The recent glaciation of the southern part of the Altai is estimated (1256 glaciers with the total area of 559.15±31.13 km2), the area of the glaciers of the whole Altai mountains is evaluated by 1096.55 km2. In the southern part of Altai 2276 glaciers with the total area of 1348.43±56.16 km2 were reconstructed, the first estimate of the LIA glacial area for the whole Altai mountain system is given (2288.04 km2). Since the LIA the glaciers decrease by 59% in the southern part of Altai and by 47.9% for the whole Altai. The ELA in the southern part of Altai increased averagely by 106 m. The higher changes of ELA in relatively humid areas is probably caused by decrease of precipitation. Glaciers of Tavan Bogd glacial center degraded with higher rates after 1968 relative to the interval between 1850-1968. One of the intervals of the fastest shrinkage of the glaciers in 2000-2010 was caused by unfavorable for the glaciers dry and warm interval 1989-2004. However, the fast decrease of the glaciers in 2000-2010 was mainly caused by the shrinkage or disappearance of the smaller glaciers, large valley glaciers started fast retreat after 2010.

This paper investigates the effects of various process parameters, specifically the substrate temperature, on weld track geometry in Directed Energy Deposition (DED) processes. A specialized experimental setup integrated within a DED machine facilitates controlled thermal conditioning of sample sheets. Through Design of Experiments (DoE) methods, individual weld marks are generated and analysed to assess geometric characteristics. Regression models are constructed to predict machine parameters for desired weld geometry at different substrate temperatures. Validation experiments confirm the accuracy and reliability of the regression models. Results show a consistent trend towards target geometric features across a broad range of substrate temperatures. Despite deviations in measured values, successful fabrication is achieved, demonstrating robust bonding between weld and substrate. Contact angle predictions exhibit precision within a partial temperature range for proper deposition. The developed model offers insights for optimizing DED process parameters to achieve desired weld characteristics, advancing the capabilities and reliability of additive manufacturing technology. Future work aims to refine the regression model and explore additional mathematical relationships for enhanced accuracy. An implication of this work is the potential to vary the local mechanical properties of parts by controlling the temperature profile while maintaining consistent geometric characteristics. By manipulating the substrate temperature, it may be possible to tailor the microstructure and mechanical properties of fabricated components in the future to meet specific requirements in different regions of the part.

The study is based on the results of long-term field studies, satellite and aerial data analysis. In the maximum of the Little Ice Age (LIA) 243 glaciers with a total area of 353.4 km2 were reconstructed. By the results of interpretation of Corona images by 1968 the number of glaciers increased (236), the total area reduced to 242 km2. In 2010 glaciation was represented by 237 glaciers with a total area of 201 km2. Thus, from the maximum of the LIA, the glaciation of the Tavan-Bogd mountains decreased by 43%, which is somewhat less than the neighboring glacial centers (Ikh-Turgen, Tsambagarav, Tsengel-Khayrkhan and Mongun-Taiga mountains). The probable cause is the predominance of larger glaciers relatively resistant to warming and higher altitudes. The effect of glacier size on their stability is supported by differences in the relative shrinkage of glaciers in different parts of the Tavan-Bogdo-Ola massif: the smallest decline occurred in the basins of the Tsagan-Gol (31.7%) and Sangadir (36.4%) rivers where the largest glaciers are located. On the contrary, on the lower periphery of the massif, where small glaciers predominate, the relative reduction was large (74-79%). On the background of the general retreat trend large valleys glaciers retreated faster in 1968-1977 and after 2010. In 1990-s the retreat was slow. After 2010 the glacial retreat was extremely fast. The retreat of glaciers in the last 50-60 years was caused by a trend towards a decrease in the amount of precipitation until the mid-1970s and a sharp warming in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Background: Endogenous Peptide Inhibitor of CXCR4 (EPI-X4) is a natural antagonist of the CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4). EPI-X4 is a 16-mer peptide that is released from human serum albumin (HSA) by acidic aspartic proteases such as Cathepsin D and E. Since human serum albumin (HSA) is an important medicinal substance we asked whether different pharmaceutical HSA products contain EPI-X4 which could have been generated during manufacturing and whether HSA can serve as a substrate for cathepsins despite of the presence of stabilizers like caprylate. Methods: Eight pharmaceutical HSA preparations representing all currently used fractionation technologies were analyzed. The previously described specific EPI-X4 ELISA was used for quantification; in vitro EPI-X4 generation by acidification in the presence or absence of cathepsins was followed by quantification with ELISA. Results: None of the pharmaceutical HSA preparations tested contained EPI-X4. Acidification of HSA did not generate EPI-X4. Addition of cathepsins D and E to acidified HSA yielded high concentrations of EPI-X4 in all HSA preparations, indistinguishable between individual products. Conclusion: Medicinal HSA preparations per se do not contain EPI-X4, but will replenish its precursor which can be cleaved to EPI-X4 in vivo, environmental conditions permitting.

DBP and DEHP are two of the most common plasticisers used in modern industries, which have aroused a major concern over their ubiquitous occurrence and hazardous environmental effects. This study presents the first data of phthalates’ occurrence and distribution in the Maltese shoreline sand. DBP and DEHP occurrences’ was investigated in three busy and secluded beaches, respectively. Analytical determination involved quantifying DBP and DEHP from 75 samples using UPLC-MS/MS through triple repeatability. The concentrations ranged between 0.0095–0.07034 µg/g and <LOQ–0.0977 µg/g for DBP and DEHP, respectively. Statistical analysis of the comparison of phthalates in different beaches demonstrated that the occurrence of DBP and DEHP in Maltese shoreline sand varies. The differences in the occurrence of phthalates were attributed to the beaches’ topography and anthropogenic pressures. Analysis of the effects of anthropogenic activities on the occurrence of phthalates showed a positive association. Distribution analysis showed that DBP and DEHP exhibit an uneven distribution along the shoreline. Conversely, different distributions were observed at distances away from the sea. The uneven distributions observed were associated with anthropogenic activities, different chemodynamic properties and wave action. Cluster analysis was performed to prove the interactions between the phthalates’ concentrations and the characteristics of the beaches.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the presence of spatial and temporal effects on the calls for noise disturbance service reported to the Local Police of València (Spain) in the time period from 2014 to 2015, and investigate how some socio-demographic and environmental variables affect the noise phenomenon. The analysis is performed at the level of València's boroughs. It has been carried out using a logistic model after dichotomization of the noise incidents variable. The spatial effects consider first and second order neighbours. The temporal effects are included in the model by means of one and two weeks temporal lags. Our model confirms the presence of strong spatio-temporal effects. We also find significant associations between noise incidence and specific age groups, socio-economic status, land uses and recreational activities, among other variables. The results suggest that there is a problem of ``social'' noise in València that is not exclusively a consequence of coexistence between local residents. External factors such as the increasing number of people on the streets during weekend nights or during summer months increase severely the chances of expecting a noise incident.

Plants offer a simpler and cheaper alternative to mammalian animal models for the study of Endoplasmic Reticulum glycoprotein folding Quality Control (ERQC). In particular, the Arabidopsis thaliana (At) innate immune response to bacterial peptides provides an easy means of assaying ERQC function in vivo. A number of mutants that are useful to study ERQC in planta have been described in the literature, but only for a subset of these mutants the innate immune response to bacterial elicitors has been measured beyond monitoring plant weight and some physio-pathological parameters related to the plant immune response. In order to probe deeper into the role of ERQC in the plant immune response, we monitored expression levels of the PHI-1 and RET-OX genes in the At ER α-Glu II rsw3 and the At UGGT uggt1-1 mutant plants, in response to bacterial peptides elf18 and flg22. The elf18 response was impaired in the rsw3 but not completely abrogated in the uggt1-1 mutant plants, raising the possibility that the latter enzyme is partly dispensable for ERF signalling. In the rsw3 mutant, seedling growth was impaired only by concomitant application of the At ER α-Glu II NB-DNJ inhibitor at concentrations above 500 nM, suggesting residual activity in this mutant. The study highlights the need for extending plant innate immune response studies to assays sampling EFR signalling at the molecular level.

Abstract: Air-polishing with low abrasiveness powders is fats arising as a valid and mini-invasive instrument for the management of biofilm colonizing dental implants. The reported advantage is the efficient removal of plaque with respect of the titanium integrity. In the present study, we evaluated the in-situ plaque-removal and continual the post-treatment anti-bacterial efficacy of an innovative erythritol/chlorhexidine air-polishing powder and compared it with sodium bicarbonate. Two peri-implantitis-linked biofilm formers strains Staphylococcus aureus and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans were selected and used to infect titanium disks before and after the air-polishing treatment. Cells number and viability were assayed by colonies forming units (CFUs) count and metabolic-colorimetric (2,3-Bis-(2-Methoxy-4-Nitro-5-Sulfophenyl)-2H-Tetrazolium-5-Carboxanilide) (XTT) assay. Air-polishing performed with either sodium bicarbonate or erythritol/chlorhexidine was effective in reducing bacteria biofilm viability and number onto pre-infected specimens, while erythritol/ chlorhexidine showed a higher post-treatment biofilm re-growth inhibition. Surface analysis via mechanical profilometry failed to show an increase in titanium roughness, regardless of the powder selected.

This study involved a comprehensive examination of sensory attributes in Bísaro dry-cured loins, including odor, androsterone, scatol, color, fat color, hardness, juiciness, chewiness, flavor intensity, and flavor persistence. Analysis of 40 samples revealed a wide variation in these attributes, ensuring a robust margin for multivariate calibration purposes. The respective near-infrared (NIR) spectra unveil distinct peaks associated with significant components such as protein, lipid, and water. Support Vector Regression (SVR) models were methodically calibrated for all sensory attributes, with optimal results using multiplicative scattering correction pre-treatment, MinMax normalization, and radial base kernel (non-linear SVR model). The predictive models exhibited acceptable results, characterized by R-squared values close to 1 (0.9616 - 0.9955) and low RMSE values (0.0400 – 0.1031). The prediction set's relative standard deviation (RSD) remained under 5%. Comparisons with prior research revealed significant improvements in prediction accuracy, particularly when considering attributes like pig aroma, hardness, fat color, and flavor intensity. This research underscores the potential of advanced analytical techniques to improve the precision of sensory evaluations in food quality assessment.

Fungal plant diseases are a major threat to food security worldwide. Current efforts to identify and list loci involved in different biological processes are more complicated than originally thought, even when complete genome assemblies are available. Despite numerous experimental and computational efforts to characterize gene functions in plants, about ~ 40% of protein-coding genes in the model plant A. thaliana are still not categorized in the Gene Ontology Biological Process (BP) annotation. In non-model organisms, such as sunflower (Helianthus annuus), the number of BP term annotation is far fewer, ~22%. In the current study we performed gene co-expression network analysis using eight terabytes of public transcriptome datasets and performed expression-based functional prediction to categorize and identify loci involved in the response to fungal pathogens. We were able to construct a reference gene network of healthy green tissue (GreenGCN) and a gene network of healthy and stressed root tissues (RootGCN). Both networks achieved robust high quality scores on the metrics of guilt-by-association and selective constraints versus gene connectivity. We were able to identify eight modules enriched in defense functions, of which, two out of the three modules in the RootGCN were also conserved in the GreenGCN, suggesting similar defense-related expression patterns. We identified 16 WRKY genes involved in defense related functions and 65 previously uncharacterized loci now linked to defense response. In addition, we identified and classified 122 loci previously identified within QTL or near candidate loci reported in GWAS studies of disease resistance in sunflower linked to defense response. In all, we have implemented a valuable strategy to better describe genes within specific biological processes.

Durum wheat (DW) is one of the major crops grown in the Mediterranean area, a climate-vulnerable region where the increase in day/night (d/n) temperature are severely threatening DW yield stability. In order to improve DW heat tolerance, the introgression of chromosomal segments derived from the wild gene pool is a promising strategy. Here, four DW-Thinopyrum spp. near-isogenic recombinant lines (NIRLs) were assessed for their physiological response and productive performance after an intense heat stress (IH, 37/27°C d/n) applied for 3 days at anthesis. The NIRLs included two primary types (R5, R112), carriers (+) of a differently sized Th. ponticum 7el1L segment on DW 7AL arm, and two corresponding secondary types (R69-9/R5, R69-9/R112), possessing a Th. elongatum 7EL segment distally inserted into the 7el1L ones. Their response to the IH stress was compared to that of corresponding non-carrier sib lines (−) and of the heat tolerant cv. Margherita. Overall, the R112+, R69-9/R5+ and R69-9/R112+ NIRLs exhibited a tolerant behaviour towards the applied stress, standing out for maintenance of leaf relative water content, but also for accumulation of proline and soluble sugars in flag leaf and for preservation of photosynthetic efficiency. As a result, all the above three NIRLs (R112+ > R69-9/R5+ > R69-9/R112+) displayed good yield stability under the IH, also in comparison with cv. Margherita, R112+ particularly relying on strength of spike fertility/grain number traits, R69-9/R5+ on efficient compensation by grain weight increase. This work largely confirmed and further substantiated the value of exploiting the wild germplasm of Thinopyrum species as useful source for the improvement of DW tolerance to even extreme abiotic stress conditions, such as the severe heat treatment throughout day- and night-time applied here.

This study investigates the complex interplay between public sentiment, as captured through news titles and descriptions, and the stock prices of three major tech companies: Microsoft (MSFT), Tesla (TSLA), and Apple (AAPL). Leveraging advanced analytical methods including Pearson correlation, wavelet coherence, and regression analysis, this research probes the degree to which stock price fluctuations can be attributed to the polarity of media sentiment. The methodology combines statistical techniques to assess sentiment's predictive power on stock opening and closing prices, while wavelet coherence analysis unveils the temporal dynamics of these relationships. Results demonstrate a significant correlation between sentiment polarity and stock prices, with description polarity affecting Microsoft's opening prices, title polarity influencing Tesla's opening prices, and a positive impact of title polarity on Apple's closing prices. However, Tesla's stock showed no significant coherence, indicating a potential divergence in how sentiment affects stock behavior across companies. The study highlights the importance of sentiment analysis in forecasting stock market trends, revealing not only direct correlations but also lagged influences on stock prices. Despite its focus on large-cap tech firms, this research provides a foundational understanding of sentiment's financial implications, suggesting further investigation into smaller firms and other market sectors.

Background: Periodontitis is a disease that leads to serious functional and aesthetic dysfunctions resulting in impairment of life quality; it exists in different forms and its etiology is related with multiple component causes. Angiogenesis, together with inflammatory infiltrate, are two key processes in the evolution of inflammatory processes involving gingival tissues. The aim of this study was to evaluate their alterations in relation to some important periodontal diseases-associated factors (i.e. smoke, sex, age, plaque, pus, probing pocket depth) in patients with diagnosis of Generalized Aggressive Periodontitis (GAP). Methods: Eighteen subjects with GAP were enrolled for this study. Percentage of inflammatory cells and vascular area were measured and evaluated in relation with each periodontal diseases-associated factor. Results: The results showed a significant decrease of the percentage of vascular area in association with almost all the periodontal diseases-related factors (smoke, age, PPD, plaque) and not significant differences in the percentage of inflammatory cells. Conclusions: Data suggest that, even if these factors are often commonly related to worsening of periodontal status, they did not affect inflammatory and vascular pattern, as we can assume. For the future, additional studies, aimed to evaluated each singular factor in a wider sample size, should be planned.

Bioactive glass (BG) represents a promising biomaterial for bone healing; here injectable BG pastes biological properties were improved by 25 wt% gelatin or chitosan, as well as mechanical resistance was enhanced by adding 10 or 20 wt% 3-Glycidyloxypropyl trimethoxysilane (GPTMS) cross-linker. Composites exhibited bioactivity as apatite formation was observed by SEM and XRD after 14 days immersion in SBF; moreover, polymers did not enhance degradability as weight loss was >10% after 30 days in physiological conditions. BG-gelatin-20 wt% GPTMS composites demonstrated the highest compressive strength (4.8±0.5 MPa) in comparison with 100% BG control (1.9±0.1 MPa). Cytocompatibility was demonstrated towards human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC), osteoblasts progenitors and endothelial cells. The presence of 20 wt% GPTMS conferred antibacterial properties thus inhibiting the joint pathogens Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis infection. Finally, hMSC osteogenesis was successfully supported in a 3D model as demonstrated by alkaline phosphatase release and osteogenic genes expression.

This study explores the potential of data science software solutions like Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM) for increasing the revenue generation of businesses. We focused on those businesses in Accommodation and Food Service sector across the European Union (EU). The investigation is contextualized within the rising trend of data-driven decision making, examining the potential correlation between data science application and business revenue. Employing a comprehensive evaluation of Eurostat datasets from 2014 to 2021, we used both univariate and multivariate analyses, we assessed e-commerce sales data across countries, focusing on the usage of big data and CRM tools. Big data utilization showed a clear, positive relationship with enhanced e-commerce sales. However, CRM tools exhibited a dualistic impact: while their use in marketing showed no significant effect on sales, their application in non-marketing functions had a negative correlation. These findings underscore the potential role of CRM and data science solutions in enhancing business performance in the EU's Accommodation and Food Service industry.

Combination antiviral therapy may be helpful in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection, however no clinical trial data are available and combined use of direct acting antivirals (DAA) and monoclonal antibodies (mAb) has been reported only anecdotally. To assess the cooperative effects of dual drug combinations in vitro, we used a VERO E6 cell based in vitro system with the ancestral B.1 or the highly divergent BQ.1.1 virus to test pairwise combinations of the licensed DAA, including nirmatrelvir (NRM), remdesivir (RDV) and the active metabolite of molnupiravir (EIDD-1931) as well the combination of RDV with four licensed mAbs (sotrovimab, bebtelovimab, cilgavimab, tixagevimab; tested only with the susceptible B.1 virus). According to SynergyFinder 3.0 summary and weighted scores, all the combinations had an additive effect. Within DAA/DAA combinations, paired scores with the B.1 and BQ.1.1 variants were comparable. In the post-hoc analysis weighting synergy by concentrations, several cases of highly synergistic scores were detected at specific drug concentrations, both for DAA/DAA and for RDV/mAb combinations. This was supported by in vitro confirmation experiments showing a more than linear shift of a drug effective concentration (IC50) at increasing concentrations of the companion drug, although the effect was prominent with DAA/DAA combinations but minimal or null with RDV/mAb combinations. These results support a cooperative effects of dual drug combinations in vitro, which should be further investigated in animal models before introduction into the clinic.

Starch is a widespread natural polymer used in healthcare applications due to its low cost and antibacterial properties. The use of starch in its many forms and its sometimes combination with metallic nanoparticles have all contributed to the advancement of biomaterials. However, few studies have been conducted on biocomposites composed of jackfruit starch and silver nanopar-ticles (AgNPs). As a result, this research aims to study the physicochemical, morphological, and cytotoxic features of a Brazilian jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) starch-based scaffold loaded with AgNPs. Gelatinization and chemical reduction were used to synthesize the scaffold and AgNPs, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were utilized to explore the properties. The findings supported the development of anisotropic, stable, monodispersed AgNPs. The presence of AgNPs in the scaffold matrix was revealed by XRD and SEM-EDS. AgNPs were found to modify the crystallinity, roughness, and thermal stability of the scaffold while leaving its chemical and physical characteristics unchanged. Finally, the scaffolds did not show adverse effects on the L929 cells.

The 2021/2022 influenza season was not characterised by a well-defined incidence peak. A high value of incidence was recorded in week 13, but it was still lower than in other influenza seasons. This abnormal circulation was probably due to relaxation of the COVID-19 pandemic restriction measures, which greatly reduced the circulation of respiratory-transmitted viruses, including human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV). The symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza are quite similar, sharing the human-to-human transmission route via respiratory droplets. The aim of this study was to estimate the rate of coinfection with influenza viruses and/or HRSV in SARS-CoV-2-positive subjects (N=940) in a population of central Italy during the 2021/2022 season. A total of 54 cases of coinfection were detected during the study period, 51 cases (5.4%) of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus and three cases (0.3%) of SARS-CoV-2 and HRSV coinfection. These results highlight the importance of continuous monitoring of the circulation of influenza virus and other respiratory viruses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Upon declaration of poliovirus (PV) type 2 eradication in 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) published PV containment requirements in the Global Action Plan III (GAPIII) for mitigating risks of a facility-associated release post-eradication. In 2018, the 71st World Health Assembly resolution urged Member States retaining PV to appoint a National Authority for Containment (NAC), reduce the number of PV facilities, and submit applications for containment certification. The United States (US) NAC was established in 2018 for containment oversight, and two paths to WHO GAPIII containment certification were developed. Facilities retaining PV were identified through national poliovirus containment surveys. US NAC conducted 27 site visits at 18 facilities (20 laboratories: A/BSL-2 (65%), A/BSL-3 (20%), and storage-only (15%)) to verify implementation of US NAC’s preliminary containment measures. NAC identified areas for improvement in seven categories: primary containment, decontamination, hand hygiene, security, emergency response, training, and immunization practices. Sixteen facility applications were endorsed to pursue poliovirus-essential facility (PEF) certification whereas four facilities opted to withdraw during the containment certification process. The US made noteworthy progress in PV containment to enhance biosafety and biosecurity practices at US PV facilities to safeguard the polio eradication effort.

Due to the energetic transition at course, new geological exploration technologies are needed to discover mineral deposits containing critical materials such as lithium (Li). The vast majority of European Li deposits are related to Li–Cs–Ta (LCT) pegmatites. Literature review indicates that conventional exploration campaigns are dominated by geochemical surveys and related exploration tools. However, other exploration techniques must be evaluated namely remote sensing (RS) and geophysics. This work presents the results of the INOVMINERAL4.0 project obtained through alternative approaches to traditional geochemistry that were gathered and integrated into a webGIS application. The specific objectives were to: (i) assess the potential of high-resolution elevation data; (ii) evaluate geophysical methods, particularly radiometry; (iii) establish a methodology for spectral data acquisition and build a spectral library; (iv) compare obtained spectra with Landsat 9 data for pegmatite identification; and (v) implement a user-friendly webGIS for data integration and visualization. Radiometric data acquisition using geophysical techniques effectively discriminated pegmatites from host rocks. The developed spectral library provided valuable insights for space-based exploration. Landsat 9 data accurately identified known LCT pegmatite targets, compared to Landsat 8. The user-friendly webGIS facilitated data integration, visualization, and sharing, supporting potential users in similar exploration approaches.

Annually, the oak forests of the Zagros Mountain chains, in western Iran and northeastern Iraq, face recurring challenges posed by forest fires, particularly in the Kurdo-Zagrosian forests situated in western Iran and northeastern Iraq. Assessing fire susceptibility relies significantly on vegetation condition. Integrating in situ data, Remote Sensing (RS) data, alongside the integration of Geographical Information Systems (GIS), presents a cost-effective and precise approach to capturing environmental conditions before, during, and after fire events, minimizing the need for extensive fieldwork. This study refines and applies the Zagros Grass Index (ZGI), a local vegetation index tailored to discern between grass-covered surfaces from tree canopies in Zagros forests, identifying the grass masses as the most flammable fuel type. Utilizing Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) product as input, from 2013 to 2022, the ZGI aims to mitigate the influence of tree canopies, isolating NDVI values solely attributable to grass cover. By incorporating phenological characteristics of forest trees and grass species, the ZGI outperforms NDVI in mapping grass-covered areas that are crucial for fire susceptibility assessment in the study region. Results demonstrate a strong overlap between ZGI-based maps and recorded fire occurrences, validating the efficacy of the index in fire susceptibility estimation.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of different types of olive cake (five treatments) in the diet of Bísaro pigs on the volatile compounds and sensory characteristics in the dry-cured loin and dry-cured “cachaço” (2 processed meat products). The treatments applied are based on the type of extraction and this may imply differences in their water and fat content. Eighty com-pounds were identified, and grouped into eight chemical classes: hydrocarbons, aldehydes, es-ters, alcohols, ketones, acids, furans, and other compounds. Aldehydes and alcohols were the ma-jor groups of compounds, representing 57.06-66.07 % and 68.67-75.61 % for the loin and “cacha-ço”, respectively. There were no significant differences between treatments for any of the volatile compounds identified. The major aldehydes were hexanal, heptanal, pentanal, and propanal. These compounds were significantly higher (p<0.001) in “cachaço”. This significant difference be-tween the two types of dry-cured products is directly related to the amount of total fat content. The major alcohols were 2.3-butanediol, 1-octen-3-ol, 1-butanol, 3-methyl, 1-hexanol, benzyl-alcohol and glycidol. Except for compounds 2,3-butanediol and benzyl-alcohol, the majority in this group are significantly different in terms of the type of dry-cured product. As for the sensory evaluation, for both dry-cured products, the trained tasters did not detect significant differences between the different treatments, which is in line with the results obtained for volatile compounds.

Background: Calcaneal fractures are the most frequent traumatic injuries of the hindfoot and can cause severe disability with social and economic sequelae; since 1980 an increasing number of studies and new technologies have led to an improvement in their management and complications but treatment is still controversial. The purpose of the study to review the secondary scientific literature looking for the optimal management of calcaneal fracture; Methods: through the PubMed MEDLINE database, 4856 articles were identified; only meta-analyses and systematic reviews were included in the study. Results: 59 reviews with more than 10,000 calcaneus fractures were examined and results were divided into various topics; the majority of articles agree on the superiority of surgical versus conservative treatment; minimally invasive access to the sinus tarsi shows better results and fewer complications than traditional extended lateral access; reduction and osteosynthesis with percutaneous and/or minimally invasive techniques seem to provide better outcomes if compared to open treatments. Conclusions: The management of calcaneus fractures requires an individualized planning based on the functional demands of the patient, the type of fracture and associated injuries. New technologies and further studies may still improve the management of these lesions.

Newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants may escape monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and antiviral drugs. By using live virus assays, we assessed the ex vivo inhibition of the B.1 wild type (WT), delta and omicron BA.1 and BA.2 lineages by post-infusion sera from 40 individuals treated with bamlanivimab/etesevimab (BAM/ETE), casirivimab/imdevimab (CAS/IMD) and sotrovimab (SOT) as well as the activity of remdesivir, nirmatrelvir and molnupiravir. mAbs and drug activity were defined as the serum dilution (ID50) and drug concentration (IC50), respectively, showing 50% protection of virus-induced cytopathic effect. All pre-infusion sera were negative for SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing activity. BAM/ETE, CAS/IMD and SOT showed activity against the WT (ID50 6,295 [4,355-8,075] for BAM/ETE; 18,214 [16,248-21,365] for CAS/IMD and 456 [265-592] for SOT) and the delta (14,780 [ID50 10,905-21,020] for BAM/ETE, 63,937 [47,211-79,971] for CAS/IMD and 1,103 [843-1,334] for SOT). Notably, only SOT was active against BA.1 (ID50 200 [37-233]) while BA.2 was neutralized by CAS/IMD (ID50 174 [134-209] ID50) and SOT (ID50 20 [9-31] ID50) but not by BAM/ETE. No significant inter-variant IC50 differences were observed for molnupiravir (1.5±0.1/1.5±0.7/1.0±0.5/0.8±0.01 μM for WT/delta/BA.1/BA.2, respectively); nirmatrelvir (0.05±0.02/0.06±0.01/0.04±0.02/0.04±0.01 μM) and remdesivir (0.08±0.04/0.11±0.08/0.05±0.04/0.08±0.01 μM). Continued evolution of SARS-CoV-2 requires updating the mAbs arsenal, however antivirals have so far remained unaffected.

A single paragraph of about 200 words maximum. For research articles, abstracts should give a Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) has gained worldwide popularity because of its notable mechanical response. This research studied the compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, and flexural tensile strength of UHPC. Batches were made with the addition of steel and PVA fibers using a standard procedure defined in the research. The experimental data from the compressive strength test was analyzed in the Statistica 10 software to investigate the fibers' influence on UHPC's mechanical properties. An analysis of the elastic modulus prediction was carried out according to international standards. It was found that the normalized equations for the elastic modulus are not adequate for its estimation. The statistical analysis indicated that the range of fiber quantities analyzed did not significantly affect the compressive strength and the elastic modulus. Regarding the optimized mix, its flexural tensile strength indicates that the fiber content must be higher for UHPC to be suitable for structural use.

Chemical pollution poses a significant threat to human health, with detrimental effects on various physiological systems, including the respiratory, cardiovascular, mental, and perinatal domains. While the impact of pollution on these systems has been extensively studied, the intricate relationship between chemical pollution and immunity remains a critical area of investigation. The focus of this study is to elucidate the relationship between chemical pollution and human immunity. To accomplish this task, this study presents a comprehensive review that encompasses in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo studies, shedding light on the ways in which chemical pollution can modulate human immunity. Our aim is to unveil the complex mechanisms by which environmental contaminants compromise the delicate balance of the body's defence systems going beyond the well-established associations with defence system delving into the less-explored link between chemical exposure and various immune disorders, adding urgency to our understanding of the underlying mechanisms and their implications for public health.

The study explores antibacterial, antiinflammatory and cytoprotective capacity of Pelargonium sidoides DC root extract (PSRE) and proanthocyanidin fraction from PSRE (PACN) under conditions characteristic for periodontal disease. Following previous finding that PACN exerts stronger suppression of Porphyromonas gingivalis compared to the effect on commensal Streptococcus salivarius, the current work continues antibacterial investigation on Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Escherichia coli. PSRE and PACN are also studied for their ability to prevent gingival fibroblast cell death in the presence of bacteria or bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), to block LPS- or LPS+IFNγ-induced release of inflammatory mediators, gene expression and surface antigen presentation. Both PSRE and PACN were more efficient in suppressing Staphylococcus and Aggregatibacter compared to Escherichia, prevented A. actinomycetemcomitans- and LPS induced death of fibroblasts, decreased LPS-induced release of interleukin 8 and prostaglandin E2 from fibroblasts and IL-6 from leukocytes, blocked expression of IL-1β, iNOS, and surface presentation of CD80 and CD86 in LPS+IFNγ-treated macrophages, and IL-1β and COX-2 expression in LPS-treated leukocytes. None of the investigated substances affected either the level of secretion or expression of TNFα. In conclusion, PSRE, and especially PACN, possess strong antibacterial, antiinflammatory and gingival tissue protecting properties under periodontitis mimicking conditions and are suggestable candidates for treatment of the disease.

The use of privileged scaffolds as starting point for the construction of libraries of bioactive compounds is a widely used strategy in drug discovery and development. Scaffold decoration, morphing and hopping are additional techniques that allow to modify the privileged framework chosen and better explore the chemical space around it. In this study, two series of highly functionalized pyrimidine and pyridine derivatives were synthesized by scaffold morphing approach of triazine compounds obtained previously as antiviral agents. Newly synthesized azines were evaluated against lymphoma, hepatocarcinoma, and colon epithelial carcinoma cells showing in five cases acceptable to good anticancer activity associated to low cytotoxicity on healthy fibroblasts. Finally, ADME in vitro studies were conducted on the best derivatives of the two series showing good passive permeability and resistance to metabolic degradation.

Kaolin protective effect was assessed in a white grapevine cultivar ‘Cerceal’ in ‘Alentejo’ Region (southeast Portugal) where plants face extreme conditions during summer season. We addressed the hypothesis that kaolin effects lead to several changes in leaves, fruits and wine characteristics on the primary and secondary metabolism. Results showed that kaolin reduces leaf temperature which provoke an improvement in physiological parameters such as net photosynthesis and water use efficiency. This protection interferes with berries colour, leaving them more yellowish, and an increase in phenolic compounds were observed in all fruit tissues (skin, seed and pulp). Also, both berry and wine characteristics were strongly affected, with an increase of tartaric and malic acid and consequently high total acidity, while the sugar concentration decreased 8.9% in berries provoking a low wine alcohol level. Results also showed that kaolin induces high potassium, magnesium and iron, and low copper and aluminum concentrations. Moreover, the control wine showed higher content of esters related with hostile notes whereas wine from kaolin treated vines presented higher content of esters associated with fruity notes. Overall, the results strengthen the promising nature of kaolin application as summer stress mitigation strategy protecting grapevine plants and improving fruits quality and more balanced wines.

In the present study, we aimed to assess the prevalence and the relationships between alexithymia, burnout and hopelessness in a large sample of healthcare workers (HCWs) during the third wave of Covid-19 in Italy. Alexithymia was evaluated by the Italian version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), hopelessness was measured using the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) and irritability (IRR), depression (DEP) and anxiety (ANX) were evaluated with the Italian version of Irritability‚ Depression‚ Anxiety Scale (IDA). This cross-sectional study recruited a sample of 1445 HCWs from a large urban healthcare facility in Italy from 1 June—31 May 2021. Comparison between individuals positive (n=214, 14.8%) or not for alexithymia (n=1231, 85.2%) controlling for age, gender and working seniority revealed that positive subjects showed higher scores on BHS, MBI, IRR, DEP and ANX than not positive ones (p<0.001). In the linear regression model, higher working seniority and higher MBI, DEP, ANX and TAS-20 scores were associated with higher hopelessness. In conclusion, increased hopelessness was associated with higher burnout and alexithymia. Comprehensive strategies should be implemented to support HCWs mental health and mitigate the negative consequences of alexithymia, burnout, and hopelessness

Background Healthcare workers (HCWs) have suffered considerable morbidity and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Few data on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) are available from middle-income countries in Europe. We evaluated primary series COVID-19 VE against laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 among HCWs in Georgia. Methods HCWs in six hospitals in Georgia were invited to enroll in a prospective cohort study conducted during March 19–December 5, 2021. Participants completed weekly symptom questionnaires. Symptomatic HCWs were tested by RT-PCR and/or rapid antigen test (RAT), and participants were routinely tested for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR or RAT, regardless of symptoms. Serology was collected at enrolment, and quarterly thereafter, and tested by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. We defined primary series vaccination as two doses of COVID-19 vaccine received ≥14 days before symptom onset. We estimated VE as (1-hazard ratio)*100 using a Cox proportional hazards model with vaccination status as a time-varying covariate. Estimates were adjusted by potential confounders that changed the VE estimate by more than 5%, according to the change-in-estimate approach. Results Overall, 1561/3849 (41%) eligible HCWs enrolled and were included in the analysis. The median age was 40 (IQR: 30-53), 1318 (84%) were female, and 1003 (64%) had laboratory evidence of prior SARS-Cov-2 infection. At enrolment, 1300 (83%) were unvaccinated; By study end, 1082 (62%) had completed a primary vaccine series (69% BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech); 22% BBIBP-CorV (Sinopharm); 9% other). During the study period, 191(12%) participants had a new PCR- or RAT-confirmed symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. VEa gainst PCR- or RAT- confirmed symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection was 58 (95%CI: 41; 70) for all primary series vaccinations, 68% (95%CI: 51; 79) for BNT162b2, and 40% (95%CI: 1; 64) for BBIBP-CorV vaccines. Among previously infected HCWs, VE was 58% (95%CI: 11; 80). VE against medically attended COVID-19 was 52% (95%CI: 28; 68), and VE against hospitalization was 69% (95% CI: 36; 85). During the period of predominant Delta variant circulation (July-December 2021), VE against symptomatic COVID-19 was 52% (95%CI: 30; 66). Conclusions Primary series vaccination with BNT162b2 and BBIBP-CorV was effective at preventing COVID-19 among HCWs, most of whom had previous infection, during a period of mainly Delta circulation. Our results support the utility of COVID-19 primary vaccine series, and the importance of increasing coverage, even among previously infected individuals.

In this work, the effect of reaction time and biomass-to-H2O ratio on the structural evolution of hydro-char and kinetic of by hydrothermal processing of corn Stover with hot compressed H2O, have been systematically investigated. The experiments were carried out at 250 °C, heating rate of 2.0 °C/min, biomass-to-H2O ratio of 1:10, and reaction times of 60, 120, and 240 minutes, and at 250 °C, 240 minutes, heating rate of 2.0 °C/min, and biomass-to-H2O water ratio of 1:10, 1:15, and 1:20, using a pilot scale stirred tank reactor of 5 gallon. The characterization of solid phase products performed by thermo-gravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and elemental analysis (C, N, H, S). The physical-chemistry properties of solid phase analyzed in terms of dry matter (DM), total organic content (TOC), and ash. The yields of solid and gas phases decrease linearly with decreasing biomass-to-H2O ratio, while that of liquid phases increases linearly. For constant biomass-to-H2O ratio, the yields of solid, liquid, and gaseous reaction products varied between 52.97 and 35.82% (wt.), 44.84 and 54.59% (wt.), and 2.19 and 9.58% (wt.), respectively. The yield of solids decreases exponentially by decreasing the reaction time, while the yields of liquid and gas phases increase exponentially. For constant biomass-to-H2O ratio, TG/DTG curves shows that reaction time of 60 minutes was not enough to carbonize corn Stover. For constant reaction time, TG/DTG curves shows that increasing the H2O-to-biomass ratio worse the carbonization of corn Stover. For constant biomass-to-H2O ratio, the SEM images show the main morphological structure of the corn Stover remains practically unchanged, while for constant reaction time, SEM images show that plant microstructure retains part of its original morphology, demonstrating that a decrease on biomass-to-H2O ratio worse the carbonization of corn Stover. For constant biomass-to-H2O ratio, the EDX analysis shows that the carbon content in hydro-char increases with reaction time, while for constant reaction time, the carbon content decreases with increasing biomass-to-H2O ratio. The kinetic of corn Stover degradation was correlated with a pseudo-first order exponential model, exhibiting a root-mean-square error (r2) of 1.000, demonstrating that degradation kinetics of corn Stover with hot compressed H2O, expressed as hydro-char formation, is well described by an exponential decay kinetics.

In the realm of digital libraries, efficiently managing and accessing scientific publications necessitates automated bibliographic reference segmentation. This study addresses the challenge of accurately segmenting bibliographic references, a task complicated by the varied formats and styles of references. Focusing on the empirical evaluation of Conditional Random Fields (CRF), Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory with CRF (BiLSTM+CRF), and Transformer Encoder with CRF (Transformer+CRF) architectures, this research employs Byte Pair Encoding and Character Embeddings for vector representation. The models underwent training on the extensive Giant corpus and subsequent evaluation on the Cora Corpus to ensure a balanced and rigorous comparison, maintaining uniformity across embedding layers, normalization techniques, and Dropout strategies. Results indicate that the BiLSTM+CRF architecture outperforms its counterparts by adeptly handling the syntactic structures prevalent in bibliographic data, achieving an F1-Score of 0.96. This outcome highlights the necessity of aligning model architecture with the specific syntactic demands of bibliographic reference segmentation tasks. Consequently, the study establishes the BiLSTM+CRF model as a superior approach within the current state-of-the-art, offering a robust solution for the challenges faced in digital library management and scholarly communication.

This research explores the depolymerization of waste polymethyl methacrylate (PMMAW) from dental material in fixed-bed semi-batch reactors, focusing on three production scales: laboratory, technical, and pilot. The study investigates the thermal degradation mechanism and kinetics of PMMAW through thermogravimetric (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses, revealing a two-step degradation process. The heat flow during PMMAW decomposition is measured by DSC, providing essential parameters for designing pyrolysis processes. The results demonstrate the potential of DSC for energetic analysis and process design, with attention to standardization challenges. Material balance analysis across the production scales reveals a temperature gradient across the fixed bed negatively impacting liquid yield and methyl methacrylate (MMA) concentration. Reactor load and power load variables are introduced, demonstrating decreased temperature with increased process scale. The study identifies the influence of temperature on MMA concentration in the liquid fraction, emphasizing the importance of controlling temperature for efficient depolymerization. Furthermore, the research highlights the formation of aromatic hydrocarbons from the remaining char, indicating a shift in liquid composition during the depolymerization process. The study concludes that lower temperatures below 450 °C favor liquid fractions rich in MMA, suggesting the benefits of lower temperatures and slower heating rates in semi-batch depolymerization. The findings contribute to a novel approach in analyzing pyrolysis processes, emphasizing reactor design and economic considerations for recycling viability. Future research aims to refine and standardize the analysis and design protocols for pyrolysis and similar processes.

This work aims to investigate systematically the tecno-economic feasibility of ther-mos-catalytic cracking process for two solid waste materials, a lipid-base material (re-sidual fat/scum from retention box of the University Restaurant of UFPA) and a lig-nin-cellulosic material Açaí seed (Euterpe oleracea. Mart). The thermo-catalytic process-es were carried out in pilot scale (THERMTEK/LEQ/UFPA/IME/RJ), and their economic feasibility analyzed. The yields of biofuels produced by fractional distillation were al-so studied. The physicochemical characteristics of the raw materials, the organic liquid product (bio-oil) and the chemical composition of kerosene, light-diesel and heavy-diesel from the lipid-base material, as well as those of kerosene and light-diesel from the Açaí seed were also determined. The economic indicators for the evaluation of the most viable cracking (pyrolysis) and distillation process of bio-oils were: a) the sim-ple payback criterion, b) discounted payback, c) net present value (NPV), d) internal rate of return (IRR), and e) index of profitability (IP). The analysis of the indicators showed the economic viability of crude palm oil (Elaeis guineensis, Jacq) and unfeasibil-ity for the palm oil neutralization. The minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) obtained is this work for the biofuels was of 1.34 US$/L) and the breakeven point obtained was of 1.28 US$/L. The sensibility analysis demonstrated that the pyrolysis and distillation yields are the most important variables to affect the minimum fuel selling price (MFSP).

This work aims to investigate the influence of reaction time and catalyst-to-residual fat ratio by catalytic upgrading from pyrolysis vapors of residual fat at 400 °C and 1.0 atmosphere, on the yields of reaction products, physicochemical properties (density, kinematic viscosity, and acid value) and chemical composition of bio-oils, over a catalyst fixed bed reactor of activated carbon pellets impregnated with 10.0 M NaOH, in semi pilot scale. The experiments were carried out at 400 °C and 1.0 atmosphere, using a process schema consisting of a thermal cracking reactor of 2.0 L coupled to a catalyst fixed bed reactor of 53 mL, without catalyst and using 5.0, 7.5, and 10.0% (wt.) activated carbon pellets impregnated with 10.0 M NaOH, in batch mode. Samples of liquid phase products were withdrawn during the course of reaction at 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 and 120 minutes in order to investigate the process kinetics. The physicochemical properties (density, kinematic viscosity, and acid value) of bio-oils were determined by official methods. The chemical composition of bio-oils determined by GC-MS. The thermal catalytic cracking of residual fat show bio-oils yields from 55.55 to 30.22 (wt.%), aqueous phase yields between 2.83 and 3.19 (wt.%), solid phase yields between 13.56 and 9.75 (wt.%), and gas yields from 27.89 to 55.60 (wt.%). The yields of bio-oil decreases from 74.41 to 30.22% (wt.) with increasing catalyst-to-Tallow kernel oil ratio, while that of gaseous phase increases from 12.87 to 55.60% (wt.). For all the thermal and thermal catalytic cracking experiments, the density, kinematic viscosity, and acid value of bio-oils decreases as the reaction time increases varying from 0.9266 to 0.8220 g/cm³, 8.10 to 2.24 mm²/s, and 144.14 to 2.37 mg KOH/g. The GC-MS of liquid reaction products identified the presence of hydrocarbons (alkanes, alkenes, ring-containing alkanes, ring-containing alkenes, and aromatics) and oxygenates (carboxylic acids, ketones, esters, alcohols, and aldehydes). For all the pyrolysis and catalytic cracking experiments, the hydrocarbon selectivity in bio-oil increases with increasing reaction time, while those of oxygenates decrease, reaching concentrations of hydrocarbons up to 95.35% (area.). The best results for the physicochemical properties density, kinematic viscosity, and acid value were 0.8220 g/cm³, 3.03 mm2/s, and 2.37 mg KOH/g, respectively, with a maximum hydrocarbon concentration of 97.194% (area.) and 2.806% ketones (area.) were obtained at 400 °C and 1.0 atmosphere, 80 minutes, without catalyst. For the catalytic cracking experiments, the maximum hydrocarbon content of 75.763% (area.) and 17.041% (area.) carboxylic acids, 4.702% (area.) ketones (area.), and 2.494% (area.) non-identified oxygenates was obtained at 400 °C and 1.0 atmosphere, 90 minutes, using a catalyst fixed bed reactor, with 10.0% (wt.) activated carbon pellets impregnated with 10.0 M NaOH as catalyst.

This work aims to investigate systematically the tecno-economic feasibility of ther-mos-catalytic cracking process for two solid waste materials, a lipid-base material (re-sidual fat/scum from retention box of the University Restaurant of UFPA) and a lig-nin-cellulosic material Açaí seed (Euterpe oleracea. Mart). The thermo-catalytic process-es were carried out in pilot scale (THERMTEK/LEQ/UFPA/IME/RJ), and their economic feasibility analyzed. The yields of biofuels produced by fractional distillation were al-so studied. The physicochemical characteristics of the raw materials, the organic liquid product (bio-oil) and the chemical composition of kerosene, light-diesel and heavy-diesel from the lipid-base material, as well as those of kerosene and light-diesel from the Açaí seed were also determined. The economic indicators for the evaluation of the most viable cracking (pyrolysis) and distillation process of bio-oils were: a) the sim-ple payback criterion, b) discounted payback, c) net present value (NPV), d) internal rate of return (IRR), and e) index of profitability (IP). The analysis of the indicators showed the economic viability of crude palm oil (Elaeis guineensis, Jacq) and unfeasibil-ity for the palm oil neutralization. The minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) obtained is this work for the biofuels was of 1.34 US$/L) and the breakeven point obtained was of 1.28 US$/L. The sensibility analysis demonstrated that the pyrolysis and distillation yields are the most important variables to affect the minimum fuel selling price (MFSP).

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of olive cake on the diet of autochthonous Bísaro pigs in processed products. To this purpose, loins and “cachaços” were used and subjected to a manufacturing flowchart to obtain a dry-cured product. Both products were subjected to the same formulation, ingredients, and curing steps. Regarding the physicochemical composition, there were significant differences between the two products for the parameters of aw (p&lt;0.001), moisture (p&lt;0.001), total fat (p&lt;0.001), protein (p&lt;0.001), and haem pigments (p&lt;0.001). As for the diet, it only significantly influences the NaCl content (p&lt;0.05). Neither the product nor the diet had any influence (p&gt;0.05) on the fraction of saturated fatty acid (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). However, there is a significant difference when it comes to omega 3 (p&lt;0.05). These fatty acids increased with the addition of olive cake, and the diet with olive cake centrifuged by 25% had the highest value for both products. The increase in this omega 3 resulted in a decrease in the PUFA n-6/n-3 ratio (p&lt;0.01) in the diets with olive cake, compared to the control diets.

Background: Early diagnosis of postoperative complications is an urgent task, allowing timely prescribing of appropriate therapy and reducing the cost of patient treatment. Prognostic models based on various data could help in the early diagnosis of postoperative complications after cardiac surgery. Objectives: The purpose of the study was to determine whether an integrated approach based on clinical data along with metabolites and biomarkers had greater predictive value than the models built on less data. Methods: The study included patients (n=62) admitted for planned cardiac surgery (coronary artery bypass grafting with cardiopulmonary bypass), who were retrospectively divided into two groups depending on the presence (n=26) or absence (n=36) of postoperative complications of all types. Clinical and laboratory data on the first day after surgery were analyzed. Additionally, patients' blood samples were collected before and on the first day after surgery to determine biomarkers (interleukin-6, procalcitonin, NT-proBNP, high-sensitivity troponin T) and metabolites (8 aromatic and 2 dicarboxylic acids were detected using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry). Results: Patients before surgery, compared with healthy donors, differed in the concentration of metabolites (p &lt; 0.05), and had concentrations of a number of biomarkers exceeding the corresponding reference values. Multivariate PLS-DA models, predicting the presence or absence of postoperative complications, were built using clinical data (ROC-AUC=0.71), concentrations of metabolites and biomarkers (ROC-AUC=0.60), and the entire data set (ROC-AUC=0.75). For comparison we built univariate models using the EuroScore2 (ROC-AUC=0.59) and SOFA (ROC-AUC=0.76) scales; concentrations of lactate (ROC-AUC=0.71), the dynamic changes of 4-hydroxyphenyllactic acid (ROC-AUC=0.69), and the sum of three sepsis-associated metabolites (ROC-AUC=0.70). The proposed complex model using entire data set was comparable to the SOFA scale, which confirms the expediency of searching for new predictive models based on a variety of factors.

This work aims to investigate the effect of process temperature and catalyst content by pyrolysis and thermal catalytic cracking of (organic matter + paper) fraction from municipal household solid waste (MHSW) on the yields of reaction products (bio-oil, bio-char, H2O, and gas), acid value and chemical composition of bio-oils, and characterization of bio-chars, in laboratory scale. The collecting sectors of MHSW in the municipality of Belém-Pará-Brazil were chosen based on geographic and socio-economic database. The MHSW collected and transported to the segregation area. The gravimetric analysis of MHSW carried out and the fractions (Paper, Cardboard, Tetra Pack, Hard Plastic, Soft Plastic, Metal, Glass, Organic Matter, and Inert) separated. The selected organic matter and paper submitted to pre-treatment of crushing, drying, and sieving. The experiments carried out at 400, 450, and 475 °C and 1.0 atmosphere, and at 475 °C and 1.0 atmosphere, using 5.0, 10.0, and 15.0% (wt.) Ca(OH)2, in batch mode. The bio-oil characterized for acid value. The chemical functions present in bio-oil identified by FT-IR and the composition by GC-MS. The bio-char characterized by SEM, FT-IR and XRD. The variance in mass (wt.%) for organic fraction of municipal household solid waste, between 56.21 and 67.45% (wt.), lies with the interval of 56% (wt.) and 64% (wt.) of OFMHSW for middle and low income countries. The pyrolysis of MHSW fraction (organic matter + paper) show bio-oil yields between 2.63 and 9.41% (wt.), aqueous phase yields between 28.58 and 35.08% (wt.), solid phase yields between 35.29 and 45.75% (wt.), and gas yields between 16.54 and 26.72% (wt.). The bio-oil yield increases with pyrolysis temperature. For the catalytic cracking, the bio-oil and gas yields increase slightly with CaO content, while that of bio-char decreases, and the H2O phase remains constant. The GC-MS of liquid reaction products identified the presence of hydrocarbons (alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, cycloalkanes, and aromatics) and oxygenates (carboxylic acids, ketones, esters, alcohols, phenols, and aldehydes), as well as compounds containing nitrogen, including amides and amines. The acidity of bio-oil decreases with increasing process temperature and with aid Ca(OH)2 as catalyst. The concentration of hydrocarbons in bio-oil increases with increasing Ca(OH)2-to-MHSW fraction ratio due to the catalytic deoxygenation of fatty acids molecules, by means of de-carboxylation/de-carbonylation, producing aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons.

Milk serves as a crucial source of natural bioactive compounds essential for human nutrition and health. The gastrointestinal digestion of milk proteins releases various biologically active peptides that positively impact human health and enhance physiological performance. With the growing production of cheese, Greek yogurt, and other dairy products, the volume of unutilized acid whey is significantly increasing. Acid whey, containing almost all whey proteins and approximately one-quarter of casein, presents a valuable raw material for generating peptides with potential health benefits. These peptides exhibit properties such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, antihypertensive, antithrombotic, opioid, mineral-binding, and growth-stimulating activities, contributing to improved human immunity and the treatment of chronic diseases. Enzymatic hydrolysis of milk proteins has been developed as a method to produce these peptides, facilitating their use in food fortification. To incorporate whey into functional beverages, it undergoes fermentation by lactic acid bacteria with proteolytic activity. To specifically enrich these beverages with peptides exhibiting targeted bioactivities, it is essential to select lactic acid bacteria strains possessing the requisite protease profiles. Additionally, the sensory properties of the final product can be enhanced using starter cultures with diverse metabolic capabilities, even in the absence of added flavoring agents. Given the imperative to develop waste-free technologies and enhance the profitability of the dairy industry, there is a growing need to efficiently utilize and transform acid whey into a broad spectrum of valuable products and food additives. This approach is justified not only by the nutritional benefits of the bioactive components in whey but also by the commercial potential of safe and health-enhancing products.

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

In order to shorten the detection time and improve the average precision on embedded devices, A lightweight and high accuracy model is proposed for passion fruit in complex environments (backlight, occlusion, overlap, sunny, cloudy, rainy). Firstly, replacing the backbone network of YOLOv5 with a lightweight GhostNet model reduces the number of parameters and computation while improving detection speed. Secondly, a new feature branch is added to the GhostNet network, and the feature fusion layer in the neck network is reconstructed to effectively combine the lower-level and higher-level features, which not only improves the accuracy of the model but also maintains its lightweight. Finally, the knowledge distillation methods are used to transfer the knowledge from the more capable teacher model to the less capable student model, which significantly improving the detection accuracy. The improved model is denoted as G-YOLO-NK. The average accuracy of the G-YOLO-NK network is 96.00%, which is 1.00% higher than the original YOLOv5s model. Furthermore, the improved model size is 7.14MB, reduced to half of the original model, and the real-time detection frame rate is 11.25 FPS on the Jetson Nano. Compared to the state-of-the-art model, the proposed model outperforms them in terms of average precision and detection performance. The present work provides an effective model for real-time detection of passion fruits in complex orchard scenes, which can provide valuable technical support for the development of orchard picking robots and greatly improve the intelligence level of orchards.

The impact of interaction SS with MJO on rainfall along Java Island to East Nusa Tenggara has been studied using daily rainfall observation data from 2140 weather observation stations, which are also equipped with GSMaP, OLR, and ERA5 data. There were 61 SS events found, 17 during active MJO and 44 in inactive MJO. Rainfall increases more in the western study area when the active MJO and more in the eastern study area when the inactive MJO is due to SS. SS reduces rainfall in the Jakarta region, regardless of the activity or inactivity of the MJO. SS causes extreme rainfall to only occur in a small part of certain areas, so it tends to significantly reduce the possibility of extreme rainfall. In the southern part of the IMC, SS predominates over MJO in supporting increased water vapor transport. Large-scale synoptic circulations like the monsoon, SS, and MJO can interact with local land-sea wind circulation to produce spatiotemporal variability in rainfall on Java Island. Rainfall mostly increases in the afternoon and decreases in the morning when SS occurs, whether there is MJO or not. Convective instability analysis indicates that SS increases precipitation, most likely by lowering CIN and raising VIMFC.

This work aims to investigate systematically the tecno-economic feasibility of ther-mos-catalytic cracking process for two solid waste materials, a lipid-base material (re-sidual fat/scum from retention box of the University Restaurant of UFPA) and a lig-nin-cellulosic material Açaí seed (Euterpe oleracea. Mart). The thermo-catalytic process-es were carried out in pilot scale (THERMTEK/LEQ/UFPA/IME/RJ), and their economic feasibility analyzed. The yields of biofuels produced by fractional distillation were al-so studied. The physicochemical characteristics of the raw materials, the organic liquid product (bio-oil) and the chemical composition of kerosene, light-diesel and heavy-diesel from the lipid-base material, as well as those of kerosene and light-diesel from the Açaí seed were also determined. The economic indicators for the evaluation of the most viable cracking (pyrolysis) and distillation process of bio-oils were: a) the sim-ple payback criterion, b) discounted payback, c) net present value (NPV), d) internal rate of return (IRR), and e) index of profitability (IP). The analysis of the indicators showed the economic viability of crude palm oil (Elaeis guineensis, Jacq) and unfeasibil-ity for the palm oil neutralization. The minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) obtained is this work for the biofuels was of 1.34 US$/L) and the breakeven point obtained was of 1.28 US$/L. The sensibility analysis demonstrated that the pyrolysis and distillation yields are the most important variables to affect the minimum fuel selling price (MFSP).

The Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) scanner is an easy and portable Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) data acquisition device. Its main output is a 3D point cloud covering the scanned scene. Regarding the importance of accuracy in the survey domain, this paper aims to assess the accuracy of two SLAM scanners: the NavVis VLX and the BLK2GO Scanner. This assessment is conducted for both outdoor and indoor environments. In this context, two types of reference data are used: the Total Station (TS) and the static scanner Z+F Imager 5016. To carry out the assessment, four comparisons are tested: cloud to cloud, cloud to mesh, mesh to mesh, and edge detection board assessment. However, the results of the assessments confirm that the accuracy of indoor SLAM scanner measurements (5 mm) is greater than that of outdoor ones (between 10 mm and 60 mm). Moreover, the comparison of cloud to cloud provides the best accuracy regarding direct accuracy measurement without manipulations. Finally, based on the high accuracy, scanning speed, flexibility, and the accuracy differences between tested cases, it is confirmed that SLAM scanners are effective tools for data acquisition.

In recent years, electroencephalogram (EEG) emotion recognition has emerged as a research hotspot in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite advancements in EEG-based emotion recognition, room for enhancing performance persists due to EEG signal redundancy and limitations in feature extraction, leading to inefficient models and emotional information loss. To fully utilize EEG's emotional information and improve recognition accuracy while reducing computational costs, this paper proposes a Convolutional-Recurrent Hybrid Network with a dual-stream adaptive approach and an attention mechanism (CSA-SA-CRTNN). Firstly, the model utilizes a CSAM module to assign corresponding weights to EEG channels. Then, an adaptive dual-stream convolutional-recurrent network (SA-CRNN and MHSA-CRNN) is applied to extract local spatial-temporal features. After that, the extracted local features are concatenated and fed into a temporal convolutional network with a multi-head self-attention mechanism (MHSA-TCN) to capture global information. Finally, the extracted EEG information is used for emotion classification. We conducted binary and ternary classification experiments on the DEAP dataset, achieving 99.26% and 99.15% accuracy for arousal and valence in binary classification, and 97.69% and 98.05% in ternary classification, surpassing relevant algorithms. Additionally, the model's efficiency is significantly higher than other models, achieving better accuracy with lower resource consumption.

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.

Superior fiber quality is one of the most important objectives in cotton breeding. To detect the genetic basis underlying fiber quality, an F2 population containing 413 plants was constructed by crossing Jifeng 914 and Jifeng 173, both of which have superior fiber quality, with Jifeng 173 being better. Five fiber quality traits were investigated in the F2, F2:3, F2:4, and F2:5 populations. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping was conducted based on a high-density genetic map containing 11,488 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and spanning 4,202.12 cM in length. Transgressive segregation patterns and complex correlations in the five tested traits were observed. A total of 108 QTLs were found, including 27 for fiber length (FL), 16 for fiber strength (FS), 24 for micronaire (MC), 17 for fiber uniformity (FU), and 24 for fiber elongation rate (FE). Chromosome A7 contained 12 QTL, ranking the first. No QTL was found on chromosome D1 and D11. Each QTL contributed 1.98%–21.45% to the phenotypic variation (PV), including 13 major effect QTLs that contributed more than 10% toward PV. Two QTLs could be repeatedly detected in three populations, including qFL-D3-2 in F2, F2:4, and F2:5 with 9.18%–21.45% of PV, qFS-A11-1 in F2:3, F2:4 and F2:5 with 6.05%–10.41% of PV. Another seven stable QTLs could be detected in two populations, including four major effect QTLs: qFL-A12-3, qFS-D10-2, qMC-D6-2, and qMC-D8-1. Fourteen QTL-overlapping regions were found, which might explain the complex correlations among the five phenotypic traits. Four regions on chromosome A11, D3, D6, and D10 covered by both stable and major effect QTLs are promising for further fine mapping. The genomic regions of the two QTLs detected in three populations and the four major effect QTLs contain 810 genes. Gene functional analysis revealed that the annotated genes are mainly involved in protein binding and metabolic pathways. Fifteen candidate genes in the qFL-D3-2 region are highly expressed in fiber or ovules during fiber initiation, elongation, secondary cell wall thickening, or maturation stages. qRT-PCR revealed that Ghir_D03G005440.1 and Ghir_D03G011310.1 may play a role in promoting fiber initiation, Ghir_D03G006470.1 may be beneficial for promoting fiber elongation. This study provides more information for revealing the molecular genetic basis underlying cotton fiber quality.

Currently there are fewer depth models applied to pepper picking detection, while the existing generalized neural networks have problems such as large model parameters, long training time, and low model accuracy.In order to solve the above problems, this paper proposes a Yolo-chili target detection algorithm for chili pepper detection. First, the classical target detection algorithm yolov5 is used as a benchmark model, and an adaptive spatial feature pyramid structure combining the attention mechanism and the idea of multi-scale prediction is introduced to improve the model's detection effect on occluded peppers and small target peppers. Secondly, a three-channel attention mechanism module is introduced to improve the algorithm's long-distance recognition ability and reduce the interference of redundant testers. Finally, the quantized pruning method is used to reduce the model parameters and realize the lightweight processing of the model. Applying the method to the homemade chili pepper dataset, the AP value of chili pepper reaches 93.11%; the accuracy rate is 93.51% and the recall rate is 92.55%.The experimental results show that yolo-chili is able to achieve accurate and real-time pepper detection under complex orchards.

The temporary immersion system bioreactor named GreenTray®[2], [3]presents advantages over the existing ones. Firstly, there is no need to use forceps to move the shoots or plantlets in or out of the recipient, neither the use of scalpel to divide them. Secondly, the basis of the shoot can remain in the GreenTray® and can sprout again in several cycles of growth. These two characteristics reduce the costs in the process of micropropagation. Besides, shoots or plantlets development is enhanced by the aeration of the recipient, thus enriching with CO2 the recipient atmosphere. The chapter describes and provides images and values of interest in (1) the micropropagation process of some commercial Prunus or Pyrus rootstocks; (2) the plantlet growth under autotrophic conditions; and (2) the inoculation of plants with pathogens that reproduce in vitro the symptoms observed in vivo, using the GreenTray® bioreactor.

Aiming at the problems of inaccurate segmentation of long object and information loss of small object in real-time semantic segmentation algorithm, this paper proposes a lightweight multi-branch real-time semantic segmentation network based on BiseNetV2. The new auxiliary branch makes full use of spatial details and context information to cover the long object in the field of view. Meanwhile, in order to ensure the inference speed of the model, the asymmetric convolution is used in each stage of the auxiliary branch to design a structure with low computational complexity. In the multi-branch fusion stage, the alignment and fusion module is designed to provide guidance information for deep and shallow feature mapping, so as to make up for the problem of feature misalignment in the fusion of information at different scales, and thus reduce the loss of small target information. In order to further improve the model’s awareness of key information, a global context module is designed to capture the most important features in the input data. The proposed network uses NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU experiment, on the road street view data set Cityscapes and CamVid average occurring simultaneously ratio reached 77.1% and 78.4% respectively, with running speed of 127 frames/s respectively and 112 frames/s. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve real-time segmentation and improve the accuracy significantly, showing good semantic segmentation performance

Excess nitrogen in agricultural drainage poses a serious threat to the water quality safety of the Yellow River basin. Utilizing aquatic plants to modify the rhizosphere microbial community structure and facilitate nitrogen transformation is a crucial strategy for mitigating regional water eutrophication. Our results revealed that the denitrification rate (DR), dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium rate (DNRAR) and nitrogen fixation rate (NFR) of rhizosphere sediments exhibited a significant increase in artificially cultivated ditch. Compared with those in natural ditches, the richness of the bacterial community and the relative abundances of Bacteroidota, Verrucomicrobiota, Firmicutes, Anaeromyxobacter and Geobacter, which are involved mainly in the nitrogen cycle, in the rhizosphere sediments of artificially cultivated ditch were significantly greater due to improvements in environmental conditions. In artificially cultivated ditch, the dominant functional genes affecting DRNARs in the rhizosphere sediments of P. australis were nrfC and nrfA, while DRs were driven mainly by norB and napA, which were influenced by the nitrogen and carbon levels; and the dominant functional genes affecting NFRs in the rhizosphere sediments of T. orientalis were nifD, nifK and nifH. Our results provide a scientific basis for the use of aquatic plants for mitigating excess nitrogen levels in agricultural drainage.

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.

In this paper we study a class of impulsive delayed neural networks with parameter uncertainties and reaction-diffusion terms. Using the properties of M-matrices and some inequality techniques, some sufficient conditions are derived to guarantee the global exponential stability of the given system. The results obtained are presented by simple algebraic inequalities, which are certainly more concise than previous methods. Finally, the validity and usefulness of our results are illustrated by arithmetic examples.

Pyrops candelaria is one of the common pests of fruit trees, but the research on the pathogenic microorganisms it may carry is very limited. Therefore, it is essential to reveal the pathogenic microbes it carries and their potential hazards. This study found a new virus from the transcriptome of P. candelaria, which was first reported in P. candelaria and named as PyCaV (Pyrops candelaria associated virus). RACE and bioinformatics assay revealed that the full-length of PyCaV is 10855 bp with the polyA tail, containing a single open reading frame (ORF) encoding a polyprotein consisting of 3171 amino acid (aa). The virus has a typical Iflavirus structure, including two rhv domains, a RNA helicase domain (HEL), a 3C cysteine protease domain (Pro), and a RNA-dependent RNA polymerase domain (RdRp). Further phylogenetic analysis revealed that this virus belongs to family Iflaviridae and sequence alignements analysis suggedted PyCaV is new member in unassigned genus of family Iflaviridae. Further in-depth analysis of virus-infection-part showed that PyCaV is distributing in the whole longan lanternfly, including its head, chest, and abdomen, but more PyCaV was identified in the chest. The distribution of PyCaV in different parts of P. candelaria was further explored, which showed that more PyCaV were detected in its piercing-sucking mouthparts and chest viscera. Statistical analysis showed that the PyCaV infection was affected by time and locations.

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

With the burgeoning growth of online retail, the issue of counterfeit products has become a significant threat to both consumer trust and brand integrity, posing challenges to sustainable market practices. Online retail platforms are promoted to redesign their channel structures and enhance brand traceability to tackle counterfeits using blockchain technology. To investigate the interactions between blockchain technology and the channel structures of online retail platforms, we design a game theory model incorporating a manufacturer with(out) blockchain participation selling products via an online retail platform that operates an agency channel and/or a reselling channel. We show that the critical trade-off of blockchain participation comprises the brand assurance effect of the blockchain, the channel competition intensification effect, and the blockchain adoption cost. The platform is capable of strategically designing the channel structure to encourage (while discouraging) blockchain participation by the manufacturer. Our analysis highlights the complementarity between blockchain participation and the channel structure. Furthermore, the effect of the consumer’s belief in the reselling channel, the commission fee in the agency channel, and the substitutability between channels are investigated in depth. The research provides valuable insights for online retail platforms and policymakers seeking to foster a sustainable and trustworthy e-commerce ecosystem.

In this paper, we extend the KdVSKR equations in (1+1)-dimension and (2+1)-dimension to fractional KdVSKR equations with modified Riemann-Liouville derivative. The (2+1)-dimensional KdVSKR equation, which is a recent extension of (1+1)-dimensional KdVSKR equation, can model the resonances of solitons in shallow water. By means of the Hirota bilinear method, finite symmetry group method and consistent Riccati expansion method, many new interaction solutions have been derived. Soliton-cnoidal interaction solution of the (1+1)-dimensional fractional KdVSKR equation has been derived for the first time. For the (2+1)-dimensional frac-tional KdVSKR equation, two-wave interaction solutions and three-wave interaction solutions, including dark-soliton-sine interaction solution, bright-soliton-elliptic interaction solution, and lump-hyperbolic-sine interaction solution, have been derived. Impact of the fractional order on the shapes of these solutions has been illustrated by figures. Three-wave interaction solutions of fractional systems have not been reported in the existing references. The research idea in this paper can be applied to other fractional differential equations.

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

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

As the world population grows, fulfilling the need for biomaterials in the healthcare system becomes increasingly important. Biomaterials, which include metals, polymers, ceramics, and composites, play an important role in the creation of medical devices that improve people's lives. The European Society for Biomaterials described biomaterials as non-biological materials used in medical devices to interact with biological systems. This definition has developed to encompass materials that treat, assess, or replace tissues or bodily functions. Biocompatibility, as defined by the FDA, is a key feature of biomaterials, as is the requirement to fulfil design requirements such as mechanical performance, geometry, and electrical control. Over the last decade, advances in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering have boosted biomaterials' usage in medical applications dramatically. Despite its promise, scientists, engineers, and physicians continue to face significant challenges due to the complexity of biomaterials. Biomaterials have various benefits, including biodegradability, non-toxicity, and biocompatibility, making them extremely useful for replacing, sustaining, or improving biological activities in damaged tissues. They are used in a wide range of applications, including tissue engineering implants, human tissue healing and regeneration, medication delivery systems, and biosensors. This study gives insights into the fundamental characteristics, case studies, and ethical issues associated with the usage and use of biomaterials, further examining their potential and significance in healthcare and medicine.

The paper describes the new method for image compression based on coordinated group signal transformation. The algorithm is a type of difference coding. Coordinated processing significantly simplifies the difference signal conversion scheme using a single group codec for all signals. The described method considers color channels as correlated signals of a multi-channel communication system. The specifics of the processed data required modification of the coordinated group processing algorithm. First, we changed how to calculate the difference signals to prevent data loss. Secondly, the group codec was supplemented with a neural network to improve the quality of reconstructed images. We considered the following types of neural networks: fully connected, recurrent, convolution, and convolution in the Fourier space. Based on the simulation results, it is best to use fully connected neural networks if the goal is to minimize processing delay time. These networks have a response time of 13 ms. On the other hand, if the priority is to improve quality in cases where delays are not critical, then convolution neural networks in the Fourier space should be used. These networks have a response time of 140 ms and are of significant interest.

In electromagnetic ultrasonic testing, it is difficult to recognize small-size bottom cracks by time of flight (ToF), and the lift-off fluctuation of the probe affects the accuracy and consistency of the inspection results. In order to overcome the difficulty, a novel EMAT (electromagnetic acoustic transducer)-PEC (pulse eddy current) composite sensor is designed. We use amplitude of bottom echo recorded by EMAT to identify the tiny bottom crack as well as the amplitude of PEC signals picked up by the integrated symmetric coils to measure the average lift-off of the probe in real time. Firstly, the effects of lift-off and bottom cracks on amplitude of bottom echo are distinguished combining the theoretical analysis and finite element method (FEM). And then an amplitude correction method based on the fusion of EMAT and PEC signals is proposed to reduce the impact of lift-off on the defect signal. The experimental results demonstrate that the designed composite sensor can effectively detect the bottom crack as small as 0.1mm* 0.3mm. The signal fusion method can accurately correct the amplitude of defect signal and the relative error is less than ±8%.

The studied solar pot is a recent invention, which gained a utility model protection in 2021 from the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office under patent number 5489. The device is made for environmentally friendly cooking or heating (by utilizing solar energy) of foods and liquids. Its structure is similar to a double pipe heat exchanger, it has an outer mantle and an inner cooking tank. The goals of the paper are proposing a new physically-based mathematical model describing the solar pot and carrying out computer experiments with it, assembling an experimental system of the pot connected with a solar collector and performing measurements on it. Based on the results, the solar pot can successfully be used for cooking or sterilizing foods or liquids during the studied time period, in Hungary.

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

Abstract: Transcription factors are crucial pre-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms that can modulate the expression of downstream genes by binding to their promoter regions. DOF (DNA binding with One Finger) proteins are a unique class of transcription factors with extensive roles in plant growth and development. Our previous research indicated a decrease in iron content in chlorotic bamboo leaves. However, to our knowledge, genes related to iron metabolism pathways in bamboo species have not yet been studied. Therefore, in the current study, we identified iron metabolism-related (IMR) genes in bamboo and determined the transcription factors that significantly influence them. Among these, DOFs were found to have widespread effects and potentially significant impacts on their expression. We identified specific DOF members in Dendrocalamus latiflorus with binding abilities through homology with Arabidopsis DOF proteins, and established connections between some of these members and IMR genes using RNA-seq data. Additionally, molecular docking confirmed the binding interactions between these DlDOFs and the DOF binding sites in the promoter regions of IMR genes. The co-expression relationship between the two gene sets was further validated using q-PCR experiments. This study paves the way for research into iron metabolism pathways in bamboo and lays the foundation for understanding the role of DOF transcription factors in D. latiflorus.

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

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

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to be a global threat due to its ability to evolve and generate new subvariants, leading to new waves of infection. Additionally, other coronaviruses like Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV, formerly known as hCoV-EMC) which first emerged in 2012, persists and continues to present a threat of severe illness to humans. The continued identification of novel coronaviruses, coupled with the potential for genetic recombination between different strains, raises the possibility of new coronavirus clades of global concern emerging. As a result, there is a pressing need for pan-CoV therapeutic drugs and vaccines. After extensive optimization of an HCV protease inhibitor screening hit, a novel 3CLPro inhibitor (MK-7845) was discovered and subsequently profiled. MK-7845 exhibited nanomolar in vitro potency with broad spectrum activity against a panel of clinical SARS-CoV-2 subvariants and MERS-CoV. Furthermore, when administered orally, MK-7845 demonstrated a notable reduction of viral burdens by &gt;6 log orders in the lungs of transgenic mice infected with SARS-CoV-2 (K18-hACE2 mice) and MERS-CoV (K18-hDDP4 mice).

The continuous casting process of helical fiber reinforced metal matrix composites was proposed, and the experimental equipment was designed and manufactured. The relationship model be-tween the process parameters and the helical shape of the fibers in the metal matrix is analyzed by differential geometry. Helical carbon fiber reinforced lead matrix composites were prepared under different conditions. When the melting temperature and cooling intensity were increased, the helical radius of helical carbon fiber in lead matrix was increased. When the fiber rotation speed was increased, the helical radius was decreased, and the helical pitch was de-creased proportionally. The experimental results are consistent with the process model. Carbon fiber rein-forced aluminum composites were prepared. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the infiltration between the aluminum matrix and the carbon fiber was not complete. As the volume fraction of carbon fiber which was added in composites is too small, the mechanical properties of the composites have not been significantly improved.

This article presents an innovative approach to the design of a safe adaptive backstepping control system. Tailored specifically for underactuated marine robots, the system utilizes simple sensors for enhanced practicality and efficiency. Given their operation in diverse oceanic environments fraught with various sources of uncertainties, ensuring the system's safe and robust behavior holds paramount importance in the control literature. To address this concern, this paper introduces a control strategy designed to ensure robustness at both the kinematic and dynamic levels. By emphasizing the compensation for the system uncertainties, the design integrates a straightforward fuzzy system structure. To further ensure the system's safety, a funnel surface is defined, followed by the design of a suitable nonlinear sliding surface as a function of the funnel and tracking error. Specifically leveraging the Lyapunov function, the study formally establishes the Semi-globally Practically Finite-time Stability of the closed-loop system, validated through simulations conducted on underactuated marine robots.

Several types of guided bone regeneration materials are available with various properties and clinical indications. Among them, dentin-derived matrix from extracted teeth is an excellent alternative to traditional graft materials, such as allografts and xenografts. Different clinical preparation protocols exist: block form versus powder form, demineralized versus non-demineralized form. Out of these methods, demineralization protocols for dentin-derived matrix from extracted teeth have been noted for a wide range of successful clinical outcomes. The purpose of this animal study was to find out the most effective method of demineralizing dentin-derived matrix to result in the highest regenerative ability in the bone graft material in rabbit calvaria. The study conducted a comparative histomorphometric analysis of four groups in distinguished matrix conditions: a control group without graft placement, a non-demineralized dentin-derived matrix graft placement group, a 15-minute demineralized dentin-derived matrix graft placement group, and a 30-minute demineralized dentin-derived matrix graft placement group. Regenerative processes were evaluated three times at 2, 4, and 8 weeks post-graft placement. These groups of rabbits were evaluated randomly in a blinded setting to prevent bias. Among the four groups compared, the group with a 15-minute demineralized dentin-derived matrix graft showed the most efficient bone regeneration in the histomorphometric analysis. Based on this animal study, it was apparent that a 15-minute demineralization of dentin-derived matrix is the preferred preparation protocol to maximize the regenerative potential in the matrix.

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

The main purpose of this study is the determination of the optimal data acquisition and processing parameters of electric and seismic tomographic techniques, for the investigation of complex geological environments. Two different study areas, in central-east Peloponnese and SW Attica were selected, where a detailed geological mapping and surface geophysical survey were carried out. The applied geophysical survey included the application of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and seismic refraction tomography (SRT). The geoelectrical measurements were acquired with different arrays and electrode configurations. Moreover, various types of seismic sources were used at seventeen shot locations along the seismic arrays. For the processing of geoelectrical data, clustered datasets were created increasing the depth of investigation and the discriminatory capability. The seismic data processing included: (a) creation of synthetic models and seismic records to determine the effectiveness and capabilities of the technique, (b) spectral analysis of the seismic records to determine the optimal seismic source type and (c) inversion of the field data to create representative subsurface velocity models. The results of the two techniques successfully delineated the complex subsurface structure that characterizes these two geological environments. The application of the ERT combined with the SRT, are the two dominant, high-resolution techniques for the elucidation of complex subsurface structures.

Cocoa (Theobroma Cacao, L.) represents an important market that gained relevance and became an esteemed commodity thanks to cocoa powder, chocolate, and other related products. This work has analyzed 59 cocoa powder samples from the European market. Three distinct subgroups were identified: organic or conventional, alkalized or not alkalized, and raw or roasted processing. The impact of the technological process was evaluated on the pH, color, and compositional traits, as content of biogenic amines and salsolinol. The phenolic fraction was also investigated trough both common and emerging methods. Results depict that the influence of the agronomical practices (organic/conventional) did not affect significatively (p&lt;0.05) the composition of cocoa powders; similarly, the roasting process was not discriminative for the compounds traced. On the other hand, the alkalinization process greatly impacted on color, and pH, no matter of cocoa provenience, obtention, or other processes, also resulting reducing the phenolic fraction of treated samples. Principal components analysis confirmed that the alkali process acts on pH, color, and phenolic composition, but not on other bioactives molecules (BAs and salsolinol). All samples resulted safe while alkalized powders have a great reduction in beneficial biocompounds. A novel strategy could be to emphasize non-alkalized powders in the label, to meet the demand for more beneficial products.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a highly prevalent and aggressive malignancy, with mortality rates that reach 60%, mainly due to an excessive diagnostic delay. MiRNAs, a class of crucial epigenetic gene-expression regulators, have emerged as potential diagnostic biomarkers, with >200 molecules reported to be dysregulated in OSCC. We had previously established an in silico methodology for the identification of the most disease-specific molecules by bridging genetics and epigenetics. Here, we identified the stage-specific miRNAs that govern the asymptomatic early stages of oral tumorigenesis by exploiting the reverse interplay between miRNA-levels and their target-genes’ expression. Incorporating gene expression data from our group’s experimental hamster model of sequential oral oncogenesis, we bioinformatically detected the miRNAs that simultaneously target/regulate >75% of the genes that are characteristically upregulated or downregulated in the consecutive stages of hyperplasia, dysplasia and early-invasion OSCC, while exhibiting the opposite expressional dysregulation in OSCC-derived tissue and/or saliva specimens. We found that all stages share the downregulation of miR-34a-5p, miR124-3p, and miR-125b-5p, while miR-1-3p is underexpressed in dysplasia and early-invasion. Malignant early-invasion stage is distinguished by the downregulation of miR-147a and the overexpression of miR-155-5p, miR-423-3p and miR-34a-5p. The identification of stage-specific miRNA molecules may facilitate their utilization as biomarkers for presymptomatic OSCC diagnosis.

Hydrogen sulfide is present in active or extinct volcanic areas (mofettas). The habitable premises in these areas are affected by the presence of hydrogen sulfide, which, even in low concentrations, gives off a bad to unbearable smell. If the living spaces considered are closed enclosures, then a system can be designed to reduce the concentration of hydrogen sulfide. This paper presents a membrane way to reduce the hydrogen sulfide concentration to acceptable limits using a cellulosic derivative-propylene hollow fiber based composite membrane module. The cellulosic derivatives considered were carboxymethyl–cellulose (NaCMC), cellulose acetate (CA), methyl 2–hydroxyethyl–cellulose (MHEC), and 2–hydroxyethyl–cellulose (HEC). In the permeation module, hydrogen sulfide is captured with a solution of cadmium that forms cadmium sulfide, usable as a luminescent substance. The composite membranes were characterized by SEM, EDAX, FTIR, FTIR 2D maps, thermal analysis (TG and DSC) and from the perspective of hydrogen sulfide air removal performance. To determine the process performances, the variables were: the nature of the cellulosic derivative–polypropylene hollow fiber composite membrane, the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in the polluted air, the flow rate of polluted air, and the pH of the cadmium nitrate solution. Pertraction efficiency was maximum for the sodium carboxymethyl–cellulose (NaCMC)-polypropylene hollow fiber membrane, a hydrogen sulfide concentration in the polluted air of 20 ppm, polluted air flow rate of 50 L/min, and a pH of 2 and 4.

The normal growth and development of skeletal muscle is essential for the health of the body. The regulation of skeletal muscle by intestinal microorganisms and their metabolites has been continuously revealed. Acetate is the predominant short-chain fatty acid synthesized by gut microbiota through the fermentation of dietary fiber, however, the underlying molecular mechanisms governing the interaction between acetate and skeletal muscle during rapid growth stage remain to be further elucidated; Here, specific pathogen-free (SPF) mice, germ-free (GF) mice, and germ-free mice supplemented with sodium acetate (GS) were used to evaluate the effects of acetate on skeletal muscle growth and development of young mice with gut microbiota deficiency; We found the concentration of serum acetate, body mass gain, succinate dehydrogenase activity and expression of myogenesis maker gene of skeletal muscle in the GS group was higher than GF group following sodium acetate supplement. Furthermore, the transcriptome analysis revealed that acetate activated biological processes regulating skeletal muscle growth and development in GF group that are inhibited due to gut microbiota deficiency. In vitro experiment, we proved that acetate up-regulated Gm16062 to promote skeletal muscle cell differentiation; Overall, our findings proved that acetate promote skeletal muscle growth and development in young mice via increase Gm16062 expression.

Estimating the ocean’s subsurface thermohaline information from satellite measurements is essential for understanding ocean dynamics and El Niño phenomenon. This paper proposes an improved double-output Residual Neural Network (DO-ResNet) model to concurrently estimate the ocean subsurface temperature (OST) and ocean subsurface salinity (OSS) in the tropical Western Pacific using multi-source remote sensing data, including sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface salinity (SSS), sea surface height anomaly(SSHA), sea surface wind (SSW), and geographical information (including longitude (LON) and latitude (LAT)). In the model experiment, Argo data were used to train and validate the model, and the root mean square error (RMSE), normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) and coefficient of determination (R²) were employed to evaluate the model's performance. The results showed that the sea surface parameters selected in this study have a positive effect on the estimation process, and the average RMSE and R² values for estimating OST (OSS) by the proposed model are 0.34 °C (0.05 psu) and 0.91 (0.95), respectively. Under the data conditions considered in this study, DO-ResNet demonstrates superior performance relative to the extreme gradient boosting model, random forest model, and artificial neural network model. Additionally, this study evaluates the model’s accuracy by comparing its estimations of OST and OSS across different depths with Argo-derived data, demonstrating the model's ability to effectively capture the most spatial features, and by comparing NRMSE across different depths and seasons, the model displays strong seasonal adaptability. In conclusion, this research introduces a novel artificial intelligence technique for estimating OST and OSS in the tropical Western Pacific Ocean.

Phased injection of natural gas into internal combustion marine engines is a promising solution for optimizing performance and reducing harmful emissions, particularly unburned methane, a potent greenhouse gas. This innovative practice distinguishes itself from continuous injection because it allows for more precise control of the combustion process with only a slight increase in system complexity. By synchronizing the injection of natural gas with the intake and exhaust valve opening and closing times while also considering the gas path in the manifolds, methane release into the atmosphere is significantly reduced, making a substantial contribution to efforts to address climate change. Moreover, phased injection improves the efficiency of marine engines, resulting in reduced overall fuel consumption, lower fuel costs, and increased ship autonomy. This technology has been tested on a single-cylinder, large-bore, four-stroke research engine designed for marine applications, operating in dual-fuel mode with diesel and natural gas. Performance was compared with that of the conventional continuous feeding method. Evaluation of the effect on equivalent CO2 emissions indicates a potential reduction of up to approximately 20%. This reduction effectively brings greenhouse gas emissions below those of the diesel baseline case, especially when injection control is combined with supercharging control to optimize the air-fuel ratio.

In numerical simulations, achieving high accuracy without significantly increasing computational costs is often challenging. To address this, this paper presents an improved finite volume weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme tailored for applicability in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and implemented in the flow solver NUAA-Turbo for simulating turbomachinery flows using both RANS and RANS/LES coupling. Firstly, the new WENO scheme is validated against classic numerical test cases to assess its stability and reliability in handling discontinuities, the Double problem, and Raleigh-Taylor (RT) instability issues. Compared to the original format, this enhanced finite volume WENO scheme demonstrates superior stability near discontinuities and resolves flow features with the same grid resolution more effectively. Next, for engineering applications related to turbomachinery, such as compressor and turbine characteristics, computations are performed using RANS, and the results obtained using WENO-ZQ3 and WENO-JS3 are compared. Finally, the new fifth-order WENO scheme is applied to RANS/LES coupled simulations of turbine wakes and film cooling. The results show that the enhanced finite volume WENO scheme offers improved stability and accuracy in engineering applications, allowing for high-precision calculations with fewer grid points to capture more detailed flow physics, thereby reducing computational costs in aerodynamic applications.

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

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

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

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

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

This study aimed to identify whether gyrate atrophy of the choroid and retina (GACR) heterozygous individuals have possible clinical manifestations and to explore the potential pathogenic mechanism. In this retrospective study, we surveyed a two-generation pedigree of an individual diagnosed with GACR. Two family members underwent ophthalmological, hematologic, and genetic tests. An arginine-restricted diet with vitamin B6 supplementation was implemented; clinical assessments were repeated every 3 months during follow-up. Relative OAT mRNA expression was determined using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The 19-year-old compound heterozygous daughter (OAT: c.1186C&gt;T; c.748C&gt;T), had bilateral high myopia, posterior staphyloma, chorioretinal atrophy, macular abnormalities, and elevated hematologic ornithine. The 54-year-old heterozygous mother (OAT: c.1186C&gt;T), presented with bilateral severe myopia, asymmetric posterior staphyloma, retina and choroidal capillary layer atrophy, retinal pigment epithelium abnormalities, and mildly elevated hematologic ornithine. Compared to normal individuals, the daughter and mother had 29% and 46% relative OAT mRNA expression, respectively (P&lt;0.001). We believe that this is the first report of a carrier of one OAT variant allele with mild phenotypes, suggesting that family members should be aware of the possible involvement of autosomal recessive conditions. Additional data suggests nonsense mediated decay-initiated mRNA degradation may cause GACR.

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

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

The prevalence of sexual harassment and abuse in school sport, specifically from coaches to their athletes remains a concerning and pervasive issue. In an attempt to better understand and prevent specific coach-behaviours associated with such sexual misconduct, researchers have developed the Sexual Violence Questionaire in Sport. While the reliability of this measurement tool has been tested in anglo-saxon cultural contexts, it is not known whether the questionnaire is applicable to other cultural contexts. A sample of 146 (52 female, 94 male) Bachelor students from a university in the Basque Country participated in this cross cross-sectional study. The questionnaire was administered twice over a two-week period to assess test-retest reliability. The internal consistency of the Sexual Violence Questionaire in Sport was high, with Cronbach's alpha values of 0.891 for perceptions and 0.813 for experiences across all participants. Gender-specific analysis showed similar reliability, with females having slightly lower alpha values for perceptions. Significant differences between test and retest were found (10 from perceptions 2 from experiences). However, Cohen’s Kappa analysis showed significant agreement across all items. In conclusion, the study highlights the questionnaire’s overall reliability and suggests its effectiveness as a tool for measuring sexual violence in sports within the Spanish context. Nonetheless, the findings of this study underscore the need for further research to enhance the instrument's stability and to better understand gender differences in perceptions and experiences of sexual violence in sports contexts.

Diabetes is a major health concern that the next-generation of on-demand insulin releasing implants may overcome for personalized therapy. Therein, 3D-printed phenylboronic acid-containing subcutaneous implants with on-demand glucose-triggered drug release abilities are produced using high resolution stereolithography technology. To that end, the methacrylation of phenylboronic acid is targeted following a two-step reaction. The resulting photocurable phenylboronic acid derivative is accordingly incorporated within bioinert polyhydroxyethyl methacrylate-based hydrogels at varying loadings. The end result are sub-centimeter scaled 3D-printed bionert implants that can be remotely activated with 1,2-diols and 1,3-diols such as glucose for on-demand drug administration such as insulin. As a proof of concept, varying glucose concentration from hypoglycemia to hyperglycemia levels readily allow the release of pinacol, i.e. a model molecule with similar release properties than insulin, at respectively low and high rates. In addition, the results demonstrated that adjusting the geometry and size of the 3D-printed part is a simple and suitable method for tailoring the release behavior and dosage.

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

(1) Background: The RDW-CV has predictive value in many pregnancy-related conditions. Re-search question: Can the RDW-CV be utilized predictively in pregnant patients with thrombo-philia? Aim of the study: To carry out a detailed analysis of the RDW-CV in pregnant patients with treated thrombophilia as compared with pregnant patients without thrombophilia who de-livered via cesarean section at term. (2) Methods: We studied 160 pregnant patients, including 80 pregnant patients with treated thrombophilia in the study group, and another 80 patients of a similar age and parity. The patients were referred to our hospital for delivery at term by means of a cesarean section between 1/10/2017 and 1/12/2021. Every patient received a sonogram during the first 1–2 days after the cesarean section, and their uterine evaluation was interpreted using the PUUS (Postpartum Uterine Ultrasonographic Scale). (3) Results: Our PUUS≥1 pregnant and postpartum patients with treated thrombophilia were the only group with an RDW-CV value over 14. No deep vein thrombosis was observed during hospitalization, showing that the antico-agulant treatment was necessary and effective. An RDW-CV of 14.5 was the highest value in the Rh-negative group of pregnant patients with treated thrombophilia. An RDW-CV of 14.48 was the highest level in the Rh-negative postpartum patients with treated thrombophilia. (4) Conclu-sion: An RDW-CV of ≥14 can predict uterine hematometra (PUUS≥1). The RDW-CV values were higher in Rh-negative patients.

Refractoriness to antiseizure medications is still a major concern in the pharmacotherapy of epilepsy. For this reason, we decided to evaluate the combination of levetiracetam and cannabidiol, administered at a subthreshold dose, to limit the possible adverse effects of this phytocannabinoid. We administered levetiracetam (300 mg/kg/day, via osmotic minipumps), cannabidiol (120 mg/kg/day, injected once a day subcutaneously), or their combination for one week in epileptic rats. Saline-treated epileptic rats were the control group. Animals were monitored with video electroencephalography the week before and after the treatment. No changes were found in the controls. Levetiracetam did not significantly reduce the total seizure number or the overall seizure duration. Still, the overall number of seizures (p&lt;0.001, Duncan’s new multiple range test) and their total duration (p&lt;0.01) increased in the week following treatment withdrawal. Cannabidiol did not change seizures when administered as a single drug. Instead, levetiracetam combined with cannabidiol resulted in a significant reduction in the overall number and duration of seizures (p&lt;0.05), when comparing values measured during treatment with both pre- and post-treatment values. These findings depended on changes in convulsive seizures, while non-convulsive seizures were stable. These results suggest cannabidiol determined a remarkable potentiation of levetiracetam antiseizure effects at a subthreshold dose.

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

This study uses the Scopus and Web of Science databases to review the forecast of electricity consumption from 2015 to 2024. Based on the keywords used in the article title, which are associated with electricity consumption forecasts, the study retrieved 821 docu-ments for additional analysis using various techniques. For frequency analysis, we used Mi-crosoft Excel; for data visualisation, we used VOSviewer; and for citation metrics and analysis, we used Harzing's Publish or Perish. Standard bibliometric variables, including publication growth, authorship patterns, collaboration, prolific authors, national contribution, most active institutions, favourite journals, and highly cited articles, are used in this study's reporting of the findings. Our analysis indicates that over ten years, starting in 2015, publications on the forecasting of electricity consumption have continued to increase. China was the country that contributed the most to research on electricity consumption. Most of the research publications on electricity consumption were published in the Journal of Energy.

Background/Objectives: Nail technicians frequently have musculoskeletal pain, which impairs their job performance. A high-risk profession linked to back discomfort that causes morbidity is nail technician. QEC is a tool used for observing and assessing risks in a work environment. The goal of this research is to assess the ergonomic risks, pain, and their relationship with posture among manicurists. Methods: The 35 nail technicians filled the assessment form which consists of occupational information, pain, European Community Respiratory Health Survey, Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire and QEC worker part. Physicians assessed nail technicians’ workspace and QEC outcomes. Results: It was stated that they worked an average of 61.92±11.09 hours per week, served an average of 11±5 customers per day, and their condition lasted 53.96±36.51 months. There is a strong significant correlation between discomforts, time spent in occupation (p=0,000) and working hours. Manicure, pedicure, unwanted hair removal, correction of eyebrow were considered for ergonomic risk evaluation. Each occupation accompanied repeated bad postures. Most of them were scored in very high risk categorization for back static positions (more than 29 point). Conclusions: This study may be useful for nail technicians seeking ergonomic improvements in the areas of engineering, administration, behavior, or personal.