A robust explicit model predictive control (EMPC)-based frequency adaptive grid voltage sensorless control is developed for a grid-connected inverter (GCI) via a linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach under the model parameter uncertainties and non-ideal grid environment. The control scheme is achieved by an enhanced prediction model rather than the conventional prediction model provided by fixed parameters to maintain the quality of grid currents injected into the grid when the model parameters are varied. Furthermore, an LMI-based observer is integrated with the disturbance observer to improve the reference tracking performance and reject disturbances. The proposed observer is employed for the grid frequency adaptive control without need of grid voltage sensors. The proposed current controller and observer employ the LMI scheme to maintain a stable and robust operation of the GCI. The discrete-time frequency response and pole-zero map analyses are used to investigate system stability and robustness against parameter uncertainties. Comprehensive simulation, experimental results and analyses clearly demonstrate the robustness of the proposed control scheme under various adverse test conditions with unexpected grid and system uncertainties.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of incorporating linseed oil and fish oil in the diet on intake, ruminal fermentation milk yield and milk fatty acid profile in dairy goats. Four crossbred Saanen lactating goats in mid-lactation and milking 1.30±0.28 g/day were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. The basal diet consisted of concentrate and Para grass (C:F 40:60). Treatments included the basal diet without oil supplement (Ctrl) or with 2.5% linseed oil (LO2.5), 2.5% linseed oil and fish oil (3:2, w/w, LFO2.5), and 4.16% linseed oil and fish oil (3:2, w/w, LFO4.16). Diets had no effect on intake, milk yield, milk composition and ruminal fermentation patterns (P > 0.05). The lower (P < 0.05) proportions of C10:0-C14:0 in milk fat were observed with LFO4.16 compared with Ctrl. Compared with the Ctrl and linseed oil added alone, feeding LFO4.16 resulted in a 589% and 303% increase in C18:1 t11, respectively. Milk c9,t11 CLA was markedly increased with the LFO4.16 diet, accounting for 4.53 and 2.94 times greater concentrations than those in Ctrl and LO2.5 diets, respectively (P < 0.01). Goats fed LFO2.5 and LFO4.16 had greater levels of C22:6n-3 (0.63% and 0.87%; P < 0.001) compared with those fed Ctrl and LO2.5 diets (0.06% and 0.08%). Overall, the combined data suggested that including 4.16% linseed oil and fish oil in the diet of dairy goats is effective for improving the concentrations of healthy fatty acids in milk, without affecting milk production.

Invasive fungal infections by Candida albicans frequently cause mortality in immunocompromised patients. Neutrophils are particularly important for fungal clearance at the early phase of infections, yet little has been known regarding which surface receptor controls neutrophil phagocytic activities during systemic C. albicans infection. CD137, which is encoded by Tnfrsf9, belongs to the tumor necrosis receptor superfamily and has been shown to regulate neutrophils in Gram-positive bacterial infection. Here, we used genetic and immunological tools to probe the involvement of CD137 signaling in innate defense mechanisms against systemic C. albicans infection. We first found that Tnfrsf9-/- mice were susceptible to C. albicans infection, whereas injection of anti-CD137 agonistic antibody protected the host from infection, suggesting that CD137 signaling is indispensable for innate immunity against C. albicans infection. Priming of isolated neutrophils with anti-CD137 antibody promoted their phagocytic and fungicidal activities through phospholipase C. In addition, injection of anti-CD137 antibody significantly augmented restriction of fungal growth in Tnfrsf9-/- mice that received WT neutrophils. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that CD137 signaling contributes to defense mechanisms against systemic C. albicans infection by promoting rapid fungal clearance whereby harmful immunopathology-induced tissue injuries are minimalized.

Lipid nanoparticles have an interesting part of drug delivery system. In this study, the modification of the convention nano-lipid based soybean lecithin was demonstrated. Ginger oil derived Zingiber officinale was used along with lecithin, cholesterol and span 80 to fabricate nano-lipid (GL nano-lipid) using thin-film method. Through TEM and confocal microscope, GL nano-lipid exposes the liposome- like morphology. The average size of the resultant nanoparticles was 249.1nm with monodistribution (PDI= 0.021). The ζ-potential of GL nano-lipid was negative as similar to as prepared nano-lipid based lecithin. GL nano-lipid express the highly stable over 60 days of storage at room temperature in term of size, ζ-potential. A shift of pH value from alkaline to acid was detected in lecithin nano-lipid, while with the incorporation of ginger oil, pH value of nano-lipid dispersion was around 7.0. Furthermore, due to the rich of shogaol-6 and other active compounds in ginger oil, the GL nano-lipid is endowed with intrinsic antibacterial feature. In addition, the sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay and live/dead imaging revealed the excellent biocompatibility of GL nano-lipid. Notably, GL nano-lipid was capable to carry the hydrophobic agents as curcumin and perform a pH-dependent release profile. A subsequent characterization are a suitable potential for drug delivery system.

Mangrove ecosystems play an important role in local livelihoods in coastal regions of tropical and subtropical countries. However, in recent years urbanisation has changed the income structure of residents near mangroves. Different landscapes provide different job opportunities; thus, analysis of regional landscape patterns is important for understanding income structures. In this study, surveys on the income structure and landscape patterns of the surrounding areas of three mangrove sites were conducted in the Hau and Hoang Mai River estuaries in Nghe An Province, North-Central Vietnam. The results revealed that both natural and socio-economic landscape components affected income structure. The major occupations in the study area were agriculture, including husbandry, sea fishing, and trading. Land morphology and river type were the major factors influencing the income from agriculture, while coastline morphology primarily affected income from sea fishing. Community-based trading was carried out in the study area; thus, the population inside each administrative unit was a significant factor increasing income, while the retail market size in an area had significant negative effects, potentially due to the increasing number of competitors. Our study aimed to evaluate mangrove ecosystem importance for local livelihoods in relation to landscape patterns, and the results contribute to urban planning based on the conservation and sustainable use of mangrove ecosystems.

Despite the recognized benefits of fecal occult blood test (FOBT) and mammography screenings, participation in breast (BC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) screening programs is still suboptimal. This study investigates municipal characteristics associated with their BC/CRC screening uptake profiles among women aged 55–69 years. Using data from 308 municipalities of Flanders from 2014 to 2017, a profile for each municipality based on its BC/CRC screening uptake compared with the median screening uptake was created. Logistic regression with generalized estimating equations was used to assess the associations between municipal characteristics and BC/CRC screening uptake profiles. The overall median uptake of cancer screening was higher for CRC (57.4%) than for BC (54.6%). The following municipal characteristics were associated with worse performance in terms of only CRC, only BC, or both CRC and BC screening uptake, respectively: foreign nationality, self-employment rate, (early) retirement rate, diabetes, disabilities; (early) retirement rate; age group 65–69, foreign nationality, self-employment rate, (early) retirement rate, wage-earners, diabetes. The following municipal characteristics were associated with better performance in terms of only CRC, only BC, or both CRC and BC screening uptake respectively: residential stability, having a partner, having children, jobseeker rate, GP visits, preventive dental visits; having children, GP visits; age group 55–59, residential stability, having a partner, having children, jobseeker rate, higher education, GP visits, preventive dental visits. This study’s results regarding the interrelation between the BC and CRC screening could be used to tailor interventions to improve the participation of the target population in both programs.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a technique used for many years by chemists for elucidation of molecular structure. Technological progress over the years has enabled this technique, making it easier to use. Thus, the LF-NMR (low-field NMR) was introduced as side technique, characterized by low man-agement costs and shorter analysis time than its main counterpart. The application of 1H LF-NMR for the quantification of ethyl alcohol in different alcoholic matrices is herein described, comparing results ob-tained with this technique with those determined by a reference gascromatographic method.

The composition simplex (N, P, K, Ca, and Mg) of the leaf is the main scores used by different approaches like the Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System and Compositional Nutrient Diagnosis to study the nutrient interactions and balance in plant leaves. However, the application and validation of these concepts to grain composition remains unexplored. Contrary to foliar analysis's early intervention for nutrient deficiency detection and correction, applying this approach to seeds assesses diverse cultivars' potential, enabling anticipation of their adaptation to climate conditions and informed selection for future crops. In the present study, a collected database of more than 924 scores including the grain yield (kg ha-1) and the nutrient composition (mg kg-1) of different corn varieties is used to develop a novel nutrient-based diagnostic approach to identify reliable markers of nutrient imbalance. A 'nutrient signature' model is proposed based on the impact of the environ-mental conditions on the nutrient indices and composition (N, P, K, Ca, and Mg) of the corn grains. The yield threshold used to differentiate between low and high-yielding subpopulations is established at 12.000 kg ha-1and the global nutrient imbalance index (GNII) of 2.2 is determined using the chi-square distribution function and vali-dated by the Cate-Nelson partitioning method, which correlated yield data distribution with the GNII. Therefore, the nutrient compositions were classified into highly balanced (GNII ≤ 1.6), balanced (1.6 < GNII ≤ 2.2), and imbalanced (GNII > 2.2). In addition, we found that the Xgboost model's predictive accuracy for GNII is signif-icantly affected by soil pH, organic matter, and rainfall. These results pave the way for adapted agricultural practices by providing insights into the nutrient dynamics of corn grains under varying environmental conditions.

Background. To describe the characteristics of anterior mediastinal masses on conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to assess the role of the Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC) value in distinguishing benign from malignant mediastinal lesions. Methods. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study on 55 patients with anterior mediastinal mass who performed MRI before treatment. Biopsy and histopathological assessments were done after that. A radiologist evaluates the changes of signal intensity on these sequences: T1- weighted VIBE DIXON pre and post-contrast with Gadolinium, T2 HASTE, T2 TIRM, DWI/ADC, to determine the size, margin of the lesion, the presence of fat, cystic in it. ADCs values were calculated from the ADC maps which were constructed from b = 0 and b = 2000 Results. The study was composed of 55 patients, with 5 benign lesions and 50 malignant lesions. The ADCmean, ADCmedian, ADC10, and ADC90 in the histogram-based approach and hot-spot-ROI-based mean ADC for the malignant lesions was significantly lower than those found in benign lesions (P-value <0.05). The hot-spot-ROI-based mean ADC had the highest value in differentiation between benign and malignant mediastinal lesions, between group A (benign lesions, thymoma A, AB, B1) and group B (thymoma B2, B3 and other malignant lesions). The cut-off point of the ADC value differentiating malignant from benign mediastinal lesions was 1,17x10-3mm2/s with sensitivity of 80%, and specificity of 80%. The cut off point of the ADC value differentiating group A from group B was 0.99 x10-3mm2/s with sensitivity of 78,4%, and specificity of 88.9%. The cut-off point of the ADC value differentiating lymphoma from other malignant lesions was 0,91 x10-3mm2/s with sensitivity of 100%, and specificity of 60.5%. Conclusion. Diffusion-weighted MRI and measurement of ADC value in histogram-based approach and hot-spot-ROI-based mean ADC are very helpful in the differentiation between benign and malignant anterior mediastinal lesions.

Fluid flow in human body is generally known to influence a variety of cellular behaviors. Different nanoparticle properties as well as cell type, interaction with other cells and cellular environments also show significant effect on nanoparticle uptake and drug efficacy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of shear stress on cellular behaviors of biocompatible and biodegradable nanoparticles to cancer cells (A549 cell lines) in a biomimetic microfluidic system. We prepared a gelatin-oleic conjugate (GOC) as an amphiphilic biomaterial to prepare self-assembled gelatin-oleic nanoparticles (GON). Coumarin-6 and paclitaxel were used as the fluorescence marker and model drug, respectively, and were loaded into GONs by incubation (C-GONs; PTX-GONs). Additionally, we evaluated the cellular uptake of fluorescence labeled C-GONs and the drug efficacy of PTX-GONs. The cellular uptake of C-GONs by A549 cells in the absence of shear stress revealed that the mean fluorescence intensity was slightly decreased compared to that in the presence of shear stress. The results also indicated that negatively charged PTX-GONs had a lower cancer killing effect under dynamic conditions than that under static conditions. It also suggested that fluidic shear stress did not significantly affect drug uptake and efficiency in case of PTX-GONs. The cellular interactions between nanoparticles and cells in drug delivery should be carefully examined according to the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles such as the type of materials, size and mainly surface charge in a biomimetic microfluidic condition.

The electrokinetics methods have a great potential to characterize hydrogeological processes in geological media, especially in complex hydrosystems such as fractured formations. In this work, we conceptualize fractured media as a bunch of parallel capillary fractures following the fractal size distribution. This conceptualization permits to obtain analytical models for both the electrical conductivity and the electrokinetic coupling in water saturated fractured media. We explore two different approaches to express the electrokinetic coupling. First, we express the streaming potential coupling coefficient as a function of the zeta potential and then we obtain the effective charge density in terms of macroscopic hydraulic and electrokinetic parameters of porous media. We show that when the surface electrical conductivity is negligible, the proposed models reduces to the previously proposed one based on a bundle of cylindrical capillaries. This model opens up a wide range of applications to monitor the water flow in fractured media.

Recent prolonged dry periods and lack of irrigation water have severely affected the productivity of coffee farms’ in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. This paper analyzes the efficiency of irrigation water use for Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora) in Lam Dong province, Highlands, Vietnam. A Cobb-Douglas production function was used to determine coffee productivity’s response to the application of irrigation water and other production factors using data collected from 194 farmers while the Technical Efficiency (TE) and Irrigation Water Use Efficiency (IWUE) were analyzed using a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model. The correlation of different factors to IWUE was determined using the Tobit model. The production function analysis using Cobb-Douglas shows that the volume of irrigation water, amount of working capital, labor and farm size significantly influence coffee productivity. It also shows that indigenous farmers are more efficient in utilizing irrigation water than the (mostly Kinh) migrant farmers. The Tobit result, on the other hand. indicates that farmers’ experience, education level, distance of farm to water source, security of access to water source, extension contact and credit access significantly affect IWUE. The study findings further suggest that mitigating water shortages in coffee farms require sub-regional and national policy support such as better access to credit and extension services, training, land management and household-level effort to improve farming practices, through the application of appropriate technologies and traditional knowledge.

Recently, Indium Tin Oxide, a highly transparent, well conductive, and CMOS-compatible material, has been paying strong attention to the thermo-optic controlled silicon photonics industry because it allows a miniature of the gap between the core silicon and the heater, thus enabling reducing the electric power consumption and enhancing the switching speed. In this article, we propose an ultralow loss and small-size ITO microheater for the phase shift tuning. The designated microheater is manipulated in realizing a numerical co-design of compact and high bandwidth three-mode converter and three-mode selective router. Simulation results illustrate the 3-dB bandwidth for the three-mode converter and three-mode selective router as much as 100-nm and 40-nm during crosstalk under -25 dB, respectively. Besides, co-designed devices attain relatively large fabrication tolerances corresponding to width and height tolerances of ±50 nm and ±5 nm. In addition, the proposed devices consumed less than 90 mW total power consumption and took a fast switching time below 8 μs. Moreover, both two co-designs can be integrated into an estimated compact footprint of 8 μm2160 μm. Such excellent performances demonstrate the attractive potential of ITO as low-loss thermo-optic phase shifters and open an alternative way for enabling ultrafast and high-speed mode division multiplexing systems and very large-scale photonic integrated circuits.

Earthquake events present a high risk in urban areas. Nador City is a Mediterranean city located in a dynamic zone with seismologic movement and a frequency of earthquake events per year. This worrying rate shows that earthquake risks can hinder the urban area and damage citizens and goods if urban risk management is not taken. This study defines the areas most threatened by seismic events to protect them as a priority. Using Geographic Information System, Corine Land Cover, seismic intensity, and socioeconomic vulnerability index, we mapped the urban vulnerability index. The adopted model determines urban vulnerability levels from urban land cover, topography, geologic factors, and geomorphologic factors. These approaches reveal that $70\%$ of Nador is under the damage of a seismic disaster. In addition, the main objective is to apply a new set of guidelines to map the intensity of risks and explain the distinct risk exposure level in Nador’s urban context.

This research provides an in-depth analysis of drought impacts in West Pokot, Kenya, utilizing both remote sensing surveys and focus group discussions. The study commenced by assessing the impact of drought on vegetation health via spatial sensors. It then utilized surveys and focus group discussions (FGDs) to engage farmers from the most drought-affected areas in Kacheliba and Sigor sub-counties. The analysis of remote sensing data from 1990 to 2022 highlighted that Sigor and Kacheliba experienced significant drought events during the years 1995, 2000, 2002, 2005, and 2009, and 1991, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2019, respectively. This study delves into both the meteorological and socio-economic effects on local communities. Using the Multinomial Logistic Regression (MLR) model with the glm function, the research uncovered the impacts of so-cio-economic factors and agricultural practices on household livestock production. Additionally, the study employed Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) to explore the dynamics between livestock production, community resilience, and crop production. The findings underscore the urgent need for tailored interventions to enhance community resilience in the face of increasing climatic extremes, serving as a blueprint for similar arid and semi-arid regions worldwide.

The COVID-19 pandemic has expanded globally and caused serious consequence in both health system and the economy. MPV is one of two oral antivirals for COVID-19 with mild-to-moderate symptoms that have received FDA approval so far. This study aims to evaluate the cost-utility of using MPV in COVID-19 treatment. To compare the utility costs of MPV and non-MPV treatments for COVID-19 patients, we used a decision tree model. Data on clinical efficacy, cost, and quality of life were gathered from previous studies. The incremental effective cost ratio (ICER) calculated based on costs incurred and quality-adjusted life years (QALY), was considered as primary out-come. The total cost of MPV treatment and not using MPV was 15,362,516 VND (618 USD) and 15,771,262 VND (634 USD), respectively. The estimated QALY with using-MPV was 28.33, while without MPV was 19.72. The ICER was dominant, resulting in savings of 47,453 VND/QALY (1.9 USD). MPV is a cost-effective medication used to treat COVID-19. In mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients, MPV considerably lowers costs and improves quality of life. However, several clinical factors of the drug still need to be taken into account.

The fossil record of the Ophiuroidea is still patchy, especially in the Cenozoic. Only four species have been described from the entire Oligocene, which is in stark contrast to the present-day diversity counting more than 2000 species. Here, we describe two new species of ophiuroid, Ophiura tankardi sp. nov. and Ophiodoris niersteinensis sp. nov., from the Lower Oligocene of the Mainz Basin. The species are based on microfossils extracted from the sieving residues of bulk sediment samples from a flush drill in Nierstein, Rhineland-Palatinate. The new species belong to extant genera and add to the poor Oligocene fossil record of the class. Based on present-day distributions, the occurrence of Ophiodoris suggests deep sublittoral to shallow bathyal palaeodepths for the Nierstein area of the Mainz Basin.

Respiratory viral infections (RVI) are common reasons for healthcare consultations. The inpatient management of RVI consumes significant resources. From 2009-2014, we assessed the costs of RVI management in 4776 hospitalized chil-dren aged 0-18 years participating in a quality improvement program, where all ILI patients underwent virologic testing at the National Reference Centre followed by de-tailed recording of their clinical course. The direct (medical or non-medical) and indirect costs of inpatient management outside the ICU (“non-ICU”) versus management requiring ICU-care (“ICU”) added up to 2,767.14€ (non-ICU) vs. 29,941.71€ (ICU) for Influenza, 2,713.14€ (non-ICU) vs. 16,951.06€ (ICU) for RSV infections, and 2,767.33€ (non-ICU) vs. 14,394.02€ (ICU) for human rhinovirus (hRV) infections, respectively. Non-ICU inpatient costs were similar for all 8 RVI studied: Influenza, RSV, hRV, ade-novirus (hAdV), metapneumovirus (hMPV), parainfluenzavirus (hPIV), bocavirus (hBoV) and seasonal coronavirus (hCoV) infections. ICU-costs for Influenza however, ex-ceeded all other RVI. At the time of the study, Influenza was the only RVI with antivi-ral treatment options available for children, but only 9.8% of Influenza patients (non-ICU) and 1.5% of ICU-patients with Influenza received antivirals; only 2.9% were vac-cinated. Future studies should investigate the economic impact of treatment and pre-vention of Influenza-, COVID-19-, and RSV post vaccine introduction.

Senolytic and senomorphic therapies gain more and more attention in the last decade. This kind of therapy is based on the killing of cellular senescent cells without harming the “normal” cells. Ageing is not a disease. Clinical studies on healthy people will be difficult to conduct. Therefore, one possibility is to draw on the large repertoire of medicinal plants and use their sneolytic properties to provide mild, anti-ageing therapies. Chamomile, goldenrod, reishi and green tea were tested for their ability to trigger senolysis quercetin was used as control substance. Cellular senescence was induced with 25µM etoposide in human dermal fibroblasts and established for at least 14 days. The plant extracts were tested for their antioxidant potential (DPPH assay) and their polyphenol content. Senolysis was determined by presto blue assay of young and etoposide-induced senescent cells, and ß-Gal assays were also performed. The senomporphic properties of the plants were investigated using IL-6 ELISA and qPCR. It turned out that chamomile triggers a kind of cytokine storm and causes the cytokine values in the Elisa and in the qPCR to rise extremely, and other senescence-associated phenotype (SASP) markers were also elevated. Goldenrod and quercetin tend to have a senolytic and senomorphic effect respectively. Regarding the senolytic and senomorphic properties of herbs, we have found that all tested herbs can have a senolytic effect, and a senomorphic effect of quercetin has also been uncovered. With regard to the effect of chamomile, however, we can say that seemingly harmless tea products may have harmful effects, especially in combination with chemotherapy, at least in cell culture experiments.

Cercospora beticola Sacc. is an ascomycete pathogen that causes Cercospora leaf spot in sugar beets (Beta vulgaris L.) and other related crops. The disease symptoms are characterized by circular lesions with an ash-gray centre and dark brown to purple margins on the leaves. It can lead to significant yield losses if not effectively managed. This study aims to characterize and assess the impact of bacterial biological control agents against C. beticola. Following a dual-culture screening, 18 bacteria exhibiting over 50% inhibition were selected, with six of them demonstrating more than 80% control. Identification of the bacteria was carried out through sequencing of the16S rDNA, revealing potentially 12 species belonging to six genera including Bacillus which was represented by four species. Additionally, the bacteria underwent in-depth characterization of biochemical and molecular properties, as well as plant-growth promotion. PCR detection of genes responsible for producing antifungal metabolites revealed that 83%, 78%, 89%, and 56% of the selected bacteria possessed the bacillomycin, iturin, fengycin, and surfactin encoding genes, respectively. Infrared spectroscopy analysis confirmed the presence of lipopeptide structure in the bacteria supernatant filtrate. Subsequently, the bacteria were assessed for their effect on sugar beet plants in controlled conditions. The bacteria exhibited notable capabilities, promoting growth in both roots and shoots, resulting in significant increases in root length, weight, and shoot length. The field experiment with four bacterial candidates demonstrated good performance against C. beticola compared to difenoconazole fungicide. These bacteria played a significant role in disease control, achieving a maximum efficacy of 77.42%, slightly below the 88.51% efficacy attained by difenoconazole. Additional field trials are necessary to verify the protective and growth-promoting effects of these candidates, whether applied individually, combined in consortia, or integrated with chemical inputs in sugar beet crop production.

A dioxomolybdenum catalyst [(MoO2Cl2-O-MoO2Cl2)(L)] (1) (with L (1S,2S)-N,N´-bis(2-pyridinecarboxamide)-1,2-cyclohexane) was prepared and used as catalyst for the desulfurization of a multicomponent model fuel containing the most refractory sulfur compounds in real fuels. This complex showed to have a high efficiency to oxidize the aromatic benzothiophene derivative compounds present in fuels, mainly using a biphasic 1:1 model fuel/MeOH system. This process conciliates catalytic oxidative and extractive desulfurization, occurring the oxidation of the sulfur compounds in the polar organic solvent. The oxidative catalytic performance of (1) showed to be influenced by the presence of water in the system. Using 50% aq. H2O2 it was possible to reuse the catalyst and the extraction solvent MeOH during ten consecutive cycles without loss of desulfurization efficiency.

One of the robust explanation related to sociological educational inequality is Bourdieu’s cultural reproduction theory. Admittedly, prior work investigated that children’s cultural capital (CC) have significant effects on educational success. Although, it remain unclear in the context of developing countries specifically Vietnam. Also, how children’s conversion mechanism of CC works and drive educational success. Meanwhile, Bourdieu theory argue that CC effects educations outcomes largely via teachers biasness by using support of school grades, in contrast some of the scholars argue that absorption of children’s CC may directly transmit into educational abilities and skill development. This study employed partial least square structural equation modelling to analyze 5th grades students’ data collected from educational policy and data center. This study argue that conversion mechanism grounded on CC dimensions. This study provide implications for the policy makers and future researchers.

Nowadays, the uses of laser and optics in the medical areas are extremely vivid, especially low-level laser therapy. The light with the wavelength of 633 nm to 1200 nm could penetrate and propagate deep in biological tissue. To develop the low-level laser therapy device, optimizing light delivery is critical to accurately stimulate the biological effects inside the biological tissue. Nevertheless, each form of the tissues at each zone on the body had various refractive optic, absorption, scattering, and anisotropy coefficients. This paper describes the simulation results of low-level laser propagation from skin surface at the lower spine, the knee, the femur and the prostate gland with four wavelengths (633 nm, 780 nm, 850 nm, and 940 nm) by the Monte Carlo method. These simulation results are the base for developing the low-level laser therapy device, that could be used in clinical for treating the fracture, knee osteoarthritis, spinal degeneration, and benign prostatic hypertrophy.

The expression of the oncogene zinc-finger protein 217 (ZNF217) has been reported to play a central role in cancer development, resistance, and recurrence. Therefore, targeting ZNF217 has been proposed as a possible strategy to fight cancer, making necessary to discover novel com-pounds. The present work aims to characterize the chemopreventive properties of cucurbitacin D , a compound with a broad range of anticancer effectsin relation to the ZNF217 expression. Different cucurbitacins were isolated from the Vietnamese plant Elaeocarpus hainanensis. The purified compounds were tested on nucleophosmin-mutated acute myeloid leukemia and other hematology cancer to study their effects on viability, apoptosis, cell cycle and on the expression of ZNF217. Cucurbitacin D reduced the number of acute myeloid leukemia cells by increasing apoptosis and blocking cell cycle progression. It also significantly decreased ZNF217 expression but only in the OCI-AML3 Nucleophosmin-mutated cell line, but not in other hematologic cancers. The reduction in ZNF217 expression contributed significantly to the blocking of cell cycle progression but not to apoptosis as established by the silencing of the same gene. The obtained results suggest Cucurbitacin D as a promising molecule to target the mutated Nu-cleophosmin or its pathway in acute myeloid leukemia cells, although further studies are needed for in depth investigatiion of its specificity.

Background: Circulating rare cells participate in breast cancer evolution as systemic components of the disease and thus, are a source of theranostic information. Exploration of cancer-associated rare cells is in its infancy. We determined the validity of a rare-cell detection platform and demonstrated the usefulness of a certain rare cell subset as a novel approach to characterize the breast cancer system. Methods: Linearity of the Rarmax® platform was established using a spike-in approach. The platform includes red blood cell lysis, leukocyte depletion and high-resolution fluorescence image recording. Rare cell analysis was conducted on 28 samples (before and after surgery) from 14 patients with breast cancer, 20 healthy volunteers and 9 non-cancer control volunteers. In-depth identification of rare cells, including circulating tumor cells, endothelial-like cells, erythroblasts and inflammation-associated cells, was performed using a phenotype and morphology-based classification system. Results: The platform performed linearly over a range of 5-950 spiked cells, with an average recovery of 84.6%. Circulating epithelial and endothelial-like cell subsets have been demonstrated to be associated with or independent of cancer with tumor presence. Furthermore, certain cell patterns may be associated with treatment-related adverse effects. The sensitivity in detecting tumor-presence and cancer-associated abnormality before surgery was 50% and 85.7%, respectively and the specificity was 100% and 96.6%, respectively. Conclusion: The present study supports the idea of a cancer-associated rare cell abnormality to represent tumor entities as well as systemic cancer. The latter is independent of the apparent clinical cancer.

The aim of this study is to describe a research protocol of a multi-country randomized controlled trial to investigate the effect of a smartphone CBT stress management program on improving depression and other health- and work-related outcomes among hospital nurses in Vietnam and Thailand during the COVID-19 epidemic as a part of the COCONATS project. The study is a two-arm, parallel randomized control trial. Hospital nurses (N = 1,500) will be recruited in Vietnam and Thailand, and those who meet the criteria will be randomly allocated to the intervention or control (treatment as usual) group. A seven-week, seven-module smartphone-based stress management program will be developed to teach CBT skills. The intervention group will participate in the program for 10 weeks. Depression as the primary outcome will be measured using the DASS21 at baseline and in 3- and 6-month follow-up surveys. A mixed model repeated measures analysis will be used to test the intervention effect in the total combined sample, on an intention-to-treat basis. This is the first study to investigate the effectiveness of a self-guided smartphone CBT program on improving depression among hospital nurses using a RCT design in South-East Asian middle-income countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Modern agriculture demands for comprehensive information about the plant itself. Conventional chemistry-based analytical methods - due to their low throughput and high associated cost - are no longer capable of providing these data. In recent years, remote reflectance-based characterization has developed as one of the most promising solutions for rapid assessments for plant attributes. However, in many cases, expensive equipment is required because accurate quantifications need assessment of the full reflectance spectrum. We examined the versatility of visible colour sensors as reflectance measuring devices for biological / biochemical quantifications on sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum). Our results indicate for the wide potential of spectral colour sensors for quantitative determination of leaf phenolic compounds, flavonoids in particular, and non-invasive plant phenotyping in agricultural applications by low-cost sensors.

In this paper, the classical least square (CLS) method with molecular absorption spectrophotometric measurement was used to determine simultaneously of paracetamol (PAR), ibuprofen (IBU), and caffeine (CAF) in tablets. The absorbance spectra of the standard solutions and samples were measured over a wavelength from 220 to 300 nm with a 0.5 nm step. The concentration of PAR, IBU and CAF in the sample solutions were calculated by using a program called CLS-Excel written in Microsoft Excel 2016 and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). The method and CLS-Excel program were tested on mixed standard laboratory samples with different PAR, IBU, and CAF concentration ratios, and they showed small errors and satisfying repeatability. An analytical procedure for tablets containing PAR, IBU, and CAF was developed. The reliability of the procedure was proved via the recovery and repeatability of the analysis results with an actual tablet sample and comparing the mean contents of active substances in the tablets obtained from the analytical procedure with the from the HPLC method. The procedure is simple with a reduced cost compared with the HPLC standard method.

Previously reported atomic data (spectral lines, wavelengths, energy levels, and transition probabilities) have been collected and systematically analyzed for the Cs VI. The present theoretical analysis is supported by extensive calculations made for Cs VI with a pseudo-relativistic Hartree--Fock (HFR) method together with the superposition of configuration interactions implemented in Cowan's codes. In this critical evaluation, we provided several possibly observable lines with Ritz-wavelengths, computed from the optimized energy levels, and theoretical transition probabilities with their estimated uncertainties. In addition, we provided the radiative transition parameters for several forbidden lines within the ground configuration $5s^25p^2$ of Cs VI.

This paper investigates experiences of how local cultural norms and social capital influenced the disaster relief process following the 2011 GEJET disaster. To underline social capital’s multiple‐influence aspects, this paper draws from field research that focuses on collective and individual social capital in disaster relief to systematise the findings according to the social capital framework. The paper uncovers new effects of individual social capital and collective capital in a mega-disaster context, thus contributing to pushing the research agenda toward a more critical appraisal of individual social capital and collective capital. We contribute to the nascent but growing literature that clarifies the relationship between social capital and disaster resilience. A qualitative study was conducted to capture the essence of their shared experiences. Findings revealed three main themes capturing the essence of the research participants’ disaster experiences. First, disaster response relied mostly on locally driven relief due to a clear understanding of the local culture. Second, there was an urgency to establish a sense of normalcy by providing quality supplies that would help survivors. Third, Japanese gender roles and expectations were reflected in the disaster relief process. The themes establish a wide array of lived experiences that are important to reflect on the role social capital plays in the policy-making and needs assessment processes in post-disaster relief and response efforts. The findings provide insights for integrating social dimensions into a humanitarian aid culture as citizens work towards a sense of normalcy.

The symmetries of a Riemann surface $\Sigma \setminus \{a_i\}$ with $n$ punctures $a_i$ are encoded in its fundamental group $\pi_1(\Sigma)$. Further structure may be described through representations (homomorphisms) of $\pi_1$ over a Lie group $G$ as globalized by the character variety $\mathcal{C}=\mbox{Hom} (\pi_1,G)/G$. Guided by our previous work in the context of topological quantum computing (TQC) and genetics, we specialize on the $4$-punctured Riemann sphere $\Sigma=S_2^{(4)}$ and the \lq space-time-spin' group $G=SL_2(\mathbb{C})$. In such a situation, $\mathcal{C}$ possesses remarkable properties (i) a representation is described by a $3$-dimensional cubic surface $V_{a,b,c,d}(x,y,z)$ with $3$ variables and $4$ parameters, (ii) the automorphisms of the surface satisfy the dynamical (non linear and transcendental) Painlev\'e VI equation (or $P_{VI}$), (iii) there exists a finite set of $1$ (\mbox{Cayley-Picard})+$3$ (\mbox{continuous platonic})+$45$ (\mbox{icosahedral}) solutions of $P_{VI}$. In this paper we feature on the parametric representation of some solutions of $P_{VI}$, (a) solutions corresponding to algebraic surfaces such as the Klein quartic and (b) icosahedral solutions. Applications to the character variety of finitely generated groups $f_p$ encountered in TQC or DNA/RNA sequences are proposed.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer characterized by the lack of estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors, and HER-2 receptors. Thus, TNBC tumours do not benefit from the current therapies targeting ER or HER-2. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel treatment for this subtype of breast cancer. Marijuana is a common name given to Cannabis plants, a group of plants in the Cannabis genus of the Cannabaceae family. Cannabis plants are among the oldest cultivated crops, traced back at least 12,000 years and are well known for their multi-purpose usage, including medicinal purposes. The main active compounds extracted from Cannabis plants are 21-carbon-containing terpenophenolics, which are referred to as phytocannabinoids. Of these, the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) group contains highly potent cannabinoids, including delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (∆9-THC) and delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol (∆8-THC), which are the most abundant THCs and are largely responsible for psychological and physiological effects of marijuana. The use of Cannabis plants for medicinal purposes was first recorded in 2337 BC in China, where Cannabis plants were used to treat pains, rheumatism, and gout. Recently, several cannabinoids have been approved for a number of treatments, one of which is the treatment of nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy in cancer patients. Furthermore, increasing evidence shows that cannabinoids not only attenuate side effects due to cancer treatment, but might also potentially possess direct antitumor effects in several cancer types, including breast cancer. However, anti-tumour activity of marijuana has been variable in different studies and even promoted tumour growth in some cases. In addition, the mechanisms of cannabinoid action in cancer remain unclear. This review summarizes evidence about the mixed actions of cannabinoids in cancer in general and triple-negative breast cancer in particular.

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

Although effective in term of chance of future live birth, the current methods for fertility preservation such as oocytes, embryo or ovarian tissue cryopreservation cannot be offered to all cancer patients and in all clinical contexts. Expanding options for fertility preservation is crucial to address the need to encompass all situations. One emerging strategy is pharmacoprotection, which is non-invasive and has the potential to fill existing gaps in fertility preservation. Besides the identification of the most efficient therapeutic agent itself, the potential off-target effect re-mains one of the main limitation of this strategy for clinical application, particularly when healthy ovarian tissue is targeted. This review focuses on the advances in pharmacoprotective approaches and the challenge of targeting the ovaries to deliver these agents. The unique properties of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) make them an attractive candidate for this purpose. We discuss how AuNPs meet many of the requirements for an ideal drug delivery system, as well as the existing limitations that have hindering the progression of AuNPs research into more clinical trials. Additionally, the review highlights microRNA (miRNA) therapy as a next-generation approach to address the issues of fertility preservation and discusses the obstacles that currently impede its clinical availability.

Dengue fever is a persistent public health issue in tropical regions, including Vietnam, where climate variability plays a crucial role in disease transmission dynamics. This study focuses on developing climate-based machine learning models to forecast dengue outbreaks in Ba Ria Vung Tau (BRVT) province, Vietnam, using meteorological data from 2003 to 2022. We utilized four predictive models—Negative Binomial Regression (NBR), Seasonal AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average with Exogenous Regressors (SARIMAX), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM)—to predict weekly dengue incidence. Key climate variables, including temperature, humidity, precipitation, and wind speed, were integrated into these models, with lagged variables included to capture delayed climatic effects on dengue transmission. The NBR model demonstrated the best performance in terms of predictive accuracy, achieving the lowest Mean Absolute Error (MAE) compared to other models. The inclusion of lagged climate variables significantly enhanced the model’s ability to predict dengue cases. SARIMAX and LSTM models, although effective in capturing seasonal trends, struggled with overfitting and failed to accurately predict short-term outbreaks. XGBoost exhibited moderate predictive power but was sensitive to overfitting, particularly without fine-tuning. Our findings confirm that climate-based machine learning models, particularly the NBR model, offer valuable tools for forecasting dengue outbreaks in BRVT. However, improving the models’ ability to predict short-term peaks remains a challenge. The integration of meteorological data into early warning systems is crucial for public health authorities to plan timely and effective interventions. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on climate-based disease forecasting and underscores the need for further model refinement to address the complexities of dengue transmission in highly endemic regions.

Skin image analysis using artificial intelligence (AI) has recently attracted significant research interest, particularly for analyzing skin images captured by mobile devices. Acne is one of the most common skin conditions with profound effects in severe cases. In this study, we developed an AI system called AcneDet for automatic acne object detection and acne severity grading using facial images captured by smartphones. AcneDet includes two models for conducting two tasks: (1) a Faster R-CNN-based deep learning model for the detection of acne lesion objects of four types including blackheads/whiteheads, papules/pustules, nodules/cysts, and acne scars; and (2) a LightGBM machine learning model for grading acne severity using the Investigator’s Global Assessment (IGA) scale. The output of the Faster R-CNN model, i.e., the counts of each acne type, were used as input for the LightGBM model for acne severity grading. A dataset consisting of 1,572 labeled facial images captured by both iOS and Android smartphones was used for training. The results show that the Faster R-CNN model achieves a mAP of 0.54 for acne object detection. The mean accuracy of acne severity grading by the LightGBM model is 0.85. With this study, we hope to contribute to the development of artificial intelligent systems that are able to help acne patients understand more about their conditions and support doctors in acne diagnosis.

New notion of dimension as set, as two optimal numbers including metric number, dimension number and as optimal set are introduced in individual framework and in formation of family. Behaviors of twin and antipodal are explored in fuzzy(neutrosophic) graphs. Fuzzy(neutrosophic) graphs, under conditions, fixed-edges, fixed-vertex and strong fixed-vertex are studied. Some classes as path, cycle, complete, strong, t-partite, bipartite, star and wheel in the formation of individual case and in the case, they form a family are studied in the term of dimension. Fuzzification(neutrosofication) of twin vertices but using crisp concept of antipodal vertices are another approaches of this study. Thus defining two notions concerning vertices which one of them is fuzzy(neutrosophic) titled twin and another is crisp titled antipodal to study the behaviors of cycles which are partitioned into even and odd, are concluded. Classes of cycles according to antipodal vertices are divided into two classes as even and odd. Parity of the number of edges in cycle causes to have two subsections under the section is entitled to antipodal vertices. In this study, the term dimension is introduced on fuzzy(neutrosophic) graphs. The locations of objects by a set of some junctions which have distinct distance from any couple of objects out of the set, are determined. Thus it’s possible to have the locations of objects outside of this set by assigning partial number to any objects. The classes of these specific graphs are chosen to obtain some results based on dimension. The types of crisp notions and fuzzy(neutrosophic) notions are used to make sense about the material of this study and the outline of this study uses some new notions which are crisp and fuzzy(neutrosophic).

Removal of hexavalent chromium had attracted much more attention as it was a hazardous contaminant. Electrochemical reduction technology was applied to removal chromium (VI) from wastewater. The mechanism and parameters affect the reduction process were investigated. The results showed that the reduction efficiency was significantly affected by the concentration of H2SO4, current density and reaction temperature. And the reduction efficiency was up to 86.45% at concentration of H2SO4 of 100g/L, reaction temperature of 70 ℃, current density at 50 A/m2, reaction time at 180 min and stirring rate of 500 rpm. The reduction process of chromium (VI) was followed pseudo-first-order equation, and the reduction rate could be expressed as Kobs = k [H2SO4]1• [j] 4•exp-4170/RT.

Nanocomposites of TiO₂ Degussa P25 nanoparticles/activated carbon (TiO₂/AC ) were prepared at various mass ratios of (4:1), (3:2), (2:3), and (1:4) by a facile process. The effects of TiO₂/AC mass ratios on the structural, morphological, and photocatalytic properties were systematically studied in comparison with bare TiO₂ and bare AC. TiO₂ nanoparticles exhibited dominant anatase and minor rutile phases, and a crystallite size of approximately 21 nm; while AC had XRD peaks of graphite and carbon, and a crystallite size of 49 nm. The composites exhibited tight decoration of TiO₂ nanoparticles on micron-/submicron AC particles, and uniform TiO₂/AC composites were obtained as evidenced by the uniform distribution of Ti, O, and C in an EDS mapping. Moreover, Raman spectra show the typical vibration modes of anatase TiO₂ (e.g., E_1g⁽¹⁾, B_1g⁽¹⁾, E_g⁽³⁾) and carbon materials with D and G bands. The TiO₂/AC with (4:1), (3:2), and (2:3) possessed higher reaction rate constants (k) in photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) than that of either TiO₂ or AC. Among the investigated materials, TiO₂/AC = 4:1 achieved the highest photocatalytic activity with a high k of 55.2×10^-3 min^-1 and an MB removal efficiency of 96.6% after 30 min treatment under UV-Vis irradiation (120 mW/cm²). The enhanced photocatalytic activity for TiO₂/AC is due to the synergistic effect of the high adsorption capability of AC and the high photocatalytic activity of TiO₂. Furthermore, TiO₂/AC promotes the separation of photoexcited electron/hole (e^-/h⁺) pairs to reduce their recombination rate and thus enhance photocatalytic activity. The optimal TiO₂/AC composite in this study can be used for treating industrial or household wastewater with organic pollutants.

The health of urban citizens is defined by how their living environments are planned, built, and operated. These complex relations between health and the characteristics of built environments require system-orientated thinking and transdisciplinary interventions, yet have mainly been addressed using conventionally narrow sector-based approaches. This paper investigates the opportunities and challenges of the Vietnamese Green Building Movement (GBM) based on a transdisciplinary approach, with attention to additional health benefits of green buildings that are currently under-researched, while highlighting building users’ perspectives. Focusing on the perspectives of high-rise building residents, the paper examines transdisciplinary insights collected from six thematic webinars, expert interviews, and, in particular, from a household survey conducted in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Among other findings on opportunities and challenges for the Vietnamese GBM, the paper points out a challenging mismatch between the high importance homebuyers place on green building health benefits, and the focus of GBM stakeholders on GB energy-saving benefits- which are not necessarily homebuyers’ most pressing concerns. With this evidence-based inquiry, the paper concludes that improved health and well-being should be considered co-benefits of green buildings, along with energy efficiency. Importantly, this paper also brings attention to the necessity of a systemic and transdisciplinary approach in both academic and practical efforts toward the implementation of SDG3- to “ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all ages”- and SDG 11- “to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”.

Background: Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND), is a bacterial disease of whiteleg shrimp, which has a high mortality rate (100%) and incurs economic losses. Our objective was to identify the genes which lead to cell and organ damage and investigate bioproducts to prevent and treat. Methods: Litopenaeus vannamei shrimp in Thua Thien Hue province, Vietnam were collected from an infected pond and analysed at the Institute of Biotechnology, Hue University. The PirA gene of Vibrio parahaemolyticus strain K5 was isolated and analyzed for nucleotide sequence and paired with the expression vector pQE30. The expression vector was transformed into E. coli strain M15, the PirA recombinant protein was expressed in the form of 6xHis-PirA fusion protein of about 15 kDa. PirA recombinant protein was purified and determined the PirAvp binding ratio, cloning and sequencing of PirA gene from Vibrio parahaemolyticus strain K5 causing AHPND by PCR method with specific primers and molecular weights of PirAvp and the PirAvp complex. Results: PirA gene from Vibrio parahaemolyticus strain K5 was cloned into pGEM-T easy vector (Promega, USA) and screened E. coli TOP10 colonies containing pGEM T easy/PirA recombinant plasmid on LB agar/ampicillin/IPTG/X-Gal medium. PCR showing a band of about 347 bp, matching the size of PirA gene and two nucleotide sequences (BamHI and HindIII). The results showed that PirA gene has a length of 336 bp and similar to PirA gene on GenBank (Code: KU556825.1). The results of protein extracted from E. coli M15 recombinant cells and 6xHis-PirA target protein was collected in elution fractions from EF2 to EF6, showed that the concentration of 6xHis-PirA protein and EF3 elution fraction collected a highest protein concentration (1,586.54 µg/ml). Conclusions: The purified PirA recombinant protein will provide materials for development research to create biological products to prevent and treat AHPND.

This research explores the development of thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) blends derived from natural rubber (NR) and ethylene-butene copolymer (EBC) using a specific blend ratio and melt mixing technique. A comprehensive full factorial design of experiments (DOE) methodology is employed to optimize the processing parameters. TPVs are produced through dynamic vulcanization, combining rubber crosslinking and melt blending within a thermoplastic matrix under high temperatures and shear. The physico-mechanical properties of these TPVs are then analyzed. The objective is to enhance the mechanical performance by assessing the influence of blend ratio, mixing temperature, rotor speed, and mixing time on crucial properties, including tensile strength, elongation at break, compression set, tear strength, and hardness. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) identifies the optimal processing conditions that significantly improve material performance. Validation is achieved through atomic force microscopy (AFM), confirming the phase-separated structure and thus a success of dynamic vulcanization. Rubber process analyzer (RPA) and dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA) assessments provide insights into the viscoelastic behavior and dynamic mechanical responses. Deconvolution analysis of temperature-dependent tanδ peaks reveals intricate microstructural interactions influencing the glass transition temperature (Tg). The optimized TPVs exhibit enhanced stiffness and effective energy dissipation capabilities across a wide temperature range, making them suitable for applications demanding thermal and mechanical load resistance. This study underscores the pivotal role of precise processing control in tailoring the properties of NR/EBC TPVs for specialized industrial uses. It highlights the indispensable contribution of the DOE methodology to TPV optimization, advancing material science and engineering, particularly for industries requiring robust and flexible materials.

Artificial Intelligence innovations, such as chatbots and specialized education suggestion tools, provide potential interactive and on-demand pedagogical engagement between non-Christians and Christians with Christianity. However, there is little empirical research on the readiness, acceptance, and adoption of A.I.'s involvement in religious education in a secular state, such as Vietnam. This research addresses the literature gap by providing an entrepreneurial analysis and customer perspectives on the ideas of A.I.'s involvement in religious education. Specifically, the study explores whether the Vietnamese across different ages and religious orientations accept and have enough skills to adopt A.I.'s religious education innovation. The interview sample is 32 participants, selected based on their religious orientation (Christians & Non-Christians) and age (Generation X, Generation Y & Generation Z). Most respondents are open to A.I. application in religious education except for the Church's personnel. However, only gen Z generations are fully prepared to adopt this innovation. Theoretically, the research customizes the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model into religious innovation context. Practically, this research acts as market research on the demand for A.I.'s religious innovation in Vietnam, an insight for future religious tech entrepreneurs.

The performance in terms of minimal Bayes’ error probability for detection of a high-dimensional random tensor is a fundamental under-studied difficult problem. In this work, we consider two Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)-based detection problems of interest. Under the alternative hypothesis, i.e., for a non-zero SNR, the observed signals are either a noisy rank-R tensor admitting a Q-order Canonical Polyadic Decomposition (CPD) with large factors of size Nq  R, i.e, for 1  q  Q, where R, Nq ! ¥ with R1/q/Nq converge towards a finite constant or a noisy tensor admitting TucKer Decomposition (TKD) of multilinear (M1, . . . ,MQ)-rank with large factors of size Nq  Mq, i.e, for 1  q  Q, where Nq,Mq ! ¥ with Mq/Nq converge towards a finite constant. The detection of the random entries (coefficients) of the core tensor in the CPD/TKD is hard to study since the exact derivation of the error probability is mathematically intractable. To circumvent this technical difficulty, the Chernoff Upper Bound (CUB) for larger SNR and the Fisher information at low SNR are derived and studied, based on information geometry theory. The tightest CUB is reached for the value minimizing the error exponent, denoted by s?. In general, due to the asymmetry of the s-divergence, the Bhattacharyya Upper Bound (BUB) (that is, the Chernoff Information calculated at s? = 1/2) can not solve this problem effectively. As a consequence, we rely on a costly numerical optimization strategy to find s?. However, thanks to powerful random matrix theory tools, a simple analytical expression of s? is provided with respect to the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) in the two schemes considered. A main conclusion of this work is that the BUB is the tightest bound at low SNRs. This property is, however, no longer true for higher SNRs.

Global agriculture has been forced to increase food production to feed the growing human population, while confronting various environmental obstacles such as global warming, resistance to pathogens, and constraints on arable land caused by soil salinity, drought, rising sea level, saltwater intrusion, and urbanization. Regarding abiotic stresses, salinity is a worldwide problem for agricultural production. Many efforts, therefore, have been made to cope with the environmental challenges, however, the progress of salinization, which is mainly caused and accelerated by anthropogenic activities, is likely faster than our progress in finding ways to deal with this problem. In addition, drought represents a global threat to the production of major crops. In addition, pests and pathogens cause significant crop losses and diminish global food security. Among the various strategies that have been investigated and applied in plant science, antimicrobial peptides derived from plants have caught widespread attention from scientists since these peptides exhibit beneficial biological activities. In agricultural science, there have been reports on the roles of antimicrobial peptides with active properties against biotic and abiotic stresses. Non-specific plant lipid transfer proteins, thionins, systemins, defensins, cyclotides, and heveins-like antimicrobial peptides are common antimicrobial peptides that have been found to be involved in the defense system against fungi and insect pests. Based on their potential ability to protect crops from pests, bacteria, and pathogenic fungi, the use of antimicrobial peptide genes in creating transgenic plants has been largely conducted during the last decades, and these studies have obtained positive results against the growth of fungi and bacteria. This review will focus on the latest progress in studies of antimicrobial peptides related to biotic and abiotic stress tolerance in plants. We will also update the current progress in the development of antimicrobial peptide-based transgenic crops.

Renal clear cell carcinoma (ccRCC) comprises over 75% of all renal tumors and arises in the epithelial cells of the proximal convoluted tubule. Molecularly ccRCC is characterized by copy number alterations (CNAs) such as the loss of chromosome 3p and VHL inactivation. Additional driver mutations (SETD2, PBRM1, BAP1, and others) promote genomic instability and tumor cell metastasis through the dysregulation of various metabolic and immune-response pathways. Many researchers identified mutation, gene expression, and proteomic signatures for early diagnosis and prognostics for ccRCC. Despite a tremendous influx of data regarding DNA alterations, gene expression, and protein expression, the incorporation of these analyses for diagnosis and prognosis of RCC into the clinical application has not been implemented yet. In this review, we focused on the molecular changes associated with ccRCC development, along with gene expression and protein signatures, to emphasize the utilization of these molecular profiles in clinical practice. These findings, in the context of machine learning and precision medicine, may help to overcome some of the barriers encountered for implementing molecular profiles of tumors into the diagnosis and treatment of ccRCC.

The Ca Mau Peninsula situated in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, features a low-lying terrain. Over recent years, the region has encountered the adverse impacts of climate change, leading to both land subsidence and rising sea levels. In this study, we assessed the land subsidence susceptibility in the Ca Mau peninsula utilizing three Boosting machine learning models: AdaBoost, Gradient Boosting, and Extremely Gradient Boosting (XGB). Eight key factors were identified as the most influential in land subsidence within Ca Mau: land cover (LULC), Groundwater levels, distance to roads, Digital Terrain Model (DTM), normalized vegetation index (NDVI), geology, soil composition, and proximity to rivers and streams. A dataset comprising 1950 subsidence sample points was employed for the model, with 1910 points obtained from the PSInSAR Radar method, and the remaining points derived from leveling measurements. The sample points were split, with 70% allocated to the training set and 30% to the testing set. Following computation and execution, the three models underwent evaluation for accuracy using statistical metrics such as the ROC curve, Area under the curve (AUC), Specificity, Sensitivity, and Overall Accuracy. The research findings revealed that the XGB model exhibited the highest accuracy, achieving an AUC above 0.9 for both the training and test sets. Consequently, XGB was chosen to construct a land subsidence susceptibility map for the Ca Mau peninsula.

To solve the problem of energy constraint and spectrum scarcity for cognitive radio wireless sensor networks (CR-WSNs), an underlay decode-and-forward relaying scheme is considered, where the energy constrained secondary source and relay nodes are capable of harvesting energy from a multi-antenna power beacon (PB) and using that harvested energy to forward the source information to the destination. Based on the time switching receiver architecture, three relaying protocols, namely, hybrid partial relay selection (H-PRS), conventional opportunistic relay selection (C-ORS), and best opportunistic relay selection (B-ORS) protocols are considered to enhance the end-to-end performance under the joint impact of maximal interference constraint and transceiver hardware impairments. For performance evaluation and comparison, we derive exact and asymptotic closed-form expressions of outage probability (OP) and throughput (TP) to provide significant insights into the impact of our proposed protocols on the system performance over Rayleigh fading channel. Finally, simulation results validate the theoretical results.

The Cauto River Basin (CRB), the heartland of Cuban agriculture, has been hit hard by drought and water shortage. In response to this pressing issue, this study provides a comprehensive as-sessment of water supply, demand and balance within the Cauto River Basin, considering the baseline and projected socio-economic and climatic conditions by coupling of SWAT and WEAP models. The obtained results reveal that the annual flow in the CRB is projected to slightly de-crease (2.5%) in which the reduction in the rainy season (3.1%) is higher than that in the dry sea-son (1.3%). Total water demand in the baseline scenario is around 1.194 billion m3, dominated by agriculture (96%), with rice crop requiring nearly half. For the future scenario of 2050, the study shows a 16.6% surge in demand to 1.394 billion m3, driven by climate change and agricultural expansion. However, domestic use decreases by 10% due to population reduction. Water deficit in the future is projected to increase by 52% from 172.4 to 262.7 million m3 due to rising water demand and declining water supply. This study shows that integrating a hydrological model into a water allocation model is a promising approach to estimate the water supply, demand and balance, which is a crucial component of water resources management.

Osteoclasts (OCs) are the multinucleated, bone-resorbing giant cells originally differentiated from a monocyte/macrophage lineage. OC differentiation and maturation, also called osteoclastogenesis, are strictly regulated by a variety of signaling pathways primarily induced by the interactions of two prerequisite cytokines, macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) and the receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) to their respective surface receptors, c-fms and RANK, in OC precursors (pre-OCs). Rab11 has emerged as the spatiotemporal regulators of intracellular vesicular transport in the endosomal recycling system; however, how it regulates osteoclastogenesis is incompletely understood. OC-triggered bone resorption is best characterized to be immensely dependent upon lysosomal function, the intracellular acidic organelles containing more than 50 acid hydrolases secreted into bone matrix microenvironment (BME). On the contrary, it is little known about the lysosomal function on modulating the turnover of c-fms and RANK surface receptors via Rab GTPase-mediated vesicular transport, thereby dictating osteoclastogenesis. In this review, I briefly describe the mechanism underlying lysosome-induced osteoclastogenesis via the Rab11-mediated modulation of the surface receptors in OCs.

Initial periods of adsorption kinetics play an important role in estimating the initial adsorption rate and rate constant of adsorption process. Several adsorption processes rapidly occur, and the experimental data of adsorption kinetics under the initial periods can contain potential errors. The pseudo-second-order (PSO) kinetic model has been popularly applied in the field of adsorption. The use of the nonlinear optimization method to obtain the parameters of the PSO model can minimize error functions during modelling compared to the linear method. However, the nonlinear method has limitations in that it cannot directly recognize potential errors in the experimental points of time-dependent adsorption, especially under the initial periods. In this study, for the first time, the different linear types (Types 1–6) of the PSO model are applied to discover the error points under the initial periods. The result indicated that the fitting method using its linear equations (Types 2–5) is really helpful for identifying the error (doubtful) experimental points from the initial periods of adsorption kinetics. The imprecise points lead to low adjusted R2 (adj-R2), high reduced χ2 (red-χ2), and high Bayesian information criterion (BIC) values. After removing those points, the experimental data were adequately fitted with the PSO model. statistical analyses demonstrated that the nonlinear method must be used for modelling the PSO model because its red-χ2 and BIC were lower than the linear method. Type 1 has been extensively applied in the literature because of its very high adj-R2 (0.9999) and its excellent fitting to experimental points. However, its application should be limited because the potential errors from experimental points were not identified by this type. For comparison, the other kinetic models (i.e., pseudo-first-order, pseudo-nth-order, Avrami, and Elovich) are applied. The modelling result using the nonlinear forms of those models indicated that the fault experimental points from the initial periods were not detected.

News on the stock market contains positive or negative sentiments depending on whether the information provided is favorable or unfavorable to the stock market. This study aims to discover the news sentiment and classify news according to its sentiments with the application of PhoBERT, a Natural Language Processing model designed for the Vietnamese language. A collection of nearly 40,000 articles on financial and economic websites is used to train the model. After training, the model succeeds in assigning news to different classes of sentiments with an accuracy level of over 81%. The research also aims to investigate how investors concern about the daily news by testing the movements of the market before and after the news is released. The analysis results show that there is an insignificant difference in the stock price as a response to the news. However, investors tend to overreact to negative and positive news in the Vietnam stock market.

This study was conducted to investigate the status of regional linkage in tourism development in in the Midlands and Northern Mountains of Vietnam. The data was collected from a survey of 755 people, including officials from State management bodies in charge of tourism, officials and staffs at tourism resorts, tourism firms, tourism scientists and tourists. In addition, we conducted 10 group discussions, interviewed 30 State tourism agency officials and tourism firms in the Midland and Mountainous provinces of Vietnam. The results show that tourism development in Vietnam in general and the Northwest region in particular is extremely fragmented, not yet forming a regional linkage; Regional and national tourism development programs are just formalistic. The main cause of the situation is the limited regional integration policy in Vietnam, the lack of appropriate regional governance mechanisms and inactive participation of the private sector in regional integration. Based on the findings, we propose a tourism sector linkage model; besides, policy implications are given for fulfilling the linkage policy in the Midlands and Northern Mountains area.

This article aims to identify the current development of cross-border tourism between Vietnam and China. The paper analyzes the perception and strategy of cross-border tourism development in the two countries, especially in the context of China’s implementation of the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI). The article emphasizes that Vietnam and China have recently made efforts to promote cross-border tourism development. At the same time, Vietnam and China see cross-border tourism development as a significant part of comprehensive border cooperation between the two countries. However, the development plans for cross-border tourism between the two countries are still mainly on the desk, not yet implemented effectively. Thus, its achievements are relatively modest. Besides, the article emphasizes that the interests of the people living in the border area, especially the Vietnam side, are almost “forgotten” in the development of cross-border travel between the two countries. Besides, the article also analyzes the challenges that the two sides are facing, especially the Vietnam side, in promoting the development of cross-border tourism between the two countries.

Data on Stark broadening parameters, spectral line widths and shifts, for 15 multiplets of N VI, which spectral lines are broadened by collisions with electrons, protons, alpha particles (He III) and B III, B IV, B V and B VI ions, are presented. They have been calculated, using the semiclassical perturbation theory, for temperatures from 50,000 K to 2,000,000 K, and perturber densities from 1016 cm−3 up to 1024 cm−3. These data are particularly of interest for the analysis and modelling of atmospheres of hot and dense stars, as e.g. white dwarfs, and for investigation of their spectra, but also for analyis ad modelling of laser driven plasma in proton-boron fusion research.

We analyze the behavior of relativistic spherical objects within the context of modified $f(R,T)$ gravity considering Tolman VI spacetime, where gravitational lagrangian is a function of Ricci scalar(R) and trace of energy momentum tensor(T) i.e,$ f(R,T)= R+ 2\beta T$, for some arbitrary constant $\beta$. For developing our model, we have chosen $\pounds_{m} = -p$, where $ \pounds_{m}$ represents matter lagrangian. For this investigation, we have chosen three compact stars namely PSR J1614-2230 [Mass=(1.97$\pm$ 0.4)M$_\odot$; Radius= 9.69$_{-0.02} ^{+0.02}$ Km] ,Vela X-1 [Mass=(1.77$\pm$ 0.08)M$_\odot$; Radius= 9.560$_{-0.08} ^{+0.08}$ Km] and 4U 1538-52 [Mass=(9.69)M$_\odot$; Radius= 1.97 Km]. In this theory the equation of pressure isotropy is identical to standard Einstein's theory. So all known metric potential solving Einstein's equations are also valid here. In this paper, we have investigated the effort of coupling parameter ($\beta$) on the local matter distribution. Sound of speed and adiabatic index are higher with grater values of $\beta$ while on contrary mass function and gravitational redshift are lower with higher values of $\beta$ . For supporting the theoretical results, graphical representation are also employed to analyze the physical viability of the compact stars.

This study assesses the effectiveness of HCV self-testing (HCVST) distribution models compared to provider-led HCV testing (PL-HCVT), including the standard of care facility-based HCVT (SOC-HCVT) and community-based organization HCVT (CBO-HCVT) among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Vietnam. A cross-sectional study was conducted as part of a larger implementation science study in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from September 2023 to April 2024. We engaged 8 CBOs and 10 public and private clinics in offering choice of HCVST through community-based and facility-based distribution, and secondary distribution), or PL-HCVT via SOC-HCVT and CBO-HCVT. Among 1,165 PWID, 693 opted for HCVST and 472 for PL-HCVT. The proportion of first-time testers was significantly higher in HIVST community-based and secondary distribution as well as CBO-HCVT compared to SOC-HCVT and facility-based HCVST (87.1%, 93.3% and 82.7% vs. 41.9% and 35.7%, respectively; p < 0.001). Overall, HCV seropositivity rate was lower in HCVST than PL-HCVT, however, higher in HCVST facility-based and community-based distribution compared to HCVST secondary distribution (28.1% and 20.4% vs. 5.7%, respectively). Community-based HCVST was most effective, followed by facility-based HCVST and secondary distribution. Our findings indicate that HCVST effectively reaches first-time testers and results in more people diagnosed and treated among PWID.

The emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic has created both negative and positive changes, including implementing the circular economy across the globe. This Systematic Review follows the PRISMA statement and employs the Text Mining (Voyant Tools) technique to visualize and analyze the impacts of the Covid-19 on three aspects of the circular economy: economic, social, and environmental. The research employs Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to identify five major topics: (1) Shortage of medical equipment but high medical waste during Covid-19 due to the high demand in healthcare; (2) The long term negative impacts of lockdown on economic and social activities because of Covid-19 pandemic; (3) The reports on impacts of Covid-19 pandemic on the manufacturing globally, and their coping strategies and new opportunities; (4) The impacts of international restriction on the tourism, trade, shipping, and aviation industry, causing billion-dollar losses; (5) The reduction of pollution with health environment improvements with example cases from China and EU. The research identifies current literature gaps in the circular economy and Covid- 19 topics and encourages the application of text mining tools into researching to stimulate the research process and assist in communicating with the public.

High rates of phosphorus (P) currently being applied to soils for the production of vegetables in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam has led to the concern of its negative effect on the economics and the environment. This research presents a comprehensive study on the determination of P supplying capacity in this region of Vietnam to examine the possibility of reducing P fertilizer input. One hundred twenty (120) soil samples were collected to evaluate total P and Bray 1 available P in the soils. Phosphorus maximum sorption, degree of P saturation, P release, and the effect of P fertilizer on corn (Zea mays L.) yield in greenhouse and fields were also determined. Total P concentrations of 56.7% soil samples evaluated yielded high P concentrations (>560 mg P/kg), while 74.2% of the samples had high Bray 1 available P concentrations (>20 mg P/kg soil). Maximum P sorption ranged from 149 to 555 mg P/kg soil, respectively and has negative correlation to available P (r = - 0.63*), degrees of P saturation ranged from 0.63 to 5.46% correlated to available P (r = 0.98**) and maximum P release ranged from 1.2 to 61.9 mg P/kg soil, respectively correlated to available P (r = 0.96**). Corn grown in soils with available P concentrations >15 mg P/kg did not respond to P fertilizer in greenhouse or field experiments. We conclude that many farmers in this region can reduce P fertilizer input, thus increasing their profits and reducing negative environmental impacts associated with excess soil P for sustainable agriculture.

This paper introduces an advanced method that integrates contingent valuation and machine learning (CVML) to estimate residents’ demand for reducing or mitigating environmental pollutions and climate change. To be precise, CVML is an innovative hybrid machine-learning model, and it can leverage a limited amount of survey data for prediction and data enrichment purposes. The model comprises of two interconnected modules: Module I, an unsupervised learning algorithm, and Module II, a supervised learning algorithm. Module I is responsible for grouping the data into groups based on common characteristics, thereby grouping the corresponding dependent variable, whereas Module II is in charge of demonstrating the ability to predict and the capacity to appropriately assign new samples to their respective category based on input attributes. Take a survey on the topic of air pollution in Hanoi in 2019 as an example, we found that CVML can predict households’ willingness– to– pay for polluted air mitigation at a high degree of accuracy (i.e., 98%). We found that CVML can help users reduce costs or save resources because it makes use of secondary data that is available on many open data sources. These findings suggest that CVML is a sound and practical method that could be widely applied in a wide range of fields, particularly environmental economics and sustainability science. In practice, CVML could be used to support decision-makers in improving the financial resources to maintain and/or further support many environmental programs in years to come.

Chemical warfare agents (CWAs) are one of the most toxic compounds. Degradation of CWAs using decontamination agents is one of the few ways to protect human health against the harmful effects of CWAs. A ferrate Fe(VI) based potential chemical warfare agent decontaminant was studied for degradation of persistent nitrogen mustard (tris(2-chloroethyl)amine, HN3). By optimizing the reaction conditions, the complete degradation of HN3 was achieved in 4 minutes. The degradation products contained mostly reduced Fe species which confirmed the environmental friendliness of the proposed decontamination solution.

Evaluation of the mobility behavior of radionuclides in highly saline and alkaline conditions is a major concern for performance assessment of radioactive waste disposal. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of up to 2.8 mol/kgsolution content of NaNO3, onto the solubility and the sorption of U(VI) in a hardened cement-paste (HCP) prepared from an ordinary Portland cement (CEM I). To avoid the interference of the high salt concentration (and ionic strength) and because of expected low solubility of uranium under such alkaline conditions, the time-resolved laser fluorescence (TRLFS) was selected to measured accurate U(VI) concentration in solution using the standard addition method in 85% H3PO4 to limit dilution and matrix effects and allows determining of resulting [U(VI)] in solution with acceptable precision for distribution factor (Rd) both in sorption and desorption experiments. The operational solubility limit measured at high ionic strength is lowered by a factor 3 compared to the reference cementitious condition, with the Rd values decrease by ca. a factor 4. Sorption of U(VI) appears to be reversible under these conditions.

Livestock farming is a major source of greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions. In this study, we estimate methane, nitrous oxide and ammonia emission from livestock sector in the Red River Delta region from 2000 to 2015 and projection to 2030 using IPCC 2006 methodologies with the integration of local emission factors and provincial statistic livestock database. Methane, nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions in 2030 are estimated at 132 kt, 8.3 kt and 34.2 kt, respectively. Total global warming potential is 9.7 MtCO_2eq in 2030, accounts for 33% greenhouse gas emissions from livestock in Vietnam. Pig farming is responsible for half of both greenhouse gases and ammonia emissions in the studied region. Other major livestock for greenhouse gas emission is cattle and for ammonia emission is poultry. Hanoi contributes for the largest emissions in the region in 2015 but will be caught up and surpassed by other provinces in 2030.

In the context of intelligent and integrative lighting, in addition to the need for color quality and brightness, the non-visual effect is essential. This refers to the retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) and their function, first proposed in 1927. The melanopsin action spectrum has been published in CIE S 026/E: 2018 with the corresponding melanopic equivalent daylight (D65) illuminance (mEDI), melanopic daylight (D65) efficacy ratio (mDER) and 4 other parameters. Due to the importance of mEDI and mDER, this work synthesizes a simple computational model of mDER as the main research objective, based on a database of 4214 practical spectral power distributions (SPDs) of daylight, conventional, LED, and mixed light sources. In addition to the high correlation coefficient R2 of 0.96795 and the 97% confidence offset of 0.0067802, the feasibility of the mDER model in intelligent and integrated lighting applications has been extensively tested and validated. The uncertainty between the mEDI calculated directly from the spectra and that obtained by processing the RGB sensor and applying the mDER model has reached ± 3.3% after an appropriate matrixing process and proper illumination characterization combined with the successful mDER calculation model. This result opens the potential of low-cost RGB sensors for applications in intelligent and integrative lighting systems to optimize and compensate the non-visual effective parameter mEDI using daylight and artificial light in indoor spaces. The goal of the research on RGB sensors and the corresponding processing method are also presented and their feasibility is methodically demonstrated. A comprehensive investigation with a huge amount of color sensor sensitivities is necessary in a future work of other researches.

A highly efficient reduction process of Cr (VI) with biochar was conducted in this paper. The results showed that nearly 100% Cr (VI) was reduced at selected reaction conditions: the dosage of biochar at m (C)/m(Cr) = 3.0, reaction temperature of 90 ℃, reaction time at 60 min and concentration of H2SO4 of 20 g/L, respectively. The reduction kinetics analysis demonstrated that the reduction of Cr (VI) fitted well with the pseudo-first-order model and the apparent activation energy was calculated to 40.24 kJ/mol. Response surface methodology confirmed that all the experimental parameters had positive effect on the reduction of Cr (VI). The influence of each parameter on the reduction process followed the order: dosage of biochar> Concentration of H2SO4 > Reaction Temperature > Reaction Time. This paper provided a versatile strategy for treatment of wastewater containing Cr (VI) and showed a bright tomorrow for wastewater treatment.

The direct Cr (VI) reduction process by oxalic acid was conducted and the results showed that the Cr (VI) was efficiently reduced by oxalic acid at high reaction temperature and high dosage of oxalic acid. The reduced product, Cr (III), was easily generated stable complex compounds (Cr(HC2O4)3) with oxalate, which displayed a negative effect on the reduction process. The high reaction temperature and high acidic medium could destroy the stable structure of a complex compound to release oxalate, and facilitate the reduction of Cr (VI). Generally, the present study provided a versatile strategy for Cr (VI) reduction, exhibiting a bright application future for real wastewater treatment.

In recent years, drones have been used in a wide range of fields such as agriculture, transportation of goods, and security. Drones equipped with communication facilities are expected to play an active role as base stations in areas where ground base stations are unavailable, such as disaster areas. In addition, asynchronous operation is being considered for local 5G in order to support all kinds of use cases. In asynchronous operation, cross-link interference between base stations is an issue. This paper attempts to reduce the interference caused by the drone network by introducing circularly polarized antennas. Numerical analyses are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed system, where SIRs (Signal-to-Interference Ratio) are shown to be improved significantly as the numerical evaluation results.

Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) is the key technology promised to be applied in next-generation networks in the near future. In this study, we propose a multi-points cooperative relaying (MPCR) NOMA model instead of just using a relay as the previous studies. Based on the channel state information (CSI), the base station (BS) selects a closest user equipment (UE) and sends a superposed signal to this UE as a first relay node. We have assumed that there are N UEs in the network and Nth UE, which is farthest from BS, has the poorest quality signal transmitted from the BS compared other UEs. Nth UE received the forwarded signal from N-1 relaying nodes that are UEs with better signal quality. At the ith relaying node, it detect its own symbol by using successive interference cancellation (SIC) and will forward the composite signal to the next closest user, namely i+1th UE, and include an excess power which will use for energy harvesting (EH) intention at the next UE. By these, the farthest UE in network can be significantly improved. In addition, closed-form expressions of outage probability for users over both the Rayleigh and Nakagami-m fading channels are also presented. Analysis and simulation results performed by Matlab software which are presented accurately and clearly show that the effectiveness of our proposed model and this model consistents with the multi-access wireless network in future.

Vector geographic data play an important role in the natural resources and environment sector and other location information services. This is also one of the types of data where the cost to create it is relatively large because of the difficulty in surveying, collecting, and authorizing. The rapid development of the Internet has created many advantages in the distribution, exploitation, and use of vector geographic data, but it also gives rise to many problems such as duplication, redistribution, forgery, and illegal data use. The theft on the Internet is becoming more and more sophisticated and the number of violations is increasing, showing the urgent need to research and develop an effective solution to protect the copyright of vector geographic data and prevent them from being illegally collected and used. Among the major studies and solutions, digital watermarking emerges as an effective method and is an active research area for copyright protection. Towards a good solution for copyright protection of vector geographic data, our study proposes a new algorithm with three main contributions, including: (1) generating short, pseudo-random meaningful watermarks to increase robustness and to enable automated as well as visual manual verifying; (2) building a uniformly distributed mapping between the vertex coordinates and the watermark bit indexes to increase the robustness of the watermarks; and (3) integrate two types of watermarks, namely, spatial domain-based watermarking and zero-watermarking to be resistant to most common attacks on geographic vector data. The algorithm also allows working on all types of vector geographic data, including points, polylines, and polygons.

This article conducts a bibliometric analysis focusing on the influence of globalization and technology in the academic context. Previous studies have focused on analyzing the relationship between the number of research citations and international collaboration, but no study has explored it in the scope of consumer behavior and retail. Leveraging the Scopus database, the research analyzes a significant corpus of 2,111 documents from 1971 to 2022. The findings reveal a distinct surge in academic output related to the topic of technology, reflecting a growing interest in understanding the interaction between technological factors and consumer behavior. The study also explores trends in international collaboration in publications as well as its impact on citation counts.

Agricultural land fires have been linked to various and adverse impacts on ecosystems, food security and the agriculture sector. Understanding the patterns and drivers of agricultural land fires is essential for effective agricultural land fire management. The key objectives of this study were to (1) analyze the temporal and spatial patterns of agricultural land fires using satellite remote sensed data, (2) assess a range of environmental conditions that could drive the occurrence of agricultural land fires, (3) determine the best model for predicting agricultural land fires and (4) determine the relative contribution of each environmental condition variable on the best predictive model. We used both univariate and multivariate regressions for the fire prediction capability of four independent environmental conditions (fuel, weather, topographic and anthropogenic). Analysis of historical satellite data revealed that agricultural land fires were more frequent than forested land fires. Our analyses also revealed that fuel condition was the most important variable for predicting agricultural land fires followed by weather, topographic and anthropogenic conditions. This study provides a novel multivariate model for predicting agricultural land fires that harbors the potential to improve agricultural land fire management and reduce fire risk within the agricultural sector.

AISI 1050 steel circular pocket milling under minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) surroundings including nozzle elevation angle, lubricant flow rate, air pressure and cutting speed was studied. The machined surface quality (Ra) was evaluated for Up-milling side and Down-milling side. In this study, to obtain an manifest explanation on the pivotal effective parameters of MQL surroundings and cutting speed on the machined surface quality (Ra) through analyzing Taguchi L9 (34-2) approach and ANOVA calculation to identify those parameters, by utilizing the experimental outcomes to interpret three-dimensional (3D) surface plots and the diagrams of Signal-to-Noise ratios and major impact plots of Mean. The obtained outcomes of optimal operating parameters indicated that the pivotal effective parameters of MQL surroundings are nozzle elevation angle and lubricant flow rate on the machined surface quality. Simultaneously, a quadratic mathematical paradigm generated by using response surface design (RSD) and desirableness function evaluation were utilized to forecast the optimal values of the machined surface quality compared to Taguchi method. The results unveiled that the optimal values of the machined surface quality are adjacent to experimental attained values. The machined surface quality has been significantly improved using MQL surroundings.

Facing with errors of a product after machining was a big title in this field. That will affect to product’s quality with unpredictable situation when products is in use for some particular application such as in medical facilities. Improving the precision of machine tools by exploring temperature on multiple points and measuring differential locations of the spindle is going to be executed in this study. A temperature measurement tool and a software running on Windows platform have been developed and combining with Non-bar system in order to support analyzing the temperature rising with the changes of length of the spindle to find the compensation solution based on eccentricity and length distortion. In this study, the whole tests have done on UX300 five – axis CNC machine tools for this investigation and the errors after applying compensation function have reduced 70% at least, with respect to the errors after machining without using compensation function.

Background: Laser therapies can cause hyper- and hypopigmentation of the skin. There is little evidence in the literature of effective treatments for these types of problems in Fitzpatrick IV-VI skin phototypes. The main aim of this retrospective study is to evaluate the effects of a new therapy combining the application of electromagnetic fields and vacuum on a subject with Fitzpatrick VI skin phototype, presenting an extensive, laser-induced facial dyschromia. The secondary aim is to test the effectiveness of a free imaging software for assessing skin pigmentation. Methods: The level of improvement after the therapy was evaluated, with a 5-point Likert scale, one month after the end of the treatment by both the subject, and the doctor who performed the treatment, and by two blinded dermatologists. With the free software, a three-dimensional reconstruction of the area treated and the evaluation of colour distribution were performed. Results: Both the subject and the doctors involved in the study positively evaluated the effects of the treatment. The image analysis highlighted the homogenization of the skin colour in the treated area. Conclusions: The combination of electromagnetic fields and vacuum for dyschromia treatments appears promising. The new method of assessing melanin levels resulted particularly efficient.

Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (chRCC) and oncocytoma (RO) are renal tumor types originating from alpha intercalated cells of the collecting ducts of the kidney. Both tumor types have similar gross histological morphology and increased mitochondria, which leads to difficulties differentiating between these tumors, especially with core biopsy samples. This study aims to apply a machine learning approach to develop a molecular classifier based on transcriptomics data. Here we generated a meta-data set containing 62 chRCC and 45 RO gene expression arrays. Arrays were subjected to quality control steps, and genes were selected based on differential expression and ROC analysis. The final gene list was evaluated with UMAP based dimension reduction followed by density-based clustering with 95.5% accuracy. Molecular profiling by KEGG pathway analysis identified enrichment of fatty acid oxidation pathway in RO. We finally identified and validated the 30-gene signature, with an accuracy of 94.4% to distinguish chRCC from RO on UMAP analysis. Our results show that chRCC and RO have a distinct gene signature that can differentiate these tumors and complement histology for routine diagnosis of these two tumors.

In the field of quality control, the critical challenge of analyzing microdefects in steel filament holds significant importance. This is particularly vital as steel filaments serve as reinforced fibers in the use and applications within various component manufacturing industries. This paper addresses the crucial requirement of identifying and investigating microdefects on steel filaments. Eddy current signals are used for the identification of microdefects, and an in-depth investigation is conducted. The core objective is to establish the relationship between the depth of defects and the signals detected through the eddy current sensing principle. The threshold of eddy current instrument was set at 10%, corresponding to a created depth of 20 µm, to identify defective specimens. A total of 30 defective samples were analyzed, and the phase angles between the experimental and theoretical results were compared. The depths of defects ranged from 20 to 60 µm, with one sample having a depth exceeding 75 µm. The calculated threshold of 10.18% closely aligns with the set threshold of 10%, with a difference of only 1.77%. The resulting root mean square error (RMSE) was found to be 10.53 degrees, equivalent to 3.49 µm for the difference in depth and phase between measured results and estimated results. This underscores the methodology's accuracy and its applicability across diverse manufacturing industries.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the degeneration of cartilage in joints that results in bones rubbing against each other, it causes uncomfortable symptoms such as pain, swelling, stiffness, and can lead to disability. It usually occurs in the elderly and causes a large medical burden. The aim of this study is to evaluate cost-effectiveness between the standard treatment for osteoarthritis and the standard treatment with added crystalline glucosamine sulfate at various stages. The Markov analysis modelling was applied to evaluate the effect of both adding glucosamine compared to standard treatment from a societal perspective during whole patients’ lifetimes. Data input was collected by review in previous studies. The outcome was measured in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) from a societal perspective was ap-plied with 3%-discounted for all cost and outcome. One-way analysis via Tornado diagram was performed to investigate the change of factors in model. In general, the adding glucosamine into the standard treatment proved to be more cost-effectiveness compared to the standard treatment. Particularly, early stage adding glucosamine in the treatment was cost-effectiveness then post-stage adding glucosamine. The addition of supplementing crystalline glucosamine sulfate to whole regimen at any stage was cost-effectiveness at willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold

The objective of this study was to describe the overall pattern of morbidity and mortality of children seen at the Thai Binh Pediatric Hospital in Vietnam, with a focus on infectious diseases. A retrospective review of hospitalisation records was conducted from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2019. Data were obtained from a total of 113,999 records. The median age of patients was 18 months, with 83.98% of patients aged <5 years. Infectious diseases accounted for 61.0% of all cases. The most prevalent diseases were lower respiratory tract infections (32.8%), followed by gastrointestinal infections (13.3%) and confirmed influenza (5.4%). Most infections were not microbiologically documented. A total of 81.4% patients received at least one antibiotic. Most patients (97.0%) were hospitalised for less than 15 days. Regarding outcomes, 87.8% patients were discharged home with a favourable outcome. 12.0% were transferred to the Vietnam National Children’s Hospital because their condition had worsened and 0.1% died. In total, infectious diseases accounted for 40.4% of deaths, followed by neonatal disorders (34.6%). Our data serves a basis for the identification of needs for diagnostic tools and for future evaluation of the effect of the targeted implementation of such facilities. Point-of-care tests, including real-time PCR assays to identify common pathogens should be implemented for more accurate diagnosis and more appropriate antibiotic use.

Bioethanol has been considered as an excellent alternative to fossil fuels since it importantly contributes to the reduced consumption of the crude oil and to the alleviation of environmental pollution [1]. Up to now, the baker yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the most common eukaryotic microorganism used in ethanol production. The inability of S. cerevisiae to grow on pentoses, however, hinders its effective growth on plant biomass hydrolysates, which contain large amounts of C5 and C12 sugars. The industrial-scale bioprocessing requires high temperature bioreactors, diverse carbon sources, and the high titer production of volatile compounds [2]. These criteria indicate that the search for alternative microbes possessing useful traits that meet the required standards of bioethanol production is necessary. Compared to other yeasts, Kluyveromyces marxianus has several advantages over the others, e.g. it could grow on a broad spectrum of substrates (C5, C6 and C12 sugars) [3], tolerate to high temperature, toxin [4,5] and a wide range of pH values [6], and produce volatile short-chain ester [2]. K. marxianus also shows a high ethanol production rate at high temperature and is a Crabtree-negative species [7]. These attributes make K. marxianus a promise as an industrial host for the biosynthesis of biofuels and other valuable chemicals.

The fishmeal production industry is essential for providing protein for animal feed in the aquaculture sector. However, the industry faces challenges related to energy consumption and environmental sustainability. This study evaluates the energy efficiency and environmental benefits of waste heat recovery (WHR) technologies in a fishmeal production plant in Vietnam. Data were collected from the plant between 2016 and 2022, and a specific energy consumption (SEC) indicator and a comprehensive methodology were utilized. Implementing an economizer as a WHR technology resulted in a 55.5% decrease in SEC compared to the state before installation. The enhanced energy efficiency also translated to reduced energy consumption per output unit. Moreover, the economizer contributed to annual energy savings of 4,537.57 GJ/year and cost savings of $26,474.49. Additionally, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with producing one ton of fishmeal decreased by 58.37%. These findings highlight the potential for WHR technologies to improve energy efficiency and reduce the environmental footprint of fishmeal production. The study's results provide valuable insights for practitioners and policymakers in promoting energy efficiency practices and reducing environmental impact in the industry.

During the Covid-19 pandemic in Taiwan, analytical tools of PEST (political, economic, social-cultural, and technological), SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, threat), nine building blocks of a business model canvas, and knowledge management were combined to develop a theoretical framework, and used to assess business, smart and sustainable management of two case companies: Tung Sheng Company Limited and its subsidiary, Strong Basic Enterprise Limited. A heuristic inquiry research design was adopted. In addition to secondary data from the two case companies, major top managers were interviewed to reveal constructive questions about the existing business models and to re-interpret strategy. The results showed that case companies own capabilities of R &amp; D (research and development) as a foundation to further apply new smart ICT (information and communication technology) and execute green manufacturing. Additionally, strong key partnerships are used to diversify business investment for leveraging on limited resources given current insufficient qualified employees. Resilient practices adopted new and green technology to help mitigate the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. This study provides a useful framework and practical information about how to examine business models, smart and sustainable management processes of the two case companies and to make adjustments in strategies for the future.

Abstract. This paper proposes a Second Order Terminal Sliding Mode (2TSM) approach to the trajectory tracking of Differential Drive Mobile Robot (DDMR). Within this cascaded control scheme, the 2TSM dynamic controller, at the inner most loop, tracks the robot’s velocity quantities; while a kinematic controller, at the outer most loop, regulates the robot’s positions. In this manner, chattering is greatly attenuated and finite time convergence is guaranteed by the second order TSM manifold which involves higher order derivatives of the state variables, resulting in inherently robust as well as fast and better tracking precision. The simulation results demonstrate the merit of the proposed control methods.

Rice prolamins are categorized into three groups by molecular size (10, 13, or 16 kDa), while the 13 kDa prolamins are assigned to four subgroups (Pro13a-I, Pro13a-II, Pro13b-I, and Pro13b-II) based on cysteine residue content. Here, we generated four knockout strains of rice using CRISPR-Cas9, each of which demonstrated selectively reduced expression of specific subgroups of the 13 kDa prolamins. These four mutant rice lines also demonstrated compensatory expression of glutelins and non-targeted prolamins, which resulted in low grain weight, altered starch content and atypically-shaped starch granules and protein bodies. Transcriptome analysis identified 746 transcripts that were differentially expressed in the mutant rice lines during development. These transcripts played roles primarily in RNA processing, protein synthesis, stress response, and transport. After selective suppression/knockout of genes in the Pro13a-I subgroup, compensatory upregulation of genes in the Pro13a-II and Pro13b-I/II subgroups was observed. Compensatory expression of 9 ER stress and 17 transcription factor genes was also observed in mutant rice in which expression of 13 kDa prolamin genes was suppressed. Our results provide valuable insight into the regulatory mechanisms underlying rice seed development and the specific roles played by 13 kDa rice prolamins and their target genes.

In April 2019, a team of Keio University and Bucknell University students was assembled to participate in Ericsson Innovation Awards with a novel concept for generating renewable energy. This conceptual system consists of a vertical axis wind turbine, a crossflow marine hydrokinetic turbine, a floating platform integrated with a quadcopter system, and three to four temporary mooring lines with ship-type anchors. The proposed designed aims to offer solutions to two current problems of floating offshore wind energy: high construction cost of floating platforms and difficulties in maintenance of mooring lines. The combination of two vertical-axis turbines into a single floating platform would enable the system, namely ESwift, to extract energy from both wind and current resources. Additionally, due to the utilization of vertical axis turbines, the center of gravity of the proposed concept is significantly lower with respect to water level, compared to that of existing floating horizontal axis wind turbines, which would potentially reduce the floater's size and construction cost. Lastly, the integrated quadcopter mechanism would assist the floater in terms of stability and mobility, and enables an array of ESwifts to automatically rearrange for maximal energy generation. The authors hope that readers would find the idea described in this open access letter worth pursuing and would further develop and commercialize the ESwift concept.

Introduction: The goals of this retrospective cohort study of 129,443 persons admitted to Calgary acute care hospitals 2013-2021 were to ascertain correlations of “potentially inappropriate medi-cations” (PIMs), “potential prescribing omissions” (PPOs) and other risk factors with readmissions and mortality. Methods: Processing and analysis codes were built in Oracle Database 19c (PL/SQL), R and Excel. Results: The percentage dying during their hospital stay rose from 3.03% during the first to 7.2% during the 6th admission. The percentage dying within 6 months of discharge rose from 9.4% after the first to 24.9 after the sixth admission. Odds ratios (adjusted for age, gender and comorbidities) for readmission were the post-admission number of medications (1.16; 1.12-1.12), STOPP PIMs (1.16; 1.15-1.16); AGS Beers PIMs (1.11; 1.11-1.11) and START omissions not corrected with a prescription (1.39 (1.35-1.42). Odds ratios for mortality were post-admission number of medications (1.04; 1.04-1.05), STOPP PIMs (0.99; 0.96-1.00); AGS Beers PIMs (1.08; 1.07-1.08) and START omissions not corrected with a prescription (1.56 (1.50-1.63). START omissions corrected with a prescription correlated with a dramatic reduction in mortality (0.51; 0.49-0.53). Odds ratios for readmissions for the second through 39th admission were consistently higher if START PPOs were not corrected for the second admission (1.41; 1.36-1.46), third (1.41;1.35-1.48); fourth 1.35;1.28-1.44); fifth 1.38; 1.28-1.49); sixth (1.47;1.34-1.62) and 7th through 39th admission (1.23; 1.14-1.34). For all admissions when a pre-scription was given to correct START PPOs ORs for mortality within six months of discharge were dramatically improved (0.51; 0.49-0.53). This was also true for the second (0.52; 0.50-0.55; fourth (0.56; 0.52-0.61; fifth (0.63; 0.57-0.68); sixth (0.68; 0.61-0.76); and 7th through 39th admissions (0.71; 0.65-0.78). Conclusions: PPOs should be corrected by prescriptions and teams of family physicians, pharmacists and nurses should focus on patients’ understanding of their illnesses, medications and ability for self-care.

Neuroinflammatory responses are implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. In neurodegenerative diseases, neuroinflammatory reactions to neuronal injury are modulated by microglial cells, which are vital innate immune cells in the central nervous system. Activated microglial cells release proinflammatory cytokines, mediators, and neurotoxic factors that induce fatal neuronal injury. The present study investigated the anti-neuroinflammatory effects of cudratricusxanthone L (1), which was isolated from Cudrania tricuspidata. This compound reduced the levels of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated inflammatory mediators and cytokines, including nitric oxide, prostaglandin E2, interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, IL-6, and IL-12. These effects suggested that cudratricusxanthone L (1) suppressed the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway. Specifically, cudratricusxanthone L (1) also attenuated the phosphorylation of Jun kinase and inhibited p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling in BV2 and rat primary microglial cells. These results indicated that cudratricusxanthone L (1) effectively repressed neuroinflammatory processes in BV2 and rat primary microglial cells by inhibiting NF-κB and the MAPK signaling pathway.

The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is one of the most widely used hydrologic models. SWAT has been undergoing constant changes since its development. However, compartment review and testing of SWAT are comparably limited, especially the flood routing functions. In this study, the daily flood routing subroutines of different SWAT versions were reviewed and tested using a well observed segment of the Weser river located in Germany. Results show several problems with the flood routing subroutines of SWAT. The variable storage subroutine of SWAT (revision 664) does not transform the flood wave. Unphysical results could be obtained with the variable storage routing of SWAT (revision 528). The Muskingum subroutine of SWAT (revisions 664 and 528) overestimates channel evaporation (resulting in a bias of 14\% to 19% in streamflow) and underestimates transmission losses. Simulated results show that the timing and shape of the flood wave could be improved with a corrected Muskingum subroutine. Based on the results of this study, we suggest the SWAT user community to review their existing SWAT models to see how the aforementioned issues will affect their methods, findings and conclusions.

Current instrumental technology in evaluating performance of skin care creams is still rather limited and there are no industrial standard testing equipment, method and performance specifications for it. In this paper, we report our attempt in using an instrument called PhabrOmeter for this purpose. PhabrOmeter is a commercialized instrument for sensory performance evaluation of textiles, leather, paper and nonwoven and has been designated by American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) as a standard test method for textiles, AATCC TM 202 in 2013. By adopting artificial skin samples treated with skin care creams, we have developed a procedure to apply this instrument for evaluation of skin care creams from sample preparation, measurement to data analysis and interpretation. The results using commercial skin care creams to demonstrate the feasibility and advantages of this instrument are provided.

Land use/land cover (LULC) and climate changes are two main factors directly affecting hydrologic conditions. However, very few studies in Vietnam have investigated changes in hydrological process under the impact of climate and land use changes on a basin scale. The objective of this study is to assess the individual and combined impacts of land use and climate changes on hydrological processes for the Nam Rom river basin, Northwestern Viet Nam using Remote Sensing (RS) and Soil and Water Assessment Tools (SWAT) model. SWAT model was used for hydrological process simulation. Results indicated that SWAT proved to be a powerful tool in simulating the impacts of land use and climate change on catchment hydrology. The change in historical land use between 1992 and 2015 strongly contributed to increasing hydrological processes (ET, percolation, ground water, and water yield), whereas, climate change led to significant decrease of all hydrological components. The combination of land use and climate changes significantly reduced surface runoff (-16.9%), ground water (-5.7%), water yield (-9.2%), and sediment load (-4.9%). Overall climatic changes had more significant effect on hydrological components than land use changes in the Nam Rom river basin during the 1992–2015. Under impacts of projected land use and climate change scenarios in 2030 on hydrological process of the upper Nam Rom river basin indicate that ET and surface flow are more sensitive to the changes in land use and climate in the future. In conclusion, the findings of this study will basic knowledge of the effects of climate and land-use changes on the hydrology for future development of integrated land use and water management practices in Nam Rom river basin.

Soot combustion experiments with 5%O2/He were conducted using model soot, and four distinct compositions of CexPr1-xO2-δ oxides were prepared, varying nominal cerium com-positions (x=0, 0.2, 0.3, and 1). The catalyst samples were comprehensively characterized using techniques such as XRD, Raman spectroscopy, HR-TEM, N2 adsorption at −196 °C, XPS, O2-TPD, H2-TPR, and work function measurements. The Pr-rich compositions, rang-ing from Ce0.3Pr0.7O2-δ to PrO2-δ, resulted in a significant increase in the total evolved O2 amounts and enhanced catalyst reducibility. However, a decrease in textural properties of the catalysts was noted, being particularly important for the pure praseodymia under the synthesis route conducted. The catalytic activity was investigated under two contact modes of mixing between soot and catalyst: loose and tight. The results revealed that the catalytic performance is associated with the surface contact in tight contact mode and with the combination of surface/subsurface/bulk oxygen mobility and the BET surface ar-ea in loose contact mode. Notably, the T10 and T50 parameters were achieved at much lower temperatures than the uncatalyzed soot combustion, even under loose contact conditions. Specifically, the 50% conversion was achieved at 511℃ and 538℃ for Ce0.3Pr0.7O2 and Ce0.2Pr0.8O2, respectively. While no direct correlation between catalytic activity and work function was observed a significant relationship emerges between work function values and the formation of oxy-gen vacancies, whatever the conditions used for these measurements. On the other hand, the ability to generate a high population of oxygen vacancies at low temperatures, rather than the direct activation of gas-phase O2, influences the catalytic performance of Pr-doped ceria catalysts, highlighting the importance of surface/subsurface oxygen vacancy generation, which was the parameter which showed better correlation with the catalytic activity, whatever the soot conversion value or the mode of contact considered.

Two different silica conformations (Xerogels and Nanoparticles) both formed by the mediation of dendritic poly (ethylene imine) were tested at low pHs on the problematic uranyl cation sorption. The effect of crucial factors i.e., temperature, electrostatic forces, adsorbent composition, accessibility of the pollutant to the dendritic cavities and MW of the organic matrix was investigated to conclude the optimum formulation for water purification under these conditions. This was attained with the aid of UV-Visible and FTIR spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), ζ-potential; Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) porosimetry, Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TG) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) Results highlighted that both adsorbents have extraordinary sorp-tion capacity. Xerogels are cost-effective since they approximate the performance of na-noparticles with much lesser organic content. Furthermore, they are more practicable materials since they may penetrate the pores of a metal or ceramic solid substrate in the form of a precursor, gel-forming solution.

Cationised hemp cellulose was prepared by etherification with two quaternary ammonium salts: 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (CHPTAC) and glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTMAC) and examined for (i) the efficiency of Cr(VI) removal under acid mine-drainage (AMD) conditions, and (ii) antibacterial activity. Adsorbents were characterised by electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), CP-MAS ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, elemental composition and surface charge. FTIR and solid state ¹³C NMR confirmed the introduction of quaternary ammonium moieties on cellulose. ¹³C NMR also showed that cationisation decreased the degree of crystallisation and lateral dimensions of cellulose fibrils. Nevertheless, 47 % - 72% of Cr(VI) ions were removed from solutions at pH 4, by 0.1 g of CHPTAC and GTMAC-cationised cellulose, respectively. Adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo-second order model and isotherms were best described by the Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich models. When GTMAC-modified cellulose was applied to AMD contaminated water (pH 2.7), however, Cr(VI) uptake removal decreased to 22% likely due to competition from Al and Fe ions. Nevertheless, cationised materials displayed considerable antibacterial effects, reducing the viability of Escherichia coli by up to 45 % after just 3 hours of exposure. Together, these results suggest that cationised cellulose can be applied in the treatment of Cr(VI)-contaminated mine water particularly if pre-treatments to reduce Fe and Al concentrations are applied.

A gold nanostructured film modified glassy carbon electrode (Au_film/GCE) was developed for the determination of chromium (VI) in water sample. GCE was immersed into HAuCl₄ solution (10^-3M) and electrodeposition of thin gold layer was conducted at –0.4 V (vs Ag/AgCl) for 10 min. The strong affinity between Au and Cr species resulted with increasing of Cr (VI) signal, compared with the bare glassy carbon electrode. The electrodepositing time, type of supporting electrolyte, pH, the scan rate, modulation amplitude, and modulation time were optimized using differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DP-ASV). The calibration graph using accumulation time of 120 s was linear from 10 to 120 µgL^-1 with a sensitivity 1.3 x 10^-2 µA/µgL^-1. Under optimum experimental conditions, a good correlation coefficient R²=0.9971, and a low detection limit 5.5 µg/L Cr (VI) was obtained. The signal was reproducible with a relative standard deviation ±4.5 %. The developed Au_film/GCE sensor was applied for the Cr (VI) determination of in sewage water samples.

This study reports on the assessment of the growth potential of five edible vegetables which were grown in Cr (VI) spiked soils. The vegetable plants that were used in this study were Vigna angularis, Cicer arietinum, Spinacia oleracea, Amaranthus dubius Thell and Phaseolus vulgaris. Dried ground samples from roots, stems and leaves were analysed for various oxidation states of Cr. The daily intake of chromium (DIC), hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) methods were employed to assess the potential human health risks posed by these Cr oxidation states through vegetable consumption. The results showed that Vigna angularis was the only vegetable that germinated in highly concentrated Cr (VI) in the simulated soil (456 mg/kg). The highest bioaccumulation factor of CrT in the roots was found in Cicer arietinum at 3.5 ± 0.51 mg/kg DW. The highest translocation factor in stem was that of Cicer arietinum and Vigna angularis at 1.0 ± 0.00, while Cicer arietinum and Spinacia oleracea translocated highest Cr to the leaf at 2.1 ± 0.21. A child or an adult consuming such contaminated Cicer arietinum were likely to take in between 508 -785 mg/kg/day of total Cr which were above the World Health Organisation guidelines of 220 and 340 mg/kg/day, respectively. The highest HQ was found in Cicer arietinum at 8.7 and 13.4 for adults and children, respectively. The same species of plants had also high HI at 17.4 and 27.2 for adults and children respectively. This indicated that consumers of the edible vegetables grown in Cr (VI) rich soil may be exposed to health risks and the children were more likely to be vulnerable to these adverse effects than the adult.

Aortic stenosis (AS) is a prevalent valvular disorder that often requires surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) to alleviate symptoms and improve survival. However, the selection of an appropriate prosthetic valve size is crucial to avoid patient-prosthesis mismatch (PPM), which can lead to suboptimal hemodynamic outcomes. Von Willebrand factor (VWF), a key component of hemostasis, has been shown to be altered in AS patients and may contribute to the hemostatic imbalance observed following valve replacement. This prospective study aimed to investigate the impact of PPM on postprocedural VWF levels in patients undergoing SAVR for severe AS. The study included 31 consecutive patients diagnosed with severe AS who underwent SAVR. By focusing on the relationship between PPM and VWF dynamics, this study sought to provide valuable insights into the potential role of VWF as a marker for hemostatic changes associated with PPM, ultimately informing strategies for optimal valve selection and perioperative management to minimize complications.

This study assesses the biomethane (CH4) generation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from municipal solid waste landfilling in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with a focus on the impact of fugitive CH4 emissions and operation processes in four landfilling scenarios: simple dumping (S1), improved management with leachate treatment (S2), engineered landfill with flaring (S3), and engineered landfill with energy recovery (S4). The study also considered the environmental benefits of carbon sequestration and landfill gas utilization. The LandGEM and IPCC FOD models were used to calculate CH4 generation over the period of 2009-2022, and it was found that approximately 18 and 21 M kg/year of CH4 are released, respectively. The energy potential from CH4 recovery was 51–61 GWh/year. Overall GHG emissions in S2 were the highest, amounting to 409–509 M kg CO2-eq/year, while S1 had lower emissions at 397–496 M kg CO2-eq/year. Flaring captured CH4 in S3 could reduce GHG emissions by at least 55%, and using captured CH4 for electricity production in S4 could mitigate at least 83% of GHG emissions. Electricity recovery (S4) could avoid significant amounts of GHG emissions (˗104.5 kg CO2-eq/tMSW). The study suggests that landfill gas-to-energy could significantly reduce GHG emissions.

Pigeon paramyxovirus serotype 1 (PPMV-1), primarily originating from racing pigeons, has become a global panzootic, spreading to poultry and wild birds, thus posing a threat to the poultry industry. Egypt uses both inactivated pigeon paramyxovirus (PPMV-1) and conventional Newcastle disease virus (NDV) vaccines to protect pigeons. However, the impact of prevalent strains and the effectiveness of available vaccines in pigeons in Egypt are unclear. This study investigates the virulence of PPMV-1 isolated from vaccinated pigeons in Sharkia, Egypt (Pigeon/ Egypt/Sharkia-19/2015/KX580988). Ten-day-old specific-pathogen-free embryonated chicken eggs infected with this strain exhibited a mean death time (MDT) of 86.4±5.88 hours. The intracerebral pathogenicity index (ICPI) in day-old chicks was 0.8, while pigeons experienced an ICPI of 0.96 and an intravenous pathogenicity index (IVPI) of 2.11. These findings classify the strain as virulent and velogenic. Experimental infection with this PPMV-1 strain at 106 EID50/0.1 ml resulted in a 62.5% mortality rate in pigeons, displaying nervous and enteric distress. The virus caused extensive lesions in visceral organs, with strong immunohistochemistry signals in all examined organs, indicating the systemic spread of the virus concurrent to its neurotropic and viscerotropic tropism. Furthermore, vaccination using inactivated PPMV-1 and live NDV LaSota vaccine regimen protected 100% of pigeons against mortality, while a single NDV LaSota vaccine provided 62.5% protection. The PPMV alone or combined with NDV LaSota induced protective levels of hemagglutination inhibition antibody titers and reduced virus shedding from buccal and cloacal cavities. These findings suggest that using both inactivated PPMV-1 (G-VI) and live attenuated NDV (LaSota) vaccines is an effective prophylactic regimen for preventing and controlling PPMV-1 and NDV in pigeons, thereby reducing the risk of interspecies transmission.

The pharmacological effects of the fruiting body of Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Os) exerted antioxidant, anti-virus, and immunomodulatory, whereas the anti-inflammatory effects and active components of Os mycelial submerged culture (OMSC) are not known. This study aimed to investigate the active compounds in the fermented liquid (FLOS), hot water (WEOS), and 50-95% (EEOS-50, EEOS-95) ethanol extracts of OMSC and their anti-inflammatory effects and potential mechanisms in LPS-stimulated microglial BV2 cells. The results demonstrated that all of the OMSC extracts could inhibit NO production in BV2 cells. EEOS-95 exhibited the strongest inhibitory effects (41 % inhibitory ability at 500 µg/mL), and its ergosterol, GABA, total phenolic, and total flavonoid contents were significantly higher than those of the other extracts (18.60, 18.60, 2.28, and 2.14 mg/g, p &lt; 0.05, respectively). EEOS-95 also has a strong inhibitory ability against IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α with IC50 of 617, 277 and 507 µg/mL, respectively, which is higher than that of 1 mM melatonin. The anti-inflammatory mechanism of EEOS-95 seems to be associated with up-regulation of PPAR-γ/Nrf-2/HO-1 antioxidant-related expression and down-regulation of NF-κB/COX-2/iNOS pro-inflammatory expression signaling. Therefore, we hypothesized that EEOS-95 can prevent neurodegenerative diseases, but the effect on the application in vivo should be further investigated.

In the current industrial revolution, advanced technologies and methods can be effectively utilized for the detection and verification of defects in high-speed steel filament production. This paper introduces an innovative methodology for the precise detection and verification of micro surface defects found in steel filaments through the application of the Eddy current principle. Permanent magnets are employed to generates a magnetic field with high frequency surrounding a coil of sensor positioned at the filament's output end. The sensor's capacity to detect defects is validated through a meticulous rewinding process, followed by a thorough analysis involving scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Artificial defects were intentionally introduced into a sample, and their amplitudes were monitored to establish a threshold value. The amplitude signal of these created defect was identified at approximately 10% FSH, which corresponds to a crack depth of about 20 µm. In the experimental production of 182 samples covering 38 km, the defect ratio was notably high, standing at 26.37%. These defects appeared randomly along the length of the samples. The verification results underscore the exceptional precision achieved in the detection of micro surface defects within steel filaments. These defects were primarily characterized by longitudinal scratches and inclusions containing physical tungsten carbide.

Mining-induced water contamination remains a significant concern in many regions of the world due to the high concentrations of toxic ions often associated with it. In this study, cellulose-supported ferrihydrite composites (CNF-Fe) were prepared by seeding of ferrihydrite nanoparticles on cellulose nanofibres (CNFs) and employed for the removal of As(III), As(V) and Cr(VI) from contaminated water. The adsorbent was characterized by electron microscopy, gas adsorption, point of zero charge (pH_PZC), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), as well as infrared and Raman spectroscopy. Compared to parent CNFs, CNF-Fe adsorbents had lower crystallinity and a higher surface area: 218.76 m² g^-1. Further, with a pH_PZC of 6.3, CNF-Fe was positively charged at low pH and suitable for adsorption of anions at acidic conditions characteristic of acid mine drainage. In single-ions solutions, the removal efficiency of CNF-Fe was in the order Cr(VI)>As(V)>As(III) (i.e. 0.15, 0.12 and 0.11 mg g^-1 respectively). Adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo second-order model and isotherms were best fitted by the Freundlich, Dubinin-Radushkevich, and Temkin models. However, when CNF-Fe was applied to AMD-contaminated water (pH 2.7), Cr(VI) uptake decreased to ~39% which was likely due to competition from sulphate and selenium ions. Nevertheless, the adsorbent displayed regeneration capabilities with ~98% As and ~45% Cr desorbed after 24 hours of treatment. Together, these results suggest that cellulose supported ferrihydrite composites can be applied in treatment of mine drainage-contaminated water in conjunction with pre-treatments that limit SO₄^2- and selenium concentrations.