meta-reinforcement learning (CMRL). First, based on feedback learning mechanisms, we have overcome the limitations of traditional implicit optimization of fusion features and customized a reinforcement learning environment for multimodal remote sensing data classification tasks. Through feedback interactive learning between agents and the environment, we help them understand the complex relationships between multimodal data and labels, thereby achieving full mining of multimodal complementary information. Second, based on the causal inference mechanism we designed causal distribution prediction action, classification reward, and causal intervention reward, capturing pure causal factors in multimodal data and cutting off false statistical associations between non-causal factors and class labels. Finally, based on the knowledge induction mechanism, we designed a bi-layer optimization mechanism based on meta-learning. By constructing a meta training task and meta validation task simulation model in the generalization scenario of unseen data, we helped the model induce cross-task shared knowledge, thereby improving its generalization ability for unseen multimodal data. The experimental results on multiple sets of multimodal datasets show that the proposed method achieved state-of-the-art performance in multimodal remote sensing data classification tasks.

Moso bamboo is famous for fast growing and biomass accumulation, as well as high annual output for timber and bamboo shoots. These high outputs require high nutrient inputs to maintain and improve stand productivity. Soil nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are important micronutrients for plant growth and productivity. Due to high variability of soils, analysing spatial patterns of soil N, P and K stocks is necessary for scientific nutrient management in Moso bamboo forests. In this study, soils were sampled from 138 locations across Yong’an City and ordinary kriging was applied for spatial interpolation of soil N, P and K stocks. Soil N stock showed a strong spatial dependence while soil N and P stocks presented a moderate spatial dependence, indicating soil N was mainly controlled by intrinsic factors while soil N and P stocks were controlled by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Different spatial patterns were observed for soil N, P and K stocks across the whole study area, indicating that fertilizations with different ratios of N:P:K should be applied for different sites to maintain and improve stand productivity. The total soil N, P and K stocks within 0-60 cm were 0.624, 0.020 and 0.583 Tg, respectively.

With the increasing concern of environment, the energy-efficiency scheduling of manufacturing industry is becoming urgent and popular. In turning processes, both spindle speed and processing time can affect the final energy consumption and thus the spindle speed and scheduling scheme need to be optimized simultaneously. Since the turning workshop can be regarded as the flexible flow shop, this paper formulates a mixed integer linear programming model for energy-efficient scheduling of flexible flow shop. Accordingly, a new decoding method is developed by considering of the optimization of spindle speed and scheduling scheme simultaneously, and an estimation of distribution algorithm adopting the new decoding method is proposed to solve large-size problems. The parameters of this algorithm are determined by statistical technique with a simplified practical case. In order to validate the proposed method, a case from practical factories is studied, in which the makespan can be shortened by 25.22%, and the consumed energy can be saved by 5.48%. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed mathematical model and algorithm.

The bio-oil obtained by pyrolysis of Açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) seeds at 450 ºC, 1.0 atmosphere, in technical scale, submitted to fractional distillation to produce biofuels-like fractions. The distillation of bio-oil carried out in a laboratory distillation column (Vigreux) of 30 cm. The physical-chemistry properties (density, kinematic viscosity, acid value and refractive index) determined by official methods. The chemical functions present in distillation fractions determined by FT-IR and the chemical composition by GC-MS. The distillation of bio-oil yielded gasoline, light kerosene, and kerosene-like fuel fractions of 16.16, 19.56, and 41.89% (wt.), respectively. All the physical-chemistry properties (density, kinematic viscosity, acid value and refractive index) increase with boiling temperature. The gasoline-like fraction is composed by 64.0% (area.) hydrocarbons and 36.0% (area.) oxygenates, while light kerosene-like fraction by 66.67% (area.) hydrocarbons and 33.33% (area.) oxygenates, and kerosene-like fraction by 19.87% (area.) hydrocarbons and 81.13% (area.) oxygenates.

Lignocellulosic biomass, an abundant and renewable resource, serves as a crucial raw material for the production of biofuels, biochemicals, and various value-added products. This paper aims to develop and optimize a mild alkaline treatment of sawdust assisted by ultrasound, along with enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated material. The sonochemical pretreatment with alkali emerged as the optimal approach to enhance the susceptibility of cellulose to subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis, thereby increasing the yield of reducing sugars. A comparative study was performed using various ultrasonic applicators (horn and bath) and conventional assisted alkaline pretreatment. The ultrasonic assisted pretreatment revealed a higher delignification as 68% (horn) and 57% (bath) comparing with conventional pretreatment. Processes were optimized using a statistical analysis based on a 23 factorial design. The ratio between sawdust and alkanine solution (RSL = 0.5–1.5 g/100 mL), US amplitude (A = 20–60%), and working temperature (t = 30–50 °C) were selected as process factors. The optimal operating conditions to maximize the reducing sugar yield (138.15 mg GE /gsubstrate) were found as following: solid/liquid ratio RSL,opt = 1.25 g/100 mL, US amplitude Aopt = 60%, and and pretreatment temperature topt = 50 °C. The overall outcomes clearly confirmed the intensification of delignification by ultrasound assisted alkaline pretreatment

At 12:28 UTC (8:28 PM, local time) on 15 January 2023, a shallow, moderate earthquake with a magnitude (Mw) of 4.7 and a depth of one (1) kilometer shook the northern part of Leyte Island in the central part of the Philippines. The ground shaking was felt at PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity Scale (PEIS) VI, (very strong) equivalent to Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) VI in areas along the strike of the Leyte segment of the Philippine Fault. Even though this earthquake is classified as moderate in size, significant geologic, structural, and socio-economic impacts were documented. Most of the earthquake impacts that include surface rupture, liquefaction, and mass movements are limited near the epicentral area. The earthquake produced an 8-km-long surface rupture, the first documented rupture generated by a magnitude &lt;6 along the Philippine Fault, and is unusual in other surface rupturing earthquakes worldwide. It injured 18 persons and damaged 434 residential buildings and 26 public infrastructures which amounts to about 500 thousand US dollars. Structural damages were caused by surface rupture and/or poor engineering construction practices. Analysis of the seismic waveform and recorded peak ground acceleration (PGA) suggests that the subsurface geology influenced the ground motion amplification in an area near the epicenter. Based on the hypocenter, focal mechanism solution, aftershock distribution, and actual field observation, the causative fault for this event is the northern end of the Philippine Fault – Leyte segment. Moderate in size, this earthquake emphasizes the need and importance of documenting moderate-sized earthquakes as a tool and guide for medium and long-term earthquake risk assessment and resiliency.

Background: The bacterium Capnocytophaga spp. is a part of the oral microbiome of dogs, which has zoonotic potential. This study aimed to assess factors that influence the prevalence of Capnocytophaga cynodegmi and Capnocytophaga canimorsus in Wrocaw’s dog population. Methods: Molecular detection (PCR) involved 105 swabs, examining parameters such as oral cavity condition, underlying health issues, recent antibiotics, age, medications, material collection, and dog chews. Results: The study highlighted significant associations between the presence of Capnocytophaga cynodegmi and oral cavity condition, material collection method, and use of dog’s chews. Conclusions: Correlations obtained in this study between the oral health of Wroclaw's dog population and the presence of Capnocytophaga cynodegmi suggest its significance in the oral microbiome of dogs. Limitations, including the small sample size, highlight the need for more research to comprehensively understand additional factors that affect the prevalence of Capnocytophaga spp. in dogs

A simple design of an ultrathin six-band polarization-insensitive terahertz perfect metamaterial absorber (PMMA) composed of a metal cross-cave-patch resonator (CCPR) placed over a ground plane was proposed and investigated numerically. The numerical simulation results demonstrate that the average absorption peaks are up to 95% at six resonance frequencies with high quality-factors (>65). In addition, the absorption properties can be kept stability for both normal incident transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) waves. The physical mechanism behind the observed high level absorption is illustrated by the electric and power loss density distributions. The different absorption mainly originates from the higher order multipolar and multipolar plasmon resonance of the structure, which are sharp different to the most previous studies of the PMMAs. Furthermore, the resonance absorption of the PMMA can be tunable by varying the geometric parameters of the unit cell.

A simple design of an ultrathin six-band polarization-insensitive terahertz perfect metamaterial absorber (PMMA) composed of a metal cross-cave-patch resonator (CCPR) placed over a ground plane was proposed and investigated numerically. The numerical simulation results demonstrate that the average absorption peaks are up to 95% at six resonance frequencies with high quality-factors (>65). In addition, the absorption properties can be kept stability for both normal incident transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) waves. The physical mechanism behind the observed high level absorption is illustrated by the electric and power loss density distributions. The different absorption mainly originates from the higher order multipolar and multipolar plasmon resonance of the structure, which are sharp different to the most previous studies of the PMMAs. Furthermore, the resonance absorption of the PMMA can be tunable by varying the geometric parameters of the unit cell.

Urban transportation in the next few decades will shift worldwide towards electrification and automation, with the final aim of increasing energy efficiency and safety for passengers. Such a big change requires strong collaboration and efforts among public administration, research and stakeholders in developing, testing and promoting these technologies in the public transportation. Working in this direction, in the present work the impact of the introduction of driverless electric minibuses, for the first and last mile transportation, in the public service is studied. More specifically, this paper covers a state of the art in terms of technological background for automation, energy efficiency via electrification, and the current state of the legal framework in Europe with focus on the Baltic Sea Region.

The assortment of low-cost 3D printers for “in-practice” use, e.g., for clear aligner therapies, is ever increasing. To address concerns about the accuracy of orthodontic models produced on such printers when cost efficient modes of 3D printing are employed, this study examined the effect of print model body type and print angulation on accuracy. Six printing-configuration groups were included: 2 model types (solid or hollow shell) combined with 3 print angles (0°, 70°, or 90°) with 10 models/group; all models were printed with 100-µm layer thickness using a digital light processing-based 3-dimensional printer. Eleven selected structures and distances were measured on the printed models with a digital microscope and compared to the same measures on a digitized master model. The clinically-acceptability range was set at ±0.25 mm difference from the master model for single tooth measurements (intra-tooth) and ±0.5 mm for cross-arch measurements (inter-tooth). For individual measurements across all models, 98% fell within clinical acceptability. For mean measurements within each model group, only canine height for the shell-0° model had a mean difference (0.26 mm ± 0.03) outside the clinically acceptable range for intra-tooth measurements. Standard deviations for all intra-tooth measurements were within 0.07 mm. While none of the mean inter-tooth measurements exceeded the acceptability range, the standard deviations were larger (0.04 to 0.30 mm). Accuracy of orthodontic models for clear aligner therapies was not impacted beyond the clinically acceptable range when altering model body type and print angulation to improve efficiency of 3D printing. These findings suggest greater flexibility of the practitioner to alter print settings to address time and cost efficiency in various clinical scenarios and still maintain clinically acceptable model accuracy.

Background: Alfalfa, the most economically important forage legume worldwide, features modest genetic progress due to long selection cycles and large extent of non-additive genetic variance associated with its autotetraploid genome. Methods: To improve the efficiency of genomic selection in alfalfa, we explored the effects of genome parametrization (as autotetraploid and diploid dosage, plus allele ratios) and SNP marker subsetting (all available SNPs; only genic regions; only non-genic regions) on genomic regressions, together with various levels of filtering on reading depth and missing rates. We used Genotyping by Sequencing-generated data and focused on traits of different genetic complexity, i.e., dry biomass yield in moisture-favorable (FE) and drought stress (SE) environments, leaf size, and onset of flowering, assessed on 143 genotyped plants from a genetically-broad European reference population and their phenotyped half-sib progenies. Results: On average, allele ratio improved the predictive ability compared with other genome parametrizations (+7.9% vs. tetraploid dosage, +12.6% vs. diploid dosage), SNP subsetting offered an advantage compared with any tested subsettings (+3.7% vs. genic regions, +7.6% vs. non-genic regions). However, when focusing on specific traits, different combinations of genome parametrization and subsetting reached better performances. We also released Legpipe2, a SNP calling pipeline tailored for reduced representation (GBS, RAD) medium-sized genotyping experiments.

Climate change is challenging the agricultural sector worldwide. The pressure exerted by the altered thermal conditions drives the zonal shift for various cultivations. This study presents the multiyear analysis of the Growing Degree Days (GDD) index over the Northern Mediterranean Basin (NMB), focused on the high-value vine cultivation derived from the E-OBS dataset. To handle this extensive environmental dataset, R-language scripts and packages were applied, along with the capabilities of the GIS software. The investigated time period spans from 1969 to 2018, and the performed analysis indicates a broad shift/expansion in areas of GDD exceeding 2000 heat units. The extracted results specify the viticultural areas where the GDD index surpasses the suitable values for vine cultivation, owing to the increase of the thermal stress risk. In addition to mapping areas with GDD ≥ 2000, spatial calculations of the surface of areas meeting this criterion per country in the study area were made. In the northern parts of the NMB, the rise of the GDD index values indicates the establishment of vine plantations in the future.

In this article, we describe a simple procedure for evaluating the sterility of nutrient media using a shear-horizontal surface acoustic wave (SH-SAW) biosensor. We used the SH-SAW biosensor platform to monitor the time-dependent phase responses of the material for the media that binds to a monolayer of 3-mercaptopropanyl-N-hydroxy succinimide on the biosensor surface. Increases in the phase shift less than 50% of the starting phase shift recorded 180 minutes after the sterilization indicate a successful sterility test of the media. Our devices were then applied to sterility testing using a viable Escherichia coli (E. coli) K-12 solution to confirm our hypothesis. Filtered LB Broth was the negative control, and a 24-hour culture of E. coli was the positive control. Before testing, the cell solution was pelleted, the media decanted and then replaced with a 1x phosphate-buffered saline solution (1x PBS). Since we know that the N-hydroxysuccinimide residues will bind to amine groups, only in cases where microbial species are present will the surface binding increase greater than 50%. We confirmed our hypothesis using SH-SAW biosensors and overnight E. coli cultures. The sensitivity for our 250 MHz quartz SH-SAW sensors was calculated based on the response from the E. coli K-12 solution over the linear dynamic range, which appears to be 2x104 – 2x107 CFU per ml and has a sensitivity of S = 1.655x105 o m2 Kg-1. The limit of detection (LOD) for these sensors was calculated to be approximately 2x10-9 grams (g) which is estimated to be approximately 2,000 Escherichia coli (E. coli) K-12 cells. However, the sensitivity and insertion loss remained approximately unchanged before and after coating the sensor with 3,3'-Dithiobis(succinimidyl) Propionate (DSP).

Regeneration of lost tail is of great importance to lizards. Anolis carolinensis, a green lizard, is capable of regenerating its tail efficiently after autotomy. Hence, it is considered as a model organism in regeneration study. A. carolinensis shed its tail in order to distract the predator’s attention and thus makes a way to escape. Restoring of the amputated tail takes several days and the mechanism is currently clearly understood. Although save its life, tail regeneration is associated with the impairment of several vital functions in Anoles. In addition, various differences have been observed between original and regenerated tail in terms of mechanism and structure. To date, very little work has been conducted on tail autotomy and regeneration at molecular and genetic level. The genes responsible for regeneration in anoles are identified recently. These genes are evolutionarily conserved through all tetrapod vertebrates. They are, however, in a state of ‘switched-off’ in other vertebrates including humans. Consequently, a throughout study of these so called ‘switched-off’ genes may provide a way of restoring lost organs in human, and thus could revolutionize the modern medical science.

The strong competition in the automotive industry has required manufacturers to implement lean production, both with methods and techniques specific to Industry 4.0. At the same time, universities must provide graduates with specific skills for applying these new production methods and techniques. In this context, a Lean Learning Factory was developed in the Pitesti University Center, which allows students to learn, experiment, and research, in an environment similar to that of enterprises, the new Lean Manufacturing methods and techniques, and Industry 4.0. The research presented in this study had as its objective identifying the minimum number of repetitions necessary to train operators who serve two differently organized workstations, one classic, the other including digital techniques, but on which the same assembly operation is performed. Several indicators were considered in the analysis, such as the number of errors, the number of stops, the effective duration of the work cycle, and the percentage ratio between the standard duration of cyclical activities and the effective duration of the work cycle. The evolution of these indicators was mathematically modelled by regression functions, using the least squares method. The obtained results also highlight the usefulness of applying the DOJO method as a Lean manufacturing-specific learning technique and the efficiency of implementing digital techniques in work organization.

Classifying network flow subsequences in an Industrial IoT gateway is an effective method for identifying Industrial IoT faults. This paper proposes a subsequence classification algorithm SSGBUL-IKNN based on unsupervised learning encoding to address the problem of low classification accuracy. Firstly, we built a network module based on unsupervised learning to encode the flow sequence of the Industrial IoT gateway. In the encoding module, a subsequence calibration algorithm controls the increasing error during the coding process. Then, the specific fault type is obtained through an improved KNN classification algorithm based on the indication distance source from the integrated coding sequences converted by multi-dimensional network flow sequences. The test result on three Industrial IoT datasets of a sewage treatment plant shows that the accuracy of SSGBUL-IKNN in this paper exceeds 92%, significantly higher than the algorithm DTW and TSF. It reaches the classification requirements of Industrial IoT fault diagnosis.

In this paper, we study the global existence and exponential decay for a dynamic contact problem between a Timoshenko beam with second sound and two rigid obstacles, of which the heat flux is given by Cattaneo's law instead of the usual Fourier's law. The main difficulties arise from the irregular boundary terms, from the low regularity of the weak solution and from the weaker dissipative effects of heat conduction induced by Cattaneo's law. By considering related penalized problems, proving some a priori estimates and passing to the limit, we prove the global existence of the solutions. By considering the approximate framework, constructing some new functionals and applying the perturbed energy method, we obtain the exponential decay result for the approximate solution, and then prove the exponential decay rate to the original problem by utilizing the weak lower semicontinuity arguments.

Reducing the hardness of hard water is of great concern nowadays due to some adverse effects on water pipes, boilers and soap consumption. Using the method of biomineralization to precipitate calcium and magnesium ions to become carbonate minerals was one of the most important innovations for reducing the hardness of hard water. The present study sought to explore the physical and chemical conditions of carbonates bio-precipitation and the potential use of Bacillus licheniformis SRB2 strain (GenBank: KM884945.1) isolated from sludge sample of Moshui River (Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China) in reducing the hardness of hard waters by the induction of carbonate minerals. In this study, B. licheniformis SRB2 strain was identified based on the morphological, biochemical and 16S rDNA gene sequence homology analysis. The carbonate minerals induced by B. licheniformis bacteria in the liquid culture medium with 3% NaCl and Mg/Ca molar ratio of 0, 6, 8, 10 and 12 were investigated. The culture medium was inoculated with the bacterial liquid seed was set as the experimental group and the other culture medium was inoculated with the same volume of distilled water was set as the control group. The mineral phases, micromorphologies, and crystal structures were analyzed using X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray detector, high resolution transmission electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction. The bacterial concentrations and pH values of the solution were measured by a spectrophotometer and a pH meter, respectively. The urease secreted by B. licheniformis SRB2 was found to greatly increase the pH values of the liquid medium, which favored the formation of calcium carbonate.As a result, Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺ ion concentrations decreased greatly due to the biomineralization of calcium carbonate and nesquehonite minerals in the presence of B. licheniformis SRB2 bacterium. There were only few calcium carbonates and no nesquehonite minerals in the control groups. It was also found that the minerals of nesquehonite induced by B. licheniformis SRB2 had a phenomenon of preferred orientation. What was more, even though Mg²⁺ ions inhibited the precipitation of Ca²⁺ ions, but under the action of B. licheniformis SRB2 bacteria, the inhibition effect was significantly declined. The bio-precipitation of calcium carbonate and nesquehonite minerals may represent a new method of pretreatment for the hardness reduction of hard water. The accomplished study is of certain interest for interpretation of the carbonates biomineralization in natural environment, and maybe also has a certain application value in the former processing of hard water

In this paper, a novel permanent magnet-assisted synchronous reluctance machine (PMASynRM) with rare-earth PMs and ferrite magnets is proposed. The performance of PMASynRM is discussed with respected to the different magnet ratio of rare-earth PMs and ferrite magnets. Some characteristics including the flux density, output torque, cogging torque, output power, power factor, torque ripple, loss, efficiency, and demagnetization are calculated by 2-D finite element analysis (FEA). The analysis results show that the excellent performance can be obtained by using hybrid magnet of rare-earth PMs and ferrite magnets with the suitable magnet ratio, and provide some desirable cost-performance trade-off.

Saikosaponin (SS) a is a compound with various pharmacological properties and easily degraded into SSb1 and SSg in acid condition. In present work another two new degradation products of SSa formed under acid hydrolytic condition were detected and isolated by analytical and semi-preparative liquid chromatography technology, furthermore their structures were characterized as hydroxyl-saikosaponin a and SSb2 by spectral analysis, which is not only essential in stability-indicating method development and validation but also could be used as a worst case to assess the analytical method performance of SSa. Moreover their structural transformation pathways were also proposed.

In recent years, cerium dioxide (CeO2) has attracted considerable attention owing to its remarkable performance in various applications, including photocatalysis, fuel cells, and catalysis. This study explores the effect of nickel (Ni) doping on the structural, thermal, and chemical properties of CeO2 nanorods, particularly focusing on oxygen vacancy-related phenomena. Utilizing X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), alterations in crystal structure and peak shifts were observed, indicating successful Ni doping and the formation of Ni2O3 at higher doping levels, likely due to non-equilibrium reactions. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed changes in oxygen release mechanisms, with increasing Ni doping resulting in the release of lattice oxygen at lower temperatures. Raman spectroscopy corroborated these findings by identifying characteristic peaks associated with oxygen vacancies, facilitating the assessment of Ni doping levels. Overall, this study underscores the substantial impact of Ni doping on CeO2 nanorods, shedding light on tailored catalytic applications through modulation of oxygen vacancies while preserving the nanorod morphology.

(1) Background: Thrombophilia is a tendency towards hypercoagulability, and it is increased by pregnancy, peaking around delivery. Research question: does thrombophilia stimulate the in-flammatory state of the patient, already suppressed by pregnancy? (2) Methods: Eighty thrombo-philia patients admitted for delivery between 1/10/2017 and 1/12/2021 were prospectively stud-ied, together with eighty age- and para-matched control patients. Patients were admitted for de-livery at term by means of cesarean section. The inflammation indexes from the complete blood count values analysis during both the 24 hours before and after labor—extracted from the hospi-tal’s medical records—were calculated and then correlated with uterine involution. (3) Results: Except for the PLR, most of the numerous inflammation indexes studied were not significantly different in treated thrombophilia patients, before and after delivery, compared to non-thrombophilia patients. Only when we split the patients, based on the uterine haematometra in the first 24-48 hours postpartum, we found out that the few treated thrombophilia patients with haematometra (14 with haematometra out of 79 with treated thrombophilia) had elevated SII and AISI antepartum. In pregnant patients treated for thrombophilia, MLR is higher in pa-tients without the Rh factor than in those with the Rh factor. In non-thrombophilia patients, MCVL and NLPR increased with age and before labor, while SII and AISI increased with age postpartum. (4) Conclusions: Thrombophilia did not stimulate the inflammatory state of the pa-tient, already suppressed by pregnancy.