In a recent paper, Nicolas Gisin suggests that by conducting physics with intuitionistic rather than classical mathematics, rich temporality - that is, passage and tense, and specifically, the future’s openness - can be incorporated into physics. Physics based on classical mathematics is tenseless and deterministic, and that, so he holds, renders it incongruent with experience. According to Gisin, physics ought to represent the indeterminate nature of reality, and he proposes that intuitionistic mathematics is the key to succeeding in doing so. While I share his insistence on the reality of passage and tense, and on the future being real and open, I argue that the amendment he offers does not work. I show that, its attunement to time notwithstanding, intuitionistic mathematics is as tenseless as classical mathematics, and that physics is bound to remain tenseless regardless of the math it employs. There is much to learn about tensed time, but the task belongs to phenomenology and not to physics.

The final assembly of appliances and automotive industries is a rigorous process, that has limited capabilities of full traceability associated with: (1) the parts installed, (2) their fabrication processes, and (3) the assembly work. This is also the case for each of its sub-assemblies The many parts and sub-assemblies that compose the final assembly, make full traceability a challenging fit, that is almost unsurmountable. Such full traceability along the entire supply-chain is not existent today and must be based on documentation of most assembled parts, assembly tasks, and inspection tasks that compose the full assembled product. In addition, security measures are needed to prevent hostile hacking and unauthorized approach to the assembly documentation throughout the entire supply chain. The related documentation and repeated verifications require considerable effort and have many chances for human errors. So, automating these processes has a great value. This article expounds a framework that harnesses block-chain and smart-contract technology to offer traceable and protected documentation of the assembly process. We expand the concept of a Bill-Of-Assembly (BOA) to incorporate data from the bill of materials (BOM), the associated assembly activities, the associated activities’ specification parameters and materials, and the associated assembly resources (machines and/or operators). The paper defines the operation of the BOA with blockchain and smart-contract technology, for attaining full traceability, safety, and security, for the entire assembled product. Future research could extend the proposed approach to facilitate the usage of the BOA data structure in constructing a digital twin of the entire simulated system.

This paper reviews the pioneering work related to the generation of a sequence of prompts in Pretrained Language Models (PLMs) to automatically complete a complex writing task. The paper identifies the main categories of automated multi-step prompting and discusses their advantages and disadvantages. The paper also proposes an additional approach for automated multi-step prompting with iterative four main phases: in the first phase a sequence of prompts is geared to elicit the structure of the requested task. This is done by identifying the task’s main parts, the general contents of the different parts and their precedence relations. The structure of each main part is iteratively explored to find secondary and tertiary parts if they exist. A second phase is followed by a sequence of prompts that fill in the primary, secondary, and tertiary parts, and seek to fine-tune the result. The third phase reviews the generated text and criticizes it. Based on this criticism a revision is prepared. The fourth phase is fine-tuning the document, with emphasis on section length and text tone. Future research could deal with the system identification of points where the system should initiate interaction with the user for desired feedback and guidance.

Centralized/Cloud Radio Access Networks (C-RAN) are deployed in converged fixed-mobile networks to exploit the flexibility coming from joint application of Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Software Defined Networking (SDN). In this context, optical links connecting C-RAN nodes, possibly based on the Ethernet standards, may carry traffic with different requirements in terms of latency and throughput. This paper considers the problem of traffic aggregation on C-RAN optical Ethernet links with latency control for fronthaul traffic and throughput capability for backhaul traffic. Integrated hybrid nework technique is applied to show how time transparency can be enforced for Ethernet encapsulated Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) traffic while allowing statistical multiplexing of backhaul traffic. Simulation results show the effectiveness of segmentation of backhaul traffic to allow exploitation of the available bandwidth even with high capacity CPRI options.

This paper explores strategies for fostering efficient vocal communication and collaboration between human workers and collaborative robots (cobots) in assembly processes. Vocal communication enables division of attention of the worker, as it frees the visual attention, and the worker’s hands, dedicated to the task at hand. Speech generation and speech recognition are pre-requisites for effective vocal communication. The study focuses on cobot assistive tasks, where the human is in charge of the work and performs the main tasks while the cobot assists the worker in various peripheral jobs, such as bringing tools, parts, or materials, and returning them, or disposing them; or screwing or packaging the products. A nuanced understanding is necessary for understanding how human-robot interactions can be optimized to enhance overall productivity and safety. Through a comprehensive review of relevant literature and empirical studies, this manuscript identifies key factors influencing successful vocal communication, and proposes practical strategies for implementation.

The use of e-scooters and e-bicycles has been on the rise with an increased medical and financial burden. Our purpose was to identify risk factors for increased medical charges and recommend appropriate steps. We studied a retrospective cohort presenting to a level 1 urban trauma center from January 2018 through July 2019 due to micro-mobility platforms. The primary outcome for comparison was total billing cost and a regression analysis was performed to identify variables associated with higher cost. A total of 4073 patients were identified. The majority of which were males (67%), aged 20-30 years (41%). Helmet use reported in only 39.8%. Radiologic studies were performed more often in the e-bicycle group. Total billing charges amounted to 28.3 million New Israeli Shekels ($7.9 million). Average total cost was higher for e-bicycle injuries and in non-helmet users. Other factors associated with higher cost were age, and time of day 12:00-18:00. We recommend that urban cities invest in infrastructure in advance to micro-mobility introduction, regulate the use of e-platforms, designate resources for education on personal protective equipment and prepare medical centers in advance.

Elucidating physicochemical processes in the degradation of pollutants may optimize their removal from water sources. This work presents a set of elementary steps in the photocatalytic degradation of carbamazepine (CBZ), assuming a steady state approximation in an Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) combining short-wave ultraviolet radiation (UVC), homogeneous reagent (H₂O₂) and heterogeneous (TiO₂) catalyst. Elementary steps include excitation of both reagent/catalysts by UVC photons, adsorption of CBZ on the excited TiO₂, or its oxidation by hydroxyl radicals. Assuming the steady state approximation on the intermediate products (excited TiO₂, CBZ- excited TiO₂ complex, and hydroxyl radicals), leads to rate laws for degradation of CBZ, in which UVC radiation, TiO₂, and H₂O₂ are pseudo first order at all concentrations or intensities having no direct influence on CBZ pseudo-order, whereas CBZ shifts from pseudo first order at low concentrations to pseudo-zero order at high concentrations. Several experiments to test the mechanism were conducted, by varying CBZ, H₂O₂, and TiO₂ concentrations, and UVC radiation intensities. Measured results indeed fit the suggested mechanism for the first three, but irradiation intensity appears to shift CBZ influence from pseudo-second to pseudo-first order with increased intensities. Corrected elementary steps are proposed to fit the results.

Recent research has enabled the integration of traditional Volt-VAr Control (VVC) resources, such as capacitors banks and transformer tap changers, with Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), such as photo-voltaic sources and energy storage, in order to achieve various Volt-VAr Optimization (VVO) targets, such as Conservation Voltage Reduction (CVR), minimizing VAr flow at the transformer, minimizing grid losses, minimizing asset operations and more. When more than one target function can be optimized, the question of multi-objective optimization is raised. In this work, we propose a general formulation of the multi-objective Volt-VAr optimization problem. We consider the applicability of various multi-optimization techniques and discuss the operational interpretation of these solutions. We demonstrate the methods using simulation on a test feeder.

Carbamazepine (CBZ) is one of the most common emerging contaminants released to the aquatic environment through domestic and pharmaceutical wastewater. Due to its high persistence through conventional degradation treatments, is considered a typical indicator for anthropogenic activities. This study tested the removal of CBZ through two different clay-based purification techniques: adsorption of relatively large concentrations (20-500 μmol L-1) and photocatalysis of lower concentrations (<20 μmol L-1). The sorption mechanism was examined by FTIR measurements, exchangeable cations released, and colloidal charge of the adsorbing clay materials. Photocatalysis was performed in batch experiments under various conditions. Despite the neutral charge of carbamazepine, the highest adsorption was observed on negatively charged montmorillonite-based clays. Desorption tests indicate that adsorbed CBZ is not released by washing. The adsorption/desorption processes were confirmed by ATR-FTIR analysis of the clay-CBZ particles. A combination of synthetic montmorillonite or hectorite with low H2O2 concentrations under UVC irradiation exhibits efficient homo-heterogeneous photodegradation at μM CBZ levels. The two techniques presented in this study suggest solutions for both industrial and municipal wastewater, possibly enabling water reuse.

Abstract Objectives: Aging may challenge life and even affect individuals' well-being and flourishing. This includes challenges of shrinking social relations and being by yourself in old age while using your personal strengths. The current study examines two important personal resources, i.e., the skill of positive solitude and the 24 character-strengths, that may be associated with flourishing in old age. Methods: A convenience sample of 1085 community-dwelling adults (M = 57.20, SD = 6.24, range = 50-87), completed an online self-report survey with demographic measures and scales measuring personal strengths, the skill of positive solitude, and flourishing. Results: As hypothesized, the 24 character-strengths and positive solitude, were each associated with flourishing, and positive solitude moderated the relationships between the 24 character-strengths and flourishing. The 24 character-strengths and flourishing relationship was stronger among participants with lower levels of positive solitude. Conclusion: These findings highlight that despite the decrease in social relations which often characterizes old age, the skill of positive solitude serves as a valuable resource for flourishing in the later stages of life.

Disk galaxies have a typical dimension of few tens of thousands of light years. It follows from the theory of general relativity that any signal originating from the galactic center will be noticed at the outskirts of the galaxy only tens of thousands of years later. This retardation effect is absent in modelling used to calculate rotation curves throughout the entire galaxy and its external gas. The considerable differences between Newtonian action at a distance predictions and observed velocities are currently removed either by assuming dark matter or by suggesting various modifications to the laws of gravity, MOND being a long standing alternative to Newtonian gravity. In previous papers we have shown that applying general relativity in a rigorous fashion without mindlessly neglecting retardation, one can explain the radial velocities of galactic matter without modifying gravity or adding unseen matter. Moreover, it was shown that dark matter effects as they appear in gravitational lensing, the Tully-Fisher relation, and mass estimations based on the virial theorem could also be explained as retarded-gravity effects. In the original main paper on the subject only one galaxy (M33) was analysed in detail. This was later amended somewhat with a published study of eleven galaxies. Here we give a more comprehensive retardation analysis of 143 galaxies of different types from the SPARC Galaxy collection. We show that in most cases we obtain an excellent fit without postulating dark matter or modifying general relativity.

The real-time Railway Traffic Management Problem (rtRTMP) is discussed in the field of railway transportation. In this paper, rtRTMP is considered for planning shunting routes based on the use of routing methods on a spatial-temporal graph. An approach and algorithm of Spatial-Temporal Graph formation for rail yard transportation network is proposed. The idea is to construct an undirected loop-free Double Vertex Graph for determining optimal shunting routes consisting of several half-runs for several trains shunting under draw-out tracks capacity constraints. Experimental results on the rail yard simulation model are presented.

Silicon light funnels are three-dimensional subwavelength structures in the shape of inverted cones with respect to the incoming illumination. Light funnel arrays can serve as an efficient absorbing layers on account of their light trapping capabilities associated with the presence of high density complex Mie modes. Specifically, light funnel arrays exhibit broadband absorption enhancement of the of the solar spectrum. In the current study, we numerically explore the optical coupling between surface light funnel arrays and underlying substrates. We show that the absorption in LF array-substrate complex is higher than the absorption in LF arrays of the same height (~10% increase). This, we suggest, imply that a LF array serves as an efficient surface element that imparts additional momentum components to the impinging illumination, and hence optically excites the substrate by near-field light concentration, excitation of traveling guided modes in the substrate and mode hybridization.

In this paper, we consider a make-to-order supply chain which satisfies demand that is dependent on both price and quoted lead -time. The manufacturer chooses the lead -time and the order quantity, and the retailer sets the revenue shares. The interactions between the manufacturer and the retailer are modelled as a Nash Game, and the existence and uniqueness of pure strategy equilibrium are demonstrated. A mechanism that enables the supply chain to coordinate the decisions of the members is developed. Lastly, we also analyze how the supply chain system parameters impact the optimal supply chain decisions and the supply chain performance.

We report on ground-based measurements of the atmospheric electric field (Ez= -Potential Gradient (PG)) and current density (Jz) that were conducted at two locations in Israel. One is the Emilio Segre cosmic ray station located on Mt. Hermon (34.45 N, 2020 m AMSL) located in northern Israel near the Syrian-Lebanon border and at the other at the Wise astronomical observatory in the Negev desert highland plateau of southern Israel (31.18 N, 870 m AMSL). We searched for possible effects of strong, short-term solar events on the potential gradient and the vertical current density, as disruption to the Global Electric Circuit are often observed following strong solar events. The first case study (St. Patrick Day, 17 March 2015) was classified as the strongest event of 2015. The second case study (8 Sep 2017) was categorized as the strongest event of 2017 and one of the twenty strongest events on record to date. The results show that the electrical parameters measured at ground level at both stations were not affected during the two massive proton events and the ensuing geomagnetic storms. The magnetospheric shielding in lower latitudes is strong enough to shield against flux of energetic particles from solar events, obscuring any impact that may be noticeable above the local daily variations induced by local meteorological conditions (aerosol concentrations, clouds, high humidity, and wind speed) which were investigated as well.

Surface treatment of implants facilitates osseointegration, with nanostructured surfaces exhibiting accelerated peri-implant bone regeneration. This study compared bone-to-implant contact (BIC) in implants with hydroxyapatite (HA), sand-blasted and acid-etched (SLA), and SLA with calcium (Ca)-coated (XPEED®) surfaces. Seventy-five disk-shaped grade 4 Ti specimens divided into three groups were prepared, with 16 implants per group tested in New Zealand white rabbits. Surface characterization was performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), digital microscopy, and a contact angle analyzer. Cell viability, proliferation, and adhesion were assessed using MC3T3-E1 cells. Apatite formation was evaluated using modified simulated body fluid (m-SBF) incubation. After 4 weeks of healing, the outcomes reviewed were BIC, bone area (BA), removal torque tests, and histomorphometric evaluation. Microstructure analysis revealed irregular pores across all groups, with the XPEED group exhibiting a nanostructured Ca-coated surface. Surface characterization showed a crystalline CaTiO3 layer on XPEED surfaces, with evenly distributed Ca penetrating the implants. All surfaces provided excellent environments for cell growth. The XPEED and SLA groups showed significantly higher cell density and viability with superior osseointegration than HA (p < 0.05); XPEED exhibited the highest absorbance values. Thus, XPEED surface treatment improved implant performance, biocompatibility, stability, and osseointegration.

In this paper we investigate in different scenarios the feasibility of using massive multiple-input multiple-output (mMIMO) with Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs) to boost the throughput and coverage performances with high energy efficiency, considering sub-6 GHz, mmWave and THz bands. With that objective, a centralized radio access network (C-RAN) suitable for beyond fifth generation (B5G) systems is considered, where we integrate the base stations (BSs) with multiple RISs and devices or user equipment. RISs with a large number of quasi-passive reflecting elements constitute a low-cost approach capable of shaping the radio wave propagation and improve wireless connectivity. We consider a scenario where multiple RISs are combined with mMIMO in the uplink in order to provide connectivity to Smart City (thousands of active low power devices) wirelessly, in the 3.6GHz and 28GHz bands. We also address a scenario where RISs are adopted with mMIMO in the downlink so as to offer connectivity to a Stadium with Pitch, (thousands of active user equipment) in the 28GHz band. Finally, we have also studied the connectivity at 100GHz of a Factory where several RIS panels replacing most of the BSs equipped with mMIMO assure improved throughput and coverage. We concluded that RISs are capable of improving the performance in any of these analyzed scenarios at the different frequency bands, justifying that they are a key enabling technology for 6G.

Complete digraphs are referred to in the combinatorics literature as tournaments. We consider a family of semi-simplicial complexes, that we refer to as ``tournaplexes'', whose simplices are tournaments. In particular, given a digraph G, we associate with it a ``flag tournaplex'' which is a tournaplex containing the directed flag complex of G, but also the geometric realisation of cliques that are not directed. We define several types of filtrations on tournaplexes, and exploiting persistent homology, we observe that flag tournaplexes provide finer means of distinguishing graph dynamics than the directed flag complex. We then demonstrate the power of these ideas by applying them to graph data arising from the Blue Brain Project's digital reconstruction of a rat's neocortex.

The security of several full homomorphic encryption (FHE) schemes depends on the hardness of the approximate common divisor (ACD) problem. The analysis of attack and defense against the system is one of the frontiers of cryptography research. In this paper, the performance of existing algorithms, including orthogonal lattice, simultaneous diophantine approximation, multivariate polynomial and sample pre-processing are reviewed and analyzed for solving the ACD problem. Orthogonal lattice (OL) algorithms are divided into two categories (OL-$\land$ and OL-$\vee$) for the first time. And an improved algorithm of OL-$\vee$ is presented to solve the GACD problem. This new algorithm works well in polynomial time if the parameter satisfies certain conditions. Compared with Ding and Tao's OL algorithm, the lattice reduction algorithm is used only once, and when the error vector $\mathbf{r}$ is recovered in Ding et al.'s OL algorithm, the possible difference between the restored and the true value of $p$ is given. It is helpful to expand the scope of OL attacks.

The papaya mealybug Paracoccus marginatus is an invasive, polyphagous pest and poses a quarantine threat to tropical and subtropical countries. Infested commodity internationally should be undergoing phytosanitary treatment, while irradiation is recommended to replace methyl bromide fumigation. Dose-response tests were conducted on the 2-, 4-, and 6-d-old eggs and gravid females of P. marginatus using the X-ray radiation doses of 15–105 Gy with an interval of 15 Gy, respectively. Radiotolerance was compared using fiducial overlapping and lethal dose ratio (LDR) test, resulting in insignificant difference except for LDR test at LD90 (leading 90% mortality at 95% confidence level (CL)); the estimated dose for 99.9968% mortality at 95% CL was 176.5–185.2 Gy, which was validated in the confirmatory tests using gamma irradiation because gammy and X-rays have equal biological effect on pests. Therefore, a total of estimating 60,386 gravid females of papaya mealybug irradiated with 146.8–185.0 Gy resulted in no F1 nymphs developing. Eggs can therefore be used as an alternative to gravid females for dose-response tests; the recommended minimum dose for phytosanitary treatment of P. marginatus on infested commodity is 185 Gy, with treatment efficacy ≥ 99.9950% at 95% CL.

An algorithm is presented for a micro-model of a mining dump truck movement, which allows determining the optimal speed and acceleration of a vehicle, considering the change of the road grade. The structure of the simulation macro-model of an excavator-and-dump truck complex has been developed. The procedure for integrating a micro-model of a dump truck movement into a simulation model is shown. As a result of a series of experiments with a macro-model, the influence of open pit roads grade on the performance and efficiency of excavator-and-dump truck complexes was established. The necessity of considering in simulation excavator-and-dump truck complexes the speed regulation of dump trucks depending on the change in road grade is shown.

Salmonella infections can lead to intestinal inflammation and metabolic disorders in birds. However, whether ARA metabolism is involved in Salmonella-induced intestinal inflammation remains unclear. This experiment investigated the changes in cecal flora and arachidonic acid (ARA) metabolism in Hainan Wenchang chickens infected with S. Typhimurium using 16s rDNA sequencing and targeted metabolomics. The results showed that the levels of ARA metabolites were increased in the cecum tissue of Wenchang chickens after infection with S. Typhimurium, including prostaglandin E2, prostaglandin F2α, lipoxin A4, ±8(9)-EET, ±11(12)-EET, and ±8,9-DiHETrE. The content of key enzymes for ARA production and metabolism (PLA2 and COX-2) in chicken cecum tissues was increased after S. Typhimurium infection. The relative mRNA levels of inflammatory factors were also increased after infection, including IFN-γ, TGF-β1, IL-4, and IL-6. In HD11 cells, the use of a cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitor reduced the increased levels of COX-2 and PGF2α induced by S. Typhimurium infection and effectively reduced the inflammatory response. In addition, the number of beneficial genera (e.g., Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and Odorobacterium) in the cecum of Wenchang chickens was significantly reduced after infection with S. Typhimurium. In this study, we revealed the structure of the cecal flora of Wenchang chickens infected with S. Typhimurium and demonstrated that S. Typhimurium can mediate the onset and development of intestinal inflammation through the activation of the metabolic pathway of ARA cyclooxygenase in Wenchang chickens. The results can provide data support and theoretical support for the prevention and control of avian salmonellosis.

The purpose of this study was to compare the long-term clinical outcomes and quality of life measures for two fixation methods in the setting of displaced femoral neck fractures. The two groups included fixation with multiple cancellous screws (group 1) and telescopic femoral neck screws and small locking plate device (Targon FN) (group 2). Patients underwent reduction and internal fixation with either multiple cancellous screws or Targon FN device from March 2000 to January 2012. Failure endpoints included nonunion, osteonecrosis of the femoral head, and revision surgery. Patient reported outcome measures included chronic pain, ability to ambulate, and the use of ambulation assistive devices. Statistical analysis demonstrated a statistically significant lower rate of non-union and overall complication in the Targon FN group (p value < 0.001 and p value = 0.005 respectively). Logistic regression analysis showed that operative fixation with the Targon FN device decreased the odds ratio for overall complication by a factor of 0.34 (P = 0.02). There were no statistically significant differences between groups 1 and 2 in patient reported outcomes (chronic pain (p-0.21), ability to ambulate (p- 0.07), and the use of ambulation assistive device (p-0.07)). When compared to traditional cancellous screw fixation of femoral neck fractures, the Targon FN device has significantly lower complications rates and equivalent patient reported outcomes.

Using the Super-SBM method, this study calculates the carbon emission efficiency (CEE) of 30 provinces in mainland China from 2011 to 2019. Then, using the systematic GMM model, spatial Durbin model, and mediating effect model, it examines the direct effect, spatial effect, and influence mechanism of the digital economy (DE) on CEE. It was found that (1) the DE significantly promoted regional CEE, but had a negative effect on CEE in provinces with high economic correlation; (2) mechanism studies showed that the DE improved CEE by reducing energy intensity, promoting industrial upgrading and green technology innovation; (3) regional heterogeneity analysis found that the DE significantly improved CEE in eastern provinces, but not in central and western provinces. DE improves CEE in provinces with high level of economic development, but decreases CEE in provinces with low level of economic development.This paper provides some empirical and theoretical references for the development of DE to improve CEE.

Water plays a vital role in the healthy growth of pears. Early detection of water stress can play a significant role in the timely management of water deficiency for pear yield. Most current methods are labour-intensive, time-consuming, only provide point measurements, and could be destructive. In this research, a real-time non-destructive method using a push-broom hyperspectral system (400-1000nm) was used to collect hyperspectral image data and detect the water stress of the pear seedling leaves. To build a reliable prediction model, machine learning techniques were used. The Successive Projections Algorithm (SPA) was applied for optimal wavelength selection. In particular, CNN was applied to obtain the features of key wavelengths. Both the CNN features and key wavelengths were put into RR-MLR, BLR and ENN for analysis. The training accuracy of the three modellings all reach the accuracy above 70% after about 100 epochs, while combination of CNN features outperformed the mere main spectra analysis. This research demonstrated that hyperspectral imaging coupled with machine learning techniques could be applied to predict the water content of pear leaves predict non-destructively.

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

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

Lemonomycin (1) was first isolated from the fermentation broth of Streptomyces candidus in 1964. The complete chemical structure was not elucidated until 2000 with extensive spectroscopic analysis. Lemonomycin is currently known as the only glycosylated tetrahydroisoquinoline antibiotic. Its potent antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis and complex architecture make it an ideal target for total synthesis. In this short review, we summarize the research status of lemonomycin for biological activity, biosynthesis and chemical synthesis. The unique deoxy aminosugar-lemonose was proposed to play a crucial role in biological activity, as shown in other antibiotics, such as arimetamycin A, nocathiacin I, glycothiohexide α, and thiazamycins. Given the self-resistance of the original bacterial host, the integration of biosynthesis and chemical synthesis to pursue efficient synthesis and further derivatization is in high demand for the development of novel antibiotics to combat antibiotic-resistant infections.

Higher traffic density in Russian cities and less uniform traffic due to congestions are reasons for increased emissions of pollutants contained in exhaust gases of vehicles. The paper presents the modeling results of pollutant dispersion in Magnitogorsk. The analysis of these results shows that now many blocks of flats and social infrastructure of the city are in a zone with an excess of maximum allowable concentration of pollutants. Having summarized the methodological framework formulated by Russian and foreign researchers, the authors systemized the existing methods used to decrease pollutants produced by vehicles. It is proposed to choose an optimal combination of such methods applying a developed mathematical model. By adopting an optimal combination of the methods, it is possible to ensure minimum air pollutant emissions from vehicles, allocating limited financial resources. The mathematical modeling of the solutions on changing traffic density and structure and implementing methods used to decrease pollutants on one of the Magnitogorsk crossroads with the heaviest traffic is used to draw a conclusion about efficiency of the designed model used as a tool for strategic planning of development and transformation of street networks.

The sustainable development and operation of mining enterprises as major sources of economic growth in many countries is determined by both a balance of economic, environmental, and social objectives and the resources required to achieve these objectives. Transportation is one of the main resources at open pits. It accounts for up to 70% of open pit operating expenses. Various parameters of transportation means should be coordinated both with the parameters of the open pit and meet the conditions of its operation. The problem of selecting a dump truck model in the paper is solved using a universal system of selection criteria developed using an original methodology. The two-level system of criteria includes all currently known selection criteria. The peculiarity of the methodology is the use of the multi-criteria FUCOM method for ranking the criteria. In addition, it is proposed to differentiate the criteria evaluations according to the experts' competence levels. Sets of criteria for evaluation by experts of different levels are proposed. The obtained criterion ranks are recommended to be used by managers of mining enterprises to choose a dump truck model. The presented methodology is suitable for the development of new systems of criteria, considering significant changes in operating conditions or the emergence of factors not considered in this study. Evaluation of all models of dump trucks on the market using the developed system of criteria is envisaged by the authors in a future study.

Over the last few decades, many countries, especially Caribbean island ones, have been challenged by the devastating consequences of natural disasters, which pose a significant threat to human health and safety. Timely information related to the distribution of vulnerable population and critical infrastructure are key for an effective disaster relief. OpenStreetMap (OSM) has repeatedly been shown to be highly suitable for disaster mapping and management. However, large portions of the world, including countries exposed to natural disasters, remain unmapped. In this study, we propose a methodology that relies on remotely sensed measurements (e.g. VIIRS, Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-1) and derived classification schemes (e.g. forest and built-up land cover) to predict the completeness of OSM building footprints in three small island states (Haiti, Dominica and St. Lucia). We find that the combinatorial effects of these predictors explain up to 94% of the variation of the completeness of OSM building footprints. Our study extends the existing literature by demonstrating how remotely sensed measurements could be leveraged to evaluate the completeness of OSM database, especially in countries at high risk of natural disasters. Identifying areas that lack coverage of OSM features could help prioritize mapping efforts, especially in areas vulnerable to natural hazards and where current data gaps pose an obstacle to timely and evidence-based disaster risk management actions.

In this paper, the current technologies of the regenerative shock absorber systems have been categorized and evaluated. Three drive modes of the regenerative shock absorber systems, namely the direct drive mode, the indirect drive mode and hybrid drive mode are reviewed for their readiness to be implemented. The damping performances of the three different modes are listed and compared. Electrical circuit and control algorithms have also been evaluated to maximize the power output and to deliver the premium ride comfort and handling performance. Different types of parameterized road excitations have been applied to vehicle suspension systems to investigate the performance of the regenerative shock absorbers including that of the nonlinear regenerative shock absorber. The research gaps for comparison of the different drive modes and the nonlinearity analysis of the regenerative shock absorbers are identified and, the corresponding research questions have been proposed for future work.

Moral observer-licensing happens when people condone others’ morally questionable conducts due to their history of moral behaviors. We investigated in four studies (N = 808) this phenomenon in the context of cyberspace and its contributing factors and boundary conditions. Study 1 determined what participants perceived as typically moral and immoral behaviors in cyberspace. Then in Study 2, participants condemned less a story character’s online immoral behavior when they were informed of the character’s prior online moral behavior than when they were not, which indicates moral observer-licensing in cyberspace. Study 3 confirmed the presence of moral observer-licensing in cyberspace and further demonstrated that a character’s prior moral or immoral behavior online respectively reduces or intensifies the negativity of the character’s subsequent immoral behavior. Finally, Study 4 showed that participants who identified with the victim in a hypothetical scenario showed less forgiveness and more condemnation of a character’s immoral behavior than those who identified with the perpetrator or the bystander. These findings are of theoretical and practical significance for our understanding of cyber ethics.

Carotid atherosclerotic lesions are a major cause of cerebrovascular disease (CVD). Identification and quantification of carotid plaques are important for categorizing the vulnerability of plaques for rupture and assessing the impact of treatments. The irregularity of plaque surface is associated with previous plaque rupture and plays an important role in the risk of stroke. Thus, the aim of this study is to develop and validate novel vulnerability biomarkers from three-dimensional ultrasound (3DUS) images by analyzing the surface morphological characterization of carotid plaque using fractal geometry features. 3D box-counting and 3D blanket are the two types of 3D fractal dimension that were employed to describe the smoothness of plaques. This fractal dimension analysis tool was used to evaluate the effect of atorvastatin using 3DUS carotid images, which were acquired from 6 patients treated with atorvastatin with 80 mg daily and 5 patients with placebo. The Student's T Test results showed that those two fractal features were effective for detecting the statin-related changes in carotid atherosclerosis with p<0.0068 and p<0.015 respectively, suggesting that 3D fractal dimension measurements can be used effectively to analyze the surface characteristics of carotid plaques, especially for evaluating the impact of the treatment.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have emerged as a promising solution to tackle bacterial infections and combat antibiotic resistance. However, their clinical application has been hindered by their vulnerability to protease degradation and toxicity towards mammalian cells. To overcome these challenges, our study aims to develop a method to enhance the stability and safety of AMPs, applicable to effective drug-device combination products. KR12 antimicrobial peptide was chosen and in order to further enhance its delivery and efficacy, HIV TAT protein-derived cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) was fused to form CPP-KR12. A new product, CPP-KR12@Si, was developed by forming silica nanoparticles with self-entrapped CPP-KR12 peptide using the biomimetic silica precipitability due to its cationic nature. Peptide delivery from CPP-KR12@Si to bacteria and cells was delivered at a slightly delayed rate with improved stability against trypsin treatment and a reduction in cytotoxicity over CPP-KR12. Finally, the antimicrobial potential of CPP-KR12@Si/bone graft substitute (BGS) combination product was demonstrated, which is coated with CPP-KR12 in the form of nanoparticles on the surface of BGS. Self-entrapped AMP in silica nanoparticles is a safe and effective AMP delivery method that will be useful for developing a drug/device combination product for tissue regeneration.

This study aimed to investigate the influence of urban garden activities on participants' Perceived restorativeness, resilience, sense of community, and stress reduction. Ninety individuals who agreed to participate to the experiment were divided into experimental and control groups. To collect data 16 sessions of urban garden activities were conducted every two weeks from May to November of 2022. Perceived Restorativeness Scale, Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale, Sense of Community Index, and Brief Encounter Psychosocial Instrument were employed to measure participants’ psychological effects. To evaluate physiological effect salivary cortisol tests were performed. The results of the study revealed that urban gardening activities influenced on participants' physiological and psychological reactions in positive ways.

Background: Extremely rare progressive diseases like Sedaghatian-type Spondylometaphyseal Dysplasia (SSMD) can be neonatally lethal and therefore go undiagnosed or are difficult to treat. Recent sequencing efforts have linked this disease to mutations in GPX4, with consequences in the resulting enzyme, glutathione peroxidase 4. This offers potential diagnostic and therapeutic avenues for those suffering from this disease, though the steps toward these treatments is often convoluted, expensive, and time-consuming. Main body: The CureGPX4 organization was developed to promote awareness of GPX4-related diseases like SSMD, as well as support research that could lead to essential therapeutics for patients. We provide an overview of the 21 published SSMD cases and have compiled additional sequencing data for four previously unpublished individuals to illustrate the genetic component of SSMD, and the role of sequencing data in diagnosis. We outline in detail the steps CureGPX4 has taken to reach milestones of team creation, disease understanding, drug repurposing, and design of future studies. Conclusion: The primary aim of this review is to provide a roadmap for therapy development for rare, ultra-rare, and difficult to diagnose diseases, as well as increase awareness of the genetic component of SSMD. This work will offer a better understanding of GPx4-related diseases, and help guide researchers, clinicians, and patients interested in other rare diseases find a path towards treatments.

Early and accurate mapping of winter canola planting areas provides critical support for sustainable cropland management. Although some methods have been proposed to map the winter canola at the flowering or later stage, mapping winter canola planting areas at the early stage is still challenging, due to the insufficient understanding of the multi-source remote sensing features sensitive for winter canola mapping. This study proposed an early-stage winter canola area mapping method by using the combination of optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. We analyzed the spectral features, backscatter coefficients, and textural features of winter canola based on Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-1 images. Random forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification models were built to map winter canola based on early-stage images and field samples in 2017 and then apply the best model to corresponding satellite data in 2018-2022. Results showed that: (1) The red edge and near-infrared-related spectral features were most important for the mapping of early-stage winter canola, followed by VV, DVI and GOSAVI, which also showed greater differences than the other features; (2) Based on Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data, winter canola could be earliest mapped around 130 days prior to ripening (i.e., early overwinter stage) with the F-score over 0.85 and the OA over 81%; (3) Adding Sentinel-1 could improve the OA by about 2%-4% and the F-score by about 1% -2% in winter canola mapping. (4) The F-score of winter canola mapping based on the classifier transfer approach in 2018-2022 varied between 0.75 and 0.97, and the OA ranged from 79% to 86%. This study demonstrates the potential of early-stage winter canola mapping using the combination of Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-1 images, which could provide valuable and timely information for stakeholders and decision makers.

The Middle East spans the transition between temperate Mediterranean climate in the Levant to hyper-arid sub-tropical deserts in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, with the complex alpine topography in the northeast feeding the Euphrates and Tigris rivers which support life in the southeastern Fertile Crescent (FC). Climate projections predict severe drying in major parts much of the ME in response to global warming, making it important to understand the controls of hydro-climate perturbations in the region. Here we discuss 23 ME speleothem stable oxygen isotope (δ¹⁸Occ) records from 16 sites from the SISAL_v1 database, which provide a record of past hydro-climatic variability. Sub-millennial changes in ME speleothem δ¹⁸Occ values primarily indicate changes in past precipitation amounts superimposed on variations of the main synoptic pattern in the region, specifically Mediterranean cyclones. The coherency (or lack thereof) between regional records is reviewed from Pleistocene to present, covering the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), prominent events during deglaciation, and transition into the Holocene. The available speleothem δ¹⁸Occ time-series are investigated by binning and normalizing at 25-year and 200-year time windows over the Holocene. Important Holocene climatic oscillations are discussed, such as the 8.2 ka, 4.2 ka and 0.7 ka (the Little Ice Age) Before Present events. Common trends in the standardized anomalies are tested against different climate archives. Finally, recommendations for future speleothem-based research in the region are given along with comments on the utility and completeness of the SISAL database.

Ocean wave energy conversion as one of the renewable clean energy sources is attracting the research interests of many people. This review introduces different types of power take-off technology of wave energy converters. The main focus is the linear direct drive power take-off devices as they have the advantages for ocean wave energy conversion. The designs and optimizations of power take-off systems of ocean wave energy converters have been studied from reviewing the recently published literature. Also, the simple hydrodynamics of wave energy converters have been reviewed for design optimization of the wave energy converters at specific wave sites. The novel mechanical designs of the power take-off systems have been compared and investigated in order to increase the energy harvesting efficiency.

The security of several fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) schemes depends on the intractability assumption of the approximate common divisor (ACD) problem over integers. Subsequent efforts on solving the ACD problem as well as its variants were also developed during the past decade. In this paper, an improved orthogonal lattice (OL) based algorithm, AIOL, is proposed to solve the general approximate common divisor (GACD) problem. The conditions for ensuring the feasibility of AIOL are also presented. Compared to the Ding-Tao’s OL algorithm, the well-know LLL reduction is used only once in AIOL, and when the error vector r is recovered in AIOL, the possible difference between the restored and the true value of p is given. The experimental comparisons towards the Ding-Tao’s algorithm and ours are also provided for validating our improvements.

We present a new computing package Flagser, designed to construct the directed flag complex of a finite directed graph, and compute persistent homology for flexibly defined filtrations on the graph and the resulting complex. The persistent homology computation part of Flagser is based on the program Ripser [2], but is optimised specifically for large computations. The construction of the directed flag complex is done in a way that allows easy parallelisation by arbitrarily many cores. Flagser also has the option of working with undirected graphs. For homology computations Flagser has an Approximate option, which shortens compute time with remarkable accuracy. We demonstrate the power of Flagser by applying it to the construction of the directed flag complex of digital reconstructions of brain microcircuitry by the Blue Brain Project and several other examples. In some instances we perform computation of homology. For a more complete performance analysis, we also apply Flagser to some other data collections. In all cases the hardware used in the computation, the use of memory and the compute time are recorded.

Psoriasis is a chronic, multisystem, inflammatory disease. The typical clinical cutaneous manifestation of psoriasis is scaly erythema or plaque, limited or widely distributed. However, psoriasis is far beyond the skin involvement and provides many challenges, including associated comorbidities. In this review, we classify psoriasis as cutaneous and systemic psoriasis, according to the clinical diversity and associated comorbid diseases, and recommend classification criteria for psoriasis. The key objective of this novel classification is to raise awareness of the complexity of this multifaceted disease and help to better understand and manage this complex disease comprehensively.

This study aims to comprehensively compare and evaluate the toughening effects of different nanocarbon materials on vinyl ester resin composites. The incorporation of nanocarbon materials has gained significant attention due to their potential to enhance the mechanical properties of polymers. In this research, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were chosen as nanocarbon additives. The mechanical properties, including tensile strength, flexural strength, and impact strength, were systematically investigated and compared for each nanocomposite. Additionally, microstructural analysis was conducted using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to understand the dispersion of nanocarbon materials within the vinyl ester matrix. The results indicated that all three nanocarbon materials contributed to the toughening of the vinyl ester resin, with varying degrees of improvement in mechanical properties. This study provides valuable insights into the selection of nanocarbon additives for enhancing the toughness of vinyl ester resin and offers guidance for designing advanced polymer composites.

Choosing new energy vehicles for travel, especially electric vehicles, is an important component of building a low-carbon urban transportation system. However, the charging need of electric vehicle users is still constrained by the unreasonable layout and insufficient supply of public charging piles in the city. Private charging pile sharing as an alternative policy tool can play a very good role in solving this problem. But it needs decision-makers in urban transportation to take corresponding measures to promote. This paper constructs an evolutionary game model to study the decision behavior of participants in private piles sharing platform. Through numerical simulation analysis, it is found that under most parameter conditions, the government tends to establish a shared charging pile platform based on public interests. Private charging pile owners are influenced by the relationship between the cost of supply modification and revenue, and they tend to join the shared platform when they expect to recover the modification cost. The research conclusions of this paper will provide support for exploring how participants make decisions to maximize overall benefits in the development of low-carbon urban transportation.

The frequency of earthquakes in South Korea is increasing. This study aimed to examine and identify the factors influencing the degree of disaster-incident-related shock among Korean nursing students with the disaster experience. The study sample consisted of 153 nursing students who have been living around Phohang-si in Gyeongsang-do, South Korea, and who having the experience of disaster-incident-related shock. Measures were Impact of Event Scale, Perceived health status scale, Psychological Well-Being Scale, and Coping Strategy Indicator in Korean version. The data collection period was from October to December, 2018. The factor that was found to have the most influence on disaster-incident-related shock among Korean nursing students was the perceived health status (β = 0.48), followed by gender (β = -0.28), coping skill (β = 0.18), psychological well-being (β = 0.14), need for disaster education (β = 0.12), and major satisfaction (β = -0.12). This study provides preliminary evidence that perceived health status is a major and primary predictor of disaster-incident-related shock among Korean nursing students, next followed by coping skill, and psychological well-being. The findings can be reflected in the pertinent curriculum by actively considering these influence factors in designing nursing education interventions for disaster-incident-related shock in the Korean nursing students.

In order to solve the problems of complicated steering control of unmanned vehicles in the field and difficult steering on complex roads, we designed a wheel-track composite vehicle equipped with a novel power differential steering mechanism with dual driving, which drove the steering of the vehicle through the differential rotation of the rear two wheels. The unmanned vehicle was simple to control, small in size, and able to work under the conditions of complex roads, such as hills, mountains, and muddy land. Firstly, a steering mechanism with both differential speed and force was designed to prevent the vehicle from skidding into muddy land and stopping motionless. Secondly, the kinematics model and dynamics model of the two drive shafts and the two output shafts (wheel shafts) were established. Thirdly, according to the relationship between the rotational speed of the two output shafts and the steering radius of the vehicle, the kinematic model of the rotational speed of the two input shafts and the steering radius of the wheel-track composite vehicle was obtained. Finally, according to the test data, the mathematical model of rotational speeds of the two input shafts and the actual steering radius of the vehicle was obtained by neural network fitting, and the maximum relative error between the model results and the actual steering radius value was 3.53%. The combination of power differential steering mechanism and wheel-track composite unmanned vehicle increased the adhesion with the ground and could better adapt to the complex road environment. In conclusion, the unmanned vehicle had the advantages of continuous radius steering, deceleration and torsion increase, differential lock, etc. It was suitable for all-terrain military and civilian vehicles and various special equipment mobile platforms of the walking device, and the research results could provide theoretical references for the steering control and structural optimization of the wheel-track composite vehicle under the environment of complex road surface.

Myocardial infarction (MI) remains the leading cause of death in the western world. Although medical advancements have been made in interventional revascularization technologies, a large percentage of patients are not candidates for them due to co-morbidities or lack of local resources. Thus, there remains a need for the development of novel non-invasive strategies to treat MI. Approaches to accelerate revascularization within ischemic tissues through angiogenesis by providing Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in protein or gene form has been shown to be effective in animal models but not in humans likely due to its short half-life and systemic toxicity. We previously showed that a small peptide (PR1P) we developed stabilizes VEGF in its active dimer state, increases VEGF binding to its receptors and potentiates VEGF activity. Here we show that systemic PR1P treatment targeted, stabilized and upregulated endogenous VEGF within ischemic myocardium following left coronary artery surgery in mice and rats. Targeted VEGF upregulation led to augmentation of heart function at two weeks following surgery. We conclude that PR1P is a potential candidate therapeutic for MI.

That how to improve the sensitivity and the detection ability of the Large-caliber sensor is critical to satisfy the requirement of heavy vehicle wear condition monitoring. In this paper, we introduced the LC resonance principle to the design of sensor with large flow channel (7mm). The resonant exciting coil increases the impedance change of the exciting circuit caused by wear particles which magnify the current difference between the two exciting coils and improve the sensitivity of the sensor. The resonant induction coil greatly suppresses the interference signals and magnifies the weak induced electromotive force which is beneficial to enhance the detection ability. In order to boost the detectability for different materials particles, a phase controlled variable-frequency exciting system (PCVFES) was adopted to automatically switch the exciting frequency between 284kHz for ferromagnetic particles and 420KHz for non-ferromagnetic particles. For the weak signal detection, based on the essential characteristic of the signal, we apply a simpler method that modified lock-in amplifier (MLIA) rather than the conventional algorithms (Wavelet transform, EMD). Results show that using these methods the sensitivity and the detection ability of the sensor are significantly improved and the 75μm iron particles and 220μm copper particles were successfully detected which realizes the initial abnormal wear monitoring for the large flow project.

Effective household and individual disaster preparedness can minimize physical harm and property damage during catastrophic events. To assess the risk and vulnerability of affected areas, it is crucial for relief agencies to understand the level of public preparedness. Traditionally, government agencies have employed nationwide random telephone surveys to gauge the public’s attitudes and actions towards disaster preparedness. However, these surveys may lack generalizability in certain affected locations due to low response rates or areas not covered by the survey. To address this issue and enhance the comprehensiveness of disaster preparedness assessments, we develop a framework that seamlessly integrates machine learning and simulation. Our approach leverages machine learning algorithms to establish relationships between public attitudes towards disaster preparedness and demographic characteristics. Using Monte Carlo simulation, we generate datasets that incorporate demographic information of the affected location based on government-provided demographic distribution data. The generated dataset is then input into the machine learning model to predict the disaster preparedness attitudes of the affected population. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework by applying it to Miami-Dade County, where it accurately predicts the level of disaster preparedness. With this innovative approach, relief agencies can have a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of public disaster preparedness.

Microbial community succession in raw milk determines its quality and storage period. In this study, carbon dioxide (CO2) at 2000 ppm was used to treat raw milk to investigate the mechanism of extending the shelf life of raw milk by CO2 treatment from the viewpoint of microbial colonies and metabolites. The results showed that the shelf life of CO2-treated raw milk was extended to 16 days at 4 ℃, while that of the control raw milk was only 6 days. Microbiomics analysis identified 221 Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs) in raw milk, and the alpha diversity of microbial communities increased (P < 0.05) with the extension of storage time. Among them, Pseudomonas, Actinobacteria and Serratia were the major microbial genus responsible for the deterioration of raw milk, with a percentage of 85.7%. A combined metagenomics and metabolomics analysis revealed that microorganisms altered the levels of metabolites, such as pyruvic acid, glutamic acid, 5'- cmp, arginine, 2-propenoic acid, and phenylalanine in the raw milk through metabolic activities, such as ABC transporters, pyrimidine metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism and phenylalanine metabolism, and reduced the shelf life of the raw milk. CO2 treatment prolonged the shelf life of the raw milk by inhibiting the abundance of Gram-negative aerobic bacteria, such as Acinetobacter guillouiae, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Serratia liquefaciens and Pseudomonas simiae.

This study aimed to characterize the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) expression in the bovine mammary gland and to infer their functions in dietary response to 5% linseed oil (LSO) or 5% safflower oil (SFO). Twelve cows (six per treatment) in mid lactation were fed a control diet for 28 days followed by a treatment period (control diet supplemented with 5% LSO or 5% SFO) of 28 days. Mammary gland biopsies were collected from each animal on day-14 (D-14, control period), D+7 (early treatment period) and D+28 (late treatment period) and were subjected to RNA-Sequencing and subsequent bioinformatics analyses. Functional enrichment of lncRNA was performed via potential cis regulated target genes located within 50 Kb flanking regions of lncRNAs and having expression correlation of >0.7 with mRNAs. A total of 4955 lncRNAs (325 known and 4630 novel) were identified which potentially cis targeted 59 and 494 genes in LSO and SFO treatments, respectively. Enrichments of cis target genes of lncRNAs indicated potential roles of lncRNAs in immune function, nucleic acid metabolism and cell membrane organization processes as well as involvement in Notch, cAMP and TGF-β signaling pathways. Thirty-two and 21 lncRNAs were differentially expressed (DE) in LSO and SFO treatments, respectively. Six genes (KCNF1, STARD13, BCL6, NXPE2, HHIPL2 and MMD) were identified as potential cis target genes of six DE lncRNAs. In conclusion, this study indicated potential roles for lncRNAs in mammary gland immune functions and development and provided potential candidate genes and pathways via which lncRNAs can function in diet responses.

Purpose: To assess clinical outcomes of corneal cross-linking (CXL) intervention in a population diagnosed with progressive keratoconus. Methods: This single-center retrospective cohort study included consecutive patients who underwent standard CXL or accelerated CXL for progressive keratoconus at a major teaching hospital in south Israel between January 2015 and December 2019. Patient medical files were reviewed to extract demographic, clinical, and tomographic data from outpatient clinic reports before treatment and one year post-operatively. Results: This study included 166 patients (representing 198 eyes), out of which 98 patients (123 eyes) were ethnically Bedouin, and 68 patients (75 eyes) were ethnically Jewish. Overall, 126 patients (144 eyes) had a follow-up of at least 12 months (16.84±5.76). The mean patient age was 20.62 ± 7.1 years old. There were significant baseline differences between the two ethnical groups in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA; p < 0.001), uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA; p < 0.001), mean keratometry (p = 0.028), and corneal thickness (p < 0.001). Significant changes in BCVA, UCVA, and pachymetry parameters within each group were found after 12 months. Negative binomial regression analysis showed a maximal keratometry below 55D (RR=1.247, p < 0.001) and a standard CXL procedure (RR=1.147, p = 0.041) are significantly related to the stability of KC after 12 months. However, the effect size of the origin of patients is negligible (RR=1.047, p = 0.47). Conclusions: In this study, the Bedouin population suffered from more progressive keratoconus when compared to the Jewish population. CXL was significantly effective in improving BCVA and UCVA in both groups after 12 months of follow-up.

This study aimed to investigate the fatigue performance and interfacial strengthening mechanisms of Al6061-to-Cu dissimilar lap joints via electromagnetic pulse welding (EMPW). The load-bearing capacity of the joints at discharge voltages of 14 kV and 16 kV was superior to that of 12 kV. Furthermore, the fatigue life of the 14 kV joints was one order of magnitude higher compared to the 12 kV joints. SEM observation of the fatigue fracture surface revealed the presence of typical "tire-mark" fatigue striations only in the 14 kV joint, indicating higher ductility and the ability to withstand extended plastic deformation. Notably, ultra-fine nanocrystalline Al2Cu phase, amorphous phase, and numerous dislocations hindered EBSD acquisition in the transition zone. Nevertheless, dense low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) and refined grains were examined at the bonding interface. This suggests that the high-velocity collision caused severe plastic deformation and led to the formation of substructures. The interfacial strength was attributed not only to the "wave-like" or "inverted hook-like" diffusion layer but also to the presence of refined grains along the interface and nanocrystalline Al2Cu in the transition zone. Furthermore, the hybrid nanocrystalline-amorphous microstructure strengthened the joint by regulating the balance between strength and ductility.

Endoscopic medical images can suffer from uneven illumination, low contrast, and lack of texture information due to the use of point directional light sources and the presence of narrow tissue structures, posing diagnostic difficulties for physicians. In this paper, a deep learning-based su-pervised illumination enhancement network is designed for low-light endoscopic images, aiming to improve both global illumination and local details. Initially, a global illumination enhancement module is formulated utilizing a higher-order curve function to improve global illumination. Sec-ondly, a local feature extraction module incorporating dual attention is designed to capture local detailed features. Considering the significance of color fidelity in biomedical scenarios, the designed loss function prioritizes introducing color loss to alleviate image color distortion. Compared with seven state-of-the-art enhancement algorithms on Endo4IE endoscopic datasets, experimental re-sults show that the proposed method can better enhance low-light endoscopic images and avoid image color distortion. It provides an efficient method to enhance images captured by endoscopes which can effectively assist clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Determination of the fetal gender in the first trimester is important in twin pregnancy cases of familial X-linked genetic syndromes and helps determine chorionicity. We assessed and compared the accuracy of first-trimester ultrasound scans, and circulating cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) performed by non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS) in determining fetal gender in the first trimester of twin pregnancies. For this purpose, we enrolled prospectively pregnant women with twin during the first trimester, gestational week (GA) 11-13. The fetal gender was determined using both ultrasound scans and cffDNA screening. Both results were compared to the newborn gender at delivery. A total of 113 women with twin pregnancies were enrolled. There was 100% sensitivity and specificity in Y chromosome detection using cffDNA. The accuracy of gender assignment using ultrasound in any first-trimester scans was 79.7%. Accuracy level increased from 54.2% in CRL 45-54 mm to 87.7% in CRL 55-67 mm and 91.5% in CRL 67-87 mm. Male fetuses had significantly higher chances of a gender assignment error compared to female fetuses, odds ratio = 23.57 (CI 7.356 - 75.66). This is the first study that compared the accuracy of gender determination in the first trimester by cffDNA and by ultrasound scanning in twin pregnancy. It was concluded that the cffDNA is highly sensitive and specific in determining the presence of the Y chromosome in twin pregnancies in the first trimester. Between CRL 67-87 mm, ultrasound scanning offers a highly accurate determination of fetal gender in twin pregnancies. Larger cohorts of multi-center studies are warranted.

The leaves of Ligustrum robustum have been applied as Ku-Ding-Cha, a functional tea to clear heat and remove toxins; and served as a folk medicine to deal with diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. Trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid and its esters, which were isolated from the leaves of L. robustum, might be a new resource to prevent diabetes and its complications because of their strong -glucosidase and fatty acid synthase (FAS) inhibitory activities and antioxidant effect. However, the quantitative analytical method for trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid and its esters in the leaves of L. robustum hasn’t been reported so far. In addition, it was difficult and troublesome to analyze no less than 34 trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid esters by usual HPLC. Therefore, a new HPLC-UV method using hydrolyzation with sodium hydroxide for quantitation of trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid and its esters in the leaves of L. robustum was developed in the present study. The optimal hydrolyzation conditions were as follows: 1 mL sodium hydroxide aqueous solution (1 M) was added into 1 mL the extract of L. robustum and incubated at 80 °C for 2 h , and then 1 mL hydrochloride (1 M) solution was added. HPLC analysis was performed in reverse phase mode using a C-18 column, eluting with methanol-0.1% acetic acid aqueous solution (40:60, v/v) in isocratic mode at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min, and detecting at 310 nm. The analytical method was simple and rapid, which simplified greatly the analytical process. The method was validated in terms of linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), precision, and accuracy. High linearity was demonstrated with correlation coefficient of 1.000 for trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid. The LOD and LOQ values were 1.55 and 4.69 μg/mL, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSD) of intra-day and inter-day variabilities for trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid were less than 2%. The percentage recovery of trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid was 101.2% ± 0.8%. Finally, the proposed method was applied successfully to the determination and comparison of the contents of trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid and its esters in various extracts of the leaves of L. robustum. The 60%-70% ethanol extracts of L. robustum showed the highest contents of free trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid (3.96-3.99 mg/g), and the 50%-80% ethanol extracts of L. robustum displayed the highest contents of trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid esters (202.6-210.6 mg/g). The method can be applied also to the quality control of the products of L. robustum.

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a group of autoimmune diseases caused by antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs) characterized by arteriovenous thrombosis and a morbid pregnancy. We deliberated a case report of seven cases to investigate whether inhibitors of tissue necrosis factor-α could reduce pregnancy dangers caused by APS. The seven patients are with increased tumor necrosis factor, poor improvement after receiving traditional inhibitory drugs. To address these situations, the tumor necrosis factor inhibitors were prescribed after getting the patient's informed consent, and the state of illness was carefully watched for. After treatment, symptoms of contractions and abdominal pain disappeared and the B ultrasound examination showed embryo survived with good obstetric outcomes. Subsequently, maternal and neonatal health is compromised. An intervention by the administration of TNF-α inhibitors was posited to be an effective way of reducing dangerous pregnancies like preterm pregnancies, premature deliveries, abortions and miscarriages. We reviewed outcomes from seven cases in an attempt to establish how TNF- α Inhibitors could save pregnancies. We focused on key pregnancy outcomes like birth weight, gestational weeks and preterm miscarriage to tell the outcomes of TNF- α Inhibitors in pregnancy. After careful evaluation of the results surrounding these aspects, we found that TNF- α Inhibitors could prolong gestational period. Other positive outcomes include the attainment of birth weights approach the threshold, zero incidence of preterm miscarriage.

The emission of mercury (II) from coal combustion and other industrial processes continues to be a concern and have local impact on water resources. The detection of these ions in water with sensitive but rapid testing methods is desirable for environmental screening and fieldwork. Nanoparticles of various chemistries have shown promise for this purpose, as they can be used in simple colorimetric analyses. Silver nanoprisms were chemically synthesized resulting in a blue reagent solution, that transitioned towards yellow and colorless solutions when exposed to Hg²⁺ ions at various concentrations. A rapid galvanic reduction of Hg²⁺ onto the nanoprism surfaces is apparently responsible for a change in shape towards spherical nanoparticles, leading to the change in color. There were no interferences by other metal ions in solution, and pH had minimal effect in the range of 6.5 to 9.8. The silver nanoprism reagent provided a detection limit of approximately 0.5 µM (100 µg/L) for mercury (II), which compares favorably with other nanoparticle-based techniques. Further optimization may reduce this detection limit.

Plastic materials have revolutionized modern life, particularly in the domain of food packaging, owing to their versatility, lightweight nature, and ease of processing. However, the environmental ramifications of non-degradable plastics have raised concerns. Polylactic acid (PLA), derived from renewable sources, presents a sustainable alternative due to its biodegradability and exceptional barrier, mechanical, and safety properties. Nevertheless, the high UV transmittance of PLA limits its use for photosensitive food and pharmaceutical packaging, where UV radiation can lead to nutritional loss and spoilage. Various methods have been explored to enhance the UV-blocking capabilities of PLA, including the integration of inorganic nanoparticles and surface coatings. Despite advancements, these approaches often compromise the inherent transparency of PLA. Incorporating large conjugated groups can maintain transparency but introduces additional challenges. This paper reviews modification methods to enhance PLA's UV-barrier properties and anticipates its expanded utility in food and drug packaging, promoting UV resistance and diversifying PLA's applications.

With the advancement of next generation sequencing in past several years, a rising number of non-coding RNAs have been found as new actors to regulate gene expression. Non-coding RNAs not only play important roles in carcinogenesis, but also affect the clinical treatment strategies. They have been proved to be deeply correlated with chemoresistance in several cancers. Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death in gynecological malignancy, with low 5-year survival rate. Most patients are identified when they have late-stage disease. This review mainly makes a compilation of the most relevant research literature in this field with the purpose of shedding light on the relation between ncRNAs and chemoresistance in ovarian cancer.

Cerebral ischemic stroke poses a significant global cause of death, with ischemia-reperfusion injury contributing to neuronal cell death and tissue damage. However, significant therapeutic approaches with meaningful treatment effects for patients with ischemic stroke in actual clinical practice are lacking. This study investigated the potential neuroprotective effects of sildenafil, a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor, in a global cerebral ischemia model. We explored the impact of sildenafil on GFAP and AQP-4 expression, which are markers associated with astrocyte activation and water homeostasis, respectively. The immunofluorescence analysis revealed that the number of cells co-expressing the markers, which increased in the ischemia-induced group, was significantly reduced in sildenafil-treated groups, suggesting a potential mitigating effect on ischemia-induced astrocyte activation. Additionally, we conducted diverse behavioral tests, including the open-field test, novel object recognition, Barnes maze, Y-maze, and passive avoidance tests, to assess the effect of sildenafil on the cognitive function impaired by ischemia. Cognitive improvements were observed following sildenafil administration (20mg/kg) compared to the untreated group. Taken together, the results presented here suggest sildenafil's potential as a neuroprotective agent for alleviating delayed neuronal cell death and cognitive function impaired by ischemia.

A challenge in building large-scale superconducting quantum processors is the precise control and manipulation of the qubit state. However, the crosstalk between the microwave control lines impedes the parallel execution of high-fidelity digital and analog quantum operations. Here, we propose and demonstrate a universal compensation protocol for calibrating the microwave signal crosstalk. We also introduce amplified error sequences to optimize the accuracy. Furthermore, we show a definitive improvement in parallel gate operations with crosstalk cancellation, demonstrating the technique's effectiveness. This work paves the way for superconducting hardware that features automated calibration of microwave crosstalk, leading to enhanced fidelities in multiqubit circuits.

Chilling injury (CI), which causes seed browning in pepper, may arise following long-term cold storage, and is a major cause of postharvest losses. To explore potential strategies of minimizing the associated postharvest losses, the present study investigated the optimal pepper harvest time that could reduce levels of seed browning, in addition to the relationship between fruit maturity and seed browning. Fruit harvested 15 days after flowering (DAF) were sensitive to cold storage at 4°C and exhibited 100% seed browning (CI index, 4.0); in contrast, the seed browning rate of fruit harvested 35 DAF was 10% (CI index, 0.4) within 7 d of cold storage. Seed antioxidant activity was higher in seeds harvested at early stages (15 DAF to 20 DAF) than in seeds harvested at later stages (40 DAF to 50 DAF) at the beginning of storage. Pericarps of fruit harvested at 50 DAF exhibited the highest antioxidant activity. Lipoxygenase, catalase, and peroxidase activity, and the expression levels of cell wall-related genes, pectin methylesterase-like protein, and endo-β-1,4-glucanase were higher in seeds of immature fruit harvested 15 DAF than in seeds of mature fruit harvested 35 DAF. The endosperm separated from the seed coat in fruit harvested 35 DAF and the seeds did not brown under low-temperature storage. The lack of seed browning observed in mature fruit under low-temperature storage could be attributed to physical protection provided by the seed coat rather than cold stress resistance conferred by antioxidants.

In this paper, we discuss optical properties of the topologically charged rotating black hole. We study the horizon, the photon region, the shadow of the black hole and other observables. The results show that in addition to the black hole spin parameter $a$, the other two parameters, five-dimensional mass parameter $\beta$ and electric charge $q$, are also found to affect the horzion, the photon region and the black hole shadow. In a certain range, with the increase of the three parameters, the horizon distance, shape of the photon region and the black hole shadow will all shrink. Moreover, with the increase of these three parameters, the distortion parameter $\delta_{s}$ gradually increases, while the peak of the black hole energy emission rate decreases.

The resource allocation for tasks in heterogeneous distributed system is a well known NP-hard problem. For the sake of making the makespan is minimized, it is hard to distribute the tasks to proper processors. The problem is even more complex and challenging when the processors have unavailable time and the tasks type are various. This paper investigates a resource allocation problem for hybrid tasks comprising both divisible and bag-of-tasks(BoT) in heterogeneous distributed system when the processors has unavailable time. First, the mathematical model, which minimizes the makespan of the hybrid tasks when the processors have unavailable time, is established. Second, we propose a scheduling algorithm referred to as bag-of-tasks allocate-pull and divisible task allocation (BoTAPDTA) algorithm for handling hybrid tasks on heterogeneous distributed systems. In addition, to solving the optimization model efficiently, a generic algorithm(GA) is proposed. For the sake of reducing the search space and solving the optimization model effectively, a two step scheduling algorithm(TSGA), which first allocate bag-of-tasks(BoT) using generic algorithm and then assign divisible task to processors like BoTAPDTA, is designed. Finally, numerical simulation experiments are conducted, and experimental results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed model and algorithm.

This study investigated the fatigue properties and interfacial strengthening mechanisms of Al6061-to-Cu dissimilar welded joints via electromagnetic pulse welding (EMPW). The load-bearing capacity of the joints at discharge voltages of 14 kV and 16 kV was superior to that of 12 kV. Meanwhile, the fatigue life of 14 kV joints was one order of magnitude higher than that of 12 kV. The SEM observation on the fatigue fracture surface shows that the typical “tire-mark” fatigue striation just appeared on the 14 kV joint, indicating higher ductility for handling more extended plastic deformation. The high EBSD acquisition was achieved except for the transition zone due to the formation of ultra-fine nanocrystalline Al2Cu phase and amorphous phase, along with many dislocations. Dense low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) and refined grains are formed along the bonding interface. This indicates that severe plastic deformation induced dislocations to form the substructure in such an instant (40-60 μs) during the high-velocity collision. The interfacial strength is not only due to the continuous interfacial diffusion layer with a “wave-like” or “inverted hook-like” pattern but also benefits from refined grains along the interface and in the transition zone, as well as the hybrid amorphous-nanocrystalline microstructure, which strengthens the joint through increasing ductility induced by refined grains and regulating amorphous or nanocrystalline phases to affect the balance between strength and ductility of the Al/Cu joint.

Rare study on quantitative relationship between energetic impact of debris flows on the intensity and duration of growth disturbances of tree rings was carried out, partly due to lack of feasible approaches and detailed field evidence. In this study, we firstly determine the age of a recent debris flow derived from historic landslide deposits at Qingyang mountain (QYM) on the northeastern Tibet plateau by dendrogeomorphic technique. We acquired the quantitative data of annual widths of tree rings in history and confirmed the influence of debris flow rather than other factors (e.g. climatic event and inset outbreaking) in disturbing the growth of tree rings in a specific year. Using the approach, we determined the age of the debris flow at QYM occurred in 1982, which was speculated to be triggered by high monthly precipitation of July in 1982. Subsequently, based on the boundaries of historic debris flow identified on remote sensing images before and after 1982 and depth-integrated continuum model, we reconstructed the process of 1982-debris flow and obtained the kinematic energy of debris flow impacting on the sampled trees. Based on the study, we observed that two growth disturbance patterns of tree rings influenced by the reconstructed 1982-debris flow were revealed including growth suppression and asymmetric growth. A raw logarithm relationship between duration (i.e. lasting time for the disturbed tree rings to recover the initial width) and intensity of growth disturbances (i.e. growth suppression ratio of disturbed tree rings) was obtained. We concluded that there is a negative exponential relationship between simulated kinematic energy of debris flow impacting on the disturbed trees and time to recover the initial width of corresponding tree rings.

Microbe-plant interactions are linked with the core microbiota, and both the plant and the microbial partners depend on one other to thrive in nature. However, why and how the below-ground core microbiota become established aboveground is poorly understood. We tracked the movement of a probiotic Streptomyces endophyte throughout a managed strawberry ecosystem. Probiotics in the rhizosphere and anthosphere were genetically identical, yet these niches were segregated in space and time. The probiotic in the rhizosphere moved upward via the vascular bundle, relocated to aboveground plant parts, and protected against Botrytis cinerea. It also moved from flowers to roots, and among flowers via pollinators that were protected against pollinator pathogens. Our results reveal a solid evidence in tripartite interaction with Streptomyces exploiting plant and pollinator partners.

Borneol and menthol were two terpenes wildly used as penetrate enhancer in transdermal drug delivery. To explore their penetration enhancement effect towards hydrophilic drug, 5-FU was selected as model drug. A method combined vitro permeation studies and coarse grain molecular dynamics was used to investigate their penetration enhancement effect towards 5-FU. As a result, although both borneol and menthol showed a penetration enhancement effect towards 5-FU, they differed a lot in the penetration enhancement mechanism, which was also thought to account for their different penetration enhancement effect. As for menthol, SC bilayer disrupting effect seemed to be its main mechanism. While for borneol, its mechanism seemed to be more complicated. Except for disrupting the SC bilayer, it could also increase the permeation of 5-FU by enhancing the diffusion rate of 5-FU or inducing the formation of transient pore. All of this enable us a molecular understanding of borneol and menthol’s penetration enhancement effect towards hydrophilic drug, which might provide some guidance in the latter research and application.

Phthalate esters (PAEs) are a ubiquitous kind of environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals, causing environmental and health issues. EstJ6 is an effective phthalate-degrading hydrolase, and its mutant with a combination of three non-conservative distal mutations has an improved activity against PAEs with unknown molecular mechanisms. Herein, we attempt to fill the significant gap between distal mutations and the activity of this enzyme using computational approaches. We find mutations result in a redistribution of enzyme’s preexisting conformational states and dynamics changes of key functional regions, especially the lid over the active site. The outward motion of the lid upon mutations should make it easier for substrates or products to enter or exit. Additionally, the stronger substrate binding affinity and conformational rearrangements of catalytic reaction-associated residues in mutant, accompanied by the strengthened communication within the protein, might contribute to the elevated catalytic efficiency. Finally, an attempt has been done to improve the thermostability of EstJ6 upon introducing a distal disulfide bond between residues A23 and A29, and the simulation results are as expected. Together, our work explored the allosteric effects caused by distal mutations, which could provide insights into the rational design of esterases for industrial applications in the future.

Water splitting technology is an efficient approach to generate hydrogen (H2) energy, which can well address the problems of environmental deterioration and energy shortage, as well as establishment of a clean and sustainable hydrogen economy powered by renewable energy sources due to the green reaction of H2 with O2. While the efficiency of H2 production by water splitting technology is intimately related with the reactions on electrode. Nowadays, the efficient electrocatalysts in water splitting reactions are the precious metal-based materials, i.e., Pt/C, RuO2 and IrO2. Ni (Co, Fe)-based layered double hydroxides (LDH) 2D materials are the typical non-precious metal-based materials in water splitting with advantages of low cost, excellent electrocatalytic performance and simple preparation methods, which exhibits a great potential for the substitution for precious metal-based materials. This review summarizes the recent progress of Ni (Co, Fe)-based LDH 2D materials for water splitting, which mainly focuses on discussing and analyzing the different strategies to modify LDH materials towards high electrocatalytic performance. We also discuss the recent achievements including their electronic structure, electrocatalytic performance, catalytic center, preparation process and catalytic mechanism. Furthermore, the characterization progress in revealing electronic structure and catalytic mechanism of LDH is highlighted in this review. Finally, we put forward some future perspectives related to design and explore advanced LDH catalysts in water splitting.

In this study, an extracellular metalloprotease from Pseudoalteromonas sp. H2 was purified and identified. The EH2 maintained more than 80% activity over a wide pH range of 5-10 and the stability was also nearly independent of pH. More than 65% of activity was detected in a wide temperature of 20-70℃. The high stability of the protease in presence of different surfactants and oxidizing agent was also observed. Moreover, we also investigated the antioxidant activities of the hydrolysates generated from porcine and salmon skins collagen by EH2. The results show that salmon skins collagen hydrolysates demonstrated higher DPPH (42.88%±1.85) and hydroxyl radical (61.83%±3.05) scavenging activity compared to those produced with porcine skins collagen. For oxygen radical absorbance capacity, the hydrolysates from porcine skins collagen had higher efficiency (7.72±0.13 μmol·TE/μmol). Even 1 nM mixed peptides can effectively reduce the levels of intracellular ROS. And the two type of substrates exerted the best antioxidant activity when hydrolyzed for 3 hours. Hydrolysis time and type of substrate exerted important effect on the antioxidant property of hydrolysates. This study may have implications for the potential application of marine protease in biocatalysis industry. In addition, the hydrolyzed peptides from meat waste containing beneficial collagen by protease have good antioxidant activity indicating it may be a potential additive in the food processing industry and cosmetics industry.

Reverse water gas shift reaction (RWGS) is an important process which plays a vital role in many CO2 utilization related reactions. Noble metals are the most active catalysts in RWGS, but the high price and low reserve strangled their applications. In the present work, we reported a non-transition-metal MgAl2O4 catalyst which showed outstanding activity and stability at high temperatures in the RWGS reaction and improved performance after doping of single atomic Nin+. The catalyst can obtain 46% of CO2 conversion in durability test of 75 h at 800 °C under high weight hourly space velocities (225 000 ml g-1 h-1). The adsorption sites, possible reaction route, and effects of Nin+ single atoms on the (111) surface of MgAl2O4 for RWGS were investigated by in situ DRIFTS and DFT calculations. The results indicated that the rate determining reaction step of RWGS on MgAl2O4 and Ni (SA)/MgAl2O4 were both the reaction of OH* + H* → H2O* + *, but the energy barrier was significantly reduced after introducing single atomic Nin+. Nin+ atoms can increase the hydroxyl coverage on the surface of catalyst and Al3+ sites near the Nin+ ion are considered as the predominant active sites for RWGS reactions.

In view of the complexity of the pile foundation underpinning structure system and the stringent requirements of the construction process, this paper briefly describes the necessity of introducing epoxy resin reinforcing adhesive of planting rebar in the design of pile foundation underpinning beam structure to im-prove the mechanical properties of the underpinning beam new and old concrete joint surfaces and proposes a new type of pile foundation underpinning beam system construction method by “chiseling + prestressed reinforcement + epoxy resin reinforcing adhesive”. This paper uses an actual pile foundation underpinning project of an urban overpass as a prototype, designs and creates a model structure with a similarity ratio of 1/6, and performs repeated pro-gressive static loading tests to study the load carrying capacity, displacement change, and other properties of the underpinning structure, as well as analyses and distorts the overall working performance and failure mode of them. On this basis, the prototype structure's finite element analysis model was built, and the finite element analysis results were compared with the test results to get the mechanical properties and deformation characters of the actual pile foundation under-pinning structure system corresponding to the actual underpinning beam load. This paper's study can lay the theoretical and experimental foundation for the smooth development of similar projects.

During operation, the support bracket is the main part to withstand the axial loads of the pumped storage unit. Moreover, the effects of axial loads including the hydraulic thrust of runner flow and the weight of runner body may cause the support bracket deformation and fatigue damage. For the safe and stable operation, the simulation of the axial force and the structural analysis of the support bracket of a pumped storage unit was carried out in this paper. The CFD simulation result has revealed the variation rule of the axial force in different operating conditions. Using ANSYS Mechanical, the static stresses and deformation of support bracket with axial loads were calculated. The results release the location and variations of maximum stress and maximum deformation caused by the axial loads. By comparing the predicted maximum axial force with the admission force calculated by the structural analysis, it is found that the axial force of the researched machine is within the safe range. This study provides the reference for the safety and stable operation of the pumped storage unit.

Oriental melons have a relatively short shelf life as they are harvested during the summer season and susceptible to cold-induced injuries. Typical chilling injury when stored at 4℃ is expressed as browning of the fruit suture. To prolong the shelf life and reduce browning of the fruit, the effects of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), X-tend modified atmosphere (MA)/modified humidity (MH) bulk packaging (XF), and polyethylene (PE) packaging, on oriental melons were investigated during storage at 4℃ and 10℃ for 14 days and under retail display conditions at 20℃. The O2 concentrations in PE packages stored at 4℃ and 10℃ ranged from 17.4–18.5%, whereas those in XF packages were reduced to 16.3–16.6%. The CO2 content of XF package (4.2–4.6%) was higher than that of PE package (1.4–1.9%) stored at 4℃ or 10℃. Relative humidity (RH) saturated in the PE packages but not in the XF packages after seven days of storage. Furthermore, PE packages performed better at maintaining melon weight and firmness than XF packages during storage at 10℃ for 14 days and under retail display conditions at 20℃. PE and XF packages effectively reduced the browning index of the peel and white linear sutures of oriental melons compared with the unpackaged control during cold storage at 4℃, and this observation was maintained at the retail display condition at 20℃. The enhanced CO2 levels, reduced O2 levels, and optimal RH values that were provided by the MAP, prevented the browning symptoms and improved the marketability and shelf life of oriental melons.

As a chronic disease, osteoarthritis (OA) leads to degradation of both cartilage and subchondral bone, of which the development is related to proinflammatory cytokines like interleukin-1β. In the present study, the anti-inflammatory effect of Specnvezhenide in osteoarthritis and mechanism of it was studied in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that Specnvezhenide decreases interleukin-1β-induced expression of matix-degrading enzymes and reduces the activation of NF-κB and wnt/β-catenin pathways in vitro. Furthermore, Specnvezhenide treatment prevents the degeneration of both cartilage and subchondral bone in rats OA model. As conclusion, to the best of our knowledge, we report firstly that Specnvezhenide decreases interleukin-1β-induced inflammation on rat chondrocytes by inhibiting activation of NF-κB and wnt/β-catenin pathways, and has therapeutic potential in OA treatment.

The cardioprotective effects of volatile anesthetics versus total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) are controversial, especially in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery. Using current generation high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn), we aimed to evaluate the effect of anesthetics on the occurrence of myocardial injury after non-cardiac surgery (MINS). From February 2010 to December 2016, 3555 patients without preoperative hs-cTn elevation underwent non-cardiac surgery under general anesthesia. Patients were grouped according to anesthetic agent; 659 patients were classified into a propofol-remifentanil total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) group, and 2896 patients were classified into into a volatile group. To balance the use of remifentanil between groups, a balanced group (n=1622) was generated with patients who received remifentanil infusion in the volatile group, and two separate comparisons were performed (TIVA vs. volatile and TIVA vs. balanced). The primary outcome was occurrence of MINS, defined as rise of hs-cTn I ≥ 0.04 ng/mL within postoperative 48 hours. The secondary outcomes were 30-day mortality, postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI), and adverse events during hospital stay (mortality, type I myocardial infarction (MI), and new-onset arrhythmia). In propensity-matched analyses, the occurrence of MINS was lower in the TIVA group compared to the volatile group (OR 0.642; 95% CI 0.450-0.914; p = 0.014). However, after balancing the use of remifentanil, there was no difference between groups in the risk of MINS (OR 0.832; 95% CI 0.554-1.251; p-value = 0.377). There were no significant associations between the two groups in type 1 MI, new-onset atrial fibrillation, in-hospital and 30-day mortality before and after balancing the use of remifentanil. However, the incidence of postoperative AKI was lower in the TIVA group (OR 0.362; 95% CI 0.194-0.675; p-value = 0.001). After balancing the use of remifentanil, volatile anesthesia and TIVA showed comparable effects on MINS in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery without preoperative myocardial injury. Further studies are needed on the benefit of remifentanil infusion.

Baduanjin exercise is a traditional Chinese health-Qigong routine, created by an ancient physician for health promotion. Its mild-to-moderate exercise intensity is suitable for individuals with medical conditions. Recently, a large number of trials were conducted to investigate the effects of Baduanjin exercise in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It needs to be determined whether Baduanjin exercise prescription is beneficial for the management of COPD patients. Thus, we conducted a systematic review to objectively evaluate the existing literature on this topic. We searched six databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus, CNKI, and Wanfang) from its inception till early May, 2018. The adapted PEDro scale was used for study quality assessment of all randomized controlled trials (RCT). The pooled effect size (Hedge’s g) of exercise capability (6-Minute Walking Test, 6-MWT), lung function parameters (forced expiratory volume in first second, FEV1; forced volume vital capacity, FVC; FEV1/FVC ratio), and quality of life were calculated based on the random-effects model. Twenty RCTs (n = 1975 COPD patients) were included in this review, with sum scores of the adapted PEDro scale between 5 and 9. Study results of meta-analysis indicate that Baduanjin is effective in improving exercise capability (Hedge’s g = 0.69, CI 0.44 to 0.94, p < 0.001, I2 = 66%), FEV1 (Hedge’s g = 0.47, CI 0.22 to 0.73, p < 0.001, I2 = 68.01%), FEV1% (Hedge’s g = 0.38, CI 0.21 to 0.56, p < 0.001, I2 = 54.74%), FVC (Hedge’s g = 0.39, CI 0.22 to 0.56, p < 0.001, I2 = 14.57%), FEV1/FVC (Hedge’s g = 0.5, CI 0.33 to 0.68, p < 0.001, I2 = 53.49%), and the quality of life of COPD patients (Hedge’ s g = - 0.45, CI -0.77 to - 0.12, p < 0.05, I2 = 77.02%), as compared to control groups. Baduanjin exercise as an adjunctive treatment may potentially improve exercise capability and pulmonary function of COPD patients as well as quality of life. Baduanjin exercise could be tentatively prescribed for COPD in combination with the conventional rehabilitation program to quicken the process of recovery. To confirm the positive effects of Baduanjin exercise for COPD patients, future researchers need to consider our suggestions mentioned in this article.

Epigenetic modifications, mainly aberrant DNA methylation, have been shown to silence the ex-pression of genes involved in epigenetic diseases, including cancer suppression genes. Almost all conventional cancer therapeutic agents, such as the DNA hypomethylation drug, 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine, have insurmountable side effects. To investigate the role of ectoine in skin cell DNA methylation and cancer cell proliferation, comprehensive methylome sequence analysis, 5-methyl cytosine (5mC) analysis, proliferation and tumorigenicity assays, and DNA methyla-tion-related gene and marker analysis were performed. The results showed that ectoine hypo-methylation in skin cells, especially in the CpG island (CGIs) element and 5mC, was significantly reduced. Moreover, ectoine mildly inhibited skin cell proliferation, but did not induce tumorigenicity in HaCaT cells injected into athymic nude mice. HaCaT cells treated with ectoine for 24 weeks modulated the mRNA expression levels of Dnmt1, Dnmt3a, Dnmt3b, Dnmt3i, Hdac1, Hdac2, Kdm3a, Mettl3, Mettl14, Igf2, Snrpn, and Mest. Overall, ectoine, an excellent DNA protectant, mildly de-methylates DNA in skin cells, modulates the expression of methylation-related genes, and reduces cell proliferation. This evidence suggests that ectoine is a potential anti-aging agent that prevents DNA hypermethylation and subsequently activates cancer-suppressing genes.

Flavonoids are major secondary metabolites in plants, which play important roles in maintaining the cellular redox balance in cells. Chalcone synthase (CHS) is the key enzyme in the flavonoids biosynthesis pathway, and has been proved to monitor the changes to drought stress tolerance. In this work, we overexpressed a CHS gene in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). The transgenic tobacco plants were more tolerant than the control plants to drought stress. The transcription levels of the key genes involved in the flavonoids pathway and the contents of seven flavonoids were also significantly raised in the transgenic tobacco plants. In addition, overexpression of the CHS gene lead to a lower concentration of the oxidative stress product malondialdehyde. Overall, the NtCHS gene studied in this work was considered as a candidate gene for genetic engineering to enhance drought tolerance of plants and improve response to oxidative stress.

Aiming at the development of the application of massive and heterogeneous LEO constellations, the influence of typical perturbation forces on the orbit prediction of LEO satellites at different altitudes is analyzed. Firstly, the main perturbation force model of LEO satellites is introduced. Then experiments for analyzing the influence of orbit prediction on LEO satellites at different altitudes are designed. Finally, the influence of typical perturbation forces on the orbit prediction under different prediction durations by numerical analysis is assessed systematically, and the orbit prediction of LEO satellites with different non-spherical gravitational field orders, ocean tide orders and atmospheric density models were compared and calculated. The research results show that different orders of non-spherical gravitational fields should be considered when the altitude of satellites is different, the reasonable gravitational field orders for LEO satellites at 500km, 1000km, 1500km and 2000km under 1-hour forecast time are 140x140, 80x80, 60x60 and 40x40 orders, the reasonable orders of ocean tide perturbation for 1500km and 2000km satellites are 20x20 orders. Under the 24-hour forecast time, atmospheric resistance has a great influence on the precision of LEO satellites at orbit altitude below 1,000km. The forecast deviation of the LEO satellites orbit at 500km reaches 8751.576m. The difference of orbit precision between different atmospheric density models is in the meter level. The orbit deviation by the Standard Atmosphere 1976 and NRLMSISE 2000 atmospheric models respectively reaches 25.494m. Relevant conclusions provide support for the optimization and selection of dynamical models in high precision orbit determination and fast orbit prediction of LEO satellites.

It is known that during the process of aging there is a significant decrease in the number of melanosomes in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells of the human eye. We have previously shown that the interaction of melanin melanosomes with superoxide radicals results in its oxidative degradation with the formation of water-soluble fluorescent products. In the present study, we show using fluorescence analysis, HPLC, and mass spectrometry, that visible light irradiation of melanolipofuscin granules isolated from RPE cells of the human eye results in the formation of water-soluble fluorescent products of oxidative degradation of melanin, in contrast to lipofuscin granules and melanosomes irradiation. The formation of these products occurs as a result of oxidative degradation of melanin by superoxide radicals, which are generated by the lipofuscin part of the melanolipofuscin granule. We identified these products both in the composition of melanolipofuscin granules irradiated with visible light, and in composition of non-irradiated but oxidized by superoxide radicals, melanosomes. In melanolipofuscin granules irradiated with visible light, ions that could be associated to melanin oxidative degradation products were identified by applying principal component analysis of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) data. Degradation of the intact melanosomes by visible light is also possible; however, this requires significantly higher irradiation intensities than for melanolipofuscin granules. It is concluded that the decrease in the concentration of melanin in RPE cells of the human eye with age is due to its oxidative degradation by reactive oxygen species generated by lipofuscin as part of melanolipofuscin granules under the action of light.

Surface area and pore size distribution of Eucalyptus samples pretreated by different methods were determined by the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) technique. Three methods were applied to prepare cellulosic biomass samples for BET measurements: air, freeze, and critical point drying (CPD). Air and freeze drying caused severe collapse of biomass pore structures, but CPD effectively preserved biomass morphology. Surface area of CPD prepared Eucalyptus samples was determined to be 58–161 m2/g, whereas air and freeze dried samples were 0.5–1.3 and 1.0–2.4 m2/g, respectively. Average pore diameter of CPD prepared Eucalyptus samples were 61–70Å. CPD preserved Eucalyptus sample morphology by replacing water with a non-polar solvent, CO2 fluid, which prevented hydrogen bond reformation in the cellulose.

Ovarian cancer poses a significant therapeutic challenge owing to the lack of specific targets for treatment. New treatment strategies are needed to improve patient outcomes and reduce the toxicity of existing therapies. This study aimed to investigate the synergistic effects of recombi-nant human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1/redox factor 1 (rhAPE1/Ref-1) and aspirin on PEO14 and CAOV-3 ovarian cancer cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Specifically, this study examined the mechanisms underlying the effect of rhAPE1/Ref-1 and as-pirin on cell death and the associated pathways. Cell viability was assessed using the MTT assay, and flow cytometry analysis and caspase-3/7 activity assays were conducted to determine apop-tosis. Western blotting was performed to evaluate the cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Exposure to aspirin (3 mM) for 24 h did not affect cell viability in PEO14. Co-incubation of aspirin with rhAPE1/Ref-1 in PEO14 cells led to rhAPE1/Ref-1 acetylation and intracellular hyperacetylation. Co-treatment with aspirin (3 mM) and rhAPE1/Ref-1 induced a rhAPE1/Ref-1 concentration-dependent increase in cell death, particularly in PEO14 cells, as well as apoptosis, caspase-3/7 activation, and PARP cleavage. Furthermore, this combination treatment significantly increased paclitaxel-induced PEO14 cell death. Therefore, co-administration with rhAPE1/Ref-1 and aspirin is a potential strategy for ovarian cancer treatment.

The porous structure is an important three-dimensional morphological feature of the peripheral nerve guidance conduit (NGC), which permits infiltration of cells, nutrients, and molecular signals, and the discharge of metabolic waste. Porous structures with precisely customised pore sizes, porosities, and connectivities were used to construct fully permeable, semi-permeable, and asymmetric peripheral NGCs to replace traditional nerve autografts in treatment of long-segment peripheral nerve injury. In this review, the features of porous structures and classification of NGCs based on these characteristics are discussed. Common methods for constructing 3D porous NGCs in current research are described, as well as the pore characteristics and the parameters used to tune the pores. The effects of the porous structure on the physical properties of NGCs including biodegradation, mechanical performance, and permeability were analysed. Pore structure affects the biological behaviour of Schwann cells, macrophages, fibroblasts, and vascular endothelial cells during peripheral nerve regeneration. Construction of ideal porous structures is a significant advancement in the regeneration of peripheral nerve tissue engineering materials. The purpose of this review is to generalise, summarise, and analyse the preparation methods for porous NGCs and their biological functions in promoting peripheral nerve regeneration to guide development of medical nerve repair materials.

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) are increasingly popular for online learning. These systems use adaptive algorithms to recommend relevant content based on students' profiles. However, instructors need to periodically assess students' performance to ensure learning outcomes and adjust strategies accordingly. Our objective is to predict students' progress in advance, enabling teachers to make quicker decisions and facilitating the iterative process of adaptive algorithms. For this study, we collected a dataset from ALIN, an online learning platform, consisting of over 5,000 students' learning records and test results. Using this dataset, we conducted experiments employing various machine learning algorithms. The results indicate that learning behavior contributes to improving forecast performance, while students' progress strongly correlates with their previous test results. Additionally, we discovered that students' progress can be indirectly predicted by forecasting their scores. Furthermore, by breaking down overall scores into several distinct components and predicting individual scores for each component, the accuracy of the forecasts can be improved.

Data mining techniques have garnered significant attention within the realm of education. However, the procurement of ample student data poses a formidable challenge. In response to this challenge, we present a student dataset characterized by its size and distinctive attributes. This dataset encompasses various task-related topics interconnected through a learning pathway, thereby enabling researchers to delve into the data from novel perspectives. Moreover, it encompasses extensive longitudinal student behavioral data, a rarity that adds substantial value. Spanning the years from 2010 to 2021, our dataset comprises a cohort of 7,933 students, 64,344 test scores, and 183,390 behavior records, solidifying its status as a valuable resource for educational research. In our experiments, we achieved successful predictions of students' test outcomes based on behavioral learning data. The strengths of our dataset render it apt for analyzing the nexus between student conduct and academic performance, crafting personalized learning recommendations, and pursuing various other research pursuits.

The chromatographic conditions were optimized using headspace gas chromatography, and a simple and rapid method was established for the simultaneous determination of five residual solvents in ursodeoxycholic acid raw materials. The corresponding quality standards were revised. The results showed that the concentration of methanol ranged from 0.06mg/ml to 0.3mg/ml, and the concentrations of acetone, tert butanol, ethyl acetate, and triethylamine showed a good linear relationship with the peak area within the range of 0.1mg/ml to 0.5mg/ml (r=0.999); The quantitation limits for methanol, acetone, tert-butanol, ethyl acetate, and triethylamine were 4.2, 0.9, 1.5, 1, and 0.1 μg/ml, respectively, with detection limits of 1.2, 0.25, 0.025, 0.3, and 0.025 μg/ml, respectively. The recovery rates of each solvent ranged from 92.9% to 106.0%, with RSD% (n=9) less than 3.8%; The method exhibited good repeatability, with RSD% (n=6) less than 2.5%. Furthermore, the durability is good. The established method is simple, accurate, specific, and highly sensitive, and can be used for the simultaneous and rapid determination of five residual solvents in ursodeoxycholic acid raw materials.

Photovoltaic shading devices (PVSDs) have the dual function of providing shade and generating electricity, which can reduce building energy consumption and improve indoor daylighting levels. This study adopts a parametric performance design method and establishes a one-click simulation process by using the Grasshopper platform and Ladybugtools. The research focuses on the effect of dynamic PVSDs on daylighting and energy consumption in an office building in Qingdao. Through simulation, the study calculates the monthly energy consumption and useful daylight illuminance (UDI) under different inclination angles and installation heights of PVSDs. And the optimal configuration of PVSDs for each month under three dynamic strategies (rotation, sliding, and hybrid) is determined. Additionally, different control strategies and fixed PVSDs are compared to clarify the impact of various control strategies on daylighting and energy consumption. The findings reveal that, compared to no shading, dynamic PVSDs in rotation strategy (with an installation height of 0 m), sliding strategy (with an inclination angle of 20°), and hybrid strategy can achieve energy savings of 32.13%, 47.22%, and 50.38%, respectively. They can increase the annual average UDI by 1.39%, 2.8%, and 3.1%, respectively.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis was responsible for 1.3 million deaths worldwide in 2022. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the only licensed vaccine against tuberculosis (TB); however, it has limited protective efficacy in adults. In this study, we constructed a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing Ag85B from M. tuberculosis using a novel attenuated vaccinia virus (KVAC103). We then analyzed the immunogenicity of prime-boost inoculation strategies using recombinant KVAC103 expressing Ag85B (rKVAC85B) compared to BCG. In both the rKVAC85B prime-boost and the BCG prime-rKVAC85B boost inoculation regimens, rKVAC85B induced the generation of specific IgG and the secretion of IFN-γ by immune cells. In vitro analysis of Mycobacterium growth inhibition revealed a comparable immune-mediated pattern of outcomes. Furthermore, bacterial loads in the lungs were significantly lower in mice inoculated with the BCG prime-rKVAC85B boost, than in the BCG-only group following a rechallenge infection with both H37Rv and HN878 strains of M. tuberculosis. These findings collectively suggest that KVAC103, incorporated into a viral vector, is a promising candidate for a novel TB vaccine platform that is effective against multiple TB strains, including H37Rv and HN878, and that rKVAC85B effectively stimulates immune responses against TB infection.

Citrus peel has been used in Asian traditional medicine for the treatment of cough, asthma, and bronchial disorders. However, the anti-inflammatory effect of quercetogetin (QUE), a polymethoxylated flavone isolated from the peel of citrus unshui is poorly understood. We investigated the anti-inflammatory effect and the molecular mechanisms of QUE in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cells. QUE inhibited the production of NO and prostaglandin E2 by suppressing the LPS-induced expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 at both the mRNA and protein levels. QUE suppressed the production of proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α. QUE also inhibited the translocation of the nuclear factor kappa B subunit, p65, into the nucleus by interrupting the phosphorylation of IκB-α in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. Based on the finding that QUE significantly decreased p-ERK protein expression in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells, we confirmed that suppression of the inflammatory process by QUE was mediated through the MAPK pathway. This is the first report on the strong anti-inflammatory effects of QUE, which is a compound that can potentially be used as a therapeutic agent for inflammatory diseases.

Culture-positive (CP) and culture-negative (CN) periprosthetic joint infections (PJI) remain a crucial area of research; however, current studies comparing these infections rely on unstandardized outcome reporting tools. Our study aimed to compare the outcomes of CP and CN PJI using the standardized Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS) outcome reporting tool. We retrospectively reviewed 138 patients who were diagnosed with PJI and indicated for two-stage revision total knee arthroplasty (rTKA). The majority of patients in both CP and CN cohorts achieved infection control without the need for reoperation (54.1% and 62.5%, respectively). There was a significant difference in the overall distribution of MSIS outcomes (p=0.043), with a significantly greater rate of CN patients falling into Tier 1 (infection control without the use of suppressive antibiotics) (52.5% versus 29.6%, p=0.011). There was also a significant difference in the distribution of septic versus aseptic reoperations after 2nd stage (p=0.013), with more CP reoperations being septic and more CN reoperations being aseptic. The duration from 1st to 2nd stage was significantly shorter in the CN cohort (p=0.002). While overall infection control was similar between cohorts, these data suggest that the outcomes of two-stage rTKA are favorable in cases of CN PJI.

Type III interferon (IFN-λs) exhibit potent antiviral activity and immunomodulatory effects in specific cells. Nucleotide fragements of bovine ifn-λ (boifn-λ) gene was synthetized after codon optimization. The boifn-λ gene was then amplified by splicing by overlap extension PCR (SOE PCR), resulting in serendipitous acquisition of the mutated boIFN-λ3V18M. Recombinant plasmids pPICZαA-boIFN-λ3/λ3V18M were constructed and the corresponding proteins were expressed in Pichia pastoris with high-level extracellular soluble form. Dominant expression strains of boIFN-λ3/λ3V18M were selected by Western blot and ELISA, cultured on a large scale, and the recombinant proteins purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation and ion exchange chromatography, yielding 1.5g/L and 0.3 g/L, with 85% and 92% purity, respectively. The antiviral activities of boIFN-λ3/λ3V18M exceeded 106 U/mg, were neutralized with IFN-λ3 polyclonal antibodies, were susceptible to trypsin, and retained stability within defined pH and temperature ranges. Furthermore, boIFN-λ3/λ3V18M exerted antiproliferative effects on MDBK cells without cytotoxicity at 104 U/mL. Overall, boIFN-λ3 and boIFN-λ3V18M did not differ substantially in biological activity, except for reduced glycosylation of the latter. Development of boIFN-λ3 and comparative evaluation with the mutant provide theoretical insights into antiviral mechanisms of boIFN-λs and provide material for therapeutic development.

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

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

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

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

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