Speleothem oxygen isotope records from the Caribbean, Central, and North America reveal climatic controls that include orbital variation, deglacial forcing related to ocean circulation and ice sheet retreat, and the influence of local and remote sea surface temperature variations. Here, we review these records and the global climate teleconnections they suggest following the recent publication of the Speleothem Isotopes Synthesis and Analysis (SISAL) database. We find that low-latitude records generally reflect changes in precipitation, whereas higher latitude records are sensitive to temperature and moisture source variability. Tropical records suggest precipitation variability is forced by orbital precession and North Atlantic Ocean circulation driven changes in atmospheric convection on long timescales, and tropical sea surface temperature variations on short timescales. On millennial timescales, precipitation seasonality in southwestern North America is related to North Atlantic climate variability. Great Basin speleothem records are closely linked with changes in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation. Although speleothems have revealed these critical global climate teleconnections, the paucity of continuous records precludes our ability to investigate climate drivers from the whole of Central and North America for the Pleistocene through modern. This underscores the need to improve spatial and temporal coverage of speleothem records across this climatically variable region.

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.

We have surveyed peer-reviewed literature on the awareness of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among Indigenous males in North America and Oceania. Using keywords HPV plus male, men or boy, and ethnical filters such as Indigenous, Aboriginal or First Nations, we retrieved 47 articles based on titles of which we kept 14 after reading the abstracts. Reported HPV awareness was generally low in Indigenous males in North America with no peer-reviewed data from Oceania. The lower understanding by males compared to females was largely attributable to misconceptions about HPV-related diseases, their transmission, and prevention. Lack of awareness and concern toward the risk of contracting HPV infection in Indigenous males suggests an impediment in disseminating health information about this cancer-causing virus. Culturally sensitive education, with emphasis on Indigenous males, is needed to improve this group’s HPV knowledge. Researchers should also engage meaningfully with Indigenous communities by building rapport to achieve a positive change in attitude.

The key links of face recognition are digital image preprocessing, facial feature extraction and pattern recognition, this article aimed at the current problem of slow speed and low recognition accuracy of face recognition , from the above three key links, on the basic of analyzing the therories of Fractional Differential Masks Operator (FDMO), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Support Vector Machine (SVM), design a kind of FDMO+PVA+SVM coupling algorithm that applies to face recognition to improve the speed and accuracy of it. To realize FDMO+PCA+SVM coupling algorithm, first, we should apply FDMO to face image processing binary marginalization, the purpose is getting face contour; Then, we apply PCA to get the feature of face image which is disposed by binary marainalization. At last, we can apply One-Against All of the SVM classifier and LibSVM software package to realize face recognition. Beside, the article with nine different coupling algorithm design four groups of experimental reaults on the ORL face database verified by comparative analysic FDMO+PCA+SVM coupling algorithm in the superiority of face recognition accuracy and speed.

Fibrosis is a ubiquitous pathology, and prior studies have indicated that various artemisinin (ART) derivatives (including artesunate (AS), artemether (AM), and dihydroartemisinin (DHA)) can reduce fibrosis in vitro and in vivo. The medicinal plant, Artemisia annua L., is the natural source of ART and is widely used, especially in underdeveloped countries, to treat a variety of diseases including malaria, while A. afra contains no ART but is also antimalarial. Using human dermal fibroblasts (CRL-2097), we compared the effects of A. annua and A. afra tea infusions, ART, AS, AM, DHA, and a liver metabolite of ART, deoxyART (dART), on fibroblast viability and expression of key fibrotic marker genes after 1 and 4 days of treatment. AS, DHA, and Artemisia tea significantly reduced fibroblast viability at 1 and 4 d post-treatment. After 4 d post treatment, AS, DHA, and A. afra tea downregulated ACTA2, and upregulated MMP3, with other genes either being unaffected or differentially affected. ART and AM had no significant effect on either fibroblast viability or fibrotic gene expression. Although A. annua contains ART, it had a significantly greater anti-fibrotic effect than ART alone. Immunofluorescent staining for smooth muscle α-actin (α-SMA) correlated well with transcriptional responses of drug-treated fibroblasts. Together, proliferation, qPCR, and immunofluorescence results show that treatment with ART, AS, DHA, and the two Artemisia teas yield differing responses, including those related to fibrosis, in human dermal fibroblasts.

(1) Background: Newer generation ophthalmologists practicing in the developed world are not very familiar with some tropical ocular diseases due to the absence of reports in the ophthalmic literature over the past thirty years. Because of world globalization or due to influx of immigrants from Sub Saharan Africa, exotic retinal diseases are being encountered more often in ophthalmology clinics; (2) Methods: Case series of chorioretinitis or optic neuritis with obscure etiology; (3) Results: 4 cases qualified with the diagnosis of ocular onchocerciasis based on their residence near fast rivers in endemic areas, multimodal imaging, long term follow-up showing progressive disease and negative workup for other diseases. Characteristic findings include peripapillary choroiditis with optic neuritis or atrophy, subretinal tracts of the microfilaria, progressive RPE atrophy around heavily pigmented multifocal chorioretinal lesions of varying shapes and subretinal white or crystalline dots. Typical skin findings are often absent in eyes with chorioretinitis rendering the diagnosis more challenging; (4) Conclusions: Familiarity with the myriad ocular findings of onchocerciasis, and a high degree of suspicion in subjects residing in endemic areas can help in the correct diagnosis and implementation of appropriate chemotherapy. Onchocercid chorioretinitis is a slow insiduous progressive and prolonged polymorphous disease.

Natural gas hydrate, also known as combustible ice and mainly composed of methane, it is identified as the potential clean energy in the 21th century. Due to its large reserves, gas hydrate can ease problems caused by energy resource shortage and has gained attention around the world. In this paper, we focus on the exploration and development of gas hydrate as well as discussing its status and future development trend in China and abroad, then we analyze its opportunities and challenges in China from four aspects: resource, technology, economy and police with five forces model and PEST method. The results show, China has abundance gas hydrate resource; however the backward technologies and inadequate investment has seriously hindered the future development of gas hydrate, so China should establish relevant cooperation framework and intuitional arrangement to attract more investment as well as breaking through technical difficulties to make gas hydrate commercialization as soon as possible.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cells released from the primary tumor and intravasate into the blood or lymphatic vessels, where they are transported to distant sites and act as seeds that initiate cancer metastases. Recent advances in CTC research have shown their relevance as prognostic markers for early and metastatic disease detection, predictive biomarkers for relapse, and response to medical intervention or therapy. The rapidly evolving landscape of CTC biology has opened new avenues for understanding cancer progression, metastasis, and treatment response. Additionally, translating these findings into clinical applications holds promise for improving cancer diagnostics, prognosis, and personalized therapeutic strategies. This review discusses the significance of CTCs in cancer research and their associated challenges. We explore recent developments in the detection and characterization of CTCs and their implications in cancer research and clinical practice.

The expanding global population has increased the demand for sustainable protein sources, and microbial protein (MP) has emerged as a promising alternative. However, conventional carbon (glucose) and nitrogen (ammonia, urea) sources needed for MP production pose environmental and economic issues. This study aims to produce protein using lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) as a carbon source and the nitrogen fixation ability of Klebsiella oxytoca M5A1 as a nitrogen source. The study investigates the pretreatment of LCB (switchgrass), enzymatic hydrolysis, protein quantification, and high-performance liquid chromatography system (HPLC) analysis to track glucose utilization and organic acid production. K. oxytoca M5A1 harnessed free nitrogen from the atmosphere through nitrogen fixation and used abundant, cheap glucose from LCB to produce MP and organic acids as by-products. Protein production occurred in two phases: first within the initial 8 hours and secondly, within the last 16 hours. The highest protein concentration was at 40 hours, with approximately 68.3% protein content. HPLC analysis revealed a dynamic profile of glucose utilization and organic acids (Lactic acid, Propionic acid, Acetic acid, and Succinic acid). K. oxytoca M5A1 exhibited an early high rate of glucose consumption, and conversion to organic acids that were later used for second-phase protein production. The acids profile revealed intra-conversion from one acid to another via metabolic pathways (glycolysis and tricarboxylic acid cycle). Overall, leveraging LCB and the nitrogen-fixing ability of K. oxytoca M5A1 for MP production offers an eco-friendly and cost-effective alternative to traditional protein sources, contributing to a sustainable circular economy.

We have developed additive logistic models for the occurrence of lightning, large (≥ 2 cm), and very large (≥ 5 cm) hail to investigate the evolution of these hazards in the past, in the future, and for forecasting applications. The models, trained with lightning observations, hail reports, and predictors from atmospheric reanalysis, assign an hourly probability to any location and time on a 0.25° × 0.25° × 1-hourly grid as a function of reanalysis-derived predictor parameters, selected following an ingredients- based approach. The resulting hail models outperform the Significant Hail Parameter and the simulated climatological spatial distributions and annual cycles of lightning and hail are consistent with observations from storm report databases, radar, and lightning detection data. As a corollary result, CAPE released above the -10°C isotherm was found to be a more universally skilful predictor for large hail than CAPE. In the period 1950–2021, the models applied to the ERA5 reanalysis indicate significant increases of lightning and hail across most of Europe, primarily due to rising low-level moisture. The strongest modelled hail increases occur in northern Italy with increasing rapidity after 2010. Here, very large hail has become 3 times more likely than it was in the 1950s. Across North America trends are comparatively small, apart from isolated significant increases in the direct lee of the Rocky Mountains and across the Canadian Plains. In the southern Plains, a period of enhanced storm activity occurred in the 1980s and 1990s.

Reasonable allocation of production plans and saving the overall electricity cost are crucial for large manufacturing conglomerates, which is an effective way for conglomerates to realize open-source and cost-saving. This paper develops an optimization model of off-site industrial production scheduling for enterprises in response to the problems of high electricity costs due to the irrational allocation of production schedules on the demand side of China's electric power and the difficulty of promoting industrial and commercial distributed photovoltaic (PV) projects in China. The model makes full use of the conditions of different PV resources and different electricity prices in different places to optimize the scheduling of industrial production in different places. The model is embedded with two sub-models of the electricity price prediction model and distributed photovoltaic kWh cost model to complete the model parameters, in which the electricity price prediction model utilizes the LSTM neural network. The integrated model is then solved by the particle swarm algorithm. To verify the effectiveness of the model in solving the problem of off-site production scheduling on the demand side of electricity, the research team researched two off-site pharmaceutical factories belonging to the same large pharmaceutical company. Finally, the research data were substituted into the model for solving, and it was concluded that the optimization model could significantly reduce the cost of electricity consumption of the enterprise by about 7.9 %.

In this paper, we first discuss the research status and application progress of the finite element method and the smoothed particle method. By analyzing the advantages of the smoothed particle method and the finite element method, a new coupling algorithm, namely FEM-SPH algorithm, is proposed. By the method of comparison, it shows that finite element method and SPH method in the simulation of large deformation problems each have advantages and disadvantages, the finite element method smoothed particle coupling algorithm is effective to achieve the performance of high computational efficiency and can naturally simulate large deformation problems across. In the process of calculation, the large deformation unit can be freely into an algorithm to facilitate the calculation accuracy and efficiency of three methods of numerical simulation. Through the study found, FEM-SPH algorithm not only overcome the defect of smooth particle tensile instability, but also overcomes the problem of low efficiency of finite element computation. To further test the FEM-SPH algorithm has advantages in the practical engineering, we have carried out the actual test to the example of the super high speed collision, concluded that, since the target of most of the computational domain is always finite element, smoothed particle focused only in contact with the projectile and target of local area, particle number is not much, the whole calculation process just ten minutes, computational efficiency has been greatly improved, at the same time in the simulation of large deformation, the advantage is very obvious .This provides a criterion for the actual project, depending on the specific material deformation mode and choose a more appropriate conversion algorithm.

The series 'Re-Visiting Viking Vinland' describe re-evaluation of Viking voyages from Greenland to North America, from about 985 to 1026 A.D. American landfalls were located using clues from Norse sagas, logic, creative imagination, and advanced imaging technology. Paper I describes a dramatic voyage of Leif Eriksson's brother, Thorvald, during the second of four successful 'Vinland' voyages. Thorvald borrowed Leif's ship for further exploration, was caught in a storm, "shattering" the keel, and disabling the ship. In Greenlanders' Saga: "They had to stay there for a long time while they repaired the ship. Thorvald said to his companions, 'I want to erect the old keel here on the headland and call the place Kjalarnes (Keelness)". Where was Keelness? Re-imagining the voyage, the search led from 'Leif's Booths', Leif's original 'Vinland' site in New Brunswick, Canada, to the north coast of Newfoundland. Using logic, a single satellite image, and follow-up drone scans, the Keelness site was found, very near L'Anse aux Meadows, the first authenticated Viking site in North America. Covid-19 restrictions, and lack of certified professionals, precluded site-visits or excavation. Advanced data-processing of drone data was used to confirm the site, while unexpectedly revealing several distinctive ship-repair features; with visible and thermal imaging supporting this site as 'Keelness'; perhaps the first Viking site unequivocally named in the Vinland sagas.

Accurate forecasting of icing thickness has a great significance for ensuring the security and stability of power grid. In order to improve the forecasting accuracy, this paper proposes an icing forecasting system based on fireworks algorithm and weighted least square support vector machine (W-LSSVM). The method of fireworks algorithm is employed to select the proper input features with the purpose of eliminating the redundant influence. In addition, the aim of W-LSSVM model is to train and test the historical data-set with the selected features. The capability of this proposed icing forecasting model and framework is tested through the simulation experiments using real-world icing data from monitoring center of key laboratory of anti-ice disaster, Hunan, South China. The results show that the proposed W-LSSVM-FA method has a higher prediction accuracy and it may be a promising alternative for icing thickness forecasting.

This paper explores how the sustainable investment impacts financial returns and economic development in of Asia Pacific and North America, utilizing real data empirically. In academia and industrial field, it is polemical that indeed, the sustainable behavior has economic returns. In order to clarify that, we tested hypotheses with an analysis of seven stock markets, accounting of rates such as ROI, ROIC, and ROA in eleven companies, and GDP/GNI per capita. The results indicate that both financial return and economic development are positively germane to the sustainable investment. Besides, the variance of sustainability to economic development exists, depending on GDP per capita between two regions. We conclude, concerning the sustainability, by corroborating micro perspective for corporate level and macro perspective of economic development in the private and public sector. This research consequence will be interested in both practitioners and researchers in the measurement of sustainability performance

Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) infections are the most common sexually-transmitted infection (STI). Despite effective antibiotics for Ct, undetected infections or delayed treatment can lead to infertility, ectopic pregnancies, and chronic pelvic pain. Besides humans, chlamydia poses similar health challenges in animals such as C. suis (Cs) in pigs. Based on the similarities between humans and pigs as well as their chlamydia species, we use pigs as a large biomedical animal model for chlamydia research. In this study, we use the pig model to develop a vaccine candidate against Ct. The vaccine candidate consists of TriAdj-adjuvanted chlamydial protease-like activity factor (CPAF) protein. We tested two weekly administration options – twice intranasal (IN) followed by twice intramuscular (IM), or twice IM followed by twice IN. We assessed the humoral immune response not only in serum by CPAF-specific IgG including antibody avidity determination but also in cervical and rectal swabs by CPAF-specific IgG and IgA ELISAs. The systemic T-cell response was analyzed upon in vitro CPAF-restimulation via IFN-γ and IL-17 ELISpots as well as intracellular cytokine staining flow cytometry. Our data demonstrate that while the IN/IM vaccination mainly led to non-significant systemic immune responses, the vaccine candidate is highly immunogenic if administered IM/IN. This vaccination strategy induced high serum anti-CPAF IgG levels with strong avidity as well as high IgA and IgG levels in vaginal and rectal swabs and in uterine horn flushes. In addition, this vaccination strategy prompted a pronounced cellular immune response: Besides inducing IL-17 production, the vaccine candidate induced a strong IFN-γ response by CD4 T cells. In the IM/IN vaccinated pigs, these cells also significantly downregulated their CCR7 expression – a sign for differentiation into peripheral tissue homing effector/ memory cells. Conclusively, this study demonstrates strong immunogenicity of the IM/IN administered TriAdj-adjuvanted Ct CPAF vaccine candidate. Future studies will test vaccine efficacy of this promising Ct vaccine candidate. In addition, this project demonstrates suitability of the Cs pre-exposed outbred pig model for Ct vaccine development. Thereby, we aim to open the bottleneck of large animal models to facilitate the progression of Ct vaccine candidates into clinical trials.

: Drought monitoring and early detection have improved greatly in recent decades through the development and refinement of numerous indices and indicators. However, a lack of guidance, based on user experience, exists as to which drought monitoring tools are most appropriate in a given location. This review paper summarizes the results of targeted user engagement and the published literature to improve the understanding of drought across North America, and to enhance the utility of drought monitoring tools. Workshops and surveys were used to assess and make general conclusions about the perceived performance of drought indicators, indices and impacts information used for monitoring drought in the five main Köppen climate types (Tropical, Temperate, Continental, Polar Tundra, Dry) found across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. In Tropical, humid Temperate, and southerly Continental climates, droughts are perceived to be more short-term (less than 6 months) in duration rather than long-term (more than 6 months). In Polar Tundra climates, Dry climates, Temperate climates with dry warm seasons, and northerly Continental climates, droughts are perceived to be more long-term than short-term. In general, agricultural and hydrological droughts were considered to be the most important drought types. Drought impacts related to agriculture, water supply, ecosystem, and human health were rated to be of greatest importance. Users identified the most effective indices and indicators for monitoring drought across North America to be the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) and Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) (or another measure of precipitation anomaly), followed by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) (or another satellite-observed vegetation index), temperature anomalies, crop status, soil moisture, streamflow, reservoir storage, water use (demand), and reported drought impacts. Users also noted the importance of indices that measure evapotranspiration, evaporative demand, and snow water content. Drought indices and indicators were generally thought to perform equally well across seasons in Tropical and the colder Continental climates, but their performance was perceived to vary seasonally in Dry, Temperate, Polar Tundra, and the warmer Continental climates, with improved performance during warm and wet times of the year. The drought indices and indicators, in general, were not perceived to perform equally well across geographies. This review paper provides guidance on when (time of year) and where (climate zone) the more popular drought indices and indicators should be used. The paper concludes by noting the importance of understanding how drought, its impacts, and indicators are changing over time as the climate warms, and by recommending ways to strengthen the use of indices and indicators in drought decision-making.

The series of papers, 'Re-Visiting Viking Vinland', encompasses a re-evaluation of the Viking voyages from Greenland to North America, from about 985 to 1026 A.D. Searching for their American landfalls used multiple approaches: clues from Norse sagas, logic, creative imagination, and advanced imaging technology. Paper I described locating 'Keelness', a Viking shipwreck site in Newfoundland, Canada, but Covid-19 prevented professional, on-site follow-up. Paper II describes our alternative, a 'virtual excavation', using only remote imaging via drone, plus advanced data-processing of both visible and thermal (infrared) data. Starting with the 'stocks', a support structure for Viking ship repair, other features were accidentally found, identified, and interpreted. These included damaged hull planks ('strakes'), parts of the broken keel, a pit-house for shelter, and the hole where a keel-piece was erected as a navigational marker; with the site named (Norse, 'Kjalarnes') ('Keelness' or Keel Point). Results of this non-contact, non-destructive 'virtual excavation' supported our hypothesis that this site is the 'Keelness' mentioned in the Norse sagas. Fragments of Leif Eriksson's original ship may still be preserved in a sphagnum moss bog after 1000 years, accessible for further study, and perhaps providing valuable information on both provenience (origin) and provenance (history) of these iconic artifacts.

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is related with adverse outcomes for both the mother and the offspring. Immune and senescence play a crucial role in GDM progression. This study aims to explore the diagnostic significance of immune-related senescence (IRS) genes in GDM. We used weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and single sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) to compute the immune score and aging score in control and GDM samples. Machine learning identified core IRS genes. Then we performed unsupervised cluster analysis in GDM patients to explore immune infiltration. Finally, we validated the core genes in clinical samples. We used the intersection of MEblack module from WGCNA and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) to obtain the potential genes. Next, a univariate logistic regression model including 23 potential genes were constructed, and these genes were filtered by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) algorithm. There were 5 potential genes (COX17, RRAS2, RRAGC, CECR1, and TACC2), which defined as biomarkers, remained eventually, and the efficacy of these biomarkers was evaluated by nomogram. Finally, the results from both qRT-PCR and western blot analyses demonstrated CECR1 was down-regulated, while TACC2 was up-regulated in GDM placental tissue. Our study identified CECR1 and TACC2 as diagnostic biomarkers for GDM associating with immune and senescence, providing a new perspective on GDM progression.

The historic western edge of bison (Bison bison) range and the ecological processes that caused its formation are frequently debated with important implications for bison restoration across North America. We test the hypothesis that a combination of bottom-up habitat suitability and top-down harvest pressure from humans were important processes in forming the western edge of bison distribution. Using 9,384 historical journal observations from 1691 – 1928, we employ MaxEnt ecological niche modelling to identify suitable bison habitat across the Western Cordillera from bottom-up climatic, land cover, and topographic factors. We then use mixed-effect logistic regression to test if bison occurrence in journal records can be in part explained by the abundance of Indigenous humans, wolves, or grizzly bears, in addition to MaxEnt-derived habitat suitability. We find support for our hypothesis because of the limited suitable habitat in the Rocky Mountains that likely prevented westward bison dispersal from core habitat, and there was a negative relationship between bison occurrence and human harvest pressure. On this basis, we propose that intensive human harvest from large populations in the Western Cordillera, subsidized by other wildlife, salmon, and vegetation resources, is an underappreciated socioecological process that needs to be restored alongside bison populations. Co-managing bison with Indigenous people will also mitigate the adverse effects of overabundant bison and maximize the ecological and cultural benefits of bison restoration.

Coal gasification with carbon dioxide is a process for generating clean gaseous fuels and relieving greenhouse effect. Zhundong coal has high alkali and alkali earth metals (AAEMs) content, medium volatile and low ash in nature. Isothermal CO₂ gasification of char derived from Zhundong coal (R-char) and char from acid washing R-char (AR-char) are performed in thermo-gravimetric analyzer (TGA). The effect of AAEMs is investigated on the gasification behavior in the range of temperatures 1073 K to 1273 K. The carbon conversion increases rapidly with increasing reaction temperature and CO₂ concentration. R-char has high gasification rate and carbon conversion compared with AR-char. The accuracy of the free-model approach for calculating activation energy at different conversions is validated by compared with different kinetic models (volume reaction model, distributed activation energy model). Moreover, R-char gasification with CO₂ shows a compensation effect as the Arrhenius parameters (EA and k0) increase or decrease simultaneously.

Amphibian populations have been globally declining since at least 1990. In temperate forests of eastern North America, vernal pools offer important breeding habitats to many amphibians but are usually not considered for forest management because of their small size and temporary status. Effective monitoring and management of amphibians rely on accurate knowledge of their spatiotemporal distributions, which is expensive to collect due to the amount of fieldwork re-quired. In this study, we tested whether eDNA metabarcoding could identify the same amphibian communities as traditional inventory protocols. We collected eDNA samples in twelve vernal pools in the spring of 2019 and identified their communities by metabarcoding. At each pool, three traditional amphibian inventory methods were used in May and June 2019: call surveys using acoustic recorders, trapping, and active search surveys. In total, 13 amphibian species were detected, most of them being detected by both eDNA and traditional methods. We found that species ecology and behavior are key factors of its detectability by a specific method. As eDNA metabarcoding is comparatively inexpensive and presents a higher repeatability, we conclude that eDNA sampling should be considered for integration as a standard monitoring tool, after an initial assessment of amphibian diversity.

This study delves into the extraction and compositional analysis of soybean meal protein isolates (SMPI) compared to soy protein isolates (SPI), focusing on their functional and structural properties, digestibility, amino acid composition, and the impact of various proteases on antinutritional factors. By leveraging alkaline (0.25 % of NH4OH) extraction and isoelectric precipitation, SMPI was efficiently obtained. Compositional characteristics revealed that SMPI has high moisture, protein, and ash, but lower fat, and carbohydrate content compared to SPI. Alcalase, Neutrase and Pepsin hydrolysis indicated lower digestibility of SMPI than SPI. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis provided similar molecular structure and protein molecular weight distribution. This comprehensive analysis underscores the valorization of soybean meal, promoting its use beyond conventional animal feed towards nutritional supplements and bio-based products, thereby contributing to environmental sustainability and the enhancement of global food systems.

By repeated unloading and loading of the excavation dynamic and static loads, repeated train dynamic and static loads of multi-factors, the underpass tunnel, cross tunnel engineering influence area rock layer, the existing tunnel structure of the three constitutes a multifaceted structure, multi-factor interaction system. Existing tunnels into the prediction theory model of the new tunnel excavation process of dynamic and static loads, dynamic and static loads of existing tunnels are mostly analyzed individually, the results of synergistic analysis needs to be improved. Based on the theory of the current layer method, the paper comprehensively considers the stiffness of the existing tunnel, the stiffness of the new tunnel, the excavation method load and the existing tunnel load, coupled with Peck's empirical formula, the theoretical model of deformation prediction for excavation of a two-lane highway tunnel under the tunnel through the existing railroad is proposed, and verified and optimized by numerical calculations and monitoring data, which proves the applicability and reliability of the theoretical model in the similar strata and the project promotion.

The research on the excavation mechanical properties of underpass tunnels has already had certain results, but fewer of them consider the effects of dynamic and static loads on the excavation mechanical properties of underground tunnels at the same time, especially the lack of research cases of double-line highway tunnels with angled underpasses of existing railway tunnels. In this paper, based on the tunnel project of the new double-line Shiqian Highway Tunnel passing under the Hurong Railway at an oblique angle, the mechanical parameters of the rock body in the cross-tunneling area under the influence of static and dynamic load coupling are obtained by using the disturbance quantification coefficients and the Hoek-Brown criterion based on the method of over-advanced geological prediction and the investigation of the surrounding rock on the palisade face, and the engineering-scale finite element model is constructed and the mechanical characteristics of the excavation in the tunnel of the double-lane highway tunnel passing under the existing railroad under the influence of the static and dynamic loads are analyzed. The results show that: the new tunnel rock movement law for the top of the arch sinking, bottom plate bulging, side wall to move outward, the height and width of the arch and bottom plate arch with the tunnel excavation and increase, the side wall rock displacement effect is smaller; left and right lines of the tunnel disturbed area of the rule of change is similar; the existing tunnel bottom plate displacement is more than the top plate and the left and right side walls by the excavation of the time step influence is larger. Typical profile displacement is mainly determined by the distance from the excavation surface; the new tunnel in the four types of calculation conditions of the rock disturbance angle is the same; the existing tunnel roof and side wall Von Mises stress extreme occurs in the tunnel structure, the bottom plate there are pressure relief and pressure-bearing areas; based on the displacement control criteria, the recommended upper and lower step blasting method.

The modern supply chain (SC) is growing in terms of data, devices, users, and stakeholders, which introduced new security challenges and threats, especially with the reliance on centralized servers or cloud platforms. In addition, increased trust among system participants exposes the SC to a higher risk of vulnerabilities which require strong security measures. This article proposes a hybrid security framework for SC systems, BC-DRLzSC, that integrates Blockchain (BC) and Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) designed to operate in a zero trust (ZT) environment. In particular, we propose a decentralized BC-based approach integrated with smart contracts to manage system participant registration and authentication and to control access to system resources. BC-DRLzSC adopts a ZT architecture to reinforce SC security, which can be achieved with an advocate to verify each entity’s trustworthiness before granting or retaining access to system resources. Incorporating the ZT architecture, with BC and DRL, can potentially and significantly bolster SC system security. DRL is employed to develop a proactive attack detection model that continuously monitors the incoming traffic from authenticated nodes within the network and predicts any malicious actions. Finally, we evaluate the performance of our proposed DRL solution using the NSL-KDD dataset.

Single-phase-to-ground fault in non-effectively grounded systems poses serious public safety concern. Along with increasing deployment of low-voltage (LV) sensors, new opportunities and ways are created for solving this traditional problem in distribution systems. A new approach, identifying primary single-phase-to-ground line fault and locating it through measurement data from smart sensors deployed in the secondary side of distribution transformers, is proposed in this paper. When a fault occurs in primary distribution feeder, the transient aerial mode voltage (AMV) of each LV smart sensor is calculated. The fault line can be identified by an abrupt change value of AMV at LV side. Next, by finding the position of the maximum value of this AMV from LV sensors on the fault line, the fault location can be pinpointed to two neighboring distribution transformers. The proposed method has been proven to be efficient and reliable by simulation studies.

Three kinds of inorganic alkali are introduced into tetraethylenepentamine (TPEA) and polyethyleneimine (PEI) modified MCM-41 as the CO2 adsorbents. FT-IR and TGA are used to characterize the surface groups and the thermal stability of adsorbents. Chemical titration method is used to measure the alkali amounts of adsorbents. Thermo-gravimetric analysis with 10%CO2/N2 as the simulated flue gas is used to test the CO2 adsorption performance of adsorbents. The results show that all three kinds of inorganic alkali containing adsorbents exhibit promoted CO2 adsorption capability than traditional TPEA and PEI modified samples. Ca(OH)2 and PEI modified samples exhibit the highest adsorption capacity and stable regeneration property. The introduction of inorganic alkali changes the chemical adsorption mechanism between CO2 and increases the effective alkali amounts due to its hydroxyl groups. The CO2 adsorption capacities have a linear dependence relation with the alkali amounts of adsorbents, indicating that alkali amount is a critical factor for novel adsorbents exploring.

Cement production requires a significant amount of energy and natural resources, severely impacting the environment due to harmful gas emissions. Coal Bottom Ash (CBA) and Coal Boiler Slag (CBS), byproducts of coal-fired power plants, have pozzolanic properties. CBA and CBS can be mechanically ground to obtain Ground Coal Bottom Ash (GCBA) or Ground Coal Bottom Slag (GCBS), which can potentially replace cement in concrete, reducing waste in landfills, benefit the economy, preserving natural resources, and reducing health hazards. This study was performed to determine the optimum amount of GCBA and GCBS that can replace cement in concrete. The fresh, mechanical, and durability properties of the concrete containing GCBA were compared to a control mix consisting of 100% Portland cement. The optimum amount of cement replaced with GCBA and GCBS was 10% and 5%, respectively, based on compressive strength. The GCBA-based concrete's tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and durability properties were better than the control. The compressive strength of the GCBA and GCBS-based mortars increased with an increase in fineness. GCBA and GCBS fineness should be within the limit recommended in the ASTM C618 standard to enhance concrete or mortar properties.

The question of the relevance of human and natural capital, as well as the potential adverse effect of natural capital on economic growth, has gained increased attention in development economics. The aim of this paper is to theoretically and empirically assess the relevance of several forms of capital on economic growth in small economies that are dependent upon tourism or natural resources. The empirical framework is based on Impulse Response Functions obtained from Vector Autoregressive models in which we focus on the model where economic growth is the dependent variable for ten small economies that are dependent upon either tourism or natural resources. We find that there is evidence of the ‘’natural resource curse’’, especially in the economies that have a strong dependence on resources that are easily substitutable and whose prices constantly fluctuate. We further find that in the majority of observed cases the type of capital these small economies are most dependent on for their economic growth causes negative impulses in the majority of the observed periods. The main policy recommendation should be to assure that even these small economies should strive towards further diversification and avoid dependence on only one segment of their economy.

Considered one of the finest first-generation Nigerian writers, John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo, who passed away on 13th October, 2020, had been categorised as a Eurocentric writer. This work assesses the authenticity or otherwise of this critics’ perception of Clark by critiquing his America, their America. By analysing this autobiography vis-à-vis the notion of self and other which is a theoretical concern in contemporary travel writing, it was established, among other things, that every culture has its dark sides which it must not feel too proud to change as time and situation demand; that Clark vehemently rejects the Americans’ claim of sophistication and superiority of their culture over African culture. The paper concludes that contemporary travel writing should be a rightful site for negotiating cultural, political and diplomatic compromises between the Self and the Other since the gulf may be difficult to close altogether.

The fish supply chain (FSC) industry faces a significant challenge in terms of maintaining fish quality and authenticity throughout the chain. The main goal of modern FSC systems is tracking and tracing the fish product at each stage, from harvester to end customer, as well as assessing its quality and authenticity. Integrating FSC with new technologies, such as Blockchain (BC), Big Data, Artificial intelligence (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT), enhances fish product traceability, authenticity, visibility, and security. We propose a BC-based FSC framework that follows a layered architecture consisting of a SC layer, an IoT layer, and a BC layer. We integrate a new AI-based hand-held device, a Quality, Adulteration & Traceability (QAT) device, that can identify fish species and assess fish quality. We leverage the key features of BC and smart contracts, deployed over the Ethereum platform for the proposed framework integrated with QAT technology. Extensive validation of smart contracts is conducted to prove its practical feasibility.

This research uses a gravity model method to investigate the factors determining the number of tourists visiting Australia. Understanding the variables that draw visitors to specific locations is essential for policymakers and other stakeholders in the tourism sector since tourism continues to play a significant role in the economy of many countries worldwide. Despite the widespread use of gravity models in the analysis of international tourism flows, only a tiny amount of attention has been paid to particularly researching the flow of tourists to Australia. This research addresses this knowledge gap by analyzing the variables influencing travel patterns to Australia. The gravity model framework is used, and it considers factors like gross domestic product, gross domestic product per capita, migratory stocks, distance, population size, cost of living, and cultural similarities. The purpose of this research is to aid in developing focused marketing strategies by providing insights into the factors that influence the flow of tourists to Australia via the analysis of these variables. The results are anticipated to add to the current literature on gravity modeling in tourist research and give practical implications for industry stakeholders and policymakers. The discussion of the findings, their ramifications, and possible directions for further study serves as the conclusion of the work.

The role of natural factors mainly solar eleven-year cycle variability, and volcanic eruptions on two major modes of climate variability the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are studied for around last 150 years period. The NAO is the primary factor to regulate Central England Temperature (CET) during winter throughout the period, though NAO is impacted differently by other factors in various time periods. Solar variability indicates a strong positive influence on NAO during 1978-1997, though suggests opposite in earlier period. Solar NAO lag relationship is also shown sensitive to the chosen times of reference and thus points towards the previously proposed mechanism/ relationship related to the sun and NAO. The ENSO is influenced strongly by solar variability and volcanic eruptions in certain periods. This study observes a strong negative association between the sun and ENSO before the 1950s, which is even opposite during the second half of 20th century. The period 1978-1997, when two strong eruptions coincided with active years of strong solar cycles, the ENSO, and volcano suggested a stronger association, and we discussed the important role played by ENSO. That period showed warming in central tropical Pacific while cooling in the North Atlantic with reference to the later period (1999-2017) and also from chosen earlier period. Here we show that the mean atmospheric state is important for understanding the connection between solar variability, the NAO and ENSO and associated mechanism. It presents a critical analysis to improve knowledge about major modes of variability and their role in climate. We also discussed the importance of detecting the robust signal of natural variability, mainly the sun.

A flow chart is presented depicting coupling in ocean-atmosphere system, initiated by solar decadal variability that involves El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Possible mechanisms for Canonic ENSO, Modoki ENSO and Canonic-Modoki ENSO are proposed considering their relevance to the decadal variation of Hadley, Walker circulation and mid-latitude jets. It also discusses subsequent teleconnections by ENSO on Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) with a special emphasis on later two decades of the last century. Possible mechanisms relating to a disruption of the usual ENSO-ISM teleconnection for those decades are emphasised; the role of volcanos and the change in the sun- NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation) connection were attended. The regional Hadley circulation, via the NAO in the northern hemisphere and Indian Ocean Dipole in the southern hemisphere, during that period, may have a role in the change in ISM behaviour- which though captured in observation but missed by models. The representation of flow chart helps to improve understanding of various types of ENSO in both temporal as well as spatial scale. The overall study subsequently can benefit the modelling community by not only improved the representation of ENSO in models but also better representation of ISM teleconnection via regional Hadley cell.

The geographical environment, food culture, and dietary habits are substantially different between the southern and northern regions in China. We investigated the associations with dietary patterns and metabolic syndrome between Chinese adult from the southern and northern regions (North: 1249; South: 1849) using data from the Chinese Health and Nutrition 2009 survey. Respectively, four dietary patterns were identified by factor analysis in the two regions. Each dietary pattern of factor score was calculated for three groups by tertile (T1<T2<T3). In the northern region, the association between the Alcohol and Western pattern and the risk of abdominal obesity (OR: 1.31; 95%:1.01, 1.68), hypertriglyceridemia (OR: 1.35; 95%:1.05, 1.74), high fasting blood glucose (OR: 1.37; 95%: 1.05, 1.80), and hypertension (OR: 1.55; 95%: 1.45, 1.99) was increased. In the southern region, the Convenience Food pattern was positively associated with hypertriglyceridemia (OR: 1.53; 95%: 1.03, 2.26), low HDL-cholesterol (OR: 1.96; 95%: 1.12, 3.43), and metabolic syndrome (OR: 1.79; 95%: 1.03, 3.11). The Alcohol dietary pattern was positively associated with high fasting blood glucose (OR: 1.83, 95%: 1.13, 2.97). There are some dietary pattern differences in the two regions. It is necessary to consider the factors of food culture and food intake habits in order to provide nutrition education to Chinese individuals from different regions in the future.

In recent years, online review system attracts attention to assess seller-customer relations in the world of e-commerce. To address the quality concern of online review, especially incentivized ones, this study evaluates credibility and consistency based on reviews’ volume, length, and content to distinguish the impact of incentives on customer review behavior, improving review quality, and purchase decision-making. Software product reviews collected from software review websites, including Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp undergo Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) to reveal critical features such as cost, support, usability, and product features. The indirect impact of companies’ size, direct impact of users’ experience, and different impacts of changing situations during years on the incentive reviews’ volume are major findings of sentiment analysis. A/B testing results show a minimal to no impact of such reviews on purchasing decisions, highlighting discrepancies in credibility and consistency in volume, length, and content. Employing advanced techniques like Sentence-BERT (SBERT) and TF-IDF, the study explores semantic differences in reviews to improve recommendation systems for a more customized shopping experience. This approach seeks to establish a framework that discerns between review types and their effect on customer behavior. The findings contribute to developing more sophisticated and consistent e-commerce solutions, emphasizing the importance of authentic and reliable online reviews in influencing consumer choices.

Relativistic shocks are one of the most plausible sites of the emission of strongly variable, polarized multi-wavelength emission from relativistic jet sources such as blazars, via diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) of relativistic particles. This paper summarizes recent results on a self-consistent coupling of diffusive shock acceleration and radiation transfer in blazar jets. We demonstrate that the observed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of blazars strongly constrain the nature of hydromagnetic turbulence responsible for pitch-angle scattering by requiring a strongly energy-dependent pitch-angle mean free path. The prominent soft X-ray excess (``Big Blue Bump'') in the SED of the BL Lac object AO 0235+164 can be modelled as the signature of bulk Compton scattering of external radiation fields by the thermal electron population, which places additional constraints on the level of hydromagnetic turbulence. It has further been demonstrated that internal shocks propagating in a jet pervaded by a helical magnetic field naturally produce polarization-angle swings by 180$^o$, in tandem with multi-wavelength flaring activity, without requiring any helical motion paths or other asymmetric jet structures. The specific application of this model to 3C279 presents the first consistent, simultaneous modeling of snap-shot SEDs, multi-wavelength light curves and time-dependent polarization signatures of a blazar during a polarization-angle (PA) rotation. This model has recently been generalized to a lepto-hadronic model, in which the high-energy emission is dominated by proton synchrotron radiation. It is shown that in this case, the high-energy (X-ray and $\gamma$-ray) polarization signatures are expected to be significantly more stable (not showing PA rotations) than the low-energy (electron-synchrotron) signatures.

Latin America and the Caribbean offer the most favorable natural and social conditions for the emergence of cattle ranching that regenerate and maintains the ecosystem services on which life on Earth depends, that is energy efficient and that contributes to meeting fundamental human food needs. Unlike other major global producers, cattle farming in Latin America and the Caribbean is fundamentally based on pasture. Therein lies both its strength (due to the regenerative potential of well-managed pastures) and its vulnerability (due to the pervasive link between deforestation and pasture formation, especially in the Amazon, where 40% of the Brazilian herd is concentrated). The diversification of pastures (today marked by impressive monotony, with brachiaria accounting for 85% of the species in Brazil), the introduction of legumes and tree plantations within them, and the proper management of herds, open the way to the possibility of drastically reducing the area currently occupied by the activity (especially in the Amazon) while maintaining the supply of its products. Agricultural research has disseminated forms of moderate intensification of cattle ranching, which represent a low opportunity cost of animal feed and, at the same time, regeneration of ecosystem services that have so far been destroyed by the prevailing methods of farming.

In this work we study the energy consumption by various modern secured hash functions (MD2, MD5, SHA-1, and SHA-2) and modern symmetric key encryption protocols (Blowfish, DES, 3DES, and AES) from the algorithmic perspective. We identify various parameters that moderate energy consumption of these hashes and protocols. Our work is directed towards redesigning or modifying these algorithms to make them consume lesser energy. As a first step, we try to determine the applicability of the asymptotic energy complexity model by Roy et. al. on these hashes and protocols. Specifically, we try to observe whether parallelizing the access of blocks of data in these algorithms reduces their energy consumption based on the energy model. Our results confirm the applicability of the energy model on these hashes and protocols. Our work is motivated by the relevance and importance of cryptographic hashes and symmetric key protocols for modern ICT (Information and Communication Technology), and ICT enabled industry to keep them protected from dynamically changing threat scenarios. Hence the design of more energy efficient hashes and protocols will definitely contribute in reducing the ICT energy consumption that is continuously increasing.

In 2023, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) estimated that there were 68,928 mustangs living on United States public lands in 10 western states. The agency uses Appropriate Management Levels to determine the number of mustangs who need to be removed from the land. Once removed and processed, mustangs are sent to adoptions or sales events or retained in short-or long-term holding facilities. Adoptions and sales are the leading avenues for rehoming mustangs; however, the number of horses the BLM can place fluctuates annually and never approaches the greater number removed from the range. To explore opportunities for increasing the number of mustang adoptions, we conducted in-depth interviews with 23 horse trainers located on the U.S. East Coast, asking about participants’ training programs, relationships with horses, perceptions of mustangs, and challenges that mustangs face in the dressage and eventing industries. Participants had varying experiences with mustangs; however, all were willing to work with a mustang in some capacity. Participants voiced the need for more satellite adoption locations on the East Coast to decrease barriers to acquiring a mustang, notably cost and time, and for expanding existing training programs to include eventing and dressage.

The speed-density or flow-density relationship is a fundamental aspect of traffic flow theory. Single-regime models often face challenges in consistently fitting empirical data under diverse traffic conditions. This paper addresses the inaccuracies of single-regime models, attributing them not only to their functional forms but also to data dispersion and sample selection bias. To mitigate these issues, the data is segmented into day and night periods, leading to the creation of separate models for each. Calibration results, conducted on data from two freeways, Tehran-Karaj and Tehran-Qom, reveal distinct challenges, with the former exhibiting high dispersion and the latter showing low dispersion. Surprisingly, single-regime models demonstrate notable effectiveness when applied to distinct day and night data. Further analysis, categorizing data into day and night, results in reduced errors (20-60% improvement in R-Square), emphasizing the potential for enhanced accuracy by considering distinct regimes. Overall, the study underscores the significance of regime-specific considerations for accurate traffic flow modeling. Upon thorough evaluation, the study highlights the superiority of the neural network Multi-layer Perceptron (MLP) over traditional models. The research discusses the implications of incorporating day and night parameters into the models, emphasizing their potential for accuracy enhancement.

A facilitative transport system exists on the blood brain barrier (BBB) that has been tacitly assumed to be a path for glutamate entry to brain. But glutamate is a non-essential amino acid whose brain content is much greater than plasma, and studies in vivo show that glutamate does not enter brain in material quantities except in those small regions with fenestrated capillaries (circumventricular organs). The situation became understandable when luminal (blood facing) and abluminal (brain facing) membranes were isolated and studied separately. Facilitative transport of glutamate and glutamine exist only on the luminal membranes whereas Na+-dependent transport systems for glutamate, glutamine and some other amino acids are present only on the abluminal membrane. The Na+-dependent cotransporters of the abluminal membrane are in a position to actively transport amino acids from the extracellular fluid (ECF) into the endothelial cells of the BBB. These powerful secondary active transporters couple the energy of the Na+-gradient to move glutamate and glutamine into the ECF whereupon glutamate can exit to blood on the luminal facilitative glutamate transporter. Glutamine may also exit brain on a separate facilitative transport system that exists on the luminal membranes or glutamine can be hydrolyzed to glutamate within the BBB thereby releasing ammonia that is freely diffusible. The γ-glutamyl participate cycle participates indirectly by producing oxoproline (pyroglutamate) that stimulates almost all secondary active transporters yet discovered in the abluminal membranes of the BBB.

Daily maximum surface air temperature (Tamax) is a crucial factor for understanding complex land surface processes under rapid climate change. Remote detection of Tamax has widely relied on the empirical relationship between air temperature and land surface temperature (LST), a product derived from remote sensing. However, little is known about how such a relationship is affected by the high heterogeneity in landscapes and dynamics in seasonality. This study aims to advance our understanding of the roles of land cover and seasonal variation in the estimation of Tamax using the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) LST product. We developed statistical models to link Tamax and LST in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China for five major land-cover types (i.e., forest, shrub, water, impervious surface, cropland, and grassland) and two seasons (i.e., growing season and non-growing season). Results show that the performance of modeling the Tamax-LST relationship was highly dependent on land cover and seasonal variation. Estimating Tamax over grasslands and water bodies achieved superior performance; while uncertainties were high over forested lands that contained extensive heterogeneity in species types, plant structure, and topography. We further found that all the land-cover specific models developed for the plant non-growing season outperformed the corresponding models developed for the growing season. Discrepancies in model performance mainly occurred in the vegetated areas (forest, cropland, and shrub), suggesting an important role of plant phenology in defining the statistical relationship between Tamax and LST. For impervious surfaces, the challenge of capturing the high spatial heterogeneity in urban settings using the low-resolution MODIS data made Tamax estimation a difficult task, which was especially true in the growing season.

It has been theorized that black holes are surrounded by firewalls, although there is not universal agreement concerning this. We first review basic concepts pertaining to Schwarzschild black holes and Hawking radiation. Then we discuss the anticipation of Hawking radiation—albeit from non-black holes—initially by R. C. Tolman and shortly thereafter with P. Ehrenfest. We compare evaporation into a vacuum at absolute zero (0 K) of black holes with that of non-black holes, and show that not only black holes but also non-black holes evaporate within a finite time. The times required for evaporation of black holes and non-black holes are compared. Next, we show that (i) if firewalls exist, they can originate via Hawking radiation at the minimum possible ruler distance (the Planck length) beyond the Schwarzschild horizon, where it has not suffered any gravitational redshift, or, alternatively, suffered maximal gravitational blueshift and (ii) the firewall temperature is on the order of the Planck temperature, independently of the mass and hence also of the Schwarzschild radius of a Schwarzschild black hole. We then explain the exponential nature of the gravitational frequency shift as a function of the gravitational potential. Next, we consider the firewall-mass problem, and provide an at least prima facie tentative resolution thereto based on: (i) the mass of a firewall being canceled by the negative gravitational mass = (negative gravitational energy)/c² accompanying its formation, (ii) the unchanged observations of a distant observer upon formation of a firewall, and (iii) Birkhoff's Theorem (actually first discovered by Jørg Tofte Jebsen). We then consider one aspect of thermodynamics in gravitational fields, showing that equilibrium relativistic gravitational temperature gradients cannot be exploited to violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are arguably the most common water contaminants in the world today. While several research experiments have been done to understand and remove PFAS from the environment, there is still a lot of unknown. Little has been known about the use of Machine learning (ML) to understand PFAS. This work hence reviews some leading ML approaches and applications in PFAS studies in the distribution, transport, removal, and occurrence predictions of PFAS. Several evaluation matrices were examined and used to perform this function. There are still a lot of areas whereby ML can be used to improve our PFAS knowledge base, some of these were briefly stated in this review.

During the last decade, the demand for lithium has been growing exponentially with its widespread uses in manufacturing, especially with the worldwide deployment of electric vehicles. Thus, lithium is considered integral to the U.S. economy, technological advancement, and the pursuit of sustainable and clean energy solutions. The produced water is known to be rich in several minerals and valuable elements, such as potassium and magnesium, and a trace amount of precious elements including lithium. However, the existence of metals in the produced water is one of the challenges to extract lithium, especially magnesium which is located in diagonal positions within the periodic table that exhibit similarities. The produced water was first purified, resulting in the complete removal of magnesium, and then lithium was precipitated by phosphate. The effects of operating conditions on the Li₃PO₄ precipitation behaviors were evaluated. The effect of different precipitating reagents was evaluated on the percentage of lithium extracted, Na₃PO4 (TSP) was found to be a promising Li precipitating reagent. The highest percentage of lithium extracted was reached when the Li concentration of produced water was enriched and increased up to 350 mg/l, then Li removal was 53% at 7 grams of TSP and 200 rpm for 2 hours. The results indicated that temperature is a more important factor than stirring speed. The novelty of the current work is not only by the results obtained that may create additional financial benefits to oil-producing areas but on that the sustainable disposal of produced water may encourage the recycling and reuse practice, ultimately reducing the use of freshwater for hydraulic fracturing.

There has been significant increase of studies investigating plasma biomarkers of Alzheimer’s and their relationship to cognitive functioning. The impact of ethnicity on this relationship has not been extensively studied. The current research investigated the relationship between the plasma biomarkers of total tau, Aβ40, Aβ42 and NfL and neuropsychological test performance in a bi-ethnic sample of cognitively unimpaired, older community dwelling adults. The 1326 cognitively unimpaired participants drawn from The Health & Aging Brain Study – Health Disparities (HABS-HD) study included 765 Mexican American participants and 860 non-Hispanic White participants with complete plasma biomarkers and neuropsychological testing. Plasma samples were assayed using Simoa technology. Significant differences in concentrations were found for all of the plasma biomarkers. NHWs had significantly higher levels of each of the biomarkers with a lower Aβ42/ Aβ40. With none of the biomarkers related to performance on any of the neuropsychological tests. For MAs, Aβ40 was the only biomarker that was significantly related to neuropsychological test performance. Aβ40 levels were negatively related to performance on Trails A, Trails B and Digit Symbol Substitution. Results suggest that the relationship of these biomarkers to cognitive functioning is impacted by ethnicity and may be domain specific.

The study investigated the usage of open data in public organizations, focusing on the motives, preferences, and governance ideals that determine their quality. The study shed light on how open data platforms are created and improved, as well as their influence on government operations. The primary goal was to understand the motivations behind the usage of open data, evaluate gov-ernance ideals, and examine institutions' efforts to standardize data formats. Hierarchical regres-sion analysis divides variables into core reasons and different preferences, demonstrating a need for "diversification" in order to use open data effectively. Efficiency, accountability, community impact, knowledge, and high-quality service delivery are all emphasized in governance value analysis. The institution's dedication to standardizing open data formats is evidenced by legislative measures and the integration of many technologies. The findings illustrate the institution's dual strategy of em-ploying traditional techniques and new technologies for effective data management. The report suggests increasing data openness and standardization, investing in ongoing training, upgrading alerting and awareness systems, and adopting specific regulations for open data use. Monitoring and feedback techniques are critical for adjusting and refining open data services to satisfy de-velopment needs. This study adds to the scientific knowledge of open data use by highlighting important motives, preferences, and governance ideals. The offered guidelines provide practical insights for public organizations looking to improve their open data platforms by promoting openness, efficiency, and community participation.

The paper examines the impact of inward remittances flows on per capita GDP growth in Bangladesh during 1976-2012. We find that the growth effect of remittances is negative at first but becomes positive at a later stage, an evidence of a non-linear. Unproductive use of remittances was rampant in the beginning when they were received by migrant families but better social and economic investments led to more productive utilisation of remittances receipts at later periods. This was the possible mechanism behind the U-shaped relationship. Unlike what is suggested in the literature that the effect of remittances is more pronounced in a less financially developed economy, our evidence do not show that the effect of remittances on per capita GDP growth in Bangladesh is conditional on the level of financial development.

Recent studies have demonstrated a relationship between poor vitamin D status and respiratory infections and diarrhea among young children. Acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) and diarrhea are among the two most important causes of death in under-5 children. In this analysis, we examine the extent to which vitamin-D deficiency (<10 ng/ml) predicts these outcomes using data from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of daily folic acid and/ or vitamin B12 supplementation for six months in 6 to 30 months old children conducted in Delhi, India. Of the 960 subjects who had vitamin-D concentrations measured, 331(34.5%) were vitamin-D deficient. We found, after controlling for relevant potential confounders (age, sex, breastfeeding status, wasting, stunting, underweight, anemia status at base line and season), the risk of ALRI was significantly higher among vitamin-D deficient (OR 1.26; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.55) compared to vitamin-D-replete children in the six months follow-up period. Vitamin-D status was not significantly associated with episodes of diarrhea and clinical pneumonia. The extent of causal relationship of vitamin-D status and ALRI needs to be explored in further studies.

Microplastics (MPs) are a critical environmental issue, with impacts ranging from ecosystem contamination to health risks through bioaccumulation. This review addresses the inefficacy of traditional water treatments in removing MPs and proposes photodegradation, particularly via nanomaterial-enhanced photocatalysts, as a solution. Utilizing their unique properties like large surface area and tunable bandgap, nanomaterials significantly improve degradation efficiency. Different strategies for photocatalysts modification to improve photocatalytic performance are thoroughly summarized, with the particular emphasis on element doping and heterojunction construction. Furthermore, this review thoroughly summarizes the possible fundamental mechanisms driving photodegradation of microplastics facilitated by nanomaterials, with a focus on processes like free radical formation and singlet oxygen oxidation. By clearly elucidating these strategies and mechanisms, this review aims to provide valuable insights and inspire further progress in microplastic photodegradation.

This study inscribes itself in the global discussion about the issue of environmental awareness, beliefs and behaviors. Here we focus on the role that cultural differences and scientific media dieting play in explaining heterogeneities in students' awareness and expectations about the two environmental issues of deforestation and species (plant and animal) extinction in the Middle East and North America. To this end, we use the cross-sectional survey data of the OECD's Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015, along with seemingly unrelated Bi-variate ordered Probit modeling techniques. The results show that compared to their North American Counterparts, students' in the Middle East are 14.2% less aware of, and 14.5% less optimistic about the issue of deforestation, while 38.9% less aware of, and 59.0% less optimistic about the issue of species extinction. In addition, we found that science club attendance and broad science reading in books are the two most effective communication media for raising students awareness about the two environmental issues. In fact, every one level increase in students' awareness is found to raise their optimism by 20.4% for the issue of deforestation, and 15.0% for the issue of plant and animal extinction. Therefore raising young people environmental awareness and optimism through proper communication strategies, could be invaluable for achieving an economic development in line with our need to preserve the natural environment and ecosystem services for generations to come.

Diabetes management requires constant monitoring and individualized adjustments. This study proposes a novel approach that leverages digital twins and Personal Health Knowledge Graphs (PHKGs) to revolutionize diabetes care. Our key contribution lies in developing a real-time, patient-centric digital twin framework built on PHKGs. This framework integrates data from diverse sources, adhering to HL7 standards and enabling seamless information access and exchange. PHKGs offer a flexible and efficient format that supports various applications. As new knowledge about the patient becomes available, the PHKG can be easily extended to incorporate it. This dynamic approach fosters continuous improvement and facilitates the development of new applications. As proof of concept, we have demonstrated the versatility of our digital twin by applying it to different use cases in diabetes management. These include predicting glucose levels, optimizing insulin dosage, providing personalized lifestyle recommendations, and visualizing health data. By enabling real-time, patient-specific care, this research paves the way for more precise and personalized healthcare interventions, potentially improving long-term diabetes management outcomes.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate if tests used to assess core stability could be used to determine success in physiological tests applied to assess dynamic balance and agility for a young active population. Methods: Pearson's r correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationship between the core stability tests and the dynamic balance and agility tests. Evaluation of the tests was established using Cronbach's coefficient of variance as part of intra-rater reliability tests. An analysis of 18 active college aged students was conducted (males: n= 13, females: n= 5). The mean ± SD age for males was 19.2 years ± 3.22 years and for females was 19.4 years ± 1.14 years. Conclusion: The results indicate that there is no significant relationship between tests that assess core stability and tests conducted to assess dynamic balance in active young adults. With the exception of the abdominal flexion test, no significant relationship exists between the remaining core stability tests and agility T-Test. Core stability is not a determinant of balance and agility.

This research addresses a gap in the literature by conducting a comprehensive analysis of patients’ level of satisfaction with dental care. Methods: By combining quantitative and qualitative survey methods with the PSQ questionnaire this study aims to augment ongoing initiatives to enhance dental patients’ experiences by painting a more comprehensive depiction of patients' level of satisfaction; Results: When asked about their overall level of satisfaction 77,1% of the patients said they received excellent services from the office personnel and 72,2% said they trust their doctors; Conclusions: Assessing patient satisfaction in the realm of dental services quality is crucial for enhancing service quality and accuracy, benefiting both patients and dentists, and ultimately improving public health.

Our previous study has found the anti-tumor activity of oleandrin in osteosarcoma cells in vitro, but the signal transduction process of cell apoptosis induced by oleandrin is uncertain, which is explored in this study. Fluorescence staining and flow cytometry (FCM) was performed to detect the cell apoptosis, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). Caspase-3 activity was detected using a commercial kit. The protein expression of cytoplasmic cytochrome c, mitochondrial cytochrome c, bcl-2, bax, caspase-9, Fas, FasL, caspase-8 and caspase-3 was detected using western blot. A pan-caspase inhibitor, z-VAD-fmk, was applied to block the apoptotic pathway and the apoptosis status were re-tested. We found that oleandrin significantly induced the increased apoptosis of U2OS cells. Meanwhile, the intracellular ROS was elevated, but the MMP decreased. The cytochrome c in mitochondria was notably decreased but increased in cytoplasm. The caspase-3 activity was also enhanced with the increase of drug concentration and treatment time. Oleandrin also down-regulated the level of bcl-2, but remarkably up-regulated the expression of bax, cleaved caspase-9, Fas, FasL, cleaved caspase-8 and cleaved caspase-3. Furthermore, the pre-treatment with z-VAD-fmk almost completely reverted the oleandrin-induced apoptosis. The results suggested that oleandrin induces the apoptosis of osteosarcoma cells via mitochondrial- and death receptor-dependent pathways.

Contemporary financial systems, despite their inherent complexity and resilience, face significant challenges related to transparency, efficiency, and security. Notable deficiencies in transparency and emerging security vulnerabilities underscore the pressing need for innovative solutions in current financial practices. Hence, this paper introduces a financial distribution system based on a consortium blockchain. Given organizations’ preference for keeping sensitive data private, the partially decentralized nature of consortium blockchains plays a pivotal role in the proposed system’s architecture. Moreover, within this system, the proposed smart contract serves a dual role. It functions not only as a transactional tool but also as a specialized solution designed to improve transactional procedures. Its multifaceted capabilities include ensuring data accuracy, facilitating swift execution, and ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements within the dynamic financial distribution landscape. Through rigorous testing and empirical analysis utilizing the Hyperledger Besu platform, it has been observed that the performance of the proposed system surpasses traditional blockchain frameworks. The results unequivocally demonstrate the proposed system’s proficiency in handling high-frequency financial transactions with minimal computational burden.

Anthropogenic activities such as the damming of rivers have resulted in the formation of depositional systems for sediments that are naturally transported along river channels all over the world. The steady accumulation of sediments has profound effects on how reservoirs function. As the reservoir ages, the impact of sedimentation becomes more pronounced. In an alluvial channel, the dynamics of sediment movement, scour, and deposition are exceedingly complicated. The quantitative and qualitative management of river engineering heavily relies on sediment motion. One of the key concerns affecting reservoir storage capacity is reservoir sedimentation. Understanding the form and behavior of the river or reservoir is necessary for a scientific approach to sedimentation. An overview of reservoir sedimentation processes, and models of reservoir and shallow water bodies is provided in this article. More research in the developing fields is advised for continuing studies on reservoir sedimentation due to climate change effects

Chemical analysis of the organic components in beers has applications to quality control, authenticity and improvements to the flavor characteristics and brewing process. This study aims to show the complementary nature of two instrumental techniques which in combination can identify and quantify the majority of organic components in a beer sample. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) was used to provide concentrations of twenty five different organic compounds including alcohols, organic acids, carbohydrates, and amino acids. Calorie content was also estimated for the samples. NMR data for ethanol concentrations were validated by comparison to a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR) method. Headspace Solid-Phase Microextraction (SPME) Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) was used to identify a range of volatile compounds such as alcohols, esters and hop derived aroma compounds. A simple and inexpensive conversion of a Gas Chromatography Flame Ionization Detector (GC FID) instrument to allow the use of Solid-Phase Microextraction was found to be useful for the quantification of volatile esters.

Systemic hypertension is not a recognized association in patients with transfusion depended thalassaemia. In patients with high cardio-vascular morbidity due to iron overload and pulmonary hypertension this previously unrecognized disease should not be overlooked.

In graduate programs such as social work, field education is the signature pedagogy of education. As such, student placement with an appropriate field education agency is critical to ensure academic success and career readiness. A variety of Learning Management System (LMS) and Integrated Planning and Advising Service (IPAS) technologies have been developed to fully integrate technology into the educational system and streamline and improve the learning experience for students, educators, and administrators. Few (if any) of the existing solutions have capabilities to match students with field educators on the basis of an individual student’s completed coursework and area of specialization, as well as field educator needs and opportunities. This paper describes our experience developing a custom LMS/IPAS system—the School of Social Work information System (SSWiS)—that was designed specifically for student learning, faculty advising, and academic administration within our social work graduate program. We present the challenges that motivated the design of the SSWiS before describing the architecture and functionality of our solution. We then discuss our preliminary evaluation results. We conclude with a discussion of the benefits and limitations of our system in the context of today’s technical needs in graduate education in social work and other fields.

A cyclic antipodal points of a circle is a pair of points that are the intersection of the circle with a diameter of the circle. A recent proof of Ptolemy’s Theorem, simultaneously in both (i) Euclidean geometry; and (ii) the relativistic model of hyperbolic geometry (which is identified with the Klein model of hyperbolic geometry), motivates in this article the study of four cyclic antipodal points of a circle, ordered arbitrarily counterclockwise. The translation of results from Euclidean geometry into hyperbolic geometry is obtained by means of hyperbolic trigonometry, called gyrotrigonometry, to which Einstein addition gives rise. Formulas that extend the Pythagorean formula in both Euclidean and hyperbolic geometry are obtained as byproducts

Helical (frontier) molecular orbitals [Chem. Sci. 2013, 4, 4278] have been reported almost a decade ago. Yet, helical molecular spin densities [Mol. Phys. 2022, e2157774] have been observed by us only very recently. In this work, we have observed that some chiral boron clusters (B–16, B–20, B–24, and B–28) can simultaneously have helical molecular orbitals and helical spin densities. To our best knowledge, it is the first time we have discovered that inorganic boron clusters assume such an unprecedented property. We have unambiguously unraveled that it is chiral Jahn-Teller distortion of quasi-planar boron clusters that drives the formation of helical molecular spin densities. More interestingly, we have shown that elongation/enhancement of helical molecular orbitals can be achieved by simply adding more building blocks via a linker. Aromaticity properties of these boron clusters are also discussed. Implication of this work is straightforward that boron clusters may find potential applications in spintronics, such as molecular magnets.

The adoption of ADS-B in Latin America has been gradual but steady. Some countries, such as Brazil, Chile and Mexico, have made significant progress in the implementation of this system, while others are still in the early stages. It should be noted that the implementation of ADS-B is used in both military and civilian environments. For this reason, this research aims to provide information on the different characteristics that make up the surveillance systems. However, there are fundamental factors to promote the adaptation of ADS-B in Latin America, since they reduce the risk of collisions and air accidents by providing accurate and real-time information on the position and altitude of aircraft. On the other hand, it allows optimizing flight routes and reducing waiting time on the ground, which translates into fuel and cost savings for airlines. ADS-B increases the number of aircraft that can safely operate in the same airspace, which is especially important in regions with growing air traffic. ADS-B adoption in Latin America is expected to continue to grow in the coming years. The drivers for ADS-B adoption remain in place, and governments in the region are taking steps to accelerate its implementation.

This paper evaluates the potential of solar concentration technologies—compound parabolic collector (CPC), linear Fresnel collector (LFC) and parabolic trough collector (PTC)—as an alternative to conventional sources of energy for industrial processes in Latin America, where high levels of solar radiation and isolated areas without energy supply exist. The analysis is addressed from energy, economic and environmental perspective. A specific application for Argentina in which fourteen locations are analyzed is considered. Results show that solar concentration technologies can be an economically and environmentally viable alternative. Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) ranges between 2.5 and 16.9 c€/kWh/m² and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions avoided range between 33 and 348 kgCO₂/(m²·year). CPC technology stands out as the most recommendable technology when the working fluid temperature ranges from 373K to 423K. As the working fluid temperature increases the differences between the LCOE values of the CPC and LFC technologies decrease. When 523K is reached LFC technology is the one which presents the lowest LCOE values for all analyzed sites, while the LCOE values of PTC technology are close to CPC technology values. Results show that solar concentration technologies have reached economic and environmental competitiveness levels under certain scenarios, mainly linked to solar resource available, thermal level requirements and solar technology cost.

This study examined the tourism spatial distribution of nine cities in the Fujian province and assessed the impacts of COVID-19. The modified gravity model found that it was widely dispersed, with uneven and relatively independent tourism development in different cities. The social network analysis showed that tourism connections across cities were significantly reduced after the pandemic. The impacts of brand awareness and transport accessibility on spatial networks were positive in pre-pandemic but became negative during the pandemic. In contrast, tourist volume had negative impacts on spatial networks in pre-pandemic but had positive ones during the pandemic. Tourism resources and market performance had significantly positive impacts in the post-pandemic era. These findings provide advice on tourism recovery and destination management in coping with future critical events. It also contributes to the theoretical gravity framework in tourism and the research scope of the social networks analysis at the city level.

The primary objective of this study is to examine the extent of financial integration between Latin American and US financial markets, particularly in light of recent efforts to foster integration through trade agreements. Spanning from January 1, 1990, to December 31, 2019, the sample focuses on major market indices and key sectors. Financial integration is quantified using a DCC multivariate GARCH model, incorporating a smooth transition model, structural breaks, and regression-based approaches. Results indicate increased comovement with the US for main market indices in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, while Brazil shows a decrease. Similar trends are observed in sectoral analyses. The study also reveals heightened correlation post-trade agreements. Structural break analysis highlights significant shifts in dynamic correlations for countries with US free trade agreements. These findings support the argument of increased financial integration, bearing significance for portfolio diversification and international policy formulation.

Digital elevation models (DEMs) have a wide range of applications and play a crucial role in many studies. Numerous public DEMs, frequently acquired using radar and optical satellite imagery, are currently available; however, DEM datasets tend to exhibit elevation values influenced by vegetation height and coverage, which can compromise the accuracy of models in representing terrain elevation. In this study, we developed a digital terrain model for South America using a novel methodology to remove vegetation bias in the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (COPDEM) model using machine learning, Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) elevation data, and multispectral remote sensing products. Our results indicate considerable improvements compared to COPDEM in representing terrain elevation, reducing average errors (BIAS) from 9.6 m to 1.5 m. Furthermore, we evaluated our product (ANADEM) by comparison with other global DEMs, obtaining more accurate results for different conditions of vegetation fraction cover and land use. As a publicly available and open-source dataset, ANADEM will play a crucial role in advancing studies that demand accurate terrain elevation representations at large scales.

The brain's unique characteristics make it exceptionally susceptible to oxidative stress, which arises from an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, reactive nitrogen species (RNS) production, and antioxidant defense mechanisms. This review explores the factors contributing to the brain vascular tone vulnerability in the presence of oxidative damage, which can be of clinical interest in critically ill patients or presenting acute brain injuries. The brain's high metabolic rate and inefficient electron transport chain in mitochondria lead to significant ROS generation. Moreover, non-replicating neuronal cells and low repair capacity increase susceptibility to oxidative insult. ROS can influence cerebral vascular tone and permeability, with a potential impact on cerebral autoregulation. Different ROS species, including superoxide and hydrogen peroxide, exhibit vasodilatory or vasoconstrictive effects on cerebral blood vessels. Reactive nitrogen species (RNS), particularly NO and peroxynitrite, also exert vasoactive effects. This review further investigates the neuroprotective effects of antioxidants, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), vitamin C, vitamin E, and the glutathione redox system. Various studies suggest that these antioxidants could be used as adjunct therapies to protect the cerebral vascular tone during high oxidative stress conditions. Nevertheless, more extensive research is required to comprehensively grasp the relationship between oxidative stress and cerebrovascular tone, as well as to explore the potential benefits of antioxidants as adjunctive therapies in critical illnesses and acute brain injuries.

CoCrFeNiMn high-entropy alloy coatings were prepared on compacted graphite iron（CGI） through plasma cladding to strength the CGI substrate. The effects of heat treatment temperatures and times on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the CoCrFeNiMn coatings were investigated. After heat treatment, a single FCC phase was remained in the coating as compared to the deposited one, with smaller dendrites, larger dendritic spacing and more Cr-rich compounds precipitated between dendrites. The coatings’ microhardness was increased after heat treatment. After heat treated at 660°C for 90 minutes, the coating had the highest microhardness of 563±6.9 HV0.2, the lowest frictional coefficient of 0.71 and the smallest wear mass loss of 1.12 mg, and it had the best wear resistance.

This article introduces an analytical framework that interprets individual measures of entropy-based mobility derived from mobile phone data. We explore and analyze two widely recognized entropy metrics: random entropy and uncorrelated Shannon entropy. These metrics are estimated through collective variables of human mobility, including movement trends and population density. By employing a collisional model, we establish statistical relationships between entropy measures and mobility variables. Furthermore, our research addresses three primary objectives: firstly, validating the model; secondly, exploring correlations between aggregated mobility and entropy measures in comparison to five economic indicators; and finally, demonstrating the utility of entropy measures. Specifically, we provide an effective population density estimate that offers a more realistic understanding of social interactions. This estimation takes into account both movement regularities and intensity, utilizing real-time data analysis conducted during the peak period of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Background: The practice of self-medication is common worldwide and is an important component of medical self-care. However, the practice can be dangerous and is linked to various risks for the patients and the entire community. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and factors associated with self-medication among Bangladeshi adults. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between April and June 2021 among Bangladeshi adults (aged &gt;19 years) using convenient sampling. A total of 1320 data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a standardized questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with self-medication practice (SMP). Results: Overall, 41% of adults in our survey reported SMP. The most common illnesses that prompted SMP were common cold/flu (66.4%), gastric problems (65%), and headache (64.4%). The most frequent reasons for SMP were to get better services (30.59%), perceive SMP without side effects (23.28%), and save time with effectiveness (14.56%). Potential risk factors included 10 years (AOR = 1.91; 95% CI: 1.04 - 3.50) and &gt;12 years of schooling (AOR = 5.03; 95% CI: 2.27 - 11.15), being a businessman (AOR = 4.64; 95% CI: 1.74 - 12.37), having ≤6 family members (AOR = 2.13; 95% CI: 1.40 - 3.24), being a member of a social group (AOR = 1.53; 95% CI: 1.10 - 2.12), a health status check after every six months (AOR = 1.52; 95% CI: 1.08 - 2.13), and current ill-health (AOR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.06 - 1.87). Protective factors identified included ≤30 years of age (AOR = 0.40; 95% CI: 0.17 - 0.93), and practice of modern (AOR = 0.39; 95% CI: 0.22- 0.69) and herbal (AOR = 0.45; 95% CI: 0.21- 0.97) healing types. Conclusion: More than one-third of the study participants reported practicing self-medication. Increasing the community’s awareness of the extreme consequences of SMP and not just the average experience might sway individuals away from SMP, and implementing strict jurisdiction could be a way to minimize the SMP.

Abstract: The conundrum of Latin American countries in the green transition unveils new opportunities and old structural problems. There is a clear advantage in the energy grid for Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, coming mainly from hydropower, solar, and wind energy. In 2022, Brazil had the largest solar photovoltaic energy generation capacity in Latin America and the Caribbean, with over 24 gigawatts. Mexico ranked second, with some 9 gigawatts, and Chile ranked third, with a capacity of around 6 gigawatts. The window of opportunity for the industrialized Latin American countries resides chiefly in greening the natural resources industries and agriculture and husbandry, mainly for Brazil and Argentina. Latin America faces the dual challenge of promoting renewable energy and upgrading its value chains while managing the socioeconomic dynamics inherent in its developmental stages. It poses an enormous challenge for Latin American countries because of the phenomenon of "time compression" (Whittaker et al., 2020). Developing country's innovation and technology-intensive segments coexist with informal labor and low-skilled workers. Far from disappearing with economic growth, such coexistence becomes reinforced through an increasingly wide array of temporary and insecure jobs. Time compression condenses different stages of industrial and economic development within the same space and time, directly affecting the indicators related to the reduction of environmental impacts. Instead of locking in one path for this transition, Latin American countries had better not cling to panaceas but consider the threats, the risks, and the need to experiment with multiple paths and solutions simultaneously. However, this change implies the formation of a genuine developmental and environmental coalition guided by rigorous strategic considerations not captured by immediate interests.

Around the World, the number of compound databases of natural products in the public domain is rising. This is in line with the increasing synergistic combination of natural product research and chemoinformatics. Towards this global endeavor, countries in Latin America are assembling, curating, and analyzing the contents and diversity of natural products available in their geographical regions. In this manuscript we collect and analyze the efforts that countries in Latin America have made so far to build natural product databases. We further encourage the scientific community in particular in Latin America, to continue their efforts to building quality natural product databases and, whenever possible, to make them publicly accessible. It is proposed that all compound collections could be assembled into a unified resource called LANaPD: Latin America Natural Products Database. Opportunities and challenges to build, distribute, and maintain LANaPD are also discussed

Authorities define cities – or human settlements in general – through imposing top-down rules in terms of whether buildings belong to cities. Emerging geospatial big data makes it possible to define cities from the bottom up, i.e., buildings determine themselves whether they belong to a city based on the notion of natural cities that is defined based on head/tail breaks, a classification and visualization tool for data with a heavy-tailed distribution. In this paper, we used 125 million building locations – all building footprints of America (mainland) or their centroids more precisely – to derive 2.1 million natural cities in the country (http://lifegis.hig.se/uscities/). These natural cities – in contrast to government defined city boundaries – constitute a valuable data source for city-related research.

Mosquito-borne diseases (MBDs) are a group of illnesses transmitted by mosquitoes and can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites. These diseases represent a significant global burden of infectious diseases, including morbidity and mortality. This systematic review delves into the multifaceted factors contributing to the spread of mosquito-borne diseases (MBDs) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Following PRISMA guidelines, a thorough analysis of peer-reviewed articles from May 1990 to Jan 2023 was conducted, highlighting the interplay of population, environmental, disease, and mosquito factors in disease transmission and prevalence. The review incorporated 31 studies that revealed a complex relationship between various risk factors and the presence of MBDs. Significant associations were observed with age, certain occupations, environmental conditions such as rainfall and temperature, sanitation practices, specific pathogen variants, clinical symptoms, and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Conversely, gender, socioeconomic status, educational status, and certain sanitation-related factors showed inconsistent association with the spread of MBDs. The review underscores the need for targeted interventions, including vector control, improved sanitation, and educational campaigns to mitigate the spread of MBDs in the MENA region. This review could guide research studies to address data gaps and assist in developing effective surveillance programs in the MENA region. This work emphasizes the need for region-specific public health strategies and further research to understand and curb the burden of these diseases effectively.

Nitrogen (N) is an essential macro nutrient for crop growth; therefore, N deficit can greatly limit crop growth and production. In the North China Plain (NCP), winter wheat is one of the main food crops, and its yield has increased from approximately 4000 kg ha-1 to 6000 kg ha-1 in the last two decades. Determining the proper N application rates at different growth stages and in all seasons is very important for the sustainable and high production of wheat in the NCP. A field experiment with five N application rates (250, 200, 150, 100, and 40 kgN·ha-1, designated as N250, N200, N150, N100, and N40, respectively) was conducted during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 winter wheat seasons to investigate the effects of the N application rate on water- and fertiliz-er-utilization efficiency, and on the crop growth and yield of winter wheat under sprinkler fer-tigation conditions. The results showed that, in the N application range of 40-200 kg ha-1, crop yield and water- and fertilizer-use efficiencies increased as the N application rate increased; however, further increases in the N application rate did not have additional benefits. The N up-take after regreening of winter wheat linearly increased with crop growth. Considering the wheat yield and N-use efficiency, the optimal N application range was 200 kg ha-1, and the best top-dressing strategy was equal amounts of N applied at the regreening, jointing, and grain-filling stages. The results of this study will be useful for optimizing field N management to achieve high wheat yield production in the NCP and in regions with similar climatic and soil environment conditions.

This paper investigates the impact of price and real exchange rate volatility on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in a panel of 10 Latin American and Caribbean countries, observed between 1990 and 2012. Both price and exchange rate volatility series are estimated through the Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity model (GARCH). Our results, obtained employing the Fixed Effects estimator, confirm the theory of hysteresis and option value, in so far it is found a statistically significant negative effect of exchange rate volatility on FDI. Price volatility, instead, turns out to be positive but insignificant. Moreover, we show that human capital and trade openness are key for attracting foreign capital. From the policy perspective, our analysis suggests the importance of stabilization policies as well as the one of government credibility in promoting trade openness and human capital formation.

We investigate the impact of aging on exchangeable inter-arrival times in mixed renewal processes, exploring its implications for reliability and survival analysis. In this study, first, we revisit the definition of renewal point processes, where inter-event time intervals are considered as exchangeable non-negative random variables. Then, we define the concept of statistical aging as latency in the observational process of event counting. Latency affects event detection but preserves exchangeability. However, it may alter the statistical properties of inter-event time intervals. Our analytical and numerical assessments highlight the significance of aging in exchangeable lifetimes, offering insights into key metrics such as the failure survival function, renewal function, and hazard rate function. Through archetypal examples and empirical findings, we illustrate the implications of aging on renewal processes. In particular, employing a Bayesian perspective, we analyze high-frequency currency exchange rate data to assess the impact of aging on volatility risk evaluation. This study contributes novel insights to the literature of renewal theory and survival analysis, emphasizing the role of latency aging in stochastic point processes under exchangeability assumption.

In this investigation, Cu-Ni alloys for possible fixed dental prostheses (FDPs), with different aluminum additions were produced using vacuum atmosphere. Annealed alloys (He atmosphere) with low aluminum concentration showed a coarse dendritic structure, while samples with high aluminum concentration showed a refined dendritic structure. Structural defects analyses have shown a relative low vacancy concentrations. Hardness value increases approximately five times for the alloyed samples compared with the as-cast and unalloyed samples. Compression test results have shown a noticeable strengthening improvement, mainly in samples heat treated with 10 at % Al, while samples with 5 at % Al presented also acceptable resistance. Results are discussed in terms of dislocation mobility and hardening precipitation mechanism.

Field observations of external wounds associated with two common tree injection methods compared open (plug-less) and sealed (plug) systems in green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marshall) trees . A wound from any cause within 1.37 meters above the ground was common with 28.8% of all trees. The open system had statistically fewer (p&lt;0.001) trees with at least one wound (11.6% of trees) than the sealed system (47.4% of trees). The open system had fewer (P&lt;0.001) wounds (0.17, 0.04 SE) per tree and a smaller (P&lt;0.001) total wound area (25.5 cm2, 8.7 SE) per tree, compared to the sealed system wounds (1.14, 0.13 SE) per tree and the total wound area (99.7 cm2, 16.2 SE) per tree. The incidence of a tree with a wound(s) within 1.37 m above the ground was 7.2 times more likely with trees treated though the sealed system. Wounds in the sealed system were observed to appear to have a high rate of improper application of plugs, which was associated in 77% of the cases to explain the wounds. Implications of study results are further provided to best protect ash trees, while at the same time reducing the incidence external wounding on ash trees.

Industry 4.0 (i4.0) is one of the fields of knowledge that is most extensively researched recently and whose definition is the most controversial, and Latin America (LatAm) is no exception. Identifying the LatAm countries and institutions with the highest degree of innovation and global impact in the i4.0 field. New citation micro-topics were used to identify the thematic domain: 4.224.1040 Industry 4.0. Difference indicators were extracted from Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports and especially Incites. Broadly speaking, the LatAm effort rate in i4.0 is high, as well as its global impact. The main countries are, in decreasing order, Brazil and Mexico. These countries show a high number of industry collaborations, and Brazil boasts many patent citations. Spain is a key partner of Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Cuba and Ecuador. The most prominent institutions are the Monterrey Institute of Technology (Tecnológico de Monterrey) and the University of Rio Grande do Sul (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul – UFRGS). The former specializes in engineering and smart manufacturing systems and the latter in ICT (cloud computing, IoT, and big data, among others).

Dendroclimatology has gained relevance during the XXI century. We analyze the state of-the-art of dendroclimatology in Latin America during the past 28 years (1990 to 2019), identifying the current state and recent advances in the application of dendroclimatology in this region. We carried out a systematic review in ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Scopus databases using Boolean operators to logically connect the keywords “dendrochronology,” “dendroclimatology,” “trend,” “climatic variability,” and “climatic variability trend”, for each country. Dendroclimatological research conducted in the region focused on climatic reconstruction and the evaluation of new tree species with dendrochronological potential, which increase in 2010, then there was a gap between 1995 and 1996, later increase to present. Dendroclimatological studies in Latin America have been mainly developed in temperate climate zones (82.4 %) followed by tropical or subtropical areas (17.6 %). Dendroclimatological research in Latin America has provided advances in the study of climate variability by defining response functions of tree rings to climate. The generated information allows for a better understanding of the spatial and temporal dynamics of climatic variability and about its effects on ecosystems and society. We also call for increased dendroclimatological research based on subtropical and tropical forests limited studied until today.

Count data are used in many fields of practice, especially Poisson distribution as a popular choice for the marginal process distribution. If these counts exhibit serial dependence, a popular approach is to use a Poisson INAR(1) model to describe the autocorrelation structure of process. In this paper, the explicit formulas are proposed to evaluate performance characteristics of Double Moving Average control chart (DMA) for Integer valued autoregressive of serial dependence Poisson process. The characteristics of the control chart are frequently measured as Average Run Length (ARL) which means that the average of observations are taken before a system is signaled to be out-of-control. These proposed explicit formulas of ARL are simple and easy to implement for practitioner. The numerical results show that the DMA chart performs better than others when the magnitudes of shift are moderate and large.

American secularisation is considered a exceptional case in the Western world because of, on the one hand, the softer way it seems to have occurred in relation to other Western countries and, on the other, the fusion it seems to have been done among Judeo-Christian traditions into what is known as American civil religion. The point proposed before is problematic and needs to be called into questions under the light of both the revisions made to the secularization theory by scholars such as Casanova through the interpretation of empirical data collected through the world about the religiosity of people and the multiple works made about the use of “sacred” language in American public life. However, this paper takes those problematic dimensions for granted in order to deepened into what can be considered another secular human endeavour endowed with a religious spirit, namely: the spirit of Silicon Valley. This new secular-sacred narrative is not just American but is being exported as a narrative with “Messianic” traces that seems to aspire to embrace the whole world. Thus, this article explores the origins and evolution of this narrative in the United States, on the one hand, and the expansion of what can be considered a “salvation” ideology abroad that country, on the other.

Drought events are evident effects of climate change around the globe and yield several socio-economic impacts. Such effects are even more relevant for South America (SA) since different activities essential for the continent, like agriculture and energy generation, depend highly on water resources. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate future changes in precipitation and hydro-logical droughts occurrence in SA through climate projections from eight global climate models (GCMs) of CMIP6. To this end, statistical downscaling was applied to the projections with the Quantile Delta Mapping technique, and the method proved to be efficient in reducing systematic biases and preserving GCMs’ trends. For the following decades, the results show considerable and statistically significant reductions in precipitation over most of SA, especially during the austral spring, with the most intense signal under the SSP5-8.5 forcing scenario. Furthermore, GCMs showed mixed signals about projections of the frequency and intensity of drought events. Still, they indicated agreement regarding the increase in duration and severity of events over all of SA and a substantial proportion of moderate and severe events over most of Brazil during the 21st century. These results can be helpful for better management of water resources by deci-sion-makers and energy planners.

(1) Background: Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) have been overlooked on the global health agenda and in the priorities of national systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In 2012, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were created to ensure healthy lives and promoting well-being for all. This roadmap set out to accelerate work to overcome the global impact of NTDs. Almost a decade has passed since NTDs were re-launched as a global priority. Investment in research and development, as well as the production of scientific literature on NTDs, is expected to have increased significantly. (2) Methods: A bibliometric analysis of the scientific production of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) was carried out in relation to 19 endemic NTDs. These data were compared with the scientific production in malaria, tuberculosis and HIV / AIDS. The database available from Thomson Reuters Web of Science (WoS) was used. In addition, the average annual growth percentage was calculated for each disease. (3) Results: In the last decade, the NTDs with the highest number of publications in the world were dengue and leishmaniasis. The United States was the most prolific country in the world in 15 out of 19 NTDs analyzed. In the LAC region, Brazil was the largest contributor for 16 of the 19 NTDs analyzed. Arboviral diseases showed the highest average annual growth. The number of publications for malaria, tuberculosis and HIV /AIDS was considerably higher than for NTDs. The contribution of most LAC countries, especially those considered as LMICs, is inadequate and does not reflect the relevance of NTDs for the public health of the population. (4) Conclusion: This is the first bibliometric analysis to assess the trend of scientific documents on endemic NTDs in LAC. Our results could be used by decision makers both to strengthen investment policies in research and development in NTDs.

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is one of the worst-hit regions globally by COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, scarce literature exists that examines the research strategy of LAC in facing COVID-19. The present study aims to quantify and assess the production of COVID-19 publications in thirty-two countries in LAC during the first half of 2020. A Scopus/PubMed/LILACS search was performed to retrieve research articles related to COVID-19 published from January 1 to July 31, 2020. Subgroup analysis including only original publications was used to better ascertain the contribution of LAC countries, and standardization measures were applied to comparisons of country-specific contributions. We identified 1291 publications across the region. Overall, most articles in the region were non-original (81.6%), and the most productive countries were Brazil (43.9%), Mexico (9.14%), and Colombia (7.98%). This trend shifted to Chile after the standardization. Among original studies, the most common study design was cross-sectional (25.8%). LAC countries generate articles primarily pertaining to diagnosis and treatment (27.4%). In the subgroup analysis, however, epidemiology and surveillance was the most prevalent research focus (24.1%). LAC countries should perform more research with a higher level of evidence to inform health policy making to ease the burden of COVID-19 in the region.

This paper presents a Multilayer Perceptron and Support Vector Machine algorithms approach to predict the number of COVID19 infections in different countries of America. It intends to serve as a tool for decision-making and tackling the pandemic that the world is currently facing. The models were trained and tested using open data from the European Union repository where a time series of confirmed contagious cases was modeled until May 25, 2020. The hyperparameters as number of neurons per layer were set up using a tabu list algorithm. The countries selected to carry out the study were Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and the United States. The metrics used are Pearson's correlation coefficient (CP), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and Mean Percentage Error (MPE). For the testing stage we obtained the following results: Brazil, CP=0.65, MAE=2508 and MPE=17%; Chile, CP=0.64, MAE=504, MPE=16%; Colombia, CP=0.83, MAE=76, MPE=9%; Mexico, CP=0.77, MAE=231, MPE=9%; Peru, CP=0.76, MAE=686, MPE=18% and the United States of America, CP=0.93, MAE=799, MPE=4%. This resulted in powerful machine learning tools although it is necessary to use specific algorithms depending on the data and the stage of the country’s pandemic.

In this paper we propose the explicit formulas of Average Run Length (ARL) of Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) control chart for Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average: ARIMA (p,d,q) (P, D, Q)_L process with exponential white noise. To check the accuracy, the ARL results were compared with numerical integral equations based on the Gauss-Legendre rule. There was an excellent agreement between the explicit formulas and the numerical solutions. Additionally, we compared the computational time between our explicit formulas for the ARL with the one obtained via Gauss-Legendre numerical scheme. The computational time for the explicit formulas was approximately one second that is much less than the numerical approximations. The explicit analytical formulas for evaluating ARL0 and ARL₁ can produce a set of optimal parameters which depend on the smoothing parameter (λ) and the width of control limit (H), for designing an EWMA chart with a minimum ARL₁.

Our study examines the association of the presence of mildew, cockroaches, and pets in homes as well as household dust allergens with the prevalence and/or severity of allergic diseases. No study has concurrently assessed home environment exposures in relation to allergic conditions in the general US population. Data from 5,409 participants from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey living in their current homes for ≥1 year were analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression analyses between home exposures and allergic diseases prevalence and severity were performed. In adjusted analyses, mildew was associated with higher current asthma, allergies, and allergic rhinitis prevalence; endotoxin, with higher current asthma prevalence), and dust Canis familiaris (Can f) 1, with higher allergic rhinitis prevalence. However, presence of cockroaches and dust Dermatogoides farinae (Der f) 1 were associated respectively with lower current asthma and allergies prevalence. Presence of mildew, dust Der f1, Dermatogoides pteronyssinus (Der p) 1, Feline domesticus (Fel d) 1, and endotoxin were all associated with asthma and/or wheeze severity. Non-atopic asthma was more frequent with mildew and/or musty smell dust and higher dust Fel d1 concentration, while atopic asthma was more prevalent with higher Can f1and endotoxin concentrations in dust. This study confirms previous relationships and reports novel associations, generating hypotheses for future research.

This review article aims to delve into several aspects of sweetpotatoes and their leaves, including their nutritional composition, health benefits, culinary uses, and potential future implications as a superfood. It suggests an in-depth exploration of sweet potatoes' history, status, and prospects, highlighting their significance and potential economic value. Sweetpotatoes, often referred to as a powerhouse of nutrients, have gained popularity recently due to their remarkable nutritional composition and versatile culinary uses. This starchy root vegetable comes from the Convolvulaceae family and is consumed worldwide, playing a significant role in diverse cultures and cuisines. Besides their vibrant colors ranging from orange to purple, sweetpotatoes offer many health benefits, making them an essential addition to a well-balanced diet. Its extraordinary nutritional profile and numerous health benefits make it a superfood. Incorporating it into the diet can improve digestion, strengthen immunity, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases. With their versatility in the kitchen, there is no deficiency of charming and healthy recipes to explore. So, make room for sweet potatoes on your plate and unlock their vast potential to enhance your overall health and well-being. Overall, the future of sweetpotatoes looks bright as research and innovation aim to improve their nutritional value, adapt them to changing climate conditions, develop new varieties and products, and promote sustainable production practices. These developments can contribute to food security, economic growth, and healthier diets. Future research should focus on nutritional composition, health benefits, sustainable farming practices, cultivar development, and industrial applications to ensure sustainable and efficient production. By prioritizing research in these areas, we can enhance the utilization of sweet potatoes in various fields and secure their future for the next century.

Mount Hamiding Protected Forest is located in North Halmahera Regency, North Maluku Province, the Wallace zone has an important role in providing protection functions, life support systems and regulating water management, preventing floods, preventing seawater intrusion, and controlling soil fertility. The protected forest area in the Wallace Zone is globally renowned for its endemic characteristics of flora and fauna. The condition of the protected forest of Mount Hamiding HMPF is currently experiencing anthropogenic damage as a result of forest encroachment, illegal logging, shifting cultivation, grazing and poaching to meet social needs. Anthropogenic damage has been in the spotlight for decades and has become a global issue. This study aims to determine damage to protected forests, changes in land cover, and mitigation of protected forest areas. This research uses quantitative and descriptive qualitative methods. Determination of research locations by purposive sampling. Parameters measured in this study were damage to protected forests, changes in land cover and area mitigation strategies. To identify forest damage, snowball sampling was carried out, and land cover changes through land cover data processing were obtained from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia. Then using Imagery 7 ETM+ and 8 OLI to calculate changes in forested land to non-forested from 2006 -2021, analysis of land cover change using supervised classification, developing a strategy based on identity verification of forest damage and analysis of land cover change. The results showed that damage to protected forests was caused by anthropogenic disturbances in the form of forest encroachment, shifting cultivation, illegal logging, grazing and hunting of wild animals. Changes in land cover experienced the greatest damage in 2006-2021 amounting to 1,796.54 ha (16.17%). Strategic efforts are carried out using forest engineering, namely the agroforestry system and social engineering through community empowerment, namely training and outreach.

We investigate how formal institutional distance (FID) moderates the relationship between cul-tural distance (CD) and the financial performance of foreign subsidiaries firms. Following recent research, we estimate the asymmetric effects of CD by considering its size and direction towards host countries on the opposite poles of each cultural dimension` scale. We propose that a limited understanding of the formal institutions in the host country, as measured by the magnitude and direction of the FID, can have a positive moderating effect, increasing the impact of CD on finan-cial performance. This is mainly because foreign subsidiary firms may be more reliant on their ca-pacity to navigate the less formal (and more implicit) aspects of the host country's institutional environment, such as their ability to cope with the CD. We use foreign subsidiary data from the Orbis database including 22 developed and 22 developing home countries and over 1400 foreign subsidiaries during a period of 3 consecutive years operating in 10 of the largest economies (host countries) in Latin America including: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Findings confirm the asymmetric effects of CD, howev-er, by considering the direction of FID, our findings reveal that the higher the FID towards less developed host countries, the more significant the effects of CD on the financial performance. These findings contribute to the knowledge of how formal and informal institutional distances in-teract by showing that the greater the FID towards less developed host countries, to higher the impact of CD on the financial performance of foreign subsidiary firms.

To get more data concerning the influence of fertilizers (organic and mineral) on different forage plants existing in North-eastern Romanian grassland, the mass fractions of 14 essential, enzymatic, or considerd toxic elements was determined by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis together with the amount of crude proteins, ash, fibres as well as ether fact extract. Final results showed a significant variance of the content of analysed elements on organic as well as on mineral fertilized experimental plots, i.e. the content increased in 24% of plots, decreased in 23%, and remained unchanged in 45% while in 8% of plots their content was below the detection limits, as the case of Se. At the same time, an increase content of crude protein and ether extract was evidenced in fertilized grasses for all applied fertilizers while other global indicators such as neutral and acid fibre of sufuric lignin content decreased, suggesting significant higher nutritional values of fertilized forage plant.

The North American Monsoon (NAM) in southern Arizona continues to be a topic of interest to ecologists, climatologists, and citizens as well as the triggers and characteristics of plant growth and reproduction in relation to the onset of the monsoon. In researching the onset of the North American Monsoon (NAM) in south-central Arizona relative to the phenology of Saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) and other Sonoran Desert species we identified interesting and previously unreported features in the NAM rainfall data. We present preliminary descriptive analyses of (1) monsoon onset as measured by the first day after June 1 with precipitation ≥10 mm (1990-2022), (2) first day of year warming of Sea Surface temperatures (SST) in the Gulf of California to ≥29º C measured across five open-sea blocks (mean 9452 km2), and (3) El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) anomaly with a threshold of +/- 0.5º C for the Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) in the Niño 3.4 region (5ºN-5ºS, 120º-170ºW). Three patterns emerge from our analyses: (1) The day of the year of monsoon onset occurs approximately 12 days earlier in the year from 1990-2022 in south-central Arizona. (2) There appears to be a signal in the rainfall onset data very roughly approximating cycles of ENSO Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) anomalies in Niño region 3.4. (3) Gulf of California sea surface temperature (SST) and monsoon onset data support an expected link between the timing of SST warming and monsoon rainfall onset.

The broad global distribution of freshwater clams belonging to the genus Corbicula is driven by multiple hermaphroditic lineages. These lineages, characterized by shared morphological traits and phenotypic plasticity, pose challenges to morphological identification. Genetic markers, such as the mitochondrial COI gene, play a crucial role in delineating these lineages and their ranges. Morphotypes represent observed phenotypic variations, while lineages are defined based on genetic markers. Here, we comprehensively review Corbicula's distribution in Argentina, dis-criminate extant lineages based on both morphological and genetic (COI) data, and describe variation in internal and external morphology using 15 Argentine populations. Haplotype net-works identified two mitochondrial lineages: A/R morphotype (FW5 haplotype) and C/S mor-photype (FW17 haplotype). Strikingly, despite having similar vectors, origins, and invasive stages, Corbicula lineages exhibit virtually segregated distributions. However, intermediate morphotypes and both mitochondrial haplotypes are found in sympatry in northeastern Argen-tina, suggesting the presence of hybrids due to maternal genome retention. These findings con-tribute to the clarification of the identity and distribution of Corbicula lineages in Argentina, where the genus has been found for over half a century. Similar studies are needed in other areas to better understand the invasion patterns of a successful and plastic group.

Two extreme wind-driven wildfire events impacted northern and southern California in late 2017 leading to 46 fatalities and thousands of structures lost. This study describes the meteorological and climatological factors that drove and enabled these wildfire events and quantifies the rarity of such conditions over the observational record. Both extreme wildfire events featured fire-weather metrics that were unprecedented in the observational record in addition to a sequence of climatic conditions that preconditioned fuels. The North Bay fires that affected portions of northern California in early October occurred coincident with strong downslope winds. The vast majority of the fires’ devastating effects and acres burned occurred overnight and within the first twelve hours of ignition. By contrast, the southern California fires of December were characterized by the longest Santa Ana wind event on record and included the largest wildfire in California’s history. Both fire events occurred following an exceptionally wet winter that was preceded by the drought of record in California. Fuels were further preconditioned as the warmest summer and autumn on record occurred in northern and southern California, respectively. Accelerated curing of fuels coupled with the delayed onset of autumn precipitation allowed for critically low dead fuel moisture leading up to the foehn wind events. Fire weather conditions were well forecasted several days prior to the fire. However, the rarity of fire-weather conditions that occurred in the wildland urban interface, along with other societal factors were key contributors to wildfire impacts to communities.

Leptospirosis is a re-emerging zoonotic disease that has had an unprecedented impact on most health systems in the world. The spectrum of symptoms is variable and usually ranges from asymptomatic cases to severe manifestations involving multiple organ dysfunction accompanied by jaundice, hemorrhage, meningitis, and acute kidney injury that requires the need for intensive care assistance. Although early antibiotic treatment is usually effective, in severe cases it may require renal replacement therapy, invasive mechanical ventilation, vasoactive support, and invasive hemodynamic monitoring, increasing the risk of death. In Latin America, the real burden of acute kidney injury in this condition is unknown and may be underestimated due to the rapid progression of the disease, similar to other vector zoonoses, and the low coverage of diagnostic tests in primary care, especially in rural regions. Therefore, below, we review the clinical aspects and describe the scientific, clinical, and therapeutic evidence of acute kidney injury attributed to Leptospira spp. and its relevance in patients with severe leptospirosis in Latin America.