Abstract: As a low-input crop, Miscanthus offers numerous advantages that, in addition to agricultural applications, permits its exploitation for energy, fuel, and material production. Depending on the Miscanthus genotype, season, and harvest time as well as plant component (leaf versus stem), correlations between structure and properties of the corresponding isolated lignins differ. Here, a comparative study is presented between lignins isolated from M. x giganteus, M. sinensis, M. robustus and M. nagara using a catalyst-free organosolv pulping process. The lignins from different plant constituents are also compared regarding their similarities and differences regarding monolignol ratio and important linkages. Results showed that the plant genotype has the weakest influence on monolignol content and interunit linkages. In contrast, structural differences are more significant among lignins of different harvest time and/or season. Analyses were performed using fast and simple methods such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Data was assigned to four different linkages (A: b-O-4 linkage, B: phenylcoumaran, C: resinol, D: b-unsaturated ester). In conclusion, A content is particularly high in leaf-derived lignins at just under 70 % and significantly lower in stem and mixture lignins at around 60 % and almost 65 %. The second most common linkage pattern is D in all isolated lignins, the proportion of which is also strongly dependent on the crop portion. Both stem and mixture lignins, have a relatively high share of approximately 20 % or more (maximum is M. sinensis Sin2 with over 30 %). In the leaf-derived lignins, the proportions are significantly lower on average. Stem samples should be chosen if the highest possible lignin content is desired, specifically from the M. x giganteus genotype, which revealed lignin contents up to 27 %. Due to the better frost resistance and higher stem stability, M. nagara offers some advantages compared to M. x giganteus. Miscanthus crops are shown to be very attractive lignocellulose feedstock (LCF) for second generation biorefineries and lignin generation in Europe.

To ensure consumers can purchase high-quality rice, accurate identification of rice varieties is particularly important. Methods: This article conducts research based on machine learning algorithms from the perspectives of image, spectrum, and spectrogram fusion. Six types of hyperspectral image data of rice were preprocessed using convolutional smoothing (SG) and multiple scatter correction (MSC). Texture information of the images was extracted using gray-level co-occurrence matrix. Spectra, texture, and spectrogram data were fused into a new matrix. Spectral, texture, and spectrogram fusion data were used as inputs for the model, and support vector machines (SVM), logistic regression (LR), and K-nearest neighbors (KNN) classification models were constructed and compared. Results: From the classification results, the spectrogram fusion classification performance was better than classification models using only spectra or texture. Conclusion: The research results showed that the accuracy of SVM and LR classification models exceeded 90%, and the LR model performed the best, effectively classifying rice varieties.

The study employed simulation-based measurement approaches to evaluate and compare the performance of conventional networks to IRS-enhanced systems in terms of upstream spectral efficiency. The study discovered that applying IRS greatly improves coverage, or transmitting potency, for 6G services.

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.

Recent analyses of cosmic microwave background surveys have revealed hints that there may be a non-trivial running of the running of the spectral index. If future experiments were to confirm these hints, it would prove a powerful discriminator of inflationary models, ruling out simple single field models. We discuss how isocurvature perturbations in multi-field models can be invoked to generate large runnings in a non-standard hierarchy, and find that a minimal model capable of practically realising this would be a two-field model with a non-canonical kinetic structure. We also consider alternative scenarios such as variable speed of light models and canonical quantum gravity effects and their implications for runnings of the spectral index.

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

The purpose of the study is to establish compliance of the design of the modernized car with the requirements for safe operation. An option has been proposed for upgrading a passenger wagon to a Mobile Diagnostic Complex for transporting a combined vehicle equipped with appropriate flaw detection equipment intended for rail diagnostics. The authors have established the most optimal option for locating the diagnostic vehicle on board the Mobile Diagnostic Complex (MDC) wagon, taking into account the additional load from the vehicle. To achieve this goal, the article developed a three-dimensional model of the supporting structure of the wagon body, proposed a methodology and presented the results of a study of the stress-strain state of the wagon body, taking into account the additional weight of the wagon. The article develops a methodology for studying the natural frequencies of vibrations of the wagon body and develops a three-dimensional model of the wagon for calculating dynamic indicators in the Universal Mechanism software package. Taking into account the previously carried out strength calculations, as well as in order to maintain the factory life cycle indicators of the supporting structure of the wagon body, it is recommended to use the model in the first version.

Safe water is a global public health concern amid increasing scarcity and pollution. Bottled water production and consumption contribute to these problems. This study examines tap water consumption in Italy, assessing associated sociodemographic factors and related health outcomes such as obesity and self-perceived health status. Data from the Italian National Statistics Institute's "Aspects of daily life" survey (N=45,597) were analyzed. Covariates included education, age, gender, economic status, region, concerns about waste and climate change, consumption of carbonated drinks excluding water, alcohol consumption, consumption of vegetables, consumption of snacks, body mass index, and self-perceived health status. Bivariate analyses and mixed-effect logistic regression models explored the associations. People who drink tap water were 19,674 with a higher prevalence in people aged 45 to 59 old, people with a graduate/post-graduate degree diploma, with optimal economic resources, and concerned about waste production and climate change, coming from the North-East regions of Italy. Underweight people showed a higher prevalence of TW assumption as well as those who drink less than occasionally carbonated drinks, drink alcohol, consume vegetables more than once a day, and snacks less than once a week with a satisfying level perceived health status. Regressions showed that all age classes are less likely to drink tap water than people younger than 20 years old. The category with “inadequate” economic resources is more likely to consume tap water. Low educational classes show a low likelihood of consuming tap water as well as Islands. A concern about waste production and climate change is associated with an increased likelihood of assuming tap water. Tap water consumption was negatively associate with obesity but not with a satisfactory Self-perceived health status. Insights from this study can inform public health strategies.

Aerial image classification has become popular and has attracted extensive research efforts in recent decades. The main challenge lies in its very high spatial resolution but relatively insufficient spectral information. To this end, spatial-spectral feature extraction is a popular strategy for classification. However, parameter determination for that feature extraction is usually time-consuming and depends excessively on experience. In this paper, an automatic spatial feature extraction approach based on image raster and segmental vector data cross-analysis is proposed for the classification of very high spatial resolution (VHSR) aerial imagery. First, multi-resolution segmentation is used to generate strongly homogeneous image objects and extract corresponding vectors. Then, to automatically explore the region of a ground target, two rules, which are derived from Tobler’s First Law of Geography (TFL) and a topological relationship of vector data, are integrated to constrain the extension of a region around a central object. Third, the shape and size of the extended region are described. A final classification map is achieved through a supervised classifier using shape, size, and spectral features. Experiments on three real aerial images of VHSR (0.1 to 0.32 m) are done to evaluate effectiveness and robustness of the proposed approach. Comparisons to state-of-the-art methods demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method in VHSR image classification.

As a new plant slope protection technology, living stumps can effectively improve slope stability. The current study attemptes to investigate the mechanical characteristics of the root system of living stumps and their reinforcement mechanism on slopes by carrying out a three-dimensional living stump slope modeling test. Using ABS materials, a 3D model of a living elm stump was created by 3D printing and a slope model test was carried out. The reinforcement mechanism of the living stump was studied through a combination of model testing and numerical simulation. The results indicate that, due to the presence of living stumps in the lower and middle parts of the slope, the maximum shear stress area of the soil moved to a deeper direction. The stress state of the soil around the living stump was effectively improved due to the existence of the lateral root system.Living stumps in the lower part of the slope cross the potential sliding surface and transferred the soil shear stress gradually to the root system through root-soil interaction. Moreover, the tap roots and lateral roots of living stumps form a robust spatial structure that bears the shear stress of soil together, thus increasing the stability of the slope.

The efficacy of predicting geochemical parameters with a 2-chain workflow using spectral data as the initial input is evaluated. Spectral measurements spanning the approximate 400-25000nm spectral range are used to train a workflow consisting of a non-negative matrix function (NMF) step, for data reduction, and a random forest regression (RFR) to predict 8 geochemical parameters. Approximately 175000 spectra with their corresponding chemical analysis were available for training, testing and validation purposes. The samples and their spectral and chemical parameters represent 9399 drillcore. Of those, approximately 20000 spectra and their accompanying analysis were used for training and 5000 for model validation. The remaining pairwise data (150000 samples) were used for testing of the method. The data are distributed over 2 large spatial extents (980 km2 and 3025 km2 respectively) and allowed the proposed method to be tested against samples that are spatially distant from the initial training points. Global R2 scores and wt.% RMSE on the 150000 validation samples are Fe(0.95/3.01), SiO2(0.96/3.77), Al2O3(0.92/1.27), TiO(0.68/0.13), CaO(0.89/0.41), MgO(0.87/0.35), K2O(0.65/0.21) and LOI(0.90/1.14), given as Parameter(R2/RMSE), and demonstrate that the proposed method is capable of predicting the 8 parameters and is stable enough, in the environment tested, to extend beyond the training sets initial spatial location.

China's cotton production has shown a concentration to the advantageous regions in recent years. Based on the relevant data of cotton production in China, the study measures the cotton production agglomeration levels of 16 major cotton-producing provinces from 1978 to 2020, summarizes the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of cotton production agglomeration, and analyzes the factors influencing cotton production agglomeration using spatial econometric models. The results indicate that: Firstly, since the opening-up and reform, China's cotton production agglomeration levels have shown an overall upward trend, exhibiting periodic dynamic changes over time, and the spatial pattern reveals a dynamic regional gradient. Secondly, there is spatial correlation among the production scales of cotton in different provinces, with a trend resembling a "U" shape, and the agglomeration form shows a low-level convergence. Thirdly, technological level, policies, substitute industrial products and foreign trade are identified as important factors. The cotton production in each province is spatially correlated through these factors, and there is also a presence of spillover effects. In conclusion, the government should prioritize considerations of various influencing factors to formulate tailored support policies, promote large-scale production to enhance technological levels, and focus on policies aimed at improving the quality of cotton.

Water quality assessment in pastoral of Tibetan Plateau, which is water sources for about 40% of world's population and the runoff-yield area of Yellow rivers, is very important. In this paper, Xiahe county which belongs to Tibetan Plateau pastoral was investigated. Six parameters(via, chloride, COD, ammonia nitrogen, nitrate, fluoride, sulfate) were selected to assess the water quality and health degree by using fuzzy comprehensive evaluation methods. The hydrochemical type in surface water was of HCO3--Mg2+-Ca2+ type. The cations and anions in surface water were mainly from weathering and dissolution of carbonate rock. Results showed that the water quality in all 69 sampling sites was all of class Ⅰ. The integrated health degree reached more than 0.85 and the health rate were 100%. Although ammonia nitrogen was regarded as the main contamination factor, but it had a little effect on the entire body of water. Overall, the surface water qualities of most samples in Xiahe County was good condition.

More than 20 years after the discovery of the first anelloviruses (AVs), they still remain a mysterious group of viruses. To date, there is no clear understanding of their impact on the host organism, although information is emerging about their participation in various pathologies. However, it is well known that AVs are an important component of the human virome. In the current study we assessed the abundance of AVs in viromes from four nasal and pharyngeal samples from children with respiratory symptoms using a metagenomic approach. It is worth noting that three patients had known respiratory viruses and one did not have any. Regarding AVs, they were detected in all samples, namely Torque teno mini virus (TTMV). The greatest abundance and diversity of AVs (Torque teno virus (TTV), TTMV and Torque teno midi virus (TTMDV)) were shown in a diseased patient with an absence of respiratory viruses, which may indicate the potential involvement of AVs in the maintenance of respiratory symptoms. An activated immune system to combat the main pathogens, against the background of which the number of AVs decreases, is discussed as a possible reason for the reduced diversity of anellome in other patients. We also compared the results of the metagenomic approach and qPCR for major respiratory viruses, which were in agreement. In addition, metagenomic sequencing made it possible to obtain additional data on viral genomes in order to establish their taxonomic identification and characterize individual viral profiles in patients from the Siberian part of Russia.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and osteoporosis are two of the most widespread metabolic disease in the world. The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of DM among patients affected by osteoporosis and fragility fractures, and to search differences in clinical features. Methods: 713 patients belonging to CTO Bone Unit because of osteoporosis and fragility fractures were divided into two groups, according to the diagnosis of DM. The clinical and bone characteristics of patients were compared. Results: Prevalence of DM was 10.8%. When compared to patients without DM, the median age at the time of first fracture was similar (72 years ± 14 IQR vs 71 years ± 12 IQR); prevalence of combination of vertebral and hip fractures was higher (p=0.039), as well as prevalence of males, although not significantly (p=0.051). Bone mineral density (BMD) at all sites was higher in DM group; Trabecular Bone Score (TBS), instead, was significantly lower (p<0.001). Conclusions: Patients with fragility fractures and DM more frequently show combination of major fractures with higher BMD levels. In these patients, TBS could be a better indicator of bone health than BMD and therefore should be used as a diagnostic tool in clinical practice.

The objective of this study was to investigate the concentration and spatial distribution patterns of six potentially toxic heavy metal elements (Mn, Zn, Cr, Pb, Cu and Ni) in bus station dusts in the Xifeng district of Gansu province, NW China. The contents were analyzed for Mn, Zn, Cr, Pb, Cu and Ni by using S8 TIGER Brochures wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Geoaccumulation index (Igeo ), enrichment factor (EF), pollution index (PI) and integrated pollution index(IPI) were calculated to evaluate the heavy metal contamination level of bus station dusts. The results indicate that, in comparison with the background values of local soil, bus station dusts in Xifeng have elevated metal concentrations as a whole. The concentrations of heavy metals investigated in this paper are compared with the reported data of other cities. The results show that the arithmetic means of Mn, Zn, Cr, Pb, Cu and Ni are 440.8, 137.9, 60.0, 42.8, 33.5 and 19.8mg kg−1 respectively. The mean values of Igeo reveal the order of Ni<Mn<Cr<Cu<Zn<Pb. The high Igeo and EF for Cu, Zn and Pb in bus station dusts indicate that there is a considerable Cu, Zn and Pb pollution, which mainly originate from traffic and industry activities. The Igeo and EF of Ni, Mn and Cr are low and the assessment results indicate an absence of distinct Ni, Mn and Cr pollution in bus station dusts. The assessment results of PI also support Cu, Zn and Pb in bus station dusts presented middle pollution, and IPI indicates heavy metals of bus station dusts polluted seriously.

Introduction: Cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) is the most common congenital face anomaly in the world of multifactorial etiology. Objective: To determine the prevalence and characteristics of cleft palate. To identify associated risk factors to guide prevention and/or prenatal detection for early intervention and better health outcomes. To assess the rehabilitation protocols after operations in cleft palate. Design: Retrospective descriptive and clinical study. Patients: One hundred and three children with cleft palate treated in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery Clinic for Children and Young Adults, Department of Clinical Pediatrics, University of Warmia and Mazury, were included in the study. Methods: Records evaluation was conducted regarding sex, cleft type, mother occupation, parents education, histories of cleft in any of parents. The data were analyzed using R (R core team 2021) and the ordinal logistic regression analyses. Results: Children of stressed mothers during pregnancy had 9.4 times higher odds of having bilateral cleft. While there was no evidence that children sex, order of birth, and body mass as well as risk of maternal toxicity at work or reporting infections or drugs toxicity had a significant effect on the dependent variable. Conclusions: Children of parents with cleft history and having low educated mothers had higher probability of bilateral cleft palate. Children of stressed mothers during pregnancy had higher odds of having bilateral cleft. In literature, there is a lack of reports about rehabilitation in different operations methods in children with cleft palates.

The degree of ore rock fragmentation of mine blasting is an important index for evaluating the effect of engineering blasting. In order to study the effect of millisecond delayed blasting on the internal fragmentation of the ore rock, LS-DYNA numerical simulation software was used to obtain the damage characteristics of the ore rock in the blasting area using the RHT model. The Mohr-Coulomb strength damage criterion was applied to analyze the internal stress state of the ore rock, and the effects of 25ms, 50ms and 75ms delay time conditions on ore rock fragmentation were studied. The results show that, within a certain range of delay time, the degree of rock fragmentation increases with the increase of delay time. The stress state in the ore rock due to blasting is strengthened with the increase of delay time in the direction of the blast hole, which shows that the stress concentration is strengthened from the excavation face to the interior of the ore rock. The damage and the degree of fragmentation show a characteristic relationship of 25ms＜50ms＜75ms, which is verified by carrying out blasting experiments on site.

ABSTRACT Background: To date, the COVID-19 pandemic has been the foremost health concern for humankind in the new millennia. This paper aims to describe the related hospitalizations in Italy during the first two years of the health emergency. Design and methods: This is a retrospective, population-based study of Italian hospitalizations for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 during the 2020-2021 period, extracted from the National Hospital Discharge Registry. The outcome variables considered include hospital admissions, costs, and length of stay, among other hospitalization-level variables. Costs were estimated through the charges associated with the Diagnosis-Related Group and Major Diagnostic Categories coding system, plus an additional cost attributed to COVID-19 admissions. To these charges was added an extra cost defined by the ministry of health. Results: In Italy, there were 357,354 hospitalizations for COVID-19 attributed to 298,856 patients in 2020 and 399,043 hospitalizations for COVID-19 attributed to 333,447 patients in 2021. COVID-19 patients faced a transfer rate thrice that of other patients. Hospitalizations were concentrated predominantly in the northern regions, particularly in the first year. Hospitalization rates varied by age in a sine wave pattern, peaking in the youngest and oldest age groups, with mortality rates escalating with age— tending to remain below 3% for those under 44 but surging to 40% in individuals over 75. The financial impact of COVID-19 hospitalizations was substantial, with total costs reaching €3.97 billion in 2020 and €4.99 billion in 2021. Costs per admission and per day also rose, from €11,112 and €807 in 2020 to €12,503 and €844 in 2021, respectively. Excluding the added financial burden of COVID-19, costs would have been notably lower. Hospitalizations involving continuous invasive mechanical ventilation were particularly costly (about 24.000 euros x admission), reflecting the significant resources required for these treatments. Conclusion: Implementing a protective pad around the entire health system that leverages networks of family doctors and nurses, connected in real time to the entire health system, can be crucial. Such a network, tasked with monitoring the local epidemiological situation, protecting vulnerable individuals also through telehealth visits, and establishing a triage system for infections in the initial phase, may effectively help in managing virus spread and protecting hospitals from unpredictable waves of admission demand. Strengthening primary health care could be a decisive factor for the future and enhance the system's resilience in facing new challenges.

The principal aim of a spectral observer is twofold: the reconstruction of a signal of time via state estimation and the decomposition of such a signal into the frequencies that make it up. A spectral observer can be catalogued as an online algorithm for time-frequency analysis because is a method that can compute on the fly the Fourier transform (FT) of a signal, without having the entire signal available from the start. In this regard, this paper presents a novel spectral observer with an adjustable constant gain for reconstructing a given signal by means of the recursive identification of the coefficients of a Fourier series. The reconstruction or estimation of a signal in the context of this work means to find the coefficients of a linear combination of sines a cosines that fits a signal such that it can be reproduced. The design procedure of the spectral observer is presented along with the following applications: (1) the reconstruction of a simple periodical signal, (2) the approximation of both a square and a triangular signal, (3) the edge detection in signals by using the Fourier coefficients, (4) the fitting of the historical Bitcoin market data from 2014-12-01 to 2018-01-08 and (5) the estimation of a input force acting upon a Duffing oscillator. To round out this paper, we present a detailed discussion about the results of the applications as well as a comparative analysis of the proposed spectral observer vis-à-vis the Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT), which is a well-known method for time-frequency analysis.

The partial discharge (PD) event in high voltage insulation releases energy, exerts mechanical pressure, and generates elastic waves. Detecting and locating these PD events through short-duration acoustic pulses is well-established, particularly in gas-insulated systems and oil-insulated transformers. However, its full potential remains untapped in solid insulation systems, where the propagation capability of acoustic pulse and the acoustic reflections pose fundamental challenges to the Acoustic Emission (AE) detection technique. This study investigates the influence of reflections and multiple paths on the propagating acoustic pulse in polymeric insulating materials using a finite element method (FEM) in COMSOL. It was observed that the reflections from the boundary influence the propagating pulse's shape, peak magnitude, and arrival time. An analytical MATLAB model further quantifies the impact of multiple propagation paths on the shape, magnitude, and arrival time of the pulse travelling in a cylinder. Additionally, a Perfect Matched Layer (PML) was implemented in the COMSOL model to eliminate reflections from the boundary, and it revealed that the acoustic pulse magnitude decreases with distance following the inverse square law. In essence, the models aid in measuring how reflections contribute to the observed signals, facilitating the precise identification of the source of the PD event in the tested system.

The River Habitat Survey (RHS) is a method for assessing the conditions of a river channel and valley, taking into account hydromorphological factors, and assessing the degree of naturalness or the degree of anthropogenic alteration within the channel and valley based on physical and landscape data. The hypothesis tested in this study was that the quality of river habitats demonstrated using the RHS should translate into the composition of their fauna. We investigated aquatic bugs (Heteroptera Aquatica), which are a group with considerable dispersal abilities and, at the same time, composed of stenotopic species associated with a particular environment as well as of eurytopic elements inhabiting a wide range of environments (REF). The research was carried out in a small lowland river, the River Krąpiel (north-western Poland) at 6 sites with 43 sub-sites included. Our analyses suggest the RHS method can predict the composition and quality of the aquatic bug fauna inhabiting a given river. Indicators of river habitat quality (HQA and RHQ) will be associated with different habitat types depending on the geographic location and type of river, once indicating habitats associated with the mainstream river and mineral substrate (mountain and small lowland rivers) and at other times habitats covered by vegetation with relatively slow water flow (large and medium lowland rivers). Therefore, RHS may be a good method for estimating the water bug fauna, linking it to the size and character of the river.

Expansion tube is ideal energy absorber which dissipates kinetic energy through plastic deformation and friction. There is an urgent need to understand the influence of key parameter, e.g. semi angle, tube material, and friction coefficient, on the mechanical response and energy absorption characteristics of expansion tube. In the present work, the material properties of the tubes were tested under quasi-static loading condition, and the numerical simulations were carried out by using commercial software ABAQUS. Based on the validated finite element simulation, all the semi angle, tube material, and friction have significant effects on the energy absorption capacity of expansion tube. The expansion tube with high tensile stress of parent material have high energy absorption capacity, while the specific energy absorption is linear with the tensile stress/density of tube material. This work would give a guidance to the structural design and parent materials selection for expansion tubes.

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 Giant Babax, an endemic bird in China and a nationally protected wildlife species of Class Ⅱ, is primarily distributed in southern and southeastern Tibet. To investigate the factors influencing nesting site selection, this study conducted research on nest characteristics and nesting site preferences at four sample sites around Lhasa from March to October 2023y, using systematic search methods, tracking methods, and sampling methods. The research findings are as follows: (1) The average nest depth was (7.70±1.47)cm, nest height was (19.58±2.97)cm, inner diameter was (10.64±1.73)cm, outer diameter was (24.65±4.8)cm, average weight was (162.3±13.5)g, and average nest spacing within the plot was 396.93m. (2) The nests of Giant Babax were predominantly found on vegetation such as Salix longistamina (38%), Hippophae gyantsensis (20%), Rosa sericea Lindl. (14%), and Populus szechuanica Schneid(11%). They showed a preference for artificial secondary forests as nesting sites. (3) Giant Babax exhibited a preference for habitats with robust trees that had high canopies while being distant from houses and roads, but close to water sources; moreover, the canopy of the nesting tree played a crucial role in their choice of nesting sites. (4) The reproductive success rate reached 76%, with key factors affecting it being the canopy coverage of the nesting tree and the number of helpers. These research results provide fundamental data support for population conservation efforts and ecological resource management strategies concerning the Giant Babax.

Populational aging is marked by chronic non-communicable diseases, such as metabolic syndrome (MetS). IL-10 and IL-1β are pleiotropic cytokines with multiple biological effects linked to metabolic disorders. This cross-sectional study assessed 193 participants' IL-10 and IL-1β serum levels regarding their role in developing MetS, clinical characteristics, and their IL1B rs1143627 and IL10 rs1800890 variants' genotype frequencies in a population over 60. IL-10 levels correlated weakly with HDL levels and fat mass and inversely with triglycerides, glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and estimated average blood glucose levels. IL-10 levels were also indirectly influenced by the patient's T2DM duration, lean mass amount, and bone mineral content. Participants with altered HDL, elevated serum glucose, raised HbA1c levels, or those over 80 had reduced serum IL-10 levels compared to those with normal levels or other age groups, respectively. Women also had higher serum IL-10 levels than men. Dissimilarity, IL-1β levels correlated directly only with the number of total leukocytes and segmented neutrophils, showing only significant variations with self-reported alcohol consumption. Our study also found that those with the IL10 AA genotype (lower IL-10 levels) had a significantly higher risk of developing MetS. These findings may help direct future research and more targeted therapeutic approaches in older adults.

Emulsifiers like egg yolk (EY) are necessary for the formation of mayonnaise, which is an oil-in-water type colloid. This study aimed to assess the potential of defatted soybean powder treated with supercritical carbon dioxide (DSF-SC) in enhancing the quality of plant-based may-onnaise as plant-based alternatives gain popularity. This study involved producing DSF-SC and comparing its quality attributes to those of mayonnaise made with varying amounts of control soy flour (CSF), DSF-SC, and EY. It was found that mayonnaise made with DSF-SC, with increased emulsifier quantity, showed better emulsion stability, viscosity, and smaller, more uniform particle size compared with CSF mayonnaise. Additionally, DSF-SC mayonnaise was overall rated higher in sensory evaluation. The addition of approximately 2% DSF-SC positively influenced the emul-sion and sensory properties of the vegan mayonnaise, making DSF-SC a promising plant-based alternative emulsifier for replacing animal ingredients.

Composite fiber materials are superior materials due to their high strength and light weight. Composites reflect the properties of their constituents, which is proportional to the volume fraction of each phase. There are different fiber reinforcement types and each affects it’s flexural, tensile and compression strength. When selecting a composite for a specific application, the forces excreted on the composite must be known in order to determine the reinforcement type. Unidirectional fiber reinforcement will allow very strong load resistance but only in one direction where as a random orientated fiber reinforcement can resist less load but can maintain this quota in all directions. These materials are said to be anisotropic. Certain composite fibers, taking into consideration there weights, are physically stronger than conventional metals. This research deals with the analysis of three composite materials with different reinforcement types, volume fraction and phase content. It was found that material A (glass epoxy) was the strongest in the longitudinal direction with a flexural strength of 534 MPa in the longitudinal and 420 MPa in the transverse direction. The flexural stresses of material B (glass silicone) and material C (glass polyester) where both found in the 120 to 135 MPa range. Differences were due to their differences in matrix composition and reinforcement type.

As a renewable industrial crop, Miscanthus offers numerous advantages, namely high photosynthesis activity (as a C4 plant) and exceptional CO2 fixation rate. These properties make Miscanthus very attractive for industrial exploitation, such as lignin generation. Here, we present a systematic study analyzing the correlation of the lignin structure with Miscanthus genotype and plant portion (stem versus leaf). Specifically, the ratio of the three monolignols and corresponding building blocks as well as the linkages formed between the units have been studied. Depending on the Miscanthus genotype and plant component (leaf versus stem), correlations between chemical structure and properties of the lignins have been determined, i.e. correlations in molecular weight, polydispersity and decomposition temperature. Lignin isolation was performed using non-catalyzed organosolv pulping and the structure analysis includes NREL, FTIR, UV-Vis, HSQC-NMR, TGA, pyrolysis GC/MS. Structural differences were found for stem and leaf-derived lignins. Compared to beech wood lignins, Miscanthus lignins possess lower molecular weight and narrow polydispersities (< 1.5 Miscanthus vs. > 2.5 beech) corresponding to improved homogeneity. In addition to conventional univariate analysis of FTIR spectra, multivariate chemometrics revealed distinct differences for aromatic in-plane deformations of stem versus leaf-derived lignins. These results emphasize the potential of Miscanthus as low-input resource and Miscanthus-derived lignin as promising agricultural feedstock.

Abstract: A. baumannii exhibits resilience in harsh environments and progressively develops resistance to diverse antibacterial agents over time. This adaptability poses a significant challenge in treating an infection caused by this bacterium within healthcare settings. The presence of peptidoglycan, a crucial precursor for cell wall synthesis, contributes to this challenge. Peptidoglycan serves not only as a structural support in bacterial cells but also provides protection against adverse environmental conditions. The synthesis of the peptidoglycan layer involves a group of substrates such as N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and N-acetylmuramic acid (MurNAc), within a three-partitioned process occurring in the membrane, periplasmic space, and cytoplasm of each bacterium. Initiated in the cytoplasm and extending to the inner cell membrane, this synthesis starts with the production of nucleotide precursors. The first step involves the synthesis of UDP-GlcNAc, orchestrated by Glm (GlmS, GlmM, and GlmU) enzymes using fructose-6-phosphate. Subsequently, enzymes from the Mur family, namely MurB, MurA, MurD, MurC, MurI, MurF, and MurE, synthesize UDP-N-acetylmuramyl-pentapeptide (UDP-Mpp) from UDP-GlcNAc. Concurrently, on the cytosolic side, the production of membrane-surrounded undecaprenyl phosphate occurs, involving membrane-side proteins MraY and MurG in the biosynthesis of peptidoglycan. This review emphasizes updated information on Mur family proteins, encompassing physicochemical properties, nature of binding site, number and type of binding site residues, functional domain details, three-dimensional structural aspects, and their functions within bacterial cells. Special attention is directed towards their enzymatic role in peptidoglycan biosynthesis due to the limited availability of precursors in the market. Additionally, the review provides a comprehensive summary of existing inhibitors and ongoing efforts in identifying new targeted inhibitors, recognizing these enzymes as potential candidates for antibacterial drug design and discovery.

Intense climate change and rapid urbanization have increased the risk of urban flooding, seriously affecting urban economic and social stability. Enhancing the urban flood resilience (UFR) has required a new solution to cope with urban flood disasters. In this study, taking Yingtan city as an example, a system of indicators for evaluating UFR was constructed, with 17 representative indicators, comprising three subsystems: socio-economic, ecological and infrastructural. A hybrid (FAHP-EWM)-TOPSIS model was applied, to develop an index-based measurement to compare and evaluate UFR, and Gray Relational Analysis (GRA) was used to discover the main factors affecting UFR. In addition, the natural discontinuous method was innovatively used to divide the UFR grade interval into levels, and the grade change was evaluated based on the TOPSIS method. The results showed that (1) from 2010 to 2022, the UFR in Yingtan City increased by 80.69%, and the factors affecting UFR are highly correlated with urban infrastructure development. However, the ecological resilience in the subsystem showed a fluctuating downward trend, because of the influence of the surface area of lakes and rivers. (2) The grades of UFR for Yingtan City increased from Level III (2010 and 2016) to Level IV (2022), with local financial expenditures and the age structure of the population being the main factors currently limiting the development of UFR. The study provides a theoretical basis for the construction of an indicator system for assessing the UFR of Yingtan and proposes practical improvement directions for UFR.

In this study, seventeen faceted gem-quality chrysoberyls exhibiting an attractive canary yellow color were investigated by a series of gemological, spectral, and chemical methods. Microscopic observation reveals distinct growth lines and inclusions, including CO2 fluids, carbon, and mineral crystals such as calcite, quartz, sillimanite, and mica, identified by the Raman spectrum. The FTIR spectrum exhibits the 2405 and 2160 cm-1 feature peaks and a 3223 cm-1 peak in all samples, which can be accompanied by the 3112 cm-1 shoulder, 3301, and 3412 and 3432 cm-1 peaks. The UV-Vis spectrum shows a Fe-related peak at 440 nm, along with the 650–660 nm band and the absorption band in the blue zone of the visible light. The chemical results of EDXRF reveal a V-poor, Cr-poor, and Fe-rich feature. The spectral and chemical results could contribute to explaining the origin of the canary yellow color, which originates from the abundant amount of Fe with very little influence from Cr or V.

The diffraction-like process displayed by a spatially localized matter wave is here analyzed in a case where the free evolution is frustrated by the presence of hard-wall-type boundaries (beyond the initial localization region). The phenomenon is investigated in the context of a nonrelativistic, spinless particle with mass m confined in a one-dimensional box, combining the spectral decomposition of the initially localized wave function (treated as a coherent superposition of energy eigenfunctions) with a dynamical analysis based on the hydrodynamic or Bohmian formulation of quantum mechanics. Actually, such a decomposition has been used to devise a simple and efficient analytical algorithm that simplifies the computation of velocity fields (flows) and trajectories. As it is shown, the development of space-time patters inside the cavity depends on three key elements: the shape of the initial wave function, the mass of the particle considered, and the relative extension of the initial state with respect to the total length spanned by the cavity. From the spectral decomposition it is possible to identify how each one of these elements contribute to the localized matter wave and its evolution; the Bohmian analysis, on the other hand, reveals aspects connected to the diffraction dynamics and the subsequent appearance of interference traits, particularly recurrences and full revivals of the initial state, which constitute the source of the characteristic symmetries displayed by these patterns. It is also found that, because of the presence of confining boundaries, even in cases of increasingly large box lengths, no Fraunhofer-like diffraction features can be observed, as happens when the same wave evolves in free space. Although the analysis here is applied to matter waves, its methodology and conclusions are also applicable to confined modes of electromagnetic radiation (e.g., light propagating through optical fibers).

In this work, we propose simple and robust technique for the retrieval of underlying surface spectral albedo using spaceborne observations. It can be used to process both multispectral moderate resolution satellite data and also multi - zone high spatial resolution data. The technique can work automatically for different types of land surfaces without using huge databases accumulated in advance. The new cloud discrimination and retrieval of the water vapor content in atmosphere procedures are presented. The key point of the proposed atmospheric correction technique is the suggested single-wavelength method for determining the atmospheric aerosol optical thickness without reference to a specific type of underlying surface spectrum. The retrievals of spectral albedo for various land surfaces with developed technique, performed using computer simulation and experimental data, have demonstrated a high retrieval accuracy.

The Eastern Kunlun Fault Zone (EKFZ) is located in a seismic blank area. This study investigates the hydrogeochemical characteristics of varied-temperature springs in the EKFZ to understand the relationship between fractures, fluids and earthquakes. It aids in establishing their induction mechanisms and assists in monitoring the earthquake precursors of the EKFZ. In this study, the main elements, trace elements, hydrogen and oxygen isotopes and strontium isotopes of 23 varied-temperature springs in the EKFZ were analyzed. The results reveal the source of groundwater recharge, hydrochemical types, mineral saturation, and for a select few springs indicative of geothermal activity, collected geothermal reservoir temperatures. The study also explores the relationship between earthquakes and springs, identifying sensitive chemical indicators. Based on continuous monitoring at Maqu Station, we found that before the occurrence of the Maerkang Ms 6.0 earthquake, the concentration of Cl− rose by 2.9 times, and 46 days before the Gande earthquake (Ms = 4.7), the concentrations of Na+ and SO42− significantly increased. Finally, a conceptual model of the hydrogeochemistry of springs is presented to describe the groundwater circulation in the study area. This research is of great significance for the analysis of fluid geochemistry in this area and for assessing the seismic hazards of the EKFZ.

.With the increasing use of carbon fiber reinforced plastics in various area, carbon fiber composites based on prepregs have attracted attention in industries and academia research. However, prepreg manufacturing processes are costly, and the strength of structures varies depending on the orientation and defects (pores and delamination). For non-contact evaluation of internal defects, we proposed lock-in infrared thermography to investigate orientation angles after a compression test. We also conducted a drop-weight impact test to study the behaviour of the composites after impact according the fibers orientation for composite fabricated using unidirectional carbon fiber prepregs. Using CAI tests, we determined the residual compressive strength and confirmed the damage modes using a thermal camera. The results of the drop weight impact tests show that the specimen laminated at 0° suffered the largest damage because of susceptibility of the resin to impact. In contrast, the specimens oriented in of 0°/90° and +45°/–45° directions transferred more than 90% of the impact energy back to the impactor because of the lamination of fibers in the orthogonal directions. Furthermore, the specimens that underwent complete damage in the impact tests were subjected to the lock-in method and showed internal delamination and cut fibers. With the finite elements analysis, the damage of each ply could be observed. Moreover, the temperature differences in the residual compression tests were not significant.

Background and Objectives: In recent years Electronic scooters (E-Scooters) have gained popularity, whether for private use or as a publicly available transportation method. With introduction of these vehicles, reports of E-Scooter related accidents have surged, sparking a public debate and concern. Aim of this study was to analyse epidemiological data, characteristics and severity of traumatic brain injury (TBI) related to E-Scooter accidents. Materials and Methods: This retrospective case series evaluated 28 patients who were admitted to three largest neurosurgery clinics in Riga, Latvia between time period from April to October in two separate years – 2022 and 2023 after an E-Scooter related accident. Data were collected on patient demographics, time of the accident, alcohol consumption, helmet use, type of TBI, other related injuries, treatment and assessment at discharge. Results: A total of 28 patients were admitted with TBI related to E-Scooter use, with median age 30 years (Q1-Q3, 20.25-37.25), four individuals under age of 18, majority (64%) were male. In 23 cases the injury mechanism was fall, in 5 cases collision. None were wearing a helmet at time of injury. Alcohol intoxication was evident in over half of the patients (51.5%), with severe intoxication (&gt;1.2ppm) in 75% cases among them. Neurological symptoms upon admission were noted in 50% of cases. All patients had intracranial trauma - 50% brain contusions, 43% traumatic subdural hematoma, almost 30% - epidural hematoma. Craniofacial fractures were evident in 71% of cases, fractures in other parts of body in 3 patients. 6 patients required emergency neurosurgical intervention. Neurological complications were noted in 2 patients, 1 patient died. Conclusions: E-Scooter related accidents result in a significant number of brain and other associated injuries, with notable frequency linked to alcohol influence and lack of helmet use. Prevention campaigns to raise awareness of potential risks and implementation of more strict regulations should be done.

Given a quasi-definite linear functional u in the linear space of polynomials with complex coefficients let us consider the corresponding sequence of monic orthogonal polynomials (SMOP in short) (Pn)n≥0. For the Christoffel transformation u˜=(x−c)u with SMOP (P˜n)n≥0, we are interested to study the relation between u˜ and u(1)˜, where u(1) is the linear functional for the associated orthogonal polynomials of the first kind (Pn(1))n≥0 and u(1)˜=(x−c)u(1) is its Christoffel transformation. This problem is also studied for the Geronimus transformations.

We evaluated the potential of using fish species and functional traits as indicators of land use impacts to fish assemblages. We used environmental data collected at multiple spatial scales (local, reach, and upstream catchment) for 19 tributary and main stem sites in the Nolichucky River watershed in Tennessee. Canonical correspondence analyses showed that temperature, elevation, specific conductivity, sediment yield, impervious surfaces, and row crop cover at the catchment scale were strongly associated with fish assemblage structure, as well as forest cover from all three spatial scales. Blocked indicator species analysis, with stream size as the block, showed that significantly strong indicators of the least-impacted riparian land use condition (≥60% forest cover) were Saffron Shiner (Notropis rubricroceus), Rainbow Trout (Oncorhyncus mykiss), Longnose Dace (Rhynichthys cataractae), Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus), and Mottled Sculpin (Cottus bairdi). Traits indicative of the least-impacted sites were the herbivorous trophic guild, mean female age-at-maturity, longevity, rock-gravel spawners, montane geology and pelagic swimmers. Specific conductivity was strongly related to multiple catchment-scale land use variables, and was a strong local-scale influence on fish assemblage structure. Our results show promise for using a relatively common but endemic southern Appalachian fish species, the Saffron Shiner, as an indicator for land-use related impacts to these streams.

Due to the long-term deformation settlement of foundations, issues such as damage and functional failure of buildings and structures have long been of concern in the engineering field. The creep of soil is one of the primary causes leading to long-term deformation of foundations. In this paper, the consolidation deformation, creep characteristics, and creep model of reconstituted saturated silty clay were studied by isotropic compression test and triaxial shear creep test. The results show that for the isotropic compression test, although the applied load adopts different stages of loading, as long as the final applied confining pressure is the same, the number of stages applied by the confining pressure has little effect on the final isotropic consolidation deformation of the sample and the triaxial undrained shear strength after creep. However, for the triaxial shear creep test, it is found that under the same final deviatoric stress, the final deviatoric strain of the sample is closely related to the number of loading stages of deviatoric stress. It shows that the more loading stages of the sample loaded with the same deviatoric stress, the smaller the final deviatoric strain, and the triaxial undrained shear strength of the sample after creep will increase. In addition, it is reasonable to determine the pore pressure dissipation of the sample to 95%((u0-u0)/u0=95%) as the main consolidation end time (tEOP) of the sample. The isotropic consolidation creep curves and the triaxial shear creep curves show certain nonlinearity. Then the logarithmic model and the hyperbolic model were used to fit the creep curves of the samples. It is found that the hyperbolic model has a better fitting effect than the logarithmic model, but for the triaxial shear creep test, the creep parameters of the sample change greatly. Therefore, studying the creep characteristics of soil under different pre-loading steps is of significant engineering importance for evaluating the long-term deformation of underground structures.

Aluminum wire is a common material for wire bonding due to its resistance to oxidation and low price. It does not melt when becoming a free air ball (FAB) during the electronic flame-off (EFO) process with wettability, and is applied by wedge bonding. This study used 20μm Zn-Coated Al-0.5wt.%Si (ZAS) wires to improve the FAB shape after the EFO process, while maintaining stability of the mechanical properties, including the interface bonding strength and hardness. In order to test circuit stability after ball bonding, the current-tensile test was performed. During the experiment, it was found that 80nm ZAS with wire bonding has lower resistance and higher fusing current. For the bias tensile test, the thicker Zn film diffused into the Al-Si matrix easily, after which the strength was reduced. The ball-bond interfaces had no change in their condition before and after the bias. Accordingly, ZAS could be a promising candidate for ball bonding in the future.

As a fast and nondestructive spectroscopic analysis technique, Raman spectroscopy has been widely applied in chemistry. However, noise is usually unavoidable in Raman spectra. Hence, denoising is an important step before Raman spectral analysis. A novel spectral denoising method based on variational mode decomposition (VMD) was introduced to solve the above problem. The spectrum is decomposed into a series of modes (uk) by VMD. Then, the high frequency noise modes are removed and the remaining modes are reconstructed to obtain the denoised spectrum. The proposed method was verified by two artificial noised signals and two actual Raman spectra. As comparison, empirical mode decomposition (EMD), Savitzky-Golay (SG) smoothing and discrete wavelet transformation (DWT) are also investigated. At the same time, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was introduced as evaluation indicators to verify the performance of the proposed method. The results show that compared with EMD, VMD can significantly improve mode mixing and endpoint effect. Some information of the small sharp peak is lost after VMD denoising. However, VMD lost fewer information than that of EMD, SG smoothing and DWT. Moreover, the Raman spectrum by VMD denoising is more excellent than that of EMD, SG smoothing and DWT in terms of visualization and SNR. Therefore, VMD provides superior denoising capabilities for Raman spectra.

Despite great technical capabilities, the theory of non-contact temperature measurement is usually not fully applicable to the use of measuring instruments in practice. While black body calibrations are in practice well established and easy to accomplish, this calibration protocol is never fully applicable to measurements of real objects under real conditions. Currently, the best approximation to real world radiation thermometry is grey body radiation thermometry, which is supported by most measuring instruments to date. Nevertheless, the metrological requirements necessitate traceability, therefore real body radiation thermometry is required for temperature measurements of real bodies. This article documents the current state of temperature calculation algorithms for radiation-thermometers and the creation of a traceable model for radiation thermometry of real bodies that uses a digital twin model of the system of measurement to compensate for the loss of data, caused by spectral integration, which occurs when thermal radiation is absorbed on the active surface of the sensor. To solve this problem, a hybrid model with variable scalar inputs is proposed, in which the scalar input parameters are calculated to correspond to the system of measurement. The method for calculating the effective parameters is proposed and verified with the theoretical model of non-contact thermometry. The sum of effective instrumental parameters is presented for different temperatures to show that the rule of radiation thermometry of grey bodies, according to which the sum of instrumental emissivity and instrumental reflectivity equals to 1, does not hold in radiation thermometry for real bodies. Using the derived models of radiation thermometry, the uncertainty of radiation thermometry due to the uncertainty of spectral emissivity is analysed by simulated measurements along the temperature ranges of various radiation thermometers, enabling traceable non-contact temperature measurements with known measurement uncertainty under any known conditions.

Stark widths for 23 transitions in Al IV have been calculated employing modified semiempirical method. The results are obtained for an electron density of 10^17 cm−3 and temperatures from 10,000 K up to 160,000 K. The results obtained in this investigation are used for the examination of the influence of Stark broadening in Al IV stellar spectra, as well as to check Stark width regular behavior and similarites within Al IV spectrum.

This paper presents a novel CNN-based architecture, referred to as Q-Net, to learn local feature descriptors that are useful for matching image patches from two different spectral bands. Given correctly matched and non-matching cross-spectral image pairs, a quadruplet network is trained to map input image patches to a common Euclidean space, regardless of the input spectral band. Our approach is inspired by the recent success of triplet networks in the visible spectrum, but adapted for cross-spectral scenarios, where for each matching pair there are always two possible non-matching patches; one for each spectrum. Experimental evaluations on a public cross-spectral VIS-NIR dataset shows that the proposed approach improves the state-of-the-art. Moreover, the proposed technique can also be used in mono-spectral settings, obtaining a similar performance to triplet network descriptors, but requiring less training data.

Comprehensive understanding of tree characteristics and conditions holds paramount importance for the precise management of hazelnut orchards. It facilitates the determination of tree vigor, pruning requirements, phytosanitary interventions, and plant water consumption. The primary objective of this study was to explore, for the first time on a fruit tree with a bushy structure and across trees of four Italian distinct hazelnut cultivars, the efficacy of multispectral and thermal UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) technologies in assessing canopy attributes, vegetative growth, and predicting abiotic stresses. These technologies serve as tools for precision agriculture, enabling the computation of various indices such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and crop water stress index (CWSI). The study of water content is of particular importance at this time, especially considering the increasing water stress levels in Europe as well as globally. While Red Green Blue (RGB) and thermal imagery collectively demonstrated superior performance in model reconstruction, the multispectral UAV remained more adept at characterizing size traits of hazelnut plants. Thermal images alone proved inadequate for accurately reconstructing hazelnut biometric characteristics. Furthermore, all indices were found to be cultivar-specific, underscoring the importance of conducting studies across different cultivars. The utilization of two UAVs, namely multispectral and thermal, facilitated the examination of the relationship between NDVI and CWSI across tree species.

Although migraine belongs to the main causes of disability worldwide the mechanisms of its pathogenesis are poorly known, which is among the reasons that this disease is underdiagnosed and undertreated. As migraine diagnosis is based on the subjective assessment of symptoms, there is a need to establish objective markers of its occurrence and severity. Tryptophan (TRP) metabolism has been associated with the pathogenesis of neurological and psychiatric disorders. In the present work, we investigated an association between migraine and the urine concentration of TRP and its metabolites 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), kynurenine (KYN), kynurenic acid (KYNA) and quinolinic acid (QA) in 21 low-frequency episodic migraine patients and 32 controls. Migraine patients displayed lower urinary levels of 5-HIAA and KYNA, but KYN and QA were enhanced as compared with the controls. Consequently, the patients were characterized by different values of the 5-HIAA/TRP, KYN/TRP, KYNA/KYN, and KYNA/QA ratios. Furthermore, urinary concentration of 5-HIAA was negatively correlated with Migraine Disability Assessment score, monthly migraine, and monthly headache days. A negative correlation between Patient Health Questionnaire 9 scores assessing depression. In conclusion, the urinary 5-HIAA level may be an easy-to-determine marker of migraine occurrence and severity and may contribute to the identification of migraine patients with depression.

Spectral image analysis has the potential to replace traditional approaches for assessing plant responses to different types of stress including herbicide, through non-destructive and high-throughput screening (HTS). Therefore, this study was conducted to develop a rapid bioassay method using a multi-well plate and spectral image analysis for diagnosis of herbicide activity and mode of action. Crabgrass (Digitaria ciliaris) as a model weed was cultivated in multi-well plates and subsequently treated with 6 herbicides with different modes of action when they reached the 1-leaf stage, using only a quarter of the recommended dose. To detect plant response to herbicides, plant spectral images were acquired after herbicide treatment using RGB, infrared (IR) thermal, and chlorophyll fluorescence (CF) sensors and analyzed for diagnosing herbicide efficacy and mode of action. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) using all spectral data successfully distinguished herbicides and clustered depending on their modes of action. The performed experiments have shown that the multi-well plate assay combined with spectral image analysis can be successfully applied for herbicide bioassay. In addition, the use of spectral image sensors, especially in CF image, would facilitate HTS by enabling rapid observation of herbicide response, as early as 3 hours after herbicide treatment.

Selecting drought-tolerant and more water-efficient wheat genotypes is a research priority, spe-cifically in regions with irregular rainfall or areas where climate change is expected to result in reduced water availability. The objective of this work was to use high-throughput measurements with morphophysiological traits to characterize wheat genotypes in relation to water stress. Field experiments were conducted from May to September 2018 and 2019, using a sprinkler bar irriga-tion system to control water availability to eighteen wheat genotypes: BRS 254; BRS 264; CPAC 01019; CPAC 01047; CPAC 07258; CPAC 08318; CPAC 9110; BRS 394 (irrigated biotypes) and Aliança; BR 18_Terena; BRS 404; MGS Brilhante; PF 020037; PF 020062; PF 120337; PF 100368; PF 080492; TBIO Sintonia (rainfed biotypes). The water regimes varied from 22 to 100% of the crop evapotranspiration replacement. Water stress negatively affected gas exchange, vegetation indices and grain yield. High throughput variables TCARI, NDVI, OSAVI, SAVI, PRI, NDRE and GNDVI had higher correlation with yield and morphophysiological measurements. The drought re-sistance index indicated that genotypes Aliança BRS 254, BRS 404, CPAC 01019, PF 020062, and PF 080492 were more drought tolerant.

It is strongly desirable to accurately detect the clouds in hyperspectral images onboard before compression. However, conventional onboard cloud detection methods are not appropriate to all situation such as shadowed cloud or darken snow covered surfaces which are not identified properly in the NDSI test. In this paper, we propose a new spectral–spatial classification strategy to enhance the orbiting cloud screen performances obtained on hyperspectral images by integrating threshold exponential spectral angle map (TESAM), adaptive Markov random field (aMRF) and dynamic stochastic resonance (DSR). TESAM is performed to classify the cloud pixels coarsely based on spectral information. Then aMRF is performed to do optimal process by using spatial information, which improved the classification performance significantly. Some misclassification points still exist after aMRF processing because of the noisy data in the onboard environment. DSR is used to eliminate misclassification points in binary labeling image after aMRF. Taking level 0.5 data from hyperion as dataset, the average overall accuracy of the proposed algorithm is 96.28% after test. The method can provide cloud mask for the on-going EO-1 images and related satellites with the same spectral settings without manual intervention. The experiment indicate that the proposed method reveals better performance than the classical onboard cloud detection or current state-of-the-art hyperspectral classification methods.

The aim of this study is to analyze the characteristics of drought such as intensity, cumulative curves and trends, based on SPEI (Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index) at 8 stations in Korea from 1981 to 2010. The traditional SPEI is based on Thornthwaite equation for estimating evapotranspiration; SPEI_th. However, a standard of agricultural water management in Korea suggests FAO Penman-Monteith equation; SPEI_pm. In this study, we analyzed the intensity and trends of drought using SPEI_th and SPEI_pm, respectively, and analyzed the relationship between them. Both of central and southern region, the SPEIs were below -1.0 (moderated drought) for the periods May-August in the representative drought year such as 1988, 2001, and 2008-09. The frequency of drought was higher in southern region than central region. In addition, SPEI_pm showed slightly more intensive drought rather than SPEI_th except for Chuncheon and Gwangju. In 5 stations except for Cheoncheon, Gwangju and Jinju, the cumulative probability that SPEI_pm is below -1.5 was significantly increased from 1981-1995 to 1996-2010. As the results of drought trends, the increasing trend of SPEIs was shown on fall season, and the cumulative probability that SPEI_pm is below -1.5 was also significantly increased.

Hyperspectral anomaly detection is to recognize anomalies from complex scene in an unsupervised way. Currently, many spectral-spatial detection methods have been proposed with a cascaded manner. However, they often neglect complementary characteristics between spectral and spatial dimensions, which easily leads to yield high false alarm rate. To alleviate this issue, a spectral-spatial information fusion (SSIF) method is designed for hyperspectral anomaly detection. First, an isolation forest is exploited to obtain spectral anomaly map, in which the object-level feature is constructed with entropy rate segmentation algorithm. Then, a local spatial saliency detection scheme is proposed to produce spatial anomaly result. Finally, the spectral and spatial anomaly scores are integrated together followed by a domain transform recursive filtering to generate the final detection result. Experiments on five hyperspectral datasets prove that the proposed SSIF produces superior detection result over other state-of-the-art detection techniques.

Spectral unmixing represents both an application per se and a pre-processing step for several applications involving data acquired by imaging spectrometers. However, there is still a lack of publicly available reference data sets suitable for the validation and comparison of different spectral unmixing methods. In this paper we introduce the DLR HyperSpectral Unmixing (DLR HySU) benchmark dataset, acquired over German Aerospace Center (DLR) premises in Oberpfaffenhofen. The dataset includes airborne hyperspectral and RGB imagery of targets of different materials and sizes, complemented by simultaneous ground-based reflectance measurements. The DLR HySU benchmark allows a separate assessment of all spectral unmixing main steps: dimensionality estimation, endmember extraction (with and without pure pixe assumption), and abundance estimation. Results obtained with traditional algorithms for each of these steps are reported. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that real imaging spectrometer data with accurately measured targets are made available for hyperspectral unmixing experiments. The DLR HySU benchmark dataset is openly available online and the community is welcome to use it for spectral unmixing and other applications.

In this study, we investigate spectral structure of conformable Sturm-Liouville problems and with this end, we obtain representation of solutions under different initial conditions and asymptotic formulas for eigenfunctions, eigenvalues, norming constants and normalized eigenfunctions. Consequently, we prove the existence of infinitely many eigenvalues. Also, we compare the solutions with graphics with different orders, different eigenvalues, different potentials and so, we observe the behaviors of eigenfunctions. We give an application to the α-orthogonality of eigenfunctions and reality of eigenvalues for conformable Sturm-Liouville problems defined by [15] in the last section.

The knowledge of the optical properties of biological tissues in a wide spectral range is highly important for the development of noninvasive diagnostic or treatment procedures. The absorption coefficient is one of those properties, from which various information about tissue components can be retrieved. Using transmittance and reflectance spectral measurements acquired from ex vivo rabbit brain cortex samples, allowed to calculate its optical properties in the ultraviolet to the near infrared spectral range. Melanin and lipofuscin, the two pigments that are related to the ageing of tissues and cells were identified in the cortex absorption. By subtracting the absorption of these pigments from the absorption of the brain cortex, it was possible to evaluate the true ratios for the DNA/RNA and hemoglobin bands in the cortex – 12.33 fold (at 260 nm), 12.02 fold (at 411 nm) and 4.47 fold (at 555 nm). Due to the fact that the accumulation of melanin and lipofuscin increases with the ageing of the brain tissues and are related to the degeneration of neurons and their death, further studies should be performed to evaluate the evolution of pigment accumulation in the brain to prevent the development of Alzheimer, Parkinson and stroke pathologies in the brain.

Successful fertilization treatments targeted to improve stand productivity while reducing operational complexities and cost depend on a clear understanding of soil nutrient availability under varying environmental conditions. Soil nutrient data collected from 154 forest sites throughout the Inland Northwest, USA were analyzed to examine soil nutrient characteristics on different geologic soil parent materials and to rank soil fertility. Results show that soil parent material explains significant differences in soil nutrient availability. Soils developed from volcanic rocks have the highest CEC and are relatively high in P, K, S, Mg, Cu, Ca, and B, but generally poor in N. Forest soils developed from plutonic rocks exhibit the lowest CEC and are low in N, S, K, Mg, Cu, and Ca, but higher in P. Some soils located on mixed glacial till are low only in K, Cu, Mg, and Ca, but many glacial soils are relatively rich in other nutrients, albeit the second lowest CEC. Soils developed from metasedimentary and sedimentary rocks are among those with lowest soil nutrient availability for P and B. Sulfur was found to have the highest concentrations in metasedimentary influenced soils and the least in sedimentary derived soils. Our results should be useful in designing site-specific fertilizer and nutrient management prescriptions for forest stands growing on soils developed from these major geologies within the Inland Northwest region of the United States.

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

Spectral calibration consists of the calibration of wavelengths and the measurement of the instrument's spectral response function (SRF). Unlike conventional slits, the absorbed aerosol sensors (AAS) are used as a slit homogenizer, in which the spectral response function (SRF) is not a conventional Gaussian curve. To be more precise, the SRF is the convolution of the slit function of the spectrometer, the line spread function of the optical system, and the detector response function. The SRF of the slit homogenizer is a flat-topped multi-Gaussian function. Considering the convenience of fitting, a super-Gaussian function, which looks like a similar distribution to the flat-topped multi-Gaussian function, is used to fit the measured data in a spectral calibration. According to the results, the SRF’s shapes, due to the Earth port, resemble a Gaussian curve with a flatted top could be concluded, which contains an FWHM of 1.78–1.82 nm for the AAS. The results show that the correlation coefficients are about 0.99, which proves that the fitting function could better characterize the SRF of the instrument.

We propose a method for the estimation of the spectral response of a photodetector, using only the variation of the temperature of a black body source without the need of an expensive monochromator or a circular filter. The proposed method is suitable especially for infrared detectors in which the cut – off wavelength and the responsivity vs. wavelength is not exactly known. The method provides a rough estimation of the curve S(l) solving a Fredholm integral equation of the first kind. The precision of this technique depends on the number of temperatures at which the detector output is measured. Some example is given in order to better explain the proposed technique.

Multi-task Gaussian processes (MTGPs) are a powerful approach for modeling structured dependencies among multiple tasks. Researchers on MTGPs have contributed to enhance this approach in various ways. Current MTGP methods, however, cannot model nonlinear task correlations in a general way. In this paper we address this problem. We focus on spectral mixture (SM) based kernels and propose an enhancement of this type of kernels, called multi-task generalized convolution spectral mixture (MT-GCSM) kernel. The MT-GCSM kernel can model nonlinear task correlations and mixtures dependency, including time and phase delay, not only between different tasks but also within a task at the spectral mixture level. Each task in MT-GCSM has its own generalized convolution spectral mixture kernel (GCSM) with a different number of convolution structures and all spectral mixtures from different tasks are dependent. Furthermore, the proposed kernel uses inner and outer full cross convolution between base spectral mixtures, so that the base spectral mixtures in the tasks are not necessarily aligned. Extensive experiments on synthetic and real-life datasets illustrate the difference between MT-GCSM and other kernels as well as the practical effectiveness of MT-GCSM.

The Absorbing/scattering nature of aerosols affects the total radiative forcing and this absorption to total extinction ratio is quantified by single scattering albedo (SSA). Effect of SSA in the Ultraviolet (UV) irradiance is less studied and limited measurements are available. SSA retrieved at Athens, Greece during 2009-2014 from Ultraviolet Multifilter Radiometer (UVMFR) at 332 and 368 nm, were used to calculate incoming UV irradiance, alongside with ones from AERONET at visible wavelengths, from OMI satellite at 342.5 nm and from AEROCOM climatological database at 300 nm. UVA and UVB irradiances were estimated using a Radiative Transfer Model and we found that relative differences could be as high as 20%, while average relative differences varied from 2% to 8.7 % for the whole experimental period. Both UVA and UVB drop by a rate of ~12% for 0.05 aerosol absorption optical depth compared to ones estimated using SSA at visible range. Brewer irradiance measurements at 324nm were used to validate simulated irradiances and a better agreement was found when UVMFR SSAs were used with an average difference of 0.86%, while when using visible or climatological input, relative differences were estimated +4.91 and +4.15% accordingly.

Microwave transversal filters, which are implemented based on the transversal filter structure in digital signal processing, offer a high reconfigurability for achieving a variety of signal processing functions without changing hardware. When implemented using microwave photonic (MWP) technologies, also known as MWP transversal filters, they provide competitive advantages over their electrical counterparts, such as low loss, large operation bandwidth, and strong immunity to electromagnetic interference. Recent advances in high-performance optical microcombs provide compact and powerful multi-wavelength sources for MWP transversal filters that require a larger number of wavelength channels to achieve high performance, allowing for the demonstration of a diverse range of filter functions with improved performance and new features. Here, we present a comprehensive performance analysis for microcomb-based MWP spectral filters based on the transversal filter approach. First, we investigate the theoretical limitations in the filter spectral response induced by finite tap numbers. Next, we analyze the distortions in the filter spectral response resulting from experimental error sources. Finally, we assess the influence of input signal’s bandwidth on the filtering errors. These results provide a valuable guide for the design and optimization of microcomb-based MWP transversal filters for a variety of applications.

A quantum time-dependent spectrum analysis, or simply, quantum spectral analysis (QSA) is presented in this work, and it’s based on Schrödinger’s equation. In the classical world, it is named frequency in time (FIT), which is used here as a complement of the traditional frequency-dependent spectral analysis based on Fourier theory. Besides, FIT is a metric which assesses the impact of the flanks of a signal on its frequency spectrum - not taken into account by Fourier theory and let alone in real time. Even more, and unlike all derived tools from Fourier Theory (i.e., continuous, discrete, fast, short-time, fractional and quantum Fourier Transform, as well as, Gabor) FIT has the following advantages, among others: a) compact support with excellent energy output treatment, b) low computational cost, O(N) for signals and O(N2) for images, c) it does not have phase uncertainties (i.e., indeterminate phase for a magnitude = 0) as in the case of Discrete and Fast Fourier Transform (DFT, FFT, respectively). Finally, we can apply QSA to a quantum signal, that is, to a qubit stream in order to analyze it spectrally.

Background: to analyze the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on characteristics and management of uveal melanoma (UM) in National Referral Center in Poland. Materials and Methods: the retrospective analysis of 1336 patients who were newly diagnosed with UM at Department of Ophthalmology and Ophthalmic Oncology, Jagiellonian University Collegium Medicum Krakow, Poland between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2021. The demographic and clinical data were compiled including localization, size and treatment methods of tumors. Results: In total, 728 patients with UM were included before COVID-19 pandemic in years 2018-2019 and 608 were included during COVID-19 pandemic in years 2020-2021. Fixed-base dynamics indicators for the incidence of uveal melanoma (base year 2018) in the national referral center in Poland were 80.22% and 86.81% in year 2020 and 2021, respectively. UMs were statistically significantly larger and more frequently localized anterior to the equator of the eye globe in year 2021 than in year 2018 (Chi^2 Pearson test p= 0.0001 and p= 0.0077, respectively). The rate of patients treated with enucleation increased from 15.94% in year 2018 to 26.90% in year 2021 (Chi^2 Pearson test p=0.0005). Conclusions: statistically significant differences were found in the management of uveal melanoma in National Referral Center in Poland during COVID-19 pandemic with tumors being larger, more frequently localized anterior to the equator of the eye globe and more often enucleated.

We propose a spectral filter based on Plastic Optical Fiber with micro-holes as a low-cost, robust, and highly reproducible spectral filter. The spectral filter is explored for two configurations: fiber extended in a straight line, and a fiber optic loop mirror scheme configuration. The transmission traces indicate a spectral blue shift of peak transmission, at 587 nm, 567 nm, 556 nm, and 536 nm for 0, 1, 2, and 3 holes in the fiber, respectively. The filter exhibits a bandpass period of approximately 120 nm. Additionally, we conducted a comparison of the transmission with holes separated by distances of 1 cm and 500 μm. The results demonstrate that the distance between holes does not alter the spectral transmission of the filter. In the case of the fiber loop mirror configuration, we observed that the bandpass can be adjusted, suggesting the presence of multimode interference. Exploring variations in the refractive index within the holes by filling them with glucose solutions at various concentrations, we determined that the filtering band and spectral shape remains unaltered, ensuring a stable and robust operation of our spectral filter.

The key to ensuring the sustainability of transportation operations on the roads is to manage traffic flows homogeneously. By homogenizing the behavior of various drivers, traffic operation can be optimized, and traffic safety can be improved. However, the advent of autonomous vehicles is expected to have a major impact on the homogeneity of sustainable transportation operations. In this study, a method of driving in harmony with surrounding vehicles was studied to minimize the impact of autonomous vehicles on current traffic operation. In particular, in this study, a methodology was developed to optimize the driving behavior of autonomous vehicles by analyzing the driving behavior of following vehicles using spectrum analysis. Specifically, a method for calculating three indicators that can analyze the driving behavior of a following vehicle, such as reaction time, stimulus adaptation index, and collision risk avoidance index, was proposed. These indices produced consistent and robust results for all traffic conditions. If these indicators are used, it is expected that sustainable traffic management will be possible even when autonomous vehicles and human drivers are mixed on the road.

Polarisation analysis in the mid-infrared fingerprint region was carried out on thin (∼1μm) Si and SiO2 films evaporated via glancing angle deposition (GLAD) method at 70∘ to the normal. Synchrotron-based infrared microspectroscopic measurements were carried out on the Infrared Microspectroscopy (IRM) beamline at Australian Synchrotron. Specific absorption bands, particularly Si-O-Si stretching vibration, was found to follow the angular dependence of ∼cos2θ, consistent with the absorption anisotropy. This unexpected anisotropy stems from the enhanced absorption in nano-crevices, which have orientation following the cos2θ angular dependence as revealed by Fourier transforming the image of the surface of 3D columnar films and numerical modeling of light field enhancement by sub-wavelength nano-crevices.

We present progress in fast, high-resolution imaging, material classification, and fault detection using hyperspectral X-ray measurements. Classical X-ray CT approaches rely on data from many projection angles, resulting in long acquisition and reconstruction times. Additionally, conventional CT cannot distinguish between materials with similar densities. However, in additive manufacturing, the majority of materials used are known a priori. This knowledge allows to vastly reduce the data collected and increase the accuracy of fault detection. In this context, we propose an imaging method for non-destructive testing of materials based on the combination of spectral X-ray CT and discrete tomography. We explore the use of spectral X-ray attenuation models and measurements to recover the characteristic functions of materials in heterogeneous media with piece-wise uniform composition. We show by means of numerical simulation that using spectral measurements from a small number of angles, our approach can alleviate the typical deterioration of spatial resolution and the appearance of streaking artifacts.

The Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) onboard the Geostationary Korean Multi-Purpose Satellite 2B was successfully launched in February 2020. GEMS is a hyperspectral spectrometer measuring solar irradiance and Earth radiance in the range of 300 to 500 nm. This paper introduces the spectral calibration algorithm for GEMS, which uses a nonlinear least-squares approach. To assess the performance of the algorithm, sensitivity tests for a series of spectral parameters such as shift, spectral range for fitting, signal-to-noise ratio, spectral response function (SRF), and reference spectrum have been conducted. To improve the assessment, a synthetic GEMS spectrum using the prelaunch GEMS SRF is adopted here. The test results show that the required accuracy (0.002 nm) is achievable for the expected uncertainties of the parameters except for the SRF and the choice of high-resolution reference spectrum, which degrade the algorithm performance by an order magnitude. To mitigate the sensitivity to SRF, retrieval of in-orbit SRF using an analytic function is suggested. Finally, a few candidates for the high-resolution solar reference spectrum are prepared for testing by the instrument during in-orbit tests.

The identification of bloodstain is one of the most important approaches in obtaining evidence in criminalistics. A threshold method based on spectral co-efficient and interclass variance is proposed in this paper, it is a non-contact, non-destructive method for quickly identifying bloodstains. The spectra of bloodstains and other suspected substances were all extracted from their hyper-spectral image. Then calculate the correlation coefficients of these spectral and interclass variances, analyze the differences between substances. The best blood recognition threshold was determined as 0.9. After preprocessing for eliminating systematic errors, experiments with the threshold 0.9 are carried out to identify bloodstains on the calico and red T-shirt. The method can remarkably identify the bloodstain from other non-blood substances both quickly and efficiently. The blood extraction rate can reach to 93.35% and 89.19%, respectively. It is an important step toward the implementation of bloodstain non-contact and non-destructive identification in forensic casework.

The one-dimensional gas of bosons interacting via a repulsive contact potential was solved long ago via Bethe's ansatz by Lieb and Liniger [Phys. Rev. {\bf 130}, 1605 (1963)]. The low energy excitation spectrum is a Luttinger liquid parametrized by a conformal field theory with conformal charge $c=1$. For higher energy excitations the spectral function displays deviations from the Luttinger behavior arising from the curvature terms in the dispersion. Adding a corrective term of the form of a mobile impurity coupled to the Luttinger liquid modes corrects this problem. The ``impurity'' term is an irrelevant operator, which if treated non-perturbatively, yields the threshold singularities in the one-particle and one-hole hole Green's function correctly. We show that the exponents obtained via the finite size corrections to the ground state energy are identical to those obtained through the shift function.

Dolichandrone spathacea is a rare and endangered semi-mangrove plant species with an extremely small population, naturally distributed only in Zhanjiang City and the east coast of Hainan Island, China. Regrettably, the present situation of the D. spathacea population in China has not yet been carefully investigated. In this study, we aim to evaluate the current resource status and population dynamic characteristics of D. spathacea on Hainan Island, China, in order to propose sustainable conservation and management strategies for future ecological restoration of its natural population. Our results show that D. spathacea on Hainan Island can be divided into four populations. All the D. spathacea populations present a state of overall dispersion, local concentration, and occasionally sporadic existence, and they exist in geographical isolation. The young, middle, and old D. spathacea plants account for 20.42%, 66.20%, and 13.38%, respectively, indicating that the overall age class of the D. spathacea population on Hainan Island belongs to a declining type. Furthermore, instead of temporal structure, we chose diameter at breast height (DBH) to establish a static life table, draw a population survival curve, and quantify the future development trend through population dynamic analysis and time-series prediction. These results directly point out that the D. spathacea population on Hainan Island is sensitive to external disturbances and possesses two main increases in mortality rate—namely, in its juvenile and mature stages—due to weak vitality, competition, and anthropogenic interferences, which are the most important reasons for its endangered status. Depending on the current conditions of the D. spathacea population, we should conserve and expand mature trees in situ, preserve their germplasm resources, rehabilitate their habitats to promote provenance restoration, and conduct artificial cultivation and spreading planting in order to realize the sustainable conservation and management of D. spathacea.

Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) continues to be a disease with high mortality despite medical advances. Objective: To investigate the characteristics and prognosis of IE according to the affected valves. Material and methods: The study is retrospective, single-center, cross-sectional and includes 270 patients with diagnosis IE, for the period 2005 – 2021, who received treatment at the University Hospital "St. Georgi" in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Results: Single-valve IE (SIE) was found in 82.6% (n-222), multivalvular IE (MIE) in 16.66% (n=45) and device IE (CDRIE) in 0.74% (n=2) patients. The most commonly affected valve was the aortic 44.8% (n=121). The predominant multivalvular involvement was aortic-mitral valves (AV-MV) – 13.7% (n=37). The patients with tricuspid valve (TV) IE were significantly younger – 39 (30) years and were more frequently male (80.8%). Mortality was higher in MIE than SIE (31.1% vs 23.8%) and highest in multivalve aortic-tricuspid (AV-TV) IE (75%). Early surgery was done most in AV-MV IE 29.7% (n=11). Charlson comorbidity index was significantly higher in MV 4 (4) and AV 3 (3) than TV IE 1 (5) (p=0.048 and p=0.011, respectively). Septic shock occurred most frequently in AV-TV involvement (75%; p=0.0001). The most common causative agent was Staphylococcus group. Staphylococcus aureus affected more often TV alone 46.2% (n=124) vs. AV 9.9% (n=14); p=0.0001 and vs. MV 22.6% (n=17), p=0.022; Staphylococcus coagulase-negative (CNG) was the prevalent cause of MV IE 22.7% (n=17) vs AV-MV 2.7% (n=1); p=0.007. Streptococci were represented in a low percentage and only in left-sided IE, and more frequently in AV-MV 18.9% (n=7); vs. AV 6.6% (n=8); (p=0.025). Conclusion: Aortic valve is the most frequently affected valve, as single valve IE or multivalve AV-MV, with the predominant causative agents Staphylococcus group. The AV-TV IE has the worst prognosis, with the most common complication of septic shock and the highest in-hospital mortality.

Aiming at the classification identification problem of aeroengines, this paper adopts telemetry Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer to collect aeroengine hot jet infrared spectrum data, and proposes an aeroengine classification identification method based on spectral feature vectors. First, aeroengine hot jet infrared spectrum data are acquired and measured, meanwhile, the spectral feature vectors based on CO2 are constructed. Then, the feature vectors are combined with the seven mainstream classification algorithms to complete the training and prediction of the classification model. In the experiment, two Fourier transform infrared spectrometers, EM27 developed by Bruker and a self-developed telemetry FTIR, were used to telemeter the hot jet of three aeroengines to obtain infrared spectral data. The training data set and test data set were randomly divided in a ratio of 3:1. The model training of the training data set and the label prediction of the test data set were carried out by combining spectral feature vectors and classification algorithms. The classification evaluation indicators were accuracy, precision, recall, confusion matrix, and F1-score. The classification recognition accuracy of the algorithm was approximately 98%. This paper has great significance for the fault diagnosis of aeroengines and classification recognition of aircrafts.

As a radiant light source within the dynamic range of most spacecraft payloads, the moon pro-vides an excellent reference for on-orbit radiometric calibration. This research hinges on the pre-cise simulation of lunar spectral irradiances and the Earth-based Moon observation geometry. The paper leverages the Hapke model to simulate the temporal changes in lunar spectral irradi-ances, utilizing datasets obtained from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC). The re-search also details the transformation process from the lunar geographic coordinate system to the instantaneous projection coordinate system, thereby delineating the necessary observational geometry. The insights offered by this study have the potential to enhance future in-orbit space-craft calibration procedures, thereby boosting the fidelity of data gathered from satellite obser-vations.

Through the use of machine learning algorithms like the Support Vector Machine, it has been show that burn extent can be accurately mapped from hyperspatial drone imagery in both grasslands and forests. Despite these successes, hyperspatial imagery must be acquired via drones, requiring large amounts of time and resources to capture areas much smaller than the large catastrophic fires which result in the majority of the lands burned each year by wildland fires. To overcome this difficulty, high spatial resolution satellite imagery from Worldview2 can be substituted for hyperspatial drone imagery, allowing for larger regions of images to be acquired more easily and efficiently. Additionally, Worldview2 trades spatial resolution for spectral resolution and extent, capturing images in 8 multispectral bands as opposed to 3 band imagery in the visible spectra. This research examines the utility of each of the 8 bands observed in Worldview2 imagery using an Iterative Dichotomiser 3 decision tree, then uses these bands to map burn extent and biomass consumption. Several classifications of burn extent and biomass consumption are produced and compared based on the bands used as inputs. The results show that using Worldview2 imagery to map burn extent and biomass consumption results in highly accurate maps, with slight improvements when additional bands are added.

This paper develops the study of the effect of powerful ultrasound on the laser breakdown of liquids and a comparative study of the possibilities of acoustic and optical diagnostics of breakdown. The method of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for elemental analysis of liquids, along with high efficiency, continues to be less sensitive compared to traditional chemical methods. The paper develops a method of using additional ultrasound irradiation of the laser breakdown area in order to increase the efficiency of LIBS. Using the developed technique, spectral lines of chemical elements such as potassium, manganese, sodium, calcium, etc. were obtained for the first time depending on the frequency and power of ultrasound. It is shown that a sharp increase in the intensity of spectral lines of elements in water during laser breakdown is observed in the field of high-power ultrasound. It indicates an increase in the sensitivity of the combined method of ultrasonic LIBS. Along with the optical spectrum, the spectral and energy characteristics of acoustic emission were studied. An automated complex for hydrophysical and spectral studies is described, which was tested in the Sea of Japan during the voyage No. 81 of the research vessel RV "Professor Gagarinsky" in August 2022.

Fractional differential equations have become a fundamental modelling approach for understanding and simulating the many aspects of nonlocality and spatial heterogeneity of complex materials and systems. Yet, while real-order fractional operators are nowadays widely adopted, little progress has been made in extending such operators to complex-order counterparts. In this work, we introduce new definitions for the complex-order fractional Laplacian, fully consistent with the theory of averaging of smooth functions over fractal sets, and present tailored spectral methods for their numerical treatment. The proposed complex-order operators exhibit a dual particle-wave behaviour, with solutions manifesting wave-like features depending on the magnitude of the imaginary part of the fractional order. Reaction-diffusion systems driven by the complex-order fractional Laplacian exhibit unique spatio-temporal dynamics, such as equilibrium of diffusion in random materials by interference of scattered waves, conduction block and highly fractionated propagation, or the generation of completely novel Turing patterns. Taken together, our results support that the proposed complex-order operators hold unparalleled capabilities to advance the description of multiscale transport phenomena in physical and biological processes highly influenced by the heterogeneity of complex media.

Tree condition, pruning and orchard management practices within intensive horticultural tree crop systems can be determined via measurements of tree structure. Multi-spectral imagery acquired from an unmanned aerial system (UAS) has been demonstrated as an accurate and efficient platform for measuring various tree structural attributes, but research in complex horticultural environments has been limited. This research established a methodology for accurately estimating tree crown height, extent, plant projective cover (PPC) and condition of avocado tree crops, from a UAS platform. Individual tree crowns were delineated using object-based image analysis. In comparison to field measured canopy heights, an image-derived canopy height model provided a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.65 and relative root mean squared error of 6%. Tree crown length perpendicular to the hedgerow was accurately mapped. PPC was measured using spectral and textural image information and produced an R2 value of 0.62 against field data. A random forest classifier was applied to assign tree condition into four categories in accordance with industry standards, producing out-of-bag accuracies >96%. Our results demonstrate the potential of UAS-based mapping for the provision of information to support the horticulture industry and facilitate orchard-based assessment and management.

A Q-switched Nd:YAG laser was focused on Pb-Ti alloy samples in several Laser Induced Breakdown experiments in order to measure the Stark parameters of several spectral lines (58) of single ionized Titanium including the 3504.89 Å, and the 3510.83 Ålines (where we aported new experimental and theoretical values).Diagnostics of the laser induced plasmas (electron density and electron temperature) was performed using Balmer’s H alpha line (6562.7 Å).Temperatures were obtained by the Boltzmann Plot technique with spectral lines of Pb I (after correction for its evident self-absorption).Subsequently, calculations by the Griem approach of the Stark broadening parameters for several spectral lines were performed using the Gaunt factors proposed by Van Regemorter and those proposed by Douglas H. Sampson. In the latter cases the values obtained were very close to the experimental values. It allows us to assume that the calculations made for the spectral lines of Ti II, without experimental information, are more accurate using the Gaunt factors proposed by Sampson.

The growing interest in benchtop NMR systems is visible in a vast number of applications in science and industry. Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) became an instant in technologies that productions are dependent on the reliable structure identification, grade and purity control, chemical process inspection or reaction monitoring. Beyond the benefits of being cost-, space-, maintenance- and user friendly, insufficient sensitivity and low signal resolution are the main drawbacks, due to which the low-field NMR (LF-NMR) in the fields of organic chemistry and synthesis remains limited to solely academic teaching purposes. Herein, we discuss the possibilities of LF-NMR for the needs of organic chemistry and synthesis on a set of compounds 1-4 achieved as the products of student’s laboratory course and organic derivatives 5-8 that are from our research interests. Chemical structure determination of all compounds 1-8 presented herein was performed using the benchtop-type NMR instrument operating at 60 MHz (Pulsar Oxford Ltd.). Structure of novel compounds 5-7 prepared under the aims of our research was characterized by combined 1H/19LF-NMR and compared with an appropriate high-field NMR data from Bruker Ascend Instrument (400 MHz). Finally, possibilities of the low-field NMR as an analytical tool for the research purposes in the fields of organic chemistry and synthesis are documented on a set of 1H and 2D 1H-1H COSY for azomethine 8.

Accurate estimation of chlorophyll content in wheat leaves can not only reflect its growth and nutritional status, but also provide a scientific basis for field management. In order to evaluate the potential of hyperspectral data to estimate the chlorophyll content of wheat leaves, this study focused on the leaves of wheat at the flag-picking stage, flowering stage, grain filling stage and maturity stage. Based on the framework of five vegetation indexes, the spectral index was con-structed by using the combination of 400-1000nm bands, and the correlation between the con-structed spectral index and the measured chlorophyll value was analyzed, and the optimal spectral index was screened by the correlation coefficient. Based on the optimal spectral index, polynomial regression, random forest, decision tree and artificial neural network were used to establish the estimation model of chlorophyll value, and the optimal model for estimating the chlorophyll value of wheat leaves was selected through model evaluation. The results showed that the five optimal spectral indices at the four growth stages were mainly composed of red band, red edge band and near-infrared band, and the five optimal spectral indices at the grain filling stage had the highest correlation with the chlorophyll value, and the absolute value of the cor-relation coefficient was greater than 0.73, the accuracy of the estimation model established in the four growth stages was different, and the estimation accuracy of the flag stage was the best, with R² and RMSE of 0.79 and 2.63, respectively. The above results show that hyperspectral data is suitable for estimating the chlorophyll value of wheat leaves, and the PR model of flag picking period can be used as the optimal model for estimating the chlorophyll value of wheat leaves.

In this paper, we demonstrate a useful interaction between the theory of clique partitions, edge clique covers of a graph, and the spectra of graphs. Using a clique partition and an edge clique cover of a graph we introduce the notion of a vertex-clique incidence matrix for a graph and produce new lower bounds for the negative eigenvalues and negative inertia of a graph. Moreover, utilizing these vertex-clique incidence matrices, we generalize several notions such as the signless Laplacian matrix, and develop bounds on the incidence energy and the signless Laplacian energy of the graph. %The tight upper bounds for the energies of a graph and its line graph are given. More generally, we also consider the set $S(G)$ of all real-valued symmetric matrices whose off-diagonal entries are nonzero precisely when the corresponding vertices of the graph are adjacent. An important parameter in this setting is $q(G)$, and is defined to be the minimum number of distinct eigenvalues over all matrices in $S(G)$. For a given graph $G$ the concept of a vertex-clique incidence matrix associated with an edge clique cover is applied to establish several classes of graphs with $q(G)=2$.

This study introduces a new procedure for three-component spectral matching of seismic ground acceleration records. The procedure involves preserving the phase angle and varying the Fourier amplitudes to match the spectra of the recorded records with a provided target spectrum that represents the spectral values of ground motions in three orthogonal directions. Several three-component recorded records were matched against two target response spectra to test the method. An accurate convergence was achieved in the velocity and displacement records. In addition, the scales among the components’ magnitude were maintained, creating realistic three-component ground motions. Such ground motion inputs are important to qualify critical structures sensitive to three-component motions. Our proposed procedure is novel because the present practices are mostly created based on one-component ground motions.

The mean flow and turbulence statistics of the flow through a simplified urban environment, which is an active research area in order to improve the knowledge of turbulent flow in cities, is investigated. This is useful for civil engineering, pedestrian comfort and for health concerns caused by pollutant spreading. In this work, we provide analysis of the turbulence statistics obtained from well-resolved large-eddy simulations (LES). A detailed analysis of this database reveals the impact of the geometry of the urban array on the flow characteristics and provides for a good description of the turbulent features of the flow within a simplified urban environment. The most prominent features of this complex flow include coherent vortical structures such as the so-called arch vortex, the horseshoe vortex and the roof vortex. These structures of the flow have been identified by an analysis of the turbulence statistics. The influence of the geometry of the urban environment (and particularly the street width and the building height) on the overall flow behavior have also been studied. Finally, the well-resolved LES results were compared with the experimental database from Monnier et al. to discuss differences and similarities between the respective urban configurations.

We calculate the spectral function of a boson ladder in an artificial magnetic field by means of analytic approaches based on bosonization and Bogoliubov theory. We discuss the evolution of the spectral function at increasing effective magnetic flux, from the Meissner to the Vortex phase, focussing on the effects of incommensurations in momentum space. At low flux, in the Meissner phase, the spectral function displays both a gapless branch and a gapped one, while at higher flux, in the Vortex phase, the spectral function displays two gapless branches and the spectral weight is shifted at a wavevector associated to the underlying vortex spatial structure which can indicate a 8 supersolid-like behavior. While the Bogoliubov theory, valid at weak interactions, predicts sharp delta-like features in the spectral function, at stronger interactions we find power-law broadening of 10 the spectral functions due to quantum fluctuations as well as additional spectral weight at higher 11 momenta due to backscattering and incommensuration effects. These features could be accessed in 12 ultracold atom experiments using radio-frequency spectroscopy techniques.

In this paper, design of optical spectral filters based on mode coupling of optical fibers is presented. The finite difference method is applied to find the dispersion characteristics of optical fiber coupler constructing from two fibers as a composite multi-dielectric waveguide with different cores but the same cladding. Also, the field distribution for both fibers as a separate and as a composite waveguide. The spectral characteristics of the filters are investigated depending on the coupling of two linear polarized modes LP01 and LP11. The dependence of the transmission coefficient on operating wavelengths is illustrated. Finally, the spectral bandwidth of filter as a function of the distance between the two cores is addressed.

There is increasing interdisciplinary interest in phytoplankton community dynamics as the growing environmental problems of water quality (particularly eutrophication) and climate change demand attention. This has led to a pressing need for improved biophysical and causal understanding of Phytoplankton Functional Type (PFT) optical signals, in order that satellite radiometry may be used to detect ecologically relevant phytoplankton assemblage changes. This understanding can best be achieved with biophysically and biogeochemically consistent phytoplankton Inherent Optical Property (IOP) models, as it is only via modelling that phytoplankton assemblage characteristics can be examined systematically in relation to the bulk optical waterleaving signal. The Equivalent Algal Populations (EAP) model is used here to investigate the source and magnitude of size- and pigment- driven PFT signals in the water-leaving reflectance, as well as the potential to detect these using satellite radiometry. This model places emphasis on explicit biophysical modelling of the phytoplankton population as a holistic determinant of IOPs, and a distinctive attribute is its comprehensive handling of the spectral and angular character of phytoplankton scattering. Selected case studies and sensitivity analyses reveal that phytoplankton spectral scattering is the primary driver of the PFT-related signal. Key findings are that the backscattering-driven signal in the 520 to 600 nm region is the critical PFT identifier at marginal biomass, and that while PFT information does appear at blue and red wavelengths, it is compromised by biomass/gelbstoff ambiguity in the blue and low signal in the red, due primarily to absorption by water. These findings are hoped to provide considerable insight into the next generation of PFT algorithms.

Satellite scene classification is challenging because of the high variability inherent in satellite data. Although rapid progress in remote sensing techniques has been witnessed in recent years, the resolution of the available satellite images remains limited compared with the general images acquired using a common camera. On the other hand, a satellite image usually has a greater number of spectral bands than a general image, thereby permitting the multi-spectral analysis of different land materials and promoting low-resolution satellite scene recognition. This study advocates multi-spectral analysis and explores the middle-level statistics of spectral information for satellite scene representation instead of using spatial analysis. This approach is widely utilized in general image and natural scene classification and achieved promising recognition performance for different applications. The proposed multi-spectral analysis firstly learns the multi-spectral prototypes (codebook) for representing any pixel-wise spectral data, and then based on the learned codebook, a sparse coded spectral vector can be obtained with machine learning techniques. Furthermore, in order to combine the set of coded spectral vectors in a satellite scene image, we propose a hybrid aggregation (pooling) approach, instead of conventional averaging and max pooling, which includes the benefits of the two existing methods but avoids extremely noisy coded values. Experiments on three satellite datasets validated that the performance of our proposed approach is much more accurate than even the deep learning framework for spatial analysis.

Bistatic radar experiments have been used to study surface characteristics of extra-terrestrial bodies in the Solar System, including the Moon, Venus, Mars, and Titan. This paper proposes a 3D model to characterize the scattered field of a Gaussian rough surface on an extra-terrestrial body for an orbital bistatic radar configuration. Specifically, this model will investigate how the variability of surface roughness impacts the spectral broadening of the received signal using physical optics approximations and ray tracing on a surface model using a facet approach with Gaussian properties. A linear relationship between spectral broadening of the signal and surface roughness was found. This relationship is in line with results obtained by commonly used analytical models for bistatic radar on planetary surfaces.

Abstract: The YF3: (Eu3+, Nd3+) nanoparticles (orthorhombic phase, D ~ 130 nm)) were synthesized via the co-precipitation method with subsequent hydrothermal treatment and annealing. The Eu3+ τdecay linearly descends with the increase of temperature in the 80 - 320 K range. The τdecay (T) slope values of the annealed YF3: Eu3+ (2.5 and 5.0 mol. %) nanoparticles were the highest (110·10-4 and 67·10-4, μs/K in the whole 80 – 320 K range, respectively. Thus, these samples were chosen for further doping with Nd3+. The maximum Sa and Sr values based on the LIR (IEu/INd) function were 0.67 K-1 (at 80 K) and 0.86 %·K-1 (at 154 K), respectively. As it was mentioned above, the sin-gle-doped YF3: Eu3+ (2.5. %) nanoparticles showed the linearly decreasing τdecay (T) function (5D0 – 7F1 emission). The main idea of Nd3+ co-doping was to increase this slope value (as well as the sensitivity) by increasing the rate of τdecay (T) descent via the addition of one more tempera-ture-dependent channel of 5D0 excited state depopulation. Indeed, we managed to increase the slope (Sa) up to 180·10-4 K-1 at 80 K. This result is one of the highest compared to the world analogs.

A new method of line shape calculations of hydrogen-like atoms in magnetized plasmas is presented. This algorithm makes it possible to solve two fundamental problems in the broadening theory: the analytical description of the radiation transition array between excited atomic states and account of a thermal ion motion effect on the line shapes formation. The solution to the first problem is based on the semiclassical approach to dipole matrix elements calculations and the usage of the specific symmetry properises of the Coulomb field. The second one is considered in terms of the kinetic treatment of the frequency fluctuation model (FFM). As the result one has a universal description of line shapes under the action of the dynamic of ion’s microfield. The final line shape is obtained by the convolution of the ionic line shape with the Voigt electron-Doppler profile. The method is applicable formally for large values of principle quantum numbers. However, it is demonstrated the efficiency of the results even for well known first members of the hydrogen Balmer series Dalpha and Dbeta. The comparison of obtained results with accurate quantum calculations is presented. The new method may be of interest for investigations of spectral line shapes of hydrogen-like ions presented in different kinds of hot ionized environments with the presence of a magnetic field, including SoL and divertor tokamak plasmas.

The possibility to test a radio frequency transceiver through the use of appropriate channel emulators allows to evaluate their performance under various operating conditions. Many systems are able to operate with a relatively limited instantaneous bandwidth by applying known statistical models. Sometimes it is necessary to evaluate the performance of a RF transceiver installed on high or very high speed platforms over predictable trajectories using optionally DEMs (Digital Elevation Models)data of the terrain to estimate the number of stimulated paths and their contributions during the flight. When the instantaneous bandwidth of the signal becomes high (over several hundred of MHz), one of the most important phenomenon to consider is the Doppler spread induced by the channel and traditional narrowband models become unuseful. In this paper there are presented some results when a time expansion is adopted in order to emulate the transceiver dynamic and the consequent Doppler spread with the aim to control the spectral purity of the emulated propagation channel.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) provide an unprecedented capacity to monitor the development and dynamics of tree growth and structure through time. It is generally thought that the pruning of tree crops encourages new growth, has a positive effect on fruiting, makes fruit-picking easier, and may increase yield, as it increases light interception and tree crown surface area. To establish the response of pruning in an orchard of lychee trees, an assessment of changes in tree structure, i.e. tree crown perimeter, width, height, area and Plant Projective Cover (PPC), was undertaken using multi-spectral UAV imagery collected before and after a pruning event. While tree crown perimeter, width and area could be derived directly from the delineated tree crowns, height was estimated from a produced canopy height model and PPC was most accurately predicted based on the NIR band. Pre- and post-pruning results showed significant differences in all measured tree structural parameters, including an average decrease in tree crown perimeter of 1.94 m, tree crown width of 0.57 m, tree crown height of 0.62 m, tree crown area of 3.5 m², and PPC of 14.8%. In order to provide guidance on data collection protocols for orchard management, the impact of flying height variations was also examined, offering some insight into the influence of scale and the scalability of this UAV based approach for larger orchards. The different flying heights (i.e. 30, 50 and 70 m) produced similar measurements of tree crown width and PPC, while tree crown perimeter, area and height measurements decreased with increasing flying height. Overall, these results illustrate that routine collection of multi-spectral UAV imagery can provide a means of assessing pruning effects on changes in tree structure in commercial orchards, and highlight the importance of collecting imagery with consistent flight configurations, as varying flying heights may cause changes to tree structural measurements.

The endocannabinoid system (eCB) began to be studied from the identification of the molecular structures present in the cannabis sativa plant. The ECS is constituted of cannabinoid receptors, endogenous ligands and all the associated enzymatic apparatus responsible for maintaining homeostasis. Several physiological effects of cannabinoids are exerted through interaction with various receptors such as CB1 and CB2 receptors, vanilloid receptors, and the recently discovered [GPCRs (GPR55, GPR3, GPR6, GPR12 and GPR19). Endogenous ligands such anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol might modulate these receptors. eCB has proved to play a critical role in some human diseases and has been extensively studied due to its wide therapeutic potential and because it is a promising target for the development of new drugs. Phytocannabinoids and synthetic cannabinoids have shown varied affinities to eCB, which are relevant to the treatment of various diseases. They may also have potential as lead compounds in the development of cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals for a variety of diseases. Furthermore, Integrative and Complementary Health Practices (ICHP) appear to influence the endocannabinoid system through modulation. This review will show a description of ECS components and discuss how phytocannabinoids, other exogenous compounds, and PICS may operate the eCB balance.

Weather surveillance radars routinely detect smoke of various origin. Of particular significance to the meteorological community are wildfires in forests and/or prairies. For example, one responsibility of the National Weather Service in the USA is to forecast fire outlooks as well as to monitor wild fire evolution. Polarimetric variables have enabled relatively easy recognitions of smoke plumes in data fields of weather radars. Presented here are the fields of these variables from smoke plumes caused by grass fire, brush fire, and forest fire. Histograms of polarimetric data from plumes contrast these three cases. Most of the data are from the polarimetric Weather Surveillance Radar 1988 Doppler (WSR-88D aka Nexrad, 10 cm wavelength) hence the wavelength does not influence these comparisons. Nevertheless, in one case simultaneous observations of a plume by the operational Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR, 5 cm wavelength) and a WSR-88D is used to infer backscattering characteristic and hence sizes of dominant contributors to the returns. In addition, comparisons with observations by other investigators of plumes from urban area but at a 5 cm wavelength are made. To interpret some measurements Computational Electromagnetics (CEM) tools are applied.

Social customer relationship management (SCRM) is a new philosophy influencing the relationship between customer and organization, where the customer gets opportunity to control relationship through social media. The paper aims on (a) identification of current level of SCRM and also on (b) influence of basic organizational characteristics on SCRM level. The data were gathered through the questionnaire distributed in 362 organization headquartered in the Czech Republic. The questionnaire comprised 54 questions focusing on the significance of marketing and CRM practices, establishing a relationship with the customer, online communities, the use of social media in marketing, and acquiring and managing information. The majority of questions were scalable and used typical five-level Likert scale. Results showed that larger firms more often set up their own online communities and manage them strategically, moreover they are able to manage information better. Contrariwise, small sized organizations use social networks as a way to establish communication with the customer more than large sized entities. Use of social media for marketing purposes is significantly higher in organizations oriented on consumer markets than on business markets.

"Suero costeño" a type of sour cream, is a traditional dairy product made mainly in the Colombian Caribbean region and has a variety of uses. The objective was to characterize the physicochemical and rheological properties of “suero costeño” produced in department of Córdoba-Colombia. Samples of " suero costeño " were obtained from local producers, characterized physicochemically (protein, fat, crude fiber, moisture, ash, carbohydrates, chlorides, pH and acidity), and rheologically (stationary tests), adjusting their behavior to the power-law model. The results show great variability in the physicochemical characteristics of the “suero costeño” made by the different artisanal producers, classifying it as a full-fat sour cream or light sour cream, and values of protein, pH and acidity similar to similar traditional dairy products from other countries, such as Reindeer sour cream and Curd or cottage cheese. “Suero costeño” can be classified as a pseudoplastic fluid and depending on the raw materials used and the production process, some present thixotropy, which may be the product of interactions between proteins and fats, which cause changes in the internal structure. Due to this great variability in its physicochemical and rheological characteristics, it is necessary to standardize the process of producing to improve the marketing of this Colombian culinary product.

Environmental degradation leads to a totally unsustainable food system. In addition to this is-sue, the consumption of foods that improve people's health and well-being is recommend-ed. These guidelines create new challenges and the demand for alternatives to meet these needs in the short term. One of the alternatives is undoubtedly the use of by-products of winemaking, namely in the form of grape pomace flour (GPF), which is obtained in a totally sustainable way, requires no further water consumption or agricultural land, and is an ingredient that boasts all the characteristics that meet the circular economy and has colossal potential in promoting nutrition and healthy eating. To verify the benefits of using the Touriga Nacional and Arinto (Vitis vinifera L.) flour varieties, analytical determinations were made to identify and quantify different components, such as nitrogen and extractable phosphorus, ash, moisture, proteins, fats, dietary fibers, total sugars, and phenolic content. GPF could become a valuable ingredient due to its nutritional quality and high content in various polyphenols namely flavonoids and pyranoanthocyanins.

Introduction: Contrast-enhanced spectral mammography (CESM) is a novel technique employed in breast cancer screening and detection. In this systematic review, we aim to compare the diagnostic performance of CESM with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the context of breast cancer diagnosis. Material and Method: We have searched for paper in Pubmed and Scopus from July 2023 to February 2024, finding 256 suitable papers according to our selection criteria (perspective or retrospective studies, women diagnosed with breast cancer, comparison of Contrast-enhanced Spectral Mammography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging, sensitivity and specificity metrics provided). Every paper was then checked for quality using the QUADAS 2 assesement score. Sensibility, specificity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV), Negative Predictive Value (NPV) and accuracy were recorded. Results: 15 studies were selected for analysis. CESM demonstrated comparable sensitivity to MRI, with values ranging from 36.4% to 100% for CESM and 0% to 100% for MRI. Specificity varied between the modalities, with CESM showing specificity ranges of 17% to 100% compared to 23% to 92.31% for MRI. Discussion and Conclusion: CESM has comparable diagnostic validity to MRI, and is a valuable tool in detecting breast cancer.